Okay, so I wrote this as a quick one-shot about a Villain!Deku, centred around Bakugou's reaction towards his first appearance. This is based around the events of episodes 9 and 10 of the anime (in the rescue training centre), and is basically an AU where Izuku never got One For All, and never went to UA and became so discouraged by the constant abuse by Bakugou etc. So instead, he ended up meeting Tomura and was convinced to join the League of Villains for his intelligence, observation skills and planning.

Oh and also, I don't own the cover image, so all credit for that goes to the artist!

That's basically it, I think.

So I hope you enjoy! :D

EDIT (22/05/17) - Yeah, okay, I edited this slightly. Why? Because it was like 3:00 am when I wrote it and I felt it could use some improvement...

EDIT (09/01/19) - Back again, yay.

The Hero In You

Wide, green eyes- bright, full of life, and overflowing with defiance and determination.

Bakugou Katsuki felt bile rising in his throat, fists clenched and shaking as blunt nails dug into his palms.

Those eyes. They were the same as ever, staring at him from across the room, something akin to pity glinting in those bright, emerald depths.

The boy's hair- just as green and as messy as Katsuki remembered it- stood up at all angles and the smile smeared across his face was as bright and as wide as it had ever been. The way he held himself was also the same; he stood hunched and low, almost as if he expected to be attacked at any moment, his eyes instinctively scanning his surroundings for possible threats.

And yet there was something different, something so terribly wrong that Bakugou could sense it. There was something so fucking wrong with this picture and as much as he hated to admit it, it sent a few reluctant chills down his back.

It could be the clothes, he decided- although that in itself wasn't particularly unusual. (After all, however uncharacteristic that black hoodie might have been, and however strange those stained green trousers were, he still wore those signature red boots of his. The only difference was that now they were blackened with dirt and splattered with dark substances that Bakugou didn't particularly want to think about.) Perhaps it was that impossibly endless abyss that swirled behind him as villains poured from the darkness in waves. Or perhaps it was that strangely calm expression that he sported; an odd mixture of apathy and curiosity despite the grin that pulled at his cheeks.

It was easy to spot him amongst the tall figures that were swarming the rescue-training centre; a short, plain-looking boy with freckles dusting his face and wide, green eyes that stared unblinkingly. He was the only figure- save for the hand-covered freak- who was standing completely still in the sea full of common criminals. With a disgruntled jolt, Bakugou suddenly noticed how entirely at home he looked.

The quirkless teenager was smiling almost curiously now, like a small, innocent child who'd come across a new plaything. His eyes traced the defensive stances of the students of class 1-A with an unreadable look in his eyes. Bakugou felt his blood boiling in his veins when he noticed how clear and focused that gaze was- cold and guiltless. Any hints of his previous lack of self-confidence had completely erased itself, replaced by a pure, almost righteous confidence that filled the explosive teen with inexplicable disgust.

The shock was starting to wear off, he noticed distractedly. All at once, the ice crawling down his spine seemed to flush away, suddenly replaced by a violent twisting and knawing in his stomach and a searing pain in his chest. Before he could help it, the name that he'd tried his hardest to forget had already forced it's way out of his lips like a curse. The word- that single, simple taunt- had split the stunned, shaky silence of his classmates and his teachers, suddenly turning all eyes to him.

"Deku…" Bakugou growled out as he glared straight down at that familiar stranger with rage boiling in his chest and gasoline filling his lungs. Somewhere at the back of his mind, he was half-aware of the questioning, shocked exclamations that were coming from his classmates. Questions like: "Wait, you know him, Bakugou?" and "What the hell is going on?!" and "Who is that?" and "Are those villains?". But every sound had been drowned out from his mind, save for the enraged thumping of his own heart and the grinding of his teeth.

The teenager could feel sweat pooling in his palms, explosive sparks flying across his skin as the rest of the world disappeared from view. All of his rage, his fear, his confusion, his guilt- all focused on the one person he would do anything to forget.

"Deku..." He spit out the name again, face twisted into an ugly snarl as he shook with anger.

It was then that the person in question finally looked up.

Bakugou watched furiously as the other boy's eyes grew exponentially wide, something like surprise- and perhaps even a little glee- flickering across his pale face. Then his smile grew wide and toothy as he raised a gloved hand and gave a casual, excited wave to his prior classmate and bully.

"Oh. Hey, Kacchan!"

Bakugou felt revulsion twist his gut into violent knots as he glared down at that unimpeachable smile. The voice was bright and almost downright cheery, tinged with unguarded delight and excitement. To a stranger, it might have even seemed friendly or kind but Bakugou Katsuki knew otherwise. There was no kindness or happiness in that smile, only a cold dark undertone of malice.

