It's a fight to the death (Against the whole world) - Angst -Apparently (TheFangirlAndTheAngst) - 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia (2025)

Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Our Common Ground is Shared Spite Chapter Text Chapter 2: We're Not as Good as You- We're Better Summary: Notes: Chapter Text Notes: Chapter 3: Thoughts and Feelings are a Funny Combination Summary: Notes: Chapter Text Notes: Chapter 4: You and I- We're Like the Lightning Strike in a Thunderstorm Summary: Notes: Chapter Text Notes: Chapter 5: We May Not Be Kings- But We're One Hell of an Army Summary: Notes: Chapter Text Notes: Chapter 6: The Calm Before the Shit-Storm Summary: Notes: Chapter Text Notes: Chapter 7: The Shit-Storm Begins (Feat. Crusty McGee's Street Gang) Summary: Notes: Chapter Text Notes: Chapter 8: Fight Us on Main, Cowards Summary: Notes: Chapter Text Notes: Chapter 9: *Slaps Noumu’s Brain* ‘This Bad Boy Can Fit So Many Quirks in It’ Summary: Notes: Chapter Text Notes: Chapter 10: Yes, 'Tis I- The Frenchiest Fry Summary: Notes: Chapter Text Notes: Chapter 11: Bakugou and Shinsou Say: “Fuck Gender Roles & Healthy Sleeping Habits!” Summary: Notes: Chapter Text Notes: Chapter 12: Mmmm Yes, I Love Waking Up and Doing Things Summary: Notes: Chapter Text Notes: Chapter 13: It’s Brittany, Bitch Summary: Notes: Chapter Text Notes: Chapter 14: Yeet Sticks and the Art of Blowing Yourself Up Summary: Notes: Chapter Text Notes: Chapter 15: The Fear of God and *Stomp Stomp Clap* Summary: Notes: Chapter Text Notes: Chapter 16: “Congrats! You’ve unlocked the Tragic Anime Backstory™!” Summary: Notes: Chapter Text Notes: Chapter 17: Talk Shit Get PUNCHED RIGHT IN THE FUCKING FACE. OUCH. OH MY GOD. Summary: Notes: Chapter Text Notes: Chapter 18: How to Win a Fight With Grenades and the Power of Friendship™: A Guide By Shinsou Hitoshi Summary: Notes: Chapter Text Notes: Chapter 19: Fellas is it Gay to Admire Your Bro’s Strength While You’re Trying to Beat the Shit Out of Him? Summary: Notes: Chapter Text Notes: Chapter 20: ‘D’Yer Wanna Be a Spaceman?’ By Oasis (feat. Shinsou & Uraraka) Summary: Notes: Chapter Text Notes: Chapter 21: Fight Fire with a Shitton More Fire Summary: Notes: Chapter Text Notes: References

Chapter 1: Our Common Ground is Shared Spite

Chapter Text

Shinsou first meets Bakugou when they’re both six years old, and the other boy’s being shoved in front of the class and told to introduce himself to a judgemental crowd of unruly classmates.

“My name’s Bakugou Katsuki, and I’m gonna be the number one hero.”

A couple of kids snicker at that, but Bakugou’s already giving them the ugliest glare Shinsou’s ever seen on a boy their age, and that shuts them up pretty quick. He’s told to take the seat on Shinso’s left- and isn’t it just his luck that the angry-looking new kid’s got the desk right next to him?

The moment their teacher steps out of the room for a minute to grab some worksheets from the printer, the guy’s already facing him with a menacing look about him, as if he’s attempting to size him up as best he can while he’s sitting down. Shinsou resists the urge to roll his eyes into another dimension.

“Oi, purple hair, what’s your name?” Bakugou demands, and the desire to roll his eyes increases exponentially.

“Name’s Shinsou Hitoshi.”

“Careful, new kid-“ someone in the back mutters loud enough that it’s clear that they mean to be heard, “you don’t want to get caught up with Shinsou.”

Bakugou’s turning on the person who spoke in an instant with a snarl ready and waiting on his face. “Oh yeah? And why’s that?” he demands.

“He’s got a villain’s quirk.”

Okay, Hitoshi thinks, here we go. All aboard the ridicule Shinsou train. Toot toot- fuck me, I guess.

“Oh really?” Bakugou sneers, and he’s facing Shinso again now. “And what would that ‘villain’s quirk’ be, then?”

He sighs both internally and externally before answering. “It’s Brainwashing- if someone answers a question I ask, I can get them to do stuff.”

Bakugou scoffs, and that’s not quite the reaction he was expecting.

’Villain’s quirk’. That’s not a fucking ‘villain’s quirk’- actually sounds kinda badass, if I’m being honest.”

Okay, definitely not the reaction Shinsou was expecting.

Oh Bakugou, look what you’ve done now- you’ve sent my poor old mental dialogue into a baffled screaming fit.

“Seriously? What’s your quirk then?” some other nameless, faceless classmate queried.

“Haven’t got one. But I can still take you and I’ll fucking prove it if I have to.” Bakugou replies, and things are suddenly a heck of a lot more interesting.

They bond- because there’s little else they can do when the rest of their class is determined to dislike them- and when they’re both determined to dislike them right back. They do a good amount of note-passing during class (mostly bad-mouthing every other human being who so much as looks at them funny), and an awful lot of loitering just outside the school building, bitching about how they’re going to flip the world and its stupid societal expectations on its head.

Shinsou doesn’t quite remember when it turned into how they were going to flip shit on its head together, but he likes it better that way.

At some point, they actually start calling themselves friends- and soon enough Hitoshi’s being invited over to Bakugou’s house for the night. Bakugou’s mother is just as over the top and hot-headed as Bakugou himself is, and Shinsou hadn’t been expecting anything less. Masaru’s kind meek- but he supposes that there has to be someone to control the two of them- the world wouldn’t be able to handle two unrestrained Bakugous with tempers as quick as their left-hooks.

The sleepover’s really fun- and it quickly dissolves into an all-out pillow war when Shinsou absolutely decimates Bakugou in Mario Kart- and Katsuki hurls a futon at his face because he’s a salty little shit. They don’t get much sleeping done, and at some point they end up in a heated competition to see who can do the best nonsensical dance while in their sleeping bag, and it becomes a pillow fight once again when Katsuki pipes up and says that Shinsou looks like a demented caterpillar. Only this time’s different because there’s marshmallows for some reason, and they’re both too busy throwing those at the other and trying to catch them in their mouths to really focus on the battle they should be waging upon each other.

Shinsou also discovers that Bakugou isn’t a morning person, either- and delights in groaning and complaining in perfect harmony with his friend as they both shamble down the stairs for breakfast.

It’s at one of their many sleepovers a month or so later- at Shinso’s house, this time- when they promise that they’ll always have each other’s backs.

When they’re both eleven and just as bitter and determined as they were when they first met- maybe even more so- they decide that they’re going to really start training themselves.

Hitoshi does attempt to use this time to strengthen his quirk occasionally, roping his and Bakugou’s parents into letting him brainwash them so he can practice controlling multiple people at once. But, they mainly just focus on getting their bodies into the right shape, because Bakugou claims that Hitoshi (or Hito-shit, as he so lovingly christened him) looks like the human equivalent of a wet noodle. And Katsuki (or Kat-suck-it, as Shinso had taken to calling him in retaliation) had said that he wanted even more proof that he could beat up cocky bastards in the form of rock-hard abs.

Bakugou was, unsurprisingly, excellent in pulling together a doable training regimen for the both of them. They put it into action immediately- and were understandably smug when their efforts began to reap visible results in the coming months. But they weren’t only increasing their physical capabilities- and when they weren’t training together, they threw themselves into their joint study sessions in order to prepare for Yuuei’s entrance exam. They may have only been eleven, but they were going to have to be ready if they were going to do this. Besides, they’d promised each other:

They’re heading straight to the top together. And they’re gonna fuck shit up on the way.

...

At age thirteen, Bakugou arrives at Shinsou’s house with the darkest look on his face that he’s ever seen on the boy, which is really saying something.

“Katsuki?” Shinsou questions, “What happened?”

Bakugou scowls angrily. “Turns out the number one and two heroes are douchebags.”

Shinsou raises his eyebrow in a way he knows Bakugou knows means to elaborate. “I met them just now. They’d rescued some guy from little-big villain of the week, and they were both walking off. I saw ‘em, and decided to go up to them, ‘cause why-fucking-not. I asked if they thought that someone quirkless like me could be a hero like them. Gall Might said that dreams were always a great thing to have, but sometimes you gotta be more realistic. Endea-vore straight up said that I had no chance if I’m quirkless, ‘cause it makes me weak.”

“And what did you say to them?” Shinsou asks, because he’s been around his friend long enough that he knows for a fact that Bakugou Katsuki never just walks away from an attack on his pride like that.

“Said that was a good thing, ‘cause I don’t wanna grow up to be some dumbass motherfucker that balances their whole career on something as volatile as a quirk. Then I told them both to kiss my ass and gave them double-birds when I was walking away.” Bakugou pauses, and then adds as an afterthought: “But if you think that this is gonna make me stop, I’ll blast you into the next century.”

Shinsou smirks. “I wouldn’t dream of it.”

“Oh? You two want go to Yuuei?” their teacher inquires, and suddenly their class is having a synchronised fit.

“Ha! You can’t get into UA! One of you’s a villain, and one of you hasn’t even got a quirk!”

Bakugou’s leaping onto his desk in a matter of seconds of seconds, dragging Shinsou onto the table with him. Shinso’s smirking tiredly, and Bakugou’s baring his teeth like a feral animal.

“Oh yeah?” Bakugou sneers, eyes like a stick of dynamite that’s just been lit, “And who’s gonna stop us? One of you? As if- you’re all collectively weaker than a crippled worm in the desert.”

Bakugou scours the room for any challengers, and Shinsou decides that it’s the perfect time to speak up for a rare moment. “Of course no one of you are gonna stop us. Just you wait- ‘cause we’re gonna rock your world.” Shinso grins with all his teeth, and the proud smirk he receives in return makes it all worth it.

Looks like some things just never change.

He wouldn’t have it any other way.

A few years later, when they’re both fourteen, they find out that the entrance exam pits them against robots.

“Kats- my quirk’s not gonna work on them, and I don’t think even you can punch a robot hard enough to break it. What are we going to do?”

Bakugou smiles viciously, as if he’s been eagerly awaiting this question for years. He throws an arm around Shinsou’s shoulders and leans in close. “Ah, my dear Hito-shit. You’re my best friend, and I love you with all of my shrewd, blackened heart- but you’re forgetting one very important detail regarding our entrance exam.”

Katsuki huddles the both of them forward, as if wanting to reveal classified government information.

“We can bring in whatever shit we want.”

They lock eyes, trading twin Cheshire-Cat grin, and Bakugou cackles madly.

“Oh, they’ll never see us coming.”

And no, they really won’t.

The written exam is almost easy for the two of them- four years of prepping is nothing to sneeze at, after all. And they’re not particularly concerned about the practical exam they’re about to go through, either. Hitoshi recalls their master-plan, and turns to grin in anticipation at Katsuki, who returns the gesture tenfold.

They stand in front of the battle-site, and before the announcement of the test’s start comes, they look each other in the eyes with smiles like the devil.

“We’re gonna rock their mother-fucking world.”

They’re having way too much fun.

Bakugou- the little pyromaniac- brought a can of hairspray. And while that’s non-threatening enough on its own, he also managed to acquire a cigarette lighter. The result of this is about as catastrophic as you might expect for the poor robots.

Shinsou, on the other hand, got his hands on his dad’s axe, and is deriving immense amounts of joy from beating the absolute shit out of every metal motherfucker that he comes across.

They switch weapons from time to time, and Shinsou finds that he too enjoys melting off metallic faces. Bakugou discovers that he also really likes bludgeoning his way through seas of robots, which isn’t exactly much of a surprise to anyone who’s known him longer than two seconds.

It’s when the exam’s nearly drawing to a close that they bring the infamous zero-pointer in. They catch each other’s eyes in amidst all the chaos after seeing some girl stuck underneath the rubble. They rush forward into the fray, pushing against the crowd going in the opposite direction- which obviously means away from the gargantuan machine.

“Hang on, where the hell did you get the fireworks?” Shinsou laughs exasperatedly while lifting rocks to free the girl, as Bakugou pulls said fireworks out of God knows where.

He gets a wonderfully shrewd look in return, and all it takes is for Bakugou to mutter “Book it” for them to make a mad dash away from the robot, Shinsou supporting the girl all the while.

All they hear is the crackle of the multicoloured explosives going off, and the groan of something very big and very heavy crashing into the floor. They share a look of unbridled triumph, and high-five harder than they ever have before in their lives. Their hands sting, but it’s worth it.

...

The first thing All Might notices while all the members of staff re-watch the practical examination is that there are two children tearing through the opposing robots with a maddening fervour. And one of them has a flamethrower (hairspray and a lighter). And the other has an axe (an axe).

“Um, Nezu,” Yagi begins, “what the hell?”

The anthropomorphic rat(?) chuckles lightly. “Well, I did say participants were allowed to bring in support items.”

“B-but Nezu, those are weapons.” Toshinori stutters.

“And quirks are not?” the principal replies, and that shuts him up quickly enough.

And when one of them sets fireworks- of all things- rocketing into the zero-pointer, and when they actually end up blowing the damn thing up, All Might can think of nothing else to say other than: “Who are they?”

“Future headaches.” Aizawa responds gruffly.

“The one who had the axe was Shinsou Hitoshi.” Hizashi supplies helpfully.

“And the other one?”

“The one who set off the fireworks was Bakugou Katsuki.” Present Mic replies, and All Might feels like he should know the name.

Maybe, if he’d just peered at Bakugou’s record, and gotten a good luck at face, as well as the bit that said he was quirkless- he might’ve just remembered who that little boy who’d flipped him off a couple years back was.

Chapter 2: We're Not as Good as You- We're Better

Summary:

Bakugou Katsuki is quirkless. But it isn't just a word that's written on his medical record anymore- it's his 'thing'.
Another one of Bakugou's 'things' is that he's stubborn, and that stubborness stems from spite.

It's one hell of a motivator, after all.

Notes:

Hi!! I'm back with a new chapter!!!
Hope you enjoy!!! Or don't- it's your life!!!

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Bakugou Katsuki was born stubborn, and that’s just a fact of life. The grass is green, the sky is blue- and Bakugou Katsuki would fight everyone and their goldfish just to make a point (except for Shinsou’s goldfish, because Señor Bubbles is chill). He’s just a little shit like that.

But not just a little shit. He’s the little shit. He’s the biggest little shit the world has to offer, and he’ll eat a raccoon before he gives up on proving it.

This inherent desire to prove just how much of a cheeky bitch he is is what makes it so annoying to have to wait for the results of the academic and practical entrance examinations. Both Shinsou and Bakugou had chosen the Hero-Course as their only option. They’d considered applying for the General Education Course as a back-up plan- but then he realised that would just give them a great excuse to not ‘put the little quirkless kid in danger’.

Ha- as if denying his application would ever keep him out of ‘harm’s way’. He is harm’s way.

So, the day the letter harbouring his exam results finally arrives in the mail, he sprints to Shinsou’s house faster than he thinks he may have ever done before in his life. The door’s already open when he gets there- his mother must have seen Bakugou rocketing out of the house after the post arrived, and correctly assumed that he was heading straight to Hitoshi’s.

He flew through the entrance, took the stairs three at a time, and blasted Shinsou’s bedroom door open with a kick that possessed all the power of the natural disaster that Bakugou was. Shinsou was already sitting on one of the two swivel-chairs at his desk, clutching his own results tightly in his hand (when Shinsou’s dad had built the desk, he’d bought two chairs and made the space big enough for the both of them- because he said they looked as if they couldn’t bear anything less than being joined at the hip). Bakugou threw himself into the other chair and, on the count of three, they both tore open their envelopes.

“I AM HERE-“ All Might’s voice boomed from both of their holograms in synch, the sound ricocheting across the room’s walls like a bullet, “As a pre-recorded message!”

The number one hero blabbed unnecessarily about everyone trying their hardest, before actually getting to the bit they wanted to hear. “And, with a score of sixty-nine villain points,” they both muttered a quiet ‘nice’ at that, “and forty rescue points… you came out with the top total score out of all the participants- a staggering one hundred and nine points! Joint only with Shinsou Hitoshi/Bakugou Katsuki! You both fought valiantly for the top spot, and because of your efforts, you have passed! So welcome- to your Hero Academy!”

The messages ended with a soft ‘click’, and there was utter silence echoing within the Shinsou residence.

That is- until a triumphant scream ripped from both of their throats in synch, and shook the house on its foundations. Bakugou tackles Shinsou out of his chair, and then they're both on the floor- screeching like banshees that just won the lottery. It’s liberating, and they carry on for a good minute or so.

“Hey Hito-shit!” Bakugou shouts, still higher than a kite on euphoria that comes with knowing that he can give a massive ‘FUCK YOU’ to all the people who ever laughed at them. “We made it! Straight to the fucking top!”

“They never saw us coming!” Shinsou laughs, and maybe they're both crying a little- but they're happy tears, and Bakugou would throw someone into an active volcano if they so much as insinuated that they were getting a little too emotional.

Fuck anyone who laughs, they both thought in amidst their joy, they’re not the ones who got into the top hero class in the top hero school while fighting quirkless.

On the day they begin their first year at Yuuei, Shinsou meets Bakugou at his house fifteen minutes before they’ll have to leave if they want to make it earlier than everyone else. Bakugou answers the door himself, looking like just as much of a delinquent as he always does, in his tie-less, unbuttoned uniform.

“’Sup Kat-suck-it?” Shinsou greets, grinning with all his teeth.

“The sky, Hito-shit. How do I look?” Bakugou spoke gruffly in his gravelly morning-voice, though the huge smirk on his face betrayed his irritated demeanour.

“Like a thug.” Shinsou replied, sounding as chipper as he physically could, just to piss him off.

“Ha- my best look is madman-chic and you know it.” Katsuki retorted, baring his teeth in a manic smile.

“Definitely. Without a doubt.”

They spend the remaining fourteen minutes checking over their stuff and exchanging snippets of dry humour. Bakugou’s mother checks them over right when they’re about to leave, and exclaims that she’s proud of the little shits, before telling them to go kick some ass. They fist-bump Mitsuki, and then each other, and walk out the door.

They both carried two bags each.

One is obviously their normal bags, filled with school shit deemed necessary by Yuuei for them to bring with them.

The other bag, however, is a little more interesting. It's a duffel-bag, bursting at the seams with support equipment. Inside- they’ve both got a retractable metal pole, just in case there’s a need for a long stick. There’s a modified nerf-gun, too- upgraded to shoot out slightly larger projectiles than the usual foam bullets- and juiced up to increase firepower (besides, nothing could possibly be funnier than the look on someone’s face if one of them actually managed to win against someone in a fight with a beefed-up children’s toy). They had a taser and a knife each, too- because you never know. At Bakugou’s suggestion, they also carried a pouch each, attached to their belts, which carried a can of hairspray and a lighter (in separate compartments, though- because they weren’t idiots), for dire situations exclusively (or for idiots).

They were ready. Hell, they’d been ready since they were eleven years old.

Only to be stopped right in front of the gate- fucking typical.

Sure, it may be All Might blocking them, but that’s beside the point.

“Greetings, my boys! Say, do you mind if I speak to you privately for a moment, young Bakugou?”

“Yes, I do mind.” Bakugou scoffs, “Anything you have to say to me, you can say in front of Hito-shit. I'm just gonna tell him everything you say anyway, so there’s literally no point.”

“I really don’t believe that to be a wise idea, young Bakugou.” All Might replies, and the man has to know he’s fighting a losing battle.

“Yeah? Well if it isn’t ‘wise’ to tell Hitoshi- it probably isn’t a very good idea to tell me, either.”

“Very well.” the hero sighed, looking nervous.

“You see, my quirk is something called One for All. It is a quirk that stockpiles strength passed on from its previous holders, and has always played a pivotal role in keeping the peace, and defeating great evil. I vaguely recall meeting you a few years ago, when you asked if you could become a hero without possessing a quirk. I, along with Endeavour, refuted you- yet, here you stand- a pupil at the most prestigious hero school in the world. Seeing you during the practical examination, and watching as you rescued that girl from the zero-point robot despite your status as quirkless, truly inspired me.”

“Because of this, I am offering to pass down my quirk- One for All- to you. With this power- you can become a hero.”

While Bakugou had remained indifferent for the vast majority of the monologue, the last statement pulled his face into an angry frown.

Hey- we managed to get into this school without the help of any quirk whatsoever. We’re gonna be the number one heroes with or without your shitty quirk.”

All Might flushes embarrassedly. “Yes, yes of course you will! However, you will accept my quirk, will you not?”

An awful lot of stories depict life-changing offers such as these wreaking terrible emotional conflict upon the mind. His decision, however, is laughably easy.

“No.”

“What?” All Might splutters, seemingly having no idea how to react to the refusal, “Why ever not?”

“It looks like you’ve forgotten that, when I met you and Endeavour all those years ago, I flipped you off. I realised that Pro-Heroes with steroid quirks like you and Edea-vore rely way too much on the power you got by chance. Because of this, I figured out that heroes like that need to learn that they aren’t really that special- just lucky. And what better way to do that than spite them all and become the first quirkless Pro-Hero- right next to my best friend, Hito-shit, the kid who’s been insulted all his life for having a ‘villain’s quirk’.”

All Might flounders aimlessly, at a complete loss for how to respond. They carry on walking again- and right as they both pass by the number one hero, Bakugou speaks up again.

“Just you watch, All Might, we’re gonna flip your quirk-based society on its head.”

“You know what I don’t get?” Bakugou mutters angrily after they’ve long left All Might behind. “Why didn’t he ask you to take it? You’ve already got a boss-ass quirk that you can handle perfectly, and you’re in the exact same shape as me. You were there when we rescued that girl, too.”

“Why ever it is- I’m glad he didn’t ask me.” Shinsou pipes up, which earns him a quizzical glance. “Because I’ve never had to refuse the number one hero like that before.”

Katsuki pauses for a moment, then smiles at him with all the heat and intensity of the sun itself.

God, today’s already been a rollercoaster, and class hasn’t even started yet.

They arrive fifteen minutes before anyone else. Except, of course, for the blue-haired guy with glasses that’s built like a fucking brick.

“Greetings, my fellow classmates! My name is Iida Tenya, and my quirk is Engine. May I ask your names?”

Hitoshi introduces himself first. “My name’s Shinsou Hitoshi- my quirk’s Brainwashing.”

Shinsou nudges his friend, who’s apparently too busy trying to size the guy up to give him his name. “Oi, Kat-suck-it.” he says, jabbing him in the ribs.

“Ow- fine!” Bakugou replies, batting away his hand. “Name’s Bakugou Katsuki- and I’ve not got a quirk, but I can still beat the hell out of you if you try starting any shit with us.”

Iida looks as if he’d like to reprimand one of them for their behaviour, but probably thinks better of it. His eyes light up with recognition after a second or so. “Ah ha! I know you two! You’re the two students who received the joint-top scores in the practical examination! I must say- your results were exemplary! And you realised that helping others was also an important aspect of the test, so I must commend you on your keen senses of observation!”

Bakugou scoffs in an almost good-natured manner. Almost. “You think we knew about the rescue? Yeah right- we just saw the girl about to get crushed underneath that giant fucking robot and decided that we’d be shit heroes if we didn’t do anything about it.”

Shinsou nods in agreement, and Iida’s eyes go wide with awe beneath his glasses. “That only makes your actions even more honourable! You have the makings of marvellous heroes for certain!”

Bakugou smirks maddeningly. “Yeah, we know- we’re gonna be heading straight for the top together, after all.”

Iida, apparently oblivious to the smugness lining the declaration, nods in understanding, then returns to his chosen seat to unpack his stuff.

“One perk of getting to class early:” Shinsou starts dryly, “getting to pick whatever desks we want.”

Bakugou just grins and leads him over to a spot near enough the back that they can probably get away with whispering and note-passing, but not close enough that they’ll get annoyed by people who had the same idea. They unpack their school bags, and throw their duffel-bags on the backs of their chairs.

“If you don’t mind me asking, what do you have in those duffel-bags?” the only other kid in class questions.

“Support items.” Shinsou answers plainly, because ‘weapons and shit’ sounds a bit sketchy. Iida replies with an ‘ahh’ before continuing with whatever the fuck he’s doing over there.

More students file into the room eventually, including a sunshine-looking redhead who gasps when he catches sight of them. “You’re the guys who came joint-first in the entrance exam! That’s so cool! How’d you do it?”

“Flamethrower.”

“Axe.”

They answer respectively, and the guy looks even more excited than before, if that’s even physically possible.

“You did it all without your quirks? That’s so manly!”

“My quirk wouldn’t have worked in that type of environment against enemies of that type.” Shinsou replies simply.

Bakugou scoffs. “And I haven’t even got one. We made it in on pure skill- without some flashy quirk.”

Hitoshi exhales through his nose in amusement- he must still be thinking about All Might.

“That’s so amazing.” the boy whispers underneath his breath, as if his own bewilderment is legitimately preventing him from speaking normally. Bakugou looked as smug as always at the praise- but there was something else there, too- and Shinsou thinks that he may have to tease his friend about his new gay crush later.

Some of the other students congregate around their desks to gape at them- and at some point the girl they saved comes up to thank them- and they stay there until the clock states that the teacher should be arriving some time soon. Their classmates move to claim a desk without actually sitting down, still chattering away with their peers. Shinsou and Bakugou share a look of contempt at the incessant talking.

Suddenly, there’s a huge yellow caterpillar at the front of the class, which soon reveals itself to be their homeroom teacher. Bakugou catches Hitoshi practically trembling in his seat at the sight of the man. He’d almost forgotten that Shinsou had been a massive Eraserhead fanboy since the day of the guy’s debut as an underground hero a few years back. He smirks at his friends antics.

Eraserhead- or rather, Aizawa-sensei says something about being more rational after the class has settled down, and wastes no time getting them on their feet again, making them get changed into their training kits, and dragging them all to the training grounds. Shinsou and Bakugou, forever on the same wavelength, shoulder their duffel-bags just in case they need something in them.

As it turns out, they will need them, because apparently Aizawa-sensei believes it to be a fantastic idea to test their abilities first thing in the morning.

“This is a quirk comprehension test, and the person with the lowest score will be deemed to have zero potential, and will therefore be expelled. So, use any means necessary to avoid last place."

Excuse me, but what the fuck?

They were told to avoid last place by any means necessary, and that they do.

Turns out the poles were a great idea, because they're perfect for vaulting their way into joint-first place in the long-jump, and they practically fly over the track for the fifty-meter sprint by just flinging themselves over the thing using the metal sticks.

Their grip-strength and side-stepping tests present them with average scores, albeit perhaps being slightly above the usual due to their years spent training.

The ball-throw is great, because it turns out the baseball they're using is the perfect fit for their juiced-up nerf-guns. They take immense pleasure in the look on everyone’s faces when they blast their baseballs into the sky. And, while they don’t receive the top-scores- because you can’t actually beat infinity (damn, that girl’s more impressive than she looks)- they certainly do better than most of the others.

“It’s nerf or nothin’.” they whisper with twin Cheshire-Cat grins as they high-five.

In amongst these tests, they also have other exercises, such as sit-ups.

“Ugh. I can do them just fine, but I despise sit-ups with every fibre of my being.” Shinsou groans.

“I know, Hito-shit. But that just means that I'm gonna score higher than you.” Bakugou taunts, earning him a playful shove in retaliation.

Bakugou does in fact end up pulling ahead of Shinsou due to the sit-up test, but only by one point. Hitoshi then proceeds to gripe about it until the end of the tests. Or rather, he would have, if not for Bakugou stumbling slightly during the push-ups. He then remains comfortably smug about this until the actual end of the tests.

The scores come in soon after, and, to their pleasure, they come in joint-first- just like the entrance exams. They fist-bump each other triumphantly.

“But, weren’t they kinda cheating? I mean- they used equipment.” some kid with an electricity quirk- Kaminari, Bakugou thinks- speaks up.

“Well, to be fair,” Shinsou retorts, “he did say to avoid last place by any means necessary.”

“Exactly.” Aizawa says, “And they came first because of this even without the use of a quirk. However, I am not going to be expelling anyone- that was simply a logical ruse devised in order to motivate you to work harder.”

The rest of the students mutter complaints. Bakugou can see his friend internally beaming at the praise from the look in his eye that no one else quite catches.

He nudges Hitoshi with a proud smirk adorning his face, and he whispers to his friend:

“We’re top of the class, motherfuckers.”

Notes:

...

"So, boys, how was school?"

They share a look.

"It was decent."

...

(I mentioned that Shinsou hates sit-ups, and my reasoning for that is, in my old school, we used to have to do stuff like that as punishments for goofing off. My headcanon is that a lot of kids goofed off and then blamed it on Shinsou brainwashing them, and even if the teacher didn't really believe them, they still made him do the sit-ups.)

I'm so glad I posted this today. On the 20th of April. On 4/20. Also Bakugou's birthday!!!

Lmao don't expect the next chapter to be up nearly as quickly. Anyway, hope to hear from you guys in the comments- they always put me in a better mood!! Bye!!!

-Angst

Chapter 3: Thoughts and Feelings are a Funny Combination

Summary:

Shinsou- as he had so desired- found the perfect opportunity after school to tease his friend to all hell for a five second interaction he'd had with the red-headed boy in their class who'd never actually told them his name.

Oh, and they have their first actual lessons- except with no hero training- but the teasing part's more important, if he's being honest.

Notes:

Hey guys!!! I'm back with another chapter!!

I think I'm actually getting even more into this than before. I've got quite a few more ideas for future chapters.

This whole thing is now just me channelling my spite and I like it.
I can't think of anything else to say here- so let's get right into it, I guess!!

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Shinsou’s not a conversationalist- not by a long shot. But when his angsty friend seems to think a boy in their class is cute? Oh boy, he’ll try his best.

And if it goes to hell- well, that’s the intention, isn’t it?

“Hey, Kat-suck-it.” Shinsou speaks up, a trace of mischief lining his tone in a way that reminds Bakugou of smoke drifting up lazily to meet a fire-alarm, seconds before the shrill ring of panic.

“What, pray tell, do you want, Hito-shit?”

Hitoshi puts on his best radio show host impression (it’s shit- he doesn’t possess nearly enough enthusiasm. Guys like Present Mic had more energy contained within a single eyelash than Shinsou had in his entire body). “I’m here to provide you with hot-takes from the lives of the infamous Kat-suck it and Hito-shit. This just in- you’re really fucking gay, my guy.”

Bakugou was so busy trying not to choke on his own saliva that he almost forgot to be angry. Almost.

“Okay, One- that’s bisexual. Two- what the fuck?!”

“Allow me to elaborate.” Shinsou continued, still using the shitty radio host voice, because there was no going back now. “You, Bakugou Kat-suck-it, are showing the early signs of a blossoming same-sex attraction towards a human being that we encountered at some time during this fine day. This boy- whom we have yet to be told the name of- has questionably-styled red hair, shark teeth, and I smile I do believe you found to be rather attractive, did you not?”

Bakugou spluttered abashedly- embarrassment not so carefully hidden now that it’s just the two of them at his house- and Hitoshi knows he's won this round, at least. “Dude, how the hell and fuck did you reach that conclusion?”

“Bakugou,” he starts with a deadpan stare, suddenly dropping the voice because he's given up (its hard to even pretend to have that much energy- how the fuck do people do it?). “Bakugou, there was a gay thing in the look in your eyes when he complimented you. I genuinely think you're going to be attracted to this boy. Trust me, I know everything. Always.”

Katsuki scowls and averts his gaze, blush evident on his face. “Yeah well, I don’t even know what this guy’s like yet. I don’t even know his name right now. We’ll see how it goes for now, I guess.”

Shinsou smiles, and it’s a simple, real thing. “Whatever makes you happy, Kats.” he says honestly, and then decides to ruin it by adding: “But if and/or when you start dating, I'm going to have to have a… talk with him about what purple-haired bitches do if you break their angry Pomeranian friend’s heart.”

“Fuck you!” Bakugou shouts. He’s smiling, though. And there’s a pillow trying to make-out with Shinsou’s face now, but it’s worth it.

Mitsuki would be proud.

The next day, they shoulder their school bags, and their duffel-bags of nightmares (well, nightmares to anyone who isn’t Shinsou or Bakugou), and walk the distance to Yuuei together. They come across the red-headed boy again on their way up to the gate. Bakugou’s resting scowl deepens at the sight of him, as if remembering last night’s conversation. Shinsou’s known the guy long enough that he can confidently interpret that as embarrassment- or the light fluttering of the stomach that comes with knowing you're facing someone who could very well be out of your league.

Shinsou, ever the social butterfly, is the one to initiate the conversation.

“Hey- so, we never actually got your name yesterday. You mind telling us?”

“Oh! I didn’t? Sorry about that! I'm Kirishima Eijirou!” Kirishima said enthusiastically, with just a trace of awkwardness.

“Oh, nice name.” Shinsou replies coolly, as if he's been politely conversing his whole life. “You got a good quirk to go with it?”

Kirishima’s eyes shone, as if this was something he could actually talk about. “Yep! It’s called Hardening!”

“Sounds badass.” Bakugou commented, finally.

Yeah, you go get your might-be man, you crazy chihuahua.

Kirishima went pink. “Th-thanks!”

Oh yes. This is happening.

The three of them arrive at the classroom together in comfortable silence (when had they started walking?).

After a quick goodbye, Kirishima rushes off to go talk to the pink one, flex tape, and Pikachu. Bakugou smirks gently and Shinsou knows that that’s his version of a very gay smile.

“So, Kat-suck-it- are we just gonna stand here and watch your blossoming affection for this boy develop? Or are we gonna sit down and get stuff done?”

Bakugou growls embarrassedly, gaze still half-following Kirishima as he talks animatedly to his friends. “You’re a little shit and I hate you.”

“That’s a lie because you’re a liar, and my little shit in crime. But come on and sit down.”

Bakugou appears puzzled as he sits down at his desk next to Shinsou. “Little shit in crime?”

“Like a partner in crime- but we’re little shits in crime.” Shinsou explains. Bakugou nods his head slowly, still not fully understanding.

Aizawa-sensei (it’s fucking Eraserhead I’m gonna cry) chooses that moment to walk in, yellow sleeping-bag tucked under his arm (I literally could not care less about the sleeping-bag- it’s fucking ERASERHEAD). He talks about how the Hero-Course obviously isn’t going to be hero work and hero work alone, because this is still a school, and they still need to be able to do things other than fight villains and rescue people.

Having said that, the man walks off, and is then replaced by a much more energetic Present Mic, who was going to be teaching them English. He learned some shit and all, but the majority of the time was spent wondering what the fuck the Pro-Hero had given Satan in return for that much energy.

Also, where the fuck are his nose-holes? Oh my God, he gave Satan his nostrils. Hang on- how is that a fair deal? That can’t have gone down very well. Just ‘oh hi Satan! I want to be the living embodiment of a sugar-high, and in return I will give you my nostrils’. And he just… agreed? Poor Satan, must be having a hard time down there-

“Oi! Hito-shit, wake the fuck up! Class is over!”

It takes Shinsou a moment to realise that he was beginning to sympathise with the literal Devil. It takes him even less time to shoulder his stuff, repress the shit out of whatever that was, and run out of the door to their next class. It was Modern Literature, if he was right.

Shinsou takes notes like the perfect student he is- mind half on the work and half on the reoccurring question of how the ever-loving hell did someone give birth to a sentient wall? Was he born like that? Or did he just turn into a weird cement thing when his quirk came in? What if he actually looks like a human person, and he's just covered himself in cement? Wait- can he manipulate his own body? CAN HE DISMEMBER HIMSELF WITH HIS QUIRK?

Obviously, he doesn’t ask, because that’s probably rude (he's not really sure, but better safe than sorry this time)- but the thought just won’t go away.

Good God, he's going to be seeing these heroes for his entire time here. He's going to have to get used to this real quick. Some questions are better left unanswered, anyway.

By the time lunch rolls around, Hitoshi’s already resigned himself to the fact that there's a baffled internal screaming fit coming his way as soon as he's out of school for the day. And then he meets Lunch Rush, who wasn’t there yesterday for whatever reason, and please tell me he has a fucking head under there. Can he even see? Why would you wear a hat over your whole face? It’s a hat- that’s not what hats are for, for God’s sake-

He manages to shake himself out of his stupor before he gets to the front of the line, thank fuck. And as soon as he takes the first bite of food, he realises that he doesn’t even care what’s underneath the damn chef hat- because this is the best shithe's ever put in his mouth (not in a weird way). He almost fucking moans (again- not in a weird way), but he knows for sure that Bakugou would never let him live it down.

“Well fuck me sideways, this is some good shit.” Bakugou mumbles after he's finished chewing, because he's a bastard but he's not an impolite bastard (more or less). “Finally, some good fucking food.”

(They’d been watching a lot of that British guy, Gordan Ramsay, lately- sue them.)

Shinsou says nothing in return, he simply nods and greedily devours the rest of the meal in front of him.

Lunch came to a close, and with it came the beginnings of their History class with Snipe.

Of fucking course we’re doing cowboys and shit. Look at this man- he's a cowboy nerd.

Shinsou and Bakugou had been taught the specifics of these particular cowboys in middle school. And even though they still took notes, they use the time to have a brief written conversation. Shinsou passes a slip of paper to Bakugou from underneath the desk.

So, Kat-suck-it- what do u think of our new teachers?

Bakugou writes his reply beneath.

They’re fucking weird, but they know shit so, that’s cool, I guess. You’ve been off today tho, what’re u thinking about?

Hitoshi takes a moment to contemplate the question.

Weird shit.

When Bakugou requests an elaboration, Shinsou sighs and quickly scribbles down a short explanation.

Present Mic’s enthusiasm and lack of nostrils- I put two and two together and came to the conclusion that he made a deal with Satan so he could have energy instead of nose-holes. In Modern Literature I was trying to figure out how the fuck someone gives birth to a living block of cement. At lunch, I wanted to know if Lunch Rush had a face, but then I didn’t care because the food was fucking fantastic. And now we know that Snipe is a cowboy nerd. Go figure.

Bakugou reads the note over, and he almost laughs.

Fucking hell, Hito-shit. You’ve had a wild fucking day, haven’t you?

Shinsou doesn’t bother to reply, simply nods at his friend with a pained grin on his face. Katsuki reciprocates the grin, albeit with a little less anguish.

That class ends soon after, and then comes Art and Art History. Shinsou’s been half dreading seeing Midnight’s uncomfortably sexual costume, and he can tell Bakugou feels the same way. Reluctantly, they walk through the door together, and are met with Midnight herself, standing in front of a rather impressive still-life painting.

Surprisingly, the class ends up being the most normal one of the day (for Shinsou, at least). They end up having to pick up an object from the front of the class and draw it as Midnight talks about some of the most famous still-life artists. And while Shinsou’s rough sketch of a mug isn’t really very much, she seems to be rather pleased with him.

“Look at you, you little artist! That’s really good!” she says, and despite disagreeing with her, he can’t help but smile a little at the praise.

Bakugou’s approach to art, however, is a little more… eccentric. He uses colours much too bold for the empty water bottle he picked up. And when he finishes his sketch, he ends up doodling a rather detailed five-panel comic on the bottom half of the page of Shinsou and himself sending Endeavour rocketing into the air tied to a mound of fireworks.

Midnight comments on his interesting use of colour contrast on the assigned work, and when her eyes find the comic, she looks to him worriedly for an explanation.

“I don’t like Endeavour.” Bakugou says simply, “I met him when I was thirteen. He's an asshole.”

At the back of the class, Todoroki’s head shoots up- though he doesn’t seem angry at all- despite Bakugou just insulting his father. Katsuki’s eyes catch the movement from behind him, and his eyes light up with something that could only have been sparked from a mixture of smugness and spite.

“Oh yeah, I almost forgot!” Bakugou turns to Todoroki, his face taking on a strange look. “Hey, IcyHot! Tell your old man that he can go fuck himself- ‘cause that ‘weak-ass kid’ he met a couple years back is in Yuuei!”

Todoroki doesn’t nod- doesn’t do anything in return- but he seems to be reciprocating the odd expression on Bakugou’s face. Shinsou’s assuming that they’ve just bonded, if only a little.

Well, would you look at that- Hitoshi thinks, he's making friends. I feel like a proud mother. You go, Kats.

School ends, and while they're walking to the gate, Bakugou asks what he thought of their first proper day of classes.

“My brain’s a fucking shit-show.” is all he can think to say. And yeah, it really is.

He receives a shove from Katsuki in return. “Hey- it’s a pretty fucking useful shit-show though, isn’t it? You picked up on shit that those extras never would have- that’s gotta count for something. Besides, if you weren’t as badass as you are, I wouldn’t hang out with you, would I?”

And yeah, that’s true, too.

Maybe they're both kind of shit-shows, but they're the shit-shows that are gonna surprise the fuck out of anyone who ever doubted them.

Notes:

Well, there you go!!! I'm not promising that all the chapters from now are going to be uploaded as quickly as these first three have been, but this has been really fun to write so, you never know!! It's actually really great for stress-relief to just put on some funky music and write nonsense at two in the morning when I can't sleep!!

Anyway, tell me what you think, if you feel like it!! I hope you enjoyed!! Keep doing what you're doing and I'll see you guys (not literally) in the next update!! Bye!!

-Angst (or just L, because I feel like that nickname's unfitting for a fic like this)

Chapter 4: You and I- We're Like the Lightning Strike in a Thunderstorm

Summary:

All Might's inexperience as a teacher shines through like a beacon, and Bakugou's infinitely grateful that he refused One for All, because this guy has no idea what's he's doing.

Their hero costumes are bitchin', though, and it feels like another tiny little 'fuck you' to all the people who thought they'd never make it this far.
Katsuki decides to try and talk to the Support-Course student responsible for these masterpieces.

Notes:

It's me again!!! This update took a bit longer than usual, so I'm super sorry!!! I managed to do a couple Pretty Stupid Things in quick succession, and then topped it all off by deciding on the Least Helpful solution for it. Good thing I bounce back quick enough!!! (More or less!! (-<-;;))
Anyway, this one's a little bit longer than the other ones so far, so I hope you enjoy!!!!

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

In their very first Foundational Hero Studies class, All Might makes an appearance.

He bursts through the door for their Hero Basics Class, and if Shinsou wasn’t so used to sudden dramatic entrances (Bakugou), then he thinks he might have gone into cardiac arrest. He raises an eyebrow at the cry of “I AM HERE” that reverberates throughout the classroom. There are a fair few exclamations of surprise at the number one hero’s entrance, but Bakugou scowls bitterly at the Pro-Hero. Shinsou is certain that the boy would have stuck out his tongue if not for how blatantly immature that would seem.

All Might begins to ramble about something or other, and Shinsou somehow manages to forget to pay attention (okay, so he may still be a little salty about both the times that the Pro implied that you needed a good quirk to be a hero to Bakugou. Seriously- bit of a shit thing to say to a kid who got joint-first in the Yuuei entrance exam without any quirk at all). All he hears is the words ‘your new hero costumes’, and suddenly there are draws popping out of the wall, and a hoard of teenagers eagerly scrambling up out of their seats. Bakugou hoists Hitoshi up from his desk before he even knows what’s happening, then proceeding to toss him his new outfit and drag him to the changing rooms.

When they're there, Shinsou takes a moment to admire his new costume before actually getting dressed into it.

It’s a black shirt and trousers, with electric blue highlights running straight (ha) down the side. He wore black combat boots with steel toe-caps; the same highlights at the top and bottom of the shoes. He had a metal mouth-guard and capture tape around his neck (he didn’t really know how to use it yet, but he’d been watching and re-watching blurry phone-filmed videos of Eraserhead since his debut. He should be sort of ready). On his belt- which was the same colour as the highlights- he clipped on a neon orange pouch which held a multitude of hairspray cans, cigarette lighters, a switchblade, and a taser, along with a retractable metal pole separately (all the equipment was a second set of the stuff they already had- provided by the Support-Course- because they hadn’t been willing to sacrifice their own stuff just in case they needed outside of the suited-up exercises). Bakugou and himself had also asked for ear pieces that coupled as ear-defenders if you flipped the switch on the one with the mic attached to it. They wanted to be able to communicate, and ear-defenders were also very important because Bakugou existed and had a functioning voice-box and fireworks.

Bakugou’s outfit was sort of similar, with a fair few differences. For starters, he donned a black turtleneck with a hood, neon orange highlights the same shade as Shinsou’s pouch running down the side, with an orange cross on the front. He had attached the pole, set at a reasonable length, to his back. He also had a large backpack/pouch-like thing fixed into the back of the turtleneck that Shinsou knew held fireworks and a first-aid kit (in separate compartments). He slipped black gloves on his hands, and the same ear-pieces as Shinsou. He wore black trousers held up by an orange belt, with two electric blue pouches clipped on with hairspray cans and cigarette lighters inside. The black trousers he wore had pockets at the mid-thighs, holding a knife and a taser respectively. Bakugou shoved his feet into the same type of black steel toe-capped combat boots as Shinsou had- the one difference being the orange highlights at the top and bottom in the stead of the blue.

Once they were both dressed, they gave each other a once over, and promptly exchanged an exceptionally powerful high-five.

“These things are bitchin’.” Bakugou commented, grinning madly as he checked through the many cans of hairspray and cigarette lighters in his pouches.

“They really are. God bless whoever made these things.” Shinsou added, his lips twitching upwards with satisfaction, eyes shining with excitement as he looked down at the capture tape on his neck that he had no idea how to operate.

Bakugou was just about to make a snarky joke about how much of an Eraserhead fanboy Shinsou was, but Kirishima bounced over to them happily. “Hey guys! Wow- your costumes are so cool! They kinda match!” he exclaimed with a four hundred-megawatt smile.

Bakugou made a very quiet, mortifying noise at the sight of Kirishima’s costume before replying. “Yeah- they're supposed to. We’re gonna be the number one hero duo some day, so it only makes sense that we have matching outfits. Yours is pretty cool, too.”

“That’s so manly!” Kirishima practically shouted, and then added with slightly pink cheeks, “And, um, thanks!”

He rushed off, and the two of them exited the changing rooms to where the others were waiting. Before they came into the full view of the students and All Might, Hitoshi nudged his friend and whispered: “Wow, very smooth. You should’ve seen your face when you saw his costume. The gay panic in your eyes was very funny. Such abs, much homosexual.”

Bakugou would have retaliated (I mean, come on, that Doge meme wasn’t even relevant anymore. Get your head in the game, Hito-shit), if not for being called over by the class, as they were the last ones to get there.

All Might started up another spiel about how the most heinous criminals commit their felonies indoors (oh my God, he's reading from cards. Seriously, All Might?). For example, Bakugou outright cheating at Mario Kart on Rainbow Road on the last lap when Shinsou was in first for fuck’s sake-

They both perked up again when he explained that they would be fighting their classmates and looked to the other, wondering whether or not they’d be teamed up- or better yet, pitted against each other. The Pro said they were going to draw lots to determine teams, and a kid decked out in full-body armour- who they quickly deduced was Glasses- questioned if that was really a good idea.

“Of course it is.” Bakugou grumbled loud enough that the whole class could hear him, “Pros get partnered up with other heroes they don’t know all the time.”

Iida apologised for the interruption, and All Might allowed them to commence the Raffle of Imminent Doom.

“Oi! Who’s D?” Bakugou shouted, going over to Yaoyorozu when she called out to him. Shinsou, meanwhile, ended up paired with an invisible girl called Hagakure.

The first battle is Todoroki and Shoji as the heroes versus Ojiro and Tokoyami as the villains (Tokoyami was picked to go twice in the battle simulations because there was an odd number of students. Poor bastard). The battle didn’t last nearly as long as it should have, because as soon as the simulation commences, Todoroki fucking freezes the whole building. The battle ends instantaneously because neither of the villains can move.

“What the fuck.” Bakugou whispers underneath his breath. Shinsou can’t help but agree with the sentiment. What the fuck indeed.

Then All Might shoves his hands into the Unlucky Dip boxes and pulls out Team D for the villains and Team J for the heroes. Bakugou and Yaoyorozu as villains and Jirou and Kaminari as heroes. Bakugou grins like a lunatic, cogs almost visibly whirring in his head, and Shinsou thinks that he already knows who’s winning this one.

“So, do you have a plan in mind?” Ponytail asks politely, and receives a manic cackle in return.

Fuck yeah I do. We’re gonna need loud speakers and rubber-covered shields for each of us.” Bakugou instructs, sauntering through the entrance of the building they're going to be fighting in.

“Oh?”

“I saw that Earphone girl during the entrance exam, and I think she can use those jack-things to find out the location of shit if she sticks them into the wall and listens. I figure if we broadcast me setting off a firework and screaming bloody murder on repeat at full volume it should deal with that. The rubber shields are pretty easy to figure, though- seeing as rubber’s a good insulator, and that Pikachu guy had an electricity quirk. You probably already thought of that already, though, you seem pretty smart.”

She nods fervently in agreement with the plan, and they begin placing loudspeakers on all the floors they go to. They eventually decide to put the fake nuke on the top floor, seeing as neither of the two on the other team have a quirk that could get them to the top of the building. Yaoyorozu makes a few CCTV cameras on a whim, and Bakugou agrees that having surveillance is a good idea. She makes the shields, they get to the top floor, and they're ready (Yaoyorozu looks kind of tired from making all of that shit though, and Bakugou decides that he’ll have to keep that in mind just in case).

The timer starts, and Bakugou switches on his ear defenders and sets off his loudest firework, screaming like a banshee (Ponytail thought to make herself some earplugs, thank fuck). They broadcast it all over, and the building shakes as the sound reverberates from almost every room. They can see Earphone and Pikachu covering their ears through Ponytail’s cameras- Earphone looking decidedly more worse for wear. The two attempt to plough on nonetheless, still desperately trying to block out the noise with only their hands.

After a while, Bakugou tells Yaoyorozu through the mics they were given for the simulation that he's going to see if he can either catch them or keep them occupied for long enough that they win by default. She nods at him seriously, and suddenly he's flying through the halls with his manic signature smile plastered across his face, shield attached to the pole on his back. When he finally reaches them after some guidance from Ponytail, Earphone’s eyes are screwed shut with pain, and Pikachu’s feebly attempting to cajole her into moving forward.

“WHAT’S UP, FUCKERS?!” Bakugou screams, and somehow remarkably manages to be heard over the racket. Earphone opens her eyes then, which proceed to then go wide with panic at the sight of him in perfect synchronisation with the boy next to her. Kaminari sets out a desperate shock of electricity, but Bakugou just turns his back and lets the shield absorb the hit.

Katsuki pulls out a can of hairspray and a lighter, and all hell breaks loose.

Jirou and Kaminari appear to be running for their lives, flames almost licking at their heels as Bakugou, a demon in all but name, tears through the corridors after them. He laughs, and it’s terrifying to watch, but Yaoyorozu allows herself a triumphant smile despite it.

“YOU CAN’T RUN FOREVER!” Bakugou shouts between maddening laughter, but the two in front of him provide no retort, simply opting to push their legs even further past their limit as they race to get away.

A minute or so later, when they're beginning to slow down, All Might announces that the villain team wins. The Pro is barely heard over the noise, but Yaoyorozu just manages to catch it and turn off the loudspeakers. Earphone and Pikachu practically weep with relief at the absence of the noise, and share a glance with each other, both having the same thought as they look upon the boy in front of them with his Cheshire-Cat grin.

Quirkless people are fucking terrifying.

When both teams reach the observation room, they're bombarded by questions. Bakugou ignores them all and swaggers over to Shinsou’s side instead, who’s watching with an amused smirk.

“So, how was that for a show, Hito-shit?”

Shinsou laughs lightly. “Well, you put on quite the spectacle there, Kat-suck-it. We could hear your screaming and the fireworks through All Might’s ear piece.”

“Good.” Bakugou smiles viciously in return, and Hitoshi rolls his eyes playfully.

Katsuki has comments thrown at him by almost every student- mostly saying that his fight-without-fighting was cool and that he’d looked crazy when he was chasing the team. He glowed internally at the praise, and Shinsou throws an arm around his waist, reaching out with his other hand and tussling his hair in a good-natured manner. Jirou and Kaminari tell him how terrifying he was up close, and Hitoshi says that Bakugou never does anything halfway. Damn right he doesn't.

There are a few more fights varying in intensity before it inevitably approaches Shinsou and Hagakure’s turn. They're playing the part of the heroes; going against the villain team comprised of Tokoyami and Asui. The villains have their five minutes to set up, and Shinsou uses that time with Hagakure to formulate a plan.

“I can probably use my quirk on one of them as a distraction, and maybe then you could sneak around and get the weapon while they're busy?” Shinsou suggests, not taking his eyes off of the blueprints spread in front of them.

“Sure!” the girl responds cheerfully, “Hey- you never actually told us what your quirk is so, what does it do?”

“It’s called Brainwashing.” Hitoshi mutters nonchalantly, “It means that I can control someone if they answer a question I ask.”

Hagakure chirps that it sounds cool, and Shinsou smiles a little at the confirmation that the kids here really are nothing like the assholes that he and Bakugou had to deal with in Junior High.

The starting announcement rings in their ears, and Shinsou sets off directly ahead while Hagakure removes her gloves- rendering her completely invisible- and goes around to another corridor. He runs for a while, and eventually reaches the fifth floor. Shinsou sees the two ‘villains’ in a corner with the weapon behind them, and whispers his location to Hagakure through the coms. She gives him a grunt of acknowledgement and they leave it there.

Shinsou steps forward out of the shadows to reveal himself, taking in the sight of Tokoyami and Asui standing tall together.

“All I need to do is touch the nuke, right? Then we win?”

“You say that as if we will step aside so easily.” Tokoyami replies, and Shinsou grins with triumph. The bird-boy opposing him stills, a strange look clouding his eyes (Looks like someone ruffled his feathers).

Gotcha.

“Sorry Tokoyami, Asui- hope there's no hard feelings for this.” Hitoshi says, and then continues, more commanding than before. “Tokoyami, attack Asui- but don’t like, kill her or maim her.”

The bird-boy turns to her and lunges, Dark Shadow grabbing for her with some sharp-ass claws. Asui leaps back, preparing to counterattack. She jumps forward and extends her tongue, effectively slapping the boy out of the way and out of his daze. He gets up and shakes himself off, looking bewildered.

“Huh, well that was short-lived- didn’t last nearly as long as I thought it would. Oh well.” Shinsou shrugged noncommittally.

“That’s your quirk? Mind control?” Asui asks, looking surprised. Shinsou hums as an affirmation.

“Yep, it’s called Brainwashing. I-“

“THE HERO TEAM WINS!” All Might’s booming announcement interjects. The two people in front of him look visibly confused, and Shinsou grins in satisfaction. Asui’s eyes go wide with realisation.

“We forgot about Hagakure.”

From somewhere behind the two, a girl laughs heartily.

When they get back to the observation room, they're bombarded by their peers, mostly asking about his quirk. He tells them about Brainwashing, and they tell him it sounds pretty amazing. He’d beam at the praise if he was physically capable of outwardly displaying that much enthusiasm. Bakugou laughs and throws an arm around his shoulder, tussling his hair playfully just as Shinsou had done to him some time before.

Hitoshi approaches Asui and Tokoyami to apologise for making Tokoyami attack her. They wave him off immediately, though, saying that they’d be more mad if he hadn’t used it- seeing as they were supposed to give it their all. Asui tells him to call her Tsu, and the three of them smile and shake hands before Bakugou calls him back over.

The very last of the teams battle it out, and the school day ends. But Bakugou doesn’t go in the direction of the gate. Instead, he starts heading toward the school building.

“Hey, Kat-suck-it, where are we going?” Shinsou questions, a singular eyebrow raised.

“I wanna meet whoever the fuck made our costumes. I wanna talk, maybe bounce a few ideas off of them.”

Shinsou just nods in return, and they arrive at one of the Support-Course classrooms. When they open the door, they're greeted by the smell of motor oil and smoke emanating from messy workbenches. The room is empty, save for Power-Loader and a girl still pouring diligently over her machines, with crazy-looking goggles on her head and a wide, overly enthusiastic smile on her face.

“Hey, we wanted to ask you if you knew which support students made our hero costumes? It’s Bakugou Katsuki and Shinsou Hitoshi, by the way.”

Power-Loader readied himself to reply to the question, but the girl’s head shot up at an almost inhuman speed. She had lemon-yellow eyes that reminded Bakugou of the scope lens on a gun, and oddly styled pink hair.

“Oh! It’s you two! I made your costumes! I did both because the class decided that- because you wanted them to match- it’d be easier if they were made by the same person! Do you like them? I’ve got some ideas for improvements if you want! Sit down, sit down!"

Bakugou strode over like the cocky bastard he was, seemingly giving away no clue that he was just as bewildered by her spitfire personality as Shinsou was. Hitoshi shuffled forward with significantly less swagger, and asked for her name.

“I didn’t say? How weird of me! I'm Hatsume Mei!” Hatsume replies, and that’s that. They sit down, and Bakugou and Hatsume immediately delve into a heated discussion on modifications that could be made to his and Shinsou’s costumes.

“I can put pads on your gloves that act as a key for the lock I'm gonna put on for the back-pouch and your other pouches! That way no one’ll be able to access your weapons but you!”

“I think I'm gonna need something I can use to cause distractions. Can you do flashbangs maybe?”

“Do you even need to ask? Of course I can! You’ve both already got ear defenders, but you’ll need visors to block out the light from them! I’ll make sure to add them to both of your costumes, so you match!”

They start talking about where on Bakugou's costume it would be best to store the flashbangs, and Shinsou doesn’t even try to keep up. He makes eye-contact with Power-Loader, who returns his despairing gaze with a long-suffering look in his eyes, despite only having taught Hatsume for a few days. Hitoshi dreads to think that maybe she’s not the only one as bat-shit crazy as her that he's had to teach. Poor man.

It’s a good kind of crazy, though, Shinsou thinks, looking upon his friend as he talks animatedly (well, as ‘animated’ as Bakugou can get) with Hatsume. Looks like he's met someone who’s just as invested in getting us to be the best as he is. They're completely different- but, in the end, they're kindred spirits all the same.

Shinsou smiles, and thinks of how much more havoc his little shit of a friend is going to wreak with someone like Hatsume around to enable him. It’ll be fun for him to watch, at least (both the chaos he's going to cause, and the looks on everyone’s faces). He watches silently as she gives Bakugou and himself her phone number, just in case they want to contact her and bounce anymore ideas off each other while they're out of school.

God, this is going to be one hell of a ride. He loves it already.

Notes:

Well, there you have it!!! You can't really tell, but I adore Hatsume Mei.

I'm not going to promise that the next chapter will be out quicker than this one was, because my bouts of motivation are about as erratic as my mood-swings!!! I hope you enjoyed and, if you did, give a kudos and a comment if you feel like it!!!

(Fun fact: I've almost cried at least three times looking over the comments for this fic. There aren't all that many right now, but they're all so positive and knowing that people actually enjoy the things I write makes me really, really emotional. In a good way, of course!! You're all amazing!!)

I'll see you guys next time (metaphorically speaking)!!! Keep doing what you're doing!!

-L d(^_^)b

Chapter 5: We May Not Be Kings- But We're One Hell of an Army

Summary:

In which a sleepover is had; waking up is trash, and Iida proves to be an execellent authority figure.
(And Shinsou manages to kind of weird-out Eraserhead- but we're ignoring that part)

Notes:

FIRST THINGS FIRST: I'M REALLY SORRY
I haven't updated this in nearly two months, because I'm not really sure where I've been mentally- BUT I'M BACK AND THAT'S WHAT MATTERS!!
I'm really really sorry it's taken me this long, but I guess it's better late than never??? I've sort of tried to make up for it by making it a thousand words or so longer.

Now that that's out of the way- let's get on with it, shall we?? I hope you enjoy!!!

