Archive of Our Own

As soon as Bakugou started dancing, that’s all he wanted to do.

Contrary to what others thought, Bakugo loved to perform. The fulfillment of perfecting a routine and the adrenaline of being center stage kept Bakugou addicted. Plus he has fucking talent.

It started from elementary music shows, then dance clubs after school, and grew into recording his own dance covers.

So when U.A. Music, the nation’s top music production industry, accepted Bakugou into its idol trainee program, he made it a goal to debut with a bang. He the only trainee accepted in his application group, so now he can learn from actual producers without interacting with dumb wannabes.

But for some fucking reason, the only thing that Bakugou’s instructor seems to be focused on his spikey blonde hair. He can’t help how it just explodes out - it’s just like that - and honestly, it fits his punk aesthetic anyway.

His instructor, Jeanist, has a fucking bowl-cut with ridiculous bangs, so Bakugou can’t fathom why his hair needs to be worked with.

One week of getting his hair brushed, posture straightened, and legs stuffed into denim pants, Bakugou’s just glad he’s the only trainee to see his sorry state.

After washing out hairspray from his head and changing into a black tank and joggers, Bakugou heads to the small training room on his dorm floor. It’s a small yoga sized room, but it has all the standard equipment a public gym has, so Bakugou can’t complain. He’d rather work-out alone anyway.

Plugging in his headphones, Bakugou steps on the treadmill to start his regimen, keeping fit despite not learning anything fucking useful during the first week of the training program.

“Today, we’ll begin by assessing your strengths and weaknesses to start customizing what areas you need to focus on,” his instructor tells him.

“That’s the best thing that’s left your mouth since I met you,” Bakugou says as he follows his instructor to U.A.'s official practice room. New trainees are allowed to practice in the professional studio room with an instructor's permission. Last week, he was teased whenever he passed by the thin-door windows that show glimpses into the interior of the studio.

The room has one wall entirely made of a mirror going from floor to ceiling, with narrow windows to let in the sunlight on the far left and right sides. Bakugou wanted to go in and see just how much space the room had to dance, but his instructor always led him to the office area to give lessons about idol etiquette instead. Finally, Bakugou gets the chance to use a proper dance space to practice.

But now, as his instructor unlocks the door, Bakugou feels his excitement drain as he sees someone with bizarre half red half white hair stretching on the floor.

“Ah, glad to see you’re already warming up, Todoroki,” his instructor says. Bakugou’s eyes shift from the person on the floor to his instructor. Before he can open his mouth, a new voice is heard.

“He insisted on seeing the dance room after getting here,” a man with shaggy black hair says. He burrows deeper into his scarf as he nods towards the floor. “I pass him off to you, Jeanist.”

Bakugou looks in disgust as the borderline homeless-looking instructor unfurls a sleeping bag - which is pulled out from the drawers in the corner of the room - and settles to go to sleep. Jeanist nods as if it’s a common occurrence and turns to Bakugou.

“Go ahead and warm up, I’ll be teaching a simple dance after,” Jeanist instructs. “Eraserhead will be watching to see how quickly you both pick up the routine.”

Bakugou fumes as he lifts a hand to point toward the half licked candy cane stretching on the floor. “Who the fuck is that and why is he here? I thought I was the only trainee this season!”

Not to mention that the other guy had apparently just shown up this morning and didn’t have to go through “etiquette” lessons as Bakugou did. Not that the lessons were difficult, because Bakugou has enough fucking tact about how to act in public.

But for some reason, the guy who showed up late into the trainee season gets to skip the lessons? What the fuck. If anything, that bastard needs etiquette.

“Todoroki was accepted into the season through recommendations. He’ll be joining the lessons planned for the rest of the year,” Jeanist walks toward Todoroki and taps his shoulder. “I’m Jeanist and I’ll be one of your instructors, along with Eraserhead.”

Todoroki looks up and Bakugou sees that half of the other’s face is covered by a scar. The skin is slightly darker colored than the rest of his face, but not in a distracting way; not like his hair.

As he stands, Bakugou also realizes that candy-cane is slightly taller than him and adds a bullet point to his growing hate list.

“I’m Todoroki,” he says and gives a slight bow to the instructor. Todoroki turns towards Bakugou and nods his head.

Bakugou refuses to show a reaction to the two strikingly different colored eyes that look at him. Icy blue and a clear gray… He really is half and half, huh.

“I’ve finished warming up, feel free to warm up as well.”

Then Bakugou remembers that Half n’ Half is an asshat that skipped on the first week of lessons.

“You can’t tell me what to fucking do, discontinued candy-cane,” Bakugou growls and pointedly ignores looking at the other trainee as he begins to stretch his arms.

From the mirror, Bakugou can see Todoroki turn away without a word and grab a hand towel from the drawer in the corner of the room.

Now he takes the chance to really look at Todoroki. He’s wearing a loose white shirt and joggers, but Bakugou can see that Todoroki is lean. Bakugou smugly notes that he has more muscle on his arms than that asshole, so he considers it a win.

In what exactly? Who cares, a win is a win.

After both trainees finish warming up, Jeanist walks towards the mirror and tells them he’ll be showing the full routine before teaching the dance in sections. Bakugou and Todoroki both watch intently as music begins to play from the speakers.

Jeanist’s routine is a mix of smooth contemporary movements with sharp isolated pops that go with the music. It’s a fairly simple dance, but Bakugou can see Jeanist’s professionalism through how each motion is performed exactly on the beat as if the music was following him instead of the other way around.

Not only that, but the dance undeniably keeps the attention of the audience. Bakugou is almost surprised when Jeanist stops in his finishing pose. He almost wants to ask to see it again.

In the mirror’s reflection, Bakugou can see Todoroki look awe-struck for half a second before returning to normal.

Huh, so he can make that kind of expression. What other faces can he make?

Bakugou feels his neck heat at the thought. Wait, what the shit. Bakugou knows he can recognize attractive people. He sees himself every day. But there is a time and place. He’ll never admit that Todoroki MIGHT be attractive. If anything, the halfe’s a blockhead with the blank stare.

Jeanist turns to face them and Bakugou shakes all unnecessary thoughts from his head. He’s getting a chance to show off how good he really is, so he’s going to fucking show off.

From there, Bakugou and Todoroki remain silent as Jeanist instructs them about each move. Both trainees pick up the routine fast and within an hour, Jeanist only has a few pointers as the boys repeat the routine.

After Eraserhead records a video of one take of the dance, he points the trainees to the door of the studio. “Take some time to cool off. Water’s in the hallway. Be back in 10 to do vocal practice.”

Bakugou scoffs and wipes his sweat off with a towel. He never really cared for singing, but if he wants to perform on a stage as an idol, Bakugou is going to deal with it. He’s decent enough and his rapping skills make up for it.

As he starts walking to the door, Bakugou sees Todoroki begin to reach for the handle.

“Fuck off, I’m getting water first.”

“We’re going to the same place, what’s the point?”

“The point is that you don’t have what it takes to be in front of me when you’re the dickhead who only shows up a week into training,” Bakugou glares daggers as Todoroki doesn’t show any signs of backing away.

Instead, Bakugou takes two long strides and slams his foot on the door before Todoroki can open it.

“Do you have fucking ears? I said, your only place is behind ME.”

Todoroki quirks up an eyebrow at Bakugou’s words and Bakugou suddenly feels heat flash through his body as he realizes his unintentional suggestion. But he doesn’t back down and continues to glare into heterochromatic eyes.

“Just go get water, Bakugou, and don’t cause a scene. Unless you want Jeanist to add another week of etiquette to your schedule, hm?” Eraserhead says from his caterpillar bag.

“Fuck you,” Bakugou grunts and lifts his foot off the door, pushing past Todoroki to exit the room first. Todoroki lets himself be pushed, not bothering to give the blonde satisfaction in a response.

The dickhead ignores Bakugou’s callouts, shows up late to the training season, and seems to not care about anything else.

Not in the “Doesn’t Give a Fuck” way that Bakugou’s mastered, but in the “I Have the Personality of a Wet Rag” way. Boring as shit.

After taking his time to drink water from the hallway fountain, Bakugou is back in the studio and working on Jeanist’a routine again. He’s thinking about incorporating some of the popping moves that he’s learned into breakdancing routines.

Bakugou is in the middle of practicing floorwork when Todoroki returns and starts stretching to cool down. Bakugou can tell the halfie is watching him, so he flips into a one-armed handstand and holds the pose as long as he can.

Then placing his arms back on the ground, Bakugou kicks both feet backward and follows the momentum to jump back upright. It took months to perfect the handstand and backflip combo, so Bakugou visibly swells in pride as Eraserhead gives a low whistle.

Bakugou hears Todoroki sigh and almost kicks the piece of shit candy-head in the gut, but then Bakugou remembers how the other didn’t pick up as quickly during Jeanist’s assessment.

Todoroki remembered the routine well, but his body wasn’t as graceful as Jeanist’s or lithe as Bakugou’s. Halfie’s probably not fit for dancing anyway, Bakugou thinks.

He sends the dickhead a side smirk, emitting more hostile energy than necessary.

“Alright, since you’re so restless, Bakugou you’ll be first to sight-read,” Eraserhead says and hands both of the trainees' copies of a notated music sheet.

Bakugou looks at the paper like he wants it to disintegrate as soon as he touches it. He has no problem sightreading, but the range of the notes is higher than he tends to sing, reaching more towards his falsetto voice.

Higher notes don’t go with Bakugou’s gruff voice and if anyone asks him, he thinks falsetto is for more feminine people anyway. He’s not about to drop his punk status anytime soon, so instead, he recites the notes as they appear on the staff.

When he finishes, Eraserhead gives him a deadpan stare before motioning to the paper again.

“Sing it this time.”

Bastard.

So Bakugou instead sings the notes in a lower octave than what is written on the sheet. His voice is slightly gravelly, but he knows he is on pitch, so he’s a bit smug when he catches Todoroki looking back and forth between him and the sheet of music.

As Bakugou sings the last note, Eraserhead hums and then nods at Todoroki to begin.

Todoroki looks at his sheet for a few more seconds before he closes his eyes.

Bakugou scoffs and prepares to tune out the other’s voice, but as Todoroki begins to sing, he starts actively listening.

Todoroki’s voice has a deep tone like the blonde’s, but his falsetto floats through the air like snow. Bakugou had just sung the piece, so he knows that Todoroki is singing from memory alone. The split-haired trainee sings with such clear and controlled tonality, it’s as if he’s been familiar with the song for years.

Todoroki even holds the highest note as long as possible, giving himself an extended performance before softly singing the last notes.

Bakugou has to force himself not to stare at the other as Eraserhead takes back both sheets. He’s never heard someone sing like that in his life - not that Bakugou would admit anything like that at gunpoint. How can someone be so fucking lifeless when their voice sounds like the gentlest touch?

He’s about to pick another fight with Todoroki when Jeanist claps his hands.

