A fourteen year old Katsuki Bakugou scowled at the ground from where he sat outside of the principle's office at Aldera Middle School. A bruised eye squinted in its socket while gauzes covered his arms and cheek. Dry blood dribbled from his nose. He knew the principle was going to suspend him. He could hear his mother's raised voice from the other side of the wall and it was not long before he heard the door slam closed. His mother was seething with anger, unsurprisingly, most likely aimed at the principle. She took her son by the wrist and began almost dragging him down the hallway.

"Katsuki, I get that your... condition makes you upset but you need to stop picking fights that you can't win!" Mitsuki Bakugou had said those words many a times since Katsuki's diagnosis ten years ago, not that it was advice that ever stuck with the rowdy teen.

"Forget upset! It pisses me off! Why do those stupid extras have quirks when I don't?!" Katsuki ground his teeth and growled like an aggressive dog. "And the stupid nerd keeps sticking his nose in where it doesn't belong!"

"You're lucky that Izuku stepped in when he did! You could have been seriously hurt! Again!" Mitsuki scolded. "The world is not a kind place, Katsuki, especially to not to the quirkless."

"Don't call me that, hag!" Bakugou spat.

Mitsuki couldn't bring self to tell Katsuki off for that, instead placing her arm loosely around her son's shoulders and pulled him closer. "This 'hag' is just worried about you, kiddo."

"Tch... I don't need you to worry about me." Katsuki would never admit that he appreciated all that his mother did for him but he knew that she knew he did.

-
A few days later, despite his mother's demands for him to stay at home during his suspension, Katsuki found himself walking past Takoba Municipal Beach. Due to the stench created by the washed up trash, locals avoided the area, which Katsuki found convenient. He preferred it that way. No annoying extras to interfere or get in his way, and he found that listening to the ocean crash over the waste was a nice break from all the harrasment. Katsuki kicked a rusted can and watched as it clattered around the path.

"Hey, Kacchan!" Midoriya's cheery voice was the last thing Katsuki wanted to hear. "I dropped by your place but your mom told me you had gone out. I figured you'd be here."

"What do you want, Fire Hazard?" Katsuki frowned harder, turning to face Midoriya. Midoriya's quirk was called 'Fire Lung' and allowed him to breath fire similar to how his father could but he had always struggled to control it - it could be set off with something as simple as a cough or sneeze. He didn't practice much either, and Katsuki knew it was because the idiot felt bad for him, which is what had earned Midoriya the nickname 'Fire Hazard'.

"The teachers wanted me to give you the homework." Midoriya unintentally let out a small sniff as a cloud of smoke escaped his twitching nostril.

"Why didn't you just leave it at mine? That way I wouldn't have to see your stupid freckled face." Katsuki crossed his arms.

"I just wanted to check on you! That black eye of yours looked nasty."

"Piss off, Deku!" The angry teen barged past Midoriya's shoulder, which the green haired boy appeared oblivious to.

"But Kac-" Midoriya pressed only for Katsuki to cut across him.
"Quit patronising me, idiot!"

"I'm not trying to-"

"I don't need your shitty pity! I'm not some helpless fucking charity case! I didn't need you to help and I still don't!" Katsuki shoved Midoriya who did nothing to stop him as he out another tiny smoke cloud from his mouth. He gave a light cough as Katsuki gripped him by the front of his uniform. Midoriya smiled brightly as though Katsuki wasn't glaring daggers into his skull.

"Maybe you think you didn't but to me you looked like you needed saving, Kacchan, and I couldn't not step in." Midoriya said softly.

"I didn't need you to! I could have handled it myself!" Katsuki didn't even spare Midoriya a second glance as he stomped away.

"I'm sorry. I know you'd rather things be different."