The same year, March fifth.
Musutafu, 3-1-2 Kamikodonaka-ni, Bakugo family home, Katsuki's room.
Katsuki Bakugo.
Katsuki stared like a moron at the hologram displaying the entrance exam results.
He wasn't first.
His name was second on the list.
He wasn't first!
The blond was breathing heavily, not hearing a word of what some chick in the corset on the screen was saying. His heart pounded like b*tch.
He had a plan: become the first student from their school to get into U.A., take first place in the entrance exam, win the sports festival, and get an internship with someone big like Endeavor or All Might.
That's how it was supposed to be. That's how things should have gone down!
He had to be first!
Katsuki wasn't used to reality not matching his expectations.
He didn't understand how he could have lost. Or what to do now.
"Who is this… what's his name…"
"Niren Shoda."
Bakugo had never heard of him. He tried to think rationally.
"Rescue points - sixty. What the hell are rescue points? What kind of bullshit is this…"
Then his gaze drifted down the list, and he spotted familiar characters.
"Wh-what… Deku?.."
The shitty nerd got in too? How?! Without a quirk, in U.A.? The same U.A. where All Might trained?! The same U.A. where he was going to study?!
No... he was supposed to be the only one from their school to get in!
No!
His plan!
"A-A-AH!"
He screamed and slammed his fists down on the desk, sending textbooks and notebooks flying with an explosion.
***
March eighth.
Morning, U.A. Academy admissions office.
Katsuki Bakugo.
Katsuki didn't remember the name of the loudmouth idiot with the dumb hairdo, and he didn't care—the guy wasn't considered a strong hero.
He came here for information, and he was going to get it.
The idiot tried to avoid answering, but since Bakugo was already accepted, there was no reason to hide the entrance exam footage from him. With a shrug, the guy gave him access to one of the computers and opened the folder with the videos. Then why the crap was he making such a fuss? Clown.
"Find it yourself." Like hell, he will.
He sat down at the computer. Put on the headphones. Played the first video.
After a while, Katsuki yanked off the headset with trembling hands and stared blankly at the keyboard.
It took him a moment to figure out who "Niren Shoda" was. But he figured it out.
When he saw the guy tearing through the stupid robots as fast as he did… and then suddenly running toward a wall and clearing it with ease. He dashed across the field with insane speed. Jumped over another wall. The camera tracked him the whole time, so Katsuki saw how he distracted and then destroyed a massive robot.
The same massive robot that Katsuki didn't attack. The one he decided he couldn't take on!
When Bakugo saw him jump, his heart skipped a beat. He went cold.
He's got the same moves…
He and this… copycat had the same moves.
But he can stay in the air. And he destroyed the robot!
And Katsuki didn't!
But even that wasn't the worst part.
That spineless, shithead nerd, Izuku Midoriya—Deku, "the one who can't do anything"—had a quirk! And not just some useless trash, but something monstrous! Damn it, he also took out the robot they were told not to touch!
The one Katsuki was afraid to fight!
Are you kidding me?!
"A-A-AHHH!!"
"Young man, is everything alright? Please calm down!"
Katsuki spun to face the moron with the ridiculous hairdo.
"I want to be in the same class as… as those two…"
"With whom?"
"With Iz… Izuku Midoriya," Bakugo rasped, biting his lip and wrestling with himself. He never bothered to remember the names of people who didn't earn his respect. If he said their names, that meant... "And N… Niren Shoda."
"I'll be in the same class as them. And then... I'll destroy them. One by one ," he promised to himself.
***
He had a month to try and get used to the idea that the dumb useless nerd had been hiding his true strength from him all this time, and to think things through.
Bakugo still didn't believe it.
Him, Katsuki Bakugo, the genius of his generation, future hero number one, bullied and tormented… this?! Every time, he risked that this pathetic wimp could have blown up the entire school with one punch?! He could've lost his career… hell, he could've died!
No, that couldn't be true.
And there's no way the shitty nerd could've pretended all his life, since childhood. He just wasn't that kind of person. At least when he ran to… - at this point, Katsuki started breathing heavily, trying to calm down - ran to save him, dammit, him from that slimy monster. That's exactly what a weak stupid shithead would do, thinking he could do anything when even Katsuki… and when both of them were saved by All Might...
Deku would have used his power then. But he didn't.
No, something else was going on here. Either his quirk doesn't let Deku use it properly, since he clearly broke both his arm and legs in the video. Or he got it later, after the usual age, or in some other way. Is that even possible? Katsuki hadn't heard of it and found nothing online about it. But he couldn't explain it any other way.
At first, he planned to ambush the dumb Deku, beat him up, and drag the truth out of him.
But then... then he thought about how maybe before, Deku didn't have powers, but now he definitely did, and if he fought back, then...
Every time he thought about what came next, his hands shook, and his heart raced.
No. He wasn't scared, of course not, what a stupid thought. He just didn't want to risk his reputation. After all, his plan... it didn't work out, and if the damn shitty nerd drew attention to himself...
No, he'd wait for class. And then… yes, then he'd take revenge. For everything.
***
April sixth.
