Izuku weaved through the crowds of people, hurrying his way to school. If he kept up his current pace, he'd make it to school in no time. Despite the fact he was headed to school - a place where his life was frequently made hell due to bullying - he couldn't help but grin.

While his body ran towards his school, basically on autopilot, his mind had drifted off elsewhere.

Back to Tomura, specifically. He had basically grown up with him, to the point that he had a room in the apartment Kurogiri owned. He had stayed over countless times over the years.

His mind drifted back to when he first met Tomura. When he first met him, he was unsure of what to think, as his mind was unable to comprehend some of the things Tomura was getting at. Now, though, he understood more of what Tomura was getting at. ...Kind of.

They had met again a couple days after and even now, Izuku had the ever-growing suspicion that Tomura had been looking for him. Although, he had no way of proving that.

Their meetings had become a regular thing after their second meeting at the park where Izuku often played at. They had gotten to know each other more. At the time, Tomura had been a relatively calm person, albeit very mysterious and somewhat detached but eventually, that personality seemed to shatter; replaced with one that of insanity. Although he kept it on the down-low as often as possible, Izuku being as observant as always, had obviously noticed.

They seemed like normal outbursts, but to those who looked close enough - which Izuku often did and regretted it - you could clearly see it; the hatred, the anger, the blood-lust. Like a monster seeking for destruction.

There were times even Izuku found himself steering clear of Tomura, in fear of his outbursts. They had started off mild, not occurring very often, but eventually it had become full blown out tantrums, mysterious destruction of property - objects were just disintegrated, crumbled, turned to dust somehow - and more often than not, somebody would be hurt, whether it was minor and major.

Izuku remembers, once, he had tried to stop one of Tomura's outbursts. He remembered Tomura reaching out for the person who made him mad, a grin full of insanity etched onto his face. He didn't quite remember what fully happened after that though. But he does remember jumping in front of Tomura, trying to stop him from hurting the other kid and a searing pain somewhere in his body before he could smell the tingy scent of blood. After that, he had - from he was told, anyways - fainted. He woke up in the hospital a week later, delirious and confused as to what was happening to him.

Tomura's outbursts had been severely contained since, and Izuku noted how Tomura was always trying his best to hide his outbursts from him more and stay calm whenever he was in his presence. He didn't want Izuku to see him like that ever again. He didn't want to do that ever again.

But that scar would never fade.

Izuku huffed as he reached his school gates, finally having reached his destination. A full blown smile was on his face as walked in, glad that he had been able to reach school in time. There was muttering and murmurs surrounding him, people whispering and chatting about him, but Izuku paid it no mind. He didn't care. They could say whatever they wanted but they would never bring him down.

Because he was unbreakable. He had a strong will. That's what Kurogiri says too, and that's all he ever needed. He is strong and he would show them.

One day.

One day he would become a hero and prove them all wrong.

