Archive of Our Own

If Todoroki’s being honest, he didn’t really want to win the sports festival, not if it was what his father expected of him. But seeing someone like Bakugou win and knowing he could have prevented that had he used his fire, Todoroki’s not sure what to think. It’s not that he doesn’t like Bakugou, per se, it’s more that he just doesn’t like his temperament. He seems like someone who hasn’t had a taste of the real world, who doesn’t know how awful it is out there.

It shows in class, the way he holds himself up and thinks he’s the absolute best. Todoroki wonders where that confidence came from, who instilled it in him. Not that Todoroki thinks about Bakugou much. He was just a stain in Todoroki’s vision until the sports festival, anyway. Bakugou might be one of the only people who’s even close to matching Todoroki in power. The Midoriya kid’s pretty good, but he needs a lot more training to get even close to Todoroki.

Todoroki still thinks he’s All Might’s secret love child, but after seeing Midoriya really fight he’s not so sure. All Might’s kid would have better training.

But Midoriya’s curious, he forfeited his own win just to try and give Todoroki some kind of pep talk. What the hell does ‘it’s your power, not his’ even mean? Midoriya acts like he knows the intricacies of the Todoroki family. He definitely doesn’t. It’s not that easy to accept the power of someone who abused you. It’s not that easy to conjure fire when you’re scared to death of it. And melted ice doesn’t help either, thanks a lot mom.

Midoriya’s a nice kid, if a little naive. He seems like someone who’s been through quite a lot; Todoroki recognizes that tiredness in his eyes. But he’s got faults, like Bakugou. He’s too hopeful, has far too much faith. In Todoroki, and especially in Bakugou himself. Todoroki sees that during class, too. They know each other from middle school, and Midoriya likes to try and talk to him when he can. Every morning Todoroki hears ‘Hi, Kacchan!” from their side of the classroom.

There’s always a “fuck off, Deku,” in response.

Still, Todoroki can tell that Midoriya's the type of person who doesn’t give up on his goals. Which is why Todoroki knows MIdoriya’s going to be after him when the sports festival ends, trying to be his friend. And Todoroki also knows that Midoriya will continue to try and be Bakugou’s friend, despite the way Baugou treats him. Honestly, Todorki really doesn’t understand why Midoriya wants anything to do with Bakugou.

Or Kirishima, for that matter. He seems to be Bakugou’s only friend at this point, but Todoroki thinks he’s pretty nice for someone like Bakugou. Todoroki’s surprised that Bakugou tolerates him but hates Midoriya. If Todoroki cared more, he'd try and find out why. But he has bigger fish to fry.

Like watching Midnight and some of the other teachers try and convince Bakugou to get on the pedestal so they can announce the winners. Tokoyami is standing on his third place step, watching with his arms crossed and an indifferent look on his face. Todoroki doesn’t honestly care very much, so he leans back against the wall and waits for them to finish with Bakugou so he can step onto his pedestal. Currently, they’re forcing him into a muzzle. Todoroki doesn’t think that’s the best solution, but literally nothing else works.

“Assholes!” Bakugou is screaming, “the hell are you doing-mmphh!”

They snap the muzzle over his throat and mouth and fasten it tight, Bakugou now restrained in every possible way. He’s still struggling, and Todoroki feels a little bad for him. But really, if he just cooperated, none of this would be happening. Todoroki gets why he won’t accept his win, but why does he have to be so angry about it? Why is Bakugou always angry? Todoroki feels a small bout of mild annoyance; he wishes Bakugou would just act like a normal person.

Has there ever been a sports festival like this one?

Finally done with Bakugou, Midnight gestures to Todoroki to step on his own pedestal. He does, taking one last look at Bakugou. He’s still struggling, even as Midnight announces that they’re presenting the winners and their pedestals come forward, letting everyone in the audience see them. Todoroki and Tokoyami look calm and apathetic, while Bakugou is still struggling. Later, Todoroki will regret ever thinking that Bakugou was acting a bit rabid.

Later, Todoroki will hate himself for not realizing earlier.

As Midnight announces Tokoyami’s name, and All Might presents his medal, Bakugou continues to thrash. He’s flailing his hands in their metal trap wildly, and his head is moving so much it’s almost banging into the wall his chains are bound to. Todoroki thinks Bakugou might hurt himself if he keeps this up. Todoroki glances for a moment, and yes, he does see blood forming at the back of Bakuogu’s head, near his neck. The metal is probably cutting into his wrists, too.

Todoroki thinks that might be going a little too far.

Nobody’s noticing, either. Not even Midoriya, someone who Todoroki thought knew Bakugou pretty well, is saying a thing. They’re just glancing at each other, some people even pointing and laughing. All the while Bakugou’s muffled screaming is right next to Todoroki’s ears, and he sounds so hauntingly familiar that Todoroki starts paying a bit more attention. He’s shaking, almost trembling. He sounds almost desperate, and Todoroki can’t quite figure out where he’s heard that sound before. Bakugou is panicked, like-

Like Touya. Touya on his knees with Endeavor’s scorching fire over his head, yelling at him to be stronger and better, asking him why he isn’t powerful enough, why isn’t he like Shouto, why is he so useless? Bakugou sounds like Touya in a fire Todoroki only heard of, screams echoing in Todoroki’s dreams. Like Touya waking up from a nightmare and Todoroki watching him cry in the hallway.

Like Shouto himself, when his mother poured boiling water on his face.

“And now the second place winner,” Midnight says, and Todoroki turns slightly to face a still thrashing Bakugou. 

“Bakugu,” Todoroki says, hoping Bakugou’s present enough to hear his voice, “Bakugou, if you can hear me, I want you to breathe. I’m going to get you out of there. It’s me, Todoroki. Breathe.”

Bakugou doesn’t seem to hear Todoroki, and Todoroki can only hope he’s breathing okay in there. All Might comes up to Todoroki and he had so much he wanted to say, so many conflicting feelings he wanted to somehow thank all Might for starting to resolve, but right now none of that is important. What’s important is Bakugou and just how much he reminds him of Touya.

Two kids who want to be the best.

Todoroki won’t let Bakugou end up like Touya. Gone and all alone, his family slowly forgetting about him because Endeavor wouldn’t let them care.

“Young Todoroki!” All Might says cheerfully when he approaches, like there isn’t someone having a literal panic attack right next to him.

“Take Bakugou’s muzzle off,” Todoroki replies. All Might, holding his second place medal, falters.

“Young Todoroki, we would like to, but Young Bakugou's behavior is-”

“-no excuse for you to muzzle him,” Todoroki responds firmly, “look at him, All Might. Really look. Get that muzzle off him now.”

Todoroki can’t believe he’s speaking to the number one hero like this. Midoriya the resident All Might fanboy would have a nightmare over this. But it does the job, because All Might turns to look at Bakugou and finally someone other than Todoroki sees the blood. It’s dripping down his wrist and can be seen on his collarbone a bit now, and he’s still struggling. Todoroki can only imagine what it must feel like to him, suffocating, unable to breathe, so claustrophobic and terrified. Like drowning, like dying. He must be so scared.

“Oh, no,” All Might realizes, way too slowly, “Young Bakugou, I am so sorry. Midnight, where are the keys to Young Bakugou’s, ah, restrainments?”

Hah. Restrainments. A literal kidnapping device is what it is.

“All Might, are you sure?” Midnight asks, unsure of the situation.

