Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Izuku Midoriya stood with the assembled class 1-A on a platform overlooking an urban cityscape, complete with apartments, roads, and a monorail line running through. For a moment Izuku was convinced an actual monorail would come travelling along it with all the details U.A managed to cram into the zones all over campus.

After another villain attack, this time located suspiciously near some student houses, the school had insisted that all students move on campus into new dorms under the protection of UA. Izuku couldn’t decide whether or not he liked that they’d made the students pair up for dorms under the reason of bonding and teamwork and other buzzwords.

“What do you think it’s gonna be?” Ochako asked, almost as wide eyed as he felt.

“I hope we get to fight each other again,” Bakugou said twelve decibels above normal speaking level as always. “I'm sick of all these time trials. None of that team crap either. I want a real free for all!”

“That wouldn’t test anything, it would be chaos,” Iida countered, adjusting his hero outfit.

“I'm not so sure,” Todoroki said, “I agree with Bakugou that it would be good training. Area awareness and agility training when avoiding others attacks, learning to quickly map out and utilize a foreign field to our advantage, not to mention standard training of our own powers.”

“And it’ll just be fun to blow you losers up,” Bakugou said, looking to Mineta with a shark’s grin.

Izuku liked to think he would have done it eventually, that he was just waiting because it was the hero thing to do to give second chances. And third chances… But when Bakugou had exploded Mineta out of the locker room when he tried to peak in on the girls again... He knew he should have done it sooner. But he loved Bakugou for doing it, and almost missed him in the one hour suspension the school had bothered to give him just to keep up appearances.

Mineta took a gulp of air and slid a step from them as All Might finally appeared in front of them with his clipboard in hand.

“-For I am here!” All Might called as he posed dramatically.

Izuku looked around to see if he’d had a momentary stroke or something, but everyone looked as confused as he was.

“Uh, All Might you forgot to say the first part…”

“Nonsense young Midoriya, I was simply moving too quickly for you to hear it!”

A sound of amazement slipped from his lips that had Todoroki shaking his head, but he didn’t care. That was what being a superhero was about! Even now that his body didn’t break whenever he used his power, even if in the future he could use 100% passively at all times he still wouldn’t be a superhero without acting like one.

He had to be bold, and make an entrance, or at least be able to have all eyes on him without panicking. If Megamind is anything to go by he needed to work on his presentation! Which would be a lot easier if he weren’t so shy.

“Alright class today’s lesson is a speed test, a race-”

Half the class failed to keep in their groans.

“Come on, man, we’ve been doing speed training almost exclusively,” Momo sighed, but stood up straight in an instant when All Might turned her way, “-Sir.”

All might looked dejected. “Here I thought you’d all be excited! I tried to spruce this one up. A hostage situation, buildings rigged to collapse, and I even wrangled some robotic villains to fight along your way!” All might frowned, turning to the course to silhouette himself in the sunlight. “I guess I failed you all.”  

He felt the guilt even though he wasn’t even one of the ones who sighed. Ochako spoke up quickly though.

“No, sir, it sounds great!” Ochako said, elbowing Todoroki.

“Yes, the robots we can all defeat with ease make a suitable distraction,” Todoroki tried.

Whether the predetermined amount of people complimented him or he just liked Todoroki’s particularly deadpan delivery, All Might turned back with his usual grin.

“Then let’s begin! Make your way to the building set to collapse, carefully secure the hostage dummy and escape. You don’t have to fight the villains, just get the hostage to safety.”

Bakugou pushed his way to the front, even though Izuku swore he hadn’t even been behind him, “I'll go first before Deku breaks the whole place.”

All Might laughed and picked Bakugou up by the scruff of his shirt. “Of course not young Bakugou, but I like your moxie! No I have prepared a GLORIOUS order!”

Bakugou went limp in All Might’s grip, crossing his arms with some muttered curses.

---------

One by one the class cycled through. They moved through like they’d memorized the course, because even though the course was new they’d done enough speed tests to adapt instantly at this point. Gliding, running, jumping, sparking, and bouncing the students moved through the course with ease, most taking out the robotic villains on the way just because they could.

No one had failed yet. They’d had so much practice with these types by now that it would have been impossible to fail. Or at least insanely embarrassing. Which of course meant that Izuku had spent the entire time getting increasingly worried that he’d be the one to do it.

They all completed it within the time, and it was cool to watch them all go through, even if he had gotten used to everyone’s powers by now he could still learn by watching, but he didn’t get the same feeling watching his classmates as he did watching pro villains. Probably just because he’s never watched a pro hero run a speedtest for weeks straight, but mostly because the students just didn’t put on as much of a pro hero who needs public appeal for funding.

Todoroki came closest to that level, of course. Always so cool, the second he stepped into the course a wave of ice spread out and froze the robots in place, then encased the building so it couldn’t even fall down if it wanted to. It barely took any effort, and his disinterest as his power lazily completed the course made him look just like a high level hero taking out street thugs below their pay grade.

Finally it came to Izuku’s turn. He felt his hero outfit stretch just enough to make him feel self conscious as he let One For All passively flow through him, his muscles growing to match. His face flushed as Kaminari wolf whistled and Ochako clapped, others muttering some best wishes they gave before everyone’s turn.