“Lastly, you both will be asked questions for a mock interview of sorts. You’ll be meeting another instructor that will be interviewing you in the lesson room,” Jeanist says as he swipes his bangs. “I’ll be heading out to direct a photoshoot, so after the next assessment, you two will be done for today.”

Eraserhead had already left the room after taking back the music sheets, so now both instructors have handed off the trainees to someone else.

Bakugou is still ticked off that halfie one-upped him in vocals, so he immediately heads to the lesson room to get the question shit over with.

Todoroki, having nothing better to do and not knowing where the lesson room is, trails behind him.

The whole mock interview went as bullshit as Bakugou thought it would. The instructor was a weird loudmouth with blonde hair and wore sunglasses despite being fucking inside.

The lesson room was basically like a small classroom but half the size and had long tables instead of individual seats.

Bakugou sat as far as possible from where halfie sat in the front of the room.

As the instructor, Present Mic, started asking the trainees questions, Bakugou just answered truthfully each time: he didn’t care and that his only goal is to perform in the Tokyo Dome.

Why the fuck does anyone need to know what his favorite season is or what his hobbies are?

Todoroki seemed to have trouble answering questions as well, not understanding metaphors and answering too bluntly at Present Mic’s questions.

After an hour, Present Mic had sighed and told them to go back to the dorms. As both trainees left, the instructor had rubbed his temples, muttering about how he’d need Eraserhead’s demon coffee for the next couple months.

At the dorm building, Bakugou feels his irritation rise as halfie follows him inside. Not only will Bakguou have to deal with candy-cane during trainee lessons, but now he has to LIVE with him.

Bakugou silently wishes that he was back to being the only trainee living in the dorm, but when he looks towards the kitchen he sees halfie still alive and eating one of Bakugou’s granola bars.

“How about getting your own fucking food?” Bakugou growls as he stuffs the granola box back in the pantry.

“Does… the kitchen not come with food?” Todoroki questions as he opens the fridge to see only Bakugou’s protein drinks.

Oh great, not only is he a dumbass but he’s also a rich boy.

“What? Do you think food will appear when you ask? Fucking yeah they don’t provide food. So keep your shit on your side of the fridge,” Bakugou snarls as he walks out of the kitchen and heads to the second floor.

The bedroom floor has four rooms. Three of the rooms were previously empty after Bakugou moved in, but now Todoroki decides to enter the room right across from Bakugou’s door.

“The fuck are you doing?”

Todoroki gives Bakugou an exasperated look as if explaining to a child. “I’m going into my room to take a nap.”

“Why the fuck are you across from MY room when there are two other rooms nowhere near mine?!”

Todoroki sighs. “It’s closer to the bathroom. Now, if you’ll excuse me…” He goes into his room and Bakugou can hear the lock of the door bolt in.

Now he has to fucking SHARE a bathroom with the discolored bastard. Fucking fantastic.

The next morning, Bakugou is returning from a jog to see Todoroki stumble out of his room, bleary-eyed and in his sleepwear.

Bakugou furrows his brows as Todoroki goes into the bathroom to get ready for the day.

How can someone just… wake up like that. It’s already 10 and despite Todoroki’s half-asleep state, his hair was still neatly parted and clothes barely wrinkled.

While Bakugou’s skin routine takes at least 30 minutes every day, Todoroki probably doesn’t do anything besides brush his teeth. If anything, the bastard looks like he uses hand soap to wash his face. The blonde is glad he doesn’t have to witness it.

At least Bakugou has his mornings to himself, one of the best things about being an early riser. On the first floor, Bakugou is mixing a protein drink when Todoroki reappears looking slightly more awake than before.

“That soap is a bit too strong, makes my face smell too flowery,” Todoroki mumbles as he walks into the kitchen.

Bakugou nearly chokes because not only was he right about halfie using hand soap as a face wash, but there is actually someone that uses hand soap on their FACE.

“You… seriously use hand soap to wash your fucking face?”

Todoroki gives a blank look. “It's still soap?”

“HAVE YOU NEVER HAD A BREAK OUT ON YOUR SKIN???”

“No?”

Bakugou almost throws his mug at Todoroki, but he sees the time. The clock on the kitchen wall shows that they have 15 minutes before needing to see their instructors in the main building.

“Fucking don’t use hand soap, you degenerate. Use an actual face wash as the name implies!” Bakugou says before chugging the rest of his drink.

He puts his mug in the sink to wash later and starts heading towards the door. Todoroki waits until Bakugou’s loud stomps are long gone before opening the pantry to take one of the granola bars from Bakugou’s box. What Bakugou doesn’t know won’t hurt him.

When Todoroki enters the main building, Bakugou is already shouting.

“The fuck do you mean ‘Press’ score? I haven’t fucking talked shit to any reporter!”

Bakugou grips his assessment score sheet. Eraserhead had handed him the paper and started explaining what each category meant.

As soon as all trainees for the season are confirmed, they go through an assessment to determine what areas need more focus than others.

Firstly, instructors categorize talent levels: specifically vocal and dance.

Bakugou got full points for dancing ability and a moderate score for vocals. Which he thinks doesn’t fucking count because the song he sang yesterday didn’t let him use his full potential.

What Bakugou calls utter bullshit on is the second category: impression.

Not only was his appearance too “ferocious,” but he got no points on the press score.

“Why the FUCK is there a ZERO??”

Bakugou takes himself seriously and never aims for anything below perfect, so he’s fucking enraged at seeing a fat loser score on his assessment.

“Well first of all, Bakugou, Present Mic informed me that you didn’t answer any questions seriously during the mock interview. Secondly, even if you have all the talent in the world, no idol will be able to debut with this kind of behavior,” Eraserhead says. “I get you’re trying for a bad boy punk look, but how will you show others that you’re not actually a bad guy if this is how you behave?”

Bakugou bites his tongue at his instructor’s words. Eraserhead spoke the truth and Bakugou knows it, but he still can’t stand that people can’t fucking tell talent from garbage.

Why does he need superficial words to prove that he’s the best when actions are much louder?

Bakugou fumes in silence when Eraserhead sees Todoroki and extends a sheet to the other trainee.

“These are your assessments. Read through them and I’ll explain the schedule from now on.”

Todoroki quickly skims over his scores, eyes focused on the talent section: full points for range and quality in vocals, while dance score is mediocre. While he can learn and memorize very quickly, his body is not practiced enough to execute routines well.

His appearance score almost has full points, with the comment “pleasing to the eye” written under it. He doesn’t get what’s so pleasing, but he’ll accept a high score if that's what he gets.

However, Todoroki is caught off guard as he sees a zero for press interaction. Even though he was much calmer than Bakugou during the mock interview, he thinks that he would at least have a better grade than the blonde brute.

The bi-colored trainee looks up at Eraserhead to ask why he also received zero points when Present Mic joins them and passes a mug of something dark to Eraserhead. The shaggy instructor immediately brings the drink to his mouth and Present Mic grimaces at the ease the other downs black coffee.

Seeing that both trainees received their assessment scores, Present Mic explains the purpose of the mock interview.

Idols cannot avoid being asked questions by the public. As a result, trainees must be prepared to give a good impression to whoever asks, whether reporter, fan, or child. Both Bakugou and Todoroki’s responses left the interviewee feeling uncomfortable or intimidated, which will impact their career heavily.

“But that’s what this program is for! U.A. will shape you into wonderful idols in no time,” Present Mic encourages.

Eraserhead nods and gives both boys a schedule. “For the next couple of months, you both will be given individual routines to perform for the instructors.”

Bakugou pauses. They get to practice dance routines? He was expecting more horrid etiquette lessons, but he won’t kick a gift horse in the mouth.

As Bakugou looks at the schedule, he sees that he has his own reserved time to use the studio room.

Finally, his idol career will get fucking started.

Despite what he originally thought, the routines take more work to perfect in a few weeks. Both Bakugou and Todoroki have joint practices with the instructors in the morning, leaving the rest of the day for individual sessions.

Now that the studio is split between the trainees, Bakugou can only practice after Todoroki’s slot. Which leaves the blonde with just enough time to meal prep and go over his routine in the small gym on his dorm floor.

Other than the mornings, Bakugou rarely sees the half n’ half trainee. By the time Bakugou finishes his individual session, he eats the dinner he prepared earlier and goes to bed.

Thank fuck. He doesn’t need any more time with the bastard anyway.

As the weeks fly by doing the same routine, both trainees prove to be improving at increasing speeds. By the end of each month, Bakugou performs his given routine during his time-slot in the studio to the instructors. He feels his body getting used to the satisfying ache that comes with practicing every day and feels his breathing get easier every time he sings.

Bakugou’s voice had gotten stronger as he learned to sing while dancing. He isn’t as good as when he heard Todoroki for the first time, but Bakugou is confident enough in his own style of performing to outshine the candy-cane.

After three months of individual training, Eraserhead makes an announcement during their morning exercises.

“Now that both of your talents have developed, the other instructors and I have agreed to start moving to the next stage of the trainee program,” Eraserhead says as he tapes a different sheet of paper to the studio door.

As Bakugou examines the new schedule he sees that both he and Todorki will be using the studio at the same time. Before he can start voicing his complaints, Eraserhead continues.

“The next routine will be a duo piece. If you both can successfully perform the routine, then you’ll be eligible to debut and perform for officially sponsored concerts.”

He can debut? Bakugou feels the corners of his mouth rising; he’s already so close, he can see himself on stage already. However, Bakugou suddenly remembers one annoying factor.

“A duo piece?” Todoroki asks after looking over the schedule. “Will there be assigned roles?”

Pretty boy is probably hoping to call dibs on vocals, Bakugou thinks. If it’ll get his debut day closer, Bakugou might just give Todoroki the lead vocal part. However, Jeanist shakes his head from his place at the back of the studio.

“No, this duo piece is expected to be performed with each of you singing and dancing,” Jeanist explains. “This routine will cover two verses, double what you have been doing for the past months. Each verse will have you switch roles.”

Great, now he’ll have to perform a duo with halfie. As Bakugou turns to Todoroki, he jabs at the other’s chest.

“If you ruin this chance for me to debut, I’ll fucking murder you.”

“Then you better cooperate with me,” Todoroki says as he pushes Bakugou’s finger away.

“BULLSHIT, you’re going to listen to ME if you’re going to perform to my standards.”

Todoroki opens his mouth to say more but then turns away to drink from his water bottle. If Todoroki is going to accomplish his goal, he’s going to do what he believes is best. He doesn’t care what others think.

After their break, Bakugou and Todoroki review a video of the routine they’ll need to perform.

Bakugou mentally takes notes of the sections where the dancing gets complex and divides the routine into sections. After the second replay, Bakugou sees Todoroki stand and try to imitate the dance.

“Sit the fuck back down, we’re not getting started yet, asshat,” Bakugou sneers. If this is how Todoroki learned his individual routines, Bakugou wonders just how halfie got approval to advance to the next stage of training.