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

The walk home is quieter than usual, though it could hardly be considered bare. The air surrounding them is thrumming with energy- raw and chaotic and loud in a way that words can never hope to be. It’s like static electricity, bursting at the seams with charge ready to be released. Katsuki has a bounce to his step as he walks, and it’s subtle but it’s there and Hitoshi sees it regardless. It brings a smile to his face, because you can’t be friends with someone for nearly a decade and just not be somewhat telepathically connected to them on a non-quirk level. Shinsou also remembers some girl at their old middle school saying that you’re only best friends if you’re mistaken for a gay couple at some point (or a straight couple, if you’re both different genders).

It had sounded pretty stupid at the time, but the two of them actually had been once. This random stranger had come up to them in the street once to tell them that being gay is wrong- that they’d be going to Hell when they died, and then they’d gone back to his place and promptly laughed their asses off. Sure, Bakugou was bisexual as all Hell (someone had told Bakugou last year that he was confused and probably just having a bi-curious phase. To which he responded ‘I’m not bi-curious, I’m bi-FURIOUS, so that was a thing), and Shinsou wasn’t too sure himself- but they weren’t fucking dating. He almost started laughing at the idea even now. Him and Kat-suck-it- kissing and shit. What a thought. Nah- their relationship regarding sexual orientation pretty much just consisted of Bakugou judging whether or not a celebrity that Hitoshi thought was cool was worth dating by the ‘scope of their ass’, as he called it. And Shinsou groaning about people talking about boys and girls and just crushes in general, when all he wanted to do was sleep and fuck stereotypes up. Katsuki generally responded by saying ‘same’ and falling asleep, because he typically only ever has a crisis at 3am, and he’d wake the other boy up specifically to complain to him.

The two boys decide that they wish the spend the night at Bakugou’s house- seeing as it resides closer to the school than Shinsou’s own. Katsuki also wants to attempt contacting Hatsume Mei to talk about the subject of support equipment. Hitoshi’s obviously being dragged into it as well, because friends drag friends down their maddened spiels with them by the fucking ankles.

When they walk through the door, Mitsuki and Masaru throw out a casual greeting to the pair, not at all surprised by Shinsou’s unquestioned presence within their home. To be fair, they're probably close to giving him his own key- he most likely spends more time there than his own home, after all (not that he doesn’t make time for his own parents, of course). Katsuki drags Hitoshi up the stairs, eager to converse with Mei over such wonderfully wicked matters as all the ‘fun’ shit he's going to put on his costume. He kicks down the entrance to his room with a fervour that leaves pretty much everyone in the house (bar the boy himself) wondering how the Hell the poor, abused door hasn’t just given up and fallen off its hinges yet.

Shinsou perches himself on one of the two chairs present in the room, crouching precariously (kinda like L from Death Note- fucking nerd). Bakugou all but throws himself onto his bed, opening up his phone and initiating a FaceTime with Hatsume alarmingly fast- which is still about seven minutes, though the point stands. He looks pretty damn smug as he presses the call button, because it normally takes them three-to-four business days and a full-on group debate to get them to use their phones properly (through no fault of the phones’ own).

The call connects, revealing Mei herself in the same ridiculous goggles as before, and the tell-tale bang of something crashing to the floor in the background. The three of them spare a moment to exchange greetings, and then the maelstrom of clattering conversation begins.

Hatsume Mei is a whirlwind of ever-evolving ideas and concepts. There’s a maddened gleam in her eye as she speaks, and Bakugou decides that he likes this one. They're similar in the strangest of ways- a mad scientist and her equally insane weapon-tester. And Shinsou, of course, their tired but almost exactly as enthusiastic janitor/assistant/supervisor/co-weapon-tester (internally enthusiastic, clearly, because his resting bitch face is very much permanent. It’s just his thing). The conversation stretches from five minutes to ten. Then twenty and nearing the half-an-hour mark before the sound of some parent or guardian calling for Hatsume to get out of her ‘lab’ (she’d renovated the entirety of her fucking garage by herself, apparently) and eat dinner is heard through the other end of the speaker. Mei rolls her eyes all the way to the ceiling at the shout, but sends them both a quick wink and a cheery wave before scrambling up from her seat and skipping away- before returning after realising that she hadn’t ended the call. Bakugou had mentioned to her in passing that neither he nor Hitoshi knew how to disconnect from FaceTime. Their one weakness: modern technology. Ah well, at least they had a techno-freak to balance out their inadequacy- though Katsuki would never admit that he was as incompetent as Shinsou, because he was, and I quote: ‘a god amongst men’.

Mitsuki calls the two of them down to eat dinner as well, and they both slide down the banister of the stairs- Shinsou reclining on Bakugou’s lap for dramatic effect. They earn themselves a light smack on the heads with a newspaper (where had that even come from?) for their efforts, and slip into friendly chatter as the family (Hitoshi included) settle down to eat.

“Y’know Hitoshi,” Mitsuki starts after Shinsou compliments her cooking, smirking through half a mouthful of rice (it’s one of those rare nights when Masaru actually allows the disaster-woman within two feet of the stove, which is always eventful), “if your parents ever wanted to trade you for Kats over there… I wouldn’t be opposed.”

“That’s only ‘cause you haven’t talked to him before he's had his morning coffee.” Katsuki grumbles underneath his breath, and Hitoshi would protest if it weren’t for the fact that he actually makes a good point, so he just laughs instead. Even he’ll admit that pre-caffeinated Shinsou is not a force to be reckoned with. The next few minutes is carried by friendly banter- mostly at Bakugou’s expense, because Mitsuki loves her son. After they’ve all finished eating, they thank Mitsuki for the meal (Kats mumbles it with a scowl, but it’s something), and the two of them start to head up the stairs.

“It’s a school night- so don’t stay up late or your ass is dead!” Mitsuki calls after them when they depart, though not sounding threatening enough to rouse legitimate concern. It’s fine either way- they hadn’t been planning on it anyway.

“Why would she worry about that? You go to bed at half-eight. Boom-Boom Boy needs his beauty sleep, I guess.” Bakugou looks as if he’d quite like to throttle him, but obviously refrains from doing so, seeing as you can’t have a Hero-duo with just one person. They push open the door to Bakugou’s room with a creak of complaint from the hinges. “So, Kat-suck-it,” Hitoshi begins slowly, “how are we doing this tonight: bed, futons, or rat’s nest?” it’s something they do sometimes on sleepovers. They’ll either sleep on separate futons, build a massive rat’s nest of blankets and cushions in the middle of the room, or they’ll share a bed if one or both of them have had a particularly rough day.

“Rat’s nest.” Katsuki answers, and Shinsou nods sagely before they begin to pile the all the blankets and cushions they can find onto the floor and arrange them to make some weird nest to sleep in. it looks pretty comfy when they're done, so they change into their onesies- because best-friend Pokémon onesies are clearly a necessity. Bakugou has a Primeape one, and Shinsou has Gengar (they have matching smiles/senses of humour), as those two generally made the most sense. Hitoshi had kind of wanted to get Katsuki the Darmanitan one, since the two shared sort-of similar attributes (love of blowing things up), but he’d argued with himself that the boy’s legendary temper was almost exactly the same as the pig-monkey Pokémon (that, and the things on Darmanitan’s head was the same as All Might’s hair, and Bakugou wasn’t overly keen on him after their encounter when he was thirteen). Although Bakugou had mellowed out over the years, slivers of that fiery-bordering-on-slightly-demonic passion and anger would still slip through the cracks sometimes- and it was always a sight to behold. Besides- Primeape had the same manic energy and love for carnage that Katsuki possessed with or without the temper taken into account, so it didn’t really matter any which way.

They both flopped down into the rat’s nest they’d so lovingly crafted, and opted to talk until Bakugou’s self-imposed bedtime came around. The topics ranged from Hatsume Mei to All Might and Eraserhead and all the way back to Kirishima.

“Hey!” Shinsou pipes up with a mischievous glint in his eye, “Maybe you could fold the napkins at your wedding into origami cranes! That’d be pretty cool.”

Bakugou retaliates by rounding the back of his head with a pillow. “Hito-shit, we’ve known him for three days!

Hitoshi throws his head back and laughs. “Yeah, I know, I know. But I’m like, your bestest friend in the whole-wide-world ever, so I just know these things, Kat-suck-it.”

Katsuki laughs at the thought of Shinsou being a love-guru of any calibre, and two minutes later their limbs are tangled together; legs half-hazardly thrown over each other in order to attempt to get comfy, and to irritate the other. Needless to say, it doesn’t work, and they're quick to fall into slumber in such a position- they’ve long since gotten used to it, after all.

Their day begins with the quiet rustling of upturned bed-sheets and the morning sun filtering through a peep in the curtain, bathing the room in the golden light of dawn. One can imagine that a clear sky as blue as the untouched oceans awaits them beyond the confines of the house. The window left open by accident the night before wafts the scent of nature through the cracks ,and brings with it a refreshing chill to help ease them back into the waking world. The twittering of birds’ melodies linger in their ears as the first twitches of wakefulness rouse their minds from the lands of dream. It is true peace and serenity in almost every sense of the phrase; a perfect way to wake up.

Unless, of course, you happen to be a pair of melodramatic teenagers who are decidedly not morning people. Because, to them, it goes more like this:

The bed-sheets have been tossed around carelessly in their sleep, tangling them even more hopelessly into the mess of limbs and fabric they find themselves in. Neither of them possessed the good sense to close the curtain properly so they're so humbly graced with the blessing of being blinded first thing at in the damn morning. Some dumbass birds are screaming at the fucking hate-orb in the sky as it lazily ascends to claim its throne on the horizon, like some cocky bastard. And obviously no one thought to close the window last night because it’s fucking freezing as balls, and it smells like shit and grass (if only Bakugou’s father didn’t use such potent fertiliser). It’s not even been two minutes since either of them woke up- but they can tell almost instantaneously that today is going to be absolute horse-shit. What a way to start the morning.

Bakugou begrudgingly gets up, and he must decide that Shinsou needs to suffer with him too because pretty soon the purple-haired loser is getting water sprinkled on his face like he’s being baptised or some shit, albeit a bit more aggressively. Hitoshi bemoans the loss of the extra twenty seconds of sleep he would have probably been able to scrounge before his friend so cruelly woke him up. He’s as dead on his feet as he can be without actually becoming a corpse as he clomps down the stairs, footfalls heavy against the wooden floor beneath his feet. He claws pathetically at the cupboards until they open, and he digs out the coffee beans he knows they have with all the moroseness of a wounded soldier. He meticulously crafts his caffeinated version of Holy water, and nearly considers just drinking it straight away and risking the serious burns on his tongue that he may or may not get. Shinsou decides to be sensible for once in his life, lest he be forbidden from consuming his ambrosia- his liquified life-force. He turns around and very nearly almost but not quite drops the cup- he’d forgotten that Bakugou was here too. Of course he’s here- it’s his house.

Shinsou doesn’t bother to explain away the startle in favour of blowing obsessively at his drink to cool it so he can consume it sooner rather than later. He sits down next to Katsuki as the parents of said teenager shuffle down the stairs right on time. The boys both grunt out a greeting to the two adults as Mitsuki flops down onto a chair at the table and Masaru takes up a place in the kitchen to start on breakfast like the Godsend he is. Hitoshi- not eager for the Bakugous to catch him without first rejuvenating himself- quickly downs the blessed beverage in one gulp. Thank the Lord it cooled properly, otherwise he’d have a lot more of a problem than just being grouchy.

A little while later (with some banter/arguing on the part of Bakugou and Mitsuki), Masaru reappears with breakfast, and it looks fucking good. The man bids them all a cheerful good-morning- giving Mitsuki a sly peck on the cheek- and sets down their plates, receiving thanks from the three of them in turn as he goes. They start eating as soon as everyone’s ready, and it’s really good. None of them had realised that there was a way to make perfection in pancake form, but apparently there is, and Masaru knows how. God bless the man.

“You know…” Hitoshi interjects after swallowing another mouthful of pancake, “if the whole fashion thing doesn’t work out, you could definitely open a restaurant.”

Masaru’s cheeks turn a light shade of pink at the praise, and he only becomes more flustered as Mitsui and Bakugou agree with him. “Oh Lord no- I’m nowhere near being that good. Besides, I wouldn’t be able to handle all the pressure.”

I think that you’d handle the pressure just fine. You’ve been dealing with the hag for years.” Bakugou grunts with a narrow smirk on his face, earning him a playful smack upside the head.

“Wow, love you too, Kats.” Mitsuki retaliates with a sarcastic lilt to her tone, voice gravelly from sleep. They continue like this for a while- trading jokes and the like- before Bakugou and Shinsou realise that they’d better start getting dressed and ready for school if they want to be early. They excuse themselves and lug their still-tired bodies up the stairs and back to Katsuki’s bedroom. The door was left open, so they just walk right on in and close it behind them. quick work is made of getting dressed- Shinsou’s uniform, while slightly rumpled, is pretty much as good as it’s going to get; and Bakugou looks to be just as much of a delinquent as he did on their very first day of UA. Looks like some things just never change- even if it has only been a few days.

The two of them shoulder their school bags after shoving all the books they’ll need into them, and pick up their duffel bags in case of impromptu Hero training- which neither of them would put past Aizawa and/or All Might to do. They converse lightly as they descend from Bakugou’s room to the bottom of the stairs, and it turns out that Mr and Mrs. Bakugou have gotten up to do stuff as well since they went upstairs. Before they leave, Masaru ruffles their hair, and Mitsuki fist-bumps the two of them, smiling maniacally (it’s not hard to see where Kat-suck-it gets it from).

“Kick names and take ass.” Mitsuki declares jovially, and Shinsou’s about to correct her and say that it’s ‘take names, kick ass’, but wisely thinks better of it and just lets it be. They wave goodbye to the two adults before departing from the house. The pair talk about which teachers they’re going to have for which subject today as they walk. Bakugou brings up the strange theories and questions that Hitoshi came up with on the second day of school about the Pros teaching them, and lands himself a playful shove to the side. It continues much like this for the next ten minutes- just talk and the occasional push or bout of laughter. They arrive early as always at the gates of Yuuei- except that, when the school building is finally in their line of sight, something’s different.

‘Something different’ turns out to be an actual hoard of journalists with cameramen (or camerawomen or camerapeople- we don’t discriminate in this house) and microphones gripped tightly in their hands. They both share a look of contempt and thinly veiled horror before deciding to brave the growing crowd of vultures before it gets too large to power through. They walk forward, Bakugou just a little bit ahead, because- for all that Shinsou’s come out of his shell over the years- he’ll always feel uncomfortable when faced with situations such as this one. Katsuki understands this, sending him a fiery look that reassures that he’s not going to take any shit, and Shinsou’s made just that little bit more aware that he has exquisite taste in friends.

The moment they get close enough to start walking through the crowd, they’re swamped by reporters eager for someone to interview. Shinsou nearly shrinks back, but Katsuki grabs his arm so they don’t lose each other in the swarm. One of them shoves their microphone in Bakugou’s face, asking about what it’s like being taught by All Might- oh, of course that’s what this is about. Bakugou shoots the reporter a harried look but reluctantly replies.

“I don’t know… educational?” he says, biting back the urge to fill the gap of hesitation in his answer with a curse, as saying fuck on maybe-live television probably won’t bode well for him. The journalist doesn’t seem satisfied with the response, but concedes and tries to thrust the mic in Shinsou’s face instead. Katsuki drags him away from all the people; it was starting to feel a little too cramped, and he hates the press, so it’s not like Bakugou’s bothered by it. At the sight of his defensive stance, and the bags under Shinsou’s eyes casting ominous shadows across his face, hiding the look of bewilderment adorning it, they slowly begin to part for the two teenagers. Finally, they actually reach the gate of the school, sagging in relief when it slams behind them.

“Fuck, it’s gonna be hard dealing with that when we’re Pros.” Shinsou laments, Katsuki nodding grimly at both the realisation and at the dread clouding Hitoshi’s features. Although, Bakugou’s sombre expression is replaced by a piercing grin that stretches across his face seconds later, slapping the other boy on the back and looping his arm around his friend’s shoulders.

“Why the Hell are you worried? We’re gonna be a Hero-duo, Hito-shit, so you’ll have me to deal with ‘em!” Bakugou declares, and a lazy smirk drapes itself across Shinsou’s face at the statement.

“Guess so.” is all he says, but Bakugou knows a thank-you when he hears one, so he just grins wider in return, looking triumphant. They proceed to march into the school like that, unsurprised that there isn’t anyone in the classroom bar Iida, since they're still pretty early (that, and they’ll all be even more held up by the press when they get here). Glasses decides to bid them both a good morning.

“Hello, you two! I hope you got through the reporters alright- did they cause you any trouble?”

Shinsou, having pretty much recovered from the encounter with the press, is the one to respond. “Well, they shoved a few microphones in our faces, but we managed to get passed them eventually. You?”

Iida doesn’t even hesitate to answer. “They were rather demanding- but I’ve had experience with the media previously, so I was a little more prepared for their onslaught.”

Bakugou cocks an eyebrow at the response, intrigued. “You’ve dealt with them before? Why’s that? You big and famous or something, Glasses?” he asks, because subtlety is not a thing.

Iida flushes “Well, my brother is the Pro-Hero Ingenium, and being in a family of Heroes means that I’m bound to be exposed to the world of journalism at some point.” he replies almost sheepishly, though there’s something about his demeanour that shows how proud he is of his heritage- namely his brother.

Katsuki looks slightly surprised, but schools his features into something akin to casual interest. “Ingenium’s your brother? Huh- thought you reminded me of someone.”

That seems to be the end of the conversation, so Bakugou and Shinsou shuffle over to their respective desks and sit down, slinging their bags off of their shoulders thoughtlessly. They spend the next few minutes waiting for the rest of their class to arrive in comfortable silence, nothing but the clunking of Hitoshi rooting around in his bag to try and get his pencil case to disturb it. Soon enough, the rest of the class filter in, already looking worn out from having to deal with the vultures outside of the school. Kirishima bounces into the classroom as peppy as per usual, though, and Hitoshi can’t say that he’s too shocked that the redhead was more than happy to be interviewed. He’s got a feeling that whichever reporter got to the boy first wasn’t really satisfied with whatever speech about manliness the boy had come up with on the spot. Serves them right for harassing students who clearly wanted nothing to do with them.

They remain chatting idly for some six minutes, before Aizawa-sensei (ERASERHEAD IS HIS TEACHER) deems it ample time to roll into the class, trapped within the confines of an admittedly comfortable-looking sleeping bag. Everyone immediately scrambles into their seats- just three days with the Pro is enough to put the fear of God in them, apparently- it seems like they’ll comply almost instantly with the man’s whims now. Shinsou gets sent an odd look by the teacher, probably because he’s biting his lip to hold back an excited outburst at the Underground Hero’s presence (three days isn’t good enough to quench four years of fanboying, dammit).

Now that he’s thinking about it, he’s pretty sure that the Pro’s been giving him those strange glances from the get-go. Can Aizawa tell that Hitoshi knows who he is? Please no- you can’t get anymore embarrassing than having to explain to your teacher that you’re a fanboy and made the conscious decision at some point in your life to dedicate actual time to looking for merch of them, or trying to catch a glimpse of their face in grainy, phone-filmed recordings.

Nevertheless, their homeroom teacher begins to speak, and everyone tenses in anticipation of whatever gruelling task he’s come up with. Instead, he tells them that they need to pick a Class President, and the room descends into chaos. All the students are crying out about picking them for the job, even the quiet ones (except that guy with the rock-head. Does he even speak, or does he use sign-language? It’d be a good excuse to learn it). Shinsou will admit that he is among those who declare that they’d like to run, albeit with a lot less volume and energy than the others. It’s good practice for future leadership roles as a Pro-Hero, after all. Iida soon decides that enough is enough and slams his hand onto the table, exclaiming that they should use a democratic voting system. When given a few blank looks in return, he clears his throat and explains that it’s just a ballot vote-thing. After a couple of arguments and counter-arguments, the rest of the class agree, and they draw up a tally after putting their folded-up votes on the desk at the front.

Yaoyorozu gets two; Iida gets one; Bakugou gets three, and Shinsou… Holy shit. He has four. He knows Bakugou is one of those votes, because he knows that Kats would want him to have it (the fucking sap)- but who else? Yeah, he wanted to do it, but fuck. Iida, despite definitely being disappointed- seems happy that at least one person voted for him- so it looks like he and Bakugou weren’t the only ones who gave away their vote. Speaking of Bakugou…

“Oi! Who voted for Hito-shit and why?!” Katsuki screeches like the emotionally-stunted pterodactyl he is. Iida raises his hand and states that Shinsou appeared calm under pressure, and despite his tired demeanour, he's is certain there is no lack of conviction. How sweet. Hagakure and Tsu voted for him too, because he was cool in the training exercise, apparently. When people look at him, he says that he didn’t vote for himself, and everyone scours the room with their eyes for the fourth voter until Bakugou decides to pipe up.

“Of fucking course it was me! I’ve known Hito-shit for years! He’s a fucking nerd and Class Pres damn well suits him.” he shouts across the room, classmates then asking who voted for him. Shinsou puts his hand up, and they look confused before he reminds them that Bakugou literally just said that they’ve known each other for ages- nine years, to be exact. Jirou and Kaminari raise their hands too, saying that he was pretty fucking cool in the training exercise, and that they’d much prefer having him work for them rather than against them. The two of them end up at the front somehow, and Hitoshi realises that they probably want him to say something.

“Uh, thanks for voting for me and Kat-suck-it and all. We’ll try not to let the classroom burn down, but no promises.” the dry humour gets a laugh out of a few students. He lets himself smirk a little before turning to his friend. “You wanna say anything?”

“Yeah, yeah- we’ll try and make your votes worth it and shit. No take-backs and all that bull.” nobody looks surprised at his bluntness, but Shinsou supposes that three days is probably enough time to realise that Bakugou does not like to beat around the bush. It’s why he admires him.

Homeroom ends abruptly and they're shoved along to their next lesson, but Aizawa calls Shinsou back for a moment. Bakugou stays behind, but Eraserhead tells him to clear off, and Hitoshi tells him that he’ll be fine, and that he’ll let him know what happens as soon as he can. That seems to satiate him, because he stalks off, and Eraserhead (Eraserhead, for the love of God) starts to talk.

“Now, I don’t usually call students out on this, but you’ve been looking at me weird every time I do homeroom. And now that you’re the rep you might have to see me more- so it’s in our best interest to just get this out of the way. Do you have a problem with me?” he questions plainly, and Shinsou splutters in shock.

NO! God no- I just, you’re just- you’re Eraserhead.

It’s Aizawa’s turn to look surprised, though it’s only revealed by the slight quirk of his eyebrows. “You know who I am?”

His cheeks go pink, and the floor becomes incredibly interesting all of a sudden. “Y-yeah. I-I’m a pretty big fan, actually, ever since your debut- when you took down that drug-dealer with the inflation quirk. Someone managed to record it happening, and I ended up finding it at some point. You can find Hero records on the government website- with info like when they debuted, and sometimes what their name or quirk is if they're cool with it. Yours was just your debut date, your Hero name and a picture, but I assumed that you have some kind of quirk that nullifies other quirks with a name like ‘Eraserhead’. Kat-su- uh, Katsuki’s actually a fan of yours, too, since you practically fight quirkless, but I don’t think he’s really as interested in Pros as he is in being one.” he’s tempted to add that it’s because of how badly they let him down when they were thirteen, but he’s painfully aware of a how bad an idea that would be, and decides against it.

“I see.” Aizawa says, and he can’t tell whether or not his teacher’s creeped out by him now. He’s just going to assume it’s fine, if slightly weird because Underground Heroes have basically no following, since the majority of people aren’t even aware that they exist. Shinsou’s dismissed a moment later, and he walks to class, plonking down in his seat with a nod of acknowledgement from Ectoplasm. He must have been told that Shinsou was with Eraserhead. Bakugou gives him a look that demands to know why Aizawa wanted to talk to him, so Hitoshi spills his guts onto a piece of scrap paper and hands it to Katsuki (not literally, because that would be really gross) when Ectoplasm turns his back. Bakugou looks like he wants to laugh at his friend’s expense after reading the note, but holds his tongue in fear of alerting the teacher to the fact that they’re not paying attention.

Mathematics goes on without incident, and they’re free to go to their next lesson. It passes in a blur of poorly-retained information, but it’s nothing that they can’t just go over with the help of their textbooks, so they shouldn’t come out of it too shoddy. They end up in the cafeteria without even realising that they’d grabbed their bags and left the classroom, and appear rather bewildered as they order food from Lunch Rush (Patron Saint of Good Fucking Food). After a brief moment’s deliberation, they go and sit next to Iida and Uraraka, since it’s the closest table to them that’s not already super cramped. The two now sitting opposite from them engage them in conversation- soon turning to the topic of how loaded Glasses is- and turns out that Round Face hadn’t known that he was Ingenium’s younger brother either. Go figure.

Shinsou’s just about to pipe up and say something about the lesson they’ve got next when an alarm shouting something about a ‘level three security breach’ begins to blare loudly throughout the lunch hall. Iida asks what they presume to be a third year what a level three breach is, to which they respond that it means someone’s broken into the school. The surrounding students have already delved into mass hysteria, all stampeding out into the corridor like a herd of wildebeest; someone could get trampled if this keeps up (tasteless joke- sorry Mufasa). What looks like the whole school is huddled together in the hallway, and Hitoshi can hardly breathe in amidst both the fact that his breathing’s restricted from being pressed into on all sides, and because of the quick to set in panic that comes with having to be in such close proximity of so many people- too many people.

“Hito-shit!” Bakugou shouts over the rioting, grabbing his hand after he pushes the few people between them out of the way so he’s right next to him, which is a great comfort. Shinsou nearly loses his grip on Katsuki’s hand a couple times, which is scary, but he ultimately makes sure that he doesn’t let go. Even after nine years of being around one of the most boisterous people on this Godforsaken Earth, he’ll always be an introvert at heart- and an anxious one at that.

Something catches Hitoshi’s eye- Iida reaching desperately for Uraraka’s hand over the sea of teenagers between them. They make contact, and Shinsou figures out what Glasses is about to do a moment before he actually does it. Iida floats above the crowd, and Shinsou only has the time to think ‘he’s insane’ before the boy’s using his engines to zoom across to the end of the corridor , screaming for order (oh, the irony). He looks a little like the guy on the exit sign as he stands above it weirdly so as not to slip or lose his grip on the bar he’s holding onto for dear life. Weird, but it’s not like it’s not something he or Bakugou (namely Bakugou) would do. Glasses proclaims that it’s unbecoming of students in the top Hero school to be behaving in this manner, and informs them that it’s only the press who’ve entered the campus. Nobody doubts him for a second, and they all collectively heave a sigh of relief, either going back to collect their bags or to exit the corridor. Shinsou and Bakugou go back for their stuff, having forgotten it in their haste.

As they’re retrieving their things, Shinsou turns to Katsuki. “Hey, Kat-suck-it? I’ve got an idea.”

“Apparently we’ve gotta allocate some more student roles now. But, before that fun fest, me and Kats have an announcement to make.” are the words that leave Shinsou’s mouth in their afternoon homeroom class.

Bakugou steps forward “Yeah. Me and Hito-shit are resigning, and we’ve already decided who’re gonna be replacing us. Yaoyorozu?” the girl in question lifts up her head, intrigued. “Congrats- you’re our new Vice-Pres.” he finishes, and she smiles a little wider, accepting and going to stand at the podium as Bakugou stalks back to his seat.

Shinsou takes a deep breath “As cool as it is being Class President, I don’t think I’m actually suited for it- not yet, at least. I’m no good with crowds or representing people, but I do know someone here who is. Iida?” the boy’s head snaps up so fast you’d think he’d break his neck. “You’re gonna be the new Prexy. Good luck, man. Me and Kat-suck-it’ll just be the stand-ins or whatever.” Iida rises from his seat and beams, shouting that he’ll do his utmost to ensure that he's the best President he can be, and all that nonsense-talk that made Hitoshi so sure that Glasses was the right choice.

So, yeah, even if first year President and Vice-President at Yuuei isn’t really something they should pass up, they know they’ve made the right call. Bakugou high-fives him underneath the tables and mutters so only he can hear.

“Unless one of them fucks off or something, we won’t have their responsibilities keeping us from working. One might say we’ve got no strings to hold us down.”

And Hitoshi laughs, because he knows Bakugou better than anyone, so he knows that means they’re going to be making a little trip to Hatsume’s lab.

Bring it on.

Notes:

Okay, so while I was gone for almost two months, I did actually do some writing for other fic ideas. When I've gotten back into the swing of updating properly, I might put a few of them up on here. If you like the sound of one or more of them, PLEASE let me know- because I have no clue whether or not they're any good, or at least good enough to put up. Here they are (sorry if the descriptions are kinda vague):
-Time Is...- Ghost Izuku, never went to Aldera, but decides to check out UA. He never prepares for a angry ash-blond boy to suddenly start seeing him...
-Just One Voice- Instead of losing his confidence when he's registered as quirkless, Izuku becomes a renowned public speaker. He's an advocate for the rights of the quirkless and the people with 'villain's quirks', and he's determined to make the world listen.
-THAT'S A SPOILER (might change name)- Izuku wasn't born in the BNHA-verse, rather, he's its biggest fan. So, he's admittedly VERY bewildered when he falls through a portal and ends up face-to-face with Eraserhead.
-Conversations With Ghosts- Izuku dies when he's just 4 years old, and Katsuki tries his best to forget. Nine years later, Bakugou meets a kid in a graveyard with green eyes, green hair, and a smile he swears he recognises.
-Basically an Angry Environmentalist- Bakugou Katsuki is the physical embodiment of the Earth. And, understandably, he's a little pissed at the way humanity's been treating him.
-Green- Midoriya Izuku is a weird little boy, what with the way sunlight bends just to shine on him, and how the grass glows greener in his presence. Bakugou's convinced he isn't human- and maybe he's right.
Dead Hearts (Are Everywhere)- (Ghost Izuku) Just once, Izuku takes Bakugou's advice, and prays for a quirk in his next life as he stands at the top of the tallest tree he could find. What he ends up with isn't quite a quirk- but he can't decide if it's better or worse than not being around at all.
I Cave In (To What I Can't Make Right)- Bakugou knows better than anyone what a rotten little boy he is. (He just wants it all to stop.)
I Will Not Ask (And Neither Should You)- Izuku Midoriya runs away, and decides to become Shimizu Tobio (He's not a villain, but if it means he'll get the chance to bring All for One down, he'll let them believe it for a little while longer).
I couldn't scream, Couldn't shout- Izuku is 6 years old when his quirk first makes an appearance, but he wishes it hadn't. (They called it Plague.)
-Oh These Days Get Heavy- Sero Hanta was 13 years old when he realised that nobody really cared.

Chapter 6: The Calm Before the Shit-Storm

Summary:

In which Shinsou's dad is a big mood, Mei is blessed with the presence of two no-good teenagers, and brief moments of chaos ensue.
(Only after a really short, shitty attempt at a heart-to-heart though, so prepare for that, I guess.)

Notes:

Shinsou keeps on being auto corrected to Stinson help me. I’ve been listening to I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) on loop while typing all of this up because someone dared me to. My life may be crumbling to pieces around me, but at least When I wake up, Well I know I’m gonna be- I’m gonna be the man who wakes up next to you-

Also, I know you all thought this was gonna be the USJ chapter, but you thought WRONG because I'm not in a nearly hyper enough mood to pull off that kind of chaotic energy. This is literally just a filler-y thing with some niceties and a slightly less coffee and red-bull downed simultaneaously-vibe I guess.
ALSO ALSO- I'm planning to try and make these updates more consistent now by updating once every month on this date, so I guess you can expect them then unless I just don't do it in time?? Lmao I'm so sorry I'm super super bad at this and consistency is not a thing that exists in my brain.

AnYwAy- here you go!!! Enjoy!!! (Or, you know, don't- it's not like I can force you to.)

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

“You have just one week to prepare before you go on a field trip that will cover all the different aspects of rescues performed by Pro-Heroes in the case of a natural or man-made disaster.” Aizawa says dully, as if that doesn’t sound really fucking exciting. He goes on to explain that, in light of the day’s events, the school board has deemed it safer to postpone the trip, which would’ve otherwise been today- as well as also using the small amount of extra time to double-check the place they’ll be travelling to as a precaution. And despite both Shinsou and Bakugou being a little disappointed, they at least see the sense to it.

Because the school has nothing else planned for the class, Aizawa begrudgingly allows them to just go home, seeing as he can’t find any extra work to give them. So, everyone gets up out of their seats, grabs their shit, and walks out of the door.

When the last of the students leave, Shouta takes a deep breath and rakes a hand through his black, matted hair. The day’s been exhausting on all ends- and that’s not even taking into account the down-right weird confrontation he had with Shinsou. The two of them really know his Pro-Hero identity? Well, Aizawa supposed that made sense- those problem children had a so-called ‘villain’s quirk’ and a distinct lack of a quirk respectively- they were bound to want to find a Pro in a similar situation to their own. And what better choice than Eraserhead: a very little-known Underground Hero with an Erasure quirk (hence the name) that meant he had to fight practically quirkless?

Aizawa didn’t really know what to make of the two teenagers, if he was being perfectly honest. Sure, he’d watched the footage of the entrance exam with the rest of the staff, along with the indoor-battle they’d participated in during their Hero-basics class- but those were both controlled assessments (for the most part). Truth be told, he’d privately been slightly wary about letting them into the Hero-course, worried that they might not be able to keep up with all the training exercises that involved the use of a quirk, despite how hypocritical it made him seem. Shouta had quickly resolved the internal conflict by telling himself that he could literally just expel them if either fell below the mark, and that reassurance eased him enough to agree with Nezu’s decision.

He was certainly surprised when the two came joint-first in the test he set on the first day- an apprehension test constructed purely for the use of quirks. Aizawa resolved himself to just watch how the two handled the different scenarios they would be thrown into from then. Besides, it could have been worse- they could have screamed the first time they saw him and ruined the whole ‘dark and mysterious’ thing he had going on. He could appreciate them for that, at least.

Bakugou’s the one to initiate a conversation between the two as they walk down the twisting corridors of Yuuei. “Y’know, we should go to your house, since it’s closer to Mei’s- plan what upgrades we’re gonna ask her about, and then walk to hers a couple hours after school’s actually ended. Only if you’re cool with that, though, ‘cause I know you’re tired, what with how long a day it’s been.”

Shinsou shakes his head. “It’s cool- watching you and Mei interact is always fun- besides, I do need to come up with some more useful support items for my costume, anyway. I mean, yeah, I’ll be tired, but we can just have a sleepover at my house, right?”

“Sounds like a plan.” Bakugou agrees with a smirk on his face, and they continue to make their way down to the back exit they were all told to use today instead of the main gate, for the sake of health and safety. It’s not much of a walk, and the passing comments they both make keep the sort-of conversation going, so it’s not too bad. They find the exit eventually , and trudge out, turning in the direction of Shinsou’s house. They pass the main entrance as they walk for good measure- well, they’re both pretty curious- and are surprised to find the gate completely turned to dust.

“The fuck kinda quirk lets someone do that?” Bakugou asks with slightly widened eyes, and Hitoshi shrugs, obviously not knowing. They choose not to dwell on it for now, and carry on the route to Shinsou’s house. The afternoon sun beats down on them relentlessly, and Shinsou- who’s decidedly not taking any of that gassy-fucker’s shit today- whips out an umbrella like one might their dick for Harambe (fuck, he really needs some newer meme-material, because this is getting ridiculous). Bakugou barks out a laugh as he puts it up and uses it to shield himself from the shit-star’s harsh rays, calling him a vampire.

“You know that’s a lie, Kat-suck-it- I’d die without garlic bread.” Shinsou defends, and he isn’t lying- at least, not really.

“Well, if you say so, Edward.” Shinsou groans at the nickname, but doesn’t say anything in retaliation as Katsuki cranes his neck to face the sky and cackles. He’s glad he can make Bakugou laugh.

The silence that follows a little later allows for Bakugou to start up on a different topic, hoping to God that he won’t ruin the mood too much. “Hey, Hito-shit? About the, uh… crowds today…”

Hitoshi sends him a grimace that looks a little like a smile. “Don't worry about it, Kat-suck-it. I mean- I don’t think I’m ever totally getting rid of my fear of big crowds- but that’s what coming to UA was about, right? Learning how to work around shit like that? Besides, you said it yourself: I’ll have you with me.”

A soft, rare smile pulls itself up across Katsuki’s face and spills warmth into his ruby-red eyes. “Yeah, I guess you will.”

They stand there like that for a while, staring at each other and smiling like weirdos. That is, before Shinsou decides to take the initiative and cut the shitty moment they're having short.

“Well then- now that whatever the Hell that was is done- let’s go! We have some havoc to wreak in our near future.” Katsuki laughs again as Hitoshi grabs his hand and drags the other boy forward with him towards his house.

And if neither of them let go as they walk away- well, that’s not really your business, is it?

(“No homo.” Shinsou says jokingly at one point, a playful glint in his tired eyes.

“Three things:” Bakugou starts in return, “one- I am bi, thank you very fucking much. Two- we’ve been friends for nine years, Hito-shit, I think we’re allowed to fucking hold hands. Three- remember what that bitch said in Middle School? Can’t be best friends if you’ve not been mistaken for a couple at some point.”

Shinsou smirks. “Guess so.”)

They open the door to Shinsou’s house more carefully than they would Katsuki’s (the poor thing isn’t used to that kind of abuse), and Shinsou calls out to his parents. “Mom! Dad! I’m home- and I brought the other guy too!”

It’s his mother that replies, emerging from the kitchen with flourish, the smell of something spicy wafting into the room (much to Katsuki’s joy). “Hey there, ‘Toshi! And ‘Tsuki too? That’s great! Haven’t seen you in a while, kid- you stayin’ the night this time or nah?”

Bakugou’s grins- he’s always liked Shinsou’s mother (but not, like, in a weird way, because that’s weird). “I should be, but I forgot to text my mom, so I’ve gotta do that first. Though, I think we’ll be going out again in a bit, is that cool with you?”

She gives them a wide smile that shows off all her teeth, and Bakugou wonders if maybe she’s related to that tape-kid (Fero? Pelo? He’s genuinely shit with names) somehow. “No problem! Great to see ya, kid!” she declares, nearly shouting it as she takes the time to ruffle their hair. It’s nice, familiar; the two of them have always considered the other’s parents to be some kind of second family. They’re all grateful that they’re not awkward and shit around each other anymore.

They find themselves in Hitoshi’s bedroom after bidding his mother goodbye and making the short trek up the stairs. It’s pretty messy, a testament to how little time they’ve had between training and studying for UA. Katsuki- having now notified his mother of their plan- suggests that they use the time they have to brainstorm ideas while cleaning up the ‘shit show’, as he calls it, to which Shinsou agrees- and they get to work immediately. The two start with the most obvious mess, throwing the clothes scattered across the carpet into the laundry basket, and putting any small trinkets they find lying around on the ground back on the shelf. At one point, Shinsou picks up one of those gag-microphones that change your voice, and has an idea.

“Hey, Kats? You know how I’ve got a mouthguard on my costume, right? Do you think Mei’ll be able to convert it into a voice-changer-speaker thing as well? I just think that it’ll be really useful for my quirk if I can replicate someone’s voice and have them answer.”

Bakugou mulls it over for a brief moment. “That’s actually a pretty decent idea, Hito-shit. Mei’ll love trying to figure it out.” he answers, folding up some clothes that he’d deemed acceptable to wear at least once before washing.

Shinsou snorts (drugs- ha, jk). “We’ve only known her for around two days- how do you know she’ll ‘love it’?” he asks as he moves around some boxes to reach the clutter behind them.

“Hito-shit, I’m ninety-nine percent sure that anyone could find that out about her within a good two seconds of knowing her, let alone two days.

Hitoshi can’t really argue with that, so he shrugs in agreement and they move on, shuffling about the room to get the dust out of all the ‘nooks and crannies’, as one might call them (it’s literally just the fancy word for corners- why can’t they just use the word corners?). Shinsou’s glad he found himself a friend who helps him with chores willingly all those years ago- they make a pretty good team in all areas of life, he thinks.

Once they’re completely finished, they stand back and admire the result of their combined efforts. It’s as spotless as an all-over-the-place teenage boy’s room can be, so they’re certifiably pleased with themselves. The two spend the rest of the time they have left reclining on the chairs near the desk-for-two, spinning around on them every now and again in a feeble attempt to stave of boredom. It doesn’t do much, and they spend the remainder of that time complaining about how bored they are instead of actually doing anything about it. At some time during this point, Bakugou looks down at his watch, and his eyes light up with a spark that can only mean good things for them, and potentially terrible things for everyone else.

“It’s time.” Katsuki announces, as if they're about to go and pull off a bank heist or something equally as devious. They’ve always been ones to sound vaguely ominous for no particular reason other than to fuck with people. They get their stuff and exit the room, walking down the stairs and calling out a farewell to Shinsou’s mother. She tells them to ‘have fun with whatever the Hell you’re doing!’ and they leave the house behind in favour of walking leisurely to Hatsume’s. As they amble forward, Katsuki shoots off a quick text to the girl in question that simply reads: ‘We’re coming for you.’. Shinsou looks over the other boy’s shoulder to get a look at what he sent, and they both have a good laugh over the vaguely sinister implications of it.

“Hey, do you know what we can do?” Shinsou asks slyly in amidst a weird dip in the conversation. Bakugou shrugs noncommittally in lieu of an answer. “Eye Spy.” Katsuki snorts in amusement but agrees nonetheless, so Hitoshi starts. “I spy with my little eye… something beginning with L.”

Bakugou rolls his eyes, putting a hand to his chin in mock contemplation. “I don’t know… lunatic?”

“Close! It’s actually two words- the second word begins with an S.”

Katsuki snaps his fingers when the answer comes to mind. “Oh, I got it! Is it… Little Shit?”

Shinsou smirks and raises Bakugou’s hand in the air like the boy just won a high-stakes wrestling match. “Ding ding ding! We have a winner!”

“Oh, cool.” said winner remarks, “What do I get?”

Hitoshi rubs his chin with his free hand, feigning deep thought just as Bakugou had done literally ten seconds ago. “Hmm, you win… an all-inclusive, fully-paid trip to the house of Hatsume Mei.”

“Ha, nice.” Bakugou replies, only then looking up a moment later to take in their surroundings (why the Hell hadn’t they been paying attention?). “Wow- seems like the reward collection was pretty fucking quick, huh.”

So Shinsou looks up too and, yeah, he guesses it must be, because they look to already be at the place Hatsume described to them as her neighbourhood. Go figure (still, it’s really lucky that they didn’t just walk right passed it end up horribly lost).

They walk over to the front of the house that best matches the description that she gave them of hers, and rap smartly on the door. It’s opened by a harried-looking man whose eyes speak of long-suffered pain, which is accentuated only by the deep purple bags beneath them. Shinsou thinks that maybe they’re distantly related. The two boys are greeted with a polite smile, obviously pulled up with the strain of exhaustion- they honestly can’t blame him- it looks like he hasn’t slept well at all in the last decade or so.

“Hello, how can I help you?” is the first thing the man says to them.

“Hi- I'm Shinsou Hitoshi, and this is Kat-su- I mean, Bakugou Katsuki. We’re- uh- we’re here to see Mei, please. Is she here at the moment?” Shinsou asks in response, because it’s usually better that he do the talking in the beginning, lest Bakugou intimidate him with his brusque way of speaking and gruff tone.

“You’re here about Mei?” a nod. “Ah, I see. Does this have anything to do with a threat of legal action? Because, if so, I can assure you that there is a much better way to go about this.”

Bakugou sends the man a puzzled look. “The fuck? No, she’s a support student, isn’t she? We’re the Hero course students she’s helping out. Why the fuck would we wanna take legal action?

The man appears shocked before he sighs a breath of relief and opens the door a little wider, waving them both inside. “You’d be surprised. In any case, you’re our guests, so don’t hesitate to ask if you need anything. Mei is in the garage- the door there is just to the left of you, and the bathroom is through the door opposite.”

They both eye each other warily before they enter, thanking the man as he disappears into what must be a living room, leaving them alone. Katsuki looks at Shinsou with a smirk, opening the door and gesturing for him to enter first.

“Such a gentleman.” Hitoshi remarks, feeling the implication that Kat-suck-it considers him a human shield is better left unsaid.

They're welcomed into Hatsume’s realm of mechanics with the deafening sound of something big and heavy crashing to the ground, followed by the startled cry of “Fuck! I thought for sure that would work!”

The two spare each other a passing glance, and Shinsou tries in vain to convey to Katsuki that they might be in over their heads. It’s too late to go back now, however, because a short gasp reaches their ears, and their eyes snap back to find Mei staring right at them, a broad smile slowly overtaking her face like an infection. And, God, it really must be an infection, because he can see the gleam of mania beginning to shine in Bakugou’s eyes from the corner of his own. He can feel the hint of a smirk pulling at his own lips, too.

Hatsume stomps over to the two of them, tossing whatever slightly menacing-looking tool she’d been working with onto the nearby workbench and grabbing both of them by the shoulders.

“I got your text- I knew you’d wanna come see the magic for yourselves eventually! Do you need something from me, boys? Or did you just come to see my babies in the making?”

Shinsou cringes internally at her… interesting nickname for her inventions (yeah, cringe culture's dead- does he care? No), but restrains himself from outwardly reacting, for fear that she might sniff out his apprehension like a bloodhound or something. Instead, he gives her a smile that may look a little weird, but at least he’s trying his best.

“Hey, Mei. We were hoping we could bounce some ideas off you, maybe? Just to see if you could improve on them or something.” Bakugou nods in confirmation of what Shinsou’s saying, and Mei agrees eagerly, undeterred by his slight hesitance. If anything, she’s seems even more invigorated by it- maybe she just feeds off of human fear. That would explain a lot, but it’d also beg the question as to how she developed two completely unrelated quirks. Shinsou wisely decides that it isn’t worth losing brain cells over (he still desperately needs the five he has left, after all).

Just as Hitoshi shakes himself out of his stupor, Hatsume begins to lead them over to one of the few workbenches dotted across the room (how big is this garage?)- the one they arrived at had seemingly hand-drawn blueprints on it gathered into a messy pile, and he can’t say he isn’t impressed by the level of detail displayed on them.

Mei hoists herself up to half-sit on the workbench, and waves her hand at them wildly. “Go on: tell me what you’ve got! I’m all ears!”

Bakugou nudges at him to go first, so he clears his throat. “Well, you know my quirk, right?”

“Yep!” she says, almost shouting, “Brainwashing! Super handy if wanna get villains to turn themselves in!”

Shinsou’s pretty sure he smiles a little at the praise, even though it goes unnoticed- he’s still pretty unused to people other than Katsuki complimenting him and/or his quirk. Either way, he carries on. “Yeah. I was thinking about it earlier, ‘cause my quirk needs a verbal response to work. I thought that maybe if you could implant some kind of voice-altering speaker in my mouthguard, I’d be able to imitate different people’s voices so I could get them to answer more easily. Is that, y’know, doable?”

She laughs at that, rolling her eyes with a prideful smirk adorning her face. “Do you even need to ask? Of course it’s doable! I can just go into school tomorrow and start working on sprucing your mouthguard up a bit! Now, anything else?” she asks, rubbing her hands together in anticipation. Even if he's only known her for a couple of days, Shinsou can’t help but admire Hatsume’s drive. She’s so energetic, especially when it comes to her support items. He’s happy that it was her who made their Hero costumes.

Bakugou’s voice breaks him out of his train of thought rather abruptly. “Could you help me think up some way of making my fireworks less-likely to up and kill a bitch? I’ve only actually used them against a massive robot so far, and I’m pretty sure that there's a lot of people out there- namely villains and Yuuei students- that are a little less durable than a massive hunk of metal. I’d like to not be arrested for manslaughter or just plain old murder before I even graduate- and I’d prefer to avoid it after then too, if I can.”

Hatsume sends him a smug look. “Way ahead of you, Bomb-Boy. I took the liberty of purchasing a few of the fireworks you asked for with your costume for myself, and I did find that they could probably almost definitely kill someone if fired wrong. I’ve been trying to think up a way to modify them so they’re a little more on the non-lethal side. You’re welcome.” she finishes, flashing them both a wink and a smile that screams out how pleased she is with herself. It seems that Bakugou’s fairly impressed with her as well.

And that’s how the rest of their time there is spent- with Hatsume showing them the prototypes of the flashbangs that Katsuki had already asked for, throwing in some additional plans for a few stun grenades that the both of them can use as a Plan B. She ropes them into assisting her with some of her pet-projects too- sending them over to different corners of the garage to get funny-looking tools from where they’re hung up on the walls. Mei explains that she’s working on a pair of ‘rocket boots’, to put it in simple terms, because she’s planning to advertise them along with more of her ‘babies’ during the Sports Festival.

If they’re both being honest, in amidst the chaos of trying to get into UA, followed by the chaos of actually being in UA, they kind of forgot that the Sports Festival was a thing that they’d be participating in at some point. They could probably just watch some of the clips from previous years together and come up with some half-strategies to counter the quirks of their classmates (yeah, they’d be competing against each other too, but still).

At one point, Hatsume has the bright idea to try out her semi-finished support item, and straps on the boots despite Hitoshi saying something along the lines of ‘You might die’ (Katsuki’s being absolutely no help- he’s actively enabling her, the bastard). She presses the activation button down and, for a brief, blessed moment, the three of them think it might actually be functioning properly as the thrusters boost her just slightly off the ground. The moment of success doesn’t last, however, and only seconds later the boots are propelling her right through the fucking ceiling and out into the late-afternoon- thank God she's wearing a helmet. She falls down gracelessly through the hole she created and onto the crash-mat they set down for the test, smiling even though she literally could have died. They hear the exasperated cry of what must be the man from earlier saying something about how expensive roof repair is, and the situation is ridiculous enough that they find it in them to laugh.

A good few hours after their arrival (and roughly fifteen minutes after they’ve finished cleaning up the debris from the ceiling), Mei’s looking down at her watch and declaring that they should leave now if they want to get back home before dark. For all of their sort-of hesitance (mostly Shinsou’s) before, they're reluctant to depart. But, they say their farewells and exit Mei’s garage nevertheless. They thank the man from before as they pass, Hitoshi apologising about the hole in the garage roof, and he gives them a tired smile in return. They’re not too sure as to how he’s related to Mei, because neither of them thought to ask, but it’s good that she has at least some adult supervision, they suppose.

In any case, they leave the house, and head in the direction of Shinsou’s once again, weighed down only slightly by the tired in their bones, but content with the progress they’ve made so far. The walk home is peaceful for the most part, bar the occasional bout of laughter one of them draws out from the other with whatever stray joke or witty comment pops into their head. The scenery shifts and changes as they walk- the soft pastel colours of the outskirt streets turn to the dull grey of the inner city. They walk through it all until it turns slowly to the bright colours of Shinsou’s neighbourhood, speckled with splashes of surrounding greenery. Finally, they arrive in front of Shinsou’s house, and he fumbles around for his key in front of the entrance. It takes him a couple of seconds to search through his pockets before he inevitably finds it tucked away in his wallet, and smacks himself in the forehead upon realising that he always had it in there. Bakugou, being the good friend that he is, laughs at his expense as he turns the knob and the door swings open.

They’re greeted by the sound of a commotion coming from the kitchen, so they quickly push off their shoes and trudge over to see what it’s about. When they get close enough to hear what’s being discussed, they share a look of fond exasperation for Shinsou’s parents.

“Pluto is a planet!” Hitoshi’s father declares angrily.

“Honey, I'm not saying he shouldn’t be a planet- I’m just saying that a couple centuries ago some people decided that he isn’t.” His mother replies with the defeat heavy in her voice- they’re no strangers to this age-old argument by now.

“But I don’t care what some lousy scientists think about him! Who are they to decide what is and isn’t a planet? It’s discrimination! They’re body-shaming him!”

She sighs. “I mean- yeah, they kinda were. You know, he’s actually kind of smaller than Russia, I think, so they thought he was too small to be an actual planet.”

“But size doesn’t matter! Were these people taught nothing about manners as children?”

Shinsou’s mother scoffs. “Well, I think they might’ve been busy doing science. And besides, what are you even gonna do about it?”

“That’s no excuse- it’s an outrage! And I’ll stage a riot is what I’ll do! Viva la Pluto!

The two teenagers share a look, and decide to step in before the man actually decides to consider it seriously (they’d caught him making posters for a meet-up once upon a time, and it’d taken a while to convince him to not legitimately start a riot about something that happened over two centuries ago. He was really passionate about Pluto). They call out a greeting as they enter the kitchen, and the man’s mood does a complete one-eighty, snapping his head around to offer them a cheery hello before asking what they want to eat tonight. He’s completely unfazed by the extra person in their household, since he’s gotten far too used to Bakugou’s presence by now.

They decide on udon, and Shinsou’s father agrees, turning to start preparing it, seeing as it’s his turn to cook tonight. As he goes about making it, Shinsou and Bakugou go about setting the table for four, not even needing to pull up another chair fro the extra person because they’re so accustomed to having Katsuki over that there’s already one set out for him (his parents once teased that it seemed like whenever he wasn’t sleeping over at Bakugou’s, Bakugou was sleeping over at theirs. His mother had said they must be ‘bound by bond’, whatever that means).

In time, everything is ready, and soon after they’re all sitting down, hurriedly saying their thanks before digging in to the food placed before them. It’s not on the same level as Masaru’s cooking by a long shot, but it’s still infinitely better than any food Mitsuki’s ever been allowed within a five feet radius of, so he definitely isn’t complaining.

Shinsou’s mother compliments her husband’s cooking, and then proceeds to ruin any semblance of flattery by adding: ‘And hey, at least you didn’t burn the house down, right?’.

Shinsou’s father groans with all the bitter resentment of an old man who went through Hell to continue his family’s glorious legacy, only to find out his grandchildren spent their lives making ‘ironic’ Fortnite TikToks. “Oh, come on- it was just the kitchen! And that was one time!

“And that’s one time too many, Derek.” she retaliated, eyeballing him in that way that only a mother could truly do properly.

“That’s not even my name!

The same line of playful bickering continues all throughout the meal, bringing a light into the room which couldn’t otherwise be filled by the electric ones on the ceiling. Shinsou and Bakugou glance at each other, muffling snickers despite themselves. It’s nice.

After dinner ends, Shinsou and Bakugou thank Shinsou’s father once again, heading up the stairs to Hitoshi’s bedroom. And when Bakugou asks what the sleeping-arrangement is going to be tonight, it really doesn’t take much time to decide.

“Bed.” Hitoshi says finally, accompanied by a firm nod of the head. Bakugou agrees without hesitance, and so the two begin to run the course of their nightly routine. They forego the onesies this time around, because it’s too warm to wear them, and instead change into regular pyjamas before brushing their teeth and all (their t-shirts do match though. Shinsou’s says ‘WE WILL- WE WILL-‘, and Bakugou’s says ‘ROCK YOU’- with explosions in the background, obviously).

They come back from the bathroom and sort out the sheets, so they won’t be too tangly during the night, and the two slip easily into place next to each other on Hitoshi’s bed. They slide in close(ish) to the other for comfort’s sake (it's not that big of a bed), since they’ve both had a damn long day, but they don’t cuddle or anything. The general consensus for that sort of thing is that you have to be interested in the other romantically, and they aren’t, clearly.

However, if during the night, one of them begins to shudder with the beginnings of either a nightmare or the cold, and the other draws them into their chest subconsciously- well, you can fuck off, can’t you? It’s none of your business, after all.

Notes:

How did you like it?? It's not the best thing I've ever written, but I tried my best, at least. Let me know what you think!!! Comments always lighten up my day!!!
In regards to the other fic ideas I mentioned last chapter- Basically an Angry Environmentalist seems to be the most popular right now, so that may appear at some point in the (admittedly far away) future!!!!
Thanks for taking the time to read my trash writing, and keep doing what you're doing!!!! Bye!!
-TheAngst :U

Chapter 7: The Shit-Storm Begins (Feat. Crusty McGee's Street Gang)

Summary:

Bakugou Katsuki is decidedly not having a good day. First, he wakes up from some weird dream about a jellyfish with legs and teeth, and then Hito-shit gets Africa by Toto stuck in his head- and to top it all off, he can’t even win a stupid staring-contest against the purple haired loser.

Oh yeah, and the USJ gets attacked by villains, but that’s whatever.

Notes:

For some reason, I became incapable of writing this unless I was listening to Africa by Toto or The Kids Aren’t Alright by Fall Out Boy. I don’t know why that happened.

I know this isn’t all of the USJ stuff, but I’m trying to end the chapters where the episode ends (the success of this approach is questionable but whatever). SO, there's more than one part to the USJ arc!!! Which means I only have to feel slightly guilty about the fact that the USJ part only takes up roughly two thousand of the five thousand eight hundred words in this chapter.

(I can't believe I managed to post this when my hits-count is on exactly 999. I just thinks that's pretty cool. And nearly 1000 people have read this!!! Wow!!!)

Anyway!! Hope you enjoy guys!!! Or, you know, don’t- I can’t tell you what to do.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Exactly one week later, the blissful morning of the field trip brings them out of their respective slumbers as subtly as a nuclear bomb to the dick.

Bakugou wakes up with a frightening start, sending himself toppling out of Hitoshi’s bed with the accompanying exclamation of “What the fuck was that?!”. He collides with the floor with an ungraceful crash, simultaneously feeling like he’d chugged both a pint of chloroform and approximately twenty-six cans of Red Bull. Adrenaline was pumping itself through his veins at a maddening rate (or, at least, a madder rate than the usual), but everything else was moving at a much different, far more sluggish pace. It seemed like his brain was trying to hurry on to the next sequence of movements before he’d even finished the first, so Katsuki ends up just flailing around in what must be the blanket equivalent of a human-sized Chinese finger-trap.

This, of course, all works to awaken Shinsou also, who, upon assessing the situation as aptly as his sleep-addled mind can manage, asks rather politely what the Hell Kat-suck-it thinks he's doing. The boy in question elects not to answer, which brings about a few slow moments of silence before he reluctantly asks for help removing himself from the quilt-cage he’d caught himself in. Obviously, after processing the request, Shinsou agrees, giving the sheets Bakugou’s trapped in a firm yank, which sends Katsuki rolling out across the bedroom floor, hitting the dresser with an unceremonious thump. At least the floor’s made out of carpet and not wood, otherwise it’d have been even more uncomfortable.

“Why are you on the floor?” is the first thing Hitoshi asks after Bakugou is somehow miraculously able to hoist himself up off of the floor and dust himself off. It’s a reasonable question, at least.

“I had a weird fucking dream.” is the vague response Bakugou gives. It’s cryptic enough to intrigue Shinsou (like, I don’t know, Mothman or something), even if it is stupid o’clock in the morning (though, to be fair, any time in the morning is stupid. Mornings are stupid on principle). He raises an eyebrow that Katsuki can barely see in the dim light seeping through the cracks in the curtains, but he’s aware of its presence on a spiritual level.

“Well, come on then, Mothman- what was the dream? Wait- it wasn't one ofthose nightmares or anything, right?” Hitoshi asks, turning to concern at the last moment, but when Bakugou sends him a quizzical look, he realises that Katsuki clearly hasn’t made the made the same mental connection to cryptids that he had just now. Shinsou shrugs instead of explaining himself- Bakugou doesn’t need to know everything that goes on in his brain, after all.

Bakugou shakes his head both in resignation and in response to the second query, but he does answer the first question too. “I was riding in one of those shitty car-things that you find on a construction site, and then I just veered off the side of the rode and down this huge fucking slope that was covered in trees. Then everything cut out and I was in this weird dock-looking place at the bottom of the slope, and I apparently decided to steal some traffic cones on my way back up before getting back into the thing I was driving. Then I ended up in some kind of wormhole, and I woke up when this weird walking-jellyfish thing with a mouth made of literally just teeth came barrelling towards me from the other end of the wormhole.”

