#hvhdhc

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Half-Villain, Half-Demon, Half-Cat

Chapters: 2/20

Fandom: Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia (Anime & Manga)

Word Count (so far): 37k

Relationships:

🌠 Bakugō Katsuki/Todoroki Shōto 🎇

🧊 Todoroki Shouto & Todoroki Siblings 🍣

🧨 Bakugō Katsuki & Todoroki Shōto ☄️

🍱 Class 1-A & Todoroki Shōto 🥢

Summary:

It’s a dangerous thing to think, that he’ll be any better at this kind of game. That he’ll be the one to make any meaningful change just because he’s been given the power of choice.

Now that Shouto knows his older brother isn’t locked-up in some cell waiting for a Hero to save him—a Hero he’d had a hand in inspiring to aspire, a Hero who held out a hand to inspire him in return—it’s a relief. Shouto doesn’t have to be the kind of Hero who would reassure Touya that it wasn’t too late to dream, to be. (Not anymore, not really.)

Because Touya chooses to be Dabi, and Shouto has a choice.

Continuation of an AU where Todoroki Shouto had different choices, lived a different past, and changed his starting line. While the Todoroki family lies at the heart of a global conspiracy, Shouto’s in his second semester of U.A. High with Bakugou Katsuki at his side.

[caruliaa]

evil has been blocked defeted 😌

WAIT A SEC OH NO

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hvhdhc chapter 1 spoilers without context

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14k words for the third draft of chapter 21 AND 11k words (so far) for the second draft of chapter 22 of hvhdhc LET’S GOOOOOOOOO YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

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hvhdhc chapter 2 spoilers without context

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bit of an announcement! i’ve mentioned here-and-there that i’ve prepared + outlined five arcs for hch4

HOWEVER, i’ve decided to split up the first and second arcs into hch4 + the third and fourth arcs into hvhdhc for thematic and framing reasons on ao3! this fic follows the half-and-half motif in-text and through its narrative structuring, so why not flaunt it, ya know?

and, of course, since i’m all about nuance and subverting expectations, the fifth arc’s its own beast: hah

had a lot to think about because i’d grown so attached to the hch4 title BUT it isn’t going anywhere, it’s just getting two sibs!

so if you’re seeing the 19/20 and wondering HOW on EARTH?? haha no, there’s a bit more to go, including shōto’s ice radio dilemma, a todoroki genealogy field trip, a todoroki lecture in quirk evolution cheats, PUBLIC RELATIONS HERO TRAININGS, death, stars, games, stories, and boba orders!

as always, thanks for reading my story + i can’t wait to share what i’ve got in store!!

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update: ch. 2 of hvhdhc has officially made me cry

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Ok quick question:

Does Todoroki have romantic feelings for Bakugo? Because all I know is that you said, after they kissed, that Bakugo's mindset was "maybe he was serious about getting married" and that Shouto's was "coming to terms with a [platonic] marriage." And then at the end of the fic, Shouto never actually specifies what the truth is considering his relationship and feelings for Bakugo. So...

Unless this will be covered in HVHDHC..?

HAVE A WIP ON THE HOUSE! ∠(ᐛ 」 ∠)＿

“Katsuki.” A tug. “Please tell me what I did.”

The summer air’s the same as it had been, as are the feelings—the emptiness, the weightlessness, the hopefulness. But the sounds are different, the hands have all been dealt, and he isn’t dreaming. He’s awake for this. He’ll stay awake for this.

There’s something else, too—the lack of hatred, the loosened grip, the letting go. A few things are different, it turns out. (Wrong again.)

Yes, Katsuki still has choices and Shouto doesn’t have all the answers he thought he did back then, but he’s mastered flight. And against all odds, he’s here.

Shouto stands in the way of so little, but he’ll wait and he’ll stand and he’ll pay for it and he’ll stay here in this moment.

Then, Katsuki inhales loudly. The next breath out—it’s shaky, unbalanced.

Still, Shouto waits.

“For all your big talk on accepting your feelings ya never actually said what the hell your feelings were,” Katsuki accuses in a tone that’s anything but. (If Shouto’s not mistaken, it’s half-envious and half-hopeful.) “Jumped right into houseplants an’ chores! A job offer. Commitment crap when you an’ me haven’t even gone on a damn”—the not-accusation gets overshadowed by the half-joyous and half-admiring tone Katsuki fails to swallow down—“date an’ it’s, I mean, c’mon, they headlined some orgs tryna get it legalized? One stupid-ass interview with some punk who ain’t even the main punk outta all those bigshots up there and it’s, like—”

Shouto tilts his head as Katsuki makes an aimless gesture as if telling him to “look around.” Before Shouto can think to obey, his hand slumps back down against his side with a fwip.

