Chapter Text
The front door to the Bakugo household slammed open, the frame rattling from impact. Katsuki Bakugo stomped inside, sneakers tracking dirt into the entryway. His eyes burned with fury, jaw clenched tight enough to crack. They expelled him. Him. Bakugo Katsuki, a future top hero. Kicking the door shut with a resounding thud, Katsuki made his way toward his bedroom. He barely got two steps in before a familiar voice fired across the hallway.
“Oi, Brat! The hell is your problem slamming my door like that, huh?!”
Mitsuki Bakugo marched into view, her hair tied up in a messy clip, wild and furious. Her scowl deepened when she saw her son’s face. “What the hell happened?” she snapped. “Don’t tell me you got into another fight. I swear to god, Katsuki-”
“They expelled me.”
The words cut through the air. A beat of stunned silence passed.
Mitsuki blinked. “...what?!”
“I said,” Katsuki growled, tossing his bag across the room, “UA fucking kicked me out!” It thudded to the floor and slumped against the wall like the rest of his crushed pride.
Mitsuki stared, stunned for half a second– then exploded.
“Are you shitting me right now, you brat!?” she shrieked, storming up to him. “You got kicked out of UA?! The hell did you do?” “You’ve been there less than a year and you already blew it? I busted my ass to get you into that school, and you go and screw it all up?”
“It’s not my fault! He snapped, fists trembling at his sides. “Those extras didn’t even give me a chance to–!”
“You mean to tell me you got fucking expelled from the top hero school in Japan and it wasn’t your fault? Bullshit! Don’t you dare try that crap with me!”
“It’s not my goddamn fault!” he shouted! “They basically called me a villain and told me to fuck off!” The hell do they mean, ‘not heroic,’ hah?!”
“Guess what, brat?” she roared, stomping closer. “You’re now a liability! You know what people are going to say, huh? When they find out my only son got the boot from UA? I’ve got clients, Katsuki! A reputation! Your father and I worked so hard to keep your record clean, yet you can’t even manage to behave for a few months? First, you get restrained like an animal because you couldn’t behave at the sports festival, then you get kidnapped by villains! It’s just one thing after another, Katsuki!”
“Then maybe those extras should all go fuck themselves! Everyone should just get off my back for two fucking seconds and stop acting like I ruined the goddamn world.”
Mitsuki jabbed a finger in his chest, eyes narrowed and blazing. “You did ruin something. You ruined your one chance at being a hero!” Mitsuki straightened, her face now blank. It looked wrong on her– unnatural. In all of Katsuki’s years, he had never once seen his mother look at him that way. A lump formed in his throat.
“We will start looking into schools.” Mitsuki says coldly. “Whatever school that will take you.” Sighing, Mitsuki leans back and pushes a strand of hair out of her face. “I need to talk to your father about this, but moving you to another city could be an option. If your heart is still set on being a hero, we can even enroll you in an American school as an exchange student. As it is, Katsuki, your options are very limited.”
Katsuki’s heart skipped a beat. America?
“Just–” Mitsuki begins, sounding defeated, “just get out of my sight.”
Katsuki didn’t respond.
He stood there for a second longer, frozen, shoulders tight with rage and shame. Then, without another word, he turned on his heel and stormed down the hallway. His bedroom door slammed shut behind him.
The room was the same as always– trophies glinting on the shelves, weights stacked near his bed, All Might posters tacked to the walls. The room of a future pro hero.
A room that mocked him now.
He paced once, twice, then yanked a dumbbell off the floor and hurled it against the wall. It dented the drywall with a crack. His fists shook. He wanted to scream. Wanted to blow something up, watch it burn— but his quirk sputtered uselessly in his palm. All spark, no boom. Just sweat and shaking hands.
“Fucking bullshit,” he hissed under his breath. “Fucking… hypocrites.”
He collapsed onto the bed, still fully clothed, eyes burning holes in the ceiling.
They expelled him. Not for fighting villains. Not for blowing up robots. But for something that happened in middle school?
His throat tightened. He didn’t want to think about that. About Deku and his dumb, naive face when he let that slip in front of the teachers. He probably didn’t even mean to— the damn nerd just couldn't help running his mouth when he got emotional.
Katsuki clenched his fists in his lap, nails biting into his palms.
It’s not like he meant to push Midoriya around like that. Not really. He didn’t think about it at the time. It was just— Katsuki remembered how Deku used to smile at him. Even after being shoved, mocked, and threatened, he’d just smile. Tag along behind him like a lost puppy. Cheer him on during combat training. Call him amazing. Like Katsuki was some kind of goddamn hero.
And Katsuki hated it.
He hated how that look made his chest twist, like something rotten inside him knew he didn’t deserve it. He’d yell louder, shove harder— and Deku would still come back the next day with those same wide eyes and awkward compliments.
The nerd had looked up to him.
Even after everything.
“Fucking idiot,” he muttered, voice hoarse.
A part of him wanted to believe Midoriya meant to sabotage him. That he finally got tired of forgiving and told the truth to ruin Katsuki’s life. But that wasn’t Deku. That wasn’t how he worked.
He probably let it slip. Maybe in one of those therapy sessions they made him go to after Kamino. Maybe he said it while crying, saying something like “Kacchan used to be so mean, but I always believed in him.”
And UA listened.
Because Midoriya had always been the good one. The honest one. The one who’d earned One For All, while Katsuki got stuck with the title of “promising delinquent” and now “dangerous.”
He swallowed hard and leaned back against the wall, staring up at the ceiling like it held answers.
Why the hell did Deku look up to him so much?
Why didn’t he hate him?
And why did that question hurt worse than anything else?
He buried his face in his hands.
They didn’t even give him a chance to explain. Aizawa wouldn’t look him in the eye. Nezu’s face stayed neutral the entire time, but there was this coldness under it. Like Katsuki had already been tried and sentenced before he even walked into the room.
“We have a responsibility to our students’ safety and mental health. We cannot in good conscience continue to enroll someone with a history of repeated harassment, especially toward a fellow classmate.”
Those words wouldn’t leave his head. “History of harassment.” Like he was some kind of predator. A villain in the making.
His vision blurred, and for a terrifying second, Katsuki realized he was crying.
He sat up fast, scrubbing his face with the heel of his hand. No. He wasn’t doing that. He didn’t cry. He wasn’t weak.
But he couldn’t stop the thoughts from racing, spinning, choking him from the inside.
What now?
What kind of hero gets expelled before even making it to their second year? What school would take him? Would they even let him try to be a hero again? Or was he done? Finished. Blacklisted by every agency in the country?
He remembered Kamino. Smoke. Fire. The ground crumbling beneath his feet. All Might standing tall—broken, bleeding—fighting because Bakugo couldn’t fight his way free.
Katsuki had looked up to that man his whole life. Even now. Even when he had been the one to end All Might's career, forcing him into retirement.
A weak, hollow laugh escaped his throat.
Some hero.
He curled up on the bed, back to the wall, and stared out the window at the slowly setting sun. His phone buzzed on the floor next to his bag, lighting up with unread messages.
He didn’t pick it up.