#Another great step is the whole league going pro

[billthedrake]

MORE PLAYOFF CUNT

(Again, this is another man-with-vagina story.)

Jack Baylor had his game face on, but deep down the NFL coach was scared shitless.

He'd lectured his players, all right. About believing in yourself. About not even thinking that losing was a possibility. And it had been one hell of a run for the season. That's why he'd made the bet. That's why he was in this hotel room after the big playoff game that would haunt him for the whole offseason. The mistakes that he and the made. What could have been.

Jack looked in the bathroom mirror, a towel wrapped a body just on the cusp of middle age, a fitter, much fitter version of a suburban dad body. 210 pounds of ex-quarterback muscle, all furred up now. Trevor Kellman had given him strict instructions. He wanted Coach clearly showered and ready for him. Jack grimaced and looked into the waste bin where he'd tossed the disposable enema. Jack had to read on the internet how to prepare to lose one's ass cherry. He almost balked but he wasn't gonna be the man in the league who welched on a bet.

The knock broke his train of thought. Coach Baylor sauntered over to the door. OK, he might be nervous but his stomach did a few butterflies when he saw the 6'5" hunk standing there, in his post-game casual clothes.

"Hey Coach," Trevor growled in a sexy leer. "Looking great, man."

To hear this rack of muscle praise his body was an ego boost for sure. Jack led Travor inside and even clothed the hunk was incredible. Jack told himself for years he only went for women. Then he told himself he only went for leaner men than himself. But seeing the tight end standing feet from him, he had to admit that, yeah, the big boys did something for him. Jack Baylor's 6-and-a-half-incher chubbed up beneath the towel, almost involuntarily.

Trevor stepped up and wrapped his pro-bowler hands around the older stud's waist, drawing Jack toward him. The kiss was soft and skilled, and Coach Baylor melted into it. They made out in that hotel room and somewhere along the way that towel dropped to the floor. Jack was naked and now being pawed openly by the horny tight end.

"Damn, Coach," Trevor hissed as he moved his hands from Jack's ass up to feel up the furry front. "I've wanted to get with you for like five years now."

"Yeah?" Jack grunted excitedly. If there was any dude to give his virginity to, he couldn't do better than Trevor, he decided.

"Fuck yeah," the jock hissed. He wasn't that much younger than Baylor and was already getting the older looks of a 30-something pro player. He stepped back and reached into his back jeans pocket.

Jack gasped when he saw a shiny pair of handcuffs in Trevor's big hand. This was part of the bet, too, the restraints, but seeing them made it feel reel. And Jack half hoped Trevor had forgotten about that part.

He hadn't. "One of the stadium cops lent me these..." he said. "Aren't they a beaut?"

"Just go easy on me, man," Coach Baylor pleaded.

"As easy as you'd have gone on me," Trevor winked and then leaned into give Coach a reassuring kiss. Finally he slapped that meaty coach ass. "All right... on the bed... I'm fucking horny."

It took some guts, Jack decided, but he was going to go through with this. Maybe he'd enjoy it. Maybe.

The metal felt a little cool on his left wrist, then his right. His hard on had flagged but hadn't gone away entirely. Maybe Jack was into this shit, at least more than he realized. Trevor Kellman might just show him some new tricks.

It was torture being cuffed and having to watch Trevor's slow strip tease. The T-shirt come off, showing off that bulky, ripped muscle. Two-hundred fifty fucking pounds of NFL brawn. Jack's dick jerked hard once more.

"You like being cuffed, huh, Coach?" Trevor grinned, flashing a killer smile and those baby blue eyes that seemed a contrast to his powerhouse build and gridiron toughness. The five o'clock stubble just made it just that much hotter.

Jack jerked on the bed, and his hardon twitched. Goddamn, the punk was right. The 39-year-old got into this shit. He was scared as hell Kellman wouldn't go easy on him, but his dick fed off that fear. Coach was used to calling the shots, but the tight end would be running the plays on this one.

Already Trevor was peeling off his jeans and folding them neatly on the desk chair, in a surprisingly fussy move. The tight end was all brawn, and his bulk was covered in lush, downy brown body hair that seemed to get thicker on his ass. Kellman had on just a jockstrap now, and the white straps showed off that meaty furry ass perfectly.

The jock took another second to eye up coach, adding to the cuffed man's sexual torture. Jack was SO horny right now. He looked at Trevor, eyes feasting on the site then...

FUCK! Trevor reached in the jock pouch and pulled out a plastic protector cup, setting it on the desk gently before peeling down the underwear.

Those pubes were thick and bushy and a shade darker than the rest of Trevor's fur, but there wasn't a cock there. Or a set of meaty balls. Even through the heavy pubic hair, Coach Baylor could make out a throbbing, oversized clit and some well formed cunt lips.

Unless Kellman brought a strap on, Baylor wasn’t gonna lose his cherry tonight.

"What the fuck?!" he gulped.

Trevor didn't let Coach react too much. Already he was climbing on that bed, giving the older man's naked body soft kisses as he made his way up. "Come on, Coach, I got a hungry pussy. And a bet's a bet."

The lips that met his were not a chick, but a full-blooded athletic man's. Gone was the soft approach. Trevor was raping Jack Baylor's mouth with his meaty tongue while 250 pounds of NFL brawn pinned down the married man to the bed.

It was combination that drove Jack wild. He twisted and bucked as best he could between the player, the mild freak out just adding to his lust somehow.

Trevor hit Jack's round pec muscle. Not overly hard, but not soft in his punch either. "Fuck, Coach. You hot fucker... Gonna take care of my pussy tonight, Coach... huh?" Already his prize, ball-catching hand gripped Jack's boner roughly. "Gonna make love to my hot, wet NFL snatch?"

Jack choked on the words that wouldn't form and nodded. Apparently that was enough for Trevor, who leaned up, showing off that ripped, big body, and as he spread he legs to straddle Coach Baylor, those meaty folds were clearly visible... hairy mounds spreading to show off a creamy pink interior. Jack had never encountered a man vagina before. It was like a woman's only somehow, bigger, nastier.

Kellman kept scooting up, toward the headboard, and Jack got a closer view, and a good dose of that masculine pussy scent. His cock jerked and for a second he forgot he was handcuffed, until he tried to move his hands to touch Trevor... his legs or any part of him.

Instead, the tight end lined his cunt up right above Coach's face, ever so slowly descending. This was SO nasty and fucked up, but Jack didn't remember ever being so turned on.

"Sam says you're a grade-A pussy eater," Trevor growled.

Figured guys in the league would talk, Jack thought. And he had to credit his own defensive end for getting him into ass eating. But as those furry mounds brushed his chin and lips, Coach realized it had come full circle... from women to fucking jocks... to whatever the fuck he was about to do.

"Oh my fucking GOD!" Kellman cried. The second he'd felt Coach Baylor's tongue stick out and lick his outer lips, he bore down on the man's face.

Jack writhed, helpless as he had the air cut off. He was smothered entirely by a man 40 pounds bigger than him, sitting on his face. The coach jerked against the constraints for a minute, then felt a strange serenity wash over him. He began licking. If he was gonna suffocate, this would be the way to go...

Thankfully, Trevor pulled up. Not a lot, but it allowed Jack to take a breath of three. The tonguing quickly returned. The tight end let coach work his way from the cunt lips to the more sensitive interior and then right into his open jock hole.

"Eat me out, you fucker," he hissed. Not bearing back down on the man's face. Five seconds on, five seconds off, almost a perfect rhtyhm of breath control for Jack Baylor.

Coach's dick throbbed and now leaked a steady milky stream of sap. For him, munching cunt was mostly foreplay. But he'd never munched Trevor Kellman's cunt before.

The jock was now swiveling his hips to guide his clit right against Coach's tongue.

"You like having a nympho ride you, Coach? I swear you're about as hungry as Coach Jones was, back in college... Dude couldn't get enough of my snatch."

Jack only grunted his excitement into Trevor's muff.

"And fuck," Kellman gasped as he felt his pleasure rise. Maybe the five seconds down had become closer to ten at a go as he lost control. "Coach J knew how to get me off ten, twelve times a night... you gonna do that Baylor?"

The words and the shortness of breath were making Coach Baylor go wild. He suckled at that meaty clit and felt Kellman buck wild, slamming Jack's head hard into the pillow.

"AW SHIT!" Trevor gasped as his whole body went into an orgasm. That pussy clenched against Coach's face, and Jack felt the creamy wetness spurt against his chin drip down his shaved-stubble.

Rough Trevor was replaced with gentle Trevor as he reached down and massaged Jack's thick hair playfully. "Fuckin' A, Coach... Sam wasn't lying, man." He's shifted his angle enough that his entrance was now closer to Jack's mouth, and he felt the hungry man lap at his now blossomed cunt eagerly.

"Yeah, Coach.... fucking lick my pussy, get up in there." He bore down on that mouth again, more gently this time. "We're a long fucking way from being done."

Jack Baylor's tool spurted on his own hairy belly, but he was helpless to do anything about it.

***

Kellman wasn't lying. It was 5 AM when the tight end finally let up. His cunt was dripping wet from Coach Baylor's spit and his own pussy juices. The stickiness formed a thin thread to Jack's lips that finally broke as the tight end scooted back. His whole body was covered in a sheen of athletic sweat and a look of pure fucked out satisfaction was on his face. "Best bet I ever won," Trevor beamed.

The bottom half of Jack's face was slobbery wet and his jack was sore as hell. His wrists cramped from the handcuffs. and his hands were losing circulation. But it was fucking worth it.

Even the blue balls were worth it. The sexual overstimulation had gone to the painful stage and back to something else entirely. Another, higher sexual zone. His own belly was covered in a river of precum slime, added to some dried out leaking from earlier in the evening. Jack Baylor had never been a man to edge, but now he knew he was gonna experiment with that from now on. A lot.

Kellman looked down, satisfied with the look of the coach's fit body. Jack's cock jerked at the pro-jock's tough. "Fuck you're wet, Coach," he observed. And with an act of mercy he scooted himself back.

"OH!" Jack hissed, taken by surprise. After hours of serving Kellman, this man's cunt felt, well, fantastic.

Trevor grinned as he watched the older man's reaction. "Not gonna leave you high and dry, Coach," he said, now bucking back and forth on that thick bone.

It took maybe eight strokes. That was it.

"OH FUCK!!!" Jack cried, tossing his head back and jerking against the handcuffs as he entered a crazy-deep orgasm.

The ejaculation kept coming, too, with spurt after spurt of coach seed filling up Trevor's nympho cunt.

The pleasure gave way to overstimulation, then Jack started laughing in a bodily reaction to the discomfort. Somehow that made Trevor laugh, too.

"All right, Coach, I'll give you a break," he chuckled. Finally pulling off that throbbing dick and scooting forward. "But first a little clean up duty."

Jack Baylor said only one word. "Please." That was before he was presented with Trevor Kellman's beautiful, spermed-up snatch. And once again, Coach snaked his tongue forward to make contact.

[calciopics]

What Happened When I Got Pregnant

I know this story might upset some powerful people in the football world. You’re not supposed to talk about this side of the game. But I have to tell the truth.

Everybody knows the image of my former club, Lyon. Eight Champions Leagues.

The best players from every country.

It’s one of the most successful clubs in football. Jean-Michel Aulas, the president, has invested a lot in the team, making fair pay and good conditions for players just as big a priority as winning.

Being from Iceland, I always dreamed of playing in the biggest leagues in Europe. When I turned pro, I literally told my agent, Dietmar, “Wolfsburg and Lyon. I want these.”

I played four great years at Wolfsburg, then in the summer of 2020, I moved to Lyon. And while I was there, I did live out my dream. I’ll never forget the feeling of winning the Champions League. Scoring in the final and winning the title with Lyon was one of my proudest moments in my career.

And then I got pregnant.

It was March 2, 2021, when I realised. I told my boyfriend, Árni, that I was running a bit late, but I thought I’d be starting my period soon. He asked if I wanted to take a test, but I was like, “No, no, no, I feel it.” Another day went by, and we were like, O.K., that’s weird. So that evening when I came home from training I took a test. You’re supposed to wait two minutes, but in one the results were there — two blue lines. I was definitely pregnant.

At first, the only thing I felt was happiness, but then reality hit me.

Shit. How is the team going to react to this?

In Europe, for a long time it just hasn’t really been a normal thing for a player to get pregnant. There’s been progress, but the culture is still the culture. So when I saw the pregnancy test, it’s like of course I’m so happy. This wasn’t planned, but I knew I was with the person I wanted to start a family with, and I didn’t think for a second that I wouldn’t have my baby. But in the back of your mind, you still feel like you’re guilty of something. Like you’re letting people down.

It was all really nerve-wracking. So when I told the team doctor, we decided together to keep it secret. The doctor told the physios at that time in Lyon, and they were instructed to monitor me and help as needed — which they did — but to keep it a secret as well. I was only about five weeks pregnant, so it was still really early, and we had important games coming up. I felt a lot of pressure to find the right moment to tell the girls, so they wouldn’t be affected by it. So a month goes by, and I keep training normally.

Then the PSG game comes around. Jean-Luc, the coach at the time, came up to me in the warmup and asked how I was doing because the day before the game, we were training on that pitch in Paris, and I threw up three times. I felt horrible. So on game day, when Jean-Luc asked if I could sub-in at halftime, I had to say no. And that’s not me — I would never. But it was just too much.

I knew I had to tell my teammates the truth. I felt that in this club, at this level, if I couldn’t train 100% then I shouldn’t be training.

So about a week later, I told everyone. We were sitting in the locker room, the whole team. The director, staff members, physios, they were all there. And I just said I’d been feeling sick the past few weeks because, “Yeah…. I’m pregnant.” It was funny to see their reactions because some of them were so shocked. I think there were a lot of mixed emotions — when a player says she’s pregnant, it’s a special moment, but it also comes with quite a few unknowns.

I think once it really sank in, everybody was so happy for me and super excited. But they naturally had a lot of questions because I was the first person in the history of Lyon to get pregnant and with the full intention to come back and play.

Dietmar told me the director was surprised but happy for me, and arranged a meeting with us, where we discussed the next steps. The doctor said I should stop playing at this point. Also, several people on the team had gotten COVID, and it was continuing to go around. I was worried about what could happen if I got it. I didn’t know how that would affect the baby. I just wanted to carry out the rest of my pregnancy at home in Iceland, where I could understand the doctors in my native language and be around my mom and my partner and my family. So we asked the director, and he said yes.

But I wanted to return to Lyon after giving birth. I was very clear about that. I believed that being the first player ever for Lyon to return from pregnancy would be something we could all celebrate together.

So the team signed off on my plan, helped me with the paperwork for the insurance, and I flew to Iceland on the first of April.

As soon as I’m up in the air, it’s almost like a weight has been lifted. I had been carrying so much stress and tension in my body trying to figure out how to break the news. When I landed in Iceland, it all just melted away.  It was like, O.K., I can breathe now.

For a while I just had so much else going on, I didn’t have time to think or be concerned about my salaries from the club. I didn’t have any reason to think anything would go wrong.

Until I didn’t get my first paycheck. All that was deposited was just a small percentage from social security.

To be fair, there was a lot of logistical stuff to deal with, so I didn’t think too much of it. Probably a clerical error. But, I checked with the other players just to be sure.

They were paid, right on time.

Then I missed another. So I’m like, Hold on. I called Dietmar, and he wrote to Vincent, the club director. There was no response, so my agency reached out again. Then, we sent formal letters.

When Vincent finally responded, he apologised for two of the months I was missing, and said I would get paid for those. But for the third month, he says something about how they’re going by French law — meaning, they don’t owe me anything else.

I said to Dietmar, “No that’s not right, they should be going by the FIFA rules.”

These rules were pretty new, but I vaguely knew about them because of a random conversation I had with some players one day. This was before I got pregnant. I remember we were all talking about kids, and everybody was like, “Yeah, there’s no security for us.” And I specifically remember Jodie Taylor was sitting on this table, and she said FIFPRO was working on pregnancy and maternity leave for professional footballers. I thought that was cool, but I really didn’t dig deeper at the time.

Now, I’m thinking, What even are my rights???

It’s not a position you expect to be in, especially with a team like this.

Dietmar kept pushing the issue, telling them, “Hey, still lacking salaries.” But we’d get no response. The players’ union in France became involved, and then FIFPRO. Weeks turned to months. Still no full paycheck.

Lyon refused to give a clear answer on what the criterion was that was being applied. Finally, Dietmar told Vincent that FIFPRO was going to fight this at the FIFA level.

Vincent said: “If Sara goes to FIFA with this, she has no future in Lyon at all.”

She has no future in Lyon.

I couldn’t wrap my head around that. I was just shocked. And I’ll be honest, I was hurt. The whole situation made me feel crazy. How could any team get away with this?

There wasn’t going to be a discussion or negotiation. Vincent completely shut it down.

So, I’m in Iceland. Pregnant. And now I’m thinking, Wait, did I just lose my job?? I was seriously angry.

This should have been the happiest moment of my life. All I wanted was to enjoy my pregnancy, and work my ass off to come back to help the team and the club.

But instead I felt confused, stressed, and betrayed.

I don’t know, maybe they thought, She’s just going to Iceland to go on vacation. But I was training like a maniac during my pregnancy. Once I got over the nausea, I felt really fresh. I hated not being able to play football, but I could still run, and I could swim. I was working with a strength coach every day, which I paid for myself….  I had to pay for everything out of my savings. I took a lot out, and I wasn’t sure I was going to ever get it back. That’s not a good feeling, especially when you’re starting a family.

And all this time, I still had a bunch of regular questions going through my head about being a mom, like how will I manage doing both, being a professional and being a mom on this level??? Training while breastfeeding? How’s it going to be when I’m back in Lyon with my family?

I was trying to focus on the things I could control, trying to listen to my body. Trying to feel good and trying to just, in a way, enjoy the pregnancy. There were positive moments too, that I’ll never forget. I looked forward to every check-up to see the little hands on the ultrasound and listen to the baby’s heartbeat. In those moments I’d tell myself, I’m forgetting everything. I’m completely letting go and living in this moment.

But I could never completely forget. Because it’s hard enough coming back after pregnancy at this level, and moving abroad where there is no family around to ask for help.

In the back of my head, I can’t stop thinking, I have no future at the club.

Does that mean that I’m not going to play the next six months, that I’ll just be kept in the freezer for the rest of my contract??

The worries just kept piling up. I felt like shit. One night I said to Árni, “Maybe I just have to quit.”

When I’d first told the club about my pregnancy, they seemed very happy for me and said they’d do everything to support me, and I believed that. But now, I wasn’t so sure. From the first of April, when I came to Iceland, until August, I didn’t hear from anyone in the front office or the coaching staff. I was still in close touch with some teammates, as well as the doctor and the physios, just personally. They were all good friends of mine. But the club never formally reached out. No one checked to see how my training was going, how my pregnancy was progressing.

Then one day, amidst all the craziness … I went into labor. It was the most amazing, indescribable feeling, becoming a mom. You feel like a superhero after a birth like that.

I flew back to Lyon in January of last year with Árni and our son, Ragnar.

And I have to be completely honest, a part of me wanted to come into the club and just tell everybody how angry I was for what they had done and leave.

But I told myself I would go back and do everything at 110%. I was like, I will show you guys how fit I will be. I was ready to just play.

But that didn’t work out how I planned.

Training was different when I got back. I was treated differently.

The coaches, including Sonia, had reassured me that they would help me and fight for me to get everything that I would need.

But I was being asked — no, told — all sorts of things, like not to bring my baby with me on away trips. They said it was because it could really disturb the players on the bus or plane, if he cried the whole way. I shook my head and told them I’m not signing anything like that. This was while I was still breastfeeding, and he was so small and so dependent on me. If they wouldn’t budge on this, I couldn’t attend the away games.

