Chapter 2: Stoking Flames

Katsuki Bakugou

" Oi, FUCKIN DEKU WAKE UP!" Katsuki's voice caused his own headache to worsen. "ALL MIGHTS HERE!" Even though it was expected, Katsuki still jumped when Deku erupted from his hospital bed at the mention of All Might.

"All Might!" Deku screamed, looking around hastily.

"I AM HERE, WAITING FOR YOU BOTH THE WAKEUP," All Might bellows, flashing his signature smile. "I WANTED TO MAKE SURE YOU BRAVE BOYS WERE OK! HAHA!" All Might threw his head back in laughter before straightening up and facing the children.

"YOUNG MIDORIYA, NO MATTER HOW BRAVE I KNOW WHAT YOU DID WAS, I CAN NOT CONDONE YOUR ACTIONS. IN THE FUTURE PLEASE LEAVE THE HERO WORK TO THE PROS," though All Might had reprimanded Deku, Katsuki could only see a bright smile on the Hero's face. Which now turned to look at him,

"YOUNG BAKUGOU, I PRAISE YOU FOR YOUR BRAVERY AND THE RESILIENCE YOU SHOWED IN YOUR SITUATION."

"Of Course," Katsuki scoffed, unable to look the man in his eyes, so he resorted to staring holes into the side of Deku's head instead. "I'm gonna be the number 1 hero, after all; I gotta be able to handle a little thing like this." Katsuki stated confidently before he blushed as he remembered that he was standing before the number 1 hero himself.

"I'm sure the number 1 won't take kindly to a direct challenge," Katsuki thought. He gulped loudly as All Might slowly began closing the distance between them. "What do I do? Even as great as I am, I can't take on All Might right now!" Katsuki began to panic, grimacing as All Might laid a firm hand on him before kneeling to meet his level.

"THAT PASSION AND DRIVE ARE EXACTLY WHAT IT MEANS TO GO PLUS ULTRA." again, All Might let out a hardy laugh, "I LOOK FORWARD TO BEING ABLE TO PASS THE TORCH OF THE SYMBOL OF PEACE TO YOU SOME DAY!" All Might sang while giving Katsuki a crisp thumbs up.

Katsuki's heart fluttered. His manic smile returning to his face.

"Damn, All Might is the coolest."

—-

Chilling darkness…

That's all Izuku saw & felt before the loud voice of Kacchan yanked his sleep from under him.

HAD HE SAID ALL MIGHT!?

He indeed had, and since All Might had begun speaking, Izuku had forgotten to take a breath.

"BREATHE, YOUNG MIDORIYA!" All Might said with a start as he saw the star-struck boy's face start to turn purple.

Taking a deep breath, Izuku focused up and bowed. "I wanted to say thank you for saving me twice All Might! You are also my favorite hero and made me want to become one!"

Izuku spoke so fast that All Might had to remind him to breathe once again. After another quick inhale, Izuku looked back up as All Might chuckled.

"YOU ARE VERY WELCOME YOUNG MAN!" All Might shouted. "LIKE I SAID DURING THE BATTLE, I WAS INSPIRED BY YOUR BRAVERY. YOU, MY BOY, HAVE THE TRUE MAKINGS OF A HERO."

Izuku couldn't believe his hero had just said the thing he had always wanted to hear. He couldn't contain his tears. All Might's smile turned to a look of concern as the boy's face grew wetter and wetter, but Katsuki assured him that this was an everyday occurrence.

"Aye Deku, stop all the crying!" Katsuki hissed, your embarrassing both of us in front of All Might.

Just then, the hospital door burst open, and two women dash in, each scooping their baby in their arms and squeezing them tight.

"OH MY ZU ZU, WHAT HAPPENED? ARE YOU OKAY?"

"SUKI, YOU IDIOT! HOW DARE YOU WORRY ME LIKE THAT!"

The two mothers each held their children close for a moment. Izuku gave into the hug; he hated worrying his mother. She did so much for him, and she didn't deserve to have so much stress or so many gray hairs, thanks to him.

Katsuki, on the other hand, was all but trying to remove his mother from his body.