Shinsou casts him a strange, judgemental look (though not judgmentally judgemental) but ultimately, he isn’t all that surprised. Bakugou rarely ever has dreams, but when he does, they really are fucking weird(or just plain awful, but that's not the case right now). Hitoshi doesn’t say this, however- instead deciding to share with Katsuki his own, slightly less peculiar but still pretty odd dream.

“I mean, if it’s any consolation, I had a kinda weird dream too. I was feeding some ducks bread, and then this massive goose- probably around fifteen feet tall- just rises out of the water. It looked at me, took all of the bread in my hands, and said ‘Tremble in the face of that which you can never understand’- and now I can’t stop thinking about ‘Mincing Mockingbird’s Guide to Troubled Birds’. I feel like it’s a sign that shit’s about to hit the fan.”

(Shinsou’s right, of course- but neither of them know it yet, so shut up.)

Bakugou scoffs, but doesn’t disagree, opting instead to check that he’s got all of the clothes and shit that he’ll need to bring back to his house when he goes home after school (he might bring Hito-shit round for a sleepover or something, even though they do it practically everyday now and it may be slightly concerning). It’s all there, of course, because he packed the night before in the hopes of procrastinating going to sleep. Usually, Bakugou would be opposed to that sort of behaviour- he has a very strict sleep schedule, after all- but he had found himself stuck with a faint prickle in the back of his neck that warned of the mildly disturbing (but otherwise harmless) dream that awaited him. Turns out that he’d had good reason to be suspicious, but he supposes that it’s too late to take it back now, and at least he’s well-rested. Or, well, as well-rested as he’s going to get after dreaming of some weird anthropomorphic jellyfish-thing.

Finding themselves pretty much ready in all other aspects, they decide to get dressed into their uniforms and then have breakfast. They rush through their daily routine, shoving on their blazers and shirts, and stomping downstairs to grab some breakfast. Shinsou snatches up some ground coffee beans and gets to work, leaving Bakugou to fix up some toast for the both of them. The pair both plonk down onto the dining chairs, stuffing toast in their faces, and Shinsou downs his coffee in one gulp after he deems it cool enough to drink (Bakugou doesn’t drink coffee- they’re both a little afraid of what he’d become if they combined caffeine with his naturally high amounts of energy).

“Your parents are at work, right?” Bakugou asks over a mouthful of toast.

“Yep.” Shinsou replies after twisting his head and eyeing a note on the fridge that was definitely stuck there by his parents this morning. His parents both have jobs which demand that they leave early in the morning, if only because they might not get there on time otherwise. Bakugou nods in understanding, and so they continue the rest of their toasty meal in relative silence, save for the crunching noises. They finish up quickly enough, then proceeding to grab the bags they’d tossed at the bottom of the staircase for the sake of convenience, and unlock the door before departing from Shinsou’s house.

They forego the train today, seeing as Shinsou’s house is closer to Yuuei than Katsuki’s, and a walk is always a good way to get in some exercise before school. The journey is expected to last long enough that doing it in silence is absolutely not going to happen. And so, in typical Shinsou-family fashion, Hitoshi decides to break the ice the best- and only- way he knows how.

“Y’know, Kats, I really think it’d take a lot to drag me away from you.”

Bakugou seems momentarily taken aback by the sudden declaration, but immediately senses that something is amiss and narrows his eyes in suspicion.

“Oh, really now?” Bakugou asks sceptically, almost dreading the response, for whatever reason. This reason is discovered the moment Hitoshi smirks and opens his mouth to answer.

“Well, yeah. I’m pretty sure there's nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do.” Shinsou replies, and Katsuki suddenly has the overwhelming desire to throw himself into an active volcano.

“Oh my God, Hito-shit.”

“And I’ll bless the rains down in Africa, so we can take the time to do the things we never have.” Shinsou recites smugly, a shit-eating grin on his face.

“Hito-shit, I will literally rip out your tendons and feast on your bone marrow.”

“Nah, you wouldn’t, ‘cause that’s cannibalism- and I’m sure you don’t want to tarnish your squeaky-clean record, Mr. Perfect.” Hitoshi fires back, and Katsuki sighs in irritation, but doesn’t disagree- he’s not one for lying, after all. Shinsou allows his grin to stretch further across his face, knowing he’s won.

And won he has, because it’s been ten minutes now and Katsuki still can’t get the damn song out of his head. He’d complain to Shinsou about it, but he absolutely refuses to give that little shit the satisfaction. And so, he’s left to suffer in silence as some guy blesses the rains down in Africa ceaselessly inside his head. In an effort to keep his mind off of the song stuck on loop in his brain (courtesy of Hito-shit), he begins to walk a little faster. He wants to be on time, after all- who knows what’ll happen to him in the hours coming?

‘Hurry boy, it’s waiting there for you’ Bakugou thinks dryly, and then immediately wants to yeet himself into the nearest body of water and float away, never to be seen again. Unfortunately, that’s not an option at the moment, seeing as he’d never be able to become a Pro-Hero if he just up and drowned himself before he’d even received his license. It’d be counterproductive.

Resigned to his cruel fate, he carries onwards, knowing that he must do what’s right- as sure as Kilimanjaro rises like Olympus above the Serengeti.

…Goddamn it. He could already tell this was going to be a long day.

(Well, he wasn’t wrong, was he?)

They arrive at school with time to spare, beaten to the classroom only by Glasses, whom(st) of which is sitting in his seat and seemingly having a staring contest with some textbook or another, perhaps willing himself to understand its contents. It doesn’t look like he’s winning- it’s actually kind of sad, to be honest.

They toss their bags over the backs of their chairs and opt to follow in Iida’s footsteps- though instead of partaking in a staring contest with a book, they have one with each other. Bakugou keeps on losing and it’s annoying as fuck, but he’s never been one to back down from a challenge, especially when someone has the audacity to consider themselves superior to him in any way, shape or form. Needless to say, spite and sheer willpower don’t do much for trying not to blink, so for all of his determination, no success comes from it. Again, it’s kind of sad, but Hitoshi has far too much pride to just let Bakugou win. Besides, the other boy would definitely realise that Shinsou’s going easy on him and would probably start a riot.

They’re on around about their tenth match when other students start to file into the room. Some greet the pair (and Iida) cheerfully, while others simply spare them a nod of acknowledgement or don’t acknowledge their presence at all. They silently agree to postpone their competition to a later date, because Bakugou Katsuki is many things, but he is not a quitter, and Shinsou knows that his friend will probably actually practice or some dumb shit. The boy is physically incapable of half-assing anything- which apparently also includes staring contests. Weird.

Aizawa appears not long after the last of their classmates have filtered into the room. Eraserhead takes one look at the class, announces that they’re all present, and tells them to go get changed into their Hero costumes just as the compartments in the wall open up to reveal them. Bakugou and Shinsou spare each other an excited grin, because they’re going to have even more new equipment to test out. They trust Mei enough that they’re at least ninety-five percent sure that none of the stuff will blow up in their faces (although, if some of it doesn’t blow up at all, it’d kinda defeat the purpose). They grab their respective outfits out of their designated compartments and rush to the changing room with matching gleams in their eyes.

When they open the cases containing their costumes, they put on them on hurriedly before checking out all the good shit that comes with them. Bakugou looks absolutely thrilled as he pulls out a plethora of flash-bangs, stun-grenades, and even some smaller, less lethal versions of his signature fireworks- which are pretty much just colourful grenades. Katsuki’s eyeing them with an eagerly impatient look about him, as if tempted to fling one at a wall just to see them in action.

Shinsou’s also received a couple of flash-bangs and some stun-grenades, though he had decided to decline the offer of fireworks, as they were more Katsuki’s thing. His trademark, if you will. What he was excited about, however, was the voice changer he’d asked to have implemented into the mouth guard. He takes the mouthpiece out of the case and fixes it around his neck before pulling it up to actually cover his mouth. There’s a thing on the side next to his ear that had looked to be an on button, so he presses it, and listens intently as the speaker crackles to life. He skims through the instructions Mei had shoved into the case along with his costume, and turns to Bakugou to help him test out the voice changer.

“Kats, say something so I can see if it copies your voice.” Shinsou calls out to turn said teenager’s attention away from his own support items.

“Like what?”

“That’ll do.” Shinsou replies, before muttering almost silently “Label previous speaker as 'Kat-suck-it', and replicate voice.” He coughs once to clear his throat, and begins to speak to test it out.

“I'd sell you to Satan for one corn chip."Hitoshi declares in a perfect replication of Bakugou’s voice. Katsuki’s a little offended, but his eyes light up with recognition a second later.

“Isn’t… isn’t that from that ‘Guide to Troubled Birds’ thing?” Katsuki asks incredulously. Hitoshi shrugs nonchalantly.

“Well, I did say earlier that I couldn’t stop thinking about it. But, I think the more important thing here is that the voice-changer works. We’re gonna have to give Mei a thank-you gift or something.” Bakugou hums noncommittally in response, so Shinsou assumes they’ll end up asking her what she’d like in return later.

For now, they make towards the exit of the changing rooms and to where they’ve been told to wait for the bus. Similar to when they first came to school today, they arrive at the meeting-point with time to spare. Again, they’re not the first ones here- Glasses and that Frog-Girl are there too, as well as Ponytail and Discount Pikachu. The pair are greeted with passing glances and small smiles, but they all remain silent- opting to wait in the quiet for the rest of their class. Until, of course, Pikachu decides to ruin it by humming out the beginning of a song that Bakugou's become all too familiar with.

“I hear the drums echoing tonight…” is all that the electric blond (pun absolutely intended) manages to get out before Bakugou is right next to him, pointing at him so that his index finger is hovering menacingly in front of the boy’s nose. Kaminari crosses his eyes to stare at it warily.

“No.” is all Katsuki says, though his glare reveals the true extent of his unspoken fury and deep-seated hatred. Kaminari appears to be thoroughly frightened, and backs off almost immediately. Shinsou, who was watching the exchange with great amusement, swaggers up to Katsuki and slings an arm casually around his waist.

“Don’t be so hard on him Kat-suck-it. It kinda reminds me of the way the wild dogs cry out in the night, as they long for some solitary company. Y’know what I mean?” Hitoshi says jovially, a wayward smirk on his face that he knows will piss the boy off. He’s right, obviously, because Bakugou is now giving him the exact same death-glare he gave Kaminari roughly five seconds ago.

“Okay- first things first, that doesn’t even make sense. Second thing, you are the bane of my existence, Hito-shit.” Bakugou says, looking the other boy dead in the eyes, a scowl etched into his features.

“Nah,” Hitoshi counters, “I know you’re actually madly in love me.”

“Oh, obviously. How could I live without my knight in shining tinfoil?

“Exactly.”

This line of back-and-forth carries on while the rest of the students arrive in their costumes. Most of them end up simply observing the two boys as they continue with their witty banter- and those who don’t talk quietly amongst themselves while sparing the two an occasional glance. It all ceases when Aizawa appears seemingly from nowhere and tells them that they can start boarding the bus now. Iida takes this opportunity to flex his new status as Class President by attempting to get them to board in an orderly fashion (where the fuck did he get the whistle from?). He tries to tell them to go in pairs and take the closest seats. However, it’s all for naught when it’s discovered that it’s a different seating-arrangement to what Glasses had been expecting. The guy looks kind of put-out as he sits down, but Round Face seems to be attempting to cheer him up with some success.

Bakugou and Shinsou sit next to each other, with Kirishima on Bakugou’s right (this elicits a playful nudge form Hitoshi, which earns the boy a subtle kick to the shin), and Tsu sitting on Shinsou’s left. The frog-like girl beside him regards Hitoshi with her abnormally large eyes, which take up a good portion of her face. She brings a finger to her chin, and contemplates something for a moment before saying it out loud.

“Shinsou, I generally say what’s on my mind.” Tsu says, and Shinsou raises an eyebrow in intrigue, gesturing for her to continue. “A lot of people must think you have a villain’s quirk, yes?”

The whole bus falls into silence, and there has been many a moment in his early youth in which he’d wished for the floor to open up and swallow him, but none so much as now. At least in the schools prior to this his classmates had been obvious about how they disliked it- Tsu had said it almost conversationally. He wondered absently if he was supposed to be just laughing it off or something. What if it simply hadn’t occurred to his peers that Shinsou’s quirk was ‘villainous’, and now that they’d had this epiphany they’d become just like every other student in every other school he’d attended?

Hitoshi’s eyes wander over to his right- where Bakugou's sat- and even from the corner of his vision he can tell that the boy is furious. Katsuki opens his mouth, most likely to unleash Hell upon the poor girl, but Kirishima interjects before he can.

“Nah, Shinsou’s quirk is manly as Hell! He could end a villain fight before they even have a chance to hurt anyone! It’ll be super useful for Hero-work!” The redhead beams at him, and very suddenly Shinsou can see exactly why Bakugou likes the boy despite only having known him for a few days. He’s just so… nice. Kirishima’s smile turns sheepish, and he twists his arm to rub the back of his neck- a nervous tick, no doubt. “Your quirk’s super cool, man. Mine only makes my skin hard- it can’t really do anything else.”

Bakugou, who always has something to say, scoffs and chips into the conversation. “It means you can take more than one hit, right? So you can shield civilians from blasts or some shit? Sounds pretty fucking useful to me. ‘Sides, it’s better than no quirk at all.”

Kirishima goes slightly pink, and Shinsou nods in agreement with Katsuki. “Yeah, dude. You’ve got the perfect personality for Hero-work too, as far as I can tell.” The boy laughs a little, and Tsu nods her head thoughtfully.

“Personality is very important for Hero-work, ribbit. Someone who acts like Bakugou does during a fight would have a hard time becoming popular.”

Bakugou rockets up from his seat. “What’s that supposed to mean?!” he shouts- despite knowing exactly what it means- to the laughter of the majority of the class.

“She’s got a point, man,” Kaminari pipes up with a grin on his face, “you were terrifying during that indoor battle.”

Bakugou goes back-and-forth with the class for the rest of the trip, Hitoshi watching in amusement as his best friend tries to defend himself from their brutal roasts. Eventually though, it’s time to get off the bus, and Aizawa ushers them out in a single-file line. They exit, and the first thing they see when they’re all off is an absolutely huge dome-shaped building. They’re not given much time to admire it, because soon enough they're being brought into the thing.

When inside, they’re greeted with a metric shit-ton of different environments all shoved into one massive building. There’s a landslide zone, a shipwreck zone, a couple of mini domes that appear to be squall/wildfire zones, and a lot of others that Shinsou can’t really be bothered to identify.

The Pro-Hero Thirteen appears at the top of the steps in all of their splendour, and Hitoshi can see Uraraka fangirling in the corner of his eye, and he suppresses the urge to laugh. It’d probably make him a hypocrite- seeing as he was pretty much the same way about Eraserhead.

Putting that aside, the Rescue-Hero goes on to talk about the nature of quirks, and how a good few of the people in class posses ones that could just as easily be used to kill. Shinsou’s already aware of the threat his quirk could pose as- has been told over and over by his old classmates about how scary it is that he could tell someone to jump off a building and they’d listen. It’s why he learned how to be very, very specific about what he asked of people he’d brainwashed, lest they take it differently and be harmed in the process. Katsuki, however, looks mostly amused by the speech, and when they catch each other’s eyes, Hitoshi knows exactly what the other boy is thinking.

‘Who says you need a quirk to be powerful?’

Shinsou rolls his eyes, but he can’t help the fond smirk that spreads across his face- he hadn’t expected anything less from his best friend.

The speech draws to a close, and everyone applauds- Uraraka doing so with more fervour than what’s probably necessary and/or socially acceptable, but no one really minds. Thirteen appears sheepish, and Aizawa chooses then to pipe up, seemingly about to explain what they’ll be doing for the day. And he would have, had shit not hit the fan.

The lights crackle ominously with electricity, darkening the room, and a swirling vortex of dark matter appears right in the centre of the Unseen Simulation Joint. People of all kinds emerge from within it, and the class collectively wonders if the exercise has already started (but they’re supposed to be doing rescue training, not battle simulations. Suspicious). Some begin to step forward, Bakugou and Shinsou among them, but Aizawa wards them away.

“Stand back,” Eraserhead commands, adjusting his goggles to cover his face, “those are villains.

…Fuck. That’s not good at all. (No shit, Sherlock.)

Aizawa, with all the grace of someone who’s been doing this for years, springs forward to meet the hoard of criminals head-on, telling Thirteen to take the students back to the bus. The Pro complies, desperately attempting to usher them away from where Aizawa is fighting the villains, manoeuvring himself around with his scarf. It’s incredible to watch, and Hitoshi almost doesn’t want to look away (he’d never had the opportunity to see Eraserhead fight up-close). But then Bakugou grabs his wrist, pulling him away from the scene harshly, and Shinsou remembers that, oh yeah, they're being attacked.

The Space Hero leads them away from the steps, but they don’t actually get very far because quite suddenly there’s a villain in front of them made up from the very same dark matter as the portal that brought all the villains there in the first place. They don’t have normal eyes (it’d probably look kind of disturbing if they did, to be honest), there’s simply glowing yellow slits trailing off into nothingness in their stead. Their body seems to be comprised entirely of that purple mist, but, if he squints- Bakugou swears he can see-

“Pardon the intrusion,” the mist man begins, interrupting Bakugou’s train of thought, “but there appears to have been a mistake. According to our source, All Might was supposed to be here also. I am Kurogiri, and I am here as a member of the League of Villains to have the Symbol of Peace take his last breath.”

The mist man might have monologued some more, had Bakugou not thought ‘Fuck it’ and thrown one of his grenades at the trick-ass bitch. Kirishima apparently takes that as his cue to jump in as well, hardening his arms and pouncing at the villain, grinning as if personally challenging the man to a duel (well, he kind of was, really). That same grin doesn’t waver even when the man dodges the hit effortlessly and Kirishima lands right back where he had stood before (somewhere in the back of his mind, Katsuki files away the relieved sigh of ‘That was close’ that the guy mutters underneath his breath, because that might be important).

“Well, no matter what you’re here for, you’re gonna have to get through us first!” the redhead declares valiantly as he pumps his hardened fists together, flanked by a staff-wielding Bakugou(huh, Shinsou had almost forgotten they had those. He hadn’t lost his either, thank God).

Kurogiri’s eyes narrow slightly, though Bakugou has the distinct impression that the man’s laughing at them- the cocky bastard. “Be that as it may, my job here is to scatter you all, and have you tortured to death!” the villain declares, sounding like some kind of melodramatic shit-head, which he is (Bakugou feels like there should have been some maniacal laughter in there somewhere)- and that might be the whole point but Katsuki supposes that he’ll probably never know. It’s not really important either way, and that fact is proven almost immediately when the villain suddenly sends his mist (appendages? Is he just shooting his limbs at them?) flying over them in what seems to be some kind of dome.

The only people close to him are Kirishima and Hitoshi, who had edged closer when the villain began to talk, so he makes to grab for their wrists and hold tight, so they don’t get separated. However, Shinsou’s just that tiny bit too far out of reach, and so his best friend is pulled away into another portal before Katsuki can even shout for him. He wants to scream his frustration, but he barely has the time to draw in another breath before he and Kirishima are also very suddenly being dragged into a separate portal.

He can only hope that Hito-shit ends up okay.

Shinsou has around five seconds after he’s been dumped out of the portal to think ‘oh shit’ and take a deep breath before he hits the water with a splash.

He rights himself while submerged before beginning to swim upwards, because he won’t be able to think properly if he can’t even breathe properly. However, some shark-looking motherfucker (shark-looking in the bad way, unlike Kirishima) decides to make his life more difficult by swimming towards him menacingly, fast enough that he won’t be able to get away in time. The villain opens his jaws wide as he gets closer to Hitoshi, almost like he’s going to take a bite out of him (what is he- a cannibal?).

Luckily, it looks like Asui is here too, becomes she comes out of nowhere, shoving the guy further into the depths and pulling Hitoshi out of the water with her tongue (holy fuck, how strong is her tongue if she can carry him with it? Does she do weight training with it or some shit? Does she lift dumbbells with her tongue? Now that’s a weird thought).

He lands on the deck of the ship with a dull thud (oh, they must be in the Shipwreck Zone then), with Asui scaling the side and vaulting over easily. Shinsou realises after a second or two that, despite having been submerged in water mere moments before, his costume isn’t actually wet. Did Mei make it waterproof without telling him? Even though he finds himself slightly concerned that maybe there’s more to his costume than he realises, he’s still grateful that he doesn’t have to deal with the weight of damp clothes dragging him down and potentially putting him at risk of getting hypothermia. After another moment or so, he stands up and dusts himself off clumsily- still a little disorientated, though he finds his bearings soon enough and shuffles over to peer over the railings, assessing the villains that lie waiting in the water.

‘They’re not trying to climb up’ he realises with a slight start, ‘are they scared or something? What are they waiting for?’. Then he turns to the frog-like girl beside him, and the answer clicks into place.

“They don’t know what are quirks are.” Hitoshi says, the bare-bones of a plan forming slowly in his mind, “They wouldn’t have put you in a zone with water if they had.”

Asui nods, affirming the statement. “That’s true. If they’d known I was a frog, they would have thrown me into that Fire Zone over there.”

It then hits him very hard that he has no idea where Katsuki is. Is he in that Fire Zone? He’s always preferred the heat, but that would probably be a little too much. And there’s got to be more villains in the other zones- is he doing alright? Is there anyone in the class with him? He tries to use his com-link to contact the boy, but all that comes back is the crackling of static, meaning that the thing’s either broke, the interference that’s keeping them from contacting the school works on their coms too, or something’s gone horribly wrong. What if he’s already been cornered? What if-

“Shinsou,” Tsuyu says, breaking him out of his stupor, “are you alright? If so, do you have a plan?”

Hitoshi then realises that he was worrying about Bakugou Katsuki. If anything, he should be more worried for the poor villains that are going to have to fight the boy. The guy’s a maniac when he gets into a fight, but he’s a maniac with staff-skills, a good grenade-throwing arm, and an even better right-hook- and damn does he know it. Right now, he’s got more important things to do than fret over a boy who’s probably already kicking the shit out of whoever’s decided that fighting him is their best bet.

In any case, the cogs in his brain are whirring around, desperately thrusting together the scraps of a plan. And a back-up plan, just in case, though Shinsou’s unsure as to whether or not that one would end up with someone being electrocuted to death. He’s understandably a little reluctant to find out, since he isn’t exactly all that keen on being arrested for manslaughter or even just plain old murder, if he’s being honest. Instead of focusing on that, though, he turns to ask Tsuyu a question.

“Asui-“ Shinsou starts, before being cut off abruptly.

“I’ve told you to call me Tsu.” she reminds him jovially, but not quite due to the tone of her voice remaining unchanged (she has a rather impressive poker face- he should really ask her for tips).

“Oh, sorry. Anyway, Tsu,” he relents, beginning again, “what’s the extent of your quirks capabilities, exactly?”

“Well, to put it simply, I can do anything a frog can do. Like, stick to walls, stretch my tongue out really far, and jump really high.” she states, and then adds on as an afterthought, “I can also spit out my stomach to wash it, and secrete a toxic mucus which really just stings a little, but I don’t think those’ll be very helpful right now.” Shinsou nods, taking the new information in.

‘Her quirk is damn powerful, not gonna lie. We can use this, hopefully.’

“Okay. My quirk’s Brainwashing- and, as you know, if someone answers me verbally, I can control them.” he pauses for a moment as a thought comes to him.

“Hey, Tsu- how high can you jump?”

A minute or so later, and the villains waiting for them in the water still haven’t advanced- most likely out of caution, just in case one of them has a quirk that could do them serious harm.

Shinsou, smirking slightly, leans over the railing and calls out to them. “Hey, losers! Fish-faces! Why haven’t any of you even tried to climb up yet? You scared or some shit?” A good four of what looks to be about nine villains sputter out their protests, and Hitoshi smiles viciously when their faces turn blank and impassive. He shouts to them again. “You know what? Doesn’t matter. Fight the other people in the water with you!” he demands, and one laughs, asking why on Earth they would do that (he takes them under his control too- what an idiot). Some begin to open their mouths too, most likely to ask the same question- and they would have, if not for suddenly being swamped with a massive wave by one of their allies.

The villains not under his sway barely have time to think before they’re being hounded by all the ones that are. He takes a second to appreciate the scene and laugh a little at their expense, before signalling to Tsu that they should go before any of the villains break out of his control. She wraps her tongue around his waist and springs forward, leaping skilfully out of the ship and bringing him with her. He sighs in relief as they’re propelled through the air.

“At least we didn’t have to use Plan B.” he comments idly.

“What was Plan B?” Tsu asks, though it comes out just slightly garbled due to her tongue.

“Well, if using my quirk didn’t work, I was just planning to throw a stun grenade in the water and hope for the best. I don’t actually know how powerful those things are, though, so I might’ve accidentally ended up killing them when it electrocuted the water or something- which wouldn’t have been good.” Tsu agrees, and Shinsou watches as the rest of the USJ blurs around them as they fly through the air.

‘We might have passed a very pleasant evening,’ Hitoshi thinks to himself absently, ‘had shit not gotten real’.

Notes:

Well, there it is!!! You can expect more Troubled Bird references in the coming chapter, as well as more Bakugou!!!

(Also, just a quick warning, there's gonna be some more canon-divergent plot in this series.
But don't worry!!! Just because there's gonna be some plot-things doesn't mean I won't be stuffing in as many memes as possible everywhere else!!!)
Let me know what you liked about this chapter if you feel like it!!! If you liked any of it at all, that is!!!

Thanks for reading, and keep doing what you're doing!!!

-Angst

Chapter 8: Fight Us on Main, Cowards

Summary:

Bakugou had gone into the Unseen Simulation Joint expecting some bomb-ass rescue training where they’d get to show off all their new upgrades. What he hadn’t been expecting, however, was Mr. Fuckhands McMike to show up with a whole band of other losers practically begging to get their shit kicked in.

He’s more than happy to oblige

Notes:

Hey, it’s your boy- back at it again with a slightly shorter chapter than usual!! Sorry about that, I couldn’t actually think of anything else to put in, and the ending point seems pretty definitive!!!
There's a tiny weeny bit of violence depicted, but that's pretty much a given, right??? Just thought it'd probably be a good idea to mention it just in case!!!
Hope you’re all doing well, and let’s get on with this because I've run out of things to say!!! 8-)

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Katsuki doesn’t reach Hitoshi in time when that fog bastard sucks them all up like some weird purple vacuum and dumps him in the middle of a decrepit building. He remembers very quickly that he had grabbed Kirishima by the wrist to avoid being separated, and turns to see the redhead in question sitting up and rubbing the side he must have landed on. Apart from that, the boy across from him seems to be unharmed, so he takes the time to observe their surroundings.

They’re in what looks to be a wrecked, empty block of a building, and after craning his neck to look through the window without standing up, he can see that the rest of the buildings in this area arein much the same state. ‘The Collapse Zone’ his brain supplies helpfully, and he wonders how long it’ll take to get from here to the plaza. He’s going to blast that misty motherucker into next Tuesday even if it kills him. He can probably pass it off as self-defence and not get arrested if he just decides on the spot to literally blow him up.

Kirishima is the first to speak, his uncertain tone echoing across the room and filling Bakugou’s ears. “Hey, Baku-Bro, you good?”

Bakugou groans as he begins to stand and dust himself off, joints creaking with all manner of growing pains and actual pain from landing that he could really do without. “Never fucking better.” he spits, stretching out the arm and leg he landed on (his fucking com-link broke too- so there goes any chance of checking on Hito-shit). “I’m guessing you didn’t break anything either?”

Kirishima grins, pointed teeth glinting in the flickering artificial light (and yeah, it’s kind of attractive, but he’s only known the guy for around two weeks, and he’ll start a fistfight with God before he ever admits it). “Of course not!” the redhead replies jovially. “It’ll take more than a rough landing to take me down!” Bakugou smirks at the enthusiasm, taking a second to admire the way the boy’s ruby orbs glitter in the fluorescence (wait, fuck, that’s gay). Katsuki goes to respond, but is interrupted by the sound of other people shuffling around the corridor outside the room they’re in. He strains his ears to listen to their conversation- he needs to know if they’re his classmates or not,after all.But when he catches what they’re saying, he raises his hackles without even thinking about it.

“I think it came from one of these rooms.”

“What d’you think their quirks’ll be?”

“It doesn’t matter, idiot! All we need to do is beat the shit outta them and our job’s done!”

The suspected villains are close enough now that he doesn’t have to struggle to listen, and close enough that Kirishima’s heard them too by now. The other boy gets to his feet as silently as he can and mouths to Bakugou ‘What should we do?’. In lieu of a verbal response, Bakugou unclips the extendable staff from his back, and grabs a grenade from one of his pouches, grinning like a lunatic.

A lot of people in Kirishima’s position would undoubtedly be concerned for their lives and safety, or for Bakugou’s mental stability, at least- but apparently the redhead isn’t most people. Instead, he smiles excitedly, like a five-year-old Katsuki once had when first introduced to nerf guns, and hardens his arms. Bakugou’s own smile widens in return, and with a manic gleam in his eyes and a grenade in one hand, he kicks down the door with all the strength that he holds within his body- which is, admittedly, rather a lot.

The door slams into the wall with a resounding bang, and the villains- there looks to be a good fourteen or so- all snap their necks to leer at the source of the sound. They meet the eyes of what looks to be a clinically insane teenager wielding explosives and, surprisingly enough, don’t nope the fuck out and book it to the nearest exit with their metaphorical tails between their legs. Kirishima exits the room they’d been dumped in just as the first two villains lunge for Katsuki, and wisely decides to stay back as Bakugou pulls the clip off the grenade with his teeth and throws it right at the pair of criminals. One moment later, they’re blasted back, only just avoiding knocking into their allies, being slammed into a wall by the force of the explosion instead. It leaves the remaining twelve criminals standing in stunned silence for a second or two, before they inevitably snap out of it.

The two teenagers share a glance and a smirk before dropping into battle stances. ‘This should be fun’ Bakugou thinks, just as the chaos commences.

The villains come at them all at once, and the first to reach them is also the first to receive an exclusive meet-and-greet with the other end of Bakugou’s staff- right to the face as it extends and pushes them back forcefully. The villain shouts in pain just as he hears a crunching noise, so Bakugou assumes their nose is broken.

One goes for Kirishima, but the redhead in question ducks the left-hook thrown his way just as spikes jut out of the fist that would have hit him square in the temple. Before the villain can retaliate, the boy sends a hardened fist right into their abdomen, knocking the wind out of them and causing them to stumble backwards. Another villain pursues the shark-toothed boy as the first falls back, lunging for him as the arm he’s leading with shifts to look like a sledgehammer. Kirishima takes the hit with his hardened arms, and when the villain lands, he hardens his leg and knees them right in the face. They scream and fall flat on their back, trying to scramble away when the boy’s foot puts pressure on their chest and stops them. A good whack to the head knocks them out, and so Kirishima turns to the remaining villains just standing there in stunned silence, eyes blazing with in challenge.

Three come at Katsuki at once, looking all kinds of angry, but he merely grabs a stun grenade from his pouch and lets them have it. All three of them fall to the floor, twitching slightly from the aftermath of the shock. Bakugou allows himself a breath of laughter before turning to knock the villain with the broken nose back with his staff when they go for him. They're knocked just a little bit out of his reach, so he extends the staff and jumps, bringing it down on the bastard’s head. They crumple to the floor and don’t get up again, so Bakugou assumes they’ve been knocked out.

Rocks suddenly start flying at the two teenagers from somewhere, and Bakugou spots a villain holding out their arms and smirking, so it must be some kind of telekinesis quirk. Katsuki springs forward faster than the villain can prepare for, nailing them in the face with a strong right-hook. Like the broken nose villain, they fall to the ground with an ungraceful thud, and the rocks that were being hurled at them drop to the floor as well. Kirishima jumps forward and lands next to him, so they end up back-to-back, being circled by the remaining villains (what is this- some kind of cliché action movie?). There’s about six, all snarling angrily and muttering obscenities underneath their breath. Bakugou bears his teeth in a smile and shares another look with Kirishima before jumping at the three villains on his side, going to take them all at once, because he’s a cocky little shit.

He sweeps them to one side with his staff before roundhouse-kicking the first one to start moving forward toward him again. The villain stumbles back but doesn’t fall, and Katsuki takes that as an invitation to follow the move with an uppercut to the stomach. They knock into one of the other two villains as they’re flung back, sending them both tumbling to the ground. They both hit their heads on the ground pretty damn hard, knocking themselves out from the force of the impact. The third villain lets out an enraged shriek and lunges for him, fingers sharpening into points. Katsuki pushes them back with his staff before using it to deliver a decent hit to the throat. Not expecting it, they fall to the floor, and before they can think to get back up again, Bakugou jumps toward them and swiftly delivers a knock-out blow.

Katsuki stands up afterwards, dusting himself off and readjusting the grip he has on his staff- turning to see how Kirishima’s doing.

As soon as he turns his head, a knife that Kirishima must have dodged whizzes passed the redhead in question and hurtles towards the area of the floor that looks to be just shy of Bakugou’s right foot. Only, it doesn’t clatter to the ground- it embeds itself into the top right corner of his combat boot instead, stabbing right through it. When Kirishima sees it hit, his eyes go wide, and he cries out in surprise, but one of the remaining villains uses the distraction as an opportunity to try and one-up the redhead. Kirishima refocuses on the matter at hand, his concern for Bakugou being postponed temporarily in his mind.

As Katsuki stares down at the dagger buried in his right boot, he’s expecting to see blood. He’s expecting the blossoming of pain and a steady stream of crimson welling up and trickling down his foot from the small crevice between black leather and skin-piercing metal. He expects to be limping for the rest of his time at the USJ, and he expects that he’s going to have to see Recovery Girl to get it fixed up.

But the pain doesn’t come, and no blood flows, and Katsuki’s confused for a moment before his memory catches up to him like it alwaysdoeswith startling clarity. There is no blood- no pain, pain, pain- because there’s nothing there to hurt; nothing there to bleed (not even a scar to prove that pinkie toe was ever there in the first place).

Bakugou bends over and plucks the knife out of his boot with an easy tug, trying to be glad at least that it didn’t hit anything, so he’s not bleeding or something equally as annoying (because there was nothing there to hit in the first place. Fuck). The last villain in sight is pounded into unconsciousness by a hardened fist, and Kirishima rounds on him immediately, eyes blown wide with concern.

“Dude, are you okay?! You’re not bleeding or anything, are you?!” The redhead’s worry is rather heart-warming (shut up brain- no it isn’t- now is not the time to be gay), but Katsuki rolls his eyes with a scowl nonetheless.

“I’m fine.” he snaps, though not as harshly as he could have (should have), his mind’s contents half-clouded with thoughts that it’s not there anymore- it’s not there and it’s been gone for years and why aren’t you over it yet? He snaps himself out of it before he says something suspicious, and refocuses on the here and now.

Kirishima doesn’t look convinced, and he goes to say so. “But Bakugou, I saw it-“

“It’s fine. Bakugou growls lowly, because there’s too much to unpack to do so in the middle of a villain attack with someone he’s only known for around two weeks. Kirishima looks as if he’d like to protest, but seems to ultimately decide against pushing it while there are more pressing matters at hand. Katsuki recognises the look in the boy’s eyes though- the confirmation that the subject hasn’t been dropped just yet- only put to the side temporarily.

“I’m worried about the guys in our class with less defensive quirks. We should try and find them, yeah?” the other boy suggests after a moment or two of tense silence, a slight frown on his face. Bakugou scoffs.

“Well, good luck with that. I’m going to the plaza- I’m blasting that mist-fucker sky-high if it’s the last thing I do.” he retorts, the finality in his tone leaving no room for argument (it’s as steady as he can make it). Kirishima, of course, does anyway.

“But, dude! What about the others? You’re just gonna leave them?”

“Oh, please,” Bakugou argues back, “give the fucking extras some credit. If the douchebags they're fighting are as weak as these losers, they’ll be fine. Besides, if I smash that smog bastard’s face in, then they’ve got no chance of escaping.”

Some chameleon-looking moron decides to use the time they're arguing to ambush them, revealing them-self and lunging for Bakugou. However, instead of successfully landing an attack, Katsuki flings them into one of the rooms with his staff, hurling in a stun grenade to follow them. It goes off with a crackle of electricity and a screech from the villain, and that’s that.

“…Anyway,” Kirishima says, apparently going to pick up where he left off, “in that case, I’m going with you! Having faith in your friends is super manly!” the redhead says it with a dazzling smile, accompanied by the pumping together of his two hardened fists to emphasise the point. Bakugou averts his eyes with a grunt of acknowledgement and pretends that the boy in front of him isn’t making him painfully aware of how gay he is (well, bi, but still).

They find the exit to the building they were warped into quickly enough, and look around to try and see which direction they should be heading in. Bakugou points them in the direction that he thinks the plaza is, and they begin to make their way to the end of the Collapse Zone. They walk at a brisk pace(though it’s more of an awkward jog), wanting to get out of the zone and find someone- thoughwhether a villain or an ally is yet to be determined. They reach the edge of the area and truck onwards, looking for any sign of a commotion or an ongoing struggle.

What they find next isn’t a struggle, per se- at least, not on their classmate’s part.

What they find in struggle’s stead is Todoroki, frosty clouds of mist curling around him in tendrils as ice reaches from his right side, having enveloped a good portion of villains all at once. The raw power of the boy’s quirk (well, half of it) is almost terrifying to behold. Almost, because Bakugou refuses to be afraid of something that relies solely on the lack of an extra joint in someone’s pinkie toes- that’d be stupid, and Bakugou is anything but.

Kirishima calls out to the Half ‘N’ Half, who in turn walks towards them, expression carefully devoid of emotion (an impressive poker-face, he’ll admit). “What are you doing here?” Todoroki asks the redhead, apparently deciding to ignore Katsuki’s presence- which is, in fact, against the law (because if no one sees him he might slip away again, and no one’ll notice and no one’ll care and- shut up). Bakugou butts in before Kirishima can respond, cracking his knuckles with a smirk that belies the thoughts in his head that buzz like a storm of mayflies.

“I’m looking for trouble- and if I cannot find it, I will create it.” he quotes smugly, and IcyHot raises an eyebrow, evidently bemused by his stellar sense of humour.

“Is that a threat? I’m sure you’re aware that this isn’t the time for games, Bakugou.” Bakugou rolls his eyes exasperatedly at the slight scolding.

“It wasn’t a threat, dipshit- it’s from ‘Guide to Troubled Birds’.” The other boy still looks puzzled, so Katsuki opts to not explain any further, instead deciding to move on to more urgent matters. “Now, me and Shitty Hair here are going to the plaza to fuck shit up- so we’re either ditching you or you’re following us.”

Shitty Hair?!” Kirishima repeats, attempting an offended expression, though he’s having difficulty keeping the amused smile off of his face. Bakugou waves him off, and looks to Todoroki for his verdict. Todoroki says nothing, merely nodding and gesturing for them to continue onwards to the plaza. He doesn’t need to be told twice.

And so they begin to make their way over, and Bakugou foolishly hopes that maybe Hito-Shit’s not done anything too stupid while he’s been gone.

Hitoshi and Tsu land near the plaza, in a much shallower area of the Shipwreck Zone, with an admittedly anti-climactic splash. No one looks their way, seemingly absorbed in the battle unfolding in front of their eyes. The two watch in amazement as Eraserhead triumphs over villain after villain, attacking and counterattacking, hair raised and on the defensive even as he knocks the criminals around like golf balls being met with a driver. This Hero in front of them was almost an entirely different person to their tired, scraggly-looking homeroom teacher, who had seemed likehe'd much rather be asleep than facing the horrors of communicating with the living. This was what a real Pro-Hero looked like, and the villains had never stood a chance.

Shinsou finds it increasingly difficult to tear his eyes away from the impressive display of power from his favourite Pro, but he manages it in order to observe the rest of the scene. His gaze immediately falls upon two figures standing right in the midst of all the chaos, yet neither of them is even lifting a finger to counter it.

One is a man covered in severed hands that have faded to the same shade of pale blue as the man’s hair in their lack of life. One such appendage is covering the villain’s face, and Shinsou wonders how he can see until he notices, squinting, that the fingers of the hand areparted to make way for the criminal’s sense of sight, and he looks closer and sees red, red eyes. Not the same pyre of crimson flame that is beheld to Kat-suck-it’s eyes, no- they're marred a deranged vermilion, tainted with a madness that Shinsou’s only ever heard stories about (though he wishes forlornly that he’d never had to in the first place). Other than that, he wears a black shirt and trousers with red shoes- not exactly dressed for the occasion, is he?

The second is barely a human at all.

They (he? It? Shinsou isn’t sure) have their brain exposed to the elements, two tiny black pupils resting in the centre of their eyes, protruding out of the fleshy, pink matter. They have a beak instead of a regular mouth, with straight white blocks of teeth lining the inside that look like they could crunch through diamond. Bulging muscles look as if they’re about to tear through the dark navy skin that covers them, and their arms are probably as tall and as wide as Hitoshi’s entire person is. Their face holds no emotion- dull and impassive as if they’re not really sentient- and Hitoshi thinks that it’s probably the scariest thing he’s seen all week (though Katsuki’s pre-breakfast glare is a close second).

He’s not sure if he should intervene or not. On one hand, they could perhaps lighten the Underground Hero’s load- Eraserhead was visibly slowing, and the span of time his quirk is active for was getting shorter, if the rising and falling of his hair was anything to go by. On the other hand, they could become more of a hindrance than anything, seeing as the Pro would then have to worry about manoeuvring around students and keeping them out of harm’s way. Besides, the Hero was still holding his own just fine, right?

Oh, look, he fucking jinxed it.

The villain covered in hands chooses that exact moment in time to rush at Eraserhead, hand outstretched as if to try and grab him. Aizawa shoots the tendrils of his capture weapon at the man, but he dodges easily despite the fact that there's an entire hand covering his face (and even more covering the rest of him- doesn’t that feel gross?). The villain’s muttering something to the Pro as his hair falls down, and the sleeve of Aizawa’s shirt is crumbling to dust at the elbow. And then… holy fuck- the skin’s dusting too. It’s just gone, leaving nothing but the red and raw muscle that lies beneath.

Some of the less dangerous villains try to get the jump on him then, but Eraserhead flings his scarf’s tendrils at them before sending them crumpling to the floor in a heap. The man covered in hands mumbles something, sounding vaguely excited from what he can make out. Shinsou can barely see what happens after- one moment that mammoth of a villain is right next to Handsy, and the next they're slamming Eraserhead into the floor with the force of a thousand suns before anyone even has time to blink. They’re fucking fast- that’s some Sanic-level speed shit right there (not the most appropriate time for jokes, but the time when they're least welcome is almostalways the time when they're needed most. To Hitoshi, at least).

The blue haired man stands by and laughs as the villain grabs their homeroom teacher and smashes his head into the concrete. “What do you think?” the man asks loudly enough for them hear, seemingly elated. “It’s the Anti-Symbol of Peace- the bio-engineered Noumu.”

Hitoshi can’t speak, can’t think over the static that screams in his ears as Aizawa does too- garbled through the blood in his mouth- his panic rendering him completely immobile, a blank slate of fake calm that hides a monsoon beneath its thin layers.

The villain moves on to their teacher’s arm next- bending it and bending it until there's a crunching snap and a strangled gasp of pain. As Shinsou and Tsuyu stare on in horror, the mist guy from before appears next to the man in severed hands.

“Kurogiri,” Handsy starts, and Hitoshi makes a note of the name just in case, “did you kill Thirteen?”

“Thirteen is incapacitated.” Kurogiri says, but he doesn’t say they're dead, so a split second’s worth of concern is replaced with a brief wave of relief. “However, one of the students managed to escape to gather reinforcements. I’m afraid to say that the Pro-Heroes will most likely be arriving soon.”

Handsy lets out a shaky breath. “Kurogiri,” the villain says, his raspy voice grating on Shinsou’s every nerve, “if you weren’t a warp gate, I’d turn you to dust!” he finishes, reaching up to his neck. Shinsou watches in morbid fascination as the villain scratches and scratches at the exposed skin of his neck, breaths coming out in rattling heaves. The movement becomes more frantic as the seconds pass, and Shinsou isn’t sure what to think.

“Shigaraki Tomura,” Kurogiri says, and Shinsou files away the name for later even though it’s almost definitely an alias, “Since All Might is not present as we had anticipated, and as a team of Pro-Heroes will be arriving as back-up imminently, it would be in our best interest to retreat and regroup for now.” The scratching ceases as Shigaraki contemplates the suggestion, and, slowly, his hands fall back to his sidesas if they'd never left.

“Yeah, yeah,” Shigaraki mutters, just loud enough for them to hear, “it’s game over if the Pros show up. We’ll try again later…-“

Handsy turns his eyes to lock gaze with Hitoshi, and there's just enough time for the colour to drain from his face.

“-But let’s kill a few kids first to break All Might’s spirit!”

It happens too fast. Before they can even fully realise what the villain means, he’s running towards them, hand outstretched and reaching for Tsuyu’s face. Shinsou knows what comes next- he saw it as Aizawa’s elbow crumbled away to expose the muscle beneath. He knows what’ll happen if Shigaraki touches the girl’s face.

Hitoshi reaches to get her out of the way, but he isn’t fast enough. Shigaraki’s hand covers Tsuyu’s face, and…

Nothing happens.

Shigaraki draws his hand away, chuckling lightly as he comes up from his crouching position to stand. “You really are cool, Eraserhead.”

Aizawa doesn’t say anything as the Noumu slams his head back into the bloody dent in the concrete, and his body slackens. Fuck.

The guy’s hand is still right in front of Tsuyu’s face, and Eraserhead isn’t there to prevent the villain’s quirk from activating. Hitoshi has to do something- he wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he didn’t at least try. So, he reaches out again, pulling his fist back to prepare for a sucker punch right to the man’s face (or, well, the severed hand in front of the face, but that’s whatever). He’s got a pretty good right-hook, he thinks, so hopefully it’ll be enough to get the damn guy away from Tsu. Shinsou roars, shouting in defiance as his fist meets flesh, but not before a cloud of dust kicks up and blocks his vision. His hand hurts like Hell at the impact, and he wonders belatedly if maybe it was his fingers that connected with skin rather than the knuckles (or maybe Handsy’s just built like a fucking brick?).

But where Shigaraki would have been, the Noumu now stands- staring down at him with gleaming teeth bared in an absent grin, and eyes that hold nothing beyond the tiny pupils that have focused themselves on him. And, once again, he’s fucking screwed.

‘Ah fuck,’ he thinks for what must be at least the third or fourth time today, ‘the dude they’re saying could kill All Might is about to punt me into the sun. Fantastic. Just my luck’. He doesn’t get more time to lament his misfortune, however, because as soon as Handsy’s said something to the gargantuan before him (he can’t make out the words over the ringing in his ears), the Noumu is raising their arm to the air, fully intending for it to swat him aside and halfway through the concrete wall like a fly. It comes down fast, and out of the corner of his eye he can make out Tsu sticking out her tongue to wrap around his waist and wrench him away from danger. But he can also make out Shigaraki reaching for her face again, and realises that there really isn’t a thing eitherofthem can do this time around to stop it from happening. Tsu’s going to crumble like sand crashed into by the surf, and he’s going to become little more than a smear of blood on the wall, and there’s nothing they can do about it.

Fuck, he hopes Kat-suck-it gets to be the number one someday.

But then a resounding bang echoes through the USJ like a gunshot, and dust kicked up by the commotion billows out from the entrance. The sound of heavy footsteps ricochets off the walls with decisive clarity, and a few of the students up near the entrance cry out in surprise.

And then All Might’s mountainous figure is looming over the steps, casting a shadow over the villains in the plaza. “It’s fine now.” All Might says, voice deafening in a world cast into shocked silence. “Why? Because I AM HERE.” And it’s then that Hitoshi notices that he isn’t smiling.

For the first time that day, Shinsou thinks that maybe it’s not him that’s about to get screwed over.

Notes:

Well, there you go!!!! There's ~plot~ now (never fear- I do actually have a plan for it!! And there'll still be jokes too- so don't worry about that either!!)!! I might have gotten a bit carried away with it, so tell me if you think I need to change something if you so desire!!! Or, you know, let me know what you think of the chapter on a whole if you're feeling particularly adventurous, especially if you've spotted any mistakes!!!!

Thanks for reading, and keep doing what you're doing!!!!
-Angst

Chapter 9: *Slaps Noumu’s Brain* ‘This Bad Boy Can Fit So Many Quirks in It’

Summary:

Shinsou, despite the grudge he still harboured towards All Might, feels nothing but the raw burn of relief when the number one Hero comes barrelling into the USJ with fire burning in his eyes and the usual smile absent from his face.
It’s just a little more of a group effort than he’d been expecting, and the reason for it was even more surprising than the need for the aid itself.

Notes:

Hi, hello- yes, it’s me again! Sorry if this one’s crud- I tried my best, but I haven’t had much time for it!
I feel like this needs to be more meme-y, but I’ve apparently acquired the Emo Writer Brain and have been compelled to weave an Edgy Plot Line as well. So, look forward to that I guess?? Though, there are some shitty dead memes in here too?? My sense of humour is terrible and I am Sorry. I ALSO apologise for how rushed this seems- I've already mentioned that I haven't had much time for it- but I wanted to get it done!!!

I’ve probably/definitely said this before, but if I think anything in a chapter is triggering I’ll mention it here in BIG CAPITAL LETTERS just in case! Like this!
THE STUFF WITH THE NOUMU REGENERATION IS KINDA GROSS BUT IT SHOULD BE OKAY??? HOPEFULLY???

Anyway, enjoy (if you want to)!!!!
(Edit is in the bottom notes)

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

All Might- for all his incompetence in the world of teaching and child handling- does have one redeeming quality: he’s a damn good symbol of peace.

One second the petty villains are bolstering themselves to attack, but by the time the next rolls around they’ve already hit the floor with disgracefully synchronised thuds. And when the next moment comes to pass, Shinsou, Tsu, and Aizawa have been brought away from the fight, and Shigaraki stumbles backwards from a hit that knocks the severed hand clean off of his face. All Might places Aizawa onto the floor with all the gentleness of someone with much less strength than he as Shinsou blinks on in confusion as his brain tries to process just how he got all the way over here from all the way over there without a warp quirk like Kurogiri’s.

“Carry Aizawa up to the entrance where the others are gathered,” the number one Hero says, only half breaking Hitoshi out of his stupor, “I will deal with this villain.” And as much as the last minute evidences how capable All Might is of doing just that, the barebones of a theory is beginning to click into place like puzzle-pieces in his head. Not all the segments are there yet, but it feels like something important that he probably shouldn’t be allowed to figure out (which is a really great motivator to figure it out, if he’s being honest). So, Shinsou makes the executive decision to provide the Symbol of Peace with one warning, at the very least.

“All Might, they’re saying the Noumu- that weird, muscly Big-Bird thing- was literally made to kill you.” And Hitoshi is painfully aware that this man’s abs have abs, but he can’t help the worry that defies all rationality he knows to cloud his eyes. He and Tsu are picking up Aizawa to carry to the entrance when All Might turns around.

“Young Shinsou,” All Might starts, before flashing him a smile that could blind even the sun, and doing some classic magical girl peace-sign-over-face pose, “don’t worry about this old man.”

To that, Shinsou says nothing, merely nodding subtly in response and turning to shift his weight so he can carry his knocked out homeroom teacher more comfortably. Because it’s All Might and, grudge or no, the number one Hero can still kick serious ass.

The villain, meanwhile, stumbles around blindly- the man’s own hand covering his face to conceal it in the absence of the severed one. Hitoshi swears the criminal calls it ‘Father’ as he grasps it in his living, not-blue hand and places it back on his face with a shaky exhale of relief (how does he even get it to stay on? Is it Velcro? Does Handsy have Velcro strips on his face?).

Shigaraki begins to mutter something about the ‘violence of government officials’ then, but Shinsou’s barely able to process that they’ve been moved away from the fight, completely blindsided by how fast All Might is. He knows it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise- he is the number one Hero, after all- but it was one thing to hear about it in magazines and newspaper articles and another thing entirely to see it in person. He couldn’t even follow the man with his eyes- how the ever-loving fuck did these villains expect to kill someone they wouldn’t even be able to see?

But then Hitoshi is suddenly reminded that the Noumu exists when the Symbol of Peace goes in for a Carolina Smash (Karen, please, lemme smash) headed straight for Shigaraki, and the beast is in front of the man before anyone could realise the mutant had begun to move at all. The attack doesn’t seem to have any visible effect on the monster before them, so All Might reaches forward and punches the Noumu in the face. Again, that stupid, absent smile is still fixed unwaveringly on the Noumu’s features and, if Shinsou was any braver a person, he might be tempted to have a go at punching the creature’s lights out himself, futile though it might be. As it is, he begins slowly shuffling away with Tsu, the unconscious Aizawa gathered in their arms.

“Good luck with that!” he hears Shigaraki shout, and even with his back turned away he can tell that there’s a smile on the villain’s face as man and monster duke it out in the plaza. “Noumu was made specifically to beat you- he even has Shock Absorption! The most effective way to beat him would simply be to gouge out his flesh- whether or not he’d let you do that is a different story though!” Shigaraki finishes with a laugh, and All Might goes to respond as he exchanges blows with the larger villain.

“Thanks for the advice!” That actually makes this easier!” All Might bellows, almost jovial as the Noumu swings its arms around in a surprisingly well-coordinated mad flail. And then the Pro-Hero turns around when the Noumu tries to dart around him so he can get to the Symbol of Peace from behind, grabbing both sides of the beast’s waist. The Pro then proceeds to straight up deadlift the Noumu, raising the humongous mutant high in the air in such a Lion King-esque fashion that Shinsou’s expecting the Hero to start singing the fucking Circle of Life, before slamming it back down. Dust billows out in a cloud from the sheer force of the move, fogging up their vision of the fight but looking very cool nonetheless.

“All Might’s so amazing, even though he still has to read off note-cards in class!” Tsuyu says, smiling in relief as if the fight’s already been won. “Maybe the villains were underestimating him?”

Shinsou’s inclined to agree, and he nearly does so, but thinks better of it at the last second with wide, wide eyes. He doesn’t stop walking, but it’s more on auto-pilot than anything as he thinks. All Might seemed pretty desperate to take on a successor for One for All back when the Pro offered it to his friend. He sometimes took off in a hurry the moment class ended, usually if it’d been reported that he’d spent some time doing his job as a Pro before school started. He hadn’t shown up at the USJ until now, and when Aizawa asked, Thirteen had put up three fingers while talking to him. All Might would always look at his watch in concern during class, almost like he was on a time limit-

Almost like he was on a time limit. A time limit. Fuck.

If All Might ran out of time or whatever, would he lose his ability to use One for All for the day or something? If that really was the case, then they were in deep shit. Fuckity Duckity fuck nuggets- he’s the only one who’s figured this out, most likely- he has to do something. But, what can he do? He can’t just run out there like an idiot and hope for the best, he’d literally die. Although, just because All Might has a time limit, it doesn’t mean that the man couldn’t handle himself- he’s the number one Hero for fuck’s sake! Why was Shinsou even worried in the first place? This is All Might he’s talking about. He’s a literal child worrying about a grown-ass tank of a man, what was the point?

Then, almost like the divine hand of some asshole deity intervening, the smoke settles to reveal the scene from within. It’s the Noumu, sticking half-way through a portal, pressing down hard on All Might’s side, and All Might looks pained within the monster’s grasp as a patch of thick, crimson blood seeps through the man’s dress shirt.

Shinsou’s felt fear before- it’s made itself no stranger to him throughout his life (don’t think about it, don’t you dare)- but this fear is almost the worst he’s ever had the displeasure to experience (he came back alive, it’s fine, it’s fine). Thoughts cross his mind unbidden: the people that would mourn, the villains that would crawl through the gaps, and bare, heavy silence in their Hero training that’s supposed to be filled with mindless chatter. And he realises quite suddenly that, no matter how little of a fan he is of him personally, All Might can’t lose this fight. The world isn’t ready to live without its number one Hero just yet.

“Tsu,” he says, demeanour almost calm in his panicked state, “I really hate to ask this, but could you please take Aizawa for me?” She agrees easily, shifting their teacher’s weight onto her back, before asking why exactly he made the request.

Shinsou doesn’t say anything. He just runs out there like the idiot he is and hopes for the best.

‘Don’t you dare die, number one Asshole,’ Shinsou thinks spitefully (two year grudges don’t just disappear at the drop of a hat, after all), ‘we still have way too much shit to prove to you.’

He says none of this out loud, however- but just as he reaches the plaza, some force of nature compels him to solemnly say “Cowabunga it is.” before whipping out his staff and lunging for a villain that could literally kill him with his bare hands.

In an ideal world, Shinsou would have punched Hand-Job in the face, the villain would have cried like a little bitch, and it would have made Shinsou look really cool. However, in the real world, Kurogiri exists- which is unfortunate, because Shinsou would have really liked to deck Shigaraki.

‘Thomas had never seen such bullshit before.’ Shinsou thinks bitterly as a pale, crusty-ass hand reaches out to touch him from a portal that appears just in front of his face. For a moment (but not for the first time today), he thinks that this is it. He thinks that this is really where he kicks the bucket. He’ll never get to make use of the second chance at Heroism that he and Katsuki were given some four years ago- and, once again, he hopes to God that Katsuki doesn’t do any stupid shit when he’s gone (never mind how much of a dirty fucking hypocrite saying that makes him).

Life has a funny way of taking one look at how Shinsou thinks things will go and doing the exact opposite, though. This means that, with naught but a few measly centimetres between him and the Hand of Doom, an obscene shout descends upon their ears like a gift from God Himself.

“Get outta the fucking way, Hito-shit!” Bakugou Katsuki shouts, and it sounds like a Goddamn choir of angels as the blond body-slams into something solid hidden in the midst of Kurogiri and pins the fucker to the floor. There’s a manic smile on his friend’s face that seems to be more like something he’s doing to distract himself rather than simply an act of impulse, but that’s a problem for later because right now Shinsou’s stumbling backwards and grinning from ear to ear, because The Cavalry Has Arrived, Motherfucker.

Todoroki comes sliding in not even milliseconds later on a sheet of ice, shooting out his right arm and freezing the Noumu’s left foot. The ice crawls upwards and through the portal created by Kurogiri in seconds, spreading from the creature’s ankle, up the shin, all the way up to the Noumu’s forearm, stopping just before the beast’s hand and circling the limb in spiky pirouettes and cold tendrils of frost. The cold must slacken the mutant’s grip on All Might somehow, because the Hero is grabbing the Noumu’s fingers in a crushing hold and grappling himself free. All Might leaps away from the Noumu’s reach and, just as the creature pulls itself up and begins to shamble forward, Todoroki sends another streak of ice to freeze it in place, and Kirishima- who Shinsou had barely even realised was there in the first place- whoops in triumph.

From the corner of his eye, Shinsou can see Kurogiri shift subtly underneath Bakugou’s grip, to which the blond responds by casually taking out the taser from his pouch and tapping it gently against the metal structure that had been hidden beneath the swirling purple mist. Bakugou smiles pleasantly enough that it looks like he’s about to maul the guy to death.

“Ah ah ah!” Katsuki tuts, narrowing his eyes and smiling wider, baring his teeth like a weapon. “I think the fuck not, you six-piece chicken McNobody. This shit looks like silver, and metal’s one Hell of a conductor as is. If you do something I don’t like, you’re going from misty to crispy, bitch.” Shinsou would laugh if he thought it’d be appropriate, but he doesn’t try and stop the amused smirk from growing on his face, watching as Kurogiri splutters as sophisticatedly as physically possible.

“And how, might I ask, did you discover my weakness?” Kurogiri asks, probably trying to distract his friend to loosen his grip. Bakugou grins and tightens his hold on the metal’s surface, pressing the taser down harder.

“When me and Shitty Hair tried to get the jump on you earlier, after you dodged you said, ‘That was close’. If you were made of just mist, dodging wouldn’t be a problem, and you would’ve just let us go straight through you. So I figured that you were just hiding your real body in the mist, and protecting it in armour or some shit- ‘cause I thought I saw something earlier- and I was fucking right! Quirks aren’t fucking God-tier miracle-workers like everyone wants to think, and you can pry that from my cold, dead fingers, fucker.” Hitoshi thought the blond was going to rant about that some more (it wouldn’t be the first time, obviously), but he stops there instead, smiling viciously.

