Chapter 4

Katsuki and Deku had studied hard for this moment. They even took it upon themselves to learn sign language, or at least as much as they could with the time they had. They had even practiced in public places, and for the most part, he only got the occasional odd look compared to how it used to be.

Katsuki rarely did anything soft, especially in speech. And a kid yelling at air would be suspicious. Compared to sign language, it would just seem odd if Katsuki were signing in the air not insane.

Although, Katsuki was nowhere close to mastering sign language, as frustrating as it was. He didn't have enough time to get into the more complex word theory and he couldn't sign super fast, but he knew the basics enough due to his constant practicing.

Even though Katsuki had gotten into U.A already, he was diligent in his studies, if he was to crush his competition he had to stick to his studies.

Deku kept trying to convince Katsuki to include quirk training in his studies, but Katsuki disagreed every time. He didn't trust it enough. Plus, he was doing things as Deku would've had to do because he never had a quirk.

It was the very first day of school at U.A High School and Katsuki was anxious.

He didn't care about the academics, or his classmates. Instead he was panicked about sharing his quirk, or someone thinking he's insane.

"Oi! Come here please" Mitsuki called from the other room. It must have been something urgent because they seldom talked to one another.

Katsuki grunted as he made he way to his mother.

"Look, it may not seem like it, however we're very proud of how far you've gotten. And we wish you luck!" Masaru smiled at his son, who had an indifferent expression on his face.

"I know this is a hard topic, but I've been keeping Inko updated about how you're doing because she's curious, and today she dropped off some cookies for you" Mitsuki handed Katsuki a place with a stack of cookies on it and a Post-It note reading:

Go Katsuki! We're proud of you!

Katsuki stared shocked at the cookies. Why had Inko done this? He didn't deserve her kindness. His aunt should have known better than to do this for him.

As if sensing Katsuki's inner turmoil, Mitsuki added "This hasn't been easy for Inko either. Kid, take the cookies and go visit her soon. She needs it".

Katsuki gently took the plate in his shaking hands.

Why would she need him to visit her? He wrecked her life, her treasure.

"T-thanks" Katsuki stuttered out, visibly shaken.

"Don't thank us. Go visit her, it would really mean a lot."

Katsuki breathed in and out, nodding his head. He didn't want to visit her. It would hurt him as much as it would hurt her, but Deku really wanted to. And Mitsuki had said that Inko needed it, and he didn't want to make her suffer. It would be hard, but he should do it, if he found the time with school starting.

"Sorry to dump all of this on you on your first day of school."

Katsuki got the feeling Mitsuki wasn't that sorry, but what did it matter? Just more added stress on his first day.

Katsuki nodded at his mother and father before grabbing his backpack and leaving his house.

For the entire trip to U.A High School, Katsuki silently mulled over his parent's words. Deku had been trying to get him to visit Inko forever, and so had his parents. But did she want him to visit? He didn't know what to do, but he didn't want to regret anything. Regret was horrible. Katsuki felt it every single day of his life. And if he wasn't careful, it would eat him away. What he wasn't aware of is that it already did.

Katsuki sighed, deciding to think this over later because right now he had to focus on high school, and his worries about Inko would only absorb all of his attention.

"Sorry" Katsuki signed to Deku. He felt as though he owed it to him. Deku just offered him an odd look, it was a worried look. Katsuki glared at the nerd, communicating that there wa sno reason to worry about him. He knew what he was doing.

Katsuki found himself in front of the U.A High School famously known for churning out heroes and training the smartest minds in each industry. Katsuki took a deep breath before walking up the stairs to his new high school.

"AHH!"

A person had whisked by Katsuki and he could feel a breeze by him as a kid ran up the steps, carrying a skateboard in their hand.

"Sorry about that, dude!" the person exclaimed glancing back at Katsuki's angry expression. The extra who almost slammed into Katsuki had annoying bright yellow hair with a strange black lightning bold either clipped or dyed into the hair, they wore a rumpled U.A uniform. This idiot was a student in his fucking school. Katsuki could only assume this loser thought he was better than him, and didn't slam into him to show their superiority to Katsuki, if every student was like this, he knew he was going to go insane at U.A.

