Katsuki lifted a hand and pounded his fist against the door before him. The relentless cadence of the heavy rains all around him nearly drowned out the sound of his knocking, and for a moment, he wondered if anyone had heard him. The fabric of his black hoodie was almost soaked through, and his jeans felt unpleasantly heavy in their dampened state. Just as he moved to raise his fist again, the door pulled back to reveal an incredibly surprised Inko Midoriya.

"Katsuki!" the woman cried enthusiastically before moving forward and wrapping the teenager's waist in a tight hug. "Do come in! It's awful outside!"

Katsuki managed to get the "Wh-" of what the hell are you doing!? out before he stopped himself, and instead bristled as the plump woman squeezed at his waist. After a few awkward seconds, he lowered a hand to gently pat at Inko's shoulder before moving to slip past her and into the Midoriya residence.

"It started raining while I was on the way over here," Katsuki explained as he shuffled off his shoes and lowered his hood. "It's… nice to see you, too. I guess."

"Let me get you a towel," Inko offered. "You must be freezing…"

"No, I…" Katsuki began before Inko disappeared into the hallway. "Fine, do what you want…"

"I usually do!" Inko called from inside the closet before walking back toward the foyer with a fluffy white towel. "How have you been? I've missed having you around."

Katsuki took the towel and ruffled it through his hair, working at the soggy mass and returning it to its usual spiky state, albeit damp. He then used the towel to dry off his hands and pat down the particularly wet portions of his hoodie, collecting the lingering moisture as he focused upon the cloth instead of Inko.

"It's been… I don't know. I feel like I should have stayed here."

Katsuki looked up in time to see Inko's expression droop into one of heartache. The sight caused him to feel frustrated almost immediately, and he made another pass over his head with the towel to break eye contact.

"Oh…" Inko said sadly. "You know, your mother and I have been talking a bit, ever since you moved back. I had been hoping things were getting better."

Katsuki paused and brought the towel down in front of himself, holding it awkwardly. Inko offered a hand, and he slowly gave the dampened cloth over to her.

"…I don't know," Katsuki admitted with a sigh. "I feel like…"

Inko simply waited, working to roll the towel into a ball within her hands.

"…never mind," Katsuki finished as he ran a hand through his hair. "It doesn't matter. Is D-… Izuku upstairs?"

"He is. Is something wrong…?" Inko asked while tilting her head.

Katsuki put his hands into the pockets of his hoodie, letting them rest against the letter tucked inside.

"…maybe. I don't know, just yet. We'll talk soon."

"I hope so," Inko replied as she watched the teen walk past her and move toward the staircase. "Good luck, with whatever it is. I'm sure you'll figure it out."

Katsuki shook his head and made his way up the stairs at a slow pace. Somehow, keeping a grip on the letter seemed to steady his nerves. He could hear Izuku shift in his computer chair as he neared the doorway, and Katsuki quickly closed the bedroom door as he walked in. Izuku spun around to face his friend, looking every bit as uneasy as Katsuki felt. He wore a pair of green shorts and a long-sleeved white shirt with All Might emblazoned upon the front of it.

"…hey…"

"…hey," Katsuki said quietly. The sound of rainfall battered against Izuku's bedroom window to fill the period of silence until he spoke again. "It sounds like we're gonna have to fight to get into U.A., if you ask me. All Might's message wasn't exactly encouraging."

"He wrote you something personal, too?" Izuku asked.

Katsuki's nose twitched in irritation, and he slightly crinkled the letter within his pocket.

"Not 'personal', if you mean that in the sense of being specific to me. I'm not surprised that he did for you, though. After all, you're the chosen one."

It was Izuku's turn to put on a scowl as Katsuki walked past him and stared out the window. Izuku rotated his seat slightly to follow the other boy's movements, shaking his head all the while.

"Kacchan, don't be like that…"

"Am I wrong?" Katsuki snapped, keeping his eyes on the darkened street outside. "You'll be fine if we don't get in. I'll be fucked."

Izuku said nothing in response, instead opting to swivel his chair back around to face his monitor as he rested his hands atop his keyboard and mouse. Despite the urge to find himself a distraction, Izuku couldn't bring himself to actually do anything with either device as he stared into the glowing screen. Without even looking, he knew that Katsuki's eyes were upon him in the reflection of the window.

"What? Nothing to say, now? No words of encouragement, this time? Because you know I'm right?"

"Because I don't know what to say," Izuku admitted as he finally opened his web browser. "I don't know what to say to that. I don't think I'll be 'fine' if we're both rejected…"

"Show me your letter," Katsuki demanded.

"…what?" Izuku asked, his fingers pausing in the middle of typing. He could feel his throat starting to close up, and he swallowed hard. "It's probably the same as yours."

"Then show it to me," Katsuki repeated. "Nothing to be afraid of if it's so similar."

