#izuku midoriya's market of trust issues

[pikahlua]

You’ve heard of ch. 322 spoilers translations; now introducing ch. 322 meta dissections!

I spared no expense. I have to explain to you so many things.

oh lawd he comin’

Tagged: Everyone who’s been asking how I feel about the apology.

Initial spoilers translations here.

Katsuki’s apology translations here.

I’ll be colloquializing the translations here.

Izuku’s art style is in a nebulous in-between state. Before now, the way he was drawn was indicative of the gap between him and the rest of the world, similar to how All Might is drawn outside the manga style of everyone else.

Here, Izuku is trying to come back to normal because he wants to, but he also feels he shouldn’t. The tendrils of Black Whip return to resemble his previous style.

But the Deku mask has been torn away. 1-A is trying to reach Izuku, to talk to him, but Izuku is still trying to hide. He’s toned black with white, shapeless eyes to the point of resembling a silhouette. He hasn’t fully formed as Izuku again yet.

Meanwhile, Katsuki stands in-frame, his reopened wound the focal center.

It’s a callback to this moment.

The last thing Izuku heard before going berserk was what Katsuki said to him. Katsuki has managed to return to this moment in order to continue what he was trying to say to Izuku back then.

And now’s the best time to do it, because Izuku is going to run away again if no one can reach his heart.

So he picks up right where he left off:

Do you remember what I said when I was stabbed by Shigaraki?

As Izuku says he doesn’t remember, the shadows from his tone disperse. He’s back to this moment:

Back to when he was too shocked to understand what Katsuki’s words to him were. When his pupils started to white out and disappear.

But Izuku’s eyes are still unseeing. So Katsuki’s speech takes him through their lives together, explaining his feelings throughout their entire relationship. He starts with their childhood.

“Don’t try to win by yourself.” And there’s more to add. My body moved on its own and I was stabbed…! So I felt like I needed to tell you something. I was always looking down on you...because you were quirkless. Even though I thought you should have been far behind me, I came to feel like you were far ahead of me. And I couldn’t stand it. I didn’t want to see it. I didn’t want to admit it.

First of all, this apology is starting out parallel to Endeavor’s. “I felt like I needed to tell you something.” This apology is prompted by a traumatic realization in a dire moment for Katsuki. Endeavor had a similar experience with Natsuo.

Katsuki and Endeavor are not the same person. Their characters and arcs are very different from each other’s, but they do share some parallels.

That’s because Endeavor’s apology to Natsuo was meant to be the lesson Katsuki took away from his work study at Endeavor’s agency. It’s the thing he’s missing on his path to become Number One.

Katsuki and Endeavor are not on the same path, obviously, because Katsuki has the exact opposite problem Endeavor has when it comes to his apology.

Izuku’s forgiveness could come too readily, could come before Katsuki properly atones.

Horikoshi tells us Katsuki’s atonement is happening by reopening Katsuki’s wound.

This is a symbolic moment. Katsuki is reopening old, unhealed wounds. He’s suffering the pain that resulted from his atoning step in chapter 285 of saving Izuku by sacrificing himself. He won’t allow the wound to close up without feeling it. He won’t deny his feelings like he did all their lives. He’s accepting his weaknesses.

And so finally, finally Katsuki expresses to Izuku how he really feels about him, how he always felt about him. Izuku never would have fathomed that Katsuki felt like Izuku was better than him. How could Izuku even consider that when Izuku never considers himself at all?

Remember Izuku’s reaction to Katsuki’s words in Deku vs. Kacchan, Part 2?

Izuku hears that Katsuki thought Izuku looked down on him, and his reaction is, “No, I didn’t look down on you. I looked up to you.” Izuku makes his own feelings clear.

But now, in Kamino, Izuku learns it’s not just that Katsuki misunderstood Izuku’s feelings. Now Izuku is learning he himself misunderstood Katsuki’s feelings. Katsuki actually thought Izuku was above him.

Keep that in mind for later. We’ll come back to it.

That’s why I wanted to keep you away, and I bullied you.

What’s important about this line is how it acknowledges the physical distance between them. Katsuki actively tried to keep Izuku at arm’s length. Izuku perceived it as Katsuki running far ahead of him, when Katsuki was really denying how it felt like he was trailing far behind Izuku.

By denying all that, I was trying to act like I was superior. I was always losing to you. Then, we entered UA...

They are shown in their middle school uniforms, because Katsuki’s referenced facade of superiority is from chapter 1.

You can see the physical distance between them is still large. Katsuki feels like he lost to Izuku that day, but he maintains his denial of Izuku’s potential, acting superior instead.

Then he moves on to his feelings in high school.

...and things never once went the way I wanted. It was just day after day of realizing your strengths and my own weaknesses.

And damn is he right! So much of the early chapters are dedicated to this observation. For some reason, these words particularly reminded me of the ride to the USJ...

...when suddenly Katsuki is the one getting picked on by the class. Izuku’s passion in their combat training actually endeared him to everyone, something Izuku has never experienced. Meanwhile, Katsuki suffers the consequences of his weaknesses.

And so each panel of this apology, showing how they’ve seen each other since childhood, addresses the hole that Izuku narrates about in Deku vs. Kacchan, Part 2.

“We’d never really talked things out” is a translation of:

本音で話あった事がない honne de hanashi atta koto ga nai “We’ve never had a talk about how we really feel.”

Just saying this won’t make things right, but it’s how I really feel, Izuku.

The keyword is honne, meaning “true intentions/feelings.” Katsuki uses the same word here. “Honne da.” “These are my true feelings.” We’ve only ever heard that word from Izuku narrating before. Yet here, Katsuki says it out loud, in front of the entire class.

For everything until now, I’m sorry.

All of it. Their childhood. Middle school. High school. Every misunderstanding. Every denial. Every lie.

Katsuki is a sincere person. He doesn’t like to lie. He had to fool himself out of understanding his own feelings for things to get to this point.

Katsuki bows lower than Izuku. He’s placed Izuku above him now.

And the pupils of Izuku’s eyes have fully returned. He can see again. He is no longer blinded by his fear, nor is he blind to Katsuki’s real feelings anymore.

I also have to point out the wet sidewalk rippling with raindrops. You know, like they’re standing in water, like in a pond or something.

“As for your path as the successor of One For All, there’s nothing wrong with the ideal All Might represents by itself. And yet now, you’re swaying on your feet. There are walls you can’t overcome with only your ideal of All Might. Whatever you cannot handle, we all will handle. In order to surpass the ideal of All Might, whether it’s you or the refugees at UA or the people of this city, without exception, we will save to win.“

What I love about this part is how Katsuki explicitly says “we,” but the way he says it does not necessarily exclude Izuku from the group. It could be read that Katsuki is speaking for class 1-A, that they will handle what Izuku cannot and protect Izuku and everyone else and win. It could also be read that Izuku is included in class 1-A for this statement.

And in that final sentence, the “we” is only implied. He could be talking about Izuku and himself as a team. He could be talking about just himself.

I think, given the invocation of “save to win” (not “win to save”), Katsuki is excluding Izuku here. I think he’s saying “this is my strength that is anything comparable to yours, and that strength is us, my team, class 1-A, whom I brought here to save you.”

Because Class 1-A is comparable to One For All.

So, it’s time to circle back to this.

Izuku hears that Katsuki thought Izuku looked down on him, and his reaction is, “No, I didn’t look down on you. I looked up to you.” Izuku makes his own feelings clear.

But now, in Kamino, Izuku learns it’s not just that Katsuki misunderstood Izuku’s feelings. Now Izuku is learning he himself misunderstood Katsuki’s feelings. Katsuki actually thought Izuku was above him.

Izuku understands now. Katsuki is admitting he thought he was the one chasing after Izuku all this time. Katsuki was always hurt by how far behind Izuku he perceived himself to be. Now, Katsuki has finally caught up by cultivating a similarly strong power: teamwork.

And if Katsuki was always so hurt by how much better Izuku was than him, then...

Izuku realizes how Katsuki took everything he’s said while trying to run away.

For a long time, everyone...

“I said…‘you can’t keep up’…”

had always been ahead of me.

“‘You can’t keep up’ is such a cruel thing for me to say. I’m sorry--...”

Izuku thought everyone was ahead of him. Katsuki thought Izuku was the one who was ahead. That was the biggest misunderstanding of all between them.

Now Izuku understands. Katsuki has reached his heart. Katsuki has saved him.

Izuku is so distraught at how much his words must have hurt Katsuki that he loses the will to run. The epiphany is so emotional, he loses all remaining strength.

Katsuki, having finally been understood, also understands in return, and he rushes to catch Izuku and accept the answering apology.

Katsuki is no longer keeping Izuku at an arm’s length away.

Again, there are no pronouns in Katsuki’s response. It could be read as:

We understand.

Or it could be read as:

I understand.

Both work.

And not only does Katsuki understand the apology, that Izuku is sorry, that Izuku understands he hurt Katsuki...

He also understands when Izuku says, “What a cruel thing for me to say.”

Because Katsuki knows how it feels to say such cruel things and feel sorry for it.

[twistedtummies2]

Giants in the Sky - Part 1

As I promised, here - at long, long last - is a story based on “My Hero Academia!” This is actually an AU story I came up with, intending it as a trade with another person (who shall remain anonymous). That person found their schedule was way too busy, and as time went on, I decided it might be best to just give this AU a try myself. So here I am to do so! As I said, originally this was going to be a two-parter, but I decided to change it into two separate stories, and each story itself will be two parts...effectively making this a four-parter. (Get it? Got it. Good.) I’m going to begin work on the second story hopefully this week, but in the meantime, here’s the first tale. Part one goes up today, part two shall be up tomorrow. This first part is primarily exposition/plot-based; the “fun stuff” comes in the next half, and trust me, there’s PLENTY of it. >:)

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Once Upon a Time, in a Kingdom Far, Far Away… The Green Knight smiled, his armor shining like emeralds as he stepped out into the sunlight. He walked out with pride – a young man whose freckled face and wild, dark green hair belied his bravery and chivalry. He held his helmet under one arm, the other gripping his sword, as he stared down at the crowd of people below him. His heart swelled and he nearly felt like crying as he heard them all cheering his name…then came the voice of the King himself, echoing in his ears and making his pulses sing with joy. “All Hail Sir Midoriya of Shi-Tan! The Greatest Warrior in All of Ua! A True Hero!” The crowd cheered louder. The Green Knight closed his eyes and sighed, warmth fluttering in his heart. In truth, the adulation was just a bonus: as he heard the voices calling up his name, he knew he had helped them all. He had saved many lives by slaying the terrible Dragon of Belfast, and now they could sleep peacefully – be they peasant or nobleman – without fear of danger and destruction. Every single voice…every single life…they’d all be happy and secure. That was what truly mattered…but the recognition was nice. He felt…like he finally belonged. Like he was where he was always meant to be; where he’d wanted to be for his entire short, young life. So many years of struggle and toil…and now, here he was, his praises being sung across the empire. He whispered the words he’d heard to himself, dreamily, as he felt the warm Sun upon his youthful face: “A True Hero…” “OI! MIDORIYA!” “YAH!” Izuku Midoriya’s eyes jolted open and he jumped about a foot in the air. He gasped and panted, looking around himself in alarm, a glimmer of confusion in his wide, bright green eyes. The Castle and its courtyard had disappeared. He found himself in a wide, brown field; to one side of the field, not so far away, was the edge of the forest; just over the tops of the trees, he could see the distant, glittering, pearly shine of the Castle he’d been daydreaming about. To the other side was the farm where he worked. He looked down at himself, and sighed somewhat dismally; his beautiful green armor had been replaced with a peasant’s tunic of green, along with a dull red vest and matching shoes, his green trousers held in place by a white rope belt. Before him was the plough he had been working, pulled by a dull-eyed donkey, which swished its tail lazily as it looked back at him, serene patience in its half-lidded eyes. Midoriya smiled bashfully at the plough animal. “Sorry, Mineta,” he said to the donkey, scratching the back of his head. “I got distracted I guess…” “You do that too often.”