“Please, just give them to me,” All Might says, somehow still smiling. Midnight trusts All Might’s judgement, so she hands the keys over. All Might is quick to run back over to Bakugou’s pedestal and unlock Bakgou’s binds. The metal caging his hands comes off first, and Todoroki winces at how blood covered they are. The chains on his arms come off next, and he’s almost free except for the muzzle on his mouth, keeping him chained to the pole behind him. Todoroki doesn’t know why the hell they wouldn’t take off the muzzle first. Isn’t that, like, common sense?

Either way, they’re doing it now. Despite protests, Todoroki jumps down from his pedestal and stands in front of Bakugou's, waiting as All Might finishes taking off Bakugou’s muzzle. Todoroki’s eyes widen a bit at the sight, his mouth is bitten bloody. Blood trails down his neck and he’s still screaming. His eyes are glazed over and now everybody can see what they did to Bakugou.

His screams can be fully heard now. They’re guttural; Todoroki can see Midoriya about to cry in the crowd. Todoroki shakes his head, how could all of them just stand there and do nothing? How could Todoroki himself just stand there and do nothing? How could he think Bakugou deserved this kind of treatment? He could U.A. teachers?

With one last, loud, terrified scream, Bakugou launches off the pedestal and falls forward, unable to control his quirk. Todoroki is quick to catch him, dodging his explosions on the way. Bakugou lands boneless in his arms, quieter now but breathing hard and fast, his expression so scared. Todoroki has enough common sense to let go of Bakugou immediately, still staying close but making sure to avoid his neck and the bleeding areas as best he can.

All Might makes to go forward and Todoroki can see Midoriya ripping away from the crowd, so he quickly shoots up a small railing of ice to shield them from others. Todoroki looks down at Bakugou, who’s sitting on the ground propped on his hands with his legs stretched out, as if he’s trying to spread out into as much space as he can. With claustrophobia, that makes sense.

“Bakugou,” Todoroki says, trying to remember how Fuyumi used to do it to Touya and him, “Bakugou, can you hear me? Blink if you can.”

One blink. Todoroki is momentarily surprised to see Bakugou comply with someone else’s instructions, but this kind of situation does affect everybody differently. Bakugou is scared right now, not angry.

“Okay,” Todoroki nods, “can you breathe with me? In for four, out for eight. Can you do it with me?”

Bakugou shakily inhales, and Todoroki does it with him. Bakugou’s still trembling, but he’s stopped convulsing and he seems to be relaxing a bit.

“Okay, good,” Todoroki’s way out of his depth here, but he’s trying, “just keep breathing. Can I touch you?”

Bakugou shakes his head no, eyes widening in fear.

Todoroki just nods, sitting on his hands to avoid reaching out by accident. He keeps breathing with Bakugou until the latter’s eyes go back to normal and he stops shaking, moving to sit cross legged and hunched over. He refuses to meet Todoroki’s eyes, probably ashamed that Todoroki saw all of that.

“Bakugou,” Todoroki says hesitantly, “are you feeling any better?”

“Half n’ Half,” Bakugou responds quietly, but somehow managing to sound a little angry under all that tired, “go the fuck away.”

“I will,” Todoroki promises, “but I need to get you to Recovery Girl first. Or would you prefer someone else take you there?”

“I don’t need anyone,” Bakugou snaps, and tries to stand up. He’s wobbly, but he does manage to get up without the hand Todoroki offers. They step out of the ice together, and find all of Class 1-A, Aizawa, and All Might looking at them, very concerned. Todoroki looks at the crowd of his classmates, knowing that he is definitely not the right person to take Bakugou anywhere right now. 

“Kirishima,” Todoroki finds him in the crowd, “take Bakugou to Recovery Girl. Just make sure he follows you there. Do not touch him unless he says you can.”

“Okay,” Kirishima says, stepping his way out of the crowd and finding Bakugou. He looks at Todoroki. “What happened?”

“Tell Recovery Girl he had a panic attack.”

Kirishima’s eyes widen and he nods understandingly, turning to Bakugou. He looks up for the first time, reluctantly meeting Kirishima’s eyes. He’s glaring a bit, which Todoroki figures is actually a pretty good thing.

“Come on, Bakugou,” Kirishima points in the general direction of Recovery Girl’s office, “let’s go see Recovery Girl.”

Bakugou grunts in response, but he does follow Kirishima there. Torodoki watches them until they’re out of his sightline, and then he turns to everyone else who’s there. The audience and teachers are watching silently. Midnight looks regretful, as she should, and All Might looks downright sad. In the crowd of students, Kaminari, Mina, and Sero look the most worried for Bakugou. Todoroki excludes Midoriya because he looks more than worried, what with the tears glistening in his eyes and the “Kacchan…” Todoroki hears him whisper.

Well. He guesses he has to deal with this. 

“You can’t muzzle a kid,” Todoroki says. He’s terrible at talking, but he figures short and succinct will work, “he obviously has some kind of claustrophobia, possibly trauma related. But even if he didn’t, you don’t muzzle a kid. I should have realized that what you did to Bakugou was wrong. I am sorry I didn’t sooner. I was in the wrong as well. We were all in the wrong for standing there and doing nothing. Just because we don’t like someone doesn’t mean we ignore them when they’re seriously hurt. Panic attacks count.”

The teachers have the sense to look guilty. Midoriya is even closer to tears now. Even people who don’t like Bakugou seem a little sorry, too.

Surprisingly, someone else speaks up.

“Todoroki’s right,” Kaminari says. Heads turn in his direction, “it was shitty of all of us to not realize what was happening to Bakugou was wrong. If I wasn’t so sure he’d absolutely hate it, I’d say we should definitely apologize.”

“Kacchan deserves an apology,” Midoriya looks down sadly, “especially from me. I should’ve realized…”

“Realized what?” Todoroki’s tone is a little sharper than intended, “Midoriya, do you know what might have caused Bakugou’s panic attack?”

“Um, yeah,” Midoriya nods, “when we were in middle school, he was attacked by this sludge villain. It was choking him really badly, he almost died. He was strangled and suffocated. It’s one of my worst memories.”

There are a few gasps in the crowd of students. Todoroki vaguely remembers hearing about that attack in the news; he'd had no idea it was Bakugou.

“That would do it,” Todoroki sighs, “Midoriya, I’m sorry I have to ask this, but you really didn’t realize the connection between this villain attack and being muzzled and the effect it might have on Bakugou, right? You didn’t just hide it because you wanted revenge on Bakugou for hurting you or something?”

“Hey, Deku would never do that!” Uraraka steps forward angrily. 

“Uraraka, it’s fine,” Midoriya hisses, a little too harsh for his personality, “it’s a valid question. But I promise, I really didn’t realize. Honestly, I feel terrible. I should have realized it with how badly he was struggling, but I guess I just registered it as a Kacchan thing. But I would never hold something like that back on purpose, I swear! I would never wish suffering on Kacchan, ever! I can’t stand seeing Kacchan in pain, Todoroki, it hurts too much.”

Todoroki thinks about how he felt when Touya got hurt, even when he rejected Todoroki’s asks to play with him and stopped treating him like a brother should. He understands exactly what Midoriya is saying. It’s far too easy to keep caring about people who’ve hurt you.

“I believe you, Midoriya,” Todoroki promises. He looks at his classmates and teachers and sighs. Bakugou would hate that he’s being talked about behind his back, even if it is nice things.

“Should we move on?” Midnight asks hesitantly.

“I think that would be best,” All Might answers. They start ushering people off the field and dismissing the audience, and Todoroki joins his classmates as they walk back to their classroom. Midoriya falls into step with him as they walk out of the field, and Todoroki looks at him in surprise.