Half of him wanted to get the suit resized so it didn’t hug his every muscle, and a bit too closely to everything else. But all the heroes had suits like this, even All Might had every muscle exposed in a way Izuku never thought about for too long.

He pulled up his mask, resisting the urge to fuss over his costumes ears too much as they sat at odd angles. He began his walk to the doors, pretending not to hear his friends talk behind his back.

“I'm not sure I'll ever get used to him looking like that,” Ochako said.

“Midoriya has really taken his practice to a new level,” Iida said in his analysing way.

“And he’s so much more confident!”  

Izuku almost stumbled at that, but managed to keep his facade up as he entered the fake city.

All Might blew his whistle and Izuku set off with a powerful jump that carried him down the street in one leap. He leapt and landed with ease after all the practice, no more slipping his landings. Still, while this would definitely take him to the end, he knew he could do it bolder. Flashier.

He adjusted his landings and take offs to be a bit more dramatic, straightened his body as it soared through the air, and landed neatly. He wasn’t sure if it was better to land gracefully and lightly, or risk the property damage and land with more of a bang. His instinct was to land easily, a force of controlled power would assure the citizens that he was no doubt the good guy, not a demolition man.

He started to take note of where the cameras were. The class could see into the cityscape from the viewing platform, but it was also broadcast to a screen there for the parts where they couldn’t, and for review by staff or the student later. He made himself smile to each and every one he saw as he passed, a smile for all those watching, a substitute for the public he’ll need to impress as a pro hero.

The suit helped. While he was wearing it he felt like there was a separation between the real Izuku, and the hero he could be. He savoured the disconnect, rationalizing that even though all eyes were on him, they were watching the super hero Deku, not really watching him . This let him be a bit more adventurous .

Izuku found the robotic villains and planned his entrance while soaring in from above. He wouldn’t avoid them, he had to train the fight choreography sometime and it’d be much less embarrassing messing it up in the campus grounds, rather than where the news cameras would make sure everyone saw.

He landed with a slide, dust trailing in his path as the robotic villains swivelled all their parts to lock onto him. He debated saying a catchphrase, something clever to the villains. He held up his fist, a flash of green lightning sparking off.

“This is your last chance, villains!” He called out, hoping his voice sounded the part. “Surrender or I'll have to put you down!”

Of course the robots didn’t waiver, what with being robots programmed to fight him and all. Instead they stomped towards him forming craters where they stepped. Izuku forced a grin and leapt.

The plan was to land on the first villain’s massive torso and pulverize it, but instead his powered leap launched him right through the robot’s core, Izuku pulling himself through onto the other side with a bunch of scrap exploding around him.

Before the robot hit the ground he had moved on to the next, delivering a punch to one of it’s legs so hard the thing flipped over, then with another punch sent the toppling robot sailing backwards until it landed halfway into a building, rubble falling atop it.

With only one bot left he thought quickly of how best to end it. He’d already kind of ruined the no damage thing by burying his last foe in rubble, so even if it was an accident he’d already kind of ruined the whole no unnecessary damage thing.

A massive arm slammed down, but he dodged with ease. Instead he boarded the arm and ran up it’s length, a small jump brought him to it’s shoulder where the head was in plain sight. He stepped on the head and sent himself to the air, soaring upwards and coaxing himself into a side flip as he now angled down at the robot which searched itself for his presence.

With his fist outheld he fell back to the villain, giving his foe little time to even look up and see him. When his fist struck it shot through the metal, sending a shockwave down that crinkled the metal like it was tissue paper. Izuku swung himself onto his feet on what was left of the metallic shoulder and rode it to the ground, searching for the camera where his classmates watched him.

The metal slammed to the floor and he hopped off with grace, looking to the camera and flashing a peace sign, a smile, and a wink as he posed for the camera. He heard the distant happy laughs and clapping, mostly Ochako and Iida’s shouted encouragements.

He couldn’t believe how well that had gone, how good it had felt. He was sure that the first time he tried to do something cool he’d fall flat on his face, but he hadn’t! He felt so good, so alive and ready. He only needed to get to the hostage doll and get out, and he had plenty of time.

Now was the time for a cool take off. The building was close, he could get there in one jump, and he had to make it look good. He charged his jump, took off leaving a cloud of smoke, sailing through the air. He turned and waved to the camera with a smile, feeling the air pull through his hair where it escaped from his suit.

Cutting through the distance like only Bakugou’s voice could came “DEKU YOU IDIOT LOOK-”

Izuku lost all composure when he heard the shouting, his body turning to a flailing mass as he desperately turned to look in front of him before-

He slammed into the building, collapsing through the walls and a couple of floors before he landed on the hard concrete on ground level with a pathetic echo of a thud.

Lying on the ground he tried to be perfectly still, the only possible escape from his embarrassment was the 1% chance that UA cameras worked based on movement, because there was surely at least one camera set up to watch the hostage he’d almost landed on.

Unfortunately, his less than graceful landfall had already cost him the mission. The building creaked and groaned and by the time he crawled over to the hostage it was already coming down, burying him inside.

