Katsuki felt the air leave his lungs as the older boy sank a fist deep into his stomach. He doubled over and tried to gasp as the high schooler behind him kept their arms looped under his shoulders. Katsuki began to wheeze as his vision blurred, only for the voice of the teen in front of him to echo within his ears.

"You dumbass little twerp," the bully taunted as he leaned over and brought his eyes down to Katsuki's level. "We weren't even after you, and you had to stick your nose into our affairs. Now, we're taking your money, too."

Katsuki felt the boy behind him slip his backpack from around his shoulders and bring the parcel to the ground. The moment his aggressor's grip loosened, Katsuki threw his head backward into the taller boy's nose with a meaty thwack.

"Shit!" the boy cried as he dropped the bright green backpack and clutched his nose. "What the hell!?"

Katsuki wasted no time before spitting into the face of the bully before him. The teen took a step backward and stood to his full height, leaving Katsuki at his chest level as he wiped at his eyes.

"You're dead, you little shit!" the bully roared as he bared his teeth and leaned forward. He ran forward to close the distance with a sucker punch, only for his eyes to widen in horror as the air before him lit up with an unnatural glow.

Katsuki threw an arm out to the side and focused all of his energy into triggering his Quirk as the punch came. The sweat on his palm sizzled momentarily before the area around it was rocked with a sizeable explosion that expanded to about Katsuki's own height. The momentum of the blast rocketed him sideways as the bully was blown backward and fell to the concrete, only for Katsuki to point his other arm behind himself and fire off another blast. The small boy flew forward through the air and pulled his other arm back for a punch of his own as he closed the distance on his opponent.

"No, you're dead!"

Katsuki's fist sank into his attacker's cheek with great force, causing the bully's head to whip to the side as he cried out in pain. More punches found their way into the fallen aggressor's ribs and shoulders before Katsuki wrenched the money from the bully's hand and looked over his shoulder. The other teen's chin was streaked with blood from his nose as he watched his friend get pummeled with a horrified expression.

"You… you can't use a Quirk!" he yelled. "You're crazy!"

"And you're next!" Katsuki threatened as he dismounted the other teen's stomach. "Bring it on!"

The attacker who had been freed from Katsuki's pin slid backward along the pavement, taking greedy breaths as he stumbled to his feet.

"Yuki, just run, man! This little runt is nuts!"

The bully known as Yuki finally dropped his hand from his face and ran for the nearby fence before frantically beginning to climb. He barely made it over as Katsuki leapt and tried to grab for his leg, only to miss by mere inches.

"Yeah!? You'd better run!" the blond boy taunted through shallow breaths. "And stay away from this kid, or I'll kick your asses again!"

Katsuki turned to look at the other high schooler, only to find him already running away at a full sprint.

"…pathetic," Katsuki accused before spitting down into the pavement. "Can't even take someone half their size…"

The sound of sniffling nearby caught Katsuki's attention, and he turned around to see another boy his age curled up in the fetal position upon the pavement. Katsuki sighed heavily and stomped over to the child before pulling a face and rolling his eyes. He bent low and picked up a pair of cracked glasses from the concrete, before nodding his head toward the other boy.

"Get up. They're gone."

The boy on the ground slowly pulled his hands down from covering his face. One of his eyes was badly bruised, and he had scrapes on both of his knees just beneath the cuffs of his shorts. His dark hair hung in a combination of messy and neat strands, and his eyes were full of worry.

"You… you won?" the boy asked in a shaky voice as he looked up at Katsuki. "You beat high schoolers?"

"Yeah?" Katsuki acknowledged as he flicked his thumb across his nose. "So what? They're bullies, and they were picking on you. My Quirk scared 'em off. Now get up, before people see you looking like a loser."

The other boy's eyes widened as he sat cross-legged and looked up at Katsuki in horror.

"You… you used your Quirk? That's… that's illegal! You can't do that in a schoolyard!" he yelled while gesturing emphatically with his hands.