Izuku let out a sigh of defeat and ran his hands through his shaggy hair. He shook his head and reached into the drawer of his desk before pulling out a neatly folded piece of paper and passing it over to Katsuki. As the other boy began to read, Izuku stood up from his chair and walked hurriedly to the bedroom door.

"I'm… I'm gonna go get us some water…"

Katsuki let out a derisive snort and shook his head, scanning the letter all the while for where All Might could have deviated from the generic meeting details he had sent to other U.A. hopefuls.

…No matter what happens at this meeting, I want you to keep one thing in mind- you have been entrusted with a great deal, and you are guaranteed a promising future so long as you apply yourself. Even if there is a personal defeat headed your way at this meeting, I will see to it that you still become the hero that I know you are inside. I'm sure that Bakugo will as well, regardless of his acceptance or rejection, so I ask that you put his situation out of your mind for the moment. Friends like him are rare, Midoriya, and I sincerely hope you keep him close no matter what happens. It is entirely possible that you will both make it in, or neither of you will make it in. Making it in without him, or the reverse, is also a possibility. Keep him close no matter the outcome.

I think I should leave it there, for now. We can discuss how to move forward after the meeting, though I want you to rest assured that your future is secured. I will do what I can for Bakugo as well, but I cannot make any promises. He'll find his own path with or without my assistance. Just make sure you give him yours when and where you are able. It's clear to me that you need each other.

-Toshinori Yagi

Katsuki looked up from the letter just in time to see Izuku appear in the doorway holding a pitcher and two glasses. From the terrified look on his friend's face, he could only imagine how his own must have looked.

"…how stupid do you think I am?" Katsuki snarled.

"I was hoping you wouldn't ask to see it!" Izuku admitted as he walked into the room and kicked the door shut behind himself. "What was I supposed to do? Just refuse to show it to you? You would've been even angrier, and… and you probably should be."

"So, your plan was to lie and just hope it all worked out for you?" Katsuki asked as he smacked the letter down onto the desk with an open palm and leaned back into the wood. "Just fake a smile, tell me what I want to hear, and deal with the fallout later. All Might doesn't seem to care about anything other than you getting in."

Izuku kept his eyes on the glasses as he set them down on the other side of the desk and began to slowly pour.

"…yeah, pretty much. I… didn't know what to say or do to fix the situation, so…"

"Is that your plan for when you become a pro hero, too?"

Izuku looked up to meet Katsuki's accusatory glare. He opened his mouth to say something, only to make a frustrated noise and go back to pouring water.

"That's not how it works, Deku. If you can't think on your feet and improvise in a situation like this with a friend, then you're going to make a complete mess of shit when lives are on the line," Katsuki accused. "You should've just told me the truth. You should've just told me I'm probably screwed, and you'll be fine."

"I wanted to!" Izuku insisted as he offered his friend a glass. "I wanted to tell you the truth, but I… I didn't think…"

"You didn't think I could handle it?" Katsuki asked as he swiped the glass from his friend's hand. "Or you didn't think you had the balls to say it? I'm used to being hung out to dry on my own, Deku. This is nothing new. You wouldn't be the first or last person to piss me off by telling me I'm getting screwed over while other people are handed shit for free. You wanted to be truthful, right? Then say it. It's already out in the open, so just say it. Or were you lying again when you said you wanted to tell me?"

"I'm not lying!" Izuku insisted as he gripped his glass harder. "And if that's what you want… then… then fine. I'll either make it in or end up training with All Might on the side before finding another school, and you… I don't know what's going to happen to you, or any of the other people who followed you to fight the Zero Point villain." Izuku paused and made an uncomfortable noise as realization came to him. "Any of the people who followed us, actually…"

"That's all I wanted to hear," Katsuki acknowledged as he took a seat on Izuku's bed. "The truth. You trusted me with the knowledge that you have One for All, but hold out on me when it comes to this?"

"That's…" Izuku hesitated while watching as Katsuki sipped his water, seemingly placated. "That's totally different, Kacchan. I didn't want to tell you what's going on right now because I didn't want to hurt you. I didn't want you to feel like you're… I guess like you're less than me, because that's not true at all. I'd be totally lost without you, even with All Might acting as my personal coach. That's why I had no problem telling you about One for All."

"Because hearing that All Might gave you his Quirk wouldn't make me feel like shit," Katsuki echoed as he kept his eyes on the carpet.

"Exactly," Izuku agreed, looking relieved.

Katsuki snorted and shook his head.

"…you're an idiot, Deku."

"So I've been told," Izuku said with a smile. He raised a brow at his friend's dour expression, unable to tell what Katsuki was thinking. "Hey, come on- it's… uh…"

"It's what?" Katsuki asked as he looked up. "Were you going to go for 'it's all going to work out' or 'it's going to be alright', like those phrases are all you can ever think of even when you know it's bullshit? I expected better from you."

