1 A Bully Being Bullied

Izuku Midoriya dreads going to school. Ever since he turned 6 years old, he had been bullied and targeted relentlessly by everyone for his quirklessness. The words and isolation hurt so much; he was alone – ostracized from his peers for being a walking contradiction in several senses of the word.

On one hand he was bullied constantly, suffering verbal diatribes and attacks on his non-existent social life, but according to the school he was the bully. It wasn't his fault! Whenever a fight broke out, he came out on top, and would inevitable be blamed for the incident. He earned the title of delinquent, bully, and of course villain.

On one hand he was a sensitive, shy, and timid boy; always mere moments away from breaking out into habitual, silenced sobs, but whenever it came to a fight he became cold, merciless, focused like a laser, and terrifying. The change was night and day, not unlike a cornered animal, he would go from a scared little lamb, to an apex predator. Which only served to worse the case against him – he was a wolf in sheep's clothing, and everyone saw that.

On one hand he was mostly petite, underfed, and certainly malnourished – too many lunches stolen or otherwise made inedible, to much time spent sitting out of gym class since no one was willing to work or play with a villain. On the other hand, his strength while in a fight was nothing to scoff at, sometimes as a prank made by the older classes, someone would get into a fight with the boy.

It never took long for every witness to face the grim reaffirmation of dealing with Midoriya: 'Never get in a fight with the Quirkless Bully, if you are lucky, he'll only break a few fingers.'

That's why he was always seen as the villain, he was somehow too strong, somehow too vicious, and always took fights just a bit too far.

And so he was alone, verbally assaulted daily, but he was otherwise fine. He had quickly learned to drown out and immerse himself in his singular interest: Heroes. In the quiet moments between bouts of being ridiculed he wrote, analyzing quirks. He wrote constantly, or as constantly as he could realistically as between the fighting, detention, and bullying he often found that he had a severe lack of time to dedicate to his hobby.

Izuku Midoriya is 8 years old now, and life has only gotten worse, years of constant bullying and getting in trouble had been wearing on him and his family. Still he dealt with the situation, despite his constant level of paranoia and deep-seated regret over his simple inability to back down from a fight. Constantly he was on edge, looking over his shoulder to see who would try to incite a fight with him next, an occurrence that happened more often than not amongst the real troublemakers of the school. Once they realized a fight with Midoriya was a guaranteed trip to the hospital to set a bone or two they began to consistently make use of the Quirkless Bully to get out of tests, projects, or any other uncomfortable assignment they needed more time to complete.

His family was dealing with the blowback themselves. Inko has a sparse few grey hair mixed in with her dark green locks from the constant worry that is her son, and has taken to stress eating causing the once fit mother to become plump and soft. Her face has become more wrinkled than her friends and everyone knows that it is her disaster of a son's fault.

Hisashi isn't fairing much better, and is blatantly dealing with the stress far worse. Unlike his wife, he now spends as little time at home as possible, electing to stay at work and out for weeks at a time, only appearing back in the apartment once a month. Where he used to be a warm open parent, he now has closed himself off, ready to snap at both his wife and son in a moment.

All this weighed on Izuku's mind as he trudged toward the school building. He wondered if he would be able to just go to classes without getting into a fight, Dad would be coming home tonight, and if all went well then, he might just get a promotion at his work. An incident today would certainly get in the way of any sort of promotion, especially since he had already been in 3 fights this week alone.

As he marched up the steps to the lockers, he found his, as it usually was, defaced with various slurs and insults written on the exterior. He sighed, knowing the janitors had long since stopped caring for the locker, cleaning it only on the days off if even that. The door was broken open, the lock long since destroyed due to constant searches of his locker for contraband, stolen things or by others seeking to play a prank on the Quirkless Bully. Today was no different it would seem.

