Chapter Text
People are talkin', talkin' 'bout people
I hear them whisper, you won't believe it
They think we're lovers kept under covers
I just ignore it, but they keep saying
We laugh just a little too loud
We stand just a little too close
We stare just a little too long
Maybe they're seeing something we don't, darlin'
Let's give them something to talk about
Let's give them something to talk about
Let's give them something to talk about
How about love?
- Something to Talk About by Bonnie Raitt
Another day, another scandal straight from the catwalk!
Popular male model Bakugou Katsuki has once again grabbed our attention - sadly not with his stunning looks but with a recent blowout with his latest coworker, fellow model Monoma Neito . Sources tell us that the two blondes were arguing so loudly that the shoot had to be interrupted for over twenty minutes; more than just unprofessional if you ask us.
Bakugou has always been known for his explosive temper and vulgar mouth but we’re starting to worry that’s all there is behind that handsome face and smoking hot body. Our advice? Get a new personality or you’re going to need to find a new job soon Bakugou! No one wants to work with someone that negative , no matter how pretty the packaging is!
Katsuki put his phone away after posting the shot of the badass crown that was to be part of his outfit for the evening. His mother’s assistant was quick to take the device from him and put it away before he could wrinkle his outfit with even more unnecessary moving around. In the background, the radio was playing some kind of pop channel. But the next words of the announcer had the potential to ruin the evening before it had even begun.
"And next up is “Eyes on You” by rising star-"
"Turn that shit off!" Katsuki yelled at his mother who was standing next to him.
"Don’t yell at me, brat! And don't move! Are you a professional or what?" she yelled back and he could see in her eyes the desire to hit him over the head like he was a bratty five-year-old. But she did turn towards the radio and changed it to a different station. She threw a knowing look over her shoulder.
"And why the sudden hatred of the radio?"
"It's just shitty music. I don't want to waste my time listening to something that fucking sucks."
His mother rolled her eyes but chose not to comment and instead got back to her work. For this year’s Art Gala, one of the biggest events in the fashion industry held in the most prestigious gallery in all of Japan, Katsuki had drawn the short straw and would go dressed in his mother’s design.
Not that he preferred his father's designs, he thought both had their merits, but his father was much more relaxed while dressing him. He and his mother were just too similar in their tempers and ended up screaming at each other for a few hours each time they worked together.
It was a long-standing tradition that, for the annual gala, his mother would wear one of his father's designs and vice versa and Katsuki was free to choose a design from either. This year's theme was “ Gods in the 21st century ” and his mother's design had simply been more badass.
It consisted of tight black leather pants and a blood-red robe, Grecian style with delicate golden thread woven through, that was draped artfully over his body, leaving part of his upper body bare. His arms and torso were painted with intricate designs in black and gold and his face had been accented with black and gold makeup as well. His accessories were a dangerous-looking black crown with spikes, several pairs of rings and earrings, and two heavy bracers that covered his forearms.
In hindsight, going with his mother's design might not have been a good idea, even though it fit his tastes to a T.
"This outfit isn't going to help me with the whole typecasting thing my manager was riding my ass about," he said while critically examining one of the bracelets.
"Stop complaining, you brat! You'll just have to charm everyone with your sparkling personality." At that, both of them let out an identical snort and grinned at each other. She stepped closer to adjust the fall of the robe and her hands hesitated a bit.
"Maybe try to be a bit more polite." She gave him an unusually serious look that stopped the angry answer in his throat. "Your PR team has been working so many extra hours after the last shoot, it wouldn't hurt to try and make their job a little easier."
Embarrassed, he looked away. He knew that he had screwed up with that one. But Monoma had just pressed all of his buttons and he hadn't been able to help himself, he’d just exploded at him. He gave a single nod to show he had understood her concern for what it was. Silently, they finished getting him into his outfit for the night. The last finishing touches of make-up were applied to his face by the make-up artist who did most of his make-up for these kinds of events, when his mother turned to the door.
“I'm going to go and meet up with your father to get ready. We'll see you at the Gala later, Katsuki."
