AN: When I first started this story, I totally didn't intend to take five chapters to reach this point, but here we are… I truly envy writers than can convey the gist of a scene with just a few paragraphs and move on so seamlessly, it's something I just can't quite get a handle on.
Thanks for all the reviews you guys have been leaving. I always pm readers that ask questions in reviews but I read every single one. I used to think it was really annoying when content creators would ask people to leave comments, but I totally understand why now. When you're the consumer in this relationship there's a two-way exchange going on, the creator's ideas, whatever form they're in, and your own thoughts and reactions to those ideas. But as the creator, the only thing you can do is blindly put out content, and the only way they get any kind of response or acknowledgement is through the comment section, or in this case: reviews.
It feels really nice to get reviews guys, positive or not, and I just wanted to say I really fucking appreciate it.
There's more art for this story posted on my twitter and IG by the way. I'd appreciate it if you shoot me a follow at biitii_Art.
This chapter deals with the first iconic canon scene in the manga, I hope I did it justice.
Chapter 6
Familiar Territory
oooOo Katsumi oOooo
Katsumi groaned, wishing, not for the first time, that the sun would just fucking die already. Her blinds had of course been arranged at the perfect angle where a beam of morning light was in the exact position to assassinate her eyelids. It was way too early to be up. She settled back into the warm covers, indulging her body's craving for that extra minute of rest.
Bang Bang Bang! "Get up, brat, summer's over! Time to quit slackin off!"
That was a sentiment apparently not shared by her wonderful mother.
"Ugh…" she groaned, rolling out of bed with a thump. Katsumi dragged herself to her bathroom, going through the motions of brushing her teeth and washing her face while still half asleep.
The shower that followed however, helped chase away the last of the lethargy from her veins, and ten minutes later she was dressed in a tight pair of yoga pants and one of her many pullover hoodies, finally ready to tackle her early morning workout.
She raced out the front door and let out a hiss as the brisk morning air bit at the exposed skin of her face. Katsumi began a slow jog, taking a familiar path leading towards the forested park near her home.
One might question the validity of showering before her morning workout. To those people, she'd say, fuck off. A splash of extra water in the morning was much preferred to feeling like fucking zombie for the next two hours.
Katsumi slowed to a stop at a familiar clearing before starting her standard set of warm-up calisthenics. She worked her way through countless stretches with deliberate precision, her flexibility being one of many things she'd drilled relentlessly in the past few years.
Even after adopting Deku's backbreaking workout routine, when one discounted their quirks, she predictably fell short when it came to raw power.
Katsumi gave a grunt of effort as she engaged her core, twisting out of an L-sit and straight into a vertical headstand. Her posture remained unwavering, a testament to the restraint shown in every movement.
It wasn't like she'd been constantly losing to the nerd or anything, quite the contrary actually. Katsumi netted just as many wins as losses in their weekly spars. But she did it using other strengths to her advantage, namely, her greater flexibility and superior technique.
She exhaled sharply through her nose, dropping into a narrow Muay Thai stance. Her lead foot bore more weight than the rear, allowing better balance for an aggressive style of combat. She threw a few experimental jabs, bobbing a weaving against an imaginary opponent before a traditional knee was thrown into the mix. She could practically see Izuku's confident grin in her mind, now looking completely at home on his chiseled jaw as he weaved his inhumanly powerful blows through her guard.
She'd thought Deku had finally lost it when he'd come up to her room one day mumbling under his breath about potential. Katsumi had only felt her point was reaffirmed minutes later when she'd finally managed to get a proper explanation out of him.
Achieving inhuman strength without a quirk? It just seemed too fantastical to imagine at the time. But as she gradually saw Izuku's progress over the months, Katsumi had to admit there might have been some credence to his theory.
Joining him in his training had been a no brainer once she'd seen the results for herself… plus any extra time with her best friend couldn't hurt.
She continued her shadowboxing for the next half-hour or so, before transitioning into a brief refresher with her quirk. Katsumi didn't attempt anything overly strenuous knowing she'd probably be meeting up with Izuku after school for a much more taxing workout.
