Kurage Awako was running. Thick, messy brunette curls flew around her face as she dodged students, weaving between them easily as she made her way down the hallway. In one hand she held a paper, slightly crumpled and titled "Future Career Form", and in the other she gripped tightly onto her messenger bag. Gray eyes read the numbers of each classroom as she made her way down the hall. With each passing room she felt the excitement bubbling in her stomach. She had something very important to tell someone.

Her cheeks were flushed red as she finally made it to the classroom, trying to catch her breath. When she finally straightened herself she stared at the doors before reaching out a hand. She hesitated at first, butterflies fluttering in her stomach, before sucking in air and sliding open the door.

"K-Kacchan-" she began, before hearing the familiar sound of an explosion.

Her gaze moved from a now destroyed notebook to the blonde that held it in his hands. Her eyes widened as they moved to the two boys that seemed to follow him around almost as much as she did and finally settled on the green-haired boy looking terrified. He turned his gaze to her, his eyes pleading with her to do something. Anything.

Awako had always known to stay out of Bakugou Katsuki's way when it came to Midoriya Izuku. Even as children she often turned a blind eye to his aggressiveness towards the quirkless boy. She would often become subject to his bullying if she tried to step in to help.

So, she did the only thing she could do. She shut her mouth and watched, eyes wide and her hands trembling. She watched Katsuki move to an opened window, completely ignoring that she had entered the classroom at all.

"The best heroes out there, well…" Katsuki began, waving the notebook around as he spoke, "They showed signs of greatness even as students." He didn't move his gaze from Izuku as he flung the book out of the window carelessly. Both Izuku and Awako let out a squeak, Izuku reaching his hands out. One of the boys had heard her and turned to look at Awako, finally acknowledging her presence in the room. His gaze moved up and down as he slipped his hands into his pockets.

"I'll be the first and only hero from this shitty middle school! The first to win the honor of becoming a student at U.A. high!" he crowed, a smirk on his face.

Awako took a step backwards and her palms began to sweat. She tightened her hold on her messenger bag strap and paper, crumpling it even more. Her face flushed red at his words and she tried to open her mouth to say something. She could only manage another soft noise.

"Oi, Katsuki, Wanko's here," the boy said. All eyes turned to her and it made her body tremble. Helplessly she opened and closed her mouth like a fish, trying to come up with anything to stop the scene from continuing on. She took a few shaky steps forward and began to choke out "S-Stop," before she met Katsuki's cold glare.

She bowed her head, averting her gaze to her feet and bringing her hands to her stomach, gripping her shirt. She had stepped down. She knew better than to challenge him right now.

He glared at her for a moment longer before turning his gaze to Izuku and placing a hand onto his shoulder. It sizzled dangerously as he said "In other words, don't you dare get into U.A., nerd."

Awako peeked at Izuku from beneath her disheveled bangs and felt her heart drop into her stomach. It twisted to the point a nausea when she heard the other two boys spit even more insults at him. She didn't understand. The bullying never made it past petty name calling before. Little things here and there that weren't that big of a deal. She couldn't understand why he was so spiteful towards him.

He stopped beside her, his gaze moving to look down at her. He smirked once more before saying "You wanna be a hero? I have some advice for ya. If you think you'll have a quirk in your next life, go take a swan dive off of the roof!"

Awako's eyes widened at Katsuki's words before they sought Izuku. His face twisted into pure hate as he whipped around to face them. The grip on her shirt tightened.

"Yeah? What?" Katsuki snarled back, his hand crackling in a warning. Izuku completely faltered, not saying a word. Pushing past Awako, Katsuki said nothing as he bumped her, his hands slipping into his pockets. She stumbled back slightly as the two other boys moved past her as well, snickering to themselves.

"C'mon, Wanko," he called.

She was left alone with Izuku and she looked from the door to him, holding her arms out. There had to be some way to salvage the situation. She had to do something. Her gaze moved to the crumpled paper in her hand and she sucked in air, beginning to say something.

"Wanko," she heard Katsuki call again, an edge of annoyance in his voice. She hated that name sometimes. She hated this.