“Are you and the old man competing again?” Even if it may sound surprising to some people, both of Katsuki’s parents were rather competitive. And since both had their own line of designs the unofficial competition had arisen of who could dress more celebrities at a red carpet event and whose name was mentioned more often in the news in the days after an event.
It was all in good fun and his parents never held a grudge against the winner but both wanted to win each time it happened. Especially when they were at the event themselves. Katsuki had always tried to stay out of it, but since he had been roped into the limelight himself at a young age he had, of course, often worn the designs of both of his parents.
“Of course we are,” his mother answered with a sharp smile. “You’re my first point. But your father seemed rather confident this morning. I heard him talk with someone on the phone about having landed a new client from the music industry. But I’m not worried. I mean, look at you!”
"Whatever,” he said with an eye roll and gestured to the door. “See ya later, hag." She bristled at the name and threw a rude gesture over her shoulder at him, which made him cackle.
He turned back towards the mirror and gave himself one last once-over. He looked good. More than good, but that was nothing new. It was time to remind these extras just why exactly he was on his way to becoming the number one male model in the industry. Fuck those reporters with their gossip, fuck that copycat Monoma and especially fuck that shitty radio that kept reminding him of things he never wanted to think about ever again.
The grin in the mirror turned feral.
Bakugou Katsuki had a red carpet to dominate.
Judging from the pictures we got in the mail today we weren’t the only ones enjoying the nice weather in the last few days!
Rising Pop Sensation Midoriya Izuku has been spotted walking the streets of downtown Tokyo with a mysterious woman on his arm. Could it be that the young man, who has been capturing women’s hearts left and right, is once again off the market?
Or maybe this isn’t a new boo at all but a rekindling of an old flame? His last relationship with fellow singer Uraraka Ochako ended six months ago, but it has been pointed out many times on social media that the woman he has been seen with looks suspiciously like her.
Whatever it is, many hearts will be broken if it turns out to be true! Stay tuned for even more news and the latest rumors around Japan’s sweetheart!
“Why does everybody always assume I’m dating any woman I’m seen with?” Izuku grumbled as he scrolled through the latest gossip news with his name in it. “It wasn’t that bad when we had just broken up.”
“That’s because you weren’t so famous back then,” came Melissa’s answer through the speakers of his phone. He switched back to their video call. Around him, two stylists were busy fixing the drape of his outfit which he kept messing up with his nervous fidgeting. He felt bad for making their work harder than it needed to be but he couldn’t help himself.
Having everybody look at him and having to attend fancy events like this was still new to him. His sudden rise to fame had come out of nowhere and some days he still felt like he was playing catch up with everything.
He had spent years recording covers of popular songs and uploading them on YouTube. He had already made peace with the fact that the community and fans he had amassed through that were everything he would be able to achieve on his own and he had mostly been fine with that.
But that had been before the girl he had met in an online forum discussing different microphones turned out to be Melissa Shield, daughter of David Shield, director of some of the most popular action movies of all time. Suddenly his music was shown to big names in the music industry and Izuku met a ton of people that he had only ever heard of through the news.
The first single he produced together with the Present Mic music label had been an instant hit and his career had skyrocketed since then. He loved the opportunities he had now and the feeling of performing for sold-out stadiums was something he couldn’t compare to anything else. But, in the end, he was still just Izuku, a fumbling YouTube singer. Thankfully, the press seemed to confuse his awkwardness with charm.
He was afraid to make a fool out of himself in front of millions and so he tried to avoid too many public outings with the press present if he could. But this time he hadn’t been able to say no. Even though he and Melissa had broken up almost two years ago they were still good friends and when her father had gifted him the ticket to the charity event in the most prestigious art gallery in all of Japan, he hadn’t been able to decline.
He was honestly excited to go. He loved dressing up and the whole event was for a good cause. In his initial excitement, the thing he had forgotten was that the outfits were works of art themselves and needed to be handled with care. So now he was afraid to ruin this masterpiece he was wearing.
“I like your crown,” Melissa said, her eyes wandering over the parts of Izuku she could see over the phone. “Who’s the designer again?”
