Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

His ears were ringing. The screaming of his mother didn't register into his head. He didn't care what the old hag had to say to him. He already knew what it was about. His eyes were glued to his feet, hands clenched at his sides. She smacked him on the head, the crack in her voice told him she was holding back tears.

Masaru, his wimpy father, stepped in. Trying to shield katsuki from her anger, comforting his wife as she wept. He didn't care. She'd get over it. She was—they were—always angry. Fighting back and forth. They cared for him, he knew that much. Though for their family it wasn't easy to show it.

The shitty nerd and his mom on the other hand were always showing how much they loved each other. He scolded himself mentally as his thoughts drifted to him. Why would he think of the sappy duo in this moment. He hated him. The crybaby was so full of himself.

A gentle voice shook him out of his trance, "Katsuki... would you head up to your room? We'll talk about this later ok? After your mother calms down." A hand touched his shoulder, the other remained holding his mother.

"Tch," That was all he could bring himself to say. It was a pathetic response. Through his dad nodded in response anyways.

He left his parents in the living room. Slamming his door shut as he entered his room. He released his hands, now that they were no longer clenched shut he inspected them. He wasn't bleeding but there were scars from his nails. It pissed him off more.

He took a few steps forward. Collapsing onto the neatly cleaned bed. His anger had sapped the energy out of his body, exhaustion was all that remained. "Shit. Shit. Shit. Fucking extras. Those damn losers," He silently cursed them, the sound muffled by his sheets.

He lifted himself up, using his forearms to drag himself towards the pillow. He hadn't bothered to change out of his uniform, it was dirty from fighting. They had pulled him away from his classmate before he could use his quirk on them. Meddling teachers.

He closed his eyes. He breathed shakily. He couldn't hear his parents—his mom mainly—which meant that his mom had calmed down. He didn't understand. How his mom could be so loud, so brash, yet somehow his father could cool off her hot head. Sometimes he'd be able to do the same to Katsuki but it had been years. He wasn't a kid anymore. Sweet words couldn't calm him down. Nothing could.

He fell asleep, his thoughts drifted away slowly. There was no more sound just silence. The only time he felt calm was when he was asleep. When he didn't have to think.

Not thinking meant there was nothing to get upset at, because at his age he was upset at everything. His shitty classmates, those fake suck-up friends of his, the teachers, his parents. The shitty nerd especially, he seriously thought he could be a hero—he was quirkless that wasn't possible.

"Shit with his attitude you'd think he was a villain," An extra said. The boy sneered at Katsuki. "Ah yeah—i can't believe everyone's hovering around him like that," Another extra sighed. His face contorted into an angry grin, full of annoyance. The losers were gossiping about him again. As if he didn't beat their asses into the dirt the last time.

"Hey shit faces, you got something to say to me?" He had a hand raised upward, sparks flying in his palms. He smiled wider when they shrieked fearfully. The two extras behind him cheered and laughed at them, "You show em Bakugo!"

They both stepped back, clearly trying not to get in the way. At least they knew. A crowd was gathering around them. Watching him closely. A fight was going to break out.

The two lunged at him angrily. Katsuki didn't hold back his punches as they tried to gang up on him. They thought they were better than him. They shit talked him while he was right there. He was going to show them.

"Kacchan wait!" An irritating voice called out to him. "FUCK OFF DEKU, STOP TRYIN' TO BE A HERO YOU WANNABE," He spat back. He probably thought he was villainous too, trying to step into his fight. Trying to be a hero. His breathing was uneven now. His face was bloody from being punched.

Deku reached out for him,"Kacchan look out!" His eyes widened before he turned—a bit too late—as he took another punch to the face. Two teachers ran past Deku, pulling the three students apart.

They had to drag him away forcefully. He complied afterwards. Deku tried to follow him but the teachers ushered him back to class. He was stupid, trying to intervene in a fight. He had scrawny limbs. There was nothing he'd be able to do.

They led him to an empty hallway. Students passing by quickly, rushing to get to class. Katsuki glared at any who dared to make eye contact with him. The teachers kept their distance from him. It was obvious they were fearful.

He leaned against the wall, waiting for the two adults to finish their discussion. They were talking about what to do with him as if he wasn't following directly behind them. The teachers scolded the two extras about gossiping and yet here they were doing the same. They were hypocrites. All of them.

Everyone whined about how he had a temper. Though they themselves also raised their voice occasionally. Hero this, villain that. He could decide for himself, he was going to be a hero. A hero like All might.

After what felt like forever one of them pulled out a phone. The other teacher pushed him into an office. "Behave now alright? We're calling your parents," She told him. He glared, refusing to reply. He entered the room nonetheless.

His parents had been called, a loud voice answered the phone. His parents were at work. They didn't bother to come to school but he knew at that moment they would be waiting at the door. He had been made to sit in one of the teachers offices, two of them guarding the door as if he'd try to escape.

"Dammit. He's always causing trouble. I've been letting it slide because of his promising future as a hero but at this rate he's going the other way," One of them spoke—his homeroom teacher. There was a pause, the shadows beneath the door moved. The lady shook her head,"Honestly... those kids aren't exactly wrong. Though they will definitely be punished for bad mouthing him. How did his parents let him get this bad?"

He grit his teeth at those words. They insulted his parents. Who did they think they were, he was raised perfectly fine. He had a powerful quirk and a great future. Did they seriously think he was going to be a lame villain? He didn't think too much of it but the words stung. Even his mother's harsh yelling never felt like this, he knew she never meant it in a bad way.

He felt like shit. He was suspended for starting a fight—he hadn't started it—and now was stuck at home for a week. He was provided the learning materials so he wouldn't fall behind on his studies. He didn't need shitty teachers to teach him, especially ones who didn't think he had it in him to become a hero.

It wasn't the first time someone had spoken of him this way. While his ears were filled with much praise there were just as much that looked down on him. Believing him to be vile and full of himself. He was rightfully so, they were all jealous.

The week was passing by slowly. He was irritated. Rarely ever leaving the house or his room unless to eat. On the third day he found himself browsing the internet, there was little to do and he had already finished a majority of the learning he was given for the week.

His mother had only calmed down after a day. She was incredibly worried for him. This was going to remain on his records. They had yelled back and forth about it. Once she understood he had been defending himself she turned her anger to the teachers.

It was tiring. He felt lonely. Practicing with his quirk didn't feel the same now. Using it for fights could have cost him a chance at getting into U.A. and for once in his life he questioned whether he was fit to become a hero. His mom and dad believed him, so did the stupid nerd.

He didn't know what he was going to do now. Was there anything other than becoming a hero? His whole life that was all he could dream of, becoming a great hero like All might. To surpass him one day. The time to apply for U.A. was near and it was now that he was having second thoughts.

It felt as though the skies had caved in on him. It was hard to breathe, like air had stopped flowing into his lungs. His hands shook on his desk. Breathing became increasingly difficult. His hands slipped on his keyboard.

When he looked at the screen he saw All might. His breath hitched for a second, but now he could breathe easier. It was an interview, possibly an advertisement. He spoke proud and loudly. The hero course. The general course. Then the support course.

His eyes widened at the screen. He was good at everything, studies, awesome quirk. He hadn't ever considered the support course. He never wanted to be a sidekick and that was what they seemed like. Extras, building items for heroes.

The way All might spoke of them changed his mind. He didn't seem dismissive of them—like he had–he seemed quite proud. Katsuki stared at the screen even as the video ended. He wasn't going to switch to the support course—he didn't want that. However, he wanted to try something new.

Something that wouldn't cause people to stare at him but rather his creations. He was going to try and build something. It would be a fun hobby to try out. No one would be able to judge his character—after all weren't the best engineers or blacksmiths cocky like him.

Chapter Text

People crowded around him, not daring to enter the alleyway. The sludge villain covered his face. It was suffocating, but the stares hurt more. No one was coming to help him—he didn't need them to. His hands sparked, explosions aimed at the villain. It wasn't working, he could barely move. Much less aim it at him. He was being submerged.

