#and that's how you get non-UA Izuku involved with the UA kids

[purgatoryandme]

As silly as I find the big ol’ war arc of BNHA, it has such tasty potential for Quirkless Izuku AUs. “That wouldn’t be tasty at all!” You say, “Izuku would be a regular guy in the middle of an apocalyptic battle where he’d genuinely be outclassed in every way.”  EXACTLY. THAT’S THE SPICE.  Quirkless Izuku being rejected from UA, making it into some second-rate hero school, just desperately struggling to get by when UA is splashed all over the news. USJ attacked, hero students kidnapped, a hero student MURDERED on their internship...and the school is liable.  All hero schools are liable for their kids, in one way or another.  And this second-rate school took a risk on Izuku. They don’t think he’ll go anywhere, but were happy to take his money. Now that he could DIE, though? Nu-uh. Blocked from internships, coddled and kept safe - Izuku would absolutely be losing his mind with the reckless need to prove himself.  And hey! He makes progress! Builds gadgets, uses his head - all the classic Quirkless Izuku traits. He’s even garnered some rather unfortunate villain attention, but it’s gotten him into the news and now there’s kids looking up to him and FINALLY he feels like maybe he can be a symbol of something GOOD.  But wow, Izuku absolutely cannot win out here, because now there’s ridiculously OP villains and the Quirk singularity is blowing anything Izuku can do out of the water. It’s war out there and Izuku is back at square one. School closes down! He’s sent home! He’s practically told not to go out, because he’s a known hero student and there’s a massive target on his back. And for once the situation has escalated so far that he actually has to realize recklessness alone won’t prove a single thing here - in fact, if he dies, he’ll be proving a lot of people right. 

So he’s got to do something else. Something that hasn’t really occurred to him so far in his journey of always, ALWAYS, fighting something.  He’s going to have to convince people stronger than him, who have all the resources he didn’t, to team up with him.

[sapphic-agent]

Sorry in advance for how long and wordy this gets.

My Hero Academia is squandered by the less than mediocre writing of Horikoshi. I will give him credit only on his ideas and concepts as the premise of the series and the setting are likely the only reason any of us are still tuning in, that and spite.

The show is too quickly paced and surprisingly for a complaint about a shonen, it's too action packed it doesn't offer much up in the way of quiet moments allowing characters to breath properly outside of conflicts and so I don't really care much about the conflicts they are involved in, especially when the thematic relevance of said conflict got spoon fed to me moments before it started in a shoehorned scene or a flashback.

Hori introduces themes of Heroic corruption regularly but never actually shows any corrupt hero's, and those that are said to be corrupt show very quickly that they aren't, usually at the detriment of others.

A complete reboot is necessary, slowing down the pacing immensely to the point where this war arc we are on will take place once they have all left UA. Have major events of the story take place staggered across the three years of UA, include "filler" with dedicated episodes to every student of 1A with mini arcs exploring the more important side characters such as Todoroki, Tenya, Uraraka, Tsuyu and maybe even Momo.

Completely redo Aizawa to actually perform to his own standards, he should teach the students to work on their fundamental "quirkless" capabilities as he more than anyone should know how easy it is to beat someone who has had their quirk countered to make sure they won't die in a situation where their quirk is useless, instead of threatening to expell them for having a weak quirk or non versatile quirk.

This can be done easily by just inverting his test. Have elementary/middle schools let kids use their quirks in gym and PE to help them understand their quirks and use them safely and give genuine context for why teenagers are expected to be skilled with their quirks when public quirk use is illegal. And have his starting test be about who is the most capable without them, showing him to be an unorthodox instructor and less of a hypocrite as that genuinely ties into his fighting style.

Have Izuku be quirkless for either half or all of his first year at UA. Have All Might take notice of him but still teach at UA to scout out a proper successor. Have Izuku manage to get into UA and do well in it's entrance exam as someone quirkless.

Make quirkless people exist and actually matter. 20% of the human race are quirkless, that is a much larger number than people realise coming in at a wopping 1.6 billion would be quirkless out of 8.1 billion. That cannot just be the elderly like fannon suggests.

Have Izuku go from the quirkless wonder to user of OFA actually matter, have him being conflicted about it, have other quirkless people actually have opinions on it, have people discredit him for being Quirked all along, only pretending to be quirkless. If you have him inherit the quirk at all.

Have stain be quirkless and have that revelation chill the world, have him being rejected from heroics for being quirkless have Stain parallel Izuku in many ways.

I could go on and on and on and on about a million and one ideas that would make the show/manga better but I feel like I've made my point well enough that there is so much here untapped that Horikoshi has, but rushed his way past for the next action scene and ultimately squandered.

Agree that MHA does need a major rewrite. It had such great potential and introduced a lot of intricate concepts for an average shonen, only to squander it at every turn. Like someone super smart in one of my reblogs said, "the story has a lot of interesting ideas, the author just has nothing interesting to say about them." A series that was built upon discrimination, inequality, and prejudice has done nothing more in the end than prop up the privileged, bigoted kid over the MC he abused.

Talk a about disappointing

[musicfeedsmysoul12]

So i know you said you were just answering Soulmate hdc rn but i need to ask before i forget to :

Hdcs for Photos and Videos of the Future (in case i didn't get the title right; that one AU where Izuku and literally everyone gets to see Izuku's different futures with potential partners)

And if you don't mind I remember you saying you would make another part later on where it happens again and it has other people that he met only after the first Sport Festival so if you don't mind could you tell us about some of the people you will include ?

Headcanons... hmmm... Mostly I have ones for the OCS who won't show up until the Internship, as any others probably will... no wait I do have a few. I also think I posted a list with the future people involved, but I'll remention a few.

-Info Dropper, Izuku's hero mentor for the fic, was trained by Nezu. They are also friends with him. They would have joined UA if the Fae Court didn't snap them up first.

-Aoyama as mentioned in a year older then the other kids. He doesn't talk about it (other then mentioning his non-twink status).

-There is no traitor in this AU.

-Ojiro is queer, though he believed he was straight for a very long time. It's just guys don't really do it for him all the time.

-Fuyumi, who is a potential partner, thought she was gay for a long time as guys never did it for her either. But through time she realizes she is in fact bisexual. (This was done after reading a post about how people don't like showing a 'downgrade' to bisexual from gay even though it happens so fuck it I'm doing it)

-Tsu's parents aren't bad people they just do not understand what they were doing is parentification. After a few years, they do realize but it kind of tarnishes their relationship with the kids.

-Tomoe in this AU would be born when Izuku is about 17/18. She would isntantly be put into foster care. Though now she's gonna get snatched up by Izuku fast.

SPOILERS UNDER CUT

-Toga never becomes a villain due to Anders calling in his old hero friends who swoop in. She gets adopted by them, though she spends a few years in a mental health facility. She is also a potential spouse in the future.

-Shindo meets Izuku during the whole mall thing, while Shigaraki wants to talk to his future husband.

-Hawks is a transman who is also asexual. (less spoilery but... meh)

-One and Two are born when Izuku is about 20-21.

[bokunoheroanalysisforthefuture]

And so preparations for the final event begin! Let’s see if these being one on one matches helps me get through them a bit faster when I’m not having to transcribe quite so much action all at once.

[No. 32 - Smile, Prince of Nonsense Land!]

Another character profile to start out with! (I swear I’m gonna have to make a post compiling these once we’ve gotten all of them for class 1a… maybe run a comparison with the end of chapter profiles? Eh shrug.)

I swear, my instincts say that something that that tail should not be as flexible as it is because of its circumference. I know, I know, quirks, freaking magic, don’t think about it, but still. It’s a very straightforward quirk with a surprising amount of utility, and he makes full use of it. Good for him! Now, onto the chapter proper.

Kirishima is pretty hyped for a tournament, thinking about how they’ll be up in ‘that ring he sees on TV every year.’ Mina asks him if it was a tournament last year as well, but Sero’s the one to answer - the format’s always different, but most years involve some kind of head to head competition. (Apparently the year before theirs involved foam sword fighting, and now I’m incredibly disappointed we didn’t get to see that for this sports festival finale… would have been absolutely hilarious.)

Midnight holds up a box of lots, saying that match-ups will be decided by drawing lots. Once that’s done, they’ll move on to the festivities and then the tournament itself. It’s up to each of the sixteen finalists whether or not they participate in the fun, since she figures some of them would rather take a breather and save their strength. 

She starts to call for the first place team to draw lots, but Ojiro raises his hand, calling for her attention. He then states that he’d like to drop out, much to the shock of the others. Someone (I think Kirishima?) asks him why, since this is his chance of being noticed by the pros. Ojiro stats that he has no memories of the cavalry battle or anything that happened in it up until the tail end. And it’s probably his quirk that did that. 

Ohh, ominous. And Izuku’s really concerned for Ojiro here. Ojiro states that he knows this is a great opportunity, and he knows it seems stupid to throw it away, but this final turnament… everyone else made it with their own strength. But he’s standing here and he doesn’t even know how or why. He just can’t take it. 

Hagakure says that he’s thinking about it too hard, and that he can just show what he’s made of in the tournament. Mina agrees, saying that by that logic, she shouldn’t really be here either. Ojiro starts crying, hiding his face in his hand as he shakes, explaining that he’s talking about his pride here. He doesn’t think it’s right. (He also has no idea why the girls are dressed like that. Really, the entire cheerleader gimmick seems a bit… awkward, here.)

Izuku has no idea what to say. But class B’s Nirengeki does - kind of. He admits that he can’t remember anything either, so he wants to withdraw as well. This is a contest of skill, so letting someone who didn’t do anything advance… doesn’t that defeat the whole point of the sports festival? Isn’t it against the rules?

Kirishima starts to tear up, calling the two manly. Up in the booth, Present Mic announces the strange turn of events, while Aizawa wonders what Midnight, as the coordinator, will decide. Midnight’s ruling?

She likes it. The two are allowed to withdraw. Aoyama puts a hand on Ojiro’s shoulder and promises to win it for him. 

Midnight tells the kids that replacing the two will be members of team Kendo, who took fifth. Kendo replies that if it’s gonna be like that, then shouldn’t it be team Tetsu instead? Her team was immobilized pretty much the whole time, while team Tetsu were giving it their all to keep what they had until the very end. She then hastens to assure that they aren’t colluding or anything, it just feels right.

Tetsutetsu is in tears by the gesture. After a brief transition, it’s decided that Tetsutetsu and Shiozaki will join the finalists, bringing the number back up to sixteen. And with that, the match-ups can be drawn!

Izuku notes that if he wins his first match, his second’s gonna be against Shouto. Which I feel is very rude of him to just entirely discount the possibility of Sero winning the match. I mean, it’s an honest assessment, but STILL. Rude. Anyways, before his match with Shouto, he still has to face off against Shinsou, who has to be-

And speak of the devil, there’s the guy in question. He wants to know if he’s Midoriya Izuku, which startles Izuku. Izuku recognizes him from the declaration of war two weeks back. He goes to respond, only to be cut off by Ojiro’s tail over his mouth. Shinsou huffs and turns t head away, while Ojiro warns Izuku not to answer him. 

We get a few other reactions from some of the other students: Shouto contemplates how his match with Izuku will be sooner than expected, and that he wants Izuku to bring his best before he takes him down. Katsuki wonders out loud who Uraraka is, which startles an eep out of her, possibly for using her actual name. Mei approaches Tenya, chucking as she starts to ask him something. And Present Mic announces that they’re setting aside the tournament for the time being, and getting on with the thrill-a-minute festivities. 