At that question, Izuku had to smile. He had been surprised when someone had reached out to him through his agent about the gala. He wasn’t sure how Bakugou Masaru had known he would attend the event but he hadn’t wasted any time with offering to dress Izuku for the occasion. He hadn’t been sure if the Masaru would even remember who he was, since the Bakugou family had moved away shortly after the start of middle school, due to their ever-growing success in the fashion industry, and Izuku had never heard from them again.
He knew his mother and Aunt Mitsuki were still exchanging emails but Izuku never knew what those were about and he never asked. Kacchan had made it very clear that he didn’t want any contact with Izuku and Izuku had listened to him, too hurt about the loss to do anything else.
“Earth to Izuku,” Melissa said, her fingers snapping near the microphone to try and grab his attention. “I asked you a question.”
“Oh! Sorry, Melissa,” Izuku answered her with a sheepish grin. “This is from one of the Bakugou lines.”
Melissa whistled through her teeth and gave him an appraising look.
“Look at you, moving up in the world! The Bakugou lines are made out of some fancy stuff! I wouldn’t be surprised if the crown on your head was made out of real gold.”
At hearing that Izuku panicked slightly.
“Oh god, do you think it is?! Melissa, I’m so terrified that I’m going to ruin this outfit!”
“Relax, Izuku!” Melissa said with a calming smile. “You’re going to do fine. You just have to walk down a straight line on the red carpet, smile your heart-warming smile and answer a few questions. Once you are inside there won’t be any press and you can relax a bit.”
“You’re right,” he answered, taking deep breaths to try and calm himself. “It’s just like any other red carpet. I can do this. Nothing is going to happen.”
One of the stylists gave a polite cough to draw his attention to the state of his outfit. With a quick smile in her direction, he lifted the phone a bit higher.
“I need to go, I’ve already wasted enough of your time.”
“Talking to you is never a waste of my time, Izuku. Be safe and call me later so you can freak out about the celebrities you met in peace.”
“You’re the best,” he said before ending the call and handing the phone to one of the stylists. “Sorry for making you wait.”
“It’s not a problem, Sir,” one of the two women said and Izuku regretted not having asked for their names earlier. Doing it now it would just seem weird.
The finishing touches on his outfit only took a few more minutes and before long Izuku could see the entirety of his outfit in the mirror.
The main part was a flowing, mint green robe over white leggings that covered his torso tastefully, but left his arms bare. He hadn’t been completely comfortable with the idea of bare arms but the gold jewelry that was wound around his arms in spirals covered most of his scars and made him feel almost powerful. The Grecian style robe was covered in stitching depicting different plants and leaves and shimmered when he moved. His make-up was also mostly gold and green tones and with the crown in his hair, the long earrings, and his ring-adorned fingers, he really felt the part of a god of nature.
The surprising revelation that he did look indeed good did wonders for his confidence. He was still afraid to mess everything up by either ruining his outfit or even worse that of one of the other guests but he was fairly confident that he might make it through this evening. His mind drifted once again to his old childhood friend and he wondered if he would be there too this evening. But in the end, he didn’t have time to dwell on it for too long.
After all, he had a red carpet to survive.
Hello, all you lovely fashionistas out there!
It is once again time for one of the most exciting events of the year! And no, I don’t mean the New York Fashion Show!
The annual charity Art Gala is this evening and everyone involved is already vibrating with excitement! But let’s be honest, even though we love charity and giving back, the thing most of us are curious about is one thing: The outfits.
We want to know this year’s Do’s and Don’t’s at this glamorous event! Who will use this theme to stand out and who is going to be boring and just wear a generic outfit? Who will be the King or Queen of the red carpet and who will be the jester?
But let’s not forget about the people that are inside those lovely outfits! We can’t wait to see who will arrive together and who won’t! As we all know who you walk the red carpet with tells all of us a lot about the newest relationship gossip !
We can’t wait and we’re sure you can’t either!
Katsuki had a love-hate relationship with red carpets.
On the one hand, he loved the attention. He was the center of everyone and all eyes were pointed at him. He knew he looked good and everyone else knew it too.
On the other hand, there were all those useless extras wanting his attention. If he had a choice he would simply ignore them and keep on walking but that wasn’t how all of this worked. You needed to make nice with the paparazzi and making nice was one of the things Katsuki despised more than anything.