“There’s the finish line for those people, people like you an’-an’, an’ me!!” Half-prideful wars with half-fearful. (Both get swallowed up, too.) “There it is! Right there, dammit!”

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OKAY i know it’s been SOME time since last post BUT i’ve been on a bender arranging written scenes into chapters and devising all the trainings that happen in hvhdhc AND!!!

god i LOVE writing!!! i love it!!!!!! it’s so much fun cuz WHAT DO YOU MEAN i can just?? reinterpret & recontextualize plot elements and character dynamics from OVA 4 to show character development and team-up dynamic reprisals???? that DIRECTLY parallel earlier stuff from hch4????? for FREE???????

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Snippet from hch4 ch. 10: “From Shouto to ‘Hero’”

“Hey, you! Frostbite!”

“…”

“HEY! HEY, I’M TALKIN’ TO YOU, YA BASTARD!!”

“…”

“GIVE ME THOSE! TRYNA IGNORE ME, HUH? WELL, NOT SO FA—”

Shink.

“OH, WANNA PLAY, THEN?! COME AT ME!! BRING IT ON, ICE PRINCE!”

Ka-boom.

“You.”

“LOOK ME IN THE EYE, WHITE CHRISTMAS!! NOWHERE TO RUN! AN’ NOW?! NOTHIN’ TO HIDE BEHIND! YOU’RE GONNA PAY THE HELL ATTENTION TO ME!!”

“You blew up my earbuds.”

“WHAT, YOU BLIND OR SOMETHIN’?? NEEDA REPEAT IT TO MAKE SENSE IN THAT DAMN HEAD O’ YOURS?! I AIN’T LETTIN’ YOU GET AWAY CUZ IT’S TIME TO GET FREAKIN’ SERIOUS!!”

“No.”

“NO?? THAT ALL YA GOTTA SAY, HUH?! THEN, GUESS IT’S MY TUR—”

“Fine. The longer we stand here by the entrance of the classroom, the more likely you’re going to be late.”

“WHAT SCHOOL DIDJA EVEN GO TO?? WHAT WORLD, HUH?? YOU’RE GONNA BE FREAKIN’ LATE, TOO, ICE PRINCE! DUH! OR DIDJA FORGET?!”

“Corusan Middle. I graduated with top marks. I didn’t even need to show up on time. Or at all. Nothing ever went on my record, Bakugou. This incident won’t, either. But it will go on yours. The property damage, this poor excuse of a blockade. Unless you let me in.”

“…”

“…”

Pop-pop-pop.

“Spare me.”

“Get the hell outta my face, you bastard.”

“Thank you.”

“Shaddup. Just–just shaddup!”

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Snippet from hch4 ch. 10: “From Shouto to ‘Hero’”

“Bakugou.”

“Icyhot bastard.”

“Tch. I will delight in crashing into you next time you try something as stupid as refusing to get out of my way.”

“My note. You got it? Right?”

“Yes, you helpfully signed it.”

“And you burned it? Right??”

“Yeah, I was there.”

“Tomorrow? You’re dead. Cuz I’ll be the one crushing you, your ice, your flames, all of it.”

“Goodbye, Bakugou.”

“STOP PUNKIN’ ME LIKE THAT! MOVIN’ ME TO THE SIDE WITH YOUR STUPID ICE AIN’T GONNA WORK NEXT TIME!! I’LL FREAKIN’ BURY YOU! WATCH ME, I’M GONNA KILL Y—”

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Snippet from hch4 ch. 10: “From Shouto to ‘Hero’”

According to the U.A. student handbook and policy, there was one loophole to Quirk use in non-designated areas: a special exception.

Exceptions were granted on a case-by-case basis but, in practice, rarely honored unless your parent or guardian was willing to put up a fight. The recent inclusion of exceptions into the handbooks and policies and procedures of Japanese schools was primarily due to health and funding concerns rather than a strict compliance with School Education Laws that the Japanese government had only adopted sometime after the United States and other countries did. Everything detailed within the exception was only valid if the student was on-campus, so school-sanctioned trips were exempt and U.A. would not be liable in case of a miscommunication.

Usually, a doctor’s note and diagnosis was part of the process, as well as a meeting with a parent or legal guardian to confirm the student’s unique situation and the necessity of Quirk use. There were other things, too, but Shouto didn’t remember what else would be relevant enough to warrant wanting to be singled-out more in a school environment.

