35 Burning Blood: Ch 1

Never let it be said that I don't listen to my audience. I read every comment posted on my stories, no matter which chapter, no matter which website. In fact I go back and read old comments and compare them to new comments, to see how the audience's thoughts and opinions have changed.

-Now don't get  listening  to the audience mixed up with taking every comment like it's holy scripture.  Some  comments give really good ideas and insight, to the point that it actually causes me to make minor to medium changes in the story, because it's just a genuinely good point.

Other  comments… not so much. (especially the ones that occasionally ask if I'll make this a Izuku/Bakugo romance fic. Guys. No. Romance isn't a big thing in this fic, and even if it was, how TF would that even work with this plot?)

*Sips Hot Chocolate*

But. When I read a lot of people pointing out that Momo felt a bit  too  OP too fast in the last chapter, especially before going to the quirk training camp, I had to agree. Because A: It's a good point, and B: I was thinking the same thing while writing the end of the fight.

I'd say everything was within her capabilities, especially if she was pushing herself, up until the giant cannon at the end.

However, this isn't  my  series, it's MHA, and while this is a fan work, and obviously not canon, I still play ball with the in-universe rules to the best of my ability.

That being said, going "PLUS ULTRA" and pushing beyond what I would reasonably rate as the roof of a character's abilities is literally the baseline of the show,  especially  when it comes to moments like Izuku vs Shoto in the tournament. (Which the Momo vs Shoto fight was meant to parallel, showing the result without Izuku's unbreakable want to save people.)

But as you may have noticed, I like to apply common sense, and rationality to the things we see in the show, to make them feel more consistent, as well as have more impact.

And just like the show has Izuku getting his scar, common sense and basic medical knowledge says that pushing yourself beyond what your body is physically capable of, has some negative after effects…

-Rain of Sins-

-Arc Start: Burning Blood-

-Burning Blood: Ch 1-

Drip~

Drip~

Drip~

The slightly muffled sound of fluid dripping into the IV bag filled the sanitized white walls of the medical room.

Lying on the hospital bed, like a knockoff sleeping beauty, was Momo. Her right arm was bundled tightly in a cast, and hung suspended in a sling to help the fractured bone heal properly. Almost all of her body was covered in bandages and gauze for her countless burns, ranging from first degree ones, all the way to third degree burns that seared their way down into muscle.

Luckily Recovery Girl was on hand, and had been able to heal the worst of the injuries, but with how malnourished Momo was after her fight, even pushing her body to do that had been dangerous.

The pieces of skin that were spared from bandages were a chalky white, discolored, and sunken. Her lips were pale, and her once glossy hair had been burnt to a third of its length.

A thick white bandage had been wrapped around the top left side of her face, where she had hit the wall first, and her remaining visible eye was closed with no signs of opening again anytime soon.

If it weren't for the shallow rise and fall of her chest, you'd be forgiven for mistaking her as dead.

…Bakugo had, when he first saw her, after all.

Bakugo sat slightly hunched over in a chair next to the medical bed, his hands sitting limply on the railing.

"I'm sorry."

The words rung hollow in the room, like specs of sand swept away and drowned in the all consuming silence.

"I'm sorry."

Drip~

Drip~

"It's my fault…" He whispered to the room. "I taunted him before the match. I-It's on me."

But the room didn't answer back.

"I promise you, I won't let him get away with it!"

But Momo didn't answer back either.

"...Never… Never again." He hissed as he grit his teeth. "I won't let it happen again. Not to you, not to anyone!" The bar of the bed frame bent as he clenched it tightly.

"I won't let him, or anyone like him, hurt someone so badly for no reason! What? Was he fucking mad about something?! That's a shitty fucking excuse for what he did! You could've-" His voice hitched, and dropped to a whisper. "...you could've died."

"I won't let him get away with it! I won't let anyone get away with something like this, not now and not in the future- I don't give a shit if it's a Villain or another UA student, they're nothing but fucking crooks to me!"

Bakugo scowled, his teeth grinding together so hard they physically hurt.

"I won't let anyone be hurt like this again!"

...Then someone laughed from the doorway.

Bakugo's anger immediately flared, and red tinged the corners of his vision as he whirled around. Someone was laughing! Someone had listened in to his speech, and was laughing! Momo could have died and someone was laughing!