But especially today it didn’t seem like he had a choice. If he wanted to dominate this event he needed to make sure there was nothing anyone could criticize him for. His outfit was flawless as were the rest of his looks. Now he only needed to survive the reporters with his dignity and their faces still intact.
Twenty minutes later he started to doubt his ability to stay calm. He had three different reporters ask him about the incident with that fucking copycat bitch at the set the other day and Katsuki was this close to punching someone in the face if they brought up his “explosive temper” again.
Which wouldn’t help with the comments about his temper but he was sure it would feel really good. For about 4 seconds.
For once he was grateful when his parents arrived on the red carpet. Showing a united family front always made for good headlines and it helped that all of their outfits were stunning. His father was dressed similar to Katsuki but with a more serious and less rebellious look to it. His mother was dressed in cream and lavender tones, flowers and jewelry braided through her hair and dangling from her clothes.
They posed for a few pictures when his father caught sight of something or someone and smiled.
“Ah, that would be another point for me,” he said and subtly adjusted his glasses. His mother followed his gaze and gasped.
“Isn’t that-?” She looked at his father while Katsuki still couldn’t see who they were talking about. “How did you manage that?”
“I asked.”
“Smartass.”
“Always, dear.”
Katsuki craned his neck to try and catch sight of whoever his father had roped into wearing one of his designs. As if commanded, the crowd in front of him parted and he could see.
His first knee-jerk reaction was awe. Try as he might, he couldn’t deny how good the other man looked. But as soon as he registered who exactly it was, every positive feeling was burned away and replaced with furious rage. His old man had to be fucking kidding him.
“You let him wear one of your designs?”
“Hm? Of course, I did! Why wouldn’t I?”
“Because it’s fucking Deku!”
“I know! I think it’s lovely that he managed to fulfill his dream of becoming a musician!” Katsuki wasn’t fooled by his father’s innocent face. His old man knew exactly what he was doing with this and it was pissing Katsuki off. He couldn’t even do anything about it right now because if he went off on his father the media would have a field day with this.
His father leaned closer to him, his head turned away from the lenses of the photographers.
“You and your mother are very similar, not only in your looks but also in how you handle the PR. I like to take a more… subtle approach. If you’re seen with the resident sunshine prince of pop and take some photos on the red carpet no one is going to talk about Monoma tomorrow. You don’t have to like this, but we both know that in this business everything is about timing and well-placed coincidences.”
He leaned back and gave Katsuki a warm smile before turning around and waving at Deku again.
Katsuki knew that his father was right. It didn't change the whirlwind of emotions swirling around inside of him. He wasn't sure what kind of face he was making and he was too distracted to school it into something neutral.
Katsuki saw Deku turn towards their group and it almost felt as if time slowed down when their eyes met for the first time in over ten years. Deku and his green eyes were still an open book. He had never been good at lying or keeping his face from giving him away. And despite their distance, emotional and physical, Katsuki could still read him.
There was shock, confusion, sadness, and fear - but also a muted kind of excitement and happiness that made Katsuki want to scoff. What did that nerd have the right to be happy about? It wasn't as if they had been on good terms when they parted and Katsuki didn't intend to mend any bridges. He would endure this quick photo session and then never talk to Deku again in this life.
He refused to acknowledge the fact that his eyes were wandering over Deku's form, taking in all the changes the past years had brought with them. He firmly pushed the sudden spark of interest that awakened within him away. So what if the nerd was nice to look at now? He was still Deku.
Almost hesitantly Deku approached them, obviously unsure of his welcome.
“Izuku! You look amazing!” Katsuki’s father said and smiled warmly at the singer. “I knew I picked out something that would suit you.”
“Bakugou-san!” Deku said as he came close enough to be heard about the frantic shouting of the media and the incessant clicking of their cameras. “Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to wear something as beautiful as your design!”
Katsuki’s father chuckled and laid a warm hand on Deku’s shoulder.
“Now, now, my boy, no need for such formalities. I’ve known you since you were in diapers after all.” Katsuki didn’t miss the increase of volume from the press upon hearing that. His father really knew how to work the crowd. If he wasn’t so furious right now he would be impressed.