Katsumi began the slow jog back to her house, invigorated and ready to tackle the day.
oooOoOoOooo
It was the first day of her last year of Highschool, and Katsumi couldn't wait to get it over with. She'd already aced the UA mock exams nearly two weeks previously and finally felt like she was on the way to making her mark on the world.
As she neared the school, Katsumi caught a familiar sight out of the corner of her eye. The steep hill that preceded the straightest shot into the heart of Musutafu was one Katsumi had seen Izuku bomb down at insane speeds before. So, the sight of a familiar mane of green and black hair blazing down the hill towards her was no surprise.
She shook her head as her friend danced across the deck of his board as he carved down the last hundred meters. He twisted his hips, dragging the board ninety degrees and sliding the rest of the way, still moving alarmingly fast as he sped towards her position.
But Katsumi didn't move. This was a familiar routine between the two of them and she refused to allow him the satisfaction of making her flinch.
He slowed in the last few meters as she knew he would, stopping a mere two feet away from her.
"Morning, Kacchan," he said, smiling down at her.
She sighed, looking up at the nerd with narrowed eyes.
Who the hell did he think he was looking all ripped and shit? Deku was supposed to be a puny brainiac! Now he had the body of a fighter, and the instinct to match. And he was tall as fuck.
Shit.
It wasn't that she disliked the changes that had recently come about in her best friend, she just didn't exactly know how to react to it.
Katsumi couldn't deny it any longer, Izuku had somehow gotten… hot and something simply had to be done about it!
The others were starting to notice. The reputation the nerd had fostered in primary school hadn't exactly followed him into the upper grades. So, when the string bean had started tying his hair out of those gorgeous eyes, and the wiry musculature appeared on his lean frame, a history of bullying didn't seem so important anymore to the girls in their class.
Luckily, Izuku payed none of the leeches any attention, so Katsumi was content in her inaction. But whether that was a good thing she wasn't so sure… Could having to keep her hands off that chiseled body really be considered good? It sure as hell didn't feel like it.
"Kacchan?"
She blinked. How fucking long had she been standing there?!
Katsumi scowled, trying to play off the heat that came to her cheeks. "Mornin, nerd. Early ride?" she asked, nodding at the path he'd come from. His apartment was in the other direction, meaning he'd been in the city for some reason.
His face lit up with a smile at the question. "Yeah, actually, Kamui woods was showing off for a crowd again."
Oh? Deku had been following the up and coming hero since he'd won the UA sports festival a couple years back. He never shut up about the guy. "The fuck? What happened?"
Izuku shook his head, "It was just a purse snatcher, he got cornered and flipped out with his transformation quirk." He snorted at the memory, "Dude was like a rasta-shark or something… But he was actually doing some damage by the time I got there."
He started rolling next to her at a walking pace and Katsumi rapped her knuckles against his quirk, taking a strange sense of joy at how the quicksteel bobbed weightlessly through the air. "I'm pretty sure Kamui was just toying with him," he mused. "He was no big-shot villain, but that's not the surprising bit, right as he was gonna finish him off, a new hero hit the scene."
Katsumi perked up at that. "Oh? anyone good?"
He scrunched his nose cutely, cut it the fuck out, Katsumi, as if contemplating something particularly puzzling.
This ought to be good…
"Well, aside from totally ks-ing Kamui Woods, her quirk seems to be simple gigantification. Though it is on a scale that I haven't seen in a while, at least in our generation." Deku huffed out a laugh, "But uh… something makes me think she's going to be pretty popular."
That sounded ominous… "Oh? Why's that?"
Izuku tossed her his phone, "See for yourself."
She scrolled through the various snapshots he'd taken of the scene, pausing to inspect some more closely. Some of the shots of Kamui Woods' Lacquered Chains Prison were definitely background-worthy. But it was when she reached the last few photos that she understood what the nerd was getting at.
"She introduced herself as 'Mount Lady' and let's just say she ah… plays to the crowd."
Katsumi's eyebrow twitched slightly at the sight of the giant woman's voluptuous body. The crowds of reporters clustered around her gigantic fucking ankles, hounding for the perfect shot.
She couldn't help the spike of inadequacy that shot through her momentarily. Katsumi knew her constant workouts kept her looking fit, but there was something to be said about being more uh... naturally gifted.
