highway

Tree [chapter 1]

At ten years old, Katsuki had determined he was the best in the world.

Anything he tried, he excelled in it. He was always a step above his peers in everything. Academics, athleticism, even his quirk seemed like it was specially crafted just for him to be one step above everyone else.

If there was a God, he had favorites, and Katsuki was one of them.

At ten years old, y/n had determined she was also the best in the world.

Though she may have had to work a little harder, she was also quite the quick learner. Anything Katsuki tried, she tried as well, and each time she wasn't too far behind in catching up to him before he'd quit whatever activity he was doing at the time to rub it in her face that she'd never quite gotten on the same level as him. And she wouldn't continue to do the activity, because it wasn't fun unless she was trying to beat Katsuki.

Despite her gift of being a quick learner blessed with a body that could keep up with her mind, she also had an amazing quirk.

Another one of God's favorites.

However, there was always one thing she excelled in that he simply couldn't. Katsuki would blame it on the fact that she was always trying and he never practiced, not the way she did. Though that was true, she still had him beat in something, and Katsuki never seemed able to just catch up.

As they sat in the living room of the Katsuki residence with some cartoon playing as background noise while they emerged themselves in separate activities, Katsuki couldn't help but stare at her in envy. He would peek over her shoulder, stopping midway through some sentence of a comic book he was reading just to get a glimpse of that beautiful portrait she was conjuring up.

Regardless, he still admired it. Everything about the picture was so magnificent. From how delicate even the clumsiest of her pencil strokes seemed, to the artist herself. Who would draw one line, pull her pencil away from her sketch pad, stick her tongue out in concentration, and then smile as she added some minuscule detail that no normal person would ever take note of. And each time, it always seemed to add more value to the already beautiful portrait.

Katsuki would never admit this, but if there was one thing he'd never be able to surpass someone in, it'd be her ability to draw.

"Yo, kiddos," Mitsuki called as she entered the living room from the door that led to the Bakugo residence backyard. "Wanna help me out in the garden?"

She was wearing some dirt covered gloves and was headed towards the kitchen. Of course, she had been gardening. It had been her new thing since the beginning of spring. It was now midsummer. Mitsuki kept all her seeds in the cabinet underneath the kitchen sink. The kids only knew that because they'd snuck into it on multiple occasions to get some sunflower seeds.

"No, we don't, you hag," Katsuki pulled his eyes away from his best friend's artwork and returned to his comic.

Mitsuki stopped in her tracks, changing route to go to the living room couch. She slapped Katsuki in the back of the head, "Show some respect, you brat. And let y/n answer for herself!" She turned to the girl who was still drawing away. "Sweetie, would you like to help me out in the garden?" Mitsuki asked. Her tone was change greatly from the one she used to reprimand Katsuki with only seconds prior.

"No thanks, ma'am," the girl answered. For the first time since she'd started drawing, she looked away from her pad. "My favoritest show is about to come on."

"Favoritest isn't a word," Katsuki pointed out. He had been acting like he had stopped paying attention to the conversation after his mother had hit him. But even when staring at a comic book so intently like it was the only thing in his world, Katsuki couldn't help how natural it came to prove that he was always just a step ahead of her.