Could You Please Find It Deep Within Your Heart (To Go Back From The Start)

Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at http://archiveofourown.org/works/25639000.

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Archive Warning: Choose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Fandom: 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero
Academia
Relationship: Bakugou Katsuki & Midoriya Izuku, Iida Tenya & Midoriya Izuku,
Bakugou Katsuki & Kirishima Eijirou
Character: Midoriya Izuku, Kirishima Eijirou, Bakugou Katsuki, Iida Tenya, Aizawa
Shouta | Eraserhead, Ectoplasm (My Hero Academia), Class 1-A (My
Hero Academia)
Additional Tags: Class 1-A Shenanigans (My Hero Academia), Midoriya Izuku Needs A
Hug, Bakugou Katsuki Needs a Hug, Iida Tenya is a Good Friend,
Kirishima Eijirou is a Good Friend, Childhood Friends, Bad Puns,
occasionally, Parental Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead, but only for a little,
Hurt Midoriya Izuku, Bakugou Katsuki & Midoriya Izuku Friendship,
Proud Yagi Toshinori | All Might, Class 1-A as Family (My Hero
Academia), Worried Class 1-A (My Hero Academia), Bakugou Katsuki
Swears A Lot, Bakugou Katsuki is Bad at Feelings, Bakugou Katsuki is
a Good Friend, Bakugou Katsuki Redemption, Bakugou Katsuki Has
Feelings, Midoriya Izuku is a Ray of Sunshine, Bakugou Katsuki &
Midoriya Izuku are Best Friends, Sarcastic Midoriya Izuku, Sad
Midoriya Izuku, Sad Bakugou Katsuki, Angst with a Happy Ending, Light
Angst, Reconciliation
Stats: Published: 2020-08-01 Completed: 2020-08-02 Chapters: 2/2 Words:
6187

Could You Please Find It Deep Within Your Heart (To Go

Back From The Start)
by PruneyWitch

Summary

Bakugou and Midoriya got into yet another fight and hit their lowest low.
So how is it that the very next day in class, they're suddenly all buddy-buddy and better
than they were before?

Notes

Ooh, this story took way longer to write than it should have. I binged the Umbrella
Academy while writing, so I got distracted a lot.

I got the title of the fic from the song 'Back to the Start' by Lily Allen (I imagine it from
Bakugou's POV to Midoriya. It's fun to imagine if you decide to listen to the song. I'm
literally begging you to look at the lyrics and imagine Bakugou singing this to Midoriya.
 Im so so close to writing an entire fic just to get that to happen. I cannot express how
accurate the song depicts how Bakugou feels.)

!TW!: slight disassociation, mentions of past bullying

See the end of the work for more notes

 Please Find it Within Yourself

Tensions were incredibly high in the class.

Last night Bakugou and Midoriya had gotten into yet another disagreement. Not everyone in the
class was there in person, but by the time the seats in the class started to fill in, it was clear that not
a single student’s soul in 1-A was unaware.

Iida and Kirishima were able to stop it before it became physical, but it didn’t stop them from
spitting venom at each other.

The class didn’t have a full understanding of what they were shouting at each other. They weren’t
aware of all the context between the two, but they could see that the words clearly cut deep into
both of them with a certain significance that the others just didn’t understand.

It was a well-known fact that the two shared a history, but when it came to what their past actually
contained, everyone was next to clueless because it wasn’t something that either of the two shared.

Bakugou cursed you out, and Midoriya spoke about it as vaguely as possible, giving no
information whatsoever, or just lied all together about the contents of his childhood. But some
people picked up how Midoriya regarded his childhood.

Midoriya let his guard down a bit when he wasn’t specifically being asked about his childhood. So
there is a vague understanding that their past wasn’t a good one. In fact, a perceptive few know
that it was awful based on how Midoriya said Bakugou had ‘improved’ in his behavior on the first
day of school as if Bakugou didn’t almost kill him in the battle-trial.

It was jarring to hear that Bakugou could have ever been worse than he was when they first met
him. It was clear that there was some sort of growth from the start of the year, but when they first
met him he was probably one of the worst people at the school. Hearing that he was any worse
than that was crazy, but they took Midoriya’s word for it.

