#like not even deku's and todoroki's lines are in direct response to each other

[helpimstuckinafandom]

Okay hold on so you're telling me that these rings with important lines from the characters with full-ass sentences are out here, and Kirishima's most important line - the biggest, most impactful thing from all the encouraging shit he's ever said - was just that one word. Everyone's got full sentences - Hawks has two whole rows of text - but Kirishima's is just. that. one. word. Yelling for Bakugou. Telling Bakugou to come to him. Holding out his hand. Just that one simple comand. His ring is reaching out to Bakugou.

And Bakugou's ring is a direct reply

[tteokdoroki]

what he lost | k.bakugou.

⇝ pairing: katsuki bakugou x fem!reader.

⇝ word count: 5.4K

⇝ rating: for everyone.

⇝ genre: pro hero!au, exes!au, angst.

⇝ summary: back then; he was young, dumb and a little too prideful, taking your love for granted. now, years down the line he wonders if he’ll ever stand a chance in getting you back or the one in which katsuki bakugou grew up a little too late.

⇝ warning(s): please read ! heavy angst, no happy ending, mentions of toxic relationships, emotional distress, mentions of violence ( explosions, fight scenes, knives, blood ) and cursing all around.

⇝ author’s note(s): greetings everyone!! i hope you’re all doing well, today’s one-shot is a request from @killakatsuki​​, i know you wanted a happy ending but i got a little ahead of myself eee !! anyways thank you all for 400+ followers, i love you all :(

⇝ masterlist | requests

“katsuki bakugou if you leave me right now, please... please don’t come back.”

bakugou had always hated that, he thought, casting his gaze elsewhere in the room. he always hated how you cried when you were angry, red hot tears stinging a pathway down the apples of your usually glowing cheeks.

he couldn’t quite place the reasoning as to why. maybe it was because you rarely ever found yourself angry or perhaps it was how pathetic you looked when your bottom lip wobbled and your harsh words were laced with watery sobs.

or maybe it was because he didn’t want to feel sorry for you, didn’t want to comfort you when he was too prideful to admit that you were right. “whatever, don’t tell me what the fuck to do.” he spits, eyes and voice full of a venom he barely ever uses against you. he watches with a scarlet gaze as you falter, as if a knife has dug deep into your heart and cut you all up but bakugou only scoffs and continues to pack his side kick costume into the duffle bag he’s got on your shared bed.

every fibre of his being is tell him to reach out for you and apologise, he knows that he’s wrong. keeping his late night shifts from you, working extra hours— of course you were going to worry but he needed you to understand that being a hero was his dream above all else. the last thing he needed was a distraction like you.

something in you changed that night, both of you. as the rain hit hard on the roof of your shared apartment, even as you took his things and threw them out into the hall and even as you gave him one last chance on the doorstep. “you can leave now and not comeback or you can stay and we’ll talk this through—“ your eyes spoke to him in a silent plead, asking him if he would really give up the life that you’d built for lies and a better job?

but you knew the answer already.

“like i said,” katsuki rolled his eyes as knowing sobs wracked your body. “i never needed you anyways.”

you slammed the door before he could walk away and forget the tears in your eyes.

six years later and katsuki is pissed.

he’d been irritable since this morning when his interns fucked up the paperwork at his agency— leaving him to clean it up and then when his assistant brought him the wrong coffee and forgot to notify him of the pro hero meeting he was currently attending right at this very minute.

of course heroes of all different calibers were present; including none other than the number two, shoto todoroki, who was in charge of directing this week’s patrol missions but something about that only grinds the explosive pro’s gears even more. although, he could see himself being even more pissed if the number one; deku had shown his face instead of being away on an overseas mission. the schedule for this week’s patrol sits heavily in bakugou’s hand and he almost wants to burn it to pieces just at the thought of working with his future partner.

‘yn ln.’

the sight of your name printed in block capitals next to his has the ash blonde reeling, glancing up to send a blazing scowl towards shoto. he feels set up, as if the half hot, half cold bastard is dangling you right in front of him— its not like todoroki doesn’t know the history that sits between bakugou and yourself, after all,  he had been the friend you’d ran off to during the fight that ended your five year relationship.

it’s like todoroki had a sixth sense because by the time he’d finish announcing the pair ups, he’d tiredly caught wind of katsuki’s heated stare. “bakugou—“

“i wanna fuckin’ switch, icyhot.”

“you can’t.”

bakugou stands from his seat next to kirishima ( who only looks apologetically at his colleagues ), annoyance rippling through his veins as he approaches the taller male. “why the fuck not?” he growls, small explosions sparking in the palms of his sweaty hands ( he was undeniably nervous because of the impending patrol ) the group of heroes simultaneously sigh— having been used to the explosive pro’s usual outbursts.

todoroki sighs, running his cooler hand over his face. “because the pairs have been matched up by quirk and strength, on top of that they were done in advance so if you really have a problem with it then i suggest you take it up with the number one—“ the dual quirked hero falls silent, a triumphant smirk appearing on his lips as red riot pulls his friend away before it’s too late.

“dude, you can’t just go blowing people up!” the red head scolds beneath bakugou’s sailor mouth, wrestling him over to the couch.

katsuki feels defeated, there’s no way to get out of this situation. he’s done his best these last few years to avoid you like the plague. it was somewhat easy, considering you were lower in the ranks compared to him, so there wasn’t much time to interact anyway. but katsuki hated the fact that he had always thought you would fall below him.

nonetheless; he took to switching event time tables around, rejecting hang outs with his old high school friends... all to avoid you, and now that he had to see you face to face, he wasn’t sure how to react. would you still hate him? how did you feel about working with him?

there’s not much time to dwell on the thought for kirishima is already patting his back and guiding him out of the meeting as it ends, the promise of drinks at an ‘heroes only bar’ hanging in the air.

“you’re so handsome, ground zero ! thank you for protecting japan !”

bakugou can feel the bile rising in the back of his throat at the words from the sickly sweet fan, so he gives a nonchalant grunt in response as he finishes up his signature on her notebook before continuing his march to your hero agency. it’s been a few days since the meeting between the pro heroes and all the number three wants is to make it to your agency without being fawned over by more obsessive fans.

he gives the fan a casual wave, ignoring the look of disappointment on her face— either she was expecting his number or for him to grow bashful under her flurry of compliments but katsuki was never one for fan service.

he hated fans that expected something from him, ones who wanted more than a casual chat with their favourite pro hero but he wouldn’t let them in. they didn’t want the intimate, vulnerable sides of katsuki bakugou like you had— maybe that made the ash blonde stuck on you.

yn ln was the only girl in his life who had tried to understand the many layers of the hot headed hero, you saw past his aggressive nature and touched the deepest parts of his soul…parts that you longed to love and keep safe.

you’d loved him for who he was below the surface, not for the money and fame he had come to amass as number three in the ranks.

behind scarlet eyes are the best moments of the hero’s life, each shared with you. katsuki had took for granted the seconds you had been with him, even from the very start— he didn’t care for the way that you held him after he’d been kidnapped, clinging onto him like he’d disappear or would never return to your arms, he should have cherished the tears of worry you shed for him too but katsuki was too prideful at the time.

too full of himself even with his raging nightmares that you had managed to soothe.  

you’d comforted him after he’d failed the licensing exams, promised him he’d still get to be the greatest hero of all time and still, bakugou had cared for none of this. now that he’d thought about it, he hadn’t been good to you, he didn’t know how you’d dealt with they way he undermined your quirk and doubted your ability to protect him when he should have been the one to protect you.

your love was wasted on him, and for that bakugou needed to apologise.

hands in his pockets, katsuki’s mind could have been said to be away with the fairies, haunted by the night he came home with a half hearted apology on his lips to an empty apartment and a note from you. something about staying with the icyhot bastard and not to contact you.

that is until he collided with the back of someone in the crowd. “hey!” he’s quick to growl out to the figure, a slight snarl to the words leaving his mouth. “watch where you’re going, shitty extra—“

“ah, katsuki! nice to see you haven’t changed,” your voice sends shivers down the blonde’s spine, bright red eyes focusing on you and only you. your smile is bright, dazzling under the hot japan sun and even if katsuki hadn’t changed, you certainly had— your pretty eyes he used to get lost in, he used to watch glimmer with tears now hold a different kind of light, they greyish hue that dulled you over your time with him had finally cleared.

you looked healthy, happier and bakugou realises how much your relationship must’ve wore you down.

he feels like he doesn’t deserve the grin that you give him; the one you would save just for him in the early mornings you’d spent together back when you were dating. maybe that makes his heart jumps out of his chest.

“y-yn— “

he hadn’t prepared himself for your sweet, airy giggle that fills the space between you. “ground zero getting shy on me now? don’t tell me you forgot about our shift today, did’ya?”

“n-no, ‘course not, dumbass.” fuck, katsuki’s heart thumps against his ribcage so loud that he’s afraid you might hear it with the little distance between you. since when did you make him nervous? despite the pet name, you still give him a laugh as a flicker of fondness twinges in your bright eyes.

it’s quickly replaced when you blink it away, beckoning ground zero into your hero offices. “nice to see that sailor’s mouth hasn’t changed either ,” you mumble more so to yourself than him. bakugou walks a few paces behind you while you explain to him that you have to finish assigning your sidekicks and interns a few low level missions before you can head off for the day.

the group of young heroes are excitable, seemingly loving the opportunity to work with you— their chatter is loud but it gives katsuki time to drink you in.

crimson eyes travel over your form while you talk— your hero costume has changed a lot since your U.A and sidekick days.

you’d interned under the number two at the time, hawks, thus leading you to have become one of his most trusted sidekicks. no doubt; his skill level had not only  improved your abilities, how you controlled your quirk but your costume as well.

your quirk was known as lullaby, if you could sing a tune in the right pitch to certain groups of people, it allowed you control over the abilities and to put them to sleep. this obviously however meant you were poor at short distance attacks— something bakugou always teased you for, so he was excited to see how you’d improved.

your suit had a visor that allowed you to amplify your quirk, while patterns of the night sky dressed your body— paying homage to your hero name ‘nightsky’.

katsuki felt bad to imprinting the image of your skin tight, midnight blue suit into his mind but back when he had known you like you were his, your costume hadn’t been nearly as advanced as this.

snapping fingers pull him from his thoughts before they can get too hazy.

“eyes are up here, explosion boy.”

katsuki’s gaze snaps up to meet yours, an angry red to rival his gemstone eyes spreading like wildfire across his cheeks. “i wasn’t staring.” he tries his best to defend himself, but your knowing look tells him that you’ve caught him red handed.

“of course you weren’t, sidekicks left about ten minutes ago so we can head out  now—unless you want to keep glaring daggers at my boobs, katsu.” you’re teasing him, voice dripping like honey off of a spoon as you waltz back out onto the streets of japan and leave a bewildered ground zero behind you.

you’ve changed so much since your relationship ended with bakugou, you’re stronger, a vixen and more confident in yourself.

and he hates knowing that he’s the one that kept you down all this time.

patrol remains uneventful even as the afternoon goes on and the stress of japan begin to fill with citizens for the oncoming rush hour.

the lack of action has lead your conversation to die within the wind and leaves katsuki alone with his thoughts for the time being— you only really speak when you catch the blonde staring you down or when he accidentally walks into something ( highly unusual for him ) but he enjoys the seconds where your teasing voice tickles the tips of his ears and you smile so wide his own lips pull into somewhat of a grin.

bakugou doesn’t know why he’s so quiet, not when the storm in his mind brews all the words he should have said to you years ago. the apologies, the grateful thanks that you deserved; none of these could fall from his tongue.

he liked to say he never had the opportunity, which was partly true you were both up and coming herores yes, but you had damn well made sure you’d never have to encounter bakugou unless the situation required it. and it seemed, that years down the line, he was still doing the same.

the thought alone cause nerves to choke him from the inside out, building up in his throat until all he can do is grunt in frustration—  kicking an empty can along the road you’re currently walking down.

“that’s unlike you,” your chuckle cuts through the thick fog of katsuki’s mind, drawing deep red eyes towards your frame. you walk in front of him now, arms folded behind your head while you step backwards— the sight almost comical to anyone passing by. bakugou must look just as shocked because some how he manages to pull the cutest snort from you, even as his face morphs into a snarl and he marches forward to fall into pace with your steps. your eyes dazzle with your next words. “the great katsuki bakugou, quiet? never thought i’d see the day.”

you’ve always been able to read him like an open book, seeing right through the front he puts on. “i haven’t changed.” he grunts through his teeth.

katsuki stops walking when you do, now standing a breaths width away from you. electricity jumps between you both, static forming in the finger tips that just barely brush against bakugou’s arm.

your eyes spell it out for him, clear as day, as you finally reach out to touch him. His own close at the brief gesture, the pain from having lost you blooming across his chest.

“you did.” you breathe out,  the warmth of your soft voice making katsuki’s eyes screw shut.

he could never get a lie past you.

“we both did.”

vermillion eyes open, trying to seek you out in the light of the day as bakugou wills and prays that he can say what he needs to right now, to get you back but he doesn’t have the chance as an explosion cuts through the building on your left.

bakugou manages to wrap his arms around you, shielding you from the blast before you hit the ground. the impulse sends you  both rolling down the street, small grunts escaping you until you roll to a halt and end up on top of katsuki— straddling him.

dust and debris surrounds the pair of you, creating a thick smog in the air as sirens and screams sound off in the distance. the explosive hero groans in pain— no doubt with a litter of bruises forming under his suit but he has no time to register the sting properly before he’s noticing you on top of him, smirk on your face, devilish glint to your eye.

you’ve been waiting for some action all day.

you’re gone in the blink of an eye, so you must have a plan. katsuki remembers from high school that you made up for strategy where you once lacked in strength, so it’s no surprise to him that you’re already on the move. meanwhile; you manage to slide undetected through the smoke, moving fast to take out the low level criminals.

it’s only a robbery, but the explosion could have caused more casualties than you would have liked. you trust that bakugou can take care of the civilians and bring them out of harms way as you do your best o sus out the ringleader.

the grey tinted fog that sweeps over the area allows you both to work quickly; neither of you need to say anything, for one it would give away your position and secondly— there’s an underlying trust in one another that the two of you had built up when you worked together while dating.

bakugou, through his end, tackles down the small group of criminals after clearing the area and making sure no one was hurt. emergency services had been alerted and were already on their way, all there was now, was to predict your next movements and follow your lead. he’d never liked being bossed about, but the look in your eye made him believe you knew what you were doing.

you were right, you’d both changed. you might as well have been a better hero than him.

the ash blonde follows the trail of unconscious wannabe villains to your whereabouts, he only knows that they’re unconscious because of your ability to put people to sleep with your quirk— all you had to do was get close to them, which wouldn’t have been hard as katsuki knew first hand that these guys’ quirks weren’t shit.

“it’s almost funny, how you thought you could pull a stunt like this on a day when all of japan’s biggest heroes are in one place,” bakugou’s ears pick up on you teasing the criminal leader with that smooth chocolate voice and he follows it deeper into the air that’s heavy with debris— glad you were able to find him before the smoke cleared. “even with the number one out of town, tsk, you should have known better…”

the hot headed pro spots you, holding the hooded ringleader in a choke hold with only your thighs as you sit on his shoulders— eyes wide with victory.

he recognises the dip in your voice as you adjust your tone to put the guy to sleep and call it a day. you’re powerful, a great pro and bakugou watches with awe while you get ready to take this guy down once and for all.

“so cocky, nightsky— why do you think we chose attack the street you were on?” the guy spits through clenched teeth, resisting the urge to succumb to your lullaby of a voice.

brows furrowing, you decide not to dwell on the criminal’s words before leaning down to whisper. “sleep...” but katsuki’s body comes alive with fear as the villain wannabe jams a blade into your thigh, causing your grip on him to loosen enough for him to throw you to the floor and put a boot to your throat. “oh miss nightsky, you really rely too much on your quirk and not enough on your senses. hmm, i think it’s time we say goodnight, don’t you?” the guy chuckles while you squirm under his foot— the need for air burning sharply at your lungs.

bakugou, who’s remained hidden this entire time feels himself snap— a heavy explosion loading up behind his gauntlets while he launches himself right into the scene. he won’t let you struggle for your life, not on his watch. “GET YOUR FILTHY FUCKIN’ HANDS OFF OF HER!”

he reaches the criminal just before your eyes roll back into your head, an explosive right hook colliding with their cheek and sending them flying down the street.

the ash blonde reaches down to pull you up into his chest, that very same one heaving with laboured breaths; you’re shaking but it’s nothing you can’t handle even with the red lines at your throat.

“you good?”

“better, thanks to you.”

there’s a look that you wear right now, one that katsuki recognises from years of training and running into fights with you— you want to do the move. he nods at you, vermillion eyes lighting up with a bright fire while you grip onto ground zero’s wrists.

just as the villain stands, you kick your feet off the ground and in the meantime bakugou begins to twirl you in circular motions until you’ve built up enough momentum for him to throw you towards the criminal.

you collide with his back foot first, knocking him to the ground as your eyes glow a bright white. “i said, go the fuck to sleep.”

the criminal drops to sleep and you roll to the ground after taking him out. you smile to yourself at the familiar wail of sirens in the background but don’t bother to make an effort to stand up, letting the exhaustion, pain from the wound in your thigh and bruises at your neck finally flood your body.

sitting beside you, bakugou smirks and holds a fist out to you. “still got it,” he gestures between the pair of you, the same signature move you’ve been doing since high school having worked successfully once again.

“still got it.” you look up to the now clear sky, fist bumping bakugou right back.

he’s going to do it, he thinks, he’s going to apologise.

after everything you and bakugou had been through, something in his chest was relieved to know that you didn’t hate him, something in him is lead to believe that you’re going to give him another chance.

katsuki watches you now, an attendant from the paramedics that you called working on patching up the gash in your thigh while you rub a salve into your neck.

despite the pain you must be in; you’re still glowing, still smiling even when fans ask you for autographs or tell you how brave you were during the fight. you’re so genuine, such a ray of sunshine in the world and bakugou can feel himself falling for you all over again.

“Is that all mr. ground zero, sir?” an officer asks, taking down notes for the report about the incident. the hero nods, waving the kid off after giving them all of the details from today. they thank him and he finds himself marching over to you almost immediately, now that you’re all bandaged up.

“walking already, ln? are you sure it doesn’t hurt?”

you beam up at the ash blonde, hopping out of the back of the ambulance and rubbing at the tear in your hero costume where the cut is. “it’s good, stings a little but i’ve seen worse on you,” you comment to him, beginning your stride back to your agency.

“and who’s fault is that, dumbass?” a genuine laughter bubbles in bakugou’s throat, albeit raspy, its not a foreign sound to your ears and it makes you laugh along with him.

he knows you’re referencing the many times you’d kicked hiss ass when sparring from high school to your side kick days. back then you‘d have traced every scar that littered his pretty body and told him how much you loved him.

katsuki aids you while you head back to the nightsky agency, you insist that you don’t need help to walk but you’re limping and the explosive pro hero is stubborn as hell— he’s not about to let you get hurt again, even if its physically and not mentally like he had done to you before.

with the lighter mood, memories flitter between you both— you mention how katsuki used to love his food so spicy you would cry and he brings up the time you had given him and kirishima a bout of food poisoning when you’d come up with an alternative to the latter’s cooking. the stories don’t seem to end even as you lean into him more; trusting him again.

“about what i said earlier…” you begin after finally coming to a halt outside your agency building, a scarlet gaze full of fondness lands on you. you turn to face him with the softest of smiles, half chewing on your bottom lip— something he knew you did when you were nervous. “you’re different, to how…how you were back then and it’s good, katsuki you’re so good…”

there’s a breath of silence, only filled by the quiet hum of city traffic where people are travelling to and from home. “i’m glad i had time to become good,” bakugou offers, forgoing the words ‘for you’ and pausing instead. “i regret who i was back then, with you… thought it made you hate me and that you wouldn’t fuckin’ work with me today.”

you shake your head, breaking contact with bakugou to paw at the stupid tears preparing to make their way down your cheeks. “i-i did hate you for a while, after everything…but we were young and dumb and—“ you freeze as the ash blonde wipes a stray tear from your cheek, you not having realised that it’d escaped. “and i’m so thankful to have met you, to have shared a love with you, you taught me so much and that i could never hate you for.”

“yn...i—“ i love you. i’m sorry. i should have loved you better. the words are there, the ones that katsuki always told himself he would say to you if he had the chance but he finds himself frozen and unable to speak. why? why now? when the perfect chance sat right in front of him, the perfect time for him to make it up to you.

to start over.

“yes, katsuki?”

to get you back.

“yn i’m sorry—“

“—guess who?”

a sing song voice full of positivity bursts through the moment while a pair of hands clasp their way over your pretty eyes and hide them away from the world.

bakugou instantly recognises the voice as belonging to none other than his childhood rival and number one pro hero, deku. he seems to have changed— grown taller, green hair shaved at the sides for an undercut.

the ash blonde isn’t very sure what else has changed, but then again they hadn’t seen much of each other as sidekicks, working under different agencies with different missions.

it was only as they started competing for the top ranks that they started to run the same circles— but bakugou had no idea how you would’ve come to know deku since the blonde hated him and you were dating each other for most of that time.

katsuki is just about to tell the green haired idiot to ‘fuck the fuck off’ for ruining his moment when you do the unexpected.

you clasp your hands over midoriya’s, cheeky smile gracing your lips as you attempt to pull them away from your face. “let me think, could it be? izuku midoriya?” relenting to your cheery voice— deku pulls away from you, hands falling to grip your waist sweetly. possesively. horror flashes behind bakugou’s raging red eyes. you turn in his rival’s strong arms, smiling so hard that it delves deep into the apples of your cheeks. “izu ! when did you get back? i thought you wouldn’t make it in time for today…”

“flew in this morning doll, i wanted to surprise you—“ the number one beams down at you and bakugou’s world crumbles when you cut him off while pressing a chaste kiss to deku’s lips right in front of his eyes.

this couldn’t be happening...since when were you and the damn nerd a thing? why didn’t he realise? why didn’t he grow up and try and get you back sooner?

he has no choice but to sit and stare, a dark cloud now sitting over his shattered heart.

all the while, you’re giggling into deku’s lips, fumbling over his hands that pinch at your sides just to get you to gasp enough for him to kiss you more.  the painful ( well, only for the explosive pro ) lip lock ends when you both come up for air and your eyes land on your ex boyfriend.

“ah, katsuki ! you remember deku right? wait that’s a dumb question you were literally childhood friends—“ you start to ramble, mind getting away from you and katsuki barely registers anything that leaves your lips. his crimson eyes lock with the emerald ones that stare right back at him and hurt swells in his chest.

to deku, he must look like a kicked puppy. a weakling. a loser.

all the things he had labelled izuku midoriya when they were kids.

when bakugou tunes back into your excited rambling, his heart cracks even more in his chest. “this green giant flew all the way in from overseas to come home for wedding planning ! can you believe it?”  the answer to your question is an obvious no.

he had no idea that you had been seeing the number one, let alone being engaged to him. the hot headed hero freezes in his spot when you reach down the chest of your hero costume to pull out a silver necklace.

on the end of it, an engagement ring with a tiny emerald in it’s centre.

katsuki bakugou feels sick, bile rising up in his throat. he’d really lost you. really. “...pretty thing that is, congratulations.” he mentions blankly, eyes trained on midoriya once again. you don’t notice, but deku does and bakugou hates the sympathetic, apologetic look that the fucking nerd gives him.

“mhm ! izu put it on a necklace for me because, well you know, i’m clumsy and didn’t want to lose the thing,”

you’re so clueless that it hurts, burning katsuki from the inside out. that should be him. it should be his arms around you, his lips on yours, his engagement ring on that fucking necklace. not deku’s, not anyone’s. the green headed hero beside you seems to notice the distress ebbing away at your ex and tilts your head up to look at him. “doll, why don’t you head inside and change into something more comfy real quick? we’ve got cake tasting in an hour…”

the tail end of deku’s words are drowned out by your happily animated squeal and with a quick nod you press a kiss to his freckled cheek and bounce inside— missing the way bakugou winces at your display of affection.

it’s quiet despite the bustling sounds of the city but neither if them know what to say, even as the minutes pass.

bakugou knows that you’d be better off with deku, he would treat you right and give you the love that you deserved all along. but that didn’t make it any less painful.

“kacchan, look...“ the number one says eventually, green eyes swirling with guilt. “i’m sorry—“

the blonde shakes his head, spitting his words out through gritted teeth. “don’t...just,” fuck, it hurts to breathe. “just…take care of her for me, you got that deku?”

“yeah, of course…”

the pair of childhood rivals don’t have much time to speak after that, for you’re already bounding out of your agency wearing a comfortable mint green summer dress and pair of red sneakers to rival deku’s, despite the thick bandage to your thigh.

“ready to go?” you ask your fiancé, face as warm and as bright as it had once been when you used to look at bakugou. izuku nods, delight dancing in his eyes despite the nervous chew to his bottom lip, before letting you turn to your ex lover. “great ! well, see you around kasuki, don’t be a stranger ! we’ve got to catch up again sometime, alright?”

you link arms with izuku midoriya, your fiancé, after that—walking away and  leaving ground zero in the dust.

he doesn’t know how long he stands there for, heart in his hands even while he comes to the realisation that you hadn’t gone to todoroki that night when you’d left. no, you’d only told him that so it hurt a little less when he found out midoriya had been the one to look after you. you’d lied because you’d loved him.

you lie because you love him.

and it was only now that katsuki bakugou had realised what he’d lost.

[cerinefalls]

‎

𝒪𝓃𝑒 𝐵𝑒𝒹

An Izuku Midoriya x Reader

Summary: On the way back to UA after a weekend of field training, the bus breaks down. Luckily for classes 1A and 1B, Vlad was able to find you rooms! Unluckily for everyone, it was not a big hotel. Time to share, and your roommate was... you guessed it; Izuku Midoriya! Good thing, too, because you're not feeling too good.

Other Parts: Shoto Todoroki

Content: SFW, Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Suggestive Themes

｡:+* ﾟ ゜ﾟ *+:｡:+* ﾟ ゜ﾟ *+:｡:+* ﾟ ゜ﾟ

You wandered down the halls near aimlessly as you searched for your room. It shouldn't have been so hard to find a room in a hotel, but unfortunately for you, this place had no order. Room 412 should've been right between 410 and 414, but in its place was room 416. Was your room even located on the fourth floor? You were unsure at this point.

"Four twelve... four twelve... four twelve... It should be here, but these aren't in numerical order. Maybe if I retrace my steps, I'll see that I missed something! No, these aren't in order either. Are villains trying to disorient us? Maybe I'm thinking too hard... " You overheard a familiar voice muttering down the hall. It was nearing you, but you couldn't point out exactly who it was.

