Katsuki was just stalking out the doors at the end of the school day, his shoulders hunched in a way that screamed talk to me and you die, when he heard it.

"Yeah, one of my friends said there's this kid at his school with a villain quirk." Fingers' annoying voice echoed behind him as he laughed with some of the other bully extras that still sometimes followed Katsuki around. "He invited me to come along and shake him down. You guys wanna join in?"

Katsuki felt an uncomfortable tangle of anger and guilt bubble up in his chest as the other extras immediately agreed and started talking about how excited they were for some fresh meat and how boring things had been ever since Deku had left. How had Katsuki never realized how messed up that was? These guys only felt bad for literally bullying a kid out of school because that meant they couldn't mess with him anymore. The only reason they even missed Izuku at all was because he'd been such an easy target.

Uraraka: I really want to kill those jerks...

Midoriya: Uraraka no!

Katsuki didn't know what possessed him to follow them. It wasn't like he was going to join in like he would have a few months ago, so why in the world did he find himself keeping an eye on them from a block away so he could take the same turns? Was he just trying to punish himself or something?

Kirishima(lighting up): Maybe it's because you're finally going to stop them.

He half-expected the boys to notice him. It's not like he was known for stealth or anything. Katsuki's entire life, he'd been known as the loud kid, be it from his explosive quirk or his explosive temper. He was used to being noticed the moment he walked into a room, but with everything that had been going on these past few months... well, for the first time, Katsuki realized that he'd been fading into the background.

Or maybe that wasn't the right way to phrase it. Katsuki didn't think he was fading, per say, not that he didn't deserve to disappear, it was just that he wasn't pushing to be the center of attention anymore. His constant push to be the best had shoved him headfirst into being a bully, so now that he'd decided to leave that behind, he was a little more comfortable being quiet.

(Bakugo thought about that. Not being in the center of attention... that felt so weird.)

It wasn't something he'd ever thought he'd do, but it would probably be a useful skill when he finally became a hero. Being able to trail an actual villain like this might help him stop crimes or something. He followed Fingers and the other extras to a part of town he'd only passed through before. It wasn't the worst part of town, but it wasn't the best part either and his old hag had told him to avoid it if he could. Of course this was where these stupid extras would come to bully some kid with a villain's quirk. Could they get anymore cliche?

The group he was following met up with a couple other students wearing another school's uniform and they greeted each other warmly, but Katsuki was too far away to hear what they were saying, not that he cared. The bigger group then walked down a smaller side street until they came up behind a kid with purple hair that was wearing the same uniform as the newcomers.

Shinso(groaning): Great another scene of me getting beaten up. Can't I ever catch a break?

The group wasn't quiet as they pulled the kid into an alley and Katsuki froze. Yeah, he'd known what was about to happen, he'd participated in stuff like this enough times that he wasn't about to fool himself into thinking that kid was getting out of this without a few bruises, but for some reason it was different watching it rather than being a participant. Even watching the bullying at school wasn't this bad, because he was used to it there for some reason, but this?

This was wrong.

Joke: Yes it is.

There weren't that many other people on the streets, mostly a few adults who simply glanced toward the alley and turned away, ignoring the yells and other suspicious noises like they were used to @#$*(& like that happening everyday. Maybe they were, but that still didn't mean it was ok! Why wasn't anyone doing anything?

Being a hero doesn't just mean not hurting people, it also means stopping others from hurting them.

Mina(gasping): He's going to do it!

Katsuki moved before he could think. He ran into the alley, warning explosions already sounding in his palms as he turned the corner and saw the familiar scene. The villain-quirk kid had been pushed to the floor and was doing his best to shield himself from most of the damage by curling into a ball. The only difference between what Katsuki saw in front of him and most of his memories of Izuku over the years was that for some reason Fingers had completely covered this kid's mouth with his hands and they'd always just let Deku scream.

The group froze the moment he entered the alley and Katsuki didn't miss the way the kid's eyes zeroed in on his explosions like he was expecting to be burned. It was too familiar and that made him sick, but that wasn't how things were going to go today, not if Katsuki had anything to say about it.

Sero: Yes he's doing it!

After a moment, Fingers broke into a wide smile and relaxed slightly, "Oh Bakugo, it's just you! You want in? Kid's got a voice quirk, so you can't hear him scream, which sucks, but hey, not everyone can be as fun to beat up as Deku, right? At least this kid has a hopeless dream of being a hero too, huh?"

Katsuki felt rage flood through him and he felt his hands grow hotter almost subconsciously as he glared at his former lackey, "Get away from him."

(everyone cheered)

Toga: Yes he's changed!

Fingers looked confused for a moment before his eyes widened in understanding, "Oh, you wanna beat him up yourself?"

"That's not cool dude." One of his other old followers, the kid with boulders for hair, said. "You gotta learn to share."

Katsuki almost just went along with it. He could pretend that Fingers' assumption was right, then let the kid go once the other bullies @*&$# off, and he wouldn't have to deal with all the drama and gossip that was inevitably going to happen the moment he officially switched sides. It would be so easy.

Bakugo(scoffing): But that's the coward's way out.