Even though they never laid their hands on each other, there was something about the way that
they yelled at each other, even after their voices became raw and cracked, or something in the way
that their eyes burned with pure emotion that told the class that this was the worst altercation they'd
had yet.

Iida and Kirishima quite literally had to lift Bakugou and Midoriya with a restraining technique
they learned in class. Their hands were caught behind their backs, and Iida and Kirishima wrapped
their arms around Bakugou and Midoriya’s torsos and bear hugged and carried them to prevent
movement.

It stopped the brawl, but not the hateful words that they screamed at each other.

Tensions were high in the common room last night. Even an average passerby could have looked
at the scene and seen more than just anger on the two’s faces. And to those who knew them, they
knew that it was their lowest low as a duo.

Kirishima had to drag Bakugou away, yelling and screaming. While Iida let Midoriya go after he
trusted that Midoriya wouldn’t do anything rash. Midoriya’s legs buckled as soon as his feet
touched the floor, and he fell like a puppet with cut strings.

Midoriya instantly folded in on himself, and no one had seen such a blank look on Midoriya’s face
before. Not even when he was sleeping was he so expressionless. There was a small flicker of
anger that suddenly passed through his face, but it left as soon as it had come. Leaving Midoriya
empty once again.

It was only when Iida crouched down to reach Midoriya’s level, and put his hand on Midoriya's
shoulder that there was any sort of movement that came from Midoriya.

Midoriya looked up with a vacant look in his eyes, and he looked at Iida before slowly standing
and making his way to his room accompanied by Iida and no one else. Leaving the room with an
uncomfortable air.

Now in the class, Aizawa was watching them all with the usual dark look that seemingly always
occupied his features, but to those who knew him closely, they’d see the half-curious half-
frustrated look in his eyes (haha eye-zawa) as he regarded the class.

Aizawa knew that something had happened before he even looked at the kids. That much was
clear. He was also more than willing to bet that it had to do with the problem children. Even
without context he was almost 100% sure of that.

Sure he didn’t get any alerts of break ins or outs, or property damage, or any warning of any sort,
but he would stake a large sum of money on the bet that those two problem children are at the
center of whatever is going on with the class.

Now that Aizawa was really paying attention, he could see that there were glances being casted to
Iida and Kirishima as well as the two others. But that didn’t change the fact that Bakugou and
Midoriya were being given most of the looks.

What was strange was that Bakugou and Midoriya were just sitting calmly at their desks and
preparing for class.

There was no glaring or yelling. There was no shoving or insulting. Just calm.

It didn’t even look like they were ignoring each other, they just looked unbothered by each other,
which was far from the strangest thing Aizawa had seen in his career, but knowing the two, he
knew that it was unusual behavior.

Aizawa wasn't too worried since neither of them looked banged up, and they didn't seem like they
were going to start anything in class.

He just hoped that it didn't interfere with the lesson, but he knew better than to hope or expect it. If
these kids didn't pay attention in class, then it was their own fault. Aizawa sure as hell wasn't going
to waste his time over class drama. And he especially wasn’t going to waste his time on class
drama that seems to have sorted itself out if the unproblematic way that Bakugou and Midoriya are
conducting themselves is anything to go by.

Aizawa knew that the class thought he was a lazy hardass that taught the class, threatened
expulsions, and napped. And they were mostly right, but he was also a bit of a softy when it came
to this specific class. He cared about each student a great deal, and would go to great lengths for
each of them. And finally, he paid attention.

A lot of attention.

He knew who was secretly dating, he knew their bad habits, he knew secrets, and he knew a lot.
Because he listened. He listened all the time. When he was deep in grading papers, he was
listening.
As a pro-hero, his senses needed to be sharp, but as an underground pro, his senses were even more
fine-tuned. Plus, with this class's attraction for villains, he constantly had to be on edge. Aizawa
also picked up a couple of detective skills from working so closely with Detective Tsukauchi, so he
also came to logical deductions regarding his class without even trying.