He heard a voice, screaming for him. Running towards him as the crowd parted for him. Deku. The quirkless loser he had tried so hard to push away, was trying to save him. He cried as his hands tried to pry the sludge off of him. A failed attempt to pull him out. He was crying while trying to save him. His eyes widened in fear. Not because he was afraid he would die—a hero would arrive. No, it was because the hero was Deku.

He wanted to pull away but he found himself reaching out, it was embarrassing, Humiliating. He wanted to yell. To scream and push him away. To slap his hand away. To tell him he didn't need his help. He couldn't.

Everything else happened in a blur. All might arriving, defeating the villain. He didn't get to say anything before he left. Now all he could think of was Deku. His wide teary eyes. He felt his heart squeeze. He felt something like this a week ago when he decided to start experimenting with gear. It wasn't the same, at least not exactly.

He watched as the stupid nerd chased after All might. It seemed as though he was following in his footsteps. His steps unconsciously matched, they were in sync. He wanted to die. He wanted to kill off the ache in his chest, the jealousy he was feeling. He had no reason to be jealous. He was always the better one. He was better.

He passed out on the floor, an ambulance arriving at the scene to pick him up. His parents hurriedly arriving to pick him up. He sustained no serious physical injuries. Despite that he still felt like shit. His parents noticed, they didn't pry.

During the last days of school Deku was constantly checking on him, as much as it bugged him he chose to ignore him instead. He no longer had the heart to push him away. It never worked. This seemed to confuse him more but he didn't stop. Not for a while. Once summer arrived he saw less of the nerd. It was strange after all the effort he put in trying to stay friends, calling him 'kacchan' like he hadn't hurt him.

He hadn't slacked with quirk training, in fact he worked harder than ever. His heart wasn't into hero training anymore but that didn't matter. He could use it in other ways. His mom went into shock when he told her, he wouldn't have cared if she didn't want to allow it, but she did. She expected it. Some of it.

The workshop smelled of fresh paint and oil. They had repainted the walls, the dull colours replaced with a bright red. When he had first arrived the regulars were shocked by his temper. They kept away while he worked, but after a while they warmed up to him. Admiring the amazing work he had accomplished. Maybe he was talented but it was more hard work than that, that was all that mattered.

The glare of the sun caused him to squint. He hurried inside the building, greeted by burly men who smelled of sweat and burnt metal. He was slowly gaining muscle but they were on another level. Unsure of whether this was normal everywhere else he weaved past them to the back.

He sat in a corner, elbows on the desk. Papers were neatly piled and organized beside him—something the others never bothered doing. He stared into his notebook, plotting what he would make next. There were sounds of saws, flames, and pencil scratching paper. Disorganized but harmonious.

Sometimes he wasn't sure what he was building and other times he had prepared a step by step plan. When the heat of the summer came he produced even more sweat. No one complained. It wasn't as if he smelled terrible anyways.

"Hey Bakugo, I need some fire power,"A bearded man approached him, a hand patting his back. The man was smiling happily. The wrinkles around his eyes giving away his age. "Hey! That's unfair Haruto-Sensei! Your blow torch works just fine," Haruki, the second youngest man, argued. At that comment Haruto blushed, embarrassed that he was caught.

"Hah? I'm not your personal blow torch you extras," He grunted, moving from his chair to Haruto's workbench. He rubbed the sweat on his hands together muttering about not being a tool. They knew he didn't mind helping, his lack of honeyed words was no longer insulting. Everyone enjoyed his reactions now. Laughter echoing the room.

His training was worth the effort. He had worked on trying to compress his explosive power into a small line. The heat was still the same. He never stopped making loud explosions but this was more important. He struggled to do it continuously, hours of constant explosions burned his hands. Eventually he managed to channel the explosions constantly, similar to the tools used in the workshop.

The senile and young men marvelled at his skill. They tended to drop their projects to watch him, not a smart decision but they wore protective gear. He could easily slice through it but he didn't want to scare them. He had grown accustomed to lowering and increasing the strength of the explosions. It wasn't a problem.

He spent half his day at the workshop. A quarter of that time training, and the remaining time eating and sleeping. He had no time for rest. The entrance examples would start soon, months wasn't soon but he had started creating gear much later than others. He had to make sure he wouldn't fall behind—again.

Katsuki sat on the swings of the playground. The slight breeze rocked it back and forth. He inhaled the air. It was sweet, the smell of his sweat. He had trained plenty today. It was late and the sun had nearly set, his mom would likely scold him if he arrived any later.

He scoffed at the thought. He wasn't a baby anymore but she always found a reason to scold him. He ate well, trained hard, and even slept on time. He was basically the perfect son. He jogged home, his pace quickened as he neared.

Tomorrow he would have to test his latest creations. If all went well he'd gift some of them to his parents. The rest he would use or tinker with. Possibly sell them if anyone had use for them. He had only created one for himself, it was dangerous in concept but it could be of use to him in the future if it worked.

He arrived home in time, the smell of cooked food spread in the house as he entered. "Katsuki, sit down—oh go wipe yourself down brat you're dripping sweat all over the floor," His mother grumbled at him, setting down plates on the table.

His father smiled awkwardly, he was already seated. Likely his mother's doing, After wiping himself down and changing clothes he sat at the table. Dinner was more peaceful than he expected. His mother ranted about a terrible customer, his father laughed and patted her back. Katsuki ate silently, giving the occasional sassy commentary between bites.

His ego had died down since the incident. Once word spread all his neighbours continued to speak of him, some pitiful, others filled with spite. He didn't change much. He was still him. It didn't matter that he secretly felt insecure he had to show everyone he was still great.

His pride wouldn't let him break down, not publicly at least. In the cold comfort of his room he didn't have to hide. He remembered when he proudly claimed he no longer wanted to be a hero—what a joke. He still wanted to be one. He wanted to save people and make villains eat shit. He had to do it differently, that never changed.

Tears pricked his eyes and he hid under the covers. It was time to sleep. He couldn't ruin his schedule. Not for something like crying, that was for weaklings. He closed his eyes in an attempt to fall asleep. It wasn't working well but it had to.

Whenever he found himself bursting into tears he burned his hands with hot water. The pain caused the tears to subside, rage building up instead. It was easier to manage. He could suppress his voice. All he had to do was grit his teeth and bear with the pain. He considered it training. Pain endurance.

The water was never hot enough to leave scars and he always submerged it in warm water after. It was a pain only he could feel, something only he could see. It was comforting in the way that he would never have to share it with anyone, no one could look down on him if he did. It was proof of his strength, his endurance.

Months ago he created two bucket like gauntlets. They contained water, the temperature of it changed with a slider that could be locked in place or moved. He couldn't always enter the bathroom, the remaining steam on the mirror would give himself away. He kept it beside his desk. His parents never questioned what weird inventions he brought home. They enjoyed it.

He had to make new attachments on the lower part to make sure he didn't spill water when changing the temperature. After its addition he no longer had to clean up the spills. It was useful. It wasn't too heavy either. He'd be able to bring it along with him to U.A.

Katsuki thought of his inventions, planning graphs and designs in his head, improvements to some and what he could remove. It calmed him down enough so he could fall asleep. His breathing was steady now.

More time had passed since that night, he was working harder than ever. He was going to get into U.A. and he was going to be the best. The best support course student. He'd outshine all the other extras. It motivated him. For the remaining months until the entrance exam he perfected his blow torch skills and studied for the exams. He wasn't planning on half ass-ing anything.

Chapter Text

He watched with envy at the crowd on the ground. Just moments ago he had been proud of finishing his first test the quickest. It was a fleeting feeling, barely having lasted a minute before he had heard that the hero course students were taking their own test. His heart had squeezed itself tightly at the words. He couldn't go back now. Not in this life, not even in another. That wasn't him.

Katsuki paused before hesitantly following the couple heading onto a room. The screens were large and there was a small number of people in the room, seated on chairs in front of them. He sat near the front, choosing a seat with a good view of all the screens.

