K.I Headquarters


Quirkless AU

Izuku walked beside his mother, his small hand clenched gently in hers. They entered a welcoming room and stopped at the door frame, his curious green eyes trailed up the light blue walls scattered with stars and smiling faces. The sound of little kids laughing and talking filled his ears. The room seemed quite fun. The kids, on the other hand, did not. Izuku looked at the other kids seated at tables placed in different spots of the room. Izuku had always been bullied by other kids his age which is why he didn't like kids his age so much. He didn't want to get shoved into the ground like yesterday, he would rather spend the day with his mom. Izuku let out a small whimper, hiding behind his mother's leg as a cheerful lady approached the two.

"Hello, you must be Mrs. Midoriya?" The lady asked, her deep red hair shinning from the sunlight breaking into the room through the large windows. Her eyes were light blue, kind and happy. Izuku never seen happier eyes, it was encouraging enough to poke his head from behind the shield of his mother.

"Yes. Please, call me Inko." Izuku's mother said.

"Sure thing! And this must be Izuku?" The lady crouched down to get on Izuku's level. The boy flinched, hiding behind his mother yet again to avoid eye contact.

"I'm your Kindergarten teacher, call me Ms. Hirata." She said softly, offering her hand. When Izuku didn't move, she spoke again.

"It's okay, it'll be really fun with me, I promise! You'll learn now to paint and make some new friends. Let me show you where you can put your backpack." Hirata insisted. Izuku reluctantly moved away from his mother's familiar safety when Inko gave him a gentle nudge and took Hirata's hand.

"Bye, Izuku! Have fun!" He heard his mother say behind him. He looked back at her. She waved, an encouraging smile on her lips. He waved back with a small smile before turning away.

Hirata led him to the back of the class, passing many filled tables along the way. Izuku caught bits and pieces of the other kids in the rooms' conversation, some talking about cars and others about shapes. Hirata let go of Izuku hand once they reached large cubbies against the wall with hooks on the roof of them. Hirata helped Izuku take off his race car-themed backpack before speaking.

"This one right here-" She pointed to the cubby with the number '6' taped on it. "-is your cubby. Every morning you put your backpack here, okay?" She said. Izuku nodded, watching her slide his backpack on the hook.

She then told him to take a seat wherever he liked. Of course, this was a problem. He didn't know where to sit. He looked back to the many tables filled with his new classmates. Most of the tables were already full, only a few had an open seat. Izuku decided against sitting in a table with other kids, scared he'd get laughed at for his freckles or the All Might shirt he wore today. The little boy sighed, walking to an empty table and taking a seat. The table had a cup of sticks in the middle of it with a box of crayons, glue, paper, and scissors. Izuku didn't pay much attention to it and stared at his hands, unsure what to do now. That's when he realized how boring being alone can truly be. Though he agreed with himself it was better than being picked on. Or talking to strangers. Both of which made him anxious.

"Hey, you." A loud voice filled Izuku's ears, looking up to see a spiky-haired blonde with red eyes approach him. Izuku tensed up, almost tearing up.

"Wait, no, leave me alone! Don't hurt me..." Izuku whined, hiding his face with his hands.

"What? Hurt you? I'm not gonna hurt you, ya loser!" His classmate said, eyeing him with confusion and slight judgement.

"Y-you're not?" Izuku stuttered, peaking through his hands at the blonde.

"No! I just wanted to ask why you were sitting alone?" The other boy stated, taking a seat beside Izuku.

"O-oh...Um...B-because I didn't want to bother the other kids..." Izuku explained. He let his hands fall from his face, his eyes falling on them after they laid limply on the cold wooden surface of the table.

"That doesn't make sense, how are you gonna make friends if you don't sit with other brats?" The blonde pointed out, continuing soon after.

"But you made the right choice, those other extras are too dumb. You're probably the only decent one in here." He said, making Izuku light up. He didn't know what being 'decent' meant but he took it as a compliment anyway.

"M-my name's Izuku Midoriya." Izuku introduced himself.

"Katsuki Bakugou." The blonde said, taking a few sticks from the cup with the glue bottle.

"H-hey, do you like All Might?" Izuku bravely asked, immediately doubting himself after he did. But to his pleasant surprise, he wasn't made fun of, instead, Katsuki said:

"Of course, I do! Who doesn't like All Might? He's the coolest race car driver out there!" Katsuki enthused, grinning widely at the new conversation topic.

"He is! He's my hero!" Izuku giggled.

The boys talked all day at that same table, taking part in arts and crafts every now and then. Before they realized it, their first day of kindergarten was over. They only separated for a few seconds to get their backpacks before finding each other's side again as they walked out of the building together. For once, Izuku was happy to have talked to someone his age. He made a friend and it made him beyond excited. As they exited the building, they sat against a tree nearby while waiting for their parents.

"Hey, Izuku?" Katsuki said, glancing at the freckled boy beside him.

"Hm?"

"Wanna come over to my place? My dad has been building a treehouse in my backyard all day, he might be done with it." Katsuki offered, smiling a bit as he watched Izuku's face lit up with amazement.

"Woah, a treehouse?" Izuku asked, his eyes wide. Midoriya had never been near or seen a treehouse in person, if anything he though they were nothing but a myth. Katsuki nodded, grinning confidently at being able to brag about having a treehouse.

"Sure! I have to ask my mom though." Izuku murmured, holding his bag closer to his chest.

"Okay."

They must have waited five minutes until both of their mothers had arrived. As soon as Izuku saw Inko he stood up from and ran over to his mom. He jumped with excitement, facing his mother with a grin. Katsuki casually walked over to Mitsuki before asking her if they could wait for his new friend.

"I assume your first day of kindergarten was good?" Inko asked, kneeling before her child who struggled to form words over his excitement.

"Yeah! I met Katsuki!" Izuku managed to say, pointing to the blonde a few feet away from them.

"He has a treehouse! Can I go over to their place for a while? Please!" Izuku begged, hopping with joy.

"Hm...Only if Katsuki's mother's okay with it." She said, standing up straight to face the woman.

"Sure," Katsuki's mother shrugged before padding over. "I'm Mitsuki Bakugou." She introduced herself.

"I'm Inko Midoriya, nice to meet you." Inko smiled.

"Can we go now?" Katsuki groaned as he tugged at Mitsuki's jeans.

"Be patient!" Mitsuki scolded.

~~~~~~~

Katsuki raced inside his house, Izuku running after him in a string of giggles. The smaller blonde led him to the backyard where his father waited. Masaru smiled at the boys, leaning against the tree that held a small treehouse. It wasn't too big but to the boys, it was huge.

"Who's this, Katsuki?" Masaru asked, waving at Izuku as they approached him.

"This is Izuku. I wanted to show him the treehouse." Katsuki briefly explained, pushing his father away when Masaru tried to ruffle his hair.

"Well, you two have fun and play safe. I'll be inside with your mother." Masaru said, saying a brief goodbye to both of the boys before leaving them alone in the backyard.

"Race you too the top!" Katsuki said, running to the ladder.

"No far, you got a head start!" Izuku laughed, following after him.

They climbed up to the treehouse, entering the squared room. It had blankets covering the wooden floor, pillows leaning against the floor and wall. Some of Katsuki's toys laid around and nearby the enterance sat a box of paper, coloring books, crayons, scissors, and other art objects. Katsuki climbed into the pillows, taking one of his toys with him.

"Wow, this is so cool, Katsuki!" Izuku remarked, grabbing a race car from the ground.

"Yeah, and now it's gonna be our hideout! We're calling it...K.I headquarters!" Katsuki declared, getting up to grab the scissors from the arts and crafts box.

He walked to the wall nearby the entrance and pressed the dull blade against the softwood. He carved in a K and an I in big lettering before facing Izuku with a small smile.

"There. No one else is allowed in here but us!" Katsuki stated.

"Okay!" Izuku grinned, staring at the K and I in awe.

A sense of joy washed over Izuku at the sight of the K.I. Was this what it was like to have a friend? A true one? Izuku wouldn't know but he believed this was it, his best friend for life. At least he hoped so. No one ever tried to make him feel welcomed before as Katsuki had. He was so happy he wanted to tear up. But he didn't want Bakugou to see him cry like a baby so he only faced him with a wide smile.

"Does that mean we're secret agents?" Izuku asked. Katsuki tilted his head a bit with a puzzled expression.

"Huh?"

"Well, cause only secret agents have headquarters. And heroes too!" Izuku elaborated. Bakugou perked up at the explanation he was given and gave him an almost determined grin.

"Yeah, of course we're super secret agent heroes. What else would we be?" Bakugou said before moving to the other side of the small building and lifting a toy from the ground.

He then walked back to Izuku and presented the toy to him. It was an old Superman action figure. His cape hung from the toy's neck and he was in a stiff super hero pose; his arms bent and his fists pressed against his hips. Izuku stared at it, taking it when Katsuki handed it to him. His finger traced the super human's features, his skin lightly skimming his arms and cape.

"We'll be better than Superman and Batman." Bakugou spoke. Midoriya looked up to see him holding a Batman action figure.

"Yeah! And cooler too." Izuku agreed with a giggle.

—————

Now they were in their twenties now, the boys had grown a lot since they'd met. But despite the changes they went through one thing never changed; they never left each other's side.

It was Katsuki's birthday. The two revisited their home town to celebrate with family. They had moved for college, both of them going at a prestigious university called UA that stood in another country. It was late them they finally arrived to the Bakugou residence but as soon as they finished greeting their parents who had so patiently waited for them they went to the backyard.

The tree still stood, tall and righteous. And among its branches was the old treehouse. Izuku paused to stare, admiring it from afar. A smile found his lips. Katsuki stood beside him, his ruby eyes on the treehouse. They both felt nostalgic from standing in the same backyard they have been in several times before.

"There it is. K.I headquarters." Izuku murmured. A small chuckle left him at the name. It seemed so ridiculous to his adult mind now. Katsuki laughed a bit as well.

"Yeah." Bakugou replied. He wasn't sure what to say. He was lost of words. Staring at the small treehouse that the boys surely wouldn't fit in anymore brought so many emotions. One of them being yearning.

He longed to be five, six, seven again. To be a kid with nothing to worry about but whether Izuku would come over or not. A sigh escaped the blonde. Midoriya turned his head, his eyes landing on Katsuki with a small 'huh?'. But upon seeing the longing look on the ash-blonde's face he immediately understood. He too was feeling the same kind of desire.

"Hey, we really did become cooler heroes than Batman and Superman." Izuku said. Bakugou glanced over, his ruby eyes meeting emerald ones. Katsuki slightly smiled.

"Hell yeah we did. And we'll be even more cooler when we become certified surgeons." Katsuki responded with confidence, his small smile from before turned into a proud grin at the sound of his own words. Izuku returned the grin.

"Yeah. The best super secret agent hero doctor duo there is." Midoriya agreed.

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