This was not the Midoriya Izuku that Bakugou Katsuki had condemned and tormented for years. This was not the Midoriya Izuku who had stood before him at aged four with snot trickling from his nose and tears tracking down his cheeks. This was not the Midoriya Izuku- quirkless, useless, powerless Deku- who had been so intent on being the hero that he could never become. This was Midoriya Izuku, the quirkless villain- and Bakugou despised him.

Without thinking, the aspiring hero flung his arms behind him, fully ready to launch himself down at the other teen in a fit of violent rage. But before he could make his move, he was warded back towards his fellow classmates with a single, flung-out arm and a short growl of warning.

"Stop!"

Katsuki snarled and gave the perpetrator a venomous glare, eyes flashing a dangerous scarlet. Yet upon seeing the look on his teacher's face, the boy couldn't help but pause. Suddenly, he once again became aware of the danger of the situation, of the many bewildered stares trained on his back, and of the small tendrils of unavoidable fear creeping through him. Grudgingly, he swallowed his trepidation, his fear and his fury, and forced his head to clear.

Aizawa's expression was dark as he too stared down the countless enemies that poured from the fountain, brows furrowed with apprehension and concern. After only a few seconds of quiet deliberation, the underground hero began to unwind the scarf from around his neck and popped his googles into place over his eyes.

"Those are villains," Aizawa rumbled gravely, causing small gasps to rise up from the group behind him. Bakugou bit his lip to prevent himself from shouting out in frustration. Yeah, no shit they were villains.

He felt a heavy hand fall on his shoulder and he almost jumped, heat bursting from his hands as he whirled around. One of the other students- the one with spiky red-hair and the sharp, shark-like teeth- was grinning at him nervously.

"So, uh…" the other teen gave a small jerk of the head in Deku's direction, eyes flickering back and forth from the villains to Bakugou, "...you know each other, huh?" Bakugou didn't bother to grace him with an answer. Instead he turned his gaze back to his old childhood friend and felt acid pool in his stomach.

The freckled boy-turned-villain had turned from him now, seemingly non-plussed by the horde of villains buzzing around him like a nest of angry hornet. Instead, his gaze had switched to examine the class of 1-A again, carefully considering each one. Analysing them, Bakugou realised with an sudden, unsettled jolt. It was a look that he knew all to well. The young villain was taking them apart in his brain, attempting to calculate and categorise their quirks and behaviours in a way that only he could.

The explosion-inducing hero-to-be was suddenly very aware of those wide green eyes and the endless, obsessive inquisitiveness that stemmed from them. He was suddenly very aware, and dare he say it, afraid. Because there was something unforgiving in those eyes, something unfeeling and cruel. Something that definitely hadn't been there before.

Immediately, Bakugou shook the discomfort off, mouth upturning into a nasty sneer.

No one got in Bakugou Katsuki's way and lived to tell about it, especially not Midoriya Izuku.

The enraged teen didn't even notice when a dark, lumbering thing awkwardly ducked through the portal. He didn't even blink an eye when the abyss morphed into the shadow-covered figure of a towering man with amber eyes. He only half-heard the hand-covered freak mutter something about killing All Might, and only just noticed when his teacher's specially designed scarf began to unravel from around his neck. Behind him, he could hear the other students break out into a chorus of nervous whispers but ignored them. His focus remained on Izuku.

For a long, tense moment, the pair watched each other from across the room, separated by an invisible line that neither dared to cross.

These were just the roles that they had been assigned; the pitiful villain and the byronic hero. One was the unfortunate outcome of constant taunting and victimisation, the other the consequence of endless praise and unbeatable arrogance. One had been born with nothing and the other had had everything. Opposites in every way and yet so similar.

Even so, both boys stared at each other from across the gap that defined them and saw nothing but evil staring back.

Once more, Bakugou felt tumultuous rage building beneath his skin. As he glowered down at Deku's stupid, fucking face, he suddenly forgot everything. He forgot the danger and the other villains, forgot the alarmed screams of his classmates and the angered cries of the teachers, and focused solely on the burning need to smash that stupid, quirkless loser into a million fucking pieces.

Without so much as a second thought, he launched himself from the platform with a thunderous war cry, pulling back his fire-filled fist in order to pummel that fucker to death.

"Bakugou, no!"

"Aizawa-sensei!"

Everything was moving in slow motion.

Bakugou could see the head of every villain in the area turn to look at him incredulously as he hurled himself over their heads, fire and smoke trailing from his open palms. He could hear his heart roaring in his ears over the sound of the whistling wind and the yells of his classmates. He watched with a pounding satisfaction as Deku's eyes went wide with shock and his hands raised helplessly up to defend himself.

With a deafening, vengeful shout, Bakugou propelled his fist towards the other boy's face-

And then indigo darkness engulfed him and the world was swept from beneath his feet.

Just in case it wasn't clear, the ending was basically when Kurogiri ended up teleporting everyone into different areas, but I sped things up a bit so I guess it's even less like cannon XD

So, yeah, that's it. :)

Hope you enjoyed it!

Xx