She might have blasted her friend for the provocative nature of the shots of the giant woman, but Katsumi had a feeling the fault didn't lay with Izuku. He tended to approach his photography in the same way he did his hero notes. Almost clinically.
"She wont last long if she's only in it for the fame," Katsumi said cuttingly, feeling a need to justify her dislike for the woman.
Izuku nodded in agreement, "They spike in popularity over a short period, but ultimately people can tell when you're genuine or not." He smiled crookedly over at her, "It's in the eyes, you know?"
…
Oh my god stop that shit. Deku isn't supposed to be… smooth, he's fuckin Deku.
Stumble over your words! Mutter like a psycho! Do something to let her know she hadn't gone completely insane.
"Hurry up, nerd, we're gonna be late." Katsumi stomped ahead, heels clicking sharply while her skirt flapped lightly with her aggressive steps.
For fuck's sake, was this really what her life had come to? She was really letting Deku get her flustered?! What had happened to the simple world she knew?!
oooOo Izuku oOooo
They'd made it to homeroom before the bell and Kacchan had returned to normal after a strange flash of aggression. Izuku was quite used to his friend's outbursts, having practically grown up with the girl. But usually he could pinpoint the cause. 'Extras bein' extras...' 'peasants not knowing their place...' 'air takin up all the space,' Izuku was familiar with many of the girl's triggers.
But why had she been so flustered earlier? It seemed to come out of nowhere and have no cause.
More importanly, did she know how attractive she was when her cheeks got that rosy tint? Did she do it on purpose? That sounded like something she'd do, Izuku wasn't exactly subtle with his affections after all. But she'd never acknowledged it… Maybe for once in her life she was showing some tact and letting him down easy?
Did that really have any relevance to Kacchan's mood at all?
Probably not, but that didn't stop him from recalling the image several times in the brief moment he had before their lesson's started.
Some might have found the girl's eccentricities a hassle to deal with, but to Izuku, these quirks of hers were even more enchanting than the one that made things explode.
"You guys are all third years now," their new homeroom teacher lectured from the front of the class. "It's time to start thinking seriously about your futures!"
The man came off a little too fake for Izuku's taste. Like he acted like the 'cool' teacher but really hated his job. He'd told Katsumi just minutes earlier, you could see it in the eyes.
"Ah, who am I kidding, you all want to be heroes anyway right?!" the man shouted, tossing the career projection forms into the air.
In perhaps the most coordinated display of mass rule breaking Izuku could have imagined, nearly their entire class started firing off their quirks in tandem.
Izuku winced as the cacophony of sound assaulted his finely-tuned senses. Just a little restraint is all he asked for, but sometimes his classmates made even that look difficult. Katsumi may have been more outspoken about it than Izuku, but he too looked forward to the day he could finally break free of this place and show the world what he was really made of.
"Yes, yes, you all have wonderful quirks! But using your powers at school is against the rules!" Their sensei chided half-heartedly. What little credibility he'd earned with his words went out the window in the next moment when he winked at the group companionably.
Gods, this guy was such a ham.
Speaking of Katsumi, if the noise had left Izuku irritated, then he was surprised Kacchan hadn't sa—
"Ne… I know you're our sensei and all, but don't you think these extras are old enough to know the truth by now?"
Ah, there we go…
There was a taunting edge to Katsumi's tone as the casual comment cut through the noise like a knife. "Don't lump us all together like that," she drawled, positively oozing contempt, "it might give the extras false hope or something."
A beat of silence, then—
"Hey what the hell Bakugo!"
"The fuck's that supposed mean!
"Yeah! You can't talk to us like that!"
Izuku shook his head slowly as their classmates all voiced their displeasure. The way Kacchan could come off so condescendingly while slouched back in her chair like a delinquent was frankly, an artform.
Their teacher spoke up, "Ah yes Bakugo-san, you wanted to go to UA University if I'm not mistaken?"
A cruel grin overcame Katsumi's features as the class erupted in disbelief, spouting various statistics that outlined the school's prestige. "The UA exam is a damn formality at this point," She cackled madly, "count yourselves lucky that you were here to see my humble beginnings scrubs."
Izuku sighed, Kacchan always did have a flair for the dramatics. Pride could be an attractive quality at times, but sometimes the girl took it to the extreme.
