Chapter Text
Operation Steal Dynamight’s Husband officially began the next morning, at 9:42 a.m. And ran into its first problem at 9:43.
“Alright.”
Taiga stood in front of the whiteboard, arms crossed, looking extremely serious.
“When is he coming back ?”
Nobody answered.
Taiga looked around. “Well ?”
One of the boys shrugged. “No idea.”
Taiga blinked. “What do you mean, no idea ?”
“I mean I don’t know.”
“Nobody knows ?”
Everyone shook their heads. Taiga looked at the board. Then at them. Then back at the board.
“So we made an entire plan…” He pointed at all the writing covering it. “…without knowing when he’s coming back ?”
“Yeah.”
Taiga closed his eyes.
“You’re all fucking idiots.”
“You were with us.”
“SHUT THE FUCK UP.”
Eventually, the answer came three days later.
During lunch, one of the staff members casually announced, “Midoriya-san is coming back next Saturday.”
CLANG.
Taiga’s fork hit his plate. Everyone immediately turned toward him. He calmly picked it back up.
“What ?”
Smiles appeared around the table.
“Nothing.”
"Then stop staring at me.”
“Saturday.”
“I heard.”
“Deku’s coming back.”
“I FUCKING HEARD YOU.”
Someone muttered, “He’s nervous.”
“I’m not nervous.”
“You dropped your fork.”
“It was slippery.”
“It’s a fork, man.”
“SHUT UP.”
Internally, however, it was a disaster. He had six days, for what ? No fucking idea. That same evening, an emergency meeting was called.
“First thing.” One boy raised a finger. “You need to look good.”
Taiga stared at him.
“I already look good.”
The room exploded with laughter.
“WHAT ?”
“Nothing.”
“You’re all just jealous.”
“Obviously.”
Another boy thought for a moment. “Change your hairstyle.”
Taiga immediately touched his hair. “Why?”
“I don’t know.”
“Useless advice.”
“Wear cologne.”
“We’re in a juvenile detention center, dumbass.”
“Oh. Right.”
A third boy raised his hand. “Work out in front of him.”
Taiga slowly turned his head. “Explain.”
“Guys like muscles.” Several boys nodded solemnly.
“It’s a scientific fact.”
“Extremely scientific.”
Taiga considered it, it was not completely stupid.
“So, training.”
He turned toward the board and wrote : SHOW OFF PHYSIQUE. Then someone interrupted.
“Wait.”
“What?”
“His husband is Dynamight.”
Everyone looked down at a picture of Bakugo on the TV. He had muscles, scars. He was a professional hero, after all. He had an absurdly athletic build.
So Taiga slowly erased "SHOW OFF PHYSIQUE".
“It’s a bad strategy.” The room erupted in laughter again.
“SHUT THE FUCK UP.”
-
He had come up with a second strategy : intelligence.
Taiga wrote : BE SMART.
Someone coughed.
Taiga turned around. “What ?”
“Nothing.”
“You coughed.”
“Something was stuck in my throat.”
“You want me to put something else down there ?”
“And this is why that strategy might be difficult.”
The boys laughed again. Still, the idea was good. Izuku loved analyzing things, so Taiga would impress him, particularly with his quirk. He spent the next several days practicing exactly what Izuku had told him to work on : his control, his distribution and the duration. Two minutes and ten seconds, no more.
At first, it pissed him off. Because Izuku had been right. By slightly lowering his maximum output, Taiga could last much longer. His movements were cleaner and more precise. And it hurt far less.
“Fuck,” he muttered.
One of the boys glanced over. “What?”
Taiga stared at his hands. “He was right.”
“Say that again.”
“Go fuck yourself.”
“I just heard Taiga admit a man was right.”
“I’M GOING TO KILL YOU.”
But internally…
Taiga could barely wait. He desperately wanted to show Izuku. He could already imagine it : Izuku watching him. Those green eyes lighting up.
“Taiga! That was incredible!”
Then, probably:
“I’ve never met anyone this talented before.”
And then:
“Why did I ever marry Dynamight when you existed?”
Taiga smiled to himself.
“Dude.” He snapped back to reality.
“What?”
“Why are you smiling by yourself?”
“I’m not smiling.”
“You literally were.”
“Shut up.”
Saturday arrived. Far too slowly, and then far too quickly. At nine o’clock, Taiga was ready.
At nine-ten, still ready.
At nine-twenty, he had started pacing.
“When’s he getting here?”
“No idea.”
At nine twenty-two:
“He’s late.”
“Two minutes late compared to what time?”
“Shut up.”
At nine-thirty, a door opened. Taiga turned around immediately. Far too quickly.
Izuku walked in wearing his U.A. teacher uniform, a bag slung over one shoulder and several notebooks tucked beneath his arm.
And, of course, that familiar smile.
“Morning !”
Several boys answered at once.
“Hey!”
“Deku!”
“Did you bring food?”
Izuku opened his mouth in disbelief.
“Is that seriously all you think about?”
“Yes.”
He laughed.
Taiga stared at him. And immediately… his entire plan vanished. Because he had forgotten one important detail. Izuku was even more beautiful in person.
Fuck. Why ?
The documentaries did not do him justice. His hair, his eyes, his freckles. And above all…
His presence.
There was something about Izuku that a screen simply couldn’t reproduce. Izuku noticed him.
“Hey, Taiga.”
System crash.
“Hey.”
Excellent response. Short, mysterious, detached. Perfect.
Then Izuku smiled. “You doing alright ?”
“Yeah.”
Excellent. Very seductive.
Then Taiga added, “You ?”
Internally, Taiga froze.
Why the fuck had he asked that ? Izuku looked mildly surprised. Then his smile softened.
“I’m doing really well. Thanks.”
Taiga felt his heart do something profoundly stupid.
Behind him, fifteen boys were watching.
One whispered, “Incredible.”
Another replied, “He asked how he was doing.”
“Phenomenal progress.”
Taiga turned around. “I can hear you.”
Izuku tilted his head. “What?”
