Chapter Text
Ever since the war ended, Izuku had spent a lot of time thinking about what it really meant to save someone.
Back then, the answer had seemed simple enough.
Run toward danger, fight. Reach out a hand, get there before it was too late.
But after everything he had lived through—Shigaraki, the prisons, the sheer number of people who had been abandoned long before they ever became dangerous, he couldn’t look at things that way anymore.
So he started going to places most heroes rarely visited unless they had to.
Orphanages. Group homes. Juvenile detention centers. Specialized facilities for kids whose Quirks were too dangerous, too unstable, or simply too much for them to control.
It didn’t take long for him to notice how different those kids were from the students he taught at U.A.
Completely different.
At U.A., students sat up straighter when he walked into a room.
Here, some of them barely looked at him.
Others laughed openly.
A few insulted him to his face.
And some gave him a look Izuku knew far too well.
You don’t belong here.
You don’t know anything about me.
So don’t pretend you do.
He never held it against them. If anything, Izuku often refused to read their files before meeting them.The staff usually found that strange.
“You really don’t want to know their backgrounds first?”
“Not yet.”
“Why?”
Izuku would just smile.
“Because I want to meet them first.”
Not their records, not their charges, not their statistics, simply them.
Of course, that didn’t exactly make first meetings easy, and especially not this one.
There were around fifteen boys gathered inside the center’s gym, most of them somewhere between fourteen and seventeen.
Some had extremely powerful quirks, too powerful, in some cases.
Quirks that had been restricted for years through inhibitors, supervision protocols and strict rules about when they could use them.
Izuku understood why. He also understood what it was doing to them. They were frustrated, painfully so.
Which was why he came up with an idea. An idea one of the staff members immediately described as—
“Completely irresponsible.”
Izuku smiled.
“I’ve been hearing that my whole life.”
“Midoriya-san…”
The staff member closed his eyes.
“What exactly are you suggesting?”
Izuku looked toward the boys.
Then smiled.
“A fight.”
Silence.
For the first time since he’d arrived, several of them actually looked interested.
“What?”
Izuku stepped into the center of the gym.
“All of you against me.”
That got a reaction. Several boys laughed outright.
“You serious?”
“He thinks we’re idiots.”
“He’s the Number Four Hero, dumbass.”
“So?”
Izuku raised one finger.
“One rule.”
The room quieted slightly.
“I won’t use my quirk.”
This time even the staff stared at him.
“You’re serious?”
“Very.”
One of the boys barked out a laugh.
“He actually thinks he can beat all of us without a quirk ?”
Izuku calmly took off his jacket, folded it, and placed it on a nearby bench.
“You can use yours.”
Silence. Then a few smiles began to appear. Finally, for the first time since he’d walked in, they looked genuinely interested.
“Whenever you’re ready.”
The first boy attacked immediately. A mistake, really.
Izuku stepped aside, caught his momentum, hooked a leg around his ankle, and sent him straight to the floor.
Then came the second.
The third.
Then four at once.
Izuku barely hit hard at all. He didn’t need to. He used their balance, their speed and their complete lack of coordination against them.
Within minutes, the gym looked like the aftermath of a small disaster.
One boy was slumped against a wall, another lay flat on his back staring at the ceiling. A third was still trying to figure out how he had somehow ended up upside down on a training mat.
Izuku stood in the middle of it all, barely even breathing hard.
“You rely way too much on your quirks.”
Silence. One of the boys on the floor slowly raised a finger.
“Shut up.”
Izuku smiled.
“Compelling argument.”
A few boys laughed. Actual laughter this time. Not mocking, not cruel. And something in the room shifted.
Sure, they had lost. Badly, even, but they had enjoyed themselves.
For some of them, it was probably the first time in months they had been allowed to use their quirks without immediately hearing :
“Calm down.”
“Control yourself.”
“Not so hard.”
Izuku could see it in them.
Their shoulders were less tense, their expressions less guarded. Even the insults sounded lighter now.
Except for one boy.
He had been running his mouth since the beginning.
“Look at you losers.”
Izuku turned his head.
The boy was leaning against the wall.
Tall. Seventeen, maybe.
Sharp amber eyes stared back at him from beneath a permanent scowl. He had a thin scar cutting through one eyebrow.
His dark brown hair was shaved close on the sides and left longer and messier on top, giving him the unmistakable look of a delinquent.
Which, to be fair, wasn’t exactly inaccurate.
And right now, he was smirking.
“You all got your asses handed to you in like thirty seconds.”
Another boy glared at him.
“So did you.”
“Yeah, but at least I didn’t cry when he twisted my arm.”
“I didn’t cry.”
“Sure.”
Izuku watched him quietly. He hadn’t cared when the boy insulted him, not once. He’d already been called “Budget Deku” and “Number Four My Ass." Creative, honestly. Izuku couldn’t have cared less. But now he was going after the others, again.
“You, with the shitty quirk. Honestly, I can see why your parents—”
“Hey.”
Izuku’s voice changed, only slightly, but the boy looked over.
“What?”
Izuku was still smiling, but nobody in the room found it particularly warm anymore.
“You can make fun of me all you want.”
Silence.
“But leave the others alone.”
The boy scoffed.
“The others ?”
He gestured toward them.
“These losers ?”
Something flickered across Izuku’s face. He turned toward the staff.
Then, with the politest smile imaginable, asked—
“Can I borrow him for five minutes?”
One of the staff members blinked.
“Excuse me—Taiga ?”
“Him.”
Izuku pointed. The boy laughed.
“What, you gonna put me in time-out?”
Izuku kept smiling.
“Something like that.”
The staff exchanged looks. They clearly had no idea what he meant, but this was Deku.
Japan’s Number Four Hero.
A survivor of the war.
A U.A. teacher.
Eventually, one of them hesitated and said—
“…All right.”
Mistake. The boy opened his mouth.
“What the—”
FWOOSH.
Blackwhip snapped through the air. Before Taiga could react, dark tendrils wrapped tightly around his torso.
“HEY—?!”
Izuku bent his knees.
His smile widened.
Then—
BOOM.
The floor shook.
He shot straight upward. Fast, terrifyingly fast.
“ AAAAAAAH !”
The scream echoed through the entire center.
Every teenager in the gym stared upward with their mouths hanging open, and so did the staff.
Two seconds— Then Izuku and the boy vanished above the building.
Finally, someone muttered—
“…Didn’t he say he wasn’t going to use his quirk ?”
Another boy shrugged.
“The fight’s over.”
“Oh.”
Fair enough.
-
Higher up.
Much higher up.
Taiga had stopped insulting everyone. Completely.
Blackwhip held him securely against Izuku as the wind roared around them and the city below grew smaller and smaller.
“WHAT THE FUCK?!”
Izuku kept climbing.
“TAKE ME BACK DOWN!”
Higher.
“ARE YOU INSANE ?!”
The wind nearly swallowed Taiga’s voice. He tried to move. Bad idea. At that height, his body understood something his pride still refused to admit. He had absolutely no control. None. So, without thinking, he grabbed onto Blackwhip.
“STOP GOING UP !”
Izuku glanced back. His green hair whipped wildly around his face. Then he began to slow, gradually. Taiga was breathing hard.
Then suddenly, they passed above the clouds. The sound changed and the wind felt different. So did the light. Izuku slowed, then stopped. They hovered high above the city. Taiga was breathing way too fast.
“You’re…”
He swallowed hard.
“Completely fucking insane !!”
Izuku glanced at him.
“Maybe.”
Taiga looked down.
Mistake.
“OH, FUCK.”
He immediately pressed himself closer to the Blackwhip holding him. He was still trying to catch his breath.
Then Izuku asked :
“Do you know why I brought you up here?”
“BECAUSE YOU’RE CRAZY?”
“No.”
“That was my second guess.”
Izuku looked out toward the horizon.
“Because you don’t listen to anyone.”
Taiga stared at him.
“Go fuck—”
Izuku loosened Blackwhip by maybe an inch.
“AAAAAAH—OKAY, OKAY !”
He tightened it again immediately.
“Thank you.”
Taiga glared at him.
“Are you even allowed to do that ?”
Izuku gave him the most innocent smile imaginable.
“I saved the world. I can do whatever I want.”
Taiga stared.
“That is definitely not how laws work.”
“Probably not.”
“You’re insane.”
“So I’ve heard.”
Taiga was still breathing hard, though not quite as badly now. Izuku turned back toward the horizon.
“You know…”
His voice turned calm.
“I honestly don’t care what you say about me.”
“Great.”
“You can insult me.”
“Gladly.”
“You can hate me.”
“Already do.”
“But when you start kicking people who are already down…”
This time Izuku looked directly at him.
“That pisses me off.”
Something in Izuku’s expression shifted. He didn’t look threatening. Somehow, that was worse.
He looked serious.
“I’ve known people who spent their whole lives believing they were weak because someone else kept telling them they were.”
Taiga looked away.
“Don’t care.”
“No.”
His brow furrowed.
“What do you mean, no?”
“You do care.”
“You don’t fucking know me.”
“Exactly.”
That caught him off guard. Izuku went on.
“I don’t know your story.”
“Then shut up.”
“I don’t want to know it unless you want to tell me. I don’t even need to know why you’re here.”
That made Taiga look at him again. Really look at him.
“I just want to know one thing.”
Izuku gestured vaguely toward the vast emptiness below them.
“Do you want to keep being exactly who everyone already thinks you are?”
Taiga said nothing. Izuku waited, a long time. Finally—
“Go fuck yourself.”
Izuku smiled.
“Fair enough. But stop tearing the others down.”
“Or what?”
Izuku looked down, then back at him. Taiga went slightly pale.
“…You serious?”
“Of course not.”
A stare.
“Probably.”
“YOU’RE FUCKING INSANE.”
Izuku burst out laughing. And for the first time, Taiga didn’t look quite as angry anymore. He was still suspicious and guarded, but something else had appeared.
A crack, a tiny one. Izuku noticed. Of course he did.
“Look.”
“I’m NOT looking down.”
“Not down.”
Taiga frowned. Izuku tilted his chin slightly.
“Around you.”
Taiga hesitated, then looked. And went quiet.
For the first time since Izuku had met him… Taiga actually went completely quiet.
The city stretched endlessly beneath them. Buildings looked tiny. Roads were little more than thin lines, cars were dots.
Even the detention center—
That place which had probably made up most of Taiga’s entire world for months—
looked small. Ridiculously small.
Taiga stared. For once, he had nothing to say. Izuku didn’t rush to fill the silence. He simply let him look. Then, quietly—
“See?”
Taiga didn’t answer.
“Look how big it is.”
The wind passed around them.
“What?”
he muttered eventually. Izuku looked toward the horizon.
“The world.”