There’s a few snapshots of what everyone is up to over the course of the side events: some of the non-finalists racing massive balls (probably rubber?) around the inside perimeter of the stadium, Ojiro talking to a stressed out Izuku, Tokoyami napping in a tree, Tenya drinking five (5) cans of orange juice, Katsuki doing… something, Shouto crouched down resting somewhere outside the stadium, and finally some students searching for items on the cards they were given. Oh, right, and the girls are doing cheerleader stuff, with Hagakure being the most enthusiastic, and Jirou and Momo as the least. 

Honestly, with that jump, Hagakure is either buff as heck, or Ochako is lending her a hand. 

While all this is happening, Izuku is narrating how some people preferred to psych themselves up, while others tried to relax. Everyone was dealing with it differently. And before they knew it, the time had come.

We come back into the narrative as Cementoss is just finishing up crafting the battle platform from scratch, which is honestly incredibly impressive. I guess his manipulation of cement includes being able to dry it out super fast. And really, with how it looks, he’s just showing off. Especially with those torches, like, those can’t have been made from cement. Were they just put there and the cement set around them? Did he use the cement to manipulate them into place? I have questions, sir.

As I said, showing off just a touch. 

Present Mic thanks Cementoss before asking the crowds if they’re ready. He talks about how the students have been through hell to get here, but now it’s time for the one-on-one tournament! They’ll only have themselves to rely on. Even if someone isn’t a hero, that saying holds true! You know it! Spirit, technique, strength, wisdom, and knowledge! Use them all and show us your best!

...They’ll only have themselves to rely on, even applied to non-heroes? Uh, wow. Talk about the underlying 𝓲𝓼𝓼𝓾𝓮𝓼 showing up here. I honestly can’t help but think that Izuku’s issues with heading off alone in the current manga arc has less to do with emulating All Might, and more absorbing all these small asides and comments from all the staff of UA. Which is fucking 𝕪𝕚𝕜𝕖𝕤.

Anyways, while Mic’s doing his thing, Izuku is trying to calm himself before his match, only for Toshinori to come up to talk to him. He notes how it took a while, but Izuku’s finally getting the hang of using One For All, and gives Izuku a wonky thumbs up. Izuku is surprised to see his mentor there, but also corrects him - he doesn’t really have a hang of it, he’s still uneasy. He brings up his microwave visualization thing, and how he’s been trying to recall when he launched it at the villain, but it still feels dangerous. As if he could fall apart if he loses focus for a second, and, well, it’s like Toshinori saw. Given the level his body is at, even when Izuku controls it, it only gives a small boost in power. 

Toshinoir thinks on it for a bit, before reminding Izuku about that talk about giving it between zero and a hundred. As Izuku is now, heis body’s capable of about five percent. Izuku considers that, thinking that if it’s like that, then he’s just gotten lucky with everything. Toshinori gives him a few thwacks on the head and neck, telling Izuku that that’s because he’s always been trying his hardest, calling him a prince of nonsense. He also chides Izuku, saying he’ll never be a hero looking so mopey.

While Izuku recovers from the assault, Toshinori tells him to listen, before stating that especially when Izuku is feeling worried or scared, that’s when he needs to smile. Izuku’s come this far, so show some bravado, even if it’s fake. To punctuate this, Toshinori swells up into All Might, giving him another thumbs up. And I guess it kind of works as motivation, since Izuku seems less stressed?

Anywho, we finally get into the first match! Present Mic announces the two, with Izuku getting a comment about his making a weird face despite his good performance, and Shinsou getting a comment about not having done anything to stand out yet. The rules are simple - win by knocking out your opponent, immobilizing them, or getting them to say ‘I give up!’ Bring the pain! Recovery Girl’s on standby. And fight dirty if you must! ‘Ethics’ have no meaning here!

...this explains why Shinsou immediately went for such a low blow. 

Anywho, Cementoss makes himself a seat to watch from, so as to be prepared to stop the match at any time. Present Mic clarifies that going for the kill is a big no-no and will disqualify you, because a true hero’s fists fly only when in pursuit of villains. 

Shinsou starts talking, contemplating the ‘I give up’ option before asking Izuku if he gets it? That this battle’s going to test his strength of will. If you have any kind of vision for your future, there’s no sense in worrying about how you get there. Like that monkey, babbling about his stupid pride. 

Wow is Izuku pissed. Present Mic announces the start of the match as Shinsou rhetorically asks what kind of dumbass throws away a chance like this. Izuku rushes forward furiously demanding to know what Shinsou just said - only to stop dead. Shinsou calls it his win, while in the stands, Ojiro is stressing out, tail flailing as he snaps at how he’d warned Izuku about this. Toshinori is waiting at the entrance to the stadium, confused. 

Present Mic asks what’s wrong, the battle’s just started, show some spirit! Mere seconds into the match, Izuku is frozen in place?

And we end the chapter on that cliffhanger. What an introduction to Shinsou, and we have more to go in the next… one or two chapters, can’t recall. 

Anywho, see y’all next time for spooky quirk shenanigans! Can’t believe our first ghost sighting is about to happen. Fricken love ghosts.

[rrandomtthings]

Bakugou Katsuki and his development throughout the series (Part 1 of 2)

His fall

Note: none of this is excusing things Bakugou has done in the past. He was completely in the wrong for that. Explanations ≠ Justifications.

There will be no manga spoilers in this part, but in part 2 there will be!!

Part two link: (will be added)

Bakugou Katsuki is a very hit or miss kind of character. He is brash, loud, and everything in between. If that is not your type of character, then the chances of you liking him are very low. Hence why his character has been deemed as very controversial.

Not to mention, Bakugou was a bully.

The first scene of the series starts with younger Bakugou bullying a kid with younger Midoriya Izuku, his childhood friend, protecting said kid. This is the first impression that we are given of not only Bakugou as a character, but as society as whole.

People are not created equal

As we continue through the beginning of the series, we find out that Bakugou was a huge bully, especially towards Izuku. With the two being childhood friends, they were really close when they were younger, as they were shown to hang out relatively often.

However, as soon as Bakugou got his quirk things changed for the worse.

It’s important to recognize what quirks mean to hero society. The better your quirk is, the more you’re looked up to. The worse your quirk is, the more you’re looked down upon. This is something that has been ingrained in children at the young age of 4, when they receive said quirks.

Bakugou was born with the jackpot quirk of Explosions while Izuku was born with nothing.

From the young age of 4, your place in society has already been drilled in.

Continuing on from when they were just children, Bakugou already having his quirk and Deku still not knowing what his is (at this point Izuku didn’t get himself checked out), the two head to a lake with their friends. Bakugou, having the best quirk out of all of them and being the “leader” as they walk on a log and he falls off and into the river underneath them, his friends watching as he falls in the water, expecting him to get up all on his own because of the power he holds.

All except one.

In this moment, because of societal standards, Bakugou was expected (even by himself) to be able to get up on his own after that fall. Seeing someone like Izuku, who he calls “Deku,” which to him literally means “worthless,” who is seen as weak and not-powerful by societal standpoints wanting to help someone as powerful as Katsuki, it made Bakugou feel like Deku was looking down on him.

He refused Dekus hand, he refused Dekus friendship. He didn’t like that this “attitude” that Izuku had that Katsuki was so unfamiliar with.

As years go on we are not informed about how consistent Katsukis bullying was towards Izuku. We can only assume that it was something that was somewhat common, however that is only an assumption. This is not canon.

One day, Izuku gets outed out by his teacher about wanting to attend UA. This being Katsukis dream school, it’s interesting to note that while everyone in class was laughing at Izuku, Bakugou was not.

Almost as if he considered Deku, “a quirkless nobody,” a threat.

However, he took that threat and turned it around and bullied Izuku for it, leading to the infamous “swan dive” scene where Bakugou tells Izuku to khs.

This is arguably the worst, if not one of the worst things that have been shown that Katsuki has done. As mentioned at the top of this post, there is no justification for this. Bakugou was completely in the wrong. Just because he felt threatened does not in any way shape or form excuse the way he treated Izuku, especially in this scene.

Then, the sludge villain attack happens.

Here, Bakugou is shown to be in a vulnerable state as he is being consumed by the sludge villain. After Izuku comes in and save him, it is said that Katsuki had’nt bullied him since.

Now Bakugou is in UA. He was used to being the highest of the food chain. Being at the top of everyone so easily. However, when he entered UA, reality hit him like a ton of bricks after realizing that he is not special.

Starting off with one of the most prominent fights, Deku vs Kacchan (1).

The teams are Deku & Ochako (the heroes) vs Iida and Bakugou (the villains) as they fight with each other with their own respective tasks.

Throughout the fight however, even though they were in teams, it was mainly Deku vs Kacchan (as the title suggests.)

In this fight, we see Bakugou at a bit of a breaking point. He practically panics as he comes to a realization that this kid infront of him who he thought always looked down on him could possibly be on the same level as him. To him, the “worthless Deku” was starting to shine through and past the negative connotations of that name.

After he aimed his quirk towards Izuku (NOTE: in this scene he did not try and kill Izuku. He even states that he purposely aimed away so it wouldn’t harm him. However, this is still not an excuse) and saw that Izuku did and could take him after he had one, Bakugou went into full panic mode.

Note: it’s also important to recognize that he showed fear for Deku. He was scared to see how far he was willing to go.

Later on, we are shown Deku spilling the beans to Katsuki about his quirk, to which Bakugou does not believe and continues to claim that he is and will be stronger than him as he walks off, completely vulnerable and with teary eyes.

The next time we are shown Katsuki in a vulnerable state, it’s at the sports festival.

After his fight with Uraraka, who he claimed to be a worthy opponent (wooo some sort of development!!), he immediately put the blame on Deku, thinking that he was the reason why she had such a great plan (aaaaand there that development goes) to which Izuku replies with him not being involved in the plan.

Then, he has his fight with Todoroki to which he starts getting mad about as Shouto was not using his full power on him. Bakugou wants to be shown that he was best with Todoroki using his full power, so he felt like he was being looked down upon and seen as weak in his eyes.

They had to chain him up because he was so furious about the fight, this fight only adding to his very prevelent inferiority and superiority complex.

The sports festival ends and they all go off into internships and Bakugou has chosen to go with Best Jeanist. Here, he grows to respect Best Jeanist, even going as far as to making sure that he is the first one to hear his hero name when he comes up with one.

Now after they come back from their internships, the students are tasked with fighting one of the teachers with a partner not of their choice.

Katsuki and Izuku were paired together.

At first, this was hard. Bakugou was not interacting with Izuku. He wanted to do things his own way, even going as far as to say that he would rather lose than work with Deku. To which led to Izuku punching him to snap him out of it.

Bakugou eventually let up and attempted to start working with Izuku. He even goes as far as using himself as bait so Deku can turn around and win for them (however, Izuku being himself didn’t leave Katsuki behind).

They both beat All Might bc Katsuki had pushed away his pride and finally allowed for them to start working together.

This was arguably Katsukis lowest point in the series. He was so full of distrust, non-compliance, and just,, wanting to stay away from Izuku that he was willing to lose this fight. The same guy who always wants to win was okay with losing.

Then all of class 1A goes to the training camp and it’s being attacked.

Their target? It was Bakugou.

Izuku and others desperately try and protect Bakugou as they try and take him as far away from the attack as possible to avoid any mishap.

However, they failed and Bakugou was taken.

In the moment as Bakugou was taken, we see him show genuine concern for Deku as he runs for him, telling him not to come after him at that moment.

