Going to UA was like a dream. Izuku still couldn't believe it was real! He actually made it in! All Might didn't even have to pull any strings or ask for favors- He made it in on hero points alone! Izuku forced himself not to bounce as he excitedly walked down the halls, taking it all in. It looked so much bigger in person! He'd seen pictures before, used them as reference when writing UA high school scenes in his stories, but it didn't compare to the real thing at all. Even the door to the classroom was enormous, taking into account any quirk variations of current and future students alike.

"Shut the hell up glasses!"

Izuku tensed up when he heard that voice as he opened the door, his eyes instantly locking onto the familiar figure of his childhood friend. Kacchan... Kacchan was in his class. Oh, he was not gonna like that... Izuku yelped as their eyes met from across the room, yet Kacchan didn't seem as angry or annoyed as he thought he would be. Nor did he seem surprised to see him there. He did look pissed at the guy that was lecturing him though, and Izuku feared the guy with the glasses didn't know what he was getting into by making an enemy out of Kacchan.

It wasn't until they were in the changing rooms, getting dressed into their sports uniform as requested by their homeroom teacher, that Kacchan spoke to him. Izuku had expected him to be angry, to demand to know how he got into UA, to threaten him to give up and quit. Yet none of that came.

"Don't think you're tough shit just cause you managed to get in, Deku. This is only the beginning," he stated, glaring him down with those intense red eyes as if he could look straight into his soul. "I'm still leagues ahead of you."

Was... Was that a challenge?

"I... I'll do my best, Kacchan," Izuku sputtered, trying and failing to sound confident as he forced himself to look right back at him. He could swear Kacchan's mouth quirk up for a moment.

"I'd like to see you try."

And so he did. Izuku tried, did his best, and Kacchan watched him. Even when he used his quirk, when he broke his finger, and Kacchan's eyes almost popped out of their sockets. He did seem surprised that time, which wasn't all that shocking. Izuku had been quirkless his whole life, so to see him use such a powerful ability... Izuku expected Kacchan to explode, that he'd definitely get angry this time. He didn't. He was shocked, sure, but that passed quickly. Was he just...accepting this? How? Why? Izuku didn't understand it at all.

Katsuki didn't tell him he'd ranted for days about how excited he was to get accepted into the hero course of his dreams. Didn't explain that he already knew of his self destructive quirk after Izuku based a whole damn fic on it. A short one, but still. It was still shocking to see it for himself though. To watch Deku use a quirk he knew he didn't have before. It made him more curious if anything, because how the fuck was he able to get his hands on such a power? He deserved it- Hell, he deserved it so much. But... Just... How? He couldn't exactly ask I.M.HERE, and Izuku sure as hell wasn't gonna tell him shit if he hadn't already.

Instead he asked him how his first day went through the private message system of the fansite, and they both rambled on about how excited they were to become real actual heroes. Things continued like that for a while, Kacchan keeping a polite distance, throwing some remarks at him here and there. None degrading or humiliating. If anything, they were always quite helpful. Izuku, in turn, improved his quirk control. He became better each and every day, even beating Kacchan in their first indoor battle simulation and not backing down when actual villains attacked them in the Unforeseen Situation Joint.

Message from I.M.HERE
Got time?? I have a fic idea I need to rant about 😬😅

Message from LEM💥
Shoot

Message from I.M.HERE
So this is kinda out there but you know I got some fics about quirklessness and quirk discrimination and stuff right??

I was thinking maybe a reader insert about a quirkless kid gaining a quirk and using it to push the change they want to see, to influence society into accepting people for who they are regardless of their quirks

Not super realistic I know haha just an idea that popped in my head

Message from LEM💥
Why a reader insert?

Message from I.M.HERE
That's what you got from that?

Message from LEM💥
Just feels like an OC kinda deal to me idk

You do you tho I can't write for shit so

But yeah no sounds good 👍 unique and original and shit

Not that you have to write unique or original stuff for it to be good or anything

You write what you want to whatever anyone else says!! Fic is for yourself first and foremost and write for yourself and all that crap like you don't even have to post it if you don't want to

No matter what you end up doing with it I'll love it ♥️

They both knew it was just a way for Izuku to vent his feelings about this giant secret weighing him down without actually telling anyone about the quirk he inherited, and Katsuki was curious whether reading it would provide some answers to his questions. Izuku ended up not writing it though. Or, well, he did start, but he just couldn't do it. Writing about quirklessness was always rough on him but something like this... It was too much. He didn't tell LEM that, making up an excuse, saying it wasn't such a great story idea to begin with. LEM understood, still supporting him in anything he did, even if Izuku knew he didn't deserve it.

