Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Momo was use to the undressing stares, those eyes filled with lust and intent that she would never know if they would act upon.

She came from a very proper family, her mom taught her to hold her tongue and sit pretty from a young age. So even now, passing by the group of men who's eyes trailed down her body, she didn't utter a word. Only ducking her head and pulling her coat tighter around her body.

Her footsteps echoed throughout the mostly unoccupied streets.

It was getting dark.

Her and a good half of her class had met up at Ojiros house to have a study session. She would have preferred it to be at her house, but Iida set up a schedule so that they could transition study locations.

She was thankful that Ojiro lived a walkable distance away from her residence, because her driver was unavailable and her parents were at a meeting in another country.

She could manage, she reassured herself, even if she felt the hungry gazes of the men still lingering on her.

Yaoyorozu picked up her pace, fingers making indents into the strap of her satchel filled with workbooks. No, she wouldn't turn around and tell the creeps off, it wouldn't be worth it to spoil her family name over a few harmless stares and cat calls.

However, her thought process shifted when they started to trail behind her in a way that wouldn't be noticed by an untrained citizen.

Cursing herself mentally, she scanned the area. She was only halfway to her house, cutting through the suburbs to make her trip shorter. No one seemed to be out.

She was on her own.

To make it worse, she couldn't use her quirk without a quirk license.

Above her, the streetlights flickered to life, casting a halo around her, though she knew that a ring of light wouldn't keep her safe. She needed to get out of there.

The group behind her was now taking long strides, closing in on her. It was then that a crazy idea popped in her head.

The class roster.

Being class presidents, her and Iida owned digital copies of the other students contact information and addresses.

Yaoyorozu discretely as possible slid her phone from out of her skirt pocket to pull up the files.

She sent another sideways glance out of the corner of her eyes to get a closer look at her stalkers. Four men feigning non chalice, chatting and lighting their cigarettes. At least they were staying back for now.

Focusing on the screen of her phone, Momo tried to keep her cool as her shaky fingers glided over the screen. Her brain wasn't even comprehending what she was typing or what she was reading.

She needed to think.

Momo scrolled through the address list, zeroing in on the closest one, a house about a block down from where she was at the moment.

A jolt of uncertainty arose when her dark eyes landed on the last name. The Bakugou's.

The situation wasn't that bad, maybe she could just....

The men behind her grew silent.

No, she couldn't get out of this on her own.

She inhaled deeply to gather her nerve before typing in the home number on her keypad.
Momo held her breath while the line rang, then went dead.

Shit.

She frantically dialed it again, waiting in anticipation until a clicking sound secured her connection.

Finally.

Momo thought she'd never be so elated to hear Bakugou Katsuki's rough voice.
"Who the fuck are you and why the fuck are you calling so late?" The voice grumbled, gravely from...sleep? Had Katsuki been asleep?

Momo tried not to feel like a bother for waking up a classmate for her issues, but that didn't matter now.

She knew what she had to do.

She squared her shoulders and strode with a new propose. "Hey babe, I'm almost there, about a block away." Her dark eyes darted to any notable landmarks. "Just got to the mailboxes."

There was a shocked silence on the other end of the line, then shuffling. "Fucking ponytail? That you?" Bakugou hissed, Yaoyorozu couldn't tell if he was pissed or confused.

Probably a mixture of both.

"Yeah sweetie, I told you I was walking home didnt i?" Momo's smile felt strained on her face, but she continued with the act, only hoping that Bakugou would catch on.

There was even more shuffles and grunts. "You're at the mailbox ponytail?" Bakugou's voice was oddly blank. Was he trying to be soothing?

Momo was surprised to realize that it was working, her shoulders were slightly less tense with the prospect of someone coming to her aid.

"Yeah babe, I'll be home soon okay?" She tried not to let urgency seep into her shaky voice.

"I'm coming Pony tail, ya' here?"

The line went dead.

For a split second Momo allowed relief to replace the dread.

Then a bony hand lay itself on her shoulder. She jumped slightly, cursing the tiny squeal that slipped past her lips. She was a stong capable woman, she told herself, she could get out of this without any blood shed.

Momo turned around, fingers clamping tighter to her satchel strap. "Oh, how how can I help you?"

She shivered at the cold looks she received. These stares were Diffrent than most of the other ones shes gotten. They weren't admiring from a distance like some of her classmates or treating her as eye candy as some other adults did.

No, these were the eyes of a predator studying their prey. These men would do what they wanted to her and no one could stop them.

Momo's breaths came out in ragged pants as she backpeddaled out of their reach.

"S'fine young lady." One of them drawled, a cigarette perched between his lips. "Were jus' Makin' sure you get home safe."

Momo straightened herself up to at least appear confident. "I do not need your help, thank you." She shrugged off another lingering hand. "Have a Good night." She said through gritted teeth.

Now that Yaoyorozu got a closer look at the four men under the street light, they all looked shockingly similar to each other. The same ratty clothes, build, posture. Momo scowled to herself, that was certainly strange.

She pushed those thoughts aside, she had more urgent needs at the moment like getting out of there. She could figure out the specifics later when she was no longer in harms way.

Easier said than done.

The quadruplets (?) Were persistent, following her with identical crooked smirks on their faces.

Wait, they weren't following her, they were herding her. Leading her to somewhere they could take her away easier.

Headlights momentarily blinded her vision.

This is it.

They were taking her to a vehicle that they could stuff her in. Momo stumbled, swallowing down a helpless sob. The gravity of the situation settled into the pit of her stomach.

She needed to use her quirk if she were to make it out in one peace.

With unsteady fingers Yaoyorozu reached to unbutton the bottom of her shirt. She needed to make a staff, or pepper spray. Anything to buy her some time.

"Hey dumbass!" A familiar voice called. Momo almost burst into tears right there on the spot.

Bakugou.

The car next to her slowed down to a stop, the window rolled down to reveal a puff of ash blonde hair and sharp red eyes zeroing in on her. "Get in" he jerked his thumb to the passenger side of the car.

Momo waisted no time following the order. As she settled into the leather seat she noticed Bakugou, clad in sleepwear, snapping pictures of the four creeps.

"Get outta here fuckin extras!" Bakugou barked. That seemed to ward the men off. They grumbled and retreated, heads turned low.
Bakugou rolled his eyes and rolled his window back up before turning back to Momo. "They didn't fuckin' touch you did they?"

Yaoyorozu quickly shook her head, wiping away a tear. "Thanks to you. I don't know what I would have done if you haven't shown up, I can't thank you enough for your assistance-"

Bakugou's eye twitched. "Shut the fuck up."

"H-huh?"

"I said" Bakugou's peircing eyes held contact with hers. "Shut. The. Fuck. Up. You know what you would have done ponytail, you were capable of gettin' outta that on your own just fine."

Yaoyorozu gasped softly, eyes filling up with more unwanted tears. He was right. She would have fought them tooth and nail. She was about to.

The warmth of courage spread though her stomach. "Then why did you come?" She smiled softly, watching closely as Bakugou studied the road ahead of him.

"Cuz dumbass, I'm gonna be a hero" he scoffed, as if he didn't just save her life.
"And you gotta have courage if your gonna save others lives, so I suggest you get to packin' ponytail cuz you don't got enough of that."

Despite his harsh words, Bakugou's tone was soft. Momo understood what he was saying as clear as day. She needed to speak up for herself. Who cares about her family name when her own life is on the line?

They settled into a comfortable silence, both reaching a whole new understanding of each other. That was how Bakugou worked, Yaoyorozu finally understood. He spoke with actions, not words. Which made all the more difference in the end.

Wait.

"Bakugou how are you driving?"

"Shut the fuck up."

"...Are you telling me you don't have a license and your driving?"

"I said shut the fuck up or I'm giving you back to the creeps."

Chapter Text

All things had a system, it was a way of life. It was routine. Now Kirishima wasn't usually one to stick to routine, being in possibly one of the most unpredictable friend group in UA.

But he liked that.

He enjoyed the spontaneous and unplanned moments in life.

But there was one routine that always stayed in place, no matter the hour, no matter the circumstances.

Wall knocks.

Kirishima and Bakugou shared a wall in the dormitory's, making them dorm buddy's. Of course, Kirishima was ecstatic to hear that him and his 'best bro' were close to each other.

Even if he always got noise complaints for pumping his music too loud during his workouts, but hey, it's not his fault Bakugou decided to go to bed at 8:00. Besides, there were many benefits that out weighed the small problems.

He was now passing his classes due to Bakugou's aggressive teaching method. He got free meals. Not only that but they were top quality. Man, Bakugou was going to spoil him of all other food.

There were many, many, other things he could list, but there was always something that he loved the most. Seeing Bakugou care.

Katsuki often didn't show any affection towards anyone outside their friend group, but when he was alone, he was much quieter. Softer. He still held that aggressive demeanor, but it was less defensive.

He could relax around him, and Kirishima enjoyed that.

And that's when the wall knocking came into play.

That was when Kirishima got to see Bakugou Katsuki at his weakest, and Vice versa. They had suffered through many situations that normal teens should never have gone through, so of course they were going to have nightmares.

Sometimes they could become too much, growing into that paranoia out of the dream state. Where the shadows moved and untested minds could only conjure up what lurked behind them.

When that happened, they needed each other. Thus, began the knock system.

Two knocks for I'm okay, and three for I'm not.

When Kirishima would hear Bakugou pop off explosions late into the night, Eijiro would knock in question. Most of the time, Bakugou would knock back twice, but occasionally there was three. And Kirishima would book it to his room without hesitation.

It also happened to him.

Sometimes he would knock three times on purpose, just to see Bakugous face. Kirishima felt selfish for it, but he couldn't help it.

Was it gay to cuddle the homies?

Normally Kirishima would say no, but with the way he was there for all of Bakugou's emotional crisis and the way he held him together after he fell apart. Eijiro was starting to think that yes, it was.

And he didn't have a problem with that.

But now, Kirishima didn't want to see him at all. He didn't want to see anyone.

Eijiro thought that those horrible depressive episodes from middle school were a thing of the past. But apparently not.

He hadn't thought of them in a while. Those weeks, or even months of laying in bed with the shades drawn. Of his room being littered with dirty clothes and overdue homework assignments.

Yeah, he didn't like looking back on it.

But now he was forced to.

He felt it coming, like a tsunami after an earthquake. Anxiety settled at the pit of his gut the days before it hit.

He ignored it at first, continuing with his grueling hero training. But once his fiery motivation slowly drained away along with his appetite, he knew he couldn't ignore it anymore.

Well... maybe he's been putting it off for a while now. After all, there was no reason to feel depressed anymore. He had friends now, more confidence in himself.

There was no reason to be sad anymore.

No reason to be depressed.

Yet, he was.

Why was he?

He felt bad about feeling bad for himself when he had everything he could have ever wanted. Eijiro chuckled humorlessly to himself, twisting around and kicking his bed sheets off.

Why even try to sleep? he knew it wasn't going to work.

He would just continue to wallow in his self pity.

Kirishima eyed the weight rack set up in the corner of his room. He really should continue with his routine but... what was the point?

No matter how much muscle he gained after middle school, or how much he dyed his hair, he was still the same weak kid from before.

He would probably lose all of the hard gained work he trained his body anyways, why not just make it sooner?

Thus, began the wave of depression.

—-

Kirishima was acting strange.

For a week straight he's been avoiding group hangouts, not even leaving his room.

Screw that, if Bakugou was forced to attend those shitty group game nights then Kirishima had to go too. That crappy excuse of 'sorry guys I'm tired' wouldn't work forever.

Although, Bakugou did notice the bags that have grown under his blood shot eyes, and how sluggish he's been in class. He didn't even scarf down the meals that Bakugou usually made for him.

Was that shitty hair... avoiding him?

Was he finally getting annoyed with him and all of his crappy emotional baggage?

Well screw that extra, he didn't need him. Is what Bakugou would normally say, but...

No.

Kirishima was his only friend, and Bakugou hadn't felt the way he did for him ever, for anyone else. Not shitty Deku, not those losers from Aldera middle school, and not the idiot squad that followed him around now.

Kirishima was special, and it didn't take an idiot to see.

Bakugou was going to get to the bottom of this next time he saw him.

Kirishima didn't even come out of his dorm to eat over whole weekend. The trays Bakugou left at his door remained untouched. Ungrateful. He wouldn't do that for just anyone.

It was Monday now, and he didn't even show up to school. He had been attending classes for the past week even if he wasn't mentally there.
But now he would be counted absent.

No fucking friend of Bakugous was going to skip classes. e definitely needed to drag him out of that god forsaken room now.

"Hey, Pinkie!" Bakugou yelled.

"Huh?" Mina tilted her head in question as she sat her bag down on the desk. Almost late to class, as usual.

Bakugou clenched his fist, grinding his teeth. He really didn't want to ask for any assistance. But if it was for Kirishima... "Y'know what's up with Shitty hair?"

Ashido slouched low into her chair, her bubbly demeanor swiftly changing into a closed off one. "Not sure."

Bakugou leaned over his desk and narrowed his eyes. "Your lying."

The other pursed her lips, deep in thought.

Bakugou sighed and similarly slouched down into his own seat. "Never mind 's fine."

"N-no" The conflict was still clear in Mina's eyes, but her posture was still with resolve. "This isn't the first time this has happened, but it's been a while." Bakugou for once remained quiet, allowing Mina to continue to speak. "I'm not sure if he would want me to tell you this, but I'm worried about him. I would help him but I don't know how, so... maybe you can?"

"Get on with it Racoon eyes, I gotta know what it is before I can help 'em with it."

Ashido nodded. "Right. So in middle school, Eijiro wasn't the... happiest."

Katsuki tried to ignore the way his given name rolled off of her tongue so naturally. He couldn't think about that right now.

"He was depressed. He had a hard time with school and self confidence."

It wasn't that hard to believe. Even now Bakugou could recognize the insecurity's that Kirishima still bore.

"But there were times when he was absent for days on end, and the days he did appear at school, he was sluggish and unfocused. Much like how he's been last week. I think he's..."

It hit Bakugou the exact moment she said it.

He's...

"Having a depressive episode."

Bakugou cursed himself for not realizing it sooner.

Katsuki knew what he had to do.

"I don't know what to do, Bakugou-"

"Don't you fucking worry about him" Katsuki cut her off. "I'll handle it."

Mina smirked in a way that spelt trouble. "Go get your mans, Bakubabe."

Bakugou would have exploded her face off right then and there if the bell hadn't rang. Kaminari ran into class, a true buzzer beater. Jiro grumbled, passing money to a snickering Sero. "The one time he's not late and I pay for it." She grumbled.

—-

Once Bakugou gathered the supply's he set his plan into action.

Three knocks on the wall.

Katsuki was disappointed when there came no reply. Looks like he'd have to drag him out himself. He obnoxiously stomped down the hallway, grocery bags in hand. He toed the full lunch tray he left in front of his door to the side.

"Shitty hair!" He barked, rapping on the door with his foot since his hands were occupied. "Answer the damn door!"

Still no answer.

Bakugou scoffed. Dammit.

He resorted to calmly kicking the door down.

The smell was the first thing he noticed. The air was stale and smelt of sweat and dust. Disgusting. Bakugou's nose twitched as he stepped in. A pile of blankets, papers, books, and... was that a bulletin board? Moved on the bed situated in the corner of the room.

Kirishima poked his head from the pile of rubbish, sluggishly blinking. He took out his earbuds. That explains why he never returned his knocks. "Bakugou?" He asked, squinting at the light.

"Yeah dumb ass" Bakugou grunted, avoiding the clothes covering the floor. "Tch, what a fuckin' mess."

"What are you doing here?" Eijiro asked, throwing the blankets off of him to swing his legs around.

"Idiot, it's Monday and you didn't show up to school. Figured I'd drag your ass out."

Kirishima blinked, scratching at his exposed roots. "O-oh, sorry."

Bakugou waved him off, flicking on the lights. "Get up."

Eijiro furrowed his eyebrows. "What? Why?"

"First of all," Bakugou shook his grocery bags. "We're re-dying your shitty hair, your roots are showing. Second of all, I haven't seen you eat so I'm sitting you the fuck down, and you'll eat everything I make you."

Bakugou kicked the clothes scattered across the floor into a neat pile. "Then, we'll fix this dump of a room. Alright?"

Eijiro rubbed at his tired eyes that somehow looked worse than when Bakugou last saw him. "No dude, you don't have to do any of that, I'll be fine-"

Bakugou snatched Kirishimas wrist, dragging him to a standing position. "I don't take no for an answer." He sniffed. "Your also taking a shower, I'm sure you can do that yourself?"

Kirishima nodded vigorously.

Bakugou turned away as he lead Kirishima to the bathroom. Was he doing this right? We're you supposed to force someone out of their shell like this? He shook it off. No, he was already doing it, he couldn't stop now. If Kirishima really wanted to remain how he was, then he wouldn't be tagging along.

Bakugou set the bags down on the bathroom counter, luckily Nedzu modified the dorms to where each floor had their own personal restroom. He didn't have to worry about anyone interrupting their time because most of the class agreed to go out to grab dinner.

"Alright" Bakugou growled, snapping on the latex gloves. "Sit the fuck down."

Kirishima slowly lowered himself onto the bench in front of the mirror. Under the luminescent bathroom lights he looked even more exhausted.

Katsuki sighed, moving behind the other to section off his hair. "I hope you fuckin' conditioned your hair the other day. If you didn't then oh well." Despite his lecturing tone, Bakugou made sure to lower his tone to a mutter.

Kirishima seemed to appreciate it, as he leaned into his touch. Bakugou gently twisted Kirishima's hair, nimble fingers working magic. He wouldn't dye someone's hair unless he was doing it the best way possible.

"Bakugou?" Kirishima finally asked, breaking the semi-comfortable silence.

"Hm?"

"...Why are you doing this?"

"Tch, because idiot, no friend of mine is going to sit around on his ass all day-"

"No. Really." Kirishima tilted his head to eye Bakugou, his eyes steely. "That's not it."

Katsuki stared back into those unblinking eyes, the only eyes that could ever make him waver. "Ugh." He jerked Kirishimas head so he could continue with his work. "It's cuz I fuckin' care about you, okay?" He muttered.

Despite the low volume of his voice, he could tell that Eijiro heard. For the first time in a while, a smile broke across that solemn face.

Fucking finally.

Bakugou didn't realize how much he missed that smile until now.

"Thanks Bakubro."

"Yeah yeah, now hold fucking still."

They spent the rest of their time in comfortable silence. Bakugou not pushing Kirishima to talk, just letting him relax into the touch.

After his wretched hair was fixed and, thank god, washed. They headed down to the vacant cafeteria. Bakugou guessed that the class hadn't yet returned from their outing.

Yet another small blessing.

Kirishimas movements lacked their usual confidence.

Bakugou had to stop himself from beating the depression out of him with a spatula.

That wouldn't help with shit.

As Bakugou turned on the stove, which many other students were banned from, Kirishima hesitantly sat down.

"Hey bro... you don't have ta' cook. I'm not too hungry right now..."

Katsuki almost chunked the pan at that stupid shitty hairs face. Instead he resorted to pointing it threateningly at him after tying on his apron.

Kiss the chef, bitches.

"Sit the fuck down and shut the fuck up."

Kirishimas mouth snapped shut.

"When was the last time you fuckin' ate anyways?" Katsuki almost didn't want to know the answer.

Eijiro held a thoughtful face as he twirled a strand of his newly dyed hair between his fingers. A habit, Bakugou learned, that he had since he was in middle school. "I ate dinner last night, but you don't need to worry about me-"

Bakugou was going to strangle Kirishima Eijiro. "Well someone does if you aren't even going to take care of yourself!" He barked, aggressively pouring the batter mix.

Breakfast for dinner could cure fucking anything.

Kirishimas face fell. Bakugou really hated that expression on him. "Okay."

Bakugou nodded back. "Okay."

Kirishima didn't end up eating as much Bakugou would have liked, but it would suffice for now. Especially when the class started trickling back into the commons, shooting them curious glances.

Bakugou flipped them all off and dragged Kirishima back to his room. Now for the third order of business, fixing up this messy ass room.

Bakugou could practically hear Kirishima shuffling his feet nervously behind him. No time for dawdling, there was work to be done.

And work they did.

Bakugou didn't slack off, and neither did he let Kirishima. No dust mite was left, Bakugou killed them and their familes. The clothes were shoved into the washer, two whole loads to be exact. The floor was vacuumed to perfection and the sliding glass doors wiped down viciously.

It was late by the time they finally finished, Bakugou wiping his forehead and nodding in satisfaction.

"Man" Kirishima huffed, flopping down into his bed. "I feel exhausted."

"You look exhausted."

There it was again, those fucking sad doe eyes. Kirishima looked like a kicked puppy. "I'm sorry... I haven't been getting much sleep."

Bakugou packed away the vacuum cleaner into the closet, rubbing the weird heat away from his cheeks. He wasn't the best at talking and shit, but if it was for Kirishima...
"If you ever need to... talk... or some shit..." he trailed off, looking away.

Eijiro's eyes widened at Bakugou's silent question, and Bakugou was awarded with a smile so soft that he almost blanched.

He fucking did it.

That sad ass face was gone, obliterated by Bakugou's pure strength and will power. No foe, not even Satan himself, could top him.

Kirishima pulled the comforter around his shoulders, poking his head out from his blanket. Well, it looked like Bakugou's job was done. He moved to flick off the lights, but halted when Eijiro called out to him.

"Huh? Whad' ya say? Couldn't hear."

Kirishima cleared his throat, a blush rising to his cheeks. "Can you- can you stay? I... haven't been able to sleep well in a while and I just thought It would help if..."

"Yeah dumbass, I'll stay." Bakugou confirmed, moving to sit on the edge of the twin bed.

The red head once again smiled as he laid back. "Don't be so stiff Baku," Kirishima whined, pulling him down with him onto the bed. "Ya don't have to stay the whole time, just until I fall asleep?"

Bakugou rolled his eyes, crawling up to face Kirishima. "I'll stay for as long as you want shitty hair."

They lay there in surprisingly comfortable silence for a while. For some reason, the situation just felt natural. Like there it was where Bakugou belonged, laying next to Kirishima.

Bakugou pulled the blanket up to his nose, already drifting off to sleep. He didn't care if he could still feel Kirishimas gaze resting on him.

It was past his bed time and he was tired.

"Hey... Baku?"

"What."

"It's just... what are we?" Kirishima shifted around, bangs falling into his round eyes.

Bakugou wasn't stupid, he knew this question was coming. Frankly, it's been overdue for a while. He rubbed the sleepiness away from his eyes to analyze the others expectant face.

"Whatever you want to be, Kiri."

Kirishima edged closer, reaching out to cup Bakugou's face. "I'm sure you know the answer to that."

Bakugou grinned lazily, placing his hand atop the others. "Night, Ei."

"Goodnight, Kat."

Chapter Text

It wasn't a secret that Uraraka wasn't the most well off, but she didn't like advertising it. She felt lucky enough as it was, being able to stay in the fancy dorm building with her friends.

With them she didn't need to worry about when she would get her next meal. Of course the missed her parents and worried about their well-being, but at least they no longer had to pay for another mouth to feed.

Yeah, whatever made her feel better.

She occasionally snuck some snacks from the dorms to replenish their pantry, but not enough to be missed.

Which lead her to her current situation.

A large tray covered with foil sat on the countertop. Normally she would ignore it, but upon closer inspection, there was a name written on the pink sticky note stuck to it.

Her name.

The penmanship was neat, if she were to guess, Yaoyorozu was the one who left her the food.

But how could she possibly know when Uraraka would go downstairs to gather food before the weekend break?

It was always on Friday morning at midnight sharp when the commons were completely unoccupied.

Maybe she left it out as leftovers and she didn't notice?

Well, Ochako wasn't about to question her motives, now she had a meal that would last a while. She swiftly collected the tub of... casserole?! Thank god for Momo's leftovers because the meal looked absolutely delicious.

As she crossed the commons to get back to the girls side of the dormitories, but a sight stopped her dead in her tracks.

A hand hung off the side of the green couch, relaxed and pliant.

What the heck?

Once she creeped towards the couch, Ochako was surprised to see that it was Bakugou of all people, who was passed out on the couch. He lay on his back, other arm draped across his stomach. His workbook forgotten on the floor. He must have fallen asleep studying, Uraraka realized.

Just as she was about to put her prized casserole down to shake him awake, a hand placed itself on her shoulder.

Uraraka jumped in surprise, letting out a small squeak.

"Hey hey, shhhh don't wake him up!" Kirishima whisper yelled, waving his blanket occupied hands around.

Ochako let out a puff of air, thankful she didn't drop her food. "Kirishima?" She whispered back "what are you doing here?"

The read head shrugged. "Was looking for Bakubro, he wasn't in his room. I guess he fell asleep down here."

Uraraka watched as Kirishima draped the blanket over Bakugou, who subconsciously tugged it closer to himself.

It was strange seeing his usual scrunched up face replaced with a neutral one.
"Hey wait, why were you going to his room at midnight anyways-"

Eijiro placed a hand over her mouth. "No reason, go put up your food before you drop it."

Oh, right.

Food took priority at the moment, she could wonder why Kirishima was going to Bakugou's room later.

Or she could forget it, that could work too.

_

The meal was immaculate , something Uraraka expected to get from a restaurant. Man, Momo sure was a great cook.

Her and her parents savored the meal that weekend, it was a nice change of pace compared to the rice and beans they usually ate.

And as a bonus, apparently it wasn't a one time thing.

At the end of that week deep into her kitchen raiding hours, yet another tub of food was on the counter. Wrapped in foil with a pink sticky note stuck to it, the meal sat their gloriously.

She really needed to thank Momo Yaoyorozu, she was a godsend. An angel from the heavens. Bless her soul.

The meal this time was an American style lasagna, how did she even know how to make that?

On instinct Ochako passed by the couch, happy to at least see Bakugou made it to bed this time. Even if he left a blanket and his workbook on the floor, she was in too good of a mood to stomp to his room and yell at him for leaving his stuff out.

Maybe she'd do that later.

Yet another weekend went by with full stomachs and happy hearts for the Uraraka family.

—

"Hey Momo, wait up!" Uraraka called, sprinting after her lord and savior. It was Friday eve, Urarakas new favorite day.

Yaoyorozu stopped by 1-As over large doorway. "Good morning Uraraka, how may I help you?"

Ochako slung her bag higher on her shoulders, narrowing her eyes. "What do you mean how can you help me? You help me enough as it is I can't thank you enough for what you've been doing!" She bent down into a low bow.

"P-please sit up!" Yaoyorozu stuttered, waving her hands around in a flustered manner. "I haven't done anything special."

Ochako straightened herself, frown settling on her lips. "What do you mean? The food you leave me every Thursday night to take home is wonderful!"

Momo moved out of the doorway to make room for the arriving students, but never broke confused eye contact with Ochako. "I'm sorry to say but I have no idea what you are talking about. Have a good day!" She scurried off to her seat.

What?

So... Momo wasn't the one leaving her food?

Ochako scanned the room, now occupied with her class.

If it wasn't her then who was it?

Midoriya maybe?

Iida?

No, none of them could cook.

Sato?

Possibly.

"Uraraka do I need to escort you to your seat or are you going to stand there forever?" Aizawa stared at her from his sleeping bag, unimpressed.

"Oh, sorry Aizawa sensei!"

She definitely needed to figure this out.

—-

Her investigation started with Hagakure.
"Hagakure can you cook?" Ochako asked bluntly during hero training. They were paired in twos, participating in a search and rescue mission to find the victims.

"I can heat up macaroni cups if that's what you mean" Hagakure's voice answered from behind her. "Why?"

Well, that marked her off of the suspect list.

"Well someone's been leaving food for me. It was mouth watering like American style lasagna. I didn't think anyone in class could make that. I figured it was Momo but she didn't know what I was talking about." Ochako huffed, still salty from the memory of being wrong.

"Well maybe it's someone like Iida or Sato trying to look after you? I don't think it's any of us girls because well... American style lasagna? That's out of our skill set." Toru suggested, then hip checked Uraraka, throwing her off balance. "But hey, if this mystery care giver happens to give you extra, you better give me some."

Ochako nodded "of course, once I catch them." She reached to hoist herself up the tree so she could get a view of the forest landscape. "Now, let's get to rescuing."

—

Suspect number two. Sato.

Uraraka decided to corner him on her walk back to the dorms. "Sato!" She called, pushing past Ojiro and Shoji to get to her target.

"Oh, hello Uraraka, good saving during training today." The taller student complemented.

"Awww tha-" Ochako shook her head. She would not allow herself to be swayed by charm. He was a suspect.

"Uhhh... are you okay?" Ojiro asked, a brow raised. She must have been thinking too hard.

"Can any of you cook?" She blurted, watching the threes faces twist in confusion.

"I can bake." Sato offered with a shrug.

"So it's you!" Ochako stood on her tippy toes to jam a finger to the others chest. Rikido put his hands up in a surrendering gesture. Ojiro and Shoji shared bewildered looks.

"Did I do something?" Sato asked after regaining his composure.

"Don't be stupid, you know what you did."

"Uhhh... what?"

Ochako lowered her finger, lip trembling. "Y-you can cook can't you?"

Sato shook his head vigorously "no, Baking and cooking are two Diffrent subjects. I'm learning to cook but I'm not very good at it yet."

Ochako let out a wail in frustration and crouched down, defeated. Sato's eyes softened as he lowered himself to sit on the curb next to her. Ojiro and Shoji followed suite.

"What's the problem? Maybe we can help?" Ojiro offered, Shoji nodding along.

"Well..." Uraraka explained her story, cheeks still burning from the shame of being wrong for the second time that day.

When she finished the other three blinked in surprise.

"I can see how you came to that conclusion, but it wasn't me." Sato said after a beat of silence.
Ochako nodded in understanding. She had jumped to conclusions yet again.

"But.... I may know who is leaving you the food."

Uraraka perked up from her depressive state.
"But before I tell you, I need you to keep an open mind about it..."

Uraraka nodded eagerly "got it."

"I think the only person in this class who has the capability to cook that well, is Bakugou."

It was so silence that you could hear the sound of a pin drop. Then Uraraka snorted. "Good one Sato." Her giggles died down when the others face only morphed into a grimace.
"Wait...your serious."

He nodded.

"So your telling me that the Bakugou Katsuki is cooking food for me? Why would he do that?"

"I'm not sure, but if you don't believe me then you can check for yourself. You said that he leaves it out at midnight every Thursday right? Well, that's today." Sato stood up from his crouching position, dusting off his pants.

"Yes" Shoji agreed "steak outs are the best option to capture your opponent."

And with that, Uraraka had her plan.

—

The moon hung high in the sky as Uraraka waited patiently for her target to arrive. It wasn't midnight yet, and she hadn't caught anyone so far from her blanket fort on the couch.

Now that the had the time to think about it, the possibility of Bakugou being the secret cooker made more sense.

After all, she did find him asleep on a couch the first time she got a meal. And if that wasn't incriminating evidence then Uraraka didn't know what was.

And back to him and Kirishima...

It was Four o'clock in the morning when Uraraka woke up.

All that time staking out had ultimately been for nothing, she ended up falling asleep to her own thoughts.

Ochako kicked the blankets off of her, tripping over them with a curse. Now she was going gave to wait all the way until next week to catch him.

No, she wouldn't go up to him and ask, that would be too easy.

She needed to catch him red handed.

Uraraka rubbed at her tired eyes as the dragged her feet to the kitchen where yet another glorious feast was prepared.

There were two pink sticky notes this time.

'Uraraka.'

'Don't fall asleep next time Pink cheeks, and maybe you'll catch me. Dumb ass.'

Ochako's lips parted to a wide grin. Maybe it wasn't all for nothing after all. She was going to catch him one night and punch him with as much kindness as she possibly could

Chapter Text

Kouda naturally loved the forest. From all of the little critters that scurried around, to the plants that tilted upwards fighting for the suns attention. The weather was never wrong, even if it was at a downpour. Kouda just appreciated the forest and all of its little glory's.

Well expect for one.

Bugs.

They were the only creatures that Kouda would ignore. They stared at him with those little beady eyes, looking as if they had no soul.

Kouda wouldn't be surprised if they didn't.

But even if he didn't like the insects and bugs, he was still more than willing to go adventuring into the undergrowth. Kouda missed his home in the mountains where his parents were. Where Larry the parrot was, and all of the animals that would previously visit him.

When Kouda came up to Mr.Aizawa with his homesickness, the teacher hummed in thought. It's not like he could just visit his home over the weekend, it was too far of a trip to make.

"How about I give you full access of the forest terrain you did your test on?" The teacher asked, gathering the papers he had to grade from his pedestal. Kouda's eyes widened in surprise, not expecting the much welcomed offer.

Aizawa raised an eyebrow "so is that a yes or no?.."

Kouda nodded, smiling brightly.

"Alright, now get out of here I have to grade these papers." Just as Kouda was at the doorway Aizawa sensei stopped him again. "Wait, you should know that another student also had access to the area, so don't be surprised when you see him okay?"

Kouda thanked him for the warning and slipped out of the room, wondering who loved nature just as much as he did. Wow, he really wanted to meet them if he hadn't already, maybe they also had a nature related quirk?

——

Bakugou Katsuki did not, in fact, have a nature quirk. Really, it was more of a quirk that could destroy nature. Though he never did, there was no point in ravaging plants and small critters. He'd rather explode Deku than a poor squirrel. He respected the terrain so it wouldn't make sense messing it up with his explosive hands.

Every weekend before UA, Bakugou would take an hour long train ride to the mountains hiking trails. When he was lucky, his parents would let him camp out at night.

Hiking and rock climbing was a good form of exercise, and doing it as religiously as Bakugou had, he was in peak form.

Though now that he was in UA, he had to adjust his training schedule. He managed to pull some strings so that he could visit the forest terrain and climb the mountain there, but he couldn't do it every day.

He opted to arial acrobatics and gymnastics to be able to efficiently move while using his quirk.

He was surprised to find that he liked the outcome. Sure he would love to be the most built, but he needed to be leaner for maximum use of his quirk. Bulking up was more fitting for Kirishima and his sturdy quirk.

Whatever, he would be the best anyways.

Bakugou kicked a nearby rock, hefting his hiking bag further up his shoulders. He got Aizawas permission to spend the weekend camping out on the forest terrain.

When he put in the request the teacher scrunched up his nose in distaste and waved him off. "Whatever, not my free time. Though I have no idea as to why you would want to spend the whole weekend there."

That damn Deku and Canadian flag asked where he was headed with all of his hiking gear, but he just flipped them off and walked out of the dorms. Like hell he was telling them where he was going, this was his alone time, and his only.

Though sometimes he would spare a text to Eijiro.

The game plan was to set up camp somewhere by the sheer rock face. He should be done setting up around mid day, then he would climb up the mountain to get in a good work out.

He missed being able to rock climb every weekend, but this would have to work for now.

It took a while to find a good clearing under the cliff side, but once he did he set his bag down, setting to work. Bakugou traveled light wherever he went, not seeing the need in packing more than what he absolutely needed.

As planned, it was around mid day when he completed his work. An orange sleeping bag rolled out with logs he had collected stacked by it. He held a lighter in the pocket of his black cargo pants.

It wouldn't rain, Bakugou checked the weather frequently. It was actually the perfect weather, cool enough to not sweat through his tank top, but warm enough to not be freezing.

Adequate camping weather.

Bakugou popped his knuckles, a feral grin on his face. "Right" he growled, slipping on his gloves.

The cliff side was an easy level, so Bakugou could free solo it. He liked the feeling of relying on himself, of no harness weighing him down. He liked to dig his fingers into the rocks, leaving his fingernails cracked and raw.

Bakugou wasn't crazy, he just loved rock climbing.

He lost himself into his thoughts as he scaled up the rocks with a self satisfied smirk. As he got closer and closer to the top, his arms and legs burned in a good way.

He had no choice but to go forward or fall and die, so he pushed himself, grin never leaving his face.

As he grew closer to the Finnish line, he heard... noises?

"G-get away!" A meek voice yelled.

Has he heard that voice before?

Katsuki hauled himself with shaky arms up to the top. He allowed himself to catch his breath before taking in the scene before him. When he saw it he almost wanted to throw himself down the very cliff he just climbed up.

Animal shit talker was the one who had cried out for help. He was cowering against a tree, covering his eyes.

What the fuck?

Katsuki hauled himself up, discarding the now empty water bottle to the side. "Flutter shy, what the fu-"

A bug.

Animal bitch was hiding from a caterpillar.

Bakugou put a hand on his hip, pinching the place between his eyebrows. When Kouda finally noticed him, he looked on with wide eyes.

Ugh. Fine.

Bakugou shuffled closer, his legs feeling like overcooked noodles. He bent down to gather up the insect in his hands. "You can calm the fuck down now, this shitty animal ain't gonna hurt you."

Kouda relaxed, putting his hand to his mouth and flicking it out. The hand sign for thank you. He must have been scared if he used his actual voice to call for help. Bakugou sighed, setting down the caterpillar on a nearby branch gently, signing 'your welcome' back.

Bakugou felt Kouda watching his curiously as he sat down against a nearby tree, pulling out a granola bar.

"Don't be a bitch, come sit down." Bakugou switched back to his normal voice, not seeing the point in signing when Kouda could hear him just fine.

The only reason he knew sign in the first place was because of his quirk.

Kouda quickly sat down, still on the lookout for bugs.

Bakugou snorted. "How ironic, your quirk is to communicate to animals yet you can't even stand up to a little bug."

The other only nodded, fiddling with the grass below him.

"Tch, you just gonna take my shit like that?" Bakugou grumbled, shoving the bar into his mouth.

Kouda shrugged.

"Fuckin' lame. Why're you here anyways?" Katsuki asked, running a hand though his spiky hair, shooting a glance to the side. Strangely, he wasn't salty that another student was here. Well, if it was one of those loud morons like Dunce face then maybe he'd be a bit pissed.

'Home sick' Kouda signed, a sad look on his face.

Yes, multiple classmates annoyed the shit out of Bakugou, there was always one little thing. For Kouda, it was how he never spoke for himself. ahut now, Bakugou understood. Well, at least the home sick part. Looks like they were both feeling it.

"Yeah."

Kouda pointed at Bakugou. 'You?'

"I'm fucking rock climbing." Bakugou answered. "At least you could spend your time training instead of being scared of insects."

Bakugou was trying to get a rise out of him, and it wasn't fucking working. Kouda just sat there, that same sorrowful look on his face.

'I am training.'

"Huh?" Then it clicked into place. Kouda was out in the woods training. Trying to get over his fears. A smirk grew on Bakugou's face. So he wasn't useless after all, and where there was a will there was a way. As long as Kouda was trying, then Bakugou wouldn't discredit him.

In fact, he was feeling extra helpful this weekend.

"Hey flutter shy, you got access to this place whenever you want right?"

Kouda nodded.

Bakugou stretched as he got back up from his sitting position, legs feeling significantly less flimsy. "Good. Come back to the same place tomorrow, same time."

Kouda's eyes widened in surprise, mouth agape.

Bakugou arched an eyebrow "is that a yes?"

Another nod.

No classmate of Bakugou's was going to be scared of something as harmless as a fucking bug.

"Good."

—-

Bakugou slept as well as he could that night, considering he was sleeping in a sleeping bag on the hard ground. But he didn't care, it reminded him of camping in the back woods of his house.

His fire was out when he woke up, a good thing. If he lit the whole forest terrain on fire Aizawa would kill Him. Of course, Bakugou was responsible so he wouldn't let that happen in the first place.

Bakugou climbed up the cliff face around the same time he did yesterday, this time quicker. He half expected to be welcomed to a clear space when he hauled himself up.

But Animal bitch was there, as promised.

Huh, so he might not be such a wimp afterall.

"Alright" Bakugou panted "you ready flutter shy?"

Kouda nodded, a determined look on his face. Bakugou chugged down his water bottle, shoving it back into the large pocket of his cargo pants because he wasn't a litterer dammit.

"I'm gonna grab a bug, and your not going to freak the fuck out this time and run. Can you do that?" He asked, already in search for an insect.

He didn't bother looking back to see the others reaction. He knew he had no way out now. Ah, there it is. Bakugou held a finger out to the praying mant is. "This little fucker ain't gonna hurt you okay?" Bakugou lowered the volume of his voice as he held out the insect to show Kouda, who gulped.

Shit, he was practically quivering in his boots.

At least he could look at the bug. That was progress compared to yesterday when he was closing his eyes.

"You see what it's doing? It's just sitting on my finger, nothing shitty about that. Look, bugs are just livin' their short miserable lives like us. How'd you feel if people were scared of you? If they were rude to you for no fuckin' reason?"

Kouda looked taken back by Bakugou's words as he continued. "And it's your job" Katsuki poked a finger to Koudas chest. "To make sure they're okay. Aren't you like the protector of nature and all that bull shit? Well, I hate to fucking break it to you, but insects are a part of nature."

Kouda was now slack jawed, not paying attention to his greatest fear in Bakugou's hands, but instead on his words. He was right, and he's been neglecting those poor creatures this whole time. He was supposed to be their voice, their companion.

He sniffled, wiping away the tears from his eyes. "I-I'm sorry" he spoke, his voice wobbly.

Bakugou smiled, but this time it wasn't the cocky one he usually sported. It was more soft. "Don't tell that to me" he lifted his palm up "tell him."

Kouda stared at the insect for a solid minute, studying it of any dangers. Bakugou was being surprisingly patient. Slowly, he held his hand out. The praying mantis transferred from Bakugou's calloused hand to his own sweaty one.

He didn't bite him, in fact, his legs tickled.

Bakugou watched closely as Kouda held the bug a big higher, eyes filled with compassion. "I-I'm sorry little one, I have neglected you when I shouldn't have, will you ever forgive me?"

The green insect tilted its head, but based on the smile that broke out on Kouda's face, Bakugou could guess that it was a good response. He set the bug down, wiping off his hands on his pants. 'Thank you' he signed.

Bakugou raised an eyebrow. "Don't thank me just yet, flutter shy, Your going to apologize to every damn insect in this shitty forest!"

Kouda was glad that he now knew Bakugou Katsuki. Not as the explosive classmate who called him rude names, but as the one who cared about others. Even if he didn't show it.