“I learn best from going movement by movement, so this is where I’ll start.”

“Fuck it,” Bakugou mutters, if the dickhead wants to learn the hard way, so be it.

It’s one week into practicing for the duo routine when Bakugou loses all patience for Todoroki’s lack of effort. Even if he can memorize the lyrics of the song, the bastard doesn’t put any thought behind the dance at all.

He just assumes the moves in the routine and looks like lazy shit!

Bakugou pauses the video and steps into Todoroki’s space.

“Do you do everything half-assed, dickhead?” Bakugou growls.

Todoroki sighs and forces himself not to roll his eyes at the angry blonde. While Todoroki was not easy to provoke, Bakugou always steps close to Todoroki’s tipping point.

“If you put as much effort in dancing as you did for your singing, I wouldn't have to witness you moving around like a rat with no head!”

“Wouldn’t the rat be dead if it had no head?”

“You’re going to be dead soon if you don’t shut the fuck up!”

Bakugou gives up on any chance to get Todoroki to follow his demands. At least he can practice alone during the mornings in the small gym.

Three weeks later when they perform the routine for the instructors, it's a disaster. Bakugou had focused too much of his time on the dance routine and he ended up bumping into Todoroki when it was his turn to dance. On the parts where Todoroki was supposed to dance, he was lackluster and only focused on singing the lyrics to the song. At the end of it all, both of the trainees ended up frustrated and annoyed at the other for ruining the duo routine.

The instructors look at the boys and exchange looks. Eraserhead had predicted that Bakugou and Todoroki would clash when working together, but the other instructors thought it would be a chance for the trainees to improve their communication skills. If anything, it seems like the duo routine made the teamwork nonexistent.

“Alright, change of plans. You both will be learning another duo piece, but this time you will be competing against each other. I will be bringing in trainees from different seasons to team up with you two,” Eraserhead explains.

Bakugou thanks every deity that he isn’t paired with halfie again. There was no way on Earth that they would get along. Todoroki is just glad he doesn’t have to interact with someone as bigoted as Bakugou.

“However,” Eraserhead continues, “the schedule will stay the same for the reserved studio times. Think of it as an opportunity to learn from each other from a different perspective.”

Both trainees groan internally at the thought of practicing a routine in the same space again. But if Bakugou’s going to win this competition, he’s not going to give a shit about what candy-cane does.

Eraserhead leaves the studio with Present Mic to get the other trainees being paired off to Todoroki and Bakugou, telling the boys to take a break until they return.

Jeanist remains to supervise the trainees, but even he can feel the irritation from both boys. He sighs. While Bakugou is prone to outbursts, Jeanist worries more about Todoroki’s tendency to not show his emotions.

Although idol work requires some emotional restraint, performing should be the one time idols can show emotion to appeal to their audience. The instructors all agree that this season’s trainees need to work on communication to better their performance, but after the duo routine, there is a lot more that needs to be done before the boys can debut.

Bakugou proves this by flicking his middle finger towards Todoroki. The other looks unimpressed and waits for the instructor to return. Bakugou keeps his body warmed with small exercises and prepares to deal with more idiotic trainees.

After a few minutes, Eraserhead returns with two new faces. One with a curly mop of green hair and freckles on round cheeks. The other has bright red hair spiking up from his forehead. As he sees Todoroki’s split colored hair, he immediately grins.

“Manly hair, dude. Did you dye it?”

“No, it’s natural,” Todoroki states. Bakugou had given up on finding a logical way to explain halfie’s intense heterochromia, so he rolls his eyes at the new trainee’s excitement.

Eraserhead clears his throat and gestures to the spiky red-head. “This is Kirishima, he’s the leader for his idol group, Unbreakable, that is working on their first debut piece. Bakugou, you and Kirishima will be a team.”

Kirishima laughs and waves to all the trainees. “Nice to meet you all! I'm the leader on paper only, I couldn’t think of making a debut without them!”

His head tilts up in pride thinking about his team’s hard work. Todoroki gives him a slight nod in response and Bakugou crosses his arms.

“Well, you better be able to work without them, because they’re not going to be here now.”

Bakugou is not going to waste any more time dealing with nitwits that give half shits about performing, like someone he knows.

“Don’t worry! You can rely on me,” Kirishima wraps an arm around Bakugou’s shoulders, causing the blonde to elbow him off. “Ouch- don’t be like that! We’re partners now.”

Bakugou continues to push away Kirishima’s comradery as Eraserhead speaks again.

“Todoroki, this will be your partner for the next duo routine: Midoriya. He’s been studying in the U.A.'s composition department, but is working his way to solo debut just like all the other trainees.”

Midoriya gives a lopsided grin. “I’m still learning the ropes about performing, so I’m in your care, Todoroki!”

He reaches up to give a high five, but Todoroki only looks at Midoriya’s hand. Realizing the other would not react, Midoriya grimaces and puts his hand down.

Eraserhead hands each team a USB containing the routine they need to perform.

“You can view these in the lesson room and begin coordinating schedules from there. Midoriya and Kirishima have their own training as well, so be sure to use time wisely.”

“Let’s see what this fucking has, shitty hair,” Bakugou says waving the memory stick as he walks out the studio.

Kirishima lets out a gasp at the nickname, saying that he’s worked hard for his look, and follows Bakugou to the lesson room. The blonde plugs in the USB to one of the company-owned laptops and opens the video file.

The song has a heavy beat with rapping and breakdancing. Bakugou sneers, he finally gets a piece that he can fucking work with.

“Breakdancing! Anyone who knows how to breakdance is impressive in my book,” Kirishima gapes as he watches the dancers on screen.

“Course it’s fucking impressive, it’s called breakdancing for a reason.”

Bakugou has lost count of the number of times he’s fractured bones from practicing dances. Bruises are no stranger to him, but now that he’s older, Bakugou knows exactly how to avoid serious injuries.

After watching the video a few more times, Bakugou stands and pulls Kirishima back to the studio room. He’s already sectioned off portions of the routine to learn, so the shitty red-head needs to get at Bakugou’s level. If that’s even possible.

The nerds of the other team are nowhere to be seen when Bakugou opens the door to the studio. Good riddance.

After a few stretches, Bakugou goes straight to work. Surprisingly, the new trainee keeps up with his brutal pace and even points out areas that need more practice. Kirishima tells Bakugou that he had breakdanced for fun in the past, but never thought of breakdancing seriously. As they go through the routine, Bakugou thinks about how much more fulfilling it is to dance with someone who gives it their all. While shit-for-brains is slow at understanding dances, he's always at 100% energy when they rehearse so Bakugou lets him get away with some jokes during breaks.

With how well his team is doing, if halfie and the nerd were here, they’d probably surrender the win to Bakugou right then.

It’s only a week after their assigned teams when Bakugou sees Todoroki and Midoriya talking on the first floor of his dorm building.

“-made me go through professional vocal training ever since I was young,” He hears in Todoroki’s monotone as he stands at the front entrance. “My mom used to be a singer as well until he overworked her to the point where she lost her voice.”

Bakugou furrows his brows as Todoroki spills his past to Midoriya. They had lived together for over 3 months, but for some reason a nerd from a different department suddenly makes him open up?

He can imagine Present Mic telling him about how the best idols know how to open people’s hearts. Bakugou thinks it’s bullshit, but what the fuck does the nerd have that he doesn’t? Todoroki was a brick wall when it came to talking to others, so how did this even happen...

“I used to sing together with my mom, but after she lost her voice, my father started trying to shape me into his newest star. My mom didn’t want me to go through the same experience as her so that’s how my scar-”

His ears strain to hear the rest, but he only hears muffled sniffles. Is Todoroki crying?

Bakugou peeks into the dorm living area only to see Todoroki as blank-faced as ever. Sitting on the couch is Midoriya, wiping his eyes after listening to Todoroki’s past. Bakugou huffs, turning around to go grocery shopping instead of having to interact with emotional nerds.

As he walks to the closest food market, Bakugou thinks back at the last practices he’s had in the studio. He focused solely on cleaning the breakdancing with Kirishima. Across the room, Todoroki and Midoriya practiced their routine. From the movements, it looked like an upbeat pop song. Bakugou had scoffed at their attempts at teamwork.

Halfie still gave shit efforts to learn the dance, but the nerd apparently pulled smiling faces out his ass daily. He gave encouragement and was always reaching out to help the other. Bakugou almost gagged. For him and shitty hair, it was more of a “do as I say” and then repeat - which suits Bakugou just fine.

But now, stuffing his hands into his pockets, Bakugou begrudgingly accepts that he’s going to have to witness more of the other team’s touchy-feely moments. Disgusting.

After the whole scene with Todoroki’s past, Bakugou notices something different about the other trainee. During practices in the studio, Half n’ Half is actually trying to learn the routines.

He even smiles for the first time after a run through with Midoriya. Seeing such a soft emotion on the asshole’s face made Bakugou’s stomach churn. This means that now, Todoroki is putting his all into learning the routine. Unlike when he was paired with Bakugou.

Now Bakugou practices harder to perfect the breakdance routine while also reciting the rap aloud. He starts practice as soon as Kirishima arrives at the studio and doesn’t stop until Eraserhead kicks him out. But as he sees Todoroki’s team improve drastically, he gets more and more frustrated.

How do they keep getting further ahead than him? Weren’t they just fucking nerds at the beginning of the month?

One day in the middle of practice, Kirishima puts a hand on Bakugou’s shoulder.

“Bro, I’m all for going all out in practicing, but the energy you have right now is not good for the audience." He’s noticed that the blonde rarely takes breaks and has a deeper scowl than usual.

“Fuck’s it to you? As long as the routine is perfect, that’s all that matters.” Bakugou knocks the hand off his shoulder and gets back to practice. Who cares about the audience? If the dancer has talent, then the audience will cheer.

However, Bakugou is slightly shocked to see a serious look on Kirishima’s face as he steps in front of him.

“Bakugou, people look to idols for motivation and sometimes even happiness. We should care for the audience like they do for us,” Kirishima’s eyes will not take any refusal to his words, because he believes in them with all his heart. Then he breaks out into a grin. “Maybe you just need some proof that idols can do way more than just perform! C’mon, I’ll introduce you to my team, they’re super excited to meet you after we started practicing together.”

Before Bakugou can immediately reject the suggestion, Kirishima is pulling him out of the studio and towards the dorm buildings. Shit-for-brain’s grip is like fucking rocks, but that doesn’t stop Bakugou from yelling profanities the whole way.

Entering a dorm building similar to Bakugou’s, Kirishima makes a grand entrance in the living space.

“GUYS! I finally brought BAKU-BRO!”

Three heads immediately pop up from the couch and leap towards them. Bakugou is assaulted with voices.

“Ohmygod THAT’S him?”

“Wow, he really does look as grumpy as you say,”

“DUDE can you teach me how to breakdance like Kiri? He was showing me your routine the other day and it was SICK!”

