AN: A promise made is a promise fulfilled! Such is the way of Scrimshaw! So of course we couldn't help but get a continuation for our latest project out as soon as we could. Oni Izuku deserves some love!

AtW: Tomorrow we'll hopefully have our next commission ready to post. Until then, please forgive us this indulgence. We hope you'll enjoy it.

CW: Now then, onto the reading!


Chapter 2 - Origins


The walk back home gave Izuku time to think.

To think about the meeting with Principal Nezu.

To think about his new classmates.

About what it meant for him going forward.

The way back home was long and Izuku was in no hurry to get there. Strolling gave him time to… properly understand his situation and what he would have to do in the coming days to prepare for U.A.

'They really don't do things by halves.' He sighed as he turned down a corner.

But to shove an oni, a tengu, and a hanyo into the same classroom as one of those human butchers?

Plus Ultra indeed.

Ms. Hanyo and Mr. Tengu were interesting, but not threatening. The tengu were neutral, many of them having helped humans in the past. Why, even the likes of Kiichi Hogen, a powerful old Tengu, had trained Minamoto no Yoshitsune.

Many of them were isolationists.

Others, like Tokoyami seemed to be, were idealists.

It was only natural that in this day and age there would be hidden ones who wished to live normal lives amongst the populace, no longer satisfied with their secret communities. Most youkai enclaves respect them, though there were some who thought of them as traitors to their kind. All too willing to throw away centuries of tradition to mingle with humans.

Asui… was an enigma.

Hanyo came in two flavors.

Those who didn't want anything to do with the supernatural. And those who weren't aware of the supernatural. The frog-like girl appeared to be the former, not at all pleased to be singled out alongside the rest.

He didn't know enough about the Kappa to guess why.

The less said about the hunter girl, the better.

He knew their ilk all too well. Raised from birth to be humanity's spear and shield against the supernatural. Going back all the way to the Heian Period where the likes of Kintaro and Abe-no-Seimei tangled with Youkai like Tamamo-no-Mae and Shuten-Doji, as well as warlocks like Ashiya Douman regularly.

Back then… youkai and humans were at war.

And at the forefront of the youkai faction were the Oni.

Like Izuku.

They were strong, blood thirsty, and highly capable when led by someone they feared or respected. Many exorcists died fighting them and many youkai died when faced with the best humanity had to offer. Though it had almost always been the greedy spirits that came off the victors. For, even when cut down, they died drowning in blood and chewing on meat. Truly paradise for the hungry eaters and flesh tearers.

Of course, the war had never ended.

Youkai still prowled the streets, starving for human flesh. Exorcists still hunted them.

The rise of quirks, however, changed everything. No longer were youkai isolated and hidden. They walked the streets as citizens. Bold as brass and proud too, for their bodies and strangeness was ever more easily excused away. Even magic had slid into the area of "curiosity".

True spells were rare, the powerful ones even more so. But it would not be wrong to say that in every major city in Nippon one could walk into a store and find a witch.

'Not a very good one, thank goodness.' Izuku paused in his musings, truly thinking about what these things mean. 'I don't have a quirk, though my mother does, and no other youkai has this power. But at the same time, humanity is forgetting about us on the most basic level. Outside of the hunters, whose numbers dwindle with every passing generation, none of them care to remember. And monsters like All For One are great at getting people to simply forget.'

Snorting, he shook his head.

"Enough of this existentialist nonsense. Either the hunter girl will try and kill me. Either she will succeed or I will. Either the teachers will punish me or they won't. No oni has ever gotten ahead by thinking about the fate of our entire species."

His mumbles were most certainly nervous and he was most certainly fidgeting when he returned home. Even reaching up to the door to turn the handle made him tremble slightly.

The exorcist girl had rattled him. He knew that.

Knew they were dangerous. After all….

"H-hey Mom! I'm home!"

His mother was one.

Midoriya Inko was many things. A hardworking single mother. A disarming, comely beauty. And a mature, refined Japanese flower. Her long green hair done up in a tasteful bun, that still allowed a single long lock to stand out against the smooth, warm skin of her graceful and slender neck. Even dressed as she was in bargain bin clothes and a cooking apron, holding a spatula in one hand and a kitchen knife in the other, she radiated a serenity and grace that was almost breathtaking.

