Bakugou Katsuki used to have it all.

He had an amazing ability, had a crew, his grades were stellar (and still are, mind you), and he was in the best hero school in the world!

But now, he just goes to school and trains alone.

So where did things go oh, so wrong?

He had to admit that maybe his attitude he'd grown attached to was right to be frowned upon. After all, who'd want to feel like a war criminal?

However, how does one change overnight? It wasn't his fault all the damn extras were in the way.

He grumbled as he wrote on the answer sheet, his mind both focused on the assignment at hand but his mind also focused on whatever his brain told him to think about.

He paused as he flipped to the next page, knowing he had the right answer.

'It was all because I just had to bully some poor kid. No one told me it was wrong either!' His pencil threatened to snap in his tightening grasp.

His frown deepened as his mind replayed his entire childhood, his eyes and hands on auto play while his brain went into overdrive. 'If only I realized what I've done.'

Shortly after his test -was it English or math?- he scowled at anyone approaching him as he ate his lunch. He shoveled the spoonfuls of rice, his eyes reading through lines of text that Present Mic assigned. He smiled lightly as he read the poetry in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, he being a romance lover in secret.

Not that anyone would find out.

He only stopped eating when a small tug captured his attention.

His glance to the right identified the newcomer as Eri Midoriya, the resident vigilante's daughter. His eyes softened as he recognized her look as thoughtful and saddened.

'Might as well be nice.'

"What's up, kid?"

She evaded his piercing gaze. "Um, I wanted to eat lunch with daddy, but he's too busy, so I thought I was going to go eat with Momo and Tsu Tsu, but I saw you here and thought you were lonely, so…" she held up a pink lunchbox with unicorn ear handles. "Can I eat with you?"

'Fuck, she's too cute to say no!'

He sighed in defeat. "Whatever." He resumed eating his meal.

She smiled, plopping down next to him, a picture book on her lap as she opened her lunchbox. The first thing she grabbed was an apple.

She looked up at the blond. "Do you want to share?"

He paused. 'AHHHHHHHHHHH!'

He nodded. "Sure, kid."

She smiled once more. "I'm Eri. What's your name?"

"Bakugou Katsuki."

"Baki?"

He smiled lightly. "Sure."

She giggled in approval before focusing on her task at hand.

'GOD DAMMIT'

She giggled. "Baki Baki Baki. I like that name."

"Me too, Eri."

A few minutes passed by, with him reading Shakespeare and her reading her picture book, and she seemed to be stuck on a specific page. A minute ago, she started to read out loud, only to pause as she stared at the page in confusion.

The pink cat ate a… clay?"

He sighed. "The pink cat ate a cake."

She beamed. "Thank you Baki!"

"Yeah yeah."

A few more minutes passed. Eventually he stopped reading his book and discreetly paid attention to her. "Hey, Eri?"

She looked up at him. "Yes?"

"Come here."

...…………

Momo, Tsuyu, Shinso, and Kirishima walked through the courtyard, laughing at a joke Kirishima told. They only stopped as they noticed something peculiar.

"Hey guys?" Shinso breathed. "Are you seeing what I'm seeing?"

The others nodded dumbly.

"I can't believe it." Was all Momo could say.

The others nodded dumbly.

"It's almost like this shouldn't exist. How is she not dead?." Kirishima muttered.

Across the yard sat Bakugou Katsuki reading a story to Eri Midoriya, and he seemed to be enjoying it? She was on his lap, and seemed to be happy with the company.

"Is he smiling?" Asked Tsuyu.

The others were more shocked at this.

Kirishima chuckled. "Let's just leave them be. If she's not crying then she's fine."

Momo stared at Kirishima in surprise. "You're not serious?"

The redhead only nodded. "Yeah I am. What happened with him happened when he was angry at us. He's not going to stoop low to the point of hurting a child." The others gave him a pointed stare. "Okay fine. Let's let Izuku know what's going on, and if anything happens we'll be here to keep an eye out."

