Summary: Midoriya Izuku and Bakugou Katsuki infiltrate UA so they can take hero society down from the inside. They… don't exactly stick to the plan.
"I'm just saying─"
"Shut the fuck up, Deku! You're full of shit!"
"I think it's the perfect method."
"Yeah; because you're fucking insane. No way it's that fucking easy."
"...Wanna bet?"
A week later, the Number One Hero, All Might, meets a helpless, quirkless boy on top of a rooftop and tells him he can't be a hero.
With a little improvisation from his best friend and an old colleague of his father's, Midoriya Izuku soon receives a different answer.
His training begins.
Cleaning up Takoba Beach is by no means fun─but All Might was at least correct when he said hauling all of that junk would give him the ideal body to inherit One For All.
(But Izuku would sooner play video games with Tomura than eat hair. Never again.)
The Entrance Exams are… something. He hadn't expected the plan to go this far─at the start it was about pissing off Kacchan; and then he realised he could actually take back his uncle's quirk─but now Izuku's starting to think he's getting a little too close to the sun.
Still, the knowledge that Bakugou Katsuki has to join the hero course just to watch over him is enough to make Izuku stay the course.
And besides─infiltrating hero society should probably help his father's plan for world domination.
He could do without the broken bones, though.
First day at UA and Izuku really fucking hates this shit. Like, no─how fucked up is this school that they expel students on the first day?
And Izuku can't even complain to Kacchan because their cover is that they fucking hate each other. Ugh.
(Izuku really shouldn't be annoyed about that. After all─this was entirely his idea.)
There's a test. He comes in last but doesn't get expelled. It's the first test he ever failed in his entire life.
Well. He was born quirkless─he failed the first test life threw at him.
He takes notes on his classmates.
Of course he does. What kind of spy would he be if he didn't jot everything about the hero hopefuls down. Izuku can easily tell you about how attached Iida is to his older brother or Uraraka's financial problems. Mineta's a perverted freak and Kirishima's obsessed with manliness to an unhealthy extent.
They're all easy.
Izuku wonders how long they'd last in a fight against real villains.
Not long, he'd wager.
They'd known about the attack on the USJ in advance (of course Izuku would─he planned the damn thing), but there was something… thrilling about the terror in his classmates' faces when Tomura and Kurogiri first arrived.
Obviously, he fights alongside his classmates. Izuku isn't sorry to see the League lose. This attack was never about winning. It was about testing out a Nomu on All Might. Taking advantage of his weakened state and enhancing his fragility. And the icing on the cake? Izuku learns that All Might lost even more time.
All Might is weak. He doesn't have long left.
Izuku can't wait for his downfall.
The Sports Festival rolls around.
Izuku has… a conversation with Todoroki.
He doesn't get it.
Todoroki was abused by Endeavor, the Number Two Hero, his entire life. Yet, for some reason, he insists on being a hero. Shouldn't Todoroki resent heroes? Shouldn't he hate them and plan for their downfall?
That's what Izuku did.
It only makes sense.
When heroes fail you, villainy is the only path. There's nothing else you can do. Villainy is the only option. Right? Kacchan agrees. Kacchan said the same thing─if heroes failed them, then they have to get their revenge as villains. Kacchan agrees. Kacchan…
Kacchan wins the Sports Festival.
He looks…
He's screaming and has to be muzzled and tied to a pole with chains but Izuku thinks…
Izuku thinks Kacchan looks happy.
Internships roll around and Izuku's conveniently in Hosu, where he knows Tomura is trying to broker a deal with Stain. Izuku wholeheartedly believes that the deal will fail. Like, c'mon. Tomura is no negotiator. He wishes that he could make it to headquarters, but instead Izuku has to deal with some old man who is too fast for his own good.
Nomu start attacking Hosu and Izuku decides to hide in an alley. That doesn't work out, because he comes across his classmate trying to murder Stain, the Hero Killer.
Izuku has a choice.
He could assist Stain─possibly cementing his failed alliance with the League.
Or; he could help Iida.
But help Iida do what, exactly?
Murder Stain, and risk his cover being blown?
But that also means he could recruit Iida to the League.
What should he do?
What would Kacchan do?
…
Izuku knows something.
He knows that Kacchan doesn't hate the life of a UA student. He doesn't hate the possibility of being a hero. Despite knowing what heroes did to them. How they failed them. Failed Izuku's mom and Kacchan's parents. They failed to save them─they were right outside that burning building and somehow it was a 'horrific tragedy' that the lives of seventeen innocent civilians were lost because heroes set that building on fire during the fight and how they were the ones who refused to get the people out of the building.
Fuck, they were even the ones who caused the explosions that left a pile of rubble where an exit had been.
It wasn't heroes who saved them.
No─it was Bakugou Mitsuki. She was the one who pushed them out the window. The injuries from that fall resulted in Kacchan being comatose for two weeks. Izuku shattered his left leg.
Yet, Izuku knows what Kacchan would do.
And so, Izuku knows what he will do. After all, when he was a kid, he swore "I'm gonna be just like Kacchan when I grow up!"
He attacks Stain.
In the end, Izuku has to call for back-up and even with Todoroki's help, they barely manage to subdue Stain.
Izuku winds up in the hospital and is slammed with gag order after gag order about this entire fucked up situation.
But it's not his massive headache or Iida's snores that keep him awake that night.
No.
A 'true hero'.
What did he mean by that?
Would he still say that if he knew who Izuku was? If he knew why Izuku was in UA? If he knew anything?
No. No he wouldn't.
