Small problem

Synopsis:

After an arduous mission, Midoriya Izuku would have to deal with the consequences of the small problem of understanding the complex mind of Bakugou Katsuki who was less than a meter tall and five years old.

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The situation in Hosu district was under control. Aspiring heroes had been called upon to assist professional heroes in evacuating victims. It was a routine case of fire caused by small gangs of villains who revealed themselves against the heroes' supremacy system - which had been falling more and more after All Might's retirement. At that moment, Midoriya helped a child to get out from under the rubble of the old building where he lived, bringing him to a couple relieved to see his son conscious. Seeing their smiles was what made Izuku most happy to have insisted on his dream of becoming a hero.

"The West area has been evacuated," he said through the auditory connector he used with the rest of the rescue team, courtesy of Yaoyorozu.

- East area too, Iida-kun is taking the last wounded to the first aid area - Uraraka said, his voice slightly altered due to the radio waves.

"South area ditto, gero," said Asui.

- North area is clean! - Kirishima always very excited about everything. - But Bakubro is gone.

Midoriya frowned. It is true that Bakugou was not very close to rescues and that he preferred to face villains a thousand times - or blow the shit out of him, in his words - but he had never circumvented the orders of his superiors, especially after obtaining his provisional license. That looked suspicious.

Since his work was ready, Izuku decided to leave the building to help wherever he could. In the city center, Endeavor and Hawks arrested the captured villains. Although they were too laughing for anyone who had just lost a fight.

- What's the fun? Asked number one hero.

- I don't know if you noticed, pro-hero - disgust was visible in his speech. - but there are five of us.

Hakws scanned the group, realizing that they had captured only four villains in the group. He put the rest of his feathers in place to look for the bastard who had escaped, but there was no need to continue his search when a shrill scream filled Hosu's troubled streets.

It was Katsuki's voice.

The would-be heroes moved quickly to the scene. The surprise was inevitable when they saw the supposed fifth villain laughing while looking at some point in an alley. They thought he was going to try to defend himself, but he just raised his arms in surrender, without taking the mischievous smile off his face. While Iida and Uraraka arrested him, Midoriya and Kirishima went to investigate the alley.

- 'Do you hear that? - Kirishima asked, whispering.

Midoriya nodded in agreement. The noise was similar to rapid gasps interspersed with a weak cry. His hero instinct overcame any concerns for traps or crossroads. He pushed a cardboard box away, finding the source of the noise. Surprise was little to define his status at that moment.

Kacchan!

Katsuki was curled up like a ball, clutching the uniform's clothes too big for his body. He was shaking and sweating a lot, so much that sparks of explosion sparkled in his small hands. He had his eyes closed, counting the numbers in his head so he could remain calm, while trying his best to hide his crying and fear. Kirishima, like Midoriya, was in shock.

But Kirishima's anger quickly turned to hate.

- HI! - Kirishima walked away, running to the villain who was calmly taken by Iida and Uraraka. - What did you do with my brother?

Midoriya stayed in the alley. He slowly regained consciousness, kneeling with some hesitation in front of the teenager in the child's body. Bakugou opened his eyes when he felt his approach, almost exploding him in fright, but stopped his movement when he realized he was not the villain. Katsuki studied him from head to toe like a curious child.

- You are a hero? - he said in his childish voice, seeming to be calmer.

Izuku swallowed. How would you explain things to Bakugou Katsuki at the age of five? Apparently, his memories also matched his size.

- Yes, yes, I am. - He smiled. - Are you better?

- He was arrested? She ignored his question, wiping tears away quickly.

- Yes, we took care of everything.

Katsuki looked at the floor, he was bothered by the huge amount of tissue that surrounded him and the squeaky headache he felt. As much as I tried to force the memories, nothing happened; he just remembered being asleep after school and after waking up in front of a strange villain who laughed at his scared face.

- I don't 'understand anything - he whispered, tightening his arms around his body.

Not even as a child did I see Kacchan like that, Midoriya shook his head; besides Katsuki, he was also a helpless child in front of him. Whatever happened, he needed to help him.