"WHO THE FU-"

But he froze the moment he made eye contact.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I know I should be professional on the job, but dear God." Izuku Midoriya laughed, a pure, genuine laugh that Bakugo hadn't heard since elementary school.

"Oh God, that's funny." He ran a gloved hand through his emerald green hair and attempted to calm himself down. "I didn't mean to interrupt anything. I was just told to come and check up on a wounded patient. But instead I find you!" He gestured at his old friend. "Bakugo Katsuki, making a heartfelt speech about- well, what was essentially an anti-bully speech."

"I-I…" Bakugo stared at Izuku as if he was a ghost.

"You-you what? What are you gonna do? Hit me for laughing at you?" Izuku smirked and spread his arms. "I mean go ahead if you want, but that sounds like a really stupid idea. Assaulting a staff member is a fast track out of UA, if I've ever heard of one."

"Hit you?" Bakugo reeled back as the floor underneath him seemed to crumble away.

"I-I hit you…" Slowly, his gaze drifted back to Momo who laid limp on the bed. "I hurt you…"

"Yeah, typically because I pissed you off somehow." Izuku smirked and his green eyes glinted with mirth. "Were you mad about something?" He parroted Bakugo's own speech, with a poor impression of the blond. "That's a shitty excuse for what you did." Izuku made an exaggerated shrug, a cruel grin now warping his face. "But what do I know, after all, I'm just a stupid Deku."

Bakugo physically staggered as Izuku said the words, having to lean on the railing as everything from before UA came slamming back to him with the force of a freight train.

So far away from home, so far removed from the world, so far gone from any consequences, it was all too easy to just never think about everything that had happened beyond the gilded walls of UA- especially when he'd never particularly valued any of it to begin with.

Suddenly everything he'd said with such conviction just a minute before now burnt like acid on his tongue. Who was he to say any of that?

"Oh please, I'm just having some fun with the situation, don't get all twisted up about something I don't even care about anymore." Izuku stuffed his hands into his black coat and leaned against the doorframe. "I'm long past all that. I have things I'm doing with my life now- actually important things! I'm making an infinitely larger difference in my scientific research than I ever could as some sob story backwater D-rank hero. My work in understanding the human genome has countless uses! Think of all the genetic diseases we could cure once we have it fully mapped out!"

Izuku rambled, unknowingly letting a bit of his old self bleed through to his past friend.

"My findings, when published, might even one day be the backbone of a permanent cancer cure! I'm finally actually doing something useful!" He sighed and shook his head at Bakugo. "And I have a million better things to do than track you down, and harp at you. This really was just a fun coincidence."

"But whatever, it was fun to poke at you, but I'm busy, and you clearly are as well. I'll come back later to check the patient when you're not here."

The scientist made a dismissive waving gesture before he turned and began walking out the door.

"Goodbye Bakugo." He said with no small amount of finality in his voice. "I doubt we'll meet again, but if we ever do, it'll still be too soon."

Bakugo watched as his former best friend, the one he threw away for not being strong enough, walked away without an ounce of sympathy or remorse. And it was in that moment he truly realized just how many bridges he'd burnt.

"Izuku!" Bakugo called out, causing him to pause halfway out the door. "I- I'm sorry for what I did before. I didn't realize…"

Izuku watched him with a cold gaze over his shoulder. "Well, I don't really know what you're expecting. I don't accept your apology. But I will give you the same advice you gave to me!" Izuku's grin warped, twisting into something unnerving to look at.

"If you really want to do something about what you are, how about you take a swan dive off the roof? Maybe you'll be a better person in your next life?"

And then he was gone, his coat slipping around the corner, and out of sight.

Bakugo collapsed into his chair, his mind a mess, and Izuku's cold laughter still echoing in the room.

-Rain of Sins-

It was well over ten minutes later that a visibly shaken Bakugo numbly made his way to the tunnel for the final match, his head dizzy with a whirlwind of thoughts and emotions.

But distracted or not, there was no missing the man standing smack dab in the middle of the hallway.

"Mr Bakugo. I've been waiting for you."

"Endeavor." Bakugo tried to keep his voice level, but couldn't help his hands tightening into fists in his pockets, and the tiny sparks that popped in his palms. This was the man who murdered auntie Inko!

His emotions currently all over the place, he was tempted to throw a punch at the "Hero" right then and there- actually he was tempted to do a lot more, but restrained himself, knowing it would get him arrested and/or possibly incinerated.

"What do you want?" He growled.

