“Kaachan!”

Midoriya winced at the sudden impact of the bedroom floor.

What’s this? I’m having a nightmare now? Probably cuz I kept thinking about the Kamino Incident last night.

Chuckling, Midoriya took a quick shower, applying makeup to cover the eye bags that were starting to form under his eyes.

Midoriya paused, before laughing at how stupid everything was.

The past few days, he had been running errands for his class, fixing the electricity, cleaning the dorms and stocking food. Then, he had to take care of all these nightmares that everyone was facing, offering support for everyone who needed it.

The Kamino Incident was especially fresh in many people’s minds and he knew their insecurities were hurting them from within.

Like Aoyama.

He ended up with quirk exhaustion because he’s been trying to improve himself, because he thinks of himself as someone weak.

They were all trying to hide their insecurities, and heck, if it wasn’t for the fact that he had to hack into the U.A. system to obtain the police recording from Naomasa Tsukauchi’s files, Kaachan would probably never tell him what had happened.

And here he was, being a wimp for not being able to carry the burden of being the next One for All holder.

In fact, being the next One for All holder means he has to support everyone.

B̸̖̭̼̝̑̈̿̔͋͆͛̚̕͠ų̵̛̘̹͇̅̓͊͑̕t̸̡̆ ̷͖̩͚͈̣̓̈́͒͊̃̆̚͜i̴̤̰̲̖͔̟̽̿f̵͙̻͙̱͑ ̵̧̣́̏̂͠ŷ̸͕̞͙̼̈̀o̶̡̟̮̮͎͓̝͇̩̒̒̇͛̍̌͗̀̓͌ų̴̛̥̝̣̗̖͖̈́̾͑̀̎̕͘ͅ ̶̜̲̟̦̭͕̱̀̀̈́͋̒̈́̍̀͆͜͜s̷͚̣̟̃u̵̩͔͐̆̆̊͗̑̊̀͌́͜p̵̗̖̥̻̿̏p̸̱͕̳͌̔͒̈̓͆̍̏͑ͅͅo̵̢̬͍̠͔̙̯̊͒͐̄̑̔̀̽͋ͅͅr̸̞͔̗͇̟̬̀̑͆̅͌ẗ̷̢͙̜̙̼͚͍̞͖́͋̀ ̸̮̳̟̹͉̥͓̖̟̔͒͆̋̃̕é̴̛̻̠̅̔̎̈̂̑͝v̵̨͋ͅe̶̫̬̱̎̽̔̆̅̀̚͝ṟ̸̨̘̖͚͕̼͕̱̂͊̚y̶̢̨͖͌͒ơ̸͔̭̮͕̲̤̤̫̞̣̿̓̿͌̕̕n̷͓͎͑̀̓͂̈̿͘ė̵̩̂͌͜͜,̴̪̰̪͗̋̓̇͗̂̌̽͊̉ ̶̺͎̼̹̲̝͓̎̐́̏t̶̨̖͎̬͇͍͔̤̲̉͗ḩ̵̜̞̥̼̩̫̈̀͂͂̄͛ͅe̴̢̞̮͚̒̅͑͊́̓̍͒̚ǹ̷̡͍̳̭̺̱̠̹̲̪̀͐̀̈́̍ ̸̠̜̦̻͈̞͖͎̲̌̑̓̀w̴̟̞̯͚̬̪̙̉͐̕͠ͅh̷̜̠̹̦̳̭̃̀̓̎́̕ȍ̴̧̝̩̼̰̤̙͋̆̓̐̎̚͜͜ ̶͉̋̑̈́͐̄͛̊͐̑s̵͖͕̯̉͗̽͜u̷̧͉̤̻̙͜͝p̵̖̱̭̈́̌͐̽̽̐̀̇̊͘͜p̷̢̧̡̳̪͉̘͎͒͂̆̇ò̶͉̳̦̖̌̈́̀̇͒͛͘͝͠r̶̮̭̦͍͓̖͈͕̓t̸͓̝̺͖̪̦͓̫̦͙͑̉̄̊̈̇s̶̢͕̫̪͈̠̻̐͒͛͂̚͘͠ ̴͍̭͕̻͇̱͋̔̃̌͊́̓ͅͅÿ̵̢͙̗͚̜̙́̉́ǫ̶̨͉̥̾̒͋̊͂̊̈́̚͝ư̸̢̼̙̮̬̝̏͊̄̄̇̽̀?̸̱̍̋͑̇̽̽̓

A small voice mumbled at the back of Midoriya’s mind but he shrugged it off, ignoring the gnawing feeling in his gut.