“When you stay in the same place for too long…”
He paused, searching for the right words.
“Sometimes you start thinking that place is all there is.”
Taiga frowned.
“Is that supposed to be deep?”
Izuku looked at him.
“A little.”
“That sucked.”
“Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
But something in Taiga’s voice had changed. Less sharp.
Izuku noticed. Then he looked upward.
And smiled.
“Want to see something?”
Taiga answered immediately.
“No.”
“Too late.”
His eyes widened.
“Wait—”
Blackwhip tightened.
“NO, NO, NO—”
Izuku shot upward again.
Even faster.
“AAAAAAAAAAH!”
They tore toward the clouds.
“MIDORIYA !”
It was the first time Taiga had actually used his name. Izuku smiled.
“Hold on!”
“I’M LITERALLY TIED TO YOU !”
“Oh. Right !”
“YOU FUCKING—”
Then—
White.
They passed through the clouds. For a few seconds, everything disappeared. The city, the ground, the horizon. Nothing but pale mist surrounding them.
And then, light.
Izuku slowed. They broke through the cloud layer. Taiga stopped talking instantly. Completely. The sun was setting.
An endless ocean of clouds stretched beneath them, glowing under streaks of gold, orange, and pink. Sunlight spilled across the horizon. Everything felt enormous. So quiet, and almost unreal. Even the wind seemed different up there. Taiga stared, his eyes slowly moving from left to right, taking everything in.
For a moment, he seemed to forget he was hanging thousands of feet above the ground.
Izuku watched him quietly. His shoulders, they had dropped.
Since the moment Izuku met him, Taiga had always carried himself with tension in every muscle, like he was waiting for someone to say the wrong thing. Waiting for a fight, an insult, a threat.
Now ? Nothing. He was just breathing. Slowly.
Izuku smiled, not his big hero smile. Something smaller, peaceful.
“Beautiful, right ?”
A long silence, then—
“…It’s okay.”
Izuku blinked.
“‘It’s okay’?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s all?”
“What do you want from me?”
“I just brought you above the clouds.”
“Didn’t ask.”
Izuku placed a hand over his heart.
“Wow. So ungrateful.”
Taiga almost smiled. Almost.
“You’re fucking weird.”
“I get that a lot too.”
Taiga looked back toward the horizon, and Izuku did the same. For a little while, neither of them said anything. Strangely enough, it wasn’t awkward.
“I come up here sometimes,” Izuku said eventually.
Taiga glanced at him. “What?”
“Not here exactly. Just… somewhere high up.”
“Why?”
Izuku took a moment to answer.
“When I have too many doubts.”
That got Taiga’s attention.
“You ?”
Izuku looked at him. “Me what ?”
“You have doubts ?”
Izuku laughed. “Of course I do.”
“You’re the Number Four Hero.”
“And ?”
“I don’t know.” Taiga shrugged. “You’re fucking Deku.”
“That doesn’t magically make me sure about everything.”
Taiga didn’t answer.
“Sometimes it actually makes things worse,” Izuku added. “The more people depend on you, the more you start wondering what happens if you make the wrong choice.”
Taiga was looking at him differently now. Not that he would ever admit it.
“So sometimes I come up here.”
“Alone ?”
“Yeah.”
“Like a fucking lunatic.”
“Exactly.”
A short breath escaped Taiga’s nose. Almost a laugh. Izuku noticed, but mercifully didn’t point it out.
“And then I just look.”
“At what ?”
Izuku gestured toward everything around them.
“This.”
Taiga followed his gaze.
“It reminds me that the world is a lot bigger than whatever’s going on in my head.”
“Easy for you to say.”
“Probably.”
Taiga looked at him again, clearly thrown off by the answer.
“You’re not gonna argue ?”
“About what ?”
“I don’t know. Give me some hero bullshit.” Taiga put on an exaggeratedly cheerful voice. “‘The future is yours ! Become a better person!’”
Izuku stared at him.
“Do I really sound like that ?”
“Exactly like that.”
“That’s insulting.”
“Good.”
Izuku laughed.
“No, I’m not going to tell you what to do with your life.”
The amusement faded slightly from Taiga’s face.
“I don’t know you well enough for that,” Izuku continued. “And you don’t know me either.”
“I know you’re annoying.”
“That’s a start.”
Taiga laughed, an actual laugh this time. It was short and quiet, like it had slipped out before he could stop it. The second he realized, his expression closed right back up. Too late.
Izuku had heard it.
Thankfully, he said nothing. He simply turned back toward the sunset.
“I just wanted you to see this.”
“Why me ?”
The question came out a little too quickly.
Izuku looked over. Taiga was still staring straight ahead.
“Why not ?”
“Shit answer.”
“Complicated question.”
“You could’ve brought anyone up here.”
Izuku thought about it.
“You looked like you needed it.”
Taiga’s expression hardened immediately.
“I don’t need anything.”
“Okay.”
Taiga turned toward him.
“That’s it?”
“What?”
“You’re not gonna argue with me?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“You just told me you don’t need anything.”
“And you believe me?”
Izuku gave him a small smile.
“No.”
Taiga went quiet.
“But I’m not going to force you to admit otherwise.”
That shut him up. Taiga looked away again. The sun was sinking lower now, streaking gold through the clouds. He stared at it for a long time.
“…It’s not bad.”
Izuku’s head snapped toward him, his eyes brightening.
“Ah !”
“Don’t start.”
“You like it.”
“I said it’s not bad.”
“Coming from you, that’s basically a five-star review.”
“You’ve known me for two fucking hours.”
“Two very informative hours.”
“Go fuck yourself.”
Izuku laughed again. Taiga looked at him.
There was still something hard in his eyes. The suspicion hadn’t disappeared, and neither had that instinct to push people away before they got the chance to do it first.
But there was something else there now too. Curiosity, maybe. The tiniest bit of trust. Izuku didn’t push for more.
He knew people who built walls like that. You couldn’t tear them down for them. You could only show them there was something on the other side. Izuku glanced at the setting sun.
“We should probably head back.”
Taiga stiffened.
“Wait.”
Izuku looked at him. Taiga seemed almost as surprised as he was that he’d said it.
“What ?”
“Nothing.”
He stared stubbornly at the horizon for another few seconds. Then, quieter—
“…Can we stay another minute?”
Izuku watched him. Taiga very deliberately did not look back.
“One minute,” Izuku said softly.
So they stayed. No talking, no lectures. Just the two of them above the clouds. And one minute became two. Izuku didn’t check. Eventually, he glanced over.
“Want to go back down ?”
“YES.”
“Politely ?”
Taiga glared at him.
Izuku smiled.
“…Please.”
“Excellent. Ready?”
Taiga took a breath.
“Yeah.”
Then immediately—
“But slowly.”
Izuku put on his most innocent expression.
“Me ?”
“I’m serious.”
“I always go down slowly.”
“I saw my entire fucking life flash before my eyes earlier.”
“You’re being dramatic.”
“I WENT THROUGH A CLOUD AT THREE HUNDRED MILES AN HOUR.”
“I don’t think it was three hundred." Izuku said, as if he was actually thinking about it.
“THAT’S NOT THE FUCKING POINT.”
Izuku was still laughing when they started their descent. Slowly this time. Very slowly. They slipped back through the clouds, and the city gradually came into view beneath them. Taiga kept looking around.
He seemed different. Not changed. Not magically healed. Just… calmer.
As they descended, buildings took shape again, then streets, then the detention center itself. Soon enough, Izuku could notice people standing outside. A lot of people.
“Oh.”
“What ?”
“I think we have an audience.”
Taiga looked down.
“Fuck.”
The closer they got, the clearer the faces became. About fifteen teenagers and several staff members, all staring up at them like they had just witnessed an alien landing.
Izuku touched down gently. Blackwhip disappeared, and Taiga’s feet finally hit solid ground. Nobody said anything. Everyone looked at Taiga. Then Izuku. Then Taiga again.
One boy finally stepped forward.
“Dude.”
Taiga stared at him.
“You were…”
He pointed upward.
“Up there?”
Taiga’s walls went straight back up.
“No.”
Everyone stared at him.
“We literally watched you come down from the sky.”
“Then why the fuck are you asking ?”
Izuku had to turn his head to hide his smile. Another boy came closer.
“What was it like ?”
Taiga was quiet.
He glanced at Izuku. Just for a second. His expression softened in a way it hadn’t before.
Then he looked back at the others.
“Shit.”
Izuku’s mouth fell open.
“Excuse me?”
“Complete shit.”
“You asked to stay longer !”
Every head snapped toward Taiga.
“WHAT ?!”
His face immediately went red.
“SHUT THE FUCK UP!”
Izuku burst out laughing.
“You literally asked me, ‘Can we stay another minute ?’”
“MIDORIYA!”
“In this tiny little voice—”
“I DID NOT FUCKING SOUND LIKE THAT!”
The others lost it.
“OOOOOOH!”
“HE LIKED IT!”
“FUCK ALL OF YOU!”
Izuku was laughing so hard he had to put a hand on his stomach.
Taiga glared at him, furious and humiliated.
Then, for barely a second—
He smiled. A real one. Izuku saw it. He didn’t say anything. Some victories didn’t require winning a fight. Sometimes, all you had to do was show someone that the walls around them weren’t the whole world.
And now—
“YOU ASKED TO STAY.”
“Shut up.”
“‘One more minute, please !’”
“I SAID SHUT THE FUCK UP!”
The gym erupted into laughter.
Taiga had apparently recovered every ounce of his usual hostility since returning from the clouds. Well, almost. He was still bright red. Unfortunately for him, everyone had noticed.
“So ?” another boy asked. “What’d he say to you up there?”
“Nothing.”
“You were gone for like ten minutes.”
“He talks a lot.”
Izuku, who had been calmly picking up his jacket, immediately looked over.
“Hey.”
“What?”
“That’s rude.”
“It’s true.”
“I can take you back up there.”
Instant silence. Taiga went pale, then quickly tried to recover.
“I don’t give a shit.”
“Oh, really?”
A thin strand of Blackwhip began curling around Izuku’s arm.
“NO.”
Everyone burst out laughing, even the staff. Taiga pointed accusingly at Izuku.
“He’s fucking insane.”
“Maybe,” Izuku said casually.
“SEE?!”
Taiga spun toward the staff.
“YOU PEOPLE LET HIM TAKE ME INTO THE FUCKING SKY!”
One of the staff members coughed awkwardly.
“We didn’t think he was going to take you…”
He looked up at the clouds.
“…that high.”
Izuku put on an innocent face.
“Neither did I.”
“LIAR.”
Izuku smiled.
Then a quieter voice spoke from across the room. It was the same boy Taiga had been mocking earlier.
“Was it really beautiful?”
