#ochako hides the injuries she gets when she gets into fights!!!

[that-spider-fan-over-there]

BNHA 428: This chapter made me annoyed and yet it was still somewhat better than I expected?

Himichako. I like it, it's a good ship- not one I'm crazy about, but the vision is compelling. I mean, the loved girl on hard times who admires honesty but represses her feelings + hunger motifs, and the formerly wealthy and rejected girl who's honest to herself but masks her sadness from others + drinking motifs? Being so similar at their core from selfishness, bleeding love, admiration and imitation? Yeah, why not, sign me up, it looks fun.

(plus Ochako needed a subplot that would shy away from Izuku because oh boi her writing is messy-)

Then the ending annoucement happened and I immediately went "oh no" when I remembered that tidbit. But. Yesterday, I remembered this page from 424, which in hindsight makes sense:

Shoto moving forward and choosing to not dwell on his past anymore, because he wants to know the man he wants to become alongside his family of choice.

Spinner feeling so much grief for Tomura inside his room, his extra Quirks add up to it. Further gut points as it was all because of AFO, but the wrong person is getting the blame.

Ochako looking lost and dissatisfied, not really saying anything about Himiko's status; then her hidden injury which left a scar that'll never go away, nothing can change that.

And then, well, a sky with a chance to fight for a "bright future". Which is the most ambiguous you can get for anything, really, sequel or not.

(sidenote: is it me or the panel where she's touching her stab wound looks like a tangent line?)

Okay so, I went into the chapter, with Pikahlua's translations. It was A Chapter alright-

If it wasn't the antepenultimate chapter, the "filler" would've been welcomed. But I guess it means we should focus on the smaller details, I guess? Like that 1st year saying Izuku filled him with courage and Izuku immediately thinking of Spinner's pain? Yeah he hates himself and that people call him a hero, when he considers himself a murderer, and will never forgive himself for failing Tenko, therapy for him and everyone in Class 2-A please- yeah it was a fun detail. Also the throb of hiding your pain of "defeating" someone you wanted to save but in the end everything is miserable but everyone else is happy and you don't wanna be a bother. Fun.

Also I wasn't the one to point the out, but looking at the uniform (U.A. uniform blazer for boys + the tie with a dot for girls), the student who's a Izuku fan is probably trans/gnc, which I appreciate a lot :D (Damn Izuku attracts so many queer people I wonder if that's a sign- /hj)

Also, I guess Class A stating "[Bakugou], Midoriya and Todoroki were at the heart of it all" then focusing on Ochako is good foreshadowing on how her own battle wasn't fully recorded? It's like saying in the end her fight didn't matter, but the other ones went "well", so she's trying (and slowly failing) to keep her sadness at bay because, well, everyone's happy, so who cares? Another "throb".

I thought since the Todoroki family issues are out in the open, didn't they record the whole thing? Then I re-read it, they only saw the family stopping Touya from exploding. So they didn't see Shoto trying to talk to Touya, which means none of the LoV were humanized. Fuck's sake.

After that, I get focusing on the first years and civilians wanting to help and all, but it feels like a repeat of everything seconds before Jakku, so I assume it's a way for them to pretend things are normal? But not-quite-quoting Katsuki (<- which I will point out for my sake is very much alive and well and- oh boi LFtR will kill me) and Edgeshot here because it made me smile:

"Will you...go back to the way you were?" "I plan to attain something greater than what I was originally!"

So, yeah I suppose he'll be fine eventually. (Best J. really loving Edgeshot even as a worm, honestly, goals)

Again with Izuku remembering saying "[He'll] bring it all back" and apologizing for "not keeping his promise" and others telling him to not blame himself and they can reconstruct as many times as it takes. Again, gave me a little smile, but not for long-

Finally, Ochako pretending things are fine. Hello there, Sports Festival/Provisional License!Ochako I missed you- /hj (I miss the dorms era in general, actually.)

So... *sigh* Full disclosure: I wasn't looking forward to Himichako as we were getting 5/10 pages for the "conclusions" in the previous two, I thought Ochako would be off about Himiko being depressed about the League. But since she's MIA, red flags are now red herrings, and it's better than the dead outcome. If Ochako got another person dying in her arms that'd just break her character.

A blood transfusion takes hours, she couldn't been doing that for more than 20min, if it was gonna kill anyone it'd be Ochako. Either Himiko ran away or got arrested, and Ochako feels guilty because she doesn't know if she's dead or not. Not great, but until I see a corpse she ain't dead. Besides: Touya, Shoto, Edgeshot, Katsuki, Toshinori, Ochako herself, all physically hurt unlike her, and yet they live.

And then we have Izuku showing up. I'm upset he used OFA embers for this, but eh, it's Izuku, do I expect anything else?

Rolling with the assumption Himiko died (like our POV characters), Izuku would need to face his own failure in Ochako- Failed to save two people like she failed Himiko, but it'd be so. Empty. Ochako was true to herself, while Izuku gave nothing but "I want to save that crying kid" while fighting Tenko. The most they can do is bond with "failing" and "this isn't what we fought for". This is not really a moment where he can be a shoulder to cry on, it'd come across as hypocritical /neg.

The only way it could make sense it without being shallow on Mr. Control = Repress Your Heart's part (as he didn't open up to the two people who died in "his watch") is Ochako telling how Himiko loved yet seeing him repressing this part of his is idiotic? She likes people who are true to themselves, which Izuku hasn't been for ages, leading to him realizing something. I thought it'd be through a DvsK3 but. I'll take it, two chapters left, I just want his thoughts (and for them to talk but that can happen in the last one).

They only recorded Shoto stopping Touya from being a suicidal bomb, Ochako floating a bunch of Twice!Himiko clones and Izuku entering a coccon, popping out armless, getting them back, punching Tenko to death. The "I want to save [them]" wasn't registered, it makes sense they're (well, Izuku and Ochako mostly) weirded out about this, dissatisfied like most readers are (sidenote: why when it comes to the trio either Ochako or Shoto get sidelined? So much could tie their stories together and yet-)

It's still a tough pill. I'm not a villain stan, just wondering if those fights were for nothing- the humanity of Tenko and Himiko? Can't be proved for anyone else, since they weren't recorded.

And I don't know if anyone saw the same thing, but those "city lights" look like the bubbles from Ochako's awakening, maybe we'll get a Blackwhip or Entrance Exam callback? Maybe it's what the tagline meant by "hidden feelings", since she unlocked it to reach Himiko and doesn't think anyone would understand why. I hope it's just a nice visual though.

If Himiko is truly dead though... You know, I headcannoned the characters were telling the story through confessionals/recordings to register it to the world so they'd learn from that, but I guess the interviews Aizawa was talking about seemed more likely, which. Well it's something, but I thought it'd be everyone instead of just Class A. Idk. The idea the LoV didn't change anything, or that they did change things but don't get to see it, is bitter.

So uh. Yeah, those are my thoughts. I'm not sure how to feel about it, on one hand I want Izuku to finally open up but on the other, it feels like it'll be at Himiko and Ochako's expense by involving him in something that's theirs now. And there's a chance we'll get the "nothing is fine" from Ochako- god I'm fearing the discourse next week already :DDDD

... Man, and this is a bad timing to be in the fandom, considering the LFtR episode airs this Saturday (which will be yesterday by the time this post goes up and I'll be crying about that instead-), so uh. Yeah, this fandom will be emotionally devastated for two reasons XD

Okay, so I'll try ending this on a more optimistic note: I think Himiko is alive, and Ochako just doesn't know it, which is why we're getting 0 confirmation and a breakdown. Izuku's confrontation with her can make or break this plot, but as long as 1) we acknowledge the emotional, different stakes between the Himichako fight and Tenko vs. Izuku one and 2) it doesn't end in a confession (and let's be real, it won't), then we're probably good (sadly, if you disregard the LoV status). I still think it's an ass pull for the camera battery to go out though.

But no matter how this goes: C'mon, two chapters left now, this one was wasted on the first years, smh, let this sequel hopium be a reality I wanna know who's the 425 guy, not the poor first year who's gonna replace Shindo Yo in fanfics- /hj

[irontragedyreview]

Honestly, I want and don't want to write about this and the previous chapter because after the final chapter between Izuku and Tomura, I honestly don't see the point. Horikoshi is a mediocre writer, who threw away the confrontation between Tomura and Izuku and produced a long epilogue to close plots like the Spinner and his arc with heteromorphic discrimination. I seriously saw people congratulating Shoji and hating Midoriya because Shoji "saved" Spinner and "understood" him, when their fight was cut short and Shoji didn't say anything really good and then we didn't even get a fucking flashback to see how their fight played out. On the other hand, you have all the villains dead, on their way to it or simply locked up never to be seen, while Edgeshot, a random hero that no one cares about, is still alive? Pls, Tomura died, Dabi is on his way to death, Spinner seems to be in a hospital and will probably still end up in police custody, Toga is missing (until there isn't a serious confirmation I won't believe she is dead), Kurogiri is dead, missing, became a cloud? did bk end up killing him? The truth is, I don't know (although I'm honest I don't care either), the remaining members of Lov are in prison. That is to say, all the villains ended up screwed and most of the heroes alive and few with completely debilitating injuries (outside of Endeavor in a wheelchair and I suppose Hawks and the heroes who lost their quirk due to AFO). Now we have a chapter that leaves open a future conversation between Ochako and Izuku and the truth is, I have read good takes on this and completely stupid ones too. I think there is going to be a love confession? No, and honestly it would be out of place when you have two characters feeling like shit. Although, I consider hypocritical many shippers who want to say that their future conversation don't have to end in a future romance or be a pillar that explains a later love relationship, this fandom shouts when two characters share a fucking panel, if the izuocha shippers izuku want to talk about romance they have the right to do so, if they want to believe that there will be a confession too (don't blame anyone when this doesn't happen, but they can do it). However, this talk has the potential to be very good or just plain disappointing, Izuku is going through a lot of shit because of Tomura, at least Horikoshi isn't mediocre enough to deny Izuku some thought about the situation. Besides this talk seems a lot to "misery loves company", since the end of the war Ochako and Midoriya have been the only two characters who have been conflicted by the results, and hiding their feelings to the point of denial, in this chapter we have the Ochako's breaking point, and the same word repeated between them pain. This future conversation also brings up many interesting points, a call back to Izuku perhaps managing to console Ochako as he failed to do during the sports festival, again a scenario similar to their talk before the final battle, both feeling heartbroken by the outcomes with their villains. This talk has great potential, but Horikoshi is surely going to screw it up, my faith in the guy is at rock bottom and honestly his work died when he rushed Tomura and Izuku end in such an unsatisfactory way and the easy route of eliminating or neutralizing the villains of the League.

[angst-king]

fight for ya

(This is a Katsuki + MtF child reader parent scenario) (CW mention of transphobia, description of violent hate crime & injuries)

Katsuki had many regrets about his past and always wanted to improve himself and he was rather good at keeping his word. He wanted to show this especially once his daughter came out as trans to him. He made sure she felt loved that she didn’t need to hide and that he would back her up completely. Even while transitioning socially, Katsuki learned how to style her hair, which helped get her into the girls' school uniforms. Not much changed except she seemed happier at first.

Then things took a turn, some days were better than others, and although Katsuki wasn’t the best at comforting he would listen. He’d sit with his daughter and listen to her vent, or let her scream out her frustrations while practicing her boxing. He would occasionally ask for help from his own friends about how to comfort her, Momo mentioned using words of affirmation and instilling in her that she was loved and that she had someone who thought of her fondly.

Implementing that did seem to help a little, though he still wanted his kid to know that he was available and he’d come up to the school and handle it for her if she needed. (Y/n) always pushed away his offers, saying she wanted to handle it herself. Katsuki decided to back off with his offers after the third time, yet he still continued with his support.

Then he felt his entire world crash. When he sent his daughter to school he had a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. That something would go wrong, that he shouldn’t have sent her. He tried to push it away as paranoia, his daughter was strong, and she’d call him if anything happened.

He was organizing paperwork with Deku in his office when the radio went off telling Katsuki get down to the lobby area fast! Getting up from his seat he dropped his paperwork and ran out of the office with Deku in tow. Arriving at the entrance he saw Ochako carrying his daughter to the couch. The child held her abdomen as she was set down. Katsuki ran over with worry pouring out of him. When he got close enough he froze. (Y/N) was covered in bruises and blood, and her hair which was usually in it neat ponytail with her favorite pro-hero-themed ribbon was now blood-soaked and a mess. Blood dripping down their nose, and mouth foreheads. The uniform torn up and dirtied, looked like she had been tossed into gravel!

“What happened, (Y/N)?” The middle schooler looked up nervously, obviously shaken up by whatever they had just experienced. Stammering too much to get it out, Ochako started to ask the questions.

“Just yes or no, were you in a fight, hun?” (Y/n) nodded and winced, Ochako continued.

“Was this a fight at school?” “y-yes ma’am” Before Ochako could ask, Deku handed her the first aid kit he grabbed once he saw the child’s condition. Ochako started working on the injuries while Katsuki’s head was overloaded with thoughts.

‘How could this happen’ ‘who would do this’ ‘Why didn’t a teacher handle this?’ and many more!

The girl could see her father being consumed by his thoughts and spoke up.

“d-Don’t worry d-dad, g-got some good hits on ‘em” Katsuki gave a small smile seeing the proud look on (Y/n)’s face. That still didn’t make any of this better, whether she defended herself or not she shouldn’t have had to! Katsuki hated seeing his child hurt! There was a rage in him that burned bright, he had to do something about this, he couldn’t stand by after seeing his daughter like this!

“I’m gonna handle this, i promise, munchkin” He said a lil more to himself than his daughter. Katsuki then started helping Ochako tend to the child’s injuries and getting the blood out of her hair. It was a process that only made more emotions stir. When (Y/n) was finally about to calm themselves down enough to talk, it took everything in Katsuki’s power to not go on a witch hunt right then and there.

“I was going back inside for class after gym when I got grabbed by a group of classmates and they started beating on me. I did what you taught me, i didn’t wanna cause too much damage but wanted to get away….In the end, I’m pretty sure I’ll take the fall but. I-its fine i guess.”

“No.” Katsuki blurted out, and the child’s eyes shifted up at her father who stood up at full height now. An aura of rage flowed from him even if he looked calm in the face, it wasn’t hard for anyone to know he was angry. Grabbing his phone he opened the notes app and handed it to the girl.

“If you know the names of those…kids put them down…put everything down. How long this has gone on for and everything that happened today.” (Y/n) nodded took the phone and spent a good amount of time typing. Katsuki moved away to give her space and went over to deku and grabbed him by the shirt. Dragging him away into the kitchen area of the lounge.

“Kaachan what are you doing?” Deku asked confused, Katsuki sighed and shoved his hands into his pockets. He didn’t face Izuku completely, just glanced at him as he tried to gather his thoughts. Finally, he says.

“I feel like a fucking idiot” He leans against the countertop, Izuku’s eyes softened and he asked for Katsuki to elaborate.

“I should’ve done more so this wouldn’t have happened, I should’ve gone up to that school myself instead of letting her handle it….I know she said that she could and that she would be fine but…still, I feel like a dick because I didn’t just go up there and now my child got beat up!” There was a moment of silence before Izuku spoke up.

“Kaachan, you can’t fix the past, you cannot fix or erase what has happened. Yes it was awful, it is fucked up that your child became a victim of a hate crime, but. Its not like you expected this to happen, you put your trust in your daughter, and in the school system. The person you should be upset with is the school for allowing such behavior! So instead of standing here feeling sorry for yourself, you get the notes from your daughter, take her out for some damn ice cream or something. Then the next day you march your ass to that school and tell them off!” Katsuki was a little surprised at Deku’s change in tone from start to finish. First, it was light-hearted and reassuring, but then quickly changed to strict and coach-like. Yet Katsuki got the message and went back out to check on (Y/n).

Still on the couch though seemingly in less pain, she hands the phone to Katsuki who sits down beside her. Opening his arms the child quickly hugs him, he wraps his arms around her loosely a to not hurt her. Whispering soft things into her ear telling her how proud he was of her. How he was glad she came to him for help, she didn’t have to go to school tomorrow, how he was gonna take care of the situation. He still apologized for not doing anything sooner. He promised to take her out to her favorite place before going home.

[floante]

@craneguard said    ‘   is there something i should know ?   ‘

     ‘   um.   ‘   catch worry light in her eyes   (   there was a dash sliced into her throat   ---   it had been bandaged,     merely a surface wound that had bled a little TOO much,    but she knew that a red mark was steadily forming where white had been   ).    she lifts her hand to cover it as soon as it’s mentioned   ;    she knows that saya has seen it,     she knows there is no more hiding,    but mind races with the promise of excuses.   ‘    it isn’t as BAD as it looks.    i didn’t want you to worry.   ‘

[collisiondiscourse]

battle scars || a deku & class 1-A drabble

(A quick drabble talking about members of class 1-A, the scars they share, and the love that heals them. TW for descriptions of violence and both external and internal injuries.)

There isn't a single hero that Deku knows of who doesn't have scars.

They aren't stigmatized, no not at all. No one who's ever seen a hero in action before thinks that scars are ugly. In hero society, scars are celebrated. Admired, adored, worshipped--whatever connotates the wearer to something positive. In a world where suffering and self-sacrifice are glorified, scars are a mark of beauty.

Even then though, Izuku Midoriya can't help but think that his scars are better off hidden.

He knows, god does he know, that everyone has their own wounds and injuries. Little divots here, the occasional prosthetic there--everyone he knows is marked in some way that reminds the world that they are still human where it matters. They aren't gods or faces off a product--just average traumatized people who unfortunately love humanity more than they love themselves.

Class 1-A being no exception.

Mina, for example, has burns. Big burns, small burns, burns of all shapes and sizes that litter her body like the pattern of the hero costume she wears. A few too many evil scientists with interests in chemistry like to think that their knowledge gives them the upper hand, but the Alien Queen always proves them wrong.

One of her horns is chipped, and when she gets drunk she admits that her sense of sight might be going. Sometimes, the scars sting, but the sweet ache of her body as she nails another dance routine reminds her that there's more to the world than how people look. When she begins to forget that, Kirishima claps loudly as she lands another pirouette.

Kaminari is dotted from head to toe in Lichtenberg scars. It's something that surprises no one, and something the blond feels no shame in showing off at any given moment. The lightning patterned marks are most prevalent along his forearms and palms, every hug from him feeling rough but safe nonetheless.

Occasionally, due to one too many brain fries, he'll have days where his mind doesn't seem like it's all there and memories fade like footprints in the sand. On those days, Denki lays down and Jirou runs her hands through electric blond hair while humming a soft and sweet tune.

Kirishima's scars run like cracks. They splinter and have ridges that look very much like his own quirk. Most of them are very faint and shallow, getting more focused and deep around his chest and forearms as he held firm against countless unrelenting attacks.

After one too many nosebleeds, the red-head finds out that he's way more prone to internal wounds from the way his organs deal with shock absorption less adaptively than his skin and bones do. Eijirou's tense muscles eventually learn to relax under the gentle caring massages from an exasperated Mina.

Iida, on the other hand, has a prosthetic. An unfortunate and horrible incident left him missing half a leg after pissing off a Stain-inspired villain who was a little too much like her idol. He's much less scarred (a benefit of his full-bodied armor), but Deku still sometimes sees the way he struggles to breathe.

Internal scars from internal wounds similar to Kirishima's make his body sometimes forget that he's stopped running. Tenya wears these scars with responsibility and blushes whenever he greets an enthusiastic Hatsume Mei for his monthly prosthetic maintenance check.

Uraraka has scars all over her fingers. Nicks and slices from where people tried to render her quirk useless by taking off a finger. She has a star-shaped mark on the right side of her forehead from where a building caved in and shattered her helmet.

Neat little slashes run up and down her ankles and soles of her feet from lucky shots people had before she floated away. Ochako wears these scars with ferocity and pride, adorning them in pink band-aids that Toga sometimes scratches at when the brunette comes to visit her in jail.

Todoroki is... a little different. The scar over his right eye is a lot more faded, yet still there. It grew up with him, healed and faded at the edges like the wounds in his heart, but not forgotten because of how it made him who he is. He has burns of all types adorned around his body--caused either by his own quirk or others.

He also often gets sick when he overexerts himself like the hopeless workaholic Big Three member he is. Yaoyorozu and Inasa visit him on those sick days, bringing light and chicken soup into his big empty home.

Bakugou's a lot similar to Deku. Their families and friends have noticed that if you put a diagram of their bodies side by side with markings of their injuries, it wouldn't exactly be a mirror image, but seemingly two parts of a puzzle clicking together. The blond had all sorts of scars around his body, a hazard that came with the title of Japan's Symbol of Victory.

There were deep lashes on his back, marks of muzzles and handcuffs from attempt after attempt of kidnappings and ransom hostages. On his forearms were twin bracelet scars, from an especially ruthless villain that attempted to cut his hands off in an effort to eliminate his quirk. Over his torso were two faint pink marks shaped like explosions, both from the first time he sacrificed himself for Deku.

Bakugou had similar aches on his shoulders and neck from overuse and recoil whenever he'd pushed himself too quick and too soon. Kacchan would scoff at the notion of hiding his scars and treat the pain with a quick home-cooked meal, fingers twitching when Deku would plop himself on the counter and ask about his latest shift.

But Deku?

Deku hid well. He hid because it was his habit to deceive and alter his appearance--covering things up with a simple black arm band because in the grand scheme of things there were some secrets best left unseen. Deku wore long sleeves and concealer over his skin like it was a suit of armor, hiding the rawest parts of him because even as he grew and climbed his way to the top, a part of him always remembered that the burden he carries is too heavy to let be seen.

So he hides.

He hides the way burns litter his skin from trying to contain the inferno that is OfA and walking through fire to bring civillians home. He hides the Lichtenberg scars and the way green lightning sometimes crackles hard enough to make him flinch as he fights his way through unbeatable hoards of enemis. He hides the prosthetics, the way his arms gave out on him quite a while ago, forcing them to be replaced and improved. He hides the way people have tried to tear him apart and steal his burden for themselves.

One for All was his greatest gift and most painful curse.

Some nights he trembles and shakes, muscles spasming in effort to just simply keep going. Shivers run up and down his spine because with every injury his blood circulation worsens and worsens until cold and pain is all that he feels. Izuku will sometimes walk around, scars hurting and throbbing hot white under his skin, and look for medication that dulls the ache and makes him go a little less crazy.

Hands mindlessly running over bumps and edges, scars from villains and friends and debris and growth spurts. He would stand in front of a mirror like a house of cards and pull himself apart, reflection making him detest himself from how gnarled and ugly and imperfect he was.

"--No, my boy. Not imperfect." The tall and gaunt figure of his old mentor would tut. Thin and skeletal fingers would grasp the bottom of a white shirt and lift it up, gently revealing a scar so deep it almost looks like a crater. "Not imperfect at all. For people like us, your scars make you far more than just a hero."

Deku, of course, would hum in resignation. He looks at All Might--no, Toshinori Yagi with a skeptical look and the retired hero would smile.

"You are... a miracle."

And just like that, Deku would be brought back to being 14 years old, quirkless and desperate. He's on his knees, looking at the Symbol of Peace in his true form--thin and pale but still oh so powerful. A voice tells him that there is a destiny he has far greater than he'll ever realize, an adventure that awaits him through the old skinny man with unruly blond hair.

Izuku didn't see weakness that day, no.

He saw hope.

So now, even as Pro-Hero Deku hides away the parts of himself that are broken and raw from the world he protects, he finds his cure all the same. In the arms of those who are warm and familiar, Deku sheds his armor, his foundation, his long sleeves--

and he is simply Izuku.

He is Izuku who gets spa days and yoga sessions with Ashido, Denki, and Eijirou that stops his muscles from spasming on days where it gets unbearable. He is Izuku who gets tender massages and hearty midnight snack runs with Ochako and Tenya when nightmares and visions just won't let him sleep. He is Izuku who gets soup and warm borrowed hoodies from Shouto and Kacchan when stress makes him keel over and shudder at the thought of working. He is Izuku who gets big warm hugs and a fierce movie marathon with his loving mother and mentor who is his father in all but name.

He is Izuku, riddled with scars that still heal.

[five-rivers]

Long Night in the Valley, Chapter 6

Plans were made.

And discarded.

Different plans were made.  

These were also discarded.  

The problem (besides the fact that their best planners (except Yaoyorozu) were out of commission) was that no one knew what needed to be done. If anything.  Yes, Midoriya had run out of the testing center.  Yes, the whole situation where Midoriya was initially placed in a group apart from all the rest of them was shady.  Yes, the fact that Aizawa and the other half of class was still missing was distressing.  

But they didn’t know what was actually happening.  They didn’t know if the others needed help, or what help they would need.  They didn’t know why Midoriya was running, chased by heroes of all things. Jirou had wondered out loud if Midoriya had been mind-controlled by a villain with a quirk like Shinsou’s.  In response, Kaminari had a (brief) breakdown agonizing about whether he had inadvertently helped a villain kidnap his friend.

What a mad banquet of darkness.  

Luckily, they were training for… well, not situations like these, to be honest, but situations.  Just. In general.  Dark, mysterious situations, where one wrong step could send a person plummeting into an abyss of misery.

Anyway.  

When in such a vexing a perilous situation, the thing to do, as Momo had pointed out, was gather information.  

Was Jirou plugged into the wall?  Yes.  Did Shouji manifest enough ears and eyes to make even Fumikage slightly disturbed? Yes.  Did Yaoyorozu make tiny listening devices that fit on the mice and insects that Kouda had called?  Yes.  Did Kaminari spontaneously manifest hacking skills that no one knew about and then deny that they were hacking skills?  Yes.  Had Dark Shadow pressed herself flat to sneak under doors and temporary room partitions?

Also, yes.  

He tugged on Dark Shadow with his mind, directing her to return.

“Find anything new?” he asked.  Tsuyu, his current partner in not-crime-quite-yet and lookout, leaned closer as well, interested.  

“The lady whose quirk they were using passed out,” reported Dark Shadow.  “Everyone she used it on is still asleep.”

“Nothing about Midori?” asked Tsuyu.  

Dark Shadow’s facial expressions were often limited, but, this time, her scowl was clear.  “Stupid stuff.”

“Like?”

Dark Shadow huffed, and Fumikage felt her annoyance. “Like he’s a villain or a spy. Stupid.”

Tsuyu closed her eyes and swallowed with obvious distaste.

“Do you think that’s why he ran?  It seems unlike him.”

“Huh?” said Dark Shadow.  “Midori didn’t run.”

“What are you talking about, Dark Shadow?” asked Fumikage. “Speak clearly.”

Dark Shadow elbowed him.  “Midori’s friends ran!”

“You mean Ochako, Todoroki, and Iida?” asked Tsuyu.

“No, they’re still asleep.  His friends.  Like you and me are friends, Fumi!”

“You mean his quirk?”

“Uhhuh,” said Dark Shadow, bobbing.  “They’re like us.  Isn’t it obvious?”

“Not really,” said Tsuyu.  

Fumikage leaned and against the wall and slid down to put his head in his hands.  “What a mad banquet of darkness, indeed.  It is as if we journey at night, through a verdant and shadowy valley—”

“Come on, we have to tell the others,” said Tsuyu, nudging him.

.

“What happened?” asked Hitoshi, softly, not quite believing what he’d heard.  He rubbed his fingers over the folds of his artificial vocal cords, stored in the top pocket of his backpack.  Legally speaking, he wasn’t supposed to have it, or any hero support gear, outside the school he wasn’t licensed, even provisionally.    But Hizashi had insisted, and Kayama-sensei didn’t object, so…  

“According to the Hero Commission,” said Hizashi, voice tighter than his hands around the wheel, “Shouta and some of the 1-A students were targeted by a villain at the testing center.”

“What?  What villain? Shigaraki?”  That was the one that had been targeting 1-A again and again and again.  The one that had hurt him so badly at the USJ.  

“No,” said Hizashi.  “They said it was Midoriya.”

Hitoshi blinked, his brain first trying to find a villain that matched the name before shoving his fellow student’s face into his mind’s eye. “You mean, he’s the one that wound up fighting the villain.  How many bones did he break this time?  Or did he get a new quirk?”

“No,” said Kayama-sensei.  “They’re really saying that Midoriya is a villain.”

“That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard,” stated Hitoshi. “They think the second coming of All Might sunshine child is a villain?  If he got locked in Tartarus, half the population would, I don’t know, start confessing their sins and become model citizens before the day was out.  If his quirk wasn’t bone-breaking nonsense, I’d say it was the power of friendship.”  He stopped, considered that last sentence.  “Wait, this is about his quirk, isn’t it?”

“We don’t know,” said Hizashi.  

“They’re saying he kidnapped All Might.”

Hitoshi wondered if this was what people felt like when he used his quirk on them, because his brain had just bluescreened and was struggling to restart.  

“They’re what?” screeched Hizashi.  It was a good thing he was the one driving the car.  Hitoshi winced and covered his ears.  

“Didn’t All Might steal Vlad-sensei’s car?” asked Hitoshi, feeling dazed.  “How do you get from that, to Midoriya kidnapping him from across town.”

“I don’t know,” said Kayama, “but it’s all over Heronet and the commission is starting to release it to news networks.”

“That has to be the- the stupidest thing I ever heard! I’d put more money on Yagi kidnapping Midoriya,” said Hizashi, loudly and angrily.  

“What the rat god said before we left makes much more sense now,” said Kayama, mournfully.  

Hitoshi blanched at her reference to the principal.  But then curiosity got the better of him.  “What did he say?”

“That to keep custody of all our staff and students, we were going to have to be creative.”

.

Hizashi had expected many things upon arriving at the testing center.  Being refused access to the unconscious teacher and students was one of them. Obstructive bureaucracy was one of them. People telling him something was illegal or forbidden by protocol when he knew it wasn’t was one of them.  Chaos was one of them.  Confusion was one of them.  Lack of organization was one of them.  

In these things, he was not disappointed.  

What he didn’t expect, however, was for the remaining half of Shouta’s class to not only be one hundred percent down with kinda-sorta kidnapping, but to have already laid a lot of the groundwork for it already.  

Maybe he should have.  But he didn’t.  How was it that Shouta, aka Mr. Expulsion, aka Mr. ‘you have no potential,’ had kept all the students from a class that had no scruples against committing things that most people would consider crimes?  A class that, having been given time to bond, would probably collectively turn to villainy rather than betray one of their number?

He paused and considered his long relationship with Shouta. Mentally squinted.  Never mind.  He could see it now.  

Well.  It wasn’t as if Hizashi wasn’t like that, too.  He’d never really considered expelling any of them.  Except Mineta.  Grape Juice was on thin ice.  

“We most likely would have acted already,” Yaoyorozu said as the rest of the class distracted the commission officials who were supposedly supervising the pickup of the children, “but we didn’t know what we’d do after. No escape plan.”

Reasonable.  The bus driver (Green Light, the Transit Hero) had gone back to the school after dropping them off and had to turn around once he heard the news.  

But, now, Recovery Girl was coming around with a fleet of ambulances from the hero hospital UA contracted with.  A hospital that was, incidentally, not the same as the one the Hero Commission wanted to bring all the people still affected by Saito’s quirk.  

Ambulances had room for riders.  It was unorthodox, but it would work.  

“Well, you have one now,” said Hizashi, quietly.  No one expected him to be quiet.  It made him almost invisible when he was.  

“I know you already have a plan,” interjected Hitoshi. “But is there anything I can do?”

Momo blinked.  “Actually, yes.  We could get them out anyway, but it would help a lot if we had the keys.”

.

The search for Uraraka hadn’t been going well before the city started to fall apart around them.  In fact, it had been going incredibly poorly, because various versions of All Might kept popping up to try and punch Suzuki’s face off.  Literally.  At least two of the All Mights had declared that as their intention prior to attacking.

Tenya wasn’t sure if he should be concerned about his friend’s mental state or baffled about his incredibly violent mental view of All Might.

Perhaps the eyeless villain in Kamino had left a strong impression on him?  But All Might couldn’t have been responsible for the villain’s injuries! It was All Might.  He hardly ever injured villains he took down.  

On the other hand, the villain at Kamino had been terrifyingly strong.  If there were to be an exception to the rule, he was certainly it.  

But the real reason, in Tenya’s opinion, the search had been going poorly was Suzuki.  The man would not stop talking.  His theories were even worse than Todoroki’s!

“That All Might is fake,” he was saying.  “He isn’t even using his quirk, just like Midoriya.”

“I think we all know that the All Might that exists in Midoriya’s mind is not, in fact, the real All Might,” said Aizawa.  

“This destruction is just another ploy, another distraction—”

“We get it,” said Aizawa.  “But it isn’t centered around us, so, logically, it must be centered around Uraraka.”

Suzuki scoffed.  “We should be looking for what Midoriya is trying to hide.”

“The only reason we aren’t beating you up right now,” said Aizawa, “is that we are looking for Uraraka.  So, shut up.”

“What about me?”

Tenya whipped around to see Uraraka stooped over behind them, breathing heavily, hands on her knees.  “Sorry,” she said, “I ran all the way here.”

Aizawa hurried over to her.  Tenya noted that he never quite turned his back to Suzuki.  

“What happened?” he asked.  “Where were you?”

“D- Izuku wanted to talk to me,” she said.  “He said something dangerous was about to happen, but if we went farther in, we could maybe get out?”  

Under normal circumstances, the overly vague report would have been cause for scolding, but Tenya could see how her eyes flicked to Suzuki. There were details she didn’t want him to hear.

“Did he say how to go further in?” asked Aizawa.  

“No.  That happened and he ran off.”  She gestured towards another building that was slowly collapsing.  

“Wait a moment,” said Suzuki.  “If you’re here, what’s there?”

“Uh,” said Uraraka.  

“He told you, didn’t he?  What did he say?”

“Excuse me!” said Tenya.  “You are being very rude right now!  Uraraka has just come back from a harrowing experience!”

Tenya was not very good at lying, but this wasn’t really a lie, per-se.  

The distinction didn’t seem to matter to Suzuki, who gave him a brief, incredulous look before turning back to the gathering storm.  “He doesn’t want us to see this.”

“Don’t you dare,” said Aizawa, eyes narrowing.

Suzuki didn’t listen.

Tenya caught up to him without any trouble and punched him in the back of the head.  “Ow,” said Tenya, who had forgotten he wasn’t wearing his hero costume.  

“Did you break your fingers?” asked Aizawa as he dragged Suzuki back by the foot.  

“I’m going to have you all arrested and stripped of you licenses, unless—”

“Because we didn’t help you with an illegal interrogation? No, you’re not,” said Aizawa.

“Nana!”

The voice bounced off the buildings and was swept away by the wind.  

“Nana!  Master, where are you?”

It was the voice of the younger, vigilante All Might.  

“Is he calling the name or the number?” asked Uraraka.  

“Master!  Please! Answer me!”

With a shuddering heave, the building right next to them tipped over, falling into rubble before it even hit the ground.  The storm wind, heavy with rain and lightning, whipped down the street with all the force of a hurricane.  Tenya had to brace himself and cover his eyes.  

When he could see again, it was to discover Suzuki had run off again.  Towards the fallen building.  

Tenya was honestly torn between letting him get beaten up by whatever had flattened the building, whether it be Midoriya’s subconscious, the illusory All Might, or something worse.  Although, arguably, all those were the same the same thing.  

But Tenya was training to be a hero.  Heroes couldn’t pick and choose who to save.  He, and everyone else took off after Suzuki.  

They all stopped, though, when a boy in a torn UA uniform clambered over the rubble.  The boy cupped his hands around his mouth.  “Nana!”

That hair was recognizable from a mile away, not to mention the height.  All Might. Yet a different version.  Tenya had known UA was All Might’s alma mater, but seeing him in a uniform like this, seeing him vulnerable, not in the way of a man at the end of his career, but as someone just starting out, someone like them, was oddly humbling and completely terrifying.  

What pushed him to this?  What put that distraught tone in his voice?  What put that bloody slash in his uniform and bruised his face?

Tenya had a sinking suspicion he knew what.  He didn’t even want to come into contact with the memory of that monster from Kamino.  

All Might was scanning the ground, looking for- Looking for something.  Someone?

His eyes fell on them, and even from this distance, Tenya could see them widen.  All Might began to scramble down the hill.  

“You,” he shouted, as he came closer.  “You—Underclassmen.  Have you seen-?”  He gasped for air.  

Even Suzuki, from what he could see, looked taken aback.  

“Have you seen a woman about—” He hesitated and adjusted his hand downward, to about the height of his chin.  Which was still taller than Tenya.  

All Might was tall in high school.  Or, at least, Midoriya thought All Might was tall in high school.  

This was confusing.  

“A woman about this tall.  She’s—She has black hair, and she wears it, um, half up.”  All Might fanned his hand behind his head to illustrate. “She’s a hero.  Wears- Wears yellow gloves.”  He paused for a moment, eyes flicking from one to the next.  “You haven’t seen her.”  He whipped back around.  “Nana!”

“What even is this supposed to be?” demanded Suzuki.  

“Truly,” said Todoroki, “their bond is inspiring.  For All Might to tell Midoriya even of this tragedy…”

“Todoroki!  That’s entirely inappropriate!” exclaimed Tenya, turning to face his classmate.  

The wind picked up again.  The buildings began to twinkle.  

Earlier, you said something about being a vigilante. What was up with that, anyway?

Midoriya’s voice sounded like it was right next to him, and yet the sound was entirely sourceless.  

The colors shifted.

.

Izuku wasn’t sure if he wanted to curse the bystander culture encouraged by the hero system or bless it for its unintentional effects.  Even though Toshinori was clearly suffering, slumped against a wall and shoulders heaving, no one stopped to help him.  In fact, most people were averting their eyes, barely looking at him.  

Generally speaking, Izuku decided, he’d curse it.  In this particular instance, however, it benefitted them.  

He looked back and forth before dashing across the street, not caring about jaywalking at the moment.  He jogged up to Toshinori, swallowing the name before it left his lips. Right.  They were undercover, and the commission definitely knew Toshinori’s real name.  

“Dad,” he said instead, and mentally felt himself collide with a wall.  Couldn’t he have picked something else?  Come up with some fake name?  Or just not used a name to begin with.  With effort, he picked himself up and his dream-self kept running.  “I got your text,” he said, instead, for the benefit of anyone listening.  He inserted himself under one of Toshinori’s arms.  “Let’s go home.”

He smiled at a couple of people who were staring and hoped they wouldn’t report this.  

“I can walk, I can walk,” said Toshinori heaving himself off the wall with a shudder.  “I’m fine.”

This was a lie.  Izuku could still see the flashback playing out in his mind’s eye.  Even so, he nodded and tried to give Toshinori space, even as Toshinori put one hand on his shoulder and leaned on it heavily.  

This mental invasion was wearing both of them out.  No.  All of them out.  This was not, they reminded him, at all normal.  

Five gently pressed ways of dealing with flashbacks into his awareness.  Thank goodness for Five and his comparative normalcy.  

“We’re okay,” he said.  “We’re just on a street in Musutafu.  You can feel me, right?  And the sidewalk under your feet.  And you can hear the traffic and smell the cars.”  He kept going.

Toshinori gave a hum of assent after each item Izuku listed, but he could tell it wasn’t enough.  He might be able to see and hear, to touch and taste, but he could do the same things to that mental battleground.  

“What if,” said Izuku, desperately, “you tell me a story?”

“A story?” rasped Toshinori.  

“Y-yeah.  Earlier, you said something about being a vigilante.  What was up with that, anyway?”

.

It isn’t well known, said Yagi’s voice as the world came back into focus in an entirely different city with entirely different weather and signage, but I didn’t grow up in a terribly pleasant area.  

In fact, there was quite a lot of crime.  

Aizawa caught sight of a familiar head of yellow hair positioned above a plain gakuran.  The younger version of Yagi was staring down an alleyway.  

Suddenly, Aizawa felt himself pulled to stand right behind Yagi. A man with a mutation quirk was being mugged by two young men with fire quirks.  He blinked.  The scene didn’t change, even behind his eyelids.  He couldn’t see his students, or Suzuki.  

What was this, a cutscene?

I, ah, rather disliked that.  Obviously, my thoughts about become a symbol of peace for the world were, well… Just thoughts.  But even then, for my own little corner of the world, I wanted to make a difference.

Yagi, showcasing the fact that he’d always been a bit of an idiot, pulled on a medical mask and threw his bookbag at one of the muggers and punched the other one in the face.  At least he wasn’t using his quirk to do it.  The villain would have been paste on the side of the building.  

On the other hand, this was presumably some imagining of Midoriya’s, possibly based on a story he heard from All Might, if the voiceover was anything to go by.  

Oh, said Midoriya, I did that a couple of times.  Stop a mugging, I mean.                                                                                                                                          

I thought you said you weren’t involved in any vigilantism.

It wasn’t vigilantism!  They were just things I happened to run into, and I couldn’t just not help.

Sometimes, I wonder if your quirk really isn’t something like a villain magnet…

The scene shifted again, making Aizawa feel dizzy, even though he wasn’t moving.  Except, maybe that was why he felt dizzy.  Motion sickness.  

I never knew my parents.  I grew up in a foster home.  

Aizawa blinked, and the scene became clear.  A small apartment building with a tiny, tattered lawn. Someone’s shoe had been left on the sidewalk in front, and Yagi was climbing the stairs to the door.  

Then, Aizawa was inside, and internally wincing at the noise level.  Screaming preteens were so far out of his comfort level you couldn’t see it with a telescope.  

(The exception, of course, was Eri.)

As he watched, Yagi was shoved several times, tripped, and had a water-manipulation quirk used to drop something that Aizawa suspected was toilet water on his head.  

Overall, the attitude towards people like us wasn’t quite what it was now, but to be parentless on top of that?  Many of the other children at the home thought there had to be something wrong with me.  There was a sigh.  Judging from what I’ve seen of your memories, I suspect you had the worse time of it.

I had Mom, though.

Aizawa found himself in a small bedroom.  Pinned to one of the walls was a corkboard.  Which looked distressingly like Todoroki’s.  Yagi crossed his arms as he contemplated it.

Once I had built up my confidence, one of the things I was trying to do was find out about a human trafficking ring.

Oh, yeah, those suck.  

… Why do I feel like you have personal experience in the subject.  

It wasn’t my fault.  

Soft, fond laughter filled the room before it was whisked away and replaced with a warehouse that just screamed ‘villain hideout.’

There was a fight.  

I tried my best, tried to be sneaky… I knew I wouldn’t win in a straight-out fight.  But…

Yagi was surrounded and clearly losing.  Then the doors burst open.  A figure floated, framed by the threshold, backlit by the streetlights.

First contact, whispered a voice like the wind.

Nana, said Midoriya.  

Nana, agreed All Might’s voice.  She saved me.  I… Didn’t want to get caught.  I ran. Went back to the muggings.  

And then?

And then—

Another change in scenery.  A sidewalk by a stream.  Yagi stood in his gakuran a few meters away from a woman in a hero costume.  The yellow gloves stood out.  

And then, a week later, she found me.

The woman’s head snapped in Aizawa’s direction, and he had just enough time to realize she could see him before the scene glitched out and he was falling through an empty sky.

[bokunoheroanalysisforthefuture]

Looks like another full chapter with no breaks here. This chapter really does feel like it just breezes past because of all the action that happens in short order, but I mean, that’s what we all read shounen manga for. 

Also, I just realized that the title might have two meanings - one being that this is All Might striking back against the villains, and the other that this is the villains’ plans to counter All Might being put into action. Huh.

[No. 18 - Heroes’ Counterattack]

God, so many of the kids are in tears from the relief of All Might being there. This really just hammers in the reminder that these are fifteen year old kids, fresh out of middle school, who have just had a collective near-death experience. Young heroes-to-be or not, this is traumatizing, to say the least. Good thing this is a shounen and mental health isn’t a worry!

[insert one hour of discussion derailment that somehow went from sports festival to nighteye to japanese vs english interpretations of canon. Yeah, we don’t know how we got there either.]

Anyways. All Might explains that he had a bad feeling, so he cut his talk with the principal short and came right away. He ran into Iida on his way there, who told him the gist of what was happening. He’s furious, and also worried about how scared the kids must have been. He then notes that his colleagues did their best - however, that’s exactly why he has to stand tall now and declare ‘Fear Not. I Am Here!’

This Is Fine. 

During that explanation, All Might dramatically tears his tie from around his neck, looking seriously pissed off all the while. Also, Izuku notes that All Might’s not smiling, which, again, he’s down the stairs and across the plaza from the guy, how can he even tell? From the tone? Though that’s still the issue of how far All Might’s voice was projecting in order to be heard… or perhaps he’s just used to analyzing distance shots of All Might and so there’s subtle differences from smiling and not-smiling All Might from like a hundred meters away or something?

Oh, right, analysis! Shigaraki’s attention turns to All Might, stating that he’s been waiting, hero, before calling the man ‘worthless trash.’ The other villains are nervous as one of them says they’ve never seen him in person before, and are awe-struck by his presence. Another says no backing down now, you idiot, they’re there to kill him.

All Might tosses aside his suit jacket as he leaps from the top of the stair case. The villains have a moment to panic before All Might has blown past them all, knocking each and every one of them out with a blow a piece as he moves to check in on Aizawa. As the villains all collapse, All Might apologizes to Aizawa, picking him up carefully while noting the man’s poor state - most notably, his arms and face. He puts Aizawa over his shoulder as he turns to look at Shigaraki and the Nomu.

He is Not Happy.

Tsuyu, Mineta, Izuku, and Shigaraki have no time to react as All Might rushes around, grabbing the kids out of danger. In the process, Shigaraki’s face-hand falls off and to the ground. By the time the hand hits the ground (presumably), All Might has already dropped the kids off some distance away, along with Aizawa’s body. 

He tells them to get to the entrance, and to bring Aizawa with them. The man’s unconscious, so they have to hurry. Mineta is shocked at how fast everything happened. Izuku, however, is more worried about All Might. 

Shigaraki’s wobbling as he stumbles over to the hand on the ground, head hanging so his hair hides his face. His voice is a wobbly mess as well, saying it’s no good, and apologizing to the hand, which he calls Father. Which is Not At All Disconcerting. 

Shigaraki sucks in a breath and centers himself as he returns the hand to his face, then gets back to mocking All Might. He comments on throwing punches to save people, then laughs and notes that that’s their state-sponsored violence. All Might’s fast - too fast to keep up with, but not as fast as expected. He wonders if it could really be true - that All Might is getting weaker?

Terrifying! :D

Izuku warns All Might that it’s no use, specifically with ‘that brain villain’. He almost mentions One For All, then corrects himself to just his general attack, then goes on to warn that said attack wasn’t strong enough to break his own arm, but the villain hadn’t even flinched. Up against that, he’s worried All Might will… 

All Might interrupts him, turning to give Izuku a winning smile and a cool pose while telling him to fear not. He then turns back to the villains and dashes forward, arms crossed in front of him as he begins to call out a Carolina Smash. Shigaraki calls on the nomu, who immediately moves to take the blow without any apparent effect. The nomu stares All Might down for a moment before it goes it for its own lunging grapple, but All Might manages to drop underneath the attack. 

It’s clear All Might’s already pushing his limits here - he’s quivering, and blood’s escaping between his teeth. Despite that, he gripes about his attack having no effect at all as he swings up into another punch to the gut, the nomu having no reaction besides turning its head to stare at him. All Might dodges another swipe and lands a blow to the nomu’s head. Shigaraki explains that there was no effect because it had shock absorption - if All Might really wants to damage it, he’d be better off slowly ripping him apart, piece by piece… not that it’ll give him the chance. 

All Might dashes around behind the nomu and grapples it by the waist, thanking Shigaraki for the info. He says it’s no sweat to handle as he yoinks the nomu up and over himself in a suplex. 

We briefly switch over to the flood zone trio, with Izuku carrying Aizawa on his back and Mineta holding up Aizawa’s feet. They’ve all paused briefly to watch the fight. Mineta asks the real questions, wondering how in the world a suplex made an explosion like that, then comments on how All Might’s in a whole different league. Tsuyu then replies that All Might’s still a newbie as a teacher, with those cheat sheets and all. 

However, Izuku’s still uncertain. He thinks about how the villains might have a way to kill All Might, while they’re stuck there, helpless. Even worse, any of the students trying to help would only slow All Might down if the villains managed to take any of them hostage. He has no reason to speculate about the villains, he just has to trust in All Might! 

(Meanwhile, at the top of the stairs, Sato is cheering over how the villains underestimated what All Might’s capable of. Ochako, on the other hand, has seen Izuku and the others, and more likely is aware of how bad a shape Aizawa seems to be in. She points them out, likely to try and get the others to help the flood zone trio up and out of there.)

...but…

Just, this whole page. I really love how using middle school izuku as a ‘center piece’ for the page both calls back to his memories of his first meeting with All Might and learning the secret of the man’s injury, AND sort of serves as a nod to how helpless and useless Izuku must be feeling in the moment while watching on. How afraid he is, in that moment. A lot of feelings that have to be similar to how he felt during the Sludge Villain incident.

And also, Izuku in general being really smart! He knew All Might had been on the news that morning, and he saw Thirteen’s subtle three fingers raised when she mentioned All Might wasn’t at the USJ yet, which must have meant All Might was already passed his limit for the day. And only Izuku knows about All Might’s injury, his personal fears, his secrets. 

(Well, a few of them. As we’ll learn, the man has a LOT more hiding in the rafters.)

But yeah, his worry and growing fear/helplessness is contrasted even more by the rest of his classmates cheering All Might on. And not without reason - we go back to All Might as he see more blood dripping from between his teeth and… onto the head of the nomu? Or no, that’s the blood from the wound on All Might’s side dripping down, ALl Might’s head is still close to where the nomu is being warped through Kurogiri’s portal, with the other half of the nomu emerging from below All Might to latch its claws into his sides. 

Shigsaraki notes that All Might had hoped to drive the nomu into the concrete and seal his movements, and then states that it wouldn’t have worked, because the nomu is as powerful as him. He then praises Kurogiri for the perfect timing. We get a glimpse over to Kurogiri, who is mostly shapeless as he maintains the portals. Then we get a closeup of the nomu clenching at All Might’s old injury and opening it up, drawing a pained noise from All Might.

All Might thinks about the unbelievable power of the nomu, having let go of the nomu’s waste in order to try and force the hand off of his weak point. All Might states out loud that it’s impressive for first-time offenders, but that they should prepare themselves. 

Kurogiri comments that he doesn’t much like the idea of having blood and guts inside his warp gate, but if they’re All Might’s, he’ll happily oblige. He then clarifies that it was the nomu’s job to get around All Might’s blinding speed and hold him down, while it’s Kurogiri’s job to close the warp gate while he’s halfway through and immobilized - thus cutting him in two. While he explains this, the nomu is starting to right itself, dragging All Might into the warp gate through it. All Might is smiling, but there’s tension around his eyes that suggest he’s in a tight spot.

Izuku starts to say Tsuyu’s last name, then corrects himself to Tsuyu last second. She congratulates him on getting it right, then asks what he wants. He asks her to take Aizawa for him, which she agrees to, though she’s confused what he’s going to do. Before she can finish asking, though, he’s already moving, tears building in his eyes, right towards the fight. All the while, he’s thinking about how there’s still so many things that he needs All Might to teach him - that he can’t lose All Might here. 

Kurogiri calls Izuku foolish, while All Might had a moment of panic over Izuku rushing forward, wanting to warn him away even as a portal opens right in front of him-

And Katsuki rolls right in like a hurricane, blasting Kurogiri out of the way with a feral grin. All while telling Izuku to get out of there. I don’t think that’s concern, more like he wants Izuku out of the way so he can claim glory for himself. But yeah, Katsuki’s got his gauntleted hand around Kurogiri’s neck brace as he shoves the villain to the ground, before using his non-gauntleted hand to hold said villain in place by the ‘throat’. 

As if that weren’t enough, Ice suddenly climbs up the side of the nomu, further surprising All Might. Shouto states that he heard the villains were there to kill All Might. We then see Shigaraki surprised as he last-second dodges Kirishima’s attack. Kirishima is frustrated about his near-miss, Katsuki is mocking Kurogiri over not being all that great (and calling him a misty mook), and Shouto is calm as he states that scum like them could never kill the Symbol of Peace.

Izuku is shook as he realizes who else came to help, and we end with the four UA students facing off against Shigaraki.

The tides really have turned for this match… 

Only three chapters left for this arc! And man has there been a few surprises along the way. I mean, we all know how this turns out, but there’s also a strange sense of anticipation when going back through it all in the manga.

Anyways, see y’all next time! Gonna see if I can get this arc done this week...

[bnha-free-writing]

Uncertain

Hi guys! I hope you enjoy this fluff piece! Special thanks to @shoutodoki​ and @burnedbyshoto​ for allowing me to tag them in this piece! I hope you guys enjoy this as much as I enjoy your works!

Pairing: Shoto x Reader

Warnings: Fluff ahead! (Some angst too...)

Word Count:  5.3k

Rated: E for Everyone (Like Shouto's hands)

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Key:

(Y/N) - Reader’s name

(L/N) - Reader’s last name

(s/t) - Skin tone

(h/l) - Hair length

(h/t) - Hair texture/type

(h/c) - Hair color

(e/c) - Eye color

(Y/H/N) - Reader’s Hero Name

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When Shoto Todoroki first began his education at U.A., he never thought that he would make any friends. His goal had been simply to become the best hero. There was absolutely no plan of making friends. And he definitely wasn’t looking to find love.

But apparently, fate had other things in mind. In his three years at U.A., he met so many people, made some close friends, but none closer than (Y/N) (L/N). The girl that kept him anchored to the ground when things got rough. When his father was involved in a tough battle on TV, (Y/N) had held him in a reassuring hug until the fight ended. When training led to injury, she was the first to help him to Recovery Girl. 

It hadn’t been an immediate friendship. She had started out their first year by making friends with Ochako Uraraka and Tsuyu Asui. He was so wrapped up in his goals that it took over a week before he finally noticed her. But then, one day in class, he got a paper cut. He had winced and out of the corner of his hetero-chromatic eyes, he watched as a bandage was slid onto the edge of his desk. He looked over at the (h/c) girl in confusion. She had been sitting right beside him and all she did was offer a soft smile before returning to taking notes.

After that, she would occasionally sit across from him at lunch. He was sitting alone at the time, curious as to why she would abandon her friends twice a week to start up small talk with him. But she was persistent and eventually, he had gotten used to her presence. 

“Why are you here,” he had finally asked aloud. 

“I want to be a hero, silly,” she had replied, confusion clear on her features.

“No, I mean why are you sitting here with me.”

“You looked lonely and I think you need a friend. It’s that simple,” she beamed.

After that, their lunch for that day fell into silence. He didn’t understand. 

At the Sports Festival, she put up a hell of a fight. Her quirk might not have been the strongest, but she fought hard to earn her place. With that, she had earned his respect.

After that, their conversations became more frequent. Then, it was him joining her at Uraraka and Midoriya’s table. No longer was she abandoning her friend group, because slowly but surely he became a part of it.

By second year, there were frequent movie nights, the girl showing him her favorite movies, a kind of enjoyment his father never would have allowed. They would sit on the edge of her bed sharing laughter and (though he would never admit it) occasional tears. She introduced him to kinds of joy that he never thought possible. 

Some days, it was enough to just sit on opposite sides of the room in comfortable silence. She would be curled up on her bean bag chair, sketching, while he would sit on her bed, working his way through her personal library. Other days it was laughter and talking as she taught him how to cook. She would joke that it was ironic because, despite having a fire quirk, he was a bit clueless in the kitchen. 

She was a relaxing figure in his life, one of the kindest people he had ever met. Despite the fact that he could be rather cold and socially oblivious, she understood him. She was his best friend. But about halfway through their third year at U.A., something changed. It was a slow change, but it wasn’t necessarily a bad one. 

It started with a moment, just a moment, where he saw her sitting at the foot of the stairs outside of Heights Alliance, waiting for him to come back from shopping for the supplies for the dorm. She was reading a book, the sun shining on her (s/t) skin, the wind blowing through her (h/l), (h/t) (h/c) locks, her soft, (e/c) orbs focused on the page in front of her. He found himself stopping, admiring the way she bit her bottom lip and her eyebrows knitted together as she focused. For that one moment, he found his mind going blank. 

The only thought his mind could process was, ‘She’s beautiful.’

And as suddenly as it started, it drifted away the second she noticed his arrival and called his name.

After that, it was downhill from there. When she would grab his wrist to drag him to lunch like she did every day, his heart would race and his cheeks would warm. She was suddenly in his dreams, her radiant smile filling his thoughts. He found himself getting lost in thought every time their eyes would meet.

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t wrap his head around why he felt this way. They had been friends long enough that he couldn’t think of why he was feeling this way. He tried to Google these feelings, but heart racing and sweaty palms only brought up the results of ‘cancer.’

He was pretty sure that he was not dying, yet he was still unsure of what was wrong. For weeks, these feelings had been taunting him, her smile invading his thoughts, his dreams, everything. At one point, he had a dream about her that made his quirk activate in his sleep. He wound up waking up in the middle of the night to the sprinklers going off, aggravating his classmates. While the rest were angry, she had been hell-bent on ensuring that he was okay. 

 It wasn’t until they were watching a movie with the rest of the class (even Bakugo) in the common area that he finally got a clue. She was squished between himself and Bakugo, when about halfway through the movie he felt a sudden weight on his left shoulder. He looked down to see her head resting on his shoulder, her breathing even as she slept peacefully. He smiled softly, resting his own head against hers.

“Awww,” he heard the soft coo of Uraraka, followed by soft whispers.

He attempted to drown out their voices when he heard Ashido whisper, “They’re so cute together. When are Todoroki and (L/N) gonna finally admit that they’re in loooove?”

His hetero-chromatic eyes shot open as Ashido’s words processed in his brain. The pinkette had never been very good at being quiet, but for once he was grateful. 

He thought, ‘Is that what this is?’ as his heart beat became nearly deafening in his ears. 

Shortly after the movie finished, Todoroki lifted (Y/N) into his arms, taking her to her dorm room. Her eyes fluttered as she slept peacefully in his arms. Once he got her to her dorm, he laid her on the bed, carefully covering her with a blanket. It took all of his self control to leave, rather than holding her in his arms through the night.

The next day was no better. Now that he knew what this feeling was, her very existence made him flustered, though he hid it quite well. He was constantly fighting to keep his eyes off of her. 

The more time that went by, the more Todoroki was terrified that it would get to the point that he would miss out on any chance he had with her. As a third year student, she had plenty of exposure as a hero in training. She already had several fan sites, seeing as she worked under the Pro Hero, Edgeshot. He wasn’t oblivious to her popularity and unlike himself, she was very good with her fans.

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

It was a rare event to have Endeavor and Edgeshot’s agencies team up, yet Todoroki found himself fighting back to back with (Y/N) against a large group of thugs. Their mentors had delegated the two of them to the low level goons while the two of them raced ahead to take on the main boss, Terminator. While their opponents’ fighting was erratic, the two of them fought nearly completely synchronized. Within minutes, they were down to a few opponents. 

Once they were done with the low level thugs, the two of them were quick to join their mentors against the big boss. The man had a powerful quirk, and had four higher ranking members of his crew to play guard. It wasn’t an easy fight, but the second (Y/N) had taken down two of the higher ranking members, the boss had slightly nodded his head in her direction.

Nobody saw it coming, as a fifth underling had been hiding in the rafters, awaiting for when she was signaled for. As (Y/N) turned to help Todoroki, the fifth underling dropped down behind her, undetected until she slammed (Y/N) into a wall, knocking her unconscious as her head smacked against the scarlet brick wall. 

The vibrations of the impact drew the attention of Todoroki and the two Pro Heroes. Todoroki’s hetero-chromatic orbs widened, and before either of his opponents could register what was going on, he had them frozen solid from the neck down. 

He immediately turned his focus solely upon the woman that had caused (Y/N)’s injury. The woman had a quirk that allowed her to be as strong as five men, and she was fast on her own. The woman charged at Todoroki, but he was quick to use his ice to slip away, simultaneously knocking the woman off balance. As she slipped around on the ice, struggling to regain her footing, he used this time to his advantage, freezing her much like he had done with her cohorts. 

As soon as he was done with her, he turned his attention to Endeavor and Edgeshot, who were restraining the boss. 

“Shoto! Go check on (Y/H/N),” Edgeshot shouted.

Todoroki quickly moved to (Y/N)’s side, her body still as he checked her pulse. It was faint and he knew he couldn’t move her without the possibility of causing more damage. Blood was dripping from the back of her head, her body looked paler, and all he could do was stare in shock.

He could barely process a thing as the paramedics arrived, moving her onto a gurney. Edgeshot rode along in the ambulance while Todoroki and Endeavor stayed behind and answered questions for the police. 

Once they were cleared, Todoroki made his way to the hospital, immediately finding himself in the waiting room. 

“She’s in surgery. I’ll let you know as soon as I hear anything,” Edgeshot promised. 

“Thank you, sir.”

The two of them sat for hours, their eyes completely trained on the operating room door. There were no words between them. Simply (Y/N)’s mentor and best friend, each sitting with a heavy feeling in the air between them.

With each passing hour without word on her condition, Todoroki steadily grew more anxious. Eventually, he even found himself pacing and that’s when Edgeshot stepped in, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“Shoto, she is going to be alright. She’s a tough kid. I know she’s your friend. You’re all she talks about when we get the chance to talk. You guys are close. You of all people should know that she’s tougher than this. She’ll get through it, kid.”

“I know. I just… I don’t know what I can do.”

“You can’t change it. All you can do is be there for her.”

It was then that the doctor walked up to them, pulling Edgeshot aside. Once he returned to Todoroki’s side, he was quick to fill Todoroki in.

“So, there was mild head injury, which is what knocked her unconscious. They put her in surgery because one of her ribs broke and they needed to set it properly before they could call in Recovery Girl to speed up the healing process. However she wasn’t able to heal her completely. She’s going to stay here under observation for the rest of the week.”

“When can we see her,” Todoroki asked.

“She’s still asleep. Between the surgery and Recovery Girl’s treatment, she’s exhausted. They said one of us could sit with her, so long as we don’t disturb her rest. I’ll let you sit with her first.”

Todoroki simply nodded before heading over to the nurse so he could be escorted to her room. Once he arrived at her room, he quietly pulled up a chair to her bedside.

Her eyelids fluttered as she slept and he found himself letting out a breath he hadn’t known he was holding. He laid his head on the edge of her bed, allowing himself to truly relax for the first time in hours. His eyelids grew heavy as he drifted off to sleep, having found solace by her side. 

Todoroki woke to the morning sunlight peeking through the window. His eyes opened and he found himself looking up at (Y/N)’s resting face. Her eyelids fluttered as she slept, still in the same state she had been when he had drifted off. 

Why the doctors hadn’t woken him was beyond him, but he certainly wasn’t going to complain. It almost felt wrong to be sitting there, watching her sleep. Yet that was the least of his concerns. He wondered if she had woken yet at any point.

“You’re awake,” he heard from a voice behind him. He turned to see Edgeshot leaning against the door frame. “She hasn’t woken up yet. But I told them to let you stay.” 

“Have the doctors said anything?”

“Apparently her heart monitor has been steady, no complications.”

“That’s good,” Todoroki replied, letting out a sigh of relief.

The two of them sat in silence for a few moments before a light groan broke through the air.

“(Y/N),” Todoroki called softly, hoping to hear her sweet voice reply.

“I feel like I’ve been hit by a bus,” (Y/N)’s voice croaks out.

The second he heard her voice, Todoroki whipped around, his hetero-chromatic orbs meeting her (e/c) ones. 

He had never thought he would be that happy to hear someone’s voice, yet there he was. To his ears, her voice was that of an angel calling him to heaven. There was nothing short of amazement in his eyes as he looked at her as though her body was made of gold and her (e/c) orbs were made of the rarest gems. This woman was his everything. 

His thoughts were broken as her scratchy voice pierced the air once more. “Sh-Shoto… Is there any way I could get a glass of water?”

“Of course, give me just a moment,” he replied before turning to the sink in her room and quickly pouring her a glass, his hands shaking. 

“Good to see you’re awake, kid. I’ll let Todoroki here talk you through what happened. I’ll call your parents to let them know you’re awake,” Edgeshot replied before leaving the room. 

Todoroki watched as (Y/N) carefully drank her water and he waited for her to finish drinking before he began to speak. “So what’s the last thing you remember?”

Her voice was soft as she replied, “I remember we were going into the main compound building and we got caught up fighting some higher level goons. I beat the two I was dealing with and then… I turned to help you. But I don’t remember anything after that.”

“Well, that’s good. You aren’t missing much time. Basically, there was another high level goon up in the rafters. She'd been hiding there, waiting for a signal. Detectives figured out that she was Terminator’s right hand. He must have given her a signal because she jumped down and tossed you into a wall… Apparently you were knocked unconscious on impact.”

“Your injuries weren’t too bad. Recovery Girl came in and healed you after they did surgery to set your broken rib. They just want to keep you under observation until Friday night to make sure that you are okay.”

(Y/N) simply nodded before she spoke, “Are you okay, Shoto?”

“You’re the one in a hospital bed and you’re asking me if I’m okay,” Todoroki replied, confusion clear on his features. 

“Todoroki… You look like you haven’t slept.”

He sat down in the chair beside her bed, looking down at his hands as a blush grew on his cheeks. “I… I actually slept right here. I never left here last night.”

Todoroki glanced up as he felt a light pressure applied to his head. (Y/N) had softly placed her hand on his head, lightly ruffling his hair. Their eyes met for only a second before she pulled her hand away and they both darted their eyes to their laps. 

“Hey guys, I figured you’d be hungry, so I brought some breakfast… And… Why do you two look like tomatoes,” Edgeshot spoke as he entered the room once more. 

Neither of the teens dared to speak a word as the Pro Hero rolled his eyes. 

Todoroki thought that spending the week without (Y/N) being in class would be difficult. But if anything, her absence made concentrating easier. He was writing down notes non-stop, making sure to cover every lesson in as much detail as possible, even comparing notes with Midoriya and Yaoyorozu during lunch to ensure that he hadn’t missed anything. 

“Why do you need to take such detailed notes all of a sudden,” Midoriya asked that Monday after school. 

His friends all looked at him expectantly as he admitted, “I don’t want (Y/N) to fall behind. So I’m going back to the hospital after school to help her with what she’s missing during class.”

“Awwww, that’s really sweet,” Uraraka cooed. “Can I ask you something, Todoroki?”

“Sure.”

“Todoroki, do you… Do you like (Y/N)? Whatever your answer, it’ll stay between the three of us. I just had to ask seeing as this is the only time I can really ask you without risking her popping up.”

Todoroki looked at Midoriya and Uraraka for a single moment, taking a deep breath before shakily replying, “I… I guess.”

“Todoroki, it’s nothing to be ashamed of! She makes you happy!”

“You should tell her, Todoroki,” Midoriya advises.

“Yes,” Uraraka cheers. 

“Well, right now, I have to leave to get these notes to her,” he spoke as he looked at his watch. “I don’t want to miss the train.”

“Bye Todoroki,” Uraraka and Midoriya chorus.

He found himself practically racing to the hospital. When he finally got there, he was surprised to find her sitting on the edge of the bed, looking out the window. 

“Hey, (Y/N),” Todoroki spoke slowly, hoping to not startle her.

She turned around slowly, a grin on her face as she spoke, “Shoto! You came! I’m glad. I was worried you wouldn’t have time.”

Though he wouldn’t say it aloud, he knew if it meant seeing her, he would have blown off any assignment. “I told you I’d be here,” he retorted, as he sat down beside her.

“I know,” she replied as she wrapped her arms around him.

As soon as she pulled away from the hug, he pulled out the notes he had worked so hard on all day.

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

After a particularly long training session on Friday afternoon, the only thing Todoroki wanted was a shower. He wasn’t to go visit (Y/N) that day because she was to be released and picked up by Edgeshot that evening. So he had spent his few free hours after school training hard with Midoriya, Bakugo, and Iida. 

But when the doors to Heights Alliance opened up, his eyes immediately fell on a figure with (h/c) locks surrounded by her friends. She was dressed in her favorite sweatpants and an All Might T-shirt, looking as stunning as ever. Her (e/c) eyes shined with joy as Uraraka filled her in on what she’s missed throughout the week.

“I missed being here so much,” (Y/N confessed, a pout on her lips. 

“Ribbit. We missed you too,” Asui croaked. “Hey, it’s Todoroki.”

(Y/N) looked up from her group of friends and gave him a beaming grin before greeting, “Hey Shoto! Surprise! I got out a couple of hours early! I told Edgeshot if I didn’t get out soon, I’d lose it! So he talked it over with the doctor and they let me out like an hour before classes let out!”

Todoroki couldn’t help but let out a small chuckle at her antics. 

“Hey, I got tickets for a movie and I got permission for eight of us to go,” Yaoyorozu offered as she approached, a skip in her step.

“That’s great,” Todoroki commented. 

“So, I was thinking Todoroki, (Y/N), Uraraka, Midoriya, Tsu, Iida, Kyoka, and myself. We can go tomorrow night, assuming you’re all willing to go! Iida, Midoriya, and Kyoka have already agreed, so...”

“I’ll definitely go,” Uraraka chimed.

“I’d love to! Thanks, Momo,” (Y/N) added, nodding exuberantly.

“Sounds like fun,” Tsu croaks, a smile on her features.

Todoroki found the rest of them looking at him expectantly, waiting for his response. He finally nodded, a small smile on his features. 

The next night came quickly and he found himself in awe as Uraraka practically pushed a nearly shy (Y/N) out of the elevator. Her soft, (h/c) locks were pinned back out of her face, her big (e/c) eyes were framed with light makeup and her lips lightly glossed. Her frame was covered by a plain, light blue sundress, a pair of simple flats on her feet. 

Uraraka led (Y/N) to his side, practically skipping as she cheered out, “Todoroki! (Y/N) looks super cute, right?”

Todoroki’s eyes widened, not expecting the sudden question. He had literally just been stuck on thinking about how beautiful she looked, yet when it comes down to vocalizing, he finds himself at a loss.

“Ochako, leave him alone,” (Y/N) whispers, her eyes glued to her shoes.

Todoroki felt his heart drop at the sight of the crestfallen expression on her face. He felt as though he was choking on his words, despite a part of him wanting to scream from the rooftops, announcing her beauty to the world. Yet there he stood, his mouth opening and closing in a fish-like fashion, feeling like a fool.

Finally after what felt like hours, he managed to mutter out, “You… You look cute, (Y/N).”

Her head shot up, her (e/c) orbs wide with surprise, a flush on her cheeks, and a small smile on her face. 

Finally, Iida comes speeding in, “The movie starts in twenty-five minutes! We should leave immediately to ensure that we are not tardy! It would be unbecoming of esteemed U.A. students to be late!”

Soon enough, the group arrived at the theater, each of them having time to grab their drinks and popcorn. Yaoyorozu was the first to be seated, followed by Jiro, Midoriya, Uraraka, Iida, Tsu, (Y/N), and finally Todoroki at the end. 

The title screen seemed innocent enough until the blood started dripping from the words on the screen. It was a horror movie and with every jump-scare, Todoroki watched as (Y/N) jumped and shook more and more. Her hands were tightly clutching the sides of the seat, the white of her knuckles showing through. 

Finally, as tears started to prick at her eyes, Todoroki couldn’t watch her like that anymore. He carefully placed one of his hands on her own, immediately gaining her attention as she jerked her head to face him. In that moment, her eyes widened and she threw herself into his arms, crying. At first he was surprised, but as soon as she clutched his shirt, he pulled her into his lap, lightly stroking her (h/c) locks as she shook in his arms. He rested his head atop her own and the hand that wasn’t stroking her hair began to rub slow, calming circles on her back until she fell asleep in his arms.

Once the movie was over, he found himself stirring (Y/N) from her sleep. As he led her sleepy form out of the theater, his arm sling around her protectively, she stayed groggily clung to his shirt. Even on the loud, crowded subway, she didn’t move out from under his arm. 

Once the group made their way to the dorms, they were met by the few members of their class that were still awake. Shoto looked down at her, to see her eyes still half open. 

Mina was the first to address the pair, “Awww she looks so tired!”

“I forgot to tell everyone that it was a horror movie. (Y/N) didn’t take it well,” Yaoyorozu admitted, nervously twiddling her thumbs. Turning to (Y/N) she pleads, “I really hope you’re not upset with me.”

“I’ll be fine. I just need some sleep,” (Y/N) sleepily mumbles, before attempting to take a step on her own. When the girl practically fell over, Todoroki was quick to catch her and resume their previous stance. 

“I’m going to take her up,” he muttered, carefully leading her towards the elevator. 

The rest of their class bode them good night as the two disappeared into the elevator, the (h/c) girl still nuzzled into Todoroki’s side. 

“Sh-Shoto,” her voice stuttered out, so faintly that he almost missed it. 

Luckily he hadn’t, because the second he looked down at her, his heart skipped a beat. She had the cutest expression on her face, her lips slightly parted, her tired eyes looking up at him through her lashes, and a faint pink to her cheeks.

He didn’t know what to expect as she hesitantly raised her hand to cup his face. He was too shocked to move, allowing her to lightly run her thumb over his cheek, just below his scar. Her other hand was still clutched to the back of his shirt, her cheeks darkening as their eyes refused to break contact. 

She was too close. He could smell her skin, he could see flecks in her (e/c) orbs, he could practically count her eyelashes. His heart was pounding in his ears, his body unable to move in fear of losing control of himself.

She was exhausted. He shouldn’t be letting this happen, he thought. But a small, selfish part of him wanted to stay like this forever. Her body pressed against him, their eyes locked on one another, and the soft touch of her hand on his face.

She was the first to break eye contact, a sad smile taking its place on her features as the elevator opened.

His eyes widened as she removed her hand from his face and they walked to her room in silence, as though nothing had happened. She unlocked the door and he walked her to her bed.

It was then that he got a good look at her face. The moonlight shone through her window, highlighting the silent tears that were streaming down her cheeks. 

“Why are you crying,” he whispered.

“I shouldn’t have done that… In the elevator… I’m sorry, Shoto,” she spoke softly, her sentence broken up by soft sobs. “I don’t want you to hate me… I… I just…”

Her voice broke into nothing but soft sobs. 

He took a seat on the edge of her bed, sitting beside her as he pulled her into his arms. 

“I… I could never hate you,” he whispered.

For the second time that night, he held her as she cried herself to sleep in his arms. 

He didn’t know what to do. He had never been good at expressing his emotions, but, damn, this was a new low for him. He didn’t know why she was sorry for what was just about the best moment of his life. He was just glad that it was a Saturday night, because at this rate he wasn’t sleeping. 

He wasn’t sure of anything. 

Was she sorry because he froze and she thought he didn’t like it?

Or was she sorry because she knew how he felt and she used that moment to decide that she didn’t feel the same?

But for right now, he was holding her in his arms and, even if this would be the last time it happened, it was enough for him. With his arms still wrapped tightly around her, he laid back, resting his head on the pillow behind them.

When Todoroki woke in the morning, he found himself looking down at (Y/N)’s sleeping form once more. Her eyes were red and puffy from her tears she had shed the night before but what surprised him most was that it appeared that at some point, she had gotten up and changed into pajamas, yet climbed back into bed beside him. 

As she laid there, snuggled into his chest, he brushed a lock of hair from her face. It was another one of those moments where all he desired was to freeze time. 

But as the light filtered through the window, her eyes scrunched together and she began to stir. 

Her eyes fluttered open, looking up at him almost immediately. She smiled softly for a moment, before her eyes widened.

“Shoto, what are you doing here,” she asked slowly, as though she wasn’t sure if she wanted the answer.

“You had a rough night last night. I got you safely to your room and you started crying. So I guess I fell asleep comforting you.”

“I was really hoping that the part that made me cry was a bad dream,” she whispered. “I’m sorry. You don’t have to stay, Shoto.”

“Why are you sorry,” he inquired, not moving from his spot.

“I… I tried to make a move on you? You didn’t like it,” she admitted, looking down at her hands.

“(Y/N), look at me please,” he requested.

When she peeked up at him through her eyelashes, he took her chin gently between his thumb and forefinger bringing her up to face him properly. His other hand gently brushed over her cheek, much like she had done to him the night before. 

“I tried to tell you last night. I could never hate you. I liked it... I was surprised. And you weren’t in the right condition for me to give in, even if I was sure that you’d meant it,” he admitted softly.

There was a moment of silence between them before she let out a giggle.

“I was so scared. I was terrified that you didn’t like me back,” she confessed. “I’m an idiot!”

“We were both scared,” he corrected, feeling his cheeks grow warmer. “I thought that when you got injured… I’d never get the chance to tell you.”

“Shoto,” she whispered as she placed her hand over the one that was still absentmindedly stroking the side of her face. “Please, just kiss me.”

His heart jumped into his throat as he carefully moved closer, half expecting to wake up, finding this to be yet another dream. Yet, she closed the small space between them for a soft, hesitant kiss. 

His heart was pounding, every cell of his body felt like it was on fire, yet his mind had never been so at ease. When they finally pulled apart, their faces were flushed, a small, dopey grin on each of their faces.

He leaned down to give her a chaste kiss before pulling her into his chest, muttering, “I’m not ready to get out of bed yet.”

With a small yawn, she nuzzled into his chest, pulling a blanket over the two of them as she replied with a light giggle, “You read my mind.”

[city-writes]

Before I Say Goodbye to You, One More Last Fist Bump

When Kirishima last saw Bakugo, he'd been blasting off through the air, with the intent on stopping whatever other villains had infiltrated Nabu Island. Shortly after, a giant, balloon doll-esque Midoriya towered over the forest in the west part of the island, with a child's voice begging for help.

Now both Midoriya and Bakugo were both unconscious, thoroughly thrashed, and Kirishima was helping the rest of Class 1-A do what they could to keep hope alive for the island's denizens.

Kirishima can't help but ask himself... if he'd followed Bakugo... would things have been different?

Warning(s): Heroes Rising Movie Spoilers; possible second chapter maybe? not sure Pairing(s): Eijirou Kirishima/Katsuki Bakugo (KiriBaku); Background Implied/One-sided Izuku Midoriya/Ochako Uraraka (IzuOcha)

Read it here on AO3!

Kirishima looked towards Bakugo in awe, having just witnessed him take down the weird mummy villain basically single-handedly after freeing himself from the villain's control. "Woah!" A smile broke out on Kirishima's lips, crying out to his best friend, "Nice one, Bakugo!"

"He kept collateral damage to a minimum too!" Kaminari added, looking at how precise of an explosion Bakugo had set off.

"There you are!"

At the sound of Yaoyorozu's voice, all three young men turned and looked her way. "You guys good?" Yaoyorozu asked, looking towards Kirishima and Kaminari as she and Jirou ran up to them. Before Kirishima could say anything in response, Bakugo spoke instead, looking at the lot of them from over his shoulder, standing from several feet away.

"Yeah," The ash blond haired teen replied, rubbing the arm that had sacrificed the grenade gauntlet while fighting the mummy villain, "That was too easy."

Kirishima looked to Yaoyorozu and Jirou then, breathing slightly heavy from his exertion. "Are the islanders oka--"

Before he could finish the question, the familiar sound of Bakugo's explosions rang from the other male's spot, all the grounded students watching as Bakugo's built frame sailed up through the air.

"Wait, where are you going?!" Jirou yelled, fully turning to face the direction Bakugo was flying off in.

"I'll leave the rescuing to you!" Bakugo's voice rang out, causing Kirishima to sigh and shake his head. "I'm gonna go crush the other villains."

As Bakugo blasted himself off, Kirishima began running in the direction his friend had been headed off in, stopping only when Kaminari cried out, "Dude?! Where do you think you're headed?!"

Kirishima slowed to a stop then, looking behind him expectantly at Kaminari, almost confusedly so. "What do you mean? We gotta go back up Bakugo!"

"Our focus needs to be on securing the islanders." Yaoyorozu strained, shaking her head at Kirishima's words. As she spoke, she began creating a pair of reinforced handcuffs and some strong, thick looking bindings. "Not only that, we need to restrain this villain while they're unconscious. The more of us here to watch over them, the better."

Kirishima cursed under his breath, knowing Yaoyorozu was right. Even though he wanted nothing more than to follow Bakugo into battle, he reluctantly walked back towards the others, and nodded. "Yeah, you're right, vice prez."

"You guys go take care of the villain," Jirou said, kneeling down on one knee as her earphone jacks pierced through the concrete below them. "I'll keep an ear out for any civilians that might be trapped or hiding nearby."

"Right!" Kirishima, Yaoyorozu, and Kaminari all said simultaneously, before running towards the unconscious mummy villain. Though all the while, Kirishima couldn't help the uneasy feeling settling in his gut when it came to Bakugo. As he and Kaminari securely held up the mummy villain so that Yaoyorozu could handcuff him, Kirishima looked in the direction Bakugo had headed off in, frowning uncomfortably.

So when not even ten minutes later, a giant, balloon doll-looking version of a bleeding Midoriya arose from the forest from the west, and the sound of a child's voice begging for someone to help Deku rang throughout the island, Kirishima couldn't help the dread that ran through him.

Especially when only a few seconds later, just as the giant Midoriya disappeared, the familiar sight and sound of an explosion made itself known in the exact same area.

____________________

The next time Kirishima saw Bakugo, he and Midoriya were unconscious and floating in the air, being whisked away in a hurry by Uraraka and Asui towards where the rest of their injured classmates and other civilians were being treated in one of the back rooms of the set of warehouses tucked away on the southwest side of the island. Instinctively, Kirishima moved to follow them, but stopped when he felt Jirou's hand on his shoulder, and looked back to see her shaking her head.

"I know you're worried, but for now, let those who have healing quirks take care of them." She said, tugging him gently in the opposite direction. "Yaomomo and Kaminari are already off doing what they can. We need to help them, and the other civilians, in any way we can."

Seething, Kirishima exhaled, one of his hands curling into a fist, shaking somewhat. "I know." With a last look towards Bakugo, watching as his body disappeared behind the corner at the end of the hallway, Kirishima closed his eyes, before turning with Jirou and heading towards the main center building in the set of warehouses that was currently holding the able-bodied civilians.

Iida was quick to set them to jobs: sending Jirou to aid Yaoyorozu and Kaminari in any way she could while they created materials and charged batteries respectively, and sending Kirishima to Ojiro, Aoyama, and Hagakure, having him help them serve the civilians food.

Every once in a while, Kirishima would see Mina or Sero whenever they'd come out to bring more food from the kitchen whenever they ran low serving. He learned from them about what happened with Bakugo and Midoriya, thanks to Koda and Asui working with them in the kitchen. The two of them had been present while retrieving Bakugo and Midoriya, and from what Kirishima understood, the villain they'd been fighting had multiple quirks, and they'd been trying to protect a couple of kids. Not only that, but thanks to them as well as Ojiro, he learned the extent of their injuries. Bakugo's ribs were broken, the muscles in his arms strained due to overuse of his quirk. He'd also had a head injury, and part of the side of his face had been gashed open. Midoriya too, had part of his face gashed open as well, and something had pierced at two separate points through his chest, cracking part of his sternum. (According to Ojiro, Shoji -who was apparently helping in the infirmary - said that the kids they saved claimed that the villain shot lazers from their fingers at Midoriya, which was what pierced him.) Not only that, but one of his shoulders had been dislocated, and the opposite arm had been sprained.

Additionally, according to Ojiro, both of them had shown signs of being electrocuted. According to the tailed teen, while he'd been being treated of his head wound, both Bakugo and Midoriya had been having multiple muscle spasms, and there were burns at points on their bodies where some sort of powerful energy source - presumably the electricity - had impacted them. On top of that, Ojiro had heard one of the clinicians tending to them that their hearts were beating irregularly, both having slight arrhythmias in congruence with the symptoms of electric shock.

At this, Kirishima couldn't help the worry, the upset, the irritation with himself that began to well up inside of him. If only he'd gone with Bakugo! Maybe... Maybe things would have been different!

Eventually, he made the decision to go check on them.

After handing a bowl of food to one of the civilians, Kirishima looked over to Ojiro, smiling apologetically as he gave a small laugh. "Hey Ojiro? Mind covering for me while I take a bathroom break?"

Ojiro blinked as he looked to Kirishima, nodding. "Yeah, sure. I got you covered."

"Thanks!" Kirishima gave Ojiro a toothy grin before bolting from his spot towards a nearby hallway, out the building so he could dip into another one, towards the room that'd he'd seen Asui and Uraraka hauling Bakugo and Midoriya off to. Before he could find it, however, he ran into a tired looking Uraraka, who seemed surprised to see him.

"Kirishima?"

Uraraka looked drained, and Kirishima could only assume it was because she was recovering from overuse of her own quirk. After all, she'd used her Zero Gravity on both Bakugo and Midoriya from one side of the island to another, and it was no secret that she'd get ill from overexerting her limits.

"You good?" Kirishima asked, though the second the question left his lips, he regretted it. Of course she wasn't good, none of them were.

But despite that, Uraraka exhaled, a tired smile coming to her. "I'm managing. We all are." She then tilted her head slightly, arching a brow as she looked at Kirishima. "Did you guys already finish distributing food?"

Kirishima shook his head then, looking a little sheepish. "No, we're still in the middle of doing that." He could see the question of 'Then why are you over here?' forming on her expression, so he continued. "I... mighta lied to Ojiro, and said that I needed to take a bathroom break." One of Kirishima's hands rose to the back of his head, his gaze falling to the ground. "Lying's pretty unmanly, I know, but..." He was quiet for a moment, closing his eyes for a brief second. "...I just wanted to check on Bakugo."

There was a brief silence that settled between them, before Uraraka placed a hand on one of Kirishima's upper arms. That was enough to get him to look at her. Seeing the gentle smile on her face, Kirishima blinked.

"You're a good friend, Kirishima." She said softly, her thumb brushing against his bicep. She exhaled out her nose, before continuing. "He and Deku are both still unconscious. The doctors from the island's clinic were still trying to heal them before I stepped out a moment ago." She sniffled then, her free hand going to rub at one of her eyes. "Shoji and Todoroki are in there with me, helping the doctors out where we can. I decided to head to the main warehouse to get the doctors something to eat, since everyone else is eating right now."

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea." Kirishima nodded. "Better to get it now while it's still warm." He watched her nod, but when neither of them moved from their spot to head to their desired destination, Kirishima's gaze fell to the floor again, Uraraka's hand pulling away from him. "... Is it as bad as the others have said?" He asked quietly, surprised by how shaky his voice sounded.

Again, Uraraka sniffled, her lower lip trembling slightly before she pulled herself together. "It's... not great." She folded her arms then, more hugging herself than anything. "They were both in really bad shape when Tsu, Koda, Shoji, and I got them. The forest and the ground around the area was... ravaged. There were craters all over, and it looked like a bulldozer had ran a straight line through the forest." She was trembling at this point, and Kirishima was quick to wrap her in a hug, his heart plummeting to his stomach as he heard her begin to cry.

"I keep telling myself that they'll be ok, that it could be much worse." Uraraka mumbled against Kirishima's chest. "But I still..."

"I know." Kirishima murmured, a hand rubbing Uraraka's back. "You did a great job saving them. All of you did." He tilted his head a little bit, leaning it against hers. "Without you guys, it would have been worse."

Uraraka took a shaky breath, nodding against him. "T-Thanks, Kirishima." Another sniffle escaped her, and she kept speaking. "I just...! I'm so worried for Deku. His arms are in pretty bad shape. Thankfully, they're not broken, but its still gonna be bad on his arms. That's why he switched to kicks, to help ease the strain on them."

"You know how Midoriya is." Kirishima said with a weak laugh. "He was probably doing all he could to protect those kids, even if it meant risking his arms."

Nodding, Uraraka pulled away a bit from Kirishima, using her hands to rub at her eyes. "Yeah."

Kirishima looked down at her, noting her uneased expression. "...Is something else wrong?"

There was a hesitancy in Uraraka then, and she let loose a shaky breath. "There's... There's something you should know. About Bakugo."

The way her gaze failed to meet his caused Kirishima's breath to falter, caused his blood to run cold. "... What is it?"

"They didn't tell us directly," Uraraka murmured, her gaze falling to the floor, "I overheard one of the doctors. Apparently... one of Bakugo's broken ribs is close to one of his lungs. They said that it's in danger of puncturing it." When she looked up, she saw how Kirishima's eyes had gone wide, how pale he'd become. "I haven't told Todoroki or Shoji, cuz I didn't want the doctors to know I'd overheard them. But I know how close you and Bakugo are... I couldn't not tell you."

Now it was Kirishima's turn for his breath to be shaky. Regardless, he nodded, pulling Uraraka back into another hug, though more for his own comfort than hers. "...Thanks, Uraraka."

Uraraka didn't pull away from the hug, instead wrapping her arms around Kirishima in return. "Yeah, no problem."

The two of them allowed a few seconds of silent reassurance to pass, before they both pulled away from the hug, Uraraka rubbing at her face with a hand once more. "I should start heading towards the kitchen." She watched Kirishima nod in agreement, before placing a hand on one of his shoulders. "Don't worry, if I see Ojiro, I'll tell him I saw you help a kid near the bathroom, to try and get you a little more time."

A soft chuckle left Kirishima then, and he nodded. "I appreciate it."

She gave Kirishima's shoulder a reassuring squeeze, before pulling her hand away, the two of them headed for their preferred destinations.

Kirishima was soon greeted by a sliding paper door, taking a moment to settle his nerves before opening it, stepping through into the tatami matted floor. He was met with the sight of several people in various states of injury, some sitting up, some laying on the floor. As Kirishima's eyes scanned the room, his gaze settled on the sight of Midoriya and Bakugo in the far left corner of the room, each of them being cared to by a different healer.

"Kirishima."

At the sound of his name, Kirishima tore his gaze away from Bakugo and Midoriya, instead looking left towards the owner of the voice, sitting close to the door, making ice in a bucket pan and distributing it into packs. "Todoroki."

"What are you doing here?" Todoroki asked, looking at Kirishima, not ceasing his movements in any way. Kirishima couldn't help but mentally compare his movements to one of those factory line robots that work by conveyor belts and stuff like that.

"I came to see how Bakugo and Midoriya were doing." He answered honestly, his gaze trailing back towards said teens. "I talked to Uraraka in the hall, she said they were still out of it."

"They are," Came Shoji's voice, the multi-limbed male sitting against the right side wall of the room, placing an ice pack on the head of a sleeping civilian, "the doctors are doing what they can to help them."

"Yeah, she told me." Kirishima replied, not taking his gaze off of Bakugo. After a brief second, he nodded in Bakugo's direction. "...Can I...?"

"That's fine." Todoroki said, looking back to the ice he was packing away. "Just be sure not to disrupt the doctors."

Kirishima nodded. "Wouldn't dream of it." He then carefully stepped through the open path to the back of the room, being mindful of other patients who were being treated there. Upon reaching where Bakugo and Midoriya were, Kirishima moved to sit on his knees, knelt at the foot of where Bakugo was laid. Kirishima's hands grasped at the fabric of his hero costume on his knees, watching as Bakugo took slow, shallow breaths. 'A broken rib is close to puncturing one of his lungs.' came the mental voice in his head, echoing what Uraraka had told him out in the hall. Kirishima's gaze lowered to Bakugo's gauze wrapped stomach, where the hands of the doctor who was treating him hovered, a yellow light coming from them. "How's he doin', doc?" He asked softly, not wanting to distract the doctor from his work too much.

The older man turned his head to look at Kirishima then, before looking back down at Bakugo. "I've nearly finished closing this boy's wounds." He said simply, the other doctor treating Midoriya nodding in agreement as she too was glowing from her hands, hovering above Midoriya's chest.

"I've done about all I can for this boy as well." She said, a sigh leaving her. "I've relocated his shoulder, and just about closed the wounds on his chest." A small frown formed on her lips then. "But they'll both need to get to the main land as soon as possible."

"Because of the electrocution?" Kirishima asked, looking towards her then.

She seemed to be surprised by his words, though the look on her face melted into one of tired amusement. "Word about your classmates sure spreads around fast, huh?" Kirishima blinked at that, before recoiling slightly. Was he not supposed to have said anything about that too? He knew to keep his mouth shut for now about Bakugo's ribs, but-- "Well, I suppose that's only natural." The doctor treating Midoriya spoke again, pulling Kirishima from his thoughts. "You might be heroes, but you're still youngins. Word of mouth travels fast between young friends."

"We've done what we could for their muscle spasms," The treating Bakugo said, his voice low, "easing the tension in them as much as we could manage. Especially for this boy, seeing as his arms were so tense after over-using his quirk. And their arrhythmias seemed to have lulled back into a more stable cardiac output." There was a moment of silence from the doctor then, and without looking behind him, Kirishima could feel Todoroki and Shoji's gazes looking his direction, the three students more than aware of the 'but' that was dripping off the edge of the doctor's words.

"...But we can't do anything for their broken bones." The doctor treating Midoriya admitted, Kirishima's blood running cold. "Its...not a matter of over exertion on our part," she continued, her hands not leaving Midoriya's body, "Its just the limitations of our quirks. We can ease muscles, close wounds, but we can't do anything about bones."

Kirishima's grip on his knees tightened. If they couldn't do anything about broken bones, then how long would it be before something happened, too deep a breath, too hasty a movement, too sudden a shift, and then Bakugo's lung would be--

Kirishima shook his head at the thought, wanting to banish it from his mind. Bakugo... Bakugo would be fine, right? What would he say, if he were conscious right now?

Do you really think I'm gonna let something as stupid as a broken rib take me down?!

Yeah, that sounded about right.

I'm gonna become the Number One Hero, Shitty Hair! Do you really think I'm so weak as to let a damn rib be my end?

No, mental Bakugo, of course not.

Then stop mopin' like a brat and get back to helping those damn extras with the islanders!

"Kirishima?"

At the sound of Todoroki's voice, Kirishima opened his eyes (he didn't even realize he'd closed them), letting lose a shaky breath. His gaze glazed over somewhat, his eyes growing warm with unshed tears. Raising a hand, Kirishima wiped at his eyes, and steadied his breathing, before answering his classmate. "Yeah?"

"Do you need to be seen by the doctors too? You're trembling." Kirishima chuckled softly at his concern, unable to get a word in as Todoroki continued speaking. "I heard from one of the others that you'd helped Bakugo bring in the villain we have under watch. Did you over-exert yourself? Don't push yourself if you need to rest."

"Nah, I'm good, Todoroki." Kirishima said, standing up from his spot. Mental Bakugo was right, he needed to get back to work. Kirishima bowed then, hanging his head as he spoke to the doctors. "Thank you for letting me see my friends." He smiled somewhat as he watched them nod in response as he straightened himself back up, and proceeded to turn around, making his way back through the path of people, towards the door. Before he left, he looked to Todoroki and Shoji, giving them each a single, determined nod, before looking over his shoulder for one last look at Bakugo, then promptly leaving the room.

On his way back, he ran back into Uraraka, who was holding a tray full of onigiri for those helping in the infirmary, and he wordlessly gave her a thumbs up, getting a smile in return as they passed one another. If he'd paid closer attention, he would have seen the pair of kids sneakily following behind her, making their way towards the infirmary as well.

______________________________

"You have to hand me over to the villains!"

Everyone in the room fell silent as the young boy spoke, before Uraraka's timid question of "...What?" broke the silence.

The remainder of Class 1-A had gathered in a back room after tending to all the islanders as best they could, and as they were trying to figure out the villain's motives, this kid had shown up, claiming that the villains wanted his quirk.

Kirishima seethed as the kid continued speaking. "The villain said he wouldn't kill me! A-And it's fine it I end up losing my quirk!" He could see the fear in this kid's eyes as he spoke, the tears threatening to fall. "As long as it means everyone on the island is safe!"

Again, there was silence in the room as everyone processed what to do. Kirishima looked over at Todoroki, who's bangs were covering his eyes. At Uraraka, who looked mortified. At Iida, class rep Iida, who looked shocked, yet regretful. As his eyes scanned the unsure expressions of the rest of the class, Kirishima couldn't help the nausea that arose in his stomach.

No one was seriously considering handing the kid over, right?!

"No, we can't do that."

Several gasps escaped the mouths of many, including Kirishima himself, when Midoriya stepped into the room, hands curled into fists by his sides. He looked a little roughed up, but there was plenty of life in his eyes, determination in that emerald gaze as he scanned the room housing his fellow students.

Uraraka stood from her seat, relief flooding her voice. "Deku...!"

"Midoriya." Iida said, an incredulous tone to his voice. "You're ok!"

Midoriya nodded, before his determined look softened into a smile, and his gaze came to rest on the boy the villains were after. "And it's all thanks to Katsuma's power." Midoriya took a few steps forward then, before kneeling and bringing himself to Katsuma's height. "You can activate cells." Midoriya rose his hands somewhat then, looking down at them. "It speeds up cellular regeneration, and enhances physical performance." Curling his hands into fists, Midoriya looked back at Katsuma, smiling brightly. "Thanks to you and your quirk, I recovered super quickly! It's an amazing ability, Katsuma. I'm so grateful."

Kirishima could see Katsuma trembling, heard the whimper leave the boy before he spoke to Midoriya. "Y-You... really mean it?"

Midoriya nodded at Katsuma. "We're not gonna let anything scary happen to you. That's the whole reason we came to this island, right?"

The tension in the air from before lifted at Midoriya's words, Kirishima feeling a bit of a weight lift from his chest. Like hell they were gonna hand the kid over to the villains!

"Why are you losers all so on edge? All we gotta do is kill some stupid villains, right?"

Kirishima's heart skipped a beat at the familiar voice, the sound of the low, slightly raspy tones. His eyes flew towards he door, relief flooding through his system as he saw Bakugo standing there, looking slightly annoyed, his arms folded as he leaned against the door. Without thinking, Kirishima took a step forward, though he quickly stopped himself from running over and hugging the other boy out of relief and thankfulness. "Bakugo!"

Midoriya stood and turned to look behind him, facing Bakugo then. Bakugo straightened up a short moment later, no longer leaning against the door, as he stared Midoriya down. Kirishima watched as they shared a nod, and Midoriya then turned to Katsuma and his sister, smiling.

"Don't worry," Midoriya said as he looked down at them. "We'll protect you two!"

Kirishima watched with a grin as Bakugo punched into his own hand, a small explosion going off as his fist made impact with his palm. "The villains are as good as dead!" He proclaimed with a devilish grin of his own.

"We'll keep everyone else on the island safe too!"

"Obviously, we'll win."

Kirishima couldn't help the wide, toothy grin as Midoriya and Bakugo both finished speaking, knocking his fists together in excitement. The room erupted into various proclamations and words of encouragement and solidarity as each student hopped on board with their determination and resolution.

"I've got your backs!" Kirishima added in to the cacophony of students, not caring that his words were more than likely drowned out by the others. But when Bakugo's eyes met his, and the blond gave him a smirk and a nod, Kirishima knew his promise didn't fall on deaf ears.

________________________________

The plan was set.

Iida had given the order for everyone to gather what they could, assist in any way they could, while he and the mayor of Nabu Island gathered the residents in the center of the warehouses and explained Midoriya's plan to them. They were all going to make the trek to the castle ruins at the northwestern point of the island and have their final stand against the villains there, while some of them stayed behind with the islanders tucked safely away in the cave on the far side of the cliff.

As for their course of action, they were all going to separate the three villains as best they could, and deal with each of them separately. There was a villain with long hair that apparently went sharp like blades. Tokoyami and Mina were going to take care of them. There was some beast-like villain, one that Todoroki, Iida, Sato, Sero, Ojiro, and Tokoyami had been taking on earlier. The ones they had planning on dealing with him were Todoroki, Iida, Asui, and Kirishima himself. Everyone else, except for Sato, Koda, and Hagakure, were going to be dealing with the main villain, the All For One ripoff, and protecting Katsuma and Mahoro.

One by one, student after student left the room they calculated their plan in, with the exception of Bakugo, who was unwillingly looking after the pair of Mahoro and Katsuma, who were sleeping together on the couch in the room. As Kirishima made his way to leave with Mina, Sero, and Kaminari, he stopped, looking over his shoulder at Bakugo, whose eyes were closed as he was leaning against the wall next to the couch. Kirishima then turned to the others and chuckled. "I'll join you guys in a second, start heading there without me."

Sero and Kaminari shot Kirishima a concerned look, but Mina simply nodded. "Alright!" With that, she grabbed Sero and Kaminari's wrists, leading them towards wherever they were all needed. Kirishima's expression softened into a smile at the sight, before he turned back into the room. He watched as Bakugo cracked open an eye at the sound of him coming back, and gave a small grunt.

"What?"

Kirishima chuckled softly then, his gaze falling from Bakugo to the sleeping kids. "Didn't think you'd wanna look after the kids by yourself."

"I can handle a couple of sleeping brats." Bakugo retorted, though without any bark to his tone. He closed his eye and exhaled, folding his arms before speaking again. "You should go help the other extras. Raccoon Eyes will only be able to keep Flat Face and Sparky in line for so long."

"She's more capable than you give her credit for, Bakugo." Kirishima murmured, kneeling down to the couch, pulling the blanket covering the kids down a bit, covering up one of their exposed feet. "Besides, I know you'd rather be out there than cooped up in here."

Bakugo gave a hmph at that, opening his eyes to watch Kirishima. He frowned slightly, seeing the distant look on Kirishima's face as he watched over the kids. "... Why are you really here?"

He watched as Kirishima tensed slightly then, a tired smile coming to the redhead. "It's nothing, really. I'm just..." Kirishima paused for a moment, before standing up, looking at Bakugo with a look so genuine, it took the blond off guard. "I'm just glad you're alright."

Their gazes locked for a few seconds, before Bakugo looked away with a tch!, doing everything he could to fight the feeling of heat wanting to rise to his cheeks. He heard Kirishima laugh softly, so he glared back at the redhead, noting the slight tinge of color that had risen to Kirishima's cheeks. Exhaling through his nose, Bakugo glanced over to the sleeping kids, Kirishima following suit.

"... We're gonna beat those bastards." Bakugo murmured. "We're gonna fucking win."

Kirishima nodded in agreement, before replying. "I wish I'd be there to have your back this time. I tried going earlier, after you'd taken down the mummy guy, but--"

"If you'd come with me then, you woulda gotten your ass handed to you by that asshole with the multiple quirks." Bakugo's voice came quiet, terse. His gaze returned to Kirishima, though the other teen still kept his gaze on the kids. "You wouldn't have been able to punch through his weird air shields. Your quirk woulda spared you from his lazers, maybe from the jaws of his weird ass back dragons, but not his electricity, or his ability to weaponize the air." Bakugo stood up off the wall then, letting his arms fall to his sides. "Plus, you're a close combat type. He coulda stolen your quirk, and if that asshole figured out how to go Unbreakable, on top of all the shit he can currently do?" Bakugo scoffed. "We'd be in deep shit."

Kirishima's hands curled into fists, shaking slightly at his sides. He couldn't argue with that. "I guess that's why they got me fighting the beast dude." He chuckled, looking at Bakugo then. "I heard from Todoroki and Iida what to expect, but I'd be lying if I said I'm not nervous."

A growl ripped from Bakugo's throat then, and he stepped towards Kirishima, a fire in his eyes as he pressed a finger to the redhead's chest. "Don't start with that bullshit. You're gonna kick that guy's ass."

Kirishima blinked, before laughter slowly bubbled up from his chest, and he placed a hand on Bakugo's shoulder. "Thanks, dude."

"Don't thank me for telling you something you should already know." Bakugo pulled his finger back, but didn't pull away from Kirishima's grip, glaring into the other male's eyes. Kirishima's laughter died down, and after a moment, he moved, pulling Bakugo into a loose hug. The blond tensed, but didn't pull away. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Give him hell, got it?" Kirishima murmured softly, the warmth of his breath tickling Bakugo's ear. There was so much more he wanted to say; Look after yourself. Stay safe. Don't scare me like that again. But he knew better, knew that Bakugo would see that as him pitying him, looking down on him, and Kirishima wanted to do anything but that.

When he felt Bakugo's arms wrap around him in return, Kirishima was sure his heart had stopped.

"Of course I will, dumbass. Who the hell do you think I am?" Bakugo's voice came more amused sounding than anything, and even though Bakugo couldn't see it, it was enough to bring a smile to Kirishima's face. He felt Kirishima press his forehead down against the top of one of his shoulders, felt Kirishima's grip around him tighten slightly. "After we kill these villains, I'm gonna get you back for being on Sparky's side the other night, makin' me do the damn night watch patrol."

He felt Kirishima's laugh before he heard it. "I'm looking forward to it."

A comfortable quiet settled among them, Bakugo slowly moving to rest his head against Kirishima's. "You should head out. Four-Eyes will come looking for you if he sees you're not where you're supposed to be." Despite his words, his arms didn't release their hold on Kirishima, he didn't step away from the other.

But when he felt Kirishima sigh, he knew to expect the feeling of the other male to be the one to pull away. "Yeah, you're right." Kirishima said as he reluctantly pulled away.

The two looked at each other, neither doing anything to try and hide the flush that had risen to their cheeks.

Though Bakugo watched as Kirishima raised a fist in his direction, the redhead giving him a sharp, toothy grin. "See you on the other side, dude."

Bakugo couldn't help the wide grin that tugged on his own lips, raising a hand and bumping his fist against Kirishima's. "Naturally."

With dual looks of satisfaction, both boys shared a nod, and Kirishima turned, heading towards the door, giving Bakugo one last wave before he headed out. After he was gone, Bakugo raised a hand to the shoulder Kirishima had rested his head on, faintly rubbing the spot with his palm. A small smile tugged at the corner of his lips then, and Bakugo gave a small snort.

Those villains wouldn't know what fucking hit them.

[imbeccablee]

Old Wounds

Author’s Notes: me? writing half a fic on the day it’s due? it’s more likely than you think.

LMAO anyway I hope you enjoy it! I’m quite proud of it, even if it’s a little rushed.

archive link will be in the reblog

TW: panic attacks, references to past abuse

Summary: You learn things when you grow up like Izuku did.

Izuocha Week 2020: Injury/Recovery

You learn things when you grow up like Izuku did.

Stuff like how to disappear into a crowd, or how to predict the immediate future based on someone’s tone of voice, or how to cry so silently nobody can hear and find you, hidden in the janitor’s closet or wrapped tightly in your blanket.

You know.

Fun things.

While other kids were learning their friends’ favorite foods and hobbies, Izuku learned how to hide. While other kids were learning boundaries and communication between peers, Izuku learned that simply being present and participating was crossing the line. While other kids learned how to love themselves, Izuku learned he didn’t deserve to be loved.

That last one might be a little harsh, a little hyperbolic, but when you’re alone for so long with only your regretful mother to say she cares, that kind of thinking tends to be the norm.

To put a long story short, Izuku had a very, very lonely childhood.

And then Izuku went to U.A.

It was… an adjustment, to say the least. His classmates were so kind and his teachers were tough, but fair. His peers wanted to be his friend, they thought he was cool, heroic, even. There were no sneers, no cruelty, no hatred. As far as they were all concerned, Izuku belonged there. And it felt good, wonderful even. And that feeling lasted for a long time, held strong in the face of villain attacks and grueling schoolwork alike. Izuku felt more alive than he had in years and he believed nothing could ever bring him down to that low, horrible point he’d been not four months ago.

And, well… He was wrong.

---

It’s stupid, he knows this. He knows his friends, knows Uraraka, and they don’t mean anything by it. They’re laughing at her exasperation, because he exasperated them, and it’s supposed to be funny, it is funny, but he can’t shake the feeling that he’s, well… dying. 

Not literally, of course, because that’s also stupid; he’s fine and just hanging out with his friends, and they’re just joking around, of course he’s not in danger. But there’s a tightness to his chest, a stiffness to his posture, and he can see flashes of a classroom behind his eyes. It’s nondescript and boring, and it’s filled with students in black, gray, and white, teenagers not too much younger than Izuku’s classmates now, and it clashes so terribly with the warm atmosphere of the lounge.

Izuku’s breath quickens as his throat closes and as the seconds (or minutes? Hours?) pass, it gets harder and harder to differentiate the two images until they all but align with one another.

The students in the dreary, old building stand above him now, towering over him as he cowers on the cold, hard linoleum, trying desperately to understand why they’re laughing, why they find it so funny that he has a dream, why it’s so hard to believe he could do it. Why is it so hard for them to just let him be, he just wants to be a hero, just like them, why do they care so much, why did they hurt him, he’s done nothing wrong, it wasn’t his fault! 

But they keep chanting and chanting that horrible, horrible name at him, burning it into his skin, marking him with a scarlet letter, until it’s the only thing he can think.

Deku, deku, deku, deku, deku, dekudekudekudekudekudekudekud—!

“—eku! Deku!”

Izuku snaps back into himself suddenly, gasping for air and vision blurring. He feels strangely cramped and uncomfortable, and as he slowly focuses, he realizes it’s because he’s curled into a tight ball on the couch.

Slowly, breathlessly, he pulls his arms from around his head and lowers his feet back to the floor, and he sees his new classmates, his beloved friends standing before him, worried. They’re so tall compared to him this way, leaning over him and taking up his entire field of vision, and again he sees images of events long since passed flicker through his mind. He pushes those thoughts away because the people before him now aren’t like that, they’re kind and good, they would never hurt him like that, so why—?

Izuku realizes Uraraka is talking to him still, and forces himself to focus on her words. “—eally scaring us, are you okay?”

Izuku blinks and feels something leave his eye. He doesn’t need to touch it to know it’s another tear.

It’s stupid. The whole thing is so stupid. It was just a stupid joke, a light barb just meant to tease, why’d he have to ruin it by freaking out so badly? There’s no reason to react like that, falling so far they had to call for him. They wouldn’t ever hurt him like that, certainly not Uraraka, he had absolutely no reason to go and worry them like this. He’s pathetic. Pathetic.

Patheticpatheticpatheticpathetic—

“Midoriya?” It’s Iida now, calling for him, snapping him out of his thoughts, and Izuku feels a sharp frustration run through him.

“I’m fine,” he says automatically and shoots to his feet. His friends stumble backward, surprised by his sudden movement, and Izuku wants to beat himself bloody. “I’m just a little tired, I’m gonna check in now, see you all tomorrow, goodnight.” His mouth runs on autopilot, listing the normal farewells like a robot. His eyes are locked on the elevator as he speedwalks toward it and no one stops him. He doesn’t turn back even as he enters and slams the button for the second floor too hard. 

When the doors close, he allows himself to break.

---

Ochako and the others (Iida, Todoroki, and Tsuyu) watch as Deku disappears behind the elevator doors, stunned and worried. 

Her mind rapidly plays through the past couple of minutes, trying to figure out what exactly had caused Deku to freak out so much, but nothing that’d happened could have been that bad, could it? The five of them had just been joking around, enjoying each other’s company. They began reminiscing. Ochako teased Deku about his recklessness, or something, though maybe it had been about his hero obsession or his tendency to get into trouble; the specifics of it seems to have left her, probably swept away in the midst of all the action. 

It doesn’t really matter what specifically had happened though. All that mattered is that it hurt Deku. 

That’s probably what’s throwing Ochako so much. The fact that it had been her words that had cut so deeply somehow, that it’s her fault he felt he needed to flee. He had looked so scared as they stood above him, but it wasn’t any fear she had ever seen on him before. It wasn’t like the horror at seeing villains infiltrating their school, or the terror of being face to face with a man who could tear you apart with a single touch. It isn’t even the fear itself that sits so wrong with her. It’s the resignation that was in his eyes, as if he was expecting something from them and had accepted he couldn’t stop them. That fear was learned and… he was used to it.

She had caused that. She made him feel so afraid.

“I do wish he would talk to us,” Iida says suddenly, and when Ochako turns to him, she sees he has a far off look in his eye, like he’s stuck in a memory.

It ends quickly, however, and he comes back into himself with a small shake. Upon seeing them all staring at him, waiting for him to elaborate, his cheeks go a bit pink. “Ah, I just mean… Midoriya always seems a bit preoccupied these days. The first few times I noticed it, I made sure to remind him that he could talk to me—or any of us, really—if he needed it, but he would always just smile, thank me, and change the subject.” He sighs. “It never became any better, but I feared if I kept telling him the same thing over and over, he would get defensive or offended or…” Iida shakes his head, seemingly at a loss.

Todoroki nods. “Yeah, that sounds like Midoriya.” He gives a sigh of his own. “For someone so keen on sticking his nose in other people’s business, he’s incredibly dodgy about his own issues.”

Ochako is struck, then, by a thought that always seems to emerge whenever Deku’s involved. Who protects a hero when they need protecting?

Iida isn’t the only one who’s noticed how often Deku gets lost in his head. Honestly, she’d be surprised if anyone in their little friend group missed it whenever Deku got quiet and far away. He’s not really subtle about it, but he’s really good at flipping the subject or brushing off concern. So good, in fact, it kind of worries Ochako, if she’s honest.

She hadn’t ever tried to confront him about it, though. Honestly, she’s been kind of avoiding him over the last few weeks. Sometimes her heart just gets too loud and she can’t concentrate on anything other than him, and she can’t stand it. She was never in the right mind to talk about heavy things, so admittedly she hoped one of their other mutual friends had gotten him to open up about whatever was bothering him, but… 

It seems none of them were successful.

“I wish we could help him,” Ochako says, eyes now glued on the closed elevator doors, like they’ll suddenly part and Deku will emerge, spilling his heart out for them to hear and help. They stay decidedly shut.

“Well, there’s only so much we can do if he doesn’t want to tell us, kero,” Tsuyu reasons and Todoroki nods. 

“It’s not as if we can fight it out of him,” he comments, before a contemplative look crosses his face. “... Could we?”

“Of course not!” Iida immediately shuts down as Ochako and Tsuyu breathe out a halfhearted laugh. “That is not proper conduct on how to approach delicate subjects!”

“It worked for the two of us,” Todoroki shoots back. As Iida sputters about how that’s not quite the same thing, Ochako allows herself to laugh fully, if only to distract herself from the worry gnawing at her heart. Silently, she thanks Todoroki for breaking the oppressive atmosphere that’s fallen over them.

“I-In any case,” Iida moves on after nearly a full minute of stammering insistences that they couldn’t beat Deku better like he had admittedly done to them. “Any attempt to help Midoriya with his problems will have to wait until tomorrow. It is getting late and though I had allowed it before in the name of jovial banter and much-needed relaxation, I cannot in good conscious let us stay up any longer than we already have. We should retire so that we have ample energy for tomorrow’s classes.”

The other three of them give hums of agreement and the girls part from the boys.

On the elevator to the girl’s side of the dorm, Ochako must still look worried, because Tsuyu places a hand on her shoulder and says, “Don’t worry, Ochako. Midoriya will be fine. We’ll all make sure of it.”

She knows this; really, she does. But it doesn’t really stop the ache in her chest nor does it stop the image of Deku looking so, so afraid of her from burning into her mind’s eye.

Still, she smiles and thanks Tsuyu. It’s all she can really do.

---

Ochako can’t sleep.

She lies there, face up, staring at the ceiling with tired eyes and a racing mind. Try as she might, she can’t force herself to ignore the worry and concern that bites and tears at her heart. The scene from before keeps playing over and over in her mind, and she can’t help but try and figure it out. What exactly was it that she said that caused Deku so much distress? Is it something she knew about before and forgot was a trigger for him? Is it something he had never told her because he didn’t think it would be a problem? Or because he didn’t trust her with it? Is it something new, even to him?

You know, now that she thinks about it, for all she calls Deku her best friend, she actually knows very little about his life before U.A. She doesn’t know anything about him besides the fact that he and Bakugou went to the same middle school and, as such, have a sort of history together. For the life of her, she can’t recall any details outside of the ones she’s learned over the past few months: wants to be a hero, analyses heroes as a hobby, has an unusually high pain tolerance, has a concerning lack of self-preservation, used to be really skittish and tense at the beginning of the year… 

Ochako blinks and considers the last three points. The pain tolerance could easily be explained away by his destructive quirk, but the other two… She thinks about Deku, curled so tightly into a ball as to take up as little space as possible. She thinks about the combined fear and resignation in his eyes as his friends stood over him, as if he was waiting for something that never came. She thinks about how he cried and babbled about how “it wasn’t his fault”, how he’s “done nothing wrong.”

She remembers how he used to jump at every touch and sudden movement. She remembers him telling her how “deku” was an insult. She remembers the excitement that shown in his eyes when she first called him her friend, how quickly he had started crying, how he had brushed her concern off by saying he was “just so happy.”

And, well… she thinks she might cry.

She doesn’t know what Deku’s life was like before U.A., not really. But she can make a good fucking guess.

Before Ochako knows it, she’s out of her dorm and halfway to the elevator. She can feel a boiling rage rush through her veins even as she berates herself again and again for not noticing, not realizing, and for being so incredibly careless with her words. They had all just been joking around, but that’s not an excuse. She had dearly hurt her best friend without even knowing how and Ochako will not let another minute go by without Deku knowing how sorry she is.

She tries to form some sort of script as she makes her way to the boy’s side of the dorm, sneaking through the dark lounge area and taking the stairs to avoid the loud elevator, but through her conflicting feelings, she can barely get passed the phrase “I’m so sorry, Deku” before she’s in front of his door.

Ochako stares at it, lips pursed and veins thrumming, trying to dredge up something more than a halfhearted apology. He deserves more than that, especially from her.

Fed up with her stalling, she lifts her fist and quietly raps twice on Deku’s door, resolving to just… wing it.

She waits for a full minute, ears straining for any sound indicating movement, before she deflates. He’s probably asleep. It has to be past midnight by now, there’s no reason why he would still be awake. Ochako’s had her fair share of panic attacks before and they are quite exhausting.

Still, she came up here to talk. She won’t be able to sleep if she doesn’t get her feelings out. Even if she’s only speaking to a door.

“Hey, Deku,” she whispers, leaning her side into the door. She crosses her arms and tries to feel less small. “I… I know you’re probably asleep, so I won’t talk long, I just… I couldn’t stop thinking about it, you know?” The side of her head gently thumps against the door. “You looked so scared and small, but it wasn’t anything I’d ever seen on you before. It… Honestly, it didn’t really belong on your face. The Deku I know is brave and steadfast and so incredibly kind, that kinda fear had no right to be on you.” 

Ochako breathes in slowly and softly sighs it out. Her fingers clench on her arms and her words start to waver. “And… And it’s not just that either, I couldn’t… I couldn’t believe I had made you feel that. That something I said so flippantly had struck you so deeply, I just—” Ochako shakes her head despite it still being pressed into the wood. She sniffles and tries to steady her voice. “I’m so, so sorry. I never want you to look at me like that again. I’m supposed to be your friend, but I—I hurt you. I made you remember something awful and that’s—that’s not what a friend does. Friends make you feel safe. Friends make you feel loved. Just—I’m so, so sorry, Deku. I… hope you can forgive me.”

Ochako hears shifting from somewhere in his dorm and she holds her breath. But no one comes to the door.

She lets out a little breath, sagging. She takes a step away from his dorm, arms shifting to wrap around herself in a hug. “Right,” she says wetly. “Well, I’ll say all this to you again tomorrow. Hopefully I won’t cry. I know you’ll just feel bad for me then.” She laughs a little, but the sound falls flat. 

She takes one, two steps away, and is nearly fully turned toward the stairwell when she hears a door open.

She turns back to face it and sees Deku’s door is slowly swinging open, its new hinges nearly silent as it does. Deku doesn’t appear in the doorway, but the invitation is clear.

Apparently, he had been awake.

Ochako steadies herself, nodding and murmuring “right” under her breath before she slowly makes her way into Deku’s dorm, closing the door behind her.

Deku’s balcony door is open and he is leaning over the side, arms propped on the railing and gaze skyward. Ochako swallows and makes her way over to him, sidling up on his side with an appropriate amount of space between them. 

For a long time, neither of them spoke. They only stare up at the night sky together, watching as the moon slowly makes its way across it. Ochako’s already said her piece, all that’s left is for Deku to respond.

Ochako doesn’t know how long they stand together, but it’s enough that she starts to feel the chill of the night seep into her pajamas. Just as another shiver crawls up her spine, Deku whispers, “Thank you for apologizing.”

She blinks and turns to face him. He has a soft look on his face, off put by the red rimming his eyes and the tear stains on his face. He looks exhausted, but he has a tiny smile on his face as he gazes upward, looking gently happy and relieved. Ochako’s heart stutters in her chest.

“Of—Of course,” she stammers. “We were all going to apologize tomorrow, I just kinda jumped the gun.”

Deku nods. “Still, it means a lot. And,” he continues, turning to face the brilliance of that beautiful smile in her direction. Her heart lodges in her throat. “I forgive you.”

“R-Really?” she chokes out, not really knowing why she’s surprised. This is Deku she’s talking about here. He was probably going to forgive her regardless of when or how she apologized. She doesn’t quite know how to feel about that, if she’s honest.

Deku nods, casting his eyes downward now, at his hands still suspended over the edge of the railing. “It wasn’t really your fault to begin with,” he says. “The whole thing is… kinda stupid, if I’m honest. I don’t know why I reacted like that, I’ve never had such a problem with teasing before.” He shakes his head. “I dunno.”

“It’s not stupid, Deku,” she protests. “Like I said before, you looked so afraid of us. Of me. I should have never said anything to make you think we were going to hurt you in any way.”

“I guess,” he concedes, but he still doesn’t look convinced. “I just—can’t help but feel like I ruined the whole evening, you know?” He laughs mirthlessly, his hands now clutched together tightly, and she wants to reassure him that he didn’t, but he’s already continuing, “Like, we were having fun, laughing and teasing each other, exchanging stories, and for some reason I flashed back to—t-to a place I put behind me. Honestly, I hardly thought about the place until today, it doesn’t—well, I thought it didn’t bother me anymore.”

“... Do you… want to talk about it?” Ochako asks.

“Not really.” His reply is so quick and unexpected Ochako flinches back. Noticing this, Deku quickly soothes, “Ah, I mean… it’s just a lot… and it’s already so late, so…“

“It’s fine, Deku,” Ochako says, waving a hand placatingly. “Really. I’m not going to make you talk about anything you don’t want to. But…” She hesitates, but gently sets her hand on his arm. “You can talk to me. Or any of us. I-I know Iida has already told you this and all, but really, Deku, you can.” He purses his lips, so she continues, “You’re our friend, and we want you to be okay. We want you to feel safe around us and be happy. None of us think you’re a burden. Okay?”

Deku’s eyes go a bit misty and his voice wavers as he says, “It’s just… it’s so hard sometimes… I-I’ve wanted to before, but my head, it just… suffocates me until I decide it’s not worth it.”

Ochako nods sympathetically. “Yeah, that… trust me when I say I understand. But it won’t ever get better if you don’t talk about it, you know? Regardless of what it is. And I dunno about the others, but I know I’ll drop everything the second any one of you needs help. Whether it’s homework or to vent or because you just need a shoulder to cry on.” Ochako smiles. “I’ll always be there for you. Okay?”

Deku sniffs and nods quickly. “Okay.”

Tension drips off of Ochako’s shoulders and she barely holds in a sigh of relief. “Okay… good.”

Deku gives her a lopsided smile and, after a moment of quiet between them, his cheeks turn a bit pink. “Um, Uraraka, c-can I… hug you?”

Despite the sudden screaming in her head, Ochako’s smile widens and she says, “Sure.”

His arms leave the railing and quiver in the air between them, and after a few seconds, she realizes that’s about as far as he can make himself go. Ochako breathes out a quiet laugh and steps into them, finishing the hug for him. He tenses as their torsos meet and her arms wrap around him, but after a moment, he lets out a shaky breath and tightly reciprocates. She can feel him shaking as she holds him, his cheek pressed tightly against the top of her head, and when she starts to feel something dripping into her hair, she pulls him closer, arms wrapping even tighter around him. She hopes he understands her silent message: I’m not going anywhere.

Eventually, they do pull away, once their exhaustion becomes too much to ignore. They share a sleepy smile with one another and Deku walks Ochako to his door. She opens it and is halfway out of it before she turns back to him and says, “Talk to you tomorrow?”

He chuckles, rubbing at his eye. “I think it’s already tomorrow.”

With a roll of her eyes, she corrects, “Then tonight.”

Deku smiles again, toothy and happy. “Yeah.”

“Good.” Ochako yawns, covering her mouth with her hand, and begins to walk out again as she says, “I love you, Deku.”

“Love you too, Ura…” They both freeze, exhaustion momentarily forgotten as dread fills the both of them to the brim.

Ochako whips around in a blur. “Pl-Platonically!! As friends!”

“Yep that’s exactly the same as me, just friends, nothing more!!” Deku nearly shouts in agreement, face as red as Ochako’s feels.

They stare at each other for a few seconds, eyes wide with similar expressions of mortification, before the ridiculousness sets it. Ochako’s mouth wavers before she snorts and lets herself laugh out loud, ignoring the wild thumping of her heart.

Deku looks so confused for a few breathless seconds, but he must catch on to the hilarity soon, because eventually he starts laughing along with her. Embarrassed, emotional, and just a little bit delirious, the two quickly become out of breath, wiping tears from their eyes and heaving in huge gulps of air.

“W-Well,” Ochako breathily giggles, feeling happy and light. “Good night, Deku.”

“Y-You too, Uraraka,” Deku responds, looking so incredibly beautiful with his huge smile, red face, and delighted red-rimmed eyes. Ochako takes a second to memorize it, wanting this perfect image of him to be burned into her mind forever, before she turns and makes her way down the hall, occasionally, turning to give a little wave goodbye to him, something he returns as he watches her go.

Ochako collapses into her bed soon after, feeling giddy and exhausted and so incredibly happy to be Deku’s friend. She falls asleep to the memory of strong, warm arms around her and the sound of tearful, relieved laughter ringing in her ears.

---

A few hours later, Ochako wakes feeling the exact opposite. She’s groggy and brittle and she knows she has to get up to tell the others that everything’s fine now, but she does not want to.

Eventually, she does, still with enough time to beat the rest of the class downstairs, with the exception of Iida, Todoroki, and Tsuyu. As she gets ready and makes her way down, she remembers her conversation with Deku, how relieved she had felt and he had seemed, and it’s enough to round her edges out, if only a little bit.

“Good morning, Uraraka!” Iida loudly greets, and Ochako decides that Deku’s happiness and laughter can only do so much. “You’re just in time for us to begin planning how to help Midoriya!”

“You look terrible,” Todoroki comments, to which Ochako gives him a withering glare.

“Did you sleep okay, kero?” Tsuyu asks and Ochako sighs.

“No, but that’s my own fault,” she grumbles and rubs at her eyes. “But that’s besides the point. We don’t need to do any planning, Deku is—”

“Hey, guys…” Speak of the devil.

The four of them turn towards the man in question as he approaches them, looking just as tired as Ochako but sculpting it very differently. He looks much less irritable than she with his smooth expression and small smile, one that is not too dissimilar to the one he gave Ochako last night after her apology. There’s a nervous energy about him as well, though Ochako supposes that’s fair; the last time the others saw him, he was frantic, crying, and afraid.

“M-Midoriya, how are you?” Iida quickly recovers, seemingly surprised that Deku had come to them.

“Better,” he says. He glances at Ochako before returning his gaze to the other three. “Uraraka talked to me last night, and apologized already. You guys don’t have to, I already forgive you. It was… well, not stupid, but I didn’t even know I would react like that, so I can’t exactly blame you guys for saying those things. And, um… “ He fidgets where he stands, eye contact faltering. “If you want to, um… can we talk? Sometime tonight?”

Ochako is taken off guard, and by the looks on the others faces, they are too. They all share a look, before Tsuyu asks, “Are you sure?”

“We don’t want to force you,” Todoroki adds on.

Deku nods resolutely. “Yes, I’m… I’m sure. I really, really want to talk with you guys.”

“Well,” Iida starts, misty-eyed. “We’ll be sure to listen.”

Deku gives them all another wonderful smile, looking relieved and so very happy.

The conversation soon moves on to today’s classes and what they all might do during their Heroics class, but Ochako isn’t really listening. She’s watching as Deku falls easily back into the conversation, comfortable and safe. She thinks about that fear she’d seen on him yesterday and how not one trace of it is left in his face, and she lets herself relax. 

Deku seems to realize she’s looking at him and he meets her gaze. He smiles brilliantly at her and her breath is stolen away like always. Normally, she would feel some sort of frustration at herself for that, but now, she relishes it. Her very dear friend is smiling at her with no reservations and with such contagious elation, what else can she do but reciprocate?

---

When you grow up like Izuku did, you learn things.

They’re not fun things, quite the opposite really, but along with those harsh lessons, Izuku learned how to treasure the truly good moments. And maybe one day, the cruel teachings of his childhood will give way to newer lessons, the ones he should’ve been able to learn before.

Izuku doesn’t know.

But what he does know is that standing in the lounge area, surrounded by his close and dear friends, Izuku has never felt more safe.

[my-woozi-happiness]

Embracing Memories ~ A TodoBaku soulmate AU

Chapter 7. 

The two boys looked at each other, eyes wide, panting lightly. Snow around them piling up higher as the minutes ticked by.

“What was that, did we just?” Todoroki quickly looked around, making sure they were in the present. When he looked back at Bakugou he noticed the cut on his cheek. “Your cheek, you have the same cut as Adam.” Reaching out, he gently touched the wound, feeling a sudden pain in his ankle, he whimpered.  

“I think you might’ve been right about this whole soulmate thing.” Bakugou flinched, closing his eyes as Todoroki touched his wound. “Are we feeling what they felt?” He stared at Todoroki as the boy shifted his weight. “Your ankle?” When he saw Todoroki nod he pulled him closer. “Just lean against me for now.”

Resting his chin on top of Todoroki’s shoulder, Bakugou closed his eyes trying to think back to what he saw, he was Adam, he felt all the movements, the touches, that fall. He winched thinking about it, that was quite the fall, Todoroki was even clumsy back then.

“David, I mean Midoriya was there too, he was my guard?” Scrunching up his nose, Todoroki buried his face into Bakugou’s neck. “I was a prince huh?” His eyes widened in realization “Wait! If we’re feeling their pain, does that mean?” Pulling away from Bakugou, Todoroki looked at the dorm building. “Midoriya’s hand….you slashed his hand.”

“I did no such thing, Adam did.” Bakugou scoffed, rolling his eyes. “Besides, the fucking nerd can take care of himself, he’s had worse injuries, don’t worry about him.” He looked down when he felt something wet against his cheek, he saw Todoroki suck on his own thumb. “Did you just….” Bakugou looked at the boy in amusement, lips twitching up into a smile.

Todoroki’s face turned red, quickly looking away mumbling about how they probably should go back inside, when he started to walk, Bakugou pulled him back, grinning.

“Wh-what? Why are you looking at me like that? That’s the same look Adam gave me before he left…” Todoroki’s blush darkened the more he looked at Bakugou. “Ca-can you let go?” Todoroki’s left side started smoking. ‘This isn’t fair, they both have the same effect on me, they really are the same person huh…’

“And risk losing you again? I don’t think so.” Bakugou enjoyed teasing Todoroki but the one who talked just now wasn’t him. Frowning, he looked around slowly, before looking back at Todoroki again. “That was Adam huh. Lose you again? What the hell happened to those two…”

Todoroki tugged on Bakugou’s jacket, eyeing something behind the blonde, he pushed against Bakugou’s shoulder to make him turn around, pointing with a shaky finger towards the two figures.

Before the blonde could even lay his eyes on what Todoroki was freaking out about, they were both knocked out by a strong wind, the two figures floated above them, looking down at them.

‘How did he even see us? Is he a wizard?’ The slightly shorter boy looked at Todoroki, his fingers hovering above his scar. ‘ They’re quite something, he really is just like you though, Charles.’ Chuckling Adam pulled away again, pulling Charles with him, disappearing into thin air.

Hours later, Bakugou shot up straight, screaming, his eyes frantically scanning the room he was in. His bedroom? Where was Todoroki!? Standing up quickly he stumbled towards the door, ripping it open.

“Can they stop that!?” He made his way over to Todoroki’s door. “Oi! Icy-hot, are you in there!?” When he didn’t get an answer, he raised his hand, ready to blast the door down. He would face the punishment of Aizawa later, he needed to find Todoroki.

“Bakugou! Bro, what are you doing!?” Kirishima ran over to the blonde, grabbing onto his arm. “Dude, you’re burning up, you should stay in bed.” Gently pulling Bakugou back to his room he continued talking. “We found both of you passed out in the snow, we first thought villains attacked you, but we didn’t see any footprints or any injuries on your body, aside from the cut on your cheek and Todoroki’s twisted ankle.”

Bakugou struggled against Kirishima’s grip, firing blast after blast against the red head. His need to find Todoroki getting stronger. His heart was hammering against his chest, the panic on his face was painfully obvious to the red head.

“Where the hell is Todoroki? Why aren’t you letting me go to him?” Bakugou glared at Kirishima, wondering why his friend was keeping him away from Todoroki after letting them go out. “Let go of me!” Pushing Kirishima away from him, he went back to his room to grab his phone, calling Todoroki.

Kirishima sighed, leaning against the closed door, looking at Bakugou. He had never seen Bakugou react like this, towards no one. Was Bakugou hiding something from him? He was so protective of Todoroki, so loving, it was weird seeing his friend like this, but Bakugou deserved to be happy.

“The fuck!? Ponytail!? Why do you have Todoroki’s phone!”? Bakugou was seething, grabbing his hoodie from his chair, he eyed Kirishima who quickly opened the door, obviously giving up. “You better fucking tell me where he is. Hah!? Why the hell is he in your room!?” He hung up before the girl could even finish her sentence, pulling the hoodie over his head.

“I’m sorry man, Aizawa gave us orders. I mean, this isn’t the first time we find both of you passed out…” Kirishima quickly hardened his arms, holding them up as Bakugou whirled around. “I’m sorry!”

“Orders!? Keeping us apart!? Who the fuck does that old man think he is?” Bakugou continued walking, a wicked grin on his face. “No one can keep me away from him, not again. They can try but they won’t fucking succeed!”  

“I apologize Todoroki.” Momo looked down, feeling ashamed. “It wasn’t my intention to keep you here, Aizawa asked me to look after you. Bakugou called you while you were in the bathroom, I think he’s on his way here.”

“It’s not your fault Yaoyorozu. There are things happening and we’re trying to figure out what exactly. Thank you for wrapping up my ankle.” Smiling softly, he bowed slightly. “I do think I will have to talk to Aizawa though, I have the feeling everyone is blaming Bakugou.”

“He is quite temperamental but he is like a completely different person when you’re with him.” Looking up, Momo tapped her cheek. “Do you have a charming quirk Todoroki?” She was curious as she had only seen him use his quirk once.

“Eh, no?” Todoroki chuckled, holding up both his hands. “My quirk is fire and ice.” He watched as her eyes widened in amazement as he activated his quirk slightly. “It can be quite bothersome at times.” He rubbed his neck sheepishly.

“I think your quirk is wonderful!” She smiled brightly. “As for Aizawa, I will talk with the rest of our class, we’ll keep an eye out on you guys and make sure he won’t keep you two apart anymore, I think it’s cruel for him to do so, no matter what the reason might be.”

Todoroki bowed, about to thank her when the door burst open, he quickly stood back up straight, ready to scold whoever it was when he felt the air knocked out of his lungs.

“There you are, my love! Fucking hell where have you been!?” Bakugou tightened his arms around Todoroki’s body, his hand running through two toned hair, whispering in his ear. “I’m going to fucking kill that bastard.” Bakugou’s body was trembling, not noticing the tears running down his face.

“Ba-bakugou….” Todoroki lifted his hands, fingers curling into the fabric of Bakugou’s hoodie, burying his face into Bakugou’s neck, his face flushed when he realized what Bakugou called him. “Please, calm down, ok? Can you do that for me?” Peeking over Bakugou’s shoulder, he saw Momo and Kirishima leave the room. “I’m right here, I’m not going anywhere.”

Arriving in the common room, Momo looked around for Ochako, gently pulling Kirishima with her as she spotted the brown haired girl with Midoriya.

“Ochako, I think I know what is going on with Bakugou and Todoroki.” Momo sat down across from the pair, looking down at Midoriya’s injured hand. “And by the look on Midoriya’s face I think you do as well.” She nodded at the boy.

“I’m not really sure, Yaoyorozu, what I saw was strange, I couldn’t recognize them for a second.” Shaking his head, Midoriya lifted his hand. “Everything felt familiar though. Their faces, my surroundings, my emotions, it felt like I was in some sort of deja-vu.”

“Soulmates, Bakugou and Todoroki are soulmates, this is why they’re so drawn to each other.” Ochako blankly stared down at her hands. “I want to be happy for them, really, but isn’t this dangerous? This is the second time both have passed out. What if this happens when we’re fighting with villains?”

Leaning back against the couch, Kirishima crossed his arms, his eyes locked on the green haired boy in front of him.

“So Midoriya is also part of their past lives?” Kirishima frowned, wondering. “Do you know why you reacted that way Midoriya? You never get so angry, you almost hurt Todoroki.” Kirishima hated the look on Midoriya’s face, moving quickly, he crouched down in front of him, gently covering his hands with his own. “I’m not mad at you, I’m just worried. Uraraka is right, this is dangerous.”

Midoriya hung his head as Kirishima mentioned the incident from earlier, he never intended to hurt Todoroki, he liked to think he and the dual haired boy started being friends. He jerked his injured hand as he felt something against it, lifting his head he was met with bright red eyes, his face flushing.

“With their feelings so strong, their hearts and the hearts of their past lives might be connected.” Mina joined them on the couch, leaning against Ochako. “I’ve been watching them since Todoroki acted so weird around Bakugou on his first day. There is a possibility that they, whoever they were in their past lives, are showing them what happened.” Turning her head, she looked out of the window. “And they might not have had the easiest lives. Betrayal, loss maybe even their death.”

The room suddenly felt too quiet, Kirishima squeezed Midoriya’s uninjured hand while Momo felt like her heart was being ripped out of her chest, she covered her mouth.

“And we’ve been keeping them apart whenever Aizawa asked us. That is so cruel. It’s not surprising Bakugou acts the way he does when it concerns Todoroki” Momo stood up. “I’m going to check up on them, I left them in my room. I think we all need to know what exactly is going on.”  She left the common room, making her way to her bedroom.

“I don’t care what he will do or what he says, I’m not leaving your side.” Todoroki brushed Bakugou’s hair back, watching the blonde sleep. “I belong to you, I have always belonged to you, they can’t break us apart.” Laying his head on Bakugou’s chest, he fell asleep as soon as he closed his eyes, not hearing the door open or the soft voice calling his name.

He needed to see them again.

[nekokoaa]

Wolves Among Us - Bakugo x Reader (IX)

Wolves Among Us – Bakugo x Reader

Series Warning: Fantasy AU, Fluff, NSFW

(Chapter IX/??) All chapters in AO3 and masterlist

Hey guys!! Happy Fanfic writers day and Long time no see! I absolutely adored your reactions to the last chapter! Finally, the long awaited next chapter is here! Enjoy! Enjoy! Enjoy!!

Bit of a warning, this chapter may be a little confusing since it goes from past to present but I tried my best to make it obvious. If it's still a bit difficult I'll add some borders.

Taglist:

@freedom-for-bum @reallyfuckingangrylatina @risarisarisaa @ashherssss @mels-heart @xa-dia @shanty-lol @amkxh @chims-kookies @fantasticapple @thalia-luna-hawthorn

Inspired by The Company of Wolves by Angela Carter

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IX: Reunited

About two days before Katsuki’s outrageous announcement, something was brewing within the small town surrounded by the dense forest. A crowd had gathered around a cabin and several men with axes in their palms were standing in front of them on the deck. Some of the men were wounded with bandages wrapped around their arms and legs, others weren’t lucky and had a patch over their damaged eye. An elderly woman was standing amongst them who appeared unscratched with a fist in the air that shook with the words that left her.

“The wolves have stolen her!”

The atmosphere was heavy, and the wind chill was felt within their spines despite how bundled up the crowd was. Tears gathered at their eyes and their hands shook with pent up anger. They were tired, tired of being prey to such monsters.

“We couldn’t save her… They attacked us, and we watched them take her away. Who knows what they have done to her.” The elder woman choked, bringing her face down like she couldn’t bear to look at the grave faces in front of her. One of the men behind her placed a hand on her shoulder for comfort and he stepped forward, continuing from where she left off.

“These monsters think they can just come and take our people. How many times must we lose our love ones to them? Something must be done!”

“But what can we do!? Even you hunters got hurt by them!” A woman cried within the crowd.

“They’re too strong to fight! Don’t you remember what happened last time?!” A man shouted, anda frightful scream followed after.

Fear had stirred itself within the hearts of the people. They shifted with unease and chatted loudly amongst themselves, many without a clue on what to do. The wolves were a powerful species, a single wolf could take down dozens of men without a single drop of energy wasted. The fear had painfully reminded them of the events that took place long ago. They relived the horror through their memories, the ghost of screams rang in their ears like the echoes of a tower bell. The smell of sour blood was still fresh in their minds, and the urge to throw up plagued the backs of their throats. Even if they did decide to fight back against the wolves again, it would just be another massacre on their side. They had no chance against them.

Within the frantic crowd stood a man whose mind was running amuck. His emerald eyes flickered about, from the backs of the people surrounding him to the hunters that stood on the cabin’s porch. Those eyes belong to your childhood friend, Izuku, who was feeling a bit strange about this entire situation. Even though he was panicking because of your disappearance, he still had to think of this situation logically.

Since the day when you gave your bag of meat to that pregnant woman and her wolf lover, your interest in wolves had spiked. Izuku hardly saw you during the day and you would return just after the sun would set. During the little time you spent with him in the mornings, he didn’t have the courage to ask about your late returns, neither was it any of his business. But now he wished he had said something because you’ve been missing for two days and the old woman from the market and the hunters claimed you were taken by the wolves. It was unbelievable story to him. Was it possible that you came in contact with the wolves during those times and they kidnapped you? But why would they wait until after a few months to do so?

Whenever he saw you return at night, there was always a soft smile on your face. The light of the lanterns outside your house would hit your face just right, and he could see the flush on your cheeks. He doubted the cause being the coldness around you, it was clearly something that touched your heart. Was it possible that you encountered a wolf during those times? Was your disappearance by your will?

His eyes narrowed on the hunters and the old woman who continued speaking to the anxious crowd. She was completely unscratched while the hunters harbored all the injuries. There was no doubt in Izuku’s mind that they were attacked but he couldn’t help but question their reason for being in the forest. The only reason for the hunters to be there is if they were alerted about the sighting of a wolf. It could be possible that the old woman spotted a wolf trying to kidnap you and told the hunters, but it didn’t explain why a woman of her age would be traveling through such a dangerous forest alone. It wasn’t adding up for Izuku, but he knew, whether you were kidnapped, or left on your own, that he had to find you.

About a week after Katsuki’s outrageous announcement, winter was steadily getting worse. The snowfalls were getting heavier and even the pack had predicted that a storm was coming. You couldn’t quite understand how they knew that but Ochako told you that they could “simply sense it”. Despite that, it didn’t stop the pack from carrying on their duties and it didn’t stop you from having some fun in the courtyard with Eijirou’s children.

You had the pleasure of meeting all three of his children, Eiji, the oldest, Minato, the second oldest, and lastly, Mie, the youngest and only girl. It didn’t take long for Minato and Mie to warm up to you once Eiji expressed how awesome it was not only to be friends with Katsuki, but to be bonded to him. Bonding, you learned, was just another way of saying engaged or married for the wolves. You quickly corrected the boy, stating how it wasn’t true, but the children were already in awe, excited about an upcoming ceremony. You didn’t have the heart to grow angry at them because they were children.

Unfortunately, you couldn’t have that same mindset when it came to Katsuki, no matter how childish he acted during this situation, it wasn’t fair how he selfishly decided this without your consent. Announcing to the entire pack about an engagement you never agreed to was something that caused a rift in your relationship. You gave him the classic silent treatment, ignoring him whenever he wanted to talk. You even started sleeping in Ochako’s cave because you believed he didn’t deserve your company.

Your treatment, of course, made Katsuki furious. You could feel his humid gaze everywhere you went. Even as you kept away from him, he stayed at a distance and watched your every move with that same glare he often gave when he was angry. Even now, you could feel the heat of his eyes on the back of your head, relentless as the heat of a summer sun melting the backs of diligent farmers. He was sitting on a chair that looked like it was made from tree logs and Eijirou was beside him, talking off his ear. You thought Katsuki wasn’t paying him any attention but from time to time he would respond with a small nod, his eyes would be on nothing but you.

But what did Katsuki expect? You to be all joyous about marrying him at such a short notice, especially for all the wrong reasons? The events of that day were still fresh in your mind that you couldn’t go five seconds without renewed anger plaguing your emotions. You could never forget the faces of the pack as Katsuki “introduced” you to them. The color drained from their skin and left them ashen, their lips voided of the feeling that would make them smile. You pulled away from Katsuki instantly after his announcement, but the pack was too stunned by his words to realize your distressed expression.

“What is the meaning of this, Katsuki?” was one of many voices that sounded out from the pack. Many of which were in protest of a marriage between a wolf and a human.

“For all we know, she could be a spy!”

Katsuki rolled his eyes. “I know she’s definitely not a fucking spy. She risked her life to save mine, and if it wasn’t for her, you wouldn’t even have a next-in-line.”

“She could be tricking you! That’s just what her kind does! Fool you into thinking they’re peaceful until they stab you in the back!”

“How are you willing to marry the same species that caused you and our pack so much pain?!”

“You know how stupid it is to judge one person on the actions of what their people did in the past? You’re no different than the pathetic humans that think that way.” Katsuki responded, but it did nothing to deter the pressure building within the area.

“It still doesn’t erase the fact that she’s one of them!”

You never wanted to run away so fast before in your life. All of their words cut into your heart and the pain felt as sharp as a blade every time you breathe in. How could have Katsuki think this was a good idea? How could this mend any hostility between the you and the pack? All it created was anger, especially towards you. Katsuki continued to rectify his pack’s opinions. Even though he knew that their opinions had no effect on his decision, he could see in his peripherals that you were visibly shaking. You had turned away from the crowd, no longer able to look at their faces of hate. He felt the immediate need to protect you from their words and moved to have you in his arms again.

But he wasn’t quick enough. Another pair of arms had wrapped around you like a shield and a familiar pair of crimson eyes burned into his own. Mitsuki didn’t hide her disappointment on her face as she looked at her son. Her knitted eyebrows nearly hooded over her glare, anger swirling within as she held you against her body. You accepted her hug, gripping the backs of her tunic and crying on her. Katsuki had sucked his teeth and returned his mother’s glare, a single look told Mitsuki to stay out of this, but she wasn’t going to allow her son to lead the pack down this spiral.

“Enough!” Mitsuki’s shout halted the voices of the crowd. “This senseless arguing won’t change a thing.”

“But Mitsuki, what would Masaru think?” A wolf of older age questioned and Mitsuki, being the refined leader she is, wasn’t thrown off by it. She remained calm despite the memories of the mention entering her mind.

“You know damn well what Masaru would think.”

The older wolf didn’t back off, but he was as calm as Mitsuki. “A bond between a human and a wolf wouldn’t be a good idea for this pack. After what we went through… you of all people should know that, Mitsuki.”

“Can you guys just get species out of your damn head for five seconds and look at a person individually? This human saved my son and not only that but our pack. When we were low on food a couple of months ago and Katsuki came back with some food, who did you think gave it to him? I understand the fear… Even I didn’t trust her when I met her, but after talking to her and getting to know her, it made me think that Masaru would’ve definitely accepted her into the family. So why don’t you give her a chance…?”

The loud voices of the pack settled into mere mumbles. The degrading words had stopped and the anger on their faces contorted into confusion. The pack had nothing to say after that, no signs of acceptance or denial, and Mitsuki didn’t wait for them to take a side. She started to pull you away and quickly guided you out of the courtyard and into one of the caves. You couldn’t recognize your surroundings because of the blur caused by your tears that hung on to your lashes. Katsuki followed right behind you. You could feel his presence, specifically his anger. You had no idea why he was angry but, of all people, you had the right to be upset. You were completely blindsided by this. What you thought was going to be a simple introduction ended up turning into chaos.

“Why’d you have to go butt in like that?! I had everything under control!” Katsuki exploded once he entered the cave. His voice came quick like lightning and rumbled like deep thunder. The ripples of sound were enough to have the tiny hairs on your skin stand. His eyebrows had knitted together so deeply that you were able to count the folds of skin created between them. His fangs, you had never seen them so large before as he bared them at his mother. Sharp, as if it could pierce diamonds itself.

Mitsuki moved fast. With her hand tight as a fist, she whacked the top of his head but Katsuki bounced back and snarled as if he felt no pain. “I never knew you were so goddamn stupid!”

“Huh?! What did you say, you old hag?!”

“What were you thinking?! What made you think this was a good idea?!”

“It was until you spoke! I needed to get the pack to like her and this was the only way!”

“To marry her?! Did she even agree to this?!” One look at you was enough for Mitsuki to know. She tried to take another whack at Katsuki’s head, but he dodged it, growling when he did. No matter how many times Mitsuki tried to physically harm him, Katsuki made no move to retaliate but you knew it took every hair in his body to restrain himself from raising a hand against his mother.

“She would’ve said yes anyway!”

“No. I’m not going through with this.”

“What?” Katsuki was startled by your outburst. He didn’t expect to hear that you were against this.

“You think I would’ve said yes to this…? The only way for your pack to like me is if I’m your wife? You don’t want to marry me because you love me?”

“What? I never fucking said that.” His footsteps were loud when he walked towards you. He held your shoulders with his hands, a gentle touch that would’ve normally made you melt. He rubbed up and down your shoulders to comfort you as he gazed into your eyes. “You already know how I feel about you.”

“Then why are you making me go through this?”

He stumbled at your question and looked away for a moment. When he couldn’t find a sufficient answer, he gave the same one he gave his mother. “It’s the only way.”

“So, they won’t even like me for me, is that what you’re saying? Only if I’m the wife of their future leader?”

Katsuki growled and struggled to find the right words in the arsenal of his mind. The grip he had on your shoulders grew tight as his mind went searching. You didn’t give him time to find them and shook your head. “I’m not doing this.”

“I don’t think we can call this off.” Mitsuki spoke up and folded her arms across her chest. “Our pack will suspect that you tried to force Katsuki through this and that Katsuki came to his senses. They would end up hating you even more and then you wouldn’t have a reason to stay with us. Being my son’s savior wouldn’t be enough to help you by then.”

“I just can’t believe this…” You tore yourself away from Katsuki’s grip and ran. You ignored the call of your name from Katsuki and ran until you were outside the cave. That was when you bumped into Ochako who was actually searching for you after the meeting. You threw yourself at her and cried against her chest.

Thinking about last week made you revisit some pain that was too fresh to bear. You tried to distract yourself by playing with Mie’s hair, twirling your fingers between light pink strands. Katsuki’s eyes were still on you from afar. Eijirou took note of it a while back but he decided to finally address it. With a sigh, he leaned his head against his hand and spoke.

“You know, all you gotta do is just apologize to her. It’s been like, what, a week already since you guys last spoke? Just go up to her right now.”

“You think I didn’t try? She doesn’t even want to look in my direction.” Katsuki grumbled.

“I wouldn’t too after what you pulled. And here I was about to give you my blessing until I found out from Ochako that she had no idea about it. What you did wasn’t exactly the most romantic thing, let alone, manly.”

“Just shut up, I get it. I already got enough from the hag and Round-face, I don’t need it from you.”

“Maybe you can ask Ochako for help? They’ve been hanging out a lot more lately. I’m sure they talked about you more than once.”

“You know women, they keep their secrets to themselves.”

“I’m pretty sure men do the same thing.” Eijirou laughed. “But it’s worth a shot. We all know you can be an idiot sometimes, but we also know you didn’t mean to hurt her. You were just thinking about how to help her.”

Katsuki sighed and ran a hand over his face. “Yeah… I’ll see what I can do.”

“By the way, did you ever tell her?”

“About?” He lifted his head to look at his friend.

“That day we went hunting. I knew she looked familiar the night I met her. I laughed so hard.” Eijirou’s words had reminded Katsuki of something and his reaction was something that Eijirou wish he could watch on repeat over and over again. Katsuki had buried his face in his hand, covering the redness that spread across his skin tone. A groan like growl left his lips while a series of laughs left Eijirou’s. Eijirou gave him a heavy pat on his back that ended with a rub to his shoulders.

“Don’t tell her, alright?” Katsuki suddenly said.

“Why not? I’m sure she’ll—”

“Just don’t.”

Katsuki gave a hard look and Eijirou knew to back off. He could tell it was something he wasn’t ready to talk about especially not to you. His blush faded as fast as his glare and his eyes returned to the sight of you playing in the snow with Eijirou’s children. You were rolling snow in your hands until it formed into a ball and you hurled it at Minato who squealed when it hit him. He retaliated with his own tiny snow ball, his tail wagging uncontrollably, and a smile so wide you saw his tiny fangs peeking from behind his lips. Mie was defending him while Eiji was helping you.

Seeing you in a snow fight with the children was probably the cutest thing Katsuki had ever seen you do. He could see that your hands were becoming terribly cold and possibly numb, but it didn’t stop you from having fun. The bright smile on your face was oddly arousing to Katsuki. Perhaps because it’s been ages since it was directed at him. It’s only been a week, yet it felt like months since he had your attention. Each day he craved for it and tried to quench it by talking to you but when you shunned him away, he had no choice but to fulfill it by watching you from afar. He surely missed your company and he wanted to do anything he could to win you back. If it took swallowing his pride and asking Ochako for help, then he’ll grit his teeth and do it.

Katsuki would’ve thought you and the children stopped playing because your fingers were catching frostbite, but he noticed a commotion happening within his pack that gathered your attention. A group of wolves were near the opening used to enter the area and at this distance, Katsuki could hear the low rumbles of their growls. Suddenly, Eiji, Minato, and Mie were by their father’s legs and when Katsuki looked at the spot they ran from, you had disappeared. His eyes flew back at the crowd and he spotted your back as you were pushing your way through the growling wolves. And on instinct, he ran after you.

You thought your eyes had deceived you, but you knew these wolves wouldn’t be growling for no reason. What you saw should have been impossible but when you heard his voice over the harsh rumbles of the wolves, it became more and more possible. You excused yourself through the crowd, heart racing and adrenaline melting the numbness of your fingertips with heat. Your eyes went searching for any openings between heads to find who that voice belonged to. You slipped between bodies as fast as you could until you reached the very front of the crowd. You quickly noticed Mitsuki beside you, but you were more focused on the man that stood in front of you. Emerald colored eyes stared back at you with the same amount of shock you were giving. His hair was the trademark colors of spring’s green fields and freckles were dusted on his soft red cheeks.

“Izuku?” It was like your call had filled him with life. The shock had melted from his eyes, replaced by relief as he took a step forward with his arms slightly out. You rushed towards him, fitting perfectly within his arms as the two of you embrace for what felt like ages since the last.

“I thought you were dead…” You heard him say in your ear. You felt his arms around you squeeze your body.

“I’m alive and well. I thought I would never see you again.” You spoke in his chest, your voice vibrating against the fabrics of his heavy top. You pulled away slightly and his hands moved to cup your cheeks and wipe the tears that rolled down them. Despite the tears, you were smiling up at Izuku, relieved to see a familiar face after the chaos of last week. You didn’t question why or how he was here, you were just glad to see him.

Soon the view of Izuku’s face was blocked by a back covered in a large cloak of fur. Izuku had stumbled back and your face was replaced by eyes that held the same fiery rage as hell. Glorious fangs were bared at him, threatening to sink in his neck if he were to take a single step closer to you.

Katsuki spoke lowly, the snarl that left his lips made shivers run across Izuku’s back. “Who the fuck are you?”

[dallanebbia]

blooming (1/6);

fandom: bnha pairing: kacchako; bakugou katsuki x uraraka ochako word count: 3129 warnings: mentions of violence inspiration: [link] synopsis: 

Ochako doesn’t understand much about the world outside the limits of her village, but she does know this: She loves her family, and at the end of the day, she’ll do anything to keep them safe – even if it means sacrificing herself to do it.

When she runs away to join the army in her father’s place, the only thing she leaves behind is an untouched cup of tea, and a whispered apology nobody is awake to hear.

(or, in which an attempt is made to write a kacchako mulan au)

parts: [1] [2] [3] || AO3: [link]

“娘は壊れ物.” – Japanese proverb (transl. "Daughters are fragile.")

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Ochako doesn’t understand much about the world outside the limits of her village, but there are some things she does know, even as she pretends to be oblivious.

She knows that the butcher lowers his prices for the richest families, in exchange for a monthly barrel of wine that he hides from his wife. She knows that the elderly lady who begs in the market isn’t actually homeless, but dresses like she is and lives in the next village over, rubbing dirt on her cheeks every morning. She knows that her mother hasn’t given up on trying to find her a husband, even after three different matchmakers deem her hopeless.

Ochako knows that the shogun needs men to full the ranks of his army, to fight in a war against a madman. She understands that a daughter is supposed to bring her family honor through marriage, while a son is meant to earn his in battle. And she knows, as her father tries and fails to run through long-forgotten katas with his nodachi, that if her father goes to war, he isn't coming back.

She’s never wanted to be a hero like her father, left old and broken from defending the shogun and his country – but while Ochako doesn’t understand much about the world, she does know this.

She loves her family. She wants more than anything to see them happy and healthy, and at the end of the day, she’ll do anything to keep them safe – even if it means sacrificing herself to do it.

Ochako steals the conscription papers from the bedside table. She binds her breasts and cuts her hair and takes her father’s swords, running away to join the army, and the only thing she leaves behind is an untouched cup of tea with a whispered apology nobody is awake to hear.  

__ 

 When Ochako arrives at the training grounds, one thing is abundantly clear – this place isn’t meant to produce soldiers. The men she sees as she settles into the camp are boisterous and cheerful and carefree, the types of people who see battle as a game and not a fight for survival, and it’s very clear that whoever is in charge is being set up to fail.

By the look on Captain Bakugou’s face on their first day of training, he’s in complete agreement.

He’s also the most physically stunning man she’s ever seen in her life, and it takes everything in her to pretend like her face isn’t on fire when he carelessly sheds his shirt to expose carved muscles and sharp hipbones and miles of smooth, golden skin.

She keeps her eyes on his face and tries to ignore how her ears are burning.

It helps that his personality has all the charm and charisma of a dead rat. The man is crude and impatient, a permanent scowl fixed on his face as he has each recruit spar with him one on one. There’s no mercy as he knocks each and every one of his opponents out of the ring with bruises and injuries of various degrees, a mocking sneer twisting across his mouth as he goes.

Ochako is shaking in her boots when her name is called up.

Bakugou looks decidedly unimpressed at the way she nearly trips over her own feet and falls on her face before stepping into the marked boundary of the sparring ring. His eyes are drifting to run over the remaining recruits that are waiting their turns, and she’s angry and embarrassed that he’s writing her off so easily.

“Hey!” she yells, and Bakugou’s gaze snaps back towards her, “don’t look away from me!”

She grits her teeth at his answering sneer. “Why the fuck would I pay attention to a waste of space?”

Something hot burns in her chest at his words – it feels an awful lot like rage.

Family, honor and duty. The words echo in her head as she runs over the past twenty-odd fights, short as they were. She slides a foot back, settling into a low crouch as determination coils in her stomach.  

“Hajime!”

Ochako doesn’t give him the time to think, springing forward, and she can see the way his eyes widen at the initiative. She has the bare bones of a plan in her head, half-formed and relying on chance more than skill, but maybe it’s enough.

When she’s within range, Bakugou leads with his fist, body thrown into the movement with full commitment, and her heart leaps as she smoothly dodges the punch, ducking to the side and sliding into his space to try and sweep his legs out from under him and strike at the underside of his jaw. She catches him in the cheek, a rabbit-quick punch that doesn’t seem to do much damage, but she’s too slow to react to the kick to her leg, her knee crumpling beneath her as she hits the dirt with a gasp.

It’s only by luck that Ochako sees the boot hurtling towards her face, and she scrambles away just before Bakugou’s foot comes down in what would have been a nasty curb stomp.

She gapes at the cloud of dust that rises from the impact, scrambling to her feet and putting distance between them as narrowed red eyes turn to meet her gaze. It’s just as violent as some of the other attacks he’d made during other spars, and it’s obvious that he wasn’t expecting it to actually land, but as he turns to her again, there’s a marked difference in his expression and stance.

Now, his sneer is tinged with a curious edge, red eyes flashing in interest. He doesn’t look even a little winded, but Ochako is panting hard from a mix of pure willpower and adrenaline.

“Tch.” Bakugou flexes his jaw, testing the movement. “You actually hit me.”

She grits her teeth. “There’s more where that came from!”

He scoffs, but his focus is entirely on her now as he rushes in first. He’s leading with his fists again, but this time, when he goes for the punch Ochako tightens her core and lets it land, wheezing as pain explodes in her stomach. Her feet skid back, bracing against the force, and she pushes through the pain, using his outstretched arm to pull him towards the elbow she aims at his nose.

The hit is deflected with a palm strike that sends her off balance, a kick to her back sending her to the ground. As Bakugou closes the short distance between them, the fine, loose texture of the earth below her palms gives her an idea.

It's playing dirty, but Ochako doesn’t really care as she flips over and tosses two handfuls of dirt into Bakugou’s face.

“Motherfucker, you bi – !” The fine particles give her precious few seconds as Bakugou scrubs at his eyes, and she tries to dart in close to land a hit. Unfortunately, it takes her too long; by the time she manages to land a sweeping kick that knocks him down, he’s already recovered enough to lunge at her in an all-out tackle that ends with her wrists twisted behind her and his weight bearing down on her back.

“Tch, that was almost halfway decent.” The rough growl does nothing to hide the smirk in his voice, and when she tries wiggling out of his hold, he only puts more pressure on her wrists. “Tap out, or I’m gonna start breaking shit.”

Ochako grits her teeth, stubbornness holding out for a moment before she slumps. “… I yield.”

She gasps in relief as her arms are released, the weight on her back disappearing. Her arms flop at her sides into the dirt, exhaustion finally hitting her, and all she wants to do is not move for the foreseeable future.

“Oi. Round face.” She flinches as a foot nudges into her side roughly. “Get the fuck up, I’ve got other extras to beat to the ground before the day is done.”

Ochako takes a deep breath, then slowly clambers to her feet, wincing as the tenderness of her stomach from tanking that earlier punch. Bakugou is already looking at his next opponent, eyes fixed on a tall redhead whose biceps look like they’re bigger than her own head, but something makes Ochako call out to him.

“My name,” she says through gritted teeth, and he pauses to look back at her over his shoulder, “is Uraraka.”

Bakugou studies her for a moment, eyes unreadable, and as he turns away, scoffs, “Whatever, round face.”

__ 

Days pass. Ochako aches on her good days, and can barely move on others. Bakugou is a harsh taskmaster who has a takes-no-prisoners attitude that drives every single recruit into the ground, and now she knows that she was right about him being set up to fail.

The man that arrives a week into training is a smug, obnoxious little prick from the shogun’s court, a noble looks like he had weaseled his way into his advisor position through nepotism and money. Lord Monoma sneers at all the recruits like they’re dumb animals rather than people, and for some reason has it out for Ochako in particular, snidely pointing out how she lags behind the other men during training exercises and her overall slow improvement.

The only consolation is that Bakugou hates Monoma more than anyone else, and actively works to make the man’s life as miserable as possible. One ‘accidental’ fire keeps the insufferable man away from the training grounds for a solid week, and Ochako has to hold herself back from crying in relief. Some of the other men have no self-preservation and actually try to hug Bakugou, which earns them extra laps and chores as punishment.

There are some moments of brightness that shine through the monotony of the days, but for the most part it’s not easy, being here. She’s the smallest and shortest one in the camp, the one with the lowest stamina and the least energy to spare, and more often than not it takes her twice as long to finish endurance exercises or obstacle courses because she just doesn’t have the physical strength to keep up. She does well in spars, using her father’s teachings to turn her opponent’s size and strength against them, but at the end of the day, she’s a woman pretending to be a man, and there is only so much she can do on her own before the frustration at her lack of progress starts to eat away at her. Some days, she feels like she's breaking through her slump, but on others it feels like she's the dead weight who's moments away from being cast off.

It's during one of these days that Bakugou is waiting for her as she comes back from her exercises one night, the rest of the men having finished hours earlier. In his hands are two heavy weights, cloth straps looped through the holes in the center of each disk, and he unceremoniously drops them into her arms.

“Get the arrow by sunrise,” he says, pointing upward, and Ochako follows his hand until she sees an arrow embedded into to the wood of a training post that’s thicker than the circle of her arms and as tall as a century old pine. “If you can’t, don’t bother showing up for training.”

He doesn’t look back even as panicked questions start spilling from her mouth, ducking into his tent and leaving her alone in the darkness. Her arms already heavy and worn from the day’s training, the arrow looks like it’s miles away, and Ochako looks down at the weights with a growing sense of hopelessness until she sees it.

There are words embossed into each disk. It’s a full moon and the characters are easy to read, but Ochako still traces the raised strokes slowly. Discipline and strength. She thinks of her father’s swords, tucked in her tent, and the horimono engraved on each blade. Peonies – bravery and honor.

Ochako looks up at the post, eyes observing the knots and cracks in the old wood. She then ties the weights to her torso, wraps her hands in strips torn from her shirt, and starts climbing.

__ 

Two hours from sunrise, Ochako approaches the commander’s tent, illuminated from within by the light of a candle. When she’s given the permission to enter, she’s finds herself staring directly at Monoma of all people, sitting on the opposite side of the tent. At the sight of her, he looks like he’s just swallowed an entire yuzu fruit whole.  

“Well?” Bakugou doesn’t even glance in her direction, eyes focused on the scroll in his lap. One hand is flipping a knife between broad fingers, the other holding a half-eaten pear, and here in the soft candlelight he’s softened by the shadows cast along his sharp features. The loose shirt he wears does little to hide the broadness of his shoulders or chest, and abruptly, Ochako feels a tiny flutter bloom beneath her breastbone.

Oh. Oh, no.

No, no, no, no, no.

She’s delirious, she decides. She’s exhausted and sleep-deprived and confused by the feelings that are stirring in her chest, and Ochako blames all of that on what she does next.

“One arrow, Captain,” Ochako says, and stakes the arrow, head first, into the map spread across the table in front of her, “as promised.”

Something in her revels in the way Monoma jumps in surprise, wide-eyed, and her ears burn as Bakugo barks out a sharp laugh. She pulls the two weights off her back, dropping them in a neat pile at her feet.

“What was it you said? Fragile?” Bakugou’s expression is full of unholy glee, and Monoma looks like he can’t decide if he wants to punch Bakugou in the face or stab him. “A deal’s a deal, fuckface. Get your arrow and your shitty ass out of my damn camp.”

Monoma grinds his teeth and stands with all the grace of a sore loser, sweeping out of the tent without a word.

Silence falls. It takes Ochako a few embarrassingly long moments to process what she's just heard, still confused as hell, but then decides that she can’t be bothered to be polite about it.

“I’m fragile?” Offended, Ochako looks down at herself, where her raw hands are bleeding through makeshift bandages. She can see the dips of her abdominals showing through her shirt. “… wait, you bet on me?!”

“The shitty bastard did.” She barely reacts fast enough to catch the pear that nearly brains her in the forehead, fumbling with it for a moment before it lands awkwardly between her elbow and her chest, and Bakugou just smirks when she shoots him a glare.

“There’s nothing fragile about you, round face.” Stunned, her mouth falls open, and there's something else in Bakugou's expression that she can't name. “Now get outta my tent.”

She knows, logically, that it’s not meant to imply or mean anything – still, heat floods her face to the point where Bakugou notices, by the way his eyes narrow. Before he can say anything else, she decides to cut her losses and squeaks out a goodbye before rushing out and making a beeline for her own tent.

Family, duty and honor. Ochako is here for her father, nothing more and nothing less. She scrubs herself down the best she can, collapses on her sleeping mat, and pretends like the rapid-fire beat of her heart is nothing more than excess adrenaline, burning itself away.

__

The arrow doesn’t mean anything. It shouldn’t mean anything, but something shifts in Ochako, after. It’s odd, breaking through a plateau that has held her back for so long; her body doesn’t feel any different and she’s still waking with sore muscles and aching limbs. The real difference is those five words, spoken with a conviction that Ochako herself doesn’t know if she quite agrees with – but something in her burns whenever she remembers the way Bakugou looked at her after saying it. She wants to prove that he’s right.

There’s nothing fragile about you.

She runs faster and farther, pushing until she’s leading the endurance runs rather than trailing them. She spars with the other men, beats them all one by one – and then she trains with Bakugou. In the beginning, he knocks her on her ass every time, but slowly, each bout between them lasts longer and longer. She learns to hit harder and fight smarter, until she finally manages to pin him down after weeks of eating dirt.

“Gotcha.” She’s panting, pressing down on him as hard as she can manage, and bares her teeth in a vicious, proud smile. Below her, he’s catching his breath, recovering from the way she slammed his head into the dirt seconds earlier. “Yield?”

“… whatever,” he says, empty of all his usual aggression and rage, and Ochako is suddenly distinctly aware of the position she’s in. Her hands are pressing his wrists into the ground at his sides, the bulk of her weight on his hips to prevent him from flipping her – and Ochako swallows when something in Bakugou’s eyes darken.

“Oi, you getting up anytime soon, round face?” His voice is low and rough, and it sends heat pooling dizzily in her stomach. Ochako scrambles off of him, babbling her apologies, but this one moment becomes the spark that ignites the fire burning through her body late at night, when she's alone in her tent and too tired to stop herself from dreaming.

They all start the same way – hand to hand combat, one on one training with Bakugou that transitions into grappling and wrestling. She’s strong, but he can easily overpower her nine times out of ten, and it’s so easy to imagine him holding her down with his hands and hips and thighs.

Sometimes, she fights back – struggles against him until she wriggles free and pins him too.

Sometimes, she leans up to press her mouth to his, and Bakugou bears down on her with all the tempestuous rage of a storm, intent on devouring her whole.

Sometimes, she lies there and lets Bakugou wraps a careful hand to her neck. His thumb presses into the underside of her jaw, tilting her chin up so he can mouth at the skin of her fluttering pulse as she arches into his touch, begging him for more.

Those are the worst to wake up to, her body trembling and aching with longing, and she has to press her fingers to the cold metal of her father’s swords to bring her back to her senses.

Still, she spars with Bakugou – and the dreams don’t stop.

[dormienschas]

A New Legend Begins Chapter 3

A/N: Chapter 3 is in! I actually had a lot more planned for this chapter but then that would be too much events in this chapter. So, now there will be more chapters now. So far, I have 11 chapters planned now! The next chapter begins their adventure!!! At least in this chapter, we learn who the Hunters are that King Enji Todoroki sent out!

First || Previous || Next

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Word Count: 1,816

Chapter Title: The Lowly Farmer Can’t Stay!

           The next day was a reliever. The place seemed livelier than ever. The cheerful atmosphere was all thanks to Inko for cooking an amazing breakfast since Prince Todoroki is currently staying in the Midoriya’s home for right now. Izuku could not complain though, his mom rarely cooks maple bacon since maple is rare in the village.

           Today was a Sunday, which meant more training hours, which also meant, a taste of One for All for the first time. Todoroki asked if he could watch the first test, only for Toshinori to turn the offer down. “Not until Young Midoriya has better control. I can’t risk him losing control on his first time and harming you.”

           Izuku stood in the dirt patch with the sword in both hands, still a heavy blade. Izuku was nervous about what could happen. With the way Toshinori was speaking about trying this power out, Izuku was scared to even pull the sword out of the sheath. He did manage to do so unconsciously and when he realized the sword was in his hands, he started to shake.

           “Alright Midoriya. How do you want to picture your power flowing through you? If you can figure that out, you can then easily summon the power through you.” Toshinori was a bit farther away from his usual tree stump, Izuku was more than okay with the new distance.

           “Okay. Let’s see.” Izuku was going through the list of ideas. A jar with a lid, the stove and the fire underneath it, or the pulling of weeds out of his healthy potato garden. “Wait. I got it! It’s like putting corn in a hot pan to heat it up and pop the corn.”

           Toshinori cocked his head to the side and stared at the curly boy. “How does that work?”

           “I just need to watch how much kernels and butter I put in the pan or else, it might explode.” Izuku got into a stance that supported the new weight of the sword and closed his eyes to imagine the amount of ingredients to add. He can’t put in too much or the kernels will pop out of the pan and cause the disaster. Izuku felt a small spark flick within him and latched onto it. “I have the fire burning. Now to put the pan on the stove.” He concentrated on the flicker of power for try and understand the feeling. “Now, to add the butter and kernels.” He thought about the flicker and how hot the flicker needs to be for the power to flow through easily and to shut it off easily. The more he grasped onto the flicker the stronger it started to grow. “Concentrate,” He growled out. The power grew stronger and he felt it creep along his body. “Concentrate.” Something was off now. Something was missing, but he had to concentrate, he’s so close now. The power grew stronger and Izuku flicked his eyes open as soon as he felt it flowing through him like the blood in his veins. “I got it!”

           “Don’t lose that concentration Midoriya!” Toshinori called out.

           His masters voice took him out of the view and the power started to leak out and flow through his body quicker and quicker until Izuku had a hard time grasping it. “I-I’m losing it! I have to release it!” He heard Toshinori trying to yell something at him, but he raised the heavy sword and blindly swung a down slash at the ground. The heavy sword slammed into the dirt and made a small crater before creating a crack into the ground. Izuku let go of the power so that it could return to a small flicker and let out the breath he was holding.

           “Midoriya! Are you okay?” Toshinori called out to him and made his way over. Suddenly, there was a major pain coursing through his arms and shoulders, and he had to drop the heavy sword and drop to the ground in agony. “Dammit. You dislocated your shoulders and your wrist are broken. You lost concentration and let too much power flow through you.”

           “Y-yeah. Sorry.”

           Ochako focused on the purple and blue bruises that adorned Izuku’s shoulders and wrists. Her hands glowing a faint green as she focuses on healing his worst injuries which were his broken wrists. His shoulders were put into place by Tenya and received a look of worry from Inko as she teared up about her son having terrible injuries.

           “You’re lucky I know a bit of healing magic. They won’t be completely healed, so you can’t do a lot of movement with them. We’ll have to go the physician to get you wrist supports.” Ochako was breathing heavy, which was due to her excessive use of her magic.

           “Right. Thank you Uraraka.” He held up his hands and slowly balled his hands up into gentle fists and felt the tight pull and a sting shoot up his arms and into his sore shoulders, he couldn’t help the hiss that left his lips.

           “We should go now. Knowing you, you’ll want to hurry and heal to practice again.” Ochako just knew Izuku so well and Izuku couldn’t help the smile and small blush that adorned his freckled cheeks. As he followed Ochako and Iida out the door towards the doctors.

           “So, where do you think he went Jiro? Can hear his horse anywhere?” Denki Kaminari adjusted his shirt sleeve up to his elbows to look over the walls of the Capitol of Endeavor towards the village that lay just below the large hill that lead into the next.

           Kyoka Jiro smacked him and shushed him to concentrate on her hearing magic. The village wasn’t far, but the distance was still messing with her due to the village being just at the edge of her range. “I can’t hear.”

           “I think we should just go and scout out the village.” Fumikage Tokoyami pulled his black cloak closer to his body as Momo Yaoyorozu approached the group.

           “I agree. We’ve been given a job and was told to do this as quickly as possible. We should get going and take the prince back to the castle.” Yaoyorozu went up to Fumikage to ride with him on his dark shadow magic while Denki got on Kyoka’s broom with her and the Hunters went towards the village to find the prince.

           Izuku waved at the physician was he and his friends exited the place with wrists supports and medicine to help with the healing process and pain. He sighed as he looked at the glass bottle in his hand that held the medicine. “I wonder if this is what All Might had to go through when he got this power. That sword is heavy and harnessing the power like that made the sword feel like a boulder to where you feel like you eventually had to drop it before it gets to heavy and crushes you.”

           “I’m sure you’ll figure out a way to use it.” Tenya looked at the freckled boy with a reassuring smile that always brought a new resolve for Izuku.

           “Right. I just have to keep training harder.” He flexed his fingers again but slower.

           “Midoriya!” The trio quickly turned around to find Todoroki on his horse with another one following. “We have to go. You do know how to ride a horse right?”

           “Actually no. But Iida…” Before Izuku finished his sentence, there was a loud booming noise that seemed to only effect the four. Izuku had to cover his hears along with the others. He looked around to see a group making their way over to them. He looked up to Todoroki to see that Todoroki was not wanting to be friends with them today.

           He grabbed Tenya’s arm to get his attention towards the spar horse. He wasn’t so much about Ochako, she’s a witch in training which meant, she can fly. Just to clarify Izuku’s small doubt, he saw her summoning her broom out of her enchanted bag and Iida and himself with Todoroki bolted towards their way out of the village or try and get out this noise mage’s range. Tenya made the horse to move up faster to lead Todoroki with Ochako beside him.

           The loud booming noise was starting to grow weaker and Izuku looked behind them to see that the noise maker was getting farther away but only for the other three to be getting closer, especially the dark cloaked one. Was his shadow moving differently than him?

           They made a few turns down alleys and in between stalls and houses until they finally got a break from the pursuers in the tree line of the forest that separates this village from the next a few miles away. “Todoroki, who are they?”

           “They call their group the Hunters but they’re actually my personal guards and friends,” the prince said like it was normal.

           “Friends? Why are they fighting us then?” Tenya was on edge and Izuku could tell that he was accessing the situation like a knight would.

           “They are my friends when they are not trying to take me back to the castle. In other words, once they are given a job other than being my guards, they are no longer my friends, but my fathers Hunters.” Todoroki sighed and kept a look out for the group.

           “The noise maker is Jiro. She’s a noise mage. The one wearing the dark cloak is a dark mage, Tokoyami. He uses his shadow as his weapon. The blonde, Kaminari, is a knight and the girl you saw in the back of the group is a potions master, Yaoyorozu. She also coats her sword in different potions that she deems useful in a fight. She’s pretty smart and the leader of the group.” Todoroki crouched down when he saw Kaminari dash away without noticing them. “I didn’t think my Father would notice me missing this soon. I was about to check on Hero out in the back when I sensed them coming. I already told Toshinori about the situation.”

           “We should go to the house.”

           “No.” Todoroki stared down Ochako. “They would know we are there. Jiro has excellent hearing and with her noise magic, she could hear us make our way there and follow us. They know I would put up a fight and so they won’t hesitate to fight. I don’t want to risk Toshinori’s hiding or bring your mom into this Midoriya. I told Toshinori that we would be making our way to the village a few miles away. I only had time to grab his horse and made my way over to the physician. I’m sorry that I drag you all with me. They all probably already know that you’re all trying to help me hide. Now, they won’t stop until they take me back. We can’t stay here.”

[emeraldwaves]

Title: What We Lack Part 7 Pairing:  Kacchako, Deku/Melissa, Todomomo Rating: T Word Count:  3,849 Read on Ao3 Summary:  

Quirkless.

They’re the last people anyone expects to have a child without a quirk.

Neither of them can fully wrap their heads around it, but Ochako knows Katsuki is struggling far more than her.

Thank you to @its-love-u-asshole for beta-ing

Full fic under the cut

"Daddy!"

Katsuki's eyes shot open, the bright light blinding him as he searched for the source of his daughter's panicked voice.

"Daddy! P-Please!"

"Where are you, baby girl!?" he growled, whipping his head around as he desperately tried to see anything or anyone.

"Daddy! Help me!"

The sound echoed all around his body; her scream was loud, the sound resonating in his chest. His heart throbbed with anxiety, desperate to find his girl.

"DADDY!"

With her final scream, he turned around once again, only to see his daughter completely trapped in a pile of sludge. He felt his breath leave his lungs as he watched her desperately struggle to escape. His eyes trailed up the creature's body, and he met with a familiar face, one he worked so hard to forget.

"Daddy!" she screamed, her tiny hand reaching for him as she seemed to move farther and farther away, the sludge pulling her hand back.

"SAYURI!" he screamed. "You fucking piece of shit! Stay away from her!" Explosions blasted from his hands, propelling him immediately forward.

He would reach her. He would save her.

"I bet you thought I was long gone... a small stain on your memory. But when I heard your beautiful little girl was quirkless, well... I had to come see for myself." A large tentacle of sludge traveled up her cheek.

His explosions sputtered to a stop as he fell to the ground, staring at the scene still moving away from him. Why did it keep pulling back the closer Katsuki got?

"D-Dadd-" The sludge monster was quick to cut her off, covering her mouth with his body, his sludge lips opening up to show his devil-looking teeth.

"Shh. Hush. There's no need to be scared, your daddy is going to save you." He spat the words, his lips moving as if his mouth belonged to her. "Save me, Ground Zero!" he teased, laughing

"Fight it, baby girl!" he screamed, pain shooting up his arms, muscles trembling, tendons stripping away under his skin. He couldn't maintain this for much longer, his explosions were going to die out.

A muffled scream erupted against the sludge and her round, brown eyes slammed shut as she struggled against the creature.

"You remember how this feels, don't you, Bakugou Katsuki?" the monster laughed. "Feeling useless, unable to move or use your quirk. She has no quirk! No way to fight. Will you save her?"

"Of course I fucking will!" he yelled. His arms trembled as he desperately tried to push himself up. His hands were screaming in pain. There was no way he had enough sweat to get to her, not with how much he used and with how fast the sludge monster kept pulling her back away from him...

No. Bakugou Katsuki didn't give up. No matter what.

His red eyes met her browns, her pupils blown wide as tears streamed down her cheeks. He could almost hear her voice.

'Daddy, I'm sorry...'

"No..." he whispered, a burst of sweat igniting against his palms as he flew forward, his arms feeling broken under his uniform.

It didn't take long for his explosions to give out, his hands feeling dry as he tumbled to the ground. His body slammed into the concrete, hitting its physical limit. "SAYURI!"

"Ground Zero? Number one hero? Can't even save his own daughter?" The sludge villain cackled, keeping her eyes uncovered.

"How pathetic! Where's Deku? He could save her. Better call for help!"

"NO!" he yelled. He placed his palms flat on the ground, pushing his head up as he tried to reach for her "SAYURI!"

The sludge monster spread out his tendrils, wrapping Katsuki in darkness, his body barely able to move as the darkness enveloped him completely.

"...suki..."

There was a voice in the distance and he struggled against the sludge. It had to be Sayuri. She was crying out to him, lost in the mass of sludge which overtook both of them.

"Katsuki!"

No... not Sayuri.

"KATSUKI!"

He let out a gasp as he eyes shot open.

Staring down at him with concern was his goddamn beautiful wife. Her eyes were wide, looking over his body, as if to check for an injury.

