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When Midoriya got his diagnoses as quirkless at age 5, both him and Bakugo were heartbroken as their dream of super cool hero duo fell apart around them.

“Kacchan, we’ll never be able to be like All Might together,” Midoriya cried.

The tears of his friend made Bakugo upset and he tried to cheer him up: “We can still be heroes together.”

“How? Kacchan, I don’t have a quirk.”

“Remember that old movie mom watched with us?” Bakugo asked.

“The one from before the quirks with the spy?” Midoriya replied.

“Yeah,” Bakugo nodded excitedly, “He had someone in the ear piece telling him information on how to best fight the villain. You could do that, we’d be just like Sir Nighteye and All Might!”

Midoriya’s eyes regained his spark, before his face fell again: “But how will I do that? I don’t have a quirk to help me know.”

“You already do it,” Bakugo said, “You mumble all weird and it’s hard to follow, but you sometimes say real smart things. You know, like auntie says, those who aren’t strong must be smart, Zuku. You can be the brains.”

“I’m the brains!” Midoriya cheered, all distress from earlier forgotten as two friends fell back into a fantasy game they had played many times before, this time with slightly different roles. Sure, somewhere in the back of his mind Midoriya kept holding on to the hope he had a quirk, but he had other things to focus on as well.

That was already ten years ago.

In that time Midoriya had gotten smarter as promised, while Bakugo had gotten stronger. They were still as thick as thieves, but for the first time in their lives, they would go to a different school. Bakugo had gotten into hero courses at UA, while Midoriya got into general studies at Ketsubutsu Academy.

“You made it into the hero course, Kacchan. That’s amazing! We should celebrate,” Midoriya smiled, “You’re gaing to UA!”

“Whatever,” Bakugo shrugged.

“Aren’t you excited? This is what you always dreamed off,” Midoriya asked, sight confused about why his friend wasn’t literally going through the roof right now.

After a while of hesitating, Bakugo mumbled: “But who will look out for you?”

“Is that what you’re worried about?” Midoriya laughed, “How sweet, Kacchan.”

“I’m not sweet, Zuku!”

“I’ll be fine, promise,” Midoriya said, “I can handle myself and I’m sure you need all the training you can get if you wanna keep up with me.”

“What?” Bakugo shrieked.

“I mean, if I am going to be the smartest support, then I’ll only work with the No. 1 hero, if you’re not it, then- well, then shame on you,” Midoriya shrugged, like he wasn’t playing Bakugo’s ego like a fiddle.
“You wouldn’t dare,” Bakugo said.

“Are you willing to find out, Kacchan?”

It was silent for a moment, then Bakugo pushed Midoriya over and said: “Fucking nerd. Buy me ice cream, I got into the hero courses at UA and I’m going to be the best.”
“Of course, Kacchan.”

So they went out for ice cream, spend all the time they had left together before having to walk different routes to school by themselves for the first time.

Bakugo felt weird, sitting in the classroom by himself. It didn’t help that the teacher was a weirdo in a sleeping bag and that everyone was on his level suddenly. He would have to prove himself here, be the best. He knew he could do it, but he was also kind of terrified.

Then the words ‘Quirk Apprehension Test’ were dropped and Bakugo was on high alert. In the back of his mind a voice smiled that Zuku would want to hear everything about this tonight, only for that to be crushed with the fact that the lowest scoring person would be expelled.

The competition would be rough.

He made mental notes of some of the quirks, curious how Midoriya would tell him to fight against them and what he would exploit. Also some kid with purple hair got expelled, but Bakugo didn’t have time for extra’s.

Midoriya later scolded him for that, but was quickly distracted by Bakugo’s relay of all the different quirks in his class.

In general studies they weren’t allowed to use their quirks, just following the normal curriculum that was the standard. Midoriya would be upset, if he didn’t also understand, but he wanted to learn about everyone’s quirks so bad, so he clung to the chance to hear about the quirks in action.

Bakugo was grateful for his friend’s insights when the Battle Trail came about and he had to fight against his classmates.

He was teamed with the engine muscle kid against the floating girl and the sugar dude. Grinning he informed his teammate of the plan.

Since the sugar rush was temporary Iida would keep Sato busy, making him burn his energy by keeping up with him, while Bakugo would protect the warhead.

‘If she touches you, she’s practically won’ floated through his head as he waited for his opponent in the room. He could hear his teammate race below him, so he had the disadvantage of not knowing when his own opponent would show up.

Without her teammate, however, she had to rely on her own brute strength if she wanted to come from any other place than the door.

She came through the door.

Then Bakugo had the challenge of staying out of her reach, while keeping her out of reach of the warhead.

If it were a real warhead, he would have to be careful with his explosions and he was sure he would get points deducted if he did. So, he decided on the strategy of charging, hoping intimidation would make her dodge.

Uraraka had no debris just a few boxes to use as weapons, no backup and little strategy. He would feel a bit bad for her, if it didn’t work in his favor.

She dodged.

He still had to work for it, he would give her that, but he had a strong feeling he could win this fight. But even when he captured her, he marked her down as a strong opponent in his mind and made a mental note to talk to Zuku about her quirk again.

“I got my enemy,” he said into the com, “Need backup?”

“Just tired mine out,” came the reply.

The buzzer went and it was announced that Bakugo and Iida were the winners. Bakugo smiled, back on track to be the best. Later Todoroki would win incredibly fast and threaten the feeling, but it remained for now.

The Hero team got scolded for getting split up easily and having no plan, while the Villain team got praised for their tactics.

“I never pegged you to be strategy person,” Momo commented to Bakugo.

“I’m not, Zuku is,” Bakugo replied, he normally would take all the praise, but being friends with that dumbass meant that his unending need to point out how cool everyone else was, had rubbed off on him.

“Zu-ku?” she cocked her head.

“Yeah, he’s a friend, likes analyzing quirks. He doesn’t get to see many new ones so I told him about all of yours and he made some useful comments,” Bakugo shrugged, “He’s the best there is at it.”

“A friend?” Jiro sounded confused.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Bakugo frowned.

“Nothing!” she quickly said, “With all the growling and scowling, it’s just a surprise.”

Bakugo didn’t like that, but before he could verbally rip this girl a new one, Uraraka asked: “What did he say then? The friend. About us.”

In his minds eye he saw how he had learned from Midoriya’s critiques and how the other would too and be bigger competition, so he growled: “None of your business.”

It earned him some looks, but he didn’t care. He didn’t come here to be class favorite, he came to win. He already was Zuku’s No. 1, now he just had to get the papers for it, he didn’t need these extra’s.

The class moved on, not willing to fight over this with the unwilling blond who was almost more grumpy than he was competitive. Though, it did pique some people’s interest.

Zuku.

They were curious about the person behind the name. It sounded like a nickname, but they couldn’t imagine Bakugo giving anyone a nickname in a nice way. He was loud and unsocial and they wondered who would put up with him long enough to be his friend.

It would not be the first time they wondered who this Zuku was.

However, it wouldn’t come up for some while again. Bakugo didn’t think his life outside of school was any of their business and he hadn’t made any actual friends in his class yet, who would become privy to that information.

Then the U.S.J. debacle happened and it brought the class closer together, while simultaneously making them realize how dangerous this path they were on was.

Bakugo and Kirishima had fought together in the Ruins Zone and Bakugo had gotten a grudging respect for the cheery redhead, who was more than happy to adopt him as a friend. When he realized he groaned: “Zuku is going to laugh so hard at me.”

“Why?” Kirishima asked.

“He’s like you, stupidly optimistic,” Bakugo explained, not willing to tell his new friend that it was in actuality that cheery people decided to be his friend and he would be stuck with them.

“I’ll take that as a complement, bro,” he grinned.

Then Iida came up to them: “Are you two hurt? The medical team is ready to assist everyone and Aizawa recommends letting your parents know you’re okay before this hits the news.”

Bakugo rolled his eyes, his parents would know he could handle himself. Still he did send them a text asking about dinner, while he send Zuku one asking after his day. That idiot could work himself into a panic about anything.

“Did you text your parents yet?” Mina asked, apparently she came with being friends with Kirishima.

“Yeah, them and Zuku,” Bakugo replied, he was tired and didn’t see the point in shrugging her off, “You?” he added to be civil. God, Midoriya would be so proud that he was keeping his promise to be nice.

“I did, they were very confused since they hadn’t been watching the news and...” she started rambling, so he tuned her out.

And life moved on, classes continued and Bakugo spend more time with people from his class actually communicating with them. Today they were eating in the cafeteria and talking about getting their quirks.

“So, yeah, my parents were happy for me but there weren’t happy that all the lights had to be replaced,” Kaminari finished, getting a few laughs.

