Chapter 2

The quiet jingling of keys woke Adrian up. Looking around, the whole living room was dyed in oranges and reds from the setting sun. {Wake up, Izumi. I think someone's at the door} Adrian said as he heard the distinctive sound of front doors unlocking.

Adrian felt felt Izumi slowly stir awake, her hands gliding through his white fur. Adrian heard the front doors open and a feminine voice greet Izumi. From that, Izumi quickly stood up and shouted back a greeting before looking back at Adrian. {Come inside my room, I don't want to scare mom} Adrian heard her voice in his head and saw her hand slightly rub her side.

Without a word he fallowed her, despite his size his paws not making a sound. Once inside, Adrian jumped up on Izumi's bed so he wasn't in the way of a frantically searching Izumi. It didn't take long until a first aid kit was beside him and Izumi started to put on some kind of lotion.

{Are you okay, Izumi? Sadly, I can't really help you with that, outside of making sure it doesn't happen again} Adrian said to the frantic girl. He saw her still, a fearful glint in her eyes appeared for a quick moment before disappearing. Izumi took a deep breath and slowly finished putting on the lotion {I'm… fine, it's not the first time. Now that I have a quirk maybe Katcchan will stop being so mean to me} Adrian heard Izumi say.

Adrian came forward and nuzzled his head into Izumi's side {You don't have to lie to me. I am a part of you, I will help you with anything}. Adrian felt a slight tremble from Izumi before two arms enveloped him. "T-thank you" he heard Izumi whisper. {I'll always be beside you to help, just ask. There is no need to thank me} Adrian said.

It took several minutes before Izumi moved away and put away the small first aid kit back in a drawer under several books. Adrian stepped down from the bed and looked at Izumi. She wiped away the few remaining tears from her cheeks and smiled at Adrian.

"It's good to finally meet my quirk. I hope we will be good friends, Adrian" she said with a smile and sat down on the floor with open arms. {We will be the best of friends. I'll be forever by your side} Adrian said as he made his way to her arms, enveloping most of her in his white fur - Adrian felt quite the dislike for how small her body felt against his. {We should probably meet your mom} Adrian added after several moments.

——

The fallowing week was the most peaceful yet hectic week Adrian could remember. Nothing of substance happened. He showed himself to Izumi's mom, they all went to the hospital to fix Izumi's 'quirkless' status and got quite a hefty sum of 'compensation' for Inko agreeing to not publicise that the a doctor of theirs misdiagnosed Izumi.

Adrian didn't agree with Inko's spinelessness - a court case would have given more money than they offered, but he didn't raise any complaints because it didn't make much difference for him. The offered amount was less than they could have got, but it was enough to turn their life around.

Nothing happened yet, but Inko did talk to Izumi about buying a small house nearby. Outside of that, probably the biggest reaction Adrian got was from Izumi's school. Adrian wasn't a fan of just watching life from the sidelines, so with the excuse of it 'being uncomfortable' - it was not, it was relaxing in fact - Adrian refused to stay in Izumi's soul for extended periods of time, preferring to stay by Izumi's side.

Adrian's decision to stay beside Izumi and his impressive height of a bit bellow one meter, 97cm and expected to grow with Izumi - brought quite a lot of attention to them. His height also allowed the not so taller Izumi to comfortably ride on his back - an activity that brought many smiles to her face.

To no one's surprise, Izumi coming to school on a back of a big white wolf brought many surprised and fearful eyes to them. Izumi was understandably uncomfortable with the attention of all the people, many of which had bullied her. But with Adrian's constant encouragement and support she held her head high - a confident smile masking her inner turmoil.

——

Bakugo Katsuki had a pretty good morning so far. He woke up early, had a tasty breakfast and made his way to school. There were only a few weeks before summer break so there wasn't much work to do.

He hadn't even seen her, his permanent eyesore it seems, in the past week so he couldn't complain. At least, that was until one of the extras started shouting to come and look outside.

Looking down to the entrance of the school Katsuki could hardly believe his eyes. He wasn't dumb, he was smarter than everyone, bar one, here, but every thought that could explain why She was riding on a wolf was shot down. 'Maybe she trained it from birth?' Katsuki dismissed that thought as soon as it came up. No matter how he looked at it, if She had a wolf in her life he would be the first one to hear it.

Katsuki didn't even notice as small sparks started to appear in his palms as the thought that Izumi - the only person in his age group who could compete with him in almost anything outside of physical strength, had secrets she hadn't shared with him, secrets that could even out the playing field between them.

Katsuki's mind worked overtime to figure out how… a wolf appeared out of nowhere. 'A rescue? Animal shelter?' But most rational thoughts were immediately dismissed on the fact that he would have known is Izumi 'adopted' a big white wolf. The more he thought, the more an annoying thought came up 'maybe it's her quirk?'.

With a mild explanation Katsuki made his way down to her. 'A quirk!' The idea itself was preposterous! There is no way his only riv-, the only extra that somewhat could compete with him would have a quirk. And if they had one, it could never be better than his.

Katsuki knew that he was better, he had to be! Ask anyone - there will be nothing but praise about his quirk! And because it's HIS quirk, that means that there is nothing but praise about HIM. He was born to be a hero, he had a quirk that belonged to a hero, and because he was the best - he will be the best hero the world has ever seen.