In the end, it was decided that they would give me and Ragnar two away trips to test it and see how it would go. I shook my head again! I wasn’t comfortable with him being “tested.” I wasn’t going to put myself and Ragnar in that situation. The understanding between us just was not there, and I felt that. They always made me feel like it was a negative thing that I had a baby.

Meanwhile, FIFPRO was still trying to get me my full wages from the period when I was pregnant, via the FIFA tribunal. I couldn’t help but think the case was having an effect on my relationship with the club.

Vincent said in a meeting with me, after I got back, that he still didn’t understand it, but that I had every right to do what I needed to do, and they had every right to defend themselves.

The president also walked into the room while I was there. It was the first time he had seen me since I had returned with my baby. He didn’t even greet me, didn’t look at or acknowledge Ragnar. But Vincent had just reassured me, five minutes before, regarding the case, that “it wasn’t personal.” After that moment, with the president, it was clear that it was.  

I told Vincent, “Yeah, I have every right to defend myself because there’s a contract telling me that I have the right, and there’s a law telling me that I have the right.”

He just shook his head and said that they were going by the French Law, and they were sticking by that.

He said that it wasn’t personal, only business.

I asked him about what he said to Dietmar, how if I went to FIFA then I wouldn’t have any future in Lyon.

He said he didn’t say that, and it was the coach, Sonia, who decided she couldn’t see me as a future player in her team. I was so exhausted from all the fighting. It was clear that, regardless of what was said, the essence was true: As a new mother, I didn’t have a future with this club.

They were going to make it impossible.

We got the decision from the FIFPRO lawsuit in May.

The club was ordered to pay me the unpaid salaries — the whole amount I requested and exactly what I was owed. Lyon requested the grounds of the decision, which one normally does if one is intending to appeal. And once we got that, we could really read how FIFA analysed the case and arrived at the conclusions.

They talked about the “duty of care” of the club, that there was no contact with me during my pregnancy. No one was really checking on me, following up, seeing how I was doing mentally and physically, both as an employee, but also as a human being. Basically, they had a responsibility to look after me, and they didn’t. After Lyon received the grounds, they decided not to appeal.

I was entitled to my full salary during my pregnancy and until the start of my maternity leave, according to the mandatory regulations from FIFA. These are part of my rights, and this can’t be disputed — even by a club as big as Lyon.

That’s why I’m writing this. The victory felt bigger than me. It felt like a guarantee of financial security for all players who want to have a child during their career. That it’s not a “maybe,” or an unknown.

Ragnar is almost a year old, and we’re in a great place as a family. I’m at Juventus now, and I’m very happy.

But I want to make sure no one has to go through what I went through ever again. And I want Lyon to know this is not O.K.

This is not “just business.”

This is about my rights as a worker, as a woman and as a human being.

I’m very hopeful about the women’s game. There’s a lot to celebrate. The facilities? The investment? The level? The fans filling up the stadium? We’ve come so far. That’s undeniable.

But the reality is, when it comes to the overall culture? There’s a lot more work to do.

We deserve better.

[umichenginabroad]

Week 3 in Prague: From Czech Cheers to English Beers

Ah, Prague, you've started to feel like home—albeit a home where I occasionally still get lost and mispronounce everything. But before we dive into the heartwarming tale of settling in, let's talk about my weekend escapade to London, because, why not add a bit of British flavor (if that even exists) to this Czech adventure?

London's Lessons: More Than Just an Accent Adjustment The Football Phenomenon: Attending the Fulham vs. Aston Villa match was an experience of a lifetime for me and a wild intro into British sports culture. Having played football (soccer) my whole life, it was always my dream to go to an English Premier League match. The unison of chants, the shared groans of despair, and the collective leap of joy with every goal—it's a camaraderie that transcends the game. And let's not forget the pre-game rituals in local pubs, where the air is thick with anticipation and ale. My takeaway? Football isn't just a sport in the UK; it's a religion, and match day is the weekly service.

The Nightlife Navigations: London's clubs and bars are a testament to the city's diverse cultural tapestry. Each venue, with its own vibe and tribe, felt like hopping from one continent to another. From the electric energy of Soho to the laid-back charm of Shoreditch, London after dark is a world unto itself. But here's a pro tip: keep an eye on the tube's closing time unless you fancy a midnight marathon back to your place. Craziest part about being there, however, was that by the end, we could not wait to come back “home” to Prague. Strange how we associate a country where we understand 99% less with “home”, over an alternative where we understand everything.

PRO TIP: Make sure to budget well (if you are on one). I don’t have a strict one but I did create a spreadsheet to see how much I spent in London, and it was a lot more than I expected. I got spoiled taking Ubers in Prague for like a couple of dollars everywhere, needless to say, that is not the case in London.

Back to Prague: Feeling Like a Local (Sort of) Returning to Prague was like coming back to a familiar book where you're still discovering new chapters. The city's charm isn't just in its postcard-perfect Old Town; it's in the everyday moments and the small victories, like successfully ordering coffee in Czech without accidentally buying a farm animal. I've started to say "Dobrý den" (Good day) with less hesitation and "Děkuji" (Thank you) with more confidence. And yes, I still celebrate when the tram goes in the direction I intended.

Tip: Embrace the small wins. Every correct tram stop or successfully navigated grocery store trip is a step closer to feeling at home.

The Train Bar and an Unexpected Client Meeting: This week wasn't just about cultural assimilation; it also included a serendipitous professional twist. We visited the Train Bar—a quirky spot where the novelty of having drinks delivered by model trains never wears off. Seeing trains deliver our food and beer sparked the inner child in me which felt great. Earlier that day, we actually met with Operator ICT, a client for one of our class projects. Discussing project details that will take a whole semester to implement added a real aspect to school but surprisingly, it felt refreshing to actually work on something tangible.

Tip: When meeting with Czech people, a respectful "Dobrý den" can set a positive tone, no matter where you are. A lot of colloquial English phrases are not understood here so make sure to know your audience when you talk.

Settling In: The Comfort in the Chaos As I navigate my third week, Prague's maze-like streets and tongue-twister language have started to feel less daunting. Finding a favorite café, jogging through Petřín Park, or just watching the sunset over the Charles Bridge, I'm reminded that home isn't just a place; it's the feeling of being part of something. Whether it's the historical allure of Prague or the bustling energy of London, each city offers a unique tapestry of experiences. Something else I have gotten used to is balancing going out on all nights of the week to make the most of your time, especially if you are traveling on the weekends. Since I was gone to London from Thursday-Sunday, it made my Monday-Wednesday a lot more important here, which meant going out those nights as well. Whether it’s a chill night out at a bar or an intense clubbing spree, learning to make the most of my moments here has been probably the biggest change here. Another thing my roommates and I had to change was our living habits. We have cleaners who come to our apartment every week to take care of the general cleaning the apartment needs, but ours was so trashed that even the cleaners had to report us to IFSA. It really sucks when your apartment is the spot to pregame and all the mess accumulates throughout the week. We received an email from the program advisors stating we had to be better about cleaning up our mess which was totally fair. Since then we’ve made a more conscious effort to take out the trash and clean dishes regularly rather than wait until the cleaners come to do it.

Tip: Make a local café or spot your "go-to." It's these little anchors that transform a city from a place you live in to a place you belong to.

Wrapping Up: From Prague to London and Back This week was about blending the familiar with the new, from the cobblestones of Prague to the double-decker buses of London. It's a reminder that studying abroad isn't just about seeing new places; it's about seeing yourself in new situations, growing, learning, and, of course, trying to pronounce "Pražský hrad" without sounding like you're casting a spell.

Until next time, keep exploring, keep learning, and maybe, just maybe, keep a Czech phrasebook handy.

Na shledanou for now, Rachit Khandelwal

[bookloveravenue]

On the Board (book 1): Rookie Mistake by Anna Zabo & L.A. Witt

Rookie forward Isaac Rivera is still finding his footing in the big leagues where he’s no longer the best player on the roster. It’s a whole new world, especially now that several of his hockey idols have become teammates. Friends, even.

There’s one who’s more than a hockey idol, though… and he might end up being more than a friend.

Julien Landry is a powerhouse on the ice. In eight years, he’s become one of the league’s top defensemen and the heartthrob everyone wants to bed. But fallout from a painful mistake as a rookie, followed by years of rough-and-tumble hookups, have him itching for something more.

When a connection sparks between him and Isaac, he discovers what he’s been missing: someone he can trust with his body and his heart. As long as Isaac and Julien keep the heat between them off the ice, what could go wrong?

But Julien’s past is never far behind him, and when it comes crashing in, he might lose everything—his career, his friends, and the first person he’s ever really loved.

CW: discussions of past abuse and sexual assault

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60734417-rookie-mistake

********

January 13, 2023

My Review: 5/5 Stars

Isaac's world of hockey has changed when he steps on to the ice for the first time as a pro player. He's a rookie who has to prove himself on the ice and to his team. Even if that time includes his hockey idols and his hockey crush, Julien Landry. As Isaac finds his place, he is drawn into the orbit of Julien and his two best friends, Nikolai and Elias, and slowly realizes that he may have found his people. Teammates and friends that make the whole experience going pro the best it can possibly be. Add in the fact that his crush on Julien just may be reciprocated. This could be the best year of his life. Julien has one rule when it comes to his dating life: don't date teammates. But the moment he meets Isaac, his world tilts. The attraction he has for Isaac is undeniable and the more he gets to know him? The more he wants to spend time with him. But his past comes with many dark and painful memories. Specifically his memory as a rookie and a toxic relationship he formed with a much older teammate. One that still follows him despite it being more than over and many years later. His insecurities are always haunting him and when him and Isaac decide to give in to their attraction and dive into a real dating relationship, Julien is petrified he'll screw it up. Isaac too has his own insecurities. He's never had a real relationship before and he falls for Julien a little more each day, and worries about messing it up. Together, they'll have to overcome their fears and learn to be together because the connection they have is one that neither are willing to let go without a fight. I really loved this story! Julien and Isaac were great characters and such a wonderful pairing. It's clear they have a deep connection and balance one another out in so many ways. Julien's whole past was rough, but handled so well and the story did a wonderful job of showing that. You can't help but love Julien and Isaac. And I can't wait to get the next one in this series!

[missymiel]

One of the best midfielder in the world imo, Putellas is central to FC Barcelona and also to Spain national team.

A great interview on the FIFA website

«I think what’s changed most is the mentality. If we’ve managed to improve so much, it’s down to the winning mindset we had even when we weren’t winning the league, because we’d gone a good few years without doing so. The fact that the club didn’t back down from their goals and maintained their confidence in us was important »

[insomniac-astronomer]

Natasha Romanoff x Reader: Apologize

I strike again, second night in a row. I'm really glad everyone's on a Natasha kick right now. Pro-tip: If you go to Disneyland and meet the character and fangirl wayyyy too hard, she'll give you a hug. And I don't care that it's fake, NATASHA ROMANOFF GAVE ME A HUG DAMMIT.

Can I just get one request? Pleeeeaase? It would make my whole month ❤️ took me a whole hour to write this fic, it would mean a lot!

Description: Reader has a habit of apologizing way too much. 4 times you apologize and 1 time she apologizes to you. And I'm just trying out this format of fanfic.

Pronouns: neutral! No pronouns used!

WARNINGS: writing while being concussed and feeling like shit, totally not based on how my attractive coworker told me not to say sorry today, no but seriously none

*not my gif* I love her endgame hair, can I be a redhead so I can do it too pls

You speed down the hall, anxiously trying to remember where Tony said the kitchen was. Day 2 as an official (and very very lost) Avenger: not going so great.

You duck around corners, not even sure if you're on the right floor. Tony Stark doesn't need to put a directory for his own house because he lives here. But some people don't and you sure as hell wished you weren't going to be stuck here for training for who knows how long-

Suddenly, you slam into someone. You feel your eyes widen and your face turn into a grimace.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" You immediately sputter, taking large steps backward. "I should've watched where I was going-"

"No, it's my bad, I was looking down." The voice of Natasha Romanoff responds.

Ah, shit. Of everyone you could've ran into, it had to be the one you most admired (and the prettiest one but lol you're so out of her league that you're not going to even go there). Force of habit, you continue to say "no, it's my fault. I'm so sorry-"

"Hey." She gently cuts you off. "Doesn't matter. You okay?"

You nod while asking "are you?"

"Yep. It's all good." She smiles.

"Okay, I'm sorry." You give her a little smile in return.

"Stop apologizing. Where are you trying to go, anyway? This hallway's a dead end."

💫

The quinjet after a rough mission is always the last place you want to be. But here you are.

Tony is asking you about mission details while writing stuff down. The rest of the team is crammed around this ridiculously small table, pressed up against the jet's walls so you can collaborate on how to deal with Nick Fury when you land.

"Alright team, let's take five so we can all cool down." Tony throws his pen angrily on the desk. Steve folds his arms and walks away.

You screwed up the mission. Of course you did. And immediately Tony wanted to place all of the blame on you because you're the newest and the youngest. Frozen in your guilt and shame, you are completely zoned.

"Excuse me," Natasha says, trying to move past you to get out from behind the table.

You move quickly. "Sorry."

"What are you apologizing for?" She just looks at you and you dart your eyes away.

"I was in your way."

"You don't need to apologize for that."

"Yeah I do," you fiddle with the cuff of your suit.

Without another word, she walks away.

💫

After a month, Tony's impromptu vacation to Hawaii with Pepper, several bottles of expensive wine to Nick Fury's office, and Cap's new collection of 50 broken punching bags, the team made up and decided to have a movie night.

You were so glad that no one was yelling at you anymore. They still don't trust you, but at least they're not mad. In fact, you were so relieved, that all of the stress of the last month started to sink in. You struggling to keep your eyes open after so many sleepless nights. Ten minutes into the movie and you're already out of it.

You fall asleep for like five minutes and jolt back awake. Your head had landed on the shoulder next to you. Natasha.

"I'm so sorry." You whisper to her.

"Hm?" She looks at you.

"For falling asleep on you." You clarify.

"Oh, I had no idea." Her attention is back on the movie.

"Oh, sorry."

In the dim light of the movie screen, she gives you a look that definitely says stop apologizing. But before you think she's mad at you, you catch a glimpse of her smile.

💫

Steve asked you out. And you don't know what to do. You ran away. You can hear his footsteps as he tries to find you.

You spy Natasha's room and knock on the door. You hear a faint "yeah?" and you're already inside.

Natasha raises her eyebrows at your wild state. "What's going on?"

"Sorry, Steve asked me out and I ran away- just saw your door so- yeah, sorry."

"Wow, two sorrys in the same sentence, that's a new record." She teases you.

You smile sheepishly. "Sorry."

"Is sorry your default setting?" She laughs just slightly and your heart pounds. A little giggle escapes you. Shit, you didn't mean to do that out loud.

Giving into your feelings just a little bit, you walk further into the room. She gestures to the empty space on her bed next to her. You sit down very anxiously.

"Steve asked you out?" She questions, turning her gaze to you.

"Yeah," you sigh.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing! I just ran!" You shout a little louder than you mean to. "Sorry."

"No sorrying allowed in my room." She turns on her side to face you. She looks so relaxed.

"Sor-"

"Don't you dare." Her smile lights up your heart.

You feel yourself start to relax, too. Your eyes meet her's and you suddenly don't feel scared to hold the contact. Her eyes are really pretty, actually.

Before you loose your nerve, you start to say "Nat-"

"You know what," she cuts you off. "You should say yes to Steve."

All of the comfort that was there disappears. Her cold voice shocked you back into reality.

"Oh," you look away from her, a little pang of disappointment in your heart. "Okay."

You stand up and leave the room.

💫

You are right in the middle of a bowl of ramen and an episode of your guilty pleasure show when your door busts open. Literally. Slams into the wall and everything.

You lean forward to see who came to disturb you and see Natasha closing the door behind her.

"Y/N, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have told you to say yes to Steve!" She speaks very quickly.

"What?" You set the bowl down on your nightstand and wait for her to walk over. "Start again, slower. And you don't have to yell."

She exhales loudly. "Okay. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have told you to say yes to Steve. I just panicked."

"What do you mean?"

"I want to ask you out myself." Natasha is the one who can't make eye contact this time.

"Really?" You try to sound interested but not too excited but also not too serious.

"Yeah. I was going to and then I panicked and I just said something stupid to make you leave. I'm sorry."

"Hey," you gesture for her to sit next to you. "No sorrying allowed in my room, either."

You see her smile a little bit, her shoulders full of tension.

"And of course I'll go out with you." You finish.

Her smile widens and she turns to you. Her hand reaches up and holds your cheek. She starts to lean in-

"Wait, I was just eating ramen." You stop.

"That's okay," she leans closer. "I like ramen."

Thanks for reading. Don't steal, this is a threat (just kidding, but not really). Also, comment if you have a guilty pleasure show, or if it's just me. Mine's Jane the Virgin and I know don't know anyone else who has even heard of the show.

Buy me a coffee?

[intheticklecloset]

The Great Academia Road Trip, Part 1 (My Hero Academia)

Primary Universe

Summary: Class 1-A (plus Shinsou) is going on a road trip! In this first installment, Bakugou contemplates how he's going to get Deku back for cornering him before, having a little fun with the nerd along the way.

A/N: Welcome to the first official mini-series within the Primary Universe! I was hoping to do this more in the middle of summer than towards the end, but better late than never! I hope you enjoy taking a road trip with the students of Class 1-A - with plenty of tickling included! ^^

Shoutout to @ticklishscumbag for the "Bakugou loves strawberry milk" headcanon that is briefly referenced here.