His heart beat in his chest. He was anxious—excited even—of the battles that were about to take place. His sweaty hand gripped onto his pants. Eyes laser focused on the monitors.

He looked at the contestants. Darting back and forth between them all. His breathing stopped for a moment. He could feel worried eyes on him, he scoffed and contorted his face into a grimace. They looked away, he did not. It was Deku.

For a moment he wondered if his eyes betrayed him. He wasn't sure what he was feeling—anger definitely—because his breathing was unstable again. There was bitterness. Pride even. Despite his cruel words and ignorant attitude the nerd had actually made it.

It quickly washed away as the screen followed him. Green hair flowing against the strong gust of force, the force of his punch. He leaned forward, eyes wide, as Deku punched the robot with a force impossibly strong. It wasn't possible. He was quirkless.

He had spent years pushing the small child away. He felt so inferior when he smiled at him. It hurt more the feeling of scalding water on his palms. He had lied. He could lie. He had been lying. He had rejected his kindness and realizing that he could be something other than kind pained him.

Katsuki left before he could witness the freckled boy fall down in pain. That wasn't his Deku. Not that Deku was his. He was confused. Walking quickly and dodging the people in the halls. Prior to his revelation he didn't allow himself to even consider him a friend.

He couldn't be his sidekick while quirkless, it was impossible. Most of all he couldn't handle the genuine smile on his face as he told Katsuki not to listen to those voices. The ones that whispered between themselves. The ones calling him villain. The ones reminding him of that embarrassing day.

Katsuki barged into the bathroom. His face scaring away the three guys talking away. He turned on the tap. Boiling water poured onto his hands and he let put a groan of relief. He lowered the temperature before splashing some on his face.

He steeled his resolve as he glared at the mirror. The face staring back looked like he was ready to kill. He honestly could. He wiped his hands with tissues and wiped the counter where the spilled water sat.

Thanks to the entrance exams and the intense focus he had during them he hadn't needed to do that in a while. He thought he wouldn't need to. He loosened the tie on his neck. Releasing a breath he wasn't aware he had been holding.

He'd likely get a scolding when he returned home. There was no chance his mom wouldn't jump at the chance to do so with the perfectly tied neck tie he had just ruined. He sighed.

"Hey you good man?" A spikey haired extra stared at him from the bathroom entrance. "Tch, none of your business extra," He replied harshly. That earned him a worried look from the red head, "You sure man? It's totally cool if you're no—" "Shut up and move outta the way shitty hair," He yelled. Aggressively shoving past him, he was in no mood to be pitied by anyone.

The hallways were filled with more people. He clenched his jaw. On top of finding out Deku had entered to ua, he now had to weave through an even larger crowd. He felt sick. It felt like a leg cramp had relocated to his stomach. A sharp pain that refused to dull against his fists persistent punches.

His next test would be practical exam. He dug his phone out of his pocket, glaring at the screen. There was twelve minutes and he'd have to make his way to the room if he wanted to be early. Pushing aside his anger he used it to fuel his motivation instead. He was going to ace this.

There was quite an amount of people standing in the hallway. The lack of silence meant the briefing hadn't started. He grunted to himself. Moving past some people to get to the front of the crowd.

The students circled their teacher, a gap between them. Power loader stood counting the students. He was quite short and seemed as though he was younger than them. If not for his lack of clothing and recognizable head gear he might have not realized that he was their teacher.

A majority of the people seemed nervous. Some were shaking and a few looked like they came from Antarctica. However, there were a few stuck out to him. A pink energetic girl with goggles and an excess of gear attached to her, A plain guy that simply seemed bored, and a nervous girl with strange screw-like antennae on a headband.

Everyone's eyes were drawn to the front as Power loader cleared his throat. "Alright everyone I'll quickly go over the rules, these are non negotiable and are for your safety. Cheating, and disrupting anyone else will lead to an immediate disqualification. That will not be tolerated, some of you may only end up creating gear but for those who wish to create gear and become heroes... it isn't respectable to those who may become your classmates," He started. The talk went on for a few minutes, everyone listening intently.

There were nods. Everyone took to a station. It was smaller than he had hoped but that wasn't a problem. It made sense that the test room had smaller tables, after all they had plenty of people hoping to be accepted. He didn't have to hope, he knew he would get in. That may have been egotistical on his part but he had yet to let himself down with his inventions.

They hadn't placed restrictions on what they could build. In fact as long as they were able to rebuild something that already existed as a support item they would likely pass. Katsuki wasn't the type to settle for passing.

The spikey blonde cracked a menacing grin. A few others in the vicinity shivered. Their eyes looked quickly before diverting their attention to their own worktables. From the corner of his eye he saw Power Loader throw a quick grin at the enthusiasm.

It died down just as quick when he spotted a student peeking at a classmates journal. He ignored the panicked scream from the extra. This project needed his undivided attention. He had no time to spare a glance at anything else.

While a few people clumsily plugged their laser welding tools to use it he just had to pull down his welding helmet before blasting the metal together. He could hear a few gasps and instantly knew that he was being gawked at. It brought up his pride. His training paid off. He didn't require constant praise to know he was awesome but it was nice.

Once he finished he put it on and adjusted the fitting. They fit snuggly on his hands. He wasn't sure if he was allowed to test them now so he took them off and gently placed them on the table.

There was a light clack as they hit the table. Perhaps he hadn't dropped them as gently as he intended but he knew it wouldn't break—he made them. Looking around the room he noticed a few others were finished, a couple were still tinkering with their gear. Some were only halfway done. It had been four hours. Sweat dripped down his back.

He stretched his arm and rolled his shoulders. He felt stiff. The timer rang and everyone's progress was put to a halt. The ones who hadn't finished were clearly panicked. Deadlines were stressful but if they couldn't handle it they weren't suited for this line of work.

They would have an adequate amount of time to build gear but that didn't mean they could slack off and take their time. His face was serious. Staring at the teacher as he walked around and inspected the gear.

It was clear he didn't care for the quality of the gear. Four hours wasn't nearly long enough to create high quality gear. The requirements hadn't been stated directly but he knew they were looking for creative and ballsy students. They wouldn't accept mediocracy at U.A. The spots had to be reserved for the best and those with potential. Whichever of those they were would be determined after they were accepted.

Power loader moved onto his table. He picked up the gloves and inspected them, placing them down gingerly. "You'll get a chance to demonstrate these next time, for now i'd like you to explain their function and what problems there are with it," He had passed, no matter what he said next. The next time meant during classes. His voice was stern but the words were clear.

"The gloves have a built in motion sensor, the outer compartment had gaps between itself and the glove and compress when it's squeezed. It essentially hardens the exterior when readying for a punch, " His voice was gruff, harsh from the silence and lack of hydration. "It's got boosters on the sides to accelerate the speed of the punch too, " He tapped the side of his arm for reference. "The boosters aren't the best though, they lack controlled firepower and could essentially drag and harm the user if not used correctly."

He provided no praise but nodded with a small smile instead, he passed onto a new student and left Katsuki standing. He exhaled and wiped the sweat off his forehead. Taking off the apron by undoing the ribbon behind him.

He rubbed the cuffs of his wrist. If it weren't for his quirk he knew he'd smell as shitty as the other extras in the room. Once they were dismissed he left the room. The chill air of the hallways was refreshing against his skin. There was chatter behind him but he continued to move forward, ignoring all the loud irritating voices. He'd learn to deal with it next time.

His phone rang and wiped the sweat off his hands before picking up, "Haah? What do you want old hag." His mother's voice could be heard from the other side. It attracted attention but so did his own voice. He ignored them as he exited the building.

From across the hall a freckled boy watched, body shrunk against a wall. His eyes sparkled with wonder as he stared at the loud aggressive blonde. People passed by him, confused why he was staring so hard. As much as he was excited to see him he knew that such feelings wouldn't be returned.

His exams had ended much earlier but he was requested to stay due to his injury. The last he saw of him was their last day of middle school. During the entire time he had been ignored, it hurt but he was glad he wasn't being pushed away. He tried to remain friends. It was difficult. Kacchan hadn't made it any easier.

