Don't hate me. Enjoy!


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Four-year-old birthdays have become the pinnacle of living, other than getting your Hero License and graduating from UA or some other low named Hero school. It was the special day when you received your quirk, that which will define you and allow you to become the greatest and most powerful Hero that ever was.

Heroes used to be sparse and weak, but then All Might came and society was never the same.

Quirks evolved and popularity skyrocketed their value. The flashier it was, the more you'll be remembered. The strongest it was, the best hero you'll become.

And Bakugou Katsuki had no doubt that he was going to be the very best.

It was the night before his fourth birthday and he couldn't sleep. The anticipation of waiting for it to appear was too much, he wanted to be awake when it happened. Wanted to feel the shift in his body and feel the power awaken inside of him. For days now his hands had been clammy and sweaty, he was smart enough to connect the dots between his parents' quirk to know what he will get and knew his quirk would be powerful and a blast.

He was going to be the strongest hero, surpass All Might and be the number 1. The whole world would be watching and he will kick ass and beat all those stupid villains that prowled the streets.

Just any minute now.

Night had fallen and the stars had come out, too bad they will be his first admirers. The old hag had said to go to sleep and wait for tomorrow, that he could show his quirk at school in front of all those little extras. But he didn't want to wait! He wasn't a baby anymore who needed a bedtime, if he wanted to stay up past midnight he could. He will beat the stupid clock and win against time!

Maybe the stars will shine brighter as a sign of his amazing beginning when they see his quirk.

Any minute now.

He already had a plan. He will start training, karate and kung-fu and boxing, anything to make his body stronger and adaptable to his quirk. And then he'll go to UA and become the best student there, graduate and he'll start his own agency! He didn't want to be a sidekick! He was going to start with a blast and become a great hero from day one.

And he already has his hero name! It was perfect and people will be so jealous by how awesome it was.

Any minute…

And then he will kick some ass and win battles against the villains. He will fight and win and be the best hero the world has ever seen. He will keep all those extras in line and bring a new era of peace, like All Might, but better!

Just any… any minute now.

Any...

Okay, so maybe this was the first time he stayed awake so late, but he was doing a great job at staying awake! He has lasted longer than all those kids at school, he was sure. He just needed to see his quirk and then he would sleep. Staying past bedtime - no, he didn't need a bedtime anymore! He was four! - was pretty boring though. He doesn't know why adults do it, but he will need to train in that too, he supposes. He will need to stay awake when he becomes a hero and has to fight villains in the night.

This is training! He tells his eyes when they start to drop. What kind of hero will he be if he can't stay awake for some more minutes? No, he will stay awake past midnight, get his quirk and then tell all those extras at school the new skill he gained. They will be so jealous, they'll probably try and fall asleep at 8 like the babies they are.

Especially that nerd, Izuku.

He knows he stays awake too to watch those silly All Might cartoons that air after dinner. He can't let the crybaby win! He will stay awake longer than him, without ruining his eyes with flashy colours and then he will get his quirk before him and be better than him! He can't wait to tell everyone at school tomorrow.

Why was it taking so long?!

He blinked and looked at the clock.

23:45, it read.

Just a little bit longer!

He felt giddy. Was giddy a manly word? Well, who cares. It was just him and his mind, and his mind will never make fun of him so, giddy. He was so close to midnight, so close to his quirk; ah, he will need a name for it too, doesn't he? Well, that can wait for tomorrow, after he sees it in action so that the name could fit and be perfect.

Was there a quirk that can control time and make it go faster? This was boring.

This was...

He was…

He was falling asleep. But his mind was too tired to feel miffed at his brain for shutting down and not lasting longer. It was weird, having his eyes open, seeing but not seeing at the same time, knowing that he was falling asleep but not having the consciousness to wake up at will. He was fading, forgetting what it was he was still waiting up as his senses clouded.

But then he felt it.