His school shoes which were supposed to be black and white had been colored yet again, the 12th time this year alone. Izuku braced himself as he looked at the insides and to his surprise there was only a note. No thumbtacks, no gum, no scarlet lilies, no, someone had chosen to leave him a note. 'what kind could this one be?' he wondered electing to grab the note and open it at his desk.

"Deku," came the familiar sound of his childhood friend turned greatest bully and source of fights.

"Kacchan, what do you want?" Izuku innocently questioned. It was best to not instigate anything when dealing with the explosive blond. Being submissive kept him off balanced with Izuku who saw his perfect fighting record and demeanor in fights as who he really was.

"Fuck you that's what! Why the fuck did you put this shit in my locker asshole!" Kacchan yelled while throwing a handful of exploding garbage at his green haired classmate.

Izuku, tried to dodge, and most of it did miss, landing on the girl standing behind him. He still had some land on his head where is concealed itself amongst his curly green hair.

"EEEEEEEEEEEK!"

The girl, have just now realized that what hit her came from her troublesome locker neighbor let out a shrill cry as she rushed off to the bathroom. Izuku lamented that he would doubtlessly be blamed for both the garbage on the floor, on her, and her being late. With a heavy sigh, he turned back to Kacchan, "I didn't do it Kacchan. I'll help clean it out with you though."

It was a gamble, a denial usually results in whoever made the accusation doubling down, but with an offer to help? Sometimes they would accept and let it slide. He hadn't tried this with Kacchan yet, as best as he could he avoided the blond like the plague.

"Fuck off you damn bastard; I don't need your shitty help!" Kacchan growled back.

If Izuku was surprised it didn't show, he had gotten good at hiding what he was feeling. With a calm smile, and a slight bow he bid Kacchan a good morning and made his way to the bathrooms to clean his hair. He wasn't concerned about taking a long time, he knew what was coming.

"Izuku Midoriya to the Principal's office, Izuku Midoriya to the Principal's office"

With his hair freshly cleaned and dripping on his shirt, he calmly walked to the front office. "Good morning Suzuki-san, should I just head on in?" Izuku questioned the overly friendly secretary. It always made him wonder how on earth someone so sweet could stand working for someone as mean as the Principal.

"Yes, just head on inside Midoriya-kun" she smiled.

Passing through the door into the Principal's office was like walking through a portal, as always. Where Suzuki-san was a comfortable blanket, the principal's office was more akin to the 9th circle of hell, a frozen and uncomfortable place keeping the perpetually sweaty pig of a principal somewhat pleasant compared to how he operated outside of this frigid realm.

"Midoriya," the principal spoke, jowls already flapping unpleasantly, "you threw garbage at another student this morning. I already know you'll deny it like all the other times, so we'll make this quick. Two buckets, back of the class. You'll be given notes later. Get to class." The slobbering oaf spoke with a tired authority.

"Understood sir, have a nice day." Not the worst possible punishment, maybe the principal was in a good mood. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, Izuku retreated silently and went on his way back to class.

When he arrived at class, he tried to slip inside without drawing attention, of course knowing his luck, this was a fool's errand.

"Midoriya, you are late."

"Yes sensei, I was called to the Principal's office."

Sensei quirked his eyebrow at this, "do you have a note?"

"I have a punishment," Izuku spoke with his usual shame, "two buckets, back of the class."

Sensei nodded. Motioning for Izuku to get to it, he was used to the two-bucket punishment. It was the most common one for him, after being sent to detention after school or being assigned additional work. He took up his place in the rear of the class, behind his desk, freshly vandalized. He sighed; this too was a common occurrence in his life.

Standing in the rear of class, large water buckets held in either hand, Izuku made his usual effort to focus and retain the information being given out by the monotonous teacher.

Katsuki Bakugou doesn't understand his former friend and greatest rival. Deku, the useless quirkless nerd has never lost a fight. Even to him! He who was told he would be a hero! Praised for his strong quirk. It infuriates him to no end that he just can't crush the damn nerd. The kid is a bully through and through, sure he plays innocent but he is always pranking and beating up others.