Midoriya blinked and froze. “…Did you just talk?” he asked the donkey. The donkey snorted, and then the voice came again… “No, you little fool. It was me. The one who pays you and gives you a home, remember?” WHAPP! Midoriya yelped and turned around as a light but firm swat bapped him upside the head. He timidly looked up and chuckled nervously at the figure who had smacked him. “Oh…uh…s-sorry, Mr. Aizawa.” Aizawa was a tall, thin man. His black hair was long and frequently unkempt, his unshaven face abnormally pale. Between these features and his seemingly permanently bloodshot eyes, Midoriya often worried the head farmer would flop over from lack of sleep. “What do you expect?” the farmer would say, when the youth addressed him about the issue. “I have to deal with you and that other rambunctious kid every day, ANYONE would lose sleep.” Aizawa frowned, and Midoriya flinched back; there was always such a dangerous, smoldering look in the older farmer’s eyes when he was irate…which was quite often. The irises could go from hollow and almost lifeless to sharp as daggers or hot as scorching flames in an instant. He wore dark clothes that were a little nicer than Midoriya’s, but not by much; with a grunt, he jabbed a thumb towards the cattle pen on the premises. “Kaminari’s having trouble with Milky White,” Aizawa grumbled. “One of you can finish ploughing later. Right now, put Mineta away and then go help him out.” Midoriya’s smile became less nervous, and he nodded respectfully. “Yes, sir,” he said, and set about undoing the plough and bringing Mineta with him by the halter to the barn where the donkey slept. Aizawa’s farm produced three things: a great abundance of poultry, with the chickens being sold to market at regular intervals, and of course the wheat in the fields…and milk. The milk all came from a single cow: an old heifer appropriately named Milky White. The name not only came from the cow’s appearance – with short, coarse hair of purest, snowy white all over her body, not a speckle of brown or black to be found beyond her huge, doe-like eyes – but for the product she put forth. Far and wide, across the Kingdom of Ua, the milk was considered to be the whitest dairy anybody had ever seen. It fetched quite a handsome price at market, far more than the chickens or the wheat ever did, and allowed the trio who dwelled on the farm to get by well enough. Midoriya had lived on the farm most of his life; he and Kaminari were orphans who had met on the streets and befriended each other. One day, many moons ago – the two were scarcely older than seven – Kaminari had suggested breaking into the home of the farmer who lived alone at the edge of the woods: Shota Aizawa. Midoriya had been hesitant, and to this day, Kaminari claimed it was his hesitant nature that got them caught (though Midoriya was fairly sure it was more likely how much noise Kaminari made while they were breaking in). Instead of turning them into the authorities – the Kingdom was not kind to thieves – Aizawa had decided the two would work on his farm for a while to “pay their debt.” That was how it had started…but after some time, the farm became like home, and the pair just…stayed there. Aizawa never seriously complained. The keyword being seriously. He ALWAYS complained. In the years he’d spent on the farm, Midoriya had developed a much closer relation to Milky White than Kaminari. After putting Mineta away, the young man with green hair trotted to the cattle pen; Milky White quietly grazed on a big trough full of barley. Beside her was a battered wooden stool, and seated on the stool was another young man – sharp-featured and with unusual, amber-colored eyes – his messy blonde hair swept away from his face. He was glaring and grinding his teeth with frustration, trying to squeeze milk out of the cow’s udders. “Rrrrgh…it’s no good!” he snapped as Midoriya stepped through the gate into the pen. He threw up his hands in defeat as he continued: “I can never get her to give me anything! It’s like she clams up!” Midoriya chuckled; his blonde friend pouted childishly. “You’re always either too rough or too gentle,” he said, patting Kaminari’s shoulder, then smiled helpfully. “Let me try: she should give me something.” Kaminari sighed and nodded in supplication, then got up from the milking stool. Midoriya sat down and gently stroked Milky White’s side. The cow let out a pleased moo, and he then began to try and milk the creature. However, after several tries, his smile faded. He was doing everything the way he always did, yet absolutely nothing was coming out. “Hey…what’s wrong, old girl?” he asked softly, patting the cow’s side. Milky White’s rather sleepy-looking eyes looked towards him and she blinked slowly. “Huh? You’re having trouble, too?” Kaminari asked, kneeling down; he’d been watching to try and figure out what he’d been doing wrong. The blonde frowned; Midoriya had NEVER failed to get milk before. “Yeah,” the green-haired boy nodded, and a worried expression crossed his face. “The past two weeks, she’s been giving less and less…maybe it’s something we’ve been feeding her?” “Impossible!” Kaminari insisted with a shake of his head. “We haven’t ever once changed her diet!” “Something wrong?” The two looked to see Aizawa leaning against the gate; he looked so tired, one swore the gate was all that was keeping him up. “She’s not milking,” Kaminari answered, gesturing to Milky White. Aizawa frowned, looking concerned and confused. He looked toward Midoriya…and tilted his head. The young man’s eyes were steadily moving between the udders and the bucket, an intense look of concentration on his face. His hand rubbed at his chin as he mumbled and muttered unintelligibly to himself. The head farmer and the blonde stable lad shared a look, then looked back to the other boy. “Oi,” Aizawa called out. “Izuku…kid, what do you think’s up?” Midoriya jumped and yelped, pulled out of thought again. He sighed with relief, and rubbed one arm. “Well…I-I was just thinking, Milky White is a pretty old cow,” he said slowly. A pause. “…And?” Kaminari pressed, while Aizawa narrowed his eyes. “Oh! Um…well…I hate to say it, but maybe she’s just gotten to an age, finally, where she…can’t give milk anymore,” he shrugged. “It would explain why it’s been harder to manage her and why we’ve been getting less and less.” Milky White let out another moo, looking offended at the implications she was so old. Midoriya smiled and patted her side reassuringly. “I think you may be right,” Aizawa nodded, and sighed wearily. “Well…in that case, there’s only one thing to do.” “Um…make apple strudel?” Both Midoriya and Aizawa stared a Kaminari, who was smiling a dopey, chipper smile. “…No,” Aizawa answered slowly, then paused before elaborating simply: “We have to sell the cow.” “Sell her?!” gasped Midoriya, while Milky White’s own eyes widened in surprise, and she let out another moo that sounded quite alarmed. “Do we…d-do we really HAVE to?” “Yes,” Aizawa responded bluntly. “I don’t have the money to keep a cow on the farm that doesn’t put anything out. At least if we sell her, we’ll be able to make some money off her one last time; hopefully enough to buy another cow.” “But their milk won’t be nearly as good as hers!” protested Midoriya. “Probably not, but if she’s not giving ANY milk, that doesn’t make much difference, does it?” Izuku felt that couldn’t easily be denied, and bit his lip. “Don’t we have any other options?” Kaminari asked, noting the conflict on his friend’s face. Aizawa raised an eyebrow. “Well, you could slaughter her yourselves, yeah.” The boys looked VERY ill, and Milky White was visibly shaking. “Yeeeeaaaah…I-I’mma pass on that,” shuddered Kaminari. “Then it’s settled,” Aizawa sniffed. “At least if she’s sold, she might be able to be a pet instead of someone’s dinner,” murmured Midoriya, rather sadly. Aizawa decided it wasn’t worth telling the rather forlorn-looking boy how unlikely that was. “Who’ll be in charge of giving her away?” Kaminari asked, while Midoriya petted the cow’s side gently. “I have some work I still need to do of my own,” Aizawa said, and pointed to Izuku. “Midoriya, you’ll take Milky White to market.” “M-Me?!” squeaked out Izuku, eyes wide. “Hey! Why not me?!” huffed Kaminari. “I haven’t been to market in ages!” “There’s a reason for that,” droned Aizawa, giving the blonde a withering stare. “The last time I sent you into town, I asked you to buy a dozen apples. You came back with two dozen pears.” “Hey, in my defense, they do taste sort of similar, AND you got more than-” “And the time before that,” Aizawa pressed on, “I sent you into town to buy some meat, and you came back with cheese! MOLDY cheese!” “I…well, um…uh…” “And the time before THAT,” Aizawa nearly growled, “I sent you to buy some milk…and you came back covered in lipstick marks, babbling about some cute blonde who traded your money for PERFUME.” Silence. Kaminari flushed, lowered his head, and kicked at the ground. “…She c-called me handsome…” Midoriya closed his eyes and shook his head, while Aizawa sighed and slapped a hand over his face. He mumbled something about being cursed into his palm, then looked back to Midoriya. “This will be your first time in the market, at least for my sake,” he said, somewhat warningly. “Please, DON’T make the same mistakes Kaminari has made.” “I won’t,” Midoriya promised, and stood up from the stool. “How soon do I leave?” “At once. Get the halter and I’ll tell you how much to ask for her, and give you further instructions…”

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“No less than five pounds, no less than five pounds…”

Izuku Midoriya – a red cap perched upon his head – muttered the mantra to himself over and over again under his breath, as he led Milky White along a crooked, broken road. The route to market passed through the forest that surrounded the farm. It had been a very long time since Midoriya had set foot on the road, and he idly wondered if anyone in town would recognize him in the least as one of the two waifs that had rambunctiously lived about the streets. Milky White let out a sad moo; Midoriya smiled kindly and paused to pat the bovine’s snout. “I know, old girl, but don’t worry,” he soothed. “I’ll make sure you get a good home, if I can. I promise.” He thought the cow smiled faintly, but he wasn’t sure. The boy continued on his path, carefully looking from left to right; he road he was taking had curves, but no forks or other paths. It was a more or less straight shot to the marketplace from here. He still had a long ways to go, however, and the forest seemed to grow denser around him, the branches of the trees twining together as their tops swayed slightly with the breeze. He had often thought the woods could be frightening, but in truth, the forest was very beautiful; the green leaves seemed to sparkle in the sunlight that shimmered between them, and he could hear birds chirping overhead. As Midoriya walked, he soon came to a patch of forest thinner than the rest; through a gap in the trees, he looked up and saw the sky. Two huge, white, puffy clouds painted the blissful blue backdrop. A sweet, vacant, daydreaming smile came over the wandering urchin’s face. In his mind’s eye, one cloud looked like a knight preparing to duel a frightful monster, represented by the other cloud. He was so lost in his daydreams, that he failed to hear Milky White’s warning bellow. And a moment later… WHUMP! “Oof!” “Ach!” Izuku thudded into something – or, rather, someone – and stumbled back clumsily before landing on his bunce with a grunt. He heard the other person fall in the same manner. “Ow,” Midoriya mumbled, massaging his sore backside for a moment before climbing up onto his feet and moving towards the other person, apologizing hastily. “I-I’m so sorry!” Izuku pleaded, extending a helping hand. “I should have watched where I was going, I just-” “It’s okay, it’s okay, stop apologizing,” the other fellow said, and stood up brushing himself off. Midoriya stepped back, withdrawing his arm and looking over the man: he was tall and exceedingly lank, with a bony face and deeply-sunken blue eyes that gave him an overall almost skeletal appearance. A huge head of wavy blonde hair adorned his scalp, and he was dressed in what appeared to be a nobleman’s coat: gold in color, with black pinstripes. Midoriya gulped nervously, eyes widening as he took in the strange man’s appearance, nearly quivering. The Mysterious Man was clearly of noble blood; would the gentleman be angry with him? He really didn’t need any trouble, he just wanted to get to the market soon… “I’m…I d-didn’t mean to bump into you, sir,” he peeped timidly, and the man – who was dusting off his coat – raised an eyebrow in his direction. “If, um…if there’s anything I can do t-to make it up to you, uh…” “Nonsense,” the Mysterious Man smiled benevolently, and gave a wink and a wide, toothy smile. “Good morning to you, Young Midoriya!” Izuku froze, mouth clapping shut. He blinked. “…Good morning to you. Uh…h-how come you know my name?” “Where are you heading this morning?” the Man asked, politely, not at all answering the question. Midoriya frowned and took a slightly suspicious step back. “I’m going to market,” he responded, lifting the part of the halter he held in emphasis. “My master’s cow here won’t milk anymore, so we’re hoping to sell her. As a pet,” he clarified, in the firmest voice he could. “Hmmm,” smirked the Mysterious Man, lifting a hand to his chin and cocking his head to one side. “I see…” A pause. “Who are you, sir?” Midoriya thought to ask. “Call me Yagi,” the Man said, simply, then smiled a bit wider. “How much are you demanding for this cow, Young Midoriya?” “No less than five pounds,” recited Izuku. Yagi frowned slightly. “Why such a sum?” “Well…um…m-my Master told me to ask for it,” Midoriya answered, honestly, and with a hint of embarrassment. “Ahhh,” nodded Yagi, then smiled anew. “And what would you say if I offered you something worth more than money?” Midoriya blinked, and looked towards Milky White, who rolled her great brown eyes up at him skeptically. He then gave Yagi an equally dubious but also keenly interested sort of look. “Such as?” Yagi smirked, and bent down, placing his hands on his knees as he was now eye-to-eye with Izuku. “Tell me, Young Midoriya…if you can…how many beans make five?” “Two in each hand, and one in your mouth!” Midoriya chirruped back, sharp as a needle, remembering the old chestnut from when he was a little boy. “Right you are!” Yagi chuckled, and tapped Midoriya on the nose. He chuckled louder as the younger man let out a childish squeak and covered his “booped” nose protectively. “And here they are now: the very beans themselves.” So saying, and with a flourish of one hand, the Mysterious Man – seemingly out of nowhere – pulled out a handful of five large, strange-looking beans: each was the size of a cashew, and each was brightly colored in different shades – red, yellow, blue, green, and pink – so that they seemed to form a little rainbow patch in the tall, thin man’s palm. “And as you are so sharp, good Midoriya,” Yagi went on, “I don’t mind offering a trade with you: how about you swap your cow…for these extraordinary, extravagant, extra-large, extra-extra-extra beans?” Midoriya looked at the colorful beans, then Yagi’s face…and frowned, scrunching his brow and looking a little confused and more than a little doubtful. “No offense, sir, but…um…why would I trade my cow for some beans?” he said, sensibly. “I mean…especially when I’ve been asked to get money. It just…doesn’t seem very wise.” “Normally, I would agree with you,” Yagi nodded, his voice equally reasonable, as he then lifted the beans a bit higher, their colors almost seeming to glisten in the sunlight that peered through the treetops. “But you haven’t got the slightest idea of what sort of beans these are. These aren’t ordinary beans: they’re MAGIC beans.” Midoriya raised an eyebrow. “Magic?” “Yes,” Yagi said. “If you plant these beans tonight – under the light of the blue moon – by morning they’ll grow into a stalk tall enough to reach the top of the blue sky itself! And not an inch less.” Midoriya’s eyes widened; now he had some interest. “Really?” “Yes, really!” Yagi grinned widely, blue eyes wide and bright. “I would stake my reputation on it!” Midoriya bit his lip…then fiddled with the halter. Milky White moved her head slowly, swinging it to watch the conversation with her own sense of dopey interest. “Again, no offense, but…I don’t know you. Sir,” Midoriya reminded the Mysterious Man. “So…what kind of reputation can I trust a stranger to have?” Yagi opened his mouth to answer…then blinked…and paused, tilting his head and looking up to the sky. “Huh,” he muttered, scratching his cheek with a long, skinny finger. “That’s reasonable enough, Young Midoriya.” Midoriya nodded and gave the halter a tug, attempting to pass. “Right. Well, thank you for your offer, sir,” he said, politely, “But I just can’t-” “Hold on, hold on!” Yagi exclaimed, with such power in his voice it made Midoriya yelp and jump back in surprise. “Let me make you a deal: the time now is…” He paused, and – with his free hand, for the other still clutched the odd beans – reached into the pocket of his nobleman’s vest, pulling out a pocket watch – both as golden as his coat – and checked it before tucking it away again. “…The time now is six o’ clock,” he reported, and then went on: “If by tomorrow, at this hour, you discover anything has happened differently, in any way at all from what I promised…then you can meet me at this exact same spot, and I’ll give you the five pounds you asked for. Now there’s something we can agree on, yeah?” Izuku still looked unconvinced. Yagi’s eyes roamed up and down the young man’s form…and he sighed before kneeling down before him. “Young Midoriya,” he whispered softly, in a voice so low and so heartfelt it caught the green-haired youth off guard. “I know we’ve only just met…and I know you haven’t got much reason at all to trust me. But I have seen the way you looked at those clouds. I know of the daydreams people say you have. Tell me something: what do you wish for, more than anything in the world?” The young man paused before answering, figuring it would do no harm: “I want to be a hero. I want…I want to help people. I want to help my village, my friends, and I…I want to BE somebody. Not just a farmer’s helper, but…someone important.” “For money or fame?” “No. Not really. I mean…those are nice, but…just knowing I did something with my life, and knowing that I helped so many other people…that’s what I really want. I want to be remembered. And I…I want to do something amazing. Something that will be worth any risk if it helps others.” Yagi’s smile widened; there was a twinkle in the thin man’s eye. “I know those dreams very well,” he said sagely, and opened his hand once more, offering the beans to the youngster again as he went on: “Take these and plant them, just as I told you. I can’t promise you what will come of them will be easy for you. I can’t promise you it will be safe. I can’t even promise you that you won’t regret it. But if you do as I say…if you take this chance I’m giving you…maybe you can be a hero.” A pause. Midoriya took a deep breath. “…Do you promise to take care of Milky White?” “I do.” “And if anything does go wrong, you do promise to pay me the five pounds?” “I’ll make it ten, if you want.” Midoriya smiled. “Then I guess there’s nothing to lose, is there?” “I wouldn’t say that,” chuckled Yagi, “But you won’t be any worse off than you are now, will you?” “That’s true,” Midoriya nodded slowly in consideration…then smiled widely, eyes lighting up. “Alright! Deal!” The bargain was executed quickly, as Yagi pulled a small leather bag out of his coat pocket. He poured the beans inside, and traded the little bag for Milky White’s halter. “Farewell, Young Midoriya,” Yagi smiled, giving a mock salute to the young man. “And a pleasure doing business with you!” “Same to you,” Midoriya smiled, adjusting his scarlet cap, and turned away, opening the bag to inspect the beans. He took a few steps away, and made sure all five were inside. Nodding to himself, he turned around again, looking up, preparing to wave goodbye… …Only to find, to his amazement, that both Yagi and Milky White had seemingly vanished into thin air. Midoriya stared at the spot where they had stood…then looked at the bag of Magic Beans…then his smile returned, and with a whoop a laugh, he pocketed the beans and ran pell-mell back down the woodland path towards the farm. He couldn’t wait to see Mr. Aizawa’s reaction!

