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“It appears that Bakugou is on something of a warpath today,” Iida informed Todoroki the morning before they departed for their internships. “I suggest that you stay out of his way as best you can.”
Todoroki turned to face his taller classmate. “I make sure to never get in anyone’s way, especially not Bakugou’s. I always walk three feet away to ensure that I remain outside of the immediate explosion zone.” He inclined his head. “But thank you for the warning.”
“My meaning was that perhaps you could attempt to avoid him altogether,” Iida amended. “It would be in the best interests of not only you, but also your fellow interns at Endeavor’s agency.”
Todoroki nodded solemnly. “I see.”
~~~
“Hey, Kacchan?”
“What is it?” Bakugou snapped. “Stop hovering over me and spit it out already.”
“Uhh…” Midoriya wrung his fingers. “Could you- I mean- do you mind trying not to kill Todoroki during your internship?”
Bakugou’s head whipped around at breakneck speed. “Don’t tell me what to do! And anyways, what’s that supposed to mean, hah?”
Midoriya hesitated. “It’s just- I know you’re still mad at him over the Sports Festival-”
“Don’t you dare mention that Sports Festival,” Bakugou interjected, his voice deadly. “And don’t worry. I’ve got more common sense that that- I’m just going to show him who’s the better hero. Teach him a lesson and all.”
“Oh, okay!” Midoriya answered, although he wasn’t completely reassured.
“Now shut up and let me get back to packing.”
~~~
They arrived at the station separately, despite their teachers’ best efforts. Check-in went smoothly; they received their tickets, then went to the waiting area, where neither saw heads nor tails of the other.
However, when it came time to board the train, it became clear that they would have a problem.
They were in the same cabin.
“Oi, Half-and-Half, what’re you doing here?”
Todoroki looked up from the briefing he was reading. “This is my compartment.”
“This is my compartment! Get out!”
Todoroki blinked. “Thirty-five, correct? Then I’m where I’m meant to be.”
Bakugou glanced up at the number embossed over the cabin entrance. “No way am I sharing this space with someone like you for two hours.”
“Well, there must be a way, since it’s clearly happening right now-”
“Shut it. The least you can do is be quiet if I’m going to be stuck with you.” With that, Bakugou slung his luggage into the overhead bin before throwing himself into the open seat.
~~~
“Bakugou, we’ve arrived,” Todoroki said as he reached over the table to gently shake the other. Bakugou’s eyes slowly opened, and then he shot up.
“Die!!- oh, it’s you.”
“Hmm,” Todoroki mused. “I supposed that’s what Iida meant about you being on a warpath. I understand now.”
“What was that?” Bakugou growled. “Say that again, and see if you walk out of this train uninjured-”
Ignoring him, Todoroki grabbed the duffel off the floor and stood up, brushing past Bakugou as he exited.
“Hey! I’m talking to you, didn’t daddy dearest ever teach you any manners?”
Todoroki paused. Turned.
“He taught me what pain was. He taught me enough about how to not be a good father. The latter counts as manners of sorts, I think.”
For once, Bakugou had no response. He only watched wordlessly as Todoroki disappeared down the hallway.
~~~
The Number Two Hero’s agency’s internship program was run on a strict schedule: training, duty delegation, instructions, patrols, mealtime, paperwork, repeat. Patrolling and paperwork were fine. They rarely received tasks to do, and the rare odd task was usually taken up by the overeager interns, so Todoroki and Bakugou didn’t have much of a problem with that, either.
The worst part was training.
They were subjected to a variation of the relentless training that Todoroki had endured all his life, but with slight differences in difficulty depending on each intern’s ability.
Todoroki had it the worst. Endeavor was relentless when it came to his own son, and Bakugou tried not to think about the implications of what he was witnessing every day. It made it difficult to work under Endeavor and still respect the man as much as he had before.
Bakugou and Todoroki were often trained together, which would have been fine if not for the comments that Endeavor would make comparing the two.
“Shouto, your technique is getting sloppy. Do you see your classmate’s control? Learn from him. Do I need to show you up close again?”
‘Up close,’ it turned out, meant Endeavor searing Todoroki as he demonstrated how to increase the temperature and precision of fire attacks.
