"Izuku." Bakugou growled.

Directly in front of him was a green-haired man, who raised his eyebrows at the name.

"I'm surprised you didn't call me 'Deku.'"

The blonde man gritted his teeth, clicking his tongue in annoyance. "You go into hiding for almost a decade, and that's how your sorry ass greets me?"

Izuku shrugged. "What were you expecting, a maniacal laugh? I didn't do when I had my debut, don't plan on doing it now."

They both stared at each other for an achingly long moment. Katsuki was just as volatile as his younger self. Though, of course, he lacked the sparks and puffs of smoke that his hands would expel when he was angry. Instead, he held a gun towards the calm villain in front of him. Bakugou was shaking slightly. He did his best to hide it, but...

"Don't tell me you think that's going to help."

The blonde smirked slightly before pulling the trigger. He felt the kickback of the pistol as the bullet raced from the barrel with a bright flash.

Izuku, with blinding speed, ducked to the side, avoiding the bullet. Using his momentum, he raced up towards Bakugou, grabbed the slide of the gun and yanked forward, pulling the top off of the gun. He kept his movement going, twisting his waist and spinning around to deliver a solid kick to the blonde's face, knocking him over and sending the rest of the gun flying out of his hands. As he hit the ground, Izuku picked up the gun, pulling out the magazine and peering within.

"I told you it wouldn't help. And I'm surprised you of all people managed to get your hands on quirk suppressing bullets. How did someone like you even do that. I mean, it's not like you could have threatened them with your quirk."

Bakugou clenched his fists. "Damn you..."

Izuku replaced the slide on the gun, pointing the weapon down to the ground, before rapidly firing off each shot. Each one had sunk into the floor, the contents of the bullet seeping harmlessly into the floor.

He pulled out the magazine. Empty. He pulled back the slide, revealing the last bullet in the barrel. He pointed it at Katsuki, who just managed to push himself into a sitting position.

"You know," Izuku added, "This probably would have been more cathartic had I not taken your quirk so long ago." He fired the gun, sending the bullet into the wall next to Bakugou's head. "Hope those bullets didn't cost you too much."

Bakugou started grinding his teeth. "I'm going to kill you. I'm going to beat you until I see your fucking brain splattered all over the floor!"

The green haired man rolled his eyes. "I've heard scarier things from scarier people."

"I wish your mother could see how pathetic you are now. She was so distraught after seeing how you murdered Iida."

"A shame, really. I still leave flowers on her grave. If you think I'm going to falter because you mentioned her, then you're sorely mistaken." Izuku stated, his face darkening. "I've made my choices. I refuse to blind myself to the world for some naïve dream I had as a teenager. But you..." he walked over, kneeling next to Bakugou.

The villain immediately grabbed the back of the man's head, smashing his face into the ground. "...You're still just as obsessed with victory as you always were." For extra emphasis, he began wiping Bakugou's face along the ground. "I beat you down, clip your wings, and yet you still come back as if you were a savior."

"Katsuki!" A feminine voice shouted. Izuku's ears perk up.

"Sounds like an old friend is here. No matter, I've wasted enough time." He kicked the blonde's shoulder, the force causing him to roll over onto his back. Izuku gestured around the place they were in. "Whatever you thought you could do here is all for naught. This warehouse was emptied just yesterday."

Izuku snapped his fingers, a dark purple warp gate opening behind him. He stepped through, not bothering to look back at the grounded man.

Uravity burst through the door to the warehouse, seeing the beaten man on the ground. She rushed over, cradling his head.

"Bakugou..." she whispered, her voice cracking. "You idiot."

He simply looked to the side, away from her worried gaze. "I'm fine. I just had to take him on."

Fifteen years ago...

Izuku was following his best friend Bakugou around the park, gazing amazedly at the sparks that shot off of his fingertips. It was super cool! If possible, he would have watched it all day.

The two boys were accompanied by other kids as well, who all seemed to flock to Katsuki's overwhelming confidence in his ability to use his quirk. They were all talking and laughing, and having a great time. Izuku was enjoying himself, just staying at the back of the group.

While walking next to a large ditch, Katsuki smirked. He turned around and rushed the green haired kid, blowing a large plume of black smoke in his face. Izuku, like any normal boy, yelled in surprise as he fell back, tumbling down the steep hill into the ditch. The ground was wet from yesterday's rain, and the mud seeped into the fallen boy's clothes. As he got back up, he smiled and laughed, just like all the other kids did. Bakugou, grinning, turned around and left. The rest followed suit.

Izuku, sensing everyone was leaving him, began to climb to catch up. But the walls were too slick with wet mud, so he would only get up halfway before slipping and sliding back down to the bottom. Eventually his breath began to get caught in his throat and he began to worry about being unable to get up. After almost forty minutes, he began to whimper each time he slid down, worried he was stuck. After an hour, he stopped trying to climb and huddled at the bottom.

After an hour and a half, he was sobbing wildly, scared to death that no one would come for him. His face was on his knees as he curled up.

Izuku heard a thud as something landed next to him. Shaking, he turned his head towards the noise.

That's when they met.

There stood a boy in his late teens, staring down Izuku. The look he gave was nothing short of malicious, though Midoriya couldn't tell if that was actual malice or simply due to the wizened look this teen had.

"Can you stand?" he grunted.

Izuku slowly got up, nodding.

As he got up, he gasped in surprise as the teen immediately grabbed him by the waist, before roughly putting the boy on his shoulders.

"Hold on."

Izuku nodded as the teen began to climb out of the small ravine. He slipped once or twice, but managed to dig his feet deep into the mud and get enough support to make it up. Izuku slowly climbed down. The first thing he noticed was how dirty this teen was, covered in mud. Immediately, Izuku bowed, stuttering, "I'm s-s-sorry for causing y-you trouble!"

The teen stared back. "Don't sweat it. Watch your step next time. Did you fall or get pushed."

"U-uh one of my f-f-friends surprised m-me and I fell."

"And he didn't help you?"

"He l-left."

"Not much of a friend, is he?"

"Kacchan is cool! He's a g-good friend!"

The teen opened his mouth, but decided to pause. After a moment, he resumed. "Your... Do all your friends do that?"

Izuku nodded.

He heard the teen make a tch sound, scratching his neck and looking away. He turned to leave. "Well, see you around kid."

"W-Wait!" Izuku called back.

The teen stopped.

"What's your name?"

"...Tomura."

Izuku nodded. "Will I see you again?"

"I did say I would see you around."

Izuku smiled brightly. "Do you want to be friends, then?"

A/N: Hey guys! It's been a while since I've written any fanfiction, so I thought I'd start fresh and make a new account. I'm doing this to supplement my actual novels that I write, as it helps me practice.

As for the story itself, I'm planning on having it mostly disjointed in terms of the chapter order. I will make it as clear as I can what point in the timeline a certain scene is. I firmly believe that allowing myself to write what scenes I want in the order I want will allow me to eliminate filler and focus on just the interesting bits. Think of it as an anthology or as if you're a researcher reading through a trove of documents (something akin to The House of Leaves).

That being said, I guarantee that the end of the story is going to be the final chapter. Go ahead and leave any thoughts in the comments, I'd love to hear what you guys think!