Leave It All Behind - Katsuki Bakugo x reader

The Next Step

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"Bro!"

"Hey man move,"

"Get out of my damn way!"

People pushed and shoved, trying to get on and off of the train. It was a rainy day, and you didn't want to get soaked on your way to school, you decided to try public transportation, and let me tell you, it was not looking like you would return to the train station.

"Hey, you were great in the sports festival! And you got pretty close too!" a man said, giving you a small pat on the shoulder.

"Oh, thanks," you said, looking back at your phone.

"Huh?"

"Oh it's that (y/n) girl right, didn't she place second,"

"I really wasn't expecting an ending like that!"

"Yeah, but it's kind of disappointing we didn't get to see a final match,"

Your stop came fairly soon after. You bolted off that train like a speeding bullet and ran out the station.

The school was a short uphill sprint from where you arrived, but you chose to walk the distance. You were already an hour early since Aizawa wanted to meet with you. Of course, it was about your quirk.

It was still so weird to think about. "Your quirk" it would be odd to hear for sure.

Since you did gain one, or realize it, you were no longer were registered as quirkless, you would have to learn to rely on and use your quirk to carry you through training and real-life situations.

Aizawa offered to train you privately in order to get you up to speed, and you gladly accepted.

--

"Good morning," you hummed, throwing your bag in the corner of the gym. Aizawa greeted you with a wave as he finished typing something on a laptop and tossing it on top of a sleeping bag and getting straight to business. 

You stretched a bit, loosening up your muscles while he quickly checked what you assumed to be a task list. Then, setting that down as well, he began to instruct.

"First, I want you to just try to use your quirk. We need to make sure it's actually enhancing your strength, rather than expelling large amounts of energy."

"Alright, sounds good," you said cracking your knuckles as you distanced yourself from your teacher.

"Try a simple punch. Focus your power into releasing more strength."

You took a deep breath, focusing your energy into your right arm and getting a solid stance, getting ready to give it your all. Aizawa silently observed as you mentally and physically prepared yourself for one punch. 

"Here we go," you murmured to yourself, pulling back and releasing a punch into the ground as hard as you could.

It left the smallest fist shaped mark you could imagine, and you stared in shock. 

"What the fuck... WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK! I THOUGHT I HAD AN ACTUAL QUIRK!" you yelled in frustration, trying to do it again and again. Blood spilled from your knuckles that refused to heal. 

--

You had tried at least 50 more times, not getting anywhere. Your fists bloodied and raw, thankfully they had begun to slowly heal themselves, watching as the skin slowly regrew over the course of a whole minute.

"I don't know about you, but maybe this whole quirk thing isn't for me. I think, it might just be time for me to retire this short-lived career, and head onto the next line. I'm pretty sure the store down the street is hiring, and if they send me a full-time offer, I may just have to reconsider changing carrier paths!" you yelled in frustration, punching the wall right behind you.

Your muscles tensed the right way, your form felt right, everything, your momentum, movements, it all felt so in place. Then, you watched as the cement wall blasted a hole right through itself, showing students calmly walking to class outside. 

Though slow, your knuckles healed, and your hand looked brand new. 

"Holy shit, I DID IT!" you yelled, jumping up and down, clapping your hands, and then falling flat on your face as you lost your balance. Your head spun as all your energy had been drained. Your quirk was powerful, but if that's all you could use it, you had more work to put in than you thought. 

"That's enough for today, go get ready for class before school starts," Aizawa said, walking out the back door and leaving you to gather your things from the observation room. It didn't matter how much he dismissed your accomplishments, because you knew damn well you impressed him.

--

"I got mad people shouting out my name on the way to school!"

"I got so embarrassed! Everybody was staring at me so intently!"

Your classmates buzzed about, taking about their odd experiences on the way to school.

"Morning," Aizawa said, trudging into the classroom.

"Mr. Aizawa, we're happy to see you were able to remove your bandages," Tsu said. You hadn't even noticed he had taken them off to be honest. Your mind was so jumbled it was hard to remember anything.

"The old lady got overdramatic with her treatment. But let's put that aside. Today's hero informatics period is a little special." Aizawa announced. You groaned, thinking it was some quiz on the lessons you had failed to remember. "It's time to formulate your code names. Your hero names."

The entire class cheered. You didn't know what you were going to choose, and it would probably take a while too.

"This is related to the draft nominations by pros I mentioned the other day. The nominations will start mattering only after you've gained some experience and you adaptable fighting ability is judged during your sophmore and senior year. In other words, the nominations you're getting this year are more akin to expressions of "Interest" in your future potential," Aizawa explained. You were pretty skeptical about the amount of offers you had gotten. It was either a lot, or barely any if any even came through.

"And it's not rare that interest dries up by graduation or is simply unilaterally dropped."

"Damn adults, playing with our emotions and getting our hopes up for nothing," You murmured, dropping your head into your hand with a sigh.

"So, I guess the nominations we received are like personal hurdles then!" Hagakure exclaimed.

"Yes. Now, the tally of nominations is as followed."

Todoroki came in first with 4,123 offers, Katsuki came in second with 3,556 offers, and you ended up in third with 2,527 offers. You hadn't expected that at all, but there seemed to be a lot that you didn't expect lately. They must have thought you'd been saving your quirk until the end, but nonetheless, it was still impressive. That did mean you got a lot of offers from smaller agencies who didn't care much about your experience.

"Typically the results are more balanced. But this year all the attention leaned towards three of you."

"Those pros have no discerning eye,"

"Damn it's so clear it's practically black and white."

"Wow, third and first are nearly reversed. Hey Katsuki, seeing you all straight jacketed on the podium must have scared off some of your protentional offers," you laughed. You were half serious though, and he knew it.

"PRO'S AI'NT GONNA BE SCARED!" he yelled, half and inch from your face. You plugged your nose. He had eggs that morning, and it was pretty obvious.

"Based on this... regardless of whether or not you received any nominations, I'll be having you all go get some so-called "work-place experience.""

"Well, you've all dipped your toe in the world of the pros unfortunately, but I think experiencing the activities of pros firsthand will prove to be more fruitful to training than before."

Just as Aizawa finished his last words, the familiar face of Ms. Midnight appeared in the doorway. She was dressed in her familiar expressive outfit, and you could only assume she was here to assist with your next assignment.

"The names you pick now, in many cases stay the same, even after becoming pros! The names you come be known by the world as now!"

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