“And you don’t need to thank me,” the old man continued and gave Deku another smile. “I knew you would look fabulous in this. And look!” he gestured over to his wife and Katsuki and subtly brought Deku closer into their circle. “We all match!”
And suddenly Katsuki found himself face to face with Deku since leaving him behind in Musutafu all those years ago.
On the rare occasions where he had imagined meeting him again, it had never been like this. In his mind, he had gone back to gloat to Deku about how successful and famous he had become, while the other was still stuck in the small town where both of them had grown up. He would’ve shown the other man that, even though he had looked down on Katsuki for his dream, Katsuki had made it while Deku hadn’t.
Even after Deku’s comet-like entrance into the world of the rich and famous, Katsuki had never thought they would be meeting like this. He had made sure to avoid events with Deku as a guest as much as possible.
Meeting him on the red carpet, both clad in the designs of his parents and surrounded by gossip-hungry vultures, had not been in his plans.
He couldn’t decide on what to say that wasn’t an insult. He couldn’t do that, at least not in earshot of all those photographers. But he also couldn’t stand around and not interact with the nerd. So he schooled his face into a neutral expression and nodded.
“Deku.”
The nerd’s eyes widened and a light blush covered his freckled cheeks. What was that about?
“Kacchan,” came the breathless answer before a blinding smile broke out on his face and Katsuki found himself lost for words again. But this time for a completely different reason that he still refused to acknowledge. If he ignored how his body reacted to seeing Deku again he was sure it would go away.
“Let’s pose together, shall we?” his father said, gently nudging Deku even closer to Katsuki so that the two of them were now standing shoulder to shoulder between Katsuki’s parents, his father with his hand on Deku’s shoulder and his mother next to Katsuki.
“After all,” he continued with a mysterious smile. “We’re all matching so wonderfully.”
And then they were blinded by a wall of flashing lights.
Liveblog from the Charity Art Gala:
As expected, the outfits are blowing us away, some in good ways and sadly some in bad ways. The star of the show are once again the Bakugous with their tasteful elegance and bold choices combined into two different lines which manage to compliment each other beautifully.
There were some surprises in who walked the red carpet together but from what we could see and hear there seems to be more to the story! Not to be mysterious, but it seems that Bakugou Katsuki has some connections to the music industry that none of us knew about!
Follow me for more updates on the story and how it develops!
Izuku’s head still felt like it was spinning as he followed the other attendees into the big hall that was reserved for the actual dinner part of the evening. The atmosphere inside was a lot more relaxed than outside, since the press wasn’t allowed in. But he still couldn’t wrap his head around the fact that he had essentially just walked the red carpet with Kacchan.
Well, with Kacchan and his parents. While wearing matching outfits. And there would be photos of it all over the internet! Izuku needed to make sure that he saw all of them.
Even in his wildest dreams, he hadn’t thought meeting Kacchan again would be like this. He had hoped for a conversation maybe. He had been prepared for insults or ignorance. He hadn’t anticipated this.
He had split up from the Bakugous to find his seat and that threw him into a new crisis. He knew almost all of the names of his tablemates and all of them were because Izuku followed them on social media or had admired them from afar while growing up. How was he supposed to make conversation with them without making a complete fool out of himself?!
It didn’t help when he realized that even though he wasn’t near Kacchan anymore he could still clearly see him from his seat. He was sitting beside his parents and seemed to be in a heated discussion with them about something. Probably about how much he didn’t want to see Izuku again.
He was ripped out of his musing by a voice to his right.
“That Bakugou boy seems to have quite the temper.”
Izuku turned his head and was faced with an older man that he couldn’t quite place, but was sure had to be famous to be here.
“I guess,” he answered without thinking, still trying to remember where he recognized the man from. “But Kacchan has always been passionate about everything.”
Instantly he felt the blush creeping over his face as he realized he had just used his childhood nickname in public to someone much higher up the food chain than Izuku himself.
“Uhm, I mean-!” he tried to save himself but was interrupted again.
“Kacchan? Well, well, aren’t you familiar with our resident exploding model,” the man said, a sly smile on his face.
“Well,” Izuku said and was proud of himself that he hadn’t stuttered. “We grew up together so it’s a hard habit to lose sometimes.”
