I wish Bakugou had a more "Young Justice Superboy" sort of personality. Not my favorite character. But hopefully this changes him for me.

Anyways, here's your chapter. Here's the Discord: /cgFmXz3qJ5

Bakugou walked through the woods, kicking a rock down the road. He was annoyed with the world right now. The training was starting to wear on his nerves, he was tired of always feeling behind Deku in terms of power and he HATED the fact that that loud guy from Class 1-B thought his bullshit class could scare him. Please.

Bakugou passed by each scare with the same reaction- an extended middle finger, an indifferent stare, and the happy thought that this would all be over soon.

Why the hell do we have to test our bravery? Bakugou thought as he walked. We faced a bunch of villains with no mercy. We held back a Nomu- Hell, I faced All Might and won!

Bakugou patted himself on the back. "Hell yeah." It was weird- such an achievement should have given him a bigger smile. Why didn't he feel better about it?

Oh, right. The victory wasn't standing out in his mind- it was just Deku's disappointed face as he heard his stupid (and correct) rant. Everytime he tried to get away from him, it was Deku this! Deku that! Deku Deku Deku!

So what if someone from his childhood made it to UA. So what if they had powers. So WHAT if they were rubbing shoulders with All Might. He didn't care! He just wanted to know why the hell HE didn't even know about this hidden ability-!

Bakugou roared with rage, and punched a tree. He huffed and puffed, and wiped his face off.

These bursts of unexplained rage had been happening for a while. Everytime he thought about Deku and the past, it just filled him with an unbridled rage that made him want to rip something into shreds. What was so awful about that? He was always angry.

You'd think Bakugou's anger and constant adrenaline was his body's way of dealing with his quirk and keeping him alive. Because nitroglycerin can lower a person's heart rate dramatically, he needed to be…high energy. And that translated into anger. First and foremost, nitroglycerin does not lower the heart rate (it possibly could if you have issues of heart problems like heart attack or failure or taking other medications). Plus, his sweat was "nitroglycerin-like."

Also he'd die in his sleep if he really had nitroglycerin in his body. That's just science.

While Bakugou didn't realize it at the time, his rage and anger at the past wasn't because of Izuku.

Maybe it was because of himself.

Bakugou Katsuki believed in one thing- strength. Strength and growth come only through continuous effort and struggle.

For a boy who was born with a perfect quirk, there were no issues for him. But he felt like there should be.

Izuku and Bakugou were childhood friends. They grew up in the same neighborhood. The two met because their mothers knew each other- high school friends or something. Bakugou never cared to ask.

Bakugou and Izuku clicked for a while. Bakugou's loud and boisterous personality brought out Izuku's more adventurous side- while Inko wasn't too happy that Izuku and Bakugou would come back with cuts and bruises, it was better than them just sitting around all day. Boys will be boys, the old saying went. The two would often spend most of their elementary school days playing at a creek nearby, or having sleepovers at any given chance.

They had a friend group too, and Bakugou was the boy commander. The biggest troublemaker that parents would talk about. The invincible rogue who could do anything if he just did it.

It was also Bakugou who coined the name Deku. One day, while they were playing ball, Bakugou just said it as a joke.

"Y'know, I realized something." Bakugou said, as he tossed the ball over to Izuku. "About your name."

"Huh?" Izuku asked, as he caught it. "What's wrong with it?"

"Well, the kanji! It can be read as Deku." Bakugou said.

"Really? What's that mean?" Izuku asked.

"I dunno. Sounds like an acorn or something. Maybe your quirk has to do with squirrels!" Bakugou joked.

Izuku frowned. "Aw, come on...that'd be a lame power."

"Yeah- I bet you couldn't do anything with it. Maybe that's what Deku means! Someone who can't do anything!" Bakugou laughed.

"Heyyyyyy." Izuku frowned. "That's a lame nickname."

"But it's kinda true! I'm better than at anything." Bakugou said pointedly.

Izuku threw the ball back. "Y-yeah, I guess."

Izuku hadn't realized it, but Bakugou pretty much steamrolled his way into being his friend. The boy was aggressive, and not doing what Kacchan wanted was...well, rude. He hated saying no to someone that sorta maybe liked him. But, at least they got along.

