Work Text:
“Holy shit,” Bakugou says, skidding along the ground with the amount of force he recoiled with.
This wasn’t supposed to happen. See—this is why the class can never do anything together. It always ends in disaster, regardless of where they go, and how prepared they are for it. Trouble seems to follow them unconditionally.
And it seems that Shinsou has joined in on the danger as well. As hard as he worked to join the hero course, this is a heavy price to pay. He could’ve entered Class 1-B, and he’d be far safer there than here, because Class 1-A seems to be a magnet for chaos.
But that isn’t the case, and the reality is that the two of them are running along the sidewalk, trying to get away from this one person who’s relentlessly chasing them.
The man seemed suspicious at first, but it wasn’t until he started following them around for a good few minutes as they were doing their ‘practice patrol’ or whatever, that they really started to take notice.
He’s after either Shinsou or Bakugou, or perhaps both, and neither of them would ever know. They’re being targeted, and they’re not about to split up. Not now.
The round a corner, sprinting past the crowds of people walking by. If they don’t manage to get out of the man’s sight, then they’ll have to fight him face on, which is a dangerous option, considering the amount of civilians in the vicinity. It’s a choice they’ll have to avoid at all costs, and leave for last resort. That’s one of the first rules they were taught, as UA students.
Engaging in battle should never be their first instinct.
Bakugou could go a lot faster if he could use his explosions, but that would make him easy to spot, and it would also be prohibited, considering the fact that they’re in an open public space.
“Run faster, dumbass!” he yells, looking over his shoulder to make sure that Shinsou’s following along. He’s close behind, but not quite as quick as Bakugou is. “We need to lose him.”
Shinsou scowls back at the blond, trying his best to pick up the pace. “I’m trying.”
Bakugou huffs. He squints past Shinsou’s shoulder, but can’t see anyone other than passers-by all around them.
It doesn’t mean that they’ve gotten away yet, though, so they continue to dash. Better to be safe than sorry.
They’ve completely abandoned the rest of their classmates, at this point, as well as their teacher. Perhaps they should’ve reported it to someone else, but that was a little difficult to do at the time.
“We’re going down there,” Bakugou says, gesturing hastily at a side alley. They need to stop bumping into random people.
He sprints down the alleyway as soon as he reaches the turn, glancing behind him.
He pauses for a few seconds, attempting to catch his breath.
Shinsou comes by a moment later. Running to stand by the other teen.
“Do you think we lost him?” he asks, squinting at a few others who pass by, sparing them some weird looks.
“I don’t know,” Bakugou answers, before pulling his phone out of his pocket. “We’re going to tell Aizawa-sensei before things can escalate any further. We might not have the time to do so later, and he’ll be pretty pissed off at us after this whole shitshow is over if he finds out that we got into trouble and dealt with it ourselves.”
Shinsou nods briskly in acknowledgement and Bakugou taps on his phone screen a few times before successfully sending a call to their teacher. He presses the device to his ear, not taking his eyes off the direction where they came from, keeping watch of the man. Shinsou does the same.
Aizawa picks up after two rings, and Bakugou doesn’t hesitate before relaying all the information he has for the man as tersely as possible.
“I’m here with Zombie Eyes, and we’re being stalked by some weird fucker. We don’t know where he is right now, but I’ll send my location through text, so get your ass over here.”
Normally, he’d try to regulate the amount of expletives he puts into his sentences when he’s speaking to one of his teachers, but frankly, he can’t find it in him at the moment to care about a matter as frivolous as etiquette.
He hears Aizawa sigh deeply on the other end of the line.
“Problem child…” he says, and there’s some shuffling as he adjusts the phone. “I’ll be there; just give me a few minutes.”
“Yeah, sure, thanks—” Bakugou replies quickly, before ending the call and opening up his messages in order to let Aizawa know where he is through the GPS option.
He stops being vigilant for one second as he glances over at his screen, and that’s all the time it takes for him to hear Shinsou mutter a quick “shit” under his breath.
Bakugou snaps his gaze over to what Shinsou’s looking at, and it’s no other than the man that just can’t seem to leave them the fuck alone.