Rather than be put off at the blatant disrespect, Endeavor's grin only seemed to grow sharper, the fire he used as a mask flaring out slightly in a mixture of amusement and approval.

"Nothing much, just to pass on a word of approval."

"A-Approval?" Bakugo asked, stumbling over the word as his stomach twisted on itself.

"Yes. Approval." Endeavor nodded at him. "As a Pro Hero who's agency is in the internship program with UA, I can request access to the records of students that catch my eye."

Bakugo's forced neutral expression broke into a scowl, which only caused Endeavor to grin wider.

"Recommended hand over fist by your middle school, with high grades in all classes, there isn't a teacher on your resume that didn't sign their recommendation for you on your application to UA. You placed well on the written portion of the entrance exam, but more importantly, you scored First by a huge margin on the practical exam- by Villain points alone might I add." Endeavor listed off, his flames growing slightly brighter with each bullet point. "You excelled on Aizawa's infamous quirk apprehension test, and even he, the stingiest teacher UA's ever known, has written well about your ability in the field, complimenting your comprehensive use of your quirk in combat. You have some of the highest scores in all your classes, and repeatedly score the highest of your grade in combat class. You've won every combat exercise you've been put in. The only reason you don't have a perfect grade in the class is because All Might marks you off for a 'lack of restraint'."

The fire hero scoffed. "Which goes to show what they know. I've seen you at work during this festival." Endeavor walked forward slowly, towering over Bakugo, who had to physically force himself not to step back. "And I don't just approve. I'm impressed."

At those words, it seemed as though a lead weight suddenly dropped into Bakugo's stomach, shattering what little of his mental state he still had after his talk with Izuku.

"That drive. The Ambition! The Need to WIN!" Endeavor poked a mammoth finger directly into the blond's chest. "THAT is what makes a successful Hero!"

"And that move you used to take down the plant girl! That Howitzer Impact-" Endeavor mulled the word over, as though tasting it. "That was glorious!"

He laughed, but Bakugo didn't laugh with him, he was too busy fighting down vomit as his guts tied themselves into knots and tried to strangle him.

"If you win this festival, I'll personally sign you an invitation to internship with my agency! Do well there, and I'll even train you myself." Endeavor held out a hand, a ball of golden fire erupting from it. "With that kind of influence on your resume, and your natural ambition, you'd have a clear shot at being the top Hero." He clenched his hand into a fist, crushing the ball of fire.

"And nothing could stand in your way!"

-Rain of Sins-

Endeavor watched the boy walk off.

He'd meant everything he had said, even if there was an alternative motive behind it. He was impressed by the boy's drive and ambition, and the fact that his teachers kept flagging him for "lack of restraint" was laughably pathetic.

He was more than willing to sign the young Bakugo on as an intern, and if the boy continued to impress, Endeavor could honestly see himself hiring the kid as a sidekick when he graduated.

All of that would do wonders for Bakugo's Hero career.

But the world was a give and take place, and only the stupid did anything without a return. Bakugo would get the life every kid dreamed of, and Endeavor would finally have someone to kick Shoto off his high horse.

More specifically- Someone he could train and influence to keep kicking Shoto, keep beating him until he finally realized that he needed his fire.

Endeavor smiled and began his walk towards the , that was a fair trade in his opinion, one beneficial for both parties. All that was left was to see if Bakugo could do the job. Could he beat Shoto?

-Rain of Sins-

Shoto slowly came to a stop in the middle of the tunnel from the stands to the arena. Two times. Two fucking times. You'd think UA would have better security, but then again after what happened at the USJ, he wasn't sure what he was expecting anymore!

"Shoto…" Ibara stood in the middle of his path, a pained look on her face.

"I don't have time for this." Shoto growled through clenched teeth, his voice like chipped ice.

"Please, just listen."

"Get out of my way!" He stepped to the side, only to have her mirror the action. "I have to win! I-I can't let it end here, not after-" He caught himself before he could say anything else, and glared at Ibara.

"Move. Now."

"I understand you're angry, and hurting, but you can't carry on like this!" Ibara stepped forward slowly. "It's not healthy, you're going to tear yourself apart! Please you have to let go, it's the only-"

"Let go? Let go!?" The room's temperature plummeted, frost immediately beginning to accumulate on the walls.

