Ichiro ran through the streets of Musutafu. His eyes were puffy and his lungs were starting to hurt from running so fast. He didn't really know where he was running to, but he certainly wasn't turning back towards the beach. Now that the sun was up, the streets were beginning to fill up with more people than before.

Ichiro ran through the crowds, tears filling his eyes. It's not true, it's not true. Ichiro turned a corner and ran down an unfamiliar street. It's not true. Izuku's anger replayed in his mind over and over. Ichiro came to a stop at a crosswalk, panting. All around him were unfamiliar faces. There were businessmen on their way to work, women out on a morning stroll, and children on their way to school. Ichiro was surrounded by nothing but uncaring strangers. He grabbed his head, the world was spinning again. 'You've ruined everything.' Izuku's words replayed in his mind. 'You mean that I'm just some weak, powerless burden on society who needs to be protected at all costs?' Ichiro squeezed his eyes shut, stop it stop it stop it! It's the truth but… Ichiro felt his quirk building a pressure from his intense feelings but he couldn't bring himself to stop it. Green flames began pouring out of his nose and mouth. 'it's my life Ichiro.'

"No," Ichiro said out loud. "Stop it stop it stop it!"

"Wow what is going on with that boy's quirk?" He heard a lady comment. Bystanders were murmuring.

"Does he need help?"

"Nah, it's not our place to help him."

"Just leave it to the heroes."

Ichiro heard their uncaring voices echoing in his ears. They all hated him, because… because… because he'd failed. 'SINCE YOU WERE ONLY BORN BECAUSE MOM AND DAD SAW ME AS A QUIRKLESS WEAKLING'. Ichiro squeezed his eyes shut and put his hands over his ears to drown out the crowd. STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT. Without thinking, he began to run again. While he couldn't see where he was going, or hear the hateful dismissals of the world, his mind raced with Izuku's harsh words.

As his energy failed, the voices in his head seemed to quiet for the time being. He came to a stop and opened his eyes. It was a miracle he hadn't accidentally run out into the street. Ichiro collapsed onto the ground, hyperventilating. Mom was wrong. I am a failure. I didn't learn anything. A sudden wave of exhaustion washed over him. With only his thoughts to torment him, he collapsed onto the ground, closed his eyes and drifted away.

…

Katsuki Bakugo was having an unusually good morning. He'd woken up bright and early, ready to go out on his usual run. His mom was acting less and less bitchy lately, which he was thankful for. Katsuki had gotten a personal trainer after the incident with the sludge villain and so far, he was improving in his training far faster than ever before. His trainer had put him on a new diet, and given him various exercise programs to do every day when he wasn't in the gym.

It wasn't just that Katsuki looked physically better than he had a few months ago, he felt it. If he kept this up, he'd be in perfect shape just in time for UA High School's entrance exams in March. After a quick breakfast, he put his headphones in and started out into the street. For the first time in months Katsuki didn't feel any lasting pains or shortness of breath. He could just be free to go out and run.

His run took him around the city and through the park as the sun began to break the horizon. The air was crisp this morning and the clouds played with the early morning light. Eventually he came all the way back around towards Tatooine market. He let a smile cross his face as he ran through the various stalls. He came up towards the center of the market place towards the giant All Might statue. All Might had his fists extended towards the sky in a triumphant position. Katsuki, energized and gay, jumped up through the crowd and extended his hands to touch All Might's bronze torso.

"YES!" He shouted, causing various bystanders to turn towards him. "YES YES YES YES!" Katsuki felt a giddy feeling well up inside of him. This place had once been the sight of his greatest failure, and now it was his greatest triumph. He'd completed the run in exactly 1 hour 15 minutes and 27 seconds. That was the fastest time he'd ever gotten here, and it was also the highest he'd ever jumped to touch the All Might statue.

"TAKE THAT YOU GREEN NERD!" He shouted happily. Katsuki started his walk home laughing gaily to himself. The clouds up above had almost completely vanished and the streets seemed more alive, filled with cheers and laughter. It seemed as if nature itself was celebrating his victory. I'm gonna be a hero, and there's nothing anyone can do to stop me! He'd have to pay a visit to his trainer, Aya, later and give her an update. Katsuki could figure that all out later though, for now, he'd relish in his accomplishments a while longer.

He meandered to a familiar place, a nice coffee kiosk. In the recent months he'd grown a strong addiction to the stuff. He didn't really question why he liked it, his tastes had just changed out of nowhere. Plus, it was also a great way to start his day with energy.

The coffee shack wasn't a sitdown place, but rather a simple kiosk. There weren't many customer here this morning, most were over at Jusko's, the place on the other side of the street. Katsuki had stopped at Jusko's before, but this place had better quality coffee, and it was cheaper. Thankfully, it didn't take them too long to get a coffee for him. He was about to take his first sip, when suddenly, a blurr pushed its way past him. The blurr shoved him out of their way, causing him to spill the hot drink all over himself.

