"Young Midoryia, I'm sure you must be concerned about Stain after he tasted your blood, but I can assure you he doesn't have One For All." All Might said to his young pupil as they sat drinking tea after a few particularly stressful days.
"Ack! I totally forgot about that!" Izuku gasped with a realization that he should've been a little more careful.
"So you weren't concerned, were you?" Toshinori facepalmed, "It doesn't matter, because to transfer One For All, you must have a willing giver and recipient."
"Oh, I see! So... no one can steal One For All from me?" Midoryia mumbled.
"Hai. It also means you cannot force your power onto another." Yagi nodded, "I realize there is still much for me to teach you! We must get back to training if you are going to master you power!"
"Hai! Yes All Might!"
## Several months later...
"Goodbye... One For All..." Midoryia croaked once more as he lay in the crater. He could feel it. He could tell.
His power was gone. Before he could even master it.
Deku and Bakugo lay there on the ground, covered in their own blood.
They won. They saved those kids. Bakugo honestly couldn't believe what crazy shit they had to pull off to do so, but they did. And the craziest bit of the whole battle was Deku's plan.
He gave him One For All. Bakugo might be the most powerful human being on the planet. He was incredibly weak right now, laying in the dirt with two broken arms, but he and Deku defeated that quirk-stealing son-of-a-bitch. And now, he was the holder of One For All.
It was everything he ever dreamed of...
As he lay there with his eyes shut, he could hear footsteps approaching!
"All... Might..." Midoryia squeaked. Oh good. Bakugo didn't have to move yet...
"Young Midoryia! Young Bak- oh. He appears to be unconscious."
Not really. But Katsuki was too tired to try and come up with a witty remark, so he just lay there.
"Young Midoryia, I'm so proud of you. Against all odds, you and young Bakugo defeated—"
"I gave it away..." Izuku squeaked.
"...?"
"I gave away... One For All... to Kacchan..." Midoryia's voice seemed to tremble a slight amount. "It was the only way... to save Katsuma and Mahoro..."
"...I see." All Might sighed sadly. Bakugo didn't get it. Why didn't All Might want him to succeed him?! With his power combined with One For All it only made sense! He mastered it way faster than that- that- DEKU! Maybe he was sad about that big waste of time training Deku...
"I gave it to Kacchan, because he already knew our secret, and I know he's a trustworthy hero who will win no matter the odds..." Izuku squeaked yet again.
"I respect your decision, especially under the circumstances you were in."
"..." Bakugo felt... strange. Listening in like this when they believe he was unconscious...
So that's actually how Deku felt about him? That he was trustworthy of One For All? All Might too? Midoryia sniffled once more and coughed,
"I could feel it die inside me... I'll never get to be a hero, but that's alright because I got to save them- b-but I didn't want—" Choking on his emotions, Izuku whimpered, "—I wanted to keep saving people! Like you! I want to keep going to school with my friends and going on adventures and- and- I know this had to be done! But I..."
Deku looked like he was fading in and out of consciousness.
"I wasn't ready yet."
Bakugo listened in with a scowl. Fuck this. Deku gave him this power willingly, sure, whatever, fine! But now...
It felt like he was stealing it. Or stealing something else. Like...
He was stealing Midoryia's dream.
Woah! No way! Bakugo did NOT care about some broccoli's stupid dream okay?! No!
But Bakugo DID care about being number one! And with this power, there's no way he'd miss that goal! No way! He's keeping One For All and that's final! If the nerd didn't like it then he shouldn't have given it to Bakugo in the first place! Even though he had no choice...
"I'm sorry, All Might..." Midoryia whispered before falling out of consciousness.
"Young Midoryia... I'm very proud of you. You did what was right. You and Bakugo both had to do what was necessary to save and win..."
To win and save...
Bakugo mouthed the words to himself. God damn it. He and Deku were supposed to be fighting each other to become the greatest hero! It was a competition for who was best! Midoryia was the chosen one, and Bakugo was the one with natural talent!
Deku wanted to be like All Might— Katsuki wanted to surpass All Might himself!
With this stupid power handed to him on a silver platter, it won't be Bakugo going beyond! It'll be Deku pushing Kacchan beyond! What the hell?! That was probably Deku's plan all along! To see Bakugo surpass All Might just because Deku "gave Kacchan One For All"!
