Three months later... (warning: the following contains descriptions of injury and abuse, as well as mild language)

Gojo-sensei was right, this is getting a little easier to bear, Midoriya thought to himself as he wiped some sweat off from his forehead. "I'm impressed, you cleared out this much in just four months," Gojo said, surveying the clean section. Though it was small, it was still progress. "It's thanks to your support, Gojo-sensei!" he said, smiling. "Hey hey, give yourself some credit. Most people would've given up by now." Midoriya blushed. "That's not-"

"Deku?"

He flinched, turning around slowly. There, a few meters away, stood none other than Bakugo Katsuki.

"Ka- Kacchan? What are you doing here?"

He was unresponsive at first. Then, slowly, the blond began to walk forwards, taking quicker steps as he got closer. All Midoriya could manage was a single frightened step back. Bakugo grabbed his shirt collar, furious red eyes meeting scared green ones.

"That's my line, damn Deku! What the hell are you doing, fixing up this dump? You think you can become a hero just by putting on some measly muscle?"

"N- no, I just-"

"Don't lie to me!"

Midoriya flinched as the blond snapped. He began to feel a familiar heat creep up his neck. Kacchan's quirk. "I'll tell you what." He shoved Izuku down, and he landed on his knees, the coarse sand grinding into his skin. "It's been a while since you've had a proper beating." No, please... The fear began to consume him, from head to toe, and his mind abandoned all logical thought. "You need a real lesson, because it looks like you're still being persistent."

Izuku was met with a solid kick to the gut, and he fell to his hands and knees, one hand hovering over his wounded stomach. His eyes widened as he stared at the grubby sand below him. I can't breathe... It hurts... "Listen up, Deku!" Bakugo grabbed a fistful of his hair, forcing him to look up and meet his demeaning gaze. "Quirkless losers can't become heroes."

Midoriya's face was suddenly on the ground, his left cheek burning with pain. Oh... he punched me. The punch was followed by a ruthless barrage of kicks to his stomach, to the point where he felt like his lungs were horribly bruised because of how difficult it was to breathe. He felt more powerless than he ever had in his life, only being able to curl up and place his hands over his head to protect himself. Stop... please stop... I don't want Gojo-sensei to see this...

"I don't know which fucking idiot told you that you could actually become a hero, but they're dead wrong. You're quirkless! Powerless! Someone like you..." He angrily threw Izuku down on the ground, stomping mercilessly on his battered body. "Someone like you can't even dream about becoming a hero!"

Finally, Midoriya couldn't hold it in anymore, and tears began to stream down his face. "Stop... please stop, Kacchan..." He begged so quietly that the blond had hardly heard him. Bakugo sneered, leaning down and cupping his hand over his ear. "Huh? What was that? I couldn't quite hear you."

Bakugo suddenly stiffened, feeling an ominous presence. He whipped around, scanning the junkyard. "Who's there?!" There was no response, but he still felt some sort of murderous intent fixated on him, and it wasn't Midoriya. His face was buried in the ground, anyway. He growled, forgetting about the other boy's nearly unconscious body. "Come out, you coward! I know you're there!" All of a sudden, the sinister feeling disappeared, and Bakugo paused before narrowing his eyes. Did I imagine it?

He almost yelped when a hand wrapped around his ankle, and sighed in relief when he saw that it was just Midoriya. The relief quickly turned into annoyance, which turned into anger. "Get your damn hand off of me, nerd. I'm done with you for today." He shook his leg, cursing when he didn't let go. "Let go of me, Deku!"

Slowly, his grip loosened. Bakugo grunted, shoving his hands in his pockets. Just as he turned around to walk away, he heard a shuffling noise behind him. Is he still conscious? He turned around to see Midoriya pushing himself up, his head hanging low. At his sides, his fists were clenched so tightly to the point where Bakugo could see some blood appearing. And... for some reason, he didn't quite seem like Midoriya. He didn't want to admit it (and he never would) but Bakugo felt almost... scared. Me, scared of Deku? That's hilarious. He's just a quirkless loser.

He pulled his hands out of his pockets. "Heh, what's this? You wanna go for round two, Deku?"

But when the boy lifted his head, Bakugo stilled, eyes wide. Instead of the familiar shade of emerald green, Izuku's eyes were a startlingly pure blue, like aquamarine crystals. And they were looking at him as if he were no more than an annoying fly, with a trace of hate.

I won't allow it. I won't allow this piece of crap look at me the same way I should be looking at him.

"What the hell, Deku? You got some useless eye color changing quirk or something?" he asked with a smirk, keeping his poker face up. Yeah, that's all it is. Deku ended up having a quirk after all, but it's so stupid and puny that he might as well not even have one. That's it.

But the boy who was always so nervous and fidgety in front of Bakugo completely ignored him when he spoke, he ignored HIM, staring at his hands instead with a relatively quiet gaze that didn't belong on Izuku's face. As if the trivial lines on his palms were more interesting, more important than Bakugo.

Something erupted in his gut, and he scowled, inciting an impressive explosion from his hands. "Answer me, you bastard!" Finally, Midoriya (he is Deku, right?) looked up, and the calm chill in those foreign blue eyes stirred up some instinct buried deep inside of Bakugo.

Run.

He glowered. Fuck that. I'm not running from Deku of all people. I'm above him. I'm the superior one, I'm stronger than him. So why... why can't I move? He was unfamiliar with the concept of fear. The overwhelming feeling of having someone so immeasurably stronger than him standing right there, bloodlust pouring out like a waterfall.

Still, Bakugo managed a nervous laugh, taking a small step forwards. "You seem pretty gutsy all of a sudden." Calm down. He's still Deku, the quirkless crybaby. "Why don't you come over here and-" His eyes widened when Izuku suddenly disappeared. Where did he go? He whipped around. Behind me! Just as he turned around, something was shoved up against his throat, and he felt his feet lift off of the ground. Something's choking me... Why can't... why can't I breathe?

He forced himself to look down, stunned when he saw Izuku standing below him, a single hand wrapped around Bakugo's throat as those cold cerulean eyes stared into his wide red ones. "Where... where the hell-" He coughed, struggling to speak. "Where the hell did that come from, Deku?!" Was he lying about being quirkless the whole time? No, that doesn't make sense. Even as he was thinking, Bakugo could feel his consciousness and rationality slipping away, turning into pure fury instead. He lied.

He struggled to free himself from the iron grip, eyes furious and unfocused like a wild animal. "You tricked us, damnit! You had a quirk all along, Deku!" He gasped for air when Midoriya finally released him, coughing on his hands and knees on the ground. I... have to get up... He flinched when he felt his body being shoved over, and he was suddenly sprawled out and facing the morning sky.

He got a few more seconds to breathe before Midoriya kneeled down, pressing his throat to the ground. No matter how much the blond pried and kicked and burnt his hand, he didn't even budge. Not even a hint of pain showed in his icy eyes. And worst of all, it looked like he was exerting no effort at all. Like Bakugo was just a boring side errand.

And then he finally spoke.

"I'll say this to you once, just to be clear, but I'm not Izuku." His eyes widened. What? The green haired boy's voice sounded smoother than usual, like a teacher instructing his students. Any traces of his usual nervousness and stuttering were gone.

"My name is Gojo Satoru. Remember it, Katsuki."