1. This chapter took place long before the main plot of the story started. This provides more character to Izuku and background to his 3P relationship.

2. I know I've been away for so long! Part of my conflict with this story is that I was actually planning on making this an original work. I was conflicted between continuing it or abandoning it and put the time I spent working on this fanfic on an orific instead. However, I HAVENT MADE ANY ORIGINAL FIC AT AL LOL. I've renewed my love for BNHA and I do hope I can somehow continue this fic. For all reader, old and new, please enjoy!

3. This is the latest update on AO3 as of March 29th 2022

YEARS BEFORE Part I

Izuku had long accepted the fact that he was quirkless; a cruel fact but fact nonetheless.

Nevertheless, he was far more optimistic when he was younger.

He was tight buddies with Kacchan back then. Their mothers had been best friends since they were in high school; so naturally their children would follow suit. Izuku's memory of Kacchan as a young child was that of a competitive child. Even in the eye of a kid, Kacchan was an obvious gem. Among his peers, Kacchan had always been vocal of what he wanted and he could lead a pack of the neighborhood boys with such ease. For a while at the time, they were the duo everyone would want to play with on breaks. They were cool; because Kacchan would be a famous hero in the future and it was established then Izuku would be his sidekick. And Izuku dreamed of that future. He adored it.

It's no surprise when Kacchan's quirk showed first before everyone else in the kindergarten. In fact, all the kids had said how Kacchan would obviously present first.

However, after everyone started developing their quirk one by one, Izuku had yet presented with his. It didn't take long for his mom to get him checked at a local hospital.

You know what the doctor told them.

Anyway, they didn't tell everyone. Of course Kacchan found out from his mom. Izuku's mom would tell Auntie Mitsuki everything. What Izuku didn't know then was that Izuku's diagnosis became the turning point of their friendship.

Kacchan still allowed Izuku to tag along although the prior started playing with the other kids instead. The bullying didn't really start until that one time Izuku offered Kacchan a hand after he fell to the stream. Maybe it was his pride, maybe it was something else; but Kacchan retaliated by throwing insult after insult well onto primary school.

Somehow, in Izuku's mind they were still friends despite the name-calling and the poor treatment Kacchan started giving him at school. After all, their moms were still the best of friends and Kacchan's parents were like family to Izuku. Kacchan and his parents would also have dinner at Izuku's house every Thursday evening. Kacchan might be closer to the other kids at school now, but he didn't share those moments at Izuku's house with them.

When they were forced to play at Izuku's room, Kacchan would make snide remarks and order Izuku around, but there's no denying that Kacchan was comfortable around Izuku. And once they entered elementary school, Kacchan ceased being friends with Izuku in public altogether but they still talked whenever he was over with his family for dinner. He did throw away Izuku's pro-hero notebook when the other kids found it in Izuku's bag that one time at school; but he didn't say much about it when he saw it in Izuku's room.

It hurt, and Izuku was saddened by the fact that he lost a dear friend, but Izuku understood Kacchan is very prideful. Despite all the taunting in school, Kacchan never actually physically harmed Izuku and would stop his friends from doing so. And while things were rough between them in school, no bullying nor insults could change the fact that they were like brothers at the vicinity of their homes.

The poor treatment only stopped when Kacchan started attending a junior hero trainee program at the age of 8 at Best Jeanist's Agency. He was far too busy focusing his energy on his training to get his followers to make fun of Izuku. Moreover, he no longer came to the dinner because he'd be participating in the trainee program. His parents would tell the tale about Kacchan's progress and how amazing Genius Office was. The next day Izuku would silently listen to the same story from the back of the class as Kacchan himself retell it to the flock of kids hanging around his desk.

While Kacchan's ridicule halted, it didnt really stop Kacchan's friends from making fun of Izuku from time to time. Kacchan rarely participated in it besides a couple of name-callings. Yet, it's very in Kacchan's character to insult everyone so Izuku felt like it hardly mattered.

In only a year, everyone saw the changes in Kacchan. He's still loud and crude; but he's also ... calmer; more coolheaded compared to the boisterous child he used to be in kindergarten. Izuku remembered how Kacchan's mom jokingly stated that the regular training at Best Jeanist's agency helped with his pent up aggression and Best Jeanist had just the right composure to discipline a child like Kacchan. And it was the year after, when they were 10, that Izuku heard of Kacchan's official invitation letter to UA from Kacchan's mom.

It was a lazy afternoon when the Bakugou matriarch dashed to their front door with a letter in hand. "My son! My son! My little Katsuki!" She exclaimed as she hugged Izuku's mom. They were all still standing in the entrance hall, Izuku still somewhat far behind but watching the scene attentively. "What's going on, Mitsuki-chan?" Izuku's mom voiced.

"My son! He got invited to UA's entrance exam!"

Izuku's mom gave a shrill shriek out of excitement and he witnessed the two women holding each other while jumping. The whole thing was a chain of reactions. At one point, Izuku had his hands on the invitation letter. He remembered eyeing every single details; from the embossed letters, to the smooth velvety surface of its paper. And the smell - he wondered if that was what UA smelled like. When both women sat down, Izuku heard how that invitation was only possible when a prospective student was refereed by someone.

"Oh, it might be Best Jeanist! It has to be - who else would have the influence to make such a strong reference, right? Oh, I should thank that man, he's been so wonderful to my son. Like, this is a surprise for me. I didn't expect out of all children there, Best Jeanist would refer my child. I thought he hated Katsuki - Like, you know how Katsuki speaks of him. It was always of Best Jeanist scolding him, or punishing him," Mitsuki Bakugou gushed while Izuku's mom listened.

