DISCLAIMER: I don't own My Hero Academia.
Katsuki Bakugou, The Quirkless
All men are not born equal. This was a principle Katsuki Bakugou had to learn the hard way at the ripe age of four years old.
"Hey! What do you think ya doing Bakugou?!"
A boy stood before four others, arms raised in a loose boxer stance as he stood before his opponents. These four were just what he was looking for, four bullies who were going around beating up any kids that they thought were weak. Villains.
He noted each of their quirks as they showed them off, they didn't scare him. The leader, a rough-looking girl with a few pebbles floating in her hand was smirking at him, surrounded by her little lackies. Said lackies included a rather chubby kid with some bat-like red wings, a shaved kid with fists encased in rocks and a black-haired girl with needles poking out of her hair.
"Come on Katsuki! How's a kid like you supposed to take all of us on, eh?"
The kid just grunted, gritting his teeth with an angry scowl on his face.
"You think you guys scare me? I'll take you all on, right now!"
His challenge was met with cold silence, followed by a chorus of laughter, then, the group lunged. Katsuki ducked under the first volley of spikes and pebbles, rolling as he met the groups charge with his own. He could fight them, even without a quirk, he could teach these idiots who's bo-
A concrete fist to the stomach launched him backwards, the kid barely keeping on his feet before a hail of pebbles and sharp needles descended upon him. In reflex, Bakugou crossed his arms to block. Rather than mitigate damage, he merely changed where it went. His sleeves were ripped and torn, giving way for needles and stones alike to scratch at the boy's skin.
Before Katsuki could even lower his guard, a shadow looked over him. The winged kid descended upon Bakugou, using the speed his wings provided to sucker punch him right across the face, knocking him back a few feet and causing him to skid to a stop on the playground floor.
"Get him guys!"
'I have to get up...' Katsuki's own voice echoed inside his head.
That stone-fisted kid was leading, a confident smirk on his face as he strode up to Katsuki. He reared his fist back for a punch.
'Get up.'
The blonde planted his palm on the ground, his lips twisting into a snarl as he fought the weakness in his stomach. Slowly, he was beginning to get up off the floor.
'Get up!'
One foot found it's way under him. The next one seemed more resistant, his stomach turning as he screamed at himself.
'Get up!'
"That's enough!"
Suddenly, as Katsuki's vision shot up to his opponents, he found them all stumbling backwards, as if all of the momentum had been ripped away from them. He noticed a faint, green glow dissipate from them, a scowl growing on his face as he realised his 'savior'.
"Come on guys! You can't pick on him just because he's quirkless! Leave him alone!" Another boy, his previously glowing green eyes fading to match his messy green hair eventually stood between Katsuki and his 'bullies'. Izuku Midoriya, the 'next big hero' had come to save him. The girl leading the group stumbled for an answer, noticeably taking a step back as her friends seemed keen on just running away.
"M-Midoriya?!" she noticeably grit her teeth after her initial shock, surprise giving way frustration as her pebbles hung above her hand. Her focus had shifted entirely on the green-haired boy, completely forgetting about Katsuki even as he pulled himself upright.
"C-Come on Hana! There's no way you can take on Midoriya! He's way better at making stuff float than you! W-We need to get out of here!" shouted one of her lackies. Stone-Hands. He seemed itching to get out of the situation as soon as possible.
"Yeah! Come on!" This time, it was the other girl in the group, Hair Needles. He didn't know her name and was hardly in the mood to ask.
There was a few seconds of the group just standing there, Izuku facing the group of bullies with no hesitation in his eyes. The group had lost their confidence entirely, all but 'Hana' ready to leave. Finally, the girl seemed to relent, letting out an annoyed scowl before her gaze fell back to Katsuki.
"Don't think this is the end of it Bakugou! Pick another fight with us and we'll put you in your place! Come on guys, he isn't worth our time."
With that, Hana, quickly followed by the rest of the group turned to leave, the group only getting a few steps away before Hana hollered. "And for the record Midoriya, Bakugou picked a fight with us so be a good hero and teach him a lesson!" Almost as quickly as the fight started, they were gone.
"Was that true, Kacchan?" The boy turned to Katsuki with a disapproving look on his face.
'Why's he gotta look at me like that? Like he knows what he's doing? Like he's the damn hero?' Katsuki thought to himself.
"Don't call me that! And get out of my way!"
Enraged crimson met confused emerald as Katsuki shoved past Izuku. Before the telepath could reach out to the boy, he ran, disappearing into the treeline of the park before Izuku could even call out to him.
"Kacchan?"
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Stupid Izuku!
Stupid!
Stupid!
Stupid!
Stupid!
Why did that idiot have to always but uninvited? Why did he always have to play hero around him like he was some useless civilian? Didn't he know? Katsuki Bakugou was going to be the name of a hero, the best!
He'd find Hana and her little friends and teach them that. But for now, Katsuki ran, his mind not focused on a direction, instead just focused on getting away, getting away from all of this. Vines licked his shins and knees, leaving small cuts as he made his way through the woodland of the park. The child remembered just a few months ago, when none of them had quirks, when they were all just kids, running around, playing and screaming their lungs out.
Katsuki wasn't looking where he was going at this point, the distant cries of a worried Izuku eventually fading. He vaguely acknowledged a chain-linked fence pass him as he ran but refused to look up. Eventually, the ground under Katsuki seemed to just end. The boy was left to roughly tumble all the way down a wet ditch, curling up into a ball as he roughly descended to the shallow river below. Far too emotional to notice, Katsuki didn't see the water below, landing headfirst into water. His instincts kicked in, hands finding ground as he pushed himself upright, just enough to sit in the waist-deep water.
