Chapter 21: Bakugou Katsuki I

A/N: And here we are with another perspective switch! This time around, it's none other than the story's resident explosion enthusiast. As for what's in store? Guess you'll all just have to see…

P.S. Whelp. This one's actually late this time, even if only by a little. Sorry 'bout that. It probably won't be like this next week; guess we'll see.

Bakugou Katsuki wakes up at the crack of dawn, the light of the sun creeping past his blinds to cascade over his sleeping form and spur him into consciousness.

Whatever semblance of a serene expression on the boy's face disappears as he gains more and more lucidity, eventually culminating into a scowl marring his features as he shoots up from his bed. Preemptively, his hand grabs for his phone, heading ahead to shut off his alarm before it even goes off.

When that's done, he turns his head towards the window and narrowly stares it down with his one good eye. "Damn sun."

After rubbing his eye a bit to rouse himself further from sleep, he scoots over the width of his bed and messes with his window blinds, turning them upwards and forcing the light to shine towards the ceiling. Despite the fix, however, Katsuki knows that the damage has already been done.

I still have an hour left before the damn alarm is supposed to go off. The hell am I supposed to do until then?

He knows that there isn't a point in trying to go back to sleep — his body just doesn't work that way. So rather than work against what he already knows, he gets up and out of his bed and walks over to the small mirror over his desk.

Just as has been for the past year, his scarred and mangled face is the first thing that catches his attention.

His run-in with that sludge villain hadn't left him unscathed, unsurprisingly. He supposes that he could freely admit now that his actions during the incident hadn't done him any favors; starting up fires and holding back the heroes was likely what had cost him his right eye in the first place.

He takes solace in the fact that other than a lack of depth perception, his missing eye isn't all too much a hindrance. It took some getting used to at first; both the irritating eyepatch he has to wear and his tendency to not notice certain people walking up to him if he wasn't paying enough attention to his surroundings.

Like that annoying Shitty Hair from class.

Nowadays, most of the frustration he had harbored has faded. He knows that he's not going to be getting any better anytime soon, so the most he can do now is ensure that his missing eye and the scar tissue surrounding it doesn't hinder his path to being the number one hero; especially if he's aiming to be one greater than All Might himself.

However, that doesn't mean that he doesn't loathe the fact that people think he's some cripple — that he needs help just because he's missing an eye.

I'm Bakugou Katsuki, damnit! I don't need any of your extras' shitty help! Can't you all see that?! I can do things just fine!

The only thing he can do now is contemplate and reflect — learn from his past mistakes and learn to never make them again, whilst improving his overall outlook over certain things. Something he still finds great difficulty over.

Katsuki sighs. His thoughts are nothing new, and if anything they've actually plagued his mind for weeks, if not months on end. Shaking his head in unbridled irritation, he attempts to move his thoughts to somewhere less bogged down. He reaches over to atop the mirror and grabs for his eyepatch. Much to his annoyance, however, his decision does nothing but summon yet another familiar stray thought from the depths of his psyche — because his mind just can't stop wandering today, apparently.

Is this how that nerd felt every single day, waking up deaf in one ear because of my actions?

His left eye flinches at that. He banishes the thought just as quickly as it comes.

Whatever happened to him, it was his own fault. He was — is too weak for his own good. I shouldn't even care at this point. It's not like the nerd is around anymore. I need to stop thinking about him. Really.

Leaving it at that, Katsuki slides his eyepatch over his right eye. Once it's in place, he takes another glance at his reflection.

The person looking back at him in the mirror is someone he almost doesn't recognize; after all, how could it be that he's been injured so severely so early into his career? If I can't even keep myself from losing an eye, how can I become Number One?

Bakugou scowls, cursing the voice in his head once more. Sharply turning from his reflection. Fuck this. I'm going to eat breakfast.

His walk downstairs to the kitchen is uneventful, but he realizes that he isn't alone when he finally reaches the kitchen. If anything, that's to be expected; there's a reason he usually wakes up in an empty house, after all.

"You're up early," his father, Bakugou Masaru, calls out as he looks up from his phone — no doubt from looking up the daily news.

"It was the fucking sun," Katsuki growls as he makes his way to the kitchen counter. He finds his breakfast — usually premade for him — still fresh and gladly gathers it into a bowl. "Someone must have placed the blinds facing down. And you know how I hate that."

