Aight, Bet

A Quirkless Hero

Katsuki Bakugo has never tried to fool himself into thinking he was a particularly good person. He knew who he was; he was competitive, angry, capable, and fucking awesome. He wasn't kind and lovable like Deku; in fact, the two of them shared almost no traits other than their determination.

Deku still said he would be the number one hero someday, even after all of the times that Bakugo had taken the challenge and beat him into the dirt. And yes, plenty of people tried to tell him that Deku was never challenging him, but that's literally the fucking definition of a challenge. There can only be one Number One hero, it's part of the fucking title. If Deku thinks he's gonna be number one, it means he thinks Bakugo won't be number one. It means Deku thinks he's better than Bakugo. For everyone telling him otherwise, that Deku has never thought he's better than him, Bakugo has one thing to say: go fuck yourself.

Anyway, the point is that Bakugo's identity and self-image were entirely based on his ability to overcome challenges, the more impossible the better. Becoming the Number One and surpassing All Might, the most powerful, untouchable hero in history, was pretty fucking impossible. That particular challenge was Bakugo's life. Every time Deku said that he would do it—and by extension, that Bakugo wouldn't—it challenged everything Bakugo knew about himself. So, he made sure to beat Deku at everything and then beat him in a fight, to prove that he had what it took.

And then Deku would come back the next day and say it again, like nothing Bakugo did would ever matter.

Still, rising to the exact same challenge day after day for years was starting to feel pointless. Deku was obviously never going to change his mind until Bakugo actually achieved his goal, and Bakugo was in need of something more fresh and exciting. He needed something more immediate, something he could really see the results of.

The day he got what he was looking for started out like every other boring-ass day. He walked to middle school, glared down any older, meaner-looking kids he could see, scared Deku shitless, aced his quizzes. It was the end of the day, and his homeroom teacher was talking about how everyone wanted to be a hero, when it finally happened.

"Oh—you also applied to U.A., didn't you Midoriya?" the teacher said. Bakugo stiffened, turning to glare as everyone else laughed. Really, out of all the hero schools, he chose U.A.? Before he could say anything, he heard one of his classmates laugh—the most annoying laugh Bakugo had heard to date, with a know-it-all smirk on his face just begging to be punched.

"Come on, Deku, give it up; why are you always following Bakugo around?" he sneered, looming over Izuku's small frame. "Not even Bakugo could turn a quirkless loser like you into a hero, even if he wanted to."

Bakugo straightened, eyes blazing as he sensed his second challenge of a lifetime. A quirkless hero was about as impossible as you could get. "You think I couldn't turn him into a hero?" he scoffed. The class fell silent, looking at him in shock, especially Deku. "Aight, bet. I can do fucking anything."

*                *                *

Izuku Midoriya had never received any sort of support in his quest to be a hero, and so he'd never gotten any guidance. If he ever asked what he should do, how he should prepare, he got laughed at and beat up, so he just tried to find his own way. Things like running between fights, watching and learning what he should do—and in some cases, what he shouldn't do.

There were some things he never really saw, though, things that happened behind the scenes. One of those things was all the training and working out; he knew that heroes had to work out to stay strong and in fighting shape, but until Kacchan had suddenly decided to support his dream, he had no idea how much work it really was.

Kacchan's situation was the exact opposite; he had people shoving information down his throat about how to become a hero, whether he wanted to or not. Izuku shuddered to imagine what it would be like for someone with Kacchan's quirk if they didn't want to be a hero.

It was surreal, having Kacchan push him forward with the same passion that he'd used to push him down before. Izuku still wasn't completely sure that he wasn't dreaming, even though it had been a couple of months. Izuku found himself suddenly spending most of his time with Kacchan, just like when they were kids, but now almost all of that time was either working out or practicing martial arts. As he was quirkless and would have a disadvantage against almost any villain he faced, Kacchan had signed him up for Krav Maga.

It wasn't a showy kind of fighting that looked good on camera; Krav Maga was brutal and efficient, meant for real life-or-death situations. There was a reason that there were no Krav Maga tournaments or competitions, as there were far too many debilitating or even lethal moves. Izuku had almost thrown up the first time he had to practice gouging out someone's eyes with his fingers on the too-realistic training dummy.

"Which martial art do you do, Kacchan?" he asked one day as they walked home together, Izuku shifting uncomfortably from all the attention. He had a towel over his shoulders, sweat glistening on his now-muscular arms, and he wore a tank-top; he could hardly believe he was getting the same kind of stares that he saw directed at Kacchan all the time.

"None," Kacchan grunted. "There's not really anything that's easy to adapt to having explosive hands. I just take gymnastics, and I make up my own moves."

Izuku had literal stars in his eyes as he stared at his friend in wonder. Plenty of heroes had to make up their own moves due to their quirk, but Izuku was willing to bet that Kacchan was the only one to make up an entire fighting style with gymnastics, parkour, and his explosions as the base. The only one that really could come close was Eraserhead, who had pioneered a unique style of fighting with his innovative capture weapon.

"I have a long ways to go before catching up to you," Izuku finally said. "Someday, though, I'll do it! I'll be the best hero in the world!"

Instead of cussing him out and grinding his face into the pavement like he used to, Kacchan just rolled his eyes and swatted him on the back of the head. "Second best," he corrected. "I'm gonna be number one."

Izuku just smiled at him brightly. Kacchan thought he could be a hero! Not only that, he thought he could be one of the best! Even if he never thought Izuku was as good as himself—which was really asking too much, Izuku knew that—Kacchan thought he could do it. 

"You're going too fast with the Krav Maga," Bakugo said, changing the subject. "Sensei is starting to want to charge more, since you're graduating through the ranks so quickly. From now on, you'll only go twice a week, and the rest of the time you'll be finding some gear for yourself."

Izuku blinked, a smile growing on his face as he realized that Kacchan just complimented him, even if it didn't really sound like it. "Gear?" he asked. "What kind of gear do you mean?"

"Depends on the type of hero you want to be," Kacchan said with a shrug. "With your analysis, you might want to get some drones or other recon devices. I would go with a weapon, but you don't prioritize combat as much as I do. Maybe even get some medical equipment and training; you could be a certified field medic in a few years, if you wanted."

Izuku let out a deep breath, staring up at the darkening sky. "Wow," he whispered. "I'm really gonna be a hero."

Kacchan elbowed him, a self-satisfied smirk on his face. "Yeah you are, dipshit. I'm gonna make you into the second-best one there is."

This might get one or two more chapters, maybe not. Just a fun idea I had, probably a one-shot. Hope you enjoyed it! :)