When All Might came to unbury him with the class they found him under the rubble spooning the training dummy.

“Hey look who finally got a girlfriend,” Bakugou taunted, others stifling laughs.

Ochako cut in quickly, “Holy cow Deku that was so cool!”

“Yeah Midoriya your new jumps are so powerful,” Iida said, “Usually you would have just hit the building and slid down the side.”

For some reason that actually made him feel better. He put his hand behind his back with a smile. “Thanks guys but-”

“Yeah real impressive! The guy managed to collapse a building that was set to collapse, so powerful!” Bakugou yelled to the class, before getting right up to his face. “What kind of idiot doesn’t look where they’re going, Deku?!”

It was more or less what Izuku was going to say, though not exactly how he was going to phrase it.

Bakugou obviously had more left to shout as he was still standing three inches from his chest looking down to him, but All Might cut in with a swift separation. “Not to worry, students. This is why the course has individual buildings for each of you! Come along, we mustn’t delay!”

All Might was cycling through children with industrial speed, barely taking any time to give feedback to each student. Izuku had to wonder if it was just because of the late start to the class, or if All Might was getting worse at holding his hero form. Of course besides the haste you’d never guess anything was wrong at all, a wide smile permanently on his face as he lead the students back out of the course to the viewing area.

From the corner of his eye he saw Bakugou pout his way over to Todoroki, his new roommate in the campus dorms. Todoroki elbowed him in the side, prompting a swipe from Bakugou that Todoroki swatted aside like it was nothing, as well as annoyed muttering from both sides. They stopped whispering when Bakugou made a blatant gesture to Izuku and they noticed he was watching.

Bakugou was next, which was for the best since he’d been walking with clenched fists and a sneer all the way back. He barely waited for All Might to signal him to go before exploding through the gates covering the class in dust.

It was easy to follow his explosive path without using the viewing screens as he made his way to the center and found the robotic villains. He must have still been annoyed at him, or someone else, or a flower or something because he barely landed before the robots were engulfed in a massive explosion sent from his grenadier gauntlets.

When the robots fell the smoke parted for them, showing Bakugou standing among the wreckage with smoke flowing off him. He turned to where he knew the camera was and stared it down. Izuku gulped, knowing the silent threat was for him.

With a few sparks before the bang he took off again, his gauntlets staying behind him so the blows propelled him forward. He flew toward the window with power and precision, and unlike Izuku he kept his eyes on the prize instead of showing off. Most of his body slipped into the building through a concrete window, but his gaudy gauntlet caught on the frame.

With his last propelling blast from his caught gauntlet acting as an anchor his body hooked back from clearing the window and he slammed into the wall. The class collectively winced. The building began to crack from the impact of Bakugou’s body. He was barely able to mutter a curse before the building collapsed.

The class ran through the course for the third time to go and rescue Bakugou, Izuku tempted to increase how much of One For All he was passively using to make it there faster as he worried for his friend. At the same time though, as bad as it felt to think, he was happy that someone else had failed.

Maybe even a little happier that it had been Bakugou who had failed with him.

By the time they reached him he had already exploded his way from the rubble, unlike how Izuku had given up. Unfortunately in his explosions to free himself, he had also set the hostage dummy alight, as well as blowing off most of the body.

Still, it was kind of inspiring to see him free himself so quickly and not give in to defeat. Awesome to see proof of how passionately Bakugou competed even in challenges he didn’t like. At the very least it was nice to see he cared about something else besides making sure Izuku knew his place.

People offered their mixed praises and condolences on the way back like they had to Izuku, though Bakugou mostly ignored them and muttered angrily beside Todoroki, who only offered a part of the snack he was eating.

Bakugou had been the last through. All Might dismissed the class with some final words and the bulk shuffled out, Izuku following Ochako and Iida for a while before turning back, wanting to run the course a few more times on his own before the groundskeeper came to reset the course with his quirk, but more importantly before the queue for dinner began. He didn’t to be left with the second tier goods again.

Unfortunately Bakugou proved passionate enough to also want to rerun the course without failure. Izuku didn’t think Bakugou was the best at sharing on the best of days, and assumed he’d be even less so when he failed a course.

Instead Izuku sat on a wooden bench on the viewing platform and watched Bakugou run the course, watching from above as the cameras had been disabled outside of class times. He opened his backpack he’d stashed aside during class and pulled out his notebook.

There wasn’t much of a course to run anymore though, really. Not just because of the toppled buildings, but mostly because with class out of session there weren’t even robotic villains to face. Not that they’d ever been particularly threatening.

So Izuku just settled in, crossing his legs on the bench as he watched Bakugou jump through the course. He pulled out a pencil and began to sketch his friend. He watched the way he jumped, the way he flew, and the way he landed. He’d already learned a lot watching Bakugou, even if Bakugou himself usually referred to it as ‘cheating’.

He used his pencil sharpenings to shade in the explosions that surrounded the sketches of Bakugou in his double page spread of sketches. There might not be anything so blatant left to learn from watching Bakugou, but his friend certainly put on a show with all the explosions.