In the line between dream and waking, he felt the sparks in his hands, saw the tiny stars that had come down from the sky to touch his fingers, felt the energy coursing his arms and heard the firecrackers as they ignited through his skin in tiny embers he somehow - definitely - knew could become huge explosions.

If this was a dream, then it was the best he ever had. But he knew it wasn't. It was real. His quirk was here. And it was with that comforting thought that he let go and so, he dreamt.

He dreamt of storms.

It sounded like a hurricane had gone through, with hot electricity and green lightning that created huge spider webs on his bedroom's walls for having left the curtains drawn open throughout the night. But he was a big boy, he was four now, he wasn't scared of some silly storm despite how real and loud it sounded.

The storm didn't hurt him, it came and went and disappeared as soon as morning came, leaving behind an echo of thunderclap that fused with the shrill of his alarm clock.

His eyes opened, and he sprang up in bed in an instant with an excited yell. He remembers! Why he stayed late, what he saw and what he'll see now! It was morning and it was his birthday, and his quirk had finally manifested and now he can show it to everyone.

It was with anticipation that he stared at his hands and waited, flexed his fingers and waited; he stared and stared and waited and forced in his mind for something to appear, but there was nothing coming through. No sparks. No energy. No firecrackers. Nothing.

It was morning, his alarm continued to sound, but there was nothing but a hollow sensation tingling in his hands. He doesn't know why or how, but in his mind; numb, scared and angry, there was only one thing for certain.

His quirk was gone.

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He raged.

His old hag called it a temper tantrum that lasted weeks - months - years - but he knew it was an avenging cry.

He felt cheated. Scammed! Robbed! Where was his quirk!? What the hell was happening? Why him? Just- Just what was happening?

They dragged him to the hospital and to a stupid doctor that wouldn't shut up about him being a late bloomer. That it was natural, that sometimes quirks appeared after the fourth birthday, not necessarily on that specific day. Katsuki was four, but he was smart and knew this doctor was just trying to convince him so he would stop screaming.

He didn't.

How could he?

How can he believe the words from the stupid doctor when he felt his quirk seconds before he fell asleep and woke up without it? He knew what he saw and what he felt. Why was no one believing him? It all seemed like a crude joke the world was making on him, but why? He got a gold star last Friday at school! And he even ate the stupid veggies his hag forced him to eat. Why were they doing this?

And why weren't they listening to him? The more he kept explaining - the more he kept screaming and spelling out that his quirk disappeared, the more the adults kept doubting him and patting his head with consoling words. It made him want to scream some more.

This went on for some days of rage, incredulity and indignation.

He locked himself in his room, he moved and shook his hands until his muscles started hurting until everything started blurring in his mind as he tried to remember that night.

The ground was dry by the next morning, the storm was all but a dream. Did he imagine the sparkles and cracks in his dream too? Was it all in his head, a punishment for having stayed awake past his bedtime and tired his mind to the point of making him see things? Or maybe he got hit with a quirk by a villain that kept his own hidden and dormant.

He didn't know, he really didn't, but he never forgot the stars and firecrackers.

It was that memory he held fiercely onto as he was deemed Quirkless by society. By the stupid doctor. By his annoying parents. By his laughing school. By the world. By everyone.

Quirkless. It was a word he has never heard before, something so weird and unnatural. Special. Weak. Everybody has quirks! Everyone! There was only 5% in the whole world of people skipping past the magical gene, and it had to be him. There were people - the extras! - whose quirks were small and useless, why couldn't he have a small quirk too? Why did it have to be quirkless?!

The world was fair.

Life wasn't fair!

But what was the point in wasting time whining and screaming at the sky to bring his quirk back? He was not a little kid anymore, if no one was going to help, then he will take matters into his own hands. Nothing has changed, the road to his future had just level up to the most critical and hardest difficulty, but his dreams were still the same.

He didn't need a stupid quirk to show all those extras how strong he was. He was Bakugou Katsuki, and he is going to become a great hero without a quirk and people will realize he was the very best for not cheating.

