Luckily, it seemed like the day would pass with fair ease. Izuku had ended up panicked when he realized he'd forgotten Koko, but when he rushed into the dead of night intent of rescuing his defenseless cat, a friendly ghost had stopped him and let him know she had gone to his friends house. It stumped him for a moment, until he realized it could only be Katsuki, since he'd yet to see any ghosts while around his new friends. It was… odd, that Kohaku was suddenly friendly enough with Kacchan to follow him home, but Izuku knew the cat well enough to know he wouldn't get to know why she'd made that decision.

Any lingering worry was left when he walked to the train station and saw Katsuki leaning against the wall, frown placed comfortably on his face and Koko-chan placed equally as comfortably perched on his shoulders. The dark circles that had plagued Katsuki's under eyes for weeks were faded, Izuku noted happily. That was good. Humming a greeting, Izuku leaned into the wall next to Katsuki, allowing the heat of the sun-warmed bricks to prickle against his back. Over time as a ghost, he'd gotten used to muted sensations, and largely forgotten the old ones of strength and vibrancy, which left a heavy weight sitting under Izuku ribcage, but he was still glad he could feel anything at all. It meant he was still around after all.

"You need to take better care of your fucking mutt." Izuku smiled at Kohaku's indignant screech, but kept his eyes closed, enjoying the warmth of the wall. Katsuki sounded pretty content too, so he was probably doing the same.

"Koko-chan's a smart girl. And she's not a mutt."

"Tch." Izuku peeked one eye open to glance at Katsuki. He pushed himself off the wall and stretched his broad shoulders, arms back and down so as not to disturb Kohaku, even as he rolled his eyes. "Whatever Deku. We should get going. Can't be late for the second day of school."

"Nhghhhhh… I don't wanna tho…"

"Don't be a brat, nerd. I'm not gonna let you make me late."

"But Kacchaaaann…"

"Don't fucking draw my name out like that." Izuku ignored him, pushing away from the wall and into a pointless stretch as he copied Katsuki.

"Kacchaaaann, we're hours early."

"Not 'hours' idiot. And it's lame to run in right before the bell rings like you do."

"Fine…." Izuku consented, following Katsuki as they swiped their train cards and got onto the train in a comfortable quiet, ignoring the looks they got for both their UA uniforms and the cat perched on Katsuki's shoulders.

A short ride later, and they were arriving at UA, and in class. Sadly, Kohaku ran off as soon as Present Mic burst through the door with a "YEEEAAAHHH!", leaving Izuku pouting at the door where she had disappeared through. English was first, and although Izuku already knew the language well from some ghosts who decided to teach him, it was fun knowing most of the answers in class. He noticed that a lot of people lacked that enthusiasm though because unlike him, many were dozing off. Izuku could imagine they were disappointed by the normality of it. It was certainly very different to be learning conjunctions than being able to test their quirks usability like they had the other day.

Even Kacchan, who (despite vehement rejection of the fact) was a nerd that genuinely enjoyed learning, was bored, because unlike Izuku, he did not like having to relearn stuff. And Katsuki had known English for ages just because one random kid that transferred from America had bet him that he couldn't learn it. Izuku remembered being incredibly impressed when Katsuki had been able to hold a halfway decent conversation with the kid by the end of the month. Of course, it had ended when Kacchan punched the American in the face because he said Katuski wasn't pronouncing the words correctly or enunciating right, but the point still stands that even as a little kid, Katsuki's desire for knowledge (if only to prove himself the best) had been enough to get him to learn the basics of a language so quickly. Kacchan really was impressive.

Izuku wondered if there was a way to make this beginner lesson a little more interesting for Katsuki. Ripping a piece of paper out of the back of his notebook, he subtly folded it up and scribbled a short question in english. 'Did you ever watch the new All Might Documentary?'. Hopefully the language would work as a justification if they were caught passing notes, and it would be a more active way to actually work on the subject that he was sure Kacchan would appreciate.

Reaching out as subtly as possible for one in the second row, he tapped Katsuki's shoulder and held out the note. Katsuki shifted his head just slightly until he could see what Izuku was holding. Noticing the note, his crimson eyes narrowed and raised up to Izuku's, sending a very clear messge of 'What the fuck are you doing Deku?'

Izuku rolled his eyes slightly, and pulled the note back so he could write his response before expectantly handing it back over to Katsuki, who scoffed but accepted the paper. Whether or not Katsuki would deny, Izuku definitely saw a little smile tug at his lips as he wrote down a response, clearly getting the memo as he responded in english. They continued passing the note back like that for the rest of class, and though Izuku was pretty sure that Present Mic noticed, he must have seen that the characters were distinctly romaji, and let them be. Class flew by like that until the bell rang, and Present Mic dismissed them. As he walked past their desk, he rapped it lightly with leather-clad knuckles, gaining both his and Katsuki's somewhat embarrassed attention as they were literally passing a note in that moment.