Momo still didn't look convinced. "Kiri, this is Bakugou we're talking about. He tried to kill you months ago! He's probably using this opportunity to hurt Izu, and I don't know if I can take her getting hurt." She only stopped her rant when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Looking to her left, she gasped when she saw Tsuyu shaking her head.

"Momo, you might be right, but you could also be very wrong, ribbit. From what I hear, He's been more distant. I notice him in class not speaking to anyone, and he doesn't partner up in hero class either. In fact, I've never heard him actively speak up even when poked fun at." She sighed. "What I'm saying is, he's changed. Maybe he needs this, this opportunity to break out of his shell." She smiled. "Let's give him a chance, ribbit."

Momo grumbled in defeat. "Alright, fine. But the second he pulls anything I'm calling it." They walked to a nearby area, continuing their conversation yet still glancing in Bakugou's direction.

To the blond's credit, he didn't even notice.


Ochako Uraraka wasn't exactly antisocial. She made friends quite easily, in fact. However….

How the hell did she approach the resident hothead?!

To be fair, her idea of a class trip did seem appealing at first. Of course Mina and Tooru ducked out at the last second. Their idea of "We're in it together!" was dead on. She sighed.

"Why the fuck are we just standing here?"

She paled. Of course she'd forget that she's standing in front of Bakugou Katsuki, the class dynamite! She shoved all that aside as she laughed nervously. "Well, you see…" she murmured something else as her hands rubbed the other.

"Spit it out, cheeks. I don't have all day, please."

'He said please?!'

She glanced up at the blond, his eyes an angry white as the rest of his face was encased in shadows. "Cheeks…"

'SCARY!'

Her fists tightened. 'You can do this!'

"Come with me to the class trip!"

She internally screamed.

In all fairness, Katsuki didn't exactly react to her blunder. Her eyes shook as she noticed him think about it.

Shivers sprinted in marathons down her spine as sweat poured out like a hurricane. 'He's planning my murder. I can just see it now, "poor girl six meters under from inviting the most irritable student out for a school outing!" Im doomed!'

"What time and day?"

All stilled.

'Eh?'

Her face whipped up to meet his. "Eh?"

He rolled his eyes. "You heard me. Now answer the damn question before I change my mind."

"Sunday at noon!"

His eyes darted to his left. "It might cut into my training, but it should work. Damn quirkless says I should socialize more and try to make friends so I'll give it a go." He looked down at the brightening girl. "That enough for you?"

She grinned. "Yup! We're gonna meet at the station near musutafu!"

He squinted at her smile. 'Fuck, that's bright.'

She turned around. "See you then!"

"Yeah, whatever."

As she marched off he fell to his knees while clutching his stomach. "That was more socializing than I wanted to do today. Why is this so damn hard!"

Unnoticed by him, the brunette sprinted around the corner, her hands clutched over her head. "I was so close to dying omg. I'm so lucky I made it out alive.'

Unnoticed by both of them, a pinkette and invisible girl watched the whole thing, mischief worn in growing smiles.


Sunday came faster than Katsuki would've liked. He groaned as he did his morning stretches, breathing in the cool air of six in the morning. As he performed reps of push-ups, he basked in the beautiful view of the morning sunset on the beach.

His mouth formed a small smile. "This is nice."

"Bakugou, hey!"

His smile dropped.

He glared at the newcomer, his veins already threatened to burst.

His eyes sagged in tiredness at seeing Eijirou Kirishima and Hanta Sero jogging over to him with yoga mats over their shoulders.

The redhead beamed at the blond. "Morning! You mind if we join you for a workout?"

"Pass."

"Aw come on, dude! It'll be a good motivator." The breathing tape dispenser called out."

"You're just gonna motivate me to hate you."

Kirishima's grin grew wider. "How about a bet then?"

Now this piqued Katsuki's attention. "A bet?"

The redhead nodded. "A spar. First to lose has to buy each other lunch at our outing later today. Anything we want, as much as we want. Deal?"