A sudden calm washed over him. He looked down to his soaking, grey shirt. He had cuts and scrapes all over his arms and legs, some of which were still bleeding. Mom was going to kill him. Then again, she seemed to be less angry these days. Lost in his thoughts and the growing pain his adrenaline hadn't let him address, the boy looked up. There was a log stretching from one side of the ditch to the other, a makeshift bridge he remembered from a couple of weeks ago...
An enthusiastic Izuku had his arm raised above his head, a stick hovering above his hand with a calm, jade aura surrounding it.
"Foooorrwaaaard march!"
He brought his arm down, pointing it forward as he began to proudly march across the rough bark of the collapsed tree. He was followed by a small group of kids, all friends he'd made after he'd discovered his quirk and following from behind, was Bakugou. The blonde kid hung to the back of the group as they marched, a troubled frown on his face as he kept pace. His mom was starting to get worried that he wasn't playing with other kids and once she'd heard about Izuku inviting him to the park, the no-nonsense woman didn't let him take no for an answer.
"Hey, Izu. Why do we have Katsuki with us? He doesn't even have a quirk."
The boy in question leaned to the side to get a better look at the kid who was bad mouthing him. A redhead with what looked like reindeer antlers. Katsuki's frown lowered to a scowl. He didn't even want to be here and now his new 'friends' were bad mouthing him? He wouldn't stand for that.
"Hey! Don't be like that! Katsuki's not useless just because he doesn't have a quirk!"
Another boy interjected, just one person away from a fist to the face.
"Yeah! We need someone to be saved if we want to play 'Heroes'!"
Katsuki Bakugou was content to stay quiet and hang just out of the way for this little adventure. He'd heard insults thrown his way at school ever since people assumed he was Quirkless but this, this... This was something he could not let go.
The boy in front of him had the sense to set aside once he'd noticed the look in his eyes, leaving his 'friend' to be forcefully yanked around and lifted up by his collar.
"WHAT WAS THAT?! I AIN'T SOME DAMN NOBODY YOU CAN TAL-"
All of a sudden, his redheaded friend from before had come to the 'rescue', stepping around his friend and shoving Katsuki clear of the tree. A faint, green glow enveloped the blonde but after a split-second pause, he fell to the river below, his eyes burning with rage right up until the water enveloped him.
He blinked. Then again. Why was everything so...foggy?...And quiet?...And cold? His chest felt weird, like he was drinking just by breath- Katsuki yanked himself upright, immediately falling into a coughing fit as he hurried wiped the water from his eyes. Idiot. A hero wouldn't drown just because he fell into a river.
A shadow cast over the water around him as his ears finally started to pick up sound again.
"Kacchan?! Are you okay?! I tried to save you before you fell but I...i wasn't strong enough. I'm sorry...Here, Let me help you up!"
The frown on Izuku's face quickly subsided to reveal an eager smile. 'Save you'...'Be saved'...was that all he was good for? Was that all he was supposed to do just because he didn't have a quirk?
No.
He pushed Izuku's hand aside, a growl escaping him as he all but shoved the boy away. He spared a glance to the kids above. They were laughing.
"I'm going home. Next time Izuku, leave me alone."
And just like that, Bakugou turned to leave.
"Kacchan..."
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That was right. A hero didn't need help. He was the one people needed help from. Like All Might. When did he ever need help? He always fought alone.
And so did Bakugou.
Forcing himself to his feet, Katsuki sighed out loud before lifting himself upright.
It was getting dark out now, mom was probably going to kill him for being late home by itself, let alone his injuries. That was going to be fun.
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The Bakugou house wasn't exactly small. Back before everyone was getting quirks, Katsuki remembered Izuku being really excited coming over. The fact that the building was detached seemed to be enough to amaze the boy and
"...'m home..."
Closing the door to their apartment behind him, the boy wasn't afforded five seconds of peace before his mother came rushing to the door, a look of pure fury on her face only faltering slightly at the sight of his cuts and bruises.
"It's seven PM you little runt! I was about to go looking for you myself! Your father's been worried sick and worst of all, you've come home covered in bruises again! What do you have to say for yourself?!"
"...'m going to bed." Katsuki didn't wait for his mother's reply, hurriedly walking through the living room and towards his bedroom.
"HEY! GET BACK HERE!" Mitsuki roared.
She was ignored again.
Katsuki slammed the door shut behind him. His room was still a mess, as always, old toys left scattered across the floor. The vibrant wallpaper and all the posters of Heroes just felt...weird now, like they were far away. The boy couldn't make any sense of it. It'd only been...a month? Maybe two since he was diagnosed as quirkless. Why did it feel like it'd been forever since things made sense. Nothing made sense anymore.
Nothing made sense.
Nothing.
Well, there was one thing…
Katsuki Bakugou was still going to be a hero.
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Soooooooooooooooo, here's hoping you guys like some random writing noob writing a Bakugou-centric fic. This idea has been bouncing around for months now and I've been sitting on this draft for a white as well. Of course, this is my first fic so please go easy on me. That said, CC is appreciated while I figure out how to work this site.
A few things i'll pre-empt:
No, I haven't put much thought into ships. I do intend to add romance at some point but i have literally no plans for it right now. If you think a girl would fit this alternate Bakugou, please, send a suggestion.
Considering this fic is changing something so fundamental as the quirks of Izuku and Bakugou, please don't expect them to be exact replicas of the manga/show. They've grown up entirely differently due to their changed circumstances and treatment through the years. That being said, they are still Bakugou and Izuku, just expect changed.
I don't know crap about the Japanese language minus googling the meanings of characters' names so no, i'll not be using -san etc. I'm sorry if you don't like it but i'd rather stick to what i know instead of guessing and eventually getting called out for it.