He hated the two words on his wrist not for what they meant, but for what they represented. Another time Izuku Midoriya had been in control and fooled Bakugou into thinking he wasn't. Another time Midoriya had deliberately hidden things from him.

The thing Bakugou Katsuki hates the most is when someone hides something from him. He especially hates it when that someone is Midoriya.

The age of superheroes wasn't the only outcome that originated from the advent of quirks. Your powers didn't only give you the ability to save people. They also gave you the ability to peek into what fate had in store for you.

Accordingly, being quirkless didn't only mean you wouldn't be able to be a great hero who smiles in the face of adversity. It also meant losing the ability to be blessed by fate.

Midoriya learnt from a young age that his dream wasn't the only thing genetics had robbed him. He had also lost any opportunity of having such a powerful connection. Of knowing he was destined to be the perfect partner to someone else and have the perfect partner in return. Of loving someone and being loved in return. Of being complemented in every single way. Of having a soulmate.

Midoriya Izuku had a soulmate. Being quirkless meant however that his soulmate didn't have him. They wouldn't want him anyway. Soulmate marks were related to someone's quirk — nature's way of telling how you both would benefit wholly from one another. Midoriya had nothing to give in return, for he had their name but they didn't have his. Soulmate bonds are supposed to be reciprocate. His, however, was useless in a world where power meant everything and love was secondary. Especially for people destined to be powerful. Especially for his soulmate.

Bakugou Katsuki had made it clear that it was better to lack a soulmate than to lack a quirk. That to be quirkless was to be worthless. That a mark without a quirk was as pitiful as it can be. That it was best to have none than to have a useless one. That it was best to have no soulmate than to have a Deku.

Quirkless. Useless. Meaningless.

The weakest.

Deku.

Izuku wasn't even four when he noticed their existence.

As with every morning, he had woken up with the familiar scent of toasted bread and freshly-made coffee. As with every morning, this meant that his mother was awake and would be waking him up in a few minutes. He let himself enjoy the comfort of the mattress for a little while longer, fully enjoying the lazy worriless moments of childhood mornings, stretching his small arms up into the air and towards the All Might posters that covered every single wall of his room, even the ceiling, as he breathed the fresh air of early spring days.

His eyes narrowed as he noticed the overnight appearance of a couple light strokes carved right into the skin of his left wrist. The small lines arranged themselves in such a way that they seemed to be trying to form a word, if only they weren't so small, so few, and so faint. If it were to be indeed a word, most of its characters were indeed missing most of its strokes. Yet, he immediately thought of them as such.

Izuku's bright green eyes bulged when he fully realized what it meant. Even at that age, Izuku had already tried to know everything there was to know about quirks. He wanted to have his so badly, he couldn't help but absorb like a sponge every little piece of information he could lay his hands on. This mark included.

Words carved in his skin were supposed to appear at around the same age one gets their quirk. That was why every adult wore something around their wrists — to hide them but at the same time to show they had it. He didn't know much of what it meant, but this was the sign that his quirk was coming, right? That he was getting one soon, right? That he would start his journey as a hero. That he would be like All Might.

He sprung out of bed, almost tripping up on the fallen action figures he had forgotten to tidy up last night, rushing to his mother's side as he grabbed her by her clothes, jumping frantically as he tried to show her the proof that he was growing up.

"Mom! Mom! Look! It means I'm getting my quirk soon, right?" his big green eyes were glimmering with excitement, his smile covering his whole face as he jumped up and down "Right, mom? Right?"

His mother smiled gently as she tried to calm him down, making him sit and forcing him to start eating his toast and rice. Izuku was too excited to even think about eating, but she promised to explain him everything, provided that he ate while she did it.

"It's a soulmate mark" she said, sipping on her cup of coffee as she looked into her son's eyes, smiling fondly at how excited he seemed. Then, she put it down and took off the golden bracelet she wore on her left wrist, showing Izuku the slightly faint, but definitely clear characters on her skin "See, here's mine. Can you read any of it?"

Izuku shook his head. He could recognize the first two characters from the kanji that were written in their mailbox, but that was about it. His mom stood up, fumbling in the kitchen drawer for a pencil and a piece of paper.

"What if I write it like this?" she asked, writing on the paper characters way more familiar to him, ones he had started learning this year at school. He had learned the first four ones by heart — after all, they were part of his name. The other ones were harder. It took him a while, but after a minute or so he finally realized what it meant.

"It's dad's name!" he screeched, thrilled at being able to read what he perceived to be a difficult word "Why is it there?"