Dekus scream after this scene in the anime will never not make me teary eyed,,

While held in captivity, it was revealed that he was kidnapped because the villains thought that they could turn him over to their side after seeing how upset and unfairly treated he was at the sports festival. However, Bakugou confirms to the viewers that he has no villainous intentions whatsoever.

After he was kidnapped, there was a rescue team created by some of the students so they can get him back.

As they created a last minute plan, they devised a strategy to which they would use their quirks and Kirishima would be the one to reach out and grab onto Bakugou and save him, to which they go through with and succeed in.

This, as revealed by Horikoshi, is a very bittersweet scene. It shows that Bakugou was starting to trust and become friends with others. However, it also showed his stubbornness in knowing that if it were Izukus hand being reached out then he might have not taken it.

After they get out of the spot they were in, they find that All Might was currently fighting AFO and it was being live broadcasted. After AFO, and ultimately, All Mights defeat, All Might sends a message “to the world”(it’s directed at Izuku) saying that “you’re next.”

Bakugou looks over to Izuku, confusion and concern on his face, seeing as he is the only one crying in a sea of cheering people.

Once they get back to UA and time has passed, Bakugou starts doing smaller things to show his appreciation (i.e. trying to pay Kirishima back, etc.)

After All Might and Aizawa come to his house to talk about dorming with his parents, Bakugou asks All Might his relationship with Izuku, to which he didn’t get the response we wanted and brushed it off as he thanked All Might for saving him.

At this point, the students are out to get their provisional license. Bakugou being bakugou failed in the saving part of the exam and failed to get his license.

After they get back, Bakugou confronts Deku and tells him that he wants to meet with him outside. Deku complies as Bakugou takes him to where they first fought, at ground beta.

This fight is full of emotions. With years of anguish and confusion from Bakugou, trying to understand why and how Izuku was slowly rising up to his level. How he feels guilty for being the one to “end All Might.”

Years upon years of emotions are being fought out as Bakugou tries to seek some sort of comfort and understanding about everything that had just recently happened.

Izuku was the only one in Bakugous eyes to be able to accept and understand his feelings.

After they fight out for a little while and get pulled apart by All Might, the secret about OFA is officially revealed to Bakugou.

When asked to keep this a secret, Bakugou claims that he’s not doing it for All Mights sake (hmmm,, Dekus 👀) and goes as far as to encourage Deku to be better so they could be proper rivals.

Bakugou looks over to Deku and tells him that things will be different between the two. That Katsuki will change and accommodate for this new knowledge that he has.

This is the start is his rising.

[end of part 1]

[the-final-sif]

Wait you can’t just say that and not tell us what fuck up some teacher did to Katsuki in the Katsuki shimura au. Give us the angst and the unholy hell tenko releases

Katsuki accidentally bumped in to a kid in the gen ed course, it should’ve been a total non-issue, but the kid was a total spoiled rich kid who already had a bone to pick with Katsuki just ‘cause of the sports festival & Katsuki’s general disposition. The guy escalated things, demanding an apology that Katsuki obviously wouldn’t give, and Katsuki left after insulting the guy thinking that would be the end of it.

Only, it wasn’t. The guy was so pissed off about it that he got a couple other guys together and waited until Katsuki was on his way back to the international dorms on his own. They tried to corner him and pick a fight, but Katsuki fought back & won fairly easily, since, ya’know, they’re gen kids who’ve never been in a real fight in their lives. He didn’t seriously hurt anyone, but the kid was desperate to ‘win’ so he purposefully had one of the other guys escalate his injuries (broke one of his arms). Then all of them went crying to their homeroom teacher about it.

They basically straight up lied, saying that Katsuki had made a big deal out of what happened in the hallway, and that the guy had approached him after school with his friends to try to resolve the situation on good terms. According to them, Katsuki responded incredibly violently and laughed about it afterwards.

Since the guy didn’t have any (known) track record of lying / picking fights, and Katsuki had a reputation for ‘violence’ (plus the kids did have some burn marks / evidence of getting into a fight), so their teacher believed them completely. The teacher then made a huge fuss about it to Cementtoss (who, according to my HC was one of the ones who chained Katsuki up during the sports festival), who the teacher was close with, and Cementtoss also took her side. Recovery Girl treated the injuries, and she was actually suspicious of them, since the burns were all quite light, and the bone break was the only serious injury among them. She also knows Katsuki’s track record, and has never had a student sent in by him before, since Katsuki has excellent quirk control.

Things escalated quickly, Aizawa was busy with training Shinsou for a large part of the process, and All-Might was usually kept uninvolved with Katsuki related stuff (due to not knowing how to handle Tomura), and by the time Aizawa was looped in, most of the ‘investigation’ was already complete. The other teachers had already questioned Katsuki, extremely hostility. Cementtoss was the primary one questioning him, which made things even worse since Katsuki was still struggling with flashbacks to the sports festival.

All in all, Katsuki barely defended himself because he had no idea what was going on, and he was basically in a panic attack through most of it. The teachers involved took this as ‘confirmation’, and when Aizawa tried to figure out what the hell was going on, he was told that Katsuki had ‘admitted to it’. None of this really added up for Aizawa, but the other teachers were very insistent and had what appeared to be an overwhelming amount of evidence, so he reluctantly agreed to a punishment without speaking to Katsuki himself.

The gen ed kid’s homeroom teacher had wanted Katsuki expelled, but Aizawa did push back on that, opting for 2 week house arrest instead (it would usually be a full suspension at this level of severity and since Katsuki wasn’t an international student, but Aizawa absolutely refused to force Katsuki to be around villains for 2 weeks). Aizawa delivered the punishment to Katsuki, and again, something felt off about the entire situation, but Katsuki accepted it without any pushback (since by this point, he’s in a full tailspin, convinced this is the sports festival all over again, and if he does anything but agree then they’re going to chain him up + muzzle him again, and he really can’t handle that).

Katsuki goes back to his dorm that night and basically has an awful mental breakdown. He was straight up gaslit about what happened, because he was sure he didn’t do any serious damage and he definitely didn’t start the fight, but the teachers pushed onto him that he did and decided he was at fault anyways.

The next day, Class 1-A obviously notices that Katsuki wasn’t there, and they were told a rough version of what happened. Izuku absolutely refused to believe it though, since he’s fought Katsuki plenty of times, and he knows damn well that Katsuki would never break a bone or do serious damage to someone like that. The rest of class 1-A is skeptical, but Aizawa shuts down any debate about it, as he’s still not entirely sure of the situation himself. Izuku does some more investigating, and quickly discovers the entire thing is bullshit. Reocvery Girl’s reports confirm it for him, because the way the bone broke doesn’t make any sense for an explosion attack, and the position of the break doesn’t add up for someone who’d been actively fighting/defending themselves.

Now up until this point, Izuku has had.... very limited contact with Tomura. What with him being All-Might’s successor and all, he and Tomura do not get along. Even a little bit. But, Tomura swore of trying to hurt / kill Izuku for Katsuki’s sake, and even Izuku has to admit that Tomura has been a good guardian for Katsuki so far. 

Izuku wouldn’t have even considered it if he wasn’t absolutely furious at UA for believing the bullshit he’s hearing, but oh boy, he was super fucking done with them putting Katsuki through this. He does at least try to talk to Katsuki about it first, but all he confirms is that Katsuki is in an awful state of mind right now & that Katsuki definitely didn’t do it.

Enraged, he gets Tomura’s number from All-Might (whose easily convinced, if confused/concerned) and he tells Tomura everything. That Katsuki got accused, and that he didn’t do it, but also about who questioned him, why Katsuki probably wouldn’t have defended himself against them, and about Katsuki’s current poor mental state.

Tomura listens to all of this, a 20 minute or so rant, and then calmly thanks Izuku for letting him know, promising that he’ll handle it. His tone is soft and deadly, and Izuku is kinda worried he might kill someone, but honestly with how pissed off Izuku is, he’s not sure if he cares anymore.

After that, Tomura breaks two of the few unspoken rules he’d had with UA. Up until then, he never had Kurogiri teleport onto their campus after USJ. He also never took Katsuki outside of scheduled visits. That night, he does both, quietly going and getting Katsuki from his room and bringing him back home.

It takes awhile, but between Tomura & Kurogiri, they’re able to coax the whole story out of Katsuki from his side of things, and it becomes very obvious what happened. Tomura comforts him, waits until he’s kinda okay, and then goes and collects what he needs.

After that, Tomura has Kurogiri straight up teleport him into Aizawa office, where he then proceeds to completely tear apart the accusations, and call Aizawa out for having not properly investigated the situation. He does it all in calm, collected, vicious manner that is completely unlike his usual villain demeanor and is a million times scarier as a result. 

As Tomura discovered with a bit of searching, there was video footage of the area (because it’s UA, and there’s video footage of everywhere) that completely disproves the Gen Ed’s kid lie, but was conveniently overlooked in the investigation. Once it’s clearly established that Katsuki only ever defended himself, Tomura then starts in on how the entire thing was handled, and it’s quite awhile before he’s finished.

By the end of things, Aizawa is genuinely shaken over how much he fucked up in this situation, he apologizes and sets about fixing things. The other kid involved gets expelled for having attempted to assault another student and then faking an injury & lying about it. There’s various punishments handed out to the teachers who were involved in the situation and mishandled it, and Aizawa apologizes to Katsuki personally when he gets back. Aizawa also instates a straight up blanket rule that Katsuki cannot be questioned/punished/etc unless Aizawa is there and leading the process. No exceptions. He’s done with this bullshit happening whenever he was busy with something else. He holds to that too.

Although, it’s worth noting that Katsuki doesn’t come back right away. It’s two days before Katsuki comes back to UA, because Tomura insisted on him taking time to recover first and debated him staying there at all. In the end, Katsuki decided he wants to give it one more go, mostly because Izuku and his friends are still there, and Tomura relents even though he doesn’t like it. Eventually though, Katsuki does get back, and things settle down for the most part.

[broccoliboix5peepeeman]

Req: Shōto is the campus' delinquent. Nobody dare to cross him. Izuku is the campus' nerd. His low social status makes him an easy target of bullying. One day, they're paired together for a project. What starts out as a school assignment blossoms a beautiful friendship as they realized that they're the same. They're both no strangers to pain. Izuku sees Shōto as his own person despite his surname. Shōto sees hurt, pain & sadness behind Izuku's smiles. And eventually, they both fall in love.

Ooooo thank you for the request! :D

'Shoji and Tokoyami for group one. Uraraka and Asui for group two.'

'Yesss!' Uraraka muttered under her breath. Izuku smirked at his friend and nudged her with his elbow.

'Get in there!' He winked, wiggling his eyebrows playfully, earning a frantic shhhhh from his friend.

'Momo and Kirishima for group four.' Aizawa called out. 'Jirou and Hagakure for group five.

'Ooo, halfway though, Dekuuu!' Uraraka sang quietly. 'Are you worried?'

'As long as it's not Kacchan, I don't mind.' He shrugged.

'Bakugou and Mineta for group seven.' Aizawa continued, tone bored, even as the blonde roared with protest.

'Thank fuck.' Izuku mumbled.

'Midoriya and Todoroki for group eight.' His teacher spoke, looking pointedly at him before focusing back on the sheet.

While Uraraka giggled next to him, Izuku froze, his posture straight and a look of shock on his face. He felt a pair of dichromatic eyes burning holes into his back, although he could just be paranoid.

Him and… Todoroki? UA's top heartthrob and bad boy, partnered with Izuku? Aizawa-Sensei had to be kidding, surely.

'Right, that's all of you.' Their teacher called out. 'Sit in your pairs and we'll go over the project in more detail.'

