Metamorphosis (2): They Have No Mouth, and They Must Scream.

Something's weird with Deku.

Yeah, he has always been an oddball, for more reasons than one. Katsuki Bakugo had known that for as long as he had known him, which was a fucking lot.

It was different now, though. Ever since…that day with the shitty Slimy creep, the nerd appeared distracted. Not five minutes passed without Deku sneaking glances at his phone, failing miserably at being discrete, and giving it what Katsuki could only assume were pleading looks.

Usually, he would've chalked it up as some of his regular antics. Something along the lines of Deku being jumpy for some niche hero-related event or some shit like that.

However, his gaze now always held this glint of…longing? Urgency? Either way, it only grew with each passing day, making Katsuki consider otherwise.

Did something happen to Deku that Katsuki wasn't aware of?

…

…Whatever, it wasn't Katsuki's problem. Sure as hell not now that it seemed his words were beginning to reach inside Deku's thick skull.

After all, Katsuki remembered the resignation in the nerd's eyes back on that afternoon. Add the scolding Deku got beforehand from some actual pros, no-name as they might be but pros all the same, about how stupidly reckless he was with the stunt he pulled, and you get a reality check that not even Deku could ignore.

Yeah, that must be it. Some sense must've stuck in his head and Deku was looking for a way to cope with it.

About fucking time!

Now, things were beginning to set as they should be.

Huh? Why are all those damn extras bunkered around the school's gate?

As he neared the exit, seeing and hearing the conglomerate of schmucks trade whispers of excitement with each other, Katsuki inadvertently raised an eyebrow.

Things only got weirder when the annoying noises became clearer. Something about a model chick or whatever. He stopped paying attention to the specifics when he got a basic gist of things.

What a bunch of losers. How the fuck do they have the gal about getting offended when he calls them extras if the whole damn school comes to a standstill whenever something just above the norm occurred. For All Might he could understand, maybe some of the other tops too for people who aspire for just that much.

But some celebrity, a regular non-heroic celebrity at that, which no one but their mother knows of?

Fucking nonsense.

Katsuki was all too ready to scoff at their antics, waste no time making his way out of there, and move on with his life.

Only to stop dead in his tracks when one particular comment itched his ears.

"Oi, isn't that Midoriya over there?"

His confusion only grew further when similar whispers and murmurs surfaced around him. Each one was filled with a mix of disbelief and scorn.

While the latter was of no interest to the explosive quirk user, the mention of that name itself brought his attention back to the commotion.

Deku? What the fuck has that nerd anything to do with this?

At his sides, De…njiro? Whatever. That guy and Long Neck seemed as outta the loop as he was. Not like he expected much, if anything, from them.

Regardless, now that he smelled something fishy in the air, Katsuki needed to get to the bottom of what was going on. He made his way forward, ignoring the affronted gasps and grunts some extras made whenever he pushed them away.

It was their fault for getting in his way anyway.

In his head, Katsuki already expected different scenarios to play out once reaching the outer side of the school's gates.

The nerd having bumped into that chick everyone had on their tongues, with said woman berating him for ruining her make-up or some shit like that. Wouldn't be the first time his two left feet stumbled and led him straight into a mess.

Perhaps she would find his face funny and decided to mess with Deku for the heck of it. Katsuki couldn't say he didn't understand the charm that there was to that.

Who knows, maybe she would decide to throw a curveball and bury Deku's face on her tits. Just like she was doing right―

Wait what!?

Against his better judgment, Katsuki's eyes bulged out of their pockets when he saw Deku, fucking Deku of all people, having his head plunged against the chest of a strawberry-blonde chick in a poor imitation of a hug.

Seriously, what the…?

Some people might consider his reaction as the growing signs of jealousy at the sight of a girl like Pigtails hanging out with a loser like Deku. And while the idea of Deku surpassing him in any way was irking, anyone thinking that's what had Katsuki so bothered would be so damn wrong about the whole thing; he would almost find it funny. Almost.

No, what truly crossed the front of his mind instead was…

Suspicious, way too fucking suspicious.

Katsuki would admit that he wasn't that vested in the social cliques one could find in most schools. What did it matter to him, anyway? Be it elementary, middle, high school, and onwards, he always was and would be the top dog, and that's all that mattered to him

However, looking at the blonde with wild pigtails ahead of him, the way she was shamelessly drowning Deku in PDA, without a care for the literal masses of people fawning at her, Katsuki at least understood she could safely pass, if only socially speaking, for some hot shit.

Second to him, obviously.

Katsuki watched, not dumbfounded at all, as the fashionable chick let go of Deku before initiating some buddy-buddy talk with him. Or at least tried to. Even as far as he was, Katsuki could see Deku was making an ass of himself with that insufferable stuttering of his.

Not like that was deterring Pigtails from keeping at it, though.

That didn't solve the damn elephant in the room. If anything, it only made it bigger. Someone so outta Deku's league it wasn't even funny, and she still acted as if she was lifelong buddies with the nerd. In front of a whole audience no less.

By all means, that was about the only thing that was keeping him invested in the nonsense occurring before his eyes. Sure, he would've quirked an eyebrow about any other girl doing the same. Just that in itself was as unlikely to happen as Deku getting into U.A.'s Hero Course.

Still, he would've let it at just that. The world was big, chances were that there was one chick out there who's into losers like him.

Miss Popular over there, though? The noisy smell he picked turned right down to sewer waste.

It just didn't make any sense! What the hell could someone like her possibly get out of hanging with worthless, unpopular, desperate for any attention De―

…

…Ah, so that's what's going on.

He always thought that the one redeeming quality the nerd had for him was his brains. Yeah, his seemingly eternal stuttering sessions might be annoying as fuck, but that in itself was supposed to be proof Deku, at the very least, had that going for him.

Thinking about it only made Katsuki angrier. After all…

If he truly had the smarts for it, how in the shit Deku wasn't seeing the mess he was getting himself into!?

Katsuki would say anyone with half a neuron, could easily see how obvious it was that the pigtailed chick was up to some shifty shit. The stupid envious looks practically all of Aldera were giving the nerd, though, told otherwise.

I'm truly surrounded by dumbasses, huh?

So much as talking to Deku should've been enough for her to have him wrapped around her finger, and yet she ain't stopping at just that. With how much she was investing into her little act, there's no way she ain't trying to rope the moron into some dangerous shit. Could be drugs, maybe something worse.