Chapter Text

There were some that hated winter, and some that liked it. Tsuyu Asui fit in the first category, becoming next to useless during the cold weather. She would like winter if it didn't bother his quirk so much. Her limbs grew heavy and her movements stalled. She was compelled to just sleep the winter away.

There were other students in the class who disliked winter just as much as she did. They fit in the 'winter hate club' and tended to stay inside while everyone else had snowball fights.

Bakugou was a notable member, though he never talked and only appeared in the commons when he absolutely needed to.

Now, winter was in full swing. It was colder this year than it had been any other year, to their bad luck. Some students were ecstatic about it, such as Uraraka and Kirishima.

They were the sunshine's of the class, Kirishima managing to drag even Bakugou wherever he wanted. Though, Asui had a suspicion that there was another reason for that.

Her suspicions were proved correct when Bakugou showed up to school that day wearing one of Kirishima's hoodies.

She didn't blame him though, today her limbs felt extra heavy. Uraraka had to slow down her pace just so she could walk Asui to school. She usually made sure to walk on Todoroki's warm side, but him and Midoriya had left before them.

Asui shivered as she took her seat. She could tell this winter wouldn't treat her well.

___

"Morning Kat!" Kirishima greeted as he stepped out of his dorm, slipping his hand into Bakugou's.

"You're fucking late" Bakugou grumbled. It was too early and much too cold to be yelling.

"I know, sorry" Kirishima rubbed the back of his head sheepishly as they entered the elevator. "I was up all night watching that crimson riot documentary."

Bakugou rolled his eyes, of course he was.

"Did you sleep okay?" Kirishima asked, eyeing him knowingly.

Bakugou averted eye contact, but there was no use in lying. "Woke up a few times, S' whatever."

Eijiro didn't watch him with sympathy, and for that Katsuki was thankful. Instead, he squeezed his hand, pulling him out of the elevator. "It's okay, well get through it. C'mon! It's snowing today!"

Wonderful.

In the most sarcastic way possible.

Bakugou winced against the cold weather, scooting closer to Kirishimas side to gain heat. Eijiro didn't seem to mind, only smiling fondly. "Wow you really hate the cold huh?"

Bakugou didn't bother replying, his teeth were clattering too much.

They passed Asui and Uraraka, who walked at a snails pace. Kirishima frowned, tilting his head back to look at them. "What's up with Tsu? Is she okay?"

It took a long moment for the name to click in Bakugou's head. "Frog face?"

"Don't be rude" Kirishima chastised "but yeah. She's been really slow during training."

Another cold breeze blew past, Bakugou pulled his earmuffs closer. He knew Kirishima was looking at him, but he didn't care. "Think about her quirk, hair for brains."

It took Kirishima a second to pick it up. "Ooh! She's like you! She gets cold super easily doesn't she?"

Bakugou would have face palmed if he wasn't about to become a fucking popsickle. "Hibernation."

Kirishima shrugged "close enough!"

——

Frog faces slow movement didn't effect Bakugou personally until training.

It was a rescue hostage scenario where one person played the hostage, held somewhere in ground beta. The rescuers had to search for them before the timer ran out.

Of course Bakugou had to play the fucking hostage.

He couldn't do shit, just sit inside some musty ass lair bound to a chair, freezing his ass off. This was officially his least favorite training exercise. He had to push back the paranoid panic every time he heard the smallest noise. No, he was fucking fine. He was in UA, not that hellhole.

They could have at least used rope to tie him down. Of course those fuckwads had to be extra and use metal handcuffs.

If he had that pink bitch as a partner she could have just melted through them. If he had Eijiro he could just cut through them. Unfortunately life never gave him what he fucking wanted.

So he waited.

And waited.

And fucking waited.

Bakugou was preparing to bite through the handcuffs himself by the time she finally got there.

"Bakugou-kero?" She called, voice weak. When she turned the corner the first thing he noticed were her half lidded eyes and slow movements.

Holy fuck, why did he have to be partnered with the fucking amphibian.

"Oi, frog face!" Bakugou tried to yell, but it came out muffled. Fuck, he forgot about the gag. He couldn't even stomp his feet to get her attention, them being tied to the legs of his chair.

Fuck that.

Bakugou pooped off a small explosion.

She finally turned her head in his direction. About time. "There you are" she stated calmly. Lazy ass.

As soon as the gag around Bakugou's mouth was untied, he spat on the floor, getting the bad taste out of his mouth. "Get me out frogger."

Asui looked at him as if she was pondering what ice cream flavor to pick out. "I can't do that- Kero."

"Ex-fucking-cuse me?"

"I'm too cold to do anything useful."

Bakugou shivered. She was the cold one? At least she could move around. And she had that long ass hair. "What are you saying frog face?"

"I am saying that we should throw the towel. The other groups are already done."

"I wonder why." Bakugou Spat. "And there's no 'we' in this. I am not about to fucking quit, I'll just get out of here myself."

Asui watched blankly as Bakugou kicked the legs of the chair with the back of his calf, puffs of breath crystalizing in the air. After a minute of struggling Bakugou coughed, lungs feeling like liquid nitrogen had entered them. "You can't produce acid or some shit?"

They both knew the answer to that.

Of course it was too fucking cold.

"All of the other teammates got carried back if they couldn't break through the chair." Asui explained slowly. "But my strength right now won't allow me to do that."

"Then push past it." Bakugou was fucking cold and crabby. "Isn't this what this schools about? You gotta get over whatever hibernation shit your going through if your going to be a good fucking hero."

Asui looked down in shame, he was right. Yet, the energy was sapped from her bones, leaving her to feel like a limp rag doll against the cold winter wind. "I'm sorry Bakugou-Kun."

"No dont-"

It was too late, she had already pressed the red button on the communication device. The button Bakugou had never dared to press. The withdrawal button.

A blinding rage filled Bakugou as his other teammate yielded against his will. This was fucking outrageous. The cuffs on his hands seemed to dig in as he panicked, he audibly grinded his teeth.

The chains, the chair, the unforgiving environment. He was back at the league. No one would let him out, he was trapped and alone.

No, he wouldn't lose.

But he couldn't get out, dammit.

He didn't realize how far into the panic attack he was until a hand was placed on his shoulder. He jerked back to avoid the touch, blindly lashing out on the hand.

That hand.... wasn't the leagues though.

It didn't look like any of theirs, held in front of his face in a calming manner as if to say 'I mean no harm.'

Then he was back, shivering uncontrollably from a mixture of the cold and the panic attack. His hands were untied and he was sat against a wall. Aizawa sat in front of him, looking on with hidden worry. Was he saying something? "Breathe Bakugou."

And he did.

His face was wet?

Why?...

Oh. He was crying.

Bakugou viscously wiped the tears from his raw face. Dammit, he couldn't cry in front of these people, he wasn't as weak as that damn frog face. "Are you okay now?" Aizawa asked. Bakugou simply whacked his hand away, pulling himself into a standing position. It was a wonder his legs were holding up.

"I- I can't believe you- you fucking did that." Bakugou hissed, cursing himself for stuttering.

Aizawa simply steered him away from Frog face, who looked even more guilty than before. As they walked back to the meeting ground where all of the other dipshits were, Bakugou hung his head in shame.

Aizawa still kept a hand on his shoulder, waiting for his legs to give out from underneath him. Bakugou felt the questioning glances, but he let himself be lead by his teacher to... Kirishima.

Thank fuck.

"Hey Kat" the read head mummers softly, pulling him closer to his chest. The biting cold was blocked by the jacket being draped along his shoulders.

"Take.. him.... dorms... dismissed" he faintly heard Aizawa say, but was too exhausted from the episode to properly pay attention.

"My... fault" Frogger said to the group. Bakugou didn't care anymore.

He just let Kirishima take him back to the dorms.

——-

“So...” Kirishima started, slipping off the shirt of his school uniform to replace with a red tank. “You gonna tell me what happened?”

Bakugou only pulled the blanket closer to himself, burying his head into a pillow. The embarrassing events played back into his mind, his anger had melted into a heavy annoyance.

“No.”

Eijiro gave him such a soft look that pre-relationship Katsuki would gave gagged. “Kat, c’mon it’s okay, your not with them anymore, it’s just me here.” The red head crawled onto the bed next to him to sit.

Bakugou took a steadying breath, scooting around to get a better view of his boyfriend. “I was with the league again...”

Kirishima remained quiet as Katsuki explained the failed training exercise.

By the time he was finished Kirishima had laid down next to him, hand stroking through Katsuki’s hair. “That wasn’t very good of Tsu” he agreed. “I don’t think it was the right thing to do, throwing in the flag when you didn’t want to. But if it makes you feel better, I don’t think Aizawa sensei will count it against you. Especially if the chains sent you into a panic.”

Katsuki nodded, too tired to reply.

Eijiro snorted “C’mere.” He held his arms out, allowing Bakugou to place his head against his chest. His heartbeat calmed him down and Kirishima knew that.

“And hey, I know your pissed at Tsu right now, but maybe she just needs a bit of motivation.”

“Fuck no.”

“Just a little push?”

“Do it yourself.”

“A little Bakugou motivation?”

“I’ll fucking think about it, now stop talking, your my pillow, and last I checked pillows couldn't speak.”

Kirishima chuckled “fine fine.”

——

The training didn’t end up counting against him, thank fucking god. His perfect record was not dirtied.

But that frog bitch had been avoiding him.

If she was going to be fucking weak like that and walk away from every situation then Katsuki had nothing to say to her.

He also didn’t want one of his classmates to simply be weak. If he was going to train against these fucking people then he was going to need some real competition, and going up against a frozen ass amphibian wasn’t going to do Jack shit.

He needed to just fucking think.

—-

The idea came to his head on one of his weekend snowboarding trips. Sure he hated the snow, but that didn’t mean he was gonna be a wussy and skip out on exercise.

Fuck that.

His idea would probably make training faster with frog bitch.

His parents new clothing line was coming out. (When they asked him if he wanted to model for this line, he said fuck no. It was too cold.) Despite popular belief Bakugou actually listened to his parents when he wanted to, and they taught him a shit ton in clothe design.

He called up Eijiro and told him his idea.

“That’s wonderful Katsuki! I knew you wouldn’t let her slump last!”

Bakugou rolled his eyes fondly “yeah yeah, I gotta get to fucking work on it.”

“Alright bye babe.”

“Whatever, bye.”

——

Tsuyu didn’t know how to approach Bakugou. He was a ball of anger and she was the cause of its distress. She wasn’t planning on avoiding him for any longer, she knew she needed to apologize. But how?

Uraraka and Midoriya were sympathetic of the situation. Iida and Todoroki just told her to go up to him.

That’s a no.

Though they were pretty disappointed in her actions at first, they quickly forgave her. She just needed to forgive herself. But in the end, it looked like she didn’t even need to approach the violate student.

There was a box in front of her door. It wasn’t neatly decorated or anything, just a tan shoe box with neat Kanji written across it.

‘To: Frog face.”

Had Bakugou sent her... a gift?

He was the only one who called her that. She would appreciate a less insulting nickname, but small victories.

She carefully picked up the box and made her way to Midoriya’s room. She wasn’t taking the chance opening the box alone in case it was a snake. Or better yet, a gift. She couldn’t be the only witness either way.

After she knocked Midoriya gave her a questioning look before opening his door wider as an invitation. “Tsu? Why are you here it’s almost curfew?”

“Ribbit. Bakugou left this package for me at my door.” She answered, handing off the shoe box to the other, who studied it closely.

“Yep, that’s Kacchans handwriting” he mummered, shaking the box lightly. “But why’d you bring it to me?”

“I didn’t want to open it alone- Kero.”

Midoriyas green eyes darkened slightly. “He may be violate but he wouldn’t do such a thing as trap a gift. Kacchans not like that. He’s more of an upfront person so if he had an issue he would face it head on.”

Tsuyu looked down at the box, he was right. She had been jumping to conclusions again.

“But let’s see what’s inside!” Midoriya switched his tone back to a chipper one, reaching to lift the lid off of the shoe box.

What was revealed was...

Material?

Izuku gawked as he lifted the green jacket out of the box. It had a design that matched Her hero outfit. “The material, feel it!”

Tsuyu carefully took the jacket from Izuku, running her fingers along the fabric. It was wonderful, the best thing she had ever felt. It was warm and cozy, yet thin and expandable to get around easier.

A note fell out of the jacket. Midoriya picked it up to read it. “Dear... Frog face? You’ve been slow as... I’m not gonna say that word. You’ve been slow during training, so do better and wear this?” He scanned the rest of the note. “Oh! It’s got built in heaters!”

Tsuyu croaked nervously. “Where would he get something like this? Wouldn’t it be expensive?”

Midoriya shook his head, a huge smile on his face. “You can’t get something like this anywhere. He made it himself!”

Asui’s soul left her body.

“Excuse me?”

“Oh yeah! Kacchan parents are popular designers. They taught him everything they know, if Kacchan didn’t want to be a hero he could easily be a designer.” Izuku also knew that he modeled, but that was information for another time.

Tsuyu nodded, still in shock. She carefully packed away the jacket back into the box.

Maybe Bakugou wasn’t as bad as she thought he was. After all, she was the one who jumped to conclusions and let him down in the first place. She nodded to Midoriya. “Thank you-Kero.”She had a lot of apologizing and thanking to do.

Chapter Text

Mineta was a pervert. Really, he already accepted his fate. His uncontrollable lust would turn his classmates on him and he would be kicked into horny jail for a couple of hours. (Sero's tape was really hard to get out of.)

At first he thought it was a normal teenage thing to just want to touch some girls, but apparently it wasn't. Unless his classmates hid it really well from him.

But he had a horny radar that him and his perv kins attained. The only other remotely close classmate was Kaminari. Mineta was used to waking up everyday and thinking about girls, walking to school and thinking about girls. Really. He couldn't help that he was a teenage boy.

But now... there was something amiss.

It was a strange, astronomical, feeling that Mineta has never felt before.

Lately he could only think about one person and one person only. Door from the support department. Well her name wasn't actually door, but they called her that because she was shaped like one.

When he thinks about Momo's luscious legs, she popped into his head, the girl with the least assets in the whole school.

His whole world was falling apart.

When someone smiled at him he was reminded of that smile of hers. When he commented on her flatter than normal chest, she just puffed out a breathy laugh with a raised eyebrow. When someone was pulling their hair back, the only thought that filled his mind was her shorter than average hair and how it would be impossible to pull it back.

What was this feeling?

Why was he so obsessed with someone he was supposed to be bullying?

He really needed to figure this out, and soon, before it consumed his whole life and his taste was transformed into flat asses and flat chest.

That couldn't happen.

—-

Like most teenage boys do, Mineta went to a good friend with his new issue. Kaminari. Was he smart? No. But was he one of his only close friends? Yes.

Beggars couldn't be choosers.

"Kaminari" Mineta urgently pulled the others sleeve when school was let out. "I have an issue" his lisp was in full swing.

"Yeah man? What's up?" The blonde asked with a raised eyebrow. He waved to Kirishima on his way out of the door, saying he would catch up with him later.

"Girl problems."

Denki snorted "don't you always have girl problems?"

"Yeth. But this one is bad, unthinkable."

Kaminari frowned "okay dude, spill. From the beginning."

And spill Mineta did. By the end of his explanation they had arrived at the dorms, Kaminari snickering at his expense.

"C'mon dude!" He wined "this is an issue!"

"It's not that bad bro, you just got a crush." Kaminari shrugged, opening the door to the dormitory.

"A crush?! On flatty-"

Kaminari's disapproving look made him shut his mouth. "Not cool man, don't disrespect your crush like that."

"Sup Kami!" Mina called from the kitchen where she was with Sero and the rest of their squad. "C'mon, Baku is making food for us!"

Denki's eyes widened comically, "Food?! Hell yeah!" He pumped his fist in the air before looking back at Mineta. "Look dude, you can't control who you do and don't like so don't sweat it too much."

Kaminari left Mineta standing at the doorway with absolutely no good advice on his situation. "Watch me, I'll dislike her so fast I'll forget who she is."

——

It didn't work.

She just wouldn't leave his mind. He tried hypnosis to erase her from his memory, he attempted letting Kaminari zap him during training to fry his brain. He even tried asking that brain control kid transferring to their class, but he refused to talk to him.

He was out of options.

Of course there was one other option in mind, but it was spotty. He ran a huge risk of getting blown up, but when he thought hard on it, what other choice did he have?

Bakugou bullied his own classmates so he wouldn't judge Mineta for bullying his own crush. Also... Bakugou liked guys. It was no secret, him and Kirishima had been dating for a while.

Of course Mineta had no idea why Bakugou would pass up plump chest and thick thighs for rock hard chest and muscle. It made his nose scrunch up at the thought of it. But he stayed out of their little business, he didn't want to be blown up any time soon.

But if Bakugou liked flat asses and happened to be the only one in their class who had a stable relationship, then it looked like he would have to ask. He would go to Kirishima but he didn't trust the red head not to blab his issues to Kaminari, who I'm turn would smirk in victory and say "I told you so."

Mineta shivered at the thought, ugh.

Reluctantly, he knocked on the door in front of him. All of the courage left him when the explosive blonde jerked open his door harshly, a scowl on his lips. He looked both ways with eyebrows furrowed in confusion before looking down to spot Mineta. "Grape fuck."

"O-oh hi Bakugou."

The others scowl only grew more prominent. "Get on with it, what the fuck d'yah want?"

"Can I talk to you?"

Bakugou rolled his eyes before widening the door. "Whatever, just make it quick I have shit to do."

Mineta stepped into the neat room, surprised he was even given the time of day. Huh, Maybe Bakugou was changing for the best, he didn't believe the rumor when he heard it from beautiful dear Asui.

Bakugou plopped down on his chair, raising his feet up to his pristine wooden desk. Mineta stood there, feeling like a court jester speaking to a king.

“Get the hell on with it.” Bakugou raised an expecting eyebrow.

Mineta scrambled to tell him the unfortunate story of his crush, Bakugou showed no reaction, only holding the same passive face. The question that came out of his mouth when he finished the story was not one Mineta had expected.

"Do you even know her fucking name?"

"Uhhh... she’s from the support course..?”

Bakugou snorted "figured."

"Like your one to talk! You probably don't even remember your own boyfriends name?" Mineta tried to come off as feisty but only appeared to look like an upset child.

Bakugou leaned in, sadistic amusement never leaving those red eyes of his. "Do you want me to fucking help you or not."

That shut him up.

“Look grape fuck, I have no fuckin’ idea as to why you would come to me with your puny relationship issues and it’s not my problem.”

Mineta balled his fist and stomped in frustration “you could have told me to leave earlier then!”

The blonde took a moment to consider something, then a smirk grew on his face. A smirk Mineta didn’t like at all. “Just stop being a wimp and ask 'em out, it’ll solve your shitty issues.”

...Huh?

What was with the change in attitude?

Mineta sweat nervously, nodding rapidly. Yeah, he could do that. “Uhh, t-thanks Bakugou.”

Katsuki flicked his wrist towards the door. “Out, I’ve heard enough now.”

Mineta didn’t need to be told twice, he bolted out of there.

—-

Kirishima dragged his blanket down the hallway to Bakugou’s room, reaching out to open the door. But before he could it burst open, a terrified looking Mineta speed walked away from them.

He didn’t even seem to notice Kirishima looking on with confusion. He turned around to face Katsuki expectantly, who only shrugged.

“...Do I even wanna know?”

Bakugou hummed, lifting off of his Rollie chair. “He was just having fucking perv issues, like always.”

Kirishima closed the door behind him “so why’d he come to you?”

“C’mere” Bakugou huffed, a scowl on his face even when Kirishima went to wrap him in his blanket big enough for two.

“Idiot had a fuckin’ crush or some shit on a support extra.” Bakugou scoffed, dropping to the bed and bringing Kirishima with him.

“Huh, and you helped him?” Bakugou grinned. Kirishima knew that grin, it was his no good grin. “What’re you up to?”

“Nothing relevant. Now be fucking quiet I’m tired. At least he'll stay away from the other extras for a while.”

Kirishima smiled against Bakugou’s spiked hair. Of course he was plotting something, he always was. But it was a way to benefit the girls of their class. So Kirishima would allow Bakugou to go through with his mostly devious plan just this once.

——

Mineta was finally going to do it. He was going to confront those feelings of loving an ugly girl, and he was ready to accept them. Really... it wasn’t too bad, It could be worse. Maybe. He just knew he wouldn’t be going to Kaminari anymore for relationship advice, he was just as bad as himself.

Though maybe Mineta could score a few more hot chicks than him, Kaminari just didn’t have the same swag.

Mineta usually saw this girl on his route to class. It wasn’t hard to spot her amongst the school uniforms, since support students tended to wear the same fitness uniforms.

At first it just started as him making fun of her but unfortunately it turned into this mess. He was a ladies man, so there was no way this girl would reject him.

He saw the way this girl laughed every time he poked fun at her, it was a genuine laugh. Her small eyes crinkled and everything. Normally Mineta would appreciate a little mascara or eyeliner but this girl wore no such thing. He guessed her eyes were too beady for eyeliner.

Whatever.

He could get past that if he really tried.

He broke off from his normal walking route to UA, instead walking to the support student department. Every student had to come at least once a month to get costume adjustments.

When he arrived at the workshop, it was nearly empty. For some reason that girl seemed to always start early on her work. Then his eyes fell upon Bakugou, who was folding his hero costume up into the numbered suitcase.

“That should fix your problem Bakugou!” She concluded, Bakugou alredy on his way out the door, throwing a nod her way.

“Oh, hey Mineta!” Her freckles crinkled when she smiled. “Here to make fun of my ‘flat chest’ again” she snorted, shaking her head humorously.

Why didn’t his bullying effect her?

It’s probably for the best that it didn’t.

“No” he answered, walking up closer to her. She was relatively tall for a girl, around Momo’s height. Oh how he wished his feelings were for her instead of this girl. Maybe he bullied her to the point where he gained a puny crush.

Ugh.

He could just pretend like he didn’t care. But he had to go through with this, he wasn’t a little bitch and he had to prove it to Bakugou and whoever else questioned him.

“So, you need a costume adjustment grape boy?”

“Uhh... no.”

She quirked an eyebrow, looking up at him from where she was wiping down her workshop table.

“I actually have a question.”

She stopped what she was doing to look at him expectantly. Mineta gulped, he knew he was a ladies man and that he could score any girl he wanted with just a wink, but he had never actually asked someone out.

“Well? Spill.”

“Iwaswonderingifyouwouldwanttogooutwithme?” He said in one breath, though it didn’t look like he would have to repeat himself, judging by her reaction.

Her eyebrows shot up to her hairline, eyes widening like saucers.

Mineta found his confidence again. “Look, I know it may be overwhelming, a hot dude asking a girl like you out.”

“...Mineta...”

“But just hear me out.”

“Mineta?”

“I can’t stop thinking about you, I think I gained a crush from bullying you.”

“Mineta!” She banged a wrench against the work bench to catch his attention. He jumped slightly, mouth clamping shut.

“Look don’t take this the wrong way but... it’s a no for me.”

“...What?”

Her eyes hardened “I'm a boy.”

“O-oh...” he trailed off. He was too embarrassed to say much else. “I’m gonna... I’m just gonna go now.”

A boy?

He had- he had just asked a boy out? He had a crush on a- a boy?!

Now all of her- his, joking reactions made sense. If someone came up to Mineta and said he had a flat chest he would laugh along too.

And Bakugou....

That evil vile no good...

He finally got it. He learned his stupid lesson. He wouldn’t judge people by what they looked like anymore. He would stop sexualizing girls just for the fact that he didn’t want to mistake them for a boy.

Never again.

—-

The girls were having a girls night in the commons after school that day, They dragged Bakugou along to cook for them, so naturally Kirishima was with him in the kitchen.

“Did you notice Mineta’s behavior today?” Uraraka asked from where she was painting Mina’s nails. Bubblegum pink, how she always liked them.

“Oh yeah, now that i think about it he was totally chill!” She replied, the others nodding in agreement.

“As long as he stops bothering us- ribbit.”

“Who knows” Jiro added “maybe now that he’s less of a creep he may actually have a chance with girls now. Just not with us.”

The group erupted into laughter, which was only interrupted by Mineta’s entrance.

“Oh, speak of the devil” Hagakure giggled.

But they all stopped dead in their tracks when they got a closer look at the boys face. He looked thoroughly spooked, like he had all day.

They slowly got up from the couches to see if he was okay.

He held a hand up to keep the girls away, abnormal behavior for him. “S-stop” his wild eyes darted across the commons and it’s residents. “I- I can’t look at any of you the same!”

“Mineta?” Momo asked.

“Stop it, your creeping us out- ribbit.”

“N-no, get away! Any of you could be a- a- a boy!” He wailed, pushing past the growing crowd to make his escape.

The girls all looked to each other in confusion.

In the kitchen, Bakugou held a small smirk of victory as he stirred the soup. “What did you do to him?” Kirishima asked, head rested on the others shoulder with his arms wrapped around Bakugou’s waist.

“It’s a long fucking story, now get off, the foods finished.” He elbowed Kirishima off of him, earning a whine.

Hopefully that grape shit learned his lesson.

Chapter Text

Ojiro wasn't one of the top students in class and he knew that. He didn’t have the brains like Iida and Yaoyarozu or the cool quirks that Bakugou and Todoroki owned. He wasn’t flashy like Aoyama or Bound to be a fan favorite like Kirishima.

He was just plain.

His martial arts skills weren’t important in the face of training exercises. U.A. was starting to make him realize that maybe being a hero wasn’t the correct career path for him.

But it was too late to drop out now. He would have to work extra hard to just be seen, so he would. He wasn’t one to dye his hair a crazy color, that was too out of his comfort zone. Though, he really needed a way to break through that comfort zone. Once he did, he knew he wouldn’t be overlooked like always.

Unfortunately for him, he didn’t know how to change.

“Something on your mind?” Shoji asked from beside him. Shoji was a person of little words, but everyone in class knew that he conveyed his motivation through actions.

Could Ojiro be like that?

When one of Shoji’s many elbows bumped his shoulder he was bought back to reality. “Oh, I’m okay, thank you for asking.”

He felt his quizzical look even if Shoji's mask covered it up. Ojiro shivered, what he would do for a mask right now to cover his numb nose. The winter had yet to end. He had underestimated the frost and went out wearing his normal school uniform.

Luckily for Ojiro, they finally arrived at the school. The bell rang, saving him from any further questioning Shoji was going to dish out.

Before they entered the class to their half asleep classmates two hands landed on his shoulders. He turned back offering a small smile to his tall friend, who would no doubt do much more in life than he ever would. “I’m okay, I promise.”

The others hands retreated reluctantly “as long as you are sure.”

And no, he wasn’t sure.

—-

Ojiro knew he wasn’t acting like himself, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. It’s not that anyone noticed anyways, he was usually always quiet. Bland.

Though Shoji and Kouda seemed to be keeping a close eye on him. He was at least thankful for that.

“Dude” an arm slung itself around his shoulder when they were changing in the locker rooms. “What’s the issue?” Kaminari asked, a small frown on his face.

Kaminari was loud and boisterous, maybe Ojiro could be like him? No, that wouldn’t be right.

“What do you mean?”

Kaminari quirked an eyebrow, nodding to Ojiros tail, which drooped. It was safe to say it remained like that the rest of the day.

His slump went on for another week until a concerned Shoji once again questioned him. It was the same, ‘yes I’m fine’ ‘no it’s okay.’

Ojiro had even been lagging on his martial arts training, his master seemed just as concerned as Shoji, though his tough demeanor didn’t allow him to show it.

Ojiro tried to act normal, really he did, but it was hard when he didn’t even have the motivation to do his schoolwork. He could even feel Aizawa eyeing him every time he exited the room, as if mentally suggesting he actually do his work. And he would, eventually.

Then came training. He was perfectly fine when they did individual contest. Last weeks obstacle course, no matter how physically straining, was better than anything else. He didn’t need to talk to anyone, he just went at his own pace.

Though it didn’t look like he’d be as lucky this week. Partner training. It wasn’t that he didn’t get along with the others, most were nice. But he didn’t want to drag any of them down. How bad would it be to be on a team with him? The only thing he could contribute was hand to hand combat.

“Tail” a voice grunted from behind him “your with me.”

Ojiro jumped in surprise at the gruff voice, turning around to face a frowning Bakugou. He sweat dropped. Ojiro had never worked with the violate blonde before, only hearing horror stories about his grueling training from the others.

Last training session had ended in a guilt ridden Asui and a very upset Bakugou. Though Asui never told them what exactly happened. May be best to stay out of his business.

Bakugou stared at him expectantly.

Oh, right. Training.

“Yeah, let’s go.”

Training went about as well as Ojiro suspected it would. It was mostly his fault.

“What the fuck tail!” Bakugou shouted, and Ojiro could practically see the steam puffing from his nostrils.

Before Ojiro could get a word in to defend himself the other aimed a grenade gauntlet at him. “I’m not going to get any better if I’m stuck fighting weaklings!”

Ojiro escaped the blast by the hairs on his tail.

He spent training that day avoiding more explosions, staying on defense instead of attempting to switch to offense.

---

A bang by his head made Ojiro jump and twist around. The locker room was vacant now, well, except for Bakugou who stood infront of him. Fist planted onto the locker next to him, smoke wafting from his clenched fingers. Ojiro must have been zoned out for a while now.

“Bakugou.” Ojiro greeted, turning around to slip his school shirt on.

“Tail.” He growled. “What the fuck is wrong with you.”

Ojiro shrugged, starting on buttoning his shirt up. “I don’t know what you mean.” He repeated for possible the fifth time that day.

Bakugou scoffed, arms sliding down to cross over his chest. It looked like even Bakugou managed to get dressed before him, even with all of that gear. “The fuck you don’t.”

Ojiro chose not to respond.

“Tails you’ve been next to useless for a while now. I’ve been waiting to fucking wipe the floors with you for a long ass time now, and when I finally get the chance you wimp out?”

Ojiro looked up, surprised. He knew his jaw fell open like a fish out of water, but anyone’s mouth would be open if they heard the top student in class wanted to fight you.

Bakugou grit his teeth in frustration, he seemed to be looking for the right words. That’s a first, if Ojiro knew one thing about Bakugou Katsuki, it was that he always said what was on his mind.

“Tails your one of the most skilled fucking fighters in this class, so act like it.” Bakugou finished, eyes burning a hole into his scull.

Now Ojiro was even more in shock. Most skilled? He didn’t know about that. And why would it even matter if all of the others had awesome quirks? He wouldn’t even be able to get close to them.

“So that’s what your fucking worried about? Shitty ass quirks?”

Ojiro flinched. Had he said that out loud?

Bakugou was practically trembling now. “I’ll show you, I’ll fucking show you and you’ll see.” He spat on his way out of the locker room. “Quirks aren’t just your fucking tools They’re a part of you. Don’t talk down on them like that. Hold that shit with respect.”

Ojiro gulped, watching Bakugou’s back as he exited the locker room, left thinking of the others parting message.

Then the bell rung.

“Shit.”

—

Kirishima heard the angry stomps before he even saw Bakugou round the corner. And wow... it looked like something pissed him off even more than normal today.

“Kat?” Kirishima greeted once the blonde spotted him, his shoulders slouching only slightly. “What’s up?”

Bakugou scowled, palms crackling. “I need you to fight me.”

Kirishima nodded in silent agreement, changing his direction to walk in the opposite direction towards the gym. If Bakugou was asking to fight him then that meant he wasn’t getting enough physical activity during the day. He needed to burn it off a lot more than others due to the nature of his quirk. He had been coming to him asking for fights a lot more lately.

The school hallways were huge, Kirishima still even got lost in them. That’s why Bakugou was the one to lead them to the gym. Bakugou got special permission to use it during off school hours from Aizawa.

Halfway through the fight Kirishima realized that there was something still on his boyfriends mind. He was fighting a lot more fierce than normal. Blast igniting constantly from his palms and his movements a flurry of punches and kicks. It was a deadly dance.

Katsuki, Eijiro discovered, was incredible at versatile fighting and hand to hand combat. He combined his acrobatic and areal skills with his quick and stunning strength to create his own style. It didn’t go with traditional fighting rules but it’s not like the villains were going to follow rules. Or at least, that was Bakugo's reasoning.

By the time their water break rolled around they were both panting in a satisfied exhaustion. There was so much smoke in the air that he was surprised the sprinklers hadn’t activated or the alarms triggered.

Kirishima loved the kind of blissful tiredness that he experienced when fighting all out. He didn’t get it often, only when facing Katsuki.

“So” Kirishima said, voice breathy. “You wanna tell me what else is on your mind?”

Bakugou took a long swig of water, wiping his nitroglycerin spiked sweat with a rag, throwing it in a nearby biohazard can. (Something Aizawa requested to be put in every class for Bakugou.) “ ‘s just fucking training.”

Kirishima sat down next to Bakugou on the sidelines, grabbing another rag for him. “Hmm.”

“Yeah. The extras don’t try fucking hard enough or they’re scared to fight me. I need to get this shitty sweat out of my system so I need someone fucking good to go against, someone who trys.” He clenched his jaw, explosions muffled by closed fist.

Kirishima nodded “maybe we can ask Aizawa sensei to partner you with me for training exercises.”

“I don’t need fucking handi-cap.” Katsuki snapped.

“Kat, it’s not.” Kirishima placed a hand over his boyfriends. “Calm down.”

Katsuki breathed in shakily, nodding. “I was looking forward to fighting tail today, but apparently he fucking lost his spark.”

“I can see how that can be disappointing.”

“I want to fight him at his fullest when he’s trying, not half assing it.”

Kirishima stood up from the bench offering a hand to Katsuki. “Then help him get it back. Do you know how to do it?”

Bakugou was sharp, of course he knew what he was going to do. He always did. Ever since day one, Kirishima knew Bakugou was set on becoming the number 1 hero. He wouldn’t let a little hindrance like crappy training partners bring him down.

—-

Every Friday was Diffrent for the hero course. Meaning that students from both classes came together to convince the teachers on what training exercises they should do.

Bakugou was going to win.

Like always they gathered around Aizawa and Vlad king, all clad in hero outfits. “You know how this goes, the first person with a good idea that we approve of will get the ok from us.” Aizawa droned, Vlad King nodding beside him.

Many hands were raised, and many were called.

“Boys versus girls?”

“No, we have an uneven number unless you want to be a boy.”

“Maid cafe?”

“Mineta this is training.”

“Free day?”

“Kaminari, yet again, this is training.”

Until finally, Bakugou was called upon. “Quirkless sparring.”

That raised a few eyebrows, usually Bakugou wanted to fight to the death or have a quirk competition. This was new.

“Is that so? Any specific reason?” Aizawa asked in the same monotone voice as always.

“None of these fuckers can fight without their quirks, they rely too fucking much on them. Is that reason enough?” Bakugou replied, and despite the harsh words, he knew he had a point.

Half ‘n half and more than half the class sucked ass at hand to hand combat.

“What do you mean Bakugou?” Mineta interjected “it’s not like you can fight without that quirk of your anyways.”

Bakugou whipped around to face him, eyes narrowed and teeth barred. “Say that one more fucking time fuck face and I’ll punch you in the face so fucking hard you’ll have to shove a tooth brush up your ass to brush those nasty yellow teeth of yours-“

He was shut up when Kirishima placed a hand on his shoulder, quieting him down. Some other students shook their heads in exasperation.

“Let’s get to it. Quirkless combat matches. Pick your partner and we’ll trade off in ten.” Vlad King decided, taking over for Aizawa who had zipped up his sleeping bag at the start of Bakugou’s rant.

When Bakugou approached Ojiro, the other looked at least a bit excited, that determined look on his face. There it was.

“Hey, fucker!” Bakugou caught his attention “you and me, you better make up for that half assed match from the other day!”

And make up for it he did.

—-

Ojiro was surprised with the days training results. He figured it would be yet another quirk comparing match or rescue training.

It was hand to hand combat, something he specialized in more than the other students. He didn’t even mind that he couldn’t use his tail.

He was caught off guard when Bakugou wanted to fight him of all people, and got whiplash when they actually started fighting.

He was good.

Incredibly good.

His style was one he had never seen before, unpredictable and spontaneous. A complete 180 compared to his formal training.

That was how the other got the upper hand.

He wasn’t even upset when he lost twenty minutes into the fight. The two classes had gathered to make a ring around them, watching their fight in anticipation. Some even seemed to be making bets.

Bakugou took him down with an illegal move. It would be banned in any form of martial arts Ojiro has ever done, and he’s done a lot.

It ended in a flurry of movement. A flip over his head, ended short when thighs wrapped around his neck.

They stayed on the floor like that for a minute to catch their breath, Bakugou’s muscular legs trapping his head. Ojiro couldn’t even move his arms, Bakugou held both of them up.

Then came the erupt of cheers. Ojiro was forced to tap out with his tail.

“Catch up, if you hadn’t have been slacking off in your own self misery for the past few weeks then you wouldnt be so fucking rusty.” Bakugou lifted from his position, legs no longer choking him. “Now get up, that was puny you can do fucking better.”

As Ojiro recovered he studied Bakugou as he was handed a towel, his grenade gauntlets remained next to Kirishima, who smiled and clapped proudly.

Huh, who knew Bakugou was so wise? And good at combat.

Ojiro dusted himself off, a spark of motivation lighting up inside of him. He couldn’t quit now, he had to make his master proud. He had to make himself proud. No more being a lazy training partner, if he was going to surpass all of these people with their wonderful quirks then he was just going to have to train extra hard.

He could do it, and he had Bakugou Katsuki to thank for that.

Chapter Text

Hagakure knew she was invisible, everyone did. It was hard to miss a floating pair of clothes. But it was also hard to notice her.

She envied Mina for that bright noticeable skin, and Momo for that amazing body of hers. Hagakure didn't even know what her own body looked like, and could only guess based on her clothes and other factors like weight and height.

From what she could tell she was pretty average.

She was jealous of pretty much everyone just for the fact that they could simply be seen. They didn't have to attempt to wear flashy outfits to earn a complement.

Hagakure gave up on her hair at this point, who cares how neat it was if no one could see it?

She needed someone to blame this horrible quirk on, but that wouldn't be fair to her parents. Of course, that didn't stop her from complaining to them every chance she got when she was spiteful, but they took it to stride.

Man, she didn't deserve such good parents, going out to buy her all of her neon outfits just to try to squeeze the life out of her insecurities.

Then came the dorms.

It was fun, for once in high school she was included. She knew she was one of the more bubbly people in the class, it was hard to turn off that personality from middle school. If she was quiet she would just be forgotten.

But in this class, she knew that wouldn't happen. It was Diffrent. But she liked being happy, so she continued on.

Then came second semester, picture day.

The day Hagakure possibly hated the most.

"Picture day next Monday during hero training, wear anything besides the school uniform and I'll have you head." Aizawa announced, causing a ripple of conversation through the room.

"Ooh I'm going to curl my hair!" Mina cheered.

"Isn't you hair already curly?"

"Shut up Kaminari let me have this."

Asui turned back to Uraraka "what are you going to do- ribbit?"

The other student shrugged, twirling her hair with her finger. "Oh I-I don't know I'll have to see?"

"Ohhh you should let us help you get ready!" Mina squealed, the other girls nodding in agreement. At this point the boys learned to ignore their yelled conversations from across the room.

"That is a wonderful idea!" Momo chimed in "all of you girls can meet me in my room before school!"

Jiro shrugged, feet kicked up on her desk. "I don't really care, but okay." She jabbed Kaminari for changing the song they were listening to.

"How about you Hagakure?" Mina asked, all heads turning to her.

For once she was glad she was invisible so the others couldn't see the tears rimming her eyes. She shook her head, then remembered that they couldn't see the movement. "Uhh, n-no I'm... busy."

They all looked to each other doubtful, even some of the boys who overheard quirked an eyebrow. "Busy doing what?" Jiro decided to ask.

"I'm... studying! Yeah."

Even Bakugou narrowed his eyes, which was weird. He usually stayed out of all class conversations, barley even paying attention. Hagakure didn't like his crimson gaze on her, it felt as if he couldn't see through her, somehow looking her straight in the eye.

She avoided eye contact even if logically, there was no way he could see her eyes.

"...okay" Momo said uncertainty " well my door is always open."

Hagakure couldn't tell if Momo was offering for a study or session or a make up tutorial but gave a thumbs up anyways. At least she remembered to wear her gloves today.

—-

Hagakure had no idea what to do. In middle school she could wear whatever she wanted to picture day and that was how she was spotted. But now, amongst all of the other plain school uniforms, there was no way she would be noticed.

And don't even get her started on single pictures. It was just the same old plain background of whatever shot they were taking.

She spent the week brainstorming ideas but came up with nothing. She didn't go a minute without worrying.

The time was ticking by, and not in her favor. It was Friday now.

She wished she didn't have to worry about stuff like this. While the others were worrying about what to wear or how to style their hair, she was thinking about a way to be visible.

Which, was impossible, for the record.

At this point she lost hope. She usually didn't let little things like a group picture get her down, but that was the point. She may be included in group pictures and presentations and really anything. But she'll never actually be seen.

She wants to be there, solidly.

She knew that if she kept her feelings in then she would lash out, and what good would that do anyone?

She needed to speak to someone, anyone about her issue to get it off of her chest.

Going to a teacher would be too embarrassing, so she would go to the next best person, one who wouldn't tell anyone and knew how to keep quiet.

The dorm hallways were dark, it was well past curfew. She shivered into her extra puffy jacket, burying her toes into her slippers. Even though they were inside, the cold managed to seep through the dorms thin walls.

She found herself stopping in front of Jiro's door, taking a deep breath before knocking.
—

"You gonna do anything for picture day Kat?" Kirishima asked, plopping down onto his dorm room bed.

"Fuck no."

"Hmm" Kirishima continued, ignoring Bakugou's unenthusiastic response. He twirled a red strand of hair between his fingers. "I'm thinking I'll leave my hair down."

Bakugou was quick to respond, a little too quick. "Do it."

Kirishima chuckled, rolling to a sitting position on his bed. "You like my hair that much huh?"

Bakugou flushed fire truck red "shut the fuck up."

"Hey have you've noticed someone acting weird in class this week?" Kirishima asked, leaning his head against his hand as he looked down at Bakugou, who was dumping books on his floor desk.

"No, don't fuckin' pay attention to those extras."

