Archive of Our Own ^beta

Bakugou Katsuki can see ghosts. Perfect, just what he needed. He hates them. They’re all a bunch of assholes. They expect him to help them with every little problem just because he can see them and no one else can.

Newsflash, he has his own life to live. He can’t just, like, tell a living relative how much their dearly departed loved one hates them. And he will never tell the police the identity of who murdered them. No way. He gets to beat those fuckers up first. Then, maybe he can tell the police on an anonymous tip line.

Bakugou hated the world and his fucking scarlet eyes. Maybe if his eyes were green or brown he wouldn’t get the living and nonliving mixed up all of the time. For now, though, he settled on pretending that nothing was wrong with the world, including his own fuck ups.

He marched home in a rush, seeing as many ghosts couldn’t get to private places where humans resided. He assumed it was because the living and the dead did not mix well, but that assumption always went out the window as soon as the space became public. Schools, abandoned buildings, and malls seemed to be covered in every type of ghost around.

He tried not to make eye contact with those that no one else could see, but it was a hard thing to do when ghosts looked like the average person to him. Sometimes, the fresher ghosts looked bloodied or even slightly translucent, but that was because they hadn’t processed what had happened.

Bakugou made it to his household, only to discover once the door was slammed behind him that they had company. A pair of flats sat next to the small line of shoes. He made sure to walk carefully along the wood, hoping that his socks wouldn’t give him away again. Last week, he slid into a table when he was going too fast across the floor.

He peeked his head into the living room to find Midoriya Inko. Bakugou didn’t mind their neighbor. She was a little too emotional for him and his mom, but she also encouraged Bakugou into trying out for U.A. the most. It was small things, but it was more than his dad and mom were willing to do. His dad wanted him to go into business, and his mom really wished he would think about modeling. Like hell he would do that. No.

Mitski spotted him first, noticing his puff of blond hair around the corner. She waved her hand around and said casually, “Get over here, Inko has a surprise.”

Bakugou sped up his pace in order to sit in the lone chair. He noticed his father coming in from the kitchen, and he would surely pick that spot if Bakugou didn’t claim it first by ‘accident.’ Once everyone was seated, and pleasantries were said, Inko picked up her purse.

Bakugou knew that Inko was somewhat well off. She lived with her husband, a man that didn’t get out much due to being frailer or something. Bakugou didn’t interact with the man much. He heard rumors from the street kids that the man was a skeleton, but Bakugou knew that he wasn’t quite dead yet.

From her purse, Inko laid out an All-Might charm. Bakugou instantly recognized it as the newest set of All-Might merchandise. Even though the hero retired over a decade ago, he was still popular for bringing peace for so long during a corrupted time. Plus his power was insane. Bakugou knew that the key chain sold-out in 4 minutes tops, seeing as he was one of those clicking refresh again and again. When he finally got into his cart, it had already gone out of stock.

The green-haired woman blushed slightly towards them. She said with just a slightly hesitant voice, “I remembered how much you adored All-Might when you were a child, so I asked Yagi if he could find something you’d like. He decided that this would be the best. A small little reminder that you’ll become someone as great as him.”

Bakugou was frozen. He didn’t want to pick the charm from off of the table. Mitsuki gave a snort. She pulled his lanyard off of his neck while he was in shock, and quickly fastened the chain to it. She tossed it back to him. Bakugou couldn’t believe that she was just throwing it. He tried his best to catch it gently. It seemed the adults noticed how careful he was treating the gift, as they all had small smiles on their faces.

He spoke softly, “Thank you.” Inko gave her iconic smile.

Mitsuki laughed loudly at the interaction. “He’s only polite to you, Inko.” She then said, “We’re having curry for dinner, you’re welcome to stay.”

Inko looked around as if wanting to find an out. She said, “Sorry, Mitsuki, but I should leave. Yagi has an appointment, and it’s out of the city. But, I’d love to come over sometime soon. Maybe Yagi would come too.”

“You got the A-Okay from me.”

“Can he handle spice?” grinned Bakugou.

