EXPLOSIVE INSIGHT

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"Bakudan (Explode)!" ...Because no matter what, Bakugo Katsuki had a temper short as the fuse on a stick of dynamite and a personality sour as a TNT Sour Chew. Even as a girl. [Fem!Katsuki]

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01
Timer

"Is it true? That Bakugo wants to go to that national school?" Someone whispered. It was the first lesson of the day and rumors were already spreading like wildfire through out the year level. Going to–or at least, attempting to go to Yuuei, top school for aspiring heroes in not only Japan but the whole world was big news for the small school.

In the class of 3-C, the students were talking in their own little groups just before school started.

"Tch," A notable girl clicked her tongue with a scowl on her face as her legs relaxed on top of the table. The teen had spiky ash-blonde hair which stuck up in several places and two sharp red eyes, which shined like rubies. She stood up on her desk, grabbing the attention of the class, "Don't buddy me up with you weaklings! I'm the one who'll to Yuuei and become someone even greater than All Might!"

Her name was Bakugo Katsuki, a seemingly unpleasant fourteen-year-old girl who had the word 'delinquent' written all over her.

"Speaking of Yuuei, there's another person here who is taking the test," The teacher stated and all went quiet, "Isn't that right, Midoriya?"

All attention was brought to a small and short green haired boy who sat in the center of the class. Within moments, students were laughing and pointing fingers at Midoriya who could only sigh. This was normal to the world and happened nearly every day to the quirkless; people without of quirk and had no special abilities what so ever.

"Seriously?! It's impossible for someone like you!" "Someone who can only study can't join the heroic's section!" "You don't even a quirk!"

Midoriya looked down with his gaze stuck to his desk, sinking somewhat deeper into his seat as the students continued to criticize him. He never had the will to fight back because, in more than one ways, they were right. The quirkless were considered outcasts in normal society.

Katsuki just looked outside through the window, at the pale blue sky which seemed endless, wondering how to make the time go faster. She didn't bother listening to what nonsense her homeroom teacher had to say.

When her mind wondered how boring the classes were to her old childhood friend, the girl could only groan silently in exasperation.

Even after so many years, he never changed. Not one bit.

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It was after school and homeroom had ended. The students were preparing to leave when and most of them had gone out the door when Katsuki saw the nerd's face all giddy and happy–a complete one-eighty from earlier, that same day. She hated it, that face of his.

Just as he was going to put his book away, she grabbed it from the boy's hands and read off the cover, "For the future: Hero Analysis...13?"

"Wah!" Midoriya cried out, "Give that back!"

"What's that, Bakugo?" One of her friends asked. As she held it loosely, he looked over her shoulder; a soon as he saw the title, the guy choked out a laugh, "Pfft! Seriously, Midoriya?! That's so stupid!"

It was stupid alright because the boy could never become a hero even if he would kill for it! Impossible things are impossible for reason–why couldn't he understand that and just give up?!

BOOM!

With a single thought of irritation, the book in Katsuki's hand burst into flames and promptly exploded. She exhaled, letting out a loud 'hmph', before throwing the crisp bunch of papers outside the window as Midoriya let out an undignified squeak.

"You should just... forget the idea of passing Yuuei's entrance exam," The girl placed her hand on his shoulder, as smoke came from her fingers. She could feel the boy shivering in fright as the vibration made her hand shake.

'Kaachan? Here, let me help you,' The young boy said as he offered his hand to her with big, round eyes full of innocence.

So god damn annoying! She clicked her tongue before swiftly turning the other way towards the exit.

While heading out, Katsuki spoke loud and clear enough so everyone left in the classroom could hear, "He's so pathetic, that even in his third year, he still can't understand how the world works,"

The young girl decided she would become a hero from the day she saw her very own father on the television in action; someone like All Might who could be counted on to save the day with a bright smile.

But being a hero wasn't all glory and fighting villains. People die. Just like her father and all the countless people who died and was soon forgotten by the public. What was the point of being a hero, if you died as one? You couldn't save anyone like that.