"MOM GET THE F- IM FINE," Katsuki caught himself. The last time he cursed in front of his mom, she slapped him so hard he swore he had a concussion. He tried to escape her grapple to no avail.

"WELL, YOUR GUARDIANS SEEMED TO HAVE MADE IT. SO IT IS TIME TO SAY MY GOODBYES." All Might widened his stance and took his famous pose; the same one izuku had taken earlier that day.

"I HOPE TO SEE YOU BOTH APPLY TO UA. YOUR HEROIC SPIRITS SHINE THROUGH." He smiled again, but this time; it wasn't his signature "All Might smile" this one was soft and hopeful. He then turned to leave and walked briskly out of the door.

"Izuku! Katsuki! Tell us what happened!" The two mothers screamed in unison. The boys shot each other a look before recounting the day's events. Izuku informed them about his initial encounter with the Villain as Katsuki filled in some of the in-between events of him finding the sludge in the alley.

After retelling the final battle with the sludge villain, both women looked at each other in shock. Before Inko explodes, lifting her son into the air.

"Zu Zu, you got your quirk! Isn't that wonderful? It is so much like your father's. I'm sure he would be proud.

It hadn't hit Izuku until that moment, turning the fire to embers, the heat in his throat, and the breath he released onto the villain. This was his quirk; he had used his quirk to save someone.

He could be a Hero!

At this realization, both Midoriyas broke out into full-blown sobs as they held each other, while the Bakugous just watched them and shook their heads.

"Alright well the doctor said that you were fine suki, so if you feel alright we should go ahead and get you home." Mitsuki Bakugo said, her voice unusually soft. Katsuki nodded before looking his mother in the eye.

"I have something I have to speak to Dek-urm Izuku about." Katsuki corrected himself.

"Well if your gonna be that polite about it, then go ahead and knock yourself out. I'll go and sign your paperwork. Meet me in the lobby when you're done okay?" Mitsuki said, ruffling his hair. With a nod from Katsuki, she stands up.

"Inko, now that we have made sure they're alright, we should give them a chance to talk about what happened." she giggles as she pulls Inko out of the room by the hand.

The silence in the room was awkward. Having not even spoken in about 5 years, neither party knew how to begin.

"I-I got my q-quirk K-Kacchan." Izuku stuttered, trying to start the conversation.

"I FUCKIN know Deku." Katsuki huffs, refusing to make eye contact with his old friend.

"So, d-does this mean we can be friends again?" Izuku asked. He really hoped they could; without Kacchan, Izuku had virtually no friends.

"Don't push your luck Deku, and don't overestimate yourself 'cause you have a decent quirk." Katsuki spit.

"In a round-about way, Kacchan has just praised my quirk for the first time." Izuku thought. He couldn't hide the smile that notion brought him.

"Well whatever," Katsuki continued, "Because you saved my life, I'll recognize your ambition of being more than a sidekick. But…" Katsukis face became grim, "we aren't friends Deku… we are rivals…."

Izuku was shocked, but Katsuki wasn't done.

"I've seen your strength, but I will surpass you and make you BEG to be my sidekick after I become the number 1 hero." Katsuki asserted dominantly, with a dozen small explosions punctuating his point. "The number 1 is the strongest, and the strongest never loses, so I won't ever lose to you DEKU!" The blond had to catch his breath after his promise left his mouth.

After his declaration Katsuki spun on his heels, seemingly satisfied with his statement.

A smile crept at the corner of Izuku's face; all the great heroes had a rival. Another Heroe that would push them to compete to be the best, All Might had Endeavor… and it seemed to him the Katsuki wanted him!

"I accept," Izuku screamed at the top of his lungs. "I'll show you I have what it takes to be a hero, I'll prove you and everyone at school wrong!"

Katsuki looked over his shoulder, surprised to see such hot determination in mild-mannered Deku's eyes.

"Show me," He whispered as he left the room. "Cause I'll definitely show you."

—-

2 months had passed since the sludge villain incident, and though nothing seemed different on the surface, Izuku's entire life had changed. The changes began during the last weeks of middle school; with the teacher asking the class about their plans for graduation.