Eijiro huffed "I gave you a chance to guess. Anyways it's Hagakure, she's usually like super bubbly but she's gone quiet."

"Good for her, maybe she'll fuckin' put that quirk of hers to good use for once."

Kirishima shot him a disapproving look "don't be mean. Anyways, it started when Aizawa sensei had that talk about picture day."

"Pay attention shitty hair we're studying, not chit chatting."

Kirishima slid down from his perch on the bed. "You don't have to call me shitty hair anymore babe, look, I get it, you love my hair and your trying to cover it up."

Katsuki threw a pencil at him.

—-

To say that Jiro was concerned was an understatement. She wasn't usually one to worry about people, outwardly at least. She kept to herself and no one had a problem with that.

But what Hagakure had told her last night had been nothing short of concerning.

The girl had been quiet all week, pondering something that none of the others could figure out no matter how much the others asked her. And now Jiro knew. She knew it all.

And was expected to not tell anyone.

Another fact about Jiro was that she didn't betray peoples trust. Hagakure had told her very forwardly not to tell the other girls.

But, those were the girls.

She never said she couldn't tell anyone else.

Jiro had a plan, a plan that would take a lot of convincing, but she was going to pull it off. For Hagakure, who she had a new understanding about.

Jiro mentally cursed herself for not thinking about her sooner, after all, being invisible must not be good for self esteem.

She knew what her and the girls could do was limited, but Bakugou...

Yeah, this would require a lot of favors.

But she knew that if anyone could pull this off, it would be Bakugou.

—-

"You want me to.... what now?" Bakugou asked, rubbing his eyes. Jiro chose to ask him during the best time, when he was sleepy.

When he was tired he usually just brushed everything off with significantly less cursing than normal. Apparently he had already been a sleep for a while, considering he opened the door tired eyed with a weighted blanket wrapped around his shoulders.

It was also a huge bonus that Kirishima happened to be there, standing behind Bakugou at the doorway, hand on his waist.

Yeah, Bakugou was definitely tired if he was letting that slide.

"I told you, I need you to help Hagakure be seen for picture day." Jiro repeated, hands on her hips, conveying that she wouldn't take no for an answer.

"So what, give her a makeover or some shit?" The blonde grumbled, voice rough from sleep.

"Exactly. Look, Bakugou, I know you can do it. You have the skill and resources, after all, you are a fashion designers son aren't you? Oohhh, and a former model?" Jiro goaded, a smirk on her face.

"How in the fuck did you know that-"

"That's a perfect idea Kat! You should do it!" Kirishima, bless his soul, encouraged.

"What the fuck ever" Bakugou stopped in the middle of his sentence to let out a yawn. "Invisibitch can do whatever she wants, I'm sleeping." He turned around

Jiro looked up to Kirishima expectantly after the red head herded Bakugou back to bed. "He's going to do it right?"

Kirishima waved her off "you and I both know he will, even if he doesn't want to."

And yeah, Jiro did. Especially since she had information he didn't want to be known. If he knew what was best for him he wouldn't deny her request.

Ah, blackmail.

—-

Hagakure had officially lost all hope. She excepted the fact that she wouldn't be seen. It was stupid, she thought, to be sulking over such a small aspect in life.

Picture day?

Well... at least she could never have a bad hair day. She laughed bitterly to herself as she started to climb into bed.

Her depressive musing was interrupted by a series of loud knocks, it was one of the girls. They had created sort of a knock code to use on each other's doors. It was just a fun little game they did for no reason, but Hagakure loved it for the simple fact that she was included.

She dragged herself off of the bed, taking the comforter with her to the door.

"Hello? Oh, hi Jiro."

The other didn't even take the time to greet, pushing past Hagakure into her room. "Ugh, it's so dark and messy in here, at least open a window and tidy up."

Hagakure shuffled her feet, slippers gliding over the carpeted floor. "Yeah sorry, I'll do it later."

Jiro turned around to face her after flipping on her bedside lamp, a pink one that Hagakure had owned since she was a little kid. "I'm not here to bother you about your room."

"You.., aren't?"

"No, I'm here to tell you to wake up extra early tomorrow and meet me in the commons around..." Jiro thought for a second. "Five O'clock. Can you do that?"

Hagakure nodded numbly. Why would she want her up a whole hour and a half before school even started?

"Just come in your school uniform and bring your bag. Don't do anything special yet."

"Uhh... okay?"

Jiro set her alarm for her on her way out. "See you in the morning."

"O-oh, night?"

Hagakure was left to lie in wonder. There were a lot of questions but it didn't seem like Jiro was willing to share.

It looks like she'd have to wait to find out.

She closed her eyes.

And waited.

And waited.

She looked to her clock to discover that only a minute had passed.

Man, she hated waiting.

——

Bakugou angrily rubbed his eyes. "Why am I fucking waking up at fuck O'clock in the morning." Was the first thing said when he woke up. Then he recalled how that traitor earlobes blackmailed him.

Waking up early wasn't too hard to Bakugou, considering he usually woke up early anyways for his morning jog. But still, waking up early for someone else was a completely Diffrent feeling. He despised it.

Luckily Kirishima was there to drag him out of bed, or hell would be raised.

"Nope, your going to help poor Hagakure, don't you want her to feel better?" Kirishima asked, alredy flicking on all of Katsuki's lights, riffling through his stuff in the closet to find where he knew his makeup kit was.

Bakugou sat up in bed, a school uniform thrown at his face. "Fuck you. Fuck her. I don't give a shit about her, it's her fault for being invisible."

Kirishima threw a warning glance over his shoulder, and a pair of shoes. "If you're not going to do it for yourself then at least do it for me?"

"Fuck no."

Kirishima pulled the goddamn puppy eyes.

"Fine. Jesus."

Hagakure and Jiro were lounging on the couches when The two made it to the commons.

Hagakure was confused, and rightfully so. Jiro had woken her up even before her set alarm went off. She couldn't be annoyed, it was too early to feel much of anything.

Besides, her curiosity only grew when Bakugou and Kirishima entered the room. Well, more like Kirishima dragging a half asleep Bakugou. His oversized hoodie really bought together the 'I don't want to be here' look.

Chic.

"Are you ready?" Jiro asked, her earphone jacks lay limp along the tops of her shoulders. Huh, it was too early for even them.

"Of course!" Kirishima's shark toothed grin was radiant, as always. Then the red head pushed Bakugou forward, and to the blondes credit, he didn't even bite off Kirshimas fingers.

"Get the fuck up invisibitch." Hagakure flinched at the nickname. Then was thoroughly thrown for a loop when he said "we're gonna make you noticed."

H-huh?

What?

"Waugh?" Was all that came out of her mouth, she quickly covered it with her hand so she wouldn't squeak again.

"I know you fuckin' heard me. Now sit the fuck down and stay there."

Hagakure plopped down onto the commons couch. She tilted her head to Kirishima and Jiro, who stood to the side. They didn't look too worried, so Hagakure relaxed herself.

"How- how are you going to do that? I'm invisible."

"Don't" Bakugou pointed a... bottle of concealer? At her face. "Fuckin' tell me what I don't already know."

Hagakure didn't notice the huge makeup kit the two boys had dragged along with them until now. She didn't know how she didn't, it was the largest makeup kit she's ever seen.

"Makeup?"

"Hm." Bakugou grunted as he pulled out Diffrent shades of concealer. Too many for a single person to own. "Pick your color," he grumbled, shoving the options in her face.

Hagakure swallowed thickly when it finally clicked what Bakugou was about to do for her. Makeup? No one had tried it on her before, saying it would be to complicated.

And Bakugou of all people?

Who knew he could even do makeup, much less own so much.

Then those piercing red eyes were on her again, looking directly at her as if she was visible. How could he do that?

Huh, did he wear eyeliner all the time?

Bakugou snapped impatiently "we don't have all morning, are we doing this or not?"

Hagakure felt warm tears rim her eyes. She quickly wiped them away. "Yeah. Yes. Let's do it."

Time passed slow, yet fast.

Bakugou was focused and precise, never seeming to mess up. His makeup skills were truly impressive, if Hagakure didn't know any better, she would think he was a professional artist.

The way he moved fluently like he had been working on these skills since the day he came out of the womb. Occasionally he would let out a few grunts or mumble to himself, which Hagakure found strangely enduring of him.

Kirishima and Jiro had taken the seats across from them, silently talking to themselves. Their chatter became white noise as they (Bakugou) worked in peaceful silence.

Eventually people started filtering into the commons to grab breakfast or Finnish homework from the previous day.

But that was quickly dismissed when everyone grew captivated with the scene in front of them. Kirishima held a finger up to his mouth and winked. A sign not to mess with the master when he was working.

So as more and more people woke, more and more people watched.

The girls were freaking out.

"Momo!" Mina whisper yelled, latching onto the other girls arm "Momo! We just gotta invite him to the next girls night!"

"I- I don't see why not." She answered, flustered.

When Midoriya and Iida got back from their morning runs, Midoriya smiled fondly at Bakugou as if he wasn't the biggest asshole to him. "Oh, he bought his makeup kit to the dorms? I didn't think he did that." He mumbled to himself, stretching and sitting next to Kirishima.

Finally, her face was completed. Bakugou grabbed her chin, not gently, and studied her face, as if looking for any tiny flaw.

Hagakure decided that she didn't like it when he looked at her.

"Okay" Bakugou looked down at his watch "we got some fuckin' time, and that's good cuz' you still look like shit."

Hagakure nodded along.

"Can you fucking put in contacts?"

"Nope!"

"Dammit. Fine I'll just fuckin' show you."

"You... know how to put in contacts?" Ojiro asked from the side. Bakugou looked up surprised, just realizing that three quarters of the class had been watching him for a good half hour.

He huffed "I can't be fuckin' blind now can I?"

"Yeah!" Kirishima added "his eyesight sucks ass."

A makeup brush was thrown at him.

"Don't you extras have something better to do?"

"Nope!" Kaminari popped the P. "Didn't know you were so good at makeup Bakubro! And wow, Hagakure, I can't see your eyes or hair yet but I may just have to ask you out..."

"In your dreams" despite her harsh rejection, Hagakure blushed. No one had ever complemented her looks, at all.

With much struggling they managed to get the colored contacts in her eyes. And that's where Hagakure got to see herself. She had chosen a fair tone, one like her mother's. The contacts were a pretty hazel color.

"Alright fucker" Bakugou snapped her back to reality. "Wig time, put your hair in a tight bun."

She ended up choosing brown hair, which Bakugo styled to French braid.

Wow, what couldn't he do?

When she arrived back to the common rooms, everyone stood in awe. This was the first time they saw her, this was the first time she saw herself.

She was just as overjoyed as them.

Just as she was about to be swarmed by the girls, Bakugou turned her around by her shoulder. "Hold the fuck up something's missing."

She blinked.

"Hold still." He riddled through his bag to pull out eyeliner. She knew what to do, so she closed her eyes as he got it perfectly in one swipe.

Really, screw him and his freakishly good makeup skills.

He blew on her face to dry the newly added makeup. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Kirishima looking on proudly.

Bakugou let her go, looking strangely relaxed.

It looks like doing a hobby like makeup could be a relaxing experience if someone was stressed.

"I won't do this every fuckin' time, but if you need me or whatever..."

"Yeah, I know."

And she did, that experience benefited both her and Bakugou. It eased Bakugou's worries, relaxing him. He didn't even have that crease between his brow anymore.

And her, she got to be seen. Noticed. Of course there were things she could get away with, being invisible. But sometimes it was good just to be normal, after all, normal was all she wanted to be in life.

When Hagakure and her parents looked back on the pictures of picture day, they held the many paper copies with shaky hands, tears falling onto the laminated cover.

She was seen, and it was wonderful.

All thanks to Bakugou Katsuki.

Chapter Text

Mina wasn't stupid. She knew she looked Diffrent from the others, but unlike Shoji with his mutant quirk, she didn't care, her pink skin complemented her personality, made her stand out more. It wasn't hard for her to be spotted, she didn't need to be extra flashy.

If Mina was a less socialable person, more insecure, then she would hate her quirk. She'd imagined Aizawa and Todoroki with her quirk a few times and almost threw up from laughing so hard.

So yeah, her quirk felt specially made for just her.

Like most other quirks, there were only a few other pink people on the the planet, and that wasn't involving tattoos.

Sure, it sucked that she couldn't wear makeup besides some eyeliner or mascara, and that her skin dried out easily from secreting acid. But the drawbacks could certainly be worse. At least she wasn't losing her hearing like Bakugou, though the poor dude wouldn't admit it just yet.

And even though there were many diverse quirks in the world, some more deadly than others. Quirk discrimination was still an important matter. Society has progressed since years ago where mutant quirked citizens were thrown into jail and mocked.

She's just glad she didn't live back then, that sounded horrible.

Even if it was a thing of the past, some mothers still covered their kids eyes whenever she walked past. Some men still gave her intrigued looks. And no, they would certainly not be selling her on the black market if she had a say in it.

Quirkism was the only history lesson she actually listened to. Go Mina.

So she never left to go anywhere alone. Something her parents taught her since pre- school.

But she was a teen and a part of the hero course. Being confident was her first mistake.

"Hey girls!" Mina greeted as she entered the common rooms on a bright sunny Saturday. It was too perfect of a day not to do anything, it would be such a waste to sit inside. "I'm going to the mall, anyone coming with?"

A few hands shot up.

"Wow Mina, you take your wardrobe seriously!" Hagakure exclaimed, feeling along the fabric of Mina's leopard print tank top. "Let me borrow your clothes sometime!"

"Sure thing- ah, wait I can just give you some fashion advice when we get to the mall. You in?"

"Heck yeah!" Hagakure cheered "just wait, I gotta go get ready."

Mina turned to the others lounging on the couch "anyone else coming?"

"Ah, sorry I can't go, I have a study session with Midoriya and Iida later." Uraraka flapped her hand sheepishly "maybe next weekend."

"I also cannot attend, my family had a business meeting." Momo answered.

After their replies there were also a sting of dittos and other plans that were already made. "Okay" Mina shrugged "wow your busy people, anyways we'll be back by..." she looked at her watch "One O'clock."

It was a new rule to tell people what time you would be back if you left the dorms during the weekend. Of course, Mina had already asked Aizawa Sensei permission to leave, but it was just a security thing.

In case something happened.

No one wanted a repeat of the Kamino incident.

It was a drag that no one else could join them, but at least Mina didn't have to go alone. Mina kept an eye on the time as they transferred from one shop to another.

They both decided to go to the newly built mall, even if it was extremely crowded. It was worth it, their clothes were truly extraordinary and including of people with mutant quirks.

They passed a pair of pants as tall as Mina herself. Hagakure gawked at them as she pulled her along. "It's rude to stare like that, you may make someone insecure."

"Oh" Hagakure rubbed the back of her head sheepishly, or, her sleeves moved that way. "My bad."

"It's alright, let's keep looking. For me, I stay away from all of the red shades, they look really bad with my skin. I'm sure It would look good on you though with that long sleeve white shirt of yours. But there's this one shade of magenta..."

Hagakure nodded along with the others tips, grabbing stuff from the racks to carry to the dressing rooms.

"You would also look good with a black belt and- ah, there it is." Mina mumbled, sliding a magenta colored sweater from a nearby rack.

Mina continued to throw articles of clothes at Hagakure and kept some for herself to try on up until lunch.

"Hey, where d'ya wanna go to eat? I don't know what they have here."

Hagakure shrugged "not sure, I haven't been here either."

The two muscled through the crowed, Hagakure scaring a few passerby's when she accidentally touched them.

"Oh, there!" Mina grabbed the other girls arm, pointing to a nearby cafe.

"Yeah! Looks good! C'mon let's go eat, I'm starving."

Mina's second mistake was going to the mall in general. But more specifically, it was letting Hagakure wait in the long line in the cafe while she was tasked to find a seat.

Alone.

The cafe, like the rest of the mall, was packed. The poor workers hustled around, taking orders and dropping food off at the same time.

Mina cringed, she had a job as a waitress once to earn money for a new phone since she broke hers for the fifth time that year. But quickly lost it, it was incredibly hard to get the groove of things, especially when she worked the rush hour.

A rough elbow to her shoulder pushed her out of balance, sending her tumbling and almost falling to the ground. She caught herself before she made a scene.

"Hey-"

She turned around to face whoever had ran into her. She wasn't on the defense yet, since it obviously could have been an accident. But that thought vanished when she saw the mans face.

He snickered down at her.

A grown ass man was laughing at a teenage girl for falling.

Mina growled "your pretty fucked up."

The man seemed considerably calm, only pushing his glasses up on his face. He had no visible quirk, just that annoying smug look on his face.

Then the words left his mouth.

"You should cover up that hideous pink skin Of yours, it's in my way. Maybe you should chop off those horns and sell them, you'll make a living off of them, assuming you aren't ever going to be able to get a job with that ghastly appearance of yours."

An unfiltered rage flared up in Mina's gut as she shot to her feet, getting into the mans face. "It's pretty fucking puny of you to pick on a teenage girl like that." She pointed a finger to the mans chest, covered in a polished suite. Ugh- of course he was rich.

The man only chuckled, still remaining collected. They were earning side glances but no outright stares just yet. "I have a right to state what is on my mind. And you, are not even a 'teenage girl' your a mutant."

Mina bared her teeth, her dentist was going to throw a fit with how much she was grinding them. Just before she could open her mouth to verbally rip the polished fancy pants a new one, he put a bony finger up.

"Ah, it seems the line is moving." The stick of a man reached into his breast pocket to pull out a card and hand it to her. "Think about it."

He moved with the flow of the people, leaving Mina to look down at the card, showcasing a picture of the man smiling. It wasn't a warm smile. Across the top the business card read 'body modification.'

She crumbled it with shaky fist, coming down from her adrenaline high. Mina felt the urge to scream and cry. To throw the offending paper to the floor and stomp on it.

But she only shoved it into her jacket pocket. She would burn it later in the 1-A dorms fireplace.

Mina found a place near the back of the cafe, it was a bit more closed off, with only one other booth behind it. Perfect.

When she sat her bags down on the floor she caught a familiar puff of ash blonde hair in the other booth. She knew all too well who it was, but she wasn't in the mood to bug him right now.

Mina huffed, she absolutely refused to cry. She was tougher than that. She had thick, pink skin. And she liked it. There was no reason to listen to this skinny entitled rich man.

Something wet landed on her face. Before Mina could even take a second to wipe it off, a raw scream ripped itself from her throat. She stood from the booth, bags of clothes forgotten.

Mina saw red as she furiously wiped the spit away from her face.

The residences of the cafe all jolted in in shock, looking between Mina and the other teenage boy.

"Y-you" she pointed with a clenched fist. "Fuck you. Really, fuck. You."

The offending man was not the same one who gave her the card. No, the skinny man wouldn't dare to waste his spit on her. He had to go above and beyond just to get under Mina's skin and pay some random teen.

To his credit, even though he looked terrified, the teenager opened his mouth to talk. "Tha-that's what you get for looking so freakish. Maybe you should stay inside for the rest of your life. Or better yet-" the teen shot a glance to the skinny rich dude, who nodded. "Just jump off of a-"

"Shut. The. Fuck. Up." A rough, familiar voice cut in. And damn, Bakugou sounded pissed. "Or I'll make you." He stalked to Mina, who didn't realize she was shaking in rage- or fear- until he grabbed her arm and pushed a napkin against it. "Wipe that shit off your face."

Mina numbly followed his orders.

Out of the corner of her eyes, she noticed the skinny prick make a waving gesture. He wasn't done.

The teen looked unsure, but continued. "Just jump off a roof to give us the relief of never having to see that abnormal face of yours. Or get it fixed-"

Bakugou moved like a whip, he was so fast that even Mina's eyes couldn't track him. One second the teen was dishing out insults, and the next he was on the floor, taking a table with him when he fell.

Bakugou stood over him, shoulders tense and fighting posture ready. He was ready to fight anyone else who was willing to give back talk.

Something bloomed in Mina's chest amongst her cyclone of current feelings. Bakugou had helped her, he had taken down some random 'extra' in order for her to keep her honor.

Mina had heard from her classmates that Bakugou had been helping them, and she believed it.

Mina didn't have anymore time to ponder, eyes were still on her, and now Bakugou. Some customers and workers looked terrified of them. Something Mina never wanted to see again, people looking at her with fear. It was terrible, almost worse than the insults thrown at her.

Bakugou turned to her, face twisted in anger. If Kirishima was here, he would be squealing with how annoyingly smokin' hot Bakugou looked in that moment.

"Bubblegum-" he winced "Mina... c'mon." Oh wow. He was being considerate. "Let's blow this place."

Mina's eyebrows rose up to her hairline.

"No not acually- ugh, just come the fuck on." Bakugou ran a hand through his hair in a frustrated manner as he lead her out of the cafe. Multiple pairs of eyes drilled into Mina's back.

Now that they were outside, Mina's mind cleared. "Wait we left Hagakure-"

"Tch. Invisibitch can take care of herself. Don't ya have her fuckin' number anyways?"

Oh yeah, she did.

"Hey, what are you doing here anyways?"

"None of your fuckin' business."

Mina gave him a look. She still felt on edge but mostly calmed down. They rounded one of the malls many corners.

"My mom likes to meet during the weekends." Bakugou's mumble answer was almost inaudible in the booming loudness of the crowd. "Let's get the hell outta here it's too packed." Wow, he seemed to have read her mind.

Mina's phone vibrated in her pocket as her and Bakugou sat down at yet another cafe. One that was less populated. "So your a mamas boy, huh?" Mina smirked as she slipped her phone out. "Wait- what is she gonna say when your not there to meet her?"

Bakugou shrugged "I dunno, the hag'll probably yell."

Mina chose not to acknowledge that he called his own mother hag. There were more surprising things in life, like how he decided to help her.

"Hey uh... thanks for the help back there blasty, you really got me out of a tough spot."

He shrugged again "they were being loud as fuck, their insults could've been at least creative, fuckmunches."

Mina huffed out a small laugh. "Yeah, I've been called worse, he could have at least been original."

Bakugou eyed Mina, his crimson gaze studying her. She shifted in her chair. "People always got shit to say" he finally said "they can take their opinions, and shove it up their asses."

Mina agreed one hundred percent.

"Well still that was bada-" Mina's phone started ringing in her hands. She looked down to see Hagakures contact photo.

"Answer her" Bakugou supplied "she prolly has no fuckin idea what happened."

The moment Mina clicked the green answer button Hagakure's worried voice flooded from the speakers.

"Mina! Oh my god you answered! Are you okay? Is Bakugou okay? Oh man, he curbstomped that dude it was so awesome! And that dude totally deserved it for Saying those awful things! And oh my god your okay right-"

Mina cleared her throat "yeah, I'm okay."

Bakugou snorted "dumbass that wasn't even a curbstomp."

"Anyways, I'm glad you picked up becuase the police are looking for you." Hagakure said, ignoring Bakugou's correction.

"They're what now?"

"Fuck" Bakugou cursed "we can't just run from the fucking cops."

"Agreed" Mina nodded "Hagakure what are they doing now."

"Well the teen is playing the innocent act, and since your not here to defend yourselves..."

"Shit" Bakugou cursed again.

Before they could even formulate a plan, probably to turn themselves in peacefully because if Mina knew anything about Bakugou, it was that he was the most unwilling to get in trouble with the law. It may seem like he was the most possible student to, but he was a stickler to the rules despite his brash demeanor

A duo of cops entered the cafe.

Well, they were certainly fucked now.

The second Mina saw the officers faces, eyebrows lowered and teeth bared, she knew it wasn't going to end well.

One of the officers, the short fat one- Huh, how stereotypical- scanned the room with his beady laser eyes. Once they landed on Mina, (it was hard to miss with her bright appearance,) he tapped on the other Man.

"Bakugou-"

"I know."

Mina hummed, looking anywhere but the approaching officers.

"There's nothing we can do. The best we can do is tell them our stories." Bakugou concluded, hands clamped together on the table in front of him. Mina didn't know if it was an attempt to keep his sweat from igniting or a sign of surrender. Defeat.

Mina knew Bakugou hated those words. He wouldn't even utter them.

But there was a gleam in his eyes that told her otherwise. He had something in mind.

"-guys? You okay?" Hagakure's voice cracked over the speaker.

"Invisibitch I need you to listen closely."

"...okay?"

"Stay at the cafe, a woman who looks annoyingly similar to me will be there soon, I need you to tell her what happened and you two go get fuckin Aizawa."

And yeah, that was a brilliant plan.

"Does this woman happen to... have blonde spiky hair and carry around a purse like she's ready to beat someone with it?"

"That'll be her."

Just as she hung up, the two men made it to their table.

"Yes officers?" Mina asked, batting her eyes innocently.

They simply looked down to her, then Bakugou, who met their gaze fiercely. "We need you two to take a step out of the booth calmly, put your hands up."

Her and Bakugou both blinked in surprise, looking to each other. Sure they expected the officers to be weary of them but did they really need to be manhandled?

After a beat of silence the cops inches closer. "We said get up! No looking at each other or talking." The short stubby one side eyed Bakugou. "And no funny business."

By now the residents of the cafe had cleared out of the way, some recording the scene while other mothers covered their children's eyes. Man, Mina was really staring to hate Cafes.

"Officer" Mina started "would you let us explain our situation? We aren't dangerous so there's no need for hand cuffs-"

Cop #2 let out a big belly laugh "sure your not, blondie here" he grabbed Bakugou by his poofy hair and jerked it roughly. " straight up flattened a kid."

Bakugou kept his cool, surprisingly, though winced at the mans tough treatment.

"Please let go of his hair" Mina pleaded through gritted teeth.

The mans beefy hand only clenched tighter around ash blonde strands in a vice grip. "I will when you get up and put your hands up."

"Excuse me?" Mina quirked an eyebrow, Bakugou looked about ready to blow the officer into next week. Mina turned to the shocked crowd "is this even allowed?"

A few onlookers shook their heads, but none intervened.

"Just get up and come peacefully and we'll hear you out." Shortie grunted, hands on his belt as if it was too tight around his gut. It probably was.

Mina traded another glance to Bakugou, who couldn't even nod. But she understood. If they didn't follow orders- no matter how unreasonable- it would only cause more issues.

Slowly Mina scooted out of her side of the booth, hands up. Bakugou didn't even get the chance to get up for himself, the other officer simply dragged him up by the hair.

"Let go of him, he can do it by himself!"

"Shut up pinky" the officer putting cuffs on her said. "We can rough 'em up just fine, he ruthlessly beat another kid in public."

Bakugou growled like some kind of rabid dog as he was pushed around. Mina spotted small pinprick of tears in the corner of his eyes. It wasn't in humiliation, because the situation wasn't as embarrassing as Mina had thought it would be. The officer was simply tugging his hair so much that it was beginning to hurt.

Mina hated that all she could do was grin and bear it. She couldn't even imagine how Bakugou must have been feeling.

They were lead down the passage ways of the mall, more than a few people giving them curious once overs before continuing on with their winter shopping.

When Mina imagined a ride in the police car, it definitely didn't involve her and a livid Bakugou being thrown into the back of it. It was more of her in the drivers seat performing street staining donuts.

Whatever, that was a fantasy she could do in the future.

It also sucked that her and Bakugou couldn't even talk to each other. A mind reading quirk would have come in handy in their situation. She was desperate to know the others thought process.

Bakugou looked strangely distressed.

Of course he just got a brain pulling scalp removal, but the look on his face was strange.

Then she noticed him flexing against the handcuffs.

Of course.

Mina knew Bakugou had a thing with his hands being reatrained ever since the league of villains incident and the sports festival.

Oh wow, this could be bad.

It seemed that that sentence was now the mantra of the day.

The polices walkie talkies crackled to life, taking the cops attention. "Bakugou" she mummerd "are you doing okay? Can you make it to the station?"

He nodded shakily. It was uncertain but there was nothing Mina could do, even if he was lying.

She wished Kirishima was here.

Their phones were confiscated, along with Bakugou's hearing aids, which was pretty shitty. She was glad he knew how to read lips, even if he could still hear her well enough, it was a good skill to have.

She tapped his shoe with her fuzzy boot. It was a reminder that she was there, an anchor to ground him.

The ride was long and suffering, Bakugou's breaths coming out in short uneasy puffs the whole time. His eyes were glassy and unseeing. Another thing to add to the list of things Mina never wanted to see again. It was adding up.

When they arrived at the station, they were separated and pulled into Diffrent rooms. The room was smaller than she suspected it would be.

Shouldn't these people be questioning like, serial murderes? Why waste their time on a few teens who got into a fist fight.

They should have just let them wait for their parents to pick them up. It seemed much more reasonable.

Pushing through her rapidly growing irritation, Mina recounted the events of the day. This officer- a new one- was a female, and seemed much more understanding.

"I'm sorry for the rough treatment" she rolled her eyes "those two Need to be demoted, their promotion put them on a high horse."

Mina just knew what Bakugou would say if he were here, so she said it for him. "Well they can take their high horses and shove it up their asses."

The woman nodded, a small smirk on her face. She flipped through a few papers. "I'm sorry this all happened to you, unfortunately we need to place you in a cell until your guardians can come. But we have popcorn if you want some."

And yeah, this she-police was much more chill than dumb and dumber.

When Mina arrived at the cell, Bakugou was already there, in the one next to hers. "You okay?" She asked.

He didn't seem to hear her, his face turned downward. Mina stomped to get his attention. His head jolted up.

"Hey" she waved. "You get your hearing aids back?"

He shook his head.

When the she-police arrived with popcorn, handing a bag to her and another one to Bakugou, she asked her for his hearing aids.

"They took them away from him?!"

They both nodded.

She growled, stomping off, hopefully to punch the two pricks right in their ugly faces.

Once they both settled down, Mina popped a popcorn kernel in her mouth. "So how'd questioning go?"

"Nothin' special, just told em' what happened."

"Same here. This is pretty stupid."

They sat in silence for a long moment before a question slipped past her unfiltered mouth. "Do you regret it?"

"Regret what."

"Y'know" Mina flung her fist into the air in a lazy punching motion. "Giving that dude the ol' one two."

Bakugou looked perplexed. It was almost funny. "One two- no raccoon eyes, he deserved it."

"Huh, guess so."

It was Bakugou's turn to ask a question. "What exactly happened. I didn't catch the whole story when we were being thrown into the fuckin' police car."

For the second time Mina explained the story.

"You saying that someone... payed that shit-head to say it?"

"Uh-huh" Mina was hanging upside down at this point, throwing popcorn into the air and catching it between her teeth.

Bakugou stopped his fidgeting, closing his eyes to think. Mina didn't retract her gaze when he opened his eyes. "Give me the card."

"The wha?"

"The fucking business card the fuckwad gave you! Hand it over!"

"It's in my boot."

Bakugou gave her a deadpan glare. "Why."

"I dunno, just felt like putting it there, it felt cool. Like I was a special agent." She reached down into her boot to slip the card out.

Bakugou reached between the bars separating them and snatched the card, snarling. "That slimy no good fuckwad." He looked possibly the most outraged that Mina had ever seen him. More colorful curses that would make a sailor blush escaped past his lips as he paced his cell.

"Whoa calm down Bakugou, what's the deal?"

"That bastard targets people with mutant quirks and brings them down in hopes that he'll get more business. He performs quirk surgeries to remove or modify them."

Mina's eyes widened, her pink skin glowing a deep magenta shade. Oh shit. It made perfect sense. She wished it didn't.

Bakugou was spot on with his analyzation.

"He's going to fuckin' jail for this when I'm through with ,-"

"Wait we can lock him up?"

Bakugou stopped his pacing, looking much like a caged animal. "Yeah, fuck him. It's like... it's like suicide baiting. It's not as extreme but ending a part of you, your quirk..." he clenched his fist. He seemed strangely somber in that moment, guilt flashed in those sharp eyes of his. "It's the most extreme form of stupid ass bullying"

"Huh" was all Mina could manage. She could never imagine trying to change her quirk ever. She loved it, even if it seemed unconventional at times, it was what made her Mina Ashido. She was used to the rude comments 'can't you just peel off your skin?' 'Get fucking contacts that's creepy as fuck' 'just saw off those horns they're bothering me.'

But that was whatever.

Thankfully they didn't have to remain in the cell for much longer. A good twenty minutes after their conversation their backup arrived. Aizawa was the first to enter the room, calm and collected as always. Though there was something dangerous lingering in his eyes.

He was mad, Mina could feel it.

"Aizawa Sensei!" She cried, coming up to stick her face between the bars.

"I heard what happened, I'm sorry." His lip was curled in distaste as he unlocked her cell.

"It's okay! Me and Bakugou cracked a puzzle like the detectives we are!" Mina announced, finger pointed at a napping Bakugou. He must have been exhausted from absolutely kicking that teen into the next dimension.

"Well you can tell us when we get into the car. You're UA's problems now."

Mina had no idea when Kirishima and Hagakure had snuck up behind Aizawa. Kirishima unlocked Bakugou's cell, gently shaking him awake. Bakugou grunted, rising from the bench and rubbing his eyes. Kirishima slipped on his hearing aids for him and gosh- they were so cute that Mina wanted to throw up.

"That was crazy!" Hagakure shouted once Mina was free from her prison. "Mrs.Bakugou is yelling at the police men, oh you should see it it's great! Oh, and your video is viral on the internet."

"My what-"

"Yeah!" Hagakure held out her phone "look, some bystanders got a video of you and Bakugou getting arrested. Kirishima flipped the hell out when he saw it."

"Can you blame me?" The read head asked as they climbed into the van. "They were basically hurting him! That's not right."

Bakugou slapped Kirishimas probing hand away when he tried to brush it through his hair, looking for non existent damage. "I'm fucking fine Ei, 't wasn't that bad."

"Yeah but still" Kirishima pouted "it shouldn't have happened in the first place. And Mina, are you okay?"

"Oh I'm good! Man, you should have seen Bakugou fight off my bully! Kiri you would have been swooning."

"Oh no I did see it, that's also trending. It was hot."

Hagakure cut in from her place next to Mina "what do you mean just hot?! Kirishima you almost passed out."

"Hagakure I swear to god-"

Their conversation died down when Aizawa started questioning them.

The story was getting old by the third time Mina explained it.

Aizawa hummed thoughtfully, eyes on the road. "You know Bakugou is right, we could possibly sue this man."

Mina turned back to Bakugou, who was already smirking.

"Let's fucking do it."

Mina learned a surprising amount about Bakugou that day. Through that experience alone they gained a mutual respect for each other.

Mina was ecstatic when Bakugou started accompanying her on her mall trips. And even more so when she got to meet his parents, her favorite clothing designer and model.

But yeah, besides the shitty cop, the annoying man and teenager, and the fact that she never got to do a donut in the cop car, it was a pretty okay day.

Chapter Text

Kaminari did not have the best control over his quirk and it wasn't a secret. It had so many stupid drawbacks that sometimes it made him want to cry in frustration and give up everything he had been working so hard for.

The electricity coursing through his veins was stupid and kept him up all night. It made him twitch uncontrollably and fidget during class. And worse of all, it made him brain dead after exceeding his limits. It made him look stupid and useless.

What he didn't tell anyone, though, was that it was painful. It hurt a lot when he used his quirk, and even worse when he went to 'whey’ mode. His limbs grew stiff, twitching occasionally, his mind fried. He could hear and feel anything happening around him, but he lacked the proper motor function and vision.

But sometimes the words aimed towards him when he went into dumb mode hurt worse than the stinging sensation.

Though Kaminari wouldn't be telling anyone about that anytime soon, he was meant to be the comedy relief of the group. Meant to make people laugh instead of worry.

Contrary to popular belief, Kaminari wasn't stupid. He knew that if he was in one of those Shounen animes, then he would be the funny side character. Nothing more. He wasn't a cool person and definitely wasn't main character material like Midoriya or Bakugou.

Little did Kaminari know, is that his carefully crafted mask would soon be torn down. Well, torn down was a harsh way to put it.

——

Kaminari and his friends usually had a system when it came to group missions. Some way or another, Kaminari would always end up zapped out. And when that time did come, he pushed through the pain and let Jiro, Mina, Sero, or Kirishima lead him around.

He never missed the snickers and remarks by his less thoughtful classmates. He almost wished he did.

This exercise wasn't supposed to be any different.

But somehow, it was.

"This is a partner training course," Aizawa-sensei explained, already zipping up his yellow sleeping bag. Kaminari's favorite color. "It works as an obstacle course, but since nothings ever easy in this school, there will be training bots placed in between each obstacle."

The class all cheered in delight, it had been a while since they have been able to do anything hands on. They had been doing those stupid test the week before.

"Heck yeah!" Kirishima bumped his fist together "some real training!"

Bakugou smirked from beside him "we're gonna beat this shitty course, Ei."

"Actually" Aizawa interrupted "pairs will be randomized."

Kirishima's shoulders slumped slightly, looking much like a kicked puppy. Kaminari elbowed him "hey, cheer up bro, you may end up with me."

"Wrong on that account too." Aizawa smirked, "Kaminari, you're with Bakugou."

Oh. Well, Aizawa really wanted to see Kaminari suffer, huh?

Bakugou turned to him while the other pairs were being listed. "Okay pikachu, let's do this shit and leave no one alive!"

"Y-yeah" Kaminari nodded numbly, eye twitching. "Not sure we should necessarily kill anyone but... pop off I guess."

The course was one of those long winded ones created for stamina. Kaminari hated those, but Bakugou never wavered as he started plowing through it.

It turned out, though, that Kaminari was even more helpful than he thought he would be, he and Bakugou made a good dynamic duo if Kaminari did say so himself.

Denki could sense the training bots before they even passed the obstacle, telling Bakugou exactly where they were located so he could go all Crazy Pomeranian on them.

It was fun to watch.

As they came up on the insanely large wall, Bakugou turned back to him with one of those maniacal grins. Kaminari had no idea how Kirishima liked this crazy dude, but he wasn't one to judge.

"Hey, spark plug, wanna fry a few?"

Was- was Bakugou offering to share his victims with him?!

It would be rude to deny such a generous proposal. So he nodded, readjusting the antenna on his head. There was a huge surge of electrical activity on the other side of the wall, but he could take them down with his indiscriminate shock.

"Alright Bakubro, let's do this."

Without warning Bakugou put a hand against the wall, his palms glowing before the deafening explosion was produced. As expected, the wall was in shambles by the time the smoke cleared, and as expected, there were an insane amount of bots on the other side.

"Get em dunce face."

And he did. Kaminari produced all of the electricity thrumming through his veins, focusing the power to the tips of his fingers and letting it loose.

Though he vastly underestimated the amount of energy he would expend taking all of them down, especially since it took more for him to fry electronics, considering they ran on electricity themselves.

But he did the job. He felt proud even when his limbs started to numb and a blinding pain started to bloom behind his eyes. He couldn't do much more in his current state, but it was the end of the course anyways.

"Good job dummy" Bakugou grumbled, and he felt him grab his hand and lead him forwards. "Now let's fucking go."

If Kaminari's tear ducts could work at the moment, he would start crying at the praise. No one had really said nice stuff like that when he was in zapped out mode besides his close friends.

And wow, him and Bakugou were going to become close friends weren't they? There was no denying it now.

Then, the sharp pain in his head moved down to his body, stray electricity jolted him.

Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow-

"...dunce face?" Kaminari heard Bakugou ask, they continued on their pace, but if Kaminari could make a guess then he would think that Bakugou was looking back at him. "Are you in fucking pain?"

What the fuck?

How the heck did he pick up on that? He thought he didn't convey any emotion on the outside when he was zapped out?

He opened his mouth to try to speak, but all that came out was a garbled noise.

"Ugh, gross. Fuck, hold on." Bakugou stopped and wiped fabric across his face, probably to wipe away the drool. Then they proceeded.

For some strange reason, Kaminari liked letting Bakugou lead him around. He was very vocal with what they were doing, and Kaminari had no idea if it was on purpose as a way to help him or if it was what he naturally did.

Either way, he was still shocked- heh, get it?- that Bakugou picked up on his pain. By now it subsided to a dull thrum, but it was still painful.

It looks like he had found a new leading buddy

—-

"Wow! That training exercise really took a lot out of me!" Kirishima sat down on the common room couch. "Busting through all of those walls wasn't easy!"

"For someone so exhausted, you sure are fucking energetic." Bakugou grumbled, sitting down by his side, setting a book down in his lap.

Kirishima grinned, putting an arm around Katsuki's shoulder. "And for such a brash manly dude, you sure do read a lot."

Bakugou blushed furiously, slamming his book closed. "Shut the fuck up" he spat "this is a good fuckin' book."

Kirishima chuckled, allowing the blonde to lean closer and reopen his book.

"Ugh" someone groaned from the doorway "y'all two are so cute together that it makes me wanna barf." Kaminari commented as he walked past the couch to get to the boys side of the dorms.

"You're just jealous bro!" Kirishima called over his shoulder, looking back down to see a contemplative look on Bakugou's face.

"...babe? Everything okay in that head of yours?"

"Fine" Bakugou grumbled, sparing another glance down the hall where Kaminari had disappeared down.

"...okay."

They sat in compatible silence for a minute before Bakugou spoke up again. Just as Eijiro knew he would. "Ei, you know when Dunce face goes into whey mode."

"Uhh, yeah of course I do."

"Does he ever say fucking anything about it?"

Kirishima frowned, turning his head so he could face Katsuki. "No not really?"

Bakugou looked up to meet his gaze "there's something he's not fucking telling us, and I wanna know."

"Wait I'm confused... something about his whey mode?"

Bakugou's fist tightened around his book, creasing its pages. Kirishima plucked it from his grasp so he wouldn't accidentally blow it up like he had his last book. "He's just- he's just way to fuckin' happy."

"His happiness... bothers you."

"Fuck no" Bakugou sniffed "it's not that. I can just tell it's fuckin fake. When he goes into that stupid whey mode, I can tell he's hurting or whatever."

Kirishima squeezed Bakugou's shoulder, pulling him closer. It was worrying to think that Denki could be hiding his true feelings and pain from them. But at the same time... his eyes glittered. "Kat, are you worried?!"

"Tch, no I'm fucking not."

Kirishima smirked, ruffling his hair until Bakugou gently slapped his hand away. "Yes you totally are." Then he turned back to serious mode. "But seriously, why? I'm not saying you're incapable of feelings or whatever, it's just that you usually don't pay much attention to others feelings."