"Be glad I liked your enthusiasm at the entrance exam, little listener," he said, winking at Izuku as he walked out the door. Izuku smiled awkwardly at his back and was startled as he felt a puff of air right beside his ear.

"Whew!" Urararka breathed. "It was so brave of you to pass notes all class like that! I was worried you were gonna get in trouble!"

Izuku laughed awkwardly, rubbing at the back of his neck. Even she had noticed? She was on the completely opposite side of the classroom though!

"Yeah!" griped a nasaly voice from behind Izuku, causing him to flinch again. "It's so disgusting how you passed notes with your boyfriend all period."

"Look you nastly little shit," Katsuki was up in a second, slamming an explosive fist down on Mineta's desk and began tearing into him. As Izuku was coming to realize, it was really unfortunate that Mineta was staying with the class for a 'transitional period' as everything was sorted out for his transfer to General Studies. Izuku sighed into the distance. He still felt bad for the currently labeled "Grape-micrococcus" having to leave the hero class, but he really didn't care that Katsuki was using his science knowledge (which he would have never left to only cover nitroglycerin and other chemicals and eventually led to his discovery of a certain bacterium that he had called quite a few people for a while after learning its name…) to rail at him about how they weren't together, and subsequently terrifying the miniature teen. Who he really hoped would finish all the transfer forms as quickly as possible.

All Izuku wanted to do was be Katsuki's friend, but what if this made things awkward? That would be horrible! Luckily the transaction was over with quickly, as time to get to the next class ran low and they had to rush off-but not without Katsuki giving Mineta the middle finger.

The next class passed slowly, a fairly interesting but still somewhat boring lecture of Modern Heroic Art by Midnight, which was at least more enjoyable than English because it wasn't a class either he or Katsuki had been able to take before. Kacchan actually looked rather interested, maybe because of some influence by his designer parents. Izuku loved to draw, but Midnight's general lasciviousness made the class less enjoyable.

Lunch came and went, and Izuku indulged himself in the delicious katsudon of Lunch Rush, ignoring the distinct glares from Katsuki as he conversed with his classmates. How wonderful it was to hang out and chat with friends at lunch for once. The last time he'd had that sort of school-time experience would have been preschool, before everything had happened. Even so, he'd never been very popular; too much of a crybaby and everything like that, so Katsuki had been his only real friend. Sometimes, Izuku liked to imagine it was the same for Kacchan, but even though Izuku was less of a lackey then some of the other neighborhood children, he still fawned over Katsuki, so it wouldn't be surprising if he was truly unspecial in Kacchan's eyes-but he was supposed to be avoiding thoughts like that, so he would just enjoy the way things were now. He and Kacchan hadn't truly fought-fought for a while, even if there were some disagreements and worries, so hopefully things would stay like that!

• • • •

Izuku should have known he can't have nice things.

"I AM...COMING THROUGH THE DOOR, LIKE NORMAL!" It was basic hero training time, and Izuku couldn't pretend like it wasn't one of the best things that had ever happened to him to see All Might crashing through the door as a teacher-though of course, remembering how he had to turn down One For All once again, he couldn't help but wince a little. Nana floated in behind All Might, shaking her head at his dramatic entrance, but sent two enthusiastic thumbs up to Izuku when she spotted him. He tried to smile back without anyone noticing, but he saw Yaoyorozu leaning out from her seat trying to see what he had been looking at before shrugging and falling back into her perfect posture. The class had exploded into a cheerings and murmurings of disbelief, and he saw even Katsuki's eyes lit up with excitement

Which was all good and everything, really it was, it made Izuku incredibly happy to see everyone else so enthusiastic about his hero. Then All Might announced they'd be thrown right into battle training. Then Izuku got slotted against Katsuki. That was… decidedly less okay.

Izuku thought it might have been fine if it wasn't for the fact that Izuku wouldn't go easy on him. Or well, rather that Katsuki had such a destructive quirk, because Izuku really liked the idea of being able to fight on equal terms with Kacchan for once. It was just that he really didn't want to let his costume be destroyed. His mom had given it to him that morning, amidst teary declarations of how she'd support him from now on and how sorry she was that she hadn't believed in him before. And he had responded with tears as heavy as he could produce, because to know he finally had his mom's support after so many years (even if it took him dying) meant so much to him.

He didn't even know how she'd gotten hold of the design he'd made ages ago, since he hadn't seen his notebook since he'd moved back in with her. Maybe she'd seen it during the time he'd been gone or something, but however she'd done it, it had meant so much to him he couldn't not wear it. He just... Would have rather kept it as a souvenir, as a proof of her love and support, because despite the work and painstaking care she'd put into making him the costume, his mom didn't have access to the high quality hero-fabrics that would be able to withstand trauma and force, so Izuku had resolved to have to try and avoid them for as long as possible to keep the suit safe. Then he got partnered with Katsuki and that idea went out the window.