The math was simple: One For All + Explosions = slightly more power.
But the math was not like that at all! The math is: Bakugo + explosions = more powerful than anyone, including All Might!
Bakugo was going to prove to the world that it wasn't some blessing that made him powerful! No! The only power he needed was himself: BAKUGO FREAKIN KATSUKI!
That was it! As soon as Bakugo was waking up from this hell-hole he was stuffing that One For All right back were he found it- Midoryia's ass! He didn't want this!
He doesn't want One For All.
All Might gasped.
And through the corner of Kacchan's swollen eye, he could see flashes of green.
"One For All? That must mean... young Bakugo passed out before the transfer was complete!" All Might gasped in awe. Katsuki wanted to scoff. Midoryia probably messed up with the transfer or something ridiculous like that.
But he was glad.
This was exactly the way things were supposed to be.
## Island hospital
"Bakugo! Bakugo!"
Katsuki groaned awake as the sunlight jabbed his tired eyes. Ugh. And there was that little girl again, the annoying brat. He was glad Mahoro was alright...
"Bakugo! Are you okay?! You and Deku defeated Nine! It was super scary and I thought you died!" She screamed with her arms waving in the air, making little illusions to demonstrate. "Do you remember anything?" She gasped.
"Hmm..." Did he remember anything? Maybe it'd be better for everyone if he didn't. "What the hell are you talking about, kid?"
From across the room, Bakugo could see Deku's eyes widen in shock as that other kid healed his arms.
"You don't remember?!" Katsuma gasped a tiny gasp, looking up from his work. "You and Deku-San were so powerful! More powerful than anything I ever saw on cartoons or anything!"
"Yeah! You two fought together to save the island!" Mahoro said with sparkles in her eyes.
"Now you bozos are just making crap up. I don't remember any of that!" Bakugo coughed.
"But... your power looked a lot like De—"
"Shh!" Deku quietly shushed the little boy, "Let's not bother Kacchan too much, alright?"
"Yeah, Katsuma! Especially after he broke both his arms!" Mahoro shouted far louder than her little brother ever did.
Bakugo looked at his purple and blue arms. God that looked disgusting.
"What the hell happened to me?!" He screamed. He wasn't lying about his shock. He looked absolutely hideous and it made him want to barf.
Luckily for him, Recovery Girl was there. Yay...
## The docks
As Bakugo and his classmates got onto the boat to get off this God-forsaken island, Deku ran up to him with a bit of tentativeness is his posture.
"Kacchan?"
"...Ha?" Katsuki groaned as he stood on the balcony, soaking in the sunshine.
"I... just... do you really not remember anything from that fight?" He mumbled.
"What's the big deal with this fight?! Did you finally make that stupid quirk your own yet or something?!" Bakugo snapped his teeth at the nerd. Izuku simply huffed a tiny smile.
"Not yet."
"Oi! When will you ever get better, dork?! Didn't you say you were gonna surpass me or what?!" Kacchan scowled, hiding a smile.
"Hm. Yeah." Midoryia laughed to himself, watching the dock down below. "Eh?!" His eyes caught sight of a friendly face, "Katsuma! Mahoro!" Deku waved excitedly to the two children chasing the boat leaving the dock.
"Deku-San! Bakugo!" Katsuma shouted up to them, keeping his hat from flying off in the wind, "I promise I'll become a hero too! Just like Deku-San! And just like Bakugo!"
"Hmph." Katsuki laughed a smirk over his shoulder.
"I believe in you, Katsuma!" Deku shouted with the brightest smile you ever did saw. He waved to the children and sighed warmly as they grew smaller inter to distance. "Sigh... I'm gonna miss them. Aren't you, Kacchan?" He beamed.
"Pfft. As if."
"I'll never forget this adventure!" Deku laughed, still waving at the little kids.
"Yeah yeah whatever." Bakugo rolled his eyes before heading inside. "Let's just go back home and pretend that none of this ever happened!"
And that's what they did. Deku still has One For All, will keep attending UA, and will continue to master his quirk, racing Bakugo for the future number one hero spot!
Exactly as it should be.