AN: Fourteenth chapter: part 4 of what is turning into a story of its' own gosh dang it. I have a train to catch or else I'd spend more time on this note but basically I moved into my new place which ended up with me hurting my back but thankfully I have 5 days off so yay! More time to write~

Immediately after the meeting dismissed, after the Bakugos and Inko said goodbye to their sons, Izuku attempted to talk to his childhood friend. The way he'd spoken to the elder Midoriya made it seem like he was willing to remedy the situation. Maybe he already understood what he did was wrong, and was ready to apologize.

Izuku needed to stop his wishful thinking.

"Kacchan?"

The word fell on deaf ears as Bakugo walked past him.

"Give him time," the principal recommended as he and the greenette watched Bakugo storm off without a word. "Focus on yourself for now. You have a pop up counseling session tomorrow during your free period with Present Mic you might want to prepare for."

Izuku tilted his head in confusion.

"I thought Hound Dog was the Lifestyle Guidance Counselor? And aren't those meetings on Wednesdays? Tomorrow's Friday."

"They will be, but Present Mic is the perfect teacher for the exercise we have in store for tomorrow. He also expressed interest in helping handle the situation. We wanted to get a first session in before next week anyway, so I hope this doesn't interfere with any plans you had."

"It doesn't! I'm actually looking forward to it," he smiled brightly.

Nedzu nodded, a pleased look on the mammal's face. He had been worried Izuku would be adverse to the prospect of counseling. It appeared he'd been concerned for nothing.

"Anyway, I'll just head back to the dorms then. I have quite a bit of homework to get done. Thank you for everything, Nedzu-sensei!" He called while taking off down the hall with a wave. After a couple seconds he had turned the corner and disappeared from sight.

The principal's smile turned somber, a sad look entering his eyes. Izuku was such an intelligent child. He possessed such a big heart and heroic spirit, as well as the drive to become a hero the world could look up to. Yet he brushed off such uncouth behavior like it was just part of how things were. Like he deserved it. It was because of this that it was obvious to those teaching him, however, that while the boy possessed great qualities he lacked something very important.

Self-love.

Day 2 of Bakugo's suspension (Friday)

"For your first session today we are going to discuss the topic of abuse. We will go over what exactly it is, why your actions classify as such, and why it is unacceptable."

Bakugo simply glared at his homeroom teacher. It was obvious he was staying quiet out of stubbornness, seeing as he didn't want to be there. It was lunch break for the rest of the students, so the sound of footsteps in the hall broke the silence of the empty classroom somewhat, but even without the background noise he would have been comfortable sitting in silence for half an hour.

Aizawa sighed internally. He wasn't going to ask his student to speak, which meant he would have to coerce him into talking the only way he knew would ensure his participation.

"There are various forms of abuse." He began in a monotone voice. "I'm not going to go into detail on all of them, but I will focus on physical, verbal, and psychological instances of abuse I witnessed in Midoriya's memories. The most obvious would easily be physical abuse. It can consist of actions like punching, kicking, pushing, slapping, choking, biting, and so on. Your actions also fell into the subcategory of physical abuse that involves weapons, since your quirk classifies the use of explosions as such. Nod if you acknowledge that you did partake in said form of abuse."

His student acted as if he hadn't heard.

"We make these lessons a daily thing if that's what you wish. We can also do them after school instead of during lunch, so that way you and I can sit here in silence for hours on end."

After a solid minute of scowling, Bakugo finally moved his head a minuscule amount.

The teacher hummed, not exactly categorizing the movement as a nod but glad the teenager listened to him anyway.

"Verbal abuse as its core means using words to bring another person down. Midoriya's hero name, for example, used to have another meaning. You called him Deku because it meant useless due to your unfounded belief that quirkless equates to useless. You also said a plethora of other insulting things to him throughout primary and secondary school. Do you acknowledge this?"

This time Bakugo nodded properly, his scowl becoming slightly more subdued.

"Then there is psychological abuse, or emotional or mental abuse, which is tied hand in hand with verbal abuse in many cases. It is when one subjects another to behavior that results in heightened stress, anxiety, depression, trauma, and so on. You, Bakugo, know as well as anyone what affects you've had on Midoriya. He suffered from an unhealthy amount of anxiety when he first arrived here. He is still a naturally anxious student, but it is safe to say his stuttering habit may have been directly caused by your constant mistreatment of him. He was completely isolated until recently because of your actions preventing him from having any friends. He grew discouraged to speak up because your peers and teachers made him feel like whatever he had to say was meaningless, wrong, or ignorant. You threatened him time and time with violent words, going even as far as eluding to suicide. Do you acknowledge this?"