------------------------------------------------

“YOU. LITTLE. FOOL.” With a snarl, five brightly colored, cashew-sized beans sailed out an open window in the farmhouse. Midoriya gasped and tried to grab them before they hit the ground…but it was too late. They scattered into the dirt, and must have been covered quickly, because he couldn’t see where they landed. He then whimpered and cowered as a very, VERY angry Shota Aizawa nudged him back, barring his way and glaring down at him. “Beans,” he sneered. “I’m disappointed in you, Izuku. I trusted you to make good choices. And of all things you come back with…you come back with five painted beans?” “I…b-but…but Mr. Aizawa, he said they were magic!” Aizawa’s glare didn’t shift. He just glowered, unblinkingly. Midoriya sighed and hung his head; it did sound very, very gullible, now that he thought about it. “…He…he also said…w-we could…have ten pounds…i-if it didn’t work…?” he added, hopefully, not daring to look up as he said so. “You BELIEVED him?” Midoriya remained silent. He sniffled once, and said nothing. Aizawa’s gaze softened slightly, and he pinched his brow, closing his eyes as he pointed off in another direction with one hand. “Bed,” he ordered. “Now. We’ll talk about this more in the morning. Don’t come out of your room till I tell you to. Understand?” Silence. “UNDERSTAND?!” “Y-Yes…yes, Mr. Aizawa…I’m…I-I’m sorry…” With a final sniffle, not daring to lift his head, Midoriya darted upstairs and out of the room. Aizawa sighed as he watched the young man go…then looked out the window. The sun was setting and the night was riding in fast. He shook his head despondently, grumbling to himself as he headed towards his own room.

------------------------------------------------ He needed sleep desperately…and probably a drink, as well…

Kaminari squirmed a bit uncomfortably as he sat in his bed, which lay across from Midoriya’s in the small room they occupied each night. Midoriya was lying on his side, facing the other wall, turned away from Kaminari. He hadn’t moved a muscle for an hour or two. “Hey,” Kaminari whispered. “I, uh…I just wanted to say…it’s really not as bad as you think.” Midoriya gave no response. “I mean…you know all the dumb stuff I’ve done, yeah?” Kaminari chuckled, trying to shrug and giving an uneasy smile. “And…well…Magic Beans DO sound a lot cooler than, like…I dunno…moldy cheese, r-right?” Still no response. “…Midoriya? Are you asleep already?” No response. Kaminari sighed; he’d tried. Shaking his head sadly, he lay down in bed, and turned away to face his wall. “G’night,” he mumbled out, softly. In his own bed, Midoriya said nothing. His eyes spilled tears onto his pillow as he lay totally and completely still, curled up defensively in his bed, as if trying to coil into a ball. He hugged himself as he lay on his side, and sniffled softly before wiping his eyes on one arm. A flicker of light fell over his face, and he looked up to see the blue moon shining down. With a despairing sort of look, he lay down on his belly, face in his pillow…and after several minutes, cried himself quietly to sleep.

Neither he, nor Kaminari, nor Aizawa downstairs never noticed the way the ground not so far beyond the window shifted as the moonlight passed over it…they certainly never noticed the tiny green sprout that began to wind out of the ground as they slumbered…nor how it burst with leaves and pods as it continued to grow…

------------------------------------------------

Izuku Midoriya opened his eyes to darkness. He gazed about, trying to figure out where he was…he opened his mouth to call for his master and his friend, but no sound came out in the dark, hollow void. A disturbing, hissing noise echoed out from somewhere behind him. He turned around fast…and turned pale as a sheet as he beheld a hideous, indescribable beast: as big as a house, its whole body a mass of writhing green tentacles, like some of the great sea monsters he’d seen in storybooks! He wished for a weapon…and suddenly, he found his fingers grasping the hilt of a silver sword. He looked to the sword, then the hideous creature…then glared, and took his best battle stance, holding the sword ready, challenging the beast. The tentacles swept towards him. He jumped out of the way, hacking and slashing with the blade, chopping them into pieces…but each time he struck, two more tentacles came flying at him.! He ducked and dodged as quick as he could, whirling his blade about his head as fast as he could manage… …Then, suddenly, a tentacle grabbed his arm, and with a wrenching twist, tore the sword away! He gasped, as a tentacle then grabbed his other arm, and another green tendril lashed about his waist! Izuku watched in horror, as a fourth tentacle transformed; the end of it malformed like clay, turning into a huge, green, fang-filled maw. The hideous monster licked its lips…and with a roar, the maw came careening towards him, ready to swallow him whole! “AAAAGH!” Midoriya jolted, pushing himself upright in bed…then, he settled, and panted, flopping down again with a groan as he realized he’d been having a nightmare… …One can thus imagine his reaction when he rolled onto his back in bed…to find what looked like a huge horde of green, curling tendrils pushing through the bedroom window. “YIPE!” With a shrill, almost comical yelp, Midoriya flailed and fell out of bed with a thud. He froze, as he heard Kaminari – still asleep in his own bed – groan and grumble something about “pretty girls” in his slumber. For several moments, Midoriya didn’t move…then, he scrubbed at his eyes, and took a better look at the” tendrils” poking through the window. He had quite forgotten, in his alarm, what had happened the day before. He found that the whole room had a vague, greenish hue cast over it, and the source was soon clear. His eyes widened, amazed, and he was suddenly filled with a sense of action. In a flash, he threw on his green tunic, red shoes, vest, and cap, and fastened his white rope belt before creeping downstairs quickly but quietly, not wishing to wake Aizawa or Kaminari. He stepped out of his house, and craned his neck upwards, barely able to believe his own eyes: there, in all of its splendor, rooted not more than a couple yards away from the house…was a GIGANTIC beanstalk, such as there has never been in the history of any world! It was thicker than any tree in the forest; it stretched high, up and up and up – he couldn’t see the end of it! At length, Midoriya realized that it was stretching far, far out of sight, piercing the blue sky itself! “Just as Yagi said,” he breathed, and began to quiver, a smile slowly forming on his face as his eyes danced with delight. He hadn’t been tricked! He hadn’t been fooled! The beans WERE magic! Almost without thinking, Midoriya darted forward, and grabbed hold of the two lowest branches of the spiralling beanstalk. He paused for a moment…took a deep breath…and then began to climb. He climbed till he could see through his window into Kaminari’s room…he climbed till he could jump down and hop onto the roof, if he wished…he climbed till he could look down and see the whole farm in all its vastness. He climbed, and climbed, and climbed; he had no thought in his head to keep climbing. His arms and legs seemed to be working without his will guiding him, hauling him up, up, up! He thought he would have run out of breath, one way or another, yet somehow he STILL climbed! He could see the tops of the trees, he could see birds – who looked VERY befuddled – flit past. He could see the crest of the Sun as it rose in the East, just beyond the pearly castle of Ua. Higher and higher Midoriya went, never once considering how in the world he was going to get down again safely. His heart was pounding with unparalleled excitement; even just climbing the beanstalk was an adventure in itself! Each time he looked down, he felt no fear, but an overwhelming sense of freedom and awe; seeing how small and yet how vast the world was, all at the same time, the more height he gained. Up, up, up… …Till, finally…as he reached…his fingers brushed what felt like fine, powdery sand. It was as if he were at the entrance of a well, a sea of white just beyond his reach. He reached further…and realized the beanstalk had come to an end. For the briefest of moments, panic entered his heart, as he now realized the harrowing knowledge he would have to climb back down, and that would be much harder than going up…but then, he remembered the sand, and – taking a risk – he heaved himself up daringly and held his breath… …As he popped through the whole in the sky…and found himself standing on solid ground. He had reached the point where the sky itself came to an end. A world above the clouds. Midoriya stared around in awe, stumbling forward, too thunderstruck to speak as his jaw dropped and he took in the sights around him. Ahead of him stretched a long, wide road of blue, powdery earth. ENORMOUS trees – taller than any he had ever seen – stood before him: their trunks were silver, and their leaves were a pale, sugary white. The sky itself was a pale, unusual violet hue, with streaks of orange passing through it – the colors of sunset, but without the steady shift. That was just the color, all the time, he wagered. The air was uncannily still; a few times on the climb up, he’d had to pause to hold onto his cap, to keep his hat from being blown miles out of his grasp. Now, though…there was no wind at all. “Whoa,” he murmured to himself, unable to say anything else as he began to walk down the road, staring and staring at the peculiar new plane he had discovered. His heartbeat only continued to quicken; this was the most spectacular thing he’d ever experienced. GRRRLLLB… “Ah-ah!” Izuku winced sharply, scrunching his eyes shut as he paused in his walk, and clutched his stomach…then sighed as he rubbed it gently. “Right…didn’t eat breakfast this morning…or supper last night, for that matter,” he muttered, a little sourly. His stomach whined again, and he bit his lip; it actually felt quite painful, the hunger pangs scraping against his gut lining. He looked around, his mind leaving the sense of wild adventure in favor of the more practical desire for food. Another world or not, he figured there had to be SOMETHING to eat around here! Sure enough, his green eyes soon spotted something: a white bush, covered in dark purple berries, not unlike grapes. Curious, Midoriya approached the bush; the bush alone was TREMENDOUS, about the size of the toolshed back on the farm. Carefully. He reached out and plucked one of the grape-like fruits off the branches; they were the size of footballs. Midoriya sniffed at the berry; it smelled sweet, and he smiled before taking a bite…only to gag and sputter, spitting out chunks of the stuff as he dropped the berry and rapidly scrubbed at his tongue. “Ugh!” he choked. “It…it smells nice, but…it TASTES like frog skins! O-Or rotten fish!” His stomach whined, pleading for something. He sighed again, and rubbed it, mouth starting to water with hunger as he lurched onward, desperately looking around for something to eat as he left the foul-tasting berry bush behind. Whatever THOSE berries were, he could survive without them…they were probably toxic, anyway, given that flavor! On Midoriya traveled, and louder his stomach growled. Everything around him was larger than he was used to; he’d ducked when a huge shadow, which he thought was an eagle, flew past his head…and nearly thought he’d faint when he realized it was a black-and-blue-colored butterfly, drinking from a pink flower the size of a small tree. He shook his head and continued forward, hoping he might find some breakfast soon… …And then…he froze. What looked like a gray wooden bridge was stretched across a black river, which sparkled like a starry night sky. And on the other side of the bridge was a giant house; it was not as poor as the old farmhouse, nor as splendid as a nobleman’s manor…somewhere in the middle, Midoriya guessed. Despite this middling state of obvious expense, the place was bigger than any house he’d seen…except maybe one… “It’s as big as a Castle,” he breathed…and with a light shake of his head, he hustled forward towards the building, almost desperately. A place that big was bound to be home to some kind of adventure…and if he was lucky, he thought, adjusting his white belt, maybe it was home to some food, as well. Midoriya dashed across the bridge, till he came to the door of the big house. There was no hope of reaching the doorknob, and some sixth sense told Midoriya that knocking would not only be likely fruitless, but potentially dangerous: whoever lived here was clearly no ordinary person. His mind started to race, wondering what COULD live in this house above the sky: a demon? A dragon? A clown? Hey, clowns were creepy. Whatever the case, Izuku’s hunger had quite a grip on him, as did his curiosity; he wasn’t turning back now. He soon noticed there was a gap under the door – he guessed big enough for a mouse to wriggle under. It was telling of how small he was compared to everything else that Izuku was able to wiggle through this gap, and soon found himself standing inside the enormous house. The interior of the giant building matched the exterior: it was neither especially poor-looking, nor particularly grand. The overall style reminded Izuku of a hunting lodge: rugs that appeared to be made from animal skins covered the wooden floor, and weapons the size of boats were displayed. What looked like a cow’s skull was mounted in one spot…but the skull, as well as the skins, were far more monstrous in their dimensions than any animals of the same kind Midoriya had ever encountered. His attention was drawn away from his surroundings when a sumptuous smell caught his nose; his poor, empty belly growled, and he had to wipe some drool away from the corner of his mouth before creeping carefully in the direction of the smell. He truly did feel like a mouse right now; he had the distinct sensation of invading some larger, more physically superior creature’s territory. He had to be careful: he had no idea if the one(s) who lived here might be home. If he got caught, this adventure could be over FAR quicker than he liked. Thankfully, he didn’t get caught, as he scampered across the floor, and found his way to a warm, welcomingly-lit kitchen. He looked up, and his eyes lit up with joy; he almost squealed with glee! Eager as could be, he scurried up one of the table legs – he’d just climbed a beanstalk that reached to the sky, THIS was nothing – and hauled himself up onto the tabletop. A tremendous feast lay before him: a huge hambone, a roasted chicken, apple dumplings, a block of cheddar cheese, a half-rack of beef ribs, and a lamb stew with carrots and potatoes all sat upon the table. Not only were these six separate courses quite a substantial amount of food in general, but because everything around Izuku was at least twenty times bigger than normal, any ONE of these dishes would have been enough to feed him and his fellow farmers for a whole week. Midoriya grinned and clapped excitedly, as his mind immediately started turning: perhaps this was how he could become a hero! Some of this could bring food to the whole village, or at least be sold at market for more than enough money to help out around the farm! The question was how to carry it all back… GRRROOOUUURRRRG… He hissed and clutched his belly with both hands…and laughed weakly. “Right,” he murmured. “I, uh…I should probably NOT try thinking on an empty stomach, huh?” His tummy answered with a grumpy-sounding grumble. Midoriya patted it gently, and looked around the table…then – as if he couldn’t feel more rodent-like already – he made a beeline for the cheese. He knelt before the giant block, and licked his lips before sinking his hands into it, pulling away fistfuls of cheddar, peeling it away almost like clay. He inhaled the scent, relishing his well-earned feast, and then began to shovel the cheese into his mouth rapidly, gobbling it with almost animalistic abandon. He sighed after several mouthfuls, eyes fluttering closed as he chewed and then swallowed heavily. “GRULP!  Ahhhh…this is the best cheese I’ve ever had,” he crooned, and grinned wider than ever, stomach still roaring for more as he reached for another fistful… THUMP-A-THUMP-A-THUMP…! Midoriya froze. His ears pricked up as he heard a rhythmic, steady pounding; like some huge hammer slamming down again and again into the earth. He quickly recognized the sound to be footsteps. Very, VERY big footsteps. The sound grew louder, as whatever made the footstesps drew nearer. Midoriya turned fast and gasped as he saw a huge shadow come creeping across the wall, growing larger by the second! Thinking fast, he stuffed the last fistful of cheddar into his mouth…then, cheeks still bulging with the food, he hustled over to where he saw a salt and pepper shaker set, and ducked behind them quickly. No longer in the open, Midoriya peeked out from behind his hiding spot. His green eyes widened more than ever, terror striking his heart like a lightning bolt, as he saw the owner of the footsteps – the owner of the house – come swaggering into view. “A Giant!” The Giant stood at about fifty feet high, and the more Midoriya looked at the ogre, the more frightened he became. The titan was a handsome but imposing young man – roughly the same age as Izuku himself – with a head of spiky red hair that almost resembled flames. His eyes, too, were a shade of almost glowing scarlet, and as he yawned and stretched, Midoriya whimpered at the sight of a mouth full of razor-sharp, craggy-looking fangs. The young Giant wore a black vest lined with fluffy-looking red fur, and a pair of black leather trousers. Thick black boots were on his feet, and a long, flowing red sash was lashed about his middle The behemoth was bare-armed and bare-bodied, wearing no shirt beneath the vest; his abdomen was toned and athletic, rippling with powerful muscles, and his limbs were much the same. Between the colors, the fangs, and the overall size and demeanor of the Giant, Midoriya was trembling: he’d never met a giant, but he’d heard stories of them, and they were never very good. Giants were said to walk like men, but had appetites like devils; they would eat men, women, and children for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, often swallowing them whole. They would raid villages, devouring everyone and almost everything in sight, often never leaving till their bellies were swollen and heaving with all they had consumed. Then – despite their gargantuan masses – they would simply and suddenly disappear, with no evident explanation. To slay a giant was a feat few knights had succeeded in, and to meet a giant, for most people, was surely a death sentence. No one had ever figured out where they actually came from. It seemed Midoriya just had. Or, at least, he’d found where ONE of them came from. The scarlet-haired giant thankfully never noticed Midoriya; he smiled as he clapped his hands together and rubbed them eagerly, looking over the food on the table. Izuku ducked back behind the shaker to avoid being seen. “Well…now that that’s taken care of,” the Giant mumbled, seemingly talking to its own food, “I’ve just gotta get a drink, and we’ll be ready! Don’t worry, breakfast: I’ll introduce you to my belly soon enough!” The Giant cackled and patted his muscular, trim belly in emphasis, then began to hum a jaunty tune as he strode over to another part of the kitchen. Midoriya gaped as he looked around the table for a moment. Breakfast…ALL of this…was breakfast for ONE giant?! No wonder their appetites were legendary. At least nothing here was alive…except for Midoriya himself, he realized, with a shudder. A sound of running fluid caught the youth’s attention, and he peeked out from behind the shaker. The Giant had stomped over to large barrel or keg, with a faucet stuck into it. From the spigot poured a stream of what looked and smelled like cherry cider. (Absently, Midoriya wondered how many cherries on HIS world it would take to fill a barrel of cider that big.) The Giant was smiling a happy, cheery smile as he watched the cider fill the thick clay mug he was holding… …Then, as he turned the dial to stop the flow, his mug filled…he froze. Midoriya saw the Giant frown in confusion…then, the red-eyed monster lifted his head up and began to sniff the air. His nostrils flared, becoming huge black holes as his ears pricked up, clearly alert. Midoriya internally cursed, biting his lip and ducking back behind the salt shaker as he heard the Giant approach the table again. He heard the dull “clunk” of the huge mug being put down… “Hmmmm…something smells good around here,” the Giant mumbled. “And it’s not the food…” Midoriya fought the urge to whimper, hugging himself and curling in on himself. His heart pounded with terror as he heard the ogre begin to search room; he could hear him open the larder and the cupboards…then heard the rattling of dishes as he searched the table itself, sniffing at the air all the while. “Please don’t find me,” he whispered to himself in a breathless prayer. “Oh, please don’t find me…please, please don’t find me…” The hopes were vain ones, and he knew it; the Giant could smell him, and once it found him, he had no doubt he’d a VERY intimate experience with those razor sharp teeth. Mind racing, Midoriya looked towards the edge of the table; perhaps he could make a break for it, scramble down the table leg and find a better place to hide, then head back home via the beanstalk. But then he’d be leaving empty-handed…empty-handed was better than dead, though… Just as he was measuring his options, his blood ran cold as he felt the shakers he’d been hiding behind get lifted away…and an ominous, thorny-looking shadow fell over him. He gulped nervously…and, very slowly, looked upwards towards the source of the shadow. The blood red eyes of the Giant fell upon him. The ogre tilted its head…and then grinned, showing off all of those huge, jagged teeth. “Oh! Hi, little guy!” the Giant boomed. “What are you doing here?” NOPE, was all Midoriya could think, as he leapt to his feet and sprinted towards the edge of table. “Hey, now, don’t leave in such a rush!” Midoriya squealed as a huge hand swooped down and grabbed hold of him. He froze, not daring to squirm, as for a few moments, he was wrapped up in huge fingers that felt like pythons coiled around him, pressed against a palm that was both soft and somewhat leathery in texture. He could feel gravity change around him, sensed himself being lifted higher… …Then jolted as a second hand joined the fray, cupping him gently as the fingers parted slightly, revealing a red eye about as large as he was tall. “Peek-a-boo!” sang out a voice, followed by a snigger. The fingers then parted fully, and Midoriya found himself sitting the middle of the Giant’s hands, the huge titan smiling down at him widely. “Hey there!” the Giant sang out gaily. “I’m Kirishima! Eijiro Kirishima! What’s your name, little fella?”