As you continued down the dimly lit hallway, the voice gradually got louder. Soon, it sounded like it was right in front of you. It was right in front of you! You bumped into the source of the sound and nearly fell backward. That was an oddly soft wall you'd run into.

"I am so sorry! I didn't mean to bump into you, I swear! Are you okay? Did I hurt you? I-" Now you knew who it was. Who else went on and on that way? It had to be Deku.

"No- I'm fine, Midoriya." You brushed off whatever initial shock you'd felt and stood up straight again. "You said 412?" The room. That was your room, and if he'd seen it, you needed to know where.

"What? Oh, the woman at the desk told me to look for room 412, but I can't find it anywhere." Izuku replied to you without hesitation. His brain was running at full capacity at all times, after all.

"She did? That's my room too. Can we look together?" You'd been grouped with Midoriya? That was unexpected. You'd expected someone like him to end up with Bakugo or Todoroki, but it looked like he was stuck with you. You didn't know him too well, but he probably didn't mind.

"Yeah! This must be a test." He nodded, accepting your offer. Was he always thinking about hero work? That looked like what the hero course did to them all.

The two of you spent minute after minute hauling luggage around the fourth floor. After a while, Izuku offered to take your bags for you. You declined- but were starting to wish you hadn't. Double-checking, triple-checking- nothing provided results, and it was beginning to tire you.

"Maybe it's on another floor?" You pitched your idea to the now pacing and muttering mess of a boy. He'd hardly heard you through his thick thought bubble.

"Of course! If all of these are out of order, there's no telling how disorienting the next floors are. It must be somewhere else!" Had he seriously not considered that before? You hesitated to tell him because you thought he'd already checked the other floors. Then again, this wouldn't be the first time someone had to suggest something obvious to him.

Izuku led you to the elevator and pressed the button to move down a floor. One floor at a time, that's how you'd do it. The wait was long, and Midoriya appeared lost in thought the entire time. Soon, the quiet elevator ride lowered you to the third floor.

"Alright, let's check around here for the-"

"I found it!" Midoriya interrupted you with his outburst from slightly down the hall. Sure enough, on the 3rd floor, 412 was sat between 310 and 314. It made you wonder what happened to room 312.

Never mind any of your questions or concerns, it was time to sit! Finally, after all that time training, you got to sit on a sturdy piece of furniture. The odd circumstances didn't even cross your mind as you rushed past Izuku and onto the red couch that sat against the wall in the front of your hotel room.

"You're smart," Midoriya smiled wide as he shut the door behind you. After the click of the lock settled your arrangement, he too sat on the couch at the separate end. "So it... looks like we're going to be spending the night here. I'm glad Class B's teacher was able to find us rooms." He nodded to himself.

"Me too." You nodded, stretching out. As you finished your relieving movement and turned to Izuku, you were met with an intense stare. He stopped when he noticed you looking, though. "What?" You questioned.

"Oh- nothing! It's just... your side. It's scratched," He mentioned. Right! that cut you'd gotten during practice. You'd forgotten all about it when the bus broke down. It wasn't bleeding anymore, and the pain had gone away. "Is it bad?" Izuku sounded concerned.

"No! Just a silly surface wound. I'm sure it'll be fine once we get to recovery girl." You responded fine, but Izuku did not seem to agree with you. He looked worried, face sporting a frown.

"You should really make sure it gets cleaned and patched up." He stood up and walked towards the bathroom, opening the door and disappearing inside. For a while. you wondered why. What was he doing in there? All that rustling and banging had to mean something.

"They didn't really have bandages, so I-" Eventually, your questions were answered. Izuku exited the bathroom with a first-aid kit and... other things.

"Bandages? I'm not bleeding." You tilted your head a few times, trying to see what he'd come up with. Deku was surely one to know how to wrap wounds, so it couldn't have been anything outrageous.

"You were! It's important to keep it sealed, even if you aren't bleeding anymore." The reason this green-haired boy was panicking was unannounced to you, but in midst of his worry, he made a good point. Who knew what lurked in this hotel? An infection was the last thing you needed.

"Well... alright, Midoriya. How do you plan on helping this, though?" You asked, agreeing to let him help you. Izuku smiled wryly before pulling from behind him a... roll of toilet paper?

"The toiletries here aren't soft and crumbly. They're sort of like... paper. This can make a good temporary bandage when used correctly." His smile was unsure- almost as if he wanted you to fact-check him. You nodded to say you trusted him, but as for the quality of his information? Well, nobody knows.

"Okay... and how do you expect to get that to stick?" You could ask Sero- but, other than that, all options looked to be off the table.

"The first aid kit doesn't have gauze, but it does have some tape left! Skin-safe, of course!" His smile looked more sure now. It faded as he began to put together his makeshift bandaging. He looked focused as he wiped your skin clean with alcohol pads and waved them dry.

He seemed focussed- not on the process- but on keeping you comfortable. Izuku knew he had the ability to hurt you if he wasn't careful, because even though you'd felt fine before, you flinched each time he pressed around the cuts. They were not completely healed, after all.

"Normally, I'd tell you to go take a shower..." He spoke under his breath, tape holder securely between his teeth as he tore pieces to use. "But, because of how these are... I know it'll hurt if you do." Midoriya gently secured a large, doubled-over section of toilet paper to your side. He was right to say the texture was that of paper because you would surely hate to wipe with what he'd placed on you.

"But, shouldn't I shower anyway? We were training, and..." You tried to finish your sentence, but you couldn't quite bring yourself to when you noticed Izuku lost in thought. He was staring at your waist, your top moved with one of his hands as the other carefully ran across the 'bandaging' he'd just applied.

"Might need another layer..." He mumbled, not paying all too much attention to what you said- until you called him, that is.

"Izuku?" You leaned as close to eye level with him as you could and it startled him.

"Oh- sorry!" Whether it was his name or the sharp eye contact that drew his attention was unknown. What you did know was that he'd quickly backed away from you, unhanding your clothes and swiping your side a bit as he stumbled backward on the couch. You tried not to let him know it'd hurt, but you couldn't help the instinctual jolt away from him that followed. "Did I- oh no, I'm really sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you! I was just scared I was making you uncomfortable and then you looked at me and you said my name and I got scared and..." He... was... mumbling to himself again.

"Midoriya, it's fine. I was just-" You attempted to calm him down, but he was too far gone. It appeared his stunt of focus was interrupted by his feeling of embarrassment. Maybe you should try his first name again? "...Izuku?" It worked! His muttering paused and he looked up at you. His expression was unreadable for a moment.

"You said it again..." He sat up and paused, clearly trying to deduce something. Was that seriously all it took to calm him down?

"Said... what?" You questioned, holding a hand to the throbbing pain on your midsection. He had a harder hit than you thought he would- especially for an accident. He must've really sought to keep a light hand before.

"My... name. I'm sorry if that sounds odd! It's just..." He looked away from you, not without glancing at the hand you held to your side. "Ever since Kacchan and I got to UA... Well, I guess I didn't realize people knew my name." That was true. Bakugo had given Izuku that nickname, and it spread like a rash. Midoriya was strong to have flipped it to be his hero name. Ever since then, no one had called him by anything but Deku or Midoriya.

"I hope I'm not crossing any lines by using it- it just seemed to capture your attention." Your response was direct and apologetic.

"It's not that," Midoriya shook his head. "I have no problem with it! It's just... new." He mustered another smile and met your eyes again. You quickly moved your hand but you knew he'd seen it. Your intention wasn't to make him feel bad! It just hurt, was all.

"Well, Izuku... how about we go to sleep? It's getting late," You tested him. His smile formed more properly this time!

"Yes, but I really should add another layer or two to that. I wouldn't want it to tear in your sleep." He was calm enough to say that without flustering himself. Perhaps the same focus he had earlier had returned? No, that wasn't it.

The look in his eyes as he carefully followed the same process he had before matched the look there was during training today. He wasn't just focused on helping you- he was in a hero's mindset. It would've been endearing had you not known about his crippling hero complex.

Nevermind that.

Once Izuku had finished putting a more cushiony layer over your midriff, he backed away to view what he'd done. He seemed proud of himself. Rightfully so! Because he'd truly done his best in this endeavor.

"This doesn't hurt, does it?" He moved the hand he'd used to hold up your top down to your waist, his second hand doing the same on the opposite side. Midoriya applied a gentle amount of pressure with both hands, and shockingly, it didn't hurt at all!

"Wow... it... doesn't-" You shook your head and looked down at his hands. It was a bit interesting- looking at him. He still resembled an entirely different state of mind as he sat there tending to you. After a couple more squeezes, though, your own mind wandered.

You attempted to fight it by taking a more literal view of things. You looked first at his arms. They were freckled splotchily. It was an interesting pattern in contrast to the multitude of horizontal scars on his hands. His hands... you couldn't quite see them. The fabric of your shirt had completely fallen over top of them as he continued to pressure check. This method of literal examination only worked for as long as you could focus on it, though. Once Izuku began gently dragging his hands up and down your midsection to check for sturdiness, that strategy was less effective.

"It's not slipping... I think you're good for tonight. Let me know... if it... gets..." As Midoriya lifted his head to make proper eye contact while he spoke, he noticed an all-too-familiar expression on your face. Heat had risen to your cheeks, and you were clearly averting your eyes from his own. Had he made you... nervous? He wasn't sure, but it seemed you were timid in comparison to earlier. Izuku slowly removed his hands from under your shirt and placed them on your knees, watching you closely. "Are you alright?" He asked, voice saturated in concern.

"I'm fine! Nothing's wrong." You brushed off his concern, though you were still twiddling around. "You said it seems alright?" You aimed to change the subject. It was time for bed anyway! Midoriya had to be exhausted from today's training, after all.

"Yes... I applied about as much pressure as a mattress would and you didn't flinch. I think you'll be alright to sleep," He nodded. Would you be able to get him back to his usual mindset any time soon? It was beginning to get uncomfortable– usually, Deku was the one getting flustered, but right now he was calm and you were the one stumbling over yourself.

All you could do was nod. Eventually, Midoriya backed away from you to allow you to change. It was just the break you needed. You walked into the bedroom with your bag and pulled out your bedclothes. You were met with a shock when you turned to put them on, though.

"That can't be right..." You said that louder than you'd meant to. Who wouldn't, though? This was a room for two people, wasn't it?

"Is everything okay in here?" Midoriya was approaching, but you didn't hear him entirely. You wished he'd knocked when he entered, though. Izuku walked in on you with your shirt hanging from your neck. You rushed to put it back on, slipping it onto your arms as he stepped forward.

"Only... one?" He questioned. It seemed he hadn't noticed you. It wasn't surprising because the two of you were confused about the same thing. Be it some twist of fate, or some odd plot device– the sight in front of you was absurd. There was only one bed.

"I'm sure this is a mistake. I mean, our room was on the wrong floor," You mentioned.

"You're right... but, I don't think we can do anything about it." Midoriya was shifting from foot to foot behind you. "I should sleep on the couch! You're injured, and I don't want you to get hurt any more than you are." The way he spoke was not that of his usual self. He still sounded like he was thinking tactically as opposed to how he normally would.

"No! I mean- no. Izuku, you can stay in here." You looked at the bed once again. There may have only been one- but it was huge! No reason for him to sleep on the couch at all. "Even so, what if I do get hurt? I'd rather you be here to help me." Were you doubting his toilet paper bandages?

...You were. You were doubting his toilet paper bandages.

"I-" Had you finally choked him up? Gotten at least some Midoriya-like response? You had! For once, you managed to make him think about the situation. You didn't know why, but for some reason, you were pleased by it.

"You..?" You prodded.

"Well! I suppose you may be right..." He was looking away from you now, rocking back and forth. You'd gotten him just as nervous as he'd had you. Midoriya was clearly trying to rationalize what you'd said. You were correct- his creation was his creation. If it tore or fell off, he would have to be the one to replace it. So it was settled. Midoriya would sleep on one end, you on the other.

You attempted to change your clothes once Izuku had left but soon noticed that would be more difficult than planned. When you attempted to lift your arms over your head, you felt a painful sting around you. You could hear his pacing around come to a stop when you audibly expressed distress. You'd just gotten your shirt off fine! Why was the wound hurting now?

Things began to make sense over time, though. You'd encountered a villain with no flashy or visible quirk– but they'd hit you with something unique to them. That kitty had claws, and it was looking like they'd hit you with a concealed weapon.

"Are you okay!?" Izuku rushed in soon after you'd realized what was going on. He sounded remarkably worried. Perhaps your cry of pain was louder than you'd thought...

"I'm fine... I think." You had to sit down. The more time that passed, the more painful things became. "I don't think that villain I fought had a mutant quirk..." You huffed, eyes watery. It was only downhill from here.

"Really? Did I jot it down wrong? What's happening?" He was frantic in his efforts to gather information. Midoriya sat down on the side of you that wasn't injured to avoid hurting you.

"The more... I move..." You were slowly growing out of breath. Were you panicking yourself? It felt as though maybe the venomous scratches raked harder with the rise and fall of your chest. "I don't know... I was fine until I tried to move my arms... maybe I did it too fast?"

"Oh no this is bad... the only time I've seen a quirk like this was..." No need to type out all of his panic-filled sentences. Long story short, he felt a bit responsible for your pain. You hadn't started hurting until he tried to fix it, after all.

"Izuku, I don't care." You began to steady your breathing so that you could talk to him properly, though you still sounded strained. "I just want to go to sleep, and I won't be able to get there on my own." If he really felt he was at fault, he'd likely oblige to helping you. You at least hoped he would, because the pain you felt only got worse when you attempted to care for yourself.

"Are you sure?" He sounded worried again now; not for you, but his skills. It was much like the worry he'd harbored while bandaging you. If he was not careful now, he could really hurt you. His ceaseless trembling made his unease all the more clear, and you all the more impatient.

"Hey- just think of it how you did last time. You know... like you're being a hero?" You mentioned his earlier attitude, and almost like a lightbulb had been lit, he changed his demeanor.

"I was acting like that? I'm sorry- I didn't notice." He stood up and stepped in front of you. "But, if it helped... I guess I could do it again." Izuku was visibly trying to switch attitudes again. It did not take long. Soon, he was mumbling things he noticed about the quirk's effect on you while looking for a place to start. Now, you felt the same hands that'd helped wrap you on your sides once again. This time, though, he was focused on your clothes.

"That's your pajama shirt over there, right?" He asked, voice wary. For a second you were unsure why.

"Yes, that's the one. Could you bring it to me?" You replied simply. If you kept a work-based mindset, it would help him maintain one as well.

"Of course! But, well... I guess what I'm trying to say here is that you shouldn't put it on on your own..." Though he was attempting to remain professional, he couldn't help the tint that covered his cheeks. This was embarrassing. "I'll look away! Only one of us needs to see for me to help you, right?" He was starting to let the fear seep through his voice. You brushed it off to save his pride.

You just nodded, assuming it'd work. It did work! Though you couldn't focus the entire time. Izuku ran his hands down the sides of your top, grabbing the bottom hem gently. He did his best not to bump into you or cause you to move more than you had to, knowing it'd be painful.

It was hard to get your arms up, but you did it for as long as you could while Midoriya slid off your day clothes and neatly fixed your bed shirt atop of you. Once he'd let it down, he helped you bring your arms down and laid you on the bed.

"I promise to stay close so you can call me if you need to. Only if you want to, that is! I don't know how long the effects of that quirk will last, so..." Whatever the effects were. It was a bit hard to tell. As you laid still, the pain from before began to subside. Sure enough, you were just fine to lay on the bed. Neither side of you caused trouble–

That is until you chose to remove the bottoms you'd been wearing. It was a tad warm with another person in bed, and you were under the covers anyhow. It shouldn't have mattered! Sadly for you, though, the last bit of stretch you needed to move them past your hips was too much for your body to handle. Perhaps the bend in your midsection was what caused the quirk to activate? Every time you moved your core, venomous stings prickled throughout your body. Izuku felt the sheets rustling and turned over to check on you.

"Are you alright?" He asked, sitting up on his forearm to look over you. You stopped moving, a wise decision, and cleared your throat to respond to him.

"Well, I was trying to get comfortable, and..." Your sentence trailed as you began to think this was nothing worth troubling him with. "It's nothing, Izuku. Just a little pain."

"Well, how can I help?" He sounded once again concerned, and you could feel him sitting up behind you.

"No ways you'd want to! Don't worry about it, really." You insisted, but he insisted harder. It took quite some time, but eventually, he broke you into telling him the issue. Midoriya was clearly rattled, but he also dispensed a strange look of determination. He did tell you he would be there to help you, and he was determined to live up to his word. A hero may be put in uncomfortable situations after all.

After a long list of questions asking for consent to help you with your... specific problem, he raised enough courage to scoot behind you and begin his assistance. What happened next nearly stunned you. Izuku did his best not to move you as he gently slid his left hand beneath your hips. He felt around for a moment, and you could almost hear him panicking when he couldn't find the top seem of your pants. He decided it'd be best to find the top using his other hand, and so shortly after you found his right hand slinking fingers around your waist and traveling down to your thigh.

Your face burned as he continued to feel around for your clothes. Eventually, he found what he thought to be the hook he was looking for. As he pulled and you shifted backward into  him to stop the fabric from moving, he realized he'd picked the wrong thing.

"I am so sorry! I didn't mean to- oh this is bad. I'm so so sorry, I didn't know that was there and I-" Boy was he good at talking. You shushed him quickly, though, feeling well enough to use your own hand to guid his down to where your bottoms really were. You attempted not to squirm as he carefully pulled them past your thighs and got them off of your feet.

"Thank you." You smiled, sporting a grateful expression. The both of you were thankful it was dark, because each of you had blushed faces due to what'd happened under the covers.

"You're very welcome." Deku sounded distant when he replied. He attempted to act as normal as possible, but the air in the room was thick enough to suffocate you. Today was eventful to say the very least.

"Hey, Izuku?" You called him, hoping you could surface his mind.

"Oh- yes?" He sounded attentive enough.

"Let's.. go to bed, yeah?"

"That... is a great idea."

In the stoic silence of your room you eventually found yourself drifting into sleep. Izuku hadn't moved his hands from around your waist when he brought them up from your legs. You were glad, because had he made any sudden movements in his startled state he would've done more harm than good. It wasn't like the position of his hands was uncomfortable, either. Soon enough, both of you were unconscious. It would be a shame if someone walked in that night... oh well. Not like they could find the room.

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Midoriya Izuku - Future kids I

Midoriya Izuku's day just got turned upside down. MIdoriya is slightly ooc, and I'm dissapointed with the quality of this work. I lost inspiration sorry, but here you go anyways.

Midoriya Izuku x f!reader

Warnings: none, maybe slight cussing

It had been a normal day, so far. Class 1-b and 1-a had a joint training session, and everyone was giving it their all. Iida was using his recipico burst against their team's opponents, giving Midoriya time to think up a new plan now that they had been discovered. They had previously planned to use Aoyama's navel laser to lure their opponents to a specific spot, before using Iida to get him away so Midoriya and Todoroki could apprehend them. The plan had unfortunately backfired, since they had captured Aoyama before Iida could get to him. The solid air user from 1-b had gotten him in his hold, and only after Todoroki had gotten him back did they realise how much the rest of the plan would fail. So now Midoriya was tasked with coming up with a new plan.

Todoroki was occupied with holding the others at bay, and Iida was running out of fuel so they wouldn’t be much help. Aoyama was on the brink of his usual stomach ache that followed with overuse, so he was also pretty useless. Even if he wanted too Midoriya knew he was out matched, a 4 v 1 would not end well for him, besides he had to look out for Monoma and his copy quirk. He was so in his head planning that he didn’t see the Copycat sneaking up on him, not before it was too late. He should have felt an impact, Monoma had pointed one of Bakugou’s explosions towards him. But the impact never came, instead he felt himself float in the air hovering over the remaining smoke from the explosion. “Don’t you dare hurt my daddy” A loud girly voice proclaimed, effectively gaining everybody nearby attention.

Turning his attention towards the girly voice, he felt himself freeze up. In the middle of their training field stood a girl around the age of 10, if he had to take a guess. But that wasn’t what caused him to freeze up, no not the fact that this young girl had somehow managed to bypass UA’s security. Which should have been impossible, considering all the improvements that had been made to it after all the villain attacks that had happened. No, what caused him to freeze up was the fact that before him stood this girl, who looked like a carbon copy of him. It seemed that way from this distance. “Who is responsible for holding Midoriya in the air?” Aizawa’s gruff voice rang out. “Oh right, I forgot about that,” The curly green haired girl exclaimed, catching the attention of the slowly increasing crowd. Slowly Midoriya could feel himself being lowered to the ground again, once his feet hit the cement the quirk that had previously held him in the air deactivated making him feel 10 times heavier.

“Who the fuck disturbed the exercise, I’m gonna kill who ever did it” a familiar angry voice yelled out, making Bakugou’s presence noticeable. Everybody was a little on edge, they had enough experience with villains to not foolishly blindly trust anybody. It didn’t matter that it was a 10 year-old girl, or that she looked like a carbon copy of the resident green haired cinnamon roll. “Man, Uncle Katsu you really were loud back in the day” This statement from the green haired girl left everyone speechless. ‘Does she have a death wish’ was the thought on most of 1-A’s minds, nobody was so casual with Bakugou because it was a serious health hazard.

Well everyone except maybe his two best friends, Kirishima and y/n. It was common knowledge in class A that Bakugou had a soft spot for his two best friends, they had honestly been shocked the first time they met her. She had walked into the classroom, blank faced, walked over to Bakugou’s table, smacked him upside the head with a book before leaving it on his desk, and walked out the door with only a quick “don’t forget it next time, Idiot”. Miraculously she had lived, and Bakugou hadn’t even begun yelling. An impressive feat in itself. Not long after Midoriya had begun noticing you around school, and found out you were a part of the support course. He came to know you a bit, his observation skills made that almost too easy. Slowly but surely he began falling in love with you, the way your hair frames your face, your sharp tongue that never held back. How you would stand up for anybody, it didn’t matter if you knew them well or not if they were in trouble you would help them.

“Hah, what was that you brat?” Bakugou’s loud yelling and heavy footsteps approaching snapped him out of his thoughts, and back to the situation at hand. “ W-wait a minute Kacchan, I’m s-sure that there is a logical explanation” He found himself saying before he could even register what happened. Midoriya was hit with an immense feeling of protectiveness, similar to when they had rescued Eri, but stronger. Without knowing he had subconsciously stepped in front of the girl, pushing her behind his back. “Don’t worry dad I can handle myself, besides it’s only uncle Katsu” she spoke up behind the protective cinnamon roll. “Explain now” Aizawa cut in before they could get side tracked again. It was like the fact she hadn’t introduced herself, only hit her now.

“ Right, allow me to introduce myself” Bowing slightly she continued. “ My name is Midoriya Izumi, I am 10 years old and from the future” Aizawa sent her a raised eyebrow, wanting an elaborated answer. “ My friend was being teased by the others in class about how he was quirkless” Izuku tensed slightly but continued listening to Izumi “ Since my friend’s parents each has a quirk related to time, his mom could speed up herself for only a couple of minutes and his dad could slow down others a bit. This made it really hard for my friend to know if he had a quirk or not, so I helped him research and test different theories. Our last one must have worked, which is time travel by the way, but I have no idea how long his quirk will last” Izumi rambled slightly, reminding them of another curly green haired individual. Difference is Izumi talked loud enough for them to hear, and a bit slower making it understandable.

“Wait, you said your name was Midoriya Izumi. Does this mean that you are Midoriya’s daughter” The ever stoic, conspiracy theory thinking, dual haired boy pointed out. “ Yep, sure am uncle Sho, Don’t tell me you don’t see the resemblance.” She stood next to Izuku hugging his waist with one arm, before continuing” I’m dad's younger copy but female, mom always says there is more wholesomeness in him than there is in her. I remember her asking dad one time why his genes were so damn strong. Luckily for her Haru looks a lot more like her, he’s her younger copy but male” The people present looked between the two Midoriyas, it was true nobody could deny that she was her fathers daughter. The only thing that was different was her eyes, they had specks of y/e/c instead of being fully emerald like Izuku’s were. Also she talks a lot, just like their classmate. They shared the same green hair, both were curly in texture and the classic Midoriya freckles. Though it seemed that she had gotten more of her mothers personality, at least they assumed so. I mean she stood up to Bakugou, without even flinching at his tone.

“Oi, squirt what’s your quirk. And quit rambling like shitty Deku” Bakugou asked, interest evident in his tone. “ Right, my quirk is called Telekinesis, so I can move stuff with my mind. It was also how I was able to keep daddy in the air” Izumi responded, puffing her chest out comically in pride. “Huh so it skipped a generation, and your quirk is stronger than my mom’s. But you also have a different approach so maybe that helps. I wonder why yours is stronger, is it because of your mothers quirk. But then again my quirk is also powerful maybe an aspect of it ties to the genes maybe that’s why your quirk is stronger than moms” The older green haired individual began mumbling on, and he probably would have continued if he hadn’t been cut off by his lowly daughter hitting him in the head. “ Daddy stop mumbling,” Izumi stated sternly.

Bakugou grinned, he liked this kid's spunk and she seemed to have a strong quirk, even if she was shitty Deku’s kid. “Oi squirt fight me” He loudly proclaimed, earning all his classmates attention. Almost everyone began yelling over each other, what the hell dude and she just a kid another one was so not manly bro. Instead of being happy her dad’s old classmates were defending her, stopping her uncle from fighting her she got annoyed. So what if she was a child, this wouldn’t be her first time fighting her dad or her uncles. Before everyone could attack Bakugou even more a voice piqued up “ Sure, if that is alright with you sensei” she directed her attention towards Mr. Aizawa.

It wasn’t rational to challenge a child to a fight, but he couldn’t deny she had a great fighting spirit in her eyes. So he allowed it, he was curious himself to see how it would end. The control she displayed earlier was phenomenal, and she was only 10 but she had a lot of potential in his book. He shooed everuýone a bit away from the hothead and the young Midoriya, and so then created a ring of sorts acting a the line of confinement.

3…..2…...1…...GO!

Bakugou charged straight in with his usual right hook, only to have it swiftly caught by Izumi. She grabbed his right hand, squatted down a bit, then swiftly pushed her shoulder into his rib. The momentum of that allowed her to, even with some difficulty, flip his much larger body over her shoulder and into the ground. There was a small second of silence where Bakugou just laid on the ground in shock, a girl over 5 years younger than him just flipped him over her shoulder like it wasn’t even that hard. However Izumi didn’t give him time to think as she sent metal bars towards him. They had been fried earlier, before her arrival. Bakugou used his explosions to evade the metal projectiles, sending another one straight towards her face. Die squirt die, his colorful vocabulary re-entered the scene. She used her Telekinesis to command the explosion to change course and hit Bakugou square in the face instead. Slightly dazed Bakugou didn’t have time to move before a heel connected to his temple, effectively knocking him out.