“Nothing.”
“Okay…”
-
Training began.
Taiga waited. Izuku watched several of the boys first. And then, finally:
“Taiga !”
He turned immediately.
“What?”
Too aggressive. Fuck.
He corrected himself.
“I mean…”
He cleared his throat.
“Yeah ?”
Somehow worse. Izuku noticed absolutely nothing, of course.
“Show me your progress.”
This was it, the moment. Taiga stepped onto the training floor.
He activated his Quirk. Breathed, and began.
He tried to keep control on his movements, with a reduced output. Then the follow-through. Izuku watched him closely.
Very closely. His eyes followed every movement.
Taiga knew it. And strangely… It made him perform even better.
He finished.
Izuku checked his stopwatch. Then looked at him. His eyes widened.
“Taiga.”
His heartbeat sped up.
“What?”
Izuku smiled. A huge smile.
“That was excellent !”
Boom. Direct hit. Right through the chest. Taiga stood completely still.
“Oh.”
Oh. Beautiful response.
Izuku approached him.
“You completely changed the way you distribute your output !”
He sounded excited. Far too excited for Taiga’s heart.
“And your shoulder?”
“Fine.”
“No pain?”
“Almost none.”
Izuku’s eyes brightened even more.
“You listened to me!”
Behind Taiga, smiles started appearing. Danger.
“I tested it.”
“So you listened to me.”
“I tested it.”
“Because I suggested it.”
“Simple coincidence.”
Izuku crossed his arms.
“Taiga.”
“Midoriya.”
They stared at each other. Then, Izuku smiled again.
“I’m proud of you.”
Silence.
The world stopped. Completely. Taiga stopped moving.
I’m proud of you. His mind replayed it.
I’m proud of you.
Again.
I’m proud of you.
Oh. My. God.
By some miracle, he managed to keep his expression almost normal.
“Yeah.”
Behind him, one boy covered his mouth. Another was physically shaking from the effort not to laugh.
Izuku moved on to another trainee.
Taiga immediately turned around. The entire group rushed him.
“HE’S PROUD OF YOU.”
“SHUT THE FUCK UP.”
“IT’S OVER FOR DYNAMIGHT.”
“SHUT UP.”
“THE MARRIAGE IS FINISHED.”
“I’M GOING TO KILL ALL OF YOU.”
“PHASE ONE COMPLETE.”
Taiga shoved them away.
“Get off me.”
But he was smiling. A lot.
“He’s smiling!” His face instantly went neutral.
“No, I’m not.”
Then in answer to it, an improvised strategy meeting was held at lunch.
“Analysis.”
One boy put on a serious expression.
“He said he was proud of you.”
Taiga nodded.
“Correct.”
“He smiled.”
“Correct.”
“He asked if you were in pain.”
“Correct.”
Another boy considered this.
“He does that with everyone.”
Silence.
The entire group slowly turned toward him. Taiga stared.
“Why are you ruining the mood?”
“I’m being realistic.”
“Leave.”
The boy raised both hands. “Fine.”
Someone else continued.
“He watched you for a long time.”
Taiga smiled.
“Exactly.”
“Because he was analyzing your Quirk.”
Silence.
“You leave too.”
“But—”
“LEAVE.”
Everyone laughed.
Taiga, however, was convinced. It was working.
Slowly. Very slowly. But surely.
Then someone asked THE question.
“What’s the next step ?”
Taiga looked across the room at Izuku. He was speaking with one of the staff members. Laughing. Then he brushed a loose strand of green hair away from his forehead.
Taiga’s heart did another profoundly stupid thing. He looked away. Thought.
They needed to become closer. But how ?
Then suddenly…
An idea.
“I’m going to ask him something personal.”
“Like what?”
Taiga thought.
“His favorite food.”
“You already know that.”
“Oh. Right.”
“Katsudon.”
“Shut up.”
Another idea.
“His favorite color.”
“You’re seriously going to seduce a married man by asking him his favorite color ?”
“Good point.”
Then one of the boys smiled. A dangerous smile.
“Ask him what he thinks of Dynamight.”
Everyone turned. Taiga included.
Oh. Very interesting.
“Why ?”
“Strategic intelligence.”
The boy leaned forward. "You need to know your enemy."
Taiga slowly looked toward Izuku. Then smiled.
Yes. Know the enemy. Excellent.
A few minutes later, Izuku was alone.
Taiga approached him.
“Hey.”
Izuku turned.
“Taiga ?”
“Question.”
“Yeah ?”
Taiga leaned casually against the wall, relaxed. Or at least… Trying to look relaxed.
“Dynamight.”
Izuku blinked.
“Kacchan ?”
Something immediately irritated Taiga.
Kacchan.
Of course. Childhood nickname.
Familiarity. Intimacy.
Disgusting.
“Yeah.”
He crossed his arms.
“Why did you marry him ?”
Izuku went completely still and blinked rapidly. Once, then twice.
“Sorry ?”
In the distance, fifteen heads discreetly poked out from behind a doorway. Taiga didn’t notice them, thankfully.
“I’m just asking.”
Izuku looked surprised. Then a small smile appeared. Different. Taiga noticed immediately.
“Why are you asking me that?”
“Curiosity.”
Izuku thought for a moment. Then looked slightly away. His expression softened. Terribly so.
“It’s complicated.”
It was a band answer. A very bad answer. Because Taiga had never seen that smile before.
“We’ve known each other since we were kids.”
Izuku smiled again.
“We’ve been through a lot together.”
Taiga felt his plan lose a little momentum.
“He’s…”
Izuku searched for the right words, then laughed softly.
“He’s Kacchan.”
“That doesn’t mean anything.”
Izuku laughed again.
“If you knew him, you’d understand.”
Taiga frowned.
“He yells all the time.”
“Yes.”
“He insults everyone.”
“Much less than he used to.”
“He seems unbearable.”
Izuku considered it.
“Sometimes.”
“Then why ?”
Izuku looked at Taiga, then answered simply:
“Maybe because he knows me better than anyone.”