And then there were all the addendums to that clause Mutant classifications had to adhere to.

Of course, Iida probably read through the whole thing and committed parts to memory that could be reasonably relevant. Maybe he read it because taking instructions seriously—even when it was to read through things no one should ask a student to read through and reasonably expect every single student read through everything and recite it on command—was his thing. But, after Hosu, Shouto was certain there’s more to Tensei’s younger brother than a rule-abiding student.

On the other hand, Shouto himself had read through the whole thing for two reasons: 1) to know which rules he could reasonably get away with ignoring, and 2) because Endeavor's reputation paid the price as his associates fought the battle on his behalf. It only felt right to know what that was about.

So far, U.A. had honored it. He’d been skateboarding to-and-fro without causing an incident that makes Daily Hero News and any of those other news blog sites he didn’t subscribe to.

Shouto was under the belief that it was because his father held the mantle of number two, Endeavor was an alumnus, and Endeavor’s associates—his legal and public relations teams—were the top of their respective professions in the nation. At the very least, Shouto hadn’t done anything worth fighting over, which would only tank alumni funding, further corrode faith in the future of Hero society, and jeopardize their position as best Hero school in the nation.

U.A. had survived tough times. They might not survive Todoroki Shouto.

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Snippet from hch4 ch. 4: “What Can Be Done For Now”

Today’s class proved that Heroics wasn’t all battling and butting heads. It could be expanding the definition of what Pro Hero work entailed. Their lesson on search-and-rescue served that purpose, so Shouto only imagined that definition would grow to encompass a general overview of the several recognized categories of Professional Heroes.

What was supposed to be a break in battling was taken hostage by a group of Villains out to kill All Might.

In some ways, he’d been relieved that it wasn’t a different kind of logical ruse. The whole ordeal with Class 1-A chasing a cat they thought was a “lesson” on “clue-finding” had been eye-opening to what could, technically, be defined as a logical ruse. But the Villain group had, helpfully, given them all a brief statement of purpose that left no questions, so Shouto had dismissed the idea.

That settlement was replaced by the pleasant surprise of unanticipated teleportation. Likely a Quirk, Shouto considered as it was actively being activated and swallowing him. Why the world-at-large hadn’t capitalized on the variety of transportation, teleportation, and other warping Quirks would remain a mystery. It’d be helpful for campuses as large as U.A.’s—he knew because he’d covered the entire campus on that first day and missed all of seventh period because of it. Though, he didn’t get very far on the logistics of Quirk travel because, wherever he’d been dumped, he hadn’t been alone.

He’d landed in what he’d later been told was the “Landslide Zone,” froze everyone who tried to make an attempt on his life, and demanded to know what their plan was in exchange for their lives. Or their skin.

Shouto had also taken measures to significantly lower everyone’s body temperatures to prevent flailing or attempts to break free until he was told something. No one but him needed to know he’d worked in a subtler trick that Natsuo had once described would be “overkill” if achieved when a teary-eyed Shouto had drilled him on the Quirk he shared with their sister and mother.

Outside of the ransoming the integrity of their scummy skin for information, a part of him had still been skeptical about the logical ruse thing. He also may have gotten several people sick, which wasn’t as horrible as causing their skin to rot away but it was still rather distinctly something Pro Heroes shouldn’t do. Shouldn’t be caught doing.

Anyways, his father had demanded a report from him that would’ve been better answered by anyone else.

If Endeavor had gone with one of the names on the Class 1-A roster Shouto had delivered himself at his request and interrogated them for a change, he wouldn’t have needed to chase as many pills with a glass of water as he had after training that night. Even the Pros who’d shown up after probably knew more than he did.

Still, he’d gone over everything. Had been prompted for more details, so he’d concluded that judging by the way that Villain looked at All Might, he was probably after more than just skin. Maybe bone.

What he didn’t talk about was the way it felt to be there: a three-on-five match became a front-row seat to the battle-of-a-lifetime. The kind that mothers warned their children to never grow up to stand around and watch because you could get hurt in the crossfire. That kind of battle.

Surprisingly, they did end up going over search-and-rescue four days later. Unsurprisingly, their lesson on search-and-rescue became just that: a battle.

Shouto liked the “Landslide Zone” better when it was populated by Villains. He was pretty sure he managed to keep that thought to himself.