“Oh, is that so?” the mist man asks, seemingly intrigued. “If you’re so insistent that quirks aren’t all they're cracked up to be- then what is yours, I wonder?”

For a split second, Hitoshi wonders if maybe it isn’t such a great idea to tell the villains, but the decision isn’t his to make, and that’s made infinitely clear by the gleam in his friend’s eyes that says that’s exactly what he’d wanted the criminal to say.

“Who says I even need one, bitch? I can kick your shit in with or without some fucking toe joint like a real man.” Shinsou nearly winces at the mention, but doesn’t show it. And even if he doesn’t like the reminder (and even though he’s pretty sure that’s not how Katsuki meant to say it), it has the desired effect. Both villains freeze, Shigaraki pausing in his light scratching of his neck to process the implications of the statement. Kirishima smiles from ear to ear, and Todoroki looks almost, almost amused by the reactions, nodding imperceptibly in approval.

All Might doesn’t really seem to know what to make of it, but that hardly matters when the sound of ice cracking echoes across the USJ like a scream in an alleyway (now is not the fucking time), and the Hero goes pale anyway.

All eyes turn to the Noumu, and Shinsou’s heart feels like it stops beating for a second when he focuses his vision and seen the monster writhing around in the ice as cracks form on the surface. But then the mutant reaches over with its right arm, and fucking rips the other one off. The separated limb clatters to the floor, and the frozen leg goes next, snapping like an ice-pop and colliding with the floor. For a moment, the Noumu hobbles around on one leg, stabilising itself with its one arm, and they’re all aware on some level that it would probably be a good time to gain an advantage over the creature while its down, but they’re too stunned into silence to do anything because Holy Fuck.

There's a stretching noise- like someone’s pulling a thick rubber band- before strings of muscle burst forth from the stump where the Noumu’s arm was and weave together in a shape resembling the lost limb. The same happens down the torn off part of the creature’s side, as well as with the lost leg- and rough, navy blue skin wraps over it as easily as tissue paper, though it’s definitely much more durable than that. From where Hitoshi stands, he can see Bakugou from the side, and he notices the slight tension in the shoulders, and how his friend’s eyes are never usually that wide nor glassy, as if he isn’t really there, but somewhere much further away- in some time four years passed, though his grip on Kurogiri and the taser don’t loosen. And, despite how paralysed with terror and morbid fascination Shinsou is, he’d like nothing more in that moment than to beat the villains up with his own two hands, because Katsuki should never look that disturbed.

“You said its quirk was Shock Absorption- was that a lie, then?” All Might says feebly, breaking the thick, heavy silence in typical deft fashion. Shigaraki has the gall to laugh, spreading his arms wide as if to emphasis just how big of a little bitch he is.

“I didn’t say that was all he had!” Handsy explains, and Shinsou can feel the smirk on the villains face from behind that hand. “That’s his Regeneration. Noumu is modified to take you at 100% of your power, All Might- he’s basically a human sandbag!”

When no one else can find it in them to reply, Shigaraki speaks again, more to himself than anything. “First, we need our warp gate back.” the villain says, before turning his head a little to face the now fully regenerated mutant as Shinsou’s own to look at Bakugou fully, so quickly he almost gives himself whiplash. “Go, Noumu.”

He wills his body to move- to do something, anything- but he’s frozen still, and the Noumu moves too fast to even follow with his eyes. Bakugou wouldn’t have had time to dodge even if he’d been able to, and the blond was rooted to the spot, grip firmly on the metal of Kurogiri’s armour and mind so far away that Katsuki could practically see the four walls of that dingy old room.

Shinsou barely notices as All Might staggers, right before the Noumu reaches Katsuki. It rears its newly-grown fist back, and delivers a blow that sends shockwaves across the plaza, forcing Shinsou, Kirishima, and Todoroki backwards from the sheer power. Dust is kicked up where the Noumu stands, and dread creeps up Hitoshi’s throat like bile as he hopes to any deity that he can think of that Katsuki’s okay.

But when the smoke clears, Bakugou isn’t there, and Shinsou’s head snaps to the right to find the boy sitting on the floor next to him, blinking the surprise out of his eyes, which look much clearer than they did a few seconds ago, which is both a good thing and a bad thing, in a way.

“DUDE!” Kirishima cries, awe painting his face like a canvas. “You dodged that? That’s so cool!”

Bakugou scowls, bitter contempt burning in his eyes with all the complexities that line his mind. “Shut up, Shitty Hair.”

‘I wasn’t fast enough’ is what he thinks, ‘I didn’t even see it coming.’

Todoroki begins to ask something, but is pulled away from his thoughts like the rest of them by the two lines indented into the ground, like someone had dug their feet into the earth and been dragged away. Smoke streams from the divots, from the sheer force and speed of their upheaval, and their eyes are drawn to the end of the newly-carved path, where All Might stands, arms shielding his face and panting as if short of breath.

The Noumu remains standing, not panting at all (then again, it doesn’t even look like it’s breathing in the first place). It looks as if it’s about to start towards them again, so they all collectively lower themselves into battle stances, Shinsou saying prayers to the very same deities that got Katsuki away from the fight mere moments before.

“Guess we’re doing this after all.” Kirishima says, raising his hardened fists in front of his chest for protection’s sake, but that’s all any of them manages to say before All Might rushes at the creature faster than they can blink. The Hero stampedes towards the Noumu like the buffalo that killed Mufasa (he’s pretty sure he’s made that joke before), delivering a powerful blow to the mutant. A blast of wind is expelled from the punch, forcefully blowing back the onlookers. He does it again, and again, and again- gusts of air powerful enough that not even Kurogiri can get close to the pair- but the Noumu just keeps on taking it.

“Didn’t you mention his Shock Absorption before?” Shigaraki laughs, as if the Pro couldn’t snap him in half like a wishbone.

“I did!” All Might bellows, delivering yet another blow to the creature’s chest, pushing the two of them backwards. “But if its quirk is Shock Absorption and not Shock Nullification, then there’s a limit to it, right?!”

The Noumu manages to land a hit on All Might’s bloodied side, and Shinsou winces with sympathy pains as flecks of blood fly from the Hero’s mouth.

“Made to fight me?” The Pro asks, though he doesn’t wait for an answer as the exchange of blows becomes too fast for Shinsou to follow with his eyes- little more than a blur of navy and tan skin. “If you can withstand me at 100%- then I’ll just have to go beyond that!”

Fists dart left and right, energy crackling from the Hero’s veins even as blood leaks passed his lips and stains his side. Katsuki may not revere the Hero- may have had his admiration tainted by foul words and ‘broken dreams’ all that time ago- but even he can admit that the number one Hero is damn impressive. Every hit seems controlled; so far beyond anything he’s seen from all those clips of him online, and he realises suddenly that everything the Pro’s putting into it is far more than should ever be possible, even for All Might’s standards.

The Noumu flies back suddenly, and All Might leaps after him. “A Hero…” he says, as the earth quakes and cracks with the force of their feud, “can always break out of a tough spot!” The Noumu is slammed into the floor from the air, making a crater in the ground beneath.

“Go beyond!” All Might declares, hitting the floor to meet the mutant and rearing his fist back in preparation.

“PLUS ULTRA!

The Noumu flies through the air, and ‘In the Arms of the Angel’ plays loudly in Shinsou’s head as the mutant smashes through the ceiling like a motherfucking cannonball. The whole of the USJ must have heard the crash, and they can only think to stare in bewilderment and awe at the raw power their teacher possesses.

After a few moments, a whine pitches through the air. “My Noumu!” Shigaraki cries, reaching up to scratch at his neck as he stares up at the hole the mutant went through. “You cheated, and now it’s game over.”

A smile just about begins to break out on Shinsou’s face in relief, but Kurogiri, like the motherfucker he is, chooses then to pitch in his two cents. “Shigaraki Tomura,” the mist man says, his yellow eyes narrowing in consideration, “if you look closely, you can see that All Might is hesitating. It seems to me that he’s at his limit.”

Shigaraki nods along eagerly as All Might curses the purple man out loudly in his mind, words too foul to ever be repeated. “Well,” Handsy says, “in that case, how about I finish this?!”

‘Ah shit, here we go again.’ Shinsou thinks lamely, just as Handsy rushes at All Might with an outstretched hand, and the purple-haired boy stupidly allows his legs to carry him forward towards the fray.

But then Shinsou’s getting some serious déjà vu, because a portal appears right in front of him, and an arm, once again, stretches out to touch him. And, for what must be the fourth time (he’s getting really sick of this shit), he really does think he’s fucked.

A shot fires across the USJ, nailing Shigaraki in the arm that was about to disintegrate his beautiful face, and Shinsou turns to see a plethora of Pro-Heroes- his teachers- standing right at the front of the USJ, wreathed in a glorious light that’s probably just a hallucination but it’s fine because holy fuck, he’s not dead yet, bitch.

Another bullet collides with Shigaraki’s arm, and then both of his legs, before Kurogiri cloaks them both in his man-made darkness, sucking them into a portal and warping away. He swears he hears Handsy say something, but it hardly matters because they’ve fucking won. He’s half-tempted to just lie down right there on the floor and never get up, but he wants to go back on over to Katsuki and the others, so he goes to move. He nearly does, too, however- just at the last moment- he turns his head around, and sees the pale, wire-thin silhouette of a man.

Tall, skinny, and with blond hair wilting like a dehydrated sunflower. When the smoke clears fully, he catches sight of electric blue eyes and black sclera that he recognises.

The man’s- All Might’s eyes widen on his pale, gaunt face, and he looks like he’s about to blurt something- but Shinsou beats him to it- voice cutting through the air with a decisive echo.

“What the actual fuck?

Notes:

And WOOSH- it’s over! This is the last chapter of the actual USJ Arc, but there’ll be a fucking aftermath, I swear to you (namely in the form of Awkward Skinny Might).
There is SO MUCH stuff to do for the Sports Festival, and I'm both Very Excited and Incredibly Afraid.

ALSO!!!! I know I said I'd post that Basically an Angry Environmentalist fic- AND I WILL (I'm planning to post it- OR something else if you want it)- but I have two more ideas that I'm writing if you'd prefer them??? (Huge thanks to the person who gave me the prompts!!)

CRYPTIDS AND CROCS: (Cryptid Bakugou)
-There's a monster in the woods- and Izuku Midoriya, like the dumbass he is, decides that it'd be a good idea to go looking for it. Cue the beast with red eyes and ash blond hair entering his life, and Izuku has no idea why he started calling him 'Kacchan' but it's too late to take it back now and Oh God-

BOOMBURBS AND BOMBSHELLS (or MOLOTOVS AND MARGARITAS): (Basically just Bakugou as a Suburban White Mother, but he still has his terrible personality)
- His mother had said he'd be terrible with a kid; that he'd probably never have the courage to haul his ass down to every school bake-sale. And because Bakugou absolutely refused to allow that attack on his pride to slide, he goes ahead and becomes the head of the PTA.
But he's in a new town now, and he can't wait to show these fuckwads what r e a l lemon-squares taste like.

Let me know what you think of the ideas!!! Or maybe even just this fic in general!!! Thanks for reading, and keep doing what you're doing!!!

-Angst

Chapter 10: Yes, 'Tis I- The Frenchiest Fry

Summary:

First, the USJ gets attacked, then he nearly dies like, four times- and then he finds out that All Might’s fighting on the other side of the skeleton war.
This really isn’t what Shinsou had been expecting from his Wednesday afternoon.

Notes:

Hey there! You know how I said I wanted to get this one out on time to make up for being a day late last time? Well, obviously, that didn’t happen- and in lieu of blaming my time management skills- I’m going to blame my lack of time to manage. Either way, it’s here now, and that’s that! Due to the coming of the holidays, the next chapter should hopefully be out on time! Fingers crossed!
Anyway, hope you enjoy!

(Side note: there's actually a hint at their Hero names in this- so be on the look out for that!)

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

“You look like a soggy French fry.” really isn’t what Shinsou means to say at all- and though he isn’t overly keen on All Might, that doesn’t stop him from being absolutely mortified. Who even says that? No- scratch that- who says that to the number one fucking Hero? The answer must be Shinsou, apparently, because that’s exactly what the man looks like, and it turns out that his brain-to-mouth filter took some damage in between nearly dying multiple times in the last few hours. Great. Fan-fucking-tastic.

“E-excuse me?” is All Might’s- no, Skinny Might’s bewildered response, and Shinsou would honestly rather just turn around and pretend he hadn’t seen shit than explain himself to this man. Unfortunately, it’s far too late for that now, and as much as it weirded him out to have to interact with the Pro, he did want an explanation for whatever the Hell this was about. He wondered idly how Bakugou would react when he found out (yeah, that’s right, bitch- not if, when). Hitoshi was stuck between thinking that the blond would either flip his shit or piss himself laughing- just because he was a spiteful little shit that, as much as he tried to hide it, was very easily amused.

And so, having allowed the silence to stretch just a little bit too long to avoid awkwardness, Shinsou decides to reply. “I don’t have to explain myself to you. In fact, I wholeheartedly believe that you should be the one explaining yourself- ‘cause, seriously, what the Hell?” All Might splutters uselessly, and blood spurts from his mouth. Hitoshi, obviously, reacts accordingly with a “Holy shit. Fuck- you’re not dying or some shit, right? You’re not gonna collapse or something?”

All Might chuckles, though there's no humour in it. “Not at present. And I promise that I will explain myself, young Shinsou, but perhaps it’s best to do so somewhere more private.” Hitoshi nods dumbly, still too bewildered by the situation to do much else. That, and the guy does have a point; it doesn’t really seem like something a Pro-Hero would want to get out to the public. Wait- does this mean he can’t tell Katsuki? Fuck, it’s been so long since he’s had to keep something from his friend that he barely even remembers how to go about it. Shinsou knows that he can’t tell anyone- shouldn’t, even; this is big, after all- but he’s never had to keep a secret so big from the blond.

He’s brought out of this internal crisis of conscience by a voice that cuts short any other half-formed concerns, despite never having even seen the guy approach.

“Wow, I can’t believe All Might and Miley Cyrus are running the same scam.”

All Might practically leaps out of his skin (or, what little of it there is to cover the impatient skeleton trapped beneath), and Hitoshi honest to God screams. Katsuki cackles wickedly like the little bitch he is, because of course the first thing he says after discovering the number one Hero’s ‘true form’ is a reference to Hannah Montana. Shinsou’s almost a little ashamed that he didn’t think of it himself, though, to be fair, he’d been a little too busy freaking the fuck out.

All Might chokes on air in his surprise, blood splattering in a thin sheen on the floor as he clears his throat, and Bakugou doesn’t even flinch. “I kinda figured something was up when only one side of your waist started bleeding even though the Noumu grabbed both.” Honestly, sometimes it blindsided him just how observant his best friend is (he doesn’t want to have to think about why that might be). Both All Might and Hitoshi are brought out of their stupor when the sound of a different voice calls out from significantly further away, meaning that they can’t possibly see All Might’s emaciated form.

“Dudes! You’re okay!” Kirishima shouts in blatant relief. Shinsou almost responds before he takes pause and realises just what kind of scene the redhead will stumble upon if he draws any closer.

“Kirishima, wait-!” Shinsou begins to call out panickily, before blinking in surprise at an overly large wall of concrete that was most definitely not there before just… sticking out of the ground. What the fuck?

“We need to keep the area clear, just to be safe.” Cementoss says from beyond the mountain of concrete and, whoa, he’d almost forgotten that his school was run by literal Pro-Heroes for a second there. “Would you mind making your way to the entrance and taking any other remaining pupils up there with you?”

“Of course, sir!” Kirishima declares, toothy smile evident in his tone of voice despite not being able to see it from behind the concrete. “But what about Shinsou and Bakugou?”

Cementoss doesn’t hesitate for even a second, and Hitoshi’s admittedly rather impressed by the man made of pavement. “They were caught rather close to the fight, so I feel it best that we let them catch their breath for a moment.”

Kirishima agrees easily with their Japanese Literature teacher, before running off and crying out to some stragglers that they need to head to the main gate on his way. All four of the people present exhale in relief.

“That was close.” All Might sighs wearily, shakily beginning to stand and dust himself off. Shinsou and Bakugou alike very nearly shrink back, because while the Pro is exactly the same height in his Hero form, there's something entirely different about a seven foot tall skeleton. The feeling dissipates when the man hunches forward like a wilted sunflower, becoming substantially less freakishly tall-seeming. Neither of them opt to say anything though, hoping that maybe All Might will at least explain something now that the risk of someone eavesdropping is gone, and now that Cementoss is occupied with putting down the wall he made. Instead, the Pro says, “I’ll talk to the two of you after school- I think it’s probably better that you get checked up first.”

Hitoshi wants to argue, but All Might shoos them away before he can think of a counter-point, so he and Katsuki make their way to the gate like everyone else has already proceeded to do. Shinsou notices the slight tension in his friend’s shoulders- no longer hidden by the shaking of laughter- so he opts to ask about it. “Kat-suck-it, is something up?”

Bakugou spares him a side-glance, seeming tired as they walk side-by-side. “I’m gonna warn you now just in case Shitty Hair hasn’t forgotten- he thinks he saw me get stabbed in the foot.”

Shinsou’s eyes grow wide with surprise. “You got stabbed?! Holy shit, Kats-“ He pauses there, remembering why Bakugou might say it that way (so nonchalantly that it almost hurts). “Wait, you said ‘he thinks’. So, it was your right foot, wasn’t it? The, uh… the toe?” Shinsou asks hesitantly, though it’s barely even a question when he already knows the answer. Katsuki nods in confirmation anyway.

“Went right through my boot. Pretty weird that it hit there of all places, but it’s better there than somewhere else, I guess. You, don’t need to say it so weirdly though, Hito-shit- you make it out like it didn’t happen years ago.” But Shinsou hates how monotone his friend’s voice is. Mere moments before, he’d been making jokes and laughing his smug little ass off. It was more than a little depressing to see how quickly they could switch from one to the other.

Hitoshi goes to respond regardless, the barest traces of a dried-up grin lingering on his face in a desperate attempt to salvage the situation. “Still, it wasn’t very knife of the villain to do, was it?” Katsuki gags in shock around the clog in his throat as the comment draws a startled laugh out of him, having not been expecting the purple-haired brainwasher to make such a God-awful pun. Shinsou smiles amusedly at his friends antics- the upturned twitch of his lips only vaguely mischievous- and hopes that maybe the mood for the day can just settle peacefully into the lighter atmosphere that he’s managed to create.

But life doesn’t enjoy anything quite as much as letting people down, and this is made abundantly clear after a few minutes since passing the USJ’s gate and being met with the bustle of police officers, medical personnel, students, and Pro-Heroes.

Some of the students are being checked for injuries- just minor cuts and bruises , as far as they can see, at least- and from the looks of it, a lot of the arrested villains have already been carted off to some place or another for questioning. A few of their peers who have finished being checked over seem to be milling around near the bus, and just as Shinsou and Bakugou are about to head over there, a shout comes from their left.

“Bakugou! Shinsou!” Kirishima exclaims, waving at them frantically as they start towards him. “Are you guys okay?! You were right in the middle of that last bit! I thought Shinsou was gonna lose his face!”

Shinsou laughs uncomfortably, a grimace on his face that could very nearly be interpreted as a smile. “Yeah, I’m good. And, for the record, I’m glad my beautiful face is still very much intact.” Bakugou huffs in amusement, and Kirishima laughs, loud enough that Hitoshi’s maybe a little worried that they’ll draw attention to themselves. “Well, I guess we’ll go wait by the bus. See ya, Kirishima.”

“You need to get checked up first, though!” the redhead insists, just as Bakugou notices a medic approaching them, probably to make sure they’re okay. Dread crawls up his throat when Kirishima’s eyes go wide and snap to his feet. “Wait. Bakugou- I totally forgot about your foot!” he cries, concern evident in the quiver of his bottom lip. “Excuse me, Miss! My friend was stabbed in the foot earlier! Please help!”

The medic goes from walking to full on running towards them, already opening the kit box she's holding. Katsuki, in any other situation, would be surprised (and maybe even a little flattered) that the boy already considers them friends- but, as it is, he can only wonder desperately how the Hell he’s going to get himself out of this one.

The medic reaches them quickly, pulling out bandages and disinfectant faster than any of them can blink, let alone formulate a plan on how to explain this all away.

“Please sit down, sir.” she begins, putting her hand on his shoulder in order to guide him gently to the floor (like the ghost of a touch, mimicking a care that they’d never learn to feel). “Can you take off your boot so I can see the injury? I’d do it, but I don’t want to hurt you.” Katsuki can feel the sweat start to slowly trickle down his neck as his eyes dart to Hitoshi for aid with an explanation. Shinsou shrugs uselessly out of sight of the medic, looking almost as panicked as Bakugou feels. The medic wrongfully interprets Bakugou’s worry as a result of him going into shock. “Sir, can you hear me? There’s no need to worry, it’s gonna be fine. Should I take your boot off for you?” she asks, reaching out to touch it. On instinct, he draws it away quickly, body flinching back as he does so. She looks incredibly concerned, and Katsuki scrambles for a sensical response so she doesn’t call for more assistance.

“Wait, no- Kirishima made a mistake. The knife hit the side of my boot, it didn’t actually hit anything.” She stares sceptically at the entry hole the knife made in his boot, probably already aware that there should most definitely be something there to hit.

“Sir,” she starts again, going forward once more to try and take his boot off.

“I’m serious!” he exclaims roughly, trying to rein himself in to seem more exasperated than distressed. “There’s nothing there to hurt!”

Kirishima looks ineffably worried by the whole ordeal. Shinsou does as well (just for a different reason), and the medic looks to be getting increasingly frustrated with him. “Sir, please, let me just-“ she tries, but Katsuki interrupts her, majorly underestimating the volume of his voice as he blurts out a response in his panic.

“I DON’T HAVE A FUCKING TOE THERE!”

Katsuki shouts it far louder than he intends to, and more than a few people turn their gazes toward the commotion. He resists the urge to shrink away as the medic blinks the shock out of her pupils.

“What do you mean?” she asks, concern dripping from her eyes like candle wax. Bakugou swallows thickly, and forces himself not to stumble over his words as he replies.

“I only have four toes on my right foot. That stupid villain just hit where the last one should be. I’m not hurt, simple as.”

The medic still seems incredulous, but the fierce blaze in his eyes and the substantial lack of blood wins out over her scepticism. Very briefly, she gives Shinsou a once-over for injuries before trudging off to continue doing her job elsewhere. Hitoshi almost feels bad for her, but it’s hard to find any more sympathy beneath the swathes of concern for his best friend crashing over every other thought like a tsunami; looming over his conscience like a mountain he’ll never climb.

Kirishima looks as if he’s about to question the occurrence, but Katsuki can see the pity lining his eyes, and he’d be damned if he just stuck around and let someone feel sorry for him (he’d had enough of it from those doctors, when they’d thought he might lose the whole fucking foot).

“We’re gonna go wait by the bus. See ya, Kirishima.” Shinsou repeats for the second time, almost as if reading Bakugou’s mind. The worry in the redhead’s eyes doesn’t waver, but the boy doesn’t ask to follow either, simply nods and lets them leave. For once in his life, Bakugou is nearly ashamed it turn his back. It feels like he’s running away (though it’s better than being caught again, whether by a question or in an alleyway).

Some of the other students by the bus cast them side-eyes when they arrive, but are seemingly too wrapped up in their own conversations to properly acknowledge Bakugou and Shinsou’s arrival, which is probably for the best. The pair loiter in front of the bus along with their peers for a while, before a smiling man in a beige trench coat and a trilby hat approaches the cluster of students. His eyes are brown and kind, though something about them makes Bakugou feel like they can see underneath his skin- so much that he almost, almost breaks eye-contact. But Bakugou Katsuki is no coward, and he’ll be dead and gone before he ever backs down from a fight willingly.

“Hello,” the man begins, effectively silencing all conversation, “my name is Naomasa Tsukauchi, and I work as a detective for the Musutafu police force. I’d like to ask anyone here who hasn’t already been interviewed a few questions- so if one of you would be so kind as to come with me?”

Bakugou accidentally makes eye-contact again. The Detective’s gaze flits away, but he knows it’s just because the man would feel bad for putting a kid on the spot. He’s underestimating him, and Katsuki will never let that slide.

“I’ll go, if you’re all too chicken-shit.” Bakugou declares, clicking his tongue in exasperation in order to conceal the preceding anxious tapping of his fingers against the fabric of his Hero costume. He’ll swallow his nerves, sure- but he’s not ready to swallow his pride.

Shinsou splutters in shock, wide eyes fixed on his passively neutral expression. “Kats?! You- you’re sure?” he asks, but Katsuki’s already gone- back turned and following the Detective to a more secluded area. (Hitoshi watches him go, wondering if maybe this was how he felt all those years ago- watching idly from a hospital bed as nurses and loved ones alike came and went like the tides.)

Tsukauchi smiles sympathetically at Bakugou when they find a quieter spot by the side of the USJ (with eyes full of pity, pity, pity-), before taking out a notepad and pen from the pocket of his trench coat and clicking the pen once.

“I take it you’re Bakugou Katsuki?” he queries, and Bakugou hates that his first thought is that ‘he works on the police force, he knows-, and only then remembering that he’s also a Yuuei student, and someone’s bound to have mentioned him if some of his peers have already been questioned by the guy. Katsuki nods after realising that he hasn’t done so already, before any more concern can slip into the man’s thoughts and root itself there like the slowly festering disease that it is. The Detective appears to scribble that down. Judging by the speed at which he finishes, he must be a pretty fast writer. “Okay. We know that there were a lot of villains present, but do you think that you can pick out any that looked like they might be the ringleaders for me?”

Bakugou’s thoughts briefly flit back to Hand-Job’s crusty-ass face (it could definitely have done with some moisturiser), Big Bird’s blue, convicted felon uncle, and, of course, Misty McGee. “Yeah. There were two there that looked like they were in charge, and then one that looked pretty fu- er, pretty dodgy, but All Might kicked the sh-aah, Heck out of him.”

“Can you describe them for me?” Tsukauchi requests, already writing something down, as if anything he’d just said actually warranted note-taking.

“Sure, why not? There was one dude who had messy blue hair, red eyes, and weirdly crusty skin. Shigaraki Tomura, I think his name was? Dude had some kind of contact-quirk- judging by how he kept trying to grab people- but I wasn’t in the plaza the whole time, so I didn’t see what it did. He was also covered in hands- must’ve been a fetish or something, the creep. The second guy didn’t really look like anything, ‘cause he was literally just a bunch of purple fog. There was definitely something beneath all that, though, otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to grab him and pin him to the floor with a grenade.”

“I’m sorry, you did what-?” The detective wheezed in a spluttering gasp, but Bakugou doesn’t give him time to process and/or recover from this new information, because he’s cool and edgy. And he’d also really like to get back to school and find out what’s going on with Mr. Ripped-but-also-not-ripped Hannah Montana.

“The third one look fuuuuu- really stupid. Navy skin with a beak, and his brain sticking out like some kind of loser. He had more than one quirk too, I think, which was super weird. Like, Regeneration and Shock Absorption, or something.” Tsukauchi jots it all down at an impressively speedy pace, having abruptly recovered from the knowledge that an angry teenager had tried to throw hands with a villain made of smoke. The Detective closes the notepad with a satisfying snap then, clicking his pen off and stowing the two items away in his coat pocket again, ready and waiting for the next interviewee.

The Detective gives him a softer, less professional look there, boring his eyes into Katsuki’s skull like a drill- just like he had when they’d first made eye-contact. It made him feel vulnerable; like all his skin had been stripped away to reveal the poorly put-together excuse for a person beneath the bravado. It made him want to whitewash his mind, made him feel like his thoughts were laid bare to the man before him.

“Now, just to finish off- you’ve only been in the Hero course for you weeks, and you’ve already been attacked- are you okay?” Tsukauchi stares at him expectantly, gaze no less calm than previously, but it still makes his hair stand on end. Bakugou internally berates himself for acting like a fucking coward, and goes to answer, immediately forgetting that he was supposed to be refraining from swearing.

“Of course I’m fucking fine. I signed up for this, didn’t I? No point in charging into something I can’t handle.” The Detective’s expression changes. Only slightly- barely noticeable- but Katsuki sees it. Katsuki sees it and he hates it, because it makes him feel like a shit liar; like the guy knows (even though that's impossible, because this isn’t the same detective he met four years ago). The conversation ends there, and Tsukauchi leads him back to where Shinsou and the bus are waiting for him. One of his other classmates goes with the Detective next, and Bakugou situates himself next to his purple-haired best friend. Shinsou looks at him with a restless sort of curiosity (Katsuki idly notes the considerably large amount of people present, and thinks that maybe that has something to do with it).

“How’d it go?” Hitoshi asks, reaching out furtively to clasp his friend’s hand in his own. Katsuki squeezes back gently, just to reassure the other boy that he’s okay. They do this, sometimes- holding each other when one of the needs it (or even just wants it). Lately, though, never in public, for fear that potential crushes (read: Kirishima) might look at them and assume that they’re dating. Katsuki thinks he should probably answer the question now.

“It went alright, I guess. The guy asked me a few questions, and I answered ‘em. He asked if I was okay at the end, though, and looked a little weird when I said I’m fine. Nothing really dodgy about the guy- I just thought his eyes were a bit… much.” Shinsou’s eyes dawn with understanding, and he gives a smile in return that’s almost bittersweet. Bakugou, before Shinsou begins speaking, notices Kaminari’s brief glance at their interlocked hands. But the discount Pikachu doesn’t say anything, so neither does he.

“At least it’s over now with, though. And, besides that,” Shinsou pauses, leaning closer to him and murmuring from the corner of his mouth, “I’m sure you’re more interested in what Hannah Might-ana’ll have to say for himself than some creepy detective.” That was a pretty good point, and it was also true. Katsuki doesn’t think to voice that though, however- simply grins and nods while Hitoshi’s smile becomes something a little less bitter and a little more sweet at the sight.

The last student to be checked over and interviewed reaches the bus, and so they're all herded into it at last; taking their seats and heading back to school to the background white-noise of the engine’s deep rumble. Silence permeates the air- so thick it’s an almost physical sensation- and Katsuki finds that he rather dislikes it. Shinsou sits by his side (obviously), looking similarly uncomfortable with the atmosphere and yet equally as unwilling to put an end to it. Awkward situations have never been Hitoshi’s strong suit. This, of course, means that Kaminari considers it the perfect opportunity to open his mouth and break the silence, and Bakugou would have been grateful if not for the question being directed at him.

“Yo, Bakugou, what was that yelling about earlier? The whole, uh… toe thing?” The question’s innocent enough, but it still leaves a sour taste in Bakugou’s mouth as he thinks back to the explanation he gave to the medic. He feels Kirishima shift uneasily on his other side, most likely a strained expression mimicking Shinsou and Bakugou’s own.

“Kirishima saw me get stabbed in the foot while we were in the Collapse Zone, but it didn’t hit anything ‘cause I only have four fucking toes on my right foot.” he replies gruffly, opting to focus his gaze on Kaminari rather than the other students on the bus who are pretending not to listen, but are very obviously listening. Some of the tension in his shoulders dissipates when Hitoshi gives him a reassuring elbow-nudge to the arm, and Kirishima’s hand ghosts over his in an apparent yet perceivably strange desire to provide comfort. Kaminari’s eyes are wide when Bakugou flits his gaze back after remembering what he was supposed to be focusing on.

“Really? That’s pretty weird, dude- but why?” That’s kind of a broad question that the electric blond’s posed to him, so Bakugou decides to ask for clarification, if only to buy himself a few extra seconds.

“What d’you mean ‘why’?” Katsuki demands, gaze scrutinising in order to compensate for the primal panic in his head.

“I mean why do you only have four toes? Were you born with it or something?” Bakugou, in lieu of an actual, definitive answer, grunts noncommittally, and the conversation drops like a fruit fly. Bakugou always likes the sit-on-the-fence response that grunting poses itself as- because he hates lying, but he dreads to imagine the reaction if he told the truth. It’s his go-to response for awkward questions, and it isn’t looking like that’s going to change any time soon.

The remainder of the ride is spent in thoughtful and tentative silence, and five or ten minutes later, they arrive back at school. Shinsou and Bakugou, having spent the ride doing their utmost to repress the last few hours (apart from when he body-slammed Kurogiri, because that was badass), leap off their seats and bound out the doors of the bus. Outside, they’re met with the faces of some of their teacher. The ones who were present at the USJ, that is. Bakugou immediately chooses to demand “Where’s All Might?”

Present Mic’s signature grin falters slightly, and he looks as if he’s about to respond, but Cementoss beats him to it. “You wanted to talk to him about what you saw, yes? Don’t worry, I’ll lead the two of you to him.” Some of the Pros appear to be a little bewildered by the implications of the Cement Hero’s words, but it’s far too late to ask, because he’s already guiding them through the doors of the school and down the winding corridors. Left there, left again, up a flight of stairs and to the right, they find the sign identifying the room beyond the door as Recovery Girl’s office. Cementoss bids them farewell and takes his leave, just as Bakugou takes a breath and knocks on the door. The weary call of ‘come in’ gives them confidence enough to push the entrance open slowly- to be met with the frail, gaunt skeleton of a man that heralds the title of Symbol of Peace. The Pro coughs a few flecks of blood onto the hand he draws to his mouth upon their arrival, and smiles dully at their expectant gazes.

“I assume you’re here for an explanation?” All Might huffs, an amused yet exasperated expression adorning his features. The look rather suits him (in a weird way), but neither of them say so, instead choosing to continue staring at him. “I suppose that it’s best that I give you one, then.” He clears his throat, and takes a deep breath in and out before beginning.

“Well, I explained One for All to you on your first day at school, if I recall correctly. It takes a great amount of strength to draw the power of so many Heroes from a single vessel, meaning the level I- or any wielder, really- can bear is only a fraction of its potential, and its strength only grows as it passes down. About four years ago now, I think, I fought a great and terrible battle against the most powerful villain of the time. I managed to defeat him, but he caused irreparable damage to my side. Half of my respiratory organs were destroyed, and my stomach had to be completely removed. I became emaciated from multiple surgeries and, prior to the USJ, I could only hold my Hero form for roughly three hours. Though, I fear the fight with the Noumu has weakened me even further.”

The two boys stand there, flabbergasted by the new information. Their open mouths could catch flies, and this is proven when one heads straight into Shinsou’s, and he startles, gagging horrendously. All Might winces in sympathy from the bed he’s in as Bakugou slaps him on the back. He stops choking eventually, and shoots Katsuki a grateful look. Katsuki, after patting Shinsou on the shoulder in acknowledgement, turns to look at All Might, an unreadable expression on his face.

“Okay, you gonna tell us who this villain is, or?” Bakugou asks, raising an eyebrow in bemusement. There’s a moment of stunned silence as All Might processes the blond’s indifference.

“W-well, he’s most likely dead now, so it hardly matters-“ Shinsou joins in with the eyebrow-raising there, so All Might sighs and complies with the unspoken request. “Very well. His name was… All for One.

All Might’s expecting pale faces and wide eyes. It’d be fitting if the earth even quaked at the mere mention of his name, or if lightning crackled threateningly in the distance. But all he gets is blank stares, and an awkward cough from the purple-haired boy.

“Right.” Bakugou says abruptly, effectively breaking the building silence. “Yep. All for One. Never heard of him.”

All Might let out a shaky exhale (he’s sure doing that a lot, isn’t he?), before looking at them with solemn blue eyes. “He’s something of a myth now. An urban legend that not even many Heroes or villains believe in. But he was horrific, and it’s villains like him that are the reason that the world needs One for All; the reason All for One needs a successor.” The Pro-Hero’s voice begins to take on a more pleading tone, volume rising with emotion as he stares meaningfully into Bakugou eyes. “I can think of no better successor than you, my boy. I fear my time is running out, and the world needs you more than it ever has.”

But Katsuki stares and stares, thinking quietly to himself in contrast to the loudness of the thoughts themselves.

It seems cold to refuse- heartless, even- but he made his mind up two weeks ago. Knew even before then what shape he would carve his life into.

“What quirk did you have before One for All?” is what he asks instead. All Might blinks away the tears that were steadily forming in his eyes and considers the question.

“I didn’t.” the Hero says simply. “I was quirkless, just like you. My master picked me off the street when I was just a boy. She told me she admired my spirit, and passed her power- her legacy- down to me.”

Katsuki’s blank face contorts into a furious scowl at the words, but he doesn’t unleash his fury just yet. “Did you want to be a Hero? Even before you had a quirk?”

All Might smiles, gaze soft in his memories and unseeing of the boy’s frustration. “Yes. I was determined to be the Symbol of Peace the world needed. Even before my master found me, I was desperate to become a Hero.”

The force of Bakugou’s glare finally registers in All Might’s mind, breaking passed childhood fondness into the reality that is Katsuki’s anger. “You were quirkless?” Bakugou asks, and All Might gives a firm nod in return. “Okay, okay. Cool. Cool. Very cool. That’s very cool, All Might. Thank you, Kanye, very cool. Incredibly cool, even.”

All Might looks to Shinsou in confusion, who nods in Bakugou’s direction and helpfully translates. “That means he really, really wants to swear- or, y’know, throw hands with you- but he recognises that you’re a figure of authority and doesn’t want to tarnish his glisteningly clean record.” All Might looks to Bakugou again, who nods tensely in confirmation, clenched fists shaking at his sides.

“Young Bakugou?” All Might calls questioningly, coaxing a reply out of the blond.

“Yeahhh. Y’know, if you were quirkless before One for All- and especially if you still wanted to be a Hero before One for All- I’d generally expect you to have believed I could make it as a Pro-Hero without a quirk from the beginning. But nooo, you told me it was ‘unrealistic’. You told me that I should try for being a police officer, as if I’d ever settle for anything less than number one.” Katsuki pauses for a second there, gathering his emotions in a breath and releasing the shaking tension in his hands.

“And if inheriting your quirk’ll turn me into as big a hypocrite as you- well, I’d much prefer to become the number one with Hito-shit on my own terms, thank you very much.”

All Might stares, but says nothing, so Hitoshi stretches out his arms and claps his hands together purposefully. “Right then! I think we can all agree that Recovery Girl will maul us to death if we shorten your life-span via stress anymore than we already have, so we should probably go to class and meet with the rest, yeah?” All Might apparently still hasn’t regained his ability to speak, so Hitoshi takes the lack of reaction as confirmation. “Cool, good talk. We’ll see you in Hero Class, then!”

Hitoshi puts his hand on Bakugou’s shoulder and spins his friend around before marching them both out of the entrance. Though, just before he closes the door, Shinsou turns his head back to face the skeletal husk of a Hero and speaks. “You’re a good guy, All Might. A good guy, and a good Hero. But we’ve made up our minds: we’re going to be the Symbol of Peace together. We’re gonna prove that you can make it big even if you have to claw your way up from rock-bottom to do it. There’s a phrase in Latin- manemus invicti, I think? And it means we’ve made it this Goddamn far all on our own, and no one's managed to keep us down no matter how hard they might've tried. Trust me when I say you're never gonna be the one who changes that.”

They walk away, and All Might’s left to watch hopelessly after what could’ve been the best successor for One for All the world could have asked for as the door shuts with a soft click.

From beyond the door, the pair of Hero-course students walk in thoughtful silence. It feels like they’re the cool and edgy protagonists in a movie, but Bakugou looks like he has something on his mind, and Shinsou is trying to decide whether or not to ask about it until the blond stops in his tracks in the middle of the hallway.

“What’s up, Kat-suck-it?” Shinsou asks, tilting his head to peer at his friend.

Bakugou looks at him- eyes wide and glazed over with cold realisation. “Hito-shit. You do realise you could’ve just brainwashed Handsy… right?”

The world is silent, and for a moment, Katsuki thinks that maybe Shinsou won’t say anything at all. But then he can see it building behind his friend’s eyes- like the pulling of the tide before a tsunami- and he barely has the time to cover his ears before-

“FUCK!”

Somewhere outside, a flock of birds flee to the skies in terror.

Notes:

(manemus invicti: 'We remain unvanquished')

It's DONE.
I've actually been thinking of renaming this fic 'Let Them Stare', because it's less of a mouthful- so tell me what you think about that!!!
I've not got much time, so sorry that the notes are a bit rushed- but HOPEFULLY I'll have the next one out on time!!!
Again, SUPER sorry about that, though there's no taking it back now.
EITHER WAY, hopefully you'll all be here for the next chapter- so thanks for reading, and keep doing what you're doing!! :D

(Okay, okay, okay- the excessive amount of italics didn't show up. So I have to actually DO THAT. That's annoying. Didn't have time to check it, either, so I'll be correcting mistakes as I find them. Sorry!)

Chapter 11: Bakugou and Shinsou Say: “Fuck Gender Roles & Healthy Sleeping Habits!”

Summary:

They’ve got tomorrow off school- so what do they do? Work through past trauma? Talk about their feelings and find healthy coping mechanisms?

No. They go to the arcade, wear high-heels, and eat shredded cheese at 3am.

Notes:

I was listening to a playlist and Thrift Shop came on, and that was the inspiration for most of this chapter. I’m so, so sorry about what has happened as a result.
But, hey! It’s actually out on time for once, so it's like an early gift! And it’s 12,800 words, so strap yourselves in! Hope you enjoy!
Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah! Have an amazing winter regardless of what you celebrate!

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

After Shinsou’s finally recovered from his sudden outburst, they turn around, and realise they’re right next to their classroom- which means that everyone probably heard their conversation (and his reaction to it) loud and clear. They walk through the door, the creaking of the hinges accompanied only by the silence of the people beyond the entrance. Present Mic’s grin- slightly frayed at the edges, but nonetheless present- is what greets them on the other side, along with the bewildered faces of their peers. Shinsou flushes in embarrassment, and Bakugou snickers before slapping his friend on the back hard enough to push him into the room.

“Hey there, listeners! Good to see you!” the Voice Hero exclaims cheerily, apparently choosing to ignore the fact that he’d just heard the purple-haired boy scream at the top of his lungs mere seconds before. “We were just waiting for you both! Come and take a seat!”

They both nod and do as he says, and the Pro beams at them before starting up again. “Alright! Is everyone here?! Lemme here ya say ‘YEAH’!” Mic is met with nothing but silence, but his smile doesn’t waver in the face of their collective indifference. “We’ll work on that! Anyway! ‘Cause of this super uncool villain attack, the whole school’s having tomorrow off! Which means that you can all take a breather and just relax for a day! Sounds cool, right?!” Once again, nothing but an awkward quiet follows. “Right! Well then, since you’ve all been accounted for, you can head on home! Enjoy your day off! Oh- and make sure to change outta your costumes, you two!”

Everyone files out at their own pace as the pair of boys look down at themselves and realise that they are, in fact, wearing their Hero costumes, and have been for the past five or so hours. They grab the bags they left at their desks before leaving for the USJ this morning, slinging them over their shoulders and heading off to the changing rooms. It’s a quick change from their costumes to their Yuuei uniforms from there, and soon enough they're setting off towards the school gates- which have been replaced by new ones since the destruction of the gate previous. Walking through the other side of the entrance to the school and thereby leaving campus, Hitoshi breathes a sigh of relief.

“Oh, thank fuck that’s finally over. This has probably been the most embarrassing day of my life.” Katsuki scoffs in retort, smirking slightly.

“Hito-shit, you’ve done plenty of shit more embarrassing than screaming.” Shinsou looks at him, willing him to comprehend the true extent of the mortification he’s experienced today. But the blond doesn’t understand shit, so Hitoshi’s forced to explain- voice strained with frustration.

“Kat-suck-it, I called the number one Hero a soggy French fry.” he stresses, and Katsuki stops walking, eyes wide.

“Holy shit, you did?!” Shinsou ducks his head and mumbles his confirmation, and Bakugou breaks out into hysterical laughter. He doubles over, clutching his sides and wheezing as his face turns beet red from the difficulty he’s having trying to breathe. Shinsou really doesn’t think it’s nearly as funny as Bakugou’s making it out to be, but he lets the blond laugh anyway, because he likes seeing his friend smile.

Idle chatter wafts through the air as they stroll leisurely in the general direction of the Bakugou household. After a while, Shinsou opts to ask, “What are we even gonna do when we get to your house, anyway? Watch a movie or something? Wait- we are going to your place, right?”

Bakugou nods in affirmation before elaborating. “Yeah, and that was pretty much all I had planned. I mean, we could play Mario Kart after or something, if you wanted- but I don’t think I can be assed to do anything other than watch a movie and play video games right now.” Hitoshi agrees easily, before Katsuki tacks on as an afterthought, “Although, you should probably call your parents- just so they know you're alive.”

Shinsou slaps himself lightly on the forehead, simultaneously pulling out his phone from his trouser pocket. “Oh shit, you're right. I completely forgot.” He scrolls through his contacts as Bakugou pulls out his phone and calls Mitsuki. He skims through until he finds his mother’s and puts the phone to his ear as the dial tone rings with a buzz. The other side of the line picks up, and his mother’s voice echoes through from the receiving end.

Toshi! Oh my God, are you okay?! I just saw the news! I can’t believe those bastards would attack a bunch of kids. I swear, if they hadn’t been arrested already, I’d go over there and beat their asses myself!” she exclaims over the phone, with all the fury of a mother whose kids have been fucked with. Shinsou laughs.

“Mom, we’re fine. We even got to beat some villain ass! I mean- they were just the lackeys, but that’s not the point. Kat-suck-it managed to pin one of the real bad guys with a grenade!”

His mother gasps, but then sighs in exasperation shortly after. “You know, I should probably have a talk with you both about rushing into things head-first, but I don’t even know why I’m surprised anymore. Of course he did. I take it you're not calling me to talk about that, though?”

Shinsou nods before realising that she can’t actually see him from over the phone. “Yeah. I kinda wanna have a sleepover at Kats’ tonight? But I’d feel bad for ditching the house and not seeing you straight after a villain attack.”

Even from over the phone, Hitoshi can sense her self-satisfied smile. “Already sorted! I figured that, so I called Mitsuki ahead of time- and now your father and I are staying over the Bakugous’ too! We’re all gonna be having a sleepover! The whole family!” Shinsou’s heart buzzed with warmth when he processed that his mother was implying that the Bakugous were a part of their family as well. Although, to be fair, they pretty much were at this point- they’d certainly been around long enough.

“That’s good to hear.” Shinsou replies, smiling softly. “I’m gonna hang up now, though. Bye mom.”

“Bye, Toshi! Love you!” she calls over the phone, a second or two before he hangs up and stows the device back in his pocket. Bakugou looks to him curiously, an unspoken request for a relaying of the conversation. Hitoshi smiles a little wider.

“My mom’s cool with it.” he explains. “Apparently, she knew this would happen, so she called your mom ahead of time. They talked, and now my parents are staying over yours tonight too!” Katsuki nods in understanding, saying his mother told him the same thing. They continue walking, foregoing the train simply because the attack has most likely been plastered all over every news outlet in Japan by now, so they’d only end up drawing attention to themselves needlessly by taking public transport. It’s quiet as they walk- with nothing barring the occasional chittering bird or tussling breeze- but it’s nicer that way. More peaceful. A joke or wandering comment breaks the spell of calm every now and again, but that’s pretty much inevitable, so it’s fine.

It takes considerably longer than it would have by train, but they arrive at the Bakugou household eventually. Mitsuki and Masaru are waiting by the door for them when they get there, making pleasant conversation with Hitoshi’s own mother and father.

“Ah, there they are!” Hitoshi’s father exclaims, face breaking out into a freckled smile. “My son and my pseudo-son! I’m glad you’re both okay- I’ve been told you handled yourselves just fine in that attack!” Shinsou smirks right back at his dad (the man winks- revealing that he is, in fact, cool with them beating the shit out of villains. What an absolute unit). He goes to reply, but they're all hustled inside, so he doesn’t gets the chance to formulate one.

The adults immediately gravitate towards the kitchen, most likely planning on loitering there and drinking diet lemonade with orange juice(because apparently that’s an inherently parent-like thing to do? Don’t know anymore). Before they can completely lose themselves in the world of Daytime TV Gossip and Cultured Jokes, however, Shinsou calls out to them after an encouraging nudge from Bakugou.

“We should all watch a movie later!” he calls out, and the parents cry out their agreement before becoming fully submerged by the kitchen, so he and Bakugou vacate to the living room to play Mario Kart.

“I can’t believe you still have a Wii.” Hitoshi snickers, while Bakugou goes around the back of the television to plug said console in. The blond scoffs.

“You know, I’m honestly more surprised that it still works. We’ve had the fucking thing for years.” He pauses for a second, thoughtful. “Don’t really wanna get rid of it, though. It’s seen too much shit for that.”

Shinsou hums in reply as he recalls treasured memories of earlier days. “Ah yes, the Great Wii Sports Resort Battle. Could use a catchier name- but an intense battle nonetheless. What even happened to that TV after you broke it, anyway?”

Katsuki takes a moment to think before standing from where he’d been crouched behind the television, traipsing over to flop onto the sofa with a Wii remote strapped (safely) to his hand. “Pretty sure we had to just throw it away. The whole thing was completely decimated. I think it’s something of a miracle that the remote didn’t just fly through the whole thing and leave a dent in the wall.”

Shinsou laughs softly, a ghost of a smile on his face as he remembers the incident. “Let’s just… never try Wii bowling again.”

Bakugou nods sagely, with the wise old eyes of someone who used to think that they were too cool for the Wii remote strap. “Agreed.” he says firmly, before handing Shinsou the other remote, switching his own on as he does so. They go through the motions of that awkward few minutes where neither of them can see their cursor on their screen, resorting to flailing their arms around wildly in the direction of the sensor to find them. It works eventually, and after they’ve confirmed whose is whose, Katsuki selects the icon for Mario Kart Wii, and they sit back as they wait for it to load.

Once it does so, they start looking through the control options. They end up going for vs. races, and preceding a moment of deliberation, decide that they’ll do team races on the same side after a few rounds of that. The character selection screen pops up, and because Bakugou’s set as player one, he gets to choose first. He looks over a few character options, gaze scrutinising, before eventually settling for Waluigi- just like he always does. As soon as he’s done with that, it’s Shinsou’s turn, and his cursor immediately flies over to select Toad, foregoing any preamble.

“Why do you like Toad so much, anyway?” Bakugou asks as he flicks through the options for his Kart.

“The Bullet Bike.” Shinsou answers without any forethought, as if he considers the question himself often, scrolling through the selection screen and finding said bike as though he’s done it a thousand times before (he has). “And because he’s literally… just a mushroom. That’s it. Just a mushroom with sass. What a guy.” Katsuki rolls his eyes, but there’s still a fond smile on his face, so it hardly matters.

“Why do you always pick Waluigi, then?” Shinsou asks, firing the question right back at the boy. Katsuki thinks quietly for a minute before responding.

“Just for the fucking meme.” He replies, and Shinsou nods in understanding. He can respect that, at least. Though, if he’s being honest- if he’d never gotten to know the blond- he’d have definitely pinned him for a Bowser main. Shinsou doesn’t think to mention this, however, and instead they go about picking a race track to beat the other at.

“Wario’s Gold Mine.” Bakugou says, just as Shinsou states that Mushroom Gorge is the obvious option. “Seriously?” Bakugou asks incredulously. “We play that track literally every time, and I always beat you on it.”

“It’s my favourite track, and I’m feeling it this time. Today’s the day.” Hitoshi declares, eyes set on the screen intently. “Besides- if it’s an easy win- why are you complaining? You scared you’re gonna lose, Kat-suck-it?”

“Absolutely not.” Katsuki says instantaneously. “You’re on. Mushroom Gorge, and then Wario’s Gold Mine.” Shinsou flips him a thumbs-up in agreement, and the deal is sealed. Katsuki selects the track, and they place their fingers gently over the correct positions on the Wii remotes.

“Red light…” Shinsou mutters, not daring to blink lest he miss it. “Yellow light…. GREEN LIGHT!” he shouts, and then they're off.

Their tongues are stuck out in concentration in perfect symmetry with one another as they fiddle with the buttons on the remotes and twist their bodies in time with the turns (it’s a good thing they don’t twist too far and fall into the other. Accidentally head-butting each other once is more than enough. Shinsou’s convinced there's still a tiny dent in his forehead). When they enter the cavern of mushrooms that bounce like trampolines during the final lap, Katsuki- as per the usual- is first. However, in a well-timed stroke of misfortune, his finger twitches and hits the ‘jump’ button a little too early, and he doesn’t make it to the next mushroom; instead falling into the bottomless depths of the cavern.

“Fuck!” Bakugou curses as he’s towed back up, just as Shinsou exits the cavern, cackling wickedly with glee. Shinsou- currently in sixth- runs through a cube, and activates the Star Perk he receives. Bakugou screeches in frustration as Hitoshi rams his way to first place and across the finish line just as Bakugou claws his way back to fourth. Shinsou looks far too pleased with himself.

“Yes!” the purple-haired boy cries, pumping a victorious fist in the air. “Finally! Toad has reclaimed his domain at last!” Bakugou grits his teeth, before giving his friend a hard look.

“Wait- Toad’s map is Toad’s Factory, though.” And before Shinsou can interject with something about mushrooms and kinship (which he would have- Katsuki’s sure they’ve had this conversation before), he speaks again. “Besides, you’ve not won yet. We’ve still got Wario’s Gold Mine- my favourite, because I’m the best at it.”

Shinsou grins smugly. “Well, you said the same thing about Mushroom Gorge, and how did that turn out? We’ll see how this goes, Kat-suck-it.” Bakugou gives him a long look, then proceeding to click on the icon for the track, and wait for the green light. The telling beep of the ‘go’ sign sounds, and Bakugou shoots off as Shinsou’s Kart backfires from starting up the engine too early, much to the brainwasher’s chagrin. As soon as Shinsou’s up and going, they both speed through the race (after all, they’re both pretty good at Mario Kart- it’s only Mushroom Gorge that Hitoshi’s horrifically bad at, for some reason).

Bakugou, who was fifth directly behind Hitoshi, drove through a cube, and threw the red shell he received- allowing it to head straight for his best friend’s chosen character. Obviously, it hits the boy, sending Toad careening off the side of the wooden path and into the abyss. Bakugou flies passed into the second lap, and Shinsou doesn’t manage to recover his spot in time to beat the blond in the third.

“Oh, come on,” Shinsou groans melodramatically, flopping into the back of the sofa and sinking into the cushions, “I’m supposed to be alright at that one!”

Bakugou smirks, mirroring Hitoshi’s previous expression. “Oh, Hito-shit, where’s all that confidence now?”

Shinsou shoves him sideways, and Bakugou laughs. “We’re not done yet, Kat-suck-it. This one’s the tie-breaker.”

Bakugou spares him a sideways glance. “…Rainbow Road?”

Shinsou nods seriously. “Rainbow Road.”

To tell the truth, they’re both absolutely appalling at it, seeing as neither of them have the patience for it. Although, if both of them end up losing the race, they sometimes just go with whoever was the ‘least worst’, which is whichever of them got eleventh place instead of the other’s twelfth (or they just give up and pick Grumble Volcano- or Coconut Mall, if they’re feeling particularly worked up). Regardless of this, Bakugou selects the infamous track, and they ready themselves to race, faces hard-set in determination. The countdown echoes across the screen, and as soon as the claxon sounds with a blare, Bakugou shoots forward and goes straight off the side.

Shinsou laughs cruelly, handling his controller much more carefully than normal, and taking the corner much more slowly and gently than the erratic drifting he usually favours. Bakugou gets lifted back in as Shinsou drives up one of the multi-coloured slopes. His head start appears to be merely a brief taste of victory, however, as one of the computer-generated racers bumps into him with the Star Perk activated and sends him flying off of the track. Bakugou laughs just as Shinsou had before, and so the race continues.

The beginning really set the tone for the remainder of the race, and this is evidenced by the majority of the time being spent air-lifted back in bounds after careening off the side. Hitoshi could have screamed in frustration, but he was too busy battling it out for eleventh place with Katsuki. In a stroke of extraordinary luck, Shinsou crashes through a cube, and the icon lands on Bullet Bill. Noticing the perk on his friend’s side of the screen, Katsuki groans in annoyance as Shinsou activates said perk and rockets through to a whopping ninth place. In the end, Bakugou can’t catch up to the brainwasher, and Shinsou crosses the finish line- nowhere near first and yet feeling like that’s exactly where he is; like he’s won the whole damn Special Cup. In all honesty, it’s pretty much as close as they’re ever going to get- it’s basically their equivalent of it.

“YES!” Hitoshi shouts, jumping from his seat with his arms raised in the air in triumph. “I WIN!

Katsuki flops back into the sofa cushions, an irritated huff escaping passed his lips- though its intended effect is dampened by the wide grin on his face. “Y’know, I don’t think ninth place really counts as winning, per se-“ Shinsou interjects before Katsuki can continue, voice loud to cut off Bakugou’s own.

That is irrelevant, because it’s still closer to first than either of us have ever gotten on Rainbow Road!”

“It’s all the fucking turns.” Bakugou grumbles underneath his breath, but Shinsou can tell by the smile in the boy’s eyes that he’s not actually hung up about it. However, instead of confirming this, Shinsou pauses in his train of thought in order to listen to Bakugou speak again “So, Team Races now? Or has the taste of your pseudo-victory inflated your head to the point of bursting?” Shinsou shoves him playfully, but he picks up the controller again and gestures for Katsuki to do the same. The boy does so smiling, and together they go through the whole selection process once more- this time opting to be on the same team.

Together, they play a total of three races- just as they had against each other, yet again as the wonder duo of Toad and Waluigi. They decimate the computer-generated competition, and high-five triumphantly when they receive the status of winning team- and yeah, there were other computer-generated racers on their team, but neither of them cares- because, in their minds, they completely carried the team (As always, they’re unstoppable together). Satisfied with the landslide victory of an outcome, they settle back into the sofa to relax for a moment or so. This moment lasts for roughly two minutes, before they give each other a look and simultaneously agree to watch that movie with their parents now.

“Mom?” Bakugou calls to Mitsuki from the kitchen. “Should we watch the movie now, or…?” Mitsuki opts to walk to the doorway of the kitchen in order to look at her son(s) as they talk. She glances briefly at the watch on her wrist.

“I mean, it’s pretty much time to eat, so it depends. Do you wanna wait ‘til the takeout’s arrived, or what?” she replies, answering his question with another question. Katsuki considers his options and shares a thoughtful look with Hitoshi.

“Didn’t know we were getting takeaway, but sure- it’d probably best to wait ‘til everyone’s ready, I guess.” Mitsuki nods in agreement, so they travel to the kitchen, exchanging brief greetings with the three other parents and then proceeding to awkwardly loiter on the spot to wait for their food to arrive. Shinsou’s mother suggests that they get their pyjamas on before the movie, since they're still wearing their uniforms. They agree, briefly venturing up the stairs into Katsuki’s room to change into their fruit-themed sleep-wear (Katsuki’s says ‘lemon boy’ in white on black text, whereas Shinsou’s says ‘lime guy’. The trousers, of course, are yellow and green respectively, dotted with said fruits). They trudge back down the stairs, and continue loitering with their parents.

Five (or maybe ten) minutes later, the doorbell chimes merrily in recognition of a person waiting outside the door, so Masaru goes to answer it- returning with three boxes of takeaway a few seconds later. Everyone makes their way back to the living room, all six of them attempting to squeeze onto the three-person sofa, and it’s a little uncomfortable but they hardly care; simply choosing to break into the takeout boxes to find the food they want. Their parents remembered both of their favourites, apparently, and so the two of them thank the adults as Shinsou reaches for the remote, spring roll stuffed half-heartedly into his mouth.

“Wha’ movie d’you wanna watch?” he asks the rest of the people present, voice muffled as he attempts to chew and swallow while still talking. A few of them roll their eyes fondly before Bakugou replies.