"But, Mitsuki-chan, Best Jeanist is known for being strict and easy to cross," Inku Midoriya responded.

"True!"

The two women chuckled before going on and on about what kind of hero Kacchan would be. He's not accepted by UA yet. He needed to pass some examinations before he could be officially accepted into the school. However, it was known that a reference would boost one's chance on being accepted compared to those who were scouted.

Izuku's mind stayed at that one letter. He imagined holding it even after it was taken from him. He dreamed it at night; with his own name embroidered on it, with his mom dancing around him cheerfully - just like she did when she heard the news about Kacchan's own invitation. The next Thursday night they had Kacchan sitting across from Izuku at dinner. He was strangely well-behaved and subdued for a child blessed with the golden ticket. There were some of his known frowns and grunts at every scolding his mom gave him; but every time Izuku's mom praised him, he would simply glare at his plate as though too embarrassed to say anything.

As for Izuku; he was feeling a lot of things. A huge portion of that emotion was awe and curiosity which brought the googly-eyes right to his face as he gushed in a voice that was a pitch higher, "This is so awesome, Kacchan! You've got to tell me all about UA later on".

Kacchan snorted.

Kacchan continued behaving quite cordial the whole night, which was an amazing feat in itself, but it didn't stop Izuku from abandoning sleep well into the wee hours of the night that very day after the Bakugou's returned to their home. He was trying to reimagine the feel of that letter in his hands.

If only he was also a UA student.

Life had to be so cruel to not only strip him bare of any possibility of attaining his dream of becoming a hero, but they also had to dangle the phantom of his dreams in front of him in the shape of that letter. He wondered where he went wrong. He and Kacchan both started with the same dream. In many ways, Kacchan was stronger and more charismatic. However, hadn't Izuku done his best? He had done his chores and homeworks. He was a good student in school. At which point did the world decide to grant him the very small chance of not having a quirk at all?

He left his bed and sat at his desk. As per his habit, he started drawing a mind map, all elaborating the possibility of him proving science wrong by gaining a quirk out of nowhere, He told himself; "Maybe some time before turning 15", or "Some time after puberty". The more he went with that line of thought, the more he realized he was being stupid. Not having a quirk was already a rarity, and now he's wishing to become one that somehow grew a quirk?

At one point, right around the time the thought of having to leave his dream to be a hero started to sink, his eyes landed on one of his hero journals and that was when he came to a moment of epiphany.

If he couldn't be a hero, that doesn't mean he could not become something related to heroic works. He could still do something related to heroes. He could be a...

"Hero Journalist," he tried the word on his own mouth. It sounded nice.

The first thing Izuku did was invest in better journals and stationary. And equipped with his mom's old phone, he was ready to go.

Previously, all he did was summarize whatever public information of a hero he could find online on his journal. This time, Izuku told himself to make his own notes. To start, he needed to directly observe an actual hero on action. He needed to be on the scene whenever a hero was doing their job. To do that, young Izuku learned to follow twitter accounts on public sightings on heroes. He didn't succeed on arriving on time at first, what with the news being reported a bit late to the public and the police force would usually be there by the time Izuku arrived hence civilians access was highly prohibited. However, the more Izuku learned about how the police force and heroes work together, the better Izuku was at predicting the place and time of the next hero sightings and how he should get there.

And so, in no time at all, Izuku would make it to the latest hero fights around the area with his head stuck to his journal. Sometimes, he would be capturing videos on his mom's old phone or asking the police some questions. If he couldn't arrive at the scene on time, he would do his online research on the incident and make his report on it in no time.

He told himself then that, while Kacchan busied himself with preparing for UA's entrance examination and working hard to make his first step to be a hero, Izuku was working hard to make a name as a young hero journalist. With that, he'd feel like they were in the same footing again.

"Yo, is that Deku right there?"

Izuku stopped writing on his journal and turned his line of vision to the right where he saw Kacchan standing alongside his group of loyal followers. They were all still in their school uniform; and Kacchan was wearing a hoodie over his, hands in his pockets. They were quite a distance away and there were a lot of other people around them that they might have thought Izuku couldn't heard them at all. A kid next to Kacchan laughed, "What is he doing?"

Someone else said, "I'nno. Isn't he obsessed with writing about heroes and stuff? He's such a dork".

Izuku's eyes met Kacchan's then. He couldn't stop himself from smiling and giving a small wave; yet Kacchan sneered and mouthed a, "The fuck are you doing here?"

"Yo, Bakugou, is he waving at you?" One of them asked; clearly not expecting Izuku to see them. This caused one of the kids to snicker, "Hey, Bakugou, maybe you should let him do an interview. You never know, maybe you'll make his day". They all laughed after that comment, except for Kacchan, who was more interested in sending glares at Izuku, but that laughter was quickly disrupted by the boom of an explosion. Everyone was silenced as the police told everyone to leave the vicinity as soon as possible. Izuku turned to his schoolmates again just to check if they were okay, only to see that all of them had turned around and made their way to leave the area.

Kacchan, however, lagged just a couple of steps behind to mouth, "Go home, shitty nerd!" at Izuku before following his friends. Izuku found it to be a very touching gesture, but he stayed a while longer before being forced by the cops to run along with the other civilians. Izuku went home feeling ecstatic after gathering a heaping amount of information from scene, but paled considerably once he remembered that that night would be another dinner with The Bakugou's. If Kacchan ever decided to spill to his mom that Izuku had been snooping around heroes, he might get into trouble.

Thankfully there was something else everyone was more excited about over dinner.

"We met All Might!" Announced Auntie Mitsuki. It took Izuku a full second to process this information, before he jumped in his own seat and loudly repeated, "ALL MIGHT?"