The man nodded in understanding.
“It’s good that he has friends who understand him. The press can be cruel sometimes, especially to rising stars. It’s important that you have people who remind you to step back from work and take a break.”
Izuku smiled in answer. Maybe talking wouldn’t be so bad after all.
It turned out most people at his table had worked in the music industry or had ties to it, so conversation flowed naturally and Izuku could hardly believe how normal and not out of place he felt surrounded by celebrities he had seen and admired on TV all of his life.
He still wished some of his friends would've been able to come too, but the only one who would've been able to was Uraraka, and she was busy at the other end of the country with a concert.
All in all the evening had been fun, the food had been absolutely delicious and he had gotten a photo together with Kacchan, even if they hadn't had the opportunity to talk yet. But Izuku was optimistic that today wouldn’t be the last time he would see Kacchan. They were finally standing on the same stage in life and hadn't that been what Izuku had always wanted? To be able to face Kacchan as an equal?
He ignored the tiny voice in his head that insisted that standing beside Kacchan wasn't all he wished for. He had become pretty good at denying those kinds of desires for his childhood friend in the last few years. With maybe the exception of one or two particularly mouthwatering photoshoots in between. But Izuku was only human, okay?!
He was trying so hard not to think of Kacchan and the effect he had on Izuku that he hadn't noticed someone approaching him from behind.
"Enjoying the party, Deku?"
Izuku startled and whirled around. In front of him stood the object of all his confusion, the looming effect his height gave him only strengthened by the intimidating crown on his head.
"Kacchan!" he squeaked out. He had wanted to talk to Kacchan, yes, but he hadn't been prepared for it to be right now. What was he supposed to say?
' Hey, I don't need to ask how you've been, since I've followed your career all this time. But do you maybe want to catch up anyway? Do you still hate me by the way or are we cool?'
From the look on Kacchan's face, Izuku leaned towards the answer being 'no' .
Kacchan looked around at the people that had begun giving them interested looks and grabbed his wrist to tug him a bit away from the crowd into a more secluded nook in the wall.
Izuku wasn't sure what was going on. He hadn't seen Kacchan in years and now he was so close to him for the second time that evening. One of Kacchan's arms came up and caged him in against the wall and Izuku felt faint in the knees at having all that skin and those rather impressive biceps right next to his face.
"So, how does it feel, Deku?" Kacchan asked with a smirk.
"W-What do you mean, K-Kacchan?" Izuku stuttered out and cursed himself. Why couldn't he keep his cool in situations like this?
"How does it feel, knowing that all your success is just because you got some influential friends?"
Izuku felt as if a bucket of ice had been dumped straight into his stomach. There was a ringing in his ears and he could only gape up at Kacchan, his eyes wide in shock.
"I mean, I listened to your music. And let's be honest, it's not that good." Kacchan leaned closer, his smirk turning gleeful and cruel. "So what did you have to do to get this far?"
Before Izuku could even start to think about a response to that they were interrupted by the flash of a camera.
Startled, the two of them turned around and saw a photographer running through the crowd, chased by security personnel.
"Whatever," Kacchan said and stepped away from Izuku, subtly fixing his outfit. "See you never, loser."
And just as suddenly as he had appeared he was gone, leaving Izuku even more confused and heartbroken than ever before.
And once again the charity Art Gala has closed their doors for the year!
We’ve been blessed by a plethora of amazing costumes and outfits and the amount of money raised this year has once again smashed through all of our expectations!
But of course, just because the event is over doesn’t mean we’re not still interested in what happened inside. Even though most of the media wasn’t allowed inside of the gallery, some brave souls still sneaked inside to bring you the hottest gossip !
And oh, dear readers, do we have news for you!
It seems a new hot, power couple is forming on the horizon! Not only did they walk the red carpet together - in matching outfits, no less! - but several sources tell us they were quite cozy with each other on the inside. Nicknames, history, close contact, you name it, the people have seen it between those two!
We’re all waiting with baited breaths for the official announcement of this juicy news about pop idol Midoriya Izuku and model Bakugou Katsuki !
Or, as they call themselves, Deku and Kacchan !
We love to see it!