"Awe my Carrot grew up!"
"I regret calling you." Kuroka muttered into her phone as she stood away from the rest, outside their dormitories while everyone was inside.
"You'll need to visit to show me that licence face to face."
"Whatever bunny, I just told you so you wouldn't go snooping around to find out if I passed."
"Sure sure, when you visit you should bring along those friends of yours, I'd like to get to know them better."
"Sure, night."
"Night night Carrot."
She hung up and with her quirk, threw the phone on her balcony, hearing a slight crack she didn't care for, walking away.
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She still held the licence as she wandered, climbing one of the buildings in the training area, ground beta, all whilst avoiding the cameras since she easily felt where the mechanical builds were.
She sat on the edge looking at the plastic card, frowning.
She thought she'd feel happy but she didn't.
Yes she got her licence but usually first years don't participate in this exam, it was because class 1-A had already fought villains and because All Might lost his quirk that they could participate.
"All Might...." She hated this, she knew she was partially at fault. "Hmm?" She saw someone walk on below followed by another. "Pomeranian? Izu?" She whispered.
She hopped down on a lower fake balcony but didn't go lower, not wanting to interrupt them as theirs words reached her ears.
"--Were a quirkless, good-for-nothing weak little bitch... But by some miracle you got accepted to U.A. and by an even bigger miracle, your quirk manifested out of thin air, ain't that right?" Katsuki sounded angry but a restrained kind which made her on edge, the boy was known to explode and this was not good. "You were an incomprehensible bastard, spewing nothing but garbage. And ever since then, you've been wearin' this self-satisfied face while growing more, and more, and more, the whole god damn time. Ever since that one time with the sludge bastard.... No.... Ever since All Might first came to town! More and more and more and more and in the end you even got your license and I fucking failed. What the hell is with that?"
"I earne--" "JUST SHUT THE HELL UP AND LISTEN ASSHOLE! The whole damn time it pissed me off. It disgusted me! But you know with the whole incident in Kamino, I finally put the pieces together and I've been thinking about it the whole time.... You got that power from All Might didn't you?"
Kuroka's gaze snapped to Izuku, her mind spinning but Katsuki made sense, a lot of sense.
"The boss villain, that bastard, from what I saw with that goggled bitch being wrapped up in this mess it that he could transfer quirks and take them away from people, giving them to others and I couldn't believe it, coming from her and him? Don't make me laugh.... But lo and behold, one of the pussycats was forced to retire due to the disappearance of their quirk and not to mention those nomu fuckers held multiple quirks and with what the bitch ex-villain told me it just grounded my theory more. Plus All Might and that boss asshole were acquaintances."
"No fucking surprise you are near the top of the class in grades damn." She whispered.
She looked down, Izuku had hid this not only from his metaphorical best friend but her also while she told him all.
No, she realized, she hid her villainy, how fitting was it he hid that he was the successor of All Might?
Now that she thinks about it, there were many moments she suspected something was up but she never thought that far.
"You're gonna fight me! Right here, right now!"
"WHY?!"
Kuroka looked up, this might end up bad.
"Fighting here is a bad idea, filled with cameras." She called out loud enough to be heard, making both boys take notice in the girl now standing in balance on the railing of the fake balcony, hands in her pockets.
She hopped off, landing with her knees bent.
"A-ah Kuro! What are you doing here?! How much did you hear?!"
"Izu I was here from the start, I should have made the connection before the Pomeranian but he is right, the dots can't be pulled in any different ways."
"STOP IGNORING ME!!" She threw Katsuki a glare. "This is my fight!! I want to confirm exactly what makes you so great that All Might would choose a weakling like you!"
"I told you, better not, filled with cameras, now step aside boy and calm it off, I am sure Aizawa will let you blow off steam tomorrow so lets not get in trouble." She tried pushing Katsuki away, hand on his chest but he grabbed it and yanked her to the ground with a blast to her back, making her body smack off the ground as he exploded straight at Izuku.
"Lift your arms if you don't want to be hurt!! Oh wait, you switched to kicks like the villain didn't you?!"
"Kacchan!"
"YOU IDIOTS!!" She pushed her hand in the ground and threw herself back on her feet with them, running after the boy.
As Izuku jumped up to avoid the large blast of Katsuki, Kuroka came up behind the blond, kicking down in the back of his head, subduing him was the best she could do to avoid either boys sustaining injuries but Katsuki wouldn't go down to that one kick.
