Chapter Text
Bakugou had known Deku since they were children. They grew up together and had the same ambition of becoming a badass hero, just like All Might, for as long as he can remember.
He never really understood what kind of relationship they shared, since all that kid did was follow him around, together with his gang, and even after finding out that he had no quirk, he kept walking behind him, watching attentively with those big sparkly eyes of his that held not one bit of jealousy toward Bakugou’s strong quirk, and that felt as if they could read into his soul back and front.
Even when Bakugou started treating him like shit, insulting him in every way he found possible, going as far as to giving him a stupid nickname such as “Deku”, meaning useless, he still kept going after him, he still said he was his best friend, he still offered his help whenever he could, even though there was absolutely no need.
It felt as if he was being looked down at, as if he wasn’t strong enough to keep an eye out for himself, and that angered him to no end, because Bakugou could do just fine without his, without anybody’s help, thank you very much.
Years passed, and the more Deku grew up, the weirder he became. He started writing notes over notes about every kind of hero that existed, keeping tab of all their quirks and missions, he even felt himself being watched by those eyes, while he continued writing non-stop, filling one book note after the other.
And with the number of the notes piling up, even the cruelty of his bullying kept going up, with harsh words being thrown toward Deku as a normal routine now, even resorting to violence every now and then. But Deku, still, never moved a finger.
Why didn’t he retaliate? Why didn’t he say anything? Why did he still follow Bakugou around? Why did he still want to go to U.A. even though he had no quirk to show for? Bakugou didn’t understand, and that irritated him, bringing forth more hatred and more bullying. But even though Bakugou didn’t understand, life kept going on.
And when Deku managed to not only pass the U.A. entrance exam, but even show up with a quirk he supposedly never had, all that Bakugou could do was stare slack-jawed. What the fuck.
At the beginning he thought that there had to be some mistake, that guy had been quirkless since he was a child, he still remembers the day Deku came to him and his gang and told them that he had no quirk, tears almost spilling from his eyes and a strained smile.
But, apparently, that was not the case. Did he lie? Did useless, quirkless Deku come up with this kind of lie just to make everybody pity him? It couldn’t be, he just wasn’t that kind of person. The sufferance he saw in those eyes that day had to be true. But then, how?
Bakugou decided to leave these thoughts aside and to concentrate on the matter at hand, which was the sudden beginning of his new high school life. He found himself into the just formed A class, a class full of weird-ass guys, together with the weirdness king himself, Deku.
One of them even had fucking two-toned hair, heterochromia and almost half of his face covered by one big burn over his left eye. He stared at him for a bit, a dim sparkle of curiosity sparking up inside of him, just for it to be brushed aside the next second. Everybody has his own circumstances, he guessed.
He later found out that the guy was apparently the son of the second top hero, Endeavour, and that he had gotten in without needing the entrance exam, hence his absence at the exam itself. Bakugou just scoffed at him, believing him to be just one of those recommended daddy’s boys that didn’t have an ounce of talent and power inside of them.
Days turned into months, and Bakugou was obliged to recognize Deku’s power. He was not quirkless. In fact, he had a pretty much awesome quirk. He was just like... Just like All Might. He had strength that could be compared to no one, even though every time he used it, it just wrecked up his entire body. It was almost as if he still wasn’t used to his quirk. How could someone not be used to his own quirk, which he was supposed to possess since the early years?
Now, other than feeling anger, he felt something else. Fear. Fear of Deku, the quirkless guy, suddenly becoming better and surpassing him, but he chose to ignore those feelings, silently shoving them aside and hiding them in the depth of his mind, not wanting to let even one bit out.
He also learns that Half n’ Half, or Todoroki, or whatever that guy with the burned face name was, didn’t exactly fit into the “daddy’s boys” category, nor was he weak or talentless. Just like his hair and eyes, his quirk was also split in half, the right side controlling ice and the left side controlling flames. Even though he didn’t use the latter that much, it was still a force to be reckoned with, which froze, or burned, everything on its path, and by just watching it in action, it rekindled the interest he had felt the first time he saw him.
But Todoroki paid him no mind. He actually paid no mind to no one, except, for some reason, for Deku. He was shocked, almost enraged, scratch that, he was fucking furious, to hear Todoroki’s declaration of war to Deku. Why did he declare war to that fucking nerd?
Why not him?
He was the strongest. He was the one who came up first in the entrance exam, he was the one with one of the top scores. So why did he pay so much attention to that useless guy? It was beyond him. He could almost feel the fear he had locked down, for it to never come back, creeping up inside of him. So he did the only thing he knew that could make his wavering insides shut up. He threw a fit.
He hoisted Todoroki up by his jersey and told him that he was gonna beat his ass up and you better be watching your back if you don’t want first place to be snatched away right under your nose while you’re busy watching out for the wrong person. After that, all the response he got was just a cold stare, almost hiding behind his bangs, looking down at him as if he could not even see him.
And that, in fact, was the true. Just before the tournament began, he heard him talking with Deku. About his story. About his dad. About his ambition. He wasn’t seeing Bakugou, but he wasn’t seeing Deku either. He was just seeing All Might’s pupil, and wanted to beat him for his own reasons. He wanted to be Todoroki Shouto, and just that. Not Endeavour’s prodigy son, just like Bakugou had depicted him at the beginning of the year.
In the end, he did get first place. He did beat him. But the person he beat wasn’t the proud and stoic Half n’ Half that the class was so used to see, neither was the flared up, almost on the verge of tears, Todoroki that Deku had freed from his own chains. It was a soulless body, nothing but a hollow shell that didn’t know what to do with himself after being emptied out of everything he thought was right and wrong in his life.