"We're kids. No one cares," Katsuki sneered as he held out the broken pair of glasses. "They're not gonna arrest me, and no one's gonna know unless you snitch. You're not gonna be an asshole and snitch, are you?"

The sitting boy blinked several times after replacing his crooked glasses upon his nose. He sniffed once again and wiped a trail of dried blood from beneath his left nostril.

"…no, I… I-I won't. You're bleeding. Your lip."

Katsuki instinctively reached up and found his bottom lip was split open. He eyed the blood on his finger suspiciously as he pulled it away from his mouth. He hadn't felt anything at all during the fight…

"Yeah, so? Stand up already and get going. Someone's gonna come running pretty soon, after the explosions. I don't have time to just stand around and talk, anyway."

"You're Bakugo, right?" the other boy asked as he finally stood up and grabbed his backpack from the pavement. "The kid who gets in fights all the time?"

Katsuki snorted as he held his hand out and dropped the stolen coins into the other boy's palm.

"Yeah, and most of the time, it's situations like this, so don't act like you're better than me."

"No, I…" the boy paused, before cupping his hand around the coins and holding it to his chest. He sank into a formal bow, and then locked eyes upon Katsuki once again. "Tenya Iida. Thank you, Bakugo."

"…whatever," Katsuki said dismissively as he picked up his backpack and slung it over one shoulder. "Don't get used to this. I'm moving away and starting at another middle school next week."

"What?" Tenya asked, his face full of shock. "But… I owe you! And who will step in when those two come around and try to bully others!?"

"…sounds like something you need to figure out," Katsuki said with a shrug before turning and beginning to walk away. "Get stronger and fight your own damned battles. Relying on other people makes you weak."

Tenya merely watched as Katsuki climbed the nearby fence and dropped onto the sidewalk before continuing on his path without a word.

Katsuki kept his fists up and turned inward toward his face as he bobbed and weaved, waiting for the perfect opportunity to counterattack. Another strike came from his opponent's red-gloved fist and bounced ineffectually off his guard, leaving the other boy open. Katsuki immediately ducked forward and dashed in with a vicious hook, which caught Izuku clean in the side of the jaw and sent the boy reeling as he let out a muffled cry through his mouthguard.

"You swing too damned wide!" Katsuki roared as he continued to advance and grappled Izuku's shoulder before rocketing a knee into the other boy's stomach. "And you react to hits like they've broken bones every time! Man up!"

Izuku reached up and tried to grab at Katsuki's lapel, only for the blond to drive a harsh elbow into his forearm before seizing his wrist. Katsuki whipped Izuku around into a tight spin before wrapping his elbow around Izuku's neck from behind and driving him down into the floor mat. Izuku squirmed beneath the grip, only for Katsuki to put his full weight down into Izuku's back to keep him pinned.

"You lose. Again," the boy spat before releasing his chokehold and rising to stand.

Izuku rolled onto his back, red-faced and sputtering as he removed his mouthguard and immediately began to cough harshly. Katsuki responded by removing his own deep green foam helmet and tossing it off to the side before running a hand through his sweaty hair and shaking his head.

"…seriously? Is that all you've got, Deku? You usually last longer than that, and you haven't even landed a hit thus far today. The hell is wrong with you?"

Izuku continued to breathe hard before he spat out his mouthguard and undid the chinstrap of his own helmet while looking up at Katsuki.

"I… I'm just…"

"You're what?" Katsuki demanded before sitting upon the nearby bench and fishing around in his duffel bag. The boy produced a water bottle and took a long swig, glaring daggers down at Izuku all the while.

"…I have a lot on my mind," Izuku replied weakly.

A moment of silence passed as Katsuki rolled his eyes and leaned over to Izuku's bag. The prone boy barely had time to register what his friend was doing before his water bottle flew through the air and nearly hit him in the face. Izuku fumbled the catch horribly, and had to turn onto his side to retrieve the rolling bottle before it escaped his reach.