So no fights and his mom's handmade hero suit were two nice things he couldn't have. Oh. And his life. Or his quirk for fourteen years. Or two parents. (Now he was getting into bitter territory, and that list could definitely get longer, but he'd already missed all the pairings and would rather not miss anything else because he got mopey).

All the partnerships finished, Uraraka bounced over to him, smiling widely. "Must be fate!" she cheered.

"Yeah! Let's do this!" He cheered, blushing and flustering as she leaned in really close, wide chocolatey eyes worried.

"Are you sure you'll be okay fighting against Bakugou-kun though, Izukun?"

"Wha-What? Of course I will! I'm looking forward to it!" She looked at him, relieved.

"That's great! Competition between people with blooming roma-"

"Uraraka!" Izuku hissed, flush covering his face. "Please just leave that alone. Kacchan and are really just friends!"

She pouted for a moment, but nodded her assent. "Does that mean you're available?"

"WHAT?" he shrieked, gaining a few looks from other classmates. "I mean," he continued, quieter this time, "why would you even ask me that?"

"You're really cute Izukun! And cool-the way you saved me from that zero pointer was awesome!" She pumped a fist in the air enthusiastic and threw a few mock-punches. "You were all 'whoosh, 'pow!', 'SMASH!' and it exploded into all this rubble! SO cool!"

Izuku blushed and began stuttering out a response, but was stopped when his shoulder got shoved back. "Kacchan?" Izuku looked up, blinking. He disregarded Urakaka's laughter over how he had known who it was (again, he knew Kacchan, alright?). "Oh! Kacchan! Aren't you excited we got opposite sides! I've been looking forward to fighting again-" Izuku's voice strangled itself in his throat at Katsuki's bakward's glance, eyes narrowed and darkened by shadow, brows scrunched up in a familiar face of hatred. "Ka...cchan?"

"Shut the fuck up Deku. Fighting you is the last thing I want to waste my time with." He growled, continuing to walk into the building's starting point. Izuku continued staring after his strong back for a while, even as All Might awkwardly ushered him and Uraraka toward their starting point (while cough-laughing about Izuku's ears, which Nana was playing with and Izuku could only dimly be embarrassed about). Katsuki had fought with Izuku a few since he had come back, but though there was anger, there was never that sort of cold fury that had plagued their interactions throughout middle school. What had Izuku done fucked up this time to make Katsuki so hateful towards him again? Why did Izuku always have to be such a lame screw up?

"Wow!" Uraraka breathed beside him. "That was scary! Do you have any idea-" she glanced to the side, and seemed to see asking was a bad idea and immediately clammed up. "Nevermind, Izukun! Do you have any plans?" She passed him one of the blueprints and began studying it. "Even if you don't, there's no consequence in failing! All Might's too nice for that!" She smiled, but it fell into drop-mouthed shock at his face. "But you look too worried!"

"Well, we're up against Kacchan… and Iida." He added as an afterthought. "I really don't know what got Kacchan so mad...but scary Kacchan is terrifying…"

"We can do it, Izu-kun! I believe in us!" Izuku looked at her, pinched features smoothing out into his All-Might's Grin.

"Right! So, Kacchan will probably come straight for us to finish this as quickly as possible…"

Fuck. Fuck fuckity fuck fuck. Why the hell did fate enjoy railing on Katsuki so much? Of all people to get paired with, it absolutely had to be fucking Deku, huh? Katsuki didn't want to fight him! What if he hurt him, or burned him, or fucking made him want to kill himself again!? He couldn't fucking do it, all right?

"Training or not, playing the role of a villain disturbs me." Glasses interrupted his thoughts, frustratingly unaware of the intense turmoil the roiled inside of Katsuki.

"I'm leaving."

"Wha-what do you mean? Bakugou, I'm afraid that this is improper conduct- you cannot just-" But Katsuki was already leaving, gritting his teeth at Glasses' robotic tone. Like hell was a shitty extra telling him what to do.

Bakugou barreled down the hallways, on the hunt for where he knew the heroes would be entering. The best plan for him would be to take them down quickly as possible, tie Izuku up in capture tape and bag the win without having to hurt Izuku. It was the only thing he could do.

It didn't take long to spot Deku in his dorky bright green rabbit costume, and with the aid of explosions to alter his path, Katsuki threw himself with a battle cry at Round Face. Eyes widening quickly, the girl just only managed to duck with Izuku's shouted warning. Fucking nerd wasn't even looking at him-how the hell did he know Katsuki was attacking? Not given time to think about it, Katsuki ducked out of the way of Gravity Girl's splayed out hand. He bared his teeth at her ferally. Like he'd get caught by such a lame move.

