#there's not the same history between deku and kacchan

[aromanticannibal]

while I see the appeal of izuku calling kacchan katsuki I think if he does katsuki should be allowed to burst into tears immediately

[zykamiliah]

hey! i haven't seen mha in a looong time and i've never payed attention to bakudeku (mostly because i'm not the biggest fan of bully romance), but i'd love to see your take/interpretation/analysis on it? i've been a really big fan of your svsss metas and so i just thought, "hey, you know what, i'm curious to see zykamiliah's take on a ship i've never been interested in from an anime that i haven't seen in years! maybe i'll see something?"

not too sure if you already made a post explaining it (so sorry if you did!), but i've seen enough of the sudden rise of bakudeku reblogs on my feed from your account to ignite my curiosity lol

i just really enjoy hearing about ships because they're an amazing opportunity to explore dynamics and perspectives i've never given much thought/thought about before (coming from a rare pair lover... oh gyx/lbg, my sweet...) so i'd love to see bakudeku, a ship i don't quite understand (yet!) in a more understanding, different, and interesting light! and in complete honesty i trust your judgement with insightful character and ship analysis stuff, so... yeah!

heeey jade! sorry for the wait, i've been busy with work and irl stuff :DDD but i'm here now!

where to even begin lol... well, it's important to note that the relationship between midoriya izuku, the protagonist, and bakugo katsuki, the deuteragonist, is one of the main narrative lines of the manga, at the very core of the story. katsuki is izuku's narrative foil, their character developments are intrinsically connected (specially katsuki's!), and the same can be said about the themes of heroism, of what makes a hero, who can be a hero, what type of hero society needs, or if it needs them at all, etc., questions that also tie to the evolution of their relationship.

so from the start i was sold on this dynamic because i really like relationships that are at the center of a story!! i also like relationships with a complicated history with lots of drama and ups and downs, and i like that each character has their own things going on in their lives even if they are connected and one of the most important persons in each other's lives. big big bonus guaranteed to get my full attention if they are obsessed with each other lol

the thing is, deku and bakugo are in a bad place when the story kicks in. bakugo isn't an active bully, in the sense that he doesn't constantly seek deku out to hurt him, but he IS horribly mean and hostile, and that's because for years he's felt threatened by deku (and deku's heroic qualities), and wants to push him away, because he also feels that deku is looking down on him. the story doesn't shy away from showing and acknowledging that bakugo's behavior is atrocious and needs to change, and it works towards it consistently: he eventually atones, apologizes, and changes. on the other side of the coin, deku has always been paying attention to bakugo and, despite how the latter treated him, would chase him, observe him to the point he has bakugo's moves memorized, takes inspiration from his fighting style and even imitates him to give himself courage to do something specially daring and when he wants to "win" more than "save"; bakugo is his image of victory, ever since they were kids.

i scrolled through my bkdk meta tag, since it's been yeeeeears since i was involved in the fandom, lol, and found this post that tackles the bullying issue specifically and makes some very good points, if you wanted to read it! :D

the manga eventually addresses the problems in their relationship in "Deku vs Kacchan 2" (chapters 117-119), at the time bakugo is feeling turmoils for the part he played in All Might's end. to the question of "why does deku chase and care about bakugo if bakugo is so mean to him?" ch 119 has deku answer that himself:

this fight is the turning point for their relationship, and for the rest of the manga their individual and dual development is mostly upwards. reading bnha is worth it, if anything, just for the beauty of bakugo katsuki's development.

another big aspect that got me hooked in their relationship from the very first anime episode (and first opening) is that they are

✨Childhood Friends✨

(strap in this is gonna get loooooooooong)

Childhood friends (Osananajimi) is kind of a huge trope in manga/anime, often as a romantic interest. According to some sources i quickly consulted in the internet, and some of the manga/anime I've watched, in Japanese culture osananajimi is considered one of the purest bond formed between people, with a level of closeness equal to that between blood relatives; formed at such an early age, at a time when societal restrictions didn't apply yet, the relationship is genuine because they still didn’t need or know how to hide their true feelings from each other. As the childhood friends grew up together, this is considered a special connection, somewhat different to those formed after societal norms and perceptions take precedence. Or, as makeste put it:

here we have two very young children who are introduced to each other at an age when they’re still young enough to have absolutely no secrets. they’re young enough to have not yet learned to be shy or self-conscious, or to downplay their enthusiasm so as not to let others know they care. kids that young don’t hide anything. they don’t lie or deceive. they don’t have agendas, and they assume that others don’t either. it is, in short, a very pure type of relationship in the sense that it’s honest and uncomplicated, that it is exactly what it appears to be at face value. their personalities are fully out there with no attempt at reining anything in. Katsuki witnesses the full force of Izuku’s boundless hero-worshipping energy and enthusiasm. Izuku witnesses the full extent of Katsuki’s relentless confidence and Peter Pan cockiness. both boys see each other for who they are in their entirety, and accept each other. this is a fundamental bond. there is trust built between the two of them at a critical, formative age. it’s a relationship formed so early on that it’s likely that neither of them can actually recall a time before they met the other. they are and have always been a constant in each other’s lives. they’re a lot like siblings in terms of that kind of closeness and complete understanding of the other, both the good and the bad. in fact I’d say that Izuku’s use of “Kacchan” (and Katsuki’s automatic acceptance of it) isn’t that different from a younger brother’s use of “Niisan” for his older brother. it’s very revealing of the type of relationship they have. and that includes the typical sibling squabbles as well. it’s very much a relationship that’s taken for granted; there’s no filter, no effort to hold back, no attempt at trying to tone down their behavior around one another. there is whining and bragging and squabbling and name-calling and tears, just as much as there is cooperation and respect and trust. because at the end of the day, the assumption is that the relationship will endure no matter what, so they can go at each other as hard as they can and it doesn’t matter. the other one’s presence is just a given. that’s the kind of relationship that this term “childhood friends” really encapsulates, I think.

The sudden change of their statuses when the quirks start to manifest is a major factor that placed them on opposite sides of the social hierarchy, and conditioned the way society and their peers would treat them. But despite this and the misunderstandings that happen between them and the falling apart of their relationship, the subconscious understanding between them remains intact through the years. They always flashback to their earlier memories. They probably didn't interact much in elementary or middle school, and even if they did, they interactions were already tainted by their social status and Bakugo’s hostility. They don't share their innermost feelings with anyone but each other. Like when Deku gets angry or determined to win and to surpass him, or when Bakugo screams and cries out his emotional turmoil at Deku. According to Japanese social rules those are selfish things to do. This relates to the concepts of honne and tatemae.

Japanese society is more regimented than one might believe just from watching anime. By middle school age, and even to some degree in primary school, children are expected to interact with their peers in a relatively professional way. This is especially true of relationships between students of opposite sexes. Such requirements aren't held for family or close friends, but for everyone else one is expected to be polite and not share their true feelings or say things too directly. This concept of dividing people into an in-group and an out-group (内外, uchi-soto) is somewhat hard for non-Japanese people to understand, but is central to interactions between people in Japanese culture. In fact, you can find plenty of examples of this and of the related concepts of honne and tatemae in anime if you look, but if you aren't looking for them specifically it's easy to miss. (source)

So, for example, you shouldn't show your true feelings/thoughts to other people, even more if they aren’t socially acceptable, because that may disturb the peace in the community. But because Deku and Kacchan are osananajimi that have known each other their whole life, that doesn't apply to them. By stating from the very beginning that Kacchan was Deku's childhood friend, Hori put them in a close relationship with each other with a level of intimacy, trust and a subconscious understanding not like any other. Kacchan is, in fact, closer to him than All Might himself.

Like, Deku has been calling Bakugo by his childhood nickname, Kacchan ("Ka[tsu]" from Katsuki + "-chan", which is usually used to address children or females in an affectionate way), even past the age he was excepted it to drop it. When they were 4 years old, the other kids called him "Kacchan" too, but growing up it would be seen as childish or disrespectful so they start to call him "Katsuki" or "Bakugo". This puts a level of distance between him and his peers that, regardless of what happened between them, didn't extend to Deku and Katsuki. And it had to cross Deku's mind at some point ( "Should I start calling him Katsuki/Bakugo too?") but he didn't or simply couldn't. Despite everything, he wasn't willing to put even more distance between himself and Bakugo. He deliberately refused to put formal distance between them, and more importantly, Bakugo just LET THAT BE.

___

Like, this was a great set up from the beginning for me. I knew there was a story there from the first episodes, and then "Deku vs Kacchan 1" happened, showing their childhood flashbacks and the misunderstandings that would persist until DvK2, and i was really into that lol They relationship was one of the main reasons I followed the manga.

i mean LOOK at THIS!

how i could NOT ship it i mean come on

Even their color schemes complement each other, and their costumes have the same/similar colors. they are are complementary opposites that share the same core: to become a hero, their admiration of All Might. Each of them has a quality the other lacks and needs to work on to become the heroes: heroes that win and save, as All Might put it. Selflessness and Selfishness: to help and save others, in one side, and to care for one's personal victory, in the other. Bakugo was obsessed with victory and glory, and Deku was willing to do anything to save others, to the point of self-destruction. These isolated qualities didn't made them good heroes, but combined, as the two learn them from each other, by the end of the story they really become two of the greatest heroes.

This connects with their rivalry, which is richer than any other in the manga because of the many layers to their relationship: they are obsessed with each other, want to compete with each other (for the rest of their lives!!!) and don't want the other to fall behind, specially after their misunderstandings are resolved. They also don't want to be left behind by the other. Because they love each other too much! Whether people interpret it as platonic or romantic or whatever in between (secret third they are like like four different types of greek love categories combined), they are each other's More Important Person outside of family members. Hell, Kacchan getting hurt is basically Deku's berserk button: he punches All Might in the face to save Katsuki during the end of term exam; he goes crazy protective and possessive when Katsuki gets kidnapped by the League of villains(Mr. Compress even calls him out lmao)

he goes crazy when Katsuki is hurt in front of him

and when he thought katsuki had died...

i mean. look at this romantic shit.

_

lol and i feel like i'm leaving many other stuff behind, like Bakugo's apology, and all the little moments after DvK, and all the times in the last arc where Bakugo was thinking about Izuku constantly, and the finale where Katsuki cried because Deku had given up OFA and was going to be quirkless again, and the fact that he was at the heart of the mecha suit years-long project because he wanted Izuku's dream, their dreams, to come true. but tbh I only read them the one time and need to reread the whole manga again to refresh my knowledge. and i already shipped them before all this haha.

they are amazing characters in a really well done shonen manga they have a beautiful story 🧡💚

[kats-fic-recs]

Bakudeku Fic Recs <3<3<3<3

(in the best way) you'll be the death of me

Katsuki pinched the bridge of his nose. "Deku. You have compiled ten notebooks on me. You know my medical history better than my mother. And I have it on good authority that when you saw me in that stupid bee suit your face was so disturbingly perverted Mineta cried."

Or:

Izuku finds out there are still things about Kacchan he can learn and grows up in the process.

How Was Your Day?

"Hi Kacchan, how was your day at work?"

“YOU FUCKING PUNCHED ME THROUGH A BUILDING! THAT WAS MY DAY AT WORK!”

happy birthday, kacchan!

“The only thing that didn’t change was Deku.

Deku kept his unreachable dreams, kept the idea that he’d be a hero some day. Kept his notebooks, and his dumb All Might pencil case. Kept his hair the same and kept his stupid freckles and kept getting on Katsuki’s nerves no matter what Katsuki did to try and stop it.

And, every year on April Twentieth, Deku kept on bringing Katsuki gifts.

melodies of a heart unbroken

Gifts, wrapped crudely (though that slowly changed until they suddenly looked almost identical to Auntie Inko’s presents) with notes that would say ‘Happy birthday, Kacchan!’ in Deku’s ugly chicken scratch.”

***

aka a look at katsuki and izuku's relationship throughout the years, told through memories of birthdays.

Midoriya Izuku intends to get to the bottom of why he can't cry about love.

wrinkled oranges, pigeons, and other sweet things to call your significant other

Deku,” he says, suddenly serious. “I’m fucking bored.”

Izuku blinks. “Of me? It’s a bit late for a divorce now, I think.”

In the slow, boring routine of retired life, former Pro Heroes Izuku and Katsuki are growing restless.

Katsuki turns to Izuku, his lifelong lover and precious husband, and says, "I'm fucking bored."

Sure, they're way past seventy years old. But that's not going to stop Izuku from making the last years of their life as memorable as he can.

Saturday

“Hey there, you fucking nerd,” and only Katsuki Bakugou can say something like that and make it sound like a pick up line. “Whatcha got there?”

“Laundry,” Izuku says cooly. “What about you?”

Katsuki turns so Izuku can get a good look at him. Old sweatpants with a hole in the crotch. Loose fitting tank top that hasn’t seen an iron for centuries. His hands are wet, remnants of dish suds on his fingers like sparkling jewelry. “Dishes. They’re dirty. Gotta show em’ who’s boss.”

“Mmmm,” and Izuku is proud of himself for managing to moan like that without bursting into a fit of giggles. “Did I ever tell you how hot Domestic Kacchan is?”

[Or: There's something relaxing about doing housework when your job is to save the world]

Until We Meet Again

Change is the only constant in the world.

It is also the most terrifying ordeal a person has to endure.

With the War won and All For One vanquished, Izuku must prepare for the next chapter in his life: becoming a true Hero by following All Might's footsteps.

But dreams come with a price. Now, he prepares to leave everything he loves behind.

And loving Bakugou Katsuki the most makes it the hardest thing Izuku will ever do.

love meme, hate meme

It's time for the yearly Heroic Achievement Awards where well deserve pro heroes get to claim the honor and accolades that they accumulated in the previous year. This year the Best New Hero category is filled with powerhouses with big fandoms that is willing to do anything for their favorite to claim the honor of rookie of year.

But just as the stage is set for showdown of the century between the biggest named rookie in Japan, Deku and Ground Zero, and their respective fanclubs, one single social media post is about to upheaval everything.

Every Maiden Plays Pretend

“You have to promise not to tell anyone about Flame Heart Hero," says Midoriya. "Because the thing is… When I started drawing the manga, I based the main character off Kacchan.”

“Wh— Bakugo’s the heroine? Bakugo?”

For a second, Ochako thinks she’s entered an alternate universe. There’s no way shouty, stompy Bakugo belongs in a shoujo manga. He especially doesn’t fit as vulnerable, insecure Yurika-chan, who got captured by a villain in the first few chapters, failed her first Hero Class exercise and cried, lost at the Sports Festival and cried again, got kidnapped by villains in front of her whole class, didn’t get her provisional license, then got into a fight after-hours and cried some more…

“Holy shit,” breathes Ochako, “Bakugo’s the heroine.”

Public Displays of Affection

The freckled man hums and sinks lower, his eyes roving to the corner of the room like two huge green marbles rolling into the sides of a glass bowl and sticking there. He earns a sharp bang from the fist of his blonde companion hitting the counter like a gavel.

The dishes rattle with a startled clink, but the drunk man moping over them doesn’t even notice.

“What?!”

“Won’t drink with me,” complains freckles, leaning forward like a wilting sunflower on the end of a collapsing stalk. “Won’t let me look at anyone else, but won’t drink with me. Won’t even take a sip! The beer’s all warm and I can’t even count it as a secondhand kis—”

Across the counter, you choke on your own drink. The blonde does the same on his water - the only difference in poise is how quickly he smacks his freckled companion on the side of the head before he can finish his sentence.

A hero reaches out to touch the hearts of the people through their actions. Sometimes, they do it through heartbreak.

Bakugo and Midoriya as seen through your eyes - the eyes of a local firefighter - in an izakaya a few miles and hours away from tragedy.

Kiss Me?

Years after Katsuki left Izuku in the dust as a kid he's reminded of the gesture of affection that had his palms sweating and heart pounding when Izuku used to do it for him when they'd get scuffed up on the playground: kissing his band aids after patching him up.

Fast forward to the present and the dumb nerd is just going around offering up kisses to any old extra in their class except Katsuki and it's driving him insane. Despite him pushing these feelings within himself as deep as possible, it stings deeper than he could've ever imagined.

-

aka: izuku's love language is kisses

[dynaizuku]

i have been waiting for you

based on a given "i have been waiting for you" twitter prompt.

he's losing his mind. they said it would eventually get better in time, but he's convinced otherwise. 

sure, hero work was there as a good distraction, but when he was alone with his thoughts and feelings, that's when katsuki's thoughts go to, "all of these are happening because i'm being punished, and i rightfully deserve it."

he was steadily climbing the hero rankings, finally joining the top 10 after two and a half years since he went pro. of course he was happy because, fuck, he was so close to achieving his childhood dream of becoming the number one hero, but he just thought everything would've been more worth it if a certain green-haired hero was there with him.

***

izuku and katsuki both went to endeavor's agency after graduation, much to the surprise of everyone including endeavor himself.

the two were later on called the wonder duo.; their teamwork was the best that japan had ever seen and what made the people even more enamored about the duo was their history. it was no secret.

childhood friend turned bully, how they became proper rivals in UA, and how they slowly but surely mended their friendship through the years. 

katsuki never called izuku his hero name, which some found very weird in the beginning of their pro career.

"deku was something i came up with when we were kids," katsuki finally explained in one interview they did.

"kacchan," izuku was ready to stop his hero partner because he knew how difficult it had been for katsuki as well.

"nah, it's fine. if they've been following you since the beginning they have an idea now," katsuki shrugged before continuing, "i was that person who called him deku – useless." 

the blonde took a deep breath before continuing, "and even if izuku here has changed its meaning, the truth behind it still remains — i made it to mock him because i was an asshole who can't healthily express his emotions. i promised i won't call him that name anymore."

***

the people had different views of the bond between them after that, but izuku and katsuki learned to not pay much attention to them. the two learned that they didn't owe anyone explanations or whatsoever and their friendship was their own business. 

"those shitty extras are exactly that – just extras, on the sidelines. we don't have to explain everything to them!"

and that was the first time izuku ever approved of katsuki calling people extras.

***

one year into their pro career, the two decided to live together. "it would be easier, kacchan!" izuku convinced katsuki.

and yes, work did become easier, but feelings did not.

katsuki had been in denial for years and he should've known that living together would only make it difficult for him.

if you would ask katsuki, he would say it was very anticlimactic when he realized. it was their summer break, second year in ua.

he and izuku were in his room, catching up on some homework that aizawa dumped on them on their fucking summer break. 

katsuki was getting tired of writing and reading and was about to ask izuku if he wanted to eat something when he stopped and felt it.

izuku was so focused on whatever homework he was working on, doing his usual muttering and katsuki realized, "fuck... okay."

he acknowledged that the feeling had always been there, he thought it wasn't really a big deal. he thought and he knew that izuku deserves only the best, so he decided to just lock it all up. he thought the feelings would eventually fade. he thought wrong.

***

izuku was given an offer overseas. it was some sort of hero exchange program. of course, izuku had doubts about accepting it. katsuki only talked him through it.

"not everyone gets the same opportunity, nerd," katsuki told him.

"kacchan, i'm this close to being convinced you just want me to go so you can eliminate the threat," izuku joked.

"hah?! the fuck you talking about, shitty nerd?! no one is a threat to me!" izuku giggled and totally missed the way katsuki's cheeks flushed a bit.

"but... kacchan," izuku sighed after a while, "that's so far... far from my mom, from my friends..."

"it's just for one fucking year, izuku. you haven't even started and you're already planning on staying there for good," katsuki grumbled. "but seriously, grab it."

"kacchan..."

"and use every fucking thing you learn there to beat me. not like i'll let you."

the night of izuku's going away party was when everything katsuki worked hard for – feelings wise – came tumbling down.

he was drunk – drunk enough to not think properly, but not drunk enough to not have an idea of whatever the fuck he was doing.

"izuku~" he called. it almost sounded like a whine but was slurred. 

"oh, kacchan, you're drunk," izuku pointed out with a laugh, quickly helping his childhood friend to properly stand when katsuki almost stumbled.

"izuku~ i wanna tell you something," katsuki"s brain was telling him to just fucking shut up and just pass out, but his mouth had different plans.

"it's a secret so you have to come closer."