Immediately, the classroom broke out into excited chatter as everyone shouted across the room for their partner. Before Izuku could even say farewell to Uraraka, his friend had already jumped up from her seat to bounce towards where Tsu was sitting.

Izuku sighed and - with significantly less energy - got up to search the room for his partner. Of course, it didn't take long to spot him; even without the scar, Todoroki stood out like a sore thumb.

He sat towards the back of the room, slouched in his chair as he stared out of the window, unfazed by the chaos around him. The morning sun bathed his skin and made the crimson half of his hair shine. Izuku noticed that his classmate was wearing his signature leather jacket, covered in various badges and pins, along with a turtleneck, a pair of navy jeans that clung to his legs, and black combat boots. 

It was no secret that Todoroki was the "most handsome guy in school", so it made sense that today was no different. It just didn't help Izuku in the slightest - in fact, it made it even harder for him to clear his throat and gather his attention.

'To- Todoroki-kun, hi!' He squeaked, a large smile plastered to his face that didn't quite reach his eyes. When the aforementioned turned to regard him nonchalantly, Izuku's nerves only exacerbated. 'Do you mind if I sit, seen as we're part- partners?'

When his classmate remained silent, he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly and laughed. 'Sorry about that by the way… I know you probably don't want to be stuck with someone like me.'

'Why are you apologising?' Todoroki raised an eyebrow. 'It's not your fault.'

You didn't deny it though… Izuku chewed on his lip for lack of a better response, until Todoroki eventually nodded to the seat next to him.

'Your reputation precedes you, Midoriya.' He commented as Izuku fumbled into his chair. 'As does mine. I don't mind working with you as long as you pull your weight. You may think I don't give a shit about grades, but you don't know me.'

Izuku turned to regard him with wide eyes, but Todoroki had already gone back to stare out of the window. 'Library after school. We'll make a start then. Can't be arsed going home and I assume you're not too keen on walking home at the same time as Bakugou.'

Izuku furrowed his eyebrows at that. He knew Todoroki could be blunt but… Oh well, he did have a point. Kacchan would jump him the moment they were out of the school gates - clearly wanting to release all that pent-up rage on Izuku because, for some reason, his old friend had made it his own personal goal to make him his punching bag.

'Sure.' Izuku replied, turning to face the front of the room as Aizawa told them all to quiet down. Why me?

☀️🌙

Izuku twirled his pen in his hand as he read through his notes in the library. If the librarian asked, it was school work, even if the "Hero analysis #27" scribbled over the cover was a dead give-away.

Izuku wanted to be a doctor, a hero who saves lives. Ever since he had learnt to read, he was fascinated by how the body worked and how to treat various ailments. His analysis books were where he stored all the information he had absorbed from his readings.

'Last time I checked, "loss of executive functioning in patients with primary progressive multiple sclerosis" wasn't on the syllabus.' A low voice spoke.

Izuku flinched so violently his elbow slammed into the back of his chair and he almost dropped his pen. He winced at the pain and looked up to find Todoroki gazing at him, unfazed by his display.

'T- Todoroki-kun!' A bright smile appeared on Izuku's face and he gestured to the seat opposite him. When his classmate took it, he quickly put away his notebook and replaced it with his psychology workbook and textbook. 'I was starting to think you'd forgotten.'

'I just had a few things to sort out.' Todoroki shrugged, taking out his own book.

Izuku nodded along, expecting him to elaborate, but apparently that wasn't his classmate's intention. Instead, they sat in awkward silence for several moments, until Izuku shook his head to ground himself and opened his textbook.

'Right, let's get started then.' He announced, a trained smile on his face. 'Aizawa-Sensei said we have to do a presentation on the sleep-wake cycle for ours, which is actually quite interesting. I had a quick look over lunch and I was thinking we could start the intro by covering the three different cycles. So, ultradian rhythms are cycles that are less than 24 hours and can repeat throughout the day, infradian rhythms are more than 24 hours - like the menstrual cycle - then we finish on circadian rhythms, which focuses specifically on sleep-wake cycle, then go on to talk about-'

Izuku paused then, realising he had definitely started to ramble there. He knew how much his peers found his habit annoying, so he was surprised that Todoroki hadn't interrupted him and told him to shut up before now.

'Why did you stop?' His classmate asked, genuinely confused.

'You… You understood all of that?' Izuku returned.

'Yes.' Todoroki showed him his workbook, where he had started writing Izuku's ideas down.

'But I was muttering…' Heat rose to his face as he inspected the page. 'You don't find that annoying?'

Todoroki frowned at that.

'Not really. Why would I?'

'Everyone else does.' Izuku mumbled, looking away.

'I'm not everyone else.' Todoroki scratched his cheek, just below his scar. Before Izuku could ask though, he cleared his throat. 'Anyway, I agree with you. Once we focus on circadian rhythms, we can go over the stages of sleep.'

'Sounds good to me!' Izuku beamed. 'We can talk about non-REM and REM too!'

'Yes.' Todoroki nodded. 'Then maybe go into the different areas involved in sleep, so photoreceptors and the pineal gland.'

'That's a great idea!' Izuku burst out, brain going a mile a minute. This was going easier than he had expected. 'Gosh, this is going to be so fun! Right, I know it's not entirely relevant to the presentation itself, but you know dolphins?'

'Yes, I know dolphins.' Todoroki huffed, tone slightly amused. 

Was that almost a smile?!

'Well, their brains have a left and right hemisphere like we do, and when they go to sleep, they turn off one hemisphere and the other one stays awake so they can come up for air and stuff! Then they switch around when the first hemisphere is fully rested! Some sharks do it too, it's so interesting!'

Izuku paused for breath. When Todoroki said nothing in response and looked at him with an expression he couldn't quite place, Izuku blushed with embarrassment. 'S- Sorry…'

'No, you…' Todoroki spoke, his voice oddly gentle. 'That's the first time today I've seen you genuinely smile.'

… What?

'I'm always smiling.' Izuku tilted his head to the side. Smiling was his thing. Everywhere he went, he always made sure to smile, even if he was having a bad day. He smiled to put others at ease.

'It never reaches your eyes though.' Todoroki regarded him with something akin to understanding, albeit Izuku didn't know why. 'It's always fake.'

He winced at the wording.

'Does that bother you?' He twirled his pen and looked away, apprehension in his voice.

'A little.' Todoroki admitted. 'I understand why you lie, but I'd rather you be honest - at least, with me, I'd like you to be honest.'

Izuku considered his words. Despite the lack of malice in his tone, he still felt like he had been called out.

'I'm sorry.' He spoke, not knowing what else to say.

'You apologise a lot.' Todoroki stated. 'You don't owe anyone an apology, Midoriya.'

Izuku didn't like this. He didn't know where this was coming from and why Todoroki was saying all this. It wasn't a bad thing, but it was overwhelming. No one had ever called him out for his smiles before.

'I have to go.' He stood abruptly and gathered his books, stuffing them into his yellow backpack. Todoroki looked at him, mildly bewildered.

'Okay. When do you want to meet up next?' He asked before Izuku could book it out of there.

'Up to you.' He shrugged. ‘I can’t do tomorrow though.’

'How about Thursday after school?' Todoroki asked. 'We can go to my place - my old man is at the station all day then so he won't bother us.'

Izuku gulped at the idea of meeting Todoroki Enji, the city's chief of police who was rumoured to be as corrupt as they came.

'He definitely won't be there?' He twirled a loose green curl around his finger.

'I wouldn't suggest it if I didn't know for sure.' Todoroki raised an eyebrow. Izuku didn't know what to make of that.

'Okay, sure. I'll meet you at the front gates after class and we'll walk together.' When Todoroki nodded once, Izuku tried not to force a smile and mirrored the action. 'Great. Right, I've got to go. Bye!'

Before his classmate could say anything else, Izuku quick-walked out of the library. Once he exited the building, he broke into a run down the street. He liked running when he was anxious, it helped calm him.

Izuku sighed and thought of blue and grey eyes, staring into his soul. He then promptly tripped over his own two feet and landed on the floor with a thud.

Resigned to his fate, Izuku made no effort to get up and sighed heavily, cheeks squished against the pavement.

It was going to be a long few weeks.

☀️🌙

[Uwawaka: 17:05] Dekuuuuu!!! Todoroki-kun just cornered me and demanded your number?!?! Erm, have a nice life I guess? I get your shoes when you die

[Me: 17:09] Waitwaitwait WHAT?!?!?! YOU SAID YES?!

[Me: 17:10] URARAKA ANSWER ME

[Me: 17:12] I will eat your pet hamster, you whore

Izuku collapsed onto his bed and smacked his forehead with his palm. Several more minutes passed without a response and he was seriously considering calling her, when his phone suddenly vibrated.

He quickly scrambled for the device. However, when he unlocked it and saw the message, he gasped and threw his phone at the wall.

'Izuku!' His mum shouted from the kitchen. 'What was that?!'

'Nothing, mum! Sorry!' He shouted, moving to pick it back up.

[Unknown: 17.16] Is this Midoriya Izuku?

[Me: 17:18] Yes? Who is this?

Izuku knew full well who it was and added the number to his contacts anyway.

[Todoroki: 17:20] It's Todoroki from Aizawa's psychology class. I got your number from a friend. Hope you don't mind

Either Todoroki was downplaying the situation or Uraraka was being overdramatic. He honestly didn't know who to believe.

[Me: 17:21] No problem, what's up?

[Todoroki: 17:23] I was going to wait till tomorrow but evidently I have the patience of a toddler.

[Todoroki: 17:24] I wanted to apologise if I made you uncomfortable earlier. I shouldn't have indirectly accused you of lying when I do it all the time.

Izuku didn't even know where to start with unpacking that.

[Me: 17:27] You don't have to apologise, you were right. I just smile a lot to make others feel at ease. I didn't realise it could be mistaken for dishonesty if I'm not being genuine.

[Me: 17:27] You lie all the time?

It was bold to ask that, but he couldn't help himself. Izuku was a meddler, through and through. Plus, Todoroki mentioned it first so it wasn’t like he didn’t want to talk about it, he reasoned.

[Todoroki: 17:30] I can understand that. I'd just rather you be honest with me. After all, if you're not happy, it could affect our project

[Todoroki: 17:32] Well, I tell everyone that it's a birthmark on my face when it's clearly a scar. I told a dude I wasn't gay because I didn't want to go out with him. I have depression but deny it when I get asked about it. Then there's a bunch of other stuff that I haven't told anyone that I won't even get into, but yeah

'Wow okay...' Izuku puffed his cheeks out. ‘I guess the reason Todoroki-kun doesn’t talk much is because he’s a over-sharer, but it’s okay. You got this, Izuku.’

[Me: 17:33] Lying and not disclosing something aren't the same thing! But with the stuff you have lied about, I can understand why you don't want people to know, especially considering the way others treat me just because I'm different. And your scar isn't anyone's business except your own!

He pressed send, then hesitated over the keyboard.

[Me: 17:34] Also! If you ever need to talk to someone, I'm here! We're friends now, aren't we? :)

Izuku stared at the screen, waiting for a response.

Several minutes passed without one and he was starting to question himself. However, just before Izuku could completely stress out over how badly he had fucked up, the screen brightened.

[Todoroki: 17:45] Thank you, Midoriya.

Izuku smiled at his phone.

That had gone better than he had expected.

☀️🌙

'Todoroki-kun!'

