Chapter Text
“The car is waiting for us.” Shoto spoke in the same dry tone as usual. No accusation, no annoyance – a simple statement, an information.
It infuriated Katsuki beyond measures nonetheless, like anything else would had in this stupid situation. How was it possible, that he was on the brink of fucking up again?
That he had to attend the Remedial Course with damn Icy-Hot for 3 forsaken months was embarrassing enough, Katsuki didn´t need anybody to call Aizawa-sensei, because one of his problem children had lost parts of his equipment.
“Then go and wait next to it.” He yelled, without granting Shoto eye contact. Instead he dropped to his knees and searched through his bag in desperate hope to find the missing grenade. It had to be in there, it had to be... Katsuki would rather turn this room upside down, than going back to the Training Hall, making his failure visible for everybody.
When the soft snap of the closing door promised the blonde boy the safety of solitude, a deep sigh of exhaustion escaped his lips and his shoulders slumped forward. Lately, it had gotten harder and harder to keep his guard up. It was all too much, too overwhelming. Not only the guilt for All Might´s demise, that still haunted him. There was also the envy towards Deku and One for All, the bond it automatically created between the shitty nerd and their childhood hero, the shame to have failed the Provisional Hero License Exam and the fact, that some of his classmates had already started their first work studies. All this, while Bakugou Katsuki, No. 1 Hero in the making, was crawling over the floor, looking for explosives, he hadn´t taken appropriate care of.
His throat started to tighten and tears gathered in the corner of his eyes. `Don´t you dare crying like a pathetic baby, you moron.´ Katsuki scolded himself, wiping the treacherous liquid away violently.
And then, on top of it all, they had been assigned Tutors today – allegedly all carefully chosen to meet their needs and short-comings.
ˋPahh, as if!´Katsuki thought to himself. It was a lousy pretext for something else, because he´d had to witness, how the Half-and-Half Bastard had been teamed up with Burnin, a fire using hero from his father´s fancy-pancy agency and he would have to endure some Hero Commissioner´s idiotic offspring, an up-tight paper-pusher without combat experience, who was obviously only here, because of his connections.
Katsuki bent forward to search under the lockers again, when an unfamiliar voice caught him by surprise: “And what are you hoping to find down there?”
In shock, the boy jumped to his feet and searched for the source of the disturbance. Contrary to the sound, Katsuki recognised that smug, stupid face immediately. A cry of frustration wanted to break out of his chest. Life apparently enjoyed messing with him today.
To tame some of his explosive temper, he inhaled forcefully through his nostrils, yet still growled: “Get lost.”
“Whoops!” His new Tutor gasped in fake indignation, accompanied by a somehow friendly wink. “Is this the proper way to address your Senpai?”
Senpai – what a presumptuous self-description. Katsuki would solely decide for himself who he would grant this honour. And that guy wasn´t even on his list. So, he grunted dismissively: “You would have to be a hero to earn that title.”
The other ignored the snappy remark with a lenient smile and stated in a warm tone: “Well, I saw Todoroki-kun leaving all by himself and wondered, where you were. As you have a history of getting abducted, I thought it is for the best, if I check on you.”
The reference to his inglorious summer, made Katsuki flinch internally, left a stinging pain in his guts. His Ego wanted to shoot back immediately, put the bastard in his place. As if that office-rotting wimp could do anything useful against the League of Villains. But just before he started to pour his contempt over that unwanted addition to his Training, Katsuki recognised a tiny alarm bell ringing in the back of his head. Although he had no clue, what set it off, Katsuki had the feeling it might be better to listen to it. So, he grit his teeth and pressed out: “I am fine.”
“Really?” the dark-haired man in his mid-twenties asked incredulously, tilting his head to the side, as if to get a different perspective of his Protégé.
Then, his Tutor strolled casually through the room, only to come to a halt right in front of Katsuki, who´s mouth slowly transformed into his usual, condescending pout. The facial expression of his counterpart, however, seemed full of concern and care. His smooth tone even carried notes of compassion, when he continued: “From back there, you appeared distraught and in urgent need of help.”
