~~~One Week Ago~~~

Katsuki Bakugo let off explosion after explosion outside the gym.

Kirishima had left, and he was really starting to wonder if Deku and the Freak would ever bring his training partner back. With the sweat from his run and from fighting little Red, he fired off his biggest explosion yet. His arm shook a bit, but the pride from his accomplishment filled him.

"That was… incredible." He heard someone breathe out behind him.

He casually looked over his shoulder to see Freckles staring at the sky where his explosion had just gone off. It was the first time he had seen the expression on her face. It wasn't directed towards Icyhot, or Deku, or either of her irrelevant friends, but at him.

He looked away as he felt a weird warmth in his chest, pushing it down.

"Tch, of course it was." He scoffed, looking at the sky as he recalled the strength of it.

He had been caught off guard by Icyhot and Deku when school had begun. He had never considered that he would face people that could beat him. After all, he had been praised for having such a powerful quirk his entire life. He had worked harder than anyone else to maintain it. Yet he got here, and it hadn't been enough. There were people who worked harder. But not anymore. He was going to blast them away, and be number one.

He was going to win.

Katsuki was so caught up in analyzing his last accomplishment, that he almost didn't notice her drinking from the black bottle. He wasn't fucking blind though, so he did. He grabbed it from her, annoyed and concerned.

"What the fuck, Freckles?" He growled.

Now that he finally looked at her, he noticed how different she looked from when they had been training before. The fire and her smile were gone, and she was trembling like she had been that one damn night Katsuki had kicked down her door.

The teachers hadn't been happy about repairing that, but Red had taken it in stride, despite not having done it herself. He had admired her selflessness, and how even though she had every right to rat him out, she didn't. She had stood strong and taken the punishment herself, laughing it off in her normal drunken way. It was a direct contrast to now.

She looked… weak. And Katsuki wasn't sure why that made him so uneasy.

"What, did that nerd start fangirling for All Might again?"

"Wh-what?" Red looked away from the black bottle on the ground, meeting his eyes in confusion.

"The Freak ditch you for the Monkey again?"

"No-"

"Pervert talk about your hair color?"

"God no-"

"Gen Ed bastard bother you?"

"Who-"

"Buzz Brain ask you out again?"

"No, he-"

"Aizawa actually look well-rested?"

That got a brief smile, and Katsuki felt more relieved at the change.

"No, he's tired as ever." She hummed.

"Then why the hell aren't we fighting, Red? Get your ass over here!" He scowled, arms crossed stubbornly.

She walked over, face flushing. He was so distracted by it that when she tripped over the black water bottle he had tossed in the grass, he almost didn't steady her in time. She grinned sheepishly, and he looked away with a 'tch'.

Then they began.

~~~Present~~~

Katsuki Bakugo looked everywhere for the damn redhead, but was coming up empty-handed.

He had stumbled upon Icyhot and Ponytail in the room he had thought was his, and the idea of them working together put him on edge. Until that moment, he had never considered that having someone by your side could be an advantage. He had always considered the people in long term relationships to be idiots that didn't take the profession seriously.

And yet, the only person that had been more powerful than him the first hero training had been in one the whole time. It had made his chest feel strange, reminding him yet again about what Brainiac had said about teammates.

So, here he was, looking for her.

She may be pissed, but that wouldn't stop someone like her from helping someone else. He could've asked the Monkey or Earlobe about Ponytail's quirk, sure, but he didn't know them like he knew her. He wouldn't be caught dead asking anyone but Kirishima for help. Little Red was an exception only because she had helped him before. He definitely wasn't also looking for her to ensure that she stayed put while watching his match this time...

"Oi, Monkey!" Katsuki bit out, seeing the blond ahead of him. The guy turned around, giving him a look. "Where's Red?"

"My name is Ojiro, Bakugo." Monkey sighed, shaking his head. "And who even is 'Red'?"

"..." Katsuki paused, sweating a little. "Er, Freckles."

"Freckles? Do you honestly not know her name? Her room is right next to yours, isn't it?"