To Be Continued…

[bokunoheroanalysisforthefuture]

Hello hello to all the new followers! However you came across this blog, thanks for being willing to put this on your dashboards. I still have half of this chapter left to go, but hopefully I’ll be able to knock out a larger chunk of it since it’s gonna flow better… at the least, I’ll try to get to where Episode 1 of the anime cuts off.

...huh, damn, now I’m curious about exploring differences between anime and manga… I don’t have time for that, this manga thing is already more of a time-eater than expected… plus considering how many chapters I need to get through… yeah no, I will leave anime-manga comparison to others.

Anyways, into today’s pages! I wanna get this chapter done this week!

[No. 1 - Midoriya Izuku: Origin]

...you, I’m gonna translate you.

[transliteration of sign: 頭上 (zujou) [overhead] 注意 (chuui) [caution, being careful, attention (heed), warning, advice]

[Translation: caution, overhang 2m]

I mean, it’s obvious because of the context, but now I know how to pronounce it! And I guess you guys can as well. No, I will not be ashamed of spending fifteen minutes on this. I’m probably gonna stay in the habit of translating stuff as I come across it.

Anyways, to the chapter itself. Izuku doesn’t do that ‘All Might impression’ thing here like he does in the anime, just basically hypes himself up with grit teeth and determination. Which is a shame, but it makes sense since that sort of thing would look/turn out better in animation anyways. Still a little weird he had a flashback there, but like whatever, it’s supposed to give readers context into the setting and character, this whole opening chapter’s gonna be a bit weird like that.

The villain comes up out from the holes in the sewer grate, and holy fuck does this come off as just a bit of a horror manga, if I saw that I’d be terrified.

You know, out of context this is REALLY disturbing… no wait, in context this is disturbing too, nevermind. But yeah, look at that terrified kid, that is not the face he was wearing earlier against Katsuki, making it even more obvious that he wasn’t scared at that point.

The villain pounces on and envelops Izuku, covering his nose and mouth and making Izuku realize he’s been attacked by, you know, a villain. Which I would share the image of, but honestly it’s graphic as hell, if you wanna see it go look at the manga yourselves.

Yeah, it’s a wonder Izuku didn’t have nightmares for months after this, or have issues with water or potentially drowning/suffocating. Also, honestly, with this hijacking the body thing, I’m looking at the amount of mass of the sludge and the size of Izuku, and I have to remind myself again that this is a shounen manga with urban fantasy magic, logic isn’t a concern here.

But yeah, the villain is super vague about who the ‘he’ he’s avoiding is, while Izuku is frantically trying to scrape at the sludge to no effect. Also, after being in the sewers, that HAS to be some nasty gunk, yikes, how did Izuku not come down with something?

Izuku’s struggles makes him drop his charred notebook while panicking about his death and begging someone to come save him. The book flips open to his conceptual hero costume, which we know is going to end up the ‘first’ version of his costume, though obviously it’s going to undergo some revisions as the series progresses (which is a small thing I like about the series a lot). If I recall right, this is also what prototype!Izuku’s costume was going to look like!

Fortunately for Izuku, in the next page All Might punches his way up out of the sewers, letting both the villain and Izuku know he’s there, and- god, I wouldn’t trust those groceries for any sort of safe consumption, even if they are… two bottles?? That’s it?? What-

Sure, whatever, two bottles of soda, I guess, isn’t that not good for people who have had their stomach removed because of too much sugar or something? Is him being down a stomach even actually canon or just popular fanon? I suppose we’ll find out soon enough.

Anyways, All Might showed up and punched the villain away from Izuku, basically only hitting with the shockwave to avoid hurting the kid too much. Also, we get this gem of a face:

Incredible.

Izuku passes out, and wakes up a bit later to All Might slapping his face, which like, sir, sir, that’s not how you take care of a victim of a villain attack that definitely isn’t an allegory for another kind of assault. But yeah, All Might is sort of out of ‘character’ while waiting for Izuku to get up, and then shoves himself back into it once Izuku’s awake, which is… interesting, and makes sense.

Izuku naturally freaks out, and All Might does a pose while apologizing for his mistakes and explaining his sloppiness with the villain - he’s new to the area, and besides that, he’s ‘off camera’. Which, yeah, you really get the sense this is his TV persona pushed forward. He also thanks Izuku for success in finally containing the villain, and Izuku gives us this hilarious gem:

Ah, meta jokes. Izuku looks around for his notebook for an autograph, only to see it’s already been signed. He bows enthusiastically and says he’ll keep it as a family heirloom, and All Might heads off to take the villain in and to ‘catch him again on tv’.

Izuku wants him to wait, because he still has something to ask, but All Might says he’s got no time, and crouches to jump away, with just a shot of Izuku’s desperate face before All Might takes off, the ‘thanks for your support’ dragging after him like the words themselves couldn’t keep up, and again that is just a cool fucking effect and use of shape and warping to give effects otherwise not possible in text and just- gah, I love comic/manga art for these reasons, so freaking cool!

You’re an all star.

Sorry not sorry. But yeah, the bottles are still there in his pockets - his definitely totally secure open pockets. Honestly, with or without Izuku, he might have dropped those bottles because what the fuck All Might. 

All Might tries to shove Izuku off until Izuku reminds him that he will die if he falls, which gets him to pause and go ‘true enough!’ Izuku says he’s got a lot of things to ask, and All Might asks him to close his eyes and mouth to avoid the wind drag. All Might coughs and grunts, with a drop of blood escaping from between his teeth, and him swearing about it.

Onto the next page, and we have some background kanji that I am definitely going to waste time translating, because that’s just who I am.

Top windows/hanging sign: 卜 (uranai) [divination, fortune telling] 黄葉 (kouyou/momiji) [autumn/fall colors, leaves changing color, layered colors in garments (resembling autumn colors)] 

[rough translation: fortunate garments / lucky coloring.]

I’m gonna assume this is something to go with Japanese culture and their beliefs around what certain colors mean. 

Middle banner/hanging sign: Su/Ta/De [study] 

Not confident at this one but I cannot grok how messy those katakana are and so I just have given up on that for now. If someone can confirm, that’d be sweet of you.

Lower windows/hanging sign: [事]務所 (jimusho) [office]

Lower banner: Ma/a/ke/t/to [Market]

Shop overhang: Fu/ra/shi/[mu?] [Flashy] 喫茶 (kissa) [teahouse/coffee shop/cafe]

Flashy Cafe makes sense, but I’m not confident in the katakana when we can only see three of them and no way to know about modifiers,,,

Victory.

