"This secret, please keep it to yourself. And I'm terribly sorry for asking you to do thi s for me."
"I ain't doing it for you."
I'm doing it for -
Well anyway.
"Besides, blabbing about it would cause more harm than good."
"Now that we're at this point, young Bakugou," said All Might. "It only makes sense to explain everything else as well."
Around the time that quirks started to exist first, there were two brothers. One of them got a quirk that would let him take quirks from others and give them away. The other had nothing. The first one abused his power and used it to take over the world, while the quirkless brother tried to stop him. The older brother chose to give the quirkless brother a power. Maybe it was to screw with his head or just to be nice to his brother, who knows. But it turns out that younger brother did in fact have a quirk. He could pass quirks on to other people. So the new power merged with that and turned into a power that could be passed on from person to person. Everyone who used it tried to use it to stop the older brother, who went by the name of his quirk power - All for One. The power the younger brother used was called One for All. All Might was the eighth user. Deku was the ninth.
That was all there was to it really.
"So, if word got out and people knew who had that power now, you think there'd be trouble?" I asked All Might. "In that case, why'd you go and tell me, Deku you idiot?"
"It was my choice to run out of power the way I did. Like I said, that wasn't your fault."
I thought about it. "So nothing's really changed about what I've gotta do." I'd told All Might I'd be a hero who surpassed even him. "S'not gonna be like it was before, though. Deku." Just like how you watched me and everyone else and learned and got stronger, I'm gonna make all my skills my own and keep rising. Even higher than you, chosen one."
"Ok. Then," and he put his fists up. "Im' gonna rise even higher than that. I've gotta keep growing too!"
That annoyed me. "I'm saying I'm gonna surpass you, you dingus!"
"I can't accept that. I have to be better than you."
"HUH?!"
And we kept on arguing all the way back to the school. Nuh uh, I'm gonna be better. No, you are. No, I am.
I'll surpass you Deku. That's a promise.
All Might took us to Mr. Aizawa. Who tied us both up in his scarf.
"Starting a fight the night after your exam? I'm happy to hear that you've got the energy for that."
"Wait, Aizawa. Don't tie them up just yet!" said All Might. "I'm actually the cause of all this."
"Oh?"
He muttered something to sensei that we couldn't hear. Whatever it was it talked him outta holding us in his scarf.
"Hm. Well, letting them get away with breaking the rules isn't something I can do. There will be a fitting punishment. Who started it?"
"Me," I told him.
"But I also got pretty worked up," said Deku.
"You're on lockdown! Four days for Bakugou, three days for Midoriya! During that time, you'll clean the communal spaces! Morning and night! Also, I want written apologies from both of you! Now head to hte infirmary before those injuries get any worse! But don't rely on the old lady's quirk unless it's major. You got hurt on your own, so figure out how to get better on your own. That's all! Go to bed!"
I sure as hell couldn't sleep after all that. I just lay around and tried to tkae it all in.
What Deku has that I don't. Apparently he's - well...
'heart and spirit'. Saving people. Rescue exercises.
That day with the sludge villain, Deku ran to save me. He didn't have any powers at all, and that day I'd told him to - well, but he'd still run into certain danger to try and help me.
I'd always seen it as pity. But looking at it frm All Might's perspective...
Somehow, everything was upside down. Saving people was good. It wasn't an insult to them anow. It was part of being a hero, thatpart Deku had that I didn't.
Well, I know now. I can do it. I can surpass it.
Everyone in our class was making fun of us the next day.
"You fought!?" said Racoon eyes
"Lockdown?!" said invisible chick.
"Idiots!" (Kaminari)
"Nonsense," (Ponytail)
"What were you thinking?" (Tape arms)
"The stupidest, that's for sure." (Ears)
"Uh, but dig make up in the end?" Uraraka asked Deku. He looked confused and started scratching his head.
"Make up? Not exactly, but…hard to put into words…"
"A fine job you've made of it, getting punished! I suppose you two will be absent at today's opening ceremony!" said Glasses.
"Bakugou, what about that special course for our licenses?" IcyHot asked me.
"Shaddup, mind your own business!" I told him.
Everyone left, and we were alone in the dorms vacuuming. We were awkwardly silent for a while. But then Deku asked me.
"So, my shoot style. What did you think of it?"
I was silent for a minute. Just for a minute.
"You gotta cut down on telegraphing your moves. Even though you got faster, I still managed to react in time. That's not good in a melee battle.
"Gotcha."
"When you added punches to the mix...that really pissed me off."
"Gotcha."
You've got to get stronger Deku. I see it now.
You're the one All Might chose. I've got to surpass you. We have to - make each other better.
You think I'm this amazing person in your life...you're this amazing person in mine. The person the world's greatest hero picked. No, the person I've picked to be my rival.
Maybe we'll never be friends again, like we were. Maybe you weren't looking donw on me all this time, And maybe I - ended things with you for no good reason. So maybe we've lost what we were, what we had. We'll never be like we were before.
But this'll have to do for now.
What we do have. It isn't easy, it isn't fun. It doesn't always make me happy. Or you. It's confusing and crazy and hard to face. But this is what we have, and I wouldn't give it away. Not for anything.