It was because her father was weak, he was killed. It was because she was weak and needed protection, that her father had to protect her and died doing so. As a young girl, she had counted on that protection. Look where he is now; buried three meters underground in a stupid wooden coffin while she and her mother had to live without him.

If Katsuki counted on people, they would die. She needed to be independent and strong enough, stronger than anyone, so that would never happen again–that no one would die and leave her all alone. So that she wouldn't die. And that was how the world worked in the eyes of the six-year-old when she had released just how cruel life could really be all those years ago.

Depend on no one but yourself, trust no one but yourself.

That was why when she met Midoriya in first grade at elementary school –all happiness and heroes, she was filled with raw hate and angry. Not for the boy but her situation because why, why did it have to be her? Why her father? She took that anger out on him. Then she just got used to it.

It was nearly four o'clock that day when the incident which would scar her mentally for life happened–in a polluted alleyway somewhere in the middle of town, Katsuki walked agitatedly as she busted a cola flavored soda open and with a loud pop, the seal broke. She took a big chug, before wiping her mouth with her white sleeve. The girl no longer cared about keeping her cloths clean (not that she ever cared ) as she would be doing the laundry the next day when the weekend started.

"Aren't the two of you childhood friends?" One of her lackeys asked while inhaling the smoke of a cigarette, "You might have gone too far,"

Katsuki kicked a rock off the ground hard and watched as it bounced a couple times along the concrete before the stopping, "Bleh, he was never my friend in the first place. Always yapping about his dreams... I'm annoyed by just thinking about it!"

The aluminum can in her hands dented slightly as she drank another mouthful of soda. The drink bubbled in her mouth as she swallowed. As the scent of smoke entered her nose, she turned around and started grumbling, "Hey! I told you to stop smoking! All of the smoke is making it hard to breathe!"

The girl's eyebrows frowned as she saw the faces of her followers turn from a shocked expression, into terrified as they shivered with wide eyes; they looked as is they had been watching the latest horror film and had experienced one of the jump scares, which from the reviews, was extremely terrifying. They pointed behind her with shaky fingers and stammered, "L-look!"

Before she could turn around, something lunged at her. She screamed, struggling as the weird substance got a hold of her body and wrapped around her limbs, "What the heck is this?!"

Die! Katsuki thought as large explosions came from different sections of her body in an attempt to blow up or at least shake off whatever it was trying to grab her. The girl kicked and squirmed like a wild animal, but before she knew it, she couldn't control her movements any longer.

Her heart raced as Katsuki tried to calm down–was this a villain's work? Was she being attacked? Would she die? –but it proved to be way too difficult as thoughts quickly filled her head and the girl stomach churned.

"AHHHHHHH!" Was the scream of a woman and Katsuki looked down to see a petrified mother and her child who were crawling on the ground, "Stay away!"

...That was the first time anyone had said that to her with such fear and hate. She didn't do anything though! Katsuki was completely innocent, a hostage in this case which hade no control of her actions.

Then she noticed the destruction she had caused; the fire set on buildings, craters in the ground, cries of terrified children. And the fact that the two people following her from before were no longer in sight.

Screw them, Katsuki bitterly thought, Like always, I'm alone.

What was she doing? No time for stupid losers, she had to get herself out of this mess! Clearly, no one would be helping her soon, she could only count on herself. Like always. As the person who this monster has taken control of, what could she do?

While her body was being moved into a more crowded area of the city, the teen made sure to struggle as hard as she possibly could but all efforts ended up futile. Am I going to die before I even get into Yuuei?! What happened to all that training? Wasn't it enough? Was I that weak?! I let myself get controlled by some slime thing! I don't...

She didn't want to die.

"It makes me feel sorry for the kid, but she will have to wait for a bit longer." One of the heroes muttered in her hear range.

What? She didn't want to die! What were they doing?! Why wasn't anyone doing anything as she was being consumed and controlled by this villain?! Why were they taking so long...?

Stupid Heroes, hurry up.

