Once Again From Better Days

Katsuki takes eleven steps to slow to a halt. He stops a little ways from Izuku, face towards the ground, and breath coming in heavy gasps. His stamina is good, but running like that would take a toll on anyone. There's a mixture of disappointment that he didn't come in first and pride that Izuku did. 

F.u.c.k. F.u.c.k . He should have done better.

Katsuki raises his hands to his cheeks and slaps them. The sting is small but sharp. It's only the first part of the day, Katsuki reminds himself. There's more coming.

As he catches his breath, he chances a glance at half-and-half. Todoroki is staring down at his hands, looking pensive. Katuski narrows his eyes. He doesn't particularly care about his classmate, but refusing to use half of your quirk to spite your father is pretty dramatic. His train of thought is interrupted when Kirishima slaps him on the back. Katsuki feels half of the air leave his lungs on impact.

"Hey, good job on second place!" Kirishima manages to shout even though he's breathing heavily from the race.

He rests his hands on his knees as he catches his breath. Katsuki ignores him. A moment later, both Sero and Kaminari come stumbling across the finish line. Kaminari sprawls facedown on the ground.

"I hate running," he complains, just barely lifting his head. He rolls over to his back when Kirishima prods him in the side with his foot. "I am dead," Kaminari announces.

"Bro, c'mon." Kirishima continues to poke at Kaminari's unmoving form. 

"Tell my brother I'm sorry I fried his laptop before his high score saved, I'll repent in the afterlife…"

Katsuki turns away from them, tuning out the rest of Kaminari's dying wishes, and glances over to Izuku. Izuku isn't alone. Katsuki assumes that the purple-haired student standing next to Izuku is a classmate. He clenches his teeth, wondering if he it would be acceptable to go over and bust into their conversation or not. Hair-for-brains makes the decision for him.

"Bakugou, is that the guy you're always hanging around with?" He asks, but doesn't wait for a response.

And before Katsuki can stop him, he walks over to where Izuku is. Katsuki trails behind him, scowling slightly.

"Hey, I'm Kirishima Eijirou, in class 1-A with Bakugou here. You're his friend, right?" Kirishima extends a hand, and Izuku takes it.

"Yeah, I've been Kacchan's friend from before I can remember."

"Kacchan?" Kirishima echoes.

Katsuki wants to hit his head against a wall. The people in their old school were used to the nickname, but the people in 1-A have never heard it used. Until now. He hears a snort of laughter behind him, and turns to glare at Kaminari, who is obviously trying to stifle his reaction.

"That's cute," Kaminari giggles. Katsuki wants to strangle him.

Before he can actually do anything to Kaminari, however, Midnight calls their attention again to inform them of the next event. She silences them with a look, and Katsuki tries to focus all his attention on what's coming next. It's a cavalry battle, with teams of up to four. Each team gets a headband with a point value depending on how well the individual members did in the race. Katsuki has only begun to think of a strategy, when she announces the point values. They all sound reasonable, until they reach first place and a point value of 10 million.

Katsuki turns to watch Izuku's expression morph into a combination of shock and terror. Priceless. Katsuki snapshots the moment in his head, and then starts to feel a little bit sorry for him. But only a little. That's what you get for taking first place, dammit. 

He doesn't have time to wish him good luck, because Midnight starts their team formation time a moment later. Katsuki finds himself surrounded by people. Apparently coming in second place makes you popular. He grabs the back of Kirishima's gym uniform before he gets lost in the crowd. He needs at least one person to be a shield. Looking around at the rest of their faces, he has honestly no clue what most of their quirks are. He grabs the back of Sero's gym uniform, too, and then picks a third person for good measure.

Ten minutes later, the teams are evenly spaced around the arena. Katsuki braces himself on Kirishima's shoulders, with Sero to one side and Ashido to the other. Straight across from them, on the other side of the field, is Izuku's team. He's supported by a girl with pink hair and goggles on her head and the 20th student of 1-A. Katsuki feels a funny clench in the pit of his stomach. There's something about this setup that he doesn't like, and having no memories of 20th is starting to make him uneasy.

Izuku catches him looking and gives him a small nod. With that, the cavalry battle starts, and Katsuki tries to swallow the anxiety in his throat.