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Snippet from hch4 ch. 7: “Origin”

He isn’t sure what he would say. He isn’t sure he should even be watching this—he belongs to a different world than them, after all. But then his eye catches on something else. Shouto knows it’s Bakugou before he looks, but he looks, anyways.

From this distance, he can’t visually confirm if Bakugou’s actively scanning the crowd or if he’s already locked onto his target. But, judging by how still he is, Shouto thinks he’s found it. He briefly wonders if Bakugou can see him from all the way down there. Then again, his ladder and climbing stunts had proved that it isn’t too far of a drop as he imagined it was upon first glance. Still, he’d only been able to identify Endeavor’s Hellflame because he knows what to look for.

But he watches Bakguou stand alone in the arena as the dust settles and he stares up at the crowd. And his final opponent will be Bakugou. Even after everything, he lost that particular bet.

He hears fate laughing over one shoulder as a warning hand grips onto the other as if they’re both in on the same joke. And, because Shouto’s curious, he tilts his head.

He watches Bakugou tilt his head in the same direction, confirming his conspiracy.

Shouto was a weird kid. Natsuo told him more frequently than Fuyumi did, but he knew Fuyumi agreed with the judgement call.

Shouto thought the head-tilting was the clearest example of this other than the bug-eating (when he claimed that he didn’t like the flavors they had to choose from), playing with animal skulls (after inheriting Natsuo and Touya’s old toys), and attacking the hired help on-sight (only if they brought groceries). Because he never meant to start the head-tilting as a deliberate way to gauge whether or not he had someone’s attention. That had come later with experience socializing and noticing mirrored behaviors.

Shouto never liked to talk much and resorted to expressions, gestures, and sounds to get what he didn’t feel like saying across. Of course, Shouto didn’t really make expressions, gesticulate, or inadvertently sound out noises of frustration or vocalize surprise and pain if the situation could be navigated in total silence, so he was quiet for the most part.

Shouto had a bad habit of staring in the mirror and practice them one-after-the-other, as if someone were going to test him on how to convey that he “didn’t want to go play soccer in the backyard” or “was hungry.” Shouto had a bad habit of staring at Fuyumi and Natsuo, then mirroring their expressions, gestures, and sounds—everything from vocables, to tones, and especially the unintentional curses when something went wrong.

Fuyumi and Natsuo hated whenever he copied them. But Fuyumi and Natsuo also hated whenever he’d look at them blankly and tilt his head—something entirely original yet just-as-irritating in the eyes of their pre-teen selves.

Fuyumi had hated it whenever she took him with her to go break things. Usually it was plates from their kitchen, but potted bonsai trees had made an appearance once.

And, anyways, Shouto stood there and watched as she shattered plates against the same wall that was decorated with the same mural. But, when she finished, he tilted his head. Then, Shouto stood there and watched, tilting his head the other way as she stomped away from the scene, leaving the mess behind her. She’d left him there for hours.

After she came back and told Shouto to stop trying to clean up an alleyway because it was an alleyway, he’d tilt his head at her again as she grabbed his hand and yanked him back towards the familiar house on their familiar street. She’d been eleven when she first brought him to the mural. She’d been fourteen when she brought him there for the last time. Sometimes, Shouto stopped by that mural while finishing chores.

He’d been five and eight. But he’d just turned eleven when he returned to that spot to find that it was a mural of Japan’s top three Pro Heroes at the time standing on a silhouetted cityscape. They were spray-painted to look strong, cool, and capable, as spray-painted spotlights pointed outwards into the spray-painted violet-blue sky behind them. The Heroes themselves were spray-painted black in their signature poses: All Might’s left arm raised, Endeavor mid-stride as his flames burned, and Best Jeanist’s trademark cat’s cradle crouching pose.

But the spray paint had faded, an abandoned garbage bin covered the bottom half of the thing, and Fuyumi had done a number on the wall over the course of three years that there were still recognizable scratches and stains still visible, so it was significantly less intimidating.

What intimidated him was how that third head tilt was the only time Fuyumi ever mirrored him before she’d caught herself in the act and made up for it by guaranteeing that Shouto’s arm would be numbingly cold the entire trip back.

The other two times, she’d only stared at him. She’d get lost in her head, blaming him for everything wrong in her life because it was easier to have a target than to be angry at a mural and the father that didn’t sit with them at dinner, refuse significant others outright, or sternly dissuade them from staying out too late because they had a curfew. Like the father figures in her TV dramas—and all the fathers she saw standing with her friends on Parents’ Day or in the crowds at School Festivals. But her anger over being left to step up and care for her two younger brothers made sure there was enough in her to aim at Endeavor’s head, too, when she wasn’t aiming for Shouto’s tilted one.