"oh, really?" izuku humored him. "okay, what is it, kacchan?" 

izuku leaned closer. "izuku... i love you. i fucking love love you."

katsuki woke up with the worst headache of his life the following day, but izuku looked worse. izuku looked like the one who got wasted.

"did you even fucking sleep?" katsuki asked. 

"you... did you mean it?" izuku asked instead.

it took a few minutes before he understood what it was. 

"please tell me you weren't just drunk out of your mind–" izuku sounded so... vulnerable.

"you know i never say things i don't mean."

"kacchan... fuck," izuku cursed, and he rarely ever cursed. "i... i can't go–"

"no, you—"

"kacchan, what the fuck? you expect me to go when the only person i ever loved just told me he loves me back?!"

katsuki's brain short circuited. drunk bakugou katsuki should never be allowed to speak at all!

"you... you love me?"

"for as long as i can remember."

katsuki wanted to scream and he didn't know if it was of happiness or frustration.

"kacchan..."

"izuku. you're going there and you're gonna be the best goddamn hero the world has ever known."

"but, kacchan—"

"i... i'll be here when you come back. i'm  not going anywhere."

***

katsuki was losing his mind. the last time he and izuku talked, the latter was still thinking whether or not he was staying for another year.

maybe the blonde hero had little regrets, pushing izuku to pursue greener pastures, but he really couldn't bring himself to totally hate his decision – their decision. izuku was happier than ever.

time zones were a bitch, but izuku always looked and sounded so happy in the photos and videos he sent. izuku would gush about the work there, about the things he learned. katsuki was happy for him.

but it had been three weeks since their last proper conversation. their communication never failed since izuku arrived there.

katsuki still sent messages daily, and most of them were just read. izuku barely replied and it was always, "sorry, kacchan. i'm just so tired."

he really did not want to think of the worst, but his brain was a fucking traitor.

he sighed, checking his chat history with izuku and saw how his last message was read.

"fucking love. so fucking annoying. who the fuck invented feelings," he muttered under his breath.

he was on his last stack of paper work when an explosion happened.

"oh, fucking villain can't even choose a better day to piss me off," he snarled as he stood up.

he jumped from the agency window and made his way to where commotion was happening.

it was a group of small time delinquents. this should be easy.

katsuki smirked and shouted, "you dumbass shitty villains should get ready to fucking die because–"

a flash of green lightning made him stop on his tracks.

but that was no lightning.

he almost stopped to just look at the man in front of him if he wasn't a damn trained prohero. he quickly collected himself and started working.

it was as easy as breathing air. some people would think it was stupid, but this was what they were.

the group was taken care of in a matter of minutes and katsuki swore this had been the most alive he felt in the past year.

"shitty nerd–" strong arms were wrapped around him. he chuckled.

"kacchan," izuku's voice wavered.

"i've been waiting for you," katsuki whispered, leaving a kiss on izuku's head.

they were too busy to care about everyone around.

"kacchan, i'm home."

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 306: the beginning of the WHAT

Previously on BnHA: Nana and the Gang were all, “hey Deku, we can read your thoughts and feelings so we should already know the answer to this, but for some reason we want to quiz you on whether or not you’d be down to kill Shigaraki Tomura.” Deku was all, “um okay, well tbh, probably not seeing as Saving People has been my entire thing since literally the start of the series.” The Vestiges were all, “yes that makes perfect sense and again we already knew that, but well, good for you buddy and I’m glad we had this talk. Anyway I guess we should ask these two cryptic fuckers in the corner to finally turn around now before we run out of -- ” and then the chapter ended. Because OF COURSE IT DID.

Today on BnHA: Horikoshi is all “YOU DON’T NEED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT, WOULDN’T IT BE SO MUCH BETTER IF I GAVE YOU A CONFUSING CHAPTER WHERE EVERYONE FINALLY LEARNS ABOUT OFA, AND GOES BACK TO THE DORMS, AND THEN THE CHAPTER ENDS WITH DEPRESSED NOMAD DEKU STANDING ON A PRECIPICE WITH GRAN TORINO’S TATTERED CAPE FLOWING IN THE WIND.” Everyone is all, “???????????” Horikoshi is all, “also the parents are moving to the U.A. campus, and Jeanist’s neck is two and a half feet long, for everyone that was wondering.” Everyone is all, “WHERE ARE KACCHAN AND TODOROKI AND FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, WHO ARE THE SECOND AND THIRD USERS”, and Horikoshi is all, “:)” and fades away into nothingness like the fucking fae he is. Like a fucking imp who’s kept his end of the cursed bargain. What, the, fuck.

okay guys, so after the longest Thursday of my fucking life, during which I was secretly hoping that my spoiler containment net would be somehow be breached, inadvertently exposing me to theta spoiler radiation, so that I could be all “oh no... spoilers... there’s nothing I can do... I have no choice but to look” (which sadly did not happen), it is finally Friday and the chapter is finally out. so I’ve got my clown kit at the ready and other self-deprecating memes on standby, and I’m ready to go. and I should note that I’m also ready for Horikoshi to pull some absolute bullshit and be like, “oh you know what, we haven’t checked in with Rat Principal in a while have we” and spend the entire chapter on nonsense like that. I’M READY FOR FUCKING ANYTHING so bring it

(ETA: it would be nice if this man wouldn’t call my bluff every now and again.)

oh, right, we were due a color page! wow look at this

isn’t this supposed to be the future?? what’s with all of these staticky CRT TVs

anyway, so! is this the first time we’ve seen Tomura’s stylish finger prosthetic glove thingy in color?? because I didn’t expect it to be red. also, at some point you just have to give in and change your pants into cutoffs or something, Tomura. start a new trend of stylish villain capris

meanwhile Deku is dressed like he’s going on a journey into the desert to find a mystical oasis. actually this cape looks a lot like Gran Torino’s. I have to go back and see if Gran’s is all raggedy like this

(ETA: it wasn’t before but APPARENTLY IT IS NOW. I also forgot that Horikoshi had showed it sitting on a side table in the hospital a few chapters ago.)

lastly, AFO looks like someone’s thumb after they’ve been washing dishes for twenty minutes. you are just the ugliest dude in history, and as always, fuck you

HAHAHA SOB I KNEW IT

oh, Twowy McTwoface is finally starting to turn around? better CUT BACK TO DEKU’S HOSPITAL ROOM THEN. wouldn’t want to accidentally ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS or SOLVE ANY MYSTERIES, god forbid

well, whatever. whatever!! anyway so now someone’s knocking at the door. I say “someone” but we all know it’s Hawks

yep

they were actually standing outside the door for a while hoping they’d overhear another juicy plot conversation, but no such luck this time

lmaooo Jeanist wtf

acting all embarrassed, but you’re really just as curious as Hawks is. making him do all the dirty work for you huh

ARE YOU SERIOUS THIS IS AN INJUSTICE

so like two seconds after Katsuki gets dragged away you open the door for the rest of them!! well, fine!! I really want it to be a more private/personal moment between the two of them anyway so let the other kids check in on Deku first then

and in the meantime, time to see Hawks put the thumbscrews to All Might’s resolve lol

I wonder how much of it Hawks has already put together in the last five minutes. One for All is something connected to All for One that Tomura seems to want. Tomura was apparently targeting Deku. that’s more than enough to make a few deductions right there. I wonder how much Hawks knows about Deku’s quirk. he did watch the sports festival, and he ran into the kids interning under Endeavor that one time

okay well maybe he hasn’t put the rest of it together just yet, but Hawks is making a pretty reasonable pitch here to All Might

also this is a pretty spectacular view. is this a hospital or a hotel??

AHLKJLKJLKJ ARE YOU SERIOUSLY GOING TO TELL THEM

OH MY GOD HE IS?!?!

JUST LIKE WE ALL EXPECTED, THE NEXT TWO PEOPLE TO LEARN THE TRUTH ABOUT OFA ARE GOING TO BE HAWKS, AND BEST FUCKING JEANIST

-- LFKLKKLDK ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS. ARE YOU --

( •̀_•́ )

[sitting cross-legged on the ground pulling up little clumps of grass and letting them fall from my fingers one by one] yeah. sure. okay. fine. sure

-- OKAY, NO. NUH-UH. NO

everybody better hold tight cuz I’m about to pick up this whole chapter and yeet it into the ocean like a fucking frisbee lol

HORIKOSHI I DON’T CARE ABOUT THESE PEOPLE SITTING HERE WATCHING TV WTF

-- OH

well okay then. proceed. though lord help me if they’re about to reveal the secret of OFA to the whole fucking world skdkj

oh snap

well, there it is. pretty much what I expected, but it’s good to actually get to see this moment with him taking responsibility

though at the same time, thank you Horikoshi for not forcing us to sit through the rest of that

their fucking faces omg. okay but seriously, what nation doesn’t secretly love a good scandal

the Endeavor Pamphlets, part two. thank you for giving the country something to opine about on twitter in these trying times, Enji

so now they’re asking about Hawks and Jeanist but I cannot even focus on anything all of a sudden because what?!

is Jeanist even a real actual human being you guys?! are we sure he’s not three kids sitting on each other’s shoulders?? are you related to that one guy with the really long neck from the Jedi Council?? are you Orochimaru, bro??

so now Hawks is apologizing for the murder of Twice, and for hiding the connection with his dad

the fact that he has to give this serious formal apology and beg forgiveness for the shameful crime of Having An Abusive Father is really something else, though. just. it’s realistic, but I still hate it

moving on now to the one thing he actually does owe the public an explanation for

not to go all “Hawks did nothing wrong” on you guys yet again, but seriously. 100% facts. fandom can (and no doubt will) debate this until the end of time, but if Twice had gotten away they wouldn’t be having this press conference right now because there wouldn’t be any heroes left to give one. anyways though, I’ve already said more than enough about that in previous posts

so now some severe-looking lady with the weirdest fingers I’ve ever seen is saying that her mother was injured during Machia’s rampage

and she’s basically all “a fuck lot of good ‘I’m sorry’ does us all about now.” true true

wow she’s really getting fired up

and now Enji is basically saying that he understands that an apology isn’t enough, and what they really need now are solutions. okay, well! SO THEN WHAT IS THE PLAN THEN

hmmfsdgh

this eloquent PEZ dispenser makes a good point you guys

wait, hold up

CERTAIN citizens?? um excuse me, what??

ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh shit

holy shit. well, this will go over well

okay! so this tells me a number of things, though

basically the minute that Hawks learned about One for All, he realized that anyone connected to Deku (e.g. Inko) would be a target for AFO. AFO wants OFA, meaning AFO wants Deku, and one of the easiest ways to get to Deku would be to target his family

Hawks therefore realized that Inko needed to be placed into protective custody

but the fact that ALL of the hero course students’ families (and is it only the U.A. hero course, or all of the hero course students across the country?) are being given protection tells me that Hawks and co. don’t want to single Deku out as being important. so then it looks like they’re not going to tell everyone about OFA (or at least not the public. which, good). so rather than drawing suspicion by saying “we’ve got to protect everyone connected with this one kid”, they’re making it seem like all the U.A. kids’ families are getting this treatment

but since the heroes are now spread so thin, they can’t just send a protective detail to each and every family, so they’re bringing all of the families to the same place instead to better keep an eye on them

so that’s all well and good, and a very smart move. except that idk how all of this is going to go over with the general public, all of whom are probably feeling unsafe at the moment, and who will probably see this as preferential treatment -- basically just the heroes looking after their own and leaving everyone else to fend for themselves

(ETA: okay so @hanashimas​’ translation clarifies that U.A. is offering their services as an evacuation shelter for everyone who wants it, not just the families of the U.A. students. that’s much more appropriate so I withdraw my previous “wtf” reaction lol.)

anyway though here’s Mitsuki and Inko

can we take this as confirmation that the two of them really are friends? that’s one piece of fanon that I’ve always hoped was true, so I’m gonna go ahead and say it’s confirmed

(ETA: also this means that Hagakure’s parents (or maybe “parents” in quotation marks) will supposedly be moving in as well. sure am curious as to how that’s going to go.)

now someone in the press crowd is asking whether U.A. can provide adequate security, which is honestly the LAST thing I expected these people would be outraged about lol. shows what I know I guess

(ETA: again though, this makes sense if the “certain civilians” thing was just a translation error.)

LMAO DAMMIT ENJI

YOU CAN’T JUST ALWAYS PULL THE “JUST WATCH ME” TRICK AND EXPECT IT TO SHUT DOWN THE CONVERSATION EVERY DAMN TIME YOU ASSHOLE

-- OH MY GOD RED ALERT

TIME TO ANALYZE THIS BECAUSE OMG

WASH CAN’T BELIEVE HIS FAMILY GROUP CHAT IS STILL SENDING HIM FUCKING MEMES AT A TIME LIKE THIS. HE DOESN’T GIVE A FUCK IF THE DABI DANCE IS TRENDING ON TIKTOK, MOM!!

FOR A MINUTE I THOUGHT MT. LADY WAS HOLDING MIDNIGHT’S TORN-UP MASK, AND BY THE TIME I REALIZED THAT’S ACTUALLY HER MASK AND NOT MIDNIGHT’S, I HAD ALREADY CONSTRUCTED AN ELABORATE HEADCANON IN WHICH MT. LADY AND MIDNIGHT WERE SECRETLY DATING BUT HADN’T COME OUT TO ANYONE YET, AND THEN TRAGEDY STRUCK, AND NOW MT. LADY IS GETTING READY TO SET OUT TO SEEK VENGEANCE. AND WELL, NOW THAT THIS HEADCANON EXISTS IN THE WORLD, I’M NOT SURE IF I’M READY TO GET RID OF IT

MIRKO HAS GOTTEN HERSELF A PROSTHETIC (ROBOT??!) ARM, NOTHING ELSE THAT’S HAPPENING IN THIS CHAPTER IS EVEN SLIGHTLY IMPORTANT!!! HELLO!!!!!

AIZAWA WITH THE EYEPATCH GOOD LORD. THE WORLD ISN’T READY. HE LOOKS LIKE HE HASN’T SLEPT IN NINETY-EIGHT YEARS, BUT SOMEHOW HE MAKES IT INTO THE HOTTEST THING EVER AS PER USUAL

WHO THE FUCK IS THIS FUCKING GUY. ARE WE SUPPOSED TO KNOW HIM? IS THIS KAMUI?? WAS THAT THING WHICH I ALWAYS ASSUMED WAS HIS HAIR ACTUALLY A HELMET OR SOMETHING WHAT

LOL AND MEANWHILE

you tell me, Dabi! weren’t you the one who said that wouldn’t be enough to kill him? what even is your endgame here. I’m starting to worry about the villain brain cell supply you guys. I feel like Compress took most of them with him when he left

OH??

“when asked about One for All, Endeavor fucking lied through his teeth.” well, well, well

SLKDFJLSKGDJLKLKGJL THE DORMS

( ⁰ ⌂ ⁰ )

SLDKJFLKJWLKJLK

WLKDJSLKJFWKELKSDJLKHGLK

HDSMFLKGKL:GDSELK

OCHAKO’S HAND IS SHAKING OH MY GOD

THERE’S YOUR KAMINARI, EVERYONE!!

RHA’S SCANLATION TEAM REALLY THREW DEKU’S HANDWRITING UNDER THE BUS HERE HUH

HE TOLD EVERYONE!?

WHY THE FUCK IS HE WRITING IT AS A LETTER

(ETA: 9. also if he really wrote every kid in his class then that means the U.A. traitor -- or Hagakure as we like to call her around these parts -- also knows about OFA, and knows that Deku has run the fuck off and isn’t at U.A. anymore. so that’s just great!)

OH HELL NO

the hell does that mean, you must leave. leave to go where. son you are not up and leaving to go power up and lead us all into a timeskip. and I swear to GOD, if you left Kacchan too...!!

MY GOD I CAN’T PROPERLY ABSORB ALL OF THESE OCHAKO FEELS RIGHT NOW BECAUSE I’M TOO TERRIFIED TO SCROLL TO THE LAST FUCKING PAGE, FUCK

I JUST GOTTA DO IT. I JUST GOTTA SUCK IT UP AND DO IT. FUCK

FUCK

WHAT. THE. FUCK

y’all I’m not even gonna waste your time with more keysmashing, JUST ASSUME THAT I AM DOING IT NONSTOP, FOREVER. and let’s just jump RIGHT IN HERE

okay so here I thought that All Might and co. had taken him away somewhere to train, but that is CLEARLY not what’s going on here. this kid is standing here in his Apocalypse Aesthetic hero costume which has CLEARLY seen better days, with Gran Torino’s cloak (GUESS THAT EXPLAINS THAT, THEN?? SO DID GRAN FUCKING DIE EXCUSE ME WTF), and a fucking backpack. this little green idiot has RUN AWAY FROM HOME. this is the absolute LAST THING ON EARTH I ever expected to happen so PARDON ME WHILE I SCREAM CONFUSEDLY INTO THE VOID

he does not look okay. you guys he doesn’t look okay at ALL. he has NEVER looked like this. this isn’t just a “I’m sad because I’m leaving all my friends behind” kind of look on his face, or even just a “Gran Torino died maybe and I’m still having emotions over it” look. this is an EXHAUSTED, dead look in his eyes. something terrible has happened

WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR ARMS DEKU. THE PEOPLE NEED TO KNOW WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING DOWN WITH YOUR ARMS GODDAMMIT

love how this random building is just straight up collapsing, like that’s just a normal thing that happens every day now. lovely

APRIL MEANS IT’S NOW FULL ON SCHEDULED ALL-MIGHT-DYING-HOURS, BUT LET’S COMPLETELY IGNORE THAT THOUGH BECAUSE FUCK THAT NOISE

“THE SECOND USER? WHO KNOWS? CERTAINLY NOT ME” HORIKOSHI I SWEAR TO GOD

“BAKUGOU? NEVER HEARD OF HIM!” HORIKOSHI PLEASE

WHERE. IS. KACCHAN

did he go with Deku?? did he get a chance to talk to him before he left?? did he get his own private letter which he read and then promptly blew up in a fit of panicked rage?? is he going to go after him?? DOES HORIKOSHI KNOW WHAT HE’S DOING TO ME RIGHT NOW?? OF COURSE HE DOES, DON’T BOTHER ANSWERING THAT

omg. though actually the fact that we’ve already jumped a few weeks forward makes me hopeful that there won’t actually be another timeskip, or at least not much of one. I’m sure that’ll be the big debate of the week, but I don’t think we can jump too far forward here. for starters because of that All Might prophecy I mentioned. and also because TomurAFO isn’t just going to wait around for months. and also because I’m 100% sure that Deku’s running-away backpack is just filled ENTIRELY WITH NOTEBOOKS and this asshole cannot possibly survive more than 3 days on his own. UNLESS SOMEONE COMES TO HELP HIM THAT IS. OR SOMEONES, EVEN. OMG. omg omg omg. fuck this chapter lmao

[shotosprincess]

BAKUGO SCREAMING AND IZUKU

( ˘ ³˘)♥︎ AAAA HIII TYSM FOR REPLYING TO THE BNHA PLAYLIST THINGY FOR FICS I LOVE YOU MWAHMWAH

anyways aaa bet !! ill do midoriya first if you don’t mind bc im currently in such a soft mood and hajdjj i just love him sm :((

— 𝙠𝙞𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙨 𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙣 𝙞𝙯𝙪𝙠𝙪 𝙢𝙞𝙙𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙮𝙖’𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙢𝙨

inspired by this playlist by nimbus on yt !! pls check them out ansjdjf their playlists r heaven ^^

❝ you never truly understood that about him, the way he continued to put himself through the pain, to push himself, even, past his limits and then some—

plus ultra. and now his arms were all but littered with rough scars of diluted white and blunt tan. ❞

notes ! gender neutral! reader,, best friends to lovers au ,, 2nd person pov

summary: in which your best friend deku shows up at your dorm late at night due to kacchan locking him out. he asks for bandages to stabilize his newly-healed scars, and you ask to kiss them.

genre: fluff !! <33

it went without a doubt that deku had been to recovery girls’ office more times than anyone else at the academy. it hurt, honestly; each time you saw his still-healing figure emerge from the little swing of her door, a sharp pang reverberated starkly through your chest, for though the freshly-scarred over wounds didn’t diminish his beauty in the slightest, you simply couldn’t deny that an empty eddy of sadness settled in you whenever he was in such a state.

and unfortunately for you, he was constantly in it.

his body could only take so much. and he was still so young too—the very same held true for your heart.

it’s been that way ever since the two of you had first entered ua as shining, eager students. though in all fairness you had to admit, he was...different from the very beginning. even as the prelude to his eventual rising and growth in his quirk, he had shone with a certain unmatched brilliance ever since the entrance exams. and over the years you spent together, you had watched him persevere so passionately towards the glow of his ultimate goal; to be a hero who can help others. little did he know just how much he already had. he had always been so excruciatingly oblivious and aloof to even the evidence and affects of his own kindness, and you hated the fact that so many tended to take advantage of it. of him.

though, of course, this did not mean that he was weak in any form. no, if anything he was quite the polar opposite—he had proved it time and time again, and yet it didn’t mean that he couldn’t get hurt too. the dull aching of tiredness ringing in his eyes, the one he tries to desperately to mask, the ragged marks scattered across the pale valleys of his once-scar-barren skin; he wasn’t immune to pain, to injury. and yet, he fought. you never truly understood that about him, the way he continued to put himself through the pain, to push himself, even, past his limits and then some—

plus ultra. and now his arms were all but littered with rough scars of diluted white and blunt tan.

nevertheless, truth be told, you actually admired it a great deal. his sheer determination, the purity of his motives, it was more than laudable. despite all of it, you truly couldn’t help but feel this...magnetic urge to help him. protect him. if you could soothe the pain in any way, even if it would be but a temporary relief—

three knocks clack on the door.

you and izuku’s secret door code—just a silly little something the two of you made up a few months after the dorm system had been put into motion, and all so you could sneak out to the grass-flooded yards of the building and train together.

naturally, you open the door.