Alright, now that I’m done crying over that, onto actual chapter analysis. We get the ‘whoosh’ of something falling, before seeing the POV of the sludge guy coming back to consciousness, frustrated with All Might, and we also get a peek at some kids approaching… aka Katsuki and his minions.

First off, the branding on the can is hilarious and weirdly suited to the situation. Secondly, you can just see Katsuki kicking the bottle in the bottom left corner there, which probably knocks it open for, you know, the upcoming events. And huh, both of the minions smoke, which Katsuki chastises with displeasure in the panel after next. 

So Katsuki blames Izuku for ‘messing with him’ and that Izuku being ‘full of stupid dreams like when they were kids’ pisses him off. Which he emphasises by blowing up the can in his hand. I wonder if that’s meant to be a reference to him thinking Izuku’s just paying lip service to being a hero just to annoy Katsuki, at least in his POV?

But yeah, Katsuki shakes his hand after that - which meant he DID feel some backlash for blowing up a can in his hand, or perhaps the superheating of the metal before it went? Either way, backlash! He turns back to yell at the two about their smoking and how it’d go on his record, and the two freak out and point behind Katsuki, before we go to their POV:

But yeah, another decent stopping point here. There should only be two posts after this for chapter 1, based on my skimming of the rest of the pages. I really want to have the All Might convo separate, and then the whole sludge fight and aftermath… but we’re getting there! :D

[ao3feed-shindeku]

Built Wrong

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2QGWgVP

by oliczek23

Maybe he should have anticipated it. Presenting as an Omega. This was just his luck, a villain quirk, dead parents... being omega was just a final nail in the coffin.

But at the same how could he anticipated it?

He was built wrong.

Words: 1921, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage

Categories: M/M, Multi, Other

Characters: Midoriya Izuku, Midoriya Inko, Shinsou Hitoshi, Shinsou Hitoshi's Mother, Yagi Toshinori | All Might, Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead, Bakugou Katsuki, Todoroki Shouto, Kirishima Eijirou

Relationships: Midoriya Izuku/Shinsou Hitoshi, Midoriya Izuku & Shinsou Hitoshi, Midoriya Inko & Midoriya Izuku, Midoriya Izuku & Yagi Toshinori | All Might, Midoriya Inko & Shinsou Hitoshi, Bakugou Katsuki/Midoriya Izuku, Bakugou Katsuki/Kirishima Eijirou/Todoroki Shouto, Midoriya Izuku & Todoroki Shouto, Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead & Shinsou Hitoshi, Shinsou Hitoshi & Everyone

Additional Tags: Non-Traditional Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Discussion of Infertility, Discussion of Abortion, I may decide to actually show it but if so it's lower in tags, Forced Bonding, Forced Relationship, Porn With Plot, Mind Control, Polyamorous Pack, Background Relationships, Minor Iida Tenya/Uraraka Ochacko/Asui Tsuyu, Minor Shouji Mezou/Tokoyami Fumikage/Aoyama Yuuga, Minor Ashido Mina/Kaminari Denki/Sero Hanta, Minor Jirou Kyouka/Yaoyorozu Momo, Shinsou Hitoshi is Bad at Feelings, Insomniac Shinsou Hitoshi, Past Bakugou Katsuki/Midoriya Izuku, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, It's for Baku being whorish, nothing too bad but it was stil non-con, Underage Rape/Non-con, Consensual Underage Sex, Shinsou Hitoshi's Foster Parents' A+ Parenting, Shinsou Hitoshi Needs a Hug, Protective Shinsou Hitoshi, Shinsou Hitoshi is in Foster Care, Foster Care, that's about as many Hitoshi tags I can cram here, Oh wait, Shinsou Hitoshi is a Little Shit, Omega Shinsou Hitoshi, Alpha Midoriya Izuku, Omega Bakugou Katsuki, Alpha Kirishima Eijirou, Alpha Todoroki Shouto, Alpha Yagi Toshinori | All Might, Omega Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead, Beta Midoriya Inko, Financial Issues, Loss of Virginity, Denial of Feelings, Porn with Feelings, Feelings Realization, Bakugou Katsuki Swears A Lot, Bakugou Katsuki is Bad at Feelings, Bottom Shinsou Hitoshi, Power Bottom Bakugou Katsuki, know the difference, Protective Midoriya Izuku, Good Parent Midoriya Inko, Midoriya Izuku is a Good Boyfriend, Midoriya Izuku is a Tease, Midoriya Izuku is Bad at Feelings, Sex Toys, Non-Penetrative Sex Toys, Sexual Slavery, Omegas have no rights unfortunatelly, Friends to Lovers, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Child Neglect, Neglected Shinsou Hitoshi, oh look I gave him another tag, Overprotective Midoriya Izuku, Jealousy, Jealous Bakugou Katsuki, Jealous Shinsou Hitoshi, omega market, Nesting, Nesting Shinsou Hitoshi, Courtship, My First Smut, Omega Misygony, Hormones, Self-Esteem Issues, Family Issues, Trust Issues, Self-Worth Issues, Self-Hatred, Self-Lubrication, Anal Sex, Oral Sex, Knotting, Blow Jobs, First Time Blow Jobs, Mating Bites, Love Bites, Claiming Bites, Biting, Pheromones, Medical Procedures, Transformation, Music, Living Together, Sharing a Bed, Sharing a Room, Comfort Food, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Mating, Mating Bond, that's all for now

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2QGWgVP

[littlemissrainhoe]

for the first time, what's past is past

Day 2 of @tododeku-week ! Theme for today is Intimacy. I did a Cafe AU for some reason but I hope you like it! I never knew writing about romance could be so draining lol. Enjoy!

Read this on AO3!

-

"Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness. It took me years to understand that this too, was a gift."

— Mary Oliver

-

Izuku has his back turned when the bell chimes, happily announcing the arrival of a customer. Usually, things at the café are dead during this time, but since it’s located near UA, the university down the road, they usually have students coming in at all hours. It also helps that the coffee shop is hero-themed, which means they have a big market for comic book fans and the like. Posters, movies, figurines—you name it, you’ll most certainly find it here.

Izuku knows that’s what made him choose to work here.

“Psst!”

From the counter, Uraraka attempts to catch his attention with a not-so-subtle—but usual bubbly—wave. From what he knows, she’s a business student at UA and has another part-time job aside from this. An assistant instructor at a dojo, if he remembers correctly.

He raises his eyebrows at her, not even pausing with his cleanup of the espresso machine. If their manager catches them slacking on the job, he’s going to stop bringing his cats to work—and that’s just unacceptable.

“Pretty boy is here,” she mouths at him, her face rosy with excitement.

Immediately, his eyes widen in surprise, feeling the blood rushing to his cheeks. Peeking discretely to the corner Uraraka’s pointing at, Izuku spots a telltale head of red and white and he simultaneously melts and kind of dies inside.

He met Todoroki Shouto in an accounting class he had to take. His first impression of him was some kind of scene kid who’s really into the party culture, but the stoic and rather cold aura he emanates kills that thought abruptly. Even then, Izuku found him interesting. He’s incredibly handsome despite the large scar on his face—and he’s not the only one to think so, as he recalls spotting a few people sneaking peeks at his direction.

They didn’t really have much interaction with each other given how big their class was, except for that one group project they had. Todoroki only attended one meeting, and even then he didn’t say anything. Still, he submitted his part of the paper perfectly, greatly easing the group’s doubts. Then again, he was one of the best students in the class, so it only makes sense.

It wasn’t until he started working at Hero Café that Izuku began to see him regularly.

The first time he saw Todoroki walk in, he was so surprised that he almost dropped the macchiato in his hand. It’s a lot like seeing a cryptid walk into a coffee shop, it was so surreal to Izuku. Perhaps in the back of his mind, he didn’t think beautiful people went to cafes because they have people buying it for them—which, in retrospect, is a ridiculous thought.

It was even more surprising when Todoroki asked him about the new All Might they have in display.

Izuku never would have pegged the most handsome boy in his class to have the same interest as him—never mind that from then on, Todoroki will always talk to him about them whenever he drops by the café. After a few inquiries and stuttering suggestions from Izuku, Todoroki took his order to a nook and began to work on his laptop.

Uraraka, who was on order-prep duty, instantly zoomed to his side to pester him for details. She’s never seen Izuku so flustered, who was always so calm even during the lunch rush. To his mortification, he blurts out that he’s weak around pretty boys—something that’s true even in back when he was a kid.

That’s how his relationship with Bakugou began, after all.

Perhaps it’s clichéd: childhood friend, turned rival, turned boyfriend. Some would say that it’s even a movie-type romance—the kind that leaves a mark on people’s hearts. Maybe, if they were different people, things would have ended differently. But the fact of the matter is that theirs is a love story that doesn’t even make it to the credits.

Maybe it’s because they knew each other too much—knew exactly which buttons to push, knew each other’s weaknesses so well—yet somehow knew too little. Maybe it’s because they have too much heavy history that sometimes it was all they could do to look each other in the eye. Maybe it’s because one is afraid of intimacy, and the other one is steeped in trust issues.

It all came to a head one particular summer night in UA’s parking lot. The place was deserted, students either had already gone home or still in class. Izuku can’t even remember what they were fighting about, just that they suddenly started yelling at each other. Most of their fights end up this way, but something about this one felt like a lot of pent up hurt and anger releasing at once. So much blame and mistakes were thrown between them like a never-ending game of tennis, until, just as quickly as the screaming started, it ended.

Something inside Izuku was just ready to give up—of the screaming matches, the snide comments, and the festering hurt. He could see it clearly in Bakugou too—from the invisible weight on his shoulders to his unclenched fists.

They both just wanted this fight to be over.

“We can’t keep doing this to ourselves,” Izuku said. Already, he could distinctly feel how much weight he’d lost during the past few months. Even Bakugou, who’s known for his healthy sleep schedule, had heavy bags under his eyes.

Bakugou sighed. “So it’s over then?”

Izuku could only nod. “I guess so.”

And just like that, their story ended. No heartfelt musical number, no running in the rain, no miracle. Just two tired people who wanted to stop hurting and hurting each other.

When Bakugou left, Izuku didn’t know how long he stood in that empty parking lot, feeling a overwhelming sense of loss and relief. So, when someone called his name in the middle of what could be an emotional breakdown, he could hardly be faulted for actually jumping in shock.

The shock of red and white had long been familiar to Izuku that he immediately lost his surprise. “Todoroki-kun? What are you doing here?”

Todoroki didn’t reply, only looking at him in that intense way of his. Just as Izuku was about to say something, Todoroki reached for something from his pocket and handed it to him.

It was a handkerchief.

Izuku could only hum in confusion.

Hesitant, but somehow even more determined than before, he extended his offering further to Izuku. “You’re crying.”

He didn’t even notice the tears falling.

As if making up for lost time, a sob tore itself out of his throat and he started crying in earnest. He could only vaguely feel strong arms around him, holding him up when his knees grew weak. He remembered recounting the incident to Todoroki, his customer-slash-sometimes-hero-sounding-board, who only held him tighter in comfort. Which, of course, only made him cry harder.

From then on, their relationship changed.

The next time he saw him, Izuku had been incredibly mortified. He had essentially used Todoroki’s shirt like a rag and basically forced him into an Agony Aunt. He even drove Izuku back to his dorm room. He was so considerate and nice—and Izuku was just a troublesome mess. Part of him was afraid of getting ignored, or even reproached or teased by him.

But once again, Todoroki had proven himself not at all like his ice cold persona.

The moment he walked up to the counter to order, he talked to Izuku like he usually did—chatting about the new Edgeshot movie coming out. Before he left with his tea, he turned to look at Izuku and gave him a tiny smile. “Get better, Midoriya.”

It wasn’t out of pity or even mockery. His were words of comfort, of encouragement. A reminder that things will get better.

That was when Izuku realized that he had a good friend in Todoroki Shouto.

Though it was hard to adjust, losing someone he knew just as well as he knew himself, it was a steady progress of acceptance. Even now, he still considers Bakugou as one of his most important people. But maybe they’ll be better off now as just friends—without the looming weight of commitment and heartbreak.

After that, Izuku focused on his studies as well as taking care of himself. He started jogging in the mornings and working out the way he did before. He participated in class discussions more and strived to do even better. He spent more time with his friends, really listening and hanging out with them. He didn’t realize how much he missed his friends until he welcomed them back in his life—both old and new.

Never mind that his new friend regularly gave Izuku’s heart a good exercise whenever he’s around.

One afternoon, one green tea latte and a lengthy conversation about Stain’s creed and methodology later, Uraraka approached Izuku with a sly grin on her face.

“So have you asked him out yet?”

“What?!” he spluttered, fumbling with the cookie he’s putting on display. “Where did that come from?”

She snorted. “Come on, dude. Anyone with eyes can see that you two like each other.”

Apparently Izuku’s eyes are defective because he did not see anything of the sort. (Sure, he liked Todoroki more than what was considered ‘friendly’, but Todoroki? Liking Izuku? What?!)

Her eyes softened in sympathy. “I know your breakup was tough, but it’s been a year. You deserve a chance at love, Midori. I’m willing to bet even Bakugou thinks so. You just have to give it a chance.”

And so Izuku continued with his routine with Todoroki, happily chatting with him about something or other as his drink was prepared. But now, with Uraraka’s words weighing in his mind, he began to look for what she saw.

And boy was he surprised.

“What do I do?” he hissed at Uraraka when Todoroki left the café. “I can’t believe I never noticed that he likes me!” He tried to slow his breathing but it didn’t really work, much to Uraraka’s amusement.

“If he’s liked me all this time, why hasn’t he asked me out?” he asked, once he’d gotten a hold of himself.

“Well, I think he’s waiting for you to make the first move.”

“What? Why?”

She shrugged. “I mean, if the guy you like had a breakup and you were there to witness his breakdown, wouldn’t you also be wary about making a move? He probably didn’t want to overstep and accidentally take advantage of you.”

Izuku looked at her, his eyes wide with disbelief. “But… that’s crazy! I know Todoroki-kun would never do that.”

“Well,” she said, smiling wryly, “love makes you crazy.”

