Hello hello! This is our first foray into the My Hero Academia fandom! For those of you new to the way we write our fics, we have everything pre-written and ready to go! Updates will likely be twice a week if scheduling allows. We're starting off nice and slow for our new readers, this fic will have fourteen chapters total. There will be shows of violence and blood, as well as mature themes later on in the story. Without further ado, please enjoy!

Disclaimer:We do not own My Hero Academia or any of its characters

Bakugo Katsuki gasped sharply as he bolted upright in his bed, sweat pouring off him and his skin crackling with that instinctive need to explode. He shoved the impulse down with willpower alone, willpower he'd learned through far too many years of blowing things up accidentally.

He rubbed his face, his nose wrinkling slightly as the gesture only made the mess on his face worse, he shook his head a little and swung his legs over the side of the bed. A quick glance at the clock cheerfully informing him that it was two a.m. had him grimacing and tempted to shove his face back into his pillow, but he knew it would be useless.

He'd never been able to stand sleeping on sweat soaked sheets ever since his quirk manifested, and now that he was awake it would bug him into an even worse mood than he was already in.

Resigning himself to his fate, he sighed and got up to strip his bed, tossing the sheets into a pile of others just like them, and got up to stagger over to the shower.

His plan, such as it was, to get a shower, change his sheets, and fall back into bed until his alarm forced him to get up or Best Jeanist called him. Whichever happened first.

And on any other night it probably would've worked, but this time his mind would not let go of the fragments of the weird dream he'd had. Which was just as maddening as sweat soaked sheets in a way because he already knew he'd never be able to piece the dream together enough to make sense of it. At best he'd get images. Images he was already familiar with. His imagination had been more or less stuck on repeat since he'd started at UA after all, when it wasn't throwing dreams about the various fights he'd gotten in into his face, and he knew the players by now. But he could never actually remember the plot his mind insisted on replaying as often as possible.

Which was enough to just piss him right off.

His dreams always seemed to take place in a wild kingdom, magical forests with the strange appeal of of every fantasy RPG he had played as a teenager. Bakugo always starred in these dreams, shouting with a sword in hand and flames dancing around his body.

He shook his head and told himself to get over it. His brain had never been normal, and he needed to just accept that fact already. Wasn't that part of the whole being a genius thing anyway?

The thought helped enough that his brain stopped chewing on it, and he was able to finish his shower, make his bed back up, and fall back into bed before it was three.

Thank the gods for not being assholes for once.

-::-

The sound of his alarm blaring two and a half hours later had him snarling at his alarm and seriously considering blowing the damned device up, but he managed to refrain. Best Jeanist had threatened to dock his pay to 'create a fund for alarms' if he learned he'd blown up another alarm clock, and that wasn't something he wanted to deal with. At all. The other sidekicks would be even more insufferable than they already were.

The prissy bastards.

So he settled for slamming his hand down on it to shut it up and crawled out of bed to pull on his workout clothes and start his morning routine. He glanced at his phone as he headed for the door and contemplated giving Kirishima a call, well aware the redhead would be up this early too, but decided against it.

If he remembered the idiot's schedule properly, which he knew he did, then today was a weight day and he didn't want to distract from that. The moron had taken his words from years ago to heart and was determined to be a more immovable wall than All Might had been. He could respect that, so he wouldn't distract his friend from training. He'd probably be getting a call from him later anyway.

Decided, he headed out and started his usual run, but though he normally enjoyed the peace of the early morning when the rest of the world was still mercifully asleep, the quiet gave his head the green light to start chewing on his earlier dream again.

No longer desperate to get back to sleep he let it happen, but as usual all he had were flashes. A glimpse of scales the color of Kirishima's hair, a rocky cavern of some kind, and a colorful sea of tents that filled him with pride.

Unable to make sense of it he shook his head and turned his mind firmly on his plans for the day. He ignored the sudden bout of nerves that accompanied the thought, and went over each part again. He had to get this right. There was simply no other option. Deku had already branched out on his own thanks to his rich boyfriend helping supply the capital. So to make up for it, he would have to build something even better than what the green haired bastard had.