He also was never a bad muse whenever Izuku was in the mood to draw. More pages than he cared to mention were dedicated to him in his notebooks. He knew Iida would never pry, but he still hid the majority of his notes and drawings among his other belongings. It would be even more embarrassing than today’s failure if Bakugou found his sketches.

Izuku tuned out from the world as he tuned up a sketch of Bakugou flying from an explosion, with his suit ripped and looking heroic. With fine movements he added detail to his hair, and probably spent about twenty minutes erasing and redoing his eyes, though he never got them quite right.

He was pulled from his concentration by the sound of someone walking up the stairs to him. He turned and saw Bakugou, soaked in sweat. Midoriya slammed his notebook shut and stuffed it into his bag as quickly as he could, though he cringed inside when he saw some of the pages bend.

Bakugou passed the edge of the bench and sat in the middle, making Izuku shift further out to the side. Without a word he reached into Izuku’s backpack and pulled out his water bottle, biting up the nozzle in the way Izuku hated and guzzling water. His eyes snagged on something in the backpack, but Izuku couldn’t question what he was looking at without raising suspicion.

Bakugou finished drinking half the bottle and turned to look at Izuku.

“What are you doing here?”

Izuku’s heart jumped. He couldn’t just tell him he was watching him. He panicked.

“ Oh well you know you saw the class today and how I- I mean it’s just how i-”

“-Failed miserably-”

“ Umm, yeah I mean I wasn’t going to say it like that but I think- I mean I thought that I could stay back and run the course a couple times for practice until I could do it without-”

“Failing miserably,” Bakugou finished. “Yeah I already figured all that. I meant why are you here stalking me instead of out there practicing.”

Bakugou poured some water into his hand and ran it through his hair, then more on his face and shoulders. Izuku had to take a breath to be sure he could talk without his voice catching.

“I didn’t want to get in your way.”

Bakugou scrunched his face. “It’s a public course, idiot. Even if I didn’t want you there, it's not like I could stop you.”

Bakugou looked to Izuku’s hands, and he remembered they would be covered in graphite from the drawing. Izuku buried his hands between his thighs, though Bakugou stared for a moment longer. Under Bakugou’s stare he was thankful he wasn’t currently running One For All, so his suit hid some secrets.

“Just because you’re a failure doesn’t mean you’re a quitter.”

“Gee thanks Kaachan,” Izuku slumped.

“I didn’t mean it like that!” Bakugou leaned back, his face strained and fists clenched.  “Why is talking to you always so damn hard.”

Izuku couldn’t contain himself as he span to give him a look of confusion, but Bakugou was looking to the course now. Izuku took the moment to look him over. He still wore his hero outfit, which of course had to expose way too much of his chest. Not that it mattered how exposed his chest was when the tight suit already hugged to every muscle on his body.

A bead of sweat from training or water from his impromptu shower ran down his suit and Izuku found himself still watching it roll down his chest, not noticing that Bakugou had turned back to him.

“...Anyway I just came here to say that I know you’re here to train, and I guess we can share the course as long as you don't get in my way.”

Izuku couldn’t help but smile, which of course Bakugou couldn’t stand to look at so he looked away. So Izuku didn’t bother to contain his smile. Bakugou was being kind of nice. Uncharacteristically nice. Did he hit his head when the building collapsed? He didn’t even go and see Recovery Girl…

Bakugou took a last gulp from Izuku’s bottle and slid it back into his bag, empty. He ran his hand over the notebook, but thankfully drew back and stood.

“Come on, Loser. If you don’t keep up I'm leaving you behind.”

Wait by share the course, did he actually mean train together? Together together?!

Izuku shut up and raced the few steps to catch up to Bakugou, walking back down to the course. He tried not to stand too close, but not too far. And he was paying way too much attention to how he was walking. .

“That book of yours, Deku… Back in school with your notebook-”

“The one you destroyed,” Izuku shot back before he could think better.

“...Yeah, that one.”

He fell silent for a moment.

“Umm, anyway… Back then, in school,” Bakugou was speaking weirdly. Izuku had never seen Bakugou talk this much without a matching number of expletives. “Was I in your book back then?”  

“ What?! I wasn’t spying on you or any classmates or anything it was just some notes I kept on superheroes I studied because I was so interested in them and-”

“So you weren’t interested in me back then, but you are now?”

Izuku faltered. “ That’s not what I said- Of course I was interested in you back then I thought we were friends even if you were always kind of mean to me and having friends now makes me doubt what I felt then but now that we’re competing and you’re almost guaranteed to be a pro hero I had to expand my notes on you and I happened to learn a few things so it turned out great ha ha ha ha.” Izuku only stopped talking when he had run out of breath, panting.

“Well if you can learn from me then maybe I can... Well not learn from you because that would be pathetic but maybe you can help me- no that’s not better.”

“What are you saying, Kaachan...”

“No, what I'm trying to- This isn’t going how Todoroki said it would at all!”

“Todoroki?”

Bakugou took a breath and ran his hands through his hair.

“Look... I want to be the number one hero, it’s not a secret. Todoroki and I were talking and he kindly suggested that I come to you for… help.” Bakugou looked as far from Izuku as he could when he said the last word.

