Crossroads (An Evil Deku Fanfic)

Chapter 3: Penitent

Katsuki POV:

The UA entrance exam was coming up quickly.

Too quickly.

I trained every day: I worked out, I studied, I practiced with my quirk, and I constantly reminded myself that I was going to be great. I was the best. Now, I needed to prove it. But it's kinda hard to prove that I'm the best- that I'm invincible -when I have a huge black eye and bruises checkering my skin.

At least no one knew who gave me those bruises. If anyone knew that a fucking nerd with his fucking nerd notebook beat me to a fucking pulp, I'd be humiliated. I'm not easily embarrassed, but I do get a little mad when people make fun of me. Just a little. If anyone knew that I was beaten senseless by a shrimpy little noodle, there would be no way I could ever make it as a hero.

I sighed deeply, a light hiss scraping the back of my throat. After I took a sip from my water bottle, I unscrewed the cap and dumped it all on my face. The water, cold and light, dripped down my head and cheeks, dribbling off my chin and seeping through my hair. 

"Kacchan," I heard a familiar, whiny voice from behind me. With a groan, I turned and glared at the green-haired nuisance. He seemed a little different. A little more sure of himself, a little more confident, a little more annoying. He was standing a little straighter, making him look taller. His hands were in his hoodie pocket, his notebook under his arm. His wild, curly green hair was barely contained by his hood.

"The fuck you want, Deku?" I clucked my tongue, already angry.

"Oh, nothing much," He smirked, "I just want to watch you train."

Strange... Deku doesn't smirk. He smiles in a goofy, stupid, teary sort of way. Hesitantly, I respond, "Sure. But get in my way and you go boom, got it?" Without waiting for an answer, I violently shook my head, water spraying off. I rolled my neck and cracked my knuckles, getting ready to attack the dummy. I was practicing a certain technique: Two dummies, one holding the other in front. The one behind was the villain, the one in front was the hostage. I was practicing aim.

I held up my hand and let the nitroglycerin-like sweat ignite. I "threw" the explosion and the dummy burst into flames. Out of the corner of my eye, I spied Deku as he scribbled things in his notebook. To myself, I snickered, thinking: Were you watching, Deku?  Did you see me? I was cool, right?

"I have some notes," He chimed, "First, it doesn't seem that the villain dummy has harmed the hostage dummy at all. If you aim your explosion a little higher, it might be a little like a stun grenade, in the sense of briefly disorienting your opponent. Then, you can run in and save the hostage. If you harm a villain who's done nothing to hurt their hostage, you could be charged with-"

"Shut the fuck up, Deku!" I shouted, "I'll do it how I want! This is target practice, not a real scenario!" The sweat in my palms crackled in my anger.

"If it's target practice, you should consider a different setup," He suggested, "Like, a moving target. It's more realistic. In the setup you have here, the villain seems like he's offering a deal. In that case, you should stall for time and come up with a different plan than boom-boom-death-is-fun."

"THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH BOOM-BOOM-DEATH-IS-FUN!" I rejoined, too angry to come up with a proper response, "GET OUT!" I pointed to the door, burning under my skin. I was furious, embarrassed, and couldn't take any more of his 'notes'.  I hoped he wouldn't notice how my hand was shaking.

Nonchalantly, he closed his notebook and dragged his over-sized red shoes away. Before he left completely, though, he pulled his hood down and gave me a warning: "If you use the same strategy over and over again, your enemies will catch on. If you depend on one gun, when it's taken away, you'll be powerless. Just something you should think about,"

As he walked away, I could feel the ground wobble under my feet. More than one strategy... huh...

(time-skip)

I got into UA.

Fuck. I did it. Of course, there was no doubt. Ever. But, I did it nonetheless. I didn't just get into UA, I got into the hero course: Class 1A.  My lame-ass middle school class threw me a party. Obviously, I didn't go because it started at 7:30 and I go to sleep at 8:00. However...

"Katsuki!" The old hag roared at me, "GET DOWN HERE!"

"STUFF IT, HAG!"

"IZUKU CAME ALL THE WAY HERE TO GIVE YOU SOMETHING!" She retorted, "GET YOUR DAMN ASS DOWN HERE BEFORE I DRAG YOU DOWN MYSELF!"

"He literally lives 40 seconds away," I muttered, " 'All the way here' isn't very far." I stayed in my room, not moving an inch. 

In a couple of seconds, I heard someone knocking on my door. "Kacchan..." Deku said from the other side of the door, "I know you don't want me to be here, but if it makes you feel better, I'm only here because mom sent me. I just have a present for you. I'll leave it by your door." I heard his footsteps fade down the hall, then come back. "Oh and, congratulations on getting into UA. Now you won't have to deal with annoying, quirkless Deku anymore."

After he walked away, I skulked over to my door. I opened it a crack and saw a small present, enveloped neatly in wrapping paper. I picked it up and pulled it into my room, wondering what it was. After I ripped the wrapping paper off, I gasped.

"This is-"