"Shut up."

Aizawa's eyes narrowed.

"That was not an appropriate response. Please nod, or answer with a yes or no."

"Damn you!" Bakugo suddenly burst, sparks escaping his palms before his quirk was cancelled out. "Fine! Yes! You already know what shit I did, so what's the point of grilling me for confirmation?"

"Because one of the first steps to changing your ways is to realize what you did as abuse, and also to understand that abuse is wrong."

"I'm not a dumbass like Dunce Face or Raccoon Eyes. I already know all that," the blond growled.

His mind wandered to the conversation he'd overhead between Izuku and Todoroki during the sports festival. The image of a conceded Endeavor gloating in the stadium stands about his son's purpose in the stadium stands and then the scar on Todoroki's face made his gut twist.

He remembered Kirishima's words the other night too.

"He has scars."

Bakugo shook the thoughts away. He was nothing like that flaming ball of trash.

Right?

"Don't refer to your classmates as such. They might not be as book smart as you, but their heroic passion makes up for that. As the years go on their intelligence will grow. That being said, I would like us to continue with the matter at hand."

"Whatever."

"Now, Bakugo, why is abuse wrong?"

"Because the other person isn't strong enough to fight back and win."

Aizawa sighed. "No; not at all. Let me tell you something first, and then try to answer again. An abuser," he began, "is someone who does any one or more of the forms of abuse I mentioned earlier. In a less politically correct manner, an abuser is a bully. A bully takes out his or her anger, vulnerability, and sadness on someone else in order to gain something whether that be a physical reward, a feeling of satisfaction or happiness, or basic entertainment. The person they target is usually viewed as weak and unable or unwilling to fight back, which makes them an easy target. The strong picking on those perceived as weak all so one can feel better about themselves while another suffers."

"That's not true," Bakugo responded without prompting.

The teacher made a mental check-mark: he had made some sort of progress.

"Care to explain what about my statement was false?"

"Bullies don't always target the weak. Sometimes they hurt someone they believe to be stronger than them, someone they perceive to be a threat. Someone who thinks they're better than them."

Aizawa kept his face neutral. "You're referring to Midoriya, I assume."

"No shit."

"Language," he chastised. "Anyway, you are telling me while despite calling Midoriya every synonym for weak, useless, and unintelligent you actually recognized him as someone strong?"

The blond crossed his arms, turning his head away agitatedly.

"Listen closely, because I will not repeat myself again. Deku is the stupidest person I've ever had the unfortunate luck of knowing. We met before I could even remember. According to our folks we were as inseparable as babies could get. I can only vaguely remember a few snippets with him before I got my quirk, but we were what you could call friends, I guess." He admitted grudgingly. "His dream of being like All Might was actually something I admired about him. We both watched All Might on the news, and while I thought we was cool Deku's admiration for him went to a whole other level. He barely paid attention to me whenever the topic of All Might was brought up, going off on little nerdy tangents about him and how he was going to be a hero too. It pissed me off."

He was jealous, huh? Aizawa thought.

"I decided I would just have to be better than All Might. It was about the same time my quirk manifested, which made me even more confident that I would one day become number one. With a quirk like mine there was no one I wouldn't be able to beat. Especially quirkless Deku." He turned his red eyes to his teacher's, fierce determination lighting them as he continued. "But he didn't understand."

"What didn't he understand?"

"How to give up. He was quirkless, damn it. The doctor told him he'd never get a quirk, but despite that he still thought he'd be able to be a hero like All Might. He still thought he could be number one, that he was better than me, even though I had a quirk perfect for rising to the top as a hero. If someone in class was feeling left out or sad he would try to help them feel better like he was some crappy rescue hero. He kept butting into my business, getting in the way when my friends and I were being a little rough with some of the other kids. He actually thought he could fight me. You saw how that ended though, did you? He was nothing but a crybaby that wouldn't stop getting up."

"I see. And that frightened you, didn't it?"