“What about you Bakugo? Set anything on fire accidentally?” Kirishima grinned as he elbowed his friend teasingly.

“I didn’t, just burnt a bit of Zuku’s hair off,” Bakugo shrugged, not mentioning that he was afraid to use his quirk for a while after until Midoriya had begged him because he wanted to see and his mother had been there to supervise.

“That’s terrible, was he okay?” Hagakure asked.

“He was fine, the fucker was practically more excited about my quirk than my whole family combined,” Bakugo said.

“How did you even manage to set someone’s hair on fire accidentally,” Kirishima mused.

“It’s easier than you think. Want me to show it to you?” Bakugo threatened with a playful grin, not willing to tell them that they had been playing hero when it had happened.

“Nah, bro, I’m fine,” he covered his hair with his hands and ducked.

And the conversation moved on. Zuku wasn’t mentioned again until the Sports Festival. Bakugo’s parents hadn’t been able to make it and his auntie was too scared to watch, so he had given his family ticket to Midoriya, who had almost burst with excitement.

He had briefly seen him before the start, but then had to say goodbye. As he got up to give his speech, he looked through the crowd until he found him. He could faintly make out the exasperation from this distance and grinned even more.

After that it was a blur of motion with him becoming second at the race, which frustrated him to no end before being thrust into the cavalry battle.

It was only when they got time to prepare for the One vs. One battles that he managed to have a quick talk with his friend.

“I think you can beat most of them, only that Shoto kid is going to be a problem,” Midoriya said, looking through the line up excitedly.

“I’ll crush him,” Bakugo told him.

“Did you see some flame with the cavalry battle? I thought his thing was ice?” Midoriya asked, ignoring Bakugo.

“He’s half-half, but he doesn’t use the flame part ever, unless he’s melting the ice,” Bakugo answered.

“I wonder why,” Midoriya mused, “He’s Endeavor’s kid, right?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Nothing, just a rumor I heard on some hero site,” Midoriya said, “He should use it, it’s his quirk and he should own it. It’s cool that he has the balance.”

“You need to stop hanging out on the dark web, Zuku. It’s dangerous, you don’t know who you’re talking to,” Bakugo scolded him.

“I don’t hang out on the dark web, I have a business, okay,” Midoriya said, “People pay for my expertise, unlike you, freeloader. I even talked to Eraser Head once on there, it was so cool! You’re so lucky for getting to talk with him everyday.”

“Tsk, all he does is sleep and threaten us with expulsion,” Bakugo groused.

“Whatever, who are you most worried about?” Midoriya asked, changing the topic back to the Sport Festival.

“If Kirishima wins, he’ll be a tough match, but I can tire him out,” Bakugo answered, “I’m more worried about the half-bastard and round-face.”

“Stop giving them mean nicknames, Kacchan,” Midoriya, “I think Uravity is a cute name.”

“Yeah, cute, not fearsome,” Bakugo replied.

“Ahw, are you still sour that they wouldn’t let you use King Explosion Murder,” Midoriya teased.

“It’s a cool name.”

“It’s a bit over the top and villain-y.”

“Whatever.”

“But why are you worried about her?” Midoriya asked, “She didn’t seem unusually strong in the other challenges. She moved on because of her teammates, mostly.”

“She can fight, I create a lot of debris, if she manages to use it against me, then I could be fucked,” Bakugo answered honestly.

“Well, then I hope you have been perfecting your blast,” Midoriya raised a brow, “If you can see it, you can blow it up. Just have to make sure you keep your eyes peeled.”

“I know that, idiot,” Bakugo said, “I’m not stupid.”

“Never said you were, Kacchan.”

“Good.”

“You should go make sure your muscles are ready for the exercise.”

“Whatever, mom.”

“Iew.”

“Iew yourself, fuckwad.”

“Bye, Kacchan.”

“Ey, don’t ignore me.”

“I’m not, just going to find my seat again,” Midoriya replied, as he started to walk away, “Tell Shoto I’m rooting for him.”

“You little shit!”

Midoriya was already disappearing, leaving Bakugo by himself to shake his head at his friend. A few others had heard his outburst and when he came back to the seats Kirishima asked: “Are you okay? Heard you yelling.”

“What? Oh, yeah, Zuku came to say hi.”

“We missed him?” Mina jumped in with a pout.

“Why would you want to meet him?” Bakugo asked, “He’s a pain in my ass.”

“Exactly,” Mina said.

“Tsk, whatever.”

“So, what did he say to piss you off, bro?”

“He told me to tell the half-bastard he was rooting for him,” Bakugo pouted, though he would deny it was a pout to anyone.

“You’re friend is rooting for me?” of course the half-bastard in question would hear.

“Yeah, he thinks your quirk is cool,” Bakugo didn’t like that his friend thought someone else’s quirk was cool. It had happened before, but it was different if he personally knew the person and knew there was a possibility he could loose.

“Really?”

“Yes, geez, the half-half thing piqued his interest. He thinks it’s cool that you have the balance and that it’s a pity that you don’t use your fire half because it’s your quirk and he muttered about rumors or something, I don’t know.”

Todoroki blinked at Bakugo’s outburst then he pulled a thinking face, before he said: “Oh...”

“Fucking bastard,” Bakugo muttered when Todoroki looked away again.

After that the first people were called on to fight. When it was Bakugo’s turn, he was almost beaten by round-face but he had been practicing the blast, no matter how many times Zuku would look judgmentally at him and tell him to practice more.

He had also been right about being able to take Kirishima, so now he was standing in front of Todoroki in the finals.

“I saw your sparks in the cavalry battle, give me everything. I can take it. I’m not weak, don’t hold back on me,” he told the other.

There was something in Todoroki’s eyes, but he didn’t reply to him, the bastard.

The fight started and all Bakugo wanted was to win, to have the other use his fire too and still be better than him. He wanted to prove that he would be the No. 1, that he would get to the top and no one, not even Endeavor’s son, could stop him.

He thought of Zuku in the audience and how the twerp had wanted to see the fire, so he would force the other to use it and show him fire.

But the bastard wasn’t doing it.

Todoroki had him with the flame arm, but just tossed him, no flames in sight. While he had him right there. He demanded that he used his fire, excitement coursing through his veins when sparks appeared as he charged again.

He send the other flying, the asshole had extinguished the flames at the last moment and Bakugo’s attack had send him flying.

Rage overtook Bakugo, how dare this stupid kid think he was incapable of handling heat, of handling him at his top. He’d won, but he could have won if Todoroki used everything, but the bastard hadn’t and now Bakugo hadn’t proved himself better either.

“You bastard!” he yelled as he jumped the nearly unconscious Todoroki.

He didn’t get far, of course, with every teacher watching all the battles closely ready to intervene, Midnight knocked him unconscious before he could do anything.

When he awoke, he was still angry and ready to go, but a mop of green hair stopped him in his tracks and he turned to see Midoriya’s judgmental and slightly angry look.

“Zuku?” Bakugo asked dumbly.

“All the adults here are stupid,” Midoriya opened.

“What?” he had expected a lot, but not this, not from the No. 1 fanboy.

“They were talking about restraining you if you couldn’t calm down after waking up,” Midoriya exclaimed, “I mean who does that to a teen on live TV? That’s insane. As heroes they might be used to solving their problems like that, but as teachers they should know better.”

“What?” great, repetitive Bakugo.

“I know right, if I hadn’t managed to convince them to let me try and calm you down, they might have gone through with it. I swear, if they do it I will sue them. They should know better with the media shitstorm that happened after that attack.”

“You’re not here to yell at me?”

“Why would I be yelling at you, Kacchan?”

“Because I lost my temper and I promised you I would try to be nice to everyone,” Bakugo explained.

“I mean, I wouldn’t call that display heroic, but I understand why you got mad, Kacchan. You wanted show you were stronger and- oh my god I just remembered that I accidentally threatened Endeavor, will I be murdered?”

“You did what?” Bakugo yelled.

“It was an accident, I swear.”

“What did you do, Zuku?”

“I told him that Shoto is not him and that he should watch out for the day he got control of his entire quirk,” Midoriya confessed.

“Why did you do that?”

“Because I saw him talk to Shoto and he’s putting so much pressure on the kid when he clearly doesn’t want it.”

“You can’t save everyone, stupid,” Bakugo said, he knew his friend had a hero complex, but this was a bit far, “You might just have pissed off a very powerful person, Zuku.”

“I know, can you ask Shoto if he minds, next time you see him?” Midoriya asked with a frantic edge to his voice.

“Yeah, yeah, just calm down, I thought they send you to calm me,” Bakugo said.

“And I did, didn’t I?” Midoriya countered, “Just check with him if I am going to mysteriously disappear and die, okay.”