Shoto nodded to Midoriya, who was waiting by the gate. He was smiling again, but Shoto could tell he was nervous from the way his eyes were on high-alert, darting around the courtyard as if he were about to be attacked. Shoto didn't blame him though - in fact, he'd be more worried if his classmate wasn't on edge.

'Midoriya.' He greeted, once he reached his side. Due to the proximity though, he suddenly noticed the gravel rash that littered his new friend's jaw. 'What happened to you?'

'Er…' Midoriya blushed bright pink. Distantly, Shoto registered that it was actually quite cute, albeit he wouldn't admit it. 'I- I went for a run on Tuesday and tripped.'

'You should be more careful.' Shoto commented, eliciting a laugh from his classmate. 'I'm serious.'

'Yeah, I know but…' Midoriya cleared his throat. 'You just, you sound like my mum.'

His mum?

'Oh.'

'N- Not that that's a bad thing!' Midoriya frantically waved his hands in front of him. 'In fact, thank you… For caring, I guess. You're a kind person, Todoroki-kun!'

Shoto didn't know what to make of that. His stomach felt funny and his face was burning but he wasn't sure why. He coughed to compose himself.

'My house is this way.' He nodded in the right direction and they set off before Shoto could say or do anything he might regret.

The two of them walked in silence. Shoto noticed his classmate fiddling with the straps of his backpack as he mumbled to himself, but he said nothing. In fact, he found that he quite liked Midoriya's voice. It was quite soothing.

Suddenly, he saw a flash of blonde out of the corner of his eye and Shoto quickly looked to find Bakugou across the street. Midoriya hadn't noticed him yet, but Shoto recognised the sadistic smile plastered to Bakugou's face when he spotted the green-haired boy.

Shoto had a particular hatred of bullies, having grown up with one all his life. He knew about the general animosity between Midoriya and Bakugou, and how it had once ended up with the former out of school for almost a week when they were younger. Shoto also knew that Bakugou could be a violent fuck and, as a result, had never really bothered to talk to him.

Now though, Shoto saw the almost predatory look in his eyes as he smirked at Midoriya; he noticed how his classmate - his friend - froze at having been spotted.

'K- Kacchan…' Midoriya mumbled, a wobbly smile on his face. It made Shoto angry - not at Midoriya, but at Bakugou, and at himself for not intervening sooner, even though it wasn't really his problem.

Before he could stop himself, Shoto raised his arm and wrapped it around Midoriya's shoulder, bringing him close to his side. His classmate squeaked at the action, clearly tense.

'To- Todoroki-kun?!'

'Put your hand on my waist.' Shoto instructed, leaning in close to whisper in his ear. When Midoriya complied, snaking a trembling hand around him, Shoto hummed approvingly and looked up at Bakugou.

The blonde was watching them, mouth agape and clearly irritated. When he took a step towards them, Shoto flashed him a warning glare as if to say 'hands off', before pressing a swift kiss to Midoriya's fluffy curls to accentuate his point.

Bakugou stilled at that, his eye twitching, but Shoto knew he understood his position. On the social scale, Shoto was higher up than he was - as much as the latter wouldn't want to admit it - and so whoever Shoto said was off-limits was definitely off-limits. It didn't matter if it was an act or not.

The two of them continued forwards, watching as Bakugou eventually growled and skulked away. When he was out of sight, Midoriya audibly sighed and relaxed against him.

It was… Nice.

'Thank you.' His friend murmured. 'You didn't have to do that.'

'I wanted to.' Shoto shrugged. He knew he should relinquish his hold on Midoriya now that the threat had passed, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. The warmth that radiated from his classmate's touch was calming. Plus, Midoriya didn't seem too eager to let go either, so it wasn't like he was taking advantage of him or anything.

When they eventually reached his house, Shoto reluctantly broke away to fumble in his pocket for his keys. To his surprise though, the door was already unlocked.

Caution in his stance, he slid the door open and checked the shoe rack to see who was home. When Fuyumi's work shoes and Natsuo's trainers came into view, he sighed with relief and opened the door fully to alert his siblings of his arrival. 'It's me!'

It was only then that he registered Midoriya regarding him anxiously. 'Don't worry, it's just my brother and sister.'

'O- Okay.'

Shoto nodded and stepped inside, removing his shoes and waiting for Midoriya to do the same. He then led the way through his house, hoping there wouldn't be any interruptions, but alas, it seemed the universe hated him.

'Shotoutoooo!!!' Natsuo's voice rang out, before his older brother appeared, leaning against the door frame of his room. When he noticed Midoriya, half hidden behind Shoto, he grinned mischievously. 'You brought a friend over!'

'You- You didn't tell them I was coming?!' Midoriya squeaked so only Shoto could hear.

'Yes, I brought a friend home. What of it?' He ignored him and raised an eyebrow at his brother, unamused.

'Nee-San saw you two getting all lovey dovey down the street.'

'I don't-'

'It's true. Don't deny it!' Fuyumi's voice echoed down the hallway, eliciting a cackle from Natsuo.

'Whatever.' Shoto placed a hand on his hip, exasperated. 'Midoriya and I have a psychology assignment to get done, so I'd appreciate it if you fucked off.'

'Nawww, come on! I'm just having fun!' Natsuo winked before looking past him to address Midoriya. 'Shotouto pretends to be an aloof bad boy, but really he's a big softie who loves strawberry milk and manga. Isn't that right, Sho-?'

'NATSUO-NII!' Shoto exclaimed, completely mortified. He grabbed Midoriya's arm and dragged him down the corridor. 'We'll be leaving now!'

'Nice to meet you, Midoriya-kun!' Natsuo called, before Shoto slammed his bedroom door shut and sighed against it.

'He seems nice.' A quiet voice muttered.

Shit. Shoto's eyes widened and he took a breath, composing himself before he turned around to face Midoriya, who was fiddling with his sleeve.

'He's a pain in the arse.' He grumbled, before he strode forwards and set up the chabudai table in his room. 'He always does it. Something about wanting to make up for lost time.'

'Lost time?' Midoriya asked, removing his backpack to help.

'My old man wanted to keep me separate from my siblings when we were younger. Something about "not wanting to soil the perfect child".' Shoto shrugged, gathering two cushions and handing one to Midoriya. 'So it wasn't until about a year ago that I actually got to speak to them.'

'What happened a year ago?' Midoriya was definitely being nosy, but for some reason, Shoto didn't mind it; part of him actually wanted to tell him, even though he had no idea why. Something just told Shoto that he could trust him.

Or it's just because he's the first person your age who has ever bothered to ask. Another part of his mind supplied.

When the two of them sat down on the cushions adjacent to each other, Shoto pulled out his laptop, while Midoriya provided the textbook and workbook.

'When I was younger, my mother used to live at home too. She tried to protect us when the old bastard would come home and want to take his anger out on someone. He liked to take it out on me especially - make sure I toughened up - but she'd always turn his attention on her. One night, when I was about eight, mother had a complete breakdown. She saw the left side of my face, thought I was him and well… The closest thing was the kettle and boom.' He gestured vaguely to his scar. 'That's how this happened.'

Shoto didn't miss the look of complete horror on Izuku's face. 'He sent her away after that, which meant things got worse for me and my siblings. Aizawa-Sensei noticed my bruises last year and we've been working to get him put away, but it's difficult considering his position. It also didn't help that he's caught onto us and is now trying to pretend that everything is better now. That's why I'm allowed to see Natsuo and Fuyumi. He's been trying to manipulate things but he can't pretend forever.'

Shoto trailed off then and silence fell over them. He watched Midoriya for his reaction. He had never told anyone about that before.

He stared at his friend, but his vision became distorted. He thought of his old man, of how his mother had called him "unsightly" before burning him, of how his siblings used to look at him with apprehension and fear.

Shoto frowned. 'Sometimes I wonder if I'm just as bad as him.'

His words were spoken barely above a whisper, but the way Midoriya's head snapped to attention evidently showed that he had heard him.

'You know, Todoroki-kun…' He spoke gently, determined eyes finally meeting Shoto's own. 'I can't possibly understand everything you went through, but I do know this.'

A calloused hand landed on Shoto's shoulder and his vision re-focused to find a small smile gracing Midoriya's face. 'You're not your father. You're Todoroki Shoto, you're a kind person and you're my friend. He can't even compare to you.'

Shoto's mouth opened, but no words came out. Midoriya's words played on repeat in his head.

You're not your father. You're Todoroki Shoto.

He managed to turn his head away, hair hiding the stray tear that had fallen from his eye.

You're a kind person and you're my friend.

'Todoroki-kun, are you okay?'

So many thoughts were screaming inside his head. It was deafening, with Midoriya's words playing loudest of all.

He can't even compare to you.

'Toilet.' Shoto stood abruptly, pointedly not facing his classmate, and strode out of the room, ignoring Midoriya's bewildered shriek. He slid open the door to the bathroom opposite and shut himself away, turning the light on before he braced himself against the sink. His knuckles turned as white as the porcelain and he tried to calm his breathing.

Why was he acting like this? He was supposed to be calm, composed, aloof.

Just like father wanted. An unhelpful part of his mind taunted as tears streamed down his face. He felt a sob build up in the back of his throat. Hold it together. You're pathetic.

'Todoroki-kun.' His thoughts were interrupted by a quiet knock on the door. 'Should I get Natsuo or Fuyumi?'

'No!' Shoto exclaimed, a little harsher than he had intended. When Midoriya didn't immediately respond, he started to worry that he had scared him away.

'Okay.' His classmate eventually spoke, voice muffled due to the door. 'Can I come in?'

You don't want him to see you like this. You're supposed to be better than this-

'Yes.' He choked out, not looking up when the door slid open.

Gentle footfalls echoed on the tiles until Shoto felt a warm presence at his side. Midoriya then crouched down next to the sink to look up at Shoto.

'What's going through your mind?' He asked.

Everything.

'What you said just now, about me being kind and…' He swallowed heavily. 'You didn't mean it, did you? You were just saying it to make me feel better, right?'

'Oh, Todoroki-kun.' Midoriya gazed at him sadly. 'Of course I meant it. You told me to be honest with you, remember?'

Shoto leant his elbows on the sink to hold his face in his hands as he cried silently, only his ragged breathing exposing him.

He heard Midoriya shuffle to his feet. 'Can I… Can I hug you?'

Shoto blanked at that. Of all the things his friend could have said, he hadn't expected that. He furrowed his brow. When was the last time he had been properly hugged? With Fuyumi? His mother?

'Why?' He found himself asking instead, lowering his hands to look at Midoriya, who smiled softly at him.

'Because you look like you need it and I'm an expert hugger.'

Shoto blinked dumbly for a moment, regarding kind eyes, a genuine smile and open arms that radiated comfort, then slowly nodded.

'O- Okay…' He whispered.

Midoriya's smile brightened and he stepped forward, slowly wrapping his arms around Shoto's neck. One hand rested against his shoulder blades, while the other gently held the back of his head, guiding Shoto to the crook of Midoriya's neck. He went willingly and basked in the warmth, immediately relaxing against his friend.

Crooked fingers stroked his hair as Midoriya leant his head against him and he quickly became overwhelmed with emotion. Kind touches were so foreign to him that he usually hated the idea of physical contact. He didn't know why he had let Midoriya in, but he was glad he did.

A broken sob suddenly escaped him and he gingerly returned the hug, squeezing Midoriya's waist and clinging to his shirt. He didn't know how long they stayed like that, Midoriya's voice whispering words of encouragement until his eyes were dry, his friend's shirt was soaked and his throat was hoarse.

'I'm sorry.' He mumbled against Midoriya's neck. 'I don't know what came over me.'

