POV: Katsuki Bakugou
Location: Abandoned Quarry.
Time: Sunset. Three days before Izuku receives One For All.
The sun scrapes against the horizon, bleeding orange light over the limestone walls.
I am alone. My gloves are stained with soot and my arms throb, but it is a satisfying pain. It is the pain of efficiency.
I raise my right hand. Two years ago, in this very spot, I tried to replicate Roy Mustang's flame alchemy. I failed. The wind dispersed the aerosol of my sweat before I could ignite it, and the flame died out like a cheap candle.
Now, I don't rely on luck.
I spread my fingers, tensing the muscles in my forearm to open the pores selectively. I release a dense cloud, but I don't let it escape. I move my hand fast, creating a low-pressure vortex that traps the gas in a straight line in front of me.
"Ignition: Spark Gap."
I snap my fingers. The friction of my reinforced calluses generates the spark.
Fwip!
There is no explosion. There is a cut. A line of concentrated fire slashes through ten meters of air in a fraction of a second, carbonizing the wooden target with surgical precision. No waste. No unnecessary noise.
I lower my hand.
Perfect.
I sit on a cold rock, breathing in the smell of ozone.
For eleven years, I operated with a single logic: The Script.
I knew One For All had to reach Izuku. That's why I trained him. That's why I let Ogawa turn him into a "Snake". That's why I endured his muttering and his stubbornness.
I was "preparing the vessel." I trusted that, when the time came, destiny would do its job.
But then... the Sludge Villain didn't appear.
The "canonical event" didn't happen at the marked time.
I grit my teeth remembering it. The anxiety I felt that day wasn't fear of the villain. It was terror of my own influence.
I thought my butterfly wings had caused a hurricane that erased Izuku's future. I thought that by saving Toga or cleaning the beach ahead of schedule, I had broken the chain of events that would lead All Might to choose him.
And then came the propylene truck.
Propylene. $C_3H_6$.
In that moment, I wasn't a hero. I was a calculator. I saw the gas, I saw the density, I saw the static. I knew that if I moved, I would vaporize the entire block.
I stayed still because my knowledge tied my hands.
But Izuku... Izuku didn't calculate. Izuku ran.
And destiny, that damn abstract concept I mistrusted so much, corrected itself. All Might saw him. It didn't take a sludge villain. It just took Izuku being Izuku.
I chuckle quietly, a dry sound in the empty quarry.
So much fear of breaking the future, and it turns out the future is more resilient than I thought.
The hair. He's going to eat it in a few days. The power is coming. All my prep work, all those beatings in the dojo and the morning runs... they weren't in vain. He is ready to bear the weight.
I stand up. Second test.
I extend my palms toward the ground.
"Pulse Engine: Hover."
Bang-bang-bang.
My palms detonate in a rapid rhythmic sequence. Two years ago, the vibration shook my brain and made me fall on my head.
Now, my wrists absorb the impact. My dorsal stabilizers correct my posture automatically.
I rise. I float three meters off the ground, static, looking at the world from above.
From here, I see the city lights.
For a long time, I looked at the people in this world as supporting characters.
Mitsuki and her screaming, Masaru and his patience, Inko and her katsudon. Even Toga, the "vampire" I rescued from the alley.
To my reincarnated self, they were pieces on a board. Resources I had to manage to reach the happy ending.
But floating here, alone, I feel a hollow space in my stomach.
It's not hunger. It's... silence.
I've gotten used to the noise. I've gotten used to Toga stealing food from my plate. I've gotten used to dinners at the Midoriyas', where I feel more like a son than a guest.
Without realizing it, I stopped acting. I stopped being the cold, distant "architect."
Those bonds... Toga's blind loyalty, Izuku's stubborn admiration, the Old Hag's aggressive affection... they aren't tools anymore. They are my damn family.
And protecting them isn't a "canon" mission anymore. It's a visceral necessity.
I descend gently, controlling the fall with minor pulses.
I pull the last spheres from my belt.
The Gambit technique.
The first time, inertia detonated the sweat in my hand and I almost blew my fingers off. Izuku suggested using a retardant resin.
It took me months to find the right polymer mix, but here it is.
I throw the three spheres into the air.
They don't explode leaving my hand. They travel in a perfect arc.
They hit the ground fifteen meters away. The resin cracks on impact. The sweat reacts with the air.
"Stun Grenade: Cluster."
CLACK-BOOM!
Three synchronized flashes. A wall of light and sound that would stun any villain without killing them.
It works.
Everything works.
I pick up my backpack and wipe the sweat from my forehead.
The stage is set. Izuku will have OFA. Toga is stable and lethal. And I... I have a technical arsenal that makes any first-year student look ridiculous.
I walk toward the quarry exit.
The fear of the "Butterfly Effect" is gone.
I don't care anymore if I changed the script. In fact, I'm glad I did. Because in the original script, Bakugou Katsuki was alone at the top.
And honestly, I prefer climbing accompanied by this gang of disasters.
I check my watch. I'm late for dinner.
Toga has probably eaten my dessert by now.
I smile, and this time, it's a real smile.
"Let the game begin, All Might," I mutter. "Your successor is ready. And his rival is too."