"Oh, Midoriya-kun I see you also wanted to attend UA?"
…
Aww… and he was having such a relaxing day too.
"Pffft!"
"Huh!?"
"Midoriya?"
"No fuckin way!"
"Aint no way he's getting in with such a useless quirk!"
He sighed, they'd eventually tired themselves out. Though he didn't support Katsumi's methods, the idea behind her actions was correct. These people simply wouldn't be a part of his life in after another year, so why should he care what they thought of him. Curiously, in the last couple of years he'd been getting less and less grief during school. Even now, only a small portion of the class was laughing at him, mostly guys for some reason, and almost all of them were his previous bullies that simply couldn't lay a finger on him at this point.
"Yeah, Deku, how do you plan to pass the practical?"
He looked up, meeting the mischievous eyes of his best friend. What was she up to? "Kacchan?"
She stalked over to his desk, looking positively predatory. "I said… what makes you think you're good enough to pass an exam designed for people like me?"
"They've abolished the quirk screening part of the application, you should know that as well as I do Kacchan." He kept his tone even, refusing to rise to the bait.
"Sounds like you're avoiding the question, nerd." She was leaning over him now, palm braced on his desk and smoking lightly. He grinned seeing that she had avoided burning any of his notes or papers, only charring the stained and graffitied wood underneath. He saw what she was doing, and it wasn't going to work.
"I guess I'll just have to work really hard." Not yet, Kacchan. He knew she was eager for him to be recognized for his skills, but it really was more trouble than it was worth.
"Whatever, nerd…"
oooOoOoOooo
"What was that all about, Kacchan?" Izuku laughed as they made their way to his home. He and Katsumi planned to train a bit down on Dagobah beach and were going to stop by the closest of their houses to get a change of clothes.
"Those fucking side characters need to learn their place, Deku! The real question is why you haven't flexed a little." She struck a strongman pose and let off a flashy explosion that was all bang and no bite.
"You're incorrigible," he sighed shaking his head.
Izuku leaned back into a manual as they passed under a freeway overpass.
"It doesn't matter what I am! It's about whAUGH—"
His head snapped to his friend, but where she was just standing was… well Izuku didn't quite know what it was. The sun was blocked out by a hulking figure, the light traveling through its translucent body tinted the surrounding concrete a grimy green hue.
The air carried a putrid stench, and Izuku wasn't sure if it was coming from the now-open manhole that lead to the sewers below, or the terrifying being that had emerged from it.
"What a wonderful quirk you have there! And in such a nubile young body!" Izuku's stomach lurched at the gleam in the monster's yellow eyes. "With this I might even be able to take him on!" The voice was guttural and echoed hauntingly as if its nonexistent lungs were waterlogged with its own mass.
What an odd side effect of a mutation quirk, but more importantly—
"Kacchan!"
"Grghk!" her answer wasn't encouraging.
The monster before him had his best friend in its grasp, its thick, sludge-like body restraining her more and more by the second. Izuku's eyes widened as he heard the telltale rapid fire pops indicative of one of Katsumi's larger explosions. She wouldn't! Not in a residential area anyway. Could this villain hijack quirks too?!
Izuku's body twitched into motion and in a split second he was hovering nearly twenty meters above the ground. Just in time too as the alley below was filled with fire and ash. He tilted his skyboard at an angle to protect his more vulnerable areas from the force and debris from the explosion, while his perch remained undisturbed.
He surveyed the area below, knowing Katsumi could possibly only have seconds if her air supply was cut off. He could see her struggling against the monster's possession even now. She had apparently reasserted control over her quirk as smaller, controlled blasts of her own making tore chunks out of the monster with noxious clouds of super-heated slime. But without the proper angle she couldn't eviscerate the monster completely as Izuku feared they might have to.
The villain appeared to have come out of the sewer grate under the overpass. It was either waiting there for the first victim to come by, or they were just incredibly unlucky and ran into it by chance. Either way it didn't really change the current situation.
Izuku cursed sharply.
It was just his luck that they would run into something like a sludge monster. Izuku had a feeling physical attacks wouldn't do much against that liquid body. He'd need to free Kacchan first unless there was another weakness he could exploit…
Wait a second! That thing had been talking earlier! Meaning it had to have a way to do so…
He drifted around, looking for a better vantage point, only taking a moment to find the wide, gaping mouth that floated below a pair of bulging eyes.