-w-

“Midoriya, are you sure y-you sure you didn’t anger the God of Soup or something?” Uraraka said as she tried her best to stifle her laughter.

However, her restraint was horrible. With one last look at Midoriya, she burst into laughter.

MIdoriya sighed.

This time, he had tripped over his own shoes.

His own god damn shoes.

“I’m gonna go change. Please continue lunch without me, sorry.” Midoriya said as he grumbled, pouting at the mess he was in again.

"Alright." Uraraka said before turning back to Lida.

Ouch. That hurts.

-w-

Today was definitely not his day.

He was paired up with Katsuki Bakugou.

Katsuki Bakugou.

Of all people, it had to be him.

Want to know what's worse, we're going to be fighting against each other.

With quirks.

Midoriya groans inwardly, already expecting the pain.

Recovery Girl is gonna kill me later.

-w-

"How many times do I have to tell you to not overuse your quirk?"

Midoriya rubbed his neck sheepishly and gave a smile.

Only to get flicked in the head by Recovery Girl.

Well, at least the damage done wasn't so bad.

The fight had ended with Kaachan igniting an explosion in his face and Midoriya punching Kaachan in the stomach with 50% One For All.

"Your ears will stop ringing after a few hours or so, and for our dear young man here, don't do anything stupid and worsen your injury."

"Whatever, old hag-"

Midoriya chuckled inwardly, seeing Kaachan getting flicked in the forehead.

"What're you looking at, fucking pipsqueak?"

Recovery Girl sighed.

"The both of you can go back now. And I don't want to see any of you back here, alright?"

"Yes." Midoriya replied, stifling his laughter.

"Alright, now shoo."

-w-

(A/N: Shifting the talk between Bakugou and Midoriya before the exam)

“Deku, let’s talk. Outside.”

Guess we’ll be visiting Recovery Girl again later. Better send a text to Aizawa sensei first.

Shifting his leg, Midoriya hid his phone behind his back, typing out a message he hopefully got correct and sending it to Aizawa sensei.

Following Kaachan, Midoriya watched Bakugou’s hunched back, as they walked down the lane into the forest.

“Hey…”

The explosive blonde didn’t answer, but continued walking forward.

After a few minutes, Midoriya realized Kaachan had led him to the training grounds.

“This place is … Ground Beta…”

“This is where I fought you for the very first time in combat training... “ Kaachan spoke up, “And lost.”

The prone-to-bones-being-shattered-kid paused, unsure what he was supposed to do in this situation.

“All this time, just thinking about it made me sick to my damn stomach.”

… kinda obvious.

“You were a quirkless, good-for-nothing, weak little bitch, but somehow, by some fucking miracle, you got accepted to U.A. and by an even bigger fucking miracle, your quirk manifested out of thin air. Ain’t that right?”

Midoriya froze, feeling an unknown sense of dread and shiver prickling in his bones.

“You were an incomprehensible bastard, spewing nothing but incomprehensible garbage, and ever since then, you’ve been wearing this self-satisfied face while growing more, and more, and more, the whole god damn time.

Ever since that one time with the sludge bastard, no… ever since All Might first came to town! More, and more, and more, and more…”

“I-”

“JUST SHUT THE HELL UP AND LISTEN, ASSHOLE!”

“Sorry.”

“The whole damn time… It pissed me off. It disgusted me!

With the whole incident in Kamino, I finally put the pieces together. But y’know…”

Ah, here it comes.

“And I’ve been thinking about it the whole time. You got that power from All Might, didn't you?”

Ding ding ding, correct! Well, not that I can say that.

Welp, looks like this is how I die.