“Todoroki?” Midoriya fidgets with his hands, “I just wanted to say thank you. For, you know, making sure Kacchan was okay. I appreciate that.”

“Of course,” Todoroki replies, “I should have noticed sooner.”

“We all should’ve,” Midoriya agrees, “we’re all at fault here. Don’t beat yourself up, okay?”

Todoroki blinks at Midoriya’s shining smile. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to be friends with him. Or Bakugou, for that matter. There’s a lot Todoroki doesn’t know about his classmates. He doesn’t want to keep judging them on the limited information he has. That hurt Bakugou very badly today.

“Okay, Midoriya,” Todoroki nods. Midoriya grins at him, and then drags him over to talk with Uraraka and Iida. They’re nice people, Todoroki thinks. But even as he starts to befriend them, his mind continues to wander back to Bakugou. Todoroki finds himself hoping Bakugou is okay. Todoroki can’t help but compare Bakugou to Touya, and think about how badly Todoroki misjudged him. Sure, he’s not the nicest person and he’s done some pretty rude things. But he was hurting today, panicking and in need of help. And nobody stepped up. 

Todoroki is glad Bakugou at least has Kirishima to take care of him, be his friend. And maybe one day Bakugou will let Midoriya be his friend, too. Not that Todoroki knows anything about their history together. And maybe, Todoroki thinks with a jolt of surprise, he wants to be Bakugou’s friend, too.

Huh, Todoroki thinks, he cares about Bakugou.

And he kind of likes it.

Todoroki doesn’t visit Bakugou at Recovery Girl’s. He thinks he’s the last person Bakugou would want to see. So he keeps to himself like he always does and deals with Midoriya constantly approaching him to ask if they’re officially friends now. The day after the sports festival is when Todoroki sees Bakugou next. Todoroki’s walking to school when he hears footsteps behind him.

“Icy Hot!” Bakugou yells, and Todoroki spins around to see Bakugou walking towards him. “I need to talk to you.”

“Hey, Bakugou,” Todoroki says, “what do you need?”

“Shitty Hair says I should be nice to you or whatever,” Bakugou starts, “since you were the one who fucking...helped me or whatever.”

“You don’t have to be nice to me,” Todoroki shrugs, “a thank you would be nice, though.”

“I was getting to that,” Bakugou seethes, and Todoroki starts.

“Really?”

“Yes, you dumb bastard,” Bakugou growls, “I’ve got no fuckin’ idea what happened but now fucking Recovery Girl says I need therapy or what fucking ever. That wouldn’t have happened without you, so. I guess I owe you or some shit.”

“That was a terrible thank you,” Todoroki informs him, “but I’m glad you view therapy as a positive thing. You always struck me as someone who would hate that kind of stuff.”

“Just ‘cause I’m shit at asking for help doesn’t mean I don’t know when I fucking need it,” Bakugou argues, “the old hag never believed me when I asked for help and shit so I just stopped fuckin’ doing it-and I don’t need to explain shit to you, two-colors! Fuck you, asking about personal goddamn shit!”

“You literally said all of that unprompted,” Todoroki says, but he’s surprised to feel a faint smile threatening to spread across his face, “but I’m glad you’re getting help now. Nobody should have to go through what you did unsupported.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Bakugou sneers, “fuck off, Icy Hot. ‘S not like I wanna be your fucking friend or some stupid shit. Just figured I owe you.”

“I do,” Todoroki speaks up against his will, “want to be your friend. Or some stupid shit. Once you get over your anger issues, get back to me.”

“Fuck. You,” Bakugou glares at Todoroki, but there’s no real heat behind it. 

“Fuck me yourself,” Todoroki responds, just to be cheeky.

Bakugou turns pink for a split second, before glaring even harder at Todoroki. “We aren’t friends, asshole. Get over your ‘I don’t give two shits about anyone else’ act and then get back to me, dick.”

“Fair enough,” Todoroki shrugs, “I appreciate you coming to thank me, Bakugou. I was happy to help. I’m sorry I didn’t realize anything was wrong sooner. I hope you know what the teachers did to you was wrong and I was wrong to let them do it.”

Bakugou blinks, like nobody’s ever told him that your teachers chaining you to a pole is not the right thing to do. “Yeah, whatever, Dry Ice,” Bakugou finally says, before turning around and walking ahead of Todoroki.

“Dry Ice?” Todoroki mutters to himself, “that’s a new one.”

Soon after that is the fight with Hero Killer Stain, in which Todoroki, Midoriya, and Iida fight and win against Stain. The whole thing ended up being illegal, though, which made Todoroki kind of upset because first of all, they saved a lot of people, and second of all Endeavor got all the credit and Todoroki does not like that. But he deals with it, because it’s better than being arrested.

The next day in class they have to act like everything’s normal, but Midoriya and Iida are inviting Todoroki to sit with them at lunch and Bakugou’s approaching him in the hallway as they walk to class. Which is definitely not normal. Bakugou spends his time with Kirishima and occasionally Kaminari. Him and Todoroki are pretty much academic rivals who shared exactly one moment. Sure, Todoroki would like to be better friends with him, but the sentiment doesn't seem mutual so far. For some reason, that upsets Todoroki more than it should.

“Dry Ice!” Bakugou yells as he catches up to Todoroki, “we need to talk.”

“What do you want, Bakugou?”

“Heard your dad fought that shitty Stain fucker.”

“He did,” Todoroki lies, “what about it?”

“I don’t fucking believe it,” Bakugou answers, “your dad is a shithead and nothing matches up. He was in a different part of Hosu during the Stain fight. Nobody knows where the fuck you and Deku and Recipro-Worst were during the whole shitshow, but I think you idiots were fighitng Stain. Deku’s too exhausting to talk to so I’m asking you. You fuckers fought Stain, didn’t you?”

Well, Todoroki can’t really deny it now.

“Fine, yes we did,” Todoroki lowers his voice, “but you can’t tell anyone or we could all get arrested. Please keep it a secret.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Bakugou rolls his eyes, “just wanted to know the fucking truth. I really fucking hate liars.”

“Me too,” Todoroki agrees, “I’ve been lied to a lot. It’s not fun.”

“I know that game,” Bakugou mutters, looking down at the floor. Todoroki wants to know more, wonders whose lies made Bakugou publicly display an emotion other than anger, but Todoroki thinks he’d get killed if he asked about it. So instead he just settles for asking a simple question.

“How was your internship, Bakugou?”

“Shitty,” Bakugou answers, “Best Jeanist made my hair all ugly and then said he wanted to reform me or some shit. Annoying fuck.”

“That does sound annoying,” Todoroki agrees, “I also had a terrible time with my terrible father.”

“Dumb hero name, too,” Bakugou says, “what the hell is Endeavor supposed to mean? How the fuck does it have to do with his quirk?”

“He wants to be number one and he calls it his Endeavor or something,” Todoroki shrugs, “I think it’s stupid too.”

Bakugou snorts, but he doesn’t say anything else. Sensing the end of the conversation, Todoroki offers Bakugou a polite nod and wave before walking into the classroom. Bakugou follows soon after, taking his normal seat in front of Midoriya. He doesn’t look at Todoroki once, but Todoroki looks at him.

Todoroki wonders what has to happen for them to become friends.