Mitsuki Bakugou nodded, "Yes! He was in Katsuki's latest examination. Apparently, he has been there throughout the training but my stupid son right here never bothered to tell us about it".

"Really, Kacchan?" Izuku questioned in awe. Kacchan returned the starry-eyed gaze with a glower, but shrugged nonetheless as he played with his meal. "Uwaaahh, I would love to see All Might in person too!" Izuku gushed.

"Are you saying that All Might is working for UA now, Mitsuki-chan?" Izuku's mom asked.

"It's too soon to say, but I know he's deeply involved with the entrance examination".

Uncle Masaru coughed to his fist before muttering lowly to his wife, "Are you sure we're allowed to divulge that information, Honey?"

"Oh, its fiiineeee! He came to us and the other parents himself!" Auntie Mitsuki waved her hand in the air as though assuring her position. All Izuku knew was that the entrance examination was like a training session like what Kacchan had partook in Genius Office. At the end of these training sessions, they would hold an examination where they would observe the trainee with the most progress. This would then affect the trainee's acceptance to UA. While this system was pretty well-known, the participants of this program were not allowed to speak about what training regime they went through or what kind of examination and scoring UA used. Because of that, Kacchan and his family had been pretty careful about what they say regarding the entrance exam.

"That is so cool! What kind of person is he?" Izuku blurted.

"Weird," was Kacchan's instant response, to which he received a smack in the head from his own mother. "What was that for!?" The blond child protested while rubbing the back of his head.

"For being an idiot! To answer Izuku, well, he's very, very, large. A lot of muscles too -"

This time even Kacchan's dad chimed in, "Oh yeah, very tall".

"Uh-huh. Those pictures? They do him no justice," Auntie Mitsuki crossed her arms, "Like, I didn't expect him to be that muscular".

"Is he nice?" Izuku pressed on.

"Absolutely. He talked to the parents the last time we went there and that smile of his, he wears it all the time!" She finished dramatically, which amplified Izuku's interest.

"A weirdo; that's what he is. There's a lot of other interesting people in UA - OUCH!" This time Kacchan's ear was pulled by his mom who was maintaining her smile to Izuku.

"We heard that All Might will be in the area while he's watching over the examination," she informed - only stopping herself when her husband elbowed her softly once again. "Oh, don't worry about it!" She defended, "It's only Izuku-kun and Inko-chan!"

"Still," Masaru agonized.

"What would they both do about this information? Kidnap All Might? He's All Might for God's sake! The worst Izuku-kun would do is fanboy over him!" As if on cue, both turned to the young child and they found just the perfect picture of a smitten hero enthusiast. The boy was vibrating from mere excitement. "See?"

The Bakugou patriarch relented, but still fretted over the fact that they should have kept All Might's location a secret. Izuku, however, saw this as his window of opportunity to boost his journalistic work - and his All Might fan-work. He was so deep in thought for this that he missed the stare the other boy at the table was sending him.

The months before graduation, Izuku dug for more information regarding All Might's whereabouts. The last public sighting of him was about weeks ago in Tokyo. Most assumed he was currently doing governmental work. No one knew he was in Musutafu, let alone doing work for UA. Yet no matter how often Izuku did his own share of 'journalistic work', he couldn't catch a single All Might sighting.

He figured All Might must be staying at UA the whole time. This would imply a possible long-term collaboration between UA and All Might, but that would make news. Maybe some time soon they would all found out.

The rest of the year saw Izuku to his graduation and Kacchan to his official acceptance to UA, to no one's surprise. Izuku stood in the sideline with his mom as they both watched Kacchan being surrounded by his flock of friends and admirers; taking pictures, exchanging mementos. You'd hear his protests from a distance, but everyone was excited for a picture with a prospective famous hero. Meanwhile, Izuku and his mom left the school to have lunch for two at a nearby cafe to celebrate - and that, to Izuku, was good enough.

That weekend they had a dinner at The Bakugou's before Kacchan's departure to UA's dormitory on the next day. The conversations orbited around Kacchan - what he prepared before leaving, what new stuff he had bought, how he should behave to the other UA kids, how he was apparently put in the gifted class in UA. There was the occasional question directed to Izuku's preparedness to school too, of course. "I know one of the teaching staff at your school," Masaru Bakugou told Izuku, "The English teacher - you should tell her I said hi!"

- which made no sense because he could greet her himself.

Izuku was more interested to hear about UA from Kacchan and his parents. They were highly restricted from saying too much, but every little tidbits they gave out was precious to Izuku's curious mind.

Before they knew it, it was time to leave already. After all, The Bakugou's needed to leave early the next day to take Kacchan to UA. The last thing they did was watch the Bakugou's line up Kacchan's luggage in the living room while nagging him of items he might have forgotten. Izuku and his mom left the Bakugou's with the latter telling Kacchan, who was charged with taking the guests to the exit, to take care and have a good time.

As for Izuku, well, he awkwardly shrugged before saying, "I guess this is goodbye Kacchan!" Kacchan never bothered with being called with that name in private but Izuku never called him with that name in front of his friends. "Eh, I mean we'll probably see each other again on school holidays, but you know what I mean. I cant wait to hear awesome stories about UA and the other heroes!"

Kacchan's only response was a silent stare, which Izuku had expected anyways. "U-umm," Izuku glimpsed at his mom, who was waiting at the end of the hallway of that apartment unit's floor. "W-well, bye then!"

Izuku made a quick turn and started walking to his mom. It didn't take him five steps before Kacchan called him. "Deku".

"Hmm?"

"You've got a phone, right?"

"Uhh, yeaaa, but mom said I wasn't allowed to use it all the time," his mom made sure to limit his screen time and she would take his phone away when its time for bed.