And so the tournament ended with his victory, which felt more like a defeat than anything else.
After that, Todoroki started, little by little, regaining his normal facial expression, or well, his normal absence of a facial expression, and even began opening up more to everybody. Of course, he didn’t suddenly become best buddies with all the guys and girls in our classroom, all smiles and pleasantries, but the difference in his behaviour could be noticed in the small talks and smiles that had never happened before, hence the surprised expressions on their classmates’ faces, except for Deku’s, that looked nothing short of proud.
Needless to say that, after the tournament, Todoroki and Deku’s relationship took a decisive turn, seeing as they now acted more like two best friends than the nerd and Bakugou ever did, not like it would take much to top them. Still, whenever Todoroki looked at Deku, Bakugou felt as if there was some kind undecipherable glint that he couldn’t get, something similar to admiration but not quite it. That, though, wasn’t his business, and he didn’t really care about what kind of weird adoration Todoroki had for that nerd and just dropped the matter.
Somewhere along the way, he and Half n’ Half had become friends. Starting by snarky remarks and sassy comments, they grew into some kind of slow paced friendship, especially after the hero licence exam, where they had to stay confined into a room studying how to act like a good hero, so they could retake that fucking exam they didn’t pass at the first try.
Since then, they began bantering almost every day, that simple exchange of words becoming as natural as breathing to them, until the subjects of their conversations shifted to more normal topics, like studying and their hobbies, though this part of their relationship was brought forth more from Todoroki than Bakugou, who kept bugging Icy Hot just for the amusement of seeing his eyes twitching in irritation.
All of their classmates, always trying with all their might to not be noticed, but failing miserably, looked at them as if they were watching two mythological creatures interacting, though as soon as Bakugou would turn, they would just go back to doing whatever the hell they were doing before, acting disinterested. The only one who always came up to him, beaming with happiness, was Kirishima, that even went as far as saying,
“Wow Bakugou, I never thought I would see the day when you would finally make a friend normally, just like all the other people! I’m almost moved, good job man!” while he feigned wiping away a tear that had never been shed in the first place.
“What the hell? What about you then?” Bakugou asked, staring at the boy spouting nonsense as if he had grown a second head.
“Come on, man, we all know I just forced my way in since you’re such a “I don’t need anybody” person!” he answered grinning and patting him on the shoulder, then switching to thanking Todoroki for making his adorable angsty kid grow up like a proper man. Again, what the hell?
He and Todoroki started hanging out together more and more, going from Todoroki just asking a few questions he was unsure about before a test, to the two of them splayed out on Todoroki’s or Bakugou’s couch while studying or reading some books they had been assigned to read for the holidays.
A few evenings were passed playing videogames, with Bakugou scowling like a little kid everytime he lost to Todoroki, who began showing his smug smirk more and more around him, or watching stupid movies that they picked on a whim from the box filled to the brim in the main hallroom,
“What the fuck Half n’ Half, have you seriously never seen The Aristocats? It’s like, one of the best Disney’s movie” Bakugou exclaimed, sitting on the couch of his room after setting up the dvd, not believing what he had heard the first time, gawking at Todoroki incredulously.
He just answered with a weird-ass smile, a mixture of embarrassment and loss at what to say, that didn’t really convey what Todoroki was thinking at all, though Bakugou probably understood its meaning. Judging from what he had heard at the tournament months ago, Icy Hot mustn’t have had a good childhood. Well, whatever, they just needed to make up for it now. He turned out the light, and pressed the play button.
“So, how was it?” Bakugou asked smugly putting one hand on his hip, knowing from the way Todoroki’s eyes sparkled during the movie that it was a hit. Half n’ Half turned around and just shrugged his shoulders.
“It was good, I guess”, he stated, a small smile playing on his lips, satisfied with the movie Bakugou had chosen, but not wanting to give him the satisfaction of knowing he got his preferences right. At that Bakugou felt his eyes widening more and more by the second,
“Just good? You guess? You have to be shitting me.” He protested with all his might and got down on floor, rummaging animatedly though the box brimming with all kinds of Dinsey’s movies, until he heard a soft coughing and turned towards Todoroki, who was glancing at him with his head slightly tilted.
“I was joking, I really liked it. Actually, I love cats, so, yeah.” He mumbled, almost sounding embarrassed, giving him a little smile, and for a second, just a second, Bakugou thought that his heart had maybe skipped a beat. He swallowed, continuing staring at the two-toned boy, not really registering a word of what he had said.
“Can we watch it again?” Todoorki asked, this time with a slightly firmer and louder voice, a bit of worry in his eyes because of the lack of response from Bakugou, who came out of his dazed state after hearing his voice again and, shaking his head, tried to fully regain control of his thoughts.
“Y-Yeah.” He stuttered, feeling his heart still a bit destabilized, not even understanding why, and damn him, since when did start stuttering like this? “I told you it was damn good! Isn’t it a bit late, though?” He wondered, glancing at the clock on the wall, which showed it was already past midnight.
Todoroki, unfazed, just looked at him with a playful glint in his eyes, and a smug smile playing on his lips. “We’re the top students of the class, don’t you always say so? I don’t think Aizawa-sensei is gonna mind if we stay a bit later than usual.” And with that he snatched the remote control from Bakugou’s hands and pressed the play button.
The next morning, he woke up sputtering everywhere because of a certain read-head who, during the night, had decided that Bakugou’s head was actually really comfy to sleep upon, and with a sore neck to remember for years to come.