Apparently, rescuing Bakugou from the League of Villains is not that. Todoroki doesn’t remember much of what happened the actual night he was taken, just that when Bakugou was taken by Dabi all Todoroki felt was cold fear, like a bucket of water being poured down his shirt. All he heard was Midoriya’s heartbroken screams, like someone he loved was being taken away. And recently Todoroki’s figured Midoriya does love him, even if Bakugou doesn’t necessarily feel the same way. There was definitely some care in that “don’t come, Deku,” but probably not as much as Midoriya.

Either way, Todoroki knew the moment Bakugou said it that there was no way Midoriya wouldn’t come. Which is why Todoroki isn’t surprised at all when Midoriya joins him, Kirishima, and Momo outside the hospital. Iida is also there, mostly to keep them in check, but Todoroki doesn’t mind as long as they rescue Bakugou. With Kirishima and Midoriya in tow, there’s no way they won’t.

And they do, because why wouldn’t they. Bakugou grabs Kirishima’s hand because they all know there’s only one person in their group Bakugou sees as an equal, someone who he likes and respects. There’s a small amount of sadness in Midoriya’s voice as he explains the plan, and Todoroki remembers when he had Kirishima take Bakugou to Recovery Girl instead of himself. It seems that he and Midoriya had the same ideas when it came to Bakugou.

In the waiting room at the police station, Bakugou sits in a chair as he waits for an officer to come talk to him. He looks pale and tired, his eyes faraway like they were at the sports festival. Todoroki decides to risk his life and go sit next to him. Bakugou barely acknowledges him, besides a noncommittal grunt.

“Hey, Bakugou,” Todoroki greets, “are you okay?”

“The fuck do you think?” Bakugou scoffs.

“Sorry, stupid question,” Todoroki sighs, “what I meant to ask is-I saw that when Dabi took you his hands went around your neck, and I’m sure being kidnapped probably didn’t help your PTSD-”

“Shut up, Icy Hot!” Bakugou cuts him off, “you’re the only one who knows besides Aizawa and the nurse lady and the therapist! Don’t say that shut so loud, what if shitty Deku hears and gets-” Bakugou literally shudders, “-worried?”

“Why is that a bad thing?” Todoroki asks curiously.

“Fucker’s always looking down on me,” Bakugou answers, “pitying me or some shit. Acting like I need his help. Yeah, right, fucking idiot.”

“I don’t think anyone looks down on you,” Todoroki says truthfully, “I think Midoriya just cares about you.”

“Why?”

“Why?” Todoroki blinks, “you guys are childhood friends, right? That must mean something. There’s a history Midoriya doesn’t want to let go of. And considering you still push him around, you probably don’t either.”

“You don’t know shit, Dry Ice,” Bakugou spits.

“You’re right, I don’t,” Todoroki apologizes, “but I’m friends with Midoriya, and I know he really cares about you. Maybe think on that a little bit.”

“Whatever,” Bakugou rolls his eyes.

Todoroki just shifts in his seat.

“It didn’t,” Bakugou finally says.

“Huh?”

“Being kidnapped didn’t help my fucking PTSD,” Bakugou explains, “they handcuffed me. There wasn’t shit on my mouth at some points and I still felt like I couldn’t fucking breathe. Fucking hated it.”

“That’s shitty,” Todoroki says honestly, “I’m sorry we couldn’t keep you safe.”

“I don’t need you fuckers to keep me safe,” Bakugou snorts, “so don’t go fucking apologizing. Nobody gives a shit.”

“That was weirdly nice,” Todoroki observes, “you have a way of showing kindness that isn’t very visible at first sight.”

“I fucking despise you,” Bakugou tells Todoroki, “I am not kind.”

“I never said that,” Todoroki assures, “you are a huge dick.”

“I have a fucking reputation to uphold,” Bakugou replies.

“A reputation of being an unfeeling angry asshole?”

“Exactly,” Bakugou says, and Todoroki feels something warm in his chest.

“Hey, Half n’ Half, are you fucking smiling?”

“Huh?” Todoroki blinks as he realizes that, “yeah, I guess I am. Look at that, Bakugou. You made me smile. Isn’t that nice?”

“Fuck off,” Bakugou responds eloquently. But he relaxes in his seat and keeps his head shifted towards Todoroki, like he wants to continue talking.

Todoroki doesn’t stop smiling.

Finals exams go by, and somehow Midoriya and Bakugou are still not getting along. Licensing exams happen, and Todoroki fails. So does Bakugou. Bakugou and Midoriya beat the shit out of each other on school property and then spend three days together in house arrest. Todoroki isn’t exactly sure what transpired between them, but suddenly they’re on much better terms, Midoriya looks way happier, and even Bakugou’s seemed to calm down. Just the slightest bit.

Now Todoroki and Bakugou take provisional licensing classes together. Todoroki likes it, because he gets to spend more time with Bakuogu and hopefully befriend him. During the exercise they did with the kids, Bakugou actually called Todoroki by his God-given name. It was amazing. Bakugou said “Todoroki” and Todoroki heard a choir of angels. He’s not sure why it had such a nice effect on him, especially since right after Bakugou said “Dry Ice” and everything was back to normal. Which was kind of upsetting. Why? 

Todoroki doesn’t figure it out until after the Overhaul battle, most of which he heard of from Midoriya. The two of them are much better friends now, after everything they’ve been through together. Todoroki likes having his own friend group, and even Bakugou has Kirishima and Kaminari, Mina and Sero as his own group. Todoroki can kind of tell that both him and Midoriya kind of really want to somehow get Bakugou to hang out with them. Todoroki gets to see Bakugou during supplemental classes because Inasa forces them all to hang out after class and Bakugou doesn’t have a choice in the matter, but it’s not the same. Todoroki wants Bakugou to willingly hang out with him.

It’s during one of their after-class hangouts, at an ice cream place, when Bakugou gets up to go to the restroom. Todoroki watches him go for a few seconds, before turning back to Inasa and Camie.

“Todoroki!” Insasa booms, “why didn’t you tell us about your feelings towards Bakugou?”

“My what?”

“Bruh,” Camie says in her weird slang, “you, like, totally have a mega crush on Explodey Boy. You’re like, hella gay for him.”

“I am?” Todoroki thinks back on all of their interactions. They seem pretty platonic to him-except for maybe the flush Todoroki feels on his cheeks every time they talk during class and the way Todoroki feels all warm on both his left and right side when Bakugou directly addresses him during training and they do some move together that they worked on during licensing classes.

And oh, oh fuck.

“Oh my God, I am,” Todoroki puts his head in his hands and slumps onto the table, “you guys. I am gay for Bakugou.”

“Wonderful!” Inasa exclaims, “we fully support your romantic realizations!”

“It’s like, so tight you finally realized it,” Camie adds.

“Oh God,” Todoroki laments.

“The fuck happened, Dry Ice?” and oh look, Bakugou is back. Todoroki looks at him for the first time since realizing he liked him, and okay. Has Bakugou always been this pretty? Midoriya’s always going on about his muscles and yeah, those are amazing but he’s got a really great face? And a nice waist, too. And oh God, Todoroki needs to stop staring, like, right now.

“Nothing,” Todoroki answers, “we found some Midoriya fanfiction where he’s shipped with that Shindo guy from that other high school. Wanna read?”

“I love Deku fanfiction,” Bakuogu responds, sliding into his seat next to Todoroki. They’re pretty close, Todoroki wonders if that’s a platonic amount of distance. He wonders what it would be like to rest his head on Bakugou’s shoulder. Holy fuck, Todoroki realizes, he’s been whipped this entire time.

God dammit.