"Give me your number," Kacchan took out his phone - brand new, Izuku noticed - from his pockets.

"Oh, uhh," Izuku didn't bring his phone with him, but he made sure to remember his own number (or, his mom's old number). He told Kacchan the numbers, which the blond copied to his phone.

"'Right, I'll text," Kacchan stated. Izuku did not expect that.

"Aren't you only allowed to have 3 contacts in your phone while in UA?" It's a known fact about UA. There is a strict policy on communication with people outside of school while a student is enrolled in UA. There was even a known joke about the 3 contact persons of UA students; 1 is for your guardian, 2 is for a friend, 3 is for a lover.

Kacchan hummed as he kept tapping to his phone, "Yea, I'll get your name registered to the school so that we can text. I can only text when it's nighttime or on the weekends, but," he then put his phone back to his pocket and crossed his arms while leaning to the doorframe, "I'll tell you whatever you want to know about UA".

This offer was utterly unanticipated that Izuku spent the whole ten seconds just full-blown gaping at the other. "Wha-," he couldn't even form a proper response. He was saved when his mom called him from a distance. "Yeah, I'll be there!" He explained to her questioning pose before turning to Kacchan, "O-okay! I'll look forward to it!"

Izuku couldn't stop figuring out what just happened on his way home. Kacchan had many more 'friends', yet he picked Izuku.

He wondered if that meant they were friends again.

The first text didn't appear until about 2 weeks after that evening. Izuku received a notification in his messaging app that his number was approved by UA to be one of Bakugou Katsuki's contacts. There was also a note stating that the content of the text would be submitted to a routine review by a committee in UA. It was stated so right below the link to Kacchan's contact. Izuku saved the number and typed a quick "Hi!" with an All Might sticker.

The reply came a day after at 11.00 pm, which Izuku could only read in the morning because his mom would take his phone with her at bed time. There was no "What's up" or "How are you doing", Kacchan went straight to calling all of his schoolmates 'idiots' and describing his school experience - Kacchan style.

Kacchan: A lot of the kids here r idiots. The instructors r hella weird Kacchan: They serve great food here. We have a dietician n everything. The 1st years curriculum is fricking boring, we still have to study English, math, n all that crap from other schools. Sumthin bout keeping up with our academics or some bull. We r still not allowed to use quirks freely outside schooltime. UA kinda sucks but the dorm is awesome. I got my own room

It was dry and straight to the point. Very Kacchan. Izuku gobbled at all the information then quickly replying with.

You: OMG that's awesome Kacchan! :scream: :scream: You: "Idiots" :all_might_sweatdrop:. Their UA students Kacchan! They must b amazing :all_might_sob::all_might_sob:! You: what r their quirks? urs must b better. I heard Endeavors son is in UA wit u! :Endeavor_01::baby:

It was left on read. He saw that Kacchan was typing from the other end, but didn't finish whatever he planned to send. His response only came late afternoon.

Kacchan: I dont care even if they r all mights son. They r all as lame as u r, nerd.

Izuku figured that Kacchan was possibly prohibited from disclosing the other students' information. Similarly, his parents never talked about the other students much. However, the enrollment of Endeavor's youngest son was known by everyone. While a lot of heroes don't divulge their private lives to the public, there are still some heroes who do especially if they came from a family of heroes; Endeavor, the current head of The Todoroki family, being one of those. His marriage to a public figure, Himura Rei, was also known by the public; and, although more obscure than most celebrities, you could find their kids names and pictures online.

Todoroki's youngest is named Shoto and his first public appearance in an official awarding ceremony held by the prime minister years ago invited theories of the child owning both parents' quirks. The hair color, red on one side, white on the other, gave him away instantly. It was probably his only recorded public appearance ever; of him in black suit sleeping in his mom's hold as the family stood around Endeavor in what seemed was a formal picture. He was probably only 5. The public was generally ecstatic to see Todoroki Shoto debuting as a hero since then. Rumor has it he's been trained personally by Endeavor himself.

Is there a point on hiding Todoroki Shoto's attendance at UA? No, but it's not within Kacchan's power to authorize what to say and not to say.

His next text with Kacchan was of similar note. A lot of times, Kacchan was only able to reply days after Izuku's; and so start this weird texting relationship between them. Izuku rarely told him what he was up to; and Kacchan almost never overshared his life in UA. The few times he did talk about other kids were exclusive to incidents, such as that one time he said 'Pikachu short-circuited and devolved to an even worse idiot' or that other time he said, 'someone destroyed school property and got punished by the teacher'. One time he even said that he felt good after 'destroying the other kids on a training session'.

He never made a call though, except for that one awkward Saturday afternoon and Izuku was astounded to find Kacchan's name on his screen, calling. He picked up after a moment of panic, but didn't expect a stranger's voice on the other end.

"Yoooo, it connects!" Someone said, while another person in the background could be heard screaming 'bro! Are you for real bro?'

"Hello?" Izuku's answer was muffled by the chorus of childish banter from the phone. Clearly this wasn't Kacchan, but they sounded as young as he and Kacchan were. Is it perhaps his friends?

"Yea, we would like to ask you, are you Bakubro's girlfriend?" The voice asked.

Izuku's only reply to that was a confused, "Uuuuuhhhh...?"

"YO, IT'S A DUDE!" Someone cried to the speaker, followed by another chaotic ruckus. Izuku spent the whole minute listening to the whole thing in complete bewilderment until a familiar roar was heard further in the back.

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?" It was Kacchan, "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING WITH MY PHONE!?"