His shy, timid, weak façade doesn't fool him though, no, he's looked into the eyes of Deku while in a fight. There is no remorse in those eyes. The bastard is enjoying the thrill of beating down on others, he likes the power, just like a damn villain.

He remembers the old Deku, back before his once friend became the menace his is today, then he was timid, genuine and disgustingly smug, always looking down on Katsuki offering his "help," what a smarmy asshole.

Back then, in the good old days when he had just gotten his quirk and the damn nerd knew his place, subordinate to the hero. Now though? He's more like a villain, hiding his real self behind a mask of his 4-year-old baby self.

"Hey Bakugou, heard you won against the Quirkless wonder in a fight before school. Is it true?" one of the extras was getting uppity again, they knew their place. "did you take him down?" he wished he could honestly say that he put the nerd in his place, but he had some respect for Deku. Despite being quirkless he never backed down and he always won, just like his hero, All Might.

"Shut up extra, there was no fight. Damn nerd got called to the principal's before I could crush him." It might not have been the whole truth, but he was planning to crush the nerd later, he was going to be a hero and he was going to win!

When classes finally broke for lunch Izuku was in a rush to put away the buckets when sensei called for him.

"Yes sensei?"

"Midoriya, this is the 4th time this week you have gotten in trouble. I'll be calling your parents after classes today and- "before he could finish, Izuku interjected.

"Wait! Please don't call my Mom and Dad! At least not for this! Its pretty minor right? Even the principal thought so! He just waved it off with the punishment so! Please! Don't call my parents! Just for today! Please!" Izuku cried, eyes beginning to water. Dad would not be happy if he got a call today, today was too important for Izuku to screw this up for him.

"Hmm…" Sensei seemed to consider his troublesome student, weighing the pros and cons of dealing with the student's parents.

"Please Sensei… I'll do anything… j-just not t-today sir." Izuku's eyes were tear filled now.

"Fine, go to lunch" Sensei relented and released the teary boy.

Izuku rushed for his backpack, both to get his lunch and notebooks. He needed to copy down notes from the lesson quickly while it was all still fresh in his memory, then he could get back to breaking down the quirk of a recently debuted hero.

Sandwich in one hand, pen in the other he set to work, scribbling down all the important bits of math, Japanese, history and science from today's morning classes. If all went well, he should be caught up and able to finish his analysis before classes reconvened.

"Oi, Deku!"

'oh why can't I just have a lunch in peace?'

"Yes?" he answered turning to face the approaching boy. He was definitely older than him, either a 4th or 5th grader. Definitely a 10-year-old at least. This happened from time to time, an older kid who either thought he was all talk or wanted to get out of something with a quick trip to the hospital. "What can I help you with senpai?" his voice was even, he knew that whatever he was being sought out for, it couldn't be good.

"Your name is Midoriya, right?" an odd question answered with a suspicious nod from the greennette. "Your dad's Hisashi Midoriya, yeah?" Izuku did not like this line of questioning, another nod to the boy. "You've never lost a fight." Not a question, a statement, one with unfortunate implications. A third nod was given. "Your Dad is up for a promotion you know? Pops wanted to know 'bout his kid." Oh, a threat. This is going to end badly. Izuku began shifting uncomfortably in place.

"What do you want senpai?"

"Here is what is going to happen. I am going to beat you down, you are going to stay down, or Pops is going to know just how bad his employee's kid is." The boy paused, seeming to size up Izuku. With a smirk he continued "after school, I'm gonna bring a few witnesses to watch as I break the Quirkless Bully in half." He flexed his forearms splitting making a set of 4 small arms from the elbow down. Bringing them together in 2 small fists against his other 2 palms. "Do we have an agreement? Deku? Huh? You gonna be the reason your Daddy doesn't get his promotion?"

"Not like I have a choice" Izuku mumbled.