Bakugou growled "hah?! The fuck? Of course I fucking do."

Kirishima gave him a stern look.

"Maybe. Look, it's just..." he held out his balled fist. "You think it's easy being a fucking walking bomb? Sweating a toxic substance? Fuck no. My hearing is going away and- and every single shitty time I make an explosion, the recoil hurts the fuck outta my shoulders. Sometimes it hard to even hold up a fucking pencil because of the tension build up in my arms."

Kirishima knew this all too well, he was the one who massaged the tension from Bakugou's arms, so he let him rant. It was sad that he had such a bad quirk drawback that he would eventually lose the ability to hear, but that wouldn't stop Kirishima's affection.

"And if dunce face is like me, then he's a tough bastard."

Kirishima knew the Bakugou language. His boyfriend didn't want Kaminari to suffer like him. How manly of him.

"You gonna talk to him about it?"

Bakugou shrugged. "I just fucking might, Ei."

Kirishima handed him his book back, letting Katsuki lean back against him. "Great, now no more worrying, time to relax. If your arms get tense again then tell me so I can help."

Bakugou hummed, opening the page up to his bookmark.

—-

There was another partner training exercise within the same week, surprisingly. They didn't do them too much but Kaminari guessed that Aizawa-sensei wanted the others to learn to be more collaborative and build teamwork skills.

He was a pretty social dude, so Kaminari had no issue with the modified training regimen.

When Aizawa announced they could choose their own partners for the stealth exercise, Kaminari turned towards Sero with a smirk.

Then, Bakugou roughly grabbed him by the shoulder. "Your partnering with me dunce face"

Huh?

Bakugou wasn't the best person to be with for a stealth mission given how loud he tended to be, but Kaminari wasn't about to complain. Even if he was confused. Bakugou was a top student and he wanted to partner with the bottom one?

And where was Kirishima anyways?

"Well, pikachu?"

"O-oh yeah! Let's do this?" Sero shot him a quizzical look from across the room, and all Kaminari could do was shrug as he was dragged off to the training set up.

The 'mission' wasn't too complicated, Bakugou and Kaminari passed with ease just as they did the last time they worked together.

Kaminari only fried himself out towards the end of the exercise this time. Bakugou, also the same as last time, led him around. After a long while of standing still and enduring the pain.

Aizawa-sensei's monotone voice was heard, critiquing the groups and disbanding them. Voices chattered around Kaminari's head as he was led, still by Bakugou, to where he would guess was the locker room.

Bakugou was really a big softie wasn't he? Kaminari knew his secret.

He was sat down on a bench. Or, he hoped it was a bench. "We're in the locker room pikachu" Bakugou informed, pulling away, probably to change back into his school clothes.

Kaminari allowed the feeling to return to his limbs and replace the achy pain. It wasn't strange for him to return to his normal state, Aizawa even gave him a pass to be late to the next class.

When his vision finally returned, the locker room was empty. Well, almost empty. Bakugou sat on the bench across from him, staring at him intently.

Kaminari blinked, a small confused noise escaping past his lips. "Dude?" He asked, his voice cracked as he backpedaled. "Are you some kind of stalker? What's up? Why are you here and staring at me? Do I have drool on my face?"

Bakugou snorted, leaning back against the lockers. "No- well yes, you do have fucking drool on your face- but no, I'm not a shitty stalker."

Denki wiped his face free of any saliva. "Well yeah, I would hope not. But why are you here?" He repeated.

"I had a fuckin' question."

"Shoot." Kaminari struggled to put in his locker combo for a solid minute, his fingers still shaky with pain.

"Why the fuck do you lie? Why do you act the way you do?" Bakugou narrowed his eyes at him, and Kaminari felt as if he was looking directly through all of his deception.

Kaminari slid his arms through the shirt sleeves, starting on the buttons and struggling with them. "I dunno what you mean."

Bakugou stood stiffly, and Kaminari could practically hear his teeth grinding together. Jeez, he really felt bad for the dudes dentist. "The fuck you don't."

Kaminari didn't know how Katsuki Bakugou, of all people, figured him out. Those sharp eyes of his saw right through his funny guy act. Sure, he was naturally funny, just... he used it to hide the pain.

It was an unhealthy coping mechanism, he knew, but what else was there for him to do?

"Bakubro, are you sure ya didn't hit your head out on the field?"

"Enough!" Bakugou barked, slamming his fist against the locker, the booming sound echoing through the locker room. "Just-" when he looked up, Kaminari could see that look on his face. He wore it himself sometimes. "Fuckin tell me. I- I understand more than you think."

Kaminari stopped attempting to get his last few buttons, instead studying Bakugou. Was he, the most explosive careless Kaminari had ever met, trying to be nice?

"Your... serious about this."

"Tch, of fucking course I am. So spill or we’re sitting here for the rest of the day."

So Kaminari did. The words flowed past his lips before he could stop them. Feelings he had desperately hidden finally revealed. He vented to the one person he never expected to confide in. Ever.

His quirk was shitty. It hurt like hell. People laughed at him and it messed him up more than he let on. He is the comedy relief. He was the lowest ranking on pretty much everything in their class.

It was hard.

And Bakugou listened, never interrupting, only humming when Kamianri trailed off. And by the end of his ramble, Denki had tears trailing down his cheeks. He rubbed them away in embarrassment.

"Wow" Bakugou snorted, but it wasn't in a mean way. "Ya had a lot of shit on your chest. Feel nice now that it's out in the open?"

Kaminari nodded. It truly did. "What about you? You... said you understood me?"

"Yeah, but we'll talk about that later. We have to get to fucking class." Bakugou stood, hefting his school bag over one shoulder.

"Hey, Bakugou?"

The blonde stopped at the doorway, tilting his head back. "Hah?"

"Thanks, I needed that."

"Whatever, you can talk to me whenever the fuck you want to. You have shitty problems." He exited the room, that air of confidence surrounding him like it always did.

And yeah, Kaminari had made a new friend.

Chapter Text

Jiro wasn’t much like her other classmates. Most of them, she knew, had been aspiring to be hero’s at a freakishly young age. She figured it was most people’s dreams, being able to shine in the public’s eye and save lives, even if it was ranked one of the hardest occupations in Japan. But Jiro wanted to shine in a different way, up on a stage doing what she did best.

While her other classmates had their strong passions of being the greatest heroes, Bakugou being a prime example, she focused on what she herself was passionate about. Studying her music and performing it.

It was a hard choice attending UA when she had a perfect opportunity to go to a performing arts school for her music. Like the others, she wanted to spread her message to help people. Music had crazy ways of helping people, though there was always a lingering fear that she would fail. Her one dream to spread her message would be crushed if she wasn’t good enough in the fiercely talented music industry, so she formulated a plan.

In hero work, you could also change people’s lives. You can save them. And now that Jiro was in school to become a hero, more options were opening themselves up to her. So she works on music as a side study while working to be the best hero she could be.

It wasn’t impossible, heck, she knew a few heroes who performed music on the side. In fact, one of them happened to be her teacher, who was standing in front of her at the moment, presenting her with a golden opportunity so generous that her jaw was on the floor.

“Don’t catch flies kid, I’ll give you time to think about it, yeah?” Present Mic chuckled, kicking his legs up on the teaching podium, his rolling chair creaking with effort. If Aizawa was here he would kick him out of the room for sitting like a ‘child.’

Jiro quickly regained her composure, her mouth closing with the clack of her teeth. Present Mic, one of the most popular hero pop stars, was inviting Jiro and her band to open at his next concert. Her eyes almost watered just imagining the immense amount of people that would get to hear her sing, to spread her message. She had to look behind herself in the empty classroom just to make sure he was actually talking to her.

“You- you’re serious?”

The teacher nodded his head, a smug smile on his face.

“This- this is a crazy opportunity! I’ll do it, j-just let me get the music together and-“

Present Mic leaned back in his chair, it looked dangerously close to toppling over, but somehow it stayed upright. “No need to panic, little listener, I always have at least one student who is as emotionally attached to music as I am.” He dramatically pulled a blonde strand of hair behind his ear. “I’ll throw out a bone for you to help kickstart your career. You got a promising talent.”

Jiro bent low into a bow “thank you Mic-sensei, I won’t let you down I promise.”

The blonde hero waved her off “I know, now go do that English homework I assigned you and let me know what you're going to be playing.”

“Of course.”

As Jiro left to trek back to the dorms and bask in victory when she announced the great news, she figured she would never turn in a late assignment ever again. Well, for English. She didn’t see Aizawa-sensei dishing out any record deals.

——

Jiro’s band members were composed of Kaminari, who volunteered to join when their bassist dropped out. Yosetsu Awase and Manga Fukidashi from class 1-B also joined soon after Class 1-A’s performance for the festival. Manga didn’t play an instrument, but gladly helped with the lyric writing process and displayed the lyrics with his quirk for the crowd to see. It was a huge hit to have the words out for everyone to see, apparently.

Shinsou and a few of Jiro’s other middle school friends manned the other instruments, all in all they were a solid band. They performed occasional gigs at small places, but never before have they done a concert.

The class enthusiastically congratulated her when she arrived back to the dorms, Kaminari was practically bouncing off the walls at the good news. Together they sifted through their top songs, creating a book of their potential music choices. They worked so late into the night that when Aizawa went on his nightly rounds he kicked them from the common room couches, escorting them to their room with a blank face.

The next day Jiro and Kaminari stomped up to the teachers lounge proudly, the song spread in hand, and presented it to Present Mic. He scanned the pages and time limits, nodding in satisfaction. “Perfect time slot! It’ll work out!”

“Hmm? What’s up?” Midnight asked, curiously poking her head from behind her computer.

“I got an opening band to perform for my show is what’s up.” Present Mic flapped the paper in her face.

“Oh, I’ll be sure to invite the staff then! It’ll be fun.”

Kaminari and Jiro watched the interaction with flushed faces. Not only would both class 1-A and 1-B be attending, but the schools staff?! It was overwhelming.

Present Mic shuffled around in his chair, plucking a pen from a nearby pencil cup and jotting down a few notes before handing the paper back off to Kaminari.

“You got a month before the big show, rehearse hard little listeners.”

“Yes sir!” Kaminari, the dunce, actually saluted. Jiro dragged him out of there, embarrassed on his behalf.

—-

As the days passed quickly, they practiced non stop everyday or, from what Bakugou could tell, they were. It was getting fucking annoying, the concert was all the idiots chattered about during their free time.

Even when he was with Kirishima, the person he trusted the most in the fucking world, it was discussed. About a week before the show, when Kirishima asked if he was going to the concert, Bakugou felt completely and utterly betrayed.

“Shut the fuck up” he mumbled, glaring up from where he was chopping the onion. Whoever cried while chopping these abominations needed to see a fucking therapist for being such pussies.

“Aww don’t be mean, I was just asking if you wanted to go see it with me.” Kirishima pouted, wrapping his arms around Bakugou’s shoulders and slumping.

“Like a fucking date?”

“No Kat, I just want to go hang out in a completely platonic way.” Kirishima stated, sarcasm laced in his tone.

“Really fuckin’ smart of you to patronize me when I have a knife, Eijiro.”

Kirishima scooted away cautiously “okay but… do you want to?”

“What, go to the shitty concert?”

“...yes?”

Bakugou carefully put his knife down onto the cutting board, twisting around to face his boyfriend with an exasperated sigh. “If you really want to go then yes, I’ll fucking tolerate the other extras.”

“Aww!” Kirishima gushed, pulling Katsuki into a hug “the things you do for me, I love you!”

“Yeah yeah, now get the hell off of me.” Bakugou grumbled, pushing his hand against Kirishima's face when he refused to let go.

“Ow! Ow! Onion hands!”

“That’s what you get fucker. Now move, let me wash my hands.”

——

One week until showtime quickly turned into a few days, and Jiro was starting to lose her shit. She knew they had their songs well rehearsed and memorized, but as any true musician felt before a show, she was never prepared enough. A swell of anxiety bubbled in her stomach.

She could practically feel that something terrible was going to happen.

Then the days blew by in the blink of an eye, and now she was sitting in front of her mirror backstage, hours before the concert, her nerves had only increased since then. Her band members and present Mics were filtering into the other seats.

She had time to converse with Present Mic’s band, and quickly realized they were much like him. Easy-going and collected, even if they horse played much like the teenagers in her band did, she could tell they were a singular unit and worked as a well oiled machine.

“What’s cracking Jiro!” Kaminari shouted directly in her ear, making her jolt in surprise, her ear Jack poking him in the ribs.

“Ow! That hurt.”

“Good, don’t yell in my ear.”

Kaminari arrived significantly later than everyone else, apparently he had to carpool with poor Bakugou and Kirishima. “We’re on in an hour, how do you feel?”

An hour? Had Jiro really been thinking for that long? “Fine.”

Kaminari frowned, pulling up a chair to sit next to her instead of crouching. “You look sick, you're even twirling with your ear jacks like you do when you're nervous!”

Jiro grit her teeth, hands dropping from her ears. “Shut up.” She ignored the blonde as she bent down to riffle in her makeup bag for the eyeliner she had yet to apply. She angled the liquid eyeliner stick to her right eye, quickly realizing that her hands were far too shaky to make a straight line.

She scanned the rest of the room, they were all similarly preparing for the show. Shinsou was busy working on his own makeup, manga and Yosetsu weren’t big on makeup, but Tendou was helping them out. They were all occupied.

“Ugh, Kaminari?”

“Hmm?”

“Can you grab Bakugou and tell him to get his ass in gear and help me with my makeup.”

“I got you, maybe he can help me with mine too.” Denki was already up and trotting to the curtains, narrowly missing tripping over the wires on the floor. Idiot.

He soon returned with a reluctant Bakugou and a chipper Kirishima, who was chatting with Present Mic and dragging Katsuki along. “Got em! Though has anyone seen Benjiro? He hasn’t shown yet…”

“What?! Does anyone know where he is?” Jiro slipped her silenced phone from her pocket to be faced with no new notifications. Bakugou dove straight for her makeup bag, finding the wanted items and turning back to her.

“Tilt your head up, bitch.”

“Huh, nice to see you too, hoe.” Jiro angled her face to give Bakugou better access. “But seriously, any word from him-“

“Ah! He’s calling right now!” Kaminari exclaimed, pressing the answer icon and pulling the phone to his ear. “Ben, dude, your running seriously late-“

A beat of silence.

“Huh? Seriously? C’mon man!” Judging by Kaminari uncharacteristic yelling, Jiro could tell that whatever Benjiro was saying was not good.
“Fine, be that way.” Kaminari huffed, hanging up the phone and sitting it face down onto the makeup station next to him.

“What was that about?” Shinsou called from his place on the other side of Jiro, not looking away from the mirror.

“Apparently Benjiro quits.”

Jiro was glad that she wasn’t the one who was doing her makeup, because she would have completely ruined it. Present Mic halted his conversation with Kirishima, and if he was a dog, his ears would have been poking up. “A band member ditched you?”

Kaminari nodded solemnly “yeah, said he’s too nervous and that he couldn’t take the pressure of being in the band anymore.”

Jiro frowned, Benjiro wasn’t the type to randomly drop out of anything without a notice. Though he wasn’t one to stay committed either. She was surprised to learn that he even wanted to stick with their band through high school, especially when most of the other members quit.

She was pissed though, that it had to be now of all times that he finally dropped out.

“That’s no good, what does he play?” Present Mic asked, “we may be able to find someone who can sub in for him.”

“He’s our drummer, and a good one at that. I can’t believe he would just quit like that.” Yosetsu huffed, standing from his booth to approach them. “How are we going to find someone that skilled in such a short notice?”

“I would offer our drummer but…”

Jiro cut her teacher off “no, he’s gotta focus on your band, not ours. Besides, it won’t be too hard to find such a talented and experienced drummer, I’m sure we can figure it out…” she hummed, looking pointedly to Bakugou, who sat crouched in front of her zoned out.

“Move your fucking head” he grumbled “what were you saying?”

“Kat, I think they want you to be their drummer.” Eijiro offered, nudging him slightly with his foot.

“Get your dirty ass shoe off of me” Bakugou swatted him away. Then, he halted his makeup job, scrunching up his nose. “So what, you want me to just fuckin’ sight read the notes?”

“... you can do that?” Present Mic asked, looking a bit surprised. Yeah, Jiro was surprised to find out that Bakugou too was a music prodigy like herself. Apparently he had been doing the drums since a very young age, his mom thought it would be a good way to convey his emotions non lethally.

“Of fuckin’ course I can- ready for the eyeliner?”

Jiro closed an eye, letting the blonde swipe a stupidly perfect wing in just one attempt. Seriously, what was he not good at?! It was annoying.

“Well, looks like we found our drummer, Manga, you think you can show him the music notes to play while playing the song's lyrics on your front side?” Shinsou asked, getting a nod in affirmation from Manga.

“Hold the fuck up, I never said I would acually help. I’m supposed to be on a date with this idiot.” Bakugou’s sentence was muffled, he held the eyeliner cap between his teeth.

“No! I don’t mind” Kirishima chirped “I think it’s manly that you’re going to step in like that.

Bakugou’s eyes flashed up to Jiro’s “anything in it for me?”

Jiro smirked “oh yeah.”

——

Apparently the popularity and money were good reasons, but what pushed Bakugou over the edge was the fact that All Might would be attending. Apparently he really wanted to impress him. What a fanboy.

Bakugou made quick work of his own makeup, changing into a red tank top and black cargo pants and chains. Kirishima made a quick run back to his house to grab the clothes, Bakugou insisting on the tank top to allow for a better drumming job.

Drummers deserved mad respect in Jiro’s opinion, they threw their whole upper body into the music. Hell, they created the beat, If the drummer messed up then everyone messed up. And yeah, their arms were always ripped. Nothing to complain about there.

The crowd was huge, the largest one Jiro had ever performed in front of. She could spot her classmates and teachers sitting in the front, looking up at her with encouraging eyes. Everything above them was obscured by the spotlight.

Jiro loved the spotlight shining directly in her face, it felt right to be under it. It also hid her vision from all of the prying eyes.

Yes, Jiro lived for performing, but that didn’t mean that she never got nervous. Like now. Looking out at the waves of heads, all eyeing her expectantly, her voice caught in her throat.

Shit.

She clenched her fist, her purple and black shirt shimmered under the light. It was about time to start, so why didn’t she?

She should have signaled for Bakugou to start drumming by now, but she couldn’t bring herself to lift her hand.

People in the crowd started whispering to each other and Jiro could almost hear the things they were saying. She knew she wouldn’t be good enough, she knew she wasn’t prepared. So why did she accept to be here if she was only going to screw up her teacher's performance?

She felt her breaths picking up. Oh god, what was present mic going to say-

The drums started behind her, picking up a harsh furious beat. She jumped and twisted around to see her band members looking at her expectantly. Bakugou continued playing a slow staccato version of the beat to the song they were opening up with, drum sticks twirling in his hands with an eased expertise. He was in his element.

Then, he pointed a drum stick up to get the crowd's attention, by now the lights shifted to cover him. “Alright people!” He yelled so loud that he didn’t even need a microphone to be heard clearly by the crowd. “Prepare to be fuckin’ shell shocked! Are you ready?!”

Jiro knew what he was doing, he was getting the crowd hyped up, while at the same time buying her time to collect herself. She steeled herself, gathering her confidence and turning back to the mic.

“That was lame! Louder if you want us to play for you!”

The crowd reacted well to Bakugou’s goading, roaring loud enough that Jiro could feel the vibrations on the stage below her. She was ready, she could do this.

“I’ll take it!” Bakugou grinned savagely, satisfied. He bounced in his chair as he picked up the pace, eyes occasionally looking back up to the notes Manga projected in front of him.

Confidence surged through Jiro as she felt the adrenaline pump through her veins. She didn’t even have to think about the notes or words as she sang, completely forgetting about the crowd in front of her as she felt the music.

Something about Bakugou drumming was completely different from Benjiro’s, it was harsher, more precise and full of passion. It lit an unholy fire under Jiro, and the rest of the bands' hearts as they played the best performance they ever performed before.

They received a standing ovation once finished, the applause was deafening and it was music to Jiro’s ears.

—-

“Wow” Kaminari giggled “now that was unbelievable.”

They all slumped down on the couches behind stage, performers high fading away. Coming down from it was Jiro’s favorite feeling, so she basked in it, a dorky smile on her face.

“That was the best show we’ve ever done.” Yosetsu grinned, distributing out water bottles to them. “Bakugou man, that was some amazing drumming, I’m amazed you could do that well on the spot.”

“Tch” Bakugou panted, chugging down the water bottle in one swig. Sweat beaded his body and his arm muscles pulsated, Jiro could tell that those were going to be sore in the morning. “It was mediocre. Wait till you see me with some good fucking practice.”

Jiro grinned slyly, opening her own water bottle. “Does this mean you’ll join then?”

There was a pause as Bakugou’s fiery red gaze swept across the room, studying the scene. “I’ll take you up on that fuckin’ offer.”

Jiro was glad that things turned out the way they did, even if they lost a band member they gained another valuable one in his loss.

And damn was Bakugou a good drummer.

Chapter Text

Shouji was a quiet, yet dedicated student. He did not have a loud personality like Kaminari or Mina, but he was okay with that, he grew accustomed to remaining quiet and studying interactions. In fact, he quite liked it.

It wasn't like he didn't have any friends, because he had way more now than he ever did in his home town. He was thankful for the experience of branching out and meeting new people, all with different perspectives.

Shoji was striving to be the best hero he could, though there was a certain problem he never acknowledged. It was a crucial part of being a hero. He wasn't running away from the issue, no he wasn't that type of man. He just needed an opportunity to handle it.

And to his mixture of fear and relief, one would present itself soon.

"We will be taking a trip to the local orphanage tomorrow." Aizawa announced before the bell rang. Shouji felt his heart beat pick up. "We will be learning how to correctly deal with children since we are closing in on the unit of rescue."

Shouji was not good with kids in the slightest. He was awkward at best, letting them climb his arms when they begged him. He didn't have the best experience with children when he was younger, they were always scared of his unnatural body shape and pointedly avoided talking to him. It made him feel lonely, isolated. And as he grew, so did his quirk. He ended up scaring a poor little girl so bad that he wore a mask.

He felt the need to shield them from his monster like appearance, but there was only so much he could do. He wasn't self conscious of his looks, no, Shouji was comfortable in his own skin for the most part. But he knew from experience that the world didn't take too kindly to people who looked different.

He hoped to change that by becoming a capable hero. And to do that, he needed to face these fears and learn to be compatible with children. He would need to save them one day, after all.

Even if Shouji wanted to be a stealth hero, he would show the world that there was nothing to be afraid of. Starting at this orphanage.

"You sure are thinking a lot, what's eating you up?" Ojiro asked after the bell rang. He was one of the few people in class that could tell the difference between Shouji's normal behavior and when he overthought. He appreciated having such a good friend.

"The orphanage" he answered honestly, he wasn't the type of person to lie to someone once they gained his trust.

"Huh, you like kids?"

"No, not really."

"Oh."

——-

Bakugou hated his shitty fucking luck. First off, he had to waste a whole fucking day taking care of brats instead of training. Second off, he actually knew these brats. It wouldn't be as fucking weird if he didn't know the kids, that way he could just sulk in the fucking corner and give Aizawa-sensei a peace of his mind.

But now he would have to actually fucking participate. Maybe if he was lucky they would get the message and pretend they didn't know him. But knowing those obnoxious brats...

"Ugh" Katsuki groaned, furiously rubbing at his eyes, shuffling all the way to the back of the bus. He would cross that bridge when he got there, for now, he had half an hour to stew in his own distress.

If his mother didn't make him fucking volunteer at the shitty orphanage his first year of middle school to 'soothe his anger issues,' then he wouldn't be in this situation. Fuck her, his anger issues were perfectly in fine.

"What's wrong babe?" Eijiro whispered under his breath once they got settled into the two back seats. Well, at least Bakugou wouldn't suffer in silence. Kirishima already knew about the situation, he sometimes even visited the kids once a week with Bakugou. They fucking loved him.

At least Bakugou wasn't alone, though the sentiment was quickly overshadowed by the pounding in his head. The engine of the bus rumbled to life as Aizawa announced some meaningless shit about the trip. Bakugou could feel Eijiro's eyes on him, but couldn't bring himself to rise from his doubled over position.

Fuck migraines.

Eijiro set a firm hand on his back, rubbing it slightly. "Kat? You in there?"

Bakugou hummed in affirmation " 's just stupid fucking headache. Not much sleep." He answered honestly, it wasn't anything Eijiro didn't already know.

"More nightmares? Damn, I'm sorry." Kirishima grumbled lowly, Bakugou appreciated his effort to soothe his migraine. He and Eijiro both knew well that recovery wasn't linear, it would be too fucking easy if it was. There were bad nights and there were even worse nights, his fell into the second category.

"Here" Kirishima grunted, cupping Katsuki's face and bringing it up to rest on his shoulder. "Take a nap until we get there, man, I can't wait to see how the kids are doing, it's been a hot minute since I've visited..." Bakugou let the feeling of ease over take him as a jacket was draped over him.

—-

The orphanage wasn't what Shouji expected it to be. It wasn't one of those large houses surrounded by country side as illustrated in the movies. It was, in fact, a large house, but the paint wasn't chipping and the porch was stone instead of wood. It didn't look like a home, it was pristine like a bank.

The inside had spotless white walls and wooden tiled floors, unbroken vases sat upon undisturbed tables. It didn't look like anyone even lived in the large house, there were no personal touches. It was almost sad.

He could infer that his classmates were thinking along the same lines he was, because they looked around wide eyes as they trickled through the door to follow Aizawa.

From what he understood, they would be staying for the day to help out with the children and grow more accustomed to taking care of others much younger than they were. Shouji had long ago schooled his expression, he would not show discomfort and complain. He was here to learn, after all.

In the living quarters stood a tall woman, a large group of children stood behind her. They all ranged from different heights, ages, races, and even a few mutation quirks. Shoji had never seen so much diversity in a single room before, it made him feel more welcomed.

The woman's warm eyes scanned them, but lingered on someone as Aizawa-sensei stepped next to her. Shoji followed her gaze to see Bakugou- who had been oddly quiet today, even falling asleep on the bus.- Was he trying to hide behind Kirishima?

A smile broke over the woman's face, it reached her eyes, no bad intentions detected there. "Bakugou and Kirishima, is that you? I wasn't expecting you to visit with your class!"

Shouji felt his eyes widen slightly as the rest of the class shuffled around to look at the couple curiously. Bakugou was already sauntering to the front of the room, Kirishima at his side. Despite the tough demeanor he held, Shouji could see the exhaustion seeping from the blondes movements, his usually sharp fiery eyes were dulled.

"Hi Ms. Kyouko" he mumbled, Kirishima echoing the sentiment enthusiastically. Surprisingly, the woman pulled them both into a hug. She was the height of Kirishima, leaving Bakugou to be the shortest of the three person sandwich. It would have been quite a sight if Bakugou didn't actually lean into it, looking bone tired.

Aizawa raised an eyebrow, clearing his throat. "How, might I ask, do you know each other?"

"Oh-" Kirishima opened his mouth to answer, but Bakugou slapped a hand over it. " 's not a big deal, we just visit sometimes."

Aizawa didn't push further, allowing the lady- Ms. Kyouko- to take the reigns on their lesson. Just as explained before, while she would be out all day, the kids would be left under the classes care. Easy enough.

Through the next few hours of entertaining children, Shouji learned two things of importance. One, is that he preferred to chill in the isolated corner with a kid he had yet to socialize with. They didn't talk and that was okay.

And Two, that Katsuki Bakugou was surprisingly good at taking care of the kids. He called them his brats, and no matter how much he screamed and yelled, the children couldn't get enough of him. Maybe their minds weren't developed enough to wrap around the fact that he was threatening to rip out their tongues if they ate before everyone got the proper serving.

It wasn't typical behavior of a hero course student, but Shouji couldn't judge. At least he was taking care of them, even if it was viscous mothering. Shouji looked down to the kid by his side who was reading a picture book, and decided that if he ever wanted to get over his awkwardness with children, then this was a good place to start.

He gently nudged the boys shoulder "what are you reading?"

The boy, who couldn't have been more than seven years of age, immediately slammed his novel shut, hiding it in his jacket as if Shouji would take it. "You can't have it."

Shouji shrugged, his arms moving with the movement. He didn't miss the badly concealed look of awe the kid shot him. "Okay."

There was a beat of silence, but Shouji could tell that the conversation wasn't over. "Hey Mr... why do you have all of those arms?" He expected the question, a lot of people asked how he managed having so many limbs. So he gave the young boy the same response he gave everyone else who asked. Something his Mother told him countless times in his childhood when he came home crying, wondering why he had to be so different from all of the other kids.

"I was gifted with these arms to protect people who cannot protect themselves."

As if Shouji had actually reassured him, the boy slowly took his book back out. His eyes never leaved Shouji's build, but that was okay. 

"It's Manga."

Shouji nodded, eyeing the cover. He had read the first few volumes of the manga the kid clutched. "Is that Bleach?"

The kids eyes lit up as he nodded, the room practically lit up with his smile. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad, he would work with one kid at a time to become accustomed to them. "You know what Mr? You remind me of Chad, my favorite character." He shoved the book in Shouji's face, little chubby fingers pointing to the cover.

"You may call me Shouji."

"Cool name!" The boy flashed another smile "Mines Hisao."

Time ticked away as they conversed in their little corner, Hisao coming out of his shell, talking about anything and everything while Shouji nodded along. The class was up playing with the others, Aizawa asleep in the corner.

A group of little ones chatted in the corner, blatantly staring at them and looking away when Shouji waved at them.

"They're mean."  Hisao blankly stated, going back to his book.

Shouji let the group cautiously approach him. Three boys and two girls in total. One of the girls stepped up, hair in pigtails. An air of authority hung around her.

"She's the leader" Hisao stage whispered, answering his silent question. She didn't show any indication that she heard him.

"Can you give us" she jutted her fingers to her group "a piggy back ride?"

Shouji shrugged, slowly standing from his comfortable spot. His legs ached from sitting for so long. "Okay, but one at a time-"

"Yes!" One of the boys cheered, his two front teeth were missing. Before Shouji could stop them they all crowded around him, reaching up to latch onto his arms like ornaments on a Christmas tree. Shouji would settle with his fate, then.

Hisao snorted from his perch on the floor, nose so far into the novel that Shouji couldn't see his face. "I told ya they were rude."

"Uh huh..."

The children on his arms proceeded to climb farther up like he was some sort of tree, it was almost impressive. They completely disregarded him as they squabbled with each other, occasionally ordering him to walk to certain places.

Shouji figured that he was supposed to be entertaining them, so it was working out.

Of course, until the other kids crowded around him, giving him the forbidden puppy eyes. "We can take turns-" he attempted to announce, but was overtaken when the kids started to pile on him.

Now Shouji was a strong person, so he kept his ground. He flexed his arms in order to keep them spread for the children to climb on. This was fine, everything was controlled. He didn't have the heart to push them off, it would be too awkward anyways, so he let them be.

His attention was captured when Ojiro approached, a small smile on his face. "I thought you hated kids?"

"Hate is a strong word-"

Two kids, the girl with pigtails and the boy with two missing teeth, started yelling louder than they already were, sounding heated. Shouji was unsure of what to do with their tussle on his highest right arm.

"... you should probably put them down before she punches him." Ojiro suggested, tail swishing behind him.

Before Shouji could make a move, the girl growled furiously, grabbing the boys dark hair and flinging him off of his shoulder. Time slowed as Shouji watched him fall in shock, his other arms too occupied to even attempt to reach him. This was why he only wanted one kid at a time.

A fall from this height wouldn't hurt the kid too bad, but it would be painful.

He could see Ojiro attempt to reach the the boy out of the corner of his eye, but he was too far away. Shouji prepared for the inevitable crash that never came. He squinted open his eyes to see Bakugou on the floor with the boy held securely in his arms.

The kids all stared at the scene in wonder and started clapping, the class joining in. Bakugou ignored them, rising from his place on the floor to check over the boy. "Are you hurt?" And wow, he was putting others before himself.

"No, my scalp only hurts a bit." The boy denied even though tears were forming at the rim of his eyes. He must have been scared. Bakugou ruffled his hair before flickering his eyes over Shouji's form.

"Six arms you had one job" he growled, standing from his crouched position. "You need to learn some fu- freaking authority and don't let others, especially little brats, push you around. You are equals when you watch them, take control. If you say one at a time, make sure it actually happens next time." And with those parting words, he stood on his tippy toes to pluck the girl in pig tails from Shouji's shoulder to drag to the corner.

The class stared in awe as the kids started clambering off of Shouji's arms, muttering their sorry's.

"He's a real mother hen isn't he?" Kirishima snorted from next to him, helping with the unloading process. "Sorry about that, he's not having the best day."

"No" Shouji shook his head "he was correct in his opinion. I am not the best with children and wish to get better."

Kirishima watched him with curious red eyes "Well that was off to a bad start, wanna try again?"

——-

That day, Shouji decided, was a wreck. No matter his much Kirishima encouraged him to interact with the other children, there was only so much he could do. He simply sat in the corner with Hisao for the rest of the time before they were herded back to the bus.

When Shouji turned back to apologize to Bakugou, who was only a row behind him, he quickly retreated when he saw the blonde asleep with his head Kirishima's lap. He would talk to him later, but for now let him rest. He seemed to be in a slump of sorts. Like he wasn't sleeping enough. Shoji knew what a stress migraine looked like and Bakugou definitely had that.

Though his mind was mostly on his complete failure. Sure, he managed to at least talk with one child but Bakugou was right. He wouldn't get anywhere with his current attitude.

But now it was afternoon the next day, and Bakugou had remained quiet and significantly less explosive. Shouji's thoughts lingered around his failure. He figured that maybe there was a way to help the both of them.

This line of thought brought him to the kitchen, a forbidden territory when Bakugou was cooking. And it just so happened that he was, moving around in the large space with grace and authority. This wasn't their kitchen, it was his. Though the way he quietly set pots and pans down was a stark contrast to the way he normally made as much as a racket as he possibly could.

Kirishima stood in the corner, scrolling through his phone. He occasionally chuckled at something, shoving it in front of Bakugous face to share what was on the screen. It was strangely endearing seeing the two so domestic.

When the red head noticed him, he smiled brightly and waved him over. Shouji eyed Bakugou, who was chopping onions, before shuffling into the room. He was fully prepared for a knife to be thrown at him, but instead Bakugou shot him an exasperated look over his shoulder. Like a disappointed mother.

Shouji shivered at the comparison.

"Is there something ya wanna say Shouji?" Kirishima prodded, and Shouji was just surprised he hadn't been kicked out yet. So he took his opportunity and held out a box for his two classmates to inspect.

"Fucking tea? Why?" Bakugou grunted, turning back to stir the soup in the pot.

"I could tell you have been having issues with migraines. You have been oddly quiet all week." Shouji answered, letting Kirishima take the box in hand and ogle it.

"Isn't that what you fuckers want? For me to be fucking quiet for once?"

Shouji frowned from under his mask, not missing the concerned look Kirishima gave his boyfriend. It must really be a rough week then. "No matter how much the silence is enjoyable, I feel that I speak for all of our classmates when I say that we miss the loud Bakugou."

"Well" Bakugou looked down at the box, the look of defeat on his face looked so wrong compared to his usually head strong attitude. "I've already tried tea and it doesn't fucking work."

Shouji came prepared, pulling a mug off of the counter. He had assumed this would be Bakugou's answer, so he made a cup beforehand. "Try it, it's a secret recipe in my family."

Bakugou begrudgingly took the mug, curiously eyeing it before taking a small sip. His tense expression immediatly morphed to a peaceful one. He handed the cup off to Kirishima before whipping back around to face Shouji. "Where in the hell can I get more."

"I have more if you would like."

Bakugou nodded, seemingly satisfied before turning off the burner on the stove. Apparently the soup was done. "Whaddya want?"

"Come again?"

"I said, what. Do. You. Want?" Bakugou growled "it feels fucking wrong just taking your shit. I'm a jerk but I'm not a thief."

Shouji swore he heard Kirishima muttering about how manly Bakugou was, but he decided to ignore it. He wasn't expecting much of anything in return, in fact, this interaction went far better than he had anticipated. "How are you so good with children?" He asked bluntly.

Bakugou raised an eyebrow "what, the brats?"

Shouji nodded, watching closely as Bakugou distributed the soup out into two bowls. " 's not that hard. I've been watching them since my first fucking year of middle school. Ya just gotta get used to them and learn to have authority. Why do you ask?"

"I would just like to be a good hero. Hero's have to deal with children a lot." Shouji stated "but I've never been good with them considering I didn't have much experience playing with others when I was little. No one liked my quirk."

Kirishima made the noise of a kicked puppy as he scooped soup into his mouth. "Man, that's depressing."

Shouji blinked "it is?"

"Yeah shit fucking sucks. The more you learn about children the more you know that they are ruthlessly honest fucking demons. They have no filter and don't care about anyone but themselves. I fucking hate kids." Bakugou explained, not once raising his voice. His head must really be hurting.

"Sounds a lot like you Kat-"

"Shut the hell up, Eijiro." Katsuki seethed, turning back to Shouji. "How 'bout you come every weekend to help out with the little shits?"

Shouji's eyes widened at the offer, nodding. "That is a very kind offer."

The blonde shrugged, slouching down into the dining room table chair next to Kirishima. " 's not a big deal, don't make it one. Less work for us anyways." He averted his gaze "besides, you're fucking trying and I can respect that."

Kirishima gushed at Bakugou's display of generosity while Shouji studied him. "You really are changing, aren't you?"

Bakugou sneered, making a truly ugly face. Some things never changed. "So what? Everyone fucking changes dipshit, it's called life. Now go before I blast you."

Shouji swiftly exited the room, he was pushing the boundaries a bit too far for his comfort. He smiled behind his mask as Bakugou called after him "Seven O'clock on Saturday! Don't be late or we'll leave you!"

Katsuki Bakugou really had been changing before the classes very eyes. Now Shouji did believe the rumors. He was a little rough around the edges, but undeniable hero material. And, apparently, mother material.

Chapter Text

Eri wasn’t accustomed to having people care for her, so when she was induced into the tight knit family known as class 1-A, she was overwhelmed. She wasn’t sure how to act around them. Admittedly, they were weird. When she dropped a glass the other day she didn’t even receive a punishment or any cruel words thrown at her. Instead the occupants of the lounge room and kitchen climbed over each other to help her clean up the mess and make sure she was unharmed. The feeling of being cared for made her feel light, like she could walk on the fluffy clouds in the sky.

It was nice being able to express herself more and more, she received constant praise for her shy personality and how she was coming out of her shell. The only positive comments she received at her old home were ones related to how powerful her quirk was. But she didn’t care about that, she wanted people to see her for her personality. Now, that was finally happening and she couldn’t be more happy.

Eri felt safe in her new home in the dorms, surrounded by heroes in training and pros. Mr. Eraserhead even went out of his way to tell her where his room was in case she ever needed anything. He was really nice. Just like everyone else she had met so far, well, maybe not that Monoma dude, he creeped her out.

Life was good for Eri and she was happy, but for some reason she could always feel Mr. Chisaki watching her. Like he was waiting for the perfect opportunity to just snatch her away and steal her from this too perfect life. Most nights she stared at the wall above her, fluffy blankets pulled up past her nose. When she did sleep, her dreams were plagued with him. She was back at her old home, her being rescued by the hero's was all a fake twisted reality she had made up in her mind to keep her hopeful. Those dreams were the worst of all, she would shoot up from the comfort of her mattress, shivering and desperately scratching at her wrist and ankles to get the chains off of them.

Eri knew she could always go to Mr. Eraserhead for anything, he said so himself, but she didn’t want to bother him. She was a big kid, practically a grown up, and she could handle a bad dream by herself. Even if they sometimes left her gasping for air and crying for mercy. She had to learn to push the past behind her and move forwards. Maybe she could even become a superhero just like Deku and Mirio!

Unfortunately, she did not dream of superheroes, instead it was the same horrible dream that had been looping in her mind for a week now. Chisaki took her and the class that had been so nice to Eri struggled to get her back, only to fail at the cost of their own lives. Eri rubbed her cheeks raw to rid her face of the tears, even if they kept spilling down. Her vision was obscured as she leapt from the bed, tripping over a blanket and crashing to the floor. She couldn’t prevent the panicked wail that escaped past her lips as she clawed to get her ankles free. Like a newborn deer, she clumsily fumbled back to her feet, crashing out into the hallway and sprinting down the hallway.

Anything to get her away from the dark shadows of the room. To get her away from him. She wasn’t sure where she was going, only aware of the sound of her bare feet slapping against the hallways floor and her staccato whimpers. Then she tripped over the first step of the stairwell, the misstep sending her tumbling down the whole flight. Eri threw her hands over her head to brace for impact on the harsh kitchen floor, which is where she figured out she had been running to. Eri quickly grew confused when the imminent crash never came, her body was held still as her world tilted back on its axis.

Eri cracked open one eye to come face to face with one of the 1-A students. She couldn’t remember the names of the whole class, especially the ones who never socialized with the others in the commons area. The only thing she recognized was the spiky blonde hair and a pair of red eyes that matched her own. Then the name clicked into place, this was the angry boy who won the sports festival.

“-Id?”

“Kid, can ya hear me? If you can, then nod for me.” The angry blonde instructed, sounding more calm than she had ever heard him.

She numbly nodded as she was set down on the bottom step, the student crouching in front of her, studying her with his sharp eyes. “Hey, you need to breathe with me now.” His tone remained soothing as he cupped one of her hands in his own, bringing it up to his chest. She immediately felt the strong thrumming of his pulse underneath her palm, and instinctively relaxed. The pace of her breathing slowed to a bearable amount, it didn't feel like her lungs were being crushed and her head no longer spun.

“Okay, good. Tell me one thing you can see?”

Eri sniffled, hiccupping as her eyes trailed across the room. Thankfully it wasn’t pitch dark or she would be spiraling again, the kitchen light was on, casting a dim glow upon the angry boy. “I- I see y-your eyes. They m-match mine.”

The boy snorted, a small grin flickering over his lips. Eri could tell that it was a rare occurrence to get him to smile. “Okay kid” the boy continued “what can you feel?”