With the agility he had, he spun while he fell and blasted upwards, sending her flying up in the air where she caught herself on a lamppost.
"AT LEAST THE GOGGLED BITCH FIGHTS FOR REAL!! YOU ALWAYS READ TOO MUCH INTO EVERY DAMN THING YOU NERD!! BRING IT ON DAMMIT!!" Katsuki yelled, getting up from the ground as Izuku was still in the air from having jumped over the blast aimed at him, Kuroka was crouching on the lamppost.
"Guys are we seriously doing this?!" He yelled.
"I would prefer not too but the Pomeranian doesn't take no for an answer!! Let me knock him out!" She jumped down with a flip, metal chunks ripping away from the lamppost and she threw them out, aiming to the still prone Katsuki. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!!" She yelled as Izuku jumped in the way and with the air blast one of his kicks created, sent the metal flying but giving Katsuki an opening and blasting him in the back.
Izuku landed and jumped away from another blast.
"DON'T RUN AWAY!!! FIGHT ME!!!" He swung at the broccoli boy.
"OH NO YOU WON'T!!" Kuroka bounced from her spot.
As Izuku was kicked in the chin and fell in bridge position she hit the back of her fist down on Katsuki's head and that hit was soon following by Izuku's kick as he flipped over, knocking the boy into the girl and both falling away from him.
Katsuki had fallen, sitting on the ground but weighing on Kuroka who was laying on her front.
"Damn you heavier then before." She groans.
"Guys! Are you all--" "DON'T YOU FUCKING WORRY ABOUT ME!!" Katsuki shoved away from Izuku who tried helping him up, making Kuroka groan as he was more of less sitting on her back. "FIGHT ME!!! WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM?!! EVEN SHE IS ABLE TO DO AS TOLD AND NOT YOU!!! WHY!!? HOW DID I END UP CHASING THE BACK OF A SHIT-HEAD WHO WAS ALWAYS TRAILING BEHIND ME?!!" He pulled himself to his feet as he yelled.
Kuroka just sat up, listening, hating how she could empathize with the blond.
She knew deep inside of her she was happy when Izuku was quirkless, she knew that she liked being the one to help him, it gave her a reason but right now he was needing her less and less.
"A SHITTY SMALL FRY LIKE YOU GETTING STRONGER AND BEING RECOGNIZED BY ALL MIGHT EVEN THOUGH I WAS GETTING STRONGER TOO.... SO WHY?? WHY AM I PART OF THE REASON FOR ALL MIGHT'S END?!!"
She hugged the knee she bent up to her chest.
"EVEN WITH THE HELP OF GOGGLED BITCH HERE WE COULD DO NOTHING BUT FLEE!!! IF I HAD JUST BEEN STRONGER!!! IF I HADN'T BEEN KIDNAPPED BY THE VILLAINS THEN NONE OF THAT WOULD HAVE EVER HAPPENED!!!"
"If only I had been stronger I wouldn't have caved under the pressure of the knowledge I had been given...." She said more to herself.
"I TRIED TO KEEP ALL MIGHT A SECRET I COULDN'T TELL ANYBODY!! BUT EVEN THOUGH I TRIED NOT THINKING ABOUT IT.... THE SLIGHTEST ACCIDENT WOULD MAKE IT ALL COME FLOODING OUT!!! YOUR BASTARD OF A VILLAIN FOR FRIEND!!! WHY IS SHE THE ONLY ONE THAT CAN UNDERSTAND THIS?!! WHY HER?!! I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I SHOULD DO ANYMORE!!!"
Kuroka didn't move as Katsuki launched ahead, just hugging her knee more, bringing her other leg closer, watching as Izuku gave a huge kick back, this time meaning it.
She was even more of a reason for All Might losing his quirk then Katsuki was but unlike him, her guilt was not explosive anger but cold loneliness.
She didn't feel like moving or interfere anymore, more then sure one of the many cameras saw them and a teacher would stop them, so she watched on, she knew now this fight could not be stopped by her, this was between them.
"Alright then.... I wanted to see if shoot style would work well against you anyway.... If you wanna go.... Then there's no holding back!" Izuku declared loudly.
She didn't feel like doing anything, hating that not only she noticed how Katsuki felt but that he also noticed how she felt but despite it all she kept am eye one the lightning fast movements of the boys as she pushed herself on her feet, ready to intervene if one went overboard and would hurt the other gravely, that's the least she could do currently.