- Can you get up?

- I'm not useless. He muttered, standing up without letting go of the thick fabrics. - Where is my house?

Midoriya sighed before reaching out to the kid. Bakugou frowned at the outstretched palm, having a strange feeling of déjà vu. Although he found it humiliating, he accepted the hero's help. Even though I tried to hide it, I was still scared and scared.

He just wanted to see his parents.

* * *

The students looked confusedly at the sleeping figure of Bakugou Katsuki who was less than a meter tall and five years old. According to Aizawa, it was not safe for Bakugou to be taken home without first knowing what they were dealing with. Depending on the severity of what had made him regress in age, the U.A. and the Japanese police would have to take certain steps. They couldn't lose one of their best students - let alone an entire adolescence - to some villain.

- So Bakugou became a child? Asked Kaminari, still confused.

- Aizawa-sensei said it had something to do with the individuality of one of the villains we faced. - Kirishima said, arms crossed, looking at his sleeping friend. In a way, he couldn't help feeling guilty. - He didn't let me bust his face.

- I never thought I'd see Bakugou so calm. Said Mina. It was true, Katsuki as a child was something totally different from what he was as a teenager. - Is that what people call puberty?

Midoriya was without his uniform, wearing shorts and a simple sweatshirt, looking worriedly at the boy sleeping awkwardly in the living room chair. Aizawa and the police investigators had withdrawn to question the villain in an attempt to find out more information about that strange individuality. Izuku just hoped that they could resolve that situation as soon as possible.

Maybe someone was listening to your prayers.

- Midoriya - he got up quickly when he heard his teacher's voice. -, come here.

Izuku followed Aizawa to a place farther from the crowd of curious students who whispered around the sleeping child. Eraser Head looked thoughtful.

- So, Aizawa-sensei?

- We interrogated the suspect and discovered some things that may be useful. - scratched the back of his neck. - Although he was not very direct in the answers.

- What happened?

Aizawa made a face of sleep before remembering the normal conversation he and the policeman had with the villain.

The suspect laughed wildly as if he were not being questioned by the federal police. He clearly remembered the moment when he found Bakugou, luring him with his jokes and provocations to some place where he could carry out his infamous antics. He didn't care about the money or the fame he earned as a villain, he just wanted to spread chaos and laughter - in this case, he just laughed at what he was doing - across the country.

- If I were you, I would answer the questions seriously. - the policeman with strange canine features said, apparently irritated. - I will ask again: what is your individuality?

The villain pouted. The grip on his handcuffs increased, which made him groan with discomfort. He turned his neck, smiling in a corner.

- It seems that you will not take it easy with me, will you, heroes? - laughed again. - My individuality is called Time.

An individuality that affects time ?; thought Aizawa.

- And what does she do?

- You guys are kind of dumb, you know? I move with time, duh. - rolled his eyes. - In this case, I can only use it once a day and only on one person. What sucks, ends my antics. - that was good, it meant that only Katsuki had been the victim of his attack. - Basically, I control the biological time of the person I play.

- What do we do to reverse the effect on young Bakugou?

The villain pursed his lips, seeming to forget the third person in the room. All Might was leaning against the wall, arms crossed and strangely serious, just analyzing his actions. The presence of the old Peace Symbol, however small, was still intimidating.

- In all my years as a villain, no one has escaped my individuality. - swallowed. - But there is a way to reverse it. My individuality was made to return to a time of regrets and frustrations. If these conditions happen, then it will revert to its size, age, and who knows what.

- Regrets? What does that mean?

He opened his mouth to nothing but laughing at her confused features.

- Return to a time of regrets and frustrations? - Midoriya looked at Bakugou, realizing that he was awake and not at all happy with the amount of people on top of him. - What would Kacchan have to regret?

- We will research something that can reverse the effect of individuality, there is always some way. - sighed. - In any case, we cannot leave aside your training. Let's take a skills class now.

- But what about Kacchan? - he seemed a little desperate. - He doesn't know anything about what's going on, Aizawa-sensei.