“Oh me too! I’d love to learn new moves and I think I’d be better than you guys anyway pfff-”

Kirishima waves his hands at them.

“Hold up! Introductions first please,” he calms his team members down and gestures to a trainee with literal pink hair and skin. After seeing Present Mic’s gravity-defying hair and Todoroki’s apparently natural growing split head, Bakugou stopped questioning the appearances of residents at U.A. Music.

“Right, Hi Bakugou! I’m Mina, the token only-girl-in-the-group. But I definitely have more presence than some of these guys,” she sticks her tongue out at the others.

Next to her, a boy with electric yellow hair starts poking her sides as she laughs at him. He huffs in victory when she yelps and quiets down.

“I’m Denki and I definitely cover the best-looking role of the group,” Denki winks and Bakugou instinctively reaches a hand out to slap the back of the highlighter’s head, but Kirishima intercepts.

“Last but not least!”

The next trainee has ink-black hair and is quieter than the previous two, but still wore a mischievous smile through all the banter between his friends.

“Sup, I’m Sero. I heard from Kiri that you called his hair shitty and I kinda agree, the spikes get in the way sometimes.”

Bakugou immediately likes soy-sauce head the best.

Kirishima’s jaw drops in mock hurt and wipes a fake tear from his eye. “Bro… I thought we had something,” He dramatically falls onto Denki’s chest and the other reaches over to pat Kirishima’s head.

“There, there…”

Bakugou stares blankly at the dramatics and takes the chance to turn and exit the building, but Mina stops in front of the door.

“Going so soon, Mr. Resident Bad Boy? We finally get to meet you, so you’re going to be here a while!”

Mina pulls him to the living room, where the three had been watching compilation videos of global idol competitions. Bakugou can’t stand to see amateurs try to contest against each other, so he didn’t give the competitions a spare thought.

As he’s pushed onto the couch, the rest of the idiot team squeezes together to watch the screen. The group that’s currently performing in the video has over 30 members and relies on formations to look polished.

“They think that having big numbers can hide that they’re mediocre?” Bakugou taunts. “Fucking extras.”

Kirishima hums. He had noticed that some of the dancers were off-beat. “But don’t you think it’s amazing to have coordinated with that many dancers? Even if their timing is a bit off, they still look great to watch!”

“Yeah! I mean, the lead dancers pull off a bunch of facial expressions, even if they’re not facing the audience. It just looks like they’re having fun,” Denki adds.

“Not to mention the crowd is eating it up,” Sero points out. Bakugou can hear the cheers from the crowd in the video, with various whoops and yells. As the group reappears during the award ceremony, they place second in the competition.

Bakugou was forced to stay and watch videos with the trainee group similar to the first. When the sun had long set, Kirishima let Bakugou return to his dorm and thanked him for coming to meet his team. Bakugou had violently reminded him that it was his shitty-hair that dragged him there and Kirishima laughed.

From then on, Kirishima routinely brought Bakugou back to the group’s dorm to watch videos or play games after practice. One time, Bakugou even gave in and taught Mina a few breakdancing moves. That day, Mina proved a point that she was one of the best breakdancers of the team - to the shame of Denki falling flat on his face after tripping during a cross-step. Bakugou had actually given Mina a compliment when she was the only one left of the group holding a handstand, although slightly backhanded.

Reluctantly, Bakugou was getting used to the disaster group who suddenly started calling themselves the “Bakusquad.” Fucking morons, but Bakugou’s days are filled with mocking and laughter. He doesn’t react with more than grumbling whenever he ends up at the group’s dorm.

As the days got closer to when both teams perform their duo piece, the more Bakugou’s body seemed to relax, letting muscle memory take over during practices.

“Baku-bro, I think that was one of our best run-throughs yet!” Kirishima exclaims. Bakugou silently agrees, his mind could clearly focus on the dance while also keeping in sync with the rap. The blonde breaks into a grin and feels genuine excitement fill his body at the thought of showing what he can fucking achieve.

Out of the corner of his eye, he sees that Todoroki stopped practicing to stare blankly at him. Bakugou’s smile drops immediately and he locks eyes with the candy-cane.

“The fuck you want? Shocked to see some talent for once?”

Todoroki blinks and turns his face away, hair covering his eyes. Midoriya tilts his head curiously at the two and then waves a hand in front of Todoroki. His ears are a bit red, but he reassures Midoriya that he’s alright.

Bakugou watches as the other team begins practicing again and rolls his eyes. Fucking nerds, they won’t be able to top Bakugou’s performance no matter how many times they practice.

As the three instructors enter the studio, both trainee teams are warming up. Kirishima’s bright voice carries through the room as he chats with Bakugou, and sometimes with Midoriya when the blonde ignores him.

It’s been about four weeks since the trainees were assigned their duo routines. Today is the day to see just how much each team learned.

“Todoroki,” Eraserhead starts. “Your team will be performing first.”

Todoroki and Midoriya nod and move to their starting formation in the middle of the room. Eraserhead gestures for Bakugou and Kirishima to stand next to the instructors to watch the performance.

This will be the first time watching them perform, Bakugou thinks. Before they were assigned duo routines, they had showcased their solo routines separately. This time, even though they’ve practiced together, both teams had their own dance to focus on.

But now, Bakugo has front row seats to see halfie’s skill.

He crosses his arms and scrutinizes candy-cane’s form. Todoroki has his eyes closed when a slow melody starts to play from the studio speakers. Softly, his voice begins to sing and something flutters in Bakugou’s chest.

Suddenly the song drops into a bright poppy beat and Todoroki breaks out into a small grin. He and Midoriya start dancing, spinning around and singing along to the music. As they move around, Bakugou’s eyes can only follow the split-haired trainee. Not only does Todoroki’s face brighten the more he sings, but he even laughs in between dance transitions when he sees Midoriya stick out his tongue in concentration.

It’s nothing like Bakugou expected, especially after practicing in the same space as the once ice prince. Seeing him like this, face open and singing with his heart on his sleeve, Todoroki looks like he’s sparkling.

It’s only when Todoroki and Midoriya strike their last pose, hands extended to their audience and breathing heavy, that Bakugou realizes his jaw has slightly dropped. Next to him, Kirishima hoots and hollers, cheering his fellow trainees on a great performance.

“Great performance you two,” Present Mic exclaims. “I was on the edge of my seat! I could feel the excitement and energy. Especially Todoroki, you’ll have fan’s hearts stopping in no time if you keep it up.”

Todoroki’s brows slightly furrow. “Their hearts… will stop?”

“Metaphorically, Todoroki!” Midoriya laughs. “We gave it our all, didn’t it feel amazing? If Present Mic says he can feel our passion, that means an audience might feel it too!”

Todoroki says nothing as he gives a small smile to his partner. Bakugou’s chest tightens and pulls his eyes away from the soft glow surrounding the other team.

He’s not going to be upstaged by some pansy-ass nerds. He knows he has talent, potential, and fucking DRIVE to make it big. So why does he feel so…

Bakugou is jolted out of his thoughts as Kirishima playfully punches his shoulder.

“Don’t worry, Bakugou! We still have our secret weapon to unleash,” he says with a big grin.

“Who the fuck’s worried, shit-hair?” That’s right, Bakugou perfected the routine and even added a few extra surprises for his opponents. He’s better than the best and even more.

Eraserhead tells the next team to get into starting formation and Bakugou takes a deep breath, it’s showtime.

Squatting down, the blonde balances using the balls of his feet. Kirishima stands with his back toward the others, but shoulders twisted to look to the side of the room. When practicing, the red-head had mentioned they looked like a cover for a mob film and the blonde almost knocked his ass on the floor. He wasn’t wrong, but Bakugou isn’t about to be compared to a sleazy mob character without a fight.

As Jeanist starts the song, the duo’s expressions turn serious. Three beats pulse through the air before Bakugou ferociously grins. He slowly rises as his chest rumbles lyrics to the music while Kirishima prowls behind him. There is a beat of silence before both of them spring into action, pulling off jumps and footwork with ease.

Kirishima’s boyish tone contrasts with Bakugou’s deep vocals, which highlights the sections of the performance that slow down. When the blonde sluggishly sings his lines, he can tell when all attention focuses on him.

Sweat drips from his arms and he pushes harder to control the isolations in his dance. They’re almost towards the end of the song and Kirishima extends his hand to Bakugou with a smile that fills his face. The blonde feels the corners of his lips pull upward as he pulls the hand and forces his feet off the ground.

Kirishima ducks and slides under him as Bakugou front flips, landing with an echoing stomp. The song ends as soon as he lands and the boys hold out a fist toward their audience. Bakugou can feel his sweat drip onto the floor, heart pumping as he catches his breath.

His eyes land on Todoroki, who is staring with wide eyes and a red flush on his cheeks. Bakugou jolts and feels his cheeks redden as well. Sure, he realized some of the lyrics in his song were suggestive, but it’s just a song. However, performing in front of halfie made everything feel completely different.

Hoping the redness in his face passes as exertion, Bakugou looks to his instructors.

“Impressive, Bakugou,” Jeanist starts. “Kirishima, you as well. Both of your movements matched the song’s deeper tone, but the enthusiasm for dance kept the energy flowing.”

Eraserhead gives the duo a glare. “Don’t think adding tricks like that will always work, sometimes showing off can end up harming your body,” then his eyes close. “But you pulled it off this time. Well done.”

Bakugou’s chest swells and Kirishima lets out a yell while fist-pumping the air. Midoriya runs over to the duo asking how they managed to pull off the last jump without him seeing it at practice. Kirishima rubs his nose and says they practiced a lot outside of the studio and Bakugou yells at the freckled face for being so nosy.

Todoroki stands behind Midoriya and watches the other trainees interact. His flush has disappeared and he’s back to his normal brick face. Bakugou feels the urge to make the candy cane bastard show some sort of facial expression, but Eraserhead claps to gather their attention.

The instructors finished reviewing their thoughts on both performances and Eraserhead tells the trainees the results.

“Bakugou, in your performance you were able to showcase your best strengths. Team Two had clean movements and a strong presence when you were theoretically on stage. The instructors and I can also see a change in your behavior. You’re more engaged, which is beneficial for an idol.”

Bakugou sees Kirishima give him two thumbs up and he smacks the back of shit-for-brain’s head. The other just laughs and wraps an arm around the blonde’s shoulders. Bakugou tries to jostle the arm off, to no avail, so he huffs and continues to listen as Eraserhead speaks to the other team.

“As for Team One, you both gave a charming performance. Todoroki, you’ve grown considerably. While your dancing is still rough around the edges, the effort you put behind the moves shows how passionate you are.”

“And for that drastic growth, the instructors believe that Team One gets the win over Team Two in this mock competition,” Present Mic announces.

Surprisingly, Bakugou doesn’t throw hands. He knew right after halfie’s performance that the team would win. That doesn’t mean he gave up - he still put all his energy into his routine - he’s just accepted that Todoroki developed much more than expected.