It was time for Ground Zero to go full pro.

Bakugo let the rhythm of his feet pounding into the pavement fuel his thoughts. Best Jeanist would probably be relieved to get Bakugo out of his hair, the bastard. A smirk twitched at the corner of his lips at the thought of deep, disapproving eyes glaring at him over a wide brimmed collar.

Best Jeanist would think he's rushing things, trying to be the best as quickly as possible, but it wasn't the case. He had a plan, of course he had a plan, he wasn't a dumbass like fucking Deku after all.

But as much as it grated his nerves to admit it, Bakugo couldn't do it himself.

He let the cold air fill his lungs, bracing himself against it until he arrived at his final destination. A quick glance at his time had his lip curling in annoyance. He let his mind wander too much during his run and now it looked like he lost time. It was aggravating but not nearly as much as it would have been when he was younger. It was one of the lessons he had to learn in UA.

At least he didn't let it ruin his already shitty mood for the rest of the day.

He made it back to Best Jeanist's agency with time to spare, sliding on his costume after taking a quick shower. In comparison to all of his sidekicks, Bakugo probably stood out the most. His hair refused to lay down flat for long and after a very public disaster of Bakugo trying to apprehend a villain in a tight pair of jeans, Best Jeanist had given it up as a lost cause. "Scorch marks didn't look good on the tailored fabric of-blah, blah,blah." Bakugo tuned out the rest of the lecture after the first few seconds.

He tossed his bag roughly in his locker and slammed it shut, stomping to Best Jeanist's office before the rest of his lackeys showed up. The halls were thankfully still mostly empty, so no one stopped him to scold Bakugo over the noise he made.

Luckily his boss was always here early, and if there was one thing he could respect about the overly groomed man, it was his hard work and dedication.

He rapped his knuckles hard and short on Jeanist's open door, "Hey. Got a second?" He grunted.

As expected, Best Jeanist was sitting at his desk and looking down at several police reports he was reviewing before he had his assistant submit it. Every hero was expected to review and file every crime they fought. It was a strictly documented procedure that every hero agency went through, tied closely to the police. It was a drag, but Bakugo knew his reports were fucking pristine even if Jeanist refused to tell him they were.

Bastard.

Even now Jeanist did not immediately look up from what he was doing, testing Bakugo's patience as one second dragged into the next.

Bakugo's grip on the door became stiff and smouldering, but he grit his teeth in silence because he knew blowing up would have him being ignored longer. And his pay docked.

After an entire minute passed, sixty whole goddamn seconds of Bakugo's precious time, Jeanist looked up at him calmly.

"Good morning Bakugo, are you burning my door again?" Best Jeanist inquired, steely gaze fixated on his hand.

"Not yet," Bakugo growled back, dropping his hand to expose the thankfully unburned door, "I wanted to talk to you before the rest of the idiots get here."

Best Jeanist fell silent, his eyes quiet and judging behind the cowl of his cloak. It was all Bakugo could make out, his eyes as impenetrable as always. It frustrated Bakugo to be on the other end of that knowing gaze, but he didn't rise to the bait he knew his mentor was drawing out. After being his sidekick for as long as Bakugo had been, he knew when Best Jeanist was trying to draw out a moment. The showboat.

Jeanist eventually extended a hand, offering Bakugo a seat in front of his desk. Kicking the door shut behind him, Bakugo smirked at the eyebrow twitch Jeanist made over his rough treatment of the door. It really took the most abuse out of anything else in his agency.

Bakugo sat down in the chair, normally he would slouch a little to annoy Jeanist over his bad posture, but all fun aside he wanted to talk to the man seriously. Jeanist seemed to notice this change faster than Bakugo would have liked, and his entire stance shifted forward in a more attentive way.

"So you've come to put in your notice?" Jeanist asked calmly.