Everyone who bore witness to this fight was shell shocked, Bakugou lost. The fight lasted only around 8 minutes before the winner of the 1 years sports festival got knocked out by a 10 year old girl. “Huh, that was easier than expected,” the panting girl exclaimed. Izuku could feel his chest swell with pride, that was his daughter. Strong and smart just like her parents. She walked over to Izuku and slumped against him “ I’m tired daddy, carry me” She looked up at him with those doe green eyes, and how could he say no to his little warrior princess. Blushing, he picked her up, and she let out a sigh of contentment. Using her quirk to command things on a molecular level, like Bakugou’s explosions always took a toll on her.

“Midoriya take Izumi to the dorms to let her rest, the rest of you come with me for our next exercise” Mr. Aizawa commanded the frozen teens and teacher. Izuku then began making his way to the dorms, asking his sleepy daughter a tornado of questions. Do you know about my quirk, how does your quirk work, how old is Haru, am I a good dad, who is your mom? Even in her sleepy state Izumi answered his questions to the best of her abilities, though she refused to reveal who her mother was.

When they arrived at the dorms he put her on the living room couch, and went to leave to grab her some old All Might merch that could fit her. Before he could leave she grabbed his cheeks rather harshly, looking him straight in the eye she said “Don’t worry about who mom is, she loves you for you so it's gonna be fine. Also don’t screw this up so I’ll still be born.” Izuku sweat dropped nervously, before getting out of her hold to go find that old merch of his.

When he returned to the living room after finding what he was looking for, he looked around only to find that it was empty. He walked over to the couch and coffee table where he found a note, picking it up and sitting down on the couch to read it. Dearest daddy, I felt tingly so I think the quirk is gonna wear off now. I just wanted to say that you are awesome and the best daddy out there, I love you so much. I’ll see you again in the future - hugs Izumi Midoriya. Izuku’s heart fell, she had only just arrived an hour or so ago and now she was gone. He didn’t get to know his daughter better like he had hoped, and he didn’t get to see her adorably dressed up in his old All Might merch. He read the note over and over again, trying to satisfy his heart. He would see her again in the future, and then it clicked. his heart swelled, yeah he would see Izumu again some day.

Yeah he would see her again when he was married and happy. Yeah he could wait for that, as long as he has too.

@rainypeachbakerygoth

[makeste]

just another long rambling post trying to explain why I, a Bakugou fan, would treasonously want him to lose his quirk

this is something I had originally intended to post about later down the line, after we actually know for sure whether or not Bakugou is going to lose his quirk. but seeing as parts of this post (see: point #5) also indirectly address some issues that people had with the latest chapter (283) as well, I decided I might as well jump the gun.

this is a topic I’ve gotten a lot of asks about, and so I’ve tried to gather all of those various arguments into one single post with my own comments and rebuttals. however, the purpose of this post isn’t really to convince anyone or change anyone’s mind. it’s pretty much just an explanation of why I am so sold on the idea. I think it’s a little defensive at times, and I definitely feel like one of the side effects of getting asks like this...

...is that I feel compelled to explain that yes, as the veritable mountain of Bakuessays on this blog can attest to, I am in fact a Bakugou fan, and have not been standing here this whole time just waiting for the perfect moment to rip off my disguise revealing my secret “#1 Deku Stan!! BAKUGOU CAN SUCK IT” shirt underneath while cackling nefariously. like. just so we’re clear on that here.

I know I’ve said this repeatedly, but it’s precisely because I’m such an adamant fan of Bakugou that I’m excited over the story potential of him possibly becoming quirkless. as for why I keep bringing it up, honestly it’s mostly just because I keep getting the asks, lol. and so my options are basically to either say “ah you know what, you’ve convinced me,” or to keep trying to explain my reasoning at the risk of making everyone increasingly mad and/or bored.

anyway, so there are five arguments which I want to address, and they are as follows:

it’s repetitive/boring/we’ve already had the plotline of a prodigy student losing their quirk.

it cheapens Bakugou’s character development by directly “forcing” him to learn something, instead of him arriving at the conclusion on his own.

losing his quirk would put him on the back-burner, story-wise, and exclude him from further fights and story development.

Bakugou doesn’t need to learn anything more/there isn’t anything important Bakugou could learn by losing his quirk that he couldn’t learn in some other manner.

losing his quirk would mean him falling hopelessly behind Deku, and playing second fiddle to him when he should be Deku’s equal. it would render his whole story and all of his development meaningless.

before I get started, please be advised that this is a very long post. like, tragically long. idk I did my best to rein it in but it just got ramblier and ramblier sob anyways so here’s a cut.

okay!

1. it’s repetitive/boring/we’ve already had the plotline of a prodigy student losing their quirk.

have you ever heard people pose the argument that all of the good stories have already been told? the idea is basically that there’s no such thing as a truly original story anymore, because humankind has been telling stories for thousands of years and we’ve exhausted any and all original ideas by this point. the problem with this, though, is that it assumes that (1) stories must always be 100% completely original in order to be good, and (2) if the basic building blocks of two stories are the same, then those stories must basically be identical. which is very much not the case. classic story structures are classic for a reason. the best stories are based around themes and conflicts and story beats which have been reimagined in a million different ways, and which work precisely because they’re familiar, and because they still resonate with people each and every time. and each and every time, it’s still a different story, because even if the ideas and themes and even some of the emotions are the same, the people are different, and no two people’s stories will ever be exactly the same.

all of which is to say that firstly, just because someone has already lost their quirk doesn’t mean it’s not an interesting enough concept to explore again. but more importantly, Bakugou and Mirio are not the same person. Bakugou is a completely different character than Mirio, with a completely different personality and history, and completely different relationships with the other principal characters. in other words it is absolutely not the same story at all. Bakugou won’t react the same way as Mirio. he’s not a character who can be faded into the background like Mirio unfortunately was. and most importantly, he’s a character whose own personal history with the formerly quirkless main character makes this an extremely personal and compelling character arc which would hit in a vastly different way than Mirio’s. I don’t think it’s repetitive at all, any more than “the heroes fight the villains” is a repetitive plotline. basically this argument, which is subjective to begin with, just doesn’t hold any water to me, I’m sorry.

2. it cheapens Bakugou’s character development by directly “forcing” him to learn something instead of him arriving at the conclusion on his own.

okay there are two counterarguments that I want to make here. the first is that this has always been Bakugou’s character development process since day one. he has never simply just arrived at a zenlike conclusion on his own through stern self-reflection or anything like that. his entire story has been him learning and growing from one humbling experience after another. examples:

he stops bullying Deku after Deku saves his life.

he undergoes a huge shift in attitude after Deku beats him in their training fight on the second day of school. he eats a healthy serving of humble pie and listens to the constructive criticisms that Momo, Aizawa and the rest pile onto him afterwards, and the result is that he becomes less cocky and starts taking his training much more seriously.

he wins-but-loses to Todoroki in the school festival and it serves as a reminder that simply winning isn’t everything. being the best is meaningless if it’s handed to you. as a result his determination is fueled even more.

he is LITERALLY FORCED POINT-BLANK to work together with Deku in order to pass his final exam. he is dragged kicking and screaming. I can’t stress enough how completely unwilling he was to learn this lesson otherwise lmao. it’s abundantly clear that he would never have done this on his own had the lesson not been almost literally beaten into his own head.

his experience at Kamino -- being targeted because he was perceived as villainous, and feeling responsible for All Might’s retirement afterwards -- is perhaps the best example of how Katsuki takes a terrible experience and uses it to grow leaps and bounds as a person. he develops a new awareness of how his actions can potentially be perceived by others (a vital lesson if he ever hopes to make it to the top). and he’s profoundly humbled (I keep using that word, so I just want to pause a sec to clarify that I mean it not in a “humiliated and crushed” way, but in a “freedom from pride and arrogance” way; in other words this is ultimately a positive thing, even if it comes about in an unpleasant way) by the experience, enough so that he finally lets his walls of pride crumble enough to have his weirdly violent heart-to-heart with Deku. and as a result the two of them grow closer, and All Might sets him down the path of Win To Save and Save To Win. something which I feel compelled to note that he still had ABSOLUTELY NO CLUE ABOUT beforehand. this is another thing that literally had to be spelled out for him before he could grasp it. it’s very hard for me to conceive a way of somehow spinning this particular development, which is by far the most important in his arc to date, as being something he just “learned on his own.”

and I forgot to mention it, but him failing the provisional license exam also directly contributed to the character development mentioned above! that was what finally tipped him over the edge. even though he was reeling from everything that had happened at Kamino, he still had too much pride to actually open up to anyone about it until this second “loss” of sorts finally convinced him that he really was doing something terribly wrong, and pushed him to talk to Deku about it.

and that brings us to where we’re at currently! there are a few other things I didn’t mention, like Jeanist lecturing him on the meaning behind choosing a hero name, and his internship with Endeavor teaching him... something. tbd lol. but anyways my point here is that Bakugou has always been a character who learns chiefly through his mistakes and painful experiences. it’s extremely rare for him to just arrive at some new tidbit of enlightenment all on his own, and if it does, it often still originally stems from a past -- often painful -- experience. that’s just how he is. his stubbornness is one of my favorite things about him, but it’s also always hindered his growth to some extent, and has made it harder for him to change his viewpoint all on his own, even though he is to his credit very open to change once something finally does sink in. he’s someone who’s always trying to be better. it’s just that a lot of times he needs to be nudged and pushed in the right direction, particularly on those few occasions where the thing he has to learn is something that runs counter to his current viewpoint to such a degree that he’s resistant to learning it (see, again, working together with Deku in the final exam).

and that finally brings me to my second counterargument to this point, which is that I very strongly feel that having to learn something “directly” in this very blunt manner does not make it cheap. that actually comes off as a bit insulting to all of Bakugou’s previous character development if I’m being honest. his development isn’t cheapened just because something was harder for him to learn. he’s not less of a good person just because he had a harder struggle to learn those things, and needed help and guidance, and made mistakes along the way. I feel very strongly that people shouldn’t be judged on how they grow, or their reasons for that growth. that to me feels like gatekeeping the concept of being a good person. “Bakugou isn’t as good of a character because he only started saving others and caring about people after he got kidnapped.” like, come on. people grow through their experiences! that’s literally where all growth stems from, even growth that on the surface appears to be self-fueled and motivated. every single action, every single motivation, happens because at some point or other, that person experienced something that led to them thinking and feeling that way, and deciding to do that thing. we are the sum total of our experiences, I believe is how the saying goes. and that goes double for characters in a story, because watching them go through those experiences is how we the audience discover who these characters are.

anyway so this argument is also a miss from where I stand. if it takes losing his quirk for Bakugou to have an epiphany about true strength, and what truly makes a hero on the inside, then goddammit, good for him. that’s nothing to be ashamed of. in the end that’s still his hard-earned growth, and he’s not any lesser for having learned it through adversity instead of just stumbling upon the answer somewhere along the way.

3. losing his quirk would put him on the back-burner, story-wise, and exclude him from further fights and story development.

hard disagree here as well. losing his quirk would be the single biggest thing that ever happened to Bakugou. a development like that would almost demand we focus on it. perhaps not right away (just like we didn’t immediately focus on him right after Kamino), but it would be inevitable. in fact, I’d argue that Bakugou losing his quirk is one of the only ways to guarantee that the story puts his character development back at the forefront again at some point, and doesn’t just drop the plotline entirely in an “eh, good enough” manner. it’s a development that basically makes his character development the focus of the plot, instead of us only ever getting little side anecdote scenes of “slowly becoming less of an asshole” for the rest of the series. it’s character development on hard mode, to be sure, but the fact of the matter is that Bakugou is not the main character, and so his personal character journey is only going to make it back to the forefront of the story if and when something significant enough occurs so as to make it worthy of being a focus.

as for the other half of this argument, the thing to understand here is that “Kacchan loses his quirk” is NOT the beginning, middle, and end of that storyline all in one. it absolutely won’t be “welp too bad, guess you can’t be a hero after all” and that’s that. “Kacchan loses his quirk” is only the first act of a story arc that continues with “Kacchan struggles with the aftermath of losing his quirk”, and concludes with “Kacchan regains his quirk and reemerges stronger than ever.” how that will ultimately play out, I don’t know! Vestiges; Eri; OFA; the quirk-restoring bullets which the villains also had at some point unless I’m misremembering things; whatever! the key thing here is that I have faith that it will play out. every single argument you see here is in the context of me believing that the endgame here is not a loss for him, but a win. it’s actually the win, because if all goes well, he comes back stronger than ever because he’s finally done away with the one remaining thing that was holding him back -- that lingering unnecessary fear, insecurity, and pride that’s still at the root of so many of his actions even now.

which brings me to my next point.

4. Bakugou doesn’t need to learn anything more/there isn’t anything important Bakugou could learn by losing his quirk that he couldn’t learn in some other manner.

you’ve no doubt guessed it, but I once again disagree here lol. he definitely still has more to learn. Bakugou’s character development thus far has been extraordinary, but all the same, I still want more for him. I don’t think this is the best he’s capable of. his ceiling is much, much higher, and to say that this is as good as he gets is to underestimate him imo.

here’s an incomplete list of things that Bakugou, at present, is still clearly struggling with, numbered alphabetically so that I can explain afterwards how losing his quirk would address each one.

a.) he still obsessively compares his progress to Deku’s at every turn. we got a little bit of insight into his thought processes just recently in chapter 275, and it was extremely revealing. his rivalry with Deku has been a good thing thus far, but this is primarily because up until this point he has been able to keep pace with Deku. so much of his confidence and self-worth seems to hinge on this one specific thing which is notably outside his control, and that’s troubling to me. but more on that further down in a bit.

b.) he’s still incapable of admitting that he cares about people (which is endearing to be fair, but nonetheless indicates that he still views caring as a weakness, and is uncomfortable acknowledging or expressing it).

c.) he has not yet sorted out the problem of coming off as hostile, vulgar, and aggressive even when a situation necessitates him to be more cooperative. to put it plainly, he’s incapable of dialing back his personality even the slightest degree and as a result gets edited out of interviews and has his friends constantly scrambling to apologize and/or interpret for him. I know that a lot of people -- myself included -- actually adore this feral side of him and even consider it one of his most endearing traits, but still, the fact of the matter is that it’s not a good thing that he’s entirely incapable of even the slightest bit of emotional regulation. at some point he’s going to have to sort his shit out at least a little bit; even Endeavor and Mirko are capable of reining it in when it comes to dealing with the public at large and with the press. if he wants to reach the top ranks he still has a lot of growing to do here.

d.) he still thinks of his own worth purely in terms of physical strength. this is a big one. Katsuki has always defined his own world in terms of strength and weakness. “strong” is good; “weak” is bad. people who win are strong. people with quirks are strong. he has a good quirk so he’s strong. Deku doesn’t have a quirk so he shouldn’t be strong (which becomes a paradox and a source of great fear and confusion to him when he realizes on a deep subconscious level that Deku somehow is strong in spite of lacking a quirk). All Might is the best hero because he’s strong and never loses. he’s going to be even better than All Might, and he’ll do it by being strong and never losing.

except that these ideas are all limited, and limiting. physical strength is not the only kind of strength. All Might wasn’t the number one hero and the Symbol of Peace only because he was strong. Katsuki isn’t strong only because he has a good quirk. but he’s still stuck on this idea regardless, and everything he does, everything he is is defined by this idea. even now, with everything he’s learned, he’s still stuck in this limited perspective. and the very obvious problem with that is that it places him in a precarious emotional position where if he ever actually loses, or something happens to strip that physical strength of his away, his entire core of self-worth stands to fall apart as a result. he’s put all his eggs in that basket. and it’s the source of all of his insecurity, and it’s a weakness that’s just waiting to be exploited, and which is holding him back from discovering and acknowledging so many other good things about himself.

e.) and last but not least we’ve got what is by far his biggest current failing (and I say not to put him down, but rather in that same spirit of “learning to acknowledge your own weaknesses” which he himself has so readily embraced), which is that he is still only focused on himself. mind you, I’m not saying that he’s a bad person, or that he doesn’t care about other people! but I am saying that he is self-centered, and that’s just a fact, and I would defy anyone to try and argue otherwise tbh. he is constantly and completely focused only on his own goals. and on top of that he also has great difficulty seeing things from any perspective other than his own, which has been the cause of numerous clashes and misunderstandings with other people, some more disastrous than others (see: that one time he thought Deku must be looking down on him because he couldn’t conceive of a situation where anyone would actually want to accept help from someone else, rather than being self-sufficient, and thus assumed that Deku’s attempt to help him was in fact an insult). he casts himself in the role of the main character, and dismisses most everyone else as “extras.” and it took him an extraordinarily long time to learn the importance of learning from and helping other people (and again, this was something which had to be explicitly spelled out for him. I’ll say it again and again if I have to, because it’s so important in understanding where Bakugou is coming from and what his mindset is in all of this. he had to have it spelled out, because it was genuinely something which wouldn’t have occurred to him otherwise, because it’s so alien to everything he grew up believing up till that point, and because he has so much difficulty seeing other perspectives).

and again, I’m not saying this to dump on him or imply that he doesn’t care! because he does; we’ve seen that demonstrated on multiple occasions. he has compassion for others. he wants to do the right thing and he wants to be a good person, and he tries very hard in his own way. but he is nonetheless still stuck in his own perspective. he struggles with empathy and being able to see from other people’s points of view. and that is a huge barrier to his becoming the greatest hero of all time, and it’s probably the most difficult barrier to overcome. the behavior is something he can and has been chipping away at little by little, but the root causes of the behavior are still there.

anyway. so now that I’ve said all of that, which probably could have been its own essay in and of itself, how would losing his quirk do anything to address these issues? so let’s now break that down point by point as well, using the same alphabetical numbering system as before. I’m skipping the first one because I’ll address it further down, so we’ll start with b.

b.) it makes him more vulnerable in that it’s a huge blow to his pride. how is that a good thing you ask? because pride is always a double-edged sword. the downside is that losing it hurts his self-esteem (but more on that in a sec), but the upside is it opens him up more to accepting kindness from other people, and allowing himself to express kindness and caring himself in return. pride is almost always the biggest obstacle in doing that. so the short of this is that it could lead to us seeing a more open, willingly vulnerable side to him that would strengthen his relationships and serve him well in the long run.

c.) in a similar vein, the ego check would probably help to address some of his emotional instability as well. a not-insignificant chunk of his tactless exterior is basically just a projection; a tough guy persona he’s constructed over the years as part of his neverending quest to be strong. there’s also a fair amount of insecurity (interpreting everything other people say in the worst way possible and reacting with defensive hostility), arrogance/boastfulness, and fear of vulnerability (aka weakness) mixed in as well. so I could see the whole experience leading to a softening of his personality. in my ideal world this would mostly be just temporary, with his usual Bakuattitude gradually being restored piece by piece as his soul searching adventures wear on and he starts acting like his old self more and more. but I do think that in the end, the loss of that insecurity in particular would go a long way towards helping him gain the ability to chill out just a little bit more when the situation calls for it.

d.) it strips him of that physical strength he’s depended on and defined himself by his whole life. sometimes we need to lose something in order to see and appreciate the other things we take for granted or don’t even realize that we have. Katsuki has so many other qualities that make him a good person and a great hero. he’s intelligent, perceptive, brave, resourceful, and extraordinarily determined. he’s strategic and analytical and quick-thinking. he inspires devotion in others and is a natural leader. and he is honest and sticks to his principles and stands up for his beliefs. there is so much more to admire about him than just strength. so many other kinds of strength that he has. and stripping his quirk away would force him to see that at long last. he’s not just a nobody without his power. the things that make him a worthy hero at his core have very little to do with his quirk.

e.) and then the big one -- learning to see past himself. the truth is that Bakugou has always led a relatively privileged life. he was good at everything, the things he wanted came very easily to him, and he’s basically been at the top of the food chain since he was very young. but the downside of this is that it led to a deep-seeded fear of losing all of that, or failing to live up to it. and because he feared weakness so much, he’s spent his entire life looking down on weaker people. his fear of weakness led to him despising anyone with those “weak” qualities that he secretly feared, rather than having compassion for them. add to that the fact that he just has a hard time seeing outside of his own perspective, and we’ve got a situation in which perhaps the only way for him to really gain that kind of compassion and empathy is to experience some of these things for himself.

becoming quirkless is a way of presenting new challenges to him that he would have never faced otherwise. it forces him to answer questions he’s always been too afraid to ask. it forces him to look at himself in a way he never has before, to take a good long look at his own fears and desires. what if you can’t become the number one hero? do you just give up? do you stop trying? do you stubbornly push back against the inevitable? what happens if you do become weak? do you just accept that for the rest of your life? just sit back and watch as everyone else moves on without you? how can you fight without a quirk? what can you do without a quirk? why did you want to become a hero in the first place? why did you seek out strength? what was it for? why do you struggle with everything you have to reach the very top??

and I’d like to think that some of the answers to those questions are, yes, I am still strong. and, no, I can’t give up. and, no, I won’t accept defeat, no matter what. and, I’m not sure, but no matter what happens I’ll keep on fighting. and, because the person I admired taught me to never, ever give up. and, because I wanted to surpass my limits. and, because I want to be the best version of myself.

and that is growth. and it’s precisely the kind of growth you can’t achieve until you’ve searched deep within yourself and laid your soul out bare. and it will make him a better character, and a better hero in the end. and that’s what we’re all here for isn’t it? that’s literally what this story is about. the journey of these kids growing up to become spectacular heroes. so, just, I don’t know. is it really such a great surprise that I want to see it?

anyways, this was by far the longest of these answers and this post is really starting to wear on, so let’s just get to the last one and wrap this up.

5. losing his quirk would mean him falling hopelessly behind Deku, and playing second fiddle to him when he should be Deku’s equal. it would render his whole story and all of his development meaningless.

okay, listen. first of all, this argument often comes bundled with a whole host of other arguments about Bakugou’s relationship with Deku, and how the narrative has already given him numerous other “losses” to Deku, and how this would just be the latest and greatest loss of all. and I’m just going to say it straight up: this argument is ridiculous to me. actually, what it reminds me of is the very same flawed mindset that Bakugou himself has which I mentioned earlier (the forgotten point 4.a), where he is obsessed with comparing his progress to Deku’s at all times, and only considers himself a success if he beats out Deku. the idea here is basically that Bakugou and Deku are running along parallel tracks with the same end goal/finish line of becoming a hero. and so if Deku gets too far ahead and starts lapping Bakugou or something, then it’s like a slap in the face with regard to all of Bakugou’s hard work, and it makes Bakugou’s whole journey pointless because no matter what, he’ll never be able to catch up, especially if he loses his quirk, which is like the metaphorical equivalent of him spraining his ankle.

the thing is, this entire analogy is flawed. first of all, if Bakugou doesn’t sprain his ankle at some point, he'll miss out on discovering and healing a separate underlying injury that’s been unknowingly hampering his progress this entire time. and second, the race isn’t timed. it’s more like an infinite series of races where the finish line is never actually set in stone, because the finish line isn’t actually “beat the other person”; the finish line is “run as fast and as far as you possibly can, and do it in a better way than anyone has ever done before, and while you’re at it maybe stop and save a few million people, because being the best runner isn’t actually about being faster than each other, even though that admittedly makes this a pretty crappy analogy.” anyways though, so what this means is that the sheer magnitude and scale of this race is such that little victories and losses here and there are ultimately meaningless in the big picture. maybe Bakugou sprains his ankle. maybe Deku breaks an arm or two or three or four. maybe someone shows up at some point and starts uprooting the entire track all around them and they have to put the whole race aside for the time being, because what the fuck. and maybe after spraining his ankle, Bakugou eventually comes zooming back ahead on a segway. and maybe Deku stops running for a while without Bakugou there, because he loses sight of his goal without his rival there to keep him on pace.

but anyway! the point is that declaring a winner and loser in this race before we reach the end is kind of absurd in that it ignores the whole nature of the race and how long-term it is. you see the beauty of the race is that it’s actually the opposite of footraces in real life. in this race, the longer the two of them run, the faster and stronger they become. and this same logic applies to any hurdles which are placed in their lanes along the way. the goal of these hurdles isn’t to trick or punish or humiliate them; it’s to help them get even faster and stronger and ultimately closer to their goal. and also, tbh? it’s a long, long race you guys. and so sometimes, as a fan, you almost start to want to see those hurdles. because otherwise it’s just a lot of endless running and running and running. so yeah, go ahead and throw in a damn hurdle or two and some traffic cones and maybe even a long jump here and there. because that’s part of what makes the thing great to watch in the first place.

and I don’t care whether or not Deku is ahead right now, because I also love Deku too by the way, and because I’m not invested in prematurely declaring a winner. and if Bakugou himself gets upset that Deku is ahead? if Deku pulling ahead of him is enough to send him spiraling into despair, and questioning everything about his life, and losing hope and purpose? well then honestly I would say that’s all the more reason for him to go on and get that new character development, because I don’t want him to always be hindered by those kind of toxic thoughts his entire life. their rivalry should serve to make each other better, not bring each other down. so if Bakugou’s ego is still so fragile that he can’t handle a loss to Deku -- a loss, mind you, not the loss, because ultimately these are all just little battles, and not the actual war -- then I want him to grow the fuck up and get the fuck over that, goddammit. he’s a bigger person than that. I want him to grow beyond that. I want him to develop the real, actual confidence that allows him to bounce back from something like that, and to move on better and wiser and stronger, instead of getting dragged down by the pettiness of it all.

in short, if losing to Deku would really be enough to render his story meaningless, then maybe it’s time for Bakugou to find some meaning in his story that’s not dependent on him winning or losing to Deku. because I for one am not actually in this thing just to see which character “wins.” I couldn’t care less who actually wins. I just want to see my boy grow up big and strong and self-actualized, the better to kick ass without anything holding him back. that’s it.

so this brings me at last to the end of this seemingly neverending post. I have no doubt this won’t be the last of my quirkless!Bakugou debate posts in spite of me trying to comprehensively address every single point I could think of lol. but for now it’s my best attempt. and by the way, if it doesn’t actually happen, that’s fine! I love the idea, but I’m not gonna go full on “oh happy dagger” with it if it doesn’t actually pan out lol. the downside is it will mean that I’ve posted this entire 5600-word dissertation for nothing, but you know what, sometimes that’s just how fandom goes.

[xxpadfootxx]

🐾Won’t Leave You: Chapter 4 (The Rescue Squad)🐾

The night was dark and cold despite the fact that sunrise would arrive soon. The chill settled into the students’ skin even with their costumes on and caused them to shiver. Nobody spoke as every student slunk over the silent meadow like cats going on a hunt, their shoes muffled by the thick mud that was clumped around the grass stalks.

The moon shone high in the sky like a large beacon, it’s light reflecting on Aizawa’s metal scarf, the capture weapon glinting like a knife in the darkness. Their eyes were sharp even in the dark, and their ears were strained for any noise that would break the natural orchestra of sound emanating from the night around them.