"Hey what the hell…" He looked up to see who shoved him. The figure looked like a small boy with green hair. Whoever it was, he was running away fast. Katsuki felt a small inkling of anger stirring, piercing his good mood, his entire cup of coffee spilled onto the sidewalk. "Get back here you little brat!"

He followed the brat for a short time, turning into a small alleyway. Katsuki could see that the kid was standing in the alleyway by the dumpsters, fire sputtering from his eyes and nose. Katsuki looked upon the scene in fascination. He recognized the boy almost instantly, there was no mistaking the green hair and flames, it was Ichiro Midoriya. Ichiro was slumped over in the middle of the alleyway covering his ears with his hands. His entire body was violently shaking and Katsuki could hear a faint whimper. Then, Ichiro fell to the floor and went completely limp.

A cold feeling edged its way down Katsuki's spine, what should he do? At first, he thought to ignore the fact that this encounter had ever happened and just go back to his normal life. However, something didn't seem right about that. Was that what a wannabe hero would've done?

He quickly snapped out of his thoughts when a new sound echoed through the alleyway. He looked up to see a group of three hooded figures approaching Ichiro with their backs turned to Katsuki. One of them had three red horns propping out from her head. Another had a bit of a round shape with a red hoodie and some basic jeans that looked too small for him. The third figure was pretty gaunt. He sprouted a long monkey tail from his behind. All three of them had black gloves on and arms stretched out like some comic book villains. How had he missed them earlier? They clearly didn't know that he was there. Was his spacial awareness really that subpar? Or were they just really good at hiding?

Fear filled Katsuki as he watched the three newcomers bring out a rope and a bag. Clearly these were villains, and Katsuki sensed what they were about to do. An image flashed through his mind of the day after Ichiro had stolen his quirk. He felt the rage from that day returning. He'd vowed to kill the damn tiny nerd. Yet, Katsuki still found himself rushing forwards towards the group of extras. What the hell am I doing? I don't care about this piece of shit. Katsuki easily landed a surprise punch into the back of the fat one with the bag. The group turned towards him in surprise.

"Hey extras, killing that little shit is my job, not yours."

…

A few hour later

Izuku found himself trudging home that evening after an extremely exhausting day. Today was a Saturday, so he'd been able to spend most of his time at the beach. As he walked through the darkening streets, his mind went back to the events of the morning. Maybe he'd said a few unnecessarily harsh things. Still, he couldn't bring himself to forgive Ichiro, not yet at least.

Izuku sighed as he approached their small gray apartment complex. By this time most of the lights had turned on, and most of the apartment windows were illuminated. Izuku walked up the stairs towards his door and entered the mudroom.

"I'm home," he called. He was greeted by the sweet smell of his mother's cooking. Oh how he loved to smell her Katsudon after a long day of moving trash.

"Welcome back honey!" His mom called out from her post by the oven. "I hope you're hungry."

"Extremely" Izuku answered as he finished removing his shoes as he went to wash his hands and entered the kitchen. Sitting on the table, his mom had placed three plates of chicken katsudon. The fourth seat at the table was empty of all food, as per usual.

"Have you seen Ichiro at all today?" She asked. Izuku huffed at the question.
"Yeah," he said, "I saw him this morning." Izuku looked towards the floor as his mother emerged from the kitchen carrying three glasses of water. She frowned upon hearing his tone.

"Do you know when he's coming home?" She asked. Izuku stuttered at the question, confusion racing across his mind. He looked up towards his mother as she sat down. "I mean, it's getting pretty late."

"He… hasn't come home?" Izuku asked. His mother looked around the small apartment.

"No, unless he's hiding from me for some reason, you haven't seen him all day?" She said, her expression darkening a little. Both Midoriya's looked at the clock on the wall. 8:30 pm. Izuku felt a sense of dread creep into his mind. His mother seemed to be reacting the same way. Izuku felt a small tear start to streak down his face. "D… did something happen this morning?" Inco asked. Izuku felt his dread grow tenfold. No way he… no, that couldn't possibly be the case. Izuku shook himself, then took a deep breath. "Izuku don't play with me," His mother said, suddenly much more seriously. "Where is Ichiro?"

Izuku looked up in shame, "I don't know," he said in a croaky voice.

A.N.

Uh oh... what just happened to Ichiro? Hopefully Bakugo can do something ;). My friend gave me this amazing analogy for Bakugo as a very angry blade of grass and I absolutely love that idea. Among heroes and villains, Bakugo is grass! Anyway, that's all I've got for today. I hope you have a great day. Love ya'll.

-Nick