"I think the rest of you will be excited to know that two of our very own students have qualified to take the UA entrance exams." The teacher announced, earning a rupture of cheers, laughs, and boos. "Katsuki Bakugou & Izuku Midoriya, I hope you both plan to do us proud on the exam."

Most of the class was confused.

"Isn't Deku quirkless?"

"I thought his quirk just makes him have to wear that stupid parka every day."

"Yeah, me too."

The entire class was in an uproar until a familiar Boom sounded, silencing the chatter.

Listen up, you losers, only I can call Deku Deku, you understand? Until I have proven myself superior to him, he and I are on the same level as rivals, so fuckin with him means fucking with me, you got it?! Katsuki barked, a wild and fierce look in his eye as he stared down at everyone in the room, including izuku, before taking his seat.

Izuku simply nodded in Katsuki's direction when their eyes met; Kacchan was taking it as seriously as he was. "Good," Izuku thought. It wouldn't mean anything if he was coming at him half-assed.

Izuku couldn't wait for class to be over; he didn't need to pay attention anyway. One of the main advantages Izuku has over his rival is his unfettered intellect; of course, when it comes to battle, Katsuki's IQ is second to none, but overall, Izuke has the edge upstairs.

However, he wishes to get out of school ASAP to begin the summer-long training regimen that he constructed to prepare for the UA entrance exams.

In the time since Katsuki's declaration, Izuku has done his best to increase his physical attributes using his new gym membership, as well as learn basic combat techniques from his sensei at the CQC & Mixed Martial Art Training center. Unfortunately, his quirk had been challenging to learn and practice with, so he had yet to get much training with it. But that would change today; he would learn as much as possible about his quirk.

Today is the day he finally gets to use the place he found to practice his quirk in peace, as it was hard to explain to passersby why they should allow him to set nearby objects on fire to practice his quirk use.

Finally, the bell released him to his own devices. As izuku rushes out of the school to train, he sees Katsuki being ushered out of the school by a couple of high schoolers from the neighborhood.

"Well, I guess he's off to get in more brawls again." Izuku thought to himself. "I can't agree with his methods but the results are clear, his physique and battle prowess has skyrocketed since he joined that high school fight club." He analyzed. "Katsuki's skills are definitely better refined in real combat than any type of training," Izuke shook his head.

"I gotta focus"

Jumping on the train, Izuku rode the route that went through the more coastal regions of Japan and eventually landed at the entrance of a dirty beach filled to the brim with trash and enormous piles of heavy junk.

"Here we are!" he shouted to ensure he was alone.

Hearing no noise or response of any kind aside from the squawks of birds, Izuku released the breath he didn't know he was holding. "Time to get to work," he mused as he began unloading his bag. He pulls out his water bottle, his Hero Notebook #0 (he had already filled 1 through 3 up with as many heroes as he could learn about and decided to create a whole notebook on his own quirk.), some loose paper, kindling, and a black torch lighter.

Flipping through his notebook, he came to the page he had written for today's session. He had planned to investigate a few things he had discovered about his quirk on the day of the sludge incident.

First, he had a running theory about why he was always cold. "I believe the coldness I experience on a daily basis is a side effect of my quirk being at least partially active all the time," Izuku scribbled quickly in his notebook. "It seems I am able to convert heat energy into fire and release it from my mouth. Perhaps I am always cold because a portion of my heat is being stored to create my fire-breath?" He scratched his head with his pen. "That explains why I already had built up a decent amount of firepower even before I inhaled any of the surrounding flames."

"That leads straight into the second topic…." He muttered, "Not only can I convert my own heat into fire to use, but it also seems like I can draw the heat energy for nearby sources, causing them to diminish in energy until they extinguish." His Hero nerd gears were spinning now. "What are the limits to the type of energy or the amount, he wondered."

That was just something he'd have to learn in practice, and with that, his mind swiveled to the last topic on the agenda.

"This last one is just a theory," He sighed, "I don't know if it is even worth trying out."

He wrote down his thoughts anyway, but he would have to try that one last.

Izuku hopped up, beginning to stretch while he cleared out a spot to build a fire on the beach. But before he even thought about lighting anything on fire, Izuku was determined to gain control of his quirk and investigate his first theory. Sitting cross-legged on the sand, he shut his eyes, reaching within himself to see if he could feel his quirk.