Truly, Izuku understood why his father had wanted her. Even if his own desires towards her body were less carnal and more gustatory.

Moving with a practiced ease that was almost unnatural, his mother did not lose a step as she handled the steel and fire of her domestic domain. Slicing, dicing, boiling, stewing.

It wasn't like anything he'd ever seen a human do.

Almost… mechanical in its unerring, never ceasing precision.

"Welcome home my cute little green bean. How did the meeting go?"

One hand flipped a pan over, doing something he didn't quite catch with a number of ingredients that were then caught just as casually. Sliding it onto an eye, she held out her now free arm for a side hug. He, somewhat awkwardly, complied.

And stiffened.

Just for a second. But Izuku knew she'd noticed.

"You smell different, honey."

Her arm closed around him gently, but firmly. Like a vice as she clamped his body against her, nose twitching as she took a deep breath. Her senses honed to the edge of superhuman by decades of training.

"There were other youkai at the meeting. We were getting orientation."

It was the truth. Not all of it.

"Unexpected, but not unwelcome. It must be nice, knowing there are others who share your dream."

He frowned.

"Hardly. One was a tengu, the other a kappa hanyou. If it had been a jorogumo or a tsuchigumo or even a tsukumogami I wouldn't be annoyed. But a hero helper and the daughter of a cucumber eater? The weird anal fixation of the kappa aside, they're hardly seen as a symbol of horror." Izuku grunted, realizing he was being rude again. "But I suppose I shouldn't complain too much. They're youkai and I'm an oni and the rest of my classmates probably don't include an akuma, a demon, and a jiangshi."

"Let 's hope not. I didn't raise a grave robbing delinquent." His mother grinned teasingly, handing running through his green locks.

So very like her own.

"Why don't you sit down. Lunch is almost ready."

Izuku almost let out a sigh of relief. Worst case scenario averted.

He was also starving. Nearly getting into a fight with Yaoyorozu had set him on edge. And a stressed Oni was a hungry Oni. Besides, there was nothing he liked more than to have his mother's cooking after a hard day!

Cannibalizing other Oni was well and good.

But fine dining was a pleasant hobby. He was capable of tasting human food, it just didn't do much for him.

Human food was too weak.

So when the cloud of spices wafted through the room, Izuku could feel his fangs poking through his lips, drool pooling inside his mouth as his stomach roared in displeasure. The bowl of steaming hot katsudon being placed in front of him wasn't what he wanted. But, biting the tip off of his own tongue, he swallowed the hunk of flesh and told his gut that was all it was getting.

The flash of pain didn't slow him down one bit as he reached for the pair of chopsticks sitting at the center of the table.

"Ah. One moment. I think there's something else you needed to tell me."

Freezing, he swallowed again, a few drops of his own blood sizzling down his throat.

"Needed…?"

Her eyes were flat, unamused.

"I see. Yes."

Inko still didn't look any more enthused than she had been before.

"Well, you remember that huntress I met in the park, she teaches there, like I already told you. But, well, you see-"

She lifted a single perfectly manicured eyebrow.

Izuku gave up.

"There's another one in my class. Her civilian name is Yaoyorozu Momo."

"One of the old names. Wouldn't have hesitated to stick a blade through your neck." Her eyes had gone cold, a clear warning that he'd better keep talking lest she make her displeasure more apparent.

"We nearly came to blows. The principal intervened. U.A. is recognized as neutral ground and he sees no issue keeping her in the same classroom as us."

Green orbs narrowed.

"Foolish. You will kill each other by the end of the month."

Izuku swallowed anxiously. She wasn't wrong.


"Gah!" Izuku grabbed the spear with both hands, trying to stop himself from falling. "I-I'm not done yet!"

The blade's silver learning burned and warped his flesh. His spine had been nicked and his legs weren't responding properly. But that didn't matter. This was a fight. Fights ended one of two ways. And he wouldn't die.

"Graaaaaaah!"

Snapping it down the middle, he managed to throw himself forward, hitting the ground hard. Still, even as his pitch black skin curdled as if burnt, even as his blood seeped onto the ground, he pushed forward. Not even blessed silver could defeat the healing of a Greedy One! No twig could slow down a Flesh Tearer! He was a Tiger! He devoured dragons!