So, in response Katsuki just flipped the person off. Who, was busy climbing up the stairs, and didn't notice the string of profanities that Katsuki let loose.

That dumb ass would regret making Katsuki his enemy.

"You don't even know him, Kacchan! How can he be an enemy already?" Deku laughed at his friend's antics.

"Shut up, shitty nerd" Katsuki grumbled.

"Give everyone a chance... at least for me." Deku attempted to give Katsuki puppy dog eyes "Please."

"FINE." Katsuki grunted "But know, those eyes do shit"

Deku smiled and pumped his fist in success. Katsuki looked around, and saw that although there weren't many students around, they were looking at him strangely. His quiet speaking was clearly not as quiet as he intended. Katsuki just glared at the students around him, and started to go up the stairs.

Katsuki walked down the halls of U.A, taking it all in. The doors were almost all humongous in case of a student or teacher will a quirk which increased their body size, but it was still an odd sight to see. Katsuki passed Classes 1-A and 1-B with a sneer on his face. Most of the kids there were shitty extras not even worth his time, anyways.

Class 1-C, yet again, had a giant door, however something about it seemed less glamorous than 1-A and 1-B. Probably because the hero industry was seen as the diamond in a bag of coals. It was stupid, really, how annoying heroes could be. They were all so full of themselves and ignorant to anything that didn't affect them. All Might was Katsuki's favorite hero growing up, Deku's too. But now Katsuki wasn't fond of heroes. They dealt with the big things, the villain attacks but they couldn't care less about the citizens who didn't seem to be in immense danger. If someone, anyone had told Deku that he could become a hero, that he could do it, the situation would be different. Katsuki had realized that Deku was better than he could ever be, and while he hated it, the truth was undeniable. Deku stood up for what was right, not what would benefit him the most. After his attempted suicide, no one batted an eye. No heroes paid any attention to the small quirkless boy. And while Katsuki knew it was ALL his fault, he still held a grudge against heroes, for the most part. All while Deku admired every single last one of them, appreciating them for their unique quirks and fighting styles.

Heroes had done a lot of things for society. They saved people, inspired confidence, and hope, whatever. But they assured a false sense of security. Everyone was so confident in their heroes that they knew nothing bad would ever happen to them, it was pathetic. Katsuki wasn't saying that heroes should be removed, don't get him wrong, they saved people and inspired courage and all that bullshit. But now people assumed they would get saved at any win. Katsuki knew better than to assume that. After all, Deku never got saved.

Katsuki shook his head to clear it of those thoughts. They didn't matter. He was going to General Studies and graduate as top of his class. Then he'd get an occupation even better than in the hero field. A paramedic maybe? Police officer? Surgeon? Who knows what the future will hold, but standing there would achieve nothing.

Katsuki and Deku nodded at each other, before Katsuki walked into Class 1-C.

The Class 1-C classroom was relatively empty. There were only two students already occupying seats, and they both seems too nervous to notice Katsuki's entrance.

"KACCHAN! This is so cool! You're going to school at U.A! The U.A High School! It's legendary! This school is one of the hardest to get into, hero program or not. I'm so proud! Did you know that U.A was originally built to-" Deku started to mumble. It seemed as though the full weight of attending the school hadn't quite hit Deku yet, but now excited him fully, to the point where he let loose one of his infamous paragraph long fanboy mumbles.

Katsuki rolled his eyes at his friend's antics, but found himself slightly raising his lips in a subtle smile.

The seats were organized alphabetically by family name, so Katsuki found his seat near the front of the classroom. He still had about 10 minutes until the start of homeroom, and he exchanged a few signs with Deku who was filled with joy and excitement at the prospect of being at the school.