“The boss of all the villains, that bastard…

From what I could tell, with just a snap of his fingers, he could snatch away people’s quirks and bestow them to others.

I couldn’t believe it.

But lo and behold, one of the pussycats was forced to retire due to the disappearance of their quirk, and not to mention, those noumu fuckers held multiple quirks.

Thinking about all that… the credibility of my theory seems pretty damn high.

All Might and that boss asshole were acquaintances.”

Hm.. I wouldn’t really say acquaintances is the right word for it but please continue, it’s such a rare experience to see Kaachan talk so much without using his fists.

“‘The transferral of quirks’... in reality, that can only mean… All Might is somehow connected to that bastard and that’s related to what you said about your quirk being ‘entrusted’ to you by someone else, ain’t that right?

After you met All Might, you began to change, and All Might lost his power… You interpreted that statement differently from everyone else.”

‘You’re next.’ Well, I certainly started crying, which gave it away.

“All Might wouldn’t give me a straight answer, so that’s why I’m asking you now, got it?”

Midoriya recalled All-Might’s warning to him: Fortunately, it seems young Bakugou was convinced you were just talking nonsense, So I’ll overlook it this time, but please, don’t let it happen again.

“The fact that you ain’t tryin’ to deny it… It means I’m right, aren’t I? You bastard…”

“If you hear the truth, how is that going to help you?”

Bakugou stared at Midoriya silently before continuing, “you and me both, we always looked up to All Might and aspired to be like him. Yeah? Ain’t that right?

The guy I always thought was just a damn pebble on the side of the road, before I knew, he was acknowledged by the person I looked up to the most, and that’s why…

You’re gonna fight me! Right here, right now!”

“WHY?!”

Like seriously, how the heck did you end up in that conclusion?

“Huh?! Wait a minute, why did it come to this all of a sudden?! No, but seriously! This is a bad idea! It’s already bad that we’re here in the first place! At the very least, if we’re gonna fight, we should do it during free practice! We should borrow a training room and do it there! There’s no reason why we have to do this here, is there?!”

The explosive blonde sighed, “Don’t you get it? If we try to fight seriously, they’ll just stop us.”

“I want to confirm exactly what’s so great about you that All Might himself would go that far for you. If your aspiration was so much greater than mine, then does that mean my aspirations were wrong the whole time?!”

“Kaachan…”

“If you don’t want to get hurt, then put up your fists! Oh that’s right, you’re going with kicks now, aren't cha?”

“Hold on a minute! C’mon, seriously! We can’t do this!”

BOOM

Well fuck

Sending an explosion into Midoriya, the green haired flew up due to the impact.

“BRING IT!”

“Kaachan, are we seriously gonna do this?!”

“Wai-Wait a minute! Do we really have to fight?!

It doesn’t mean your aspirations were wrong! NO ONE IS SAYING THAT!”

The explosive blonde flew forward, throwing yet another explosion.

“I said wait…”

‘Wait up, Kaachan!’

Even though I always gave you shit as you trailed…

‘Are you okay?’

Even though no matter how many times I beat you…

You would still fucking tag along behind me

“DON’T RUN AWAY! FIGHT ME!”

Even though we admired the same person…

‘Let me tell you something. Self confidence is an extremely important thing! You have the power fitting of a hero, no doubt about it! I understand it’s because of young Midoriya’s sudden growth isn’t it? But you know… someone at level 1, and someone at level 50 can’t possibly grow at the same rate?

The explosive blonde stretched his left hand outwards, an explosion building up in his hand.

Activating One For All, the green haired teen dodged the incoming explosion.

Bakugou then brought his left leg, kicking it high up, aiming for Midoriya’s chin.

The force pushed Midoriya back as he did a backflip.

Bakugou who attempted to strike another hit, had to dodged backwards as Midoriya’s legs aimed a kick backwards towards Bakugou.

WHY?!

“Tch!”

Stumbling backwards, Bakugou glared at Midoriya who had landed back on his feet.

Landing on the ground, a worried expression appeared on Midoriya’s face.

“Are… Are you all-” Midoriy stretched his arm outwards, only to get slapped away by Bakugou.

