The Path We Take

Chapter 1: Well. . . Shit

Bakugou Katsuki was very familiar with the impossible.

It was something that had been beaten into him the second he'd been born. Oh he can't do that. It's impossible for Bakugou Katsuki.

But, Katsuki had learned to beat the impossible. It had become routine, a daily hill he just needed to climb over. The impossible had long become a friend of his, one that could show just how capable he was. It was a statement, and a shout to the world that he could do anything. So he could say that he could do that because he was Bakugou Katsuki.

His name floated around school not only because he beat everyone into the dust with his grades, but because he was winning. He was reaching higher and pulling ahead of people that he never would have been capable of doing. And despite the verbal junk that those extras laid on him, he reveled in the attention.

Sure it fucking sucked to be told his dreams would never amount to anything, but that attention meant that they were scared. Scared of him and what he could do.

So he pushed and fought and dragged his wheels through the impossible because despite his legs being useless, he was going to become the best damned hero ever. He would show everyone that he could do what he wanted. He could follow his dreams and break the fucking walls society had built around him the second he came into this world.

Including the wall that was this stupid ass geometry test.

Tapping the end of his pencil against his lopsided desk, he looked over his paper for the third time. No way was he going to turn it in with any mistakes. Nothing but the best from him, and anything else than a hundred was a failure.

He was torn from his third solution with the annoyingly high pitched voice of his neighbor. "Kacchan!"

Katsuki slid his eyes from his paper and glared at the freckled face of his friend. He didn't need to say any words for Deku to understand.

Hissing low enough so the teacher wouldn't hear, Deku plucked at his nerves. "Quit it with the tapping."

Katsuki flipped him off as discreetly as he could and returned to his test. Without his repetitive tip tip tip of rubber against wood. Such a nag.

It wasn't long until Katsuki was sure he'd aced the test. Positive he'd get the best score in the class. He set his test face down in the top right corner of his desk and waited for everyone else to finish.

Everyone being Deku.

And the stupid shit always waited until nearly everyone had turned in their papers before he even thought of walking up to the front of the classroom with both of their papers in hand.

Because there was hardly any room for Katsuki to maneuver through the classroom without bumping into at least three surfaces at the same time, he and Deku created the system of Deku taking everything up for him. It was helpful and less annoying, but it always left Katsuki restless and nearly uncontainable at the end of the day.

Katsuki picked at the callouses that covered his palms to pass the time. Namely the one that sat in the center of his hand, thick, rough, and about the size of an American dollar coin. He nearly broke through the tough skin when their teacher spoke up.

"Alright! Now that you are third year students, you all need to be thinking about your futures." Teach lazily waves around a stack of papers. "I really should be passing these career... things around, but who am I kidding? I know you all want to go to the Hero Track!"

The class erupts into spontaneous cheering, chattering on and on and showing off their stupid quirks. Katsuki only crosses his arms and glares down at his desk. From the corner of his eye, he can see Deku sink lower in his chair, trying to make himself as noticeable as possible. Teach continues, "Yes, yes you all have impressive quirks, but, please, no quirk usage in school!"