Stupid People, stop crowding.

Stupid life, for being so cruel.

Katsuki felt like crying. It was kind of funny. After all, she hadn't cried ever since that day of her father's funeral. And after years of trying to change, she would end up just like him; she'd die some stupid and pitiful death.

No one would save her, that was how the world worked.

Out of the blue, she saw it; the fearful green eyes of the nerd who she had bullied earlier that same day. And the instant hers met his, he began to move towards her. Stupid, stupid, stupid nerd, what the hell are you doing?! You should be running away, not closer!

Midoriya charged, running onward with all his being and showed no sign of stopping. The girl watched with a conflicted face, as a tentacle of black tried to attack him. Using his shoulder bag as a decoy of sorts, he threw it and ran as the villain was distracted.

"KACCHAN!" He yelled out to her.

"Why?! Why the hell are you here?!" Because out of all the people in the crowd, the adults and heroes, the weakest guy she had come to know and was without out a quirk went to save her. Out of everyone here!

"My legs moved by themselves! I... really don't understand why!" Gosh, this guy was an absolute idiot. Now, they'd die together, "Because your face seemed to be calling for help!"

An absolute, fucking idiot.

Katsuki felt a hand on her arm which gripped tightly then moments later, another one which was much larger. Then suddenly, she was pulled out of the darkness and all the slimy stuff was gone.

The teen quickly collapsed onto the ground, before slowly getting up with new found control of her body. She had never been more relieved to have control of her movement that at that moment. Though, unwanted concern and anxious emotions still lingered. She was so shaken up that she couldn't even hear the praises of pro-heroes complimenting her.

Physically, she had a couple of scratches and maybe a bruise or two. But her pride? It was almost none existent anymore. She was feeling angry, annoyed and utterly... weak, that was what it was. She felt and was so incredibly weak that she needed help from a stupid good-for-nothing nerd. How could the girl protect her mother is she couldn't even protect herself?

Stronger. Katsuki had to get stronger. Train five times harder. To ensure that something like that would never happen again.

But first, "Oi! Nerd!" He turned around.

"I... never asked for you to help me...! I didn't need any help! I can care for myself, you know?!" Lies. They were all lies but she was too clouded by shame to even think about it properly. That was probably one of her greatest weakness, "Maybe I owe you, but don't think you are getting a 'thank you' from me! Damn it!"

She didn't even take the time to look at what expression would be on his face, swiftly turning around one heel, she made a one-eighty turn and started walking away. Katsuki would have a lot to explain to her mother when she got home.

When she got home that night, she was immediately tackled into a tight hug. Her mother instead of asking billions of questions about it, let her have some much needed personal space though fussed alot on her health.

[11:58 P.M.]

Sleep normally came easy to the girl but tonight, she just couldn't fall asleep. The girl tossed left and right, even made her bed again but still felt too restless. Today had been a chaotic experience after all–you wouldn't expect something so unreal, just like in the movies to actually happen.

Katsuki probably wouldn't be getting any sleep tonight. At all.

Making a quick decision, she hopped out of her warm bed and went out of the room, taking a thin gray jacket which had been lying on the floor uselessly with her. It was mid-Spring but when it was dark, it was much colder than during the day.

[12:04 A.M.]

Quietly, Katsuki opened the back door. Her face was hit with the cool night time breeze, numbing her face and made goose bumps rise on her arms. Even if it was cold, it felt refreshing. It was exactly what she needed at a time like this. She walked on into the back porch, slipping on a pair of pink (her mother's) thongs.

The girl made her way through the herb bushes, following the path of cobblestone which led to the back of the garden. Planted there was a tree, blooming with small flowers all over. It was an apple tree, one which has been there before Katsuki was even born, planted as a sapling by both her parents. Now, it's become one tall but thin tree which grew the best fruit when it was in season.

She leaned on the trunk of the tree, making sure not to put to much pressure. The last thing she wanted was for it to break.