“...The c-carpet under m-my fingers.”

The questions continued at a slow pace, Eri answering them with relative ease until finally her breath was under her control. “Thank you sir.”

“Don’t call me sir, it makes me feel fuc- freaking old. The names Katsuki Bakugou.” The boy stood up and leisurely stretched as he looked down at her with curious eyes. It wasn’t the dark curiosity the scientist showed, it was genuine worry. “Are ya’ hurt or anything?”

Eri shakily stood up with him, rolling her arms and legs before giving him two thumbs up. “Just a bit sore, thank you sir- uh, Bakugou? Wait, may I call you Kacchan? Isn’t that what Deku calls you?” She questioned as she followed the blonde into the kitchen.

“I don’t care.” Eri didn’t even have to ask Kacchan to lift her onto the counter, he hooked his arms under her armpits and hefted her up next to the teapot without any demand. She watched as he filtered around the kitchen, making something she was unfamiliar with.

“Does this happen a lot?” Kacchan grunted, breaking the silence as he leaned onto the counter space next to her.

“Huh?”

“The panic attacks.” The angry boy clarified “this is tea by the way, here.” He handed her a steaming mug and she eyed it with caution. She trusted him and everyone else in the hero course, but sometimes old habits were hard to break. Kacchan pointedly took a sip from his own cup, proving that it was safe. Eri kicked her legs back and forth, needing something to occupy herself with, ignoring the lead ball forming in her gut.

“I’m not sure what a panic attack is, but if that’s what it was then yes, I’ve had them a few other times before.” The boy nodded, not revealing any internal feelings and only exuding the casual confidence he always did.

“Have you talked to Aizawa-sensei about them?”

“No.”

He nodded, finishing his tea and washing it off with the sink water. He held a hand out and Eri put her own empty mug into it as he cleaned hers too. He was really kind. A warm feeling spread through her chest, the tea was calming her down. “Talk to him when you’re ready, but for now, I’ll be in the kitchen if you need me.” The blonde boy informed, helping Eri back down to the safety of the floor.

She decided that she liked this boy, he was nice. It looked like Eri made a new friend in the class, and a valuable one at that.

Katsuki Bakugou hated fucking kids.

They whined and complained constantly, they were annoying and hyper beings that demanded attention twenty four hours of the fucking day. They slobbered everywhere and shit themselves half the time. It was common knowledge that they were useless and Katsuki had no idea how anyone in their right minds would willingly raise one, much less love one. Anytime he sneered down at one of the little shits, whoever was around him would remind him that he was, in fact, once one of those little demons. And yeah, no shit, he knew that, he wasn’t fucking dumb.

But there was one kid, one brat that Bakugou wouldn’t mind being stuck in a room with.

Eri was a different child, but not strange, giving the circumstances of her shitty ass childhood. He didn’t know much about it, but he did know that he didn’t hate her too much. She was quiet and independent, not at all annoying. It was a trait that fucking everyone should develop, if they didn’t adapt and natural selection took them, then whatever. Who was Katsuki to play the role of god?

She was skittish, which was to be expected, and definitely mentally unstable judging by her panic attacks. But there was judgement from Bakugou, he had them many fucking times himself and was diffidently not mentally stable. Being stable was for losers anyways. She was also incredibly fucking sweet. He felt the uncharacteristic urge to just wrap her in a bubble and protect her from the world. He didn't know why, he just did.

So by the second time she wandered into the kitchen early in the morning, much too fucking early for anyone to even be alive, he wordlessly hefted her onto the counter top and silently made her tea. She didn’t seem panicked this time, just really fucking tired. Seeing the dark rings under such a young persons eyes was fucking offsetting, hell, they looked like his own. Though he had fucking concealer to cover his, it was his own fucking business if he stayed up in order to escape the nightmares.

Katsuki studied her closely as he passed her the warm mug, she took it wordlessly and sipped at it. “What the matter it this time twerp?” He asked, sounding much too tired himself. He had to get his shit together.

Eri’s large red eyes scanned the room, as if someone was listening in on their one sided conversation. “I couldn’t sleep, I thought this drink would help.”

Bakugou leaned back against the countertop, making a small humming noise. He didn’t know why he even cared about her fucking issues or why he grew so soft. It was a weird fucking development that he wanted gone, but he couldn’t turn this little girl away, not when she fucking understood him. “Yeah, tea helps with relaxing.”

“Hey sir, can I ask you something?”

“What is it? And don’t call me that, it’s annoying.”

The girl turned to him, her cheeks puffed out in a determined way. “Why are you always awake? You’re always here every night.”

“Every night? What, d’ya watch me?”

Her cheeks brightened, and for a split second he saw Deku in her flustered expressions. “I- I was too scared to come here, but I saw you. I didn’t want to be alone so I came here tonight. But why are you always up?”

“I dunno, why are you?"

Eri kicked the cabinet in annoyance, seemingly not able to hold so much emotion in that tiny ass body of hers. “I asked you first!”

Well, it looks like he couldn’t fucking divert the conversation topic. “Just can’t fu- freaking sleep” he chose the words carefully. The next sentence almost got lodged in his throat. “I was kidnapped. It wasn’t fun.”

Eri halted in all movement, her carmine eyes darted across the room in a paranoid manner. “I still see him sometimes” she whispered “I think he’ll snatch me up and take me away.” She sniffled, looking up at Katsuki with watery eyes “don’t let him take me away please.”

A protective urge to beat the shit out of that overhaul guy flared up, but he couldn’t. So instead he washed off her mug and led her to the common room couch. “Sir?" she asked What are we doing?”

“I’m going to play a movie and watch it with you until you fall asleep.”

Her eyes widened in surprise, as if no one had done this with her before. “Deal?”

“You won’t leave me?”

“No.” Katsuki dragged a blanket around them and flicked through the TV channels until he found a superhero movie he had seen too many times to count. He set it to a volume that wouldn’t disturb the other sleeping fuckers and turned on the subtitles. The little shit didn’t want to be alone, she felt safe around him. It was a strange feeling to know that, but Bakugou took it to stride. Fuck, it maybe made him feel better too.

Misery loved fucking company.

The last thing Eri remembered before waking up was the bright colors of the TV blending together. She wasn’t able to watch Television at her old place, she just sat in the dark room. Eri appreciated the light the TV shed, it lessened the shadows. But now, the whole room was light with sunlight and bustling with activity. It seemed that she had fallen asleep.

The sound of a camera shutter filled the room, Eri jumped slightly and pulled the blanket away from her head to see where the source of the noise was. It turned out that Mina, the one with pink skin, had her phone pointed to where her and the angry blonde were. Eri scrambled to jump off of the couch, on alert and disappointed in herself. She let her guard down.

“Good morning Eri, I can’t believe Bakugou fell asleep down here!” She exclaimed, a group of classmates forming behind her to get a look at the scene unfolding before them. Eri didn’t answer, instead turning to the couch to see that Kacchan was, In fact asleep on the couch where he was once sitting. The blanket was half draped over his shoulders, his head lolled to the side.

At least he got to sleep.

A red head, who Eri quickly recognized as Kirishima, shouldered through the crowd. As soon as his eyes landed on Kacchan, they softened. “Guys don’t take pictures” he then turned towards Eri “did he stay with you?”

She nodded, watching silently as he gently cupped Bakugou’s face to lift his limp head.

Was he checking for hearing aids?

Kirishima smirked “you’re all lucky he can’t hear you, or you would all be dead.” He then proceeded to lift Bakugou from the couch and swiftly exit the room. Eri thought it was really nice that the blonde boy had someone to look after him.

The following nights were the same, but she felt more well rested than she had in a long time. She usually hung out in the common rooms when the other students were released from classes, a lot of times that nice pink skinned girl wanted to braid her hair. Eri was never able to braid her hair before, so it was cool to learn.

But now during the rare times when Kacchan would stalk down the stairs with Kirishima and into the kitchen. Eri would abandon her activities to see him, and he didn’t even seem to mind. He even cut up apple slices for her and asked her about her day. The other classmates who didn’t hang around with Bakugou would look on in confusion as Eri settled down on the couch next to him.

She would announce to them that he was the kindest, sweetest person she had ever met.

Katsuki blushed furiously and tugged on her dress to get her to sit back down on the couch while Kirishima cackled. Though she didn’t miss the small ‘thank you’ the angry blonde mumbled as he climbed back up the stairs.

He was rough around the edges, but he understood her and was way nicer than anyone else she had ever met. That was all she needed.

The second time she had one of those ‘panic attacks’ was in public.

There were too many people walking around her, brushing up against her skin as they passed her. She wasn’t accustomed to seeing so many people at once, it was terrifying. This mob was a good place for him to lurk behind the many bodies. To snatch her up when she was lost.

This outing was supposed to be a fun one, the girls of the class wanted to take her out to buy more clothes, but she got separated from them in the busy mall. She desperately weaseled through the people to look for someone she could trust. A small whimper ripped through her throat as the lead ball in her gut grew heavier with every wheezing breath she took.

Eri decided that the best action she could take was to curl up into a little ball in the nearest corner, away from the crowd. It’s what she always did when the world became too much. She put her head between her knees in attempts to calm herself, counting down from 50, one of the methods she had picked up to distract her mind. Once she finally got her breathing under control she peeked between her elbows, surprised to see two people sitting in front of her, she quickly recognized them as Kiri and Kacchan. “H-hi?” She managed weakly, shuffling around to sit criss crossed.

The red headed boy smiled brightly at her as he wiggled his fingers in greeting, careful not to raise his hand. “Heya Eri, we noticed you sitting all alone in the corner, are you okay?”

She nodded as a wave of exhaustion washing over her. It drained her energy when she went through her episodes. Bakugou eyed her wearily as he slowly inched closer with a napkin to wipe the tears from her cheeks. “You had another one, didn’t you?” He mumbled under his breath. Eri nodded tearily, letting the blonde adjust her crumpled dress.

“T-there were just s-so many people.”

He nodded as if he understood “do ya wanna get outta here?”

Eri nodded eagerly, standing up with the two. “Yes, but w-what about the g-girls?”

“Don't you worry about that” Kirishima reassured, holding up his phone “I let them know what happened, they told us to go on.”

“O-okay.” Eri watched as the swarm of people bustled around in front of her, she squeezed Kacchan’s wrist.

He looked down at her with a thoughtful face before hooking his hands under her armpits to lift her up on his shoulders, “Better?”

Eri let out a happy noise, she felt like she was flying, able to see above everything. She felt In control. Eri let herself drift off to sleep on his head, the chattering of the mall goers becoming background noise.

“So, are you gonna tell me what's going on with Eri?” Eijiro asked once they returned from the mall, the girl had been tucked safely away in her bed. His tone held no accusations, only curiosity.

He wasn’t stupid, he noticed his boyfriends sudden decline in energy. He held bags under his beautiful red eyes partnered with his sluggish movements. Katsuki was bone tired and not getting any sleep. There was nothing Eijiro could do about it besides comfort Bakugou when he requested him too. Despite them being a couple, Katsuki still had walls that needed to be broken down. He was still a private person, but Eijiro would be there for him no matter what.

And tonight seemed to be one of those rare nights where Katsuki wanted Kirishima by his side.

So he did what any good boyfriend would do and built a blanket fort and made a run to a nearby convenience store for Katuski’s favorite snacks. “This is stupid” Bakugou huffed as he crawled into the blanket entrance, though by the small twitch of his full lips, Kirishima could tell that he appreciated the effort.

“Answer my question” Kirishima patted the empty space next to him “what's wrong with Eri?”

Bakugou curled up next to Eijiro, letting him wrap his arms around him and nuzzle his nose into his spiky blonde hair. Nights like these were rare when Katsuki compliant, but Krishima was not going to ruin the moment, letting him hide his face in his chest and listen to his heart beat. “She's like me” Bakugou finally answered, practically melting under Eijiro’s fingers as he carded them through his hair. “She has nightmares, doesn't sleep, and has too many fucking panic attack for a kid her age to be experiencing. It’s shitty.”

Kirishima hummed in agreement, muttering soft nothings under his breath. He could already hear the lull in Katsuki’s voice as he talked about Eri, his body relaxing completely in his hold. “Maybe she can get help soon.”

“She... she will s-soon.” Bakugou yawned mid scentence “Night.”

“Good night Kat, wake me up if you need anything.” Eijiro chuckled fondly as his boyfriend’s breaths evened out as he occasionally mumbled under his breath in his sleep.

He would do this every night if Katsuki asked him to.

It was late and Eri was wide awake, well, not for much longer. Katsuki was making her that wonderful tea that always seemed to make her sleepy.

“When are you gonna do it?” Kacchan asked as he handed her the steaming cup.

“Huh?” Eri asked, half asleep as she sipped the tea.

“When are you going to talk to the old man” he clarified, tilting his head to the stairs that led to her's and the teachers' rooms. “You’re not a stupid girl, we both know that you won't get better by just sitting here and drinking tea with me every night.” E

ri bit her bottom lip as she carefully set the cup down. Kacchan was right, she had been teetering on the edge of her decision. She didn’t want to be a bother asking for help, she could just ignore her feelings and get over the panic attacks. But Kacchan had made her realize that they were unavoidable, after all, he was suffering just as much as she was.

“I will ”she decided “But you too. You have to ask him for help so you don't stay up all night anymore. You’ll be lonely if i go to sleep and you’re left in the kitchen alone.” Eri’s words seemed to make Bakugou happy, since he gave her one of those rare soft smiles.

“Nice try kid, but i already did that whole number. Aizawa and Eijiro practically dragged me to see a fu- freaking shrink.”

“We can get better together then” Eri was happy to know that the angry blonde, who she had quickly learned to know as a big softy, had people he could trust. It was hard for her to even think that they would be giving up their late night hangouts, but they both knew that it wasn't a healthy coping mechanism.

It would be better for the both of them in the end.

“Yeah” Bakugou agreed “We’ll do that.”

Eri held out her pinky, looking Katsuki straight in his vermilion eyes. “Pinky promise?”

Kacchan snorted, rolling his eyes as he took her small finger in his own. “Let's beat it.”

Chapter Text

Bakugou Katsuki didn’t know why they even needed to leave the fucking campus for the stupid villain hostage training exercise. Since when were hostages kept in the motherfucking forest anyways? They could have simply been bussed out to the forest terrain grounds instead of going to a real fucking national forest and being dropped off two at a time, but apparently that shitty class 1-B had taken over the area.

Aizawa-seinsei claims that they would get much more square mileage to do as they pleased, but nothing could cure Bakugou’s shitty fucking mood. Being bussed around for a fucking hour when you were car sick had not been on his fucking bucket list of things to do in hero class.

The training exercise would last all day and night, which wasn't a surprise since the damn school liked to work the shit out of them. They were assigned teams of three, a villain, a hostage, and a hero. Bakugou hated the fact they he had to be the fucking hostage and that he would be spending 24 hours with Tape face, who was the villain. Invisibitch was the hero and Katsuki had no faith in them passing this shitty exercise.

The villain and hostage would be dropped off at a random point in the forest and sent to run or hide while the hero waited an hour before chasing after them.

A huge ass fucking game of hide and seek.

There was a nudge at his shoulder and Katsuki looked up from his doubled over position, the paper bag crinkling in his hands with the movement. He hadn't thrown up on a car trip just yet, but it was better to be safe than throw up all over poor fucking Eijiro.

Speaking of his boyfriend, he was currently talking to him, his lips were moving but there was no sound escaping them.

Bakugou really needed to get off of this fucking bus before he passed out.

Then Eijiro was standing up, ruffling his hair affectionately and placing a small kiss on his forehead. It must have been his turn to be dropped off, he too, was playing the role of the pitiful hostage.

What a fucking waste of muscle power.

“Be safe Kat, I’ll see you tomorrow.” He winked, a smirk on his face “Don’t go doing anything too rash.”

Bakugou could only grunt in reply as the bus rolled to a stop, making his world tilt on its axis. “Bye Eiji.”

It didn't take too long for the bus to slowly be unloaded until finally it was his turn to escape the damned thing. Tape face wasn't the worst person on his list, but he moved up a few fucking places when he practically manhandled him off of the bus. Aizawa followed behind them, explaining the exercise for the fiftieth fucking time before passing them an emergency button, the device was used as a bail out system.

Katsuki snatched it from his hands because, fuck you, they wouldn't need the shitty thing anyways, and he didn't trust Plain face not to screw the device up somehow.

“Alright prisoner,” Elbows grinned, taking Bakugou’s arm to drag him into the dense underbrush of the forest. Invisibitch waved after them yelling some nonsense that Katsuki didn't care to listen too. Soy sauce turned back to shout back at her, but Bakugou was too focused on regaining his motor functions to care.

That damn bus ride took a lot out of him.

“As I was saying” plain face continued “I’m planning on setting a trap once I find a good place.”

Bakugou ducked under a tree branch, snickering to himself as Sero smacked his face on it. The sun had just started to peek past the horizon, though it was hard to notice it with the tree's coverage. “Why are you telling me this shit?”

Tape dispenser shrugged “I dunno, just thought it would be the nice thing to do."

"Take this shit seriously, a villain wouldn't let his hostage know what was happening unless he was really fucking stupid.”

“...Right.” They trekked through the wilderness for what felt like for-fucking-ever. It was boring as shit, Katsuki’s skin itched for something to do, but he wouldn't be getting any action on this training exercise. The only thing there was for him to do was keep a sharp eye out for any wild animals and occasionally laugh as Elbows clumsily struggled past the bushes.

The sun was high in the sky by the time they stumbled upon a clearing. Katsuki knew for a fact that invisibitch wasn't trailing behind them, he usually noticed her presence, and it wasn't fucking there.

“This is a good place, don't you think?” Plain face asked, Katsuki only huffed in reply.

“I don't fucking know, you tell me.”

Katsuki watched as Sero skillfully set up his trap, weaving his tape from one tree to another. Way to fucking put that weird quirk of his to use. The clearing, was in fact, the fucking perfect place for a trap like this. There was only one direction invisibitch could go to ‘save’ Katsuki, and that was head on, since there was a fucking cliff.

The heat was fucking stifling and he was glad his hero costume was a tank top, though his baggy pants were not doing him any favors. At least he left his grenade gauntlets back on the fucking bus or his arms would be aching with the excess weight.

Finally Plain face finished his trap, there was no way Hagakure could get through this amount of fucking tape without alerting Sero of her presence. Plain Face approached him, Katsuki had decided to sit on the floor a while ago. Bakugou eyed him suspiciously “What are you fucking doing?”

Plain face dispensed tape from his elbows, a mischievous look set on that creepy face of his. “You wanted this experience to be more real, right?”

Katsuki did not like where this was going one fucking bit.

Soy sauce ended up chasing him down just to wrap the damned tape around his ankles, securely tying his wrist behind his back. At least it wasnt a fuckling hog tie. Sero lifted him to a standing position and set him near the edge of the cliff. “So what, youre just gonna make me fucking stand here all day and night?”

“Hey, you were the one who wanted it to be more realistic. It’s around lunch time anyways, so it won’t be all day.” Plain face made his voice dip down an octave “Now shut up, I am your captor and I will tape your mouth shut.” Katsuki frowned as big as he could to convey his hatred towards everything in life at the moment. It was sweltering hot and he could just feel the sunburn he would earn.

What he would give to just tan like a fucking normal person.

A few hours later found Katsuki’s muscles feeling like liquified jelly, his tongue might as well have been a fucking dessert with how dry it was. There was no sign of that invisible fiend and Bakugou was reaching his fucking breaking point. “Hey, plain face” his voice cracked horribly “give me some fucking water.”

Sero shuffled around in the bag full of rations they were given and pulled out a water bottle. It would no longer be cold due to the unforgivable heat, but he didn't care. Bakugou wasn't hungry, so at least he wouldn't have to eat the warm food. “Yeesh, at least say please, where are your manners?” Plain face chided as he threw the bottle at Katsuki.

The water simply bounced off of his chest.

Bakugou sent him a withering glare. “Oh right” Sero said flatly, getting up from his seated position to walk over to pick up the bottle. “I forgot you were tied up. Am i going to have to pour it into your mouth too?” he teased.

“Shut the hell up-” Katsuki felt it before he heard it. The ground beneath his feet rumbled, whining in protest as he fought to keep his balance. Then came the horrible fucking cracking, it was so loud that even Bakugou’s weak ears couldn’t handle it. Everything moved in slow motion as he and Sero made panicked eye contact, they were both going down this cliff and they would both die if Katsuki didn't fucking do anything.

His bounded feet moved before his mind could react. He launched himself into tape dispenser, pushing him out of harm's way by shouldering him as hard as he fucking could. He could barley hear Sero’s anguished cry over the howling of the avalanche and the feeling of his heart plummeting all the way down to his fucking boots.

Falling down the cliff was much like that one time Katsuki made the mistake of skydiving, except for this time there was no parachute to save him. Only the deafening whistling of wind in his ears and the sweet breeze blowing past his sweaty hair provided him with any relief of what would soon be his imminent death.

There was no way for him to escape the situation, his hands were tied behind him preventing him from popping off any explosions. He should have at least taken tape face up on that offer to tape his mouth shut so he wouldn't have to hear the broken sobs he unintentionally let out.

He didn't want to fucking die just yet, he had more shit to do, more people to save. He still needed to say a lot of fucking important things to many important fucking people.

Bakugou squeezed his eyes shut, blocking his vision from the fast approaching ground. He would just have to fucking accept that he wouldn't be able to do any of that shit. Katsuki’s mind flashed to Eijiro, grinning radiantly as he always did. “Don’t go doing anything too rash”

Bakugou was sorry he didn't listen to that wonderful fucking boyfrind of his.

Then everything went black.

“Bakugou!” Sero called “are you okay?”

Just as his blonde classmate had taken quick action, Sero had also. He wasn't a slacker afterall. Right as Bakugou fell from the cliff, Sero shot down a string of tape. It wrapped around his ankle right before he would have hit the ground. Even if he didnt crash to his death, there were certainly other ways that Bakugou could be injured. The whiplash and the concussion he definitely earned when he clashed against the side of the cliff were prime examples.

The fact that the angry blonde just hung limp from the tape without moving made Sero want to cry in frustration. He didn't even know if his friend was dead, and if he was then it was all his fault.

A growl bubbled past his throat, but he pushed the feelings down. He was a hero in training and he could not be acting like a traumatized little kid. He needed to gauge the situation. Bakugou was unresponsive so it was up to him and him alone to get them out. Hagakure could always show up when needed, but he couldn't rely on her. He also couldn't rely on his tape for any longer. It had a stretch limit and it was at maximum capacity.

Hauling Bakugou back up the cliff wouldn't work, so that left one option for Sero. He would have to let his classmate down to the floor and hike down there to meet him. So Sero grabbed the backpack after taping an SOS sign into the grass and booked it.

The hike down was treacherous but Sero made good time. Though it would have been easier if he would have just kept the emergency button, which was no doubt smashed into little pieces on impact. The sun had set by the time Bakugou was finally in his sights, he was still in the same place Sero had dropped him off at, he remained unmoving.

Seeing his usually loud classmate so still was eerie.

Sero dashed to him, rolling Bakugou over to check his pulse. He thanked all of the gods above when he felt the faint thrum under his fingertips. Though his classmate still didn't look good in the slightest, his face contorted in pain. He had too much blood running from a head wound for there to not be a concussion involved. At least he was alive.

Though Sero would be the dead one if he didnt keep it that way. Kirishima could be a scary man when he wanted to be.

Sero untaped Bakugou before hefting him into his arms and taking in his surroundings. As expected, the emergency device lay in shambles on the dirty ground. The forest surrounding them looked just as dense as it did above the cliff, but Sero didnt see anywhere else to go. Climbing back up with another person was not an option, and for all he knew Hagakure would never even stumble across his little sign for help.

He was alone.

Sero could only kick himself and wallow in guilt as he set up a makeshift camp and make Bakugou as comfortable as possible. They just needed to last the night before Aizawa-sensei got suspicious and sent out a search team for them.

The first thought that filtered through Bakugou’s damaged head was how in the fuck was he not dead? He was sure he did something fucking dengerous, which would make perfect sense considering the booming fucking headache hammering in his scull. He almost regretted waking up, wanting to fall right the fuck back to sleep.

“-kugou? You awake?” the voice sounded like it was underwater, and even though Katsuki’s eyes were closed his whole world spun on its axis. Bakugou was sure he was letting out pitiful noises but he couldn't bring himself to give a flying fuck. He was hurting and confused and just wanted to fucking sleep.

Something shook his shoulder as a light pierced his scull, making the back of his eyelids light up in many different colors like a firework show. “Can't go back to sleep, wake up” The annoying ass voice urged him, and if Katsuki was in his right mind and had the correct muscle coordination then he would have smacked the shit out of whoever was talking to him.

“C’mon man” the voice pleaded, and Katsuki decided that he needed to fucking do something about it so he could sleep peacefully again.

It took too much fucking effort for him to open his eyes, and when he did he absolutely regretted the movement. Everything was dark and blurred together, it was almost as if he hadn't even opened his eyes, but there was a ray of light pointed directly in his face. “Ge’r off” He mumbled, his tongue felt like lead.

The light quickly moved and in its place was a familiar face, he looked down on him, worried. If there was one thing that Bakugou remembered, it was that he hated being pitied. “S-stop.”

The guy furrowed his eyebrows even further “Bakugou? I’m not sure if you can hear me correctly, but you have a concussion. Can you tell me if you are hurt anywhere?”

Now that Katsuki really focused, fucking everything hurt. Pain flared behind his eyes, though he was sure that was the fucking concussion. His whole body felt as if he was ran over by a fucking bulldoser, a constant pins and needles sensation pricked at his right ankle, which he was sure would be more painful if he wasnt occupied with the bile crawling up his throat.

Katsuki made a small noise, tapping his glove covered fingers against the dirt to attempt to get the others attention.

“What is it?”

Bakugou started to wretch.

“Oh shi-”

He was rolled over on his side, the sudden movement making him yelp in pain. Then, he promptly threw up.

There was a hand on his back, patting it awkwardly. What Bakugou would give for fucking Eijiro to be here with him right now. And wow, he was finally fucking remembering things like why he was here and how he got into this whole fucking mess.

“You done?” Tape dispenser asked, Bakugou grunted in affirmation.

“Lemmie up”

Sero didn't argue, helping Katsuki lean against a nearby tree. “Here” he handed him a water bottle, which Bakugou took with shaky hands and chugged down gratefully. He didn't care if he got his fucking costume wet when the water spilled past his lips. It got rid of the metallic taste of blood on his tongue.

It was dark outside, the dull sound of forest creatures played as background noise to Katsuki’s silent suffering. “M-my ankle” he finally answered. He didn't have the energy to fucking deny his pain as he normally would.

Sero nodded solemnly, the movement was hard to track. “Do you remember what happened?”

“Fuckin’ barley” he slurred, his tongue feeling like cotton.

“You saved me when the cliff fell, though you went down with it. And since you were all tied up you couldn't escape. I managed to grab you by the ankle with my tape, which is probably why it hurts so bad. But you hit your head and i- i- this is all my fault. If I hand taped you and gotten you out of there in time-”

“Hey!” Bakugou interrupted, his own yelling made his ears ring. “Isn't a pity party.”

Plain face wiped at his eyes, though it was so fucking dark that Bakugou wouldnt have been able to tell if he was crying anyways. He was just glad he turned off that fuckin. Flashlight. “You're right, you're the one whos hurt. I need to get my shit together.”

Well, at least he was right on something.

Bakugou shuffled back down to a lying position on the sleeping bag, his eyes already drooping. “I’s not ‘ur fault” he muttered “Blame ‘urself when you get us outta ‘ere.”

“As much as I appreciate you hyping me up, Bakugou, you and I both know you can't fall asleep.”

“Horse shit.”

Keeping Bakugou awake was harder than Sero thought it would be. It was like watching a toddler with the way he whined and complained, but at the same time, it was Sero’s fault he was like this in the first place.

Even with his classmates' new mindset, he was surprisingly encouraging, grumbling about how he needed to get them out of there instead of wallowing in self pity. Bakugou’s ankle was definitely at least sprained, so he did what he could to help heal it. Though his condition only worsened throughout the night to the point where he dry heaved every other hour.

He must have had a bitch of a concussion.

Despite his suffering, Bakugou would sometimes attempt to stand (and fall) insisting that they needed to get out and complete the training exercise. Of course he was worried about beating the others, he was Bakugou Katsuki. His drive encouraged Sero to get up off of his ass and do something.

Bakugou was right, he could beat himself up over the accident later.

He made a small trek back to the cliffside, leaving the rations behind in case Katsuki happened to get hungry.

The remote control still lay there, Sero gathered the pieces to see if there was any possible way to repair it. There wasn't, not that he was expecting one. Stray pieces of tape still hung from the cliff, fluttering around in the night's wind. Taking a chance and cupping his hands around his mouth, he took a deep breath before calling out for help. “Hagakure, are you there? Anyone? If you can hear me then please respond!”

The only response he received was the sound of crickets.

He sighed, slumping against the rock face. He needed to think. Bakugou was too unstable to move back up the cliff, he didn't want to risk him falling again. Maybe they could move around the cliff… no, he didn't want to get lost in these woods. There was always a chance he could run into another group, though it was slim. They were dropped off pretty far from the others.

Sero regretted not packing an emergency flare in the bag, Bakugou insisted that he could generate his own explosions if a problem were to occur. He couldn't do much of anything in his current state, much less pop off any strong explosions. So they would wait it out. Bakugou wasn't in critical condition, he would survive through the rest of the night.

Sero didn't see any more options but to retreat back to camp.

Speaking of his angry classmate… ah shit, he had fallen asleep again. Sero lightly slapped his cheek, letting him startle himself awake. The rest of the night continued in a similar fashion until finally, the sun peeked past the trees. The morning was upon them and Sero was so glad he packed energy drinks.

Now that it was light out, Bakugou kept his eyes firmly closed, muttering something about the sun being too bright even though its rays were blocked by the trees. The night had been cool, but the daytime was unforgiving.

If Sero thought that the previous day was hot, then today was absolutely boiling.

He could practically see the heatwaves hovering above the ground. Sero was forced to tie his hair back and cut off the bulky shoulder guards of his costume. He did the same for Bakugou, wincing at the amount of sunburn he had acquired from standing in the sun all day yesterday.

Yet another thing that was Sero’s fault, he could have prevented all of Bakugou’s pain.

As a sign of mercy, he held the insulated cup up to his classmates forehead, occasionally pouring the cold water onto his body. He had dragged Bakugou’s body into the shade, though that didn't help much. He was still suffering, the concussion making him a disoriented mess in the heat. His ankle had swollen up an alarming amount. Pulling the boot off of him had been a challenge.

The blonde had stopped throwing up, not having anything left in his system to dispel, he refused to eat. Sero felt guilty for the one time he did convince him to, telling Bakugou that Kirishima would want him to.

Man, he felt like an asshole.

But he was an asshole who wanted them to survive.

So he gathered up the equipment and shoved it all in the bag, lightly tapping Bakugou awake when he started to mumble in his sleep. He halted in any movement when a voice pressed against his mind barriers, he let it do so eagerly.

‘Sero Hanta, Bakugou Katsuki this is Mandalay of the Wild Wild Pussycats, we have been contacted by Aizawa that two of his students have gone missing. If you are hearing this then that means you are in stable condition. We are on our way with a search party, hold tight it won't be long before we find you. Mandalay out.’

Sero almost wanted to cry in relief at the announcement, Bakugou was going to be okay! Kirishima wouldn't kill him!

“Bakugou! Bakugou! Did you hear that? You’re going to be okay!” Sero shook the blonde's shoulder, frowning when he didn't even flinch. “Bakubro? You better not be joking...” He asked again, slightly panicked. His classmate was flushed from the sun, breaths coming out in heavy puffs. Sweat trickled from his skin, his eyelids fluttering slightly.

Oh shit, this wasn’t good.

Sero scrambled to pour more water over his face, the bleeding from his head wound had dried up, crimson flecked the side of his face and matted his hair. Finally, he cracked open one hazy eye, looking as dazed as ever. Sero laughed in relief, practically falling over the blonde.

“What’re ‘u laughin’ at?” Bakuou’s voice was a whisper, practically gone, but Sero could still hear it loud clear.

As if Sero’s relief wasn't already intense enough, a voice yelled from somewhere above them. “Look, it’s an SOS sign! They must be around here somewhere!”

The voice was female, Sero could recognize that bubbly tone anywhere. He felt as if his heart was going to burst. “Uraraka!” He called out, startling Bakugou.

It took a moment for another voice to be heard, “Sero! Is that you?” Sero almost sagged to the floor as Iida and Midoriya started yelling back.

“Guys! We’re down the cliff, please come help us!”

“... We are on our way!”

It took a while for the others to come into view, Midoriya was the first to burst through the shrubbery, his quirk activated as the green lightning jumped around his body. As soon as his eyes landed on them, he immediately skidded to his knees next to Bakugou, frantically checking his pulse. “Kacchan!”

Iida, Uraraka, and Todoroki were quick to follow, blocking the sunlight and crowding around Bakugou. “I-is he okay?” Uraraka asked, a hand placed over her mouth.

“He fell down the cliff to save me, he has a pretty bad concussion and his ankle isn't in good shape either.” Sero answered grimly, letting the others study Bakugou.

“Todoroki, may you form some ice so we can cool him down? We need to get him back to the bus as soon as possible so he can be shipped to the hospital. Uraraka, you will float him and I will run him back to Aizawa-sensei.” Iida announced, Sero was glad he wasn't the one in control anymore. Along with the relief came the wave of exhaustion, all of those energy drinks and adrenaline wearing off.

The walk back was a blur, Iida had taken the weightless Bakugou back to Aizawa. If Sero had Uraraka’s quirk then he could have easily lugged Bakugou back up the cliff. Midoriya, thankfully, refrained from questioning Sero, instead helping him along. Halfway through they were met with the wild wild pussy cats who escorted them back and offered cold water bottles.

Sero chugged one down greedily, having used all of his other water to keep Bakugou cool.

The bus was loaded with many worried classmates, though Kirishima had ridden in the van with Bakugou to get to the hospital. Sero sat in the very back away from the chatter and noise. As soon as his body relaxed into the seat, he was out like a light, remembering only the faint feeling of a blanket being draped over him.

Katsuki didn't remember all that happened during the failed training exercise, and to be completely fucking honest he was glad he didn't. All he did was lay there uselessly while Tape dispenser fought to keep him awake.

Stupid fucking concussion.

At least it wasn't hot as shit anymore in this stupid hospital. Eijiro, bless his soul, had bought in a fan to keep him cool. The effects of the concussion still lingered two days later, and only increased every time the idiot squad came to visit him.

He didn't even allow Deku in his room, almost calling security on him when he tried to sneak in.

Eijiro spent all of his free time with him, babbling about how worried he was when Katsuki did not return, then crying about how brave he was for risking his life. Bakugou would have agreed that he was a badass if he had even remembered saving Sero. That was yet another fucking thing that bothered him.

All of his stupid classmates had visited him, wether it was to poke into his business or give him classwork he was missing. But plain face never showed up. And when he finally did during his third day in solitary confinement, Bakugou gave him a fucking earful.

No one was going to ditch out on him after what they went through.

Not that it was a big deal, Bakugou could have easily survived on his own. “You idiot, ya could have at least come sooner so I could see how your miserable ass was doing! What took you so long?”

Sero looked taken aback, carefully setting a basket full of shit by his bedside. “...Sorry? I figured you wouldn't have wanted to see me.”

“And what makes you fucking think that?” Bakugou eyed him, itching at the damn uncomfortable fabric of the hospital gown. He couldn't fucking wait to change back into normal clothes.

Plain face rubbed at the back of his neck sheepishly as he sat down in a nearby chair. “It's just… I'm the reason you got hurt. I was weak and you had to push me away to save me.”

“Shut the hell up” Katsuki grit his teeth, he was trying the absolute fucking best to keep his patients in check. “It was my fucking choice to jump in the way, I didn't do it against my will and you didn't make me so you didn't do shit.”

Sero’s eyes darkened as he clenched his fist “I could have done something if I tried hard enough. If I was quick enough-”

“Maybe you fucking could have, but there's no use overthinking it now. It’s done and over with and everyone's fucking okay. Stop fucking dawdling in guilt and get a move on. Maybe if this fucking happens again then you'll be more experienced.”

“But-”

“No buts” Katsuki interjected “Accidents fucking happen and it wasn't any of our faults. So get it through your think head and shut the fuck up about it. What's done is done.” Bakugou got so worked up that he kicked his feet, hissing when pain stabbed at his ankle. He would be out of hero training for a while but no way would he slack off.

Sero nodded, looking as if a huge fucking weight had been lifted from his shoulders. “I’m going to leave now, I put stuff in the basket for you. Thank you Bakugou” He snickered before moving out of the room before Katsuki could even ask what he was planning.

Bakugou carefully snatched the basket before rifling through it. Energy drinks… Water... tape… and a fucking emergency button. Katsuki snarled in annoyance as he picked up the newly fixed device, eyes roaming over the sticky note placed on it.

‘Don't forget the emergency button next time, you never know when you'll fall off of a cliff.’

Katsuki crumbled up the note, blowing it up between his fingers. "That sly fucking bastard!”

Chapter Text

1

Sato had only been a part of class 1-A for a few months, but he had already become attached to his classmates. They were a diverse group, each person different from the other. His main goal people-wise was to become friends with every person in his class and do what he did best to make them happy.

The more social classmates were easy to become friends with, he could even say he found best friends in Ojiro, Shoji, and Kouda. He enjoyed baking for them, every day after school once the dorm systems were in place, he would tie on his apron and get to work while some of the other classmates sat around and conversated with him. Sometimes they would even join in, asking him how they could help.

The sweets he cooked would be used for training the next day, and if there were any extra, he would hand them out to his friends.

The less social classmates were harder to talk to since they would hide out in their dorm rooms, rarely coming down to the commons. Though he didn't miss how Bakugou would slip into the kitchen later in the day, followed by Kirishima and sometimes Mina, Sero, and Kaminari. When he asked Kirishima about it later that week during training, the red head nodded enthusiastically. “Kat is really good at cooking, like, if hero work doesn't work out for him he could easily be a master chef.”

So Sato’s new goal was to be able to taste the blondes cooking, and maybe even be able to learn a thing or two from his skills. Because if it was as good as Kirishima claimed he was, then Sato wanted to get lessons. He may be good at baking, but cooking was his weak point.

But if he was going to gain any trust, he couldn't just straight up ask to taste test his food, it was rude. Instead, Sato would offer up his own sweets for Bakugou to try in hopes that he would do the same.

Though his plan to befriend him was harder than he thought it would be.

Bakugou simply wouldn't try his sweets. He set out a batch of freshly baked brownies on the common rooms table for everyone to try. Surprisingly, Bakugou was actually out of his room, hitting Mina upside the head with a newspaper while the others laughed. Bakugou wasn't present outside of school activities often, but when he was, there was never a dull moment.

Sato grinned proudly as one by one his brownies were devoured, but his smile quickly fell when Bakugou remained seated next to Kirishima, not even eyeing the dessert.

The second try was just as unsuccessful, a chocolate lava cake he had worked day and night on was only consumed by the Bakusquad.

Sato narrowed his target down to the five people instead of the whole class, figuring that maybe Bakugou was one of those people who didn't like eating in front of people. He didn't even look interested in the beautiful masterpiece set in front of him. “Are you sure you want us to eat this bro?” Kaminari asked, practically drooling.

“Yeah” Sero agreed, already grabbing a fork "It’s just too pretty to eat.”

Sato forced a smile, watching as they dug in “Of course, it’s made to be eaten.” He left the premises once he was absolutely certain that Bakugou was not going to try the cake.

Was he on a diet? If so, then maybe he had a cheat day planned soon?

Sato knew that even the strongest and most resolved of wills had to have a cheat day somewhere along the road. No one could resist his desserts for too long, he would just keep offering them until he did.

The third attempt he went for the more simple red velvet cupcakes filled with chocolate filling. Sato had been cooking chocolate a lot recently, it was a guilty pleasure of his. The treats seemed to be a hit though, everyone crowded around when they learned he was making chocolate, it was a fan favorite. The cupcakes caught everyone's attention, well, except for the person who he really made them for.

“Oh look there's an extra!” Kaminari pointed out “I call dibs!”

Sato watched helplessly as Kaminari shoved the cupcake made for Bakugou in his mouth, chewing passionately.

Another day, another failure.

Sato’s mind was left to wander as he scrubbed at the counter tops, most had already retired to bed but he had to finish up cleaning his baking mess. He wasn't a messy person, but someone not wanting to try his food left a bitter taste in his mouth and therefore made him more brash.

“Hey” a gruff voice spooked him out of his thoughts, Sato almost bumped his head upside the cabinet at the scare. He quickly turned around, rag and spray bottle in hand. He quickly set them down when he noticed who stood at the doorway.

“B-bakugou? What do you need?”

The angry blonde stalked past him to open the refrigerator, scanning its contents before reaching to pull out a jug of milk. “Bakugou?” Sato asked, handing over a recently cleaned cup. The other hummed in acknowledgment, pouring his milk into the cup. Sato took a deep breath, deciding to just get his question out in the air. “Why don't you ever eat what I bake?”

Bakugou shoved the milk back into the fridge, finally turning around to study him with weary eyes as he took a long sip from his cup. “I’m not stupid, i know what you’ve been doing. Ya want to become friends or some shit so we can be meal buddies or whatever.”

Sato’s eyes widened, he had really hit the nail on the head. “That's… that's exactly what I've been doing.”

The blonde smirked smugly, turning to wash his cup off in the sink. “I don't like fuckin’ sugar, I’m not big on sweets.”

“Well that much is obvious, are you on some sort of diet?”

Bakugou set the cup on the drying rack, moving to exit the kitchen but stopping at the doorway. “I fuckin’ prefer healthy shit, but i respect that you fucking like it.”

Wow, was he being nice?

“I’m also fucking allergic to chocolate, so try again you sugar freak.” And with that, Bakugou was gone, leaving Sato to facepalm.

He was stupid wasn't he? He didn't even stop to consider the possibility that he had a chocolate allergy. Sato immediately got to work, whipping out the vanilla cake batter. It would be a small cake and definitely not his best work, but the carrot cake should be enough. He didn't care if he was up all night baking and cleaning, it was a weekend night anyways.