“Fucking run,” Bakugou says, tapping the send button on this phone before shoving it back into his pocket and using both his arms to shove the other teen forward, prompting him to stop wasting time and start moving.
“—Ow!” Shinsou exclaims, but picks up the pace nonetheless.
They’re about to reach the other end of the alley and exit when a shuriken comes darting past them, missing the side of Bakugou’s arm by a few centimeters.
It’s enough to startle both of them. Shinsou looks back at the man, who tosses yet another one.
It lodges on the wall as he ducks to avoid it.
“Fuck—”
Bakugou reaches out, directing an explosion straight at the man’s face.
A dagger flies by his ear in retaliation.
“What the hell—”
“Hey, you piece of shit!” Shinsou yells. “Your aim is pretty crappy, if I’m being honest. My cat is better at fighting than you are!”
Bakugou almost laughs, his thought process veering off track, but he catches himself.
He snaps his mind back onto the matter at hand. He knows what Shinsou’s trying to do; it’s the same tactic he uses on basically anybody who’s unaware of what his quirk is. Shouting a couple of insults at the enemy is usually an effective way of getting a response.
Except there’s no response to be received this time; the man doesn’t waste his time on that. The residual smoke clears a bit, and Bakugou doesn’t hesitate before using both his palms to create more explosions.
Their opponent dodges it, and before Bakugou knows it, he feels a…
He doesn’t know. There’s a feather-light graze that passes by his face in a split second. Brief skin-on-skin contact. What the fuck was that?
He can’t see well through the ashy smoke and their hazy surroundings, but Shinsou grunts nearby, and he’s slammed into the wall by the enemy—
Bakugou dashes forward, grabbing the bastard by the back of his jacket.
“Go!” he shouts to Shinsou, before kicking the man down to the ground, and then taking off as well.
He shoves past a few civilians in his haste to get away, keeping Shinsou in his sights as he follows the trail. He catches up with a few speedy strides, and they run alongside each other.
“Don’t look back, just keep—” Bakugou begins—
—And then, from behind, a very familiar capture scarf is slung over both of their bodies, and they trip from the sudden stop.
Bakugou falls on top of Shinsou. The indigo-haired teen yelps, and Bakugou curses, clambering off his back.
He glares at their sensei, who looks them over, scrutinizing their appearances.
Shinsou coughs into his sleeve, ash coating his face.
They’re both a little filthy, but unharmed for the most part.
Aizawa unravels the capture weapon from the teens.
“Who is it?” he asks, looking over his shoulder, narrowing his eyes at the mass of people.
They’re all being stared at by civilians; so Bakugou quickly gets off the ground, extending an arm to help Shinsou up.
He squints at the crowd, trying to spot—
“That fucker.” He points at a certain figure in the distance.
Aizawa’s gaze locks on said person, and he ushers the boys in the other direction.
“Okay; I’m going to handle him, you two go back to where you were before. Go meet with your classmates and find Present Mic or Midnight—they’ll know what to do. I’ll be with you afterwards.”
Bakugou and Shinsou both nod sternly, and they sprint the other way, leaving it to Aizawa.
“Bakubro!” Kirishima greets as the two of them make it to a group of their classmates.
“Shitty hair, Dunce face, Ponytail, Four-eyes…” Bakugou grumbles, taking a mental tally of the people in this team. “Where’s the staff?”
“Oh! The supervisors. Midnight-sensei’s just around the block,” Iida informs him, before frowning at his appearance. “Did something happen to you and Shinsou-kun?”
“It’s none of your business,” Bakugou says, ignoring them, striding in the path Iida gestured to.
Shinsou hurriedly trails along, weaving his way past the civilians until they find Midnight.
She doesn’t look too surprised to see them, although she does seem concerned. Aizawa must’ve told her about the phone call before he left.
“Hey, are you two alright?” she asks, “Did you—”
“We’re fucking fine,” Bakugou interrupts, not in the mood for being coddled.
“Yeah, we’re good,” Shinsou says, wiping his palms against his pants—
There are distinct crackling sounds, and he looks down, sparks coming along the side of the fabric.
“What. The. Fuck,” Bakugou comments, as Midnight’s eyes widen.