At the school festival, Todoroki watches a sweaty Bakugou onstage under spotlights play the drums like he wants to destroy his drumsticks. For some terrible reason, Todoroki thinks it’s so fucking beautiful. 

He is so fucked.

Todoroki and Bakugou still aren’t the type of friends who hang out during school. They spend a lot of time together during licensing classes, but that’s only out of convenience. Once they’re at school, Bakugou hangs out with his friends and Todoroki finds Midoriya and the rest of their group somewhere else. Currently, they’re sitting in the common room. Uraraka is sitting cross-legged in midair just because she can, and Iida is sitting on the floor with his papers spread out on the coffee table. 

Todoroki’s on the couch with Midoriya’s head in his lap and his legs spread out across the armrest. Midoriya looks tired, which makes sense considering the week he’s had. During joint training he unleashed a new part of his quirk, and working on controlling it has been tiring him out. Todoroki knows Bakugou is helping him out, which Todoroki thnks is very sweet, but Midoriya still looks exhausted from all the extra work.

“I’m pissed,” Midoriya declares. They’re far enough away from Uraraka and Iida that their conversation is private, so Todoroki knows Midoriya meant that only for Todoroki.

“Why?”

“Remember when I first found that new part of my quirk?” 

“Yeah,” Todoroki nods, “you were fighting Monoma and then it happened.”

“Pretty much,” Midoriya shifts in Todoroki’s lap so he’s looking right at him, “do you want to know the shit Monoma spewed that got me mad enough to find out there’s an entire other part of my quirk I didn’t know about?”

“I didn’t know there was another reason why it unleashed,” Todoroki says curiously, “what did Monoma say? He’s not known for being very sensitive.”

“He was saying that Kacchan’s the reason All Might fell,” Midoriya frowns, “as if Kacchan somehow purposely kidnapped himself!”

“What?” Todoroki’s eyes widen, “people think that?”

“Some do,” Midoriya replies, “we’ve seen it in some articles, recently. Every time Kacchan gets so angry and it just made me so mad when Monoma said it.”

“That’s understandable,” Todoroki nods, “I have half a mind to go kill Monoma himself. He’s said some pretty awful stuff about all of us.”

Midoriya nods enthusiastically. “It’s been like a week and I still can’t stop thinking about it. You know when I said that when Kacchan hurts it hurts me too? It really does. I’ve never seen Kacchan look sadder than when he reads articles that say stupid stuff about him. The look on his face-” Midoriya grimaces, “it’s like he believes it. Even now, when we’re basically friends even if he’ll never admit it, he’s afraid I’ll suddenly turn around and say ‘you know what Kacchan, I do hate you. Get out of my life.’ which is ridiculous, because I have never wanted Kacchan out of my life, I’ve gone to insane lengths just to keep him in it.”

“That’s true, you have,” Todoroki remembers the way Midoriya dropped everything to rescue Bakugou after his kidnapping.

“I hate it,” Midoriya crosses his arms stubbornly, looking up at Todoroki, “I just want Kacchan to be confident in himself like he used to be. Not so confident that he goes back to bullying me, but I hate seeing him hate himself.”

“I didn’t realize things were that bad for him,” Todoroki feels like a horrible friend, “I should’ve noticed.”

“He won’t let you,” Midoriya responds, “I’m only telling you this because you’re one of the people Kacchan trusts the most and I needed someone to rant to. Kacchan might have told you himself in the future, but I wanted to say something now.”

“Bakugou trusts me?” Todoroki feels something fluttery in his heart at the idea, “I thought he hates me.”

“No he doesn’t,” Midoriya has the gall to actually laugh, “he’s told you all kinds of stuff he just told me. I just learned he goes to therapy. I just learned about his PTSD. I just learned that Mitsuki Auntie didn’t believe he needed help in middle school. He just felt comfortable enough to tell me these things, but you know what he said? Kacchan said he told you all of them ages ago. I think, sometime after you noticed Kacchan’s panic attack at the sports festival, he started trusting you.”

“Huh,” Todoroki’s fluttering gets harder to control, “hey, Midoriya, can I ask you a question?”

“Yeah, sure, anything!” Midoriya grins.

“You don’t like Bakugou, right? Like, as more than a friend?”

Midoriya almost falls off the couch, hacking as he tries to regain composure. “Todoroki,” he wheezes, “what?”

“Well,” Todoroki flounders, “you admire him so much. You always chase after him even when he doesn’t want you around. What was I supposed to think?”

“That once upon a time Kacchan was my best friend and I just want that again?” Midoriya looks at Todoroki in disbelief, “Todoroki. I’m aromantic.”

Todoroki blinks. “You are?”

“Yeah,” Midoriya answers, “nobody really knows except Uraraka, but I kind of thought people had picked up on it by now.”

“Nobody has picked up on it,” Todoroki informs him, “but that’s good to know. I’m ace, by the way.”

“Really?” Midoriya’s eyes shine happily, “Todoroki, that’s so cool!”

“It is pretty nice,” Todoroki agrees, “and I’m glad you don’t like Bakugou.”

Midoriya frowns, all happiness gone. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means that I like Bakugou and I don’t want competition.”

“Wait,” Midoriya almost falls off the couch again, “you like Kacchan?”

“Yeah,” Todoroki shrugs, “I realized it a little while ago, I just haven’t said anything because Bakugou doesn’t like me. But from what you’re telling me, I’m starting to get my hopes up a little bit.”

“Oh, my God,” Midoriya covers his mouth with his hands, “this is the best news I’ve heard all year. This beats getting into U.A. My best friend likes my other best friend! Todoroki, just you wait, I’m gonna be the best wingman ever-”

“Not necessary,” Todoroki cuts in, “I doubt Bakugou would like me romantically. He might be friends with me, but nothing more.”

“You don’t know that,” Midoriya argues, “at the very least, try harder to be friends with him. It’ll be nice to at least have that, right?”

“I guess so,” Todoroki concedes, “fine. You can wingman, as long as it's in a friend way. Got it?”

“Got it!” Midoriya beams, “you and Kacchan are gonna be best friends! And then you’ll fall in love and get married and I’ll be the best man and-”

“For the love of God, Midoriya.”

“Sorry!”

The turning point ends up being after they finally get their provisional licenses. Because Todoroki and Bakugou are both very extra people, they just have to stop villains right after they get their licenses. They get interviewed right after, and Todoroki isn’t surprised or very offended that Bakugou loudly declares they aren't friends at all. Todoroki just sighs, figuring Bakugou would never admit it anyway.

He tells Midoriya about it later, and the other boy pouts and says he will get Bakugou to admit that they’re friends. Todoroki just rolls his eyes at him. And then, like the universe was answering his prayers, both Midoriya and Bakugou had anywhere to go for their work studies. And Todoroki just happens to know his father has empty intern spots at his agency. So now Todoroki and Bakugou are together, with Midoriya as a buffer/wingman between them.

Midoriya shoots him a look after he offers, and Todoroki flips him off in a very Bakugou-like gesture. 

Working for Endeavor is just as terrible as Todoroki expected it to be. But it’s a little more bearable with Midoriya and Bakugou in tow. The latter two are finally getting along, Midoriya finally forcing a “fucking fine, we can be friends again, okay?” out of Bakugou. Todoroki is only mildly jealous, and that’s only because Midoriya and Bakugou’s dynamic when they like each other is actually pretty nice. The inside jokes and general chaos isn't great, though.