'You don't owe anyone an apology.' His classmate quickly assured, echoing Shoto's words from a few days ago. 'Do you feel better?'

'I don't know.' Shoto answered honestly. Sure, letting his tears fall after years of bottling everything up was cathartic, but he had also unloaded all of his problems onto someone else just because of one comment; it made him feel disgusted at himself.

'It's okay not to be sure right now.' Midoriya pulled back to look him in the eye. 'I'll always be here to talk if you need, Todoroki-kun. We're friends and I want to help.'

Shoto must have pulled a face, because his classmate huffed, amused. 'It's an open offer. We can leave it for now.'

'Thank you, Midoriya.' Shoto didn't elaborate, but he didn't think he needed to, based on the way his friend's smile brightened.

'Shall we go work on our project for a bit?' Midoriya asked patiently. 'Then maybe we could watch a movie or something? I saw your Ghibli badges on your jacket - maybe we could watch one of them?'

Shoto wiped his eyes with his fist and nodded.

'That sounds nice.'

☀️🌙

'How could you?!' Izuku exclaimed, hand over his heart, horrified as his mum showed Todoroki his baby photos.

He had left them alone for one minute to get snacks, and now his soon-to-be-disowned mother was huddled up with his friend on the sofa, flicking through a photo album like it wasn't the most embarrassing thing in the world.

The two hardly spared him a glance, before continuing to point and giggle at baby Izuku in a hero onesie.

'Midoriya really is cute.' Todoroki smiled warmly and Izuku's cheeks suddenly felt a little hotter. 'How old was he in this one?'

It had been several weeks since their project had been assigned. Despite the emotional outbursts, they had managed to get their presentation done and performed. Their grades were still being determined, but Izuku was confident that they had done well.

That wasn't all that had happened though. Ever since that day Todoroki had opened up about his past, the two of them had grown closer, frequently texting and hanging out at Izuku's after school. They even spent their free periods together, which seemed to intrigue and confuse a lot of students. After all, Todoroki was the scary, mysterious pretty boy and Izuku was a self-identified nerd who liked to mumble to himself. Neither of them really cared about what their peers thought though.

As the days turned into weeks, however, Izuku realised that not only were people no longer tormenting him in the corridors, but Todoroki had started to smile more. Whenever Izuku would ramble about anatomy, he would listen, lips upturned and process every word with interest. Izuku loved his friend's smile and each one felt special because Izuku had caused it.

It took a single conversation with Uraraka to realise what was happening, and another one with Fuyumi to gain the courage to do what he was about to do.

'Mum, could I talk to Todoroki-kun alone for a minute?' Izuku rubbed the back of his neck and looked away. His mum knew about his crush - she had easily picked up on it due to Izuku's habit of muttering about the things he liked - so he hoped she would take the hint.

'Okay, sweetheart.' She grinned when Izuku's jaw dropped, mortified at the endearment. He also didn't miss the way Todoroki bit his bottom lip slightly with amusement.

Before Izuku could chastise her for clearly inappropriate behaviour in front of company, his mum closed the album and stood. 'I'll be in my room if you need me.'

When the door shut behind her, Izuku sighed with relief.

'I love her more than anything but I swear she gets some sort of sick satisfaction in seeing me suffer.' He groaned.

'I think she's great.' Todoroki smiled up at him. It lit up his entire face, no matter how small, and Izuku thought he looked beautiful.

Focus!

'So what did you want to talk about?' His friend asked, leaning back and crossing one leg over the other.

'You're a dear friend to me and I know we weren't close until recently, but you've become a big part of my life.' He began, fiddling with his hands to ease his nerves. 'I'm sorry, I don't really know how to say this.'

'It's okay.' Todoroki spoke, his smile vanishing. 'I understand if you feel like it's too much. Sometimes I can get a bit overwhelmed by all this - having a friend - but I treasure your friendship too, so I'll respect your decision if you want to stop-'

'Wait, what?' Izuku exclaimed. 'I'm trying to tell you that I have a crush on you, not that I don't want to be friends.'

Shoto stared at him with wide eyes.

…

Oh fuck.

Izuku slapped a hand over his mouth and let out a strangled cry as realisation set in. He wasn't even that surprised at having admitted his feelings; he was surprised at how easy it had been.

What wasn't easy was the look of uncertainty on Todoroki's face.

'Midoriya…'

'I'm so sorry for making you uncomfortable-'

'I have a crush on you too, I think.'

That was the thing he least expected his friend to say.

'You do?'

'Yeah.' Todoroki scratched at his flushed cheek, no longer looking like his usually-composed self and instead rather vulnerable. 'I've known for a while that I feel different towards you compared to others. I feel… Safe around you, like I can trust you, and while everyone calls you plain-looking, I think you're actually quite cute.'

Izuku felt like his head was going to explode. One, Todoroki had just called him cute; two, his crush just admitted to feeling safe around him; and three, Todoroki was looking at him with such sincerity that his chest ached.

'That makes me so happy, Todoroki-kun, you have no idea.' He whispered, tears spilling from his eyes. 'I feel the same about you, except you're not cute, you're… Actually quite breathtaking.'

When he was met with silence, Izuku looked up to find Todoroki looking at him with amusement.

'Well now you've made me look bad.' He huffed, standing up and walking towards him.

'You could never look bad. That was my whole point. ' Izuku quipped, before suddenly being enveloped in a hug.

That was another thing about their relationship that surprised Izuku in a good way: Todoroki, touch-starved most of his life, had become particularly fond of cuddles. Now, Izuku had no qualms with this - he encouraged his friend to smother him with hugs whenever he needed it - but this hug felt different. Several emotions were communicated in that moment.

It almost felt desperate, yet hopeful.

'I'll have to thank Aizawa for pairing us up for that project.' Todoroki murmured against his neck, eliciting a short laugh from Izuku.

'Yeah definitely.' He pulled away to take his friend's hand, interlocking their fingers. 'We can thank him together.'

Todoroki huffed with mirth.

'I like the sound of that.'

[lunalucrea]

For the AU thing! Pro Hero AU/future AU!!!

Oh! I've done quite a bit of thinking on this. Here's a few, but not all :D

-After everything Izuku still goes through intense phases of hypervigilance, especially concerning the safety of those closest to him. He'll over-work, under-eat and over all just stress.

As time goes on he gets better about it. His closest friends, mother, and surviving teachers (Aizawa, Mic, and All Might (to a lesser extent, because he also suffers from the same hypervigilance)) all start to recognize the signs and bad habits, and have gotten pretty good at helping him step back.

-Izuku and Bakugou never become best friends, but they do become friendly eventually. They meet up occasionally, grab coffee, team up regularly and sometimes just need to scream at each other. Both have gone through so. much. therapy at this point. Their strange, often turbulent relationship is well known with the media, and sometimes they might even play it up a bit. You know. For shits. Bets are constantly made between them when it comes to wearing each others merch or embarrassing each other.

-The hero ranking system no longer exists. Popularity contests still happen with the media, and statistics still exist, but official rankings do not. Elevating heroes to godhood status is heavily discouraged, and teamwork is greatly encouraged, especially by the current generation. As such, Bakugou, Todoroki, Midoriya, and to a slightly lesser extent Kaminari and Uraraka constantly dance around each other in popularity polls. The rest of them aren't slouches either!

-Several of the students from UA, as well as a few older heroes form a foundation to help the less fortunate/rehabilitate/help non-violent offenders in an attempt to prevent anything like the LOV from happening again. It has it's ups and downs, as well as it's nay-sayers. They do their best.

-Class A is a family. They still talk, support each other, and sometimes even fight amongst themselves. But if one of them gets hurt/needs help, they all answer the call, regardless of how mad they might be at each other. This includes their teachers. The first time one of them dies is one of the largest funerals ever recorded.

-All Might lives. His health isn't the best, but he lives dammit. He watches these kids grow into their own, and is one of the first to arrive when they get hurt or need help. He speaks at some of their weddings, commendations, and even, unfortunately, some of their funerals eventually.

-The vestiges of OFA slowly fade with time, but never leave completely. He still dreams with them, and occasionally speaks with them or sees them. Part of defeating AFO and Shiggy involves Izuku "giving up" his quirk, but it fades much in the same way it did with All Might. That being said, there's so much energy stored up that it lasts the rest of his life, even if he does get weaker with time. He can always feel the vestiges deep inside his soul, and when All Might dies, he feels that too.

Send me an AU and I'll give you 5 headcanons for it

[rhymaes]

This meme is very fun and I want to offer you dealers choice of your fave AU

SDFGHJK THANK YOUUUUUUU!!! <333 i love this sooo much ahhh! OKAY SO! I’m obsessed with Time-Travel/Do-Over/Play-It-Again/Parallel Universe Lifetimes, so that’s what I’m going to go with &, non-surprisingly, I’m going to use BNHA because I've made peace with the fact im never going to write the 20k+ fic this AU deserves 1.) By the times Izuku is ready to take the UA entrance exam, he has lived 185 lives. Quirk discovery doesn’t stop when you’re 5, but when you’re 6 & falling from a bridge to catch your friend, only to wake up five minutes in the past- well, things fall into place.  It’s even worse when no one believes you. The time jumps are not an exact science, so he can get thrown anywhere from two seconds in the past to three years. He can’t control it; he’s tried. 2.) When no one believes you about your invisible quirk, you have to get creative in order to cope & not fall into pits of insanity. So he manages, and life after the Bridge Incidence is even normal, really, up until he meets All Might for the first time. He names the quirk (re)start, and doesn’t dare to mention it when All Might offers him One-For-All. 3.) Moral Compass whom? If this kid had a hard time telling apart the law from what he believes is right before, those 123 times of watching his friends die in front of them obliterated the concept entirely! Izuku’s moral compass comes down to this: whatever it takes, he’ll get his friends out alive.  The cost is relative when he knows all he has to do is die to restart the timeline. Infinite tries mean nothing in the face of losing his friends. 4.) Out of all his lives, he’s only told someone about his quirk in four of them. After the first time, he makes sure only to share it when he knows the timeline is about to reset. The first time is, of course, the first time he (re)starts with Bakugo on the bridge. The second time is a third grade confession to his mom that he restarts once the overlooked bullying in his school gets involved. The third time is at the entrance exam, where the robot does fall on Uraraka & he panic explains, hyperventilating, until he restarts to a day earlier. The fourth is at the training camp, because Todoroki got too close to an explosion trying to save him & Izuku watches mismatches eyes unfocused with horror while he explains what he’s going to do. He restarts to an hour earlier and doesn’t leave Todoroki’s side the entire night. 5.) The first time Uraraka, Todoroki, and Shinsou catch onto his quirk before he even says anything, he restarts two days earlier in a panic. But that doesn’t stop them. Each restart falls along the same lines until Uraraka figures it out. The confrontation confession is a bit of a mess & they’re all devastated by what Izuku keeps giving up to save them once it’s uncovered. But they make him promise to stop staying alone, no matter how many times he restarts. They tell him, Come find us, every time. We’ll help you. And for Izuku--  it’s more than he ever knew he needed.

[aro-aizawa]

SOME GREAT OL’ BNHA FIC RECOMMENDATIONS

Guide

✨  = Favourite 🔥  = Slow Burn 
❗️  = Manga Spoilers 
✔️  = Complete 
📔  = Multi-chapters 👊  = Excessive violence / whump

Non-shipping

Yesterday Upon the Stair by PitViperOfDoom ( ✨ ❗️ 📔 ) 148k Izuku has a quirk that lets him sees ghosts. Twists canon in ways that makes the whole story feel new and fresh whilst retaining the charm. Beautifully written and every time there’s a new chapter released I cry because I love it so much (seriously no exaggeration). 