"Die!"

Digging great furrows into the ground, he leapt forward, throwing his body several meters straight forward. It was enough to clear the spot he'd been pinned. But it wasn't even close to enough to reach his mother.

Her sword bit deep.

Simple steel, ungilded, and it sliced through his still healing spine and ribcage, coming out clean on the other side. Her foot curved up and around, smashing into his torso, and flinging he'd right back onto the spear he'd escaped from.

Gritting his teeth again, Izuku looked around their training ground.

It was a small property she'd purchased long ago with money she'd gotten doing things people didn't dare mention for fear it might happen to them. But it was not insignificant. Clearly, many years ago, it had been a warehouse of some kind. Meant mostly for the bulk storage of goods and merchandise.

Now, though, it was a soundproof killing field. The central area that they were currently in was a short, fat tower with three levels. Each floor possessed a subtly different layout, just enough to disrupt expected sight lines, He was currently impaled into the bare cement wall of the east side of floor three and they weren't even halfway through the allotted time for this evening's sudden sparring session.

Apparently meeting one of your kind's natural enemy and then not telling your mom was reason enough for getting grounded.

Unfortunately, his mom also believed in the practice of prevention.

If he was going to get stuck inside a small room with a woman looking to kill him for the foreseeable future. She was gonna stick him inside a small room and try to maim him until his regeneration couldn't keep him up anymore.

Which was a long time considering he'd just had lunch.

'Mom… you sadist.'

As always, she was untouched, standing there in a yukata and tabi and nothing else, loosely holding a katana in one hand a yari in the other, giving him the same small frown she did when he was being a knucklehead. That made it slightly less painful when his spine finally got around to fully fixing itself.

Slightly.

Taking a deep breath, he winced, his internals shifting back into a single cohesive whole. Mostly. He thought he might have splinters in places people weren't meant to get splinters. Once more removing himself from the spear, he reached behind him and, grabbing the shaft, still slick with his blood, Izuku yanked it out of the wall.

It hurt. A lot.

And there was now a very noticeable red stain on the wall.

"You've gotten sloppy, Izuku."

Lips pulled back, Izuku's fangs dripped with blood, nails having grown out into hook-like claws. His clothes, an old shirt he'd put on and a pair of shorts already riddled with cuts and holes, stretched and tore further even as his body put itself back together for what felt like the thousandth time that evening.

Heaving his arm backwards, he tossed the spear back.

The weapon sailed like a missile as it cut through the air, technique and raw power compensating for subtlety, its bloodstained tip passing millimeters away from the older Midoriya's face as she stepped to the side, dodging it completely. She couldn't, however, dodge the dust cloud that covered her when the spear hit the wall opposite to his.

The impact shook the tower as Izuku pounced.

Claws poised to strike as he swung for her throat. Only to meet the shaft of her spear.

He ducked under the retaliatory sword swing. Rolling backwards when his mother swept her spear, feet kicking him back toward her, metal-like nails cutting into the shaft when she attempted to block a second time.

He didn't account for the kick that sent him flying backward.

And caved his chest in.

Skidding backwards, Izuku spat a glob of dark red blood to the side as his bones realigned and his heart went about un-crushing itself. Barely giving him time to dodge his mothers sword as she aimed for a decapitation.

'Great, now she is babying me.'

Rule number one, always watch the neck.

His palm met the side of her spear, using it to pull himself away from the next swing.

Rule number two, keep moving.

Spinning around, he lashed out with a kick. Forcing her to block with both hands, only to dodge the following clawed swipes aiming for her face.

Rule three, target the limbs, humans don't heal.

Unfortunately she was as good at dodging as she was at maiming him.

Right, left, right, left, left…

Kick!

'Blocked again.' She didn't budge an inch.

So he hacked another glob of almost dry blood. Right at her face.

Rule four, if you're not fighting dirty you aren't fighting to win.

Unfortunately, that also annoyed his mother. Because now her dress was dirty. The reddish brown of half dried blood staining the pure white of the outfit. She frowned. And then she punished him.