Until the quirk came around.

Bakugou remembered showing off his explosion quirk to his preschool friends. They were all so enamored and awestruck at the sight!

"Wooooah." One of Bakugou's friends said. "My wings are like NOTHING compared to your power."

"Yeah! And here I thought my finger stretching was gonna top the class." Another one said.

This was the start of Bakugou's growing ego. Depending on the circumstances, praise can be detrimental to a child's self-esteem or feed the development of narcissism. So, the praise fueled Bakugou's narcissism...while damaging Izuku's own self-esteem.

Izuku learned a lesson at only four years of age. Not everyone is born equal.

He didn't have a quirk.

The realization hurt the boy- his dreams of being a hero were ruined by this realization. And Bakugou couldn't care less.

When Deku found out he wasn't going to have a quirk, a lot of kids were sympathetic. The boy was quiet and looked miserable. Everyone tried to help him break out of his terrible mood.

Except Bakugou.

Quirks were everything to young Bakugou- depending on the power, they could either be 'cool', 'ok' or 'lame'. If you had wings, you were 'cool'. The ability to turn off gravity? 'Ok'. No quirk at all? Lame.

And for a while, it was like this. Bakugou was praised, and Izuku suffered.

Bakugou had everything- a stellar personality, a fiery drive to keep moving on in the face of danger and intellect many would overlook. He was a shoe-in for UA. No one could even compete with him.

At least, he thought he was. Middle school changed that.

It was just another day in class, and their teacher was lecturing them about their futures. He handed them some future job forms and asked the children to fill them out.

"Hm." His homeroom teacher said. "You want to enroll at UA? That's a bit extreme, Katsuki. The cutoff score this year was 79."

A few of his classmates muttered, looking at each other in confusion. Going for UA was an arduous task- many upperclassmen failed at their shot, and were doomed to mediocrity.

The young Bakugou smirked. "Enough chattering, extras." Bakugou spat venomous tongue in full force. "I aced the mock exams. I'm a genius with my quirk, and I'm the only one here with the guts for UA."

"Bold words, bro." One of his 'friends' said. Bakugou fed off of praises like a tick on the back of a dog. It was his lifeblood, this unwavering attention on him. Nobody could amount to him.

"Well, I won't try to stop you. You don't really have any competition." His teacher said, flipping over to the next student. His eyebrows went up. "...Beyond Midoriya, of course."

Bakugou blinked. The class looked at Midoriya, who was writing stuff down in his notebook. Before his debut at UA, Midoryia was just a scrawny, nerdy kid with not much of a friend group.

"Seriously, dude? You don't even have a quirk." A kid with a long neck said. "Good grades aren't gonna be enough to get into the hero program."

"Isn't it crazy dangerous to fight without a quirk?" A girl asked. "You're not like one of those hunters or whatever."

Midoryia snapped back to reality. "T-that's not exactly true. If I don't get into the hero course, UA has plenty of other accommodations. Business course seems promis-" Izuku said. Bakugou slammed his hand on his desk to shut him up.

"Forget the other crappy quirks here. You're totally quirkless, you dumbass. You think you can rub shoulders with me?" Bakugou snapped.

"Bakugou. Sit down!" The teacher huffed. He wasn't paid enough to deal with this kid.

"I-I wasn't ever saying I could compete with you, Kacchan! It's just been my dream since I was little, and, well...There's no harm in trying." Izuku explained.

"Try what?! The entrance exam!? You're taking the exam just to TRY?" Bakugou laughed.

"Lay off, Bakugou." Someone said. "Even if he doesn't make it in, it'll be nice to say he tried."

"And he'll be a washed up has been a few days later. Whatever." Bakugou scoffed.

From age 5 to 14, Bakugou Katsuki had no one to call him 'equal'. And to him, that was like living like a king. Having people praise your power instilled a superior personality within the young boy, which got worse as time went on. UA was actually the first time no one really praised him- the students weren't ones to put up with an infuriating personality like Bakugou's.