Izuku stood right at the front, Aizawa’s back directly in front of him as they were led through the field, Izuku having demanded to be the one to find Ochako since he deemed himself responsible for her loss. More bitter memories flooded his brain and he twitched his head ever so slightly as a way to attempt to clear his head of the horrible events that had taken place that very night. The images began to fade but Ochako’s scream as she was sent tumbling to the ground by a bullet rang in his ears loud and clear, no matter how hard he tried to shake it off.

Aizawa paused ahead of Izuku, raising his head and looking around, resembling something like a black panther as he searched the surrounding territory for any sign of danger or a clue to their destination. After a moment though, Aizawa pressed on, holding his capture weapon in both hands to avoid having it rustle on the surrounding brush.

Izuku remembered how Aizawa had been so attentive when they had gone to investigate the crime scene, his face scrunching as he scrutinized every single piece of evidence until he had a grip on something, following every trail until it faded and disappeared. It had been Aizawa who had gotten the group this far, tracking the villain through his destructive, almost drunken manner of travel through town and to the edge of this field. They had been following the villain for a couple of hours, their bones creaking and their feet protesting with every step, but nobody complained as they trekked further and further away from U.A.

Suddenly, a loud bang echoed across the field, causing Aizawa to freeze, his body standing stock still in the grass. The other students copied him without even realizing it, their breaths suspended as every head whipped around directly to their right. Aizawa held up an unnecessary hand (even for Bakugo did not even dare think of tearing off on his own) as a signal for them to wait, his eyes narrowing in that direction.

A pause.

Soon another, louder bang echoed across the field, this time followed by a small scream. Aizawa, Izuku, Bakugo, Todoroki, Tsuyu, Yaoyorozu, Tokoyami, Kirishima, Iida and Shoji all moved at the same time, their steps still silent, but rushed as they bolted across the marshy grass towards the sound of their friend in pain.

The sounds faded and the group stood still once more, listening intensely for any more hints to Ochako’s location. Izuku forced himself to plant his feet as he felt the familiar itching feeling to start pacing with worry. He could barely contain himself, he wanted to rush in there and protect Ochako with his life, to make sure she was okay and to promise her that he would never leave her side again, no matter the danger. Again, he forced himself to remain still in the now dead silent meadow, the normal nighttime chatter had died down completely at the sound of the scream.

They waited for what felt like hours, the chill of the night sinking even more so that their breaths came out in clouded puffs and their skin felt icy to the touch. Aizawa dipped his head and used his hand to part the grass, nobody moving as he seemed to discover something, his eyes thinning into slits and his hands gripping his capture weapon even tighter than usual.

Aizawa moved forward slightly, his feet making no sound as he stepped through the grass. Then they all heard the slight whirring sound. If any nighttime noises had still been floating through the night, they would have missed it. As soon as the whirring sound stopped, a terrible scream pierced the night like a sharp sword, stabbing through their hearts in a way that sent an icy chill down the spines of the group.

Ochako.

Without even thinking, Izuku rushed forward. He barely registered Aizawa calling his name or his classmates pounding behind him, his head filled with rage and worry and his vision obscured with red. The screaming continued for what felt like an unbearable amount of time, cutting into Izuku’s heart deeper and deeper with each renewed voice of pain. Finally, Izuku skidded to a stop where a steel door stood ajar in the ground like a metallic hole. He did not even hesitate to jump in, the screams surrounding him on all sides as he slid down what he imagined was a tunnel, darkness covering his eyes and suffocating his other senses. The cold was nearly unbearable in the tunnel, the darkness and the depth of the tunnel contributing to a chill that Izuku had never felt in his life. It was so cold that his teeth burned when he opened his mouth to suck in a breath.

But then he hit the bottom of the tunnel. The transition from severe cold to extreme heat was almost enough to make him pass out, his head swimming as the temperature change rocked his body. Wherever he had landed was just as dark as the tunnel, his senses completely obscured by the darkness that swallowed him. He ventured one small step forward, his hands reaching out cautiously as he searched for any kind of wall, table or tool to grab ahold of. All of his senses were on high alert, so when a loud gasp and a soft, “Damn it!” sounded behind him, Izuku jumped out of his skin. He felt someone’s hand wave around him before hitting him in the face. He let out a small noise and shook his head.

“Deku? Is that you, you damn nerd?” Bakugo whispered from directly to his left.

“Yes, it’s me.”

“It’s fucking hot in here,” Bakugo said, his voice so low it was almost a rumble.

“Yes, but that doesn’t mean you should gripe about it Bakugo,” A soft voice said from Izuku’s right.

Both students had to clamp on their tongues with their teeth to avoid calling out as Aizawa shuffled around beside them, his hands digging through the pockets of his costume for something.

Suddenly, a small click echoed in the room and the bright light of a flashlight chased away the surrounding darkness. All of the students had made it down the hole, although Tsuyu was shaking the sleep from her eyes (caused by the cold-induced hibernation state from her frog quirk) and Yaoyorozu was trying to wake Kirishima, who had fainted from the intense heat.

“What now?” Iida asked, his arm resting on a nearby wall for support, his face pale and his glasses askew on his face, his eyes dull as if he had a fever. Aizawa didn’t answer but instead held up the flashlight with one hand and held up his metallic scarf with the other, scanning the room. The room was almost completely empty, save for a few metal cabinets that were lying dented and broken on the floor and some rubble that surrounded them.

Aizawa stretched out a hand behind him. “Everyone please file behind me, I don’t want anyone getting hurt on this mission.” He said. The students knew that this was unlikely given their situation but followed Aizawa’s orders silently and without hesitation. Izuku once again stood at the front, his bright green eyes flashing with the reflected light as they wildly shot to every corner of the room in search of his friend.

Then Aizawa’s light moved to the very far back right corner of the room, a corner blocked by metal cabinets and showered with rubble. A limp figure was suddenly bathed in that light, her back facing them so that the light would not reflect on her eyes.

It was Ochako.

“OCHAKO!” Izuku cried out, using her first name without even thinking and rushing forward to meet her.

“Midoriya, no!” Aizawa called behind him but followed Izuku at a slower pace anyway. Izuku skidded to a stop at Ochako’s side, dropping to his knees and using a gentle hand to flip her over. Her eyes were closed and her face had a few bruises but it was otherwise unharmed. Again, without thinking, Izuku lowered his head to her chest and placed his ear there, listening for a heartbeat. Tears welled up in his eyes and when he closed them they ran down his cheeks, creating two lines that cut through the dust on his face.

She was alive.

He turned to tell Aizawa and his friends when one of the cabinets in front of him shifted slightly. Everyone froze except for Izuku, who pulled the unconscious Ochako close to him, his arms holding her protectively so that the pain of her wounds would not wake her. He realized that she felt surprisingly light and small in his arms, his muscled biceps gently but firmly holding her to him so that one arm was curled beneath her legs and the other supported her upper back and shoulders, causing her head to rest in the crook of his neck.

The cabinet moved again, this time creaking and cracking. “Midoriya get out of there!” Aizawa said, his voice cracking with worry and urgency. Izuku made to stand up when the cabinet seemed to explode, the otherwise small piece of metal expanding and reshaping until the villain with the eight arms stood before him with a devilish smile plastered on his face.

“I would like it if you would please not steal my trophy from me.” He said his voice sending chilled needles cascading down Izuku’s spine before he launched at the pair of them, his arms outstretched.

[brain-rott]

Holiday Heroes

Pairing: BNHA X Reader 

Characters:  Midoriya, Bakugo, Todoroki, Kirishima, Kaminari

Description: The Holidays are upon you and with it comes celebrations. Headcannons on how everyone spends their time preparing for the season.

Rating: PG

Midoriya 

It was christmas eve and he had the brilliant idea to make gingerbread houses after having overheard you talking about it a few days prior. He had slipped away from you the next day to run into town and get a few of those kits and a few extras for your soon to be built town. Walking out into the kitchen you were surprised to see Midoriya standing there with the biggest grin on his face clearly hiding something behind his back. Giving him a confused look he side steps to reveal a neatly laid out counter of gingerbread house materials. Little bowls of gumdrops and sprinkles, tiny gummy reindeer to populate your town and far too many bags of icing. Your excitement was soon overwhelming as you both got right to work constructing. Having had years of practice under your belt you were already decorating your first house with gumdrops and candy canes when you looked over to see Midoriya… struggling more or less. 

“Izuku your gingerbread house looks more like a… gingerbread pile.” you commented, trying to hold back your laughter as the walls of his house collapsed as soon as he took his hands off. 

“I-It's just not working for me.” Midoriya huffed clearly a bit embarrassed. Stepping back from your station you walked around the counter to join Midoriya as you carefully disassembled his pile and wiped the pieces clean so you could start anew. 

“Less is more when it comes to icing.” You explain as you carefully draw a line of white frosting down the side of one of the walls before firmly planting it onto the cardboard base. “See!” You announced joyfully as the long standing wall. Deku smiled and laughed as you both set to work on your house. Midoriya focused mainly on the decoration while you did the construction lining the shingles of the roof with icing before paving a walkway which he promptly covered in cookie crumbs and sprinkles. 

You two spent the rest of the afternoon adding the final touches before setting them out on display in the commons on a side table. You and Izuku had stepped back to take in all your hard work when Kirishima and Denki swooped in and immediately decapitated your gingerbread family that had been innocently posed outside. You couldn’t help but laugh at the situation as the two boys gave you a guilty look Midoryia sighing in defeat.

Bakugo 

As soon as it was suggested that the dorm hold a party for the holidays Bakugo was immediately up in arms about the whole thing. Despite your pleading he wouldn’t budge on the issue even going as far to question you as to why you would be so excited to hang out with a bunch of ‘extras’. There was only an hour left before the part and you were all dressed and ready to go. You purposefully planned to leave early in an attempt to go and speak to Bakugo one last time hoping he had changed his mind. You made your way up to his room stopping before his door. Straightening out your Santa outfit you pulled on your hat to make sure it was snugly in place before knocking on the blonde’s door. A loud “Go away!” was his oh so charming reply. With a sigh you knock again though with a bit more force this time. A moment passed and there was no response. 

“Bakugo, please come with me to the party. You don't have to stay long just come and hang out for a few minutes?” You asked the sadness at having to spend the holidays alone evident in your tone. You were just about to turn and give up when the door flew open and there stood Bakugo in some track pants and a t-shirt giving you a once over before snorting loudly. 

“Ten minutes then I'm coming back to my room.” He announced as you smiled up at him over joyed. Taking his hand you practically skipped to the elevator the white poof on the end of your hat bouncing with each step. 

You both settled in quickly as things started to kick off. Food and presents were exchanged all with minimal outbursts from the blonde who was content to just sit beside you and offer an occasional remark on whatever you were conversing about at the time. You couldn’t do anything to hide the smile on your face with how he threw his arm over the couch behind your shoulders. ‘Tis the season’ you thought merrily as Bakugo began to berate you for having a goofy smile on your face again. 

Todoroki 

With the party happening so soon you were given the duty of collecting decorations for the others to put up in the commons. After asking around the school you were eventually pointed in the direction of the storage closets in the basement of the dorms. Being a hero you really should not have been so off put by such a simple task but taking one look into the black eerie abyss that was the dormitory basement you immediately gathered the courage to leave and return with back up. Thankfully as you were walking inside you caught Todoroki on his way inside as well. You called out to him as you approached waving your arm in an attempt to flag him down. He greeted you with a smile as you laughed awkwardly knowing what you were about to say maybe a little embarrassing. 

“If your not busy right now Todoroki would you mind coming with me to get ornaments out of the basement? It’s really dark and I don't want to go down alone…” you admitted unable to look him in the eyes as you rushed out the last part. You felt your cheeks flush as he laughed looking down at you clearly amused. 

“How can you be scared of the dark if you're going to be a hero?” Todoroki questioned

“Look It is scary down there I can show you!” You quickly retorted as you grabbed his hand and lead him off towards the basement entrance. Once there you flung open the door and pointed accusatorily at the dark hall before you both. Todoroki didn't hesitate as he walked forward into the darkness pulling out his phone as he went the light illuminating the long hall. 

“Do you know which room has the ornaments?”

“Fourth door on the left.” You instructed following Todorokis lead closely silently worried something might sneak up behind you in the dark. Todoroki stopped suddenly and being so focused on watching behind you for monsters you walked right into him. Before you could mutter out an apology Todoroki pulled open the door and walked in leaving you to scramble after him. 

“Look for the box that says holiday on it. It should be about yay big.” You explained motioning the size with your arms as you began to rummage through the countless boxes and bins. You felt like an eternity had passed before Todoroki let out a loud “A-ha!” Holding a fairly large sized bin aloft. 

“Great work!” You smiled as he handed off his phone to you as he hefted the box up into his arms. 

“It’s heavy so I’ll carry it. You just focus on not scaring yourself as you lead us out of here.” You frowned as he smirked down at you stomping out of the room grumbling about how it's perfectly normal to not like the dark. You safely escaped the dark throws of the basement slamming the door shut with a confident finality as you both made your way back upstairs to the common room where the others had already started setting up decorations and props and even a small gingerbread town. 

“Thanks for helping Todoroki i’ll let Uraraka know where the ornaments are for tomorrow.”

“You know you are going to have to put them back in the basement when your done with them right?” At this dawning realization your face blanched realizing that was the bleak truth. 

“Text me and I’ll go with you again wouldn’t want you to get scared after all.” He said softly and genuinely. You laughed, mostly at yourself, as you smiled up at him. 

“Or protect me from monsters.” You joked overjoyed when he let out a small chuckle 

“Or protect you from monsters.” he agreed before you were whisked away to begin helping the kitchen prep food. 

Kirishima

You had some things to take care of that morning so you left the job of decorating your room for the holidays in the hands of your best friend and crush Kirishima. He had been sending you update photos through class as he worked on unpacking your box of decorations and slowly placing them around your room and hanging them about. You were on your way back from class to your dorm to see how he had done when you got a picture of him smiling while sitting on your bed with the caption ‘I have a surprise for you when you get here.’. Now that was an easy way to make you worry as to what he had gotten into or up to. Hurrying up to your dorm you had to shout out a quick apology as you almost ran over Todoroki on his way into the dorms beside you. Storming up the stairs to your room you all but kicked the door open to see Kirishima standing there smiling at your innocently. 

“Are you ready for your surprise.” Kirishima said his smile never faltering as he stepped side and proudly presented a tiny Christmas tree in the corner of your room decorated in your bracelets and a few watches that where clearly his own. Though what really caught your eye where the various stones surrounding the bottom of the tree. 

“You did great on the room Kirishima but when Brenda Lee said rock around the Christmas tree she didn’t mean literally.” You snorted walking over to pick up one of the stones and confirmed that it was indeed a whole ass rock. 

“I thought it looked rustic…” Kirishima said with a soft sigh of defeat. You couldn't help but laugh as you set the stone back onto your floor and shook your head. 

“They can stay for now, Though the only rock I was hoping to have for Christmas was you.” At this comment Kirishima immediately returned to his overly exuberant and happy self as he almost tackled you as he pulled you into a hug. 

Kaminari 

With the Christmas party only hours away you had received a few frantic texts asking you to put up the lights while everyone else made a last minute run to get some things they had forgotten. Being the good friend you are you of course agreed to help out. Though you certainly weren’t going to be able to accomplish this task alone so you looked to Kaminari for help who was busying himself with videos while you struggled to untangle strands of lights. 

“Kaminari if you aren’t busy right now could you please help me? We gotta get this done before everyone gets back-” 

“I don't think I remember Uraraka asking me to put the lights up though.” He teased still engrossed in his game to even look back at you. 

“Denki please It’ll only take a second to untangle these then you can go back to your game.” You explained feeling a little desperate for help as you didn't want to disappoint your friends. Though Kaminari’s indifference to your suffering was getting very grating on your already strained nerves. 

“Kaminari-” Again you were cut short when he promptly shot up from his seat exclaiming in excitement as he won his round and was immediately booted to the next. Entirely fed up and feeling emotional exhausted you huffed. 

“Fine! I’ll put up the lights all by MYSELF.” You snapped roughly grabbing the box of lights and stomping to the other side of the room, fuming. ‘Who does he think he is? Freeloading off of everyone else's hard work…’ you grumbled internally as you aggressively ripped at the strands of lights no longer caring if they may break or not. 

Kaminari immediately took notice in your change of mood and felt awful knowing he was the cause of it. What he had meant as harmless teasing turned into something much worse. Switching off his game he slowly walked over to join you cautiously picking up a discarded strand of lights and joining you in your decoration effort. 

You had yet to notice him as you raged on tossing the strands of lights about as you had actually managed to fish out and untangle two hole strands when you felt his hand on your shoulder. 

“I’m sorry for ignoring you before, do you want me to hang them up while you untangle them?” Kaminari offered quickly realizing you were much better at this than him as the strand in his hand was far worse now than when he had picked it up. “At least then we can still have this done in time for everyone else.”

You took a deep breath letting your shoulders slump before turning to answer him. 

“Sure that sounds like a good idea.” You said offering him a small smile. Confidence now returned to him from your improving mood Kaminari snatched the box of tacks from the bin and made off with the first strand of lights. Before you knew it, you were already working on the last strand of lights. This last one was of course being extremely difficult for you and Kaminari quickly took note as he returned to fetch another strand of lights. Picking up the plug end of one of the strands of lights Kaminari smirked as an idea popped into his head. 

“Hey, wanna see something cool?” Kaminari asked as he came to stand beside you smiling. 

“Sure Kaminari.” You answer watching him expectantly. Kaminari laughed as he placed the end of the plug in his mouth and then proceeded to flicker the lights on and off presumably with his tongue. You couldn't help but laugh as he attempted to hum a song around the plug in his mouth the lights flashing in rhythm. 

“No one is gonna want to touch that now that you’ve had your mouth on it.” You offered as he chuckled to himself. 

“No one but you probably.” At that you flushed horribly returning to the last strand of lights as you attempted to hide your flushed appearance. ‘Stupid Denki and his stupid flirty was and his stupid good looks.’ you pouted.

This is my first time writing for BNHA so thank you for reading <3 

[amethyst-wind-uk]

BNHA thought I’ve had kicking about in my head for a while.

I like Boku No Hero Academia as a series, I do. Obviously, being a serialised manga with a young-teenage-boy primary demographic, it’s gonna do some shonen stuff, but generally it’s fun enough.

Now that it’s 250+ chapters in, however, there’s one thing that saddens me a little. (spoilers if you aren’t familiar with the franchise)

Fairly early on in the manga, there’s a line about how All Might’s time as the symbol of peace is coming to an end, because his power is waning. I can’t remember exactly who says it (probably All Might himself), but a character mentions that they shouldn’t have another symbol of peace to dump all of the responsibility of inspiring society on. Rather, they should focus on nurturing an entire new generation of heroes (Class 1-A is full of promising candidates) who will favour cooperation over competing with each other for hero spots.

Now, this was a concept I got behind from the get-go. I would love to see a shonen manga actually go in this direction, with a revolving focus on different characters - all treated with equal importance and respect. I thought BNHA was the perfect series to try this.

Unfortunately, it’s gone the other way. More and more, it’s becoming the Deku show. Midoriya Izuku is, frankly, pretty bland as a protagonist. Even so, on the rare occasion that it’s not just him in focus, and he does team up with other heroes-in-training, he does basically everything while the others just sit around and comment on how he’s doing basically everything. They might throw in a token action every now and then, but nothing worth writing home about. Even Bakugo and Todoroki, who are touted as equally talented in-universe, spend most of their time reacting to what he does.

I just wish shonen manga could move away from this “we have to have one singular hero above others” hierarchical nonsense, and take the opportunity that BNHA presented to move away from that tired and formulaic approach.

It’d make for a much better read overall.

[chamibii]

Jagged little Claws

Momo didnt feel like going out that night at all, but she allowed Ochako to convince her. She was still dealing with heartache from her break up with Todoroki and these days all she wanted to do was stay in bed and cry. She had "already been doing that for days" Ochako reminded her in their brief conversation.

"I know Ocha, but I just don't feel like going out. What if he's there?"

Ochako sighed dramatically and clicked her tongue. "Momo! Who cares if he's there? When was the last time you did something fun huh? Aren't you tired of laying in bed all damn day?"

Momo sat surrounded by a pink comforter and several large pillows. "I'm not.."

"And don't say you aren't in bed Mo, cuz I know you are!"

Momo laughed softly and relented. "Gods you just dont give up do you?"

"Is that a yes?"

"Where are we going?"

Ochako squeaked, "Is that a yes?"

"Yes. Yes!! Geez." Momo had to pull the phone away from her ear because her best friend was squealing loudly.

"Okay! I'll be there to pick you up at 8! Be ready. And please dress nicely."

---

Momo had to admit that she was slightly excited to be out. She hadn't really left her room, let her alone her house, since Todoroki broke up with her.

She felt Ochako squeeze her hand reassuringly and she smiled at her friend. She and Ochako had grown closer over the years and today, she was exceptionally grateful for her friendship.

Until...

"I could just kill you." Momo hissed as they stood outside The Fire Pit, Todoroki's family owned night club.

"Okay but listen, he's not even going to be here! You know he absolutely hated working here. Plus, theres a bad ass new band that's playing tonight and I just know you're gonna love them!"

Momo turned to leave, but felt Ochako's hand on her elbow. "Trust me Momo, I wouldn't bring you here if I knew he was going to be here."

Momo turned to stare at her friend. She noticed for the first time this evening that she had carefully and painstakingly done her makeup. Bright red circles were appearing on Ochako's cheeks and Momo narrowed her eyes in suspicion.

"Tell me."

"Tell you what?" Ochako stammered.

"Who is he?"

Ochako shuffled a sneaker across the concrete and huffed. "Fine! If you must know, his name is Midoriya Izuku, but his stage name is Deku and he invited me. He's a drummer in the band. We've been messaging each other for weeks and I really want to see him so please, please, just come inside for me?"

Momo rolled her eyes and sighed loudly. "Fine! But if I see Todoroki, I'm leaving."

Ochako hugged Momo tightly placed several quick kisses on her cheek. "Thank you, thank you!"

The bouncer waved Momo and Ochako through the line. Momo scanned the room quickly and breathed a sigh of relief as she realized that Ochako was right; Todoroki wasn't here. Ochako tugged on her hand and Momo allowed herself to be pulled to near the front of the stage.

Ochako leaned over and shouted near Momo's ear, "I'm going to go get us drinks. Save me a spot, yeah?"

Momo nodded and watched her tiny friend disappear into the crowd.

Feedback from the microphone drew her attention back to the stage and she noticed a red, spikey haired shirtless man holding a bass guitar tapping on the microphone. " 'Sup Fire Pit. My name is Kirishima and we're the Claws. You guys ready to get shit started?"

The crowd responded excitedly and Momo was surprised at the response. She hadn't heard of this band before, but they seemed well known. She felt Ochako back at her side and took the drink that her friend pressed into her hand.

"I said, are you guys ready to get shit started?!"

Ochako yelled out a loud "woo" and threw her free hand in the air. Momo laughed, enjoying seeing her small reserved friend open up.

The lights dimmed and a steady thrum of the bass started up. Soon, the drums came in and Momo spied Ochako jumping up and down to the beat. The music wasn't bad. Momo tapped her foot to the rhythm.

The crowd really went crazy when an electric guitar came in and a crystal clear voice sang out,

"As time passes

The feelings fade

But the scars you left

Still remain.

Don't know what I did

To deserve this pain

But fuck your excuses

Just the same"

The lights flooded the stage and the lead singer continued to sing. She came close to the microphone and sang about love and loss. She jumped around the stage, not once missing a note. She wore black combat boots, ripped mesh leggings, and dark denim shorts. Her top was black and had three long rips going across the chest to reveal a blood red bra. She wore heavy black eyeliner and bright red lipstick. Her dark purple hair was cut short in a buzz cut, with the top long, hanging over her left eye.

Momo felt glued to the floor. The sound slowly faded, as did every person in the room. Momo could only concentrate on the singer. The way her eyes lit up when she interacted with her bandmates and how she strummed her guitar with passion. Momo felt her heart racing in her chest as she stared up at the beautiful woman.

"Thank you Fire Pit! I'm Jirou, and we're Claw! We'll be back shortly!"

Momo whispered her name softly like a prayer. Jirou.

"What'd ya think Momo? Momo?"

She felt Ochako nudge her gently and shook her head. "Uh, I really liked their song. They're good."

Ochako was staring up at her friend with a puzzled expression. "Are you feeling okay Momo? You didn't see Todoroki did you?" Ochako looked wildly around the club.

"No. No, I'm just, I'm fine."

"Okay, I think Deku just text me." Ochako pulled out her phone and shrieked. "He wants us to come back stage! Let's go!"

Before Momo could protest, Ochako was dragging her backstage. Momo felt her heart rise into her throat and swallowed nervously. She hadn't felt this way in a while and to be honest, she was slightly uncomfortable.

"Ochako! You came!" A green haired man yelled, jarring Momo out of her thoughts.

Ochako looked up at Momo for reassurance and Momo nodded slightly, signaling for her friend to go.

Ochako ran up to Deku and hugged him. Momo heard them exchanging pleasantries and hung back awkwardly.

"Hi!" The same crystal clear voice said cheerfully.

Momo instantly blushed and looked at Jirou. "Hello, your music is really nice."

"Thanks! I'm glad you like it. How do you know Deku?"

"My friend Ochako is talking to him."

"Oh! That's Ochako! She's really cute!"

Momo nodded nervously. She was getting ready to introduce herself when the red haired man, Kirishima, came up behind Jirou and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her flush against him. Jirou giggled softly and leaned her head back on his shoulder. Momo watched as Kirishima placed quick kisses on Jirou's forehead and nose.

Oh. She should have known.

"Excuse me," Momo mumbled as she stepped past Jirou to find Ochako.

Ochako and Deku were speaking in hushed tones. A stage manager came up to Deku and tapped his watch. "Get situated. You're back on in 2."

Deku quickly kissed Ochako's cheek and Momo smiled as her she saw the blush settle in on her friends cheeks.

"Oi, love birds! Break that shit up and get back on stage." The stage manager yelled at Kirishima and Jirou.

"Bakugou, you know it's not like that! We're just.."

"Shitty Hair, I dont give a fuck what you two are doing. Just get your ass on stage and get it there quickly."

Momo attempted to move out of the angry stage managers way, but he crashed into her. "Move princess" he growled at her.

Momo side stepped the stage manager and watched as Jirou squeezed Kirishima's hand before stepping out on stage.

Momo and Ochako watched the rest of the show behind the stage. Momo tried to push away her feelings of loneliness and just enjoy the show. By the end of the set, her spirits were lifted and she was searching for the band's Sound Cloud.

Momo stood outside in the cold waiting for Ochako to say goodbye to Deku when Jirou joined her.

"Momo, right?"

Momo was surprised that Jirou knew her name.