Every shard of wood, every piece of concrete, every shaving of metal violently twisted and tumbled over itself in a tornado of flesh stripping fury. The insignificant pieces of debris working almost like a sand blaster to sheer flesh from his bones. Ducking away, he screamed when the second spear caught him through the base of his spine again, leaving him to desperately try and claw his way out of the twister.

In the end, it did nothing, chewing away at his body until all that was left was tattered scraps.

'Rule Zero.' Even through the agonizing pain, every inch of his body twitching and jerking as abused nerves misfired, his mind continued working. 'Don't piss off someone stronger than you.'

The spear tip parted the scraps of skin across his rip cage as easily as a hand pushed through air. Beating, deep inside his chest, the muscle panicked, terror as the approaching silver almost kissed it driving it into a frenzy. Izuku still felt cold, detached, knowing that this too was an important lesson.

"You've lost again, dear one."

And just like that, it ended.

Silver and steel slid from his body, the debris cast itself away from him, even being drawn out of where it had buried deeper into his flesh, and she was sitting by his side. Setting her weapons to the side, Inko then lifted the sleeve of her dress. As the fabric revealed skin the row upon row of bite scars revealed itself. Proof of what she'd given up to feed her child. And, without hesitating, she offered up her arm to him again.

Izuku blinked blearily, head pounding as he made to take her hand.

Only to notice he didn't have arms anymore.

Or legs for the matter….

Insead he swallowed up his annoyance and sank his teeth on the offered flesh. The familiar coppery task of blood filling his mouth as he drank deeply and greedily. A fire kindling on his chest as his body thrummed with newfound energy. Even now he could feel new bone and tissue sprouting where his mother had severed his limbs.

He also got his depth perception back. So bonus!

Pulling back, he sighed at the pleasant soreness of his body, his tongue giving the bite mark a parting lick, desperate to bring as much blood with it as it could. And if his teeth ached to bring a chunk of flesh with them, well, he'd just ignore that.

'That was a nice workout.'

His mother wasn't hurt for long, wound sizzling shut as her body fought off the Oni taint of his bite. He wasn't worried. Maybe a normal human would need to cauterize the wound or cut off a limb to get rid of minor curses like those, but his mother was from an old line of onmyouji.

What took someone days or weeks to heal naturally, she could do in minutes.

What was a liter or two of blood?

And now that he was done healing. It was time for reviewing.

"Tell me, dear. Where did you fail?"

"I died."

She rapped him lightly on the head.

"That is the consequence of your failure. You are smart enough to tell what went wrong."

"Well, mostly, I let you lead me by the nose. There were a few options I had, but you pretty much led me by the nose with the throwing spears. And then, by the end, you dragged me up the tower. I traded mobility in an attempt to close with you and that got my butt beaten."

She nodded.

"And why did you play right along with me?"

Izuku… wanted to offer an excuse. In the end he simply sighed.

"Because I was goofing off."

Inko patted her son's head.

"There, there. It's ok. I'm sure you won't mind ending up skewered on a cute girl's spear. Why, maybe I should invite her over for dinner!"

"Mom." The oni sighed. "Please don't murder my classmates."


Izuku returned to U.A. the very next day.

With the special orientation done with, the first order of business now was to get his education started. This was, after all, a mundane school for heroics. It was never his intention to drag the supernatural into it, but as he'd had dealings with one of the teachers in the past and was admittedly a very scary monster, Izuku took Nezu's reasons for what they were.

Simple caution.

He wasn't here to hang into grudges from a thousand years ago.

Izuku wanted to be a hero, it was as simple as that.

So imagine his surprise to see a very familiar… face?... beak?... waiting for him just outside the school gates.

Tokoyami leaned up against the walls, his eyes tracing Izuku's form as he walked closer.

'Well now… this could be annoying.'

Outside of now wearing the school uniform, the Tengu still looked much the same as last time they'd seen each other. With a crow's face for a head, he could pass for a mutant quirk quite easily.

The wonders of the modern world. Allowing an isolated creature of legend to idly sit near a street without anyone blinking.

Getting the message easily enough, Izuku sighed and walked over to the bird man and waved in greeting. He didn't put much effort into it. The oni well knew what an ambush looked like.

"Hello, Mr. Tengu."

