4 Years Later

Akane

I didn't have nearly enough energy for this today…

Even from across the school yard, Bakugo's voice cut through the air and his familiar insults grated on my already stretched nerves.

"You think you're going to be a hero? Get real, you're just a quirkless loser. The only person in this school who's getting into UA is me and don't you forget it!"

Wasn't dealing with one abuser enough?

Shaking aside the frothing frustration bubbling through my veins and the lingering headache Mom's quirk left behind, I marched forward to where Katsuki had Izumi cornered.

She had her hands up in surrender, an old pain darkening her features. Once I could hear the rest of what he was saying, I understood why and cold anger followed shortly behind.

"Maybe if your father had stuck around, you'd have gotten some quirk. Or maybe he was the one you got your uselessness from."

One of his friends peered and pointed at Izumi. "Maybe being trash is hereditary!"

Izumi tensed, a war playing behind her eyes. Katsuki must have noticed the new fight in her, because he activated his quirk and shoved his hand into her face.

"What, you wanna go, Deku?!"

She flinched back, memories of the last burn he'd left on her rising to the surface. When he smirked in sick triumph, looking oh so similar to Mom, I couldn't stay out of it anymore.

I'd pay for this later, but damn it would be worth it.

My quirk lurched to the surface, wrapping around Katsuki in a tight hold as the explosions in his palm fizzled out.

His smile disappeared in a heartbeat and he spun to face me, teeth bared in a snarl as fear twinged his tone.

"Quit that, you fucking thief! I'll tell the teachers if you don't!"

I fisted a hand in his shirt and forcibly ripped him away from Izumi. Throwing him a few paces back, I focused on keeping his quirk subdued while glaring at the rest of his buddies. They flinched back, a matching wariness painting each of their faces. It didn't take a genius to figure out why they stared like that. They thought I'd take their quirks next.

Jokes on them, I could only take one at a time…and only once a day. They didn't know that though and I was more than content to keep it that way.

Raising a brow, I shifted as if to move for them and waited. After a nervous glance Katsuki's way, they turned around and ran, as I expected.

He sneered at their backs, "You're all just fucking extras, I don't need you anyway!"

Good, this would be an easy fight now. Using his distraction, I slid between him and Izumi. When he turned around again and noticed that, he hissed.

"Why do you bother protecting her, she's just a quirkless loser?!" Even without seeing her, I could all but hear her flinch and every instinct burned to beat him into the dust for it.

But I was better than that, supposedly, and more importantly if I wanted to be a hero with Izumi, I needed to keep a somewhat decent reputation.

Biting back the urge to fight, I raised a brow and scoffed, "The same could be said of you right now. Are you sure you want to insult quirkless people while you are one?"

His face turned murderous and he lunged, his fingers curving as if he wanted to wrap them around my neck.

"Don't you dare call me that, not when you're the one who stole my quirk!"

I braced, ready to throw him back again before he could get to Izumi or me, but just as his fingers got within grabbing distance, a voice pulled him up short.

"Both of you, stop this at once!"

The principal, Mr. Funai, loomed a few paces away, arms crossed and an unimpressed expression pinching his face.

Katsuki's little band of idiots snickered from behind him and, without missing a beat, one of them pointed at me.

"She stole his quirk again, sir!"

Dread built in my gut and when he swung on me, that steely glare that spoke of trouble in my near future firmly in place, it doubled down.

Then he spoke and it was all I could do not to scream in anger.

"Ginji Akane, release Katsuki's quirk and follow me to the office. I'll be calling your mother over this display. We don't tolerate bullying here."

Izumi and I both had scars to prove that was bullshit!

As if hearing my thoughts, Izumi stepped forward then and shouted, "That's not fair! They were the ones bullying me!"

Katsuki swung around to glare at her, but she didn't take it back. Determination kept her spine straight even as she shook under his stare.

It was progress from when she would have shrunk back into her usual 'Kacchan did nothing wrong' attitude. The fact she was defending me over him was even better.