“Hito-shit, you want to watch Megamind, don’t you?” Katsuki asks bluntly, though it’s barely even a question when he knows the answer so well.

“It’s a classic!” Shinsou argues defensively, “It’s cinematic poetry at its finest, Kat-suck-it!”

Bakugou sights, smiling. “Yeah, I gathered that around about the fifth time you made us watch it. Let’s watch Monty Python and the Holy Grail.” Katsuki counters, looking eager.

“Y’know, Katsuki’s right!” Shinsou’s father agrees, nodding. “You should really broaden your cinematic horizons. I say we watch Monty Python as well.”

Katsuki smirks triumphantly as the three adults nod in agreement, slurping the noodle he’d only just noticed hanging from the corner of his mouth (‘Holy shit’ Hitoshi thinks, ‘he’s such a dweeb’). Shinsou pouts as he hands over the remote to let Bakugou find the movie on Netflix. The blond clicks play, and the shit-show begins.

When it reaches the scene with the Black Knight, Shinsou- who has only been watching in silence up until this point- hums in contemplation. “You know… he kinda reminds me of someone. Hmm, what do you think, Kat-suck-it?” Bakugou rolls his eyes (for what must be the fifth? Sixth time today?). He almost responds, too, but he’s cut off by the movie.

“Look, you stupid bastard, you’ve got no arms left.”

“Just a flesh wound.” Says the Black Knight who, as previously stated, has no arms. Bakugou pauses in consideration, and huffs resignation.

“You know what? Fine, denial isn’t healthy. I see your point- the guy’s a mood.” Hitoshi’s nods, glad that his friend’s come to terms with his lethal stubbornness. And though Bakugou’s special breed of persistence can be a little… troublesome at time, his desire to exist- to live and live well, simply out of spite for his critics- there’s something inspiring about it (in amidst the recklessness, of course). He doesn’t voice any of this, though, he just breathes out a laugh, and they continue watching in silence.

By the time the end of the movie has rolled around, the takeout boxes have long since been emptied, and both of their eyes are half-shut as they fight sleep. Their parents notice this, and Masaru smiles at the sight, gaze soft and warm and every bit the proud father he’s always been.

“Go on, you two.” he says, reaching over to pat them on the head, even though they’re both almost as tall as him by now. “I think it’s time you both got some rest. You’ve had one heck of a day, and you’ve got a whole new day ahead of you- might as well sleep now and be awake enough to enjoy it.” He makes a good point, so neither of them argue, only grunt their affirmation tiredly, and trudge towards the stairs to Bakugou’s bedroom. Before they can begin ascending the steps, however, Shinsou’s mother calls out to them.

“Hey, hey- before we all split for the night- group hug?” Shinsou’s father agrees eagerly, jumping up and taking his wife’s hand tenderly into his own (ew). Masaru and Mitsuki arise also, reaching the two boys at the base of the stairs.

Bakugou and Shinsou spare each other a glance- and they may be moody teenagers, but they’re just kids, and they’ve had a rough as Hell day- so they turn to face their parents (their family- one and the same), and stretch their arms out wide.

They’re encompassed on all sides, and if he’d been anywhere else; with anyone else, and he didn’t feel so comfortably warm, Katsuki might have panicked. As it is, the two of them lean into the hug, taking each other’s hands in their own and squeezing gently while the warmth of family fills them toe to tip. Katsuki’s vision is obscured slightly by the moisture in his eyes (the roof must be leaking or something), but he hardly notices as he looks to his right and admires the awed, blissful smile that Hitoshi’s sending his way. He’s looking at Bakugou like the blond hung the stars in his eyes- and he would, if that’s what his friend wanted- even if he might never admit it out loud. They’d do it together, like they have everything else.

They’re released after the embrace stretches on for a little too long to be considered socially acceptable- though, honestly, none of them mind in the slightest. All six of them exchange calls of ‘goodnight’ once again, before Hitoshi and Katsuki make the trek up the stairs, hands still intertwined. Even after the hug was done, they hadn’t let go of the other’s hand. In the end, they simply don’t let go at all. Side by side, they brush their teeth, throw far more blankets and cushions than really necessary onto Bakugou’s bed, and climb under the sheets. They may not fall asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillow, but they talk utter nonsense to each other in soft whispers until they finally drift off into slumber.

As they sleep, they subconsciously pull each other closer with their intertwined hands, and so they both lie- with legs tangled together, arms slung over the other’s waist, and foreheads pressed against one another- in a moment tenderness they’ll never remember.

They awaken to the blaring of an alarm that Bakugou had completely forgotten to switch off, and their foreheads- which had been in such close proximity- collide in a ferocious head-butt that ends in an undignified shriek from Shinsou. Bakugou clambers over his friend in an effort to turn the damn thing off, so Shinsou’s forced to flop back into the mattress from the weight of the blond leaning over his stomach. This, of course, sends said blond boy tumbling forward, seeing as he’d been foolish enough to decide leaning his weight on his friend in an effort to reach the alarm was a good idea. Bakugou lands on the floor with a crash, taking the blankets with him, and subsequently forcing Hitoshi- who’s half wrapped up like a burrito in the quilt- to fly forward onto the ground with him.

Bakugou feels a vague sense of déjà vu as he holds his hand to his head and attempts to sit himself up, disorientated as the alarm continues with its horrendous trill. Maybe this isn’t the first time he’s ended up on the floor recently?

Regardless, Shinsou grapples with the blankets in much the same way as Bakugou had before- which is to say without much success. If anything, it looks as if the brainwasher’s becoming even more hopelessly ensnared underneath the mountain of blankets than before. Eventually, however, Katsuki shows him mercy, and lifts up a few of the extra blankets in order to aid his friend, who shoots him a grateful look.

“Thanks.” Shinsou mutters, voice groggy and laden with tiredness. Bakugou nods in lieu of a response, and makes to stand up without twisting himself up in blankets all over again. He succeeds after a minute or so of being very careful where he puts his feet, before taking Shinsou by the hand and hoisting him up also. From there, Bakugou drags Shinsou out of his room by the hand- foregoing any of the usual fruitless attempts to make themselves appear less unkempt in favour of finding food as soon as possible. Shinsou just goes along with it- less for the food, more for the coffee- though he’s still craving Masaru’s pancakes. Who can blame him?

They find their parents already bustling about the kitchen, Masaru fussing over one of the pans, pouring a yellowish mixture onto it that Shinsou identifies as the pancakes he so desired. Hitoshi’s father chirps a morning greeting in the general direction of the two boys, and receives only twin dishevelled grunts in return. Having been expecting this, the man moves onto filling up a glass of orange juice for himself- he’s had years to deal with Katsuki and Hitoshi’s morning ruts, after all.

Synchronised as always, the two boys shuffle over to the dining table and plonk themselves heavily into their designated chairs, both letting out a wheezy ‘oof’ from the force at which they hit their seats. Masaru ceases his immense concentration for a moment to shoot the two boys a smile over his shoulder, before going straight back to tilting the pan to get the pancakes just the right shape. It’s a very Masaru thing to do, and Shinsou suspects that this is where Katsuki’s overly-meticulous nature originates from.

Pancakes are presented to them with the clattering of the plates hitting the wooden dining table at long last, and the two barely finish saying thank-you before stuffing their faces with the Ambrosia that is Masaru’s cooking. A miracle of a man, indeed. Masaru ruffles the hair of both boys affectionately, and at the expectant glance from Shinsou, one of the adults pipes up and tells them that they’ve already eaten. Continuing with the remainder of their breakfast in relative silence, they finish up soon enough- so Mitsuki takes it as an opportunity to engage them in brief conversation.

“So, you two got any actual plans for the day? Or are you just gonna goof off around here?” Coming from anyone else, the question might have seemed scathing, but Mitsuki’s voice was nothing but fond. Katsuki looks to Hitoshi, who shrugs unhelpfully. Bakugou rolls his eyes at the predictable response, but half-answers for the both of them nevertheless.

“Not sure.” Bakugou says, mimicking Hitoshi’s nonchalant shrug. “We could go to the arcade and then eat at that café nearby, maybe?”

“Sure, why not? Sounds good to me.” Shinsou replies, and that’s the end of the conversation, apparently.

They sit there for a minute or so longer, simply looking around at the family they’ve all grown into- how easy it is to relax and breathe and just exist in this space. As much as he loves them, Bakugou’s pride can only take so much sappy shit before he gets comfortable enough in his own skin to feel antsy, so he decides to cut the moment short and rise to a stand from where he’s sat at the table. Shinsou follows suit, and they head up the stairs to change into something a little more presentable. Traipsing through the door and into his bedroom, Bakugou digs around in his closet and pulls out his favourite T-shirt and some black pants, before beginning to get dressed into them. Shinsou, who by now has a small section for his own clothes in Bakugou’s cupboard (nine years of constant sleepovers are enough to warrant this, after all), flips through his options and decides on a grey T-shirt, a purple cat-eared hoodie, and a pair of worn-out black jeans. They don’t spend too much time changing- maybe five minutes or so, at most- so they’re soon shoving water bottles and money into their bags, and slinging them over their shoulders while they descend the stairs.

“Have fun, kids!” Shinsou’s father exclaims, smiling at them with all his teeth. “We’re not gonna be able to stay over again tonight, ‘cause our boss is sick, and her asshole assistant is… well, she’s an asshole. Feel free to stay here tonight again, though, ‘Toshi! We all know neither of you are gonna want to leave each other alone.” Shinsou, despite grumbling, can at least admit that it’s the truth. He walks over to where his parents have situated themselves, and hugs them both tightly before smiling at the two adults wryly and walking out the door with Katsuki, who calls out a farewell to his parents over his shoulder on the way out.

As soon as the door closes behind them and they’re exposed to the outside world, Bakugou stuffs his keys in his pockets, positioning them so they’re hanging out only slightly. Shinsou knows what this is- it’s so the blond can grab them and put them between his fingers like wolverine claws, if ever the need to defend themselves arises. Shinsou, as always, refrains on commenting on this particular habit, and continues strolling at a leisurely pace beside his friend. They walk in companionable silence for a short while, before breaking the settling quiet with a derisive (though not all that unkind) snort from the blond boy.

“On a scale of one to ten, how much better do you think you’ll be at Dance-Dance Revolution? One being ‘Nothing’s changed and I’m probably even shittier’, and ten being ‘I might actually not face-plant into the machine and break my nose this time round’.” Shinsou flushes red in recollection of the incident- that shit had hurt like a bitch. They’d both been fucking around on the game, and Shinsou had been (sort of) catching up to Bakugou’s score. Suddenly, the blond had declared ‘I’m about to do what’s called a Pro-Gamer Move’ and spun around three hundred and sixty degrees, sticking out his leg and (whether accidentally or not) sending Hitoshi stumbling forward into the machine.

“That was one time, Kat-suck-it! And says the guy who somehow managed to blow up a TV playing Wii Sports Resort!” Katsuki snorts amusedly, crossing his arms over his chest as they walk.

“Hey, that was only ‘cause there was no fucking strap on the remote- you have no excuse.”

Shinsou gasps defensively, placing a hand above his heart to express his offence at the statement. “You tripped me, and I fell into it, Kat-suck-it. You were the sole cause of that incident.”

Katsuki clicks his tongue, shaking his head with a smirk. “Ah, details, details. Besides, I said sorry after, didn’t I?” Shinsou sighs, remembering the surprising number of apologies he received from the boy once they’d realised his nose was actually broken (albeit grumbled ones), and at the time having to reassure Bakugou that no, he didn’t think he was an asshole, because it was an accident.

“Yeah, yeah you did, but we’re getting off-topic. Either way, I’m gonna beat your ass at DDR."

Bakugou huffs a laugh, turning to the purple-haired boy with a cocky grin. “I’d like to see you try, Hito-shit.”

They arrive a minutes after the conversation dwindles down to little more than passing jokes and Hitoshi occasionally pulling out his phone to show Katsuki pictures of cats (Cat-suki- very funny). The arcade is a large, royal blue building speckled with purple lights and neon yellow signs. They haven’t been here since a year ago- too busy training for Yuuei to take the time and go- so Shinsou feels just a tad nostalgic as he looks at the Nineties-themed Hell they used to frequent. Having noticed that Shinsou isn’t paying any attention, Bakugou takes his friend by the wrist and walks the both of them inside the arcade. Shinsou breaks out of his stupor as soon as the other boy starts pulling him along, but he doesn’t protest.

The inside of the place adopts a similar aesthetic to the exterior, and Shinsou admires the flashing neon lights and squiggly-patterned carpet for a moment before allowing himself to be dragged over to the Dance-Dance Revolution machine.

From there, it’s almost too easy to slip back into their old routine. They take turns feeding money into the machine, flinging their feet all over the arrow-pads in some semblance of timed rhythm, and flailing their arms all over the place simply for the Hell of it. Quickly, they lose track of the time, too focused on trying to metaphorically wipe the floor with each other via the power of (sort of) dance, and by the time they start to consider that maybe it’s time to stop, it’s pretty much time for lunch already. As the two step off the machine, Bakugou grins, looking far too pleased with himself.

“I told you that I was the superior here, Hito-shit. I warned you.” Shinsou rolls his eyes exasperatedly, grumbling something about their scores being much closer than last time. “Maybe so,” Bakugou scoffs, “but you used to be utterly shit at DDR, so I’m still miles ahead of you, loser.” Shinsou laughs at the blond’s words, but doesn’t offer any more of his own to keep the conversation going.

As per the plan, the pair begin to walk towards the café Bakugou mentioned to his mother. It’s only a two minute journey, so nothing much happens, and they arrive to a cosy atmosphere of coffee and pastries. It’s a small place, so they take the two-person table by the corner, and Bakugou purchases the food and drinks after Shinsou tells him what he wants. The stuff is given to him on a tray, and he thanks the cashier before walking back over to where his friend is sat, scrolling through his phone with furrowed brows.

“The fuck’s up with you?” Katsuki asks, gingerly setting down the tray and taking the cushioned seat next to his friend. Shinsou glances at him, chewing on the corner of his lip.

“I think some of Yuuei’s records might’ve been leaked?” At the odd look the blond gives him, he elaborates. “People are talking about a quirkless Hero-course student. Like, a lot of people.”

Bakugou pauses, gaze thoughtful. “Really?” A nod. “Then why the fuck has nobody come up to us yet? If I’m all over the news I’d expect at least a little fucking recognition.”

Hitoshi squints at his screen, his swiping becoming slightly more fervent. “That’s just the thing: they don’t know who it is. All they know is that there’s a quirkless kid in the Hero-course, and a lot of ‘em have no clue how to feel about it.” Katsuki pulls out his own phone out of curiosity, and the moment he opens the news app, he sees what his friend means. There’s a shit ton of articles about the USJ as well, sure, but emboldened headlines are splattered all over the screen, blaring out that there's a ‘MYSTERY QUIRKLESS STUDENT HIDING IN YUUEI’S HERO-COURSE’.

A few of the articles seem angry about this- talking about how it’s a waste of a space that could’ve gone to someone with a ‘real’ chance at becoming a Hero, instead of some snot-nosed ‘charity-case’. Others appear to be endorsing him, saying that they’re proud that the quirkless community could finally be getting the Hero-representation they need to overcome some of the discrimination. However, the majority seem to just be scratching their heads, wondering who he is and how the Hell he got here in the first place.

“Huh.” Katsuki says, skimming through one of the articles that catches his eye. It’s someone attempting to theorise who the quirkless kid might be (although, they already ruled out 1A for being ‘too advanced’ for a quirkless kid, so screw them). “To be fair, I’m honestly more surprised that no one from our old school’s come out with anything yet. They know we’re in UA.”

Shinsou considers this, tapping his finger rhythmically against his chin. “Hm, maybe it’s ‘cause they know that they’d probably end up getting busted for quirk discrimination somewhere down the line, or maybe they think they’d just be giving us the attention we want. What if they just wanted to tip someone off and be secretive for the sake of drama-?” Hitoshi stills for a moment, a sudden thought striking him. “Wait… what if Handsy did this?”

“What do you mean?” Katsuki inquires, narrowing his eyes.

“I mean that he seemed awfully intrigued when you told ‘em you were quirkless, and he’d be a fucking stupid villain if he didn’t think he could use the info to his advantage. But, if it was him, there are definitely more effective ways of stirring up shit. Amateurs, honestly.”

Bakugou nods sombrely, agreeing wholeheartedly. “Yeah. Although- no matter if it was some kid from school or one of those villain bastards- you’d really think they’d have realised that I couldn’t give less of a shit who knows. Hell, I’ll tell everyone myself.

“Or,” Shinsou says, seemingly having an idea, “you could wait until the Sports Festival, and make all the people watching shit themselves.

Bakugou can’t help himself- he breaks out into boisterous laughter at the thought- clutching his sides and shaking. Shinsou joins him soon after, snorting between laughs and slapping his knee repeatedly. It lasts a minute or so, and when they’ve finally regained control over themselves, there are tears in their eyes. Bakugou immediately agrees with the plan, and Shinsou nods to seal the deal. A wide grin still stretches across his cheeks, damn near splitting his face in half.

“We should probably eat lunch now.” Hitoshi says, so Bakugou smiles and begins tearing into his fucking ‘spicy chicken puff pastry’ or whatever the fuck they’re called, which Shinsou takes as his cue to start chugging his coffee.

“So, what the Hell should we do now?” Bakugou asks, once they’ve finished their food and are standing outside the café.

“Dunno.” Shinsou replies eloquently, surveying the streets stretching out before them to see if he can spot anything of interest. “You got any places you wanna visit, Kat-suck-it?” Shinsou turns to look at his friend, but the blond doesn’t return his gaze. Instead, the boy is staring at the shop directly opposite the café, with a toothy grin spreading across his face. The sign reads ‘THRIFT STYLE’, and Shinsou immediately knows what his friend wants to do.

“Your parents work in the fashion industry, dude- won’t they be pretty pissy if you buy clothes from a thrift store, of all places?” Katsuki turns to look at him, then, staring at him with eyes that are narrowed with wicked glee.

“Hito-shit,” the blond says firmly, “we’ve gotta do it. We’ve gotta channel Macklemore.” Hitoshi sighs- though there's a smirk on his face. He allows himself to be led by Bakugou, who’s grinning sharply from ear to ear as he practically leaps across the street towards the shop.

When they enter, Shinsou is immediately hit with the smell of old people, combined with the smell that all hand-me-down stores seem to have. Katsuki’s eyes flit around the contents of the store wildly, and they must land on something he dubs interesting, because he then proceeds to march eagerly over to one of the many rows of clothing with Shinsou in tow. The blond removes two large, animal-print fur coats (faux fur, obviously).

One is azure blue with purple cow-print (it kinda reminds him of Sully from Monsters Inc.), and the other is neon orange with black tiger stripes. Katsuki looks absolutely smitten with them, and hands Hitoshi the cow-print one before hastily slipping his arms through the sleeves of the tiger-print coat. Shinsou puts his own on also, and they take one look at each other before promptly bursting out into raucous laughter.

“W-we look amazing!” Shinsou wheezes, cackling as he wraps his arms around the coat he’s wearing, which absolutely swamps him. “We have to buy these.” Bakugou nods his head vigorously in agreement, so Shinsou goes back to take one of the shopping carts by the door, and they place the coats inside it after taking them off.

Next, they scan the store from where they’re standing, trying to find something else they can buy. Katsuki points out a rack of sunglasses to their left, so Shinsou nods his head and they walk over. Once they reach it, they take a moment to survey the second-hand goods, and Shinsou discovers two matching pairs of pink, heart-shaped sunglasses. Slipping them on and grinning at each other, they wordlessly agree to purchase them, and take them off so they can put them in the cart on top of the coats.

Hitoshi absentmindedly does a once-over of the room again, and stops in his tracks as his eyes land on two pairs of shoes down the aisle.

“Kat-suck-it!” Shinsou whispers harshly, in mimicry of a muted yell, practically vibrating in his excitement as he points shakily to the aforementioned shoes. “Kat-suck-it, we have to get those!” They walk over to the shelf full of shoes, and Bakugou glances at the objects of his friend’s desire.

“Can either of us even walk in these?” Katsuki asks plainly, though it’s pretty obvious that he’s also admiring the two bedazzled pairs of high-heels. One pair is a glaringly bright violet, while the other pair shines with an even more obnoxious orange than the fur coat in their cart. As much as he maybe doesn’t want to admit it, Bakugou’s just as excited about them as Shinsou appears to be.

“What better time is there to learn?!” the purple-haired brainwasher cries, eagerly snatching the heels from his friend’s hands and putting them into the cart. “They match the coats too! We’re telling gender to fuck itself, and we’re gonna look so good doing it. Think about it! Hito-shit and Kat-suck-it: Heroes and Fashion Icons.” Bakugou, who rarely ever sees his friend this openly ecstatic about something, has little other choice but to agree with fond eyes, before they both walk on to uncover more things to buy.

Other than what they already have in the cart, they don’t actually buy anything else (excluding two fake pearl necklaces that Shinsou had insisted would look fantastic with the heels and coats). However, just as they’re heading to the check-out, a section stocked with crop-tops, skirts, and weird dresses catches Shinsou’s eyes, and he turns to look at Bakugou expectantly. Bakugou shakes his head, and speaks before Shinsou can protest.

“As funny as it’d be, we should probably leave at least something for another day, Hito-shit- or we’ll have no reason to come back. That, and we’ve been in here, like, two hours, so maybe we should get back to mine now?” Despite disagreeing, Hitoshi nods for his friend’s sake, and they continue pushing the cart towards the check-out point. The cashier looks a little bit weirded out by them, but the guy doesn’t say anything, dutifully scanning their stuff and accepting their money as they bag the purchased items. The two walk out of the store with a bag on one arm each as Bakugou praises the store’s modest prices.

All of this shit,” he says, pushing the new sunglasses back up his nose (he wanted to wear at least something they’d bought), “and it was only a thousand yen? We’ve officially found the best place to shop.” Hitoshi isn’t arguing with that, so he just grins dumbly at his friend, twisting the fake pearls he’s placed around his neck between the fingers of his free hand.

“I’m just looking forward to learning to walk in heels.” he confesses, shooting a glance at the bag he’s carrying that contains the bright violet shoes. Bakugou nods, side-eyeing his own bag.

On their way home, they take to planning what they’ll do the next time they go to the store. Bakugou promises that they can check out the skirts and shit then, now that they know they can buy as much as they want without spending a metric shit ton of money. By the time they’ve moved on to talking about how good they think they’ll be at waking in heels, the Bakugou residence is well within their sights. For the sake of making their shopping trip a surprise, Hitoshi removes his necklace as they approach, just as Katsuki does the same with his sunglasses.

Masaru is apparently out in the front yard taking advantage of the nice weather- weeding the flower bed with a watering can sat next to him (that man would do anything for his amaryllis). Masaru smiles at them, waving as they walk onto the property, and they respond in kind.

“Hey there, you two!” the man calls, adjusting the hat perched on his head. “Did you enjoy yourselves?” he asks, gazing curiously at the bags the pair hold. Masaru rises to a stand as Katsuki grins mischievously.

“Oh, you and mom are going to love this.” Bakugou replies, and his father’s smile twists into something a little more worried for the safety of the general public. He spots Shinsou out of the corner of his eyes, looking equally as pleased, and the concern increases from just the general public to the population of Musutafu as a whole, perhaps even Japan itself. Because last time those two looked so excited about something, Masaru had found out that they’d blown up a fifteen-foot tall robot with fireworks.

Opting not to force Mitsuki into suffering the consequences of whatever Hell they’ve unleashed by her lonesome, the eldest Bakugou walks inside with the two boys, depositing his hat onto one of the coat-hooks in the hallway. The three of them robotically go through the motions of taking off their shoes and replacing them with house slippers, before poking their heads through the door leading into the living room and finding Mitsuki. She’s sitting on the couch watching a rerun of Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares, and the woman in question seems to be having a Hell of a time watching the chaos unfold in the form of bitchy restaurant owners and the furious cries of ‘It’s fucking RAW!. When she notices their presence, she clicks the pause button and smiles genially.

“Good to see both of you little shits back in one piece! Did you have fun?” she asks, and is answered by twin grins and brief glances at the bags in their hands. Her smile frays a little at the edges. “...I think, just for my own sake, and the safety of everyone else on this street, I need to ask. What’s in the bag?” The question’s almost insulting. Just because they procured fireworks via (questionably) legal means one time doesn’t mean they’d do it again (That’s what Mei’s for!).

“Nothing illegal.” Bakugou answers immediately, and he rolls his eyes at the worried furrow of her brow (never mind that that’s what they said last time). “Oh my God. Mom, we went clothes shopping after the arcade. Besides where would we even buy the fireworks from now? You had that guy arrested.” Ignoring the last sentence, Masaru sags with visible relief, wiping the metaphorical (or literal?) sweat from his brow. Mitsuki’s smile becomes a little less strained, and a little more genuine.

“You went clothes shopping? Oh, that’s fun.” Masaru says kindly, smile weary but relaxed. “Where did you go? Did you buy anything nice?” The two nod excitedly, and Masaru chuckles at the pair affectionately (how naïve, how trusting). “Well, can we see?”

Both boys look at each other, before reaching into their bags and laying down the purchased items on the sofa that Mitsuki isn’t sitting on. The sunglasses and pearl necklaces are set down first, and then the high heels- which startle a choked laugh from Mitsuki- and, finally, the fur coats. Masaru gasps faintly as they’re pulling the fashion abominations out of the bags, and Mitsuki almost looks paler than they’ve ever seen her. Her gaze bores heavily into the backs of their heads as they turn back to finish setting them down, though Masaru can’t seem to stop staring at the coats with a morbid sort of fascination, like a train wreck he just can’t tear his eyes away from.

“What d’you think?” Hitoshi asks to the faces contorted in muted horror, with a smirk on his face he can’t seem to rein in, though Katsuki looks to be in much the same situation as him, so it’s probably fine. Mitsuki balks, opening and closing her mouth over and over again like a surprised goldfish. Masaru freezes stock-still, as if the lack of movement will render him invisible to the naked eye.

“Why?” Mitsuki whispers; softly, but with feeling.

“Why would you do this to us?” Masaru asks quietly, raising a trembling hand as if to reach out for them, but it drops back to his side bonelessly a moment after.

“Just think about it!” Shinsou defends, righteously indignant. “It may look horrific on its own, but think about the combination of the stuff! Maybe with, like, a skirt that I don’t actually own yet or something! It’d look so bad that it’d look good!” The two parents pause, as if to process his words; consider them. Mitsuki shakes her head exasperatedly.

“You know what? It can’t be any worse than I’m imagining. You might as well show us what the Hell you were thinking. Go put ‘em on or something.” The pair grin wildly, hurriedly snatching up all the shit they put down and sprinting up the stairs, the Bakugou parents trudging up forlornly after them. The boys enter Katsuki’s room and shut the door behind them, so the adults wait outside, dreading the twin fashion disasters that’ll walk out.

Katsuki and Hitoshi slip on the coats first- revelling in the way they’re swamped in the faux fur- before putting on the pearl necklaces and the heart-sunglasses. They remove their house slippers and, sitting on Katsuki’s bed, encompassed in huge, gaudy faux fur, pull on the high heels.

Both simultaneously realise that it’s going to be much more difficult to walk than they expected, so they grab each other’s hand and attempt to stand, relying on the other for support. They wobble precariously as they rise from the bed, but they don’t fall over, so they figure they can count that as a win, at least. Having succeeded at standing, they carefully step across the room, holding both their breath and the other’s hand as they put one foot in front of the other and try and focus on not tripping over. Walking in heels is infinitely harder than Mitsuki makes it look; neither of them are used to feeling so off-kilter.

Cautiously, Shinsou reaches out and opens the door. Mitsuki takes one look at them and promptly bursts out laughing.

“Oh my God?!” she cries, wheezing as she hunches over and clutches her stomach from the force of her amusement. “This is literally the best and absolute worst thing I’ve ever seen!” Masaru puts a hand to his mouth, shoulders shaking, though it’s clear that he’s merely trying to conceal his own mirth. After a moment or so, Mitsuki calms down a little, only to look back up at the matching disasters and explode into yet another peal of laughter. It’s at least two minutes before they all collectively get a hold of themselves, and at that point even the boys have started laughing.

Mitsuki straightens herself out (Katsuki refuses to), and fishes her phone out of her pocket. Hastily, she snaps a picture of the two, not giving either of them the time to even think about reacting. Shoving the device back into her front pocket, the mother gives the pair another long, more serious look, before placing a hand to her chin and quirking her lips into a thoughtful frown.

“You know…” Mitsuki starts after a beat of silence, considering, “as obnoxious as the entirety of your outfits are- if anyone can pull ‘em off, it’s gonna be you two. Hitoshi, you mentioned something about a skirt? Hm, I think a crop-top would probably look better, but maybe a longer skirt would work with yours too? Oh, and maybe a black sun-hat with Katsuki’s!” Katsuki had been expecting the initial looks of horror on their faces (he might’ve even looked forward to them), and the laughter was pretty much a given, but he’d neglected to think about whether or not his parents would actually take it seriously. Looking at them now, Bakugou knows that- even if he’d wanted to- there’s no going back now. Especially since Masaru seems to be joining in with his wife’s brainstorming-session; both muttering to each other conspiringly under their breath.

“Boys,” Masaru begins hesitantly, staring at them with soft-cotton eyes, “I know this whole thing was probably a joke, but do you actually want to try this out? Maybe not with something as… controversial as this right off the bat- but do you want to order some crop tops online, or something? Just to see if you like them to start off with?”

Neither of them know what to say. This really isn’t what they’d envisioned happening as a result at all. Although, Hitoshi had seemed rather excited about the whole ordeal back at the store, and- now that he's thinking about it- would Katsuki really mind all that much either?

“I mean, so long as Hito-shit’s cool with it, it’s probably worth a try, right?” The three Bakugous turn to look at Shinsou for consent to with the idea, and he gives it with an irrepressible smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

Pleased to have reached a unanimous decision, the four of them head to Mitsuki and Masaru’s joint-office. Once they’re all crammed inside the relatively small (but still decently sized) room, Masaru fires up his computer and opens up some shopping website that does next-day delivery. He looks over his shoulder to make eye-contact with the pair, opening his mouth to talk, only to realise something as he looks at them.

“I think it might be best if you at least take off the coats and high-heels, for your sakes more than mine.” Masaru says, a hint of humour lingering in his gaze as he takes in the sight of the two yet again. Shinsou flushes, somehow having forgotten that that was something they ought to do, so together they return to Katsuki’s room, gripping each other tightly for the sake of balance.

When they reach his room, they kick off the heels first, replacing them with a pair of much comfier slippers, and then proceed to shrug off the coats and leave them on the bed to hang up later. After a moment of deliberation, the two opt to take the necklaces and sunglasses off also, depositing the accessories on the bed alongside the coats before exiting the room and walking across the second-floor hallway to re-enter the office. Masaru clicks back onto the search bar of the shopping website upon their arrival, and asks what kind of thing they're looking for. Despite how vague a question the man is posing, Bakugou does his best to answer.

“Uh, just type in ‘edgy crop-tops’, or whatever.” Masaru agrees, typing in the phrase and allowing the results to load onto the screen. One of the first things that pops up is a cropped black T-shirt with the ‘Parental Advisory: Explicit Content’ warning on it, so Bakugou reaches over his father’s shoulder and taps on the link to it.

“You want that one?” Masaru asks, to which Katsuki responds with a nod of the head, confident in his choice. Smiling with approval, Masaru turns back to the screen and adds it to the cart. “I’m gonna say we’ll buy you both… two each to start off with. That way, you can see if you like the feel of them, and then in the future we can have a look at some more- or anything else you want to try out!”

It sounds like a solid plan, so they both agree, and Katsuki goes back to watching his dad scroll through more options over the man’s shoulder. He judges the results with a critical gaze, and they get to around the third page of results before he finds another one he wants. Like the first, it’s a cropped black T-shirt, however, it reads ‘BOOM’ in white text, surrounded by an orange-red-yellow cartoon explosion. Katsuki immediately falls in love with it.

“I want that one.” The youngest Bakugou declares, reaching to click the link over Masaru’s shoulder. Shinsou huffs a laugh as Masaru adds it to the cart.

“I can’t say I’m surprised. I’m ninety nine percent sure that you’re a pyromaniac.” Hitoshi jokes, and Mitsuki snorts at the comment, thinking back to what she’d been told of Katsuki’s homemade flame-thrower from their Yuuei entrance exam.

Only ninety nine?” Mitsuki says, incredulous tone lilted with humour.

“Okay.” Masaru says, cutting the conversation short, more for his own sanity than anything. “Katsuki’s got the ones he wants- now, what about you, Hitoshi? Anything in mind?” Shinsou pulls a face that implies a lack of forethought, leading to a sudden, unexpected application of mental strain on his previously unthinking head- clearly not having spent the time thinking about what he wanted to buy. Before he can answer, however, Mitsuki pipes up from where she's standing beside him.

“Y’know, since you helped out Kats, I think it’s only fair that I get to do ‘Toshi!” she claims. Masaru sends her a somewhat sceptical look in return. “Yeah, I wanna sit down. My legs just ache.” The more honest answer appears to sate the man, because he stands up and allows Mitsuki to take his place in front of the computer. She clicks onto the search bar and deletes the previously searched phrase, turning to Hitoshi with a wide grin.

“So, ‘Toshi! Tell your dear Aunt Mitsuki what you want!”

“Uh, well, I like fuzzy sweaters, so maybe if they do a fuzzy cropped T-shirt, that might be nice?” Hitoshi splutters, woefully under-prepared for the question despite having been the most excited for it. Mitsuki types ‘Fuzzy Crop-Tops’ into the search bar, and the computer processes the request for a moment before it comes up with a measly six matching results. Three out of the six options provided look… pretty weird, but the fifth result is fuzzy, and lavender coloured, and Shinsou promptly decides that it’s the one he wants. He relays this choice to Mitsuki, so she speedily clicks on the link and adds it to the cart, returning to the results page once more.

“Any more you want from this page?” she asks, though she clicks her tongue disdainfully. “Not gonna lie to you, though, none of ‘em really look all that promising. If you ask me, at least.” Shinsou shakes his head, and thinks about what other kind of crop-top he could get. Maybe one with the same colours as his Hero costume? Maybe in one of those tie-dye swirl patters, if they have it.

“A blue swirl one, I guess?” he replies, unsure of his poorly worded answer, but Mitsuki only smiles and types something into the search bar. Unlike last time, there’s more than one page of matching results. Although, Hitoshi only needs to look through half of the first page to find what he’s looking for. It’s a black, long sleeved cropped-sweater, an electric blue swirling into the centre, with streaks of the same blue on the sleeves. He thinks it looks perfect, and he tells Mitsuki such. Dutifully, she clicks on the link, and registers it as the fourth item on their shopping cart. She turns back to face them all, then- smile toothy.

“We done, then? We’re just gonna buy this shit now?” Masaru sighs at her language, but he knows in his heart that his family will always be this way, just as he knew it years ago. Hitoshi and Katsuki nod their confirmation, oblivious to Masaru’s internal suffering. Mitsuki taps on the ‘Proceed to Checkout’ option and begins the arduous process of purchasing the items. She tells the boys to turn away when she inputs her credit card details, and a minute later the transaction is complete, and all they can do is wait until tomorrow for the stuff to arrive.

“Okie dokie,” the mother starts, standing up from the desk chair and stretching, “now that that’s sorted, it’s time for you two to learn how to walk in heels.” The two boys spare a glance at each other, equal parts excited and mildly terrified, but Masaru looks down at his watch and shakes his head.

“Maybe we should eat first? If we do that now, we might lose track of time.” Masaru counters, ever the voice of reason. Mitsuki sighs in resignation.

“Fine.” She replies, almost pouting (they’re all so mature). “Food first, then heels.”

Heading down the stairs together, the four all pile into the kitchen, with Masaru volunteering himself for cooking as usual, and no one arguing, as usual. They argue amongst themselves for a few minutes, but they eventually decide on curry. Masaru, like the wonderful person he is, blessedly prepares Katsuki’s curry separate from theirs. Shinsou’s not sure what he would have done if he’d had to endure that level of spice again(he’s only tried it once, and even now he swears that it’s a miracle he survived).

Saying thank-you for the food, they all eat relatively quickly, all at least a little eager to see how the coming event transpires. Hastily, they put all the plates in a stack, which Katsuki carries into the kitchen. The blond loads the dishes and cutlery into the dish-washer, opting to start it up later in favour of going to the living room with the other three. Mitsuki makes a brief trip upstairs, and comes back down with the high-heels they bought, along with two other shoe boxes. She deposits it all onto the couch, and opens up the boxes to reveal their contents.

“The wedges on these are around half the size of the ones you bought. I thought it’d be better if you started out with these instead of diving face-first into the floor.” The two nod sagely in agreement with her preposition, so she hands them a box each and they get to work putting on the shoes. Katsuki uses his father’s shoulder as a centre of balance, while Shinsou is keeping his hand firmly attached to the wall for support. They hobble forward into the hallway using their chosen balancers, and step onto the wooden floorboards- which Masaru says are better for practising walking on than the carpet (despite the softer landing the carpet would provide).

The way Mitsuki and Masaru go about helping them is a bit like they’re learning how to walk again- although, to be fair, that is pretty much what they’re doing. They stumble more than enough times to lose track of, but they always help each other up, and Mitsuki and Masaru do the same when they manage to accidentally bring the other down with them. By the end of it, they’ve probably accumulated a few new bruises, but it feels like they’ve improved. Besides, they can walk more than three steps without face-planting into the floorboards now, at least. It counts as a success in their books.

When they’ve finally decided that enough is enough, they check the time to discover that it’s already half seven in the evening. Katsuki, forever diligent in his scheduling, abruptly announces that he’s going to bed. Shinsou, of course, bids goodnight to the eldest Bakugous also, and walks up the stairs after his friend, having retrieved their high-heels from the couch (Mitsuki had said they might try walking in them tomorrow, if they feel up to it). Bakugou removes the coats from the bed, hanging them up in the closet before tucking the two pairs of high-heels, necklaces and sunglasses away in the corner of the cupboard.

Allowing themselves to slip easily into routine, they change into pyjamas (dinosaur onesies, this time- because they’re incredibly mature Heroes-in-training), brush their teeth, do whatever the situation calls for, flick off the lights, and crawl underneath the covers of the king-sized bed. It’s not long before the both of them are fast asleep- Hitoshi drooling a little as Katsuki snores obnoxiously.

-

When Katsuki jolts awake with a shout- slamming his head into the wall on his left by accident- it’s three in the morning. His eyes are dazed and terrified, startled by the sudden change in environment and confused as to why he was ripped from it so abruptly. Shinsou, who Bakugou has barely noticed is awake, is lying beside him, looking at him with concerned periwinkle eyes. His breaths come short (it feels like the walls are closing in, like the blanket is made of chains instead of cotton-), so Hitoshi shuffles up to a sitting position, and hesitantly links pinkies with the boy- giving him plenty of time to move his hand away (he doesn’t).

“Breathe with me, Kats.” Hitoshi says gently, voice soft and calm despite having only been woken up mere moments before. “In for four… out for four. In for four… out for four.” This mantra is repeated until Katsuki’s breathing evens out to a relatively normal level, and his heartbeat isn’t pounding in his ears anymore. Shinsou unlinks their pinkies to put his whole hand on top of his friend’s (if it had been anyone else, Katsuki knew he’d have only panicked more, but Hitoshi was different, somehow).

“You wanna talk about it?” Shinsou asks, tone inviting trust but not demanding it (it hurts to think that it’s because he’s had so long to perfect it). Katsuki shrugs, features carefully devoid of any discernible emotion now that the shock has settled and dimmed. It happens sometimes- once the blond calms down a little, it’s almost like he kind of… shuts down in order to dull the noise in his head.

“Are we gonna eat cheese to dull the pain of existence now?” Shinsou asks, half-joking, and the question seems to bring the boy out of himself, if only a smidge. Katsuki nods jerkily, so the two get out of bed and trudge out of the blond’s bedroom after Shinsou’s grabbed his phone and turned on the torch function. Their movements are sluggish and lethargic as they venture down the stairs in darkness, careful not to wake the two sleeping adults residing upstairs (it’s both a blessing and a curse that they’re such heavy sleepers). Bakugou breathes a small sigh of relief when Hitoshi flicks on the light that he would’ve missed, had he not been listening for it. Something about the sound makes his heart twist itself into knots.

They head through the living room into the kitchen, grabbing two bottles of water and pulling out a Tupperware box full of pre-shredded cheese. They always keep some in there- for nights when one of them (or maybe both, on a really awful day) wakes up more stuck in their head than in the present. It’s been a tradition since they were twelve, and one that they can’t see ever stopping. If they want to talk, they’ll talk, but they’ll eat shredded cheese regardless.

Shinsou flicks off the kitchen light before they make their way to the living room sofa. Katsuki pulls up the hood of his T-Rex onesie, so Shinsou pulls up his own, showing off the Triceratops-shaped head. They sit down- perhaps a little too close to be considered normal, but they’ve had years to make their peace with that- and Shinsou turns on the TV, dialling the volume down low enough that only they’ll be able to hear it.

“Do you wanna watch Kitchen Nightmares?” Shinsou asks in a whisper, to which Katsuki responds with a firm nod of the head. It’s easy to zone out from there, flicking on Gordon Ramsay and picking their way through the cheese. It’s familiar. It’s nice. The drone of the television is great white noise, and they’re both content to simply stare at the show with half-lidded eyes as Gordan tears some chef a new one. Laughing softly when the pretentious bitch of a restaurant owner tries to make a scene, Shinsou spares a glance at his friend from the corner of his eye. He looks more relaxed than he did before; the colour on his face has returned somewhat, and his eyes don’t look so dead anymore.

Katsuki turns and catches him looking, avoiding his purple-haired friend’s gaze with a sigh. Bakugou looks down at his hands, tapping his thumbs together furtively.

“…It was a nightmare, obviously.” Katsuki says bitterly, snorting- though there's no humour in it. “It was the same guys again- I mean, why would it be anything else? Same guys; same place; same everything. You think I’d be used to it by now.” In that moment, Hitoshi hates the look on his friend’s face more than he hates anything else. Because no matter how many years have passed- no matter how many nights they spend like this- he’ll never get used to seeing his loud, vibrant, alive friend look so submissive. So defeated. So... dead. He hates it, because it’s been four years, and it feels like Katsuki never escaped them in the first place, not really.

(Oh, the things people do for power.)

Shaking himself out of that grim train of thought, Hitoshi shifts so he’s looking at his friend properly. The blond still isn’t looking at him, but Shinsou speaks anyway, eyes focused on a gaze that refuses to meet his own.

“I don’t… I don’t think it’s one of those ‘getting used to’ kinda things. I think it’s one of those things that never really fades- but, just because we can’t stop it from hurting, doesn’t mean that we can’t try and make it less painful. I guess that’s what life is, huh? A long series of disasters that we’ve just gotta do damage control for. Doesn’t stop us from having at least a little fun on the way though, right? We still get days like yesterday, and they won’t stop happening just ‘cause we can’t always be perfect. Though, I’m definitely not an expert on any of this shit, so I can’t say I know all that much.”

Bakugou smiles. As small as it is, it’s stretched out all wrong- a hollowed out echo of his usual overwhelming grin- but there’s something else there, too. A glimmer of something brighter in the midst of the gloom; a far cry from what it should be but still a relief in comparison. It’s enough. For now, at least.

The conversation ends there, and they divert their attention back to the television screen (in spite of his focus occasionally drifting back to the blond sitting to his right). At some point, Katsuki drops his head onto Hitoshi’s shoulder. He doesn’t say anything- doesn’t protest- simply snakes an arm around his friend’s waist and leans in a little closer.

Somewhere along the line, the episode ends, but Shinsou doesn’t notice, too wrapped up in thoughts that have no business running through his head (he hates himself for how vividly he can still remember the look on his friend’s face when they saw each other again- how nearly unrecognisable it’d been). So caught up in his own head, he doesn’t realise when his eyes start to flutter shut, and soon enough he’s sound asleep.

(When Mitsuki finds them there at five in the morning- collapsed on each other and snoring in dinosaur onesies with cheese spilled all over the floor- she doesn’t wake them up. Instead, she takes the throw from the top of the couch and tosses it over the pair, before going and retrieving the glass of water she’d wanted.)

(And if she took a picture or two on her phone of the two boys curled up on the sofa together, it was nobody’s business but hers.)

Notes:

Wow! That got a little angsty at the end! Sorry about that (and about the rest of the chapter).
I m a y have projected on Shinsou a tiny bit by making him a Toad-main in Mario Kart. And I may have projected on them a tiny bit more during the shopping scene. I'm sorry! I would just like to be able to wear dresses! And skirts! Because gender is fake!
'But Angst!' You may say, weeping. 'You HAVE a gender!'
And in return, I say: Maybe so, but the connotations of it are merely a suggestion. Who needs gender roles when you can look absolutely stunning? Cowards, that's who.

Fyi, Bakugou DID forget to turn on the dish-washer.

(Also, to anyone who's curious about Boomburbs & Bombshells- I will write it! But it definitely won't be anytime soon, 'cause Environmentalist Bakugou's taking priority- seeing as I have a better idea of what I want to write for it.)

EITHER WAY- I'll HOPEFULLY be able to get the next chapter out on time! Thank you so much for reading, and keep doing what you’re doing!!

Chapter 12: Mmmm Yes, I Love Waking Up and Doing Things

Summary:

After scrambling to school like the professional disasters they are, the two boys encounter their next obstacle; one they’ve been dreaming about before they were even accepted into Yuuei: the Sports Festival.

Of course, the Skeleton has not yet ceased his fruitless efforts to make Bakugou the next All Might (nor will he ever, really).

Notes:

Hey!! Happy New Year everyone!! Hope you enjoyed your 2019- but it's time for the Roaring Twenties now!!
This is a little (a lot) shorter than the last chapter, but I hope it's okay either way!! I don't know if the next chapter will be on time due to how busy my February is going to be- so I'll apologise in advance!!
Anyway!! Let's get to it!! I hope you enjoy!!

(Notice on Basically an Angry Environmentalist in end notes, if you're interested.)

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

For the first time in a good while, Hitoshi and Katsuki are not awoken by the sound of an alarm screaming in their ears. This time, it’s to Masaru gently shaking Hitoshi’s shoulder, and quietly asking the two to wake up. Obviously, they wake up at some point or other- Shinsou stretching his legs with a groan and wiping the drool from the corner of his mouth. While he does this, Bakugou looks around the room with bleary eyes, absently wiping the cheese from off of himself and onto the floor. Maybe Hitoshi should have put that away before allowing himself to fall asleep, but oh well.

“What- what time is it?” Katsuki asks, voice rough and heavy with sleep. Before Masaru can answer, Hitoshi reaches out for his phone, turning it on and squinting at the bright screen as he checks what the clock says. The time reads six-thirty. Half an hour before they need to be at the station, seeing as they haven’t got enough time to walk to school.

“Shit!” Hitoshi cries, suddenly wide awake. He jumps up from his place on the sofa, which jolts his blond friend up and sends the boy scrambling to follow as Shinsou stampedes into the kitchen in search of protein bars. Wordlessly, Mitsuki- who’s already in the kitchen with a pot of coffee and looking thoroughly amused- hands the pair a sizeable stack of their temporary breakfast substitute. She piles the bars for both of them into Katsuki’s waiting hands, and graciously bestows Hitoshi with the pot of coffee and a mug. However, instead of taking the cup from her hands and drinking it like any sane person might, Shinsou- in his delirious haste- decides that chugging down the whole pot in one go is a good idea. Mitsuki gawks as he narrowly avoids choking, and she knows she shouldn’t be surprised by now but, for a brief moment of naivety, she genuinely thought he might do it the logical way as opposed to the Shinsou way (which is just the wrong way, but faster).

From there, the two rush up the stairs- Katsuki being careful not to drop the protein bars in his arms, despite not having shaken off the remaining dredges of grogginess. They barge through the door to Katsuki’s bedroom, throwing the bars into the blond’s bag as they hurriedly stuff the rest of their shit in and zip them up. Throwing on their school uniforms and brushing their teeth simultaneously- uncaring of how horribly untidy they must look, they charge down the stairs and remove their house slippers in order to put on their school shoes. Shouting a hurried goodbye, the pair kick the entrance to the house open and run for their lives, completely forgetting to close the door as it lies hanging wide open (Masaru tuts and clicks it shut on their behalf).

No conversation passes between the two, and nothing but the sound of heavy breathing is heard as they sprint towards the train station and desperately hope that it’ll be enough to get there on time. Bakugou’s bag nearly slips off of his shoulders from the force of the wind pushing against it, but the blond notices and keeps a firm grip on the straps until they reach the train station. After a short while, they arrive at their aforementioned destination- a whole fifteen minutes early (apparently, their train is delayed. Goddamn it.). For the duration of this fifteen minutes, they mostly just bend over with their hands on their knees, panting as they try to catch their breath from the unwanted physical exertion. By the time they finally feel as if they won’t immediately collapse into a pile of bones and flesh if they take another step, their train has rolled into the station, and is opening up its doors to welcome the early morning train-goers. Bakugou and Shinso, being a part of this group, quickly board the train and claim the two seats right by the door, since they want to be the first out when their stop is called.

The remaining people shuffle on, and with a huff the train starts up and departs from the station, heading in the direction of their destination. Bakugou leans back in his seat when Shinsou casts him a curious glance from where he sits hunched forward beside him.

“What’s the face for?” Shinsou asks, and only then does Bakugou realise that he was pulling a face in the first place. Katsuki sighs exasperatedly, a soft growl in the undertone of his voice.

“I’m too fucking tired for this shit. Why does my stupid subconscious have to be so fucking inconvenient?” Shinsou nods in understanding, choosing to unwind from his slouched position in favour of leaning back also.

“Tell me about it.” Hitoshi groans, rolling his head to click his neck with a satisfying pop. “I haven’t had nearly enough coffee to get me through the day.” Katsuki turns and stares, seeming vaguely disappointed in his friend’s bad habits but not particularly surprised.

“…You drank… a whole pot of coffee… in… one go. You’re calling that ‘not enough’?” The ash-blond asks incredulously, raising his eyebrows slightly in order to convey how hard he’s judging the boy.

“…That’s not important.” Shinsou mutters in reply, and, if only to distract from the path of conversation they're heading down, he grabs Bakugou’s bag and begins unzipping it before the boy can react. “Protein bar?”

Painfully aware that the brainwasher is trying to divert his attention but not really caring, he graciously accepts a few protein bars from his friend before snatching his bag back. Katsuki holds the backpack to his chest as he tears open the packaging wrapped around the bar, and begins munching on their pathetic excuse for a breakfast contentedly (at least its cookies-and-cream flavoured). Shinsou follows suit, and for a minute or so the only conversation comes from the strangers dotted around the train chatting idly amongst themselves. Finally, after a few minutes. Bakugou speaks with a mouth half-full of food.

“So, do you think they’ll actually do the Sports Festival this year? I mean, it might be considered a security risk or whatever ‘cause of the attack.” Shinsou mulls the question over in his mind, thinking back to the previous years of the Sports Festival that they’d both watched with rapt attention.

“Yeah, I think they’ll do it. Probably just for the sake of their reputation, though.” Bakugou nods and finishes up his kind-of-breakfast. Soon after, the train driver announces that they’ve neared their stop, so they both get up and wait by the door (which is pointless, really, seeing as they’re sat right next to it). Once they reach the station, they hop off the train and walk through the crowd to get to the exit.

“How much time we got?” Bakugou asks, so Shinsou pulls out his phone and checks the clock on the lock screen.

“Uh, ten minutes. We should probably start running again.” Katsuki nods after a beat of silence and, on the count of three, they rush off, keeping a firm hold on their belongings. Running to school takes a little longer- mainly due to the difference in distance from Bakugou’s to the station and the station to Yuuei- however, they don’t allow themselves to stop and take a breath- because their exhaustion would only catch up with them if they did. They sprint with all the energy that the slightly-too-large quantity of protein bars grants them; dancing passed scenery that they simply don’t have the time to enjoy as they usually do.

Once they arrive on campus, they resist stopping to rest for even a moment. Not bothering to check the time, they run through the gates, the doors, and up the stairs towards the corridor wherein which their classroom lies. They hear chatter coming from the other side of the classroom door, and they hear Iida shouting as they continue their rapid approach.

“Everyone! It is nearly time for Homeroom, so stop talking and take your seats!”

Not slowing their pace in the slightest, the moment the class president finishes his brief announcement, the two crash through the door with a slam, echoing twin exclamations of “NOT LATE!”.

The class stare at the pair in stunned silence, before their peers collectively burst start laughing. Iida appears positively fuming; there’s practically smoke coming out of his ears as he marches back to his seat and seethes- seemingly desperate to scold them within an inch of their lives but unwilling to make a scene so early in the morning. Bakugou and Shinsou stride towards their desks, slinging their bags onto the back of the seats before flopping into their chairs, exhausted from the morning’s rush. It takes a minute or two, but eventually the rest of the class get a hold of themselves and the laughter dies down to something a little more bearable.

Strangely enough, Mina seems to have a thought after a moment or two, and leans back to tell Tsuyu as such.

“Hey, Tsu-“ Mina calls, just as the aforementioned pink gremlin is saved from falling backwards from her chair by the green-haired girl. “Ah, thanks. Anyway- who d’you think’ll be taking Homeroom today- since Aizawa-sensei’s probably still at the hospital?”

Tsu appears thoughtful, and looks as if she’s about to answer, but her reply is suddenly interrupted by a literal Egyptian Mummy walking through the door of their classroom. All nineteen students gape in abject terror at the walking dead-man before them- with its matted black hair, tightly-wound white bandages, and its bloodshot red eyes staring at them through the gaps in the wrapping.

“You’re all in your seats. Good.” The creature says, voice rough with the frayed edges of sleep.

…Ah, it’s their Homeroom teacher.

“Sensei!” Iida cries, glasses nearly flying off his face. “Are you sure it’s wise for you to be out of the hospital so soon?! You must allow yourself time to recuperate!” As much as Bakugou hates to admit it (and he’d never say it out loud), the nerd does have a point for once. Both of the man’s arms are broken- set in casts that hang at his chest- and he’s more bandage than skin now. Shinsou doesn’t seem to be able to decide between being horrified at the state of his favourite Pro-Hero, or awed by the raw display of stubbornness. As it is, the purple-haired boy’s face takes on some ugly amalgamation of the two, contorting his features into something rather unsightly to behold, but nonetheless impressive.

“My well-being doesn’t matter.” Eraserhead says simply, and there's a whole lot of issues to unpack there that they obviously don’t have time for, so their teacher carries on. “We’re not finished just yet.”

‘Fuck’ is Bakugou’s immediate thought- because, from the sounds of it, there’s still more problems with those bastards who attacked the USJ. And Bakugou is not in the mood to deal with any of that shit today, seeing as he’s tired as Hell and currently running off of nothing but protein bars and spite. Luckily, however, before the class can descend into uproar, Aizawa belatedly explains his cryptic statement.

“This year’s Sports Festival is fast approaching, and you need to prepare yourselves to show the rest of the world what you’ve got.” On the one hand, it’s a relief that it’s nothing to do with the villains- but, on the other hand, some seem worried about the safety risk it poses. Aizawa attempts to quell these worries by continuing.

“The security will be upped to five times what it has been in previous years, and Yuuei believes that carrying on with the Festival despite the attack shows strength in its crisis-management. Besides, when the Olympics died down due to the decrease in population, Yuuei’s Sports Festival took its place as one- if not the most popular of Japan’s annual sporting events. To cancel it in the face of the attack would be showing weakness, and would put us under media scrutiny. It’s a good opportunity to show off your qui-“ he hesitates for a moment, catching Bakugou’s eye, “-your skills to the Pro-Heroes watching as well. They might even offer you an internship after the event.”

Nobody argues this time, so Aizawa simply declares that they’re all present and leans back at his desk, leaving his class to their own devices. Predictably, all the students huddle into their respective cliques and begin chattering excitedly about the coming event. Katsuki overhears a few conversations about the mounting anticipation they are already subject to feeling, before a rough voice from behind him interrupts his contemplative eavesdropping.

“Bakugou! Shinsou!” The voice exclaims, and Bakugou turns his head to see the usually bubbly pink-cheeked girl behind him, sporting a rather sinister look practically oozing a visceral determination. “I’m gonna win!” she shouts, pumping her fist into the air, casting him a cheerfully terrifying glare that begs to be challenged. Katsuki smirks in return and leans his elbow on Hitoshi’s shoulder (never mind how he has to lean up a little to reach it), if only to establish what dominance he has claim over.

The rest of the class looks on in mildly terrified bewilderment as the three of them partake in a heated stare-down. Uraraka blinks first, though she stands her ground valiantly. Shinsou closes his eyes without thinking afterwards, leaving Bakugou (who had actually practised staring, the competitive bastard) the victor.

“Who says I’ll let you beat me, Round Face?” Bakugou replies cockily. At her persistent stare, he snorts a little, some of the exhaustion lifting from his bones at the thought of a good, honest-to-God fight. “Oh, it’s on, Pink Cheeks.” She grins at him then, seemingly satisfied with the response, before bounding towards the next of their peers destined to be the victim of her wrathful ambition.

-

Once Homeroom has ended, he and Shinsou exit the classroom to head towards their first lesson, and they find themselves walking next to the pink-cheeked girl once more- whose features have calmed to something a little less ferocious. Now, Bakugou doesn’t know the girl very well- he can barely even remember her name (Uwu-something? God, he hopes it’s not)- but he can always appreciate a fighter when he meets one. A kindred spirit, if you will. And it’s due to this reasoning that Katsuki decides that he wants to pipe up and ask her a question regarding the morning’s events.

“Hey, Round Face,” he says, effectively garnering her attention, “you were pretty fucking riled up back there. Was that to do with why you wanna become a Hero in the first place- or do you just wanna kick ass or something?” Uraraka laughs, suddenly bashful, cheeks dusted with a rosy hue as she rubs the back of her head as if to quell the embarrassment.

“Well, I mean, I do wanna kick some ass, so I guess that was just me getting excited for the Festival! But, uh, my reason for wanting to be a Hero isn’t really all that… heroic. Ironic, I know.” Katsuki raises a curious eyebrow, signalling the girl to elaborate on her answer. “Well, my parents own this construction company, but they never get any jobs, so we’re pretty broke. I’m hoping that, if and when I go Pro and get my license, I can use my quirk to help out- so they don’t have to spend so much money on machinery and stuff. And I’d be able to let them take it easy for once in their lives, y’know?”

Shinsou tilts his head to the side. “So, you’re doing it for, what, just money and shit?” Uraraka flushes bright red, flailing her arms around in obvious shame.

“I told you it wasn’t heroic! I bet I sound super selfish- your reasons are probably so much better than mine!” Bakugou raises his eyes to the heavens with a smirk lilting his lips, seeming thoroughly amused by the whole ordeal.

“Round Face, we’re literally just doing it to say ‘Fuck you’ to all the people who said we couldn’t; it’s spite. Your motivations are definitely more ‘noble’ than ours or whatever.”

“Besides,” Shinsou adds, deciding then that he wants to contribute to the conversation, “what’s so selfish about wanting to help out your parents or put food on the table and shit? Sounds pretty heroic to me.”

Uraraka says nothing to that, simply smiles a bit and bids the two farewell to allow them to enter the classroom for their next lesson. They think they’ve helped her a little, at least.

Mathematics with Ectoplasm passes in a blur of quadratic equations and other such nonsense, and Japanese Literature with Cementoss flies by in much the same way. Soon enough, all nineteen students are ambling out of the classroom door to make their way towards the cafeteria for lunch, chattering along the way. Katsuki finds himself walking next to Hitoshi, obviously- although Kirishima has apparently decided that he wants to accompany them to the lunch hall as well. Shinsou is more than happy to watch the redhead skip along the corridor cheerily beside Bakugou, who is squinting incredulously at the shark-toothed boy as if he can’t quite believe that someone so bright exists. The blond’s cheeks are dusted with pink, and it is absolutely hilarious.