Endeavor ends up giving Midoriya different goals to work on than Todoroki and Bakugou, so they find themselves alone quite a lot when Midoriya needs to train by himself. Bakuogu tolerates Todoroki’s presence, and so they sit in one of the agency cubicles and eat chips out of a family sized bag because they finished sparring for the day and now they’re just waiting for Midoriya. Bakugou’s sitting in a rolling chair and absentmindedly spinning around, and Todoroki’s sitting on the table and swinging his legs in the air. The silence is comfortable.

“Oh, you’re done for today?” one of Endeavor’s sidekicks comes up to them, not pushing her luck with Bakugou and instead facing Todoroki, “where’s your third musketeer?”

“Deku’s training still, shitty loser,” Bakugou answers, “thinks he can beat me in a fight. Yeah, right.”

The sidekick looks faintly amused. “How are you guys doing?”

“Fine,” Todoroki shrugs, “I’m having trouble with a new fire move I’m trying out, but it hasn’t really been working so far.”

“That’s too bad,” the sidekick says, “what kind of move is it?”

“It’s one where you try and control the movement of the flames using wind,” Todoroki answers, “I’m not too good at that right now.”

“I could probably help with that,” the sidekick says, “can’t show you much inside, but the thing about wind-powered moves is that you kind of have to-”

The sidekick lights up fire in her hand, too close to Todoroki’s face for comfort, and he flinches back on reflex. He tries not to remember the way Endeavor used to train him with fire close to his face or over his body as the sweat from overexertion mixed with the tears of knowing he was a failure to his father. Todoroki moves down the table, and would have fallen off if not for Bakugou scooting his chair forward to grab Todoroki’s arm and steady him.

“Hey, asshole!” Bakugou barks at the sidekick, “you can’t just shove your fucking fire into someone’s face! Ever heard of boundaries?”

“Sorry about him,” Todoroki says, “what he means is that sometimes I get a little uncomfortable with fire so close to me. That’s it.”

“I’m so sorry!” the sidekick apologizes, but Todoroki just waves her concerns off. He’s fine, really. He’s learned to deal. So the sidekick leaves, throwing one last remorseful look over her shoulder before Todoroki looks at Bakugou.

“Thanks,” he says, “for standing up for me.”

“Your shitty dad made you hate fire,” Bakugou states, and Todoroki doesn’t try to correct him because he was present for the insane family drama that happened during their dinner with Todoroki’s family. 

“Yeah,” Todoroki answers.

“It’s why you didn’t use your left side before.”

“Yeah.”

“You’re like me,” Bakugou says, “PTSD. You hate fire in your face like I hate shit on my neck. You noticed mine, I notice yours.”

“I didn’t realize you paid attention,” Todoroki replies, genuinely touched, “thanks, Bakugou. I don’t think anyone else would’ve known.”

“Again,” Bakugou shrugs, “you’re like me.”

“Hey,” Todoroki speaks up, “I care about you.”

“Hah?” Bakugou whips his head up, red eyes glaring, “the hell, Dry Ice?”

“Remember?” Todoroki asks, “a while back you told me to get back to you when I got over my not caring about anyone act. I care about my friends, I care about most of my family, and I care about you. So can we be friends now?”

Bakugou just blinks for a moment, before letting out a small laugh. “You remembered that shit? That was fucking ages ago, Half n’ Half!”

“I remember a lot when it comes to you,” Todoroki accidentally says. And then he corrects himself, “because normally you scream it at me.”

Nice save, Shouto. 

“Guess I haven’t gotten over those anger issues,” Bakugou says.

“Not really,” Todoroki agrees, “but you’re getting a lot better.”

Bakugou nods, looking smug about his progress. As he should.

“So,” Todoroki holds his hand out, “friends?”

“Fine, whatever,” Bakugou does not accept his hand, but he does say “friends.”

When Midoriya comes back from training, it’s to Todoroki announcing that him and Bakugou are friends now while Bakugou explodes (literally, he almost kills a couple sidekicks), and Midoriya almost activates his quirk in happiness.

Things start getting pretty great after that. Once they get back to school Midoriya, Bakugou, and Todoroki form their own little group of friends. Lunch breaks find the three of them abandoning their other friends to sit together at a small table in the corner of the cafeteria. Spending time at Endeavor’s agency together brought them all closer, and now Todoroki finds both himself and Midoriya to be a lot happier. Over the recent weeks Midoriya and Bakugou have gotten much closer, and so have Bakugou and Todoroki.

Sometimes, it almost feels like Bakugou reciprocates Todoroki’s feelings. Right now, as they walk to their usual lunch table, is one of those times.

“That was a good one,” Bakugou is saying, referring to the spar they just had. They kept up sparring together, since it turns out they are a perfect match for each other. They are at pretty much the same amount of power and strength.

“I lost,” Todoroki responds as they walk.

“That’s why it was so damn good,” Bakugou grins evilly, high-fiving Kirishima and ruffling Kaminari’s hair as they pass Bakugou’s other friends’ table. 

“You’ll always love to win, won’t you,” Todoroki sighs.

“You still owe me a real fucking fight,” Bakugou reminds, “I sure as hell ain’t fighting Deku in the finals. It better be you, with both your damn sides.”

“We’ll beat Midoriya,” Todoroki assures, only feeling a little bad for ganging up on their friend, “and then I’ll use both my sides to beat you.”

“Like fuck you will!” Bakugou’s laugh rings around the cafeteria, “there ain’t a chance in hell you’d win against me, Daddy Issues.”

“Not loving the new nickname,” Todoroki says, “and I feel like I could win. I win all the time when we spar.”

“Not today!” Bakugou crows, throwing his arm around Todoroki’s shoulder as they approach the table. It’s only for a second, mostly to jostle him enough that it hurts before letting him go, but Todoroki’s tinged pink when it’s over and Bakugou lets his hand linger on Todoroki’s arm for just a moment before letting go. When Todoroki looks over at Midoriya, the traitor is smirking.

“Hey, guys,” Midoriya grins as they sit down, “what’s up?”

“Dry Ice lost,” Bakugou answers happily. 

“Of course he did!” Midoriya claps his hands, “Kacchan’s unbeatable!”

“Damn right I am.”

“You’re horrible,” Todoroki tells Midoriya, “your Bakugou bias physically wounds me.”

“Sorry, it’s a habit I don’t really want to break,” Midoriya shrugs, “supporting Kacchan is my favorite hobby!”

“It’s also creepy as hell,” Bakugou says, “yesterday I caught the fucker ordering Dynamite boxers.”

“Midoriya,” Todoroki deadpans, “why.”

“If Kacchan has hero merch, I’m going to buy it!”

“It’s underwear.”

“It’s comfortable,” Midoriya argues, “I’m wearing them now!”

“Too much fucking information!” Bakugou growls, looking away from Midoriya and at the wall, “Jesus, Deku!”

“Send me the link,” Todoroki mouths to Midoriya when Bakugou’s not looking. Midoriya rubs his hands together evilly and nods.

When Bakugou is done with his tantrum, he glares at Midoriya. “I can’t believe you. Stop buying my merch. You’re insane. This is why Todoroki’s my damn favorite, he doesn’t suck ass.”

“Kacchan!” Midoriya whines, “so mean!”

“You called me Todoroki,” Todoroki points out, because suddenly he’s incapable of saying anything else. He’s hearing the angel choir again.

“Fuck off,” Bakugou glares, “it ain’t happening again!”

“I’m sure,” Todoroki replies, “I liked it, though. You should do it more.”

“Like hell.”

“Awww, c’mon Kacchan!” Midoriya begs, “it sounds so sweet coming from you! And it makes Todoroki happy! Don’t you want that?”