With that thought in mind, Izuku bravely marched into school.

~~~

The day itself had gone relatively normal - classes were the same boring lectures, occasional wad of paper thrown at his head, a few sneers here and there, etc. The normal. Well, except for one thing.

He hadn't seen Kacchan today. That never ended well. In normal cases, if he hadn't seen Katsuki for the entire day, then that usually meant he was planning something. Something Izuku would prefer to avoid out of concern of his own health and Kacchan's record. In normal cases (Non-Izuku cases, anyways), people wouldn't care about their bully's record. After all, why should they? They're bullies and they made your life so much harder. But unfortunately, Izuku was one of rare, idiotic but adorable cases where he did care for his bully's record because despite everything, Izuku still looked up to Kacchan. He always did and always would.

Kacchan had one of the best quirks ever and his personality suited it too - he was just as explosive as his quirk - and he was strong. He was going to be a great hero one day.

But maybe that was why Izuku also despised him sometimes.

Kacchan was strong without a doubt and he could do almost anything - he was an aspiring hero for sure. But why was it that someone was like him could become a hero? He was a bully, he basically abused his power and he never really cared for other people. It wasn't fair. Izuku himself truly wanted to be a hero because he wanted to help people - to save people from their despair like the Symbol of Hope(1) and just generally be a good person. He wasn't in it for the money. He just wanted to be useful - to help.

But Kacchan? Kacchan hungered for power. He wasn't even that nice to his friends - followers, more likely, actually - and he wanted to be stronger than All Might. (Kacchan was strong but Izuku doubted he would be that strong.) But that was all. He didn't want to be a hero to help people or to make a difference. He just...

Wanted power.

Tomura had told him many times before that quite a lot of pro heroes were only heroes to begin with because they were in it for the money or for some other selfish gain of theirs and almost all heroes were people like Katsuki. Izuku shivered at the thought. As much as he looked up to Kacchan, if he had to work with people like him every single day of his life in masses, Izuku wasn't so sure that he did want to be a hero. It was that doubt that occasionally put him off wanting to become a hero. Surely not all heroes were as bad as Tomura made them out to be, right?

...Right?

After all, there were heroes like Endeavor and Eraserhead! They didn't want power or to beat the number one hero All Might, right? (He vaguely remembers Tomura snickering while Kurogiri merely turns away and doesn't say anything, making his doubt grow somewhat.) He was certain that there was some good heroes out there. There had to be... After all, All Might was a hero! So hope was not lost!

"The strong survive and the weak die..." Izuku muttered to himself as he walked throughout campus. He had been late to leave the class due to wanting to finish his notes, making him the last one to leave his class. His mind was still occupied on the topic of heroes and what Tomura had told him about them. Only the strong heroes will make it - after all, that's how people got into UA. By being strong. But with villains, there were three types; strong, weak, and then pathetically weak it's a genuine surprise they weren't dead in the gutter by now - as stated by Tomura.

"What the fuck are you mumbling about now, you damn nerd?" An agitated voice asked. Izuku's head shot up in surprise before he whirled around to face the source of the voice, Katsuki Bakugo. Straight away, he can tell Kacchan is lacking his usual lackeys and - after a quick surveillance around the area - there's nobody else around either. That isn't good.

"K-kacchan! Wh-what are y-you doing here?" Izuku stutters as he frantically waves his arms around in a panic. Confrontations alone - or at all - are never good, especially if it's with Kacchan.

"What do you fucking think, dork? I go to school here," Kacchan snorts.

"R-right, s-sorry, Kacchan..." He looks down at the ground, unsure of what to do. He couldn't exactly just turn around and walk away - Kacchan would throw a fit at being ignored and Izuku didn't exactly have anything to say either.

"What were you mumbling about?" At this, Kacchan's eyes narrow, his eyes calculating.

"O-oh, it was nothing, r-really. I was just t-thinking," Izuku waves his hands in front of him, as if that could magically stop the conversation from going any further.

"Don't give me that bullshit. 'The weak die and the strong survive.' Why the fuck are you thinking of that?" Kacchan asked. Izuku stops waving his hands for a moment as he stares at Kacchan, his guard flying up.

"Why does it matter?" He asks, traces of his normally meek and socially-awkward personality disappearing into thin air. Kacchan glares and Izuku can already see the smoke from his hands rising.

"'Cus I said so, nerd. Now answer the damn question."

"Just because you say it, doesn't mean it matters. You're irrelevant," Izuku states, his eyes hardening. (RIP Deku 2001-2017) Kacchan's eye twitches and his hands let off small explosions as he takes a couple of threatening steps towards Izuku as he glowers at him.

"What?" Kacchan growls, menacingly towering over Izuku, eyes full of murderous intent.

"I said you're-," This time Izuku manages to catch himself before he goes too far and suddenly, he's shivering with fear as he realises what he's done. His brave personality fades away, his normal personality back in full force. "You're, uh... I... U-um... You're..."

"Fucking out with it, Deku!" Kacchan screams, lifting his hands up and setting off some more explosions.

"You're... Oh god, K-kacchan, I'm so s-sorry; I-I didn't mean it, I sw-swear!" He mumbles, hands once again frantically waving in front of his face. Kacchan stands up straight, looking down at Deku, face almost void of emotion.

"Deku, who the fuck do you think you are?"

"Midoriya Izuku," He blurts out before he can even stop himself. Kacchan's hand lands on his shoulder, practically blowing up his confidence already.

"Perhaps we need to have a talk to see who's in charge here," Kacchan demands and before Izuku can even attempt to stutter out a sentence or do anything, Katsuki is already pushing him elsewhere.

~~~

Never have I ever(ayeeee) thought I'd be doing a scene like the last one I just did. Also, pairings are questionable. I don't really write pairing but if anyone really wants one, just uh. Say so, I guess. If I get enough requests for pairings, I'll start working on that. I think now that I've explained the relationship between Izuku and Tomura, I can focus more on dialogue and actually showing you, etc. That being said, their relationship can hopefully be considered boderline crack. I'm gonna try to make it funny but honestly, I suck. Also, I'm looking for a Beta to help me with my story, so if anyone's interested, just pm me?

(1) The Symbol of Hope. This is an aspect of my future plot, not a mix-up. I figured if All Might was the Symbol of Peace, wouldn't there be other symbols? There are other users of One for All so at least one of them has to be a symbol or something? I dunno. That being said, the Symbol of Peace is not a user of All for one - and goddammit, all will be explained later. ;-;

I hope you enjoyed the chapter anyways (even though I kinda stalled).

- Lilly.