With all of that at Katsuki's side, how DARE a quirkless extra like Her aim at the same goal. And more importantly, how can She compete with him and NOT instantly fail. From the moment he got his quirk he had a clear goal set in front of him, and he worked as hard as he could to reach that goal. So how can a worthless Deku stand beside him when he is putting in so much effort for his 'being' to look effortless?!

The closer he got to her the more irritated Katsuki became. He had everything she lacked… and she still managed to be right behind him. And now she seemingly awakened a quirk on top of that? Katsuki took deep calming breaths that did nothing as he got outside and stood right in front of her. She had dismounted her wolf and now stood right before him, a smile on her face.

Katsuki didn't miss her quick glances at the wolf, nor the wolf gesturing to him. "H-hey Kattchan… I awakened by quirk, Adrian, last week! Now that I also have a quirk we can become a hero team like we talked!" She said with a nervous smile as her wolf got closer to her.

'A hero team?' Katsuki scoffed at the thought. For them to be a team she had to be at least somewhere near his level - and no one was as amazing as him. And she smiles at him! As if her aim wasn't to undermine him and take all of the praise away from him.

"Ha! As if I would ever team with a useless Deku like you! And what's with this wolf? You think having a pet will help you become a hero?" Katsuki spat, it felt like just being in her presence made him uncomfortable.

He saw Izumi shake her head while looking at her wolf and then looked at him with building tears in her eyes as she quietly said "B-But w-we can… we p-promised each other to b-become heroes t-together!… a-and to always be friends…" Izumi barely finished her sentence, her voice almost a whisper by the end. Izumi instinctively squeezed the fur in her hands as her wolf sat by her side.

Her whole 'let's be friends' outlook and her genuine feelings of concern and happiness for HIM and not his quirk just made him irritated. Katsuki refuses to admit it to himself, but every time Izumi shows interest in HIM and not his quirk just reminds him that when everyone else looks at him they just see an amazing quirk of a future top hero.

Because of his refusal to look inward, Katsuki felt anger that he couldn't explain surge forward hearing that. With her getting a quirk and all of his thoughts that he keeps locked away even from himself, Katsuki said the words that he had said a thousand times before "What friends? We may have been as babies, but I think I made myself quite clear that you will never be my friend. Why would I ever need a friend like you?"

But Izumi's reconfirmation that they will always be friends never came. He saw her look at her wolf as tears rolled down her cheeks. It seemed like they were talking, and Katsuki put up his fists ready for a fight as the wolf growled at him.

But no fight ever came. Katsuki saw as Izumi just nodded at the wolf and tried to wipe away her non ending tears. "O-okay… I-if you really d-don't want to b-be my f-friend so m-much… I w-won't b-bother you a-anymore… g-goodbye, Kattc-, K-Katsuki" Izumi weakly said, her voice quivering. He saw her look up at the school, shake her head and fallow her wolf outside.

Katsuki felt… cold. He knew he should be happy, he tried to get rid of her for several years now. But she always insisted that they were friends - which they never were! But why does his chest and eyes hurt so much?

'Whatever, without her in my life I can focus on becoming even better than everyone else!' Katsuki thought to himself and ignored the small voice that reminded him that Izumi was the only one who actually competed with him. As Katsuki sat in class, his mind was 100% focused on his teacher, listening to their every word and ingraining everything they said - he was doing everything he could to not acknowledge the aching in his chest.

——

{You did the right thing, Izumi. I know it hurts and it wasn't easy. I am proud of you for taking such a big step forward! You're a smart girl, you have to understand that he was the main source of negativity in your life} Adrian said to Izumi who was crying into his back. Adrian knew that Izumi and Katsuki could potentially be friends, but he couldn't sit back and watch as he tore down Izumi's confidence and dreams.

So with a lot of talking and convincing, Adrian managed to get a promise out of Izumi. If Katsuki didn't congratulate, or at least acknowledge, Izumi's quirk in a positive light and offered an end to their friendship - Izumi would agree and end it.

"B-but we were friends f-for forever! Y-yeah he was mean sometimes, b-but…" Izumi tried to come up with an explanation. She did come up with a few, but she didn't say them because even to her they seemed like a stretch. "He w-was my only f-friend…" Izumi said in a whisper.

{It will be alright, Dear. You have me, I will always be by your side. And look at the bright side - we can always make new friends!} Adrian said with a slight hop, jolting Izumi to an upright position. "Y-yeah… we can make new friends" Izumi said to herself.

{I think we can leave this topic for when we are home and have ice cream, what do you say?} Adrian said, trying to cheer up Izumi. A soft giggle reached his ears "Sure…"

{So… how is our future looking? Is your, no, our goal still the same?} Adrian said after several minutes of silence. He knew that Izumi wanted to become a Hero and help people, and if that was still her goal he will put all his effort to ensure she will reach it.

"Hah? Oh, yeah!" Izumi said, pumping up her fist "We will become the best heroes ever!" She continued, returning to her natural bubbly self. {That's great! I think we will need to start training if you are serious about this. It would devastate me if anything happened to you, Dear} Adrian said as he climbed the stairs to their apartment.