Little eight-year-old Izuku Midoriya knew he shouldn't be happy over Kacchan falling ill. He knew it wasn't very heroic to be happy when someone had something bad happen to them, or enjoy it when they missed a day of school.

But if Kacchan didn't come to school, then maybe he wouldn't be beat up for once! That was the hopeful thought bouncing around his head, making him bounce on his feet despite his guilt as he walked along the halls of Musutafu Elementary in his third year of elementary school.

He was by no means close to the end of schooling, but he'd been in it long enough to know what a hell sharing a school with Kacchan could be, the bruises already lining his body attesting to as much.

But the others normally only did it because Kacchan did it, and they did what Kacchan told them to do! So they would probably be less likely to do as many bad things without Kacchan controlling them, right?

Right?

His hopes were dashed and subtle fears were realized when he arrived at his classroom, finding several students present and crowded around a desk, teacher still not present.

"Deku!" He flinched immediately, looking over and feeling his stomach flip and curl in on itself at the cruel looks and slightly disgusted stares he got. What really worried him though was it was Hikaru who had called on him, storming up to him. "Did you hear about Katsuki?"

"Y-Yeah-" He began before immediately curling on himself scared as the boy spoke harshly with a widening grin.

"Well guess what? We figured out what to do with you while he's away." Hikaru looked sadistically delighted as he grabbed the green haired boy's arm harshly, making him cry out in protest before getting dragged to the middle of the room where he was presented with two seemingly innocuous items. Two items that if he were older and more aware, would have made him pale in fear.

A lighter, and Yariman's hairspray bottle.

"Katsuki told us we were gonna make you explode everyday so you remember your place!" Hikaru informed Izuku shoving the items in his hand. "And we figured out how to make sure it will happen even without him here!"

Laughter.

"W-What?!" Izuku went wide eyed in horror as people got up and started to leave the class, except for Hikaru and a somewhat pimply girl with dark hateful eyes that had hands surrounded by a black light.

The next thing Izuku knew his leg was on fire.

"STOP! PLEASE!"

"See! You'll get hurt even if you don't do what we ask! You can stop now Aiko." He giggled and she did as she was asked, while he chuckled. "So what you'll do is set off the lighter I stole from my papa and make the bottle explode on you! My quirk's telling me that's what will happen!"

Izuku gulped. Hikaru had a quirk called 'Chemical Reaction' that allowed him to know exactly what would happen when certain items mixed. He couldn't see the full intensity or extent of these reactions, just what the main result would be.

"No! Please I don't want-" He felt black fire on his arm again and cried out in pain.

"You'll do it Deku!"

No…

Others cheered and agreed.

"Do it Deku!"

No…

"Do it DEKU!"

"F-Fine!" He choked out, taking it and quivering, terrified and very much not wanting to do it. But if he did, if he did it would be over fast. He could take an explosion! Bakugou had hit him with plenty and it would hurt for far less time than the constant burning fire!

Everyone else filed out excited to watch the show, as Izuku would later find out there was far more to this stunt then just the obvious scary element of setting a lighter off on a hairspray can. There were many hairspray cans rigged up, supplied by the whole class.

He'd later find out that Hikaru had worked with another student, Ichika who had a quirk called Jury-Rig, that let them build contraptions with ease from junk, knowing how to make them do what they want. Sadly, it didn't give them any enhanced intelligence or common sense, just innate understanding of the stuff they were specifically building so exterior elements like hairspray cans and lighters….

Add a group full of dumb naïve kids with far too much excitement to kick the quirkless kid as much as possible and a dangerous combination had been made, as they had all added to the hidden contraption they had come up with.

After all, Deku reacted most to explosions, so it would be funniest to put him in his place with an explosion, right? They were all feeling super clever about it. They had found a way to hit him.

Thanks to Bakugou.

Thanks to Bakugou.

Thanks to Bakugou.

Even outside the room, a shaking scared Izuku could hear them all waiting for their show. "Do it Deku! Do it Deku!"

A lighter in hand, tears rolled down his face

"DO IT, DEKU!"