Kacchan could be rude - but they were still some 10-11-year-olds. Izuku'd like to believe Kacchan wouldn't stoop as low as dropping the F bomb in school ground and would instead go with teacher-approved bad words. Izuku supposed this was the exception.

Most of the time, people's reaction to Kacchan's fury would be fear. This time, however, Izuku heard wild laughter mixed with numerous exclamations and Kacchan's loud expletives. It lasted a while, to which Izuku patiently listened in a mix of curiosity, perplexion, and ridicule. When Kacchan was in possession of his phone again, the commotion had calmed to muffled giggles. "Yea?" He grouched to Izuku.

Izuku smiled, "Those are your friends?"

"FUCK NO," and that started another string of laughter from the others.

"Uh, okay".

"Right".

"RIght".

"Hn".

Izuku swallowed. Why is it always awkward whenever he's having a conversation with Kacchan lately?

"Soo..., you still have things to do for school I guess?" Izuku started.

"Hn. Jogging around school".

"On Saturdays? Wow".

"Yea".

"Cool".

Izuku's heart thumped; louder but slower. His palms sweated - he wasn't sure why.

"Hn," some silence, then Kacchan ended the call with, "aight, gotta go".

"Okay".

"Okay".

"All right".

Kacchan never called again after that incident. The text came regularly though. In fact, Kacchan's text was the only thing Izuku looked forward to every day. That last time Kacchan told him he was learning Hero regulations and ethics, Izuku started doing his own online research on the topic too. It gave him a sense of not falling behind; It gave him a sense of belonging, in this strange one-sided fashion.

School never helped him felt like he belonged. The School for The Quirkless he's attending did not always have students like Izuku, who showed no signs of human mutation to contain a quirk. A lot of the students at least still showed signs of mutation; from their unique appearance (a lot of the students had animal-like appearance), to showing signs of having a quirk but having little control of it (one of Izuku's classmate glowed in the dark). In a School where the majority had no quirks, any tangible sign of their mutation put them at the top of the hierarchy. Funny, because they would be considered the bottom of the barrel otherwise.

What's even more hilarious was finding one of Kacchan's grade school cronies at Izuku's new school. To be fair, he did have a pair of horns - and people always assumed he had a quirk. He didn't. Izuku wondered what Kacchan would think if he knew his 'friend' was in Izuku's class in The School for The Quirkless; not that it made Izuku felt any better. With his two horns, the guy managed to gain social credit at school and used it to re-populize Izuku's infamous nickname. So yes, he became 'Deku', again, despite having the creative mind behind the name away at UA. This time though, there was no Kacchan to lead the bullying horde away from Izuku. Izuku realized then, how much worse the bullying could have gotten in primary school if Kacchan hadn't been around.

He found that out in junior high at least.

But never once had Izuku let this latest development out to Kacchan. Not a "You remember that Kazu from grade school? He's the popular kid in my school now", not even a, "They still call me Deku even after you're gone".

Kacchan was too busy preparing to be a hero to remember a Kazu in Grade School, and next weekend he had a curry cookout with his dormmates. Izuku lived vicariously through his texts - of having friends, of having a future, of belonging. It was the only thing he had as a 10-year-old going on 11.

That, and his 'journalistic work', which mostly consisted of him stalking, making notes on a teen hero in the middle of saving a cat from a tree or chasing a pick-pocket. He thought his life would stay that way for a long time.

That was, until he landed on his biggest break.

"This is a picture of Katsuki in the dorm!" Kacchan's mom showed her phone to Midoriya Inko. Izuku peeked in from behind her mom's shoulder and saw a picture of a pissed Kacchan in the middle of tens of other similar-aged children. They were all dressed casually in what seemed to be a pantry area. Kacchan himself were crossing his arms while glaring at the camera next to a taller kid who was holding a pot of, what Izuku assumed was, curry. Izuku ogled every single face as though trying to burn as much detail as he could to his memory. There was a floating apron on the right corner of the picture (invisibility quirk?), and there was this one small child with weird bubble-like hair near the bottom of the frame. A couple of boys behind Kacchan were making weird faces to the camera, and not far from them is a head with mix-matched hair color; red and white?

But before Izuku could make out the person's face, the phone was taken away by Kacchan's mom. "Mitsuki...," Uncle Masaru called in defeat.

"Its only Inko and Izuku, dear! They don't even know these kids' names!" She, again, defended.

"Is that the dorm? It looks more luxurious than I expected!" Izuku's mom commented.

"Best school Japan can offer, funded by the ministry of national security and all that; sponsored by their top-notch alumni," Bakugou Mitsuki waved her hand and rolled her eyes.

"Does Katsuki get along with the other kids? He looked angry".

"Have you really forgotten how my son is? He's hasn't been away for a year. That's my son's expression by default," she sighed, "He's doing all right. I heard from the other parents that their kids begged them to take them home a week after they entered the dorm; one parent even made frequent visits to bring their kids food from home. But our Katsuki..., all he complained about was how annoying the other kids were".

"That doesn't sound good".

"At first I thought the same thing, but every time I was on a call with him, I always heard the voices of the other kids behind him. They sounded like they were having fun. Last time I called him he was playing video games in one of the boys' room. So I think he'd made some friends, but that little brat thinks its cool to act annoyed at them".

That sounded like Kacchan, Izuku thought. "Izuku? Isn't it time for your private tutoring session?" His mom reminded.

"Yeah, mom, I'm about to leave," Izuku shouldered his backpack and made his way to the door. Before he closed the door behind him, he could hear The Bakugou's commenting on how well-behaved he was.

Izuku's mom decided it would help Izuku's studies if he had a tutor. It's nothing fancy; his mom simply paid a college student to help Izuku with his homework. It was cool though, because his tutor could draw well and he sometimes taught Izuku to sketch. This could be useful for Izuku's hero journals.