- I know, for only All Might and I asked the director to release his participation in today's training. - Midoriya's eyes widened, startled. - We need someone to keep an eye on him. Even though he is Bakugou, he is still a child who was attacked by a villain. And I'm sure that of all of us, you are the one who knows that brat best.

Midoriya agreed on the spot. He would do anything to look after his childhood friend. Aizawa spoke some of his precautions and left to go back to sleep - after all, the class would not be taught by him - leaving Izuku to go back to the classroom. Once there, he was not surprised to see that even a Bakugou child made enemies.

- Who do you think you are? - Mineta was beside himself. - I'm not a child!

- Even I as a child behave better than you - it was amazing how the sharp tongue was something inherited from the beginning of its existence. -, bunch of grapes.

- I'm not a bunch of grapes!

- But even your special attacks have a grape name, Mineta - Kaminari, as always, did not help at all.

- It was 'for you to help me, Kaminari! I'm being humiliated by a brat!

- It's not just a brat! - Kirishima had become friendly with his friend's mini version. - It's the mini Bakubro!

Mineta and Bakugou continued to argue as good children they were for long minutes until Midnight appeared to take them to the training ground. Everyone in 1-A was training their individualities in the open while Katsuki was sitting on the grass, looking delighted to see so many individuals up close. Midoriya shyly approached, sitting beside him.

- They're amazing, aren't they? - Midoriya was proud of all his friends.

"That half and half looks strong," he pointed at Todoroki. - but I feel like I shouldn't like it. - frowned. - He looks like a pave.

- Pave?

Izuki wondered where he saw Bakugou's incredible creativity when inventing nicknames.

- Yeah, an expired and stinky pave. - crossed his arms. - I do not like him.

What a...

- That one looks like a cookie. - pointed to Uraraka. "That one is kind of cool," he said of Kirishima. - but it's too sticky. Ah, that idiot over there looks like a badly made Pikachu. - Midoriya didn't even need to see to know that it was Kaminari. - Yeah, a Chernobyl Pikachu.

How does someone of this size already know about Chernobyl and invent nicknames of that type ?; Midoriya thought before smiling yellow. Ah, it's Kacchan.

- Why aren't you 'training with them ... - stared at him for a few seconds. - Broccoli?

- Broccoli? - right, that was new.

- Your hair looks like broccoli when mom puts it 'to cook. - he explained. - But don't talk, Broccoli-san.

Is he seriously going to call me Broccoli?

- I was released today.

- 'You're saying this' to hide something, right? - he really was a prodigy boy. - You are a terrible liar, Broccoli-san.

- I'm not lying! - he said, stammering a point in the last words. - And don't call me Broccoli!

- Do you prefer Lettuce Hair?

My All Might from heaven, your tongue itched to say your name, but Aizawa had been clear when he said he should be careful with words; after all, Bakugou did not remember anything, and it would be strange for him to see his childhood friend aged sixteen while he himself was no more than five.

"Keep on with Broccoli," he sighed, defeated.

Bakugou looked away, facing an invisible point in the sky.

"You know, Broccoli-san," she looked at him. -, you remind me of Izuku.

Midoriya's eyes widened. Not because he was compared to himself, but because he heard Katsuki saying his first name. How long has it been called Deku?

- Izuku? He whispered.

- Yeah, you have the same hair, the same eyes and even those little spots on your face. Izuku swallowed. Damn, he knows too much! - But you can't be him, because Izuku is as brat as I am. In fact, I am much bigger than him, more powerful too and my individuality is incredible!

The same Kacchan as always ...

- So you consider yourself better than that - it was strange to talk about yourself as if you didn't know yourself. - Izuku?

Bakugou sighed, looking away at an ant walking in the grass.

- I'm stronger than him. - said. - I'm faster too. - even as a child he likes to rub his qualities in my face. - I am also more skilled, I have my own group of friends and I have an individuality. - He looked at his own hands. - Izuku is weak, slow, useless, isolated and one without individuality. It is a complete useless.

If Katsuki was already sincere as a teenager, then imagine him in the form of a child without the slightest notion of a filter.