"Good, be there, or Pops will get to hear exactly how terrible of a parent your Dad is. Later Deku." With that the boy turned and left, presumably to start gathering members of his posy to witness his fight with Izuku.

Izuku returned to his lunch plans, he had only eaten about half of his food but he suddenly wasn't hungry anymore, the stress of the fight looming over him made everything else seem small. He pulled out his quirk analysis notebook, labeled with a big number 8 on the front cover. Opening to a new page, he began to work out everything he could about the older boy's quirk, which he dubbed "Four-Forearms." It wasn't the most danger looking quirk he had been forced to fight, that title would always be held by Kacchan. In comparison, the older boy didn't look like much, he should be able to handle him, he hopes.

"I heard that Yamada-senpai challenged Deku to a fight after school!" A voice whisper yelled to Katsuki.

Katsuki just scoffed at the notion of someone with a weak-ass quirk like that having a chance at beating Deku. This senpai was an idiot for sure. Everyone knows that the best way to even get a few hits in on Deku is to have an enhancer or emitter quirk, mutation styled works just don't work on him. Still it was always a pleasure to watch the Quirkless Bully tear down some upstart who thought challenging him was a good idea. "Where?"

"The fight is gonna take place on the roof of all places! So climactic!" the extra quietly cheered.

Afternoon classes were over in a flash with the anticipation of today's big fight, when he arrived to the roof it looked like half the boys in school were there, mulling around uselessly waiting for the two fighters.

Senpai arrived first, with his entourage of 5th graders. They strode into the middle of the group making a small circle and began talking amongst themselves while they waited for the real star of the show to arrive.

Deku emerged around 5 minutes later, face and shirt damp. Clearly, he had gone to psyche himself up splashing water in his face. Katsuki let out a feral grin. This was good, whenever Deku splashed water in his face before a fight, it became a real spectacle. Last time Deku did it against him, he had ended up slammed against a tree. The memory of defeat stung, but Deku had a tendency to force his opponents to learn, since then he knew to pay attention to his surroundings at all times. The roof was a somewhat level playing field, but the prospect of Deku throwing someone off the roof chilled his blood. Deku was vicious, but he would never kill someone, just break a bone and make them yield.

Deku marched to the center of the circle, mumbling something to himself. Another good sign for the fight, very bad sign for Senpai. When Deku is mumbling before a fight, it means he already has a way of dealing with the opponent's quirk. Katsuki knows this, hell half the grade knows this since it's such an obvious tell.

Deku spoke softly to the older boy, nodded before taking a position across from him, eyebrows furled, he had a look of determination on his face. "What the fuck…" Katsuki breathed, "what's with that look, is he taking this seriously?" He never took a fight seriously, not even against him! 'Who the fuck was this shitty senpai that he deserved such determination? This isn't fair! He is the stronger of the two so why…' he began letting out small explosions as the fight began, but the moment the first blow landed his thoughts screeched to a halt.

Senpai stood across from Deku with a shit eating grin plastered across his face, at the call for the fight to start he charged across the circle and landed a two-fisted punch on Deku, who had taken up a basic stance. As the hits connected, the light in Deku's eyes faded, brows unfurled, and his mask disappeared, leaving behind the countenance of the Quirkless Bully. He was knocked to the ground but quickly shot out his leg, catching Senpai in the ankle, knocking him off balance.

As Senpai stumbled backwards trying to steady himself, Deku shot at him from his position on all fours, like a rabid hound. Tackling Senpai to the ground by his legs, Deku swiftly landed a gut punch before taking 4 punches across his own body in retaliation, one landing squarely in his face and causing pool to drip from his nose.

Deku, flinched in pain before bringing their heads together in a headbutt. The fight seemed even, but then again; they always did at first. Deku had insane stamina, more than he should have for a scrawny 8-year-old.

The headbutt gave senpai enough time to separate the two, allowing both to get back to their feet. "The hell are you doing Deku!?" the older combatant shouted. "This wasn't the deal!"

"Fuck off Daddy's boy." Deku retorted in a cold growl.