Obediently she peered out of the classroom to look at Katsuki, who leered at her from down the hallway. She opened her mouth then closed it before giving Izuku one last look. She could feel Katsuki's eyes burrowing into the back of her head and she stepped out of the classroom, leaving Izuku alone.

"Wow, she really is like a dog," she heard one of the boys whisper to the other with a snicker.

Peering around the corner of the school Awako finally spotted him. Izuku was fishing his notebook out of the school ground's koi pond and looking dejected. Sucking in another breath she scuttled over to him calling out "Dekkun!"

He jumped slightly, nearly dropping the notebook into the pond again before turning his head to look at her.

"O-Oh, Awa-chan!" he said, looking around nervously. If she was here, Katsuki had to be close by. "Wh-What are you doing here?" He asked, peering over her and shifting his eyes back and forth..

"Here!" she said suddenly, shoving a blank notebook into his hands. "I'm so sorry Dekkun! Please forgive me!" she said as she bowed. He stared at her for a long moment, then looked down at the notebook. It was pink in color with stickers littering the front. It was blank otherwise. He nibbled on his bottom lip before saying "It's alright, Awa-chan. Don't worry about it…"

"No!" she said, straightening herself so fast that she nearly bumped his chin. "I should have said something earlier." After another moment passed she bowed again. "Please. I'm sorry." She knew it was a pathetic excuse of an apology, but it was the best she could do at the moment. Katsuki would be furious if he knew she was here. She relaxed once she saw Izuku slip the notebook into his backpack.

"I...I really hope you get into U.A.," she said to him, her hands gripping onto her messenger bag strap. "I...I want to go to U.A. too. I want to become a hero," she said, looking up at him again. He wasn't exactly the person she wanted to tell first, but she hoped to cheer him on with her words. Maybe even give him some comfort.

"Dekkun...I want to find what's important," she confided in him. "Let's become stronger together," she said before turning from him and racing off.

Bakugou Katsuki noticed something was missing. Well, not something. Someone. Someone who stood about as tall as his shoulders, with bushy brown hair and bright gray eyes. Someone who reminded him of a lost puppy with the way she followed him around. She always seemed to be yapping and whining for his attention. It was annoying.

Where the fuck did she go?

He ignored to chatter between the two boys that walked behind him, taking a sip from his drink. She had to be here somewhere. Maybe she got distracted by one of the stores they passed by.

It was then that she simply bumped into him causing him to almost spill his drink.

Almost.

Her arms were stretched out infront of her and her fingers had spread out. The liquid floated in the air, inches from the ground. Her quirk was liquid manipulation, something that seemed to contrast to his explosions quite a bit.

"You stupid idiot!" he barked at her, snatching up the can from the ground. He leered down at her as she lowered the liquid back into the can. He then watched as she bent over, placing her hands on her knees and trying to catch her breath.

"Watch where the fuck you're going!" he said, before taking another gulp. She didn't react to his harsh words, and for some reason that seemed to stir something deep inside of him. Lately she hardly even flinched when he called her names. She seeme to stand up to him more lately too.

"Hey, haven't you two known Midoriya since you were kids?" one of the boys asked. Both Awako and Katsuki looked at him and then at eachother before Katsuki finished his drink. "Yeah, you went too far today," the other chortled. Awako straightened herself, wiping her mouth as she looked over to Katsuki, waiting for his answer.

"It's his fault for messing with me," he said, more to Awako than to the ones asking the questions. "Seeing him so full of stupid dreams just like when we were kids just pisses me off," he snarled, crushing the can in his hand with a small explosion.

"Leave Dekkun alone."

Her voice was small, and it cracked slightly, but it felt like a slap in the face. He jerked his head to look at her and saw that her hands were balled up, a fierce flicker in her eyes. He took a step towards her, a sneer on his face and his palm crackling dangerously. It was an empty threat of course. He could never really bring himself to lay a hand on Awako. Not since they were kids. She was just supposed to back down. It was just supposed to spook her into keeping her mouth shut.

Her eyes widened and seemed to look past him now.

Good. Much better, he thought.