"Of course not! It made me mad, because he thought he was so tough when he wasn't! He didn't know when to stop. Even after I beat him up a couple times he still followed me around. I thought maybe he would finally realize how much better I was than him, that he was too weak to ever be a hero, but one day he pissed me off so much I gave up trying to set him straight."

Aizawa blinked tiredly.

"It was when he tried to help you up after you'd fallen off the log, wasn't it?"

A nod.

"You do realize how injured you could have gotten. Midoriya wasn't out of line to see if you were physically unharmed after such a fall."

"You didn't see the pity in his eyes when he looked at me," Bakugo countered.

"I highly doubt it was pity, Bakugo. You may not comprehend this but Midoriya looks up to you greatly. I'm sure you've noticed how even some of his fighting tactics and mannerisms were inspired by your own."

"He copies me just like he copies All Might." The blond barked with an eye roll. "It's not a compliment, it's an insult."

"We're getting off topic," Aizawa decided. He could feel a headache coming on. Why was he doing this again? Expelling his student would be so much easier than trying to knock some sense into the boy's thick skull; unburying any sort of compassion hidden underneath his mountain of pride was going to take quite a while too. "From what I gather you found Midoriya's unwavering determination and heroic spirit threatening. This made you recognize him as a rival of sorts, is that correct?"

"If that's how you want to word me thinking of him as more than an extra that didn't even put up a fight, then sure. Unlike everyone else who either were scared of me or sucked up to me because I was strong he actually had enough backbone to have an opinion."

"I'm sure that's what you think back on, but it was obvious that your harsh treatment of him made him more and more subdued as time went on. By primary school he still stuck up for others yet he allowed you to do whatever you wanted to him. He grew too afraid to fight back."

Bakugo stayed silent. It was then Aizawa checked his watch, noting how there were only a couple minutes left of the lunch period.

"It seems we'll have to resume this tomorrow afternoon. Lunch is almost over and I have a class that starts in less than ten minutes, so you should head back to the dormitory."

"What? You said every other day!"

"I did, but I can also add sessions as I see fit. We made a minimal amount of progress today. Tomorrow at the same time I want you to report here so we can finish discussing why abuse is not acceptable. I will also be asking you once again why abuse is wrong, and I expect a better answer than what you provided today. While you're at it I want you to research the legal consequences of abuse."

"Why?"

"For perspective, Bakugo. Or maybe a quiz that will be worth as much as an exam. Either way, do as I ask unless you want these sessions to be daily. Now get going. The bell will ring any second, and you have homework to do. Just because you're suspended does not mean I will tolerate you falling behind."

Meanwhile, in Present Mic's classroom…

"Now do it with me, little listener!"

"Yamada-sensei, I really don't—"

"I can't hear you!"

"Please, I can't yell nearly as loud as you."

The pro hero threw Izuku a megaphone of all things. "Don't worry about it! My classroom is sound proof due to my itty bitty habit of using my quirk in class. Throw away your inhibitions, kid, and yell with me!"

The greenette gulped, but after a few moments resolved himself to turn the megaphone on and nod.

"I'm ready, sensei."

"Great! Now, we're going to scream what we went over on the count of three. One, two, three!"

Simultaneously, their ear-drum shattering voices filled the classroom.

"I'M IZUKU MIDORIYA—"

"I'M HIZASHI YAMADA—"

"— AND I'M PROUD!"

"What else?" Present Mic screamed. "Go crazy, kid!"

"I'M GOING TO BE A HERO!"

"And what's your hero name?"

"DEKU, THE HERO WHO ALWAYS DOES HIS BEST!"

"Plus ultra!"

Day 3 of Bakugo's suspension (Saturday)

The second session began similarly to the first.

"So, Bakugo, did you do the research I told you to?"

"Yeah. Want me to list off the different punishments for various offenses? You weren't very specific, so I assumed you would be giving me a stupid quiz."

"Nope, no quizzes."

The blond looked murderous. "Are you serious? You fu—"

"Language. I never said I would quiz you, just that I wanted you to do research and that their might be a quiz. I did tell you, however, I wanted an answer to the question I asked though. Have you come up with one?"

"I guess."

There was a long pause. It seemed as if Bakugo was waiting for Aizawa to say something, yet he underestimated how patient his teacher could be. After sitting in silence for nearly five minutes Bakugo snapped.