"YOU DAMN SUPERSTITIOUS FOOL!" He roared at her. She backpedaled in fear, but he advanced on her. "YOU'RE SO CAUGHT UP IN YOUR OWN HEAD THAT YOU'RE BLIND TO THE REAL WORLD! 'LET GO OF MY ANGER'!? IS THAT A FUCKING JOKE!? NO ONE DOES THAT, IT'S FANTASY NONSENSE!"

Ibara's eyes were wide in fear, she tried to step, but bumped into the wall of the tunnel. "Sh-Shoto, no, I'm trying to help you!" She whispered, "I-If I can do it, then surely-"

"You can do it," Shoto hissed as he leaned closer, only an inch from her face. "Because you've never felt real hate." His words came out in waves of frost, so cold it was painful as it washed over her face. "Your beliefs are a farce, your ideals Idiotic and Naive."

Ibara whimpered.

"Now stay out of my way!"

Shoto shoved his way past her, knocking her to the ground.

"Shoto w-wait! P-Please!"

Todoroki ignored her and continued his march through the tunnel, but she didn't call out again… understandable, considering it's hard to talk when your lower face is frozen shut.

-Rain of Sins-

Izuku's world view had changed over the last six months.

Starting all the way back when All Might had shattered his childhood dream. Revealing all the slogans and catchphrases he'd ever said about how "Anyone could be a Hero!" were just that. Slogans and catchphrases that sold well.

And, well, it was a lot more than just what he said that was a lie. The undefeated Hero, the unmovable protector of Japan was all just an act, a facade, a literal mask he put on for the cameras to hide his shriveled and weak true form.

He lied to millions of people every single day- Billions actually, considering he was famous world wide and not just in Japan.

It had been a tough pill to swallow, especially for a quirkless child who had held on desperately to those lies because it was all the hope he'd had left.

…But it had been good for him, forced him to grow up, move on. Grow as a person.

Lots of things had happened since that day. His tutelage under Ujiko, the USJ, meeting Stain… Losing his Mom…

It had forced him to grow up, and finally take off the tinted lenses children see the world through.

Heroes, no matter how much he had idolized them, weren't some personification of justice made physical to walk the Earth. No, they were just people, and people could be corrupt, mean, and even just flat out evil.

The world wasn't a fairy tale. Not everyone gets a happy ending- there was a reason Romeo and Juliet died in the original version after all, it was to teach that lesson. (And now that he was older, he somewhat wished his mom had played that one for him, instead of the watered down Bisney version.)

But despite all of that, and how much he'd changed, he still had always believed you should judge someone based on what they do, instead of who they are. Never judge a book by its cover, as his Mom had always told him.

…It was almost heartbreaking to find out she was wrong.

"He did all this to an innocent girl?" Izuku asked aloud as he gently reapplied bandages to Momo's right arm. "He really is no better than his father after all."

"Well, you know what they say-" A gruff voice came from behind him. "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree."

Izuku hummed in thought, finishing the bandage before turning around.

"What do you want, Stain?"

"Nothing much. I just wanted to… smooth things over, after our previous disagreement." The killer said. "It's hard for a plan to function if its two halves can't cooperate." He smirked. "Also, I figured out how you kept finding me," Stain tossed a couple of chips at Izuku. "Have your damn trackers back."

"I appreciate you returning them instead of crushing them." Izuku pocketed them, making the conscious decision not to mention the other four still hidden in the gear the lab had given to Stain. "And I believe I would like to smooth things over as well."

The TV hanging in the corner of the room flickered on, displaying a restored arena.

"...It shouldn't be long now, the final match is starting."

"And you're sure you have everything in place?" The assassin asked.

"It's all set up. They haven't even realized their systems are compromised, yet. I'll trigger the broadcast to begin during the victory ceremony, and our little gift to Endeavor won't be far behind."

"Good." Stain nodded, but didn't say much more.

An uncomfortable silence filled the room as they both watched nothing happen on the muted TV. But eventually, the two final combatants entered the arena.

"What would you do," Izuku asked as he watched Baugo climb the stairs to the ring, "If you want to believe something, but all the past evidence points to something else?"

Stain thumbed the hilt of a knife on his belt in thought for a while, before answering.

"I would say hope for the best, but act as though the worst is assured." Stain nodded towards Momo. "In this case, the worst being that the Hero passed on his corrupted thoughts and ideas to his offspring."

He was talking about the wrong person on screen, but Izuku didn't correct him.

"His son's his own person. He could make the choice to be different from his father." Izuku let out a sad chuckle. "Well, that's what I thought at least."