- But he's smarter than me. - Midoriya's eyes widened. Had Bakugou considered himself inferior to him in anything? - When we play heroes, he always wins because he has the best plan, even when I'm 'playing with All Might. - crossed his arms as if he were

was having a tantrum. - And he's nice to everyone. In fact, this is what most irritates me about that Deku.

- It annoys you that he is ... - he frowned. - cool?

- Yeah, everyone always wants to be his friend. Last week I stopped two idiots from making friends with him.

- But that is not right, your friend may feel sad to be isolated from other children - so that's why I never had friends? Was it because of you, Kacchan?

It seemed wrong to want to have the answers to your past doubts through a child, but Midoriya couldn't stand being so curious. Maybe that way he could understand Katsuki's mind a little more.

- Hn. He snorted. - They stole a boy at recess - did they? -, pretended they were his friends and got his trust 'to later take his hidden snack money. I don't want that to happen to the idiot Izuku. He doesn't realize how bad people are who take advantage of his kindness, that's why I always have to be there.

- To prevent it from being stolen?

Katsuki looked at him again, shaking his head.

- 'To protect him.

Her heart missed a beat. To protect me?

- Protect?

- Izuku is nice to everyone, so it's easier for him to be cheated. - although small, Katsuki knew about the evils of the world. - Before I didn't care so much, as long as we were 'together, I could always stop him from doing something stupid, but after I found out he was an individual, I realized that Izuku would need my protection even more.

So that's why ...

- We like the same hero, you know? From the great and powerful All Might! - Midoriya remembered the games they played when they were children, where one pretended to be All Might while the other was the villain. As Katsuki said, Izuku always won, even if the blonde didn't accept much of his losses. - We wanted to study here, in the U.A., when we were old and everything, because it was here that All Might studied and became the myth that it is today. I thought it would happen, but when he told me he was a quirkless, it was like I was punished for doing nothing. One without individuality cannot enter 'to the U.A., so we would have to separate. How am I going to protect the idiot Izuku if I'm not keeping an eye on him?

It was the silly reasoning of a child desperate for the best friend's well-being. How have I never noticed this before? So, the way you treated me, was to try to show me the bad things that existed in the world, Kacchan? To protect me ?!

- Then I thought it would be better for him to 'go to a normal school, at least there he couldn't get hurt fighting or for anything else. We always lived close by, so I could visit him and protect him from afar. - told his whole plan as if he were creating a strategy in a war field. - Does it make sense, Broccoli-san?

- II don't know if your friend thinks the same way, do you? - scratched the back of his neck. It was too much information to absorb. - He may think you think him, I don't know, useless someone who needs protection all the time. It's not cool to feel that way, I think.

I'm sure.

- Maybe you're right, Broccoli-san. - Katsuki lay on the grass, shaking his legs while resting his head on his thin arms. - But, you know, maybe the problem isn't just Izuku's idiot. I feel a strange thing every time we 'are together - pouted cute and angry.

- Strange thing?

- Yeah, kind of like I don't want to leave him. - Midoriya's eyes widened, if that were possible. - You know, I don't like to see him talking to the other kids, I always think they want Izuku's evil, and I don't like that. Only I can make that Deku cry.

Is that ... jealous? Midoriya was unable to suppress the small smile. He was discovering things he thought he would never know in his life.

- I feel like hugging him, but I don't do it because it's weird and I don't like it when people think I'm weird, so I punch him 'to distract me from this strange thing. - explained in the best way that a five year old child could speak. - I also like to show my explosions' to him, Izuku always looks like an idiot when he sees it, and I feel great when I get his attention.

- Do you like getting his attention?

- And I like. Sometimes he spends a lot of time in the world of the moon mumbling a lot of strange things and doesn't give a damn 'to me, then I get angry and punch him' for him to remember my existence. I hate it when he ignores me, even more than I hate those gummy movies Mom sees - he grimaced just to remember such romantic comedies.

Izuku tried to put the pieces together in his head, but all possible paths led to the same place. It was possible that that little child, the one who was his childhood friend and current rival, felt things greater than feelings of care for you?