Minutes go by, and Izuku isn't really sure that anything is happening; he squeezes his eyes shut tighter. "Come on, Damn It! I can't feel my quirk at all! How does this even work!" Izuku screamed as he rolled around in the sand holding his head.

Hours passed, and Izuku refused to move from his seated position until he succeeded in his mission. Shivering terribly as the afternoon sun began to lower in the sky.

"My skin, my body…." Izuku recited, sharpening his concentration. "My breathing, my energy, my warmth.."

Suddenly, he could feel a soft flicker of flame deep within his body. Izuku honed in on this sensation, his concentration at its limit, his mind at the edge of fatigue.

He could feel it.

With the slow pull of heat towards the pit of his stomach, he could feel the energy of his body being pulled away from his fingers, toes, arms, and legs, from all the parts farthest from his core. He could feel that energy swirling in his gut, crashing and colliding with itself as it slowly built the flame located there.

The feeling disappears as Izuku leans back into the sand, panting heavily, "I did it!" He squeaks out in between a couple gasping breathes as sweat causes Izuku's hair to flop down soaked. A wide smile appears on his face while his sweaty hair covers his eyes.

"I was finally able to understand a little of what's going on in my body," He thought, I am one step closer to really understanding my quirk." He smirked.

"Now I gotta control it!"

—-

Graduating from middle school only gave Izuku more time to train. He followed his rigorous routine religiously and hardly strayed.

His routine was as follows, he would wake up early to cook himself breakfast, using his quirk to siphon heat from the stove as he did. After eating, he runs around the block and to the gym every day. There he worked on his weightlifting, calisthenics, and cardiovascular training to maximize his overall strength and fitness. He would return home afterward for a break, using this time to study for the written portion of the exam before returning to the beach to train his quirk.

In the two weeks since his first real quirk training, Izuku's understanding and knowledge of his quirk had increased exponentially. His love of quirks and ability to analyze them more than allowed him to make up most of the time he lost with his quirk. Hero Notebook #0 was already 25 pages long, listing all the information about his quirk, its strengths, its weaknesses, a couple of special utilities, and potential support gear that could be beneficial.

Izuku was no fool; though his quirk was powerful in the right situation, he recognized that he would be severely disadvantaged in a combat scenario without an outside heat source, and overreliance on his quirk would leave him cold and vulnerable.

To mitigate this weakness, Izuku has devoted himself to mastering hand-to-hand combat and simple weapon combat, his weapon of choice being the one-chuck, a single nunchuck with a longer-than-average chain.

After a good morning workout, nap, and study session, Izuku arrived at Takoba Municipal Beach Park, ready to continue his progress with his quirk.

"So far, so good," Izuku yawned while he stretched. "I've learned so much in only two weeks of quirk training."

He smiles as he finishes warming up, walking over to his bag and pulling out his notebook. "Let's review, shall we?" He declares with a chuckle.

The entry reads.

"HEAT-SEEKING HERO Izuku Midoriya"

Quirk: Heat Sink

Description: This Quirk allows the user to convert heat energy from the user's body or the user's surroundings into flames and vice versa. The heat energy collected is stored near the stomach and converted into fire that can then be expelled.

Alternatively, the user can transfer the heat energy from the collected flame to his body to gain a temporary boost in reaction time, stamina, and pain tolerance as the flame is used to heat the user's body to dangerous levels. This quick boost also allows the user to exert their body's strength without natural limiters at the cost of damaging themselves.

Izuku reviewed his hard work, all this information had to be obtained through harsh days of trial and error, and he still hasn't mastered a majority of the techniques he plans to employ with his quirk.

His ability to transfer heat energy to his body is particularly poor, with a conversion ratio of about 1 joule of his energy equaling about 5 joules of flame and vice versa. This meant that if he tried to convert his own heat, he'd get 5 times the return in flame, but it would take 5 times as much heat energy to provide his own body with the equivalent amount. He had named this skill "Ignition," thinking the name sounded cool, but as of now, it uses up too much flame and wouldn't be reliable in a fight.