She hated that she could understand the boy who made her best friend's life hell for all these years and yet she was the one to sink into villainy again when he told the L.O.V. to fuck off despite being out numbered.
She sighed, that last hit they were preparing was for the kill, too much.
She jumped ahead as a cloud of fire exploded and covered the scene.
----------------------------------------------
"Damn, you both got stronger, you'll start to give me a run for my money soon." She panted.
Izuku was laying on his back, Kuroka's hand pushing his head in the ground while Katsuki was steeping on one of his arms and holding the other, his free hand that would have struck Izuku held in an over the shoulder grip by Kuroka, her back sandwiched to his front.
"I hate it but I know how you feel, both of you I can understand but stop this now, before you severely hurt each other." She said, using her body to push Katsuki back and off Izuku as he didn't fight it, standing as the green boy stayed laying on the ground, neither of the three scratch free with bruises and burns
"I win." Katsuki whispered. "Even with your villain friend I still won.... All Might's power... Even with that power... Even if you made it your own, you're still losing to me.... Come on nerd, why did you lose?"
"That'll be the end of this young students." Kuroka's gaze snapped to All Might while the boys still were mostly facing each other.
"All Might." She muttered, hearing the boys also name the ex-pro.
"I am sorry but I took the liberty of eavesdropping on you.... I'm sorry for not realizing how you all felt."
"Not you too." Katsuki grumbled. "Why Deku? Why was it this guy?"
"Ever since the time with the sludge villain, despite being powerless and young Kinzoku as the hero killer on the scene, he rushed in with two dangerous villains there and that was more then any hero did that day. I judged I needed to help him stand tall unlike you who was already standing."
"But I'm weak."
"If you are weak then I am what?" Kurkoa joked but the boy didn't snap back like he'd usually do.
"Even thought all I wanted to do was become strong like you! But 'cus I'm weak now you're like this!"
"It is not purely your fault, I have failed long before you, stupid me ranted to you, you should probably blame me more then you do Izu or yourself." She tried to say lightheartedly but it weight heavily on her.
"This is not your fault neither is it yours or anyone else's, all roads come to an end. This was what the future was for me no matter what would happen. Young Bakugou you are strong but you know, I concentrated too much on that strength alone and let you bear too much weight, I am sorry, you're a young man too." All Might hugged him.
She laughed barely when he shoved away.
"And I am sorry young Kinzoku." She rose a brow. "My view on villains twisted the way me and my colleagues would look at you and treat you, making you deal with many unneeded weights too, weights our mistrust forced you to carry. I am sorry I was blind to the changes you worked to bring to your life."
She turned away, not wanting anyone to see the tears his words conjured up.
"I've been a pro for a long time and here are my honest thoughts. To obsess over victory the way you do young Bakugou, the way you refuse to back down from a fight in order to protect young Kinzoku and to want to rescue who is in trouble young Midoriya, if any of you is lacking in any you won't be able to maintain your own sense of justice as a hero, young Kinzoku you are more then aware how that twisted sense of justice can affect someone and bring them down the wrong path. In the way that young Midoriya longs for young Bakugou's strength or young Kinzoku's courage and in the way the other two feared young Midoriya's unbreaking spirit... Your feelings are all out in the open now and now, you get it now don't you? If you can recognize each other and honestly raise each other up, you can become the best heroes who win, rescue and fight on."
"That... That's not what I wanted to ask about..." Katsuki fell on his behind, hiding his face in his arms, Kuroka also soon joined the two boys sitting on the ground, facing back forwards. "You. If you're got the strongest person helping you out and even a hero killer as your stupid friend... You shouldn't be losing."
"I'll get stronger so that I can beat you."
"Izu that's not the best to say right now." Kuroka sighed.
"Who else knows about you and Deku's relationship anyway?"
"Recovery Girl and the principal and among the students, now you and young Kinzoku."
"You don't want people to find out do ya? All Might?" Katsuki said.
"Izu has always tried to hide the origin of the quirk that suddenly appeared even from me, I won't say anything." Kuroka promised. "I am not about to get my best friend in trouble."
"I won't say anything to anyone. I won't go blabbing like shithead Deku over here, okay?" Katsuki said when he felt gazes on him. "This secret stays with us."
"Agreed." Kuroka added on to his words. "Tho now, do please enlighten us a bit about it, I've wanted to know since I first saw Izu with a quirk he didn't have a few months before joining U.A."