'Fuck. An ultimatum.' Katsuki knew how formidable the redhead was, especially after the training and patrols he pulls every night. However…

Bakugou Katsuki doesn't turn down free food.

A manic grin formed on the blond's face. "You're on. Get ready to be four meters in sand, hair dye!"

Kirishima smirked. "Yeah! Don't hold back!"

Sero took some steps back, readying his own workout, and smiled nervously at the scene. "I'm just gonna do my thing. Let me know who wins."

"You got it!"

"Whatever!"

And without much pause, the blond rocketed towards Kirishima, a mean right hook slamming into the redheads stomach. He scowled as he punch nothing but rock and launched back. His eyes narrowed at the sight of kirishima's unbreakable. "Already using your special move?"

Kirishima laughed. "Trust me." He sprinted towards the explosive teen. "This isn't even CLOSE!"

A hardened fist slammed into the blond's jaw, sending him flying. The redhead smiles at the sight of Katsuki midair, but immediately held his arms into an X position to guard a midair recovery. As the grenade like jab landed, the force behind the move sent him skidding a small distance away.

Katsuki nodded as the watched smoke dissipate from his opponents wrists, content with the progress so far.

Meanwhile, Sero continued to shadowbox, occasionally launching himself in the air from the force of his tape. "Oh yeah! Wait till Kaminari sees this!" He snuck a glance at the two competitors. "Wow, those two are really going at it, huh?"

Katsuki lept to the side as a hardened foot impacted the ground where he had stood, his eyes hardening at the sight of a deep hole. He flipped over a sudden body slam, his hands already heating up with an explosion.

Said explosion landed directly onto the redheads back, sending him to the ground. Katsuki's eyes narrowed. 'He activated hardening just a second before I hit him. How'd he figure that out?'

Kirishima panted as he smirked at the blond. "You're predictable, you know?" Then, he rushed the blond, sending punches one after the other, not taking a break for anything. "I've been practicing with multiple styles, Bakugou! That free lunch is mine!"

Katsuki was at a loss, not only was his opponent breaking his guard over and over, he was predicting where he would guard, and punched where he wasn't! "Heh, you have improved." He started while grunting in pain. "But you forgot one thing."

The redhead paused, his eyebrow raised. "What's that?"

Katsuki's promptly rose his hands at the speed of a bullet train. "I've been sweating this whole time!" And just like that, a light as bright as the sun shine from both of his palms.

Kirishima immediately went onto the defensive, his eyes wide in realization. He guarded his face, bracing for impact…

Only for the impact to slam into his gut.

The redhead choked out blood as his body went into slow motion yet fast forward all at once! 'What?'

Katsuki watched with pride as his opponent skyrocketed before squinting in pain from both his shoulders. 'That was a heavy blast. I don't think I can manage another without my bracers. Damn, he flew far. Does this mean I win?"

He jogged over to where the other teenager landed, chucking as the redhead only moaned in pain. "Admit defeat yet, hair dye?"

Kirishima scowled. "Damn, I guess I owe you lunch, huh?" His eyes widened in surprise at the hand that extended before him. 'Sportsmanship? From Bakugou?'

Katsuki nodded as he extended his hand. "You fought your damn hardest, that earns my respect. We're sparring again, just not today, so break past your limits and train harder! I don't feel like winning to some half assed effort."

Kirishima grinned. "You got it!"

Internally, he frowned in confusion. 'I guess he is trying to make an effort to change. Definitely beats how he was at the sports festival.'

"Hey guys!"

Katsuki glanced at Kirishima. "It's duct tape. What's he want?"

Sero panted as he caught up to them. "It's nearing nine. You two up for breakfast?"

"Hell yeah!"

Katsuki only nodded.

He watched as the other two walked in front, both of them laughing away at some of Kirishima's blunders. His own smile morphed into a sadder kind of smile. 'If this is what having friends is like, it's better than having extras follow you, in a way.'

"What you feel like having for breakfast, Bakugou?"

He jogged ahead. 'I guess it is better.' "Get something with meat in it. No fucking vegetables today!"