Izuku needs to talk to Kacchan.
He never says anything.
They're going to a summer camp. Wow. That's something.
And the perfect place to attack.
He texts Tomura the address and his plan.
The League of Villains 'kidnap' Kacchan and they have the fall of All Might planned out perfectly.
At the hospital, they want to save Kacchan. Izuku sees the desperation in Kirishima's eyes and the steely fear in Iida's gaze.
They're distractions.
He tells them no and returns to headquarters.
(Izuku really should've stuck around if he didn't want to be blindsided.)
Kacchan is in his room when Izuku gets back. The League didn't bother tying him up─pretenses are for tomorrow, when All Might will show up.
Izuku sits on the bed beside his friend. He wonders if Kacchan feels the same way as him.
He wants to ask.
Izuku looks at his friend and sees his balled fists and hard eyes.
Ah.
Izuku knows exactly how he feels.
"Dad is going to kill All Might tomorrow," Izuku says.
Perhaps they'll forget if they remember why they want to destroy hero society.
"We'll have our revenge," Katsuki says. He doesn't look at Izuku.
"I know."
Then why…
Then why are your eyes wet?
Then why does it hurt?
Why are we doing this?
The questions are neither spoken nor answered.
This is for the best.
This is for the best.
This way, things will finally be right.
This way, Izuku will stop dreaming of his mother's screams and Auntie's cries for them to run and to live.
Live.
Hah.
Izuku hasn't been living since he was nine.
This is for the best.
As predicted, All Might shows up on time and they're prepared for him and the other heroes. Izuku hides in the shadows and watches the fight from a safe distance. He watches Kacchan stand by Tomura's side─stone-faced and looking exhausted.
Izuku knows that it's almost time.
Almost time for him to walk up and join Kacchan and help Dad to crush All Might, once and for all.
He knows and he moves.
But then he sees.
Kirishima. Todoroki. Yaoyorozu. Iida. They're… here. In Kamino. What? Why would they be here? Izuku thought they didn't want to be here. He'd thought it was just Kirishima. He'd thought they weren't being serious. He thought they were just talking big─acting tough like heroes always do.
Why are they here? To save Kacchan? But they know the pros have this under control. Why would they… why would they risk everything?
Heroes don't… heroes… don't….
Izuku remembers being four years old. He remembers watching All Might on the computer; watching All Might save the world with a smile. Izuku remembers learning he was quirkless. He remembers crying in his mom's arms and asking if he could still be a hero.
Izuku remembers hope.
He steps out of the shadows.
Kacchan sees him first. He doesn't move.
Next to spot him is Tomura.
Tomura laughs maniacally and gestures towards All Might─as if he knows how this is going to go and can't wait.
Izuku knows exactly how Tomura feels. He knows what it's like to hate heroes.
He still feels that hatred.
But Izuku realises something.
He doesn't need to be a villain.
Izuku finally remembers his dream.
He wanted to be like All Might.
He wanted to save the world with a smile.
Izuku can't do that without Kacchan.
Katsuki remembers losing his parents. He remembers being taken in by Deku's father. He remembers growing to hate heroes. He remembers swearing to protect Deku. He remembers his first day at UA. He remembers meeting Shitty Hair and Raccoon Eyes and Dunce Face and all the other damn extras.
Katsuki remembers the first time he played one of those stupid hero training exercises and he remembers grinning.
Katsuki remembers winning the Sports Festival and he remembers screaming and attacking his dumbwitted classmates just to hide how damn happy he was.
Deku saw through him─of course he did, he's Deku─but he never said a word. Katsuki followed his lead and followed his plans.
Katsuki doesn't want to be a villain anymore.
But he's gonna follow that dumb nerd, even if it's the death of him.
Katsuki was planning to agree with whatever shitty plan Deku came up with when he stepped out of the shadows, but then Deku extended his palm and repeated his words from when they were kids.
"Let's be heroes."
Katsuki grins.
Tomura doesn't react well─he overheard them, obviously─so Kacchan sends an explosion towards him with one hand and shakes Izuku's with the other.
Izuku turns to look at All Might. All Might looks at him and Kacchan. Izuku sees him smile and he knows what to do.
Izuku is weak. He can't use One For All at a high percentage, but he sure as hell can fight.
He's not sorry when he attacks his father. Because when Izuku looks at All For One, Izuku remembers something. Something very important.
It may have been heroes who failed to save his mom, but it was Hisashi who started the fucking fight in the first place.
When the fight is over, nobody is willing to listen to the mad ramblings of the League about how Midoriya Izuku and Bakugou Katsuki are members of the League. That is, until, Tsukauchi, who realises that they aren't fucking lying. He rounds up Aizawa and All Might and they go down to have a chat with the boys.
They get a story.
The boys get adopted and their secrets are kept. It's… better than they could've hoped for.
(Aizawa still ups their tenfold training as punishment, but it's a small price to pay. By far, All Might's disappointment was far, far worse.)
Izuku has a new dream.
It's… honestly similar to his old one, but he thinks this one is better.
Izuku wants to destroy hero society.
He wants it gone. All gone. No more heroes.
And no more villains.
He wants to fix society.
He wants to let people use their quirks freely and not have to fear discrimination or getting caught up in a villain attack. He wants people to walk the streets freely and happily. He wants them to be able to leave their doors unlocked at night without thinking that they'll get murdered for it.
He never wants another person to lose their parents because they couldn't be protected.
Four years later, when Izuku is officially declared Number One Hero, he knows he will achieve that dream.
I wrote this in an hour with zero editing lol. enjoy ig