Bakugou knew Izuku was beneath him. He gave him the nickname Deku, after all. He declared the moniker 'someone who was useless at everything'. But in spite of everything, Bakugou was...worried. Worried that one day, useless little Deku would somehow usurp him. He didn't know how, and it was useless to think like that. But in terms of intelligence, Izuku exceeded him.

A lot.

Bakugou once heard of a superhero from his grandpa, told to him by his grandpa. This superhero wasn't real- he was a fictional one, one that was really popular before quirks popped up. The hero was a multi-millionaire industrialist whose parents were murdered when he was a child and who now secretly uses his vast fortune to fight crime as the masked crime fighter. The gimmick? He had no powers. Just human strength, wits and witty one liners.

Izuku ticked off a few boxes, and he probably was clever enough to make a utility belt. Izuku's family was pretty middle class, so no money…but his dad had connections to some pros, right? He designed their costumes. Maybe…

No.

No, that'd be stupid.

While an impossibility, Bakugou still saw him as competition to number one. All their other friends had dropped out of the race long ago…but Bakugou wanted a clear path.

So, since middle school started, Bakugou was trying to break his spirit. Today was the day that was sure to happen. When Izuku was packing up his bookbag, Bakugou snagged his latest Hero Analysis notebook.

"We're not done here, Deku." Bakugou sneered.

One of his friends looked at the notebook. "For my future? Lame." He scoffed, rubbing his chin.

"C-come on! Give it back!" Deku insisted.

"Take it back with your quirk, then." Bakugou smirked. Izuku looked away, and Bakugou smirked. He pressed the journal between his hands, and activated his quirk. A flash of light badly burnt the covers of the book.

Izuku looked crushed when he saw this. Bakugou rubbed salt in the wounds by tossing it out the window absentmindedly. "The best heroes showed signs of greatness from the get go. I'll be the first and only hero from this crappy public middle school, and the first to win the honor of becoming a student at UA."

Bakugou stomped over to Izuku, and slammed his hand on his shoulder. "In other words...give up. Don't you fucking DARE get into UA." Izuku was shuddering when he heard those words. The classroom was quiet, and all eyes were on Bakugou. Some were hoping secretly that this was the day Izuku would snap.

But, alas...no.

Bakugou scoffed. "So lame. Even as a third year student, he still can't face reality." Bakugou grabbed his bag, and smirked. "You wanna be a hero so bad? Jump off a roof. Maybe you'll be lucky to get a quirk in your next life."

The room lost all sense of life when Bakugou said that. He left with his friends, lagging behind him. Izuku was staring at Bakugou's back, lost for words.

"Hey, Midoriya. A-are you okay?" One of his classmates asked.

Nothing. Midoryia just grabbed his bag, and walked out of the room. He looked like he was going to explode into tears. Sadly, this was a normal day in the life of Midoryia at the time.

...but today was the last day for that sort of treatment from Bakugou.

"I say this as a friend, Katsuki. You went over the line with that comment." One of Bakugou's 'extras' said. They weren't so much as friends as they were 'followers' that hoped to one day leech off of Bakugou's future career as the number one hero.

"Yeah. I know you two drifted apart, but you shouldn't tell him to kill himself." Another said.

"It's his fault for messing with me." Bakugou scoffed.

"But he wasn't?" The first friend said.

"Seeing him so full of himself because of a stupid dream like that just pisses me off." Bakugou frowned. "I'm the only person who should be number one!"

The two friends shared a look, and sighed. "...alright, dude." They said, before something started to slither up behind him. Bakugou never noticed it...and that would haunt him. The two friend's eyes widened in shock, as Bakugou gave them a weird look.

"What? What's with that-"

And then Bakugou was 'waterboarded'. Liquid filled his mouth and nose and it worked its way to his ears pretty quickly. Bakugou was overwhelmed by the sensation, and struggled within the grasp of his captor. The other two ran off, screaming. Even if they could help Bakugou, they had no choice. Bakugou's quirk was...too much.