"It's wrong, because people don't deserve to be treated like crap."

Aizawa raised an eyebrow. "That's what you came up with?"

"Got a problem with it? It's bad, okay? I looked up a bunch of stories about abuse victims went through and it made me fu—"

"Language."

"—freaking mad. I got 'perspective', all right?"

"Are you positive?"

"Yes!"

"Okay then, if that's true then I want us to do some role play."

"Seriously?"

"When am I ever not serious?" He stated dryly. "Let's get started. You're minding your own business in the park when a bully starts punching and kicking another kid who doesn't want to fight back. You tell the bully to stop, but he decides to beat you up instead. Did you deserve the broken nose the bully ends up giving you?"

"Yes, because I should have beaten the crap out of the bully before he landed a hit on me."

"Wrong. Pretend you're roughly six years old, not sixteen, and try again."

"Ugh, fine! No, I didn't deserve the stupid broken nose, but I should have been able to prevent it by evading the other guy's attack with my own."

Aizawa sighed. "Closer, but still wrong. Here's a hint. When you're that small you should try to prevent danger to yourself by doing what?"

"Having better defense."

"No."

"Wearing armor."

"No."

"Getting backup?"

"No. Bakugo, here's another hint: someone older than you."

"Get an older kid to beat the bully up for you."

That's it, Aizawa thought to himself, today is the day I quit. Goodbye, Hizashi, Toshinori, students. I will hardly miss you. Sleep, here I come.

"I was joking!" The blond suddenly burst out, no humor in his voice present to indicate he'd been joking. "Getting an adult, teacher, or a hero instead of going in blindly is what you're going for, right? If it really were me though I would have beaten the crap out of the bully. Especially since adults are shit at protecting kids nowadays."

Interesting, the underground hero noted.

"I honestly don't doubt that part about beating the bully, but in this scenario quirks do not apply. You eventually answered my question correctly enough though. Here's another scenario that's a little more personal. If someone told one of you to jump off a bridge because they hated you so much, then how would you feel?"

"I don't give a damn about other peoples' opinions."

"Pretend you're Midoriya then, or perhaps another classmate who is a bit on the sensitive side. Maybe Kirishima?"

Bakugo's fists clenched.

From where he sat on his desk, Aizawa watched his student calculatingly. He wasn't a fool. Observing how close the angry problem child had become with one of the most chivalrous boys in the class, one whose personality was so different from Bakugo's own, had been intriguing. The teacher hoped their friendship would lead to Kirishima's influence rubbing off on the other teen. It had, but it was quite obvious after what had happened that the usually cheery redhead was very affected by Bakugo's past actions.

Maybe Kirishima would be the push his friend needed to change for the better?

"This is a stupid scenario," the blond finally muttered.

"Your opinion on it doesn't change the question."

"Whatever. I guess, if it were Deku or Kirishima," he paused in thought, "they would feel upset."

Aizawa raised an eyebrow. "And?"

"They would probably cry about it at some point."

The teacher continued to stare.

"They would— ugh, they'd feel pretty shitty, okay? It would probably make them wonder what was so bad about themselves that someone could hate them so much to say something like that to them. They probably wouldn't contemplate it, but they might take the words to heart." Kirishima's sobs were fresh in his mind. "They might start hating themselves too."

"Good enough an answer for me," Aizawa shrugged before pulling out a slip of paper. "Next I am going to read you a compiled list of points many psychologists and related professionals touch upon when educating individuals on why abuse is wrong. Are you ready to pay attention? This time I will be quizzing you at the end."

Bakugo sighed.

"If I say no I just have to sit here until I say yes, so whatever. Let me hear it."

"Great. First off..."

The blond tried his best to zone out as Aizawa droned on. It was hard to ignore his gruff voice though, as well as the piercing look in his tired eyes whenever he glanced away.

"Abuse is not a laughing matter. It should not be condoned or supported by any party, and ignoring it is like saying abuse is natural. You are hurting somebody whether it is physically, psychologically, or otherwise. It should not be minimized. One slap or brushing it off as someone being too sensitive is downplaying the severity of the situation. A couple so-called insignificant incidents can be enough to completely change a person. Becoming depressed, self-deprecating, and so are only a few examples of how abuse impacts your victim."

