–Prologue–

The wind blew leaves across the path as the groups of ecstatic students walked under the stone archways. The sun glinted ever-so-slightly off the windows of the massive building before them. For many, just being at the prestigious school was a dream come true. For others, it was a starting line.

"U.A.…" Katsuki took in the sight of the building as they walked through the entryway. Grinning confidently, he stated, "Can't wait to go to class here next year."

"You got that right," Izuku nodded, sporting his trademark smile. He lightly jabbed his friend with his elbow, teasing, "You sure you studied enough for the written test, Kacchan?"

"I'd be more worried about you passing the practical exam, Icchan," he retorted, poking him back. "Well, if anyone makes it in, it'd be you."

"You have a better chance than you think," Izuku reassured with his smile widening.

"Uegh, don't give me that lame encouragement," the blonde groaned, pretending to gag.

As the pair entered the door, Izuku glanced over list to find their testing room assignments.

"Looks like we've been assigned to different rooms for the written exams... Oh well, I can't pass you notes after all."

"Like you would," Katsuki scoffed.

"Like you'd need it," he replied with a grin.

"Bleh, shut up... I'll see ya before the practical exam, tell you how I aced the written portion."

"I'll see you then."

Izuku and Katsuki fist bumped each other in unison, and headed their separate ways for the exam.

-Age 4, Nursery School-

"Woah!" "So cool!" "That's awesome!"

Small sparks flew up out of Katsuki's palms with little *pops* as his classmates crowded around him. A smile crossed his face and his eyes lit up, and he intensified the display.

'They love it!' He realized. 'My quirk is strong! It's the coolest! It might even be better than–'

Katsuki's eyes darted over to Izuku, who looked at his hands even more enthusiastically than the other kids. Then the green-haired boy's eyes moved up to meet his. Izuku's smile softened and he shrugged, as if to respond to what he was thinking.

'No,' Katsuki realized as his eyes moved back down. 'Even though it's flashier, he'd always be a step ahead of me, huh.'

"Hey Kacchan!" Izuku exclaimed, rousing his attention again. "Let's both become heroes together!"

The green-haired boy raised his fist, before Katsuki responded with an emphatic "yeah," and bumped Izuku's fist with his own.

Katsuki sat cross-legged in Izuku's room, marveling at the All Might posters littering the walls. His friend, who had invited him over to brainstorm hero ideas, was rummaging through his drawers.

"So," he started, leaning back on his hands, "what's your hero name gonna be?"

"Hm?" Izuku glanced at him, but kept grabbing his things. "Well I haven't gotten it figured out yet. You probably have yours though, right?"

"Huh? Of course I do!" Katsuki tilted his head. "Why don't you? You should have it all figured out by now, right?"

"Just because I can think faster?" Izuku laughed. "I wanna coordinate it with you."

"What's that mean?" Katsuki rested his chin on his fist. "Us as a hero duo? No thanks."

"No, that's not it," Izuku shook his head as he stacked his hero analysis notebooks on the floor between them. "The truth is, you'll be a much bigger hero than me."

"Huh?" His eyes shot wide open as he gawked at his friend. "No way! Are you saying that just because my quirk is flashy?"

"Well, popularity is a big part of a hero's rank," he shrugged. "Plus, your explosions will make you capable of things I could never do with my quirk."

"So… What exactly are you saying?"

Izuku smiled, "We'll be partners. Not exactly a hero duo, but partners. You can be the face of the hero agency, and I'll be the manager."

"Then, will you be able to do any hero work?" Katsuki asked.

"Of course, but not as much as you. I'll be both a manager, and a hero. So, before we get to names," Izuku said, taking out one of his notebooks, "we have to decide what kind of hero you want to be. We have rescue specialists, crime-fighters, medical–"

"That's the easiest question of all," Katsuki grinned, pointing at himself with his thumb. "I wanna be like All Might!"

-6 Years Later-

"Your quirk is really amazing Kacchan," Izuku noted as he was jogging in place, "but you won't get the most use out of it if you don't train the rest of your body! C'mon!"

"Wait," Katsuki gasped, struggling to catch up to his friend, "can I, hah, catch my breath?"

"You can, sure," he nodded. "But I'm gonna finish my run and start my workout. See you at your place!"

'Goddamnit!' the blonde grit his teeth and pushed through the sharp pain digging at his side. 'I have to keep up with you! I can't get left behind!'

From the age of 7, Izuku began researching to build the best diet and exercise plans to build their bodies for hero work. Izuku always said Katsuki had the potential to become the greatest hero, but Izuku had the grit and tenacity to push his exercises further than Katsuki could. The gap between their physical strength and speed kept widening and Katsuki felt like he kept losing at every turn.

No matter how often Izuku would recommend less intense workouts, he would insist on matching his friend. He wanted to keep up, he had to. He didn't want to be a better hero just by relying on his quirk, he wanted to earn it just as much as Izuku.

Since the Bakugo family had more space, they kept most of their workout equipment there. Katsuki's mom got upset at Izuku pretty often, saying that he was pushing her son too far. But every time, Katsuki told his mom off. It was his choice to put himself through hell, not Izuku's. That being said, whenever he saw Izuku pushing ahead of him, he felt compelled, almost forced, to compete with him.