“We can see that each trainee has learned new skills to continue their training. So the instructors agreed that Bakugou and Todoroki will be assigned to practice as a team once again,” Jeanist says. “However, we will be focused on audience engagement over talent development this time around.”

Bakugou and Todoroki glance at each other and wince at the memory of their last time working as a duo. However, now that Todoroki is putting effort into his training, he believes that things will go better.

Midoriya taps Todoroki’s shoulder, pulling his attention away from Bakugou.

“Todoroki, would it be okay to exchange numbers? That way we’re still in touch even when we don’t practice every day.”

Kirishima also takes out his cellphone. “Oh me too! I wanted to ask both of you for your numbers since I already swiped Baku-bros.”

Todoroki nods his head and shares his contact information to both cheerful trainees. Bakugou is watching the trainees confirm numbers when he catches Todoroki gazing at him. Before Bakugou can call him out, Todoroki turns to the spiky red-head.

“Kirishima, could you also give me Bakugou’s number?”

The fuck? He’s standing right there but the half-wit can’t get the balls to ask him directly?

“Oh sure! I’ll text it to you now,” Kirishima responds.

“OI, shit-hair! Don’t go giving out my number to fucking anybody!”

“But you’re a team now! And Todoroki isn’t just anybody. Besides, it cost Denki a wrestling match for Mina to sneak your number.”

Bakugou scowls as he remembers how Denki purposely egged him on and distracted him as Mina snuck his phone off the table. The highlighter got what was coming for him when Bakugou chucked him over his shoulder.

Todoroki raises a brow at Kirishima’s explanation but doesn’t say anything after his phone receives the text with Bakugou’s number.

Fucking great, now more assholes know how to contact him.

As the trainees leave the studio to head back to their dorms, his phone receives a text from an unknown number.

> This is Todoroki.

Bakugou immediately changes the contact name to “Licked Candy Cane” and pockets his phone.

Now that it’s back to just the two trainees, Jeanist decided that they’ll review a few more lessons in idol etiquette before they proceed.

To add even more disappointment to Bakugou’s daily life, Todoroki has been texting him stupid photos of cats.

> Cat outside the U.A. building
> Photo.jpeg

< looks fucking ugly

> I was going to say it looks like you, but I guess you already got it covered

< SHUT THE FUCK UP

He hates how he instinctively checks his phone when a new message is received. He had already muted the “Bakusquad” group chat since it gets spammed to oblivion, so there is a high chance that when his phone pings, it’s halfie.

After finishing their lessons for the day, Bakugou and Todoroki are heading back to their dorm building when the blonde remembers he didn’t have time to prep dinner before their lesson.

As Bakugou walks past the front door, Todoroki gives him a curious glance.

“Are you going to Kirishima’s?”

“Fucking no, fuckface. I’m getting food to make dinner.”

“Oh…” Todoroki seems to ponder a bit before walking towards Bakugou.

“What are you doing, halfie?”

“I’ll go with you.”

Todoroki usually goes back to the main U.A. building to eat their bullshit premade meals for dinner, so he never needed to go grocery shopping. The bastard also snacked on Bakugou’s granola bars when he thought the blonde wasn’t looking.

“Wow look at that, pretty boy finally does his own fucking shopping.”

“You think I’m pretty?”

“You wish, dickhead” Every time halfie opens his fucking mouth, Bakugou just wants to punch his lights out. Fucking irritating.

At least it’s better than when he didn’t respond at all, Bakugou guesses.

They walk in silence to the food market nearby. Unlike how Kirishima fills the air with random thoughts, Todoroki seems content with just walking next Bakugou. If candy-cane isn’t talking, Bakugou doesn’t feel the need to speak either. Blissful silence is hard to come by nowadays.

Occasionally, Todoroki will spot a stray cat and stop to take pictures to send to Midoriya and Kirishima. Bakugou doesn’t stop walking, but if he slows his pace for Todoroki to catch up, no one mentions it.

Reaching the market, Bakugou grabs a basket and starts grabbing the items he needs to make dinner for the next couple of days. Todoroki trails along looking at the different isles of food. Passing packages of noodles, he speaks up.

“Bakugou, do you know how to make cold soba?”

Bakugou is caught off guard so he responds back honestly. “Yeah, they’re easy to make. Who can’t make it?”

Todoroki goes quiet and Bakugou huffs before leaving to grab the rest of his usual groceries. After a pause, Todoroki reappears at Bakugou’s side with a bag of soba noodles.

“I’m not buying that for you.”

“I’ll buy it myself,” Todoroki confirms. Bakugou looks at how Todoroki makes no moves to grab anything else to make the dipping sauce and sighs.

“At least pretend like you know how to function like a normal person,” Bakugou says while swiping the noodle bag to place in his basket.

Todoroki looks at his empty hands and back at Bakugou before giving him a small smile.

“Thank you, Bakugou.”

The other’s face feels warm as he turns to get the ingredients to make the sauce because he’s not going to allow some premade shit in his kitchen.

When they return to the dorm, Bakugou finds out that Todoroki is also not allowed in the kitchen after the split haired boy dumps half the noodle bag into warm faucet water.

One day instead of usual lessons, Jeanist announces that Bakugou and Todoroki are ready to start a different training exercise.

Anything is better than sitting through another demonstration of how to talk in a live interview, Bakugou thinks.

“Follow me, we’ll be meeting an instructor from another department,” Jeanist says as he leads them out of the room. They head outside towards a decently sized stadium. U.A. Music holds annual festivals on its grounds to help promote new musicians and recruit potential trainees.

At the front gate stands a well-built man wearing a large orca hat that's tail extends behind his back like a cape. When he sees them arrive, he waves at Jeanist.

“So these are the boys that you can’t tame, Jeanist? The blonde one looks as beastly as I’ve heard.”

Bakugou gives the instructor a dirty look despite being a full head taller than the blonde.

“Orca, these are the trainees this season: Bakugou and Todoroki,” Jeanist motions towards the boys. “They’ll be in your care today.”

Orca nods and turns to the trainees. “You’re here today because you need to learn two things: communication and winning the hearts of others! Idols must connect to the hearts of their fans in order to be true idols.”

He opens the gates and motions for them to follow.

“So in order to learn how to do those things, I’d like to introduce you to the Masegaki Primary School,” As they enter the standing area of the stadium, a group of elementary children lock in on the trainees.

It descends to chaos.

“Who are you guys!” “Teacher said you’d sing for us!” “No, Teacher said they’d dance!” “They don’t look like dancers.” “Why is his hair so weird!” The children crowd around the two boys speaking all at once. Some even grab Bakugou’s leg to climb up to his waist.

“Fucking runts! Get off-” Bakugou struggles as he pulls a young boy off his pants only for another to grab his other leg. Todoroki is no better, trying to answer each kid only to be interrupted by another question mid answer.

“I’m so sorry! These kids get so rowdy,” a young teacher sputters. She looks away from the children and to the taller instructor. “Will this really be ok?”

Orca laughs. “Yes! This will be perfect. The best audience to learn about connecting hearts is the young! Do not worry, the boys will handle things just fine.”

The teacher nods and watches worriedly at the children ganging up on two unexpecting trainees.

“Bakugou! Todoroki! Your goal for today is to woo the hearts of all the kids, anything less and you’re back to lessons with Jeanist,” Oca announces.

“How in the hell are we going to do that?!” Bakugou yells as he chases a boy who took his dorm keys.

“Maybe we could try singing for them?” Todoroki suggests. He starts singing one of the songs he learned from his past training and some kids - especially the young girls - start to sit and listen. However, after a while, they begin to get antsy and get back up to play with each other.

Todoroki is a bit stunned to be stood up by children of all people and Bakugou has to bark a laugh.

“You can’t keep their attention with just that! How about this,” Bakugou starts to do variations of cross-stepping around the kids. The young boys all gasp in awe and try to imitate the footwork, but fail miserably.

They all start trying to trip Bakugou after realizing they can’t copy the dance, making the blonde stop or else he’d risk tripping on one of the little shits.

“Maybe we could just force them to sit and listen,” Bakugou growls. If the kids don’t want to be wooed, then he’s going to make them at least look like they are.

“I think there could be a better way than forcing them,” Todoroki says. Bakugou whips his head towards the halfie to ask what other option there is, but he suddenly remembers the day he overheard Todoroki talk about his father. The blonde grimaces.

“Alright, then go ahead and show me how you do things then!”

“Sure.”

Todoroki walks towards one of the girls who had listened to him sing. He begins to hum a song and spins the kid around. She giggles and her friend joins the small dance led by Todoroki’s voice.

The candy cane looks like an idiot just walking around the kids and spinning around, but more shits keep joining to wiggle and laugh together. Todoroki looks up at Bakugou and raises a brow while extending his hand.

Bakugou sighs and prays to god that no one ever remembers this moment as he grabs Todoroki’s hand. He spins the heterochromatic boy around, making the other laugh. Soon enough, both trainees are humming a song with no lyrics and dancing with the children who previously wanted to kick their shins. Taking turns spinning and picking up each kid, Todoroki and Bakugou end up enjoying their time dancing along with troublemakers. No need to think about being perfect or to be entertaining, just them having fun.

As the sun begins setting, the teacher calls her students back to start heading home. The children all thank the trainees for playing with them, some even going up to hug their legs as the boys awkwardly pat their heads.

Bakugou smiles softly as the last boy waves goodbye and Todoroki catches a glimpse before the blonde can notice. Something warm blankets over his chest as he watches the other trainee.

However, the moment is broken when Bakugou turns to Todoroki and jolts at the pleased expression watching him.

“Fuck you want?”

Todoroki shakes his head and instead of responding, he raises his hand. Bakugou looks at it for a moment before sighing and high fives the split-haired boy.

Orca pats both of them on the back as they walk out of the stadium. He tells them that if they continue improving like they showed today, they’ll be great idols in the future. He bids them goodnight when they pass the U.A. building and the trainees head towards their dorm.

Todoroki pulls out his phone and soon starts getting a handful of notifications. At some point, Bakugou’s phone gets pings as well. Confused, Bakugou opens his notifications to see a new group chat has been made titled “Bakusquad 2.0” where Kirishima, Denki, Mina, and Sero added him and Todoroki.

Pinky: OMG! how did u get that w/o getting straight up killed???!

electro-boi: wow Bakubro w children? and they not crying?

He who lurks: lmao

electro-boi: did we just die

Red Riot: That’s such a manly thing to do, i think im tearing up

The conversation continues on as Bakugou scrolls up to the top to see that before Bakugou was added to the group chat, Todoroki sent a photo of both of them dancing with the primary school kids. From the framing, it looks like one of the girls took halfie’s phone to take a lopsided selfie of everyone.

Bakubro: can you idiots SHUT THE FUCK UP

Bakubro: who’s the one that wants to die today for changing my nickname

Todo: The photo was taken by one of the children. It was a surprise to find

If Bakugou saves the photo before muting the group chat, no one needs to know.