Yes.

He was going to prove to them all that he didn't need a quirk to be a Hero.

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First of all, he stuck to his plan. After school became afternoons locked in dojos learning karate and training boxing. He took to running in the mornings and training his body to become agile and stronger. Lifting weights and kicking sandbags soon enhanced his mind and muscles enough to take on all those stupid idiots who tried to bully him. Him! The nerve of these clowns.

He knew what to expect at school. When he returned and word had spread that the Bakugou Katsuki wasn't going to get a quirk, everyone laughed. They taunted and mocked him, tried to pull jokes and push him down.

But the joke was on them.

As if he would let them look down on him! It was real-life practice for when the day comes to take bigger villains. And if fighting back snivelling extras and putting them in their place for ever daring to think he didn't have what it took to be a hero was a daily occurrence, then he used it as a good warm-up for his training later that day.

There was a saying his old man used to tell him, 'You're what society thinks you're. But you will become what you think you'll become'.

When he was a kid, he didn't need any justification. When he became quirkless, he was deemed the lowest of the food chain and considered weak. But when he kept fighting back, when he kept getting better and defeating all the stupid kids with their quirks and taunting words, he started regaining the ground he had lost in their eyes.

He really didn't care about their mockings and what they thought of him for he knew who he was and who he'll become. He always has. And that was Bakugou Katsuki, Lord Explosion Murder, Japan's #1 Hero. He's still working on a better name, but the ground was there.

And he still has his biggest follower who would always stare at him in amazement at everything he did.

"Kacchan! You're ame.. ama.. a-maze-ing! Yes! So cool!"

"Of course I am, nerd! Stop looking down at me!"

Izuku was a constant at his side, an annoying shadow for sure, but having a fan was a huge boost to his cause. He praised, he followed, he was weak and tiny so he took it upon himself to guide the nerd away from trouble and save him from bullies like the loser he was. Things were fine, things were going to be fine.

But then came the day when Izuku got his quirk, and nothing was the same after that.

"What about you, Midoriya-kun?" Their sensei asked as she had gathered everyone in a circle to talk about the importance of quirk usage in public and safety measures. It's been some months since The Day, and by now half of the class had awoken their quirks and were not shy of using them, all but one stupid nerd who couldn't stop trembling whenever he was asked about it.

Like now.

"What's your quirk?" She pressed, and everyone around stared eagerly at the shivering nerd. How lame. He'll need to beat some backbone into him if he wants to become his sidekick. Katsuki wouldn't let anyone into his hero business if they didn't stop shivering like a scared puppy.

"Eh! Um, it's a, a m-mutant type" Came the stuttered response "Mommy and dad don't have it"

"Oh? That's so rare!"

"What is it? What is it?"

"Must be lame if he's scared to show it!"

"Now, now, Tanaka-kun, that was rude. Remember, these are your fellow heroes, you can't be mean to them. It's Midoriya-kun's choice if he shows his quirk or not. Midoriya-kun?"

What a dumb woman, Katsuki thought. Forcing children to speak when they didn't want to. Choice? What choice? when she kept on pressuring the nerd to answer her sweet words. She wanted to know so she's prepared for what she would deal with, it's what Katsuki didn't understand at that time, but right now, he was forced to watch the scared nerd turn close to puking as he succumbed to the pressure and gave an answer.

"It- It saves energy... a-and gives me super strength"

"Wah, that's so cool!"

"A super quirk!"

It wasn't cool, Katsuki fumed in his mind. The angry, bitter thoughts of injustice and jealousy that haven't left his body burned in his chest like acid to his pride. It was a bitter reminder that no matter how angry and desperate he felt, nothing ignited or reacted to his emotions. That he was hollow inside.

"What's its name?"

"Yeah! What's your quirk called?"

Izuku, if anything, shrunk even further.

"…All Mine"

He said quietly, but everyone who heard laughed out loud at the ridiculous name.

"What's with that silly name?"