"You can't just pluck the rotted leaf from an infested plant, you must pull the disease out by the root so it doesn't spread to the rest of the forest."

"A pretty bleak outlook."

Stain merely shrugged. "You gave the kid his chance, and he blew it, just like his father. You should feel no remorse, just for that you've already proven yourself far more benevolent than I."

Izuku was silent for a long while.

"Is that why you do what you do?" He eventually asked. "To stop the rot from spreading?"

"The rot has already spread." Stain sighed, and for a moment Izuku was able to see past the mask of blood, to see a man who refused to rest- who had traveled all of Japan on foot, and slaved himself to exhaustion, pushing himself to the limit against those far stronger than he. All for the sake of his ideals, twisted though they were.

"There was no gardener willing to prune the plant, and as such the rot spread from the furthest branches all the way to the trunk. Hero society must be pruned of rot, but our negligence has allowed it to spread to most of the plant. It will be painful, and most wouldn't have the will to do it, but it has to be done, before even the heart is infected."

He was talking about All Might, what else could the "heart" of Hero society be?

"As long as the heart is pure, then it can regrow to be just as beautiful as before, replacing the rot with a brilliant gold."

Izuku kept his mouth closed, and decided to keenly not voice his slightly dismissive opinion of All Might, for the sake of the olive branch Stain had extended.

All Might was just a human. No human was perfect, but any human could put on an act.

Instead he sat down in a nearby chair, and turned his attention to the TV hanging in the corner, where the two final combatants were entering the arena.

"A bully and the son of a killer, both fighting over the title of top hero in training… it's rather ironic, don't you think?" Izuku asked.

Stain hummed, looking at the TV for a long moment, before doing something that surprised Izuku.

He pulled out a chair and sat down next to him.

"The rot spreads." Stain stated, as if it were as certain as the sunrise.

But in that moment, Izuku couldn't find it in him to disagree.

"The rot spreads."

-Rain of Sins-

Two mentally shaken teenagers stood across from one another, about to fight for the entertainment of millions.

It would have read like the setup line for some outlandish joke if it weren't so real.

Shoto was twitchy, almost like he was hyped up on caffeine, frequently he glanced towards his father in the stands, only to flinch back as if stung. His 'cold' hand rubbed along his 'hot' hand's wrist, keeping it pinned to his side, and twisting along the joint as if trying to close a soda bottle.

But whereas Shoto looked as though he was about to be overwhelmed from trying to focus on everything, Bakugo… almost seemed like he wasn't there. He wasn't even looking at Shoto, just staring off into the distance, his eyes glazed over, and completely lost in thought.

The various bandaids, scrapes, and bruises he's accumulated from the previous matches didn't help his image.

"IT'S THE MOMENT YOU'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR! THE FINAL MATCH!" Present Mic's voice boomed over the speakers. "CAST YOU'RE LAST BETS NOW, CUZ THINGS ARE ABOUTA GET CRAZY UP IN HERE!"

The sudden loud noise caused Shoto to flinch and snap towards the direction of the nearest speaker, and seemed to snap Bakugo awake, who glanced around him like he'd forgotten where he was for a few seconds.

"GIMMIE A COUNTDOWN!" Mic roared.

"THREE!"

Shoto leaned forward, dropping into the same stance he'd had in his fight with Momo, but his eyes were wild and his 'cold' hand flexing and unflexing.

"TWO!"

Bakugo stood upright, eliminating his hunch, and closed his eyes. Slowly, he took a deep breath in.

"ONE!"

And then he let it go, opening his eyes again as he did so. This time they were sharp, focused.

"G- WOAH!"

But Shoto didn't even wait for Mic to finish the countdown, cutting off the "go" with a torrent of ice.

The frost raced forward, freezing air as it sped towards the opponent, the person who was standing in between Shoto and proving him wrong!

But then, just before the ice finished sweeping across the arena like a white angel of death, it exploded.

Across the arena Bakugo grimaced, shaking his hand and bringing up to blow on the now pink skin, lightly burnt from the blast. He was blast resistant, not blast proof, and pushing his quirk too hard had negative consequences, just like any other.

He leveled his gaze across the arena, but didn't advance, instead he just squared his feet.

"Is that all you've got?" He shouted at Shoto, who was staring at him wide eyed. "Again!"

The half and half boy scowled, bristling at the taunt, but he brought back his arm and swung again, managing to summon a slightly bigger glacier with his anger.

As the new wave of ice approached, Bakugo brought his arms up, braced himself.

And blew it to pieces.

"Again!"

And so Shoto sent his strongest attack again.

Again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

Until Bakugo's palms were so red they were turning black, with steam rising off them, and the skin cracking in some places. Until it hurt so bad to use his quirk that he had to bite down on his lip until it bled, and viciously blink bad reflexive tears.

"AGAIN!"

"FUCK YOU!" Soto screamed from across the arena as he pushed himself forward, swinging his hand to summon another wall of ice.

Bakugo braced himself, forcing himself to pull his arms back up in front of him, even though every working pain receptor screamed at him not to.

But he needn't have even bothered.

The continuous exchanges had worn down Shoto as well, who hadn't even fully defrosted from the last match. The new wave of ice fell short of Bakugo by a whole foot, and Shoto collapsed to his knees, shivering and struggling to move his arm under the sheets of ice that had accumulated on it- struggling to breathe as the cold paradoxically burnt the inside of his lungs, froze his tongue to the bottom of his mouth, and froze his lips shut whenever he closed them.

Seeing Shoto fall, Bakugo stalked forward.

"Go on, do it." He said. "Use your fire. Come on, hit me with it!"

Todoroki struggled to get to his feet as Bakugo approached, but began to panic as he realized his pant leg had frozen to the ground.

"Come on! I have you cornered, just like Momo did! Hit me!" Bakugo stepped so he was directly over Shoto. "HIT ME!"

Shoto glared up at Bakugo with all the hate he could muster, spitting out a frozen wad of spit at him.

"HIT ME YOU COWARD!" Bakugo kicked Shoto, his foot crashing into his chest with enough force to break him free of the ground and knock him a good foot or so away.

"You'll Use your fire to burn someone a hundred times better of a person than me, to a crisp, but suddenly I'm too good for your fire!? WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE!?"

"YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING!" Shoto shouted as he pushed himself to his feet, leaning heavily on his left side. "YOU KNOW NOTHING!"

"So what, you'll use it as a shitty sneak attack, just to BURN SOMEONE HALF TO DEATH!? But then throw it away afterwards?" Bakugo sneered at him. "Hit. Me."

Shoto scowled at him, but didn't advance.

Bakugo waited, blood dripping from his hands and freezing as it splattered on the floor below."...You're a real son of a bitch, aren't you?"

"Don't talk about my mother that way!"

He leaned forward. "Make me."

Shoto let out a blood curdling screech as frost swirled around him, ice pouring off his overtaxed body in sheets as it rushed towards Bakugo.

The blond raised his hands, and began gathering his quirk. For a moment it lagged, his own body betraying him in an attempt of self preservation, but Bakugo just scowled and forced through it.

The glacier exploded right before it hit him, and Bakugo's vision went white, not just from the blast, but from excruciating pain.

Slowly the world began to come back to him, and he found himself on his knees, hands reflexively clutched against his chest. Slowly he pulled them back, and almost gagged.

Red. It was all red. Blood gushed from wounds that exposed muscle, while some bits of skin hung off limply in strings. More concerning still, were the areas he couldn't even feel anymore, scorched black as coal.

But the crowd didn't seem to care, they cheered loud enough to shake the whole coliseum.

"Damn bloodthirsty bastards…" Bakugo muttered as he pushed himself to his feet. "This is a fucking gladitorial blood sport."

Slowly he made his way over to where Shoto laid curled up in a ball, half frozen in ice, and desperately shivering.

He glared at Bakugo.

Bakugo glared down at him.

"Stand up."

He kicked Shoto in the side, causing him to shout in pain.

"I said STAND UP!"

Slowly, Shoto did just that, forcing himself to his feet, and using the ice that covered his legs as more of a support than the legs themselves.

Bakugo glared at him with contempt.

"Hit. Me."

Shoto lunged at Bakugo, like a rabid dog. But Bakugo was far more experienced with close quarters combat, and Shoto was mostly frozen, slowing him down dramatically.

Bakugo side stepped and slammed his knee into Shoto's chest as he passed, knocking him back down to the ground with a cry of pain.

Bakugo glared down at him.

"Stand up."

Shoto stumbled to his feet and charged, but he was exhausted, half frozen, out of his depth in close quarters, and wasn't thinking clearly.

Bakugo knocked him down.