Perfect.
"Kacchan, blind it!"
He pulled a large screen of quicksteel to block his vision knowing Katsumi would react immediately.
With a sudden surge of strength, she tore a single arm through a gelatinous body so a splayed hand faced skyward. "Flash Bang!" Katsumi choked out through gritted teeth.
A flash of nearly colorless light threw the alleyway into stark relief, momentarily obscuring Izuku's vision even behind his wall of quicksteel.
The creature flinched away from the blinding explosion, allowing Katsumi to get a wonderous gulp of fresh air.
Izuku cut all tethers holding his quicksteel aloft, letting himself freefall to the ground like an anvil. The cloud of dust his impact kicked up looked about the same as. His body flickered with a burst of speed before the smoke had even cleared, and Izuku appeared before the still-incapacitated sludge monster in the blink of an eye.
Without losing any momentum, Izuku let loose a jumping hook kick at the exposed eyes and mouth.
The strike connected, parting the amorphous body with a sickening squelch, and flung the organs completely outside the main body. His quirk latched onto the flying eyes along with the mass of sludge that clung to them desperately, quickly sealing them in a hollow sphere around the size of a large beachball.
He turned back to where Katsumi stood over the remaining mass of slime, its body writhing and undulating uncertainly without its eyes for sensory input.
She was drenched in the filthy gunk, spikey locks of hair lying flat on her head for once, and looking a far cry from the ash blonde he knew so well. Izuku recognized that look in her eye, and so preemptively put up another shield to block the imminent explosion.
Katsumi growled unintelligibly, her fingers twitching at her sides as a single word ghosted past her lips. "Die."
And Izuku's world turned red.
His ears rung from the blast, and the fatigue that washed over him was a testament to the intensity of the heat she produced. But unlike the unrestrained blast that the villain had forced upon her moments earlier, this one had all the finesse that Katsumi had built up over the years, staying firmly contained within the concrete walls of the underpass.
As the smoke cleared Katsumi's silhouette was slowly revealed. She certainly struck an impressive sight as she stood panting lightly, eyes shadowed by her head bent forward slightly.
Izuku hoped that whatever kept the sludge monster alive was sealed safely within his globe of quicksteel. Not that the sicko didn't deserve some 'splodin, but then Katsumi might face some real trouble in the future. He let out an exasperated sigh.
Just a little self-restraint, that's all he asked…
"That's quite the formidable quirk, young citizen, but I must advise you against using it so carelessly in the future!"
Izuku's eyes snapped to source of the too-familiar voice.
Beaming smile. Long, upward swooping bangs? Powerful, almost inhuman physique? The cargo pants and muscle shirt didn't detract from his presence in the slightest.
"Holy shit… its—"
"Yes! It is I, All Might! And it seems I owe you two an apology, its not often that I let civilians get caught up in my heroing!"
How the legend himself managed to look like a Greek god, and sheepish at the same time was a mystery to Izuku. But at the moment, he was too busy trying not to hyperventilate. How could The Symbol of Peace just casually show up here without warning?! He wasn't ready yet! So many questions to ask, and he had no idea where to start.
"Oi, All Might, it wasn't careless." Katsumi's voice cut through his inner panic.
Did she really just- "Kacchan you can't say that! It's…" His hands grasped at the air impotently, unable to find the words to describe how much that wasn't allowed. "It's All Might." Izuku rushed over to his friend, only to hover uncertainly. Its not like he could physically stop her from speaking her mind, and frankly he should be used to it at this point. But you can just back-talk freaking All Might! That had to be like cursing in church or something.
"What was that, young lady?" The legend's grin was still present, but he seemed to be distracted, rifling through the brush in the surrounding area, searching for something by the looks of it.
She huffed irritably, but Izuku could see the tension in her frame.
Oh… he should have know. Kacchan was just as star struck as he was, she just showed it in her own way.
"I said… It wasn't careless, scold me for fighting with my quirk in public, I don't give a shit. But they'll only die if I want them to die."