Growing up had changed their relationship. It was hard to describe in words what had changed. For one he had learned to swear and curse—likely the doing of Aunt Mitsuki—but also that he had started to push him away. He had become withdrawn, from Izuku, and people in general.

He put up a brave face but beneath it he could see his best friend. The face of the boy who had held back tears after older kids had called him evil. Their friendship was strained afterwards. It was as if seeing his face reminded Kacchan of those moments.

Chapter Text

The day prior to U.A. opening they were given tours of the school. There was an abundance of places but they weren’t shown to every corner on campus. They had been informed that anywhere they hadn’t seen would likely be visited during classes. Katsuki eagerly glared at his timetable, burning holes into the paper with his stare.

He had received stares from students walking the halls on their own tours. He always brought attention to himself, whether it was from his explosive personality or his glistening skin. He smirked at that thought. Then frowned. He liked the thought of being the centre of attention but he definitely wouldn’t enjoy the attention from up close. The frown turned into a scowl, it remained until the end of his tour.

His family had insisted on dropping him off to his dorm since they weren’t able to accompany him during the tour. They had wasted more than ten solid minutes arguing. He had yelled so much that his throat was sore. Water had cooled the pain a bit but he could only keep his voice to a semi-low volume till night.

He refused their company mainly because he knew how loud they could all get—his mom and himself mainly—but also so he could unpack all his machinery and gears without getting complaints from said mother. They would have to go through an inspection to allow him to bring all his weird inventions inside. It was worth the wait for him.

He couldn’t bother rebuilding everything. It wasn’t difficult but it was tedious and would take longer than the inspection. Katsuki settled down boxes upon boxes beside his bed. The room wasn’t small but it wasn’t all too large either. That meant he’d have to add shelves to fit his books on.

Despite being a crafty engineer he was nowhere near messy. He refused to fall into the dirty stereotypes. They weren’t entirely wrong, a majority of them were likely to be covered in grease and dust. However, that didn’t apply to him. He was a clean freak, not an overly obsessive one but he liked his space clean. It allowed for easy access to everything and he could find things easier.

He loaded books onto the shelves above his desk, dusting the top before placing his bag. It leaned against the wall, zipper slightly open. He wouldn’t have to worry about freeing enough space to craft thankfully. The school provided personal spaces to work in. Similar to the workshop but it was private—only one student in each. He pushed the last book onto the shelf. It had hidden itself at the bottom of the box and he had almost missed it.

That put a small scowl on his face. He put on a face mask as he got to dusting. Aggressive sweeping along the corners and near his bed. He looked like an angry cleaning lady. Though no one was there to judge him for it. Katsuki finished cleaning his bed and settling sheets and pillows against the frame.

He smirked at his work. There were more books on the shelf but between some were inventions. A bookstopper—it extended and retracted automatically so he could take and place books without worrying if they might fall. There were a few All Might magazines he had collected, rare editions and limited ones. He had no trouble securing them at all. He had enough money.

He placed an open sketchbook on the table, leaving a pen in the middle. After he threw the boxes away he would return to sketch, he’d have time before it was his bedtime. He flattened the boxes quickly and stacked them onto each other.

Though he wanted to keep the boxes to make rough drafts he had no time to do so. His schedule would be packed and he had to fit time for sketching and studying on top of that. He’d get enough time to work in a workshop soon enough.

He opened the door. Students—his classmates—moved back and forth. They were unpacking as well, some of them had already finished and were making small talk in the common room. He scowled at them and made his way outside to throw the boxes into the recycling bin.

Once he made it outside he breathed a sigh of relief when none of the extras talked to him. The scowl worked and kept them away, now he just had to do that the rest of the year and he’d make it through no disturbances. This wasn’t difficult either way, that was practically his default expression.

Amongst all the strange and quirky people he didn’t stand out too much. It meant quiet and although he himself was quite loud he could appreciate the silence. He walked back almost hurriedly to his room. He was very eager to get to sketching, he counted the minutes he’d have. Almost twenty. Then by the time he was done he’d get ready for bed and wake up early for class. Not a single thing could ruin this for him.

He would come to regret this later on in the week having jinxed himself but that night he slept well, terrific even. The chill in the air was just the right amount and the heat from his blanket kept him warm but not sweaty. He was giddy. Not that he’d admit to it but he was almost smiling in his sleep.

Morning went by just as he’d expected it to. Early stretching, cleaning his bed, and showering in the shared bathroom. The rest of his classmates weren’t early risers so he had the place to himself. Once he exited he was greeted by sleepy faces. He never replied but he did nod. He was in a good mood today.

Once he entered his room again he put on his blazer. Katsuki looked at the tie in his hands. He never put one on before, his mother never gave him the chance. In middle school he never faced the issue of ties because his uniform didn’t have them. He scoffed at himself and tossed it on the bed. He would just go without one. They were suffocating anyway.

His first class was Mathematics. He had the books and tools in his bag organized per class. It helped make it easier to grab and reminded him which class was next. The books were placed in order from the first class at the very front of his bag to the last class at the end. He’d just have to move the finished book to the back of it and the cycle would repeat. Easy enough.

Each class was fifty minutes long, ten minutes between to move to the next class. In U.A. they only had to remain in class while teachers moved to other classrooms. He had to pick a seat for the remainder of the year.

The door was already open, their homeroom teacher Power Loader was standing at the front desk. He sat near the windows, a desk behind the front row. He placed his bag beside his desk. He lifted his legs onto the desk, leaning back like a delinquent.

“Bakugo, move your legs off the desk,” He says sternly.

“Hah?” Katsuki responds, an eyebrow raised. He was spaced out and had only heard his name.

“That’s sensei to you, and I told you to keep your legs off the desk. Please behave appropriately in class,” He repeated.

Katsuki’s face contorted, filled with annoyance, but he complied. Soon enough his classmates poured in. Filling the spaces in the classroom. Seats were taken up and there was a bustle of chatter. His class was loud.

The strange pink haired girl entered the classroom in a rush, grime covering half of her face. Katsuki looked disgusted along with a few other classmates, a few giggled at the sight. She excuses her appearance, claiming to have been messing around with her babies before one exploded in her face.

Apparently good luck doesn’t last forever because the Mech mom sits right beside him. There were three other seats she could have sat him but she had decided this was the best spot. He scowled and kept his eyes on the board, her pink hair peeking out in the corner of his eyes. He rolled his eyes. An elbow propped up on his desk so he could rest his face on his hand.

“Welcome class 1-H, this is the support hero course although you should know that already. I’ll be your homeroom teacher, feel free to call me Sensei Hajime or Power loader. You should have a timetable for all your classes. There are two other classes, F and G, but you will likely not meet any of those classes as our schedule revolves around them,” He speaks loudly, clear enough that the rest of the class at the back can hear.

He continues after a quick break, “Since the hero course takes up most of the time in the outdoor fields all the support course classes have to take turns to use them for testing. This just means you get more time to tinker but don’t use that time to slack off.”

Katsuki notes down all the info in his head. He’s paying close attention and the scowl on his face has finally died down. The teacher continues giving a long run down of the rules and expectations. Nothing he didn't know already but in case there was new information he still listened.

By the time that Power loader finished speaking the bell had begun to ring. It was math class now. Their teacher left the class room and another entered. He introduced himself and took out books from his bag. Students did the same, flipping to the same pages.

They hadn’t learned anything new, the first class was just a refresher. He had hoped they would just start the curriculum already so he wouldn’t be bored out of his damn mind but that was too much to ask for. The teacher was impressed that he had finished his work with such speed—no doubt thinking that he wasn’t the studious type. He got that a lot.

To his right the girl, Mei Hatsume, was tinkering with a small object. Everyone had introduced themselves to the teacher, he hadn’t memorised most of the people's names nor their quirks but she was memorable enough. She was clearly great at what she did, she was messy but it was true.

When the bell rang and the next teacher hadn’t yet arrived students started jumping out of their seats. Everyone was eager to make new friends. A couple approached Hatsume—she paid no mind to them—but returned to their seats. She barely acknowledged them, too busy in her own world. She didn’t ignore them, not entirely, the girl did smile and hum at their greetings.