The direct comment about his emotional state caught Katsuki by surprise and an unpleasant feeling of exposure crawled up his spine. Since when had that shithead been in the room? Had he already sneaked in, when Todoroki had left?
ˋDamn it.´ Katsuki cursed in his head. More unpleasant discomfort was rising from his stomach. He should have controlled himself better. Letting his guard down, was only meant to happen in his room in privacy, not on the floor of semi-public spaces. Especially, not in front of an incompetent douchebag, he would never think much of. That idiot with his dull, sympathetic smile was not aiming for a weird-shit emotional bonding experience, was he? If so, Katsuki realised, he had just unwillingly created the perfect opportunity with his foolish weakness and it angered him tremendously.
After the announcement this afternoon, his initial plan had been to ignore this annoying inconvenience of a Tutor as efficiently as possible. Katsuki did not need him, he was perfectly fine on his own and it was very important, that the useless silver spooner got that right from the beginning. Therefore, Katsuki emphasized: “I am fine.”
His Tutor continued to smile affectionately, when he gave back: “After reading your file, I figured that communicating about vulnerabilities and emotions is not one of your strengths. But no worries, that is exactly, what I am here for.”
Another burning wave of anger washed through Katsuki, heating up his body to a dangerously fiery temperature. Yet, before he could explode, the alarm bell rang louder. There was something about this guy, that arose an uncommon feeling of nervousness - something flaky, that made him itchy. The shown kindness seemed permeated by something deceiving, something Katsuki couldn´t fully grasp yet. But it made one thing painfully clear: Working with that guy was going to be purely awful.
As hidden as possible, he clenched one hand to a fist and let it vanish in his pocket. Lately, this method had deemed itself pretty useful, to help him stay in control of his temper. The most important thing right now, was to gain the upper hand and find a way out of this pestering encounter.
To get his Tutor off his back, Katsuki said: “I am not in need of help. I have everything under control. No reason to worry.”
“Hmm, funny. And I thought, you were in distress, because you lost this.” Unexpectedly, the other snatched the missing grenade out of his back pocket and held it right in front of Katsuki´s face.
`Fuck.´ The internal curse reverberated through his brain and he had to dig his fingernails painfully into his palms to stay focused.
“See, this” his counterpart continued, turning the grenade around its own axes. “This is something, I would consider worrisome. Because, if you can be accused of negligence, you are legally liable for damage, that is caused by your equipment. So, losing it should be avoided under all circumstances.”
Katsuki´s heart began to beat violently in his chest, his mouth was getting dry and he could feel a growing tremor in his muscles. It took him a moment to gather his composure to avoid exploding right into this self-righteous ass´s face. He craved it, he desired it, but the alarm bell screeched like crazy. And finally, Katsuki understood why: there was a confusing glitch between content and expression.
Worry, my ass! The jerk had found the grenade in the Training Hall and had decided to come running instantly to rub it in his face. That asshole might pretend to mean well, but Katsuki was not buying it. There was something off with him. Annoyed, Katsuki closed his eyes, so the other could not see them role in their sockets and corrected his assessment: the next 3 months were going to be fucking unbearable, if he did not come up with a solid plan, how to handle the creep. But firstly, he had to get out of here.
So, he answered with the most unprovocative thing, his brain could currently come up with: “Gotcha.”
Then, Katsuki reached for the grenade to reclaim his possession. But before he could grab it, the other pulled it away with surprisingly sharp reflexes.
When his hand slid through thin air, Katsuki cursed irritated: “What the hell!“ – the anger shortly looming to slip out of control.
His Tutor, however, responded softly: “Language, please.” And continued unbothered by Katsuki´s aggravation: “You were so quickly out and about, after the announcement of the tutoring program, that I didn´t got the chance to introduce myself properly. Tanaka Masahiro – Master degree and aspiring PhD in Hero Ethics and Public Safety. They think very highly of me in the Hero Public Safety Commission, hoping I´ll surpass my father in integrity and ambition one day. Educating righteous, prosperous and well-behaving young heroes is a matter of personal importance.”