Ouch.
Taiga had not expected that.
“He knows my flaws.”
Izuku smiled.
“All of them. And trust me, he loves reminding me.”
Taiga couldn’t stop himself from laughing slightly. Izuku laughed too.
“But he also knows when something’s wrong before I even say anything.”
Izuku looked down at his hands.
“With him, I don’t have to be Deku.”
Taiga understood that sentence immediately. Because Izuku had told him something similar above the clouds. "Up there, nobody asks anything from me. I’m just me."
Taiga’s smile faded slightly.
Izuku continued.
“So… yeah.”
He gave a small shrug.
“I guess that’s why.”
Taiga remained silent. Then—
“Oh.”
Excellent conversational skills, as always. Izuku smiled.
“Why ?”
“No reason.”
“Taiga.”
“Just curious.”
Izuku watched him for a few seconds. Then shrugged.
“Alright.”
He walked away. Taiga remained there, completely motionless for several seconds. Then fifteen teenagers immediately burst out from behind the doorway.
“FUCK.”
“SHUT THE FUCK UP.”
“THAT WAS BRUTAL.”
“I’M GOING TO KILL YOU.”
“DUDE, YOU’RE FUCKED.”
Taiga turned around.
“No.”
Everyone stared at him. He was thinking, very seriously. Then something appeared in his eyes : determination.
“He said Dynamight knows him better than anyone.”
“Yeah.”
“So…”
Taiga smiled.
“I just have to get to know him better.”
Everyone stood there with their mouths open. Then someone whispered:
“This guy is fucking immortal.”
Taiga crossed his arms, confident. "Exactly."
Dynamight had a twenty-year head start ? Minor detail. The battle was nowhere near over.
-
That same evening, the whiteboard was completely erased. Then rewritten, in large capital letters :
OPERATION DEKU-PHASE TWO : GET TO KNOW IZUKU MIDORIYA BETTER THAN DYNAMIGHT
Fifteen boys stared at the board. Then at Taiga. Then back at the board. Finally, someone raised a hand.
“I have a question.”
“What?”
“How long have they known each other?”
Taiga looked down at his notes. “Since they were four.”
Someone did the math in his head.
“So…”
He looked at Taiga.
“He’s got, like, a twenty-year head start.”
Taiga grabbed the eraser and violently wiped away:
BETTER THAN DYNAMIGHT
He then wrote :
GET TO KNOW IZUKU MIDORIYA VERY WELL
“There.”
The room exploded with laughter.
“THAT’S NOT EVEN THE SAME GOAL!”
“Shut the fuck up.”
“You gave up in fifteen seconds!”
“I adapted the strategy.”
“That’s a tactical retreat!”
“EXACTLY.”
Taiga put the eraser down.
"We start now."
The research became absurd.
After three days, Taiga already knew the basics. Izuku’s favorite food, his love for All mighty, His birthday. Even his rescue statistics and his preferred techniques. With his old injuries, of course.
Now he needed to be more precise.
“He prefers green tea,” Taiga announced.
One of the boys looked up.
“How do you know that?”
“Interview from 2029.”
“Dude.”
“What?”
“That was ten years ago.”
Taiga considered this.
“Maybe he still likes it.”
“Maybe he drinks coffee now.”
Taiga froze. Oh no. It was an unknown variable.
“Fuck.”
He immediately wrote : VERIFY CURRENT DRINK PREFERENCE
One of the boys leaned over his shoulder.
“You’re becoming creepy.”
“I’m being methodical.”
“You know his blood type.”
“Public information.”
“WHY DID YOU MEMORIZE IT?”
“SHUT THE FUCK UP.”
But Taiga took his mission very seriously. The next time Izuku came back, he was ready. Very ready.
Too ready.
Izuku walked in.
“Morning !”
Taiga immediately looked at what he was holding. A cup.
Coffee.
His eyes widened. New information. He approached.
“You drink coffee ?”
Izuku blinked.
“Yeah ?”
Taiga looked at the cup.
“Since when ?”
“Since…”
Izuku thought about it.
“University, I think.”
Taiga slowly nodded. Important. Very important.
“With what?”
“Sorry?”
“Your coffee.”
“Uh…”
Izuku looked down at the cup.
“A little milk.”
Taiga nodded again.
“Sugar ?”
Izuku started to frown.
“One.”
“Always?”
“Taiga.”
“What?”
“Why are you interrogating me about my coffee ?”
Behind a glass window, several of the boys were watching in what they clearly believed was a discreet manner. It was not discreet at all. One of them gave Taiga a thumbs-up. Taiga kept a perfectly serious face.
“Normal conversation.”
Izuku stared at him.
“This is what normal conversation looks like to you?”
“Yes.”
Taiga crossed his arms.
“I’m interested in people.”
Izuku gave him a small smile. “That’s good.”
Direct hit. Taiga frowned.
“Very funny.”
Izuku laughed and walked away. Immediately, Taiga pulled out a small notebook.
COFFEE + MILK + 1 SUGAR
A voice came from behind him. “Psychopath.”
Taiga spun around. “SHUT THE FUCK UP.”
And little by little, he actually started asking Izuku questions. And strangely enough… It was easier than expected.
Because Izuku loved talking, when you found the right subject.
“Why did you become a teacher ?”
Taiga had asked it almost at random. Izuku stopped, then smiled.
“That…”
He sat down.
“That’s a long story.”
Taiga immediately sat opposite him.
“I’ve got time.”
So Izuku told him. Not everything, but a lot.
The war. What he had seen. Children, young people who had been abandoned, the failures of hero society. His desire to intervene before it was too late.
Taiga listened. Without interrupting.
For once.
“I think…” Izuku said quietly, “for a long time, I thought a hero was someone who arrived when danger appeared.”
He looked down at his hands.
“Now I think the best hero is sometimes the one who arrives before.”
Taiga frowned slightly.
“Before what?”
Izuku looked up at him.
“Before someone starts believing they have no other choice.”