Katsuki half expected her to be the friendly extroverted type but it seemed he wasn’t entirely right. Power loader entered the classroom, “Everyone please leave your bags and follow me.” There were confused murmurs but everyone quickly followed, taking their phones with them.

A limited number of people had read the timetable apparently, obviously due to the confusion and quiet questions. Their next class was hands-on learning. Technically their next two hours were dedicated to that, but according to the time table they were two separate classes.

He wasn’t sure why but they would likely inform the class why that was the case. Students exited the classroom that their teacher had led them to, they must’ve been the other support department students. Their teacher followed behind, nodding at Power loader as he led them inside.

After looking around he realized it was his exam room. The same place that he and his classmates had been brought to. He wondered what they would be doing here. The tables had been cleared. A minimal number of tools on the tables compared to what was there before.

Breaking his line of thought their teacher cleared his throat, “Everyone listen up and take a seat. In this class we’ll be going through the fundamentals of engineering and while I know you aren’t new to this, some of you aren’t at the same level as others, which is why I'll be taking the time to make sure everyone can catch up.”

“I advise all of you to take this seriously. You can have your fun outside of these classes but not during them. Is that clear?” He took his place at the front of the class.

Katsuki's eyes drifted to the door in the corner. They had used the door behind them but he wondered if that one was still open. “Yes sensei!” Everyone responded loudly. They were enthusiastic.

“If any one is wondering about the third class of the day, I'll briefly explain it. You will use that time to work on small assignments and test what you’ve learnt in class in a shared workshop, anything else you haven’t completed can be brought to your own workshops,” The class erupted in cheers at the last word. Power loader didn’t seem to mind the noise as he continued, “I’ll show you to your respective rooms after this class.”

He walked over the side of the room, picking up a box—the objects inside clinked and screeched—and dropping it onto his desk. Upon opening it the lights shone onto the flat metals inside. “Everyone please grab a piece, one at a time, no rushing or fighting for a piece. Neither of them are special nor much too different,” He clarified.

His classmates rushed forward, they lined up behind each other taking a piece and returning to their desks. Katsuki grabbed one for himself and sat back down. The teacher demonstrated different techniques and explained the terminologies.

He wasn’t shocked to learn that he hadn’t known about some of them, he was self taught after all. Though he was annoyed that he hadn’t seen any of these online. Useless videos. Despite that he still tried to follow after his teacher, taking down more mental notes so that he could study and research on the topics after.

The bell rang once more and the teacher brought them to a new section of the school they had not seen before. He paused before two large doors. “This is the shared workshop, excuse the mess. Anything not put away is considered scrap so feel free to take apart anything lying around when you arrive. If it belongs to a student it will teach them not to be so careless with their gears,” He stated.

Students shivered at the warnings. Katsuki internally groaned at their whining, how irresponsible could his classmates be if they were whining about caring for their own creations.

Power loader walked around the spacious room, explaining the different parts of the room. He spent over thirty minutes doing so. They would continue proper lessons the following day but he wanted to get the students familiar first.

Once they concluded the tour he rounded up the students to head to their own workshops. It was exciting, everyone was smiling and had a bounce in their steps—Katsuki was no exception. Though his seemed more like a menacing grin.

One by one students were left to their own rooms, half the students were now weary from the walk. The workshops weren’t as spacious as the shared one but they took up quite a lot of room.

“Don’t worry, there are other doors from the workshop. The walk will not take you as long when you need to head to yours,” he responded to the complaints. That shut them up pretty quickly. He was thankful that the teacher had said so. They still hadn’t reached his workshop yet.

There were three students remaining once they had stopped at his. The door was unlocked and Katsuki was handed the key. He scoffed, permanent frown still on his face, as he snatched the key from his teachers abnormally large hands.

The rest left as he entered inside. Katsuki stood silently in the dark, the hallway light slowly pouring into the room. He flicked the light switch on, they brightened the room. He squinted for a brief moment before he adjusted. The room looked clean—not clean enough though. He silently measured the space.

There was enough space for an extra shelf and cabinet. He would just have to request the school for one. He took a peek outside the door. The teacher and his classmates weren’t there. Had he just left his students to sit in a dusty room on their own?

Jackshit teacher, he thought.

He closed the doors and dust rose from the impact. He coughed into his elbow. His brows furrowed, fists itching to punch the door. “Dammit, stupid dusty room,” he silently cursed—his neighbours could hear him clearly.

His day had gone from great to shit. He looked around the room furiously, eyes landing on an unused tissue box. He angrily stomped over to it, unwrapping it not very carefully. He began cleaning the whole place. Dust ran from him as he swiped the place spotless.

As he tossed the dirty tissues in the bin the door opened. His classmates stared at him in shock. Their jaws were wide open–almost reaching the floor—staring at the sparkly room. Even his teacher was confused. Apparently he had walked back to the first workshop to collect the students once again.

A girl jumped into the room, “Woah! Your workshops real clean, what did you use to clean it? Would you show me the gear? I wouldn’t use it, only study it!” she held onto his arm, heating it with the friction from her jumping up and down.

“Get off me, goggles! I used fucking tissues you nitwit,” Katsuki growled. He swatted her off his arm, it felt like she had given him burn marks.

She simply laughed at him as their teacher motioned for them to close the door and follow him. She had no sense of personal space.

Power loader brought them back to the classroom a few minutes before their next class. “I know that according to your schedule you have exactly 50 minutes of free work time. However, I talked to principal Nezu and I’ve cut down 15 minutes so you can get yourselves clean before heading to this class,” he moved to stand beside the door. “It doesn’t matter how you get yourselves cleaned or if you can manage to remain clean, but your uniforms should be neat because afterwards is lunch. Which won’t be enjoyable once you taste oil in your meal.”

The entire class groaned. Their time for crafting had been cut short and now they had to either keep clean or clean themselves afterwards. Katsuki was already planning in his head how he would do that. The teacher hadn’t arrived yet so he pulled out a notebook.

The first thing was to keep spare uniforms in his bag or better yet in the workshop. If his uniform was too dirty he could change it. The next would be to wear an apron, anything that could cover him well enough that it could reduce the amount of dirt on him. Gloves were definitely necessary. There was a sink too—but he would need to expand it or add a connecting section to clean dirty tools in if he had to wash his face.

He finished noting down the ideas, a few sketches between the words when the teacher walked in. One class before he could head off to lunch. He took out the next notebook in his bag. It was English.

He wasn’t bad at that at all. In fact at the workshop one of the old men was a foreigner. He spoke English well and had helped Katsuki improve to a conversational level. His parents worked with others who spoke it too so he was given sufficient practice in his childhood. Which paired along with his academic skills and made him the centre of attention in Middle School English classes.

The teacher spoke in Japanese at first, she introduced herself then switched to English. Katsuki leaned back on his chair, bored as people slowly introduced themselves. He sketched in his notebook as she went over the course overview. There were plenty of small quizzes and an occasional test. He could hear his classmates' teeth grinding.

The class went by quickly, it was already lunch and he was suddenly dreading it. He had forgotten about it but the cafeteria would be crowded. He had dropped every friend he had in the last week of school. All it took were a few harsh words and they had all left him. He grabbed his bag, slinging it over his shoulder.

In this class he had no friends either, he didn’t plan on making any. He had to remain focused on his studies. Then he would stick himself in a room for the rest of his life and build awesome gear. That was all he wanted to do.

He walked through the halls to the cafeteria. The entire place was filled and noisy. He headed to grab a tray and chose a well rounded meal. He didn’t bother looking around the cafeteria for a place to sit. Instead he left and headed towards his workshop. Not paying enough attention to notice the stares he got from a table near the wall.

He fiddled with the key in one hand, unlocking the door and switching on the light as he sat at the empty desk. It was a good thing that he cleaned the place up—otherwise he would look like a friendless loser. Sure he was friendless, but he was no loser.