Katsuki snapped out his hand, and gave her a half seconds warning. "Duck." Lighting the nitroglycerin droplets on his hand, a relatively large blast exploded through the hall, creating an adequate smoke cover. Lucky for Katsuki, he'd studied how to work around a lack of vision in conditions like this, and was able to lash out with a heavy boot and strike Uraraka across the face. He could practically feel the extras back in the booth yelling at him through the earbud he had left in. So what if she was a girl? He wasn't about to treat a UA hero course student as weak. Round Face reached a hand up to her face, whining in pain of her sore nose, and he used the chance to grab her wrist, and with a well timed explosion, propelled himself forward and slammered her into a wall. The hit to her solar plexus left her stunned, and Katsuki took the opportunity to wrap her up in capture tape. With the only wheezing breath she had left, Urakaka gasped out a "Sorry… zukun" in a pitifully nasally voice, blood leaking out of her nose, and eyes watering from the dust. "...Dek...iru!"

Dealing with Uraraka had just taken a few seconds, so Katsuki probably hadn't give Deku's nerd ass enough time to overthink a plan. Surprisingly, Deku wasn't where Katsuki had been expecting him. A flash of green out of the corner of his eye caused Katsuki to whirl quickly, explosive punch ready to slam into Deku's cheeck, but the momentary glimspe of Izuku's eyes through the stupid hood, hit Katsuki hard. Bright green eyes, watering from the bright flash, so much like tears. Katsuki flinched imperceptibly, but it was enough to stall his momentum that Izuku easily grabbed hold of his arm and judo flipped Katsuki over his back.

With force that left him coughing and gasping for air, Katsuki slammed into the cement floor, a dust cloud rising up around him.

Izuku stared at the rubble that billowed from under Katsuki, mildly surprised that he'd been able to get that kind of success. It required a force behind the throw that rivalved how it would have been if he'd used his quirk. He'd been able to mimic martial arts before, but he had to hand the effectiveness of the correct technique to Nana.

Katsuki pushed himself into a crouch, anger clearly radiating off him. "What the hell…"

"Kacchan… you almost always lead with a right hook! I'm really surprised that you chose a left one this time! I almost didn't catch you-"

"Of fucking course I knew, fucking Deku! It was all in those fucking creepy record books you keep!"

"Ah?" Izuku blinked. Then, he smiled. "Oh! I was wondering where those had gone! I thought Okaa-san had thrown them away. Hey, do you think you can give them back?"

(In the viewing room, several students were gasping over how brave the green boi was for trying to hold a genial conversation in the middle of a battle with a teen who had already earned himself an overly volatile reputation.)

"SHUT THE HELL UP!"

"Kacchan?"

"What the hell do you think you're doing, trying to talk with me while we're in the middle of a battle? IT PISSES ME OFF!"

His face contorted in a roar that Izuku hadn't seen in ages, one that Izuku hated to admit provoked deep seated fear in the midst of his chest. Taking a quick steadying breath, Izuku brought a hand up in front of him. Right. He could do this.

Izuku lunged toward Katsuki, aiming for his face. Of course, Katsuki dodged, and hand behind him, propelled himself forward to hit back at Izuku with an upward advantage. With no time to do anything else, Izuku threw his arms up in a crossed shield to bare the brunt of a minor explosion. Once the force hit, Izuku exerted telekinetic force to push Katsuki back to give himself a second to recuperate.

Backing up out of the smoke, Izuku glanced down at his sleeves and was stumped to find something looked off. No time to think about it though, because Katsuki was already lunging forward again. For a while, they traded blows, but it still felt weird. Slow. And Kacchan was anything but slow while fighting.

Katsuki sent a roundhouse kick towards Izuku's midriff, which he just managed to jump away from. What? Katsuki didn't use his legs often, he couldn't use his quirk from them, after all. He rarely even used punches, preferring the force from his explosions. He definitely didn't punch or kick without some aid from his quirk either. Sending a glance at his arms, Izuku realized what was so strange.

There were no scorch marks. Izuku knew Katsuki's quirk. He knew it up close and personal and for years. And he knew that even some of the weakest of his explosions still easily singed and frayed clothes. So why… why was his costume fine? Katsuki didn't know that Inko had made it, right?

Katsuki lunged forward, capture tape in hand clearly aiming to wrap it around Izuku. Izuku ducked beneath his arms, and sent a low sweeping kick to knock Katsuki off his feet. Katsuki recovered instantly, using the momentum of his back hitting the floor to flip over and land in a crouch. He lunged forward again, arms still outstretched, capture tape in hand, inhibiting him from even using his quirk in the first place. Izuku found it disturbingly easy to roll Katsuki over his back and onto the ground once again.

Oh.

The thought weighed heavy and hot on his chest, with the weight of the gaze of Katsuki's ruby eyes and withheld strength. Izuku's eyes caught on the heavy gauntlets that no doubt weighed Katsuki down, and yet were left completely unused.

Izuku knew what was happening.