One eye cracking open, his classmate took a long second to respond.

"Bloody one." Breathing onto the back of his hand, the green haired man eater made sure he'd brushed properly. This got a snort from the tengu. "You can't clean away the smell of blood. No matter how much one drowning in it may wish to try. Your very soul is stained by darkness."

"Let me just say this one thing." Standing up straight, looking his fellow man in the eye, Midoriya said what followed with feeling and meaning. "Go fuck yourself."

Clapping the bird brain on the shoulder, and almost laughing at how the guy flinched, Izuku turned away. He had zero interest in a pissing contest about who was here to protect the humans or what species of monster was worse or who murdered whom's ancestor. None of that mattered. Not friends, or day dreams, or reputations. The only thing at all that had any weight for him was learning how to best be a Hero.

Of course, when a demon welled up at the shadows, filling up the small underpass like a solid, tangible wall of darkness he did stop. Letting a knife drop into his hand from his lunchbox, he twirled the pieces of metal between his fingers, turning back to stare at the other non human.

"You have my attention."

The leering face of the tengu's quirk, or, rather, he supposed this might be a quirk and the bird could be part human - pure youkai didn't have quirks - made it quite clear that there would either be words or violence.

"You are not what I expected, Oni."

Izuku grinned mockingly, long fangs peeking through as he met the Tengu's stare with his own.

"Excellent. I would oh so hate to leave a poor impression."

"Do not play games, Oni. I am here to issue you a warning." The mass of darkness shifted and writhed at his words. Shadows themselves being made alive by his presence. "Principal Nezu may accept your word of civility, but we both know that is an empty promise. One you could just as easily break for your own benefit."

Witnessing this form of witchcraft was enough to keep Izuku interested.

If not on the man's words, then on his ability to enforce them.

He would give the tengu… five minutes to get to the point.

"Kinda like what you are doing now? Using witchcraft right outside school. Threatening another student? I thought you tengu were supposed to be the wise hero teachers of old." His eyes gleamed in the dark, fangs growing outwards as he took a step closer to Tokoyami. "From where I'm standing. You seem like the dishonest demon here."

"This posturing is meaningless, Bloody One. Whatever your intentions in coming to U.A. are, it is clear that you won't listen to reason unless there are those willing to enforce it upon you. Your kind has a bloody history, after all. With monsters like Otakemaru and Shuten Douji amongst you, that is to be expected."

Izuku was officially bored.

"Then why don't we examine your ancestry, honorable tengu? I'm sure that if we look closely enough we won't find any of your ilk who thought themselves superior and attempted to rule through fear."

He smiled viciously, seeing the other boy stiffen.

"I think I can think of one. Who was it who once threw this country into an inheritance crisis, causing the deaths of so many humans, and later on resorting to becoming a monster himself? Storms, plagues, earthquakes. As a Tengu you should very well know you are no better than me."

Everyone knew the story.

The tale of Emperor Sutoku. A man who became a tengu in a bid to claim revenge. Forever staining the reputation of the mountain dwellers. Marking them as one of Japan's Three Calamities.

"I doubt the exorcists would see the difference between one and the other."

Snapping his beak, Tokoyami made his annoyance clear.

"And what proof do I have that you aren't simply seeking prey? Or slaves! How do I know that letting you dwell amongst human children won't be an act everyone around you regrets."

Izuku shrugged.

"You don't. But, I'm ready to go to class, you've wasted your five minutes, and this lunchbox was given to me by my human mother. Who kissed me on the head when I walked out the door this morning." He frowned. "But until you stop being afraid of what you are, you don't have the right to bother me. So go away now."

Turning away, he ignored the incredulous teenager and, coming up to the shadow wall, glared at it until it shrunk. Amusingly, the spirit was connected to the Tengu's stomach, sticking out from his uniform shirt. Almost like a little monkey clinging to its mother.

'Why do I have the urge to feed that thing snacks and scratch its chin?'

Shaking the sensation off, he put a bit of force into his movement when he took his next step. It wasn't a truly massive leap, just a couple dozen meters, but it easily put him out of sight of the other student. Plus these quick hops let him reach U.A. without being late. And tardiness on the first day would just be poor manners.