The sentence hit Taiga harder than he expected. Because he knew exactly who Izuku was talking about.
Boys like them.
Boys like him.
Izuku smiled faintly.
“That’s one of the reasons I come here.”
Taiga looked at him, his expression hardening.
“So we’re your project ?”
Izuku frowned immediately.
“No.”
Fast and firm.
“You’re people.”
Taiga looked away. Something shifted in his chest.
Again, that fucking feeling.
“Yeah, whatever.”
He pulled his usual armor back into place.
“It was just a question.”
Izuku smiled.
“Of course.”
-
That evening, the strategy council immediately demanded answers.
“So ?”
Taiga walked into the room.
“So what?”
“What did you learn?”
He dropped his notebook onto the table.
“A lot.”
Everyone crowded closer.
“He drinks coffee with—”
“WE DON’T GIVE A SHIT ABOUT THE COFFEE.”
Taiga looked personally offended.
“It’s important.”
“No, it isn’t.”
“Yes, it is.”
“What else?”
Taiga hesitated, then told them. Why Izuku taught, why he visited detention centers. This sentence. The best hero is sometimes the one who arrives before.
This time, nobody laughed. One boy looked down at the floor. Then another.
Because that sentence…
It applied to all of them.
Finally, someone murmured: "He really thinks that ?"
Taiga nodded.
“Yeah.”
“He’s weird.”
Taiga smiled faintly.
“Yeah.”
One boy looked at him. “You like him even more now.”
Taiga’s smile vanished.
“Shut the fuck up—”
But something was changing. At first, Taiga wanted to learn things about Izuku so he could seduce him. Then, little by little, he simply started wanting to know.
Because Izuku genuinely interested him.
He asked about his favorite movie. Izuku hesitated for ten full minutes.
His favorite place. He said he loved U.A. Obviously.
His biggest flaw. “I overthink everything.” Taiga burst out laughing.
“No shit.”
" Hey !"
His worst skill.
“I’m terrible at drawing.”
“Your notebooks are full of drawings.”
“Exactly.”
Izuku showed him.
Taiga looked.
Honestly, it wasn’t that bad.
It was actually pretty decent.
But Taiga had a reputation to maintain.
“What the hell is that?”
“A hand.”
“It looks like a dead spider.”
“TAIGA !”
Taiga burst out laughing. Izuku did too. And for a few minutes… Taiga forgot about the operation. Dynamight, the marriage, everything.
He was just… happy.
-
Then came the problem. The real problem. One Saturday, Izuku had just finished a session. He was packing his things away. Taiga was talking to him.
“So you really broke your arms multiple times on purpose to make him use his damn quirk ?”
“Not on purpose.”
“You knew it was going to happen.”
“Technically…”
“So, on purpose.”
“It was necessary !”
“You’re completely insane.”
“I was fifteen!”
“That’s not an excuse!”
Izuku was laughing. Then his phone buzzed. He looked at it. His expression changed instantly.
A small smile.
Taiga saw it. Danger.
“Who is it?”
The question came out far too quickly. Izuku looked up.
“Kacchan.”
Immediate regret.
“Oh.”
Izuku answered the message, then slipped his phone away.
“He’s coming to pick me up.”
What ?
“Here ?”
“Yes.”
Disaster. Absolute disaster. Taiga’s brain stopped working.
Dynamight. Here.
His rival. His enemy.
Well…
Dynamight had absolutely no idea they were rivals. But that was a minor detail.
Taiga straightened.
“When ?”
Izuku checked the time.
“Ten minutes.”
Ten. Minutes.
Taiga looked around.
Then : “I’ll be back.”
“Where are you going?”
“Nowhere.”
He immediately left.
Izuku stayed behind, looking confused.
-
BANG.
Dorm door.
“EMERGENCY.”
Everyone looked up.
“What ?”
Taiga pointed toward the hallway.
“DYNAMIGHT IS COMING.”
There was silence. Then chaos.
“WHAT ?!”
“HERE ?!”
“RIGHT NOW ?!”
“IN TEN MINUTES.”
Someone checked the clock.
“NINE NOW.”
“FUCK.”
Everyone started moving. Why ? Nobody knew. But everyone moved.
“Taiga !”
“What?”
“Your hair !”
“What about my hair ?”
“It looks terrible !”
“IT ALWAYS LOOKS LIKE THIS.”
“EXACTLY.”
One boy tried to fix it.
“DON’T TOUCH ME.”
“You’re about to meet your rival!”
“I KNOW.”
“Your rival who doesn’t know he’s your rival.”
“SHUT UP.”
Someone appeared holding deodorant.
PSSSHHH.
“WHAT THE FUCK, STOP.”
“You stink after training.”
“I TOOK A SHOWER THIS MORNING.”
“That was this morning.”
PSSSHHH.
“STOP.”
Then silence.
One boy asked:
“What are you going to say to him?”
Taiga stopped.
Good question.
What exactly did you say to the husband of the man you were planning to seduce?
Hello?
No. Too weak.
“Enjoy it while it lasts.”
No. Suicidal.
“I’m going to steal him from you.”
Even more suicidal.
Finally :
“Nothing.”
He crossed his arms.
“I’m going to observe him.”
“Like a predator.”
“Shut the fuck up.”
-
Eight minutes later, a black luxury car stopped outside the center. Taiga watched from a window, several heads crowded around his.
“Move.”
“We want to see.”
“You’re literally on top of me.”
“Shh.”
The car door opened. Bakugo Katsuki stepped out.
Even from a distance…
He was impressive.
He was tall and broad-shouldered. He had scars visible across his arms and along his right cheek, along with a naturally hostile expression.
One of the boys muttered :
“Fuck.”
Taiga frowned.
“What?”
“He’s huge.”
“So?”
“Nothing.”
“What are you implying?”
“Nothing at all.”
Bakugo walked toward the entrance. Taiga narrowed his eyes, analyzing him, like an opponent. His posture, his stride, his attitude.
Then Izuku came outside. And that was when Taiga saw something. Izuku smiled.