Katsuki was preparing himself for a lunge forward again, growl rising in his throat. Why did the damn nerd have to be so slippery? He was running out of time to capture him. And it was fucking painful to keep the sparks on his hands from igniting like they were itching to do. Izuku straightened, eyes glittering in the dim light of the building. He suddenly went still, eyebrows furrowed, and Katsuki mimicked him warily, though he stayed in a fighting stance.

"Hey…" Izuku's determined face fell abruptly, leaving a disturbing blankness behind. "Hey Kacchan, what are you doing?" A disturbing smile grew, eyes still nonreflective and blank. "What do you mean by this, Kacchan?"

Well fuck.

"What does it look like I'm doing, fucking nerd?" Izuku stepped up close, movements still eerily smooth and emotionless. Katsuki watched him carefully, paying attention to his slow steps as he got into what would normally be Katsuki's personal bubble. Still he stayed completely bla-in the flash of an eye, Izuku's face contorted, heated with red anger and eyes almost glowing with burning viridian embers.

"It looks like you're looking down on me, Kacchan!" He yelled, swinging a hook into Katsuki's chin, the force slamming him into the tight hallway's walls. (their earbuds went crackly, static sending harsh whines up their ears and in the control room, All Might winced, and the students seemed ready to riot as the screens turned to pure static, just blurry concepts of what might be happening left.)

"You wouldn't ever treat Uraraka as anything less than an equal but me, you still treat me as fragile? WHY!" His voice cracked, and tears spilled without any control on his part. "Is it because you still view me as a quirkless , weak , nothing ?" He stepped in close, ducking down and, with an anchor on Katsuki's chin, yanked him into the floor, reverberations spreading through his jaw with the sharp pain from impact. Katsuki tried to push himself up, but Izuku's foot slammed into his ribs before he could, slamming him into the wall. The kick left his ribs creaking and Katsuki couldn't help the bile that rose up.

Spitting it to the side, Katsuki growled at Izuku. "ME? Looking down on you? You always looked down on me, shitty nerd! You always treated me as weak as a kid! Why do you think I always hated you so much!?"

Izuku's face seemed to fall agape, like he was realizing something that should have been obvious. "You're wrong…" he said quietly, before his face morphed into a desperate shout, something like hope in them. "It's because you're so awesome, I want to be just like you! But I also wanted to beat you-to prove that I could be some who wins, just like you!"

"Then what the hell was everything, nerd? What the hell was all the things that I've done? How the fuck can I fight you now with so much fucking pointless hate?" Katsuki yelled, voice gravelly in his throat.

"Haven't you always wanted to win?!" Izuku cried, eyes still glowing, lighting up his burning tears. "You've always looked down on me, even if it was only so you wouldn't feel looked down on yourself! If you want to make up for what you did, then treat me as an equal!" He took a deep breath. "THEN FIGHT ME!" He yelled, like it was that simple.

But that was right, wasn't it? Izuku wasn't some sort of frail child who couldn't stand up for himself. He wasn't a wimp who would be destroyed a touch like a stack of cards. Katsuki not wanting to hurt him was protection, it was cowardness. And Katsuki was no pussy. (And maybe he wasn't really ready yet, maybe the idea of Izuku cowering in fear and hurt with singed lapels lingered behind his scarlet eyes, but if there was one think Katsuki could do, it was fight.)

"Oi…" Katsuki glowered, sharp toothed grin spreading across his face. "Yah ready, nerd?"

Izuku's broad grin in response was enough of a response.

Damn Deku, always smiling even when you're frightened… it's one of the best things about you, fucking idiot!

There wasn't much time left in the activity, if All Might's countdowns weren't sign enough, Nana had shown up and kept tapping at her wrist like she had a watch. Izuku though… he didn't want to stop. They stood and fought in the shaded and narrow halls, explosions casting brilliant shadows and dim light caught the flecks of disturbed dust like gold. There was something so incredibly exhilarating about dancing around vibrant golden sparks of explosions and pushing off walls to gain hits. Katsuki had quickly figured out a way to counteract Izuku's pulls, using explosions that both pushed Katsuki away and forced Izuku to dodge. It was a deadly dance and the most exciting fight Izuku had ever had, bright flashes of light and booms of sound adding a feeling and sense of danger and drama that heightened his senses and increased his adrenaline. It felt like his heartbeat was truly beating in time with his moments as he sent rubble and punches flying towards a snarling Katsuki who easily blasted all his plans to pieces.

At one point, Izuku lunged forward only to miscalculate, and Katsuki's open palm came crashing toward his head and blew half his mask off (sorry Okaa-san). Izuku retaliated by a series of kicks and even managed a second judo flip, but Katsuki seemed prepared and turned midair and managed to set off a blast that pushed Izuku against the wall and knocked his breath out. It was still slow, though. Slow for the Kacchan who had spent so many years of his life training to be the best, the fastest, the strongest.

"Ne… Kacchan, what are those gauntlets for anyway?" he asked, still pushed against the wall as Katsuki took a few steps closer.