Hitoshi had been looking forward to seeing how Katsuki would navigate a conversation with the red-headed sunshine incarnate, so he’s understandably disappointed when All Might seemingly materialises from thin air like an apparition. Judging by the man’s expression when he sees them, he’d been looking for the two of them- well, his irritated-looking best friend, more specifically.

“Young Bakugou!” All Might exclaims, ever-present smile grating on Katsuki’s last nerve. The Hero holds up a lunch box with rabbits printed on the cloth. “May I ask you to eat lunch with me?”

Kirishima snickers a little, and Bakugou sighs in frustrated resignation but follows regardless, dreading the coming conversation that will inevitably involve something to do with the Hero’s quirk and the ‘greater good’. Shinsou, who figures that the invitation extends to him also, trails after his friend, waving goodbye to Kirishima with an apologetic smile before disappearing around the corner with the other two. Kirishima looks a little confused, and Shinsou feels kind of bad- but ultimately he knows that the boy has more friends in the class that he can eat lunch with, whereas without him, Bakugou would be stuck enduring All Might’s self-righteous nature all on his own.

Once they’re tucked away in what must be a room designed specifically for secret conversations- judging by the lock on the door and the rather nice couches- All Might clears his throat and promptly deflates like a balloon. They should be surprised, really, seeing as it’s only the second time they’ve watched him do so, but neither of the pair can honestly find it in themselves to care at the moment. While all the talk of the Sports Festival may have perked them up slightly, it isn’t exactly a perfect replacement for a good night’s sleep. Tracking their expressions carefully and finding nothing but complacent impatience for the conversation to begin, All Might sighs and begins to explain why he brought them here to talk with him in the first place.

“Young Bakugou,” the Hero starts, apparently deciding to ignore Shinsou (rude), “I brought you here because I wanted to talk to you about the upcoming Sports Festival. Aizawa has informed you of its significance, am I correct?”

“Yeah, what about it?” Katsuki replies, willing to Pro to just cut to the chase so they can end this talk as soon as humanely possible.

“Well, the first thing I’d like to talk to you about in that regard is on the subject of my quirk: One for All.” Katsuki sighs harshly, but All Might continues on, clearly not taking the hint (it’s not like this is the third time this has happened or anything, right?). “Bakugou, my boy, while I’m aware that you refused me the other day- the Sports Festival would be the perfect chance to showcase yourself as the next generation’s Symbol of Peace to the nation. These coming weeks may even be your last chance to inherit my quirk without raising suspicion, since nobody except your classmates and teachers know you to be quirkless currently.” Bakugou glares, looking tempted to rise from his seat as he responds but resisting the urge for the sake of avoiding the awkwardness of having to sit back down again.

“You’ve seen the news, right? All those people divided over what to think of some mystery quirkless kid ‘allegedly’ making it into the Hero-course?” All Might nods, opening his mouth to speak, but Bakugou carries on before the Pro can interrupt his impromptu speech. “A good chunk of those losers don’t think I’m fit to be a Pro-Hero, even though they don’t even fucking know who I am yet! Even the handful of people who aren’t shitty bigots are all acting like I’m something worth looking down on and pitying just ‘cause I’ve not got a quirk like the other eighty percent of the world- like it’s some kinda disability! These idiots need to see that winning the genetic lottery isn’t all there is to life. That’s the whole reason Hito-shit and I want to be Heroes in the first place.”

Katsuki pauses for a moment, closing his eyelids as he takes a deep breath in. He lets it out slowly a second or two after, before opening his eyes and staring at All Might dead in the Pro’s own electric blue irises.

“We’re gonna be the harbingers of a new era of Heroes. And I’m sorry that that isn’t what you wanted to hear, but I just can’t be you.”

All Might stares silently at this small, wonderful kid he’d thought was destined to be his successor, and thinks that maybe the boy’s determination to stay true to his ambitions only makes him want Bakugou to continue his legacy all the more. The Hero knows, deep, deep down in his old, battle-harried heart that it’ll never come to pass- but he just can’t seem to let go of his childish desire to have this teenager as the next wielder of One for All.

Shinsou, seeing the man’s withered-sunflower face contorting with emotion, decides he doesn’t want to go on being ignored any longer, and speaks up at last.

“Neither of us are the perfect embodiment of the symbol you’d want him to be, ‘cause that’s just not who we are. And, I know you don’t wanna hear it from me, but, you said you’ve already defeated the greatest villain you said would ever live, right?” All Might nods, recalling the mangled face of All for One and the memory of his hand clutching at his bloodied side. “Well, maybe- and this is just my take on it, mind you- but… maybe you don’t need a successor.” All Might, so taken aback by the mere thought of it, is rendered speechless, so Shinsou carries on in order to fill the mounting silence.

“I mean, it’s just an idea, but it’s not that ridiculous, is it? You said that One for All’s been passed down between generations for centuries- it can’t go on forever, right? Old darkness has to give way to the day, but isn’t it the same thing the other way around? Hang on, you said the name of that villain was, what, All for One? Was that- was that the name of his quirk, too?” All Might nods, unable to do anything else. “All for One and One for All. Huh. The matching names can’t be a coincidence, that’d be way too convenient. It's like- it’s like two sides of the same coin, yeah? And you can’t have one side without the other, so what if…. Maybe All for One isn’t dead until One for All is, too.”

Blood spits from All Might’s mouth like a sudden geyser. “You’re saying that All for One is still alive?!

Hitoshi backtracks quickly, spluttering. “’Course not! You said he was dead! I’m talking about the guy’s impact never really fading as long as yours is still going strong. Maybe. I think. You’re like, the dictionary definition of a perfect Hero, and- from the way you talk about him- this ‘All for One’ guy seems like the perfect villain to counter that. Hero and villain. Good and bad. Two sides. It may have seemed like it way back when, but the world isn’t just black and white anymore- and it’s about damn time that people start realising it. We’ll show everyone that you don’t have to be what the majority says you are; that proving you’re more than whatever the fuck people think your ‘fate’ is certain to be is always an option. We’re gonna stick it to the whole fucking world by showing everyone on it just how much we can do with some spite and a metric fuck-ton of explosives.”

For a short while, All Might says nothing. He simply sits in silence and watches these two boys with more dreams in their head than there are stars in the sky stare back at him. And he marvels at how easily two teenagers can flip his whole opinion on them with nothing but spite and each other on their side.

“I don’t know how I didn’t see it back then.” All Might says, voice softer than his size should allow. “When you looked at me three years ago with those same eyes, young Bakugou, all I could think of was how impossible the chances of a quirkless Hero surviving in the field were, and how naïve children are to the danger of it all. But you knew, didn’t you? You knew how unlikely it was, and yet, you didn’t care; you didn’t stop and think for even a second that maybe you couldn’t do it. That’s why you scorned Endeavour and I that day. And even though once I returned home I thought nothing of it, I realise now that it wasn’t arrogance or naivety- it was determination.

All Might rises from his seat, reverting back to his bulked-up form before unlocking the door and opening it softly. He exits quietly, but not before looking back at them one last time and leaving them with a parting message.

“I’ve not given up on having you as my successor just yet, but I see now that, while it may aid you, you do not need it to reach greater heights. I hope you keep your promises in mind while you participate in the Sports Festival. And- while I know that this is three years too late- I just want the two of you to know that I cannot wait to see the people you will become; the way in which you will shape the world. You’ll make fantastic Heroes.”

Katsuki smiles.

“We know.”

Notes:

WELL THEN!!
Not gonna lie, that last bit was pretty fun to write, so I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!!

ANYWAY, about the fic I'm writing for the Earth! Bakugou au:
Due to the substantial lack of votes- my decision for the direction of the fic is going to be based completely off of my own whims and my friend (shout out to you, man- thanks for being, like, weirdly obsessed with my au! You've given me some really cool ideas)!!
'What'll happen in the fic, then?' I hear you ask! Well, who knows?? Definitely not me! I've got enough ideas in my head to keep it interesting, at least!!
I've got the first chapter written, so I'll probably release it some time during the Sports Festival Arc on this fic!!

But, regardless of all that, thank you for taking the time to read this chapter!! I sincerely hope you enjoyed- so have a good week, and keep doing what you're doing!!

Chapter 13: It’s Brittany, Bitch

Summary:

After the school day ends, time passes in brief snapshots of events, and soon enough the Sports Festival is standing right in front of them.

Bring it on, motherfuckers.

Notes:

Well, here it is! On time, too! It's a miracle, truly.
I've had a pretty dang busy month, so it's a nice surprise that I managed to get this out on time!
I don't really have anything else to say other than that I hope you enjoy the chapter, so- I hope you enjoy the chapter!

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

The pair of boys, having exited the Room of Secret Discussions and Shit, head to the lunch hall and- coincidentally enough- see Kirishima only just heading out of the line. The boy looks just the tiniest bit put-out, but before Bakugou can think of anything to say, Shinsou cups his hands around his mouth and shouts.

“Oi! Kirishima!” Hitoshi calls. Kirishima whips around, nearly spilling his lunch but recovering just in time, grinning ear to ear at the sight of them. He bounds over excitedly, awkwardly avoiding bumping into the other students walking around the lunch hall.

“Guys!” He exclaims, shark-toothed grin gleaming in the light filtering through the windows and beaming down from the ceiling. “You made it! I thought you weren’t gonna come!”

“Neither did we, but All Might finished with Kat-suck-it early, I guess.” Shinsou replies, the epitome of nonchalance as he buries his hands in his pockets and gives the redhead a casual smile. It’s enough of an invitation to engage in conversation that it distracts Kirishima from noticing the pink flush spreading across Bakugou’s cheeks.

If Katsuki’s being honest, he’s never really had a proper crush before- but now the fucking sun, moon, and stars incarnate is right in front of him, and he has no idea what to do. Following Shinsou down the line to get their lunch seems like a good start, so he does that, and mechanically waves goodbye to the redhead when the boy walks off after saying he’ll save them spaces at one of the tables. Kirishima beams at the simple gesture, and Bakugou wonders if he knows how blinding it is.

Once they’ve acquired their food, they scan the room and find that Kirishima’s managed to claim a small table in the corner that Shinsou hadn’t seen when they came into the hall. The pair walk over to their redheaded friend, putting down their trays and sitting down at the table when they reach it. All three exchange the customary greetings, but- other than that- the only sound for a short while is the clatter of chopsticks and the sound of background chatter. And because Kirishima is without a doubt the most sociable out of the three of them, he’d obviously be the one to instigate a conversation.

“So!” The redhead says, smiling courteously. “What was the talk about? If you don’t mind me asking, of course!”

Shinsou shrugs. “Just some shit about the Sports Festival. Like how we’ve gotta over-perform if we wanna stand out and stuff.” Bakugou nods his head in confirmation at his friend’s words, so Kirishima takes the half-truth at face value, thank God.

“What’re you two most looking forward to about the Festival, anyway?” Kirishima asks through a mouthful of rice.

“Winning it.” Katsuki answers, grinning- which gets a laugh out of the boy that encourages the comeback of the blush from earlier he only just got rid of. Ignoring the embarrassing colour of his face, Bakugou tries to keep the conversation going. “Though, seriously, the one-on-one fights are gonna be fun as Hell.”

Kirishima nods enthusiastically in agreement. “Yeah! It’ll be fun to see what our classmates can do, as well as the other first years! To be honest, I’m kinda excited for the random challenges. I like the surprise of ‘em, and how they’re always different every year! You don’t think they’ll change that this year, right?”

Shinsou shakes his head. “Nah, it’ll definitely be the two randomised challenges first, and then the one-on-ones.”

Kirishima beams. “Great! What about you, Shinsou? What’re you excited for in the Festival?”

Shinsou shrugs, looking unbothered. “Dunno. It’s all pretty fucking exciting- although, it will be really cool when me an’ Katsuki are up on that first place pedestal.”

The redhead laughs. “Wow! You seem pretty confident about it!”

“’Course we are,” Bakugou says, piping up, “there’s two of us, and only one of everyone else. No one stands a chance.”

Kirishima’s smile lilts to something a little softer as he looks into Bakugou’s crimson eyes fondly- as if he’s known the blond all his life. “I like that.” He says gently. “Nothing’s manlier than overcoming the competition with someone you’re close to.”

There’s a beautiful silence as the two look into each other’s ruby orbs, and Shinsou hopes and prays that they’re just going to skip all the slow-burn and the pining and start falling in love already. But then Katsuki sees someone fall over and spill soup all over themselves, and the moment ends with the sound of cackling laughter.

‘One day’ Shinsou thinks forlornly, as Bakugou falls out of his chair with his legs sticking up.

That same day after school’s ended, the crop tops they ordered arrive in the mail, but they make the collective decision to save trying them on until sometime after the Sports Festival. Mitsuki and Masaru agree that it’s probably for the best, and store the box in a cupboard under the stairs for a later date.

“Let us know when you’re ready.” Mitsuki says, and they both nod in understanding.

The days pass by in a breeze between the mounting excitement and their preparations for the Sports Festival. Unsurprisingly, a lot of their time is spent talking to Mei about what shit they should and shouldn’t bring. She fixes up some extra equipment for them (more grenades, a pair of brass knuckles and fireworks for Bakugou… stuff like that), and once that’s done, they send off the forms they need in order to be allowed to use the equipment during the Festival. (They’ll almost definitely agree to the use of the equipment. After all, quirkless kids need all the help they can get, right? And mental quirks are practically a disability to some Heroes. Assholes.)

What is surprising, however (to Bakugou, at least), is how often Kirishima starts hanging around them.

Sitting with them at lunch, talking to them in between classes- he even tags along to their meetings with Mei sometimes. She’s delighted to have him there, of course- he may never ask for equipment, but a kid who can literally turn himself invulnerable would make for a fantastic test dummy (he has not yet had the opportunity to do so yet, but she’ll let him know). He tends to talk to Bakugou the most, though he obviously involves Shinsou in all their conversations; they’re a package deal, after all. The redhead seems to want to get to know the two of them as best he can- but he appears to have a special interest in Bakugou.

This is fine. However, once- when Bakugou’s walking with Shinsou back to the boy’s house- a thought he’d never even considered before strikes him suddenly.

“Hey, Hito-shit?” Katsuki asks, voice gruff and hesitant. Hitoshi turns to look at him curiously. “I know this is a stupid question- but, you’re not… y’know, jealous of how Kirishima’s kinda bulldozed into our ‘friend bubble’ or whatever, are you?”

Hitoshi stares at him blankly, and for a moment Katsuki’s stomach drops with the fear that maybe a healthy relationship with two people his age was too much to ask for. But then the purple-haired boy bursts out laughing. Bakugou scowls, relieved but a little annoyed he has to be relieved in the first place. Once Shinsou’s laughter dies down enough so that he can speak, he explains.

“’Course I’m not jealous of him! I could never resent that guy, he’s literally the nicest person in our class. Besides, I’m not worried that he’s gonna take my rightful, hard-earned ‘best friend’ title or anything, ‘cause I highly doubt that that’s the kinda relationship he’s going for with you in the long run.”

Bakugou blinks slowly, thoroughly bemused. “Hah?”

“Dude, he’s got a crush on you the size of Everest, and it’s just as obvious. Oh, oh- you should smile at him sometime! I bet he’d actually melt, ‘cause I don’t think you’ve smiled at anyone ‘cept me since we got here!”

“Hah?!”

“Just take my word for it, Kat-suck-it. You may be a natural genius- but you’re thick as pig shit when it comes to emotions- especially love.”

They run home that day instead of taking the train. Not because they want to talk longer or anything, but because Bakugou’s chasing Shinsou with intent to start a brawl, and Shinsou’s decided that they’ll probably get arrested if he does that.

After Homeroom one day, Aizawa calls for the two to stay behind. As far as they know, they’ve done nothing to warrant ire from their teacher, so they don’t have a clue what this is about (though Shinsou’s just nervous to be talking to Eraserhead in general). The two approach Aizawa’s desk while the rest of the class filter out, casting them curious and concerned glances alike as they leave. Kirishima is the last to depart, and says he’ll save them seats. Even though there’s really no point, since class seats are assigned, it’s still a nice thought.

“First things first,” Aizawa starts, cutting right to the chase, “your requests for support items were… very reluctantly approved. Here are your forms.” He hands them both a slip of paper each, listing the approved equipment, which fortunately happens to be everything they requested to bring. The list basically consists of a lot of explosives, a bo-staff each- as well as the brass knuckles Mei welded for Bakugou- since he loves getting up close and personal in fights ever so much.

“Now,” Eraserhead says, effectively tearing their faces away from the forms, “about the Sports Festival. You two came in joint-first in the entrance exam, and it’s been tradition that the top-scoring candidate gives a short speech at the opening ceremony of the Festival. Since you’re friends, I’m guessing you’ll want to prepare a joint-speech. Feel free to ask the teachers for help with it, if you want- though, knowing you problem children, you probably won’t.”

Once the pair nod in acknowledgment, their Homeroom teacher departs, leaving them alone in the classroom. They look at each other, and Shinsou breaks the silence, smirking.

“Now this is gonna be fun.”

Two weeks away from the Sports Festival, the doorway out of their classroom is blocked by a sea of their first-year peers.

Their classmates recoil in surprise when the door opens to reveal the muttering crowd of students. Short, quiet exclamations of shock ripple throughout the class as they look unblinkingly upon the teenagers before them, wondering at their motives for being there. Bakugou, still wearing the same unbothered face, steps forward towards the mass of children, prompting Shinsou to shuffle closer to him. Hitoshi’s face remains perfectly blank, but he fiddles with the hem of his uniform, slightly unnerved by the sheer volume of the crowd but unwilling to show it. He hates crowds.

“Isn’t it obvious why they’re here?” Bakugou asks, with a snarky undertone in his voice that makes some of the crowd scowl at him. Their classmates only stare, so he huffs out a sigh. “The USJ, you morons. They probably think we need knockin’ off some high-horse ‘cause we got attacked. For fuck’s sake-” Bakugou fumes, directing his attention to the now silent sea, “we were attacked by villains, you fucking extras. Bullshit like that breeds trauma, not fucking arrogance.

He smiles then, colder than usual but still as much of a patented Bakugou smile as he can make it. “But- think we’re gonna play the victims? Think again, assholes, ‘cause I’ve got a pair of fists just waiting for you losers in the Festival.” Katsuki grabs Hitoshi’s hand and drags him forwards towards the crowd with him, and Shinsou walks close to avoid stumbling, standing just a little behind the blond. Just as Bakugou’s about to start shouldering his way through the mob, a voice calls to them from behind.

“Baku-bro! Should you really be riling them up so much? They don’t like us as it is!”

Bakugou scoffs with a smile, looking over his shoulder to glance at Kirishima. “Doesn’t matter- we’ll make it to the top and prove we’re worth all our talk.” The two of them walk out, then, nudging their way through the crowd. A guy with silver hair and weird eyelashes(?) calls out loudly from somewhere within the crowd, who’s apparently from the other Hero-Course class next door. They pay him no mind, just move forward and away into a part of the corridor void of any student mobs.

Bakugou’s ear-splitting grin drops the moment they're completely out of sight and earshot of the other teenagers.

“Oh fuck.” Katsuki says, making a strange noise in the back of his throat that sounds a little like he’s stifling a laugh. “I’ve become an anime protagonist. Fuuuuuck.” Shinsou, distracted from the feeling of the cramped swathes of bodies, cackles in delight, and they continue making jokes all the way down the corridor.

They’ve made one Hell of a promise to live up to, after all- might as well have some fun while they’re at it.

Two weeks pass by in a blur of training and motivational speeches from their teachers. The pair have taken whatever time they can between sparring to prepare a half-decent speech for the beginning of the event. It took a lot of fine-tuning, and they had to wade through a lot of shit ideas first before the could find something they both agreed was okay, but they got there in the end. They’ve rehearsed it a few times, sure, but they spent the majority of the time after figuring out what they wanted to say getting even more training in.

Now, they’re finally as ready as they’ll ever be. Just in time, too- because the day of the Sports Festival has finally arrived.

They’d both agreed not to have a sleepover the night before the event, and instead spent the night at their own respective houses. Although, they did FaceTime for hours before they fell asleep, just so neither of them started getting restless.

When morning came in a flurry of singing birds and glaring sunlight, Shinsou- having read the note his parents left on the fridge wishing them both good luck- departs from his house in order to reach Katsuki’s. The walk seems a little shorter than usual, though that may have something to do with the building anticipation for the day (as well as his desire to break the quiet in his head with the sound of his friend’s voice. Shinsou’s always been one to worry unnecessarily, after all). Once Shinsou reaches the aforementioned household, he knocks twice, and the door swings open immediately. Katsuki stands tall in the doorway, uniform scruffy as always and a bag of equipment slung over his shoulder.

“You ready?” Hitoshi asks, grinning at the sight of his friend (safe, though why wouldn’t he be?).

I’ve been ready for years. Is Yuuei ready?” Katsuki replies, a similar looking smirk spreading across his face. They both laugh, and as they stand there, Mitsuki approaches the doorway.

“So, are you two gonna win this thing?” Mitsuki asks, crimson eyes glittering with mirth as she looks upon the pair.

“Is there really any other option?” Katsuki answers, grinning. Mitsuki laughs.

“That’s what I thought you’d say! Well, you better go now- kick some ass and make your mom proud, yeah?”

“Can I make you proud by kicking ass?” Katsuki laughs, as Mitsuki’s smile turns to something a little more soft.

“I’m always proud of you, Kats- both of you. You’ve both come so far.”

Neither say anything in return to that, but they nod, so Mitsuki nods back. And with that, they set off to the train station.

“You sure you got the speech down?” Bakugou asks, once they’ve been walking for a minute or two.

“’Course I do- we’ve practiced it more than enough.” Shinsou says, despite having hurriedly crammed the words into his head in order to commit them to memory last night. He’d considered eating the paper in the hope that literally digesting the words might make him remember them better. “Knowing you, though, you probably had it memorised from the start, Sir, uh, Memory-Head.”

“Shut up, Hito-shit.” Bakugou snickers, punching Shinsou playfully in the shoulder. Shinsou doesn’t reciprocate the gesture, but he grins at his friend in reply to distract from that.

They take their sweet time walking to the station, wanting to preserve their energy for the events ahead of them. Upon reaching the station, they spend the next five minutes tapping their feet until the train inevitably arrives. They sit close to each other, near the door- and when the train begins to depart, Shinsou pulls out his phone and a pair of ear buds.

“Oh! I almost forgot!” Hitoshi exclaims, handing Katsuki the left earbud while he puts on the right one. “I found this video last night that I wanted to show you! Took me ages to find a way to save it, though, I had to ask my dad in the end.”

Knowing how crap they both are with technology, Bakugou nods. Shinsou turns on his phone and fiddles with it for a moment or so before he manages to pull up the video in question. Bakugou puts the ear bud in his ear in order to listen to the audio.

It’s a clip from some news show or other. Endeavour was on the screen, being interviewed beside what appears to be the aftermath of some villain attack by a mildly terrified reporter.

“So, do you have any predictions for how the Sports Festival will pan out?” The reporter asks, and Bakugou’s at least a little impressed by how well the reporter’s keeping their cool around such an imposing Hero.

“Shouto will win, there’s no doubt about that. His quirk will overwhelm the other students; it could hardly be called a competition at all.”

Bakugou scowls at Endeavour from the other side of the screen, and the reporter wisely decides to move swiftly onto another question. “And what do you think about the claims that there’s a quirkless student in the Hero-Course at Yuuei?”

Endeavour’s response is immediate. “Not possible. I refuse to even entertain the thought. Yuuei’s acceptance rate is one of the lowest in the world, and hundreds of students with powerful quirks are rejected every year. A student without a quirk should not even be let through the front gate.”

“R-right.” The reporter says, looking pensive and more than a little frustrated. “Thank you for your time, Endeavour.”

The clip cuts off from there, and Bakugou whirls around to face Shinsou, taking out the ear bud to hand it back to the boy.

“Why the fuck did you wanna show me that?!” Bakugou demands, snarling.

“Motivation.” Shinsou replies instantaneously. “We’re gonna win the Sports Festival just to show the world we can, so what better way to prepare ourselves for it than being reminded of one of the people we’re gonna be pissing off?”

Bakugou sighs harshly, covering his face with his hand, though Shinsou can see the smile through the gaps in his fingers. “I guess you’ve got a point. It’s given me an idea, too- I'll have to improvise one of my sections of the speech, though. I think Endeav-whore deserves the privilege of being personally called out on his bullshit.”

“That’s the spirit!” Hitoshi cheers, as if they hadn’t been in the spirit of pissing off everyone within a hundred foot radius in the first place.

From there, everything is a blur. They get to school fairly quickly; they reach their classroom; time between school starting passes by in brief snippets of conversation as the rest of the class filters in. Soon enough, they're all being ushered into the changing rooms with their sports kits and told to get dressed. Bakugou and Shinsou make the executive decision to save a good portion of the explosives for the one-on-one fights. So, for the first event, they shove only a small stash of their grenades into the pouches they took from their Hero costumes, and clip the extendable bo-staffs onto their belts (they look a little like handymen, to be honest). Bakugou, with delight, slips the brass knuckles onto his fingers and clenches his hands into fists.

It isn’t until Todoroki decides to speak up that either of them really begin to focus on their surroundings.

“Bakugou. Shinsou.” Todoroki calls, effectively garnering their attention. “I think, objectively, it’s clear I’m stronger than the two of you.”

Bakugou, of course, is visibly offended by this notion. He’d been under the impression that they’d had a bonding moment back when Bakugou had called Endeavour an asshole and they’d made eye-contact. Though, he has a distinct feeling that Todoroki never passed on that message to his dad (to be fair, he was basically asking the guy to tell his dad to go fuck himself), Katsuki had thought that maybe they were friends, sort of. Well, at least now he knows that’s likely not the case.

“Oh yeah?” Bakugou snaps back, unwilling to go down without a fight. “And what makes you so sure, Half-N’-Half?

Todoroki blinks. “Shinsou’s quirk is exclusively non-physical, and you’re quirkless.”

Shinsou is now also just a tad offended. Looks like Todoroki’s going for everybody today. “Just ‘cause my quirk’s not as flashy and obvious as yours doesn’t mean it’s the worse quirk. And even if it was it doesn’t mean I'm the weaker person. Besides, I could literally make you dress up like a clown and do the waltz with a chair if I wanted.” A bit of a stretch, granted, but Todoroki wearing a rainbow wig and a red nose dancing with a chair, with a completely blank expression is pretty funny to think about. Maybe he should buy one of those wigs, just in case the opportunity ever arises.

Someone snickers- probably Kaminari- clearly envisioning the same situation.

“Exactly.” Bakugou says, shooting Shinsou a smirk. “And just ‘cause you won the genetic lottery or some crap doesn’t mean I can’t beat the shit outta you.” Todoroki appears to be at least a little bewildered, but the boy ignores their counter-arguments in favour of getting his point across.

“Either way, All Might’s seen something in you, hasn’t he?” At that, Bakugou scowls. The Pro may have apologised for what he said in the past, but Katsuki’s been bitter for years now, and he’s never been one to get over a grudge easy. Seeing the blond’s expression, Todoroki continues. “My father is the number two Hero and- if either of you have something to do with All Might- then it is my duty to beat you and prove myself once and for all.”

Shinsou, putting aside the thought that Endeavour is the number two Hero both literally and figuratively, gives heterochromatic boy an odd look. “Are you- are you seriously picking a fight with us?” The boy’s face remains perfectly blank, so Bakugou decides to cut in.

“Well, bring it on then, IcyHot! Let’s see how weak quirkless kids are when one beats the so-called child prodigy!” Bakugou grins toothily, and Shinsou thinks belatedly that maybe they’re biting off more than they can chew. Like Hell is he going to take anything back, though. He meant what he said.

“Guys!” Kirishima cries out, looking concerned. “Is now really the time to be declaring war on each other? We’re about to go on!”

“It’s the perfect time!” Katsuki yells in retaliation, glaring at Kirishima with smiling, sharpened teeth. “I’m feeling more ready than ever!”

Just then, Iida takes it as his cue to march into the room, arms waving in their typical robotic fashion.

“Everyone!” The class president calls, glasses glinting in the light. “It’s time for us to head to the stadium entrance! Ready yourselves and walk calmly in a single-file line!”

The class hurry to reach the field entrance in a crowded blob of anxiety and impatience, completely disregarding Iida’s pleas for order. They’re apparently supposed to be the first of the first-year classes on the field, so they need to get there quickly. When they reach it, they get about twenty seconds worth of a breather listening to Present Mic commentate before he announces the arrival of the first-years.

“First on- these up and coming kids are the ones to watch this year! I give you- CLASS 1-A!Present Mic screams, and they collectively take it as their cue to walk on.

The moment they take their first steps into the stadium, the crowd explodes into raucous cheers. Some of the class are sporting rather nervous looks, others are looking thoroughly overjoyed to be there- and most are an unfortunate combination of the two. While Shinsou may be as nervous as he is excited, Bakugou looks as if he wants nothing more than to dive head-first into the competition. Kirishima is bouncing by Bakugou’s side, and asks if the blond is even nervous at all.

“Nope.” Katsuki responds smugly. “I’m just getting even more excited!” Kirishima grins at the typical Bakugou response, and so the class reaches the centre of the field. The rest of the first year classes are introduced, and soon enough, Midnight is there front and centre.

“This year’s first-year representative- or, representatives- will now give a short speech. Can Bakugou Katsuki and Shinsou Hitoshi please make their way up onto the stage?” Midnight walks off onto the side lines, and so the duo stride upwards to face the world. There are some mutters from their peers as they pass, and Kirishima gives them both a thumbs-up and a huge smile when they make eye-contact.

The two spare each other a look, and count down to three in their heads before Bakugou begins to speak.

“Quirks are like a genetic lottery.” Bakugou begins abruptly, leaning into the microphone and foregoing any preamble. “You never know what you’re gonna get ‘til you’ve got it. You could get something real powerful, or you could get something mundane. You could get something completely different from your parents’ quirks, or you could get nothing at all.” The crowd is deadly silent. Once Bakugou’s stopped speaking, Shinsou begins immediately.

“And it’s stupid, because quirks can be so random- and yet we see fit to judge a person’s entire character on it. We decide what kinda person someone is or was or will be by looking at the one thing about themselves they can never change. People with ‘flashy quirks’ are Heroes; people with ‘scary quirks’ are villains; and everyone else is just normal. It’s been like this for a heck of a long time.” The audience almost seems like they’re holding their breath, so Bakugou speaks a little louder, more intensely.

“And it’s time for that to change. It’s time for people to start proving that they’re more than just their quirks. Our lives are worth more than the number of joints in our pinkie toes.”

Shinsou, going to match Bakugou’s passion, raises his voice a little also. “It’s time to show the world that there's more to us than our DNA. Humans were not made to be vessels for quirks- we’re people. We’re alive, and that alone should be worth celebrating.”

“Some people said we’d never get into Yuuei. Some especially loud-mouthed people-” Bakugou says accusingly, looking Endeavour dead in the eyes from where he sits in the crowd, “-said we shouldn’t even be allowed through the front gate.” Even from the podium, they can see the Hero’s gaze narrow in anger. Katsuki grins viciously. “But here we are. Best friends for ten years, and joint-top scorers in the entrance exam.”

“We’re gonna be Heroes.” Hitoshi says, like the inevitability it is. “And it’s about time other people started realising that they can be Heroes, too- no matter what quirk they were born with, if any at all.”

Everyone has the capacity to do whatever the Hell they want with their lives. Anyone can be a Hero- all they have to do is stand up is say ‘This is what I’m going to do’, and they can do it.” Shinsou, once Bakugou finishes the sentence, breathes in deeply and speaks louder than Bakugou’s ever heard him.

“Everyone has the capacity for greatness. Anyone can go beyond.” Bakugou, like Shinsou, takes a deep breath in, and screams.

“AND EVERYONE, EVERYONE, CAN BE-!”

The two both rear their heads back to look at the sky in sync, and the people in the stands- knowing what comes next- join in, shrieking at the top of their lungs.

“PLUS ULTRA!”

As the crowd screams, Hitoshi looks at Katsuki and laughs wetly- it almost looks like the purple-haired boy is crying.

“And so it begins.” Shinsou says quietly, and Bakugou smiles like they’ve already won. They walk off the stage to the sound of more people cheering for the revolution than they’d ever dreamed would.

Guess people’s minds are already changing. Now all they’ve gotta do is prove it’s worth it.

Notes:

Well, here it is. The beginning of the end.

That speech took me AGES to think up. In the end, I just put on some good music and wrote whatever resentment-filled venting came into my head! Hope it turned out okay!! (Sorry about all the line breaks between the scenes, by the way!)

Feel free to comment about any predictions you have for the plot!! I love hearing what people think! Feedback is the only sustenance that I need, honestly.

EITHER WAY, I hope you enjoyed. Have a good week, and keep doing what you're doing!!

Chapter 14: Yeet Sticks and the Art of Blowing Yourself Up

Summary:

The first event is decided by the spin of a wheel, and Bakugou’s hijinks blow the competition out of the water (or should I say the minefield?).

Notes:

Well hey there!! This chapter's over a week late, and a bit shorter than usual- I'm really sorry about that!! But, you know how it is!

Also- and this is VERY IMPORTANT- I have discovered that one of the commentors on this story is a PHENOMENAL artist!!! Like, dude, I'm in awe.
Her Ao3 is RainySoul, and her Twitter is @RainySoul01 !!! Please go check her out!!! I've looked at some of her Bakugou art and it is TOP-TIER content!!!!

Talented artists aside, here's the chapter!! Hope you enjoy!! (Note about Basically an Angry Environmentalist at the end, if you're interested!)

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Dudes!” Kirishima shouts to them over the roar of the crowd, once they’ve both walked off the podium. “That was amazing! One of the manliest things I’ve ever seen!”

Bakugou grins, usual complimentary flush absent from his face in the wake of his mounting adrenaline. “Yeah, took fucking ages to perfect it. Our original idea was to just say ‘Fuck you all, we’re gonna win’, and walk off.” (Katsuki neglects to mention that that particular speech was solely his idea- Hitoshi had no part in that whatsoever.)

Kirishima laughs, sounding like church-bells on someone’s wedding day. “Well, as funny as that would’ve been, I’m really glad that’s the one you went with!” Shinsou and Bakugou both grin in response, but their conversation is very rudely interrupted by the sound of Midnight’s voice calling everyone to attention.

“Thank you for the speech, boys! But now it’s time for the first event!” Midnight exclaims, waving her cat-o-nine-tails in the air. The crowd and a handful of students cheer in response, and Midnight presents the giant neon board behind her, which is supposed to work a little like a slot machine. The names of different events flit passed on the screen, until she points her weapon(?) at the board and the spinning stops. It lands on ‘Obstacle Course’ in bright yellow-on-blue capital letters. The audience whoops and hollers as Midnight explains the rules (which the two promptly tune out), and tells them all to line up in front of the gigantic exit to the stadium. It’s a huge swathe of students, and so Bakugou and Shinsou predictably try to wedge their way to the front of it- succeeding with only some struggle.

Hitoshi eyes his surrounding first-year peers with an anxiety dulled by adrenaline, though not quite ignorable. Katsuki, seeing this, grabs his friend’s hand and squeezes it firmly while the students around them chatter in nervous anticipation- causing the purple-haired boy to turn and look at him.

“Let’s try not to get separated.” Katsuki mutters lowly. “We’re winning this together or not at all.” Shinsou doesn’t reply, but he smiles and squeezes his friend’s hand back, and that’s close enough.

A countdown begins from somewhere- reaching down from three to one and the blare of a claxon before the entirety of Yuuei’s first year is shooting off in shouts and short bursts of quirks. Katsuki- true to his word- sprints forward without letting go of his friend’s hand. The running almost appears fruitless when they encounter their first obstacle, however: the crowded corridor. The first challenge is to exit the stadium itself, it seems. Shinsou, eager to escape the horrific depths of the student masses, thinks fast.

“Poles!” Hitoshi whispers hurriedly to Katsuki through gritted teeth. In lieu of a reply, Bakugou removes the pole from his belt just as Shinsou does the same- and when they’ve extended the staffs to their full length- with a hastily coordinated swing, the pair vault clean over the crowd of teenagers. Right after they’ve gone airborne and flung themselves over their peers, the ground beneath everyone’s feet freezes solid, and Todoroki bursts forward in a cloud of freezing mist. Before they can land on the ice and inevitably slip and fall, they use their poles to vault them again just before they hit the ground. It’s a little more tricky to manoeuvre the staffs while in the air, but they’ve been practising shit like this for weeks, so they manage just fine.

They end up on the ground right in front of where a huge patch of thick frost turns to just a thin, slippery path which Todoroki had created to speed himself along. Shinsou notices that Class 1-A are all rushing forward, and realises that Todoroki hadn’t managed to catch them out, either; they’d probably been expecting it from the boy, what with all the declarations he’d been making earlier. By now, though, pretty much all of the first year had broken free of the cold trap, and were trying to gain on the three of them, as well as attempting to overtake the students in front of them. Bakugou, obviously, isn’t having that- so he drags Shinsou into a sprint, right into the next obstacle.

“OH YEAH! Present Mic’s voice screams from the speakers that neither of them had noticed before. “HOW WILL THESE LITTLE LISTENERS HANDLE THOSE GIGANTIC ROBOTS?! I’M ON THE EDGE OF MY SEAT!”

There, right in front of them, is five of the zero-pointers from the entrance exam, along with a few two and three-pointers. A crowd of their peers has accumulated in front of the robots now, all wary about how they might get passed the gargantuan metal contraptions. Bakugou, sticking with his usual ‘blow up your problems’ philosophy, blankly reaches into his pouch and pulls out a grenade. Removing the pin, he rolls it towards one of the robots, and the ensuing explosion makes more than a few people scream in surprise (Shinsou’s pretty sure that Kaminari’s one of them). Taking advantage of the crowd’s bewildered idleness and the opening between the robots the blast created, the pair rush forward- charging passed with all the power and force of the wildebeest herd that killed Mufasa (a joke once made before, but still fitting). On their way, Bakugou spots a large piece of shrapnel from one of the steel beasts on the ground. He picks it up on their way past- it might come in handy later, after all.

There’s a stretch of the course that doesn’t pose any challenge to them, so they sprint forward with wild abandon, trying to close the gap between them and Todoroki at least a little- Shinsou keeping an eye on the people further behind to make sure nobody’s gaining on them. Ahead, they spot the next obstacle. It appears to be a canyon, with deep gorges between the cliffs that are conjoined only by thin stretches of rope. It’s intended to be a matter of balance, of course- but one they aren’t particularly bothered by. Probably because this is what having extendable poles is for.

“On three, we’ll vault over.” Shinsou mutters as they continue their rapid approach. Bakugou nods in acknowledgement.

“One..” Shinsou begins, gripping his staff tight in his hand, noticing his friend doing the same.

“Two…” They’re getting dangerously close to the edge now, and though they don’t stop running even for a second, they both ready their poles. Hopefully they can use the momentum of their running start to get them safely over the ravine,

“Three!” Shinsou shouts, as the pair slam their extended staffs onto the ground, effectively flinging themselves onwards and upwards.

“WHAT FANTASTIC COORDINATION!” Present Mic exclaims excitedly, practically buzzing with an energy that Hitoshi can hear even in the man’s voice. “LET’S JUST HOPE THAT THEY CAN STICK THE LANDING!”

Belatedly, Hitoshi realises that they’re going to make it across the gap just fine, but he hadn’t actually been counting on a safe landing when they reached the other side. Fortunately, however- before he can freak out and/or start saying his goodbyes- he has an idea.

“Katsuki! Metal sled!” Hitoshi cries, hoping that the blond gets the message. Thankfully, Katsuki comes in clutch and sticks the large hunk of robot shrapnel underneath them before they can hit the ground, the piece of metal carrying them forward like some sort of weird sled. It skids to a stop some few metres ahead, so the two bounce up and start running again. Bakugou brings the shrapnel piece with them once more, realising how useful it is to have the thing around.

The two are far enough ahead of everyone else that they don’t really need to worry about getting over-taken- but Todoroki had cleared the ravine with much the same ease, and was still sitting snugly in first place. Now obviously, neither of them could abide that, though, fittingly enough- a solution to this particular problem provided itself in the form of a literal minefield. Mr. Freeze himself was only a little further away- trying his best to run across but awkwardly failing without the use of his quirk. Getting passed the landmines without his quirk or being able to just run straight seemed to be posing some modicum of difficulty to the heterochromatic boy, and the thought brought Katsuki immense satisfaction

“How the Hell are we gonna get across?” Shinsou blurted, painfully aware that every millisecond they spent standing there was a millisecond away from the other catching up. “Run?” he suggested incredulously, scoffing at the notion.

An idea happened to strike Katsuki, then- and so he looked down at the large metal plate he held tucked underneath his arm, grinning wickedly. Hitoshi, noticing his expression, followed his gaze downwards towards the shrapnel, and paled considerably- features contorting with slowly dawning horror as the plan registered in his mind.

“No.” Hitoshi rebuked bluntly, though Katsuki’s face remained locked firmly into one of wicked glee. “Absolutely not. No. Not happening. No.

Two seconds later, and he’s digging up landmines with his friend. He hates being a pushover.

“We’re gonna die.” Shinsou says, though his comment is very pointedly ignored. “We’re gonna get blown up, and it’s gonna kill us.”

“Nah,” Bakugou retorts, far too nonchalantly for what they’re about to do. “God still has that restraining order on me, and I’m sure Satan likes his throne where it is. I’m not going fucking anywhere.

Deciding that they’ve dug up enough mines to blow up a small building, both huddle next to each other, holding up the shrapnel like a shield. Or, more appropriately, like a sled they’re about to go downhill on, only- instead of going downhill- they’re blasting themselves sky-high. Just at the last second, as they’re counting down, Present Mic finally notices them.

“WAIT A HOT SEC! WHAT’S GOING ON OVER TH-”

The Pro-Hero doesn’t get the chance to finish his sentence, because they choose that moment to literally belly-flop onto the pile of dug up landmines, and their vision is filled with a haze of glittery pink mist. First year students freeze where they are in open-mouthed shock as, from the cloud of bedazzled smoke- a pair of crazed, screaming teenagers emerge- both completely losing their shit.

“HOLY SHIT. SHIT. HOLY F U CK-” One screams wildly, clutching onto the makeshift sled for dear life while the other laughs as if he’s a dead man drinking his life away. Both look utterly insane and, quite frankly, it’s an absolutely terrifying sight to behold.

“WHOA!” Present Mic screams, voice some odd mix of awe and terror. “LOOKS LIKE BAKUGOU AND SHINSOU HAVE ACHIEVED LIFTOFF! LOOK AT ‘EM GO!”

The two soar over the other contestants at speed, shuttling passed Todoroki- whose expression is but a blur to their eyes, though undoubtedly adorns some form of surprise. Bakugou is feeling more than pleased with himself- however, when they don’t begin to show any signs of stopping- Shinsou starts getting worried.

“Kats.” Shinsou calls, louder than usual to be heard over the wind whistling in their ears as they tear through the sky. “I think we may have used too many explosives.” Katsuki doesn’t respond, and Hitoshi’s not really sure his friend even heard him in the first place. Regardless, his worry turns to full-blown panic when he realises that they’ve flown over the wall of the stadium, and are now hurtling towards the stadium pitch at the same speed as the meteorite that killed the dinosaurs.

“Kats!” Hitoshi cries, warning call more urgent now, but Katsuki only laughs with manic delight.

“Don’t worry!” He shouts in return, as if Shinsou can do anything but worry. “I’ve got a plan!” This should seriously concern Shinsou- seeing as it was Bakugou’s scheming that got them in the mess in the first place- but he hardly gets the time to think before Bakugou leaps into action. The blond pulls out a grenade that’s marked so as to identify it as one of the much less explosive explosives that Mei repurposed. Those grenades in particular are only really designed to force someone backwards, and Hitoshi suddenly understands what Katsuki’s doing when the blond removes the pin and throws the grenade down at the ground beneath them.

The ensuing explosion sends them careening upwards, though considerably further away from terminal velocity than they had been earlier. They’d been rocketing towards the ground too fast, so Bakugou- in his infinite wisdom- used the grenade as a sort of improvised parachute to interrupt their descent in order to slow the downfall.

Finally- after what felt like an eternity but was probably only really three seconds- they reach the ground. The metal sled clatters and skids across the pitch, and so the pair are both flung unceremoniously onto the ground. Next thing they know, their ears are filled with the sound of roaring cheers, and they raise their heads to see the entire stadium standing.

“WHAT A WIN!” Present Mic screams enthusiastically from where they can see him in the commentary booth. “THAT LAST TRICK REALLY BLEW US ALL AWAY, EH, ERASER?! KNOCKED THE COMPETITION RIGHT OUTTA THE BALLPARK!”

“Oh my God.” Hitoshi mutters, wide-eyed and frightened for his life. “Ohhh my God. My god. Whhhat the fuck. What the God. The fuck. Shit. Hell. Ass.”

Katsuki just laughs- eyes closed and volume matching the whoops of the audience. “I told you we’d win!” He shouts over his own triumphant, slightly hysterical snickers- as if the competition has already been decided.

“Yeah, but we nearly died doing it!” Hitoshi retorts, still thoroughly winded but unwilling to back down.

“But we didn’t!” Katsuki bites back, and they turn their heads to face each other from where they lie sprawled out on the grass, before promptly bursting out into laughter.

Todoroki rushes in a few moments after, ice trailing behind him and visibly confounded by the two lying in the probably-fake grass, which is seemingly the most emotional anyone’s ever seen him. A minute or so following, more first-year students begin pouring into the stadium- five, ten, twenty- until there’s too many to bother with counting. Eventually, still heaving from the adrenaline, Katsuki stands, grinning madly and- sticking out a hand- he helps his purple-haired friend stand on his own two shaky feet.

“I guess we’ve made one heck of an impression- between our speech and whatever the Hell that was.” Shinsou jokes, nudging Bakugou in the side. Bakugou, in return, slings an arm around his friend’s shoulders and gestures to the crowd that pulsates with raw, manic energy.

“Just look at them, ‘Toshi.” The blond says, eyes glittering in the sunlight. “The revolution has already begun.”

Oh,fuck yes.

Notes:

Well, there it is!! Hope you liked it!
And, guess who's finally posted the first chapter of the Earth!Bakugou fic he's been on about for literal months?? THIS GUY!!
I'm really excited about this fic- the update schedule for it is probably gonna be a bit all over the place, but STILL!

Tell me what you think of this chapter, if you'd like! Have the good days you deserve, wash your hands (please for the love of GOD)- and keep doing what you're doing!

Chapter 15: The Fear of God and *Stomp Stomp Clap*

Summary:

They want to do everything in their power to stay in first place. And so in the cavalry battle- with the power of Queen- Shinsou says ‘Fuck it’ and promptly goes apeshit.

Notes:

Hey! I got this one out in time for the 1 year anniversary of this fic! Look at that! It's been one whole year since I started this!
This one’s a little messily put-together, but I promised you it’d be chaotic, and chaotic it will be. There is,,, so much screaming, and it's longer than the last chapter, at least!

(I also changed some of the rules for the battle- I needed a team of six and two riders to be allowed for the sake of plot convenience.)
Without further ado- here’s the cavalry battle!

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

All the first year students are once again huddled around the podium Midnight stands on, electric board looming behind her. The smell of sweat hangs heavy in the air as some of the students latest to arrive wheeze exhaustedly. Midnight looks up at the crowd, smile almost malicious as she points her cat-o-nine-tails straight to the sky.

“Are you ready for the second event?!” She cries, addressing the crowd. The audience roars in response, cheering their affirmations while Midnight’s smile broadens. “Well, in that case, let’s find out what it’ll be!” The words on the slot machine spin wildly, names of events passing by in an illegible blur before they begin to slow. Finally, the spinning halts, and lands firmly on-

“The Cavalry Battle!” Midnight exclaims gleefully, “That’s right, folks! Our first years will be teaming up with their friends in groups of two to six people maximum to steal headbands from opposing teams! They’ll organise themselves in a horse-and-rider formation; with one or two people acting like a rider, and the rest carrying them and keeping them from falling down! The kids who made it to the top forty-two in the obstacle course will be assigned headbands worth a certain number of points, with one rider wearing the headband worth their total number of points! And, just to make it more interesting, first place in the obstacle course is worth… ten million!

Bakugou and Shinsou’s grins freeze in place as their peers all turn to look at them, something hungry in their eyes that makes sweat roll down Shinsou’s back. Either not noticing or not caring, Midnight continues her spiel.

“Now, because we couldn’t really pick who came first between Bakugou and Shinsou, we’ve decided that- as joint first- they’ll be worth five million points each! Together, they’re worth the ten!” There’s practically no reason to say it, seeing as everyone and their dog knows that the pair are going to be on the same team anyway. A pointless formality, they suppose. “You’ve got fifteen minutes to get your teams together and plan, so hop to it, kids!”

Immediately, Shinsou grabs Bakugou’s hand while a good chunk of the students who had been staring them down whirl away to form teams with their friends, and a horde of their peers who placed below forty-second exit the pitch to sit in the stands. There’s a moderately sized crowd scrambling for the duo’s attention- enough to make Shinsou slightly uneasy. Nevertheless, Hitoshi gathers his courage and calls out to two of the more familiar faces in the crowd.

“Mei! Kirishima!” He shouts, locking eyes with the two. Hatsume is practically throwing people out of the way to get to the front as Kirishima follows suit, politely requesting that people sidestep so he can get passed (Ah, the duality of man). Kirishima beams at them with all the brightness of a neutron star, and Hatsume has a wild look in her eyes as she tosses an arm around Hitoshi’s shoulder. She tries to do the same to Bakugou, and though he dodges it carefully, she remains unbothered. Bakugou, thinking that they should have at least two more people in the team, spots one of the more hesitant people in his class lingering at the back of the swarm.

“Oi! Ponytail!” He roars, effectively catching Yaoyorozu’s attention. “You were pretty fucking helpful during the indoor battle we had! Join our team!” Momo, when faced with Bakugou’s intense determination, sees no reason to refuse. So, nodding, she makes her way forward- people parting for her like the Red Sea until she’s in front of them. The crowd has dwindled by now, but within moments Katsuki’s decided who their final teammate is going to be.

“Flex Tape! Get over here!” Katsuki demands, directing his focus to the black-haired boy still loitering close by after shooting Yaoyorozu an appreciative grin. Complacently, Sero moves towards them- and so they had their six team members.

“Me an’ Shinsou have more than enough explosives to last us the match.” Bakugou announces, calling the five others present to attention. “But, first things first: Robo-Bitch- are those the fucking rocket boots you were building?”

“Why, yes they are!” Mei says, eyes glinting mischievously. “I had to finish them at school because my uncle was afraid that I’d put another hole in the garage, but it was worth it! I even had the time to make a second pair!”

Kirishima, Yaoyorozu, and Sero all appear to be on different levels of frightened by Mei, but Bakugou nods approvingly. “Nice. Give the second pair to Ponytail- that way you two plus Flex Tape can handle manoeuvrability. In that case, I’d say… Robo-Chick at the back with Tape Face for easier get-away, and Shitty Hair at the front with Ponytail for better offense. Tape face can pull us forward and with the rocket boots at the front and back we’ve got the boost we’ll need to get all six of us airborne. Me an’ Hito-shit’ll go up top- I’ll go behind him; back-to-back.” Not wanting to argue with the blond now that he seemed to be fully immersed in strategizing, the five of them nod and allow him to continue. “Ponytail, can you make a mic and a pair of speakers to connect to it? Like, small ones? With some kinda straps on ‘em. We’ll probably all need earplugs, too, now that I’m thinking about it.”

“Uh, yes! Of course.” Yaoyorozu replies quickly, slightly startled at being called out. She pulls the aforementioned items out of her arm and hands them to Bakugou, who proceeds to toss them to Shinsou. Shinsou distributes the earplugs while Katsuki explains his though process.

“If you wear that mic and keep those speakers strapped to your shoulders, you can project your voice and brainwash people or whatever.” Shinsou agrees with his friend. Looking at the speaker he’s been given, an idea strikes him, so he gestures for Mei to come forward whilst Bakugou turns to the other three to talk strategy. He tries to suppress a grin as he makes his request.

“I, uh, you know how you usually have something for everything? Do you… I dunno, have something that I can connect to one these speakers to play music on? Just one specific song. I get that you probably don’t, ‘cause why would you even have something like that with you right now-?” Before he can ramble any more than he already has, Hatsume shoves a finger in front of his lips to silence his waffling, and looks at him excitedly, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

“I do! It’s in the waiting room with the rest of my stuff! I’ll go run and get it with the other pair of rocket boots!” And then she’s gone, zipping away between groups of people in the general direction of the waiting rooms. Bewildered but pleased, Shinsou stands there, opting to listen in on Bakugou’s tirade as he waits for the inventor to return. Katsuki, catching his gaze, includes him in the conversation.

“’Cause we’re gonna be wearing earplugs, we need to be able to tell each other when we’re gonna move in a different direction. Tap Shitty Hair and Elbows on the left shoulders when we need to go left, and right when we need to go right, and I’ll do the same with Ponytail and Robo-Bitch. Tap ‘em on the head once to move forward, twice to go back, and three times to launch ourselves upwards.”

“Got it.” Hitoshi replies, smirking slightly at his friend. “I’ll tell Mei when she gets back. How will you know which way I’m telling Kirishima and Sero to go, though?”

“Cool. And, you can just touch my left or right arm or something. Whatever works. Where the Hell did she run off to, anyway?”

“She was gonna grab something from the waiting room for me. And the second pair of rocket boots.” Shinsou says, deciding to be somewhat vague and mysterious for once in his life. Katsuki raises a sceptical eyebrow, but doesn’t question it, trusting his best friend enough to know that it won’t be anything too stupid.

Two minutes later, Hatsume is marching back towards their group. Shinsou splits off from the other four to meet her. “You got it?” He asks, already knowing the answer from the grin adorning her face.

“Yep!” She responds, eyes gleaming as she hands him the small device. “You can just connect it to one of the speakers and play whatever song you want! What song were you thinking of anyway?”

Hitoshi smirks wickedly, well aware that, whereas Bakugou’s talent shone through in the obstacle course, this event was going to be his chance to let loose. “Oh, you’ll see.” Mei doesn’t question him any further beyond that, so he explains the communication strategy they’d discussed in her absence as she hands Yaoyorozu the second pair of rocket boots. She nods along, and from there, they’re pretty much ready to go.

Five minutes before the event is due to start, Hitoshi is strapping the speakers onto his shoulders and attaching the mic to his ear so it curls around to reach his face. Mei helps him fiddle with the device she gave him, finding the song he’d wanted and downloading it with a triumphant grin and connecting the device to the speaker on his left shoulder before depositing the item safely into his pocket for when he plans to put it to use. Walking over to the rest of the group, he grins at Bakugou, the pair exchanging a high-five while the blond talks to Yaoyorozu- who’s fitting the rocket boots to her feet.

“You’re one hundred percent sure you’ll be able to manoeuvre around in them?” Bakugou asks. Momo rushes to reassure him that, yes- for the third time- she’ll be just fine. Kirishima, deciding that’s his cue to join the conversation, jumps over and cheerily claps Katsuki on the back.

“We can do this, Baku-Bro, don’t you worry! With all of us together, we’ll win for sure!” Katsuki grumbles something underneath his breath in response, but there’s a gin on his face and a rosy blush on his cheeks, so it can’t have been anything too damning. Eijirou only laughs, smiling fondly.

“Time’s up!” Midnight cries, an alarm sounding to pull all the team’s away from their planning. “Will each team please get into position on the edges of the pitch while the headbands with your total points on are distributed!”

The team of six walk towards one side of the pitch that’s further away from where most of the other teams have positioned themselves. Cementoss hands them their headband- the combination of all their points totalling to ten million, eight hundred, and twenty five. Shinsou ties the band onto his head, making sure that the knot is tight enough that it’ll take at least a little strength to pull it off, and messing around with his huge mop of purple hair in order to make the strip of cloth less visible.

“Hey, Kat-suck-it.” Shinsou calls as he fiddles with the excess cloth that could be used to grab the band from his head. “Could you tuck these extra bits in for me?” Without answering, Katsuki saunters to his friend and does as asked, making sure that in order to take the headband, the other person would have to be centimetres from Hitoshi’s face. “Kats, if someone gets close to grabbing it, take it off me, put it on and don’t let go. I don’t care if you pull my hair.” Bakugou agrees, smirking, and Kirishima looks a little worried about something.

“Uh, dudes,” Eijirou starts, hesitant, “is this really fair? I mean, shouldn’t we give the other teams a chance, at least?” Bakugou and Shinsou take one look at the redhead concerned face and laugh.

“Shitty Hair,” Katsuki begins, grinning, “it’s not about playing fair. Life isn’t about playing fair.” Hitoshi nods, but Kirishima still looks a little put-out. Bakugou feels kind of bad, so he attempts to reassure the other boy. “Besides, I’d say the manliest fucking thing we can do is give it our all, yeah? It’d be an insult to their abilities to do anything less!”

Kirishima smiles, looking more sure of their strategy than he did before, so Bakugou reckons he’s done his job. After making sure everyone’s wearing their earplugs, they start getting themselves into formation- Yaoyorozu in front left with Kirishima on the right, and Hatsume in back right with Sero on the left. Shinsou climbs on top of them, Kirishima and Yaoyorozu taking his weight (To be fair to Bakugou, he only looks slightly jealous). He makes sure that the speakers, mic, and headband are safely secured to his person, and the device Mei gave him is still in his pocket. All is where it should be, and with that reassurance, he reaches out his hand and helps Bakugou up, and the blond shifts once’s he’s up so they’re back-to-back. Katsuki reaches for Hitoshi’s hand and squeezes it, getting the same in return before he retracts it and keeping it hovering above the pouch on his waist that contains his explosives.

“ARE YOU READY FOR UA’S CAVALRY BATTLE?! IT’S GONNA BE WILD! Present Mic screams from the commentary booth. The crowd cheers in response, and Midnight waves her weapon to gesture for silence.

“Let’s begin the countdown!” She announces- loud enough that their group of six can hear over the ear plugs- stepping back so she’s a safe distance away from the pitch. “Three! Two! One!”

“GO!”

All at once, every single one of the opposing teams is charging towards their group at frightening speeds.

“AND THEY’RE OFF!” Present Mic screeches, like he’s commentating on some kind of Formula One race. “LOOKS LIKE IT’S GONNA BE A COMPETITION OF WHO CAN GET THE TEN-MILLION FROM SHINSOU AND BAKUGOU’S TEAM!”

If they can’t keep that headband on Shinsou’s head for the ten minutes the battle lasts for, they’ve lost, but they’re not going to let that happen. Hitoshi reaches over and taps Katsuki on both arms three times, then quickly proceeds to tap Yaoyorozu and Kirishima on the heads three times as well. Bakugou must have gotten the message across to Hatsume and Sero, because suddenly Mei and Momo are powering up their boots, and with directional aid from Hanta’s tape- the team fling themselves over the competition. Shinsou, grinning, powers up his mic.

“Bombs away!” Shinsou shouts to be heard over their earplugs. Bakugou smiles maniacally, reaching into his pouch and snatching a pair of grenades. There are a few exclamations of surprise from people on the pitch at his words, so Shinsou quickly puts the three he notices under his control. “Send ‘em flying!” He says, just as much to Katsuki as to their brainwashed peers. The controlled students start causing a commotion just as the grenades hit the ground. Three teams are thrown violently backwards, and Shinsou watches smugly as Shoji falls to the floor and Asui falls from his hold to the ground- not that he has anything in particular against either of them.

“WHOA! TEAM BAKU-SHIN ARE USING AERIAL ATTACKS, AND IT LOOKS LIKE TEAM SHOJI’S RIDER IS ON THE GROUND, AND THEREFORE OUTTA THE GAME!” At Present Mic’s announcement, Shoji and Asui make their way off the pitch and to the stands. However, Hitoshi is distracted from the sight by their team landing firmly back on the ground.