“You are so dramatic,” Bakugo told him.

“Just check.”

“I already said I would, geez.”

“Oh, and I totally forgot,” Midoriya’s demeanor changed again, this time to excited, “You won! Congratulations! That’s so cool. I’m so proud of you.”

Bakugo blushed and looked away slightly. He had always been praised and everyone expected the best of him, but the only praise that sounded genuine was from Midoriya, the only person he wanted validation from was Midoriya.

“Of course, I did, nerd,” was his reply, however.

“Yeah, yeah, you’re amazing Kacchan, I know. But I can see how much you’ve learned already, it’s amazing,” Midoriya said.

“Whatever.”

“Grumpy man,” Midoriya teased, “Now get up, you have an award to get.”

“See you when it’s over, Zuku.”

“See you then, Kacchan.”

After Midoriya said his goodbye, he was scolded by Midnight about his conduct, but also congratulated, before he got onto the podium where All Might himself gave him a medal. He was still pissed at the boy next to him, but Midoriya’s words echoed through his brain.

Did he want to win while the other was going all out? Yes, of course. Did he kind of hate the half-bastard for cheating him out of that victory? Also yes. But did he want him to do something even though he hated it? No.

He still sometimes thought about the slime villain that got him and Midoriya on the street that time and how scared he’d been after they got Midoriya out, but not him.

‘They were talking about restraining you,’ that’s what Midoriya had said. And Bakugo shuddered at the thought. No, he didn’t wish a thing like that on another.

However, he did hope the half-bastard got the hang of his full quirk and that they could have a rematch some day.

Deciding that asking if it was okay that his friend threatened the guy’s father could wait, he got out of there. He waded through the crowd of people congratulating him until he was free, running to where he and Zuku had agreed to meet up again before walking home.

His parents were away, but auntie had made him his favorite spicy curry and listened as Midoriya retold Bakugo’s mighty success.

After the weekend they were talking about the Sports Festival in class again. Todoroki was inherently involved since he’d gotten so far and Bakugo thought, this is as good a time as any.

“Hey, half-half,” he began, “How do you feel about threatening?”

“What?” multiple people exclaimed.

He waved them off and focused on Todoroki, who frowned and said: “That depends on the situation, I suppose.”

“Good, good, because I need to know if Zuku is going to get murder by your dad,” Bakugo replied.

“My… dad?” Todoroki repeated.

“Yes, he said he accidentally threatened your dad and he wants to know if he’s going to mysteriously disappear.”

“He did what!” yells were heard throughout the room, but Todoroki seemed interested, so Bakugo was fine to ignore him.

“What did he say to my father?”

“He said that you are not him and that he should watch out for the day you got control of your entire quirk,” Bakugo said, “I don’t think it’s that bad, nor that he’s going to die, but he wanted me to check in anyway and if there is a danger to tell you that you should tell your dad that he deserves to live.”

Todoroki got that stupid thoughtful look on his face again, before he said: “I’ll make sure he won’t disappear, but I don’t think Endeavor sees him as a threat.”

“Okay, all of that aside, which is kind of weird,” Mina jumped in, “But who the fuck is this Zuku person and why does he walk around threatening heroes and telling you how to take out your classmates.”

Bakugo raised a brow and said: “He’s my friend and it’s his whole thing.”

He wasn’t willing to explain more and it wasn’t technically a lie even. Midoriya loved heroes, but he also pointed out their flaws, just because he thought it was accidentally threatening, didn’t mean it wasn’t what he usually did anyway.

And pointing out how someone could be defeated was his whole thing, the thing that would make him and Bakugo the greatest heroes. The thing Bakugo wasn’t sharing with his classmates.

So, he liked having Midoriya’s complete attention, sue him.

School life moved on as they prepared for their final exams. Studying through the breaks became common place and Bakugo would kill for Midoriya and the flash cards he helped him make, since the general studies had more time for actual subjects.

He pulled them out during the break a week or so for the exam because Kaminari was struggling and no one deserved that.

“Here, I’ll question you,” he sighed, pretending it was a much bigger waste of his time than it actually was.

“You made flashcards?” Mina sounded surprised as she leaned over Kaminari’s shoulder.

“Zuku and I did together,” Bakugo confessed, he didn’t like taking credit for something someone else did. He did enough praise-worthy and amazing stuff by himself. Besides, Zuku was tossed aside too easily for Bakugo’s taste and deserved the credit.

“Really?” Jiro said.

“Yeah, he’s very smart and in general studies they have a bit more time for the normal curriculum, so he helped me out,” Bakugo explained.

“He’s in general studies?” Mina asked.

“Got anything to say about that?” Bakugo got on the defensive, he just wanted to help Kaminari, who was struggling with this subject and now they were judging his friend, who was arguably the best hero material out there.

“No, no, no,” Mina quickly said, waving her hands around frantically, “He just sounded like he would be in the hero course.”

“Yeah,” Kirishima backed her up, “All we really know about him that he told you how to take everyone in the class down and that he accidentally threatened Endeavor. We might have made conclusions, but it’s not that big of a stretch.”

“He should be, honestly, but schools are stupid,” Bakugo said, darkly, before his face cleared up and he laughed, “But he’ll be delighted to hear you think that. He’s a the biggest dork ever.”

The others just blinked confusedly at him and tried to comprehend how the threatening friend that kept up with Bakugo could actually be a huge dork that made Bakugo laugh out loud (when he barely even smiled usually, though maybe violence was the thing that made him smile?).

“Then tell us more about this Zuku,” Kirishima said, “Come on, bro, if we’re that hilariously incorrect, you gotta tell us more.”

“I don’t know what to tell you,” Bakugo shrugged, “Like I said, he loves analyzing quirks, is a huge dork that cries over everything and we’ve been friends for as long as I can remember.”

“You have to give us more than that,” Mina complained.

“Yeah, what’s his favorite food?” Hagakure agreed.

“He likes Katsudon, auntie makes the best one according to him,” Bakugo shrugged, he didn’t mind talking about his friend, though it was weird to explain Midoriya, because how could he explain Midoriya?

Midoriya was a kid trailing after him. The person telling him he could fly if he really wanted to. The one who cheered him on and laughed in his face right after. All his best memories had Midoriya in it and there were very little moments where the other hadn’t been there with him.

He knew Midoriya so well that he was pulling a blank when explaining him, because knowing Midoriya was normal for him.

“Who’s his favorite hero?” Kirishima asked.

“All Might, I swear I know more about All Might than All Might himself at this point with all the rambling Zuku does about him,” Bakugo rolled his eyes, but it was fond in a way that he usually wasn’t.

“What does he look like?” Mina asked.

“I don’t know, plain looking?” Bakugo shrugged, “He has green hair and freckles and he’s tiny. Has red shoes?”

“You would be a terrible police witness,” Mina pouted.

“Oh fuck off, I came here to eat and study, alright. I just wanted to make sure Kaminari’s stupid didn’t rub off on me. I didn’t ask to be questioned about what my friend looks like,” Bakugo said, getting pissed off.

“Sorry, sorry,” Kaminari said, “Please still help me with the flashcards.”

In the end no flash cards could save him from being annihilated by Nezu during the practical exam, but no one was prepared for the practical exam, not truly.

Who would look at their teachers and think of ways to take them out?

Well, who other than Midoriya.

When he and Sero were assigned to fight All Might, he saw the hope drain out of the tape user’s face, so he walked up to him and sternly said: “We’re winning, you don’t get to give up already, I am not here to fail.”

He wanted to win from the No. 1, if he couldn't prove himself through that, he couldn't prove himself anywhere else.

“How are we winning against All Might?” Sero despaired.

“Zuku is an All Might fanboy, I have spend years of my life listening to that fucker pick apart what weaknesses you can exploit against All Might,” Bakugo told him.

Privately Sero thought it was a bit terrifying that this Zuku’s hobby throughout his childhood had apparently been figuring out how to kill his idol, but he was also too grateful for it at the moment.

When it was their turn to fight, a few of their classmates gave them a look as if they were preparing for their funeral.

“Let’s fucking go, tapeface,” Bakugo said, dragging Sero with him before the boy could give up again. Bakugo wasn’t going to back down, he was going to win from All Might and prove himself to be the new No. 1, his teammate just had to escape.

The exam started and he and Sero were off, running to where All Might should be, when the first wave of air hit and send them flying.

Bakugo got up and pulled Sero up too, who asked: “Are you sure Zuku knows what he was talking about?”

“You felt that wind right?” Bakugo said, “Then he’s fucking right, now get the fuck up.”

Sero did and stumbled up after him a they ran towards the exit. They didn’t get far, before All Might showed up, ready to attack. So, Bakugo leaped into action, trying to blind him with a flash explosion.

However, All Might stopped him by grabbing onto his face. Not willing to back down and there to win, Bakugo didn’t attempt to break free, instead attacking All Might with rapid speed explosions, but none of it seemed to inflict much damage.

He got slammed into the ground and All Might moved to attack Sero. Bakugo just hoped the idiot was done with his part already.

Sero was already further up the road, trying to reach the exit while Bakugo distracted All Might and had been fashioning a parachute out of his tape. He hadn’t gotten very far on the parachute thing, because he was attempting to do so while running.

All Might was almost on him when Bakugo jumped back in, clinging to All Might’s neck to slow him down and trying again to blind him with the explosions.

He was going all out, knowing Midnight would stop him if he ever went too far.

“Run you fucking idiot,” he screamed when he saw Sero had paused, conflicted about whether he should turn back to help.

Sero ran.

Bakugo was sweating buckets, which actually worked in his favor as he attempted to fight off the greatest hero to date by himself. A small, smug part of his brain thought he was holding out pretty well for someone being pummeled into the ground.

Looking back, he saw that Sero had already gotten far enough, so he jumped back, taunting: “Come on big hero, that the best you can do?”

“Insulting me won’t work, young Bakugo,” All Might replied, not taking the bait.

“So high and mighty, Mr. All Might, thinks himself the world,” Bakugo continued, “Can’t even stop two little kids. How will you save anyone like that?”

Unbeknownst to Bakugo, he’d hit a nerve with that barb. All Might had been steadily loosing power and the weights on his limbs only further proved to him that his health was declining.

Still, he wanted to pretend to take the high road, so he didn’t say anything back as he did a Texas Smash again, blowing a big gust of wind through the city again.

Bakugo laughed as he was swept off his feet and thrown against the pavement. All was going according to plan.

All Might only realized he had been played when Bakugo laughed, he looked up to seek his other opponent when he saw Sero use the wind from his Texas Smash to fly towards the exit with his tape parachute.

He prepared himself to jump, the kid wasn’t there yet, after all, when he felt someone grab on to his leg. He had to give it to the young hero, because Bakugo wasn’t one for giving up. Shaking his leg, he said: “This isn’t going to work.”

“I know,” Bakugo raised his gauntlet-less arm, “But this might,” before firing his quirk with maximum output.

With this action he blasted himself into the pavement, but it had already been damaged and it was more important that he won, that Sero got out. The attack actually blew All Might away and he was quite proud of that fact, even if the hero got up right after.

Luckily for Bakugo, there was no need for him to get up or fight again, because the buzzer sounded and it was over.

They’d won.

They’d actually won.

He got out on a stretcher, despite his protest and was fixed up by Recovery Girl. Sero came up to him and said: “I felt really bad leaving you behind out there.”

“I told you to fucking go, I had it handled,” Bakugo replied, “I would have killed you, if you made us loose by coming back.”

“You two did well,” All Might came up to them as well, “Using my own attack against me was smart.”

“Zuku will flip his shit, if I tell him you said that,” Bakugo grinned, pulling out his phone, “Can you repeat that?”

“Zuku?” All Might asked, slightly confused.

“A friend, big fan of yours, he has whole notebooks dedicated to your quirk,” Bakugo held up his phone again, “Repeat it?”

All Might did so dutifully, before moving on: “But in a real life situation, Bakugo would be dead. You chose to make the play that sacrificed one of your lives to get help. While it is sometimes necessary in this line of work, it shouldn’t be your first plan of attack. It isn’t a shame to run for help when needed. Try to stay alive.”

Sero paled slightly and Bakugo was also slightly uncomfortable with the realization he hadn’t had before. He knew at some level, but it was an exam, so he had deemed winning more important.

Wasn’t winning the most important?

He should always find a way to win, even if it was by paying with his own life. Though, he would like to live so that he could save more people. He vowed that he would become strong enough to never loose, both battle nor his life.

“I will,” he said.

All Might looked at him, then nodded, before a big grin broke out and he slapped Bakugo’s back, almost making him fall over, as he exclaimed: “But good job on defeating me.”

He walked off and Sero said: “Holy fuck, we beat All Might. I am so going to brag about this for the rest of my life.”

Bakugo informed him he was an idiot, but he also couldn’t wait to brag to Zuku about today.

With the final exams behind them, summer break was getting closer and with that the training camp they would go on. The class had decided to go to the mall to do their shopping together and Bakugo had begrudgingly gone after Midoriya had told him it would be good for him.

He had asked Midoriya to come, but the other boy still had a project to do with some people from his school. He had been flourishing in the new environment and Bakugo was happy for his friend, even if he did miss knowing everything that was going on in his life.

Anyway, there he was at the shopping mall, surrounded by idiots who had decided to be his friend with a shopping list of stuff he still needed.

It wasn’t much and he felt like it was more for fun than actively trying to work down a shopping list, so he let himself be pulled along by Kirishima and Mina, who were trying on strange outfits in the clothes stores.

He figured if he still needed to get anything later, he could go with Midoriya.

Mina had been trying to force him to wear a stupid outfit, so he had stalked off to get something to drink while he texted Midoriya that he hated it there, only getting a string of incomprehensible emoji’s back.

The other two came running up to him and pouted: “Come on, Bakugo, it wasn’t that bad, you can pick something else.”

“I don’t want to try on stupid clothes,” Bakugo told them, not stopping.

“Well, what do you want to do then, bro?” Kirishima asked.

“I was planning on getting something to drink, before you two fuckers followed me.”

Mina saw his destination and lit up: “I love that cafe, it’s so cute! We can go drink something there, I’ll text Hagakure, Kaminari, Jiro and Sero.”

“Ugh,” Bakugo groaned, but he didn’t stop her.

Soon enough they were sitting with a menu in hand as they looked at all the different drinks. With a hum, Bakugo commented: “They have an All Might special.”

“Oh, yeah,” Jiro said, “You gonna try that?”

“Nah, maybe I will with Zuku, but they also have a spicy drink and I want to know what the fuck is up with that,” he replied.

“Zuku, hey, he was the one who suggested using All Might’s wind against him, right?” Sero connected the name.

“Yeah, he is obsessed with the dude,” Bakugo shrugged, “His whole room is plastered with his face and he needs to try everything All Might themed. It’s so funny how frustrated he gets if it isn’t up to his standards. Anyway, I don’t think he’s tried these drinks, so I might do that with him sometime.”

“You go with Zuku to the mall often?” Jiro asked, she was there a lot to see the new music releases, but she’d never really seen Bakugo around here.

“We mostly stick to the shops near our home,” Bakugo said, before they went back to picking their drinks.

The drinks came and Kirishima saw the unholy concoction that Bakugo had before him: “Bro, can I try that? It looks like a fire bomb or something, super manly.”

“Yeah, sure,” Bakugo said, “It’s not even that spicy though. Bit disappointing.”

“Cool,” Kirishima grinned, taking a sip. He had barely swallowed when it hit him and he gasped: “What the fuck, this is so hot, how are you alive.”

“Here drink this!” Hagakure had a milkshake that she quickly offered.

Kirishima took a big gulp and thanked her, while Mina said: “It can’t be that bad, Eijiro, you’re just being a pussy.”

“Am not!” Kirishima protested, “I am very manly, but that’s just insane.”

“Bakugo looks fine.”

“And he’s also insane.”

“Oi, what are you implying!” Bakugo growled.

“Nothing, just that your tolerance for spice is not okay and Mina shouldn’t bash me when I am suffering.”

“Can I take a sip, Bakugo?” Mina asked, “Just to see if he’s being a baby over nothing.”

“Whatever,” Bakugo was disappointed in his drink anyway and it was fun to see his friend react so dramatically to nothing.

Mina took a sip as well, then her face screwed up as she quickly said: “Hagakure, your milkshake, quick!”

She was handed the milkshake and soothed her burning taste buds, then with a horrified voice she asked: “How are you just sitting there, this is so hot.”

“This is not spicy,” Bakugo told them, “Me and Zuku were eating worse in aunties onigiri when we were six.”

“Man, I do not want to try that,” Kaminari said, looking at his friends.

“My milkshake is all gone,” Hagakure pouted.

“You can have my drink,” Mina offered, “Not really feeling it anymore.”

It was quiet for a moment, then Jiro asked: “Anyone want to go to the music store with me after this?” most agreed and the conversation moved on.

Some wondering what was up with the fire eating All Might obsessed Zuku that would rage when things weren't worthy of his idol that Bakugo described to them.

Soon they found themselves on a bus, heading for an unknown destination in the middle of nowhere. They had already encountered 1-B and were trying to make the most of the boring ride, ignoring Aizawa.

They weren’t ignoring him when he was telling they would have to hike through the forest to get to the camping place, wishing them good luck before throwing them down a cliff and leaving them to their own devices.

In the end they made it through, but telling them they could be on time for lunch was straight up bullshit and they were exhausted by the time they arrived.

The Pussycats were a bundle of enthusiasm, with the little kid, Kota, sticking out as a sore thumb as he glared at the class. Bakugo wondered what the kid’s problem was, but didn’t really feel like finding out when he punched Iida after he tried to say hi.

“I don’t want to associate with people who want to be corny heroes,” Kota told them, which struck Bakugo as odd, though he was too tired to really think about it.

They stuffed their faces then relaxed in the hot springs. There Bakugo saw Kota again, walking up and down the wall, glaring down at them. He seemed to be doing nothing more so Bakugo just let him and relaxed into the water.

This peace didn’t last, since the kid tripped or something, Bakugo wasn’t really paying attention until he was falling. He sprang in action along with a few others, but he got there first.

“Is he okay?” Kirishima asked.

“He seemed fine, just unconscious, think it was shock,” Bakugo said after inspecting him, “I’ll take him to his aunt.”

There went his relaxing night, he sighed as he hauled Kota into his arms and walked out of the spring.

Listening to Mandalay talking of what happened to the kid’s parents made something loosen in his chest. Midoriya would call it empathy and Bakugo hated it.

He still had both parents, but he’d seen how Midoriya missed his dad, how he’d hated that the man had disappeared with no explanation one day.

Bakugo could also relate to not understanding why. At some level he understood that he was stronger than Midoriya and he didn’t blame his friend for taking the opportunity to get out of the slime, especially since he had been the only one to come back for him. On some nights, however, he wondered why he wasn’t worth saving.

Why he hadn’t been important in the grand scheme.

So, he looked to the small unconscious Kota and saw how he or Midoriya could have been with enough set backs. How easily anyone could become bitter when wronged, even if it had never been intended like that.

He didn’t like the fact that a voice that sounded too much like Zuku whispered to him that he should try and help the kid.

The thought was put on the back burner during training. It was a lot and while Bakugo got it, he didn’t like standing in that tub of slightly too hot water and privately thought that Midoriya was lucky that he didn’t have to do shit like this.

It got worse with class 1-B arriving, but he still paid attention to their tasks, so that he could later recount them to Zuku.

The thought came back again, however, during dinner. He’d been eating the food they’d made, when he saw Kota huff and walk away without food. If there was anything he’d learned as hero and just growing up, it was that food was important, especially for a kid.

He looked at his plate, then to the disappearing Kota, before groaning and shoveling a few bites into his mouth and making a new plate.

Following Kota’s footprints, he managed to find him sitting on cliff. He sat down next to him and offered him the curry with a gruff: “You didn’t eat.”

“I don’t want your curry or you,” Kota told him, “Leave me alone. This is my secret hideout, not yours. I don’t want any of you here.”

Bakugo didn’t let a kid send him away like that, so he just commented: “Your parents were water-type quirk users, right? Water Horses.”

“Mandalay tell you that?” God, Kota was suspicious and angry.

“No, she didn’t mention their names, I realized I’d heard about them,” Bakugo said, thinking back to him and Midoriya watching the news horrified, it was the first time the two had seen a hero die, “I’m sorry for you loss.”

“Whatever, I don’t need you being sorry,” Kota said, “You heroes aren’t special. You’re all just freaking nuts, calling yourselves ‘heroes’ and ‘villains’ and going around killing each other like idiots. Talking about your quirks all the time, just to show off. Idiots.”

“I know a boy who doesn’t have a quirk,” Bakugo told him, “He denied it for a long time. Everyone knew he could never become a fully licensed hero, but he kept clinging to being a late bloomer, even after he was diagnosed.”

Kota looked at him with confusion, unsure of why he was telling him that. Bakugo never really told anyone Midoriya didn’t have a quirk, because the other didn’t really want people to know, but he figured the other wouldn’t be too mad about this.

“He loves quirks, thinks they’re fascinating,” Bakugo went on, “His mom almost send him to a therapist over it, thinking he was projecting his own want for a quirk onto analyzing them. And maybe that was part of it.”

“Why are you telling me this?” Kota asked.

“Because he denied the reality he lived in for a long time,” Bakugo answered, “He didn’t want to admit that the normal road wasn’t for him. And until he realized that it wasn’t his reality, it hurt him. He didn’t want to go to general studies, but when he had accepted that that was just the road he had to take, it got better. He’s still in general studies now and he’s doing amazing things there, because he realized it was his reality and he had to make the best of it.”

“Screw you,” Kota yelled, “I don’t need your stupid story, leave me alone.”

Seeing he’d tried his best and wasn’t getting through, Bakugo decided to give him a bit of space. So he put down the curry and got up, “Just think about what’s making you unhappy,” then he walked back to camp.

He hated that they weren’t allowed to call anyone, because UA was scared the League of Villains would come after them if they knew where they were.

Bakugo thought that was stupid. No respectable villain would come after a bunch of High Schoolers and the attack on U.S.J. had been because All Might was there. An All Might that was not here now because of that very reason.

He understood how UA wanted to avoid another attack scandal, but he wanted to message Zuku right about now. Ask him what he would say to Kota or tell him about all the different quirk training they were doing, forcing their quirks to evolve.

Midoriya probably would have read some theory about it.

Midoriya would know what to say.

Fuck, he missed his friend. Midoriya had such a big heart and he was empathetic, he knew what Bakugo was feeling, understood him. The little nerd could understand everyone, or at least that was what it felt like. He could at least understand how they felt. He might mess up from time to time, but he always got up and kept smiling and going on. He would be a great hero.

What Bakugo wouldn’t give to call Midoriya right now.

They hadn’t been able to talk much recently and while Bakugo liked his new friends plenty, none would know him as well as Midoriya. And he trusted no one like he trusted Midoriya.

He wanted to help Kota, but he had no clue how. The kid was wrapped up in grief he didn’t fully comprehend and angry at anyone who tried to help, seeing them sooner as an enemy than an ally. He was fragile and Bakugo didn’t want to risk breaking him.

Still deep in thought, he made it back to camp. He was snapped out of his thoughts by Kirishima, who asked: “Where did you disappear of too?”

“Hm, oh, clearing my head,” Bakugo answered, not willing to put Kota in the spotlight of people he hated.

“Thinking of something in particular?” Kirishima asked, seeing that Bakugo was a bit distracted.

Bakugo considered shrugging Kirishima off, but he was always upbeat and earnest and he reminded Bakugo of Midoriya. And since no one was around, he actually found himself wanting to tell Kirishima a bit of what was going on inside his mind.

“I just wish I got to send Zuku a message,” he confessed softly after a moment.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Wanna tell me what you want to tell him about, bro?” Kirishima asked, sitting down on one of the benches and gesturing Bakugo to join him.

“All the quirks here,” Bakugo sat down, “He loves quirks so much, you know. He wants to analyze them for a living. We’re planning to start an agency together, I as the hero, he as the man behind the scenes. Man, he would love it here, seeing everyone evolve first hand.”

Kirishima smiled and said: “He sounds cool. I’d love to meet him some day, I wonder what he would say about my quirk.”

“You would get along,” Bakugo was strangely proud of that, “He’s a rambler though, so it might take a while before you can understand what he’s even telling you.”

“Seeing how you do with him in your corner, it would be worth it.”

“Oh, yeah, he’s the best out there. He might be a little nerd, but people underestimate how much he can do. It’s downright scary sometimes,” Bakugo bragged.

“It such a change to see you talk about him, did you know?” Kirishima commented after a moment of quiet.

“What do you mean by that?” Bakugo frowned.

“Nothing bad, you just get softer when you mention him. Fond,” Kirishima explained, “I can’t even imagine how well you two must know each other with just you talking about him, but it’s probably a long time.”

Bakugo chuckled: “You got that right.” He hadn’t given it much thought, but sitting here under the stars with Kirishima, just talking- well, it made him a bit introspective maybe. “I’ve known him since we were both in diapers. Our moms met each other in college.”

“Oh damn.”

“I know, little twerp has been there since forever,” Bakugo agreed, “It’s weird not being in the same class as him anymore.”

“Is that why you’re so grumpy?”

Bakugo thought about that, then shrugged: “I don’t know, a lot of things make me grumpy, but I- I suppose I do miss him sitting next to me in class, muttering under his breath as he writes his stupid notes.”

He wasn’t just grumpy because Midoriya wasn’t there anymore though. He didn’t know why exactly some people got on his nerves, or why he felt threatened sometimes and lashed out.