Izuku stopped in his tracks. He didn’t know what surprised him more. That there was somehow something that he could do for Bakugou that he couldn’t do for himself, or that Bakugou had actually admitted it. Out loud. To him. Izuku caught up to Bakugou with his head spinning.

It’s not like Bakugou wasn’t smart. He was smarter than him, and the test scores prove that…

“Since you insist on stalking me with that notepad of yours, I was thinking while you were drawing hearts in your book-”

Izuku blushed.

“-Maybe you would notice if I were to do something… Less than perfect, and be able to tell me how to be more perfect.”

Bakugou acted like the whole conversation was turning his tongue to ash.

“Kaachan, I mean… Obviously I'm willing to give it a shot but you’re already so strong. Why do you think I could help?”  

Bakugou stopped him at the entrance to the course, pushing him to the wall with a hand to his shoulder. Izuku instinctively grabbed Bakugo’s pinning arm with both of his, but didn’t struggle just yet. He didn’t seem violent, just overwhelmed. Still, under the new threat One For All called to action, making his muscles harder under Bakugou’s grip.

Izuku couldn’t think of anything to say, and from the look on Bakugou’s face it seemed he was struggling to find his own.

“It’s not because you’re stronger than me, Deku ” Bakugou pushed a little harder.

He paused again.

Was it really this hard for him to ask for help?

“I fight the way I do because it’s the way I always damn have. It’s evolved with we through every fight I've won; every enemy I've destroyed. You came in and took it-”

“Yeah, b-”

Bakugou actually pushed against him this time, Izuku gripping his arm harder.

“I never even saw your nerd ass around practicing it like you do with everything else. You just showed me up one day in class with a damn near per-”

Izuku was freed from his grip, if only because Bakugou seemed to be finding it harder and harder to stand still. He began pacing, and Izuku was debating whether he’d rather end the awkward conversation and let him go explode, or let him keep asking for help even though he already accepted.

Or whether he’d rather him pin him to the wall again.

Izuku stayed tucked against the wall, savouring the feeling.

Bakugou stopped, but didn’t turn back to him. “Since you like watching me from the bushes so much, maybe you can let me know when I make small failures during my moves.” Bakugou stepped closer, putting his finger in Izuku’s face. “This is not a favour though! You’re just paying me back for what you took. Besides, I've watched you break almost as many bones as I have fighting now, maybe you’re not so weak that i’d break you by accident.”

Izuku’s stuck his chest out in subconscious pride.

Bakugou looked around with a grimace. “I'm done wasting my time talking, I still need to train. I'll come find you sometimes and we’ll fight. Don’t ask me.”

Before Izuku could speak again Bakugou blasted off in a cloud of smoke. Only then did he peel himself from the wall and take a real breath.

He felt his legs shake, but pumped the air with his fists. Whether Bakugou really did have a concussion, or Todoroki had been poisoning him in their dorm in the night, Bakugou had just asked for help, set a training date, and kind of admitted that Izuku was worth his time.

With his heart beating like drums he had to something with it, so he burst from the ground in a cloud of dust and sailed after Bakugou. Catching up was hard, Bakugou was putting a lot into his propelling explosions, the heat that spread in his wake was hard to stay in, but if he wanted to keep up he couldn’t waiver.

He had to fly through dust and debris but it felt so good to have something to chase. Something that wasn’t as vague as being a superhero or as insurmountable as measuring up to All Might. Bakugou might be more powerful, but at least it was a competition between the two. Who knows, if Bakugou helped him train maybe they could even be equals some day.

Bakugou must have realised he was chasing him, because he actually seemed to slow down. Not by enough that Izuku could be sure, but enough that as the buildings and roads passed beneath them he slowly caught up until he and Bakugou were jumping through the concrete jungle side by side, using much the same jump.

Bakugou watched him for a moment before shouting over his explosions, “You’re lucky I like how good my moves look, Deku.”

Izuku couldn’t contain his laughter, so instead he let it loose and hoped the thunder of Bakugou’s power drowned it out.

He followed Bakugou’s lead, racing around corners and down roads, running up buildings and bouncing off rooftops, dodging whatever Bakugou’s power threw at him and darting on rubble until-

Bakugou glided through a window in front of him, and Izuku panicked and clung to the wall outside.

As if dismissed he felt All For One drain out of him. He was left in his sagged suit hanging from the window.

“Oh come on, Deku!” Steps approached from inside the building until Bakugou was leaning against the window frame. “I've know you to be a loser, a failure, a weakling, useless-”

Izuku only sagged further during the list, but he came closer to just letting go and falling than he did trying to stop Bakugou. He couldn’t say he didn’t deserve it. He’d failed again. Failed at jumping through one damn window. Twice.

“-an idiot, goofy, dork-” Bakugou continued. “But one thing I've never seen you be is a quitter. Even if your damn perseverance is to the point of a fault.”

Bakugou leaned onto the window sill with crossed arms. “So what gives?”

Bakugou was right. He fought even when it broke his own bones, he’s not going to let a window- the lack of a wall- stop him.

