Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/
works/8323477.
  Rating:
      Explicit
  Archive Warning:
      Major_Character_Death, Underage
  Category:
      M/M
  Fandom:
      僕のヒーローアカデミア_|_Boku_no_Hero_Academia_|_My_Hero_Academia
  Relationship:
      Bakugou_Katsuki/Midoriya_Izuku
  Character:
      Bakugou_Katsuki, Midoriya_Izuku, Tokoyami_Fumikage, Aizawa_Shouta_|
      Eraserhead, Yagi_Toshinori_|_All_Might, Midoriya_Inko, Bakugou_Katsuki's
      Mother, Shinsou_Hitoshi, Uraraka_Ochako, Shuuzenji_Chiyo_|_Recovery_Girl,
      OC:_Gomiko_Freecs, Todoroki_Shouto, Kirishima_Eijirou
  Additional Tags:
      Underage_Sex, Temporary_Character_Death, canon-typical_vulgarity, ajin
      au, Blood, Gore, casual_treatment_of_death, dangerously_codependent
      relationship, Slash, Yuuei_Year_One, Plot, Discussion_of_Death, Choking,
      Bruises, Concerned_Parents, Original_Character(s), Accidental_Voyeurism
  Series:
      Part 10 of standing_in_awe_of_death
  Stats:
      Published: 2016-10-19 Completed: 2016-12-04 Chapters: 20/20 Words: 67892
****** conflagration ******
by Ramabear_(RyMagnatar)
Summary
     After USJ, Katsuki, Izuku and the rest of their class prepare for the
     Sport Festival.
     The students get riled up, both inside and outside Class A. The
     teachers find that there's more going on with Katuski and Izuku than
     meets the eye. A surprising alliance is made between some of the
     students.
     Very quickly, people discover that even when it's a Free-For-All,
     nothing will stop Katsuki and Izuku from working side-by-side as a
     team until the bitter end.
Notes
     As always, please mind the tags... but if you've been reading
     everything else in this series up until this point, you should be
     pretty good for the rest of this wild fucking ride!
***** tinder *****
After setting his bag on his desk, Izuku slid into his seat with a soft thump.
There were still several minutes left before class started and so he took his
time getting out his books and papers. Beside him, Katsuki did the same,
flipping through one of their textbooks. Izuku glanced up to see where he
settled and smiled when he recognized the chapter that had been given as
homework two days ago.
He pulled out a pair of notebooks, one for class and one for his errant notes
unrelated to class. He hung his bag on the hook off the side of his desk and
flipped through his notebook, looking for where he last left off. As he reread
his work, Izuku idly scratched at the bandages on his neck.
“Stop doing that,” Katsuki said.
Izuku glanced up, hands freezing where they were. Katsuki had his cheek in his
palm and his elbow on his table. His head was turned towards Izuku. “Eh?”
“Stop scratching.”
“But it itches,” Izuku pouted as he dutifully lowered his hand. “And it feels
kind of weird.”
“I don’t care. Don’t scratch it anyway.” Katsuki added extra incentive to his
words by leaning over to kick the leg of Izuku’s desk.
Izuku sighed.
“And stop acting like this is such a trial for you,” Katsuki said, kicking his
desk again, “You’re the one who chose this.”
“But Kacchan-” Izuku began but he was cut off when another student spoke over
him.
“Excuse me for interrupting,” Izuku turned to see Tokoyami standing on the
other side of his desk. “I have a question.”
Izuku brightened up, “Yes? What is it?”
For him, it was easy to ignore the angry glare from Katsuki in the back of his
head. Katsuki was worried that Tokoyami might ask a too prying question and
that Izuku, in his excitement, would answer it. Izuku, on the other hand, was
not as worried. Tokoyami seemed to falter for a moment, under Katsuki’s glare
as well, before he straightened his back and gave a bob of his head. “Kirishima
claims that he saw an invisible creature that was your companion. I wanted to
know if that was true or some sort of battle-induced hallucination.”
“Battle induced- People can get that?” Izuku turned around, “Kacchan did you
know?”
“Adrenaline does some weird shit to the brain,” Katsuki replied.
“Please focus, Midoriya,” Tokoyami said with a tone of mild exasperation.
Smiling, Izuku turned back. “It’s true. She’s the reason I wanted to speak with
you on the bus ride out, yesterday.”
“Your questions made it sound like you don’t know much about her. How recent
was this development?” Tokoyami asked. He folded his arms over his chest, but
Izuku could see the nervous way he shifted from side to side.
“It’s true I don’t know much about her, but I’m doing tests to find out
everything I can.” Izuku quickly put up his hands, “I’m not doing anything
inhumane with her! She mostly runs around and interacts with things or people.
In fact, yesterday was the first time she ever attacked anything with any
seriousness. I think she went a little overboard.”
“...A little overboard?” Tokoyami asked with a tilt of his head.
“Well, she killed that villain.”
There was a pause. Tokoyami blinked.
Kirishima, sitting in front of Katsuki, had turned around to listen in. This is
when he chimed in with, “I wondered why she was covered with blood. What did
she do?”
“I wasn’t there for most of it,” Izuku said, “But she fought the monster that
had taken sensei captive. Tsuyu was there for the fight, I think. And Mineta.”
He sat up abruptly and looked to Katsuki, “Don’t let me forget to ask them
about that! They might not have been able to see Usagi, but they must have seen
what she did. They have invaluable information about her fighting style.”
“Mm,” Katsuki shrugged noncommittally.
“Dude,” Kirishima said, resting his folded arms on the back of his chair, “You
were really manly when that blood covered invisible thing showed up! I can’t
believe how you just climbed on her back like that. So cool! But didn’t you get
a lot of blood on you?”
Katsuki’s red eyes slid off of Izuku and flicked to Kirishima. “When you’re
around Deku, you get used to blood getting all over your shit. Why do you think
my uniform is mostly black and his is mostly red?”
“Oh, uh,” Kirishima laughed, at a loss for words.
“Back to the point,” Tokoyami interrupted again. “How recent is this
development? You treat her as though you just discovered her when most
companion-quirks develop in childhood so that the bonded pair can grow up
together. Is this not the case with your Usagi?”
“Develop in childhood?” Izuku repeated quietly. This time, when he gave Katsuki
a glance, it was one of confusion, of fleeting fear and concern. Katsuki
instantly picked up on the difference.
Katsuki went from idly watching to aggressive in a second. He pushed his chair
back, hands slamming onto his desk, “That’s enough. Time to fuck off, you
little shit. I’m sick of listening to all of the chatter on and on about this
stupid bullshit.”
“Kacchan,” Izuku said meekly, but not with any real effort to try and stop him.
He nervously ran his hand across the side and back of his neck, rough fingers
running over the bandages that covered his skin.
“Midoriya started the questions,” Tokoyami stated, taking the rare stance of
arguing with Katsuki. “I was merely-”
“You told him to fuck off before and now I’m telling you the fucking same,
asshole.” Katsuki’s volume rose the longer he spoke, “Fuck. Off. I don’t want
to hear any more of this.”
“Midoriya,” Tokoyami said, adjusting his attention to him, “We could speak
elsewhere-”
“Oh no you don’t,” Katsuki stepped across the aisle, crowding the side of
Izuku’s desk. Fire flashed in his eyes and he lay a possessive hand on Izuku’s
shoulder. “You’re not going to fucking drag him off to talk to. That’s notgoing
to happen.”
Tokoyami pulled back, affronted. Izuku kept his head bowed, eyes down at his
hands in his lap so he they wouldn’t be able to meet each other’s gaze. “Are
you serious? You don’t own Midoriya, Bakugou. You don’t control where he goes
or who he talks to.”
There was a little ripple of a gasp from the onlooking students. Izuku heard a
distant, “Oh my god he actually said it,” from someone. Katsuki’s fingers dug
harder into his shoulder but Izuku didn’t even flinch. This kind of
confrontation had never happened in their classes in middle school. No one had
cared what had happened to Izuku there. No one had cared that Katsuki had
seemingly controlled Izuku.
No one had pushed back against Katsuki the way that the Yuuei kids did. They
weren’t fearless, but they weren’t scared into submission either.
“Deku belongs to me,” Katsuki declared. The smugness in his voice made Izuku
look up. Despite the tight grip Katsuki had on his shoulder, his face was an
expression of superiority. “Just because you don’t fucking get it doesn’t make
it any less true. Fuck the hell off, birdbrain, because now I’m getting sick of
looking at you too.”
“Midoriya is his own person,” Tokoyami insisted, though he did slide back half
a step at Katsuki’s glare. “You-”
“Listen you little fuck,” Katsuki lurched forwards, reaching for Tokoyami
across the desk. Izuku shot up out of his seat, catching the brunt of Katsuki’s
energy and holding him back.
“Kacchan, please,” Izuku said in an undertone. He met Katsuki’s gaze and held
it the same way he held Katsuki’s wrist.
Tokoyami had backed up another step, shoulders up and his shadow quirk poking
its head out from behind his shoulder. Izuku gave him a helpless little smile
and said, “Is it okay if we talk another time? I’m sorry, Tokoyami. I’m very
curious about your quirk and I think that you can help me with mine but… now is
not a good time.”
Tokoyami’s gaze flicked from Izuku to Katsuki and back. “...Fine. Another
time.” He took a step back and then another before he edged away. He never
totally put his back to Katsuki, clearly not trusting him to stay back.
Izuku leaned into Katsuki’s grip, “Kacchan-” he whispered.
Katsuki grunted. He twisted his hand around so that he held Izuku’s wrist the
same way that Izuku held his. “C’mon.” He dragged Izuku away from his desk,
heading for the doorway.
“Kacchan, class is about to start-”
Katsuki glared at him. Izuku sighed and didn’t resist as Katsuki hauled him out
into the hallway. The bathroom was close enough, that if they ran too and from
it, they probablywouldn’t be that late to class.
Of course, as soon as Katsuki ran, Izuku followed suit.
 
 
===============================================================================
 
 
“Way to poke a stick at the tiger in its cage, Tokoyami. Nice one.” Kyouka said
as he walked past.
Tokoyami shot her a sharp look. “Something has to be done. They’re going to
destroy each other if we leave them alone. At least there’s something
salvageable out of Midoriya.”
Kyouka lifted her head, watching as Bakugou hauled Midoriya out of the
classroom. “Are  you sure about that?”
Tokoyami turned his head away, “There’s still something good in him. There’s
nothing but anger in Bakugou. I know what anger looks like. Intimately.” He
stalked to his seat, spine stiff with indignation.
Kyouka shrugged and went back to fiddling with her notes.
 
 
===============================================================================
 
 
Izuku arched off the wall in the bathroom stall, head back in a gasp of
pleasure and fingers tangled in Katsuki’s hair. The air was filled with the
crude sound of sucking and slurping and his desperate attempts to bring air
into his lungs. Katsuki was altogether too good at pulling it out of him again
and again.
He bit his bottom lip hard. The scab from the night before broke and he tasted
blood. Izuku did his best to keep his voice down, but infrequent pleas dropped
from his lips like his blood.
There was a wet popping noise as Katsuki pulled off his cock. “Deku,” he said,
his voice rough and low.
Izuku rolled his head around and looked down at Katsuki. “Hnn?” He couldn’t
speak words, couldn’t even formulate them in his head. When the hellhad Katsuki
gotten so good at sucking? Izuku hadn’t realized it.
“You know better than that,” Katsuki said, “Don’t look at the ceiling. Look at
me.”
Izuku bobbed his head. Katsuki glared for a second more before he went back to
sucking. Izuku had no idea how much time had passed, only that it seemed like
Katsuki would be wrapped around his dick forever and a day.
He stared down at Katsuki, eyes transfixed by the image of Katsuki’s lips
around him, by the way his cock filled Katsuki’s mouth, by the hungry look that
Katsuki gave him in return. Izuku’s hips bucked off the wall, but Katsuki rode
those desperate thrusts well enough.
Izuku sobbed out Katsuki’s name when he came, toes curling in his shoes and
nails digging into Katsuki’s scalp. He shuddered and continued to shiver as
Katsuki sucked him dry, milking him for every last drop.
When Katsuki finally pulled back, the back of his hand pressed to his mouth as
he swallowed the rest of Izuku’s cum, Izuku found himself sliding down the
wall, unable to support himself on shaking legs. Blearily, he reached for
Katsuki, panting, “Kacchan?”
“My turn,” Katsuki said. Izuku nodded in agreement, willing to do whatever
Katsuki wanted, just as long as he wasn’t asked to stand. He tipped his head
back as Katsuki got up from his knees to stand in front of Izuku. A smile flit
across his split lips when Katsuki ran a hand through his dark curls. That hand
felt so incredibly good that Izuku groaned, eyes fluttering a little before
remaining open.
Sitting at eye level to Katsuki’s groin, Izuku expected to have Katsuki use his
mouth. Instead, he found Katsuki kept that one hand in his hair and the other
held his own cock. Looking up, Izuku blinked to clear his vision.
With his back to the light, Katsuki’s face was mostly in shadow, but that
seemed to do nothing to dull the burning in his eyes. As he worked his hand up
and down the shaft of his cock, Katsuki said, “You belong to me, Deku. You.
Are. Mine.”
“Yours,” Izuku whispered. He ran his hands up Katsuki’s legs, circling around
to the backs of his thighs so he could pull him closer. “Kacchan, please,” his
breath was so faint, making his words fainter still. Izuku could barely hear
himself over the steady thump of his own heart in his ears, “I want you inside
of me, Kacchan.”
“Fuck,” Katsuki said. Izuku opened his mouth, tongue lolling out, and Katsuki
took the wordless invitation at face value. He pushed past Izuku’s lips with
his cock, thrusting carefully and shallowly at first.
Izuku’s gaze never wavered from Katsuki’s face, even though it meant he had to
look straight up. In return, Katsuki’s fingers tightened in Izuku’s hair,
pulling him closer and thrusting deeper.
Izuku’s eyes watered as he fought his reaction to gag. His fingers dug into
Katsuki’s legs as he struggled to do for Katsuki what had been done for him.
A string of curses and groans filled the air as Katsuki fucked Izuku’s mouth,
filling it and his throat as he pushed farther each time. He didn’t last nearly
as long as Izuku did, but considering he’d been hard when they’d started and
Katsuki had had to work Izuku into the same state first, Izuku wasn’t all that
surprised.
What did surprise him was the way Katsuki pulled back as he came, hand on his
cock again as he wrung out every last drop. Izuku instinctively closed his eyes
as the cum splattered up across his cheek and forehead. He gasped for breath,
blood and cum dripping from his split lip to his chin.
Katsuki finally let go of Izuku’s hair. He braced himself against the wall with
his arm, looking down at Izuku with an easy, lopsided grin. “Fuck,” he said,
“You’re such a goddamn mess, Deku.”
Izuku licked his lips and looked up at Katsuki. His face was hot, not just from
the flush that colored his skin but from Katsuki’s cum. He only felt warmer
from Katsuki’s compliment and offered up a smile in return. “Only for you,
Kacchan,” Izuku whispered, “Only for you.”
 
 
 
===============================================================================
 
 
 
 
“So glad you two decided to join us for class,” Shouta said without looking up
from his papers as the door to the classroom opened.
“Sorry sensei,” Midoriya and Bakugou said in unison, though Midoriya’s words
were sincere and Bakugou’s said with a roll of his eyes.
“Are you really okay to be teaching, Sensei? You’re all… bandages.” Midoriya
asked.
Shouta looked up to see that Midoriya had stopped to address him, earnest
concern written all over his face. Bakugou had stopped further down the aisle,
looking over his shoulder and silent. The rest of the class was quiet as well.
“I’m quite fine to teach,” Shouta said. There was something off about
Midoriya’s appearance. His eyes flicked over the boy from head to toe. “After
all, injured or not, we must prepare you students for the next battle in your
life. There’s no resting on our laurels after only one victory.”
Ah. That was it. There were bandages around Midoriya’s throat. Those hadn’t
been there before and, if the reports were accurate, Midoriya had walked away
without a scratch on him like the rest of the students.
This wasn’t Shouta’s first year teaching high school. He was well aware of the
marks on the neck that students tried and failed to hide every year. However,
those were usually single bandages over small hickeys, not wraps around the
throat that nearly went up to the jaw.
Midoriya agreed with his statement and headed back to his seat.
Before he got too comfortable, though, Shouta shuffled his papers and said,
“After this class, Midoriya, I would like to speak privately with you. Alone
privately.”
He didn’t miss the way Midoriya stiffened, or the glance he gave to Bakugou and
he certainly didn’t miss the way Bakugou glared at him for the entire class
period.
What, Shouta thought to himself as he taught the lesson, did they really think
they were being subtle in any way?
All those chaste little kisses that they gave were going to lead somewhere and
someoneneeded to step in before the boys went too far too fast.
***** igniting spark *****
“...which concludes this lesson for today,” Aizawa said with a soft little
cough. There was a general sigh of relief and shuffling of paper as the
students around Izuku took down the last of their notes and sat back. Izuku, on
the other hand, sat poised with his pencil in his hand.
He waited for almost a solid minute like that, nearly motionless while Aizawa
gathered up his teaching materials and then, clearing his throat, called out to
Izuku. “Please step out of the class, Midoriya, so we can have a word.”
Students around Izuku turned to look at him. Izuku didn’t look at them. He only
bobbed his head in agreement and began to pack up his books. He closed his
school books and stacked them up into a neat pile in the corner. As he slid out
of his chair, though, he took his personal notebook with him.
Izuku put the tattered notebook on Katsuki’s desk, meeting his gaze as he did
it. Katsuki reached out with one hand, silent as could be, and gripped Izuku by
the wrist. It was his left one, where Good Luck rested hidden under his sleeve.
“Be careful,” Katsuki said. He squeezed  hard,  making Izuku wince. “If you
need me…”
“I’ll find you,” Izuku whispered back. “Don’t worry, Kacchan. I won’t go far.”
He gave him a quick smile, bending over to press a kiss to Katsuki’s temple.
The skin was warm under his lips and he took a moment to breathe in the smell
of Katsuki’s shampoo before stepping away again.
Katsuki’s fingers let go of him reluctantly and Izuku walked steadily up the
aisle and out of the classroom, following Aizawa out into the hallway.



 
 
A frown creased Izuku’s brow as he ended up following Aizawa not just out into
the hallway but into an office room. He’d asked where they were going and the
uninformative shrug had answered none of his questions.
Izuku had a feeling that that was a good indicator of what Aizawa had in mind
for their ‘conversation’.
Aizawa gestured for him to take a seat on a chair set up across from a couch
once they were in the room. He himself slouched onto the couch, giving a
relieved sigh as he sank down into the cushion. Izuku stepped gingerly to the
chair and took it as his seat. He felt smaller and more vulnerable than he had
when facing off villains only the day before.
He kept his knees close together and his hands twisted together on top of his
knees. Giving his teacher a shy smile, Izuku prompted, “What did you want to
talk to me about, sensei?”
“You said yesterday after the fighting that there was no injury to your neck,”
Aizawa said. His half-lidded eyes and tired tone belied the wit behind his
exhausted, injured exterior. Izuku fought against stiffening like a deer caught
in headlights. “That you had healed from all your wounds suffered during the
course of your escape.”
“That’s true, sir.”
“If that is the case, then what is the cause of the injury you have bandaged up
now?” Aizawa asked bluntly. “Surely, if you could recover from a nearly one-
hundred-and-eighty degree rotation of your neck, you’d be able to recover from
any other injury.”
Izuku couldn’t help it. He stiffened. His shoulders hunched and his eyes went
down. Had his head gone  that  far around?  Fuck. Tsuyu must have seen that.
And Mineta too. Shit. I need to talk to them…
“Midoriya,” Aizawa said, “Can you remove those bandages?”
Immediately, Izuku shook his head. That was not an option. His fingers twisted
together in his lap, fingertips digging into his skin.
“Midoriya, it concerns me when my students gain mysterious injuries. What if
you were attacked by a villain after everyone else? What if the wound could
seriously injure you? We have Recovery Girl at the school for a reason.”
“I’m fine, sensei,” Izuku said. He did not feel fine, though. He felt trapped.
He had to give Aizawa something… A shade of the truth perhaps? That was usually
what Katsuki did, wasn’t it? “I didn’t get attacked from v-villains.” He
cleared his throat, feeling his cheeks turn pink. “I just… um…”
There was a knock at the door, making Izuku jump. Aizawa sighed but called out,
“Come in.”
Izuku stared as All Might came into the room. His characteristic smile was
thin, strained. Izuku had never seen All Might knock before coming into a room.
The man greeted Izuku with a thumbs up before he crossed over to the couch,
“You didn’t start without me, did you Aizawa?”
“Midoriya was about to explain what injury he was covering on his neck, if not
the twisting injury from yesterday,” Aizawa said, shifting on the couch a
little. All Might sat at the other end of the table, proud and tall and for all
the world like the father figure Izuku had never really experienced.
Izuku felt his face heating up but he cleared his throat. Heroes did difficult
things all the time. They struggled and fought and sometimes they acquiesced
small victories to others, but ultimately, heroes  won.  That was what they
did. That was what Katsuki did. That was what Izuku was supposed to do.
Izuku didn’t think he was going to be successful this time.
His tongue was heavy in his mouth. He couldn’t look up into the faces of his
teachers. Did he have to answer them? Could he get them to believe without
looking? Without having to take off the bandages?
Izuku closed his eyes tightly.  I’m sorry, Kacchan, you were right. I shouldn’t
have kept the bruises.
“I-it’s nothing,” Izuku mumbled. “N-nothing serious like villains or anything.
Kacchan and I just, um, we, um…” He bowed his head further and let it all go in
one rush. “Kacchan and I are dating, sort of, and we were just messing around a
little last night and I didn’t think a few marks was worth forcing a reset to
heal for. They could heal naturally! I mean I can still do that so I thought
that would be the best action. They won’t last very long, though so I’ll be
back to normal very soon! It’s nothing, um, nothing dangerous! Kacchan just
likes to….”  choke me when he’s fucking me,  “bite.”
The long moment of silence that followed that made Izuku finally look up. The
teachers quickly looked away from each other, All Might dropping his hand to
his lap. Had they been silently communicating? Well, that made sense. But what
had they been saying?
“Midoriya,” All Might began, “Would you be comfortable showing those marks? I’m
sure you can understand our concern… While Bakugou is a good student, we are
worried that his temper gets the better of him sometimes.”
Izuku frowned. That wasn’t true at all. Katsuki was so much better about his
temper these days! Sure he shouted and kicked things from time to time, but
Izuku could remember when Katsuki was a vicious bully, lashing out at everyone
he considered less than himself. Now he used his crassness and shouting to his
own benefit, or for Izuku’s like with Tokoyami before.
“Th-they’re just hickeys,” Izuku claimed, unwilling to budge on that. The hand-
shaped bruise on his neck throbbed as he spoke, aching as he lied. “I
appreciate your concern, sensei, but Kacchan and I…” He lifted his chin, trying
to emulate Katsuki’s confidence. He met All Might’s gaze and said, “Kacchan and
I can take care of each other just fine.”
Izuku’s teachers looked at each other again, sharing an unreadable gaze. Izuku
held his breath, his heart beating in his ears. Somehow, it felt like this was
only the beginning.
“There is… one other thing that we need to discuss with you,” All Might said.
“But first, I need to share with you something that I should have a long time
ago.”
Izuku thought his spine might crack if he got any stiffer and still. He
couldn’t help the curiosity that sprouted with that statement, especially
considering the fact that All Might had given Izuku his quirk.
Green eyes flicked to Aizawa, who, with his own eyes closed now, looked for all
the world like he was asleep. When he looked back to All Might, the familiar
chiseled face and sculpted body had been replaced with an emaciated, almost
skeletal figure. Izuku’s jaw dropped as the man, who had to be All Might since
he was wearing exactly the same clothes, waved away some smoke and coughed. The
cough itself was wet and rough.
“A-All Might?” Izuku whispered, leaning forwards. What  was  this?
“My boy,” All Might said, mimicking Izuku in the way that he leaned forward.
Except he rested his elbows on his knees to support himself. “I have many
things to tell you and very important question to ask you afterward. I hope you
will be able to answer me honestly, but first, will you listen to me?”
Izuku’s head bobbed without consulting his brain. All Might had something to
tell him? If it had anything to do with his appearance, Izuku  had  to know.
All Might closed his eyes for a moment, seemingly gathering himself, and then
he took in a deep breath and let it out. “The power that I gave to you was, in
turn, once given to me…”
As he continued, Izuku had to continuously remind himself to breathe. He soaked
up every word like a dry sponge exposed to moisture for the first time in a
decade. He had to remember everything  exactly  so that he could tell Katsuki
about it later.
 
 
===============================================================================
 
 
Changing in the locker room without Izuku by his side was incredibly unnerving.
Katsuki did his best to ignore the empty feeling that hung in the air around
him as he tugged on his gym clothes. Izuku had missed the entire last period
and was still missing now as they entered their third class for the day.
Katsuki had had a difficult time focusing on the last class with Izuku’s
notebook sitting on his desk, just in case.
Just in case we have to hide what we’ve done,  Katsuki thought, looking at the
book he’d brought with him to gym and shoved into the locker with his clothes.
He was in charge of destroying evidence if they ever got… caught.
Katsuki had turned trees to splinters, a brick wall to fragments and even had
half crumbled an abandoned building to cover their tracks. A notebook would be
nothing on the list of things he’d destroyed with his own two hands.
Does Deku count on that list?  He wondered, closing his locker at last. He
stared at Izuku’s next to his, filled with Izuku’s gym clothes, and bit his
lip, chewing it until it hurt.
As he and the other boys streamed out of the locker room, Katsuki passed
Tokoyami. He didn’t think anything of it, barely noticed him while preoccupied
with thoughts of Izuku, but the same couldn’t be same for Tokoyami.
He crept up to Katsuki’s side, arms folded across his chest. His dark little
shadow was curled around his shoulders, head poking out from behind him and
watching Katsuki was visible hostility as Tokoyami whispered, “He’s been gone
for a long time. I wonder what he could possibly be saying to them. Maybe
something about the way you control everything he does?”
For a second, it felt like Katsuki had paused real life. He could feel two
instinctive reactions and, like in a video game, he had split second to choose
between them, forever changing how the rest of this scene would play out.
Knowing that there was no way to go back, no way to reset his own life or
experiences the way that Izuku could, Katsuki balled up his fist and took the
low road.
He turned on his heel, one hand snatching the front of Tokoyami’s gym clothes
and the other a smoldering fist of fire and smoke. Katsuki had a few inches and
several pounds on Tokoyami and he used all of that to half lift the birdboy up
and haul him back until Tokoyami was pinned against the wall with one hand.
Tokoyami wasn’t like anyone else Katsuki had intimidated, though, he was a hero
in training, so he gripped Katsuki’s wrist with one hand while his quirk- his
shitty shadow monster- swept out at Katsuki.
Katsuki saw it coming and answered in turn, quirk for quirk.
The explosion that resulted when his fist connected to the shadow bird lit up
the hallway and filed it with the acrid smell of nitro on fire. The proximity
of the explosion made Katsuki’s ears ring, so he figured it had to be worse for
Tokoyami. Drawing back his fist again, he aimed this time for the other boy he
still held pinned to the wall.
This time, his fist didn’t connect because someone behind him had grabbed it.
Two hands held back his right arm while another was grabbing his left shoulder.
Katsuki turned his head to see Shouji, the multi-armed tentacle freak, looming
behind him.
“Let him go, Bakugou,” Shouji said with a serious gaze.
Katsuki grinned up at him, baring all his teeth like a vicious dog, “I got a
question for you, fucker,” His caught palm began to crackle threateningly, “How
quickly can you grow back your fucking arms?”
Shouji’s visible eye widened and his grip slackened just enough for Katsuki to
twist out of it. Just as Shouji realized that he’d lost his hold, Tokoyami
began to struggle in Katsuki’s own.
Katsuki hauled Tokoyami forward. Using that momentum, he twisted around and
tossed Tokoyami into Shouji’s chest and put his own back to the wall. He didn’t
need any other fuckers sneaking the hell up on him. “Do you want to fucking go
for round fucking two, birdshit? Or have you learned your goddamn place?”
“You attacking me doesn’t make what I said any less true,” Tokoyami said with
one hand pressed to the side of his head. Shouji stood just behind him, bracing
him with a pair of hands. He stood a foot taller than Tokoyami and, as such,
formed a good barrier with him. “You’re only angry because I’m right. You
control Midoriya and now that he’s finally away from you, he’s going to stay
away.”
Katsuki scoffed, “You don’t have any damn clue what you’re talking about.”
“Hey! What is going on over here!” The gravelly voice of Cementoss was enough
to make Shouji look away, but Katsuki held Tokoyami’s eyes. He wasn’t about to
look away and let him or that shadow fuck attack again.
One of the other boys piped up with an answer, Katsuki didn’t care, he just
focused on the way Tokoyami’s eyes narrowed and his shadow glared. He wanted
another swing or five, to really get into the fight and not just have these
one-off scuffles time and time again. Fighting the villains yesterday had given
Katsuki a taste of what it could be like, what being a real, active hero was
like.
He wanted more. He needed more.
Where in the hell is Deku?  Katsuki thought as Cementoss came to stand between
them. He admonished Tokoyami and Katsuki equally, giving them both detention as
a punishment afterschool and the ‘opportunity to run off their energy’ by
making them run laps for the whole gym period instead of participating with the
others. Katsuki shrugged, not caring in the least about the running.
Without Izuku there, he wouldn’t have enjoyed their proper class anyway.
To keep them from fighting again, Cementoss had them run in different
locations, putting Katsuki outside on the track and Tokoyami inside around the
gym.
The last Katsuki saw of his class for that period was when he shoved his way to
the external doors leading to the track and Kirishima reached out to him.
“Hey,” Kirishima gripped his arm for a second. Katsuki spun on him, twisting
out of his grip and glaring.
“The fuck do you want?”
“Midoriya’s probably fine,” Kirishima said, offering a smile. Katsuki stared at
him in confusion. “I mean, he’s been gone a while but he’s with the teachers.
So he’s gotta be okay. He’ll be back later, man.”
“I’m not fucking worried about him,” Katsuki said with a sneer. “If he needed
me, he’d find me.” He turned his back on Kirishima and left him alone in the
hallway. He had time to waste and laps to run and no interest in whatever weird
conversation Kirishima wanted to start up.
 
 



When lunch hit and Izuku still hadn’t returned to class, Katsuki decided it was
long past time he found Izuku and  no one   was going to get in his fucking
way.
***** kindling to the flames *****
The last time Inko had been summoned to Izuku’s school had been almost three
years ago when he was a little over twelve. The principal had called her
because he and Katsuki had gotten in another fight- except unlike every fight
she’d heard about before, the two boys had been on the same side. Katsuki had
nearly broken another boy’s arm and Izuku had ended up with a terribly bloody
nose and they both had been suspended for three days.
At first it had seemed like Izuku had broken his nose, but that didn’t seem to
be the case when the swelling had gone down after one night at home. Katsuki
himself had been uninjured, and according the boys, Izuku had taken a punch for
him which had bloodied his nose.
Inko never got the full story from her son, but the three days without school
were spent with Katsuki at her home. Izuku and Katsuki had their heads bent
together over their books or over whatever game they played. By the end of the
three days, Inko had grown used to the idea of her son recovering his
friendship with Katsuki.
From that week on, the boys had been nearly inseparable.
Watching them had been worrying, joyful and heartbreaking, because no matter
how frequently they spent the night at each other's homes, no matter how much
the boys trusted and worked with each other, that repaired relationship hadn’t
extended to her and Haruka. Katsuki had mellowed out a little. Izuku had become
more confident. The two of them acted as close as brothers, a bond that had
only grown closer when they’d started to go to Yuuei.
This was why Inko  wasn’t  worried when Nedzu called and asked her to stop by
Yuuei, so they could discuss some things about Izuku with her. In fact, she
went with a smile, promising to hurry over there as soon as she could.


 
 
 
Yuuei was a grand school. Inko had seen video of the outside several times and
had heard the boys talk about it even more than that. The walls were even more
impressive than she’d thought and the building itself made her stop and stare,
wide-eyed, for half a minute before she could walk up the front path.
She’d made it maybe an hour before lunch had started and wondered if she’d be
able to see the Lunch Rush hero that Izuku had told her about. Walking in, she
followed a few signs that led to the offices of the school, a small smile on
her lips. Maybe she’d even get a chance to see All Might himself! Knowing that
he was one of Izuku’s teachers had helped put her mind to ease over Izuku
attending this school.
If All Might couldn’t keep her boy safe while he was being taught how to be a
hero himself, no one could.
It was with this hope in her heart that Inko opened the office door and stepped
inside. Her hand froze on the door as she almost instantly recognized one of
the other people in the room.
Even with her back to Inko, Haruka’s short blond hair and confident posture
were immediately recognizable to someone who knew the Bakugou family at all.
Inko noticed the professional attire and realized that Haruka must have come
from her labs, where she worked during the week on her research. Inko swallowed
nervously and eased into the room.
The door swung shut with a clang. Haruka looked up from the paperwork she was
filling out. Her red eyes widened slightly and then narrowed as she looked at
Inko. “I should have figured,” she said with a frown. She turned back to the
secretary behind the counter, “Let me guess, the person we were waiting for was
her, wasn’t it?” She gestured over her shoulder at Inko.
Inko tightened her hand into a fist, refusing to rise to that bait as she
walked up to the front desk.
“Your name, ma'am?” the woman behind the counter looked slightly harried, a
familiar expression found on the faces of those who had to deal with annoyed
Bakugous. Inko had seen plenty of people worn thin by Haruka in their younger
years.
“Midoriya Inko,” she said, “I received a call about my son? Has something…
happened?”
The woman gave her a smile that made Inko’s stomach clench. It was one of those
pitying smiles that people tended to give her when they found out about her
absentee husband. Inko’s hand tightened into a fist that she pressed against
her stomach. She looked to Haruka, questions in her eyes. Haruka met her eyes
and lifted one shoulder slightly in a shrug. She, too, didn’t know what was
going on.
“If you two will come with me,” the woman said as she got to her feet. “I can
take you to where you need to be.”
Haruka clicked her tongue in annoyance but followed the woman with a sharp turn
on her heel. Inko trailed behind them both, confusion making her actions
slower. Every time Inko had come to a school for something that involved Izuku
and Katsuki before, even the time they’d fought on the same side, it had been
Haruka’s husband that came. Not Haruka herself.
Inko couldn’t help but wonder what had changed. Was Tetsuma out of town? Was he
unable to get away from work? Was what happened that serious? Haruka considered
her work to be so important that interruptions were barely tolerated. Was she
simply between projects?
Feeling as though maybe she was reading too much into it, Inko shook her head
to clear it. Unless she asked, she would never get her answer and, truth be
told, she was a little afraid to ask.
They were led out of the offices and down a series of hallways. Inko could hear
children laughing, teachers talking, the shuffle of many people inside rooms.
Classes were going on all around them, making the silent walk down the hallway
surreal.
Haruka stopped abruptly. Nearly walking into her back out of distraction, Inko
hurriedly stepped to the side. That was when she saw what Haruka was looking
at.
The door that the secretary was opening had a sign above it.  Infirmary  read
the sign.
“Oh no,” Inko whispered. “What happened?”
“I don’t like this,” Haruka said softly. Inko glanced to her and saw that
Haruka wasn’t just talking to herself, she was looking at Inko as well. Her
eyes, so similar to Katsuki’s, were intense and her mouth was pressed into a
thin line. “What do you know about this?”
“They just asked me to come to the school,” Inko whispered, looking away from
Haruka. The woman was waiting for them, her smile empty and giving Inko a cold
feeling. “They said that they needed to speak to me about something and they
would explain here. It didn’t… I asked if there was a problem and… I was just
told…”
“That everything would be better explained in person, but not to worry because
the boys were fine?” Haruka finished for her.
Inko nodded.
Haruka clicked her tongue against her teeth again before she stepped away. “All
right, let’s get this shitshow started then.” She walked right past the woman
who gave her a perturbed look.
Strangely, Inko felt buoyed up by Haruka’s mood. She followed her into the
room, bolstered by the fact that she wasn’t going to face this alone, even if
Haruka was a prickly person to have on her side.



 
 
 
Inside the room, Inko found a pair of teachers, the infirmary nurse, and her
son.
One of the teachers stood immediately upon Haruka’s entrance. It was All Might,
who’s uncharacteristically serious expression made Inko’s breath catch in her
throat and stop there. She’d never seen him in a suit like that and while some
part of her was floored to actually be in his presence, his worried expression
cut right to the quick of her heart.
Looking at the bed, it was obvious to see why he was so worried.
Izuku sat at the very head of an infirmary bed. His knees were drawn up to his
chest. His head was tucked down with his arms wrapped around it, covering and
protecting him. He sat so very still that Inko was worried he wasn’t breathing.
“Izuku…?” She whispered, stepping towards him.
Her son flinched on the bed and curled up tighter.
Turning to the teachers, Inko’s mouth was open to demand answers but Haruka was
there first.
Standing between Inko and the teachers, Haruka folded her arms across her
chest, lifted her chin and demanded. “I want a full fucking explanation of what
is going on. What happened to the boys? Where is my son? Are they in trouble?
Have they been attacked again?”
“Again?” Inko whispered.
Haruka glanced over her shoulder at Inko, “Did you even speak to Izuku
yesterday or did they come straight to my house?”
Inko shook her head, “He texted after school he was going over to Katsuki’s and
I.. I didn’t see a problem with it.” She still didn’t, either. They were best
friends! True, they spent a lot of time together and depended on each other
but… they were better this way. It was better to have them side by side than to
have Izuku bullied day in and day out.
“Everything can be explained,” All Might began, putting up a hand to try and
pacify Haruka.
It didn’t work. Haruka leaned forward, a sneer on her face, “Then fucking
explain it to me!”
A bit of motion caught Inko’s eye and she looked back to the bed where her son
sat. He had lifted his head, wide green eyes visible now as he lowered an arm
to look at her. “Mom?”
“Izuku, I’m here,” Inko’s heart lurched in her chest. She was moving before she
even thought about it, drawn to her son like his trembling voice was a string
tied to her wrist. Standing beside the bed, she reached out to touch him, to
comfort him with a hand to his hair.
Her hand stopped several inches short of Izuku when it met some sort of
invisible barrier. Inko blinked and pressed her palm against something that
wasn’t there. When the invisible thing moved, she pulled her hand back quickly,
eyes widening.
Izuku lifted his head further, though he didn’t uncurl at all. Looking at him,
and around him, Inko saw depressions in the mattress, as though whatever
invisible thing was wrapped around him had a weight. Izuku seemed to be able to
see it, whatever it was, because he grabbed and moved something out of the way
of his face so he could keep seeing Inko. Or at least, that’s what she assumed.
“Honey,” she whispered, “What happened?”
“Mom, they won’t let me go back to class,” Izuku said. Inko had seen his filled
with tears too many times to mistake the expression now. She felt her own eyes
water as he spoke. “They won’t let me leave the room.”
“What?”
“Now, now,” An older voice said. Inko glanced back to see a small, elderly
woman hopping down from her seat. “Let’s not have any misunderstandings here.
Young Izuku is in the infirmary because he has an untreated injury that he is
refusing to let anyone see the extent of. I’ve been treating teenagers for
years and what they consider to be adequate bandaging can lead to all sorts of
complications with infection and disease.
“And your son,” the woman said, turning her gaze to Haruka, “is still in his
class. We thought it best to keep them apart, for the time being, considering
that Izuku has said the injuries he refuses to show came from Katsuki.”
“Recovery Girl, if you could have-” All Might said, his face pinched.
“Some bandages must be removed quickly,” Recovery Girl said, “It’s clear that
coddling the boys is what got them to this level of codependency.” She waved
her cane towards Inko and Izuku, saying with a little frown, “This is the first
time he’s asked to go back to class. Before you came, he was only asking to
return to ‘his Kacchan’. Are you even aware of how these two interact with each
other on a regular basis?”
Inko opened her mouth to reply, but her eyes caught on Haruka’s face. That
confident sneer had bled away. Inko saw a twitch in her cheek as Haruka
clenched her jaw together and saw her arms tighten, fingers turning white at
the knuckles under her grip. Slowly turning to look at Izuku, Inko asked, “What
is she talking about, Izuku?”
Izuku, in contrast to the way Haruka went pale, flushed with color. His chin
dipped down. His gaze flicked away.
His hair was smoothed back by an invisible hand.
“I believe that what we have is a case of a mutually co-dependent
relationship,” Recovery Girl said. She rested both hands on the top of her
cane, standing in the center of the group and holding everyone’s attention.
“Whereas most co-dependent relationships involve the enabling of dangerous
habits like drug use, these two enable each other in different ways, such as
with violence or sexual acts.”
“I fucking  knew it,”  Haruka said suddenly. Her eyes burned as she turned them
up from Recovery Girl towards Izuku and, consequently, Inko. “I don’t know how
you fucking did it, boy, but I could tell you had pulled Katsuki into some sort
of weird shit. You were always so fucking needy, being around him all the
fucking time. I could tell it was only a matter of time before you pulled him
into some sort of fucked up relationship.”
“Izuku didn’t pull Katsuki into anything!” Inko said, instinctively defending
her son. “They’re friends, Haruka. Can’t you see that? Maybe they’re a little
close but they’ve only had each other for years. It takes time to- to- to
recover from that kind of isolation” Inko clutched her hands into tight fists
in front of herself. She kept speaking, despite the lump of cold iron that
settled in her gut. “It hasn’t even been a full semester at a new school. You
have to give them a chance to open up to other students!”
The silence that filled the room-
The looks that the other adults gave each other-
Inko swallowed tightly. Embarrassment clawed its way up her throat. Was she…
was she wrong? Had she really missed something?
It was hard to breathe. What had she missed?  How  could she have missed
something like what was being described? Had she been wrong in thinking that
they were just… close? That everything was normal between them?
“...Izuku…?” Inko asked. She glanced to Izuku, but he had ducked his face down
again. He wouldn’t meet her gaze.
No, it wasn’t that she’d missed something. It was that Izuku had  hid
something from her, wasn’t it? If everyone else could see it, had seen it, knew
what was going on- If she was the only one out of the loop-
Did that mean her son acted  that  differently away from home?
“Izuku,” Inko’s voice shook, but she continued on anyway. “What injury are they
talking about? Can you show it to me?”
He hunched his shoulders tighter.
“Please,” she whispered. She leaned forward, resting one hand on the mattress.
“I promise I won’t be mad. I’m just…” Inko swallowed, “I’m scared right now,
Izuku. I need to know that you’re okay.”
Izuku looked at her with those big green eyes, silently pleading. “You don’t
need to be scared,” he whispered back, “I’m okay. I promise I’m okay. I just… I
just want to go back to class with Kacchan.”
“Enough of this,” Haruka said suddenly, “Didn’t you hear the woman, Inko? Your
coddling of the boy has led to this shitty behavior!” She came stalking over to
the bed, heels clicking on the tile floor and reaching out.
“Haruka- Don’t-”
“You can see the bandage is right on his goddamn neck,” Haruka said. “Just take
it off and- FUCK!” She cut herself off with a shout, yanking her hand back.
Inko pulled back as well, startled by the shout. “The fuck was  that?”  Haruka
demanded, shaking her arm.
Inko hadn’t seen Haruka use her quirk in years, but that didn’t mean she’d
forgotten. There was a distinctive smell to it that Inko could only describe as
the scent of hot steel. Her skin glowed slightly with the use of her quirk,
giving off both heat and light like the warm glow of an open oven. Her skin
itself, Inko knew, would be hard like tempered steel.
Haruka hadn’t been quick enough to escape all injury, though. There was a
perfectly circular indent of teeth on her forearm, the marks easily reaching
the middle of her arm. Had the bite gone in, she would have lost a sizeable
chunk of flesh.
The bed creaked ominously. Inko saw an intent in the mattress as the thing
moved. With her heart in her throat, Inko grabbed Haruka and pulled her
backward. They both went stumbling across the floor, but Inko heard something
go whistling through the air.
Izuku, wide-eyed, was reaching up at the invisible thing. “Usagi-chan, no! Do
not hurt Kacchan’s mom!”
In the next instant, Inko could no longer see her son as All Might stood
between her and him. Haruka, surprisingly, didn’t shake Inko off, only stood
near her as they both looked on.
“Midoriya,” All Might said, “If you cannot control her, you must send her
away.”
“She didn’t mean to hurt anyone,” Izuku’s voice rose, “She was just reacting!”
“She attacked a civilian.”
“But- She-”
“Midoriya,” All Might’s voice was firm, unyielding. “If she’s part of your
quirk, you are responsible for her actions. Send her away now. Do not summon
her lightly. You know how dangerous she can be.”
Izuku made a soft, familiar noise. Inko closed her eyes, willing away the
tears. She knew that sound well, though she hadn’t heard it since he was
younger. Izuku was fighting back his own tears, desperate to remain dry-eyed.
Her heart ached. How many sounds of pain or distress did she still remember
from those days? How deeply buried were those memories, if they struck her now
with this much force? She wanted to sit down and weep, her heart torn open with
grief over how she’d forgotten her son’s suffering, only to hear it anew and
remember it with such clarity.
“Thank you,” All Might said. Inko blinked and looked up to see him stepping to
the side. He was smiling, but it looked strained.
“What the fuck was that thing?” Haruka asked. She was looking at Inko this
time, though, and had turned to grip Inko’s upper arm. “What the hell kind of
quirk did your son develop? I thought he was born quirkless.”
“He-” Inko swallowed. Haruka’s gaze was piercing. “He developed it late.”
“That doesn’t happen,” Haruka said with complete confidence. “You don’t develop
a quirk late. You are either born with one or you’re not. Of course, there are
other ways to get one, but that’s with the use of someone else’s quirk. Your
DNA doesn’t spontaneously develop a quirk mutation, Inko, don’t be a fucking
idiot.”
“He developed it late,” Inko reiterated. “He didn’t have a quirk at all until-
until just a little while ago!”
“Then someone gave him a quirk,” Haruka said. She rounded on Izuku, letting go
of Inko. “That’s what happened, isn’t it? Someone gave you a quirk. Who was it?
Did you get my son involved in that? What the hell did you promise in exchange
for that quirk?”
“Don’t talk to my son that way!” Inko said, grabbing Haruka’s arm to prevent
her from crowding Izuku’s bed. “He doesn’t have to answer any of your
questions.”
“He does when he’s been leading  my  son around by his dick,” Haruka snarled.
The skin under Inko’s hands began to heat, forcing her to let go of Haruka.
That hot-steel smell filled the air again, triggering memories of the times
they were in high school, where Haruka practiced her tempering quirk over and
over until she’d completely mastered it. “If he’s gotten Katsuki wrapped up in
some shady shit because he couldn’t stand being the quirkless little fuck that
he was born as then I absolutely should fucking know about it!”
“Ladies, that is quite enough,” Recovery Girl said, attempting to deflate
Haruka’s temper.
Inko could have told her not to bother, but she couldn’t manage to untangle her
tongue long enough to argue for her own self right now.
Haruka turned on the elderly woman. Her anger showed in every hard line of her
jaw and the set of her shoulders. “You’re a fucking nurse, aren’t you? Have you
done a proper examination of that boy? He has all the classic quirkless
markers. He spent the first fourteen fucking years of his life without a quirk
and then suddenly, mysteriously, gets his hands on some sort of invisible
monster quirk? Does that not concern any of you? Anyone who has access to such
a dangerous quirk and thinks that it’s a good idea to give that quirk to a
fucking  teenager  is a reprobate.”
All Might cleared his throat, shifting on his feet behind Haruka. She turned to
him, more than willing to fight anyone when she was right and she knew it, “Do
you have something to add?”
“If that is the case,” the third teacher, who had remained sitting throughout
this all, finally spoke up. Inko jumped a little, not expecting it and her eyes
widened at the sight of the bandages he was covered in. “What do you suggest?
Should we demand Midoriya tell us who gave him the quirk? Do we attempt to take
it back from him?”
“Expel him,” Haruka said instantly. “He got in under false pretenses, didn’t
he. Did he list ‘invisible monster’ as his quirk on his application? Has he
even shown it before now? And if you do then it solves the co-dependency
problem as well. Kick him out of the school and they’ll both have to learn how
to survive without the other.”  She looked around the room as though it made
perfect sense, her hands on her hips and her expression serious.
“Wait,” Inko shook her head, “What? You want to punish my son for having a
quirk? Don’t you know how hard he worked to come to Yuuei? Don’t you understand
how much he loves this place? He and Katsuki-”
“Should be separated,” Haruka said, “Oh don’t look at me like that, Inko. Tell
me you haven’t seen it. The way they sit together. They way they still share
the same bed. They still bathe together, for god’s sake! They’re not just
friends, Inko, and they’re too damn young for what they’re trying to become!”
“Maybe we should-” All Might cleared his throat again.
Haruka cut him off, “Either you expel Izuku or I’m pulling Katsuki from this
school. If you can’t be bothered to put the emotional and mental well-being of
your students above their education then this is the wrong facility for my
son.”
“No!” Izuku suddenly shouted, “Please! Don’t- Don’t- I mean-” He faltered hand
going up to cover his mouth as though realizing, like Inko did, that his
outburst only showed how dangerously close he and Katsuki were.
“Just because they’re close doesn’t mean we should rip them away from each
other,” Inko said into the quiet that followed her son’s stuttering. “They need
time to open up to other students. We just have to be patient and give them
more opportunities to-”
“You’re so naive, Inko,” Haruka said. “The safest thing is to separate them now
while they’re still young and before the alienate the other students.”
“How can you be so sure that’s the safest thing?” Inko asked, “They’re young.
All they’ll know is that it’ll hurt!”
“I will not have my son around yours,” Haruka said, “It isn’t fucking safe.”
“I’d rather them be together than apart,” Inko countered. “When they weren’t
friends,  your  son tormented Izuku constantly! Bruises and bloody noses,
insults that made him cry himself to sleep- Haruka, I was scared that my
twelve-year-old son was going to try and  kill himself  because of what Katsuki
was doing to him!” Inko hiccuped, gulping down air to keep the tears at bay.
She hated fighting, hated shouting, hated the way that her conversations with
her former best friend devolved into arguments like this.
“Oh come on, it wasn’t that bad-”
“Yes, it was!” Inko cried, “Do you know how many times I found him crying
because he felt worthless? Izuku craved Katsuki’s friendship and instead he was
bullied and harassed. Then they were able to- to get past that. Maybe they are
a little too close but the solution isn’t to rip them apart from each other!”
“Better now than have it happen later,” Haruka said, “They still have a chance
at normalcy if they’re separated.”
“I don’t care if my son is normal or not,” Inko said firmly. “I just want him
to be happy and safe. If that means that he’s with Katsuki, then that means
he’s with Katsuki.”
“If you really wanted him to be safe, why let him become a hero at all? That’s
one of the most dangerous professions, Inko, not to mention if he stays at
Katsuki’s side he’ll be subject to that boy’s temper,” Haruka said, gesturing
with a hand. “You should be begging to get that monstrous quirk out of your boy
so that you can take him home where he’ll be all safe and cared for.”
A knock at the door cut Inko off from replying to that. She glanced over her
shoulder as the door swung in. A woman with long dark hair and wearing a hero
outfit poked her head in. “Hey,” she said, “You guys wanted a heads up for when
that Bakugou kid got fed up with waiting? Well, it happened like five minutes
ago. He just walked out of Mic’s class.”
The bandaged man turned to look at a clock and said, “He lasted four hours.” He
got slowly to his feet, muttering, “Midnight, would you mind finding him and
bringing him to staff room B?”
“Yeah, yeah, can do,” She slipped away again, closing the door behind herself.
Inko nervously worried her lip. “What’s going on now?”
“All Might,” the man said, “Would you mind-”
“Not at all,” the larger hero said. “Young Midoriya, come with me.” He gestured
towards the door. “We, too, are going to staff room B.”
Inko saw as Izuku’s entire face lit up. The hope and anticipation burned
through the fear and tears as he clambered off the bed. He got off as far away
from Haruka, who was stunned by the sudden turn of events, as possible. Before
he left with All Might, Izuku gave his mother a smile that eased the worry in
her gut. No matter what happened, he always would be her sweet little boy and
smiles like those guaranteed it.
“What the fuck is going on,” Haruka demanded. “Tell me right now.”
“This morning I decided to test out a theory.” The bandaged teacher said, “One
would think that the boys are inseparable from the way they act. However, we’ve
had some success in keeping them apart. They do group projects and team up with
other students, never each other, and tolerate that fairly well. Even when in
dangerous situations, they deal with the immediate problem instead of
disregarding all others to find each other.
“What I wanted to know was what would happen when there was no real urgent
problem to deal with and they were separated without a definite knowledge of
when that time would end. Pulling Izuku from class was simple, because he had a
real problem that needed to be discussed.” The man gestured to his own features
with one lazy hand, “The injury on his throat is real. I believe him when he
says that Katsuki gave it to him. I have an idea of what it is, despite what
he’s said it to be. That was not really my concern.”
“You wanted to know how Katsuki would react without Izuku there, without
knowing what was going on,” Haruka said, her voice surprisingly quiet.
The man nodded. “He made it four hours, but I bet those weren’t four calm
hours.”
“What does this mean?” Inko asked.
“It means that there is hope,” Recovery Girl said gently. She walked over to a
chair and eased  herself down. “Separating them the way you suggest is too
much. Expelling one or removing the other would cause a drastic reaction for
sure. But we, as teachers, can make other arrangements.”
Inko worried her lip with her teeth.
Haruka snorted, “You’re being too damn soft on them.”
“This is not the case of a badly healed bone,” Recovery Girl said. “We cannot
break their bond and reform it to heal again properly. We can only make small
adjustments over time to ease the strain.”
“Like a brace,” Inko murmured. Recovery Girl nodded to her.
“Then if you were going to do all of that anyway,” Haruka demanded, “Why the
hell did you bother asking for us to be here? Were you fucking testing our
reactions too?” As soon as she said the words, she took an aggressive step
forward, “Fuck you, that’s  exactly  what you were doing, isn’t it?”
Inko's breath got caught in a surprised laugh. “You must be Aizawa,” she said,
“The homeroom teacher.”
“I am,” Aizawa said.
Haruka paused to and then asked, “The same teacher who said he was going to
expel the worst kid in a test just to make them all work harder? God  damn  it,
of course, you are.”
Despite Haruka’s obvious annoyance, Inko couldn’t help but feel a little
relieved. If she knew that story too, then there had to be  some  hope to fix
things. As long as they were all still talking to each other, things could be
salvaged. Inko fully believed that.
It was when they stopped talking that things got worse.
It was when people held secrets that things fell apart.
***** tinder bundle *****
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes
There was a bitter taste in the back of Izuku’s mouth and a heavy weight in his
gut. It was hard to believe what he’d just sat through and he couldn’t tell if
it was shame or guilt that burned his cheeks; if it was anger or his feeling of
injustice that made his spine stiff as he walked down the hallway with All
Might at his side.
So many parts of this situation were  wrong.  Being near All Might shouldn’t
make him feel like he was being judged or wronged somehow. All Might was his
hero, the one man Izuku had looked up to for as long as he could remember.
Izuku was in the hallway of the best hero school and yet, in the back of his
mind, he was thinking of the best way to escape and never return.
He was afraid that the teachers would agree with Haruka and expel him. He was
even more afraid that she would follow through on her threat and remove Katsuki
from Yuuei if he  didn’t  get expelled.
He was terrified that the next time Usagi came out, she’d remember their
expressions. That she’d feel the feelings he felt now and she would act for
herself.
She didn’t do it often and usually only did it to say goodnight to the moon,
but sometimes-
“Midoriya,” All Might stood a few feet ahead of him. He was half turned,
looking at him with concern.
Izuku looked at his chiseled face, his broad shoulders, the visible strength
that was, he had learned only hours ago, a facade. The hero of his childhood
was more often a shade of his former self than he was the man that Izuku had
always felt like he knew. And perhaps that truth was the most unfair thing of
all.
All Might didn’t deserve to be so battered and broken, after all he’d done as a
hero, after all he had suffered. “...Sir?”
“You stopped…?”
Izuku blinked and realized that was true. He had stopped in the middle of the
hallway. He looked around and when his eye caught on a nearby door, he realized
what he had to do. “Uh. Yeah. Actually, could I go to the bathroom before we
get there?”
All Might seemed taken aback and then nodded. Izuku  had  spent all morning
with him, after all. He hadn’t any bathroom breaks yet. “Yes, go ahead. I’ll
wait out here.”
Izuku nodded and trotted into the bathroom. As soon as he was inside, he
flicked his wrist, dislodging Good Luck from her holster on his wrist. He
pushed in the bathroom stall door and locked it behind himself. Getting down on
his knees, Izuku unbound the bandages on his neck and pulled them down.
It was a bit gross to be so close to a toilet when he wasn’t vomiting and thus
too preoccupied with his own sickness that he didn’t think of how nasty a
toilet was. Still, he didn’t really have a choice at this point, did he?
Izuku leaned over the toilet, tucking his tie into his shirt so it didn’t fall
into the water. He found his jugular with his fingers, searching for the
feeling of his own heartbeat. Once he found it, Izuku sank Good Luck into his
flesh.
The bite of the metal was sudden and sharp, but intimately familiar. Izuku had
just enough strength to pull the knife out again and drop it to the floor
before his heart, beating as hard as it was, pumped his blood out in spurts
into the toilet bowl.


 
 
 
Izuku came too with the feeling of porcelain digging into his chest and the
sensation that he was upside down.
He wasn’t, not really, but his head certainly was slumped forward enough that
he felt that way. Slowly, shaking off the grogginess rather quickly, Izuku
pushed himself up. He flushed the toilet and looked around, checking for any
blood on the tile.
Finding a few drops here or there, he quickly wiped them up with toilet paper
and then flushed those too.
Picking up Good Luck, he stepped out of the stall and into the main bathroom
area.
Izuku didn’t expect to see anyone standing there, washing their hands in the
sink, but there someone stood. For a second, Izuku stood, frozen in the stall
door as his eyes met that of another student’s in the mirror above the sink.
For another second, there was nothing but the sound of running water.
Izuku could see his own face in the mirror. The way that he had positioned
himself over the toilet bowl had prevented his blood from running down his neck
to his collarbone and his shirt. Instead, it had run up his chin, over half of
his face and into his hair.
His blood was like a garish red mask, making him look wild and frightening,
especially with his wide, surprised eyes. It hadn’t yet dried and as Izuku
stood there, it began to drip down to his collar. “Shit,” he hissed, rushing
forwards to the other sink. He grabbed paper towels and hurriedly stopped the
blood from reaching his clothes. Izuku dampened some of them and began to clean
up the rest of the blood.
The other student, one that Izuku didn’t recognize offhand (though that wasn’t
really saying much), stared at him in complete silence. He still hadn’t moved,
allowing the water from his faucet to run over his hands in a constant stream.
“Head wounds,” Izuku said with a bit of nervous laughter, “They always bleed so
damn much.” He rinsed off Good Luck and dried the blade on a paper towel before
putting it back into place on his wrist under his jacket sleeve.
This comment was met with more silence, although the other boy did reach up and
turn off his own faucet. Izuku gave him a nervous smile, the kind that was a
bit sheepish, as he went back to washing the blood off his face. He turned his
head, looking in his peripheral to make sure he’d gotten it all off his ears.
He’d almost been caught like that before and wasn’t about to let it happen
again.
Running a hand through his hair, Izuku grimaced. It was tacky already and
wasn’t going to get any better. Fortunately, it was after lunch so he had only
a few hours left of school. His dark hair would obscure it for that long, at
least. He only had to worry about it if Katsuki touched his hair and then only
for-
“Are you in the Heroics Department?” The other student asked his voice was
flat, but his words carefully spoken.
“What? Oh yeah, I … am…” Izuku blinked slowly. There was a strange filminess
that drifted over his mind. He could still feel the paper towels in his hands
and the cold edge of the sink from where he leaned his hip against it but…
nothing else.
Distantly, Izuku was aware that someone was talking to him. His dazed eyes
moved off of the face in the mirror, the one with green eyes and dark hair and
utterly vacant expression. He felt compelled to turn, his head moving first and
his body following like he was on a set of marionettist’s strings.
He faced someone he still didn’t recognize, but his eyes took in the
information for later. This was the person who was talking to him. Izuku could
see his lips moving, but the sound just didn’t carry to his brain. There were
sounds that followed that, ones that poured out of his throat like blood,
echoing in his head as he answered.
Izuku privately thought that whatever he was saying couldn’t make any sense,
since he couldn’t understand what was being asked of him in the first place.
But the person didn’t look annoyed, just grim. Strange. What a strange
expression.
Something happened abruptly, causing the person in front of him to jump and
look past Izuku.
In the very next second, clarity rushed back Izuku’s mind and he gasped,
looking around. He instantly caught sight of All Might, poking his head in the
door. “Midoriya?” His teacher asked, frowning slightly, “Are you… done?”
“Ah, yes! Sorry. I just um.. My hands…” Izuku said. He swallowed tightly,
seeing the paper towels in his hands were dark with blood and water. He flushed
and went to throw them away, checking his reflection for any blood.
“Ahem,” an unfamiliar voice said. Izuku blinked and looked over his shoulder.
That was right. There was a student here. He’d been here when Izuku had walked
out of the bathroom stall… right? The student gestured to the side of his jaw,
“You missed a spot, Midoriya.”
Izuku glanced to the mirror, seeing the red smudge that the other student saw
and hurriedly wiped it clean. “Um, thanks….?”
“Shinsou Hitoshi,” was the answer. “And you’re welcome.” He grabbed paper
towels himself drying his hands while Izuku gave him an awkward hand wave and
hurried to the doorway.


 
 
Once in the hallway, All Might said, “Your neck… You removed the bandage?”
Izuku touched his throat, nodding. “I wanted to see if it had finished healing…
It had.” He licked his lips, feeling strangely on edge. It was always chancy
lying to an adult, especially one like All Might. Katsuki liked to say that
most people were useless and stupid, but there were some people who weren’t
quite so stupid.
Those ones, he said, were just smart enough to be dangerous.
All Might was like that. He had given Izuku One For All, and thus, was
knowledgeable enough to know that Izuku’s enhancement quirk didn’t actually
come with the ability to heal.
Still, All Might didn’t argue with him when he said that he’d healed. Just said
that he was glad that Izuku was no longer hurt and continued to take him to the
staff room.


 
 
Before All Might even opened the door to the staff room, Izuku could hear
shouting. He winced, recognizing Katsuki’s voice easily. He stopped his teacher
from going in first, wary for the man’s safety in retrospect of his condition.
Izuku cautiously slid the door open.
Smoke rolled out at his feet and, upon breathing it in, Izuku felt woozy with
fatigue. He staggered back, coughing, bringing up his coat jacket to cover his
mouth and nose. There was a crack of an explosion. The blast of that explosion
dispersed the rolling smoke.
All Might’s hand braced Izuku’s back, but in seconds that wasn’t necessary.
Following the explosion, Katsuki came lunging through the doorway. “Deku!” He
shouted.
“Kacchan,” Izuku smiled. He barely got his arms up in time for Katsuki’s hug.
Katsuki squeezed the air from his lungs, making Izuku’s bones crack as he held
him tight. Izuku opened his mouth to say something but was completely cut off
when Katsuki kissed him hard.
“Hey, don’t let him- Oh God  damn it.”   Izuku heard his other teacher,
Midnight, say. But he wasn’t really paying attention to her, couldn’t be.
Katsuki was demanding all of his attention. Izuku felt one of Katsuki’s hands
go up, headed for his hair, and he grabbed a hold of it to hold it down.
Katsuki bit his lip for it and the kiss became more of a struggle than before.
Izuku didn’t mind, because it helped wipe his mind clear of the emotions that
plagued him. If he just focused on Katsuki, he could-
“That is  enough,”  Midnight said. Gripping them each by a shoulder, she began
to physically pull them apart. She managed to stop their kissing before Katsuki
caught on.
“Wait- Don’t-” Izuku gasped out. Katsuki’s arms tightened harder around him to
prevent Midnight from pulling them apart. His breathing became shallow pants as
Katsuki practically growled at their teacher.
“You don’t get to fucking tell me when I’ve had enough,” Katsuki said.
“I do get to tell you when you’ve done enough. Don’t you have any sense, kid?
You’re at school, in a hallway in front of your teachers! Do you think this is
an appropriate place to suck face?” Midnight said gesturing to the two of them.
“What do you fucking think?” Katsuki snapped, “I was fucking doing it like two
damn seconds ago before your ancient ass got in my fucking way.”
Izuku winced as he saw points of color rising on Midnight’s cheeks. She visibly
was holding herself back, teeth clenched and hands curling into fists. At his
back, Izuku could feel All Might’s disapproval. Izuku sighed gently. He hadn’t
done a damn thing all day and he still just wanted to go home and sleep.
He couldn’t even rest his head on Katsuki’s shoulder without fear of smearing
blood on him. Everything was awful.
“Midnight,” All Might said, “Thank you for your help. I’m sure I can handle it
from here.”
Midnight opened her mouth, perhaps to argue, or to agree, but all that came out
was a sigh. Shaking her head, she muttered that All Might was ‘welcome to the
little monsters’ and she had class anyway. Turning on her heel, she walked off,
her back stiff.
“Boys,” All Might said with a wave to the door, “If we could go inside and
talk…?”
Izuku couldn’t see All Might from where he stood, but he could see the
expression on Katsuki’s face when he looked up at the hero. He was serious,
and, in the set of his jaw, Izuku could tell that Katsuki was going to be
willful and stubborn today too. “Kacchan,” he whispered, “I’m tired… Can we go
sit down?”
Almost immediately, Katsuki relaxed his grip on Izuku’s chest. “Yeah, okay.” He
tugged Izuku into the room behind himself, waving his hand through the air a
little bit. “Sorry, she kept trying to put me to sleep so I had to keep burning
that fucking smoke.”
There were wisps of smoke curling along the floor and ceiling. Katsuki left
Izuku on the couch and went to a window. He opened both of them before coming
back.
Izuku sat in the corner of the couch, legs drawn up under himself. Katsuki sat
beside him, turned towards him. A gentle hand brushed Izuku’s throat. “You
healed…?” Katsuki asked in a whisper.
Izuku nodded, “I found a little Good Luck in the bathroom a while ago.”
Katsuki’s lips pressed into a thin line.
The door shut behind All Might, who walked slowly into the room and sank down
into a chair across from the two of them. He sighed heavily, leaning forward
with his elbow on his knee.
Katsuki looked from All Might to Izuku and said, “Tell me what happened.”
Izuku nodded. He took Katsuki’s hands in his own, rubbing them idly to keep his
own hands busy as he explained his morning.
He started with Aizawa’s questioning about his ‘injury’ and how he’d admitted
it was Katsuki’s ‘love bites’ that he’d covered. Katsuki snorted when Izuku
flushed at how he had to explain that there wasn’t a real injury, it was just
marks left by Katsuki.
When he brought up All Might’s arrival, Izuku glanced to the hero himself. He
still had his buff form visible, but his eyes looked more sunken than usual. As
Izuku explained that All Might’s quirk and the scars from his battles were
destroying his body, Katsuki’s hands tightened around Izuku’s. For all that he
boasted about being even better than All  Might, Katsuki looked up to the hero
as well.
Finding out he was still human, still mortal, wasn’t easy.
Izuku didn’t hesitate to reiterate the things that All Might had told him.
While the horror in All Might’s voice as he explained the downfall of his own
mentor- of the woman who had given her quirk to him- had been audible in the
way his voice had shaken during the story, Izuku couldn’t help but be
fascinated by it. There was someone else out there who could die and come back.
True, he had been a villain, and true, he’d repeatedly attacked All Might’s
mentor until she’d cracked her morals in half just to be rid of him- but Izuku
was fascinated.
Someone else was like him, undying and intelligent, and he had been all alone.
Izuku thought that was what had turned the man into a monster.
Bringing one of Katsuki’s hands to his cheek, Izuku presses the rough palm to
his skin and looked at Katsuki with earnest belief written across his face.
There was a moment of silence as he sat like that. Katsuki’s thumb moved gently
over Izuku’s lips, a tender touch that mimicked the soft expression he had on
his face.
He didn’t say it, but Izuku thought that part of the reason he didn’t feel
capable of becoming such a monster himself was because of Katsuki. Maybe he
would have been fine on his own, but he was  better  with Katsuki around.
Katsuki’s most visceral reaction came when Izuku said that their mothers had
been called and had shown up.
“My  mom  was here?” Katsuki gaped, “What the fuck does that old hag think
she’s fucking doing? She’s got more important shit than to be down here dealing
with my shit!”
“Maybe they didn’t bother calling your dad,” Izuku said with a shrug, “All I
know is that after I brought Usagi out to keep anyone from getting the bandages
off, our mothers showed up.”
“Well? What happened when they were here? What did she fucking say? Fuck, did
she get all bitchy about stupid shit again?”
Izuku licked his lips and did his best to reiterate the argument he’d
witnessed. Katsuki’s grip on his hands became like iron shackles when Izuku
said Haruka wanted Izuku’s expulsion or to remove Katsuki from Yuuei.
“She can’t do that,” he whispered, “I won’t let her.”
“You can’t fight your mom,” Izuku countered.
“I will if I have to,” Katsuki said. “And I’ll win, too.”
“...I don’t think that either of you will need to fight anyone,” All Might
said.
Izuku jumped a little, having forgotten that All Might was there. He blinked,
noticing for the first time that he had, for lack of a better term, deflated.
Katsuki stared openly for a minute before muttering a curse.
All Might’s gaze moved from one to the other and then he said, “You really do
tell him everything…”
“Kacchan and I have no secrets,” Izuku said. Katsuki nodded.
All Might coughed weakly, covering his mouth with one hand. “That’s…
impressive. But in this case, it could be dangerous too. I have told you about
how there is someone with the quirk opposite to mine who is acting against me,
against all heroes, correct?”
“All For One,” Katsuki said, “Yeah. Deku told me.”
“Having you know about him, about all of this, puts you in danger too,
Bakugou.” All Might said, folding his hands together in his lap. “This isn’t a
game, boys, this is incredibly serious.”
Izuku met Katsuki’s gaze. He lifted his brows. Katsuki rolled his eyes. Izuku
leaned forward slightly. Katsuki sighed and shrugged. With a little smile,
Izuku turned more towards All Might. “We understand that, sir. We aren’t
treating it like a game either. Kacchan and I train together so that he can be
as strong as possible and so that I can be as flexible as possible. Alone,
yeah, maybe All For One would be a danger to us, but together?”
“Nothing can defeat us when we’re together,” Katsuki said, “And I almost feel
bad for the fucker who tries to take us both down.”
All Might rubbed his hand across his mouth and Izuku heard him whisper, under
his breath and muffled, “...might turn out okay after all…”
Elated, Izuku grinned.
With Katsuki at his side and All Might believing in them, was there anything
they couldn’t do?


 
===============================================================================
 
 
“You got  detention?  Kacchan!”
Katsuki rolled his eyes and bumped his shoulder against Izuku’s as they walked.
They were finally headed back to class, after all the fucking  nonsense  his
teachers had pulled. Katsuki was personally glad that he didn’t have to deal
with his mother for an extra hour that day, as she was sure to be at home when
he got back. “Birdface deserved it. He said that you wanted to be away from
me.”
Izuku sighed. He squeezed Katsuki’s hand, their fingers intertwined, “I’ll talk
to him, okay? I want to see if I can figure out some stuff about Usagi from
him, though, maybe I should look more into that man All Might told us about.”
Katsuki shrugged. “Whatever. Just so long as that feathered fuck knows that he
was wrong and I was right.”
Izuku laughed and agreed.
 
Chapter End Notes
     LeiLei was so kind as to make a few doodles for one of the scenes
     here! (Thank u so much LeiLei) [blood warning for the first image!]
     One and Two
***** hearth and home *****
“..eventually, I mean. I told you what she said.”
Izuku’s voice became audible as the front door opened. Inko, cleaning in the
kitchen to keep her hands busy, sighed in relief and closed her eyes.
“Uh huh, and can we fucking trust that?” Katsuki replied.
Inko could hear them shuffling with their shoes and jackets, the soft thump as
they took off the backpacks. She rinsed out her rag in the sink, wrung it out
and laid it out to dry. Washing off her hands, she dried them on the end of her
apron as she headed out of the kitchen, “Boys? Can I have a word with you?”
She could see what Haruka had been talking about, now that she let herself.
They stood close, Izuku’s shoulder nearly touching Katsuki’s and with Katsuki’s
hand on Izuku’s back. They were so naturally in each other’s personal space
that Inko had a feeling they’d gone much farther than she’d thought.
Though, perhaps Haruka with her pessimism, had seen it already.
Izuku smiled at her. “Sure. I have something I want to tell you too, Mom.”
“Come into the kitchen,” she said with a gesture, “I’ll pour tea.”
She slipped away again and busied herself with the familiar and comforting task
of making tea. While she did that, the boys took their seats at the table.
There were only three chairs at the table. Once upon a time that third seat had
been for her husband, in his memory and if he were to ever return, but now
Katsuki took that seat as naturally as he did anything else in Inko’s home. As
Inko set out a few snacks automatically, Katsuki reached out and took some,
thanking her for them quietly.
Izuku took a little longer to get settled as he fetched a notebook that he lay
down in front of himself. It was one of her older ones, with a date from last
summer written on it, and Izuku fiddled with one of the corners uncertainly. He
always seemed to be carrying around a notebook, as if he had important notes to
take every day.
When he had been younger, Inko could remember Izuku proudly coming up to her on
the couch and showing off the pages of sketched heroes and their abilities. His
attention to detail had had her thinking he would make a great reporter one
day, or perhaps policeman, if he really couldn’t stop from trying to help
people.
He didn’t do that nearly as much these days, but still his notebooks filled up
the bookshelves in his room and so still she bought him new ones every few
months.
Setting the tea down for each of them, Inko sat down in her chair. She folded
her hands on the table in front of herself and gave a soft sigh. “Izuku, you
know my feelings on your relationship with Katsuki, whatever it is, but I
wanted to tell you too, Katsuki.”
Katsuki nodded, mouth shut and expression attentive. He really did look like a
younger Haruka when he looked like that. It made Inko nostalgic.
“What I want for Izuku is for him to be happy and safe. If you can promise me
that you’ll keep him safe and you’ll make him happy, your relationship has my
blessing.”
Katsuki’s gaze dropped. He broke the cookie he was holding in half, crumbling
it between his fingers above his plate. “What, exactly, would be your
definition of safe?”
There was a shuffle and the sound of Izuku kicking Katsuki- he did that often
enough that she knew what it sounded like.
“What Kacchan means,” Izuku said, “Is that he will keep me safe from permanent
harm.”
Inko opened her mouth and then shut it. Frowning, she said, “ Permanent  harm?”
The boys exchanged a look. Izuku’s fingers tightened on the edge of his
notebook. Katsuki brushed his off and reached out, putting his hand on Izuku’s
wrist. He lifted Izuku’s hand up and took it off the notebook.
“You said you were going to show her, so fucking show her.”
“Is this about Usagi-chan?” Inko asked, twisting her hands together. It seemed
that the boys weren’t the only ones with things to share. “The thing that bit
Haruka?”
“Sort of?” Izuku said, “I’m not, um, sure, if, um, she’s related to my first
quirk or my second.”
“You have two quirks?” Inko whispered. She had figured Haruka was right and
that someone had given Izuku a quirk as a teenager. But then, if this Usagi-
chan was the same one from before…
“Kacchan and I think my first quirk is one I was born with but didn’t realize I
had until recently because it’s a healing quirk that requires, um, a specific
condition to activate it.” He flipped open his book. It was filled with
diagrams and writing, just like his others, but as he slid the book over, Inko
saw it wasn’t just his handwriting.
If she had to guess, Katsuki was the other one who had filled those lines.
Izuku tapped the top of the page where the word  RESETS  was written. “These
are, um, injuries that I know for sure I can heal from. No scars. No permanent
damage, nothing. The only evidence that anything happened will be torn clothing
or um, blood left over.”
Nights of wondering where Izuku had lost his shirts, popped buttons, ruined
seams, of cleaning muddy, bloody clothing made so much more sense now. She had
just thought he was playing hard with Katsuki- and it seemed he had been…
testing his quirk.
Inko’s hands shook slightly as she looked down the list.
She only made it halfway through before she looked up sharply and exclaimed,  “
Decapitation?  Izuku!”
“It grew back!” Izuku said. “Well actually the first time it reattached and the
second time Kacchan carried it far enough away that it grew back.”
Inko couldn’t breathe. Her gaze fell on Katsuki, who was, for once, looking
down at his hands, still crushing up that cookie into smaller and smaller
pieces. She’d never seen him like that, looking  meek  the way that Izuku used
to. “Carried it away?” She repeated, her voice sounding distant.
“His head,” Katsuki said, not looking up. “His regeneration has an area limit.
If he starts to come back and, say, his head is over twenty feet away, he just…
grows a new one.”
“His head,” Inko repeated. “You carried his head?”
She couldn’t get the image out of her head, Katsuki with her son’s head in his
hands, blood dripping from the neck- how had they even taken it off of him?
Why  had they  tried  that? What if he hadn’t come back?
Inko looked down to the notebook, searching for answers. What she found were
more questions. Each listed injury had several tallies next to it, and next to
those tallies, notations of numbers. Page numbers?  Notebook  numbers? Her
stomach turned at the sight.
The detail was incredible. The injuries were listed alphabetically, and
included things as simple as “bloody nose” and as complex as “complete
evisceration”.
She didn’t realize she was crying until the page was suddenly too blurry to
read. Inko covered her mouth with one hand, feeling sick to her stomach.
“Izuku,” she said, voice shaking, “This is torture. This. Is. Torture. You did
this to yourself?”
“Most of it. Sometimes I had to get help.”
“H-help?”
Katsuki’s shoulders hunched. Izuku didn’t even have to say anything, but he did
anyway. Inko could at least be sure that he was thorough in everything he put
himself into.
“Kacchan helped.”
Inko struggled to catch a full breath. Now she understood so much- the ruined
clothing, the blood under Izuku’s nails, the small knife she’d seen him start
carrying around- and she realized that it had started almost the same week as
the boys had begun being friends again.
“Usagi is, um, new, though. Kacchan and I have been trying to figure out where
she came from because I didn’t really see her much before a few months ago? But
I have seen her at least once before I got my second quirk and-” Izuku came to
a stop as Inko put up her hand.
“Just… Izuku, give me a moment, please. I’m still trying to come to terms with
the fact that my son has been torturing himself for- for- for almost three
years! What possessed you? How could you do that to yourself?” Tears ran down
her cheeks as reached out to him. His arm was solid and real beneath her
fingers. It ached her heart that she could have lost him so many times and
didn’t even realize it.
“I knew I would come back,” Izuku said. “And I had to know what I could do! I’d
never had a quirk before and then suddenly I could just reset myself after any
kind of injury.”
“Did you have to test them all?”
“I haven’t though! There are plenty I haven’t been able to get to-”
“That is not the point, Izuku. The point is that you felt it necessary to
continue to do this to yourself even after you were sure it would work.”
“Well I’m only sure because I tried them out,” Izuku said. “If I had only
tested falling and assumed everything worked, what if I fell into the ocean or
something and it turned out I didn’t return from drowning?”
“You  drowned yourself?!”
“Mom, it doesn’t matter because I come back.” Izuku pushed himself up, hands
flat against the tabletop. “I.  Always.  Come. Back. From everything. From
anything.  From falling off buildings to being hit by trains, to cutting my
throat, to drowning, to being torn in half, to being blown up, to getting
gutted and to getting my brains knocked out. It doesn’t matter what happens to
me because I’ll always come back from it just like I was before. I don’t die,
Mom, I can’t die. And I know that for sure because I’ve tried everything and
every. Single. Time. The results are the same.
“I can’t die permanently.”
Inko stared at her son. Izuku stood beside the table, cheeks flushed with color
and eyes damp. Her son’s emotions were high and he, being a sympathetic crier,
especially when she was involved, wasn’t going to be able to resist tearing up.
But the fact that his voice was steady and firm and his belief utterly
concrete…
“You can’t die?” She whispered.
Izuku nodded. “You don’t ever have to worry about losing me to heroics or
anything else, Mom. I can’t die. I can’t even lose a limb permanently because I
can just reset and get it back. Mom, I’m not invincible, but I’m pretty close
to it.”
Inko’s gut was cold, her limbs heavy. It took an effort to look away from her
son to Katsuki. She had never seen him so quiet, so pale, so still. He had his
chin tucked down, his shoulders drawn in, his hands in front of him. His
fingertips were smudged with crumbs and chocolate from the cookies. His red
eyes met hers and then dropped down again.
She couldn’t read him. She didn’t know what this meant. Was he guilty? Ashamed?
Was he hiding something more? What  was  it that made him so un-Katsuki like?
“Mom,” Izuku said, trying to get her attention.
“You helped him,” Inko said quietly. “Through it all, you helped Izuku with
these… tests?”
Katsuki flinched. “Yeah.”
“You watched him die. You helped him die.”
Katsuki nodded.
“Mom,” Izuku interrupted.
Inko gave him a hard look. “Sit down, Izuku, and let me talk to Katsuki for a
second. This is important.”
He opened his mouth to argue again, eyes moving from Inko to Katsuki and back
again. Slowly, he sat down and folded his arms, resting them on the table, with
his hand over his mouth to keep himself quiet.
Inko let out a shuddering breath, wiping her eyes clear with the back of her
hand. Yes, the urge to cry was still strong, but she had to wait until later to
continue. “Katsuki-”
“It’s my fault,” Katsuki whispered. “He only-  We  only found out because of
me- Because of what I did and- And then we made a promise- And I’ve kept it. We
both have kept the promise. To stay friends. To be together.”
Inko bit her tongue. Katsuki lifted his chin slightly, eyes burning and jaw set
stubbornly.
“It’s my fault that Deku died for the first time, but I’ve been with him ever
since. I made a promise to stay with him and I’m going to keep that promise. No
matter what, I’m going to be with Izuku forever. I can’t- I can’t explain why
else I would help him with everything that we did but that I was keeping my
promise and because…” Katsuki bit his lip and ended in a mumble, “I love him.”
“Kacchan,” Izuku said, reaching out to Katsuki.
Inko sat, dazed, as they took each other’s hands. She heard, distantly, as
Izuku returned Katsuki’s declaration and watched as life came back into Katsuki
after his confession. He got his color back, and his irritated expression as
Izuku fawned over him saying ‘I love you’.
As she watched them, Inko came to the realization of two important things.
First, she could not go back and change what her son had done with Katsuki, no
matter how awful or traumatizing it must have been. Second, there would be
nothing that separated these two except, unfortunately, Katsuki’s own death.
Selfishly, Inko hoped to not be alive when that happened. She did not want to
see what pain her son would go through when Katsuki was no longer able to be at
his side.
She let them chatter for a while, watching as Izuku leaned over to kiss Katsuki
on the cheek, a little surprised to see how comfortable he was doing that now
that she’d told them she had given her blessing. Inko sipped her tea to recover
her nerves.
As her cup grew empty, she set it down with a little bit of finality. The clink
caught Katsuki’s attention and he nudged Izuku to get him to pay attention. “I
was just thinking,” Inko said, “You said you hadn’t seen your Usagi before?
What does she look like? I couldn’t see her earlier today.”
“Like a really tall kind of humanoid rabbit,” Izuku said, lifting his hand up,
“She’s got really long ears and no eyes, but a mouth. Her hands are really big
too and she can jump really high and run fast.”
Inko nodded, “Wait here for a second. I have something to show you.” She got up
from the kitchen table and went out into the sitting room. There was a shelf on
one of her bookcases that had photo albums on it. She thumbed through the thin
books until she found the one she was looking for.
Carrying it back into the kitchen, she flipped through the pages as she walked.
Upon finding the right page, she set down the book in front of them and
pointed.
The image was of a three-year-old Izuku. The whole page involved him playing
alone in his room. There were some of him building with blocks and others where
he was napping in a strange place, but the one that she pointed to was unique.
Three-year-old Izuku’s stood under a blanket that he was holding up over his
head with his hands. He wore his old All Might onesie, the red and gold
distracting to the eye. Not quite distracting enough, however, to hide the fact
that there was something under the blanket just to the right of Izuku.
The cloth was draped over something long, like rabbit’s ears, and the round
edge of a head before it dropped over narrow shoulders. It became shapeless
after that as if the body under it was curled up enough to just be
unnoticeable.
It could easily be dismissed as a large stuffed rabbit, considering Izuku’s
small size, except for the fact that you could see under the blanket and see
that there was nothing there.
At least, nothing that Inko could see.
“When you were really little,” Inko said, “You had an imaginary friend. You
called her Little Usa then, but I think that was because you had trouble saying
Usagi.”
“I don’t remember this,” Izuku said quietly, staring at the picture.
“It was the week that you fell out of the tree at the playground,” Inko said,
“I was- I was so scared of you getting hurt that I didn’t let you go out of the
house, not even to play with any of the other kids. I had though you had
invented her because you were lonely and this picture was just… I don’t know. I
just didn’t really think about it, I guess.”
“Usagi shows up two ways,” Katsuki said, “When Deku summons her or… when he
dies.”
A chill swept over Inko’s skin. She bit her lip and walked back around to her
seat. “The doctor said that Izuku was completely fine when I took him in. Not a
scratch on him from the fall. Haruka had said I wasted their time to take him
in…” She fiddled with her empty cup, “But with what you just told me…”
Inko shrugged one shoulder. She wished she had something stronger to drink, but
she didn’t keep alcohol in the house anymore. “Maybe  that  was the first time.
You fell so far and you were so little. It was the longest five minutes of my
life, running over to you, finding you there… I thought for sure you’d at least
broken something but by the time we left the park…”
She fell quiet for a moment while the boys looked over the pages. There were a
few others where you could see that there was something there with Izuku,
though not what it was. The first one she’d showed them was the clearest, with
the blanket over Usagi’s head, but there were impressions on the bed in one
picture and, in another, Izuku sitting several inches off the floor.
Inko had thought it was a quirk, at first, but when the mysterious happening
faded after she let Izuku go play with others again, she’d put it out of her
mind.
“Mom?” Izuku asked, breaking her out of her thoughts, “Do you want to see
Usagi? Kacchan already has.”
“Sand impressions,” Katsuki explained. “The beach is a pretty useful place.”
Inko resolutely did not think about how the beach had the ocean and the ocean
had water and water was what caused people to drown. People like her son, who
had tested out drowning.
Repeatedly.
“Sure… just as long as she doesn’t bite anyone. I’m not like Haruka, I can’t
temper my skin to resist that kind of thing.”
“Usagi-chan won’t hurt you,” Izuku said confidently. “She’s, like, a part of my
personality, I think. Which means that she will love you like I do and want to
protect you. Kacchan would you get me a sheet?”
“Yeah yeah,” Katsuki said, getting up. He gave a smirk, rubbing his crumb
covered fingers on Izuku’s sleeve. Izuku laughed and slapped at him with a
scolding “Kacchan!” but that didn’t stop Katsuki from doing it with his other
hand. The fact that they could be so playful with each other, even after all
this, eased the tension in Inko’s gut.
This laughter was Izuku’s happiness and she didn’t want that to be broken. She
would just have to… adjust. To the truth. To the reality that was the result of
her son’s insatiable curiosity.
Izuku got up out of his chair when Katsuki came back holding a folded up sheet
from the linen closet. He closed his eyes for a moment, taking in a deep
breath. The sigh that followed was the only sound in the room for a moment,
before Izuku opened his eyes and took the sheet from Katsuki.
He opened it up and, with a flourish of the wrist, spread it out and into the
air.
Slowly, the blanket descended. It caught on something almost immediately. White
cloth covered ears and a rounded head, just like in the picture. It draped like
a cartoon ghost over the rest of the body until Izuku started tucking it around
Usagi to show the narrow shoulders and large forearms with the claws.
Inko stared with fascination as the details of the creature came clear. Even
though she stood on two feet, she had more rabbit shaped legs, with strong
thighs and large feet.
Getting to her feet again, Inko crossed the room. “Can I… touch? She’s safe,
right?”
“Yeah, Usagi-chan is a good girl.” Izuku said.
“Good girl, Usagi-chan,”  came a whispering voice from under the sheet.
“She can talk?” Inko said, hand trembling as she reached out. Cautiously, she
touched the base of one of the ears. It twitched under her hand, like a real
rabbit, but it didn’t have any warmth like a thing that was alive. She could
feel it, but it had no different temperature than the sheet or the air around
her.
“She can talk and sometimes she will sing too,” Izuku said. “She protects me
and anyone I ask her to. Nothing can hurt her permanently either. She’s…
perfect.”
Usagi tilted her head a little, lifting it up so that her forehead brushed
against Inko’s palm.   “Kacchan?”
“No, Usagi-chan,” Izuku said, “This is my mom, this is Mama.”
“Mama,”  Usagi repeated. She pressed her forehead harder against Inko’s palm.
“Hello, Mama.”
Inko flushed, a little flustered, “Hello Usagi-chan. It’s nice to see you
again.”
Usagi bobbed her head and then pulled back, tilting her head from side to side,
as if searching while under the sheet.  “Kacchan?”
“Yeah yeah, I’m here too,” Katsuki said from the side. Usagi ducked away from
Inko, apparently following the sound of Katsuki’s voice. She reached out to him
and, upon brushing her hand against his arms and finding him, Usagi ducked her
head down. Katsuki sighed and reached up to scratch between her ears. “Good
girl,” he said quietly. “Why don’t you sit down? There’s not a lot of space
here, okay?”
Usagi did that immediately, crouching under her sheet with her head within
scratching range.
Inko smiled. It was sweet, in a strange way, how Usagi gravitated to Katsuki.
She turned to Izuku, to see him grinning happily. When she caught his eye, he
turned that smile to her and he came to her when she held out her arms for a
hug.
She squeezed Izuku tightly to her chest, tears prickling her eyes as she
embraced her son, her only family left. “It’s going to be a while before I’m…
entirely happy with what you’ve been doing, Izuku,” she said quietly, “I don’t
think you should have done quite so much but… I can’t go back and change the
past.”
“I know, Mom. It’s okay.” Izuku said, his words slightly muffled. “I’m sorry I
didn’t tell you about it when it happened it was just…” He shrugged, at a loss
for words.
Inko rushed her hand through his hair, opening her mouth to say one thing but
ended up saying something else, “What happened to your hair?” She pulled back
to look at his head more carefully, “Did something dry in…” She saw the red at
his scalp and her words fell away.
Izuku flushed and muttered, “Gym happened while I was out this morning so I
couldn’t shower without people asking why and I figured since my hair was black
it wouldn’t be super obvious to anyone! And then Kacchan had detention and
Aizawa-sensei had to rearrange the classroom seating and I just kind of forgot
about it…”
“You have blood in your hair.”
“Er. Yes.”
Inko closed her eyes briefly. She had her hands on Izuku’s shoulders and, after
giving him a pat, she turned him around, “Bathroom,” she said, “Right now. Go
clean up.”
“Yes, Mom,” Izuku said dutifully. “Sorry.”
“Just… please be more careful, Izuku,” Inko said tiredly as her son left the
room. She rubbed the bridge of her nose, but not with the hand that had tacky
blood on it.
Looking up, she caught just the tail end of Katsuki slipping out of the kitchen
after Izuku.
Suddenly, Haruka’s voice was in her ears.  They still bathe together, for god’s
sake!
Inko flushed and reached for the table to support her. Instead of the table,
though, her hand rested on Usagi, who had slunk over to her side as Katsuki
left. She looked down at the rabbit creature and gave a weak little smile. “I
did give them my blessing…”
“Good Mama.”
Inko laughed softly and pat Usagi on the head, much like Katuski had. “You’ll
 protect my little boy, won’t you, Usagi-chan? Protect Izuku and Katsuki.”
“Protect Kacchan,”  Usagi said with a little bob of her head.
“Good girl,” Inko said. “I’ll be counting on you.”
***** bank the coals *****
Chapter Notes
     there are some time jumps in here because god i dont want to have to
     wait another fucking chapter to get to the good shit: here we gO
See the end of the chapter for more notes
Inko had just put on a light jacket and picked up her keys, getting ready to go
out and grocery shop. It was still fairly early in the morning, just ten
minutes or so after the boys had left to go to school. As she approached the
door, she heard a knock.
Hesitating, Inko set down her keys again and went to the door. Peeking through
the eyehole, she wasn’t at all surprised to Tetsuma standing there. Inko sighed
in relief. She unlocked and opened the door. “Tetsuma,” she said with a smile,
“How can I help you?”
Tetsuma gave her a wan smile. “Well, I’m all right I suppose. Yourself?”
“I’m doing fine. Did you want to come in to talk?”
He shook his head. “I’ll be brief. This is about the boys.”
“I had assumed,” Inko said, “Go ahead.” Her hand tightened on the doorknob.
“I’ve managed to convince Haruka not to do anything drastic like pull Katsuki
from school, but she’s still incredibly concerned. She would like to keep them
apart as much as we can outside of school. I realize that’s something we can’t
do alone so I was hoping we could get your support in that.”
Inko hesitated. Now that she knew about Izuku and Katsuki and they knew she
knew, they had become more openly affectionate with each other in front of her.
She still hadn’t seen them do more than kiss each other lightly but the looks
they gave…
And the sounds she was sure she’d heard from their bedroom.
They were moving so fast in their romantic relationship that Inko was concerned
for them.
But at the same time, with the history of so many deaths… so much pain and
testing and hard work…
“I’m sorry,” She said quietly, looking away from Tetsuma. “I think it’s better
that they’re together. I am doing what I can to make things… less intense,
but,” Here she sighed and shook her head, “Do you really think you can keep
them apart just by telling them? I don’t doubt for a second that they’d cause a
little property damage to get out of somewhere they didn’t want to be.”
Tetsuma rubbed his eyes, pushing his glasses up a little as he did so.
Adjusting them again, he gave Inko a serious look. She returned it with a
hesitant smile. Tetsuma was a far more level-headed man than his wife, but
anyone could have their patience tested and Inko still didn’t want to upset
him.
“We’re worried their behavior isn’t just unhealthy but is actually dangerous,”
Tetsuma said, “If you won’t help us keep them apart, what about finding therapy
for them? They could even go in together.”
Inko blinked. “Therapy?”
She thought of Katsuki, who must have held her son’s decapitated head at least
six times if the tally marks in the notebook were accurate.
“Therapy is a good idea.” She said, “If you want help getting them to therapy,
I’m willing to do that. I think… I think that would help them.”
Tetsuma smiled. “Good, I’m glad to hear. Now, I really must be going, but
please do keep in mind that we will not be letting your son over to our home
anymore. I apologize but…”
“I understand,” Inko murmured, “You have to do what you feel is best.”
He nodded in agreement and quickly excused himself, hurrying off. She watched
him go, walking quickly in his suit and tie. She turned back to pick up her
keys again and stepped out with a sigh.
If Katsuki was going to be spending more time at her home, she was going to
have to add more to the shopping list for sure.
 
 
===============================================================================
 
 
Izuku’s new seat at the front of the class was great because it let him see the
board clearly and because it put him near students he was pretty friendly with.
Uraraka was on one side of him and had enthusiastically welcomed him to the
front of the classroom.
He didn’t like that Katsuki’s seat was still at the back of the room, but
Aizawa had been firm about his seat rearrangement. Izuku thought it could have
been much worse- they could have put one of them in a different class!- so he
hadn’t argued much. Katsuki, of course, had bitched, but so long as he could
see Izuku, he was fine.
The new seat led to interesting changes in Katsuki’s behavior. Where before
he’d wait in his own seat for Izuku to finish up so they could leave, now
Katsuki would walk up and sit on Izuku’s desk like an obstinate cat. He didn’t
shove Izuku’s books off, but he wouldn’t hesitate to sit on them either.
To preserve his work, Izuku hurriedly would finish his notes and pack
everything up. That way, when Katsuki hopped up onto his seat, Izuku could
stand up and greet him with a kiss.
He could practically hear Uraraka roll her eyes in her head when he did that.
(She still didn’t understand why he and Katsuki were together and Izuku wasn’t
quite sure how to explain.) It didn’t matter, though, because Uraraka was a
nice friend, but Katsuki was Katsuki.
“I’m ready,” Izuku said, shouldering his bag. “Let’s go home.”
Katsuki slid off the table with a huff. “Want to stop by the beach on the way
home? Training was too easy earlier and I want to work up a sweat.” He held out
his hand to Izuku.
“Sure,” Izuku said, taking his hand. “I didn’t bring out Usagi so she can join
us!”
“Fucking sweet,” Katuski said.
Someone opened the door to the classroom and there was a sudden influx of
noise. Izuku blinked and looked over, surprised to see an enormous crowd of
students outside. “What’s going on?” He asked quietly. “Are those students from
other classes?”
“Don’t be dumb,” Katsuki said, tugging on his hand, “Those losers are probably
here about the Festival. Did you fucking forget or something?”
Izuku shook his head, “But it’s in like a week or something! Why are they here
now?”
Katsuki grinned wide as could be. “To check out the competition, of course. Oh,
and to see their betters.” He squeezed Izuku’s hand.
 Others in their class lingered around the door, startled by the mob outside
that wanted to take a peek. Katsuki, on the other hand, strode right through
the doorway, hand in hand with Izuku. He focused on one spot, beyond the group,
and headed for it while Izuku lets himself be dragged along, curiously looking
over everyone there.
“Fuck off, ya goddamn mob!” Katsuki snapped, “You’re not going to see a damn
thing that’ll do you any fucking good.”
“I wouldn’t say that,” said a somewhat familiar voice. Izuku came to a stop and
since he held Katsuki’s hand, he, too, stopped. “Scoping out the competition
before something as influential as this festival? I’m sure we’ll all learn
something about who we’re up against.”
Izuku turned and was surprised to see the boy from the bathroom, Shinsou
Hitoshi, stepping forward out of the crowd. Izuku tugged Katsuki’s arm,
bringing him back to his side.
“Are all the rest of you heroics department kids this arrogant? That’s kind of
disappointing,” Shinsou said, one hand up and scratching the back of his neck.
“Tch,” Katsuki scoffed.
“There are plenty of kids who don’t make it into the heroics department, not
because of their quirks, but because of the entrance exam. The Sport Festival
gives those students a chance to elevate their place. If you do well enough
there, you could get a second chance to join the heroics department,” Shinsou
said, his voice serious and his gaze fixed on the two of them. “The reverse is
also true. Any one of you do badly enough and you’ll be dropped down.
“You might want to be careful up there on your high horse because any one of us
could knock  you off of it and bring you back down to earth.” Shinsou swept his
gaze over the two of them and then back to the classroom, “So consider this a
declaration of war.”
Katsuki rolled his eyes, unimpressed, but his hand tightened around Izuku’s.
Izuku thought it was lucky that Shinsou was only threatening with his words.
Ever since Katsuki’s parents had been trying to keep them apart, he’d been a
lot easier to rile up when it came to threatening Izuku.
In hopes to defuse Katsuki’s anger, Izuku nudged Katsuki’s with his elbow and
leaned up, cupping a hand around Katsuki’s ear so he could whisper into it.
“That’s the boy from the bathroom, Kacchan. The one who saw me wash my face off
with blood.”
“What,  this guy?”  Katsuki said with a sneer. He looked Shinsou over again,
lip pulled back in disgust. “Don’t fucking worry about him, Deku, he’s just a
fucking stepping stone.” Katsuki cast his gaze over the crowd and then focused
on Izuku again, “None of them fucking matter to us because we’re on the top and
they can only make a splash when you put them in a damn clump like this.”
“Hey!” Someone shouted, “Don’t discount us like that!”
Katsuki didn’t even acknowledge them. “Now let’s fucking go. If we hurry, that
shaved ice fucker will still be there and we can get some before we fuck.” He
started walking again, dragging Izuku behind him.
“Training first, Kacchan,” Izuku admonished, “And no fucking on the beach.” He
trailed behind Katsuki without a second thought.
Katsuki grunted, but Izuku wasn’t satisfied with that. It didn’t sound like an
agreement grunt.
“I’m serious! The sand gets everywhere and I really don’t appreciate it!”
The crowd parted for them, as it always did when Katsuki was leading them
somewhere. Izuku didn’t mind that at all.
 
 
===============================================================================
 
 
The days before the sport festival moved at a steady clip. They reminded Izuku,
vaguely, of the days before the examination. The only difference was there was
no choice in where they went after they trained. Izuku’s house was the only one
that Katsuki and Izuku could be together in, so they ate, did homework and
rested there.
For Izuku, it was as though Katsuki had just moved in. Occasionally Katsuki
would go home, but every time he came back he brought a few more clothes and a
few more books until part of Izuku’s closet held Katsuki’s things and he got a
bookshelf for his own.
It certainly made training easier, since they could get up and do their warmups
together instead of having to meet up outside somewhere. From morning until
night, they spent most of their time in the same room, either at school or at
home, or near enough to see each other.
He noticed his mother fretting from time to time, fielding phone calls from
reporters and buying more food than she was used to, but it was easier to
soothe her these days. Usagi helped, surprisingly, and whenever Izuku didn’t
use his single summon to train with her, Usagi would end up stretched out over
the couch with her head in Inko’s lap while they watched a movie.
Before they knew it, they were in a waiting room, all dressed in their gym
uniforms while the stadium around them filled up with spectators of all kinds.
Izuku’s nervous energy was exhibited in his pacing back and forth in front of
Katsuki, who sat in a chair against the wall.
While he paced, he muttered, coming up with plans and scenarios and ideas,
things that could be useful but were probably not.
Katsuki watched him idly, quiet and, for once, patient. There was nothing
either one of them could do now- it was like fifteen minutes before a big test,
where even last minute flash cards couldn’t help you now. His attention perked
up as one of their classmates walked over.
Asui hesitated at the edge of Izuku’s walking area but then stepped closer when
he turned towards her. He stopped and blinked, looking at her. He gave a little
smile. “Asui, hey.”
“Please call me Tsuyu,” she said. “I just wanted to ask you something.”
“Yeah, sure,” Izuku said, “What is it?”
“There are cameras here today, not like the USJ trip,” she said, “If they see
something like what I saw then, what are you going to do?” She glanced to
Katsuki, “I mean, I’m not going to tell anyone because it’s not really my
business to tell what other people’s quirks are… But you can’t hide something
like that.”
“Hopefully it  won’t come to that,” Izuku said, “We were against villains,
after all, and I was away from Kacchan. There shouldn’t be any reason for a
reset.”
She still looked a little troubled. After giving a soft ribbit, Tsuyu said, “I
think you should be a little extra careful. You’re not bad people, but a quirk
like that can make people forget what kind of person you are.” She paused and
then added, “Or that you are people at all.”
Katsuki got to his feet and stepped up. He slung his arm around Izuku’s
shoulders, hauling him in close to his side. “Deku isn’t fucking alone in this
shit,  Tsuyu,”  he said,  “He’s got me at his side. And Usagi too. There’s not
a goddamn thing that anyone can do to stop us.”
Tsuyu ribbted and bobbed her head. “Well if you say so… Just be careful. You’re
fun to have in class and a friend, Izuku.”
The door opened at the far wall and one of the organizers of the event called
into the room, “Class 1-A! If you are ready to participate, please follow me
out to the stadium, thank you!” They vanished out the doorway again and the
students began to trail out.
Just before they exited the room, the last ones out, Katsuki dragged Izuku
around to face him. He held Izuku’s face in his hands and kissed him, hard. He
bit Izuku’s lip, tugging on it and making Izuku gasp for breath. When he
finished the kiss, they were both panting. Izuku smiled, despite his swelling
bottom lip, and said, “I love you, Kacchan. Let’s go fucking win this thing.”
Katsuki grinned.
Chapter End Notes
     FINALLY. WE'RE FINALLY HERE. F I N A L L Y
     (we're one step closer to Stain, oh my god, *clenches fist* STAIN)
***** light the torch *****
The roar of the crowd as they walked out into the arena made Izuku falter. He
gaped around them, awed by all the people in attendance, shouting and cheering
already. There were some with banners that had student’s names on them.
Somewhere, there were cameras recording everything and broadcasting it back
home.
His mother was watching. He hoped she could see him.
Katsuki tugged him along, leading him through the crowd. Even though they had
been among the last to exit, he brought Izuku and himself to the front of the
crowd through shouldering and glaring and determination. There was a platform
in front of them, upon which stood Midnight.
She cracked her whip with one hand, shouting, “Now, player representative!
Bakugou Katsuki!” She gestured to the side, indicating him to approach.
Izuku squeezed Katsuki’s hand. “Player rep,” Izuku teased, letting go of his
hand, “Because you came first in the test?”
Katsuki shrugged his shoulders and walked up the steps silently. He shoved his
hand into his pocket and addressed Midnight. “Sensei.” Turning, he looked out
over the class.
Izuku’s breath caught in his throat for a second, “So cool,” he whispered,
hands clasped in front of himself.
“I’ll be placing first,” Katsuki said to the other students. “Deku, you’ll be
second.”
“Yes!” Izuku said, nodding his head.
Katsuki’s lip drew back in a sneer, “All the rest of you can fight for third.”
The crowd around Izuku booed Katsuki, but Izuku didn’t care. He stepped forward
as Katsuki came back down the steps. The jeering meant nothing so long as
Katsuki was at his side.
“Kacchan,” Izuku smiled, “You looked so cool up there.”
Katsuki cocked his head to the side, taking his spot at Izuku’s side again.
“Don’t disappoint me, Deku.” He bumped his shoulder against Izuku’s. Izuku
laughed and bumped back.
Midnight called out their first test, the obstacle race, with the grandeur that
was typical of Yuuei. As she described the course, briefly, and the rules, the
students walked towards a gate that opened up. Izuku worried his bottom lip for
a moment before Katsuki nudged him again.
“Don’t break anything,” Katsuki muttered. “Remember, you’re not alone. Don’t
push yourself so you have to reset.”
Izuku bobbed his head. He felt a nervous thrum of energy run through his body
that became absorbed into the adrenaline coursing through him. His heart beat
quickly. Sweat beaded down his spine as they were pressed in from all sides and
packed in tight. Izuku bounced eagerly on his toes, watching the light change
above the door.
First one. He flexed his hands. Katsuki rolled his shoulders.
Then two. Izuku bounced a little harder, a little higher. Katsuki cracked his
knuckles.
Then three.
Katsuki crossed over in front of Izuku, ducking his head as Izuku braced
himself on Katsuki’s shoulders and pushed off the ground. Using just enough
juice that he vaulted over the heads of the students in front of him, Izuku
sailed through the air while Katsuki was on the ground. Those two weeks of
practice had been incredibly useful- Izuku had a better understanding of his
body than many others his age, he was sure, and so adjusting a quirk to his
body was easier.
That, and if he went too far, a little Good Luck would help him start over and
try again without having to wait too long.
Todoroki pulled ahead of the group as he’d started in the front already. Ice
covered the ground that Izuku was aiming towards. When he came down, he tucked
and rolled, sliding forward and getting back up to his feet with only a little
slipping.
The familiar sound of Katsuki’s quirk made Izuku glance back and grin. He could
see Katsuki, as well as others of their class, racing over and around the ice,
not caught off guard by Todoroki’s quirk.
Stamping his foot in the ice, Izuku cracked it and got a good footing. The
narrow chute that they ran through had walls on either side, and so when Izuku
sprang off the cracked ice again, he headed for one of them.
He mimicked his jumping off of Usagi, who leaped with the whole of her body,
using her clawed hands to dig into surfaces that were to steep for her to stand
steadily on. Izuku’s fingers dug into the stone, chipping fingernails but not
bone, as he landed on the wall and pushed off there in another leap forward.
With the widening of the path came the increase in danger. The robots from the
entrance exam towered above them, looming metal boxes that made Izuku bite his
tongue to keep from spitting out a curse. He hadn’t mastered jumping  that
high, yet.
He paused, looking back and forth over the seemingly impenetrable wall of
robots. Flexing his hand into a fist, Izuku gritted his teeth together. The
longer he waited, the more students poured into the area. Todoroki was already
approaching the robots, frost at his fingers.
He’s determined,  Izuku thought, watching as a sweep of Todoroki’s arm brought
ice sweeping up to freeze the giant robots.  He’s going to make it to the end.
I hope Kacchan gets to fight him. That will be informative.
“Deku!”
Izuku’s head whipped around. Katsuki gripped his upper arm and hauled him
forward, “You with me or do you have your own route?”
“With you, Kacchan,” Izuku said without even thinking about it. He didn’t have
much of an idea yet in any case.
Katsuki grinned. “Arms around my neck,” he said, “And jump when I tell you
too.”
Izuku immediately obeyed, slinging his arms around Katsuki’s neck and holding
on tightly. He buried one hand in Katsuki’s hair, holding the back of his neck
and head carefully. He could survive any type of whiplash, but Katsuki had to
be protected.
“Jump,” Katsuki said into his ear. Izuku obeyed, adjusting the strength to
carry bot him and Katsuki up. It was Katsuki’s quirk, the flames of rockets in
his palms, that carried them forward. They rose above a robot, whose head
turned to track their path. They cleared it, Izuku laughing giddily while
Katsuki’s flames burst behind them.
They briefly touched on the top of a few robots, unable to maintain staying in
the air for very long. Others followed suit, going up and over the robots and
jumping along them until they came to the end of the row. At the last one,
Katsuki ducked his head against Izuku’s neck and tucked his arms in. Izuku took
the brunt of the fall, rolling them both across the ground. They came back up
to their feet only seconds later and with a mad grin shared between the two of
them, began to run again.
 
As they reached the next field of pillars and tightropes, Izuku caught sight of
Todoroki in the lead, still. Beside him, Katsuki hissed in anger.
Izuku nudged him forward, “You can clear this shit easy, Kacchan. Go ahead. I’m
right behind you.”
Katsuki nodded and took off. He startled some of the others who were still
hesitating at the first pillar when he jumped off, fire projecting him forward.
Izuku took a quick inventory of his body, checking his fingers and the strength
of his legs. His bones felt fine, and though there were a few abrasions on his
arms from their roll, he felt uninjured.
“Good,” he muttered, “I’m getting better.”
Once he was sure of his status, Izuku ran for the edge of the pillar as well.
He completely disregarded the ropes, springing forward with enough force to
press an imprint of his shoe on the sandstone. Again, he used his whole body in
the leap, catching himself like Usagi, like a hare, with his open palms
skidding a little and fingers digging into the stone.
On this surface it tore up the skin of his hands, but Izuku didn’t mind that so
much. He leaped from pillar to pillar, kicking up a little dust and leaving a
little blood behind everywhere he went.
Izuku could hear Katsuki’s laughter as he reached the next gate. He grinned
reflexively, heart rate rising even higher as he rounded the corner.
He only had to see the barren field, the people carefully crossing it and the
occasional explosion to know they were dealing with a mine field. Izuku’s eyes
picked out Katsuki, near the front of the group, and Todoroki not far from him.
Looking back, he could see some of their pathway, but it was often obscured
with dust kicked up from the explosions closer to him.
Izuku wasn’t  that  far behind, though, as he’d cleared the pillars faster than
he’d imagined. His hands were a bloody mess, one he didn’t pay attention to as
he wiped sweat from his brow. With a whoop, he entered the fray, following
paths that seemed to have been cleared already.
The use of his quirk in his legs let him move faster than the others, flinging
him forward fast enough that a blast didn’t hit him in the face. Occasionally,
one would go off at his back, sending him forward into a dive that he had to
roll and recover from. Izuku recklessly set off mines in his wake, knowing it
would make it easier for later students and not caring.
Katsuki was  right there . A few more feet and he’d be able to touch him again,
if he wanted to.
His foot clipped a mine. Izuku sprang forward as he heard it click, going
forward with the flames. He hit the ground with a grunt, rolling as he did so
when he heard another click.
Izuku was a little slow getting up this time, worn a little ragged with all his
running and jumping. His eyes widened as it felt like time stopped, stood
still, waiting for him to take another breath, for the mine to go off. He moved
so terribly slowly, rolling to get away from the mine he’d triggered.
Surely they weren’t lethal mines, but a direct hit would knock him down just
like anyone else. He’d lose his chance to place with the others. He’d-
A hand gripped the collar of his shirt and hauled him up. Izuku saw Katsuki
burning gaze and wild hair moments before fire filled the air from the mine. He
was dragged forward, though, and with Katsuki’s hand was able to get his feet
under himself again.
As if to make up for how slow things had just been, the time it to clear the
distance between them and the final gate was a scarce  handful of seconds.
They came through the doorway, panting and sweating, and placing second and
third after Todoroki.
Todoroki glanced back at them, panting, hands on his knees to support himself.
Izuku stared at him for a moment, taking in his features, before he noticed
that Todoroki was staring at his hands.
Looking at them, Izuku bit out a curse. “Dammit.”
Katsuki cuffed him upside the back of his head. “What did I fucking tell you
about breaking yourself?”
“It’s just abrasions,” Izuku said, looking over his hands. The skin was worn
thin along his palms and his nails had broken in several places. There was
blood but not a lot. He sheepishly looked up at Katsuki, “I’ll be all right.
Usually I have gloves for these sorts of things, I guess i just forgot this
time.”
“Idiot,” Katsuki snapped. “You’re a fucking moron.”
Students trickled in around them. Katsuki, annoyed by the way they clustered at
the door, grabbed Izuku by the elbow and dragged him off to the side. There,
they waited for the rest of the students to show up and for the announcement of
the next challenge.
Izuku spent that time with his cheek resting on Katsuki’s shoulder, breathing
in and out deeply as he kept his eyes shut. Katsuki’s arm was around his
shoulder, holding him in place there. It was a calm moment found in the storm
of the activity, and just enough for Izuku to clear his thoughts and focus
again on his priority.
The teachers had sold this event as a solo exhibition, saying that the
activities would pit them against each other, but Izuku had no intention of
going solo in his professional life. He was Katsuki’s match, Katsuki’s counter,
the only one who could keep pace with and watch over Katsuki. If any of the Pro
Heroes wanted one of them, they were going to have to take them both.
It didn’t matter if that would make them more difficult to place. It didn’t
matter if that didn’t follow the way things were supposed to be.
They were together now. They were going to be together forever.
Katsuki and Izuku were a matched set and Izuku wasn’t ever going to let that
change.
***** we bring the flame *****
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes
The second round of events was a human cavalry battle.
Katsuki listened to the instructions with half of his attention while he spent
the rest of it on Izuku. Izuku hadn’t really moved, hadn’t shifted out from
under his arm when Midnight had begun describing the next event to the crowd of
students. He’d opened his eyes, sure, but he remained leaning against Katsuki.
“Something wrong?” Katsuki asked under his breath. His fingers dug into Izuku’s
shoulder as he crushed down his worry so it wouldn’t be picked up by any of the
watchful eyes around them.
“Nuh uh,” Izuku mumbled, blinking slowly. “Thinking.” He had one hand pressed
against Katsuki’s chest, his palm flat, his fingers tapping. “She said two to
four people?”
Katsuki nodded. His cheek brushed against Izuku’s curls. He wanted to lean his
head against him, the way Izuku leaned against him, if only for a moment. Izuku
made him feel more calm, especially in a situation like this.
“Should we form a team or go ourselves? If the others are in groups of three
and four, we’ll be outnumbered. Even if we add in Usagi, we’ll still be two and
a third against mostly groups of three or four. But if we did choose
someone...” Izuku’s mumbling started off audible and then dropped down to a
grumble that Katsuki could have listened to and picked apart if not for the
thing that caught his attention.
Well, less of a thing and more of a person, but ever since their minor
confrontation during the aftermath of the USJ villain attack Katsuki had become
aware of Uraraka. After Aizawa had moved Izuku to the front of the classroom,
he’d had to deal with more of her, too, since she’d decided to become Izuku’s
friend.
Katsuki knew he couldn’t keep people away from Izuku, no matter how much it
worried him that people could find out the truth of his quirk and put him in
danger. He would have had to somehow convince Izuku to keep his distance and,
though their relationship often was off-putting enough to do that naturally,
there were people who persevered.
Uraraka was determined to stick around. She had become friendly enough that
Izuku talked about her to Katsuki when they were walking home from school,
referencing something she’d said or a joke she’d told him. But Katsuki saw
something harder beneath those brown eyes, something sharper hiding under those
round cheeks. Uraraka was a girl with a mission. He wasn’t exactly on board
with what it seemed she wanted to accomplish.
She approached them now with a firm gait, hands swinging at her sides. Uraraka
planted herself in front of them, put her fists on her hips and said, “I’m
joining your team.” The  whether you like it or not  was fully implied by the
lift of her chin as she said those words.
Izuku finally lifted his head to look at her. He smiled at her, light and
distant, his eyes moving past her to the crowd beyond. Katsuki recognized the
expression as one where Izuku was more concerned with what was going on inside
of his head than outside of it. “If we have Ochako on our team, then we need
one more person to round us out.” He tapped Katsuki’s chest and then ducked out
from under his arm, “Gimme a second, Kacchan, I’m gonna get our last teammate.”
Katsuki lifted his arm, letting Izuku go off on his own. He watched him
carefully until he vanished into the group, his short stature making him hard
to pick out among the taller students that moved around to find their groups.
“You’ve got blood on your shirt,” Uraraka pointed out. She did it literally
too, gesturing to the middle of Katsuki’s chest where Izuku had been touching.
“But you don’t look injured, Bakugou.”
Katsuki grunted in irritation. “And the lack of gloves from our uniforms is
somehow my fucking fault? Get a damn grip, you bitch. I didn’t do this to
Izuku.”
“Right. He just hurts himself to keep pace with you and that’s  totally
normal.”
“Hey, we all have parts of our quirk that fuck with us,” Katsuki said, “Do you
see me ragging on your ass because you get a little pukey if you float too much
shit?”
“At least I do it for myself and not because my boyfriend is a fucking gorilla
that makes me run at  his  pace,” Uraraka said with a toss of her hair over her
shoulder. “Izuku deserves better people around him than you, Bakugou.  Real
friends, not people who only care because of an interesting quirk.”
A chill ran down Katsuki’s spine. His hands tightened into fists as he took a
step towards her. “What the fuck are you talking about?” Izuku had been sitting
near her for  barely  two  fucking  weeks, what the hell had he been talking
about?
“Are you two seriously bickering already?” Izuku’s voice was chiding as he cut
in. Katsuki’s spine stiffened as he recognized the person that trailed Izuku.
“We’re on a team now, so no infighting. We have to work together if we want to
take Todoroki’s headband.”
Katsuki wasn’t the only one anxious about their fourth member. “Izuku,” Uraraka
said, “Um, are you sure about him?”
Izuku blinked at her and then turned to look at the student he’d brought over.
Shinsou was quite a bit taller than Izuku and looked at them with this vaguely
amused expression. “Sure about Shinsou? Yes! Even before I knew what his quirk
was exactly, I thought he’d be incredibly useful.”
Izuku smiled to Katsuki. “Kacchan, this is Shinsou. I told you about him
before?” Katsuki nodded and Izuku continued, “His quirk is a type of mental
manipulation. He’ll be able to thwart people as we go for their headbands. I’ll
be the head of the horse since I can take the most hits and from there I’ll be
able to guide and corral Usagi who is our primary defense. Kacchan, I want you
to be the rider since you having your hands free will mean you can attack at
will. Ochako and Shinsou, you two can be the flanks. As the flanks, you’ll be
overshadowed by Kacchan, but that’s what we want.”
Katsuki frowned, brows furrowed. The plan sounded fine considering the members
of their team, but his uneasiness sat heavily in his gut. Izuku turned back to
him after explaining and stepped towards him. “Kacchan, something wrong?”
“Round face’ll work out fine,” Katsuki said, “But this other fucker? Do you
trust him, Deku?” He glared at Shinsou as he spoke, but the other student
seemed unphased by this. Whether he was used to being mistrusted or not,
Katsuki couldn’t be sure.
“I do,” Izuku said. “Shinsou is a good person.”
Katsuki grunted. Shinsou  had  seen Izuku bloody from a hard reset in the
school bathroom and, as far as he could tell, hadn’t told anyone about it. If
anything, he could be trusted to keep his mouth shut.
And considering that it seemed Izuku was having a little difficulty with that
at the time, Katsuki figured that Shinsou was good enough. So he nodded and
relaxed his posture a little. “Got it. I’m good.”
Izuku beamed at him. He gave Katsuki a quick peck before stepping back to
summon Usagi. It took him a moment of solid concentration, but soon the rabbit
was there. The first clue was the shadow of her footprints in the dust. The
second was how she went immediately to Katsuki’s side, greeting him with a half
dozen mumbled variants of his name and nuzzling her head against his chest.
Katuski snorted and scratched her between her ears. “Hey, girl. You ready to
fuck shit up?”
“Ready, ready,”  Usagi replied.
“Usagi-chan,” Izuku said, “This is Shinsou and Ochako. They’re on our team
today. We’re having a non-lethal match with the other students. Today you’re
going to be practicing your defensive abilities.” He gestured to the other two
as he introduced them.
After one more nuzzle, Usagi left Katsuki’s side to introduce herself to the
others. Uraraka giggled nervously, holding out her hands. Katsuki saw them
move, saw the invisible press against Uraraka’s cheek as Usagi must have
nuzzled her.
She did the same to Shinsou, who held out his hand, palm out, and kept still as
Usagi investigated him too. All the while, the rabbit ghost, whispered,  “Hello
Ochako. Hello, Shinsou. Hello hello. Hello,  friends,”  like a doll with a
repeating glitch in their voice box.
Usagi did go quiet when an official of the festival came and handed over a
headband to Katsuki to wear. He tied it around his head while the others
assembled their horse. Katsuki stepped up, settling his weight on the offered
arms and hands, and balancing himself with a fist in Izuku’s hair.
Right, so that last bit might have been unnecessary, but the look that Izuku
gave him out of the corner of his eye was definitely worth it. Once he was in
position, the others straightened up, adjusted for carrying his weight and
turned towards where the others were. Katsuki ran his fingers through Izuku’s
hair, trailing them down to the back of his neck.
Izuku tipped his head back, turning it so he could look at Katsuki over his
shoulder. “Ready?”
“Let’s get that ten million,” Katsuki nodded. “Half-n-half needs to be taken
the fuck down.” He brought his hands up, letting go of Izuku, and cracked his
knuckles. Looking around at the groups of human cavalry waiting for the signal
to start, Katsuki located the red and white head of Todoroki and grinned.
It was time to fuck his shit up.
 
 
===============================================================================
 
 
Hitoshi had several concerns about participating in this cavalry unit with one
of the most arrogant people he’s ever met, a total stranger and the blood-
sacrifice-healing-kid from the bathroom. His primary concern had been being
able to tolerate the asshole enough to be on a team with him. A secondary
concern was the sanity of the blood kid, who had approached him so forthrightly
in joining their horse. And his third had been the height difference between
him and the girl, who was easily half a head shorter than him and looked about
as firm as a marshmallow.
It turned out that the asshole was somehow a lot more tolerable when he was
facing away from Hitoshi and had all that rage and intensity directed at
someone else. Hitoshi now understood some of the exhaustion he saw in
Midoriya’s face. If Bakugou was focused on him so completely all the time, he
would have been just as exhausted looking.
Not only that but Bakugou’s acceptance of him, simply on Midoriya’s word, had
surprised Hitoshi. He had expected squabbling or at least a few curse words
flung in his face. After all, Uraraka had gotten similar treatment and they
were, as Izuku had put it, “going to be friends eventually”.
Hitoshi was tempted to ask how far away eventually was, after seeing the way
Uraraka looked at Bakugou. Hate might have been too intense a word for her
expression, but she clearly didn’t like  something  about Bakugou.
He picked up that it had to do with Midoriya, with the relationship between the
two other boys, but struggled to see exactly what had her so disgruntled. Yeah,
the kissing was weird and so was the way they seemed so eerily in tune with
each other- especially during the middle of the fight, holy  shit-  but it
didn’t seem like such a weird relationship to Hitoshi.
Maybe I’m missing something,  he thought as he trotted along at Uraraka’s side,
helping bring them down the center of the group. It was a damn bold move,
opening them up on all sides for an attack, but as a vine came whipping towards
them from the left side, Hitoshi’s side, to steal the headband off of Katsuki’s
head, or any of the several he had on his neck, something invisible stopped it.
Well, not ‘something’. It was the thing that Midoriya had called Usagi. He’d
felt the cool head of the creature against his palm, had heard the soft and
strange child-like whispering and still had no idea what it looked like, not
really. The vine that went for them snapped mid-air and broke off with a
strange shake, as though Usagi had bitten it and ripped it away.
She must have moved on in the next moment because Hitoshi felt a little breeze
as though she’d dashed off again. Hitoshi had to work to focus on what he’d
been doing before once she’d left.
Hitoshi wasn’t sure if Usagi was a point toward or against Midoriya and his
sanity. Considering the way he’d walked out of the bathroom stall so blithely
with blood from his forehead to his chin had put him at ‘probably negative
fifty’ on a scale of one to ten of sanity, Hitoshi wasn’t all that sure that
he’d  ever  consider anything Midoriya did or said as sane.
Not that Hitoshi disliked him because of that, on the contrary, actually, he
kind of appreciated the way Midoriya treated him like he treated literally
everyone else around him, sans Bakugou. Hitoshi had almost finished gathering
up his own horse when Midoriya had approached.
When it turned out that Midoriya’s idea of his quirk- dazing people and making
them susceptible to suggestion- was inaccurate, he hadn’t balked at Hitoshi
using mind control. Not on him and not on anyone else. If anything, Midoriya
had brightened up even more, saying that Hitoshi’s quirk was ideal for what he
needed.
It was  fucking weird.
Their way to Todoroki was blocked by another cavalry group, one that had
purposefully stepped in their path. Shinsou didn’t recognize the students by
name, but he did remember them from before, ones that had shouted in annoyance
at  class A, Midoriya’s class.  It seems even the ones at the top feel slighted
when they’re not at the  very top,  Shinsou thought as he held his ground.
The rider of the opposing team had a copy ability, effectively countering
Bakugou’s explosions with his own. He laughed, boasting about how great he was
or the quirk was or something. Hitoshi grimaced. Squeezing Midoriya’s shoulder
a little tighter, he shifted, trying to get a better view.
Midoriya ducked his head, swinging the whole unit to the right a little. The
smug bastard sitting up high and mighty turned his smirk to Hitoshi, who simply
said, “Hey asshole.”
“What did you say ...to me..?”
“Hand over the headbands and go off to a corner somewhere until the battle is
over,” Hitoshi commanded. He definitely had control over the rider, and it
seemed that the front of the unit had fallen under his quirk also, responding
without words, but responding nonetheless.
The copycat pulled off his headbands and held them out. Bakugou laughed as he
snatched them out of his hand, Midoriya leading them onwards and around the
controlled group. Hitoshi kept an eye on the team as they went past. The back
part of the unit glared at him, probably figuring out that he’d been the one to
influence their rider and head.
He was going to have to learn their faces to keep an eye out for them later.
Sometimes people held grudges outside of mock-battle situations.
Hitoshi was pulled out of that distraction by a hand. On his head. Bakugou’s
hand wasn’t very gentle as he gave Hitoshi a congratulatory combination head
pat and rub. “Nice work, fucker. That asshat fucking deserves to be shunted off
like that.” Bakugou grinned down at him, eyes bright, and in that moment
Hitoshi realized that this was more than being first or being the winner for
Bakugou.
There was a weird bubble of pleasure that rose in Hitoshi’s chest at that
expression. He didn’t understand it and didn’t have the time right then to
figure it out, either, because suddenly there was the roar of ice crackling as
it rushed towards them.
“Usagi!” Midoriya shouted. Bakugou’s attention whipped back around, hands up
and full of flames.
Hitoshi’s breath caught in his throat as the ice hit something before it hit
them. It took him a moment to realize that the invisible barricade had to be
Usagi- Midoriya’s ghost creature. She must have flung herself at the ground,
making the ice have to stop and crawl up her side, coating her in ice.
“Ochako,” Midoriya said, “Now! Shinsou, jump on three!”
Hitoshi’s eyes were riveted to the ice. As it moved over the invisible Usagi,
he was able to make out some of the details of her shape. Long ears, rounded
head, narrow shoulders and chest, but large legs and arms. Claws.   Serious
claws.
Midoriya did tell her it was a non-lethal battle… Does that mean if he-
“Three!”
Shinsou’s bent legs pushed off the ground. He went up higher with this jump
than he’d ever gone before. He breathed out a curse, eyes wide as he held
tightly onto Midoriya, his main point of contact. Beneath them, Usagi twisted
and rolled, shattering ice and freeing herself. There was still a little ice
clinging to her...skin? Fur? Hitoshi had no idea what she was made of, having
not been able to identify it at all when he’d touched her, but whatever it was,
ice could stick to it.
There was some on one end of her ear and a little on her shoulder and thigh,
where the ice had been most concentrated. It made seeing her at least possible,
though not easy to do. She moved so quickly it almost seemed like she
teleported. Hitoshi might have believed that if not for the claw imprints she
left on the ground when she pushed off.
They didn’t spend much more time in the air and soon began to descend. Hitoshi
glanced over to Uraraka, the source of their floating, and saw her face pressed
into fierce concentration.
As the ground came nearer, fear leaped into Hitoshi’s throat. How the hell were
they going to  land?
“Ochako,” Midoriya said, his head half turned back towards them, “Now!” As soon
as he said that, Hitoshi felt something curl around his stomach. It was large
and solid and, at his side, he felt the curl of a hand. Of claws. Hitoshi’s
fingers dug into Midoriya’s shoulder and hand as he realized that Usagi held
him around the middle.
“Oh my god,” Uraraka breathed out beside him. Hitoshi glanced towards her and
saw a bit of floating ice in the air between them. Usagi held them both.
They landed only seconds after that. Midoriya hit the ground first, heels
digging in and sending out a circular crack not only in the ice that coated the
ground around Todoroki’s group but the concrete beneath.
“Get ready to run,”  Usagi whispered as she set Hitoshi down. This time, her
voice sounded more like Midoriya’s than the genderless one from before.  “Get
ready!”
The ice was still slippery, but with it riddled with thousands upon thousands
of fractures, Hitoshi was able to find his footing. He’d just barely braced
himself to run when he felt a push at his back, brief and compelling, and he
had to run. Usagi vanished from his awareness as they charged at Todoroki’s
group.
Hitoshi half closed his eyes against the flame of Bakugou’s quirk. It roared
into life at the same time as he pushed off, flinging himself forward. “I’m
coming for your other damn eye, Two-face!” he shouted as he flew through the
air.
“Bakugou!” Uraraka shouted.
“Keep going!” Midoriya called back to her. His fingers, holding onto Hitoshi’s
hand, grew tight. “We’re the hammer to Kacchan’s wedge. Do. Not. Stop!”
“You’re insane,” Hitoshi gasped out, but he kept running. He didn’t have any
choice, really. If they let Bakugou hit the ground they’d be disqualified. They
had no way to snatch him back after he flung himself forwards.
A large metal-looking paddle appeared out of the hand of the girl on Todoroki’s
right. It swung towards Bakugou, like a fly swatter headed for an insect, but
it never made contact.
Something else hit the metal first, slicing it into several parts midair. That
same something was there long enough for Bakugou to kick off of it and stay
airborne, flames propelling him right into the heart of Todoroki’s cavalry
unit. There began a close combat struggle for headbands and headroom.
Hitoshi winced as he saw how close those explosions were going off to Todoroki
and the others on his team. He saw ice coming up as a shield, but it shattered
under the direct contact of Bakugou’s explosion. Todoroki’s left arm came up
defensively but whatever he did with it didn’t stop Bakugou.
Bakugou was without mercy. He had one foot planted between the shoulder blades
of the tall kid in the front and the other on Todoroki’s thigh, avoiding
touching the blond on the left. Every time the girl came up with something to
shove him off with it, Usagi interfered, sometimes ripping it right out of her
hands to do so.
The explosions were such a thorough distraction and attack, that the other team
didn’t realize Midoriya hadn’t stopped his charge until it was too late. He
crashed right into the side of the group, between the tall head and the blond.
Hitoshi ducked his head, hunched his shoulders and tried to stay behind
Midoriya as much as possible.
At his side, Uraraka did the same, reaching out with one hand to grip Hitoshi’s
arm. He instinctively pulled her tighter so that they could both shelter in the
wake of Midoriya’s insane charge.
Midoriya dragged them forward, breaking through the cavalry unit like a
battering ram. They picked up Bakugou on their way through. Or rather, as they
came out the other side of the unit, Bakugou grabbed Hitoshi by the shoulder to
ground himself while his other hand lifted him up with a controlled rocket-
engine-like explosion.
With Hitoshi’s shoulder as his grounding point, Bakugou effectively vaulted
over Uraraka’s head and landed back in his seat. Clenched in his teeth was a
single ribbon and Hitoshi only had to see four numbers on it to see that it was
the only one that mattered.
Bakugou threw both hands in the air, laughing through his clenched teeth as
Midoriya led them away at a quick hustle. Hitoshi looked over his shoulder to
see Todoroki’s team quickly putting themselves back together. Todoroki himself
rested only on the back of the head of their horse, the tall student with the
glasses. He had his head ducked down, half hidden, and the one hand that
Hitoshi could see was filled with ribbons.
Looking up, Hitoshi saw that Bakugou had sacrificed most of their points to get
the larger one from Todoroki. All they had to do now was keep everyone else
from-
“TIME’S UP!”
Hitoshi stumbled to a stop after Midoriya did. He stood there in shock for a
second, staring up at the crowd that was screaming and shouting down at them.
Bakugou shouted right back at them, waving the ten million point headband over
his head triumphantly.
Hitoshi’s gaze met Uraraka’s. She, too, was grinning, though her hair was
mussed and sweat dampened her temples. She gave him a blinding smile. “We did
it, Shinsou-kun! We won first place!”
He opened his mouth to reply but nothing came out. He’d hadn’t expected her to
be quite so robust, but she’d kept pace with his longer legs and his taller
size without a single complaint. Not only that, but it seemed she’d moved past
her misgivings a little. Swallowing, he nodded his head. “You were great,” he
said, “You’ve got a floating quirk?”
She nodded.
Their unit disentangled quickly when Bakugou flung himself forward, arms around
Midoriya’s neck and shoulders. Hitoshi and Uraraka quickly let go and gave them
a little space as they turned in a circle.
“That move was fucking incredible!” Bakugou shouted. He took Midoriya by the
shoulders and shook him. “You broke right through the fuckers, Deku, and blew
their damn minds. Fuck yes! God, did you see that little shit’s face when I
came fucking flying at him? And Usagi! Fuck! What the fuck that was so great!”
Uraraka was laughing and smiling. She elbowed Hitoshi and leaned over, putting
up a hand over her mouth to whisper, “I’ve never seen him so excited! He’s like
an overgrown puppy!”
“...one that bites the guests and barks at literally everything,” Hitoshi
added. Uraraka laughed at his joke and elbowed him again.
“At least he’s housebroken,” Uraraka said with a giggle. They glanced over to
see Bakugou and Midoriya kissing each other rather enthusiastically, though,
and she quickly amended, “Well. Mostly house broken.”
Hitoshi couldn’t help but laugh in reply. He was still surprised, and
definitely elated, that not only had he placed but he’d been part of the team
that had gone first. And, while he had used his quirk to his advantage for
sure,  he hadn’t had to go with his first plan which was to brainwash an entire
group to work for him.
This was… different than he expected, and looking down at Uraraka, who was now
asking him about his class and about him, clearly curious, clearly no longer
wary, clearly being  friendly,  Hitoshi found that he liked the outcome. Sure.
He had teamed up with the arrogant Bakugou and insane Midoriya, but … it had
definitely been worth it.
Especially  since he’d placed first.
 
===============================================================================
 
 
 
Izuku laughed as Katsuki lifted him up, arms around his chest and lips pressed
together. The kiss was full of excitement and pleasure and nearly was enough to
block out the pain in his legs.
“Kacchan, careful,” Izuku said as Katsuki started to set him down again. He
gripped Katsuki’s shoulder, leaning his weight on him. “I think I fractured,
um, like everything below the knees with that landing.”
Katsuki grunted, too elated to be properly annoyed. Instead of putting Izuku
down at all, he bent his knees and scooped Izuku up under the thighs with his
other arm. “Idiot,” he said, “Let’s get you out of here so you can heal.”
Izuku laughed, putting his arms around Katsuki’s neck. It was a breathy sound,
as he was feeling the pain now that there was no distraction of battle. Usagi
loomed around them, the tilt of her head showing how worried she was. Izuku
reached out one hand towards her, running it over the top of her head and
murmuring goodnight to her. She ducked down and unraveled after he dismissed
her.
There was some announcement about an intermission, a break so the contestants
could eat and rest for a while before the final session of the festival, but
Izuku only listened with half an ear. His dismissing of Usagi let him see
Shinsou and Ochako talking together, smiling and laughing and friendly. It
warmed his chest to see his friends get along.
“Did you bring Good Luck?” Katsuki asked as he carried Izuku away.
Izuku shook his head. “She’s with my change of clothes, though. The blood would
be such a mess, Kacchan.”
“Tch, we need to find a better way,” Katsuki muttered. “Something that works
faster than suffocation and cleaner than a knife.”
“I’ve been looking into poison,” Izuku said, running his fingers through the
hair at the back of Katsuki’s neck. “But usually that takes a while to work and
has signs like a frothy mouth or something. Plus where am I gonna get my hands
on enough poison to make that worthwhile?”
“Not to mention how fucking painful poison is to die from,” Katsuki added. He
tightened his grip, holding Izuku a little closer. “Don’t tell me you fucking
forgot that shit. You went into fucking seizures, Deku.”
“I remember,” Izuku mumbled. “The fastest way would probably be neck snapping
or something similar. Do you think you could try that again?”
Katsuki’s grin had long since faded as they walked from the arena, but now it
was completely replaced with his lips pressed into a thin line and a furrow in
his brow. After some silence, in which they passed a few people walking the
other direction, Katsuki brought them into a small waiting room. He flicked on
the lights, carrying Izuku in before he finally replied. “This time. I’ll do it
this time. Because we have to get back to the others quickly.”
Izuku nodded. He winced as Katsuki set him down in a chair, letting his legs
hang limp and trying to ignore the pain. Katsuki looked around the room and
noticed a small red light in the corner signifying there was a camera in the
room. He clicked his teeth and went back to the door. He flicked off the lights
again, dousing them in darkness.
“Let’s hope they don’t have infrared,” Katsuki muttered as he made his way back
to Izuku. He felt his way to Izuku and then stood behind him. “Just relax,
Deku,” he said as he curled his arm around Izuku’s neck. It was warm, his skin
and cloth still heated from all their activity. Izuku sighed in relief, leaning
into Katsuki’s touch. His eyes fluttered shut as he breathed in Katsuki’s
scent. He was a little sweaty, they both were, but he smelled like explosions
and  Kacchan.
Kacchan smelled like home.
Katsuki’s fingers ran up through Izuku’s hair, sending shivers down his spine
before he put his hands in position. “On three,” he said, “One. Two.” His hands
twisted violently. Izuku heard and felt the snap and then felt nothing at all.
Chapter End Notes
     i'm curious to know who YOU thought was gonna be in their cavalry
     group! if you had a prediction, please let me know in the comments!
     thank u
***** flickering light *****
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes
“Fourteen… Fifteen… Sixteen… Seventeen…”
Katsuki’s soft voice was the only sound in the dark room. He stood perfectly
still, one arm around Izuku’s neck, the other hand in his hair. Head bowed,
Katsuki’s lips brushed those dark curls with every whispered count.
“Twenty-five… Twenty-six… Twenty-seven…”
Why isn’t he back yet. Shouldn’t he be back yet? He’s used to breaks, isn’t he?
He heals from those almost as fast as he does knife wounds. But how fast is
fast? Fuck, if I had his notebook I’d be able to find out- Shit, I hate this-
“Thirty-eight…. Thirty-nine… Forty- Thank  fuck,”  Katsuki sighed as he felt
Izuku suck in a shaky breath. His grip tightened for a second, his fingers
digging into those curls as he pulled Izuku’s head back to kiss him. There was
an extra edge of desperation to his kiss, as he had to claw his anxiety back to
his chest where it belonged.
Maybe it was the darkness of the room which had made every sound, like that
fatal crack, echo. Maybe it was how time didn’t seem to move, unless Katsuki
kept track of it himself. Either way, the way Izuku’s body had hung limp in his
arms in the darkness had been so reminiscent of his nightmares that Katsuki had
to burn that out of his head and there was really only one way to do that.
Breaking the kiss only briefly, Katsuki came around to the front of the chair
Izuku sat on and climbed into his lap. He straddled Izuku’s legs with his own,
settling heavily as to prevent Izuku from even thinking about getting up.
Holding Izuku’s face in his hands, Katsuki kissed him long and hard, demanding
Izuku’s focus and attention and his breath.
Katsuki shuddered when Izuku’s hands slid down his back, rigid fingers finding
his ass and digging into it. Izuku pulled him closer, pressing their bodies
tightly against each other as Katsuki gave another painful tug to his bottom
lip.
“Kacchan,” Izuku gasped out, his voice shaking almost as badly as Katsuki’s
hands were.
Before Katsuki could respond, the door to the room swung open and the lights
flicked on.
“...check every- Oh my god,” a female voice interrupted them. And it actually
interrupted them this time, too, since Katsuki pulled back from his kiss to
look over.
It was one of the pro heroes running as security for the event, Mt. Lady, and
she had one hand on the doorknob and the other pressed against the side of her
face. “Really?” she said to herself, or to them, Katsuki didn’t really care to
tell for sure. “Well at least everyone is accounted for now…” Shaking her head,
she said, “Hey, boys, unless you plan on skipping your lunch so you can suck
face instead, you’re going to run out of time. C’mon, out of the prep rooms.
These are for others later on in the tournament.”
Izuku laughed sheepishly, sliding his hands up to the more respectable place of
Katsuki’s hips. “Let’s go get lunch, Kacchan.”
“Whatever,” Katsuki muttered. Izuku was alive again and that was what mattered.
He slid off Izuku’s lap reluctantly, straightening his clothes with sharp tugs
of his hands. Izuku got up, rolling his shoulders and neck, making his bones
pop. Katsuki swallowed hard. He snatched Izuku’s hand as he walked past,
holding on tight as they exited the room.
As they passed Mt. Lady, Katsuki heard her whisper, “Damn, Midnight wasn’t
kidding at all with those two…”
 
 
===============================================================================
 
 
Katsuki sat back in his stadium seat, arms crossed over his chest, while he
watched Izuku’s first match. There wasn’t a single bit of worry in his whole
body. Izuku faced off a support student- one who was so riddled with gadgets
and gear that it was clear her main way to fight off someone of Izuku’s caliber
was with her mind.
Of course, it was kind of boring as shit to see her show off all her equipment,
but Izuku seemed to be enjoying himself as he diligently tried on every piece
and let her, loudly and clearly through her microphone and speaker setup,
explain its functions. He was probably the perfect test dummy for someone like
her, since he could get hurt over and over and not permanently die from
anything.
Katsuki shuddered a little bit, thinking of Izuku trapped in a lab somewhere
where he was tested for car safety measures or hover boots or jet packs or-
Katsuki ran his hand over his mouth, swallowing hard. Okay. So he might be a
little  worried. But not seriously so. Izuku wasn’t alone in this. He had
Katsuki there to pull him back and save him from being a test monkey for
someone like Hatsume.
At least, outside the ring.
He trailed his gaze up after Izuku, watching him laugh excitedly as he rose in
the air with a jetpack’s propulsion. His heart caught in his throat a little
when Izuku’s gaze moved over the crowd and found him. Izuku waved, the action
spun him a little making him dip in the air, but he quickly righted himself and
touched back down.
There was ten. Whole. Minutes. Of this.
Hatsume finally ran out of gear to show off and with a high five given to Izuku
and a wave to the crowd, she walked off the ring and gave the victory to Izuku.
“Better him than me,” Katsuki muttered. He would have wrung her sorry neck-
Well. Not really. But damn it he would have been so  pissed  at the end of a
shit match like that.
Not Izuku, though. He was beaming as he went off the stage, uninjured, declared
the victor simply because Hatsume had wanted to do a show and tell, not
actually fight.
Katsuki waited where he was as Izuku left the arena, knowing that, sooner or
later, Izuku would show up.
Slouching a little more, Katsuki put his foot up on the railing in front of
himself and crossed his knees. Glasses was next, with that idiot Kaminari after
him, but the match that Katsuki wanted to see was Two-face against Shinsou.
Shinsou might be at a disadvantage with his quirk, but if he could get the
first word in… anything was possible.
 
 
===============================================================================
 
 
On his way out to the stands, Izuku was stopped by a familiar face.
He automatically smiled at Shinsou, happy to stop and talk with him. Shinsou
gave him a slight smile in return and stepped off to the side. Izuku came
closer, until they stood side by side against the same wall.
“What’s up?” Izuku asked, head turned towards Shinsou.
“I was thinking of getting a fair exchange of information,” Shinsou said. He
had a strange way of looking at Izuku, almost unblinking, with the same eerie
focus as a cat. Izuku cocked his head to the side, deeply curious.
“What information?”
“You already know what my quirk is,” Shinsou said, “Although I had to correct
you on it.”
“Because you used it on me,” Izuku nodded. “I’m not really mad about that, by
the way, but  you won’t want to bring it up to Katsuki on your own.”
“...wasn’t planning on it, but I’ll keep that in mind,” Shinsou said. He
reached up, scratching the back of his neck. “What I really am wondering is how
your healing quirk works, Midoriya. You were uniquely uninformative when I
asked before, only explaining that you had hurt yourself to heal yourself-”
He stopped when Izuku held up his hand.
Giving Shinsou an apologetic smile, Izuku shook his head, “Not here. And not
now. I’m sure you can understand keeping a quirk as private as possible,
Shinsou.”
“If not here, then where? And when?”
“Here,” Izuku pat his pockets, looking for a pen. Not finding one, he sighed,
“Nevermind, I’ll go get a pen and give  you my number later, okay? We’ll meet
up when this is all done, the three of us.”
Shinsou straightened sharply, “Three of us? Wait do you mean-”
“Kacchan, of course,” Izuku said. “He won’t like me doing this on my own. I
mean, he’s pretty involved at this point.” He stuffed his hands into his
pockets and shrugged. “Without Kacchan’s approval, my hands are kind of tied.”
“But it’s  your  quirk, isn’t it?” Shinsou asked. “Why do you need his
permission?”
Izuku felt his smile harden on his face. His arms stiffened, his hands clenched
tight as fists in his pockets. “Because I do.”
Shinsou visibly backed off the questions, leaning back a little and putting up
a defensive hand. “All right. Then I’ll wait until then to find out. Just… be
careful. Any quirk that requires hurting yourself to activate isn’t a good
one.”
Izuku took a step away, spine straight with the offense he felt. He had
forgotten that Shinsou was in the general student population. No matter how
interesting he was, he wasn’t like Izuku. He wouldn’t give everything to be a
hero like Izuku. “Any quirk that makes it so I can help save people is a good
one,” Izuku said, “no matter what it takes to activate. Besides, quirks aren’t
inherently good or bad, it’s the people who use them that matter. You
understand that, don’t you?”
Izuku thought of the man All Might had described, the one who had had a ghost
like Izuku had Usagi. The man that had pushed a good woman, a good hero, to
kill him again and again until it had killed  her.  He would never be like that
man, but if All Might was right, they had similar quirks.
The smile that Shinsou gave was as bitter as Izuku could expect. He shrugged a
shoulder, “I guess I do.”
Relaxing somewhat, Izuku stepped towards Shinsou. He lightly tapped his fist
against Shinsou’s upper arm, and said, “Besides, it’s not such a big deal to
me. With enough training, the human body can tolerate some incredible things.”
Shinsou nodded slightly. “That’s kind of the point of training, Midoriya.”
“Exactly,” Izuku beamed. “Hey, do you want to come watch the other matches with
Kacchan and I?”
Shinsou shook his head. “I’m… preparing for my match. Against Todoroki.”
“Do you want any help? Any tips?” Izuku asked, “I’m in his class, so I at least
know his quirks.”
“...I think I can manage, but thank you.” Shinsou said, “Congratulations on
your last match, by the way.”
Izuku shrugged. Hatsume had been fun, but it hadn’t been any sort of real
match. If anything, it had just made him more anxious for his next round.
Either one of his next opponents would be a real fight, at least. “It only gets
harder from here.”
“Yeah.” Shinsou said, looking away, his lips pressed into a thin line. “It
does.” He grimaced and turned away. “I should go.”
Izuku nodded and saw him turn away. He lingered in the hallway for a little,
letting Shinsou get some distance before he followed down the hallway. Shinsou
turned the corner before him and Izuku thought he might have heard some
whispering, but by the time he, too, rounded the corner, there was no one there
at all.
Putting it out of his mind, Izuku focused on getting back to Katsuki’s side.
There were plenty of matches between them, since they were at opposite sides of
the tournament, but if the rounds were as quick as his own has been, Katsuki
would be up to battle before they knew it. Izuku wanted to be there to cheer
him on.
Izuku wanted to be there to see Katsuki win.
Chapter End Notes
     in case u wanna know what changes were made to the setup, here's_a
     link_to_my_tumblr_post_where_i_talk_abt_that_and_show_the_changes
***** smother the embers *****
 
With Katsuki’s arm around his shoulders, Izuku sat in the stands, cheering with
the rest of the onlookers as the end of the last match saw Shirozaki posing
flawlessly with her vines. He clapped for Kaminari, even though his classmate
had lost his round and had to be led off the stage.
“He did really well, getting this far,” Izuku said, “Kaminari’s quirk is pretty
cool.”
“Figure he’ll ever find a way to fight that doesn’t fry his goddamn brain?”
Katsuki asked as he turned his head to rest it against Izuku. “He’s just gonna
turn himself into a vegetable at this rate.”
“I wonder if part of his quirk compensates for that discharge?” Izuku asked,
“Is his brain built to take that kind of electric current and what happens to
him when he does just part of that safety measure?”
Katsuki snorted. “You make it sound like some benevolent being designed his
quirk and gave it to him. You know that’s not true. Just think of your own
quirk.”
“Well maybe I just got kind of the shorter end of the stick,” Izuku said,
“Quirks are a genetic mutation, Kacchan. Mutations are supposed to be
advantageous.”
“No they’re not,” Katsuki said. He tightened his arm around Izuku and lifted
his head. Shaking Izuku gently, he said, “They’re just mutations. They only
prove advantageous if the person who has them stays alive long enough to
reproduce. That’s how mutations get passed along. That’s how species variants
are created.”
“Huh,” Izuku considered this with his chin in his hand and a finger tapping his
lips. He stared straight ahead, brows furrowed, brain clicking along this trail
of thought. “Does that mean after a couple more generations of this, we’ll
reach a point where not only are we creating similar types of quirks in
specific areas and groups and thus creating that effect that’s similar to
people of different ecological systems having different physical features that
help them survive that location, like lactose tolerance or melatonin levels? Of
course, I mean we’ll effectively remain the same species, at least for another
dozen generations at least, but then again there are people whose quirks
definitely change their physical appearance, making it seem like it would be
harder for them to reproduce if they have difficulty finding a mate.”
Izuku fell silent again, tapping his lips thoughtfully. Katuski, at his side,
watched the side of his face, since the arena was empty and nothing else was
interesting to look at. After a minute or more of Izuku’s brow furrowed in
thought, Izuku turned to look at Katsuki and said seriously, “Kacchan? Do you
want to have kids some day?”
Katsuki froze up and then, as his cheeks reddened, he smacked the back of
Izuku’s head. “You fucking moron! What kind of question is that?”
Izuku rubbed the back of his head absently, “A serious one! You have an amazing
quirk, Kacchan. Don’t you want to pass it on some day? I’m sure there are
plenty of ways that we can make that happen, I can look them up when I get home
tonight.”
“Why me? Why not you?”
“I don’t know. My quirks are… Tricky. I don’t know if I want to pass the
healing one down and the other one…” He shrugged. “Well you saw me training
with it. How many times have I broken my legs in the last two weeks?”
Katsuki grimaced. He got that pallor around the edges of his face that Izuku
had learned meant Katsuki was thinking about Izuku dying again. It was more
noticeable this time because Katsuki had just been blushing in embarrassment.
Reaching out to Katsuki, Izuku took his face in his hands. “Kacchan…”
“Hey! I didn’t miss the battle start yet, did I?”
Katsuki pulled out of Izuku grip to and glare at Ochako, who announced her
presence loudly as she took a seat next to Izuku. “I’m pretty excited to see
Hitoshi and Todoroki face off against each other!”
“Hitoshi?” Izuku blinked. He let his hands fall in his lap and quickly lost one
to Katsuki. He took Izuku’s hand in two of his own, holding tightly, fingers
interlocked. Izuku was aware that this was Katsuki’s form of an apology, for
pulling out of Izuku’s grip, probably for earlier too, and he just smiled at
Katsuki. He didn’t mind the little things Katsuki did to make himself feel
better.
“Yeah!” Ochako said. “Shinsou Hitoshi? He was on our cavalry team!”
“You’re calling him by his first name?” Izuku asked, “I didn’t realize you were
such good friends already.”
“He’s really nice once you get past the whole ‘people don’t like me because I
can control their brains and they think that makes me villainous’ bit!” Ochako
laughed. “He’s got a million cat pictures on his phone and a thousand cat
stories and he’s really pretty nice even if he does look like he needs to sleep
for a hundred years. He kind of reminds me of Aizawa-sensei that way.”
“Great,” Izuku said, “Now I’m picturing Shinsou in that full-body sleeping bag
thing that sensei worms around in all the time. Thanks for that, Ochako.”
She laughed again, elbowing his arm. “You’re welcome!”
“You two asshats want to miss Shinsou’s match or are you going to shut the fuck
up and pay some fucking attention?” Katsuki snapped, interrupting their
conversation. His hand squeezed Izuku’s briefly, spurring Izuku to put his free
hand over Katsuki’s arm, trying to rub soothingly.
Turning his attention to the arena, Izuku watched as Shinsou stepped out on one
side, walking to the platform in the center, and Todoroki came out the opposite
end. Beside him, Katsuki leaned forward.
There were only a few students in their class that Katsuki seemed to keep an
eye on. One was Tokoyami, who had proven himself not only to be meddling and
worrying but a strong fighter. Another was Todoroki, who was as difficult to
get a read on as the ice he represented. He kept rather quiet in the classroom,
bending to his work and doing his best in spite of all the excitement that came
up around him. His placement in the room had put him far away from Katsuki and
Izuku both, making it unlikely for them to cross paths.
He kept to himself, and like the ice he used, he tended to float above and away
from others.
Still, watching him walk out of the hallway, Izuku noticed that there was an
extra level of tense to Todoroki’s spine and shoulders. He was dead set on
something, and if Izuku had to guess, he would say it was victory. Shinsou was
Todoroki’s first hurdle- the first member of the cavalry team that had smashed
victory from his hands last round.
Izuku licked his lips, hoping that Shinsou would at least have a chance to use
his quirk. Todoroki was so  quiet.  He could probably go a whole match without
a word if he really wanted to.
Which meant Shinsou was going to have to do something spectacular to get a rise
out of Todoroki. And considering how even Katsuki struggled to accomplish that
on most days, Izuku could only wish him luck.
Glancing out of the corner of his eye, Izuku saw Ochako leaning forward in her
seat. Her hands were clenched tightly on the seat between her knees and her
focused expression was devoid of the usual bright charm she had. He couldn’t
tell for sure who she was voting for to win, but considering how her eyes
tracked Shinsou more than Todoroki, he had a good guess.
The match began with a roaring cheer from the crowd and an announcement from
the referee, but neither opponent moved from their spot. Izuku wasn’t close
enough to hear what Shinsou said, but he saw his mouth move, saw that flicker
of a smirk, thin and sharp like the blade of Good Luck, flash across his face.
Izuku’s heart jumped as he saw Todoroki’s face twist in response, a grimace
pressing his lips together.
Shinsou lifted one hand and then the other, speaking louder this time. The
people around Izuku also quieted down, eager to hear what he said.
“What a blessed life you must have lead, Todoroki. Son of the second best hero.
Naturally talented with not one but two incredible, practically perfect
quirks.” Shinsou let his right hand drop, “Of course, you’re so good you don’t
even bother with using one of your quirks at all. It makes sense. You only need
ice to defeat  your opponents, right? You only need ice if you’re going after
fire.”
“Uh oh,” someone whispered behind Izuku. “Good thing there’s a rule against
seriously injuring your opponent. Todoroki looks pissed.”
Izuku squeezed Katsuki’s hand, sitting literally on the edge of his seat in
anticipation.
Todoroki hadn’t said anything. Yet.
That is, until Shinsou added, “Don’t you think it’s kind of petty to refuse to
use  your quirk just because your dad uses the same one? You want to be an ice
user, just like your mom.” Shinsou turned slightly, putting his hand above his
eyes as he made a show of looking over the crowd, “I saw your dad earlier, here
to cheer on his son. But I didn’t see your mom. I guess your ice isn’t all that
impressive to her.”
“Shut.  Up.”  Todoroki snapped.
That knifeblade smirk Shinsou wore faded as Todoroki’s shoulders became slack.
He turned back, looking at Todoroki and lowering his hand. “If you don’t mind,”
Shinsou said, “Turn around and walk out of bounds.”
Todoroki’s foot scuffed the concrete as he turned. He did so slowly, his face
blank as he turned past Izuku and the others.
“Oh my god,” Ochako whispered. “Hitoshi did it.”
“...His expression barely changed at all,” Izuku mumbled. Just what the hell
was in Todoroki if he could look almost the same as he did normally while under
the influence of someone’s mind control?
Katsuki grunted. His fingers dug into the back of Izuku’s hand.
People around them were shouting, whether at Shinsou or Todoroki, Izuku wasn’t
sure. He couldn’t speak another word, just watching in silence as Todoroki
slowly made his way to the edge of the ring. He moved a little like a zombie
from a horror movie, ambling with his arms at his sides and his feet doing all
the work. His head was still straight up and down, but his expression was
slack.
“He’s going to go all the way,” Ochako whispered.
Izuku couldn’t feel his right hand. Katsuki’s grip was squeezing out all the
blood.
They weren’t the only ones who sat on the edges of their seats, watching as
Todoroki came nearer and nearer to the edge. A couple of seats down, some of
their classmates were yelling at him, trying to get him to snap out of it.
Mere inches from the edge, Todoroki came to a stop. It was a weird, jerky
motion, like his foot caught on something. It was half lifted and yet somehow
stuck to the ground. His other foot tried to move too, but it was completely
stuck to the ground.
“Look,” Izuku breathed, pointing with his free hand. “Look at his feet!”
The shiny glistening of an ice coating flashed as Todoroki tried to move. It
was growing, too, climbing up his legs and, now more obviously, covering his
right side from the fingertips up.
“He can use his quirk without moving his body,” Katsuki said.
“Can he break out of Hitoshi’s influence?”
“I don’t think so,” Izuku said. After all, Todoroki’s feet were still trying to
move, even though he was mostly covered in ice. Behind him, Shinsou took a few
steps forwards, clearly cautious, but determined.
Ochako suddenly jumped up, fists clenched in front of herself as she shouted,
“PUSH HIM! HITOSHI COME ON! HE’S SO CLOSE TO THE EDGE! PUSH HIM!”
Izuku winced at her shouting, a higher pitch than the voice he was used to and
had to wince again when  Katsuki,  not to be outdone in even something as small
as this, rose to his feet and shouted as well. “FUCKING DO IT! SHOVE HIM!”
“Wait,” Izuku said, tugged to his feet by Katsuki’s grip, “If he does that-”
Whether or not Shinsou heard them and listened, Izuku wasn’t sure. Either way,
he crept closer and closer until he was right behind Todoroki. With the flat of
his palm, he reached out to Todoroki.
Izuku’s breath caught in his throat as ice shot up behind Todoroki. It caught
Shinsou with jagged spikes under his arms and lifted him up. Without even
turning around, Todoroki summoned his ice in a huge wave that carried Shinsou
back across the arena and off the edge.
It happened in a matter of seconds and stunned the crowd into silence.
The ice shown in the light, reflecting and refracting it back at the crowd as
the referee called an end to the match. Shinsou, half encrusted in ice, sat
against the wall, eyes wide as he stared back at Todoroki.
Todoroki turned, ice shattering as he broke free from it. For a split second,
Izuku saw a look on his face that was familiar but out of place on Todoroki.
Shedding ice like a tree sheds leaves, Todoroki walked silently out of the
arena once he was declared the winner.
“Oh god,” Ochako whispered, “Do you think Hitoshi’s okay?” She leaned forward.
“I’m going to go check on him!”
“Hey, your match is next,” Izuku said, “Don’t forget!”
“I won’t,” she said as she rushed away.
Izuku watched her go. When she had vanished from sight, he turned to Katsuki.
The blond was staring at the ice on the arena. His grip had relaxed a lot and
there was a mad grin on his face. “Deku,” he said, his voice low, “I’m not
going to tell you to lose on purpose, but if you do lose to him… I won’t be so
mad. Just as long as you don’t wear him out first.”
Izuku nodded silently. He was glad he’d already had his first match, since he
was feeling a little uneasy. Todoroki had looked… Not angry, but close to it.
Something. He’d looked like  something  that was so familiar…
Shaking his head, Izuku sat back down. Still holding Katsuki’s hand, he ended
up pulling him down as well. “Fuck,” Katsuki muttered, “fuck, I can’t wait to
fight him seriously. That’s going to be pretty damn incredible.”
He sat tense, at the edge of his seat, focused and watching as the ice was
cleared away to make room for the next match. Izuku sat back, making a mental
note to check on Shinsou later. After all, if he and Ochako could be friends,
then he and Izuku certainly could be as well.
But first, he had to watch Ochako’s match.
***** first degree burns *****
Chapter Notes
     so this was friday's c hapter but uh... friday was irl a shitstorm so
     :I
     enjoy it here instead.
“Arena fights like this are pretty disadvantageous for Angel Face,” Katsuki
said. The last of the ice had been melted or otherwise removed from the ring
and Present Mic was riling up the crowd for the next match. The concrete was
clear of debris of any kind, as some tournament official had taken a broom to
the last of it. “She’d have better luck against the ponytail bitch because at
least she’ll be making shit that Angel can float.”
Katsuki was in the same seat as before, though this time he had one leg tucked
under himself and his hand rested on Izuku’s back.
Izuku still sat beside him, yet far more pensive for this fight than he had
been for Shinsou’s. There had been two solid outcomes that match could have
resulted in depending on whether or not Shinsou could have activated his quirk
on Todoroki. Either he won, or Todoroki figured a way around his capture.
Considering Todoroki was one of the only two students in their class that
routinely shuffled the top ranks with both Izuku and Katsuki, the blond wasn’t
all that surprised he had figured something out. Learning that Todoroki could
activate his quirk without any movement on his part had been good to learn as
well.
“Ashido is more prepared for one on one competition like this,” Izuku said,
nodding his head in agreement. He had one hand up at his chin, pulling at his
bottom lip in thought.
Katsuki watched the motion in silence. Izuku didn’t seem to be hurting himself
with the movement so he didn't try to stop him.
“She’s got a handy quirk,” Izuku said, “Making her dangerous at short to mid-
ranged attacks. If Ashido can keep Ochako from touching her, she’ll win this.”
“Even if Angel Face does get her hands on the bitch,” Katsuki said, “It's not a
guaranteed win. Any throw she tries could be interrupted by acid. Since Angel’s
attack only gives the target zero-gravity effects and doesn’t prevent them from
using their quirk.”
Izuku’s green eyes slid off the arena and moved to Katsuki. “It can be pretty
disorienting at first, especially if you've never been put under the influence
before. If she’s quick, Ochako could get Ashido spinning to the boundary.” He
blinked and cocked his head to the side. His voice suddenly shifted from the
tone of their quiet discussion to something a bit louder as he asked, “Yes? Do
you have a question, Kirishima?”
Katsuki turned to look and saw Kirishima on his other side. He wasn’t
particularly surprised Kirishima would sit there, especially since Uraraka
broke the metaphorical ice by sitting with them on Izuku’s side. He just hadn’t
noticed the guy, which irked him. Kirishima was generally a loud, obvious
personality, which meant he’d actively been quiet as he took that seat.
Or Katsuki had just been that consumed with Izuku and their conversation that
he hadn’t noticed.
Kirishima laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck with a hand, “Sorry,
I didn’t mean to overhear, but your conversation was pretty cool! You two
really understand everyone’s quirk, don’t you?”
Katsuki drummed his fingers along Izuku’s spine. He was the one who noticed the
quirks of their classmates and discussed them at length. Katsuki didn’t really
have a choice about learning what was what, but he didn’t mind that so much.
“Yeah, we do,” he said with a frown.
His curt reply made Kirishima laugh again. “That’s really awesome!”
Katsuki and Izuku shared a look. Izuku shrugged.
Clicking his tongue, Katsuki asked, “Was that all you wanted to fucking know,
shitstain?”
“Ah, well, actually,” Kirishima didn’t seem very phased by Katsuki’s vulgarity,
though considering he’d been sitting near Katsuki since the beginning of the
school year and had been attempting this mock-friendship shit just as long,
Katsuki only had himself to blame. “I was wondering why you call Uraraka Angel
Face? I mean, Midoriya calls her by her first name, and you call most of the
rest of the girls bitches? So… I mean… it’s a little weird.”
“Kacchan likes Ochako,” Izuku explained, “Not the way he likes me, but he likes
her.” He flicked a smile to Katsuki, reaching out to put his hand on his knee.
“Because Ochako and I are friends, right?”
Katsuki scoffed. “She’s all right. She’s still a fucking bitch, but at least
she’s not the same as the others.” She was more dangerous, in fact. Katsuki had
to keep an eye on her because anyone who was pushing to befriend Izuku for the
same reasons as her was dangerous. He resisted Kirishima’s attempts at
friendship for much the same reason. Too much distraction from protecting his
and Izuku’s secrets and, sooner or later, they’d fuck it up somehow and get
found out.
Kirishima opened his mouth to probably ask another stupid question, but Izuku
cut him off, pointing to the ring, “Look! The match is starting!”
That distracted their classmate enough to stop his questioning. Katsuki showed
his gratitude by leaning a little harder on Izuku and sliding his hand up from
the middle of his back to the curls at the base of Izuku’s skull. He ran his
fingers through them, smirking when he felt Izuku shiver under his touch. Izuku
inched closer, leaning against his side to get comfortable.
 
 
Uraraka walked confidently out of the gate and to her spot facing Ashido. Her
gaze was focused, her shoulders squared. When Ashido tossed a grin her way,
Uraraka gave one in return.
Neither one of them hesitated when the fight began. Since they were both close
combat fighters, Uraraka needing touch to activate her quirk and Ashido’s quirk
not able to be projected farther than a few feet from herself, Katsuki wasn’t
surprised. Watching them fight hand to hand, with both trying to hit each other
but avoid the open hand of their opponent, was a bit like a dance.
Ashido’s acid quickly ate up the available footing around her. Uraraka
countered by lightening herself so that she skimmed through the air with her
jumps. Her rapid activation and deactivation of her quirk kept Ashido guessing
on whether or not she was under the influence of zero-gravity or not.
Several times she was lightened when Katsuki thought she’d dismissed it, and
ended up vaulting over a punch or twisting and skating out of the way with
surprising deftness. Twisting around Ashido one time, while Ashido was in the
middle of a splash of acid, Uraraka’s hand snapped out like the strike of a
snake.
She smacked Ashido’s shoulder as she went past, tumbling through the air
herself. The activation of her quirk had Ashido lifting up off the ground,
which caught her off guard long enough for Uraraka to right herself and come
back in.
 
 
“C’mon,” Izuku whispered, fists clenched as he watched. Katsuki stayed silent,
watching the fight with barely-blinking eyes. He hadn’t been able to see
Uraraka really fight before and he found both her and Ashido’s determination
invigorating.
 
 
Ashido attempted to block off Uraraka’s return attack with more acid. However,
instead of avoiding it like she’d done before, Uraraka only threw up an arm to
block most of the acid while her other grabbed Ashido by the wrist. Planting
her feet on the ground, Uraraka took that hold on Ashido from one hand to two.
Uraraka turned, yanking Ashido along with her. Ashido let out a squeal as her
feet were swept from under her and she became airborne. Uraraka spun around
with her only once before she let go.
Or at least until she tried to let go.
Ashido had twisted her hand around, grabbing Uraraka’s wrist in turn. Even with
her feet up in the air, her whole body pulling to fling her away, Ashido held
on tight with one hand. She brought her other one up, acid dripping from her
palm only an inch from Uraraka’s face, and called out, “Give up, Ochako! I’ve
got you cornered!”
Uraraka smirked. She pressed her fingertips together and deactivated her quirk.
Ashido’s short scream was cut off as she hit the concrete and bounced. She’d
been only a few feet off the ground so it only winded and stunned her, but
still, the crowd winced in empathy. Uraraka stood above her, bent over because
her arm had been yanked down by Ashido’s fall.
Ashido stayed down for ten seconds, gasping and dizzy, while Uraraka waited
nearby.
Once the ref had called the victory in her favor, Uraraka went to Ashido’s side
and helped her back up. Together, they left the field, Present Mic singing
praises of their companionship, even in the midst of competition. Katsuki sat
back once they were both off the field.
He tapped Izuku on the shoulder, “You want to go check on her?”
Izuku nodded. “Stay and watch the matches for me?”
“Yeah, yeah.” Katsuki pulled his hand back. He crossed his arms over his chest
and settled back to wait again. Tokoyami was up next, though, which promised to
be a good match. Katsuki couldn’t wait to face him later on, having no doubt
that he would beat Yaoyorozu in a one on one match.
Izuku pressed a kiss to Katsuki’s lips before he left, practically skipping
down the steps. Katsuki rolled his eyes and, in the process of doing so,
noticed Kirishima staring again. “What is it, Hair-for-Brains?”
“Nothing,” Kirishima said with a little smile, “I just thought it was nice.”
“What’s nice?” Katsuki glared at him.
“They way you and Midoriya get along so well. I mean, you must have been really
good friends for a really long time to be like you are now. It’s cool that you
two got to go to the same school and the same class!” Kirishima’s eyes dropped
down slightly and he said a little quieter, though still smiling, “Kind of
makes me wish I hadn’t gone to Yuuei on my own out of all my friends.”
Katsuki kicked Kirishima’s shin. “Stop wallowing you dumb shit. Middle school
fuckers are stupid little shits and don’t fucking matter anyway. Deku was the
only one out of my entire fucking school in any fucking year that was worth a
single damn besides me. You just happened to be the only fucker worth anything
out of your shitty middle school. So suck it the fuck up and move the fuck on.
Christ, don’t be so fucking moody about that shit.
“Middle school doesn’t matter,” Katsuki said, leaning towards Kirishima, “Not
when you’re in a place like  Yuuei. Get over yourself and make the most of this
shit, you stupid fuck, or it’s going to pass you the hell by and you’ll end up
like those class B shitstains that whine and bitch about how much better our
class is. If they reallywanted to be better than us, they’d just fucking work
harder.”
Kirishima stared at him, blinking in surprise. “I think… that’s the most I’ve
ever heard you say without you just starting to yell…”
“I’m just telling you what Deku would, but he’d be all nice about it and
protect your damn feelings,” Katsuki shrugged. “I don’t give a shit about your
feelings. I just give a shit that you’re trying to make them my damn problem.”
“Uh, sorry about that. And thanks, too.” Kirishima grinned making a fist with
one hand, “You’re right, I mean, that’s what the whole sport festival is about,
isn’t it? Proving our worth?”
“Fucking bingo,” Katsuki said with a sharp nod of his head. He sat back again,
adding, “Now shut the fuck up. Birdfucker and Ponytail are going to go at it
and I want to fucking watch.”
“Sure, sure!” Kirishima said, turning to watch as well. He was still grinning,
which Katsuki found a little weird but… He’d been wrong about Kirishima. Maybe.
He’d thought that perhaps Kirishima was like Uraraka, in a way, and was only
trying to befriend Katsuki to “save” Izuku.
But if he was just lonely and looking for a friend…
Katsuki glanced to where Izuku had been sitting. Izuku had Uraraka as his
friend. Why couldn’t Katsuki have Kirishima as his own friend?
Shinsou, he decided, could be both of their friends, so long as he didn’t turn
into a fucker like Uraraka.
Deciding on friends is fucking annoying,Katsuki thought to himself. Despite his
words, he kind of missed middle school. They had been able to do anything they
wanted without anyone bothering them at all in middle school and what had they
done with that freedom?
Katsuki pressed his lips into a thin line and shook his head to dismiss his
thoughts. He had to pay attention to Tokoyami now. That shadow bird of his was
going to be a bitch and a half- but at least it wasn’t an Usagi.
 
 
===============================================================================
 
 
Izuku found both Shinsou and Ochako in the infirmary together. Entering after a
knock and a brief “come in” from the nurse, Recovery Girl, Izuku was directed
to the bed where his friends were.
Ochako was in a bed while Shinsou sat at the end of it. She had a few bandages
on her cheek and her arm but was smiling despite them. Shinsou looked no worse
for wear if you ignored the sweater someone had put him in over his track
uniform. Ochako greeted him with a smile and a wave from her good arm. “Izuku!
Did you watch my match?”
“Yeah!” He said, pulling over a chair so he could sit with them. “Kacchan and I
both watched. He looked pretty impressed with you.”
“I don’t care about what he thought,” Ochako said, “I want to know what
youthought!”
“I thought the twist ending was pretty great!” Izuku said, getting comfortable
in his chair. Without Katsuki around to curl up against, Izuku tended to just
tuck his legs up under himself, keeping to a small space without really
thinking about it. “People around us were sure Ashido had it in the bag with
the acid threat, but I guess they’d forgotten that you could deactivate your
quirk too.”
Izuku shrugged and added, “They should have known the threat wouldn’t work
against you anyway, considering how you’d already gotten hurt with a little
acid already. I think that was pretty daring, by the way! Acid is a terrifying
thing and can scar really badly if you don’t take care of it quickly. It’s also
a pretty shitty way to die.”
He blinked in confusion as Ochako suddenly gestured to him with both hands, but
looked at Shinsou and said, “See? See that? That’s what I mean! Everything
about that was completely normal except the end bit there.” Looking at Izuku,
she said, “What the hell is with you and death, Izuku?”
Izuku shrugged.
“She asks because we’ve been trying to figure out how your healing quirk
works,” Shinsou said quietly. He plucked at the cuff of the sweater he wore
absently, his eyes on Izuku. “I might have told her about the blood in the
bathroom.”
Izuku winced.
Ochako lowered her voice, “What wasthat, Izuku? Did you even go to the nurse
after you got hurt? How did you get hurt? When did that even happen?”
“It’s not a big deal,” Izuku said quietly. “I’m sorry for talking about death
that much. I just don’t see it as much of a big deal, you know?”
“You don’t see death as a big deal,” Shinsou said flatly. “Are you serious.”
“Um, yes? I’m not scared of death or anything. I mean it happens but you just…
move on?”
Izuku squirmed as Shinsou and Ochako shared a look over his head. His stomach
sank and he had a sickly feeling in his bones. He wanted to go, right then,
just get up and walk away and go find Kacchan and forget that he’d said
anything at all that had his friends looking like thatat each other. “Look, can
we talk about something else? Please? How are you two doing?”
“I’ve got a few burns still,” Ochako said with a frown, “But Recovery Girl says
I probably won’t scar from anything.”
“I got mild hypothermia from how long it took to get the ice off of me,”
Shinsou said. “Hence the sweater.”
Izuku nodded, now glad that he hadn’t stopped by the vending machine he’d seen
on his way there. Shinsou probably couldn’t have anything cold to drink for a
while. “I’m glad you two are going to be okay.”
Ochako sighed, leaning back in the bed. “I think I’m going to stay here for a
while longer. It’s Momo and Tokoyami who are fighting next, right?”
“Yeah, and then Tetsutetsu and Kirishima,” Izuku said, “After that is Ojiro and
Kacchan.”
“...I feel kind of bad for Ojiro.” Shinsou said, looking off to the side.
“Bakugou is not going to go easy on him.”
“Kacchan never goes easy on anyone,” Izuku said. “At least, not in a fight,” he
amended after a thoughtful second.
There was a pause. Izuku could almost hear Shinsou debating whether or not to
ask the question that next came out of his mouth.
“What about other times?” Shinsou asked. Color began to rise on his cheeks and
he didn’t quite meet Izuku’s gaze. “I was there when he dragged you out of your
classroom that one day, remember? When he said he was going to, ah, fuck you on
the beach?”
Izuku wrinkled his nose. He hatedsand still. “Shaved ice is a poor trade for
getting sand everywhere,” he muttered to himself.
“Wait,” Ochako sat up suddenly, “Wait a minute. Are you saying he was serious?”
“You thought he was joking?” Shinsou asked. “He hardly seems the joking type.”
“But that’s- Izuku!” Ochako hissed, “You’re having sex?With Bakugou?”
Izuku flushed, “I um…” He’d never been asked so blatantly. Even his mother had
turned a blind eye to it, especially ever since the whole incident at the
school infirmary with her. “Yes?”
Ochako made a wordless sound of anger as she covered her face with her hands,
“You’ve got to be kidding me! He’s such a piece of shit! I can’t understand why
you’d be- be kissing him let alone doing that with him!”
“Really?” Shinsou asked, “I get it.” The way his eyes widened immediately told
Izuku that Shinsou regretted saying that. Ochako lowered her hands, staring at
him in horror.
“No,” she breathed, “What? WHAT?”
“Children,” Recovery Girl interrupted, walking over. Her cane made a soft
tapping sound on the tile. “You all sound very excited over something, but I
must remind you that you’re in the infirmary so you must be quiet. If you
cannot be, I’m going to have to remove your visitors.”
Izuku sat there for a tense minute as Ochako nodded and made an apology.
Recovery Girl didn’t immediately leave, though, just turned to look at Izuku
with knowing eyes. Izuku shuddered, suddenly feeling cornered. He wanted to
crawl away from that gaze and find Katsuki. Curled up under Katsuki’s arm,
Izuku didn’t have anything to fear. “Y-yes?” he asked, stumbling over his
words.
“I would like to suggest that any students that are engaging in sexual activity
at this age should do so safely and with the understanding of what that
activity can lead to,” Recovery Girl said, her hands folded together on top of
her cane. Izuku felt his face start to turn pinker and pinker as she went on.
“There are plenty of ways that one can be injured doing something like that
and, really, it is an activity that shouldn’t be engaged in without the full
understanding of the consequences. Pregnancy. Disease. Trauma. You are still
hormonal teenagers, so it is to be expected that you may fool around a little,
but you are also young heroes. You have a responsibility and a respectability
that goes beyond your own selves but reflects back on the school as a whole.”
Izuku’s shoulders slumped lower and lower as he tried, desperately, to melt
into his chair. He couldn’t even get the satisfaction that he wasn’t the only
one mortified. Shinsou’s face was as red as Izuku felt his own was and Ochako
had covered hers with her hands.
“If, at any point, you feel  pressured to engage in such activity against your
will, you aren’t alone in dealing with that,” Recovery Girl looked directly at
Izuku, making him wish that he, like Usagi, could become invisible to the
majority of the people he knew. “You can get help to get out of an abusive
relationship. Even if you feel like there is no escape, that may not be true.
There is always something that can be done.”
Izuku locked eyes with Recovery Girl, who seemed to never blink, who seemed to
be utterly serious.
It was just too much. Way too much.
“I need to go,” Izuku said all in a rush. “Sorry, I- just- Goodbye!” He stood
up, on the chair he was sitting in, and jumped, using just an ounce of his
quirk to carry him over Recovery Girl’s head and to the door. Once at it, he
flung it open and fled from the infirmary.
Izuku ran blindly, nearly bumped into someone, shouted out an apology and kept
on running. He wouldn’t feel normal again until he had Katsuki at his side, of
that he was certain.
***** stoke the furnace *****
Izuku found Katsuki leaving the stands and, in his rush, nearly crashed into
him.
“Kacchan!” He exclaimed, “I- I- Um-”
Katsuki grabbed him by both arms to stabilize him. “Come on, I’m going to one
of the prep rooms because my match is next. You’re coming with me.”
Izuku nodded. Katsuki dragged him away by the hand. He found the first empty
room and flicked on the lights with one hand. Izuku shut the door behind them
and wished that he could lock it too.
“I was about to come get you out of the infirmary,” Katsuki said, looking Izuku
over, “What the fuck happened?”
It all came bubbling out of Izuku’s mouth at that question. Izuku gave the play
by play of the conversation, gestures included, while Katsuki listened. He
ended up standing with his hand covering his eyes.
Sometimes, Katsuki was very grateful for Izuku’s incredible brain. He had a
damn good memory and was intelligent in many of the same ways that Katsuki was.
Other times, Katsuki couldn’t believe that that same brain could stumble so
poorly through on single conversation. He just didn’t understand how Izuku,
kind and sort of naive kid that he was, was so blind as to what not to say.
By the end of it, Katsuki wanted to get a fucking leash for Izuku, so that he
didn’t wander off and make trouble again.It was always when they were out of
sight of each other that the worst shit happened. He knew that would only end
up feeding the suspicion of Izuku’s “friends” though. No matter how tantalizing
the idea was to strap a cord to Izuku’s neck that he could yank on to get his
attention, or make him follow or, if it pulled tight enough, shut him the fuck
up-
“I’m sorry Kacchan, I don’t know why they asked those things,” Izuku
apologized, soft and sweet, with his big green eyes looking up at Izuku.
“Especially since they always get angry or weird after they ask.” He looked
properly apologetic and lost, twisting his hands together in front of himself
as he spoke.
“They want to find a reason to keep us apart,” Katsuki said, “Like my mom and
the whole expelling you thing. They look at us and don’t like what they see so
they think there’s something wrong and they want to fix it. They want to tear
us apart because they think we’re bad for each other.” He bit his lip.
Sometimes he could see it, what they meant, but he didn’t think it was thatbad.
Not bad enough to make them leave each other alone forever.
“That would be horrible,” Izuku whispered, visibly shuddering, “To- to get
taken from you-” He hugged himself, fingers digging into his arms. “Kacchan, I
can’t lose you…”
Katsuki took a step forward. He cupped Izuku’s cheeks in his hands, ran his
thumbs over Izuku’s cheeks, and drew him close with the slightest touch. Izuku
willingly leaned in and turned his head how Katsuki directed. Katsuki pressed a
soft kiss to his lips. “I know. You’re a goddamn mess without me, Deku. I don’t
want to be taken from you, either. I made my promise and I’m going to fucking
keep it.”
Izuku reached out and gripped Katsuki by the side, fingers curling in his
shirt. “That’s not the only thing keeping you with me, right? You love me too?
Kacchan, you need me too, right?”
“What’s all this fucking insecurity?” Katsuki asked with a frown. “Of course I
do, Deku. There’s no one else that’s at my level, no one who can do what you
do. I need you. I wantyou.” He yanked Izuku in close again, his breath ghosting
over those soft lips, “I’m gonna fucking keep you by my side forever, so I have
you there whenever I need you for anything. Understand?”
“Yes, Kacchan,” Izuku breathed before leaning in and closing the distance
between them. He gave Katsuki an eager kiss, tugging them close with a quick
yank. Katsuki turned their kiss into something just shy of painful as he bit
Izuku’s lip hard and pulled on it.
Izuku was the one who urged Katsuki backward, though, moving him until his back
hit the wall. Katsuki hit it with a small grunt and retaliated by grabbing a
fistful of Izuku’s hair and yanking on it. Izuku let his head be pulled back,
his chin lifting, his neck bared for Katsuki.
Despite the fact that they were in the middle of a filmed, nationally televised
event, Katsuki dipped his head down, put his mouth on Izuku’s neck and bit.
Hard. Izuku groaned as he did, his hips rocking forward to grind against
Katsuki.
“Kacchan,” Izuku groaned as Katsuki let up after a few seconds, only to move
his mouth down lower and bite again. “Kacchan, please.”
Katsuki dragged his teeth over Izuku’s skin, leaving behind a red mark that was
already starting to bruise. He panted. He grinned at Izuku. “Please what, Deku?
You’ve got to learn how to beg specifically,or else how the fuck am I going to
know what the fuck you want me to do to you?”
Izuku bit his abused bottom lip, cheeks flushing. Katsuki adored that
expression, needy and ashamed at once, and rewarded Izuku for giving it to him
with a roll of his hips. Izuku’s eyelids fluttered shut and he let out a soft
moan.
“Well? What do you want?”
“Kacchan,” Izuku whispered, leaning in. “Will you choke me again? Like you did
our first time?”
Katsuki blinked. “Seriously?”
Izuku nodded. His blush colored not only his cheeks now, but the tops of his
ears as well. He looked up at Izuku through those long lashes and added,
“Please?”
Katsuki licked his lips. He slid his hand down out of Izuku’s hair and to his
throat, “If that’s what you want,” he said, “All you have to do is ask, Deku.
I’ll fucking give you anything.”
Izuku sucked in a sharp breath as Katsuki tightened his grip. Suddenly the
hands that held onto Katsuki did so in need for support rather than to just
hold onto Katsuki. Katsuki almost immediately let up his hold, muttered curses
under his breath, and bodily shoved Izuku around so they switched positions.
With Izuku’s back to the wall, Katsuki could hold him by the throat better. He
squeezed, hard, nails biting into skin, arms shaking with exertion. The harder
Katsuki pressed, however, the harder Izuku pressed against him. He ground his
hips up against Katsuki, already getting hard.
Katsuki watched Izuku’s reactions with wide eyes, at first, pulling back so he
could see the desperate way Izuku’s body reacted- nails digging into the wall,
hips rising off the wall, head back, eyes closed.  Then he began to grin.
He relaxed his grip, giving Izuku some air. “You really fucking like that,
don’t you Deku?”
Izuku’s head bobbed. He couldn’t speak, only gasp for breath.
Katsuki was about to go in for another press when there was a knock at the
door.
Spitting out a curse, he turned and shouted, “Who the fuck is it?”
“Bakugou Katsuki, it’s time for your match,” said a voice through the door.
“Are you prepared?”
Half hard from teasing Izuku and frustrated that he couldn’t continue, Katsuki
gritted his teeth and shouted, “Yeah I’m fucking prepared. I’ll be right the
fuck out there.”
Annoyed, he let go of Izuku roughly, “Son of a fucking bitch, talk about shitty
timing.”
Izuku blinked slowly at him. One hand rubbed at his neck. The other braced him
against the wall. He trembled slightly, from head to toe.
“You really fucking like that,” Katsuki said, eyes catching on the front of
Izuku’s pants, where he could see the outline of his hardening cock. “Want me
to do it some more, later?”
Izuku nodded. “Yes please,” he rasped.
Katsuki smirked. “Sure thing, Deku. I’ll give you what you want, so long as you
ask me nicely.”
Izuku, flushed, nodded again. Wordlessly, he reached out for Katsuki, who
grabbed his hand and pulled him off the wall. Izuku took a stumbling step but
then steadied himself. Katsuki looked him over one more time, regretting that
he didn’t at least have a few more minutes to reduce Izuku into a trembling
mess.
After his next match,Katsuki promised himself. There would be time then,
between Izuku’s next match and Katsuki’s, there would be plenty of time.
 
 
===============================================================================
 
 
It was an uneven match from the very beginning.
Bakugou came stalking out onto the field like a tiger primed for a fight,
ravenous and eager to get it over with. Ojiro had come walking out with his
shoulders squared and face determined, a man ready for battle.
Everyone knew, though, in a fight between a man and a tiger, the man only won
if he had tricks up his sleeve and Ojiro had nothing but his wits and his
fists.
The shouts of encouragement, directed from his classmates to Ojiro, were
meaningless. The cries of outrage against Bakugou were even more so. Ojiro
might need the support of others to bolster himself in a difficult fight but
Bakugou…
Shouto’s eyes flicked off the arena long enough to find Midoriya, sitting near
the front of the stands.
Bakugou only needed Midoriya’s support and already knew that he had it.
If there were any two that were a perfect balance for each other, it was those
two. Sure, Shouto saw what most of his classmates and teachers saw- Bakugou’s
unapologetically crass and loud behavior, the way he steamrolled over everyone
else, including Midoriya, how Midoriya buckled under Bakugou’s declarations,
time and time again, how he was dragged about, or flat out ordered but…
Shouto had a feeling he was one of the only ones who saw the way Midoriya
glanced to Bakugou just before Bakugou lost his temper, loudly and
distractingly. Or the way that Bakugou shut right up when Midoriya spoke
quietly to him, on more than one occasion. Or the bruises that Bakugou bore,
shaped like fingers at his shoulders, or fists on his arms, or the poorly
bandaged claw marks that (upon hearing about Midoriya’s strange ghost monster
made much more sense) he had from to time.
Bakugou went all out against everyone all the time because he trained with
Midoriya- and whatever it was that triggered Midoriya’s healing ability didn’t
change the fact that it was a complete regeneration. With someone like that to
spar against, over and over, it was no wonder Bakugou had one gear:
Overwhelming.
Ojiro, though he put on a good show, never stood a chance.
Shouto winced slightly while the rest of the students on his row reeled back,
gasping in shock as Bakugou threw Ojiro hard enough to crack concrete beneath
him. Ojiro rolled to his side, but didn’t- possibly couldn’t- get back to his
feet.
Bakugou lifted one hand up into the air, the closed fist of victory. His head
turned towards the audience and Shouto didn’t have to guess who he was looking
towards.
Midoriya was clapping in approval. Bakugou had pleased his other half.
Good thing I’m facing them one at a time, Shouto thought as he watched Bakugou
leave the arena. Together, they would be impossible with Midoriya’s
recklessness, strength and healing factor combined with Bakugou’s tactics and
skill… I’d have no choice but to use both of my quirks, just to keep them at
bay long enough to stop them.
He closed his left hand as a fist. He could feel the heat under his skin and
had to breathe in and out, slow and deep, to calm himself down.
This is just one more thing, Shouto told himself, one more thing on my path to
getting rid of him, once and for all.
Despite the anxiety that crawled up and down Shouto’s spine, he felt excited as
well.
If Bakugou could go all out against Midoriya and Midoriya could walk away from
him…
Didn’t that mean that Shouto could do the same?
***** another fire reference *****
Toshinori knocked lightly on the infirmary door to announce himself and then
stepped in. He had a little more difficulty walking around behind the scenes
when he was more skeleton than man, but Chiyo knew him and his situation well.
She had to, being the one who had decided to oversee his health.
He’d heard word that she wanted to speak to him so he’d come quickly, anxious
not to miss Midoriya’s fight against Iida. Finding Chiyo sitting and speaking
with a stranger he didn’t recognize, gave Toshinori pause. He let the door shut
slowly behind himself as Chiyo nodded to him.
“I’m glad you could be here, Toshinori,” Chiyo said, hands folded together in
her lap. “I would have preferred to have both you and Aizawa, but he’s busy
with the announcements still.”
As Toshinori approached, the stranger stood. He was incredibly tall, perhaps
the same height as Toshinori was when he was All Might, and just as broad
shouldered. Toshinori blinked in surprise at the man who towered over even him,
holding out a large hand to shake. He shook the man’s hand, greeting him with a
bob of his head, “Toshinori Yagi,” he said, “A pleasure.”
“Freecs Gomiko,” the man replied with a bright smile, “The pleasure is mine.”
His hand swallowed up Toshinori’s easily, and the large man nodded in return.
Despite the fact that he wore a nice suit and tie, Toshinori had the strangest
feeling like he was speaking to another Pro Hero. Perhaps it was just the size
of the man- easily on par with All Might’s form- or it was the confidence that
the man carried, but either way, he found it amusing.
“Dr. Freecs is the gentleman that Aizawa suggested at the request of Bakugou’s
parents. He’s worked with troubled individuals before at his practice,” Chiyo
said, gesturing to the man as he took his seat again. Toshinori nodded, sitting
opposite him.
“I’m a practicing psychologist,” Freecs said. “Aizawa suggested I come and
observe the boys in question during this festival to see what I can do to help
them. If, in fact, anything can be done to help them.”
“You pass judgment too soon,” Chiyo said with a little frown. “You’ve barely
seen them in action at all!”
“I’m keeping an open mind, Shuuzenji,” Freecs said to the woman. He briefly ran
a hand through his short hair. “But that does not change the fact that
sometimes it’s obvious what is going on.”
“And what do you see is going on?” Toshinori asked.
Freecs gave Toshinori a wry smile. “Obsession. It’s deeply rooted and
reciprocated, which I suppose is what keeps it stable,” Chiyo snorted at this
but Freecs ignored her and continued, “but it’s obsession nonetheless.”
“It is  hardly  stable,” Chiyo said, “I spoke to their classmates earlier.
They’re violent towards other, aggressive even with each other and have no
sense of limits.”
“Everything I’ve seen so far suggests a balance of power between the
relationship,” Freecs said, “Neither one of them completely dominates the
other, making the obsession and whatever caused it and feeds it, balanced.
Notice I didn’t exactly say it was a  good thing.  You can have plenty of
people who are completely stable but are violent. If they justify their reasons
well enough and have no reason to second-guess themselves, even the most
vicious of criminal can be stable.”
Toshinori thought of the older man in the hat. How calm he had been. How he had
approached Nana time and again with a new plan, a new goal, and steadily worked
towards achieving her destruction. He shuddered, running a hand over his mouth
and down his throat. “Please,” he said, breaking into their quiet argument,
“What can be done for the boys?”
Freecs sighed. “I won’t know for sure until I can sit down and talk to them,
but at least I have an idea of how to approach them.”
“Getting them to sit down and trust an adult will be incredibly difficult,”
Chiyo said, “Midoriya flees from a conversation at the drop of a hat and
Bakugou will attack when cornered.”
“Well, my office is connected to a rather good doctor,” Freecs said, “And you
won’t believe how many couches I go through in a month. If they’ll sit for even
half an hour with me, I’ll have a better idea of what’s going on and what can
be done.”
Toshinori nodded. “Is there anything that I can do to assist you? Should I talk
to the boys? Or maybe just Midoriya?”
“Shuuzenji says you have good rapport with Midoriya.” Freecs said, leaning back
in his chair and gesturing with one hand. “If you could talk to him, convince
him at least to meet with me, with Bakugou there, then that would be extremely
helpful. Don’t mention, at any point, that you want me to try and separate
them.”
“Of course,” Toshinori said. He still got the occasional glare from Bakugou
because the afternoon they had taken Midoriya away from him during class.
“I don’t want them to go into this defensive,” Freecs said. “I might not even
attempt to separate them at all, depending on how deep this goes.”
Toshinori winced a little but did his best to cover it up by shifting in his
seat. He had a feeling that the boys’ relationship went further and hand deeper
roots than he had yet seen. They were too bonded, too close, for it to be
anything different.
He had never once seen them fight seriously over anything, and even their small
squabbles ended quickly. In fact, they jumped to protect each other without
hesitation, rising higher than they could before if it was for the sake of the
other.
There  were  good qualities to their relationship. It was just that the bad
ones…. Well, they were  very  bad.
“I’ll speak to Midoriya,” Toshinori said. “And try to convince him.”  Perhaps
if he suggested it privately, as a mentor to his student, Midoriya would
listen, would at least try the therapy. If Bakugou were there as well… That
might be trouble.
Toshinori wouldn’t say the boy held grudges but he did not easily forgive
wrongdoing. If Freecs could make a good impression on the two of them right off
the bat, he might very well succeed in getting them to talk.
At least, that was what Toshinori hoped for.
“I want to continue observing the two of them for the remainder of the event,”
Freecs said, “We don’t need to add extra stress to their situation right now.”
He gave a little chuckle, “I hear they both have the chance at fighting against
Endeavor’s son or possibly each other.”
“Of course,” Toshinori said. “Have either one of them noticed you yet?”
“Midoriya ran past me earlier, on my way to the infirmary, but I doubt he
really noticed me,” Freecs said. “He was in quite the rush.”
“That was the other thing I wanted to talk to you about,” Chiyo said, frowning
at Toshinori.
Freecs stood, interrupting her, “I have heard this bit before, so if you don’t
mind. I’m going to go back out to the stands. I don’t want to miss both of
their second matches, and this one promises to actually be a fight.” He excused
himself from the infirmary and for a moment, Toshinori wished he could leave
too. Whatever Chiyo had to tell him about Midoriya, he was not exactly thrilled
to hear.
Still, he turned to listen to her, hands clasped together in his lap, ever
attentive to his elders.
 
 
===============================================================================
 
 
Smoke rose from the arena, coming from the engines of Iida’s legs. He and Izuku
were right at the edge of the field, bare inches from the out of bounds ring.
They stood facing each other, palm to palm, fingers laced, as they struggled
against each other. Iida had height and size on Izuku, and though he’d used his
speed to get them to that edge, he could go no further.
Izuku was buried to his ankles in the concrete, having dug his feet into the
ground to keep from going out of bounds.
He grinned at Iida as the smoke cleared.
Iida struggled, trying to let go of his hands. Izuku tightened his grip.
“Don’t worry,” Izuku said, “Recovery Girl is good at her job. This’ll only hurt
for a little while.”
“Midoriya-” Iida said, eyes widening behind his glasses.
Izuku snapped his hands forwards, his quirk strengthening his hands, arms, and
fingers. Iida immediately dropped to his knees, crying out in pain. Izuku let
go of Iida’s hands, fingers crunched, wrists broken, and reached for his shirt.
Iida flinched away from Izuku, but not far enough away to escape him. Izuku
grabbed the cloth and turned carefully, dragging Iida over the line. As the
match was declared over, Izuku freed his legs from the concrete shaking off the
dust as he did so.
Officials of the tournament came out to remove Iida and take him to the
infirmary. Izuku shook out his hands and watched with a little frown. Iida, it
seems, had a low pain tolerance.
Izuku had similarly broken his hands and wrists before but didn’t recall
sobbing in agony the way Iida was. Then again, perhaps Iida hadn’t broken very
many bones.
Izuku was pretty sure he’d broken most of his at least twice at this point.
Declared the victor of his match, Izuku left to go find Katsuki in the stands.
***** where there's smoke *****
“C’mon, we only got a little while,” Katsuki said urgently, tugging on Izuku’s
hand.
They moved quickly away from the main part of the stadium, not sneaking through
the halls but trying to keep quiet. Between matches, they were  supposed  to be
watching the others, but Katsuki wasn’t about to start obeying  that  shitty
rule. Not when he had better things he could be doing.
They rounded a corner at a trot, headed towards one of the empty rooms that
Katsuki remembered when Katsuki came face to face with an unwanted
interruption.
Uraraka saw them the moment they turned the corner. She lifted one hand,
pointing, and said, “There you are! Izuku!”
Izuku pulled back, Katsuki felt in the shift of the grip of his hand, and so he
stepped a little to the side to become a barrier between them. Izuku fisted his
free hand in the back of Katsuki’s shirt, hiding behind him.
Uraraka wasn’t pleased and she wasn’t alone. Shinsou trailed behind her as she
stalked forward and planted herself face to face with Katsuki. “Hey,” She said,
“I need to borrow him.” She pointed at Izuku again. Looking pointedly at him,
she added, “ Someone  has an apology to make.”
“Fuck off,” Katsuki snarled, leaning down into her space. “Deku has nothing to
fucking apologize for.”
“He broke Iida’s hands,” Uraraka said. She held her ground, not moving back
even a little as Katsuki got in her face. In fact, she only prodded him in the
chest with a finger. “I don’t know who taught your social skills, but for
normal people  breaking someone’s hands, breaking the hands of your classmate?
That’s fucked up.”
Katsuki’s fingers began to ache from Izuku’s tight grip around them. He
squeezed back, “It was during a fighting competition and fucking Recovery Girl
is on hand to heal shit. There was a goddamn announcement with the rules to not
fucking hold back as long as it wasn’t lethal! Deku didn’t do anything wrong.”
“He went way too far,” Uraraka insisted. “He hurt Iida badly. He should
apologize to him.”
Katsuki grit his teeth. His hand was beginning to go numb in Izuku’s grasp. “He
didn’t do it maliciously. He did it to win his match.”
“An apology would help Midoriya look more sympathetic than he seems right now,”
Shinsou said suddenly. He stood off to the side, watching them with his brows
lifted. Katsuki turned his glare on him and got a slight shrug that pulled at
the sweater he wore. “I’m not sure how aware you two are at how people see him,
but Midoriya doesn’t seem to care about the safety of his classmates. First
with the charge and now with the broken hands…” He held up his hands,
shrugging.
“But I helped Hatsume,” Izuku whispered, “I didn’t have to do that. I could’ve
disregarded her wants and toss her from the ring.”
“You didn’t fuck up,” Katsuki said, twisting to look at Izuku. The crestfallen
expression he wore made Katsuki’s heart sink. “Hey, listen to me.”
“Would it be okay if I apologized?” Izuku asked. He had his head ducked, his
eyes on the ground. “I did what I did to end the match and incapacitate him,
proving that I could do the same to villains in a reasonably short amount of
time. But Iida…”
Katsuki cupped Izuku’s cheek with his free hand. His fingers slid easily over
the smooth skin of his cheeks and into his hair behind his ear as Katsuki’s
hand moved back. “If you want to apologize, then we can go do that. But only if
you want it. Don’t make your decision based on what they think you should do or
what a bunch of shitty, unimportant people think about you. Everyone out in
that stadium hardly matters compared to you.”
Izuku’s eyes were shining with tears when he met Katsuki’s gaze. Katsuki sucked
in a sharp breath at the sight of them. Izuku’s tears were far rarer than they
used to be and Katsuki always felt like he’d been kicked by a horse when Izuku
pinned him with that gaze.
“Fuck,” Katsuki breathed out. His hand ran to the back of Izuku’s head and he
brought him closer. Pressing a kiss to Izuku’s temple, Katsuki guided Izuku in
to rest his head against his shoulder. “If you want to apologize, we’ll go do
that. It’s fine. I’m not gonna be all that pissed if we don’t get to fuck
around for a little while longer. After all, you gotta keep your damn energy up
to fuck over the ice bitch.”
Wordlessly, Izuku nodded. His hair brushed Katsuki’s jaw and neck, making him
shiver slightly. Katsuki kissed the side of his head again before Izuku pulled
back. He sniffled, blinking away his tears. Katsuki squeezed Izuku’s hand
gently, silently grateful that Izuku had stopped crushing his own fingers
together.
“He’s in the infirmary, right?” Izuku asked Uraraka, who had relaxed her stance
somewhat and nodded to him.
“C’mon, Kacchan,” Izuku said still speaking quietly. He tugged on Katsuki’s
hand. Just like that, they switched positions with Izuku leading the way down
the hallway and Katsuki trailing half a step behind and besides, fingers
tangled together.
As they walked, Shinsou asked Uraraka, “Whose match are we missing right now?”
“I think it’s Todoroki against the girl from class B,” Uraraka said, “Shiozaki
or something?”
“Ah,” Shinsou said. Katsuki glanced over his shoulder. Funny how one little
cavalry battle could make the oddest couple into friends. Shinsou met his gaze
for a brief moment before he averted  his gaze and cleared his throat. “Are you
two okay with missing his match? Don’t you need to see what he’s capable of?”
“Half-face only uses half of his shit,” Katsuki replied with a shrug of one
shoulder. “He’s strong, but kind of predictable.”
“What, really?” Uraraka asked, “How do you plan on defeating him?”
Katsuki gestured towards Izuku, “I’m never going to see him, right Deku?”
Izuku paused. They were ten feet or so from the infirmary door and it was clear
from his blank and then confused expression he’d been thinking about Iida
beyond the door and not at all about their conversation. “What did you ask?”
“Bakugou says he’s never going to face Todoroki,” Uraraka said, “That you’re
going to defeat him. How are you going to do that?”
Izuku worried his bottom lip with his teeth and then mumbled, “I’ve got a plan.
Hopefully, I won’t have to apologize to him afterward.”
Uraraka’s lips pressed into a thin line. Katsuki shot her a glare and then
distracted Izuku from his thoughts by pinching his cheek. “Hey, stop thinking
about fucking up.  You won’t fuck up. Now let’s go in there and get this shit
over with, okay?”
Izuku nodded.
 
 
===============================================================================
 
 
Hitoshi had been in and out of the infirmary several times already today,
though, technically, only once for himself. He was the last of the four of them
to go in this time, and so he was the one to catch the door and gently let it
shut behind himself. Midoriya went nervously up to the bed where Iida sat, his
hands and wrists bandaged up.
Surprisingly, it was Ochako who stood at his side during his apology. Bakugou
lingered near the door, leaning against the wall with his arms folded over his
chest.
Not wanting to be in the way, and only there to see what happened, if anything,
Hitoshi ended up by the wall next to Bakugou. As Midoriya bowed and apologized
and wrung his hands together in front of himself, Hitoshi found that he kept
looking to Bakugou.
He still remembered the way he’d stuck his foot in his mouth earlier when he’d
admitted that he could see why Midoriya would date and have sex with Bakugou.
Ochako had grilled him about it once they were alone again and both Midoriya
and Recovery Girl had gone.
Admitting that he found possibly one of the angriest, most arrogant, most crass
individuals he’d ever met in his life to also be instinctively attractive to a
new and somewhat pushy friend was not  exactly  what he’d had in mind when the
day started. Add to that the fact that they now stood side by side, and he
looked, well, not totally at ease but at least  less  angry…
“What,” Bakugou asked, eyes narrowing. His voice was low, though, so as not to
disrupt the others. “The fuck are you looking at?”
Hitoshi shrugged, glad that he had his hands behind his back so he didn’t do
something stupid like fiddle with the sleeves of the sweater or scratch at his
skin. It was so easy to tell when Bakugou was looking at him, those eyes
burning a hole in his skin as if he were holding a burning coal against
Hitoshi’s flesh. “Nothing,” he said just as quietly.
Bakugou glared at him harder, as if able to somehow tell that Hitoshi wasn’t
telling him everything.
Hitoshi had just been looking at Bakugou, at the side of his face, taking in
the way he looked at Midoriya, the way he looked when he was sort of at rest.
The lines and wrinkles had been smoothed away for a short amount of time and
the fury in his eyes had dampened to something else.
Now, though, that angry light was back and Hitoshi found himself swallowing
hard over the lump in his throat.
He jolted when Bakugou reached out and plucked a thread from the sleeve of his
sweater. “The fuck are you wearing this shit for?”
“Mild hypothermia,” Hitoshi replied as evenly as he could. Bakugou ran his
fingers down the sleeve of the sweater, which, Hitoshi knew already, was pretty
damn soft. Ochako had rubbed her cheek against his shoulder for a good minute
when she’d discovered it. “From Todoroki’s ice.”
Bakugou nodded. He pulled his hand back, folding his arms over his chest again,
and said, “You nearly got the little fuck. If his quirk was a little less
versatile, you would have had handed him his ass.”
Hitoshi blinked. Was that praise? Again? First from the cavalry fight, which
Hitoshi understood he’d done well in the heat of things, but now this? What the
hell?
“Um. Thanks.” Hitoshi looked down nervously. “I don’t know if I would have made
it past that, though. Once people know my quirk, they can usually keep their
mouths shut and resist it.”
“Eh,” Bakugou said, “If you’d made it past the second round and against Deku,
you could have had a shot. He’s curious about stupid shit like quirks and
whatever. Plus he doesn’t always know when to keep his damn mouth shut. Just
talks and talks in front of whoever the fuck is listening.”
Hitoshi couldn’t help himself. “What,” he said dryly, looking back up at
Bakugou, “like you’re not doing the same now?”
Bakugou blinked at him, once, before lifting his hand up. Hitoshi expected a
bit of fire, a curse,  something  threatening, but what he got was a shove to
his shoulder that only sent him sliding a little bit. He regained his balance
quickly and felt heat rising on his cheeks as Bakugou said, “Shut the fuck up,
ya damn moron. What have you got in your ears? Fucking cotton? Didn’t you hear
Deku before? He said you’re good, so  you’re fucking good. I don’t have to like
all the damn little pebbles he wants to make friends with, but at least you’re
semi-fucking-decent.”
He scoffed, pushing off the wall and adding under his breath, “Like I’m going
to forget a ballsy fucker like you, fuck. What a damn idiot.”
“I- What?” Hitoshi gaped but Bakugou was apparently done with him.
“Hey!” Bakugou shouted, “Fuckers, are you done with this sob fest or what?” He
walked up, throwing his arm around Midoriya’s shoulders and hauling him against
his side. Hitoshi blinked, noticing for the first time that there  were  an
awful lot of tears coming down.
Ochako scrubbed at her face with one hand and glared at Bakugou for
interrupting them. But before she could really argue, the door to the infirmary
opened again and a stressed official poked her head in. “Thank god,” she said,
“Here you are. Uraraka, your match with Tokoyami is going to start soon. You
need to go to a prep room!”
Ochako’s jaw snapped shut. She nodded tightly and headed to the door. Hitoshi
met her gaze and gave her a slight smile. She gave him a thin one back but they
both knew she didn’t stand much of a chance. Tokoyami had swept the board with
everyone he’d faced off with already. He was definitely one of the powerhouses
of his class.
But if it hadn’t been him, it would have been Bakugou or Todoroki or Deku. Not
very fair, Hitoshi had told her, but she’s just shrugged and told him that few
things ever were very fair.
After Ochako left, Bakugou hauled Midoriya out the door after him, saying,
“Come on, we’re going to want to watch this shit and then my fucking match is
after it.”
“Okay Kacchan,” Izuku said before his voice cut off as the door shut.
Hitoshi blinked.
He looked over to Iida, who sat on the bed, looking surprised at him.
After a long moment of silence, Iida said, “That’s a nice sweater.”
“Thanks,” Hitoshi said. “I got it because of the ice.” He looked at Iida’s
hands. “Are you… going to be okay?”
“I am,” Iida said, “Thank you for your concern.”
They looked at each other silently a little longer before Hitoshi made a quiet
excuse and escaped the room. As he left, he could swear that Iida gave a sigh
of relief, just as happy to end the awkward conversation.
Hurrying, Hitoshi hoped he could get to the arena before Ochako’s match
started. He definitely wanted to see how that one, and the next match, turned
out.
***** incalescence *****
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes
A little bit of breeze stirred Ochako’s hair as she strode out of the tunnel
and into the arena.
It was the second time she walked out there, heart pounding in her chest, with
the bright overhead lights making the stone arena look bone white and the
indistinguishable cheering of the crowd turning into a dull roar in her ears.
Her gaze swept over the open area, to the arena wall, to the stadium seats
where she knew her class sat. Izuku was easy to pick out, short and dark
haired, sitting forward with his hands holding tightly onto his seat between
his knees. He was a sharp contrast to the boy next to him, his short spiky hair
and taller frame leaning back in his seat with his arms across his chest and
his legs crossed.
The rest of her class was there around them, except for Iida who was still in
the infirmary. She saw Mina and Tooru cheering, hands in the air, and hoped it
was for her that they cheered. Tsuyu gave her a thumbs up, which made Ochako
smile briefly.
As she reached her starting spot, Ochako took in a deep breath, held it for a
few seconds and then let it out, slowly.
Standing opposite was Tokoyami, one of the strongest fighters in their class.
His attention was on her. His shadow loomed over his shoulder, watching her as
well. He stood at the ready, hands at his sides.
Ochako bounced on her toes a little, half from nervous energy, half from
excitement. She had come so far. She couldn’t give up. Even if there was so
little chance she’d actually win against Tokoyami.
Crouching slightly, Ochako listened as Present Mic counted down the start of
their fight. If she didn’t take this as seriously as Tokoyami- If she didn’t
give this fight her all- If she didn’t-
“Fight!” Mic announced.
Ochako sprang into action, running towards Tokoyami. He brought an arm up
defensively. As she neared him, his shadow swept towards her, silent and quick.
She flinched instinctively as the shadow’s arms came at her, knowing that they
could so easily catch her and fling her off to the side. Biting the inside of
her cheek, Ochako braced herself for impact.
As the shadow hit her, two hands slamming into her side with the intent to send
her flying, Ochako grabbed onto it in turn. Her quirk activated once her
fingertips had touched the shadow that was solid in the moment of its attack.
Without gravity’s affect, the shadow had nothing supporting it’s shove against
Ochako except for Tokoyami several feet back.
Tokoyami staggered back, eyes widening as his shadow, effectively, bounced off
of Ochako. She was more solidly planted, feet firmly on the ground, gravity
holding her in place, while the weightless shadow didn’t have enough resistance
behind it.
Elbowing the shadowbird in the face, Ochako knocked him aside and ran past,
headed right for Tokoyami. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the shadow
circling around her. It quickly adjusted to its new weightless state. Tokoyami
shifted his stance, better supporting his companion.
Ochako went in swinging. Tokoyami caught her by the wrist, holding her hand out
wide. She brought up her knee, aiming for his side. Tokoyami twisted a foot
back. Ochako grinned.
She pressed her fingertips together, releasing the zero gravity effect on the
shadowbird.
Tokoyami let out a startled sound as he suddenly lurched to the side, pulled
again as his extended shadow became weighed down again. Ochako twisted her
wrist free. Her heel hit the ground. The sole of her shoe skidded slightly.
With an open palm, Ochako slapped Tokoyami across the face. Her quirk activated
the moment her fingertips touched his feathers. Simultaneously, Tokoyami’s
shadow struck her from behind.
Ochako stumbled forward, her shoulder knocking into Tokoyami and lifting him up
off the ground. Tokoyami held out his arms and legs, fighting to stay upright.
His shadow recoiled to a defensive position in front of him.
“Almost,” Ochako hissed to herself, her breath escaping in harsh pants. She had
done well so far, she knew that. Striking hard and striking fast, messing with
the balance of her opponent- Ochako had set up almost everything in order to
carry out her plan against Tokoyami.
“It’s not over yet,” Tokoyami said, his shadow spreading out between them. He
held out his hand, gripping onto part of his companion.
The shadowbird struck at her again, this time dodging her hands as she reached
for it. Ochako yelped in pain as scratches opened up along her arms and legs as
the shadow harried her. Ochako ducked and avoided the worst injuries as best as
she could, but she kept close enough that the shadowbird dove again and again
to lash at her.
She twisted away when the bird tried to grab her and pull, to bring Tokoyami
back to the ground. At one point the shadow had her by the back of her jacket.
She stripped it off her shoulders in seconds, leaving the bird angrily
squawking at her as she refused to help him bring Tokoyami down safely.
Every time the bird hit her, with every single strike, Tokoyami rose a little
higher into the air. With Tokoyami as the bird’s anchor, floating and
weightless, it had to strike harder on its own. The more force that it used
against Ochako, the more force was applied back up to Tokoyami, sending him
higher and higher.
After Tokoyami was a good twenty feet in the air, Ochako finally backed away.
Blood dripped from several slices all over her body, but she was grinning
despite the pain. Shadowbird followed after her as far as he could, a testament
to Tokoyami’s powerful quirk, but eventually it couldn’t reach her anymore.
Straightening up, Ochako cupped her hands around her mouth, “Hey, Tokoyami! I
got a question for you!”
Warily, he looked down at her. The feathers on his head were puffed out,
belying the calm way he replied to her, “What is it?”
“You’re kind of a bird, right?” She asked, “Did your parents ever teach you how
to fall?”
Tokoyami’s head pulled back, eyes narrowing in confusion.
Ochako pressed her fingertips together, turning off her quirk.
Tokoyami’s shout was brief as he fell. His shadow curled around him as he
tightened up instinctively to protect his head. With a thump, he hit the ground
on his side, bounced a little and rolled onto his back with a loud, painful
groan.
Ochako winced for him, but kept her distance. She knew his shadow’s range by
now and there was no way she was going to step close and check on him, not even
if she heard a few worrying cracks.
“I’ll take that as a no,” she said, almost to herself. Louder, she added, “The
key is to hit the ground and roll, Tokoyami. Rolling absorbs the momentum that
would hurt you if you try to stick the landing.” She gestured a roll out with
her hands and added, “It’s just simple physics…”
The referee began the count after a few more seconds and, again, Ochako was
declared the winner.
The moment that was announced, Ochako ran over to Tokoyami’s side and knelt
down. “Are you okay?” She asked worriedly. Her hands hovered in the air as she
was too hesitant to touch him.
Tokoyami groaned and nodded his head. “I’ll live.” He opened one eye and then
the other, looking seriously up at her. “...I underestimated your understanding
of the mechanics of your quirk as it is applied to other people. It was my
undoing.” He groaned and then said, closing his eyes, “I will not think so
poorly of you again, Uraraka.”
Ochako’s hand tightened into a fist that she pressed against her chest. It felt
like her ribs might crack themselves as her heart swelled inside of her. She
had won. Against  Tokoyami.
She backed away as the medics came and helped him off the arena. One of them
asked her if she was okay, but she could barely hear them from the heartbeat
rushing in her ears.
Ochako felt light as a cloud as she followed them out and she hadn’t even used
her quirk.
 
 
===============================================================================
 
 
Iida sat up sharply when Ochako was walked back into the infirmary. “Uraraka!”
He exclaimed. “What… What happened to you?”
Sheepishly, Ochako shrugged, “I’m okay. It’s just a lot of little scratches,
Iida. They only hurt a little bit!”
She hopped up on the bed she’d been in only a little while before. On her other
side, Tokoyami already occupied a bed, wincing as he sat back. Recovery Girl
fussed over him, doing a quick examination so she could accurately heal him.
“I do apologize for all of that,” Tokoyami said quietly.
“It’s okay, really. They’re not very deep! I mean, I did my best to avoid
actually being hurt, but some marks were unavoidable, you know?” Ochako laughed
it off, waving her hand to Tokoyami. She winced as the movement pulled some of
the scratches on her arms but played it off as best as she could. Still, Iida
looked at her with concern.
Recovery Girl clicked her tongue as she came to Ochako’s side. “First acid and
now this! When they tell you kids that you shouldn’t hold back, that doesn’t
mean to throw yourself recklessly into battle!” She gestured for Ochako to dip
her head down. When the girl did so, Recovery Girl kissed her forehead to give
her a healing boost.
Ochako giggled at the tingly feeling and marveled at how her deeper wounds
closed up.
“I’ll bandage up the rest of these,” the old woman said, tapping Ochako’s
forearm with one finger. “You hold still.” She wandered off to get the
bandages.
“Kirishima is next, correct?” Iida asked, “Against Bakugou?”
“Right,” Ochako said.
“... it is a good thing there are five beds in here, then,” Tokoyami said.
“Oh come on,” Ochako said, “Kirishima is like, armor man! Bakugou can’t blast
his way through that thick skin!”
“Maybe not the first time but who do you think can last the longest, Kirishima
and his defense or Bakugou and his attack?” Tokoyami asked. He sounded better
already, though he still leaned back in his bed, hands folded over his chest.
“His quirk comes from his sweat, it doesn’t exactly dry up. Kirishima’s already
had a pretty intense fight against Tetsutetsu where he used a lot of his quirk
to keep up with that steel kid.”
Recovery Girl returned with bandages and a sanitizing solution. “Bakugou is the
young man who came in a little while ago with those others you brought in,
right Uraraka?”
“Yes,” Ochako said. She held out her arm so it could get properly bandaged. “He
and Hitoshi were by the door. Didn’t he get hurt during his last match? Did he
not come to the infirmary on his own?”
“He did not, though he certainly did look a little rough around the edges,
didn’t he?” The nurse said. She finished up quickly with one arm and went to
the other. “Now, you need to be careful with these bandages for at least a
little while. You shouldn’t bleed too badly if you don’t push yourself, young
lady.”
Ochako nodded. Despite her confident words for Kirishima, she had a feeling in
her gut that Bakugou would win. Bakugou was too dangerous, too good, to lose to
Kirishima.
Which meant she was going to have to fight him. Which meant that she had to
come up with some sort of plan…
Ochako squeezed her eyes shut, wincing in pain as Recovery Girl cleaned one of
the cuts on her cheek. “Ah, this is a bit of a tricky one,” the elderly woman
said, “It seems that the cut caught your last bandage from young Ashido’s acid.
You’ll want to be careful and keep this one covered. It seems to be having some
difficulty healing with the use of my quirk.”
Ochako tenderly pressed against the bandage, frowning. “It’s not healing
right?”
“Oh it’s fine, it’s fine! It’s just taking a little longer. It happens
sometimes. My quirk accelerates healing but when there are so many wounds, it
tends to target the more populated areas and you only got this one scratch
here.” Recovery Girl pat her on the knee before moving away. “You’ll be fine
soon enough. Just sit back and rest for a while. The body doesn’t like it when
you rush your recovery!”
Iida cleared his throat as Ochako settled back, opening her eyes and getting
comfortable on the bed again.
“What is it, dear?” Recovery Girl asked him.
“I’m well enough to go watch the matches, yes?” Iida asked. “It’s just that…
after Kirishima and Bakugou it’s Midoriya and Todoroki and… I do not want to
miss that matchup.”
“I have to agree,” Tokoyami said, “I only have a few bruised ribs now, correct?
Surely I am well enough to go watch his fight.”
“Well if you are feeling well enough, I don’t see the harm in it.” Recovery
Girl said, walking back to her chair. “Will  you be going with them, Uraraka?”
Ochako watched as Iida carefully pulled back the blankets over his legs, his
bandaged fingers moving stiffly. She worried her bottom lip, but nodded. She
was worried about Izuku’s match against Todoroki, but couldn’t fully say why.
Her concern sat like a rock in the pit of her stomach, inert and immovable.
Todoroki was strong, but so was Izuku. There wasn’t any doubt that it was going
to be an intense match.
Despite the confident way that Izuku had said he’d had a plan for his match…
Ochako worried.
Still, she wanted to see it happen, even if it was bad. She slid from her bed
and got the door for Iida, giving him a little smile despite the nervousness
that twisted her guts up.
The three of them walked back to their seats, Tokoyami broodingly silent, Iida
stern and quiet and Ochako with her lips pressed into a thin line and the hair
raised on the back of her neck.
 
 
===============================================================================
 
 
The air felt charged with energy as Izuku stepped up to his spot inside the
boundaries. His mind was clear. He was focused on his opponent, standing on the
opposite side of the arena from him. It was different than when he’d faced
Iida. The crowd hadn’t really seen him in action yet. The crowd had only seen
glimpses of what Todoroki could do too.
Izuku took in a deep breath and let it out. He looked down at the ground. He
found the line and followed it with his gaze, memorizing it’s location. Once he
started, there wasn’t going to be time to keep looking for it. Present Mic’s
introduction of them both was loud and exciting, but was just noise.
Noise like the crowd screaming. Noise like his heart beating. Noise like the
eager edge to his quickening breath. Noise that had to be ignored, shut out of
his head, put aside to make space for more important things.
The boundary lines. The shift of movement of Todoroki’s shoulder. The flex of
his hands, his fingers.
Izuku was glad for his previous reset, having fixed his legs and his scraped up
hands. He was ready, more than ready.
The match started with a distant shout.
Todoroki’s ice flared up in an instant, jagged and glittering as it roared
across the arena at Izuku. Izuku, grinning, ran headlong towards it. He
clenched his muscles, felt the ripple of power surge through his body at the
activation of his gifted quirk, and hurled a punch at the oncoming ice.
His knuckle hit the edge of one with enough force to crack the bone and send a
torrent of wind forward in the wake of his punch. The shockwave shattered the
ice in front of him all the way back to Todoroki, who twisted to the side,
keeping his right facing Izuku, and sent out another wave of ice.
Izuku met this wave with another punch, shattering it down and sending slivers
of ice flying. Todoroki put up ice to protect himself from the whirlwind of
glass-like projectiles.
Izuku didn’t stop running after his punches. He stumbled slightly, sometimes
slipping on the ice, but kept gaining ground. Each punch gave him a little more
blood on his knuckles from cutting them on the ice and every step closer gave
Todoroki less space to attack him with the ice.
A mere ten feet from each other, Izuku came to a stop, grinning at Todoroki.
Warily, the other young man watched him, hand up, prepared to strike with ice.
He took deep breaths, trying to keep himself from panting, to keep himself
calm.
Izuku shook out his right hand, “Hey, Todoroki, when do you want to start doing
this seriously? We’ve had a nice warm up, right?”
Todoroki narrowed his eyes. For a long few seconds, his lips were pressed
together in a thin line before he seemed to come to some sort of internal
decision and replied, “Underestimating your opponent is a sure way to lose the
match, Midoriya. Or did you forget the lesson that Tokoyami demonstrated for
us?”
Izuku rolled his eyes. Him underestimating Todoroki? Hardly! “Fine, if you want
to just give me the match, go ahead and keep doing what you’re doing.” He put
up his hands as fists in front of himself, “Anyone who competes at Kacchan’s
level deserves to be taken seriously.”
“And what, exactly, do you suggest that I ch-” Todoroki began to say.
Izuku never gave him the chance to finish. He took two steps forward, crouched,
dug his fingers into the ice-slick concrete, and then sprang forward. Pushing
off with enough force to crack concrete, Izuku took to the air.
Ice came rushing up from the ground towards him, but Izuku expected this and
met it with a laugh. A touch more force and his punches didn’t have to touch
ice to break it. One For All’s strength burst through him and shattered the ice
as he punched downwards, once, twice, three times and more. The first two broke
the ice that Todoroki sent towards him. The rest sent Todoroki running as the
columns of force barrelled downwards and forming craters in the concrete.
Izuku landed with a roll, getting up to his feet almost as soon as he touched
ground again. He went racing after Todoroki who had circled around to a
different corner of the arena. A wall of ice came up between him and Todoroki,
a primary defense.
Izuku ducked his head, strengthened his shoulders with his quirk and plowed
through the ice. The first wall was riddled with spikes beyond it. These, Izuku
leaped over. Another wall and another set of spikes followed the first. Izuku
bowled through the former and punched the latter.
Shivering slightly and ignoring it, Izuku came to a skidding stop on the back
end of the second row of spikes. All the ice particles in the air formed an icy
mist that melted on contact with Izuku’s hair and skin. He wiped a damp hand
across his forehead and advanced towards Todoroki, who stood, waiting for him,
with lance of ice in his hand.
“You’re not going to win if you keep this up, Todoroki. I can play this game a
lot longer than you can,” Izuku taunted. He felt Katsuki’s smirk on his
features, felt Katsuki’s confidence pouring through his veins. Winning didn’t
matter as much as making Katsuki proud and Izuku knew what Katsuki liked to
watch. “Remember Kacchan’s last match? Who do you think Kacchan trained with to
get the endurance that he showed there? Huh?”
Todoroki brought up the javelin of ice. “Do you ever talk about something other
than that guy? Every other thing you say is Kacchan  this  or Kacchan  that.”
He hefted his weapon, “Is there  anything  else in your head besides that guy
or did he knock it all out one da- Shit!”
Izuku flung himself forward again, going in at in credible speed. Todoroki
hissed between his teeth and threw the javelin. Izuku knocked it aside, not
noticing how easily it shattered, and got a few more steps before he fell flat
on his face. His cheek stung from the impact and his head spun as he realized
what had happened.
The ice in the air, that same that had clung to and melted on his body, froze
again when it came in contact with Todoroki’s broken javelin. Spreading
quickly, ice had covered his right arm, shoulder and down his chest to his
legs, immobilizing him. Izuku panted, letting out a frustrated grunt.
Todoroki took a step towards him, moving to the side and into Izuku’s line of
sight. “What was that about endurance, Midoriya?”
Izuku lifted his chin slightly, baring his teeth. He sucked in a deep breath,
expanding his chest as far as he could with his lungs. There was a small crack
and then another. He poured his quirk into his muscles, held his breath and
flexed.
The ice that covered his body cracked. Izuku immediately pushed himself up,
rolled over, flipped onto his feet and swept a kick towards Todoroki. An icy
shield shot up just  barely  in time to defend Todoroki from the shockwave of
Izuku’s kick.
“Fuck. You.” Izuku spat out. He flexed his fingers, gritting his teeth against
the odd itching on his skin. He’d felt it before, but only once. Though the
pain of a little frostnip wasn’t much to deal with, the itching feeling
crawling across his arm was distracting. “You’re not going to win against me
with a little bit of ice and a half-assed effort like that!”
He swung another kick and another at Todoroki, making him shield with ice and
backing him up a few inches at a time. Todoroki grunted each time a little
force went through the ice and hit him. He had yet to be hit with a direct hit
and Izuku, though he wasn’t using his full strength in order to keep from
breaking any bones, was becoming a little more reckless with each strike.
Todoroki physically ducked under one kick, his left arm up defensively. The
force of it knocked him down, but when his right hand hit the ground, ice shot
across the surface towards Izuku.
It caught him around his feet. Izuku growled out one of Katsuki’s favorite
curses and flexed his calves to free himself. When that didn’t work, he looked
down to see that Todoroki had frozen  only  his shoes. Izuku tugged on his
feet, but as he struggled the ice only thickened over his feet, keeping him in
place.
Panting, Todoroki got to his feet. He wiped his hand over the back of his
mouth, where his fall had bloodied his lip, and said, “A little bit of ice goes
a long way.”
Izuku crouched down. With his quirk lighting up his fingers with energy, he dug
them into the ice. It shredded his skin as he broke through it, but the pain
for that was next to nothing. When his fingers curled around the laces of his
shoes, Izuku pulled them up sharply. The frozen nylon was brittle and snapped
under the force of his grip.
“Seriously?” Todoroki said in exasperation, “Do you want to get frostbite and
lose your toes?”
Izuku didn’t give him another chance to send ice across the ground to catch him
now. The moment his toes hit the ground, he pushed off, cracking concrete and
going flying in a nearly horizontal leap. This time he was too close for
Todoroki to get a full defense up. Izuku hit the top of the ice wall while it
was still forming and thin because of it. He went crashing through it and
tackled Todoroki to the ground.
They rolled across the concrete, Todoroki fighting to keep Izuku off of him,
Izuku with one hand working its way to the collar of Todoroki’s jumpsuit and
the other batting away Todoroki’s hands. He was stronger, his muscles flexing
with One For All, and soon had Todoroki pinned.
Todoroki covered one fist with ice but his punch to Izuku’s jaw just shattered
as Izuku clenched his teeth. He stared, wide eyed, up at his opponent. Izuku
had one knee digging into Todoroki’s thigh, his leg pinning the other boy down
with the ease of his quirk. Izuku grabbed Todoroki’s right hand and pinned it
to the ground. His fingers reached the collar of the jacket and held tight,
restricting Todoroki’s breath.
“Do you yield?” Izuku asked.
“No,” Todoroki gasped out.  “No.”
“You can’t get up,” Izuku said, “You can’t make me move. Give up, Todoroki.”
“Get  off ,” Todoroki arched his back.
Izuku pressed down harder with his hand. “Surrender and I’ll get off. You can’t
fight me. You can’t win.”
Todoroki met Izuku’s gaze with a hateful glare. Striking like a knee to the
gut, Izuku realized where he’d seen that expression before- It was the one that
Todoroki had briefly given at the end of his match with Shinsou- It was a face
similar to one that had haunted Izuku when he was younger, before Katsuki had
become his friend again.
Fury and loathing burned in Todoroki’s heterochromatic eyes. “I will  never
stop fighting,” he snarled out. Spittle gathered at the corners of his mouth as
he said it, his body twisting under Izuku in a desperate struggle to escape. “I
won’t stop until I take everything from him the way he did from me.  No one  is
going to stop me, not even a creepy fuck like  you.”
The fire in Todoroki’s eyes blossomed off of his left side. His left fist swung
up and where Izuku expected a punch, he was grabbed instead. His shirt caught
on fire and the heat of it seared across Izuku’s skin, worse than it normally
would be since he had adjusted to the ice first.
Izuku let go with a shout, rolling off of and away from Todoroki to extinguish
the flames. He came up to his feet, patting the last embers out from the hole
in his jacket, and turned to face Todoroki.
Fire burned up Todoroki’s left arm and had turned the red half of his hair into
curling flames. The blue eye, framed by the red skin of his burn and the
blazing orange of his flames, gleamed with that same mad hatred that Izuku saw
in his nightmares. He shivered but didn’t dare look away. These were not red
eyes, not Katsuki’s eyes. This was Todoroki, his opponent. This was not a
dream.
Izuku shrugged out of his ruined jacket, going down to the sleeveless black
shirt beneath, and tossed the cloth aside. Cracking his bleeding knuckles in
his palms, he grinned to Todoroki and said, “Now that’s what I call taking this
seriously.”
A slight smirk lifted the corner of Todoroki’s lips. “You asked for it, don’t
cry foul to me when you get your ass handed back to you.”
Izuku grinned and flung himself back into the fight.
Chapter End Notes
     todo v izuku to be continued in the next chapter!
***** firestorm *****
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes
 
Fighting with flame, Shouto quickly discovered, was different than using it to
melt his ice. He understood his quirk well enough to summon it, to control the
flames that touched his body, but once they escaped out of his immediate range
the fire seemed to… come to life.
Ice was rigid, brittle in some cases, and held whatever shape Shouto put it
into unless acted upon by another force.
Fire was fluid, hungry in some cases, and spread to whatever it could reach and
burn until it ran out of resources or was smothered.
Ice could create more ice with ease.
Fire spread and consumed until there was nothing left.
Shouto considered himself fortunate that he’d practiced with his ice so much it
was nearly second nature. It allowed him to pay more attention to the flames
that he used. The fire was more immediately dangerous to Midoriya, and so
Shouto used it to attempt to corral his opponent into favorable positions
instead of direct attacks. Six-foot tall walls of flame, burning and
flickering, so hot that it melt the residue of ice left behind from the earlier
part of the fight, circled around Midoriya on one side.
On anyone else, Shouto was sure his plan would have worked. The fire was hot
enough that it almost instantly caught hair and clothing on fire upon contact.
Midoriya, however, was far more reckless than Shouto had predicted. He feared
nothing.Not frostbite. Not blistering burns. Not spikes of ice. Not fire. Not
even Shouto’s anger, which rose in him like vomit, churning in his gut and
filling his mouth with bile.
Ice shattered on contact with Midoriya’s punches. He often went from breaking
ice to smothering flame. The melting ice would protect his clothes as he used
the force of his attacks to deprive the fire of oxygen. Steam rose off of
Midoriya like mist from a lake, although with a grin like the one he bore, he
was anything but calm.
Shouto may not be backed up into a corner, but he was pinned down, no longer
able to run to escape. The fire gave Midoriya one more thing to fight against,
gave Shouto enough time to put up ice, but it was just a stall. Shouto was on
the defensive.
To win, he had to attack.
To defeat Midoriya, he had to fight back.
Shouto hadto win.
Grinding his teeth together, Shouto swept his left arm across his body. His
lack of skill with his flames meant he had to move his body as he used it,
something that he knew Midoriya saw and used against him. There was no way to
hide his actions like he could with his ice.
His summoned flames followed the path of his arm, hitting the ground and rising
higher than before. Shouto saw Midoriya glance to the flames, see the wall, and
look away, dismissing it as he came running in towards Shouto, fist drawn back.
Shouto turned his wrist. The flames curved in towards Midoriya.
Shouto clenched his fingers into a fist. The crest of waves bent and then
rolled. There was a moment where it looked like a wave of water, curling over
to crash down, and then it was just flame rolling forwards.
He could feel the heat across his own skin, that warm glow that dried out his
skin, or at least the skin on the right side of his body. Flame felt different
on his left side, hot but not painfully so, even as it slowly burned through
the cloth on his arm and shoulder.
Midoriya was closing the distance between them at an incredible speed. Shouto
felt the ground tremble as he got closer. He could hear concrete and ice
crunching as the impact of his feet hit with enough force to break through the
surface of ice Shouto had put down to hinder his movement. Bare feet on ice
should have made fighting impossible but Midoriya’s damn toes had the same
stupid strength that the rest of his body did.
Shouto poured more flame out, building it, curling it, bringing it around
behind Midoriya too. Simultaneously, he built the thickest ice wall he could as
quickly as he could only a foot in front of himself. It had to be strong enough
to resist not only Midoriya’s initial impact but melting flames as well.
It was a one-man-two-quirk pincer movement. Midoriya’s back was wide open for
attack. Flames followed him across the ground as he ran towards Shouto and
right for the ice wall.
Shouto curved the ice at the top, bringing it down over himself. He had learned
not to leave the top of the wall flat, or to give anything Midoriya could grab
onto. Smooth, slippery ice gave Midoriya nothing to grab, nothing that he could
shatter between those damn fingers.
The thud of Midoriya’s body against the ice made Shouto flinch back. The ice,
however, didn’t crack.
He brought the flames in closer, constricting them on either side swiftly so
that Midoriya couldn’t go around the ice shield.
“Let’s put an end to this match, Midoriya,” Shouto called, “You’re surrounded.”
There was a thud that made the ice shake. “You think I’m scared of a little
flame?”
“A little flame? Are you blind or willfully ignorant?” Shouto said. “If that
touches you, your clothes are going to burn. And  your hair too. If you’re not
careful-”
Shouto stopped himself. Three consecutive thuds against the ice formed a crack
that he could see. Hissing a curse under his breath, Shouto brought up more ice
behind to thicken it.
“Don’t you know when to give up?” Shouto asked. There were several more thuds,
the sound of flesh hitting ice, and no other response.
Suddenly, a hole opened up in the ice, as a bloody fist punched through the
center of it. Shouto’s ice rose to close around Midoriya’s forearm, but even he
could tell that wasn’t going to work. Midoriya flexed his arm, widening the
hole with that ridiculous strength of his. He shoved his arm in up to the
elbow, turned and dug his fingers into the ice.
Shouto sucked in a sharp breath as he realized that the white that he could see
on Midoriya’s knuckles was the bone sticking through the bleeding shreds of his
skin. All at once, he noticed the blood and cuts that riddled Midoriya’s arm
from all the ice shards he’d batted aside with his bare hands. Shouto could
also see some places where the ice had lingered, where the skin was turning
white and blotchy with the first signs of frostbite.
Midoriya’s fingertips dug into the ice like his toes did the concrete. A crack
spread out from that first hole, spidering out until it weakened the ice enough
that Midoriya could snap it with his bare hands. He broke open a large enough
hole that he could reach through with both hands.
Behind Midoriya, the flames towered. The fire lit him up like a demon as he
leaned in, hands braced on the edge of the hole as he began to pull himself
through. Shouto felt fear crawling down his spine at the sight. Midoriya was
covered with small, bleeding wounds and bruises. Blistering burns were shiny
red on his shoulders, from where the fire must have gotten too close a time or
two.
He stared at Shouto with those green eyes, hard as gemstones and just as clear.
Unafraid. Unclouded by pain. Determined.
Shouto reacted instinctively. Up went both hands. His quirks flared up
simultaneously as he tried to send Midoriya back through the hole. “Get back!”
he shouted, voice rising, cracking, with his fear.
Midoriya’s hands snapped out. One gripped his right by the wrist, lifting it
up, directing the ice to the side. Shouto immediately tried to freeze
Midoriya’s hand off of him.
The other hand grabbed his left palm to palm, fingers sliding between Shouto’s
and squeezing down. Midoriya bent Shouto’s hand backward, sending him down to
his knees.
Shouto cut off his quirks as soon as he realized Midoriya wasn’t going to let
him go, no matter how much it burned, no matter how much it hurt him. His eyes
dropped to Midoriya’s arm and the way his skin had reddened already, the burns
quickly developing now that the fire was gone.
“You’re crazy,”Shouto whispered, meeting Midoriya’s gaze.
“I win,” Midoriya declared.
The last thing Shouto saw were those eyes before Midoriya headbutted him into
brief unconsciousness.
 
 
===============================================================================
 
 
The crowd was deafening with their shouts as Izuku dragged Todoroki out from
behind the icy wall he’d put up. The whole arena was a scarred mess of cracked
concrete, shattered ice and dying flames. Izuku pulled Todoroki into the open,
away from the flames that lingered even when their caster was unconscious.
Katsuki wasn’t the only one standing. Half of the class was too, but their
shouting was indistinguishable from the crowd beyond them. Not that Katsuki
cared to listen anyway, he was listening for the referee's pronouncement-
waiting for Izuku to be declared the winner- waiting for-
“And the victor is Izuku Midoriya!”
Izuku lifted his hand up as a fist above his head. His head turned towards the
crowd. Katsuki’s stomach flipped at the ecstatic smile Izuku gave to him.
Katsuki went to the railing and vaulted over it. He stumbled when he landed on
the other side but started to run as soon as he could. He thought he heard
someone calling his name but he didn’t care.
All that mattered was Izuku.
Bloody Izuku. Broken Izuku. Burned Izuku. Frostbitten Izuku. Barefoot Izuku.
Beaming Izuku. Proud Izuku.
Excited Izuku, who caught Katsuki in his arms and spun him around, laughing
despite the blood on his hands, the blisters on his shoulders and the frost on
his toes. Katsuki squeezed his arms low around Izuku’s waist, avoiding his
upper back which was red from the flames. “You. Fucking. Idiot,”Katsuki shouted
at him.
“Kacchan!” Izuku laughed. He held Katsuki’s face in his hands, cradling his
head with all the tenderness in the world, “Did you see? I won!”
“Yes, of course, I saw you,” Katsuki said, “So did everyone else!”
“That was incredible,” Izuku breathed out, eyes wide. “I’ve never used my quirk
for so long or so well! And Todoroki! Did you see,Kacchan? Did you see how
strong he is?”
“You’re not even listening to me, are you,” Katsuki said. He wanted to grab
Izuku by the shoulders and shake him, but he didn’t dare move his arms. “Did
you blow out  your damn eardrums on top of everything else  you did to
yourself?”
“I can hear you,” Izuku said. His smile dimmed somewhat but didn’t entirely
fade. “It’s okay, Kacchan. It’s okay. It could be a lot worse.”
“Can you even feel your fucking toes?” Katsuki snarled, “Can you feel this?” He
lifted his foot and stomped down, hard, on Izuku’s toes.
Izuku yelped and hopped up on one foot. “Kacchan!”
“You idiot!”Katsuki yelled at him.
“Bakugou, I need you to unhand Midoriya,” interrupted a familiar voice. Katsuki
glared at All Might, lip curling up as he saw that the man was in his false
muscle form. “He needs to be taken to the infirmary.”
“I’m all right, All Might,” Izuku said, “I just need-”
“Do not argue,” All Might said, his expression as serious as his tone. “You
will come to the infirmary right now. Bakugou, please let go of Midoriya so
that his wounds can be treated.” All Might’s eyes bore into Katsuki's own as he
dropped his voice even softer and said, “Let him go and I will make sure
Midoriya has a safe place so he can heal.”
Katsuki nodded and reluctantly let Izuku go. He took a step back but had to
stop when Izuku’s grip on his face did not ease up.
“Kacchan is coming with me,” Izuku said, his voice as soft as All Might’s. “I
need him to help me reset.”
Katsuki closed his eyes and waited.
He could hear Izuku breathing, still heavy with exertion from his fight. He
could smell blood from Izuku’s hands, warm against his cheeks. He could feel
the stickiness on his skin, where the blood slowly dried.
“All right,” All Might said, “We’ll all go.”
Izuku let go of Katsuki’s face in order to hold his hand instead. Katsuki
returned the gesture, careful of Izuku’s damaged knuckles. He couldn’t tell if
they were just cut and swollen or if they were actually broken.
Considering how Izuku had been walking on fractures earlier, Katsuki figured it
didn’t really matter to Izuku either way.
He opened his eyes and, hand in hand with Izuku, followed All Might out of the
arena.
 
 
===============================================================================
 
 
“We don’t need to do this in the infirmary,” Izuku said as they walked the
hallway. They trailed after the group of medics who were taking Todoroki to the
infirmary. He had regained consciousness but still needed to be checked up.
Katsuki squeezed Izuku’s hand tightly, frowning at him. Izuku frowned back.
“What? It’s true. Any room will do.”
“The infirmary does not have security cameras,” All Might said, looking over
his shoulder at them. “Plus, you should get checked up after you… heal. To make
sure everything is functioning correctly.”
Izuku opened his mouth to argue.
Katsuki jerked his hand, making Izuku stumble. “Shut the fuck up, Deku, and
just fucking walk, okay? We’ve never had you checked after you reset. This is a
good thing.”
“Oh, that’s true,” Izuku nodded his head. Katsuki couldn’t look away from the
way his hair fell in his face, though there was quite a bit missing on one
side. Was his hair going to come back too? It had before but…
“Kacchan,” Izuku said, interrupting his thoughts. He leaned over, twisting
their fingers together, and pressed a kiss to Katsuki’s cheek. “Everything is
fine. I promise.”
“Shut up. I know that.” Katsuki bit back. “You don’t need to comfort me.”
“But you look worried, Kacchan. Please don’t be worried for me. It hurts a
little, but I’ll be better soon.” He kissed again. Katsuki closed his eyes.
Izuku’s lips were cold but Katsuki couldn’t tell if that was because his skin
was flushed or because Izuku’s body temperature had dropped that much.
“I’m not fucking worried,” Katsuki muttered. “Just… fuck…”
“Kacchan-”
Katsuki noticed All Might had stopped just in time to keep them from walking
into his back. He tugged Izuku back and looked around All Might to see what had
him stopping in the hallway.
In front of them, standing off to the side with his arms crossed over his chest
and fire curling around his head and shoulders, Endeavour waited. His hard eyes
moved down from All Might to Katsuki and Izuku behind him.
The way he looked at Izuku, disgust and annoyance wrapped together in one, made
Katsuki want to spit. Gnashing his teeth, he tugged on Izuku’s hand. All Might
put up a hand but that failed to stop them. Katsuki walked past him, Izuku
trailing behind in his bare feet.
As he passed Endeavor, Katsuki slowed a step. He looked the man in the eye,
lifted his chin and said, “You’ve got three fucking years until we graduate,
old man. You better watch your back.”
Endeavor sneered down at him. He puffed out his chest proudly as he took a step
towards them. “You think a couple of twerps like you are a threat to me? You
clearly have no understanding of your place in the world.”
Katsuki scoffed, “Oh fuck off. Your shit kid with his two quirks couldn’t beat
Deku by himself. You won’t stand a chance against the two of us. Save yourself
a lot of fucking trouble and just back down now.”
Endeavor’s flame sparked a little higher. His folded arms tightened, fingers
digging into his arms. “I have yet to even be even slightlyimpressed with your
skills. You have a long way to go if you want to reach my level.”
Izuku stepped up between Katsuki and Endeavor. Katsuki grit his teeth and
refrained from staring at Izuku’s back. His undershirt had burned away and the
blisters that were on Izuku’s shoulders were worse on his back. Katsuki knew a
second-degree burn when he saw it, having given Izuku that and far worse in the
past.
Head cocked to the side, Izuku looked Endeavor up and down slowly, tipping his
chin back like Katsuki’s was. “All records indicate that your fire tops out at
a thousand degrees Fahrenheit, Endeavor. You’d need at least another four
hundred degrees if you want to stand any chance in stopping me.”
All Might, shifting his weight from one side to the other, made a confused
noise. Katsuki watched as Izuku’s attention flicked to him and he explained
simply, “Human cremation is performed between one thousand four hundred and one
thousand eight hundred degrees Fahrenheit, All Might. Sure, before then it’ll
be hot enough to burn away muscle, and fat, but all I have to do is reset,”
Izuku lifted his hand and snapped his fingers, “and I’m back on my feet.”
The muscle in Endeavor’s jaw flexed as he clenched his teeth.
Katsuki tugged Izuku’s hand a little and said, “C’mon, Deku. He’s not worth our
fucking time.”
Izuku nodded and gave Katsuki a little smile and let himself be led away again.
All Might took a little longer to follow but Katsuki didn’t much care. He knew
the way to the infirmary, after all.
 
 
===============================================================================
 
 
“....The hell kind of shit have you been teaching that boy?” Enji asked
Toshinori, eyes narrowed into slits. He gestured after the two teenagers who
had walked away, hand in bloody, broken hand.
Toshinori felt as though his stomach had dropped into a pit. Izuku’s serious
expression haunted the back of his eyes. Katsuki’s unsurprised look was nearly
as bad.
Running his hand over his mouth, he muttered a reply. “I’m doing the best I can
with what I’ve got. What else can I do?”
“Choose some other student, obviously,” Enji said.
Toshinori looked at him. The man had had several kids before young Shouto, of
course. A replacement was always an option to him.
Shaking his head Toshinori said, “Bit late for that… Quite a bit too late for
that…”
Chapter End Notes
     god we are so close, so fcking close, to the whole point of this fic.
     i swear.... i wanted it to be this chapter but it didnt fit.....
     soon. SOON.
***** immolation *****
Recovery Girl openly stared at Izuku when he stepped up to one of the infirmary
beds. He had begun to limp slightly before they reached the infirmary, his
wounded feet giving him more trouble the calmer he became. By the time they
reached the doors, Katsuki was supporting Izuku’s weight on one shoulder while
Izuku winced with each step.
“What on  Earth  happened!?” She exclaimed, hopping up from her seat. Katsuki
rolled his eyes as he helped Izuku hop up onto the bed.
“The fuck do you think, you old bitch?” Katsuki snapped at her as she rushed
over, “Fuck off.”
“This is how you choose to speak to your medical professional?” Scolded the
woman waving a finger at him, “You are the one who needs to back off, young
man, while I take care of your classmate!”
“We don’t need you,” Katsuki said at the same time that Izuku said, “I need
Kacchan.”
“Look at these burns!” She said, “If you don’t treat these right now they will
definitely scar.  Young man, stop picking at your blisters!” She swatted
Izuku’s hand. He yelped and pulled his fingers away from his arm.
“I’m trying to get the cloth out,” Izuku muttered, “Not pick the blisters…”
“Well stop. Let me get a good look at you and-”
Izuku shook his head sharply. “I just need Kacchan to help me heal. We’re only
here because All Might wanted me to be here afterward.”
“Excuse me?” She asked.
“To give me an examination. After I heal.” Izuku said.
The door to the infirmary opened and All Might stepped into the room. Katsuki
heard someone suck in a sharp breath and, for the first time, noticed that
there was a stranger in the infirmary. He was a tall man in button down suit
who looked at All Might with stars in his eyes.
The man had been sitting but rose to his feet quickly as All Might came into
the room.
“All Might!” Recovery Girl exclaimed, “Explain what is going on with this boy’s
treatment!”
“Ah,” He blinked, “Midoriya has a… healing element to his quirk. He claims that
it is a fully regenerative property but, if I understood correctly, he’s not
had a proper examination after the use of his quirk. If you wouldn’t mind-”
“Of course I mind!” The woman said.
The stranger cleared his throat. “If I may,” he said, “A thorough workup would
be valuable information as it seems that Midoriya’s quirk is… an unusual one.
Recovery Girl, if you would allow me to participate in that examination-”
“Who the fuck are you?” Katsuki snapped. “The fuck are you doing here?”
“My name is Doctor Gomiko Freecs,” the man said by way of introduction. “I was
asked to be here and observe the matches by your homeroom teacher.”
“Kacchan,” Izuku said quietly, preventing Katsuki from further questioning the
man. His bloody fingers curled over Katsuki’s on his knee. “It’s starting to
hurt a little bit.”
Katsuki nodded. He shot a glare at the elderly nurse, “Can you back off or not?
I’ve got to help Deku.”
The woman clicked her tongue and took a few steps back. “Doctor Freecs, if you
have anything you want to try, be my guest. I will attend to my other, actual
patient.” She turned and walked around the bed and headed towards another where
the curtains were drawn.
“If you allow me a brief examination,” Freecs said, stepping forward. Katsuki
eyed him, distrustful of the stranger. “The information I discover after
Midoriya heals will not mean anything if there isn’t something to compare it
too.”
Katsuki scowled but gave him one nod. That made sense. Izuku had said the same
thing a time or two during their own experiments.
The man was quick, at least. He stepped right up after grabbing a pair of
plastic gloves. He quickly examined Izuku’s fingers, murmuring “several broken
phalanges” as he ran a cautious finger over Izuku’s knuckles. The burns made
Freecs press his lips into a thin line as he gingerly examined the severity of
them on Izuku’s shoulders and his back.
However, it was when he was kneeling, checking the frostbite on Izuku’s toes,
that Freecs asked his only question. “Midoriya,” he said, looking up, “Has your
little toe always looked like this?”
Izuku shrugged a shoulder, “It looks a bit swollen…”
“That’s the frostbite,” Freecs said, “But what I meant was the way your little
toe bends. It seems to be double jointed?”
Katsuki squeezed Izuku’s knee with his hand. Izuku looked to him and Katsuki
shook his head very slightly.
“Does it?” Izuku asked back, “I didn’t notice.”
Freecs shifted his gaze from Izuku to Katsuki but didn’t press the issue. He
simply nodded and stood up. Stepping back, he asked, “What do we need to do to
assist the healing process?”
“Drag that fucking curtain around us and shove off for a bit,” Katsuki said. He
climbed onto the bed beside Izuku as Freecs did as he asked and pulled the
curtain all the way around the bed.
Once they were alone, Katsuki wasn’t surprised to find Izuku crawling into his
lap, breathing deepening, fingers digging into Katsuki’s jacket. “Kacchan,” he
whispered, “Kacchan, it hurts a lot…”
Katsuki nodded. “I’ve got you, Deku. C’mere.” He adjusted where he sat on the
bed so their feet didn’t hang off the side, and pulled Izuku until his back was
against his chest. “Just relax,” he mumbled, “I’ve got you.”
Izuku sagged against Katsuki. A soft whimper escaped his lips as his burned
backside pressed against Katsuki’s clothing. “Kacchan,” he breathed out.
“Count to five,” Katsuki murmured. He gently cradled Izuku’s head in his hands,
one under his chin, the other on the back of his head.
“One.” Izuku let out a shaky breath. “Two.”
“Three.” Katsuki tightened his grip. “Four.”
The crack was so loud in Katsuki’s ears. He could almost feel it in his own
bones.
Izuku’s body slid dowd an inch, all involuntary muscle support removed the
moment he died. Katsuki carefully let go of Izuku’s head, letting it rest
against the side of his jaw. He held Izuku around the middle, waiting, counting
under his breath.
On the other side of the curtain, he heard the cursory voice of All Might.
“Bakugou? Midoriya?”
Katsuki didn’t dare close his eyes. He watched the curtain. He held Izuku in
his arms. He continued to count.
“Are you all right in there?”
“Thirty-five. Thirty-six. Thirty-sev-”
Izuku woke with a gasp. His back arched up and his body straightened up
slightly.
“Boys?”
A shadow moved on the other side of the curtain. The rings holding the curtain
up began to slide against the metal pole. Katsuki snapped his hand out and
grabbed the cloth. He held it in place, saying, “I said to stay the fuck back.”
He glared at the curtain, waiting for the shadow on the other side to pull
away.
Izuku sat up a little more. Katsuki saw his bareback first and let out a soft
sigh of relief. It was smooth- not a burn or blemish from his shoulders to the
middle of his back. Katsuki ran his hand down Izuku’s spine, relief filling
him.
He made a little waving gesture to the curtain and Katsuki let go of it. He
slid his arms around Izuku’s stomach instead, pulling him back to the
protective circle of his arms.
“You need to do another examination, doctor?” Izuku asked, holding out his
hands to show them off. “Is this good enough?”
Freecs stepped up to the bedside. He still wore his gloves from before as he
took Izuku’s hand and examined his fingers. He gave a low whistle as he looked
up from the healed hands to Izuku’s once burnt arm. He even checked Izuku’s
toes again, though made no comment about the bend in Izuku’s littlest toe.
“Incredible,” Freecs said. “That was less than a minute to heal all those
wounds. I’m impressed.”
“Less than a minute,” Izuku repeated. He leaned his head back, turning slightly
towards Katsuki, “How long?”
“Nearly thirty-seven seconds,” Katsuki replied. He tightened his arms around
Izuku. “Is that about average?”
Izuku nodded.
Freecs walked away, removing his gloves and disposing of them. Izuku looked
around and asked, “Did All Might leave?”
“He had something to go take care of,” Freecs said, indicating the door. “I’m
not sure he’ll be back before the next match. I’m curious, how do you feel
after you heal, Midoriya? On a scale of one to ten, one being completely
exhausted and unable to move and ten being ready for a marathon run, what would
you rate your energy levels?”
“I feel fine,” Izuku said, “I guess I’d say maybe an eight? Kacchan, what would
you say?”
Katsuki shrugged. “It’s your body, Deku, I only know how it feels to me.”
“Interesting,” Freecs said to himself. “Recovery Girl?”
The woman, speaking quietly with Todoroki, looked over. “Yes?”
“Could I have a private word with you, in the hall?” Freecs asked. He smiled as
he did it, gesturing again to the door, but it didn’t seem like the smile
touched the seriousness in his eyes.
“Mm, well I suppose,” She nodded. She said a goodbye to Todoroki and left his
bed. Freecs opened the door for her and followed her out.
 
 
There was a long moment, where the silence of the infirmary settled around
them. There weren’t even any machines to beep soft and rhythmically to fill the
air with noise. Just three near-silent breaths.
Izuku broke it first, letting out a soft groan as he leaned back against
Katsuki’s chest. “This day is so long,” he muttered, “Kacchan-”
“You’re a fucking idiot,” Katsuki said, grabbing Izuku by the shoulders. He
pushed him away so he could shake him without getting hit when Izuku’s head
bobbed back and forth.
“What? What did I do?” Izuku asked. He twisted around so he could look at
Katsuki.
“What the fuck was that bullshit about cremation to fucking Endeavor? And
fucking hell, Deku, what the  fuck  was that match? Did you  forget  what
frogfuck said before?” Katsuki hissed, keeping his voice surprisingly low.
“I was only trying to win, Kacchan. And it was just trash talk. What’s wrong
with that? You were doing the same thing!” Izuku grabbed Katsuki’s wrists to
stop the shaking. He frowned at Katsuki, “It wasn’t anything serious.”
“Wasn’t anything- You little  fuck,”  Katsuki hauled Izuku towards him. Izuku
let out a startled sound, catching himself with one hand on the bed as Katsuki
dragged him awkwardly into his lap. “What if they fucking find out? What if
doctors like that shithead freak find out what your quirk is and they want to
do a lot more than fucking casually examine your damn skin for injuries, huh?
I’m surprised the fuck didn’t ask for a fucking vial of your blood.”
“Kacchan-”
“You came back in less than a minute, Deku. Less than a fucking minute. If any
of these shitstains had any fucking clue what you could do-”
“Kacchan, I’m sorry-”
“Don’t you fucking understand how dangerous this shit is? Can’t you keep your
stupid little mouth shut?”
“Kacchan, please,” Izuku reached for Katsuki, fingers curling in the front of
his shirt. “Please, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” He hiccuped, looking up at
Katsuki with the glistening of tears in his green eyes. “Please don’t be mad at
me. I’m stupid. I made a mistake. I’ll be more careful.”
Tears dripped from his dark lashes, running down his cheeks one after another
in rapid succession. Katsuki bit his cheek and hugged Izuku close, “Stop
crying. It’ll be fine.  You’ve got a strong quirk to defend yourself and you
know I’ll never let them take you away from me.”
“I’m sorry Kacchan,” Izuku whispered.
Katsuki slid his hands up from Izuku’s shoulders to cup his cheeks. He tipped
Izuku’s head back and kissed the tears from his cheeks. Izuku’s eyes fluttered
shut and he sat there, letting Katsuki move his head and kiss whatever he
wanted.
With his lips pressed against Izuku’s forehead, Katsuki whispered, “You’re
alive. You’re with me. You’re alive. I’ve got you.”
He held Izuku close to his body, but it wasn’t enough. Katsuki needed more than
to tell Izuku he was alive. He needed to feel it too.
Kissing down Izuku’s cheek, Katsuki found his mouth and caught hold of his
bottom lip in his teeth. His kisses held a desperate edge to them. Izuku was
alive. Katsuki could feel his breath. Katsuki could feel his fingers uncurl and
slide down his chest. Katsuki could pull on Izuku’s hair and make him cry out.
Katsuki pulled back from their kiss with panting breath and swollen lips.
“Fuck,” he whispered, looking at Izuku’s flushed appearance, “Fuck, I really
want to fuck you right now.”
Ever practical, Izuku mumbled, “Kacchan, I didn’t bring any lube. Plus don’t
you have to go fight soon?”
“We’ll be quick,” Katsuki said, “And aren’t we in an infirmary? There’s gotta
be something we can use here.”
“I can look,” Izuku said as he shifted back. Katsuki gave him one more quick
kiss before letting him go. As Izuku slid off the bed, Katsuki reached up for
the curtain.
As he did so, his eyes landed on the only other occupied bed in the room.
Todoroki stared back at him in silence. Katsuki hesitated in closing the
curtain for a second, but when Todoroki said nothing, he jerked his hand. The
cloth barrier blocked them from each other’s view but did nothing for muffling
any sound.
Katsuki had seen Todoroki walk to the infirmary on his own power. If he wanted
to leave, he could do that.
Izuku soon returned with a small container and a small smile. Katsuki took it
from him and kissed him for his good work. Izuku giggled as Katsuki kissed his
throat. He gasped when Katsuki bit down on his collarbone, leaving behind dark
marks on his skin.
He shed his ruined shirt in moments, tossing it aside like the rag it had
become. Katsuki couldn’t help but groan when he ran his hand down Izuku’s
chest. He was still so small looking, but under those clothes was a lean and
muscular body. Katsuki regretted that they didn’t have more time than they did
and was only able to drop a few kisses, a few bites, before he had to pull at
Izuku’s pants.
Katsuki slid those off down to the ankles, giving Izuku a grin as he tossed the
pants to the end of the bed. “Convenient that you don’t have any fucking shoes
to deal with.”
“I’m gonna need to go get more shoes,” Izuku said. He panted eagerly as he
spread his legs for Katsuki, giving him access to everything that he had.
“Wanna come with me to the store?”
“Yeah, sure, I’ll come with you in the store,” Katsuki said with a leer. He
twisted open the container of lubricant and scooped it onto his fingers.
Izuku laughed, “It’s a date then.”
Katsuki snorted, amused at Izuku’s stupid conversation and turned on with how
comfortable Izuku clearly was with him. With the tears gone, Katsuki himself
felt better.
 
 
To Katsuki, ‘quick’ meant pressing in as many fingers into Izuku as he could as
soon as he could. It wasn’t long until he had several inside of Izuku, working
to stretch him open, and reducing Izuku into a moaning mess.
Izuku arched off the bed as Katsuki’s fingers found his prostate and prodded
it. He wasn’t as loud as Katsuki knew he could go, but they  were  in the
infirmary. Even if Izuku might have forgotten about Todoroki, he certainly
couldn’t have forgotten about the teachers in the hallway.
Katsuki caught one of Izuku’s legs under the knee and pushed it toward Izuku’s
chest, lifting him up slightly so he had better access. Izuku’s grip twisted up
the pillow under his head as he rocked against Katsuki’s fingers.
“Enough, enough,” Izuku panted out, “Kacchan,  please.”
“Needy little fuck,” Katsuki responded, pulling his hand out with a slick
sound. His fingers slipped on the zipper of his pants and he grunted in
annoyance. “I’m going to show you fucking enough.”
Once open, Katuski shoved down his pants. Another fingerful of lube was spread
across his hard cock, slicking it up before he inched forward on his knees. He
rubbed against Izuku’s opening, teasing him with the head of his cock. “Is this
what you want, Deku? Is this what you need?”
“Kacchan,” Izuku’s voice wavered. “Please.”
“You’re a broken fucking record, Deku, can’t you say anything else?” Katsuki
taunted. He slid the shaft along the opening, still teasing Izuku with it. “Why
don’t you tell me what you want and how you want it?”
“Please,” Izuku moaned, “Kacchan, I w-want you to fuck me. Please, fuck me with
your cock.” His eyes opened and he looked up at Katsuki. Licking his pink lips,
Izuku said, “Put your hands around my throat and fuck me. That’s what I need.”
Katsuki shuddered. “Fuck yeah,” he whispered. He pulled his hips back and lined
up his cock.
 
 
To Katsuki, ‘quick’ meant that when he thrust in that first time, he didn’t
wait any longer than it took for himself to adjust. He had to shift his grip on
Izuku’s legs but, unlike Izuku, Katsuki still wore his shoes. The tread on them
caught the sheets and held him in place as he fucked Izuku hard right from the
beginning.  
Katsuki grinned down at Izuku, who looked back up at him with those shining
green eyes. He loved the sound of their bodies coming together, the slick
feeling of sliding into Izuku over and over again. He groaned in pleasure as
Izuku clenched around him, hips up off the bed as he arched up to meet
Katsuki’s thrusts.
Reaching Izuku’s throat with his hands was a whole new problem that Katsuki
found he was ecstatic to solve. Izuku’s flexibility made part of it easy,
bending his knees up to his chest, and Katsuki only had to shift his knees
forward a bit, driving more down than forward. Brought even closer to Izuku,
Katsuki was able to reach down and put his hands on the other teen’s throat.
Izuku’s pulse hammered under Katsuki’s fingers. He lifted his chin a little,
giving Katsuki better access, yielding to Katsuki completely. “Fuck yes,”
Katsuki groaned, rolling his hips against Izuku. “You’re mine,” he said,
fingers tightening over  Izuku’s throat.
“You’re so fucking tight,” Katsuki grunted. “Fuck, Deku-”
“More,” Izuku gasped out. “Kacchan.  More.”
Katsuki thrust harder against him, trying to give him that more that he asked
for. Sweat gathered on his back, his temples, his palms. He was hot, burning
up, consumed not only by the heat of Izuku’s body but the heat of his own
desire. Unthinkingly, his fingers tightened more on Izuku’s throat, cutting off
his airway.
“Shit,” Katsuki pulled his hand off, “Too much.”
Izuku shook his head. He tapped his throat with one hand. “No, that was good.
Kacchan, I want more of that.”
Katsuki shuddered and wasn’t entirely sure if that was because of the way Izuku
clenched around him or the weird twist in his gut that just sprang up. But he
did what Izuku wanted. He put his hands back on his neck and squeezed.
The harder he squeezed Izuku’s neck, the tighter Izuku became around him.
Katsuki gasped out in shock, back arching as Izuku’s body squeezed his cock
hard. He let out a weak curse, relaxing his grip so he could keep going.
 
 
To Katsuki, ‘quick’ meant that as soon as he found something that was
deliriously good for them both, he pushed that button as many times and as
quickly as he possibly could.
Having choked Izuku to death several times before, Katsuki was aware how long
it took to actually kill him instead of just knock him out. When he began, he
fully intended to pull back, to stop from going that far. But by the time that
Izuku had slipped from conscious to oxygen starvation, Katsuki’s thrusting hips
had all of his attention.
He was so close, so desperately close to coming, that he forgot what he held
onto and disregarded how tight his grip was. What Katsuki did notice was how
Izuku’s body suddenly went lax and he had to move one hand to grab him by the
thigh to hold him in place.
What Katsuki did notice was Izuku’s sudden return to life, that sharp gasp, the
minute flexing of his muscles, the way his body went from limp, dead weight to
living, breathing, feeling again. Katsuki stared at Izuku, wide-eyed, cock
buried to the base, and, slowly, so slowly, lifted his other hand from Izuku’s
throat.
The hickey that Katsuki had given him earlier was gone.
“Fuck,” Katsuki whispered.
“Kacchan?” Izuku blinked at him. “You haven’t come yet?”
“What?” Katsuki couldn’t move, could hardly breathe. He’d just killed Izuku-
He’d just- Izuku wasn’t hurt- Hadn’t had anything wrong with him- There hadn’t
been a reason for a reset- He’d just done it because-
Izuku rolled his hips against Katsuki, making his thought stop dead as he re-
remembered the urgency of his cock. Katsuki’s eyes closed and he ground back
against Izuku. “Fuck me,” he moaned, “Oh my god, I’m so fucking close.”
He slid back a little, afraid to reach his hands down and grab Izuku by the
throat again. His hands slid over Izuku’s sides, going for his hips. He held
onto them as he thrust to completion, coming inside of Izuku with a curse and
whimper falling from his lips.
 
 
To Katsuki, ‘quick’  meant that he didn’t linger inside of Izuku. He pulled
out, shivering as the moan Izuku gave when he finally did so. They had to clean
up, and quickly, and the only cloth available were the sheets they rested on
and Izuku’s discarded clothes.
Izuku was the one who rolled over and reached for the destroyed shirt. He
rolled back with a little laugh, shaking his head, “Whoops. I kinda made a
mess.”
Katsuki looked over. His whole body was relaxed, feeling boneless, despite the
way his brain whirled round and round in his head. He saw what Izuku meant
immediately. The white of Izuku’s cum was smeared on the sheets from where he’d
rolled.
Katsuki flushed, not because of the sight, but because he’d been so caught up
in himself that he hadn’t even noticed when Izuku came.
He bit his tongue, resisting the urge to ask if it was before or after Katsuki
choked him to death.
Catching the shirt that Izuku tossed to him, Katsuki used it to wipe himself
off and then fixed up his pants. Izuku shuffled down the bed and pulled back on
his discarded underwear and pants. He smiled at Katsuki, the picture of ease
and satisfaction, and leaned over to kiss him gently.
Katsuki kissed back. His heart was still pounding in his chest. His stomach had
twisted itself into knots. “Put away the lube?” He murmured to Izuku.
Izuku nodded and picked that up too. He pulled back the curtain as he stepped
away. His feet were silent as he walked across the floor.
Watching him walk, Katsuki tried not to think about anything else. Izuku might
have been the vulnerable one before, with his throat bared to Katsuki, but
Katsuki only saw strength in those squared shoulders and confident gait.
He smiled at Katsuki from across the room, waving his fingers as he disposed of
the shirt-turned-rag. Katsuki absently waved back before slumping over, sighing
in exhaustion.
“Are you going to be able to fight Ochako after this?” Izuku asked as he
returned to the bed. He drew the curtain back around them, even though nothing
had changed. They were still alone in the room.
Well, mostly alone.
“I’ll be fine,” Katsuki muttered. “Let me fucking rest and I’ll be fine.”
“Okay, Kacchan.”
Katsuki rolled over. Izuku sat on the bed so he ended up draping himself over
Izuku’s lap, one arm around his waist, the other a pillow for his own head.
Izuku ran his fingers through Katsuki’s hair, humming quietly.
With his eyes closed, Katsuki whispered, “Was that good? The throat thing?”
“Mhm,” Izuku hummed. “Can we do it again in the future?”
Katsuki shivered. The hair rose on the back of his neck. They had only ever
caused a reset out of necessity. To do it for something as frivolous as this…
“If you want to,” Katsuki heard himself say. “We can.” He tightened his grip on
Izuku’s waist, holding him tighter. He closed his eyes, hiding against Izuku.
The fingers running through his hair did more than he expected in soothing his
mind.
Despite the worry in the back of his mind, Katsuki fell asleep under Izuku’s
hand and in his lap.
 
 
===============================================================================
 
 
Izuku froze when he the curtain suddenly pulled open in front of him. He
blinked, wide-eyed, at the sudden sight of Todoroki standing in front of him.
Izuku hadn’t heard the door open which only meant that-
“I’ve got a question for you,” Todoroki said, speaking softly.
Izuku swallowed with difficulty. How long had Todoroki been there? For the
whole thing? Oh god, had he heard  everything?  What was he going to-
“Do you two plan to get to the top of the Pro Hero ranks?” Todoroki asked,
“After we’re all done with school, are  you sticking around this city to work?”
“I- Er- I think so?” Izuku blinked several times. What?  What?
“I’m going to knock Endeavour from his position,” Todoroki said. He pointed to
his chest with his hand, “Me. Not you. Not Bakugou. I’m the one who will be
taking him down. Stay out of my way and everything will be fine.”
“Stay out of your way?” Izuku frowned, “If Endeavour gets in our way-”
“You will leave him. Alone.” Todoroki leaned forward, eyes narrowing. “He’s
mine. I don’t care if you don’t get it. Besides, if you just ignore him, it’ll
piss him off more than any petty threats.”
Slowly, Izuku nodded. There was that burn in the back of Todoroki’s eyes again
but now, outside of battle, Izuku could see that it wasn’t directed at him.
Todoroki’s hate burned for his father alone.
“Sure,” Izuku said, “He’s all yours.”
Todoroki stared at him for a little longer before nodding. He jerked the
curtain shut again and then walked away. Izuku heard ice breaking before the
door opened and let out a sigh of relief when the door shut behind Todoroki.
***** flash fire *****
Chapter Notes
     warning: brief but not graphic description of vomit towards the end
     of this chapter
“I don’t think I need the jacket,” Izuku said as he took the sleeveless
undershirt from Recovery Girl.
“It’s part of your uniform for this event,” she said in the same tone that Inko
used when Izuku was, in her opinion, needlessly stubborn. Izuku wrinkled his
nose as she held out the jacket to him too. “You wouldn’t wear only part of
your hero uniform when you’re out fighting villains, would you?”
Izuku blinked. “Oh. Yeah. That’s true.” He took the jacket and slipped it on.
It fit him well enough but he decided to leave it open. After all, it probably
wasn’t going to last the entirety of his next, and final, match.
As he tugged it into place, he looked over his shoulder at Katsuki.
Katsuki was being strange.
It wasn’t the staring; he usually did that when there wasn’t anything
particularly interesting going on. It wasn’t the quietness; Katsuki was
generally pretty quiet unless he had something to say, be it bluster or
bitching.
He didn’t look different, maybe a little sweaty, maybe a little tired, but
otherwise normal. Izuku figured he was probably getting bored, hanging out in
the infirmary when they could be anywhere else. Izuku hadn’t yet told Katsuki
about what Todoroki said to him since the adults had come in as soon as
Todoroki had left.
Still, Izuku couldn’t shake the feeling.
“Kacchan?” Izuku said as he walked back to him.
Katsuki blinked and lifted his head slightly. He took in a deeper breath,
moving as though he were shaking thoughts from his head. “What?”
“Are you ready for your match?” Izuku asked. “Do you want to go to a prep
room?”
After a moment, Katsuki nodded. He slid down from the bed, brushing himself off
absently. Izuku held out his hand to Katsuki with a smile.
Katsuki took it, but his grip was a lot gentler than usual.
Izuku swallowed his worry and kept smiling. Something was definitely wrong.
“C’mon,” Katsuki said gruffly, dragging Izuku out of the infirmary. “We’re done
here.”
Izuku managed a quick goodbye to Recovery Girl and the doctor Freecs before
Katsuki dragged him away.
 
 
===============================================================================
 
 
It had taken longer than usual for the arena to get cleaned up from the last
match.
Hitoshi had watched in mild fascination as the ice was melted and cleaned off,
fires were put out and a new floor laid by Cementoss the referee. His
classmates had chattered on about the excitement of the last battle, the
reckless boy who had driven his opponent into a corner from sheer tenacity.
There had been some satisfaction for Hitoshi in the way that Midoriya had
shattered Todoroki’s ice over and over again. Too many of Todoroki’s opponents
had been defeated by that ice but Midoriya…
Midoriya had dragged the flames out of Todoroki and  still  had beaten him.
Of course, he had done it with no small amount of damage to himself. Barefoot,
bloody and burned, Hitoshi had seen Midoriya limp out of the arena with Bakugou
as his support.
Hitoshi had debated going after him to the infirmary. Maybe he could have
convinced them to share the healing secret because there was no way that they
wouldn’t be healing him after all that.
He hadn’t gone, though. Not because he didn’t want to lose his place and not
because he didn’t think he could convince Midoriya to tell him the secret but
because, well…
Hitoshi didn’t want to see the way Bakugou would, undoubtedly, fuss over
Midoriya’s health.
It was stupid and he was stupid for letting that keep him away from the
information that he, and Ochako, wanted, but he couldn’t bring himself to see
that up close. Not again. Not after the way he’d seen Bakugou buckle to
Midoriya’s emotions in the hallway before they’d gone to see Iida.
No matter how attractive he thought Bakugou was, something that he was never
going to admit to anyone but Ochako, Hitoshi knew he didn’t hold a candle to
the bonfire that was the fucked up situation between Midoriya and Bakugou. That
monster was old and set in its ways and ran deeper than most relationships that
Hitoshi had seen.
Hitoshi scrubbed his hand over his eyes. He had to stop thinking about that.
Had to stop thinking about-
“Look! There they are!” The girl beside Hitoshi shouted, pointing straight
ahead to the arena.
Hitoshi lowered his hand and looked to see Ochako, her face set and determined,
walking up to face off against Bakugou. He sat at the edge of his seat, sparks
of excitement running down his spine as the announcer introduced the fighters.
As Ochako’s friend, Hitoshi wanted her to win. As her friend, though, he
worried about her fighting Midoriya, who seemed impossible to defeat. On the
other hand, he wanted to see that match between Bakugou and Midoriya.
It would be incredible, had to be, after the show that Midoriya had given with
Todoroki. The explosions and the racing around, Hitoshi could almost see it
now, mimicked in the way Ochako ran to Bakugou time and again to try and tag
him with her hand. Bakugou turned to deflect her again and again, his
explosions cutting preventing her from getting too close.
Hitoshi pressed a hand against his mouth, watching anxiously as the fight
continued. Ochako dropped her jacket as a decoy, but Bakugou’s reflexes
prevented her from fully utilizing the opening.
She didn’t give up, though. She kept going after him, body low to the ground
and hands reached out in front of herself. Bakugou kept her at a distance with
his explosions and seemed to know where she was whenever she popped her head
out of the smoke and dust she used to screen her movements.
“Hey, what are those?”
Hitoshi glanced to the side, where one of his classmates was pointing upward as
they asked the question. The person they were talking to quickly grabbed their
hand and pulled it down, “Isn’t it obvious?” they said, “That’s Uraraka’s
attack.”
Hitoshi’s eyes widened at the sight of the field of rocks floating in the air
above the arena. Suddenly, he thought she might have a chance. She wasn’t
relying on her ability to touch Bakugou to defeat him like she had before.
He didn’t see her release the rocks, but when they started to fall Hitoshi gave
a little gasp. His eyes followed the rocks for a little bit, but as Bakugou
turned to address them, some movement caught Hitoshi’s eye.
Ochako was running towards Bakugou, towards the area covered by falling rocks.
It was a reckless thing to do, though not nearly as bad as anything Midoriya
did to provoke Todoroki.
Hitoshi flinched back with the rest of his class when Bakugou opened up fire on
the boulders. The enormous blast reduced the rubble into dust that the audience
had to cover their heads and avoid. Hitoshi put up his arm to block the light,
searching for Ochako down on the arena.
He saw her again just a few feet behind Bakugou. Her hand stretched out in
front of her, reaching, straining-
Bakugou turned on his heel, the explosion fading above him and his empty hands
dropping down for use in defense. He hit the outside of her elbow, knocking her
hand aside and dropped down, ducking her other hand.
His foot came out, caught her behind the ankle and swept her off her feet. Even
from a distance, Bakugou’s exclamation of “Fuck!” was audible.
Ochako went down, but not flat. She rolled with her fall, tumbling to the side
and trying to keep the close quarters in their fight. Bakugou tried to fend her
off with his hand, but that proved to be his mistake.
Hitoshi had been sitting with Ochako when they saw Midoriya fight Todoroki.
Midoriya’s grab after Todoroki’s hands, deliberately going for the most
dangerous parts of him, must have stuck in Ochako’s mind because she did nearly
the same thing when going after Bakugou now.
Squinting, Hitoshi could just see Ochako bat at Bakugou’s hand. His eyes
widened as he saw that she did it. She made contact.
It was easy to tell because Bakugou’s next explosion knocked him off his feet
and up into the air.
Hitoshi flinched again when the students around him began to scream. Bakugou’s
surprised expression, wide eyes, open mouth, was comical as he floated upwards.
Ochako staggered back, chest heaving, but grinning broadly. Hitoshi couldn’t
breathe.
She’d done it. She’d put Bakugou in the air. She had-
The surprise burned off of Bakugou’s face. He put his hands behind himself,
where they erupted into flames like the exhaust ports of a rocket.
“You think I don’t know how to fly, bitch?” Bakugou shouted as he propelled
himself towards her. “Who the fuck do you think I am?”
Ochako braced herself for impact, both arms up in defense. Bakugou stopped his
flames just before tackling her to the ground. They bounced and rolled, with
Bakugou bouncing higher than Ochako, and both struggled against each other for
control of the fight.
At some point, she must have turned off her ability, though Hitoshi missed the
gesture again. He could tell, though, because Bakugou dropped half a foot,
landing on his knees and shouting in anger about it. The struggle was brief
after that point with Bakugou quickly pinning Ochako down with one hand holding
her wrists over her head and the other on the ground to brace himself.
They were both panting heavily, though Ochako had her eyes closed and Hitoshi
couldn’t see Bakugou’s face. The moment Bakugou was declared the victor, he let
go of her and got to his feet.
Then, surprising Hitoshi and, by the sound of it, most of his classmates,
Bakugou held out his hand to Ochako to help her up.
Ochako looked at it for a long moment before she sat up. She swayed slightly as
she did, one hand pressed to her stomach. But with her other hand, she took
Bakugou’s and let him pull her up.
Almost immediately upon becoming vertical, Ochako bent in half and threw up all
over Bakugou’s shoes. Hitoshi couldn’t restrain his instinctive cringe at the
sight and heard more than one person groan as it happened.
He expected an explosion from Bakugou. You didn’t just let someone retch on you
without doing anything about it, but Bakugou just put his hand over his face
and suffered through it. When Ochako straightened up again, wiping the back of
her hand with her mouth, Bakugou put his hand on her shoulder.
If he said something, it was too quiet to hear, but as soon as Ochako opened
her mouth to reply, Bakugou shoved her. She staggered back but kept her
footing.
“You’re a real piece of work, Bakubastard!” She shouted at him.
Bakugou flipped her off with one hand as he kicked his shoes off. “Fuck off,
pukebitch!”
Hitoshi put both hands over his face, sinking back into his chair. And this was
the girl he’d made friends with and the boy he had a crush on? What the  fuck
was wrong with him?
***** an inner flame *****
Chapter Notes
     i didn't expect to take so long a break, but im better now and i hope
     this was worth the wait!
Shouta sat back in his slightly uncomfortable booth chair, bandaged hands
folded over his chest as, beside him, Hizashi gripped the microphone with one
hand and excitedly spoke into it.
“It looks like the arena has finally been cleared off and is ready for our
final and most anticipated match of the freshman class!” Hizashi said,
gesturing with his free hand, “Many of you might have been expecting this since
the declaration that Bakugou made early on, but I know that we’ve all been
rooting for our underdogs to make their way to the top. Certainly, that match
between Midoriya and Todoroki had many of us on edge! Not to mention Uraraka’s
rise through the ranks as swift as her zero-gravity quirk!”
Shouta watched the crowd quietly. It was easy to start thinking of it as one
amorphous thing, especially when looking at it from the position he was in up
above in a separate box. However, all it took was narrowing his focus down to a
section, to, say for example, a set of rows where some students sat and
watched, and it was clear to see that no matter what held the attention of the
majority, the individual was still preoccupied with their own selves and the
presence of those around them. They turned to speak with each other or shuffled
around in their seats to let others move past them, or ate from some of the few
concessions prepared for the general audience.
Hizashi tapped one hand to the mic strapped to his ear and then leaned forward
to speak into the microphone. “Ladies, gentlemen, and audience members of all
kinds, let me introduce to you our two contestants. You’ve seen them in action
today, both on the same team and facing down other competitors, but now we’ll
have the pleasure of seeing them go head to head for the very first time!”
“Second time,” Shouta couldn’t help but say, mostly because Hizashi was  far
too excited for what would undoubtedly become some sort of hellish bloodbath.
“What was that?” Hizashi asked, turning towards him.
Shouta sighed. He leaned forward until his mouth closer to the mike and spoke,
looking at Hizashi. “This is the second time that these two have faced off in a
school related event. Earlier in the year, they were pitted against each other
in a training exercise.”
“And what was the outcome of that match? No, no, no, no, let me guess. Bakugou
triumphed?”
“If you call bringing down half a building and disabling his opponent for five
minutes triumphing, then yes. He did.”
“So you’re saying that this is a revenge match between Midoriya and Bakugou!”
Hizashi exclaimed. “The two of them are finally getting the chance to settle an
old score!”
Not exactly,  Shouta thought as he sat back with a little sigh. There hadn’t
been a lick of animosity from Midoriya since that event and Shouta  had  been
looking for  something.  They had carried on as normal after that fight, as
though it held no special significance- not the destruction that Bakugou
wrought or the victory he’d taken from Midoriya.
The roar of the crowd grew as the boys walked out into the arena. Shouta put
his hand over his mouth, stifling his groan because they  came out of the same
tunnel.
Hizashi, ever the showman, didn’t miss a beat. “This is sure to be an
impressive match! Clearly, our contestants know each other well and both must
be quite strong to have reached this point!”
Down in the arena, Midoriya and Bakugou stepped, in unison, into the ring. They
still held hands, still spoke and looked only at each other despite the lights,
the cameras, the crowd screaming their name. Suddenly, Shouta wasn’t worried
that they’d take this too seriously, but that they wouldn’t take it seriously
enough.
If they, for some stupid reason, went easy on each other- After all this- After
how every one of their opponents had done all they could to try and beat them-
“On the left, we have Midoriya Izuku, the surprising victor against the young,
dual-quirk wielding Todoroki last round. His enhancement quirk must extend to a
quick regenerative ability because I can’t see a scratch or burn on him from
here! What a valuable quirk, being able to heal so completely, so quickly!”
Hizashi said, touting the student’s abilities.
Shouta grimaced under his bandages. It was a sour point in the sport festival
for him, the way information on the students’ quirks was passed around, the way
they were tested so they would display what they got- It made it easy for Pro
Hero agencies to pick and choose among them for the best matches to their
agencies, but it also made public record of their quirks. As an Underground Pro
Hero, Shouta understood the worth of keeping your quirk’s limits close to the
vest.
It was, perhaps, why he was more concerned with the boys’ relationship and it’s
unhealthy behaviors, than he was about Midoriya’s strange combination of quirks
and history of apparent quirklessness.
“And on our right stands Bakugou Katsuki. We’re all aware of  his  quirk! I
think we’re still sweeping up the dust from his last battle out of the stands!
He must feel like he’s at a disadvantage against Midoriya’s healing, but he
certainly looks confident enough!” Hizashi turned to Shouta with a grin, “As
their homeroom teacher, have you got anything to add?”
Shouta shook his head slightly, but before Hizashi fully turned away, he lifted
his hand to indicate he  had  thought of something. Leaning in towards the mike
again, he looked to Hizashi and said, “Have they rigged up the blast shields
for the first few rows like last year or not?”
“I’m afraid not,” Hizashi said, “Which means that everyone in the first five
rows of the audience better be warned that they’re in the splash zone! Though
I’ll be honest, the warning comes a little late.”
“Better late than never,” Shouta said. “Now don’t you have a match to start?”
“That I do!” Hizashi grinned. “The infamous Bakugou versus the headstrong
Midoriya! Who will win? How will they win! Why don’t we find out now! Three!
Two! One! MATCH START!”
Shouta winced, covering an ear with one hand though it did so little to protect
him from Hizashi excited shout. He kept an eye on the match, though, unable to
deny the jolt of worry that jumped through him like an electric charge when
Bakugou and Midoriya ran towards each other.
He expected a vicious clash the moment they reached each other but instead of a
flare of explosion or cracking concrete, the first strike was done without
their quirks.
Shouta’s eyes widened at the sight of Bakugou  -“my quirk is better than yours”
Bakugou-  fighting Midoriya without his quirk active. Neither one of them
seemed to be using their quirks and, very quickly, the crowd responded to the
lack of flare or flash with shouting and jeering.
Hizashi made some sort of shocked comment, pounding his fist on the desk once
for effect but his words went in one ear and out the other. Shouta leaned
forward in his seat, watching the fight.
Midoriya caught one of Bakugou’s punches, hauled him close with a maneuver
Shouta had seen Bakugou give to Ojiro earlier, but as Bakugou went over
Midoriya’s shoulders, he twisted, grabbed the shorter boy and brought him to
the ground with him. They both rolled away from the drop, but neither one was
away for more than the second it took to get to their feet.
Again and again, they met each other blow for blow. Punches were thrown,
blocked, parried and ducked. Kicks landed a little more frequently, but,
occasionally, a knee would block another and they both would have to back up,
regain their footing and come back in.
Whenever it seemed like one of them had the upper hand, a few short movements
would bring them back to an equal standing. They barely moved farther than ten
feet from the very center. Back and forth, side to side, they fought bare-
handed and without a quirk.
“Incredible,” he breathed out unthinkingly.
“What was that?” Hizashi asked.
“I think we might have underestimated just how well these two work together,”
Shouta said. He drummed his fingers on the counter, watching as Bakugou knocked
the feet out from Midoriya, but instead of just falling, Midoriya caught
himself on his hands and slipped out of range of any attack. This began a
circular chase around the center point of the arena that ended only when
Midoriya turned, planted his feet, took the brunt of Bakugou’s next attack and
returned with a few of his own hits.
“You seem to have a good insight into the young minds of our contestants,”
Hizashi said, “Why not give us a peek into what they’re doing, hm?”
“You’re a Pro Hero, Present Mic.” Shouta said as he leaned his elbows on the
desk. “How often do you come across a situation where using  your quirk would
be more dangerous than not? Surely, there are times when shattering glass could
put innocents in danger or there are those who cannot guard their ears under
the assault of your quirk.”
“Absolutely! So you’re saying that they’re trying to show off what they can do
without a quirk? If that’s the case, then why let the match run so long? We’re
already several minutes in and there hasn’t been a single pin or crippling blow
yet delivered!”
“Well, that’s what I mean by them being closer than we had yet previously
anticipated,” Shouta said. “I think this is just the beginning, a warm-up, if
you will. What I mean to say is that none of what we’re seeing right now is a
serious fight. The actual fight has yet to even begin.”
“Do you really think so?” Hizashi asked. He too, sat forward in his chair,
looking down at the contestants. “They’re working up quite the sweat if it’s
just a practice round!”
“Not a practice. Just a warm up.” Shouta said. “You’re supposed to stretch
before strenuous exercise, whether it is a fight like this or something a
little more focused like playing an instrument for an event.”
“Seems a bit intense for just a little stretching,” Hizashi remarked. “That
last toss looked like it’ll be leaving a bruise on Midoriya for a week, healing
factor or not!”
“That’s just Midoriya and Bakugou,” Shouta said, shifting his microphone down a
little bit so he could see better, “They don’t know how to be anything else but
intense.”
“That sure is true! Wow, look at the right hook on Bakugou! It’s a lucky thing
that Midoriya ducked that one or else he’d be down an eye for sure!” Hizashi
exclaimed. “I can’t believe how long they’ve been going at it, considering how
short some of Bakugou’s earlier matches went. Clearly, these two are running at
a different level than their year mates!”
Silently, Shouta nodded in agreement. Hizashi might only be talking about the
way they fought, but Shouta had seen more than enough to know how deep that
truth ran. Perhaps in some ways they were on par with other students, but there
were also plenty of things that they knew far too much about.
Shouta grimaced under his bandages. He wondered if anyone had even thought of
giving them some sort of ‘safe sex’ conversation. Their parents perhaps? Maybe
not the Bakugous, who refused to  even entertain the thought of the boys
sharing the same space, but Midoriya’s mother? Surely, that task couldn’t be
regulated to someone like him. He was a teacher, had been for several years,
but to have to teach a pair of kids like that about the particulars about sex….
Especially given the likelihood that they were already experimenting down that
track…
With a small shudder, Shouta resolved to ask Freecs to do it. A trusted, non-
biased adult? A  therapist?  Certainly Freecs could navigate his way through
that conversation.
Shouta had met Freecs’ sister. The man could handle the boys if he could handle
that  girl.
 
 
===============================================================================
 
 
Shouto sat in the very front of the Yuuei Class A student rows. He would be
standing at the railing if he hadn’t been ushered into a seat by a vest-wearing
official. Midoriya had defeated him- had bested him with his two bare fists
against both his ice andhis fire. He had ripped off burned clothes, torn off
frozen shoes, had gone hard and fast into his fight with Shouto claiming
bullshit about fighting at “Kacchan’s”level.
And now he fought, bare handed, barefoot,  withoutthe  use of his quirk against
Bakugou as though neither one of them had a quirk at all. Shouto felt like he
was watching one of his grandfather’s old martial arts videos, except that
their moves were not exactly professionally polished. Their forms were sloppy,
and clearly needed improvement, but at the same time they could have been
effective in a real fight.
That is if any of them had actually really landed.
Shouto’s fists tightened in his lap. What were they doing? Was Aizawa right?
Were they just warming up? Was this the level of strength that Midoriya had
boasted about?
“Uh, Todoroki? Ribbit?”
Shouto took in a shuddering breath and looked to his right, where Asui sat,
blinking at him. He immediately saw the ice that crusted his jacket shoulder
and was spreading out. “Sorry,” he muttered, cutting off his quirk and shaking
off the ice.
“It’s fine,” Asui said, “But are you okay?”
Shouto nodded his head curtly. He flexed his hands, forcing them to lie flat on
his knees. There was no reason to get worked up about Bakugou and Midoriya’s
match. It had nothing to do with him.  They  had nothing to do with his goal.
Too far away to hear correctly, Shouto had to read Midoriya’s lips as he put up
a hand and said  “Enough.”
 
     “Enough, enough,” Midoriya’s voice had been trembling but clear,
     completely unmuffled by the thin curtain and few feet of space
     between his infirmary bed and Shouto’s. “Kacchan, please.”

     “Needy little fuck,” Bakugou’s voice was lower, practically a growl,
     and wasn’t nearly as vulgar sounding as the slick noise that
     followed. Shouto pressed his hand over his mouth, breathing as
     shallowly as possible so as not to be heard but unable to cover his
     ears. The room was so quiet he could hear the zipper of Bakugou’s
     pants and knew that there was no damn way he was zipping them up.
     “I’m going to show you fucking enough.”

     Bakugou’s grunting was punctuated by the bed squeaking and shifting
     under their combined movement. The sound of cloth, that squelch of
     something slick, those tiny whimpers that sounded more like a dog
     pleading than a human- Shouto could close his eyes and recall the
     shadows moving behind the thin curtain. Bakugou kneeling up, Midoriya
     on his back, the light above them showing too much and the curtain
     hiding most of it. Shouto had stared. Had listened. Hadn’t known what
     the fuck to do. “Is this what you want, Deku? Is this what you need?”


      “Kacchan,” Midoriya had begged. Shouto had closed his eyes but it
     was only worse when he couldn’t see anything. “Please.”
 
Shouto shuddered. He formed ice on his palm and pressed it against his
forehead, feeling far too hot for the situation. He had to stop thinking about
that, stop wondering about it, stop remembering it- Had to focus on his goal,
on the whole reason he’d come to this stupid school full of these naive little
kids-
Behind him, someone screamed, high pitched and shrill and Shouto jerked
upright. He dropped his hand from his face just in time to catch a faceful of a
dust cloud rolling over him. Coughing, he blinked furiously and waved his hand
through the air.
“What  was  that?” Shouted someone a few rows up. “I thought they weren’t using
their quirks!”
As the air finally cleared, Shouto wasn’t the only one on his feet trying to
get a better view. The cloud was clearly a result of Bakugou’s quirk, though
where the dust came from wasn’t as obvious until the dust settled and the arena
became visible again. Shouto blinked, momentary shock wiping his expression
clean as he stared at Midoriya’s back. A large slab stood upright between
Midoriya and Bakugou, the edges of it ragged and broken and the underside
visibly crumbling with dark dirt.
Midoriya didn’t stay hidden behind the rock for very long, though, but ducked
around the side of it just as another blast rocked the slab. This second blast
broke the rock into chunks that splintered off with a great crack, the pieces
sliding to the ground in a cloud of dust that rose up like a fog.
Midoriya, his profile low to the ground, dashed off to the side. Shouto watched
in growing confusion as he brought his heel as he ran, shattering the ground
periodically. From where Shouto sat, he couldn’t see where Midoriya attacked or
what his goal was. Shouto remembered the force of air that had pushed him from
Midoriya’s attacks. He remembered seeing his ice disintegrate into little
particles over and over again at the slightest thrust of Midoriya’s hands. So
why wasn’t Midoriya turning that same force on Bakugou now? Was he holding back
because of their  relationship?
 
     “You’re a broken fucking record, Deku, can’t you say anything else?”
     Bakugou’s taunting voice sounded exactly the same. Same cadence. Same
     lilt. The only difference was the situation, the connotation, the way
     his shadow looked against the curtain as Shouto watched him inch
     forward on his knees. “Why don’t you tell me what you want and how
     you want it?”

      “Please,” Midoriya’s voice was low, a moan so lewd that Shouto felt
     his face heating up, “Kacchan, I w-want you to fuck me. Please, fuck
     me with your cock. Put your hands around my throat and fuck me.
     That’s what I need.”
     The shadows moved. There was a noise Shouto had never heard before
     but had him holding his breath in his lungs until they burned. He
     heard Midoriya make noises that sounded almost like he was in pain
     while Bakugou bent over him. The shadows of their bodies pressed
     closer together. The creak of the metal bedframe became regular.
     Shouto wasn’t sure, but he thought he saw the long line of an arm
     reaching down to the shadow he’d figured was Midoriya’s head. It
     hadn’t crossed his mind that Midoriya was being literal. Who would
     want to be choked while doing  that?
     Midoriya, apparently.
      