That it does, Izuku thinks to himself as he caught Todoroki’s eye. A smile immediately springs up to his face, his heart jumping when he spots the corner of Todoroki’s lips turn upwards.

Yesterday, Izuku told him to wait on his favorite seat instead of heading to the counter to order. He didn’t tell Todoroki why, but he readily agreed anyway.

Letting out a long exhale, Izuku meticulously prepares Todoroki’s tea. Then he steels himself and, with a tiny thumbs up from Uraraka, he heads over to Todoroki’s table.

Izuku gives him a nervous smile. “Hey.”

“Hey,” Todoroki shoots back, putting his book down beside him. “Are you sitting with me today?”

“Yeah,” he says, swallowing his nerves back where they should be. “I also have a question for you. I-If that’s okay with you?”

Todoroki’s mismatched eyes light up, something he never would have seen back when they were just people in a class full of strangers. Somehow, without Izuku noticing, he’s began to learn more and more about this beautiful creature who he once thought of as cold—began to notice the little things, the trivial things, the big things, and the essential things.

Part of him is afraid of this, of letting someone get close. If his relationship with the person he’s known his whole life deteriorated just like that, what’s to say this will be any different?

Perhaps that’s why he didn’t notice Todoroki’s feelings right away, afraid as he was to get intimate with another person he could easily lose.

But if there’s one thing he learned from his relationship with Bakugou, it’s that sometimes you just have to say what needs to be said. Their relationship ultimately failed because they let the hurt fester, assuming that they could understand each other without needing to talk.

Izuku will be damned if he let a past mistake ruin a potential future.

So Izuku clears his throat and looks at Todoroki straight in the eye, remembering all the time they spent enjoying each other’s company, and asks, “Will you go out with me?”

Todoroki smiles at him, somehow looking even more radiant than he’s ever seen him before. “I’d love to.”

[ao3feed-bakudeku]

by oliczek23

Maybe he should have anticipated it. Presenting as an Omega. This was just his luck, a villain quirk, dead parents... being omega was just a final nail in the coffin.

But at the same how could he anticipated it?

He was built wrong.

Words: 1921, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage

Categories: M/M, Multi, Other

Characters: Midoriya Izuku, Midoriya Inko, Shinsou Hitoshi, Shinsou Hitoshi's Mother, Yagi Toshinori | All Might, Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead, Bakugou Katsuki, Todoroki Shouto, Kirishima Eijirou

Relationships: Midoriya Izuku/Shinsou Hitoshi, Midoriya Izuku & Shinsou Hitoshi, Midoriya Inko & Midoriya Izuku, Midoriya Izuku & Yagi Toshinori | All Might, Midoriya Inko & Shinsou Hitoshi, Bakugou Katsuki/Midoriya Izuku, Bakugou Katsuki/Kirishima Eijirou/Todoroki Shouto, Midoriya Izuku & Todoroki Shouto, Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead & Shinsou Hitoshi, Shinsou Hitoshi & Everyone

Additional Tags: Non-Traditional Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Discussion of Infertility, Discussion of Abortion, I may decide to actually show it but if so it's lower in tags, Forced Bonding, Forced Relationship, Porn With Plot, Mind Control, Polyamorous Pack, Background Relationships, Minor Iida Tenya/Uraraka Ochacko/Asui Tsuyu, Minor Shouji Mezou/Tokoyami Fumikage/Aoyama Yuuga, Minor Ashido Mina/Kaminari Denki/Sero Hanta, Minor Jirou Kyouka/Yaoyorozu Momo, Shinsou Hitoshi is Bad at Feelings, Insomniac Shinsou Hitoshi, Past Bakugou Katsuki/Midoriya Izuku, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, It's for Baku being whorish, nothing too bad but it was stil non-con, Underage Rape/Non-con, Consensual Underage Sex, Shinsou Hitoshi's Foster Parents' A+ Parenting, Shinsou Hitoshi Needs a Hug, Protective Shinsou Hitoshi, Shinsou Hitoshi is in Foster Care, Foster Care, that's about as many Hitoshi tags I can cram here, Oh wait, Shinsou Hitoshi is a Little Shit, Omega Shinsou Hitoshi, Alpha Midoriya Izuku, Omega Bakugou Katsuki, Alpha Kirishima Eijirou, Alpha Todoroki Shouto, Alpha Yagi Toshinori | All Might, Omega Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead, Beta Midoriya Inko, Financial Issues, Loss of Virginity, Denial of Feelings, Porn with Feelings, Feelings Realization, Bakugou Katsuki Swears A Lot, Bakugou Katsuki is Bad at Feelings, Bottom Shinsou Hitoshi, Power Bottom Bakugou Katsuki, know the difference, Protective Midoriya Izuku, Good Parent Midoriya Inko, Midoriya Izuku is a Good Boyfriend, Midoriya Izuku is a Tease, Midoriya Izuku is Bad at Feelings, Sex Toys, Non-Penetrative Sex Toys, Sexual Slavery, Omegas have no rights unfortunatelly, Friends to Lovers, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Child Neglect, Neglected Shinsou Hitoshi, oh look I gave him another tag, Overprotective Midoriya Izuku, Jealousy, Jealous Bakugou Katsuki, Jealous Shinsou Hitoshi, omega market, Nesting, Nesting Shinsou Hitoshi, Courtship, My First Smut, Omega Misygony, Hormones, Self-Esteem Issues, Family Issues, Trust Issues, Self-Worth Issues, Self-Hatred, Self-Lubrication, Anal Sex, Oral Sex, Knotting, Blow Jobs, First Time Blow Jobs, Mating Bites, Love Bites, Claiming Bites, Biting, Pheromones, Medical Procedures, Transformation, Music, Living Together, Sharing a Bed, Sharing a Room, Comfort Food, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Mating, Mating Bond, that's all for now

[ao3feed-aizawashouta]

by oliczek23

Maybe he should have anticipated it. Presenting as an Omega. This was just his luck, a villain quirk, dead parents... being omega was just a final nail in the coffin.

But at the same how could he anticipated it?

He was built wrong.

Words: 1921, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage

Categories: M/M, Multi, Other

Characters: Midoriya Izuku, Midoriya Inko, Shinsou Hitoshi, Shinsou Hitoshi's Mother, Yagi Toshinori | All Might, Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead, Bakugou Katsuki, Todoroki Shouto, Kirishima Eijirou

Relationships: Midoriya Izuku/Shinsou Hitoshi, Midoriya Izuku & Shinsou Hitoshi, Midoriya Inko & Midoriya Izuku, Midoriya Izuku & Yagi Toshinori | All Might, Midoriya Inko & Shinsou Hitoshi, Bakugou Katsuki/Midoriya Izuku, Bakugou Katsuki/Kirishima Eijirou/Todoroki Shouto, Midoriya Izuku & Todoroki Shouto, Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead & Shinsou Hitoshi, Shinsou Hitoshi & Everyone

Additional Tags: Non-Traditional Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Discussion of Infertility, Discussion of Abortion, I may decide to actually show it but if so it's lower in tags, Forced Bonding, Forced Relationship, Porn With Plot, Mind Control, Polyamorous Pack, Background Relationships, Minor Iida Tenya/Uraraka Ochacko/Asui Tsuyu, Minor Shouji Mezou/Tokoyami Fumikage/Aoyama Yuuga, Minor Ashido Mina/Kaminari Denki/Sero Hanta, Minor Jirou Kyouka/Yaoyorozu Momo, Shinsou Hitoshi is Bad at Feelings, Insomniac Shinsou Hitoshi, Past Bakugou Katsuki/Midoriya Izuku, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, It's for Baku being whorish, nothing too bad but it was stil non-con, Underage Rape/Non-con, Consensual Underage Sex, Shinsou Hitoshi's Foster Parents' A+ Parenting, Shinsou Hitoshi Needs a Hug, Protective Shinsou Hitoshi, Shinsou Hitoshi is in Foster Care, Foster Care, that's about as many Hitoshi tags I can cram here, Oh wait, Shinsou Hitoshi is a Little Shit, Omega Shinsou Hitoshi, Alpha Midoriya Izuku, Omega Bakugou Katsuki, Alpha Kirishima Eijirou, Alpha Todoroki Shouto, Alpha Yagi Toshinori | All Might, Omega Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead, Beta Midoriya Inko, Financial Issues, Loss of Virginity, Denial of Feelings, Porn with Feelings, Feelings Realization, Bakugou Katsuki Swears A Lot, Bakugou Katsuki is Bad at Feelings, Bottom Shinsou Hitoshi, Power Bottom Bakugou Katsuki, know the difference, Protective Midoriya Izuku, Good Parent Midoriya Inko, Midoriya Izuku is a Good Boyfriend, Midoriya Izuku is a Tease, Midoriya Izuku is Bad at Feelings, Sex Toys, Non-Penetrative Sex Toys, Sexual Slavery, Omegas have no rights unfortunatelly, Friends to Lovers, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Child Neglect, Neglected Shinsou Hitoshi, oh look I gave him another tag, Overprotective Midoriya Izuku, Jealousy, Jealous Bakugou Katsuki, Jealous Shinsou Hitoshi, omega market, Nesting, Nesting Shinsou Hitoshi, Courtship, My First Smut, Omega Misygony, Hormones, Self-Esteem Issues, Family Issues, Trust Issues, Self-Worth Issues, Self-Hatred, Self-Lubrication, Anal Sex, Oral Sex, Knotting, Blow Jobs, First Time Blow Jobs, Mating Bites, Love Bites, Claiming Bites, Biting, Pheromones, Medical Procedures, Transformation, Music, Living Together, Sharing a Bed, Sharing a Room, Comfort Food, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Mating, Mating Bond, that's all for now

[pikahlua]

Do you think Bkg is completly in the right when he said All Might and Deku shouldn't be together at all or does it stand more in a gray area? I have seen some people saying AM was enabling Dk's unhealthy behaviour and I don't really agree but I also see their point. I'm conflicted, so could u please give us some insight in the whole thing? Your analysis are very well explained so I wanted to know your insight

Well it's important to note how it’s not that Katsuki thinks All Might and Izuku should be kept apart--he thinks they shouldn't be together alone.

It’s also important to note that Katsuki isn’t the first person to point out the "madness” of Izuku and All Might.

(long post; image-heavy manga spoilers under the cut)

Nighteye

Aizawa

Recovery Girl

And Katsuki is correct. All Might has failed at every turn to talk Izuku out of his self-destruction.

All Might cannot provide Izuku with a balanced perspective.

A lot of people have talked about how Izuku in this latest arc has become something more like the victory-centric mindset of Katsuki from the early chapters, but actually what he has become is All Might, the symbol of peace.

It’s not that All Might has enabled unhealthy behavior; it’s that All Might has enabled the behavior of a “superhero,” as the Second OFA user puts it. But the standard of superhero All Might uses...is inhuman. Unrealistic. Hell, it’s a lie.

All Might may be a symbol, but he’s also a farcical one played by the quirkless Toshinori Yagi.

All Might is missing the same perspective about quirks that Izuku is missing. They are missing the perspective of quirks as liabilities, as dangerous to both victims and users that those with quirks get to learn as children, a perspective Katsuki was never able to impart onto Izuku in their youth.

And it’s all quite ironic, because if anyone represents “natural-born” heroic talent, it’s Katsuki Bakugou.

Katsuki wasn’t given his quirk and made to present himself as something he isn’t (even if...people have tried to force him to) like Izuku, and he wasn’t engineered to be a powerful hero like Shouto. He was just born this way entirely by chance, by luck. It’s who he is, his very nature.

And of course, that was something that left Katsuki without a certain perspective either. That left him just as imbalanced. And All Might was imbalanced in that same way. All Might is ridiculously competent to the point where he cannot relate with others, making him a terrible instructor when Izuku is learning how to use OFA.

And also, just like with Izuku, All Might was unable to talk Katsuki out of his egotism.

It’s only when Katsuki comes to understand Izuku’s perspective that he snaps out of that mindset.

So, of course, Katsuki’s perspective is just as instrumental in correcting Izuku’s current trajectory.

That’s a big part of why the narrative rewards Izuku for imitating Katsuki.

And I actually think this is the reason why Katsuki bats away All Might’s hand when All Might tries to comfort him with a hug in Deku vs. Kacchan, Part 2.

I think Katsuki wants the comfort but resents All Might for not giving Izuku the same, for not treating them both the same way. All Might can acknowledge Katsuki’s humanity, Katsuki’s weakness, but why can’t he do it for Izuku? Izuku can’t be “only a boy” once he becomes the next symbol of peace, not if he does it the same way All Might did.

That blindness of All Might’s is the source of Katsuki’s distrust in him. If Katsuki keeps Izuku at arm’s length for his inability to consider himself, Katsuki logically would do the same to All Might. Katsuki is worried about them both. He cares about them both.

We take Katsuki’s silence as a “yes” answer to All Might’s questions, but it feels like there’s something he’s not saying, like All Might’s assumptions may be a half-step off from the truth. I think it’s because Katsuki is realizing All Might lacks self-awareness as he says all these things.

Katsuki is testing the waters with All Might. All Might is Katsuki’s practice-run for when he makes his next attempt at beating his own perspective into Izuku’s head.

And on the meta level, what better way for Katsuki to surpass All Might than to tear down the man’s whole isolating Symbol of Peace concept?

[pikahlua]

Remember our discussion on how this scene is about Katsuki coming to terms with Izuku’s weaknesses, not his own?

Katsuki already acknowledged his own weaknesses after Deku vs Kacchan 1. He stopped looking down on his classmates a long time ago, and we know that. That’s how he’s able to defeat Monoma in the cavalry battle and Uraraka and Todoroki and everyone else in the tournament. His friendship with Kirishima is proof that he can build equal relationships with his classmates.

So do you really think this little kid is supposed to represent a younger Katsuki?

No. That kid is Izuku.

Katsuki‘s advice in this scene is heart-warming for the audience because he hasn’t put words to it before. It’s nice for him to say out loud something like this just to confirm that he knows this truth.

But his words here aren’t the character development he gained from Deku vs Kacchan 2. That part of Katsuki’s development is showcased through his actions, not his words.

Katsuki is reaching out instead of keeping to himself. Katsuki is speaking from the heart to earn trust. He’s trying to save people.