“Kacchan !”
Kacchan ?
Taiga immediately felt irritated. Kacchan ? What kind of ridiculous nickname was that?
Bakugo said something. They couldn’t hear it. Izuku answered, looking confused. Bakugo frowned.
Then…
He simply took Izuku’s bag. Without asking.
Naturally.
As if it were automatic.
Izuku let him.
Taiga watched. Tiny detail, but irritating. Very irritating.
Then Bakugo looked at the empty coffee cup in Izuku’s hand. Said something. Izuku seemed to think about it.
Then Bakugo showed him something on his phone. Izuku burst out laughing.
Taiga frowned harder.
“What’s he showing him?”
"We can’t see.”
“Can’t one of you zoom in or something?”
“It’s a window, dumbass.”
“SHUT UP.”
Then Bakugo went back to the car and pulled something out.
Another coffee. He handed it to Izuku. Izuku took it immediately.
Taiga froze. Coffee. He stared. With milk, probably. Izuku drank, then smiled. Taiga murmured:
“One sugar.”
“What?”
“Nothing.”
But something about the moment bothered him. Deeply. Bakugo hadn’t asked. He just knew.
Then Izuku started searching through his bag. Bakugo sighed, reached over, and immediately pulled something from one of the side pockets.
His keys.
Izuku blinked. Then laughed.
Taiga stayed silent.
Bakugo knew where he kept his keys. Another detail. Tiny. Ridiculous. But… he knew.
Then Izuku seemed to say something. Bakugo answered immediately. Izuku scrunched his nose. Bakugo smiled, just slightly.
Izuku nudged him with his shoulder, then leaned in and kissed his cheek.
They got into the car, and drove away.
Then silence. Long. Very long.
Finally, one of the boys murmured:
“Dude.”
Taiga didn’t answer.
“Twenty years.”
“Shut up.”
But there was no real aggression behind it. He kept staring at the empty road. For the first time…
He truly understood what Izuku had meant.
“He knows me better than almost anyone.”
It wasn’t knowing his birthday, his favorite food or his statistics.
It was knowing where he kept his keys. How he took his coffee. When to take his bag without asking. What would make him laugh. The little things. Thousands of them, built up over years.
Taiga lowered his eyes.
Something hurt.
Then someone put a hand on his shoulder.
“Stay strong.”
Taiga looked at the hand. Then at the boy.
“Take that off.”
“Sorry.”
Then another boy murmured:
“So… do we cancel the operation?”
Taiga stayed still. Then he looked toward the whiteboard at the back of the room. "OPERATION STEAL DYNAMIGHT’S HUSBAND"
He narrowed his eyes.
“No.”
Everyone looked at him. Taiga straightened. His armor returned.
“We change strategy.”
“Again?”
“Shut up.”
He walked over to the board and picked up the marker. He erased : GET TO KNOW IZUKU
And then wrote : CREATE OUR OWN MEMORIES
Someone read it, then looked at Taiga.
“That’s…”
Pause.
“Surprisingly not completely stupid.”
Taiga smiled.
“Obviously.”
Another boy raised his hand.
“But he’s still married.”
Taiga threw the marker directly at his forehead.
“OW !”
“YOU ALWAYS RUIN THE FUCKING MOOD.”
But that night, lying in bed…
Taiga kept thinking about what he had seen.
The coffee, the keys. The bag.
The way Izuku had called out Kacchan without even thinking about it.
And for the first time since this ridiculous operation began, he felt something other than jealousy.
He wondered : how much do you have to love someone to learn all those tiny details?
Immediately, he hated the question. Because another one followed, much more painful.
And how loved do you have to be for someone to bother remembering every single one ?
Taiga stared at the ceiling, then sighed.
“Fucking Dynamight.”
A voice came through the wall.
“GOOD NIGHT, ROMEO !”
Taiga shot upright.
“GO FUCK YOURSELF !”
Laughter broke out all along the hallway. And despite himself…
Taiga smiled. Because he had already made his decision. He couldn’t have twenty years of memories with Izuku.
Fine.
Then he would start by making one. Then another. And another.
And for a boy who, only a few weeks ago, couldn’t imagine a future beyond the walls of the detention center…
Maybe that was the part of his plan Izuku would have considered the most important.
-
OPERATION DEKU - PHASE THREE : CREATE OUR OWN MEMORIES.
Taiga stared at the words on the whiteboard for almost a full minute, arms crossed, expression grave, like a general studying the map of a particularly important war.
Behind him, someone was loudly eating chips.
Crunch.
Taiga closed his eyes.
Crunch.
“Can you stop ?”
Crunch.
“What ?”
Taiga turned around. “Eating like a fucking pig while I’m trying to think.”
“You’ve been thinking for ten minutes.”
“Exactly.”
"And what have you come up with ?"
Taiga looked at the board.
“Nothing.”
The room exploded with laughter.
“FUCK, GREAT PROGRESS.”
"SHUT THE FUCK UP."
He picked up the marker again. Create memories, fine.
But how ? Go out with him? Impossible. They were in a juvenile detention center.
Invite him to a restaurant ? Even more impossible.
Give him something ? Possible. But what ?
Taiga wrote : GIFT ?
One of the boys immediately raised his hand.
“Flowers.”
Taiga turned around.
“Too romantic.”
Everyone stared at him.
“Dude.”
“What?”
“Your entire objective is literally to seduce him.”
“Yeah, but I need to be subtle.”
“You have a whiteboard titled Operation steal Dynamight’s husband.”
Taiga looked at the board.
Another boy offered, “Chocolate.”
“Boring.”
“Jewelry.”
“With what money?”
“Good point.”
“A drawing.”
Taiga slowly turned toward him.
“I’m seventeen, not six.”
“It was an idea.”
“A bad one.”
Then a voice came from the back of the room.
“Make him something.”
Taiga turned.
“What ?”
“Something yourself.”
“Like what?”
The boy shrugged. “I don’t know.”
Then he smiled.
“Katsudon.”