Taiga turned. His first instinct was obvious. Izuku could practically see the insult forming.
Then Taiga stopped himself.
“Yeah.”
The word came out quietly, simply.
“It was.”
The other boy looked surprised. So did everyone else. Taiga himself probably most of all. Naturally, he ruined it immediately.
“Doesn’t change the fact that you’re all still fucking losers.”
There it was. Armor back on, mostly.
“Ah,” Izuku murmured. “There he is.”
Taiga’s head snapped toward him.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“You said something.”
“I absolutely did not.”
“I heard you.”
“Good to know your hearing works.”
Taiga narrowed his eyes. Izuku smiled. Strangely enough, Taiga didn’t insult him, not this time.
That probably should have been the end of the session, but it wasn’t. Izuku hadn’t come all the way there just to beat up fifteen teenagers and traumatize one of them with an unplanned trip into the stratosphere. So he clapped his hands.
“All right!”
A collective groan answered him.
“What now ?”
“You lost.”
“Thanks, we noticed.”
“Badly.”
“Go fu—”
“So we’re doing it again.”
Everyone stared.
“What ?”
Izuku put his jacket back on the bench.
“This time, you work together.”
One of the boys laughed.
“With these idiots?”
“Yes.”
“Impossible.”
“Why?”
“Because they suck.”
“You lost too.”
“I hate you.”
“I’m getting used to that.”
Izuku pointed toward the training area.
“The first time, every single one of you tried to fight me on your own.”
He raised one finger.
“Bad idea.”
Then a second.
“You relied on raw Quirk power like that was enough.”
Then a third.
“And half of you spent more time insulting each other than fighting me.”
“That was him!”
Someone immediately pointed at Taiga.
“Fuck off.”
“See?!”
Izuku sighed.
“Exactly.”
Then he smiled.
“So this time, you only have to do one thing.”
He stepped backward into the center of the floor.
“Touch me.”
Silence.
“All of you together.”
One boy frowned.
“Just once?”
“Once.”
“And if we do?”
Izuku thought about it.
“I’ll bring you food next week.”
That got their attention immediately.
“What kind?”
“Pizza?”
“Ramen?”
“Burgers?”
Izuku raised both hands.
“Whoever lands the hit gets to choose.”
Every single one of them stood up. Izuku blinked.
“Oh.”
One of the staff laughed.
“Well, you found their motivation.”
“Apparently.”
Taiga slowly got to his feet. As he passed Izuku, he muttered—
“Get your wallet ready.”
Izuku smiled.
“That’s more like it.”
“I’m picking the most expensive restaurant in Tokyo.”
“You have to touch me first.”
Taiga stopped, then turned toward the others.
“Hey.”
Everyone looked at him. He looked like he absolutely hated what he was about to do.
“You. Chains.”
One boy frowned.
“Me?”
“Yeah. Can your Quirk hold him still for two seconds?”
“Maybe.”
“Not maybe.”
“If you shut the fuck up, yeah.”
Silence, then Taiga smirked.
“Good.”
Izuku watched quietly. Interesting.
Very interesting.
Taiga pointed at someone else.
“You. Smoke.”
“What?”
“Can you cover the whole room?”
“Yeah.”
“Do it.”
Another boy crossed his arms.
“Since when are you in charge?”
Taiga opened his mouth. Izuku could practically predict the insult.
But Taiga stopped, took a breath, then simply said—
“You got a better idea?”
The other boy shrugged.
“No.”
“Then come on.”
Izuku smiled to himself. He didn’t need to say anything. Something had already changed. Not much, but enough.
—
The second fight looked nothing like the first.
Smoke filled the gym, chains snapped across the floor. Quirks collided and they were still yelling. Still insulting each other.
But now they were actually communicating.
“LEFT!”
“I KNOW!”
“NO, YOU FUCKING DON’T, HE’S BEHIND YOU!”
Izuku appeared behind him.
“He’s right.”
“FUCK!”
Izuku ducked as a chain whipped past his head. An attack came from below. He jumped.
Mistake.
Someone had been waiting for that.
“NOW!”
Taiga came out of the smoke. Izuku turned. Too late.
Two fingers tapped his shoulder.
Everything stopped. Taiga froze too, his fingers still resting against Izuku’s shoulder. He blinked. Izuku blinked back.
Then Taiga’s face split into a huge grin.
“Got you.”
The gym exploded.
“OOOOOOOOOOOH!”
“WE FUCKING GOT HIM!”
“PIZZA!”
“I SAID THE MOST EXPENSIVE RESTAURANT!”
“SHUT UP, IT WAS A TEAM EFFORT!”
Taiga quickly pulled his hand away. But he was smiling, really smiling. Not a smirk, not something cruel.
A genuine smile.
Izuku noticed.
“Not bad.”
Taiga spun around.
“‘Not bad’?”
“Yes.”
“WE JUST TOUCHED THE NUMBER FOUR HERO.”
“There are fifteen of you.”
“BUT WE FUCKING TOUCHED YOU.”
Izuku laughed.
“Yes, you did.”
Something about his tone made the room settle down.
“And do you know why?”
Nobody answered.
“Because you stopped trying to prove who was strongest.”
Izuku looked around at all of them.
“You used what each person was good at.”
Then his eyes landed on Taiga.
“Even you.”
Taiga folded his arms.
“Obviously.”
“Ten minutes ago, you were calling all of them losers.”
A few people laughed.
“Shut up.”
“And now you’re giving them instructions.”
“Because without me they would’ve done something stupid.”
“Hey, go fu—”
Izuku raised a finger.
“Doesn’t matter why. You worked together.”
For some reason, that compliment seemed to make them more uncomfortable than losing the fight had.
A few looked away. Others suddenly became very interested in the floor. Izuku knew better than to push it.
“All right.”
He grabbed his jacket.
“Food next week.”
Instant chaos.
“YES!”
“PIZZA!”
“RAMEN!”
“BARBECUE!”
“I’M CHOOSING!”
“WHY YOU?”
“I’M THE ONE WHO TOUCHED HIM!”
“BECAUSE OF US, ASSHOLE!”
The arguments started all over again. Izuku smiled. One of the staff members walked over and stood beside him.
“You know…”
He looked at the boys.
“We almost never see them like this.”
Izuku glanced at him.
“Like what?”
The man took a moment.
“Like teenagers.”
That hit harder than Izuku expected. He looked back.
They were yelling over restaurant choices now. Shoving each other. One of them threw a towel at someone’s head and immediately got one thrown back.
Nothing remarkable.
And that was exactly what made it remarkable.
“They should get to be that more often,” Izuku said quietly.
The staff member didn’t answer. Izuku put his jacket on.
“See you next week.”
Taiga’s head shot up.
“WHAT?”
Izuku turned.
“I’m coming back.”
“Why?”
He shrugged.
“Because you guys are interesting.”
Several of them stared at him like he had just started speaking another language.
Interesting.
Not dangerous. Not troubled. Not hopeless.
Interesting.
Izuku adjusted his jacket.
“And next time…”
He smiled.
“You’ll be better.”
Taiga stared at him.
“Fucking lunatic…”
Izuku heard him. His smile only widened. He was almost out when—
“Hey.”
Izuku turned again.
Taiga stood, still a few feet behind him, alone, hands buried in his pockets.
“Yeah?”
Taiga hesitated.
“That thing earlier.”
“What thing?”
“Don’t be a dick.”
Izuku smiled.
“The sky?”
Taiga immediately looked away.
“Yeah.”
A pause.
“You really do that when you’re having a bad time?”
Izuku was a little surprised by the question.
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
Izuku thought about it.
“Because sometimes I forget I’m allowed to breathe.”
Taiga looked at him. No joke this time. No insult.
“When you have a lot of people depending on you,” Izuku continued, “you start feeling like everything will fall apart if you stop moving for even a second.”
Taiga said nothing.
“Up there…”
Izuku looked toward the sky.
“Nobody needs anything from me.”
A small pause.
“I’m just me.”
Taiga watched his face for a moment.
“Sounds nice.”
“It is.”
Izuku noticed something. Taiga gave him no easy for you to say. No mocking laugh, no insult waiting at the end. So he asked—
“Want to go back up someday?”
“No.”
Immediate. Izuku blinked.
“No?”
“I almost fucking died.”
“You absolutely did not.”
“I saw my ancestors.”
Izuku burst out laughing. Taiga watched him. Then the corner of his mouth twitched.
“…Maybe.”
Izuku stopped.
“Maybe what?”
Taiga was already backing away.
“Nothing.”
“You just said maybe.”
“Didn’t say shit.”
“You want to go again.”
“Shut up.”
“That’s a yes!”
“I SAID SHUT THE FUCK UP!”
He walked off. Izuku stayed where he was, smiling.
A few steps later, Taiga stopped. He didn’t turn around.
“Hey.”
“Yeah?”
A long silence.
Then, so quietly Izuku almost missed it—
“Thanks.”
Izuku didn’t react right away. He knew better. Make too big a deal out of it and Taiga would probably take it back, insult his mother, and pretend the entire conversation had never happened. So Izuku simply said—
“You’re welcome.”
Taiga gave the smallest nod, then walked back to the others.
And for the first time since Izuku had arrived, he didn’t go stand by himself. He shoved one of the boys, got shoved back.
Called him an asshole, got called one right back. And stayed.
Izuku smiled.
No, he hadn’t saved anyone today. Not in the way he used to think of saving people. There had been no villain to defeat. No disaster to stop. He had simply given fifteen teenagers one afternoon where their Quirks weren’t treated like problems.
But maybe that counted for something too.
—
Dinner at the detention center usually followed the same routine.
Cutlery clattering against trays, insults flying between tables, and arguments over who took too much bread.
And, most importantly, the daily war over the only TV remote.
That night, Taiga won.
Well, “won” was generous.
He had mostly ripped it out of another boy’s hand while threatening to break his fingers.
“You’re such an asshole.”
“Thanks.”
Taiga dropped onto the couch, legs spread out, remote in one hand and dinner in the other.
“Now shut the fuck up.”
“Put the game on.”
“No.”
“There’s a movie at eight.”
“Don’t give a shit.”
“Then what are we watching ?”
Taiga started flipping through channels.
Cooking show.
No.
Game show.
No.
News.
Definitely not.
Then—
DEKU : THE RISE OF A HERO
Taiga’s thumb moved automatically toward the button. Then stopped. Half a second. Then another. Onscreen, a deep narrator’s voice began.
“From the young U.A. student who once shattered his own body to save others, to one of the greatest heroes of his generation…”
Taiga frowned. Someone behind him spoke immediately.
“Oh, no.”
Taiga didn’t move.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“Then shut up.”
The boy exchanged a look with someone else. This was weird. Very weird.