With shaky breath, he saw himself in the mirror, scared green eyes meeting confused glowing blues. He just had to get it over with, and spray the fire!

And as he did, the bullies outside kicked their plan into motion, a massive gust of wind filling the room and sending the fire all over the place, ensuring the flames drove themselves back inside the hairspray can, right as the door opened.

"What's going on in-"

Explosion.

CRACK!

Izuku felt so many bruises and cuts open as he screamed out in pain and his vision darkened, dropping him to his knees in agony. But what made his throat dry wasn't the pain but the terror of looking up and seeing his teacher who had walked in. Of their stares meeting.

Eyes of surprise and fear.

Izuku had got lucky, by the dumbest luck nothing had truly decimated him… but the teacher had taken a massive chunk of shrapnel right to his abdomen.

"CATCH!"

The freckle faced boy's eyes widened in surprise as the smoke ball was suddenly launched towards him.

Izuku swallowed hard, jerking forward as he tried to think of what to do, as blood began to run from his teacher's mouth. They froze.

Both of them froze for a moment in surprise.

The teacher tried to move, but a second crack resounded throughout the room, a horrible, horrible crack.

Then a sickening crack sounded out and the demon lurched forward.

"You…. You…. Brat!"

"You….you….BRAT!"

His glare was the last thing Izuku could truly recall as his chest hurt and he began to cough, lungs hurting so much as the room filled up.

Smoke, smoke everywhere.

He was scared. He didn't want to hurt anyone. He was sorry! He didn't mean it! Why him!? WHY HIM?!

So much smoke, suffocating.

Finally, the pain and the lack of air became too much and he finally passed out.

When he eventually awoke, it was to discover that once he went back to school, despite every protest his mother gave, he'd be in detention for a whole year for 'manufacturing a dangerous situation' and 'putting his teacher and classmates at risk.'

Kacchan was enraged, annoyed that the 'extra's' had taken up his job of keeping Deku in his place.

All Izuku could wonder through the tears when he found out once again was why him?

He didn't know why it had to be him….

"...I think my PTSD began because of an event before I even had my mark."

In the present day, Izuku's eyes shot open with a new found clarity, as he began to shake.

Began to shake in pure, unadulterated rage and contempt. He was done. He was through. The world beat him down every time.

No. More.

He may not know 'why him?'

But he knew why.

He knew why.

Katsuki Bakugou.

He wasn't having it anymore! He was getting out of this and if he ran into the bastard on the way…

He wasn't holding back.

Bakugou had never been punished for anything he'd done, never as a kid, never for the lighter incident his own actions lead to, never for even the things he'd done in the present day. He wouldn't even get punished for knocking Izuku out, he was certain.

So if he had to dole out the punishment himself, so be it.

But honestly?

Izuku was just plain done. The rage, the desire to see justice carried out, to see Bakugou get what he deserved… it was all trumped by the sheer tiredness of not even wanting to have to deal with yet another situation that wasn't supposed to be his mess.

He just wanted out. That's all he could think as he wiped tears from his eyes, a part of him surprised he even had tears left to give at this point.

It was with that thought he swallowed, ignoring the taste of iron as he hardened his gaze and began running forward, hearing the violently explosive sounds in the distance of All Might fighting Bakugou.

With control he'd never had before, he threw out Far Reach with perfect aim and launched himself high, crashing right through a window in shadow walk form after and not even stopping or paying attention to the violent thoughts of the form as he crawled up the walls to the roof like the creepy shadow abomination he was in this form, reforming on the roof with a simple plan in mind.

He focused on killing most of the power as he called upon Dark Vision, not even needing to try more than once to get the power output right and find himself with a new version of Dark Vision available to him.

All other details disappeared, leaving him in a world of almost near darkness with one exception. He could see Bakugou and All Might's silhouettes in the distance. Much farther than normal Dark Vision could ever hope to show him, and Bakugou was being destroyed, much to a small part of Izuku's secret delight as he watched the smaller form get batted down a street.