Bakugo made sure to keep his surprise over the pro's observation off his face but Jeanist noticed anyway.

"It's hardly a surprise Bakugo, for better or worse, Ground Zero is already one of the most infamous sidekicks to come to my agency," Jeanist read his face without pause, frustrating Bakugo with his,cleverness, "you could have gone pro straight out of UA if you wanted."

Could have. Not should have. No one could deny his overwhelming desire to win or his passion to be the number one hero.

But Bakugo hadn't been finished learning yet.

"Yeah, well it's time now," Bakugo growled.

"Why now?" Jeanist asked, mild curiosity entering his voice, "This doesn't have anything to do with Deku opening his agency last month does it?"

Bakugo grit his teeth against the world of implications in that deceptive question, and reminded himself to breathe calmly. No matter what his bastard mentor thought, or tried to imply, this wasn't about Deku.

Yeah the timing was coincidental, but he'd learned years ago to never put a plan into motion until he was ready to. Not before. It was one of the first things Jeanist had gotten through his head during his second year internship, citing a number of extremely embarrassing examples from his fights with the League of Villains, and he'd adhered to it since.

"That dumbass opening his own agency before me has nothing to do with this." He ground out, "All it means is that when I put my plan in motion he'll be left gawking in the dust with the rest of you." A faint smirk curled his lips involuntarily, "I've been making plans since I decided to apply as your sidekick, and it's time to put them into motion."

"I admit to being curious now." Jeanist replied, "What exactly is it you have planned that makes this timing so important?"

Bakugo's smirk widened into a full on shark smile, "You'll just have to find out with the rest."

"Are you sure you're ready?" Jeanist asked, and there was enough actual concern in his eyes that Bakugo bit back his reflexive response.

Despite how much the two of them butted heads, and they did it nearly daily, this was still the pro that had recognized the potential in him. Who had offered him internship after internship and a work study in his third year. Who had told him to his face that he could be number one, but he'd never make it as he was.

The one who had offered to teach him when All Might and Aizawa were caught up with their own students and everyone else had written him off as too much trouble.

Jeanist might be a smug bastard, but the asshole cared about results and Bakugo knew it.

"Yeah." He replied after a moment, "I've spent the last two years learning everything you could cram in my brain, and the timing will never be better. I'm aiming for a different kind of agency, and if I want to make it work I need to strike now."

It was essential. His agency was going to be the first in history to formally acknowledge and form teams of pros. For the most part they worked alone as they tried to fill All Might's shoes, at most partnering up informally or working in teams only when they had to. There was the hero network of course, organized by the police for larger busts, but Bakugo aimed to change that. He was going to build an agency that had people who knew how to work together out of the gate. Who could handle anything that came their way.

And he knew his classmates were all on the verge of going from sidekick to pro. If he was going to make this work with people he was at least familiar with then he had to do it now.

Starting with Kirishima as his partner. He heard rumors of Red Riot looking to go pro, and he couldn't let him fall through the cracks.

"Very well then." Jeanist replied after a moment, his gaze intent on Bakugo's face as if he could read everything he planned on it. He probably could. The man wasn't a top five pro for nothing.

"I accept your notice. You have two weeks from today to rescind it and the whole of that time off your usual patrols to make whatever preparations you need."

He got up without another word being said between them but the silence spoke volumes.

-::-

Knots twisted in Bakugo's gut that very day, even if anyone who looked at him would say outwardly he was the very picture of calm. He sat at a table, fingers drumming impatiently to meet up with Kirishima. As predicted, his friend had shot him a somewhat unintelligible text sometime around nine.

It was filled with horrible flexing emojis and bad spelling, which meant Kirishima was in a good mood.

Sure enough, just when Bakugo was about to lose patience and hunt his friend down himself, Kirishima himself came bursting through the door to the restaurant. From Bakugo's spot, he could tell he was out of breath, with red high in cheeks.