“ heyyy there you are! “

your head perks up at the cheery jingling of his voice, all drafts of exhaustion and sleep deprivation washing away almost instantaneously. he might as well be the very personification of caffeine at that point, despite how direly he needed it himself.

the starry shine of his eyes meets with yours as a diluted sanguine seeped colour into his face. he turns his head away awkwardly.

you lean against the doorframe, smiling at him. “ deku...you didn’t tell me we’d be training today. plus it’s a little late right now, don’t you think? i’m already in my pajamas. “

“ yeah, um, sorry about that. kacchan...kinda locked me out. “

“ he what? “

“ he locked me out. “

“ how does that even—don’t you have separate rooms? “

“ well, yeah, but we were racing down the halls after glass today and he...got to my room before i could. well, honestly i have no clue what he’s doing over there. “ he laughs, rubbing the back of his neck.

“ oookay then. little concerning, i won’t lie. “ your shoulders lift in a shrug, arms crossing in front of your chest as your shy laugh matches his.

“ so i was wondering if...you know...i could maybe stay here for a bit? “ his voice wavers subtly, though you’re quick to catch it. the tips of his ears flush with a deepened pink.

you can’t help but silently gush about how cute he looked.

you’re quick to snap out of that too. eyes bursting open with a brilliant shock, you notice he’s fiddling nervously with his fingers as you remain absolutely, positively frozen in place.

“ i’m—what? “

his countenance immediately shifts to one of sheer embarrassment. flustered, he begins to frantically wave his hands in front of him, as if to put some sort of considerable distance between his panicking self and your seemingly-composed demeanour. and as if that would do anything to deescalate the tension which was only progressively building between your equally-timid selves at this moment.

“ ohmygod i didn’t mean it in a weird way or anything! i’m sorry, i’m sorry, i’ll just—i’ll just go— “

you slide against the wood a little bit, pushing your weight against the slightly-agape door, so it swung open even further to reveal the, admittedly, fairly-messy state of your room. draped carelessly on the side of your bed, a sweater you had taken off earlier because the temperature of your room had suddenly decided to heat up an unreasonable amount. countable cups holding shallow pools of hour-old drinks scattered throughout nearly every shelf. a creased textbook splayed out, cover up on your desk.

yep. definitely looked like someone’s lived here.

“ i mean...you could come in if you want. no one’s stopping you. it’s a little messy though, i haven’t found much time to properly clean it yet, with exams coming soon and stuff. “ a small smile accompanies your growing blush, despite how much you were trying to play it off as nonchalantly as possible.

psh, right. as if letting him in your room—something you had never done prior in the history of your friendship—wasn’t a big deal in the slightest.

his eyes shoot wide as his arms flail about. you have to keep yourself from laughing at his silliness.

“ uhm, i mean...only if that’s okay with you! “

“ yeah, yeah, of course! you need a place to stay for now, after all. who knows when bakugou’s gonna let you back in? “

“ yeah, i guess you’re right. well, i mean, if you really don’t mind— “

you playfully roll your eyes, giggling as you shove him into your room.

“ oh, quit it with the politeness. you’re too nice, you know that? “

“ too...nice? “

“ too nice. “ you reiterate, giving his shoulders a little squeeze.

his head lolls to the side as he carefully lowers himself onto your bed, his sweater shifting with the subtle movement.

for a few moments, the space between you is occupied with a simple, comfortable silence. it’s refreshing, really. a welcome difference from all the boisterousness of the academy. you loved the action and everyone’s energy, of course, but sometimes what you really needed was really just a simple break from everything. to do nothing but exist for a little while, to simply be without the constant pressure of having to get up and jump into action all the time. just for a few moments. and so you relished in these said moments spent with him, for who knows when the next time you could ever be with him like this again would be?

and then his voice fills that void of silence, but you’re not disappointed in the slightest.

“ hey. “

“ yeah? “

“ you don’t happen to have any extra bandages, do you? “

“ bandages? for what? “

he clenches his fist, flexing the muscles in his arm. “ for...stability. just in case. i can’t afford for my arms to get hurt more. “

“ oh. well, uhm...i think i have a few spares in my drawer! “ you push yourself off the bed, leaving the comfort the soft sheets brought about, pulling open a tiny drawer. taking out a transparent box of bandages, you jump back onto the plushness, sitting cross-legged directly across from midoriya, who’s already presenting his arm.

your lips silently part as your fingers wrap themselves around the thick ivory fabrics of bandage, rolling them around so you could wrap them around him.

another pause of wordless silence falls.

“ hey deku? “

“ yeah? “

“ could i...could i kiss your scars? “ you whisper, afraid that he’d get mad, though you knew he was anything but the type to do such a thing.

the meadow depths of his eyes kindle a cozy hearth within you as his initial surprise quickly softens, melting away into what could only be described as the most endearing smile to exist.

“ sure. “

jagged patches and uneven streaks of faded cloud white and prominent earthy tans decorate his arms, and you can’t help but bring the rosiness of your lips to meet them. you decide begin with the ones littered along his fingers.

one kiss for the scar resting within the curved dip between his thumb and index.

“ for every time you used just a flick of your fingers to defend everyone back then, when you didn’t even have full control over your quirk. “

a longing sigh leaves him as he reminisces briefly on the memory. you place a soft kiss upon the scar resting at the side of his pinky.

“ for every fist you made with this hand, for every punch you’ve delivered in the name of other’s safety. “

a drop splashed onto his arm, trickling down and tainting the scars etched into his forearm with a subtle, diaphanous sheen. you look up through your lashes, and a prominent gloss coats the kindness of his dark emeralds. your hand comes up to carefully caress his cheek, cupping it gently as the pad of your thumb swipes beneath his eye, wiping away the upcoming tear. your features are knitted together in concern.

“ are you okay? i can stop if you want me to— “

he takes your hand in both of his, squeezing as if to keep you there forever. “ no, don’t. please.“

it’s a tiny whisper, a softened plea into the dark quiet of the night, as if he were ashamed for wanting to be taken care of. your brows curve downward as you pull your twined hands to your lips, tenderly planting your lips where your skin kissed his.

“ hey, hey. it’s okay. it’s okay. “ you hush him, running your free hand through his thick tendrils of vivid, verdant green.

he leans into your touch, nodding at you as if to urge you to continue, which you gladly accept.

you shift a little closer to him, kissing the thick mark of serration painted into the skin of his wrist.

“ for every countless moment you’ve sacrificed for your dream. “

another kiss to the one just above it.

“ for every hour bled into the night that you spent helping me train. “

your fingers dance along his arm, finally stopping at the scar stretching from his elbow and dragging upwards. as per routine, your lips come down to delicately kiss it.

“ for every ‘ plus ultra! ‘ you’ve ever passionately shouted. “

little giggles left the both of you at that.

your touch trails to the scar just beside it, kissing it as well.

“ for every life you’ve ever saved. “

you look him in the eye. holding his arm like this, you were so close to him. and yet, you didn’t want to pull away. if anything, it was the very last thing you would ever want to do. he matched your stare, a certain sense of longing displaying in your gaze as it reflects off of his. the prolonged stare lasts longer than it probably should, longer than what best friends should probably look at each other this closely, this intimately for. the moonlight dimly shines through your window.

and then it happens.

his lips collide with yours in a captivating symphony, hands going straight to twirl through the locks of your hair as you wrap yours in a loose loop around his neck. everything feels as though it had all snapped into place, and the tension you had felt before was all completely dissipated now, displaced into the passion in which this kiss exuded. it was earth-shattering, galaxy-shredding. it felt as if even pain itself could never reach either of you, not in this moment.

this moment was for the both of you, and no one else. in this moment, in his arms, nothing and no one could hurt you.

he pulls away, stunned, lips parted with a saturated red. you stare at him with just about the same level of blankness, of utter shock at what you two had just done.

but then the realization catches up with him, and he is pulled out of the daze. much to your surprise, he doesn’t move away. if anything, he pulls you closer, enveloping both your hands within his just as he did before.

and just as you had done earlier, he brings them to his lips.

“ and that’s for every ‘ i love you ‘ i’ve ever wanted to say to you but never had the guts to. “

[intheticklecloset]

Dimples (My Hero Academia)

Primary Universe

This was the cutest idea ever, oh my gosh! I loved writing this one! So much cute, wholesome fluff! Enjoy! <3

~

“Dude!” Kaminari snatched something off of Deku’s dresser in his bedroom. The green-haired hero turned to look at him. “Bakugou had dimples as a kid?”

Deku smiled. “Oh, yeah.” He glanced over the blonde’s shoulder to see the picture taken of him and Kacchan when they were in elementary school and still kind of friends. It was right after Bakugou had gotten his quirk but before he started being a real bully. It was one of the last pictures they’d taken together where Kacchan was actually smiling. “I forgot about that.”

“Does he still have them?”

“Uh, well…” Deku shrugged, going back to searching for his history notes, which he’d promised to let Kaminari copy. “You’d probably know better than me.”

“I would?” Kami put the framed photo back on Deku’s dresser, frowning. “Why?”

“Because…you know. You guys are better friends than we are nowadays.”

“That doesn’t mean I see him smile any more than you do.”

Deku shrugged again. “You’d have a better time of it.”

Kami smirked. “You could just tickle him, you know.”

“He’s not comfortable enough with me for me to do that.” Deku found the notes, thrust them at Kami, and started ushering him back to the door. “Here you go. Good luck with your studying.”

“Wait, hold up,” Kami said, trying to look at him as he stumbled forward. “He’s not comfortable with you? But you guys have known each other—”

“It doesn’t matter to him. We haven’t really been friends in a long time.” Deku pushed him out into the hall, perhaps harder than he meant to. “It’s okay. At least he has you guys. Night!”

Kami blinked at the suddenly closed door in front of him.

All of a sudden, history homework was the last thing on his mind.

A minute later, he was bursting open the door of Kirishima’s room. “Kiri! Bakugou has dimples!”

Kiri jumped out of his seat, startled. He put a hand to his racing heart when he realized it was only Denki. “Jeez, man, you gave me a heart attack. What’s this about dimples?”

“Bakugou!” Denki insisted. “He had dimples as a kid. We gotta figure out if he still has them!”

Kiri chuckled. “Let me guess. You want to tickle him to see for yourself? Don’t you think between the four of us we would have noticed if he still had dimples by now? All of us have tickled him at least once already. Dimples are kind of obvious.”

“Not to me.” Denki pouted. “I haven’t been looking for them. I want to know! Come on, Kiri!”

“I’m not sure tickling is going to really help you out this time, Denki,” Kiri replied, sitting back down at his desk. “But I’m not going to stop you from trying, so go for it.”

Still pouting about the fact that Kiri didn’t seem willing to join him in this adventure, Denki left his room and went to visit Sero. As it happened, he and Mina were studying together already.

“Hey, Denki!” Mina greeted. “Want to join us? We’re covering history.”

He really should have, but right now he had other things on his mind.

“Guys,” he said, “did you know that Bakugou used to have dimples?”

*

The next morning, Bakugou opened his bedroom door with the intention of traveling down to the shared bathroom on his floor when all of a sudden there was a flash of yellow hair and he found himself giggling uncontrollably, being pushed right back into his room with his door closing once again. It took him a few seconds to process what was happening.

“Kaminari!” He yelled, pushing roughly at the electric hero. “Dahahahang it, whahahat are you dohohohohoing? It’s too ehehehehearly for this crahahahahap! Stop it!”

Denki seemed to be watching him intently, holding his ground enough that Bakugou actually started to fall to his knees from the sensations.

“Frick – stahahahahahahap!” He tried punching him. “Kaminari, cut it ohohohohout!”

“Aw, man,” Denki said at last, finally stopping his attack and looking upset. “I wanted to see if you still had dimples.”

“Dimples?” Bakugou practically spat the word, trying to regain some composure. “What the heck are you talking about?”

“I saw a picture of you and Midoriya when you were kids, and you had dimples in the photo,” Denki explained. “I really hoped you still had them.”

“Ugh, that stupid nerd.”

“Hey, Midoriya didn’t volunteer the picture or anything. It just happened to be sitting out where I could see it.” Denki felt the need to defend his friend, especially considering what he’d heard yesterday. “It’s not like he went out of his way to tell me about it.”

“Whatever, you idiot.” Bakugou grabbed his arm and hauled him to the door, opening it and shoving him out of his personal space. “I don’t have them anymore, so you can stop obsessing about it now. Jeez.” He huffed as he resumed his path to his original destination, but in the back of his mind something was nagging at him. The photo was just…out for him to see? Does he have it on his desk or something? Why would Deku do that?

*

Later that same day, as they were walking back to the dorms after school, Bakugou once again found himself being spontaneously attacked – this time by Mina and Sero in tandem. They both grabbed an arm, lifted it above his head, and went straight for his ribs.

“GAH!!” Bakugou shouted, struggling to remain upright as laughter spilled past him without control or permission. “NO!! Kahahahahahaminari already trihihihihied this! I d-dohohohohohon’t have dihihihihihimples anymohohohore!” He tried kicking them. “Stohohohohohohop!”

“Well, he didn’t tell us anything about it,” Mina shot back with a smile. “So we’re finding out for ourselves.”

“Yeah!” Sero found the sweet spot, making Bakugou shriek. “So far it looks like he’s right, though. I don’t see any dimples, do you?”

“No.” Mina sounded disappointed.

“STAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAP!!” Bakugou yelled, struggling wildly.

They both let him go, and the blonde shot his arms back down to his sides, his face flushed from the sudden tickle attack. He growled. “You idiots all need to communicate better! I don’t have dimples anymore, and you know how I feel about being tickled in public. Back off!”

Mina grinned and nudged him. “Oh, come on. Don’t be so grumpy about it. We just thought it would be cute if you did still have them, that’s all.”

“Cute?” Bakugou gagged. “Give me a break.”

*

That evening, there was a knock on his door. Bakugou had had just about enough of this. “What?” he snapped, groaning when he saw a head of red hair enter his room. “Come on, not you, too.”

Kirishima laughed, closing the door behind him. “They all tried to jump you today, didn’t they? I had a feeling.”

“You knew about this?” Bakugou got to his feet. “Why didn’t you stop them? Or at the very least, why didn’t you warn me?!”

“Because we like tickling you, duh.” Kiri grinned. “I wasn’t going to stop them from having their fun. Besides, it’s not like they tickled you for more than a minute each time, right?”

Bakugou growled. “That’s not the point.”

“Uh-huh.” Kirishima titled his head, still grinning mischievously. “So none of them figured it out?”

“Figured what out?”

“How to make your dimples show up.”

“I don’t have dimples anymore!” Bakugou snapped, then paused when he saw the glint in his friend’s eyes. “I…hold on, what are you…?” He took a step back. “No, I’ve already been tickled enough today!”

“Oh, come on.” Kirishima lunged for him before he could make a break for it, going for his sides rather than his ribs to keep him giggling and weakened but not completely helpless yet. “Everyone else got their minute. Why can’t I have mine?”

“S-Stohohohohohop!” Bakugou yelped when Kiri managed to push him down onto his mattress. “Dohohohohohon’t! Yohohohohou’ll go for lohohohohonger than a mihihihihinute!”

“I’ll go as long as I need to for your dimples to show up, buddy.”

Bakugou tried to kick Kiri, but the redhead pinned his legs down with his hardening quirk and moved up to his lower ribs, making the blonde squeal and curl in on himself with uncontrollable giggles. “I dohohohohohon’t hahahahahave--!”

“Yes, you do.” Kiri grinned, reaching for his phone while Bakugou was distracted. Once he was certain his friend wouldn’t try anything again, he moved back down to his sides and scribbled lightly, just enough to make the explosive teen smile wide and let out a few giggles but not enough to really torture him. He snapped his picture, then finally let Bakugou go.

“Y-You…jerk,” he huffed, still smiling a little. “I hate you.”

Kirishima pushed a few buttons on his phone. “Uh-huh. Oh, and by the way…” He held up the screen for his friend to see, enjoying the look of shocked embarrassment that came over the blonde. “Dimples.”

“Kirishima!” Bakugou roared, lunging for the phone. “Delete that! Delete it now!”

Kirishima laughed. “Okay, okay! I’ll delete it! Chill out!”

*

Deku’s phone buzzed on the desk beside him, startling him out of his reverie. He opened up the text message and gasped aloud. It was from Kirishima, but had been forwarded to him by Kaminari. He couldn’t help grinning at the picture of Bakugou with messy hair, flushed cheeks, a wide smile…and dimples. Just as cute today as when they were kids.

[mysterylover123]

Mysterylover Watches MHA Episode 99 “That’s a Wrap (Get it, cause binding cloth”

1. OK now we’re at the conclusion! The Joint training Arc is wrapping up with a big brawl scene.

2. Deku vs Shinsou: The Rematch. Aizawa of course is all like “Gotta let my son fight and beat his rival”

3. Interesting that they animated Deku as looking back at Uraraka when he says he’s gonna fight quirkless; he’s looking forward in the Manga, focused on his goal. Which again maks me think they read my post.

4. I can hear a new remix of YSR on the soundtrack!!!! It’s an Epic Badass Fight Version. Not quite as good as the “Epic Musical Love Protection Song” version that was Might U but still, nice to have a new remix!

5. Mineta almost has a cool moment but ruins it with perversion. But at least we get some KiriMina fanboying in the bargain. And in the SAME SCENE we get Bakugou’s long pensive worried look at Deku. 

6. Monoma gets lots of epic lines here. And they actually animate The Trinity as the Protagonists in his speech, because of coures they are.

7. You know if Deku would just team up with Ochako more, they’d be a pretty unstoppable team. Anyway, Deku vs Shinsou Part 2. It’s on.

8. OOH and the YSR mix also has a remix of Bakugou’s theme?! ARe they combined in one again! The new remix of Deku and Kacchan’s theme songs? And it’s playing while Deku fights Shinsou again?!

9. Deku gets all inspired by All Might once more and uses Blackwhip, yay! (ooh boy, only the tip of the iceberg, Deku powers wise.) 

10. GOOD GOD this music is epic. Ooh, it’s ALL MIGHT’S THEME. OK This was a combo of all three. The main cast. And we get an insert shot of Bakugou watching this bit? Hm, interesting.

11. Monoma and Ochako have a history of fighting - Monoma was the one who narrated her plan during her fight with Bakugou, he thinks she’s a worthy opponent. I need this crackship to somehow become a thing. I mean, Ochako already has one power-copying blonde love interest...