Morning, U.A. Academy Class 1-A training grounds.
Katsuki Bakugo.
Katsuki watched his classmates take their turn at the ball throw test with a grim expression.
Most of them were useless weaklings, but a few made him grit his teeth.
That half-and-half snob who was supposedly Endeavor's son was clearly strong. But how could he be Endeavor's son if he shits ice everywhere? Damn poser.
That four-eyed pest ran fast, though he lost his race.
The pricky shrimp with the mist, the bird-brain with the shadow, and the dumb redhead brick all looked tough. It'd be interesting to punch their faces in. Maybe the sparkling fag too.
And that blue-haired copycat was here too, leading in most of the tests, the bastard. Running like a madman. Katsuki didn't give a shit about the teacher's prodding, but the last thing he wanted was to lose.
But what he really couldn't stomach was that once again, he wasn't coming in first!
At least the shitty nerd was still useless, like always. Some stability, at least.
He won't give a shit, though. Most of the tests were dumb school crap. But in battle skills, he was way ahead of them. He showed them what's up in the ball throw, launching the stupid ball seven hundred and four meters. No one was gonna beat tha...
"Infinity."
He choked on his own thoughts.
"The hell? Guess that round-face chick has some power too. Oh right, she was in those videos..."
Whatever, no one else except her and...
Boom!
"Seven hundred five point three meters."
"I hate this!"
So he DOES have a quirk.
"Damn it! Deku! Was he really screwing with me this whole time?"
Bakugo spat on the ground. No. That dumb Deku wouldn't have had the guts.
Still, this time, he didn't even flinch. Whatever... whatever... soon enough, he'd smash both of them to pieces. All he had to do was wait for the practical exercises. Or better yet, the festival.
The blue-haired guy was throwing again, something the teacher didn't like.
He wound up and threw just like last time, which was also dumb, but then...
"Seven hundred six meters."
How? How?!
That's when it hit Katsuki.
The blue-haired idiot got the same result. The same, but BETTER!
Again. Again!
The moment class was over, he moved mechanically, stumbling into the locker room, into the shithouse and...
"A-A-AHHHH!!!"
"What, run out of toilet paper?" came a sympathetic voice from behind the wall.
"SHUT UP! DIE!"
***
April eleventh.
Noon, U.A. Academy's Training Ground "Beta".
Katsuki Bakugo.
Katsuki finally had the chance to beat the crap out of Deku. No one would stop them, no one would interfere... he wouldn't kill him, right? Katsuki was trembling with anticipation.
Round-face with the gravity quirk was babbling and getting in the way, but he paid no attention to her until All Might announced the start of the exercise. Shoving the girl aside, Katsuki launched a cascade of explosions, propelling himself towards the first floor. He would attack them right away. Unexpectedly. The nerd wouldn't have time to hide or come up with some plan like he always does.
And Katsuki would show, once and for all, who was the best.
Then it would be the copycat's turn!
He would...
Now...
"Eh?"
Neither Deku nor the eared girl were on the floor.
They couldn't have entered from another spot—they had to be here... unless... ears.
What if that headphone chick could listen in on his movements?!
"DEKU!!!" the blond roared, charging back upstairs.
Caught up. Intercepted. It wasn't hard to figure out where those idiots were moving—opposite from him, as far as possible.
"When did you get a quirk?!" he shouted at the dumb nerd, bursting around the corner at full speed. "How long have you been making a fool of me?!"
He raised his right hand to punch that stupid masked face...
"Huh?"
The world spun, and the breath was knocked out of him as he hit the floor. Bakugo blinked. Ceiling. They wiped the floor with him. Deku. Deku slammed him into the ground!
Screaming, Katsuki blasted upward and finally got to Midoriya, briefly restoring things to the way they should be—he's strong, the nerd is weak, he's winning, the nerd is sniveling, curled up on the floor... Yes, yes, this is how it should be!
Until the new reality reminded him otherwise.
"Go!" yelled a tall, hated voice.
He tripped on something, felt sick, fell... stumbled down...
"DEKU!!!"
He shot back up, returning to the floor, but those rats had already bolted.
"He tricked me again! I'LL KILL HIM!"
Collapse...
"Those... those bastards are running!"
Collapse...
"Where are you running, nerd?! Let me grind you into the dirt!"
Collapse...
"Freaking cowards! I hate you! Fight me!"
Collapse...
"FIGHT ME! I WANT TO PROVE THAT I'M BETTER!!!"
"Te... team 'A' wins!"
Katsuki stumbled and fell to his knees, like a puppet.
"D-Deku predicted my moves... took me out... and found a way to win the exercise... he didn't even really use his power!"
"Does that mean... if we went all out against each other... he would have completely beaten me?"
"A-A-AHHH!!!"
***
April eleventh.
One PM, Observation Deck, U.A. Academy's Training Ground "Beta".
Katsuki Bakugo.
After somewhat recovering from his latest fit—heart pounding like a woodpecker, breathing is wild, as if he were suffocating, chest aches, and there is... a feeling of unease—Katsuki stood with the others, first listening to the analysis of his punches with Deku, and then watching the other matches.
Deku had been taken to the medical bay.