"Thanks, Kacchan," Izuku offered before taking a quick drink.

"I'm guessing you're expecting me to listen to your dumbass problems. Here, in public, at the gym, while other people are being productive all around us," Katsuki grumbled.

Izuku sighed heavily and sat up into a cross-legged position as he brought his water bottle down into his lap.

"I… n-no, you don't have to. I'm just not at my b-"

"Get it over with," Katsuki insisted. "There's no point in training with you if you're just gonna half-ass it. Get your stupid problems off your chest so we can fight, Deku. If you brought this weak shit every time we sparred, I wouldn't even bother."

Izuku hid his small smirk behind his water bottle as he took another drink while watching Katsuki's annoyed expression. Despite the other boy's furious glare at a particular red square on the foam mat, he knew that Katsuki was actually listening.

"…well… part of it is mid-terms. I don't think I did all that great," Izuku confessed. "Especially in Social Studies…"

"…you're letting a test get to you?" Katsuki seethed. "It's a mid-term, and I doubt your mom will care even if you ended up with a shitty grade. Seems to me like she's always got your back, even when you screw everything up."

"Yeah," Izuku confirmed. "Yeah, I guess you're right… but it still doesn't feel great to have studied for so long and feel like I choked a bit."

"So don't choke," Katsuki said simply. "Study harder, get better under pressure, and take it seriously. Or don't, and just accept mediocrity. It's not like you need the kind of grades required to get into U.A. like I do."

Izuku's face immediately fell at the reminder, and he took another small, sad sip of water as Katsuki did the same.

"…yeah… maybe not… but I still put a lot of effort in. I still tried, and it feels like I did something wrong. We studied the same way. We studied together for most of it, and it's just… like even though I put as much effort in as I could, it feels like none of it mattered. You know what I mean?" Izuku asked in a small voice.

For a moment, Izuku froze as Katsuki looked up and met his eyes. In place of the blond's usual anger was something else that Izuku didn't quite recognize. The glassy, almost vulnerable look in Katsuki's expression struck him as deeply unsettling, even though he was only allowed to see it for a brief moment before his friend brought his gaze back to the square on the floor.

"…that's just life. Stop obsessing over dumb garbage you can't control. Maybe you just got unlucky with your memory against the set of questions. I don't know. It doesn't matter. It's in the past, and there's no point in letting it screw you over now," Katsuki insisted as he stood up and set his water bottle down on the bench. "Nobody can be good at everything. One test out of six isn't a huge loss."

"You're right," Izuku nodded as he followed suit and stood up before moving to place his bottle beside Katsuki's. "But… what aren't you good at? You never seem to struggle with anything."

Izuku's eyes widened as Katsuki immediately whipped his head around and fixed him with a death glare.

"…put your damned mouth guard back in and get ready."

"R-right!" Izuku replied before popping his mouthguard back in. "U-uh… any particular drill, or back to sparring, or…?"

"Defend yourself," Katsuki ordered as he bashed the curved fists of his foam gauntlets together while watching Izuku tighten his chin strap and push his helmet more firmly down into his sodden green hair.

"Kacchan, your protection…" Izuku pointed out as he walked backward and adopted a tense fighting stance.

"Shut up," Katsuki spat back before dashing in and throwing a hard punch with incredible speed directly into Izuku's stomach.

Izuku let out a gulping sort of noise before taking several steps backward while doubled over. He barely got his guard up to deflect Katsuki's next advancing punch, only to take a spinning jump kick to the shoulder that sent him stumbling backward once again.

"Do you know why I train with you?" Katsuki asked through gritted teeth. "It's because you can take hits, and you don't just give up and cry when you're overwhelmed. You keep coming back, even when you know you're not gonna win. I get experience opening you up, and you get a little better at holding your own every time we fight."