Shouto twisted his fingers together, feeling as though his thoughts were so
clear on his face. The ice wasn’t enough to keep him cool. Not when every other
thought about Midoriya and Bakugou led him back  there.  He felt like he was
sweating too much. Like his breath was too uneven. Like people could tell his
thoughts kept dipping into that memory again and again, almost obsessively.
He needed space- Needed to collect himself- Needed to shower in ice water and
take a nap and just forget about Midoriya and Bakugou and this whole messed up
day.
Forcing himself to still his hands again, Shouto swallowed down that panic. For
a second, it choked him but Shouto was good at pushing everything back and
down. He packed his panic away, breathing shallowly while he did. He could
freak out later, in the safety of his home. What he needed now was a
distraction and, thankfully, the announcing voice of Present Mic could be that
for him.
“It seems these boys really have it in for the arena,” Present Mic’s voice
boomed out over the speakers. “They turn on the quirks and BAM! It looks like a
meteor shower has struck!
“And just what does Midoriya have up his sleeve? At first, I thought he was
hitting the corner of every block he came across, but it looks like he’s just
drawing a circle of some sort?” Present Mic said, “Someone tell this boy to
stop playing around! We’re here for a match, are we not? At least Bakugou seems
to be taking this seriously!”
Some of the other students, upon getting out of their seat, went to the railing
to watch with curiosity. Shouto joined them, slipping in between Ojiro and the
invisible Hagakure.
“Whoa!” Hagakure said at Shouto’s shoulder. “Midoriya is so fast! I didn’t know
he could move that fast just running! He didn’t do that on the first day of
tests, did he?”
“He’s using his quirk to do it,” Shouto said quietly, “The same way he’s
stomping the ground like that.” That was the force he had seen up close and
personal, but still, Midoriya kept from turning that on Bakugou.  Why?
“But why is he bothering to do that to the ground?” someone else asked.
Shouto shrugged. No one else answered either. They were all at a loss. It
wasn’t as though the blasts knocked Bakugou over. The shockwaves were too weak
to reach him and the immediate circle of space around him was smooth,
untouched.
Bakugou had proven that he could direct himself in the air when fighting
Uraraka, meaning that sending him up into the air would put Midoriya at a
disadvantage. So what was the point of it?
Midoriya completed his circle, dodging explosions and making it back to his
starting spot. Bakugou’s scowl was clear, his confusion a little harder to
read, but Shouto was searching his expression in hopes to get some clue into
Midoriya’s mind.
“The fuck are you doing, Deku?” Bakugou shouted. He took a cautious step
forward, one hand in front of him with the palm smoldering. “I’ve already
broken that cover. I can see the top of your stupid little head.”
“Kacchan,” Midoriya’s head popped up, “I have a question for you.”
“Yeah? The fuck is it?”
“Where did all the water go from Todoroki’s melted ice?”
Bakugou’s hand lowered. His face scrunched up in confusion. “I don’t fucking
know. Somewhere, obviously, cause it sure as fuck isn’t here.”
“That’s the thing about water,” Midoriya said, “It’s not like acid or slime or
other kinds of discharge. You don’t really have to clean it up as you just have
to put it somewhere where it won’t cause a problem in the future. As long as it
doesn’t leave a soggy mess behind, anywhere is fine.” Midoriya shrugged out of
his jacket, tossing it aside so he had bare arms once again. “Water is kind of
an ‘out of sight, out of mind’ problem, you know? A bit like how we were when
we were little.”
Bakugou scoffed. He strode more confidently forward, “Yeah, and you know what
kind of shit we got into when we were little. So what the hell are you  really
trying to say, Deku?”  He stepped carefully onto the broken ground. After all,
he was as barefoot as Midoriya but was at a disadvantage in the self-healing
department.
That thought prompted Shouto to look at Midoriya’s feet. He could just barely
see them through the rubble in the dirt hole he’d made and the sight made him
wince. Brown dirt and concrete dust coated what them and red blood seeping from
his open wounds. He wasn’t surprised to see that, though. Midoriya had run on
ice and concrete shards before with bare feet- this was just the same thing but
without the ice.
“What I’m saying, Kacchan,” Midoriya said brightly, “Is that I pay attention to
the things I love and I  love  science class.”
“What the hell kind of lame ass line is that,” Sero complained, loud enough for
the group of them by the railing to hear. There was a muffled snort of laughter
from someone else.
Shouto, on the other hand, grabbed the railing with one hand. Immediately upon
saying that, Midoriya began to punch the ground. His bare arms lit up with the
use of his quirk, his muscles lighting from within as he punched the ground
harder and harder, faster and faster.
Bakugou waited through a few punches, but then his eye caught on something down
by his feet and he whipped his head up.
“You little  fuck!”  Bakugou shouted, running towards Midoriya. He used his
flames to propel himself upwards, skipping off the stones. Shouto watched him
until the shifting of the ground caught his eye as well. The concrete rubble
was shifting, moving in time with the slight shaking of the ground. Shouto
didn’t see what the big deal was until-
“What is going on down in the arena!” Present Mic shouted. “It looks like some
sort of wet sludge is bubbling up around the cement chunks Midoriya made! The
center of the arena is sinking down and trying to take Bakugou with it!”
With the use of his quirk, Bakugou vaulted over the meager protection that
Midoriya had made. He landed behind Midoriya, who twisted around to meet him. A
chorus of gasps rose up as Midoriya’s battered hands were revealed. They were
just as red with blood as they were blackened by wet dirt. Midoriya didn’t even
seem to notice the pain his hands must have been in. All he did was lace his
fingers together and swing them down on the other side if his hole.
The whole stadium rocked slightly. Shouto tightened his grip on the railing,
hissing as he was jostled on either side. The other students hurried to
stabilize themselves. Looking out at the arena, there was about a ten-foot
radius of damage with Midoriya as the epicenter. The concrete of the arena had
sunk down nearly a foot as a result of his punch.
“What the hell did he do this time?” Someone shouted.
“He punched the dirt,” came the reply from someone else.
“He compressed the ground around him,” Shouto explained. He wasn’t as tall as
some of the others, but when he stood on tiptoe, he was able to see a glimmer
of liquid near Midoriya. “The ground was saturated with water from my melted
ice and that’s what he used to cause the liquefaction,” Shouto said, “Now that
he’s compressed it, though, he’s just standing in a pool of water.”
Bakugou hadn’t kept his footing when the concrete sank, but he found it again
quickly. His toes were curled over the edge of one the piece of concrete that
jutted up above the others. “You gonna keep playing with the dirt, Deku, or are
you going to climb out of your shithole and fucking fight me for real?”
“I already played with fire once today, Kacchan,” Midoriya called back, cupping
one hand around the side of his mouth to be heard. His fingers left a smudge
near his cheek that made Shouto’s stomach churn. He was too far away and it was
too dark to tell what it was made with, blood or mud. “I’m not going into this
fight dry.”
Bakugou laughed, “I do like it when you get wet for me, Deku.”
 
     “More,” Midoriya’s demands were nearly breathless. Shouto shivered at
     how intimate they sounded. He shouldn’t be listening to this. He
     shouldn’t be watching their shadows they way he was.  “Kacchan.
     More. ”

      The sound of their bodies meeting, flesh on flesh, flesh  in flesh,
     somehow grew louder, faster. Bakugou’s breath came out as grunts in
     time with each lewd slap. Shouto could tell his breathing from
     Midoriya’s because Bakugou’s hands were still around his throat,
     making every breath Midoriya took a struggle of wheezing and
     whimpering.
     The sound didn’t make Bakugou back off, the way it would have made
     Shouto stop. If anything, he became more vulgar, more violent,
     thrusting into Midoriya despite the weakness audible in his breath.
     The bandages on Midoriya’s neck from time to time made a lot more
     sense now. If Bakugou frequently choked Midoriya- If they frequently
     had sex like this- If this was what they did with each other even
     with someone else in the room-
     Shouto had no more questions about how far Midoriya and Bakugou would
     go to get what they wanted- even if it hurt the other.
 
“Todoroki! Watch it!”
Shouto took in a sharp breath made all the more sharp from the frost in the
air. He flinched, ice cracking along his right side as he let go of the
railing. There was ice crawling down either side of it, and the others around
him had pulled back. Shouto felt like choking on his tongue when he saw
Hagakure’s frosted breath in the air.
“I- Sorry-” he said, pulling back.
“It’s okay dude,” Kirishima said. He was brushing ice off of himself. “We get
it. The fight’s pretty intens-WHOA!” He staggered forward as the ground lurched
again with a more intense tremor. His hands caught onto Shouto, grabbing him by
the shoulders to keep from falling.
Shouto, in turn, caught the railing to keep from falling from the tremor and
from Kirishima’s sudden weight and instinctively grabbed the front of
Kirishima’s jacket. He tried to let go, but couldn’t yet because Kirishima was
too busy gawking at the arena to bother getting his feet up underneath himself.
Despite the burning sensation Shouto could feel on his left side -he did not
need to be  this  close to someone when he had  that  still on the brain- he
didn’t drop Kirishima, who couldn’t seem to catch his footing.
For that matter, Shouto was surprised he was still upright, considering how the
ground lurched up like it was trying to form mountains out of nothing but sheer
will. “Oh my  God,”  Kirishima whispered. Shouto sharply turned his head to the
side to hide burning his left side was undoubtedly going to start doing. As a
consequence of that, he saw the arena.
Or at least, what was left of it.
The center was more mud than concrete, with the chunks having sunken down from
the liquefaction. There were two more of those craters, though neither one as
big as before, though they were dropped deeper than the first one. The edges of
them jutted out like miniature cliff faces nearly a foot tall.
That, though, probably wasn’t what Kirishima gawked at.
Off to the edge of the wreckage of what was the arena, Midoriya and Bakugou
were fist-fighting again. It was like the first part of the match, except they
now had use of their quirks. Bakugou’s kicks came with a spin enhanced by his
flames. Midoriya’s punches blew dust, wind, and those explosive flames
backward.
 The tremors came when Midoriya grounded himself, planting his feet with enough
force to sink them into the ground though he’d let up on making the craters.
Even with the surface damage so very little, the shockwave carried through the
ground and made the arena tremble and shake.
They rarely made bodily contact, moving fast to land to strike and faster to
dodge one. Wind and flame cut around them, whipping at Bakugou’s clothes and
burning Midoriya’s. Shouto had a feeling that if either one of them landed a
blow, that would be it. That would be the end of the match.
“Are they- Have they always been this strong?” Kirishima asked. The tremors had
stopped long enough for him to get to his feet. He hadn’t let go of Shouto,
though, eyes glued to the arena.
Shouto let go of the railing too, carefully, pull Kirishima’s hands off of him.
He was surprised when Kirishima’s fingers briefly turned to stone, only to have
the redhead immediately revert to flesh and let go.
 “Sorry,” Kirishima said, pulling his hands back, “Your hands are a bit, uh,
hot and cold there so I just reacted instinctively.”
Shouto shook his head. He tucked his hands down at his sides, ignoring the way
that one burned and one felt stiff with ice. Where the hell was his chill? What
was he so worked up about?
“Are you okay, Todoroki?” Kirishima asked. He didn’t reach out to touch him,
but he ducked his head a little, looking at Todoroki with his brows wrinkled up
in concern. “You, um, look flushed. Do you need to go to the infirmary? I could
come with-”
 
     A sharp gasp, like air filling empty lungs. A pause in the creaking
     bed, the movement of bodies. A curse dropping from Bakugou’s mouth,
     filled with shock, not lust. Shaking just a little bit.
     “Kacchan?” Midoriya’s soft voice, confused voice. “You haven’t come
     yet?”
 
“No.” Shouto said, feeling brittle, transparent. “I’m not injured. I do not
need to go back to the infirmary.” After this match, would Bakugou and Midoriya
go back there? Would they do  that  again?
He shuddered. “I’m fi-iine!” The ground trembled again. The fight was still
going on, after all, and Shouto scrambled for footing while his voice betrayed
how the shaking had startled him.
Reaching out, he caught Kirishima’s offered hand instinctively. Ice crystals
formed along the back of his hand but Kirishima had turned his skin to rock and
offered Shouto a grin. “I gotcha.”
Swallowing with a dry mouth, Shouto nodded.
“Someone should stop the match!” shouted one of Shouto’s classmates. Shouto
ignored them and borrowed Kirishima’s stability to reach the railing. This
time, no matter what, he was not going to let it go.
“Stop the match?” Kirishima called over his shoulder, “Are you kidding me? This
is great!”
“It’s also dangerous!” Shouto finally identified the voice as Hagakure. He
glanced back to see her sitting in the front row of seats, holding onto her
seat with both hands, or at least, that’s what her sleeves indicated.
“The stadium won’t collapse. It’s only shaking a little bit. Everything will be
fine!” Kirishima said, “I mean, it’s not like Midoriya is hitting the building
directly.”
There was a sudden crunch and the railing Shouto held onto vibrated. He and
Kirishima both peered over the edge to see a rock lodged in the wall below
them. It wasn’t small either, but easily the size of a small car.
Looking out to the arena, they saw Midoriya hefting up another rock. As they
watched, he tossed it at Bakugou, who braced himself and, at the last second,
blasted his way through it, bursting the rock into shards. Shouto covered his
face with his free arm, trying to keep the dust out of his eyes.
“They’re slowing down,” he murmured. Both Midoriya and Bakugou were breathing
heavily, still looked visibly intent on each other but even from a distance,
anyone could see they were wearing themselves out.
“Thank God.” Ojiro said, coming up to stand beside Shouto. “I hope they finish
soon.”
Shouto clenched the railing with his hand, ignoring the ice that sprang up like
crystals between his fingers. He didn’t care if his cool was lost. He was  not
going to think about that again.
 
     “Oh my god, I’m so fucking close.”  Bakugou’s moan sent shivers
     across Shouto’s skin. His fingers dug into his own sheets as he
     listened to the sound of Bakugou finishing. He’d never heard anyone
     but himself, before, and, like Bakugou, had somehow missed when
     Midoriya came.
     Shouto bit his tongue when Bakugou pulled out, the sound of it
     somehow worse than all the ones before and somehow stronger because
     he couldn’t see what was happening. He curled up, moving as silently
     as possible, and stared at the opposite wall for the first time in
     what felt like an eternity. He had to think of something else,
     anything else, to ease the way his own cock throbbed in his pants.
     He wasn’t like them. He couldn’t do what they did. There was no way
     he was going to touch himself where anyone could hear. He wasn’t like
     Bakugou and Midoriya.
     He wasn’t.
 
Distracted, conflicted, with some twisted form of shame and mortification
rising in his belly, Shouto made the desperate decision to retreat. It was a
mistake to think he could sit through Midoriya’s and Bakugou’s match. It was a
mistake to think he could be calm and collected, no matter what front he’d put
up for Midoriya after everything he’d heard.
Not when it kept coming back to him. Not when every little thing about their
fight reminded him of those sounds, those words, the shadows, god, the shadows-
If the curtains hadn’t been there. If even that fake line of privacy had been
removed, would Bakugou still have done what he did?
Shouto shuddered. He ripped his hand off of the railing, leaving an outline of
ice behind. He heard but didn’t answer Kirishima’s question, asking after him
as he turned. He just had to go.
The ending of the match didn’t matter at all. It wasn’t important to Shouto’s
goal. He had to go clear his head.
Shouto started walking, but by the time he reached the door off of the stands,
he was all but running. He could still feel the building shiver from Midoriya’s
attacks even as he ran down the hall, searching for one of the prep rooms.
He bumped into someone on his way, who tried to stop him with an outstretched
hand and a joking, “Hey, where’s the fire?”
Shouto ducked the hand and ran past without answering. There was no need to
answer the idiotic question.
Couldn’t he see? The fire was inside of Shouto and it was burning him alive.
***** and it all goes up in flames *****
Chapter Notes
     thank you all for sticking out this rocky part of the year with me!!
     this chapter is for all of you,, so patiently waiting for more
     information.... there will uh, be an intermission and then we'll be
     back into the swing of things soon. (updates are coming a little
     slower because of a couple IRL reasons and also because i'm working
     on some big background project things i'll share later!)
     thank you again, i hope to enjoy many lovely comments, thank you <3
Hizashi tapped a hand to the device on his ear, listening to it with a smile
that wavered slightly. When he lowered his hand, he flicked the switched that
turned off the microphones and leaned over towards Shouta, asking, “Hey,
Midoriya’ can’t like, crack the ground open with one of his punches, right?
Just make it shake a little?”
“Honestly,” Shouta said, “I’m not entirely sure on the scope of his ability.
I’ve seen him spar and fight before, but never like this.”
“Yeah,” Hizashi said. He pinched his bottom lip between thumb and forefinger,
pulling at it nervously, “It’s like some sort of damn anime battle…”
“Do the judges want to stop the match?”
Hizashi grimaced, “They’re leaving it to my discretion.”
Shouta winced in sympathy. “If it helps you decide, I don’t think Midoriya
would go so far as to bring down the building on everyone’s head. He may seem
reckless as hell out in a fight, but he only behaves that way with himself.”
“What,” Hizashi asked, finger hesitating over the switch that kept their
microphones off, “Is he suicidal or is his reinforced healing thatgood?”
Shouta shook his head, “This isn’t the place for that conversation. Let’s just
say that I have a professional getting involved in the matter.”
“You brought in Freecs?” Hizashi asked, “I thought I saw him around.” He gave
Shouta a wry smile and shook his head. “All right, I’ll let them keep going.
But the first crack I see outside the main arena and we’re pulling the plug.”
Shouta nodded in agreement.
Flicking the switch to make them live again, Hizashi adopted his wide smile and
cheerful attitude once again. As he did so, another one of Midoriya’s punches
made the mug of tea Shouta had on the table tremble.
“Dear audience,” Hizashi said into the mike, “I just would like to remind you
that our lovely stadium here has been built with the highest tech in earthquake
technology, so as long as you stay in your seats during the remainder of the
fight, there shouldn’t be any danger! No little quakes like these can bring
anything down on us! Which is fantastic news, considering how these two boys
are really going at it!”
Shouta picked up his tea, if only to stop it from vibrating in time with the
movement of the building, and held it cradled in his hands. While he doubted
Midoriya would purposefully put people in danger like that, accidents happened
all the time.

 
===============================================================================
 
 
 
In Katsuki’s eyes, rarely was Izuku as beautiful as he was in moments like
this.
He was filthy with dirt and blood; the former all over his legs from toes to
knees and his arms from palms to elbows and the latter dripping from split lips
and a cut over his eyebrow and numerous little scratches from all over. Wayward
curls of hair smoldered from narrowly missed explosions while other dark locks
stuck to his head with sweat and that fucking groundwater he’d brought up.
Izuku was brilliant, devising attacks and defenses that could counter anything
and everything that Katsuki threw at him.
The grin on his expression matched the one that Katsuki bore: wide, almost
feral and full of vicious glee. But it was his eyes that caught Katsuki’s
heart, cradling it in those muddy, bloody hands with no intention to ever let
go.
They burned with their intensity. They tracked Katsuki no matter where he went
in the arena. They weren’t obscured by anything for long, not even smoke or the
curling flame of an explosion. Again and again, Katsuki met those eyes only to
find Izuku’s determined, vibrant gaze looking back at him.
Like this- fighting, bloody, panting, sweating, with eyes hard as the brilliant
gemstones they resembled, Izuku was alive.
Katsuki loved Izuku, living or dying, but living most especially.
 
 
 
 
Tumbling to the side, knee hitting a piece of concrete that jutted up, Katsuki
spat out a curse like he spat the blood that filled his mouth. A good smack to
the face had left him with a busted lip and bruising that would last for days
and he wouldn’t have it any other way. With how bad Izuku looked, Katsuki knew
he would be worse off and for far longer.
He’d have to rely on Recovery Girl and his own ability, which, he supposed, was
good enough. After all, if Izuku didn’t have his recovery quirk he would have
to do the same.
Several feet away, Izuku hefted a few softball-sized rocks in his hands. Up and
down, up and down, he tossed them until he sent them arching towards Katsuki,
only to make him dodge or force him to blow them up. Either one would work,
since Katsuki was closer to the border of the ring and his palms were finally
becoming raw from use.
Fatigue gnawed at Katsuki’s limbs, making his reactions slower. He no longer
had the energy to go running circles around Izuku, racing over the shattered
ground and had to approach with more caution.
That broken concrete had done a number on his bare feet as well and Katsuki had
a feeling that was where he’d feel the most pain, once he came down out of
battle.
For now, though, for now, he ignored all his pain so that he could fight, so
that he could win.
There was no way that Katsuki was going to let Izuku win.

 
 
“You gettin’ tired on me, Deku?” Katsuki taunted, wiping his mouth with the
back of his hand. “Is that why you’re chuckin’ shit instead of coming at me
with your fists?”
“Not exactly,” Izuku replied. “I just don’t want you to get mad at me,
Kacchan.”
“Mad at you-” Katsuki’s grin transformed into a snarl. “The fuck did you do
now?”
Sheepishly, Izuku held up one his hands. He dropped the rock he was holding and
let it clatter to the ground. Without the rock to support and give shape to his
fingers, three of them hung limply as though they were boneless. “I’m working
with only a few good bones. You wouldn’t believe how much force it takes to
liquefy the ground.”
“You idiot.”Katsuki smacked his forehead with his palm and had to stifle a
wince. God, his own hands hurt something awful. “What about your fucking legs?
Huh? You even got something to work with there or are you a dumb shit through
and through?” He took a step closer to Izuku, his desire to check on Izuku
overpowering his desire to fight him. After all, they’d been going on so long,
longer and harder than they ever had in any sparring match except for the few
and far between times where they took to the mountains on an afternoon “hiking
trip”.
“Uh, if I stand right here and don’t move ,”Izuku shifted on his feet. He
winced as he settled on the balls of his feet, bouncing a little, “I’ll be
good! Fighting without shoes wasn’t as much fun here as it is on the beach.”
“You’re one fucked up little moron,” Katsuki said. His voice was low to keep it
from carrying. “You got some kind of sick pain tolerance. How much of a beating
can you fucking take?”
With those wide green eyes and a look of innocence -feigned, Katsuki was sure
or he’d eat his damn pants- Izuku said sweetly, “I can handle anything you
throw at me, Kacchan. Anything at all.”
Katsuki shivered so badly he had to close his eyes for a second and lick his
lips. He tasted blood on his tongue and opened his eyes just in time to see
Izuku dashing towards him.
“Shit!” He exclaimed, lurching backward, attempting to get out of Izuku’s way.
Not quite as nimble as before because of his fatigue, Katsuki’s lurch sent him
sliding across the broken concrete, scrambling with his feet, arms pinwheeling
instinctively as Izuku lunged across the last few feet between them and come at
him. A quick glance over his shoulder told Katsuki what the ground behind him
was broken into dozens of smaller pieces, and so, biting his cheek so he
wouldn’t bite his tongue instead, Katsuki committed to the fall.
Before he went down, though, he caught hold of the front of Izuku’s undershirt.
The fabric tore as Izuku resisted, but Katsuki yanked.Off-balance, Izuku fell
after him.
Kicking up his foot, Katsuki caught Izuku in the gut and, using his momentum,
kicked him off again, over his head. He let go of Izuku at the last second and
watched those green eyes as they widened in surprise and heard Izuku’s
bubbling, reflexive laughter as he went flying through the air, upside down, to
the shattered ground out of sight.
He heard Izuku land, the familiar sound of his body hitting concrete bringing
back so many memories that Katsuki thought he heard the sickening crack of bone
along with it. He winced where he lay, slightly winded from his own fall, on
the rock. The sharp edges dug into his back and shoulders, adding more bruises
to the collection he had garnered already.
It took him longer than Katsuki would have liked to get back to his feet,
rolling to the side and clamoring up as quickly as his exhausted muscles could
let him. Katsuki panted for breath as he held still, braced for some sort of
shitty sneak attack from Izuku, but when nothing happened for ten seconds,
Katsuki relaxed ever so slightly. His narrowed focus of Izuku-fight
Izukubroadened to encompass more of the tattered arena, the screams of the
audience, and, of course, Present Mic’s booming voice.
“...-doria is down on his back! We have the Ref up and giving a count! If he
can’t get up in ten seconds, this could be it, folks, this could be the end!”
Katsuki froze.
At that height- At that angle- Even with the jagged rocks at the bottom of the
fall- Unless he was completely unable to control his fall- Or predicted it
wrong when he did change- No- Even still- The odds of such a casual toss,
something Katsuki had done dozens of times, something Izuku should have seen
coming a mile away, something that Izuku had been caught in enough to know how
to fall and survive- There was no fuckingway-
“Deku,” Katsuki breathed out, fear clawing at his gut as sharp as knives. He
scrambled over the small crest in the stone, where one jutting piece prevented
him from seeing where Izuku had landed. “Deku!”
Izuku lay at the bottom of a pile of rocks. He lay with one arm out to the
side, the other across his chest and his legs, broken, sprawled on the ground .
His head was turned to the side with his chin pressed down against his chest.
Katsuki stared at his chest.
His unmoving chest.
“Fuck,” Katsuki threw himself forward, moving so quickly that even if he lost
his footing he was gone before the rock began to slip. “Izuku!”
Katsuki hit his knees beside Izuku. He had to get that rock out of the way so
that Izuku could heal properly- Had to do what he could to block the view of
the cameras so they wouldn’t see his immobile chest- Had to-
“And the ref has called it!” Present Mic’s voice boomed, drowning out Katsuki’s
mute horror. “That’s a TKO for Bakugou, making him the champion of the
tournament!”
Just as Katsuki’s fingers wrapped around the rock, slick with blood, warmwith
blood, Izuku’s eyes opened. He twisted away from Katsuki, but when Katsuki
didn’t move to respond to his defensive posture, Izuku looked up and around and
then down at his hands. They were still filthy with mud and blood, but as he
flexed his fingers, it was clear to see that they were no longer broken.
“Kacchan?” he whispered.
Katsuki’s fingers tightened around the rock. Swallowing hard, he managed to
unstick his tongue and whisper back, “You reset. It knocked you down and the
ref counted you out. I won.”
“You won?” Izuku asked with a smile. “Really?”
Katsuki nodded. The cameras, he thought to himself, if anyone had the same
angle as me. If anyone saw the rock- Shit. Does he still have blood there?He
gestured Izuku over with one hand, “C’mere.”
Izuku came to his beckoning hand without question. Katsuki put his arm around
his shoulders, drawing him close. “I don’t think anyone saw you,” he whispered
into Izuku’s ear. His hand briefly touched the back of Izuku’s neck and when he
found it tacky, he hooked his arm a little farther around Izuku so that the
blood soaked into his already dirtied sleeve. “It was a weird angle and there’s
all this fucking shit everywhere.”
“Okay,” Izuku murmured. “We’ll act as normal, then? Unless we notice someone
acting shifty?”
Katsuki nodded.
Izuku smiled at him and turned his head. He pressed his forehead against
Katsuki’s briefly. “You won.You’re so amazing, Kacchan.”
Katsuki pressed a bloodied kiss to Izuku’s cheek and then drew back. In the
same motion that he stood, he slipped the bloody rock into his pocket. Thathe
would dispose of later. For now, he pulled Izuku up to his feet and shoved his
shoulder. “Fucker, you’re already all damn better, aren’t you? You little shit.
I should make you carry me for the fuckery you pulled on my damn feet.”
“If you insist, Kacchan,” Izuku said with that mock innocence. He reached for
Katsuki, strong arms going around his middle, but Katsuki put his hand on
Izuku’s face and pushed him back.
“Oh no you don’t. Let go of me! You’re all fucking wet, Mister Punches the
Ground Into Quicksand.”
“Not quicksand,” Izuku said, though he was slightly muffled from the squishing
of his cheeks, “Liquefaction! Totally different.”
“Yeah? Don’t care. You’re a little shit. Look at the arena! You stomped all
over it like some sort of mindless lizard beast.”
“Godzilla,” Izuku said, laughing as Katsuki still pushed at his face and he
tried to pull closer still. “You’re thinking of Godzilla.”
“Did I fucking say Godzilla? No. I would have fucking said that if I fucking
meant that!” Katsuki snapped. “Stop trying to pick me up! Deku, I swear if you
fucking try me-”
“Aww but your feet!” Izuku pouted. “And you must be tired, Kacchan! I won’t
pick you up bridal style-”
“I am notriding over your back like a sack of rice.”
“But Kacchan!”
Despite their bickering, they made it off the tattered arena. Cementoss was
already approaching it, shaking his head and cracking his knuckles. All the
while Present Mic went on about how grand the fight was and how similar it was
to second or third  years and how he couldn’t wait to see what growth all of
the freshman class went through with thatkind of potential in their ranks.
Katsuki ignored them, and instead paid attention to walking on his injured feet
with his arm slung around Izuku’s shoulders for support.
Being carried was actually pretty tempting, but only once they were out of
sight of their classmates and the rest of the goddamn world. As it was, Katsuki
left small crescent shaped bloody smudges behind as he walked to the tunnel
door. He could make it to the infirmary, that was for sure, but he sure as hell
wasn’t going to be walking around once he was there. And if Izuku wanted to go
for another round he was going to have to fucking wait as, with one arm
stretched over Izuku’s shoulders, Katsuki was aware of just how bruised and
possibly cracked his fucking ribs were.
Down in the halls, they came to a stuttering stop when a pair of vested
officials went racing past them. Izuku craned his head after them, frowning
slightly.
Katsuki bumped him with his hip, “Focus. Infirmary. That way.” He pointed with
his other hand and Izuku nodded. Izuku tightened his grip around Katsuki’s side
and helped him down the hallway again. They had to move aside again, though
this time for a Pro Hero who was running down the hallway at full tilt. Izuku
saw her first and yanked Katsuki back against the wall.
He stared with wide eyes as she went past, aiming for the open doorway out to
the arena. Katsuki bit his cheek to keep from visibly wincing. Yeah. His ribs
were definitely bruised. Badly. That is, if they weren’t broken. Breathing was
getting difficult.
“That was Eagle Eye,” Izuku whispered in awe, “I’ve only seen her on TV
before…” He stared after the winged woman. Katsuki glanced after her and saw
the sunlight hit her wings, turning them from dull brown to a shimmering copper
before she vanished from sight like a snuffed flame. “I didn’t know she was
here. Where do you suppose she was going off to?”
“Don’t know,” Katsuki said, “Don’t care.” He dug his fingers into Izuku’s
shoulder a little tighter. “I know I usually indulge your crazy curiosities,
Deku, but right now I need you to focus for me, okay? Focus on me.”
Izuku’s gaze snapped down from the exit to Katsuki. The green light in his
eyes, from this close, looked charged with electricity. Katsuki felt the
muscles in his thighs and groin clench instinctively. God, those eyes…
“Sorry,” Izuku whispered, “Do you want me to carry you?”
Quietly, Katsuki nodded. Izuku moved smoothly down to one knee and let Katsuki
climb onto his back. He settled his knees at Izuku’s sides and his arms loosely
around his neck and shoulders. Izuku tucked his hands under Katsuki’s thighs,
securing his hold as he got back to his feet. Once upright, he began to trot
down the hallway, moving faster than they had as a pair.
Katsuki had just gotten into the rhythm of Izuku’s pace when Izuku came to a
skidding stop.
“Deku?” He lifted his head, but he couldn’t see Izuku’s face.
“Fuck,” Izuku said, backpedaling a few steps. Then he suddenly turned on his
heel and sprinted away. It was during that turn that Katsuki felt it too.
Maybe if his quirk was something other than controlled explosions, he wouldn’t
have recognized it for what it was. Perhaps, he thought as he ducked his head
against the back of Izuku’s neck while he ran pell-mell for the nearest door,
that was what made Izuku realize what they had nearly run into.
The air of the hallway was climbing in temperature at an exponential rate.
There had been countless times that Katsuki had felt that superheated air and
each and every time it had preceded the flames of his quirk.
The door that Izuku found was locked, but he crunched the handle with one hand
and punched the electronic key swipe with the other hand while Katsuki clung to
him from behind. Izuku swore when he had to yank on the door to open it instead
of pushing it. He opened it enough so that when he grabbed Katsuki, one hand on
his shoulder and the other on his leg, he was able to fling him into the room.
“Kacchan, get behind a table!” Izuku shouted and then he slammed the door shut.
Katsuki slid across the floor, the breath knocked out of him and his ribs
screaming in pain. He managed to catch his breath when he rolled over and sat
up. “Deku?”
“Hey kid, hold still,” someone said. Katsuki blinked and managed to focus his
attention on a hero, probably a pro, kneeling beside him. “Are you okay? What’s
going on? Was that your friend?”
Katsuki shook his head to clear it. His wounds were catching up with him. He
needed something to drink and a long nap. Three days sounded good. “I’m fine,”
he said, rubbing his face with one hand. He was still filthy from his fight,
too.
Before he could get anything else out, there was a loud shout that rose into a
scream before, abruptly, it cut off. Katsuki’s mouth dried up. His heart
stuttered in his chest. He turned, slowly, as if compelled, to look at the
door.
There was a small window. The window was cracked. There was nothing but burning
gas on the other side, brilliant in its flame and scorching in its heat.
The scream had come from just outside the door. The door, made of metal and not
wood, was all that stood between them and the inferno out in the hallway.
Izuku was the only thing that kept that door shut.
Dead or alive, Izuku’s body was the one thing that prevented the rest of them
from dying.
“Shit,” Katsuki breathed out. “Shit.”



===============================================================================
 



Shouto’s search for a decent room ended when he found a tiny, nearly empty
room. It was a slightly larger than normal supply closet that had been raided
for nearly all its supplies. There were a few barren shelves screwed into the
walls above his head, a line of hooks attached to a wooden rail on one side and
a large vent at about knee height. A single broom hung from a hook, looking
worn but well maintained.
Shouto had just enough room to pace back and forth. He kept rubbing his palms
together as he did so. His right hand was slick with a light coating of ice and
he used his left hand to keep melting the ice. His left side was still warmer
than normal, skin flushed like it was stretched over smoldering coals, and it
melted the ice on contact.  
He was fidgety. Filled with a restless energy that demanded an output. His
fight had done plenty to get him riled up, what with Midoriya’s relentless
assault and the unsatisfactory end- Howwas Shouto supposed to prove himself
when a barefoot maniac could headbutt his way to victory? When that same
reckless individual’s voice and moans and whimpers clung to the back of
Shouto’s mind like cobwebs in an attic’s rafters?  
And Bakugou. Bakugou.
Shouto had never paid one lick of attention to the boy beyond his rank in
class. Bakugou had only ever been on his radar as competition. He was strong
and smart and that was enough for Shouto before today. His style was stiff
enough, rough enough around the edges that Shouto, more professionally trained,
hadn’t anticipated losing in a head to head fight. Bakugou was hotheaded and
wild and pounded away at Midoriya like-
“FUCK!” Shouto shouted, pounding his fist against the wall. Ice shot out from
the impact, coating the wall in a foot radius from his fist. He rubbed his face
with his other hand, laughing under his breath, “I sound just like him when I
do that…”
Shouto closed his eyes. He bit his lip. He was far to worked up. He needed to
find some peace of mind, to calm down, to relax. He was too restless for
meditation and there wasn’t any training room he could use to sweat the energy
out. What the hell was he going to do?
Well, there was always that.He didn’t do it often, only when absolutely
necessary, and usually to take the edge off of his restlessness but only when
he had tried everything else. Not only that, but this wasn’t a private place.
Sure, the closet door had a lock and Shouto could ice it over to prevent entry,
but there would be a mess and there was nothing but the broom in there to clean
up with.
Shouto turned to pace some more and stumbled when the ground lurched underneath
him. The walls shook as well. He almost expected ceiling dust to drift down, or
the light above to flicker, but there was nothing like that. He heard a distant
clank and hiss that came up through the large vent, but it made sense that a
tremor that noticeable would be jostling things. A vent that large just made it
easier to hear things fall in another room.
The tremor ran through Shouto’s bones and he used the wall as a support to keep
his footing. He closed his eyes and turned towards the wall. The ice was slick
and cool against his forehead, but even that wasn’t very helpful. Midoriya was
the one who caused the ground to shake. Midoriya, with his enhanced strength
and relentless pursuit, was impossible to escape.
His classmate was strong enough to make the ground shake from the force of his
punches. He could shatter concrete with his heel. He could dig into it with his
toes. Ice barely slowed him down. Fire meant nothing to him. In a hand to hand,
Shouto knew his technique would keep him afloat but Midoriya did not know how
to stay down.
Shouto punched the wall this time, purposefully releasing ice as he did so. The
wall was quickly covered with small jagged icicles, shimmering in the light and
slightly reflective. Shouto could see the colors of his clothing and the red of
his hair reflected back at himself. He turned and put his back to the ice.
He had to calm down. He had Midoriya’s word that he and Bakugou would leave
Endeavor to Shouto. It didn’t matter how strong they were. It didn’t matter if
they were considered the best in the class. It didn’t matter if they became the
top two heroes.
Shouto didn’t care about that. Endeavor was his priority. In fact, if they
overshadowed him, it would be even better. People wouldn’t see him, wouldn’t
pay attention to him. They’d be focused on the two of them, those two who
flashed, bright and wild, at the center of attention, while Shouto quietly
accomplished his goals.
The trick was that Shouto couldn’t get caught up in that. He couldn’t let
himself become part of the crowd that followed and watched those two, gasping
at every remark, commenting over every oddity. He had to keep himself separate.
He had to remain on the other side of the curtain.
The ground lurched again. Shouto, farther from the wall than before, used ice
to brace himself. He hissed between clenched teeth.
Maybe, just maybe, that meant a few times where he worked the tension out of
himself. Maybe, just maybe,that meant that Shouto would have to learn to live
with the shadows and sounds that his stupid brain couldn’t bear to part with.
That didn’t mean he had to relive them over and over in the middle of the
afternoon like his brain was sort of horrible repeating video player. It hadn’t
even been that traumatic! Why was he so worked up about it?
He’d been through so much worse and that didn’t haunt him the way this did.
He’d seen worse things than Bakugou’s fully understanding and dismissive
expression as he shut the curtain on Shouto. He’d done worse things than watch
the shadows and try to figure out whose leg was moving and where their hands
were. He’d heard worse things than the desperate way Midoriya had begged for
more. And yet those were the memories that ran circles in his mind, chasing
each other, thoughts so tangible that he could almost feel the sheets under his
fingers when he closed his eyes.
The door to the closet swung open. Shouto whipped around, dropping his hands
from where he gripped his own arms tightly. The stadium official stared at him
and then nervously cleared her throat.
“I’m uh, here for that,” she said, gesturing to the broom on the wall.
Shouto reached for it and handed it over. Ice had crystallized on the bristles
and halfway up the handle. Shouto would have offered to melt it with his fire,
but the wood would have caught and he didn’t want to set any fires. “Sorry,” he
offered instead.
She shrugged and took the broom anyway. “You know we have prep rooms for, um,
this kind of thing? Unless you’re not feeling well and then-”
“I’m fine.” Shouto cut her off quickly. He was never going to go back to the
infirmary here for as long as he lived. “The prep rooms have too much….stuff.
This is fine.”
“Well okay,” she said. “Um. If you do go elsewhere, make sure someone on staff
knows. We’ll need you for the final ceremony.”
“Of course,” Shouto said.
She hesitated a moment longer before sweeping her hair behind her ear and
offering a weak goodbye and apologetic bob of the head. When the door closed
behind her, Shouto stared at it for a minute or two.
If he’d been as reckless as those two… what would she have walked in on?
For some reason, that turned Shouto’s stomach into a different kind of knot. He
didn’t want to be seen. He didn’t want to be heard. He didn’t want anyone near
him at all when he did something like that.
But if he had walked into the closet, looking for a broom, and Midoriya and
Bakugou had been inside.
Shouto closed his eyes and shuddered. He could feel the ice creeping across his
skin. Would they even stop if he opened the door? Would they even bother to try
and get rid of him? Bakugou hadn’t even asked him to leave the infirmary. He’d
just closed the curtain. What did that mean? Did he want Shouto there? If so,
then why?
“Focus,” Shouto shook his right hand, cracking the ice and letting it fall
away. “Focus, Shouto. Where is your head? Where is your goal? So it was hot to
see them like that. So what? Get over it. Get over it.”
Shouto buried his hands in his hair, turning away from the door. “You have more
important plans than to worry about them. They don’t matter. They’re not
important. They don’t matter.”
He had surrounded most of the room in ice at this point, dropping the overall
temperature low enough to make Shouto’s teeth chatter. In some places, like
around the vent, the light above and the door, the ice was already beginning to
melt, but Shouto had always been taught to clean up the ice after himself.
With a carefully controlled flame, Shouto began to melt the ice along the wall.
He ramped up the heat to prevent the water from running down the wall and
pooling on the floor and instead turned it straight into gas. The water
moisture would still be a problem, but with the vents circulating air all
throughout the inner halls and rooms of the stadium, it wouldn’t be for long.
At least, that was Shouto’s intention.
Shouto brought his hand near the vent, to get rid of the ice there. As he
turned, his nose caught a whiff of the vapor coming in through the vent. Shouto
immediately shut off his quirk. It was too late. In an explosive fireball, the
gas caught fire. It as violent. Uncontrolled. It blasted Shouto off his feet
and into the wall.
Before Shouto’s heterochromatic eyes, the small, ice-filled closet that he’d
holed up in, became a flaming death trap.
A death trap that burned up all the oxygen, leaving Shouto breathless, unable
even to scream as the flames burst down into the vent and filled the room
completely.
He moved reflexively, desperate to try and save himself, cursing mentally the
whole time.
Shit, shit, fuck, damn! What the hell just happened?!



===============================================================================
 



Inko let out her captured breath all in a rush when Izuku stood up again. She
had seen Katsuki run desperately towards him and for a moment fear had had her
paralyzed, but there was her boy, upright and walking without injury. Sure, he
was an absolute mess and she was going to make sure she had him take a bath
tonight (even ifhe came home looking mostly clean, who knew how filthy that
arena was really?) but he wasn’t injured. She could see it in the way he
walked, the way he helped Katsuki walk.
Truly, her baby boy really did have a marvelous quirk that let him defy death.
Of course, that made her worry less about Izuku and more about Katsuki. She saw
how gingerly he stepped over the rocks; how Izuku nearly hauled him off in his
arms. She would make him something extra nutritious and make sure that his
injuries were properly bandaged-
“Oh I know!” Inko said brightly, setting down her cup, “I should find a first
aid course for Izuku to take. Then he’ll always be able to help Katsuki when
he’s injured!” She got up from the couch, going to go find her tablet so she
could look up courses on the internet, when something from the TV caught her
attention.
“Whoa, duck your head, folks! Looks like we have someone leaving in a right
hurry…” Present Mic announced with a laugh, “Was that Eagle Eye? What a grand
sight! I had no idea she was present at the festival today! She must have had a
lot of interest in this year’s festival if it brought her all the way out of
Hosu today!”
Inko turned back just in time to see the Pro Hero’s flight up into the air. She
stared in quite awe, admiring the color of those feathers and how beautifully
Eagle Eye ascended into the air. Inko could still remember when Eagle Eye was
in her first years and had been a fan of the heroine. Now that she was more
reclusive, Inko rarely got to see her fly, which had always been one of the
simple pleasures Inko had enjoyed before. Why, she and Hisashi had watched some
of her last interviews before the mobbing. Izuku had been too little to
remember and since then security had tightened up around Pro Heroes in general.
Smiling, Inko watched, listening absently as Present Mic talked about how the
ceremony would be next. Whoever was running the cameras caught a beautiful shot
of Eagle Eye before she disappeared over the edge of the stadium. Inko sighed a
little, feeling nostalgic.
Suddenly, the camera pulled back to an aerial shot. Whoever was running the
cameras was on point, in Inko’s opinion anyway, because they caught sight of
Eagle Eye spiraling up on updrafts and heading out over the city. Even when
she’d finally left the area, the stadium shot was impressive. Inko could see
part of the arena that her son had utterly demolished.
The fight had been intense and she had watched breathless and proud and anxious
the whole time. The whole Pro Hero thing was different,now that she knew her
son couldn’t ever be physically hurt from it. It was the emotional pain that
she had to worry about now. The people he wouldn’t be able to save. The people
who didn’t want to be saved. How people would view him, view Katsuki; the media
was not always forgiving and the public opinion could shift dramatically over
any incident, large or small.
Still, with Katsuki in one corner and her in the other, was there anything
Izuku couldn’tmanage?
The camera moved slowly in a circle above the stadium, probably attached to a
blimp or a helicopter, and Inko couldn’t help but smile. Her boy was down
there, somewhere. Her boy had come secondin the sport festival. He had such a
bright future ahead of him in heroics-
“-exciting for one and all- what the- Oh GOD!”  Without any warning at all,
Present Mic’s description of the roster of events planned for the following
day- when Year Two would be competing- cut off with a surprised shout.
Inko jumped. The shout on the television timed perfectly with someone ringing
the doorbell.
Inko’s mouth fell open, but not to answer the visitor. She stared in shock as
fire came spilling out of the entrances of the stadium. The broadcast from
inside the stadium cut out after Mic’s last shout.
The doorbell rang again as the fire rose.
“I...Izuku,” Inko breathed out, her breath shallow, “Oh god no-”
But Izuku he was invulnerable. Wasn’t he? Even if he’d been caught in that
blast of flame- and what the hell had that even been?- he should be fine.
Right?
Inko’s shaking hands pressed over her mouth. “Oh god,”she moaned in horror,
“Not Katsuki. Oh god, no, please, please no.”
Knocking at the door replaced the doorbell but Inko couldn’t move. She couldn’t
look away from the fire, from the horror that played silently from the circling
camera. She stared at it until that, too, cut away, and the screen displayed a
network error. We’re experiencing technical difficulties, the screen said as
pleasant music played,  Your program will be back momentarily. We thank you for
your patience.
With a sob, Inko sank down to the ground and began to weep.
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