Chapter Text
Bakugo Katsuki was scared of one of his best friends.
Not, like, all the time or whatever.
There was a reason he was Katsuki’s best friend .
Izuku Midoriya had stuck by him through thick and thin. It was admirable, and in Katsuki’s opinion, completely undeserved. Seriously. This shitty nerd had been bullied by him for a decade, and just… stayed by his side.
But there was a reason Bakugo Katsuki was afraid of the (normally) timid, green-haired boy.
As his mother used to tell him, when Midoriyas (Inryokus, really, Hisashi had up and left years ago) got mad, they got mad. Inko, the “weak-quirked” woman, had levelled a house after it was found out it had been used as a “trading grounds'' for children.
“She destroyed the foundations before any heroes even got near. Had the villains face down on the concrete. Windows shattered, building toppling like a house of cards.
“The story went like this: Inko had seen multiple adults dragging children through the side alleys by the building. She noticed it, called the police. The police dismissed her. She kept calling until they sent someone, but nothing happened. Trafficking ring still open, children still being dragged down alleyways, no one coming in or out besides through the back doors.”
Inko heard screams while passing said building with Mitsuki a few days later.
“She snapped; you could see the rage on her face. Seconds later, the doors were pulled off their hinges, and men, women and bruised children were flying out by their clothing. Windows were shattering and concrete was cracking. Listen, brat, if you see Izuku gettin’ angry, you do your best to calm him down.”
“But what if I can’t?”
“Then you get civilians outta the way, clear the area, and pray there isn’t too much property damage. They don’t have an off switch. There isn’t one. They are the off switches, and trust me, you don’t want to see that switch flip to ‘on’. Think of it like this: Izuku, as you know him, is sad. Then he is irritated. He might lash out. Then he gets angry, but not all the way. You’re at 25% anger; this is when he may tell you he will kill you and your whole family. When you get to 45%, you and passerby are in danger. He’s in planning mode, close to snapping. Inko, back when she had terrible cases in court, used to call me and calmly rant for hours, making 12 step plans to kill abusers and rapists alike. The scary part is that she was completely calm and in control.
“Brat, when you get to 60% anger, this is your last chance at calming an Inryoku down. It’s now or you assert dominance mid-fight, which is NOT RECOMMENDED.”
“What then?”
“They shoot right up to 500% anger. There’s no stopping them. Inko destroyed peoples’ lives methodically. It scared her husband so much he fucked off to America, pussy-faced-bastard.”
She had recommended getting civilians out of the way, like Izuku and Inko weren’t. Which was technically true, now that Izuku had his licence.
Still, Bakugo had only seen Izuku at “500%” once. He had heard of it since then, but he doubted those were truly the extent of his anger.
Right up until Todoroki Shouto came back from a visit to his father.
With a couple new bruises, a split lip, a gash across his face, and a burn across his right hand and arm.
When he walked into the 2-A common room, silence descended. A humming penetrated the silence, and when everyone looked to the source, a calm-faced Izuku Midoriya sat with a book on his lap, crackling with green energy. “Shouto.”
“Izuku, please, please can we solve this peacefully!” Surprisingly, it was Katsuki who broke the silence, eyes wide, and - strangely panicked?
“Bakugo Katsuki.” That sent a shiver through the class, Izuku’s eyes and voice were colder than Todoroki’s ice. And he used Bakugo’s whole name! Something was wrong.
“At least let me come with you? I could arrange some sort of alibi-"
“Katsuki. You're kind to provide backup. But I doubt I'll need it.”
“No, no, no! The old hag said so, this can’t happen.”
“Excuse me, everyone.”
“No, nononono! Oh, god, oh fuck. I’m going to die.” Everyone watched as Midoriya left the room, green still crackling around him and the book forgotten on the couch. Steps deceptively light, the floor creaked all the way out of the door.
Kirishima was the first to comment, breaking the silence. “Surely, it can’t be that bad?”
Tsuyu answered him in place of Bakugo. “It can. It can be that bad. It really, really can.”
All eyes turned to her. “You remember when Deku was in the hospital for a while after his work study with Sir?”
Yeah, they remembered. “Deku wasn’t injured.”
What?
“He was there to provide comfort and shit to Eri,” Bakugo added. “He’s attached to the little shit.”
“So… he wasn’t dying again?”
“Nope. He was just fine. And that was after he absolutely destroyed Overhaul at 100%. Overhaul had the powers of five men to draw from, and Izuku saved Eri and beat Overhaul at the same time.” Tsuyu’s eyes were haunted with tinges of awe and fear.
“You mean… he’s not normally at 100%?”
“At first, he couldn’t be. Now? He can’t be. It would probably destroy UA. But he can if he wants to.”
Bakugo cut in suddenly, stating “Deku - Izuku - is an Inryoku. His mother’s family have tempers like underwater volcanoes. They’re buried deep, and hard to rouse, but almost anything can set them off once their anger is great. His mother Inko, my Auntie, was my mother’s best friend and I can’t even remember the last time her anger was at full capacity. Frog-face probably saw him at 200 or 300% anger, he loves little kids. He didn’t know Eri at that point, but if something were to happen to her now, we’d all feel the repercussions. Izuku is very, very hard to anger. He’s never been truly angry at me, and that used to piss me off, because he seemed like he knew something I didn’t. But there’s a reason their anger is so hard to get to.” And he said no more.
“What’s he going to do now, then?”
“Well. He seems to have jumped straight to 60% anger and is now planning to ruin Endeavor’s bitchbaby life. Then he’ll probably humiliate him on live TV. Or maybe he’ll destroy his home and pride. Either way, Icy-Hot, you may want to call your siblings and tell them to take a vacation.”
“You’re not worried about Deku?”
Bakugo snorted. “Would you be worried about the kid that has information on everyone he meets and ways to neutralize them? The kid whose power could destroy cities? All Might’s successor? The kid whose brawns have brains to match? ”
The common room was silent.
“Yeah, didn’t think so. I’m going to let the teachers know and warn them about stopping him.”
“Let the teachers know…?”
“You’ll see.”