The last remaining bits of saliva in Katsuki´s mouth turned bitter, what made swallowing the frustrated outcry almost painful. This shit show continued to transform into the worst-case scenario. He would have preferred to be pestered by an unqualified idiot, than to be lectured about rules and regulations by an academic snob. And it got even worse, because the earlier explanation of the Hero Commission´s representative finally made sense: once again, they had sent somebody to correct the way he was.
Thick with sarcasm, that tried to mask the hurtful realisation, Katsuki said: “That is very reassuring to know.” Then, he held is hand out and stated: “I would like to secure my belongings. It would be rude to let Todoroki wait any longer, wouldn´t it.”
“That´s very thoughtful of you, but not like...” Tanaka´s gaze inspected him disapprovingly “…this.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” Katsuki snapped back furiously.
“Not. Like. This.” Tanaka repeated word by word in a tone too tender for the growing tension in the room.
That was it. Katsuki had it. Now, leaving was so overdue. The pestering moron could keep the grenade and blow himself into orbit with it.
Determined, Katsuki picked his bag up from the ground and mumbled: “Whatever, man.”
But, his attempt to push past Tanaka, was abruptly blocked by an outstretched arm. Fluidly, Katsuki ducked to avoid the obstacle and assumed to be on his way, when a hand grabbed him by the collar of his blazer and pulled him back. Totally caught off guard by the decisiveness, Katsuki tumbled backwards, only coming to a halt, when he bumped noisily against the lockers.
Before he could even think about moving, Tanaka was in front of him, caging him in with both hands firmly placed against the locker – right next to Katsuki´s face. It was only then, that the boy realised the height difference between him and the older man. His Tutor towered over him with a surprisingly broad frame and Katsuki hated the sudden, pinching feeling of inferiority.
Instinctively, little explosions started to crackle in his palms. Who did this asshole think he was to manhandle him like that? It was impossible for Katsuki to let this slide, he…
“Think sharp.” Tanaka advised in his continuously friendly tone, that completely mismatched the sudden roughness of his actions. “Is this a moment to be difficult, Bakugou?”
Frantically, Katsuki´s mind raced to get a hold of the situation. What the fuck was going on here? This felt threatening, intimidating and it awakened his will to fight. His whole body screamed battle, yet Tanaka, for his part, continued casually: “Do you think, attacking your new Tutor on the first day is something your school record can handle?”
The forthright reference to his disadvantage made Katsuki´s crimson eyes fly wide open in shock. The snobby idiot was undeniably right. After the fight with Deku on Ground Beta two weeks ago, he was lucky to even be here. No one could save him from suspension, if he messed up to such an extent again.
Reluctantly, Katsuki wiped his hands dry on his pants – a reaction, that made Tanaka´s smile turn into a grin of satisfaction. The complacent delight caused a nervous twitch in the blonde boy´s lower eyelid. Daddy´s little favourite should better not get to full off himself. Because this was no surrender, it was a tactical withdrawal to safe his dream of becoming the No. 1 Hero. To make the other aware of that reality, Katsuki straightened his shoulders and lifted his chin.
“A little better!” Tanaka praised, ignoring the hateful stare. “Now…” The taller man let his gaze wander to the exposed part of Katsuki´s collarbone. “I want you to close these.”
“What?!” Katsuki was flabbergasted.
“Jeez, Bakugou. I really hoped the rumours of you being smarter, than your behaviour suggests, were true. Close the buttons of your shirt. You are a student, and therefore a representative of UA High. Hence, your clothes should always be in order.”
“You can´t be serious about this!” What a petty jerk. He was worse than Four-Eyes. How could people live with sticks so far up their asses?
“I most certainly am.” Tanaka emphasized, looking down on Katsuki through strong-minded blue eyes. “It is official school policy and I am astonished, that you are not living in detention with this attitude. Close them.”
“The fuck I will. Don´t order me around. What kind of Bullshit is this?” Katsuki barked back.