“So we’ve fucking switched quirks,” Bakugou says, pacing around the UA infirmary. Neither of them wanted a medical examination, but it’s protocol, even if it isn’t necessary.
Shinsou sits on the edge of one of the beds, staring at his palms, still letting the information sink in.
“So this is how your quirk works?” he asks, completely ignoring the mini-crisis the blond is experiencing right now. “You create explosions with your sweat?”
Bakugou facepalms.
“Well, no shit. What did you think? I just created explosions out of thin air? My sweat consists of nitroglycerin, and I have to detonate that.”
“Hmm,” Shinsou says, contemplating. “So if you’re underwater, or if you’re in a cold area—”
“Then my quirk is practically useless,” Bakugou interrupts, finishing the sentence. “It’s pretty fucking annoying, actually, I have to wear a jacket during the wintertime, which warms me efficiently, but limits my mobility in some ways. I guess I can’t have both.”
“That’s still really awesome,” Shinsou responds.
Bakugou scoffs. “Yeah, it is. Now, onto your quirk. It just requires someone to speak, and nothing else?”
Shinsou presses his lips into a thin line. His expression is unreadable. “Yeah.”
“That should be simple, then.”
“It’s easy. It’s just something that relies on other people to be used.”
Bakugou considers this. “It’s powerful. I think you have a nice quirk.”
“It’s not all that great unless you want to make enemies,” Shinsou responds. “It’s not like I can practice easily on a daily basis. I only use it when it’s necessary, and even then, it terrifies others, what I’m able to do.”
“So that’s why you were acting all emo when you first joined the class, huh?” Bakugou asks, rolling his eyes.
“What—I was not!” Shinsou counters, taken aback, and the blond laughs.
“Sure; say whatever you’d like. But at the end of the day, it’s the truth—you were real reluctant to make friends with anybody when you were finally able to transfer.”
Shinsou sighs, but doesn’t say anything else.
The two of them stay there in silence for a bit, until Bakugou speaks up again, his voice quieter and his tone softer, this time.
“You know, you didn’t really need to be so reserved, right? I don’t know what you’ve been through, and I’m not going to judge, but you’re finally in the hero course now, and nobody was going to give you shit for it. It takes a lot of hard work and actual skill to get on this level, and we all understand that. You’re one of us now, regardless of what anybody else thinks about it.”
Shinsou presses his lips into a thin line. “I know. I just—I wasn’t really used to it, I guess. You were all really nice to me, and my whole life, people only did that when they wanted someone out of me. Or rather, they wanted to get on my good side, so I wouldn’t ever do anything terrible to them.”
Bakugou looks down at the floor. “Sure does sound like some assholes. But… your quirk isn’t bad. It’s really fucking cool, if I’m being completely honest here. It’s useful, as well as powerful.”
Shinsou huffs, smiling a bit. He’s not used to validation. His classmates haven’t given him anything but encouragement, and yet, it still feels like foreign territory. He thinks that warming up to compliments might not be that bad after all, though.
“Yeah. I mean, I guess so. I’m just not that accustomed to having people think it’s nice. Brainwashing others isn’t exactly the most admirable thing, even if it can be used for the right purposes. It’s an undesirable quirk in some ways, and sometimes, I just wonder how my life would’ve been different, had I grown up with something more conventionally ‘heroic’.”
“Like what you have right now?” Bakugou asks, abruptly.
Shinsou glances up at him in surprise, and then down at his own hands again. He has a point.
“I—” Shinsou begins, before cutting off, speechless. He has Bakugou’s quirk now, and Bakugou has his.
It’s not something that he ever could’ve imagined happening. Not even in his wildest dreams—he hadn’t even known that someone out there in the world had a quirk-swapping ability; there’s no way he could’ve ever predicted this.
And yet, here they are, sitting in this room, with the weight of the full reality still sinking in. They don’t know how long this effect is going to last. Not until Aizawa gets back to them with the information on the villain. All they know right now is that they’re going to have to adjust and adapt to what they’re provided with, and hope for the best.
Shinsou has Bakugou’s quirk, and Bakugou has his.
He keeps repeating it in his head like a mantra. It’s really happening.
This is going to be a disaster and a half.