"Yah interested, nerd?" His grin grew wider, expression sharp and almost a savage snarl in his excitement, chest still heaving from exertion. "The gauntlet's been storing my sweat, assuming the support people did what I asked." His expression stretched further still. "Hey, Deku…" he drawled dangerously. "You think you can take a full on hit?"

Izuku's own nervous smile broadened, but he didn't make a response, planning out his own path. Through the speakers, All Might's deep voice blared.

"Bakugou, stop it now kid. This is too dangerous in a closed-"

"Shut it ALL MIGHT!" Katsuki barked. "I know what I'm fucking doing!" He turned his scarlet gaze away from the cameras (Impressive that Katsuki had noticed them! Izuku only had because he'd had to focus to not interfere with them!) back to Izuku, intensity burning with heat in them. "Yah ready, nerd?" Katsuki's explosions expanded out from his hands in a sphere like shape, so then he'd have to-

Not giving him a second to respond, Katsuki raised a hand up to his gauntlet and pulled out the pin. A massive explosion rang throughout the building, shaking the foundations and leaving rubble drifting down from the ceiling and glass shattering on several floors with the sound of disaster. Izuku had reacted barely quickly enough, shoving himself away from the wall and sliding along the edges of the floor just enough to avoid the explosion as he raced to the epicenter-ground zero where Katsuki stood, which should be safe from impact. Even with his quick response, Izuku's costumes got singed, and he was pretty sure he'd instinctively gone incorporeal when he felt the first impressions of such a searing heat.

Taking advantage of the few moments he would have before Katsuki noticed that Izuku had managed to slip behind him, Izuku lunged forward, capture tape at the ready. Just as he was ready to close it around Katsuki, the explosive teen seemed to sense him and reared around, a blur as he spun on his feet and pulled the pin of the other gauntlet before Izuku had time to dodge. Realization of the point blank range seemed to strike Katsuki an instant after he pulled the pin, eyes just barely widening in horror, which Izuku just registered before his gut told him to drop corporeality.

As soon as the initial blast of the explosion passed over him, Izuku returned to solid, and wasn't nearly braced enough for the lasting pressure. It knocked him off his feet and threw him all the way through a wall.

Izuku sat, stunned for a moment from the impact and the cloud of white drywall that filled the stairway he'd been pushed into. Nana poked her grinning head through the wall. "Are you done yet? You have one minute left, and I can lead you straight to the bomb?"

Izuku gave himself a second to consider if it was cheating or not (it wasn't, he was just using his quirk), before nodding and pushing off the floor, immediately falling into a sprint after the ghost up the stairs. He chose to ignore the arranged shout of "DEKKKUU!" behind him.

Izuku could almost feel a heartbeat in the way his feet pounded rhythmically up the stairs. A countdown began running in his head as he skidded onto the right floor, chasing Nana down the hall while Katsuki blasted his way up the stairs behind him.

10

There was the room, Iida in it, standing in the middle, clearly prepared for a straight on entry. Would have made the windows a liability. Izuku would let him know that later.

9

Kacchan was on the floor now, judging by the sound of the explosions.

8

Iida noticed him, tensing and spewing some laughable lines about his villanly. Nice job, Iida! It was admirable how much he got into the roll!

7

Izuku sprinted forward, Iida tensed to block him.

6

Iida lunged to the side, Izuku feinted to.

5

Izuku twirled around him, making sure to kick a foot under Iida's feet while he was at it.

4

Iida crashed to the ground and Katsuki flew into the room.

3

Izuku made a few steps forward, just an inch away from the paper mache bomb. 2- A screech tore itself from Katsuki's lungs as Izuku reached out for the bomb. 1 The buzzer shrieked, breaking the air.

0

Katsuki barreled into Izuku, slamming him away from the weapon, but it was too late. "HERO TEAM WINS!"

Katsuki pushed himself up, leaning back onto his haunches, though he didn't stand up. "Fucking hell," he muttered angrily, upset at loosing and rubbing the reddened spot on his forehead where he had just slammed into Izuku. "Of course you're a blockhead, Deku."

"Hey!"'' he yelped, offended. "If I'm a blockhead, then you're a bonehead! That hurt even me!"

• • • •

When they got back to the surveillance room, Izuku nearly jumped out of coorporality at the cacophony of enthusiasm!

"WHOA! THAT WAS SO AWESOME"

"I was very impressed by your martial skills, Midoriya. I'd love it if you could-"

"OUI OUI-Your motions were tres avant garde , very beau et inspiring! Nearly a rival to my own-"

"THAT WAS SO MANLY!"

"What a mad banquet of darkness."

"Ew, but did you see them get on top of-"

"You both used your quirks very well, kero"

"Baku-bro, how could you treat a lady like that-"

"HAH?" Bakugou interrupted.

"SETTLE DOWN YOU ZYGOTES! " The room silenced instantly, the contrast almost painful on Izuku's ears. " Let us discuss how the battle played out and who the MVP is!"