Brief flashes of appreciation squirmed through me, only to douse when Mr. Funai scoffed. "Midoriya, you probably did something to earn it. Katsuki here is our star student, the first one who'll make it into UA. He would never do something that would mark his record like that."

At that, I scoffed. "You mean you'll erase anything on his record for the sake of making your school look good."

They'd done it before, dozens of times and it only added to the rage burning through me. No bullying my ass. They just chose who deserved it and dealt with us accordingly.

His face turned purple and he pointed back toward the school. "Enough back talk, you're already in enough trouble as it is. I'll be calling your mother in just a minute so you may as well make it easy on yourself."

Fighting through the urge to flip him off, at least then I'd have earned any trouble I got into, I marched past him.

Only to stop when the teacher cleared his throat. "Bakugo's quirk?"

Katsuki smirked behind him and just once I wanted to rip it off his face. I was already going to get in trouble, so what was the difference?

Remember, the goal is to be a hero with Izumi…

Taking a deep breath, I let my hold on his quirk fade while ignoring the immediate backlash of energy drain.

Immediately, he summoned explosions into his palm with a manic grin and a glint I knew meant trouble.

The teacher nodded and waved me on. "Good, I'll meet you in my office soon."

I passed Katsuki warily, eyeing the still lit up hand. Sure enough, I didn't even make it three steps before he flashed out and blasted my side.

Scalding pain scorched the nerves and I jumped back with a hiss. He smirked, eyes flashing with gleeful cruelty as he sneered.

"Maybe you'll have a great quirk like mine instead of a villain's one in your next life. Take a swan dive off the roof and do us all a favor." He glanced toward Izumi, who'd gone paper white at his words. "Take her with you while you're at it."

Everything froze and my stomach dropped. Did he just…fucking suicide bait us?!

The principal didn't seem bothered, as expected, and Izumi shuddered, tears gathering in her eyes.

"He just suicide baited us and used his quirk. Are you seriously not going to say anything about that?!" Her words were tinged in disbelief and pure frustration. One I shared.

Mr. Funai looked away and sniffed. "I didn't hear or see anything; did you students?"

Immediately, the others shook their heads with victorious smirks. When I caught the tears falling down Izumi's cheeks though, it was the final straw.

My side burned from his stupid quirk, I'd have to deal with whatever torture Mom would dole out when I got home, and to top it off, he'd made Izumi cry.

I was done.

I didn't give anyone time to react, I lunged forward and slammed my fist into Katsuki's nose with a thunderous CRACK. Fuck being like a villain, if they wanted me to be one so badly they'd lie, I'd give them a reason to spout their bullshit.

He staggered back, eyes wide from shock, but before I could continue, the ground disappeared from under me. Mr. Funai's long, flexible limbs hauled me into the air and he shouted.

"That's enough, Ginji! One more outburst and you'll be expelled!"

Part of me wanted to keep going, if this was supposed to be what 'heroes' were then I didn't want to get into a hero school anyway.

Logic won out though and I relaxed, watching as Katsuki's bleeding nose made a mess of his shirt. There was a new wariness in his eyes now and I made sure to drive my point home.

"The teachers may let you get away with murder, but remember this Pomeranian. If you attack me or mine, I will wipe the floor with you. Without a quirk, you're nothing but a worthless bully and when you eventually graduate, you'll be a villain in a hero's uniform."

He jerked as if the words hit him harder than my fist had and the teacher wrenched me away, marching both of us toward the office. "That's rich coming from someone with such a villainous quirk. If you try to solve problems with violence then the only person who'll be a villain is you."

I barked a humorless laugh, remembering all the times he and his staff had shown blatant quirkist behavior over the years. "Says the one who cares so much about his school's reputation that he ignores blatantly illegal behavior in the teachers and the students. Maybe I should bring this shit to the nearest pro-hero, I'm sure they'd have something to say about that."

They probably wouldn't, since they were all busy with their jobs, but damn did the mental image feel good. All Might himself coming down on the school, ripping into every last one of the teachers for their actions…

It was a fantasy, but there was no harm in having some of those.