From then on, the two trainees fall into a loose friendship. Loose meaning that when Present Mic comments on how close they’ve become, Todoroki responds that yes, they are good friends and Bakugou responds with expletives.

Bakugou discovered that after Todoroki confirms he is within the “friend” territory, he has no filter. Or maybe just no common sense at all. He even does the whole talk about his scar and his dad with Bakugou a couple of days after their lesson with Orca. At the time, the blonde made dinner for both of them in the dorms and the other suddenly decided to share his past. Nothing like a little childhood trauma to make a meal great. Bakugou had told him to shut up and finish his food.

He can’t believe he ever thought the halfie had any tack at all... It’s because of the face. He has the scar and the stoic look like he’s thinking about something profound or brooding, but Bakugou can assure anyone that the half-brain has the dial-up tone playing constantly in the background.

The more Bakugou and Todoroki spend time together, the more the blonde realizes how comfortable he is with candy-cane. Sure, Kirishima and the idiots regrettably make Bakugou laugh and make for good time killers. But with pretty boy, Bakugou doesn’t have to keep up a conversation or interact. Whenever Todoroki joins him in the small gym, the most they give each other is a nod before continuing their own regimen.

They’ve had more free time since lessons have been put on hold due to U.A.’s Music Festival. Their instructors are busy with preparations and only have enough time to give them worksheets for general knowledge of the entertainment industry. Trainees are encouraged to attend the festival but aren’t allowed to participate until after they’ve debuted. Idols and producers who are affiliated with U.A. hold live concerts and signings for the whole day.

At their dorm, Mina and Denki go on and on about which concerts to see and what outfits to wear tomorrow. Kirishima really wants to see the Crimson Hero tribute and marks down the time slot for their schedule. Sero laughs when Denki drapes himself over the couch because he finds out two artists he wants to see are set to perform at the same time.

Todoroki, now a regular visitor to the Unbreakable’s dorm, looks at the schedule. He tilts his head.

“When will you have time to eat?” The schedule has no breaks, concerts back to back. Denki’s face shows a flat expression as he looks up to the split-haired boy.

“No eat, must see concert.”

Todoroki’s brows slightly furrow and Mina laughs as she pats his leg from her spot on the floor.

“Don’t worry, Todo! There’s a reason to go to music festivals in groups,” she gives a big grin. “More bodies to do food runs.”

“I get to come too?”

Bakugou can see the idiots look shocked before all jumping to gather halfie in a group hug.

“Of course!!! This is your first music festival, we’re not going to let you fend for yourself,” Kirishima cries. The rest of the team nods enthusiastically and Todoroki’s expression softens.

“It’s better if he learns from experience,” Bakugou scoffs. From his position at the end of the couch, he sees the group turn their heads toward him before five bodies tackle him onto the couch. He yells as they fall to the floor in a pile of laughs.

Bakugou opens his eyes to see red and white below him. Todoroki has his eye closed as he laughs, slightly flushed, and his hair splayed out on the ground. Even with Sero half on top of his legs and Kirishima’s elbow digging into his side, Bakugou can’t seem to focus on anything except the boy beneath him. He looks completely different from when the first time Bakugou encountered Todoroki in the dance studio.

His laugh sounds like gentle chimes and his shoulders are relaxed in the presence of his friends. Bakugou feels his heart seize when Todoroki’s eyes open and he sees pools of bright blue and misty gray. Both boys seem lost in thought until Bakugou distantly hears Denki’s voice. He feels Sero stand and hastily gets up from the floor.

“I’m giving you all 3 seconds before I rip your empty heads off your damn shoulders,” Bakugou growls. He glares directly at the highlighter and sees him gulp. Glancing at the window, Denki sees the sun has already set and the lamps outside the dorm have turned on.

“Welp looks like it’s bedtime!” Denki gives a fake yawn. “See you guys for the festival tomorrow!” He darts to the staircase to find safety in his room. Before Bakugou can chase after him, pinky grabs his arm.

“Bakugou! Don’t forget to wear this tomorrow, we’ll all be matching!!”

He looks down and sees her shove a red and white sweatband into his hand. Mina motions at Todoroki and gives him wristbands with the same two colors of his hair.

Earlier, she and Denki planned to have matching accessories for the group when they attend the music festival. She would wear hooped earrings, one red and one white. Denki had fingerless gloves with a matching color scheme. Kirishima had already planned to wear a white bandana with Crimson Riot printed across the middle, but luckily enough his hair is dyed red so he got an okay from Mina. Sero passed on the accessories but promised to put his red and white pins on his bag after seeing the rest if his team pout.

Bakugou looks at the sweatband in disdain before pocketing it and heading to the front door. He always has the chance to deck highlighter’s face in, so he might as well not lose sleep over it.

“Tacky as hell, you can’t tell me what to do.”

Todoroki thanks Mina and bids the rest of the trainees a goodnight before catching up to Bakugou.

“I think it’s a nice thought to be matching with friends,” Todoroki says as they walk back to their dorm.

“Friends my ass, they only want to make sure they can find each other in a crowd,” Bakugou argues. “Not like they couldn’t just use your dumb hair like a beacon.”

“I guess you could say my hair is quite eye-catching,” Todoroki sighs. “But I think we all have pretty distinct hair colors as well.”

Bakugou can’t deny that. From bubblegum pink, neon yellow, bright red, and even split-colored hair, they all make quite the impression.

“Even you, Bakugou,” Todoroki continues. “You kinda look like a blonde pomeranian.”

“Shut your fucking mouth if you ever want to eat any of my cooking again.”

Todoroki remains silent for the rest of the walk. Bakugou’s food is the best thing to happen to Todoroki, so he’s not going to risk it.

The next morning, Bakugou is getting dressed for the festival when he sees the red and white sweatband on his desk. He can almost hear the whines from the peanut brains and violently pulls the sweatband on his wrist.

He walks to the kitchen to make a light breakfast since he knows they’ll be eating a bunch of greasy festival foods throughout the day. Bakugou had heard rumors of super spicy cheese nachos being sold, so he’s not that opposed to eating some garbage food today.

Bakugou cuts up fruit for two bowls and puts bread in the toaster. When Todoroki comes out of his room, Bakugou is spreading jam on a piece of toast. The blonde looks over and has to force his eyes to not linger. Todoroki is wearing dark skinny jeans and a casual black top. The pants hug his thighs and Bakugou’s mind flashes to the long legs wrapped around him-

He immediately shoves the toast in his mouth and chews aggressively.

Todoroki looks a bit frozen before seeing the additional bowl of fruit and grabs his own piece of toast.

“You look nice,” Todoroki says after thanking the other for breakfast.

The blonde is wearing a slightly oversized white shirt that shows his collarbones and black ripped jeans. Todoroki’s eyes seem drawn to the other’s lap, where the ripped holes show the skin of his thighs. Bakugou flicks the split-haired trainee on the forehead and tells the halfie to finish his food so they can leave.

The festival is in full swing when the group arrives. The first concert in their schedule starts at 10am, but people have already claimed spots on the ground despite them showing up an hour early.

Luckily, Todoroki spots Midoriya’a green mop of hair sitting in the middle of the crowd. He waves and the freckled trainee waves back, inviting the group to sit.

Midoriya had shown up two hours early with two friends: Iida and Uraraka. They both are interning in the music production department and frequently interact with Midoriya, the three of them becoming close friends.

After swapping introductions, Uraraka can’t help but point out how cute Bakugou’s group is with matching accessories. Iida agrees, saying nothing shows comradery like planning complementary attire.

Mina and Denki shine with pride at a plan well excited.

“Why red and white colors?” Midoriya asks.

“It’s Todo’s first music festival! We wanted to symbolize how we’re all with him,” Mina responds.

Todoroki looks a bit stunned hearing her explanation, but Denki leans against his shoulder. “That’s right Todoroki! We’re going to make this a festival to remember!”

Todoroki politely thanks them and they all laugh at his sudden formality. The trainees talk a bit more, Bakugou even speaking up just to antagonize the nerds. After a while, the stage lights turn on and the concert officially begins. Mina and Uraraka link arms as they stand to jump with the crowd. Denki seems to already be competing with Sero to see who will lose their voice first. Todoroki seems overwhelmed but soon starts to relax and enjoy the performance.

Bakugou sighs deeply, wondering where all the energy exploded from the crowd with it being 10 in the morning. He resigns his fate for the next hours of constant elated energy around him.

By the time the sun is long gone and the stars come out, Bakugou has eaten enough junk food to make him start thinking about his meal plan for the next couple weeks. Denki lost his voice, but it still doesn't stop him from squeezing all the air out in his lungs when a guitar solo starts. Kirishima is being consoled by both Iida and Midoriya after bursting into tears from the Crimson Riot tribute. Mina and Uraraka had left the boys to join three other girls they met while getting popcorn, saying they’d meet back up after the festival ends.

When Sero returns from his turn at grabbing food, Todoroki and Bakugou are sitting side by side, swaying slightly to the ballad piece being performed. The sight of snacks perks up all the trainees and they talk during the transitions between musicians.

As the crowd rallies for the final concert of the festival, the trainees scrap the last of their energy to cheer on the number one music producer, All Might, as he sings one of his record-breaking singles.

Bakugou peeks at his side and sees Todoroki cheering along with the others, a tired but content grin on his face. The blonde’s features soften as he looks at the trainee. It might be a mix of his fatigue and the post-concert satisfaction, but Bakugou thinks Todoroki looks beautiful as he waves his arms in the air.

Feeling eyes on him, Todoroki turns to face Bakugou, running a hand through his red and white hair. Bakugou’s mouth suddenly dries and he stares as the other shakes his hair back into place.

Blue and gray eyes look into ruby red, the noise from the crowd fading away. Bakugou’s hand twitches to fix the fly-away in Todoroki’s hair, but he doesn’t dare break whatever atmosphere is around them. Todoroki gulps and Bakugou’s eyes trail down to a slender neck. Just as Todoroki opens his mouth, someone bumps into him and jostles him forward.

The blonde reaches out to catch him, but when he moves, his lips meet Todoroki’s. For just a split second, heat explodes through Bakugou’s body. From the bottom of his feet to the back of his head, he feels something scorch a path upwards. He’s never experienced anything quite like this.

And then it's over. Todoroki pushes his hands on Bakugou’s chest, blush high on his cheeks. He unconsciously reaches up to touch his lips when Midoriya jumps in front of them.

“Wasn’t All Might amazing?! Even though he’s retired from performing, he still wants to be in the music industry by training future artists! I’m so glad to be able to work with him despite how busy he must be, but-” Midoriya rambles on and Todoroki straightens himself to tell his friend that he’s mumbling again. The smaller boy laughs and says he’ll gather everyone up to head back to the dorms.

Todoroki and Bakugou are left standing alone as Midoriya leaves to search for their friends. For once, Bakugou is silent not by choice, but because he’s speechless. What the fuck just happened?