He heard the critique of his actions from the big-boobed girl with a tail and almost grabbed his chest, where it tightened again—she was right, and Katsuki... really had been wrong.
He stared wide-eyed at the fight between the Lego-girl and the four-eyed dumbass. A cold, scaly shit crawled down his spine.
How do you even fight someone like her?! She's everywhere! She's more mobile than Bakugo himself, a trait he took the most pride in when controlling his quirk!
"Okay, maybe area explosions around me... but I can't explode every second! Maybe I could out-speed her..."
Katsuki felt uncertain. Uncertain in his own strength. In his quirk, which had never let him down! And why?! Because he wasn't sure he could beat some girl!!
...Frozen, he watched the skinny with the mist cover the entire building and take out two weaklings solo in just a few minutes.
"How do you fight him?! Damn it, I'd lose! I'd just freaking lose if I went up against him instead of Deku!"
He couldn't take it anymore and clutched his chest, gasping for air.
... Powerlessly dropping his hands, Katsuki watched as Endeavor's son turned the whole building into a block of ice. That was it. Game over. He wouldn't have beaten him, no doubt. What kind of monster was in their class? What could anyone even teach this Half-and-Half Bastard if he could already beat the shit out of half the pros? What's the point of all this...
"At least the copycat will lose," flickered an idea so disgusting even Bakugo himself hated it.
"He's... flying?"
...Clenching his teeth until it hurt, the blond desperately watched as the Half-and-Half was slammed into the ground.
His eyes stung. Something ran down his cheek.
No. No! NO!
Shit. Shit! SHIT!
"How?! HOW?! HOW COULD HE WIN?! I WOULD HAVE LOST! AND HE WON!!!"
He can fly... he wouldn't lose to the mist-shrimp either...
"And if he's better than me, then maybe I'm the copycat?!"
Katsuki bent over and covered his mouth, choking back the shameful scream of despair trying to escape:
"A-A-AHHH!!!"
***
Katsuki didn't understand what was happening to him. What were these attacks? And what was he supposed to do?
Over the weekend, he went online and looked up his symptoms.
Existential crisis? No. Midlife crisis? No. Heart attack? No.
Panic attack?
"A sudden onset of anxiety accompanied by distressing sensations like rapid heartbeat, a feeling of suffocation, chest pain, dizziness, diarrhea, and nausea."
"Sounds about right."
"Was I... scared? Scared of Deku?"
"Seems so," Bakugo whispered, putting his phone aside and sitting in the dark, huddled in the corner of his room.
Surprisingly, accepting and understanding this didn't trigger another attack.
But what did was the next Saturday.
Because that day, there would be another training session with All Might.
All Might, who had stopped him on the way out of school and tried to say something... some bull about pride...
All of Bakugo's remaining strength in that moment went into not breaking down and crying right in front of his idol. Crying like a kid. Like Deku.
But what was worse…
They'd be in pairs again during the exercise.
And if Bakugo was up against that scrawny mist guy…
Or Deku…
Or the puzzle girl…
Or Half-and-Half Bastard...
Or Blue Hair?!
Huddling in the corner, hidden from anyone's sight, feeling humiliated only in front of himself… he let out a sob.
And he swore to himself that never again, not once in his life, would he ever fear a challenge from anyone.
He would become the strongest and crush anyone—no matter what it took.
Because as long as he didn't give up, Katsuki was unbeatable.
"I will break and keep breaking myself. I am ready to step over my own limits to win! I will never accept that you defeated me, not for anything!"
***
April sixteenth.
Four PM, U.A. Academy, Hero Course, first floor, Class 1-A.
Katsuki Bakugo.
"I have a suggestion..." Blue Hair started spewing some bullshit.
Bakugo didn't care. He was waiting for Saturday. And preparing for it. Training like a maniac every day after school. Maybe he should ask All Might to pair him against one of them.
A mocking question hit him from behind as he was leaving.
"And where do you think you're going, Bakugo?"
"None of your damn business," he spat, mentally adding, "Just wait until Saturday, you bastard! Just wait! And die!"
Katsuki barked at some classmates who were in his way, preventing him from reaching the door:
"Move!"
He was stronger than all of those extras... Their opinion didn't matter, it shouldn't bother him.
"You're just afraid of losing again, huh?"
Bakugo froze.
His heart skipped a beat.
But there was no panic attack. He wasn't afraid. He was stronger. He would prove it. Watch him, watch everyone...
"You're just asking for it, you piece of s**t," he thought with satisfaction.
"What did you say?"
He held back the urge to lunge at the smug jerk and wipe that grin off his face along with his stupid head.
"Saturday, Thursday… what's the difference? This is my chance to win... my chance to win…," Katsuki Bakugo thought.
"And destroy you! After this match, you'll be carrying your teeth in your hand!" thought the future Number One Hero.
"I'll win this damn match!"
Author's Note:
As you might guess, writing these chapters is hard. You partially experience intense negative emotions with the character, change the style and vocabulary of your writing to better match the hero, and end up feeling slightly unhinged, like you've had five cups of coffee. And there's only one on the table… three… four… Wait.