Aizawa eventually sent him off to bed when he did his nightly rounds, but Sato had completed his work.

He set the container of the dessert in front of Bakugou’s door before heading off to his own room.

Sato was absolutely delighted to find a bowl wrapped in tin foil in the fridge a week later, his name written on a sticky note. The curry Bakugou made for him was absolutely delicious, and Sato decided that he was in desperate need of cooking lessons from Bakugou Katsuki, especially with the Christmas feast coming up. He would love to cook for his class.

But they would start off slow with trading meals and rating them. And when Bakugou started inviting him into the kitchen to cook with him every week, well, neither of them mentioned the development.

2

Sato was a caring person, everyone was important in his eyes and they all deserved a good treat every once in awile. He decided in the beginning of the year when he first met the class that he would make birthday cakes for everyone on their birthdays.

He, as inconspicuously as possible, collected everyone's birth dates, relieved that he had not missed any. He decorated their cakes accordingly based upon looks and attitude.

Mina was ecstatic to receive bubblegum pink cupcakes, Sato knew she wouldn't be able to easily cut and handle a whole cake so he settled on the cute cupcakes. They were a hit, though when Mina asked around for who gave her the sweets, Sato realized that he forgot to put who it was from on her birthday note.

Then the idea popped in his head that he would give everyone their desserts without signing his name to see how long it took them to figure him out.

Through the next four birthdays the class believed that the beautifully made cakes and cupcakes were bakery bought, which was honestly a complement to Sato that they thought they were professionally made. But soon enough he was caught, everyone knew it was him and silently pulled him aside to thank him with a big hug or letting him have the extra slice of cake when their birthdays came around. It warmed his heart to see them so happy.

A few times he even got requests from people, which he happily fulfilled.

Well, except for the time Sero asked for certain brownies. He refused that one in the nicest way possible.

Then Balugou’s birthday came around. The two of them were on pretty good terms if Sato did say so himself. He had picked up many cooking skills from the blonde and was very thankful for them, he wanted to make his dessert special as a thanks.

As Sato expected he would, Bakugou never even mentioned his birthday as it drew closer. He wasn't one to make a huge deal about his special day despite his loudness. He was not like Kaminari, who craved attention and birthday presents. Bakugou was an explosive person when he was angry, but it wasn't in the loud obnoxious way. Sato grew to learn that he just simply did not know how to handle his anger healthily, which is why he always went all out during training.

When he wasn't angry, Bakugou was a silent person. Always taking in his surroundings and listening intently to instruction. Sato was sure that the class observed this after a while of knowing the blonde also.

They all grew fond of him.

Then Bakugou's birthday was upon them, it was obvious that half of the class didn't know about it, and if Bakugou wanted it that way then he wouldn't make a big deal about it. Sato let Kirishima and the rest of the dubbed ‘Bakusquad’ continuously embarrass him by giving him birthday slaps and hugs. The amount of 4/20 jokes that left Sero and Kaminari’s mouths was ridiculous.

Sato could have swore he heard Aizawa chuckle at the jokes.

Surprisingly Bakugou only glared at them and told them to fuck off. Sato even saw Midoriya slip a birthday present on his desk, though what was in it, he had no idea.

When classes were over Sato got to work, he had never made a pie like this before, but that wouldn't stop him. It took him a few tries, and when he finally got it perfect, it was late into the night. The pie smelt heavenly, the crust nice and golden, the apples inside cut into small slices. Bakugou loved apples, he had learned. He also loved spicy and flavorful meals, so Sato added a large amount of spices that would blend in with the flavor without sticking out too much.

He quickly made his way to the elevator and down the hallway to knock on Bakugou’s door. When he answered it, he was out of school clothes, replaced with a hoodie that certainly wasn't his, it was too big on him, so it had to be Kirishima’s. When his red eyes landed on him, then the pie, they widened slightly. He moved aside so Sato could enter the room to set the pie down on the table.

A pile of blankets shifted on the bed and Kirishima poked his head out from it, pulling away his earbud. They must have been listening to music together, how endearing of them.

“Wow!” The red head gawked “Is that for Katsuki?”

“Of course it is” Bakugou mumbled, studying the pie in awe. The smell drifted across the room, and Sato knew he did a good job based on the look on the two’s faces. Sato watched as Bakugou cut into it with a knife he just so happened to have in his dresser. Bakugou and Kirishima got the first slices, Kirishima looked shell shocked by the taste, continuing to eat it despite its spice.

“It’s so spicy but soooo good.” He moaned.

“Eat with your fucking mouth closed you monster.” Bakugou chided, gently closing Eijiro’s jaw. It looked like Bakugou had already tasted his own slice. He turned to Sato, a light flush on his check. “Thanks or whatever, it was the best fuckin’ pie you’ve made.”

That complement was a lot coming from master chef Bakugou.

Sato went to sleep that night still preening from the comment. He would put it on his quote wall for sure.

When Sato’s own birthday rolled around he similarly did not make a big deal about it. Though a small part of him was saddened when no one even bothered to wish him a happy birthday.

But it wasn't a big deal, he was not going to let that bring him down.

The day was normal and went by pretty quickly, it could have been worse, really. So why was he so… disappointed?

Sato prided himself on being a kind person, he decided a while ago that he would not ask anyone for anything on his birthday or any other holidays. He headed up to his room, deciding he would bake desserts for training the next week.

Surprisingly, Bakugou was the one who knocked down his door later that day, dragging him to the bottom floor, claiming that he needed to see something. Before they entered the room, the blonde grumbled something under his breath.

“Happy birthday, idiot.”

Then everyone was on him, yelling happy birthdays and popping off confetti cannons. The room was decorated in his hero colors as the staff of UA mingled and the students hugged him. A laugh bubbled in his chest, his cheeks hurt from smiling so much. Sato looked down to Bakugou, who stayed off to the side, keeping his hands to himself. Sato didn't mind, he knew he was not a touchy person. “You planned this?”

He nodded shortly before nodding to the kitchen. Sato hummed in curiosity as the class dragged him over, revealing a glorious sight.

The cake was a huge four tier cake, the base icing a pretty yellow color that transitioned to other pastel colors the farther up he looked. Puffs of icing lined the top in a crown formation, rainbow sprinkles were laid out on all sides of the cake. His hero name was traced in neat cursive on the very top.

The cake was one of the most beautiful ones he's seen and it was all for him.

Sato felt his mouth watering as he stared at it in shock. This cake wasn't bought at a store, that much he knew. He also knew that Bakugou had been joining in on his cake making sessions more often than not, studying the way he made the dessert with sharp eyes. Sato never minded, the quiet company was a nice thing.

So Bakugou had been preparing to make this cake, probably planning it’s design for a while now. “You made this, right?” He asked.

The blonde shrugged “Yeah, how’d you know?”

“It was a gut feeling I guess, I knew you were a good person.” He smirked, watching as the teachers wheeled the cake over to take a picture of it and cut it into slices to distribute it.

Bakugou practically bristled, mumbling under his breath as he moved to sit next to Kirishima. “Enjoy your party or whatever.”

“I will, thank you, Bakugou.”

The cake tasted just as it looked, absolutely wonderful.

3

Sato really enjoyed living in the dorms close to all of his friends, they were a wild bunch. There is never a dull moment with them. Though they were also a group of rowdy teenagers all living in the same place.

Sometimes Jiro blared music a bit too loud from her dorm room, and sometimes the drama with Mina and Aoyama's gossiping got a bit too out of hand. Sometimes he missed home.

Homesickness was a normal thing for all of the students, and they all handled it in different ways. Occasionally Momo’s grades would drop, or Iida would lose his cool and snap. Aoyama would lose that sparkly luster of his, and Hagakure would grow quiet. Sato, of course, baked their favorite meals for them, ones that reminded them of home. He would blow off their thank you's or their money, he did not need any payment for his kindness, he just enjoyed seeing them back to normal again.

But now it was him who was feeling the effects. He supposed it was bound to happen eventually, homesickness claimed even the best of them. He tried his best to maintain his usual personality, though he could tell that the others picked up on his melancholy mood. A lot of his classmates came up to him worried, asking questions. He was thankful for them, he really was, but he just wanted to be left alone.

He wanted to be able to hide out in his room without anyone bothering him by blowing up the group chat or asking for meals.

He couldn't even bake for himself at the moment. The meal he craved the most was one he was incapable of making. It required a large amount of skill to get it right, skills he had yet to earn. He was a baker, not a cook. His mother loved doing both though, she is talented in both fields, impressing a lot of people and eventually opening up her own bakery. One he was going to own if he decided not to become a hero.

He missed his Ma so much. Sato could always facetime her, he knew that, but it wasn't the same. He wouldn't be able to hug her in his arms or smell her earthy scent. He couldn't even call her and ask for instructions on the meal, it would be too confusing for him. So he resigned to sitting in his dorm room for however long it took until the wave passed him and he felt okay again.

Though his third day into the episode he was pulled from his room by a demanding Bakugou. As they made their way to the kitchen Sato could practically feel the worried looks the other classmates gave each other. He ignored them until it was only him and the blonde alone.

Bakugou was eyeing him suspiciously while simultaneously gathering cake ingredients.

“What's this for?” Sato asked tiredly.

Bakugou looked like he was struggling to form words, biting his lip. Was that a nervous habit of his? “Just- bake” he managed.

So Sato did, he baked like always but he knew he was lacking one main ingredient. Love and willingness. It might not affect the overall flavor, but people could tell when a dessert was worked on with loving hands opposed to when it was emotionlessly based solely on the recipe. Sato was not proud, but it was something he couldn't help. He let his eager classmates eat the bland red velvet cake as he retreated back to his room.

He felt Bakugou’s gaze on his back.

Another long day of school and he was released. He could only hope he was back to normal soon, because his motivation to do his school work had dropped a whole lot during the past few weeks.

The smell hit him as soon as the elevator opened to his floor, it was the best thing he had smelled in a long while. Sato hurried to his door, a big grin stretched across his face at the Hot meal on the table by his door. (Both him and Bakugou got small wooden tables to set their meals for each other upon so they wouldn’t get stepped on.)

Sato greedily tore through the foil to reach the meal he had been craving, the comfort meal his mother had created just for him. He was left to wonder how she had managed to ship the meal from so far away, especially if he never told her he wanted it.

Then he found a note on the same sticky paper Bakugou always used. His jaw hit the floor. How did he learn the recipe only Sato’s mom knew?

He scanned over the note, desperate for answers.

‘Something’s fucking up with you. I’m not going to bug into your business like the other extras, but I thought you would want this.

P.S. Don’t freak out I’m not a fucking stalker, I just found your ma’s bakery and called it. She handed over the recipe willingly, told me to tell you a bunch of mushy shit that I absolutely refuse to write down.’

Well there was his answer.

Sato snorted, throwing the note into a nearby trash can and not wasting anymore time, digging in.

He felt back to normal again the next day, and as a thank you he told his mom to give the Bakugou family a free cake every month, things they did for treasured customers. One learned a lot about others through what they were passionate about. And Sato learned a lot about Bakugou’s true nature, the one he didn't show and masked with anger. Sato liked to believe that they grew a stable friendship through what they liked doing best, and that was more than he could ever ask for.

Chapter Text

Todoroki wasn't too sure what to think about interning with his bastard of a Father.

It wasn't like he had too much of a choice, he had been constantly messaging him about it.

Though the experience would be slightly better now that he had the option to bring along his two friends. (No matter how much Bakugou bitched and complained, they all knew he was Todoroki’s friend.) Maybe it would even be less painful with Midoriya and his refreshing innocence, though it would be equally as funny to see him give Endeavour the stink eye. Bakugou did rub off on him a little after all.

Asking Midoriya to accompany him on his internship was amusing, he sputtered and grew red like he always did. “Really? You want me to intern with the number one hero? Are you sure about this? I’m not sure if you want to be with your dad or…”

“It is not an issue” Todoroki cut his rambling off short “it will be less lonely with you and Bakugou.”

Midoriya’s green eyes widened, shining with something Shoto couldn't put a finger on “Kacchan is coming too?!”

It was less difficult than he thought to convince Bakugou to come along, in fact, all Shoto had to do was dish out the offer to him. His explosive classmate agreed when he heard it was the number one hero he would be interning with. It was typical of Bakugou, Todoroki should have expected it.

“Are you sure there isn't another reason you chose to come so willingly?” Shoto asked, a teasing smirk on his face.

They had loaded into the limousine not too long ago, their bags tucked away safely by their feet. Bakugou snarled in irritation, though Todoroki could tell it wasn't the real kind of annoyance he showed during the sports festival. Bakugou had not been even angered with him lately, which Todoroki grew smug about. His blonde classmate crossed his arms and slouched lower into the large seat.

Shoto watched blankly as Bakugou pouted, Midoriya looked between them in utter confusion.

“There is absolutely no other fucking reason i’m here other than to train, fuck off.”

“You could have just asked us to hang out with you if you wanted too.” Todoroki shrugged, turning to face the tinted windows.

“Awww Kacchan!” Midoriya cooed, leaning across from his own seat to attempt to wrap his arms around the blonde, who swatted his hands away. “Shut up” Bakugou’s tone lacked any venom, his face was flushed in embarrassment.

Todoroki loved egging him on, especially when Midoriya was there to unknowingly join in on the teasing. He knew that Midoriya and Bakugou relationship was strained given how Bakugou treated him during his childhood. But Todoroki could tell that he had changed and was at least trying to be better in his own grumpy way. Midoriya didn't even flinch around him anymore, which was a large amount of progress.

Todoroki needed to do the same with his Father.

Endevour is a fucking fuck face, and just because he was the number one hero doesn't mean that Katsuki is about to fucking bow down to him. The fact that Endevour was acting all high and fucking mighty made Bakugou pissed. He never even deserved his high spot in the rankings and Katsuki was not about to treat him with respect. He had to earn that shit.

Endeavour may not have been as annoying as best jeanist, but he sure was fuciking infuriating.

During their first day patrolling, Bakugou realized that he wouldn't be gaining much of anything from this experience. Really, he should have figured the old dirt bag would just be trying to impress that half-n-half bastard instead of them actually doing anything productive. And when there did happen to be a robbery nearby, an easy target that Bakugou could have taken down with his eyes closed, Endeavour insisted on him and his son taking him down while Katsuki and Deku stayed back.

Fucking Deku didn't mind being constantly subjected to crowd control, in fact, he was eating this shit up. He was good at talking to the public and it annoyed the shit out of Katsuki.

Well, at least he didn't have to talk to them.

Bakugou was a shit ton harder to impress than that useless Deku, and it was a fucking rough start. Bakugou wasnt stupid, he knew when overheard Deku and canadian flags conversation at the sports festival and decided not to poke his nose anymore into that shit show. That was a shit ton to unpack and Katsuki was not emotionally capable or willing to deal with that baggage.

The situation was brought back to his attention when candy cane dragged him and Deku for a family dinner, one he very much did not want to fucking attend. The family was messed up, their dynamic was different from Bakugou’s own loud and sometimes toxic one. The Todoroki's were quiet and awkward when Endeavour was present, and even more so towards each other.

The experience was painful to say the fucking least.

Katsuki couldn't confront Half-n-half about fucking emotion like Deku would, he was a man of action. He would make his internship a living hell for Endeavour, because if the old dirt bag was going to ruin the experience for him, then he was going to drag him down with him.

Katsuki decided that he would do what he did best, piss people off.

Thus began the operation, burning pile of bullshit.

First came the verbal retaliation. He had been mouthing off since he first met the dirt bag, but Katsuki upped the level of loudness. He marched up to knock on his office doors bright and early in the fucking morning. (The ass crack of dawn) Most hero's stayed overnight in their offices and Bakugou was proved correct when the man's door whipped open. Endeavour stood there looking groggy as hell, his hero costume crumpled up.

Katsuki ducked below his arm to see the room that was in fucking disarray. What a fucking embarrassment of a number one hero, he couldn't even keep his damn living space clean. Endeavour dropped his arm to block Katsuki’s view, scrunching up his nose in distaste. Fucking good, at least he wasn't playing the role of ‘nice host’ anymore. It was fake as hell anyways. “Katsuki, what do you want?”

“Don't fucking call me that, it’s Bakugou to you.”

Endeavour rolled his eyes, repeating his question through clenched teeth. Bakugou smirked, it was so fucking easy to get a rise out of this guy. “I came to fucking complain. Are you gonna let me in that messy ass office of yours so I can make a formal statement?” He grinned savagely at the annoyed look the pro hero gave him. He could use some more verbal beatdowns. “You know what, neverminded, I'll stay out here, you probably have a fucking pest issue with all of that junk fucking piling up.”

Endeavour leaned down, close enough so Katsuki could smell his fucking morning breath. Did the shitstain even brush his teeth? The heat from his beard radiated off of him, but Katsuki didn't let it deter him, staying planted firmly in place.

“I do not have time for your complaints right now, child.”

Bakugou bristled, being called child was even worse than his fucking first name. “Maybe give me a fucking challenge or ill knock your door down every fucking morning I’m here.”

The pro hero studied him with beady eyes, the sunset poured over his hulking figure and right into Katsuki’s eyes. The sudden light made something in his nose itch, he let the feeling build up with a smirk before sneezing right in his fucking face.

Bakugou was a very clean fucking person, but he couldn't resist the fucking opportunity. The old shit bag reeled back, wiping at his face furiously. Bakugou rubbed at his nose victoriously “Oh sorry, it appears I'm allergic to bullshit.”

He had made his point here, so he departed with those words, leaving to get ready for the day.

Izuku didn't like Endeavour as a person, he didn't admire him much as a hero either. But he was number one and he got the job done so there was nothing he could outwardly complain about. Family wise the hero was helpless. It wasn't easy to come back from abusing your own kid, especially when he was doing all of the wrong things. Endeavour was a terrible person who was trying to redeem himself.

Todoroki had every right to resent him, but he still hung around.

Midoriya guessed that he understood, after all, Kacchan hadn't been the best when they were young. But it was different, Kacchan was young and immature, Izuku had forgiven him a long time ago even if Kacchan didn't forgive himself. Enji Todoroki was a grown ass man who needed to get his shit together.

And yes, Izuku did believe that he deserved karma, which brought him back to Kacchan.

Izuku sat up in bed as the blonde stomped into the shared room, reaching down to the bottom bunk to grab his bag. (Kacchan was a restless sleeper, he would have fallen off of the top bunk. Izuku had taken the top bed wordlessly when they were given the room.) Kacchan had probably gone on his usual morning run, though he probably would have at least asked Izuku if he wanted to come along with him just so they could race. Which begs the question, where was he?

Kacchan had been more temperamental lately… “You’re up to something aren't you?” He asked, poking his head down to the bottom bunk.

Kacchan jumped, hitting his head against the top bunk. The curses that left his mouth would have had auntie Mitsuki shoving a bar of soap up his mouth. “Fuck Deku” he straightened himself, rubbing the back of his spiky hair. “The hell? Warn me next time.”

Izuku wanted to laugh, he really did, but he decided that it probably wasn't the safest option. Kacchan shot him an accusing look “The fuck do you mean by ‘up to something?”

Oh, he was definitely planning something.

Izuku had a gut feeling he knew what it was about. “I'm in” he slid down to the floor.

“The fuck you're not, you don't even know what I'm planning.”

Izuku watched with wide eyes as he rifled through his suitcase to pull out his hero costume. “You're pissing off Endeavour right?” Kacchan stiffened, so he knew he was correct. “Pleeaaasseeee? I promise I'll help. Look at it this way, we're two enemies banning together to fight a common villain.”

Kacchan heaved a sigh, eyeing him with malice “fucking fine, I don't have time to listen to your fucking begging all week.”

Izuku grinned in victory, grabbing his own clothes and following Kacchan to the communal bathrooms. “Great! Where are we so far?”

Kacchan snorted as they entered the thankfully empty restroom. Izuku didn't know what would happen if one of the agency workers overheard their scheming. “Well I pissed him the fuck off this morning so he's probably going to stick me on fucking paperwork duty while you two fuckers go patrolling.”

“Okay well at least I'll be there to annoy him.” Izuku shrugged as Kacchan turned to the mirror to apply his eyeliner.

“Oh I'll still rain hell on him, you'll see.” He smirked.

As expected, the shitbag made Katsuki fucking stay back. He announced it with a smug smirk on his face, but Bakugou only raised a competitive eyebrow, shutting down Endeavour's confidence. He had made a fucking mistake and he was going to make sure he knew it. As he strutted past the two idiots, Half-n-half tilted his head in confusion while fucking Deku smiled kindly as if Katsuki wasn't about to fuck up this man's whole system.

Bakugou didn't take off his hero costume after they departed since there was still a very small fucking chance he could be called out on the field, but he did remove his fucking grenade gauntlets and ear pieces. They were small fucking noise canceling earplugs he wore when he popped off explosions to save his hearing. Eijiro, the thoughtful fucker, got that gadget bitch to craft them for him on his birthday.

Paper duty wasn't fucking hard, Katsuki had enough experience from doing it at Best Jeanist’s agency to not fuck anything up.

Or well, he wouldn't have fucked it up if he was actually trying not to.

“Do you need help transporting that paper? Do you know where you are going?” Some extra asked him when he loaded onto the elevator.

“No” he answered simply, refraining from cursing her out. She was just trying to be fucking helpful, she wasn't looking down on him. Katsuki was starting to learn the difference between egotistical bitches who were mocking him and curious people who stuck their nose into his business. It looks like Eijiro’s fucking hard work chastising him was paying off.

In truth, Bakugou had no fucking idea where he was supposed to be going.

But that didn't matter, he simply dropped the stack of paper into a nearby paper shredder inconspicuously, then proceeded to pick up his next delivery. Mixing up the documents wouldn't mess up his or the shit stains careers, he wasn't that fucking stupid. The old man couldn't get him in fucking trouble of he batted his eyes and played the fucking role of the confused intern.

Which is exactly what he fucking did.

Endevour crossed his arms, looking down on him like he was some kind of fucking lost child. A vein popped in his forehead and Katsuki almost laughed at the comical sight. “How do you accidently lose forty two pages of vital documents?”

“I dunno, maybe you shouldn't have left a fucking intern to deal with your shit if it was so important.” Katsuki shrugged, not showing any signs of remorse. The hero was fucking pissed, and called him to his office shortly after their patrol. Fucking Deku had been concerned, asking him what he had done, but he shrugged him off.

The office had been cleaned, probably by some poor unfortunate lackey that worked for him. Bakugou internally preened in victory, knowing his words from earlier had, in fact, gotten through his skin. Was Katsuki a petty bitch? Yes the fuck he was.

Endeavour's beard lit up like a motherfucking Christmas tree, Bakugou had to hide his laughter. “Technically i can't punish you but i can always inform your teacher about what a bad intern you have been. I don't know what my Shoto sees in you as a friend. You’re a bad influence”

“He's not fucking yours, you don't own him.” Katsuki seethed, holding back the temptation to slug the man right in the fucking face. “And Aizawa-sensei wont give a fuck. As long as i treat him fucking well and don't bother him when he's sleeping he doesn't give a damn what I do outside of his supervision.” Bakugou bluffed confidently, he really wasn't sure what his fucking teacher would do, but he was sure Aizawa hated Endeavor just as much as he did judging by the look of disgust he pulled every time the number one heroes name was mentioned.

Katsuki’s mom would just fucking yell at him like usual, so the reward to what he was doing far outweighed the risk. “You'll be with us tomorrow so i can keep a tight leash on you.”

Bakugou ended up being dismissed with an angry look from the hero.

Good fucking riddance.

Rooming Deku was fucking annoying, it was somthing Bakugou complained to Endevour about the next morning when he knocked obnoxiously at his door. It went pretty much the same fucking way it did the previous day.

He really didnt like waking up in a cold sweat, eyes darting across the dark fucking room with his breaths coming out in ragged pants. He also didnt like how Deku would fucking look down on him in concern, saying he was talking in his sleep.

He didnt even want to fucking know what he had been saying.

Bakugou simply ignored the green haired nerd, turning around in bed to tearfully text Eijiro.

Of course he didn't get a room change, not that he was expecting one.

The next day was a fucking whirlwind. As fucking said, Endevour didn't let him participate in anything, forcing him to interact with the public. Well, the fucking joke was on him, it was at least way less boring than sabotaging papers. Though he hated not being involved in a fight that he could very much win by himself.

What the fuck ever.

The thing that made Bakugou especially pissed was that the old piece of shit made him skip their lunch break to help the police fucking clean up the remains of their fucking fight, claiming that the hero's got more credit if they helped clean their own mess. Even if it wasn't Katsuki’s fucking mess. It made it slightly more bearable when the nerd and the half-n-half bastard instead of eating joined him in cleaning up the rubble.

It was just slightly better though, he could have fucking lived without Deku talking his ear off and icy hot's suspicious stares. He definitely knew they were up to something.

Deku wasn't fucking slacking off either, though his ways of pissing off the old shit were less noticeable. He put cinnamon into his coffee, which in an insane twist of luck, he seemed to be fucking allergic to, It wasn't life threatening but it was funny as hell to watch him break out in hives while yelling at his staff to try to weed out who served his coffee the wrong way.

They were truly making the flame bastards life a living hell. Hell, even Half-n-half seemed amused by the events. He was practically in stitches from laughing so hard when his father ran throughout the agency looking for his hero suite in his night clothes. Katsuki had nver seen him fucking laugh before. Not that it fucking mattered, he can keep his ugly ass laugh to himself.

Their last day at the agency was finally fucking upon them and Katsuki just could'nt wait to get the hell out of there. Patrol was boring as always, but now he got to curl up in bed and pull the blanket over his head to facetime Eijiro. The only thing good about this hell hole was that it had good Wifi.

Bakugou was explaining how well his plan was going while Eijiro nodded along with wide eyes, supporting him in a confused manner.

“Yeah, and he was fucking allergic."

“That's great babe?" The red head said in a questioning tone "Is he alive? Are you sure you should be antagonizing the number one pro hero like this?”

Bakugou shifted under the blankets, ignoring the sound of Deku lifting himself up to the top bunk. “He cant do shit to me, he's an old bastard.”

“But-”

“Don't worry Eji, it’s fine. How is is goin’ where you are?”

The red head smiled brightly, the camera trained on his face as he walked throughout the agency. He probably just got off of his shift. “Everythings going good-” Someone jostled Bakugou’s shoulder, making him immediately throw the blanket covering him to the side and go on the defense.

Deku stared down at him in concern, though Bakugou could tell it wasn't for him. He had that stupid fucking look in his eyes, the one he had when he was about to run into danger headfirst. Fuck no. Bakugou took out an earbud, flipping to a seated position to slip a pair of slippers on his feet. Now that he wasn't focused on Eijiro he could hear faint yelling coming from down the hall.

“Kat? What's going on?”

Bakugou held his phone up to his face so Eijiro could see him “I think that old bastard is bothering someone. I’m gonna go check it out.”

Eijiro frowned but eventually accepted the fact that Katsuki was going to check out where the noise was coming from like one of those bitches in a horror movie. “Alright babe, i'll check you later.” Bakugou waved lightly, hanging up. He was not about to tell Eijiro that he loved him with Deku standing right fucking next to him.

“Okay, lets go.”

They didn't have to walk for too long until they came across a turn in the hallway. Katsuki wasn't too fucking suprised to see Endevour yelling into Half-n-half’s face, who just looked up at him blankly.

“Get your fucking friends under control, i've told you too many times for you to just undermine me like this.” He growled out in a low tone “I let you bring them along because-”

“You are trying to earn my respect.” Icy Hot interrupted. Good for him. “You may never get it back after all you have done to me and my family.”

Endeavour practically shook with rage, towering over his son. “Like I said, fix your friends or I'm kicking them out and giving them a bad name in the hero world.”

“Father, I cannot control their actions. It is really pathetic of you to target teenagers like that.” It was as if the two had this conversation many times before. Endeavour clenched his fist and fell silent for a few glorious seconds. Then he fucking raised his hand, making Shoto flinch back.

This was where Katsuki drew the line, clearing his throat loudly to prevent any further movement.

The hero froze in his tracks, turning around to face them with a shocked expression. “I guess old habits are hard to fucking break.” Katsuki jeered, lips pulled back in disgust. “Did you get that Deku?” He asked, turning to the nerd who looked more disappointed at the hero than anything.

He nodded, turning his camera off and shoving his phone back into the pockets of his shorts. Half-n-half’s lips were sealed in a tight line as he walked past Endeavour, not looking behind him as he exited the room. “You stay away from him” Deku warned, tone laced with anger “do anything wrong and the video will get leaked.”

“It'll ruin your whole fucking career” Bakugou agreed “you don't want that, do you?”

“Fine” the man snapped, turning on his heel “you depart tomorrow morning. I have nothing to say to you.”

Fucking good, Katsuki wasn't sure if he would have listened anyways.

Surprisingly, Icy Hot was the one who suggested it. Katsuki and Deku weren't going to actually take action, but Bakugou didn't blame him. If his parents were fucking abusive then he wasn't sure if he would want to talk them either. Especially if they failed so hard at redeeming themselves multiple fucking times.

It looks like Half-n-half had a fucking limit just like all of them.

A very vast one.

Katsuki should have blown Endeavor into fucking smithereens much sooner, to hell with the murder charges.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” The nerd asked nervously, following after them down the UA halls.

“Yes, I am ready to cut ties with him. I have tried too many times to rekindle some sort of mutual understanding between us, but i realize now that it is simply impossible.”

“A-are you sure?”

Bakugou basically kicked the staff door open, the teachers' heads swiveling towards them. “Yes he's fucking sure Deku, leave him be, he's made his choice. If you ask me he's being merciful, I would expose that bastard to the whole world.” Katsuki ignored the staff members' stares as he pulled Deku and Half-n-half to the back where he knew their teacher would be.

Aizawa stood from his chair, pinching the bridge of his nose. “What is it now, problem children?”

Deku fumbled with his phone before offering it to Aizawa, the video they had caught a few days ago on pause. “W-we have something to show you.”

Aizawa took one look at the screen before turning to Half-n-half with an expectant face. “Are you finally coming to me for help? I have a case built and if this is solid evidence then i can get you a restraining order.”

The damn candy cane nodded, face a devoid of any emotion. “Yes I believe that it is time for me to cut ties with him.” Then, he turned to Bakugou and Deku, sinking into a bow. “Thank you, Midoriya, thank you, Bakugou, for making me realize that I need help. I do not know how much more of him I could have stood.”

“Ah- no problem!”

“Whatever” Katsuki turned away, he wasn't fucking blushing, fuck you.

Shoto gave him that annoying ass knowing look, but Katsuki couldn't fucking bring himself to care.

He was actually fucking friends with the half-n-half bastard wasn't he?

Chapter Text

Tokoyami spent his first year watching his classmates repeatedly excel when faced with adversity. From an outsider point of view, they would say that he too had passed first year with flying colors. But he knew too well that he still needed to improve in one area, his weakness.

A while ago the class had done a simulation to combat their weaknesses whether it be water or something deeper such as mental walls. They tested his weakness as flames and light, which wasn’t a lie, Bakugou’s explosions rendered him useless during the sports festival. But that wasn’t the weakness Tokoyami needed to work on,

realistically if he was a pro, he could call in backup if someone he was in combat with had the upper hand.

Tokoyami’s weakness was his own quirk. He could not control dark shadow in the darkness. It was proved during rescue training when dark shadow lashed out and hurt his own teammate. He needed to learn control, but it was easier said than done, considering he had been working at it for a whole year with little improvement. Now, dark shadow could at least spend some time in a dark classroom without going crazy. He could remain calm in the complete darkness as long as there was a candle around.

It was immense improvement compared to last year, though not enough. Tokoyami was not the type to rush things, he went with the natural flow of life without complaints. But he felt that his improvement was one thing that could be pushed. Tokoyami decided that he needed to reach out for assistance if he wanted any results.

“Bakugou” he called, voice carefully monotone. He liked that people couldn’t read him by his voice or face alone, it would come in handy for his hero work. He never planned on being a hero in the spotlight like All Might, he wanted to be an underground type. Aizawa-sensei agreed when he had announced his plan to work in the shadows.

Bakugou didn’t seem to hear Tokoyami’s voice, so he opted to tap on the blonde's desk. The action seemed to catch his attention since he jolted and up at him with a defensive expression. “Bakugou” Tokoyami greeted. He wasn’t exactly sure how to approach his violate classmate, but he would try. He knew Bakugou did not enjoy small talk, so he would be straightforward. “I need your assistance with something.”

Bakugou raised an eyebrow, twirling the mechanical pencil in his hand. “Fucking go on with it, I don’t have all day.”

Tokoyami expected Bakugou to flat out reject him, so this was farther than he ever expected to get with him. “I have been training to master controlling dark shadow in the dark, but I need assistance.” Bakugou slouched back in his seat, propping his feet up on the desk despite Iida’s distant objections. “Why do you need my fuckin’ help? Chopse someone else. What’s in it for me?”

Tokoyami did realize that he could choose anyone else with the ability to create light, but his first reaction had been to go to Bakugou. He was the most training motivated person in their class, and Tokoyami figured that his fighting spirit had rubbed off of him a little. Luckily Tokoyami came prepared to answer Bakugou’s question. “If you accompany me on a hike through the cavern system training ground then I will allow you to fight dark shadow if I lose control.”

Bakugou smirked, grunting in satisfaction. Apparently the offer was a fair trade off. “He better go bat shit fucking crazy then, I’m expecting a fight.”

“...Right.” Tokoyami stepped back from the desk just as the bell rang, signaling the start of the first period. At least now he got some assistance with training, maybe he could even trust Bakugou to detain dark shadow if things got out of hand. He was a strong classmate after all.

Bakugou had only been to the cavern training grounds one other time before and it had been am absolute shit show. The caves stretched for fuck knew how long, so when their class was assigned to navigate it as a race, it wasn’t a surprise when no one made it out. The teachers had to send out a search party into the caves to save their asses, and Bakugou was not happy.

It didn’t look much different than it did last year, the opening was fucking huge, at least four people could squeeze in at the same time. But Katsuki knew that the caves only grew narrower and narrower as you moved along, well, depending on which direction you went.

Who knows what else was in that fucking maze.

Out of all grounds they had to go to Bakugou’s least favorite one?

No, it didn’t creep him out, he just didn’t like its vibes. At least they weren’t underground caves, they were above ground to prevent any underground collapses. It was surrounded by a huge ass stadium. Bird fucker pointed to a row of bags hanging on nearby hooks. “I usually use a torch to keep dark shadow at bay, but it is not the most reliable source.”

Bakugou snorted, finishing lacing up his black hiking boots. “No shit, a torch? What are you, a fucking caveman?”

“Cavemen did not have quirks-“

“No” Bakugou shut down that argument as fast as he could, holding up a hand. “We are not about to talk about fucking quirk eveloution theroy.”

The bird freak shrugged, his weird ass cloak fluttering with the movement “As you wish”

Katsuki made sure to sneer in disgust as he climbed back to his feet “so what, you just take a nice little stroll in the caves every other day?”

Tokoyami nodded “yes, I keep dark shadow under control the best I can while I head for the exit. It is not too hard.”

Not too hard Katsuki’s ass, he fucking hated it here. He could really just leave right here and now if he really wanted to, but he wasn’t a fucking pussy. When he told Eijiro where he was going, his boyfriend practically recoiled, asking why he even wanted to go there. In truth, he really didnt. The only bright side was that he got to fight that damned shadow bird if it got off of the leash.

Hopefully it did, but not in the caves. Just not in the fucking caves.

“Are you ready?” Bird brains asked, leaning against the entrance trying to look fucking cool. It wasn’t working.

“Whatever, aren’t ya gonna bring a backpack or some shit?”

Tokoyami shook his bird head “there is no need to, you are my light and we will not need survival items. The longest this should last is a couple of hours.”

Katsuki removed his hands from his large pockets, popping off a few small explosions. “If you fucking say so, come on.”

As expected it was dark as fuck inside the cave, water dripped in a steady stream from the stalactites that clung to the ceiling. It was almost unbelievable that the cave was man-made, though Bakugou wouldn’t put it past that rat principal to just fucking dig a cave out of the side of the mountain and ship it to UA.

“Alright, we’re far enough” bird brains announced once they reached a fork in the cave, the light from the entrance barely visible. “You can make small explosions now.”

Katsuki raised a hand, setting off small sparks “don’t tell me what to fucking do.”

“Perfect, just like that.”

Bakugou grumbled I’m annoyed as they ventured further and further into the caverns. He was once again reminded of his hatred of the damn place. The wet moisture clung to his body like some sort of uncomfortable blanket. Dammit, he could be laying on the couch yelling at Eijiro right now.

Dark shadow remained the calmest Bakugou had ever seen them be. They were huge, twice the size they were in the light. Now, Bakugou could see just why the bird fucker was working so hard to tame the fucking beast. Dark shadow was a fucking monster.

They continued on in silence, good, Bakugou wasn’t about to start a conversation with bird brains. The only fucking thing he liked about him was that he was quiet and didn’t get in his way.

An hour in, Katsuki’s right hand started to cramp up, so he switched to his left. He was powerful as fuck and had good stamina, but an hour holding small explosions was excessive. He silently praised himself for wearing a hoodie to help him sweat more.

“Is your hand alright?” Tokoyami asked, navigating them through a set of small passages. The cave was still large enough to walk normally through, hell, they were even widening back to a normal size. “It’s fucking fine, mind your business.”

Bird freak shot him a side eye. “Fucking fine, I have two hours tops before I have to stop.” Katsuki relented, popping off an extra sting explosion out of spite.

“Refrain from-“ The cave rumbled dangerously, a distant crashing from somewhere in front and behind them was heard. They both waited for the dust to settle, the only sound being the explosions from Bakugou’s palms.

“What” Katsuki turned to the other “the fuck was that.”

The bird freak studied the surrounding area, which was just rock, rock, and fucking more rocks. “If I were to take a guess, then it was possibly the entrance and the exit of the cavern collapsing.”

“And why in the hell would you think that?”

“Because” Tokoyami tilted his head forwards “we would be seeing light by now. There is a buffer where you can escape the cave up ahead, it is a passageway on the side that allows light to filter in. I am not seeing any such thing, are you?”

“Tch, fuck no, it’s dark as hell in here.”

Next to Bird freak, dark shadow grew restless, clawing at the wall desperately, as if he understood the shitty situation. “Hey you” Bakugou snapped “cut that shit out, it’s not fucking helping.”

Dark shadow sent Katsuki a glare, retreating back to Tokoyami’s shoulder to bother him. “If we continue moving forwards then I suppose we will run into the cave-in. Our only chance is to double back.” He concluded, turning back in the other direction. “Can you handle another hour and a half?”

Bakugou scoffed, rolling his wrist out “whatever, let’s just go.”

He didn’t know if he could last that long, but he sure as hell would try if to just prove that he wasn’t a fucking weakling. Katsuki already scanned through other scenarios in his head because he wasn’t a fucking dumb ass. Blowing up the caves wall wouldn’t work, the rest of the walls would collapse on them and they would be fucking dead. Calling for help would be both useless and pitiful so that option was immediately crossed out. Things would be a lot fucking easier if there was an emergency button somewhere.

Bakugou’s muscles ached deeply by the time they reached the entrance, which was now reduced to a pile of rubble. It was becoming more difficult to breath in the thick air, but Katsuki didn’t know if it was just him expending his quirk or the heat of his explosions. Either way, he wouldn’t mention it to bird fuck.

“It appears that the entrance is closed off.”

“Yeah, no fuck.” Bakugou sounded more breathy than he would have liked, he reached up to wipe off the sweat from his forehead. Tokoyami didn’t seem to care as he put a hand against the wall of rubble, looking for a sensitive spot.

“It looks like we shall remain here, revelry in the dark-“

“Don't you start with that revelry bullshit right now.” Katsuki growled, putting an ear up to the cold rocks. It felt nice against his flushed skin.

“Do you hear anything?”

“Yeah, I hear you. Shut the fuck up I'm listening.” Katsuki had never wanted anyone else’s quirk before, but that ear Jack bitches would sure come in use right now. His ears were strained enough as it was, it would be a miracle for him to hear anything.

“There are muffled voices” Bird brains informed, probably realizing that Katsuki couldn’t hear jack shit. “They are directly outside the cave.”

“Well? What the hell are they saying?” Katsuki was impatient, sue him, he just wanted out of the stupid damn cave. His hands and arms were starting to pulse with pain, he bit his tongue to ease it.

“”It sounds like the staff members.”

“Well? Fuckin’ yell at them or something.” Tokoyami didn’t argue, turning to knock on the rocks repeatedly. They didn’t move an inch under the force of his fist. Then Katsuki finally heard the noises, they must have been moving closer to the cave.

“Hello?” One asked, sounding awfully like that fuckhead present mic. Though at this point Bakugou couldn’t complain, anyone would be fine as long as they got them out.

“It is Tokoyami and Bakugou!” The bird freak called, the shuffling grew closer until Bakugou could tell that the teacher was pressed up against the wall.

“This is Present Mic, Aizawa left to get help!” Bakugou was too concentrated on not letting his explosions taper off to join in on the conversation. He sunk to his knees, trying his best to stretch out his badly cramping hand. He had moved to generating two small explosions from both of his hands to create a larger one, he could no longer spark one big one with just one hand.

“Can you tell us what happened?”

Despite his engagement in the conversation, Katsuki could tell that bird brains was focused on him. “There was a training incident in the neighboring training facility that seemed to knock the structure of the cave and crush the exits. You’re lucky the whole thing didn’t collapse. Shouta knew that you two were in here so we waited until you made your way back to the front. Are you two okay?”

“Yes, though we need out quickly.”

The rest of the conversation was of no concern to Katsuki, he didn’t fucking care what happened and who was involved, as long as they got the fuck out of there then he would be satisfied.

A wave of dizziness passed as Bakugou braced against the side of the rocks. His quirk was well past fucking overused, he hadn’t lasted this long before. His quirk was used for powerful blast, he only focused on how many he could generate during endurance training. He hated fucking endurance training.

In the corner of his eye Katsuki picked up Tokoyami’s movement, he crouched down beside him. Bakugou was tempted to slap him away when he set a hand on his shoulder. “Bakugou, are you doing okay?”

“Does it look like I’m doing okay?”

“...No. But Aizawa will be back soon with 13 and we can get out.”

Bakugou, unfortunately, couldn’t wait that long. The sparks in his hands were already dying out, they were practically numb with pain, though they were blistering over. He wouldn’t be able to move his hands for a fucking while.

“Listen” he looked up, the small sparks he emitted casted an eerie glow over Tokoyami’s weird fucking bird head. “I fucking can’t keep this going, you’re going to need to get that fucking quirk of yours in control.”

Dark shadow was already restless with just Katsuki’s explosions, who the fuck knew how he would react without them.

“No, Bakugou, you can do this.” Tokoyami denied, now putting both hands on his shoulders. Katsuki growled under his breath, pushing away. He didn’t fucking trust Tokoyami when he selected his next words to say, fuck no, but Katsuki knew that an annoying tendency of the other fuckers was to always pull through when they are needed the most.

“Fuck you, you need this push bird freak. Ya wanna finally get that quirk of yours under control? Show it who’s the fucking boss. If not then we all die a horribly excruciating death, so you better get your shit together.” Then he finally allowed his hands to relax themselves, letting his head fall in exhaustion as the cave grew completely dark.

Dark shadow howled, the ear splitting sound ringing through the cavern, making rubble to shift around in protest. They were large, easily three times Tokoyami’s size and he had to control them. The last time he had been in a dark room like this his teammate had gotten hurt, Tokoyami would not allow that again. “Dark shadow!” He barked with all of the authority he could “back off!”

Dark shadow didn’t seem to hear him, instead continuing to thrash himself against the caves walls. Tokoyami faintly heard his teacher cry out in alarm from outside, but he was too occupied with trying to get his own quirk not to kill the both of them. A stalactite fell from the ceiling, landing dangerously close to Bakugou’s limp form.

Tokoyami had no issue with seeing in the dark, he supposed it was an added bonus with his quirk, so he could clearly see his classmates closed eyes and even breathes.

Was he asleep?

Is this what happened when he overused his quirk?

Tokoyami batted Dark Shadow back as he dragged the blonde's body closest to the wall where he wouldn’t get injured.

He needed to think.

Dark shadow was still rampaging and his normal tactics to calm them down wasn’t working. He could always try something he had never done before. “Dark shadow, look at me” he commanded, yanking at the shadow. His quirk stared at him curiously, lowering their Yellow eyes to him. At least he had their attention. “You are the best quirk a person could ask for” he proclaimed as loudly as possible.

It grew so quiet that his praise echoed, bouncing from one wall to the next. He nodded “good, that’s right.”

Dark shadow made a small noise, preening happily as they drifted lower so Tokoyami could stroke their head. “You are wonderful and I wouldn’t trade you for anything else.” Tokoyami continued, dark shadow was blushing furiously but the method was working. They gradually shrunk back to normal size, no longer making a racket.

If Tokoyami knew it had been this easy to tame his quirk then he could have finished his training way sooner.

“Hello? Tokoyami, Bakugou, are you two okay? Dark shadow didn’t kill ya'll right?” Present Mic asked from outside, sounding much like a stressed parent.

“No,” Tokoyamu replied, “dark shadow has been tamed and I am in good condition. Bakugou seemed to have suffered quirk exhaustion though, he passed out.” There was more shuffling on the other side, it sounded like there were now multiple people walking around. “It’s okay that can easily be fixed” a new voice -Aizawa-sensei- reassured “good job on taming Dark Shadow, we will get you out shortly.”

“Understood” Dark shadow remained calm for the remainder of their time in the cave, until eventually, as promised, 13 arrived. After that it didn’t take long, the rescue hero sucked up the rubble easily. Black hole was a very useful quirk, but Tokoyami would not want to trade his own for it or anyone else’s. Dark shadow was a part of him, but they were also his friend.

Though sometimes… friends squabbled.

“Welcome back.” Present Mic greeted with a big smile on his face as Tokoyami stepped out of the cave.

“Thank you for getting us out,” Tokoyami announced to the staff that had gathered around the training ground to help.

“Is Bakugou in there?” One of the teachers asked. Tokoyami’s blood ran cold as he whipped around to glare at Dark Shadow. “You didn’t grab him?”

The shadow shook their head, shrugging their shoulders carelessly. “You were the reason he passed out in the first place” Tokoyami hissed, turning to stomp back into the cave. Though it didn’t look like he needed to retrieve his downed classmate.

“No need” Aizawa-sensei sighed, hefting the blonde into his arms. “I'll take him to recovery girl, and Tokoyami?”

“Yes sir?”

“Bring a safety bag next time, they’re there for a reason.”

Chapter Text

Aizawa

Shouta was having a busy week, the most productive one he’s had in a long time. Him and a team of a few other underground hero’s had busted an underground human trafficking ring and now he was stuck with all of the paper work along with nightly patrols and grading his students essays. So it was safe to say that he was burned out by the middle of the week, running extremely low on sleep and surviving on caffeine.

His class seemed to notice his bad mood because they didn’t bother him as much as he normally did. In fact, they grew dead silent when he entered the room that Thursday.

Had Yamada bribed them into being quiet somehow?

Whatever, he wouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth.

The class even let him sleep peacefully while they filled out their test. Without complaints. Weird.

Yaoyorozu approached his desk towards the end of the day, offering to grade the papers. In a perfect world, the teacher would be the one to handle his workload, but he prided himself on not being an orthodox teacher. Plus he trusted Yaoyorozu. It was an offer that he absolutely could not turn down. Maybe he would even get some sleep after patrol tonight.

Though the events of today still weirded him out.

“No Yamada, I’m telling you that somethings possessed that class.” He spoke over the phone as he locked up his apartment. He could always just knock down Yamada’s door, the idiot lived right next to him, but he was already a whole ten minutes late to his patrol route.

“Well maybe they were just being nice for once?” The other hero responded “they’re capable kids, being respectful shouldn’t be too hard.”

Aizawa huffed, cringing at the humid night air as he stepped out of the building. “I dunno, it’s suspicious. Sero gave me a cup of coffee this morning, and it wasn’t a fake one like last time.”

“Well it is teachers appreciation week after all, did you forget about that?”

Right. Shouta was too wrapped up in his duties to even remember the week, though it’s not as if he expected to actually get appreciated. Most students just said thank you and went on with their lives.

“It may be appreciation week, but Kaminari didn’t fail his hero history test. Granted, I don’t know he was cheating, and frankly, I don’t care, but that’s more that just appreciation.”

There was a pause on the other line “wait- Kaminari Denki? Our Kaminari?”

Shouta rolled his eyes “yes Yamada, what other Kaminari would I be talking about.”

“No need to be stingy…”

Just as Aizawa opened his mouth to respond, an odd shaped shadow caught his eye. It was large and haunched over, rustling around under the veil of the darkness. “...I’ll call you back” Shouta hung up the phone, slipping it in his pocket while silently approaching the alley way. The streets were uninhabited, the only light being the flickering of the old streetlights.

What he saw when he turned the corner should have surprised him, but at this point he was numb to any shock. Mineta could start being respectful to women and he wouldn’t be phased.

The werewolf was bent over the trash bin, nosing at the trash.

Well, it was a full moon, Shouta supposed.

He took a minute to gauge whether the animal was actually a threat to the public, and with those sharp claws and enormous size (seriously he was three times Shouta’s size) he decided that yes, he needed to be taken in.

Aizawa deduced that whoever was in the form of this wolf had a mutant quirk, because his erasing quirk did next to nothing to it.

The large creature seemed to empty out the garbage, flipping it over with a bark. Those things were heavy.

Shouta really did not want to be animal control tonight and was tempted to just walk away and pretend that he didn’t see anything, but he supposed that that wasn’t what heroes did. Not even overworked and underpaid ones.

While the creature was still distracted, Aizawa wrapped his capture weapon around its neck, tugging back hard.

Surprise surprise, it didn’t have any effect.

The creature startled slightly, whipping around to face Shouta, barring large yellow teeth. A low growl emanated from its chest.

Yeah, Shouta really should have pretended he didn’t see anything.

The creature grabbed his scarf, flinging him around the alley like a rag doll. Before he could hit a wall, Aizawa not so gracefully went into a roll, tumbling to the ground.

Ouch, shit, that hurt his ankle.

Maybe reasoning would work?

“Hey, mutt!” The creature halted, staring down at him. At least he could understand him. A wonderful start to their conversation. “If you’re a person then you need to turn your quirk off before you get someone killed.”

The creature tilted its head, ears perked up and tongue lolling out as it panted. It was more like an oversized dog rather than a werewolf.

“Can you do that?!”

It just stood there, enormous tail wagging furiously.

Maybe it couldn’t understand him after all.

“Mutt!” He tried again, holding out a hand “here!”

Surprisingly, it obliged, crawling down to all fours and slowly approaching. Now it was only bearably tall. It stepped into the streetlights range, and now that Shouta could see it, he noticed a few strange things. It’s black fur was not unruly, but it was groomed. It reacted to what he was saying. Was the mutant quirk a were dog?

Just as he reached out to tie his scarf around it like a leash, a familiar gruff voice was heard from a little ways away.

“Mutt! Come on, you aren’t even my dog and your stupid family is making me search for you. Just come out!”

Both Aizawa and the creature turned their heads to the source of noise. Just as Aizawa thought his night couldn’t get anymore worse, he felt that it could when he saw his student walking towards them with a flashlight, unbeknownst to Shouta’s situation.

“Brat!” He attempted to call out to Bakugou “stay away-“

It was too late, the weredog(?) launched itself from its seated position, tail wagging furiously as it barked. Before Shouta could stop it, the creature escaped his grasp, leaping straight over to his student.

Bakugou scrunched up his eyebrows in confusion as he turned his flashlight towards the creature running straight at him. Katsuki’s red eyes widened for a split second before he leapt out of its path, his jacket getting shredded as the creature barely missed him. The blondes flashlight clattered to the floor as he scrambled back to his feet, assuming a defensive position, explosions popping threateningly. Aizawa felt pride bloom in his chest for a split second, but quickly abandoned the feeling as he rushed over to his students' side.

“Brat, what are you doing here?” Shouta asked, keeping his eyes trained on the creature as it twisted around to face them.

“My neighbor lost their stupid dog again, I had to go look for it” he answered, squinting into the darkness. He must not have gotten a hold look at the were-whatever-it-was.

“Well I need you to get out of here.”

The blonde shot him a look of pure offense, but Aizawa didn’t have time to argue with him right now, not when the creature was circling back.

As soon as it bounded back into the golden light of the street light, Bakugou’s carmine eyes widened. Aizawa set himself between his student and the beast, hefting up his capture weapon to throw again.

The look on the it’s face was different from earlier, it’s eyes narrowed as Shouta blocked Bakugou.

Did it want his student?

“Hey, teach.”

Aizawa frowned, moving with the beast as it circled them. “What do you want, kid.”

“Can you take him down without hurting him?"

The question coming from one of his most violate students, was abnormal. Though Shouta felt compelled to listen, because if Bakugou Katsuki wanted to solve the solution in a nonviolent way, then it needed to be done.

Aizawa’s belt weighed heavily on him, the tranquilizer darts practically calling him. “Yeah kid, it won’t severely hurt him.”

Bakugou nodded, his lips pulled into a thin line “do it.”

Shouta reached for one of his belt pockets “okay but you're explaining this all later.”

“Yeah, whatever.”

The beast fell hard, letting out a deafening Yelp that made Aizawa almost feel bad. And yeah, being electrocuted wasn’t fun, but it was the best for the creature. As soon as it was successfully knocked out, drooling onto the concrete, Katsuki knelt down next to it, stroking its fur with surprisingly gentle fingers.

Aizawa moved to check its pulse, but quickly retracted when the beast started to shrink before his very eyes. Bakugou didn’t seem phased as it morphed into a medium sized dog, in fact, he scooped it up in his arms and stood up.

“What” Shouta deadpanned “the hell just happened.”

His student turned to him, his lips quirked up into his usual smirk. “You haven’t figured it out yet old man? I thought you were smarter than that.”

Aizawa crossed his arms, it was too late to deal with Katsuki’s attitude. “Humor me.”

“This isn’t a man with a mutant quirk, which I’m fucking sure you thought it was when your quirk didn’t work on it. This is an animal with a quirk.”

Shouta’s mouth formed an O shape, though it wasn’t like Bakugou could see it behind his capture scarf. “Good thinking kid. So what, this dog turns into a beast?”

“Yeah, but it’s only under the full moon. A werewolf quirk. Now it makes sense why I have to track his ass down every fucking full moon.”

Aizawa sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose to chase away the oncoming headache. He did not feel like socializing with the dogs family at the moment, much less answer all of their questions.

“Aizawa-sensei.”

Shouta looked up, surprised that Bakugou used formalities for once. His student pet the dog absentmindedly as he scanned Aizawa, as if looking for something.

“Go the fuck home, you look like shit.”

“Wha-“

“You heard me,” Katsuki snapped, cradling the dog against his chest. Shouta had to wonder if he was close to the neighbors dog. “Go to sleep or some shit. Ponytail offered to grade the papers, and I’ll talk to the dogs fucking family.”

“Bakugou you can’t-“

“Think about it as a part of hero training sensei.” Katsuki finished, already turning around to the direction of his house.

And how could Shouta refuse that offer?

Present Mic

Yamada loved his jobs and his life, something not every man his age could proudly say. Being a teacher at a hero school was no easy feat, and neither was being a famous radio star and pro hero. His co workers were diverse and his students, for the most part, were interesting. There was never a dull moment. But being a hero and a teacher also meant that he had to be observant. Yamada was, for the most part, a sharp person. He noticed a lot of things about his co workers and students.

Numeri wanted to be a strong female role model for the young listeners out there, though Yamada always noticed how let down she looked when another news article came out about her looks rather than her job.

Denki Kaminari was dyslexic, there was no if ands or buts about it. He may not have bought it up with Yamada just yet or even been diagnosed, but Yamada saw the signs. He let Kaminari use a text to speech app to form his essays.

And Katsuki Bakugou was losing his hearing.

Yamada noticed the concerning signs during the beginning of second year. He wasn’t sure how long Bakugou had been struggling to hear, but he had hid it well, that much was for sure.

Yamada really only noticed the signs because he too, suffered quirk related hearing loss. And now it made sense, given Katsuki’s deafening explosions that had only grown louder and larger, it was only a matter of time.

Bakugou talked loud, but it wasn’t purposeful. He simply couldn’t tell when he was being too loud or quiet. When he was talking to Kirishima or his little friend group while being a little too loud, Yamada would make his way over and casually tap on his desk. Bakugou’s voice would immediately soften to a lower tone.

Kirishima seemed to pick up on the habit also, so Yamada didn’t have to do that as much anymore.

Katsuki had requested to sit towards the front during lessons, he would unintentionally tilt his head towards the source of noise to pick up the sounds it was making.

Yamada always made sure to write on the board, and even sign a few times if what he was explaining was too fast to write down. Yamada wasn’t sure if Bakugou knew sign language, but he took it as a yes when his eyes started to flicker from his hands to the notes he was writing in his notebook.

Yamada continued to inconspicuously help Bakugou through the year until it finally happened. He should have really expected the day to come sooner or later, but it made his heart ache.

He was substituting for Shouta who was on an underground mission and it was way too early to be up.

Kirishima walked into class first, clutching Bakugou’s wrist supportively. Yamada didn’t know why they didn’t hold hands like normal people, but that was none of his business. What was his business though, was Bakugou’s dress code violation. Sure, the kid broke it almost every day by not wearing his tie, but he seemed to have a good reason for that so no one ever bothered him about it.

“Bakugou, can you take off the hoodie please?” He called, the occupants that showed up early eyed the blonde.

Bakugou grunted, apparently not listening. From under the hood Yamada could have sworn he saw the blondes cheeks flush a deep red color. Was he embarrassed? Or ashamed?

Kirishima nudged him gently, looking worried. He bent down to whisper something to the boy, but it was too far away for Yamada to hear.

Then they broke apart, Eijiro going to sit at his desk while Bakugou shuffled to his.

“What do ya need little listener?”

“I’m not little- ugh- can I talk to you?”

Yamada perked up in his seat, now thoroughly worried. The kid didn’t even curse. Was it time for him to perform his teacher duty and give some advice?

Yamada ended up leading Bakugou to the teachers lounge, ignoring the curious looks shot in their direction as he stepped into an empty office.

“All right kid” he plopped down into a chair, gesturing to the one across from him. “Are you gonna tell me why you won’t take that hood off?”

Bakugou still refused to speak, instead he pulled the hood away from his face slowly, Yamada’s breath caught in his throat once it was fully off, revealing the tan hearing aids. They were almost unnoticeable, especially when some of his ash blonde hair covered it, but it was still there, along with the fact that he was, in fact, having hearing issues.

“I got these a few days ago. Never wanted to put them on.” He finally spoke, his voice sounding exhausted.

“But you are now.”

Bakugou nodded, biting his lip self consciously. Yamada never saw the explosive blonde as a person who cared what other people thought, he probably needed validation from himself.

“I get it” Yamada hummed “it took me a whole month to put mine on.”

Katsuki’s eyes widened, his flushed cheeks slowly returning back to their normal color as he scanned Yamada’s face, probably to find his hearing devices.

“Kid, when I tell you I cried so hard that I puked, it is an understatement. But then I found out that it wasn’t too big of a deal, I mean sure, my hearing is now almost completely gone, but that doesn't change me as a person. In fact, I like to believe that it made me better. Having to change your ways really gives you a fresh viewpoint of the world.”

Bakugou crossed his arms, leaning back into his chair. “Me too- with the fuckin’ almost completely gone hearing. It’s wrecked cuz’ of my quirk.”

“Yeah” Yamada chuckled “I guess I yelled one too many times.”

Bakugou reached up to gingerly touch the hearing aids, frowning. “I never wanted to fucking do this, I want to be the best hero and this hearing issue ain’t gonna help with it.”

“Well I mean, I’m a great hero.” Yamada offered, for once not boasting. “In fact, the public may even like you better since you have something that makes you human. Something That connects you to them. I'm sure the hard of hearing community would absolutely love you.”

Bakugou pointedly avoided his gaze, mumbling under his breath. “I fuckin’ guess.”

Well, there was an insecurity kicked down. Yamada mentally congratulated himself, he was such a good teacher.

Then the student looked around before leaning in as if sharing a secret. “I heard rain the other day.” Then he recoiled, face back to the fire truck red color. “I don’t know why I fuckin’ said that, but it’s been a long time since I’ve heard it. It was nice I guess.”

Yamada smiled fondly “I understand, you know that logically, it makes sounds, a small pitter patter or a roaring downpour, but I didn’t hear it for a year. I underestimated how much I missed it.”

“Or the Fuckin’ fan, it’s eerie without it.”

“Yep, and the fan.”

“Eijiro doesn't sound like he’s under water anymore.”

“Uh-huh” Yamada agreed “y’know were lucky, some people’s hearing Doesn't even improve with the hearing aids help.”

“Yeah and that fuckin’ sucks.”

They continued talking until finally, Bakugou had nothing left to say. It was nice to see him actually express his feelings in a non angry way, in fact, the boy actually seemed excited with the new developments in his life.

Then the bell rang and they were forced to rush back to class before the class got too rowdy without a teacher. Before they entered though, Yamada stopped Katsuki.

“Kid, do you know ASL?”

Bakugou nodded “yeah I knew I was gonna lose my hearing eventually when I was young, so I learned a while ago.”

“Good good, do you want me to start signing during my classes? Aizawa and a few other teachers know sign, so I’m sure I can get them too?”

Bakugou took a moment to consider before lifting up his hand into a fist and knocking, the sign for ‘yes.’

“Okay cool, and You can keep your hood up today if you would like.” Yamada offered with a shrug.

“No, I’m not scared of the other extras. They can stare at me all they fuckin’ want.” Bakugou huffed, reaching for the door knob.

“You know they won’t do that.”

“Yeah, I fucking know.”

Midnight

Nemuri adjusted her outfit accordingly, as she admired herself in the dressing rooms mirror. Her makeup had already been done by the makeup and hair crew, even if she insisted that she could have done that stuff by herself.

She didn’t hate interviews, it was what thrusted a hero into the spotlight oftentimes. It boosted their popularity, people liked it when hero’s made a public appearance. This newest one she had been called into for the most recent attack on UA. She had taken down the perpetrator with her quirk and quickly turned him over to the police before any students got injured.

The next day she got an offer from the most famed interview shows. How could she turn down a chance to be in the spotlight?

Though she wasn’t the only one to get an offer. Katsuki Bakugou, that blonde kid, got called in for an interview directly after hers. Apparently it was about his second consecutive win on the sports festival.

Midnight didn’t talk to him much, not after she made him fall asleep during his first year. He never approached her anyways, staying a safe distance away. Sometimes Midnight could swear that his chest stops moving when he’s around her. He holds his breath and watches her arms wearily.

Did it make her feel bad? Sure, but there was nothing she could do about it. If she suddenly approached him here there was no telling what could happen.

She was content with watching him from a distance.

And speak of the devil, the kid entered the room, a small frown tugging at his lips as he stomped to the seat next to hers.

The room was almost nearly empty with only a few other occupants tidying themselves up.

“Hey kid” she attempted, not wanting the atmosphere to get too awkward. “You look slightly more put together than normal.”

And in truth, he was. He wore a silky red button up that absolutely made his eyes pop out, his slacks were not hanging from his frame like his school uniform did. His puff of ash blonde hair was now in ordered chaos.

He glanced at her, taking a moment to consider her before turning back to the mirror, an eyeliner pen in hand. “And you look slightly less slutty then normal.”

Ouch. Though she guessed it was called for.

She side eyed the boy as he effortlessly applied his eyeliner. What the fuck. She opened her mouth to ask how in the hell he got his wings so even when the dressing room door opened.

“Midnight?” A man called, a clipboard in his hands. “You're up.”

“Alright kid, don’t beat up any interviewers” she half joked, putting a hand on his shoulder. His eyes darted to her arm as he pushed it away.

Did he think she was threatening him?

Maybe Nemuri did need to confront him after all, just to ease his suspicions.

The spotlights shone down on her face as she strutted out onto set, making sure to keep a slight tilt in her lips as she waved to the audience.

“Midnight! Welcome to the show, have a seat!” The host announced, patting the seat across from him. She obliged, flashing a bright smile to where the main camera sat a little away from them.

A red button blinked repeatedly, they were live.

“So how have you been?” The man asked once she sat down. Nemuri didn’t miss the way his eyes lingered over her. Gross, but she was used to it.

“I’m good, though life is a bit hectic with all of these villain attacks.” She replied, keeping her smile genuine. The audience all made noises of agreement.

“I bet” the host chuckled “and speaking of villain attacks, you stopped the most recent one at UA.”

Wow, right to the point. She liked this. “Yes, apparently it was a small time ring of thugs who wanted to steal something from our science department.” She answered, careful not to hand over any vital information such as what they were after or who exactly they were.

The man nodded as the audience clapped “very heroic.”

“Well I am a hero, it is what I do.”

That set off more roaring cheers.

“Well moving on from that… let’s talk about your hero costume.”

Nemuri no longer liked this.

The topic she was here for was to discuss heroics and the most recent attack on UA, if they brushed past that like they always did then this interview would be like all of the others. A man eyeballing her while talking on live television about her ‘sexy’ hero costume and debating on if she had any plastic surgery.

Which no, no she didn’t. She was too busy saving people’s damn lives to care much about looks. Sure, it was a big part of the job, but saving innocent people’s lives was more important.

The man continued to ask about her looks, her new haircut, her makeup, until she had enough. She answered shortly, her smile becoming strained. She wanted to get up and walk out of the studio, even if she got bad rep for it.

And she was about to do just that when a loud voice interrupted the host, who was moving to the topic of her other female coworkers.

“She saved a whole ass school of people and your just breezing past the fact and asking about her looks?”

A ripple of agreement spread through the crowd who had grown quiet through the interview as the camera got turned to Katsuki Bakugou. He was the last person Nemuri expected to stand up for her, but she was incredibly thankful.

The host frowned “this is my interview kid.”

Bakugou scrunched up his nose in disgust as he stomped from the side of the stage. His segment to talk must have been coming up when he heard what was happening with her own interview.

“No, it’s hers.” He pointed towards Midnight “stop your fucking pervert act and treat her like a real fucking hero.”

“I-“

“Aaaannnddd, that wraps up the amount of time we have folks” a system announced as the curtains closed.

Nemuri blinked in surprise as she stood from her chair. “I appreciate it kid, but you know that was live, right?”

He shrugged “I don’t give a single damn, who cares if I get in trouble.”

In the end Midnight could say they grew a bond, a much better one than what it once was. She made it clear that she wouldn’t be using her quirk on him again, especially with how much he’s grown.

He was still an angry kid, storming around and stomping on things, though it was more controlled now. He was at least a little more emotionally mature than last year.

“Hey kid” she tapped Katsuki’s shoulder with a newspaper a week later. “Take a look at this.”

‘The rising of a promising hero and possible feminist…’

Bakugou groaned, rubbing at his eyes. "For fucks sake-"

“It looks like you got a lot of girls on your side, kid. That’s like half of the population of Japan, you're doing good.”

The blonde flushed, turning away. “Whatever.”

Chapter Text

Unlike most training, they were warned about this one beforehand. Iida wasn’t too sure what to think about it, on one hand, they never did something like this their first year. It was mostly physical training, but he did suppose that the mental training would come in eventually, after all, mental quirks could be the most powerful in some cases.

“Alright class, tomorrow’s Training is not optional, but there is no shame in dropping out of it if needed.” Their teacher announced, opposed to their usual lecture. This caught the class's attention, Iida pushed his glasses further up his nose, a habit he had picked up not too long ago.

However, the dramatic effect was short-lived when Aizawa-sensei started to slip into his sleeping bag. “A quirk user will be bought in and they have the ability to break mental barriers. Meaning that they will make you face your worst fear and guilts. Though you won’t be the only one, this is a partner exercise.”

Hagakure was the one to raise her hand first. “Aizawa-sensei, isn’t it a bit personal to let someone in your mind like that?”

“As I said, you can opt-out if it becomes too much.”

Kaminari didn’t even bother to raise his hand as he announced the next question. “Can we pick our partners-“

“No.”

“Oh.”

Aizawa sighed, pointing to the large chalkboard with the students' names written side by side. “There are your partners. I am giving them to you early so you can go back and discuss what you two may see in each other's heads.”

Iida’s eyes trailed down the board, landing on his name next to… Bakugou’s.

This was sure to be interesting.

The class was abuzz with activity by the time they returned to the dormitory building. By the end of the day everyone was usually tired with an exception of a few energetic students, though now, everyone seemed to be jittery with nervous energy.

Iida, the ever calm and collected student, remained calm. Panic would not do him good in a situation that wasn’t even upon them yet.

But he had to prepare, and that was hard when Bakugou refused to even look in his direction.

How was he going to help him through a mental quirk if he wouldn’t even cooperate with him?

There was only so much Iida could do.

He was thankful when Mina suggested they all sit in a circle and tell each other about their fears. Truth or truth with more spice, as she said.

Iida of course needed to supervise this unplanned class event. So here he sat listening to Tokoyami hesitantly announce that he was scared of Dark Shadow leaving him. (The class all awwed and patted his shoulder.)

Most everyone had gone, some fears were more personal than others. Hagakure was terrified of being forgotten, which Iida kept in mind. While Mina was downright horrified at the sight of spiders. She made Kaminari and Sero promise not to pull a prank on her.

When they got to Iida he decided to be honest. “I am not sure what I fear.” He wishes he did so he could better prepare, but he had never been phased by the normal fears when he was a child. Insects didn’t bother him, nor did the darkness.

Midoriya patted his back “well, I guess you’ll find out tomorrow.”

From the other side of Iida Todoroki slurped on his Soba, staring at Iida blankly.

Iida avoided eye contact.

Yes, he was unsure of what was to come.

The rest of that night Iida never got the chance to speak with Bakugou, who didn’t attend their little night meeting. It would have been at least nice to know what to expect from the blonde.

But there was nothing he could do about it now that it was the next day. The other students waited in anticipation throughout the day, Iida himself couldn’t focus on his work, though he still did it, encouraging the others to do the same.

Then the time for the hero course finally arrived. Everyone scrambled to hastily throw on their gym uniforms, running out of the locker rooms like overexcited children. At least they didn’t waste any time.

The gym they were directed to was the one they normally did martial arts and hand-to-hand combat lessons in. The floor was padded, the bottom part of the walls as well. There, standing in the middle was a small man, he was not what Iida had been expecting. He had a cowardly demeanor, though Aizawa-sensei didn’t seem surprised in the slightest.

“This is Isui '' their teacher introduced, the man waved to them in greeting. “I already told you a little about him yesterday but I will elaborate more.”

Iida nodded along, smiling approvingly at the meek man in an attempt to seem friendly.

“He has a mind manipulation power” their teacher continued to explain “he can’t control what you see, but he sends your subconscious somewhere it doesn't want to go, such as your worst fears or bad memories. He can pull you out if he senses a large amount of distress, but you will immediately return when said fear is faced. Understand?”

For once the others did not interrupt Aizawa-sensei’s instructions. The teacher nodded “all right, I’ll hand it over to Isui, only wake me up if there’s an emergency.”

And with those parting words, the teacher trudged to the corner of the room, slipping into his waiting sleeping bag. Isui’s mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water as he eyed Aizawa. “Is- Is this normal?”

Uraraka nodded enthusiastically “yep! Tell us more about yourself!”

Isui stepped closer to the class as they crowded around him. “Umm, h-hi my name is Isui- though I’m sure you already knew that- I’m a psychiatrist but I was recruited from h-hero schools like these to train their students with my mental quirk.” As the man eased into facts about himself Iida noticed him becoming more at ease. Maybe it was a requirement for him to be relaxed while his quirk was in use.

Whatever worked for him, he supposed. This man reminded Iida a lot of Midoriya with the way he carried himself.

“O-okay so are you doing this exercise with your partners?” Isui asked. Iida nodded in affirmation as the class split to find their partners. Of course, Bakugou was wherever Kirishima was, his boyfriend's firetruck red hair sticking out amongst the other classmates. As Iida approached, he caught the tail end of their conversation.

“It’s just a partner exercise, even if it is a mental one, it shouldn’t be too bad,” Kirishima reassured. Iida frowned, was Bakugou nervous about being his partner? Of participating in a mental exercise?

The blonde didn’t seem convinced but nodded nevertheless.

“Bakugou” he called, waving to get his attention. “Let’s partner up and get in line.”

Bakugou pushed past him “tch, whatever.”

Was he defensive because of the exercise?

It turned out that they wouldn’t be waiting in line. They would all sit to the side of the gym while the groups went.

Kaminari and Hagakure were first, the brave volunteers. Isui explained something to them, though whatever he was saying was far out of Iida’s ear range.

Then they all collectively let out a gasp in surprise when Isui stretched his hands out to touch their foreheads, the two classmates folded to the padded floor, laying in a heap. Iida held back the urge to go over and check if they were okay. Isui looked perfectly calm standing there with his eyes closed, so he assumed everything was going according to plan.

It didn’t take too long for Kaminari and Hagakure to snap out of the sleep state, the class watched with bated breath as they sat up, looking around in awe.

“That” Kaminari announced “sucked.”

Hagakure nodded in agreement as Isui faintly apologized.

“I am assuming that you passed then?” Momo questioned.

“Yes,” Isui nodded “they woke up by themselves and I didn’t have to go in and grab them.”

“Oh so that’s how this works” Midoriya mused while writing down notes in his notebook. Isui sweatdropped.

“Shall we continue?” Iida decided to cut through his classmate's chit chat “we do not have all day.”

“If you're so eager then why don’t you go class rep?” Sero joked, a teasing smirk on his face.

Iida adjusted his glasses, standing from his place on the floor next to Midoriya and Uraraka. “Very well then.”

“What the fu-“ Bakugou stuttered “I never agreed to this! I go when I want.”

“Yeah” Midoriya agreed “you don’t have to go I can-“

“No fuck that” Bakugou cut in, a new fire in his eyes. “I’ll go before you, nerd.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Iida could have sworn he saw Kirishima facepalm. Well, at least Katsuki was now willingly participating.

“Okay” Isui started once Bakugou and Iida took their places before him. “Like the last group I’ll touch your foreheads and you’ll be sent into a mental illusion together. You both must remember that it is fake, but if I sense too much panicking I will drop the illusion, got it?”

Iida nodded in understanding, noticing just how calm the man now seemed. From next to him, Bakugou grumbled in acceptance, giving Isui the all-clear to use his quirk. The man, short in stature, reached up to lightly tap their foreheads.

Iida’s limbs went completely slack, his eyes rolling to the back of his head as his back hit the matted floor. He numbly felt another weight land on his chest- probably Bakugou- but his mind had already slipped into unconsciousness.

The inky darkness of the back of his eyelids slowly melded with a dark scenery. It looked like a back alleyway. Iida immediately recognized where his mind had taken him to, it was the scene where his brother had been viciously attacked.

Iida clambered to his feet eyeing the surroundings as there was rustling next to him. “Where in the hell are we?” Bakugou asked, rubbing at the back of his head. Did he hit it on his fall?

“I’m assuming we’re in my mind” Iida responded grimly as Bakugou clambered to his feet, planting them to the concrete, muscles tensing up in alert.

“Well? What are you fucking scared of?”

Iida frowned “could you not have asked this earlier?”

“I didn’t want to talk about it earlier.” Bakugou snapped back.

“I was being honest, I have no idea what I am afraid of, but judging by this…” Iida averted his gaze from the blood-stained concrete slightly obscured by the shadows of the alleyway. The scene looked like it had taken place not too long ago.

“Well come on then” Bakugou grabbed Iida by the collar, ducking under the caution tape to get a closer look. “You have to face your fear somehow, and standing here ain’t gonna do shit.”

Iida hated that he was correct.

Bakugou released him from his grip to bend down and squint at the offending splatter of crimson. “It doesn't look like someone croaked, there’s no body outline. They were hurt…” Bakugou’s eyes fixed back on Iida, who was surprised by the sudden observation. “This got something to do with your brother?”

Iida slowly bent down next to his classmate “I assume so. This is the same location that me, Midoriya, and Todoroki fought-”
Before Iida could finish his sentence, the sun was blocked by something, shedding darkness across the whole city.

“The hell?” Bakugou breathed when he looked up, only to notice that the sun was gone completely, replaced by the moon. “Fucking mental quirks.”

Iida wasn’t paying any attention, instead standing back up on shaky legs to face the scene in front of him. The blood was no longer visible, but that was the least of Iida’s worries, he was more focused on his brother on the ground only a pace away.

He was already on edge, so Iida flinched when the fresh blood pooled from under his brother. “Tensei '' mental exercise forgotten, he rushed over, skidding on his knees to a stop in front of the body. He gently lifted his brother's head onto his lap “please answer me!”

Tensei cracked open hazy navy eyes, giving Iida a look akin to disappointment. When he opened his mouth to speak, blood trickled down it in a steady stream, though that did not seem to deter him. “Iida, sadly, I will not die.”

Iida furrowed his eyebrows in confusion “I do not understand brother!”

Tensei’s tone was cold and steady, not one of a man who had been injured. “I said, sadly I will not die.” He spat, his words laced with venom “Instead I will lose my job and quirk, confined to a damned wheelchair for the rest of my life. A fate worse than dying.”

Hot tears pricked at the corner of Iida’s eyes “No, none of that is true brother! S-stop this!”

“No,” Tensei brought up a glove-clad hand to Iida’s mouth, but the gesture was anything but comforting, but more of a way to shut him up. Tensei’s mouth twisted into a cruel smirk “You knew this all along. Without my quirk I am trash, and it is all your fault.”

Iida shook his head, dislodging himself from his brother's grip. “I know! I’m sorry but we can fix this we…”

Tensei shook his head “There is no fixing this.” Then he lifted himself up, more blood pouring past his open back wound. No pain showed on his face when he turned back to face Iida with a falsely crafted smile. “You know what to do.”

Iida’s hand clutched the gun in his hand shakily, staring down at it with a mixture of shock and horror. When did the gun get there?

Tensei gently took Iida's wrist, guiding the gun up to his forehead, the emotionless smile never leaving his blood-speckled face. It was almost a whisper lost in the howling echoes of Iida’s mind when he spoke “Kill me.”

Iida’s hand shook so much that he would have dropped the weapon if his brother had not been holding it.

“Shoot me.”

“No! I will not!” Iida’s voice was as unsteady as his arm as he ripped it away, staring at his brother's never-changing face.

“Do it. Take responsibility for your crime.”

“I won’t shoot!”

Tensei’s eyes shifted, darkening with ill intent as he snatched the fallen weapon, pointing it to his temple. “This is all your fault, don’t make me do this to myself.”

Fear bubbled in Iida’s gut as he lunged forward, wrestling his injured brother to the rough concrete. Then came the anger as he looked down at the… thing… that was most definitely not his brother. He had been blinded by fear and adrenaline, but now that his vision had been cleared, he could tell that all his brother was, was a mask for this creature.

Iida’s voice was strained when he finally spoke “It was not my fault.”

That seemed to fracture the image in front of Iida, because the thing dissolved into the pavement, becoming the bloodstain that it once was. Iida huffed, almost laughing as he attempted to catch his breath.

Then there was a warm hand on his shoulder, twisting him away so that he was facing his classmate, who had no doubt experienced the whole situation. “Breathe for me, good job fucker.”

That… was probably the closest thing to an acknowledgment that Iida would ever get from the explosive blonde.

They waited there for a few minutes more, Iida regaining his composure and Bakugou leading him through a breathing exercise. “Why…” Iida licked his chapped lips “Why did you not interfere?”

Bakugou looked at his boots “You got out of it just fine, it was your battle.”

Iida felt a spark of respect ignite in his chest for his classmate, Bakugou had known that it was a personal thing, that there was nothing he could have done and instead stayed behind for support after the ‘battle’ was done. He really had grown, hadn't he?

Iida cleared his throat “I see, thank you.”

Bakugou simply shrugged him off “Don’t thank me yet, let’s see where we are.”

During Iida’s panic, he had failed to realize that the setting had changed yet again. This mental manipulation quirk was going to give them whiplash.

They weren’t outside anymore, but instead, they were in a familiar-looking run-down bar, the one that they had saved Bakugou from. They were back at the Kamino ward incident. Iida didn’t mention the way Bakugou’s breath audibly hitched.

“What is it that you think we will be facing here?” Iida phrased his question carefully, but Bakugou caught the hidden meaning.

‘What are you afraid of?’

Bakugou scoffed “ Certainly none of the fuckers here, they’re all like clowns in a circus with their crazy league.”

Iida would have accused Bakugou of being dishonest, but with the way his jaw clenched, he could tell that the blonde was being truthful. He may not be frightened by the league of villains, but there was certainly something linked to this incident that bothered him.

Then there was rustling on the other side of the rickety bar doors. Bakugou didn’t hesitate when he stomped towards it, pushing it past it. Iida followed wordlessly, still assessing the situation.

The room they entered was the opposite of the bar. It was a house setting, the lights warm and inviting, the environment clean. Almost spotless. And when his eyes landed on the family on the couch and the teachers sitting across from them, Iida realized that this was Bakugou’s house.

Bakugou watched with blank eyes as the teachers conversed with his parents. Then his mom turned directly to him, smiling much like Iida’s brother had. “Come sit Katsuki,” she patted the space in between her and a brown-haired man. Bakugou barely spared Iida a second glance as he slouched down onto the couch cushions, head down in a very Un-Bakugou-like manner.

Bakugou’s mom was very loud, Iida noticed, as she loudly chatted with Aizawa and All Might. He also noticed that she was touchy, forcefully pushing Bakugou down into a bow. She was thanking the teachers for teaching her violate son.

Bakugou’s face was covered by the shadow of his spiky bangs, making it impossible for Iida to gouge his expression.

“We all know that it is his fault for causing all of your problems, I'm sorry about that.” His mom said, his Father nodding in agreement, chiming in his own ‘sorry.’

Iida wanted to protest because it was not Bakugou’s fault, but rather the villains who kidnapped him. Surprisingly, Bakugou himself did not protest, simply grumbling under his breath.

“We know that it’s his fault” Aizawa answered, “and he will take responsibility for it soon enough.”

That was when Bakugou finally looked up, bottom lip swollen from biting it, he looked thoroughly confused.

“I agree," said All Might, "he will take responsibility for taking my power.”

Bakugou looked resigned “Do what you want.”

Iida’s jaw dropped so low that he could have caught flies. Bakugou wasn’t fighting back as the two teachers stood, grabbing him by the arms to drag him out of the front door and back into the bar. Was he just scared? Maybe he was okay with getting the blame even if it clearly wasn’t his fault?

Iida followed, looking closely at Bakugou as he clenched and unclenched his fist, digging crescent moons into his palms. He was shoved back into the chair he had sat at when on was kidnapped.

Iida noted the desolate look in those normally fiery eyes of his classmate and realized that he wanted this. Bakugou truly believed that he deserved this and everything else. Iida ignored the two teachers who spat insults left and right, shouldering past them to kneel down in front of Bakugou.

“Bakugou!”

The blonde didn’t look at him.

“Katsuki,” he tried again, “listen closely to me. You could not have done anything to prevent this, All Might used his power saving someone, he would have done it for any of us.”

Bakugou then looked up, an eerie expression of calmness on his face. “no… no I could have..”

“No,” Iida turned back to the teachers who continued to talk over him, shooting them dirty looks. Iida cupped his hands over Bakugou’s ears until the wave of insults finally died down. He looked no better.

“Bakugou, breathe” he mirrored what Bakugou himself had done for him not even ten minutes ago, helping him breathe. He was going to hyperventilate if he didn’t stop soon, and Iida was running out of ideas.

He needed a way to snap his classmate out of this mindset…

“I apologize,” he said before bringing his arm back to backhand the blonde across the face. The echoing slapping sound resounded through the decomposing bar, silencing all other sounds.

Bakugou’s breathing stabilized once again as he slowly looked up, a red imprint on his cheek. Maybe Iida should have hit him softer. But he knew that he got the job done when that defiant look returned to Bakugou’s face.

“You,” the blonde growled, “are fucking paying for that later.”