Because Taiga had a rule. An almost religious one.
No hero shit on TV. Ever.
Hero rankings ?
Next channel.
Interview ?
Next.
Documentary ?
Next.
Even an agency commercial could earn an insult before he changed it.
Everyone at the center knew why.
A hero had been the one to arrest him.
Brutally.
As far as Taiga was concerned, that told him everything he needed to know.
Heroes were all the same.
Hypocrites in costumes who talked about saving people right up until someone stepped out of line.
So when Deku appeared onscreen, and Taiga didn’t change the channel…
Everyone noticed.
“Hey.”
Nothing.
“Taiga.”
“What?”
“Forget how the remote works ?”
“Shut up.”
He kept watching. An old footage played onscreen.
Izuku when he was younger. Much younger.
Still a student. Costume torn apart, blood on his face.
Then a fight. A sudden burst of speed in the form of a green electric light . A movement so fast it barely registered. Izuku tore through a field of rubble and grabbed a civilian seconds before an entire section of a building collapsed.
Taiga stopped eating. Only for a second. Then continued, slower.
“Fuck,” someone muttered.
“He was fast.”
Taiga said nothing. The footage changed : a montage.
Deku dodging an attack.
Blackwhip shooting between buildings.
Diving off a rooftop.
Catching someone in midair.
Swinging back up.
Another fight. A huge opponent. Izuku slipped past a punch by inches, drove a knee upward, twisted, and threw the man straight to the ground.
Taiga sat up a little. He didn’t realize he had. Someone else did.
“Oh.”
Taiga looked over.
“What the fuck does ‘oh’ mean?”
“Nothing.”
“Better be.”
He turned back.
The documentary moved to more recent footage. Adult Deku.
CURRENT HERO RANKING: #4
He was walking alone through an evacuated district when an attack came from somewhere offscreen.
Izuku vanished. Half a second later, the attacker was on the ground. Taiga blinked.
“Wait.”
Someone leaned forward.
“What ?”
“Go back.”
“It’s live, dumbass.”
“I know.”
Luckily, the documentary immediately showed a replay.
Taiga leaned closer.
Izuku had dodged, pivoted, shifted his footing, used Blackwhip—not to attack, but to change his own center of gravity.
Then struck. Once. Clean, precise.
The boy behind Taiga muttered—
“That’s not human.”
“Yes, it is.”
Everyone looked at Taiga. He felt it.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
Then came the smile.
“You defending him now ?”
Taiga slowly turned his head.
“I’m going to make you eat your plate.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
The documentary continued. For several minutes, nobody joked. The footage was too good.
Deku in the middle of disasters, injured. Deku getting back up anyway. Him evacuating civilians and immediately running back into danger.
Then came older footage. The war. Only a short clip.
Izuku covered in dust, clothes torn apart, looking like he could barely stand.
“What always set Deku apart wasn’t simply his power,” the narrator said. “It was his almost pathological inability to leave someone behind.”
Taiga went still.
For some reason, that line bothered him.
Because suddenly he was thinking about the sky again.
The clouds.The sunset.
"Look around you."
"The world is big."
His grip tightened slightly around his fork. Someone beside him spoke.
“That’s weird.”
Taiga didn’t look away.
“What ?”
“Is he actually like that in real life?”
That got everyone’s attention. Because Taiga knew. Not from a screen, not from an interview or from a ranking.
He had actually met him. He had even been tied to the bastard several thousand feet above the ground.
Taiga shrugged.
“He talks too much.”
A few people laughed.
“That didn’t answer the question.”
“He’s annoying.”
“Still not an answer.”
Taiga sighed and kept watching.
Izuku was laughing during an interview now. A reporter asked what still motivated him after all these years.
He started answering. Then the documentary cut away. Taiga frowned.
“Fuck.”
“What?”
“They always cut the interesting parts.”
Very slowly, everyone turned toward him. Taiga realized what he had said. Too late.
“What?”
One boy grinned.
“Interesting parts?”
“Shut up.”
“You think Deku’s interesting?”
“I said shut up.”
“Ooooooh.”
“I’M GOING TO KILL YOU.”
The room erupted. Taiga threw a cushion at him.
“FUCKING ASSHOLES.”
But he didn’t change the channel, that was the part everyone noticed. Even after the jokes, even after they wouldn’t shut up, he kept watching.
At one point, the documentary showed very old footage of Izuku as a student.
He had just won a fight. But instead of celebrating, he immediately ran toward someone lying injured on the ground. Taiga narrowed his eyes. There it was again. Always someone else first. It was almost irritating.
“He really is fucking crazy,” someone muttered.
“Yeah,” Taiga said automatically.
Then, after a second—
“But not like the others.”
Nobody laughed this time. His voice hadn’t been sarcastic. Or angry. Just honest. One of the boys looked at him.
“You still hate heroes?”
Taiga shrugged.
“Most of them are assholes.”
Normal answer. Everyone smiled, then Taiga added—
“But he…”
His eyes stayed on the screen. Izuku was smiling at a child during an evacuation. Nothing dramatic. Just that same simple smile he had given them at the center. Even when they insulted him. Even when Taiga insulted him.
“He’s weird.”
Someone laughed.
“What does that even mean?”
“I don’t fucking know.”
Taiga thought about it. Then—
“He doesn’t fake it.”
Yeah. Maybe that was it. Staff sometimes pretended to be patient. Adults pretended to understand. Heroes pretended they weren’t uncomfortable around kids like them.
Izuku didn’t.
He got annoyed, he talked back. He could beat the hell out of them in training and laugh about it afterward. But Taiga had never once felt like he was performing.
When Izuku said they were interesting—
he meant it.
When he said he would come back—
Taiga found himself believing him.
And when he had taken Taiga above the clouds…he hadn’t asked for anything in return. No confession. No apology, no tragic backstory. Nothing.
Taiga sank deeper into the couch. The documentary was ending.
“For many, Deku will be remembered as one of the greatest fighters of his generation.”
Clips flashed across the screen : battles, rescues, awards.
“But to the people whose lives he touched…”
A child holding his hand. A former detainee talking to him. U.A. students laughing around him.
“…his impact can’t be measured by any ranking.”
The screen faded to black. Credits. Someone reached for the remote.
“All right—”
Taiga immediately looked over.
“What are you doing?”
“Changing it.”
“Why?”
“It’s over.”
Then a message appeared onscreen.
UP NEXT : DEKU — BEYOND THE SYMBOL, PART TWO
Taiga took the remote back.
“Leave it.”
The entire room froze.
One boy slowly opened his mouth.
“No fucking way.”
Taiga glared at him.
“What?”
“You’re watching part two?”
“I have the remote.”
“YOU’RE ACTUALLY WATCHING PART TWO.”
“SHUT THE FUCK UP.”
Everyone burst out laughing. Taiga gave them a middle finger without taking his eyes off the screen. There was the faintest smile on his face.
And for the first time in a long time, hearing the word hero didn’t make him think of the person who had put him behind bars.
He thought of an endless sky, golden clouds—
And some green-haired idiot who had shown him that the world was a lot bigger than he thought.
The second part started. This time, there was no huge fight.
No explosions, no Blackwhip tearing across the skyline.
Just Izuku at some public event, surrounded by crowds, signing autographs for kids.
One little boy stood off to the side. Maybe six or seven. Too nervous to approach. His mother gently encouraged him forward, but he kept shaking his head.
So Izuku went to him instead.
He crouched down until they were eye level. Something about his expression softened, like the entire crowd around them had disappeared.
The boy finally looked up.
Izuku smiled.
He signed the kid’s notebook, added a few words and some terrible little drawing, then ruffled his hair before standing back up.
The kid lit up.
And Taiga—
without realizing it—
smiled too.
Barely. Just the tiniest smile. Unfortunately, it was enough.
The boy sitting beside him slowly turned his head. Then another, and another. Taiga eventually felt them staring.
“What ?”
Nobody answered. Their grins widened.
“What ?”
Still nothing.
Then someone whispered—
“Oh, no.”
Taiga frowned.
“What the fuck is ‘oh, no’?”
“He smiled.”
Taiga’s face went blank instantly.
“No, I didn’t.”
“Yes, you did.”
“Shut up.”
“You smiled at Deku.”
“I did not.”
“You totally did.”
“I DIDN’T FUCKING SMILE.”
“He smiled.”
“Dude, he absolutely smiled.”
“That was adorable.”
Taiga spun around.
“I’M GOING TO BREAK YOUR FUCKING TEETH.”
The room exploded.
“DEKU FANBOY !”
“SHUT THE FUCK UP !”
“Taiga x Deku !”
“I’M GOING TO KILL YOU.”
“HE’S BLUSHING !”
“I’M NOT FUCKING BLUSHING.”
A cushion flew.
Then another.
Then somehow the remote.
One of the staff members poked his head through the doorway.
“What is going on in here?”
Everyone pointed at Taiga.
“HE’S A DEKU FANBOY.”
“FUCK ALL OF YOU !”
The staff member looked at the TV.
Then at Taiga. Then smiled. A bad move.
“That’s nice.”
“WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN, ‘THAT’S NICE’?”
“Nothing.”
“STOP FUCKING SMILING AT ME.”
The documentary kept playing. And despite all the noise, Taiga still didn’t change the channel.
⸻
Over the next few days, something weird happened.
At first nobody talked about it. But everyone sure noticed.
Around seven-thirty, someone would turn on the TV and ask—
“Anything about Deku on tonight?”
Like this was normal now. Documentaries, Reruns. Hero rankings. Tactical breakdowns. Old interviews. It didn’t matter : if Deku was on, they watched.
All of them.
And Taiga was always there.
Obviously.
Same spot on the couch, usually holding the remote. Always pretending he wasn’t actually interested.
“You’ve been staring at the screen for twenty minutes.”
“I’m analyzing.”
“What?”
“His mistakes.”
Onscreen, Izuku used a Blackwhip feint to neutralize three opponents without so much as brushing against a civilian. One of the boys slowly looked at Taiga.
“His mistakes ?”
Taiga folded his arms.
“Yeah.”
“How many have you found?”
“Shut up.”
Someone else burst out laughing.
Before long, the shows became a kind of routine.
They learned about Izuku’s past. His early years. His injuries, his fights, his failures and his victories.
And more than anything, they watched how much he had changed.
Once, he had been a teenager who couldn’t use his own quirk without breaking his arms. Now he could read an entire battlefield in seconds.
One evening, someone suddenly reached for the remote.
“Wait.”
He rewound the footage.
“Look at this.”
Izuku was surrounded by four opponents.
“He already knew the guy behind him was about to attack.”
Taiga leaned forward.
“No, he didn’t.”
“Yes, he did.”
“Look at his eyes.”