Meanwhile the sportsfestival came and went, Kacchan taking the win just like Izuku had expected him to. The blonde wasn't too happy about his victory, stating Todoroki half assed their fight. That wasn't completely untrue. Todoroki did use his fire when fighting Izuku... But Izuku also understood why he didn't use it again- why he wouldn't. But despite his anger, Kacchan didn't direct any of it towards him. Hadn't since the start of UA, as if he was turning a new leaf. Something Izuku could only encourage by staying out of his way.

"Looks like I'm still way better than you, Deku," Kacchan had called out after the award ceremony as they passed each other in the halls of the stadium by chance. "When are you gonna make that quirk your own, huh?"

Izuku's eyes widened as he whipped his head around, wanting to reach out for Kacchan, to shout at him, to ask what he meant- what he knew- and yet all he could do was stand there, completely frozen, as he watched his childhood friend walk down the hall. He knew. Of course he knew. They'd known each other their whole lives, of course Kacchan wouldn't believe him when he lied about being a late bloomer or needing a specific thing to unlock his quirk. He'd known from the start...

Izuku debated on whether to tell All Might about it, but decided against it. Kacchan didn't know about their connection and Izuku wanted it to stay that way. Then again, All Might had told people, too. That's what Izuku found out when the internships started shortly after the sportsfest ended. Gran Torino was an odd man, but he did help Izuku gain more control, get better at using this quirk in a more unique way, a technique better suited to his body. Yes, he was determined to make this quirk his own, to show Kacchan what he was made off!

xxxxx

Katsuki bit the inside of his cheek as he suppressed some unholy noise from escaping his mouth. It was the middle of lunch but Deku had just updated his favorite ongoing long fic that morning and Katsuki couldn't possibly wait until after school to read it. He hadn't betad for it since Izuku only let him read his English fics ahead of time, so he got the joy of experiencing it for the first time any time he posted a new chapter. It sucked that it had to be when he was in public, though.

"Whatcha reading, blasty?" Ashido asked, trying to lean in over his shoulder to get a peek at his screen.

"None of your fucking business, pink shit," Katsuki hissed, reflexively holding his phone away from her. He reacted a bit harsher than he intended to, but he'd always been overly defensive about this hobby.

"Oh my- Is that what I think it is?!" Kaminari exclaimed, grabbing Katsuki's wrist, making the explosive blonde freeze up. By trying to keep his phone away from Ashido, he'd pushed it towards Kaminari without thinking, and now that dumbass was-

"Oi! Let go of me!" Katsuki snapped, pulling away his hand and turning to explode his face with his other. "Have none of you extras ever heard of privacy?!"

"Yeah guys, leave Bakubro alone," Kirishima said from the other side of the table.

"But you saw the face he was making! I wanna know what got blasty so happy!" Ashido stated. Fuck, was he making a face?! He thought he covered that up pretty well, but they'd seen it anyway.

"Well, it seems like our mister explodo isn't as innocent as he seems," Kaminari snickered. "Reading fanfiction in broad daylight? You've got balls, dude."

Fuck.

"Wait what?" Ashido gaped, instantly turning to Katsuki as his face flushed red. In anger or embarrassment, he didn't know. Both, probably. "Oh my god, is he serious? Blasty, are you into-?"

"If anyone says another word I'll blow up this fucking table and everyone at it," Katsuki interrupted, holding up his sparking hand as he glared at each and every one of them. It was silent for a moment after that, everyone internally freaking out about the implications of this new discovery while Katsuki was panicking and trying to figure out how to do damage control.

"There's... There's nothing wrong with reading fanfiction," Kirishima forced out after a while, trying so hard to remain calm and neutral even though Katsuki could tell he had so many questions. "It's uh, just not something we expected of you, I guess?"

"And what of it?" Katsuki frowned. "If anyone here blabs, I'll kill them."

"...Does that mean it's okay for us to talk about it now?" Kaminari asked, always stupidly brave- or just plain stupid. He had no real concept of boundaries or reading the room, much like Todoroki. Unlike that half assed asshole though, this moron didn't have full control over his stupidly overpowered quirk.

"I need to know what your favorite tropes are," Ashido said after Katsuki didn't outright object to it. "We could recommend each other things! Won't it be fun to have someone to talk about all the-"

"Shut up, I don't have a favorite trope and I don't want to fucking talk about it with the likes of you," he said. No, not a favorite trope, although Dad Might came close, Katsuki did tend to read other stuff too if he was in the mood for it. A favorite author, on the other hand... "I only read some of it cause I beta for someone I know, we're not the same."

Any excuse would do to save the last bit of his reputation right now. He couldn't let these people know what kind of a squealing and sobbing mess he could become by simply reading about fictional stories about real and made up heroes all the same. He was Katsuki Bakugou, for crying out loud, and he wouldn't not be labeled as emotional or soft or sappy or anything like that if he could help it.