“Language, Bakugou.” His Tutor scolded, this time surprisingly sharp. “This is not the proper way to express yourself as a hero.”
Only to fall back into this ingratiating, slick friendliness within the blink of an eye: “Maybe it is for the best, if I clarify some fundamental facts and contexts to ensure a fruitful and beneficial collaboration between us. The Remedial Course´s purpose is to correct the shortcomings of otherwise promising students, so they can obtain their Provisional Hero License and become an enriching edition to our society. The Tutoring Programme is a core requirement, that has to be attended and successfully completed. Are you following?”
Suddenly, Tanaka seemed to be suffocatingly close, even though the distance between them hadn´t changed a bit. Katsuki felt trapped, cornered. Frantically, he searched for a way out of this predicament. Unfortunately, he was so agitated, that the only option his brain constantly came up with, was to burst this fucker´s face off. A strategy, that he had already discharged, due to its dire consequences.
Tanaka wasn´t bothered by the missing answer and continued calmly: “As I am your Tutor, I set the conditions and rules for your Tutoring Programme. So, to pass it, you will have to comply to said conditions and rules. It is that easy. And one of them is to wear your school uniform in the appropriate manner at all times. In conclusion, what do you have to do to get a step closer to your License?”
Forcefully, the blonde boy pressed his mouth shut, to restrain a nasty avalanche of insults and graphic remarks from crashing out of it. Why couldn´t he think of anything helpful? Why did his strategical mind have to abandon him so cruelly today?
Katsuki hated to be told, what to do to his bones. It appalled him, it pained him and normally he refused it no matter the cost. But this time, the price to pay would neither be his reputation, nor his physical well-being. It would be his Provisional Hero License and with that the opportunity to participate in active hero work for a whole damn year. He would fall behind, he would fail and Katsuki could not allow this to happen. As bitter as it was, for now, he could only see one way to prevent the disaster.
So, Katsuki took a deep breath and started to close the buttons of his shirt with trembling fingers.
Tanaka seemed to be deeply pleased. With a broad, content smile, he said: “Don´t hold back. There is more to do.”
Katsuki was fuming internally. The whole procedure made him feel sick to his core. The suppressed anger blushed his cheeks mercilessly in a matching colour to his eyes. Nonetheless, he adjusted collar, blazer and sleeves. Then, he looked at his Tutor with a death stare, ready to finally be on his way out of this pain-in-the-ass clusterfuck.
But Tanaka wasn´t done. His eyes journeyed over Katsuki´s body again, landing on a very low hanging waistband and up again to meet the venomous glare with ease.
“Pants, Bakugou!” he urged him. “Pull them up and fasten the belt.”
Katsuki´s heart dropped, when his hope, that temporal compliance would shorten the suffering, shattered into pieces. The red in his face intensified, giving away his inner turmoil. The new shade, though, didn´t arise from anger, but the fear of possible embarrassment. Because his reasons, to wear those stupid school pants like that, was barely an act of rebellion – they just did not fit properly. Katsuki remembered vividly, how he had tried every available size over and over again with the same devastating result: the cut would never work on his body shape. He had even begged his mother to fix them, but she had dismissed the request as not worth the effort for a still growing Teenager. Her annoyed `Suck it up!´ still echoed through his memory.
“Between you and me,” Tanaka tore him from his thoughts, “I am not the one, who has a driver and a classmate waiting for him, who might wonder, what is taking so long. And I am pretty sure, you don´t want them to know, that it is getting dressed.”
More precisely, Katsuki did not want them to know anything about this at all. How this vain prick puffed himself up, how he pushed him around. And especially, how Katsuki did not find a possibility to stop him without risking his future.
Still at a loss, Katsuki continued to clench his teeth together so tightly, that it almost hurt, to keep his mouth from ruining the sacrifice, he had made so far. Reluctantly, he opened his belt and pulled the pants over his hipbones, closing it 3 holes further in.