Taiga pointed at the screen.
“He’s watching the reflection in the window.”
The room went quiet.
They rewound it again.
And there it was.
A tiny reflection in the glass.
“Holy shit…”
“He saw that?”
Taiga kept staring at the screen.
“He sees everything.”
The admiration in his voice was obvious. He realized it a second too late.
One of the others slowly smiled.
“‘He sees everything.’”
Taiga turned his head.
“Don’t.”
“That was beautiful.”
“I’m going to strangle you.”
But they kept watching.
They talked about Izuku’s fights, argued over his decisions, and tried to figure out the logic behind his strategies.
And for the first time, some of them started talking about their own quirks differently too. Not like problems, not like curses. Like tools.
One night, someone asked—
“Do you think he could beat fifteen guys like us without using his quirk ?”
Everyone stared at him. Then, all at once—
“Yes.”
Taiga sighed.
“He already did, you idiots.”
⸻
Then came the day Izuku returned. Just like he had promised. Of course he did. But this time, the atmosphere was different. One of the staff members opened the gym door.
“You have a visitor.”
Several heads shot up immediately. Far too quickly. Taiga’s included. He recovered first.
“Don’t care.”
“Sure.”
“Shut up.”
Then Izuku walked in carrying two huge bags, with a third suspended beside him by Blackwhip.
The smell reached them before he could say anything.
Pizza. Fried food. Ramen, chicken, desserts. Everything that was rare, restricted, or practically nonexistent at the center.
Every boy in the room stared. Izuku smiled.
“I made a promise.”
The gym exploded.
“NO WAY !”
“HE ACTUALLY DID IT !”
“WHAT THE FUCK?”
“ARE THERE GYOZAS?”
“TELL ME THERE ARE GYOZAS !”
Izuku laughed.
“There are.”
“I LOVE YOU.”
Silence.
The boy who had shouted it froze, then hurriedly added—
“I mean… for the food. Obviously.”
Everyone started laughing, Izuku included.
Taiga, however, hadn’t said anything. He was still looking at him.
Izuku had kept his promise. Again. Like it was the easiest thing in the world.
Izuku noticed.
“Hey, Taiga.”
Taiga went still. He knew his name now.
“Hey.”
The reply was short. But a lot more polite than anything he had said during their first meeting. Several heads slowly turned toward him.
Taiga felt it immediately.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“You’re all annoying as fuck.”
Izuku smiled, amused, and set the bags down.
“All right.”
He looked around the room.
“Have you been behaving ?”
One of the staff members burst out laughing.
“Absolutely not.”
“TRAITOR.”
Izuku laughed again. Then someone raised a hand.
“Deku-san.”
“Yeah ?”
Taiga looked over immediately. He had a bad feeling. A very bad feeling.
The boy was already grinning.
“Taiga watched all your documentaries.”
Silence. Taiga went completely still.
“What ?”
Izuku blinked, then looked at him.
The boy continued.
“All of them.”
“Shut the fuck up.”
“Even the four-hour one about your career.”
“I SAID SHUT THE FUCK UP.”
Another boy jumped in.
“He knows all your fights by heart.”
“THAT’S NOT TRUE.”
“He rewinds the slow-motion clips.”
“TO ANALYZE THEM.”
“He said, ‘He sees everything.’”
The room erupted.
Taiga’s face went red.
“I’M GOING TO KILL ALL OF YOU.”
Izuku covered his mouth, clearly trying not to laugh. He failed.
“Taiga…”
“Don’t say anything.”
“I wasn’t going to.”
“You’re smiling.”
“A little.”
“Stop.”
He couldn’t.
Then someone else added—
“He smiled when you gave that kid an autograph.”
The room went dead silent. Taiga turned around. Very slowly.
“Who. Said. That ?”
Nobody answered. Then someone pointed across the room.
“Him.”
“TRAITOR !”
The gym exploded again.
Izuku was openly laughing now, while Taiga looked like he wanted the floor to swallow him whole. How could this grown man still had the carefree laugh of a child like that ?
“You’re all a bunch of—”
“Taiga.”
He turned.
Izuku was still smiling, but there was something softer in it now.
“Thanks.”
Taiga frowned.
“For what?”
“For watching.”
That was clearly not what he had expected.
“It was…”
He looked away.
“It was just on TV.”
“Still.”
A brief silence followed.
“I hope you found it interesting.”
Every boy in the room was waiting. Taiga knew it.
Anything he said now would be used against him for the next several weeks.
So he folded his arms.
“It was fine.”
The reaction was immediate.
“IT WAS FINE?”
“HE LOVED IT.”
“NUMBER ONE FAN.”
“SHUT THE FUCK UP.”
Izuku laughed again. Then something strange happened. As he started handing out the food, the boys actually listened to him.
Not perfectly. They were still loud, rude, and completely chaotic. But when Izuku spoke, they looked up. When he asked them something, they answered.
Even Taiga. Especially Taiga.
At one point, Izuku started explaining a footwork technique.
Taiga frowned.
“Wait.”
The room quieted.
“When you pivot like that…”
He copied the movement.
“Do you shift your weight before the strike?”
Izuku looked at him, surprised. Then his face lit up.
“Exactly.”
Taiga froze. Izuku stepped closer to him, eyes shining.
“You noticed that in the footage?”
Bad question. The others were already grinning.
“Maybe.”
Izuku looked genuinely impressed.
“That’s a really good catch.”
Something flickered in Taiga’s eyes. Only for a second. Pride. Then he immediately shrugged it off.
“Yeah, well.”
He looked away.
“It was obvious.”
“NO, IT WASN’T. YOU REWOUND IT LIKE TWENTY TIMES.”
“SHUT UP!”
Izuku burst out laughing.
And Taiga, despite himself, smiled too. Small, brief. But this time, nobody mocked him right away. They all understood.
Something had changed.
Deku wasn’t just a famous hero anymore. He wasn’t just Number Four. He wasn’t just the man who had beaten all of them in a fight.
He was someone they waited for. Someone who came back. Someone who kept his word.
And for boys who had learned early that adults made promises right before disappearing, that mattered more than any of them wanted to admit.
Izuku didn’t say anything about it.
He only noticed the way they looked at him now. Less guarded. Less hostile. And Taiga most of all. Still confrontational. Still rude, of course. Still ready with an insult whenever things got too sincere.
But when he looked at Izuku now, there wasn’t only suspicion anymore.
There was something else, Something new.
Respect.
And maybe…
Just maybe…
Something else.
⸻
The room was probably quieter than it had ever been once the boxes of gyoza were opened. Taiga sat on top of one of the tables with a slice of pizza in his hand.
“Fuck…”
He took another bite.
“How long’s it been since I had pizza?”
“Three months.”
“Four.”
“A lifetime.”
Izuku watched them with quiet satisfaction before clapping his hands once.
“All right.”
A chorus of groans answered him.
“Oh, come on.”
“What now?”
“Can’t we just eat?”
Izuku folded his arms.
Only then did some of them notice something. He wasn’t dressed like last time. No hero costume or armored suit. No gauntlets.
Instead, he wore his UA’s teacher uniform—a crisp white shirt tucked neatly into dark slacks, a fitted blazer, and neat dress shoes.
Handsome.
It was a completely different look.
Not the Deku everyone knew from TV.
At least, not the public version of him.
Taiga lurked at him. For a little too long. He caught himself, looked away—
Then glanced back.
Subtly.
Well…
What he considered subtle.
“I didn’t just come here to feed you.”
One of the boys looked up.
“I’ve been working on something.”
Izuku set another bag on the table and pulled out several notebooks.
Taiga frowned.
“What’s all that?”
Izuku smiled.
That immediately put everyone on guard.
“You.”
Silence.
“…Come again?”
He opened the first notebook. Page after page. Sketches, notes, diagrams. Ideas.
“I analyzed your quirks.”
The room fell completely silent. Even Taiga stopped eating.
“…You what ?”
Izuku looked up. And something about him changed instantly.
His eyes lit up.
“So !”
One of the staff members, who vaguely knew his reputation, sighed under his breath.
“This is going to take a while.”
He was right. Izuku immediately pointed at one of the boys.
“You.”
The boy jumped.
“Me?”
“Your quirk lets you generate organic chains from your forearms, right ?”
“…Yeah.”
Izuku stepped closer.
“What’s your maximum range ?”
“I dunno.”
Izuku blinked.
“What do you mean, you don’t know ?”
The boy shrugged.
“Fifteen meters ?”
Izuku immediately flipped open his notebook.
“Have you ever tried anchoring multiple chains in different directions at once ?”
“Huh ?”
“Look.”
He sketched quickly as he talked.
“Right now you mostly use them as weapons.”
“Well… yeah.”
“I think that’s limiting.”
“Wow. Thanks.”
“No—wait.”
Izuku corrected himself immediately.
“Not bad. Just… limited.”
He kept drawing.
“Imagine using three chains as anchor points.”
He pointed at the page.
“One here.”
“One there.”
“One behind you.”
The boy leaned in.
“You could change direction in midair without ever touching the ground.”
Silence.
“…Like Spider-Man?”
Izuku paused.
Then thought about it with complete sincerity.
“…Technically?”
He nodded.
“Yeah.”
The room exploded.
“OH MY GOD, HE’S GONNA BE SPIDER-MAN.”
“SHUT UP.”
Even Izuku laughed. Then he continued.
“You’d have to strengthen your shoulders first.”
He tapped his own deltoid.
“The strain would be enormous right here.”
The boy stared at his arm. For the first time…not with frustration, but with curiosity.
“…You really think I could do that?”
Izuku smiled.
“I do.”
Then he pointed at him.
“But you are absolutely not trying it by jumping off a building tomorrow.”
“Damn.”
“I’m serious.”
More laughter, then Izuku turned to the next notebook.
“You.”
“Oh no.”
“Your heat quirk.”
“What about it?”
“Why do you always channel the heat through your hands?”
The boy frowned.
“I…”
He thought about it.
“…That’s just how it comes out?”
Izuku narrowed his eyes.
“Is that actually a biological limitation…”
He stepped closer.
“…or is it just how you’ve always done it?”
The boy stared blankly.
“I… don’t know.”
Izuku grinned.
“Exactly.”
He opened another page.
“Let’s find out.”
Before anyone realized it, the afternoon had turned into something that barely resembled a lecture anymore.
“WAIT.”
“What?”
“If your quirk absorbs kinetic energy…”
Izuku grabbed an empty bottle.
“Catch.”
He tossed it over. The boy caught it automatically.
“Okay?”
Izuku suddenly yanked it back.
“HEY!”
“You felt that?”
“What?”
“The resistance!”
“You literally just tried to steal my bottle.”
“No !”
Izuku protested.
“That was science !”
“Sure it was.”