Shouto still stopped by that mural while finishing up chores. He considered the possibilities and the price he’d paid again-and-again—the price he was still paying.

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I just wanted to tell you that I love HCH4, and I'm so glad you made it. :3

Though if you wouldn't mind telling me, what does the acronym HVHDHC stand for? I know it's the next fic, but it took me until the end of the fic to understand that HCH4 stood for "Half-Cold, Half-Hot, Half-Hero" ^w^; lol

Also, just so you know, every time Todoroki (and/or Bakugo) publicly does something romantic (even if he doesn't think it's romantic or it really isn't romantic for him), it kills me. Legit, I had to take deep breaths cause of how uncomfortable I got. So, idk, maybe, for me, you could put that kind of content in your content warnings? (Your content warnings have saved me cause I don't understand most of what happens, so when I read the content warnings (and end notes!), I can finally imagine what happened with that context.)

THANKS THANKS THANKS!!! i’m so glad i made (and posted) it too!! reading everyone’s comments have brought the laughs, the head nods, all the emotions :-)

not at all!! i might’ve forgotten to post that lil announcement! Yikes! i’m gonna go search my drafts for it right after this haha!!

hvhdhc stands for Half-Villain, Half-Demon, Half-Cat! because i liked the rhythm of it (and the hard “C’s” mirroring one another if you cram the titles together) + parallels + i finally get to explain/indulge in several upcoming concepts hinted at as a more recognizable and formal departure from the main overarching storyline presented in canon so NEW title highlighting one of the biggest change, which is All Those Quirks!

tbh, i still have some of my drafts labeled HCHHHH haha!! it unintentionally distinguished my first drafts from my final ones and i stuck with the shorter one as a tag ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ so fun tidbit about writing process things!

AND AHHHHH NOOOO I’M SORRY FOR THE DISCOMFORT ( ꈨຶ ˙̫̮ ꈨຶ ) THE USAGE OF SECOND-HAND EMBARRASSMENT IN STUFF I LIKE ALWAYS HAS ME GETTING UP & WALKING AWAY SO I DID MY BEST TO LEAN INTO HUMOR AS MISCOMMUNICATION/MISUNDERSTANSING WITH LOW STAKES + IMPLYING THE SENTIMENT IS MUTUALLY UNDERSTOOD + THE SEMI-AWKWARD CONFESSIONS THEMSELVES WOULDN’T BE UNWELCOME/DENIED/SHUT DOWN INTENTIONALLY (Bakugō Katsuki) OR MEANLY (Todoroki Shōto) IF UNDERSTOOD/COMMUNICATED!! it’s the timing of the sincerity that would’ve been an issue for both of them so feel free to blame my characterization + plot for forcing my hand to bring in my most loathed memories that still keep me up at night to this day as references (ʘ‿ʘ✿)

and thanks thanks thanks for letting me know!! will DEFINITELY be putting something down in the content warnings as an edit in the chapters i think you’re referring to + for any future Moments (and..... oh boy...... the CDs too...... yeah.....)!!! “Miscommunication/Misunderstanding of Romantic Intent” + a little description of the scene(s)/whodunnit this time in parentheses is what i’m thinking?

also that is so, so Good to me because u are not the only one who looks to the content warnings & end notes for clarification when my writing leans into a more purple prose/intentional distancing from the POV character! a very, very experimental stylization i’ve been dabbling in! curating and figuring out how to best present what comes up in my story through show and tell and Dialogue-Heavy avenues has been a struggle, so i’m glad that the work is well worth it + it’s helped in more ways than one (☞ﾟヮﾟ)☞

THANK U AGAIN SO SO SO MUCH FOR READING + SENDING AN ASK MY WAY!! YOU’RE WELCOME TO ASK ABOUT CONFUSING THINGS OR DEMAND WHAT I WAS THINKING WITH X-Y-Z HAHA!! FEEL FREE TO STICK AROUND AS LONG AS YOU’D LIKE :-)

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ALRIGHT FIRST DRAFT IS DONE FOR CH. 22 WITH A WHOPPING 21k!!!!! (feat. Aftermath + Much Needed Conversations + The Inherent Humor Of Showing Up Late To Class)

14k words for the third draft of chapter 21 AND 11k words (so far) for the second draft of chapter 22 of hvhdhc LET’S GOOOOOOOOO YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA