Day of the outbreak.
Katsuki let out a frustrated sigh.
He looked back at the sidewalk he just left. Those two guys he was spending his time after school were getting rather annoying. They were part of that constant noise around him, praising him for his strength, both physical and mental, the noise that he was surrounded by since his childhood.
People like that were a constant in his life, and he got used to it. However, spending time with them now is counterproductive. He wanted to become a number hero. The pinnacle. The alpha. Best of the best. Strength and willpower weren't the only things that were needed, that Katsuki knew.
First of all, you need luck to be born with a strong quirk. That is the starting point, without which you can't do much.
Willpower. Drive. Without willpower, you are a drag that pulls everyone behind.
Their combination gives you strength – you have a quirk that you can train, and you have a willpower to do it. Strong quirk without willpower will leave you in dust behind everyone, and the same goes with willpower without strong quirk.
Then comes the competitiveness. Partly, it is part of the willpower, but it focuses on the other aspects. You must be willing to be better than others, prove everyone how more effective, stronger, faster you are than others. It creates the rivalry between you and everyone else, forcing you to constantly become better with every new rival you have. Like a ladder, you climb higher and higher, but with each step requiring more strength. It is essential, since the hero rating is one, big, never ending competition.
You need to be talented as well. To become the best of the best, you need to excel in everything, and a talented person will be surpassing most in the field that person is tuned to. With that, Katsuki didn't have much problem.
However, there is a thing a lot of talented people tend to overlook. You need to be dedicated, and continue to work hard.
He wanted to be the best of the best. He will become the best of the best. Number one hero – just like All Might. And to do that, he needed to be in the best hero school, best in studies and in best shape – at the same time.
And to become one, Katsuki had to work hard. He trained harder than everyone else, studied harder than everyone else, and was preparing to storm the hero association to become the best hero.
Turning away from the sidewalk, he started going home. The bright light was slightly blinding, but it was a welcome change to grey winter days.
Spending time with those two guys, as he previously noted, was counter-productive. It was the final year of the middle school. To even attempt entering UA, he needed to be in better shape, and study even harder. Those worthless outings with people without willpower, without competitiveness, without any real desire to become a hero were not just useless, but harmful to his progress. They will drag him down. They were content with being his sidekicks in their plans for future. It was enough for Katsuki to see that they weren't worth his time – the start of the last year showed how much honesty they had in their words.
It seemed that they at least realized their weaknesses, and didn't even talk about trying to get into UA…
Contrary to one green-haired idiot. Izuku Midoriya.
No.
Deku. He was Deku for a reason.
That idiot ignored everything what is needed to become a hero. He lacked competitiveness, willpower, strength.
He didn't train his body. Katsuki wouldn't be surprised even if a junior school kid would beat him senseless. It wasn't just the lack of quirk, but lack of willpower to train what little he had.
He didn't try hard to be the best even in studies, the only thing he could actually excel in.
And, obviously, the boy wasn't exactly sharp when it comes to thinking about what really matters. Stuck with a thinking of a four-year old, Deku just couldn't accept reality throughout the years. It seemed, that he was considering a work of a hero to be a child's play. He thinks that he can become a hero without drive, without strength, without even training, just like that! Because he always wanted to!
How low did he set the fucking bar? Here he was, Bakugou Katsuki, trying his hardest to be the best of the best, and Deku thinks that he can achieve just as much without really trying?
Is that a fucking joke?
"Go take a swan dive off the roof!"
Katsuki wasn't ashamed of his words. However you look at it, Deku is doing something similar anyway - digging himself an early grave. Instead of moving on, the idiot continues to worry auntie Inko, and for stupid reasons.
So, what was so different in what he suggested, and in what Deku was going to do? The result is the same.
And his desire to enter UA was like a finishing spit on Bakugou's face. Just how little he thinks of heroes, and the best hero school? Is he really thinking that they will accept a kid whose trait was…a desire to become a hero? Literally the only thing that united everyone who tries to enter the hero school?
A loud buzzing noise interrupted Katsuki's train of frustrating questions, and he raised his head to see the source of it.
Two helicopters quickly flew over rooftops, and the buzzing sound was gradually becoming much quieter, but not disappearing completely, staying as another source of noise that followed Katsuki. However, one thing in particular piqued his interest.
'Those aren't media ones' He noted with a frown, before continuing on his way home, without thinking about the green haired bastard further even once. He wasn't worth it.
"I'm home" Katsuki said with slight frustration, finally realizing how much time was wasted.
"You are quite late today" He heard his mother's voice from the living room.
He snorted, walking through the corridor.
"Yea, thanks for reminding me" He said in the same tone, reaching the room. Mitsuki was standing in the middle of the room, with her hands crossed and with the remote firmly in her grasp. She didn't turn when Katsuki came, keeping her narrowed eyes on the screen.
She looked nervous.
Instead of asking her, he dropped the bag at the entrance and approached her with slight interest.
"-And we can see another HPSC vehicle getting to the area."
The building behind the reporter was covered in ice, and, despite the amount of enforcers with different types of weaponry, there was no gunshots.
The situation by itself wasn't exactly strange. However you look at it, this is an aftermath of a villain attack. Mundane stuff. Though, he could see helicopters hovering over the place – the ones he saw earlier.
Why was his mother so worried, then?
"What the fuck-"
"Language"
"-happened?"
Mitsuki glanced at him, and then back at the screen.
"Not sure. It was just live coverage of a villain attack. A hero named Iceborn or something went to deal with the situation. HPSC covered him. There was a lot of fire and stuff, but…"
Katsuki mentally noted that his future hero name should be much brighter, so he will be remembered.