He ate his food, chewing slowly so he could concentrate on fixing a few design errors in his sketchbook. As much as he loved creating new gear and designing them he found himself enjoying this part more. He would annotate problems in the draft and come up with ways to fix it. Perfecting the imperfections.

Nothing could be entirely perfect and even he could admit that but he could always try. He highlighted a few notes and closed the book. Taking the last bite of his meal before standing up to return the tray.

He had more than thirty minutes before lunch ended. So he kept his bag inside, locking the door before he left. He walked to the cafeteria again, tray in hand. It was upright, the utensils and plates on top.

Katsuki entered the cafeteria, the chatter hadn’t died down. He looked around for the tray bin. Once he found it he placed the tray down and turned around. To his surprise a bush of green appeared in front of him. He stepped back in shock.

“Kacchan…” the boy started.

Katsuki practically hissed at him, shoving him aside as he continued to walk away. His speed increased as he headed towards the door. Footsteps could be heard behind him.

“Stop following me you damn nerd.” Katsuki didn’t look back. He wasn’t about to continue talking to him, not after all the lies.

Izuku stuttered, barely able to get out a word as he tried to follow him. “Kacchan! Wait! Where are you going?” Izuku pulled on his arm—Katsuki yanked it back.

“What the fuck do you want from me!? Leave me alone.” Katsuki glared at him, finally turning toward him.

Izuku’s eyes watered slightly, “I don’t want to, why do you keep pushing me away? I don’t get it… What did I do wrong?” His voice was soft, almost pitiful.

“Shut your trap liar, you know what you did. Fucking lying to me for years,” Katsuki laughed, there was no joy in it, only anger. “Did you seriously play quirkless for years? What did you even get out of it? Did you do it so I could feel better about myself? You think you're better than me huh? You sick fuck.”

Izuku’s eyes widened in shock. Kacchan thought he was lying. He opened his mouth to explain himself but he was cut off.

“Fuck you.” He turned and left. Not allowing Izuku to explain himself.

He felt like crying. He worked so hard to prove himself, to All Might, to everyone, especially to Kacchan.

Izuku promised All Might he wouldn’t tell anyone, but Kacchan wasn’t just anyone. He didn’t think too much about it, Kacchan deserved to know. Izuku wanted to go back to being friends. He wanted to comfort him, to tell him to ignore those people, but he didn’t realize that it had hurt him.

Izuku didn’t understand why it had, but he wanted to change that. If only he would give him the chance to. His friends caught up with him and he gave them a sad smile. He had to get back to class eventually. Izuku walked back with them, hoping there would be another chance for them to talk later.

He looked glum for the remainder of the class, even while he smiled his friends could see something was bothering him. The ‘something’ was likely the hot headed blonde they saw walking away.

Katsuki was in a bad mood. When someone tried to talk to him in his last class he snapped, shouting at them and getting scolded by the teacher. Power loader didn’t push him any further than a few words. He seemed to have understood that something was stressing him out.

He held him back in the classroom and talked to him. “Little helper, is something bothering you?” Power loader questioned. His voice was monotone, careful not to push his buttons.

“Tch, nothing important. It’s none of your business.” he paused. “Sensei.” he added quickly to be respectful.

Power loader appreciated the effort. “I won’t pretend to understand what has ticked you off, Bakugo, but I do hope you know that I can’t understand or excuse this behaviour unless I know what’s happening.” he continues. “If you can’t tell me then at the very least I hope I can expect you to tell someone else and keep it outside classtime. If you ever want to talk I’ll be here. I’m not the greatest therapist but I would be happy to listen.”

Katsuki scoffs, he’s slightly red from embarrassment. His teacher said he wanted to listen. He didn’t mind his outburst, hadn’t said anything, hadn’t assumed anything. He was feeling emotional today and he hated it. He was strong, not a crybaby. He wanted to say something but all he could do was mumble an okay before walking out. He got a nod in response.

It wasn’t like him to do that but he felt like someone had rattled his brain, mixing up logic and emotions. It was stupid Deku’s fault. It was always his fault—even if it wasn’t. He had no one else to blame. Only he could rattle Katsuki this badly. He always got away with it too.

He walked back to his dorm. He felt tired even though he had barely moved. It wasn’t like he was unfit. He had lean muscle from all the heavy lifting and work that came with carrying heavy metal around to build gear with.

Katsuki almost turned the corner when he saw the colour green. He stepped back. Moving quicker than he had ever before he bolted in the other direction. He could take the other route even if it was longer.

Halfway there he froze. Why was he running away from him? Had he gone insane and been infected with a parasite? He turned to look behind him, there was no one there. He swallowed, it felt like he had just eaten pins and needles.

He’d been trying to avoid him for years—keyword trying, because it never worked. The idiot was always hovering around him, trying to shield him like he could take the hit. Katsuki had ignored him when he was trying to talk to him, and ignored him when their classmates called him names. It had gone on for so long that he stopped calling him Izuku.

Katsuki knew it would hurt him, to call him a name he’d never heard from Katsuki's mouth. There was nothing else he could do to try and push him away. He wanted to be left alone. Deku made him weak, he made him crumble when he was supposed to stand tall against the pressure. The feeling was disgusting.

He hated it. He hated Deku.

Katsuki didn’t notice he had been moving again until he stopped at his dorm room. The common room was empty, everyone was probably hanging around somewhere on the campus. Suddenly he felt lonely, he didn’t know why, but he pushed that feeling away, turning it into anger. Anger towards anything.

He sat on his bed, dropping his bag onto the table in the center. He clutched his chest. It felt tight. Almost like he was being sucked into himself. He grabbed his hair, curling into himself on the side of the bed. He breathed shakily.

It wasn’t working, he was having another attack.

He had figured out it was an anxiety attack when he was home alone for two days. The house felt suffocating and he didn’t know how to fix it. He searched up the symptoms and that was what came up. It was self diagnosed but at least he had something to call it, it meant it was normal and he wasn’t some insane freak imagining it.

Katsuki stood up abruptly, he pulled his device from under the clear table. He hurriedly opened it, sighing with relief as he dipped his fists into the burning water.

His breathing slowed, evening itself. He kept himself in that position for a minute. The water started to cool and he took his hands out.

Before he left he had added a timer to the machine. He had a problem with timing himself and had noticeably burnt his hands once. His mom had panicked and he had to come up with an excuse—machine failed and that it was temporary. It wasn’t the full truth but he hadn’t lied. His mom could tell when he was. Katsuki wasn’t subtle.

He wiped his hands on his pants, kneeling beside his bed. He stood up to change into clean clothes. He fished out a black shirt and sweatpants.

Lying on his bed he thought about studying briefly but he was also exhausted. Too tired to get up from his bed he crawled into the sheets to take a quick nap.

Katsuki’s days went almost the exact same each day. Classes, hurriedly grabbing lunch, and waiting till last minute to return the tray and head to his next class. Then he’d stay in his dorm room, the common room, or his workshop to avoid Deku.

He somehow kept appearing in the halls and was always looking around—for him. It was bothersome but Katsuki had gotten used to this. He was mastering the craft called avoidance. He was incredibly skilled at it now. Mapping down routes just to get away from him. It had been three more days since their first encounter.

Katsuki was smug, it was his third period now, he hadn’t run into Deku all day.

Hatsume stood beside him, inspecting a gadget he handed her—to shut her up. They had been asked to separate into pairs for the first task. It had something to do with teamwork and communication skills.

Not his strong suits but he’d manage.

“In this assignment you’ll be making gear for each other and one together,” Power loader says, “You will be allowed to test the gear in the field even during classes when the Hero course is there, they have kindly allowed us to take up a portion of the space in each training area,”

The students whisper and nod.

Power loader fumbles at the drawers in his desk and takes out a thick stack of papers, “I’ll hand you sheets that have marked them down. You will be marked separately and together for the three gears. Please note that this is worth 15% of your marks for the year, while it isn’t much it would be detrimental to your overall mark if you were to fail.”

“Ahh! Seriously, sensei, Isn’t it too early for a big assignment?” a black haired girl said dejectedly.