Taiga watched the whole thing without saying much.
Which was unusual. Very unusual.
Normally he always had something to add. An insult, a sarcastic comment. Some kind of provocation at least. But this time…
He just watched Izuku.
Moving from one kid to the next. Talking a mile a minute. Hands flying everywhere while he explained something. Every time an idea clicked, his entire face lit up. Sometimes he’d stop in the middle of a sentence.
“Wait.”
He’d scribble frantically into one of his notebooks. Then suddenly—
“Yes!”
—and launch straight back into the explanation.
Taiga frowned.
This…
was another side of him.
In the documentaries, Deku looked untouchable.
Powerful, almost larger than life.
Up in the sky… He’d seemed kind. Human.
But here…
He was just…
excited.
Completely absorbed in what he was doing. And somehow…
Taiga thought it was…
Cute.
He blinked.
What ?
No. Not cute.
Ridiculous. Yeah. Ridiculous.
The notebooks.
The frantic hand gestures.
The way he talked so fast he almost tripped over his own words.
Ridiculous.
Izuku laughed at something one of the boys said.
His nose scrunched up.
His eyes nearly disappeared behind his smile.
Taiga stared.
Shit.
He was really attractive.
No.
Scratch that.
He was gorgeous.
The thought hit him so hard he frowned on instinct, like someone had just insulted him.
A memory flashed through his head.
The documentary. A close-up after a fight.
Messy green hair.
Bright green eyes.
Freckles that gave him a youthful look.
A drop of sweat alongside his forehead.
One of the boys had said—
“Man… he’s actually really good-looking.”
“Seriously.”
And Taiga had immediately snapped—
“Would you idiots shut the fuck up ?”
Why ? He honestly hadn’t known. It had just annoyed him.
Now… He was even more confused.
Izuku laughed again. Taiga found himself watching his eyes. He hadn’t really noticed them before. Well…
Not like this.
He had noticed them in the sky. But now…
They were impossibly big. And green. Almost glowing.
Then, without warning, those same eyes met his.
Taiga froze.
Izuku was looking straight at him.
For a second, his expression didn’t change.
Relaxed, curious.
Almost tender.
Then Taiga’s brain finally caught up.
The hell are you doing ?
The walls slammed back into place. His brow furrowed and his stare hardened.
Izuku blinked. Then…he smiled. That same smile.
Not teasing, not suspicious. Just warm. Taiga immediately looked away, his face heating up.
“Tch.”
Izuku clearly had no idea what that had been about. He simply looked back down at his notebook.
“Anyway, about your quirk—”
Taiga stared somewhere else.
One minute passed.
Then another. Izuku was already talking to somebody else.
“If you increase the density gradually…”
Taiga’s foot started tapping. Again. And again. Izuku laughed.
Why was he laughing so much with them ?
Taiga frowned. Ridiculous. He looked at his plate.
Then at Izuku.
Back to his plate.
Back to Izuku.
Finally—
“Hey, Deku.”
The room went quiet. Everyone looked over. Izuku turned too.
“Yeah ?”
Taiga leaned back like he couldn’t care less.
“You planning on talking to everybody here except me?”
Silence. One of the boys slowly raised an eyebrow. Taiga caught the look.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“Then shut up.”
Izuku smiled.
“I was getting to you.”
“It’s been forty minutes.”
“You were counting?”
Bad question.
Several grins appeared around the room. Taiga stiffened.
“No.”
“You literally just said forty minutes.”
“It was an estimation.”
“A very precise one.”
“Are you going to analyze my quirk or keep talking?”
Izuku laughed.
“All right, all right.”
He picked up one of his notebooks and walked over. Taiga straightened slightly as Izuku sat down across from him.
He could smell his cologne.
“Okay.”
He opened the notebook. Taiga glanced down—and stopped.
His name was written across the top of the page.
TAIGA
Underlined. And there wasn’t only one page.
There were several.
He frowned.
“Why do I have so many pages?”
Izuku looked up.
“Because your quirk is complicated.”
“Complicated?”
“Very.”
Something suspiciously close to pride crossed Taiga’s face.
“Obviously.”
Izuku rolled his eyes.
“Don’t let it go to your head.”
“Too late.”
Izuku smiled, but then his expression shifted.
Analysis mode.
“Tell me exactly what you feel when you activate it.”
Taiga shrugged.
“Powerful.”
Izuku stared at him.
“Very scientific.”
“You asked what I felt.”
“Fair enough.”
He leaned forward slightly.
“Heat?”
“A little.”
“Pressure in your muscles?”
“Yeah.”
“Pain?”
Taiga hesitated.
“Sometimes.”
Izuku’s pen stopped moving. He looked up immediately.
“Where?”
“It’s nothing serious.”
“Where?”
“My arms.”
“Your joints?”
“Mostly my shoulders.”
Izuku wrote it down.
“How long before it starts?”
“I don’t know.”
“Taiga.”
“What?”
“Try.”
Taiga sighed.
“About two minutes at full power.”
Izuku stopped again.
“Two minutes?”
“Yeah.”
“And after that?”
“It burns.”
Izuku frowned.
“You keep going anyway?”
“Obviously.”
Something changed in his expression. Taiga noticed immediately.
“Oh, no.”
“What do you mean, ‘oh, no’?”
“The teacher face.”
“What teacher face?”
“That one.”
Taiga pointed at him.
“You’re about to lecture me.”
“I’m not—”
“Yes, you are. Taiga—your body is important. You need to understand your limits.’”
Izuku’s mouth fell open.
“That is exactly what I was going to say.”
The entire room burst out laughing. Taiga grinned.
“I know.”
Izuku narrowed his eyes.
“Very funny.”
Then he turned the notebook around.
“Look.”
Taiga leaned closer.
Izuku had drawn a diagram of his quirk—his movements, the way he used his power, and the areas where the strain seemed to gather.
“I think you’re making one fundamental mistake.”
Taiga’s smile faded slightly.
“What?”
Izuku pointed to part of the diagram.
“You’re constantly trying to increase your maximum output.”
“Of course.”
“Why ‘of course’?”
“Because stronger means better.”
Izuku stared at him.
“That may be the stupidest thing I’ve heard all day.”
Everyone around them erupted.
“OHHH!”
Taiga stared at him, mouth open.
“Excuse me?”
Izuku smiled innocently.
“You heard me.”
“Did you just call me stupid?”
“I said the sentence was stupid.”
“Same thing.”
“Not even remotely.”
“Take it back.”
“No.”
Taiga stared at him. Izuku stared back.
Then something strange happened.
Taiga smiled. Not pleasantly. It was the provocative grin he wore whenever someone challenged him.
“All right, Teach.”
He folded his arms.
“Explain it to me.”
Izuku’s face lit up.
A mistake.
“So !”
Taiga realized what he had done. Too late. Izuku flipped one page, then another.
“Your power is already more than enough. Your actual problems are control, endurance, and especially the way you distribute—”
And he was off. Talking quickly, passionately.
Taiga listened. Actually listened. Every now and then, he asked a question. Then another.
Sometimes he disagreed. Izuku argued his point. Taiga countered.
Izuku drew another diagram. Taiga leaned closer and tried to follow.
Around them, the others gradually stopped talking. One of the boys whispered—
“He’s completely into it.”
“Seriously.”
“He’s been pretending to hate him for an hour.”
“Shh.”
Taiga’s head snapped up.
“I CAN HEAR YOU.”
Izuku blinked.
“What did they say?”
“Nothing.”
“But—”
“Keep going.”
Izuku shrugged.
“Okay.”
Then he went right back to explaining.
Taiga watched him. Again.
Those eyes.
This time, when Izuku looked up and caught him staring, Taiga didn’t immediately turn away.
Izuku smiled.
“Do you understand ?”
One second.
Two.
Then Taiga’s defenses returned.
“Yeah.”
He folded his arms.
“It wasn’t complicated.”
Izuku’s smile widened.
“Obviously.”
But Taiga now knew something particularly irritating.
Next week, he was going to wait for Izuku to come back. And that realization annoyed him more than it should have.
—
When Izuku left that evening, Taiga felt something strange.
He didn’t immediately have a word for it.
Izuku had put his blazer back on, packed away his notebooks, and promised to send a few exercises to the staff.
Then he had said goodbye to everyone.
“Work hard.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
“Come back with burgers next time!”
“Vultures.”
A few of the boys laughed.
Then Izuku turned to Taiga.
“And you.”
Taiga raised an eyebrow.
“What about me?”
Izuku pointed at him.
“No more than two minutes at full power.”
“In your dreams.”
“Taiga.”
“Midoriya.”
They stared at each other. Izuku narrowed his eyes. Taiga smiled.
“Three.”
“Two.”
“Two and a half.”
“Two.”
“Two fifteen.”
Izuku thought about it.
“Two minutes and ten seconds.”
Taiga held out his hand.
“Deal.”
Izuku looked at it, then burst out laughing.
“Why are we negotiating your safety?”
“Because you’re annoying.”
“And you’re impossible.”
Still smiling, Izuku took his hand. The contact was brief. Then—
“Two minutes and ten seconds.”
“Yeah, Mom.”
Izuku immediately let go.
“Excuse me?”
Taiga had already started backing away.
“Have a nice evening, Midoriya.”
“TAIGA.”
Taiga laughed, actually laughed.
Then Izuku left. The door closed behind him. And strangely, the silence that followed felt much heavier than it had before.
Taiga remained standing there for several seconds, staring at the door.
Someone spoke behind him.
“He’s gone, Romeo.”
Taiga turned around immediately.
“Go fuck yourself.”
The room erupted.
Normal. Everything was normal.
At least, it should have been.
_
The next morning, Taiga opened his eyes. His first thought was—
Two minutes and ten seconds.
He immediately frowned.
Why the hell was he thinking about that?
He got up. Showered, went to breakfast. One of the boys was pouring himself a bowl of cereal. Taiga looked at it and suddenly wondered—
What does Izuku eat for breakfast?
He stopped.
…
What?
Where had that question even come from?
He shook his head.
Ridiculous.
He ate.
Later, during training, he activated his Quirk.
One minute.
One minute thirty.
Two minutes.
He kept going.
Two minutes and five seconds.
Then he stopped.
Two minutes and ten.
Exactly.
He stared at his hands.
“Fuck.”
The boy beside him looked over.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
He had actually listened. That irritated him.
—
The days passed, and the problem got worse. Very quickly.
Izuku was everywhere.
Not physically.
Inside Taiga’s head. Constantly.
While he ate—
What food does he like?
While he watched television—
What kind of shows does he watch?
While he trained—
How would he do this movement?
Whenever someone mentioned U.A.—
What does he actually teach?
Whenever he saw another hero—
Does Izuku know that guy ?