He tried to pull himself up, but Bakugou slammed down on his fists on his hands, almost sending him plummeting.

“I wasn’t asking for fun.”

“Nothing gives! I just knew I wasn’t going to make it through so I landed. I don’t need two buildings collapsing on me in one day.”

“I already think you’re pathetic, there’s no point lying,” Bakugou said with disinterest. “I thought your whole thing was getting crushed until your enemy got bored. Even if its inanimate.”

Izuku looked over himself, as much as he could while hanging from a window. He realised how pathetic he must look to Bakugou right now- even more than usual, dangling in a loose suit with limp muscles because he was scared of a jump.

“I let myself get psyched out,” Izuku said, quietly.

Bakugou grabbed his wrists and practically tossed him inside the building.

“Thanks…” Midoriya muttered from a heap on the ground.

He rolled onto his back and stared at the dusty ceiling. They hadn’t bothered with paint or anything, not for the buildings set to collapse, so it was just concrete that stared him back.

“Didn’t you ever have an idea of what a hero should be when you were growing up?” Izuku asked, barely more than a whisper.

Bakugou stayed at the window, but turned to look at him.  

“Of course. A hero is sheer power personified. They’re aura alone should be enough to make villains cower. They should try to surrender but a hero shouldn’t let them. They should be destroyed, so the next loser thinks twice before stepping up.”

Izuku let it sink in. It certainly wasn’t quite his definition, but there were certainly a lot of pro heros who matched the description.

He hitched on the slight admiration in Bakugou’s voice. Was he thinking of someone in particular? Still, only caring about power, domination, and not accepting any weakness...

“So you’re acting how you think a hero should act already…”

“Well duh. Aren’t you?”

“Not really… Imagine if All Might came to save the day by demolishing an apartment building.”

Bakugou laughed.

Izuku propped himself up on his elbows to watch him.

“So you think I'm all that?” Bakugou asked. “What a hero should be?”

“You certainly have an aura of domination and power,” Izuku conceded. “And you definitely make me cower… Sometimes when I see you I hide from you.”

Izuku chuckled.

Bakugou didn’t.

He pushed off from the window and took two steps closer.

Izuku flinched.

“So is that why you stayed on the hill earlier instead of training? And half the time I see you in the halls you’re gone when I turn back…”

He’d offended him.

“You’re not a villain, idiot. You don’t need to hide. Besides, this isn’t my school. Yet.”

Izuku’s phone buzzed. His alarm for the end of course training hours before the groundskeeper came around to reform all the courses with their quirk.

“Time’s up,” Izuku said, sitting up. He took a savouring breath as One For All shot through him again. “I get you’re saying I don’t need your permission, Kaachan, but still… Thanks for letting me come with you.”

“Thanks for not running at the sight of me, I guess.” Bakugou turned back to the window and set off running. “If you don’t jump out this damn window I'm going to bury you myself.”

True to his word as he reached the window Bakugou fired off his gauntlets and jumped through, the backlash rocking the building. Izuku jumped to his feet and ran, dodging the crumbling buildings barrage and leaping through the window, which turned out to be a whole lot easier from the inside.

It was harder to keep up with Bakugou now. He was going faster, not dodging or weaving as much, which Izuku still had to do to stay in the air as he kicked off from walls. On the one hand it had meant that Bakugou must have been going slower earlier to let him keep up with him, on the other hand he wondered why he wasn’t now.

Maybe it was just his way of letting him know that he wouldn’t go easy on him during their training.

Bakugou started to slow down slightly though, if only so he could fire off massive explosions that levelled the course, toppling buildings and glassing the dust that was left behind. It must be a good way to release the near infinite amount of steam he seemed to build up, since they were about to remake the course anyway.

They reached the exterior wall to the course that separated it from the campus gardens and paths, and Izuku watched Bakugou clear it towards the viewing platform. Except he failed to explode himself into the air again before hitting the ground.

Bakugou slid twenty metres with his face as a sled as his mouth filled with grass and dirt and probably at least one worm before finally coming to a stop before where Aizawa was laying on a wooden bench.

“You know you can’t use your power outside the training areas, kid.”

Aizawa cosied himself inside his puffed yellow cocoon, closing his eyes.

“What the hell, man?! You could’ve asked you don’t gotta down me like a damn rocket!”

“I've asked before,” Izawa said with no small measure of disinterest, “and it’s ‘sir’, not ‘man’.”

Bakugou didn’t seem like he was done yelling, but he stopped to spit out more dirt from his mouth.

“Sorry, sir,” Izuku bowed.

Aizawa ignored him, or he might have nodded imperceptibly.

Izuku grabbed his sports bag and shouldered it, running over to help up Bakugou he of course pushed away his hand and stood on his own.

“Are you okay, Kaachan?”

“Whatever,” Bakugou said, turning, “we were just leaving.”

Izuku followed Bakugou, Aizawa fully zipping himself into darkness as they went.

---------

Bakugou walked into the locker room, still muttering under his breath, “What kind of teacher does that!” He paused to spit out some left over dirt into a trash can.  

