Izuku was a weirdo, for sure. Katsuki knew the moment he saw the little shrubhead just stare at his notebook or at nothing in particular. He rarely saw him get excited about anything. Whenever he got the chance to say anything about whatever he liked, Izuku would just close his eyes, smile, and nod. It honestly freaked him out a bit.

They were inseparable, their parents were friends of course so he never got his shortage of some Midoriya home cooking. It was so cool being at Izukus' house! His mom never limited his TV time, never yelled at him for whatever dumb reason, and best of all- the video games! Ugh, his own mom would nag and nag and nag about "not too close to the tv Katsuki" or "stop moving so much Katsuki" or "Stop bothering Izuku, Katsuki." It was frustrating!

He liked staying at Izukus' even though the green haired kid would do that weird thing where he'd always pause and take a deep breath. Ugh, he told his parents about that. His mom thought it was a lung problem or something, so of course she'd rat it out to Izuku's mom as well.

Turned out it was nothing. Izuku just liked taking deep breaths. He was weird like that. Always scribbling down on a notebook, even when there were so much better things to do.

Like watch TV! Katsuki was still amazed at how much TV time Izuku had, all the All Might movies he had, all the freedom Izuku had.

He never let up a chance to go to their house, after all.

It was... nice. Nice was a good word to describe the feeling of being with the Midoriyas. Even though Izuku's dad did creep him out though, ugh.

Katsuki absolutely glimmered at his own quirk. Explosions on his hands, Amazing! Hopefully Izuku's quirk was cool like his. He'd never miss a chance to tell everyone what a good hero duo they were going to be when they grew up.

Izuku didn't get his quirk on his 4th birthday, weird. Katsuki didn't care, surely it'd come by any day now.

Right?

It was different now. Katsuki doesn't know when it started. It was a blur, honestly.

Izuku was quirkless. The teacher had to announce it to the other kids. They made fun of him. Katsuki could see it on Izuku's face though. He didn't care. That soft smile never leaving his face even though the others picked on him. Bakugo grit his teeth, always a hardass.

They were playing Heroes Vs Villains near the forest, the rocks by the river were so tall! Katsuki fumbled a bit, struggling to get to the top.

"Kacchan... it's- it's dangerous." Izuku's soft voice cut through the approving cheers of his other friends.

"My ass!" the sandy blonde bit back. "What're you a scaredy-cat huh!?" He cackled, letting off the little fireworks on his palm. "Chicken!"

His footing was getting wobbly, struggling to hike up his feet as they slowly slipped on the wet rocks. Until, a small stone was dislodged. Katsuki slipped, he saw. He saw the horrified looks the kids were giving him, the water thrashing below him. The bottom was just rocks, jagged rocks.

Katsuki snapped back the moment he felt a violent tug on his wrist, he crashed back to the riverside. Grass didn't have the best taste in the world. So he hacked out the horrid taste alongside the water that splashed his face. Izuku was there, his breath short and exhausted. "You okay?" Midoriya asked him, worry looked weird on Izuku. All that emotion didn't fit well on his face.

"The fu- of course I am! Not like I needed help from some weakass like you!" he barked back to Izuku's face. The little shrubhead just gently shook his head while that soft smile crept back to his face. "What? You got something to say nerd?" he was getting pissed. Izuku was always so sure of everything, so full of himself.

"Yeah, he's just qu-quirkless! That's right!" the other kids hollered back. "He's just a use-useless Deku!" the cronie king himself struggled to get the syllables down. Not like Katsuki can remember his name or anything, there wasn't anything special about him. The kids continued to chime in, telling Deku that Katsuki never needed any help in the first place. They persisted laughing at Izuku's expense.

"Oi! Hey!" Katsuki yelled back, ignoring the pain on his wrist. He cut through them and got between the other kids and Izuku. "FUCK. OFF." He grabbed Izuku's hand and led them back to the trail. "Let's go." He insisted, dragging De- Izuku from the... extras. Honestly, he couldn't give a fuck about who they are and what they think.

GOD!

"You okay?" the little shrubhead cut him from his thoughts when they were out of earshot from the rest.

"Peachy." He grunted back, gingerly rubbing on his right wrist. He narrowed his eyes, inspecting the red marking where Izuku had yoinked him from falling into the river. He was strong, Katsuki scoffed. Izuku was strong, he knew that. Deep down Izuku was a weird shut in, but every now and again.

Rarely.

Very rarely.

Izuku could do stuff he could respect.

"Whatever, let's just go home." He commanded, Izuku shrugged walking by his side. Katsuki glanced back at him. "Stop that." He said with barely masked frustration. Izuku continued to just look at him, clueless. "GOD! Stop looking at me like that!" he yelled.

"Sorry." Was all that Izuku said. Katsuki wanted to scream. It frustrated him so much. The way that Midoriya would just shrug off anything thrown at him. By the kids, by the teachers, and by literally anybody else. And he'd- he'd just look at him like that. Like he was sorry for him or something. It was so annoying!

"Mom's gonna let me do martial arts next year..." the wind blew. Small leaves drifting by as they walked out through the forest. "Do you- do you wanna come with me?" Izuku asked, his big doughy green eyes looked straight back at Katsuki's scarlet peepers.

"The hell am I even gonna do there? Don't need it, pass." He scoffed, as if lol. He didn't need that, he needed to practice with his quirk anyways, dojos don't allow quirk use.

"Well... you never know." Izuku said in the creepy-ass cryptic tone he always had. God.

"Cant. You. See. That I want. To Train. My QUIRK?" through grit teeth, Katsuki glowered back at Izuku, their walk coming to a halt as they confronted each other. "You keep doing this! You-you-you- can't just can't leave me alone, can you!?" Katsuki let out a frustrated groan as Izuku silently chuckled, his shoulders bouncing up and down. "Stop looking down on me! You- you freak!"

Izuku just stared. There was a pause, the two of them not moving from their spots on the trail. "We're six, Kacchan" Izuku smiled back. "I'm not looking down on you or anything, y'know..." the greenette just shook his head, denying Katsuki of any rebuttal. "We're gonna be heroes after all. S'not bad to start somewhere, y'know..."

Katsuki just let out a frustrated sound of annoyance before sighing. Deep breaths Katsuki, deep breaths. "Fine. Whatever, you gonna cry if I don't come?" he asked back, turning a heel to get out of this forest.

That gentle smile crept back on Izukus' face, Katsuki just side-eyed him a glare. "I think I just might."

That earned him a well deserved eye roll and a punch to the shoulder.

"-Besides, a hero duo should stick together, right?" Izuku stated, a softer scoff escaped Katsukis' nostrils. Silent approval in Bakugo language.

"Whatever." The continued up the forest trail. "Just so you know, don't come crying to me if you trip or something. Got it nerd?"

Izuku really got on his nerves sometimes. Truly.

It's not like he can abandon him or anything.

GOD.

The trouble Izuku gets himself in.

Katsuki can't leave Izuku, he doesn't trust him to not get himself maimed.