"Yeah, Ochako told Deku about you. I really hope tonight lifted your spirits. Break ups are the absolute worst."

Momo blushed, embarrassed by her friend spreading the news about her break-up. "Yeah, I dated Todoroki for..."

Jirou cut her off. "You dated Todoroki? How in the hell did he swing that?"

Momo felt her flush deepen and quickly looked at the ground.

"I mean he's not a bad looking dude, he's just.."

"Awkward."

"Yes!" Jirou laughed. "Anyways Momo, thanks for coming out. I hope you feel better soon. Hey! If you ever wanna hang out and talk about heartache, find me on Instagram. I'm always down for a little guy bashing." Jirou winked and took off towards the van. "See ya Momo!"

How in the world was she going to find her on Instagram?

Ochako came up next to Momo and intertwined their fingers. "You know you can find her through Deku's page if you want to.." she let her sentence trail off.

"Maybe."

Ochako smiled up at her friend as they left the club hand in hand.

---

That night, Momo found Jirou's page almost instantly from searching on Deku's page. She scrolled through the photos and saw several of her and Kirishima holding hands and doing cute couple stuff. She accidentally liked a picture of the two of them kissing and started panicking. She was deep into Jirou's instagram by at least 38 weeks.

"Shit. Shit. Shit!" She put her phone down and attempted to soothe herself with the thoughts of Jirou not noticing due to her crazy follower count. She felt her phone buzz on the pillow and saw that she had a direct message from..

JaggedlilJirou: Accidental like huh? lol

MomoCreates: Ugh.. weird? I'm sorry.

JaggedlilJirou: Shit happens. I'm glad you found me! Sorry to hear about you and Todoroki.

MomoCreates: Its.. I was going to say it's okay, but it sucks. I'll be fine eventually.

JaggedlilJirou: I hope so. G2G, Kirishima and the boys need me. TTYL?

MomoCreates: TTYL

Momo placed her phone on the night stand and settle down into her covers. It did still hurt. She was in love with Todoroki and had been since high school. They were together for 3 years before he ended things: "Its not working. Good luck."

No cause, no response to texts, emails or phone calls. Despite the feelings she had tonight, Momo's heart was still shattered. She curled up into a ball and allowed the hot tears to flow freely and lull her to sleep.

---

This was inspired by fan artwork ((that I can no longer seem to find)) of Momo falling in love with a singing Jirou. If you can find the picture, please let me know! I would love to let the artist know I'm inspired by their work.

[echodrops]

BNHA, some thoughts on Toga after reading both your recent metas, the representation and female characters ones. Toga getting reduced to fetish fuel by fandom is pretty irritating. It really shortchanges her character, she's interesting. Despite all the murder, she's not written as a true psychopath/sociopath - her emotions are written as genuine, her empathy is written as being real. Her most depraved and her most empathetic moments both occur in the same arc, too (Overhaul's Hideout).

I actually think we can make a pretty good case for Toga being the best written female character in all of Boku no Hero Academia.

There are two other contenders–Inko and Nana–who could probably easily take the spot if not for their extenuating circumstances: Inko simply isn’t in the story enough to be a consistent source of emotional engagement, and we haven’t seen enough of Nana yet to get a real sense of the depth of her character. If Nana gets to be part of an extended series of flashbacks or becomes a vestige that Izuku can talk to, we might get enough of her to bump her to the top.

But right now, I can make a pretty convincing case for Toga.

1) She is the only female character whose actions are absolutely central to the main plot/conflict as it is unfolding right now. In the last 100 chapters, the only female to single-handedly accomplish anything for her side of the conflict has been Toga. You could not remove Toga from the plot and replace her with any of the male characters around her because her quirk and involvement in the story line are actively integrated in a way that none of the other female characters’ are (again, barring Nana). Mina? Jirou? Kendou? Uraraka? Tsuyu? Even Momo? In the last half of the manga’s plot, none of the class 1-A or 1-B girls have played any major part in the series’ overall conflict, had any stand-out moments of emotional depth that wasn’t narrated for them by a male character, or even been allowed to meaningfully contribute to the battles except during training against classmates, the outcomes of which have no lasting impact on the main heroes vs. villains conflict.

That’s because Toga doesn’t suffer from the one thing holding back all the heroines and heroines-in-training: good girls aren’t violent. Good girls are lovable, attractive, and supportive. They’re not ambitious or obsessive about strength and overcoming their rivals like boys are. Good girls behave well. And unfortunately, Horikoshi is pretty progressive in some ways and really, really unprogressive in others. His definition of “good girls” and the ways good girls act seems to be pretty rooted in conservative Japanese standards, which traditionally have undervalued women. (This is not to say that everyone in Japan discriminates against women, far from it; in general, however, societal standards for women in Japan have lagged behind other major developed nations.)

Uraraka and the other girls in 1-A and 1-B can and will become heroes, surely. They can even prove themselves to be very strong and skilled individuals. But they will only rarely–if ever–be allowed to outshine their male compatriots in terms of strength, aggression, impact on the main plot, and even emotional depth. The tension and depth of this story has, so far, been given almost entirely to male characters–Deku, Iida, Bakugou, Todoroki, Shigaraki, Kirishima, even Shinsou… Readers get more glimpses into the mindsets, emotional struggles, and backstories of these characters than any of the girls. Bakugou can literally cry and scream on screen from how angry he is that he doesn’t measure up to his classmates; but Momo, who feels similarly, will demurely have her confidence issues discussed by Todoroki and Aizawa for her.

Toga, however, doesn’t get hit by this stuff quite as bad because she isn’t a “good girl.” Toga can be violent. Toga can be out on the frontlines throwing down directly with the male heroes and can come out on top because she’s a villain and sometimes the villains have to win for the story to be exciting. Toga got away with threatening Shigaraki.Whether Tomura is just telling lies to keep her on his side or not, Toga is canonically referred to as one of the League’s “linchpins.” She’s tangled with the heroes two more times than Dabi, Mr. Compress, Magne, or Spinner, and once more than Twice, making her literally the League’s most active member. Because of her role as a villain, Toga is free from the limitations that prevent the heroines from making any lasting impacts on the plot.

2) Toga’s personal motivations/mindset have direct impacts on the plot. Sure, being a “love obsessed” girl who develops crushes at the drop of the hat isn’t exactly the most fantastic basis for a female character ever–it’s cripplingly stereotypical and a gross excuse to draw faces bordering on ahegao, actually–but at least Toga’s crushes are plot relevant. Her “love” for Izuku and collecting his blood led to her utilizing that blood in combat to directly change the course of what is probably the series’ most important and dramatic battle to date. Unlike Uraraka, whose crush is essentially mandatory due to her role as the love interest and really has no bearing on the major plot, Toga’s “love” for Izuku shapes not only her actions but also the actions of others because she is a mover-and-shaker in the main conflict, unlike other female characters.

Toga’s crush on Stain was what drove her to join the League, despite the fact that Stain is no longer part of it in any way–and she’s remained loyal to the League. Her crush motivated her to take direct action and change the course of her life. Unlike other crush plot lines given to female characters, which are often used only in two contexts: 1) Oh no, I can’t let these feelings affect my friendship with [shounen protagonist]! 2) Ha ha, look how adorable I am trying to hide my crush from everyone!, Toga’s crushes are driving factors in her story and the plot overall.

3) Toga has demonstrated more meaningful emotional depth than half the female students. You’re right–reducing Toga to fanservice badly degrades a character who’s actually been painted with more depth than virtually any other female character (except Inko) in the series so far. In her response to Magne’s death, her comments that she wants to continue enjoying life with the League, her willingness to threaten Shigaraki for making choices for her, and her delicate treatment of Twice, Toga’s feelings–even those beyond her love and friendship obsession–are portrayed seriously and with a degree of attention and agency that few other females in this series get. Toga is loyal, intelligent, dedicated to pursuing her personal goals, empathetic, brave, and strong-willed, and most importantly–these aren’t informed traits. We don’t hear about how smart she is or how nice or how brave she is from other people–we see it in direct action throughout the course of the story. You don’t hold a knife to Shigaraki Tomura’s neck without being both staggeringly courageous and dead-set in your beliefs–Toga has a backbone of steel and a good head on her shoulders. She’s in far more control of herself than anyone is giving her credit for; she knows exactly what she wants and she’s going for that without hesitating. Her response to Twice after Magne’s death not only demonstrates a clear understanding of other people’s feelings, but also signals to the readers how far the League has come in supporting and valuing each other, an important turning point for readers, making her feelings and dialogue more meaningful than many of the other female characters’.

4) Toga’s obsession with identity–and its ties to her quirk–implies a significantly more interesting backstory than most other girls in the series. In a way that doesn’t happen for many other characters outside the villains, Toga’s quirk is directly tied her to mindset and behavior. She is obsessed with seizing the identities of the people she “loves” to actively become those people. It should be obvious that this obsession is a direct off-shoot of her powers. Imagine what life would be like for a child who could literally change identities any time she became dissatisfied with herself. Forming a personal identity is a complex process for human beings (google Erik Erikson’s Eight Stages for a more in-depth look), and it is also a process fraught with peril. Children and young adults who fail to develop healthy, complete self-identities struggle in a variety of ways, not the least of which is mental illness. How would a tiny young girl who was capable of completely altering her physical appearance and attitude, enough so to be easily mistaken for others, define her own personal identity? This is literally a nightmare scenario, ripe for the development of psychological issues. It wouldn’t surprise me to find out the start of Toga’s descent into madness was realizing that, by hurting others, she could become someone better, more popular, with more friends–someone happy. It makes perfect sense that Toga is the way she is now, with the quirk she has. Toga’s desperate love–her desperate desire to be someone else–is almost inevitably going to be tied to a shattered sense of self. This is why the issue of “villain quirks” is so interesting–did Toga ever have a chance to be “normal,” with a quirk that would have devastated the psyche of a growing child?

I don’t know when or if we’ll ever see Toga’s backstory, but just the hints we’ve been given are already enough to make it richer and more interesting to think about that almost any of the other female characters in the series.

Toga is great, and seeing what she gets reduces to by the fans (hell, and her own creator sometimes) seriously bums me out.

[comicgeekscomicgeek]

Their Hero Academia: Chapter 19

My on-going, next-gen, My Hero Academia fan-fic!   Chapter 19, presented raw and unedited and featuring Shota Shinso! Chapters 0-18 (plus an interlude) can be found here

“Yow!  Look out and shout, listeners!  This is Present Mic and the time is 0630 on this beautiful Tuesday morning!  If you’ve got work today in Hosu City, better give yourself extra time, because there’s a Villain attack downtown that has everything all tied up!  Fortunately, new outlets on the scene are reporting that Ingenium and his sidekicks are on the case!  We’ll keep you updated when we know more.  But for now, here’s the latest hit from Jiro and the Jamming Wheys!”

Shota’s sleepy fingers prodded at his alarm clock until he found the volume button, lowering it to something less likely to jolt him out of bed.  He’d stayed up too late (again), reading through the various Hero News sites and watching videos of Heroes in action.  He always paid for it the next morning, but he always considered it worth it.

He threw back the covers and put both feet on the floor, blinking his eyes for a few moments as he adjusted to being awake.   Pro-Heroes stared back at him from every corner of the room, from the posters along every wall, to the statues and action figures that covered nearly every other available surface.  It had been a real challenge deciding what to bring to U.A. with him, but he’d somehow managed.  But maybe he’d trade a few things out the first time he went home.

As he set his phone to voice response mode as he started to get dressed.  “What’s the current Top Ten Hero Rankings?” he asked it, one of his pre-programmed searches.  While the Official Billboard rankings only came out biannually, there were plenty of other Hero-fans and communities out there using similar algorithms to track on a more regular basis.

A hologram popped up of the results:

1)     Deku

2)     Lemillion

3)     Shoto

4)     Ground Zero

5)     Nejire-chan and Suneater

6)     Ingenium

7)     Rodeo

8)     Gale Force

9)     Froppy

10) Red Riot and Real Steel

Most of those weren’t surprising.  Deku and Lemillion traded off spots fairly frequently and both had been working overtime in the advent of the Quirk Virus outbreak.  Shoto had pretty consistently held the Number Three spot for a number of years, though Ground Zero occasionally rose to the Number Three or Two spot for about a day or two before dropping down.  Ingenium had been pretty solidly Number Six for even longer.  

Neijire-chan and Suneater both worked at the same agency they’d founded with Lemillion after he’d gotten his Quirk back, and typically worked together still, even when his duties drew him apart from them.  Even without him, they’d racked up a number of impressive victories, rescues, and captures to their name.  Hero couples usually did.  His parents frequently worked together too and had similar results, her Quirk complimenting his quite nicely.  Even if they were largely Underground Heroes, operating below most people’s radar.

The only real surprise on the list was Rodeo, Mika Mineta’s mother.  After he fixed his tie and slipped on his jacket, Shota opened the article associated with the most recent list for more information.   She’d previously been hovering in the low to mid-teens, but it looked like a victory against the Villain group known as the Rustlers, she’d been propelled up several notches. It looked like the Villains had taken a bullet train hostage and she’d pulled off the rescue single handedly.

Unfortunately, there weren’t very many video clips of the rescue, just a couple of hastily taken and shaky cell phone videos.  There were more when the train had pulled in the station and she’d walked out with them all tied up, but those weren’t nearly as exciting.

On the other hand, a linked article showed that a newer Pro-Hero, Wreck-It, was rapidly rising in the ranks following his fight with Fullmetal last week, having hit Number Twenty-Seven already.  Most people were speculating he’d crack the teens by the end of the year.   Looking at the time, Shota saved a video of Wreck-It fighting Cy-Bug for later.  If he wanted breakfast, he’d have to go down now.

There was never enough time for the important stuff!

***

Shota came out of his room at the same time that Isamu Haimawari was coming out of his.  Tall and skinny, Haimawari had a good six inches or more on him. Shota gave him a wave.  “Morning, Haimawari!”

“Oh, morning, Shinso,” he said.  “You, ah, you look tired.”

Shota shrugged. “Stayed up too late again watching Hero videos.  I’d watch one, and then it just kept suggesting more!”

Haimawari laughed. “You do know that’s just what it does, right?  For the clicks and ads?”

“Yeah, well… they shouldn’t have so much cool stuff if they’re gonna do that!”

He laughed again as they headed for the stairs.  “If you say so, little dude.  Just don’t let Aizawa catch you napping.  I don’t think it’s be pretty.  He’s really scary.”  He held open the door to the stairwell for Shota.

“Oh, I don’t worry too much about that.   Uncle Shota’s not nearly as scary as he seems.”

Haimawari missed a step and began skidding down the stairs, only stopping himself by throwing out his hands and using his Quirk to brake himself.   He got uneasily back to his feet.  “’Uncle Shota’?” he asked, sounding as if he didn’t really believe what he was saying.  “How do you two have the same name?”

It took Shota a minute to remember that Haimawari hadn’t grown up with the rest of them.  It had only been a week, but he’d already gotten completely used to having him around.  “I’m named after him,” he explained.  “He’s my godfather.  He was my dad’s mentor, back in the day.  Helped get him into the Hero Course and everything.”

Haimawari tilted his head. “That’s a thing?”

“Oh yeah!” Shota said. “Lots of Pro-Heroes started off in the General Education Department but got to transfer to the Heroics Course after they made their mark in the Sports’ Festival!  It’s pretty much a U.A. tradition!  There’s the Negotiator, and the Safari Samurai, and Iron Blood, and Life Sewer, and…”

“Wow,” Haimawari said. “Too bad more schools don’t do something like that.  Dad applied to a Hero school too… but missed the exam.  He might have made it up after.  Course, if he did that, he probably never would have met Mom, so…” He shrugged.  “Guess things work out.”

“Your dad was gonna be a Hero?” he asked.  “Awww, man! You said he’s got the same Quirk as you, right?  Your Quirk is so cool!  I bet he could have made an awesome one!”

That got a smile out of Haimawari as they reached the bottom of the stairs and headed into the Common Room. “Yeah… well, guess it’s up to me then.”

“You’ll do great,” Shota said.  “I know it!”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence, dude,” Haimawari said.  

The Common Room was abuzz with activity, with most either eating breakfast, fixing their breakfast, or otherwise engaged.  Shota saw Toshi sitting with Takuma Sero and the Iida Twins on one of the sofas.  Sora Iida was sitting very close to Toshi, practically in his lap, while Takuma and Tensei Iida were sitting close, but not as close, though both looked rather relaxed with each other.  Everybody had already known about Sero and Tensei Iida, of course, since Kimiko Ojiro had blasted it to the farthest corners of the internet, but Toshi and Sora Iida was new.  Good for them, though.

“Haimawari!”  Chihiro Kaminari’s voice cut across the room, from where she was sitting with Mika Mineta.  “Your mom’s a music reporter, right?”

Haimawari looked over in their direction, maybe looking a little pale from the attention.  “Ah, yeah?” he said.

“Then get over here! You’ve got to have the inside scoop on these Double*Pop girls!” Kaminari said.

“Bunch of wannabes,” Haimawari said, looking disgusted for the first time since Shota had known him. “Hang on, let me get a Pop-Tart and I’ll give you the real gossip.”  

He gave Shota an apologetic grin.  “Sorry, I’ve gotta get in on this.  Just… come check on me in about fifteen to make sure they haven’t kidnapped me to have their way with me,”

“Oookay?” Shota said. He wasn’t entirely sure what that meant, but he’d still check up on him anyway.  He’d grab some cereal and then go join Asuka, Izumi, and Kirishima-Bakugo for some quick breakfast before class.

Hopefully the morning wouldn’t drag on too long.  He couldn’t wait to get back to the USJ!

***

“Go, Shinso!” Akaya Koda directed, pointing with one massive hand.  “My trees have grown strong, but they will not hold back rubble’s collapse for long!”

Back the USJ, they were continuing their Urban Rescue Training.  Yesterday, they’d been training with Doc Clock (she wasn’t very high in the Hero Rankings, but Aunt Eri was definitely one of the top Heroes in his book), and today they were working with All Might himself!  The former Number One Hero in Japan and the world! The Symbol of Peace!  And he was still teaching after all these years!   It was the coolest thing in the universe!

He was working with Akaya Koda, Takiyo Aoyama, Takuma Sero, and Izumi Todoroki.  The cityscape around them was in ruins, with numerous small fires and many of the buildings in states of significant collapse.  They’d already cleared three buildings and were on to a fourth.  Koda had used her Quirk to fast grow trees from seeds (decades of growth in seconds!), shaping their growth enough to reinforce a collapsed section of a building. But they wouldn’t hold forever. So they had to know how many people were inside to be rescued.

Shota took a deep breath and concentrated on his Quirk, sending out as high a pitch as he could manage, almost past the range of human hearing.  Invisible waves of sound penetrated the building, bouncing all around it, until they bounced back to him, painting a perfect picture in his mind. He could see every nook, cranny, door, pipe, light fixture, and “person” inside.

“Five people inside,” he said.  “Two on the ground floor, three on the third.”

He had spent a lot of time with Quirk Specialists and Quirk Counselors over the years.  His was a true, rare, once in a family line mutation, completely different from anything anyone else on either side of his family had.  They were still figuring out everything he could do.  He just knew he could make a lot of things happen with different sounds.  And every time he found something new, it meant it was a new way he could help people. But sonar was really useful here. Not that it didn’t have its drawbacks. There was the time he’d used it when Kimiko Ojiro was around…

“I can take Todoroki up,” Sero said, pointing to the third floor.  “I can get there, but I can’t get past the fires.  You up for that?”

Izumi nodded.  She looked a little tired; she’d been making lots of ice to fight the fires, only occasionally and carefully letting out little puffs of her own flames to balance herself out.  The silver pieces on her costume were flashing yellow. Shota knew they did something to help regulate her temperatures, but he didn’t know what the flashing meant.  He hoped she was okay.

“I can manage,” Izumi said. “Just get me close enough.”

“Guess that leaves us on the ground floor!” Shota said to Aoyama.

Aoyama shrugged, his glow bright and partially obscuring his features.  “I suppose they shall be grateful for the rescue,” he said.  

“Best hurry,” Koda said. “I shall do what I can to reinforce what I have already grown, but I fear providence shall not be with us for long.”

They moved.  With Todoroki on his back, Sero fired a strand of his Acid Tape upward, pulling them towards the third floor.  Shota sprinted inside, Aoyama hot on his heels and soon passing him.

He probably could have navigated with his Sonar—though the picture it had given him was fading fast from his mind—but Shota was grateful for Aoyama’s light.  With the power out in the ruined building, it cast a soft glow over everything.  

“You said there were deux,” Aoyama said.  “Where?”   He held up a hand and concentrated, focusing his light through the reflective armband he wore as part of his Support gear.  The armband focused the light into a powerful spotlight beam, which he traced over the dark corners of the room.

Shota pointed a little to the left of where Aoyama’s spotlight had fallen.  “One there… one further in the back.”

The ground began to shake and pieces of rubble fell from the ceiling.  Aoyama let out a frightened yelp and jumped to the side as one nearly fell on him.  “Then let us get them and get out as soon as possible,” he said.

Swiftly, they checked the first of the animatronics.  There was a fallen filing cabinet pinning its legs and the vital signs meters displaying on its chest told a story of a great many injuries.  Shota grabbed onto the cabinet and tried to lift it, grunting and straining with all his might, but it was too heavy.

Aoyama let out a sigh. “Allow me to show you how it is done.”   He pointed a hand at the filing cabinet and made some adjustment to his arm band.  A beam of light as wide as his fist shot out, striking the cabinet and slicing through it, splitting it into the portion that was over the animatronic’s legs and the portion that wasn’t.  The beam continued on and went into the wall behind it, leaving a smoking hole and red hot edges on the cabinet.

The lights on the animatronic lit up like a Christmas tree before shutting off completely.  Shota reached a hand towards it and pulled it back. The animatronic and the air around it was still hot from Aoyama’s laser beam.  No wonder it had…  died? Was that the right word for what had happened?

He knew Aoyama was powerful, but he also knew he mostly relied on his Support gear to control his Quirk.  Shota’s eyes went wide as he looked at his classmate.

“Non…” Aoyama said.  “I did not mean…   We… we must have been too late already!”  He gave his cape a flick.  “Let us see about the other one, Shinso.”

Shota was very sure that they hadn’t been too late and that it had been Aoyama’s fault.  But after seeing the horrified look on his French classmate’s face, he wasn’t going to push it.  Maybe he’d be a little nicer after that.

As they headed to the back room, the ground shook again and more of the ceiling began to fall.  A big piece of the ceiling fell near Aoyama, causing him to shriek and Shota to flinch at the noise of the crash.  More started to fall, but when Aoyama tried to move, he couldn’t!   His cape had been caught under the rubble that had nearly hit him.  And more was falling…

Shota screamed.  The air around the rippled with the sonic energy he had unleashed, forming a protective dome around both of them. Several more pieces of rubble fell from the ceiling, but they bounced off the dome.  Finally, it stopped and Shota could breathe again, coughing until his throat felt right again.  That had been longer than he typically used his Quirk for.  He was best in short bursts and could only keep it up as long as he could draw in enough air to make sound.

Aoyama looked at him with wide eyes.  “You saved me,” he said, his voice soft and quiet.  “Merci.”

“You’d have done the same!” Shota told him, even if part of him wondered if that wasn’t true.  “And they wouldn’t let us really get hurt, not during training!”

“Still…” Aoyama frowned and tugged at his cape, until it came away from the rubble with a long riiiiiip.  “A pity. My poor cape.”

Shota was going to tell him that he shouldn’t wear it, that very few Heroes wore them these days, exactly because of what had happened.  He even remembered reading about an American Support Gear and costume designer who had campaigned very hard for the international Hero community to outlaw capes in their entirety, though she had not been successful in that. Too many people thought they were too iconic to give up.  But Shota could quote a lot of statistics on why they were a bad idea…

“Aoyama!  Shinso!”  Koda’s voice rang out.  “The structure is becoming unstable!  You need to get out!”

Both turned and ran for the door.  Shota hated leaving the exercise incomplete…but it looked like they had no choice.

The second they hit daylight, the building finished collapsing, taking Koda’s trees with it. “Thank you for your sacrifice, my woody friends,” she said quietly.  “Rest well knowing the lessons I have learned here will mean it was not in vain.”  Her rocky features were tired and a little sad. Shota knew she took it hard whenever her plants were hurt, even in training.

“You two okay?” Sero asked. “You were in there a long time.” Soot covered his costume and he held his helmet in the crook of his arm, scrubbing at the faceplate with a cloth.

“And your cape is torn, Aoyama,” Izumi said.  She was letting flames dance over her fingertips, the blinking lights on the silver pieces of her costume fading from yellow to green.

“We just ran into un petit bit of trouble,” Aoyama said, putting on a proud grin.  But he only held it for a minute, Shota bet he was remembering that they’d all be reviewing the video later. “But… Shinso was quite good at getting us out of it.  Even if we did not complete the rescue.”

“An unfortunate truism of being a Hero,” All Might said, as he left the safe zone he’d been monitoring them from.  Shota had seen plenty of videos of him in his prime, but there was something captivating about the man he’d mostly known as Toshi’s grandfather.  He’d been a Hero longer than almost anyone; and Shota knew he was lucky to learn whatever he could from him.

“Sometimes,” All Might continued, “you cannot save everyone.  Sometimes… you will be pushed to your limits and it will still not be enough. We hold tremendous power and responsibility in our hands.  Our profession is an unforgiving one, one which demands perfection of us, when the slightest misstep or wrong choice can cost lives. But if you train your minds, bodies, and Quirks…  You can at least ensure those moments are as few and far between as possible.

“I think you all know where you can begin to improve, but that being said…  You are all showing great progress!  We will discuss the specifics later, but the other groups should be finishing up and Water Spout and Doc Clock will be wanting to continue your first aid lessons.  But know that I am very proud of all of you!  You are truly showing you know what it means to Go Beyond… Plus Ultra!”

Shota was pretty sure he’d never felt happier.  All Might believed in him!

***

“Remember, kids, playing by the rules is super manly!  If you see someone cheating, let them know that’s not fair!  And that’s what Red Riot Sayz!”

Shota turned down the volume on his computer while the ad between videos loaded.  Someone had uploaded a bunch of Public Service Announcements that Red Riot had done more than a decade ago and he just had to watch them all!  He wouldn’t be up too late if he did that…

“Shota, go to bed.”

He looked up from his computer to find Asuka, Izumi, Toshi, and Haimiwari in his room.  He must have been watching so intently he didn’t even hear them!

“Go to bed,” Asuka repeated.

“Sorry, dude,” Haimiwari said, an apologetic smile on his face.  “But you looked really tired this morning.  I had to call in the heavy artillery.”

“I’m only gonna watch a couple more,” Shota said.  And he was! Probably.  Sometimes they were just too tempting!

“Those’ll probably get taken down anyway,” Toshi said.  “That’s not an official video channel.”