“That was…” Todoroki starts. “That was my first kiss.”

Bakugou feels something fill his chest, hearing that he is the first person to kiss Todoroki. But he stomps it down. Lust is one thing, but love is another entity itself. Sure, Bakugou knows that he thinks Todoroki is attractive, but his asshole tendencies curved out any deeper feelings.

Now, after spending so much time with each other, Bakugou feels himself panic at the thought of anything more than what they have. Thoughts jumble in his head and before he can say anything to Todoroki, he feels someone pull his arm.

“C’mon! Post-festival selfie!” Mina shouts. All the trainees had returned, grouping together to fit in the frame of Mina’s phone camera. Bakugou doesn't even have time to react with the shutter clicks and everyone lets out a whoop.

Bakugou is lifeless as they walk to the dorms, all the trainees saying goodbye to pass out on their beds. Bakugou and Todoroki are no different, going straight into their rooms and plopping into bed, sweaty clothes and all.

The next morning, Bakugou starts sweating while making breakfast. Now that his body is fully functioning, all the events of yesterday caught up to him.

Should he bring up the kiss? Can he weasel his way into just forgetting the whole thing? He’s not going to have feelings talk with candy cane anytime soon. Or ever.

He’s mixing pancake batter when he hears Todoroki exit his room and ambles into the bathroom. Bakugou knows he starts stress cooking when he can’t get his thoughts together. Cooking has a methodical process that relaxes him and usually helps calm his mind to figure out what to do next.

As he starts pouring the batter into the pan, Bakugou lets himself think about what happened yesterday. Even now, after a good night’s rest, Bakugou thinks that Todoroki’s smile during the festival was the happiest one he’s seen since he’s known the trainee. The blonde can feel his cheeks heat when he remembers how warm Todoroki’s lips were against his. He remembers how Todoroki’s eyes were so close that he could see the different colors of the trainee’s lashes. They looked as delicate as feathers.

Bakugou doesn’t know if the kiss will change anything. It was just an accident, there was no meaning behind it. But he remembers how he wanted to run his hands through red and white locks, wondering if they’d feel as silky as they looked. Did he... want something to change?

There are two plates stacked with fluffy pancakes when Todoroki joins him in the kitchen. Halfie thanks the other as usual and starts pouring syrup on his plate.

Bakugou clenches his fork. Candy-cane is acting as nothing happened, so he’ll just fucking do the same. He shoves a portion of his pancake in his mouth and glares down at his place as he chews.

The clicks of their utensils are the only sounds that fill the kitchen.

Todoroki stabs his fork into a strawberry before he speaks.

“The… the kiss yesterday? It was an accident, so I hope that doesn't affect our friendship.”

“We’re not fucking friends, Halfie.”

Todoroki nods his head like he’s not listening and eats the rest of his breakfast. Bakugou wants to be relieved when Todoroki ends the conversation there, but his gut curls tightly at the other’s words. Fucking whatever, if anybody knows how to ignore irritating situations, its Bakugou.

When the trainees arrive at the main U.A. building, Present Mic wraps an arm around each of the boys.

“How was the music festival? Do you feel inspired? Energized?”

Todoroki lets himself be pulled along to the studio by the instructor while he continues to ask about the festival. Bakugou barks out curses while struggling to lift the arm from his shoulders. Despite how lanky the instructor looks, his arm’s fucking heavy!

“Oh don’t be like that, Bakugou!” Present Mic nudges the trainees closer. “The instructors discussed earlier and I think you’ll like the announcement we’re making today.”

When the group enters the studio, Eraserhead and Jeanist are already inside. Present Mic releases the trainees and dramatically gestures to Eraserhead. The man sighs and clears his throat.

“Bakugou, Todoroki, the instructors and I have seen significant improvements in your training,” Eraserhead places a memory stick into Todoroki’s hand. “You’ll be learning another duo piece to prove you both meet requirements to debut.”

Both boys perk at their next chance to debut. Now that Halife actually listens to him, Bakugou believes that they’ll make an explosive combination.

“You better not hold me back again, Pretty Boy,” Bakugo sneers.

“I never had the intention to,” Todoroki deadpans.

Bringing a laptop into the studio, the trainees start reviewing the routine they’ve been assigned. The song starts with two vocals singing the chorus in a slow groove but then goes straight into a faster rap verse. When the verse finishes, the music lowers to highlight the smooth voice singing the bridge lyrics. Then the two voices sing the main chorus again, instrumental fading out as the song ends.

Bakugou and Todoroki look towards each other as they realize the same thing: this routine will be perfect for them. It blends Bakugou’s hip hop style with Todoroki’s refined vocals into a balanced pop. The blonde feels his anticipation grow. With this duo routine, his debut is within hand’s reach.

The duo spends the rest of practice learning the dance routine. It doesn’t have breakdancing like Bakugou’s previous duo piece but still incorporates enough popping and freezes to fit his style. Their new song highlights how two contrasting tones have the ability to mix into something fun. Todoroki thinks it suits them and Bakugou says the halfie’s brain can barely function.

When they’ve used up all their time in the dance studio, the trainees continue to hum their song around the dorms. Bakugou corrects Todoroki when he sings the wrong lyrics and Todoroki points out when Bakugou sings flat - which he fucking doesn’t. It's just because the damn notes aren’t in his normal range.

The blonde almost wishes he could practice without sleeping because once he lays in bed his thoughts start to roam towards the candy cane bastard whose mouth has gotten snarkier. Bakugou doesn’t know where Todoroki got his sass from, but the blonde is starting to enjoy their banter.

After a full day of rehearsing, Bakugou can only think about how satisfying it is to actually perform with halfie. He learns fast and is just as dedicated to practicing as Bakugou.

He only allows one passing thought of how Todoroki really looks better when he’s smiling before Bakugou drifts to sleep.

It’s after a couple of days that Bakugou and Todoroki hang out at Kirishima’s dorm again. The “Bakusquad” had been messaging the group chat about how lonely they’ve been without their favorite angry trainee and pretty boy.

“I can’t believe you still reject the title of Pretty Boy, Todoroki!!” Mina wails.

“Usually I’m the pretty boy, but I’ll gladly bestow the title to the next generation,” Denki says solemnly.

“You’re the same age though?”

“That’s not the point, Sero!”

Denki and Sero continue to argue about the logistics of passing names down while Mina tries to convince Todoroki of his bishounen looks.

Bakugou rubs his temples at the entire scene and Kirishima grins at him.

“Don’t you agree that Todoroki is nice to look at?”

Yes, says a small part of Bakugou’s conscience.

“Fucking NO, Shitty-Hair!” Bakugou yells instead. “Candy cane over there is as dense as a brick, so even if he is pretty, his wet rag personality negates it!”

Mina turns away from Todoroki and pouts at him.

“Don’t be a meanie! Todo is just…” Mina ponders for a bit before brightening. “Uncultured!”

Todoroki winces and Denki starts laughing.

“Mina that isn’t any better than what Bakubro said, ohmygosh-” Denki heaves and Sero has to pat his back a few times to get his teammate to breathe again. “But it goes to show, Bakugou definitely knows Todoroki best.”

Bakugou bristles as he sees the rest of the group nod.

“FUCK OFF, DEADBRAIN! We’re only training because we’re the only people for this season. It's not like we’ll be a team in the future!”

He sees Todoroki freeze at his words. As if someone turned on the air conditioning, the group feels the air tighten and everyone holds their breaths. The split-haired trainee suddenly excuses himself with furrowed brows and heads outside, going back to his dorm building.

While Todoroki knows his weakness lies in connecting with others, he thought warmly of his friends. Especially Bakugou, who had treated him like a partner during the past weeks. It hurt more than usual hearing that Bakugou had no plans to stay with him. Todoroki understands that what Bakugou said is rational, but it doesn’t stop the weight sinking on his chest.

Back at Kirishima’s dorm, four pairs of eyes glare at Bakugou.

“Dude. Not cool.” Sero says flatly.

“You guys have been together since the beginning of the beginning!” Kirishima reasons. “I mean, it was kind of rocky at first, but Todoroki really cares for you now…”

Bakugou is still dumbfounded that Todoroki just got up and left. What he said wasn’t anything new. They did idol training to debut as idols, not a team! Plus the idiots were all poking fun at the halfie before, so it couldn’t have been entirely his fault.

Before he can defend himself, Mina interrupts him.

“I know what you’re about to say and you're wrong, Bakugou. We tease Todoroki but only because we know that he doesn’t mind it!”

Bakugou closes his mouth and glares at the floor. So… if Todoroki really thought of him as a partner and wanted to debut together, Bakugou just threw that all away.

He remembers Todoroki’s upset expression and immediately leaves the dorms. He can hear the cheers from the pea brains in the distance and Bakugou scoffs. Fuck it, if there is anyone good enough to be Todoroki’s partner, it’s him and he’s just going to have to think about the consequences of his actions later.

His feet carry him all the way to the front of Todoroki’s door. Bakugou knocks before his brain can catch up.
At first, the door doesn't move, but after Bakugou’s shadow refuses to budge, one blue eye peeks out from behind the door.

The blonde gulps and throws all caution to the wind.

“I’m fucking sorry if what I said ruined the chance at debuting as a team, but I didn’t know you even wanted to be a damn duo,” Bakugou quickly breathes out. “And also I think I fucking like you because you don’t ever leave my mind with your eyes and your hair and even though your dunce face still uses hand soap-”

Todoroki completely throws his door open and covers Bakugou’s mouth with his hands. The explosive blonde sees that Todoroki is blushing all the way to his ears and smirks under pale fingers. He pokes his tongue out to lick the hands covering his mouth and Todoroki jolts back.

“The way you sing with all your soul and how your eyes follow me when I show you dance routines,” Bakugou continues. His demeanor changes entirely, getting closer to Todoroki. “You really are a pretty boy, ya’ know?”

Bakugou brings up his hand to hold the other’s cheek, feeling the heat radiating off Todoroki’s skin. The blonde grumbles when he has to look up to meet Todoroki’s eyes, but seeing dilated gray and teal makes Bakugou’s excitement rise. Leaning closer, Bakugou lets their faces become a hair’s breadth away and watches as Todoroki’s eyes dart down. Bakugou licks his lips and his grin grows wider as Todoroki mirrors the motion.

Bringing both hands to hold Todoroki’s face, Todoroki lets out a shuddering breath before closing his eyes. Bakugou has to fight every instinct saying to press his lips against Todorki’s, but he won’t pass up this opportunity.

“You better not get distracted at rehearsals because of this,” Bakugou says lowly and squeezes Todoroki’s cheeks.

The halfie’s eyes shoot open and he glares at Bakugou.

“You-”

“Me?” Bakugou interrupts innocently.

“You fucking tease!” Todoroki swears. The blonde lets go of the other’s face as he laughs. Todoroki can’t fight the smile that appears on his face when Bakugou has to cover his mouth as he howls with laughter.

As he calms down, Bakugo smiles smugly at Todoroki.