A psychologist sure would love to figure it out, but Bakugo didn’t like to think about his short comings, so he would probably tell any psychologist to fuck off.

“I can’t imagine,” Kirishima said, “I mean, me and Mina weren’t that close in Middle School, but I’m still glad she’s there. Something familiar between all the change, you know.”

“… Yeah,” Bakugo softly said.

They sat in silence for a few moments after that, until Kirishima took a deep breath and got up: “Well, good talk. Let’s go inside, gonna be a hard day again tomorrow.”

Bakugo groaned and scowled, but felt lighter after talking with Kirishima. God, if Midoriya could see him now, actually making friends and letting people in.

The next day was indeed as intensive as the ones before, but Bakugo could feel himself starting to improve and the comments from that annoying class 1-B brat kept him going.

In the evening they would have a courage test, but when the Pussycats explained, Bakugo just scoffed, because really? Playing at a horror movie?

There were already screams coming from the forest and Bakugo couldn’t believe the others were scared right now. He was absolutely not going to be scared. He was Bakugo, he didn’t get scared.

He never got to find out if he would have been, however, because at that moment a familiar hand covered silhouette appeared from the cover of the trees, grinning: “So, UA children, we meet again.”

“That’s the villain from the U.S.J. attack!” Iida commented unhelpfully.

“Correct,” the villain said, “And this time, you won’t be able to run and scream for help. This time, we win.”

Right at that point they spotted a fire spreading through the forest. When their enemy noticed that they had seen, he laughed manically: “You won’t escape, made some more friends while you were off running, playing hero.”

‘The playing hero’- part triggered something in Bakugo’s brain and he gasped: “Kota.”

He saw Mandalay make the same conclusion as she looked horrified back to the camp, though both of them knew Kota wouldn’t be there. Bakugo looked at the mountain where Kota would be and thanked all deities he knew that he and Zuku went rock climbing regularly.

“I’ll get him,” he said, “You hold them off.”

Mandalay shot him a grateful look and right after he ran away he heard her broadcast in his mind what was happening and that all students should go back to the main building.

When he arrived at the mountain a muscular villain was towering over Kota. He was just in time to hear the man ask: “Are there any students around here? It’s not that I wouldn’t enjoy crushing you, but I have orders to take out as many of the brats as possible.”

Bakugo’s blood ran cold as he realized what that meant for all his friends and classmates in the valley, where the fire was spreading rapidly.

But he couldn’t focus on that now, he had to get Kota out of there, so he called out: “Hey, freak, if you’re looking for a student, here one is. Why don’t you pick on someone of your own level.”

The villain turned around and laughed: “You think your on my level? Let’s test that.”

He charged at Bakugo, who was beginning to comprehend how hilariously outmatched he was by the villain, Muscular he thought his name was. Fuck, he knew that name because he had been the killer of Water Horses.

It was taking all his might to even keep up, or more like to not get absolutely annihilated. He wracked his mind for what Midoriya would say, how he would analyze him and use his own strengths against him.
But he wasn’t Midoriya.

He didn’t have that analytical brain his friend had, what he had was strength and instinct, so he had to hope that was enough to get by, because he couldn’t afford to loose focus by having his mind somewhere else.

Meeting a punch head on with and explosion caused the muscle to disappear, but it regrew again.

“Is that really all you can do?” Muscular taunted, “The least you could do after that threat was give me a challenge.”

Bakugo just wanted to get Kota out, but if they left now, the villain would easily outrun them. If they were to have a chance at escape then they would have to slow Muscular down considerably or they’d be dead.

And he had to warn the others that the students were the targets as well.

Fuck, fuck, fuck. It wasn’t the most elegant internal dialogue, but Bakugo had never claimed to be elegant in his words, so he kept up the mantra as he jumped around the villain.

He was pretty sure he had broken a couple of his fingers, because they screamed at him when his arm got stuck under the regrowing muscle. Trying to escape, he made an explosion and watched as the muscle took a moment to regrow after it had been burnt off and singed shut at the root.

An idea came to his mind. It was undoubtedly stupid and put himself at risk, but it was their only chance and if he didn’t make it then at least he wouldn’t have to listen to Aizawa scold him for breaking the rules.

He dove for Muscular’s legs, firing explosions until the muscle had to regrow and he could stick his hands in there.

With his head trapped at Muscular’s feet, it made for an easy target and Muscular didn’t waste any time, kicking at him and shaking him around. Bakugo knew he only had one shot at this too work, so he was trying to find the best place to hit, which was quite difficult.

Then the kicking stopped and Muscular looked at Kota, who had thrown a stone at him.

“Did you torment my parents like you’re doing him?” his small, shaky voice asked and Bakugo hoped Muscular would never answer the kid’s question.

“You’re Water Horses’ kid,” Muscular finally seemed to recognize Kota, “This meeting must be fate.”

“You’re evil,” Kota accused, voice breaking, “You’re evil and you didn’t have to kill my parents. Why did you kill my parents?”

“Perhaps I didn’t have to, but I wanted to and I do what I want,” Muscular said, “Besides, I don’t blame your parents for giving me this scar, do I? We both did what we wanted, they wanted to throw their life away by pretending their pathetic attacks could stop me and I wanted a fight. Win-win.”

He was preparing to strike Kota, when Bakugo intervened. He thought he had found the best place within the muscle to explode, so he unleashed as strong a blast he could manage. His hands got burnt, stuck in the flesh as they were, but it was worth it to see Muscular topple over.

Pulling his arms free, he broke one of them, but he turned to Kota and said: “Get on, we have to go.”

Kota was still stunned, looking at Muscular who was quickly regenerating. Luckily for Bakugo, Kota was tiny and light, so he could throw him over his shoulders as he retreated. If he could just get Kota away, he could go back to finish Muscular off while Kota ran.

They hadn’t gotten far when Muscular jumped in front of them again, grinning: “You were more of a challenge than expected, kid. I like you.”

“Fuck,” Bakugo cursed under his breath as he put Kota down and got ready to defend him again, he looked at the kid intently and said: “If you have the chance, run. You fucking run, Kota.”

He didn’t get to say more, because Muscular was on him again and he had to fight through the pain while getting hit over and over again, with little to no window to fight back.

It was a loosing battle.

Muscular pinned him down and he had to gasp for air, trying not to think of the slime villain. The villain sighed: “Guess you weren’t that much of a challenge anyway.”

Bakugo just hoped that Kota had ran away, so he wouldn’t see him getting killed by this motherfucker too. He just regretted that he hadn’t broken the rules to say hi to Midoriya again, just to talk to him and see if he did right by Kota.

Then a water spray hit Muscular and Bakugo didn’t know if he should cry or laugh that Kota was coming to his aid, yelling: “Stop that!”

“You wait your turn,” Muscular snapped, “I’ll kill you after I’m done with this one.”

And, just no, fuck no. Bakugo was fine with dying to protect a civilian, he knew that came with the job, but he wasn’t letting a kid get killed. He would rather go out fighting anyway.

His mangled hands crackled back to life and he gathered all the sweat that had appeared in his struggle to send the biggest blast he could manage towards Muscular.

Muscular was send flying, landing a few feet away from Bakugo, who didn’t wait for him to get back up, pouncing on him with all the explosions he had left in him after all the abuse his body had been put through.

Bakugo couldn’t win, but he could hold on while Kota ran. He looked back to check, but Kota wasn’t running, still rooted to his spot. Bakugo couldn’t blame the kid, but right now he hated that out of fight-flight-freeze, Kota had picked freeze.

‘It isn’t a shame to run for help when needed.’

All Mights words echoed through his brain and he remembered how this course of action was one to be avoided. How he wanted to avoid dying. He still had to make Midoriya a hero, he still had to become No. 1.
He couldn’t die, not yet.

With a final blow to keep Muscular down for as long as possible, Bakugo picked up Kota again and ran as fast as he could in the direction of the camp, hoping he would run into a teacher or one of the Pussycats so that he at least would have back up when Muscular showed up again.

His legs were burning and not with familiar fire, while his hands throbbed and felt numb at the same time, while also managing to make him feel as if he was stabbing himself over and over again, but he kept going, kept looking-

There, Aizawa.

A teacher.

“Aizawa! Aizawa!” he yelled, getting his teacher’s attention. He never felt a strong connection to the man, but he knew the other would be there for him and after everything he could nearly cry at seeing his face.

“Bakugo? What are you still doing out there? What happened?” Aizawa asked.

“I went to get Kota, he was under attack,” Bakugo panted, “The biggest hitter hasn’t reached you yet. He said they’re targeting the students, they want to kill as many as they can. We have to warn them.”

