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"Hey, why're we camping on the stairs?" Shinsou frowned, seeing roughly half of his classmates sitting at the bottom of the stairs.
"Shhh!" Ashido hushed him. "Aizawa-sensei is meeting with that analyst!" Shinsou plopped down on an empty stair with a sigh.
"The one he talked about in class the other day?" Shinsou asked tiredly.
"Yeah, apparently he refused to do an analysis for Bakugou!" Kaminari said quietly from his own stair, grinning. "Aizawa-sensei is really mad, we heard the yelling all the way from our floor! It's calmed down by now, but Aizawa-sensei is not happy."
"I still don't condone this." Iida muttered, sitting stiffly next to Yaoyorozu.
"Shhh I can't hear!" Ashido whined. They all fell silent, and could hear their teacher's voice.
"Listen, we hired you." The exasperation in Aizawa's voice was clear, "We're paying you to analyze all the Heroic Students and help them grow. You can't just skip over one of the students."
"I can and I am." The other voice replied sharply. It was odd to hear, especially because the voice sounded like that of a boy around their age. "I'm not budging, and I'll quit if you try to force me."
"You can't quit."
"Watch me." The analyst threatened. "I'll march right up to Nezu's office and hand in my resignation. Congratulations, I've worked at UA for two days and you've already pushed me to the verge of quitting."
"I don't understand why." Aizawa exclaimed. His students could just imagine he was pressing his fingers to his brow in frustration. "You're the best at what you do, that's why Nezu hired you despite your age. Your analyses for the third and second years were informative and invaluable."
"I can't do this analysis. Not for him." The voice gritted out. "It wouldn't be my best work because it's personal."
"You have a history with Bakugou?" Aizawa sounded confused, and it made his students frown.
"We went to the same middle school." The analyst sighed.
"Oi, what's going on?" Bakugou appeared on the stairs and everyone promptly shushed him.
"We… we weren't friends." Bakugou froze hearing the analyst's voice, and his classmates watched all the blood drain from his face. "The last time I saw him he told me to jump off a roof and pray I was born with a Quirk in my next life, then he laughed."
"Deku!?" Bakugou shoved past his gaping classmates and burst into the room, his classmates scrambling after him.
"Kacchan." The class found themselves staring at a boy who was probably only barely taller than Uraraka. He had fluffy green hair with matching green eyes and a face full of freckles. It would've been cute if it wasn't for the pure hatred in his expression. "What the hell are they doing here!?" The boy whipped towards Aizawa. "This was a private meeting!"
"Get out now." Aizawa said through gritted teeth, flashing his Quirk at his students. "If any of you try to eavesdrop on one of my meetings again you'll be expelled immediately."
"I'm leaving." The analyst snapped, glaring daggers at Bakugo.
"Wait, Deku–!" Bakugou reached out a hand before jumping back with a shout. Suddenly there was a knife in the analyst's hand, and it sliced outwards inches from where Bakugou's hand had been.
"Touch me and you bleed." The analyst threatened darkly.
"Midoriya." Aizawa called firmly. "Do not pull knives on my students."
"The last time he touched me he burned his handprint into my skin." The analyst, Midoriya, said dangerously. "I'll be damned if I let him scar me again. He touches me and I cut him." Without another word Midoriya grabbed the folder lying on a nearby table and stormed towards the door, not even bothering to change his shoes as he snatched red chunky sneakers from the mat, and slammed the door behind him as he disappeared into the night.
"You burned him?" Todoroki accused, eyes narrowing dangerously at Bakugou. "Badly enough that it scarred?"
"I…" Bakugou's eyes were haunted as he stared after Midoriya, and it made his classmates pause.
"You didn't really… you wouldn't, right?" Kirishima was staring at Bakugou like he didn't recognize him. Bakugou swallowed heavily.
"Bakugou, you have some serious explaining to do." Aizawa growled, making his students freeze at the pure unadulterated rage in his expression.
"Who was that anyway?" Ashido asked quietly, looking at the door the boy had disappeared through. "You said he was an analyst…"
"That was Midoriya Izuku, the best Quirk Analyst in Japan." Aizawa gritted out. "He's been making leaps and bounds in his career, and Nezu hired him to be an on-staff analyst to help the Heroic students in every year."
"But he's so young." Yaoyorozu frowned.
"Bakugou, answers now." Aizawa snapped when the blond remained silent.
"That's Deku… we grew up together." Bakugou replied, voice hoarse.
"Why do you call him that?" Uraraka frowned, "It sounds like 'You Can Do It' but I don't think that's what you mean…"
"Deku means good for nothing, useless." Bakugou frowned. "He's Quirkless, and he wasn't any good at anything when we were little. I started calling him that when we were four."
"You call him useless?" Aizawa clarified angrily.
"It doesn't matter. I haven't seen Deku since we were thirteen." Bakugou bit out, still staring at the closed door as if it would make the little analyst appear.
"It does matter." Their teacher announced, snagging Bakugou in his capture scarf. "Don't think I'm letting this go. You're coming with me, and we're going straight to Nezu's office."
The class watched as Bakugou was dragged behind Aizawa out the door, but they were all baffled by Bakugou's resigned and even… guilty expression. They were lost, confused, and unsure what to think. Midoriya hated Bakugou, and, if what he was true, he had good reason to hate Bakugou as well.
"I can't believe…" Ashido trailed off, her voice giving out into a whisper.
"He's Quirkist." Kaminari said, blinking as he realizing. "Midoriya is Quirkless, and Bakugou hated him for it because he's Quirkist. Burned him for it."
"Suicide baited him for it." Shinsou added bitterly. "Bakugou has always walked the line for me between just angry and actually violent, but this pushes me over the line. He's violent and a terrible person."
"What if he's different now?" Kirishima said, frowning as though he was trying to convince himself, "What if he's changed?"
"He still calls him Deku…" Uraraka murmured. Kirishima bit his lip in denial, wincing as his sharp teeth cut into it.
"Bakugou burned his handprint into that boy." Todoroki gritted out, eyes dangerous and fists clenched. "I've seen the way Bakugou's Quirk works. He would have had to press continual smoking Explosions into that boy's skin for nearly a full minute." The class froze; Yaoyorozu put a hand over her mouth while some of the others looked sick at the thought.
"Yeah but, Midoriya's the one who pulled a knife, right?" Sero said, clearing his throat.
"It's not like he would've used it." Ashido said, trying to force out a weak laugh. "I mean, he's just an analyst."
"He'd do it." Asui piped up. Her classmates looked at her oddly. "Midoriya." She elaborated. "He'd actually stab Bakugou. You could see it in his eyes. If Bakugou tries to touch him… he'll use that knife."
"Good for him." Todoroki muttered, and then he stormed off angrily up the stairs and disappeared out of sight.
The class followed slowly, some just standing there for several minutes in silence, and they all went to bed unsure and confused.
To them, Bakugou was brash. He was aloof and violent and rude, but he wasn't malicious. He handled their teasing and he let Kirishima lean on his shoulder. He studied with them and motivated them when they felt low. Bakugou was loud and annoying and boastful and talented. But…
For the first time, they genuinely doubted whether Bakugou would be a good Hero or not.
And that scared them.