"Really?" Kaminari gasped. "First reading fanfiction and now proofreading for someone else? You have a friend who writes fic?!"

"Are they any good? What's their username?" Ashido asked, whipping out her phone, already typing out the fansite name on the internet. "What tropes do they write? Any good ships?"

"Guys, please," Kirishima tried, seeing how tense Katsuki had gotten. "Can't you see you're making Bakubro uncomfortable?"

Kirishima was his only real friend, Katsuki decided. Even if it was only because he obviously knew the least about fanfiction in general, although Katsuki doubted he hadn't looked into some Crimson Riot stuff when he was in middle school.

"Their username and we're ending the conversation here," Ashido said, as if striking a deal. "Come on, we won't make fun of you for it!"

"Yeah, I mean, we read fic too," Kaminari shrugged, making Katsuki roll his eyes. Why didn't that surprise him..? They had probably talked about it without him, too.

"Fine," Katsuki groaned. "But you morons better keep your mouths shut, got it?"

"Of course! I'd never betray a fellow fanboy," Kaminari stated, placing his hand over his heart, as if he was taking an official oath. Katsuki almost gagged at being called a fanboy. He just read hero fanfiction, he wasn't actually active in any fandom. He never cared for ship discourse, either. It was all made up bullshit anyway.

"Call me that again and I'll strangle you," he snapped before taking Ashido's phone and typing in Izuku's username. "Here, that's the one."

"Oooh, they got a decent amount of reads- Holy shit, how many fics do they have on here?!" Ashido exclaimed as she scrolled through Deku's profile. Izuku was a giant hero nerd, so yeah, he had more fics than the average author. A lot more. Three digit territory. Ashido's reaction was the right one, this shit was wild. Yet Katsuki wasn't all that surprised, not when knowing what kind of hero obsessed fanboy was on the other side of the screen.

"I know," he sighed, watching her as she kept scrolling. "They're all good, too."

"A compliment from Bakugou? Okay, now I definitely have to check them out," Kaminari said, standing up and sitting down at Ashido's other side so they could look through I.M.HERE's page together. That kept them busy throughout the rest of their lunch period, leaving Katsuki alone long enough for him to finish Deku's newest chapter and type out a long ass comment praising the nerd into the sky. If Izuku ever found out it was him, he would actually kill someone- Izuku, probably.

He couldn't look the green head in the eye for the rest of the day, scenes of the latest chapter spiraling in his head, making him want to strangle him for making Katsuki feel this way. Cause that nerd may be the most merciful hero out there, he was still an absolutely evil piece of shit on paper.

xxxxx

Everyone was buzzing with nerves as they walked into the classroom on the first day of the exam period. Failing meant not going to summer camp with the rest of the class, so Izuku couldn't afford to slack off. He wasn't too stressed about the written portion, knew he'd studied as much as he could and answered everything to the best of his abilities. No, it was the physical test he was most nervous for. Even if his quirk control had gotten better now that he'd developed his own style, he still couldn't handle most of what One For All had to offer. He still hadn't made it his own yet.

"The hero course physical exam will be held in teams of two this year," Aizawa explained on the day of their last exam. "We picked the teams based on quirk and personal compatibility, among other aspects. As for the opponent you'll be facing... You'll each be facing one of the pro hero teachers of UA."

Of course. Of course Izuku's opponent had to be All Might, and of course his partner was Kacchan. Of all people to beat, to work with... This was just his luck, wasn't it..? Well, he and Kacchan were on better terms since entering UA- since Izuku gained a quirk. Things could be worse, all things considering. Because if there was one person here he could beat All Might with, it would be Kacchan.

"We need a plan," Izuku said as they stood in front of the gate. "I... I don't know what sort of plan, but we won't be able to pass without something to throw off All Might so we can flee through the-"

"We're not gonna flee," Kacchan stated, making his eyes widen.

"What?"

"We're gonna defeat him," he added.

"What?! Kacchan, you can't be serious! We can't defeat All Might!"

"We can if we focus on his left side," he stated, making Izuku freeze up in shock. His left side... That was the side of his injury, the one he kept hidden from the whole world. His one weakness even in his muscle form- How could Kacchan possibly...

"How do you know that..?" he breathed as the giant doors in front of them started to open. It couldn't be... Nothing had given him away! Izuku had been so careful about hiding their connection! And All Might had never given a single indication he had a weakness or that his power was fading- But then could Kacchan know about his injury? Had he eavesdropped? Had he heard something he wasn't supposed to? But all their OFA conversations were private so-

The truth was that Izuku had subconsciously used that weakness in all of his most recent All Might related fics and Katsuki picked up on it. It was a gamble to point it out like this, to take it as a fact, but it seemed like there was some truth to it. Good.

