Author's Note: So I actually really like the sports festival arc as is. I may go back and do a chapter here or there about it but I'm kinda caught on the kidnapping right now. I never said these would be any kind of order… but first I have a promise to fulfill. I own nothing.
After Dinner Conversations
Katsuki Bakugou was pissed. Her class had apparently decided that they were all going to come to her final dance performance and she hadn't even known about it until after the dancing was over. Not like she could have backed out of it if she wanted to. Not only would her mother kick her ass but her long time dance partner was counting on them both being perfect to impress the teachers from the American dance academy that had been there. Of course they'd been impressed, who wouldn't be, Sato Hiziku was a fantastic dancer and an even better choreographer. But her whole hero course class had been there, seen her in a pastel blue leotard spinning and leaping around like an idiot. She was never going to live this down.
She picked at the food on her plate as Inko and Mitsuki talked back and forth about their kids in hero course. Last time someone had found out about her dancing it had been one of the kids she'd hung out with in kindergarten. He'd called her a prissy girl who'd never be like All Might. She'd blown up at that, literally and figuratively. The teachers had blamed it on her being so young that she didn't really have control of her quirk. But she'd threatened to do it to him again if he ever told anyone. That was when her reputation as a bully began, when the kids started to get scared of her, to respect her. Then Deku had found out and said that she looked nice with her hair up and she'd blown up at him too. But that had been a genuine inability to control her quirk, back when it was still ok for her to ask for help. She sighed as her father picked up the check insisting that it was alright as Inko and Deku thanked him profusely. She grew more annoyed as her mother invited them both back to their house for desert.
"Where do you think you're going?" Mitsuki questioned as her daughter rose from the couch where she'd been pouting for the last hour or so while the adults talked in the kitchen and Izuku buried his head in a book.
"Out hag!" With that she disappeared out the front door not even pausing to grab a jacket. A few minutes later Deku peeked out from behind the book and frowned. He stood and stepped over to his mother.
"Um Mom?" She turned to him smiling.
"Yes Izuku dear?"
"I'm gonna go after Kacchan. It's kinda cold out and she forgot her jacket and…" He trailed off as Mitsuki laughed at him grabbing a jacket off the rack near the door and throwing it at him.
"You're too good for my girl you know Izuku." Mitsuki patted him on the back as he shook his head and blushed stammering as he left. Inko smiled after her son.
"Some days I wonder if he'll ever realize how he really feels about her." Mitsuki snorted.
"She's gotta pull her head out of her ass at some point, give them time." Inko nodded and smiled as Bakugou's father served some more tea.
It wasn't hard to figure out where Kacchan had gone. The two of them had been living in the same neighborhood since they were children. It was a small place, a few condos, like the one Kacchan and her family lived in and a few apartment building in one of which he lived with his mother. But in the center of this plaza of life was a well maintained playground. It had to be well maintained because children of every age played there, quirks manifesting without warning. Deku could still remember the time that one of their junior high classmates had gotten tangled in the jungle gym after his stretching quirk manifested. A small forested park sat next to the playground but on the swings with her back to him sat Kacchan.
She was still in her black dress and silver belt. It had been a while since Deku had seen her in a dress, outside of school where she was forced into the girl's uniform. But she didn't look quite comfortable. There was a cold breeze in the air tonight. She hadn't spotted him yet. He wasn't sure he wanted her to yet. There were so many memories they shared on this playground. Good and bad, they'd met here after all when their parents had decided they were old enough at two years old. Everything had been so simple back then.
They'd talked about heroes and both admitted that All Might was the coolest and become fast friends in moments. Kacchan was a popular child, a natural talent at most things she put her mind to. Then her quirk had manifested and she'd become even cooler. It hadn't really gone downhill until one of their teachers asked them what they wanted to be when they grew up.