"You wouldn't have to deal with it if you moved your bed away from the window," Masaru offhandedly throws out. It's an argument he's had multiple times before, one he knows he'll never win, but it doesn't hurt to throw it out there every once in a while for the sake of it.

"Must have been your mom," Masaru continues, taking a sip of his coffee. "She was in a bit of a hurry last night; said she wanted to get to bed A.S.A.P. so she could get enough sleep for today.

Now that Masaru's mentioned it, Katsuki notices that the house is rather quiet for a place that's supposed to have his mother inside it. "Where is the hag, anyways?"

Masaru sighs. "She's taking Inko to her appointment, remember? She probably won't be back until late, if last time is anything to take an example of."

With the therapist. Right. Katsuki scoffs. Damn nerd. Causing problems still even when he's not around anymore.

Katsuki finally begins to dig into his breakfast — natto over rice. He grabs for the idle karashi on the table, and dumps a large amount over the contents of his bowl.

"I know I've said this before," Masaru says, " but I really think that you need to kick back on that karashi. I mean, there's spicy, and then there's too much, you know?"

Katsuki merely offers a grunt in reply. An uneasy silence takes over, overlaying the scene of Katsuki chowing down and Masaru reading the news with a sense of light, if unyielding pressure. Eventually, Masaru is the one to break the silence.

"You know, Katsuki, I know that the past few—"

Katsuki slams his hand on the table. "I know!" He yells, fist tightening. "You can stop repeating yourself over and over! I get it! And the answer's not changing! I don't need any freaking help, and I don't need some wackjob staring at me trying to psychoanalyze me! I'm fine!"

Masaru's face betrays no shock or anger — as if he were expecting this exact response. He takes a breath, nodding in defeat. "Right. I'll take your word then."

Katsuki leaves it at that. He focuses back on his breakfast viciously digging into his dish.

Fucking people thinking they know better than me. Fucking nerd. Fucking sludge-bastard.

I'm fine. Never been better. I don't need anyone's help.

The morning continues on in silence.

"I bet that he doesn't have any friends! The closest he has to one has gotta be you, Kirishima!"

"Oh come on guys! That's just mean! Sure, he's a bit extreme, but that doesn't mean he has no friends!"

"But it has to be true! You see how he acts! His personality is like a stinking pile of manure whose stench is flowing through the breeze! Nobody would want to go near that!"

That specific jab almost gets Katsuki to snarl back in retaliation. But he bites his tongue, just barely. Fucking Dunce Face. Another word out of him and I'm pounding his face in.

"Why don't we just ask him himself? What of it, Blast Boy?"

Katsuki does growl at that. Damn Ears. Her and her nickname for him. And her fucking wirecords or whatever they are.

"The fuck you want, Ears?" Katsuki barks, glaring at the girl. "Does it look like I want to talk to you?"

"Whoa dude!" Shitty Hair interrupts, clutching his shoulder. "She was just asking a question, bro. No need to be so hostile. She hasn't done anything to you."

Katsuki shoves the redhead's hand off. "She irritates me."

Shitty Hair raises an eyebrow at that. "Any particular reason? You can't just hate her for no reason… Right?"

Katsuki simply sneers back in response.

Ears huffs. "Really? If anything I should be mad at you for nearly blowing me eardrums out on the first day. But you see me trying to reach out, right? So what's your problem?"

Katsuki turns his head away and towards the passing landscape out the window. Nobody notices the slight gulp that travels down his throat.

Ears scoffs in return, rolling her eyes. "Ass."

"Kero. It's true," Frog Face eventually says. "I don't know how, but he'll have to work on that if he wants to be a hero."

"It is truly unbecoming a of a proper hero," wind guy says, sending his own glare his way.

"I'm sure that we can work on that, right bro?"

Katsuki doesn't offer a response back to Shitty Hair.

The conversation continues from there, but whatever is said from there on out isn't heard by Katsuki. He drowns the voices of his classmates out, allowing his eye to rove at the passing landscape. He can't help but let out a mental sigh.

If only...

It had all gone downhill real fast. First, his creep of a teacher had yelled for everyone to get out, and then that black mist fucker had appeared further down the complex. While his teacher had jumped right into the fray, that black mist showed up right in front of Katsuki and the others.