The men’s locker room was empty, though there was the muffled sound of chatter barely making its way through the wall from the 1A women’s locker room next door. Probably some girls out for late training sessions same as them, or maybe just trying to escape their new roommates.

He’d heard Hagakure’s mess was a lot more visible than she was, and that Mina blasted her music loud and proud.

Izuku had been lucky to get someone like Iida who he was friends with, even if he was a little strict… He thought about how often he heard people complain about the rooms, thought about how often he heard them complain about their roommates.

Izuku stopped thinking much of anything when Bakugou shrugged off his shirt.

He was transfixed, gawking like a fool, watching the muscles in Bakugou’s back shift as he finished hooking off his shirt. He bunched it in his hand and hurled it into a basket nearby. The school had insisted on having them move into their new dorms, butt they hadn’t made them do their own laundry. Yet.

Bakugou was still muttering about Aizawa as he slid his thumbs into his pants, Izuku whipping his head away when he pulled down.

Izuku’s spine went stiff and he had to stifle a whimpering sound that rose in his throat.

“Hey Dweeb you had better be getting changed, if I have to smell you through the walls I swear to god I'll bring the building down.”

Izuku panicked.

“ No of course I'm getting changed I was just-” His hands were a flurry. “I mean Iida wouldn’t stand for it anyway I brought in a glass of water for my bedside and he threw it out the window because it was a ‘spill risk’ and-”

Izuku realised he had turned back to Bakugou in his panic, and suddenly keeping his eyes level with Bakugou’s became a struggle.

If he allowed himself to look down for even a moment he’d see his friend’s chiseled form standing before him in just his underwear; a pair of bright red boxer briefs.

It was different when the class was around. Somehow the tone was different. It was easier to ignore Bakugou as just another body in the room.

But right now, one on one, the room felt so much bigger. And smaller. And… Definitely hotter.

Bakugou gave him a long look.

Oh god, did he know how hard it was to keep his eyes up? Were his eyes twitching, or was his neck holding his head too tightly?  Was he-

“You look like you’re burning up, dude.”

Bakugou bent down into his locker, setting Izuku aflame with the view, and arose with and threw him a bottle.

He fumbled to catch it.

If Bakugou had noticed the staring, he said nothing.

Instead he stood and turned for the showers.

“You’re acting real weird, Deku,” Bakugou called back. “Even for you. Hurry up already, I'm not waiting for your ass.”

Izuku stiffened at the words, and the view of Bakugou walking to the showers with nothing but spare underwear under his arm, a towel over his shoulder, and his bright red underwear, that apparently matched Izuku’s face right now.

He waited until he’d turned the corner before letting his head fall against his locker. His hands idly unscrewed the top of Bakugou’s bottle and poured it over himself as he tried to reclaim his mind.

Water drained through his hair and off his chin, Izuku waiting for a moment before snapping out of his funk. He needed to hurry up or Bakugou would start asking questions.

Pulling open his locker he was greeted by his spare clothes, basic toiletries, and a few photos including All Might and his mother, which he avoided looking at as he took what he needed and almost slammed the locker closed.

In a near explosion of clothes he stripped down, hopping toward the showers as he freed his feet from the outfit, and tossed it over the side of the washing basket.

The showers were already enveloped in the steam from the heat of Bakugou’s scorching shower, the kind he always had. Izuku muttered his thanks to the architect for building the showers separated by tiled walls and slid into one, leaving an empty stall between he and Bakugou.

With a turn of the tap the water came down, taking his sweat and dust and whatever else his friends’ explosions had covered him with down the drain.

He fought to push all else from his mind and focussed on the day of training.

He’d failed today, in a class so easy everyone had thought it’d been a joke.

But he’d put himself out there, a little further from his shell, as he made his training a performance the way a hero must make their rescues, and their fights.

On top of that Bakugou had been nice to him, and they had talked. A real talk without hate or ire. And he’d asked to train together.

They’d jumped through the course together, side by side. Izuku didn’t know what that meant, but he knew how it had made him feel.

Speaking of feelings, the image of Bakugou in his tight reds had given him enough to dream about for the whole next semester.

He was snapped from his thoughts by an explosion down the hall, followed by footsteps to the locker room. Under the wooden door to the shower he watched Bakugou’s feet stomp past with no water trail. Izuku was tempted to ask for an explosion of his own to dry off, but debated if it would just make him dirty again.

He switched off the water and dried off quickly, the towel almost burning from the friction as he rushed.

He took his spare clothes off the door where he hung them and got dressed. A plain white shirt and baggy green tracksuit pants. Out of school hours, out of school clothes. It was nice of the school to let them have some freedoms, though really they were probably more concerned with preventing rebellion from all the pent up students.

The locker room had taken some of the steam from the showers, though it stayed near the roof. Bakugou was standing clear of the puddle Izuku had made earlier. He was already halfway into his blue jeans, pulling them up. But they were snagged. He warred the waist of the pants against his backside as he tugged to try to pull them up.

Izuku was frozen watching as Bakugou muttered under his breath, mostly curses toward a certain hero he’d interned under.

His eyes fixed on where the tight waist was uselessly pushing against Bakugou’s firm but round-

Bakugou spun around looking about ready to explode.  