“DON’T YOU FUCKING WORRY ABOUT ME! FIGHT ME! WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM?! WHY?!

WHY?! HOW DID I END UP CHASING THE BACK OF A SHITHEAD WHO WAS ALWAYS TRAILING BEHIND ME?!

A SHITTY SMALL FRY LIKE YOU GETTING STRONGER!

AND BEING RECOGNIZED BY ALL MIGHT, EVEN THOUGH I WAS GETTING STRONGER TOO!

SO WHY…

WHY DID I BECOME THE REASON FOR ALL MIGHT’S END?!”

Oh.

Midoriya realized now what exactly was going through the explosive blonde’s mind, as he stared into his childhood friend’s crimson red eyes.

Anger

Sadness

Grief

…

Guilt

Fear

“IF I HAD BEEN STRONGER!

IF I HADN’T BEEN KIDNAPPED BY THE VILLAINS!

THEN NONE OF THAT WOULD HAVE EVER HAPPENED!

I TRIED TO KEEP ALL MIGHT A SECRET. I COULDN’T TELL ANYBODY! BUT EVEN THOUGH I TRIED NOT TO TALK ABOUT IT, THE SLIGHTEST ACCIDENT WOULD MAKE IT ALL COME FLOODING OUT!

I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I SHOULD DO!”

He’s been carrying this burden this whole time! Even more than I was… all this time.

He was troubled by it.

It was on his mind this whole time...

Do we really have to fight?

This fight might very well be a meaningless one. And it may not matter who wins or who loses. But I know in this moment that I have to do it.

Swinging his dominant foot over, Midoriya smashed Bakugou in the face.

“...All right then… I wanted to see if shoot style would work well against you anyways..”

Because right now, the only person who can receive Kaachan’s feelings is…

“If you wanna go, then there’s no holding back!”

ME.

It may very well be that, by fighting with me, he simply wanted to let out his emotions that he was unable to do anything else with.

And yet, even if that was the case, it may have been selfish of me, but I couldn’t let him win without a fight.

Looking back, my thought process was distorted.

From kindergarten, to elementary school, to middle school, and high school…

The two of us have been together as long as I can remember, and yet, we’ve never exposed our true feelings and talked things out..

Not even once.

“I know I’m stating the obvious but… you’re really getting stronger.” Midoriya smiled, as he regained his breathing after dodging and defending from the flurry of attacks.

“WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU’RE SMILING ABOUT?!

YOU’RE PROBABLY JUST SCHEMING ONE OF YOUR TRICKS AS USUAL!

I NEVER KNOW WHAT THE HELL YOU’RE THINKING!

NO MATTER HOW MUCH I BEAT THE LIVING SHIT OUT OF YOU, YOU KEPT HOLDING ON AND COMING AT ME!

AND YOU WERE ALWAYS LOOKING AT ME FROM ABOVE WITH THOSE DAMN EYES OF YOURS!

EVEN THOUGH YOU WERE JUST SOME ASSHOLE WHO NEVER HAD A DAMN THING!

IT’S AS IF THIS WHOLE TIME, YOU WERE LOOKING DOWN AT ME WITH DISDAIN, AND TRULY AIMING TO SURPASS ME BECAUSE YOU KNEW YOU COULD! IT’S THAT GOD DAMN ATTITUDE OF YOURS…

THAT I CAN’T FUCKING STAND!”

Midoriya froze, before parting his lips in disbelief, “you thought of me… in that way?”

So all this bullying for the past ten years of my life was all because of me. Kaachan, being like this, was also because of me.

Well, that is pretty normal. If I kept being looked down on and made fun of by someone, I know I would want to have nothing to do with that person.

But it was never my intention.

And I caused this

So I have to fix this.

“But even so, it’s just like I said earlier, I did have nothing, and that’s exactly why, to the same extent as all of your unpleasant traits, your sheer amazingness at everything you do was so brilliant to me, it was blinding!”

“You had so many things that I never had…

TO ME, YOU WERE AN AMAZING INSPIRING PERSON, WHO WAS EVEN CLOSER TO ME THAN ALL MIGHT!

AND BECAUSE OF THAT, I ALWAYS CHASED AFTER YOU!”