"Hello?! Are you ok, you really are muttering a lot!"

Izuku was deep in thought, reading and rereading his notebook entry to determine whether he should add anything.

"HEY!"

A loud voice caused Izuku to jump, dropping his notebook as he leaped away from the voice that seemed to just appear beside him.

"Hey pal, I'm talking to you!" A smiling face belted out, voice still at the volume of the initial greeting. "Are you using any of this junk? I came to look through it for any good parts."

Pink dreadlocks curled to the stranger's shoulders while large goggles reflected the sun into Izuku's eye; he raised his hand to shade himself.

"Umm..excuse me, who are you?!" He asked, sidestepping to take his face out of the reflected light.

The young woman that looked around his age, maybe younger, reached out and grabbed Izuku's limp hand, taking it in a firm handshake. Her yellow-scoped pupils shrunk and grew like a camera lens focusing.

"The name's Mei Hatsume, you'd better remember that!" She beamed, "Once I get into UA's support course you'll be seeing this face everywhere. MWEHEHEHEH." She laughed.

With her getup and cute but maniacal laugh, Izuku couldn't help but compare the girl to a mad scientist. He stifled a laugh and grinned, finally returning the handshake.

"Nice to meet you; my name is Izuku Midoriya." He said, "I'm planning on going to UA too! But I'm going to be a hero!" he said as he clenched and raised his fist, striking a pose, before getting embarrassed and looking away.

The girl maintained eye contact, seemingly unfazed by the boy's strange behavior.

"Anyways…" The girl continued with a straight face as she picked up Izuku's notebook flipping through it. "Oh me…..Oh my. This notebook is incredibly informative. Did you write this?" she asked as she dodged Izuku, who was attempting to retrieve the book from her grip.

"Y-Yes, that's mine. I'd like it back," He pleaded; he did not want to hurt the girl by accident, so she easily evaded his nervous attempts to grapple the notebook from her.

"I mean it, the level of detail is truly impressive," She continued, finally stopping and holding the fully read notebook out to Izuku. "The instruction manuals for the tools I use to construct my BABIES arent even this detailed."

"Your babies..?" The boy questioned, thanking her as he took back his notebook. "Is there a part of the conversation I missed? When did we start talking about babies?"

Izuku was truly confused, but the combination of this curious girl's strange charm and his lack of positive interaction with people his age kept him invested in her words.

"An excellent question!" She teased, suddenly putting on a dignified expression. "My Inventions are my babies, and while a lot of them end up detonating, I love them all equally." The girl's smile widened again.

"Incredible, we're about the same age and you are already knowledgeable enough to create support gear?" Izuku was muttering to himself again, his eyes wide, as his inner hero nerd made an appearance.

The girl seemed to notice the wonder in Izuku's eyes as she puffed out her chest, placing her hands on her hips.

"That's right!" She bellowed, "I'm a certified prodigy, and I've just come up with another brilliant idea." Her smile threatened to split her face in half, "Since we both aiming for UA how about we help each other out."

At this proposition, Izuku returned to the moment, "What would you need my help for? I dont have any experience in mechanics or technology." He wondered aloud.

The mad scientist laughed, throwing her head back to make it more dramatic, "You may not know this but similar to the hero exam, the support course has a practical as well. It involves innovating support gear for a hero on the spot with limited quirk information and time." The girl's eyes squinted as she glanced to the side, almost as if she was embarrassed. "While I am amazing at inventing; analysis, organization and listening to others are not my strong suit."

"But that's where you come in, If you agreed to be my test subje- I mean partner." She quickly corrected herself.

"And allow me to work and study with you to practice making support items, I promise to make you the cutest BABIES that will help make your dream of being a hero come true," She shouts as she hops atop a rusted mini fridge taking the same raised hand pose Izuku had taken earlier.

"What do you say!" Her voice boomed. Fist still ever reaching toward the sky.

Izuku couldn't help but smile, her cheerful confidence reminding him of All Might.

"Am I doing it right?" She asked as her pink hair blew in the breeze

Izuku stared in her direction, eyes locked on her.

"Yes…" Izuku replied.

For some reason, he had found himself giving that answer to both the girl's question and her proposal.