He was out of breath and his scarf wrapped twice around his neck. Bakugo hid a smirk behind his hand, knowing he was the reason behind Kirishima's frantic approach.

After all, he was an impatient bastard and his friend knew it.

Bakugo took a moment to observe Kirishima while he hadn't noticed Bakugo yet. Kirishima stood head and shoulders taller than most people, his fiery red hair distinctive.

It wasn't the only thing distinctive about his friend anymore though.

Far from being a fraction shorter than Bakugo himself like they had been back in their first year of school, Kirishima had sprouted like a piece of bamboo starting in their second year thanks to some really good advice from Recovery Girl and All Might on how to stimulate growth and build muscle. And although he'd never reached All Might or Fatgum heights, he'd achieved a respectable six and a half feet and had the muscle to go with it.

Bakugo himself was more than a little impressed with the transformation. Though he'd never admit that out loud.

True to his word, Kirishima had become an impenetrable wall of muscle that made him able to shrug off nearly anything. A valuable asset to any hero team, and a perfect counterbalance to Bakugo's own acrobatic style.

There were reasons why they worked so well together.

It didn't hurt at all that all that height and muscle looked incredibly good on him either.

He tugged his mind sharply away from that well traveled path as Kirishima's eyes alighted on him and a broad smile erupted on his face. Now was not the time for him to think about how good his friend looked. He had other, more important things to think about as Kirishima made his way over to their table.

Though that didn't stop his eyes from traveling appreciatively over the figure Kirishima cut anyway.

He managed to keep it from his face as the redhead settled down and smiled charmingly at their waitress as he ordered a glass of wine.

"'Bout time Shitty Hair." He snorted once the woman had left, taking a sip of his own glass, "I was starting to think I'd have to go hunt your dumbass down."

"Hey, you didn't exactly leave me a lot of time to get ready man." Kirishima chuckled, and eyed Bakugo intently, "What's the deal anyway? You don't normally like going out, let alone dressed up, and if it was an emergency we wouldn't be having dinner."

Bakugo conceded that with a tip of his head, privately pleased that Kirishima had picked up on all that. It seemed those observation and investigation lessons Fatgum had been giving him had helped the redhead's already surprising level of perception.

He supposed something had to make up for his academic idiocy in school.

He refrained from answering until the waitress had returned and they'd ordered.

"I have a business proposition for you." He replied once they were alone again, and smirked at the way Kirishima's eyebrows shot to his hairline.

"A business proposition?" He echoed, "Since when are you going into business?"

"Since now." Bakugo replied shortly, "I've got the money saved for my agency and I gave Jeanist my notice this morning."

Kirishima gaped at him in shock for several seconds before visibly shaking himself out of it, and leaned forward, "Alright, spill. What the hell have you got planned, and why haven't you told me before now?"

Hook.

Bakugo smirked as he leaned back into the booth, "You've known I wanted to start an agency since high school." He snorted, "That's not news."

"Well yeah, most of us do." Kirishima countered, waving his hand, "I mean, Midoriya and Todoroki already have. But you wouldn't pull me in unless you had something special in mind. Are you wanting to partner up permanently?"

Oh this was better than Bakugo had envisioned.

"Close." He replied, "I want to create a different kind of agency." He scowled a little at his glass, "The current system is bullshit. Pros only work together in a limited capacity or if there's an operation too big for one or two."

He glared up at Kirishima, "Just how much crap could've been avoided when we were kids if those assholes had bothered to work together regularly? Just how much could we avoid in the future if we had an agency with teams of pros ready for any kind of job?"

Kirishima sucked in a surprised breath and Bakugo tugged on the line a little more.

"How much less bullshit would've happened with the League after..." He paused and sucked in a breath, the old guilt flaring up a little, "...after All Might retired if we'd had people who knew how to work together actually fucking doing their jobs right?"

"What about being number one?"