12. We get a recap of Deku’s plan and Uraraka dumps helping him as per instructions to go help the others. It’s interesting that Deku often splits apart from her when they team up. In fact, thinking back I think Deku has only teamed up 2 v1 directly with three other characters: Todoroki (Hero Killer Arc), Bakugou (to fight All Might and later Shigaraki), and Eri (kind of, vs Overhaul). 

13. Ochako and Mina get an epic fight and some truly epic music to go with it. And then dvS. Also, I’m wondering - which ARc in MHA has the most badass Lady Fighter Moments? I’d say it’s a draw between this, the Sports Festival, and the PLF arc. 

14. Deku and Kacchan were the only 1A leaders to COMPLETELY DOMINATE. Best Duo, no contest. Literally.

15. SHINSOU FEELS. + Triumphant music I am ON CLOUD 9 RIGHT NOW. Anyway Deku gives his usual lame excuse for his powers and everyone buys it. Anyway we get Bakugou close-ups and All Might close-ups while he talks to remind us of who ACTUALLY knows. 

16. So many Deku and Shinsou feels rn. Anyway Uraraka gets her teachers’ approval for her hard work, which would be a lot more fun if Mina didn’t decide to make it about her and Deku. Dammit can’t Uraaka do something cool without the ladies around her forcing it to be about dating?!

17. Anyway AIZAWA flashes back to her “I want to save people” moment, so we refocus things then. Anyway, more Shinsou feels. 

[tinyshinysylveon]

“It means they consider you as a romantic interest!”

The sound of running footsteps echoed in the hall and a loud booming voice is heard in the distance.

“Dekuuu! Stop running!”

Izuku tries to make a beeline for his room and fortunately, there wasn’t anyone in the dorm halls to see what was going on. A scarred hand reaches for the handle, but then-

“Gotcha, you little shit,” a husky but almost out-of-breath voice says nearby his ear while he felt a strong grip around his bicep.

He was then forced to turn around with his back against the door where there was no way to escape.

“Deku, you’ve been avoiding me lately,” Katsuki growls, “Hell, you haven’t even come to one of our late-night sparring sessions!”

Izuku doesn’t know how to respond. Meanwhile, Katsuki corners him until they were practically almost chest to chest. The distance between them making the shorter boy increasingly aware of it besides Katsuki who was too focused on the boy in front of him. Kacchan’s too close..!

Izuku wanted to push him away but opted on turning his face to look somewhere else so that he won’t get distracted by his childhood friend’s intense red eyes. There was only silence and it almost became too unbearable until Izuku concluded that Katsuki won’t leave him alone until he gets some answers.

“S-Sorry Kacchan, I had a stomachache, it must’ve been something I ate a week ago and...” Izuku starts to say as a sorry ass excuse, darting his eyes elsewhere besides landing at the taller boy, but he made a mistake of looking up, forgetting about the real reason on why he’s avoiding him.

How do you tell someone that you can see their affinity level for you when they can’t even see it themselves!? Izuku hopelessly thinks in panic.

He remembers about the incident he had a few days ago when a girl accidentally bumped into him on his way back from the store with a quirk that allows the person to see the affection (affinity level) of the person they’ve interacted with in their life. It was a bar of some sort that appears on top of the person’s head and it just floats around transparently with no physical attributes and visibility to the other person's eye. It was kind of like a ghost following them while the person affected with the quirk can only see it. The girl who calls herself a “relationship guru” deeply apologizes and explains her quirk to him.

1. There are 4 different types of affinity colored bars: orange for hate, white for acquaintance, green for friends, and red for love. The level starts with how the person perceives you as. 2. For every interaction/encounter, the bar gets filled up little by little (like experience points!) until it “levels up,” but of course, it all depends on your actions and how it’s received by that person. If not taken well, then the meter decreases until it reaches the lowest affinity. 3. The quirk only lasts until you reach the maximum affinity level with someone. No matter the level.

She relays all this information as if Izuku was in a real-life simulation game and she was a guide greeting him on his new starting adventure. He tells her this in awe and she just laughs and says she gets that comment all the time, but quickly notices it was getting late before excusing herself and bowing to him again in apology.

When he came back to class, Izuku has been trying to figure out who among his classmates he has the highest affinity with, but no luck. It would make sense because it was only their first year and they still have yet to have other future experiences and encounters with each other to be possibly considered close friends. He thought it would either be Iida or Todoroki for what happened between them in Hosu, but it seems he has a long way to go. The bar for both of them is green indicating friendship, but while Iida’s bar is around 40%, Todoroki’s is close to 50%, so he wasn’t even halfway there. He appreciates them considering him as such though.

Nonetheless, Izuku was stumped and resorts to his fate while telling himself that he was going to have to live with this until he gets someone to reach the maximum level with.

"It really is like a real life simulation game," he quietly mumbles to himself and jots his thoughts down on his notebook, "At least you get to have unlimited choices unlike in a sim game-" "What the fuck you on about nerd?" a familiar gruff voice said nearby and Izuku immediately stops what he was saying. "Wahcchan!" he yells out in surprise. Katsuki, however, didn't wait for a reply and snorts at Izuku’s reaction just as he pulled out his chair in front of him to take his designated seat.  At this point, Izuku was just really curious. He never really thought of Kacchan as someone who would be a potential candidate considering how their history has been pretty rocky and it only has been a few weeks since they had that huge fight in Ground Beta. He guesses they’re probably at the green level except it could be at a really low fill and yet, Izuku’s curiosity has peaked when Katsuki lets his presence known so he leisurely lands his gaze on the bar that’s floating on top of the other boy’s head who’s sitting across from him just minding his own business. 

He blinks once. Twice. Okay, I must be color blind, there’s no way Kacchan thinks of me that way, he ponders while squeezing his eyes shut for a few seconds, only to open them up again and looking at the floating anomaly. The quirk has to be messing with me. There’s just no way.

With an audible thump, he brings his forehead down on his table in alarm and stares blankly at the hardwood before him. No way, no way, no way. There’s just no way.

He briefly remembers the conversation he had with the quirk user.

“Ah! Almost forgot!”

She stops in her tracks and rotates herself to the point where he can see her face. “Each level has certain sets that have a different shade of color within the same spectrum like let’s say.. green is for friends, right? So within that color spectrum, a different one would be a darker shade of green that indicates best friends, and yes, you can max that out too!”

“However, there are different types of love right? I have yet to figure that out myself,” she laughs in embarrassment, “I only know 3 different shades of colors so far for love, red as familiar love, maroon for obsessive love, and dark red for romantic love, so in other words, it means they consider you as a romantic interest!”

She giggles and swoons while smiling at him. “Isn’t that fun?”

The rest of what was exchanged between them gets tuned out and Izuku was left with a problem that has no solution. Kacchan didn’t see him as a friend, oh no... He sees him as a...

From that day forth, everything was a blur, and the decision to avoid Katsuki was repeatedly stamped into his brain which brought him to the present day where he’s currently being cornered against his dorm room by a very threatening looking blonde.

“Earth to Deku, you there?”

Izuku can hear the hint of worry in his tone and he doesn’t know what to make of it. It was so odd and kind of endearing at the same time if the situation were different. Katsuki, to Izuku’s relief, mistakes his silence for being nervous to be near him, so he reluctantly takes a step back and gave the shorter boy some space.

“Red...” Izuku finally mutters, but quickly closes his mouth shut. Katsuki raises an eyebrow in confusion.

“Hah? Speak up Deku, I can’t hear you.” He then looks up and around them afterward before he snarls out, “and would you stop looking up at the ceiling? there’s nothing there!”

There is something there, Izuku wants to tell him but gets scared to reveal the truth. Scared that he was going to face Katsuki’s wrath. Kacchan... I didn’t think you would love me this much.

He stares back at the bar again and notes the deep dark glowing red color of it while taking note of how much is filled inside.

About 90%, he estimates in his head, and 10% for it to reach the maximum. Lots of questions began filling in his head such as, how or when did Kacchan felt this way? but a certain specific one lingers. Is this going to be a chance he’s willing to take?

[onepickyreader]

Favorite DekuBaku fanfics (32 fanfics)

HELLO. SO. I did a list of my favorite doujinshi here. Just know that I usually read only complete stories, so these are all complete! I also tend to love angst mixed with fluff, long stories, and protective!Izuku (and BIG SPOON IZUKU). 

I also love LOVE gen fics, so I am going to add gen fics that have some interesting interactions between Izuku and Bakugou at the end of the list. 

ALSO, please, check the tags and the ratings. Many of these stories might be for a teen up audience, or be directly nsfw. 

The AWWW fics (school edition)

be loved: after Kamino, Bakugou doesn’t like people touching his neck, so Izuku decides to help. This is one of my favorite stories, also because of all the other characters that appear in it and try to understand what is going on between Izuku and Bakugou.

the floor ain't so bad (when you're looking up): Bakugou and Izuku start to train together almost every night. This has so much angst and fluff and adorable feelings.

everybody wants to be a cat: I adored this story because it uses the “Bakugou gets hit by a cat quirk” so well. This is tagged as KiriBaku and DekuBaku and can also be read as gen or pre any of those relationships. Some adorable misunderstandings in the story as well!

(more under cut)

the great katsuki bakugou textmergency: This story is hilarious and adorable. Bakugou figures out he is in love with Deku, and decides to text it to Kirishima for support, except that he accidentally sends it to Izuku. Featuring, the Bakusquad trying to delete the text from Deku’s phone, and the Dekusquad helping!

katsuki bakugou is incapable of love. or so they thought: the whole class starts to see some weird things happening between Izuku and Bakugou and they decide to investigate.

diversion tactic: Deku and Bakugou are following a villain, and Deku pulls the old “kiss as a diversion tactic”.

too much at stake but too late to change: the classic “test turned bad” (in a snowy mountain), where Izuku and Bakugou have to work together to get back to safety.

izuku midoriya’s ultimate plan to woo kacchan: featuring a lot of misunderstandings, and a less than helpful All Might, this story is the funniest thing!

dry lips: this is adorable (also it is explicit) and funny at the same time. Established relationship, where Izuku doesn’t know how to tell Bakugou that kissing doesn’t have to be a fight.

izuku has a crush on the hot guy in class: Izuku is hit by an amnesia quirk and he forgets Bakugou. Now he has to find out what the relationship between them used to be (also at the end he gets his memory back, no worries!).

the art of saying you’re sorry: Bakugou tries to find a way to apologize, Izuku is just convinced something is wrong because Bakugou is acting weird.

The AWWW fics (pro heroes edition) - established

flats, thigh straps, and bdidge-wide gaps: Bakugou and Izuku start dating and end up moving together. (featuring adorable domesticity and Izuku misunderstandings)

with loving hands: Established relationship, nightmares and panic attacks.

once upon a time an instagram story: established relationship, where the public finds out about the relationship between Ground Zero and Deku.

okaeri: adorable fluff and domesticity.

take care: Izuku figures out Bakugou’s love languages (to quote the story:  Emotional constipation manifested as over-the-top housewifery)

The AWWW fics (pro heroes edition) - getting together

volume: this can be also read as gen. Bakugou starts to loose his hearing. Izuku starts to learn sign language. Also, they are the action wonder duo of hero society.

the scientific method: GUYS. This is my all time favorite, I reread it like once a week. It has so many feelings mixed in it. Izuku’s pov, where he has a thing for tears and in particular Bakugou’s tears. Mind the tags, this has d/s themes.

i just can’t pretend we were lovers first: because of a misunderstanding, Deku has to ask Bakugou to pretend to be his boyfriend. This is a series, with the first story complete (and can be read as a stand alone). It also has explicit scenes, so read the tags and rating. Plus, asexual Bakugou, which is one of my favorite headcanons.

and it all keeps coming back to you: Bakugou is still a virgin because he never really cared for sex before. Now he has decided that Deku is strong and worthy enough to be his first time. Features: the bakusquad, accidental dating, feelings.

percentages and probabilities: now pro heroes, Bakugou and Midoriya end up accidentally becoming neighbours. 

four times bakugou katsuki doesn't intend to sleep with midoriya izuku (and the one time that he does): The title says it all. This has a lot of ignored feelings and trying not to talk about feelings, and sex.

Heroes action and violence

abscod: this can also be read as gen! Where Bakugou finds himself kidnapped once more, and really just needs to see Deku again. Check the tags, this has blood!

the absolute truth: Bakugou is kidnapped by a hero with a truth quirk, and his bullying of Deku (plus All Might secret) risks getting out to the public. This has a lot of violence, and just read the tags before starting the story (it’s not exactly DekuBaku). But the good thing is that it has the comfort part of h/c as well.

Some OT3s

jack of all hearts: TodoBakuDeku. Bakugou doesn’t really believe he fits very well in this relationship him, Todoroki and Izuku are sharing, plus he insists he doesn’t love Todoroki.

Alternate Universes (no quirks)

room 1217: college au + soulmates. I usually don’t read AU for BakuDeku because what I like of this pairing is their angsty history. Thankfully, this story keeps their history! Bakugou used to bully Izuku for not having a soulmate mark. Now in college, they end up becoming roommates after years apart.

bluebird: modern au. Bakugou calls a friend to rant about his job, and accidentally calls a stranger (Izuku). They start a friendship and flirting made of texts and calls. This has misunderstandings and angst and it is absolutely lovely. Plus, poetry,

Gen stories (be mindful of the tag, most of them have violence/blood)

scortch: Bakugou is captured by someone who wants to make him pay for his pride at the Sport Festival.

our hero: This starts with the class finding out about Bakugou and Izuku’s past, and ends up in villains attacking, and Mina and Bakugou finding themselves trapped and wounded under the ground.

put on your war paint: Izuku and Bakugou working together against a villain.

it’s so easy (to leave me): Izuku and Bakugou stop some robberers and end up trapped underground, with an injured Deku.

your hands protect the flame: this has hints of KiriBaku, and a lot of Deku and Bakugou as their weird friends/enemies thing. This has STRONG TRIGGER WARNINGS (r*pe. assault), so read them before deciding to start the story. Bakugou is assaulted by a villain when he chases after him alone, the story is about his recovery.

[five-rivers]

Long Night in the Valley Chapter 1

Behold, my attempt to rectify the appalling lack of into the mind fics in the BNHA fandom.  :P

AO3

FFN

.

“You shouldn’t be here.”

He stood on top of the stairs to the beach, looking down on them.  With the sun rising behind them, his pupils were pinpoints, his irises shockingly bright. He wore a thin windbreaker over a t-shirt that read ‘tracksuit’ and a pair of sweatpants with his signature red shoes.  His expression was strangely flat and blank.  He had never looked at them like that before.

“Deku?” said Ochako, uncertainly, taking a step forward, her hand half raised, as though she could reach him despite being so far away.

The commission instructor flung out an arm, stopping her.  He was staring up at the boy, too, his eyes blown wide, lips pulled back with something like worry, something like fear, and something like avarice.  “Whatever that is,” he said, “it isn’t Midoriya Izuku.”

.

Aizawa reviewed the program the commission had sent to him, ignoring the gentle bumping of the bus and the barely controlled chaos of the students around him.  It looked fairly straightforward, all things considered.  The requirement was new, and Aizawa felt it was illogical to test students like this, when they could simply have the material added to the course load, but, overall, he’d seen worse.  

So why did this bother him so much?

He scanned the paperwork again.  He was going to be getting the same certification as his students, had arranged to be part of the same general ‘cohort’ even, because he didn’t trust them on their own.  At all. Ever.  

But that shouldn’t be an issue.  Even when they did get split up, they’d be going in groups of five and—

Ah.  There it was. Groups of five, with any odd numbers being used to fill out other groups who were undergoing testing on the same day, most of whom were adult heroes, if he recalled correctly.  

With the addition of Aizawa, there were twenty-one of them.

Calling on years of experience, Aizawa didn’t groan.  The thing was, Aizawa knew, even before arriving and having numbers and groups assigned, who the odd one out would be. There was only one student who could be so problematic without trying or indeed having any control over the variables that went into causing the problem.  

Midoriya.  

Aizawa almost suspected that Midoriya had some secret trouble-attracting quirk on top of the lightning-spitting bone-breaking insanity and the randomly appearing eldritch abomination tentacle things.  It would fit right in.  

Sadly, Midoriya’s ability to find trouble didn’t seem to go away when Aizawa stared at him, so he had to acknowledge that the kid was just that unlucky.  

If Aizawa let Midoriya go off to complete the course on his own, he would probably discover that, oh, pro hero Wash was laundering money from an overseas smuggling operation disguised as an environmental clean up charity.  Or, somehow, locate a villain, despite being at a secure hero commission building. Like he had during the provisional license exam.  Or break a bone.  Again. Or discover a previously unknown aspect of his quirk.  Again. Or get into a fight with Bakugo. Again.

No way.  Not if Aizawa had anything to say about it.  

.

Izuku bounced in place, excited.  He was attending a professional development course given by the Hero Standards and Practices Commission.  It was like a dream come true!  Literally!  He dreamed about this!  Of course, he’d had the dream when he was seven, and he’d just learned about the HSPC and what it did, and All Might had been the course teacher, which he wasn’t going to be for this course, and which was also a little redundant, because All Might (Mr. Yagi, Toshinori, Eight) was already his teacher, and the reason behind this course, and making everyone with any kind of hero license take it, was a bit disturbing, and he’d had to opt out of some of the course features, because reasons, but, regardless—

“Midoriya,” said Jiro, tapping on his shoulder, “they’re calling for you.”

“Oh!  Thanks!” said Izuku, nodding vigorously, and, man, he really had to cut his hair soon. It was getting long enough to fall in his eyes when he did that, and that would be distracting in the field. Good thing it wouldn’t matter for today!

They weren’t going to be doing anything physical, after all.

He walked up to the table, showed the person with the clip board his provisional license (he could still hardly believe he had it!  It was so cool!) and received a card with a number on it.  

“Pin that to your shirt,” said the man, hardly looking at him.  

At least, the man was trying to look like he was hardly looking at him.  Maybe he recognized him from the sports festival and didn’t want to make things awkward?  But it had been a while since the sports festival.  They tended to drain from common memory pretty quickly, and—

Oh, no, he’d been holding up the line.

He sketched a quick bow and ran over to where the rest of his classmates and teacher were waiting.  

“So,” said Aizawa, looking as exhausted as ever. There was a spark of something in the man’s eye, though.  Vigilance. Had he noticed something amiss? Should Izuku be on alert as well? “We have consecutive numbers, so most of us should be together in the same groups.  Problem child.”

Izuku jumped to attention.  “Yes, sir?”

… It was kind of sad that he answered to the name ‘problem child,’ wasn’t it?

(Was it sadder that he almost liked the nickname? It was nicer than what some of his other teachers had called him.  It didn’t have the same bite.)

“Trade numbers with Yaoyorozu.”

Izuku blinked and looked at Yaoyorozu in surprise.  “Um,” he said.  “Okay?”  He unpinned his card and held it out to his classmate.  

Yaoyorozu took it carefully, frowning at the number.  “Why are we doing this, sensei?” she asked.  

“Because knowing his luck, Midoriya is going to be the odd one out, and you’re the only one I trust not to kill someone or get kidnapped if you’re left on your own.”

Okay.  Harsh. But fair.  

“What about Iida?” asked Kaminari.  

“I know what I said.”

Harsher—Wait.  Aizawa knew about that?  Since when?!

“Didn’t she go off that one time, though?  At Kamino?”

Aizawa turned to stare at Mina, who held her hands up. “Forget I said anything, sensei!”

“No, no, you’re right.  Hagakure, you take Midoriya’s number.”

“Eh, me?” asked the invisible girl.  

“Yes,” said Aizawa.  

“Er, are you sure?  I don’t know if I could survive a Midoriya-level calamity!”

Izuku felt his jaw drop a little.  Was that what they were calling it now?  Rude.  

“The calamity won’t happen if he isn’t there,” reasoned Aizawa.  

Which.  Okay.  True.  But also, rude.  

Izuku wasn’t that bad, was he?

Izuku took Hagakure’s card.  The number put him between Uraraka and Aizawa, so he’d probably be with at least one of them.  On reflection, Yaoyorozu’s number had put him on the other side of Aizawa.  Which probably wasn’t a coincidence.  