But that was the coward's way out, and Katsuki was going to be a hero, not a coward, so he widened his stance and kept staring down the bullies, "No. Nobody's gonna touch this extra, not if I have anything to say about it, so leave him the *(@&#$ alone."

There was a long moment of shocked silence before Boulders finally broke it, "You... you're trying to stop us?"

Mitsuki(proudly): Yes he is.

Katsuki's throat tightened and the only answer he could give was continuing to stare them down. Then came the moment he'd been fearing ever since he realized he couldn't be both a hero and a bully.

He saw the image his classmates had of him break.

Almost immediately, Fingers' face twisted into a sneer and Katsuki felt a spike of fear as he realized that he was looking down on him. It wasn't like Izuku used to do, just by being nice and offering help, no, he could tell that in that moment, Fingers had truly and completely judged Katsuki as weak.

(Bakugo looked like he wanted to swear at the screen but settled for imagining blowing up all of those stupid middle school extras)

It took almost everything he had to stand his ground. All he could think about was that he had to do this to be able to stand in front of his friends at the redemption group next week. He had to do this to be able to apologize to Deku. He had to do this to be worthy of being a hero.

All Might: Yes... and you're doing it.

"Dude, this is Bakugo!" Boulders whispered to Fingers, not that Katsuki couldn't hear them anyway. "Do you really think you can take him in a fight?"

Todoroki: You can't.

Katsuki deepened his glare and let the explosions crackle louder in his hands. He didn't really want to beat up these kids, they could probably get him in a lot of trouble once word got around that he wasn't going to stand for the bullying anymore, but he would still do what it took to be a hero. He had to.

Thankfully, Fingers simply scoffed and took his hand off the kid's mouth, "Since when are you such a killjoy, blasty boy? Whatever, come on, boys, let's leave the nerds together."

Katsuki didn't relax his stance, "Just get out of here, extras."

Kamakiri: Yeah!

Rage flashed across Fingers' face, but he still let go of the kid and started walking out of the alley, leaving only the now very confused bullies from the other school, who were looking between Katsuki and his classmates incredulously.

"You too, extras." Katsuki growled, accentuating his words with more explosions. "Beat it."

Mei: Sheesh it's like they want an explosion to the face.

The other bullies jumped into action and ran from the alley, finally leaving him alone with the kid they'd just been beating up. Katsuki watched them catch up to his classmates who had been waiting for them at the entrance to the alley. They started to leave when Fingers stopped and looked back at him with a condescending look on his face, "See you at school tomorrow... Blasty."

Mitsuki(rolling her eyes): They could come up with so much better than that.

Bakugo: Whatever I don't care what they call me.

Katsuki had plenty to be afraid of. He had no idea how all this was going to affect his social standing and life at school, this was completely unknown. All he knew was that it was going to be bad.

He didn't let the bullies see that though. Instead he channeled all of his fear into determination, "Bring it on, @#$*&."

Fingers sneered and turned on his heel, taking his little group of lackeys with his as he left. Katsuki half considered helping the kid behind him up and checking to see if he was alright, but somehow he didn't think that a bully victim would want someone like him trying to comfort him.

Shinso: Yeah, probably not.

He only made it a few steps away before he heard a confused voice behind him, "Thanks?"

Katsuki scoffed and looked over his shoulder at the kid, who had stood up and was dusting himself off, somehow looking bored despite what he'd just gone through, "Whatever. Just don't let them do that to you again."

Shinso: Yeah I won't.

He looked at Katsuki suspiciously, "Why'd you save me?"

"Why do you think?" Katsuki snapped. "I knew what they were gonna do, and I was sick of being on the wrong side of things, got it?"

The kid looked mildly shocked, "You responded to me."

Bakugo(snorting): Obviously.

Katsuki looked at him like he was an idiot, because honestly he probably was, "What, did that beating give you brain damage or something? That's what you're supposed to do when people ask you questions."

"Well, yeah." The kid drawled. "But didn't they tell you about my villain's quirk?"

Midoriya: No, but Kacchan wouldn't care about that anyway.

"I know real villains." Katsuki sneered and looked the kid up and down. "Sorry, *&(@#$, but you don't make the cut, no matter what your stupid-ass quirk is."

(everyone snorted)

Hound Dog: Weird way to comfort someone but it works I guess.

That apparently surprised the kid enough to shut him and Katsuki turned to leave again when the kid called out to him again, "My name is Shinso, by the way."

"Don't care."

(everyone snorted)

Katsuki responded, then stopped and looked back at the kid again. "They said you wanna be a hero?"

Shinso nodded.

"That isn't gonna happen with your scrawny-ass arms." Katsuki grumbled. "You gotta be able to beat people like me in a fight or you're not gonna stand a chance."

Shinso: Yeah, probably should've trained more...

He didn't wait for Shinso's confusion to wear off before stalking out of the alley. He had to get home and get a good night's sleep, because tomorrow was gonna be hell.

Bakugo(muttering): Definitely would.

Kirishima: We're so proud of you, Bakugo.

Mina: Yeah! You stood up to your fears and did the right thing!

Bakugo(halfheartedly): Yeah, yeah, shut it you extras.