“I don’t give a shit about Dry Ice’s feelings,” Bakugou answers.

“That’s a big fat lie,” Midoriya snorts, “say it again? Kacchan, please?”

“Fine!” Bakugou shouts, “fuck you, Todoroki.”

“Fuck me yourself,” Todoroki says back, this time not to be cocky but just because he literally cannot function when Bakugou says his name.

“No thanks, I’m ace,” Bakugou responds causally, and Todoroki whips around to face him, “although I might make an exception for you.”

Todoroki’s entire face turns red and he chokes on air, while Midoriya bursts into laughter and Bakugou looks annoyingly proud of himself.

“Did you just come out to me and hit on me at the same time?” Todoroki asks, “I forgot how sexual your humor can be sometimes. It’s horrible to witness.”

“Best reaction ever,” Bakugou grins, “fucking worth it.”

“I hate you,” Todoroki sighs, “but it’s cool that you’re ace. I am too.”

“Fuck yeah,” Bakugou says appreciatively, “look at us. Two never-horny people and our horny as fuck useless dependent.”

“I’m not that horny,” Midoriya argues, not even denying the useless comment. 

“You rant about my goddamn muscles every fucking day,” Bakugou answers, “your platonic horniness for me is absolutely terrifying.”

“Shush, you love it,” Midoriya nudges Bakugou with his shoulder, and Bakugou allows a small smile back. Todoroki is about to feel jealous when Bakugou turns that smile on him, even bigger now, and Todoroki thinks he might have died.

“Good to know there’s another ace around,” Bakugou says, and then because he’s the devil incarnate, he adds, “Todoroki.”

“I am going to kill you,” Todoroki replies, blushing, “Katsuki.”

Bakugou turns redder than Todoroki. Midoriya dissolves into laughter again.

“Like hell are you winning,” Bakugou glares, “ Shouto.”

“Fuck,” Todoroki covers his reddening face with his hands and bangs his head on the table. He hears Bakugou cackle and the sound of his so-called friends high-fiving above him, and Todoroki sighs in embarrassment.

He wouldn’t trade them for the world.

Todoroki isn’t sure how exactly he got here. All he remembers is that before the sports festival he didn’t really care about Bakugou at all. He remembers realizing that Bakugou had been through trauma just like he had, and he’d been hurt just like everyone had in their life. Through whatever Bakugou trusted Todoroki enough to let Midoriya tell him, Todoroki slowly learned about some of the things Bakugou did to him during middle school. But Midoriya spoke of Bakugou with nothing but admiration and pride for how much he’s changed.

Todoroki remembers Bakugou after his fight with Midoriya, looking tired from all the cleaning he was doing during house arrest but also much more relaxed. There was some kind of light in both his and Midoriya’s eyes now that they were on good terms, and Todoroki knew that meant Bakugou had changed. If Midoriya could forgive Bakugou for the things he’d done, who was Todoroki to assume that Bakugou was still a bad person? Everyone knows Bakugou was kidnapped because of his villainous personality traits, but every single one of those traits could also be used in heroics.

Long story short, Todoroki feels kind of honored to be close enough to Midoriya and entangled enough in Bakugou’s life that he’s gotten to witness Bakugou’s changes. He’s seen Bakugou accept friendship and start to care about people, and he’s seen the way he is actually trying to be a better person, especially to Midoriya. They've finally become best friends again just like Midoriya wanted, and now they get along so well. They're so much better together. And when Midoriya looks so happy and Todoroki knows it's because of Bakugou, Todoroki can’t help but hate himself for how little he cared for Bakugou in the beginning. He should’ve known that people are capable of change.

Does that mean Todoroki’s going to sit down and forgive his father after everything he’s done? No. Endeavor is not Bakugou. Bakugou is a sixteen year old kid who made some really shitty mistakes, and then made up for them with his actions. Todoroki sees it in the way he uses his own kind of harsh encouragement to keep Midoriya going during training. Todoroki sees it in the way he lets Kirishima and Kaminari hang out with him and how he’s gotten comfortable with their casual touches.

Todoroki’s always been someone who observes people from the sidelines. He observes Bakugou, and he’s starting to realize that these feelings for him were probably inevitable. They’re so similar, after all, similar types of trauma and similar feelings of hurt. Todoroki thinks about how his father would react if he asked to go to therapy. Todoroki knows what having parents who can’t see that their kid is suffering is like. Todoroki knows what being standoffish and harsh because you’re blinded by your goal is like. More than anything, Todoroki understands Bakugou.

And he wants to keep understanding him, keep watching him change and grow and become the hero he always, always had the potential to be. Todoroki wants to be there to see Bakugou’s journey through to the finish.

And that, Todoroki supposes, is love.

It’s about a week after Todoroki admits to himself (and to Midoriya, since he was freaking out), that he’s in love with Bakugou that shit hits the fan. Midoriya’s told Todoroki that things with Bakugou are pretty bad, considering how many articles there are criticizing him and his actions, and how many students are almost scared to approach Bakugou because they think he’s a villain as well. But somehow, Todoroki didn’t realize that things were capable of getting this personal.

They’ve just finished sparring, and they're walking through campus to get back to the dorms. Bakugou's in a tank top with a towel around his neck that he’s using to wipe the sweat from his face. Every time he does that his shirt lifts up, and Todoroki subtly enjoys the view. They’re walking pretty close, somewhere in the last few weeks their physical boundaries have been getting pretty low. Bakugou puts his arm around Todoroki and Todoroki leans into his side more often than not. They touch quite a lot for two people who hate physical touch.

Their walks back to the dorm aren’t spent in silence anymore. Nowadays, they always have something to talk about. It’s nice, the way their silences are extremely comfortable but they can talk and the conversation is just as fluid and easy to keep up with. Todoroki didn’t think they’d have much in common, but as it turns out having a shared love for All Might that they try to keep under wraps for different reasons means they can shamelessly talk about it with each other.

Another thing they like to talk about is Midoriya. Which is what they’re doing right now, because Bakugou has endless stories about him.

“So we’re six, right,” Bakugou is saying, and Todoroki loves the sound of his voice, low and rumbling, so of course he’s listening intently, “and I’ve started bein’ shitty to him but we’re still friends. Still a couple good memories from back then. So Deku’s got this really weird obsession with Best Jeanist, ‘cause he loves All Might but he used to get all these random phases for other fucking heroes. So he tries to put Auntie’s jeans over his head like fuckin’ Jeanist does, and you can fucking guess that shitty Deku got stuck in that shit right after. It was the fuckin’ funniest thing, Auntie wasn’t home and Deku almost cried when I tried to explode the jeans offa him but then we-”

Bakugou stops abruptly, and Todoroki looks at him in concern.

“Bakugou,” Todoroki asks, and Bakugou just shushes him Todoroki sees what’s got him so worried. They’ve passed a bench of kids in the business course, and they’re laughing loud enough to have caught Bakugou’s attention. When they get closer, Todoroki sees that they’re huddled around one of the kid’s phones. Bakugou and Todoroki look at the phone from over the back of the bench, and see that it’s showing replays from the sports festival. Or-that’s not right, it’s playing some kind of video that’s just showing the part where Bakugou's getting muzzled. It’s some kind of Youtube video, Todoroki thinks, because the screen freezes over a particularly bad part of Bakugou’s struggling and the edited words, “Bakugou, the 1-A sports festival winner: U.A. student or U.A. traitor?”

“What the hell?” Todoroki whispers to Bakugou, deciding not to confront the students themselves until he knows more about what the hell this is.