The rest of the class got through registration shortly thereafter, with several of his classmates trying to trade their own numbers, only for Iida to scold them.  Which was typical, really.  It was almost calming, and Izuku needed calm after… that.

Was his luck really that bad?

Now he was much more nervous than before.  Except, before he’d been excited, and, now, he was really—

Not.  

He fiddled with the sleeve of his uniform, trying not to pick at his scars or cross the line into overtly fidgeting and being distracting.  He wished he’d brought one of his grip strength training tools.  At least with those he could pretend their only purpose was working out, unlike his other fidget toys.  

Oh, gosh, was that pro hero Rosemary, the memory hero? And Strato!  The high altitude hero!

Wow, he’d been so worried he almost hadn’t noticed how many amazing heroes were here!  There were even some he didn’t know!

And then they were being called up, number by number.  

Hagakure, true to Aizawa’s prediction, was placed with a group of confused-looking strangers, including Rosemary.  Izuku was almost jealous.  He’d love to learn how her quirk worked.  

Actually…  All of the people in that group were heroes with mental quirks.  How interesting!  Izuku would have to ask Hagakure if they gave her any tips.  He was sure they’d have different insights than the other people in their class, especially considering the subject matter of the course.  

The subject matter being combating mental attacks.  

That’s why Izuku had to opt out of being a ‘subject’ for the course.  He didn’t entirely understand it, not yet, but One for All definitely had a mental aspect, and he didn’t know how or if that would show up in a simulated attack like the ones they’d be demonstrating.  It was better to play it safe.  His quirk was already weird enough as it was.  He still wasn’t sure how he’d manage to talk Aizawa and his classmates out of being suspicious after blackwhip came out.  Most of that day was a blur.  

Izuku suspected that things would not have been smoothed over nearly so easily if Nezu hadn’t known about One for All.  

He also wasn’t looking forward to the reaction when the other user’s quirks started coming out – Even if being able to use them was going to be really cool.  

Anyway, his own group had resolved itself to consist of Aizawa, Uraraka, Iida, and Todoroki.  He was relieved.  Todoroki looked relieved, too.  That made sense.  With what Todoroki had told Izuku about his history, he wouldn’t want to be doing this with people he didn’t know, either.  

But Todoroki would have opted out, anyway, right?  Or did Endeavor not let him?  Honestly, that would be par for the course for Endeavor. Todoroki said he was getting better, but…  Izuku had doubts.  He liked to think that people could always be saved, even from themselves, that most villains could be reformed, even if the government didn’t think so, that people like Endeavor and Kacchan could see the error of their ways. But.  

But even though Kacchan was better than he was before didn’t mean that he didn’t still do things that Izuku… didn’t like.  

And he couldn’t imagine that Endeavor was changing faster than Kacchan.  

“Who will they have us do first, do you think?” asked Uraraka. “I mean, I know they’re going to go through all of us, but all of this is making me so nervous.  I have a lot of embarrassing memories, I mean, I’m sure everyone does, but, ugh, that didn’t come out right…”

“Well!” said Iida, energetically.  “If they let us volunteer, I shall go first!”

“What?” said Izuku, surprised.  “You didn’t opt out?”

“Opt out?” asked Uraraka.  “That was an option?”

“I mean, yes?” said Izuku.  “I mean, I had to file a bunch of paperwork and get Mom, All Might, and Principal Nezu to sign off on it, but, I mean, it’s an option for people who know secrets that shouldn’t be exposed.”  Like Iida.  What was he thinking?

“I… did not know that was an option,” said Iida, who had evidently now realized he was in deep, deep trouble.  

Izuku resolved to protect his friend’s secrets as best as he was able, even if it meant he didn’t get a good score in the training.  

“I didn’t think there was an opt-out option, either,” said Todoroki, frowning.  He reached towards his face but tugged on his hair instead of touching his scar.

Okay.  So.  “Am I- Am I the only one that asked?  L-like, it wasn’t easy, I had to get a bunch of signatures, but it was doable, I…”  He shrugged, helplessly.  

“I wasn’t informed there was an opt-out,” said Aizawa, grumpily and a little… suspiciously?

Izuku cringed.  He did not need his teacher to be suspicious of him.  He did not need people looking into his life.  Into his past.  Into his quirk.  

Maybe, if they couldn’t keep Iida’s and Todoroki’s secrets quiet, he could play his reluctance off as pertaining to those.  Even if the idea made him feel incredibly guilty and unworthy of his friends.  

He would just have to do his best to help them.  

Before any more conversations could be had, their group was called into one of the rooms.  A set of six cheap futons laid on the floor.  Monitoring equipment lined one of the walls.  Two commission personnel, a man and a woman, were waiting for them.

When the woman saw Izuku, she frowned and pulled her phone out of her pocket.  What was that about.

“Hi,” said the man, who had a rather hooked nose and very bright, almost glowing, yellow eyes.  “I’m Ito Kenzo, and I’ll be your instructor for today.  You can call me Ito-san.  This is Saito Yume, we’ll be using her quirk for today’s demonstration.”

The woman smiled brightly, putting away her phone quickly. “The way my quirk works is that I can put up to five people into a shared dream state modeled after a sixth person’s mind.  All six people lose consciousness when I use my quirk, and the perception of time in the dream state is usually altered, although by how much varies depending on the group.  The dream state persists until either I release it, the people involved break free, or eight hours pass.  However, I’ll be making the rounds once an hour to pull everyone out and let you move on to the next person in the group.”

“I’ll be joining the dream state with you, to help point out tactics,” said Ito.  “Although the person the dreamscape is modeled on won’t be completely aware of what’s going on, the goal is to familiarize you with what it feels like to have your minds invaded in a safe, secure environment.  Saito-san’s quirk is similar enough to that of several known villains to be a good example of what to expect.”  Ito paused.  “Any questions?”

Uraraka raised her hand.  “Who’s going first?” she asked.  

“Ah, that would be—” He broke off as Saito tugged on his sleeve and showed him her phone.  The man did a double take, then paled, slightly.  He glanced at Izuku.  “Er,” he said, “you’re not supposed to be in this group.”

“Yes, I-I am,” said Izuku.  “This is- This is my number?  It matches?”

Ito glanced at Saito.  Then his phone rang.  “Oops,” he said, looking at his phone.  “It looks like I’m in the wrong group.  You kids are supposed to have Suzuki-san, I was, was requested by another group, so sorry! He’ll be here in a minute!”  Ito retreated through the back door at high speed.  

Izuku swallowed.  Something was going on behind the scenes.  This wasn’t about the suspected traitor thing again, was it?  Izuku had thought, after the training camp, that it was pretty obvious it had to be a teacher…  And it couldn’t be Aizawa-sensei.  He’d almost been killed by the noumu.  

(Also, he was the best teacher Izuku had ever had.)

A new, much taller man walked through the door.  “Hello,” he said.  “I am Suzuki Takami.  I am your instructor.  Apologies for the mix up.”

“No worries!” said Saito.  “Everyone, go ahead, lie down, get comfortable.  Midoriya-san, you’re first!”

“What?” said Izuku.  “But, I, um, I opted out?  I filled in the paperwork and everything.  I got a signature from Abe-san, and Kondo-san, and, and—” He fumbled to pull out his paperwork.  He’d kept copies, just in case.

Saito and Suzuki didn’t so much as look at it.  

“This course doesn’t have an ‘opt-out,’” said Suzuki.

“Excuse me,” said Aizawa.  “He clearly has paperwork for an opt-out.  Maybe you were misinformed.  Like you were about the room.”

Suzuki shook his head.  “I don’t know who you talked to,” he said, “but they were either mistaken about what course you were referring to, or you misunderstood them.”

“But,” said Izuku.  

“Midoriya,” said Aizawa, “if you want to sit this out, it’s fine.  I can go with you, so you won’t be alone.  No one’s going to make you subject yourself to a quirk you aren’t comfortable with.”

“He can do that,” said Suzuki, “but he’ll lose his provisional license.  He’d have to go through recertification entirely.  When’s the next licensing exam?”

“Hold up,” said Aizawa, “you’re doing this course two more times, aren’t you?  I know I was given multiple options for getting this certification.”

“Sure,” said Saito, “but it’s still going to be my quirk.” She wrapped a strand of her hair around her finger, stressed.  

Izuku’s mind was racing.  He couldn’t lose his license.  He couldn’t lose his ability to help people.  He—What would All Might think?  He couldn’t—

“It-It’s-It’s fine, sen-sensei, I’m um.  It’s fine!  I’ll- I’d have to do this anyway, right? Mi-might as well get it over with, huh?”  He walked over to one of the futons, and set down his backpack, trying to hide his trembling hands.  “So, is-is there anything special or specific I have to do for your quirk to work?”

“Nope,” said Saito, cheerfully, “just lie down and close your eyes.  Come on, everyone lay down.”

Aizawa moved slowly, which was nothing short of shocking considering how eager he usually was to crawl into his sleeping bag.  He put the bag down on one of the futons.  “You’re sure there’s no way for Midoriya to opt out?”

“Positive.  We’re really sorry,” said Saito.  

“Illogical,” grumbled Aizawa.  He got into his sleeping bag nonetheless.  “You sure about this, problem child?”

“I-I’m sure, sensei!  Plus ultra, right?”  He laid down, trying to get comfortable, but the panic rising in his veins really didn’t allow for that.  He could, distantly feel One for All (and all it contained) pressing up against the back of his mind with something like concern.  He swallowed.  Don’t think about it.  

His classmates were, hesitantly, picking out their own spots. Iida looked like he wanted to say something.  Uraraka’s brow was furrowed, her lips pursed.  Todoroki was difficult to read, as always.  

Suzuki was already lying down, staring at the ceiling.

Izuku closed his eyes.  

“Alright!” said Saito.  “Here we go!”

.

Yume left the room with Midoriya Izuku in it, feeling just slightly dazed.  She paused for a moment in the back hallway.  She had dozens of other groups to set off, and she was running late after that little snafu.  

Midoriya Izuku was supposed to be in a group with Suzuki-san and four other specially picked professional heroes.  Heroes who would get to the bottom of why and how he had multiple quirks, who would find out who he really was, who would figure out how he was in contact with the League of Villains and why they decided to pick some random quirkless nobody—

Assuming that’s what Midoriya Izuku really was.  The initial investigation had uncovered some discrepancies in his family records.  

In any case, he was not supposed to be in a group with his little friends and overprotective teacher.  

Oh, well.  Except for Midoriya, they were all clean.  If they were really heroes, they’d do what was right.  

Yume pushed off the wall (when had she started leaning on it?) and stumbled.  Something bright and red caught on the periphery of her vision and she looked down.

Her nose was bleeding.

She licked her lips, tasting copper.  It shouldn’t be bleeding.  That only happened when she overused her quirk, when she tried to put too many people into one dreamscape or tried to combine two dreamscapes into one. She’d been pacing herself.  This shouldn’t be happening.  It shouldn’t be bleeding like this, like she had just put more than a dozen people under.

Suzuki Yume promptly passed out.  

.

“Wow,” said Uraraka, looking around in delight.  She was still worried about Deku.  He’d looked really bad right before Saito-san activated her quirk, and she and Suzuki-san had been acting kind of shady, but—

But—

This place was beautiful, and she couldn’t help but be a little in awe.  She’d kind of expected dreamscapes to be more… Mushy, maybe?  Darker?  Her dreams usually weren’t very clear (except for the nightmares, and those didn’t count).

But Deku’s dreamscape was as bright as he was: a beautiful beach and a cerulean ocean at sunrise.  Or was it sunset?  Either way, the sun hovered above the ocean, its light gleaming off the waves.  

“Wow,” said Todoroki, approaching the breakers on the beach.  He crouched, looking at the sand.  “It’s really…”  he poked the sand, “detailed.”

“As expected of Midoriya!” exclaimed Iida, waving his hands. “His attention to detail is unparalleled!”  

“Hm,” said Aizawa.  “Too bright…” He put on his goggles.  

“Excuse me,” said Suzuki.  “If I can have your attention, please.  I apologize for the deception, however—”

“You shouldn’t be here.”

[gummy-dummy]

Warnings: sentimental, Bakugo being Bakugo, a lot of swearing, angst, unrequited love, heartbreak, self monologue, mentions of bullying, Todoroki x Midoriya. (If you think something needs to be added please tell me)

Inspired by a Taylor Swift song (Wildest Dreams/TaylorSwift)

Thanks to my Cydy @cydxcyanide for helping me with grammatical errors and for always reading everything I write, thank you, love.

Bakugo's unrequired love for Midoriya Izuku

WILDEST DREAMS

Say you'll remember me...

It was really funny, to be honest, to think that I became the cliche of the bully who is in love with his victim. A fucking comedic moment if you ask me.

I noticed I had feelings for Deku as a child, but obviously, my little brain didn't recognize it that way. My belly felt full of something inexplicable. I thought it was bad. I wish I never had believed that. It's truly stupid that I realized in my second year at UA that I was in love with my childhood best friend/victim. I had hoped that the feelings would never come back, but they did. It happened at the worst moment; the moment I noticed that Deku was falling for Icyhot. It hurt, but what more can I say? I wasn't in any position to ask for anything. Then, the stupid Todoroki started to look interested. With those sparkling eyes that look at Izuku like he was the most handsome man in the world, and he was, the most adorable-faced guy he ever has seen. I'm sure that he also noted how Deku has 4 symmetrical freckles on each cheek, how his eyes seem to be always sparkling for something exciting. He probably noticed how he rambled about heroes to analyze every move he could use to be the best hero in history. How his hands moved so quick that you almost didn't think he was writing. It looked like he was scribbling really hard, but if you were to take a peek at his notes the letters were perfect, with beautiful writing. He always had pretty handwriting and I never said that to him.

It's not like I didn't have the courage to say something, I was prepared to say it, I was on my way to tell him I loved him, that I adored him, but that I knew I didn't deserve him at all. I just wanted to lift this hard pain that settled on my heart at our second year. As I walk around the corner to his room I see them, fucking Icyhot with his hands on Izuku's cheeks, mumbling something that made Deku blush and smile. The green-haired guy just nodded and gave in to a slow kiss, I felt everything fall around me. It felt like it was the end of the world, with electricity trying to get out of my arms. This is what Kaminari's quirk must feel like.

Even when I didn't want to watch anymore, I couldn't keep my eyes off of them. I wish that it was me. The one to hug his waist closer, to deepen the kiss even more, the one who felt his two strong arms wrap on his neck. I wanted it so much that I couldn't escape what karma wanted me to see. I deserve every moment of this. I have to suffer everything I did to him. I've apologized to him a lot of times before, always with the want of just close the space between us and kiss, but no. The universe didn't want us together cause I don't deserve him at all.

The only thing that made me stop watching was when the two of them separated with a quick peck and noticed my presence, what was I supposed to say?

"Could you two get into a fucking room? I don't want to watch nasty stuff here in the open, tch." Wow, even when I'm about to cry I can be cruel as fuck. I just start to walk away from them, toward to the kitchen. It was a bad idea to head to the kitchen. Karma wanted to punch me in the face again. Only Mina was there, alone eating a snack. The only person who knew I was in love with Izuku. Fuck it's Izuku now, not Midoriya, not Deku, just Izuku roaming through my heart even when I don't want it. Mina just gave me a sad look. I suppose the two love birds are on their way to the living room. I look, and yes, they're walking to the sofa with their hands in a tight grip, and sparkles in their eyes. I went to get water and just started crying, not loud, trying to be the least noticeable possible. I just felt Mina's arms wrapping around me in a comforting embrace.

In our third year the two were a couple in the eyes of everyone. It wasn't rare to see them out and about with their hands joined and every time the season changed Icyhot would change his side, to get to the most comfortable temperature for his boyfriend. We are all actually pretty good friends. I mastered the art of looking like I don't give a fuck about them kissing or cooing sweet nothings to each other. All that while my heart was breaking. Well, by this time, the pieces were breaking, my heart just being almost dust.

Soon enough it was our first year out of UA. I was working at the same agency as the love birds, well, the fiance's now. They're about to get married and apparently they want me to be one of the best men. I just couldn't accept. I used the same excuse for not making it to the wedding. I had to go to America for a job. It wasn't a lie, the agency we three started with Kirishima and Uraraka was at the top. We wanted to open more offices around the world, so I took the job of traveling to America and doing everything. It would take me a couple of years to get everything done which was my opportunity to stop being a masochist little shit and let them be happy in their obliviousness of my feelings.

Everything was fine, until I apparently talked a lot with Todoroki when we had a "couple" of beers. It was like 3 months before the wedding. My flight was booked the same day, an hour before the start of the wedding, because I told Todoroki that I've always been in love with Izuku, that I didn't deserve him, so I did nothing about it. Just accepted my self-imposed exile to America, so they could be happy and I could stop hurting. He didn't look mad, not even a little angry. He just said, "I know, I noticed at the end of the second year".

So maybe I wasn't that good at hiding it, or maybe Icyhot noticed because I acted exactly the same as him before confessing to Izuku. He said he didn't hate me at all. That he still wanted me as his best man, for him and Izuku but I can't handle this anymore.

"Actually, you should tell him"

"What? are you crazy? you're about to get married to him and you want me to confess my love for him?"

"Yeah, you deserve to get rid of that pain on your shoulders. I know you well enough to know you will never let go if you don't. Also, Izuku would want to know you were his childhood crush you know?"

"Why are you so open to this?"

"Because I love you both, in different forms but I do. You deserve your redemption and Izu deserves to know"

And that's how at the last second I ended up meeting with Izuku. Todoroki just nodded and went out the door. I knew this was the last time I would be seeing one of my best friends and the man I've loved so many years.

"Shoto told me that you wanted to talk? its anything serious? If is something about the agency I'm gonna take care of everything. If you need help there you just need to let us kn-"

"Izuku" I stopped his rambling with his given name and a smile, the first time I have smiled at him in years, hell, even since we were 5 o 6 maybe. He looked surprised.

"Yeah sorry"

"This may be shocking to you, but I never hated you"

I took a deep breath like it was the last of my life and said "I've been in love with you since our second year at UA, maybe even earlier. I need to apologize again for everything. I will never forget how you left all the pain I caused you behind and let us be friends again. I needed to say it. Icyhot says I would never get over it if I don't and I'm so sorry-"

"Katsuki" I just stop rambling and look at him, his eyes showing affection, but not even close to what they look like for Toforoki.

"It's okay, you don't need to apologize. I can't say that I noticed because I didn't. I'm sorry you had to suffer all of these years. If I had known things would have been different. I would've been more careful"

"Nah it's okay. You both love each other and I'm actually happy for you two. My only regret is that as kids we never got to practice 'husband kisses'," I say with a laugh, and Izuku smiles at me.

I don't know what the fuck he is doing getting closer to me. With one hand he took my face and gave me a gentle peck on my lips. I felt my heart drop to the fucking floor and then he smiled.

"I couldn't let you go with regrets Kacchan" We hear a low chuckle and turn around to see Todoroki leaning on the wall behind him smiling.

"Wha- I'm so sorry, I can't I couldn't I'm so-" Izuku just started giggling while Todoroki came closer to us and gave me an awkward hug.

"It's okay. He was your childhood crush, I couldn't let you go without the opportunity of getting a kiss from him. I don't want you to go away with regrets"

But the time is running out and I need to get on a plane. I made a promise to come back to our friends, and a promise I made with myself that I would come back when I'm ready. Ready to be a true friend and an honorary best man.

Say you'll see me again, Even if it's just in your wildest dreams.

[schrijverr]

Constant

After all those years side by side, no matter how begrudgingly, Midoriya and Bakugo know each other. Something that they notice more and more during their time at UA. And maybe just the fact that they know each other can be enough to rebuilt what had been lost.

On AO3.