Izuku didn't bother to reply as he focused on defending himself from Katsuki's furious punches. After another series of wild and hard blows, Katsuki brought his right leg up and slammed it down in a hard axe kick, which Izuku barely managed to slip away from.

"You aren't like most of the other morons at Arcadia," Katsuki continued, his voice growing harsher over time. "It's full of know-it-alls who think they're on top of the world, while still being high school age! There are limits! Everyone's got limits, even if they come from the outside! They're too stubborn and stupid to just accept their place at school and ride it out until they can do something meaningful. They waste time, don't study, and then complain when their grades bite them in the ass. You at least try, and stay in your damned lane!"

Izuku finally took the opportunity to throw out a punch for Katsuki's shoulder, which the other boy avoided easily.

"Kacchan I don't understand," Izuku mumbled around his mouthguard.

"It's simple!" Katsuki insisted as another punch was thrown his way.

Once again, he grabbed Izuku's wrist and pulled the other boy toward himself. With a quick turn, he put the captured arm into a lock against Izuku's back before taking him to the mat. Izuku let out a pained cry as Katsuki drove his knee into his spine, just above the hips.

"Get this through your thick skull, Deku- people need to know their places, and you generally know yours. Some people exist to just get shit on by life from all directions, and there isn't a damned thing they can do about it!" Katsuki said while wrenching Izuku's arm farther across his back while using his other hand to drive Izuku's head down into the mat. "They have to just wait it out and take the abuse until they can finally stand up and change their lives in a way that takes them away from all of the bullshit! You're at least working at it instead of just lying down and throwing a pity party, and you admit that life blows a lot of the time, while other people just smile and act like everything's great. Some people just get screwed with the hand they're dealt, Deku. We have to wait it out until the opportunity to screw it back finally comes around."

Izuku gritted his teeth as his cheek was mashed into the mat. As Katsuki finished speaking and finally dismounted him, a single word of Katsuki's leapt to the forefront of his mind. He spit his mouthguard out into his hand before immediately turning and sitting up, only to find Katsuki facing away from him and heading toward the duffel bags.

"…we?"

Katsuki paused in the middle of packing away his bottle. He remained facing away from Izuku and closed his eyes before letting out a snort.

"…my opportunity is U.A.. That's when I'll be able to strike out and live like I want to. You'll have to find your own escape, Deku."

Izuku slowly pulled himself to his feet and walked over to his own bag before beginning to remove his foam armor and stuffing it inside. The two boys remained silent as they stripped their gloves, shin guards, and boots. Only the sound of Velcro being torn loose filled the area around them, until Izuku finally spoke up in a near whisper.

"…hey, I might not know what you're dealing with, but if you ever w-"

"I don't," Katsuki interrupted while keeping his eyes down on his bag. "I can handle it, just like you can handle your beatings. Stay in your lane."

"Okay. Sorry," Izuku offered as he slung his duffel bag up and over his shoulder and began to follow Katsuki out of the gym. "But if I can just say one thing?"

"What?" Katsuki asked dramatically as he pushed the glass doors open and made his way out onto the sidewalk.

"…you're amazing," Izuku replied. "I really mean that, Kacchan. I think… I think whatever's going on to make you feel awful, you'll break out of it. You'll take that opportunity and make something great out of it, because that's what you do. Even if life is really unfair to you, I think you've got what it takes to even the odds."

Katsuki was silent for almost a full minute as the pair made their way down the sidewalk.

"…what happens in the gym stays in the gym, so shut up," Katsuki commanded.

"…since when is that a rule?" Izuku questioned as he raised a brow.

"…since right the hell now," Katsuki snapped.

Izuku didn't say a word the rest of the way back to his house.

Author's Note:

There won't be a flashback before every Bakugo-centric chapter, especially as he starts getting multiple in a row. At some point, the flashbacks will stop entirely. You'll know it when you see it.

Next time- the Big Three!

-RD