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Midoriya had gone most of his life enduring Bakugo's shit.
This wasn't to say that he was completely used to it, no, he never truly got used to Bakugo hating his very guts and making it very clear. But enduring an explosive boy with a matching quirk (and the quirks of his other classmates), bullying, and just generally unrelenting hatred for years and years from hundreds of people does make you a bit less bothered by it.
And so, on a random Monday morning in the Class 1-A classroom, ten minutes before the bell was supposed to ring, most of the students in 1-A were sitting in their desks. Midoriya himself is leaned back in his chair, chewing on a pencil's eraser while looking out of the window next to him. Bakugo is yelling at him for something, he's not quite sure what the problem is this time, but that's just because Midoriya is tuning out his yelling and swearing. And, to no one's surprise, Bakugo is even more pissed that Midoriya isn't listening to him yell at him for whatever the heck the original problem was..
"Oi! Shitty Deku! Fucking listen to me while I'm fucking talking to you!" Midoriya's desk abruptly jolts, because Bakugo slammed his fists down on it. Midoriya takes the pencil out of his mouth, wipes his spit off of the eraser - gross, now he'll have to wait for it to dry completely before he can use it - and turns to look at Bakugo.
"Sorry Kacchan, I'm, I'm looking at you now." Although he had gotten better with not being scared shitless every time Bakugo so much as looked at him, he couldn't stop the slight stutter in that moment. Midoriya sets his elbows on his desk table, mere centimeters from Bakugo's hands, still on his desk, and rests his chin on his hands, like a table for his head. "Your royal highness," he mutters to himself, feeling a bit victorious at talking back despite not expecting Bakugo to hear him. Or anyone else to hear for that matter. This was meant to be his victory, fighting back against Bakugo. But alas, the universe always seemed to have other plans. Of course.
Bakugo's face contorts more with anger, his eyes looking like they're literally going to pop out of his sockets and onto the desk in front of him, and he points a finger in Midoriya's face. Apparently he heard Midoriya. Great!
"What the fuck is that supposed to mean? Oh, I get it, you think you're so much fucking better than me? Stop fucking acting like you're better than me, shithead, because you're sure as hell not! I'll fucking kill you!" The bittersweet smell of caramel fills the air around Midoriya, since Bakugo was unintentionally (or maybe it was intentionally? There's no real way to know when Bakugo is this pissed off) setting off multiple explosions from his palms. Bakugo seemed like he was a second away from exploding Midoriya's face in. So, really, not too much was different on this Monday morning.
Midoriya seemed to have taken too long to reply to Bakugo for his liking, which just ended up pissed him off even more. Somehow. What was Bakugo even mad about today? Midoriya still didn't know why, but that wasn't his main concern. "Bakugo-," Midoriya started, before immediately getting cut off by Bakugo.
Well, technically, Bakugo didn't say anything. He just let out a scream of anger, explosions popping from his hands more viciously than before. Some of their classmates covered their ears.
Something inside of Midoriya snapped. He had been taking shit from Bakugo for what, 10 years? 11? Too many goddamn years he spent hiding, afraid, compliant to Bakugo and his explosions that only brought burns and pains he had to explain away with weak excuses to his worried mother. And for what reason? Because Bakugo had an inferiority and superior complex at the same fucking time and couldn't think about how his actions affected others for two damn seconds? That he had a powerful quirk and Midoriya was quirkless? He was sick and tired of being Bakugo's punching bag. There's really only so much someone can take until they themselves explode.
The realization that Bakugo had abused him for over a decade didn't fully hit him until later that night, when he was laying in bed, crickets chirping with moonlight washing over his floor, thinking about the morning and Bakugo's anger and his own explosion. He didn't even believe himself, he told himself there was no way he was actually abused, that he was just faking it for attention. Then again, how do you fake all of the burn scars littered across your body? How do you fake abuse for attention when you're alone in your room at 2:41am?
Midoriya stood up, staring straight into Bakugo's angry eyes. He took a quick second to steel his nerves, very aware the rest of the class was looking at him and Bakugo. A few still had their ears covered, which, yeah, that's understandable. Bakugo was loud. "What the fuck did I ever even do to you?" Midoriya asked. "What could I possibly have ever done as a four year old to piss you off this fucking much?"
Bakugo looked shocked, which, to be fair, Midoriya had never talked back to Bakugo, especially not like this. He had just taken it, every single goddamn time, like a good little punching bag.
His volume began to rise with each word, with desperation in his voice that you couldn't quite miss. "I'm fucking sick and tired of being your personal little punching bag that you can yell at and punch and whatever the fuck else every single time you're slightly pissed off by any stupid little fucking thing that happens to you. You need to grow the fuck up, Kacchan, I'm not fucking doing this shit anymore. Leave me the fuck alone!"
He didn't realize he had started crying while yelling at Bakugo until he was staring at his reflection in the bathroom mirror, having walked out of the classroom immediately following his very public breakdown slash scream sesh. Midoriya sniffed quietly, his face blotchy and red from his tears. Before he could wipe his tears off his face, he felt a hesitant hand land on his shoulder.
"Are you okay?" A quiet, comforting, but unsure, voice whispered to Midoriya, who had whirled around in an almost panic. It was Todoroki. He had followed him into the bathroom, concerned for Midoriya. The boy was a crier, after all, and never liked to ask for help when he needed it.
Midoriya didn't trust himself to not burst into tears again if he spoke, so instead, he offered Todoroki a very watery smile and flipped his hand in a way to gesture "I'm fine." He really was not fine.
Todoroki raised an eyebrow. Obviously he didn't believe him, seeing as Midoriya was .2 seconds away from breaking down crying completely in front of him.
"Do you need a hug?" Todoroki asked after an awkward, silent moment, which was pretty rare of him. Todoroki was not the classmate you went to for comfort or support. Not that he was a mean or bad person, he was just awkward and socially inept and didn't ever really know how to comfort people.
Midoriya nodded, and Todoroki hesitantly spread his arms. He all but grabbed Todoroki, and the second he felt his classmate's arms around his back and rubbing soft circles into his back Midoriya broke down crying again, his tears getting Todoroki's uniform shoulder wet. They stayed like that until Midoriya stopped crying, and apologized to Todoroki for getting his uniform's shoulder wet and for just being a crybaby in general.
Of course Midoriya of all people would apologize for accepting emotional support when he needed it the most.