“So, all you two need to know is that the man is in custody, and you’re both going to be fine,” Aizawa says, staring up at the teenagers seated before him on the other side of his desk.
They’re all in his office right now; precautionary measures taken to ensure the confidentiality of their conversation, considering that their classmates would have no issue with snooping in on the information if they were given the opportunity to do so.
“From the research done on his quirk, you’re going to be stuck with each others’ quirks for the rest of the week. It’s going to be a little complicated, and I understand that, so, until the weekend, heroics lessons for you two are going to be separate from your peers.”
Bakugou scoffs. “You think I can’t handle doing the normal work like those extras? It’s not going to be that hard.”
Aizawa sighs tiredly. “It’s not a matter of what you think you can or can’t do. You’ve never used Brainwashing before, and it’s something you’re going to have to test out first. We rather you don’t do that in training until you’ve got the hang of it first, because otherwise, how well you perform is going to count toward your grades. Speaking of that—you two are exempt from scores until next week, if the activity deals with using your quirks. You’ll still have to do the usual classwork and hand-to-hand sparring, however.”
Bakugou shrugs. “Yeah, okay, sure. Sounds boring, but it’ll only be temporary, either way.”
“A week of dealing with you problem children,” Aizawa mumbles. Shinsou chuckles softly.
“So, how are we going to do this?” Shinsou asks, steadying his stance. Bakugou stands behind him guiding one of Shinsou’s arms out and in front of him.
“Aim at that building,” Bakugou instructs. They’re in Ground Beta; it’s one of the few places where they don’t have to worry about going all out and causing damage, because this area is designed specifically to allow that. “You’re going to need to make sure you hold still and stand your ground, because the recoil’s going to be a harsh.”
Shinsou bites his lip. He knows, logically, that as much force as the explosion releases, Bakugou has to deal with the same amount thrown back at him. But it’s something that he constantly forgets, watching the teen use his quirk so fluidly, as if it’s second nature.
“You always make it seem easy,” he tells Bakugou.
“Yeah, well, I can’t act like a pathetic wimp in front of everyone if I want to prove my strength,” Bakugou replies, smirking. “Okay. Focus on the task at hand. Just aim, and concentrate on regulating the blast. It’s easy to go overboard, so be careful.”
“Okay…” Shinsou says, keeping his eyes on the concrete wall. He uses his other hand to brace his right arm, and then…
The feeling of releasing the power is not that different from using his own quirk. But Brainwashing doesn’t require him to control how much he’s giving out, as long as he does it. There’s only one level he can reach, not an entire scale. Bakugou’s explosions, however, are a whole multitude…
There’s the resounding boom as the space in front of him lights up in various hues of orange and yellow, the brightness forcing him to shut his eyes. The air heats up immediately, and he coughs, the ash wafting over in his direction. He turns his face the other way.
“What the hell…” he mumbles, as Bakugou comes over to him.
“Hm. Not bad for your first try,” he remarks. “The actual explosion itself will always be a little jarring, but you’ve got your stance good. Is your shoulder alright?”
“I think so,” Shinsou responds, moving his arm around a bit. “Yeah.”
“Then you’re off to the right start. Now let’s practice some more.”
“Oh no…” Shinsou laments, as Bakugou guides him to a different spot along the wall.
“I can’t believe I’m sitting at the same table as you,” Shinsou grumbles as Bakugou drags him by the sleeve over to one of the few empty spots in the corner of the cafeteria, far away from where the majority of their classmates are. “Everyone’s going to make a big deal of me befriending the resident angry pomeranian.”
“We’re not friends,” Bakugou states for clarification. “We’re simply sticking together in order to keep track of each other’s quirks until the week ends. Besides, it’s much more peaceful when you don’t have everyone else crowding around you for information about our situation.”
Shinsou huffs. “I don’t need help—”
“Shinsou-kun! Kacchan!” a voice calls out, and shortly thereafter, Midoriya comes striding past the crowds of students, a bright smile on his face. He slaps his notebook down on the table where the two of them are sitting. “Tell me about your quirks! Or, well—I already know about them, but how does it feel to start fresh, without practice? Is it difficult to use? Have you encountered any issues, so far?”