Senpai let out a growl of his own before starting to charge again, only to be caught as Deku charged as well, throwing a haymaker which was blocked. Only for a second, a quicker jab from Deku to find its mark in Senpai's gut. A feint with force, Katsuki's mind provided, one of the weird things Deku did in a fight. Even his feints had enough force to make them seem real to whoever was on the receiving end.

Senpai staggered backwards, likely had the wind knocked out of him from the blow, his face red with rage, mouth hanging open dumbly; he had the look of a loser. With a yell he charged forward again, throwing an easy to read punch. Deku caught the punch, throwing Senpai over himself and onto the ground behind him. From there he pinned one of Senpai's arms beneath him and…

Pulled his other arm apart like a wishbone…

The sickening snap of the victim's elbow sent a shiver through everyone's spine, and made several not used to these sorts of fights faint.

To his credit, the loser didn't immediately pass out from pain, instead he yelled like he was being murdered before passing out. Katsuki wasn't sure he could have done that, sure he'd broken bones before but, that looked terrifying. A grim reminder that Deku was a wolf in sheep's clothing.

"Holy shit…"

"Brutal…"

"What a monster"

"he's done for this time..." That caught Katsuki's ear. It had come from one of the 5th grader's lackies. "Think his Yamada-san will even keep Deku's Dad after this?"

'Oh' was all Katsuki could think. Maybe there was more at play here, was that what this "deal" was about?

"Whatever, anyone who has seen Deku fight knows how it always ends. For someone with such a shitty quirk he must be an idiot to expect to win." Katsuki waved off the extras before heading to collect his things and leave.

On his way down the stairs he saw the pig faced Principal charging up them with a furious expression on his face.

Izuku, for the second time today found himself in the cold room that was the Principal's office. He tried to make it easy for Yamada-senpai to beat him down, he really had, but just like every other time, once the fight started all of his plans went out the window. Why couldn't he just let it happen? Why did he always, always have to beat his opponent into submission? Now he was in the Principal's office and knew what was coming next.

"You are being expelled Midoriya."

"Wha- "He started, shocked at the words coming from the Principal's mouth.

"This was the last straw, Midoriya. You shattered Yamada-kun's elbow. Not broke, Shattered. With luck he might be able to use his arm again, but certainly not his quirk on that side." Izuku was speechless, sure he knew he broke bones, but shattering them? This was too much, he needed to leave. "Be thankful that Yamada-san hasn't decided on pressing charges. That said, we've already called your parents, and they are not pleased." Izuku was crying now, he ruined everything. "Collect your things and leave. Good riddance."

Izuku came to his feet and before he knew it was walking home, backpack laden with all the personal effect that he usually kept at school. Today was a disaster, plain and simple. Sighing a defeated sigh, he braced himself for the evening to come. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad, maybe Dad wouldn't be fired because of this, maybe-

"Deku" Izuku was jolted from his nervous head at the familiar call of Kacchan, giving him a defeated look, he gives a nod indicating he is listening. "What the fuck was that today?"

"It doesn't matter anymore…"

"huh?"

"Leave it alone Kacchan, please" He said with tearful eyes.

"Fuck off, I want to know what the deal was! And you're gonna tell me or else" the blond retorted darkly.

Izuku let out a breathless chuckle, "or else what Kacchan? What could you hold over my head? I just got expelled, Dad's probably going to lose his job, I might be sued and sent to prison…" He was full on sobbing now, "what more is there for me to lose? I can't be a hero anymore. I doubt I'll even be able to work after all of this. My future is gone, Kacchan. All that's left for me is to be a villain." He stopped realizing his own words. "I'll die before I become a villain." He added after a moment, sobering up at the thought. Walking past Kacchan, he mumbled "be a hero for me, please."

"Never call me Kacchan again. I'll be a hero, and if I find out you became a villain, I'll kill you" Kac- Katsuki added before walking off on his own.