He hoped it hurt. What he didn't hope however was finding out personally, not wanting to run into the student or teacher if he could help it. As much as he wanted to give Bakugou every last angry 'piece of advice' in his head, he just wanted the exam to be over more.

He knew Full Cowling would be far too conspicuous and nowhere near fast enough to escape All Might if he was spotted, which he likely would be. He also knew Far Reach would only serve him well for stealth as long as there was a higher up vantage point of sight, making it hardly viable for a stealth option especially as All Might likely knew to keep an eye above.

Only one power really worked for the kind of stealth he needed here, but he wasn't an idiot. Using Shadow Walk while he was having so many angry thoughts regarding Bakugou already could not end well. It just couldn't.

He needed something… something less.

With that thought he looked down at his mark and focused. The magic inside him was his, he'd never felt so… attuned to it before. Natural. It was flowing in him.

Shadows slowly overtook him but did not transform him. His mind lit up with a natural understanding and without a second thought he dived off the roof.

Right into the shadow of the other building, where he suddenly merged in just like a shadow. He was aware of everything around him, but only within a certain distance of the shadow he had 'merged' with now. It was wider than his old field of view to be sure, due to the size, but also more restricted as he could not turn or change it.

With no signs of an approaching battle however, he focused on a dark mist shot through the air, to the next nearest shadow, the building over. He could feel his body turn physical for just a moment before being absorbed into the next shadow.

And that's how the next five minutes went, slowly but surely working his way across the field, over the whole distance until finally he could see the exit in sight. Only it was further then his 'shadow merge' was allowing him to jump between. Most of the shadows so far between the buildings had been practically touching, but the shadow of the exit gate was a good thirty or fourth meters away in a wide open space.

And as if that wasn't bad enough, it was at that moment Bakugou came sliding across the ground, bruised and growling wildly before screaming in rage and rushing at an All Might who seemed…. Way more intimidating than usual, just appearing.

For most, it would be like coming face to face with a demon like the first time he did. For Izuku, it just reminded him by now that the bigger they are, the harder they would fall.

"COME ON OUT YOUNG MIDORIYA! DON'T YOU THINK YOUR PARTNER WOULD APPRECIATE SOME HELP?!"

"FUCK YOU I DON'T NEED THAT USELESS BASTARDS HELP!"

Izuku would growl if he could as Bakugou went in for another attack (or more accurately, his next beating), coming off no better than last time as his explosions did practically no damage.

"COME NOW! YOU CAN'T BEAT ME ALONE!"

"FUCKING WATCH ME!"

"YOU WON'T LEAVE YOUR FRIEND TO A VILLAIN, YOUNG MIDORIYA?! THAT WASN'T WHAT YOU DID WITH THE SLIME VILLAIN!"

Oh. Oh fuck no.

Fuck you, All Might.

Fuck you, universe.

Fuck you, Bakugou.

Fuck you, Demons.

Izuku formed into his physical form right as All Might was distracted by an explosion to the face and despite an angry part of him wanting to scream that maybe he should of left Bakugou to the slime, even if he wasn't sure if he really meant it, he knew he had to get out.

So he ran, using Full Cowling to boost himself. He was fast, and closing in-

And not fast enough as the towering form of All Might was suddenly right in front of him, eyes slightly wide as he saw something Izuku missed, the new blow glow overtaking not just his mark but his body. "THERE YOU ARE, HERO! YOUR NEW WEIRD BLUE GLOW SHALL NOT SAVE YOU!"

A fist came down and Izuku snapped, not in the mood. He instantly formed far reach, the tentacle grabbing the man's hand and yanking down hard enough to briefly throw him off balance long enough for Izuku to pull off a move that shocked even him that he did without hesitation.

He turned the tentacle to its hardened lance form and sliced right through All Might's weak point without pause, ignoring the genuine pained scream that came from his mentor. It wasn't deep enough to kill him, but it would sure as hell hurt like a bitch.

He couldn't bring himself to care about it as his form dissipated into the shadowy eldritch horror that was the form of Shadow Walk, that All Might's eyes went wide in fear upon seeing. The next thing either knew, said horror was climbing over his massive frame with disturbing speed and spider like movements, shadowy tendrils shooting out and hitting the man over and over without remorse or abandon, a voice in Izuku's head screaming to destroy him.