Inko giggled softly. “He can, but I’m afraid this household is far ahead of what he could handle.”

Inko soon left, leaving Bakugou to face his parents. He eyed them, almost afraid that they’d bring up that he applied for General Studies also, just in case the Hero Department didn’t have room for him. Well, he was sure that he could get in, but his parents liked the idea of him applying to more than just U.A. He settled that General Studies was good enough, if it came down to it. He could potentially transition departments, after all.

Instead, Mitsuki simply said, “Your uniform arrives next week. If we pay for two, then U.A. will pay up to 4 replacements if they get destroyed or damaged. I get that you like to blow things up, but that’s only 6 uniforms a year. In Junior High alone, we had to get 12.”

“I’ll be careful,” he promised in a grunt.

“Good,” she grunted back.

Actually going to U.A. two weeks later was a lot harder than Bakugou expected. He had dreamed about the school practically all of his life, had set foot in it in order to take the test, but now he was an actual student of U.A. He was about to start his hero career.

He walked past the security gate, surprised that not many reporters were lined up. He had read a few horror stories on the internet of current or past students that struggled with all of the cameras and questions focused on them. One featured an actual break-in while another was a villain attack that was stopped within 10 minutes due to the staff’s safety procedures.

He was looking at the school’s map when a face popped out from the board. He didn’t even flinch at it, as he was used to ghost antics. He just wished they would move their stupid freckled face. He was solid, so he should know that he was dead. The ghost clearly was sizing up the new class of heroes.

Bakugou sighed as a brunette looked at the map quickly before nervously walking away. He couldn’t see which hallway he needed due to the ghost’s face, so he peered around to find that almost no students were around.

With a sigh as the bell rang through the school, he whispered, “Hey, Broccoli, move it. I need to find my way to class.”

The face lit up bright pink. They looked a little bit like a lobster. The ghost quickly passed through the rest of the wall and stood beside him, yelling apologies as if Bakugou had scorned the poor thing. But, getting the numbers from the board, the blond suddenly felt confident he could find his class.

Bakugou made it into the class only to find it was mostly empty. All that was there was a caterpillar. He inspected the strange anomaly, wondering if perhaps it was a ghost or even an odd poltergeist. Then, it stood up. A moment later, it spoke.

“You’re late. Detention, after school. For now, change into your P.E. uniform and meet on the track in 4 minutes.” The yellow thing then hopped away.

Bakugou tried to clarify what he saw out of his mind, and instead focused on his future. Okay, so, no orientation. He could do that. He never paid much attention to those anyways. He would just look up the rules when he got home.

The explosive teenager entered the locker room to find that everyone was rushed into getting their uniform on. He went to an empty locker and changed at a quick pace to match them. A boy, way too friendly if you asked Bakugou, grinned at him once they were walking out to the track.

“I’m Kirishima Eijirou. Did you meet our teacher?”

“The caterpillar?” said Bakugou.

Sero Hanta, from across the hall, gave a hearty laugh. “Dude, he is going to destroy you if you call him that.”

Bakugou shrugged. “He already gave me detention, so.”

“What for?” questioned Kirishima.

“I was late.”

“Oh, you got lost too?” asked a girl. It was the brunette from the map. “Maybe if we paired up we could have found it faster.” She then extended her hand, “Uraraka Ochako, nice to meet you.”

“Uh-” Bakugou stared at the hand- “okay.” He took it, finding it surprising when she had a strong handshake.

“We are going to rock,” she said, confidence clear in her voice.

“Heck yeah!” agreed Ashido Mina with a wide grin. “We’re going to be awesome.”

They reached the track, where a series of tests quickly followed. Their teacher did not seem pleased with him, so Bakugou tried to be extra dramatic as he aimed in the top 3 in every test. He was number 2 in the class and wasn’t particularly sad when the threat Aizawa made officially came true when some stupid-looking grape boy wemt away crying.

When they were shuffling back into the school, a familiar green caught Bakugou’s eyes. He reigned in a sigh as the ghost walked with him. Making eye contact with them, Bakugou hoped he wouldn’t have to talk to the older teen.