Whenever he looked up at the sky—
That was the worst.
Because he immediately saw the clouds again.
The sunset. Izuku’s smile.
"Look around you."
Taiga usually ended up growling to himself after that.
“For fuck’s sake.”
He didn’t understand what was happening. So he tried to solve the problem the way any, perfectly rational teenager, would.
By looking up absolutely everything he could find about Izuku.
Obviously. Documentaries, interviews, news reports, old footage, fights, he watched all of it.
“Deku again?”
“Shut up.”
“This is the third documentary this week.”
“There’s nothing else on.”
One of the boys picked up the television guide.
“There are literally twenty-seven other channels.”
“They’re all terrible.”
“Of course they are.”
Taiga kept watching. Then one program showed Izuku at U.A.
Finally. Exactly what he had been looking for. He immediately sat up.
“Oh.”
Someone beside him noticed.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
On-screen, Izuku was walking through one of U.A.’s hallways in his teacher’s uniform.
Students greeted him as they passed.
“Good morning, Deku-sensei !”
“Morning !”
Another student came running toward him.
“Sensei ! Do you have two minutes?”
“Of course.”
Taiga watched, completely absorbed.
So that was what he was like there.
He smiled a lot.
Far too much.
He knew his students’ names.
Sometimes he gave one of them an encouraging pat on the shoulder. He joked with them.
Then the documentary cut to a training session.
Izuku corrected a student’s stance with a serious expression. When she finally performed the movement correctly, he smiled.
Taiga felt something strange.
A flicker of warmth. Curiosity.
He wanted to see more.
A lot more.
What was Izuku like when he was tired ?
What did he look like when he was angry ?
What was he like, first thing in the morning ?
Was he messy ?
Probably.
Could he cook ?
What was his favorite meal ?
Did he sing in the shower ?
…
Why the fuck was he thinking about that ?
Taiga suddenly dropped his head against the back of the sofa.
“Fuck.”
“What now?”
“Nothing.”
“Are you thinking about Deku?”
Taiga’s head snapped up.
“No.”
“You answered way too quickly.”
“Shut up.”
“He’s thinking about Deku.”
“He’s always thinking about Deku.”
“I do not always think about him!”
Silence. A mistake. Several smiles slowly appeared around the room.
“‘Not always.’”
Taiga realized what he had said.
“Oh, go fuck yourselves.”
The room exploded.
“HE ADMITTED IT!”
“I DIDN’T ADMIT ANYTHING.”
“Taiga’s in love!”
That sentence.
He hated it, immediately.
“Shut the fuck up.”
“In love.”
“Shut up.”
“In love.”
“I’M GOING TO BREAK YOUR—”
“Why are you reacting so strongly, then?”
Silence.
Taiga stopped.
The boy was smiling.
“If it isn’t true…”
He shrugged.
“…why would you care?”
Taiga didn’t answer. Then—
“Because it’s stupid.”
“Why?”
“Because…”
He searched for an answer.
“Love is bullshit.”
The room became quieter. Some of the smiles disappeared. Taiga looked away.
“It makes people weak.”
There. That was what he believed. What he had always believed.
Getting attached to someone meant handing them a weapon, a chance to hurt you.
People left, people betrayed you, people disappeared. So why give anyone that much importance?
It was ridiculous.
Weak. Stupid.
Except…
Why had he been so happy since Izuku came into his life ?
That was the problem.
How long had it been since Taiga had genuinely looked forward to something?
How long had it been since he had woken up wondering—
When is he coming back?
How long had it been since he had wanted to become better simply because he wanted someone to notice his progress?
He didn’t know. And that frightened him. So naturally… He denied it. Again, and again.
“I’m not in love.”
“Of course not.”
“Shut up.”
⸻
Then came the day of the disaster.
One evening.
Television. A documentary, obviously. Taiga was sprawled across his usual spot on the couch. The documentary was about the new generation of heroes.
Deku.
Shoto.
Dynamight.
A few others.
Taiga watched quietly. Well…
He mostly watched the parts about Izuku.
But nobody needed to point that out anymore.
Then a reporter appeared on-screen.
“Despite his fame, Deku is also known for keeping his private life remarkably private.”
Taiga sat up a little. Private life.
Interesting. Very interesting.
One of the boys noticed. He smiled but, for once, said nothing.
“He rarely makes public appearances outside of his hero duties and his teaching position at U.A.”
Taiga listened closely.
“However, one part of his personal life is, of course, widely known to the public…”
A photograph appeared.
Izuku.
Beautiful.
Smiling.
Dressed formally.
And standing beside him…
A blond man.
Taiga frowned.
Obviously, he recognized the face. Everyone in Japan did.
Dynamight.
Bakugo Katsuki.
The Number Five Hero.
Why was he—
The reporter continued.
“His marriage to his former U.A. classmate, the Pro Hero Dynamight.”
Silence.
Taiga stopped moving. Completely.
The documentary continued, but he no longer heard any of it.
Marriage.
Marriage ?
His brain seemed to reject the word. He stared at the photograph.
Izuku.
Bakugo.
Standing close together.
Far too close.
Bakugo had one arm around Izuku’s waist.
Something dropped heavily into Taiga’s stomach. Very heavily.
“…”
The boy sitting beside him slowly turned his head. He looked at the screen.
Then at Taiga.
Oh.
Oh, no.
“Taiga.”
No answer.
“Man.”
Still nothing. The documentary continued in the background.
“The famously private couple have known each other since childhood…”
Since childhood.
Even worse.
Taiga kept staring. His face had gone completely blank.
Then another photograph appeared.
Izuku was laughing beside Bakugo. Bakugo seemed to be saying something to him, and Izuku lightly shoved his shoulder.
Easy.
Familiar.
Intimate.
Taiga felt his jaw tighten.
“Wait…”
One of the boys finally spoke.
“You didn’t know?”
Silence. Taiga slowly turned his head.
“Know what?”
Everyone exchanged looks. Oh, no. He genuinely hadn’t known.
“That…”
The boy pointed awkwardly at the television.
“Deku is married.”
Taiga looked back at the screen.
“No.”
The answer came immediately.
“Well…”
“No.”
“Man, it literally says—”
“I said no.”
Silence.
Someone made the terrible decision to add—
“They’ve been married for years.”
Taiga turned his head very slowly.
“Years?”
“Yeah.”
Disaster. His world had just collapsed for the second time.
“With him?”
He pointed at Bakugo.
“Yeah.”
“Dynamight?”
“Yes.”
“That asshole?”
Silence. Someone muttered—
“You don’t even know him.”
“I DON’T CARE.”
The room erupted.
“OH MY GOD.”
“WHAT?”
“YOU’RE JEALOUS.”
“I’M NOT JEALOUS.”
“YOU ARE SO JEALOUS.”
“SHUT THE FUCK UP.”
“TAIGA IS JEALOUS OF DYNAMIGHT.”
“I’M GOING TO KILL YOU.”
But for once, there was no real force behind the threats. Taiga looked at the screen again.
Izuku was smiling at Bakugo.
That smile. His smile.
Well—
No.
Not his smile.
Obviously.
What a stupid thought.
Still, something hurt.
Actually hurt.
A strange ache in his chest. Ridiculous.
He barely knew Izuku.
Izuku had visited twice.
Twice. That was all.
So why…
Why did it feel like something had just been taken away from him?
Taiga stood abruptly.
“I’m going to bed.”
Everyone stared at him.
“It’s eight fifteen.”
“I said I’m going to bed.”
“But the documentary—”
Taiga stopped.
For one second, he looked back at the screen. Izuku was still there. Then, Bakugo appeared beside him again.
Taiga immediately looked away.
“I don’t give a shit.”
Then he left.
Nobody laughed this time.
⸻
In his room, Taiga lay on his back and stared at the ceiling. Silence.
Then—
“Fuck.”
He closed his eyes— a mistake. Izuku appeared immediately.
His smile.
His eyes.
The sky.
His hand closing around Taiga’s.
Two minutes and ten seconds.
Taiga opened his eyes again.
“Fucking hell.”
He rolled over.
Bakugo.
His arm around Izuku’s waist.
Taiga gritted his teeth.
Why him?
Why that guy?
Dynamight.
Always angry. Always aggressive. Always shouting. Taiga frowned.
Wait.
He pushed himself up slightly.
“Does he really like guys like that?”
Then he realized something.
Taiga was also always angry, always aggressive, always swearing.
No.
No, no, no.
He immediately dropped back onto his pillow.
“I’m completely losing my mind.”
He covered his eyes with one arm. But behind it, a smile almost appeared.
Because even in the middle of this emotional disaster, one ridiculous thought had crossed his mind.
At least I’m his type.
The smile vanished immediately.
“FUCK, HE’S MARRIED.”
Someone shouted through the wall—
“WE KNOW, ROMEO!”
“GO FUCK YOURSELF!”
Laughter echoed down the corridor. Taiga buried his face in his pillow.
Love was a weakness. He was now absolutely certain of it.
Because he had never felt this miserable in his entire life.
And the worst part was that Izuku had absolutely no idea what kind of chaos he had created in Taiga’s head simply by existing.
⸻
Taiga spent the entire next day sulking. Which, for Taiga, was not particularly unusual. The problem was the intensity.
He ate while glaring at his food. He trained while glaring at everyone around him. He watched television while looking like the screen had personally offended him.
And most importantly, whenever anyone said the word—
“Dynamight.”
His expression somehow became even darker.
Naturally, the others noticed. And naturally, they were the worst possible people to ask for romantic advice.
“Honestly…”
Taiga looked up from his plate.
“What?”
A boy sitting across from him shrugged.
“You give up fast.”
“Excuse me?”
“Deku.”
Taiga slowly put down his fork.
“I’m not giving up anything.”
“Well, he’s married.”
“Thank you. I’m aware.”
“Since yesterday.”
“Shut the fuck up.”
Another boy joined in.
“That doesn’t necessarily mean anything.”
Silence. Taiga turned toward him.
“What?”
The boy shrugged.
“The marriage.”
“What do you mean, it doesn’t mean anything?”
“Well…”
He thought about it. Probably a bad idea.
“How long has he been with Dynamight?”
Someone immediately pulled out a phone.
“Hold on.”
Taiga frowned.
“Why are you looking it up?”
“Scientific research.”
“You’re all insane.”
A few seconds passed.
“Several years.”
Someone whistled.
“Damn.”
“What do you mean, ‘damn’?”
“Well…”
He looked at Taiga.
“He must be bored.”
Taiga blinked. Once.
“What?”
“Think about it.”
The boy set down his fork, suddenly far too serious for someone who was clearly about to say something idiotic.
“Several years with the same guy.”
“And?”
“Routine.”
Another boy nodded solemnly.