"When your soulmate starts to manifest their quirk, their name starts to appear on your wrist. First, it's not finished, just some faint lines, not really making any sense. But when they start to control their quirk, you can finally recognize your soulmate's name. It usually takes some time, but when you start school, if you're lucky, you might be able to read it!" she smiled "I found your father's name on fourth grade. The brighter they are, the stronger your soulmate is at controlling their quirk."

Izuku looked confused at his wrist, not really getting what his mother meant. What was a soulmate? Why should he care that another person had gotten their quirk — what about his? Did this mean he would get a quirk or not?

"So, will someone else have my name on their wrist?"

"Once you get your quirk, dear. And that means you'll be together forever, just like mom and dad" she smiled and then kissed him on his forehead "Now, finish your breakfast or you won't grow strong enough for your quirk to appear!"

It wouldn't take too much time, Midoriya thought. If his "soulmate" already had his quirk, he would probably get his soon too. If they were to be partners, Midoriya had to have his quirk as soon as possible, so that he could team up with his soulmate and become a hero with them.

It certainly wouldn't be long until his name started to appear on someone else's wrist.

He had been the first in his class to get his soulmate mark. Not that he had made a big deal out of it. He wasn't ever the one to show off — he didn't want to bring more unwanted attention to himself.

Any word he could have said about the mark would have been overshadowed anyway by that week's big event. Kacchan had gotten his quirk and it was absolutely, incredibly, undeniably amazing. Izuku couldn't take his eyes off of him when he would seamlessly make small explosions out of his hands, bigger and more precise with each new attempt. It was cool and powerful, befitting of a hero. At that time, Izuku's feelings weren't those of envy, but instead those of sheer admiration. He wanted to get his quirk fast, so that he could walk alongside Kacchan, so that he could be a hero with him.

As the weeks went by, his mark grew more noticeable and Midoriya asked his mother if he could start wearing something to hide it. He was already teased enough, he didn't want to give his classmates more reasons to do so. So, at first, Izuku would wear a small watch on his wrist and, when it started getting difficult to hide them with the watch, his mother brought him wristbands of various styles.

Only a couple months later did his classmates start getting their marks, as well as their quirks, and they would boast proudly, showing each other how clear the lines were starting to get. None was anything special next to Izuku's, however. His was way clearer and brighter than any of the others. The only explanation for that was that his soulmate was obviously a prodigy, mastering his quirk way too fast.

His mark, the evidence of this other person's talent, grew more noticeable by the day, whereas his quirk didn't show any sign of manifesting itself. Despite this, he never felt resentful. His soulmate was talented, amazing, someone to look up to. Just like Kacchan. He just needed to catch up to them.

It wouldn't be long, he said to himself. He was a late bloomer. His name would appear on someone else's wrist, even before he could find out whose name was appearing on his.

Katsuki wasn't even four when he manifested his quirk for the first time.

It didn't take much time for him to know what this meant. He was special. After all, his quirk had appeared sooner than it had on his friends and it only showed signs of getting stronger way faster than anyone else's.

He was special. The obvious conclusion to derive from this was that, apart from a special quirk, he would also have a special soulmate. Someone amazing, befitted of his talent. Worthy of walking alongside him. Bakugou Katsuki was amazing and fate knew that he wouldn't settle for less than number one. His soulmate had to be the number one too.

So why was it that more than a year had elapsed since he had gotten his quirk, most of his friends had gotten theirs too, but his soulmate mark showed no sign of appearing? He would check every day to see if something was there but the skin on his left wrist remained completely untouched.

Why was it taking so long? If his soulmate was great, they must have had their quirk already. Only below average people hadn't theirs already. Like Deku. No, if he had a soulmate, they would have already manifested their quirk, of that he was sure.

The only sensible reason for his lack of mark then, was that he didn't have a soulmate. But why? Was he not worthy of one? Was he not special enough? Was he below-average, just like Deku?

Katsuki Bakugou decided on his sixth birthday that he wouldn't wait anymore for his mark to appear. He didn't need a soulmate. He already had a quirk strong enough to become the number one hero one day. He knew for a fact that he was special, that he was amazing. He didn't need someone else, he was already more than enough alone. Maybe that was what destiny had in store for him. Alone, he was already complete, no need for soulmates.

He would be the indisputable number one. The indisputable number one can't have someone walking alongside them. He stands, alone, above the others. That was his fate.

Katsuki Bakugou displayed his untouched left wrist like a medal. The sign of his uniqueness.

Unique. Powerful. Worthy.

The indisputable number one.

Alone.