Izuku chuckled lightly, amazed a how much his friend had changed over the years. He couldn't pinpoint exactly when it had happened, but around the time they'd started middle school she taken extra care with the collateral damage of her quirk. He was once again amazed by the conviction of Bakugo Katsumi, not even the number one hero himself could get away with shortchanging her skill.
The legend straightened up to his full, massive height.
"Ah, I see! My apologies young miss, it seems that I misspoke, I was merely in a rush, I hope you understand." All Might returned to his search of the surrounding brushes off the street. "This particular wrongdoer is quite slippery you see, even if most of his body was dealt with by your most impressive ability, his ability to regenerate is nearly unparalleled. It's the eyes you need to aim for, you see!" He pointed to his own shadowed eyes with an index and middle finger.
Oh. Well at least he didn't need to worry about Katsumi having murdered someone today.
That was always nice. "Um, All Might-san?"
The hero's baby blue eyes settled on him for the first time that afternoon. All Might's presence filled a space in a completely different way than Chi-sensei did. Where his mentor exuded an oppressive force to all that challenged him, All Might's aura seemed to embrace and protect, bringing a sense of security without even lifting a finger.
It was no less overwhelming.
"Yes, young man, what can I do for you?
Izuku brought the ball of quicksteel into view with a thought, "If it's the eyes and mouth you're looking for then I've got them right here." He rapped his knuckles against the hollow orb producing a satisfying ringing sound, only to grimace as a gurgling wail answered from within.
Somehow, All Might managed to grimace as well, while still keeping that wide grin plastered to his face.
It was impressive, really.
"Why thank you, young man! Though as a hero it's a bit embarrassing to be shown up by the people I'm supposed to be saving, but many thanks all the same!"
He reached slowly towards the metal prison, and Izuku barely managed to withhold a gasp. The tanned skin of All-Might's massive hand was weathered and laced with a plethora of varying scars.
An entire hero career of injuries recorded in plain view for any who cared to pay attention. The man always looked so pristine and polished when he appeared on TV. To see the evidence of his triumphs in person as someone who idolized this man as Izuku had.
How humbling.
Izuku slowly unfolded the globe of quicksteel that restrained what was left of the villain, marveling at the casual display of dexterity by the symbol of peace as he snatched the fleeing criminal out of the air. All Might stuck the eyes, mouth, and remaining slime into two-liter coke bottles of all things, and had signed volume fourteen of Hero analysis for the future with a wide grin the minute Izuku had asked.
Before he knew it, the legend himself was crouching down in preparation to leap into the distance. In another situation Izuku would be thrilled to witness one of his legendary super-jumps in person. But now, that would mean he'd be leaping away from Izuku and hestillhadsomanyquestions!
He felt a nudge at his shoulder, turning to see Katsumi at his side. "Go, nerd, you know you'll regret it if you don't." His eyes widened, surprised for a moment that she knew him so well.
"All Might, wait!" Well, he'd done it, now what? He'd delayed his hero even further so it better be worth it, which of the many curiosities that filled his head would be appropriate to ask here? For a second, Izuku was stumped, before his mind returned to something he'd been curious about for a while now. He squared his shoulders, staring into the man's eyes. "All Might, do you have someone looking out for you too? You keep all of us safe, but do you have someone you can lean on as well?"
The blonde hero turned, peering curiously at Izuku who shrunk back a bit at the stare. "Young heroes-to-be, what are your names?"
"Uh, Midoriya Izuku, sir…"
"Tch, Bakugo. Bakugo Katsumi."
"Well then, Midoriya-shonen! How kind you are to worry about one such as I, but fear not! For evil will not prevail in the face of friendships such as yours!" His smile grew a bit softer and he placed a heavy hand on their left and right shoulders, "I too have friends I can rely on, Midoriya-kun, Bakugo-chan."
And with that, he gave a jaunty wave before crouching once more. "I look forward to seeing what becomes of you two, but until then…"
A concussive force jolted Izuku off his feet as the man leaped thousands of meters into the air, clearing even the tallest of Musutafu skyscrapers with a single bound.
Izuku stood transfixed at the incredible display of power, before a splat broke him out of his thoughts. Katsumi stood scowling as she flung her hoodie to the ground with a disgusting squelch.
"God this is fucking gross," she shouted, incinerating the ruined clothing with her quirk. "Damn sludge is fucking everywhere."