They might?  Then he had to watch them all tonight!  He started to turn back towards his computer.

“Maybe not the best thing to say, Toshi, *chirp*” Asuka said.

“…Ooops?”

“Shota,” Izumi said.  “It is only Tuesday and you’ve already been tired both mornings this week.  This is not healthy for you or your future as a Hero.”

“Dad doesn’t sleep that much,” he tried.  

“But you are not your father,” Izumi continued.  “And besides… your godfather would tell you to rest whenever you are able.  We must insist you go to bed.”

Shota became uncomfortably aware of the four sets of eyes on him.  And of the fact that despite her soft voice, there was a firmness to Izumi’s words that meant he wasn’t going to win this argument.

“Okay,” he said, dejectedly, getting out of his chair.

“Turn the computer off,” Asuka said.

“And no using your phone either,” Izumi added.

They’d really thought of everything!  He was definitely trapped.  Well… one day without too many videos probably wouldn’t kill him.

He’d just have to watch even more tomorrow!

[incognitofujoshi]

I Think I’ve Always Cared for You Ch. 4 (T-rated)

At the end of their 4th period class, Japanese, the students of class 1-A packed up, grouped up, and bolted for lunch. Todoroki, Midoriya, Uraraka, Asui, and Iida lingered, awaiting everyone else to file out first. 

Asui and Uraraka both went over to Deku’s desk. “Are you ready for lunch, Midoriya Kun?” Asui put her right hand up to her face, as if resting her cheek in her palm. Her tongue hung out to the side, with a grin.

“Almost.” Izuku pulled his bag over his shoulder and walked up to Shoto’s desk. “Todoroki Kun, will you join us for lunch?” He tilted his head to the side and smiled wide. His eyes closed and it added to the adorable glow around him. 

Shoto almost swallowed his own tongue. Izuku was too cute for his own good. He stood pin straight.

“Uwwaaaa! Todoroki Kun is having lunch with us?” Uraraka rushed over, and put her hands on her cheeks in awe. 

Shoto nodded. “If I’m not intruding…” He looked down at the ground, and awaited their answers.

“Of course not! I invited you.” Izuku reached his hand out, and put it on Shoto’s shoulder. He squeezed it reassuringly. The red and white haired young man looked over to Izuku’s hand, and let a rose color dust across his nose.

“Please join us!” Iida walked up to the group, and smiled invitingly. He put his hand on Shoto’s other shoulder.

“Lunch will be so much more fun with you, Todoroki Kun”, Asui croaked.

“So what’s your favorite food?”, Uraraka asked, already convinced he was coming.

Beginning to feel overwhelmed, Shoto distracted himself with grabbing his school bag off of the back of his chair. “I really like Soba.” He hit his spiral, with loose papers stacked atop it, against the surface of his desk to keep everything level , before placing them in his desk. 

When he looked back up, everyone stared at him with adoring smiles. Shoto wasn’t sure what to do. His classmates were staring at him. His palms began to sweat, and he darted his eyes around, uncomfortable, but not displeased. 

Izuku grabbed his hand, to lead him out of the classroom, to the Lunch Rush Cafeteria. “ Did you pack your lunch? Or are you getting it here?” 

As Midoriya and Todoroki walked out of the classroom, Iida, Asui, and Uraraka followed behind them, closely. “I don’t see Todoroki Kun in the cafeteria often.” Asui contemplated, aloud. 

Uraraka put her index finger to her chin and nodded in agreement. Iida responded, by asking, “Todoroki Kun, do you usually eat outside?” 

“I packed my lunch.” He answered Izuku, then turned to Iida. “And sometimes; I was going to today. The wind felt good this morning.” Shoto allowed his freckled guide to lead him down the hallways of UA,  so he could continue to feel him hold his hand. 

“That sounds great! I need to get my lunch in the cafeteria; can I meet you by the entrance?” Iida turned from Shoto to the two young women. “Did you bring your lunches Uraraka and Asui?” 

“Our lunch is packed.” Uraraka turned to Asui and rubbed the back of her neck, nervously. “I just got some new jellies, and I know you like Jelly, so I made us PB&J sandwiches.” 

“Thank You Ochaco Chan!” Tsuyu jumped up to hug Ochaco from the side. “You’re so thoughtful!” Ochaco used her anti-gravity quirk to lighten Tsu, and carry her on her back.

“I still need to get mine too, Iida Kun.” Izuku let go of Shoto’s hand, and turned to Iida, once they reached the entrance of the cafeteria. 

With quick goodbyes, Uraraka, Asui, and Todoroki went to pick up their lunches, while Iida and Midoriya waited in line to received theirs. Asui and Uraraka were the first to arrive at their meeting spot. Todoroki was the next to arrive, and spied them both conversing intimately. He approached slowly, as not to startle them, but as soon as he came into their view, their eyes were locked on him. 

“Can we ask you something Todoroki Kun?” Uraraka and Asui both cornered him by the cafeteria entrance.

He knew he was trapped, and he should have been expecting the question, but the boldness still shocked him. Uraraka rose on her tip toes, Asui behind her, and whispered in Todoroki’s ear, “Do you like Midoriya Kun?” 

In that moment, Shoto was grateful that his container with his soba was well wrapped in the blanket he’d grabbed, as it would have surely spilled everywhere when he dropped it in surprise. He quickly crouched down to pick up his lunch, and avoid the awkward stares. “Doesn’t everyone? He’s friends with the whole class.”

Ochaco, piecing his response and pink visage together, pushed the question. “…I mean romantically. We won’t tell anyone.” She smiled smugly. 

“What if I do?” Shoto’s defensive nature kicked in, seeing her over-confident expression. 

“Then Ochaco Chan and I want to help.” Asui answered. Both of the women smiled at him, and gave him knowing winks.

Realizing he had answered their question inadvertently with his antics, and hearing their wish to help, Shoto let a confused and frustrated sigh slip from his lips. Weighing the pros and cons of their help, he ultimately decided that they knew Izuku better than he did. Any help was welcome, when you didn’t know anything about relationships. “Thank You.”

Uraraka and Asui jumped up and down, filled with glee. 

Both Midoriya and Iida walked up to the group, lunches in hand, and greeted everyone. “So where do you normally sit, Todoroki Kun?”, Midoriya inquired.

Shoto lead them around the back of the school, to a shady side under a large tree. The blanket he had wrapped around his lunch was used to lay on the ground. Uraraka and Midoriya, “oooooh”d and “aaahhhhh”d. Iida thanked Todoroki for the consideration. Asui thanked him for his thoughtfulness. 

The group sat down and tore into their lunches. No one talked until, at least, half of their lunches were down. Then, their conversations varied from All Might, to which classes they found difficult, to what they enjoyed doing in their time off.

Even though Shoto was nervous about the experience, he hadn’t ever enjoyed his classmate’s company more than now, during this lunch. He smiled, chuckled, and found similarities between each of the students there.

At the end of lunch, the newly formed Dekusquad left for English class. They had this, and one more class for the day, before they were free for the weekend. 

Algebra came to an end, after English, and Midoriya waited by Todoroki’s desk, as he packed up for the day. Iida, Uraraka, and Asui joined them. 

“Did you have any plans tonight?”, Uraraka asked the squad. 

“I must study.” Iida answered immediately. 

“But it’s the weekend!”, Uraraka complained. “What about you, Tsu Chan?” 

“I’m free.” Asui put up two of her fingers to give Ochaco a peace sign. Asui and Uraraka looked to Midoriya and Todoroki for their answers.

“I’m, actually, quite tired.”, Todoroki began to excuse himself for the evening, only to have Midoriya answer at the same time. “I’m a little sleepy.”

“Awwwwww!” Uraraka squeezed her eyes shut. “Then I guess it’s just Asui and me!” 

“That’s ok Ochaco Chan.”, Tsu smiled. “We can watch that funny movie together, if you want.”

Bidding them a good evening, Uraraka and Asui took off for their evening together. The three young men exited, after the women, and conversed about an English test on the way to the dorms. Once inside the common room, Iida set his school bag by the couch, and began to take out his study material. He’d explained that he wanted to use the space before everyone else gathered there for games and lounging. 

Without intending to, Shoto had followed Izuku to his room. When Izuku opened his door, he quickly turned around to ask, “Were you still tired, To -Shoto?” His All Might homage sparkled through the slit in the door behind him. 

“Oh,” one nervous chuckle escaped the ice and fire student’s throat. “I suppose I am. I’ll just be heading to my room.” He bowed, respectfully, and took flight towards his dorm’s direction. He’d actually been hoping to spend special time with just Izuku, but he didn’t want his thoughts to be conspicuous.

As soon as Shoto entered his room, he set his bag aside, and unrolled his futon to lay down. Today had been great, but so draining. He let his legs give out, and slammed into his bed. “Shit.”, he said to no one in particular. He had forgotten to do laundry. ‘It’s always when you lay down.’

He got up, grabbed his hamper, and ran downstairs, to the laundry room. Since no one else’s clothes were running, he threw his clothes in one washer and his blanket into another one, near by. Everyone always rushed to do their laundry in the morning. ‘You think they’d learn.’ He shook his head at the thought.

While waiting, Shoto left for the kitchen. He went to the fridge to grab some of his apple juice, and some white rice he’d portioned out. Instead of sitting, he ate standing up, secluded. With one bite, he decided to add some flavor. Nori flakes and sesame were added, and he leaned against the pantry to continue eating by himself. 

Ashido, seated by Kirishima, Bakugo, and Kaminari, in the common room, looked over at the sad scene. She knew Kirishima had experience with romance, and looked over to him. “Kiri, how would you help a friend who was having a hard time confessing to someone?”  

Kirishima’s eyes opened wide in shock, and he blushed. He, quickly, looked back at Bakugo. Bakugo scowled and looked away, arms crossed. “Uuuuh… Well I just - or, I would try to get them alone together. The more time they have alone, the harder it will be to ignore their feelings.” Bakugo looked like he was ready to rip something’s arms off.

Ashido nodded. She did the first thing that she thought would help, and pulled out her phone. She need Uraraka and Yaoyorozu’s opinions. They were the closest girls to Midoriya and Todoroki. If they didn’t know how to get the two alone, no one would. 

After eating, Shoto went back to the laundry room to throw his clothes and blanket in the dryers. He leaned against the machines and let himself reflect. It had been a little while.

Fatigued, the dual quirked student slid down to sit in front of the dryer. His first thoughts were to try and decide the exact moment he realized his feelings for Izuku were romantic. That one was easy: it was at the Sports Festival. Izuku had put everything on the line just to help him realize his true potential as Hero Shoto. He realized the most important thing he cared about in life was to become the best hero, not by rejecting his father’s means, but by using all of his. Izuku had broken through his defensive walls, and changed him, all in the span of less than half an hour. 

Next, he decided to trace back his memories to the first moment he knew he was attracted to Izuku. Shoto thought about when he’d challenged him. Yes; he’d been attracted then. Thinking back further grew difficult. Basking in the memories of all the times he’d spent with Izuku, he fell asleep against the warm drying machine. 

Zzzzzt. Todoroki’s phone vibrated. “Where are you?”, it read. Midoriya had sent the message. He’d answer it when he got back to his room. Shoto turned around and realized that the dryers were done. He, groggily, took his fresh clothing and blanket out to head upstairs. 

Around the corner, on the floor his room was on, Shoto saw Izuku pacing outside of his door. “Hey.”

The angel faced student jumped. “Ah! Shoto Kun, you scared me!” Deku rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, and laughed off his nerves. He suddenly became serious and a determined look crossed his face. “Are you ok?”

“What?” Shoto was still too tired to grasp what he meant.

“Ashido, Yaoyorozu, AND Uraraka all said you needed to talk to me.” Izuku walked closer to him, concerned. He put a hand up to grab Shoto’s shoulder, but in a sleepy stupor, the fire and ice hero rested his face in Izuku’s palm.

“I’m tired. But if you want to talk, we can hang out in my dorm.” 

Realization dawned on Izuku that Shoto was half-asleep. He couldn’t blame him, with the early wake up call he’d given him. The green haired cherub chuckled at sleepy Shoto. ‘I’ve never seen him like this. He’s so innocent.’, Izuku cooed in his mind.

Shoto shifted his hamper into one arm, and used his newly freed hand to grab Izuku’s. He lead him into his room. “Please make yourself comfortable.” The drained young man put his hamper down and took out a few articles of clothing to fold. 

“I can help you with that.” 

“No. No. S’ok. You can pull up some videos on my laptop if you want.” Shoto’s sentences came out with large spaces between them. 

Izuku laughed and pulled up Youtube. 

“SUGOOOOOI” Opening his history, majority of the videos were about All Might. Izuku set Shoto’s laptop on his desk, nearby, and watched a few Silver Age videos as Shoto folded his clothing. He stacked his shirts and pants on the ground, too tired to organize them in his dresser. 

When he was finished, Shoto joined the amazed fanboy on his Futon, and leaned against him. “Turn on the one… where All Mi…” the words were lost as the tired young man began to fall asleep against his crush. Soft breaths fell from his lips. 

Lost in the warmth flowing into his side, and the heroic deeds of All Might on the screen, Deku became comfortable and, also, fell asleep. 

A memory began to emerge from the darkness of Shoto’s vision. Sunlight kissed a young man’s already tanned skin. He looked so nervous. His tender cheeks were pink. Freckles dotted under his tired eyes. Those eyes were green jewels. He kept licking his lips and shaking his head in a way that looked like he talked to himself. Shoto couldn’t give time into watching this small, fragile man, because he needed to focus. It was their first day of school, and he’d just laid eyes on the whelp. It was ridiculous how he couldn’t tear his eyes away. Talk about frustrating. A musical laugh escaped from the student. The man in front of him turned to make eye contact with him. 

Shoto felt too hot, and shifted awake. He was on his back, in bed, but his blankets weren’t there. ‘Why am I hot?’ He turned to his left, to seek cool pillow, and was instead greeted by soft hair. Like a sudden blow to the chest, he remembered Izuku coming to his room to talk, him folding his laundry, and then watching an All Might video. He, then, remembered his dream. It was the first time he laid eyes on the precious hero in front of him. The thought struck him, that this wasn’t just some crush. He’d been attracted to Izuku from the moment he saw him, and he was falling for him with each new time they were together. Quickly. 

Overcome with deep seated emotion, instinct drew him in, when the sleeping hero nuzzled into Shoto’s cold side, that was now on the bed instead of next to him. The rapidly heating man propped himself up, over Izuku. He leaned down and touched his soft bottom lip, just barely, with his own.

“Shoto?”

Author’s Note: Sorry for the long chapter. Just had to start up some DRAAAAMAAAAA. Feel free to re-blog if you like it : ) Just don’t steal, please.

[driftingglass]

You: I want to protect Deku from all the harm in the world!! / Also you: *ships him with the very person who caused him suffering for 10 years*... huh, okay

I actually kind of want to thank you for being cordial about this instead of just… insulting me anonymously like others. 

Granted, I just ignore them/delete them, but still. It’s appreciated.

Since you honestly seem a little bit curious and confused, I want to answer this with a more specific response! So thank you for being reasonable about it. 

There are some things I want to clear up first.

You’re completely entitled to your opinion on a ship, my anonymous friend, and I also respect and understand why people hate the ship and even Bakugou as a character. 

Do I share the same feelings? No, not at all, but I definitely understand it. 

It would be dreadfully boring if every human who experienced the same artistic medium had the same exact opinions and points of views on a character/ship, no? 

At least, I would think so. I love the variety in opinion and watching different people fall in love with anime/books/movies, whatever, in totally different ways and coming out of them with multiple conclusions is wonderful to witness. 

It… almost feels similar to getting angry with someone for picking green as their favorite color, and because it’s not your favorite color you argue about how the different shades don’t make sense and shouldn’t be acknowledged as a favorite.

(Not you, specifically, Anon, but more of a general “you,” if that makes sense.)

Alright. So.

What draws me to the the Bakugou Katsuki / Izuku Midoriya ship, and the two characters individually (as well as their canon dynamic) is based on the concept of healing, forgiveness, growth, redemption, understanding, mutual respect, and genuine deep-rooted pain and realistic acknowledgement of the gratuitous and toxic elements of their relationship. 

And this only scratches the surface, believe it or not.

Yes, Bakugou Katsuki treated Izuku horribly while growing up (hell, he’s still an egotistical asshole). The infamous line in the manga/anime with Katsuki suggesting Izuku “find a Quirk in the next life” is inexcusable, and he should be held accountable for this. 

We’ve been allowed glimpses of their dismantled friendship at Katsuki’s doing, and Izuku’s equally flawed and dangerous perspective in placing Katsuki on a pedestal for his admiration. 

Before I go further with this, I want to touch on things about how I view Izuku as a character, since something in your anonymous message struck me, with the quote you had written: 

“You: I want to protect Deku from all the harm in the world!!”

The thing is, when it comes to characters, and Izuku in particular… I don’t think I’ve ever adopted the mindset of “must protect the precious baby,” because I personally view Izuku as a very relatable and human character. 

I know that this doesn’t cancel one idea out from the other, since many wonderful authors/readers/viewers/consumers, whatever, who like BNHA have this same viewpoint. Clearing this up so that nothing is miscommunicated.

So.

This may seem strange, and a bit… actually yeah this is a little weird, but as a viewer, I see him as someone who strives for an incredible goal, is very determined, much stronger than he appears (and believes) both emotionally and physically, and it’s slowly becoming a surprise to both himself and everyone around him. 

But I see him as not just a character, per say, but a definite reflection of the other side to his dynamic to Bakugou Katsuki. 

(Will touch more on this later.)

He’s been acknowledged as a beloved presence, and I actually don’t like viewing Izuku as a “precious cinnamon roll,” because he’s so much more than that. 

QUICK NOTE HERE: I do not think it’s wrong to think of him this way. This is how I personally think, and how I want to hopefully portray the character in fics I write, or just in a general acknowledgement of him. 

He’s a character that thrives on a complex personality and series of motivations that make sense for a character his age, with his history, and with his flaws and strengths as a protagonist. 

Izuku being “adorable” falls to the very bottom of my list of reasons why I love and relate to him as a character, and when he engages in horrible situations that challenge him, I live for those moments. 

(I know I’m not alone in this. Bear with me.)

I love seeing characters like this suffer and get thrashed and struggle in the face of their darkest times. It shows depth, and a sense of darkness that defies the overly comfortable image that comes across in an anime that is, quite objectively, a bit less of a risk-taker in the earlier arcs in comparison to others.

So, with that in mind… it makes sense why people can’t stand Bakugou Katsuki as a character for treating Izuku like he does, and it also makes sense why Izuku is shipped with just about anyone who can grant him that feeling of “must protect.” 

Again, there is nothing wrong with this. 

In fact, I want to point out, for the sake of people who can’t stand BakuDeku and enjoy other ships, that I see, respect, and completely understand why you feel the way you feel. 

There’s even a strong sense of admiration for it, because you wonderful people are coming from a place that wants Izuku Midoriya to have a stable dynamic. 

This is an incredible, awesome, respectful thing, and shows so much love for Izuku as a character. 

So at this point, it may seem that I’m arguing against myself. That I’m shoving my own argument into the ground for why BakuDeku is my Number Two OTP, and how I’m arguing for its validity.

But, this is where I want to put some light onto the perspective that I have for this ship, and I don’t think I’ve ever gone this deep before on Tumblr.

I mentioned a little bit earlier that part of what makes Izuku shine as a character is how he affects other people. He brings out elements of characters that they won’t even realize themselves. (Todoroki Shouto, Shinsou Hitoshi, and All Might are both huge, and popular, examples of this, even though they’re not the only ones). 

His drive and his motivations are directed towards an incredible goal that is founded in the roots of his passion. And this aspect of Izuku? This passion, this drive, this embodiment of equal strengths and flaws balancing and cancelling each other out as he grows and learns? 

They are reflected in none other than Bakugou Katsuki.

I’m in love with the depth to this dynamic, with the potential that’s built on what they could accomplish together. 

Izuku cares deeply for Katsuki, and admires him and respects him, but even with that in mind he knows that Katsuki is an asshole. It’s important to acknowledge this, that Izuku will not let Katsuki take advantage of him in any way. 

And Katsuki, quite evidently, hasn’t attempted to take advantage of Izuku at all; in fact, he’s been only focused on what he wants to accomplish, and is overly obsessed with Izuku potentially surpassing him and “looking down on him” (as confirmed in the story.)

Katsuki is dreadfully immature in a lot of ways, but the fact that they contain so many similar ambitions, balanced on top of a quite impressive tower of flaws that parallel each other perfectly… this, is what draws me to them. 

Izuku and Katsuki are both incredibly ambitious and determined. They both work exceptionally hard. 

I wrote a list awhile back that needs to be updated again anyway, so…

Here are some general contrasts/parallels to them:

Izuku is humble, while Katsuki is egotistical.  

Katsuki is prodigiously talented, while Izuku had to go the extra mile, despite them both being hard workers.

Izuku lacks self-preservation, and Katsuki looks out for himself, first and foremost, and how he will accomplish his goal.

Katsuki exhibits elements of both an intense superiority/inferiority complex, while Izuku… doesn’t. 

Katsuki is more instinctive with his actions, while Izuku is analytical and a definite planner. 

Izuku’s Quirk is more focused on the all-embodying element, like a supercharged mechanism that can both protect and damage in spurts. Katsuki’s Quirk is designed as more of a shield for himself only, and can release constant bursts of power. The more they develop, the more similar their Quirks can become in terms of balance.

Katsuki is exaggeratedly egotistical and lacking humility, pushing others away and immediately accepting himself as the greatest priority. Izuku is the exact opposite, but with a quality just as exaggerated and vast: his anxious hesitation and lack of confidence in himself and only believing that he can succeed with others. 

Izuku’s struggles in confidence is mostly internal and how he thinks of himself. Katsuki’s confidence is both too bloated for him to handle and in the exact same plane as Izuku’s.

Izuku admires All-Might for being the ultimate protector and savior of lives with a smile on his face. Katsuki is focused on the idea of winning, and how heroes always prevail in the end. 

I could go on and on with this… but yeah.

Something I noticed, as well, while writing this, is that Katsuki and Izuku’s contrasts, while very prevalent, are often rooted in similar, if not the same, bedrock of emotions that affect them differently because of their personalities. 

Sometimes their points of views and emotions are so balanced and imbalanced at the same time that it takes awhile to look back and think through all of those individual moments.

And so, before this gets too unbearably wrong, I’m going to bring this home with emphasizing the main point of why I love writing this ship: it’s a challenge. 

A huge. Fucking. Challenge.

It begs the question: how can you make this ship work? How can you make their potential dynamic come together and brush through those layers of misunderstandings and reckless emotions? 

How can Bakugou Katsuki pull his head out of his ass and realistically come into his own while learning to appreciate the person who’s respected and admired him for so long? 

How can Izuku Midoriya learn to stick up for himself when it comes to Katsuki and allow them both to be on equal ground, rather than Izuku always chasing the other? 

How can they get over their differences, and develop something beautiful and, dare I say it, healthy, after a possible length of years and years of mending?

For me, this ship demonstrates the gray areas of relationships, and the possibility of redemption for even the vilest people. 

For me, this ship revels in the depths of Izuku’s character as well as Katsuki’s, and how their dynamic can develop into something founded on equal respect, grounding, and healing. 

For me, this ship focuses on the damaged elements to both characters and embraces the toxicity to their current circumstance, as well as the awful and wonderful elements of their relationship down the line. 

For me, BakuDeku | KatsuDeku focuses on drama, realism, emotion, and the ultimate idea behind rebuilding, protecting, forgiving, and learning to pick up the pieces from one person to another.

There are no excuses for the damage done between these two. 

But there is something really beautiful, and tragic, about the potential in the horizon. 

So those are my thoughts. 

Thank you for inboxing, Anon.

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 162: Mirio Feels

Previously on BnHA: We tuned in to the local hospital where the wounded heroes had been taken for treatment. Aizawa, Kiri, Tamaki, Hot Gum, and RockLockRock are all fine. Eri is apparently still feverish, and Aizawa told Deku that they had her in quarantine due to her dangerous and as-yet-uncontrollable quirk. He then took Deku up to Nighteye’s room where All Might had gathered along with Nighteye’s sidekicks. Turned out Nighteye’s injuries were too severe and he was dying. All Might and Nighteye made peace with each other, and Nighteye was glad All Might had decided to fight against fate. He’d struggled for so long to find a way to change the future himself, and Deku finally showed him that it was possible. Mirio then ran into the room, and at this point things reached ugly crying levels of emotion, with Mirio begging Nighteye to live and thanking him for everything he’d taught him, and Nighteye cupping Mirio’s face gently and looking at his future one more time. He told him everything would be all right and that he would become an outstanding hero, and he told him to keep smiling. AND THEN HE FUCKING DIED. And everyone was sobbing, and with good reason, because it was the saddest fucking shit ever you guys.

Today on BnHA: Gran Torino and Naomasa go Kurogiri-hunting in the mountains and nearly get picked off by one of All for One’s proteges, all because they didn’t think to bring Ashido Mina with them. Back at the hospital, Aizawa gets ready to take his kids back home and Deku goes to talk to Mirio. Mirio is surprisingly chipper for someone who just lost his quirk and his mentordad all in one day! He tells Deku it’s because he wants to honor Nighteye, who told him to keep smiling. Deku, who has been wracked with self-doubt over Nighteye’s belief that Mirio should have inherited OFA, offers to give Mirio his quirk. But Mirio declines before he can even finish the question. He says that even if that were possible, Deku would just end up in his place, and he doesn’t want him to go through that. He also says that Aizawa told him that if Eri learns how to control her quirk, it might be possible for her to return him to normal. In the meantime, he’s taking a temporary leave of absence from U.A., and he tells Deku that he should keep smiling too. We then cut back to U.A., where Todoroki Shouto and Bakugou Katsuki are finally back from the void to welcome us to the next mini-arc.

