The bruises marring Katsuki Bakugo's face and the lingering ache in his hand weren't from a training accident—they were a gift from Wu An.
The suspension Wu An had recently served was the direct result of a "personality conflict." In this world, using your Quirk (or in Wu An's case, his Stand) against another student is a heavy taboo.
Originally, there was no real grudge between them. Bakugo was, by all accounts, a classic school bully—self-centered, explosive, and blessed with a temperament that could ignite at a moment's notice. However, Bakugo had a "clean" record; he was smart enough to stay within the lines of the law, using his Quirk to threaten and intimidate rather than outright maiming his classmates. His favorite target, naturally, was the "Quirkless" Izuku Midoriya.
Wu An, however, was a different breed. Raised by his grandparents after losing his parents at a young age, he had grown up withdrawn and quiet. He had endured years of "cold violence"—the snickers, the whispers, and the verbal barbs that haunt school hallways. He had a natural, visceral disgust for people with "bad mouths."
Last week, Bakugo's mouth had finally written a check his body couldn't cash. He offended Wu An, and the response was immediate: a relentless barrage from the golden Stand, [The World].
Wu An's philosophy was simple: If a dog bites me, I don't bite back; I beat it to death. If a dog barks at me, I don't bark back; I beat it to death.
Round Two
"You bastard!" Bakugo roared. Ignoring the pain in his trembling fingers, he lunged. "DIE!!!!"
Facing the ferocious, sweat-slicked face of his classmate, Wu An simply offered a thin, mocking smile.
THUMP!
In an instant, Bakugo's body was sent flying backward. He hadn't even reached Wu An before a massive impact mid-air stopped his momentum entirely. He skidded across the pavement, falling hard over ten meters away.
"Kacchan!"
"Bakugo!"
Midoriya and the two lackeys cried out in unison. When they looked back at Wu An, their eyes widened. He hadn't even released his "ghost."
Bakugo gritted his teeth, clutching his abdomen as he struggled to stand. "This... this guy... did he just hit me with his bare fist?"
Wu An held up his right hand, flexing his knuckles. "To deal with a dog like you, I don't even need to call my Stand."
"What a joke!" Bakugo charged again, his palms crackling with orange sparks. He aimed a high-explosive punch toward the right side of Wu An's face.
Wu An chuckled, tilting his head slightly to let the heat of the explosion graze past him at the smallest possible distance. He drove his right knee upward, aiming for Bakugo's gut.
BOOM!
Bakugo used his left hand as a thruster, firing an explosion outward to shift his body sideways mid-air, narrowly avoiding the knee.
"Great move, Bakugo!" the lackeys cheered. Midoriya, caught in the middle, actually looked relieved—seemingly forgetting whose side he was on for a moment. Bakugo's combat instincts were undeniably top-tier.
"DIE!" Bakugo twisted in mid-air, preparing for a follow-up strike.
"Have you forgotten?" Wu An sneered. "My Stand is always watching."
The World Manifests
The golden-armored silhouette of [The World] materialized out of thin air behind the airborne Bakugo.
"That's... Wu-kun's Quirk!" Midoriya exclaimed.
In one fluid motion, [The World] delivered a heavy whip-kick to Bakugo's ribs. The sound of the impact was sickening. Bakugo's eyes rolled back as the wind was knocked out of him. He was slammed sideways, crashing through the branches of a roadside tree before hitting the trunk with a heavy thud.
Leaves and debris rained down on the fallen boy. Bakugo lay there, covered in dust, several new bruises forming on his face.
"Kacchan!"
"Bakugo!"
The lackeys and Midoriya rushed over. Bakugo barely opened his eyes, snarling through the pain. "Get... get away from me, Deku... I don't need your sympathy!"
Wu An walked over, [The World] looming behind him like a vengeful god. He looked down at the boy in the dirt with cold amusement. The two lackeys felt their knees go weak under the pressure of the Stand's presence.
"Scram," Wu An said quietly.
The lackeys hesitated for a split second before turning tail and running. Loyalty, it seemed, had its limits.
"Seems your followers aren't very loyal," Wu An noted dryly.
"Shut up... you Stand-using bastard," Bakugo spat, using the nickname he'd given Wu An's mysterious ability.
"Seems you haven't been beaten enough." Wu An's smile didn't reach his eyes. [The World] stepped forward, clenching its massive, golden fists over the fallen Bakugo.
"STOP! WU-KUN, PLEASE!" Midoriya, tears pricking his eyes, stood in front of Wu An with his hands raised. "This is too much! It violates the Quirk Management Laws!"
"MOVE, DEKU! I don't need your protection!" Bakugo barked from the ground, the humiliation of being defended by "Quirkless" Midoriya hurting more than the broken ribs.
Wu An looked at the two of them—the one who refused to back down and the one who refused to be helped. "You two really are a match made in heaven," he whispered. He retracted [The World].
The Actor
At that moment, the two teenage girls from earlier came running up. "Wu-kun! Are you okay?"
"We were so worried!"
Wu An's cold expression vanished, replaced by a look of profound guilt. "I'm okay... it was just a bit intense. I'm sorry. I just can't stand it when people use their power to do evil. I had to stop him."
Midoriya and the prone Bakugo were speechless. Is this guy for real?
"It's okay, Wu-kun! You don't have to feel guilty!" one girl chirped.
"That durian-head went too far. If you didn't do that, you would have been the one getting hurt!" the other added, her eyes full of adoration.
"Well," Wu An said, familiarizing his hands with theirs, "now that that's settled, where should we go to play? How about a Love Hotel?"
"WU-KUN! Don't make such jokes!"
"We've only known each other for two hours! You're so frivolous!"
Despite their words, the corners of their mouths were turned up, betrayed by their own excitement. Wu An knew that in middle and high school, a bit of boldness was all it took.
A single relevant follow-up question:
With Bakugo's pride completely shattered and Wu An effectively manipulating the social scene, do you think Bakugo will seek a way to "power up" before the U.A. entrance exams, or will he try to report Wu An's "illegal" use of his Quirk to the school?