The villain — because what else would he be — began to monologue of all things, so of course Katsuki had tried to take advantage of the situation by launching a potential surprise attack. Only it hadn't worked, and now he found himself in some corner of the UCH or whatever the place is called.

And not only that, but there's some masked freak in front of him. Complete with a full black bodysuit and some sort of full-face ski goggles, Katsuki's sure that the lack of features and the aura being emitted by the individual would have any of his classmates shitting their pants just by relative proximity.

But not him. The individual is obviously a villain, and that fact only brings up excitement in Katsuki's veins. He grins at the prospect of beating up some worthless scum for once, and he'll gladly revel in it if it means something to take his mind's attention.

The villain is the first to act.

"I'd stay where you are for now, if I was you."

The voice is not quite what Katsuki had expected. Maybe some sort of voice modulator sure, but not quite the amalgamation of voices that he hears coming from the villain. Children, the elderly, men, and women alike; they all seem to reverberate through the villain's words.

Katsuki scoffs. "And what makes you think I'm gonna listen to you, huh? I could get over there and have you stuck in a crater in the ground in five seconds flat! You think you can beat me? I —"

Katsuki's eye widens. His hands go for his mouth, only to find nothing amiss. He then tries enunciating some words, only to find the same conclusion he's already made moments ago. He can't speak. At all.

"Honestly. How can somebody be so annoying? That boy really must have been screwed in the head if he let you walk all over him like that."

Katsuki narrows his eye. Boy? What boy?

"I see that I've got your attention. Good; this is something you should listen to." The villain nods, and places his hands around his back.

Idiot. He's putting himself in a position vulnerable to attack. Not that I'll tell him that.

"What was your name again… Oh, right. Bakugou Katsuki, right? At least, that's what Izuku told me."

"He what?!" Katsuki yells out, only for no words to even leave his mouth. He realizes his mistake, and shits his mouth. He still doesn't know the villain's quirk after all; what if it was enhancement via stolen words?

His internal debate isn't enough to stave of his original thoughts, however.

You mean to say Deku joined up with the villains? I knew he was pathetic, but—

"It's a shame that he died on the operating table, though."

Katsuki blinks. What?

"He knew the risks, of course," the villain continues. "Becoming a nomu isn't a guaranteed thing, let alone is keeping one's mind by the end of the operation."

The villain hums. "Though… I suppose that I should thank you, in a way. The short time that I spent with Izuku did more for me than all the years I spent being brought down by society. His mind brought some revelations up to the surface for me, suffice to say. All of his stories of being kicked around like trash, of his struggles with people mocking the death of his father in his face, to the horrendous abuse brought about by the supposed uselessness of his quirk… It really made me realize that I have nowhere near experienced the true horrors of our society. If it weren't for you batting him around like some weasel, I wouldn't have the personal firsthand outlooks and ideas of a boy broken down by society."

Katsuki shivers. Deku… What did he get himself into? And… he's dead? Because of me?

"That's right. It's all your fault, you know? He came looking for power, something to validate himself after he was told to jump off a roof and All Might personally mocked him all in the same day. Guess it was just a little too much for him; everyone has a breaking point after all."

The villain sighs. "It's a shame that he perished. Oh, with a mind like his, the things that he could have accomplished…" The villain sags, shaking his head. "Well, at the very least, he has contributed to a greater cause, even if he will never know it. After all, a part of him lives on in me, you know? Not just his ideals, or his stories, but his quirk too — with great synergy to mind, might I add. All in all, his dream of being of some use to someone came true after all."

Katsuki stills at that.

"Though… that doesn't change the fact that you were the main tormentor and instigator of Midoriya's horrid abuse throughout his short life. And I feel like I owe the kid, you know? And if that means mercilessly beating you into the ground, going along to teach yet another narcissistic egoist their place on the totem pole, then so be it."

The villain cracks his neck. "So come, Bakugou Katsuki. You say that you want to be the hero that surpasses All Might? Then prove it. And… Just in case you need some convincing, just in case you think this is all a trap… Well, I'm sure that you recognize this voice, right?"

"Katsuki!"

The voice that comes out isn't like before. Rather than some mix of voices, the voice is readily and unmistakably female. And it's one that Katsuki is intimately familiar with.

"What did you do to my mother!?" Seems like I can talk again.