(As always, all comments not marked with an ETA are my unspoiled reactions from my first readthrough of this chapter. I’ve read up through chapter 187 now, so any ETAs will reflect that.)

whaaaaat

SO THIS IS WHY GRAN COULDN’T GO ON THE RAID WITH THEM OMG. WHO ARE YOU TALKING TO, GRAN

it can really only be one guy if he’s talking about “most troublesome.” holy fucking shit

YEP

holy shit

this definitely helps in the fight against the League. this is excellent. with him captured, that puts a much-needed check on the League’s potential scheming. for example he can’t just warp Tomura into Deku’s bedroom in the middle of the night and kill him in his sleep. which is definitely something I’ve wondered about before in terms of “why haven’t they just...”

and if Horikoshi needs them to regain this ability later on, he can just have Kurogiri break out of prison. it shouldn’t be that hard, since “Breaking Myself Out of Prison” is basically his goddamn quirk

this is really going to piss Tomura off once he finds out, though. I feel like there will be some consequences for this. and now he’s got that quirk-be-gone, too. oh shit

anyway, so Naomasa is there too and he’s telling Gran and the cops to use caution. ya think?

how are they going to restrain him?? so fucking curious about this

(ETA: pro writing tip: if you’re ever not sure how to address a troublesome plot hole, just distract everyone with a giant mountain-crushing villain, and then later on have the characters resolve everything offscreen lmao)

lol Kurogiri is polite as ever

a “ruffian”, huh

and he says he has some business with that ruffian

so that’s what Tomura sent him out here for. who could this ruffian possibly be??

also, if said ruffian shows up and he doesn’t have like scraggly hair and a hobo jacket (or alternately, pompadour hair and a motorcycle jacket), I’m really going to take issue with their choice of description here. don’t get my hopes up like that

Gran’s all “I’d love to hear all about it once you’re behind bars”

dammit Gran, you’re so fucking hard-boiled. but I want to hear about it now though

oh shit, all of a sudden there is a thumping sound loud enough to scare a bunch of nearby birds

holy shit now Kuro is flashing back to a conversation with All for One that he apparently had shortly before the Kamino incident

WHO IS HIM

what is this freaky weather forecast all of a sudden!? DOES THIS PERSON HAVE A WEATHER CONTROLLING QUIRK??? :O

(ETA: nope that’s just the big radio he wears around his neck for as-yet-unknown reasons)

yooooo and now Kurogiri is saying Tomura wasn’t the only one AFO was “cultivating” omg!!?!??

(ETA: rereading this part, I’m finding myself extremely intrigued by All for One’s relationship with Kurogiri. like, Kuro appears to be part of his inner circle, and in hindsight that makes sense, because AFO trusted him enough to watch over Tomura, his heir apparent. but anyways, we’re seeing here that Kuro knows a lot more about AFO’s plans than he let on before, including stuff that Tomura more than likely doesn’t know. very, very interesting.

also, the line “our master has already seen the future” and the fact that AFO specifically planning ahead for something like this makes me more certain than ever that this man isn’t going to stay locked up for too long. oh my god I’m so curious about this long game that he’s playing, and having to wait an indefinite amount of time to find out is going to drive me crazy, I already know.)

OH SHIT

THIS IS THE GUY WE SAW ALL THE WAY BACK IN LIKE... JESUS. LEMME GO CHECK

-- CHAPTER 57. HOLY SHIT. WE GOT ONE PANEL OF HIM, AND THAT WAS IT FOR MORE THAN 100 CHAPTERS. I FORGOT ALL ABOUT HIM. EVERYONE FORGOT ALL ABOUT HIM, MOST LIKELY

(ETA: so as you all know, we also saw him in Kiri’s flashback in chapter 144! he was walking around in Downtown Wherever Kiri Lives and asking middle schoolers for directions to the Springer Hero Offices. who or what or where is Springer?? I sure don’t fucking know. but anyways he was very polite, but he also started to crumble apart a building with his bare hand before Mina came and calmed him down. and he was all “everything I do is for the Lord”, which, given what we now know, was more than likely referring to All for One.

so that’s pretty much all we know about him so far. or at least all I know about him, being about 30 chapters behind still. hmm.)

-- SON OF A BITCH we’re cutting back to the hospital the following morning

fine. we don’t actually get to see if Kurogiri was really captured or not. or who tf this new godzilla dude is. whatever

there’s a TV playing the news, and apparently the police are taking a lot of heat for letting Overhaul’s caravan get attacked and having the “important evidence” stolen

yeah I’ll say they should be taking some heat for that. at least we know they can’t make any more of the stuff

oh snap Deku just walked into the lobby where Aizawa and Recovery Girl were watching

apparently this is his first time hearing this news

(ETA: either that or Aizawa and Recovery Girl just gave him the gruesome details about the attack)

oh Deku

Aizawa is immediately saying he shouldn’t let it get to him and it’s not something he should feel responsible for

apparently Recovery Girl made the rounds and healed all the kids, so they’ll all be heading home with Aizawa shortly

but Deku’s asking if he can stay until Eri wakes up

Aizawa says that Deku being here won’t change the situation and that they need to leave her in the doctors’ care

Deku’s pouting but he’s not arguing back

but he wants to say goodbye to Mirio (who’s going to be staying in the hospital a bit longer)

and he’s just RUNNING OFF before Aizawa can tell him that now isn’t really a good time omg

-- why are you so hot

OH MY GOD

I HAVE SOME CONCERNS ABOUT THIS YOUNG MAN

he’s loudly greeting Deku and proclaiming that he’s in “tip top shape”

Miriooooooo. don’t lie. you don’t have to do that, it’s okay to be upset for a little while. about, you know. LOSING YOUR FUCKING QUIRK AND YOUR MENTOR ALL IN THE SAME DAY

Mirio when will we be done with these feels. fucking when. I can’t with this brave, beautiful boy. I fucking can’t

Mirio I’m going to cry all over again, STOP

and now he’s sitting up

and he says that even though Nighteye was always all 8/!!! around Deku, around Mirio he actually smiled quite a lot

and we’re flashing back to the last thing Nighteye told him, which was to keep smiling

so good. so pure. I can’t. we don’t deserve

he says that if he’s wearing a glum face it will be harder on Eri, too

at the mention of Eri, Deku’s talking about how Mirio protected her even without his quirk

but meanwhile he himself was saved by Eri even though he was supposed to be protecting her

“but if you had been the successor...”

ohhhhhhh

okay. well that’s okay. they needed to have this conversation anyway

also does Mirio have any idea what Deku is even talking about though. DEKU COULD YOU STOP TELLING EVERY THIRD PERSON YOU MEET ABOUT YOUR SECRET FUCKING QUIRK

OH FOR FUCK’S --

after all this, now he decides that Nighteye was right all along?? after Nighteye himself even basically said he was cool with it now

but I think it’s just because he’s starting to feel like All Might always did. that with great power comes great responsibility. he’s been given this ability and he has a responsibility to live up to it

“if you’ve got the strongest guy showing you the ropes, you can’t go losing.” he’s been flashing back to that fight repeatedly throughout this arc. this has been weighing on his mind for a while now

but Mirio. oh Mirio

honestly, an answer like that just cements the fact that he really would have been worthy of it, though

hell, I bet you Mirio could pick up Thor’s fucking hammer

“even if, for the sake of argument, something like that were possible” fucking lol. yes. this is all purely theoretical, of course

anyway, he says that even if he agreed, then Deku would be the one left in Mirio’s place, quirkless

of course we all know Deku has plenty of experience with that already. but he does have a quirk now. and it’s a quirk that he earned and he absolutely deserves as well

Mirio says he doesn’t know what’s got Deku so down, but that he did great

and yeah, he really did. he beat the fucking final boss

oh?

WHAT

I HAVE NEVER SEEN AIZAWA LIKE THIS OH MY GOD??

he looks like he’s the one being comforted??

oh my god. anyway

Mirio says that if Eri is able to regain control of her quirk then they could try to use it to restore him to a state when he still had his quirk

or if they can’t do that, they’ll try to find other ways to turn him back to normal

yesssss. because plus ultra. we don’t give up. s’not how we do things

I’m so glad he still has hope. even if he is amazing and so brave and has been putting on a cheerful face, he’s still a kid and he needs that

and Aizawa knew that. because he’s not just class 1-A’s mom, he’s apparently everyone’s mom. and he saw this crying kid who’d just lost his father figure after being badly injured and losing his quirk, and he couldn’t just leave him like that. so he immediately took whatever steps he could to try to solve the problem and give the kid some hope and comfort

and like, is it even possible to stan this man more than I already did though because damn

and now Mirio’s giving Deku a cute little “cheer up” punch omg

... [hair rufflesssss]

and meanwhile IN THE SHADOWS

feels for everyone!! feels for you, feels for me! angst for everyone! free angst! we’re giving it away! you won’t find this deal anywhere else!! so come on down to BnHA where we have mentor feels and cute senpai feels and angsty dad feels all on the same fucking page!

ffff

so now the narration says that Mirio took a temporary leave of absence from U.A. after that

OH MY GOD

RED ALERT, PEOPLE. red FUCKING alert!!!

IT’S HAPPENING

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

you’re sorry? YOU BETTER BE FUCKING SORRY HORIKOSHI. IF YOU EVER TRY TO PULL THIS SHIT AGAIN I SWEAR TO GOD

I’M SORRY BOYS, BUT. YOU GET HAIR RUFFLES TOO. I’M GETTIN’ IN THERE. MESS THAT HAIR ALL UP

OH MY GOD I CAN’T BELIEVE IT GUYS. WE MADE IT

NO BONUS, but tomorrow there will be one with the character poll results, yay. in the meantime these good boys are getting noogies.

[aion-rsa]

My Hero Academia Season 5 Episode 13 Review: Have a Merry Christmas

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This MY HERO ACADEMIA review contains spoilers.

My Hero Academia Season 5 Episode 13

“It was the prologue to a tragedy…”

It’s Christmas in July for My Hero Academia!

My Hero Academia knows how to have fun and there are several one-off installments that are odes to silliness and the lighter side of these heroes-in-training’s lives. It’s been a difficult year for U.A. High’s students, not because their lives have been endangered by villains, but because of the grueling tests that they’ve applied to each other and the major revelations that characters like Midoriya, Shinso, and Todoroki have made about themselves. “Have a Merry Christmas” is a major change of pace and it honestly feels more akin to the structure and tone of one of the series’ OVA installments. It’s an episode that doesn’t try to hide its dangerously cute nature, but the question becomes if this distraction is worth it–especially at this stage in the season–and ultimately it falls short.

“Have a Merry Christmas” is another low key My Hero Academia episode, which works hard to establish a clear demarcation line between what will presumably be the two major story arcs of this season. At the same time, “Have a Merry Christmas” represents a strange stretch of lethargy for the series and these past three episodes could honestly be pared down to one and a half installments. 

I can understand the temptation to not have the series’ 100th episode also double as a Christmas installment, but this run of episodes has killed any of the momentum that was built up by the triumphant conclusion of the Joint Training competition. Clearly big things are ahead, both with the return to work studies and what’s been quietly brewing behind the scenes with the League of Villains, but none of that excitement is capitalized on “Have a Merry Christmas,” which feels just as much like disposable filler material as season five’s expositional premiere. 

The highlight of these Christmas festivities is to bask in all of these characters’ joy as they let down their guards and treat themselves to a much-deserved day of celebration. This turns into an excuse to dress up everyone as members of Santa’s workshop and engage in a cute gift exchange. It actually wouldn’t come across as ridiculous if this episode were to introduce that Santa exists in My Hero Academia and that he’s able to spread gifts around the world because of a Quirk, but “Have a Merry Christmas” is a much more modest and simple episode. That being said, it absolutely carries the cloying energy of an episode where Santa shows up to teach a lesson.

Gift time at U.A. High may not seem incredibly exciting, but it turns into one of the sweeter sequences from the season. Every combination between hero and gift is satisfying in its own way, whether it’s something obvious or a strange mystery. Mineta’s present seems to be an autographed photo of Yuga Aoyama, which is perfect, and Eri seems to acquire a massive sword that’s meant for Tokoyami through the Secret Santa exchange. Eri’s presence cannot be underestimated here and her arrival in a Santa costume is almost too sweet to bear (as is the adorable nature of her “Trick or Treat” greeting and her attempts to hand out painted Easter eggs out of confusion). My Hero Academia’s efforts to make Eri more of a natural supporting character continue to work and hopefully won’t be absent during the second half of season five.

Outside of the pleasant Christmas levity, the rest of the episode is concerned with media interviews and a focus on the heroes’ public images, which evidently is a lot harder to manage than their Quirks. Bakugo and Todoroki have just proven themselves as newly-minted provisional heroes, yet they take completely opposite approaches to the media blitz that follows. Bakugo hurls insults at the interviewer and freaks out at Todoroki whenever he exhibits affection or gets so bold as to refer to him and Bakugo as “friends.” 

It’s incredibly entertaining for Bakugo to be so concerned over whether his aggressive side makes it through to the public while his Pro Hero image gets established. The audience has seen an increasingly softer side to Bakugo, especially over the past few episodes, so this regression into explosive behavior when he’s put under pressure is one of many enjoyable digressions in “Have a Merry Christmas.” Of course, Todoroki is a consummate professional throughout the interview and views it as an important experience, even if he still gets tripped up over the awkward experience. The glimpse of everyone else’s abject horror over how candid Bakugo gets during the interview is another strong opportunity for My Hero Academia’s more humorous instincts to be fully on display in this episode. 

This could have been a quick gag, but “Have a Merry Christmas” really lays into Todoroki and Bakugo’s embarrassment, which helps establish the episode’s playful energy and that the episode’s aim is to just laugh and have fun with these characters instead of stressing over the next big threat. Todoroki is a character who is typically all business and someone that the rest of Class A holds in reverence, so his incredibly literal interpretation of Mt. Lady’s comments are absolutely brilliant. My Hero Academia has struck unexpected gold by pushing Todoroki out of his social comfort zone and hopefully the second half of this season will have more fun with this awkward side to the powerful character.

This focus on interviews also provokes an honest discussion over the pros and cons of whether hero students should show off their signature moves on television, which some think will leave them at a disadvantage and expose their strongest maneuvers to the enemy. This is certainly true on some level, but Mt. Lady emphasizes how a hero’s signature move is just as much a representation of what they stand for as a hero as anything else. It should be an exciting opportunity to reveal themselves to the world. The episode settles on the perspective that it should be exciting to show off for the camera, but “Have a Merry Christmas” slowly introduces doubt over how these accomplishments might actually turn into liabilities.

The episode’s interview portion is meant to be fun and allow these characters to come out of their shell. However, it does trigger some deeper discussions over the public’s current perception of the district’s Pro Heroes. These interviews are helpful sales tools for these heroes’ futures, but they’re also meant to act as a response to what the public expects of their heroes and if the villains have managed to affect the larger narrative. It’s these many contrasting opinions that partly pushes U.A. High to reinstate the work study programs and get the heroes back in the public eye.

Some of the most fulfilling developments to come out of “Have a Merry Christmas” are crammed into the episode’s final minutes. Midoriya and Bakugo express concern over where they’ll be able to do their work study programs since Best Jeanist is out of commission and the Nighteye Agency is still tied up in a difficult period of transition with Centipeder now in charge. Todoroki innocently suggests that the three of them all train under Endeavor, which turns into a fascinating prospect that combines some of the series’ most fascinating characters together.

This accumulation of talent might be more important than this trio of friends even realizes. “Have a Merry Christmas” teases the return of Shigaraki in the form of a devastating attack on Deika City, which only emphasizes how ill-prepared the heroes are for what’s about to cut through all of these lackadaisical distractions. The needlessly sweet nature of this episode, and its ending, almost seems to acknowledge the severe darkness that’s on the way and that Deku may never get another Christmas where he can just relax with his friends and enjoy being a kid for a day. Shigaraki and the League of Villains are ready to prove that the only gift that these heroes deserve is endless pain.

The criticism directed towards “Have a Merry Christmas” may seem a little harsh, which is warranted, but that’s not to say that this episode is without its charms. Those that enjoy whenever My Hero Academia indulges in these lighter slice-of-life tangents will undoubtedly adore this episode. However, this installment still feels needlessly sparse, even for the character-driven entries that shy away from battle. There’s no reason why this holiday celebration couldn’t have also strengthened some of the other themes from this season rather than exclusively focus on “the feels” and fuel for copious Christmas-based My Hero Academia fanart. A heavy, dark future lies ahead in the season’s second half and “Have a Merry Christmas” isn’t the bold finish that’s necessary before this season heads into its endgame.

Also, Hero Critic, Aorio Kuraishisu, is pure nightmare fuel. Who’d have thought the Devil would make an appearance during a Christmas special?

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[jestdrabbles]

Every Hurdle, Every Chasm - Chapter 01

Fandom: Boku no Hero Academia Warnings: none Characters: Midoriya Izuku, Iida Tenya, Uraraka Ochako, Asui Tsuyu, Todoroki Shouto, Iida Tensei, Tenya’s mother, Ochako’s parents Relationships: Dekusquad friendship | Pining Tododeku & Tsuchako Other info: Dekusquad Roadtrip AU ; Fun times ahead but also some tough emotional times so I should definitely warn about that!; MAJOR MANGA SPOILERS.

Words: ~8,000 | Chapter: 01/14 | Language: English

Official first day of the roadtrip! Each chapter spans the course of a day, so their length will vary depending on what happens. Some are more eventful than others, but hopefully everything rounds out all right!

Day 01 : Christmas Eve [December 24]

“Todoroki, you look awful,” Ochako tilts her head toward him on the commute to the station. Even if the sun has been out for a few hours, their morning has only started from the cacophony of yawns and eye rubs. They’re all a little sluggish in their steps save for Tenya who could probably handle a jog if it weren’t for the rest of them straggling behind. Shouto blinks to her in a delayed, deepened grunt.

“Yeah.”

“And this is why we plan ahead! I’m sure Todoroki has learned his lesson and will not let this happen again,” Tenya handles the scolding gently as he pats his very sleepy friend’s shoulder. Shouto’s engulfed in his blue scarf, lowering his chin to yawn into it as he conveniently avoids Ochako’s pout. Izuku glances down at his thermos of the morning’s coffee, then hesitantly extends it to Shouto as a quiet offering, but he fails to register it in his delirium. “Uraraka, do you need any help with your bags?”

“It’s not too heavy,” she shrugs her shoulder holding the duffle bag and keeps careful not to let the suitcase rolling behind her stray in an awkward direction as it bumps over the sidewalk curbs. He accepts her resolve and eyes over the others to double check their moods.

Tsuyu is bundled most of all with what appears to be a fashionable blanket draped over her torso, a knit hat on her head, and her hands are covered in thick mittens. She notices him looking and lifts her hand to offer a thumbs up to reassure that she’s fine, just drowsy. They all know the cold is rough on her, so he takes a few steps backward to place his hand on her back, and she naturally leans against his touch to accept his extra warmth.

Meanwhile, Shouto’s only just accepted the thermos and seems to be staring at it as if he’s embarrassed. His attention can only focus on so much right now, so he fails to notice the way Ochako eyes Izuku, and Tenya keeps his own amusement to himself.

“Thanks,” he says after a sip and returns it before he’s tempted to take another. Izuku accepts it with a smile and nod; he quickly shelters his oncoming influx of words with his own gulp and nearly burns his tongue on the coffee. Smooth, Deku. He fans his tongue with a groan as Ochako rolls her eyes into a snorted snicker.

“So Iida, what’s your house like? Should I prepare myself like with Yaomomo’s, or even what I imagine Todoroki’s?” she asks with curiosity, and he waves his hand quickly before she can even mention the latter.

“No, no, nothing like Yaoyorozu’s estate, I assure you! I can understand your assumptions, of course, but we live in a normal house,” Tenya tenses in his hand motion, still conscious of Tsuyu at his side. Ochako pats his arm as she covers her mouth with her other hand to stop herself from laughing.

“Is your whole family going to be there?” Izuku asks, and Tenya shakes his head.

“Unfortunately, my dad couldn’t take off, but my mom and Tensei will be there.”

“I wonder if we’ll get to see any pictures of tiny Iida,” Ochako imagines it the best she can, but it’s hard to picture their tall and earnest friend as little kid.

“Wait, what about my house?” Shouto belatedly joins the conversation.

“Huh? O-oh! I just mean that you’ve mentioned your family has an old Japanese-style house, so I assume it’s big?” round, chestnut eyes almost look back to him apologetically if she’s accidentally offended him. Sometimes his tone or expression can be hard to read, but he mouths an oh as if he’s finished processing the rest of the topic.

Also, your father is the Number One Hero.

Thankfully, they all have enough tact not to say it.

As soon as they take their seats on the train, Shouto’s out like a light with his head leaned against the window, and Tenya takes the seat beside him. Tsuyu sits in the window seat across with Ochako stealing the aisle seat before Izuku has a chance. Accepting his solo seating, he takes the row in front of Tenya and Shouto.

“I thought he’d be more of a morning person,” Ochako points toward their slumbering companion; Izuku and Tenya do their best to suppress their laughter. “What? Is that weird?”

“No, no, it’s not,” Izuku’s voice squeezes through the chuckle and crack in the seat, “I thought so too, but I think it was one of our training trips? I don’t remember exactly, but yeah, no, he’s almost like a zombie in the morning unless there’s something important.”

“He seems to have two methods of sleeping: like a corpse or constantly tossing and turning,” Tenya mimics the motions as if he’s acting the part of his friend, and Ochako bursts out laughing and has to muffle it in Tsuyu’s shoulder. “I’m serious. One time when we all had to share a room, I got up to use the restroom, and I swear, his feet were where his head should have been!”

“Wait, you never told me about this!” Izuku’s smile spreads, but then it hits him that Tenya may have more secrets about them to share. “Please tell me I’m not embarrassing when I sleep.”

“I bet Deku mumbles in his sleep.”

“Actually--”

“Oh no,” Izuku buries his face in his hands as he dreads what nonsense his unconscious spills when he’s already muttering embarrassing thoughts in his wake. He spreads his fingers to peek through at Tenya from the slit for reassurance, but only confirmation awaits him in the form of near-pitying nod. “Fuck,” he groans. Tenya’s jaw drops at the curse as if he’s never heard it from his nice, freckled friend, but he’s cut off before he can give the proper lecture.

“Hey, don’t worry about it! It’s like talk radio! Maybe it’ll help us sleep better,” Ochako pumps her fists.

“I croak sometimes,” Tsuyu exposes herself without shame, “and Ochako gets clingy.” The gasp of betrayal is quelled with a lighthearted bump of shoulders. To be fair, most of the girls in their class feel comfortable enough sprawled across one another.

“I think I’m the same way. I like hugging my pillow,” Izuku comes down from his own embarrassment with everyone else sharing their sleeping habits. “I drool a lot though.”

“If I don’t have my nasal strips, I snore rather loudly,” Tenya admits, “otherwise, I believe I’m fairly still.”

“Oh! And I have to wear these mittens for my hands so I don’t touch anything,” Ochako holds up her hands and wiggles her padded fingertips. Izuku almost bumps a passerby in his lean as he studies her hands from his seat, and the quirk-loving cogs in his head begin to turn as he realizes that he never thought about a detail like that. People with a touch-based quirk are certainly at a disadvantage in that regard, but that problem is probably more troublesome during development when they’re not quite sure the specifics regarding their quirks, so to worry about control and care at this point is a bit moot. “Deku, it’s not that deep,” she reaches across to tap his seat and jog him from his train of thought.

He’s teased himself about perhaps having been born with a mundane quirk like excessive muttering or extreme emotional response, and he almost wouldn’t doubt it at this point. Whoever is to inherit One For All from him someday is in for some possible word vomit or waterworks.

“I think something like that would be more troublesome,” Tsuyu points across to Shouto’s visible breath slipping between his slightly parted lips. Tenya takes it upon himself to unbutton his own overcoat and drape it over him without waking the sleeping beauty.

They resume the ride with idle chit-chat, tossing and returning commentary as Izuku finishes the rest of his coffee, cool enough to gulp down without fear of burning again. Sometimes the caffeine worsens his jitters and mumbles, but he knows he wants to keep awake and energized for the car ride ahead. Tsuyu indicates his bouncing leg and asks if he’s nervous or excited, and when he answers the second, she smiles and ribbits in agreement.

They’re practically shoved to and fro on their way out the station to switch lines, and through the denser crowds, Izuku reaches his hands out to connect with his friends to be sure no one gets pulled away in the foot traffic. Thankfully, keeping behind Iida’s broad shoulders helps the smaller members of the group keep contained well enough, and Shouto is alert enough to worm his way through without bumping into anyone. Izuku thinks he may be a bit too good at avoiding them.

The following ride feels like mere moments compared to the last, so they stand with their belongings close to their chests if they can help it and try not to get too carried away in a conversation. Once free of their train prisons, they exit the station with unified exhales and stretches -- a very worn out choir harmonizing in sighs.

Thankfully, journeying to the Iida household isn’t so bad, and they all appreciate a good walk after sitting and standing still for so long. Tenya leads the way with Izuku and Ochako behind him and Tsuyu keeping at Shouto’s left, hesitant to walk too close but still near enough to bump arms if she bends.

“Oh wait, Iida!” Ochako reaches forward to pat his back a couple times. “Is there a convenient store by your house?”

“If we take a small detour. Why, did you forget something in your luggage?”

“We need to stock up on snacks for the road! It’ll be better if we do that beforehand, don’t you think?”

“Excellent thinking, Uraraka!” he grins, and the others perk up at the suggestion.

He leads them through the residential area near some local businesses and shops. Stopping at the corner store, they immediately scatter to different sections once inside. Ochako and Tsuyu spend time narrowing their preferences down to a few fruit snacks and sweets while Izuku shies away from the spicy snacks as if he’s had an awkward past affair with them. Tenya prioritizes stocking up on some orange juice, and he turns to see Shouto with an arm full of bags ranging in types of different snacks and their flavors. With a word of admiration, he appreciates his friend treating everyone, but Shouto only wears confusion as he makes his way to the checkout counter with his plethora of junk food.

Ochako and Tsuyu follow suit with their haul of packaged mochi, gummies, and pocky -- things that are easy to share with others -- and they notice that Izuku has some sweet bread and chips. His logic is that they can ask Shouto to warm the buns, and Ochako points both fingers at him like barrels of a gun as she praises his genius. They consolidate everything into as few bags as possible, pass most of them off to Shouto’s offering hands, and follow Tenya en route to his very welcoming abode.

Tenya Iida can certainly shove his own key into the door to welcome them inside, but he rings the doorbell so his family can greet them more readily. It only takes a few moments before the lock clicks and the door opens to Mrs. Iida’s gentle smile, her eyes obscured by her glasses’ shine. Without hesitation, she presses on her toes to wrap her arms around her much taller son, giving him a pat on the back before she turns toward the rest of the house.

“Tensei! Your brother and his friends are here!” she announces, and she steps back to welcome everyone inside to remove their shoes. One by one, they thank her for her hospitality and follow Tenya to the kitchen where his smile spreads upon seeing his older brother finishing setting the table. He scoots back from the table and turns his chair to meet them grinning as he wills it forward.

“Long time, no see! I can’t believe my baby brother’s already taller than me,” he jokes and accepts the oncoming embrace. When they part, Tensei looks over his friends and sees how Izuku’s fingertips mask a wobbly smile and can’t help but chuckle. “He okay?”

“I think he’s excited to see Ingenium in person,” Tenya clarifies, and it breaks the dam loose of Izuku’s brief exposition of past achievements and admirations. It continues on until Ochako nudges him that he’s getting a little carried away, and he lowers his head in a flustered apology. Tensei can see the pride shining through on his little brother from his friend’s praise, and his smile softens.

“Well, he gets to see Ingenium every day, doesn’t he?” Tensei bumps his fist lightly against Tenya’s arm and turns to face Izuku. “Nowadays, I’m not doing so much heroics.”

