Zero - A Vigilante Deku Story

Chapter 4 - Every year again ... I miss you.

POV Katsuki

Was it just him or was Aizawa even more tired and grumpy than ever lately? For the past week, their homeroom teacher had hardly been giving any real lessons, instead making them repeat the material for the upcoming midterm exams.

Katsuki had already finished today's assignments and was looking out of the window, lost in thought. Autumn was drawing to a close, and with it the 2nd trimester. It was hard to believe that in a few months he would already be in his final year at UA.

How could it be that every day seemed endless and monotonous to Katsuki and at the same time he had the feeling time was slipping through his fingers? Had it really been nine years already?

The ringing of the bell snapped the blond out of his gloomy thoughts. Aizawa finished the lesson and they had a five-minute break before the class had practical lessons.

"I'm so going to fail," Denki whined a few desks away.

"Ask me about it," Mina whined as well.

Katsuki tuned out his friends. He wasn't in the mood to deal with them any more than necessary today.

"Hey Bakubro, are you okay? You're looking even gloomier than usual."

"Everything's okay, Kiri," he replied curtly.

"Really?"

Before Katsuki could be forced to answer, the door opened and All Might entered the classroom with thunderous steps. "Good morning, boys and girls!" their heroics teacher called out cheerfully.

His classmates greeted him back. Katsuki only let out a "Hmph". Although his time at UA was already half over and he was used to the sight of the number one hero by now, he still felt a pang in his chest every time he saw him.

Deku wouldn't have been able to get out of fanboy mode if they were in a class together with All Might as their teacher - on their way to becoming heroes. Just as they had promised themselves as four-year-olds. But then Katsuki had messed up and Izuku had disappeared...

There was something to the saying that you only knew what you had when you lost it.

Katsuki hadn't been listening and was pulled out of his thoughts by his classmates standing up. They flocked to the back wall of the classroom and grabbed the suitcases with their hero costumes. With a snort, he stood up as well and trotted to the back.

Normally, he would be the first to put on his costume and storm off to the next exercise ... But today? Today he just wanted to close the door behind himself, lie in bed and don't see anyone till next morning.

They walked across the school grounds to the changing rooms. Since Katsuki hadn't been listening, he followed Kiri and Denki, who were talking animatedly about something he wasn't interested in either way.

His movements were mechanical as he changed his clothes. After almost two years, every move it took to put on his costume had become automatic. Katsuki didn't have to think about how he attached the grenades to his belt, barely heard the click of his gauntlet as the clasp snapped into place. That was a good thing. If he'd had to think about what he was doing, the hero-in-training probably wouldn't have got it right.

As soon as he was done, Katsuki joined his idiot squad and together they left the locker rooms. As it turned out, Class 2-A was gathering on the grounds of Ground Beta. Well, at least this was something nice ... Maybe he would feel better if he could blow up one of the dilapidated buildings.

All Might divided them into different groups and explained the exercise. "Today, two groups will compete against each other and try to capture the opposing team's flag and bring it back to their own base. The group which has secured both its own flag and the opposing team's flag wins. You now have 15 minutes to come up with a strategy. Team A and Team C will start first. Here are your flags." Their teacher held two narrow metal cylinders in his hands, one end of each pointed. "When you've decided on a location, ram the stick into the ground and the flag will come out."