"Naming your quirk after All Might! How lame!"

Katsuki huffed, bitter but bemused. It was the nerd they were talking about, after all. Even his goldfish had been named after All Might, all his school materials were themed after the Symbol of Peace, it's really no surprise his quirk would be a namesake to his idol too. Katsuki knows his Hero name and Hero outfit will be inspired by him too, if not the same if he gets past the copyrights.

He hadn't considered the nerd getting a super quirk though. He was weak and tiny, he shivered and stuttered, cowered whenever Katsuki got in fights and cried when the bruises took longer to heal. He was not brave, he wasn't outspoken or strong, he was a nerd! A nerd who cried and hid behind him, so why the hell did he get saddled with a super strong quirk?

It should have been a delight for any kid to be as close to their Hero idol in power and have their future guaranteed by having a strong quirk for that alone.

And maybe that should have been the first sign of dissonance between them, because despite having a super quirk and living his dream life, Izuku was sad.

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The years to come were rough and challenging, but he took it all in stride and used it as the best hero backstory society has ever seen to push through and climb to the top. As his body grew, so did the bruises but his bones remained hard as steel and did not break under the heavy weight of society. And the more he challenged the odds, the more he started craving his path.

Everyone has seen thugs robbing stores and people in plain daylight, but they all did nothing. They just flashed their phones and waited for someone to appear and save the day, being ignorant and lazy despite being gifted with their precious quirks. There were the rare punks saving old ladies and helping cats here and there with their flashy quirks, but no one had ever seen a young quirkless hero saving the day until now.

He didn't need it to beat the crap out of street villains and he also didn't get in trouble with the law, for he wasn't using a quirk in the middle of the day. See? He was responsible. But he didn't want to be a vigilante, even if he fought and saved all the extras while they waited for someone to rescue them like the losers they were and won against thugs and robbers in fistfights and pursuits, he wanted to be- he was going to be a Hero.

Acknowledged, on paper and with a licence. His goal has not changed since that fateful day.

The only thing that broke was his relationship with the nerd.

It happened gradually, ever since the idiot got his quirk; or maybe before that, he didn't know and he doesn't care, really, but things started shifting and the control he thought he had become plastic and fake.

It was as if the nerd was indulging him, as if he had to, as if it was his life mission to follow him and look after him from behind and take down the bullies that sneaked up behind him. And then that moron had the nerve to save him! Him! As if he needed rescuing and someone to pick him up for falling down a stupid log. He didn't even break a bone and yet the dolt cried hard as if he had.

He was such a Deku!

He hated his face, hated his tears and his cowering. He loathed his presence and his stupid quirk and his insincere actions. He yelled, and raged and despised him with all the anger his heart could manage that wasn't reserved to the unfair world that had stolen his quirk. He made it clear that they were not friends, that he was not his sidekick or a charity case.

And yet, the nerd stayed.

Deku didn't save him after that, but he also didn't leave him alone. No matter how many taunts, pushes, sneers or punches he threw at the stupid nerd, he stayed. He didn't defend him from bullies, didn't use his quirk to show off in class or fight the scumbags Katsuki encountered. It made his blood boil no matter what he did, Deku showing off his quirk and Deku not using his quirk, it was as if he pitied him. As if he was mocking him, not wanting to hurt his feelings.

What fucking feelings?!

Deku could go to hell for all he cares, he didn't want to be involved in his pity party. He has better things to do than to prove himself to a useless nerd that he didn't need protection or a freaking shadow to cheer when the thugs became unconscious at his hands. Deku was no longer invited to be his sidekick, and yet the nerd always found him in his patrols and at training.

Never getting in the way, but his existence haunting him like some sort of ghost.

Maybe the nerd did have some backbone after all, or maybe his quirk made him immune to punches and screams.

"Kacchan, can I ask you something?"

"No"

The nerd clearly had a death wish or maybe - possibly - he really did become immune to his hot temper and vile words in the past 10 years they had been stuck together because a certain someone refuses to leave him alone.

