Echo | BNHA x Deltarune/Undertale

Chapter 24: Nerd

That nerd was dead.

Katsuki had been the top of his class all throughout middle school, and that little turd nugget Deku had to go and end his streak. 

Why did the nerd try so hard, anyways? What was he going for? Nobody would want a quirkless kid with noodle arms who still got nightmares at fifteen. He had seemingly lost interest in heroes after his quirk never showed up, but maybe he was still holding on to those dreams that would never come true.

Freckle face had gotten 100% on the exams, and most of his classmates were praising him for it. Since when did people like him? What was happening?

Katsuki cornered the greenette after class, shoving him against the wall of the classroom. He barely reacted; it seemed to have hurt him less than the blonde intended, but he didn't care.

"How the hell did you get 100% on the exams? Did you cheat?"

Izuku technically had cheated; this was the fifth time he had taken the exams, after resetting when he wasn't happy with his score. However, he was 99.9% sure that the long list of rules they read off before the exams didn't include anything about killing yourself to reset the day and trying again. So really, he hadn't broken any rules.

"I didn't cheat, I studied." He had definitely studied. He wouldn't have been able to get everything right, even with the extra tries, if he hadn't.

"What are you trying to pull, one-upping me like that?"

"I'm not trying to pull anything. I just want to get into a good high school so I can go to university. That's all."

"I don't believe you," Katsuki sneered, leaning in closer.

"You have serious trust issues. What reason do I have to compete with you? It was decided long before we were born - as soon as quirked people became the majority - that your life will be better than mine. You have a strong brain, a strong body, a strong quirk, and a rich family. All I have is what's between my ears and whatever my dad left behind for me and my mom. Is it wrong for me to try and make the best out of what I've got?"

Katsuki didn't respond. Izuku wasn't sure if he had surprised him, or if he was in for another try on the exams. He may or may not have practiced this sort of conversation in his head when he had nothing to do, so he still had a whole speeach on how narcissistic and overconfident Katsuki was, but he didn't quite have the guts to continue.

After a few agonizingly long minutes of Katsuki staring into his soul, he felt the hand on his shoulder loosen. Disgruntled, he fixed his backpack straps and shot the blonde a glare as he left the room.

Some people were way too competitive.