Bakugou called the situation 'drowning without being able to drown'. The villain thought of everything to make it as painful and close to death as possible while still being able to revive the boy so they could do it again and again and again. In the brief periods between when the liquid wasn't invading his body, Bakugou could kind of suck in air, but he just ended up inhaling some liquid too.

For the first time in his life, Bakugou Katsuki...was afraid. And no one could save him. The way the villain manipulated his body to act as a shield was a part of his getaway act. His quirk was used to harm, not save. Multiple fires were started, all because of HIS quirk.

He wanted proof that no one could beat him.

But not like this.

A crowd had formed when the heroes had the sludge villain cornered. All Bakugou would think was 'I'm going to die here'. There was going to be no saving grace. All Might wasn't going to drop out of the air and save him.

...and then his hero showed up.

Midoryia shoved his way through the crowd, driven by pure instinct. He tossed his school bag at the villain, in an effort to hurt him. Pencils and books went flying at the sludge villain, stunning him for a moment.

He didn't know why he was really running to save someone who had told him to kill himself, but regardless of who Bakugou was...

"KACCHAN!" Deku yelled, trying to pull through the sludge villain. Bakugou was too weak to yell at him...but did so anyway.

"YOU!? WHY?" Bakugou yelled.

"You...looked like you needed saving." Izuku said- even in spite of the danger, Bakugou noted that Izuku was smiling.

Just like All Might.

The rest of the day was a blur.

After Bakugou was discharged from the hospital, the scenes from the attack replayed in his head over and over again. It was his naivety and carelessness at the moment that led to that horrific event. That nearly led to his death. Any normal person would just say 'oh, God', seek help and move on.

Not Bakugou.

Bakugou blamed himself. Because he was weak.

"You looked like you needed saving!" Izuku said those words to him. He would never be able to do that, especially when put through the torture Izuku had endured. Izuku had a power...that he didn't.

He always lost to him. In school. When playing or whatever else. But yet, Izuku was on track to becoming a hero. That ate at Bakugou. Why was he so focused on some loser with no quirk doing better than him?

The more and more he played back that day in his head, his mind locked onto one thing. Izuku's most defining quality.

The ability to act with his heart, not just his head. What power is there in a heart? The power of heart would not stop a missile from hitting a building, nor would it end a fight with a villain. With the way those heroes struggled to save him, he convinced himself that the only person he could truly trust was himself.

Bakugou threw himself into training a few weeks later. Bench Press. Rows. Incline Dumbbell Press. Lat Pull-Downs. Lateral Raises. Triceps Pushdowns. Dumbbell Curls. Romanian Deadlifts. Leg Press. Seated Leg Curls. Standing Calf Raises. Quirk training. Quirk powering. Quirk mastery.

Those were just some of the few methods Bakugou used to make sure his body could handle his quirk at full power. Nothing could stop him. When February 26th rolled around, he paid no attention to anyone around him. He destroyed the stupid robots at UA's test and aced the written exam in under 20 minutes.

And guess what?

He got first place in both, with 77 villain points and zero rescue points. But that didn't matter to him. Because his eyes were focused on the 7th place.

With zero villain points and 60 rescue points, Izuku Midoryia was going to UA.

The sight filled Bakugou with an indescribable rage.

The celebration at school was an understatement. Everyone was shocked that Izuku had gotten in, and were overjoyed about it.

"I can't believe I had my doubts, Midoriya." Someone said. "I dunno how you did it, but…congrats!"

"Don't forget about us when you get in the big leagues!" A girl joked.

Deku was showered with so much praise, he didn't know what to do. Bakugou was usually accustomed to this praise. No one had really congratulated him outside of their teacher. "Guys, I got in because of some hero points- I didn't really fight any villains."

"Well, you did it all without a quirk! That's still impressive." The first someone said.

"Well…"

Bakugou didn't expect a 'well'. He turned around to see Midoryia looking anxious.

"Nevermind. I'm just happy I got in. I…really earned my place." Izuku said.

"Dude. How about some karaoke to celebrate?" Someone grinned.

"I don't like how you try to rope karaoke into everything." Another girl scoffed.

"It's an important part of our culture!" He insisted.