“Hey idiot stop slipping over your own feet and help already!”

“Wha- Help?! How would I even?” Izuku practically tossed his remaining toiletries to the floor in his flurry of arms.

“That damn window bashed my hip. It’s too swollen or the pants shrunk or something. Are you really gonna make me ask twice you damn nerd?!”

Izuku was halfway to Bakugou before he even realised he was moving, and was nervously talking before he could shut his mouth. “ Why do you still wear them anyway? They seem really tight even without the swelling I mean there’s barely a fold on there between all the-”

“You- what you’re doing now. That’s why,” Bakugou grinned. Izuku’s heart stuttered. “Except you know, with other people. Any other people. The one’s who don’t hide from me in the halls.”

His insides hiccuped at the payback for earlier.

He reached Bakugou, who turned from him and yanked at his pants from the front again. Izuku thought of how he could help. Or more accurately how he could help without seeming like he was just copping a feel.

Reaching for the belt loops, slipping his thumbs through them and pulled, trying not to seem overeager.

After a few futile pulls that did little but shift the jeans in place, Bakugou reached back and snatched his hands, shoving them up and against his backside.

“This isn’t the time for your damn subtlety, Deku. Dinner’s soon and I don’t want to still be in this lame locker room and be left with the pathetic leftovers.”

Izuku nodded. The difference between first pick of the food and the last was almost enough to suggest a makeshift class system being formed.

He took to pants in a firm grip and pulled, trying not to think about how surprisingly soft Bakugou’s ass felt against his hands.

The waist shifted, but did little else.

“How the hell were you supposed to keep these things on after a meal?!” Izuku complained.

Izuku hitched up the pants, Bakugou pulling from the front.

“They’re trimmed so they they support under the ass, but once they’re up it’ll be fine! If you want more answers go do your own damn internship!”

Izuku resisted the urge to ask how he planned to get them off and kept tugging. Between the grunts and pulls that he was pretty sure was going to bruise his fingers, the pants gave an inch. He prepared for the final effort, steadying his grip- when Bakugou backed into him.

He fought against his breath as his own pants rubbed against Bakugou’s, and failed to contain it when he realized the only thing between the two of them was three layers of fabric.

Izuku froze. Had he pulled too hard and pulled Bakugou into him? No- he hadn't even been pulling when it-

“You’re gonna make me late, Deku. What’s the damn hold up?”

Bakugou must not have noticed as he practically grinded against him while playing his stalemate game of tug of war with his jeans. He must really want to go to dinner if he didn’t notice.

Alright, he just had to get this over with before he really lost his cool.

Izuku pulled hard, hyper aware that when he tugged he was pulling Bakugou into him, against him. What could he do though? If he were to suddenly stop again Bakugou would yell and ask why. And Izuku really didn’t want to say any of this out loud.

The only option was to just get it done, so he pulled harder, which only made the grinding harder.

His breathing shuddered as he lost focus on his breath, instead needing the focus to keep him from leaning into the motion. Even if he was completely still Bakugou was still pushing back against him. Into him.

Surely he had to know. This was some sort of joke, right? Izuku looked around the locker room. At the lockers, the benches, the roof. For a camera, or a pack of hiding students, or anything that would make the situation a little less weird. A little less like a dream, honestly.

Izuku tugged again, but allowed himself to lean in against Bakugou’s back. He heard a catch in Bakugou’s breath. He knew, he had to. Bakugou pushed back again, a semblance of rhythm to the action that made Izuku flutter.

Despite himself he hugged close to Bakugou’s back, and looked around his arm and froze. In the part between the still descended jeans where Bakugou’s fresh orange underwear shined through.

Izuku’s jaw slackened. His hip wasn’t the only thing swollen. How was he planning to get his jeans around that thing. He lost focus, not realising he’d stopped tugging, or that his breath was now surely catching on Bakugou’s bare skin.

Bakugou was still tugging though, if you could call it that. His hips were grinding in a rhythm that Izuku somehow knew and savoured. Izuku looked past everything to Bakugou’s hands, wanting to take them in his own.

Bakugou tugged again. Only… He wasn’t even tugging up. What- had he been tugging down? Keeping them down on purpose? Why would he-

Bakugou worked his hips again.

“Kaachan~”

Bakugou flinched at the words breaking the sudden silence and pulled away from Izuku in a flash, pulling his pants up with ease and ripping the zipper to the top.

He opened his locker, his gym bag falling to the floor. He snatched up his red baseball tee and put it on, already halfway to the door.

Bakugou stopped in the doorway, turning back with his face scrunched up in an emotion that Izuku didn’t recognize on him.

“Wha- Than- I didn’t need-” Bakugou tried to contain a roar. “You didn’t dry your hair properly you damn loser, you got me wet again!”

His face scrunched up further, and whether from exasperation or just to dry off where Izuku had dripped onto him he exploded. Then once more for good measure.

WIth that he left, slamming the door behind him.

Izuku was left in the locker room. He let himself fall backward onto a wooden bench, staring at the ceiling with arms hanging at his sides.

“Wh- What the hell just happened?”