Both of them had wanted to be heroes but he still didn't have a quirk so most of the class had laughed at him, commenting that Kacchan always fought his battles for him. Anyone who needed a girl to protect them couldn't be a hero. That had been the first honest fight Kacchan had gotten in. She'd blacked the boys eye and he'd nearly broken her nose smacking her in the face with one of his two extra arms. One of the teachers had said she was acting like a villain and after that everything had changed. Kacchan had changed, they'd drifted apart, she'd grown angrier. Rejecting that a girl had to wait for someone to attack them before they could be called a hero. She'd joined the others in picking on him when it became clear that he wasn't going to get a quirk. Yet here they were years later, both Hero Course Students vying for the top spot, prepping for the sports festival. He sighed and she jumped in her spot on the swing glancing over her shoulder.
"The hag send you after me?" Deku shook his head.
"No. She did give me your coat though." He held it out to her and she sat still on her swing, contemplating him.
"Was it your idea for the class of extras to come to the fucking performance?" She was glaring daggers at him, but her frown wasn't as inhospitable as he knew it could get. He shook his head and explained what had happened. She scoffed at the mention of Mineta. "Purple fuck is creepy." Deku nodded stepping closer cautiously and holding the jacket within her reach. She glared at him for a minute before she snatched it from him shrugging it on. He let a soft smile grace his face as he inched to the swing next to her and sat down. They were silent for a while as she gently swung.
"So someone gave you your shitty ass quirk." It wasn't a question, it was a statement. He jumped then remembered that he had admitted at least that much to her after she'd lost to him and Uraraka during hero training. He nodded down at his toes as she went silent again. "How the fuck does that work?"
"I uh… I can't tell you Kacchan. I'm sorry. I wasn't even supposed to tell you that much but I… I didn't want you to think I'd been lying to you for years. I wouldn't do that." She scoffed.
"You couldn't do that. You're a shit liar Deku." She went quiet again for another moment. "You can't tell me but that doesn't mean I won't figure it out on my own." Deku blustered and babbled at that, panic sending his voice high and nearly unintelligible. Katsuki rolled her eyes, leaned over and smacked him in the back of the head, effectively cutting off the flow of noise. He glanced up at her from between his hands.
"You were fucking babbling again shitty nerd. It gets annoying and you look like you're gonna have a fit when you do it." He blushed and shook his head slightly as they lapsed back into silence. He kicked at the dirt under his feet as she leaned back slightly looking to see if she could see any stars tonight in the city sky.
"What happened to us Kacchan?" She froze. He kept talking, not babbling but contemplating, like how he usually talked things that he found difficult to comprehend. "We were so close when we were little. Why did everything have to change because of our quirks?" She shook her head debating with herself for a minute. Then she stood.
"I don't know what the fuck you're talking about shitty nerd." With that she turned and left him in the park by himself. As she made her way home she thought. It hadn't been the quirks that had changed things, though that had been part of it. It had been the fact that everyone around her began to question her every move when her quirk developed. She was supposed to be the perfect child, good at everything she touched. But everything she touched exploded. Then Deku hadn't gotten a quirk and everyone made fun of him. She'd wanted to fit in, live up to expectations so she'd joined in. At some point it had just become expected of her. She was brash and angry and good at everything but he kept trying, trying to be a hero, trying to beat her at things. It pissed her off to no end. She grumbled to herself as she slammed the door to her house open and made her way to her room, ignoring her mother. She flopped down on her bed and grumbled some more.
Things between them had changed, it was true. They were changing more now but a question she hadn't asked him echoed in her mind, nagging her to find the answer even if she had to do it on her own. Did whoever gave Deku their quirk know it would hurt him like it did? The boy broke bones nearly weekly, it wasn't right. She shook her head. Why should she care? It was just Deku. But as she changed into her pajamas that same nagging voice at the back of her head told her that was exactly why she cared. After all she'd never told him to stop calling her Kacchan even though no one else used the childish nickname anymore. She flopped down onto her bed and decided that for tonight at least it wasn't worth thinking about.