Taiga froze.
Oh. No.
Everyone understood at exactly the same time.
“OOOOOOOOH.”
“NO.”
“YOU’RE GONNA COOK.”
“I SAID NO.”
“TAIGA IN AN APRON.”
“SHUT THE FUCK UP.”
“IZUKU-CHAN, I MADE YOUR FAVORITE FOOD.”
“I’M GOING TO KILL YOU.”
Twenty minutes later, however…
LEARN HOW TO MAKE KATSUDON
was written on the board.
And it was a disaster. An absolute disaster.
“It’s burned.”
“No, it isn’t.”
“Taiga.”
“What?”
“It’s black.”
“Caramelized.”
“THE PORK IS BLACK.”
“SHUT UP.”
First attempt. Trash.
Second attempt.
“Why does the egg look like that?”
“Like what?”
“Like a disease.”
“Go fuck yourself.”
Trash.
Third attempt : too salty.
Fourth : overcooked rice.
Fifth : someone took a bite.
Taiga waited.
“Well ?”
The boy chewed, thought about it, then :
“It’s…”
Taiga leaned forward.
“Yeah?”
“Edible.”
“EDIBLE?”
“That’s progress!”
“I SPENT THREE HOURS ON THIS.”
“Exactly.”
Taiga nearly threw the pan at him.
-
But he kept going. Why ?
Good question.
At first…
For the plan. Obviously.
Then, gradually…
Because he wanted to see Izuku’s reaction.
He imagined him tasting it. Those green eyes lighting up. That smile appearing. Him maybe saying:
“This is delicious.”
Even if it probably wasn’t true. So Taiga tried again. And again, and again. Until one of the staff members finally tasted it.
Taiga waited. The man took another bite. Taiga’s eyes widened slightly.
“Well ?”
“Not bad.”
Taiga smiled.
“Not bad?”
“Not bad.”
He immediately turned toward the others.
“YOU HEARD THAT?”
“YES, CHEF.”
“HE SAID NOT BAD.”
“CONGRATULATIONS.”
For once…
Taiga was genuinely proud.
-
Then the day arrived. Izuku was coming back. Taiga had prepared everything. Perfectly.
Well… Almost.
The katsudon was hidden in the kitchen. He had even managed to convince the staff to let him use it. And he had planned the moment : after training, when Izuku was alone. Perfect.
Except…
Izuku arrived with an announcement.
“I won’t be able to stay very long today.”
Taiga immediately felt his entire plan collapse.
“What ?”
Izuku turned toward him.
“Sorry.”
He looked genuinely exhausted. Taiga noticed right away.
His green locks were even messier than usual. There were faint shadows beneath his eyes. His usual smile was still there, but less energetic than usual.
“I have a meeting at U.A. afterward.”
Taiga frowned.
“You worked before coming here ?”
“Yeah.”
“Since when ?”
“This morning.”
“What time?”
Izuku hesitated. “Six.”
Taiga looked at the clock. Five in the afternoon.
“You’re completely insane.”
Izuku laughed.
“Thanks.”
“That wasn’t a compliment.”
“I know.”
His plan. The katsudon.
Everything was fucked.
Izuku would leave before Taiga could give it to him.
Frustration surged through him.
Then he looked at Izuku’s face again. Tired. Really tired. And strangely… His frustration faded. Almost completely.
Taiga sighed. “Wait.”
Izuku blinked. “What?”
“Don’t move.”
Taiga left. Izuku stayed behind looking thoroughly confused.
-
Taiga walked into the kitchen. The others were already there.
“Well ?”
He grabbed the container.
“He’s leaving early.”
“Oh.”
“Plan cancelled?”
Taiga looked at the katsudon, then shook his head.
“No.”
“You’re still giving it to him?”
“Yeah.”
One boy smiled. "Romantic."
Taiga stared at him.
“I can still drown you in the sauce.”
“Sorry.”
A few minutes later, Izuku was already packing away his notebooks.
“Midoriya.”
He turned.
“Yes ?”
Taiga approached, container in his hands. Then stopped. Suddenly…
This was much harder than expected. Fuck.
Why ?
It was just food. Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
“Here.”
He held out the container. Izuku looked at it. Then at him.
“What is it?”
“Open it.”
Izuku did. His eyes widened.
“Katsudon ?”
Taiga immediately crossed his arms.
“Yeah.”
Izuku smiled.
“Thank you !”
“I made it.”
Taiga immediately regretted saying it. Because Izuku’s expression changed. His eyes widened even more.
“You ?”
“Why are you saying it like that?”
“No, I—”
Izuku laughed.
“I’m just surprised.”
“I know how to cook.”
Lie. He had learned one dish. After five disasters.
“Since when ?”
“A long time.”
Four days.
Izuku looked down at the box again, then back at Taiga. His smile, and even his eyes, softened in a way that felt dangerously tender. Taiga’s heartbeat immediately sped up.
“You remembered it was my favorite food?”
Silence.
“Maybe.”
“Taiga.”
“What ?”
Izuku was still smiling. “Thank you.”
Second thank you. Much softer than the first. Taiga looked away.
“Yeah, whatever.”
Then Izuku picked up the chopsticks. Taiga froze.
“Wait.”
Too late. Izuku took a bite. Taiga watched. Intensely. Far too intensely. Izuku chewed.
One second.
Two.
Three.
“Well ?”
Izuku looked up, then smiled.
“It’s really good.”
Taiga stopped moving.
“Really ?”
The question came out too quickly, too sincerely. No armor on whatsoever. Izuku noticed. His smile softened even more.
“Really.”
Something exploded inside Taiga.
Victory. Absolute victory. Operation Deku : Massive success.
He was already preparing the triumphant report in his head—
“The rice might be just a tiny bit overcooked.”
Taiga’s face dropped.
Izuku burst out laughing.
“COULDN’T YOU JUST SAY IT WAS GOOD ?”
“But it is good !”
“YOU JUST CRITICIZED THE RICE.”
“Because you were staring at me like you were expecting a professional review!”
