Katsuki Bakugo x Izuku Midoriya [Burning sensation] -MLM

001

The bright morning sunlight filtered through the classroom windows, casting a warm glow on the desks. Katsuki sat slouched in his chair, arms crossed and eyes narrowed as he watched Izuku enter the room. A sneer played at the corner of Katsuki's lips as years of pent-up anger and jealousy bubbled to the surface.

After the loud bell for the next class rang, Bakugo and his lackeys trailed behind Izuku. Grabbing his notebook and Shoving him to the ground. His eyes skimmed over the notes. Hero analysis. It was impressive how observant he was, and the ideas were almost genius. "You really think you can become a hero without a quirk?" Katsuki spat the words like venom. "No matter how much you try, you'll never be anything more than a quirkless failure in a world of heroes. So why don't you just take a swan dive off the roof and pray you're born with a quirk in your next life!"

The cruel words hung in the air, seeming to suck all the oxygen from Izuku's lungs. Even his 'friends' seemed surprised by his words. Izuku's eyes went wide with shock and hurt. Katsuki felt a fleeting pang of regret at the devastated look on his childhood friend's face before quickly shoving it down. Deku's dream was hopeless, and he was doing the nerd a favor by crushing it early.

"Tch.." he threw the notebook in the fountain and stormed off. as the day wore on, Katsuki couldn't shake the lingering feeling of guilt no matter how he tried to ignore it. His gaze kept drifting back to the mop of green curls, watching as Izuku diligently took notes with a

pencil clutched in those scarred fingers.
Despite the teasing and taunts from his peers, the boy persevered with a tenacity Katsuki couldn't help but respect, even if he'd never admit it out loud. As classes droned on, Katsuki found his eyes drifting towards Izuku more and more often. He tried to convince himself it was just to catch the inevitable moment when Deku finally broke down crying over his cruel words. But a small voice in the back of his mind whispered that he was watching to make sure the smaller boy was okay.

During the lunch period, Katsuki stalked through the cafeteria, tray in hand, and took his usual seat at a table with his lackeys. But he kept stealing glances over at the corner where Izuku sat alone, small body hunched over his food as he read from one of his battered hero analysis notebooks. Katsuki felt a strange twinge in his chest watching Deku all by himself. He smashed it down viciously. Feeling guilty over being a decent human being to the quirkless loser? Get real.

Still, Katsuki couldn't tear his eyes away as a couple of the other students sauntered over and began tormenting Izuku as usual. He watched Deku flinch, huddling in on himself as the bullies mocked and jeered. What the hell were they doing?

A sudden burst of laughter from the jerks yanked Katsuki from his thoughts. One of them had knocked Izuku's tray onto the floor, scattering his food everywhere. Katsuki's fingers clenched so hard around his milk carton that it crumpled. He opened his mouth to yell, to put those punks in their place, but then Deku looked up.

Green eyes met red through a mess of curling bangs. And in that moment, Katsuki saw it - the steadfast determination blazing in Izuku's gaze, refusing to be diminished despite the cruelty. It was the same fierce look he remembered from all those years of watching Deku clamber back up after being knocked down, bruised and beaten yet never broken.

Gritting his teeth, Katsuki forced himself to look away first, those punks really pissed him off. "Katsuki! You comin'? We're gonna check out that new seafood place,"one of his lackeys called out, the words grating on Katsuki's nerves as his gaze snapped away from Izuku.

"Go without me," he growled, not even looking at them as his fingers dug into the plastic tabletop. His so-called 'friends' shared a confused look before shrugging and heading out. Good riddance.