Word Count: 1,796

**SPOILER ALERT:** This fic contains spoilers from Season 5 of the anime. (Below the cut.)

~~~

The door to Bakugou’s dorm room slammed open.

“Road trip!”

“What the—?!” Bakugou yelled, instinctively shoving his covers off and scrambling to his feet, heart racing from the anticipation of an oncoming battle. When he saw it was just Kirishima, he clutched his chest and yelled, “Kiri, you idiot! You gave me a heart attack!”

“Forget that,” Kiri replied easily, bounding inside with a huge grin on his face. “It’s road trip time! Where’s your bag? You packed it already, right?”

“Freakin’ – yeah, it’s over there.” The blonde gestured to his closet. “God dang, Kirishima.”

Kiri laughed, punching him lightly in the shoulder. “Sorry, dude. I’m just so excited, and we’re leaving in less than an hour! How could you still be asleep? Get dressed! Eat some breakfast! We’re gonna hit the rooooad!”

Bakugou grumbled as he shoved Kirishima back out his door, barely registering that his friend had grabbed his bag on his way out. Still, he couldn’t help but smile once he was alone. Today was the day. Their entire class – along with Shinsou, who would be entering the hero course next year – were taking a month-long trip around the country as both part of their training and as a vacation. Officially, they were touring the different prefectures and meeting the top heroes across the nation, learning how things worked in different places and sometimes even helping out if needed. Unofficially, they were getting away from the stress of school and the League of Villains for a while, making stops at popular tourist locations and having some down time to balance out the work they’d still be doing.

No rest for the weary, but honestly, Bakugou was looking forward to this trip just as much as Kirishima and the rest of the class were. He couldn’t wait to meet pro heroes in other prefectures, beat up some bad guys, and take a dip in the pool at the end of their long days. It was going to be great.

But first, he had to get dressed.

*

Downstairs, the entire dorm was alive with activity. It seemed everyone was either finishing up breakfast or hauling their gear out to the bus that was already waiting outside. Bakugou made a mental note to ask Kiri if he’d actually gotten his luggage all the way out there before they left. In the meantime, he headed to the fridge, hoping Sato hadn’t taken the last strawberry milk.

It was still there. He grinned, grabbed it, and twisted open the cap.

Just beyond his hearing range in the living room stood Iida, Kaminari, Ojiro, Shinsou, and stupid Deku. Bakugou narrowed his eyes. He still hadn’t gotten the nerd back for tickling him to death while he was trapped under his bed last week. He was rather looking forward to finding ways to mess with him on this trip in retaliation.

“Baku-bro!” Sero said by way of greeting, slapping him on the back. “Good morning! Ready to go?”

“Yeah, sure.” Bakugou took a swig of strawberry milk, savoring the flavor, trying not to let it show how much he loved it. “Where’s Kiri?”

“Probably taking Mina’s bag out to the bus. He already grabbed mine and his own.”

“Mine, too.”

Sero laughed. “He’s pretty excited.”

“Yeah, well…” Bakugou shrugged. “It’s a good opportunity.”

“I take it that means you’re excited, too? Good! It wouldn’t be any fun if you were a grump the whole time. Though we have ways of making you cheer up nowadays, don’t we?” Sero winked, nudged him, and moved on to the next person, greeting them enthusiastically as he made his way to the front door.

Bakugou scowled. He supposed he would have been stupid to think he’d get a break from his own torture just because they were on a tour of the country. Oh, well. As long as no one else found out, he’d survive.

He took another drink just as Deku suddenly broke away from his group and hurried past him toward his own dorm room.

Must have left some All Might backpack or something, he thought, grunting. Stupid nerd.

*

Somehow, despite the fact that it was obvious the two of them didn’t get along, Bakugou wound up seated next to Shinsou right in the middle of the bus. Kaminari had practically shoved him into the taller boy’s lap, much to both of their annoyance.

“Bakugou,” Shinsou greeted coolly, polite but not much more than that.

The blonde bit his tongue to resist calling him a mind-reader again. “Shinsou.”

After that, the two lapsed into silence as the bus finished loading, pulled out of the school grounds, and made its way onto the highway.

It was a long, grueling twenty minutes before Bakugou finally sighed angrily and got up, turning on his heel to stride toward the back of the bus to where Kiri and Deku were sharing a seat.

He interrupted their conversation without an apology. “Deku, switch with me.”

Deku blinked. “What?”

“Swap seats with me. You’re friends with that freak from 1-C, right?”

“He’s not a freak. And yes, we’re friends.”

“Then swap with me. I don’t want to be near him.”

Kirishima gave him a withering look. “You’ll have to get used to having him around sooner or later. When he joins the hero course, there’s a fifty percent chance he’ll be in our class.”

“Doesn’t mean I have to like him.”

Deku poked his head up over the seat in front of him, glancing to where Shinsou now sat alone. He stood to do as Bakugou asked, but before he could even get a step down the aisle, Kirishima shot out in front of him, declaring, “I’ll sit with him! I never get to talk to the guy.”

“Wait – I don’t want to sit with stupid Deku, either!” Bakugou yelled. “What are you doing?”

Kiri turned back to him. “It’s Shinsou or Midoriya. Take your pick.”

Bakugou gritted his teeth, growled, and shoved Deku down into the seat he’d just vacated. “Fine. Move over, nerd.”

Deku smiled, scooting over to the window seat to allow the blonde to sit with him while Kiri moved up to join Shinsou.

More silence.

“You’re not going to make it, you know,” Bakugou said at last, crossing his arms.

Deku startled. “What?”

“To the end of the trip. You won’t make it back.”

“Why?”

“Because you declared war, idiot. And I’m not going to lose to you.”

The greenette was silent for a long moment, seeming lost. Then it clicked, and his face brightened. “Yeah? Well, I’m not losing to you, either. So where does that leave us?”

“With you begging me for mercy.”

“Or you begging me.”

“Never.”

Deku smirked, then glanced out the window at the passing scenery. Bakugou smirked, too. This was going to be an interesting road trip for the both of them.

*

Several hours later – after they’d arrived at their first destination, unloaded, trained, had dinner, and were wrapping up for the day – Bakugou stood just inside the door of the four-person room he was sharing with Kirishima, Tokoyami, and Shoji, waiting patiently. Any minute now, Deku would pop into the hall on his way to the shared bathroom to clean up before bed, and he’d pass Bakugou’s room on his way to do so. It was just a matter of time now.

There he was.

Bakugou reached into the hall, grabbing Deku by the back of his shirt and pulling him into the currently empty room, throwing him onto a bedroll. Then he pounced, climbing on top of him and digging his fingers into his sides, ribs, and underarms in rapid succession.

Deku burst into hysterical giggles, shocked and confused for just a moment before his brain caught up to what his body was feeling. “Ahahahahahahaha Kacchan! Nahahahahahahaha!”

“So about this tickle war you’ve so stupidly decided to start with me, nerd.” Bakugou spoke casually, though he smirked at his friend’s useless attempts to get away. “How do we know who’s won? Begging for mercy doesn’t seem like enough, since I get you to do that anyway during our normal tickle fights.”

“I-I mahahahahahake you beheheheheg, too!” Deku protested, earning a sharp jab into his hip bone for his trouble. He squealed and laughed. “NOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!”

“Like I was saying, I don’t think it’s enough to end a tickle war. What exactly was your plan going into this?”

“I dohohohohohohon’t knohohohohohow!” Deku writhed on the ground, smiling wide and pushing at Bakugou’s hands weakly. “I dihihihihidn’t thihihihihihihink about it!”

“Well, think now.”

“I cahahahahahahahan’t! Y-You’re distrahahahahacting me!”

Bakugou hummed, swinging a leg over to straddle Deku and reach up into his underarms, drawing out a fresh burst of laughter and kicking. “Better come up with some excuse.”

“NAHAHAHAHAHAHA KACCHAHAHAHAHAHAN!!”

“Is it because you can never beat me on your own? You’ve got to use furniture to help you come out on top?” Bakugou half-mocked, half-teased. “Is that why you decided it was smart to challenge me like that?”

“IT WAS JUHUHUHUHUHUST – JUST AN OPP-P-PFFAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!” Deku tossed his head back and laughed freely, still trying to push Bakugou away with whatever strength he had left after the long day and the surprise tickle attack. “STAHAHAHAHAHAHAP!!”

“Opportunity? Is that what you were trying to say?”

“YEHEHEHEHEHEHES!!”

“Interesting. An opportunity to come after me while I was completely helpless, right?” Bakugou left his underarms at last, trailing back down to his sides and belly. “Because that’s the only way you can really win against me.”

“P-Plehehehehehease,” Deku whined, looking up at him with mirthful but tired eyes. “Lehehehet me gohohohoho, Kacchan…”

Bakugou thought a moment, then relented entirely, grabbing Deku’s wrists and pinning them down by his head, looming over him. “I’ll let you go for now, nerd, since the others will be back soon. But you’d better start watching your back extra closely from now on, because when I catch you, I will not show mercy until you’re pleading for it.”

Deku’s eyes widened, but he nodded, and Bakugou released him and stood up just as Tokoyami returned from the bathroom.

“Midoriya,” he said, “I’m fairly certain sleepovers are not allowed.”

“Oh, n-no, I was just…” Deku trailed off, then laughed and got to his feet. “Ah, never mind. I’ve still got to get ready for bed. Night, guys!” And he hurried out of the room, waving as he went.

Tokoyami turned to Bakugou. “Why was Midoriya here?”

Bakugou scoffed. “Stupid nerd wanted to get his butt handed to him, that’s what.” The blonde flopped onto his own bedroll and turned toward the wall, facing away from Tokoyami and the door.

“All right, then…” Tokoyami muttered, then went blissfully silent.

Bakugou grinned at the wall.

This was going to be the best road trip ever.

~~~

Part 2

[whoacanada]

Zimbits - Bartender!Jack + NHL!Bitty AU

Prompt: Retired NHL player Jack Zimmermann takes ownership of a sports bar in Pittsburgh and accidentally falls for the Penguins’ (closeted) new left winger.

A/N - just the start, I’d like to get around to more of this; the basic idea was an It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia AU, but I couldn’t manage to make everyone that terrible so Jack owns and operates a gay sports bar and starts crushing on one of his patrons.

“Can’t believe you’ve owned this place since ’89.” Jack coughs, waving the dust away from his face. “Did you ever come back after we moved home?”

It’d be disingenuous to say Jack had been expecting anything other than cigars and whiskey when his father had invited him on a trip down to Pittsburgh to see Mario and glad-hand some Penguins sponsors. In fact, he’d kind of been looking forward to sulking and getting shit-faced, not limping around a condemned building dodging roaches and rats.

“It was an investment opportunity. That was the trend back then, famous athletes buying up restaurants and clubs — I had big plans for this building. Then your mother got pregnant and I realized I didn’t really give two shits about running a nightclub.”

“Realized you were pretty lazy, huh?”

As Bob laughs, Jack picks at the peeling, lacquered bartop, trying not to imagine how many decades of grime he’s just collecting under his nail, the situation made even more disgusting in such close proximity to the glittering gold championship ring his father had insisted he wear to their lunch meeting with the Penguins front-office suits. Jack flicks the gunk away as Bob levels him with a weighty look, hands braced in the air as if outlining a play and not offering a tour of a cobweb-filled dive.

“Here’s my thought,” Bob says. “The bar. It’s yours.”

Jack leans against the counter, taking some weight off his braced leg, and asks, “What’s mine?”

“This place,” Bob gestures around the room. “The whole building. It’s just sitting here, empty, the bar, the liquor license, there’s apartments and office space upstairs, we’d just need to do some renovations and —“

Jack can’t help himself. He barks a laugh and says, “I’m not moving to Pittsburgh.”

“How many times have you and I talked about opening a sports bar? I’d wanted to get this place fixed up so it’d be ready when you retired, but since the final — you could make it a gay bar, even, if you wanted!” Bob says quickly, offering another awkward olive branch. “A gay sports bar. I wouldn’t care.”

“A gay sports bar. In Pittsburgh,” Jack echoes, reaching for a chirp to defend himself, but he closes him mouth as he realizes a sports bar run by a Zimmermann might not be a terrible investment idea. “The building needs a ton of work,” Jack settles. “I just saw a rat.”

“That was a mouse,” Bob dismisses, not bothering to look at the rat still clearly in view. “Nothing that can’t be fixed. Got a dollar?”

Jack pats his pockets, finds a spare looney and hands it over. Bob doesn’t hesitate, pulling an envelope out of his back pocket to exchange for the coin.

“Congratulations. You are now the proud owner of,” Bob looks around helplessly. “I actually don’t know what they call this place now. A Bar?”

“I’m sure we’ll figure something out.” Jack swallows against the tightness in his throat, holding the deed carefully in his hands. “Thanks, Dad.”

Bob brings Jack in for a loose hug and they both ignore the soft squeaking coming from the backroom.

Five Years Later

There’s a man examining the announcement board in the vestibule, and Jack knows that posture: the forward hip cant, thick thighs, a small but definite bubble butt — guy’s a hockey player, and he has been for some time.

“Hey. Hi.”

Blondie spins around at Jack’s address. Not quite startled, but something close enough that Jack feels a twinge of guilt. “You interested in playing in our beer league? You look like you might know your way around a rink.”

The man quickly looks at his chest, as if expecting to find something displayed, but relaxes immediately. Jack fights a grin, he was once old hat at wandering into public spaces decked out in identifiable team merch.

“Bitty.” The man squares up to offer his hand; his accent is warm and distinctly southern, not at all what Jack was expecting. “You can call me Bitty.”

“Oh, with a nickname like that, you have to play, now, no excuses,” Jack gives Bitty’s arm a firm shake, surprised at how complementary his grip is; not just an overcompensating bro who’s walked into the wrong club.

“If only I had the time,” Bitty placates wryly. “Is this place new?”

“Been here a few years, but not long. How about you? Are you ‘new’? In town, I mean.”

“Moved for work,” Bitty’s smile is timid, eyes darting around the room looking for other patrons, up at the memorabilia and the various pennants. “First year. Slowly learning the area.”

Jack doesn’t miss the way Bitty’s eyes linger on the Pride flag draped from the second floor railing, but Bitty doesn’t mention it, and Jack isn’t in the business of prying.

“Let me be the first to welcome you to The Bar.”

“I saw that outside, do you not have a name?”

“We weren’t creative. The owner didn’t realize he was filling in the wrong line on the business license so we are literally called ‘The Bar’.”

“That’s actually pretty solid,” Bitty laughs, the sound lifting Jack’s mood easily. “I’ll have to make sure I come back and patron your establishment at a reasonable hour.”

“What you aren’t interested at getting sloshed before noon?”

Bitty laughs, and Jack is enough of an adult to recognize he’s got a tiny bit of a crush.

______

True to form, Bitty slowly becomes a feature of Jack’s early afternoons. The first few weeks, he does little more than quietly purchase a single domestic beer before tucking himself away in a corner booth, hunched over his phone, ball cap pulled low for discretion. Jack gives him space, and aside from a few curious regulars, Bitty is little more than another closeted young man seeking quiet sanctuary.

That is, until, hockey kicks up and Mario hooks Jack up with season tickets beside the bench. It’d taken time for Jack to get comfortable with being in an arena again, especially without the ability to step onto the ice himself, but he’s acclimated and learned to appreciate his new lot in life. He can be happy for his success and mourn the end of his career with equal measure.

(Doesn’t hurt he still gets asked for autographs on the regular.)

Bittle, the new forward traded out of Columbus, spins to whip the puck between Lundqvist’s thighs and the score is 3-2 with a minute left in the third. Jack stands to cheer with the crowd as Bittle’s pulled into a celly with his line mates, and the new angle gives Jack a good look at the man’s sunny face, complete with a familiar, bright smile and missing canine. Jack’s heart leaps into his throat when he realizes Bittle is ‘Bitty’, and Jack can’t help but cheer louder.

________

After the game, Jack does his homework. Pulls up stats pages and articles on Eric Bittle. Looking to link the quiet hottie from his bar with the energetic man he saw tonight on the ice. If Jack wasn’t in love before, he absolutely is after watching highlights from Bittle’s time in Columbus.

The next time Jack finds Bitty slipping into the bar, probably between practice and a good nap, Jack makes his move; filling a pint glass, wedging an orange slice on the rim, and adjusting his shirt before striding to the corner booth as easily as one can with a titanium femur.

“On the house,” Jack says, setting down the glass gently. “Choice goal, Tuesday. Great bounce.”

Bitty’s grateful smile falters, turning into something guarded.

“What goal?” Bitty asks, voice steady, and Jack’s immediately alerted to his misstep. Jack casts a careful eye around the room and doesn’t find anyone watching, kicking himself for not thinking this through. He’s used to playing this game with guys who aren’t quite comfortable, who might be visiting with the wrong people, but he hasn’t had to do the closeted-pro-athlete dance in a while.

“You know, I must have been mistaken.”

“Happens all the time. Very sweet of you, though.” Bitty apologizes and pushes away the beer, but Jack waves him off. It’s the least Jack can do for calling the guy out.

“I should have known,” Jack tries to recover. “You’ve still got all your chiclets. But, between you and me, Bittle’s a spitfire, eh? Crazy soft hands. I’d like to meet him someday.”

Jack whistles low, rapping his knuckles on the table before turning back to the bar, moving slowly enough he catches the way Bitty’s cheeks flare pink at the compliment.

About thirty minutes later, Jack, half focused on counting down the till, nearly misses Bitty’s exit. He looks up to offer a parting wave, and Bitty returns the gesture, flashing a shy, incomplete smile; one canine missing on the left side.

________

“Anything new to report? Sales look good, think you might be able to take some time off and visit your poor parents?”

Jack slides open a window to let some air into his bedroom, not for the first time wishing he’d taken the chance to tear out a wall and convert a corner of the top floor into a balcony. There’s still time — his father never seems to wary of giving Jack renovation loans — but Jack loves his condo and hates the idea of relocating again, even temporarily.

“New distillery opened, cut a deal on some local gin. We’re working on drink specials, if you have any ideas for names I’m open,” Jack eases onto the windowsill and looks down at the line of people waiting to get into the bar. “And I met someone. Think he might be a hockey player.”

“No shit? Beer-league?”

“NHL.” Jack corrects, an edge of caution in his tone he knows his father won’t misinterpret. “Started coming around a few months ago, gave me a fake name. Went to a game last week, scored right in front of me.”

“Well, you going to tell me who or am I going to have to guess?”

“He’s keeping to himself,” Jack holds the curtain steady to catch sight of a particularly flashy person in a glittering teal gown, texting Holster to snag a photo for the bar’s Instagram. “Don’t go hunting.”

“Well, if he needs any help you let me know.”

“What could you do?”

“I don’t know. Talk to . . . someone. I guess.”

“I’ll keep that under advisement.” Jack placates, smiling at the saucy photo Ransom texts back immediately of Holster lifting their favorite Drag Race runner-up above his head like something out of Dirty Dancing.

“So.”

“Mmm?”

“Does this mean you’ve got a little boyfriend, again?”

Jack leans out over the railing and tries to see if the universe has blessed him with a sighting of his favorite new Left Winger. Sadly, it’s Saturday evening and the Penguins are in Dallas, so no Eric tonight. 

“Working on it.” Jack offers, rapping his knuckles lightly against the window sill and trying not to think about the way Bittle’s face lights up when he sees that Jack is working. “Think I might really have a shot at something.”

“Well, you know what Wayne always says.”

“I do,” Jack breathes, pressing his forehead against the cool glass, taking in his one-of-a-kind view of the city. “I’ll let you know how it goes. Once he gets back.”

“ — You know, I’ve got the game on right now. I bet you $1000 I can tell who you’ve got the hots for. You have a specific type — ”

“Papa.”

“Okay, I won’t.”

“Thank you.”

“But it’s the kid we just got from the Blue Jackets, isn’t it. Bittle? You always like the fast ones — ”

“Goodnight, Papa.”

[villainsandvictimsalliance]

hear me out: villain!todofam, but it's not dabi who recruits them.

it's tomura. because dabi's spiralling and tomura can't help but think he needs someone who really understands him (because he doesn't think he gets it, for some reason). - @hitoshishinzou

Think about Tomura risking it all and showing up one day at the Todorokis house while Natsuo, Fuyumi and Shouto are alone. Tomura looks desperate and he tells them to call Endeavor if they want, but first, he asks them to hear him out.

“It's about Touya.”

Tomura asks Shouto to freeze his hands. He doesn't seem to care if he can lose them. Maybe that's why Shouto decides his gonna give him one chance, before calling their dad.

Tomura quickly explains that Dabi is Touya and shows them a photo he took while Dabi was dyeing his hair. He tells them he knows his betraying his best friend, but— But he takes the risk. For his family.

And because Dabi is a fucking blind man in need of saving, because he's on the verge of losing his own life and bringing the League down on the process.

Tomura doesn't get why Dabi cares so much about Stain, but he knows Dabi's obsession with both Stain and Endeavor got him one step for falling. He needs someone how cares about him enough to try and understand, someone who was there to witness Endeavor's abuse, someone Dabi would listen to.

Fuyumi and Shouto both think it's a trap. Why would he cared so much about Touya? Why would they believe him? But Natsuo has taken some classes about psychology and human behaviors, enough to see the edge on Tomura's eyes. Not tears, but a raged pain, the frustration of not being able to fix a situation on your own.

Natsuo asks Fuyumi and Shouto to let him go with Tomura. No one needs to know, they can all say Tomura kidnapped him. How? Well, he said he was going to a bar and Shouto and Fuyumi though he was over there. Tomura decides to trust Shouto and gave him the location where Dabi is, but he makes his warning: if the pro-heroes catch Touya, they're going to put him in Tartarus, with no recovery or help.

Shouto tries to deny it, Fuyumi tries to say he's a murderer, but Natsuo says he would never forgive them if they let Touya died twice. He wants to try, he has studied the League's victims, they are mostly other villains. Maybe he's insane, but he owns his brother as much.

Shouto and Fuyumi can't sleep that night. Meanwhile, Shigaraki asks Natsuo to don't tell Dabi about their talk. Turns out the whole League has been plotting behind Dabi's back how to help him.

Giran introduces Natsuo to the group as their local doctor. Dabi almost lost his mind, but Natsuo pretends he doesn't recognize him. His excuse is that he's been worrying about them, because for him even villains deserve health treatments.

Natsuo gets surprised with the League. They are so kind and welcoming, maybe strange and scary, but not the monsters the TV talks about. And they all act so well, but from so close he can finally see the cracks of hurt among all the anger.

Dabi is bad. He almost cries when he sees his brother so full of burns and scars, of staples. What about his internal organs? His hygiene? He can't cry, can he? Where does he get the medicine? Does he go to the doctor? Do they even have a thermometer to measure if one of them has a fever?

He doesn't do much that night. He comes back in the morning and Fuyumi and Shouto interrogates him, but he's so full of hatred. Hatred towards his dad, towards the system. Around 19 years has passed, his brother was on the streets while they were surrounded by a fortune. His father was accumulating fame while Dabi was out there, getting infections and losing movement.

Fuyumi and Shouto barely convinces Natsuo to only go sometimes to see the League. Shouto doesn't even know what he should do, tell the heroes or not. He doesn't want to lose both his brothers, he doesn't want to betray his friends. Fuyumi keeps pretending it's not that bad, but she's shaking from fear.

Natsuo and Dabi keep getting closer as they used to be on the meanwhile. Natsuo grows to understand more and more what drives the League and even when he doesn't share their beliefs, he's trying hard to putting them on another way.

That's when Shouto realizes the great danger Natsuo is in. Thankfully, Izuku is also starting to see the real kid behind Tomura, thanks to All Might and Shouto. Shouto convinces the heroes to let him become a secret member of the League.

So you have two Todorokis already on the League, hmm.

Rei joins them by faking her own death and going with her sons. Like son, like mother.

At that point, Dabi had been angry several times, had had a few breakdowns but thankfully, after Natsuo convincing him them living with him on the League is just gonna piss Endeavor even more, Dabi allows them by his side.

And boy, if Dabi missed them.

Since Endeavor knows nothing about Natsuo's life, he doesn't know. Since Shouto fakes to be a double agent, Endeavor doesn't ask. Since Endeavor thinks Rei is dead, he has no idea.

And then Fuyumi starts visiting them, because by some weird change in the wheel of fortune, now they're mostly villains, apparently. She's surprised to feel safe within the League, and she's surprised to find out about the members of the League. She's particularly fond of Toga and Twice, because she can see clearly why society rejected them and how did that affect them.

Let's choose a world where Rei manages to make the hatred towards his father reduce within Dabi. Let's imagine he wants a way out of that madness, but he still wants to watch the world burn, at least a little.

And let's imagine the other members of the League agree with that. They don't want to destroy it all. But how can they even scape AFO's shadow? How can they defeat the heroes too?

That's when Shouto begins his plan along class 1-A to expose the corruption within the hero system to change it all, while finding a way to help Tomura defeat AFO.

And at the center of the chaos, the Todorokis making sure to protect Dabi at all cost.

[incorrect-natshig]

Do you have natshig fic recs? 👀

THIS IS MY NEW FAVOURITE ASK ANON TYSM💗💗✨

putting it under a cut bcs there's a whole lot more than you would've bargained for💖

The Blocked Hooligans by aphrodaisyacs (11.4k, single chapter) prequel

On January 24, Twitter users @diamond_dust404, @jackedfrost and @icespicebaby formed a group chat when they all got blocked by Endeavor’s official Twitter account. After nearly ten months of developing into a chaotic adoptive family of three, it all changes when Jacked Frost (Todoroki Natsuo) and Ice Spice (Todoroki Shouto) accidentally find out that they are brothers in real life. Clearly, the next step is to meet with their third member, right?

wii music by constellore (43k, 7/30 chapters)

If, five years ago, someone told Natsuo that not only was he going to find his long-lost older brother, but that he was also going to learn that his sister’s best friend was a villain, gain a sorta - kinda fake boyfriend in the leader of the League of Villains, and be partially responsible for the redemption of two of the most wanted men in Japan, he would have told them that they were nuts.

luminous things by cirriform (3k, single chapter)

Natsuo teaches Shigaraki how to fold paper cranes.

Bullet Wounds and Book Work by Mishafy (20.6k, ongoing)

Shigaraki Tomura, at Kurogiri's suggestion, joined a med school track to make up for the lack of a party healer. It just so happened that Todoroki Natsuo was taking the same online course.

The Todoroki In-Laws by aphrodaisyacs (30.6k, complete)

Over 10 years after the fight against the Paranormal Liberation Front, Rumi, aka the part-time hero Miruko and the proud wife of one Todoroki Fuyumi, decides it would be an awesome idea to create a groupchat with the significant others of the other Todoroki siblings. Maybe things would be easier if its members weren’t two Pro Heroes, a former one and a rehabilitated villain, but honestly, where’s the fun in that? (chatfic)

Lingering by thyandra (2k, single chapter)

Natsuo sighed, closing the fridge door. He was so immersed in his pointless musings that he didn’t immediately hear the furious buzzing nearby, muffled by a pillow as it was. That is, until the thing fell to the floor—Shigaraki’s phone, Natsuo recognized once he glanced that way. He shouted a call of his name, but only got a muffled grumble back. Shigaraki was no doubt too absorbed in his game to give a fuck about his still buzzing device, and Natsuo- Natsuo hadn’t really meant to catch a glimpse of the screen. (Tomura has Natsuo as his lockscreen. Natsuo finds out.)

Caught Me at a Record Low by nocturnalgf (9.8k, ongoing)

It starts, as many things do, in a dirty alley. Shigaraki is dying, probably, until Natsuo comes to help him. And after that, Natsuo can't keep himself away.

Shigaraki Tomura’s Walkthrough to Infiltrating a University, Getting a Boyfriend, and More by JajaLala (73k, complete)

In order to recruit Dr. Ujiko Daruma, his Sensei's old doctor who fled after his arrest, Shigaraki must infiltrate the university the doctor is now working at. Problem is, even when he and some League members enroll as students, they discover it's almost impossible to meet the doctor unless you're enrolled in his advanced seminar. Fortunately, Shigaraki meets Natsuo, a premed in Dr. Ujiko's seminar, whose trust he must earn to meet the elusive doctor. However, the two of them might have more in common than Shigaraki expects...

Snow Day by Sensationalcrazyna (700 words, single chapter)

Shigaraki hates snow, but he'll go for his boyfriend.

The Todoroki Family is a Disaster™ by Tigers101 (2.7k, single chapter)

The Todoroki family is a disaster, and family dinner is even worse. Or, Fuyumi is going to lose her shit because she's apparently one of the only sane ones.

we will dream of the sea by crumbsfiction (3.6k, single chapter)

It’s a mechanism of self-defense, after all - trying so hard to be liked. If he can gain Tomura’s approval, if he can prove himself to this group, Natsuo will be fine. It will all have been worth it, dragging his name through the mud in search of a ghost. Besides, watching Tomura comes easily - in fact, Natsuo barely has to think about it at all.

Hoodie by MangoQueen (1k, single chapter)

Shigaraki gets cold and Natsuo offers for him to borrow a hoodie

Dear Tomura, I Hate You. Now Let's Play Some Video Games by  IDealess_at_this (6.6k, ongoing)

Natsuo finds himself in the library after a terrible family dinner. However, after an unconventional meeting, he also finds himself being held hostage by the worst villain league ever. Getting revenge on his father while helping each member of the dysfunctional family through their struggles in the process doesn’t sound too bad!

and of course my beloved AUs💗

a coin to a crane by bittermoons (22k, 5/10 chapters)

Two ordinary (or so they think) high school students from Tokyo stumble upon another world through their dad’s dojo, leading to all sorts of bizarre consequences when they meet a cosplaying asshole of a kodama—a tree spirit—on the other side. Who knew useless video game knowledge and an unlimited cell phone data plan would come in so handy?

sugar and spice by bittermoons (4.7k, single chapter)

Shigaraki Tomura is a judge who hates soggy bottoms on The Great Japanese Bake-Off. Todoroki Natsuo is a stand-up comedian most famous on the web for making fun of his SO, who he calls 'Tanaka Taro' in all his routines. When Natsuo joins the crew of Bake-Off, online speculation explodes over his relationships with Shigaraki and Taro.

hazy days under august shade with you (it's all like magic to me) by constellore (8k, single chapter)

Natsuo is content living in the small village of Eadu, but when his brother becomes the victim of a curse, he's left scrambling for a way to undo it. Desperate for a cure, he manages to find the mysterious Magician of the Western Mountains—a man who raises far more questions than answers, especially when Natsuo finds himself volunteering to spend the summer in the mountains with him in order to aid him in breaking Touya's curse. Love had never been part of the equation, but between sweltering summer days and conversations in the dead of night, Natsuo can't say that he minds.

Love Comes Slow (and goes so fast) by Tigers101 (14.8k, single chapter)

"I’ve never been enough.” Natsuo's expression darkened. “I’ve always been the failure of a middle child, worthless and alone. I’ve never been anything to anyone." Tenko looked at him, his eyebrows creased in something close to anger. “Well, everyone else can go fuck themselves. You’re everything to me.” (natshig fantasy au + major character death)

Here Be Faeries by cafeanna (5k, single chapter)

“Terrible thing, terrible thing,” The burning man tusked and tisked. “Caught the eye of a Prince, gave a Name, and killed the King. Now he wears a crown of blooded amber and elk horn, and sleeps on a bed of thistle and roses. The King calls him frostbite, willow-boned, and beloved.” 

Natsuo Todoroki walked into the woods at the beginning of summer and never came out. A month later, Fuyumi and Shouto are left in the aftermath of a missing person’s case and a growing fear of the place they grew up.

Know That You Love Me (even when I lose my head) by Tigers101 (1.5k, single chapter)

“I hate you.” Tenko grinned. “No, I really don’t think that’s the case. You wouldn’t have saved me from homework if that were the case.” (natshig roleswap au)

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 283: I'M MARY POPPINS Y’ALL

Previously on BnHA: Everyone was all, “Tomura what do you have?” and Tomura was all,” a quirk bullet!” and they were all, “NO!!” He then threw the bullet at Aizawa, who ironically actually did have a knife, and since no one bothered to say “no!!” this time he proceeded to CHOP OFF HIS OWN LEG. Just, schwoop. Lopped it right off. Didn’t even fucking care. Anyway so then Tomura was all, “you know what who even needs quirk bullets” and somehow broke free from both Deku and Ryuukyuu to go claw off Aizawa’s face. Thankfully Todoroki “I've spent the past eight chapters puttering around waiting for the coolest moment to strike” Shouto finally decided to join the fray by impaling Tomura, and everyone was all, “ahaha, classic Shouto”, and Tomura was all, “don’t worry though I’m fine”, and it seems like he really is now, since he’s finally regenerated and all his wounds have healed again! The chapter ended with Gigantomachia stampeding towards Jakku, which is super terrible, but what else is fucking new.

Today on BnHA: The Gunga kids spend a few pages standing around letting all that trauma soak in nice and deep as Machia rampages on towards Jakku. Back in the Shigaraki Wastes, the heroes regroup, which mostly consists of the remaining conscious adults tearfully being all “you kids get out of here... save yourselves...” and the kids being all “YOU JUST SIT THERE AND CHILL, DAD” and “[EXPLETIVES]” and “I’M YOUNG AND FILLED WITH RIGHTEOUS SHOUNEN RAGE”, all of which is very entertaining to me and makes me very proud. Anyway so then Tomura’s body sort of explodes a bit, and he’s all, “what”, and then it finally sinks in that he might have popped out of the toaster early, so he tries to end the fight right there and then with another round of Decay. Except that Deku counters it by SPONTANEOUSLY LEARNING HOW TO FLY, which is probably SO CONFUSING for all the non-Gran-and-Kacchan people around, which is just one of the many things I love about it. And the other things I love about it are that it’s (1) THE MOST BADASS THING EVER, and (2) just, really fucking great. So yeah. Rage, Deku, rage.

OH NO MY BABIES

don’t tell me. I’m not sure I want to know what it is they’re looking at. how many of the pros are fucking dead now ffffmg

also that is an extremely intriguing chapter title, though. 75? as in percent?? oh my god is something finally going to go fucking right for our heroes. or at least, you know, less wrong

OOOF

dammit Momo he was supposed to go to sleep! WHAT THE HELL WAS ALL OF THAT MATH FOR, THEN. did he grow bigger, or did she just somehow miscalculate the dosage, or is he finally going to go night-night halfway to Jakku?

btw Momo I’m not actually mad at you, you’re still the only one who fucking did anything at all. if anyone tries to give you shit, just look them in the eye and ask them “okay and how many things did YOU do?”, and they’ll be like, “oh shit, none”, and you’ll be all “yeah that’s what I fucking thought” because YEAH

OH MY GOD SERO ANGST

I have never seen Sero this badly shaken before. it’s somehow so shocking?? holy shit you guys, I know I’ve been saying for ages “lolo all these kids about to be traumatized af” but somehow it’s one thing to know it’s coming, and another to finally actually see it. oh god

anyway let’s just hope all of the grown-ups aren’t actually fucking dead. but based on all of the kids’ expressions, it really feels like a lot of them might be, and that’s just... ...

and they had to see it. right? is that what this is implying?? holy shit. they watched it all happen. that’s it, the rest of this arc is cancelled, please proceed directly to the emergency therapy arc right now

TOKO!!

holy shit look at the size of that rock that fell on the medical tent. and DS pulling people out of the wreckage. it really feels like everywhere you turn this arc, the intrepid young scamps of U.A.’s first year hero class are the ones out here keeping things one step from total disaster

oh shit

excuse the hell out of me young Momo but what the hell is up with this use of the word “dead” with the implied “like everyone else” hanging there at the end?? what is up with that. that’s a very bad sentence I don’t like that at ALL

and what the actual hell is this panel of FATGUM AND TAMAKI IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CARNAGE, TWO PEOPLE WHOSE NAMES I’M QUITE SURE ARE ON THIS CONTRACT OF “PEOPLE WHO AREN’T ALLOWED TO DIE” WHICH HORIKOSHI IMPLICITLY AGREED TO THE MOMENT I STARTED READING THE MANGA. BOY WHAT

JESUS MOTHER F. CHRIST

THAT’S. THAT’S, UH

OH THANK FUCK

I mean, I already knew they survived, though. so WHY AM I STILL SO FUCKING ANXIOUS. good grief

and in before Majestic fucking dies on the next page, having saved the children with his very last act. I fucking hate you Majestic, you blue-balling child-preserving magnificent wizard bastard

HE FRISBEED THEM TO SAFETY GAH

WHY COULDN’T YOU DO THAT TO MACHIA THOUGH. BUT AT LEAST HE SAVED THE BABIES. TOO BAD HE’S FUCKING DEAD hahaha sob sob sob

is anyone still alive?? did the guys who were fighting off Snoopy Sno-Cone and RD back at the mansion at least make it out in one piece??

(ETA: from here on out all of these guys shall be referred to as Schrodinger's Heroes until further notice.)

so now Mineta is questioning whether or not their Smart Momo Plan even fucking did anything, which. same, Mineta, honestly. but it must have!! right?? ????

anyway so here’s some more panels of everyone dying do you want to see them. sure. why not

can we get back to the Tomura fight now. I’ve had just about enough of this, I’d like to see some 75% business now before this turns into the most depressing chapter of all time

BOOOOOOO

goddammit. well for now my money’s on Machia collapsing just as they make it back to Jakku. so Momo’s plan does eventually work, but the League still makes it back to Tomura thus ensuring more shenanigans can take place. goddamn, lol, just when I thought the arc was nearing its climax. feels like it just fucking respawned with a full life bar

also Toga is really looking... not great. I’m so scared for whoever she ends up fighting after this. OCHAKO MY SWEET BABY GIRL PLEASE WATCH OUT

WHY ARE YOU STILL HERE

PLEASE ARREST HIM FASTER. holy fuck if you fucking screw this up and he gets rescued I SWEAR TO GOD

oh wait is he just here to provide more backstory on Gigantomachia

GO BURNIN’, YOU GOT THIS. also, gonna be honest, at this point I really would not mind if Machia did a little less living for Tomura and a bit more dying

FINALLY!!!

FKFKF Aizawa not looking too good oh god. and Deku looks like he’s about to spontaneously develop ALL OF HIS REMAINING QUIRKS JUST LIKE THAT ON THE SPOT, FUCK YOU TOMURA

oh my god DON’T GET DISTRACTED!!

Shouto’s arrival is either about to make Endeavor more useless than ever, or suddenly a whole lot LESS useless, and right now it’s up in the air and I am excited but also scared

EXCUSES EXCUSES

BLAH BLAH BLAH. “SORRY I’M LATE, I WAS SAVING PEOPLE’S LIVES,” Shouto lies through his teeth, clearly not aware that Tomura has a built in GPS and knows full well that Shouto was actually only a few feet behind Bakugou and Deku and so that explanation doesn’t fly at all. the real truth must be something so embarrassing that he’s ashamed to admit it. did you get lost. did you run into an NPC who wouldn’t let you pass until you had completed some sort of quest

THERE YOU ARE KACCHAN, I WAS WONDERING

just as enraged as Deku! it’s almost like he just witnessed his sensei chopping off his own leg and subsequently almost being murdered or something

(ETA: actually lol I think he’s mad at Deku, for taking off earlier and leaving him behind with Gran. though there’s no law that says he can’t be mad about two things at once! anyway so do you guys think that being beaten to the punch by Deku here may perhaps frustrate this young man and contribute to his decision to return the favor at some point later on in this battle, perhaps with dire consequences? hmm.)

anyway so if you all are keeping up with the math, and I think you are, it seems like just about every one of the adult pros is either down for the count (Aizawa, Gran), or recovering (Endeavor, Ryuukyuu??), or Might As Well Not Even Be There (a certain TWO OTHER PEOPLE WHO ARE STILL IN A TIME OUT AND HAD BETTER BE THINKING GOOD AND HARD ABOUT WHAT THEY’VE DONE. OR MORE PRECISELY, DID NOT DO OR EVEN ATTEMPT TO DO). anyway so all of that means that the only ones actually ready and raring to go here in Round 2 against the newly regenerated and POSSIBLY HAS HIS DECAY QUIRK BACK Shigaraki Tomura are... drum roll...!

okay but FUCK YOU GUYS though oh my god YOU’RE EVEN RUINING THE DRUM ROLL

DID YOU NOT EVEN NOTICE HIS LEG BEFORE?!?!? holy -- can I -- can I please just slap them, I --

anyway so RockLockRock looks like he has something to say here. probably going to tell Deku to take Aizawa and run, as if Deku isn’t the fucking glue holding this entire operation together at this point now that Aizawa is KOed. can you believe these guys are so incompetent they’ve actually got me arguing in favor of the child soldiers now, what even

...fuck

shit. that face. he’s ready to die to give them all a chance. he knows he wouldn’t last two seconds against Tomura and yet he’s willing to sacrifice it all. damn it RLR... okay fine your time out is done now, but I’m still calling your parents

unfortunately, you’ll never believe it, but Deku doesn’t seem all that inclined to listen to this man telling him to bail and save his own skin sob

ngl though I am living for the Enraged Vengeance Deku we’ve been seeing in these last couple chapters. maybe now everyone will stop dismissing him as just a soft boi who always eats his vegetables and doesn’t swear, and remember that in truth he’s actually a mildly unhinged feral child with an infinite pain tolerance and a god-given talent for never listening to any life-prolonging advice that adults give him ever

oop don’t tell me he’s gonna do the Decay thing again, shit

-- uh

“eh?” lmao what the fuck. my boy's torso just opened up like a fucking door hinge and all he can say is “eh.” this fucking manga

like he’s seriously just calmly standing there trying to assess what the heck has gone wrong

you really don’t feel pain do you. “haha lol what why is my arm falling off I thought I fucking ascended”

OH MY GOD

IT’S OCTOBER THIRD. looool the fuck

Tomura. my sweet little S+ ranked death machine with an A rank in knowledge. who’s spent the past 15-20 minutes battling to the death with the number one fucking hero and all his pals. who all just HAPPENED to be there all ready and waiting to fight him the instant he woke up. Tomura. buddy. did it really only just occur to you that maybe something went wrong somewhere along the line. that maybe things were not, in fact going according to keikaku. that maybe the heroes didn’t just sit around waiting for you to finish cooking in your villain bake oven. like please forgive my impudence but TOMURA ARE YOU STUPID, is what I’m saying, I guess. but gently

(ETA: SHIGARAKI TOMURA, WHOSE ARM IS CURRENTLY DANGLING BY A THREAD: “hold up lol what day is it.”)