This time, it cost him more willpower to look Tanaka in the face, that was beaming with enjoyment. But Katsuki couldn´t bear the idea to lower his gaze. He needed the other to know, that he was strong, indestructible, a force to reckon with. Yet he had to be careful to stay in control of his Ego, that wanted to hit back so desperately.
Above all, when he witnessed the impish spark in Tanaka´s eyes, right before he pinpointed Katsuki´s insecurity with harmful accuracy: “Oh, I see. You are trying to hide this teeny-tiny waist of yours.”
Tanaka pushed himself away from the lockers, bringing some distance between them. However, he was still inspecting Katsuki´s appearance: “You know what, I might be willing to meet you half way with this one, because it actually does look stupid.”
Katsuki tried to ignore the stinging sensation the remark caused in his guts and focus on the only important matter. The unexpectedly regained space offered an opportunity to end this on his terms. Without any hesitation, he picked up the bag a second time, spat out a quick: “Noted.” and headed for the door – with a cautious eye on Tanaka´s limbs this time. To his luck, his Tutor didn´t even try to hold him back and with every step closer to the exit, Katsuki felt his spirit rising. Out of here, finally over, back in charge, time to breathe…
But in the moment, he laid his hand on the door knob, he heard Tanaka chirp teasingly in his back: “Bakugou Katsuki, you are still missing an item.”
The patronizing interruption of his flight added so much fuel to his inner hellfire, that it reduced his last resources for self-control to ashes in an instant. Against all earlier better judgement, Katsuki spun around and yelled: “What??? What now, you nit-picky prick?”
For a second, the room fell silent and the only thing Katsuki could hear, was his own insult ringing in his ears, while Tanaka watched him, achingly self-satisfied. Slowly, the dust of his verbal explosion settled and within the lasting silence, the blonde boy felt panic surging up from his stomach, reaching for his heart. They would not expel him from the Remedial Course for that, would they?
Katsuki tried to push the thought away. It was too late for uncertainties. Strategically smart or not, he had stepped onto the battle field of confrontation and there was no backing away from this.
While fear and anger fought for the upper hand in Katsuki´s mind and body, Tanaka smiled his unbothered smile.
Completely unflustered, he stated: “Tie.”
A laugh, stunned and with a dash of madness, burst out of Katsuki and he said with a provocative grin on his face: “Joke´s on you, man. If you insist on that specifically, we stay all night. Because I do not wear one – ever. So, there is no tie in this entire room, that I could possibly put on. Are you following?”
“Hmm, is that so.” Tanaka seemed hardly impressed by neither the announcement, nor the slight mockery. “I have to say: the more I get to know you, the less I can avoid doubting Aizawa Shota´s teaching skills.”
“Keep his name out off your mouth!” Katsuki hissed warningly. Aizawa-sensei had been one of the few adults in his life, with whom Katsuki felt at least not misunderstood. He would not stand by and let the asshole talk trash about him.
Tanaka ignored the threat as smoothly as the insult before and said in an informative tone: “Well, I am sure you can find one before we meet again. Keep in mind: no tie – no class, no class – no license. Catch!”
Out of the blue, he threw the grenade towards a baffled Katsuki, whose brain had difficulties following the sudden change of events. Still, the young hero in the making caught it with ease. Refusing to think twice, whether this was the permission to leave, he opened the door and hurried into the corridor.
Alone in the locker room, Tanaka couldn´t resist to let his smile grow into triumphant proportions. The board was set – he was ready to play his favourite game.
What a jerk, douchebag, wimp, entitled snob, asshole… Katsuki stormed through the halls, his blood boiling with rage. Without stopping, he dropped his pants back down and opened the buttons. Fuck this! Fuck him! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!
The thundering emotion loomed to consume him, eat up his rational thinking, all other feelings and Katsuki wanted it to. He wanted the fear to be devoured, the humiliation he had felt. Katsuki needed them gone, because he did not know, how to face them.
The front door was near and Katsuki sped up, crashing through it into the chilly September night. The collision with the fresh air caused a prickling sensation on his heated skin, but it was by far not enough to cool him down. He could feel his sweat drops crackling in his palms again. They pleaded for him to set them on fire, burn the sky... but he couldn´t.