Izuku withheld a blush at the implications, and did his best to avert his gaze from the girl's now-transparent school uniform, focusing instead on the task at hand. He molded the entire mass of his quicksteel into a privacy curtain before handing off his uniform jacket to the girl still cursing up a storm.
She ducked under the screen with a muttered, "thanks."
oooOoOoOooo
"Should I be insulted? you didn't try to sneak a peek even once," Katsumi asked a minute later as they made their way to their original destination.
Izuku sputtered. "The hell kind of guy do you think I am."
"A horny one, aren't they all?" The line was delivered so seriously that if he'd never met her before he might have believed it.
"I'm just going to ignore that," he pouted. "But more importantly! That was All Might. Kacchan, All Might! He was even cooler in person! He was so strong, and and, did you see his hand!?" Izuku was finally having the freak-out that the situation previously hadn't allowed.
"Yeah, I know, you were totally lame," she said with a smirk.
"What do you mean?"
She stuck out a wobbly lip. "'All Might, do you have someone to lean on?' Gaaahahahahah!"
"Ah! What do you mean lame?! I was being serious!"
"I know you were, that's what made it lame, nerd" she said, jabbing him playfully with her elbow. Katsumi mellowed out after a moment. "I wouldn't worry though, he seemed to take it seriously enough, even asked us for our names," she sighed. "I'd have liked to have taken his number one spot before he learned mine, but I guess we can't win em all huh?"
Izuku halted for a moment, realizing that even caked in sludge and wearing his oversized uniform jacket, Katsumi looked particularly striking as she professed her intention to be the very best hero.
"Yeah, guess not."
Izuku smiled. All things considered, today wasn't so bad after all.
oooOo Katsumi oOooo
Katsumi stood before the enormous vat of water boiling over a bonfire on Dogobah beach, thinking that perhaps Izuku's mysterious sensei might have rubbed off on him a little more than she'd realized.
The shower she'd taken that afternoon at Izuku's house had been glorious, letting Katsumi cleanse the taint of sludge from her skin after probably the most uncomfortable walk of her fucking life. If she never saw, smelt, or god forbid, tasted another sewer again, it would only be too soon.
But after she had cleaned and dressed herself, she and Izuku had of course talked over what had happened that day. The conclusion Katsumi had reached was she needed a way to get out of situations where her arms were restrained. No fucking way would she be some damsel in distress no matter how chivalrous her best friend wanted to be.
So here she was, a few days later, finally committing to one of the many theories they'd discussed but never got around to testing over the years.
Izuku had theorized that the bottoms of her feet could produce her explosive just as well as her palms, they were just… dormant? The details had bored her at the time, so she hadn't really payed too much attention.
But maybe if she had, then she would have known that he'd come up with this shit!
"You're sure about this?" he asked.
"The fuck do you mean am I sure!? This was your idea, nerd!?" The hell does he think he is?
"No no, Kacchan this was my solution to the problem you had, don't go putting this on me."
Then he had the audacity to chuckle. At her.
Katsumi fumed silently for a moment, knowing that he was right. This was her only option if she wanted to evolve beyond her current limits. She'd seen the strength her friend used casually in her presence, and while she wasn't too far behind on that front, she couldn't afford to slack off. Not for a fucking moment.
Izuku was always raving about how skilled she was, but he was the real prodigy. Not that the nerd ever showed it off or anything, in fact she wished he would show off more.
But a small part of her took some satisfaction in no one else being privy to what he was truly capable of. That honor lay firmly with her, and that same part of her wished it would stay that way.
"—cchan, you ready? Kacchan?"
"Right, nerd, slow the fuck down already," she bit out irritably, wincing almost immediately. Gah! why did she have to be such a bitch to the only genuine person in her life outside her family? Was she really so predisposed to lash out?
But of course, he only smiled widely at her and apologized like he always did. Too forgiving for his own good.
She settled onto the platform Izuku had made with his quirk, flinching as the icy surface met the skin unprotected by the shorts she wore. Katsumi shifted as Izuku gently, always gently, guided the platform to dangle her legs over the boiling water. She grinned inwardly as she caught his eyes darting to the exposed skin. It was an unforeseen effect of her attire but not an unwelcome one. She may not be as naturally gifted as her mother up top, but she knew her lifestyle did wonders for her some of her other attributes. She'd take the attention she could get.
