A/N: Not much to say here. My first MHA fic. Been a fan for a while, wanted to try my hand at an idea I've had in my head for about 6 months. Did so as a quick writing exercise before bed. That's all I've got to say until the end.

Deku. The name of a hero. Not just any hero, but THE hero. The Number One Hero in all of Japan. His was a household name. He was the first to put his life on the line in any dangerous situation. He'd beaten back the Villain Association as nothing more than a teenager. And for the past few years, he's been the spokesperson for many anti-bullying campaigns.

Because Deku knew bullies. He knew they were people who took out their issues on people who they thought were weaker than them, and he wanted to do something to help. Soon after his debut as a hero, his face was plastered on posters around school campuses everywhere, and hardly a interview with him went by without him speaking directly to the kids at home to let an adult they knew and trusted to help them in their situations.

This also led to him often give speeches in schools discouraging the behavior of bullying in his downtime. The first place he'd done this was his old middle school, though his legs shook the entire time he was there, and he had nightmares for a week after his speech was done. He swears he still saw shadows of an old classmate in the corner of his eyes.

He had to call Uraraka after that. Just to have someone to talk to, to get the voice in his head to leave him be long enough to get some sleep. It was affecting his work, and he couldn't save as many people if he wasn't at one hundred percent. After rambling for hours and disrupting her own night of rest, she still gave him her word that she wouldn't tell anyone about his sleepless nights. He swore she was a saint, sometimes. All the time.

All of his friends were, really. Just for putting up with him. When he got to UA, he didn't think he'd make friends with how he'd been in middle school, but for some reason all those misfits seem to cling to him like glue. They really saved him, back then, when he'd had no hope, when everything seemed at it's darkest.

It was then that he knew that Deku was the name he'd use as a hero. It felt right, despite his friends objections.

Not that anyone in the media knew why he'd chosen such an odd name for himself. Much like All Might before him used to change the subject whenever his quirk came up, so did Deku about the origins of his name. It wasn't something he liked to talk about. Only a handful of select people knew about his past issues with bullying, and about why he'd chosen that name.

He found himself thinking about what inspired his name again this day. It started off as a normal day, like ever disaster does, but ended in explosions. Some no name thug with a strength quirk had decided to rob an armored truck in broad daylight. Like an idiot. And once confronted by the closest hero in the vicinity, namely Deku, the number one, he'd immediately panicked and tried to take hostages. Like an idiot.

It was unfortunate that the closest person to said villain was just some kid walking home from school. Doubly unfortunate was who the schoolboy resembled. Freckled cheeks, bright eyes, messy mop of dark hair.

It was fortunate that Deku was faster than the villain was to getting to the kid. And that he fought better while angry. It was barely even a fight, as he scooped the kid up in one arm, and blew the idiot crook away with a nitroglycerin explosion to the face with the other.

He'd overdone it a bit, but at least he was confident the villain wasn't getting up after that. He'd set the kid down and gave his hair a good rustling. He made sure the kid was unharmed, then made him promise to get home safe and get his homework done on time, before sending him on his way. Hero blather he'd said a dozen times that week alone.

As he stood over the criminal he'd beaten, waiting for the police to arrive and arrest him, Deku wondered to himself if maybe he'd redeemed himself even a little today. If the resemblance he saw in that kid was some sign of forgiveness.

Because Bakugou knew about bullies. He'd been one. Had been until little Izuku Midoriya had thrown himself off of a roof because of all the torment he'd been put through. Because Bakugou himself had told him to do it.

That incident was what drove him down this path. To choosing his hero name, the name he'd used to belittle someone he once had called a friend as a young boy.

Because Dekus were worthless, and he couldn't think of a better word to describe himself with.

A/N: I don't know if anyone has actually done something like this before, so I thought I'd give it a tackle. How many people called that I wasn't writing about Izuku before the "fight" scene?

Also, sorry about the lack of a proper fight scene, but I figured He's the number one hero going against a common thug, it wouldn't last long. Also, I can't write fight scenes for crap.

Bakugou has always been a... difficult character for me to like. I know everyone and their mother hates Mineta in this fandom, but to me, Bakugou was ten times worse. At least until recently. So about 6 months back, I came up with this idea where a guilt ridden Bakugou, who bullied Izuku into suicide, took on the name Deku as penance. Because in his mind he'll never be worth anything after what he did.