The soft question stabbed right through Bakugo's guilt, and he flashed his friend a glare, "I'm still gonna be number one Shitty Hair!" He growled lowly, "And don't you ever forget that! Just 'cause I wanna do things different doesn't mean I'm not the fucking best!"

An utterly disarming smile flashed over Kirishima's face at that and it sent a sharp shiver up Bakugo's spine. Almost at once his temper cooled like a soothing balm over it, and Bakugo was left silently cursing at how easy it was for Kirishima to pinch off his fuse.

Bakugo tried and barely managed to keep his expression neutral, his heart squeezing traitorously tight in his chest. Damn it.

"That sounds more like the Bakugo I know" Kirishima said cheerfully, his dark red eyes sparkling with the sort of dumb sunshine people like him were made from, "I'm surprised you want to do a partner agency. That doesn't sound like you at all."

Bakugo lifted a shoulder and glanced away from those open eyes. His eyes scanned the window outside, using the time to collect his thoughts.

"It's a dumb practice to stubbornly stick to acting solo when the world is moving towards partners. The faster you see the changing times, the better you can carve out a place for yourself at the top" Bakugo spoke sharply, his chin landing on his fist and glare pointed at Kirishima. He was daring his friend to disagree with him.

"That's not an excuse to slack off though, I'm not going to have any wannabe losers coming in to drag me down," Bakugo snarled slowly, "I want only the best and they better be able to keep up with me."

A fangy smile broadened Kirishima's face, something shimmering in the back of his eyes that looked a lot like happiness.

"So you picked me to open up this agency, huh Blasty?" He asked, cutting straight to the core of the matter in a way that Bakugo hoped he wouldn't notice.

Because shit, he was right. Bakugo wanted the absolute fucking best working with him and that meant Kirishima. When Bakugo didn't respond quickly enough, Kirishima took that as an affirmation.

"Awe Bakugo that's so sweet! That gets me right-" Kirishima made a motion of thumping himself right in the center of his broad chest, "-here."

"Die," Bakugo growled at him half-heartedly, his jaw locking in place.

He gave Kirishima an expectant glower, waiting for his answer to his proposal. Everyone seemed so damn interested in his own reasoning, but at least Kirishima did him the goddamn honor of not implying Deku was the reason for him wanting his own agency.

But all Bakugo was interested in right now was Kirishima and his answer.

Part of him, a small stupid side of him, wished Kirishima would say no. Say no with a soft smile and quiet, flattered laugh so not to wound their friendship. Bakugo would understand if he wanted to go pro solo. Red Riot was good enough on his own to do it. Even if he didn't have the flashiest quirk, his very presence was larger than life. He could easily be in the top ten on his own.

But if Kirishima said yes, and Bakugo couldn't keep his stupid feelings inside from spilling out- that could cause irreparable damage to not only their friendship, but the agency as well.

Then just don't fucking shit where you eat. Bakugo told himself angrily. Lock it down.

Kirishima was qualified, complimented his own quirk, they had experience working together, and Bakugo's own feelings aside, they were a force to be reckoned with. He wasn't a high school student with a crush anymore. He could keep their friendship and maintain a strictly professional relationship.

But it depended on Kirishima's answer.

"Yeah lets do it," Kirishima gave him a glowing smile, "That's why you called me here. You want me to start the agency with you right, as partners?"

"That's what I fucking said, isn't it Kirishima?" Bakugo demanded, but was secretly glowing by Kirshima's easy acceptance.

The waitress brought their food out and Bakugo allowed himself a triumphant smirk as they settled back to tuck in. He could've done this without Kirishima, but somehow it felt a whole lot better to have the other man at his side. Like it guaranteed his success somehow. Which was stupid, but there it was anyway.

"So what plans have you made for location and all that other stuff?" Kirishima asked after a few moments of savoring his dinner, "And who else did you have in mind?"

Quietly thrilled that Kirishima was so easily following his lead, when he knew his friend was anything but complacent, Bakugo allowed himself a few moments to savor the feeling as he took a sip of wine, "Well..."

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