“Ehh three gears? How much time do we get for each sensei?” another student chirped—literally. He was asking good questions. It was something Katsuki had wanted to ask as well.

“I’ll give you all the rundown of the schedule for the following weeks. I do expect you to take time outside of class to work on this but not much. You will be given plenty of time to do this in the second and third period since they do go hand in hand,” he explained.

Power loader handed them the papers that had been wilting in his hands. They would be given the first week to come up with drafts of all three gears. They would work on the first gears mainly individually but it still required communication between the pairs since it would be for each other.

That part got an annoyed grunt out of Katsuki. Then in the second week—and a half, he corrected himself—they would have time to work on actually creating their gears which would be done in their own workshops.

Finally during the last week they would make the final piece together, some fancy new invention filled with creativity and whimsical joy.

He rolled his eyes. This was more like a great way to force him to actually talk to someone.

He almost slammed his head into a wall when Hatsume walked up beside him during lunch. As much as he took care of his body he knew he couldn’t stomach a meal with all the stress he had built up.

They entered another hallway, passing by a group of people. She inched closer and he backed away. Katsuki didn’t want to be publicly associated with her. Not currently at least.

“Hey Bakugo-kun!” She smiled, staring at the gear on his hands.

“What do you need goggles? the project doesn’t start till tomorrow,” he replied boredly, hoping to get her to leave him alone.

It didn't work. “What’re those cute little babies you got? I’ve been curious about that one!” She inches closer, Katsuki moving away again.

They looked strange moving around so much. There was plenty of space in the hallway but she didn’t seem to care. She was too focused on the gloves in Katsuki's hands. It was his creation from the entrance exam. A more refined upgraded version.

“Gunna go test it out, the field should be empty now,” he mumbled. He fidgeted with the gear.

Hatsume was eyeing it, clearly interested. She had decided she was going to follow him to watch. She had put her goggles farther up on her head, leaning forward as she circled Katsuki like a hawk.

It was a funny sight. Student’s eyes were drawn to them. The eccentric support duo.

They hadn’t talked much but they were closer to each other than others in class, occasionally passing notes and ideas in class that only they seemed to understand. This must’ve been a big reason as to why their teacher decided to push this assignment ahead.

Their Japanese teacher and Power loader had something come up for their last two classes which meant that they had two free classes. They weren’t free per se but the work was handed to them to do in their free time. More time for Katsuki to test his gear out.

He had a crossbody bag slung over his left shoulder. The blonde had decided that he needed to bring his notebook in case, also so he could plan in advance. With Hatsume now tagging along it was definitely going to come in use.

“Oi, if you’re going to follow me around let’s plan ahead,” he ordered.

“Oh yes! We need to plan for my newest baby and our co-parented baby!”

An extra with pink cheeks squeaked at their conversation. She turned red when they noticed her. She raised her hands, waving them frantically around trying to get words out.

He scoffed, “She means mechanical babies—gears–not actual fucking babies.”

Hatsume didn’t say a word, she was now holding onto one of the gloves. She wasn’t close to it but she seemed to be inspecting every detail—must be her quirk.

“Quirk?” he asked, groaning when he realized he hadn’t finished the question. “What’s your quirk goggles.” he turned to her.

“Zoom! I can see details from afar with my quirk, and your quirk is Explosion, right, boom boom boy?” It wasn’t as much of a question as it was confirmation.

He nodded.

They talked back and forth. He cussed her out every few minutes and she complimented his ‘baby’.

She wasn’t so terrible, he thought. She was more of a genius than he had first believed. Hatsume was able to identify what certain parts did and spoke enthusiastically.

He was so engrossed in the conversation that he hadn’t noticed the nervous boy he passed by.

Bright green eyes stuck on his figure until he disappeared. The boy's friends watched as well.

Katsuki exited the building and stepped onto the field. He had gotten permission from Power loader beforehand.

Power loader agreed and asked to see the recorded notes or a video if he could.

Katsuki hadn’t thought about the video since he planned on going alone but now that Hatsume was here he could ask.

“Hey, goggles, I need to send Hajime sensei a recording of the test run. You mind recording a bit?” Katsuki asks. He would have just told her to record but he’d grown past that. He found himself reeling the grouchiness back—sort of hopeful it wouldn’t ruin anything.

“Are you kidding? I was gunna ask to record you myself! I’ve just installed this new upgrade to my goggles, a 4k quality lens. It’ll be shinier than All Might’s smile,” she beamed, pushing her goggles down onto her face.

Katsuki adjusted the straps, grinning ear to ear. They weren’t so different after all. Prideful of their work and pretty loud. If not for her excessively touchy-feely and lack of personal space or awareness.

She clicked a button on the side of the frame and a screen dropped in front of the frames. It was slightly reflective and Katsuki could see himself on them. His grin didn’t waver.

He stepped back. Flexing his arms and testing his grip. The gauntlets creaked from the excessive repeated motions. They loosened as he released his grip. He had added fireproofing to the gloves so that his quirk wouldn’t damage it.

One hand held his right arm still, supporting his arm so it wouldn’t ache so much from the weight of the gauntlets.

Hatsume watched excitedly, hugging a gear she had pulled from who knows where.

Sparks crackled on his palms. A large explosion went off, students in the buildings looked outside the window.

They gawked at the sight. No one had seen him before.

Correction, they hadn’t seen him use his quirk before. No one had— at least not in its normal form.

Hatsume stared at them briefly.

The explosion had pushed him back a bit, the weight from the gauntlets was tiring his arms out. He wasn’t overly muscular, just lean. He did have abs and biceps but they weren’t so prominent.

He would need to lighten the materials on the gear. They needed to be light enough to not slow anyone down while providing enough weight to knock the lights out of someone. Contradicting but not impossible.

He launched himself in the air, dust and smoke settling on the ground. He tilted his head towards the ground and clicked the switch, the boosters on the side propelled him forward.

The ground cracked. Hatsume cheered.

The gauntlets were definitely too heavy. He released his grip and they loosened again. He unlocked them quickly, leaving them on the ground as he moved towards Hatsume.

“Uwahh! Those babies were so great! I’ll make even better ones than them one day, watch out, Bakugo-kun!” She grinned. The recording had finally stopped. She patted his back roughly.

He grunted, “Yeah much too heavy for me though. I haven’t got enough muscles from weight lifting. I either need to reduce the heavy weight materials or hand em’ over to someone who can practice with those.”

It was a quick test, hadn’t taken up the whole hour but he did move around quite a bit. Somehow he found he still wasn’t hungry, even though he had skipped lunch.

“You aren’t hungry yet? Hey, Eye-Spy? What’re you—”Katsuki asked. Hatsume has pulled out her phone, staring at a recording.

She interrupts him, “Eye-Spy? That’s creative. I’m rewatching the footage. It downloads automatically to my phone if it’s finished or if the footage crashes mid-recording.”

She loops the video back and increases the volume. Katsuki leans forward over her to watch. The video is crisp despite the loud obnoxious explosions. He can still see his figure behind the smoke. He wondered how she fit such a good lens in her goggles—then again phones did exist.

They sat on the grass for the remainder of lunch, working through some revisions for the design, then moved onto ideas for their exchange-gear project. That was the name they had decided to call it.

They had gotten more than five ideas before the bell rang. He picked up the gauntlets—now covered in dirt—and wiped them with his hands a bit. They headed back into the building. A few students looked at him in awe, though he wasn’t sure why.

 

He decided he could spend the next hour in the common room. Hatsume said she would work through more ideas as she dropped him off at his dormitory. She wanted to push the school work aside for a little longer. His classmates noticed his arrival.

They had gotten more ballsy when his violence toned down. Haruto Yamada, a boy who smiled like the sun favored him, sat beside him. He left some space between them, thankfully he was aware he had boundaries. Yamada’s quirk was called Levitating light. When he’s exposed to bright light like the sun he can levitate.

Another boy sat on the carpet next to Yamada. Riku Kajiyashiki, He could crush and reshape metal and materials from the earth. He couldn’t remember what his quirk was called but that wasn’t important.