A team comprised of what seem to be 1-B students- led by the silver-haired boy Shinsou vaguely remembers- charges towards them with likely ill intent. Before they can use the rocket boots to get them away, however, the kid who looks kind of like a skeleton does something to the ground they’re standing on, and they start sinking into it like mud. Shinsou is mildly alarmed by the situation as the team approaches with others following behind them, so, he does what any decent man would.

He goes absolutely fucking batshit.

The silver haired boy is reaching for the headband now that he’s close enough to see it, so Shinsou grabs onto it with both hands, and screams as loudly as humanely possible.

“WHAT’S SHINSOU DOING OVER THERE?!” Present Mic shouts, just as Shinsou rears his head back, and swings his skull into the other boy’s face, smashing his nose in. The 1-B student screeches in pain, clutching his bloody and almost definitely broken nose. Kirishima fights off the ‘horses’ with hardened fists, and the other team scrambles backwards, the skeleton-looking boy’s quirk releasing and leaving their team free. Shinsou stops screaming when looks like one of the other team’s riders- one with blond, grey eyes, and a cocky smile- wants to speak, having observed the scene.

“My, my-what’s this? It seems to me that Class 1-A is of brutes. With behaviour like that, I don’t know how you expect to win the competition.”

“Those are some pretty bold words,” Hitoshi pants, a wide smirk spreading across his face in a show of manic delight, “for someone within headbutting-range.”

“W-what?” Splutters one of the blond boy’s teammates, so Shinsou quickly brainwashes the kid.

“We’re here to fight bitch boy.” Shinsou announces, imbuing the command into the sentence to mask it from the blond. The student under his command immediately begins trying to push his rider off. Taking the window of opportunity, Hitoshi repeats the three-tap process, and they’re blasting off into the air just as one of the other ‘horses’ hits the brainwashed one, and they’re pulled from Shinsou’s control. With the help of Sero’s tape, their team boosts itself towards a clear section of the pitch, and Hitoshi looks across the rest of the field.

The team with the silver haired boy as the rider once again stampedes towards them, and Bakugou, looking behind him to see the team, tugs Shinsou’s hand and puts a small, circular device in his palm. Hitoshi looks at it, and immediately recognises it for what it is when it starts beeping rapidly.

“Yeet!” Instinctively, he throws it aggressively towards the other team and, the moment it hits the ground, the silver haired boy’s team- along with the other teams in the vicinity- is sent careening upwards in a cloud of pink glitter.

“WHAT IN THE-! WAS THAT ONE OF THE OBSTACLE COURSE MINES?! WHEN DID HE GET THAT?!”

“Kat-suck-it, that was a contact explosive- how did you not get us both blown up?” Shinsou demands, though there’s an impressed smirk splitting his face. Bakugou looks at him and grins, tapping his nose.

“Trade secret, Hito-shit.” Katsuki replies. And then there’s ice everywhere.

One minute the stadium pitch is filled with students and their ragtag teams, and the next they can see nothing but glaciers sticking up in every direction, with only one team in front of them, looing ineffably serous. Kaminari and Jirou are at the back, with Iida at the front holding the majority of the weight of their glaring rider.

“I’m taking that headband from you.” Todoroki declares, eyes thunderous and a thin sheen of frost clinging to his right arm.

“How much time is left?” Shinsou asks, blatantly ignoring him and instead turning his gaze down to question his team.

“Just over two minutes!” Yaoyorozu hisses in reply and, with a slow smile spreading across his face, Shinsou carefully takes the device Mei gave him out of his pocket.

“Perfect.” He says, and then, using his mic to make himself louder- “Ladies and gentlemen, this is the end of the fucking competition.”

He presses play, and immediately, the sound of echoing stomps and clapping hands blast from the speaker on his shoulder, practically shaking the stadium from the volume of it, and Todoroki’s eyes go impossibly wide. The problem with the noise is made clear when Jirou flinches backwards, gritting her teeth.

Recognising the familiar rhythmic stomps, hoards of onlookers in the stand immediately join in, stomping their feet and clapping their hands in time with the beat. Hitoshi, knowing that this makes his plan doubly effective, only smiles wider as the lyrics come in and his own voice is accompanied by a thousand others.

“BUDDY YOU’RE A BOY, MAKE A BIG NOISE. PLAYING IN THE STREET GONNA BE A BIG MAN SOMEDAY. Hitoshi sings within the cacophony of strangers, voices loud enough that they border on just shouting. “YOU GOT MUD ON YOUR FACE, YOU BIG DISGRACE. KICKING YOUR CAN ALL OVER THE PLACE. SINGIN’-”

“WE WILL WE WILL ROCK YOU. WE WILL WE WILL ROCK YOU.”

Regardless of whether or not they had been singing before, a whole army of new voices join in. Even Midnight on the side-lines and Present Mic in the commentary booth decide to just go with it. It’s almost poetic- a feeling of unity unbounded by quirks or status or anything of the sort. Just a huge bunch of people collectively ganging up on this poor group of four teenagers that are trying to push forward and take the ten-million headband from Shinsou despite the sheer, unbridled force of the racket. As if Shinsou would ever let them win when the whole audience was cheering for them now.

As they all continue singing, Shinsou rushes to repeat the three-tap routine, and six of them mad with glee.

“BUDDY YOU’RE A YOUNG MAN, HARD MAN. SHOUTING IN THE STREET- GONNA TAKE ON THE WORLD SOMEDAY.

Their team has blasted into the air by now, hovering above where Todoroki’s team now stands. Bakugou decides to drop a grenade beneath them. He reaches for it, grinning in elation.

“YOU GOT BLOOD ON YOUR FACE, YOU BIG DISGRACE. WAVING YOUR BANNER ALL OVER THE PLACE.”

The grenade hits the ground, and the howling of the chorus is accompanied by a well-timed explosion.

“WE WILL WE WILL ROCK YOU."

"SING IT!"

"WE WILL WE WILL ROCK YOU.”

Todoroki’s team is thrown violently backwards from the force of the grenade’s blast, and their team of six reaches the ground with a thunk as Todoroki uses his ice to keep his own team from falling over. The opposing team recovers quickly, scrambling to compose themselves. Iida shouts to be heard over the singing, telling his team about a ‘special move’ of his. Seeing as Iida’s quirk exists for the sole purpose of making him go fast, Shinsou assumes that his special move is something along the lines of ‘More Fast’.

“BUDDY YOU’RE AN OLD MAN, POOR MAN. PLEADING WITH YOUR EYES- GONNA MAKE YOU SOME PEACE SOMEDAY.

Working under this assumption, the moment he sees Todoroki nod and Iida begin prepping, Hitoshi subtly performs the three-tap process. Just as Tenya looks as if he’s about to activate his quirk, they blast upwards, just in time to see Iida shoot his team off like a rocket and end up right where they had been mere milliseconds prior. Todoroki looks to them in nonchalant disdain as Iida hangs his head, realising his plan was a failure.

“YOU GOT MUD ON YOUR FACE, YOU BIG DISGRACE. SOMEBODY BETTER PUT YOU BACK INTO YOUR PLACE.

Hitoshi feels bad at the look on Iida’s face, but only kind of. After all, the whole point of the Sports Festival is to prove yourselves the best, and that’s exactly what they’re trying to do.

“WE WILL WE WILL ROCK YOU."

"SING IT!"

"WE WILL WE WILL ROCK YOU.”

“EVERYBODY!” Hitoshi shouts above the crowd. Looking down, even the some of the other teams are joining in whilst they battle it out for a place in the one-one-ones.

“WE WILL WE WILL ROCK YOU! WE WILL WE WILL ROCK YOU!”

“ALRIGHT!” Shinsou screams, laughing as he turns up the volume on his speaker as loud as it can possibly go, and the electric guitar solo bursts forth like a tsunami of sound. The teams below are flung back by the sheer power of the volume, and even before the match has reached its conclusion, everyone knows they’ve won.

Bakugou, just to be dramatic, pulls out three more of the landmines from the obstacle course, and throws them onto the pitch. They explode with a bedazzled flourish as Midnight and Present Mic count down the time.

“AND THE CAVALRY BATTLE IS OFFICALLY OVER! Present Mic announces loudly, just as the guitar solo ends, and the entire crowd explodes with cheers. People are rising from their seats and screaming at the top of their lungs as their team descends to the ground, and Shinsou couldn’t be happier if he tried.

Once they’ve reached the ground, Shinsou and Bakugou climb off, and so the team stands there, basking in their victory and high-fiving each other with such a fervour that some onlookers are surprised that their wrists aren’t broken. The stadium doesn’t quieten in the slightest, even as Present Mic announces the scores.

“FOURTH PLACE: TEAM TOKOYAMI AND URARAKA!” He declares, and even from all the way down on the pitch, they can see the Hero’s excited grin- clearly on as much of an adrenaline high as the rest of them. “THIRD PLACE: TEAM MONOMA! SECOND PLACE: TEAM TODOROKI! AND, FINALLY! FIRST PLACE IS…!”

For a brief moment, there’s a silence, though everyone knows what he’s about to say.

“TEAM SHINSOU AND BAKUGOU!”

Once again, the stadium erupts into roars of elation, and the team of six shout in victory.

“We fucking did it!” Bakugou shouts, clapping his best friend on the back. Shinsou can only laugh in return, residual adrenaline pounding in veins like blood.

Because, my God, they’ve done it.

(From across the pitch, Todoroki looks at them- at the two best friends laughing and celebrating like they’ve won the whole damn competition; like each victory is the greatest thing they’ve ever achieved.)

(Todoroki watches, and decides that there’s something they need to know.)

Notes:

You have NO idea how difficult it was to pick which song to use.
I was originally gonna go with Mambo No.5, then I thought 'No, All Star's better', and then, just as I was finishing up writing the chapter, my brain went: 'NO- CHANGE IT TO QUEEN', and I did. I had to re-write the whole section again to make it fit, but personally, I think it's better this way.
Also, big news! The 1st chapter of ‘Basically an Angry Environmentalist’ is FINALLY out! I’m really excited about it, and everyone who’s read it so far has been so nice!

You're all wonderful people, and I couldn't ask for better readers! I haven't really had time to edit, so please point out any mistakes you find, or make any comments you'd like to make! I hope you enjoy what's to come- so have a good time in the mean time, and keep doing what you're doing!!

Chapter 16: “Congrats! You’ve unlocked the Tragic Anime Backstory™!”

Summary:

Todoroki wisely decides to unload a shit ton of emotional baggage onto two teenagers who hadn’t even needed another excuse to hate Endeavour.

Said teenagers then witness the girls in their class get pranked by some clown, and elect to flip the whole thing on its head in the only way they know how.

Notes:

Whoa!! Would you look at that!! I've updated this three times in the last month!!! AND I got the first chapter of Earth! Bakugou out too!! April's been a real productive month for me!!

Also also!! Big shout-out to Lancer32 and Dabi_the_fuck for being awesome!! Lancer's given me a really super cool fic idea that I'm gonna be putting out on top of the other two at some point- probably once I've gotten chapter 2 of Earth! Bakugou out!! The plot's a surprise, so look forward to that!!
And big thanks to Dabi_the_fuck for being an awesome friend!! Their memes are God tier and they made art based on this!!! Art!!! I've made it as a writer, I'm so happy!!

Either way, here's the chapter!! Hope you enjoy!!

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

It’s the one hour lunch break between the Sports Festival events, and Bakugou and Shinsou are stood in the student/faculty entrance in front of Todoroki Shouto.

They’d been trailing behind the crowd of peers towards the cafeteria, when Shinsou had been tapped on the shoulder. Bakugou would have been as well, but he’d managed to jerk away from the contact as if sensing it. Todoroki had led them over to the empty stadium entrance, and as of yet hadn’t uttered so much as a word. The heterochromatic boy was simply staring at the pair with an unreadable expression, and Bakugou was beginning to appear visibly frustrated with the lack of talking happening.

Acknowledging his friend’s building tension, he links their hands, sending the blond a look before facing the boy opposite them. The Todoroki in question is now staring at their locked hands with a furrowed brow, but looks back up again at the sound of Shinsou’s voice.

“Are we- are we gonna have a conversation? Or did you invite us here for a staring contest? ‘Cause I’ll warn you- Bakugou’s pretty good.” Hitoshi jokes dryly, and Todoroki responds with weighted silence. Shinsou scoffs. “Come on, dude- I know you wanna eat before the next event as much as we do. I’m starving.

“You two have been inseparable since the first day of school.” Todoroki starts abruptly, which really isn’t what they’d been expecting him to say. “Rather than aim for the top individually, you’ve worked together for the entire Festival.”

“Okay…” Shinsou replies slowly, not sure where the boy’s going with this. “What about it?”

Todoroki blinks, as if a thought has suddenly struck him.

“Are you dating or something?”

Bakugou takes one look at Todoroki’s face, and bursts into tears from laughing. Shinsou, though he tries to be more serious, quickly dissolves into doing the same,

“Me, an-and Hito-shit?! HA!” He cries, wheezing. “Are you-are you kidding?! I can't- I can’t breathe!” Todoroki’s expression remains carefully blank as the two compose themselves, and Bakugou wipes the tears from his eyes. “We’re not dating, IcyHot. I’ve known this dumbass-” He’s broken off by a jokingly offended nudge in the ribs, but continues as if he’d gone uninterrupted, “-for tenyears. It’d be like trying to date my brother or something.” Both of them pull a rather interesting face as they picture it, before Hitoshi gives the blue and grey-eyed boy a knowing look.

“That isn’t what you came here to talk about, though, is it?” Hitoshi asks, though it’s hardly a question. Todoroki responds with the slight shake of his head in confirmation. “Then, what do you want?”

“I’ve seen the way All Might looks at you two. You’re connected to him in some way aren’t you?” The peppermint-haired boy accuses, gaze frigid and biting into their own. The two freeze in surprise before relaxing again.

“Not willingly, if that’s what you’re implying.” Bakugou scoffs, rolling his eyes at the notion. The Hero may want a successor, but Bakugou is his own person, and he’ll be damned before he gives up the chance to make his own legacy just to continue someone else’s.

“Still,” Todoroki pushes, “you’re not denying you have some form of a relationship with him. …You’re aware that my father is Endeavour, correct?”

“How could we ever forget.” Katsuki spits, features darkening at the mere mention of the so-called ‘Hero’. Unfazed, Todoroki continues.

“He’s worked his way up through crushing force, but he’s been stuck at number two for the rest of his career; never able to surpass All Might. If you have a connection to him… then it means I need to beat you even more.” Todoroki declares, face ever serious. Shinsou raises an incredulous eyebrow, sceptical at the logic of the other boy’s words.

“Why?” Bakugou asks dryly. “It’s your dad’s grudge.”

Todoroki looks them both hard in the eyes, unrelenting gaze seemingly searching for something within their own expressions. For a moment, nothing is said, and the only sound that’s heard is the distant bustling outside. Melodramatically, Bakugou thinks that if he doesn’t get to eat something before the hour’s break is up, he might just straight up starve. Regardless of Bakugou’s needlessly hyperbolic thoughts, Todoroki seems to find whatever he was looking for in their expressions, and sighs quietly.

“Have you ever heard of quirk marriages?” The other boy asks, a strange look in his eyes that they can’t quite put a name to. They both nod in response, sensing the serious nature of the conversation they’re about to have but not quite liking the direction it appears to be heading in.

“They became a problem around the second and third generation of quirks.” Todoroki explains. “Someone choosing to marry another simply to strengthen and pass on their quirk. My father knew he would never surpass All Might- not by his own merit- and he had enough money and fame to get whatever, whoever he wanted . So he decided- instead of continuing to try and beat All Might in vain- to choose Plan B. He decided to make a child that could. He used his wealth and his status as a Pro-Hero to win over my mother’s family, and succeeded on getting his hands on her quirk. All he wanted was a child with a combination of his and my mother’s quirks, and he pressured her into having children- none of which had what he wanted. Until I was born.” Todoroki pauses for a moment to compose himself.

Okay, they really didn’t like where this was going. What the fuck? Objectively, Endeavour was a fucking asshole, and this seemed like the expected, asshole-behaviour that could come from him- but that didn’t excuse the fact that this sounded seriously messed up. From the looks of it, however, the heterochromatic boy wasn’t done yet.

“In every memory I have of my mother, she’s crying. She once told me my left side was unsightly.” Todoroki continues, putting a shaky hand over the burn scar around his left eye. “That was right before she poured boiling water on my face.”

Katsuki, having been wholly unprepared for that fucking bombshell, chokes in surprise, eyes wide and almost disbelieving. He tries to imagine it, being trapped in the place of his nightmares for his entire childhood. Even thinking about living through those four days on loop for his entire young life makes him swallow uneasily- feeling like something’s stuck in the back of his throat. The small stump on his right foot twinges in pain, though he knows that it should’ve stopped hurting years ago.

“I will never allow myself to become the tool of a man like that.” Todoroki proclaims, clenching his hand into a tight fist, glaring at them with a determination unbidden by dignity. “I’ll show my old man that I can beat you two without his damn quirk. I’ll win the whole Festival without ever using my left side.”

In the wake of such a heartfelt declaration, the two can only stare at the other boy. Taking the silence as rejection of his vow, the boy in question sighs. “I apologise for wasting your time. I’ll be going.” As Todoroki begins to depart, the pair share a brief look of panic before rushing to follow.

“Wait!” Shinsou cries, and Todoroki turns to watch them again, gaze curious. “We may not have the exact same motivations as you- but, you’re not the only one with something to prove.” Bakugou nods, agreeing, and decides to back his friend up.

“All three of us are here because we wanna show the world that we’re more than what our DNA makes us. You’re trying to separate your identity from that fuckwad you call a father, and we’re here to tell the world that quirkless isn’t worthless, and that no power is inherently good or bad. All three of us are here to prove that we’re our own people- just crazy teenagers trying to be Heroes- and we are not defined by what anyone else tries to turn us into. Not helpless, not villains, not the next-in-lines for some fucking bullshit legacy. We’re us, we’re ourselves, and the world’s gonna know it whether it wants to or not.”

“We may not ever really understand what you’ve been through.” Hitoshi starts, feeling proud and unshakeable with his best friend by his side. “And maybe our goals aren’t as ‘worthy’ as yours or whatever-”

“-But we can’t lose, either.” Bakugou finishes, no smirk in sight and yet with eyes gleaming with the heat of a thousand suns. He’s serious. “And we won’t- not when we’ve got each other.”

Todoroki looks at them as if in a new light, gaze searching. Whether or not he finds what he’s looking for, they don’t know, because- only a few seconds later- he’s already gone.

There’s a beat of silence. Hitoshi turns to his best friend.

“…So, wanna grab some lunch?”

“Oh God, please.

-

“Okay,” Bakugou begins as they gorge themselves stupid on all the food they can stomach without it making a reappearance in the middle of the final round, “what the Hell and fuck was that about, d’you think?”

“Dunno.” Shinsou confesses over a mouthful of rice. “But I didn’t think it was physically possible to hate that fiery-bastard more than we already did. ‘Guess you learn something new every day, huh.”

Bakugou scowls, souring at the reminder. “Ugh, I know. I’d reduce that man to atoms with my bare fists if I could say for certain that I’d get away with it. I mean, maybe a seventy or sixty-five percent chance of not getting caught would be good enough justification at this point. So long as the odds are better than half, I’d go with it. ...Y’know what? If we can get Robo-Chick to short out the CCTV or some shit, I bet we could go right now-”

“I’m gonna stop you there, Kat-suck-it.” Hitoshi cuts in hurriedly. He’s rambling to vent his anger, but still- the enthusiasm could be considered worrying to any eavesdroppers without context. “As much as I’d love to give the fucker a piece of my mind, we’re never gonna be Heroes that way. It’s better to get him in the ego, right where it hurts, and live to feel the satisfaction than spend our days rotting in jail or something for a guy who isn’t even worth it.”

Bakugou huffs, but obviously realises that his friend’s got a pretty good point. “Fine. No Thanos-snapping his ass out of existence, then. Plan B it is.”

“Wait, what’s Plan B again?” Shinsou queries, having never been informed that they had any of their plans alphabetised.

“We win the Sports Festival, and tell him to kiss our asses straight to his face.”

“That’s fair.” Shinsou concedes, smirking fondly. “I’m down.”

Bakugou grins smugly in return, and looks curiously over his friend’s shoulder. Shinsou turns to see what the fuss is about, and finds girls he’s never seen before wearing cheerleader outfits and generally being as cheery as the title entails. Not so far away, Kaminari is talking to the girls in their class, gesturing at the cheerleaders and nodding seriously.

“Wonder what Pikachu’s on about.” Katsuki mutters, though he figures that they’ll find out soon enough.

-

They very much do find out what Pikachu was up to earlier, when all the 1-A girls show up after the break in the same cheerleading-outfits as the actual cheerleaders. Some clown near them claps Dunce Face on the back, who grins shakily, and though there’s a slight flush on his cheeks he doesn’t seem very pleased with himself. Ponytail appears to be lamenting ever being born. She whispers as Midnight talks about the optional-student recreational activity, looking upset.

“I can’t believe he tricked me! I made the costumes and everything! This is awful- I have a hard enough time with my Hero costume, and now there’s this, too? On national television?” Yaoyorozu grieves, looking utterly mortified. Katsuki’s more than a little annoyed by the two bastards who appear to have orchestrated the whole thing, but he figures that they can always be dealt with later if he feels like it. Right now, some of the girls look absolutely humiliated by the turn of events, and the cameras trained on them are probably less than helpful. He wracks his brain for a way they can help, and has what he considers to be a stroke of genius.

“Hito-shit, you know how we wanted to try fucking around with different outfits?” Bakugou mutters lowly, leaning towards his friend conspiringly. Hitoshi raises an eyebrow and gestures for him to continue, so he points at the girls in their cheerleader outfits. “What d’you say we join in on the fun?”

A grin spreads across Shinsou’s face, and Bakugou doesn’t even need an answer to know that his friend’s completely down for it. With a decisive nod, the moment Midnight is done explaining the recreational games and what’ll happen after, the pair march over to Yaoyorozu purposefully.

“Ponytail,” Bakugou greets, before his face splits into a grin, “d’you think you can make two more of those things?”

Momo creates twin pairs of the outfit in question in answer. “Of course, but what would even need them for? It’s not like you-” she stops, and her eyes grow a little bit wider. “Unless-? You’re not- are you going to wear them?

Katsuki scoffs, taking the offered outfits and handing one to his friend. “That’s what they’re for, aren’t they? Besides, I’d never pass up an opportunity to show off my rock-hard abs on live tv. We’ll see you in a minute- we’re gonna change into these things.” And without even waiting for a reply, they’re gone- away towards the waiting rooms closest to the pitch entrance. They take off their Phys ed uniform-jackets before slipping on the orange crop-tops with the letters ‘UA’ emblazoned on the front in blue, and remove their pants to replace with the miniskirts. Yaoyorozu was kind enough to supply them with some thin black shorts to wear underneath, so they don them as well and grin at the other, a Pom-Pom in each hand.

“I’ve gotta admit, orange really is your colour.” Hitoshi remarks, smile cheeky but only half-joking. Bakugou jokingly blows him a kiss- which he pretends to catch- before they embark through the empty corridors together. Just as they're about to head out onto the pitch and into public view, they pause.

“How d’you think they’ll react?” Shinsou asks, voice almost soft in the echoing silence of the corridor.

“They’re either gonna think we’re absolute legends, or completely insane.” Bakugou states bluntly. “But, would you honestly have it any other way?”

“Good point.” Hitoshi says, smiling wide, and they step out into the open stadium arena.

At first, it seems like nobody’s noticed them, so they walk around the edges of the pitch to reach the 1-A girls, who apparently aren’t participating in the recreational event. Shinsou eyes the girl with enlarged fists carrying around the cocky, grey-eyed blond from the cavalry battle, but chooses not to dwell on it. They reach the girls successfully without drawing attention to themselves.

“Oi, Ponytail.” Bakugou calls, causing the girls to look in their direction. Ponytail tries to hide her snickers at the sight of them, but Round Face and Earphones have no such shame, and burst into laughter. The pair grin at the reaction, looking at each other before both cocking their hips and putting a hand on them. It only serves to make them laugh harder. “What d’you think? Do we look better than all of you or what?”

Yaoyorozu nods, still not removing her hand from in front of her mouth, though they can see the smile behind it. The girls’ laughter has turned some heads, which means there are a good portion of students giving them rather odd looks, but it’s not like they hadn’t been expecting that, so they brush it aside easily.

“So,” Shinsou starts, grin blooming on his face, “how about we show these losers what real cheerleading looks like?” Both boys step over to get in line with the girls, standing right in the middle. Despite not knowing what on Earth they’ve got planned, the girls nod, and so Shinsou starts counting down. “Kats, on three. One… Two… Three!

“GIMME A P!” Bakugou shouts at the top of his lungs, bouncing a little and waving a Pom-Pom in the air. Immediately, people begin to look at the source of the noise. All of the eyes in the audience bore into their heads, and before Bakugou can try again, the girls (plus Shinsou and Present Mic in the commenter’s booth- who looks way too excited) pick up the slack.

“P!” They shout, moving around in a similar fashion to Bakugou. Katsuki grins, revelling in the attention.

“GIMME AN L!” He exclaims, and this time, some of the audience joins in with them.

“L!” A lot of the students on the pitch look like they’re laughing, but the audience seems to be getting into it, so Bakugou hardly cares.

“GIMME A U!” The cheerleaders that UA hired have stopped whatever routine they were going through to accompany them, so when the crowd responds, they jump around in time with the girls (and Shinsou).

“U!”

“GIMME AN S!”

“S!”

“GIMME AN ULTRA!”

“ULTRA!”

“AND WHAT DOES THAT SPELL?!” Bakugou screams, thrusting both Pom-Poms into the air like a warrior might his weapon.

“PLUUUUS ULTRA!”

“THIS IS GREAT!” Present Mic cries from the commentary booth, erupting into peals of laughter. “GOOD FOR YOU, BOYS!”

The group, joined by the professional cheerleaders and even some of the other students, carry on jumping around, shouting out things that sound vaguely cheerleader-y and waving their Pom-Poms around violently. They’re all in tears by the end on it, laughing like they’re the only ones around, and the crowd screams and cheers with them the entire time. Truthfully, Shinsou had been dreading the public’s reaction to him and Bakugou, but from the looks of it, people seem to love them. He supposes that all the audience really needed was some excitement, and he and Bakugou have that in spades.

Eventually, much to the chagrin of everyone involved, they have to end the recreational activities, but the pair of boys quickly cheer up when they realise that it means they get to beat the shit out of people now.

“Everyone!” Midnight begins, a grin on her face as she waves her cat-o-nine-tails in the air and dulls the audience’s cheers to a hush. “It’s time for the one-on-one battles to decide this year’s first year Sports Festival champion!” The crowd roars in appreciation, and quietens down again when she continues speaking.

“Our lovely first years will be drawing lots to decide who they’ll be against, and the match-ups will show up on the board once they’ve been decided!”

There’s an interlude of chatter as the lots are drawn. When Bakugou picks his, he gets ‘No. 1’, which they both decide means he’ll probably be the in the first fight of the one-on-ones. As soon as everything’s been sorted, an electric board lights up, showing in order who’ll be fighting who.

“Huh, look at that!” Bakugou exclaims, smile stretching into something a little more manic. “When I beat whoever the fuck ‘Monoma’ is- after I win my second match- I get to beat the shit outta IcyHot!”

“Oh, nice.” Shinsou replies. “Do we, uh, do we know who Monoma is, though?” Bakugou shrugs, which is answer enough, really. Someone coughs behind them, in such a way that it’s clear they mean to draw attention to themselves.

“So, Bakugou.” The cocky blond from the cavalry battle croons, smirking as he takes in the sight of the two teenage boys still wearing bright orange miniskirts and crop tops. “I suppose our fight will be ample time to prove that 1-A isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, won’t it?”

“Oh, I think we’ll see about that.” Bakugou growls, grinning even as his hands twitch into fists.

“Oh, I think we will.” Monoma cackles. “You’ll see- I’ll use your own quirk against you!” Bakugou freezes, stunned, and taking that as a victory, the other boy leaves, still cackling. Katsuki blinks, disbelieving.

“Has… has he even been paying attention?” Bakugou asks, voice dull with shock. “Like, at all?”

“Well, won’t that be a nasty surprise for him.” Shinsou mutters, smile dark and vindictive. Bakugou, shaking off his stupor, responds in kind.

“Oh, this is gonna be hilarious.

Notes:

Well, that's that on that!! I think I was about half-asleep and slightly delirious when I was writing the second half, but hopefully it's okay!! I was only just keeping my eyes open, but then my brain went 'Bakugou and Shinsou say fuck gender roles. Wear skirts' and I said 'okay' and wrote this.
Let me know what you think!! I love hearing other people's opinions, and advice is always welcome!! Hope you're all having a good week!! Stay safe, and keep doing what you're doing!!

Chapter 17: Talk Shit Get PUNCHED RIGHT IN THE FUCKING FACE. OUCH. OH MY GOD.

Summary:

Monoma Neito did not pay attention at all to Bakugou and Shinsou’s speech during the opening ceremony. As a result, Monoma Neito is wholly unprepared for the literal Apocalypse to rain down on his head in the form of a quirkless teenager with an affinity for madness.

Notes:

Okay okay okay it took a while but here it is!!!!!!!! But!!!!! More importantly!!!! SOMEONE DID ART!!!!! THEY DID ART!!!!! OF MY FIC!!!!!! HERE'S THE LINK EVERYONE GO LOOK AT IT I'M SO HAPPY!!!!!
https://junepixel.tumblr.com/post/619556507632238592/its-a-fight-to-the-death-against-the-whole

Okay!!!! Here's the chapter!!!! Personally I think it's a mess 'cause I was only kinda paying attention when I was writing the second half since I was trying to watch the SpaceX livestream at the same time!!! But nevertheless!!!!

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Bakugou’s only slightly disappointed that he has to take off the cheerleading outfit for the one-on-one fight, because that would’ve been hilarious. As it is, he folds the outfit up and stuffs it in his locker, because you never know when you might need that shit again, and he doesn’t want to ruin it by accidentally setting it on fire during the fights (besides, since it’s here he can always change his mind).

He clips his pouch back onto his belt after putting his Phys ed uniform back on, grabbing a handful of the ‘child-safe’ grenades Mei developed and stuffing them in the blue pack on his waist. He stores the bo staff in there for good measure, shrinking it to a small enough size before shoving it in there as well. A wolf-whistle draws him away from fiddling with the pouch zip.

“Looking good, Kat-suck-it.” Shinsou smirks, standing to the side of the changing room with his arms crossed and leaning his back against the wall. “You ready to kick this guy’s ass?”

“Oh Hell yes.” Bakugou replies, returning his friend’s expression. “I’ve been ready to kick ass since the day I was conceived, Hito-shit.”

“Thought so.” Shinsou says, laughing lightly before pushing himself off from the wall with a grunt and heading towards the door. “Well, I should probably head to the stands so I can watch you beat the shit outta this dude. See you when you win, Kats.”

“You know it.” Katsuki finishes, grinning. And with that, Hitoshi leaves for the seats reserved for Class-1A in the audience. Bakugou stands alone in the centre of the room for a moment, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath in before exhaling and opening them again with an even wider smirk on his face. “Alright.” He huffs. “Let’s fucking do this, me.”

Making the trek to the entrance he’s going to walking onto the pitch from, Bakugou stops to stretch occasionally, finishing up entirely just as Midnight says something from on the field. The audience shouts in response, and Present Mic begins picking up the hype.

“OH YEAH!! IT’S TIME FOR THE FIRST FIGHT OF THE FINAL ROUND!” The English teacher shouts, inducing a chorus of pleased cries from the audience. “FIRST ON, WE HAVE ONE OF THE 1B UNDERDOGS! HE DIDN’T REALLY DRAW MUCH ATTENTION TO HIMSELF, BUT COULD HE SECRETLY BE A POWERHOUSE?! IT’S MONOMA NEITO FROM CLASS-1B!” Mic pauses to let the audience shout in approval before he announces Bakugou’s presence, while Monoma saunters into the stadium.

“AND, FACING MONOMA IS THE WILD-CARD HIMSELF! HE’S BEEN WREAKING HAVOC ON THE COMPETITION WITH HIS PARRNER IN CRIME THE WHOLE FESTIVAL! ONE HALF OF A WONDER-DUO, IT’S BAKUGOU KATSUKI FROM CLASS-1A!!”

With that, Bakugou walks on, relishing in how much louder the audience roars for him. He grins wickedly at the blond opposite him on the pitch, who returns the expression with something a little more condescending that only makes him grin wider. The boy crosses his arms and leers just as Bakugou cocks his hip and rests his hand on it, returning the stare with more smugness. Midnight’s saying something about playing nice just as Monoma starts trying to talk shit.

“You’ve been throwing your quirk around like nothing this whole Festival. I think it’s about time you find out what it’s like to be on the receiving end of one of your explosions.” The cocky blond declares, pointing his nose upwards like one of those snooty rich people with their head so far up their ass that they can spit and sneeze from the same hole (gross, but still).

‘Ah,’ Katsuki realises, ‘so that’s what he thinks my quirk is, then.’

It makes sense, he supposes. He has been throwing around those explosives like nothing, but surely the bastard heard at least a line of their opening speech. Maybe he’d just been tuning it out on purpose? Whatever the reason, it didn’t matter now, because this guy has a nasty surprise waiting for him, and apparently no back up plan to prepare for it. This bitch was about to get kicked.

Midnight drones about not maiming each other too badly or something for about ten more seconds or so. Bakugou only half pays attention, too busy having a sneering contest with his opponent. Present Mic is the one who counts down the start of the fight.

“ARE YOU GUYS READY?! Present Mic cries, prompting the crowd to erupt in cheers. “WELL LET’S GET THIS PARTY STARTED THEN! IN THREE! TWO! ONE…!”

“START!” Midnight declares, brandishing her weapon of choice, and both boys lunge with a battle cry, meeting each other halfway.

The grey-eyed boy aims for a right-hook to Bakugou’s jaw, but the ash-blond ducks under the swing and jumps backwards and out of reach, grinning. The opposition rushes forward, reaching out with a hand splayed open instead of being closed into a fist, and Katsuki gets the distinct impression that this guy needs to touch him to use his quirk. He’s been badgering on about ‘using his quirk against him’ so fucking much that Bakugou's certain he can’t have anything but some kind of copy-quirk. Now, were this a normal fight, Katsuki wouldn’t mess around- he’d have this shit wrapped up as quickly and efficiently as he could physically manage. He’d get in close and slam the guy out of bounds, knowing that he doesn’t have to worry about a quirk that won’t do shit on him. But, right now, the whole point of the competition is to prove that he’s hot shit, and he’s always loved putting on a good show.

With this in mind, Bakugou dodges around the Copy Bitch’s attempts at making physical contact, dancing out of the way with a jaunt that makes it obvious that he’s doing this purely for the fun of it. When the other boy isn’t paying attention to Katsuki’s hands, he discretely slips a grenade from his pouch and grips it so the cocky blond can’t see. The next time the other teenager goes in for a hit, Bakugou- just for the sake of showing off- jumps and straight up back-flips over the guy’s Goddamn head.

Feeling way too smug with himself, he pulls the pin off the grenade, and before the opposing student can even turn around, the explosive has been thrown, and Bakugou’s jumped out of the way. The ‘Monoma’ kid, of course, doesn’t see the grenade itself, only the resulting explosion that throws him backwards. Therefore, he must still assume that Katsuki has an Explosion quirk or some other bullshit. The truth, however, is much funnier, and Bakugou intends to rub it in this bastard’s face in the worse way possible.

“WHOA! NICE EXPLOSION FROM BAKUGOU THERE! ALL TO BE EXPECTED FROM OUR FAVOURITE DEMOLITIONIST!”

“You keep-” The other blond pants, clearly beginning to feel worn down, “-you keep dodging. Are you scared?” The boy grins tiredly, gaze condescending, so Bakugou bares his teeth in a sharp smile.

“Not on your life, motherfucker.” He spits, smirking in return. This time, when the blond charges towards him, Katsuki doesn’t back down. Instead, he meets him halfway, lunging forward and, at last, allowing his opponent to make physical contact. The end up relatively close to the edge, with his opponent having his back turned to the white lines symbolising the boundaries of the pitch. The tips of the other boy’s fingers brush against Bakugou face in what could charitably be called a bitch-slap, and Monoma grins like the fight’s already been won.

“Finally!” He declares, revelling in success. “I- wait.

It only takes about a second for the reality to kick in, but when it does the grin falls off his face like an avalanche. The blond stumbles backwards in surprise, gaze wide with something that looks a little bit like terror. His face is paler than Bakugou ever seen, and he’s going to catch Goddamn flies if he carries on gaping like that.

“You- you’re- but I- how?!” Monoma gapes, barely able to form a coherent sentence in the wake of his shock. Bakugou grins in sweet, sweet vindication, bursting forth into a lunge.

“Surprise, Motherfucker.” Katsuki declares, and before his adversary has time to react, punches him square in the face.

Monoma is flung back from the force. He stumbles, pitching backwards and landing on his ass. The boy’s nose is bleeding, Bakugou notices with satisfaction, swiping some of the blood off of his brass knuckles. He knew they’d come in handy. He lets the smirk stretch across his face like elastic, sharp-toothed and practically splitting his face in half as he approaches the blond boy currently on the ground. In the blind sort of panic that comes with being approached by the smiling teenager with explosives that just broke your nose, Monoma scrambles to get away, though he doesn’t think to stand up. A big mistake on his part, because it gives Bakugou an idea.

Picking up the teenager by his collar is surprisingly easy. This kid’s either built entirely on lean muscle, or he’s not built at all. In all honesty, Bakugou assumes it’s the former- since this guy’s apparently in the Hero-course as well. However, it’s not like he actually gives a shit, in the grand scheme of things.

So, Bakugou lifts up the blond by the collar of his jacket, and very obviously overexaggerates rearing his leg back for a kick. One second too late, what’s about to happen registers in the other boy’s brain.

“FOUR!” Katsuki yells, violently swinging his leg forward as he lets go of the blond’s jacket. When Bakugou’s foot connects with him, Monoma screeches at a frequency that could shatter glass as he’s rocketed forward from the force of Bakugou blatantly drop-kicking one of his fifteen year-old peers. The fifteen year-old in question is flung out of bounds, soaring passed the white lines of the pitch and onto the probably fake grass of the stadium. Monoma rolls when he lands, eventually ending up on his back, limbs sprawled out across the ground and chest heaving with exertion.

For a moment after, there’s dead silence. And then-

“Monoma is out of bounds. Bakugou wins!” Midnight announces, and the crowd explodes with cheers. There’s screaming coming from every direction, and Bakugou looks up to make eye-contact with Shinsou, whose face is stretched out into the same grin Katsuki wears.

“WHAT A SHOW, AM I RIGHT?!” Present Mic shrieks over the din. “BAKUGOU THE ATOM-BOMB’S BLASTED HIMSELF STRAIGHT INTO THE NEXT ROUND, FOLKS! LET’S MAKE SOME NOISE! The crowd grows impossibly louder, almost deafening, but even then Katsuki can pick out a single voice within the cacophony.

“YOU’RE JUST GETTING STARTED, KAT-SUCK-IT! LET’S BLAST OUR WAY THROUGH THIS!” Katsuki’s grin is manic, but there’s something that’s just a smidge more soft about it in the face of his friend’s unwavering support. He sends a thumbs-up towards Hitoshi , knowing that the playful middle-finger he’d have preferred to give might not be appreciated on live national television, and the gesture is reciprocated by his brain-washing best friend.

One down, three to go.

Returning to the stands to watch the second match, Bakugou greets his friend with a high-five that echoes across the stadium amongst the general chatter.

“Well, that was one way of starting the finals with a bang, Kat-suck-it. Looks like we’ve both broken someone’s nose today.” Shinsou jokes, though the pride glimmering in his eyes is impossible to miss because that’s his best friend that did that. Katsuki throws himself into the seat Hitoshi saved for him between himself and Kirishima, a self-satisfied smirk hanging lazily off his face. The redhead on his left turns to look at him with a wide-eyed awe that lights up the boy’s features like sunshine.

“Dude!” He exclaims excitedly. “That was so awesome! You looked so manly out there, bro!” From the look on Hitoshi’s face that Katsuki can see from the corner of his eye, he must have turned at least slightly pink, but he tries to keep his cool regardless.

“Thanks, Shitty Hair.” Bakugou replies, only half smug. Kirishima rolls his eyes fondly, but his gigantic shark-toothed smile doesn’t waver. It’s only been about or month or so, and it looks like the other boy’s already used to his and Hitoshi’s antics. He guesses they’re just going to have to up their game, then.

YEAH! IT’S TIME FOR THE SECOND MATCH EVERYBODY! LET’S SEE WHO’LL BE DUKING IT OUT THIS TIME!” Present Mic shouts, interrupting any conversation that could have ensued. Raising an eyebrow, Bakugou turns his attention to the contestants walking onto the pitch, and grins wickedly when he catches a glance of the two-toned hair of the Half-‘N’-Half bastard. This ought to be interesting.

“FIRST, WE’VE GOT THE PRODIGAL SON OF THE NUMBER TWO HERO! WILL HE OVERWHELM HIS OPPONENTS WITH HIS POWER?! A WALKING KATY PERRY SONG REFERENCE- IT’S TODOROKI SHOUTO FROM CLASS-1A!” The crowd shouts their support, and Present Mic keeps up the commentary even over the roaring. “AND, THE ONE I’M PERSONALLY ROOTING FOR! HE LOOKS PRETTY PLAIN, BUT IS HE UP TO THE CHALLENGE OF FIGHTING A RECOMMENDATION STUDENT?! IT’S CAPTAIN OFFICE SUPPLIES- SERO HANTA!”

Sero stretches his arms as the cheering dies down. The countdown ends as soon as it begins, and Sero shoots forward, foregoing any preamble and heading straight for Todoroki. A smile is predominant on his face even as he wraps his tape around the heterochromatic boy and tries to swing him out of bounds. For a second, Bakugou’s eyes go wide and he thinks that holy shit, maybe Flex Tape does have a chance after all.

The thought is short-lived, however, because before anyone can so much as blink- the tape has been frozen and broken off, and Todoroki’s foot plants on the floor an-

The match is over in an instant. A glacier that peeks over even the stadium is suddenly jutting from the ground, and Bakugou stills as the frost from the worryingly close tower of ice curls around the stands. He almost doesn’t think to look back to the pitch, and the glance downwards shows Sero trapped within the mound of ice. He’s shivering, and the smile is gone from his face.

There’s a brief discussion between Midnight and Sero that Bakugou doesn’t quite catch, but soon enough Midnight is declaring the match over and Todoroki the winner. The crowd is silent. Until one voice from within the section of Pro-Heroes in the stands calls out.

“Don’t mind!” The voice cries. “Don’t mind!”

It doesn’t take long for the majority of the crowd to join in, and everyone around them echoes the chant as Bakugou and Shinsou sit silent. Suddenly, Bakugou jolts up, an angry air in the way his shoulders square. He leans over the rail, and cups his hands to his mouth.

“OI! FLEX TAPE!” He shouts over the cries. The chanting doesn’t stop, but Sero looks to Bakugou from where he’s frozen in place, looking curiously wary at the call.

“DON’T THINK THIS IS OVER JUST ‘CAUSE YOU GOT YOUR ASS BEAT THIS ONE TIME, DUMBASS! YOU’RE A HERO, NOT A QUITTER!”

Bakugou sits back down again when the boy’s usual lazy smirk returns to his face, huffing as he crosses his arms and leans back, but his eyes don’t leave the scene before him. His gaze seems to be focusing in on Todoroki, and his brows furrow as he watches the boy melting the ice to release Tape Face. Shinsou watches, intrigued by the almost calculating look in his friend’s eyes.

“Whatcha thinkin’ about, Kats?” Hitoshi asks, raising an eyebrow when Bakugou still doesn’t look at him. “Uh, Kats? Something wrong?”

“Look at Todoroki.” Bakugou mutters in lieu of an answer. Shinsou complies, and observes the way the boy’s shoulders are slightly hunched in on themselves, and his head hangs a little lower than usual. “He looks pretty fucking upset for someone who just won a fight.”

Shinsou kind of figures that he knows what’s going through his friend’s head when he says that. Despite having won, the heavy air that seems to hang around Todoroki like a cloak reminds Hitoshi of sleepless nights he loathes to remember, but can never really forget. A time that had felt like one bad thing after another, with almost no hope for a future beyond it. Hitoshi is certain that Katsuki’s being reminded of the same thing, and knows his friend too well to think that there’s nothing he can do to help.

“You’re gonna be duking it out with him after you’ve won your next fight, aren’t you?” Bakugou nods, still not looking at him, though something warm and proud blooms in his chest at how certain Hitoshi is that he’ll win. “I know you, and I know that you can’t stand fighting people who aren’t putting their heart in it. So, I ask you, Kat-suck-it: what the fuck are you gonna do about it?”

Katsuki freezes, eyes going wide, and after a second a grin begins to take over his face. His hands clench into fists and finally, finally, Bakugou looks at him again. Shinsou, almost against his will, beams at the sight. He could never pretend to be tired of the sight of his friend smiling and the knowledge that he put that there.

“You’ve got a plan, don’t you?” Hitoshi asks, though it’s hardly a question. Bakugou eyes shine with the kind of mischief that preludes a storm.

“I’m gonna do what Endeav-whore’s been trying and failing to do for the last decade of his life.” Katsuki declares, voice serious and yet so elated by the thought that Shinsou can’t help but share in the feeling.

“I’m gonna make that Half-‘N’-Half bastard use his fucking fire if it’s the last thing I do.”

Notes:

Hope you enjoyed!!! I haven't got much to say other than this hasn't been edited yet, but I'll try and do it in a bit- so please don't be too mad if there's any mistakes!!!! Thank you for taking the time to read this!!! Have the good days you deserve, and keep doing what you're doing!!!!

Chapter 18: How to Win a Fight With Grenades and the Power of Friendship™: A Guide By Shinsou Hitoshi

Summary:

Shinsou makes him and Bakugou a new friend, before stepping out onto the stadium pitch in the hopes of beating the shit out of them. In a friendly way, of course.

Notes:

I ' M N O T D E A D ! ! ! !
Yo okay I'm SO sorry for not updating this in 39845693 years life's been WILD- but I'm here now!!!!!!! It's a short update but!! I actually have chapter one of something else written out too!!!! It was just gonna be an idea I had that I thought was cool but wasn't gonna write, until the Discord server I'm on started enabling me and suddenly I had a 4.3k Fae Bakugou fic lmao- I'll post it really soon!!!!
IN MORE IMPORTANT NEWS!!!!!!! SOMEONE MADE ART AND I'M VERY EXCITED!!!!! IT LOOKS S O AWESOME AND I'M ABSOLUTELY IN LOVE WITH IT!!!!!! I NEED EVERYONE TO LOOK AT IT AND TELL 'EM HOW RAD AN ARTIST THEY ARE!!!!!!
https://www.instagram.com/p/CCBz7dnlGXV/?igshid=1j1kxtytag1mh

Anyway!!! Yeah!!! Chapter time!!!!

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

There’s a couple of fights in-between Shinsou’s first match, and they’re nothing if not entertaining. Uraraka decimated Aoyama in the match after Todoroki’s to the point that Shinsou’s almost a little nervous. He feels a bit bad for Kaminari during his fight with a plant-girl called Shiozaki- the match lasts all of five seconds, and by the end of it the Discount Pikachu’s out of bounds and completely zonked out as a result of his quirk. After that comes the Mei versus Iida match, and Shinsou would be lying if he said he wasn’t a least a little excited to see what the support student had planned.

“What d’you think she’s gonna do?” Shinsou asks, though maybe it’s more of a rhetorical question than anything.

“What she usually does, Hito-shit.” Bakugou scoffs, and that’s honestly answer enough. A minute or so later, both contestants walk on, and there’s a bit of a kerfuffle down on the pitch as Iida walks on with a vaguely familiar invention strapped to his back. Shinsou’s sure he’s seen it lying around near Mei’s designated workbench in the Support classroom, but he can’t remember what it does for the life of him. The assumed argument lasts for about two minutes before Midnight seemingly concedes with an excited smile.

The match lasts ten minutes. Ten minutes. It’s funny as fuck, obviously, but it’s also ten minutes long. Bakugou’s honestly impressed.

“She’s- I can’t fucking- she’s fucking using Glasses as advertisement?!” Katsuki wheezes, holding his stomach and doubling over, cackling madly. “Oh my God, this is gold. He’s gonna be so fucking mad.” Shinsou agrees, of course, but there’s also a very small part of him that’s just glad that it was Iida who got paired up with her and not him. He is going to be fighting Yaoyorozu next, though. Wait-

“Shiiiiiiit.” Shinsou groans, smacking himself in the forehead and slumping backwards in his seat as if it’s recompense for his forgetfulness. “Fuck. I gotta go- my fight’s next and I should definitely be in the waiting room right about now.”

“Yikes.” Bakugou grins at him with bared teeth. “You’re gonna beat Ponytail though, right? I mean, you’ve been my best friend for, what, ten years now? Some of my skill must have rubbed off on you by now.”

“Ha ha.” Shinsou retorts dryly, before his face splits into a smirk of his own. “Don’t worry though, Kat-suck-it, I am not losing. We’re onto a winning streak and like Hell am I gonna be the one that ruins it.”

“Fuck yeah.” Bakugou barks out in a laugh. “Seriously though, good luck, Hito-shit. You’re gonna need it.”

“Duly noted.” Hitoshi replies, before turning around and exiting the stands to head over to the waiting rooms, throwing a wave over his shoulder for Bakugou. The walk down the hall is silent, the substantial lack of people strange but not particularly unpleasant. The sound of his feet hitting the floor echoes across the hall in a way that feels slightly ominous, but Shinsou just tries to let it make him feel like some kind of cool anime protagonist instead of feeling nervous, because feeling cool is better than feeling like you might be about to get your shit kicked in. It’s the Bakugou-approved method to keeping calm, so Shinsou’s hoping it works out for him.

At least he can be comforted by the thought that he won’t have to fight Mei at any point, seeing as she gave herself in after finishing her advertisement. ‘What a power-move.’

It’s not long before he arrives in the waiting room, opening the door and sitting himself down at the table. He taps his fingers against the polished wood, trying to think up some kind of strategy for fighting Yaoyorozu. ‘God, this would be so much easier if she didn’t know what my quirk is. I’d try and say something to aggravate her, but she’s almost definitely one of those people who go quiet when they’re mad or something. Wait, do I have enough grenades on me?’

Hitoshi checks pouch on his side, finding the explosives in a compartment and deeming it enough for at least one fight. More than enough, really, but he feels like he’s going to use a lot trying to keep Yaoyorozu and any projectiles she creates away from him. He’ll probably want to restock for his second match, though. That is, if he wins this one. Yaoyorozu is strong, and worse than that, she’s smart- and she knows it. She’s definitely really big on strategy, so what if Hitoshi just doesn’t give her the time to think it through? If he tries to overwhelm her right from the start, he might actually have a chance.

“Oh thank God.” Shinsou says aloud to the empty room, sighing in relief. “I’m not gonna be totally useless. Here’s to hoping it works, I guess.”

An announcement rings out from the speaker in the corner of the room furthest from the door, and with a groan, Shinsou rises from his seat- popping his joints and stretching himself out. Once he’s satisfied that none of his joints are gonna click during his fight and immediately make him fall over, he makes his way over to the door, gripping the handle and swinging it open, only to find his opponent-to-be standing on the other side, hand raised to knock.

“Uh- Yaoyorozu? What’re you doing here?” He asks, more than a little surprised. She smiles at him quietly.

“I thought we might as well walk and talk before the fight.” She replies. Not knowing what the Hell else he’s supposed to do, he nods dumbly and surges forward, falling into step with the black-haired girl.

“Was there anything in particular you wanted to talk about? Did you come here to tell me your tragic backstory?” Hitoshi raises his eyebrows curiously. It’s an honest question, and it definitely wouldn’t be the first time today, but Yaoyorozu splutters, laughing.

“Of course not! I just thought it’d be nice to get to know both you and Bakugou.” Her smiles turns softer, then; a little more sheepish than before. “I really admire the both of you. Quirks or not, you’re both incredibly strong, and I don’t think I’ve ever had more fun in the context of a fight than I had during the cavalry battle. You’re the sort of people I’d aspire to be, if I could.” She admits, gaze turning to his own before glancing away, clearly embarrassed. Shinsou grins.

“Wait, really? Is this like, a friend-offer or something? Are you really asking to be friends with me and Bakugou even though we’re about to go out there and beat the shit outta each other?” Yaoyorozu ducks her head, but nods. Shinsou laughs. “I like your style, Yaoyorozu. And it’ll be great having someone with some impulse control hanging around with us.”

“You- you’re accepting?” Yaoyorozu exclaims, head shooting up to look Shinsou in the eyes, tone almost hopeful. “Shouldn’t you ask Bakugou first?”

“Nah,” Shinsou retorts, brushing off the notion with a wave of the hand, “you’ll be fine. He trusted you to be a good fit for our team in the cavalry battle, right? And he actually, y’know, talked to you during your indoor-battle thing on the- what, third day here, was it? That’s practically an open-armed invitation coming from him.”

“Really? You’re absolutely sure it’s alright?” She presses, and Shinsou decides this apparent low self-esteem and second-guessing herself is probably going to be a recurring thing.

“’Course I’m sure. So long as you aren’t like, homophobic or something. I take it you’re not?” Shinsou raises an eyebrow at the seemingly involuntary snicker that comes from Yaoyorozu’s mouth as her hand flies towards her face to muffle it.

“Quite the opposite!” Yaoyorozu says, a sly smirk stretching beyond the space her hand can hide. Shinsou grins back.

“The opposite of homophobic is gay, right?” Shinsou asks, unable to keep himself from smiling.

“It is indeed.” She agrees, and Shinsou claps her on the back good-naturedly.

“Nice.”

Shinsou’s almost a little sad when they reach the split in the hallway where they have to part in order to reach opposing entryways into the stadium, but the whole point of this is that they’re going to fight each other, and Shinsou fully intends to win. With a semi-professional handshake, the two split apart and head in different directions.

“See you on the pitch, Yaoyorozu.” Shinsou calls, just as they’ve both reached opposite ends of the corridor.

“I look forward to it, Shinsou.” Yaoyorozu smiles, though her eyes are hardened in determination. Hitoshi thinks he’s going to enjoy this fight a lot.

Shinsou half-jogs down the hallways towards the entryway on the side of the stadium he’s supposed to walk through, and arrives just in time to hear Present Mic’s announcements cut through the crowd’s cheering.

“SIXTH MATCH OF THE ROUND EVERYONE! ARE YOU READY?! LET’S MEET OUR CONTESTANTS!”

“FIRST ON THE PITCH, WE HAVE A HERO-IN-TRAINING WITH A BRAIN BIGGER THAN MY VOCAL RANGE! CUNNING AND READY TO KICK SOME BUTT, IT’S YAOYOROZU MOMO FROM CLASS-1A!” The crowd stands upwards in a roar of support, and Present Mic is silent as she walks onto the pitch with a kind smile that belies her preparedness. Once she’s stepped onto the pitch, Mic starts back up again.

“AND, NOW FOR WHO SHE’LL BE UP AGAINST! HE’S THE MATCH TO AN ATOMIC-BLOND LIVE-WIRE THAT’S BEEN LIT FOR THE WHOLE FESTIVAL! A QUEEN-BELTING, PURPLE FIREWORK OF A KID- ONE HALF OF A WHOLE FUTURE HERO DUO, IT’S SHINSOU HITOSHI FROM CLASS-1A!” The crowd starts up again, stamping their feet and screaming in appreciation. Shinsou walks onto the pitch, sun in his eyes and a prideful grin blooming on his face. He keeps his right hand on the pocket attached to his belt, where his grenades are.

“ARE YOU GUYS READY?! LET’S START THE COUNTDOWN! IN THREE! TWO! ONE…!”

“START!” Midnight cries, and the fight is officially underway.

Yaoyorozu pulls a staff similar to the one he has out of her arm, and quicker than he can think about it, he pulls a grenade from his pocket and rips off the pin- hurling it at the other side. For a split second, he can see as Yaoyorozu blanches before using the staff to vault away from the ensuing explosion. Looks like she was expecting him to try and use his quirk instead of going in hard and fast like this. ‘God, that sounds weird. Ugh, doesn’t matter.’

She lands safely within the boundaries of the pitch, and there’s a brief moment of hesitation before she charges forward, eyes hardening. Before she can get within pole-swinging distance, he unclips another grenade and tosses it in her direction, already pulling another one from out of the pouch on his belt. Yaoyorozu leaps out of the way, but Shinsou doesn’t give her the time to recover, already throwing another unclipped grenade towards her.

Shinsou’s not fully certain that the audience can see them both in amidst the constant stream of explosions being set off, but they cheer anyway. Yaoyorozu attempts to surge forwards once she’s successfully evaded another grenade, but Hitoshi’s trying to push her towards the boundary lines of the pitch. From the looks of it, she’s only roughly a few metres away from the white line. Encouraged by the proximity of his victory, Shinsou throws the grenade in his hand with renewed vigour.

Suddenly Yaoyorozu, whilst jumping out of the way of the blast, pulls something out of her arm and throws it without missing a beat. Surprised, Hitoshi jolts out of the way of the object’s trajectory, but the distraction is enough to allow the black-haired girl to get closer to him again. When she’s within arms-reach of him, she vaults over him with the staff, and pushes him away from her and closer to the boundary line when she’s landed. He has his back to the line he’d been pushing her towards, and it looks like the tables have been turned.

“WHOA! WHAT’S THIS?! LOOKS LIKE YAOYOROZU’S GOT THE JUMP ON SHINSOU! WHAT’LL HE DO NOW?!” Mic cheers, clearly enjoying himself

“COME ON, ‘TOSHI!” Bakugou screams, and even though he’s slightly panicked by the turn of events, Shinsou finds it in himself to send a thumbs-up and an easy grin towards his friend. He has to turn his gaze back to Yaoyorozu immediately after, but he can feel the eye-roll Katsuki gives in return. Maybe not the best time to be messing around, but, oh well.

Choosing to focus on the fight at hand, Shinsou diverts his attention away from Bakugou and doesn’t hesitate to dodge to the right as Yaoyorozu takes a swing at him with her staff. The movement allows him to go forward slightly, diagonally away from the boundary line only slightly. Luckily for him, his opponent doesn’t seem to notice what he’s trying to do. Looks like she’s more focused on landing a hit than watching which direction they’re heading in.

Every time Yaoyorozu goes in to attack, Shinsou moves away to the right, diagonally, allowing them to continually get closer to the other boundary line and away from the one Shinsou has his back to. Eventually, they’ve moved to a point where the boundary line is only about a metre away, so Shinsou figures it’s now or never.

Next time Yaoyorozu goes in for a swing with the staff, Hitoshi unclips a grenade and rolls it across the ground while she’s distracted. The sound of the grenade going off loudly behind her wavers her attention long enough for Hitoshi to rear back and slam into her side with his shoulder. Not expecting the hit and with her guard dropped, Yaoyorozu is sent stumbling forward, tripping across the white line and only just managing to recover quickly enough that she doesn’t fall over. Seconds later, Midnight is raising her cat-o-nine-tails to the sky with a flourish.

“Yaoyorozu is out of bounds. Shinsou wins!” The Hero declares, to the uproar of the crowd.

“WHAT AN EXPLOSIVE MATCH!” Present Mic laughs, delighted. “IT GOT CLOSE THERE, BUT IT LOOKS LIKE SHINSOU CAME OUT ON TOP! LET’S MAKE SOME NOISE FOR OUR CONTESTANTS, LISTENERS!” The audience happily complies, stamping and cheering as the two exchange a smile and walk out together. Shinsou registers the ‘HELL YEAH, ‘TOSHI!’ that comes from somewhere in the crowd with a fond grin.