Flourish by wildcrisis ( 📔 ) 23.8k Baby Shinsou gets adopted by Aizawa. This fic is full to the brim with domestic sweetness, with a lot of potential angst in the future. There’s also very very vague background EraserMic but if that’s not your thing it can be very easily ignored (or not if you’re into it). Good time and a wholesome fic.

But You Gotta Get Up At Least One More by simkjrs ( ✨ ❗️ 📔 ) 104k Loosely based off One Punch Man, but not necessary for the read. Quirkless Izuku has ridiculous super strength and is basically really badass hero. He accidentally becomes a cryptid of class 1-A, whilst Bakugou’s and Izuku’s relationship is the forefront. Great fic with a lot of development and is very very well written. 

Know what I’ve Made By The Marks On My Hands by simkjrs ( ✨ ❗️ 📔 ) 17.7k Also referred to as My Spirit Academia, quirks are abilities that are granted to people by spirits that no one can see. The only exception is Izuku, and this makes him an outcast to both spirits and people. And when heroes start loosing their quirks, it turns out that Izuku is the only person who can help. Sassy child who needs a good nights sleep and a hug.

Daymare by IntrospectiveInquisitor ( 📔 👊 )  132.9k Izuku gets hit and hit and hit and just can’t catch a break. Basically, the main story but Izuku has a quirk that he finds horrifying, ball of nerves. Just want to wrap him up in a blanket and give him all the love in the world.

The Thin Gray Line by A_ToastToTheOutcasts ( 
✔️ 📔 ) 89.6k Quirkless Izuku gives up being a hero to become a vigilante. Ends up doing quite a lot of the same stuff in canon, but quirkless. Sassy child going against the law.

The Difference Between by phaunts ( ✨ 📔 👊 ) 11.9k Kidnap fic with a lot of promise. Or alternatively the mall conversation with Shigaraki ends up with a different outcome, well written and angsty. Man I can’t wait for the next chapter. 

The Mentor’s Rage by BeyondTheClouds777 ( 📔 👊 ) 35.7k  Izuku gets hurt real bad during the USJ attack. I nickname this fic the great whumping of Deku. Nice mix of angsty and sweet? Also at a point in time where the main story is done, but there could always be more if the author thinks of more. I regularly go back to read this whenever I want to read some good whump fics.

The World Without Me by BeyondTheClouds777 ( 
✔️ 
📔 👊 ) 38.6k Izuku dies whilst out with the class, it’s emotional and Izuku isn’t dead for long. Beats you up in a dark alley with feels, whilst throwing flowers on you ft 19 over protective children and the boy who just needs a rest.

Sound check, one two three by shibo226 ( ✨ 
📔 ) 41k Izuku befriends a quirkless girl, later she ends up becoming his big sister. An OC involved story, but don’t let that put you off. It’s well written, and honestly one of my favourite fanfictions right now. I rarely like OC fanfics, but this one has my soul. 

Kirishima / Bakugou

Those Ten Moments by Kivea ( ✨ 
✔️ ) 11.8k Kaminari sees his friends are crushing hard on each other and decides to help set them up. It’s adorable and it’s just a wholesome fic where Kaminari ends up bonding with all the girls whilst setting his bro up. Not gonna lie this fic is 60% responsible for how much I love Denki. 

One to Ten by crunchrapsupreme ( 
✔️ ) 7.4k Kirishima is all kinds of gay for Bakugou and makes up a friendship scale deciding that when he gets to 10, he’ll ask the explosive blond out on a date. He starts on a -4. Really sweet bonding fic and honestly Kiri is absolutely not subtle. 

2am Knows All Secrets by Sarahhaley ( 🔥 ❗️ 📔 ) 55.8k Bakugou gets nightmares and our sweet child Kirishima does his best to help out his bro. It’s really sweet and wholesome, and full of pining. Definitely want to check this one out.

Fight Me by ryonello ( ✔️ ) 2.4k Bakugou gets wrecked for once and ends up in the hospital with a really hot nurse. He’s still stubborn as hell, and Kiri is a cutie so this is a really fluffy fic.

The Beauty of a Beast by starofjems ( 🔥 
✔️ 📔 ) 101.7k Bakushima but with Beauty and the Beast elements. Really well written, Kirishima has scales and there’s magic. It’s gay and whenever I read it I usually have the intense need to watch the third ending over again because it’s got that kind of feel to it? God it’s great.

License to Kill by thats_a_secret ( 🔥 📔 ) 44.2k The Villain Bakugou fic. He’s kidnapped as a kid, and ends up becoming a villain. The shipping is really low key, so technically this should be in the no ship category but not really. Follows canon events but ya know villain Bakugou. 

Midoriya / Todoroki

Pulling the Wires by catsplosionxd & PsychoLimbo ( ✨ 👊 📔 ) 47k Izuku is kidnapped as a kid and forced into being a villain comes across Todoroki, they become unlikely friends. Two children who just are in desperate need for hugs and protection. Accurate portrayal of trauma and every chapter I feel I need to rage at any who want to hurt these children. Very gay children. Yaoyorozu is 95% of their impulse control.

Erased Potential by theslytherinpaladin ( 🔥 📔 ) 45.2k Instead of Izuku being taught by All Might, consider Aizawa taking him under his wing instead. Izuku trains to become a hero despite being quirkless, he’s going to fight tooth and nail for his rightful place at UA with Aizawa’s help. Great fic, honestly could be canon. I love quirkless fics.

United In the Storm by theslytherinpaladin ( ✨ 🔥 📔 ) 49.2k Set after USJ, Inko gets killed, and Izuku is adopted by All Might. Sweet and very angsty as you would expect, baby Izuku just wants to get stronger to protect those he loves. There’s also Dad Might so that automatically makes it brilliant.  {{ I should mention that I am a sucker for all of PitViperOfDoom’s MHA works, so whilst I could suggest all their works these following are my favourites in particular. }}

Tenth by PitViperOfDoom ( 
✔️ ) 2.5k A sad fic that tears at your heart. If you love a heaping serving of angst and sadness involving these two then here’s the perfect fic for you. Really well written and leaves you wanting more without feeling incomplete. 

Count Your Blessings, Not Your Flaws by PitViperOfDoom ( 
✔️ ) 7.4k Full of pining and misunderstandings involving these two nerds. Sadly relatable for some, but good job the rest of class 1-A has their backs to sew everything back together.

Burn and Breathe / Bedhead by PitViperOfDoom ( ✨ 
✔️ ) 13.2k Soulmate AU where you share pain. With these two it’s like gasoline on a bonfire, angsty and beautiful. Well worth a read, especially the latter. It’s easy to say the first is more angsty than the latter, but the latter is a lot sweeter and fluffier than the first. 

Riddles in the Heart by PitViperOfDoom ( 
✔️ ) 18.8k Super intriguing storytelling, the premise is that whoever answers three riddles correctly gets to marry Prince Shouto, but if you get one wrong you’re executed in front of the public. Izuku decides to give it a try. 

An Arrow to a Bundle by PitViperOfDoom ( 
✔️ ) 5.9k Based off a tumblr post, a no-quirk AU. Endeavor is a dick, but it’s okay because Izuku ropes his friends into helping. It’s a great fic full of support for Todoroki. At the very least read the tumblr post it’s based off.

Send Endeavor to the Shadow Realm by PitViperOfDoom ( ✨ ❗️ 
✔️ 📔 ) 79.7k A six part series, the first four are Izuku vaguing Endeavor and throwing shade. The last two entries are full of angst with helpings of adorable moments, primarily deals with how shitty Endeavor is and helping Shouto. There’s also a really gay part in it. I reread it very regularly. {{ Here ends my PitViperOfDoom fic recs, onto more TodoDeku }}

sore must be the storm by pouler ( 
✔️ ) 10.4k Todoroki and Izuku get into a near death experience and get to talk about some stuff. It’s so well written that you can practically feel the tension and fragility of the situation.

i am cold, can you hear? by midoizuku ( 🔥 📔 ) 33.7k #DadMightIsCanon - Todoroki and Izuku meet before UA and they bond over the fact that their dads are really famous heroes. It’s sweet and well written, one of the first fics that I read.

One of “Those” by Ultimatum ( ✔️ ) 6.5k A take on how the MHA world of heroes would deal if two pro heroes get outed as gay boyfriends. Endeavor is a homophobic ass. 

Confession Through Text by anonymouseling shameless self promo 4.1k Todoroki knows he has a crush on his first friend, many people worry about how they would confess their love and they’d do so in a well thought out and careful manner.  Todoroki doesn’t quite get that concept.

[parchmentedscrolls]

FKEL #2: First Date Kiss

Fandom: My Hero Academia Characters: Katsuki Bakugo, Izuku Midoriya, Ochaco Uraraka, Tsuyu Asui Pairing(s): Izuku/Katsuki [BakuDeku] Word Count: 2637

Izuku Midoriya was aware that he was of the emotional sort. He’d always been quick to process and show his emotions, which had, admittedly, made him infamous as a crybaby. But, thanks to that, he knew he was good at understanding what he felt and knew how to get it under control fairly quickly (even though that often involved bursting into tears).

Unlike a certain explosive blond he knew, Izuku noted, sparing a glance at said blond. Kacchan was aiming an explosion at Mineta, who’d just been trying to peek on Asui and Uraraka while they were changing.

As much as Izuku didn’t condone violence as a punishment, he wasn’t really too upset about Mineta being the one to be the target of Kacchan’s wrath, considering his sheer lack of respect for the opposite sex.

Either way, Izuku knew that Kacchan, though still violent and impulsive, was at least trying to get a better hold on himself—and had been since his kidnapping by the League of Villains. And he knew he wasn’t the only one to notice it—even the rest of 1-A had noted that Kacchan was slowly beginning to smoothen out his roughest edges.

It would be a lie for Izuku to say he wasn’t proud of his childhood friend-slash-rival.

“Oi, Deku, the hell are you staring at with that fuckin’ grin on your face for?” Kacchan snapped, pulling Izuku out of his thoughts. At least I wasn’t mumbling, Izuku thought, relieved. God knew Kacchan would never let his pride accept Izuku being proud of him—heck, he’d think Izuku was looking down on him again.

But weren’t they past that by now? Ever since their second Ground Beta fight and his reveal of One for All to Kacchan, hadn’t they gotten better? Kacchan had understood that Izuku had never looked down on him (how he could have even fathomed that was ridiculous; he’d been Izuku’s image of victory his whole life), and that all the anger he’d harboured towards Izuku had been unwarranted.

“Hey, answer me, you damn nerd!” A small explosion crackled in front of Izuku’s face.

“K-K-K-K-Kacchan!” Izuku stuttered finally, internally scolding himself for spacing out right the second Kacchan had spoken to him. “S-sorry, I was just thinking—”

“Yeah? About what?” Kacchan hadn’t asked sarcastically, if the tone of his voice was anything to go by, prompting Izuku to answer before he’d even thought about what he was going to say.

“You.” It was out of his mouth before Izuku could stop it.

The sparks on Kacchan’s hands fizzled out as his expression turned blank and his face reddened.

“Kacchan?”

Kacchan didn’t respond, and instead looked away and sat down in his seat in front of Izuku.

Odd. Not Kacchan-like at all, Izuku thought, pulling out Hero Analysis for the Future #2—the one he’d dedicated entirely to Kacchan (the first one having been about All Might) —and noted down Kacchan’s strange change in behavior, wondering what could possibly have instigated this sudden . . . docile attitude.