Ships: none

Warnings none really, but tell me if I missed anything!

~~~~~~~~~~~

Midoriya and Bakugo grew up together. This was a fact most of the class was aware off with the rivalry and all around weird dynamic the two had, but most of them forgot what it entailed to grow up with someone.

You see, Midoriya and Bakugo didn’t just grow up together, they grew uptogether.

The ‘they knew each other from diapers, spend most of their time together, called each other’s mom auntie’- grew up together.

It had only been recently that the bullying had really picked up steam. Around the time when they got into a bigger Middle School where just having a flashy quirk wasn’t enough to be the best in the school and Bakugo started to feel threatened.

That didn’t excuse anything he’d done, but that wasn’t currently the point. The point was that they knew each other incredibly well, even if they would deny it.

And the denying it meant others forgot. Sometimes, however, a little comment or action would remind everyone just how long of a history they had together.

Today was such a day. The class was fighting in an open field to practice in different environments and stealth. It was hot and all were tired and ready for a break, groaning in relief when Aizawa finally announced it.

Bakugo was also about to plop down somewhere, when Midoriya said: “Kacchan, ant hill,” as he pointed to a spot near Bakugo.

“Hm,” Bakugo just hummed in acknowledgment, not thanking the other, before deciding to sit somewhere else.

“What just happened, bro?” Kirishima asked.

“Ant hill,” Bakugo replied as explanation.

Kirishima still looked confused, so Midoriya explained: “The nitroglycerin smells sweet and attracts insects like ants. If he isn’t careful, he’ll be crawling with them. That happe-”

“That’s enough, nerd. I think he gets it,” Bakugo interrupted, before going back to ignoring them when Midoriya shut his mouth and turned to his own friends.

Uraraka said: “I always forget you two know each other.”

“Wha?” Midoriya replied, “We don’t know each other that well. I mean, we barely interacted constructively in Middle School.”

“You have your moments,” Momo said, “Just here and there, but it’s hard to miss and you’re probably right that it petered out with time. I mean, it barely happens now.”

“Yeah, Bakugo could glare anything you know about him away,” Uraraka giggled and the conversation moved on.

It didn’t particularly stick with Midoriya, nor anyone else for that matter and life moved on. Of course, it popped back up a few weeks or so later, when it happened again.

Midoriya wasn’t usually late for class, or just the morning in general. He liked getting up early and was usually the first one outside.

Today, however, had not been his day. He had a nightmare during the night, barely fallen asleep only to sleep through his alarm and nearly missing his station by almost falling asleep on the train ride over. All of this was topped off by the fact that he had forgotten a goddamn pen.

“Uhm, does anyone have a pen?” he asked softly.

A few people nearby held out a pen to him and he sighed. There wasn’t anything wrong with the pens, of course not, and it was real nice of them to offer at all. It was just- It was just that Midoriya wrote a lot, so he had done research into what the best pens were.

He was a pen snob! There, he said it.

He was a pen snob and he really liked the one specific sort of pen and none of his classmates had it, so he would have to make due with another pen for one day. That wasn’t even that bad, he was just being dramatic.

But his night had already been so shit and all he wanted was his nice little pen, but apparently that was too much to ask.

“Midoriya?” Fumikage asked, breaking him out of his thoughts.

He was one of the few holding out a pen and Midoriya sighed, before plastering on a smile to thank the other for the pen. However, his hand never reached the pen, because Bakugo sighed before turning around and shoving a pen in his hand while he grumbled: “I don’t even know why you think these write nice. They don’t.”

In his hand there was now a pen, his pen. Well, not his pen, but one like his and he nearly teared up over it.

“Thank you, Kacchan!” he bowed.

“Tsk, don’t mention it, it’s stupid,” Bakugo huffed, turning back to the front of the class.

Later, during lunch Iida and Uraraka asked what was up with that interaction and Midoriya shrugged as he explained: “I like the ways those pens write. It’s a bit embarrassing that I’d prefer to write with them, but I do. I guess, Kacchan must have remembered.”

It was at that point that Midoriya remembered the conversation from a few weeks ago and he hummed thoughtfully to himself. For as much as he knew of Kacchan, it seemed the other still remembered a lot of him as well.

He started to pay more attention to it afterwards. While he still walked on Bakugo’s right side since the hearing in his left ear was slightly damaged, Bakugo still took the same train as him even though there was a station closer to his house, just because Midoriya used to be scared of taking the train by himself.

When they walked, they unconsciously matched paces and even when they weren’t near each other, they were aware of the others position. Midoriya thought the latter one had only been him, but then Kirishima had said: “Oh, I still have Midoriya’s notebook.”

After which Bakugo had snatched it out of his hands and thrown it directly at Midoriya, even though he was on the other side of the room and Bakugo hadn’t paid him any attention. He’d caught it, only because Bakugo had thrown a lot of stuff at him during their childhood.

More small stuff like that stacked up.

Naturally there was also bigger stuff that others in the class caught onto, like with the muttering. He knew he muttered and no one could follow him, but he couldn’t help it. It always happened when they had to give each other feedback.

“Of course if he’s up against someone with a water quirk, they could render him practically useless by using the conductivity of the water against him, so he would have to invest in hand to hand combat, because there are probably more with conductivity quirks and he would have to be able to defend himself against them and know which materials are conduc-” Midoriya muttered.

“Oi, Deku, shut up, he gets it,” Bakugo interrupted him.

“Oh, sorry, Kaminari,” Midoriya apologized.

“It’s- It’s okay, don’t worry, Midoriya,” Kaminari quickly said, “I- uhm, I just didn’t quite catch that, sorry.”

“He says your useless against conductivity quirks and you need to work on your hand to hand combat, you idiot,” Bakugo said, before Midoriya could go on a tangent again.

“You can understand that?” Kaminari asked.

“What? Of course,” Bakugo frowned, “You should have heard him when he was little, I swear aun- his mom was going to pull her hair out for a while there.”

Midoriya blushed and said: “It wasn’t that bad.”

“You failed public speaking in 7thgrade, because the teacher thought you were swearing under your breath the entire time,” Bakugo raised a brow.

Some people in the class snorted as Midoriya got even redder, luckily Aizawa saved him by moving on to the next person giving feedback.

When they were walking between classes Kirishima bumped shoulders with Bakugo and said: “I always forget that you already knew Midoriya.”

“I don’t.”

“So, you understanding him and knowing in which grade he failed public speaking for mumbling, was just a freak accident?” Serogrinned.

Bakugo glared at him, but most of class 1-A had become immune to it, so hejust raised a brow in return. He looked away and grumbled: “Shut the fuck up.”

“Ahw, come on, don’t be like that, bro. I think it’s very manly of you to remember stuff about your friends,” Kirishima said, throwing an arm around his shoulders.

“I’m not Deku’s friend,” Bakugo replied, shrugging off the arm before storming off.

He wasn’t that goddamned nerds friend, alright. They just used to be and the dumbass was always following him, it was almost impossible not the know things about him. And his mom was friends with auntie and it was boring to be the only two kids at gatherings, so they spend time actually talking to one another even after they stopped being close friends.

Sue Bakugo for being observant, which was a useful skill as a hero, mind you. So no, he wasn’t the nerds friend, the other had just been a constant.

Nevertheless, he hated how he noticed the other still had the stupid granola bars Bakugo used to enjoy as a kid, because he shared with the nerd and then he liked them as well or how he found himself looking in Deku’s eyes after he had managed to get himself hurt, because he would always say he was fine while his eyes would betray him.

Neither said anything about it of course, they were content to live with the truth that their lives had been interlocked and they knew each other well, without ever speaking a word about it. Well, until they had to move into the dorms that was.

Apparently all the years of familiarity got more obvious when living together.

They didn’t even get time to ease into that realization. It didn’t creep up on them like it had done before, but just happened on the first morning when Midoriya was up first and put on the kettle to make tea.

When Bakugo got up, he saw the tea Midoriya was making and just put a cup next to it with a small grumble that could be considered questioning, before he ambled off to make breakfast.

Midoriya just hummed in acknowledgment and made two cups of tea exactly like his mom used to make, because he and Bakugo had stood next to her with wonder in their eyes as she showed them how and neither had ever taken their tea differently.

Bakugo was making pancakes for everyone, like his dad used to do, because he was on the roster to make breakfast. He plated it for everyone, leaving it blank so that their could figure out their own topics, except for two. One he drenched in syrup and the other he put butter on to melt.

A few other were just in time to see them exchange a cup of tea for a plate of pancakes, while Bakugo grumbled: “All that syrup is going to rot your teeth.”

“Butter is boring though,” Midoriya mumbled back, both were tired and the whole interaction hadn’t caught up to them yet.

It did when Mina slid onto the breakfast table next to them and yawned: “You could have put butter on my pancakes too, Bakugo. Now it didn’t melt as much.”

“How the fuck would I know how you eat your pancakes, raccoon,” Bakugo asked.

“You knew Midoriya’s pancake order,” Mina pouted.

At that both were quiet for a moment, then they quickly looked away, a faint blush coloring their cheeks as they desperately ignored the others eyes. More people came to the table and Tsu asked: “Why are they looking like that, kero?”

“They realized that Bakugo knew Midoriya’s pancake order and Midoriya made Bakugo tea like he always takes it,” Mina informed her gleefully, having realized why her words made the two boys react like that.

“Ahw, how cute,” Hagakure said.

“I’m not cute,” Bakugo growled, before stuffing the last of his pancakes in his mouth and stomping off.

“Someone’s touchy,” Kaminari said. He was just walking up and had missed the conversation, luckily both Mina and Hagakure were there to inform him and he laughed at what had made his friend so touchy.

Before anyone else could be told as well, a still blushing Midoriya squeaked: “Can we please not make a big deal out of this.”

“Why?” Mina pouted.

“Yeah, it’s sweet that you two still know things about each other,” Hagakure agreed.

“It’s a bit embarrassing after so long,” Midoriya confessed, “It’s better now, but we kind of didn’t talk for a long while and Bakugo was kind of mean back then. So, it’s still weird to know that sort of stuff when we feel like we’re just getting to know the other again. And having it pointed out is a bit embarrassing because of it.”

It was quiet for a moment and Midoriya said: “Ah, sorry, it’s too early for rants like that and it’s not a big deal really, sorry-”

“Stop it, Midoriya,” Mina cut him off, “We’ll stop, or at least try.”

“Really?”

“Of course, it’s still funny, but we’re not going to be rude about it,” Kaminari said, “Though no promises.”

“Thank you,” Midoriya bowed before finishing his breakfast too and going to get ready for the day as well.

The others did try to keep that promise and it seemed even people who hadn’t been there caught onto it pretty quickly, because no one commented when Bakugo unthinkingly wrote down a snack Midoriya liked on the shopping list because it had become commonplace in the Bakugo household after Midoriya became a regular guest, nor when Midoriya knew which piece Bakugo wanted to be in aboard game.

It was just something that happened and no one commented on.

Time went on and Midoriya and Bakugo leveled a big part of a fake city and solved a bit of their issues as they got on the road to friendship again.

They had mostly been just friendly with each other, but they hadn’t made an effort to spend time with each other one on one when circumstance made the time for them. It was late, probably already 3 AM and Midoriya was in the kitchen.

A nightmare had woken him and he felt too jittery to truly try and sleep again, so he went downstairs and made himself some tea. He was just about to pour it when a rough soft voice started him: “Can I have a cup too?”

He turned around and saw Bakugo, who was looking worse for wear. Midoriya smiled: “Of course, Kacchan,” and put down another cup to pour.

It was quiet in the kitchen after that. They stood near the counter and sipped their tea, not really making eye contact while still being comfortable.

When he was nearly halfway done with his tea, Midoriya asked: “Want to talk about it?”

“Not really much to talk about,” Bakugo shrugged.

“Happens often?”

“Enough.”

“Never seen you down here before.”

“I usually stay in my room, felt a bit trapped today,” Bakugo explained, “I take it you’re down here often.”

“The tea helps,” Midoriya nodded.

They fell silent again, sipping their tea and not feeling the need to talk. Maybe talking about what woke them up would be good, but neither felt the need to relive what had shaken them enough to keep them from sleeping.

Before they were done with their tea, Bakugo put on the kettle again and poured them a new cup when they were done. Instead of staying quiet and just drinking the tea, however, he said: “Wanna watch something? I think I still have the All Might cartoons in my room.”

Midoriya grinned as he remembered all the sleepovers where they tried to stay awake, but ultimately fell asleep watching those cartoons. He nodded: “Lead the way.”

And so they ended up on Bakugo’s bed, with Midoriya on his right side so that the earbuds they shared could be in Bakugo’s right ear. Midoriya leaned on his shoulder and neither said more as they watched the drawn All Might beat up fake villains.

They woke early from Midoriya’s alarm, who always got up way too early for Bakugo’s taste. He groaned: “Why do you always do that?”

“Carpe diem, Kacchan,” Midoriya grinned.

“Go carpe fucking diem somewhere else, Zuku,” Bakugo told him as he turned around in his bed.

Midoriya grinned with the return of the nickname that had been long before Deku. He slipped out of the bed and smiled: “I will, Kacchan. Oh, and Kacchan?”

“What.”

“The next time, feel free to come downstairs again. It was better with you there.”

Bakugo lifted his head to look at Midoriya. It was a vulnerable look that he still managed to make judgmental and surprised, before he burrowed his head into his pillow again and said: “Sure, whatever.”

“Bye, Kacchan,” Midoriya left the room sneakily, not minding that Bakugo hadn’t replied.

Neither spoke of the night with anyone, nor each other. At least, not during the day. At night they drank their tea and watched cartoons, usually ending in either one of their rooms, to fall asleep next to one another and to be woken by Midoriya’s alarm.

Sometimes they talked about what kept them awake, about the memories that haunted them. But mostly they were quiet, knowing the other understood and they didn’t have to talk about it, that they could be them for a moment and it would be fine.

They had seen the other at their lowest points, they didn’t have to pretend to be strong.

Their nightly tea sessions didn’t really bleed over into their day to day interaction, since it was kind of their secret. They hadn’t planned on it, but it wasn’t something you easily shared, so they kept it to themselves.

The only difference was that they got more familiar with each other again.

Respected rivalsmaking way for friends.

Some others in the class caught onto it. It was hard to miss how they weren’t at each others throats anymore and how they sat next to each other when making homework, or how they didn’t get embarrassed about the fact that they knew how the other ate certain foods.

None, however, had realized how much closer the two had gotten again until Bakugo was annoying Midoriya. He was bored and Midoriya was doing homework. He started just saying: “Are you done yet?”

“No, I just started, Kacchan. Maybe you should start to,” Midoriya told him.

“Don’t want to.”

“Not my problem.”

A few of their fellow classmates raised their brow at Bakugo’s behavior. He always tried to be stoic and uncaring, but that had never been truly him. He just wanted attention and would be annoying to get it, especially with Midoriya, who had always given him attention freely.

Midoriya wasn’t giving him attention now. He had lost the fear for Bakugo and the starry eyed admiration also wasn’t so strong anymore, so he was writing down answers and ignoring Bakugo.

So, he poked him.

Midoriya stopped writing for a second and looked at him with a raised brow, he just looked back with a look that screamed ‘what you gonna do about it?’ and poked again. This time he got a tried sigh and look, before Midoriya went back to writing.

Poking didn’t work, so he turned to the thing he knew would work, the thing he had always done that annoyed Midoriya to no end.

When Midoriya put his pen down to write again, Bakugo smacked the top of the pen, causing him to scribble down something illegible. Midoriya exhaled annoyed, but was determined to ignore Bakugo as he attempted to write again, only for the same to happen again.

“Will you stop that, Kacchan.”

“Stop what?”

“Are you serious? Really?”

“I’m not doing anything.”

“You’re smacking my pen. It’s annoying, you know I find that annoying.”

“My hand must have slipped.”

“Just stop.”

“I won’t do it anymore, promise.”

“Hmm, okay,” Midoriya said, still suspicious, before turning back to his notebook, eyeing Bakugo as he put down his pen again.

True to his word, Bakugo didn’t hit the pen again. No, instead he pulled Midoriya’s notebook out from under his pen. A stripe crossed over the page and Midoriya whipped his head towards him, fuming.

“Are you a child? Give that back, you dick.”

“What? This?” Bakugo asked, holding the notebook above his head as he got out of his chair, “Why don’t you come get it.”

Midoriya was out of his chair, before Bakugo could even finish the sentence and running towards him with a battle cry. Bakugo, however, had seen it coming and was already running too.

“No fighting in the dorms,” Iida yelled after them, but was ignored by both.

Bakugo ran around the tables and couches with Midoriya on his heels. Bakugo was laughing, which was weird in itself, but Midoriya was cursing at him, which might be even weirder. Anyone who had been attempting to do their homework was now just watching intrigued as the two chased each other.

“Should we try to split them up?” Iidaasked Momo, “Or get a teacher?”

“They’re not using their quirks, so I don’t think any of the teacherswill have more success than us,” Momoresponded.

“So you want to break them up?” he asked.

Momolooked at the two again. Midoriya was attempting to grab the notebook, while Bakugo stopped him with a hand on his forehead. She sighed: “I don’t know if we can. Maybe wait until they’ve calmed down a bit?”

Right at point Midoriya screamed: “I will lick your hand, Kacchan, don’t test me.”

It was a weird threat to make, but it seemed effective, because Bakugo’s eyes got big and he snatched his hand back as he replied: “Don’t you fucking dare, Zuku.”

Midoriya quickly grabbed his notebook back, before he said: “Of course I’m not going to do that, I’m not stupid, Kacchan. That’s poisonous.”

There was a little pause and everyone thought it was over, but then Bakugo glared: “You little shit,” and the chase was on again.

Uraraka asked: “Was it just me or did Bakugo call Midoriya Zuku?”

“He probably said Deku,” Seroreplied.

“No, I heard Zuku too,” Hagakure said.

They discussed whether or not Bakugo had called Midoriya Zuku while the two ran around the room. Before anyone could ask, it was answered for them. Bakugo had managed to tackle Midoriya, but the other had twisted them around and had set in a tickle attack.

He knew all of Bakugo’s ticklish spots and he was showing no mercy. It had been sort of fun to roughhouse with Kacchan again, but he was also determined to win, so he didn’t yield when Bakugo pleaded: “Zuku, let me go. Zuku, please.”

“What? I don’t hear you, Kacchan,” Midoriya said the innocence in his voice not fitting the situation.

“Zuku, don’t- don’t do-hohoho this t- to me-he,” Bakugo managed through the giggles.

“I thought you wanted me to pay attention to you? This not attention?” Midoriya asked, pressing into Bakugo’s ribs, which he knew the other hated.

They were interrupted by Iida, who took pity on Bakugo. As a younger sibling he had been in that position many times before and he felt that as a responsible class president, he should step in. He said: “Okay, that’s enough, both of you.”

Midoriya blinked almost as if he’d forgotten other were there, before he smiled and let Bakugo go as he said: “Of course, sorry.”

Bakugo rubbed his sore ribs and groaned: “I forgot you were a little shit, Zuku.”

“According to auntie, you’re the little shit,” Midoriya countered.

“Mom didn’t know you were also responsible for the shit we did,” Bakugo huffed.

“Will you ever forgive me for the cake incident?” Midoriya asked.

“No.”

“But Kacchan,” he whined.

“No, I got grounded for that, you know how much it takes for the old hag to ground me,” Bakugo replied.

“To be fair, you didn’t disagree with it and I got a stern talking too as well,” Midoriya countered.

“Auntie couldn’t give a stern talking too if her life depended on it. It can’t have been that bad, Zuku.”

“You obviously have never had a talking to from her.”

“We both know I did, she just does the sad thing that makes you feel guilty, it’s not stern.”

“But you feel bad after!”

Bakugo thought for a second then gave in: “Yeah, okay, it does make you feel bad.”

“See, we both had consequences.”

“I’m still mad about it.”

“Okay, so I am not following any of this,” Mina interrupted, “But since when do you call Midoriya Zuku?”

“I don’t.”

“You literally just did. It’s not manly to lie, bro,” Kirishima backed Mina up.

Midoriya burst out laughing when Bakugo didn’t reply and just looked away as if not seeing them would make the question disappear. Midoriya was more than willing to throw his friend under the bus and answered for him: “Kacchan has always called my Zuku, I think he stopped in Middle School.”

“I started calling you Deku when we were eight, dumbass,” Bakugo corrected.

“Yeah, but you called me Zuku at gatherings with auntie and uncle until Middle School,” Midoriya said.

“Whatever,” Bakugo rolled his eyes, “The fact is that I stopped and don’t call him that.”

“You know that lying doesn’t work if everyone just saw you do something else, right?” Midoriya grinned.

“Shut the fuck up, they must have misheard,” Bakugo insisted.

“Why would you be embarrassed about this, kero?” Tsu asked.

