Katsuki Bakugo had regrets. He never thought he would have them, but he did.

It was when he was six during the slime villain incident. Because of his carelessness, Deku almost died.

Katsuki in his rush to escape from the slime villain activated his quirk causing the building to collapse, letting the villain escape. Izuku who was nearby was crushed under rubble. Katsuki still remembered what his mother said.

"It's a wonder that Izuku survived, but he needs an organ donor and fast..." Mitsuki, his mother said.

Luckily Auntie Inko, using her connections, had found an organ donor. That was the last Katsuki had seen of Izuku for eight years.

"Get back, you freak!"

"Stay the hell away from me!"

"Die, you damned monster!"

Sometimes, Midoriya Izuku wished he was still quirkless. At least then, he didn't have to deal with literal mobs forming to hunt him down. Not that they would be able to, of course. But if he fought back, then the police and heroes would get involved, and that was a whole mess he did not feel like dealing with.

So, Izuku ran. And he kept running, right out of town, on to the next one.

This must have been the… ninth one since my Quirk manifested? Man, I get around. Izuku thought to himself.

The place he ran too was his childhood city, a place called Masutafu.

Izuku was currently wandering the quiet streets, slipping around in dark alleyways to get a scope of the place. He needed to find a place to stay, but he wanted it to be just right. A quiet suburb, with quiet, not-nosy neighbours and not an apartment, since those tended to be far more up close and personal than Izuku was comfortable with.

This seemed like a nice place, to Izuku, so surely a lot of people would be scrambling for an opportunity to live here.

So, where did that leave me? Izuku thought.

The boy sighed in resignation and pulled out his phone. Loathe as he was to do it, he needed to call for some help.

"Hey, mom, funny story…"

It was the first day of senior year of Aldera Middle School. To say Katsuki is currently slightly tense was an understatement.

"Now then will everyone introduce themselves?" The teacher asked, smiling gesturing at the new green-haired boy.

The boy rose slowly, and as the boy opened his mouth, the first thing that came out was a jaw-stretching yawn. He half-heartedly raised a hand to cover the sight.

"Name's Midoriya Izuku. Nice to meet ya," with that introduction Katsuki's mind went blank.

Was this finally a chance to apologise for what happened eight years ago? Katsuki thought.

After class Katsuki went up to Izuku and asked, "Hey Deku! Remember me?"

Much to Katsuki's surprise, Deku had no memory of him.

"Who are you again?"

"I'm... Katsuki Bakugo... but you can call me Kacchan, De~ Izuku," It really did hurt Katsuki to know that his childhood friend did not remember him.

Izuku was walking home, passing underneath a bridge when he heard a metallic wobble or something behind him. Turning in curiosity, he bore witness to a disgusting blob pushing its way out of the sewers.

"Oh-ho! I think I remember you! Oh well, doesn't matter! You'll make an excellent meat puppet!" The slime laughed preparing to attack.

Izuku had managed to stall enough time by dodging as All Might, the number one hero, had arrived.

"Have no fear, for I am here!" All Might cried out, his voice booming.

The slime villain rushed towards Izuku, his focus seemingly being more on escaping then taking Izuku hostage. Izuku jumped out of the way, and onto a lamppost, just in case.

All Might had easily defeated and captured the slime villain without a single hit. If Izuku was eight to ten years younger he probably would have been impressed, while giggling excitedly.

Putting his hands on his hips, All Might began laughing, "Hahaha! Nice job holding out, young man! But do not worry, for it is safe now!"

Izuku hopped down from his observation point, dusting off his clothes when he landed.

"You're really fast," Izuku said, starting to dig through his bag.

"Ahha, you're too kind, young man. Would you like an autograph?" All Might asked.

"Yup, lemme just find it- ah, there it is," Izuku pulled out his notebook and a pen, handing both over to the hero. He might not be the biggest fan of All Might anymore, but he did just meet the Number One Hero in Japan.

"By the way, All Might, I have a question," Izuku began.

"I'm sorry, young man," All Might apologized, handing the signed notebook back to Izuku, "but I am very busy, and unfortunately do not have time to talk. If you would like, you can always send an email to the address listed-"

"Can a monster become a hero?"

All Might froze, never having been asked such a question.

His mind began to race as he wondered, Who was this boy and what type of life did he have.

What's more, he had to be careful. A wrong answer may result in the rise of a new villain, which could lead to many people getting hurt.

He had heard of situations like this, it happened all the time, where the negligence of a hero's words drove someone over the edge and he did his best to avoid such a situation. One reason was that innocents may get involved, and another reason was that it hurt him, to know that he was the cause of a bright life turning down a dark road. He was a hero who wanted to help people, and sometimes that included situations where his fists were not the answer.

After a few moments of silence, All Might decided upon an answer, "well, if that supposed monster wants to become a hero… Then they aren't really a monster, are they?"

"Izuku, you ever decided what you're going to do for high school?" Katsuki asked one day while they were walking home together, partly because Katsuki wanted to reconnect with his childhood friend.

"Hmm... Yeah... Think I'm going to U.A." Izuku replied idly.

Katsuki froze midstep thinking, does he remember the promise we made when we were kids?

Deciding to try and confirm his hopes Katsuki asked, "when did you decide that school?"

"A few weeks ago, I think it was," Izuku stated.

"Wh~why?!" Katsuki knew it was a futile hope.

"Oh, because I met All Might, and he seemed pretty cool, so I thought, why not?"

Oh... Izuku was a big fan of All Might last I recall... Katsuki thought, guess this is punishment for forgetting that promise first.

"Katsuki, have you been training for the exam?" Izuku asked.

"Of course I have!" Katsuki said excitedly after tensing up a bit when hearing Izuku saying his name.

"Can you run through some moves? I'm curious about how you use your Quirk, and it's nice to get warmed up," Izuku said after the two of them had finished walking to Katsuki's house

Katsuki smiled ready to impress his friend, "prepare to be amazed!"

When Katsuki was finished showing off Izuku asked, "That was pretty nice, but how do you do in combat?"

Katsuki froze, he really didn't want to hurt his friend again, "you know, we should probably have this discussion another day?"

"Nah we have time," Izuku said.

After a bit of prodding from Izuku, Katsuki agreed to do a practice fight. Katsuki deciding to go easy for the time being.

Izuku had won the fight. This in itself was surprising to Katsuki as, although he was holding back, still believed Izuku was quirkless.