“I WASN’T EXPECTING A REVIEW.”
Izuku was laughing so hard that he had to set the container down.
“Sorry.”
“It’s not funny.”
“It is.”
“No.”
“A little.”
Taiga crossed his arms, furious. Well… pretending to be.
Because he loved making Izuku laugh. Then Izuku took another bite.
“But seriously.”
He looked directly at Taiga.
“I love it.”
This time…
Taiga smiled. He couldn’t stop himself. Small, but real.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
Then Izuku added:
“Katsuki makes really good katsudon too.”
Taiga’s smile vanished. Instantly. Izuku noticed absolutely nothing.
“He usually adds a little more—”
“I don’t care.”
Izuku blinked.
“Sorry ?”
Taiga realized what he had said.
“Nothing.”
“You literally just—”
“Eat.”
Izuku frowned. Then shrugged.
“Alright.”
Disaster avoided.
But then something unexpected happened. Izuku checked the time, then looked at the container. Then at Taiga. He hesitated.
“You know what ?”
“What ?”
Izuku put his bag down.
“My meeting can wait ten minutes.”
Taiga stared at him.
“Seriously ?”
“Yeah. I want to do justice to your food.”
Izuku sat down.
“And I’m not eating it standing up.”
Taiga stayed frozen for a moment. Then—
“Oh.”
Izuku raised an eyebrow.
“You want to sit with me ?”
Taiga’s heartbeat fastened. He sat across from him.
And suddenly…
There was no strategy. No whiteboard. No Operation Deku. Nothing. Just them. Izuku eating, Taiga talking. The two of them teasing each other.
“So you really learned how to make this just for today ?”
“I told you I already knew how to cook.”
“Taiga.”
“What ?”
“You put four times too much sauce on one side.”
“It’s artistic.”
“Of course.”
“You don’t know anything.”
“It’s my favorite dish.”
“And?”
“So I’m an expert.”
“Terrible logic.”
“Says you.”
Izuku laughed.
Then they moved on to other things. Training. U.A. His students. Eventually, Taiga asked:
“What are they like ?”
“Who ?”
“Your students.”
Izuku immediately lit up.
“Oh.”
Mistake. Twenty minutes later… He was still talking.
“And then he used his quirk in exactly the opposite direction !”
Taiga was laughing.
“What an idiot.”
“No !”
“You literally just told me he launched himself into a wall.”
“It was a miscalculation.”
“He’s an idiot.”
“Taiga !”
Taiga laughed again. Then suddenly… Izuku checked the time. His eyes widened.
“Oh no.”
“What ?”
“My meeting.”
Taiga looked at the clock. He was twenty-five minutes late. Then burst out laughing.
“YOU SAID TEN MINUTES.”
“I KNOW.”
Izuku shot to his feet.
“My bag !”
Taiga handed it over.
“Notebook !”
“There.”
“Phone !”
“In your pocket.”
Izuku checked.
“Oh.”
Taiga was still laughing while Izuku grabbed the food container.
“I’m finishing this tonight.”
“You’re keeping the box ?”
“Obviously.”
Then he rushed toward the door.
“Thank you, Taiga !”
“Yeah.”
Izuku opened it. Then stopped. Turned back.
“Really."
Silence.
"I had a good time.”
And then he left. The door closed.
Taiga stood completely still, for a long moment.
Then…
Very slowly…
A huge smile spread across his face.
“Oh, fuck.”
Noise behind him. Taiga turned around. Fifteen heads. All peeking through the doorway.
“How long have you been standing there?”
“Twenty-seven minutes.”
“YOU LISTENED TO THE WHOLE THING?”
His cheeks burned with embarrassment.
“HE MISSED HIS MEETING FOR YOU.”
“HE SAID HE HAD A GOOD TIME.”
“DYNAMIGHT IS FINISHED.”
“SHUT THE FUCK UP.”
“PHASE THREE SUCCESS.”
Taiga tried to keep a straight face. Impossible. The smile kept coming back.
“He kept the box !”
“THAT DOESN’T MEAN ANYTHING.”
“THAT’S PRACTICALLY AN ENGAGEMENT.”
“GO FUCK YOURSELF.”
But that night…
For once…
Taiga barely thought about Dynamight. He didn’t think about the marriage, or the competition.
He just kept replaying twenty-five minutes in his head. A box of katsudon, Izuku laughing, his forgotten meeting.
And that sentence.
I had a good time.
Taiga smiled in the dark. There.
A memory.
The first one that felt like it belonged only to them.
Then he realized something. Something strange.
He had spent days trying to manufacture the perfect moment that would make Izuku fall in love with him.
But the best part had been the moment when Taiga completely forgot to try.
The thought stayed with him for a long time. Even if he was nowhere near mature enough yet to understand what it meant.
For now… He grabbed his pillow, pressed it against his face, and muttered—
“He missed his fucking meeting for me.”
A muffled voice immediately came through the wall.
“WE CAN HEAR YOU, LOVERBOY.”
Taiga closed his eyes.
“I’m actually going to kill all of them.”
-
The katsudon had been a success.
A massive success. A historic success. At least according to Taiga.
According to the other boys at the center, Izuku had simply eaten a meal someone had made for him, complimented the cooking, and talked with Taiga for about half an hour. According to Taiga, however, it was a major strategic breakthrough.
Izuku had delayed a meeting to eat his katsudon. He had smiled, he had taken more than one bite. And most importantly…
He had said Taiga was genuinely good at cooking.
Taiga spent the next three days insisting that he did not care while threatening anyone who dared touch the empty container Izuku had eaten from.
It now sat on a shelf in the common room. Clean, untouched. Almost sacred.
“It’s literally a plastic box,” Ren pointed out.
“Touch it and I’ll break your fingers.”
“And that’s exactly why I keep saying you have a problem.”
Taiga did not have a problem. He had a plan. A plan that, unfortunately, had one major obstacle.
Bakugo Katsuki.
Dynamight.
Izuku’s husband.
The Number Five Hero.
The man who had known Izuku since childhood, shared his house, his bed, his habits, and probably every insignificant little detail Taiga was still desperately trying to discover.
So naturally, Taiga needed to understand the enemy.
It was perfectly logical. Strategic intelligence. Nothing more.
“You’re watching another Dynamight interview ?”
Taiga jumped so hard he nearly dropped his phone.
Ren, a boy who was particularly invested in the operation DEKU, was standing behind the couch with an apple between his teeth, looking directly over Taiga’s shoulder.
On the screen, Bakugo Katsuki sat across from a journalist who looked like she was fighting for her life to maintain a professional smile.
“Fuck off.”
“That’s the third one today.”
“I said fuck off.”
“The first one was about his training routine. The second was about his favorite costume brands. And now you’re watching an interview about his eating habits.”
Taiga immediately locked his phone.
“It’s research.”
Ren chewed slowly. “For what?”
“The plan.”
“What part of the plan requires knowing that Dynamight loves mapo tofu ?”
Taiga stared at him. “Any information could become useful.”
“For stealing his husband ?”
“Exactly.”
Ren nodded with exaggerated seriousness. “Of course.”
Taiga threw a cushion at his face.
The annoying part was that Ren wasn’t entirely wrong. For the past few days, Taiga had been asking a lot of questions. Far too many. He had started subtly.
Well— as subtly as Taiga was capable of being.
The last time Izuku visited, Taiga waited twenty minutes before casually asking:
“Does Dynamight cook often ?”
Izuku looked up from the notes he was reading.
“Kacchan ? Yeah, pretty often.”
“What does he cook ?”
“A little bit of everything.”
“Better than me?”
The silence that followed had been unbearable. Izuku blinked. Then smiled.
“That’s difficult to compare.”
Bad answer. Taiga thought about it for two full days. The next visit, he tried a different approach.
“How many hours does he train every week ?”
“Who ?”
“Dynamight.”
Izuku started thinking.
“Depends on his missions, but probably somewhere between fifteen and twenty hours of individual training, not counting—”
Taiga immediately pulled out a notebook. Izuku stopped mid-sentence.
“Why are you writing that down?”
Taiga snapped the notebook shut.
“I’m not writing anything down.”
“You literally just wrote something.”
“It’s private.”
The week after that: “What time does he wake up?”
“Katsuki?”
“Yeah.”
“Really early.”
“Earlier than you?”
“Almost always.”
“What does he drink in the morning?”
“Black coffee.”
“Is he always that aggressive when he wakes up?”
Izuku laughed.
“He’s actually calmer after his first coffee.”
Then he tilted his head slightly.
“You’ve been asking a lot about him lately.”
Taiga nearly choked on his own saliva. But Izuku didn’t push. Not that time.
Unfortunately, today he seemed determined to get an actual answer.
The session had just ended.
Izuku had spent the afternoon observing the boys’ progress with their quirks. Taiga had successfully completed a particularly difficult exercise, and Izuku had praised him in front of everyone, giving Taiga such an absurd rush of satisfaction that he had spent the next ten minutes deliberately frowning to compensate.
The others were putting away the equipment now. Izuku sat on the edge of a table, writing observations in his notebook.
Taiga should have left. He should have followed the others into the hallway. Instead, he stayed exactly where he was. Because he still had one more question. Just one. An important one.
“Does he still use his old gauntlets?”
Izuku slowly looked up. “Sorry ?”
Taiga immediately realized his mistake. Too late.
“Dynamight,” he clarified, as though that somehow made the question less suspicious. “Those huge gauntlets from his first costume. Does he still use them sometimes?”
To Taiga, it was simply useful information. Something that could help him predict Dynamight’s tactics in preparation for their inevitable fateful battle.
Izuku, however, stared at him for a long moment. Then closed his notebook.
“Taiga.”
Bad sign. Izuku only said his name in that tone when he was about to have a serious conversation.
“What ?”
“Why are you asking me so many questions about Katsuki ?”
Taiga froze. In the hallway, several heads immediately reappeared around the doorframe. Traitors. They had heard. Of course they had heard.
“I’m not asking that many.”
Izuku raised an eyebrow.
“You asked me what kind of coffee he drinks, what time he wakes up, how much he trains, what he cooks, what injuries he gets most often, and now you want to know whether he still uses his old gauntlets.”
“Those are normal questions.”
“Not really.”
Taiga crossed his arms.
“Maybe not for you.”
Izuku studied him with growing curiosity. Not suspicion. Not yet. But he was clearly trying to figure something out.
“Did something happen ?”
“No.”
“Did he say something to you ?”
“I’ve never even met him.”
“Then why—”
Izuku stopped. His expression shifted slightly.
Taiga felt his heart stop.
Izuku knew.
It was over.
He had figured out the plan.
He was going to realize that Taiga had been studying Bakugo like a romantic rival, watching hours of interviews, compiling lists of his strengths and weaknesses, and participating in no fewer than six clandestine meetings titled Operation steal Dynamight’s husband.
Izuku was going to think he was ridiculous. Or worse.
He was going to distance himself.
Panic started rising in Taiga’s chest.
“Wait…”
Izuku smiled slowly.
“…Do you admire him ?”
Taiga stared at him.
“…What ?”
Behind the door, Ren started making huge gestures with both arms. Say yes.
Taiga frowned.
Ren pressed his hands together in front of his chest, silently begging. Another boy mimed an explosion with his fingers, then gave Taiga two enthusiastic thumbs-up.
Izuku briefly followed Taiga’s gaze toward the doorway.
Every head vanished instantly. Too late.
“Do they know something I don’t ?” Izuku asked, amused.
“No.”
A head popped back into view.
“He’s a fan !”
Taiga spun around so violently he nearly gave himself whiplash.
“SHUT THE FUCK UP !”
The head vanished. Taiga slowly turned back toward Izuku. Izuku was staring at him with wide eyes.
“You’re a fan of Dynamight ?”
And now Taiga was completely fucked.