“That doesn’t change anything,” Izuku’s wide grin remains. “Heroes, active or retired, still have so much to teach us. All Might’s my favorite hero, and he’s been retired for a couple of years now.”

“He’s right. I still hold onto what I’ve learned from you,” Tenya agrees, and he’s satisfied to know that Tensei doesn’t necessarily need the encouragement. If anything, Tensei’s concerns lie with his little brother’s expectations for himself; he’s keeping the hero name alive, but he understands well the burden it brings.

“You’re going to make me blush,” he chuckles to both his brother and Izuku. “You all are on a schedule, right? Go ahead and take a seat at the table. I know it’s closer to lunch, but I hope you’re fine with a late breakfast instead.”

They all comply gleefully and gather around the table, but Tenya offers to help serve the food with his mother and brother. The three return to the table with bowls of rice, soup, vegetables, and separate serving plates for the fish. Once Mrs. Iida has placed the pitchers of water and orange juice, they all sit together and help themselves to the nice breakfast with words of warmth and gratitude.

“I’m so happy U.A. is giving you kids this break,” Mrs. Iida speaks softly. “Tenya has always been such a diligent worker, but even heroes need holidays.” Izuku watches how her gaze lingers on her sons, and he can understand the sentiment from a hero family like theirs. “And Tensei has been so busy at the office that I hardly see him anymore. I didn’t even know that he stopped seeing that nice--”

“Ah, we don’t need to talk about that!” Tensei pipes in a bit flustered, and she sighs.

“It’s a shame it didn’t work out.”

“It’s no big deal,” Tensei retracts a little in his nervous smile. The others chuckle, and Izuku sees from the corner of his eye as Shouto pulls out his phone. He scrolls through his pictures, chopsticks still guiding food to his mouth, and as he finds what he’s searching for, he turns the screen toward the older Iida.

“I have a sister.”

“T-That’s not necessary, thank you!”

“Oh, let me see,” his mother adjusts her glasses and takes a look. She places her hand on her cheek fondly, “She’s lovely! Tensei, isn’t she cute?”

“Mother, please,” he waves his chopsticks at her in a lighthearted scold.

He pockets his phone and addresses Tenya with the same neutral expression, “A shame. We could have been in-laws.” The group laughs at the joke but apologizes to Tensei for having it at his expense. They have to explain that Shouto is just like that with his humor. Mrs. Iida’s worries wash away in the company of her sons and their friends, and Tenya catches himself in its flow. The fear she’s gone through from almost losing her sons is far more than she should have to bear.

They finish their meal through lively conversation, but they know better than to dawdle too long in their post-breakfast coffee. Everyone but Shouto and Izuku take a cup, so they attempt to down it quickly without risking a burn. Tensei breaks from the table to grab something from the living room, and he returns to Tenya’s side to gently place the keys on the table in time for the rest of them to stand. The former hero knows how to predict timing better than Tenya can remember; his skills never truly stop improving just because they’re applied a tad differently now.

Mrs. Iida wishes them all a safe trip, hands holding themselves over her stomach as she bids them farewell, and Tensei follows behind to give his brother one last hug. Before they leave, Shouto steps forward, leans down a bit, and mutters something about having brothers, too. Tensei waves his hands exclaiming that that isn’t the issue here.

Ochako holds out her arms toward his back and groans that he can’t keep getting away with it, and the rest laugh, apologize again for their friend’s comments, and tug him by the arm on their way out.

“Seatbelts, everyone! Be sure to leave the strap in front of you, even if you find it a bit uncomfortable,” Tenya adjusts the mirrors once he’s fastened his own, and he takes a glance to the backseat where Tsuyu sits with snacks occupying her lap and Ochako and Shouto on either side of her. Izuku occupies the passenger seat of the boxy white van, practically bouncing in excitement as the real start to their trip feels ready to roll.

“Todoroki, don’t lean against the window if you’re going to sleep -- don’t give me that look -- it isn’t safe. You can recline your seat if you need to.” Tenya uses his hands to indicate the motion, and Shouto blinks slowly as if debating the argument before complying to his friend’s wishes. With that out of the way, Tenya starts the engine and pulls out from the street to start navigating toward the highway.

Traffic interrupts their forward motion so long that Tsuyu entertains the idea of making the car float until Tenya lists every possible reason why that is a horrible mistake, and she settles him down to tell him she’s only joking. Izuku keeps himself turned around in his seat to face the back and make small talk between the rest of them still awake. He volleys conversations about Christmas lights displays and that one year when All Might appeared dressed as Santa Claus for a charity event. Ochako is relieved that she doesn’t have to halt his eagerness this time, so they listen soundly as he recounts memories until they approach the highway.

Once they disperse from the cluttering cars, Izuku reaches a stopping point in his story and asks if anyone has music to play while he takes a sip from his drink. Ochako gladly connects her phone to the speakers and sets it to a playlist created specifically for their winding adventure.

There’s something about the open road that makes a voice belt until it cracks.

Ochako and Izuku exchange harmonies and duets, hands extending in theatrics as if playing the part of dramatic pop songs about love and longing. When they aren’t serenading each other, they’re flipping between Tenya and Tsuyu as their objects of adoration; the former flusters far more easily than the latter, especially with Izuku’s hand extending to grip his shoulder and beckon eye contact that sends the ever responsible driver into a sputtering safety lesson in maintaining a loving gaze with the road.

Tsuyu is the first to break open the snacks as she helps herself to one of the green tea mochi, and out of the corner of her eye, she can swear she sees a sleeping Shouto scowling. Her large finger points to him with a ribbit to the others, and Ochako, without needing any other word, plucks her phone from her lap and snaps a picture. While she’s at it, she takes a selfie with her froggy companion with a declaration that she wants a group photo as soon as possible.

A moment of crisis can feel like a lifetime, but between the laughter and loosening of responsibility, the same could be said for its serenity. Izuku rolls his window down despite the cold air whipping through to feel the wind pull back his curls for once without danger on the other end. Maybe it’s his sunny disposition or the sheer freedom of the feeling, but he almost doesn’t notice how winter sinks its teeth into his skin. Almost.

When he’s turned back around to face his friends, he sees Tsuyu leaning against Shouto’s left side with her arms burrowed beneath her thick poncho. Only an hour and a half on the road so far, about four remaining until they reach Ochako’s hometown. He decides to spare his friends the cold and rolls up his window and runs his hands through his hair to settle it back into its organized mess.

“Does anyone need to stop?” Tenya asks as he takes a quick scan through the rearview mirror. There’s an unanimous no until Ochako notices that their snack pile has sufficiently decreased. She follows the trail of open bags to see the garbage pile around Shouto’s feet, still and motionless in his sleep.

“Are you kidding me?” She stretches her arms across and cannot resist the humor of it as she laughs. “How is that even possible?”

“I take credit for the mochi and fruit snacks, but…” she ribbits, “he would make a good stealth hero.”

“So no one needs to use the bathroom or restock on drinks?” Tenya asks again, and he’s met with the same response, so he continues without paying exits any mind. The next few songs pass in a humming calm; however, when a familiar, catchy beat starts up, Ochako commands Izuku to turn up the volume so they can return to their second round of dancing in their seats.

This time, they aren’t the only ones singing along.

A third voice joins almost too harmoniously, too perfect. Ochako knows for a fact it isn’t her, so she lowers her own volume to try and hear, and Izuku naturally does the same. With both of them ruled out, they look to Shouto, still asleep, and finally arrive to hear Tenya singing solo before he catches onto their gazing. He fades out and stiffens his shoulders, wondering if he’s missed some sort of cue for a pause, but both of them are trapped in their own bewilderment until Izuku raises the volume and returns singing at his natural level.

The three of them finish the song, then Tenya is bombarded with their joined praise.

“Iida! Why didn’t you tell us you could sing like that?!” Ochako exclaims as his face melts into a proud smile, and he chuckles.

“I never thought it would come up,” he admits, “it has nothing to do with hero work, after all.”

“The Singing Hero, Ingenium,” Tsuyu comments with her finger to her mouth, tongue sticking out in a lighthearted manner.

“I wouldn’t go that far,” he says as checks the road behind and merges into the other lane, using both his blinker and a hand signal as if the car behind would see, “but I think there’s a great charm in how the both of you put so much energy behind your voices.”

Freckled cheeks blush from the acknowledgement, a certain shyness coming from knowing that someone with a smooth baritone voice has to be subjected to his own inexperienced yodeling. It doesn’t stop him from singing along to the next few songs, of course. If anything, now the trio can mentally agree on who sings what harmonies, and their dramatics now get to target a snuggled up Tsuyu Asui with her large hand cupping the side of her face.

After another song or two, Izuku turns in his seat to face Ochako and asks her to pass that AUX cord, and she eagerly rips it from the jack to hand him. He plugs it in, adjusts the volume to not completely blast their ear drums, and smashes his thumb on the play button to welcome All Might’s signature I am here! introducing one of his interviews.

Have mercy, they should have known this was coming.

Ochako may have taken it back from him then and there, but the way his face lights up is enough to reach an agreement to let their fluffy haired nerd listen to his favorite hero and share interview highlights with his friends. He gushes throughout, explaining references between questions and answers. When the first one ends, he follows it up with an old news report, then leads it into a second interview.

“…That’s right! Children inherit quirks from their parents,” All Might’s voice explains, and the car is quiet as they listen until a low voice almost talks over him.

“Can you turn it up?” they turn to see Shouto Todoroki’s eyes still closed, but his lips are turned slightly in a quiet smile. Izuku complies without question.

About three hours in, they pull into a gas station for a pit stop. They stretch and shuffle into the the convenient store as the attendant tends to their gas. Izuku finishes up his business and finds Shouto in the pre-packaged lunches, and gives him a bump of their arms.

“I can’t believe you’re a ninja,” he jokes, and Shouto turns to him, perplexed. “Still hungry?”

“Always,” he answers flatly as his hand hovers between rice balls and pickled vegetables.

“Do you feel more awake now?” Izuku asks as a cold right hand picks up the vegetables, and he’s met with dual colored eyes making contact with his own now, and he nods. Before they can continue the mundane conversation, Tsuyu locates them and taps Izuku’s shoulder.

“You should get whatever you need. We’re wanting to head out now,” she relays the message, most likely from Tenya waiting at the car. Then without even looking at him, she addresses the empty-handed teaser. “Pants, Izuku.”

“What!” he immediately checks himself and notes the dampness on his thigh with a contained shriek, “I swear, it’s not what you think!”

She parts from them without another word, and he hangs his head and promises that it’s from washing his hands. Shouto makes his purchase and passes Izuku a can of green tea from under his arm, and when they return to the car, Ochako has already claimed the passenger seat for herself.

“It’ll be easier if I can direct us when we’re in the area,” she clarifies before anyone can try debating, but no one questions it. Shouto readjusts his seat when he slips in after Tsuyu, and she cozies herself between the two with an obvious preference leaning toward her right.

“Tsuyu, do you need us to put on the heater?” Ochako asks once they merge back onto the road, and before she can answer, Shouto shrugs his shoulder to keep it pressed a little closer to her side.

“I can keep the car warm. Just pass me your jackets if you need me to heat them up,” he clenches and unclenches his left hand. Almost immediately, Ochako tugs off her varsity jacket and tosses it at his face, earning nothing short of an Ah before he pulls it down and regulates the heat around his arm. Izuku watches like he’s preparing for a quirk application lesson, and soon enough, the jacket is thrown back to its keeper in the same manner.

“Thanks, man!” she catches it and immediately nuzzles her face into the warm fabric with a an almost operatic note. “It’s like it just came out of the dryer! This is amazing!”

“If you’re sure you don’t mind, is this okay?” Tsuyu asks before linking her arm around his to feed off some of his body heat. He nods, and a noticeable smile spreads on her wide lips as she ribbits and presses her cold nose on his sleeve for a few seconds until it’s warm enough to loosen her hold on him.

“Is everyone else okay?” he asks, both charcoal and cerulean eyes passing over each passenger. When Izuku and Tenya tell him not to worry about them, he brings his attention to his lap to open his container of vegetables and start eating.

“Okay, so before you all drop me off at my parents’ apartment, I need to stop somewhere to change,” Ochako starts the rundown of her scheme. “I guess we can check you into the hotel first and then head over? That way I can get ready, and it isn’t like all of you have to be there to drop me off.”

“Are you kidding? Of course we’re all going to be there!” Izuku protests, and before she can wave her hands to deny, Tsuyu chimes in.

“You’re stuck with us, Ochako.”

“You guys,” her cheeks redden, and she presses her palms to her face. Tenya glances over with endearment plastered over his features. If he wasn’t so dedicated to keeping both hands gripped at 10-and-2, he may very well reach over to touch her shoulder.

“How do you think your parents are going to react?” Tsuyu asks.

“I don’t know! I’m sure one or both of them will tear up,” she giggles. “I may end up needing to call you back to do some immediate first aid if I surprise them too much,” she turns to Shouto with his mouth full of pickles. He chews and swallows at least before responding.

“For you or for them?”

The car is quiet before she cracks up laughing, interpreting the question as an indirect jab at her own explosive reactions. “For them! I’m not that bad!” He accepts the answer without any further comment or question as if he’s caught himself.

“Does your family have any sort of traditions for the holidays?” Tenya asks in a lighthearted tone.

“Nothing outside the house,” she mulls over memories. “If Mom had time, sometimes she would pull out these cute cookie cutters and we’d bake together. Oh! And hot pot when it’s really cold!”

The rest of the car shares a fantasy of hot pot, and she catches herself joining into the hum.

“How about the rest of you?” she turns in her seat to get a better look.

“Because we wouldn’t have school, I’d have to find ways to keep my siblings entertained,” Tsuyu explains. “I used to take them out to see some lights and decorations if any shops or streets put them on display, but mostly we’d try to stay inside as much as possible with movies.”

Her voice catches in her throat as a memory interrupts her thought, and her tongue slips past her lips. “I remember one year Samidare was dead-set on having a snowball fight until Satsuki hit him right in the face with one. We didn’t last long,” she laughs, and Izuku’s face brightens at the story.

“Sometimes I forget you have siblings,” he admits, and she turns to him with her cheek leaning on her fingertip.

“Sometimes I wish I could, too.”

“How about you, Deku?” Ochako prods him next for traditions, and he catches himself in a nervous laugh as he fidgets with his hands.

“Mom always supported my interests, so I must have gushed about Christmas after seeing a few specials because she started picking up on some of the traditions. We have this fake tree that we’ll decorate, we bake cookies, and she likes to make custom sweaters for us that seem to get tackier and tackier every year,” he scrunches his nose as if embarrassed, but he finds it hard to fight the smile.

“You wore one last year,” Tsuyu points out, and he points back.

“Yeah! She actually mentioned making one for All Might this year,” his bright smile softens.

“Woah, Deku. I didn’t know your mom and All Might were close,” Ochako pokes at his leg from her seat, and he chuckles.

“I didn’t either. I just found out that she visits him pretty regularly!”

“Midoriya, are you sure you aren’t All Might’s l--”

“I’m not!” Izuku cuts Shouto off with a break in his voice, always comical in nature. Tsuyu ribbits curiously as if asking about this inside joke, but his flustered face waves away any possible questioning.

“What about you, Iida?” Ochako asks the original topic starter. He ponders a moment as he decides what constitutes holiday tradition as opposed to cold weather tradition, and he decides that it essentially boils down to the same thing.

“We exchange gifts with each other, and some years, my father takes the night off to spend with my mother. Tensei and I might call each other, but there weren’t too many chances for us to all be together when I was growing up.”

“A hero family must be pretty busy, huh?”

“Busy, but not lonely,” he clarifies with genuine pride. He looks in the mirror toward Shouto and opens his grin as if to relate the sentiment, but he quickly tightens his lip when he sees his friend turned toward the window. “Even if we couldn’t be together, we would find ways to make it up. That’s the kind of sentiment I hope to carry for those around me, as well.”

“Aw, I definitely feel it!” Ochako nudges his arm gently with her fist.

“What about you, Todoroki?” Tsuyu glances over to see his head still turned away, and his right arm drops from the car door to return to his lap, but she feels his left arm heat up a little more. As he turns his head toward them, they watch carefully until his expression reveals itself as something akin to Class B’s Neito Monoma in all his petty glee. They lose it in a blurt of shock, save for Tsuyu who bluntly tells him he’s making a scary face and that he needs to stop.

He intends to leave it at that, but Tenya Iida needs a bit more of a real answer since he almost slammed down on the brakes from everyone’s shrieking. His expression eases down into a typical-Todoroki-scowl, and he sighs.

“Sometimes Fuyumi comes home with candy from her students,” the answer doesn’t match his expression, but they accept it in fear of deviating down an uncomfortable path. Still, they cannot help but wonder what that almost victorious sneer was about. Only Izuku can possibly imagine it has something to do with Endeavor, but he keeps it to himself as they remark how the students must adore her to send her home with treats for the holidays.

The season calls the sky back down so much sooner than before, and they catch sight of a peeking moon overhead despite daylight hours still too stubborn to give. They drive onward in softer tones and dryer throats, but spirits rise at sundown. As the sun descends lower in the flurries of pinks, oranges, and yellows, Izuku watches with a sparkle in his eyes and fingertips pressed to the glass as he takes in the colors and changes. He pulls out his phone and preserves the feeling to his memory, sending a copy over to All Might; he wonders if the sky back home looks quite this vibrant.

Unbeknownst to him, Ochako has taken a picture of him, as well.

Nightfall takes over the city as they unlock the door to their hotel room and drop all their bags near the desk table. Tsuyu leaps onto the bed and rolls over onto her back with a series of relieved ribbits while Ochako begins digging through her bag and shoving a set of red and white clothes into her arms before making a beeline for the bathroom.They hear the lock click, and everyone else settles in the room with their own curiosities.

Izuku pulls the curtain apart to take a look at their scenic view of the neighboring building’s wall, and Tenya unpacks his thicker overcoat from his luggage to lay out on the unoccupied bed. He spreads his palms over the front to even out the folds and wrinkles, then tackles it with a wrinkle release spray drawn almost too swiftly from his bag. Satisfied with its freshened aesthetic, he takes it to the closet and hangs it loosely.

“I suggest we bundle a little more when we drop Ochako off,” he turns his attention to the other three, and Izuku deviates from the window to retrieve his knit cap and fingerless gloves from the plethora of folded hoodies that seemingly take up the bulk of his belongings. Tsuyu doesn’t need much reminding, but Shouto makes no movements to wear more than his sweatshirt and scarf.

“If I wear too much, I’ll get too hot,” he explains as he casts his eyes down to his left hand before Tenya can lay it on him. He looks back up with an unwarranted amount of seriousness for whatever nonsense he’s about to joke with, but a loud burst from the bathroom door cuts him off.

“Ho ho ho!” Ochako bellows, decked in full Santa gear including a thick, snow-white beard. “I am here!”

“That’s not what Santa says,” Tsuyu corrects, but Izuku is already fanboying at the reference with wide eyes and hands pressed to his mouth.

“And you’re positive that your parents won’t believe you to be some sort of intruder or possible threat?” Tenya asks after his initial exclamations and claps of Bravo!

“Our first year, they came crawling at me when I opened the door to my apartment like they were monsters in a horror movie,” she tugs the beard down to talk more clearly, “I think they can deal with a nonthreatening Santa suit and gifts.”

“Is everybody ready?” dark, wide eyes scan the hotel room for anyone still rummaging through folded clothes. Affirmations cross their lips, one by one, and Tsuyu ribbits in her own on her way toward the door, sure to hold it open for Ochako and her bag of presents.

Her bubbly disposition nearly intoxicates everyone as they catch themselves in smiles on their way to the car; even the hotel staff wish them a Merry Christmas with a chuckle upon seeing her march proudly with one black boot in front of the other. Tsuyu walks along beside her long enough for Ochako to sling a crimson sleeved arm around her shoulders as she gives another hearty laugh into the wintry night air.

The boys walking behind don’t know if they’ve ever seen her so proud of herself.

Ochako Uraraka doesn’t realize how loud a car door slam resounds when she’s standing outside her parents’ apartment complex in the quiet evening. Wind catches hold of her so quick that she has to press her palm onto her hat to keep everything in place, and she shivers one last time before she hears the window roll down with a car full of friends cheering her on in their own ways. She turns with her mittened hand on her heart and converts it to a fist she can pump back at them. A quick pivot on her heel, and she trudges onward toward the stairs up to the third floor with her sack of presents slapping against her back.

If she’s lucky, her parents won’t be home quite yet. Maybe she could exact her vengeance with giving them a little scare; however, when she unlocks the door and slips the keyring back into her pocket, she sees a light kept low from down the hall. Ochako kicks her boots off as quickly as she can and announces herself before anyone can come see what all the noise is. Instead, she hears no response and decides to investigate the source of the light.

Upon peeking through the entryway of their living room, she sees a small, illuminated tree kept on the end table of the small room. No decorations or natural scent, but she takes a seat beside it on the sofa and feels the soft glow in her eyes as she relaxes from excitement into a mellow calm. Padded fingertips tap the lights as she ponders when they decided to start decorating and why, but this appears to be the only one. Perhaps a co-worker gifted it, or maybe a client. She doesn’t know, but part of her can’t help but miss her parents even more.

These past three years have shaped her into the confident heroine she is now, but how much have they changed that she couldn’t perceive through calls and videos? Do they still bake cookies without her? Do they work later hours without a daughter to rush home to? At least they’ve seen her hair’s growth over the years or else she may worry that they won’t recognize her. A fleeting thought that forfeits her blank, half lidded eyes into rest as she sighs contentedly.

She pulls her phone out to let her friends know that they can head out since she’s still waiting on her parents to return. They wish her well and tell her that if she needs them for anything, they’ll be there without hesitation. Another wave of emotion washes over her as she reads over their individual responses in the group chat, and she can’t help but laugh a little when even Shouto sends his support when she knows well he’s supposed to be driving.

A clock’s tick occupies the living room in her absent-minded scrolling through social media until she hears the drop, lift, and jingling keys from behind the door. Quick to her feet, she lifts her bag of gifts and decides to make use of their small tree decoration as if she’s been caught in the middle of her Kris Kringling duties. Holding her position, she keeps her face turned toward the entryway to their den, and hearing her mother’s voice question the black boots at the door starts up her heavier pulse.

Waiting proves to be far too much for one eager Santa to handle, so she springs to her steps and meets them halfway in the hall -- her in the red and white suit with a clutched sack of gifts over her shoulder and them with their best horror faces ready to terrify whatever foolish intruder dared enter the Uraraka household alone. All three shriek upon seeing one another, but Ochako’s merges into mirthful laughter.

“Merry Christmas!” she extends an arm, and they recognize her voice immediately and practically sprint toward her with their own latching around their daughter. She yelps into their tight grasp and nearly drops the bag. Mr. Uraraka’s arms wrap around the two of them and lift them momentarily before he has to set them back down and stretch a little; euphoric energy can only do so much after a long day’s work.

“Ochako, what is all this?” Mrs. Uraraka holds her shoulders and rubs the red fabric of the Santa Suit as she eyes her down. On the way back up, her hands move to the curly beard, and she tugs at it with laughter as tears well up in the corners of her eyes. Ochako can hardly formulate the words, so she smothers her mother’s hand with her own mittened one and leads them both to the living room where she sits them down on the sofa.

Ochako Uraraka coughs and lowers her voice to mimic an idea of the iconic character.

“For the last eighteen years, you’ve both been very, very good to your daughter. And every year, she’s written me a letter pleading for even one small token to repay them. Finally, we worked out a deal, she and I,” she laughs and sets the bag down, rummaging through and holding out a present addressed to both of them. She takes a shuddering breath as she tries to keep up her character and composure through the emotional surge sending sparks within her heart. “If she worked hard and never gave up, then this would be the year she could deliver them herself.”

Her mother is already crying, hands covering her mouth as the tears slip down her cheeks, and her father’s jaw hangs loose once he’s said her name. They’re rendered speechless in their daughter’s charity, and they graciously accept her present and unwrap it together.

Within the box is a tropical themed postcard, and they turn it over to read:

I’m sorry I can’t take you to Hawaii yet. Personally, I don’t know if the sun out there can compete with the three of us. We’ll be here soon. I promise.

Mr. and Mrs. Uraraka cannot fight their smiles; they turn the card over again and again, watching their daughter pull out various gifts from her bag and placing them on their corresponding sides. An even amount: three packages for each parent.

With her hands empty, Ochako dons her beard in full and urges her parents to indulge with her sparkling stare. Only after she claps her mittens do they chuckle and comply. The gifts aren’t especially flashy or expensive, but they’re thoughtful. Nice fragrances, coffee and mugs, small appliances, accessories, anything she could squeeze into a few bags and boxes within her budget. They comment and compare, especially with a set of matching mugs, and she watches as her parents hold their gifts carefully in their overworked hands.

What she wouldn’t give to offer them a real holiday.

They set the gifts aside, and Mrs. Uraraka holds out her arms. Before Ochako can bend closer, her father tugs her into them, and the three meld into each other’s embrace. They haven’t had time to turn the heater on between all of this, yet they don’t even notice the chilly air when they’re together.

“We love you,” her mother tightens her hold, “so much.”

“I know, Mama,” Ochako sniffles into their shoulders, “Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas, sweetheart,” her father pets her hat affectionately, and they stay a little longer until he tugs it off and wears it himself. Before their daughter can protest, Mrs. Uraraka snatches the beard and snaps it around her own face with her hands coming together in a playful clap.

“No, my secret identity!” she jokes and covers her face as she sinks to the floor. Her parents imitate her laughter from earlier with their hands on their bellies, and one pulls her up while the other fetches the light.

“Honey, can you grab those mugs and the new oven mitts?” Mr. Uraraka calls from the kitchen once he’s turned on the light. Mrs. Uraraka calls back gleefully and beckons Ochako to follow them, brightly patterned mitts in tow. He’s already pulling out sugar, butter, eggs, and other ingredients, and it doesn’t take long for the other two to catch on to his plan. “I know our Santa’s already come, but we can’t let her leave without some cookies.”

“Santa accepts your offering,” she beams with rosey cheeks blooming darker.

The three of them work together to mix the dough, roll them into balls of varying sizes, and nearly watch the oven like it’s the season finale of their favorite drama as they all bake into one unified mess. Ochako decides to cut them apart using the old cookie cutters, and once they’re cooled off, the family shares their snacks with mugs of hot chocolate and a gratuitous amount of marshmallows scattered atop.

She knows it isn’t magic because she’s worked hard, but Ochako Uraraka doesn’t mind sharing the credit with all the support her family and friends have offered her to get here. Every word of praise, every hand reaching out, and every shared smile, invaluable; she knows she wants to be the type of hero who can let those around her rest easy.

And if the three of them snoozing through their own sleepy snores is any indication, then she’s well on her way.