“I’m not embarrassed.”

“Then why are you denying it?”

“Why are you all so interested?” Bakugo countered, not answering the question.

“Come on, Bakugo,” Mina whined, “You and Midoriya hardly talked up until recently and now you have a nickname for him and you bicker like you’ve always done it. Can’t we be curious what happened?”

“Nothing happened,” Bakugo groused and everyone turned to Midoriya.

“Wha? Oh, uh, nothing happened,” he stumbled over his words to back Bakugo up, “We got over our differences. It would be weird for him to still call me Deku.”

No one reacted to that, though some shrugged in a ‘that’s fair’-manner.

When it seemed nobody was about to move, Iida clapped his hands: “That was enough excitement, we were making homework.”

People groaned, but everyone ambled back to the table, some stopping to get themselves a snack or tea or something. As everyone left, Midoriya hauled Bakugo onto his feet as he asked: “Going to annoy me again?”

“Nah, made enough of a spectacle out of myself today,” Bakugo grumbled.

“Ahw, areyou embarrassed?” Midoriya teased.

“Shut up, Zuku.”

“You are!”

“I said shut up.”

“Rude, Kacchan.”

“Leave me alone.”

“So you don’t want tea? I was going to make some for myself and ask if you wanted any, but since you want me to leave you alone...”

“… Make me tea.”

Midoriya giggled, but said nothing as he went to make them both tea. They studied silently afterwards, only breaking their silence to check something with the other.

They had come full circle from friends to strangers to friends once more. The fact that they had known the other so well - it couldn’t be erased even if they tried - had been the thing that rebuild their relationship.

Kacchan and Zuku grew up together, they knew each other and that was something constant.

[makeste]

makeste hELP I've been rereading some old chapters and, if you don't mind, could you please describe the difference krbk & bkdk? It's just UGH, bkg is so SOFT with kiri at the dorm opening & in kiri's debut flashback and asdfghdkj I suddenly remember why I shipped those two so hard BUT. Current bkdk is CHEF'S KISS--Kacchan showing how much he cares abt Deku is yESSSS fINaLlY MY HEART. I know I can ship both but I'm reeaaally fixated on the difference. You can throw in kirimina too, if you want.

well first off just a quick reminder/disclaimer that that these are all just my own interpretations and opinions. also, I'm going to stick strictly to analyzing the relationships themselves, and we're not going to get into any discussion about the respective fandoms because I've always tried my best to stay the hell out of shipping drama, and I'm not about to change that up now lol. I can tell you right now that I like both ships and have met many awesome and amazing people who fall on all sides of the shipping spectrum in this case.

but anyway, so let's see. I will say that as far as fluffy/soft dynamics go, there's really not that much of a difference between the two imo. soft KiriBaku and soft BakuDeku are very similar dynamics. lots of mutual trust and open, enthusiastic support from Deku/Kiri coupled with more subtle, indirectly stated/shown (but still just as strong) support from Katsuki in return. also a ton of protectiveness from all involved parties, and strong feelings of being at home with each other and feeling at ease and able to be their most natural, best selves. it's good stuff no matter which ship you go with imo.

I think the bigger difference lies between angsty BakuDeku versus angsty KiriBaku. angsty KRBK, in my experience, tends to focus less on the angst of the relationship, and more on both Bakugou and Kirishima's self esteem issues. so for instance you'll get a lot of fics centered around Bakugou's trauma from being kidnapped and his guilt about All Might, or Kirishima's struggles with depression and self-doubt and his fear of freezing up and letting other people down. in my experience KRBK fics also tend to place more emphasis on portraying the dynamic as Healthy, which makes sense because Kirishima in particular has extremely progressive views on healthy masculine expression, and is very outspoken about them. so it makes perfect sense that so many fanworks depict that relationship as being defined by open communication and trust and support. Bakugou also seems to have an easier time letting his guard down around Kirishima than most other people, and seems to have less difficulty showing his kind side which he so rarely seems to want anybody else to see. that last thing is something he really struggles with around Deku even now, but with Kirishima it's always seemed to come naturally. so in a lot of ways even the "angsty" KRBK stuff has a bit of a lighter, more relaxed feel to it in that sense.

BakuDeku, on the other hand, is a relationship with a long and often painful history, and as such, BKDK fanworks are much more likely to focus on the abundant and prominent angst of the relationship itself (although there are still plenty of BKDK fics and such that explore Izuku and Katsuki's unrelated personal angst as well). to me this is a relationship that has always been defined by longing and uncertainty and a mutual desire to reach out, but at the same time an almost paralyzing fear of being rejected by the other. it's an extremely complicated dynamic, and one that has always been very confusing to the both of them, let alone to everyone else around them lol. it's a relationship where it seems like their emotions always seem to intensify more around each other. everything sort of becomes heightened. they become more competitive, more focused, and more driven. and on the flip side of the coin, their fears also seem to intensify. they're both fiercely protective of each other and spend a lot of time worrying about each other.

but where the confusion comes in is that unlike the KRBK relationship where communication usually comes so easily, Izuku and Katsuki absolutely suck at communicating lmao. Katsuki, of course, would rather die than wear his heart on his sleeve most of the time. and meanwhile Izuku seems like he's the more open of the two at first glance, but in actuality the few times that the two of them have opened up to each other about their feelings, it's been Kacchan who initiated it, every single time. so yeah; basically they struggle a lot with figuring out what they mean to each other, and even more with actually communicating those feelings. and yet paradoxically, there is also a mutual understanding and trust and knowing between them that runs so deep that it's basically unwavering and untouchable. they have so much faith in each other when it comes to pretty much everything -- except their own relationship, lol.

so yeah, there's a lot of angst inherent to most BKDK content that KRBK content lacks simply because their relationship doesn't have all of that history and baggage between them. and meanwhile BKDK angst often lacks the therapeutic factor that so many KRBK works have, because Bakugou and Deku just can't communicate with that kind of ease yet. so a lot of it really just boils down to personal preference at the end of the day I think. for me I personally find both dynamics very appealing, and I read a lot of both. BKDK does have an edge for me just because of the sheer complexity of that relationship (which is one reason I write so many essays about it, because there's just an endless array of things to analyze, and it never ceases to hold my interest), and also because there's a little more of an "I'm rooting so hard for these two crazy kids" feeling just because there's so much that they've overcome, and they both so clearly want to restore what they once had (Deku's joy at "being able to have a normalish conversation" with Kacchan, versus Kacchan's subtle regret in so many of his recent interactions with Deku, and openly portrayed on the cover for volume 29). but KRBK is such an important and wholesome relationship as well, and almost liberating in how it's unencumbered by past history and sort of a fresh start/new beginning in that sense. so yeah, by no means am I putting that down in any way. again, since the two fandoms have a history of being at each other's throats, I just want to make it absolutely clear that my having a preference for one does not in any way mean I consider it to be superior or the other inferior. and it especially doesn't mean I'm gonna judge someone else for liking one or the other, or both, or neither.

but anyways yeah. as for KiriMina, which I think is very cute/sweet in the series but admittedly haven't sought out much content for outside of that (mainly because I have a horrible Kacchan bias), so I can't really say much about it meta-wise. but I imagine it would probably feel like KRBK minus the tsundere Kacchan stuff, and with the additional variable of them knowing each other since middle school and Mina having that knowledge of Kirishima's personal struggles, and him having that longstanding admiration for her natural hero instincts and ability to put people at ease. I think it's a great dynamic as well. also Mina is just fucking fantastic and fandom doesn't give her nearly as much love and appreciation as she deserves. she's the best and I really hope Horikoshi gives her some more screentime in the final act, especially since she's been through a lot recently (and actually that's something to consider in the KiriMina dynamic as well. no shortage of angst potential in all three of these ships).

anyway, so I think that's pretty much everything I can think of as far as answering your question! thanks for the ask!

[bakugoukatsuki-rising]

Hey do you izuku and Bakugo might have a hero agency together

That would be really fucking cool, and if we get what we're all hoping for, as in them being the Wonder Duo Number 1 Heroes, I hope that's the case.

I'm just really really really REAAALLLY hoping that Hori doesn't drop them into the same positions as All Might and Endeavor, because I will be utterly heartbroken.

It's very easy to see the parallels between All Might, Endeavor and Deku, Kacchan, which scares me because the road is pretty clear in terms of him doing something like that, where he puts Deku as number one and Bakugo as number two and then we see how history kinda repeated itself between the heroes and I DON'T WANT IT

It is boring and stale and so easily predicted it makes me sick, so Hori better fucking not, and he better make them a team. I can't be disappointed like that, it'll wreck me.

I went on a tangent but thems the feelings so

[shutupandshipit]

Sharpen Your Blades - Ch.15

Summary: “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

The thinning of Aizawa’s patience was evident in the twitching of his brow. “If you stop asking questions, maybe I could finish explaining.

”With a huff and roll of his eyes, Katsuki glanced away from their coach.

“City Hall and the SC want us to give them more variety. We are a team solely made up of single skaters. Every year, we dominate the rankings for single skate while Shinketsu dominates the pairs, so this year both cities are being required to split their skaters evenly between singles and pairs with at least one pair coming from out top five.” There was a collective intake of breath, but no one commented, choosing instead to remain silent. “Unfortunately, for us, it’s a lot easier to switch from pairs to singles. With our male to female ratio, alpha/beta/omega ratio, and those of you actually experienced with pair skating, we’re at a disadvantage. So, I’ve decided to choose your partners for you.”

…..

Or where Katsuki and Izuku are forced to be partners so they can continue to compete, but the blood in the water may be thicker than anyone realized.

Pairing: Bakudeku

Rating: T

Chapter: 15/20

Previously <- Chapter 14: Fighting

Chapter 16: Heats and Ruts -> Next

Chapter 15: Gross Holiday Activities

Izuku was lying in bed staring up at the ceiling. He was exhausted, had been exhausted for the entire week. No one had warned him just how much presenting would take out of him, let alone just how terrible going through heat would be. That’s not something they talk about in school. They talk about the biological mechanisms of why secondary genders exist. About how wonderful and beautiful heats and ruts were. ‘They help us create life,’ he remembered his teacher intoning.

After this first heat, he didn’t think they were all people had made them out to be.

The only good thing that came from presenting was that if Katsuki wanted to return to partner skate one day, they could still be partners. Izuku could only hope that one day Katsuki would want to.

A soft knock tapped at his door.

The person didn’t wait for him to reply before pushing open the door. Cinnamon and star anise and sugar wafted towards him, and Izuku knew without looking who had entered his room. His scent had never been so strong before, but it was so very familiar.

“Kacchan?” he mumbled, turning to look at the newly presented alpha where he stood in the doorway. “What are you doing here?”

“Get dressed,” he said as answer.

“I’m tired, Kacchan,” Izuku said even as he slowly pulled back the covers and slid his feet to the floor. He felt weak like even if he stood up his legs wouldn’t be able to hold his weight. Sighing heavily, he scrubbed at his eyes. “How did you get in? I didn’t think Mom would let you in since…” He trailed off, eyes on his toes as he curled and uncurled them.

“You really think Auntie would let me being an alpha change her opinion of me?” Katsuki crossed his arms, leaning against the very noticeably open door. Normally, when he came over, Katsuki would come in and immediately close the door. Either Inko had talked to him, or he was already conducting himself in a way that wouldn’t make Inko’s opinion change.

It made Izuku sad. Things would never be the same for them from here on out. Everything was going to change no matter how hard he fought against it.

Izuku shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m just surprised.” He didn’t move.

“Are you going to get up or am I going to just go on my own?” Katsuki snapped, impatience in his voice, but also the same exhaustion Izuku was harboring.

“Where are we going?”

“The outdoor rink opened today. You hate missing the first day.”

Katsuki didn’t have to say anymore. Izuku heaved himself out of bed with a groan, and hurried to find something clean-ish to pull on. Something that didn’t smell overwhelmingly of his heat. On their way out, Izuku’s hand trapped in Katsuki’s, he called, “We’re going to the outdoor rink, Mom!”

Inko shuffled out of the kitchen with a small bag, handing it to Katsuki. Miso soup or green tea that she always gave them before they went out on cold winter days. “Be safe, you two. Mitsuki is coming with you?” she asked, chaffing her hands together worriedly.

Katsuki nodded, face looking more severe than ever with the deep black bags beneath his eyes. “She’s waiting in the car.”

“Okay, well, I’ll see you two in a little bit. Call if you won’t make it back for dinner, baby.” With that, she hugged Izuku tightly and pressed a kiss to the top of his head.

When they slid into the backseat of the car, Mitsuki and Masaru turned to smile at Izuku. “How are you feeling, Izuku?” Masaru asked conversationally as Mitsuki turned back around to watch the road, “You’ve had a long week just like Katsuki, haven’t you?”

Izuku nodded, tightening his fingers around Katsuki’s. “It was really tiring, but I’m happy to be out of the house.”

“We’re glad to help. Katsuki missed you.” Masaru smiled at his son, but Katsuki had propped his chin in his hand to stare out the window. He turned back around, leaving the boys to their solitude.

There weren’t as many people on the ice when they got there than Izuku had expected. Probably it had to do with how early in the holiday season it was and maybe even that it was the first day the rink was open. Silently, they shoved their feet in the shitty skates that the rink offered while Mitsuki and Masaru wandered off to check out the stalls close by.

When Izuku finally stepped out onto the ice, it felt as if he hadn’t in months. It was a relief. Being on the ice was easy. Being on the ice was uncomplicated. Being on the ice meant being with Katsuki, and Katsuki was one of the few constants in his life.

They skated together for hours. Round and round and round despite the eyes that found them, tracked them. Children who were newly presented had a stronger, more pungent scent. They received more attention, especially newly presented omegas. Over the week, Izuku had dreaded having to go back out in public remembering all of the omegas on the team who had presented before him and the unrelenting, mostly unwanted attentions they’d received. He worried about the eyes that would follow him and the noses that would catch his scent.

But being out with Katsuki made it easy. After a while, the feel of those eyes fell away, and it was just the two of them.

When they finally left the ice, sweaty and red faced and shaky from exertion, Mitsuki handed them food to share and Izuku said, “Thank you, Kacchan.”

“For what?” Katsuki grunted, cheek stuffed full with takoyaki as he looked out over the crowd. His eyes were flat, not as shiny as they usually were. Lacking his excitement for life.

“Asking me to come out. I was… I was scared about being in public again,” Izuku whispered, holding the food tray in both hands, but not taking any for himself. He couldn’t look at Katsuki, his blush moving from exertion to embarrassment.

“Yeah, well, I was just tired of being inside,” Katsuki muttered, but even as he spoke, his scent told another story. It would take some time before he learned to control his scent enough that his emotions didn’t scream out through his scent.

For now though, it was nice to know exactly what he was really feeling, what he would refuse to say. Izuku smiled. “Thank you anyway.”

…..

"Deku, you should just talk to him," Ochako told him sternly.

Izuku pointedly did not look at her, focussing on his breathing as they jogged along somewhere in the middle of the team. Ochako wasn't a slow runner, but she wasn't as fast as Katsuki. Since their argument three days ago though, Izuku hadn't even looked at Katsuki with the insurmountable guilt he was harboring. He shouldn’t have let Katsuki’s pre-rut get the better of him, but his body seemed bound and determined to no longer be his friend. The same went for his omega who had been sulking the entire time.

Neither of them had even showed up to practice the past two days and yesterday's practice had been the most strained it had ever been, much to Aizawa's irritation and Toshinori's disappointment. Both Izuku and Katsuki had separately refused to touch the ice with the other on it, and had been relegated to floor work in separate studios. Toshinori had apologized to Izuki for making things worse which had only served to inflate his guilt.

The anger had eventually evaporated, and now the rational part of Izuku's brain had come back online. That didn't keep every other part of him from moaning that he'd royally fucked everything up. There was no way Katsuki would ever forgive him for what he’d said.

"Ignoring me isn't going to stop me from talking about this," Ochako warned, still keeping stride beside him even as her breath started to falter and grow heavier, "You two are being absolutely ridiculous."

"You have to admit, this is par the course for them," Todoroki murmured on Izuku's other side.

Izuku sighed. "Not you too, Todoroki."

Todorki somehow managed to shrug while still swinging his arms. "I agree with her. You should just talk."

Again, Izuku sighed, but heavier this time. Heavy enough to interrupt his breathing and force him to adjust his breath again. "You didn't see or hear how he reacted. It'll be a miracle if he ever even looks at me again."

"Well then, you have a fairy godmother because it's going to happen sooner than you think," Uraraka huffed, "Especially if you just. Talk. To. Him."

Finally, Izuku snapped his eyes to her, frustrated and feeling like garbage and she was just making it worse. "You don't get it, Chako! You don't know our history! It's not that simple!"

"Because you don't talk to us about it!" she shouted back, glaring at him fiercely. Far ahead of them, Iida turned a glance over his shoulder and began to slow.

"Because it hurts to talk about!"

Uraraka grabbed his arm, jerking him to a stop and pulling him away towards the side of the trail. Ahead of them, Todoroki kept running and grabbed Iida’s bicep to keep him moving. For several long moments, both of them caught their breath and stared at their feet. Only when the last of their teammates had passed did they speak.

"I'm sorry," Izuku whispered, eyes downcast and tear filled, "I didn't mean to yell at you."

"Well, you did," Uraraka said, voice still sharp around the edges, but normal volume now, "We're friends, Deku, but no one gets a pass for yelling at me. Not even you."

The tears spilled over, dripping off the tip of his nose. He shielded his face from view with a hand and scrubbed at his tears with the other. "I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. Please don't hate me. I can't have another friend hating me," he gasped.

Uraraka's sigh ruffled his hair. "I don't hate you and neither does Bakugou, but you were yelling at me when I'm trying to help you. Not only that, but you're holding stuff against me that I don't know about because you've never talked to us about it. I'm going to be blunt here, both you and Bakugou clearly have a lot of unresolved trauma from when you were younger that's still fucking up a lot of stuff for the two of you. You would be so much better without all this extra baggage. You two are terrible at communicating, and whether you talk to me or not, you need to talk it out with him. That time on the podcast doesn't count as talking it out. That was just Bakugou being vulnerable with you for once, but there's way more than just that going on. And you know it."

Izuku was crying harder, using the tail of his scarf to mop up his tears. "I know, it's just so hard. I caused so many problems for Kacchan when we were younger. I was just so thankful to be able to skate with him again, but now… now… Now he won't even look at me because I threw everything back in his face. I'm a terrible person, and Kacchan deserves a better omega. An omega who can cook and clean and doesn't have to rely on suppressants to get him through life. Who didn't ruin two years of his life when we were kids."

Uraraka gripped his shoulder tightly, waiting until he raised his eyes to her to begin. "Talk to him. I truly believe the two of you think more alike than you realize. I'm sure he wants to talk to you too."

"What if he tells me to go away."

"He won’t."

"But what if-"

"He won't, Deku, trust me."

With a shaky nod, Izuku accepted the hug Uraraka offered him before they started back towards the rink. They walked the trail instead of running, allowing Izuku to get his tears under control. When they exited the trail, the rest of the team had already disappeared into the rink to change for their day.

Only Katsuki and Kirishima remained standing near the rink entrance. Kirishima was whispering to Katsuki, but stopped when Katsuki's eyes snapped to Izuku.

They stared at each other, Katsuki's eyes trailing over him before scrutinizing his face. After several long moments, Katsuki turned and disappeared into the rink.

Kirishima waited for them to draw closer before speaking. "I think I managed to convince him, but I'm not sure what he's planning," he said, speaking directly to Uraraka instead of Izuku.

Sighing, she nodded. "Good. The same goes for me." Looking to Izuku, she smiled and said, "Talk to him. I'm going to get changed and head to work."

…..