The idea actually wasn't as extreme as it first appeared. Yes, this was a more extreme tempurature than anything she'd ever dealt with before. But it wouldn't scald her like it would if it were Izuku sitting up here. Just as the nerd had written on her… hero page, minor heat resistance was of course, a part of her quirk.
But that minor part was pretty fuckin key here. This was still going to hurt like a motherfucker. She turned to her friend meeting his eyes resignedly. "Just do it, Deku."
The platform dropped six inches, and her feet felt like they were submerged in magma.
"Aarghhfucking shit!"
"Kacchan!"
"Don't you dare pull me out!" she gritted out through a clenched jaw. The steam billowing up around her clung to the fabric of her clothes, leaving her a sweaty mess. But it was the pain surrounding the sensitive skin of her feet that held all the girl's attention.
"It's a good thing people haven't started coming around here at this time of year," Izuku said.
Ugh, she knew she told him to commit, but now he was way too relaxed for the situation she was in. "Why's… that, Deku?" she bit out, trying to distract herself from the pain.
"Oh, with the way you screamed I wouldn't want them to think I was torturing you or something."
"You are torturing me!"
Was that a tad irrational? Perhaps. But in the heat of the moment it made her feel better, and she knew he wouldn't hold it against her. He never did.
"Alright, that's enough I think," Izuku said, raising her from the barrel before she could protest.
"The hell Deku? I coulda gone way longer."
He smiled at her like he was placating a child, the hell was that about?
"I know you could have," he sighed, frowning seriously. "We know your skin is heat resistant, but your muscles? Your organs?" He shook his head, "Let's go slow at first, your Mom would never forgive me if I brought her back some poached Kacchan."
Oh my god he was so fucking lame. Why the fuck was her mouth tilting up like that without her permission?! Stop smiling, damn it!
But she had to admit that made sense, and so, grudgingly, Katsumi let him guide the quicksteel platform to the sand. He always kept a hand on it, she knew he couldn't quite lift other people remotely with his quirk yet. Obviously, skin contact drastically improved its power, and with the heat of the fire so close, it was necessary to keep its form at all.
Izuku settled next to her so he could keep the platform solid, allowing her to avoid resting her tender feet in the coarse sand. She hissed in appreciation a moment later as the soles of her feet touched the cool metal.
"So, what now?" she said, turning to face her friend.
Izuku paused to think for a moment. "How do you use your quirk with your hands? Just try to emulate what that feels like I guess."
Katsumi sighed. That wasn't very helpful, but she supposed she'd have a much better shot at something intuitive like this. Even if Izuku was practically a walking hero encyclopedia, you never knew another's quirk like your own.
Of course, she knew what it felt like. She'd been training Explosion since was four, there was nothing she knew better than that exhilarating electric tingle that arced across her palms before a she let off a real ear-ringer.
Katsumi tried to replicate that same feeling in the soles and arches of her feet. But almost immediately after the attempt, she knew it wouldn't work. Not yet at least.
There was a ghost of the feeling, an echo. But at the moment, it was just a bit out of reach for her.
"It's there, just…" her eyes narrowed to slits, "It doesn't want to come."
"I'd be more surprised if it worked on the first try," he said.
"Yeah," she grunted, standing abruptly.
Katsumi ignored his knowing smirk as she marched over to the vat of bubbling water.
"Again?" he asked, and she resisted the urge to throttle him since he at least attempted to hide his grin.
But she wouldn't give him the pleasure of a verbal reply, instead choosing to tap her foot impatiently.
Her stomach totally didn't get butterflies at the smile he gave her in response.
AN: Alright, this is the last chapter of the pre-UA arc. The good news is I've stayed 3-4 chapters ahead this whole time, meaning in a couple chapters the next arc will be done. I like having a couple chapters leeway since it helps prevent writing myself into a corner, but I'm really into this story at the moment so I'm not too worried about keeping up this posting schedule for the time being. Also, I'm on spring break, so there's a good chance I'll be writing when I'm not drawing. Hopefully, you guys will get another chapter within a couple of days.