Still, these rapid hops only got him to school just on time, the warning bell ringing as he sat done. Chuckling, he saw the tengu and his partner flying towards the school quite quickly.

Turning into the press of students, now quite quickly rushing towards their home rooms, he almost walked into a brown haired girl, knocking her to the ground. Frowning, he held out a hand.

"Oh, hey, it's you. The girl that got hurt during the entrance exam. Sorry for knocking you down!"

And was immediately pulled into a bear hug.

Okay… that was a new one.

"Uh… are you okay?"

The rosy cheeked girl promptly let go, awkwardly scratching the back of her head.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to do that. It's just you got splattered during the exams and I was like 'NO!' and then you got up and was like 'This was nothing!' and I got all confused while you just left and I totally thought you died and then…"

Oh yeah, that did happen.

"Oh…" He ran his hand through his hair "Sorry about walking away like that. I should have made sure you were okay!" Bowing slightly, he tried his best to apologize.

The girl's eyes almost popped out.

"If I was okay?! But you were the one crushed. I got so worried I talked to the school right after to see if you were in the hospital."

Izuku was so used to getting sliced up and splattered into walls he hadn't even considered not blocking the Zero Pointer's fist with his body.

He might have failed to tell that part to his mom too.

For obvious reasons.

He also didn't know how to deal with a human who wasn't his mother actively engaging with him like that.

"So yeah, about that… sorry about worrying you then. I'm just kinda used to healing from stuff that I forget it's unusual." He shuffled in place, pulling at his sleeves.

She laughed awkward. Patting bis pack as if to make sure he wouldn't be falling apart any moment. Normally he wasn't big on human initiating physical contact with them - an easy way to get caught was for a hunter to tag you with a charm after all - but she was a bit too… open to be a threat. Big, soft brown eyes, a short bob hair cut, and a seemingly permanent blush to her rough cheeks.

Izuku felt his own cheeks redden at the urge to pinch them.

"Unusual, sure. Getting up after a giant mecha punched you is unusual, very unusual, yes!"

He smiled awkwardly. She was still touching him.

"I tell you what, Ms?"

"Uraraka. Ochako Uraraka!"

"So, Ms. Uraraka why don't we talk this over at the canteen later. I promise to make it up to you."

Why was she blushing?

Did he say something wrong? He was just asking her to have lunch together. Gods, did humans even like Oni meat?! He forgot to ask mom about that.

"You don't need to do that!" She panicked, flailing. "I mean the making up thing! You saved me from that big robot, or at least the fall, so we can totally go out on a… wait… take you out? Like a date!? Aren't the boys supposed to pay for a date!"

Now laughing, he marched his way towards class, having spent a few hours snooping around the school after his special orientation the other day, and was a bit surprised to find out that they both belonged to 1-A.

"So, before we go in, tell me your name again, Snack Pack?" Nicknames were things humans did right?

"Uraraka Ochako, um, nice to meet you!"

She bowed, blushing quite heavily at the nick name, and Izuku stopped laughing long enough to bow back, even if his was more of a partial inclination of his body than a full bow.

"Midoriya Izuku, nice to meet you as well. Now, I can already smell exhaustion, orange juice, and eye drops from the class room… so I'll give you three guesses as to who our teacher was."

When Uraraka, or Snack Pack as he so chose to call her, whose cheeks he really wanted to pinch, laughed, he thanked every kami he knew that his "pretending to be human" lessons were paying off. Because right now his mouth was watering, his teeth were itching, and he wanted to eat the cute human girl who was smiling at him. Really, really badly.

But he wouldn't.

Because people were friends, not food.

'Plus she's really just that cute. Maybe just a nibble? She wouldn't miss it….'


For as long as he remembered, Katsuki Bakugo wanted one thing and one thing only.

To be the best.

The strongest. The one everyone would stand in awe of. The one who would feel no fear.

He knew since he was a pint sized brat what he wanted to do. To be a hero and surpass All Might. Bakugou could feel it deep in his bones that it was what he was born to do. The only one able to do it.

Because he was the most talented.

He had the strongest quirk.

And aced all the shitty tests and trials people put up to try and hold him back.

Katsuki Bakugou always won.

And that was that.