"Tch, forget it." He growled. Why would he need to use her name when he wasn't angry with her anyway? It didn't feel right using it otherwise. Her hair is red, her cheeks have freckles, and when he stands close enough to her, those freckled cheeks turn red too. Red, and Freckles.

"You aren't going to find Olivia here, if that's who you're looking for. Momo mentioned that she left with some officers during Hitoshi's match."

Katsuki frowned, but didn't say anything, walking away.

As the match started, Katsuki Bakugo should've known Ponytail would have a plan to fuck him over.

The second her body lit up he had rushed her, trying to put her on defense. She had let herself be hit with the first blast as she created a gun of some sort. He raised his other hand to send the next explosion her way, but was interrupted as he was suddenly on the ground.

The psycho had used a damn net on him! Why the hell was it so hard to get out of?

"The bomb was not the only thing I asked Hatsume to show me." Ponytail admitted, skin glowing with a second creation.

Katsuki growled, turning his face away as he let off an explosion against the net, blasting it to pieces.

"You thought a damn net would keep me down, Ponytail?" He hissed, standing up.

"No." She said simply, revealing her next creation.

A water gun.

"Only distract you."

The next thing he knew, he was soaked in water. Katsuki let his expression show on his face as he stood there shocked. Looks like someone did their damn homework on him.

By spraying water at him, it diluted his sweat, making it harder to create big explosions. She must not have known the exact details of his quirk though, since she had tried to aim for his whole body instead of just his hands. He grinned maniacally at the challenge.

"Not bad, Ponytail." He grinned, "But you forgot one thing."

She started creating a giant shield, giving him a wary look at his nickname and at his words.

"I'm the indisputable champion."

After their third time of trying to get the move down, Katsuki had given up, realizing little Red was too tipsy. They had landed hard in the grass, the wet dew not making much of a difference in their sweaty clothes.

"I think I'm going to be sick." Red groaned.

Katsuki also felt a little dizzy from all the spinning they had been doing. Without explosions to help her momentum or raw strength to imitate the move, she had a hard time letting him practice what she had taught to him.

"If you throw up I'm not carrying you back." Katsuki warned. She ignored him, knowing that he still would.

"Why can't you just do all the spinning?" She complained, laying down in the grass with her eyes closed, hand over her eyes as she breathed shallowly.

Katsuki used as much sweat as he could to blast himself in the air.

"How the hell can I do all the spinning when you're the one supposed to be spinning me, genius?" He grumbled, laying down as well, frustrated.

He felt the sweat on his hands and hoped to God it was enough to pull this off still.

"Noooooo. I mean you should spin yourself. You're the one with the explosions. Do it yourself. Like you used them to spin me around, but… without me."

As his hands sweat he let one of them start exploding, spinning him in the air.

He opened an eye to glance over at her drunken ramblings. She was spinning her arm in a circle above her, before letting it smash into the ground, making sound effects.

As the world blurred, he reached his other hand out. He just needed one explosion!

"Whatever you say, Freckles. Time to take you to Recovery Girl, damn drunk."

"HOWITZER IMPACT!" He roared, hand touching Ponytail's incredibly made shield.

A giant explosion went off, blasting the stadium with hot air. He had to put an arm in front of his face to cover his eyes from the sight.

That was… incredible.

"That was… incredible." He heard someone breathe out behind him. He casually looked over his shoulder to see Freckles staring at the sky where his explosion had just gone off. It was the first time he had seen that expression on her face. It wasn't directed towards Icyhot, or Deku, or either of her irrelevant friends, but at him.

The smoke cleared, showing Ponytail against the wall, shield in front of her. The explosion had pushed her back the entire way, but the creation had left her without injuries.

"Momo Yaoyorozu is out of bounds, Katsuki Bakugo is the winner!"

He had done it.

He had won.

"Star was right, you know. We did show the world." Ponytail smiled, turning to Icyhot as the crowd roared around them.

"We proved we were more than their expectations. She said that in the end, we'd end up here together, proudly able to say 'we are here!' And… here we are."