"Stand up."

Again.

"Stand up."

And again.

"Stand up!"

With kicks, elbows, by tripping him, or even by headbutting him.

"Stand up damn it!"

Bakugo knocked him down.

"STAND UP AND HIT ME!"

Shoto roared, pure unadulterated rage pouring from his throat as he threw himself at Bakugo, hand swinging forward as he rose, flinging a jagged shard of ice the size of a hand directly at Bakugo's head.

Bakugo pivoted, narrowly avoiding the impromptu dagger and as he came back around, threw a hard right hook that clocked Shoto directly in the temple, sending him spinning.

Bakugo's vision flared as pain rocked his arm, but he shook his head, and recovered just in time to see Shoto crash to the ground unconscious.

One second passed.

Two seconds.

Three.

Four.

Five.

Shoto didn't get back up.

The crowd exploded. People were throwing hats into the air, jumping up and down, no one was sitting.

He'd done it.

He won.

He was the best.

The best in UA.

The best in all Hero schools of Japan.

And now the whole world knew it.

All he had to do was get the medal and it would be official.

It would permanently go on his record, and would be invaluable for his career. Only four people a year got gold in the festival.

All around him he could hear the crowd cheering, their cries deafening, and shaking the very ground beneath his feet.

Endeavor nodded at him from the stands, his wide grin saying it all.

Bakugo could see his entire future panning out before him.

Number 1.

He wouldn't just be telling people that anymore. It was official. And he could climb even higher! Surpass All Might, just like he'd always dreamed!

All he had to do was get the medal.

…

"LISTEN UP!"

The crowd quieted, shushing to near silence, eager to hear the words of their new champion.

Pro Heroes that he'd looked up to since he was a kid, turned their attention towards him.

Cameras panned to him, zooming in to get a better picture.

Across Japan, Millions of people leaned forward in their seats.

"MY NAME IS BAKUGO KATSUKI!"

"I WON THIS FIGHT! I WON THIS TOURNAMENT! I HAVE BEATEN EVERY CHALLENGE! I HAVE BESTED EVERY COMPETITOR!"

Bakugo panted heavily, his body exhausted, but as he locked eyes with Endeavor in the stands, the fierce grin that he was known for split his face.

"AND I FORFEIT!"

The crowd erupted into gasps, and countless overlapping conversations.

But Bakugo made sure to keep his eyes locked with Endeavor as he raised both hands and flipped him off, before walking backwards out of bounds- out of the arena, and away from everything he'd ever wanted.

…

He'd seen what type of person walked that path.

-Rain of Sins-

Momo had been having weird dreams.

Well, "dreams" was the best way to put it, but to be more precise: her body was in shutdown mode, and the docs had pumped her full of anesthesia, but they used the bare minimum because of how weak her body was. So she would slip into unconsciousness, but then be forced back awake from the pain after a while, and then slip back under, before being pulled back. All while her body wouldn't respond to her, and bandages managed to muffle what small sounds she did manage to make with her mouth.

So she would be dreaming one second, and then not be the next, and the medicine caused it to all blend together and make it hard to tell which was which, but from her surface level medical knowledge she also knew this was happening, which added a whole nother layer to everything, and it was all rather just a big mess.

She'd heard Bakugo's speech, and it had made her smile like, well, like someone doped up on medicine. She knew he had a good heart, it had just taken a bit to get it to shine through.

…Well, at least she thought she heard Bakugo's speech. Just after that, she could have sworn she'd seen the Hero Killer drop from her ceiling and talk with the quirk doctor about gardening, which meant she had to have slipped back into unconsciousness at some point, because that was obviously a fever dream.

But as she stared at the white ceiling above her, and noticed it stayed a white ceiling, instead of falling apart into sheets of paper or melting into milk, she had the optimistic thought that she may finally be lucid.

But when the annoying ringing in her ear flattened out into comprehensible voices that she could understand, the theory really started to seem plausible.

"You've really gone and done it this time!" The voice of Recovery girl scolded. "I've done the best I can, but you mangled your hands up better than a blender could have! Especially your right one!"

"It's fine doc, I don't mind a scar."

Was that Bakugo? And what was this about his hands?

"You're lucky it's just a scar! I'll be shipping you off to a full on hospital after today, and getting it looked at fully- I'd be surprised if you don't have some form of nerve damage on your right hand."