Mr. Funai flinched, eyes flashing wider with the briefest flicker of fear. "Bullying happens. There's nothing illegal about it."

I hadn't actually meant my threat-no one ever listened to me anyway so it was an empty one-but suddenly, his previous confidence disappeared in a flash.

I'd never actually considered reporting the school, but…

"When your teachers are the ones doing it, it very much is illegal."

Beads of sweat started building on his forehead and he finally realized he wouldn't be convincing me that his lies were the truth. Setting me down outside his office, he put on the same cajoling mask he wore for Katsuki and smiled.

"Now , there's no need to talk like that. People will get the wrong idea if they hear that and the school's reputation might suffer."

The pandering only added to my anger, but before I could tell him where to shove the school's reputation, he continued.

"How about this, if you don't talk about any of that I'll make sure this incident doesn't show on your record. I'll still have to call in your mother, but any future schools you get into won't know of the violence today."

He smiled as if the deal was so great and more than anything, I wanted to tell him to fuck off.

But there was an opportunity here. I wasn't about to get out of Mom's beating, that was a certainty, but Izumi was determined to get into UA. If I wanted to be with her, I needed to have a spotless record.

I'd been seeing red earlier and hadn't considered that, but now I was somewhat calm.

I needed to be with Izumi, wherever she went, and if letting the school slide for what they were doing was how I'd make it happen…so be it.

It wasn't like I'd ever get someone to listen if I did report the school anyway.

Staring down the sweating teacher, I bit back the unfairness blaring through me and huffed.

"Only if Katsuki's mother is also called in. Not his father, specifically his mother. It doesn't have to go on his record," though it damn well should and any school that actually cared about teaching kids how to be good heroes would insist on it, "but I want her to know what he said and did today."

I hadn't met his mother many times, but without a doubt, she would have some choice words for him.

The teacher hesitated for a long beat before finally nodding. "That's acceptable, now go sit outside with Midoriya. I'll be calling her mother as well. This won't go on any of your records, to be clear." He rushed out the last sentence before I could argue, his smile turning faker by the second.

"So, we have an understanding then?"

I nodded reluctantly and stood. "I'll be outside if you need me."

The door shut behind me and, when I caught sight of Izumi, I offered a tired smile.

"I managed to convince him to call in Mrs. Bakugo, so Katsuki won't be getting away with what he said. It isn't going on any of our records either."

She deflated, the dried tears mostly gone now as she took my hand and sighed. "I didn't even think about that until I was walking back. How did you manage to convince him to punish Kacchan?"

I shrugged, "He didn't want me telling anyone what the school allows to happen. Since you don't want me reporting his bullying, I couldn't have done that anyway so this really just worked in my favor."

It didn't make me feel any less shitty for not turning in the school though.

People won't listen either way. I might as well get something out of this and Katsuki will be held somewhat accountable now. It would have to be enough.

Were all teachers like these ones though? It felt improbable that we'd land in a school full of these scumbags unless it was standard for all of them.

Maybe this was just how people in general were. Aside from Inko, I'd yet to meet an adult that was genuinely nice. My mother sure didn't meet those criteria and these guys, well…

If this was how most people were, maybe it wasn't worth risking my life as a hero, just to protect them.

But if I wasn't going to be a hero, then what was the point? I couldn't follow Izumi without walking that path and staying with her, watching her back, was the only thing I could see myself doing in life.

Without that, what was the point in pushing through the pain, fear and unfairness of it all?

Katsuki's words rang back, clear as a bell.

Take a swan dive off the roof and do us all a favor.

I'd never been more tempted to follow through with that.

Another chapter and this one is heavier folks! The next one will be on the darker side too, but no worries, we're finally getting somewhere. Our secondary father/daughter duo will be meeting soon too, so hold tight for next week. As usual, thanks for reading and anyone interested in being a beta reader for unreleased chapters, feel free to hit me up. Have a nice week guys.