"Bro, Katsuki, just talk to him. Watching you mope is making me sad. Like, come on now. You're better than this." Kirishima jogged beside Katsuki, the only one managing to keep up with him out of his group of friends. Mina and Kaminari loped along behind them, their panting desperate breath loud on the quiet trail. Only Sero was further ahead of them, his long legs carrying him easily. The only reason he was ahead was because Katsuki wasn't putting any effort into the run. He was just too tired.

"No." His reply was flat, almost monotonous. After the fight with Izuku, all of his pre-rut anger had ebbed into something aching. All day, every day, his chest hurt with the sheer level of pining he was allowing himself to engage in. He’d even allowed his alpha to start constructing the nest for the omega that he’d been fighting against. Not that any omega needed an alpha to create a shitty version of something they had the instinct to build well, but it put Katsuki at ease knowing it was there if Izuku so-ever needed it. So, he wallowed and pined and didn’t cave to the desire to go knock on the omega’s apartment door just down the hallway from him.

"Man-"

"No. You didn't hear what he said to me. He doesn't want anything to do with me. I'm not going to force him to talk to me."

Kirishima sighed, turning his eyes towards the sky. "You don't know if he does or doesn't if you don't talk to him. He was angry. People say stuff they don't mean all the time when they're angry."

Katsuki glared at him out of the corner of his eye. "Everything he said was true."

"That doesn't mean he meant it."

"It does for Deku."

"You're being ridiculous," Kirishima said sternly, eyebrows furrowing, "You don't know if he regrets what he said or not. Sometimes I think you don't know Midoriya at all." He turned his eyes forward again, and Katsuki got the distinct feeling that his best friend was disappointed in him.

"I've known him way longer than any of you extras!"

"Which makes you biased. From the little you told me, a lot happened when you were preteens, and I wouldn't be surprised to learn that your perspectives on each other are seriously skewed," Kirishima told him honestly, and Katsuki knew his best friend was frustrated with him because he hadn't looked at him. Not only that, but his ever present smile was missing. “It’s like you two hold each other on some insurmountable pedastals, but don’t realize that you’re just people.”

Katsuki didn't reply, seething under the truth of his words. But the thought of rejection made him nauseous. If he talked to Deku and the omega told him to fuck off, he wasn't sure what he'd do. Probably find another team all together.

He didn't want to do that though. He wanted to stay with Izuku even if the omega never looked at him ever again.

"How do I even start a conversation like that?" Katsuki muttered.

"Apologizing would be a good start." At the look on Katsuki's face, Kirishima sighed again. "You need to verbally talk to him, hash out everything between the two of you, but I guess you could start by getting on the ice with him. Maybe take him to do something that he'll really enjoy that he hasn't gotten a chance to do yet."

Several things popped into his head at once, but still he asked, "Like what?"

"I don’t know. You two have been seriously busy. Maybe take him to Downtown and go Christmas shopping and to see the lights. The Christmas tree is up, and they've opened the outdoor rink. He always gets excited during the holiday season."

Several distinct memories of making a day out of going to the outdoor rink on the first day of opening flitted through Katsuki’s mind. He scowled. "I hate all that gross Christmas shit. People are always way too loud and happy."

Kirishima laughed. "I know that, but this isn't about you. It's about him."

‘Fair point.’ Letting out a noncommittal grunt, Katsuki lengthened his stride and Kirishima whined as he started to fall behind. When they finally made it to the end of the trail, Katsuki waited for Kirishima, but also kept an eye out for Izuku to make sure the omega made it back.

Slowly, their teammates exited the path and started towards the rink. Izuku didn’t appear.

Kirishima shifted his weight from foot to foot, glancing between Katsuki and the path. After ten more minutes, he started talking, chattering without stopping.

Crossing his arms, Katsuki clenched his fists against his sides to keep his growing panic known. Kirishima’s neverending chatter was doing nothing to help him. Mostly, it just pissed him off.

Long minutes pass, and it was only when Katsuki was seconds away from plunging back into the forest and Kirishima was saying, “I’m sure he’s alright, man, this trail is really safe. All the trails are. And it’s Midoriya. I think we would have heard something by now if he was in trouble,” that there was movement at the trail mouth.

Izuku and Uraraka stopped as they spotted Katsuki and Kirishima.

He dragged his eyes over Izuku, looking for any signs that he’d been hurt and allowing his panic to subside, before looking over the omega’s face. His nose, lips and eyes were red, and there were clear signs that he’d been crying.

‘Omega sad. Comfort omega. Omega should not have to cry,’ his alpha said, and while Katsuki agreed, he couldn’t just go up to Izuku and hold him.

Instead, he met Izuku’s eyes pointedly again before turning and heading into the rink. From there, he turned towards the ice instead of the locker rooms where the rest of the team was. It had been three days since he last set foot on the ice, and he hadn’t realized just how much a deviation from his usual schedule would affect him. Sleep had been scarce, and frustration had been high. Not frustration at Izuku, but at himself. Because after everything, he was still somehow managing to fuck things up. Not to say he hadn’t been upset with Izuku, but it hadn’t lasted. Everything he’d said had been the truth.

Katsuki pulled on his skates with purposeful, quick jerks. By the time the three stragglers made it in, he was already taking off his guards to step onto the ice. He paused, glancing over his shoulder to catch Izuku’s gaze before stepping out. He found his way to center ice before coming to a stop and turning to wait for Izuku to join him. If he was going to join him.

He hoped the invitation was obvious. He wasn’t good with words. Never had been and had the sneaking suspicion never would be.

Uraraka and Kirishima were smirking, and together, pushed Izuku towards the rink. He glanced back at them, but they just waved him forward again. Only when he stepped away did they scurry away themselves, heads bent close together.

Katsuki waited patiently as Izuku slowly pulled out his skates. Every few seconds as he pulled them on, he glanced up as if to make sure Katsuki hadn’t gone anywhere.

Finally, standing at the entrance to the rink, he simply stared at Katsuki with trepidation written all across his face.

Instead of opening his mouth, worried something nasty and venomous was just going to come tumbling out as it so often did, he held out his hand.

Izuku’s face opened with relief, and he scrubbed at his eyes before hurrying out to meet Katsuki. They didn’t stay on the ice long, silently gliding around the rink a few times without any purpose, just contenting each other with the others presence.

As if following an unspoken signal, they stepped off the ice together, gathered up their belongings and went outside.

Izuku waited beside Katsuki, bouncing from foot to foot and breathing into his cupped hands as he locked the doors to the rink. When Katsuki turned, Izuku handed over Katsuki’s bag, a small cautious smile evident over the top edge of his scarf. The scarf Katsuki had given him.

For the first time in days, Katsuki spoke to Izuku. “Put on your fucking gloves, dumbass, that’s what you’ve got ‘em for. Fuck.” He stepped in close to Izuku, rummaging around his coat pockets despite the omega’s sudden stiffness and stammering and red cheeks. Pulling out the gloves, he pulled them onto Izuku’s hands with quick efficiency. He clasped Izuku’s hands between his own. “Where’s your hat? I swear, you’d be dead without me.” He reached around Izuku, and this time easily found his beanie in the outside pocket of his bag.

All the gifts he’d given Izuku on his person all at the same time. Katsuki smirked, self-satisfied, after he jerked the hat down over Izuku’s ears, flipping the bunny ears out of the omega’s face and over the top of his head. “Better. Let’s go.” He turned, striding away before Izuku could answer.

“What? Where are we going? Our building is the other way.” Izuku scrambled to catch up, falling into step beside Katsuki and stepping close as the sidewalk began to fill with bodies. The closer they got to Downtown, the more crowded it became. The signs of life grew exponentially, and it wasn’t long before the streets were filled with lights and holiday music and the sound of people living and loving together.

Katsuki glanced over at him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders to pull him close so they took up less space on the sidewalk. Izuku didn’t react to the sudden proximity like Katsuki had expected him to, eyes darting from one store front to the next. His eyes were wide, colored lights reflecting brightly off his corneas.

Glancing away as heat built along his collar, he said, “We’re not going home just yet.”

“What are we doing then?” Izuku asked, and he caught the glance the omega sent him.

He also caught the bright red of Izuku’s cheeks. ‘It’s just the cold. It’s just the cold. It’s just the cold,’ he chanted to himself.

‘Omega still responds to us. Hope!’ his alpha retorted.

On a whim, Katsuki steered them into a store front so frilly and lit up that his eyeballs actually throbbed in his head. The store was familiar, one of his few haunting grounds that made coffee exactly to his standards. Warmth and the heavy scent of coffee greeted them, and he unwound himself from Izuku to usher him through the double doors. “We’re getting hot chocolate to start off.”

As soon as Izuku had a chance to scan the coffee shop, his arm shot into the air. Jovially, he called, “Hagakure! Ojirou! I didn’t know you worked here!”

Neither did Katsuki, and he silently cursed.

The woman with her pale skin, pale blue eyes and the palest blonde hair on the planet waved back from behind the counter. “Midoriya! And Bakugou! What are you doing here?” She rounded the counter with a quick whisper to Ojirou who was sporting a baby blue apron. “Wow! It’s so weird seeing your guys off the ice.”

Izuku laughed. “It is, isn’t it? It’s nice though.”

“Yeah,” she cooed before stacking her gloved hands on her hips and smiling widely. “What can I do for you guys? Looking for a late night pick-me-up?”

“Kacchan said something about hot chocolate?” Izuku turned to Katsuki who would have been happier being ignored.

He hadn’t been expecting -realistically- to see any of their teammates that night. Had banked on it. He should have planned for the eventuality. It was the holiday season. Everyone was doing their Christmas shopping and enjoying the lights and shit.

He should have planned for it. Instead, Hagakure had a knowing smile playing across her mouth. Heat bloomed along his collar to crawl up his neck. Gruffly, he said, “Yeah. The Aztec spice for me and whichever the nerd wants.”

“You have multiples?” Izuku whispered reverentially as he whipped back around to look at Hagakure.

“Sure do! There’s a whole list for the holidays over there by Ojirou if you want to take a look.”

Izuku all but bounced over to the counter, greeting their other teammate with a bright chipper smile.

Hagakure and Katsuki didn’t move. “So…” she stared.

“Stop.”

She laughed, throwing her head back. “What? I haven’t said anything!”

Katsuki could feel his pulse in his cheeks, and he glared at her. “I know what you’re about to say. So, stop.”

“I just wanted to say that I’m happy for you. Just don’t fuck it up again, you know? And maybe get him something nicer than clothes and blankets? Just a suggestion.”

Katsuki didn’t even want to know how she knew about all of that, especially the blanket. He wanted to slam his head into a wall. Who was this beta trying to give him advice? They barely ever spoke, and he’d only ever thought of her as a teammate, even all these years later. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he ground out. But he allowed his eyes to remain glued on Izuku and for the warmth in his cheeks to fill his chest.

Hagakure pursed her lips. “You know, the one thing about basically being invisible is that people forget to check when they’re doing sketchy shit.” When he didn’t react, she simply said, “You’re courting him. I’ve seen you put a couple of those gifts in his bags. And don’t get me started on the lunches and snacks that I’ve seen you share. Just because he’s a dummy, doesn’t mean the rest of us are.”

Except that Izuku wasn’t actually a dummy, not in this sense. He’d known Katsuki’s intentions for a bit, eventually figured them out at least. It was just that he kept fucking shit up before actually getting the balls to properly ask Izuku to formally court him. Well, publicly at least. Katsuki hated that tradition dictated they go public. While he didn’t mind the idea of people knowing, the way he actually felt for the nerd was his and Izuku’s alone. If Izuku didn’t care about being public, he felt like that should have been good enough. Still, he knew how both of their parents would feel if they didn’t.

Working his jaw, Katsuki tried to find the words to reply that weren’t ‘fuck off’. If he really wanted to court Izuku, he couldn’t go alienating the nerd’s friends even if he wanted the omega all to himself. In the end, he muttered, “He wouldn’t like expensive shit. He’s not that kind of omega. The only non-functional things he owns are his skating memorabilia.” Before he was forced to endure whatever else she had to say in response, Izuku hopped back over with two takeaway cups and a smile cutting from ear to ear.

“Here you go, Kacchan!”

Katsuki took the cup with a grunt before grabbing Izuku’s hand and tugging him towards the door. “Let’s fucking go before more meddling happens.”

“Okay, bye, Hagakure, Ojirou!” Izuku called back, unperturbed by the frozen air just outside the door.

“Bye, sweetie! Have a good time! Make good choices!” Hagakure waved back enthusiastically before rounding the counter again.

Izuku waved for a few moments longer before bringing the cup in his hand to his lip. He hadn’t pulled his other from Katsuki’s, and instead used it to drag Katsuki into his side as they started to walk again. “So, what are we doing?”

“You haven’t gotten a chance to come down here this season, right?” Katsuki asked, keeping his eyes forward as he steered Izuku around a group of merry carolers. He felt more than saw Izuku shake his head, his curls sending up a cloud of sweet smelling mint and rain. “So, whatever you want.”

Izuku jerked them to a stop just as Katsuki was lifting his cup to his mouth. Hot liquid sprayed across his mouth, and he suppressed a curse. He thought the omega was about to really give it to him. Instead, when he looked at Izuku, he was met with wide sparkling green eyes and astonishment. Maybe the tongue lashing would have hurt less, but he knew he deserved every little twinge that spiked through his chest.

“What’s that look for?” he grumbled, glancing away from Izuku.

“Are you being serious?”

Katsuki snapped his eyes back around, indignation rising. “Why would I have said it if I weren’t being serious?”

Still, the astonishment stayed. “It’s just… it’s not like you, and after what happened at the beginning of the week…” Izuku dropped his eyes and then his hand, curling into himself. “It’s unexpected. I know you let me back on the ice, but I haven’t apologized. I don’t deserve your kindness.”

Considering what course of action to take, Katsuki eventually chose to reach around Izuku and pull his ponytail forward. He kept his fingers tangled in the supernaturally soft curls as Izuku shyly lifted his eyes to look at him.

“I haven’t apologized either. You’re not the only one at fault here. We’re both idiots.” Izuku’s eyes grew impossibly wide, but he didn’t speak. “So, what do you want to do?”

A smile grew quickly on Izuku’s face, and he pushed in close, wrapping his arms around Katsuki’s waist tightly. His cup was warm against Katsuki’s spine even through all of the layers he was wearing. “You’re going to regret asking me that,” he said, voice muffled in Katsuki’s jacket.

He sighed heavily. “I already knew that.”

Izuku pulled away, but not completely. Instead, he resumed their earlier position pressed shoulder to shoulder. “We have so much to do tonight,” he chirruped.

Katsuki grimaced, but went along without complaint.

For several hours, they peaked into packed stores strung from end to end with brightly colored lights and lengths of tinsel. Ate samples that said stores were handing out. Izuku did some actual Christmas shopping, picking up gifts for his mother, Katsuki’s parents, Uraraka and the rest of his friends. The entire time, he kept up a constant stream of chatter and singing.

And he never pulled his hand from Katsuki’s.

“The outdoor rink is open!” Izuku cried as they found themselves right in the middle of Downtown, the rink acting as the epicenter of the festivities.

The Christmas tree towered on the opposite end of the square as music played over the mass of bodies. There were so many lights strung around that there was no need for the usual street lamps or floodlights, and all stood dark beneath the Christmas lights. There weren’t actually that many people on the ice at the moment as Katsuki thought there would be, just a couple of kids and couples sticking close to the walls. Only a few brave souls had ventured out towards center ice, feet braced awkwardly and hands held out for balance.

“Let’s skate!” Izuku said emphatically, turning to completely face Katsuki, “Please, Kacchan! It’ll be closed for the season before I get to!”

“We skate every day, dumbass, what makes this rink different from ours?” Katsuki grumbled, beginning to feel the weight of his bag and the dragging of the day. It was well passed his usual bedtime, and he felt like an old man. An old man who needed a nap. “If you want to skate, we can just go back. At least there’s no people at our rink.”

“But that’s why I want to skate here.” Izuku was pulling him gently towards the booth renting out lockers and skates as if he moved slow enough that Katsuki wouldn’t notice what he was doing or something. “I love being on ice with so many people, all the excitement and energy they give off. I love being around people enjoying something I love just for the pleasure of enjoying it.”

Izuku’s words sounded extremely close to the reason Katsuki coached his students, and that more than anything unstuck his feet. He followed along behind Izuku, and waited by the wooden benches set up for the skaters to change into the skates while he got them skates and a locker to shove their things in. When he came back, he grinned and held up two pairs of ratty, ugly, abused skates.

“Why don’t we just use our own skate?” Katsuki asked, lip curled up in disgust as he stared at the sorry excuse for skates the omega was offering him. He hadn’t worn a pair of those skates since he was ten-years-old, but he was 99.9% sure they had never once been replaced in those twelve years. He didn’t even want to think of whose disease ridden feet may have been in them prior. “I’m not putting those on.”

Izuku pushed them towards him more insistently. “Come on, Kacchan, it’s part of the experience. Also-” His eyes darted towards the ice, completely ruined by hundreds of other people and the poor condition of the blades they were skating on. “I don’t really want to have to sharpen my blades after being on this ice. My current blades are probably still the most expensive things I’ve ever owned.”

Following his gaze and grimacing, Katsuki muttered, “Fine,” before taking the skates and sitting down heavily. He laced them up just like he would his own, and his grimace deepened when he stood and realized just how wrong wearing someone else’s skates felt. It wasn’t a pleasant feeling, for sure, but Izuku looked pleased as punch when he stood up beside Katsuki.

He toddered over to the lockers with their belongings and shoes, unceremoniously shoving everything into the locker’s depths before forcing it closed. When he turned, he was still grinning both a little smuggly and proudly. “Come on, Kacchan! Let’s skate!”

It took them several long minutes of trying to find a space between people to dart out to center ice, but once they were there, Izuku held out a hand. He smiled cheekily. “May I have this dance?”

“Gross,” Katsuki spat, but he was fighting back a smile as he grabbed the omega’s hand and dragged him in against his body.

Instead of following the routine for their programme, they just let their bodies move with the music. Still, they were in perfect sync. Laughter stayed on Izuku’s lips and a smile eventually broke out on Katsuki’s as they moved. It had been twelve years since they’d allowed themselves to be silly with each other, to just enjoy skating for the sake of skating, to forget about skill and technique and just skate.

They were planets orbiting a star where the other was the sun and they were the hapless, helpless planet caught in the sun’s gravity. Time became a distant construct as they spun and jumped and crashed together and flew apart.

At some point while holding Izuku’s hand above his head to spin him around and around and around, Katsuki realized that people were watching them more than skating. There were phones pointed in their direction and the holiday music had gotten louder, but nothing could really secure his attention like the sound of Izuku’s raucous laugh and teeth as he smiled helplessly.

Tackling Izuku around the waist and lifting him off his feet, he spun them around until the world was a blur of colors and Izuku’s face was the only thing in focus.

“Kacchan!” Izuku screeched, clutching onto his shoulder. His grip was for balance rather than out of fear, and after a moment, he flung his arms out to the sides and allowed Katsuki to hold him steady. Through his laughter, he called, “I’m getting dizzy!”

‘Me too. Dizzy on you,’ Katsuki thought nonsensically as he slowed to a stop. He let Izuku slide back to the ground, and together, they stumbled towards the wall while the assembled crowd clapped and crowed.

Katsuki leaned back against the wall, working to catch his breath even as it continued to escape in little puffs of laughter. Beside him, Izuku was still giggling, clutching onto the wall as if for dear life.

“Kacchan?”

Lifting his head from where it hung between his shoulders, Katsuki turned to look at Izuku. There were fingers there on the back of his neck, soft material warm against his skin, and before he could wonder what they were doing there, Izuku pressed his lips to Katsuki’s.

Katsuki went stalk still, brain struggling to connect the dots of what was happening to how he’d imagined kissing Izuku.

“Sorry, Kacchan,” Izuku was whispering as he pulled away, cheeks rose red and smile small, “I just couldn’t hold back anymore. I-”

Bracketing Izuku’s face between his palms, Katsuki pulled him back in, unable to handle even the short distance he’d put between them. He kissed him again, hungry and wanting and desperate, sliding his hands back into those perfect curls and holding on tight.

Izuku hummed against his lips, opening to him easily.

They melted into each other, and only virtue of being in public kept them from following their desires further.

When they parted, putting only enough space between each other to allow for panting breaths, Izuku whispered, “Why didn’t we do that sooner?”

Katsuki huffed out a breathless laugh. “Because I’m an idiot.”