It was noon and they were on their way to the dojo, well Katsuki was on his way to karate training, Deku was just following like the self-appointed shadow he had become.

In another time maybe, he would have gone to the arcade and wasted time there before returning home and doing his homework, but here and now there really was no time to waste when he could train his mind and body for the upcoming trials that awaited him. He didn't doubt that he would achieve it, he will, with flying colours even, but one can never be lazy and loiter when there were better thighs to do.

"What will you do?"

"Hah?"

"High school" The nerd mumbled, fidgeting with his yellow backpack and scuffing his feet. Katsuki hated him.

"Are you looking down on me, shitty Deku!? Do you think you're so great?! That I won't cut it?!"

"No!" Deku exclaimed with wide eyes and frantic hand wavings "No! I was just wondering! A-Anywhere you go, you'll do great! They'll be lucky to have you! Kacchan, truly! I didn't mean it like that"

"Of course they will!" He sneered and turned his head away from the stuttering mess "I don't need a stupid quirk to go to school, I already got a scholarship for Ketsubutsu"

"Kacchan, that's amazing!" Came the awed yelled that almost, almost, sounded too real and sincere.

Katsuki couldn't tell him it wasn't the hero course. That they wouldn't accept him in their elite ranks because he lacked a quirk and was stuck in the general course instead. He also couldn't tell him that he was recommended. Somehow, someway, with his smarts, and strengths and his own sweat and blood, he managed to captivate the eye of someone worthy in the Hero field to recommend him to the school.

He didn't know who it was, how they knew and why they did it, so until he proves himself to the world and the school that he had earned his place by his own merit, he wouldn't acknowledge the help.

The upcoming entrance exam will be in ten months from now but he wasn't worried. He knew it would be different from UA's but that didn't mean he wouldn't give his absolute best just because it wasn't a prestigious school he was applying to.

He will show them all and take the number one spot.

"And you?" He found himself saying "Still going to UA?"

"I don't know" The nerd whispered as he lagged behind and stared at his feet. Katsuki was not waiting for him. "It's going to be really sad and scary"

"You're such a weakling, Deku"

"Kacchan has always been the strongest" He said with confidence, smiling at the ground as if it held everything he was looking for among the dirt and pebbles.

"Ha? Are you mocking me, you shitty nerd?"

"I'm not!" Came the automatic response before being followed by a breathless whisper "I'm not, but I… Kacchan, I- something happened and I… I don't want you to hate me"

"I already don't like you, shitty nerd. What could make it worse?"

"It evolved"

"Hah?" He looked behind him to the nerd to see what he was dying over. If the nerd looked weak and tiny before, right now he looked as if he would crumble in dust and disappear in the wind. He wouldn't meet his eyes, Deku tensed and gripped his stupid yellow backpack as if it was a lifeline.

"My quirk" He mouthed quietly "It evolved"

"The hell does that mean?"

"…I have two quirks now. Maybe more…"

For a moment, everything was quiet.

He has only seen his quirk once, back when they were younger and Katsuki was a bit more over his head by sneaking out at night - past bedtime - and ventured into the streets in search of some villains to beat. How the fuck did Deku found him with a bastard holding a knife at his throat was a mystery he has yet to punch it out of the nerd, but at that time, there was no fear or hesitation from the scary-cat as he unleashed his quirk in a calamity of strength and energy that sent the thug crashing three streets away.

He remembers the electricity at that moment, how cold the night had gotten and how his body froze in numb shock.

It was not fear.

Never fear. It was something more, a warning, an omen, something dreadful that seized his soul and stopped his heart for a second.

And now he had two quirks, maybe more…

The anger and jealousy that hadn't left his body manifested once more. Do plans and dreams matter not when bigger forces apparently set a rigged game for him to lose the game without even starting? How the hell was he going to fight against that?

The world was truly unfair.

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One year later, and 11 years since that day, Katsuki could say that he was thriving.