Katsuki hadn't noticed at first, but he was beginning to see that more and more students had shuffled into the classroom. He offered little more than a small glance to each student. He wasn't here to make any friends.

The classroom opened once more, this time with heavier footsteps behind the door and a stronger push.

The person who walked in offered quite a unique sight. He was completely made of cement. Made up from head to toe of solid material. He had a blocky body contained within a sleeveless brown suit. The hero had his eyes almost closed, as if they were slits and a large mouth pulled upwards. The pro hero Cementoss stood at the front of the room.

"Is he your homeroom teacher? Ahh! Cementoss is so cool. He can manipulate cement both wet and dry, and he has a large distance from where he can use his quirk, not to mention how much of a strong fighter he is and how he's so useful in rescue. He's saved so many people using his quirk! He just needs contact with the cement to utilize his quirk, and it's an emitter type!" Deku's mumblings seemed to have no end, and as annoying as it was hearing the stupid need speak, it offered interesting information.

"Hello, students. My name is Cementoss, I will be your homeroom teacher." Cementoss spoke out to the classroom in a calm voice. "We are going to go to the opening ceremony for the first years" his words were short and to the point, Katsuki could respect that.

Cementoss checked to see if everyone was there, which was a waste of time according to Katsuki.

Afterwards, they all got up and followed Cementoss to the orientation. Katsuki could hear the whispers of his peers near him, but he just scoffed.

For the opening ceremony, or orientation, each class was to stand with each other in an orderly fashion. The Principal and staff members stood up on a stage visible to all of the students. Looking around, Katsuki noticed that Class 1-A was nowhere to be found. Pricks. They thought they were better than everyone, and so they didn't have to attend the opening ceremony? Katsuki would show them.

A small mouse-bear like creature stepped forward. He was small, and had a pink scar running across his small face. He had stepped up to the microphone in his tailored suit and began his speech. This was the all intelligent Principal Nezu.

"Students! Welcome to U.A High School. We are overjoyed to have you here at our school, and we hope that you have a wonderful few years here. We hope you find your stay accommodating and we open you with wide arms into our community. We have Pro Heroes teaching most of our classes, so don't try anything funny, and our security is active all hours of the day. We are glad you all chose U.A as your high school, and we are all very excited to see your growth. Now, onto a few words from the top ranking student in each class. Starting from Class 1-K as per usual!" Katsuki noticed that somewhere along the speech Principal Nezu had sent an underlying threat to any who dared oppose him. He may seem an animal, but he was smarter than almost any human being.

The top ranking student from Class 1-K went onstage to give a few words to the other classes.

"It's amazing to be here. It truly is. U.A is known as the best in Japan, so I'm glad to be here. Management is no joke. However, being in the hero class would have been more than ideal." Katsuki scoffed at the student who gave a few more words. The next student, from Class 1-J gave a very similar speech, as did all the students from Classes 1-E, F, G, D and I. It frustrated Katsuki to no end to see all these students longing to get into the hero course, unsatisfied by the cards they've been given and have chosen already. The top student of Class 1-H, however, a girl whose name Katsuki hadn't cared enough to remember, had an odd speech, but it was refreshing because she expressed no interest in joining the hero courses, and instead seemed content with where she was, gaining a speck of Katsuki's respect.

She had walked up to the stage with bouncing shoulder length pink dreadlocks, she was reasonably short, but held a mature build. Her eyes were a strange yellow color with a cross in the center of her irises, making them look a bit like scope lenses. Perched atop her head lay red and gold steampunk goggles, it was safe to assume she was part of the Support Course.

"HELLO!" she exclaimed happily "I'M SO EXCITED TO MAKE BABIES FOR EVERYONE! AND TO BE RECRUITED FOR THEM!" everyone looked at her as if she were crazy. Babies? However, when she started explaining one of her 'babies,' effectively turning her welcoming words into an advertisement, it was obvious that by 'babies' she meant her inventions. After a few minutes, she had to be ushered off the stage due to her taking up too much time.