Because 200 meters away in the nearby parking lot, a car came into sight and right next to it a boy with red and white hair – hands at his sides, facial expression blunt and unreadable as always – looking straight into his direction.
“Oohhh, you dense shit-head!” Katsuki cursed. Why did that weirdo have to take things so literally all the damn time?
It was almost impossible, that Icy-Hot hadn´t witnessed his explosive exit. His misfortune today was beyond reason. To damage control and avoid stupid questions, it was incredibly important, that Katsuki did not serve him any more clues, that indicated something might be off. He would prefer a gruesome death, over the Half-and-Half Bastard getting the slightest idea about what had just happened.
So, Katsuki clenched a fist and let it vanish in his pocket. He inhaled deeply and tried to tame his pace and temper as efficiently as possible within the short distance. If traffic was on his side, the Icy-Hot-endurance time was under 25 minutes. With his remaining will power and a reduction of interaction to a minimum he should be capable to pull this off.
Shoto observed, how his classmate´s behaviour changed from hot-headed rampage to seemingly calm and composed indifference, with bewilderment. Normally, Bakugou cared little about anger management or adjusting his mood out of consideration for others. He had seen the blonde boy blow up in milliseconds, but never cool down so quickly.
At first, Shoto wanted to shrug off the confusion, since it was very possible, that it didn´t originate from Bakugou, but from his own difficulties in reading people. Still, something didn´t seem right.
Careful to not draw any attention, Shoto watched the other closely through the reflection in the car window. The tense jaw muscles, the sagged shoulders… somehow, Bakugou seemed a little smaller, or less present, than usual.
The moment, the driver had taken off, he had snatched his phone out of the pocket and was scrolling ever since. It looked like he was reading the news. But except for one headline, that seemed to have lightened his mood shortly, his face stayed uninvolved and dour.
Maybe, he should just leave Bakugou be, mind his own business and ignore the sombre aura, that was surrounding his classmate… `He is your rival, not your friend! Focus on yourself! That is all that matters!´ His father´s voice spooked through his thoughts.
But that was exactly who Todoroki Shoto no longer wanted to be. In fact, that egoistic, self-centred mindset had been the cause for all his conflicts in school and never the solution. He wanted to be compassionate and caring, he wanted people to be safe, he wanted to be a friend. Sadly, after his harsh and lonely upbringing, he was still working on the necessary skill set.
What had Midoriya told him again? Compassion was a combination of understanding, care and the will to support. Well, Shoto did not struggle with the last steps - the first one was his challenge, as he often did not automatically resonate with people on an emotional level.
`When in doubt – just ask them.´
It always sounded so simple, when Midoriya explained it. Yet, Shoto´s success rate had been uncomfortably mixed and seemed heavily depending on the individual. If he asked too directly, it tended to backfire. Therefore, he decided to approach with a simple:
“Have you found, what you have been looking for?”
“Yes.”
Silence. Bakugou hadn´t even lifted his eyes to answer.
Fortunately, Shoto realised his mistake immediately. Closed questions could put a quick end to conversations, open questions showed interest and gave people space to express themselves. So, what else had happened today, that would be a possible door opener? After a short consideration, he tried the last thing, he had noticed:
“How was the meeting with your Tutor?”
To his surprise, Bakugou´s body reacted for a second, as if Shoto had burned him, but fell back into this passive indifference right away, answering:
“Informative.”
“Do you like him?” Shoto continued, dedicated to connect.
“Do I look like I am in the mood to chit-chat, Icy-Hot? Learn to read the goddamn room!”
Nothing about this response was unusual – it was loud, harsh and angry – but something else was, though.
A second time, Bakugou hadn´t looked up and that particular detail made Shoto weirdly uneasy. If there was one thing he envied the other boy for, it was his confident ruthlessness, with which he stared people down.
Shoto´s doubt evaporated: Something wasn´t right at all.