"A body...with a good quirk," was all he heard before his body was enveloped in mud. It suffocated him and he writhed, his shouts muffled by the liquid filling his mouth.

He heard Awako shriek his name, causing something to stir inside of him once again. Something different this time. He wrenched his eyes open and saw her desperately clawing at the mud while his so called "friends" watched in horror. Fucking cowards.

"Get..the fuck...away," he choked out.

"A test subject...good," the monster growled. Katsuki felt his hands spark a few times and he frantically looked from his hand to Awako, who had gripped onto his shirt from beneath the mud and yanked it with all of her might. He wanted to scream at her to run. He wanted to call her a fucking idiot for putting herself in danger.

The crack of an explosion caught his attention and he watched in horror as Awako fell to the ground

It was the sound of a cheering crowd that awoke Awako. Her head felt fuzzy and throbbed on one side and she could only squint her eyes when she opened them. There was a pain in her shoulder and arm, and she looked down to see it bandaged up from shoulder to elbow. The sleeve on her school uniform was torn away.

"Good, you're awake. What a relief." she heard someone say. It was Kamui Woods, one of her favorite heroes. Her face immediately flushed crimson. She was a huge fangirl of his, and it caused her face to turn even more red when he handed her messenger bag to her.

"This is yours," he said. The strap had burnt and broken and it caused all of her memories to come flooding back.
"Kacchan!" she cried, shooting up and staggering a bit.
"Careful," Kamui said, trying to steady her on her feet. "You hit your head pretty hard."

She took the bag from him and thanked him softly before looking around. From what she overheard from various reporters the monster had been destroyed thanks to the great hero All Might and two boys had been saved from the scene. Quickly she rushed through the crowded streets, hugging her bag close to her chest. She peeked in shops and alleyways, looking for Katsuki. Soon tears began to stream down her cheeks as her anxiety overcame her. She desperately wiped at her face over and over as she ran, trying to calm herself down.

Soon she made it to their neighbourhood. It was then that she nearly ran into him again after rounding a street corner. Relief flooded her as she saw that he looked generally unharmed besides a few scratches on his face.

"You're safe," she wailed, tears falling faster down her face, "I'm so glad!"

He stared down at her as she hiccuped, wiping the globs of tears that rolled down her cheeks. Had she been crying this whole time?, he wondered. His gaze moved to her bandaged shoulder and he gritted his teeth.

"God, you're annoying," he growled, pushing past her.

"Huh?" she said, and he could almost hear her heart dropping in her voice. He shut his eyes tightly before opening them, a deep scowl on his features.

"W-Wait, Kacchan!" she called after him, nearly tripping over herself to catch up. She reached her hand out, grabbing onto his sleeve.

"W-Wait!" she said, tugging it. He whipped around, leering down at her in aggravation.

"I-I wanted to tell you something," she began, letting go of his sleeve and bringing her arm back to hug her bag tighter.

"I...I want to become a hero," she finally confessed to him, closing her eyes tightly. "I want to go to U.A. and become a hero! So that this never happens again!"

He was walking towards her in an instant, causing her to stumble backwards.

"So you're pitying me to, hah?!" he sneered at her, "Is that it?!"

His voice caused her to drop her bag, and she scrambled to gather the things that fell out, wincing and touching her shoulder. His eyes widened for just a moment before morphing back into a scowl. He watched as she stood straight, a flicker in her eyes once again as she fired back "No one's pitying you Kacchan! I don't understand why you're acting so mean! Just like with D-Dekkun!" She took a step towards him and said "You act so cruel! I just wanted to help you!"

"I don't need your help," he shouted explosively at her, causing her to flinch back, "I don't need you!"

They stared at one another in shock. For the first time in a long time Katsuki watched as his words cut deep into Awako. She took a few steps back before her hair began to bristle. She looked up at him, a flame flickering in her eyes.

"You're….You're the worst, Kacchan," she said with a voice like sharp glass, "But I'm not afraid of you anymore."

He stared at her, his palms beginning to sweat.

Fuck

"I will become a hero," she said, turning her back to him. The ice in her voice sent shivers down his spine.

"Just watch me."