"Brat! You're gonna be late!" His mom screeched from down the hall, his ears practically ringing from the shout.

"I'm coming, old hag!"

Throwing a handful of water on his face. Bakugo thought he looked like a winner. His double in the mirror meeting his savage grin with one of his own. Mop of spiky blonde hair refusing to stay down no matter what his mom tried to do the night before.

You couldn't keep perfection down, after all.

"Katsuki!"

A fist banged at the bathroom's door.

"I said I was coming!" He banged back.

And winced.

It was small and faded. But on his right hand was a double line of darkened skin. The only scar he'd ever been given by someone else instead of earning during training. Snarling, he pushed away memories of a time when he was weak, when he felt fear. And he pretended the damn thing hadn't started throbbing. None of that changed the fact that the bite mark twinged with pain.

He had better things to do.

Wrenching the door open, Katsuki strode out in a huff, hands safely tucked away in the pockets of his baggy pants.

U.A. was waiting for him.

But even the thought of his perfect origin story couldn't distract him.

Not while he had breakfast or when he took the bus. Not even the sign of U.A's gates, the sign that he'd done just as he said he would and passed the entrance exam as the number one was enough to put him at ease.

The throbbing just seemed to get worse.

And that put him in a shitty mood.

Enough that he barely made it past the door when the bell rang.

This was it.

This was the start of his journey to become the number one hero.

'Why won't this damn thing stop bothering me!'

It always annoyed him the most when he was stressed or angry or just dealing with a lot of pointless, petty bullshit. But today it seemed especially fucking shitty. Like it was almost exciting. But that was fucking stupid because it was a scar and it was shitty and he wasn't even really the same person who got it!

He was strong.

He sure as shit didn't get afraid.

And if he ever saw that toothy little freak ever again he would blow him to Hell for that stunt he pulled.

"Stupid freakin' Deku. Can't believe that little freak's still pissing me off after a decade."

Just the thought of that weird brat was enough to rot his mood.

Why did he even remember that little shit?!

He barely remembered the name of his middle school teachers. And he'd tried hard to scrub away everything that made him so much as recall the boy he used to go to kindergarten with.

It was why the color green was forbidden in the Bakugo house, for shit's sake!

And the throbbing just wouldn't fucking stop!

Somehow, he made it to school like that. The aching in his body building and building until, right when he was ready to blow his own hand off, it stopped. Nothing. Not even a bit of pins and needles. And if that wasn't the most suspicious thing he'd ever heard of he'd eat his own stir fried feet.

But that did mean his mood was just the normal level of explosively antagonistic, instead of patently, absurdly so.

"Move it bird shit!"

Meaning he didn't blow the feathers off of the extra that swooped down from the sky in front of him.

"I apologize most profusely for casting my shadow over you, I wi-"

"I said, move it!"

Shoulder checking the loser, he didn't bother letting the idiot ramble so long he was late to class. Even if he was going to be the Number One Hero that didn't mean he was about to slack off. Getting there required him to bust his ass and so he wouldn't stand around jacking off like the idiots that use to try and ride his coattails. No, this was the number one school. And he was going to crush this shit hole just like he had his middle school!

"And no fucking extras are gonna' drag me down!"

Kicking open the classroom door, his glare was positively bloodthirsty, a not inconsiderable amount of killer intent pouring off of him as he did so.

He didn't bother looking at the extras.

They didn't matter.

This was his moment. His start on the road to greatness.

Katsuki Bakugou stepped into the room triumphantly.

And froze.

Eyes becoming pinpricks as they zeroed in on a mop of curly green hair. Freckled skin and an all too familiar fanged grin. There, sitting to the side and chatting up a round faced girl was….

"Deku!" Katsuki blew up!

The extras flinched at the volume. Bakugo didn't care as he marched into the room. He was pretty sure he must have been frothing at the mouth, teeth bared in an angry snarl as he stomped over to the shitty useless.

What was he doing here?

Why was he, of all people, here?!

"Huh?" Turning around, that green haired cannibalistic freak extra gave him a look of utter confusion. And then, after several seconds, recognition bloomed in his eyes. "Kaachan! Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh! It's been so long! How's your hand?"

Just like that, it throbbed again.

But not with pain.

Bakugou could swear it was happy.