Docile, Izuku figured, probably seemed like the last word someone would use to describe Kacchan, right down there with calm and non-confrontational, but when there wasn’t anything bothering the blond, he was just that: docile.

Interesting.

“Deku-kun. Deku-kun! Deku-kun!”

“Whaaa— Uraraka-san?”

“Deku-kun, class has been over for fifteen minutes—we thought you were taking notes for class, but—” Uraraka cut herself off. “Is that whole notebook about Bakugo-kun?”

“Yeah, I’ve been taking notes on Kacchan since he got his Quirk,” Izuku admitted, scratching the back of his neck sheepishly.

“That’s . . . that’s pretty cool,” Uraraka said, blinking in surprise.

Izuku could feel his face heat under the praise but tried his best to keep it under control. “Really? I just . . . I mean, Kacchan’s the cool one, if anything . . .”

Asui nudged Uraraka in the arm. “Speaking of Bakugo-chan, how did you get him to calm down earlier?”

“Huh? I didn’t do anything, really, he’s gotten calmer on his own,” Izuku confessed, “but we settled a lot of . . . past misunderstandings recently, so Kacchan’s had less troubling thoughts on his mind. He was the one who actually asked me what I was thinking about, so I told him that it was him, and he just kinda, well, defused.”

Uraraka and Asui shared a look. “Oh, Deku-kun . . .”

Asui nodded in sympathy. “Midoriya-chan . . .”

“Huh? What is it? I don’t get it!” Izuku protested, completely at a loss. What were the girls seeing that he wasn’t?

“Deku, get your ass over here before I blow it to fucking smithereens!”

Still confused, Izuku apologetically left the two girls, running after Kacchan. “Kacchan, wait!”

For the first time, Kacchan did. “C’mon, nerd, we’re gonna go to that soba place that opened up around the corner.”

“E-eh? In our uniforms?”

“No, not in our uniforms, you damn idiot. We’re going to the dorms to get changed, and then we’re gonna get the fucking soba.”

Oh. That made more sense. Then again, most things Kacchan said (with, of course the exception of “DIE” and other choice threats) did.

It had taken more or less forever for Izuku to get changed, since Kacchan had rejected the comfy tee that Izuku had initially picked out which had the word T-shirt on it in katakana, so now he was wearing a violet sweater over a shirt that Kacchan had lent him, since all Izuku’s casual clothes were “fucking childish,” as he’d so eloquently put it. Then again, Izuku knew that Kacchan’s fashion sense was way better than his could ever be, so it hadn’t taken much convincing.

While he was on the subject of Kacchan’s fashion sense, Izuku glanced over at his childhood friend, who was dressed in a short-sleeved button up and tight jeans.

Hang on, since when did Kacchan of all people wear tight jeans and not loose, baggy ones? They did look good on Kacchan, and Izuku wouldn’t deny it. The jeans were firm around Kacchan’s legs, accentuating the muscle there that still somehow remained lean on his legs. There was barely even a crease in them as he wore them—how on Earth had Kacchan put those on in record time with how tight they looked, especially around his—

“Having fun checking me out, nerd?”

“EHH? No, I wasn’t—that wasn’t what I—Kacchan!” Izuku buried his face in his hands—well, his arms—to try and cover up the blush that was undoubtedly taking over Izuku’s face.

“Pfft—ha ha!” Was Kacchan . . . laughing?

Izuku lowered his arms to look at Kacchan, who was indeed laughing. It wasn’t one of his angry fight-me-you-bastard laughs—no, it was a genuinely happy laugh.

Izuku hadn’t heard that laugh in years, and it tugged at his heartstrings. Izuku looked down at his feet. “Your happy laugh is nice, Kacchan.”

A pause. Then, a word Izuku hadn’t expected to hear out of Kacchan’s mouth: “. . . Thanks.”

A comforting silence fell upon the duo. Subconsciously, Izuku’s hand reached out a little, pinky finger out. Kacchan’s hand responded in kind, his little finger linking around Izuku’s—as though to hold hands without actually needing to do so.

And for once, Izuku realized that he wasn’t running after Kacchan or blindly following him anymore. No, they were walking together, as equals.

By the time the duo sat down at their table, Katsuki’s hand was already missing Deku’s warmth. It was embarrassing as all fuck for him for him to have become so dependent on the stupid nerd, but as he’d been told time and time again by the counselor at UA—her name was Hatori or something—his feelings weren’t meant to be shut down. He needed to learn to accept them; learning to depend on people was a part of the process.

He was secretly thankful to All Might and Aizawa for making him start those counselling sessions. Not that he’d ever admit it.

“So, Kacchan,” Deku said, making direct eye contact with Katsuki, “since when did you like soba?”

Katsuki didn’t quite know how to say that he’d found out about the new restaurant and wanted to take Deku there before that damn Half’n’Half bastard decided to. “I wanted to taste the shit here before Half’n’Half,” Katsuki just said. It wasn’t entirely a lie. “And their spicy katsudon is supposed to be pretty good too.”

Katsuki knew he had Deku’s attention the moment he said “katsudon”. Good to know that some things about Deku hadn’t changed at all in the past ten years, despite everything that had happened to drive them apart—no. Despite everything Katsuki had done to drive them apart.

It was your fault, after all, whispered the nagging voice that had been pestering him since All Might’s fight with All For One. Maybe even since the incident with the sludge villain.

“Kacchan, are you alright?” Izuku asked from across the table.

 “Kacchan, are you alright?” Izuku reached a hand out to Katsuki, who’d only just stood up after falling off the log bridge, into the river. “Can you stand?”

No one had asked him if he was alright before. He didn’t know how to answer. Instead, he just stared at Izuku’s hand.

“It would’ve been bad if you hit your head.”

“Kacchan’s fine, he’s strong!” the kids above just scoffed, jeering at Izuku.

Did Izuku think he wasn’t strong? Was that why he asked? Of course Katsuki was fine! Like he couldn’t handle a little water.

Katsuki slapped Izuku’s hand away. “Don’t look down on me, Izuku.”

The other kids laughed.

Izuku didn’t.

 “. . . an? Kacchan!”

Katsuki looked up at Deku, who was looking at him with the same concerned expression Katsuki had despised over the last few years.

He isn’t looking down on you, Katsuki told himself, echoing Hatori’s words. You should talk to him, especially if you can talk to him easier than you can talk to me, he remembered her saying.

“. . . Thinkin’ about the battle with All For One,” Katsuki mumbled under his breath. “And all the shit I did before that. ’Specially to you.”

Deku flinched slightly, but the expression was gone just as soon as it had come. “Kacchan,” he says, looking Katsuki evenly in the eyes, “yeah, you’ve done and said some pretty terrible stuff in the past, but you’re better than that now, and we all know it.” Deku was completely confident in what he was saying. “I do more than anyone else. Think about how far you’ve come since the sludge villain!”

—if you think you’ll have a Quirk in your next life, go take a swan dive off the roof—

“Why’d you save me?” Ordinarily, Katsuki would have hated to use the word ‘save,’ but it was the only way he could put it. The only way it could be put.

Deku’s voice lowered. “I couldn’t just let you die, Kacchan,” he said softly, looking straight at Katsuki with those damn big eyes.

“Deku, I fucking told you to kill yourself that day—”

“Would you say it now?”

Katsuki didn’t hesitate for a second. “No.”

“Then that just proves you’re changing for the better, Kacchan. Yeah, you were a jerk back in middle school, but you’ve come a long way from that.” Deku’s voice was gentle—as it always was—as he said it, carefully laying a hand over Katsuki’s.

For once, Katsuki didn’t pull away from the contact. Normally, he hated all forms of physical contact and affection (something Shitty Hair and Racoon Eyes never seemed to understand), but now, with the gentleness Deku was using, it wasn’t so loathsome.

Deku looked warily at Katsuki, as if to ask, Is this okay for you?

Katsuki just nodded, allowing his own hand to curl around Deku’s.

“Kacchan,” Deku’s voice was almost a whisper as he slowly lifted Katsuki’s hand closer to his face and pressed a soft, quick kiss to Katsuki’s knuckle. His hand twitched in Deku’s hold, but he didn’t pull away.

“Izuku,” Katsuki breathed, not quite sure where the air in his lungs went. Instead, he took their connected hands back towards him, slowly straightening Deku’s fingers, removing them from his other hand. Deku let him, and continued to let him raise Deku’s hand up to Katsuki’s face so that it cupped his cheek.

Deku kept his hand on Katsuki’s cheek, even as a single, silent tear escaped from Katsuki’s eye.

Katsuki wasn’t used to affection. He didn’t like it; didn’t like how suffocated he felt when people decided to touch him casually; how easy it was for them to think they could break him down physically when all he wanted was to be strong and always win; how—

How it reminded him of the way he used to push Deku around in middle school.

This was wrong. He didn’t deserve this.

Katsuki pulled Deku’s hand off his cheek. Deku didn’t protest. He never did. All he did was look at Katsuki with concern—that same fucking face he made that day by the river; when the sludge monster was holding him captive; when he was being pulled backwards into the warp gate to the League of Villains by that scarred fucker.

The face that understood that Katsuki needed saving.

The only face who had ever understood.

It was too much.

Katsuki stood up abruptly, muttered something about needing to use the bathroom, and stiffly walked out, into the restaurant bathroom, locked himself in a stall, and felt himself collapse onto the (closed) toilet seat, gripping his head in his hands as he felt his body shaking.

It wasn’t a panic attack; he hadn’t had one of those in a while, but if he kept feeling this shitty, he wouldn’t be far off from one.

“Kacchan!” Great, now fucking Deku would be here to see it. “Kacchan, open the door!” Or what, Deku? “Or I’ll get it open myself!” The telltale crackle of the electricity of One For All filled the air.

Kacchan threw the door open. “Were you seriously going to use your fucking Quirk to destroy the damn lock?” Katsuki demanded.

“I was going to kick it open,” Deku admitted.

“That’s worse!”

“I was worried about you!”

“I don’t need your fucking wo—” That was a lie. “Sorry,” Katsuki grumbled. He wasn’t just apologizing for this, and Katsuki knew Deku knew it too.

“It’s okay,” was all Deku said. “It’s okay, Kacchan.”

“It isn’t.”

“If I say it’s okay now, it’s okay.”

“When did you start calling the shots, shitty nerd?”

Deku just laughed. “Come on, Kacchan, let’s go eat before the soba goes cold—unless you like your soba cold?”

“Hell no, that’s Half’n’Half’s thing.”

Deku hummed appraisingly. “I knew you paid attention to the others, even when you pretend you don’t.”

“Shut up.”

“And I know you don’t like soba, either.”

“Shut up.”

“So that means . . .”

“Shut up, Deku.”

“. . . that this is a date!”

Katsuki bluescreened. Then, “I SAID TO SHUT UP, SHITTY DEKU!”

“Sorry, sorry!” Deku laughed. “I couldn’t help it!”

The mood lightened from there, and Katsuki was glad for it. When they were about to leave, Deku’s hand was once again on Katsuki’s cheek, where he’d put it an hour earlier. Instinctively, Katsuki nudged into the touch and not away from it, and his lips barely brushed Deku’s palm in what could have been little less than a chaste kiss.

The smile on Deku’s face was worth the embarrassing action. Maybe someday, Katsuki thought as he looked into those glowing viridian eyes, maybe someday it can be a proper kiss. Maybe what we have could be more.

Maybe someday, you can find it in yourself to love me.

Forty Kisses; Eternal Love Masterlist