- Don't you like being ignored? - Kacchan has always been a spoiled child and likes attention, I think I'm thinking too many things.

- I hate it when people don't realize I'm amazing. - yeah, just like i thought. - But I hate it even more when Izuku comes with that stupid face trying to help me with something. It should be the other way around: I help and protect him from bad things and he gives me attention. He who needs my protection! He always wants to help everyone, even those who don't want his help, and that really irritates me. - sat down, hugging his knees. - You know, Broccoli-san, sometimes I think Izuku doesn't need me.

- As well?

- It's just that he always knows how to get by when something happens, sometimes he even helps me when I can't do anything. I never know if he's thinking something good or bad about me. What if he no longer needs my protection? What if he finds someone stronger "to protect him? What if he gets tired of me? - the children's voice was desperate. - What if he no longer wants to have me near him?

His doubts had been answered. Indeed, it was possible that that child would feel things much greater than a simple friendship. It was always difficult for Midoriya to understand Bakugou; he was like a book with an implied ending, leaving post-history events uncertain, never knowing what really moved him or what had made him that way. But now, he understood.

In the end, he was just a child desperate for the attention and love of another.

- Have you told Izuku this? - Bakugou looked at him, confused. - If you tell him everything, maybe he will understand you and you can solve everything together. It is never good to keep everything to yourself, you may even regret your decisions now in the future.

"Perhaps," he agreed sheepishly. -, you're as smart as Deku, Broccoli-san. Liked you.

- Does that mean you like Izuku too? He asked, laughing.

Bakugou smiled small.

- Yeah, I like that idiot.

Midoriya looked at his hands, feeling light. Maybe it was wrong, but he wanted to be forever grateful that that villain turned Katsuki into a child again. Willing to discover something else, Izuku looked at Bakugou again, realizing that he was shaking on the floor while holding his head tightly. He despaired.

- Kacchan! - tried to call him, but he seemed inert. What if you were having a seizure? Midoriya always thought of the worst. - My All Might, Kacchan!

Midnight class was paused when Midoriya appeared running in the middle of training with Bakugou passed out on his lap. They ran to the infirmary to leave the poor child in the care of Recovery Girl. They just hoped it wasn't anything serious.

- He's 'waking up!

Bakugou opened his eyes slowly, then closed them tightly when he felt the screeching light of the infirmary blind him. He sat on the stretcher, confused. He tried to understand what was going on, but he only remembered being on top of a mocking villain and after mysteriously erasing it.

- Bakubro! - Kirishima shook him happily. - You came back!

- What the fuck are you talking about, shitty hair? He asked groggily.

- The villain got to you, man. - Kaminari smiled. - You had become a tantrum brat, I'm glad you came back. I prefer the usual angry Bakugou!

- Go to shit, Pikachu.

- I even missed the name-calling!

Recovery Girl discharged him. Aizawa appeared only to repeat what Kaminari had said - only with technical words and his typical sleepy voice -, giving him a small scold for being reckless. Bakugou was released, already dressed in clean clothes and his size. The pair of idiots he called friends withdrew, saying they were waiting for him for a celebratory snack.

When he opened the door, he noticed Midoriya leaning against the door of the infirmary. He seemed quite happy to see him, giving that annoying smile that always moved him in a way he didn't like at all.

- Kacchan!

- What do you want, Deku?

- Nothing. - He smiled, silly, as he pulled away from the wall. - I didn't remember how sincere you were as a child, Kacchan.

- Sincere? - Midoriya walked away, laughing. - But what...

Bakugou's eyes widened, running with fire in his eyes - and an explosion in his hands - towards the laughing Izuku. What the hell had she said while in her child form?

- What did I tell you, damn Deku?

- Nothing, Kacchan - laugh.

Midoriya continued to deny it while Katsuki threatened to blow it up every second. He didn't really mind keeping his mouth shut, all his doubts had already been answered and he had no reason to worry. He finally understood what was going on in his Kacchan's troubled mind. The little child he met and met this afternoon guaranteed him silly smiles for a long time.

It was incredible that, even after years, the feeling that the children shared remained the same.