“Ready to be the best fucking duo the idol world’s ever seen, Halfie?”

Todoroki’s eyes gleam as he nods. As Bakugou turns around to head into his room, Todoroki grabs his shoulder and pecks him on the cheek.

“This one’s not an accident.”

Bakugou’s neck flames as he pushes Todoroki’s face away and closes his bedroom door. Alone in his room, Bakugou runs his hands through his hair. Why the FUCK IS HE FUCKING CUTE?

After that night, nothing extreme really changes between Bakugou and Todoroki. They still eat breakfast together in the kitchen and they still dedicate their time in the studio to practicing their duo piece.

During one of their walks to the food market, Todoroki gets distracted by a stray cat when Bakugou reaches out to intertwine their hands. Stray forgotten, Todoroki lets himself be pulled by Bakugou who looks as pleased as a cat who got their cream.

Bakugou isn’t one for flaunting his affections, but he finds out that Todoroki likes to be near him. Sitting next to each other on the couch or hanging around in Bakugou’s room before bedtime. But Bakugou is also pleasantly surprised to learn that Todoroki becomes completely silent in embarrassment when Bakugou initiates contact.

From hands in back pockets to an arm slug around his waist, Todoroki goes completely red and it keeps Bakugou endlessly entertained.

The group chat explodes at every photo caught of the two together.

However, that doesn’t stop the duo from practicing from sunrise to sunset. If anything, Bakugou pushes harder to improve himself and Todoroki feels motivated by example. They both learn techniques from each other and grow with each interaction.

After three weeks, the team finally gets to perform for their instructors. Bakugou and Todoroki silently nod as the song begins. Both taking deep breaths, they harmonize as they sing the chorus. As Todoroki steps out, Bakugou mirrors him, creating contrasting visuals until they spin together to merge into one complete dance, side by side.

As the beat drops and Bakugou begins to rap, Todoroki begins to mirror the blonde's movements but with more footwork since he isn’t singing. Todoroki breaks into a grin when he successfully pulls off the move he had the most trouble with. Bakugou feels sweat drip down his arms and moves to put an extra impact on the last syllable of his rap.

Suddenly he freezes in place. Todoroki’s solo envelops the room and time seems to stop as his voice reaches its highest pitch. Bakugou can’t help but watch as Todoroki puts all of his passion into the bridge. His heart leaps when one gray eye glances in his direction.

The beat of the music fastens as Todoroki finishes his lyrics and then the music cuts entirely. They both jump into action as the bass kicks full throttle to finish the performance. Through his adrenaline, Bakugou feels incredible. Their routine is close to perfection and a boyish grin spreads on Bakugou’s face. As he spins around the other trainee, he sees that Todoroki has a matching smile.

Torsos heaving, the boys finish their performance with each holding one arm extended towards the sky. There is silence in the dance studio, except for the huffs of trainees catching their breath.

Jeanist is the first to start clapping.

Eraserhead joins and Present Mic lets out a whoop.

“That was the best you boys have ever done!” Present Mic exclaims. The other instructors nod and both trainees feel pride swirl in their chests.

“From that performance, I believe you both are qualified to debut,” Jeanist swipes his bangs. “This last routine was exceptionally fitting…”

Eraserhead sighs.

“Bakugou, Todoroki,” Eraserhead motions. “If you’d like to debut my song… I wouldn’t mind.”

Bakugou gapes. This sleazy guy composed their song?

“But,” Todoroki starts. “If this is your song, why hasn’t it been released yet?” The song would have been a hit in no time, especially with the trend of mixing music genres.

“No one’s been the right fit to sing it,” The until now remains unsaid. Eraserhead yawns and starts walking out of the studio. “I’ll set up a higher quality version for your debut, so you both better be ready for the stage.”

Present Mic laughs and helps escort the boys out into the lobby. Bakugou is still a little shocked. He and Todoroki will be debuting Eraserhead’s song. Together.

Kirishima and his team are outside the lobby waiting for Bakugou and Todoroki. When Denki sees them walk out of the studio, he leaps at them.

“Well?! Are you debut ready? Are you finally at our level?”

Bakugou breaks out of his daze to smack Denki. “Your level? We’ve definitely passed you idiots months ago.”

His teammates laugh as Denki pouts while rubbing the back of his head.

“They technically reached requirements early in the season, so Bakugou has a point,” Sero says. Kirishima’s face lights up after realizing what Sero said.

“Now we’ll be able to be on stage together!”

The group had been scheduled to perform in the stadium after they solidified their setlist. Kirishima and his teammates will be acting as the opening performance for a Wild Wild Pussycats tour concert. But now that Bakugou and Todoroki are allowed to debut, all the trainees will be taking up the stage!

Todoroki gives a determined look to Bakugou and he receives a wolfish smile in return. Even if they only have one song, they know that their debut performance will go off with a bang.

They have only a few days until the concert. U.A. Music has promoted the tour all over the district, a few even showcasing the trainees’ appearances.

Surprisingly, they get letters from Masegaki primary school. The kids they danced with all colorfully write about their excitement to see the boys live on television.

Todoroki reads all the letters aloud to Bakugou at their dorm, gently placing them in piles to save for later. He laughs a bit and shows the blonde a letter that only has a drawing of them dancing under a disco light. Bakugou clutches his chest laughing at the bizarre amount of sparkles around the red and white stick figure. He grabs it out of Todoroki’s hands and pins it on the kitchen fridge.

As they sit on the floor of Bakugou’s room, surrounded by letters, Todoroki looks at the other trainee.

“At first I wanted to become an idol to sing for my mother,” Todoroki admits. “But after meeting everyone here… meeting you, and seeing how dedicated you are, I want to be able to sing for myself as well.”

Bakugou, flustered at the genuine praise, stands and threatens to punch the entirety of the pretty boy’s face out of existence. Todoroki only tilts his head up and closes his eyes.

Huffing, Bakugou goes to the kitchen to make dinner.

Most of their day had been polishing their dance routine and adding new movements to make their performance greater. Sero had teased them for still practicing when they knew the routine by heart, but Bakugou had scoffed. Just because he knows something doesn’t mean he’s going to slack off before they get on stage. Bakugou definitely doesn’t want halfie getting too comfortable either, this is just the beginning of their idol career.

As Todoroki sits next to the kitchen counter, Bakugou places a bowl of cold soba and dipping sauce in front of him. The split-haired trainee glows as thanks Bakugou and takes his chopsticks to start eating. Watching Todoroki gently slurp up the noodles he made, Bakugou feels something warm spread through his heart. He’s glad to have met the halfie too.

When the concert day arrives, Bakugou’s nerves are constantly tingling. He’s really going to debut on stage. He’s going to debut with Todoroki, the best singer he’s ever heard.

Stepping out of the backstage dressing room, Bakugou sees Todoroki talking to Kirishima. He takes the time to greedily take in how the clothes make his partner look. Todoroki wears the same white top with a diagonal stripe of color as Bakugou, but Todoroki has his over a thin black turtleneck. Both of them have cropped leather jackets and white lace-up shoes. Bakugou looks down at himself and sees that he is the only one with an extra accessory: a colorful bandana that hangs off his waist. Overall, it’s a minimalist outfit, but that suits Bakugou just fine. Anyone a mile away could tell that they’re together.

To the side, Denki, Mina, and Sero are all taking pre-performance selfies. Soon enough, they descend on their team leader and Todoroki to take photos together.

Mina spots Bakugou and hurriedly runs over to drag him into the photo session. He slots himself next to Todoroki and points his middle finger at the camera. After a few photos, the idiots seem satisfied and start excitedly talking about their upcoming performance.

Kirishima admits he’s still a bit nervous but Todoroki reassures him that they’ll do great. Bakugou slaps Kirishima’s back and tells him to show everyone how hard they practiced. The team leader looks like he’s about to cry before he sniffs and goes into a fighting stance.

“Unbreakable, let’s do this!” he yells. His teammates echo the call and run onto the stage when their group is announced. They primarily do dance routines with few vocals, but their energy is undeniable. The crowd cheers grow louder each time one of them performs a stunt.

Bakugou especially hollers when Mina holds a handstand as Denki slides under her.

After their performance, they go back to where Bakugou and Todoroki stand. They each have big grins and adrenaline still rushing through their bodies.

As Bakugou and Todoroki’s names get announced, the trainees raise their hands for a messy, but heartfelt group high five.

Stepping onto the stage, the lights are dark. Only the small walkway lights let them know where to go. They had a dress rehearsal yesterday, but nothing can prepare the boys for the large crowd filling the stadium, lightsticks of different colors scattered in the sea of bodies.

Getting into formation, Bakugou knocks his fist into Todoroki’s shoulder. He can see Todoroki’s form relax and prepares for their first debut performance.

Their voices echo through the loudspeakers of the stage and the lights flash on. The cheers of the audience fuel them to give even more energy they’ve ever performed. The two dance like perfect mirrors of each other until the beat drops for Bakugou’s rap.

The screams are deafening. Bakugou thinks he hears Kirishima’s wolf whistle behind him.

He can’t hold back his grin as he leans back and pops his chest to the rhythm. Todoroki moves with a sensuality that has the crowd cheering higher and Bakugou thanks all his stars for giving him the boy dancing with him.

As he punches the air to the last beat of his rap, he drops to kneel on the floor. A spotlight appears on Todoroki and Bakugou can see him close his eyes as he sings.

Bakugou jolts when he hears Todoroki sing different lyrics. Words about passion, dreams, friendship, and love. When Todoroki holds his last note, the crowd surges and the music picks up matching the thrumming energy of Bakugou’s heart.

When the music cuts, the light still. But as soon as the bass comes back, the lights go wild, moving around sporadically. Both idols sing with all their might, expressions of pure delight as they spin and move together.

They strike their last pose back to back and the crowd erupts into screams and applause.

Kirishima and the other members of Unbreakable jump the two boys when they return to the backstage area.

“We did it!” “First debut, in the bag!” “I can’t believe it-” “Well you SHOULD!”

The pile of idols laugh until tears form in the corners of their eyes. They’ve taken the first step toward their dreams.

Bakugou turns to Todoroki, who can’t stop smiling at his friends.

“Don’t think you’ve gotten out of what you did on stage!” Bakugou reaches out and Todoroki braces himself.

Instead of a hit, Todoroki feels arms wrap around his neck and a body pressed flushed to his. His eyes pop open as Bakugou presses plush lips to his. Electricity zips through Todoroki’s spine and completely whites his vision.

When Bakugou pulls back, Todoroki thinks it’s almost too soon and follows.

“Nope! That’s all you’re getting, Pretty boy.”

Todoroki opens his eyes and actually pouts at him.

Even though Bakugou can hear Mina squealing in the background and the clicking of phone cameras, he can only look at Todoroki. The disaster of heteroromantic DNA and an idiot who doesn’t know how to use conditioner, Todoroki.

Todoroki, his partner to reach the top of the idol world.