Deku was annoying at the best of times, and outright obnoxious whenever he forgets his place and tries to look at him eye to eye…but for all his faults, letting him get caught into that sort of shit gave a sour taste in his mouth.

Katsuki wanted Deku to see aiming for the same heights as him was a pipe dream and have the nerd outta his way, not fucking dead and forgotten in a damn alleyway.

'Sides, dealing with this should quit any delusions Deku could still have about him thinking he saved me back then.

Revealing her true colors should be easy enough. As things stand, Katsuki would bet the bitch ain't expecting someone to actually go and confront her about it.

Will Deku be devastated by that? Maybe, but he couldn't get himself to give a shit about it. That would be Deku's own stupidity at fault for falling for a damn conwoman of all people in the first place.

Frowning, and with a growl beginning to escape his mouth, Katsuki made his way toward the pair with loud and meaningful steps. No sooner he was within clear sight of the two of them, he brought the nerd's attention to him with a snarl of his name.

The look of a deer caught in headlights the nerd gave Katsuki only invigorated his frustration with the quirkless loser.

Fucking Deku, making me save your ass. Ya better see you ain't ever gonna walk the same ground as me once and for all after I'm done with this shit!

Junko Fucking Enoshima.

Hard to forget the name with the first impression he got outta her.

That, and the fact the damn class wouldn't just shut their damn mouths about it.

Sure, she ain't ugly, and he admittedly respected the way she handled herself with the dumb stunt Long Fingers pulled, but the male extras in his class acted as if the fuckers had never seen a woman before her in their entire lives. The female ones weren't any better. If anything, Katsuki would chalk them down as more annoying with their noisy squeals every flipping time her name came outta their mouths.

From his desk, Katsuki darted his gaze behind. His tight-lipped mouth morphed into a sneer at what he saw.

Bundled together like a bunch of mosquitos drawn to a lamp, most of his class were rounded in a semi-circle. Any of those that were left behind were merely for a lack of space rather than not trying to get a spot within.

Seeing to what, or rather who, in particular, they choose to do so around only made him clench his fists to the point of turning white.

Among the mish-mashes of blue, orange, and literal rocky hair, a single bush of dark green hair stood on Katsuki's visage.

'Deku…' His face darkened upon sighting the nerd. One of the biggest changes Pigtails brought with her, certainly the most notorious at least, was the flip-flapping switch of personality the whole school took overnight.

As if the past years, maybe an entire decade for some of them, were nothing but a damn Mandela Effect, the whole class was all smiles and laughs towards Deku. Chicks who would usually gag whenever Deku gave them so much as a side glance, now fluttered their eyelashes at him in the most pitiful display of flirting Katsuki could imagine. Not even the obvious fakeness leaking from their strained smiles justified how terrible it was. Just as well, the other extras didn't fare any better with their damn attempts at making Deku hook them up with his 'friend'.

For fucks sake, Katsuki didn't know what possibility was worse, that they wore their shitty hypocrisy like a damn medal, or that they genuinely thought they were being subtle about their intentions.

It was disgusting. Pathetic to such a grade it shouldn't be even worth it to point out.

Katsuki would gladly do so anyway.

Still, despite all of those shows of false platitudes and sneakiness threatening to make bile rise out of his gut, Katsuki couldn't say that was the root of his frustrations. Not entirely, that much was true.

Honestly, all of that was nothing but meaningless superficial bullshit. In a couple more days they would either find something else to bother their mundane lives with or grow frustrated they ain't gonna be sticking it to her, give up and go forget any pretenses they had of liking Deku at any point. Turning things back to how they had always been.

The nerd itself, on the other hand, was an entirely different matter.

One would have to be blind to not notice the way Deku was looking at Pigtails that day. How she publicly claimed to be friends with him. When he saw her 'defending' him. On each and every occasion, his eyes sparkled as if he was witnessing the second coming of All Might.

Bullshit!

Katsuki couldn't even begin to understand how the fuck Deku was still so enthralled to ignore what was so wrong with that psycho.

Those extras who didn't see it, he could sort of get. But, him? Who was right there!?

He knew Deku could be fucking slow at times, but that wasn't an excuse either. Just the first five seconds of knowing her was enough for Katsuki to see there was …something with her. Nowhere near as to scare or some bullshit like that. Of course fucking not.

Nevertheless…

It was her eyes. They seemed to always carry a pesky glint of amusement. On the surface, that was everything ther was to it. Katsuki wasn't fooled by that, though. Much less when it was of her own volition that she showed it to him when he was about to put Pigtails in her place.

He couldn't describe it in detail. Katsuki would chalk it up as the sort of thing only someone who saw it by themselves could relate to. Still, the feeling of wrongness as her eyes gazed intently upon you, as if boring into one's soul, all the while that damn weird smile crept up on her lips…

Whatever the case was, Katsuki knew he wasn't exaggerating when calling her a total loon.

A loon that Deku appeared to become smitten with.

Deku, you dumbass. Out of all the shitty stunts you could've gotten involved into…

He ain't helping the idiot a second time around, though. He already made the mistake of taking pity on the bastard once, and all he got for it was that bitch making full use of it to mess with him and have Deku swooning over her regardless.

Fucking prick.

Besides, weird as fuck as it might appear, seemed like she did took a liking to the nerd. Otherwise, he couldn't explain why the hell had she taken things as far as she had.

Well, he could think of one possibility, but it was so laughably unlikely that wasn't even worth considering.

Either way, Katsuki didn't doubt she will end up hooking Deku into some crazy shit regardless of her reasons, but he supposed there was a grand difference between getting involved in whatever schemes some crazy bitch who didn't gave a fuck about you could pull and doing so by a crazy bitch who did give a fuck about you.

Might as well have that work as a lesson for Deku about the consequences of sticking it in crazy.

Y'know, perhaps this ain't so bad.

Oh, don't get him fucking wrong. Despite having known her for what amounted to less than an hour, Katsuki still thought Pigtails was a freak.

Although neither could he deny that, for all the little annoyances her sole existence plunged into his life, she came with a particular convenience he couldn't simply ignore.

At first, it wasn't that obvious, but now that some weeks had gone by, Katsuki could see that, finally, Deku was on the path to quitting that stupid and obnoxious fantasy of his.

He showed the signals were there even before knowing her. Or perhaps it was at the same time of doing so. He didn't know when Deku met the chick, but he had the suspicion it was around the same time as that damn villain incident which, for better or worse, Katsuki couldn't pry off his fucking back.

Whatever the case was, despite Katsuki telling himself time and time again that this was it for Deku and his delusions on each and every occasion, it was true there never was anything concrete to take that for granted.

Now that was no longer the case.

Whenever a teach was distracted, Deku would waste no time pulling his phone, and given the way he rapidly pressed buttons on it, Katsuki had a decent guess of who he was texting with. Every day, no sooner the bell that signaled the end of classes rang, a dumb excited grin would morph on Deku's face before practically dashing outta school. Sometimes, Katsuki would leave early enough to see for himself how Deku took a deviation that definitely didn't lead the nerd back to his apartment.

No doubt to see Pigtails and make out, or whatever the fuck those two did in their own privacy.

That wasn't the end of it, though.

Deku had never been one to mingle with the other extras, not even now that he was on 'friendly' terms with the class. Still, he had always sucked at being discrete, so Katsuki knew the weirdo loved to eavesdrop on them when they talked about heroes.

Loved, as in he no longer did that.

Even when the class chattering evolved into talks of All Might, all he would do was to raise his head for a moment, before then going back to his phone.

That was kinda weird, even for the nerd's standards. But in itself, it proved Katsuki's point.

Deku was far too busy spending time with his girlfriend, that getting himself involved with anything related to heroics no longer went through his radar.

All this time, and all it required was for that idiot to get some pussy?

Huh, who would've guessed it?

He knew that Deku still threw him some glances every now and then. Part of that freaky obsession with him still lingering in the nerd, no doubt. At this point, though, Katsuki had chosen to ignore him entirely. Either Deku will get the hint, or his other most recent obsession with Pigtails will pluck it outta him.

It was a win-win no matter how anyone saw it.

Katsuki couldn't help the liberating sentiment thinking about that made him feel. As if a weight had finally been lifted off his shoulders. Deku was never meant to be a real obstacle to his ambitions. Katsuki knew he would've never been capable of aiming that high.

But he couldn't deny it was good to see the last bump on his perfect path to glory had been dealt with. Just thinking about it threatened a sharp grin to rise up from his mouth.

And there was nothing that could wipe that satisfaction off his face.

I should've known it was too good to be true…

Each second Katsuki glared down at the piece of garbage held in his hand, at the damning evidence of the affront made against him, he could feel his fury boiling up.

I should've known how naïve it was to trust he had learned his place.

His ears were picking up on an obnoxious noise, one that only flared his anger into a raging inferno. Absentmindedly, Katsuki knew it belonged to De―to that piece of filth, with his incessant squeaks, desperate to blurt any worthless excuses, lies that could save his skin after being caught red-handed.

There wasn't any.

The fucker…he had everything planned from the very beginning, didn't he?

His teeth bared in a feral snarl as realization hit him. That explained so fucking much.

That's what it was, wasn't it? Always playing the act of the stuttering cowardly shit, when in truth, he was nothing more than a scheming SNAKE!

Oh, how everything fell into place now. No wonder that shady bitch stuck around with him.

The fucker must've bid his time for an opportunity, one that he eventually found on Pigtails. Told her in about his plot, and Pigtails, either being in for the shits and giggles or something of the like, so long as it allowed her to have part of the 'fun', eagerly shook her hands with the slippery coil that made the bastard's.

The fucking humiliation in front of all those extras the two concocted only set the deal for them. From there, their ploy continued full steam. The freckled scum would keep the front of the pitiful rat he mastered over his life, and Pigtails would back him up from the shadows.

All the while, whenever Katsuki turned his back, they would both laugh their asses off. Giggling like the hyenas they were while thinking him none the wiser about it.

Two fucking birds of a feather.

Deep down, Katsuki knew it would've been all for nothing. The shitty training schedule wouldn't do shit for that Viper. Whether Pigtails truly believed in him or not, who knew which was it with how screwed in the head she apparently was, a good-for-nothing like shitty-liar-Deku wouldn't achieve shit.

Someone like him never had, or ever will, held any hopes of becoming a Hero.

Still…

Still…

Letting this slight done against him, for all the damn years that it had gone through, scot-free?

No. That was a whole different matter.

Ya wanna play pretend with the big boys, eh, Deku? FINE! I will show how someone like ya fits into all of this; you damn snake!

It was fleeting.

Really, no more than an inconspicuous fraction of a moment.

But, for an instant, as his fists kept delivering just retribution, Katsuki wondered if he was taking things too far.

Then he felt a stung sensation on his cheek, and soon after Katsuki noticed his face was facing a few degrees away from where it originally was.

Ignoring the sounds of surprise in his surroundings, slowly, almost gently so, he turned back.

There, he saw the look of pure hatred Deku was giving him.

Alongside his still-raised fist.

And with that, Katsuki saw red.

Oh, he definitely wasn't in the wrong here.

In fact, this was much for his sake as it was for Deku's.

Now that he had been caught red-handed.

Now that he saw his plots and schemes held no chance of taking him far. The futility of a wacko enabling his fantasies of grandeur, rightfully coming to bite him in the ass.

Now that he was facing the consequences of his imprudence.

Surely, this time around, Deku would finally understand what was his place in the world.

Right…?

He hadn't.

The exact opposite actually.

Sure, Katsuki did manage to peel that shitty mask of innocence off the fucker's face. It had been long since he tired of the wide-eyed and fearful persona that 'worshipped' the ground Katsuki walked through that Deku crafted over his life.

So, to see the new real him, the slightly less of a two-faced snake Deku, Katsuki thought it would make for an intake of fresh air.

But…given the end result, it turned out to be a bigger pain in the nuts.

Not only did Deku grow bolder, but nothing of what was tried seemed to have any effect after that day. Neither when Katsuki put himself to the task of making him go through a new reminder of his position, or when the extras…

Tch, don't even get him started on those buffoons.

There was some amusement in how they made the bastard silently seethe…but it never lasted on Katsuki. If anything, it always ended up putting him in a worse mood. Not only they still were hung up about Deku keeping Pigtails all for himself, the reminder they, at some point, practically bowed to him for a meager chance of meeting with that bitch always made sure to spark a bitter taste in regard to the poor excuse he had for a class.

Bunch of snakes, they barely are one step above the king of all vipers…

That wasn't important though. Nothing in regards to those losers was.

As for Deku…

It was as if with every beat up, a new muscle formed on his body. Every time he tried to look down at the wimp, he turned an inch taller 'How is it that he's taller than me now!? It doesn't make any sense!'. For every attempt to put a dent on that bastard's arrogance, he grew more defiant.

Those eyes. Those shitty emerald orbs with which Deku once upon a time pretended to be wary of him, now had the gall of looking at him with contempt.

It was all bark and no bite. Katsuki obviously knew that. Aside from that day, all Deku always did whenever Katsuki attempted to make him see reason was to give him a tough look before taking the punches on stride like the pushover he really was.

By all means, the only thing he had achieved so far was to prove to Katsuki that no matter what, Deku would always be a Deku.

But…

Why?

Why does that still fucker can't get the hint?

Why. He. Doesn't. Understand!?

Pigtails.

It had to be her, somehow. Sometimes Katsuki wound up forgetting the influence she might have on Deku. At least, how deep her claws were plunged into him. Sorta understandable given that he hadn't seen her set foot on Aldera since the first and only day she did so.

Some extras had taken that to taunt Deku. Either joking, or seriously theorizing about it, but most would talk about how she got bored of the nerd and dumped him. That, or similar shit like that.

Katsuki knew better though.

Superficial differences aside, there's no way Deku would've kept pushing for all those useless, albeit nevertheless noticeable, changes on his own account. Certainly not if the bastard spent ten years thinking writing on notebooks was his golden ticket into U.A. prior to her interference.

One way or another, the fact remained that Deku's transformation began when Pigtails barged into his life, and it would only remain a constant for as long as Pigtails remained on it.

It stood to reason, then, that getting her outta the picture would in turn facilitate dealing with the biggest headache he had the displeasure of ever dealing with in his life.

For reasons that Katsuki would refuse to dwell about, that ship ain't sailing.

Shitty two-faced fucker, even without lifting a damn finger, ya find another way to act as a pebble on my way.

The first half of the year was coming to an end in a few days, which meant that, begrudgingly as he might be to admit it unless some sort of a miracle for which he ain't fucking begging happened, he wasn't getting that pest off his back from the foreseeable future.

Summer break was it then. He would have to see if some days of retrieval from Deku's presence helped him set his mind straight and figure something out.

Somewhere in the middle of summer break, after a multitude of terse instances in which he felt prompted to reflect on it, Katsuki concluded that it simply wasn't worth it.

Once back at school, there will be a few months left before U.A.'s entrance exam. So, all that attention he had invested to make Deku see the wrongness of his ways, was precious time better spent on improving himself.

Him getting first place was already set in stone. Katsuki did not doubt that. Had never will.

However, the first place simply wasn't enough.

Perfection. The very top not only from his generation but in all of U.A.'s story. Going so far as breaking even All Might's record.

That's the one goal worthy of someone like him.

To do that, though, each and every second had to be put onto his person, and only his.

Which meant not so much as a moment wasted on the dumbass and his girlfriend.

Did it suck ass that Deku was slipping his way through like the snake he turned out to be? Kinda. At least when Katsuki first was confronted with that ultimatum.

However, his time spent contemplating the matter threw some insight that helped him better swallow that pill.

What better touch to his backstory than the existence of a villain?

The more Katsuki mulled about it, the more he liked it. Only heroes win, and villains always lose. What better way to represent that than having them both participate in the entrance exam and come out of it with him as the holder of the highest qualification that U.A. had ever seen, meanwhile Deku, with his score so pathetically low not even U.A. could've thought possible, gets shoved by the backdoor in the school's last grace of pity to save them both the shame.

That's poetic justice right there!

Seriously, why hadn't he thought of that before? That was precisely the perfection he was looking for! The cherry atop the cake that would send him on his way to become the greatest hero this world had ever known.

He didn't get a decent glimpse of that poor excuse of a schedule Pigtails made for his loser of a boyfriend. He was too mad about discovering how much Deku was trying to take him for a fool all this time. Still, even if she had made one or a thousand copies of it, Katsuki wasn't worried.

It made Deku grow some inches taller, but so what? That ain't helping him do shit, not even against the weakest quirk he would encounter in Japan's top hero school.

By the end of it, relying on those dumb notes will become the nail in the coffin that makes Deku realize how hopeless he ever was.

You just wait, bastard. I will show ya what true struggle is, and how it will make ME the only one standing before U.A.'s gates by the end of it!

Something's…wrong with Deku.

Maybe calling it wrong was blowing things outta proportion. But…

While it wasn't something Katsuki could call himself a fan of, but rather the opposite, going as far as consider it a pain in the ass than anything else, he and Deku have known each other for as long as they've had memories.

Deku, the creep he was, had spent so much time observing him that Katsuki did not doubt Deku knew as much as the number of hairs he had on his neck.

But dwelling on that was digressing. The point was, while nowhere near the level of obsession that defined Deku, the same logic applied to Katsuki.

Again, there was no point in going into detail about that. However, two-faced bastard or not. Whether a squeaking pretender or a contemptuous loser. There was one thing that had always remained a constant about Deku.

His unrelenting determination.

It had never made sense for someone like Deku to have something like that. All good it did him was to never stop being an incessant thorn at Katsuki's side, always sneaking his nose where it didn't belong.

Yet, whether for bad or worse, the fact remained that it was there, and would remain to be until the end of times.

Or so, Katsuki thought.

The extras might've taken about a pair of days, but from the very moment Deku first set foot inside the classroom following the end of summer break, he noticed that something was amiss.

From something as easily notorious as the almost robotic way in which he walked, to the inconspicuous stuff like the sound of his dull voice on the scant few occasions he uttered a word, there was no mistake that Deku gave a different air about himself.

But for Katsuki, the most glaring of all changes, without a doubt, lay in his eyes. Gone was the resentment with which he glared at the extras when they badmouthed Pigtails, or the fiery defiance Deku sent at him whenever he tried to pull a brave face in front of him.

Now, there was nothing.

Perhaps it wasn't anything, maybe it was…was…

…

…Tch.

Katsuki didn't know. He couldn't even differ if it came from seeing so many different things through that empty visage of his, or if he was witnessing something so uncanny that there simply wasn't a right word that could accurately describe it.

When the extras first caught up on the change in behavior, they tried to use that as another tidbit to pick Deku about. Didn't took long for them to become unnerved at seeing Deku no longer give so much as a reaction.

Well, he kinda did whenever they pulled the Pigtails card, but much to Katsuki's own surprise, it was only to give them what he could've sworn was a look of pity.

Naturally, the extras weren't taking a liking to that, motivating them to redouble efforts…for about a week. It was no longer funny, he heard them say once they stopped bothering Deku and decided to pretend he didn't exist in the first place.

Katsuki, for his part, knew it was a shitty, albeit convenient, excuse so as to not admit they were creeped out by his new behavior.

The one thing Katsuki was sure of, was that the spark of obnoxious resolve that had always defined Deku, regardless of shape and form…he could no longer see it.

Be it one way or another, after a pair of weeks of trying and failing to ignore it, Katsuki had to wonder but a single thing.

What the fuck was going on with Deku?

Moving from a feeble crybaby to a bitter prick, Katsuki could understand…sort of. He at least supposed it made sense that Deku turned out to be a resentful shit when everyone but him had a quirk.

This new Deku, though? Something recent had to have happened for this sudden development to occur. On top of that, he would have to be a fucking idiot to not suspect Pigtails was somehow involved.

Rapidly, a thought came to mind.

Did the whole class's wet dream come true and she dumped him? Had their honeymoon period expired during summer? Hmph, wouldn't really surprise him.

But, was that really it? Katsuki was sure that if that was the case, Deku would've doubled down on the impotent resentment he went for whenever someone tried to rile him up.

Not…whatever gloomy bitch crap was going for now.

One way or another, something had to have occurred between Deku and Pigtails, but...Maybe, just maybe, his suspicions from all those months ago weren't as unfolded as he ended up believing.

How unlikely it was that she had been playing some fucking 3D chess all along? Always having Deku as her intended target for her ploy, all this time merely waiting for the right opportunity to have him—

No! I ain't falling for that twice!

Not fucking again! He already took the bait, hook line, and sinker, those fuckers pulled once.

Katsuki wasn't going to go along with their schemes, not even to try to set the bastard straight one more time.

Whatever the fuck Deku had between hands now wasn't his fucking problem, so he ain't gonna bother and give him the attention he so fucking craved for.

Heh, ya thought yourself oh so fucking smart, eh, Deku? I know better, though. Once a snake, always a shitty snake, ain't that so?

For all Katsuki cared, he could keep the act going. Let the dumb extras fall for his mind games, and for Deku to feel some vain satisfaction out of that.

Let the shit think he was getting the last laugh out of this.

In the end, it would be all for nothing.

U.A.'s entrance exam was just around the corner, anyway. In a few days now, they would both attend to it.

And it will be right there, when Katsuki comes out of it with his head held high, with one Deku lagging behind, his face filled with realization and despair.

That, once and for all, they will see which one of them was the true hero of this story.

An endless void.

The vast ocean of nothingness, reached as far as any eye could see.

By all means, there wasn't much to tell for a place that was neither here nor there within the raw plane of reality.

Or, at the very least, not until now.

As if replicating the universe itself, their beginning came with a flash. From within it, a radiant silvery flame burst into life. A single source of soothing light within the restless dark, like a lighthouse meant to congregate whatever else could sustain their existence in such an alien environment.

Like a foretold premonition, a blue flame was soon to follow. It was harsh as it was strong, and yet, there was a cold semblance of pragmatic control under it.

A similarly templated red ember followed. Perhaps with a fiercer leaning on the pragmatism, certainly so in the way it forced its luminous zone from flickering too wildly, but its shape and form were so identical from its predecessor, one would believe they were cut from the same cloth.

Then came a contrastingly green one. There was a hint of wildness about its flames, meanwhile, at the same time, its core kept a maintained composure.

Soon, more of them came in tandem.

An Orange ember. Its essence is forward and merry.

Purple. Quiet yet not any less welcoming.

Pink. Warm, almost in a comforting manner.

And lastly, Yellow.

Curiously enough, while there was an air of gallant greatness about that one, its form was convoluted, as if yet to complete the process each of its predecessors had already gone through.

In spite of that, each one of them, without exception, carried a sense of self. Awareness of their existence, of who they are.

Or, save for the seemingly golden flame, were.

Although the environment they found themselves in might have been confusing, perhaps even panic-inducing for some, for them it was nothing short of familiar.

How could it not, if they have gone through a similar process already? Granted, the clarity and grade of independence with which they acted grew with each new consciousness added to their ranks. Their current freedom of thought was a recent development with the addition of their Eighth member.

Speaking of which, the seventh and pink ember wasted no time addressing her yellow counterpart in an almost gushing manner. Her form bouncing back and forth in a clear expression of joy.

Something for which the latter addressed with a mix of bashful acknowledgment and fond eagerness.

It's not like they could talk with each other, certainly not in a direct manner. Much less in the case of the eighth, whose communication was furtherly reliant on sentiments alone. It was more along the lines of having their essences so deeply enrooted with one another, that it was possible for them to convey a general notion of what they wanted to express without the use of words.

That being said, there was this...something in their environment. A feeling of change that, just perhaps, might ensure things might not stay similar this time around.

Assumptions aside, and seeing some of its peers were already mingling with each other, the blue and second members called for their attention before they could track off too far. The third reddish ember following on his steps, if only with an abrasive edge on its conveyed message.

The silver ember, first of them all, took a measure of amusement from their rigid behavior. Nevertheless, it wasted no time in backing them up. Just as well as understanding the urgency of the matter.

After all, their current situation could only mean one thing.

A ninth successor had been procured.

With 'First' conveying as such to the rest of them, they all put themselves to the task of searching in their surroundings.

Given that a ninth now should exist among them, there should have been one more presence in their company.

It took them some moments, but eventually the green and fourth of their kind motioned its peers to what could be accounted as a corner of sorts. There, they all found a silhouette that diverged from the nothingness that surrounded them.

Unlike the rest of them, its shape reminded more of that of a condensed accumulation of fog, its blackness only noticeable from the all-around darkness thanks to its luminous emerald center.

Although obviously different from the rest of them, none thought of it as concerning. It was a natural part of the process each had gone through. While certainly unaware of it, the echo for the current holder of their essences will come to resemble them the further the original host nurtured the power that connected them all.

Then again, that was without accounting for this mysterious feeling that encompassed each one of them. For all they knew, something of unprecedented circumstances could just as well occur.

First had some guesses about it, but figuring out any concrete answers was a matter for a later time.

Back at the matter at hand, they wasted no time regarding their youngest and far from developing peers.

From the critical and measuring gazes from Second and Third to the curiosity and expectancy from Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh, all the way to the eagerness and beaming pride all but leaking from the Eighth.

Given the non-descript shape of Ninth, even by their standards, there was admittedly not much to figure out at first.

It almost felt shy in its nature, most of them could even have sworn it appeared to be shrunk on itself. As if it was purposely trying its best to avoid any interaction with them.

Fifth joked about how that likely meant another introvert in their band of misfits.

Seventh did her best attempt at backhanding what could've accounted for his head.

That aside, their initial assessment didn't bring anything that particularly caught their attention. A bit strange in behavior perhaps, but nothing worth fretting about. For better or worse, Fifth's label of their group wasn't misguided, that much they could all agree on.

Just as well, each and every one of them knew all they did was a preamble. The true test of character came from peering into Ninth's mind and seeing for themselves what sort of person they were.

Might come as impersonal, heavily so in fact, but given what was at stake, of the harsh responsibility that one was bound to once part of this, it was nothing short of a basic procedure.

Channeling their wills into the relatively small mass of fog ahead of them, they peered a synchronized focus on the sphere-like core found inside Ninth. Their intent was to bring forth whichever corners of its mind held the memories they would need to measure Ninth and project them forward.

And yet, no sooner they got into it, they noticed something that would've raised some eyebrows if they had some.

After all, in all their story as vestiges of One for All, that was their first time seeing the process being met with resistance from the host.

It wasn't anything grand. They were confident it was doing nothing but slow the process by a degree or two. Still, the clear negative response towards the intrusion was there.

Given that it was Ninth's echo, and one within its earliest stages at that, rather than the real deal, it meant that the behavior was more of a subconscious effort rather than Ninth actively trying to block their attempts.

So, it was curious, yes, but nothing worth worrying about. One could even chalk it up to a natural response when dealing with foreign circumstances. Perhaps even a pronounced part of that shyness appearing to characterize the new host.

Sympathizing with the concern of having embarrassing aspects of yourself exposed to a bunch of strangers, even on Second and Third's part, they swore to themselves to try their best efforts at not prodding more than what was strictly necessary.

Following that, and just like they had expected, there wasn't any difficulty in bypassing the pseudo barrier Ninth put in between his mind's vault of memories. Like a cloud parting in two, some of the blackness ahead of them made way for a blank chalkboard-like shape.

Soon after, though, the inexistent scenery within it changed, finally showing what they were looking for.

A large majority of the group couldn't stop themselves from mellowing out when the first images came in the form of an adorable few-year-old kid with freckles and a brush of emerald green hair, gushing about heroes with a wide and beaming smile.

That same majority proceeded to tease Eighth when they saw various segments showing how much of a fanboy Ninth was for Eighth. Surprisingly enough, the one reaction that got out of Eighth was melancholy of all things.

Seventh tried to inquire about that. Eighth, for his part, waved her off, or at least gave a sentiment of dismissal, more or less indicating that whatever it was that made him react that way, they would eventually see it through Ninth's memories regardless.

If the atmosphere among the group wasn't soured by that, what they saw past Ninth's fourth birthday made sure of.

Your son lacks a quirk, so it would be best if he were to give up on that dream.

Things only spiraled downhill for their successor after the revelation that he was born quirkless came to be.

Whether it was a rather common occurrence in their time or they simply didn't see a reason to, none of them felt affronted by that revelation. If anything, besides the glaring evidence that that wasn't a particular issue in the form of Eighth, Ninth lacking a quirk made things rather convenient based on what they knew about One For All.

Clearly, the rest of the world didn't share the sentiment.

While Second and Third had no grips with pointing out that his circumstances were nowhere near as close to what transpired during the Dark Age of Quirks, much to everyone else's chagrin, they did come to respect Ninth's resilience nonetheless. Enduring all that scorn and contempt from such a young age with absolutely no one to offer any support, at least not one he could genuinely lean on, all the while maintaining the same optimistic views about heroics.

A bit naïve and idealistic perhaps, but they conceded it required a special sort of strength to still keep such views after going through as much as Ninth did and likely would keep doing.

Sorting through a general view of the following years didn't paint a prettier picture. The older Ninth got, the more unforgiving his environment grew. Coming from times when the quirkless already fell into a minority group. Seventh and especially so Eighth were aware of the discrimination people could hold towards those without quirks.

Neither could compare to how normalized, sometimes even encouraged, the discrimination around Ninth's time appeared to be. Yeah, the environment of their youths might've been a harsh one given that person still reigned under the shadows, but they suspected there was a difference in impact about being harassed by villains, people who clearly accounted as evil and being in the wrong, and suffering the contempt from everyday people.

After watching for what accounted for more than a decade of unfair treatment, and seeing Ninth not buckling down from his ideals despite everything, even if not coming unscathed from the ordeal, save for Second and Third, they all at least regarded Ninth as a worthy successor.

In regards to the exceptions, while they did consider the kid as someone with the heart in the right place, Ninth's perception of heroics seemed way too sugarcoated for their liking. On top of that, while yes, they gave him credit for his solid compromise with his beliefs, they simply couldn't ignore that lack of drive for self-improvement Ninth practically leaked.

They more or less knew where it was coming from, but that was only an excuse for ordinary people. The holder of a quirk as important as One for All simply couldn't afford that luxury.

Neither Second nor Third felt any surprise at the disapproval their peers sent their way. It wasn't like it mattered in the grand scheme of things. For all intents and purposes, One for All was officially part of Ninth and there was nothing any of them could do to remove that fact.

First, always the mediator among the group tried to reason with them. After all, if they were here, that must mean something must've happened along the line that could change their perspective about Ninth.

While not the biggest fans of it, not even seeing the need to be convinced in the first place, there were no protests on their part. They had to catch up to Ninth's most recent memories to get a complete judgment of his person in any case.

It only took about a pair of weeks deeper into Ninth's subconsciousness for the next noteworthy set of memories to come forth.

Katsuki Bakugo was someone they had more or less become familiar with. Hard not to, considering his status as childhood friend turned bully throughout most of Ninth's life. Now, based on what they had seen through ten years' worth of memories, they had enough insight to discern the ashen-blonde was similar to Ninth if only on the exact opposite side of the coin, a victim of external influences and their perception of the world in a quirk-based society.

Didn't make him guilt-free from the mistakes he had committed, but at least assured them he wasn't beyond hope.

Although that didn't quit they all agreed that the less those two interacted with each other, the better. Despite holding a certain grade of maturity about the subject, even they would admit that what they saw just recently made it somewhat harder to sympathize with the boy.

One could hardly imagine a scenario in which inciting someone into committing suicide was justifiable. Or the person responsible for that matter.

Even by his standards, that day didn't seem to be Ninth's. The encounter with the sludge villain made them think for a moment that Ninth wouldn't make it, only knowing that couldn't be the case because the math simply didn't add up.

Just when they thought Ninth's life was taking its first step in the right direction through his meeting with Eighth, they were thrown a massive curveball against his expectations when they witnessed their encounter at the rooftop and what transpired there.

While Second and Third, unsurprisingly at that point, did see the logic from which Eighth was coming about, even they mentally raised an eyebrow at the response he gave to Ninth. Out of all of them, they thought he was the least likely to give that sort of answer.

Thinking similarly, the other vestiges, Seventh most prominent of them all, gave some questioning looks at Eighth's direction.

With his means of communication far more limited than his peers, the only answer he was capable of mustering was to expose the full-blown guilt he felt for his and the original's actions.

Mixed thoughts aside, and deciding that it was better to address that at a later time, they took Eighth's response for granted and continued with their task.

Something for which they were surprisingly rewarded.

Finally, after years upon years of peering, they bore witness to the moment that, without any of them doubting it, made Eighth consider this kid worthy of the mantle.

The selflessness to save someone that inflicted some much pain on you.

The drive to act when no one else dared to.

The courage to face adversity with a face held high.

They didn't know the kid personally, and even then, they couldn't help the pride in his actions from that afternoon surging from each one of them.

Some still held doubts about whether he was worthy of a responsibility as large as being a possessor of One for All. The mention of which of them held that opinion was rather obvious. Despite that, none of the vestiges doubted that Izuku Midoriya had the makings of a great hero.

Most of them knew what was to follow. With Eighth witnessing Ninth's display of heroism, he would look for an opportunity where the two could find some privacy. Then, he would disclose to Ninth his future as the heir of his legacy and the next holder of One for All.

It was rather obvious that was what's supposed to happen next, right?

Only that wasn't what occurred.

Ther first impression they got of the girl Ninth encountered that day, was that she was an extrovert. Eccentric couldn't even begin to describe her. By all means, her personality was the polar opposite of Ninth.

The rest of their first encounter was…well, it was something. By the end of it, none of them knew what to make of her. For one part, they couldn't help growing suspicious of her when, on multiple occasions, she appeared to know more than who was supposed to be a stranger to Ninth should have. It didn't help in the matter that she appeared to not be pretty much a fan of Eighth, much to his echo's confusion and shock.

On the other…

Yes, I believe you can become a Hero…

There was that.

Days went by, and following the pair of weeks in which she was completely absent from Ninth's life, she went to the other extreme and instead became a constant.

From Monday to Sunday. Afternoon to Evening. Any second she had at her disposal, that girl made sure to spend it with Ninth. Unsurprisingly for any of them, Ninth clutched to the friendship she offered like a starved animal would to clutch of meat.

It was concerning, to say the least. Oh, they were glad the kid finally had someone coming into his life that didn't discriminate against him for his condition as quirkless. Kinda obvious why once she revealed as being quirkless herself. On top of that, it was hard to doubt she wanted the best for him. If nothing else, the evidence so far suggested she was the real deal.

Her methods, though…that's where their metaphorical brows furrowed. If there was any doubt about it before, by now it became crystal clear that the girl simply didn't like Eighth nor the influence he held over Ninth. Much to their consternation, she held no shyness towards trying to do something about it.

Much to their outright worry, she got something done about it. It began as a slow process. A flicker of doubt here. One frown whenever he heard Eighth's name there. While never turning into what could be considered outright hatred for the man, it was obvious that the admiration Ninth held and nurtured for more than a decade was but a husk of its former self. And the girlie had no small amount of influence on it.

The worst part of it was that they could see where both that girl and Ninth were coming from.

The last impression Eighth left imprinted on Ninth was one none of them could dare hope to paint as favorably, and the fact that he was yet to show and meet back with the boy even after literal months had passed only cemented that grim picture Ninth seemed to grow in regards to his predecessor.

Speaking of, where the hell was he?

Some vestiges tried to get some answers from Eighth's vestige, but he was incapable of communicating anything concrete beyond the distress he felt at what was transpiring before him.

All in all, to say they didn't like what they were seeing would be one hell of an understatement.

Mixed signals. That girl was giving too many of them. While on one hand there was this whole mess about the way she was thorning the relationship between Eighth and Ninth, on the other was the fact that she was putting some actual effort into making Ninth a hero.

It wasn't some half-assed, spurn random ideas and hope-for-the-best kind of thing. No, it was easy to see she was actually putting some real brain power on turning Ninth from…well, Ninth, into what could pass for a respectable Hero aspirant.

Suffice it to say, that the results spoke by themselves.

Neither could any deny the pillar of support she had become for him. Following that incident with the notebook, life outside the girl got so bad for Ninth that some almost wondered if there was a deity out there who had a personal bone to pick with the boy.

Honestly, they didn't know what would've become of him hadn't she been there for him the whole time.

Did they check Ninth's enormous emotional dependency on her as something worth fretting about? They did.

Did any of them blame him for having developed it in the first place? For the slow but nevertheless progressing degression of his personality? No. None had it in them to put Ninth's circumstances as anything else other than entirely outside his control.

Still, among the series of good, bad, or at least concerning series of things the one named Junko Enoshima had done to Ninth, all the vestiges asked themselves but a single thing.

What was that girl ultimately aiming for?

Eventually, they got their answer.

They all wished they didn't.

Enoshima's proposal to have Ninth fight a villain already sent a few alarms off their minds. By the time they witnessed Ninth's discussion with his mother for the very first time in his life, to the way he cursed all but Enoshima's name, they got the foreboding feeling that something was going to go wrong. Terrible and utterly wrong.

They weren't mistaken.