“Routine.”
A third joined in.
“Terrible.”
Taiga looked around the table.
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“He’s the Number Four Hero.”
“Yeah.”
“He fights villains.”
“Yeah.”
“He flies.”
“Yeah.”
“He literally lives for adrenaline and excitement !”
Silence.
Unfortunately, Taiga had started listening.
“So?”
The boy leaned closer.
“Maybe he’s looking for…”
A dramatic pause.
“…something new.”
Something lit up inside Taiga’s brain.
A tiny light. A dangerous one.
A very dangerous one.
“Something new,” he repeated.
“Exactly.”
Another boy glanced at a photograph of Bakugo on his phone.
“And Dynamight…”
Bakugo wore his usual expression, as if he wanted to murder the photographer.
“He looks unbearable.”
Taiga looked at the picture.
“Seriously.”
Then he stopped. Everyone stared at him. One of them raised an eyebrow.
“Man.”
“What?”
“You’re exactly like him.”
Taiga looked personally offended.
“I am not.”
“You shout.”
“No, I don’t.”
“You just shouted, ‘I am not.’”
“SHUT THE FUCK UP.”
“There.”
Taiga frowned.
But suddenly, the remark gave him another idea.
Dynamight.
Explosive temper.
Aggressive.
Provocative.
Competitive.
Izuku was married to him.
Which meant that, technically…
Izuku liked that kind of personality.
Taiga slowly straightened.
Wait. Wait a fucking second.
“You said I’m like him?”
One boy smiled slowly.
“Why are you suddenly interested?”
“Answer me.”
“Personality-wise?”
“Yeah.”
“A little.”
Someone else interrupted.
“A lot.”
“An alarming amount.”
“It’s actually kind of terrifying.”
Taiga felt something rising inside him.
Hope.
No.
Confidence. A completely irrational confidence. But confidence all the same.
He slowly leaned back in his chair.
“Interesting.”
Everyone stared at him.
Oh, no.
“What?” someone asked.
Taiga didn’t answer, his mind was working.
Fast.
Izuku liked men like Dynamight.
Taiga resembled Dynamight.
Mathematically… There was something there. Probably.
“Wait.”
One of the boys understood.
“You seriously think—”
“Shut up.”
Taiga was smiling.
For the first time in twenty-four hours.
“Oh, no.”
“What?”
“He’s planning something.”
“I’m not planning anything.”
“You’re making the face.”
“What face?”
“The ‘I’ve just had a catastrophically bad idea’ face.”
Taiga ignored him because, admittedly…
Ideas were appearing.
A lot of them.
First piece of information :
Izuku was a hero. A real one. Not just professionally. He had literally devoted his life to saving people.
Taiga’s conclusion:
Izuku liked being useful. He liked protecting people. He liked helping.
Interesting. Very interesting.
Second piece of information:
Izuku had spent a great deal of time alone with Taiga in the sky.
He had analyzed Taiga’s Quirk. He had filled several pages about him.
Several.
Not one.
Several.
Conclusion:
Taiga already interested him. Obviously.
Perfectly logical.
Third piece of information:
Izuku laughed at his provocations. Frequently.
Therefore…
He liked Taiga’s sense of humor.
Excellent.
Fourth piece of information:
Izuku had smiled at him. A lot.
A very lot.
Taiga stopped.
…
Was “a very lot” a real expression? Whatever.
Fifth piece of information:
Izuku had agreed to come back.
Which meant he wanted to see Taiga again.
Obviously.
Everything fit together. Perfectly.
At least…
Inside Taiga’s head.
⸻
That evening, the war council began, because by then…
The entire dormitory had become involved.
Someone had even found a whiteboard. Nobody knew where it came from.
One boy wrote across the top—
OPERATION DEKU
Taiga stared at it.
“Erase that.”
“Why?”
“It’s ridiculous.”
The boy erased it, then wrote—
OPERATION : STEAL DYNAMIGHT’S HUSBAND
Taiga stared at the board.
“…”
A pause.
“Keep it.”
The room exploded.
“ARE YOU SERIOUS?”
“Shut the fuck up.”
Taiga stood and took the marker.
“First.”
He wrote—
1. GET HIS ATTENTION
“Already done.”
Someone raised a hand.
“How?”
Taiga stared at him.
“He took me into the sky.”
“Because you were annoying everyone.”
“Minor detail.”
“That was literally the entire reason.”
“I said it was a detail.”
He continued.
2. BECOME INTERESTING
One of the boys frowned.
“That might be difficult.”
Taiga threw the marker at him.
“Go fuck yourself.”
Laughter erupted.
Then someone asked—
“But seriously…”
He looked at Taiga.
“What are you actually planning to do?”
Silence. Taiga thought about it.
Good question.
Taiga understood fighting : insults, provocation, arguments, trouble—
Seduction?
Absolutely no experience.
None.
So naturally, his brain produced the worst possible strategy.
“He likes saving people.”
“Yeah.”
“So…”
Taiga folded his arms.
“I give him opportunities to save me.”
Absolute silence.
Then—
“That is the worst idea I have ever heard.”
Taiga frowned.
“Why?”
“What are you going to do?”
The boy put on a dramatic voice.
“‘Oh, no, Deku, I fell down the stairs. Carry me in your arms.’”
The room erupted. Taiga’s face turned red.
“I DIDN’T SAY THAT.”
“‘Deku, I hurt my little knee.’”
“SHUT THE FUCK UP.”
“‘Kiss it better.’”
Taiga launched himself across the table. Chaos followed. Five minutes later, the council resumed.
“All right.”
Taiga dragged his chair back into place.
“No fake accidents.”
“Thank you.”
“But…”
He thought for a moment.
“I could ask him to help me with my quirk.”
Silence. This time, nobody laughed immediately.
“That…”
One boy considered it.
“…isn’t completely stupid.”
Taiga smiled.
“Obviously.”
“I said not completely.”
“Shut up.”
He wrote—
TRAINING
Yes.
That was perfect.
Izuku loved analyzing quirks. He became completely absorbed in it.
He talked fast.
He leaned closer when demonstrating movements.
Taiga suddenly remembered Izuku’s face when he had been explaining something.
His tender eyes.
His charming smile.
Taiga went still.
“Hey.”
No answer.
“Taiga.”
“What?”
“You’re smiling again.”
The smile vanished immediately.
“No, I’m not.”
“You are.”
“Shut up.”
⸻
Then another thought occurred to him.
“I need to find out what he likes.”
Someone raised an eyebrow.
“Why?”
Taiga looked at him as though he were an idiot.
“So he’ll like me.”
“Logical.”
And so the research began : favorite food, interests, habits and interviews.
Taiga quickly discovered one thing.
All Might, obviously.
“He’s obsessed,” Taiga muttered.
One of the boys stared at a photograph of Izuku’s collection.
“Man…”
“What?”
“He owns more All Might merchandise than all of us own personal belongings combined.”
Taiga nodded slowly.
“Interesting.”
Mental note:
All Might.
Then came food.
Katsudon. Taiga wrote it down.
“Are you going to learn how to cook?”
Silence. He looked at the boy, then at the paper.
Then back at the boy.
“…Maybe.”
The room exploded.
“TAIGA IN AN APRON.”
“SHUT THE FUCK UP.”
But he kept the note. Katsudon.
—
Then came the most important question.
“How are you going to make him leave Dynamight?”
Taiga stopped. There it was.
The final boss.
Bakugo Katsuki.
Dynamight.
The Number Five Hero.
Izuku’s husband.
Childhood friend.
Extremely powerful fighter.
Probably capable of killing Taiga by sneezing in his general direction.
A significant obstacle.
Taiga stared at a photograph of him.
Bakugo wore his usual expression, as though he wanted to murder whoever had taken the picture.
Taiga narrowed his eyes.
“I really don’t understand what he sees in him.”
One boy answered—
“You’re just like him.”
“SHUT UP.”
Taiga looked again.
Another picture of the couple.
Izuku was laughing.
Bakugo was looking at him.
Not at the camera. At Izuku.
Taiga noticed.
His smile faded slightly. Something tightened in his chest.
But he immediately pushed the feeling away.
No.
Absolutely not.
He wasn’t giving up. Taiga never gave up.
Ever.
“They’ve been together for years,” someone muttered.
Taiga looked over.
“What?”
“Maybe they’re just used to each other.”
That sentence.
Exactly what Taiga wanted to hear.
“There.”
He straightened.
“Exactly.”
His confidence returned immediately.
“Routine.”
“Routine,” several boys echoed like members of an especially stupid cult.
Taiga smiled.
“He needs something new.”
“Yes.”
“Something surprising.”
“Yes.”
“Someone unpredictable.”
Silence.
Everyone looked at him.
Taiga spread his arms.
“Me.”
A few seconds passed. Then someone murmured—
“It’s terrifying that this almost makes sense.”
“OF COURSE IT MAKES SENSE.”
Taiga stood. He looked at the board. At all the notes, all the ideas, all the strategies.
Deku.
Izuku Midoriya.
The man who now occupied practically every thought in his head.
Taiga thought about his smile.
His eyes.
His honey-like voice.
The way he had looked at the sunset, orange light shining on his freckled skin.
That strange feeling when Izuku had promised to come back.
Then he thought of Dynamight.
His smile disappeared.
No.
He wasn’t giving up.
Certainly not just because some angry blond had gotten a several-year head start.
He was Taiga. He had survived worse things than an irritable husband.
He folded his arms.
Then an incredibly confident smile appeared.
“It’s decided.”
Everyone waited. Taiga looked up at the board.
OPERATION : HOW TO STEAL DYNAMIGHT’S HUSBAND
“I’m going to make him fall in love with me.”
Silence.
Then someone murmured—
“Man…”
Taiga turned his head.
“What?”
“You’re going to die.”
“Shut up.”
“Dynamight is actually going to kill you.”
“He’ll have to find me first.”
“He’s the Number Five Hero.”
Taiga thought about that.
“Minor detail.”
The room exploded with laughter. But Taiga…
He was completely serious.
Well…
As serious as a teenager who had just developed a romantic strategy with fifteen juvenile detainees based almost entirely on television documentaries could possibly be.
Inside his head, everything was perfectly logical.
Izuku liked saving people.
Taiga needed saving.
Izuku liked difficult personalities.
Taiga was unbearable.
Izuku loved analyzing quirks.
Taiga’s quirk was complicated.
Izuku was married to Dynamight.
Taiga resembled Dynamight.
Conclusion?
His chances were excellent.
Absolutely excellent.
He could see no flaw in the reasoning. None whatsoever.
And somewhere far away from the center, Izuku was probably relaxing at home with Katsuki, completely unaware that an entire group of juvenile detainees had just officially declared war on his marriage.