All Might it seemed was not prepared for this as he backpedaled, unable to properly struggle with the form due its lack of a fully physical form. Fortunately, he didn't need to for much longer as a massive explosion came followed by a familiar voice screaming.

"STOP TRYING TO STEAL MY FUCKING VICTORY YOU WORTHLESS BASTARD!"

Bakugou closed in fast, going for a large attack and the next thing anyone knew, he was slammed down into the ground hard by a pair of shadowy tendrils, before he was lifted up and slammed down again.

And again.

And again and again until the concrete began to crack.

"YOUNG MIDORIYA NO! STOP!"

But he didn't, he kept going, ignoring the explosions that tried to attack him until finally a beefy figure got in the way and blocked the next attack as time ran out and he reverted to his 'normal' state. He let out a growl, as All Might immediately went to take Izuku down.

In any other circumstance, it would have been very likely this would have been the point where the student would be defeated, even normally Izuku, and the exam would end.

But Izuku was somehow faster, sheer power coursing through him as if on instinct rather than choice as his arms shoot out and a massive blanket of shadows overwhelmed him without transforming him fully, leaving him shrouded in some kind of shadow armor. Half of his body faded to the shadows, while the other half remained normal, as though stuck halfway between his humanity and the horror dwelling within.

He could feel no dark thoughts, but his strength he could tell was far greater than what it previously was. A brutish strength waiting to be unleashed, and that was all he wanted to do.

All Might's fist was grabbed as One For All charged through what was left of the physicality of Izuku, and in an instant the man was lifted up off his feet in a terrifying sight many would never expect to see, and swung around over a mere teen's head.

Before finally, he was violently thrown away through several buildings, crashing through them all as Izuku turned to leave.

"DEKU!"

Izuku didn't even look back as he threw a fist behind him and knocked Bakugou back, the new shadow brute form dropping as he ran as fast as he could with full cowling. All Might wouldn't be down for long, but…

He was down long enough that Izuku managed to clear the gate, and keep running. Keep running and never stopping, not at the bus, not at the forest.

He didn't stop until he was all the way back to the medical tent, where a few unpleased faces were waiting for him. And Aizawa made one of the biggest mistakes of his career.

"You won… at the cost of your partner." He had begun angrily, eyes flashing red as he stalked forward. "You didn't work with him at all and you likely would have cost him a lot more on the real field, attacking him then leaving him to die. I have never seen more failure in a 'success' in my life. Debilitating your ally, leaving them to die and fighting with killing intent that wasn't necessary. What were you thinking?!"

Izuku looked up and instead of bashful, upset or confused green eyes, eyes of blue rage and pure power met the red eyes that immediately faltered.

"What was I thinking?! WHAT WAS I THINKING?!" He suddenly screamed, making those around jump. The entire class, although some were tired and bruised, were present and shocked at the sudden outburst, many backing up out of sheer fear from the pure power currently being exuded from their usually quieter classmate. "WHAT IN THE FUCKING VOID WERE YOU THINKING YOU ABSOLUTE MORON?!"

"Excuse me-" Aizawa immediately tried to reaffirm his glare but jaws dropped as he seemed to be unable to get his scarf to respond to him at all, his quirk faltering as Izuku stalked slow and dangerous to him. Several other teachers immediately tried to prepare themselves for a fight.

"WHAT THE FUCK WAS THE POINT OF ANY OF THIS YOU USELESS, TERRIBLE, INCOMPETENT EXCUSE FOR A TEACHER?!"