“Well done on winning the match, Shinsou.” Yaoyorozu congratulates, once they’ve entered the hallway and the ruckus of the crowd has faded to a dull roar in their ears. “You had a good strategy. I’m glad we had the opportunity to fight.”

“Yeah, me too.” Shinsou replies awkwardly, obviously flawless in the art of receiving compliments. “I got like, really scared when you managed to swap our places. You’re pretty fucking badass, Yaoyorozu. My whole plan was just to try and throw enough explosives that you wouldn’t be able to think properly, but I guess that only worked for a bit, huh.”

Yaoyorozu laughs, smiling. “Well, I suppose we both have the chance to improve now, at least!” Shinsou grins, nodding, and the remainder of the walk back to the stands falls into a comfortable silence. They find their way back to the stands reserved for Class-1A, and Shinsou’s only somewhat surprised to find out that his seat has been stolen by Mei, who somehow managed to escape from the support-student stands without getting caught. Without blinking, he steps over her legs and plants himself right on Bakugou’s lap. Hitoshi vaguely registers Kaminari choking on his drink behind them. Yaoyorozu opts to take the seat next to Mei.

“Hey Kat-suck-it.” Shinsou greets, grinning at Bakugou smugly. “I made us a friend.” Shinsou declares, gesturing to Yaoyorozu, who waves politely. Katsuki snorts.

“Good to see people acknowledging beating the shit outta each other as the excellent bonding activity that it is.” Katsuki remarks, grinning toothily at their latest addition. “Hope you’re up for punching stereotypes in the face and blowing some shit up, Ponytail, ‘cause that’s pretty much our whole thing.”

Yaoyorozu grins back, a rebellious spark to her eyes that makes Bakugou respect her just that little bit more than he did yesterday.

“Good. That’s exactly what I came here for.”

Notes:

And that's that!!!!! It was pretty short but I hope it was still alright!!! Hopefully the next chapter won't take as long!!!!
I might've had something else to say, but I forgot!!! So!!!
Lemme know what you think!!! Or don't!!! It's up to you!!!!! Regardless, I hope you all have an awesome month, and that you keep doing what you're doing!!!!!

Chapter 19: Fellas is it Gay to Admire Your Bro’s Strength While You’re Trying to Beat the Shit Out of Him?

Summary:

Ah yes, the inherent homoeroticism of engaging your bro in combat.

Notes:

Hey everyone!!!!!! Some, uh, Stuff™ has happened over the last month or so, and it's been a bit emotionally taxing but!!!! I've had a really good last few days and so I'm BACK again with another chapter!!!!! I won't keep you any longer than I already have so!!!!! Here we GO!!!!!!!

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Bakugou, Shinsou, Mei, and Yaoyorozu do pay attention to the one-on-one happening on the pitch beneath them, but they still end up talking through most of it. Yaoyorozu seems to be more hesitant to speak up than the other three, but Shinsou reasons that she’s new to their group and he can’t expect her to be comfortable with them so quickly. Soon enough, however, Shinsou realises that someone’s missing.

“Hey,” Shinsou starts, interrupting Bakugou and Mei’s increasingly heated debate on how hard it would be to theoretically build a death ray and whether or not it’d really be worth it in the end. “Where’s Kirishima? Shouldn’t he be here too?”

“His first fight’s up next.” Bakugou grunts, punching Mei on the shoulder playfully when she jabs him in the ribs. “You know that guy whose nose you broke during the Cavalry Battle? I think it’s him.”

Shinsou blanches, remembering the way he swung his skull into the other boy’s nose, screaming bloody murder. “Y’know, I feel like I need to apologise for that sometime.”

“Don’t you fucking dare. That was fucking hilarious.” The blond declares, glaring at him from where he’s sat on the purple-haired boy’s lap with mock seriousness. Shinsou laughs, rubbing the back of his neck and wondering how he’s supposed to approach the guy after he’d literally headbutted the boy. God, what a first impression.

They must have been talking for longer than Shinsou had thought, because before Hitoshi can respond, Present Mic’s voice is cutting through their conversation with an enthusiasm that Shinsou can never hope to replicate.

“IT’S TIME FOR THE EIGTH MATCH! LET’S MEET OUR CONTESTANTS!” Present Mic shouts, eliciting a cheer from the audience. The two aforementioned contestants begin walking onto the pitch. “IT’S A WEIRD MATCH-UP THIS TIME! TWO PRETTY MUCH REDUNDANT QUIRKS! ON ONE SIDE, WE’VE GOT MANLY STEEL- TETSUTETSU TETSUTETSU FROM CLASS-1B! AND, ON THE OTHER SIDE, WE’VE GOT MANLY HARDENING- KIRISHIMA EJIROU FROM CLASS-1A! LET’S SEE WHAT THEY GOT!”

The smiles on the faces of the pair of students on the pitch are ever so slightly strained, but they’re disregarded in favour of hard-set determination once the count-down to the fight starts. The second Midnight shouts ‘Go’, the two boys are charging towards each other with all the force of raging bulls. Their respective steel and hardened fists meet with a clang, and the two recoil from the force of the other’s hit before rearing back and trying again. The crowd shouts support for both sides as the two meet each other in the middle with seemingly equal feats of strength. As the match begins to stretch on, Shinsou suspects that perhaps they’re a little too similar for this to end in anything other than a draw.

He turns to Bakugou to suggest this, but finds his friend watching the match with an unrelenting stare. “Uh, Kat-suck-it? You doing alright there?” Bakugou nods absently, and Shinsou’s eyebrows raise just that little bit further towards his hairline in incredulity.

“Gonna be fighting one of ‘em in my next match.” Katsuki says in lieu of an explanation. “Gotta watch how they fight.” The fact that Bakugou’s gaze seems to be far more focused on the way Kirishima is moving than the way Tetsutetsu is doesn’t elude Hitoshi, but he has the decency not it bring it up. He’s such a good friend, honestly.

Preoccupied by his own thoughts as he is, Shinsou doesn’t notice the fight has already ended until Midnight’s waving her cat-o-nine-tails in the air and declaring the match a draw. If he’s being completely honest, he doesn’t think he’s actually surprised. Still, though, Bakugou is watching the two passed out on the ground with a steady gaze.

“Who d’you think’s gonna win the tie-breaker?” Shinsou asks, effectively breaking his friend’s concentration. Katsuki considers the question for a moment before replying.

“Shitty Hair.” Bakugou decides, and shares his reasoning at Hitoshi’s curious stare. “As far as I can see, Tin Can’s quirk layers steel over his skin rather than actually turning his skin to steel, which might make it easier to break, I guess? And Shitty Hair hardens his skin rather than layering something on top, so it might be easier to keep up ‘cause it’s more of an extension of himself, probably. Though I guess that also makes his quirk more dangerous to himself, since on the off chance that someone manages to break the hardening, that’s his actual body taking the fall for it. I mean, Tin Can’s would be worse for mobility than Shitty Hair’s- since if it’s layering it might be like having to fight in a heavy suit of armour. Hm, he might be able to control how much he layers on, and if he’s using less to increase mobility, that’ll make him weaker. Yeah, I’d say Shitty Hair’s gonna win. If he doesn’t and he’s made me wrong then I’ll fucking punch him.”

Hitoshi blinks. “You got that much from just watching that fight?” Bakugou turns to him, nodding slowly as if it should’ve been obvious. Shinsou huffs a laugh. “I dunno why I’m surprised. You’ve always been observant, Kat-suck-it. Be honest though, you just wanna fight Kirishima, don’t you?” Bakugou glares at him, and so he shoots his friend a grin in return.

“Wow, Bakugou! You’re a real nerd, aren’t you?” Mei chimes in, smiling mischievously as Bakugou whips around to look at her.

“OI!”

Another match passes by, and in the middle of it, Bakugou excuses himself to head to the waiting room so he can prepare. Shinsou, being the exemplary gentlemen that he is, decides to walk with the blond down through the corridor.

“So, you’re fighting Kirishima next then, huh.” Shinsou starts, smile tilting into something resembling a smirk as he looks to his friend’s face. Bakugou nods- Kirishima had won the tie-breaker, just like Katsuki had said he would, and now he’d be fighting the redhead in just a few minutes. “You nervous?”

Bakugou scoffs. “I’m never nervous about fighting. I’m gonna absolutely wreck this guy’s shit. He isn’t gonna know what hit him.” Shinsou laughs.

“Staff or explosives?”

“Why not both? Probably gonna use the staff more at the start though, something to hit hard and fast with to weaken his hardening before going out with a bang.” Shinsou nods; it’s a good strategy, he’ll give Bakugou that.

They reach the waiting room, and Shinsou has to leave if he wants to get back in time to watch his friend’s match. Before he departs, though, he slips his hand into his friend’s own and smiles, softer than before.

“Rock his world, Kats.”

Bakugou says nothing in return, but the determination burning in his eyes like a pyre says it all.

“HEY HEY HEY EVERYBODY! IT’S TIME FOR THE SECOND ROUND OF MATCH-UPS! ARE YOU READY?!” The audience roars their assent. “THAT’S WHAT I LIKE TO HEAR! NOW, LET’S SEE WHO’S GONNA BE CONTESTING THIS TIME ROUND!”

Bakugou stands in the corridor leading onto the stadium pitch, hands in his pockets and waiting for the announcement that will signal his entrance. The pouch attached to the belt on his waist weighs slightly to the side, and the retracted staff is clutched tight in his grip, concealed by the pocket his hand is hidden in.

“FIRST ON! WE HAVE A KID WHO’S BEEN MAKING WAVES WITH HIS FRIEND THE WHOLE FESTIVAL! IF YOU DON’T KNOW HIM BY NOW- HAVE YOU REALLY EVEN BEEN PAYING ATTENTION?! IT’S EVERYONE’S FAVOURITE LIVE-WIRE: BAKUGOU KATSUKI FROM CLASS-1A!”

That’s Bakugou’s cue to walk on, and that’s exactly what he does. He removes the hands from his pockets and saunters into the light of day, to the omnipresent roar of the crowd. Heading towards the boundary line of the pitch, he listens idly to what words Present Mic has for Kirishima.

“AND NOW! WE’VE GOT THE UNWAVERING MOUNTAIN OF A KID WHO’S BEEN STANDING TALL THIS ENTIRE TIME! HE’S THE IMMOVABLE OBJECT TO BAKUGOU’S UNSTOPPABLE FORCE: KIRISHIMA EIJIROU FROM CLASS-1A!”

The audience shouts their assent as Kirishima marches onto the pitch, grinning at Bakugou as the redhead rolls his shoulder to relax it. Bakugou has no qualms about returning the expression, twin crimson eyes glinting in the sunlight as they stare each other down from opposite ends of the stadium. Midnight’s countdown call rings in the air, from three to one, until her final shout echoes across the stadium.

“START!”

Eijirou steps forward and fully onto the pitch away from the boundary line, leaning into a fighting stance with his feet planted firmly into the ground. Bakugou, electing to make the first move, rushes the redhead, pulling the pole out of his pocket and rearing it backwards. Extending it to its full height, he pulls it back before swinging it towards Kirishima’s hardened head. The other boy ducks, sending a sharp jab towards his ribs that he jumps away from.

They go back and forth exchanging blows like they’ve been doing it all their lives, jabbing and dodging, charging and swinging. Bakugou manages to land more hits on Kirishima than Kirishima does on him, but he’s aware that it’s probably because the redhead’s more prepared to brace for hits rather than evade them due to the nature of his quirk. The blond, not having the same luxury, has to lean back and leap out of the way of hardened appendages lest they scrape against his skin. He uses the staff in his hand both for countering blows before they can land and avoiding them in addition to retaliating by swinging it at the other boy.

When Kirishima makes to grab him, using the fact that he currently has better mobility than the redhead, Bakugou vaults over the boy and meets the ground behind him. He winces slightly when he realises that he’s just put himself closer to the nearest boundary line than before. Landing hits on the boy with the staff probably weakens Kirishima’s hardening over time, but it does nothing to push him backwards, and if Bakugou’s going to get himself further away from the edge of the pitch, he needs to be able to move him. He thinks it’s probably a good time to bring out the explosives, seeing as the force of the blasts are Katsuki’s best shot at gaining more ground than he currently has.

Having made his decision, as Kirishima’s making his way towards him, Bakugou unzips the pouch on his belt and pulls out one of the more decently sized grenades, pulling the pin between his teeth and launching it at the teenager in front of him. The redhead shouts in surprise, keeping himself hardened but leaning away slightly, enough to get dragged backwards by the ensuing explosion that offsets his balance. Grinning in triumph, Bakugou charges forwards and away from the white line on the pitch edge behind him whilst his sights on his opponent are compromised. After a few seconds of nothing but the grey haze of smoke and debris, the dust clears to reveal Kirishima, the force of the blast dragging his feet back having dug twin trenches in the ground, fists clenched and hardened and legs stretched into a steady battle stance. The sunlight hits his face at an angle, and his ruby eyes are gleaming like twin stars, and there’s sweat glistening across his face in a sheen, and the explosion tore through his jacket and…

Oh. Oh. Oh no.

He’s… he’s gorgeous.

The sharp lines of his face in its hardened state are etched like a mountain, the rays of sunshine light up the stars in his eyes like a supernova, exploding in a symphony of honey-dew gold and vibrant red. His sharp-as-a-knife teeth are visible in the small frown hard-set in determination on his features, in the strength of will he exudes with every breath because Kirishima is giving this is all. Everything Bakugou is being shown of the redhead in this fight is everything Kirishima is, this is one hundred and ten percent of the boy’s sheer force of sturdy will and the knowledge that this is it almost makes him come alive with elation. In this stadium, on this pitch, they’re opposing each other in a bloody fight to the top and Bakugou is living for every second that they’re at arms against each other because, despite how far away this should make him feel from the other, he’s been set ablaze with the feeling of being closer than he ever has. He’s never felt this way before- Katsuki looks at Hitoshi and sees a home and a brother and the other half of his whole but Kirishima, in this moment, in this battle of everything they are, has turned his veins electric.

Bakugou knew he’d had a crush on Kirishima before. He’d known the way his face flushed at the beaming smile that graced the boy’s face was anything but platonic, but this- this was something entirely foreign to him. This was new and strange and maybe a little bit terrifying and Bakugou couldn’t care in the slightest because it turns his blood to liquid fire in a way that makes him want to rise to the top like a dawn on the horizon and thrive. Kirishima is alight like an untouchable sun but Bakugou is reaching with everything he has and God, he feels like an idiot for thinking he’d already liked the redhead before because this is what falling felt like. This was hurtling towards the ground at the speed of sound without a parachute into the unknown, heartbeat pounding in his ears like a marching drum and realising between stolen breaths in the wind’s rush that this is what it feels like to fall and Bakugou loves it with all the stars in that boy’s eyes.

The blinding grin on his face as he charges to meet Kirishima with a reared-back fist clutching an extended staff must make him seem insane. Bakugou finds that for once he genuinely doesn’t care how people look at him, because all that matters right now is that Bakugou’s reaching for a confirmation of the unwavering feeling of victory that runs through his veins. As he swings his staff around and hits the redhead in the side and Kirishima retaliates with the same toothy, determined smile he knows is present on his own face, he feels like he’s won a war completely separate from his match with Kirishima and yet exactly the same.

The fight from there turns into an exchange of blows so fast it’s nothing but a flurry of red and blond and the silver of Bakugou’s staff to their own eyes. When the blond manages to land a hit on Kirishima’s bare stomach, he sees a glimpse of softened skin and realises that this is it. Hurriedly, just as Eijirou realises he can’t keep his quirk up for any longer than he already has, Katsuki snatches a grenade from his belt and throws.

As the explosion that follows lights up the stadium in all the colours of a sunrise, Bakugou wonders if it makes an apt comparison to the golden rush of wind roaring in his bloodstream.

“KIRISHIMA IS DOWN FOR THE COUNT! BAKUGOU WINS!”

Bakugou’s won a lot of fights over the course of his life, but this victory makes him feel like he could take on the whole Goddamn world right this second and win.

Shinsou’s waiting for him in the corridor he exits the pitch from, hands on his knees and panting for breath.

“You are,” Shinsou wheezes, looking up at his friend from where he stands hunched over. “By far, the gayest motherfucker I have ever met, Kat-suck-it.”

“Bi,” Bakugou jabs idly, though there’s a smirk resting easily on his face. “But yeah. Did you run all the way down here or something?” Shinsou sends him a wry smile as he moves to stand up properly.

“I saw the way you started to look at Kirishima half-way through the fight, as soon as you won I came as fast as I could.” Shinsou replies seriously. Bakugou laughs, punching him lightly on the arm as he moves over to stand beside his friend.

“You’re a fucking dork, Hito-shit.” Katsuki jokes as they turn to start walking back to the stands.

“And you’re in love.” Hitoshi retorts, linking their elbows and grinning as the smirk on Katsuki’s face lilts to something softer. “You really can’t do anything in halves, can you?” Bakugou snorts, leaning on his friend ever so slightly as they walk together.

“Where’s the fun in that?”

Shinsou doesn’t reply, but he knows that he wouldn’t dream of having Bakugou any other way, and he has a feeling that a certain shark-toothed redhead would wholeheartedly agree.

Notes:

I was Debating how this fight was gonna end up going for a bit, but I'm really happy with how it turned out!!!! Ngl I was motivated to make it as gay as possible while reading and re-reading Aloera's fics (shout out to you man!!!!! You're a living legend!!!!)!!!! Lemme know what you think, if you feel like it!!!!
Hope you're all having a stellar week!!!! Thank you for taking the time to read!!!! Take a deep breath in and keep doing what you're doing!!!!!!

Chapter 20: ‘D’Yer Wanna Be a Spaceman?’ By Oasis (feat. Shinsou & Uraraka)

Summary:

Shinsou is nervous for his second match of the festival, because all it’ll take is one touch from all five of Uraraka’s fingers and he’ll be too busy floating away to do anything but lose the fight.

He then immediately proceeds to say ‘fuck it’ and throw caution to the wind, because honestly- why the Hell not?

(Oh yeah, and Bakugou gets the opportunity to have the talk with a certain Pro-Hero that he’s been waiting for since he was thirteen, but that's no big deal.)

Notes:

OKAY, I KNOW I SAY SORRY FOR TAKING SO LONG LITERALLY EVERY TIME I POST, BUT OH MY G O D AM I SORRY IT'S BEEN A G E S!!!!!!!!!! I'm gonna be real with you chief, life's been getting,,, Kinda Frickin Difficult for me lately, and my motivation's been goin like the death drop on a rollercoaster. I really, really love writing all these fics, though, and I've said it once so I'm saying it again- no way in HELL am I leaving this thng until it's done, I'm seeing this through the end!!!!!!!!

I'm not exactly getting better at the moment, but at this point I can't let that stop me anymore than it already has so!!!!! CHAPTER TIME!!!!! This is even the longest chapter of this fic that I've posted in a good while, so hopefully it Sort Of makes up for it??? Either way!!! Here it is!!! Hope you enjoy!!!!!

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Walking back to the stands, Bakugou and Shinsou reach a hallway split, and Shinsou pauses. Bakugou, because their arms are still linked, stumbles backwards, looking to his friend for an explanation.

“I gotta go grab some stuff before my next match,” Shinsou answers to Bakugou’s unspoken question. “I’ve got like, two explosives left from that fight with Yaoyorozu, so I gotta stock up some more, ‘cause I think I’m gonna need ‘em for this next one.”

Bakugou nods in understanding. “Round Face, right? Yeah, go get ‘em- I’m gonna head back to the stands- I do not wanna miss this one.” Shinsou scoffs, unlinking their elbows so he can nudge Bakugou’s arm with his own more effectively.

“Think I’m gonna float off outta the exosphere?” Shinsou asks sarcastically, raising an eyebrow. Katsuki sends him a withering glare over a laugh.

“Don’t even joke about that, Hito-shit. You’d freeze before you even got outta the troposphere, and I am not prepared to give a speech at your funeral.” Shinsou winces there, but concedes. The guy has a point.

“Yeah okay, fair. Ah well, I’m hoping she doesn’t get a chance to make me float, but I’ll probably figure something out if she does?” Bakugou rolls his eyes, pushing Shinsou in the direction of the hallway that’ll lead towards the waiting room they decided to keep their equipment in.

“Just go, ‘Toshi, you’re gonna knock this outta the park- on the ground or off- trust me.”

Hitoshi smiles, turning around to face Bakugou properly as he begins walking backwards down the corridor. “Aw, you’re so sweet Kats! The best of besties.” He teases, cooing, before accidentally walking into the wall and tripping himself up on the ground. Katsuki cackles. It’s entirely deserved.

-

“OKAY! ONTO THE NEXT FIGHT, FOLKS!” Present Mic calls as Shinsou stands just outside of the audience’s view in the entrance onto the pitch. “LET’S SEE WHO OUR CONTESTANTS ARE GONNA BE!”

Over the roar of the crowd, the Pro continues his commentary. “HERE WE ARE! DUKING IT OUT THIS MATCH, WE GOT 1A’S PATENTED PURPLE MANIAC AND THE KICK-ASS GRAVITY GIRL! IT’S SHINSOU HITOSHI FROM CLASS-1A AND URARAKA OCHAKO FROM, WHAT D’YOU KNOW IT, CLASS-1A! MAKE! SOME! NOISE!”

The audience, true to form, eagerly complies, cheering and screaming as the two students walk onto the pitch and situate themselves at opposite ends of the boundary line. Uraraka is clenching her fists, gaze sharp and piercing right through Shinsou’s own. He imagines a sort determined aura surrounding her, before immediately shaking the thought from his mind so as not to distract himself. He’s literally about to go into a fight, he should really be paying attention.

Briefly, his gaze flits across her stance. Her hands are positioned far enough in front of her that they’d definitely make contact with him before he could land a hit, so brazen charging is out of the question. He’d have to be really careful with where he aims his staff so she can’t make contact with that, too- same with his explosives. He absolutely does not want to think about floating grenades. Or, well, yeah that would be pretty cool, but not when they’re being directed at him.

‘Focus, Hitoshi,’ He chides himself, vaguely noting that the thought comes to mind in a voice that sounds suspiciously like Katsuki. ‘C’mon, if you don’t pay attention, she’s gonna slap you in the face, and you’ll end up an astronaut without the suit instead of a Pro-Hero. Just aim low with the grenades so she can’t bat ‘em out the way or something. There, that’s a plan.’

The countdown starts. Shinsou swallows the lump in his throat.

‘Guess now all I’ve gotta do is enact it.’

“GO!” Midnight shouts, and Uraraka doesn’t bother hesitating. She charges straight for him, tearing across the pitch. It’s all he can do in the split second between potential impact to dodge to the side. Taken off-guard, he fumbles with the pouch attached to his side, backing away to avoid another manoeuvre as he clenches a grenade in one hand and a flashbang in the other. If he does this right, he can use the explosive first to create some distance between them, before using the flashbang as a distraction to get himself on the offensive.

Hoping for success, he tosses the grenade, watching it collide against the floor a short way away from Uraraka’s feet and explode, causing her to stumble a good distance backwards. Without letting himself think too hard about it, he unpins the flashbang and throws it as hard as he can in her direction, turning his closed eyes away and raising an arm for cover.

The shrill ring of the explosion is Hell on his ears, but the second the light’s died down, he’s uncovering and opening his eyes. Ignoring the shriek of the aftermath in his ears, he makes his way forward, extending his staff and swinging it at Uraraka’s side. She lurches back, slipping.

Orienting herself mere seconds later, Uraraka reaches for the staff, so Shinsou has to change his directional momentum mid-swing so as not to lose his pole to the unforgiving sky.

He leans back slightly to avoid an open-palmed smack to the face, but leaves himself open to a kick in the hip, and he yelps in surprise, losing his footing for a moment. She goes for him again with her other hand, and he ducks out the way, missing the contact by such a slight margin that he can feel the breeze of the motion against the tips of his hair. Having accidentally offset her balance with the un-landed hit, Uraraka starts forward, leaning over Shinsou’s crouched form. He elbows her in the stomach, using the small time-slot between her recoiling from the hit and recovering to grab another grenade and set it off in order to create some more distance between them both.

He’s thoroughly on the defensive, ducking and diving, using his explosives to evade and sometimes attack; the only thing really toeing the line of offensive barring the grenades being the occasional swing of the bo staff. A hit he’s not expecting comes flying his way, and it misses his bare arm but plants firmly on the sleeve of his jacket. Immediately, he can feel the thing trying to pull him upwards. And yeah, he’s heavier than his jacket is, but this is also very uncomfortable- and yeah, maybe he wore a crop top and miniskirt about an hour ago, but he’s absolutely not going shirtless on live television. And he’s not really thinking straight either way- mainly because he’s in the middle of a fight and the adrenaline’s messing with his common sense, so he keeps it on.

“OH, WHAT’S THIS?! LOOKS LIKE URARAKA MANAGED TO GET SHINSOU’S JACKET! HOW LONG IS GONNA BE ABLE TO KEEP FROM FLOATING AWAY?!” Present Mic announces, which really isn’t doing many favours for Shinsou at all right now.

“Shit.” He blurts as she goes to hit him again, his attempt to lean back almost thwarted by the lightness of his chest. He barely has time to hope that the microphones didn’t pick up the curse as the fight carries on just as fast-paced as before.

It feels like barely moments have passed, but it’s seriously effecting his manoeuvrability. He’s dodging hits by the skin of his teeth- he gets punched at least three times, but thankfully avoids any open-palmed attacks. Shinsou realises with a mounting sense of dread that he’s not going to be able to avoid getting touched by all five of Uraraka’s fingers for much longer. He needs to do something soon if he’s planning on not throwing this fight.

Setting off another explosive and creating a sizeable distance between them, he desperately wracks his brain. He needs a plan- fast.

‘You’re gonna knock this outta the park- on the ground or off- trust me.’

…Why does he need to avoid going zero-gravity again? I mean, yeah, he won’t exactly be on the pitch anymore, but he’ll still be in bounds, right? So, what’s the big deal? It’ll be harder to move him out of the boundary lines if he’s in the air, and even if she activates her quirk on him, it won’t apply to his staff- he could still use it normally from the air. Besides, maybe floating’s like swimming?

He could literally just… let her use her quirk on him. There’s literally nothing stopping him.

Oh. Oh, that’s not a half-bad idea.

Making his decision, Shinsou lets a grin take over his features. Without warning, he shoots off like a rocket, using the way his jacket lightens the load of his body to sprint towards Uraraka like a rampaging bull. Smiling maniacally in return, Uraraka sprints to meet him in the middle. At the last second, she outstretches her hand, resulting in the heartiest bitch-slap Shinsou’s probably ever been on the receiving end of. Near instantaneously, Hitoshi can feel the roiling of his stomach as his feet leave the solid expanse of the ground. He’s floating. He’s actually floating.

“OH BOY! LOOKS LIKE SHINSOU GOT HIT BY URARAKA’S QUIRK! HOW IS HE GONNA BE ABLE TO BRING THIS AROUND TO A VICTORY FROM HERE?!”

It’s almost surreal. It’s a levity he’s never thought to experience before; a taste of a weightlessness beyond every layer of atmosphere. It sort of does feel like he’s underwater, except lacking in the heavy drag of the depths. Just as a test, he kicks a leg out to get a feel for how to move around. His body tilts backwards slightly at the lack of the usual support from the floor, but sure as anything, he can get his leg in the air. Plus, he thinks- looking to the staff in his hands- it’s not like he doesn’t already have a solution to the pseudo-grounding force he needs. It won’t exactly keep him on the pitch, but at the very least, it’s something he can use as leverage against it for manoeuvrability’s sake.

Planting the staff on the ground, Shinsou pushes himself forward with it. He’s not really prepared for just how quickly it propels him towards Uraraka, and as a result she’s able to evade his first attempt at an aerial attack with the pole. Regardless, he repeats the action, more prepared than before as he shoots off and rears his staff back for a swing. This time, he successfully lands a hit against her shoulder, and she tumbles sideways. When he sees her beginning to lift both arms up, presumably to cancel her quirk, he hastily grabs for a grenade, tossing it in her direction in an attempt to stay airborne.

It detonates with a resounding bang, and she shifts her arms in favour of shielding her face in instinctive defence. The explosion doesn’t reach him from his place in the air except for the way it makes him drift just that little bit upwards, so while she’s still reorienting herself, Shinsou pitches himself downwards, almost upside-down in order to get the pole to make contact with the ground. When he manages it, he pumps his arms and forces himself forward. During the rushing-breeze of temporary distance between him and his opponent, he twists himself around so the trajectory of his foot will swing into her face. It makes contact just before she can properly duck her head, getting her in the forehead and sending her careening onto the floor.

One of her hands reaches to clutch at the spot of impact, wincing- but with the other, she pushes herself off of the floor, rising to an unsteady stance. Her closed eyes open, determination blazing like a pyre in her redwood-brown irises. She looks like a battle-hardened fighter ready for a war, a single fist clenched at her side even as she cradles her head injury.

In spite of the wariness that sets in faced by her unyielding glare, he continues onward, trying to rush her once again. Just as he swings, she lifts her unoccupied hand and grabs the pole. Shinsou pales as she pulls it back and swings him around full-force. The momentum yanks him away from her, and suddenly he’s hurtling towards the boundary line. Panicked, he flails an arm to the side to change his direction, and though he still rears forward, he doesn’t leave the confines of the white-lined pitch.

Heaving a sigh of relief, Hitoshi turns back to push himself off the ground again, pausing when he sees Uraraka using her quirk on what little debris has been left behind by the impact of his grenades. He ducks with wide eyes as a barrage of tiny rocks come barrelling at him at what feels like Mach speed. She keeps up the assault, replacing one assailment of debris with another, so Shinsou ducks and weaves as he picks his way forward, using the staff to move himself forward much more slowly than before. The stones that manage to catch him are digging at his skin and it’s painful as Hell, but he marches on. Once he’s close enough, Shinsou lifts the staff up and, as soon as the next barrage crosses over the considerably shorter distance towards him, he attempts to bat it back towards her. It mostly fails- a lot of it gets in his face, which, ow- but he’s still able to send a decent amount flying back to her and, not expecting it, she flinches away as she’s struck by the tiny projectiles.

Following the first batting, it turns into one of the most painful games of catch (or baseball, maybe) Shinsou’s probably ever played- Uraraka tosses the projectiles, and Shinsou bats back with only partial success. She’s quickly running out of debris to throw, though, and she gets closer to the boundary line with every round of back-and-forth. Eventually, she comes up short on rocks, so Shinsou takes the faltering opportunity to throw a flashbang at her, followed by a grenade in quick succession. It’s pushing her back, but it’s not enough. What else can he do?

Oh. Right. He’s literally in the air- he can just throw himself instead.

Confirming this plan to himself, Shinsou turns around for just a moment in order to throw a grenade behind him to project himself forward. Barely able to swivel around again before it detonates, he’s blasted off, shooting forward like a lightweight cannonball. He collides with Uraraka in a full-body slam, and they’re both sent flying into the nearest reach of the boundary line. Hitoshi whacks the staff into the ground the slow his own momentum, but Uraraka reaches a hand back and grabs on as well, causing them both to crash into each other again.

“WHOA! SEEMS LIKE IT’S GETTING PRETTY HEATED DOWN THERE! WHO’S GONNA MAKE IT OUT ON TOP NOW?!”

It turns into a full-on scrap from there- Uraraka fighting from the ground as Shinsou counters from his position floating above the floor. Uraraka’s fist collides with his face, and he retorts with an upward kick to the same shoulder he hit with his staff earlier into the fight. She’s forced back by the kick, hand flying to her already injured shoulder when he aims a feint in its direction as his other hand reaches for a grenade.

Before either of them can blink, he’s tearing off the pin and throwing it onto the floored space between them; the rattling boom of its detonation roars in his ears like a rush of blood to the head. They’re both flung back violently in opposite directions- Uraraka is thrown across the short-lived expanse of the pitch behind her, knocking herself out as her head hits the floor while Hitoshi bashes against the ground, bouncing slightly against the impact in his lack of gravitational pull. There’s a pause between the deafening explosion’s aftermath and Midnight’s announcement where Shinsou’s ears are pierced with a shrill ring, lifting his head back up in a half-daze from where he’s situated, hovering horizontally only slightly above the floor.

“Uraraka is unable to continue! Shinsou wins!” Midnight hollers, and suddenly, the cheers are erupting from the stands. Present Mic finalises his commentary of the fight delightedly.

“WHAT A BRUTAL FINISH! THEY REALLY WENT FOR IT AT THE END THERE! WHAT A WAY TO GO!” The Pro exclaims, before the call is drowned out by the applause. Uraraka is starting to sit up again, so Hitoshi tilts over to pick up the staff he’d left lying on the ground in the midst of fight, using it to float his way across the pitch and towards the other teenager. She stares at him as he makes his way over, outstretching a hand with an awkward smile. After a beat, she takes it, and although she nearly brings him crashing into the floor when he momentarily forgets he doesn’t have the ground’s support at the moment, he pulls her to a standing position.

“Thanks.” She says, smirking easily, though it looks to be something of a grimace in the in-between of the injuries she’s sustained. Shinsou winces, being reminded of his own.

“Yeah,” Hitoshi responds, slightly distracted as after-ache of the fight kicks in while the adrenaline slowly wears off. “Can you, uh, y’know-?” He gestures to himself, and the way his feet still don’t quite meet the floor.

She startles in surprise. “Oh! Yeah, ‘course! I almost forgot!” She apologises, putting her hands together. She grabs onto his arms to steady him when he falls suddenly, and he hisses in discomfort when his legs sting with the unbraced for impact. “We should probably go to Recovery Girl.” She suggests, and he nods his assent. Together, they head out of the open stadium and into the nearest hallway entrance.

They’re walking down the corridor towards Recovery Girl’s temporary office when Shinsou hears the call of “Hey, Hito-shit!” from up ahead. Looking towards the source of the sound, he’s entirely unsurprised to see Bakugou jogging towards them with a wild grin.

“So, how d’you like that, Kat-suck-it?” Shinsou asks smugly as Bakugou reaches them and falls into step with both of their slightly limping paces. Bakugou guffaws loudly.

“Fucking Hell, ‘Toshi, you really went at it, didn’t you? Not gonna lie, that fightin’ while floating was badass- how’d it feel?” Bakugou queries in return, seeming curious amidst cheerfully bared teeth. Shinsou pauses for a moment, considering.

“Weird.” He decides on eventually, nodding his head to himself. “It was like… swimming but not, I guess? It just felt like a whole load of nothing; I dunno how to describe it, you’d have to feel it for yourself.”

Uraraka chimes in from beside them. “I mean, I’d be more than happy to spar with you sometime after the festival’s over if you want, Bakugou.” Katsuki’s face lights up like he’s a kid who’s just been given the toy they’ve been asking for.

“Oh, fuck yeah!” He agrees, smile widening into something vicious and razor-sharp. Shinsou laughs lightly at his friend’s enthusiasm, but the next moment they all collectively realise they’ve already reached Recovery Girl’s office. Bakugou opens the door, marching through first as Shinsou and Uraraka follow behind. Recovery Girl takes one look at them and sighs like the weight of the doctor’s coat on her shoulders is that of mountains instead of cotton.

The Hero makes quick work of their injuries, and Shinsou blinks the drowsiness out of his eyes as he thanks her for the healing session. His face still aches, but it’s more dulled than the sharp sting from before, so he’ll take what he can get. Besides, anymore and he might be too tired for his next fight or something. He looks to Uraraka once she’s been healed, a silent offer to come back to the stands with them. She shakes her head, smiling a little.

“I’m gonna stay and rest up here for a bit before the next fight starts so I can watch- you go on without me.” She says, voice weaved with a quiet exhaustion that’s such a contrast from the fire of before that he almost gets whiplash. That healing must have really taken a lot of her stamina.

Shinsou shrugs in casual response. “Alright, see you in a bit then.” He says, before locking eyes with her, gaze more sincere than before. “Seriously, though, you were strong as fuck. If you didn’t have my respect as a fighter before, you definitely do now- you beat the shit outta me back there. And I bet you’re gonna get even stronger from here. I’m a little bit terrified for how that’s gonna turn out for me next time we fight, but I guess that just means I have to get better, too.”

“Yeah, maybe.” She nods, eyes sparking with something else amongst the sheen of exhaustion. “Just you wait, I’m gonna kick your ass.”

Shinsou grins, then, unable to contain the excitement running anew through his veins. “Not if I kick your ass first.”

Bakugou eagerly joins in the declaration, but the pair leave soon after to allow Uraraka to rest, heading up to the class stands and taking their place next to Mei, who still hasn’t been moved from the Class-1A section. At this point, Shinsou’s ninety nine percent sure the teachers are just too afraid to tell her to leave.

She high-fives Shinsou as he sits down. Though, he ends up situating himself on Bakugou’s legs due to the lack of other available seats, seeing as they’d only reserved enough for Class-1A- having not been counting on a support student breaking in and claiming one.

A few more fights pass in quick succession- Todoroki predictably comes out on top in his match-up with Tokoyami, and Bakugou grins madly as the victor is announced. Next, Iida wins his fight against Tokoyami, and Shinsou realises that that match-up had just determined who his opponent in the third match-rounds would be. He worries to himself for a minute or so about how the Hell he’s supposed to beat a guy with a speed quirk. But he doesn’t have much more time to continue, because suddenly he’s scrambling to catch his footing so he doesn’t fall on the floor as Bakugou stands up from underneath him. Slightly taken aback, he turns to his friend for an explanation.

“It’s time.” Bakugou says ominously, just to be a dick. Shinsou jokingly punches him in the arm in retaliation, and Katsuki rolls his eyes. “I’ve gotta go get ready for my fight with IcyHot. I’ve got the base of a plan but I need some extra time to flesh it out.”

Hitoshi nods in understanding. “Ah, right, yeah. Want me to come with or nah?” He offers while Katsuki gets ready to leave the stands.

“Nah, I’ll be alright- gotta get in the ‘zone’ or whatever lame thing you’d call it.” He replies mockingly. They nudge each other around a little before Bakugou has to start leaving for real. Shinsou calls out to him just before he disappears down the corridor’s entrance.

“Hey,” He starts, watching as Bakugou’s gaze flits to meet his own. “Show him what’s up, yeah?”

Bakugou only nods in lieu of a reply, but the sharp-eyed smile on his face says it all. Todoroki’s going to have an epiphany today whether he wants one or not, Bakugou’ll make sure of it.

-

There’s someone else in the hallway Bakugou’s walking down as he heads to the entrance of the stadium’s pitch. He can hear their idling footsteps before he even turns the corner. They’re heavier than he’d expect from someone his age, so it’s either a more built adult or someone with a mutant quirk. When Bakugou rounds the corner and the mystery person comes into view, he almost stops in his tracks. Flames climb up the man’s face in the place of facial hair; there’s a stern look adorning his features as if revulsion towards everyone around him is simply his resting default. He’s even in his Hero costume, lighting up the hallway with all of Hellflame’s orange and red hues, completely unchanged in design even since Bakugou last saw it in-person at age thirteen.

It’s him. It’s Endeavour- the bastard who traumatised IcyHot into half-assing his quirk; who told him that he wouldn’t even make it through the front gate of Yuuei.

Bakugou walks right towards him without a glance, barely bothering to so much as blink in his direction. He can feel the room climb up a few degrees and it comes with a certain feeling of power over the Pro that Bakugou revels in. By the time Endeavour speaks up, Bakugou’s almost directly at the man’s side, just enough in front that he can see the Pro’s face when he starts to talk.

“You.” Endeavour says, as if it will properly convey the true plethora of furious expletives he wishes to unleash upon the teenager- voice a rumbling growl.

“Me.” Bakugou retorts, a challenge clear in his tone. He doesn’t bother to hide the obvious smugness lining his demeanour, completely uncaring that this is the man with the most violent track record of any member of the top ten Hero list. The searing heat of the Pro’s glare intensifies, and Katsuki’s smirk crawls further up his face at the man’s blatant aggravation.

“You may be quirkless,” Endeavour continues with a hiss, trying to seem as if he hadn’t even heard him (and failing miserably, if the snarl and the clenched fists are anything to go by). “But Shouto is my masterpiece, and I will not allow his chance at early recognition to be ruined by the likes of you and a too-easy win. I don’t expect a long fight, but I will not have my efforts wasted.”

Slowly, slowly, Bakugou cranes his neck up to look the Hero dead in the eyes, grin spread so wide across his cheeks that it feels like it might split his face in half.

“Is that a challenge?” He asks tauntingly, narrowing his eyes in an amusement he’s only half-aware of at the stormy expression clouding the man’s features. And deciding to take a leaf out of Hitoshi’s book and quote his best friend probably isn’t the smartest thing to do to the number two Hero, but he hardly cares about politeness at this point. Like Hell would anyone believe the Pro, anyway. “’Cause those are some pretty bold words coming from someone within headbutting-range.”

Watching the Hero flinch away in a split-second moment of surprise is honestly one of the best things he’s seen all day. Katsuki turns away, then, walking forward and putting Endeavour behind him, taking delight in how mad having to face his turned back must make the man. He pauses as he reaches the end of the corridor and the yawning mouth of the stadium entrance, and tips his head back to lock eyes with Endeavour again, looking downright maniacal in his joy.

“Y’know, I asked IcyHot to pass on a message to you on one of the first days of school, but it must have slipped his mind. How about I give it to you now?” The Pro opens his mouth to reply, but Bakugou doesn’t wait for an answer. “Yeah, I’ll give to you. See, I did get through the front gate of this school- right through the front gate into first place at the entrance exam, and right to the top spots in one of the most distinguished Hero schools in the country. I sure as Hell got in, and I’m gonna claw my way to the Goddamn top of the world and there is nothing you can do about it, so you can kiss my ass.”

Katsuki turns his head forward and walks out to the deafening roar of the crowded stadium at Present Mic’s announcement of his arrival, leaving Endeavour in a stunned and furious silence without turning back even once. Because cool guys don’t look at explosions.

‘It’s time to make a scene.’ Bakugou thinks, and never has he been more excited by the thought of making someone else go supernova.

Notes:

And that's that!!!!!!!! God, you Cannot Imagine how accomplished I feel for actually being able to get this out. I'm actually pretty proud of some parts of that Uraraka Vs. Shinsou fight, plus it's actually the longest Sports Festival fight so far, so I hope you liked it!!!!! You all know which fight is coming next, so I'm crossing my fingers that I'll be able to get it to live up to the hype I've Kinda built for it!!!!!

Regardless of all that, hope you enjoyed!!! Feel free to a comment if you want, but don't feel obligated!!! I'm gonna try and finish replying to all the comments left in my inbox that I haven't been able to reply to yet, so see you next time dudes!!!! Thank you so much for being patient with me and my terrible update schedule!!!!! Have an Awesome day/night, and keep doing what you're doing!!!!!

3

Chapter 21: Fight Fire with a Shitton More Fire

Summary:

Bakugou wants a good fight, and he’s going to get one- even if it means forcing the ‘if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em’ mentality onto a poor, unsuspecting Todoroki.

Who knows? Maybe he'll learn something, in the end.

Notes:

IT IS GOOD TO BE BACK DUDES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT'S UP??????
Hh yeah this took a while to get out!!!! I'm Super sorry about that, but I really haven't been feeling it lately tbh, and my BNHA writing-motivation was kinda zapped, and that honestly Sucks 'cause I know this is the chapter a lotta people have been hyped about, but I tried my best to make it as good as it could be to meet your expectations!!!!!!! I'll have to actually,,, proofread it over for mistakes in a little bit, but for now I'm just happy to get it out!!!!!

I won't keep you all waiting any longer!!!!!! Here it is!!!! Hope you enjoy!!!!!!

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

A heavy silence stretches across the pitch. The announcement’s been called through, Midnight’s waved the go-ahead, the fight’s begun- and yet, neither of them moves. Tension winds thick enough through the air to be almost debilitating, weighing down on the whole stadium’s heads as they wait for the first move to be made. Todoroki and Bakugou stare at each other unblinkingly, red-blue-brown colliding in the midway, positioned on the opposing boundary line.

For a brief second, people begin to think that maybe nothing is going to happen at all, but Bakugou’s hand twitches, and Todoroki’s right side roars to life. Ice explodes from his body, tearing past his hands and through the pitch floor like rising mountains, just short of a glacier. With a hurried fervour, Bakugou rips the bo-staff from his belt, and practically throws himself out of the way. Todoroki doesn’t let up despite the successful dodge; he turns and flings his right arm forward, icicles splaying from his hands and piercing through the air. Bakugou ducks, letting the ice-spears fly over his head and embed themselves in the pitch wall ten metres away. He thinks absently that those things could have genuinely killed him, but grins anyway.

The fight is officially underway.

“WHOA! LOOKS LIKE TODOROKI REALLY ISN’T MESSING AROUND!” Present Mic yells, eliciting a cheer from the crowd as they break out of their previous stupor. Without sparing the comment any thought, Todoroki stamps his foot on the ground to summon another wave of ice and Bakugou throws a grenade behind him and rockets his body forward, using his staff to propel himself out of the way when he sees it coming.

‘Oh yeah?’ He thinks, as Todoroki pulls up a frozen wall to block an attempt to get in close, grabbing two of his smaller grenades from a pocket. ‘Well, neither am I.’

He throws the projectiles at the wall, and the moment the hole’s been made, he throws himself through it. Todoroki, who’d been expecting him to go the other way around instead of breaking in, has left his left side vulnerable, and Bakugou takes advantage of his to get a hit in with the pole. As expected, the other boy jolts backwards, and Bakugou rears back to try and go for the face. Before he can make contact, however, Todoroki turns to grab the pole with his right hand. Knowing how risky it’d be to keep hold of a frozen metal stick, Bakugou jerks backwards to loosen the other’s grip before he can activate his quirk. He jumps back to get some distance, pulling a grenade out and ripping the pin, tossing it in Todoroki’s direction. Without even blinking, he throws up a jagged stalagmite of an icicle to project it upwards; the grenade torpedoes into the air, exploding above the reach of the stadium and drawing a gasp from the uppermost rows of the audience.

Skidding back from the gust of wind creating the ice mountain had caused, Bakugou digs his heels into the ground and grits his teeth, taking stock of his position. They’re still at opposite- Todoroki’s stood at an angle, right side tilted forward as a half-shield for his left- he’s clearly trying to defend his one big weak spot. Bakugou can feel his shoulders tensing back, equal parts adrenaline and anger as he seethes in the knowledge that this isn’t even IcyHot’s all. This fight’s been going on barely thirty seconds and he’s already half-assing it; it’s almost offensive how little he’s trying, despite still sending literal glaciers his way.

Still, he doesn’t falter, doesn’t waste even a second as he tosses himself back into the fray. Todoroki’s trying to whip up a blizzard, ice small enough to be hail swarming like mayflies into a veritable hurricane. It spreads quickly, and Bakugou’s pretty sure the audience can’t even see them anymore, but he can still spot the glint of half-split red hair against the blistering white from out in front of him. A shiver runs up his spine at the cold, but he reaches into the pocket to grab another grenade. He hesitates a second before pulling the pin though, so he can wait just a moment for Todoroki to try and slow the speed of the blizzard to make it more maintainable- that way he can clear space with the explosion more easily.

Just like he’d expected, the ferocity of the storm dies down considerably after the first few seconds have passed and he’s not made a move; a sensible move on IcyHot’s part, but less so considering that Bakugou’s about to use it to his advantage.

Pulling the pin, the grenade is slammed into the ground. Immediately the explosion clears a large gap in the blizzard. Knowing it won’t last long, though, he charges through it, catching Todoroki’s wide eyes in the split second before he lands a hit on the boy’s face. With the storm pulling against him, he hadn’t built up enough momentum for a particularly effective punch, but the brass knuckles had been great at making-up for it, judging by Todoroki’s startled yell. However, before he can dwell too much on it, IcyHot raises a few spikes from the ground, and he has to pull back to keep from one of the icicles piercing through his arm. Todoroki only made enough at the front to keep him away, though, so Bakugou dodges around the side to Todoroki’s left and aims an elbow strike at his side with his right arm. The boy stumbles back, raising his right hand to push Bakugou back with another glacier, but the move is stilted; awkward when he can’t really see what he’s doing. Bakugou avoids the ice block easily, but his features stretch into an irritated scowl.

“You could’ve used your fuckin’ fire to force me back!” Bakugou shouts, already running forward to bring the fight close-quarters again. Todoroki attacks much better at a distance, and taking that away from him really lowers his offensive power. But his fire could definitely keep him at a sufficient distance to maintain the upper hand- he just won’t use it.

“Shut up!” Todoroki snaps back, sending another wave of hail his way as the blizzard fully dissipates to make them visible to the crowd.

His scowl twists into a snarl, and he’s openly angry now. “Make me, Half ‘N’ Half!”

Todoroki doesn’t dignify that with a response, ending the brief back-and-forth by raising another glacier from the ground, and Bakugou finds himself too busy trying not to get dismembered to say anything. They’re a little bigger than before- Bakugou notices with a start- and sharper, too. They keep rising, almost sporadic in their intervals, and maybe it’s out of the frustration of not landing a direct hit on him yet, but Bakugou thinks that that’s not quite it.

Again, he doesn’t get a chance to think on the notion anymore, because there’s a gap in the glacier Todoroki just sent up that Bakugou needs to take advantage of. He launches himself through, taking a leap of faith that he’ll make it over the ledge without landing somewhere nasty. He wishes fleetingly that he could use his bo staff, but, still, the risk of handling the metal in such a cold environment outweighs the reward. He’d really rather do without frostbite or hypothermia (Plus, he’s not exactly sure if Recovery Girl can even do anything about their effects in the first place. Huh, maybe he should ask or something).

He makes the jump successfully, and the moment he’s touched down, he’s off again. Todoroki, immediately spotting him amongst the ice, reacts quickly- sending the same icicle spikes from before shooting through the air towards him, just short of breakneck speed. Bakugou has only seconds to jump away and even then, one still manages to get him in the arm. It tears through his gym clothes easily, leaving a sizeable gash on the side of the arm. He yells in alarm, arm automatically jolting up to clutch the injury, but he forces the urge back down and persists, doubling down on his attempts to manoeuvre around the attacks Todoroki throws at him. Bakugou fists a hand into the pocket section of his pouch and pulls out three grenades. Tearing off the pins with an eager fervour, he launches them in front of him and stops for a short moment to let them go off before getting closer. The explosion shatters the ice Todoroki had been sending his way, and Bakugou leaps through the frozen debris, finally grabbing his bo staff and with an arm raised to aim for the other boy’s left side.

It almost feels like he’s repeating himself. Bakugou lands a jab to Todoroki’s left hip, and the boy stumbles back a little. He aims again before he can recover, swinging to hit him in the shoulder. Todoroki stumbles further back again, but reorientates himself quickly enough this time that he can pull up a wall between them.

Dodging backwards before IcyHot can shift the wall to attack him with it, Bakugou pipes up again. “Y’know, you could’ve used your fire to melt through the ice, IcyHot! It would’ve cleared the way and made for a good offensive move as well as maintaining a distance! I wouldn’t’ve even seen it comin’!”

Todoroki doesn’t even try to reply this time, and his features contort into something Bakugou can’t quite make out, but he can tell he’s getting under the other boy’s skin. The prospect alone serves to rile him up even more, because it’s clear he has exactly zero plan for the fight from here no matter how you spin it; all he knows it’s that he wants IcyHot to explode.

He notices, then, the slight tremble of Todoroki’s arms. Frost is clinging to his even his left side, and his right arm is turning blue. Bakugou realises quite suddenly that, even through the mountains of ice being thrown his way, he’s not the one at risk of hypothermia right now. He jolts forward, teeth bared like a threat and a promise and a challenge, because Todoroki’s freezing himself half to bastard death, and Bakugou is furious.

“WHY WON’T YOU ATTACK ME?!” Bakugou shouts, slamming down a grenade into another glacier. “GIVE ME YOUR DAMN ALL OR DON’T GIVE ME ANYTHING HALF ‘N’ HALF- I DON’T WANT FIFTY PERCENT! IF YOU WANNA BEAT ME, THEN FIGHT ME!”

For a brief, split-hair second, Bakugou wonders if Todoroki can reply at all through his chattering teeth, before he rears his head and roars.

“I WILL NOT BECOME A SLAVE TO MY OWN BLOOD!”

It’s the same kind of thing he said before, during their conversation in the hallway, that he wouldn’t become the tool of a man like his father. But that’s it. That’s all he wants. His determination is fuelled by bitter resentment, and that’s only renewable until it’s not. And even then, say Todoroki doesn’t use his left side. Say he wins anyway, say he can shove it in Endeavour’s face that the man will never have any power over him as long as he lives- then what?

Katsuki realises a lot of things at once, but the most important thing, he thinks, is that even now, Todoroki is still letting himself be controlled by his father. Out of spite or not, it doesn’t matter, because that motivation that he’s driven by is still coming from Enji Todoroki, and Bakugou won’t let it stand for a minute longer.

He takes a deep breath, and lets the words build in his mouth without sparing another moment to think. “You don’t wanna be a slave to your blood?! Well don’t be, then! Brush that shit aside and STOP THINKING ABOUT HIM!” Todoroki falters slightly, just barely, but Bakugou refuses to stop now. “YOU CAN’T GET PAST HIM IF YOU’RE STILL LISTENING TO HIM, DOESN’T MATTER IF YOU’RE NOT DOING WHAT HE SAYS ANYMORE; YOU’RE STILL LETTING HIM CONTROL YOU.”

Another glacier. Bakugou pushes it away with a grenade without blinking, because he needs Todoroki to look at him for this.

“I WON’T LOSE THIS.” Todoroki near-shrieks, icicle spears shooting forward. Bakugou moves a second too late, and two large gashes are torn into his side. He won’t let himself feel it yet, though. He’s not finished.

“ARE YOU SERIOUSLY NOT LISTENING TO ME?! YOU’RE ALREADY LOSING, YOU IDIOT!”

The world is a flurry of ice and explosions, and he’s been hit by Todoroki’s attacks just a few too many times, but attacks themselves probably cauterised the wounds they made the moment they hit from the sheer cold alone. Bakugou has thrown hesitation to the blizzard wind by now, because he might feel freezing, but if this goes on any longer Todoroki could genuinely get frostbite or hypothermia.

Bakugou bursts through a thick layer of the storm into close quarters, and Todoroki glowers. “I refuse to use his damn quirk.”

There’s a moment where Bakugou just lets the punch to the face do the talking, but he leans in after, enough to give Todoroki pause between panting breath. Katsuki’s looking at him, fury simmering beneath his skin like a prelude to an explosion, an ode to slow-dawning chaos. Words curl acrid from his lips, twisting into not quite venomous but entirely sincere to spit into Todoroki’s face.

“Then don’t- use yours instead. You’re angry at your dad, and you have every damn right to never want to do a thing he says, but the moment you centring your whole world view around that, you’ve let him win. You’re letting him control you no matter how much you’re trying for the opposite. Wake up, IcyHot, you’re alive. Make that everyone else’s problem.”

Dead silence. The storm of ice ends in a whisper around them, fading like snow on a midsummer pavement. The crowd didn’t hear what Bakugou said, but the world holds its breath for the response regardless.

There’s an image in his head, a flickering candle of a thought, of him and his mother sat in front of the television, on one of those days that weren’t so terrible. ‘You want to be a Hero, right? That’s fine… you’re not bound by his blood.’

Todoroki Shouto takes a deep breath, and lights up like a supernova.

Almost immediately, Bakugou is flung back from the sheer force of the bursting heat, but when he gets back up he’s grinning wider than he has this whole fight. Todoroki stands taller than he ever has, fire streaming from his left side, burning part-way through his jacket as the frost melts away. And he’s smiling. Sharp and fierce, itching for a fight, but he’s smiling.

“WHAT’S THIS?! TODOROKI’S USING HIS LEFT SIDE?! WHAT A TWIST!” Present Mic cries shrill from his commentary booth, but it’s like neither of them hear him.

“I can’t believe you encouraged this, you’re insane,” Todoroki laughs breathlessly, somewhere near hysterical with the relief of years’ worth of suppression as flames lick at the floor. “You’re quirkless, already injured, with limited explosives, and I have only black eye and practically two quirks at my disposal.”

Katsuki almost preens with delight, clutching a grenade tight in his hand, barely able to contain the adrenaline pounding in his veins like a wartime drumbeat. “I like those odds.”

Todoroki lit up like a supernova, and so they collide like neutron stars. No one can see anything beyond the firecracker dawn of the yellow-orange-red, beyond the blinding sheer of the light that blankets the stadium like a shockwave. In the centre, the towering pyre flickers with movement in the centre, disturbed by the fight that must be occurring within that no one can get a good look at beyond passing blurs trailed by embers.

In the eye of the firestorm, Bakugou feels the sweat burn against his face, and he knows this has to end soon or Todoroki’ll get him. His bo staff has been hidden away the vast majority of this match for fear of the risks, but there’s one last grenade in his hand and a good between him and the target- so with half a mind to sigh, he makes a decision. It has to be split-second, less than a blink’s worth of time so the metal doesn’t begin melting into his hand. He’ll pull the pin, extend the staff, and bat the grenade away before dropping the metal. If he doesn’t do this fast enough, he’ll get blasted out of bounds, and lose the match, but Bakugou’s nothing if not a risk taker.

Katsuki pulls the pin, and digs his heels into the ground. When the bo staff connects with the grenade, it doesn’t fly past the stadium like it would in a baseball game, but he calls it a homerun anyway.

The breeze whistling past him, Todoroki flies from the maelstrom and hits the far wall. Midnight waits a long second for the dust to clear and the flames to begin to ebb.

“…Todoroki is out of bounds! Bakugou wins!”

The declaration is short, but the ensuing cheer follows Bakugou even after he’s left the pitch. He wonders what Todoroki will say to his old man now.

Todoroki wakes up in an infirmary bed what feels like mere seconds after the match’s conclusion, with father sat looming in a plastic chair too small for his massive frame.

“Shouto,” He starts, the moment he notices that Todoroki’s eyes are open. “You lost the match.” Shouto waits for the follow-up of a scowl, for the ‘You can do better than that’, but instead, Endeavour looks like someone’s just handed him something he’s been waiting on for forever. “I can look past that, of course, seeing as this is the first time you’ve truly wielded your flames.”

And it is, and they are. His flames. That feels… not quite good, yet, but better than it was- like something he can build on, a weird he might get used to someday. But there’s still something left to settle. “You want me to succeed for you. I won’t do that.”

Enji blinks, seeming startled by the reply, but he recovers quickly. “It’s what we’ve been training for your whole life. Now that we’ve finally moved past your childish rebellion-”

“I’m not you,” He says, a sincerity he’s never felt the taste of before when words like that force themselves from his mouth. A little more certain, a little more unshakable as he sits up and begins to remove himself from the infirmary bed. “You said it yourself, it’s my quirk, my fire. I just… for a minute there, I stopped thinking about you. This isn’t about your success, or your failure, it never has been, and so it’s not yours to decide. It’s not your quirk, and I’m not your consolation prize.”

He leaves the number two Hero behind in a too-small plastic chair beside an empty bed, and tells himself he’ll figure it out. Eventually.

And so it goes, Shouto’s Sports Festival ends a little more okay than it started, and that’s just fine with him.

Notes:

AND THAT'S THAT!!!!!!! Man, sure feels good to have finished writing this chapter!!!!!!!!!!! I really hope you enjoyed; it took a lotta willpower to get this one out, so even if it might not be the best, I'm proud of it!!!!!!!!!! I'll be updating the Earth Au next, but before that!!!!!!!! I've actually gotta post the last instalment of that Bakugou & Deku trilogy I started for Christmas as part of my gift request fics (Check it out if you like BakuDeku lmao!!!!!!) but fingers crossed that I'll be getting chapter 6 of Basically an Angry Environmentalist out by early February!!!!!!!

Anyway!!!!! Never mind all that for now!!!!!! Thank you so much for reading and having the patience to wait for this chapter!!!!!!! You're all so awesome- so I hope you have a great week, and keep doing what you're doing!!!!!!!!!!

2

It's a fight to the death (Against the whole world) - Angst -Apparently (TheFangirlAndTheAngst) - 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia (2025)

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