Everything went to hell so fast on that cursed night, they almost missed the moment Ninth fired the gun and poured a hole into the very center of that guy's head.

Even those among them who had seen the worst the world had to offer and were familiar with the concept of killing, were having a hard time processing that Ninth, who for a long part of his memories seemed incapable of doing so much as hurting a fly, had snuffed a person's life.

They barely held any hope to process the shock at what they witnessed before Ninth's memories kept flowing, without any perturbance for what had just transpired.

All eight vestiges watched, with no small amount of horror stuck across their inexistent faces, when what followed that incident was a one-hundred-and-eighty flip on the dynamics between Ninth and Enoshima.

Gone was the considerate and supportive girl who was there for Ninth as a shoulder to lean on. With her mask peeled off, what lay before him was a cunning and manipulative amalgamation of misery and hopelessness who held no hesitation towards making the worst out of the bond she spent entire months nurturing.

Even when it became obvious to the kid that something was incredibly wrong, the love he held towards her impeded him from cutting ties first chance possible. Nor the second. Or third, and so on and on.

Something that she held no hesitation in exploiting.

With not a single soul capable or willing to lend him a hand, Ninth didn't stood a chance against the onslaught of her despair.

And from there, things only got worse.

Junko? Why…w-why are you smiling? T-That woman, she just…

T-There's nothing funny about this, Junko! WHY ARE YOU LAUGHING!?

And worse.

JUNKO, NO! Don't you see how wrong this is!?

S-Stop it…

Don't make me do this anymore...

So much worse.

Please…get away from me…

Much much worse.

I beg you…don't abandon me, Junko…

Somehow, the blood on Ninth's hands wasn't the worst Enoshima had made him go through.

Ever since the first day of knowing each other, whenever that girl sent Ninth a cheshire grin, something about it stirred First, Second, and Third the wrong way. At first, none of them could figure out the reason why.

Now, though? The answer couldn't be any more obvious.

It was the same smile they recognized from All for One.

Perhaps they were related, perhaps they were not. Regardless of which was the case, this revelation made one thing clear.

Entire decades of fighting. Every sacrifice that was made.

It had been all for nothing.

Their worst fears have come to be.

One for All, the one quirk meant to fight the Ultimate Evil, had been compromised. Now in possession of a product made from the debauchery, sadism, and depravity one of, if not the biggest villains they had the displeasure of meeting.

Inevitably, pandemonium surged among the group.

Some raged at each other. Others drowned in their own misery. A few were too shell-shocked to form a coherent thought.

Not even First could hold a candle of composure at what had been revealed to them. Too distraught to work as the bridge of unity he had always put as his duty. Even if this wasn't a ploy tainted by his brother beyond the grave, it was clear they had merely traded a monster for another.

Perhaps even a worse one, given that at least All for One was one they were familiar with.

Fury. Sorrow. Denial. None of those emotions diverging among the vestiges mattered in the slightest.

Because, as one, their own hearts sang in despair.

The smell of change lingered in the air.

She could almost feel it caressing her smooth skin. Taste it through her luscious lips. See it from her mesmerizing―

Okay, yeah. She was smoking hot, as if that wasn't obvious already.

Moving on!

Right atop the same rooftop she first woke up, her gaze lingered in the distance. Even if nothing in particular was calling for her attention.

That didn't mean her mind was empty of thoughts. It never was, never could be, truthfully speaking.

Ah, getting all philosophical and serious about it was so lame. So, she's gonna be dropping that before it could begin. Back at the airy thing, she couldn't deny her tummy was fluttering with butterflies for that which was to come.

What that was? She didn't know. Well, she kinda did. For a large part of it, actually.

But! But, not everything. She couldn't even say with confidence she had about half of the picture. That was a first. At least so when it came to her long-term goals.

Back home, by the time she put a step into that dumb academy, she had already about eighty percent of her plan figured out. Sure, dear Mitarai and Izuru prompted her to make some noticeable adjustments, but it was nevertheless the same road that she wanted to cross. Only the way in which she did so suffered changes.

Back then, though, everything was centered around Hope's Peak Academy.

Here? It was the whole of Japan for which she had to take into account. And even past it at that.

Even now, while she was comfortable having her butt frozen by the cold embrace of the night, there were people out there busying themselves with their own ambitions. Having their resources working non-stop to make their schemes come true. Schemes she still lacked the means to grasp.

Competition! How quaint was that?

Still, looking down at a stone because I stumbled upon a similar one before, would be unnecessarily dumb. After all…

Gently so, her face drifted west. In the far distance up ahead, more precisely atop the hills of Musutafu, an H-shaped structure stood proud.

Appearances can be oh so deceiving, can't they?

She couldn't help the grin not so dissimilar from the crescent moon above tugging at her lips.

Harmony's playtime was over. Kick that boring bitch out and let the cool kids come and play!

The gears and engines that constructed society begged to be oiled up by a healthy dosage of despair.

Of course, what better mistress for the task than moi?

"Upupupu…ready or not, here I come."

Here she comes, indeed.

Took around a year and a half, but U.A.'s finally about to be taken by a strawberry and pigtailed storm. How despairfully exciting!

So, yeah, first things first, we begin with Katsuki's POV. I've noticed some paid a particular extra bit of attention to his character for this fic, so I admit there's some nervousness at seeing how this chapter ends up perceived.

Obviously speaking from my perspective, I think his segment turned out to be fine. With the change of perspective, we now see some things weren't as simple as they looked like. The most obvious example, being his first encounter with Junko. While from Izuku's perspective, it appeared to be Katsuki coming up with one more attempt at picking a bone with him, only with Junko as the scapegoat, the truth turned out to be far more complicated than what seemed at first glance.

Turns out nothing of what he did came with malicious intent (Certainly not from his perspective), and one might even argue that he had somewhat noble intentions at the start. Unfortunately, his bad blood with Izuku and some special touches here and there from a certain diva, and that went down the drain.

What else, what else...

Oh right, it looks like the vestiges have a front-row seat to everything Izuku (and by proxy Junko) had been up to, and will continue to for the whole ride.

Funny that, huh?

I mean, it's not like that could potentially come up with consequences down the road.

Right...?

Delusions aside, nothing else comes to mind, so I will wrap it out here. This chapter came about a month earlier than the previous one, so I hope the next one follows the same pattern. No promises here, but hey, one can dream.