The villain shrugs. "Nothing as of yet, of course. Going after your loved ones is not honorable thing to do in the slightest. But if it comes to that… well, you'll see. Know that I am merely presenting the threat in the case that you don't deliver. And we wouldn't want that now, would we?

I won't let this villain tarnish your image, nerd. I owe you at least that.

Katsuki charges forward, propelling himself with his quirk. The villain on the other hand stands still where he is, showing no sign of being ready for the upcoming assault.

He really is an idiot.

Katsuki ramps up his right arm in preparation, holding back at just the last second until — he misses. He almost doesn't see what happens.

The villain sidesteps his blow, only then to weave his way into actually grappling Katsuki by his right arm and using it to toss him into the ground.

"Please. Easily predictable. Is that really all you have to offer?"

Looking up from his position in the ground, Katsuki spots the villain standing over him, looking down at him expectantly. This spurs Katsuki to snarl into action, using an explosion in one hand to push himself forward while aiming another explosion at the villain.

The villain moves — well before the attack could even hope to connect. The result is a jab that goes between Katsuki's ribs that has him falling to the ground once more.

"He used to tell me of how much he admired you for your strength and willpower," the villain says, looking down at Katsuki once more. "Don't get me wrong, he hated you with a passion — though that didn't mean that he couldn't still have some respect for you, apparently. Even if it was only for your more… positive aspects."

Katsuki uses another explosion to lift him off the ground — but not all the way. Halfway up he causes himself to spin, his legs ready to sweep the villain off his feet.

But yet again, the villain dodges with ease and elegance. Katsuki rights himself up onto his feet; the expected counterattack never comes. Rather, the villain stands off a few feet away, the expressionless gaze behind his mask somehow palpably judging and critical.

"Shame that your indomitable will doesn't stand up to mental and emotional pressure. It makes you sloppy. That's a rather sizeable chink in the armor, you know."

Katsuki growls. "What would you—"

"I know everything there is to know about you, Bakugou Katsuki. Whether from the word of the victim himself or through my countless hours watching your every move from the shadows, there's nothing I don't know. So please, don't chastise me with the old 'You don't know shit about me!' Because you'd be wrong about that; plain and simple."

A literal tornado of fire suddenly sprouts up in the distance, lighting up the USJ ceiling in fiery reds and oranges.

"Hmm. Looks like that's my cue. It's been fun, Bakugou. I'd stay longer, but I can't waste all of my time here."

Katsuki narrows his eyes. He wants to charge forward, but he holds himself back. If the past few minutes or so are any indication, he can't just charge in blindly. He needs timeto plan — time he may or may not have.

"You're just gonna leave me, huh?! Don't think I'm worth it!?" Katsuki yells out as he presses his brain, stalling for time to think.

The villain scoffs. "It's a wonder he held you up on that pedestal for so long. I don't know what he saw in you."

The villain turns around, leaving his back exposed to attack. Katsuki doesn't go for the opening, however.

"See you around, Bakugou," the villain says. "I have bigger fish to fry than you. In fact, rather than knocking you out, I'll let you go to aid your peers while I'm at it."

Katsuki lets out a sneer. "You mean you're actually worried about those extras?"

The villain pauses in his step. He turns, giving ince last look at Katsuki. "You should heed the screams and bids of assistance of your fellow classmates, Bakugou Katsuki. Try to be an island all you like, but the path of heroism can't be done by one's lonesome."

Katsuki grumbles in irritation. "Those extras don't hold a candle to me!"

It's the villain's turn to scoff this time. "I wouldn't be so sure. Don't be so hasty to discount potential allies — after all, who'll come to save you if everyone comes to hate you?"

Katsuki grimaces. "Shut up."

The villain lets out a light chuckle, and then turns once more, the smokey portal from the mist guy before appearing before the villain. "Till we meet again."

The villain turns once more, his lifeless, masked face staring straight into Katsuki as he backs into the portal. "Bye…"

And with that, Katsuki's left alone, the sounds of battle and the screams of his peers echoing throughout the landscape. The atmosphere should be inciting excitement — temptation, within his veins. But the only thing he feels is some wallowing, hidden contempt.

"Damnit."

A/N: And that's that. We'll be back to Izuku next time, as well as the continuation of the USJ incident. Till then!