"Well? But what?"
Mitsuki fidgeted slightly, and if Katsuki didn't know his mother this good, he wouldn't even notice it.
"He, kind of, attacked the HPSC that came with him. Right now they surrounded the buildings, and waiting for a hero that can handle him. It's just…so strange. Why would he attack HPSC all of a sudden?"
Katsuki raised his eyebrow. He wasn't sure how to even respond to it.
"And the first fu…villain?"
"Hell if I know" she honestly replied.
The program switched back to the newscaster. He was slightly sweating, and stuttering sometimes.
"W-we continue to remind the citizens t-to be careful." He cleared his throat "The doctors i-in the local Musutafu hospital encountered a new type of flu. We will continue giving you the latest news o-on the subject. Ministry of Health warns us to k-keep your hands clean, and keep the distance. Once we get more information, we will give it to you. It was Takemura from MCN"
Mitsuki sighed.
"I have a bad feeling about this"
Katsuki only shrugged. They said it was just a flu, so there shouldn't be much of problems.
"Whatever. I'll go to my room." He said, about to disappear behind the corner.
"You won't eat?"
Katsuki looked back at her.
"Later. I need to make up for the time I've on useless shit today"
Two hours later
*Ding*
A notification on his prone interrupted his concentration the task.
He ignored it, continuing.
*Ding*
Then another one.
*Ding*
Then third one.
'What now, for fuck's sake' he mentally grumbled, about to turn off the notifications.
'Yo, check this out. Happening right now'
It was a message from one of those annoying fanboys. Katsuki clicked his teeth, and unblocked his phone. The message contained a video.
'I swear to god, if that is a fucking meme I will…'
He didn't finish his train of thoughts as he saw the content.
It was a footage of rather poor quality. Machines were installing large barricades with Biohazard signs on them, halting the movement on the roads.
"What the?.."
*Ding.*
*Ding.*
The same guy sent him a few posts with latest online news.
Cementos and his sidekicks were noticed near the borders of the city. From the messages of the witnesses, they are making some sort of foundation with the military aid.
Confused, and with rather unpleasing feeling in his gut, he got to the next message.
The lessons in UA were stopped for unknown reason. From what we've managed to get, the students were instructed to leave and prepare to evacuate. UA's director Nezu was seen leaving the campus as well.
"What the hell is going on, man?" Asked the guy in the next message. Katsuki didn't respond immediately, thinking.
"Maybe something with that flu shit?"
He was about to type that, but he was interrupted when the guy sent him more posts.
Several outbreaks of unprecedented violence were noted in different parts of the Musutafu city.
There was a quickly edited video of different footages from Musutafu. It looked more like riots, with fire and people running around.
He couldn't help but feel alarm. Something was happening right now, something bad, and he couldn't properly understand it since everything was so vague.
Biohazard signs. Violence on the street. Some sort of foundation around the city.
Getting the phone into his pocket, he went downstairs. Mitsuki was particularly worried about it, so he should tell her more. Maybe she would know what's going on.
As he reached the leaving room, he noticed her standing in front of the TV with a slightly scared expression, while talking on the phone.
'We c-continue receiving messages from all over Musutafu about outbreaks of violence. Citizens a-are advised to stay out of the regions where the outbreaks are particularly strong."
Mitsuki wasn't listening to the TV, though. Her eyes were wide while she was staring at the floor, talking to her husband.
"Y-yeah…I-I get it. Y-yeah, we'll do it. The central road. Everything else is or getting blocked. I got it."
The call ended, and she looked at Katsuki. He was about to tell her about the messages from his classmate, but she didn't give him a moment.
"Pack your things"
"Listen, there is…What?"
Mitsuki narrowed her eyes.
"Pack your things." She repeated herself.
"What the fuck is-"
"Katsuki!" Mitsuki shouted, her voice breaking a bit. Noticing it as well, she cleared her throat, though the expression on her face didn't change even slightly. "I'll tell you on the road. Get only the most essential things. You have five minutes"
Katsuki, confused about it all, only felt the feeling in his gut becoming worse.
"What?...Why the-"
"Just go! Please!" Her voice didn't break this time, and the scared expression turned into an angry one. She started going to her room as well, making it as obvious as possible to Katsuki that there won't be any discussions at the moment.
Seeing the panic in her eyes made Katsuki move even faster, taking, as she said, the most essential things. Documents didn't take too much time, ID and the phone were in his pockets, and what little time he had he spend on stuffing his bag with what little clothes could fit in.
Five minutes later he was met with his mother, standing at the exit of their house.
"Ready?"
"As ready as I fucking get" Once again, she ignored the language as they both left the house, which unnerved Katsuki even more. "Are you going to tell me what's going on?"
They both entered the car. Mitsuki fastened her belt and looked straight into Katsuki's eyes.
"I don't know. I…I just don't know what's going on!" She released some of her frustration through anger – a train he shared with her. "Your father just called, and told me that one of the outbreaks happened close to his office. He… he told me so much I just couldn't comprehend it all. I…"
Thinking about it only returned panic into her eyes, but she quickly shook her head and started the engine of her car.
The outbreaks of violence. New decease. Rumors of higher-ups of the city leaving through aerial transport. Barricades that are being installed. Biohazard signs.
The conclusion was obvious.
"We need to fucking run from this city."
Because if they wouldn't…
Mitsuki shook her head again, and grabbed the wheel hard enough for her knuckles to turn white.
The engine roared, signaling the start of their attempt to escape Musutafu.
At the same time, the red parasite began to spread through the city.