I really like how Deku’s just crying nonstop this entire time though. but like, you know. crying with RAGE

lol and he’s figured it out as well, and I fucking love the connection his mind made, look at this

sudden feelings of solidarity. “WE’RE NOT SO DIFFERENT, YOU AND I” lmao

AHH MIRKO

how does she still have two legs?? Horikoshi I can’t believe you forgot how many legs your own favorite character has. but anyways yes this has been your friendly reminder that Mirko saved EVERYONE and should have a battleship named after her

okay NOW he’s doing the thing

good job Tomura you finally got them!! good thing none of them can fly, or Float. RIGHT, DEKU

AHAHAHAHAHA YESSSSS

YOU LOVE TO SEE IT. AND A BLACKWHIP/FLOAT COMBO, TOO! TOMURA, YOU WERE SAYING??

(ETA: he even grabbed Kacchan too. “I can fly by myself!” YOU SHUSH MISTER.)

(ETA 2: and what I also love about this is that we know the SIXQUIRKS are seemingly in tune with Deku’s emotions, so it honestly makes perfect sense that in the heat of the moment with Tomura threatening to kill all these people that he cares about, the quirk just basically acts on his instinct to save and doesn’t stop to ask questions. we’re saving everyone, no buts. and he even activates Float at long last, acting on that same instinct. honestly Kacchan had the exact right idea the whole time, all the way back in chapter 217. “it’ll activate when he’s in trouble, right?” exactly.)

NO GRAN STOP NO ONE ASKED FOR THESE FEELS

OH MY GOD

NEVER HAVE I STANNED THIS BOY SO HARD. HOT DAMN

he’s so fucking mad. omg??! omg

okay so I’m gonna try my best to explain why I love this so much lol. all right. so the thing is, it’s actually so rare for Deku to actually take the reins like this. even though he’s the main character, even though he’s All Might’s heir, his personality is such that he genuinely doesn’t mind being in the backseat and is perfectly content to share the spotlight with others, or even relinquish it completely. BnHA has had... how many arcs so far? hold up let me check

-- okay I just checked and it’s 18. so, 18 arcs. and out of all those arcs, Deku has had a solo fight in approximately... five of them. and two of those fights were against Bakugou and Todoroki, respectively, so he was still sharing the spotlight even then. aside from that, he’s fought Muscular, Gentle, and Overhaul (oh, and Shinsou, I guess). that’s it! and it’s been almost 300 chapters! and again, he’s the main character. in a shounen manga. like seriously though, that is wild

and so seeing him here like this on the last page, ready to throw hands with Tomura, presumably while using Blackwhip as some sort of physical barrier to coat his attacks and prevent Tomura from trying any more Decay shenanigans with him? dude. I FELT THAT HYPE. it’s just a really effective way of keeping me from getting Main Character Fatigue like I might get in most other shounen series. because Deku doesn’t get the spotlight all that often in comparison, it still feels fresh to me, especially now with him actually going up against the Big Bad. just, idk what else to say except “hell yeah” lol

anyway, so I don’t even know how long it’s gonna last, and I expect that Kacchan and Shouto aren’t going to be content to just sit back and let Deku have all the glory either (Kacchan in particular is probably frothing at the mouth already), so in all likelihood it’s probably going to be more of a 3-on-1 than a 1-on-1. and it’s also very likely to end with Tomura gaining the upper hand and trying to take OFA! and so in truth this is a very fleeting moment of triumph, and the most premature of celebrations! but even so... damn. and also I just love seeing shounen kids lose their damn minds and explode with angry determination. and I especially love seeing it with Deku, because I love the reminder that beneath that sweet, unassuming nerdy exterior lies a core of fucking steel. that look in his eyes, though. TOMURA ARE YOU SCARED. you should be a little scared, lmao

anyway. so that’s the chapter! and I’m really glad we ended on this note, not just because Deku is a badass, but also because like I was saying earlier, this was about as bad a situation as the good guys have ever been in, and I felt like the manga was starting to lose that feeling of hope that still needs to be there at its core even when things are at their darkest. idk, I feel like we needed this. Tomura got a chance to catch his breath in the last chapter, and now it’s the heroes’ turn. whew

[fanfic-me-up]

Caught In The Crossfire || Todoroki Shouto

Synopsis: You’re caught in the crossfire of one of Todoroki Shouto’s pranks against Endeavor. It’s either play along or risk getting expelled. What’s it gonna be?

Pairing: Todoroki Shouto x fem!reader

Word Count: 4k+

Rating: 17+

Warnings: suggestive humor, suggestive sexual themes (nothing explicit), characters aged up to last year of school (18+)

A/N: This is for @bnhabookclub bingo event! Bingo slot: faking an injury

Big thank you to @unbreakableeiji and @prismaroyal for beta reading! They really helped me stay on track with this one lol

You’re always in the wrong place at the wrong time. Like that one guy in the movie Holes that gets sent to juvie for shoes he didn’t even steal. You’re on your last strike, and though the consequences are not as bad as juvie, getting kicked out of the internship course three days before grades go out is just downright cruel. 

You’ve been on edge this whole week, going to class everyday, dedicating at least three hours everyday to studying, and making sure to do everything expected of you at your internship.

Only one more day until finals are over which means one more day until the semester is over and you can get your internship credit. 

And, trust, you are not blaming the universe for putting you in this position for no reason. It really wasn’t your fault. The first strike had been because of that one guy with the electric quirk you now know as Kaminari. The second strike had been because of Count Explodo and his inability to keep his cool for more than three seconds. Ugh. The students in the hero course can be so dramatic sometimes. 

Recovery Girl didn’t want to give you the previous two strikes, in fact, she told you in confidence that you were her best intern, but she had to abide by school policy.

You don’t want to get into exactly what happened, but things were fried and exploded, and let’s just say school property was damaged. And because you were on watch as the intern, you of course, faced the consequences while they got off scot-free because they were “heroes.” 

They’re not even real heroes dammit! They’re heroes in training! Of course that last part is always an afterthought, and people like you in the general course get pushed to the back and forced to clean up the messes of the up and coming “heroes.”

You carefully organize all the documents that Recovery Girl, your supervisor, needs copied, but you barely make it out the door when you bump into a firm chest- your nose colliding with a very hard, very sculpted shoulder. 

“Ouch!” 

The force alone brings you to the ground; the papers you took twenty minutes organizing, raining down on you. You bring your hand up to your nose to check for blood, but thankfully, there’s none.

“Are you okay?” 

You look up at the two-toned boy in front of you who bends down to help you. Your eyes are having trouble deciding where to look. The stark contrast of glacial white and blazing red, and of stormy gray and vibrant turquoise is a lot, but somehow works together in his case. 

You shake your head, gathering your papers quickly so you can get the copies back to Recovery Girl. Of course you’d bump into someone in the hero course. Typical. 

“Let me help you,” he says.

Hands, much bigger than yours, join in the fray of picking up papers. 

You scoff, “Haven’t you helped enough?” 

He freezes, clearly taken aback by your abrasive attitude. You rolls your eyes, collecting the rest of your papers. Because of him, you have to reorganize the papers, and great, there’s a scuff mark on one of them. 

“I didn’t mean to cause any-” 

Half-n-Half doesn’t get the rest out when a deep rumble fills the empty hallway. (Count Explodo came up with that nickname and you can’t help but applaud him for it.)

“SHOUTOOOOO”

Todoroki’s eyes widen, and you see him glance at the door behind you. You scramble to get up and block the door. “Oh no, you don’t, I don’t know what you’ve heard from your little hero group, but you are not getting through this door and dragging me into whatever shenanigans you’ve gotten yourself into this time.” You plaster your body to the door, even though in reality, Todoroki can get in one way or another if he truly wants to.

He looks to the right where the voice came from. The only sign of stress on his otherwise stoic face is the slight arch of his brow, even when the same booming voice shouts his name again. In fact, Todoroki looks like he thrives on the chaos he’s caused for the man who’s scouring the halls in search of him. 

Todoroki takes a step toward you with a hint of a smirk twitching at the corner of his lips. You squint up at him, having no idea what he’s up to, but you already know it’s going to put a damper on what was supposed to be an easy day. 

In a flash, he throws himself to the ground like a freaking drama queen, lying on his back with all of his limbs spread out. “Help, I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!” 

You gape. 

Did this boy really just life alert you? 

He looks up at you and you want, more than anything, to make a serious dent in that stupidly handsome face. Ugh. 

“You either help me hide from my old man or Recovery Girl finds you turned away a hurt student. Your choice,” He raises his eyebrow in a challenge, knowing full well that as an intern for Recovery Girl, you’re obligated to report any injuries students claim. You’re pretty much on probation so it will be your word against one of the top students in the hero course. 

The next “SHOUTOOO” is a lot closer this time, meaning you have a couple seconds before Endeavor rounds the corner to find you rejecting his “perfect son” who looks to be in serious pain on the ground. Forget worrying about a measly strike, you’d probably get expelled from this school right on the spot. 

You groan in defeat, stepping away to open the door, “I hate you. Now, get in.”

“Don’t hate the player, hate the game,” he brushes past your shoulder. Wow. He’s seriously the worst. 

You close the door and both of you freeze at the heavy footsteps getting closer. You both breathe a sigh of relief when they carry on down the hallway. Todoroki leans against the counter, hands in the pockets of his pants.

“I’ll be right back. I have to make these copies that are now five minutes late, I wonder why that is...” you sarcastically trail off. All you get is a noncommittal shrug, so you continue with your spiel. “Lie down over there and please, for the love of god, if anyone comes in- and I mean anyone, it could be the freaking League of Villains for all I care, you better act like you’re actually injured. I can’t have another strike on my record.” 

“Strike?” 

You stutter, “N-nevermind. It’s none of your business. Just act like you’re hurt and we won’t have a problem. Or is that too much to ask of a future pro-hero?” You ask in an overly snotty fashion to take attention away from your slip-up. It obviously doesn’t work on someone as intelligent as Todoroki Shouto, but you appreciate how he nods and allows the subject change. 

“Good. I’ll be back in a few,” you head for the door, but turn around for a final warning, “And don’t touch anything or use your quirk.”

“Really?” He crosses his arms, offended that you’re talking down to him like a child.

“You’d be surprised,” you shake your head, thinking back to how you got the previous strikes.

You open the door and jump three feet in the air, papers flying to the ground once more (who knows if you’ll ever get those copies to Recovery Girl at this point.) In front of you stands the No. 1 Hero, and he does not look happy. 

You gulp, papers long forgotten. “Endeavor! Wh-what can I h-help you with… sir?” You make sure to keep the door only halfway open so he doesn’t see Todoroki hiding in the corner.

“I’m looking for my son, Shouto, is he in here?” He tries to step inside, but you close the door further.

“Nope. Not in here, sir, have you tried the admin office yet? He might be in there.”

You can’t help the slight wobble in your voice and you only pray he won’t catch it, but he’s a hero, trained to read his opponent, so what do you expect? His eyes narrow, and you shrink under his intimidating stare, hand sweating against the doorknob.

You really just lied to the No. 1 Hero, and he knows you’re lying. 

“I’ve checked the administrative office, young lady, four times. Now, if you don’t let me in to see my son, I will talk to your superior and have you expelled from this school for insubordination.”

You chance a glance at Todoroki and you understand what he’s trying to say from a simple nod.

“Go ahead and tell him. I shouldn’t have put you in this position.”

You make eye contact with Endeavor who’s flame grows every time his nostrils flare. He takes a deep breath in and you know he’s about to shout Todoroki’s first name which will inevitably alert Recovery Girl. Forget worrying about your internship credit now, you might get expelled at this rate. You’re in too deep, and you pray you’ll make it out still a student of U.A. after this. You say the first thing that comes to mind.

“He’s NAKED!”

Endeavor’s shout gets stuck in his throat and you take the opportunity to keep going.

“Yeah! Totally, just full on... naked… like you can see… e-v-ery-thing.” You wave your hands around your body to drive your point across though your poor gestures only make the situation worse. 

Complete silence takes over, to the point that you can hear Recovery Girl’s typing through the closed door. You side-eye Todoroki who looks at you with a half-smirk, his eyes bright and clearly enjoying this trainwreck of a show from the sidelines. Yep, out of all the lies you’ve told from the previous strikes you’ve earned, this one has got to be the worst by far.

Endeavor growls, “What kinda recovery room are you runnin’? I want to speak to your superior right now.”

Any louder and Recovery Girl will for sure come out to check what’s going on. If she comes out, she will see Todoroki and the jig is up. Your heart skips a beat at the thought.

“Uhh…” 

Since when did it get so hot in here? Oh yeah. Duh. You’re literally a foot away from a guy engulfed in his own flames. You sigh and reluctantly open the door to let Endeavor in, and just when you’re about to call Recovery Girl-

“Dad?” 

A hoarse voice speaks up. 

“Shouto?” 

“Don’t come any closer,” Todoroki croaks.

Endeavor actually listens. 

“I’m…”

Your heart pounds in anticipation for what Todoroki will say next. You hope it’s enough for Endeavor to take his leave. Your head unintentionally moves to catch his whisper and Endeavor does the same.

“I’m…”

It’s like when someone’s on their deathbed and you’re struggling to catch their final words.

“Butt naked.”

You shoot Todoroki a quick glare as he’s struggling not to laugh. These are not the words of a dying man, but an asshole getting a kick out of screwing with his father. 

“Son, put some pants on, it’s not that hard.” You cringe at the awkward eye contact you exchange with the No. 1 Hero. 

“It is.”

Oh no. Oh no. Oh no. Is he going where you think he’s going? 

You give a curt smile in which Endeavor grants you one of his own before straightening his belt and clearing his throat to respond. 

“I will not stand for another one of your pranks, Shouto, come out now or else-”

“The body’s a mysterious thing.”

Oh my god. Why are you talking? Shut up! 

“It can surprise you in ways you don’t… expect.” You’re not really sure where you’re going with this, but you have already disrespected the No. 1 Hero more times than you can count today so might as well just roll with it. Both Todorokis are looking at you expectantly from their respective places.

“Today, during training, he overused his left side causing his body to.. uhm… overheat. I guess you can say.” You glance at Todoroki who’s looking at you with wide eyes, but you keep pushing through, digging yourself in deeper. You need Endeavor to buy it, else you’re out of an internship or, worse, out of this school for good.

“Quirk side-effects manifest in different ways so it isn’t rare for you to hear about this for the first time, especially since your son isn’t fully acquainted with the left half of his quirk just yet.”

You give yourself a pat on the back because, damn, that was good if you do say so yourself. Endeavor seems to have bought it, too, because a proud smirk graces his usually harsh features. However, the happy go lucky wave you’re currently riding crashes from under you as Todoroki is shooting you the same piercing stare his father was giving you just a moment ago. Damn. The Todoroki’s really know how to make a person feel insignificant with just one look.

“Is that true, son?” 

“...yes”

Endeavor gives a hearty laugh, and you’re so worked up with everything that’s happened in the past five minutes that you can’t help but laugh awkwardly alongside him. 

“You could’ve started with that, young lady, no shame in the bodily functions of a strong, growing man. Those are the famous Todoroki genes at work,” he winks at you.

You force a smile, “Ha ha ha yep…” 

What do you even say to that?

“I’ll come back for you once you’ve handled your problem. Take care, son.” 

Endeavor gives you a polite nod, in which you bow, before he takes his leave. Once the door shuts, you slump against it and take in a few deep breaths to try to stop your racing heart.

You make eye contact with Todoroki from the corner he’s still hiding in, a shadow falling over the right half of his face. All you can see is a fierce combination of red and turquoise. He looks like a carbon copy of the man that was just here. Todoroki steps out of the shadow, and gets close enough for you to see every hurdling ridge of that perfectly imperfect scar.

“You shouldn’t have said that.” 

The heat Endeavor took with him is replaced with a new heat. A different heat. One unique to the boy standing in front of you. You feel it bubbling, rising to the surface of a wicked cauldron that you need to quickly put a lid on before it spills over and you get burned. You fall short of spitting a sarcastic retort. Instead, you find yourself licking your lips and Todoroki tracing the movement with fire in his eyes.

“You know,” he starts, “My mind didn’t go there until yours did.”

“It didn’t?”

Your cheeks burn, embarrassed that your mind was in the gutter when Todoroki’s wasn’t.

He shakes his head.

“But good to know you think about me overheating.” 

Oh no. Maybe you are in too deep. But not in the way you thought. You’re about to screw it and jump his bones right then and there when Recovery Girl’s door opens.

“Y/N, dear, did you make those copies?” Recovery Girl calls out, stopping in her tracks when she sees Todoroki next to you. “What brings you here, Todoroki, are you hurt?”

She races as quickly as her age can take her, going into full healer mode as she inspects Todoroki for injuries. You respond on instinct so you won’t get in trouble.

“Yes! He is very hurt! That’s why he’s here!” 

You nod at Todoroki who takes the cue and immediately clutches his side, giving a convincing groan like he’s in pain. You gotta hand it to him. If he weren’t trying for a career as a pro-hero, you’d suggest he take up acting.

“His body overheated during training, and some not so pleasant side-effects have taken place.” 

“So… hot…” He plays along, a mischievous glint in his eyes directed towards you. He makes sure to raise his temperature when Recovery Girl places her hand on his forehead.

“You’re definitely heating up, but that’s not out of the norm for someone with a quirk like yours. What side effects are you referring to, Y/N?”

You and Todoroki look at each other. You flush as you’re forced to give the same reason you gave Endeavor for continuity’s sake, but this time in explicit detail.

Once Recovery Girl is in the loop, she sends Todoroki to lie down and assigns you to take care of him. You get washcloths and soak them in water like you’re cooling a fever down. Todoroki is not “butt naked,” though he is shirtless. You place the cold compress on his bare chest. Hopefully he doesn’t notice how you squirm in your seat, working the cloth over his skin. His abs glisten as he continues to raise his temperature to keep up the appearance. Your eyes are trained on the task at hand, not daring to look up because you know he’s watching your every move. You can feel his gaze burning into you, branding your flesh with a mark of his own, as heat begins to simmer inside you.

You shake your head. What are you thinking? You’re not… he’s not… there’s nothing going on between you and Todoroki! You refuse to become another one of his fangirls, lining up for the chance to be with him. He’s handsome, sure you’ll give him that, but…you look up and instead of the smug smirk you imagined, there’s a softness to his usually stoic stare, and the heat you once felt melts into a fondness you can’t quite explain. 

Once you finish “cooling him off,” you grab a clipboard and a pen to fill out the forms when you accept patients. 

You stare at each other blankly. Clearing your throat you say, “I think it’s safe to say it’ll be a no for all of them.” He nods, putting his shirt back on as you get up from your seat, about to take your leave.

“Thank you.”

You freeze. From his words, not his quirk. (thank god) 

“It was wrong of me to put you in such a precarious position. I understand your hostility… towards me. Though maybe if you’d allow me to explain myself, I might be able to change your mind.”

You raise an eyebrow. Since when did anyone in the hero course ever care about students in the general course? They’re always in their own little bubble, uncaring if they step on the toes of other students, like yourself, who worked just as hard to get into U.A. So why does Todoroki Shouto, one of the top students in the hero course, care about changing your mind?

You’re weary, but you nod anyway, curious as to what he has to say. 

“My old man is a fucking dick.”

Your eyes widen.

Isn’t bad mouthing your dad, the current No. 1 Hero, bad publicity or something? Why would Todoroki tell you, of all people? You don’t have any more time to think on this as Todoroki continues.

“This morning, he told me we’re taking a trip next weekend to meet the person he plans to set me up with, some American girl. He said it’s good publicity for the family. I’m not stupid. I know when he says, the family, he means himself.” His face twists into a dark grimace and you can tell there’s some deep unresolved issues between him and his father.

“Why are you telling me this?” 

You feel like you overstepped, heard too much about the famous Todoroki family, despite Todoroki, himself, telling you this. 

He stands up from his bed, walking towards you until the tips of his shoes meet yours, and he’s as close as he can get without touching you. He raises his arm to lightly graze his fingertips along your arm, and you curse the goosebumps that immediately rise like a chain reaction. He drags his hand up, reaching the sensitive spot at the curve of your neck, and you let out a soft gasp at the sensation. A shiver runs through you from the cool touch, despite the heat coiling in your stomach, begging to be satiated. A softness pillows his piercing features as he brushes his thumb lightly along the apple of your cheek.

“I want to convince you I’m not the jerk you think I am.”

The scent of freshly cut mint and burning cedar is clouding your ability to think straight. His hair looks deliciously soft, begging to have fingers run through it, and you wish to pull him down and kiss him in the middle of the recovery room. For him to slam you against the wall, and...

You take a step back, pulling away from his caress, before you do something you’ll regret. You have questions that need answers before anything else happens.

“Why are you so hellbent on changing my mind? I’m clearly not in the hero course.”

“Why would that matter?” 

“Because you’re all the same! You’re caught up in your own little world, the spotlight shining on you so bright that you’re blinded to the people around you. If it wasn’t for the students in the general and support courses, you wouldn’t be in the position you are now.”

You hope you didn’t raise your voice loud enough for Recovery Girl to notice. It was already a close call getting this far and you really can’t afford a slip up because you couldn’t put a lid on your emotions. 

You’d have no one to blame, but yourself.

“This is about your strike,” Todoroki states.

The breath rushes out of you.

“What? No, it-” 

You stop mid-sentence. A realization comes to mind causing you to straighten up and look Todoroki in the eye. “You know what? Yes, yes it is about my strike. Two strikes actually.”

Your newfound confidence marches you straight over to Todoroki, poking at his chest in an attempt to intimidate him. (yeah, you’re about as intimidating as a baby squirrel to Todoroki, but A for effort) 

“And who’s fault was it?” your voice rises, “Dunceface and Count Explodo, that’s who! And if your little prank went sour today, it would’ve been my ass on the line!”

“You’re right. I’m sorry.”

Your breath catches. He’s just throwing you curveballs left and right, leaving an unsettling feeling in your stomach, because he keeps acting like he actually cares and you’re questioning if maybe he actually does.

“Let me make it up to you,” he says.

You raise an eyebrow, “And how are you going to do that?”

A faint flush adorns his pale cheeks, only noticeable because you’re standing so close. This is the first time you’ve seen Todoroki blush and you’re taken aback at his sudden change in demeanor. 

“I was thinking… we could go to the restaurant you mentioned? Uhm…” he runs a nervous hand through his hair, “In your slam poem last year? You said you always passed by and hope to one day dip a strawberry in the chocolate fountain.”

You’re speechless at the fact that he saw your performance, much less remembered the details. You performed at an open mic event U.A. held at the end of every semester for extra credit. You did a slam poem about childhood hopes and dreams (it was pretty cringe and now that you know Todoroki saw it just makes you cringe even more) but despite the cringiness, all of the details were true. Bella Bistro was a cafe you passed by everyday in elementary school and you remember jumping up and down in excitement when you saw the huge chocolate fountain whooshing gloriously in the middle of the restaurant. 

You look down at the ground to hide your burning cheeks.

“It’s expensive, you don’t… have to,” you mutter.

“I want to.”

Your heart stutters at the earnest look he gives you. A ray of hope sparkling his eyes, so unlike the brooding aura he usually carries.

But you’re still not convinced.

“You’re not asking me out to piss off your dad, are you?”

“You’re just looking for every reason to hate me, aren’t you? Trust me, there are plenty of other ways to piss him off.” His face is stoic, but behind that you can see the mischief brewing, only visible to the people who take the time to read his minute expressions.

Ten minutes ago, you thought the entire hero course was a bunch of narcissistic assholes, but now that you’ve taken the time to get to know one of them, you’re starting to realize that maybe you were wrong. 

Anyone with eyes can see Todoroki Shouto is devastatingly good looking, not to mention, he’s willing to take you to one of the most expensive restaurants in the city? The worst that can happen is it doesn’t work out.

Though you’re secretly hoping it does.

Before you can give your answer, Recovery Girl calls out from her office.

“Are you feeling better, dear?” 

Your eyes widen as you push Todoroki back into the recovery room.

“Quick! Take off your shirt and get on the bed!”

Todoroki raises an eyebrow, “Let me buy you dinner first.”

You don’t have time to be embarrassed. “Just do it!”

Thankfully he obliges, getting on the bed just in time for Recovery Girl to pop in and see you wiping down his chest.

“Much better, thank you,” Todoroki responds to her. She inspects his “injuries” and once she deems him ready to go back to class, she takes her leave to go make the copies herself. You let her know that you’re more than capable of doing it yourself, but she gives you a knowing look.

“Oh, I know hun, but seems like you have unfinished business to take care of,” she winks and walks off.

You gape, your whole body buzzing as you realize she heard your entire conversation and probably gathered that Todoroki isn’t really injured. 

She exits and the silence is deafening in the recovery room. Technically, it should be silent, but for some reason you can’t help but feel out of your own element when you’re met with the intense stare of Todoroki. You can’t even use the excuse of trying to let other people sleep because there’s no one else in here. You glance around the room, playing with the stethoscope around your neck, but each time you chance a look at Todoroki, you’re hit with that same burning look.

“Welp… the jig is up, I guess. You’re free to go, goodbye,” you shoot an awkward laugh, but Todoroki doesn’t indulge you. 

“Your answer?” 

You’re well aware of the fact that he’s still shirtless and it’s doing little in suppressing the uncontrollable urge to kiss him senseless.

Fuck it.

You reach for his hair (yes it is as soft as it looks) and you pull him down as you finally allow yourself to give in and kiss him. His breath hitches in surprise, but he soon relaxes into the kiss. His arms lay awkwardly at his side, like he’s unsure where to put them, so you guide them to your waist. With his bare chest pressed against you, you can feel every hardened ridge rubbing against the thin fabric of your shirt, and you do a horrible job of suppressing a whimper when his tongue flicks hesitantly against yours. You pull away, so you both can catch your breath, keeping your arms wrapped around his neck.

“Is that a good enough answer, Half-n-Half?” You say with a teasing lilt in your breathless voice. 

“Call me Shouto.” 

You shiver at the cool lips ghosting the burning shell of your ear.

He leans away, much too soon for your liking. Throwing his shirt back on, he walks out the door, but not before turning his head to throw one last comment over his shoulder.

“I’ll pick you up at 8 o’clock sharp.”

Sharp? Who the hell does he think he is? Psh. You’ll be ready when you wanna be ready! But you can’t even convince yourself to be mad when you realized you just scored a date with U.A’s most handsome up and coming hero.

You smile at the sudden turn of events today. Sure, it could’ve gone way worse if Shouto’s prank backfired, but it was totally worth getting caught in the crossfire.

[jettingtothemoon]

Shiggy

➳ pairing: shigaraki tomura x f!reader ➳ genre: angst, fluff ➳ warnings: mentions of death, swearing ➳ word count: 4119 ➳ rating: pg-15 ➳ summary: In which y/n joins the league of villains and discovers a soft side to her new boss. ➳ a/n: this is my first official oneshot that i wrote just for shiggy bc i just love him so much (*^.^*)

y/n never wanted to be a villain. She wanted to be a hero, one proud to help others no matter the reward. Well, that was until that one fateful day.

It was just like any other day but after that day, nothing would ever be the same again. y/n was at school when it happened; when the attack began. She should have been there because, just maybe with her quirk, she could have saved them. It was a villain never seen before, one so terrible that he killed or at least severely wounded every hero he came across in a matter of minutes. That was until Endeavour came along. By the time the great pro hero Endeavour arrived, the fight had made it's way to your street. As the fight continued, the families were evacuated out of their homes by other heroes and sidekicks, knowing that the damage to the street was going to be major in this colossal fight.

You could feel the rumbles and vibrations under your feet even as you sat at your desk only a few blocks away. It's probably just some construction work nearby, the teachers said. If only.

Your parents and little sister were still inside when it happened, not yet to be evacuated when the blast went off. Even Endeavour himself was having a tough time fighting this villain and, despite seeing that the villain was not going after any civilians, he let out a huge blast of fire. It engulfed half of the street in seconds, scorching the villain into submission. Everyone that end was supposed to have been evacuated, but they weren't, your family were still inside. Still hiding from the battle outside. They just wanted to live, to survive this terrifying fight. They weren't so lucky.

That was the day you lost all faith in heroes. Their job was to protect and rescue civilians but they couldn't even get that right. Why? Because they would earn more if they took down the villain. He couldn't have held him off until he was certain everyone was safe and outside of the blast radius. The worst part about it, not a single hero was harmed in the blast. They all saw it coming and, instead of rushing in to get your family out in time, they turned tail and fled before the blast could hit them.

Endeavour was reckless but those other heroes... they were cowards. They gave their lives a higher importance than that of your family. Your caring mother, your loving father, your baby sister. They were left to burn, to scorch in the hellflame as the so-called heroes ran away, leaving them behind.

You were left all alone. Your friends pitied you, tried to comfort you but their love for the very heroes that left your family to die remained. It was despicable, the way they loved them sickened you. They were your friends no more, not if they couldn't see what heroes really were. They were greedy, selfish, liars who all deserved to die in the place of your family.

Of course, you didn't act on those emotions at first. In fact, you simply lived your life quietly. You remained alone, you discarded the friends that didn't understand your hatred of heroes. You lived your life as any other citizen, keeping your head down and letting the heroes do what they wanted.

Well, that was until Stain emerged. The hero killer, he empowered you. He shared similar views to you but he still seemed to believe that there was such a thing as a good hero, for example, All Might. From what you had seen on the news and other videos that were circulating the web not long after his capture in Hosu, he believed that All Might was a true hero. You, however, once even believed Endeavour was a true hero. If the number two hero was a scumbag then you had no doubt that so was the number one. All Might, like Endeavour, was likely to have let the fame and power go to his head. That was why, despite agreeing with Stain's ideology, you still had no faith in there being any good heroes anymore. Maybe the future generations would prove you wrong, but you doubted it. The future generation of heroes were being trained by those very scumbags after all.

After the incident in Hosu, you turned to a different kind of lifestyle. You still lived your ordinary everyday life, sure, but you started going after those so-called heroes you detested so much. With your quirk, it wasn't too difficult to take down some sidekicks. Not that you actually killed any of them, no, you simply did enough damage to put them in the hospital for a long time.

Heroes sucked. That was just the stone-cold truth, even though you sometimes hated to admit it. Those whom you had looked up to your entire life were nothing but a bunch of phonies playing pretend. All they wanted was the money, fame and power. Not a single one of them truly wanted to save people, to protect the citizens that need it.

After a while, it wasn't only the heroes you detested but also all those people with quirks that didn't use them, despite knowing that their quirk could help save so many. Without a licence, using your quirk in public is prohibited but that wouldn't stop a true hero. A true hero would do whatever they could to help, not just stand by taking pictures. You hated that some people, those people whom sided with Stain, might take one look at you and lump you in with the rest.

Before long, whatever feelings you had for saving people was gone. You didn't want to be a hero anymore, you didn't want to save the people who didn't even deserve saving. The ones who deserved to be saved were those who really couldn't help in any of those situations. The people with quirks that were practically useless in combat or would be too dangerous to use against other people. But most of all, the quirkless. There were not many quirkless people anymore but your mother was one of them. She lived without a quirk and she died without a quirk, maybe even because she didn't have a quirk. Your father wasn't to blame either, in that situation, his quirk wouldn't have been much help and your sister was so young that hers hadn't even surfaced before she died. Your's, however, could have helped. You could have safely evacuated your family on your own before the blast went off. You could have saved them, but you weren't there.

Not too long after you began going after sidekicks, stirring up quite a fuss in the news, you were approached by a rather interesting man.

"So you're the one they're calling Streak?" His voice was bland matching his face which was void of any emotion.

You turned back to the sidekick that was lying behind you with several glowing, neon scorches over his arms and legs, then back to the man before you, "I suppose I am."

Although you were ready to break out into a fight at any moment, this was a man you didn't recognise. He wasn't a hero or sidekick, that was for sure. Neither was he any ordinary civilian. A villain then?

"We have a proposal for you." A small girl also turned into the alley, smiling at you brightly yet somewhat wickedly.

Although you doubted the two of them and kept your guard up the whole way, you followed them back to what seemed to be their base of operations.

"A bar?" You questioned, following them inside in hopes of finding out what exactly they wanted.

Neither of them answered you and so, you simply continued to follow them down the steps until you were in the room at the bottom. There was another man sitting at the bar and one behind it. The man behind the bar looked interesting and all but it was the one sitting there, with a disembodied hand over his face, swirling a glass in his hand with his pinky raised, whom you found truly intriguing.

"You brought her?" The man behind the bar spoke.

He kind of looked like a walking shadow with bright yellow eyes. You recognised him somewhat, although you were unsure of where from. The same went for the man sitting at the bar, who was still yet to turn around and face you.

"Of course we did. If the boss says to go find the girl, we go find the girl." The younger girl declared although it was funny she was referring to you as the girl when she was so clearly younger than you.

"See, they listen to me." The man at the bar finally spoke with his somewhat mellow voice and put his glass down.

You simply tilted your head to the side as he turned to you, trying to take in his appearance but, thanks to the hand covering his face, you ended up just staring into his scarlet eyes.

Those very eyes narrowed at you and he sighed, "Are you sure you got the right one? She doesn't look much like a villain to me."

"You don't look all that much like a villain either, Shigaraki Tomura." You finally realised who you were speaking to, recognising him from the news as the leader of the league of villains, and to be honest, you were flattered that they had reached out to you.

"Tsk. You haven't seen what I look like without father yet."

You were unsure what he meant by father but decided not to ask. Not that you had much time to because he was already speaking again, although he turned back to his drink first and began swirling it again.

"So, what do you think about joining the league of villains?"

"I didn't think you would be that straight up." You giggled slightly.

Shigaraki, however, only began to lose his patience and began scratching his neck, "Do you want to help us destroy the heroes or not?"

"Oh, I'm in, but why did you single me out specifically?" You asked.

Shigaraki sighed but didn't speak any more than that, and so, the man behind the bar answered you, "We've been watching you for a while. Your agenda seems to match with ours and there is no doubting your usefulness in a fight. We believe you will be a valuable asset."

"I believe I will." You grinned.

"What exactly is your quirk anyway?" The man behind you asked.

You turned to him, trying once again to avoid staring at the unusual burn scars that covered his body, "Well, my quirk is neon. I can emit a neon light from both the palms of my hands and the tips of my fingers. The light is kind of like a laser, it burns through pretty much anything it touches. I can also use the neon energy within me to charge my body and the use a burst of that energy to move from one place to another in the blink of an eye. Although, using my quirk too much can take a lot of energy so I can only do that a couple of times before I'm completely worn out. As for the beams I shoot from my hands, they don't use as much energy so as long as I've eaten a good breakfast I'm good to go for hours."

Shigaraki turned his head to you, seemingly finding some interest in hearing about your quirk before focusing his attention back on swirling his drink again.

And that was how you joined the league of villains. After officially becoming a member, you learnt that the man behind the bar was called Kurogiri. He was quite possibly the most normal of the villains. Although, none of them were really all that normal at all.

Dabi, or as you liked to call him 'fireman', was almost quiet. He didn't act as though he cared for, well, anything. Although, he certainly enjoyed fighting heroes. Pretty much all of the time he showed little to no emotion, but somehow the two of you had gotten along quite well since you joined the league.

Toga was quite possibly insane, but that only gave her personality. She was fun to be around and you enjoyed hanging out with another girl around your age, although she was a few years younger than you. The nickname you had given her was 'loopy' and surprisingly she didn't mind it nor find offence in it. Maybe it was because she was starting to like you, or maybe simply because Kurogiri told her to play nice.

Shigaraki had his own nickname too, of course, although he didn't like it. He would have much rather you call him boss or just his name but instead you were persistent in calling him by 'Shiggy'. You called him that not only because of his name but also his shaggy hair, it was kind of a combination of the two. That shaggy hair was something you had grown used to seeing, you even went as far as to ruffling it this one time but, obviously, he didn't much appreciate it and threatened to turn you to dust with four of his fingers wrapped around your wrist.

Actually, Kurogiri was the only one who didn't have a bizarre nickname. The most he got was a casual 'Kuro', which he seemed to prefer anyway.

Getting along with everyone was much easier than you expected it to be. Well, except for when it came to Shigaraki. Your boss was... difficult, to say the least. And, although he didn't seem to mind you, his cold exterior kept pushing you away when you tried to talk to him about something other than work or attempted to know him better.

It was over a week before he removed his mask, which you now knew was called father, in front of you. His face was different from how you had expected it to be. His face was... well, it was crusty. Especially around his eyes and mouth. His lips were split and chapped with a scar crossing over the left side of them. Another scar could be seen over his right eye. Despite all of that, he was surprisingly cute. He was younger than you initially thought, probably only around your age. You found your eyes scanning over him from the little beauty mark that dotted the underside of his mouth, up to the dry skin around his narrowing eyes.

"What?" He somewhat snapped.

"Nothing. Just- Taking in your face before it hides behind that mask again."

Shigaraki scrunched up his brows but decided to ignore your gaze to focus on what he was doing. You had come to know that your boss was quite the gamer and, although he usually played in his room where the rest of you couldn't disturb him, sometimes, when Dabi and Toga were out, he would bring his switch with him and come to sit at the bar. Both you and Kurogiri knew not to distract him. Although, it wasn't so that you wouldn't anger him but simply because you also had a love for games and knew what it was like when someone interrupted your train of thought and cost you your win. So, you kept quiet or went for a walk.

Although, soon you grew to enjoy watching Shigaraki as he played his games and so, you simply sat at the bar a few stalls away to watch him. You liked watching the way his lips would curl into a little smirk every now and then when he knew he was going to win. You also liked it when he lost and scowled at the game, cursing under his breath before unconsciously pouting slightly. Once, he even accidentally destroyed the switch with his quirk mid-game. He was furious and stormed out to get another. You simply chuckled when the door closed behind him and got up to clean the mess. Then, you too headed out because there was something you needed to buy.