This is stupid, Bakugo thought to himself. Roughing Deku up as a kid wasn't a big deal even if some of the later stuff counted as abuse. He was strong enough to take it anyway.

"Furthermore, you must realize such actions are negative and will have just as negative consequences. Hurting another merely because you can without repercussions is misleading. Not getting caught, or if the reward outweighs retribution for some time, is also misleading. Sooner or later harsh punishment could come from allowing abusive behavior to go on. Being arrested, jail time, losing their job, financial penance, broken relationships with family and friends, ruined reputation, and much more can come about. That's not even including what the victim of the abuse could be going through. Many victims have high medical bills due to the fees for counseling, medical attention in some cases, and other needs."

Bakugo couldn't help the churning in his stomach that came with thinking about Kirishima's reaction to the whole incident. Sure the blond had lost friends before due to his aggressive personality and shitty attitude, but losing the sharp-toothed boy made his chest ache unlike he'd ever experienced. His parents' feelings of disappointment in him were nothing new. Inko's, on the other hand, made him actually feel a prickle of guilt.

"Unfortunately, the victim usually ends up taking the fall for the consequences of abuse due to victim-blaming. Even during the act of violence or verbal attack the abuser more often than not defends his or actions by stating 'she deserved it' or 'well if he hadn't done A, then I wouldn't have done B'. This mentality is toxic. You alone are accountable for your own actions; you alone are in charge of making the changes necessary to remedy abusive mindsets."

"There is help though, which is what you are getting now." Aizawa finished with as the bell came dangerously close to ringing. "We'll continue this on Monday. You are dismissed."

With that Bakugo got up, exiting the classroom while his teacher prepared for the next class. As the blond walked down the hall he noticed Izuku in the teacher's lounge with All Might. The two were drinking tea and appeared to be in deep conversation.

Stupid nerd, the blond cursed him before continuing on his way. What makes him so special?

Izuku sneezed.

"You okay, Deku-kun?"

Uraraka's voice snapped him out of his stupor.

After the meeting with Nedzu and their families it was obvious Bakugo was steering clear of Izuku. Or were his classmates making sure Izuku stayed clear of him?

Today, for instance, some of the greenette's classmates were still treating him a little too much like he was made of glass. Whenever Bakugo left his room, Shoji would make sure to intercept the path to Izuku. If the blond entered the kitchen to eat or the bathhouse to shower, any one of his classmates would pull him away elsewhere or block his path. It honestly bothered him a lot more than he cared to say, but he couldn't be too upset with them. He understood their hesitancy to allow Bakugo to see him. Still, he wasn't ready to address any of their concerns.

Well, almost. After the heartfelt conversation he'd shared with his mentor that afternoon he finally got perspective on why everyone else was so concerned for him.

Which led to him texting his best friend to help him transverse his mess of thoughts.

"Deku-kun," Uraraka repeated with a tone Izuku couldn't quite place. "I'll wait here as long as you need me to, but you said you wanted to talk?"

"Y-yeah, I did. I, um, had a question?"

She smiled. Worry had begun to show on her face when Izuku texted her to speak privately only for him to have trouble finding the words for over five minutes. "Go for it."

He took a deep breath.

"Is forgiving a-an abuser wrong? Even if they don't deserve it?"

Uraraka froze, her smile slipping off of her face faster than she could fully process the question. Her emotions bubbled up within seconds and the lingering rationality in her brain screamed at her to tell Izuku to ask someone like Iida or Todoroki this question. She wanted so badly to say yes.

"I think forgiveness is... healthy. For the person doing the forgiving, that is."

Hope filled Izuku's eyes.

"Really?"

"In my opinion, yes, but that's something you should talk to someone professional about. Even more so, Deku-kun, is forgiving him in this case really reasonable?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well," she glanced to the side, "how do I put this? Um, I don't really get how you can forgive Bakugo if you don't even know what you're forgiving him for."

"I don't understand." Izuku frowned. "He bullied me. He hurt me. I know the more gritty details of it all, but I do know what happened to me more than anyone else."

"You say that, but has Bakugo even apologized to you? I don't think you can forgive him until he asks for it. While it's true you can forgive someone without prompting in this situation there's a lot of baggage to unload before everything can be brushed off with a simple 'sorry' and 'I forgive you'." She bit her lip, voicing her thoughts further once she'd gotten them together. "And besides, I feel like you don't actually think he did anything wrong. From what you've told me in the past and what you're saying now it seems like you've been unconsciously conditioned to believe you're the one to blame for everything that's happened, not him."