Izuku's face turned beet red, and he let out a frustrated growl.

"It's not that easy to just come up with something to say!"

"Then maybe don't say anything at all," Katsuki admonished as he set down his empty glass and stood up. "Sometimes, it's best to just shut the hell up."

"Then what would you have told me!?" Izuku retorted, raising his voice so suddenly that Katsuki was taken aback. "If you have all the answers, that what would you have said in my position? I'm doing the best I can while trying to make up for being over a decade late on having a Quirk, all while trying to keep it hidden from everyone but you! It's not like I've just been doing great since getting One for All! I still feel guilty about messing up your back!"

Katsuki paused, trying to absorb everything that Izuku had thrown at him. He had hardly ever seen his friend so angry or red in the face, and the few times he had, it was always in the context of a physical fight. A moment before Katsuki began to speak, Izuku cut him off and gave him a threatening glare.

"And if you dare try to pull the 'sometimes it's better to say nothing' card, I'm going to lose it!"

"…I wasn't," Katsuki said in a voice calm enough that Izuku was caught off guard. "I was… thinking. About what I'd say to you, if our positions were switched. It's not something I've thought about before now."

"…oh," Izuku said sheepishly as he sank back into his computer chair. "Uh… sorry…"

Katsuki lowered himself to sit upon the bed once again and braced his hands on either side of himself as he furrowed his brows.

"…if we were swapped, and in this same scenario with the same letters… I don't think I would've told you anything. Not until after it was already done."

"What?" Izuku asked, dumbfounded. "But…"

"I wouldn't need to," Katsuki added. "I'd have gone to All Might as soon as I got mine and laid out some conditions. Thrown my weight around and made it clear that you and I are a package deal."

"…what?" Izuku asked again. "But… you can't just…"

"If I was you? I could," Katsuki insisted. "You've got him by the balls, Deku. What's he gonna do? Take One for All back? It doesn't work like that, based on what you've told me. If you threaten to walk, or go public? You could have All Might eating out of your hand. You have all the leverage in the world to get what you want."

"Kacchan, that's awful!" Izuku replied, his face shifting from an angry red to papery white. "That's so manipulative and… I would never…"

"After getting shit on for so long? I would," Katsuki said menacingly. "After all- there's only so much All Might can really do for you while you're at U.A., or wherever you end up if you walk out on him. I'm not going to push you away when you need help."

"Wait, are you still talking like you're me?" Izuku asked. "And I'm you? Or just normally, when you say th-"

"Don't be stupid," Katsuki interrupted. "The point is that I'll have your back from here on out, so long as that's logistically possible… so that's how I would've handled it if I were you. I'm not saying that's how you should handle it… and I don't want you to, either. If I get in, I want it to be earned, not because you demanded it from All Might. Besides- this is all pointless. We're going to that meeting, and I'm going to defend myself. Whether or not you join in and show your balls is up to you."

"Of course I'm going to stand up for you," Izuku said immediately. "And you will get into U.A. with me, and everyone else who deserves it."

"Yeah? And why's that?" Katsuki asked while cracking his neck.

"…because I'm going to fight for it," Izuku asserted. "I swear I'm going to fight for both of us, and… I'll be better. I'll do better, from here on out."

"Good," Katsuki said with a shrug. "You're a long way from being a hero. Both of us are. Might as well get that through your head now."

"I already know," Izuku grumbled, before giving Katsuki an uncertain look. "And, uh… how… is your back doing, anyway? I was worried the whole time we were auditioning…"

"…it's fine," Katsuki insisted as he flopped backward onto Izuku's bed, breaking eye contact. "Practically fully healed."

"…oh," Izuku said with a bit of surprise. "That's… um, that's good."

An awkward silence ensued, before Katsuki finally blew out a sigh and sat up once again.

"…how's your arm?"

Izuku sucked in a breath and rolled back the right sleeve of his shirt. Beneath it, a large chunk of his forearm and bicep were mottled with skin that almost looked dead, as though bruises upon his limb had somehow spread and become permanent. The knuckles at the base of his index and middle fingers had similar markings, and a long scar ran from the base of the middle finger down the length of his palm.

"Believe it or not… almost totally fine. A little stiff, but Recovery Girl's Quirk took care of it, more or less. I still don't understand wh-"

"Because I didn't," Katsuki snapped. "And good. Let's do what we can to make sure you maintain access to her, because it looks like you're going to need that Quirk pretty often, at this rate."

"Yeah," Izuku agreed as he rolled his sleeve down once again. "Let's get to planning…"

Author's Note:

There is a lot to unpack here in terms of Bakugo and Midoriya's friendship dynamic. It's only going to get more and more tense as time goes on…

-RD