Iida didn’t respond, instead, he moved to the side so that Bakugou could stomp his way over to the number one hero.

“Are you here to apologize?”

Bakugou ground his teeth, “Fuck no,” he chuckled darkly “You don’t regret saving me.” Not giving the hero a chance to respond, Bakugou rolled out his fist, reeling it back to deal out an explosion-packed punch that sent the other sailing into the wall.

Iida tried to nod approvingly, but his head spun too much to do anything but crash back to the floor.

And when his vision returned once more, he was met with the fluorescent lights of the gym and the concerned faces of Midoriya and Uraraka.

Then a knee to his back “Get offa’ me!” Bakugou rolled around angrily under Iida’s body. How did that happen? Didn't he land on Iida?

Midoriya nervously grabbed Iida’s arm, Uraraka taking the other with a look of amusement as they hefted him up. “So how was it?” She asked curiously, making Iida cringe.

“I would rather not talk about it.”

Midoriya nodded in understanding, not urging Iida to talk.

Iida watched as Kirishima helped Bakugou up, flashing him a smile and questioning the red slap mark on his cheek. Iida took that as his signal to look away, not wanting to argue with Bakugou about the slap at the moment.

Maybe later he would talk to him. Maybe later they would have a civilized conversation (because they seemed to have gained some sort of understanding of each other over their guilt.) But for now, Iida just wanted to call his brother.

Chapter Text

Aoyama would admit that he was the jealous type, though who could blame him? He was the transfer student who was meant to shine, that’s how the new kids usually were and that is certainly how he was.

Though he wasn’t exactly the diamond out of 1-A, no matter how much he claimed he was. His first impression had been that he was the sparkle of the class. He knew French, his quirk was a powerful one (everyone had said so themselves) Yet upon further investigation, he slowly started to compare himself.

To Mina and her vibrant skin, a shade that would catch anyone's attention.

To Kaminari and his electricity that sent shocks through everyone near.

Then, of course, there were the three star students of the class that practically left the rest of them in the dust. Bakugou’s attitude demanded attention, he was egotistical, brash, and quite possibly a maniac.

Todoroki was the charmer, cold and secretive yet clueless without realizing it.

And Midoriya, the one who had caught the number 1 pro hero’s eye, the selfless one who was always there for his classmates with an infectiously positive attitude.

Of course, it was hard to beat those three, they shimmered without even realizing it. They were blissfully unaware of their popularity and the rest of their classmates' jealousy.

Aoyama couldn’t be the only one feeling this way, right?

Perhaps there was another soul out there and he was not in isolation with his thoughts.

Aoyama naturally gravitated towards Midoriya, his friendly demeanor far outclassing Todoroki’s silence and Bakugou’s harshness. Perhaps if he got close to one of them, then he could learn too. A diamond could only polish another one, after all.

Or something akin to that.

Aoyama had offered Midoriya cheese in return for his friendship, though after that his classmate only seemed to avoid him. Nervously stuttering when Aoyama approached him to ask if he wanted a different type of cheese.

Was that not how things worked in Japan?

Could Midoriya possibly be lactose intolerant?

Either way, when Aoyama’s attempts died down, so did the awkwardness. But now Aoyama was still stuck in a rut. He had designed his costume for the maximum amount of flair, he had been getting up extra early to try new hairstyles and had been on point with his skin routine.

What more could society possibly want?

Aoyama grunted as he tripped over the leg piece to his armor, falling to the floor of the dressing room. “Ow~” he groaned, rubbing his lower back.

“Ah, are you okay?” a familiar voice asked, and Aoyoma almost wept with joy when Kirishima offered his hand to take. Chivalry was not dead.

“My my, thank you” Aoyama took his hand to pull himself up.

Kirishima clapped his back, almost sending Aoyama to the floor again. “No problem man! That armor really gives you problems, huh?”

Aoyama hummed as he sat on the bench to attempt to get the leg piece on again. Second try's a charm. “I suppose it does hinder my movement…” And it chafed.

“Man, you should see the support students for it then” Kaminari chimed in, pulling his arm through the sleeve of his black hero costume jacket.

Aoyama pouted. No matter how uncomfortable his costume may be, it made him shine. The chest piece maximized his beautiful navel beams, and the rest of the costume had to match with the centerpiece or it would simply look like he was an unfashionable hooligan. He vocalized that much.

“Oh, that does sound like a problem” Kirishima agreed “but with or without armor being a hero isn’t just about looks, it’s about manliness!”

“Yeah bro” Kaminari seconded “What if you got one of those cool chest beams like Iron Man-”

The bell rang, and Aoyama cursed, struggling with his other leg piece. Maybe he would see what he could do about the armor. He could always go the midnight approach and instead of armor just sparkle his skin and show himself to the world.

He would have to see.

“Good job today” Aizawa droned on, the students all panting with exhaustion. Some, like Aoyama, had resorted to sitting on the training room floor while their teacher debriefed them.

“Sero” Sero perked up at his teacher's acknowledgment “good job today on the field, you provided satisfactory support so that the others on your team could also perform their best. Solid job.”

Sero cheered as Kaminari and Kirishima fist-bumped him.

“Aoyama”

Aoyama smiled as his teacher mentioned him, though it quickly fell when Aizawa gave him a flat look.

“You needlessly put your team in danger by trying to show off. A hero’s job is not about impressing others, it is about getting the job done.”

As he moved on to the other teams, Aoyama was left to mull over what he said. Was what he did really that wrong? All he did was insist he go after the other teams head-on, it was simply a risky move that had not gone well in their favor.

He didn't understand why he was getting called out when Bakugou did this sort of thing every day in training. Granted, he had won each and every single round beautifully…

Maybe that’s who he needed to consult with?

The class had been dismissed, though Aoyama nearly missed it with how absorbed in his thoughts he was. Aoyama had to run to catch up with the rest of the class before he was left alone on the field.

Every day one of his other classmates, the dull ones he had paid no attention to before, had proceeded to shine in leaps and bounds. They had all had their chances to showcase their skills and amaze the rest of the class while Aoyama watched, hoping that one day he would get his chance.

But let it be said that Aoyama was not a patient person, and he felt that his golden opportunity should come sooner rather than later.

So gathering all of the courage he could, Aoyama stomped to Bakugou’s dorm room after classes. He even put on his best perfume for the occasion.

He schooled himself before knocking lightly on the door and could hear muffled voices from the other side before the door finally opened, revealing Kirishima.

Ah, the guard who guarded the beast’s cave.

Kirishima grinned “Hey man, what's up?”

A very nice guard.

Aoyama smiled back “I was wondering if I could talk to you and Bakugou about today’s training?”

Without looking back, and obviously ignoring Bakugou's protest, Kirishima opened the door wider. “Sure bro! Come on in!”

Aoyama entered the beast’s cave.

“Katsuki” Kirishima poked his cheek.

“Kat” Another poke.

“Bakubabe-”

Bakugou slapped the offending hand away, clenching his teeth like an angry dog. “Do it one more time and I'll bite your finger clean off.”

“Oh, how scary,” Kirishima said, continuing to poke him.

Bakugou sighed, looking up from his book “What do you want? It better be good or I’m kicking you out of my room.”

“What are your thoughts on Aoyama?” Kirishima suddenly asked, sliding down from the bed to sit with his boyfriend on the floor.

“Hah?” Bakugou asked, caught off guard, “disco ball?'

Kirishima felt the urge to facepalm “Yes, ‘disco ball.’”

Bakugou snorted “Well, he would be a lot better if he just stopped focusing on being a people pleaser and started getting his shit together. His costume is definitely the worst thing I’ve ever laid my eyes on, and his quirk’s drawback is more trouble than it’s worth.”

Kirishima nodded “Ah, I see. So what you’re saying is that he would be stronger if he put his mind to actually working as opposed to showing off, and to do that he could fix his costume to better suit him. In conclusion, the more he works the better his quirk will develop?”

Bakugou frowned “Where’d you get that load of bullshit? And shit, why can’t you write your essays like that-”

Kirishima opened his mouth to respond, but there came a gentle knock at the door. “I'll get it!”

“Eijiro I swear to god if you open that door-”

“What if someone needs us?”

“Then their asses can wait, I don’t want to talk to anyone right now-”

Kirishima opened the door.

Dammit, Bakugou was going to explode him later.

And speak of the devil, in came Aoyama, practically skipping in the room and making himself comfortable on the study chair while looking around. “Your room is a lot cleaner than I anticipated it would be.”

Bakugou snarled “What’s that supposed to mean-”

“Aoyama said he wanted to talk about training” Kirishima easily interrupted him, kicking him lightly. Bakugou grunted and pulled himself up on the bed to sit next to his read-headed idiot.

“Yeah? What part? The one where you screwed up or the one where your team lost.”

Despite the insult Aoyama didn’t seem bothered, in fact, he agreed. “Yes, both of those.”

Kirishima barked out laughter from next to Bakugou “wow, right out with it huh? What’s on your mind?”

Aoyama groaned, sliding down in the chair and shielding his eyes with his arm. Oh shit, here comes the fucking dramatics. “I just want to prove myself worthy” he started, “everyone else is getting their chances to shine, and it just isn’t fair that mine hasn’t come yet. You continue to impress me every day, yet I cannot shine with the brilliance that you do.”

“...Right” Bakugou nodded, pretending that he understood half of what he said. Kirishima elbowed him, stopping the insult at the tip of his tongue.

“Awww, it’s okay Aoyama, I’m sure it will come. You got into UA for a reason, and I'm sure you’ll get your chance if you’re patient.”

It was Bakugou’s turn to elbow Kirishima “that was some bad fucking advice. What the hell.”

“I’m trying!” Kirishima whined, rubbing his elbow.

“Then what do you recommend?” Aoyama looked to Bakugou, giving him the puppy dog eyes.

Bakugou crossed his arms, rolling his eyes. He just wanted this conversation to get over with so he could get back to his book. “You can’t just mope around all day and wait for an opportunity. You have to cease it, no matter the situation.”

Aoyama refuted “but I've been doing tha-”

“Don’t do it stupidly” Bakugou cut him off “Be smart about it and don’t botch it. That little maneuver you did today was just asking for trouble.”

Aoyama nodded along, eyes wide. Did they always shimmer like that? It was annoying. “I see. such wisdom for such a crass person. It’s out of tune.”

“Who are you calling ‘out of tune’ come here you fucking flashlight-”

Kirishima lowered Bakugou’s arm, laughing sheepishly when he saw Aoyama’s slightly frightened expression. “Ah, that’s enough now.”

“Yes,” Aoyama agreed, getting up from his chair. “I can tell that my time here is up. Thank you for the advice and farewell~”

The blonde was out of the room before either of them could say anything.

“...I think you scared him off.”

Bakugou chuckled, picking his book up “Yeah, no shit.”

Kirishima resumed poking him “look at you being nice to your classmate. You’re so manly-”

“I take it back. Get out of my room.”

Aoyama hung onto Bakugou’s words from that day for the following weeks, no longer needlessly propelling himself in harm's way to prove himself. He even put in a costume change request, one with less heavy pieces and more sparkles that would hopefully disorient his opponents.

Aizawa had stopped reprimanding him after training, even complimenting him a few times.

Aoyama, of course, was happy with the change, but he still craved for his opportunity to arise.

And around a month later, during internships, it did.

It had been a simple night patrol with the hero he was interning with, glamour. Her outfit was what had drawn Aoyama in, a fashionable pink and purple pattern, and her reflection quirk. She was one of the only ones to offer Aoyama a spot, but he appreciated that because she was truly bright.

He had traveled to a city not too far away, in fact, many of his other classmates were in the vicinity. The city was smaller than where Aoyama had taken residency, but its charm was undeniable. The nightlife was wondrous, though that did mean stopping more petty crimes than he used to.

And apparently, being assigned crowd control while his mentor beat up a mutant quirk user that had been wreaking havoc in a bar. He was very much intoxicated. The frightened bystanders of the area were quick to flee, so Aoyama didn't have much of a job to do.

“Do you need assistance?” Aoyama called as his mentor got slammed into a pole. He hissed, feeling her pain, though she got up with a wild smirk on her face. “There’s backup coming soon, for now, make sure everyone is out of the way.”

Aoyama nodded halfheartedly and turned back to lead a shocked family away from the scene.

“Do you know what happened?” A little girl asked.

Aoyama smiled down at her “It is nothing to worry about little one, he’s just a bit mad.”

‘Just a bit’ was an understatement. Aoyama winced as he heard a crash then the sound of a car siren blaring.

“Thank you so much” the mother bowed in appreciation, grabbing her daughter and turning to run. And as he watched her get away from the mess, he noticed a movement out of the corner of his eye.

A man to be exact, short in stature. He wore raggedy clothes that Aoyama wouldn’t be caught dead wearing, a beanie barely concealing his braided hair.

That was when Aoyama remembered, mind flashing to an image that his mentor had shown him at the beginning of their patrol.

“This” she tapped the paper “Is a dangerous quirk user who is on the loose. He escaped a nearby prison and is on the run, police haven’t been able to catch him yet. If you see him, report to me or an officer immediately, he is dangerous and should not be messed with, understood?”

“Understood” Aoyama chirped.

Well, apparently not because he found himself racing after the man who had ducked into a narrow alleyway. This could be the perfect opportunity to shine, the one he's been waiting for.

“I have to make my own opportunities and cease them,” Aoyama said to himself, imagining himself standing on a podium, trophy in one hand and a microphone in the other.

“It wasn’t that hard to catch the thief.” he flaunted his trophy, roses being thrown into the air by his adoring classmates.

“We love you, Aoyama!” They chanted.

Aizawa nodded in approval as All Might swooned next to him “Wonderful job, you may graduate early.”

Aoyama picked up the pace and turned down the alleyway. It wouldn’t be too hard to take him down, he was simply one man and Aoyama had seen the league of villains face to face before.

Though, all of his hopes and dreams were shattered when the man halted at the dead end, turning around to face Aoyama with a wicked smirk. Something brewed in those rust-colored eyes of his, and it wasn’t something nice.

Aoyama hesitated, taking a step back. The man's crooked grin widened. “What, too scared to face me?”

“I’m not scared” Aoyama automatically denied, ignoring the feeling festering in his guts. This was a hardened criminal, and that much was evident in the unhinged look in his eyes.

What had his crimes been again? Aoyama tried to think back to what else his mentor had said.

“Manslaughter.”

Aoyama took a step back. Maybe he could live to fight another day, he could still get an award for being a fast runner, right?

But before he could turn, the man sprang forward, running low and in zig zags when Aoyama yelped in surprise and shot off a beam. He dodged them with ease as if he was a trained acrobat, and with his lean and corded muscles, Aoyama wouldn’t be surprised.

“You aren’t a real hero, are you? Maybe one of those sidekicks who never advance in life.” The man spat, rolling out of the way of another energy beam. He had gotten close enough now to where he could reach out and grab him.

Aoyama narrowly avoided a fist, falling back to the dirty concrete floor. Oh no, his cape was going to get all nasty-

He dodged another onslaught of the man's fist.

“Oh,” the man chuckled. It sounded like the rustle of dead autumn leaves. “So you want me to actually use my quirk?"

Aoyama gulped “no thank you."

“You bought this upon yourself” the man hunched over as the fabric of his hoodie tore apart at his back, black spindly limbs broke free from their cage, eight in total.

Aoyama felt the scream tear from his throat but didn’t hear it, the man lifted his head with a satisfied grin, his fangs glinting in the dim moonlight.

This bitch just transformed into a spider.

Aoyama didn’t do spiders.

“Kill it kill it kill it” he muttered to himself as he squeezed his eyes shut and shot off beams at random.

Then Aoyama felt hands touch his shoulder, throwing him back forcefully. Wait, had the man been wearing gloves? Aoyama peaked open his eyes to see none other than Bakugou Katsuki bringing a hand up to fire off an explosion.

The spider-man had skillfully dodged it, and to Aoyama’s horror, started crawling on the wall with his spider limbs.

Bakugou huffed in amusement “a spider? I’ll crush you.”

The man smirked “You’re on”

Aoyama watched in amazement as they traded blows, fighting as if they were dancing and flinging each other through the air. Aoyama had never realized how much of an agile fighter Bakugou was, despite his explosions.

Aoyama had returned to his feet, ready to run off for some reinforcement, but while his back was exposed, he felt something light and stick grab his onto it. Oh no. Oh no. Aoyama slowly turned around to see a web attaching him to the man, and before he could bat it away, the cord’s slack was gone, throwing Aoyama back.

“Dammit!” He heard his ash-blonde classmate curse as Aoyama was thrown into the fray, but thankfully he was caught by his classmate.

Bakugou roughly deposited him on the floor “Watch your back” he scolded, which was ironic, because right at that moment the man slithered behind to his exposed back, more snakelike than a spider, and sunk his teeth into the junction of Bakugou’s neck.

“Shit!” Bakugou yelled, grabbing the man by the collar and ripping him off of him. “What are you, some kind of… of… vampire?”

Bakugou blinked sluggishly.

Aoyama found himself horrified as he trembled in his boots.

Bakugou never blinked sluggishly.

The man, who had taken his place on the wall, laughed. “That's not the first I’ve heard of that, but I'm a spider. And I have venom.” Aoyama watched, paralyzed as a substance dropped from the man's elongated fangs.

Why was nothing ever easy for him?

Bakugou then collapsed to his knees, fists shaking as he resisted the venom. “That’s… some weird-ass... Venom.” He grumbled.

When Aoyama could feel his legs again he crawled over the blonde as he fell further to the ground. Bakugou was alarmingly limp in his arms when he rolled him over. “Hey!” Aoyama slapped his cheek “what do I do?” his tone bordered fear and desperation, cracking under the crushing weight of the situation.

Bakugou growled at Aoyama “Don’t… fucking slap….me.”

Aoyama pulled his hand back.

“Do you…. Know spiders…. Weakness?’ Bakugou asked.

Aoyama shook his head, of course, he didn’t. He would rather not think about spiders during his free time.

“He… has good senses… disorient… him.” Bakugou finished, sweat beaded his face as his breaths came out in uneven puffs. Aoyama could tell that he wouldn’t be getting much more information out of him.

He carefully lay him back down and swiftly turned around to face the thug, who watched the scene with calculating eyes. “Oh, are you ready for a round two? That didn't go too well last time.”

Aoyama pulled all of the bravery he could, channeling his inner Bakugou, before standing tall. “It won’t happen again.”

“Oh? We'll see.”

Like a flash, the man was off, bounding from wall to wall. But Aoyama didn’t let himself track the movement, instead, he aimed for the opposite wall of where the man was, anticipating his movements.

He was utterly shocked when the beam hit directly near his head, making the man flinch back at the burst of light. “Damn!” he rubbed at his eyes furiously.

Bakugou had been right.

Aoyama used the opportunity to aim again, and soon enough the man had been brought to his knees with the light show. Though Aoyama’s guts twisted sharply, his stomach flaring with hot pain, and he too was sent to his knees.

His quirk drawback was really less than ideal.

The man fidgeted, and before Aoyama could react, another web had been shot his way.

It seemed that Aoyama didn’t need to move out of the way, because something had stopped it in its path. The webbing bounced off of the mirror and was sent back with twice the amount of force right for the man's eyes.

Aoyama almost sobbed at the sight of his mentor, standing there in all her glory, smirking like a devil. She cracked her knuckles “let's wrap this up.”

Just as Aoyama was about to cheer for her, she shot him a look that could wither even the strongest of men's resolve. “Don’t think you got off the hook, you disobeyed my order and endangered this boy here. As soon as we get him to the hospital I'm making you run laps around it!”

Aoyama gulped.

Maybe he should still run while he had the chance.

“Why are you standing out there like a wimp” Bakugou called, voice slightly hoarse “get your ass in here or stop wallowing in self-pity.”

Aoyama wasn’t even sure how Bakugou knew he was waiting outside his hospital room but scurried in when yelled at. Maybe he shouldn’t have come, though his guilty conscience simply would not allow that.

So that was how he ended up sitting on the uncomfortable plastic chair at his classmate's bedside with only the rhythmic beeping of the heart monitor to fill the silence.

It wasn’t the worst situation but it surely wasn’t the best either.

“Did they get that bastard?” Bakugou finally asked.

Aoyama nodded, thankful to have something to talk about. “Yes, my lovely mentor managed to get there in time before any harm befell of me.” He wished he could say the same for Bakugou.

Bakugou grinned wolfishly “she beat your ass didn’t she.”

Aoyama looked down, reminded of the ache in his legs from running miles. “Yes, I didn't get off easily.”

“Fucking good, maybe next time you won’t pull a stunt like that.”

It was ironic that Bakugou, the one who threw himself into fights, was saying that. But Aoyama kept his mouth shut because apparently now that was something they had in common.

“Do you know when you’re getting out?” Aoyama asked, changing the subject.

Bakugou narrowed his eyes but didn’t question it “tomorrow, they had me on some kind of anti-venom shit.”

Aoyama sighed “I hate spiders.”

Bakugou snorted “yeah I could tell, you screamed like a little girl.”

Aoyama would try to deny it, but it was a true statement.

Bakugou was being strangely nice, perhaps it was the pain meds?

Then Aoyama asked a question that had been nagging at him. “How did you know I was there? Shouldn’t you have been patrolling on your side of the city?”

Bakugou gave him a flat look “how could I not see you there? It was practically a light show, some bastards were even sitting out on their fold-out chairs cuz’ they thought it was a firework show.”

Aoyama flushed “oh,” he said dumbly. At least the whole city got to lay eyes upon his glorious quirk.

After a while Bakugou shooed him away from his room, claiming he would hit the nurse button and claim he was an intruder if he lingered any longer.

Aoyama didn’t need to be told twice.

In the end, Aoyama did get his chance to shine, and he was noticed, just not in a good way.

It looks like he would need to wait just a little longer for his golden opportunity.

Chapter Text

It was needless to say that Midoriya and Bakugou had one of the most complex relationships possibly in the entire school of UA. The other students of class 1-A took note of this and pointedly did not stick their noses into that, not wanting to get blown up or worse. Though sometimes Kaminari would pester Bakugou about it, and those times was when Bakugou would grow quiet and ignore him for a week.

The select few who knew about their past, Kirishima, Todoroki, and Uraraka, also minded their business. They got to experience different perspectives though, Todoroki silently absorbed as Bakugou pushed Midoriya away. Uraraka watched as Midoriya still harbored some of his skittish traits around the blonde.

And Kirishima experienced Bakugou’s regret.

It took a long while in their relationship for Bakugou to build up his trust and take down his walls to actually let Kirishima know about it. And even then his responses were short and not very informational. Dating Bakugou, Kirishima had learned to read between the lines.

Bakugou wasn’t ready to say sorry now, maybe he never would, his pride got in the way too much to allow that. But Midoriya and Kirishima understood in his silent actions, with the way he tried not to raise his arms around Midoriya anymore or how he avoided talking to him.

Though Midoriya didn’t want to just avoid Bakugou for the rest of his life, he wanted to mend their friendship and make it a real one this time.

So he would start in baby steps.

“Hey, mom!” Midoriya called, setting his backpack down. He had returned to his Mothers apartment for the weekend.

“Welcome!” Inko called from the kitchen “how was your week?”

“It was good!” Izuku replied, a smile splitting his freckled face “Kacchan is coming over for dinner tonight!’

“Wha-” The sound of a pan crashing to the floor could be heard.

Bakugou eyed the new message on his phone apprehensive, scoffing at Deku’s contact. He had blocked him but recently unblocked him, yet every week the other had not failed to invite him over for dinner.

And every week he had declined.

Eijiro’s words echoed in his head “making amends is probably too much for you right now, but you can slowly start to befriend him, take baby steps.”

So here Katsuki was, gritting his teeth and typing out a reply instead of ignoring Deku like normal.

Bakugou: ‘Be there tonight at six o’clock sharp, don’t let auntie Inko even touch the stove ill do the cooking.’

Bakugou smirked, imagining the nerd's face as the typing box appeared then disappeared multiple times.

Nerd: ‘Of course!!”

Bakugou left him on read and set down his phone to ponder over his life choices.

From next to him, Kirishima snorted “You look like you just had a conversation with your mom.”

“It was worse than that,” Bakugou said flatly, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Kirishima’s eyebrows rose to his hairline “You were talking to Midoriya?”

Bakugou didn’t respond, but his boyfriend pressed more “what was that about?”

“He asked me to have dinner at his place like he always does.”

“...and?”

“And I said yes” Katsuki spat, choosing not to see the smug smirk on Kirishima’s face as he leaned over their study table in Bakugou’s room.

“You’re taking my advice?”

Bakugou swiftly threw a pillow right at the smug bastard's face, gritting his teeth “don’t get all weird about it, just shut the hell up.”

Despite Bakuogu’s harsh words, Kirishima smiled sweetly “I’m proud of you.”

Bakugou flushed, throwing another pillow at him.

“Katsuki! Come in!” Inko shouted excitedly, pulling Bakugou into a hug even though she was a whole head and a half shorter than him. Despite that, he hadn’t seen the woman in a long time, and instead of tensing up in her hold, he looped his arms around her.

“Hey Auntie Inko, it’s been a while.”

She pulled away, jutting a finger to his chest, a frown tugging at her lips. “You need to visit more, I worry for you every day!”

Bakugou grumbled, looking to the tiled floor, momentarily feeling a stab of guilt. He had missed Inko more than he realized.

Then Inko dropped her hands to her side, a smile returning to her face “enough of the guilt trip, dinners getting started-“

Bakugou’s head whipped to Midoriya, who stood in the corner and watched their interaction silently. “I told you to tell her I would  cook dammit!”

Instead of cowering Midoriya shrugged “she really wanted to cook.”

Bakugou liked it when Midoriya didn’t cower, it allowed him not to look down on him and get sick satisfaction like he once did.

Before Bakugou could open his mouth to curse him out, Inko grabbed his elbow in a surprisingly strong grip. “Come on, you can help me, and Izuku,” she shot a look at her kid “please don’t step into the kitchen anymore, you’re banned after last time. Make the table please.”

Midoriya flushed and immediately turned to do what he was asked.

Bakugou huffed out a laugh, he wondered what that was about.

“I’ll tell you how Izuku blew up the microwave while we prepare the meal,” the woman said as if reading Bakugou's mind.

Bakugou snorted, running the faucet to wash his hands. “You better.”

He didn’t know at the time, but visiting the Midoriyas for dinner would become a weekly ritual.

After that their odd… friendship? Shifted again as it had been doing over the school years, but this time it was for the better.

While Bakugou was still aggressive, that would never change, he stopped specifically targeting Deku. And even if he hated him, Bakugou wouldn’t sell out the secret of one for all either.

While Bakugou had calmed down ever so slightly towards the others rambling, Midoriya had reached out more.

Of course, they weren’t the only ones to realize the shift in their dynamic. The three observers took note of it, and even the UA staff- namely Aizawa- jumped for joy when their arguments no longer destroyed whole training facilities.

This called for a 'Bakugou and Midoriya get along squad' meeting. Aizawa was the president, and Iida was the Vice President. They met every Friday to determine ways to get the two to stop depleting their budget through their property-destroying arguments.

“This is a huge leap for mankind,” Iida announced, Aizawa lay still in his sleeping bag but was listening intently. “While the two of them still argue, the peace remains undisturbed.”

Momo raised her hand “how could this have happened? Don’t misunderstand me, I am glad the two are sorting out their ill feelings, but at the beginning of last year, they nearly killed each other. Multiple times.”

“I agree,” Tsuyu chimed in, the other residents of the club nodding. “There has to be another factor at play here.”

“The other factor is Midoriya’s mom,” Kirishima blurted, but quickly put a hand over his mouth at the shocked looks his classmates gave him. “Hehe...let me rephrase that.”

Iida nodded slowly, “please do.”

“Well I don't want to say too much about it because it's Katsuki’s business, but Midoriya’s mom is super nice to him and invited him to dinner every weekend… I think they did this when they were kids but just haven't in a long time.”

“Ah, that makes sense,” Uraraka chirped, a big smile on her face. “Family meals always bring people together! Even if it’s the two most dysfunctional people we know!”

“Yes, the power of family prevails!” Iida pumped his fist, then spared a glance over to Todoroki. “Sorry, Todoroki.”

The other student shrugged.

“We should not look a gift horse in the mouth,” Aizawa finally said “we will let them continue to leave us alone and mind our own business. And if they end up holding hands and skipping into the sunset then the more satisfying for us.”
Kirishima snorted, falling into a fit of giggles at the absurd image of his boyfriend even touching Midoriya’s hand. Oh, his face would be priceless.

The meeting continued with relative ease, Kaminari and Kirishima laughing in the back until finally, Iida cleared his throat. “I believe that this meeting is over, you are dismissed, thank you for attending.”

The occupants of the room stood up, it was about a third of class 1-A, the students that desperately wanted the two to stop arguing.

Well, and Mineta.

“Why are you here anyway?” Kaminari asked, slugging his bag over his shoulder.

Mineta shrugged “I dunno, I needed the club credit.”

“I-” Kaminari gaped “Wait, this is an official club?”

“So, how is Midoriya doing?” Kirishima asked on their walk back to the dorms. It was a bright Monday, months into the Bakugou and Midoriya cease-fire.

“Hah?” Bakugou huffed “how would I know?”

Eijiro kicked a rock on their path back to Bakugou, who kicked it right back. “Well he wasn’t at school today, I figured you would know why.”

Katsuki pulled his phone from his pocket, he didn’t normally check it throughout the day as most other students did. Kirishima always nagged at him for his bad habit of never answering text messages. His carmine eyes scanned over the screen, “It looks like he fuckn’ found a stray cat on the streets on his way to UA or somethin’”

“Oh!” Kirishima perked up, nearly tripping over the rock Katsuki had kicked to him, “So he stayed home to care for it? How nice!”

Bakugou rolled his eyes “It’s stupid, that's what it is. Wasting school time on some stupid animal.”

“It’s sweet, Kat. Maybe you can learn from him,” Kirishima winked, and Bakugou bristled at the teasing.

Bakugou ended up walking to Midoriya’s house after that, a bag from the supermarket in hand. He didn’t even knock on the apartment door, they always left it unlocked. Bakugou had always got onto them for leaving it unlocked, but they always waved him off, saying that no one would try anything.

Inko claimed that he and Midoriya were like her personal guard dogs, and Bakugou would in fact willingly play that role if he had to.

It felt strange to just walk into the Midoriya’s residence as if it were a completely normal thing, there was something strangely nostalgic about it. Bakugou wasn’t one to soak up feelings such as that, but for once he would allow himself.

After a moment he slipped off his shoes and proceeded further into the apartment, though now that he was focusing the atmosphere of the apartment seemed wrong. The hairs on his arms stood on end, “Auntie Inko? Nerd? Are ya here?”

No response.

Bakugou dropped his bag as he entered the living space. It was in shambles, couch cushions shredded and curtains ripped from their loops. His heart dropped, a fiery feeling festered in his gut as his body lunged forward to the back hallway.

He wildly opened the doors, eyes scanning over the rooms. The computer room where Deku had watched that damn All Might documentary with him over and over again, the bathroom where they had drawn on the mirror with Inko’s lipstick. (If Bakugou squinted then the stains were still there.)

He finally came upon Deku’s room, not hesitating before flinging open the door. His heart rate spiked, he had just gotten to know Deku after those years of torturing him, blindsided by his own ego. He was just starting to return to the dynamic he, Deku, and Auntie Inko use to have, nothing could happen to them-

Deku’s room was a mess, sheets torn off of the bed and scratch marks in the wallpaper. “Izuk-” Bakugou stopped in his tracks, eyes landing on the bed. His shoulders lost their tension when he spotted Deku on it, sleeping with that damn cat he found earlier on his chest.

Bakugou took a moment to reassess, moving back to the living room while angrily grumbling. That damn cat must have rampaged the whole apartment while Deku was sleeping. Bakugou put the bag from the supermarket onto the counter, the cat supplies spilled out of it.

He snatched the note from the refrigerator, written in aunt Inko’s delicate handwriting ‘Working another shift, dinners in the microwave.’

Bakugou crushed, crumpling up the note and throwing it in the trash can. If Inko was working a long shift then she would definitely not appreciate coming back to a messy apartment.

“Alright,” Bakugo drew a long breath in before yelling, “DEKU, GET THE HELL UP WE HAVE CLEANING TO DO!”

Midoriya promptly screamed from the other room.

“You know,” Bakugou started while chopping up the onion, eyes not tearing up.”I thought the shitty nerd was kidnapped or something.”

Kirishima almost dropped the dish he was cleaning “What now? When was this?” He reached over Bakugou for the rag to wash off the dish.

“Yesterday, I went over to Deku’s to… I got stuff for his shitty cat.” Bakugou admitted, smacking Kirishima when he smirked dopily. “And his house was all fucked up, turns out he was just passed out and the cat ransacked the place.”

“Ah,” Kirishima nodded, “the stray cat must have been spooked. Were you scared?”

Bakugou scoffed, “of course not.” He wasn’t scared… just on edge. Eijiro eyed him as he set the cup down, it was just them in the UA kitchen, the others had left them to watch a movie. Kirishima wasn’t afraid to question him.

“I know when you’re lying, Kat.”

Bakugou scowled “I don't know what you’re talking about. My heart rate only increased a bit, that's it.” Kirishima watched as Katsuki’s eyes scanned over the room before he spoke again “It just made me question shit.”

“What kind of shit?”

Bakugou had a white knuckle grip on the knife but loosened it to hold onto the edge of the counter so he didn’t punch anything. Kirishima waited patiently, continuing to wash the dishes and keeping his eyes off of his boyfriend. Sometimes in these situations, they would sit in silence and Katsuki would lose his nerve and silently say ‘nevermind.’

But apparently this time he wanted to spit out whatever was on his mind.

“I thought they were gone,” he murmured, volume steadily increasing as he went on. “Just as I was fucking trying, redeeming myself and getting old things back to normal, I thought it had all been- been fucked up!” He hissed between his teeth, veins in his hands popping. Kirishima realized how hard it must have been for him to admit this.

Bakugou pushed forwards “I guess it just realized that- that I may be running out of time to fucking tell him. What if one day we just fucking get caught in another villain attack and he thinks I’m still that same fucking bully from middle school-”

“Whoa whoa whoa, Kat,” Kirishima interjected, keeping a firm grasp on his shoulders. “You’re spiraling right now, deep breaths.”

Eijiro frowned, it made sense that Bakugou’s thoughts were getting on his nerves, but he hadn’t been this way in a while. His paranoia was returning to him, no doubt thinking about the league of villains and his kidnapping. And his new strain of having to struggle with himself over his guilt, well, it was bound to happen.

“Listen to me,” Kirishima said firmly, “Midoriya doesn't blame you, I'm sure he knows how you feel. And the villains,” Eijiro continued “I know we've been attacked before, but we’re still here and we’re not going anywhere anytime soon.”

Bakugou didn’t say anything else, nodding slightly before turning his back to the redhead and returning to cutting the onions.

“...Thanks Ei.”

“Anytime.”

It was the asscrack of dawn when Bakugou was awoken to shuffling noises in his room. He immediately sprung into wakefulness, eyes adjusting to the dim lighting as he frantically scanned the room.

“Kacchan, it’s okay it’s only me,” his lamplight flickered on and Deku stared down at him eerily. Bakugou jumped, ignoring when the nerd laughed at him.

“Aw, fuck you,” Katsuki groaned, “why in the hell did you break into my dorm at…” He glanced at his alarm clock “One in the morning?”

Midoriya looked down, lips twitching “You see…”

Bakugou groaned even more, “what the fuck did you do this time?”

Deku laughed nervously and Bakugou simply glared at him from his bed “this better be good, why were you sneaking around here?” He wasn't angry, more annoyed. Deku could have at least snuck around fucking quieter so that his sleep wasn’t interrupted.

“....I was looking for your med kit?”

“My wha-” Bakugou shook the sleep from his head “First of all, why do you even need mine? And second, where the fuck did yours go?” Everyone in the UA dorms had medical kits in their dorms.

“I ran out of supplies in mine,” Deku said simply looking at him with large eyes. Bakugou wanted to roll his eyes, of course he had already run out of supplies, he got hurt every other week.

Bakugou grunted, slinging the blankets off of his legs to get up from his bed “sit,” he ordered, Deku immediately plopped down onto his desk-side chair.

Bakugou stretched before bending down and yanking open his bottom drawer, pulling out the medical kit. He set it on the desk and held a hand out to Deku, raising an eyebrow.

Midoriya stared at it in shock “Oh, you don’t have to-”

Bakugou narrowed his eyes, “Hand. Now.”

Midoriya clamped his mouth shut, lips drawn in a thin line as he slowly raised his hand to let Bakugou see it. His scarlet eyes analyzed the knuckle injuries, shaking his head in disapproval as he took Midoriya’s wrist to clean it. “How in the fuck did this happen shitty nerd?”

“I was training-”

“No, you weren’t. I’ve known you for too fucking long to know when you’re lying.”

Midoriya nodded a smile on his face despite being chided “You’re right Kacchan. I was training, but that's not how I got injured. I went to the convenience store for some water and there was another teen there with some kind of weapon on him. H-he was threatening a girl and my body acted on its own…”

Well, the rest was self-explanatory. Bakugou observed the injury “when you punched him in the face, you didn't use your quirk?”

Deku shook his head, wincing slightly when Bakugou started to wrap the bandages around his mangled knuckles. “I didn’t want to hurt him too much.”

“Dammit, you could have gotten hurt though!” Katsuki growled, “you can’t just keep saving everyone, think before you do things!”

When Katsuki looked up from the others hand he realized that he had probably said too much, because Deku’s eyes were practically watering. “You do care!”

Bakugou could practically see the rainbows and flowers emitting from the nerd, so he was quick to shut it down. “You just can’t keep being a self-sacrificing bastard, you'll end up dead in a ditch or something.”

Midoriya snorted “That’s pretty hypocritical Kacchan.”

Bakugou squeezed down on Daku’s injuries, making him jolt back “fine, I take it back! Jeez!” He cradled his hand.

Katsuki smirked… Though he did suppose that the nerd had a point. By calling him out he was calling the both of them out. Whatever, it was fine with him as long as he dragged Deku down with him.

“Your hand will be fine, now scram and let me get the hell back to sleep. And don’t come crawling back to me with another injury.”

Midoriya smiled appreciatively “I won’t, thanks Kacchan!”

Bakugou rolled his eyes, he supposed the damn nerd was becoming a little more tolerable.

To say that Izuku was ecstatic was an understatement. The relationship he had been struggling to build with Kacchan was finally taking root, and months later after Kacchan finally started facing his flaws, Midoriya could finally claim that they had… sort of a brother relationship.

A shaky one where they argued every chance they could, but significantly better compared to what it once was. His mom was overjoyed to see his face more too, and it was nice to see her happy.

Of course, they still had their moments where they got into arguments and didn’t talk for a week, but after that, they would push forward. Midoriya knew that Bakugou still harbored many regrets, but his pride was too much in the way to say anything about it.

A lot of things went unsaid, but Midoriya was okay with that.

He just didn’t expect the explosive blonde to actually… address his issues. And he most definitely did not expect their situations to be reversed.

This time Midoriya was the one to be woken up at one AM to shuffling in his room. He immediately sat up ramrod straight, shaky hands reaching for his lamp switch,”H-hello?” he called out “ghost?”

Then the light flooded the room, revealing none other than Bakugou.
Midoriya blinked “Oh. It’s you.”

“Go back to sleep,” Bakugou said, his voice sounded hoarse, “this is all a dream, you never saw me.”

Midoriya was tempted to take the offer, to hide back under the comfort of his blankets, but the strange look in Bakugou’s eyes stopped him. “Something happened.”

Bakugou snorted, “Yea, no shit.”

“Alright,” Izuku shrugged, wrapping the blanket back around him, “I’ll go back to slee-”

“Wait,” Katsuki stopped him, “where is your medical kit?”

“...Top drawer… What happened to yours?”

Bakugou shrugged again “dunno, thought that you stole it or some shit.”

While Izuku had borrowed some of the bandages, he didn’t take the whole kit. Meaning that Bakugou was here for more than just medical attention, though Midoriya knew his roundabout ways of handling things, so he didn’t press.

Izuku watched silently as Bakugou sat down on his chair, glaring at his blistered palms as he slathered ointment on them. He had obviously been sparking off explosions for a while now, and at that exhausted look of exhaustion in his eyes, Midoriya felt the urge to just go to sleep by looking at them.

“How long can you pop off explosions?” Izuku asked, disrupting their silence.

‘How long were you at it for?’

“A couple of hours.”

‘More than a couple of hours.’

There were always hidden meanings behind every word they uttered to each other.

Midoriya would ask what happened, but he already had a good idea by Katsuki’s stiff posture and the eyebags under his red-rimmed eyes. He probably had another bad night and went to blow off some steam.

Izuku wanted to chuckle at the irony, so he did. Bakugou’s head whipped over to him “why the fuck are you laughing?”

“I-i’m sorry Kacchan,” Izuku reigned in his laughing fit, “It’s just, we're both messes, coming to each other's dorms all bloody.”

Katsuki scowled “don’t lug me in with you. At least I don't get hurt attacking random people.”

“Kacchan he was bothering someone, and you aren’t much better, hurting yourself purposefully.”

‘Hurting yourself because you can’t find a good coping mechanism.’

Though Bakugou seemed to understand the hidden message, tensing up. If he was a dog then his ears would be flat and his teeth would be barred threateningly. “At least I don't willingly throw myself out there for others.”

And oh, Izuku could practically smell the oncoming argument looming over them. He sighed, putting his hands up, “we’re both bad, I know. Let’s save this argument for some time else, preferably when the sun's out.”

Bakugou seemed to agree because he ripped the roll of bandage with his teeth, placing it back into the medical kit. They seemed more prone to scuffles now, maybe because Midoriya had grown a backbone and they both stood for what they believed in. But they were healthy arguments, something that they both seemed to recognize.

They both had things to work through, but they knew that it would never get as bad as things were in middle school. In fact, that felt worlds away from where they were right now.

Bakugou silently got up to his feet, shuffling to the door, though he stopped slightly with a slight tilt of his head before exiting.

And Midoriya beamed once he got the silent message.

‘Sorry.’

Though the words may never be vocalized, Midoriya knew that they existed between them.