He watched as Aizawa paled at his words: “Where is this biggest hitter now?”

“On my trail,” Bakugo said frantically, “I tried to slow him down, but he’s nearly impossible to fight off. It’s Muscular, the one that killed Water Horses.”

“We need to move. Now.” Aizawa ordered, taking Kota from him as they both took off in the direction he’d last seen the Pussycats.

When they got there, Aizawa’s first words were: “Broadcast this to every student. They’re the targets and they have my permission to fight back.”

Mandalay did, Bakugo could see how she had relaxed slightly the moment Kota got back into her sight. When she was done broadcasting, Aizawa broke the other news to them: “We also have incoming. Muscular.”

“Oh no,” Mandalay paled, “We need to get these two out of here,” gesturing to Kato and the heavily injured Bakugo.

“I can help, you can’t take him by yourself,” Bakugo said.

“We won’t be by ourselves,” Mandalay replied, “The Pussycats are a team and we have Eraser Head as back up. We’ll be fine. Get Kota to safety, please.”

Bakugo was used to being the only one out there, asking for help was a weakness in his eyes until a few moments ago when it was either that or dying. But the Pussycats seemed confident in each other, already forming a formation wherein they would literally have each others back.

He would have to trust the pros to not let Muscular through, he could do that.

As much as he hated the idea, this was not his fight anymore, retreating was just the best option. So, he took Kota back from Aizawa and ran as if his life depended on it, which it kind of did.

After that it was a bit of a blur. He later learned the Pussycats and Aizawa managed to take down Muscular and take most of the villains into custody, only missing hand guy and the smoke dude, but Bakugo missed most of it.

When he got back to the camp, he collapsed, adrenaline crash and pain catching up to him as he fell into unconsciousness to wake up in a hospital with a worried Zuku next to him.

“Kacchan!” he exclaimed when he saw Bakugo had woken up.

“Zuku?” Bakugo croaked, throat parched, “Wha’d’re you doin’ ‘ere? Camp? Kota?”

“This is the hospital, Kacchan,” Midoriya said, “You got Kota out of there, everyone made it out safe and mostly unharmed. Except you, you fucking idiot. I am so mad at you, but also so very proud, you beautiful dumbass.”

Bakugo smiled, that was his Zuku alright.

“Don’t smile about nearly killing me with stress,” Midoriya said.

“I missed you, Zuku,” Bakugo countered, making Midoriya pause as his face softened and he replied: “I missed you too, Kacchan.”

“What happened exactly?” Bakugo asked after Midoriya had handed him a cup of water.

Midoriya recounted what the teachers had told his parents, who in turn had told Midoriya. He also apologized that they and auntie weren’t there right now, but he had only just convinced them to go home and take a little break.

“Your friends came by as well,” Midoriya told him.

“You met my other friends?” Bakugo asked.

“No, I was away when they were here, really frustrating, but auntie says they were nice,” Midoriya said.

“The old hag wouldn’t know nice if it hit her.”

“I’m nice.”

“You’re sneaky and smiley that’s different.”

“Touche.”

The room fell silent for a moment, then Midoriya asked: “So, how are you feeling?”

“Honestly, Zuku, I don’t know,” Bakugo answered, “I mean, I’m fine and I think I did the right thing, but I ran. I ran like a coward. Kota already believed in nothing and then I didn’t prove him wrong. You would have done better with him.”

“In this state, I think I would have gotten us both killed or not reached him in time,” Midoriya said, “It took three pro heroes to take him down after you already had wounded him, I don’t think there was more you could have done. And as for Kota…”

Bakugo looked on curiously as Midoriya reached for something. He pulled out a letter and handed it to him as he smirked: “I think you did good enough.”

He read the letter wherein Kota thanked him for saving him, telling him he was sorry for being mad at him and that he was his hero now.

“I heard who his parents were,” Midoriya softly said, “Must have been tough on him.”

“He was so bitter, Zuku, so distrustful,” Bakugo told him.

“And now he has a chance of healing. Thanks to you, Kacchan,” Midoriya smiled, “You’re really becoming a true hero.”

Bakugo suddenly remembered something and he grimaced: “I told him you were quirkless,” then he quickly added, “I didn’t use your name and I had a point, but still, sorry, Zuku.”

“It’s okay, it’s not like it’s a secret,” Midoriya shrugged, sure, he didn’t like it when people knew, but that was mostly because they were dicks about it, but this little kid was someone he wouldn’t meet, nor someone that seemed like he would be a dick about it.

“Still, thought you should know.”

Then it was silent again. Bakugo was in a strange frame of mind, it was probably partially due to the fact that he was just back from unconsciousness, but also everything that happened at training camp.

They had been the targets.

He didn’t know what the League was playing at or why, but the students had been the targets. The villain, Muscular had said so himself, the objective was to kill as many students as possible.

Faintly he wondered what sort of implications this revelation would have.

Midoriya apparently could read his mind and had the answer: “There’s talk of turning UA into a boarding school. To keep the students safe since they’re a confirmed target now. And it’s good, you know, that they want to keep you all safe and I want you to be safe of course, naturally. I don’t want you to get killed, which you almost did and-”

“Zuku,” Bakugo interrupted him.

“I’m going to miss you,” Midoriya confessed.

Bakugo had mostly wanted Midoriya to stop and take a breath, but with that soft mumbled confession it hit him what it would mean. No more talks after school about what happened, no more strategizing together on either of their beds, no more sleepovers.

“I- I’m going to miss you too,” he pulled Midoriya into a hug and both boys sat there, holding on to one another before the other could disappear.

If the villains plan had been to create mistrust and break people apart, it was working, but for now they just spends as much of the summer together, especially after the rumors were true and the teachers came to ask permission for the students to live on campus. Midoriya had an aneurysm when Bakugo told him All Might had been at his house.

But soon enough the summer was over and Bakugo was moving into the dorms with his class.

Without having to split up to go home each day, they spend more time together than ever and talked more as well. This meant that while Bakugo couldn’t talk with Zuku, he could talk about him, though he did call Zuku a lot as well.

They were watching a movie and commenting on the hero work, when Bakugo said: “Oh, Zuku hates this part.”

“Why? I think it’s cool,” Kaminari asked.

“Well, the hero has already fallen and planning to kill the villain, right? So, why is he engaging in all the combat when he can murder him in a few blows. I mean, he has a speed quirk, if he wanted he could speed punch the villains stomach, annihilating his organs, it’s unrealistic that the villain isn’t already mushed to a pulp if the hero wasn’t holding back,” Bakugo explained.

“That’s horrifying,” Hagakure said.

“But true,” Bakugo shrugged, “A lot of heroes can’t use all their power because of how destructive it is, so a lot of filmmakers underestimate the damage one can do. And they aren’t creative at all, according to Zuku anyways.”

“Oh, what does he think of Crimson Riot, that movie they made of him?” Kirishima jumped in, “How would Zuku have advised to kill the final hero.”

“Well, his hair hardens, but they only use it to block blows. But his hair is pointed, he gels it and if he hardens it, he could use his head as a ram and his hair as spear, turning the villain into a barbecue skewer,” Bakugo said, “Just needs a bit more neck support for impact, but he should be fine.”

“Holy shit, yeah,” Kirishima breathed.

Another time he mentioned Zuku was when he had been in charge of dinner and made curry. Those who had been there for the spicy drink affair, looked at the curry with apprehension and asked: “Is this eatable or do we need milk?”

“Auntie would be disappointed in me with how much I butchered her recipe so that all of you could eat it,” Bakugo groused, “I made myself a spicier bowl.”

“Auntie? Is it a family recipe,” Momo asked.

“Sort of,” Bakugo shrugged, “Zuku’s mom taught us how to make it.”

“Ahw, you call Zuku’s mom auntie, that’s so cute,” Mina cooed.

“I’m not cute, now shove off, raccoon, and eat your fucking dinner.”

A few more instances like that happened. They’d known Bakugo and Zuku were close, but with them getting closer they became aware just how many things there were that reminded Bakugo of Zuku that he would point out.

Class 1-A thought it was sweet and Bakugo hadn’t really caught onto the fact that he did it, so they let him be. Besides, it was useful when he commented on their quirks during training, since the Provisional Exam was coming up.

The bus ride over to the exam place was filled with nervous energy and Aizawa knew he needed to encourage them if he wanted them to perform well.

They got interrupted by a boy from Shiketsu High School, but he did help relieve the tension. The class was looking hopeful when they got interrupted again, this time by Ms. Joke and Kestubutsu Acedemy.
It was at that point that it finally happened.

The boy they’d heard so much about and built up the image of scary hero destroying person, who stopped at nothing, encouraging pure violence, was there.