“It’s a common theory,” Bakugou says back, sounding so unaffected it breaks Todoroki’s heart, “lotsa stupid people think that when I was kidnapped I joined the fucking League and now I’m a traitor. They say it’s cause I seemed so fucking rabid and my urge to win was villainous or some shit. Everything that’s ever happened to me is all connected into one sick way of proving to the world that I’m a fucking villian. Videos about it are all over the damn internet.”

“Jesus Christ,” Todoroki mutters, “Bakugou, why wouldn’t you tell anyone? Midoriya or Kirishima or me?”

“Does it matter,” Bakugou shrugs, “Deku’s yelled at me enough that I know they ain’t right, but it’s not worth makin’ a big deal over. I might not be a villain, but I am a bad fucking person and it’s just not worth it.”

“A bad person?” Todoroki echoes, not believing what he’s hearing. He’s about to say more when he hears the kids talking again.

“Dude,” one of the kids is saying, “one of my friends who went to Aldera said Bakugou bullied that Midoriya kid.”

“No way,” another girl says, “don’t they hang out a lot?”

“Guess they’re friends now,” a blond kid shrugs.

“He’s with that redhead and the Todoroki guy too,” a girl with glasses speaks up, “how the traitor has so many friends, I’ll never know.”

“Seems crazy that Bakugou could feel an emotion other than hatred or anger,” the first boy says, “he seems so fucking unlovable, ya know?”

“An asshole like him isn’t capable of love, anyway,” the first girl agrees.

Bakugou stiffens, the word unloveable obviously hitting too close to home. Flashes of memories fill Todoroki’s mind as Bakugou’s normally so self-assured and confident pales and something in his red eyes breaks.

Bakugou cooking dinner and making enough food for the entire class, even doing dessert so Satou can have a break. Bakugou letting Sero and Ashido try some weird quirk experiment on him because they were so excited about it. Bakugou yelling at Mineta when he made another gross comment about one of the girls. Bakugou swiping Kaminari’s test when he almost burst into tears at the bad score and distracting him by teaching him more guitar tricks.

Bakugou giving Kirishima a proud fistbumb and a big grin whenever Kirishima beats him in a fight. Bakugou not getting angry at losing, but being happy that his best friend won and is getting stronger. Bakugou going up to Todoroki’s obviously stressed sister during their disastrous family dinner and asking for her mapo tofu recipe, which got her away from her family and into the kitchen, effectively distracting her from the chaos outside. Todoroki wonders if he never told Bakugou how much that gesture meant to him. How it made Todoroki fall in love with him more.

Bakugou realizing his mistakes and becoming a better person. Bakugou and Midoriya sitting on the couch, so much love between them as Midoriya cuddles into his side and Bakuogu plays with his curls. Bakugou snorting at the literal shrine Midoriya dedicated to the Dynamite merch in his room. Todoroki next to Bakugou during a class camping trip a few weeks ago, flinching as matches light to make a fire and being pulled away by Bakugou, who doesn’t let go of Todoroki’s shaking hand ever after they’re back at the tents, fire out of eyeshot.

Bakugou at the sports festival, straining against a muzzle because he’s just a boy, a boy who made mistakes and has acknowledged them, regretted them, and learned from them. A boy who doesn’t deserve anything people keep putting him through, a boy who is absolutely deserving and capable of love. A boy who is a good person.

Todoroki’s crossing the bench before he realizes it. He’s facing the kids without even remembering how he got there, but he looks up and sees Bakugou in front of him, still behind the bench and gaping at him. There’s something like disbelief in his eyes, but also something a bit like hope.

“Care to repeat that?” Todoroki asks, and his voice is cold. The kids all stare at him, starting when they realize that he’s the Shouto Todoroki. But they don’t back down, eyes narrowing as the first boy, obviously their leader, speaks up.

“We said that Bakugou’s a traitor,” the boy says, “unloveable, incapable of love. Honestly, how he has all you guys as friends is beyond me.”

“He has us as friends,” Todoroki starts, eyes narrowing and voice dangerous, “because we love him. Newsflash, idiot, Katsuki Bakugou is very much loveable and capable of loving. He’s got the friends he has because he cares about them and he cares right back. Bakugou’s nowhere near a traitor, he’s one of the strongest and best heroes I’ve ever seen. And he has so many people in his life that love him. His friends? Kirishima, Kaminari, the rest? They love him. Midoriya loves Bakugou more than anything in the world. And that’s because he, like all human beings, made a mistake and then learned from it. And that's what makes him a really good person.”

It’s now or never, Todoroki suddenly realizes. He continues speaking.

“And you know what? If you still don’t believe me, I’ll give you real, tangible proof that Bakougou is not unloveable. I really hate that I have to do this in front of all you assholes, but guess what?”

Todoroki takes his eyes away from the kids and looks straight at Bakugou, giving his best smile and the softest expression he can muster while still looking intimidating to scare the kids.

“I love Katsuki Bakugou,” Todoroki declares, “and I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure Bakugou knows that. He’s never going to feel unlovable again, because I’ll be here to make sure Bakugou knows just how much I care about him. So you know what, guys? Stop being dicks to someone you know absolutely nothing about and fuck off before I unleash my quirk on you fuckers.”

Terrified, the kids get up from the bench and scramble away before Todoroki can do anything to them. Now that the kids have been dealt with, Todoroki crosses the bench again and stands right in front of Bakugou. His heart is beating out of his chest, kind of upset that this is how he ended up confessing but also not regretting it one bit. Bakugou needed to hear how much he’s loved. So Todoroki chances a look at the boy he’s so fucking in love with and Bakugou looks right back at him. His red eyes are wet, and he looks like he’s in shock.

“You know,” Bakugou starts, “you sound a whole lot like me when you’re pissed. It’s pretty fucking funny.”

“Guess so,” Todoroki nods, “I get like you when I’m defending you.”

“Did-” Bakugou says, breath hitching as he tries to talk, “did you mean it?”

“That I love you?”

Bakugou nods. Todoroki takes a risk and reaches for his hand, tangling their fingers together. Bakugou lets him.

“I love you, Bakugou,” Todoroki tells him, “and you absolutely deserve that.”

Bakugou blinks, and then his head falls forward to rest on Todoroki’s shoulder. He’s shaking a bit, and Todoroki brings his free hand up to rest in Bakuogu’s hair. Todoroki cards his fingers through it, waiting for Bakugou to talk. With a jolt, Todoroki realizes he’s not nervous at all to hear Bakugou’s answer. He knows what it’ll be, and he thinks that maybe he always did.

“Me too,” Bakugou finally says, and Todoroki smiles. 

“I can’t-” Bakugou continues, “really say it yet, but I do, Todoroki, I really fucking do.”

“I know,” Todoroki says back, “I know, Katsuki.”

Bakugou’s head lifts up at the sound of his name, and then both his hands are on Todoroki’s shoulders and he’s being pushed against the back of the bench and Bakugou’s kissing him. And holy fucking shit, Todoroki’s never been quicker to kiss back. He puts his hands around Bakugou’s waist, never his neck, and pulls Bakugou flush against him so their heartbeats bleed into one.

Todoroki is so glad he chose to start caring about people, and he’s so grateful to Bakugou for being the one who made him realize he should.

Because Bakugou kisses Todoroki against a bench on the U.A. campus, and Todoroki never wants to forget how it feels to care and be cared for. Todoroki never wants to forget this moment, because it’s right now that Todoroki realizes-

Oh. This is what it is to love.