So how is that kid Izuku?

Well, why don’t you tell me what his quirk is.

Don’t know?

That’s because he never uses his quirk. We don’t even know if he has one.

All the kids in that class attack the remedial student heroes except this kid, who is somehow their leader. The kid even scoffs at the notion of violence when Katsuki suggests combat. All the other kids are down to fight heroes, but this kid acts like he’s better than all that.

Refusing to use his quirk? Avoiding direct combat? Looking down on everyone else?

Sounds an awful lot like what Katsuki accused of Izuku in Deku vs Kacchan 1.

That’s right, this kid is giving us Katsuki’s perspective on who Izuku is. So then, why would Katsuki want to tell Izuku, “If you keep looking down on everyone, then you won’t notice your own weaknesses”?

Because accepting weakness is how to get stronger.

Izuku can say as many times as he likes that he doesn’t look down on Katsuki, but why should Katsuki believe him? Izuku’s actions don’t always match his words.

Whose fault is it in the practical exam that the two are incapable of teamwork?

The anime cuts out this moment where Izuku realizes Katsuki somehow knows All Might’s weakness. From the beginning, Katsuki has the correct strategy for dealing with All Might, but Izuku doesn’t acknowledge it. Even worse, Izuku gives no good reason why they should run away. All he says is basically, “Kacchan, you can’t defeat All Might.”

And he’s wrong, as they go on to prove.

They’re not able to work as a team until Izuku admits his weakness, that he can’t think of a way to win. At the same time, he admits Katsuki’s strength, that Katsuki can think of a way to win.

Izuku does look down on Katsuki sometimes. The mistake Katsuki makes is assuming Izuku is doing so consciously, because Izuku never says the other part out loud, not in a way that acknowledges his admiration of Katsuki without looking down on him...

...until Deku vs Kacchan 2.

And suddenly Katsuki realizes Izuku has the same problem Katsuki himself once did: Izuku hasn’t noticed his own weaknesses.

If Deku vs Kacchan 1 teaches Katsuki how to acknowledge his own weaknesses, then Deku vs Kacchan 2 is when he learns to accept weakness, be it in himself or in others.

Going back to our discussion, I concluded with Katsuki’s strategy for victory:

[Katsuki] hasn’t heard what he wanted, but he accepts that he has to grow stronger in order to prepare for when the OFA secret gets out. He’ll follow All Might’s advice and do what he has to do to be ready, and he’ll hold Izuku to the same standard. When the time comes, Izuku cannot lose.

[...]

He’ll grow. He’ll get stronger. He’ll take All Might’s advice to heart and become the ultimate hero who wins and saves. He’s planning their victory strategy, and he’s making sure they’ll be ready.

If there’s one thing Katsuki’s a genius at, it’s victory.

If Kastuki is a potential weakness for Izuku because he knows the secret of OFA, then anyone else who learns the secret could also become a weakness. Even if Katsuki becomes strong enough to take care of himself, Izuku is still vulnerable via All Might or anyone else who knows about OFA.

All Might was unable to protect Katsuki in the Kamino Ward arc, and that led to his downfall. If Katsuki wants to surpass All Might and Izuku, he has to make sure Izuku doesn’t meet the same end, and he has to do what All Might couldn’t.

Katsuki has to be strong enough to protect anyone else who could be used against Izuku.

(the last third of the post is under the cut due to manga spoilers)

And suddenly his teamwork skyrockets.

If he’s gotta protect everyone, he’s gotta be able to compensate for their weaknesses. And if he’s a potential weakness, he has to be able to let his own weaknesses be compensated for by his team. The only way to accomplish this is if everyone is aware of everyone else’s strengths and weaknesses. That takes trust.

So if Katsuki is going to make sure Izuku also gets stronger, then he’s got to get Izuku to notice what his weaknesses are. He needs to earn Izuku’s trust.

Izuku doesn’t know Katsuki is one of his weaknesses.

But Katsuki knows it, and he knows Izuku doesn’t.

Katsuki lightens Izuku’s load by looking out for everyone else, and this is why Katsuki works so well as Izuku’s weakness. He’s become the cornerstone of Izuku’s house of cards.

As much as he hates being a weakness, Katsuki can’t just make it stop by telling Izuku not to care. Izuku will keep on caring regardless. So instead Katsuki has to convince Izuku that Katsuki is stronger so Izuku will keep chasing after him. Izuku needs to believe Katsuki is stronger in order to get stronger himself. Katsuki needs Izuku to believe Katsuki can handle himself, that Izuku can trust him, so they can work as a team and compensate for each other’s weaknesses.

We get a rare glimpse inside Katsuki’s head in chapter 275. Out loud, Katsuki tries to convince Izuku that he’s still the stronger one, but on the inside Katsuki acknowledges how he’s barely keeping up. He’s got a lock on Izuku’s strengths and his own weaknesses. He’s just not convinced Izuku knows his own weaknesses or Katsuki’s strengths.

And he’s right.

Izuku does not acknowledge Katsuki’s point. Just like in the practical exam, he can’t think of a solution and fails to engage with Katsuki on the strategy. He doesn’t even try to use Katsuki as his teammate, even though he implored Katsuki to use him in the practical exam.

Because Izuku cannot trust Katsuki, Katsuki is forced to compensate for Izuku’s weakness by trading one for another.

And Izuku’s other weakness is exploited.

Katsuki chastises Izuku for trying to win on his own, spelling out Izuku’s weakness in plain terms. The question is, has Izuku acknowledged it? Has Izuku learned his lesson?

That remains to be seen.

(My money’s on no.)

[pikahlua]

MHA Chapter 322 spoilers translations: What Katsuki needs to say

There are better, more robust and complete translations out there now, but I know some of y’all like having access to the kanji and kana and like to reference the literal translations I do, so here’s what I’ve got of the new panels depicting that scene.

1 死柄木にぶっ刺された時言った事覚えてっか？ しがらきにぶっさされたときいったことおぼえてっか？ Shigaraki ni bussa sareta toki itta koto oboete kka? "Do you remember what I said when I was stabbed by Shigaraki?"

2 …覚えてない …おぼえてない ...oboetenai "...I don't remember"

3 「一人で勝とうとしてんじゃねェ」だ 「ひとりでかとうとしてんじゃねェ」だ 「hitori de katou to shiten ja nee」da "It was, 'Don't try to win by yourself'."

4 続きがあるんだよ… つづきがあるんだよ… tsudzuki ga arunda yo... (literally) "There is a continuation..." (contextually) "There's more to it"

5 身体が勝手に動いてぶっ刺されて…！言わなきゃって思ったんだ からだがかってにうごいてぶっさされて…！いわなきゃっておもったんだ karada ga katte ni ugoite bussa sarete...! iwanakya tte omottanda "My body moved on its own and I was stabbed...! So I thought there were things I must say."

6 てめェをずっと見下してた……………”無個性”だったから てめェをずっとみくだしてた……………”むこせい”だったから temee wo zutto mi kudashiteta..............."mukosei" datta kara "I was always looking down on you...............because you were quirkless."

7 俺より遥か後ろにいるハズなのに おれよりはるかうしろにいるハズなのに ore yori haruka ushiro ni iru HAZU nanoni "Even though you should have been far behind me"

8 俺より遥か先にいるような気がして おれよりはるかさきにいるようなきがして ore yori haruka saki ni iru you na ki ga shite "It felt like you’re far ahead of me"

9 嫌だった いやだった iya datta "And I couldn't stand it" (could also translate as "I hated it," "it made me feel bad," "it felt disgusting," “I didn’t want it,” etc.)

10 見たくなかった みたくなかった mitakunakatta "I didn't want to see it"

11 認めたくなかった みとめたくなかった mitometakunakatta "I didn't want to admit it"

1 だから遠ざけたくて虐めてた だからとおざけたくていじめてた dakara toozaketakute ijimeteta “And so I wanted to keep you away and bullied you.”

1 否定することで優位に立とうとしてたんだ ひていすることでゆういにたとうとしてたんだ hitei suru koto de yuui ni tatou to shitetanda "By denying it, I was trying to stand in superiority." (context: basically "I was trying to tower over you")

2 俺はずっと敗けてた おれはずっとまけてた ore wa zutto maketeta "I was always losing"

3 ーーー雄英入って ーーーゆうえいはいって ---yuuei haitte "---We entered UA"

1 思い通りに行くことなんて一つもなかった おもいとおりにいくことなんてひとつもなかった omoi toori ni iku koto nante hitotsu mo nakatta "and it never once went the way I thought/wanted"

2 てめェの強さと自分の弱さを理解してく日々だった てめェのつよさとじぶんのよわさをりかいしてくひびだった temee no tsuyosa to jibun no yowasa wo rikai shiteku hibi datta "It was day after day of realizing your strengths and my own weaknesses."

1 言ってどうにかなるもんじゃねェけど いってどうにかなるもんじゃねェけど itte dou ni ka naru mon ja neE kedo (literal) "Saying it won't make things right, but" (contextual) "Just saying this won't make things better, but"

2 本音だ ほんねだ honne da (literal) "It's my true intentions" (contextual) "It's how I really feel"

3 出久 いずく Izuku "Izuku"

1 「今までごめん」 「いままでごめん」 「ima made gomen」 "'Sorry for everything until now'" (the "for everything" I added in for it to make sense contextually, otherwise it's literally just "sorry until now")

1 OFAを継いだおまえの歩みは ワンフォーオールをついだおまえのあゆみは OFA wo tsuida omae no ayumi wa "Your footsteps/path as the one who inherited One For All"

2-4 理想そのもので何も間違ってねぇよ オールマイトそのものでなにもまちがってねぇよ OORU MAITO sono mono de nani mo machigatte nee yo "Nothing is wrong with the ideal (pronounced as 'All Might') itself"

5 けど今 けどいま kedo ima "but now"

6 おまえはフラフラだ omae wa FURAFURA da "You're swaying on your feet"

7 理想だけじゃ越えられねぇ壁がある オールマイトだけじゃこえられねぇかべがある OORU MAITO dake ja koerarenee kabe ga aru "There is a wall you can't overcome with just the ideal (pronounced as 'All Might')"

8 おまえが拭えねぇもんは俺たちが拭う おまえがぬぐえねぇもんはおれたちがぬぐう omae ga nuguenee mon wa oretachi ga nuguu "What you can't handle, we will handle" (I chose the word handle, but nuguu is like "to wipe away" or "to get rid of" or "to remove." Given the general context of the conversation, it's like Katsuki is saying "the obstacles you can't remove, we'll do that for you")

9 理想を超える為に オールマイトをこえるために OORU MAITO wo koeru tame ni "To surpass that ideal (pronounced as 'All Might')"

10 おまえも雄英の避難民も街の人も おまえもゆうえいのひなんみんもまちのひとも omae mo yuuei no hinanmin mo machi no hito mo "You and the UA refugees and the people of this city"

11 もれなく救けて勝つんだ もれなくたすけてかつんだ morenaku tasukete katsunda "We'll save (all of you) and win without exception"

1 皆とっくに みんなとっくに minna tokku ni “For a long time, everyone”

2 「ついてこれない」…なんて… 「tsuite korenai」...nante... “I said...‘you can’t keep up’...“

3 僕なんかよりずっと先に ぼくなんかよりずっとさきに boku nanka yori zutto saki ni “has been so far ahead of me”

4 「ついてこれない」なんて酷いこと 「ついてこれない」なんてひどいこと 「tsuite korenai」nante hidoi koto “What a cruel thing for me to say, that ‘You can’t keep up.’”

5 言って…ごめんー… いって…ごめんー… itte...gomen--... “I’m sorry...for saying--...”

1 わーってる waatteru "I/We know."

[pikahlua]

Katsuki Bakugou’s True Feelings: The Power of Friendship...as it beats your ass into the ground

It’s aaaaaaall coming together.

Back in the prophetic month of December, I wrote this little post about where I thought One For All’s progression was going. I spent literal hours making this hideous graphic just to help your eyes distinguish among 20 damn characters, because that’s how many Horikoshi decided to reel into this. Ugh. Anyways.

In this post, I described my slowly-forming theory about how Deku’s tendency to imitate his classmates to the point where One For All straight-up copies the quirks of some of his peers is a meta technique. I wanted to use that trend to make a prediction.

In essence, I theorized that OFA would come to resemble the entirety of Class 1-A, and that the hero Deku can coordinate his classmates as a team due to his proficiency with OFA whether or not he has OFA in the end.

It could use some updating now.

But the points I made about the little "narrative highlights” Deku has with each of his classmates? Well, I guess I wasn’t too far off (/lol jk...unless??).

When y’all asked me for my chapter 320 predictions, I was operating on the assumption that there are still a few more story arcs incoming. As such, I didn’t want to get my hopes up about Katsuki’s role, because I didn’t sense Deku vs Kacchan, Part 3 incoming.

I forgot Horikoshi likes to play his tropes straight sometimes, though.

Anyways, who wants to know what Katsuki’s gonna say to Izuku by the end of this arc?

Hero society and the bystander effect

Tomura Shigaraki’s major disillusionment with society stems from his experience with the bystander effect (look it up); people don’t act when they see someone in trouble because they assume a hero will take care of it. Society has become over-saturated with heroes, and those who don’t become heroes don’t feel compelled to behave as a hero might. They assume someone else will take care of the problem, and so they do nothing, leading to a mass of people just standing on watching as horrible things happen.

The story gives us the standard aspects of heroism, the pillars of rescue and victory that make up the symbol of peace and justice that is All Might.

But the story never says there are only two pillars.

The third pillar: Inspiration

Hero society is rotting. People are complacent and apathetic. What gets people to act?

Inspiration.

All Might inspired people. Izuku was inspired to save people with a smile. Katsuki was inspired to keep fighting no matter how bad things look. Shouto was inspired to embrace his identity to become whom he wants to become.

And it created a chain reaction.

Izuku inspired All Might to risk his life against the sludge villain and rescue both Izuku and Katsuki. Izuku inspired Shouto to embrace his fire quirk and begin the process of reconciling with his past. Izuku inspired Kirishima to become a hero who protects others and live a life of no regrets. I could go on with other characters, but the list of inspiring heroes is very long for this series.