As the conversations went on, Bakugou was seething about that 'earned my power' comment. What was Izuku going to say? How did that loser get in? Was he hiding some shit?

It was a few weeks later when he saw Izuku's power in action. Launching a ball into the stratosphere was incredible to everyone else, but Bakugou saw red. It was only a small fraction of it. He concentrated this amazing power into his finger tip, and sent the ball flying.

"705.3 meters." Aizawa said, raising an eyebrow. "Not bad."

Izuku clutched injured finger and began breathing carefully. "Y-yeah. Thank you."

"Wow, that's like a hero-like record if I ever saw one." Uraraka noted.

"Look at his finger, though..." Iida said, adjusting his glasses. "It looks to be swollen. Such a strange and powerful quirk-!"

Bakugou was flabbergasted. It was impossible, but quirks usually never manifested past the age of four.

"I earned this." Those words repeated in Izuku's head. In anger, Bakugou sent himself flying at Deku, ready to fight.

"WHAT THE HELL!?" He yelled. "EXPLAIN YOURSELF, DEKU-"

Bakugou was suddenly wrapped in Aizawa's bandages. He struggled to get free, and struggled to use his quirk.

"Don't have a temper tantrum because someone beat your score." Aizawa frowned, tightening his bandages around him. Bakugou growled as he 'calmed' down, as Aizawa let him go.

"Jeez." Kirishima muttered. "The personality on this guy. Am I right, guy?"

Kaminari smirked. "Yeah- totally shit."

The two stared at each other.

"I'm Kirishima, by the way-"

"Denki Kaminari."

Bakugou glared daggers at Izuku, who was walking over to Uraraka and Iida. He was still clutching his finger in pain.

He wasn't supposed to be more than...a pebble in my path. Bakugou thought.

It was a few days later when Bakugou saw it at full power. It was indoor anti-personnel battle training. Villain battles, especially the most heinous kind, are statistically more likely to appear indoors. All Might had split the kids into villains and heroes, two each.

Bakugou had been paired up with Iida, who he simply knew as the 'annoying specs kid'. The two were in their hideout, and Bakugou was pacing around.

Iida felt the giant paper mache bomb they were supposed to guard. "Training or not, assuming the role of a villain pains me." Iida sighed. "We just have to guard this? Doesn't seem so bad."

Bakugou looked at Iida. "Hey. You saw his quirk first hand. What's it like?"

Iida paused. "It was monstrous, but it put him at great risk. I'll ask you not to rush the two...especially Midoryia. You seem to have issues with him."

"Whatever." Bakugou scoffed. Of course, he didn't listen. Was he punking me this entire time? He thought. That damned nerd...

But maybe there was a reason to hide this power.

They fought for the first time- hero to hero. Izuku knew all of Bakugou's moves. Every insult he'd call him. He knew everything.

Bakugou didn't know how truly strong Izuku was.

The holes cut through the ceiling, straight to the roof. Bakugou could see the open skies. What was once a decent looking building had been utterly wrecked by Izuku and Bakugou's battle.

And shockingly, Izuku had done more of the damage.

Izuku was clutching his bloodied arm, breathing heavily. The injured Bakugou was once again shocked.

"I didn't want to use it," Izuku coughed. "Because I can't really use it just well...the blowback messes me up..."

Bakugou watched Izuku slowly fall to the ground. "It's...all that I could think of."

That was the first time Bakugou ever lost. Izuku read the boy like a book. But not just that. It was a calculation to win the match. In other words, even in a full on fight...Bakugou totally lost to Deku.

The rest of the day was a blur. It was like the sludge villain all over again. All that training he did was useless, in the face of whatever Izuku's overwhelming power was. His explosion paled in comparison to Izuku's damned quirk.

Which he earned.

But, even though Izuku won, he didn't come out unscathed. Those broken, bloodied arms and his mental state- he let his emotions run wild during that fight. All that repressed anger made him rush in without thinking of the consequences.

Bakugou was different. His ideal battle was coming out totally unscathed and uninjured, like a real hero. A real hero should never show any weakness, not even for a second.

Bakugou made up his mind that day.

He wanted to be a force that never lost.