BOOM

“IS THAT ALL YOU GOT?!” Midoriya shouted.

“WHAT?!”

Looking at Bakugou, Midoriya saw ‘The embodiment of Victory’ and guilt flashed in his green piercing eyes.

This is all my fault, so let me fix this.

I’m sorry but… I want to beat you! That way, I can show All Might why he chose me!

I will surpass you with ‘my own strength’!

And then maybe, maybe I’ll get another chance…

“I WON’T LOSE!”

BOOM

Midoriya blinked, as he stared at the darkened sky with stars blinking back at him.

“All Might’s power… even with that power… even if you made it your own… you’re still losing to me. Come on. Why did you lose?”

“That’ll be the end of it, you two.”

“I’m sorry, but… I took the liberty of eavesdropping on you.”

“All…”

“Might…”

“I’m sorry. For not realizing it.”

Bakugou got up, frowning, “now you..?”

Turning his head away from his idol, he asked one question that had been bugging him the whole time, “why deku?”

“Ever since the time with the sludge villain… why was it this guy?”

“Despite being powerless, he was more of a hero than anybody else. I judged it was my responsibility to help the stand in the arena, and not you, who had long already been standing in it.”

“But I’m weak.” Bakugou’s voice trembled, “EVEN THOUGH ALL I WANTED TO DO WAS BECOME STRONG LIKE YOU! BUT CUZ’ I’M WEAK, NOW YOU’RE LIKE THIS!”

“This is not your fault. All roads come to an end, I was going to turn out like this no matter what. You are strong. But you know, I concentrated too much on strength… I let you bear too much.”

“I’m sorry.” All Might apologized as he hugged the explosive blonde, pressing his forehead against his fragile chest.

“You’re a young man too.”

Bakugou growled, swiping All Might away with a push.

“I’ve been a hero for a long time, and here’s what I think. To obsess over victory, the way you do, Young Bakugou, and to want to rescue people who are in trouble the way you do, Young Midoriya. If you’re lacking in one or the other, you won’t be able to maintain your own sense of justice as a hero.

In that way, Young Midoriya longed for Young Bakugou’s strength, and in that way, the young Bakugou feared Young Midoriya’s spirit. Your feelings are all out in the open now, you both get it, don’t you?

If the two of you recognize each other, and honestly raise each other up, you can become the best heroes, who both win and rescue.”

“That… That was not what I wanted to ask about…”

Bakugou sat down on the ground, staring at the floor as he placed his head between his knees.

“You.”

Midoriya paused, as he stared at Bakugou pointing at him.

“If you’ve got the strongest person helping you out… you can’t be losing.” Bakugou growled.

“I’ll get stronger, so that I can beat you.” Midoriya replied, his tone steady.

And save you, and everyone else.

I’ll protect everyone.

“Who else knows about you and Deku’s relationship?”

“Recovery Girl, Principal Nedzu, Aizawa and among the students… only you.”

“You don’t want people to find out, do ya, All Might?”

“Since you’ve been trying to hide it, I won’t say anything to anyone. I won’t go blabbing like shithead Deku over here, okay?”

Oh, he finally started cursing again.

-w-

“Things’ll be different now, Deku. I’m going to make everything mine and rise up higher, even higher than you, 'chosen one'.”

Midoriya smiled, “Then I’ll rise even higher. I’ve got no other choice.”

“I just said I’m gonna surpass you, dumbass!”

“And that’s why I said I’ve got no other choice than to rise above you.”

“HUH?!”

-w-

Midoriya winced as the capture weapon tightly squeezed him and Bakugou.

“So who threw the first punch?”

“I did.”

“I also… threw a punch back.”

“Bakugou and Midoriya, you’re both under house arrest for the next two days! During that time, you will be cleaning all the dormitory common spaces! Morning and Night! Also I want a written statement of regret from the both of you! As for your injuries, if the pain doesn’t get any better, go to the infirmary. However, don’t you dare go on thinking you can just rely on that lady’s quirk! Heal your selfish injuries by yourselves!”

Aizawa sighed.

“That’s all! Go to bed!”

-w-

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