"Shiggy." You grinned, approaching your boss with a slight skip in your step.

"What?" He sighed, already used to the shitty nickname you had given him.

"I made you something."

He simply turned his head to you and frowned but, when you held out your present for him, his expression changed into something you hadn't yet seen. Surprise? Shock? Gratefulness? Who knows but it was better than the usual sulky face he showed you.

"It's a pair of gloves. They will only cover your pinkies but it will stop you from disintegrating anything else on accident." You explained, passing him the little gloves you had designed specifically for him.

"I- um, thank you?" He sounded so unsure of his words as if he hadn't a clue how to express gratitude but it made you smile nonetheless.

"You're welcome." You spoke with your usual perky voice.

Before joining the league, you had little reason to smile but now that they had finally grown used to you, you were smiling more often than not. You smiled when you talked to Dabi, Toga and Kurogiri, but it was when you were with Shigaraki that you found yourself smiling the most. He was so strange and so cold but there were times when he unintentionally showed you a soft side of him. Times when he was playing his games and even times when he was talking to you. His eyes would soften or he'd almost smile. It was always a small gesture but it still made you feel all warm and happy.

Even now, as he took the gloves from you, being very careful not to use all of his fingers as he did so, his eyes were soft and his lips curled up ever so slightly.

"I hope the material is okay, I tried to make sure they would be as comfortable as possible."

"Why do all of this? Why go to all the trouble?" He asked whilst slipping the gloves over his pinky fingers and around his wrists.

"Because, boss, we can't have you accidentally disintegrating the whole building now can we?" You joked although it didn't seem that Shigaraki found it all that funny as he just huffed, picked up his new switch, and headed back to his room.

"Don't take it to heart, he doesn't do well with displays of affection." Kurogiri sighed, trying to reassure you that Shigaraki was indeed happy with what you had done for him.

But you already knew that he was. You were good at reading people, even people like him, and you would have known if he was angry with you. You just wondered why he was like this and why he struggled so much to believe that any of you truly cared for him. The league, to him, was just a group of people with the same goal but to the rest fo you, it was almost like a family. Maybe one day he would realise that too.

It had been a long day, in which you, Dabi and Toga had all been out getting into your own little handfuls of trouble. Kurogiri stayed here with Shigaraki while he played his games. When you came back, you decided to find Shiggy and update him on the work the three of you had been doing for the most part of the day. When he wasn't sitting at the bar waiting for you to come back, you sighed and headed in the direction of his room. You hadn't been in there before and you were unsure of how Shigaraki would react if you came in without asking but, you also knew it was highly likely he was playing his games and decided that having him yell at you for coming in was better than having him yell at you for disrupting his game. And so, you turned the handle and walked inside.

Shigaraki was indeed playing video games. There he sat, with his back to you, on the floor in front of his tv with a controller in his hand. Despite wearing the gloves you gave him, he was still playing with each of his pinkies lifted off of the remote, presumably so that he didn't get into the habit of using all his fingers in case he one day forgot while not wearing the gloves. His head turned ever so slightly towards you for a second, although his eyes never once left the screen, but he just ignored you and continued playing.

He was clearly busy with his game so you simply walked further into the room, closing the door behind you, and sat at the end of his bed. You took a quick glance around the room, noticing how it was pretty much bare except for the bed and gaming set up in the corner.

It was a few minutes until Shigaraki said anything, but soon he was wondering why you were even here, "y/n. What do you what? Why are you here?"

"I just want to watch you play for now." You admitted, expecting him to tell you to leave.

But he didn't tell you to go. He just grunted and continued playing his game, so you stayed.

The more you watched him play, the more he fascinated you. His strategy in-game mirrored his intellect in reality too. His fingers tapped away so quickly at the buttons as he hammered in combo after combo, striking the enemy's weak points as if he memorised each and every one of them. Then again you wouldn't expect anything more from him. Shigaraki was a surprisingly intelligent man. He knew what to do and when to do it and, even if his temper would tempt him against it, he always knew when to back out of a fight he couldn't win. When it came to both reality and videogames, however, that was rare. He thought things out well and it seemed he even learned things from the games he played and applied them to real-life situations to provide him with the upper hand.

Shigaraki Tomura really was one of a kind.

A few more minutes passed and you found yourself pulling out your phone and swiping to the camera. You snapped some pictures of  him playing down on the floor in front of you. Then, you rolled onto your side so that you were lying on his bed, hanging off the side a little to get the perfect angle of his face as he played. You snapped more photos before sitting up and looking through them. He looked so cute when he played his games.

Before you realised, however, he had completed his level and was climbing up to walk over to you. He took the phone from your hands and pressed all of his fingers against it, watching it disintegrate into dust before slipping his pinky back into his glove.

You tilted your head up at him and pouted, "Those were some good pictures."

"Why were you taking pictures of me?" Shigaraki sighed, clearly not really in the mood for your shit.

"Because you just look so cute when you're focusing on your games and I wanted some pictures of you." You admitted, not caring for the way his eyes narrowed further.

"But why?"

You sighed and climbed up onto your knees so you were more at face level with him.

"I want pictures of you because I like you, stupid." You confessed, flicking him lightly in the centre of his forehead.

Shigaraki only began to scratch at his neck as his eyes widened slightly in confusion.

"You... like... me?" He questioned, pointing a finger into his chest.

He clearly still didn't get it, or at least he didn't believe you, so you reached out for his shirt, scrunching it in your fists slightly, as you pulled him in for a kiss. He was in such a shock when your lips touched his that he lost his balance and fell onto you. His hands, that were either side of your head, stopped his weight from crashing down into you but he was still lying on top of you nonetheless.

"Do you get it now?" You smiled, reaching up to peck his nose as his cheeks began to dust over with a slight blush.

"I- I."

You smiled and pulled him back down towards you, stopping briefly just before your lips came together again, "Shut up, Shiggy."

[petri808]

Bakudeku canon divergent, vampire quirk AU

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24

When Bakugou finally woke up in the Ena City Hospital, his head was splitting worse than a punch from Kirishima in full quirk, and ears rang with the force of all 108 New Year’s bell tolls. If he’d had no memory of the night before, Bakugou swore he’d just survived the worst hangover in history. Even his eyes hurt from the bright, piercing fluorescent lights and they weren’t even open! He turned his head to the side, noticing how much effort it took just to shift in such a small manner. It was as if his body was drained of... “Ugh, that bastard,” he groaned. ‘Fucker bit me.’ And as if to add insult to injury, a pin-prick pain in his neck revealed itself in that revelation.

His arm flopped up, hand straining with jerky strokes, reaching to touch the fresh bite wound located at the junction of his neck and shoulder. He flinched at the tender, bruising pain that sent a shock down his spine. Son-of— This just in! Pro Hero Dynamite cast in one of those cliché vampire movies that went straight to video. Definitely not the career start he’d envisioned.

“Oh, good you’re finally awake Mr. Bakugou.”

“Who the fuck are you?” he spat at the male voice. “And can someone turn the fucking lights off?!”

“I am Doctor Ishihira, and my apologies,” the doctor flicked off the overhead light. “Is that better?”

“Yeah,” he grumped.

“Mr. Bakugou, you were found yesterday morning and brought in suffering from hypovolemic shock due to severe blood loss and dehydration. We’ve treated you with 3 liters of IV fluids and blood plasma to bring your numbers back up, however you’ll still be groggy until your body replenishes the nutrients you were stripped of.”

Over a day had passed! At hearing he’d been out cold for so long, Bakugou immediately clenched his fists, swearing up and down about being released until they threatened to sedate him for longer. Longer?! He begrudgingly relented and settled down, but damn it! That meant Midoriya had another head start on him again! And now that the man knew he was on his trail, finding him would be a lot more difficult!

“What the hell is hypo-whatever shock?” Bakugou questioned.

“When you were found, you were in and out of consciousness and rambling incoherently, all signs of severe blood loss. The fatigue you’re still feeling is also due to the effects of it. Luckily the amount of loss wasn’t enough to start shutting down your organs.”

The doctor continued explaining a few more details regardless of the tantrum like a robot. Minor injuries he’d been treated for. The obvious puncture wounds in his neck, questioning Bakugou about any description he could provide of his attacker. He wasn’t about to tell this doctor or any authority figure who the true culprit was, so he feigned a temporary retrograde amnesia. Based on a raised brow, peering over his glass’s expression, the doctor didn’t look very convinced. Oh well, Bakugou really didn’t care about the man’s opinion.

“Mr. Bakugou, we also called you parents…”

“You what?!” Bakugou tried to jump off the bed, but his body absolutely refused to respond and ended up flopping like a dying fish. Ugh! He really was worse off than he’d thought.

“I’m sorry, but you are a minor, so we were obligated to do so. However, they did give us permission to treat and release you on your own recognizance once we felt you were better.”

Well, that was good news. ‘Sounds like mom actually listened to my letter.’ Or the authorities surely would have shown up by now. “Ugh! So, how much longer am I stuck here?”

“If you continue to recover well, tomorrow morning.”

Fuck! Now a three-day head start! Just great, he groaned. Midoriya could get far away with that kind of a jump start. “Fine, whatever! Now go the fuck away.”

The doctor left the room after explaining how nurses will be monitoring his progress, but to also let them know if anything started to feel worse. They needed to know if he developed any lasting effects from organ damage. Once he was alone again, Bakugou rolled gingerly onto his side as his mind processed the new information. Whatever Midoriya had been hit with must be the cause of this weird blood thirst that resembled a goddamn vampire plot line. Perhaps the significance of the blood coloring in his eyes was a sign of that thirst taking hold? That’ll be a handy tell, too bad it seemed to appear within seconds of the next step.

But if Midoriya had just fed on a victim, and history showed at times, a span of days before the next incident, what had caused his friend to attack him so fast? Was this thirst like a hunger? And what happens when you exercise or exert yourself? You use up energy. ‘Duh, Katsuki.’ Fighting and expending all that energy must have triggered the attack. ‘Wow, it burns fast.’ That meant Midoriya probably struggled to control this thirst, and that’s why he was pleading for him to leave him alone. But sorry, he couldn’t do that. ‘Fucker shouldn’t have run!’ One way or another he is getting his friend back home where he belonged. In fact, this only made his drive to find Midoriya stronger because he felt like he was partially to blame for the predicament his friend was in. The guy had to be scared, freaked out, and lonely. Bakugou’s heart clenched at the thought. He knew his friend was a social person by nature who loved being around friends and family. To be stuck out here all by himself and too frightened because of whatever this new quirk was had to be horrible… and utterly not fair. Of course, he did have a tendency to isolate himself when he feared…

Bakugou groaned. “Kami, not again with this shit!” When was Midoriya gonna learn to stop running away!

As his eyes relented to the fatigue and his mind slipped back into unconsciousness, Bakugou could only pray he’ll get a lead as soon as he got out of this hospital. This strange new quirk, if that’s really what it was, posed a serious danger not only to Midoriya, but the public. The reputation of pro hero’s had taken a major hit already because of AFO and the league, so if the public found out about a blood drinking hero attacking people… ‘I gotta get you out of here…’

After his encounter with Bakugou, Midoriya had rushed out of town as quickly as possible. Tears poured down his cheeks as he took off into the sky from having given in to the lust of this uncontrollable quirk. But he couldn’t stop it even if he’d wanted to. He’d learned the hard way right at the beginning that once it took hold of his mind, the only thing he could do was give-in or succumb to an even worse ravenous state that literally hurt. The pain of holding out on the hunger made him feel like a starved predatory animal that tore at his insides until he relented. In this state, the blood of any creature that came too close became a meal. But it was never enough. Animal blood didn’t satiate him in the same way that human blood did. Plus, he worried that if he let it get completely out of control, he might just end up killing someone. So far, he’d been lucky to leave them all unconscious but alive.

It was obvious that the light AFO had hit him with contained this strange quirk. How ironic, to take down a villain, only to be turned into one. That’s how Midoriya felt. How else could he feel? A hero wouldn’t hurt other people, so by taking the blood of others for sustenance, that made him a villain. Therefore, he couldn’t be a hero anymore. It must have been AFO’s plan all along once he’d realized he was losing. The villains end goal was to ruin hero society and this was definitely one way to do it. Take out his primary rival. The man poised to carry on a torch of safety and security, and snuff out any who chose to do harm… The whole situation with Bakugou really turned this into a nightmare out of body experience. To see his friend’s eyes suddenly show fear, then fade away the more he drank… his mouth clamped to the man’s neck… it was a horrible imagine that was sure to haunt him. He could still smell the burnt cinnamon from such a close encounter. If only he had clothes to change into or even a pond to bathe in, because that lingering scent was gonna drive him mad!

Midoriya curled up and clenched his eyes shut tight in an abandoned and overgrown castle he’d found outside of Ena. It didn’t look like it’s been maintained for a very long time, so the likelihood of a human showing up seemed low. He knew he should have travelled farther away, but he was too tired, too upset and just wanted to quit. All the years of growing up quirkless, to gain OFA and become the very thing he’d dreamt of, only for those dreams to be dashed again. It was as if life just didn’t want him to be a real hero. Maybe he should just put himself out of his misery, and yet— he couldn’t do it. To die out here alone where no one knew where he was or what had become of him, that wasn’t fair to his family and friends…

They must be so worried about him right now. His poor mother didn’t deserve any of this. Would his friends look down on him now? And All Might, his idol, who’d taken him under his wing, was he disappointed? And that just left Bakugou. He’d said the truth in answering the man’s question. No, Midoriya never would have expected him to come looking. Katsuki Bakugou giving a damn about him? Yeah, right. Bakugou wasn’t doing this because he cared. There was always a selfish reason behind his madness. Fear. Anger. Jealousy. Shouldn’t big bad Dynamight be thrilled that his biggest rival was gone?

Okay that was a big, fat white lie he’d been telling himself for the last two years. He knew Bakugou had moved past those pettier behaviors, but it was simply easier to believe and keep their relationship as rivals than to hope his childhood friend would ever see him as something else. And yet… ‘Kacchan was genuinely surprised by my answer. Did he really come looking for me because he cared that much?’ Yet in what way? Why was the man trying so hard? Did he… ‘miss me?’

Midoriya shook his head violently of those thoughts. No, no, he didn’t want to believe that because it would make this situation even more unbearable than it already was! He’d already given up everything he’d ever loved. His hopes and dreams, a future and losing an affection he’d craved for years would just simply be too much.

[brokutosan]

Title. Burnt Out, Part Two

Pairing. Suna Rintaro x Fem!Reader

Summary. In which he’s intoxicated and opens up about things he never got the chance to. Part two of Burnt Out, Suna Rintaro’s point of view.

Warnings. Excessive intake of alcohol, cursing, and manga spoilers.

Suna Rintaro started dating his long-term girlfriend L/N Y/N in highschool. She was the type who kept to herself and had a small, yet golden, circle of friends. She got along well with his volleyball team because she had a great personality, and she went along with teasing their friend Miya Atsumu.

He met her when he was in preschool and he made her cry because he accidentally took her chuupet. His mom made him apologize and they bonded over a whole pack his mom bought for them to share. A few years later, he realized he liked her in his last year of middle school, when he got upset over losing his last competition with the team and she was there to cheer him up with a pack of chuupet.

He admits he’s not one for romantic gestures, but his feelings for her were always sincere. Growing up, Suna lacked the energy nor the personality to make much friends, so he was always relieved knowing she was there. They grew up together, and that’s something Suna would never replace. He associates his childhood with her and their love for chuupets.

Throughout their relationship he tried his best to show he appreciated her. Though what he liked best about her was that he didn’t need to try. He always assumed she knew and she understood his actions. After joining a pro team he got a bit busier, but he assumed she would understand.

“Quit assuming Y/N-chan’s gonna stick around for your shit. Sure, she’s always been the best of us for understanding your...detachment to everyone else, but she ain’t a saint. Get ‘yer shit together or she might just finally up and leave.” Atsumu once told him, but Suna tries not to dwell in anything the piss haired dumbass tells him. But what he said was true.

Which is why Suna decided to gamble. He told his teammates and the twins that if he won the next three consecutive games and the team placed top three in the league, he’d finally propose. Osamu told him not to gamble with life, his teammates told him not to blame them if they lose, and Atsumu rejoiced and called him brilliant. Suna’s not sure how he feels about their response, but he’s willing to risk it. Because it’s for her.

After the third win Suna went with his team to celebrate, mostly because he was in a good mood and because he was nervous yet excited at the same time. But then she called.

What if she found the ring he loosely hid in his sock drawer? What if she thinks it’s for someone else? Oh god, what if she thinks he’s cheating on her? What if-

“Actually-” “By the way-”

He lets her go first because he cares like that. But suddenly he wishes he didn’t.

“I don’t think we’re in love anymore.” Oh. With that one sentence all the pride and joy brimming up his body is flushed down by sorrow and dread. Color drains from his face and he feels like he’d stopped breathing. Suddenly all those “what-ifs” didn’t sound so bad anymore.

“I’ll pack my bags while you’re at work tomorrow.” Suna ends the call there because he’s scared she might hear his life crashing down through the phone. Still a bit shocked, Suna lets his body slide down the dingy alleyway. No tears fall because he’s not an emotional person like that, but the turmoil in his head makes him itch for a distraction.

He hears the loud cheers of his teammates inside the bar and finds the perfect solution.

-

“Rintaro-kun, get ahold of yourself!” Komori Motoya whisper-yells at his intoxicated teammate. Said intoxicated teammate is currently stumbling over his own two feet as he tries to walk in a straight line with one arm slung over Komori’s shoulders.

Komori mumbles a few strings of curses as he drags the man to the elevator. “Why did you even drink this much?” He asks no one in particular, mainly because the man in question was too busy laughing at his own reflection in the elevator mirror.

Komori remembers that MSBY has an away game, which probably means they’re all together in a hotel or probably running late with practice, and decides to call Sakusa for help. Much needed help, as he hears another groan from Suna. If he pukes - no, he won’t even think about it. Shaking his head, Komori pulls out his phone and dials a number. It rings four times, before his cousin’s cranky voice mumbles out, “Hello?”

“Sakusa! Is Miya still around?” Komori urgently grunts out, simultaneously hoisting up his teammate who’s currently being dragged down by gravity and alcohol. “What could you possibly need from that moron?” He can imagine the scowl on his cousin’s face, but he decides to focus on more important matters.

Like the idiot now hanging loosely on his shoulders. Suna’s a bit taller, so Komori has to drag his feet through the floor with one arm and keep his phone pressed to his ear with one hand. “Tell him it’s about Rintaro-kun.” There’s rustling and the sound of the phone being handed off to someone else, and then Atsumu’s croaking out a, “What-,” obvious that he was awoken from his sleep.

Komori’s not in the right state of mind to feel any remorse, so he gets to the point. “Miya, do you know Rintaro-kun’s girlfriend’s number?”

“Why?” Atsumu grumbles, still half asleep. The sound of a boisterous laughter through the phone snaps him awake, though, as he recognizes the familiar sound. “Holy shit!” He shoots up, sheets strewn on the floor. Sakusa looks like he’s about to commit a crime.

“Komori, listen - whatever he does, make sure you get it on camera!” (Komori hears Sakusa mumble, “You’re a shitty person,” and Atsumu bark back with a, “Shut ‘yer trap, Omi-kun!”) Choosing to ignore his idiocy, Komori urges on, “Do you know her number or not?”

“I mean yeah, but if ‘Taro’s that drunk then I’m pretty there’s problems with Y/N-chan.” Komori feels a vein pop, both because Suna’s weight is really starting to push down on his shoulders, and because Atsumu’s proving himself to be pretty useless in this situation.