Katsuki looked up at the night sky which was clear; not a cloud in sight. With the scattered stars twinkling in the dark and the glowing half-moon casting shadows across the town, it was quiet and calm. Then she heard the rustling of leaves and a twig snapping.

"Katsuki?" A familiar female voice said.

It was her mother, "Oh. Mom,"

Her mother went up to the girl and took a seat right next to her.

"You know," She began, looking at the sky just like her daughter, "Your father would come here when he wanted to clear his head,"

"The bastard... was always cheerful and smiley. He tried helping everyone he could and spent all his time on others; never himself. Katsuki... as much as you look like me and the same attitude as me, you are just like your father,"

"Right," The said girl grumbled. "How does relating me to a dead man help?"

"Why do you want to become a hero?" Her mother fired back, answering her question with another one.

"I..." Wanted to be strong enough to protect her mother. She wanted to prove to the world that she wasn't just some weak girl which needed the protection of others.

"You have a goal," The older Bakugo said, this time much softer, "So strive for it and cross that finish line like the winner you are!"

"I will, Mom,"

The woman ruffled her daughter's hair, "There's my girl. Now, I'm going back now. You better not sleep late!"

Her mom... could be very motherly when it came to it. Other times, she was just walking disaster waiting to happen but Katsuki didn't really mind; she loved her mother. Like she was ever going to admit that out loud though.

Ten months... Ten months until the entrance exam of Yuuei. During that time, Katsuki didn't waste a single second. Whether it be in class or outside of school or even at midnight, she was doing something that would contribute to her becoming stronger.

She mainly focused on the physical aspect; the girl was quite intelligent despite how she acted and what everyone else thought.

She would become stronger one way or another and training was probably the best way to go. Speed, Strength, Endurance, Dexterity, Defence, Perception... By doing different activities like running or obstacle courses, these skills could be raised.

Her quirk was a different story; sure, if she got physically stronger, the strength and size of her explosions could increase but she wanted to her full versatility of her bombs. That way, she'd be open to more options when it came to fighting.

Katsuki tried many things and wrote down her findings in a thick notebook.

One was the fact that she couldn't be physically harmed by her own bombs, nor any other explosion that was nitro-glycerine based. Apparently, her sweat (yes, sweat, she was pondering over that too) was similar that chemical. The girl would make her sweat explode based on pure instinct which she found interesting as she didn't really know all the details of her quirk.

Most of the sweat came from the palms of her hands than from the more expected places it came from like the armpits which probably had something to do with the quirk's effect on the body. Not that she minded –it made using it as a weapon three times easier and if something did happen to go wrong, her vital organs wouldn't be the first thing to be blown to bits.

Her quirk was much hard to use in colder climates or seasons like winter. She sweated less and the power and size of her explosion lessened considerably, which is why she had to make that up by physical strength rather than be dependent on her weakened quirk.

She also found something very interesting; while her sweat could explode, her skin could create small sparks, which ignited the bombs in the first place. That and, the fact her blood was flammable.

The teen was working in the kitchen while her mother was out working (she didn't really believe that, but carry on) on that night when she cut herself with the knife. And promptly saw it combust into flames. As expected the girl did not stay calm and freaked out, also nearly catching the whole house on fire.

Not a good day, Katsuki could tell you.

But it was good to know. It could be something like her secret weapon –no one would expect her to light up on fire, would they? –and kept it inside, screwing the lid tight.

Several days after that incident, she would grab a knife and cut herself on the finger and watch her blood drip and set on fire, seeing if she could control it. To her delight, the girl could control the fire and was practically immune to her own flames. Other flames, sadly not.

(No, she was not a masochist but rather someone who liked to experiment. And no, the girl was not a mad scientist. Stop asking.)

Those ten months flashed by like a lightning bolt; one second it's there and the next, it's test was tomorrow. She would pummel those weaklings in the written exam and kick ass on the practical one. She was ready.

She did not expect that dreaded nerd to be in the test though –oh well, she would... 'talk' to him later.

A/N: Re-edited on 09/09/2017