"To teach you to work together!" All Might's voice had come, having clearly rushed back as he walked in, only to stop as he came face to face with the sight before him. All Might was clutching his side in pain, but all his concern was focused on his student. "You can't let your rivalry affect your work my boy-"

"MY RIVALRY?! MY FUCKING RIVARLY?! IN CASE YOU ABSOLUTE GENIUSES OF OBSERVATION HAVEN'T NOTICED, I DON'T WANT TO BE HIS RIVAL! HE'S THE ONE WHO ATTACKS ME! HE'S THE ONE WITH THE ANGER ISSUES! HE'S THE ONE CAN DO NO FUCKING WRONG APPARENTLY CAUSE OH HEY LOOK HE HAS A FLASHY FUCKING QUIRK!" Izuku screamed in pure rage, before rounding on Aizawa fully. "AND YOU! DON'T YOU SAY SHIT TO ME ABOUT UNNECESSARY INTENT WHEN YOU NEVER GOT BAKUGOU IN TROUBLE FOR WHAT HE DID DURING OUR FIRST BATTLE EXAMS! HE SAID HE KNEW HIS ATTACK WAS DANGEROUS AND YOU JUST LET IT SLIDE! YOUR JUST USING ME TO TRY FIX HIM!"

"….That is a blunder, I admit-"

"A blunder?! A FUCKING BLUNDER?! HE COULD OF KILLED ME! BUT HEY, ITS JUST BAKUGOU BEING BAKUGOU!" Izuku stomped a foot in frustration. The stone flooring cracked to pieces, making several throats go dry as the blue glow around him got brighter and more intense.

"Midoriya calm down-"

"NO! I HIT HIM A FEW TIMES CAUSE HE WENT TO ATTACK ME FIRST YOU GENIUS! BUT I BET YOU DON'T EVEN GIVE A SHIT THAT HE KNOCKED ME OUT FIRST AT THE START OF THE EXAM! OH WELL, ITS JUST FUCKING IZUKU, HIS LIFE DOESN'T MATTER! LET'S BLAME HIM WHEN HE IS THE ONLY ONE TRYING TO WORK WITH THE SITUATION AND KEEP PUTTING HIS FUCKING LIFE AND HEALTH AT RISK BECAUSE IT'S JUST IZUKU! "

A heavy silence followed that one as those words sunk in, but Izuku just kept growling, more animalistic than human at this point.

"Young Midoriya, I'm sorry we didn't realize, but you have to have some maturity-" All Might immediately stopped as the look Izuku gave him told him exactly where he could shove his maturity.

"Problem child, enough! I see now there are many issues we must deal with but you tried to pawn the issues today off entirely on young Bakugou-"

That was it. That was the point what little hold Izuku had left broke as years repressed sadness, rage and turmoil flew through him and certainly not due to his empathy as he turned and looked Aizawa in the eye as everything finally came flooding out in one last rant.

"SHUT UP! ALL ANYONE HAS EVER DONE IS PUT THERE PROBLEMS ON ME! EVERYONE GIVES HIM A FREE PASS AND EXPECTS ME TO CLEAN UP THE MESS! I'm not just someone to clean up other people's messes! I'm not just someone you can use to deal with your problems or to just throw away to fix someone else! I don't want to just be some glorified freakin' janitor! No matter what, every fucking day I have to worry about myself because of other people's actions! I didn't do any of this!" He wasn't even sure what he was referring to anymore, his brain scrambled and confused, not sure if he meant Bakugou or demons anymore, not that most people present would know what he was talking about. "But it's all on me to deal with it?! I DIDN'T MAKE THESE FUCKING PROBLEMS! I DIDN'T ASK FOR THEM TO BE SHOVED ON ME! I JUST WANTED TO BE NORMAL! I JUST-!"

He finally let go what had been burning him for so long as the glow reached its brightest point, blindingly bright blue, his mark lighting up even more than his body and only outshined by his very eyes coursing with power..

"I JUST WANTED TO BE ME!"

Somewhere else, in a web of infinite expanse and boundless creation, cracks begin to form.

And in a moment of sheer rage, power and for many of the students, horror, that scream was accompanied by a shockwave of pure magical power that knocked everyone off their feet.

But they got lucky, unlike their teacher. Aizawa took the full brunt of the power, eyes going wide as he was hit with its entire, flying backwards at unsettling speed before he connected with the stone wall.

And an unsettling crunching noise was all that was heard before he collapsed into a heap.