Katsuki Bakugo pretended he wasn't listening, but as they got ready for the podiums to rise, Red invaded his mind. He thought about all their training, all the moves she taught him, how hard she pushed herself, how it had annoyed him when she talked to anyone she damn pleased, and skipped around the room. And how he had written her off as someone who didn't care to be a hero. Someone not worth his time or attention anymore.

But as he saw Icyhot gazing proudly at Ponytail, he realized how wrong he had been. It was like Brainiac said, though he'd never admit he was right.

Little Red was just a different kind of hero than him. Her with her ability to read how to help anyone, and him with his power to save anyone. Her with her endless words of support for others, and him with his endless shouts to push himself… had he not noticed in his blindness caused by his mission to unravel her secrets, that she was aiming for the top too? In her own way? Had he missed the way she interacted with others, blaming it on her drunk behavior? Had he missed the way she was training her quirk, because it wasn't the same as the way he did? Had he missed the impact she had on the people around her? On him?

The podiums rose, and he felt the pure victory of the cheers around him. He watched Ponytail and Icyhot intertwine their hands and raise them victoriously… He watched Brainiac actually smile for once as Monkey cheered his name…

Was it possible that in the end, the road to becoming the number one Pro Hero wasn't a path you walked alone? He had seen how Ponytail and Icyhot helped each other grow during their match. He had seen how Deku looked up at All Might after his victory.

He had watched Ponytail and Support chick taking apart the bomb. How Brainiac used Monkey's teachings in their fight, how Monkey had run up to him after.

And… He had even used little Red's drunken ramblings in his own match.

This whole time, he thought that everyone was walking this path on their own, just like him. That everyone was just a stepping stone to his victory. It wasn't until he looked at the people around him that he realized, maybe, they were helping pave the path instead.

All Might crashed in front of them, announcing "I AM HERE!" as he gave out the medals one by one. As he gave Katsuki his medal, Katsuki muttered to himself.

No. It was the class of survivors that were here now, standing on the podium.

"What, my boy?" All Might asked, barely catching it.

And as the crowd cheered, Katsuki's eyes burned as he raised his fist high in the air, grasping his medal as he let the words fall off his lips.

"WE. ARE. HERE!"

The crowd went wild around him, and as he looked around, he realized he had never felt this powerful in his life. He had become the undeniable champion. He had beat his opponents, no matter how strong.

He had won.

And he was possibly, MAYBE ready to admit that having teammates to climb the ladder with... maybe wasn't as annoying as he had once thought.

"WE ARE HERE!" Ponytail added her own yell, raising her fist and medal.

As they made eye contact, Katsuki could tell those words meant something to her as well. Her fist was raised in pride, in accomplishment, as her eyes shined.

Icyhot and Brainiac glanced over to them, before raising their own fists and medals as well. A serious expression and a lazy smirk respectively on their faces.

Deku joined in yelling, then Monkey and Shitty Hair.

Then their class followed, and the rest of the students.

Then the entire crowd started chanting it until the whole stadium was filled with the powerful phrase.

The phrase that defined them, their class, and their paths to becoming heroes.

"WE ARE HERE! WE ARE HERE! WE ARE HERE!" The arena echoed.

Flashes of light were blinking in the crowd like stars as cameras went off. Katsuki could feel the vibrations of the roaring crowd through the podium as he stood on the platform labeled '1st'.

As his fist remained raised, he thought about a lot of things. He thought about All Might. About his mom. His dad. Everyone who had said he'd be great one day. Everyone who hadn't. All the times he fell while training too hard. All the times he got the hell back up.

Katsuki smirked proudly at the camera as Present Mic commented on the scene, hoping wherever she was right now, she would be watching too.

Katsuki isn't the nice guy.

He isn't someone that people understand. And that's fine with him.

But now that he found someone that had a way to understand him.. fuck, someone that actually liked him... he sure as well wasn't giving that shit up.

And as Iida watched from the hospital TV… as Star watched from a monitor in the police office… they both smiled.

Their class was here, and they were here to stay.

A/N: Believe it or not, this was even cheesier the first 3 times I wrote it... I'm still unsure if it's out of character, but the scene wouldn't leave my head. I like to think his age and Star's presence in the story gave him some character development beyond the original show.
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