It's lonely at the top.

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I had a slightly different idea for this story, keeping Bakugou the same rough kid he is in the beginning of BNHA, but he literally started writing out his own character development without my consent. LOL. So...

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Bakugou Katsuki was a golden child. Aside from the harshness of his personality and his obliviousness towards all things fragile, he was the golden egg of golden eggs. His parents were wealthy up the wazoo; he had a powerful quirk and talent to back it up; no one was afraid to tell them how amazing he was, so he at least had an ego becoming a successful hero.

There are always other factors at play–things so far from reach and out of our control. So when Katsuki's best friend–favorite follower–strongest rival–perfect hero partner–Midoriya Izuku was pronounced quirkless... well, the world may as well have been falling down around him.

Quirkless.

No, no, no.

Hero's can't be quirkless. Quirkless people can't be heroes–they're too weak. They'd just get hurt–they'd only get in the way.

What am I supposed to do? Katsuki thought, helpless for the first time in his life.

He was only five years old. What can a five year old even do in this situation?

"You can't be a hero without a quirk," he said finally, palms sweating against his fingers in tight fists. "Quirkless people can't be heroes. You can't be a hero without a quirk."

The look on Izuku's face, tear-ridden and heart-broken was almost worth it.

"I can!" the other boy exclaimed. "Even if I don't have a quirk, I can be a hero with you, Kacchan! I'll just have to work extra hard! I'll work harder than anyone else! I'll catch up to you someday, Kacchan, so wait for me!"

Tears welling. Fists clenching. How can he think that way? Doesn't he know how hard life is for the quirkless–the discriminated–the "unworthy"? A well of something dangerous and thick sludged upwards in Katsuki's throat.

"You can't be a hero without a quirk, Deku! You can't do it!"

The words tasted bitter and so wrong in his throat, but it needed to be said. Izuku needed to hear this. He needed to know how harsh the world would be to him now. He needed to be put in his place–in a bubble of safety far and farther away from the limelight and the danger of the hero field.

He needed to stay safe.

Izuku needed to stay safe.

Katsuki could take the pressure. He could take the strain of hero work, and the press, and the stress, and the complications. And he needed to keep his best friend safe. He could do that, too.

Who was he without Izuku?

— – –

Katsuki got rougher around the edges as the years went on. He got more verbal with his threats–more physical in his attempts to get Izuku to drop his dream of being a hero–a strong, fruitful hero like All Might.

Not even Katsuki himself could be a hero like All Might.

"If anyone's gonna be the next All Might, it's gonna be me," Katsuki spat. "You'll just get in my way."

And when tears well up in Izuku's eyes, that sludge comes back with fervor. It's all crap he's spilling, anyway–little white lies to keep Izuku far from his dream of being a hero–to keep him safe and away from danger.

"You shouldn't say things like that, Kacchan..."

And he goes too far.

"You should take a swan dive off a roof and pray you get a quirk in your next life."

He goes way too far.

I feel sick.

– – –

The sludge is physical, this time, tangible and real in a most frightening sense. It snakes in between his teeth and around the linings of his eyes and it reeks like something died in it.

That speculation really puts things into perspective.

And the muck slides over his eyes in a thick, flimsy film that feels sticky and slimy simultaneously. It snakes through his nasal passages and clogs them until he can't take another breath in. He can't breathe. He can't see.

He is going to die here.

I'm going to die here, Katsuki thinks, tears welling in his eyes involuntarily. I'm going to die in this stupid muck and Izuku will be next; a stray bullet near a fight between heroes and villains that he always loved to run to; a pit of quicksand around a construction site; a stupid villain who thinks he can topple All Might. There's no way Izuku wouldn't try and take down someone like that.

And then, light returns to him.

"KACCHAN!"

And he knows that voice. And his heart leaps as his senses return to him and he gasps in breath after breath and he's shaking and All Might is there, and so is Izuku and he's not dying anymore.

He breathes in again. And again. And again.

Izuku crashes to his knees beside him. Oh. He's on the ground too.

"I'm so glad you're alright, Kacchan!" he says urgently, and Katsuki's eyelashes flutter like butterfly wings to keep himself from crying.

It works, kinda.

"I didn't ask for your stupid help, Deku."

Izuku does that weird laugh-sob thing he does, hugging Katsuki tighter.

"That's okay," he says earnestly. "My legs moved on their own, so I didn't technically mean to help you either... Not that I wouldn't have helped you anyway! But, you know, it was involuntary, so I couldn't stop myself and..."

'My legs moved on their own.'

His legs moved on their own. Katsuki cursed. How was he supposed to compete with that? There's no way he could keep Izuku from his dream of being a hero now that he'd dropped that bomb.

I'm not as strong as he is, Katsuki thinks, and the admission makes him stiff. If Izuku is stronger than me, how am I supposed to become a hero?

"You're stronger than I am," he says out loud, hardly a whisper. "I'm nothing compared to you."

Izuku pulls back from the hug, hands strongly gripping Katsuki's shoulders at arm-length.

"If you really think that, you're stupid, Kacchan."

Katsuki scoffs.

"I mean it," Izuku says. "You're the strongest person I know. Well, I mean, aside from All Might. And maybe my mom. And probably Best Jeanist. Maybe Endeavour too... but in a few years you'll surpass even them! But probably not All Might; I mean, come on–he's All Might! And–"

"I get your point, nerd."

Izuku chuckles and rubs the back of his neck.

"Right," he continues, "Anyway, what I'm trying to say is: there's always gonna be someone stronger than you. Can't we grow stronger together?"

Katsuki huffs lightly, smiling with a closed mouth and a light beading of tears in his eyes.

"Yeah," he says after a while. "Let's do it."

Izuku balls his hand into a fist and puts it in front of Katsuki. He balls his own fist and they connect with a light tap.

"Oh my, you boys should get checked out by the paramedics!" a strong, cheerful voice declares somewhere above their crumpled forms.

Izuku's head shoots to the side and his eyes widen into saucers. Katsuki's face doesn't look too different.

"It looked like you were having a bonding moment!" he exclaims with a grin befitting the number one hero. "Who am I to interrupt such an important thing between brothers?"

Izuku wipes some tears from his eyes and then exclaims, "You're All Might!"

The hero laughs, boisterous and golden.

"That's right, my boy!" he says.

After a bit of fanboying and getting checked over by the paramedics, Izuku and Katsuki head back home, talking about heroes and quirks and names for their future hero agency. It's like a dream.

– – –

Izuku has a quirk now.

It feels so surreal.

Katsuki has never been happier.

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Note: crossposted on Ao3 under my pseud: huunty.

Good night! Thanks for reading.