Yaoyorozu's hand instantly shot up. "The MVP is Iida-kun because he took his role very seriously, even if he didn't do much!" ("Excuse me ?" asked a disgruntled Iida) "Uraraka did about as much as Iida, but she was distracted and wouldn't have noticed Bakugou, despite his… warning shout if it wasn't for Midoriya."

"What about Mido and Baku though! They were so cool!"

Yaoyorozu shook her head slightly. "Though they certainly displayed immense combat prowess, they seemed to have some personal issues that affected their performance, and did act very logically. Midoirya was better off than Bakugou" ("HAAA?") "Since he didn't try to run off on his own, but his dash in attempts to find the rocket was fool hardy, and it was only by chance that he managed to find the room that contained the rocket. Bakugou meanwhile refused to listen to All Might and also used explosions indoors, which meant damage to his own hideout. Overall, very foolhardy actions."

Well, Izuku had actually known he was going the right way, but he couldn't explain that he'd followed the ghost of an old hero who decided she liked him. He could tell that Bakugou was feeling pretty salty he hadn't won though. He stood in the back, arms crossed as he ignored those who pestered him, and lower lip jutting out as he had always done when he was feeling petulant. For a moment, Izuku considered going over to talk to him, but with the adrenaline of the fight over, he could both think clearer and feel more of the anger and hurt from the fight. Losing served Kacchan right. If he had tried all-out from the beginning, Katsuki may have won. So instead of heading over, Izuku hmmp'ed and started picking at his singed sleeve. Looks like he'd need to submit a new costume design now.

Izuku watched the rest of the fights, very glad that he got to watch them. If he wasn't able to incorporeal, he probably would have been knocked out and missed all the super cool quirks and fights. It was so cool how Todoroki was able to freeze over the whole building! Was it difficult for him to cover just the sides and not fill it up with ice, or was it easier that way! How much control over his tail did Ojiro have? What was the exact ratio between sugar and strength and.. mental degradation that Satou went through? Did it hurt Jirou when she had to shove the earjacks into walls? How did that even work in the first place?! So many cool students! As expected from the number one hero school!

When all the exercises were done, Katsuki left for the changing room without a moment's pause, disappearing almost impressively quickly. Izuku gazed at the dust he left behind, lost in thought. A gentle touch on his shoulder caused him to jump, letting out a shriek that definitely drew a few odd stares.

"Toshi wants to see you, green bean. He's been trying to 'psst' your attention for a bit, the idiot." Nana told him fondly. Izuku moved his eyes over to All Might, who was indeed holding a hand up to the side of his mouth and failing entirely to subtly call him over. To put him out of his misery, Izuku immediately rushed over.

"Yes, All Might-san? Or sensei now?"

"Just All Might is fine, my boy. " He smiled his famous smile, but Izuku didn't miss the little bit of blood at the corner of his teeth. Was his time up after just teaching his class? That wasn't good… " Chiyo-ehem, that is, Recovery Girl wanted to see you. Something about checking up on you after the explosions and smoke inhalation. " Seeing Izuku's question, he continued. " I had to give her a rundown on the trials… I believe she didn't trust me for some reason…"

Izuku determined it wasn't a good idea to voice that he could see why, and nodded. "I'll get going then, All Might-sensei!" he called, as he walked down the halls.

But wait… Izuku didn't even breath?

• • • •

Izuku could understand Recovery Girl's disbelief when he insisted that he was fine, not a scratch on him. It was difficult to believe, after all, his suit was torn up, shredded where rubble had scratched against him and his arm had been burnt pretty badly with Kacchan's second large explosion, resulting in a missing sleeve, but he'd healed pretty quickly. Of course the singes and tears would be worrying to any medical professional, but after a few prodds at his unmarred skin, she sighed and stepped back.

"No coughing or damage, so I suppose you can scrape by without a checkup today boy, but if this happens again to one of your suits... " she trailed off threateningly, though her face remained ever-complacently peaceful.

"Of course, Recovery Girl!" he startled when he felt a furred head brush against his dangling legs. "Ah? Koko-chan, is this where you went? Bad kitty!"

"She's yours?" the nurse asked surprised.

"Yes?"

"I had figured it was Aizawa's…" she suddenly whacked her cane over his head. "Why did you bring your cat to school! At the very least, look after her!"

"Sorry!" He yelped. "She really doesn't listen to me, and I mean, technically speaking, it was Kacchan who brought her to school? Since he took her to the train station when we met up and-"

"Kacchan?" muttered the old woman. "I don't recall anyone on the student registry named that…"

"Oh!" smiled Izuku. "Bakugou Katsuki! The one I fought with." He bounced slightly in his seat. "It was such a good fight."

Recovery girl glared at him slightly. "Well tell that boy he needs to hold be more gentle with his fights. He could seriously hurt someone."