As he walked to his tutor's place, Izuku had an idea to text Kacchan about the picture he just saw. He fished for his phone and started typing his texts. Consequently, he barely noticed the mounting panic in his surrounding.

He was entering the shopping district to get to his tutor's place and only stopped when he almost bumped into a police officer in the middle of evacuating the civilians. A middle-aged man behind Izuku was begging to be allowed a pass because he parked his car just 200 meters ahead. "Its a state of emergency, Sir. I cant allow you to cross the police line," explained the stoic officer.

"What are you talking about!? My car is right there! I cant even see a single criminal!" Protested the man.

A bad sign, Izuku thought. The fact that they couldn't see the criminal in action meant they cleared a larger area. That implied a more serious incident. Izuku turned to his twitter to check if there was any update from the hero sleuth accounts he followed. A couple of refresh to his page didn't give him the result that he wanted.

Until one did.

It was the All Might fan account that had resorted to only posting theories of All Might's recent activities due to the lack of public sightings in the last couple of months. This time the account posted a blurry picture of All Might. But Izuku knew the background of said picture too well. It was Musutafu's Shopping District; where he was right now.

"Is All Might here?" Izuku voiced in the midst of protests from the crowd. It was enough to silence everyone for a full five seconds, before their panic reemerged. The top heroes are typically only involved in large scale terrorist attacks. On the other hand, Musutafu was that one sleepy town known for being home to many teen heroes, mostly interns from UA, where a simple robbery would make news.

The cops were trying to calm the crowd by not answering directly to Izuku's question. Unfortunately, some from the gathering crowd confirmed Izuku's question once they saw the same twitter post Izuku saw. More questions followed; Izuku used that as an opportunity to slip out of the crowd; eyes never leaving his screen. More and more pictures were posted. There were a lot of big names involved in this one. So far Izuku had seen pictures of Gran Torino, Magne, Mt. Lady, and even Endeavor. He knew Musutafu like the back of his hands; so he easily pinpointed the general location of the heroes from these pictures alone.

So what was Izuku doing sneaking pass the evacuation zone through small alleyways most wouldn't notice? Well, first of all, being a bullied child helped you recognize the best hiding places in the area. Second of all, he wasn't trying to get close to the heroes and whatever villain they were fighting. Izuku simply wanted to cover the story -

because he's an aspiring hero journalist!

Izuku didn't know how far he had walked in terms of distance; yet he knew from observation he was in the back alley of the shopping district's center. It's strange to see the area so barren from another being. Usually it's packed with people of various ages well into the evening. He could hear the rushed steps of policemen from the main road and their reports to the walkie-talkie; their shadows flashed in the peripheral of his vision as he crossed the alley. It seemed that the police believed they had cleared the area.

Izuku did not worry. Surely, the main fight was a distance from where he's at. All he needed now was a better view of that fight; somewhere far and safe. There was a stationary shop accessible from this alleyway where he could climb the ladder to the second floor balcony and proceed upstairs using the stairwell connecting the balconies. He and Kacchan often visited the rooftop of that building when they were younger; and often time they would be caught by the owner of the shop.

Izuku was making his way to the top of the building when he checked his phone for update once again. Maybe he could take videos of the fight from the rooftop and post it online; that would be exciting. People were making speculations on Twitter that the attack might be related to All for One. Izuku's steps faltered once he read that post.

For a long time, All for One was the no. 1 enemy of Japan. His existence has haunted The Japanese people since the earliest record of quirk mutation on human civilization. To a lot of kids, however, he was closer to a myth, a legend; something a parent would use to make sure their child would stay in bed at night. In truth he was a criminal who appeared from time to time in Japanese modern history- seemingly immortal and never ending. He would go through dormant phases to which television commentators would announce his death, before he proved them wrong by appearing once again.

His last known location was at his run-in with All Might not long after the latter's return to Japan. The raid was considered the biggest damage ever done towards All for One's cause which cemented All Might's name as Japan's number one at the time.

"Yeah, there's nothing to fear. All Might's here," Izuku mumbled to himself once he stepped onto the rooftop, five stories above the ground. He walked to the fence in hope of getting any kind of view of the battle. "All for One is nothing to All M - ," He was disrupted by the sight of a ball of force speeding his way. Izuku dropped to his knees to duck and he spontaneously held his head in a desperate attempt to protect himself. When the impact hit, it didn't land on Izuku - but he knew it was close. The force dragged his body to the other side of the rooftop until his back hit the fence.

Izuku kept his eyes squeezed shut and stayed in a fetal position. His right cheek was hurting from its contact with the pavement flooring; although Izuku wasn't sure if he was hurt or what was even that thing that just struck the rooftop. Slowly, Izuku opened his eyes. He noted how the impact destroyed a large part of the rooftop; and that, amongst the rubbles, he recognized the silhouette of a person.

That was when Izuku got to his feet and slowly approached the disfigured form lying not far ahead. It didn't take him long to recognize the piece of clothing, however tattered, and the blond strands soaked in blood.

"A-All Might?"

Was it really All Might?

But who else would wear that hero costume? Unless someone was cosplaying, right here, right now, in the middle of a battle zone?

Izuku had no idea, but he had done all he could to get help. He screamed, he tried to contact the police. Sadly the reception no longer reached him at this point. At the moment, Izuku had been making trips to and fro the closest sink two stories below so he could clean the injuries. It was probably on his fourth trip that he was finally able to clean the person's face from the blood and it was then that he knew for sure it was All Might.