"You can use that quirk of yours to move around now, can't you nerd?" he asked as he stepped into the fake city. Izuku snapped out of his daze, quickly running behind him until he caught up to the blonde and walking by his side. "You think you can keep up with me?"

"What? Kacchan, this isn't a competition-"

They both stilled as the ground rumbled, only to dodge to either side as All Might's first attack laid waste to the main road. Okay, so he wasn't holding back. Noted. When Izuku looked over to Kacchan, trying to find some semblance of common sense in his eyes- because surely he could see they were no match for the number one hero- all he did was point up before exploding himself into the sky. Izuku didn't ask questions, using his quirk to jump between buildings until he landed on one of the roofs. Kacchan jumped over not much later, tugging at his arm as he ran past.

"Come on, get moving nerd! Gotta get out of his line of sight!"

"Oh- okay!" Izuku yelped, quickly running after him, surprised he was able to keep up so well with Kacchan. Then again, he was probably adjusting his speed for him... All Might didn't attack again, nor did Izuku think he'd come looking. All he had to do was wait by the gate for them to show up. Because even if they knew it was a trap, they had no other choice if they wanted to pass the exam.

"Here should be good," Kacchan said, jumping through an open window on the top floor of a building, turning around in time to see Izuku land. "He's gonna wait for us, isn't he?"

"Most likely. No point in playing hide and seek and exhausting all his energy like that," Izuku said, making Katsuki hum. "About his left side-"

"Yeah I was thinking about that, too," Kacchan interrupted. "I think I should be the one to target him first, distract him so you can come in to strike him with a strong fucking kick. No holding back. If he turns out to be a bigger pain in the ass than we thought, you got the speed to run right fucking past him while I keep him busy. I don't like the idea of fleeing, but it's better than losing."

"You can't be serious," Izuku said. "Neither of us can take on All Might alone, Kacchan! We'll barely manage together, even with using his injury against him. Distracting him by yourself is not an option."

"So the plan is to defeat him then, yeah?" Katsuki grinned, and Izuku got the sinking feeling he played right into Kacchan's hand. "I still want to get the first punch in, so you should try to surprise him before we take him on together- What? The hell you looking at, nerd?"

"Nothing!" Izuku exclaimed, waving his arms around in surrender. "Just... I didn't expect... Kacchan never works together with others and I'm... I'm me, so I assumed you wouldn't want to..."

"This is an exam, I ain't really got a choice," Katsuki huffed, putting a hand at his hip while glaring down Izuku. "Sides, there are worse extras to be stuck with for this. At least you got a fucking brain."

"Ah, uh, thank you..?"

That answer made Katsuki groan and roll his eyes, his hand slipping down from his waist again as he stepped forward to jab at Izuku's chest.

"Listen up Deku, cause I'm only gonna say this once," he hissed. "I don't fucking hate you. I hate that you thought you could become a hero without having the skills and power to back it up, that you'd make it in without putting in any of the fucking work or effort I put into this. And you didn't. You got in because you gained power, because you worked hard for this, because you think things through and don't lose your calm in a fight. I admire that shit, and we're gonna fucking need it if we want to pass this shitty test. So get your head in the game and stop half assing this just cause you're scared I'm gonna snap at you!"

All Izuku could do was stand there and blink as he took it all in. Kacchan...didn't hate him? Kacchan...admired him..? His face flushed red at the thought, making Katsuki roll his eyes again.

"Tch. If you're not gonna snap out of this within five seconds, I'm throwing you out the window and I'll win this shit on my own."

"Oh... Oh! Uhm, no, I'm- I'm good!" Izuku stammered, still feeling how hot his face had gotten. Talk about embarrassing. "Okay, uhm, the plan! Yes, the plan. Okay, so, if you get his attention with your explosions and challenge him, he might think you're acting on your own and I can try and sneak up with the coverage of the buildings and kick him in his side to temporarily stun him, but you'll have to get him close to the side of the road for that to work."

"Alright, I'll get him in position, you finish him off," Katsuki nodded. "We can always make a run for it if things get dire after that."

"Sounds like a plan," Izuku smiled. He couldn't believe this! They actually came up with a plan together! He fired up his quirk as they've ready to go, determined to make things work. He couldn't let Kacchan down!

And they did it! They managed to beat All Might, if only because of the restrictions that were placed upon him, and not without the necessary injuries- But they beat him! They made it out and passed their exam! Izuku couldn't help but ramble in excitement as they made their way over to Recovery Girl, going over their moves and actions and trying to come up with counters where they got hit before. He completely missed the soft look Katsuki gave him as he talked, as the blonde listened and confirmed what he'd known all along: Izuku was going to be an awesome hero.