“Deku, stop with your rambling; we’re not interested,” Bakugou says, exasperated.
“But Kacch—” he begins, before Bakugou interrupts him.
“Go back to your friends, and leave us be,” Bakugou commands, Brainwashing activated.
Shinsou raises his eyebrows at the blond, before turning to watch as the green-haired teen complies without protest, turning on his heel and and walking in the other direction. Bakugou doesn’t release the quirk until Midoriya’s a good distance away.
Well, that’s one interesting way to solve a problem.
Bakugou shakes his head in disapproval. “Tch. There’s nothing that’ll physically stop him from coming back, so let’s hope that I deterred him enough,” he tells Shinsou afterward, squinting against the fluorescent lights above them. “Shit—now my head hurts.”
Damn. Shinsou knows how annoying it is to use his quirk, but he’s mostly accustomed to the constant headaches by now. Bakugou isn’t, though, and the new experience must be harsh on him.
Shinsou hastily offers a few tips, although there’s not much he can do to help. In the end, Bakugou’s just going to have to take it in stride. Shinsou has tried many things before, but to no avail. “Yeah, uh; you’re going to need to grab some ice or something. Painkillers don’t really help that much, since the pain is quirk-related. Just rest a bit and try not to cry.”
Bakugou glares at him for the last line. “I’m not a five-year-old, thanks. I’ll go and bother Half n’ Half for some ice later, maybe.” He winces a bit. “Okay, yeah, this is starting to get really fucking annoying. You deal with this every single time you brainwash someone?”
Shinsou shrugs. “It can be more or less severe, depending on how long I sustain my quirk usage, but yeah. It’s a side effect.”
Bakugou grumbles. “Well, now I know why you sleep so much in class. This feels like shit.”
Shinsou’s trying to keep still. He really is.
But he keeps tapping his fingers against his desk and fidgeting with his pencil without even realizing it, and only stops when he finally notices what he’s doing.
He’s not like this, typically. This is quite the opposite of him, actually. He doesn’t know what’s going on with him, but he feels way more awake and alert, able to focus on the lesson Aizawa’s teaching, which is not how this is supposed to go.
He’s so riled up, and the class hasn’t even done any physical activity for the day yet.
He feels too riled up, as a matter of fact. Everything’s weird.
He doesn’t know how he does it, but he manages to wait until the end of the class period before heading up to Bakugou’s desk and bugging him for answers, as the rest of their classmates are preparing to leave.
“What do you need?” Bakugou asks, when Shinsou taps on his shoulder, his voice softer than usual. He seems calm. What the hell? He’s literally never calm.
Or at least he wasn’t, not before…...
… Well, shit.
“Is this part of your quirk?” Shinsou asks, vaguely gesturing at himself. He probably seems like an idiot, because Bakugou gives him a confused look.
“I mean, this whole… I don’t know, I feel all energized,” Shinsou says, in an attempt to clarify his words.
“Ah, that,” Bakugou says knowingly, his eyes lighting up in recognition. He smirks a little. “It’s a full package—the nitroglycerin decreases your heart rate, and in turn, you produce adrenaline to counter that drop. Good luck getting rid of the excess energy.”
And with that, he grabs his backpack and stands up to exit the room, abandoning Shinsou.
The indigo-haired teen facepalms. Well, this is going to be fun, trying to figure out how to cope with this in a way other than constantly yelling insults at his peers and exploding random things.
“This fucking sucks,” Bakugou says, matter-of-factly, as he’s hanging upside down from the tree, caught up in Shinsou’s capture weapon. He’s borrowing it for the time being, since it’ll help him climb things, now that he doesn’t have his explosions to assist him anymore. “I have no idea how you do it.”
“Pfft.” Shinsou stares up at where the other boy is tangled. “You’ll be fine. It took me a lot of practice and guidance from Aizawa-sensei in order to learn what I know today.”
“You picked up on the skill pretty quickly,” Aizawa tells Shinsou, stepping forward from the tree he had been leaning against the whole time, observing the two of them as they were training. “I don’t expect you to learn this in a single day, Bakugou. This is just for you to test out the capture scarf in case you wanted to experience using it.”