"It is you," Izuku rasped. The hands around his tumbler trembled while his eyes took note of all the injuries. His whole body looked like a rag doll. It wasnt bent naturally. His usual grin was absent from his face; as a replacement was a hollowed face that was so unlike the All Might Izuku knew from television.

Izuku figured he must do something to help All Might. From the sound of it, the battle was not over. He took off his jacket and tried to cover the torso with it in a poor attempt to stop the bleeding. He didn't even know which part was injured; everything was covered with blood and Izuku's previous effort to wash it all down didn't seem to help. Still, Izuku added pressure to the area.

All Might coughed up more blood. Izuku's eyes rounded at the sight. "N-no!" Was he even doing it right? He was only 10; first aid, he had learned in school - yet that wouldn't help an injury of this caliber. What could he do as a 10 year old without a quirk? He couldn't leave his hero - his idol - dying here alone. He wouldn't be able to forgive himself - Kacchan wouldn't forgive him either!

"Come on, All Might! Wake up! Don't die!" Izuku cried. He felt his eyes blurring; followed by a quick warm trail on his cheeks. Here he was, crying like the loser Kacchan always said he was. "Come on, All Might, don't die! We need you, Japan needs you!"

More tears followed the first to drop from the tip of Izuku's chin. He had always been a crybaby. It was even worse now that he felt like there was someone behind him; watching.

"Wake up, All Might! Wake up!" Izuku didn't know if his call was out of sadness or fear; for he was sure he heard something - someone- behind him making a soft landing on the rooftop.

"Wake up!" Izuku added more pressure to the injury while shaking All Might's pliant body. The person took his time, but he was stepping closer; little by little.

"Wake up, All Might, please," Izuku's plead had now shrunk to a squeak as more tears fell. 'This might be another hero. They might be trying to save us', Izuku's mind provided.

A sob this time, "P-please". 'I'll die,' was the short thought in the back of Izuku's mind, for he knew, deep down, no hero would approach such a scene this calmly. He could feel the other person's presence right behind him. He could probably land his hand on Izuku's head and severe it if he wanted to. Izuku's mom didn't even know where he was at the moment; or maybe she knew, because this would be in the direction of his tutor's apartment. Would she at the very least had the peace of burying Izuku's dead body? Or would Izuku be shred far beyond recognition after this?

'I'll die', the little voice inside Izuku's head repeated as a mantra. He tried making himself smaller. He squeezed his eyes shut as he braced for the assault. It's coming; he knew it was coming. What came instead was a loud woosh before a Izuku heard the sound of an impact. He opened his eyes to find All Might's body lurching forward with his fist directed behind Izuku - almost as though his whole body's movement was led by that fist. In that split second, Izuku's eyes met All Might's and that was when he heard the hero told him, "Run, child!"

Izuku did just that.

He didn't even care to check his surrounding; he just let his legs lead him to safety. And so he ran, not looking back once. He probably leaped over a couple of steps on his way down the building; he didn't care if he fell forward and landed face first to the ground. He ran because his life depended on it. He didn't remember how, but a couple of policemen discovered him and took him to safety in their car, where Izuku hugged himself and mumbled non-stop. It wasn't until he felt the vibration of his phone in his pant's pocket that he realized he was far enough from the battle zone to be able to receive the reception again.

Yet, that night once he was tucked in his bed, Izuku didn't sleep a wink.

The next thing he knew he had passed the first year of Junior High and was now seated with the Bakugou's at their dining table to welcome Kacchan home on the school holiday. While there were many stories to hear, Izuku was far too interested in gawking at the television; where a well and alive All Might was making his first public appearance after the 'defeat' of All for One. "Turn the volume, dear!" Kacchan's mom slapped her husband's shoulder a couple of times to get him to do her bidding.

"... with All for One going under the radar, Japan has now entered a time of peace. This will not last forever. There will always be another threat to face. And it is our job to prepare our future generation to face that".

"Hence, with this I announce, I am taking a momentary leave from my field work and I will continue my service to the community by contributing my years of experience through UA. Starting from next term, I will take on the role of an instructor in my alma mater, UA -"

"FUCK".

"Katsuki!" The disappointment was thick in Auntie Mitsuki's voice. He had to do it at the dining table, with guests over!

"He's fucking weird - ouch!" A pull on the ear, "What was that for, Old Hag!?"

"FOR SULLYING THE DINNER, YOU UNGRATEFUL BRAT!"

Meanwhile, Izuku couldn't pull his gaze away from the television. He was half-convinced All Might was dead. There were pages of articles theorizing that he had been dead for a while after the battle in Musutafu. Izuku knew it was All Might he met that day on the roof top of the stationary shop; and he looked dead. But didn't he rise again, seconds before that other person tried to...

actually, Izuku didn't know what that other person tried to do.

Izuku hardly ate that evening while the adults were commenting on the fact that Kacchan would be taught by All Might himself. As a result, he missed the stare sent his way from the blond boy at the table, which continued as they were both sent to do the dishes. "You didn't seem as ecstatic," Kacchan started.

"Sorry?"

"About All Might".

Izuku blinked, "Oh. Yeah! I think its amazing, Kacchan!"

He got a suspicious stare instead. "Shitty nerd," Kacchan muttered as he continued on rinsing the plates. Once they finished their duty, Kacchan stopped him from leaving the kitchen. "No, really, why haven't you said anything?" The explosive teen pressed. Izuku's brows met in confusion.

"What?"

"About this, Nerd! You know more about UA's tradition than most UA students - you should know what's up, Stupid Deku!"

Izuku's mouth opened to answer, but he hesitated before saying, "I-I don't think I follow -"

Here comes the collar pulling. "Don't take me for a fool, Shitty Nerd. I know you're dumb, but not this dumb. You're that idiot who memorized UA trivia in the 3rd Grade, Deku, you think you can play fucking dumb now?"