“Hello, so, um, I’m Izuku. You clearly can see me. Whether you can see other ghosts, I’m unsure of yet. I watched the potential test, so I know you have a pretty good grasp on your quirk. It’s explosions, right? From your sweat? That’s really cool. My mom’s friend has weird sweat too. Anyways, how can you see me?” said the ghost.

Bakugou continued walking. He was not going to make any weird ghost friends. He was in U.A. now. He needed to focus. He already fucked up in the morning, he can’t have any more setbacks.

Izuku the ghost continued to talk, “Like, your name is Katsuki, yeah? That’s nice. Names are cool. Nicknames, especially. Hey, did you notice that one kid with the really cool brainwashing quirk? He’s going to be an awesome hero.”

Bakugou raised a brow at Izuku.

The ghost took that as an incentive to keep going. “And Iida Tenya, from the Ignieum hero family, has his quirk in his legs. Yaoyorozu has an amazing creation quirk. Oh, and that one girl with the five-point touch anti-gravity quirk, it’s so cool. This year of heroes is going to be great. Not to mention Dark Shadow --the bird on Tokoyami’s side-- he’s going to be awesome.”

Bakugou whispered to Izuku as the class chatted away in the hall, “You've been at U.A. for a while, huh.”

“About a decade,” confirmed the broccoli-head. He smiled sadly. “I, uhm, had just graduated when I died. My dad- my mentor, well, I let him down. His legacy can’t live on because I’m dead.”

They arrived at the changing rooms. Bakugou got fixed back into his uniform in record time in order to talk to Izuku quietly in the classroom. He chose the only spot without a bookbag at it. He noticed the ghost pacing through the desks as if they weren’t there, and, for him, they weren’t.

“How many ghosts are there in U.A.?”

The ghost swished around quickly. “Not many, actually. At first, I thought I was crazy, cause, you know, there should be hero-hopefuls wallowing around in the halls, but most of the ghosts around are old friends of the staff or students. Sometimes there will be an influx of ghosts, but they move on fairly quickly.”

“So why are you here?”

The green-haired ghost looked almost saddened as he wallowed around until he sat down in the chair in front of Bakugou’s desk. Izuku replied, “Well, I’m looking after my dad. He’s a staff member here.”

“So you’re a hero’s kid,” stated Bakugou.

“Uhm, yeah. Basically. Sort of.”

It looked as if Izuku was going to say more, but as more and more students filed into the room, he stayed silent. When Aizawa returned, Izuku left to float through the halls. Probably off to look after his father or something. Clearly, Bakugou didn’t care. Nope. He didn’t get involved with the unseeable.

Bakugou thought he had made it through the day without any huge hurdles, but realized he was wrong when he stepped out of the U.A. gates, only for a small beep to echo. He made eye contact with the security guard, who seemed slightly disappointed as he marched over.

The security guard said, “You forget about something?” Bakugou raised his eyebrow in question. “What did you do to piss off your teacher on the first day? Let me guess, you’re in 1-A?” Bakugou sighed. “Yep. Detention. Better get back to class.”

As he went back into the school the blond passed by Kirishima. The red-haired teen looked far too happy and free-going. “Dude, we should totally hang out next time. Sucks that you got detention, but maybe they’ll go easy on ya.”

Uraraka passed by with Iida Tenya just at that moment. Uraraka waved at the paused duo and said, “Totally. Maybe 1-A can try to get to know one another this Saturday, you know, since we’re going to be heroes together one day. I talked to Shinsou, uhm, Hitoshi, and he said that, uh, there’s a cafe just a couple minutes walk away that’s not too crowded after school.”

Iida added, “Yes, he seems knowledgeable about that information. Perhaps we can talk to fellow students before class tomorrow.”

Kirishima grinned. “I know at least 3 other people who would love that. I’ll be there for sure.”

Uraraka stood slightly taller as she and Iida said their goodbyes. Kirishima left with a pat on Bakugou’s shoulder. Taking a deep breath, the scarlet-eyed teenager made his way back to 1-A. He sat down at his desk, his bag only making a slight clanging noise.