“He’d prefer you as his son,” Todoroki murmured after one particularly brutal session. “He doesn’t even have to hurt you to get you to channel your anger and give it your all.”
Bakugou didn’t like the way that sounded.
~~~
They went out to eat occasionally. As they talked, Bakugou found himself weirdly invested and righteously angered as Todoroki dropped casual statements about his family.
“Don’t just let him do this to you,” he said one day. “There’s gotta be something that can be done.”
“Like what?” Todoroki asked.
Bakugou took it as a challenge.
~~~
He couldn’t do anything to disrupt the work of the agency as a whole, of course. As much of a jerk Endeavor was, he was also the main figure keeping the surrounding area safe.
That didn’t mean he couldn’t deal with some messed up paperwork, odd or mildly menacing notes on his laptop, or an agency redecoration with skulls and rainbows.
For the last one, Bakugou got the sidekicks and secretaries involved as well, convincing them to change their screensavers, wallpapers, and profile pictures to the nyan cat so that every time Endeavor looked over their shoulder or tried to send an email within the agency… well.
~~~
“Bakugou, thank you,” Todoroki said at the end of the week as they were cleaning their room and preparing to return home.
They were roommates. This had been the source of many arguments at first, but now, neither of them really minded. Throughout the week, a sort of unspoken agreement had developed: let’s set aside our differences to make Endeavor’s life as annoying as possible.
It was kind of fun.
“I didn’t do it just for you,” Bakugou answered. “I couldn’t stand it, either.”
“Still. Thanks.”
“Whatever.”
~~~
For the return trip, they were in the same cabin again, but they accepted it with simple nods and set their suitcases and bags inside with no complaint.
Todoroki slid into one of the seats and pulled out a crossword.
“Hey, scoot over.”
Todoroki blinked and looked up.
“I want to do it too.”
Wordlessly, Todoroki complied, and Bakugou plopped into the seat next to him.
“Five across, it’s Jeanist. His jurtlenecks were the number two bestselling clothing item last year.” He snatched the pencil and filled the letters in as Todoroki looked on in surprise. “You’re welcome.”
They did three more after that, then an attendant came and asked for lunch orders. As they ate lunch, Todoroki chewed thoughtfully.
“Hey, Bakugou?”
“Mmm?”
“I think I fell in love with you when you redecorated my father’s agency to make him mad.”
Bakugou choked on his sandwich. Todoroki reached over and smacked him on the back as he attempted to clear his windpipe.
“What- Icyhot, you can’t just say things like this!” he stuttered when he finally recovered.
“Sorry,” Todoroki said, not sounding apologetic at all.
There was a pause.
“You’re not half bad yourself. What do you say about a date when we get back?”
It was Todoroki’s turn to inhale a little too much apple juice. He coughed, then cleared his throat.
“Isn’t this a date right now, though?” he asked. “We’re eating a meal together with nobody else present.”
Bakugou rolled his eyes, setting down his sandwich. “By that logic, we’ve gone on enough dates this past week that we should just skip to being boyfriends already.”
“I’d like that, yes.”
This time, Bakugou had the foresight to not be actively eating. Nonetheless, he choked on air. “Half-and-Half?! What is wrong with you?”
Todoroki tilted his head.
“You know what, don’t even try to answer that. Sure. Let’s date.”
Todoroki smiled, pulling out his phone and snapping a picture of Bakugou, which he sent to the 1-A grouchat captioned by a single word: boyfriend.
“What the-?”
As Bakugou’s phone began vibrating aggressively with all the congratulatory messages from classmates, his eyes narrowed. “You just did something stupid, didn’t you.”
Todoroki shrugged. “I’m not sure my actions can be classified as stupidity. Our classmates are simply excited about us.”
Bakugou rolled his eyes affectionately. “Oh my gosh, I’m dating an idiot.”
~~~
As they stepped off the train and into the station, Midoriya was waiting for them. “Aww, I’m so happy for you guys!” he squealed. “Can I be the best man at your wedding?”
Todoroki placed his hand over his heart, completely serious. “I’m sorry, Midoriya, but in my heart Katsuki will always be the best.”
Bakugou screamed.