"U-um," Izuku swallowed. Their faces were only cm's apart. "I really - really don't get it, Kacchan. Could you please help me understand? I mean, w-we're friends, aren't we?"

Something changed in Kacchan's expression then. He suddenly let Izuku go. "I see; is that how you want to go about this? AFTER ALL THIS TIME!?" Sparks were starting to form around Kacchan, to Izuku's horror. The blond looked furious. "YOU ENJOYED PLAYING ME AROUND? Fucking fine, Nerd! You fucking win!"

And just like that, he left the kitchen and went straight to his bedroom - ignoring his parents' calls on the way there. Izuku slowly left the kitchen afterwards looking thoroughly mind-boggled. "I don't know what just happened," he explained to the adults.

Probably because Kacchan was known for his antics, everyone considered it a typical day at The Bakugou's. However, Kacchan didn't respond to any of Izuku's texts after that day and proceeded to skip all dinners at the Midoriya's despite him being home at the time. Izuku had tried reaching out by paying him a visit, but even then he would ignore him. This continued well into his second year in UA where they stopped texting altogether. Calls wouldn't reach him. It was like Izuku was blocked entirely from his contact list.

Was he, maybe?

He thought of asking Kacchan's parents about it, but thought that it would be too intrusive to ask them to get him registered again as Kacchan's UA contact.

The silence lasted until the next year, where Kacchan passed to his third year in UA, and Izuku to his third year in Junior High. Life went on as usual for Izuku who had long forgotten about his weird encounter with All Might or that weird evening with Kacchan. He was again stuck at the dining table with his mom and Kacchan's parents when one of the latter announced that Kacchan might finally have a love interest.

"We heard that another boy in his class registered him as his third," announced Mrs. Bakugou.

"His third?" Midoriya Inko clearly didn't know the reference.

"There's this running gag about that UA's rule about only having 3 contact persons on your phone. They say 1 is for a guardian, 2 is for a friend," Izuku explained.

"And 3 is for a lover," Mrs. Bakugou continued with a giggle. Then she leaned forward as if telling a secret, "Hear this, apparently, my Katsuki had been keeping a third contact in secret".

Okay, now Izuku was interested to hear this. He didn't know Kacchan had someone like that.

"He had been interacting with this person for the entirety of his first year in UA, and I didn't even know it! He told me about it a week ago over the phone, when he told me about this new kid who registered his number as his third".

"So who is this third person? Do you know her?" Izuku's mom questioned. Izuku was curious too.

Bakugou Mitsuki shrugged, "I don't know. He refused to tell me. I thought he only had two!"

'Yeah,' Izuku thought, 'You and me'.

"Masaru and me! I didn't know there was a third registry!" Bakugou Mitsuki stated instead.

Izuku froze and dropped a piece of chicken from his chopstick. He thought Mrs. Bakugou knew Izuku was Kacchan's other contact. "Wait a minute, Baa-chan; you're telling me you and your husband are each Kacchan's first and second contact?"

"Well yes. Masaru first and I am second," she answered, "Oh, don't tell me, do you know his third? Who's the girl, come on tell me!"

Izuku's cheeks reddened in an instant but shook his head. He just realized a terrifying fact. Terrifying? Maybe? He didn't know. All he knew was that his heart was racing and he couldn't explain why. But then his mind flashed back to that time in the kitchen.

"Don't take me for a fool, Shitty Nerd. I know you're dumb, but not this dumb. You're that idiot who memorized UA trivia in the 3rd Grade, Deku, you think you can play fucking dumb now?"

Izuku paled. Of course! that's why Kacchan was angry! He expected Izuku to have figured it out on his own that he was Kacchan's third! But of course Izuku thought he was Kacchan's second, while his parents both shared no. 1. Now he understood the disappointment, the anger, and...

the rejection.

Izuku jumped to his feet.

"Izuku?" His mom enquired - probably wondering why her son was acting weird.

"Toilet," Izuku smiled. He left the dining room and slipped to the hallway. On one of the cabinet, there's a memo and a pen he could use to write something.

In the mean time, the conversation in the dining room went on. "It can also be a boy! I'm fine with that - you know, he cant stop speaking about this one boy from his class, the one who registered Katsuki's number as his third. At first I thought they didn't get along, but I think there's something between the two of them".

Izuku shook his head and tried his best to focus. He must clear things up with Kacchan! That's the goal here. So what could he write to him to explain Izuku's position better?

"You'll like this boy, Inko-chan. He's so sweet, so well-behaved, so unlike my brat. To be honest, there were a lot of problems between these two on their first year in UA that the teachers contacted me non-stop about it. But I guess Katsuki is the type to bully someone he likes".

Yes. That's it. Izuku found his resolve.

With renewed confidence, Izuku wrote:

Sorry, I didn't know.

Would you mind making me your third again?

He ripped the page and folded the paper. He found a blue envelope in one of the drawers and put the folded letter inside it. When he rejoined the dining table, he gave the envelope to auntie. "I'm sorry, Auntie Mitsuki, aren't you going to visit Kacchan at UA this weekend? I cant contact him, so is it okay if I ask you to take this letter to Kacchan?"

TBC

So there goes! I hope you enjoyed that chapter. There are two parts to this prequel chapter, I think. Oh, and btw, I've finally exposed added more meaning to the title. The Third as in the Third contact person LOL. I hope that makes sense. I really miss writing about UA students. We'll probably get there soon. Oh, sorry if my Bakugou is not as fiery as the original - I prefer him more... mellowed. But I'll do my best to add more fire to his character next time!