-3 Years Later-

"What the hell is this?" Katsuki asked Izuku, glaring at the piece of paper he had handed him.

"An updated training regimen."

"No shit," he frowned. "I don't need this, I can keep up with you."

"I know," Izuku said, putting his hands up. "I know I can't convince you to take it easy, I've known you long enough to learn that. But in the U.A. entrance exam, you'll be able to utilize your quirk instead of just hand-to-hand combat. You gotta focus some time on that. It's all part of your fitness."

"Tch," Katsuki looked to the side. Izuku was right, as usual. Leaning forward, he asked, "I assume you've already figured out a way for me to do this without getting in trouble for unlicensed quirk use?"

"The principal was more than happy to lend us the gym whenever sports practices or games aren't going on."

"And you already asked? Should've guessed."

"And... since you're gonna start training your quirk a little," Izuku said with some nervousness as he reached in his back pocket, "I thought you could use this."

A white-and-orange notebook, labeled with sharpie: 'Hero Analysis Notebook Special Volume: Katsuki Bakugo!' Looking up, Katsuki could see the giddiness in Izuku's face. He never really cared for his friend's habit of writing notebooks, but he was certainly interested in any notes he could have about his quirk.

As he skimmed through the book, his eyes widened at the amount of theories and ideas that were scribbled down. It was 10 times more detailed than any other hero notes he'd cared to glance at. In fact, almost the entire notebook was filled up with ideas and illustrations. More than just that, he could tell that Izuku had put a lot of care into it.

"This is..."

"You like it?" Izuku asked, vibrating with anticipation.

"I do," he nodded with a grin, raising his fist. "I'll try some of these out."

"Good," Izuku smiled, meeting Katsuki's fist with his own. "Not that you need it."

-1 Year Later, Present Day-

"Kacchan, what makes a hero heroic?"

"'Being superior to the ills of life'," Katsuki recited. "That's what Present Mic said."

"Ignore that, he was misdirecting the students."

"Hm?" Katsuki pondered. "Then... being undefeatable, and making people feel safe."

"I mean, that's a big part of it," Izuku nodded, "but just because you're lucky enough to have strength, doesn't mean you're heroic."

"Then what is it?"

"If I had to put a name to it," he sighed, placing his finger on his chin, "I'd probably say self-sacrifice."

"Well… Has All Might ever sacrificed something?"

"Ah, well," Izuku glanced away. After considering a few seconds, he said, "Maybe, who knows? A better way to put it is... Putting others before yourself."

"Why bring this up now?"

Katsuki and Izuku had arrived at the hallway leading to the different practical exam sites. It was time to head their separate ways.

"Just remember, even though they only mentioned villain points, this isn't just a fighting school. It's a hero school," Izuku said. "They'll definitely be looking for those performing heroic acts."

"So save a few extras who got in over their heads?" Katsuki grinned. "Sure, gotcha. I'll catch ya later, Icchan."

"Later, Kacchan."

With another fist bump, the friends each made their way to their respective testing sites. Katsuki's palm vibrated in anticipation. He was finally getting the chance to let loose with his quirk, and he could hardly contain it.

After reaching the locker room and changing, Katsuki took one last look in his backpack. The notebook, 'Hero Analysis Notebook Special Volume: Katsuki Bakugo!', was now a bit weathered. Even though he'd read through a few pages for inspiration, he hadn't actually relied on it for most of his quirk training. In the end, he wanted to be his own hero, not Izuku's.

"Nah," he shrugged, shutting the locker. He was confident enough in his own training. He was ready for U.A.

–Next up: THE STARTING LINE–

Story Supplement Corner!

Izuku Midoriya's Quirk: Hyper Analysis

Izuku can take in information and process it incredibly quickly. His senses are super sensitive too, so he can pick up faint sounds, smells, etc. He's excellent at retaining information too, so he's become something like a walking encyclopedia.

Just because he processes data like a supercomputer doesn't mean he's as emotionless as one. He has his own passions and personality quirks and flaws, and doesn't always necessarily act the most efficiently or logically.

Notes: I really really really want to be more consistent with this. Writing this chapter has been easier than it was trying to write for TTH. Hopefully a good sign! At first, the obvious choice for my main character was Izuku. But as I wrote the first portion, it was way more natural to write it from Katsuki's perspective. Pretty quickly, I realized that it was a much more interesting idea for a story. His character is mostly going to be different, since his superiority complex never had the same chance to form. But rather than a superiority complex, something else has formed instead! As for how Izuku and Katsuki's relationship will evolve, I have a couple different ideas. And what about All Might? Will he find Izuku worthy? Or someone else? Again, several ideas about that. this will mostly shape the direction of the story, so hopefully I make the right call.

Notes Part 2: It's been a while since I first started writing this. I've written a few chapters, gotten my ideas in order, and revised the earlier chapters. I was writing at a rate of 2 weeks per chapter, but I took a couple breaks and some extra time to further revise stuff.

So, I mostly know where I'm going. But how I'm gonna get there? Who knows, I certainly don't. But I'm really proud of this story and the ideas I'm going for. I'll probably release chapters every week at first until I have to write more out.

Fun fact: this story's name has nothing to do with the film!