“Yeah, well, I’ve decided that I hate it,” Bakugou responds, as Aizawa sighs and uses his own scarf to get up to the branch he’s on. He begins to untie the knot.
The fabric comes loose and Bakugou is sent crashing down to the forest ground. He curses, barely catching himself on time.
Shinsou laughs at him, and Bakugou scowls in retaliation, before softening his demeanor.
“You know… that’s actually pretty impressive,” he mumbles. “It must’ve taken a good amount of work to be half-decent at this.”
“Is that a compliment?” Shinsou teases. He can’t help but feel heartwarmed at the words.
“No it’s not,” Bakugou counters, immediately defensive. “You never heard anything from me.”
“Aww, that’s so sweet,” Shinsou continues, completely ignoring Bakugou’s dismissiveness. “I’m touched, thank you, Bakugou.”
Bakugou huffs and rolls his eyes, but Shinsou can tell that there’s a hint of amusement in his eyes.
Shinsou manges to flip Bakugou onto his back in a split second, causing the blond to yelp and tumble onto the ground.
It took forever for him to finally win a round of sparring, but he’s done it, at last.
“I know that move,” Bakugou says, contemplative. “You learned that from Deku, didn’t you?”
“Yeah,” Shinsou admits. “I’ve been trying to recreate it ever since he first used it on me during our match at the sports festival.”
“Hm. Interesting. Thought I recognized that move,” Bakugou says. “I can teach you some more things, if you’d like.”
“Generous,” Shinsou comments.
“You’re just lucky I have nothing better to do right now, since we’re not allowed to participate in heroics with the other extras,” Bakugou scoffs. “Alright, yeah, let’s get onto the new moves.”
“Nice work,” Aizawa says, four days later, after Bakugou and Shinsou get out of training once again. “Catch.”
He tosses two jelly packets in their general direction. It leans toward Shinsou’s side, so he catches both and hands one to Bakugou.
“Disgusting. This is grape flavored,” the blond says, grimacing at the one he got. “Switch with me.” He doesn’t wait for an answer before snatching Shinsou’s packet out of his hands and shoving the grape one toward him.
“Ha,” Shinsou remarks. “That one’s carrot flavored.”
Bakugou narrows his eyes at Aizawa. “You have terrible taste.”
Aizawa shrugs. “Gotta be nutritious.”
“You call this nutritious?” Bakugou asks. “It’s pure sugar. Which, by the way, Zombie Eyes over here doesn’t need any more of, else he’ll never be able to fall asleep.”
“This is the best I can do,” Aizawa tells him. “I’m broke. If you want different food, go buy it yourself. Anyway. I think you two cooperate well. I might place you guys together for activities in the future, once everything’s back to normal.”
“We do not work well together,” Bakugou argues.
“He refuses to work with anyone at all,” Shinsou adds.
“I didn’t say you get along together, just that you work efficiently,” Aizawa tells them. “Although, the friendship will come with time.”
“No, it will not,” Bakugou replies, adamant.
“We’ll see about that,” Aizawa says knowingly.
“Put the noodles in the pot,” Bakugou instructs, as Shinsou grudgingly complies. “I’m going to teach you how to cook for once.”
“Mhm,” Shinsou says, absentmindedly, lifting the cover. They’ve only got two days left until their original quirks will inevitably be returned to them. “Do you think this whole thing was a good learning experience?” he asks.
It’s a non sequitur, but Bakugou understands what he means. “Yeah. It was pretty cool.”
“I think, as much as your quirk is impressive, it’s also got some downsides,” Shinsou comments. “I guess I always just had this mental image of all ‘heroic’ quirks being flawless, even though the reality is far from it.”
“Yeah, I mean, it’s like that for all quirks, pretty much,” Bakugou tells him. “Don’t focus too much on what people make things out to be, because unless they’ve lived the reality of it, it’s all assumptions and judgment.”
Shinsou hums thoughtfully. “It was nice to gain some insight on this matter.”
“Same for me,” Bakugou says. “And I still think Brainwashing is pretty badass.”
Shinsou laughs. “Thanks.”
The corners of Bakugou’s lips twitch upward slightly. “Yeah, don’t mention it.”