Katsuki was called up to speak for Class 1-C because he obviously had the highest score.

"Don't be rude, Kacchan." Deku warned, as if he could foresee his best friend saying something that would piss off most students in that hall. His assumption was correct.

Katsuki went up to the stage before beginning his speech.

"You're all idiots." Deku knew he was screwed. "Seriously. It's as if hero courses are the only thing at this fucking school. You're in this school because you have potential. You extras are wasting it all by wishing for something you'll never have. So get your fucking act together. Or not. It's all the same for me. I'm going to be the best, and I won't settle for anything less."

Katsuki looked at the audience, seeing the enraged faces of his peers. Oh well. Everyone was awash with silence before the protests began. People weren't pleased with what Katsuki had to say, probably because it was the truth.

"Students! Please calm down, we have one more class to go, and then you'll all return to your homerooms, and begin your days." Katsuki could almost swear he say an amused glint in the Principal's eyes as he attempted to calm down the aggravated crowd.

"Think you're better than us?"

"We'll show you hero material!"

"LOSER."

"I bet he's real weak."

Katsuki clenched his fists, repeated the mantras in his head as he walked right back to where he was standing before. The nervous faces of his classmates had turned into something unpleasant, aimed at Katsuki. He got sneers and glares, but it wasn't the first time.

"Kacchan, you told the truth. But it wasn't your job to do it, no one was ready to hear it." Deku sadly shook his head.

"I know, nerd. I know" Katsuki murmured as he saw the top ranking student from Class 1-B step up to the podium and talk.

The girl had waist-length green hair made up from what seemed to be vines. A strand seemed to be wrapped around her forehead multiple times. She had medium height and dark green eyes.

"Hello." she spoke softly, "It is a wonder being here." Katsuki pretty much zoned out the rest of her speech, but she seemed a bit odd as she had mentions of things that were cast in a more religious light.

With that, Principal Nezu spoke a few more words, dismissing the classes, thus ended the opening ceremony.

Before Katsuki had a chance to walk back to his homeroom, he was stopped. It was by the Class 1-B girl.

"Your speech made sense, thank you." she said to him in a kindly manner.

"Tch. To you, of course it would. You want less dumb asses in your class." Katsuki sneered before walking away from the girl.

"Kacchan, she was trying to be nice! You could've been friends!" Deku exclaimed, clearly unhappy about Katsuki's attitude.

"I'm not here to make friends." the tone of Katsuki's voice was a warning, one that shut Deku up.

The rest of the day wasn't too pleasant. Most of the students left him alone, for fear of what his quirk might be, seeing as it wasn't a topic which had been brought up in the classroom yet. Although, Katsuki still got pushed around a few times, and there were constant whispers and glares sent his way.

At lunch, he ate alone. But that was okay. He wasn't truly alone. He couldn't communicate with Deku too well with sign, but they had a decent conversation regardless. Deku was of course frustrated at Katsuki's lack of care for friendships and building relationships as he progressed in high school, he could've already had a friend in that girl who didn't mind his speech! He also wasn't pleased with Katsuki's speech during the opening ceremony, it was too harsh and because of it he probably made enemies out of half the school.

Katsuki knew he'd fucked up. He didn't take back what he said, but he still knew it wasn't time to say them. Because of it he fucked everything up for himself. He always did every time he got involved it all went to hell. Deku reminded him of that everyday. Whether with what he symbolized, or what he said. It was always his fault no matter what. He regret it all so badly that he didn't know what to do anymore. He hated it so much. He hated how he couldn't do anything right. He hated it, and everyone hated him now. Including himself. After all, why shouldn't he? If anyone saw a tear slide down Katsuki's cheek they didn't say anything. Who would care for what he felt?

Katsuki didn't notice as a tear slid down the face of someone who did care for him, and had no idea how to help. Deku swore he would do what he could for Katsuki. Dead or alive.

That night, Katsuki didn't sleep at all. Replaying the harsh words he all too well knew to be true.