"That's not true! I do acknowledge Kacchan did some very bad things, but—"

"This is what I'm talking about, Deku-kun! He didn't do just 'very bad things', he abused you, which you sort of acknowledged earlier, but saying you finally get it is different than actually believing that you were innocent in every incident that occurred. Nothing, and I mean nothing, was any of your fault. You felt guilty about him getting suspended, right? You shouldn't! His own actions got him in trouble, not yours!"

Izuku's mouth was a thin line.

"You have a point, but even if I fully blamed him for what I went through how does that solve anything? It doesn't fix anything."

"Exactly. You can only do so much; Bakugo is the one who will need to do most of the work. Until then you should stay away from him. He's likely only on stage three and is probably blaming all of his misfortune on you."

"Stage three? You mean the stages of grief? Kacchan has been in denial, angry, and telling me everything that goes wrong is my fault since we were kids."

"Then he's been stuck on stages one through three for years. That's even worse. And it's all because he has some inferiority complex, is that right?"

"I'm pretty sure that's it," Izuku stated tiredly. The two of them should not have decided sitting on his comfortable bed would be a good place to talk things out. "I think All Might figured out the same thing during our final exam last semester. That was also the same time I found out his perfectionist complex went even further than I thought."

"Deku-kun, we're not here to talk about justifying his actions."

"I know, I know, I guess I'll stop."

"It's too late now. I can't let you keep thinking whatever you're thinking is an excuse."

"I, well, he's been under the impression since we were kids that his quirk would be perfect for heroics. Since then he's done whatever it takes to get the best scores, win any competition, and so on so he can call himself the best of the best. After coming here he realized he wasn't the best."

"So his pride was hurt. That's not your fault."

"That's... true. Um, anyway, during the battle against All Might I finally realized he was willing to break himself to become the best. All Might literally had to knock him out to stop him from fighting. That was how badly he wanted to win."

"For what?"

"Huh?"

Uraraka looked at Izuku meaningfully despite his confusion.

"Why does he want to win so badly? Why does he want to be the number one hero one day? To simply be the best, or...?"

"Well, he…"

Izuku went silent as a dawning look of realization entered his eyes. For several moments he just stared, his thoughts racing a mile a minute as he mentally ran through the events of their childhood. Had Bakugo wanted to be a hero after getting his quirk, after seeing All Might in action, after finding out what heroes were, or something else?

When was it? Izuku thought, occasionally mumbling words under his breath. He thought heroes were cool before he got his quirk, but that was before he met me. He didn't initially want to be the number one hero though. He didn't even really follow All Might's career all that closely until… huh. I was the one who introduced him to how amazing All Might was, wasn't I?

"I..."

Then when did he start caring about who was going to be number one hero someday? I vaguely remember him declaring he would be the best the day I returned to school diagnosed as quirkless. Was that the first time? That was also the first day he told me to give up on my dream to be a hero, I think.

Izuku's thoughts halted. That couldn't be a coincidence, could it?

"Deku-kun?"

It can't be. Kacchan wouldn't have… right?

"I don't—"

Tears suddenly filled the greenette's eyes, shocking Uraraka slightly because she had no idea why her question would set him off.

She put a gentle hand on his shoulder. "What's wrong?"

"Uraraka," he stated shakily. "I think I understand now."

"Understand what?" Now she was getting even more worried.

"Kacchan always used to state he wanted to be a hero for the money and glory, not helping people or simply for the sake of beating up villains like I wished were his real reasons. I, I think, it's because of me."

"No. Deku-kun, there's no way he—"

"That's not what I meant! There was no way I was any sort of inspiration to him at that age. He knew within one day of meeting me that I wanted to be a hero just like All Might. After telling him that he said he wanted to be a hero too, because he also loved All Might, but he never really talked about it after that. It was always me. It wasn't until after he got his quirk, and after I was deemed quirkless, that he talked about becoming a hero like All Might. The best of the best. The number one hero. My dream."

Uraraka's stomach felt like lead.

"He didn't try to crush your dream of being a hero," she stated softly, wishing she was wrong. "He tried to steal it."