“I don’t care anymore! Can you just text me her number so I can drop this idiot off?” Komori huffs. Atsumu hums and hangs up, seconds later texting him Y/N’s number. He hands Sakusa (who’s now unsurprisingly wearing gloves) back his phone and plops back down to his comfy hotel room bed, remembering to check on his friend the next morning.

-

Komori finally makes it to the address sent to him by Suna’s girlfriend after about thirty minutes of dragging the said man through crowds and avoiding the judgemental looks from people passing by.

He wastes no time in pressing the doorbell before he’s met face to face with the girlfriend-in-question. Her eyes are red and puffy, and she looks about as bad as Suna does, though a lot more sober. Miya was right. He thinks to himself. Relationship problems, huh?

“Ah, thank you for bringing him home safely, Komori-san!” She bows. Her voice is strangled and hoarsed, but the politeness is still there. “I’m so sorry for bothering you, I can take him from here.” Y/N holds out her arms, and perhaps because of how heartbroken she looks, Komori gently shakes his head.

“I can set him down on the couch. He’s not exactly lightweight, you see.” She simply nods, not having enough energy to go back and forth over the matter. “Thank you so much.” She says with another bow. Once Suna’s bodyweight is off his shoulders and he can feel his full body again, Komori waves his hand to show that it was no big deal.

He silently hopes he’s not overstepping, before mumbling on his way out, “I hope you two work it out.” She responds with a weak smile and another bow before locking the door behind him.

Finally alone again, Y/N steps towards her now-ex boyfriend, and decides to help him feel more comfortable by removing his shoes. Suna complies by grumbling something that can’t be understood, so Y/N continues with cleaning him up.

“Sit up real quick, ‘Taro.” She whispers. Suna obeys and sits up with his eyes still closed. His movement releases a whiff of beer and his usual cologne. Y/N has to hold her breath because of the pungent scent, but she continues to care for him with gentle hands.

Suna opens his eyes and though everything is still blurry, he could easily recognize her anywhere. He grabs hold of one of wrist that was busy yanking off his coat from his body and pulls her closer to him. She slightly falls down on where he’s seated on the couch, but she catches herself before she could completely crash down on him.

“Hi.” Suna mumbles into her neck.

“Hey. Let’s get you into some more comfortable clothes, ‘Taro.” Y/N tries to pry herself off him, but his hold on her tightens and now she finds herself engulfed into his chest with two strong arms wrapping around her frame. “Don’t wanna. Just wanna stay here.”

“Okay.” Y/N decides there’s point arguing with an intoxicated man and allows herself to melt into his hold.

But then she remembers their conversation from earlier, and her cruel decision of breaking it off without an explanation. Guilt overwhelms her and soon she attempts to pry herself off again, and this time she’s successful. Suna whines.

“Come back.” His voice is an unfamiliar pitch higher and he’s making grabby motions at her with his arms. “Try to sober up a little first, okay?” Y/N calms him down before heading into the kitchen to grab a glass of water.

It only took ten seconds for Suna to follow suit, albeit still drunk and wobbly, but he is able to hold himself up until he grabs hold of her from behind, her warmth heating up his frozen body once again. “Don’t leave me.” Y/N’s not sure if he means now, or in general. Does he even remember their phone call?

Nontheless, he isn’t in his right mind, and Y/N doesn’t want to say anything that might cause him to react wildly. “Okay, let’s sit down though, yeah?” Suna nods, and his hair tickles the back of her neck. They awkwardly shuffle through the kitchen back to the couch, where Suna continues to snuggle into her chest. Y/N finds herself combing her hand through his tangled hair, somehow finding comfort in this rare display of affection.

They stay like that for a couple minutes, Y/N sitting awkwardly down on the couch and Suna’s overgrown body slumped over hers as he clings onto her waist for dear life. Y/N decides not to beat around the bush and tries to clear the elephant in the room.

“Did this happen because of what I said?” It’s a stupid question, and Y/N knows the answer to it, but she doesn’t know why she needs to hear it coming from him. Suna only nods, not once breaking away from his hold on her.

“Do you want to talk about it now?” Y/N offers. Maybe, if he’s being this uncharacteristically clingy right now, then he’d be more comfortable with opening up.

“Don’t leave me.” Suna mumbles again, this time Y/N can feel the desperation in his voice.

“I won’t. Not right now, at least. But we need to talk about it.” Y/N’s hand is still combing through his dark locks, and for a second she thinks he fell asleep because of it, but he speaks up again.

“If I ignore it will you take back what you said?” Suna tries to bargain. Y/N lets herself laugh, though it comes out choked because of how dry her throat was from crying. The sound however, makes Suna lift his head up from its place on her chest, his chin resting just above her breasts as he stares straight into her eyes.

“I’m being serious right now.” Everything about him is delirious, but his eyes scream that she should listen to what he’s about to say.

“I don’t know what changed, but I’m sorry if it’s because of something I did.” Y/N can easily tell that he’s just starting to sober up, but not enough for him to totally pull away or stop talking yet. “It was because of something Atsumu said,” She finds herself confessing. Perhaps she hasn’t totally sobered up from the bottle of wine she finished a few hours ago.

“That bastard.”

“- back in highschool.” Suna shows no remose towards what he said. Highschool school or now, Atsumu is still Atsumu, and he said what he said.

“When you guys fought over who’s fault it was when you lost a game, he told me I was dating a rock.” Suna tilts his head in confusion (and Y/N tries not to make it too obvious that she’s getting ticklish every time he moves). “A rock?” He grumbles with a scowl on his face. (He totally looks like an angry puppy right now, but Y/N decides that this isn’t the right time to gush over it).

“And then I got a wedding invitation from Mika and Daishou-kun. I drank a little too much too, so my thoughts just spiraled down negatively.” Y/N sighs as she relives the emotional turmoil she went through that evening. “I let my emotions and something Atsumu said years ago get the best of me, and I really hurt you. I’m sorry, ‘Taro.” Y/N doesn’t notice the tears streaming down her face as she cups his face in her hands. Suna leans into her touch and hums.

“I think I can understand what Atsumu said, though.” Suna mumbles out. He gets up from his comfortable spot, and Y/N feels herself missing his warmth right away.

And then he heads into the bedroom, much more sober now, and Y/N stares at him him out of curiosity. He comes back out within seconds with something in his hand and sets it down on the coffee table as he sits back down next to her. Y/N gasps.

“I told myself that I was gonna do this after winning three consecutive games. I think I was gonna do it even if we didn’t, though.” Y/N switches her gaze between her lover and the velvet box that contained a ring.

The ring itself was simple, yet elegant. There’s a single big diamond sitting in the middle of a silver band, and its beauty makes up for its simplicity. The ring is true to Suna’s character, though she suspects some of his friends had a say in picking the ring (there’s no way Suna would have been able to decide on it himself).

“This wasn’t how I planned for it to go down, but I feel like if I don’t do it now, I might not get another chance.” There’s a certain sincerity in his eyes and desperation in his voice that makes Y/N’s heart ache, both out of happiness and guilt for what she did earlier that night.

“I know I’m not gonna be the best husband - hell, I wasn’t even close to being the best boyfriend - but what I do know for sure is that there’s no one else I’d want to be with other than you.” Suna grabs the box from the table and gets down on one knee in front of the couch, where she’s still seated with tears streaming down her face.

“I promise I’ll try my best to open up more. I won’t let you get bothered by something that idiot said in highschool again, and I’ll make sure you’ll never have to question my love again.” Suna finishes with a smile, “So, Y/N, will you marry me?”

Y/N doesn’t trust her voice so she chooses to nod vigorously instead, launching herself into his welcoming arms. He falls back from the impact but his hold on her is still tight. Everything is in place again, and the figurative fire between them sparks again. If they tried hard enough, even a burnt out match can still be relit.

“Wanna mess around and pretend we broke up because of what Atsumu said?”

A/N. Also another re-uplod. Thank you for reading! You can tell I was pushing my ‘komori is team mom’ agenda bc I love my boy. Anyways, sorry if the ending got a bit cheesy but I don’t really know how to write it without making it cheesy - chuu

[dokidokey]

catch me falling

summary: in a world where quirks and soulmates exist, number one pro-hero deku must have angered the universe to have a soulmate he is supposed to take down － y/n, the league of villains’ newest recruit, and also his childhood best friend.

pairings: midoriya izuku x reader

bingo slot: on the run

prompts: “stay. i need you more than you think.” / soulmate au

genre: angst

warnings: cursing, violence, deaths, and kiribaku

word count: 2,317

notes: happy birthday, deku! this is for @bnhabookclub’s celebrating deku event, in honor of our number one boy, midoriya izuku’s birthday! also a cross-post for the hero camp bingo event! hope you enjoy! my event masterlist can be found HERE.

“Dabi!” You shout, both in desperation and pain as the throb on your sprained ankle flares up, and the raven-haired boy zooms past you.

“Keep up, princess!” He yells back and he’s gone.

“Fuck you,” you wheeze, eyes pinching close from the pulsing pain.

The alleyway you’re hiding in is dark even though it’s the middle of the day and the sun is high up. You faintly hear the blasts from Ground Zero somewhere, along with the general chaotic noises that you and Dabi started up.

The League of Villains had been quiet for a long time, with Shigaraki plotting up new crimes to take down these ridiculous Pro-Heroes. It’s been months since you caught Shigaraki’s attention and proposed to you the idea of joining them. Of course you accepted, and here you are now, with a sprained ankle and an asshole of a crime partner.

You’re drenched in sweat, the thick cloak around you not helping relieve the warmth in your body. It’s one of the things Shigaraki thoughtfully gave you to conceal your identity to the Pro-Heroes, but mostly to the Number One and Number Two.

It’s one of the reasons too, why Shigaraki wanted you.

You grew up with Bakugou and Midoriya. You were there when Bakugou got his Quirk, the same jealousy Midoriya had tingling within you. When you got yours though, it was Midoriya that left. It did something to get your bond stronger with the blonde boy. You were an arrogant kid too, so getting along with Bakugou was easy.

Despite the toxic relationship between the two boys, you were there to balance them. Sure, sometimes you’d join the jabbing at Midoriya, but when it gets too much, you were always there to stand up for him. But everything changed (when the fire nation attacked) during the last months of your middle school. Your family died because of a Pro-Hero and you were left with nothing but the scalding hot hate for every Pro-Hero. You stopped attending school because you didn’t want to spend the money your parents left behind on it. What good would it bring you anyway?

You resorted to stealing and being a street child when the money you’ve been keeping with you was stolen. For years, you lived in the streets with rats, under sweltering hot days and stormy nights. Sometimes you’d cry yourself to sleep, wondering if life would be better if you only sought help. For sure Midoriya or Bakugou’s mom would be more than happy to take you in, but your grief turned you blind to the world.

You hear a shout nearby and, using the large ass garbage can you’re propped on, you push yourself up with a wince, your ankle flaring up again. You’re barely walking away when a voice rings on the other end of the alleyway.

“There you are!”

Oh great. Your one and only friend’s soulmate is here. Red Riot barrels toward you, quickly followed by the gradually increasing sound of bombs going off. Your heart stutters when you realize it’s Bakugou. What startles you more is the green-haired hero running along.

“You won’t fucking get away from us!” Ground Zero calls after your quickly retreating form. Good thing the shadow of your cloak obscures the heroes from seeing your face. Ignoring the pain on your ankle, you push through, internally cursing Dabi for leaving you behind like this. You’re a hundred percent sure Shigaraki won’t be happy when he knows.

The wind whistles in your ears as you run away, all sweat and rattling breaths. Blindly stretching your arm behind, you release a laser beam from your hand.

“Kirishima!” Ground Zero shouts in alarm as the sound of a body hitting the concrete reaches your ears. You turn to look back at what happened, and that’s your greatest mistake. The hood of your cloak falls off and you make eye contact the with the Number One hero.

There’s a current that starts at your heart and spreads on the tips of your fingers and toes, shaking your whole body so bad you fall to your knees.

Deku abruptly stops as he feels the same wracking current through his body, almost falling over.

“Y-Y/N?” He stutters in wonder? Hurt? Disappointment? You don’t know. After all, you’re not even sure yourself if your old friend’s soulmate is still alive after that reckless trick you pulled. His eyes are wide as he stares at you, slowly standing up.

The blonde hero whips his head back around from the red-haired man on the ground to you when he hears Deku, gaze hard and cold.

“Fuck you,” he spits as he cradles the unconscious man on his lap, the side of his head bleeding. “I’m going to fucking kill you.”

You see it, clear as the day. Bakugou’s right hand is shaking is it sizzles and sparks. But you’re quick, and you’re not thinking, so you raise your arm up before you realize what you’re doing, and a beam of light shoots off your palm again.

He barely dodged it with a heavy weight on his lap, but you’re running off before he blasts an explosion on the wall near where you stood.

“What are you doing fucking standing there!?” You hear him roar before you’re turning the same direction Dabi ran off earlier. “Go after her!”

There are crackles in the air as Deku runs after you. You shouldn’t have looked back. You should have just blasted another laser from your hand. Maybe if you did, you won’t be feeling this－ this guilt. You’re a villain, for fuck’s sake. You’re going to hurt people eventually, but it to be your old best friend’s soulmate? You didn’t ask for that. You didn’t want that.

“Y/N!” Deku calls your name. He’s close. Your feet have nothing against his Quirk so when you see a broken door, you go for it. The stairs leading up seems to go on forever. There’s an ungodly stench wafting through the air, probably a dead cat or something. What did you expect from an old, abandoned building anyway?

Your feet is heavy on the stairs and your breath is labored. There’s a reason why you hated too much running. Plus, the guilt of your unnerving act earlier is not helping.

You’re high up when you hear thumping footsteps following you. Shit. You’re not sure if you can make it out of here alive with your ankle. When you reach the top, it’s a clear room with shards of broken glass and ripped apart planks. There’s another spiral stairs leading to the rooftop. You run, feet banging against the metal steps.

You’re blinded by the light when you fling the metal door open. Running as far away from the door as possible, you’re now standing near the edge. It’s not long before Deku barges in, barely dodging the ray of laser you shot at him.

“Y/N!” He breathes out in relief, gauging your reaction. He reaches out a hand carefully, stance still on guard. “Let’s talk this out.”

“There’s nothing to talk about,” you snarl. God, it’s so fucking hot here with the sun glaring down at your cloaked form.

“You’re my soulmate!” He cries. It’s not a happy cry. It’s not the kind of tone of someone who just found their soulmate should be like. “Let’s talk this out, please. Like－Like adults. Like old friends.”

You still at the word. Friends. What is a friend? Do you even have friends? The League aren’t your friends. They’re just people who has the same hatred you have for the heroes.

You consider his proposal, hands clutching your cloak tight around your body. You nod curtly and Deku visibly exhales, dropping the defensive hands that were in the air earlier.

“You’re. . . You’re with the League?” He asks, and his expression is unreadable. You nod again. Deku looks down briefly. “I heard your parents died. Why didn’t you tell Kacchan and I?”

You can’t tell him how your hurt turned to anger. You can’t tell him how you didn’t use your head and let your emotions rule you.

“It’s the Pro-Heroes that killed my family. They’re the reason why I was left alone. They took everything from me!” You reply, voice gradually getting louder as the pain blossoms on your chest again. “And you! Both of you! You wanted to be a hero so bad, Bakugou always bragged about how he’s going to be the number one. You were both dreaming of becoming the people that killed my family! And you expect me to come to you?”

Deku is panicking as you throw those words at him, eyes widening again.

“It was just an accident, Y/N!” He counters your shouts. “It was an accident. It was years ago. Can’t you let it go?”

Your eyes are stinging and your hands are hot, the familiar heat of your laser beams moments away from spilling again. “How fucking insensitive,” you bark out. “Is that what becoming the Number One made you? You weren’t the one who lost your family. You weren’t in my place so stop talking like it’s that easy.”

Deku flinches. There’s remorse in his eyes as he whispers, “I’m sorry.”

“If you’re sorry, let me go.”

His eyes widen, palms facing you again as he takes in your words. “N-No! We’re not done talking!”

“There’s nothing else to talk about, Deku,” you scowl, crossing your arms. “If you’re sorry, let me go,” you repeat.

He’s conflicted as his eyes darts from yours to everything else on the rooftop. “Come with me,” he says, desperate. “We’ll－ We’ll start over, and you－ you can become better! You won’t be tied with the League anymore.”

“But I want all the ties I have with the League.” You break his heart right then and there.

Hurt flashes in his eyes, a frown settling on his face. You can’t help but study his features. He’s grown so much. The remnants of the boy Bakugou used to make fun of isn’t here anymore. Standing before you is a determined hero and a brokenhearted man who just wants his soulmate.

“But I need you,” he says, and the words stab at your chest.

“You don’t need me,” you remark, “what you need is that man I may have killed.” You shift on your feet and the pain prickles again. Deku’s eyes falls down on your ankle when you grimace. “If I don’t get killed by you right now, Bakugou definitely will.”

He’s quick to find solutions to your problems. “I’ll protect you!”

That pulls a dry laugh out of you. “I don’t need protection, hero. I fucking need to get away.”

He’s distraught. Running a hand through his hair, his eyes are glassy as he stares you down. “Stay,” he pleads. “I need you more than you think.”

You’re a villain, but being one does not rid you of basic, human feelings. Your chest contracts when his voice shakes. You see the little boy you used to help patch up back then. You see the little boy gazing at you and Bakugou with awe. You see your old friend hurting, and you’re the reason why.

It’s enough to shake any villain awake.

And you’re standing there, eyes locked on your soulmate. Your soulmate. The person you’re destined to love, to live with, to grow old with. Deku is your soulmate, and it settles in your heart right that moment.

“If. . . If I stay, then what?”

There’s a glimmer of hope in his eyes, shining brighter than the scorching sun in this hell of a day. A smile is slowly growing on his face and his freckles are dancing with the way he’s talking so fast. His physical appearance may have changed, but somehow, he’s still the same old Deku who mutters too much.

A gloved hand reaches out towards you. “So. . ?”

The act is intimidating. Your hands twitch on your sides, weighing out your options again. But it’s been years since you felt warmth and love, safety and peace. The League could never give you that.

Your heart is pounding in your ears as you take the first step toward him. A lone sweat trickles down your temple down to your left cheek and that’s when a furious shout thunders through the air, coming with a blast that has you skidding backward. There are rubbles and smoke and a cry from Deku before you realize you’re falling.

Bakugou came crashing on that door with his gauntlets ready to fire, you the target. There’s a high-pitched, steady ringing in your ears and your vision is blurry, the brunt of the explosion too much for you. You weren’t even able to do anything. You didn’t even notice nor hear he was there.

Even if Deku comes to save you, you know it’ll be too late. Maybe Bakugou’s soulmate did die, and you’re going to pay for his life with your own. You’ll never know. You didn’t even know what Deku looked like before you’re falling. But that’s okay, at least before you’re gone in this world, you know someone was ready to take you as you are.

And maybe － maybe heroes aren’t so bad, after all. You just hope Dabi gets what he deserves when Shigaraki finds out you’re dead. And you hope the universe will give Deku another soulmate better than you, since it seems you were a wrong match, because you didn’t even have the chance to feel what it’s like having one.

The pain was only for a split second, like a sprain on the ankle, but a million times worse. But then you’re out like a light, very much resembling the glint in the Number One hero’s eyes as he leans down to see your body lying lifelessly in your own blood.

more notes: big thanks to zee @pixxiesdust​ and zann @savagetrickster​ for betaing this! u guys are the best! 🥺 also, aha, the fact that it’s for deku’s birthday does not stop me from writing angst and break all of your hearts (and his too lol)