"O-Ochako..." he breathed, his chest heaving. Sweat dripped down his forehead and arms, his palms covered in it. "A dream..." he growled.

Ochako immediately frowned, puffing out her round cheeks. "More like a nightmare! You kicked me multiple times and you were flailing all about. You yelled out too, though I couldn't really understand you," she sighed, rubbing her forehead.

"Fuck..." he grunted, letting his head flop back against the pillow.

His wife let out a yawn, and slowly sank down underneath the covers with him. "You're sweating so much I'm tempted to have you take a shower," she whispered.

"I'm fuckin' fine!" he hissed.

"You're not. What happened?" Her fingers gently brushed his blond bangs away from his forehead. He could feel the soft pads touch his smooth skin, a sensation he was more than used to over the years.

"Sayuri..." he muttered.

"Oh Katsuki," she sighed, resting her arm over his shoulder. "Is this about the press conference?"

"I don't fuckin' know, Ochako," he hissed, turning away from his wife.

"Tell me..." she urged, leaning forward to press her lips against the side of his.

"...the sludge villain...."

"The sludge villain?"

"...from when I was a kid..." he grunted. "Sayuri was captured by him and I... I..."

"Katsuki..." she said. Her fingers slipped across his chin and slowly turned his face to meet hers. Her brown eyes were warm, even though he had just spent all night battling his pillow and kicking her.

"Mmm..."

"It was just a dream," she said, pressing their lips together. "You know if Sayu was ever kidnapped we would go after her immediately, and so would Deku, Shouto, Momo, Eijirou... all our friends..."

"But I couldn't... I couldn't fucking save her," he snapped, pressing his hand over his eyes. "And everyone is going to know tomorrow... everyone! Do you know what that fucking means, Ochako?"

Her fingers pressed against his own, pulling his hand away from his eyes. "I do. It leaves us vulnerable. But we can't hide it forever. Sooner or later someone is going to find out, someone who will out us to the press anyway."

"I just hate that it has to turn into this... this goddamn thing because of who we are..." he scoffed. "And who knows who will try and get to us through her..."

"We just... have to have faith we're better than whoever that may be and we'll stop them before they ever even see our baby," Ochako spoke with such strong determination, and Katsuki sighed.

"Of course we're stronger than them!" he snarled.

"Exactly. So... nothing to worry about," she said, yawning as she rest her head on his chest.

Katsuki sighed, stroking his fingers through her hair. Even on humid nights like this, her hair was so soft and his fingertips brushed through it with ease. "Ochako..." he muttered. "Are you really not worried?"

"Hm?" she turned her head up to stare at him. Her hair fell over her cheek as she let out a soft sigh. "Of course I'm worried..." she said quietly. "But this is your daughter we're talking about. Sayuri is incredibly strong, and I know you aren't going to let anyone touch a hair on her cute blonde head," she giggled.

"Damn right..." he muttered.

"I have faith in you and her," she whispered, nuzzling her cheek against his bare chest.

Katsuki did have faith in his daughter. He had faith in his wife too... he wanted to have faith in himself and the rest of this goddamn society, but his eyes stayed open, his mind running through the various insults he called Deku over the years.

~~

"But... I don't wanna!" Sayuri whined, stomping her foot against the ground.

Katsuki knelt down, helping her unzip her jacket. "Look, I get it. I wouldn't want to spend all day at Half & Half's house either, but Mommy and Daddy got some real important stuff to do okay?"

She puffed up her cheeks. "Shouhei and the twins are mean to me!" she said, folding her arms.

"No we're not!" Shouhei was quick to retort. "She just gets pissy when things don't go her way!"

"Oi! Language!" Katsuki hissed.

"Says you," Shouhei snapped.

"Boys!" Ochako growled. "Enough! Now, Sayuri... Shouhei... be on your best behavior for Momo and Shouto, okay?"

"Don't worry Ochako, Shouto and I are more than capable of handling the children," Momo smiled, gently placing her hand on her friend's shoulder.

"Oh, it's not you and Shouto I'm worried about," she sighed, shaking her head.

"Shou-kun!" Arata, one of the Todoroki twins, came zipping around the corner, practically sliding into the wall. "You're here!"

"Hi Shou-kun, hi Sayuri-chan," Yuuta, the other twin, smiled and waved, assuming his normal position directly next to his mother.

"Hey guys!" Shouhei said, cheering up almost immediately upon seeing the the other boys.

Arata leaned forward, placing his hands on his hips. "Guess who got the new Mario Kart!"

Shouhei's eyes immediately lit up. "No way!"

"Yup! I'm going to kick your butt!" Arata pointed at Shouhei and immediately began to laugh.

"Oh yeah?" Shouhei smirked. "I'd like to see you try!"

"Actually... normally, I'm the one who wins..." Yuuta spoke quietly.

"Shut up, Yuu!" Arata snapped.

"Boys!" Momo was quick to scold them. "Please play nicely together or I'll take the game away. Do not tell your brother to 'shut up' Arata!"

The boy recoiled, his red and black hair covering his dark eyes. "Okay, okay, I won't. Can we go play now?"

"Apologize," Momo said.

Arata sighed and folded his small arms across his chest. "Sorry Yuu..." he grumbled, his tiny cheeks flushing bright red.

"It's okay, Arata," Yuuta smiled and reached his hand towards his brother. "Should we go play now?"

"Yeah!" Arata smirked. "We gotta beat Shouhei!"

"You won't!"

The three boys dashed off down the hall, heading towards the entertainment room.

"Oi! Don't run..." Katsuki called after them but immediately rolled his eyes. "Brats..." he muttered and turned to Sayuri. "You can go play too if you want, baby girl."

"I don't wanna play with them... boys are stupid!" she said, and stuck her tongue out at Katsuki.

"My girl makes a good argument!" Ochako giggled.

Momo covered her mouth as she began to laugh and knelt down in front of her. "Hello Sayu-chan," she smiled. "How about me and you make some cookies and then we can read a story together while they bake?"

Sayuri's eyes immediately lit up at the mention of cookies; she certainly had her mother's sweet tooth. "Okay!" she cheered, and Momo lifted the small girl up to hold her against her hip.

"We'll have fun," Momo smiled. "Shouto will be home soon to distract the boys I'm sure."

"Thank you, Momo-chan," Ochako smiled, bowing her head. "We... hopefully won't take a long time.

"Be good, baby girl," Katsuki smiled, ruffling her hair.

"I will, Daddy!"

Katsuki kissed his girl on the cheek before leaving her in the care of the Todoroki's. Shouto and Momo and Deku and Melissa were their go-to babysitters, but since Melissa and Deku were going to be at the press conference for support, Momo offered to watch the children

Katsuki made his way to the car, jingling the keys in his hand. "You ready?" he asked, looking at his wife.

"Yeah, I am."

~~

Ochako stood in front of the podium, her hands folding over the edge. Cameras already began to flash in their faces, a small crowd of reporters and civilians gathered to watch.

Slipping a finger under his mask, Katsuki rubbed his face. His skin felt hot, like he could pass out from how fucking heavy his goddamn costume was.

Katsuki knew it was best to leave this part to her. As high as his hero ranking was, Katsuki was known for his outrageous bursts of anger and his inability to communicate with the press well.

This was their second time doing this, and it still didn't feel comfortable. Katsuki supposed it never would. Of course, Shouhei's conference was a little different, since Ochako explained how his quirk worked and Katsuki simply yelled into the mic about how strong his son was going to be.

Damn straight he was going to say the same shit again.

Ochako took a deep breath, her eyes fluttering shut and Katsuki could see every part of her slowly coming together, composing herself. All her floating thoughts and emotions pulled tight to her chest and she opened her mouth to speak.

"Hello!" she said, her voice echoing into the microphone. "It is... good to see you all here today. As most of you are aware, I am Uravity and this is my husband, Ground Zero. We called together this press conference to talk about our daughter.

"Admittedly, it is a bit strange to me... the idea of telling the world of such a private matter publicly, but I know... it is something we cannot avoid. It is our job to keep this city safe... it is our job to rescue those in need and stop villains from ruining the peace we've all worked so hard to create. What my child has to do with that is... a little beyond me." Ochako laughed and Katsuki could hear the way her voice trembled, tears threatening to pour over the edge. He stepped closer to her, gently placing his hand over hers on the side of the podium.

"However, I know the longer we avoid talking about it, the more rumors spread, which are arguably, worse than discussing my family publicly like this."

She took another deep breath, and Katsuki squeezed her hand.

"We have come here to announce our daughter's quirk," Ochako said. "Many people have been speculating, since we haven't done this yet. Yes, I know this may come as a shock to you, but pro-heroes do occasionally read the internet!" she giggled.

Ochako was so much better at talking to the public than he was. If it was him... he would've grabbed the goddamn mic and screamed 'she's quirkless!' into it loudly for them all to hear and get over it.

"Anyway, this is probably will make sense given our secrecy at first, but our daughter is quirkless."

The crowd let out a gasp, murmurs trickling through the various groups of people. "OI!" Katsuki said, slamming his hand down against the podium. "Listen to my goddamn wife!"

He was certain he saw the crowd collectively blink, turning their attention back to Ochako. "Thank you, Ground Zero," she smirked.

"I'm sure all of you are wondering why this is, because at first we were too. It doesn't make much sense, right?" Ochako continued. "Uravity and Ground Zero have such strong quirks! Why would their child be quirkless?!" She spoke using various voices as if to play the role of multiple reporters.

"The truth is, we don't know. I guess we both have genes that can result in quirklessness!" Ochako shrugged. "The important thing is... we love our daughter, with all our hearts. She's incredibly smart and she has lots of energy and she's healthy. Ground Zero and I do not care if she does not have a quirk. To us, she is the most perfect little girl and I know she's going to grow into a perfect young woman," Ochako smiled.

Katsuki swallowed the lump forming in his throat, his fingers curling around her wrist. He wanted to scream at all of them. None of this mattered! Sayuri was the same, quirk or no quirk. She was his precious baby girl, and nothing would ever change that.

He would work to make the world see that.

"I'm... well aware of how society views people who are quirkless. One of my best friends is quirkless, and she is by far one of the hardest working, most intelligent people I know. She has built so much technology and changed the world of pro-heroes! And I believe that my daughter can do the same... if she wants. Whatever she chooses to do, Ground Zero and I are going to support her 100%, and we only hope society will do the same."

For a brief moment, his red eyes met Melissa's, who stood directly in front. She nodded once, her hand wrapping around Deku's.

Clutching her wrist, Katsuki could resist himself no longer. He loved his girl and he needed the world to know... he needed her to know... what if she watched this broadcast later on in her life? Katsuki wanted to be fucking proud of what he said. He yanked the microphone from the stand. "If people are rude to her, I'll come kick their asses!" he snapped. "Hell, I'll teach her how to kick their asses so she can do it her goddamn self. She's a fucking champion!" he snarled into the mic. "And... we love her."

Ochako bit her lip, trying her best not to erupt with a emotions. Her lips were curling into a smile but her eyes were wet with tears threatening to fall. She gently pulled the microphone from his

"I don't think anything else needs to be said. Thank you," Ochako nodded, bowing to the press as they both exited the small stage.

Once the audience could no longer see them, Ochako leaped into Katuski's arms. "Sometimes I think you're an absolute idiot, and sometimes you are absolutely perfect, Bakugou Katsuki."

"I'm perfect all the damn time, what the hell are you talking about!?" he snapped, and pressed their lips together.

"I was surprised you decided to talk after all!" she whispered, cupping his cheeks. She pushed his dark mask up, her thumbs brushing over his skin.

"Yeah well... I wanted her to know we're proud of her. So if she ever watches this back... she can be proud of what we both said..." he grumbled.

Ochako couldn't help but giggle. "Perfect father," she said.

"Best fuckin' mother of all time," he retorted, nipping her lip.

"Should we... go get our babies?"

"Yeah... I think it's time we went home and put all this behind us."

~~

The second Ochako spoke the word 'quirkless' the news of their daughter spread through the internet like a wildfire. Katsuki expected it, they both did, and they both chose to avoid it. The news would circulate for a few days before the next big thing happened, and hopefully it would all be forgotten and they could move on with their lives.

Ochako thanked Momo and Shouto for watching the kids, and on the drive home, Shouhei talked enthusiastically about beating Arata and Yuuta at Mario Kart, while Sayuri whined about being stuffed from eating far too many cookies.

Once they were home, Shouhei argued about doing his homework and Sayuri fought with him about going to bed.

It felt normal.

"But Daddy," she whined even after being tucked into bed, "I'm not even tired! See?" She used her fingers to spread her brown eyes wide. "I'm so awake!"

"'Course you're awake when you hold your damn eyes open!" he snorted.

She gasped and covered her mouth, her small finger pointing at him. "Daddy! Swear jar!"

"Okay, okay... I'll put a coin in!" he scoffed.

"Cha-ching!" she giggled.

"If I do that... do you think you can go to bed for me?" he asked, a smirk pulling across his lips.

She yawned and shrugged. "I'unno..." she mumbled.

Katsuki couldn't help but chuckle. "Oh really? I think your yawn says otherwise. You had a long day, baby girl."

"I guess..." she whined, her eyes fluttering shut. "Kiss, Daddy!" she demanded.

"Good night, baby girl," he said softly. His hand stroked across her tiny forehead, smoothing her blonde hair back. "No matter what happens," he whispered. "I will always protect you."

"I know..." she mumbled. "Daddy is the number one hero! Ground Zero!" she cheered sleepily.

She was perfect. An absolute angel. She could have... negative quirks and he would still love this damn kid with all his fucking heart. He loved both of his kids so freaking much, more than he thought he could love anyone. Ochako was up there on the list too.

"Damn right I am!" he laughed, and kissed her forehead again.

"Don't forget the swear jar..." she mumbled, her tiny lips parting as she slowly drifted off to sleep.

He sat with her for a moment, watching her sleep, her tiny body moving with her breath. He was going to do whatever it took to keep her safe... to protect her from the awful words people might say… from the terrible things they might do... And he and Ochako would teach her to be the best fucking fighter this world had ever seen. She wouldn't need a damn quirk to kick ass.

"I promise... baby girl... I promise to always protect you..." he whispered to his sleeping daughter. He wanted her life to always feel this peaceful.

"Katsuki?" Ochako whispered, peering in through the crack in the door. "Is she asleep?"

"Mm..." he grunted, giving her one small kiss before he stood up, heading to the door. "Was just sayin' goodnight..."

Ochako smiled gently and cupped his cheek. "I know it was an emotional day for you."

Katsuki pursed his lips, looking at his girl. "Y'know... I fought so damn hard, dealt with so much fuckin' anger all because I wanted to be number one... and come to find out it didn't really matter that much. I'm number one to them, and to you, and that's the most important goddamn thing," he said softly.

"You are!" Ochako giggled, leaning up to peck his cheek. "My number one man, and number one dad."

He slipped his fingers against hers. "I don't care what it takes..." he said. "I will keep her safe. I will keep her safe and Shou and you... though I have a feeling you're gonna say you plan on helping me."

"We do make an amazing team," she laughed, wrapping her arm around his waist, rocking back and forth on her feet.

"We sure as hell do, Cheeks," he said, kissing her softly. "We make amazing kids too. We should make more."

"Katsuki, please!" she giggled, and gently pushed his chest. "I love you."

"I fucking love you too.." he said.

"Swear jar!" she teased, kissing him once more.

"I owe it four coins or some bullshit. Five... I guess now..." he snorted.

"You have a real tab going on that thing. Sayu is going to be pleased when she sees all the money in there."

"Yeah," Katsuki muttered, glancing back into her bedroom. "Anything to keep her happy."

And that he meant more than anything.

[beatlesun]

feel us

Pairing: Bakugou Katsuki x Uraraka Ochako

Summary: Bakugou e Uraraka train together; everything is fine until a new boy comes to their class; jealousy and prom au; soft                       

Word count: 1887

Part (2 /?) - part 1 ; read it on [ ao3 ]

—————————————————————

“Young heroes, gather around, come on. Aizawa, tell them what we’re doing.” All Might declared, in his non-muscular form, as excited as always, and Aizawa gave the instructions. “All right. For this training we’ll separate you into four groups. You will train both aggressive and defensive skills.” “And acting!” All Might happily interfered. “Since it’s not a very intense and long training, here’s what’s going to happen: two groups will be the heroes, two will fight the heroes and one will play victim, taking turns. Understood?” Without time for questions, he answered himself and revealed the teams: “Okay. Good.”

“The groups are:

[1] Bakugou, Yayorozu, Mineta and Kaminari;

[2] Midoriya, Uraraka, Kirishima and Ojiro;

[3] Todoroki, Daiki, Jirou and Aoyama;

[4] Mina, Hakagure, Sero and Koda;

[5] Iida, Shoji, Sato, Tokoyami and Asui.

The first round will be groups 3 and 5 as the heroes, 1 and 4 as villains and group 2 will be victims.”

“B-Bakugou as a villain? Good thing I’m on his side.” Mineta said, taking a loud ‘SHUT UP GRAPE-HEAD’ in response.

Aizaiwa continued as if nothing had happened. “Spread around the field. Heroes and villains go to your given points and victims hidden. We will share the evaluation later on. Good luck.”

The teams gathered among themselves and went to their designed locations, as the victims were placed separately and given which injuries to perform.

[GROUP 3 — NORTH]

“Todoroki huh? I’ve heard so much about you.” Daiki quietly said as they approached their location. “Well, about your father, that is. My mother and your old man have some history.”

Todoroki stopped and turned his head so that he would be facing the newbie. “I have nothing to do with him and I couldn’t care less for his previous relationships.” He said firmly, then raised his voice so that the group could hear. “Let’s move faster, everyone. We still have to plan our strategy.”

“Shouldn’t we look for the other heroes as we save any victims in the way?” Jirou asked, their location already sat and the four of them waiting for the signal to start. “Oui, seems logical.” Ayoama complimented.

“It won’t be that easy to find other heroes before the villains get to us. Since we’re north, I assume they’re in east and west. The other heroes are south.” “Obviously we should move together.” Daiki got away from the three we was leaning on and joined his classmates. “Jirou, right?” “Yes.” “I assume you can detect our enemies in long distances.” “That’s right. I can also warn you guys if I hear any crying or injured people.”

“Awesome. Me and Todoroki will go in the front of our formation. Rescuing and fighting at the same time, if needed.” Jirou and Todoroki both nodded their heads. “Excuse-moi! What about me?” “Ayoama shoots a powerful lazer through his belly or something. He should stay behind us, flashing any villain who shows up.” Todoroki stated. “Sounds like a plan.” Daiki smiled and they waited.

“One last thing. Could you guys remind me who the victims are, I’m still struggling with the names and faces, besides Uraraka, of course.” Ayoama was quick to respond. “One thing is certain: if there’s Uraraka, there is Midoriya.” Daiki raised his eyebrows in interest. “They always end up in the same group. Ah, young amour (love).” “Young love?” Todoroki said without any emotion in his tone and Jirou interfered. “You shouldn’t go around assuming things, Ayoama, it might get you in trouble. Anyways. Besides Uraraka and Midoriya there are Kirishima, the dude who hardens his body, and Ojiro, the guy with the tail.”

With cold eyes, but interest, Todoroki asked: “What about you, Hirano? What’s your quirk?” “Plasma.” He responded. “Plasma? What about it?” Ayoama questioned. “I can turn things (permanently) or people (temporarily) in plasma. They come back a little dizzy and some have collateral damage but - he looked to Todoroki - it’s quite useful.” Shouto took a minute to analyze the information. “That means you ionize them?” Daiki giggled. “Yeah, I do.”

[GROUP 1 — EAST]

“Bakugou! Wait for us, we should organize ourselves as we walk.” Yaoyorozu said while trying to catch her breath. “Tch. What’s there to organize?” He yelled. “I’ll just go around exploding their fucking heads and stuff. We’re villains, you do whatever you want.” Mineta quickly entered the topic, drooling. “W-whatever we want? Sounds good to me!” Getting a slap from Yaoyorozu in response. “Don’t be disgusting, Mineta. You and Kaminari better behave yourselves.” “Ouch, Yao-momo! I would never do such a thing.” Kaminari emphasized his drama. “Well, Bakugou, can’t believe I’m glad you are… well, you. We are already the best villains.” Slowly - and creepily - Bakugou turned his head to Kaminari, small explosions on his hands. “Not another word until we get to our point. You hear me, Dunce-face?” “O-okay, okay. Not fair.”

Just like that, all of the groups got to their places and All Might and Aizawa carefully placed the victims, telling them what their acts would be. Soon, a voice echoed through the speakers.

— EVERYONE GET SET. REMEMBER YOUR GOALS. THREE, TWO, ONE, GO!

Just like that, instead of what was expected a big fuss, silence reigned and careful steps were taken. All four groups followed their individual strategies, until…

BOOM

“BAKUGOU! THAT’S NOT WHAT WE PLANNED.” Yaoyorozu yelled as they all ran behind the explosions. “I NEVER SAID I WOULD FOLLOW THAT STUPID PLAN. LET’S GO.” He declared as he flew through the forest. “Come on, we can still make some use of his loudness.” The girl said as the three of them now changed their plan.

“Bakugou is definitely the closest to us. Let’s keep moving discreetly, we might have to fight sooner that we thought.

[VICTIMS]

"Psst. Uraraka? Is that you?” Deku said while carefully moving around the battle field. Recognizing her teammate’s voice, Uraraka quietly put her out off the tree she was hiding behind. “Deku! I’m here.” She waved at him. “What are your injuries? How did you find me so fast?” “Oh, I only got a broken arm and my location wasn’t the most favorable. You?” He asked while sitting next to her. “My ankle is sprained and I’ve got a couple head injuries, can’t really go anywhere. "Hmm.” Deku made his thinking face. “We should hide behind that rock -he pointed the one-, it seems safer, we all heard Bakugou’s explosions, we have to hope the heroes are coming.” “Okay. Help me get up.”

(…)

“I can hear two people together at 7 o'clock. They seem injured.” Jirou stated. “Oh! Oui! Uraraka and Midoriya.” Ayoama completed. Todoroki took the lead. “Good, the villains still seem far, let’s take care of them. Daiki y-” “Uraraka! I got her.” “Okay. Jirou, Ayoama, keep an eye on the perimeter.”

They moved faster to get to their victims and Daiki started using his quirk to get the bigger threes out of their way. Todoroki observed with attention as the boy’s eyes gained a bright, almost electric purple, while he concentrated his energy on his targets.

“I heard something.” Deku put Uraraka down and tried to look for someone around them, that’s when he saw Daiki. “Oi! -he waved- Todoroki, Daiki we’re here.” “What’s her problem?” Daiki asked still a couple meters away. “Ugh well s-”

It all happened way too fast for them to correctly process, but the firm hands on Uraraka’s waist told her all she needed to know: Bakugou had gotten her. “NOT SO GOOD OF A HERO, ARE YOU?” “Kacchan? Wait, URARAKA!” Deku desperately said.

“WHAT THE HELL?!” Daiki yelled in anger as he started going after the intruder. “No! You stay, your quirk is useless in long distance. Focus on your victim. Jirou, let’s go!” Then, ice filled the forest.

Bakugou flew with Uraraka using his quirk to get away as quickly as possible. ‘B-Bakugou? He was so quick’ she thought. He did not let go of his tight grip at any times. “Hi handsome.” She managed to say in between the booms. “Shut up, Round-face I’m kidnapping you!” Hiding a smile, she got back into her act. “Right, sorry. SOMEBODY HELP ME! MY HEAD HURTS. WHERE ARE THE HEROES? HE IS GOING TO KILL ME.” In no time, they got to where Yaoyorozu had built a cell for their victims. Kaminari was hidden and in position to electrocute anyone crossing a certain perimeter with Momo’s wire. Mineta was hidden as well.

“LET GO OF ME!” Uraraka cried in agony, her ankle supposedly pounding. “Shut up already. Lock her in. Now, we wait.”

“Todoroki! It’s definitely a trap. All four of them are considerably close, as far as I can tell. But there is a fifth person coming in high speed right before them.” “Hmm, probably Iida. Let’s wait.”

Since everything sounded quiet, Uraraka was still trying to talk to Bakugou in lower tone. “Hey, Bakugou, about our training I-”

“NOW!” Iida screamed and fight was seen all over the arena.

(…)

“ALRIGHT EVERYONE! THE FIRST TRAINING IS FINISHED. DROP YOUR ACTS AND COME.” All Might’s voice was heard and they all started moving.

(…)

By the end of the evaluation, the training seemed highly successful for the teachers, who shared the highest placement. Aizawa was talking. “Alright, with the right mix of attack and defense, group number three - Todoroki, Daiki, Jirou and Ayoama - got the best scores.

“HUH?! Tch. This whole thing was bullshit.” A very irritated Bakugou complained from the corner. “Congratulations. As for the lowest grade, group number 4, you guys will face one hour of extra class tomorrow. Look for Recovery Girl if you need any treatment, you’re all dismissed.”

“Hey, Uraraka. Do you want to go out with Iida and I tonight? We’ll find a nice place to eat.” Side to side, they walked out of the field. “Thanks, Deku, but I think I’ll still be with Daiki. I have loads of things to explain to him.” “Oh, sure - he rubbed the back of his head - he seems interesting, I wish I could’ve seen more of his quirk.” “I know, he looked powerful. Anyway, see you tomorrow.” “Until tomorrow morning, then.” And they both parted their ways towards the locker rooms.

(…)

“Bye girls. See you guys tomorrow.” Uraraka said goodbye to her friends expecting to study a bit in her dorm before meeting Daiki, until she saw Bakugou leaving as well, a couple meters ahead of her.

“Oi, Bakugou. Wait up.” She hurried her steps to catch his rhythm. “What the fuck do you want?” “Uhm, I just want to talk. “Freaking hell, spit it out.” “O-okay.” She looked him as they walked and could see that the training got him enraged, so she chose her words carefully. “I’m sorry, but I can’t train with you today.” He stoped and looked at her - even pinker, due to the exercise - cheeks. “Fucking tired after one simple-ass training.” He let out a despised sound and kept walking. “Wait, that’s not it.” The girl recovered her step and kept taking. “I have to show Daiki some stuff, you know.” This time, Bakugou didn’t stop, he walked faster. “Do whatever you want to.” He said lastly, leaving a bewildered girl behind. Already far from her, he mumbled - actually wanting to explode something:

“That fucking priss.”