There were a few other classmates who lived in their dorm room but they weren’t there at the moment. Katsuki helped them all with their homework. Yamada was third in the class grade rankings but he didn’t like being excluded from study groups.

Even though Yamada was more friendly than Katsuki, they still came to Katsuki for most questions. They somehow managed to get into U.A with the IQ of a goat, which is why they held these daily study groups.

He corrected a few mistakes that Yamada had made on the last question. Yamada thanked him and scribbled his original answer out.

He taught harshly but he did it well. They weren’t extremely close but they were on good terms now.

“Eh? Haruto… Bakugo… What page are you on?” Kajiyashiki asked. He stared at his own paper dumbfounded. He was quite far down on the leaderboard.

Katsuki smacked him on the head with his notebook—just hard enough not to cause more brain damage. He turned his papers towards the gloomy boy, “Maybe if you got that fuckass hair out of your face you could actually see the board in class.”

Yamada practically fell off the couch, clutching his stomach trying to stop the cramps. He stopped for a moment but after looking at Katsuki’s angry face fell sideways—hitting his head on the table.

“Haruto!” Kajiyashiki raised his hands although a little too late. Kajiyashiki pushed Yamada’s amber hair back to see his face. The idiot's head was now resting on Doom & Gloom’s lap. His face was redder than his hair.

Katsuki held back a teasing smirk. “Alright you dimwits, go get that checked. How hollow is sunburn’s skull? I heard the thud echo.” Katsuki laughed. A genuine laugh—at how stupid this was.

“Oh no… you’re right that really was loud. Thanks, Bakugo, could you send me notes? I’ll work on this later.” he turned his head away. “Haruto? Hey, can you get up? We—we should get that checked dude…”

While Kajiyashiki fussed over Yamada, Katsuki stood up, clearing up the area so he could leave. He took pictures of his paper and sent them to the dorm group chat. That made it easier for him, rather than waiting for them to knock on his door begging for them.

“Oi Doom & Gloom, Sunburn, I’m leaving. Tell the other idiots to check the group chat for the papers. They better not be knocking on my door past my bedtime,” he threatened.

They nodded—only Kajiyashiki could do so properly.

Katsuki walked over to his dorm. He only went inside to drop off his papers and bag. He felt like taking a walk. He didn’t exercise daily but he still needed some sort of workout other than building gear.

He pocketed his phone and left the common room. He had one earphone plugged in, the other hung loose. It swayed around as he walked. He needed to pass some of the revised notes to Hatsume. Katsuki didn’t feel like taking his earphones out if he had to talk to her so this was the best solution. He walked slowly, staring at the windows.

Hatsume’s door was unlocked and she was very focused. She had a wrench in hand, screwing on bolts as tight as she could.

He stood there for a while. Leaning against the open door frame.

She finished and perked up once she noticed him. “Bakugo, what brings you to my humble abode? Need help with one of your babies maybe? Oh, do you want to borrow one of mine?” she hammered him with guesses.

He sighed. “No, you idiot. I added to the notes, printed out a copy for you. We could probably come up with more tomorrow.” He handed her the copies.

She thanked him and waved him goodbye—smacking herself with the wrench in the process. He stared at her judgementally and left. He closed the door behind him so she could work in peace.

As he walked outside he plugged in the second earphone, the music evening out in both ears. He bobbed his head up and down slightly as he headed outside. It was still bright out but there was no one in sight.

The breeze brushed against his skin softly. It was a little cold and now it felt like he should have worn a jacket. He disliked—no, he hated—the cold. It made him shiver and his quirk didn’t work well when he was frozen.

An arm grabbed him and he was spun around. His earphones fell out of his ears from the force of the spin. They now dangled, only holding onto his phone.

It was Deku.

Katsuki almost tried to shake him off but hesitated. The freckled idiot looked like he had just run five miles with no breaks. It was like he would topple over if he shoved him—strangely enough he didn’t want that. At the same time the firm grip on his arms told him he would fall with him.

All Katsuki could do was look at him, and looking at him brought those same painful feelings. It always did. He didn’t know what he looked like but it must’ve been noticeably bad.

Deku’s eyes looked like they were trying to water plants. “Ka—Kacchan!” he said shakily, trying to catch his breath. “I wanna talk, please.”

“And I don’t,” he shut him off, trying to pull away, and took a step back.

The boy's grip tightened, Katsuki hissed at the squeeze. Deku noticed his discomfort and let go, quickly grabbing onto his hands instead. He pulled them to his chest.

Something rushed past Katsuki’s stomach to his throat—it wasn’t vomit—nothing came out.

“I inherited One for All, All Might’s quirk! I really was quirkless I swear! I trained really hard to get this quirk. I’m his successor. I never meant to lie to you, Kacchan, really I promise. I was so busy over the summer that I never got the chance to tell you and I promised that I wouldn’t tell anyone and this was supposed to be—”

Katsuki clasped a hand over his mouth—he had managed to get one free while the nerd rambled. “You idiot! It’s supposed to be a secret? What the fuck are you doing rambling all this to me for then?”

“Kacchan—”

“Fuck. Did you even check if anyone was listening? I can’t believe this.”

“Ka—”

Katsuki squished Deku’s cheeks, he looked anxious, nervous, happy, and like he was going to cry at the same time. He looked around them, looking behind the boy holding onto him too. There was no one around.

The nerd fiddled with Katsuki’s fingers, embarrassed.

Katsuki sighed, he couldn’t believe this was happening. There was a weight lifted from his chest. Another one replaced it instead—but it was lighter.

Deku tilted his head and Katsuki released his face, “Uhm… well you said that—you said that I lied about being quirkless and some other stuff and I didn’t want you to think that but—”

Katsuki cut him off, “None of that mumbling shit, speak clearly.”

“Well… I tried finding you but it was like you were evading me you know?” He still hadn’t let go of his hand. Somehow that made him feel guilty, seeing his lonely face, and how he desperately still clung onto him.

Katsuki kept silent. Waiting for him to continue, but it seemed he also didn’t know what to say. He wanted to be angry but all the guilt, for the years he had kept him away at arms length, came gushing out.

There it was again. That feeling of vulnerability. He wanted to die, to bite the dust and disappear right then and there. He couldn’t believe he was having a weird heart to heart moment.

“Izu—Deku. Just… whatever—just leave me alone. I can’t...” He couldn't continue the sentence, he didn’t know what it was he couldn’t do—he just couldn’t.

Deku finally stood up. He was near Katsuki’s height. He was still shorter but he could finally meet his piercing glare. Deku’s eyes watered again, threatening to leak and flood the whole school.

Katsuki was used to running. Running away from him specifically. Ignoring him too. Though now it was really hard to ignore him, Deku was latched on tight. So he yanked his arm free, his eyes looked elsewhere, anywhere that wasn’t his glum pitiful face.

Then he walked away.

He didn’t know how to process everything that had just been dumped on him. All Might’s successor? That made some sense. It didn’t but at the same time it did. He ignored the tear that dripped from his face. He was in his dorm now. No one could see him or the absolute wreck he was.

Deku hadn’t lied to him. He believed him. Why would he chase after him just to spew more bullshit? That wasn’t like him, but it had been an entire summer—it had been years—since he had actually known him.

Sure, he hadn’t forgotten everything. There were things he still knew about him. Things that wouldn’t change. He could remember the number of freckles on his face. The Hex code of his hair colour—#4E6C5E. Not an entirely accurate colour since it changed under different lights and looked slightly brighter in summer.

He paused.

It was weird that he still remembered. He had been trying to ignore him and push him and his stupid friendship shit away.

He sat on his bed, wiping the tear stain away. He had to stop thinking of the nerd. It was affecting his immune system.

Katsuki fell back on his bed but he got up to get ready for bed instead. He stayed awake a little longer to write down more notes. Soon after he felt himself getting sleepier and decided to sleep early.

He’d deal with whatever complicated feelings he was having tomorrow—If he had the time.