While Ms. Joke was talking with Aizawa, a green haired boy pushed himself through the crowd of second years, yelling: “Kacchan! Surprise!” and jumped into Bakugo arms, who caught him with a noise of confusion.

“Zuku?”

“I wanted to tell you at first, but I thought I’d surprise you,” Zuku said.

“What are you doing here?” Bakugo sounded surprised as he put Midoriya down to look him over, seeing if there were any changes.

“You’re not happy to see me?” Midoriya pouted, voice vulnerable.

“Of course, I’m happy to see you, you idiot,” Bakugo pulled him back into a hug, “I just didn’t expect you here, I thought Kestubutsu only send second years and you’re not in the hero course. You’re not in the hero course right? Or did you get moved?”

“No, no, still general studies,” Midoriya smiled, “My business came up in conversation with my teacher, who told the principle and I was allowed to help the hero courses with their quirks as extra credit. Isn’t that cool, Kacchan!”

“That’s super cool, Zuku!” Bakugo said, voice laced with genuine excitement.

Class 1-A was beginning to catch up to whatever was going on and Mina exclaimed: “You’re Zuku?”

Zuku looked startled, then laughed, before he bowed: “Sorry for my rudeness, I got distracted. I’m Midoriya Izuku, good to meet you. Kacchan has told me so much about you.”

“Ka-cchan?” Jiro repeated slowly as if the nickname for their grumpy classmate would make more sense if it was said at a different pace.

Meanwhile, Midoriya was steamrolling on: “It’s so cool to see you in person, I’ve heard so much about your quirks and I made so many notes,” he gasped, “God, I have so many questions to ask you all!”

Bakugo just grinned at his friend, whose eyes flitted around, identifying his classmates, before he picked Jiro and pounced.

“You have a vibration quirk, right?” he began rambling, “I heard you fought against Present Mic, did your hearing get hurt there? Does that impact you quirk? Do you have a natural protection against your own sound?”

Jiro was too overwhelmed to answered, but she didn’t have to because Midoriya had moved on to another victim.

“You truly are invisible,” Midoriya’s eyes sparkled, “Were you born like that? Or did it manifest later? Do you know what you look like? Is it weird? Is one of your parents invisible too? How did they make your costume? How do you operate in high combat situations or in fights against people like Earphone Jack?”

Then he spotted Fumikage and he gushed: “Dark Shadow is so cool, I saw you fight at the Sports Festival, you’re really powerful. Kacchan said you loose control in the complete dark, have you thought about building a light into you costume and oppositely, have you thought about incorporating something that creates shadow into your costume? I mean you have the cloak, but with the budget Support has at UA they might come up with something even better.”

“I- I mean-” Fumikage began, but Midoriya had too many people he wanted to talk to and he had just spotted Kirishima.

“You’re Kacchan’s friend! It’s so good to meet you, you did so much for him,” Midoriya shook his hand enthusiastically.

“Hi,” Kirishima was the first one, who managed to reply, but Midoriya had things to say to him, so he rambled on happily without caring.

“You have a hardening quirk like Crimson Riot, right, but then your whole body?” he asked, “Does that mean you can harden your hand and just plunge it through someone’s chest? And Kacchan said your teeth harden as well, could you rip someone’s throat out? Or even bite through armor if your enemy wears it?”

“Maybe?” Kirishima said, cocking his head.

It was at that point that Midoriya spotted Todoroki and he squealed. Some would later wonder if he had super speed with how quickly he was in front of Todoroki with stars in his eyes.

A still slightly dazed Kirishima asked: “Is he okay?”

“Yeah, he’s fine, he has to get it out of his system, don’t worry about it,” Bakugo smiled fondly at his rambling friend, who was shaking a shocked Todoroki’s hand.

“First of I am so sorry about threatening your father, he seemed like a dick- ohmygod sorry about that too,” Midoriya said, “But Kacchan said you were training your fire side as well, which is so cool, I hope you master it!”

Todoroki looked like he had no clue what to respond, the poor boy was already awkward in most situations and this was not helping.

“Can you use both sides at the same time? Also how do you not burn someone’s arm off? Could you do that? Have you looked into cauterizing wounds so you can do basic first aid if there are no medics around? Also can you form an ice blade to stab people? You would need more hand to hand combat for that of course- Ooh, but you could make all kinds of weapons!”

“Ms. Joke, what is going on with your student?” Aizawa said in the small silence that happened after Midoriya’s verbal vomit.

“He’s not mine, he’s just tagging along,” Ms. Joke answered.

Midoriya turned back to Aizawa and bowed: “Sorry, sorry, I just got excited. It’s a pleasure to meet you, though we did talk that one time, but I didn’t figure out it was you until Kacchan mentioned his classmate’s quirks. I- I run a small online business. Deku’s Quirk Advise?”

“That’s you?” Aizawa asked, surprised.

“Yeah, I’m not really what people expect,” Midoriya awkwardly rubbed his head, “I look forward to studying your class during the exams, they have so much potential. Thank you for all you did for Kacchan. It’s nice that he has someone he can rely on.”

“Oi, nerd, that’s enough,” Bakugo saw that the analyzing was out of Zuku’s system and decided to step in before he could tear Bakugo’s image apart.

“Ah, sorry, Kacchan,” he smiled, then seemed to remember something, “Mom gave me a bento with curry to give to you, maybe Shoto can warm it for you. Hmm, we never really talk about the domestic uses of quirks, now do we? There should be more research in which quirks are great for domestic help, with people getting older and the shortages in the health care, we should invest in that.”

“Nezu would love this kid,” Aizawa whispered to himself, terrified of that meeting.

Sadly, Midoriya heard him and asked: “Nezu? Do you know which animal his mutation is from? Also, he has an intelligence quirk, right? He uses it to calculate probability when he fights, correct? At least I think he did against Chargebolt and Pinky. How does he incorporate freak outliers? And if he can’t see something, can he still calculate probabilities or would keeping him blind to your movement incapacitate him?”

“Zuku, maybe you shouldn’t ask how to take out our principle,” Bakugo said, “Especially after everything.”

“Ah, yes, sorry, you don’t have to answer,” he quickly apologized to Aizawa.

“No one answered you, nerd, you didn’t give them time,” Bakugo laughed.

Midoriya blushed heavily as he realized how he had just ambushed an entire class with questions, he bowed again: “Sorry, sorry, I got excited. I hope you’re willing to talk to me another time and answer my questions.”

“Of course,” Kirishima grinned, “I’d love to hear more about what you have to say. Bakugo has been hoarding your smarts.”

“Thank you so much!” Midoriya grinned.

Slowly the class was beginning to recover from the flurry of movement and words that had been Zuku and saw him for the plain looking, happy, innocent kid he was. Not at all what they had been expecting, save the intensity.

Then Mina chuckled: “He calls you Kacchan.”

“Shut the fuck up, raccoon,” Bakugo scowled.

More people laughed at the innocent nickname and Midoriya poked his friend and teased: “Are you embarrassed about me, Kacchan? Did little old me embarrass you?”

“Oh shove off, or I’m telling auntie,” Bakugo threatened, before pushing Midoriya over with a fond smile.

Aizawa watched with fascination as his student that had the hardest time relating to people or being nice was heaving an easy camaraderie with this green haired kid. Hmm, Midoriya Izuku, he would have to remember that name.

“Can I ask you something, Mr. Eraser Head?” he was snapped out of his thought by the question and Midoriya quickly added, “You don’t have to answer of course.”

“Uh, sure,” he answered, curious to what the boy ask him.

“Would winking work?”

“What?”

“I mean, it’s your eyes, right? So, does it have to be both of them or could you prolong the duration time if you taught yourself to blink one eye at the time?” then he added more to himself, “If it is only one eye, he’ll have to protect his eyes better with armor, because someone could destroy his quirk with a bit of luck.”

Aizawa blinked a couple of times, then said: “I- I don’t know, never thought about it like that.”

“Oh, that’s okay, just curiosity,” Midoriya smiled.

“And that was enough terrorizing everyone, I haven’t seen you in forever,” Bakugo complained, “I thought you were here to see me, Zuku.”

“Ahw, Kacchan, still don’t like to share?” Midoriya grinned.

“Didn’t say that, just tell me what the fuck you’ve been up to. How’s auntie?”

As Midoriya answered, the two walked away, leaving the rest staring after this kid, who looked innocent with questions that could literally get someone killed. Teasing Bakugo with no fear, while also apologizing constantly.

An interesting contradiction.

Yeah, when Midoriya got his diagnoses as quirkless at age 5, both him and Bakugo were heartbroken as their dream of super cool hero duo fell apart around them, but with where they were now, it might just be that they would still become the most terrifying duo to date.