"I'm sure he knows, Recovery Girl!"

"..."

"But I'll tell him anyway! HAHAHAH!"

"Well," she sighed. "You're free to go then. Remember not to hide any injuries."

"Of course!" It's not like Izuku would keep any need to hide them in the first place. Only really bad ones like when he exploded all his limbs."

• • • •

By the time Izuku left the infirmary, and changed back into his school uniform, the school day was already over. It was a really long day , he thought, as he reached the 1-A classroom door.

"Oh! Midoriya's here!" the redhead shouted. "You disappeared just like Bakugou out of the room! So manly-no wasting time, right!" He pumped his fist, clearly enthused. "You're battle was wild! You guys we're really into it!" The pink girl and Satou crowded into his space as well.

"Yeah! We were all super motivated to fight our best after you guys!" She enthused. "You moved so well! Did you guys take gymnastics at all?"

Satou nodded along. "I meant to say it before, but I was too out of it!"

"I.. like your cat…" murmured the boy who could talk to animals.

The classmates around him introduced themselves, though he noticed a few distanced themselves. Looking around the room, Izuku noticed a distinctive person missing. "Huh? Where did Kacchan go?"

"Oh, he already went home!" Kaminari pointed a hand carelessly out the window before turning his attention back to Uraraka. "So about that date?"

Izuku hurried his goodbyes, bowing apologetically before sprinting down the halls. He really did need to talk to Kacchan-they couldn't just leave things unsaid!

"Kacchan!" He shouted toward the slumped-over figure the moment he burst into the courtyard. Katsuki halted and turned just slightly so he could see Izuku, face set in his usual grumpy expression.

"Haa? What do you want, Deku."

Izuku reached him and tugged on his sleeve so that Katsuki faced him fully. "I just want to talk to you Kacchan." He made sure to leave his expression carefully maintained (thanking Suke for helping teach him to do so, even if he could only do that when there were literally no stressors on him). "I just-" he took a breath. "You know I'm fine right, Kacchan?"

"Of course I know that." he growled, but his expression was shadowed, voice roughened by doubt.

Izuku held his arms out wide. "Look Kacchan, I'm fine, any wounds I might have gotten disappeared really quickly, I promise!"

For a second, Katsuki raised his gaze, and as they caught the sunlight, they turned to angry fire. Izuku was hit with a right hook, full force in the cheek that caused him to stumble back a few paces. (Up in the window, several peeping students's jaws dropped. (Domestic violence? whispered Mineta))

"Waah! Kacchan, what was that for? That hurt!"

"Of course it did shitty Deku! Whether you heal or not, you still fucking feel pain, right?" he asked agressively. "What if you hadn't managed to phase out of my explosion? You would have felt the pain of your face literally being burnt off! How the hell do you think that makes me feel?

Oh. Izuku's jaw dropped, regardless of his attempts to remain neutral. In the moment, in the fight, adrenaline and the rush of fighting for each second had distracted him from it, but he'd certainly felt the pain from a fair amount of burn wounds. They were muted, but as he'd thought earlier, that dulled pain felt normal now, so it was really no different to the feel of a regular burn. Perhaps he'd just gotten used to the feeling while alive, so it hadn't phased him much, but… Kacchan cared , didn't he? And despite everything else, it did make him feel warm to know that. Of course Katsuki didn't want Izuku to feel that kind of pain.

Not really sure how to respond, Izuku went with cheeky. He held out an arm in All Might's classic pose. "I can take it! I'm strong after all!"

Katsuki barked out a laugh. "No you're fucking not."

"Excuse me?!" Izuku gasped. "How dare you! I'm stronger than you, actually!"

Bonus : Kirishima leaned over to Uraraka. She seemed cool, real manly. He hoped they could be friends. Right now though, she was fixated on the window, just a centimeter from pressing her face against the glass. He leaned on his tiptoes to see what she was looking at. Oh yeah… Bakugou was yelling at Midoriya in the courtyard. The pair definitely had an interesting dynamic...but their fight was so manly! He could see they had a lot of passion about being heros!

"What do you think they're talking about?" He whispered despite no chance to be heard by the two fighting boys.

Jirou piped up. "Probably declaring their rivalry."

Uraraka shook her head fiercely, hand up and an almost unsettling smile spreading across her face. "The fated love between men!" She declared determinedly.

"But—"

Uraraka looked at Jirou very seriously. "The fated love of men."

Jirou threw a side glance at the girl, sweat dropping. A Fujoshi? She threw a subtle smirk to the side. We'll get along well.

Kirishima watched them, oblivious.

Lmao. DEKUKU was what autocorrect wanted to say. "De-kukukukukukukuk! MWahahahahahaha!"

….

What's wrong with me?

Hi, yes, this is ages late. Do I have an explanation? Yes and No-I completely forgot I was supposed to be posting here. Whoops. Sorry ma bois. I'll be updating one chapter everyday until I catch up to Ao3