"Well that's not good." Bakugo chuckled, but there was a slightly bitter tinge to his voice- had he lost the final match? "If I can't feel, well, you know what they say: No pain, no gain, and I need all the gain I can get."

"You absolute…" Momo could practically hear Recovery girl shaking with the want to smack Bakugo over the head with her cane.

"I need to discuss some things with my staff." The old lady huffed as she made her way towards the door, shoes clacking on the tile. "I'll deal with you later, after I've taken some headache medicine."

Momo chuckled to herself as the door closed, waiting a moment before trying to speak up.

"She sounds like she's in a good mood." Momo winced as her voice came out horace and dry.

"Momo!"

There were sounds of bed sheets rustling, and then sneakers on tile, before Bakugo's head peaked into her vision.

"You're awake!"

"With how fluffy my head feels, I wouldn't say 'awake' is the right word. But it'll definitely take more than some ice cubes to kill me." She blinked, her head throbbing as she said that.

"...actually what did happen to me? There was a bright light, and then… nothing."

"It was fire." Bakugo winced, confirming her suspicions. "Todoroki freaked and used his fire."

Momo took a moment to mull that over in her head, but before she could say anything else, the lights cut out, leaving them in the pitch dark.

…

Then the screaming began.

-End Chapter-

Now… about Bakugo.

I've read many Bakugo redemptions in fics. I've read good ones, I've read bad ones, I've read ones that came out of nowhere, and ones with phenomenal setup.

But one thing always stood out to me: In basically every story I've read, his redemption is always forced.

Not forced, as in out of character, but forced as in it's literally forced onto B-man.

Either it's his last option, and he has to go do X as rehab to stay in UA, or something happens to him that forces him reevaluate his view on life. Maybe he's beaten down and physically made to realize that he's not the strongest, or he messes up badly and someone else has to come in and save his ass, or (and this is common) when Izuku leaves Middle School he blames himself and falls into a well of guilt- thinking Izuku committed suicide, or something else.

Now I'm not saying those are a  bad  way to do it, and I'll be frank, some of the stories that do those are straight up just better than what I wrote for Bakugo. (Go read "Viridian: The Green Guide" over on AO3, for one of the top Bakugo redemptions I've seen.)

*Sips Hot Chocolate*

Buuuut, I have a tiny problem, you see. I'm greedy, and I know I'm a half decent writer, and I'm maybe a  dash  too stubborn.

I've read all that done to varying degrees of success, I wanted to do something unique! I wanted to write a character that, if I met in real life, I could shake hands with and nod at with respect.

*Insert that one quote about how the South lost the civil war, because they were obsessed with romantical ideas of chivalry, honor, and respectful death, even though they had none of those. And put in a thought about how those ideas still kinda filter down to today*

And so I thought to myself, "what about a version of Bakugo, who isn't forced into anything, but is actually the opposite"? A version where he gets everything he wants in cannon, best in class, wins all the exercises, never gets humiliated by Izuku in class/entrance exam, and has the world cheering him on as he wins the tournament? (again, without getting showed up by Izuku, even as the kid lost?)

A Bakugo who is no 1.

Exactly  what his overarching character goal was in all of the Cannon.

What if I made a version that,  right  as he was about to get everything he wanted… made the conscious decision to walk away?

Walked away because he knew it wasn't right?

I think that would be a really fucking cool character arc.

*Sips Hot Chocolate*

Well, that's what I tried at least, unfortunately that glorious idea of a character arc doesn't exist in a vacuum, and I've had bigger fish to focus the spotlight on for most of the story up to this point.

I couldn't have him win  everything , because I needed Momo to but heads with him and gain some confidence. I also toned down some of his "winning glory", because I knew it would make his character so annoying that y'all wouldn't even give him 'till his turning point before skipping those chapters, and maybe even causing you to drop the fic entirely (I know that one guy did on a03).

And I originally had two more big plot points for him to grow as a person and reflect on his past, one in between him & Momo's fight and their re-rivalry, and another that I was planning to fit in whenever I could do so without disrupting the plot. But both of those had to be scrapped because of how long everything was dragging out.

Regardless, I think it came out pretty well.

I'm well aware that this isn't the best Bakugo redemption ever, but considering I view character development as a journey, rather than a set destination, I wouldn't say his "redemption" is over until I stop writing him.

I hope that by the end of the story, I'll have taken a character that  most  of you seem to hate, and turn them into one that you like.

Next chapter, things explode.  Finally .