Ketsubutsu high school was boring as hell and the extras in his classroom were even more tedious, but he liked it. Somehow. He was best in class, the best in all the general course, in fact. Even better than some in the hero course, and they all knew because he had challenged them and won.

He still has to overthrow that annoying Shindou, but at least he has marked his place in school and finally, people are starting to look beyond his 'quirkless' status. It still leaves a bitter taste in his mouth at just thinking of that word alone, but he has learnt to ignore it. A word did not matter when he knew who he was and what he'll be.

He had found his calling in patrolling the streets where no one goes, where the heroes are too scared to venture and where villains prospered. The adrenaline of fighting these thugs and winning, the recognition he got for climbing the social ladder and his own satisfaction at proving to himself again and again that he was winning and saving people and being a hero in his own way; he liked it.

He really did. And he was doing it without a quirk, without UA and without All Might as his mentor. As a matter of fact, he landed a place in Best Jeanist agency for the required internship, even if he was just in the general course he went in and demanded a spot, and he didn't need a huge reality show to prove his worth.

Oh, the gratification.

He didn't watch the stupid UA Sports Festival, he didn't need to, he knew who would win and to see that would be worse than imagining it in his mind.

He hasn't talked with the shitty nerd since that afternoon, what he did and what he said after that confession was something he has blocked from his mind, not worthy to be remembered and agonized over. They parted ways, his shadow no longer following him to patrols or training, and if he was there, he did an excellent job at hiding, but there were no more tears or cheers after that.

Good riddance, he thought again and again.

And again and again.

There was no guilt in their broken association, they weren't even friends to begin with, they weren't a team or even equals, so parting ways with sharp jabs and cutting words was as simple as walking away with no regrets.

He thought he had finally shaken him off and put it behind him until the idiot got kidnapped by a band of pitiful villains and his stupid face was plastered on wide television at every single corner of the city.

Did he worry? No.

No really. Fucking Deku was now a carousel of quirks, was he not? If he landed in that situation then it was his own fault, and if he couldn't get out of it by his own means then he didn't deserve to be a hero so gifted. It really wasn't his business, he entertained the thought of going and rescuing the bastard if only to prove it to the shitty nerd who was the best between them, but no, it was not his business.

Or so he thought.

It was late, he was on patrol with some other extras of the agency, but he was in charge! They listened to him and the best part was that he's finally allowed to go on patrol armed with proper weapons. Homemade smoke bombs and knuckle duster were a hassle to get with his low student income, but being part of the agency meant upgraded gear that he took advantage of.

In his giddy mind, he felt like he was sporting his own Hero outfit.

He was stalking the streets of a busy avenue when suddenly, the huge screen above the biggest building lit up, showcasing to the whole world the brutal fight between All Might and a faceless grinning psycho on the same level as him.

It was… nerve-wracking, seeing that.

They were on a whole different level, he was realistic to recognize that. And it only got worse and worse as they battled and destroyed the whole Kamino district. Other heroes arrived, fucking Endeavor and even Best Jeanist was there, but they were no match against that... against that thing.

But when All Might faltered and became skin and bones, when the skies above them darken as black clouds roared in wild lightning and thunder cracked in loud dissonance, right there on the screen, Katsuki could only stare with wide eyes as Deku appeared.

He was a spot of vivid green among the darkness that swallowed the light around him, a calamity of dread and fear that seized his soul and ripped his breath out of his chest as he saw him create two huge explosions in his hands, their blast so big and powerful as he flew to the skies and aimed at the ground.

There was only one thought running out in his head as he stared at the quirk obliterating the whole area and taking down the villain in one hit.

He doesn't know why or how, but in his mind; numb, scared and angry, there was only one thing for certain as a phantom sensation took over his tingling fingers in remembrance of something that used to be there in a faraway dream.

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It should have been his.

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Open ending guys, you're free to theorize and form conclusions as to what exactly happened. Sorry not sorry!