Not a moment later, Aizawa entered like a normal person. He didn’t seem to like having to talk so loudly to reach Bakugou’s ears, as he was in the back and yet the only person there. The teacher simply said, “So, you were late this morning. Don’t do it again. No homework was passed out today, since most of the staff here aren’t completely annoying, so write a short essay about how your quirk works, and list at least one other classmate who has a quirk that would work well with yours.”

Bakugou tried not to stare as his teacher then sat down at a desk in the front row and chugged 3 cans of an off-branded energy drink in a row that somehow fit in his scarf. Aizawa then gave a creepy grin that made Bakugou take out a pencil and a sheet of paper.

The essay wasn’t that hard. He knew his quirk was all of his explosions. His sweat was a key aspect of his quirk, too. Kirishima could technically stand up to his explosions, so he could be a good teammate. With that done, Bakugou tried not to look to his right.

Izuku had returned. He looked almost embarrassed to be noticed. Bakugou supposed he should just pretend that he couldn’t see or hear the ghost. And yet Bakugou wanted to acknowledge the strange freckled boy.

Aizawa, seeing that Bakugou had stopped doing anything, slinked up from his spot. Bakugou stood up and handed in his essay. Aizawa grunted before pointing towards the door. Bakugou promptly left. A silent being followed behind.

Once they were simply in the never-ending halls of U.A, Izuku hesitantly began to speak. “So, uh, well, you obviously see me. And I, uhm, don’t want to annoy you or anything, so, uhm… I was hoping to get your opinion about, uh, what you think.”

“About?”

“Huh?” the broccoli seemed confused.

Bakugou couldn’t help but roll his eyes. “What did you want my opinion on?”

“Oh!” Izuku lit right up. “Well, uh, do you think you’re strong?”

Bakugou halted in the middle of the hallway. “Hah?! Of course, I’m strong.”

Izuku seemed more cheerful at that. “Perfect, then, uh, do you think you’re trustworthy?”

Bakugou squinted his eyes at the ghost. “What is this about, Broccoli?”

“Well, uh, my dad, he, uh, he’s retired but he’s still fighting villains, you know? And, uh, well, Bakugou Katsuki, I need your help to protect him.”

Bakugou attempted not to leave right then and there. He tried really hard not to get involved with ghosts for this exact reason. They always need his help, once they know of him. Just a small favor, and then they’ll leave him alone.

And yet, he asked, “Who’s your dad?”

“Well,” blushed Izuku, “you might know him. He goes by All Might.”

“...”

“So, can you help?”

“...”

“Katsuki?”

Getting over the fact that All Might, perhaps the greatest hero in the history of heroes, had a son was hard. Bakugou stayed silent as Izuku explained his past. Apparently, All Might fell in love with his mom, they married, and had him. Except Izuku felt like he was never enough. Dying after graduating U.A. didn't help, either.

Then Izuku started talking about All for One, a seemingly immortal villain that was supposed to be dead, but somehow survived the fight that ended the Symbol of Peace's career. Then Izuku talked about his inherited quirk. Something that would make the user strong with All Might's strength. It was passed onto Izuku, but it also died with him.

Well, up until Bakugou was led into a weird base at Dagobah Beach. It looked like a normal trash pile, but after moving some large pieces of junk, there was a small space with a rusted red box.

Izuku said, "Just, just trust me. Take a piece out and eat it."

Bakugou cracked open the box and hesitantly took out the plastic bag holding the green locks of hair. "You serious?"

"Super serious."

"Just one strand?"

"Yup."

Bakugou picked one out of the bag. He checked, "I won't choke on it all day, right?"

"Well, uhm..."

"Oh my god, you are terrible." And yet Bakugou gunned it down. He felt it scratch at his throat. "I hate it."

"Bread helps, I think."

"huh?"

Izuku explained, "Like, if you swallow a small piece of bone or something that gets lodged in your throat, you eat some bread to get it unlodged."

"I have hair in my throat, not bone or whatever messed up logic you're talking about."

"Just, uh, okay. Yeah. All's fine."

"Nerd."