Just cap it off with how Aizawa describes Izuku’s and Katsuki’s effect on the class’ morale, how their presence raises the bar, how their passion spreads to the entire class.

Maybe I’m starting to glean what Horikoshi’s solution is to the hero society problem.

Individual versus Group

My Hero Academia is inspired by comics and manga alike. It deals with the duality of story elements, morals, philosophies, and other societal values of both eastern and western origin in a way I haven’t seen before in shounen manga.

Whereas most western stories--particularly comic books--deal with themes of individuality and identity while often centering around outcasts and loners, most shounen manga stories focus on community and the power of friendship. It often feels like Horikoshi’s trying to tackle both, and I am never sure if he means them to be compatible or at odds with each other.

Now we have chapter 320.

Apparently there are a lot of people who don’t like where this is going. I don’t really care what those people think. I’m reading the story for my own enjoyment. But if you’d like my perspective on this...

Too much of anything is a bad thing, but that doesn’t make the thing itself bad.

We humans, as social creatures, feel guilt commonly because we want to be good, because we care about morality and self-improvement. Say what you will about why that is, but having the capacity to feel guilt means you care.

Peer pressure and manipulation are scary and can be terrible, but they work because they’re playing on the natural human desire to belong. We survive better when we work together, when we cooperate. That’s what it means to be a social creature.

Cooperation takes compromise.

Sharing your feelings isn’t guilt-tripping. Expressing love for someone isn’t manipulation. There’s a balance, sure. There are people who will take advantage of these things to do bad. But that’s not what’s going on here with Deku vs. Class A.

I think it’s pretty obvious. I think I know what Katsuki’s going to say to Izuku at the end of all of this.

Izuku Midoriya: “Don’t worry about me”

A recurring theme over the course of the series has been Izuku striving to improve, to get stronger, to become someone who doesn't worry his mother, someone who doesn’t worry All Might, someone who doesn’t worry his own friends.

He doesn’t want to worry people. He doesn’t want anyone to worry about him.

But people worry whether or not you're strong. That's not a bad thing; it means they care about you.

For the whole series, our dear unreliable narrator Izuku Midoriya makes it sound like "becoming someone no one has to worry about" is a good thing.

And he's wrong, as chapter 320 is beginning to explain to us.

Everyone is now trying to convince Izuku they do care about him, they do worry about him, and that's okay. That’s why Danger Sense won’t activate. (If you need further proof to answer the above question, go watch Shinomori dodge Banjou in the background of chapter 304.)

“All Might” vs. “Self-Victory”

So, you wanna know where this is going with Katsuki Bakugou, you big adorable stans?

Victory and rescue: Both are necessary for a hero to carry out justice.

Why would the narrative punish Izuku for admiring All Might and reward him for admiring Katsuki Bakugou? All Might is a solitary symbol. What Izuku has become in his current iteration of “Deku” is just that. He is focused solely on strength, on “all might” and nothing else. But his admiration of Katsuki Bakugou inspires him to not want to be like Katsuki but surpass him.

And in many ways, Izuku and Katsuki are the same person.

They’ve been learning from each other their entire lives. As Izuku has come to be more like Katsuki in strength, Katsuki has learned what he needs to know about rescue, and he now has to remind Izuku of all that. The roles are switched now; Katsuki wants to save Izuku.

You wanna know what Katsuki has to tell Izuku?

Izuku, who doesn’t want others to worry about him because he doesn’t worry about himself either?

Izuku, who cares about others?

Don’t care about me if you don’t care about yourself.

Care about both.

Care about everyone and yourself, too.

[pikahlua]

i think the funniest thing is that people say that bkg doesn’t have any major ties to the story anymore besides apologizing to izuku. like hori would’ve have spent so much time on his character just so that it ends with an apology and is just shoved out of the story. imo I think the second ofa user are parallels with bkg and that actions that the second failed to do, bkg will achieve it. i don’t see why hori would’ve made them lookalike if for not that reason.

Do...do people say that?

??????????????????????????????????????????????

First of all: Apologizing to Izuku is everything.

Like...we all remember the first scene of the story, right? Right??

Even if that was the only thing he has left to do (definitely not), there’s a high probability the apology could be the final scene of the story. That’s capping off like...at least 50% of the story right there.

Acting like the apology is a sidepiece of the greater MHA story is like saying Katsuki hasn’t been part of the story since...he was kidnapped or something. Or that he never was part of the story. Or that he was only part of the story in season 3, or the war arc, or...or...I don’t know. What the hell is the story then??? Just, “Izuku goes to hero school where he learns how to not break his bones so he can fight a big bad villain, The End”? What a shitty story. Why even have a deuteragonist? Yikes.

Second of all: God, what are we going to do with all this leftover foreshadowing?

Katsuki still has to complete his transformation into a charismatic leader.

Rule of threes dictates we need Deku vs Kacchan 3, which Deku has to win by “making OFA his own” (unless there’s a twist).

Look me in the eye and tell me Katsuki isn’t going to be involved in the resolution of the Todoroki Family Drama somehow.

What about all that unresolved tension between Katsuki and All Might? Katsuki has some severe successor-shading there...

The sheer volume of parallels he’s involved in that include All Might, All For One, Izuku, and Tomura...you’re telling me he’s just a placeholder??? That Heroes Rising isn’t a hint at his role in the final battle? That his warning to Izuku of, “Stop trying to win this on your own,” doesn’t go anywhere?

Katsuki still has a grudge against Tomura, wanting “payback” for being kidnapped and using him to cause the end of All Might. There’s no way Katsuki’s final interaction with Tomura is hearing, “You’re not on my radar anymore,” before nearly bleeding out.

The narrative parallels between Katsuki and OFA 2nd user that currently don’t have much predictive power because we still need the full OFA history but damn if those life philosophies of win = live, lose = die aren’t going to be explored in this essay I will--

Third of all: D͉̞͙̭̺̫̭͆̅̂͂̂̉̔̑̚͢͡O̰̮̻̼̰̜͕̎̐̃͗̂͘͢ Ṗ͚̯̩̺̟̦̩̥͎̽̅̾̃̓͡͞Ě̡̧̜̻̟̭̰̀͊͌͑̾̋͝O͓̥͇̟̗̗̜̖͍̗͗̌͐̋͞͡P͍͍̳̯̼̪̘̿̆̌̓͗̋͟L̴̠̳͖͔̻͕̎͆̒̾̏Ę̷͉͕͙̗̥́̓̂͐͌̏̓͜͢͞ Ṡ̷̟̦̘͉̬̦̫̈́͂̄̉̎̆͢Ǎ̸̢̛͉̜̹͇͕̲̟͖̘̎̈̐̔̆̑̕͠Ÿ͕̪̠͉̤͚̫́̀̉͌̈͋̕͠ T̵̫̥̦͉̬̬̻̣̝̀̓͒́̿͛̔̕͡ͅH̴̡̻̼̝̻̩̥͔̽̉̃̀̀̓̏́ͅḀ̛̛̬̲̻̰̼͉̹͕̻̎̑̍̈̉͘̚͠T̴̡̠̗̼͙̼̤̟̔̎̄͝͠?̜̗̳͙̗͊̊̀̄̕?̵̫̼̻͚͉̙͕͋̈́̔̄̎̒̈́̒͞ͅ?̺̖̱̮̓́̐͑́̑̚͢?͔͙͚̺͈͙̇̈̆̃̇̀̾ͅ

[pikahlua]

what inspired the “izuku midoriya’s market of trust issues” tag?

Have you seen Izuku Midoriya???

1. Izuku's reaction to "Don't try to win this on your own" was to drop out of high school and go full vigilante without planning to speak to Katsuki ever again.

2. I needed a counterpart to my "Katsuki Bakugo's Guilt Complex Emporium" tag lol

[pikahlua]

XV. Miscellaneous Index

**If a post contains manga spoilers, I will indicate in the title what is the latest chapter spoiled by the post.

Fanfiction

“I didn’t know you write”

Dragonheart Chapter 1, 2, 3

Dragonheart Meme: Whatcha got there, Deku? (chapter 1)

Dragonheart Meme: The Katsuki is self-aware (chapter 1)

Dragonheart Meme: Soul Bond tag for our resident human meteors (chapter 1)

Dragonheart Meme: Katsuki and the Fourth Wall (chapter 1)

Dragonheart Meme: Fifteen minutes with Katsuki Bakugou (chapter 2)

Videos

All Might vs Inko Midoriya (S03E12)

Kacchan’s Umbrella Dance aka my magnum opus

Humor

The OG fandom gatekeeper

Sometimes Izuku is terrifying

Is Deku gonna get kidnapped? (chapter 297)

“If that dumbass dies, I’ll kill him” (chapter 298)

Volume 30 cover sketch reaction (volume 30)

Boss Music Danger Sense AU (chapter 295)

All Might and Katsuki’s college lecturer/TA relationship dynamic (chapter 295)

World Heroes’ Mission parody of cable news (movie 3)

Covert Himbo Shouto Todoroki

Katsuki’s gonna let class 1-A finish but... (chapter 320)

My initial reaction to MHA chapter 322 (chapter 322)

Horikoshi’s unrealistic depictions of romance or something (chapter 322)

Vaguesplaining Katsuki’s amnesia in Heroes Rising (chapter 322)

Bineta vibin’ (chapter 327)

Underestimating Toga (chapter 341)

Hetero chapter was gay (chapter 342)

Dekuneta Forbidden Love (chapter 342)

In THIS economy? (chapter 343)

I am once again asking for your red capes

Nega-Kacchan (chapter 350)

References/Crossovers

What Your Favorite My Hero Academia Ship Says About You: OFA 1x2 (chapter 310)

Katsuki’s awkward hoodie (movie 3)

Horikoshi’s penchant for references (chapter 314)

The new arc of My Hero Academia looks great! (chapter 307)

Pigeons crossover (chapter 320)

OFA Body Horror

“OOH MISTER KACCHAN”: A FAN FICTION (chapter 322)

Self-Meta

How I Meta meme

You PAMPER Pikahlua? (Deku vs. Kacchan, Part 2)

I’m not in it for the live action

When you wanna meta but work...

I am going to create a meta that has so many screenshots

Katsuki’s Hero Name: They don’t know it’s “daibakusasshin” (chapter 293)

I’ve only had the Second for a day and a half... (chapter 310)

Platonic Mentor OFA 2nd User is relevant to my interests (chapter 310)

Big Bro Katsuki (light novel #6 cover)

This Is Fine: Predicting the Second’s quirk (chapter 310)

I already knew that AFO’s focused on Izuku now (chapter 316)

My meta sucks (chapter 319)

How you feelin rn? (chapter 303)

Origins of the “Izuku Midoriya’s market of trust issues” tag (chapter 306)

Origins of the “my dead gay son” tag (chapter 298)

Observing my character development via tag evolution (chapter 322)

Winning! Part 1 (chapter 334)

Winning! Part 2 (chapter 334)

Winning! Part 3 (chapter 336)

Winning! Part 4 (chapter 336)

Winning! Part 5 (chapter 336)

Horikoshi mansplaining Aoyama to Pikahlua (chapter 336)

How am I right about everything?

Dive into the gremlin brain (chapter 337)

Always Winning

Always Right

I like Izuku Midoriya

Sincerely, Professor MHA

Follow Up: I am a Mature Person Re: Katsuki’s Heroic Character Arc

Writing comparison

Follow up: Writing comparison

When people take me too seriously...

When the meta HITS...

But can I connect chapter 350 to Katsuki Bakugou?

Other

My Top Posts in 2021

Link to “Ame ni mo Makezu” (chapter 320)

Dost thou even ship, bro?

[angstandhappiness]

Interesting!

@fanfiction4thewin112 I wanna say tho. Anyone saying All Might is enabling him on his way obviously must be biased and not actually read the manga. He knew there was nothing he could do to stop Izuku. Izuku already had a mindset like this before meeting All Might. All Might didn’t install it in him. It’s why Bakugo literally tried to beat it out of him. and what could All Might do to stop him? He literally says. That since he knows he can’t stop him he will come with. And he tries to get him to slow down and stop and Rest and proves that no matter what. All Might can’t stop him. You literally see him fall in defeat onto the grass People shit on All Might for going with. They would shit on him for not going with. They would shit on him if he incarcerated him to try to stop him. (Which would be the only way to actually stop him. Izuku has shown he will sneak off to do whatever) people need to stop Blaming All Might for literally everything. People blame him for the way society acts towards hero’s and worships them. He’s literally a man trying to help people. Who literally sacrificed everything to help people and people act Like it’s all on All Might. As if that was his goal. But then go “Endeavour isn’t that bad and not at fault in any way” why not actually hold society responsible for the fact they decided to worship hero’s and not blame the hero’s that didn’t know that was going to happen.

@pikahlua @fanfiction4thewin112 Hm, that's a bit complex. It sounds like there are multiple interconnected issues, and people identify one problem and recognize there's an issue without having fully untangled the mess. All Might's not blameless, but he's also not the only player. No one thing is 100% at fault. And it's easy to forget we're all viewing this through the lens of an audience to a story.

@theboredbaptist DAMMIT ENDEAVOR TGOSE TWO HAVE AN ENPTY SPOT IN THEIR BRAINS WHERE SELF PRESERVATION WAS SUPPOSED TO GO AND THEY FILLED IT WITH PAIN TOLERANCE I didn't read the whole post before putting that and just saw the first manga panel, not the question

Do you think Bkg is completly in the right when he said All Might and Deku shouldn't be together at all or does it stand more in a gray area? I have seen some people saying AM was enabling Dk's unhealthy behaviour and I don't really agree but I also see their point. I'm conflicted, so could u please give us some insight in the whole thing? Your analysis are very well explained so I wanted to know your insight

Well it's important to note how it’s not that Katsuki thinks All Might and Izuku should be kept apart--he thinks they shouldn't be together alone.

It’s also important to note that Katsuki isn’t the first person to point out the "madness” of Izuku and All Might.

(long post; image-heavy manga spoilers under the cut)

Keep reading

[crrryy]

MHA Chapter 322 spoilers translations: What Katsuki needs to say

There are better, more robust and complete translations out there now, but I know some of y’all like having access to the kanji and kana and like to reference the literal translations I do, so here’s what I’ve got of the new panels depicting that scene.

Keep reading