He knows more about these kids than he’s ever wanted to know about anyone. He knows how
many straws Kaminari can fit in his mouth. He knows Bakugou listens to bubble pop occasionally.
He knows exactly how many millimeters Kirishima’s hair adds on to his height. He knows Uraraka
used to foster a dog until their family’s got tight and they had to give him to a friend.

In summation, he knows these (his) kids.

So he knows that Bakugou and Midoriya are going to be fine.

And with that, he begins class.

-----------------

The class was on Ground Delta for hero training.

To be more specific, they were in the part of Ground Delta with a field area with clear bound lines
painted on the ground.

They were in their hero costumes, and were instructed by Iida to prepare for strenuous activity. So
here they were, stretching and chatting with a loud Iida keeping time for each of the stretches to
make sure that they are evenly prepared.

There was still tension throughout the class, though it was considerably less, and glances kept
getting cast to Bakugou and Midoriya. Literally nothing had happened between the two. Not when
they made eye contact, not when they brushed by each other. Nothing.

There were many instances where Bakugou would regularly blow up at Midoriya, and that was
when tensions ran highest in the class, but today was way different, because Bakugou barely even
spared a glance at Midoriya, and Midoriya never looked up worriedly at Bakugou when those
happened either.

It was like their regularly scheduled bad interactions were erased from existence, and it was so
strange to see.

So the class as a whole (minus Bakugou and Midoriya) decided to ignore it. That is, until it
becomes a problem again. Which will probably be very soon, seeing as All Might and Ectoplasm
had just informed the class that they’ve been paired as a group for the day's activity.

The teachers at this school really liked making life hard, didn’t they.

They should know better than to pair up Bakugou and Midoriya, but that’s never stopped UA from
pairing them.

Midoriya works well with literally anyone else, and Bakugou…

...well Bakugou never works well with anyone, but he works the worst with Midoriya, so this
oughta be good. It always is.

The class was sending pleading looks to All Might, hoping that if they begged him hard enough,
then he'd switch the pairing. But if All Might or Ectoplasm (who offered his free period to help
them train) saw their pleading looks, then they made no move to show that they saw, or even
understood. Seeing as All Might ushered the two to the training ground after Mina and Jirou
walked off the battleground panting and sweating from their fight with Ectoplasm.

All Might’s voice boomed. He said “You must defeat your teacher by placing the QCC’s (quirk
cancelling cuffs) on Ectoplasm. You will be timed. Begin.”

As soon as the word left All Might’s mouth, Ectoplasm began cloning himself and shuffling among
them to preserve the location of the real Ectoplasm.

Bakugou and Midoriya made eye contact and nodded, agreeing on a plan without speaking. They
looked out at the clones and shot off like twin bullets.

1-A watched from the sidelines, knowing that this wouldn’t end up too well. The two never
worked well together, and after yesterday, they doubted that today would be that day that they got
their stuff together. But they couldn't be more off.

Bakugou and Midoriya were working better than even. They kicked and punched in tandem as if
they had done this a thousand times before. They threw each other in moves that no one had seen
them practice before, and without ever saying a word to each other!

Of course now they were yelling in exertion, and a few small commands, but some of the things
they did were crazy! And without communicating as well!

They moved like it was a dance. It was beautiful, in a way.

The class had never seen the two so in sync before, it was incredible to see. Bakugou and Midoriya
were taking out the clones with perfect compatibility and strategy. They found the real Ectoplasm
before they finished poofing all the clones. As they put the QCC’s on him, all the clones poofed at
once, leaving only the cuffed Ectoplasm.

As All Might clicked the stop-watch, they high fived, seemingly unaware of the shock on
everyone’s face.

Ectoplasm looked a bit surprised at their teamwork. In their math class, they never got along. There
was always far too much yelling coming from them. He was also told by All Might that this pair
would be a bit tricky because they had a hard time working together. But that was not what he
would call a ‘troubled pair’, so yes, he was confused.

It seemed All Might was confused as well. But he seemed to be more surprised than confused, if
the splattered blood and open jaw were anything to go by.

All Might thought that this exercise would go much worse than it did. When he drew the names, he
didn’t think it could go so wrong. But then the exercise went so well! It was just so confusing, and
he was astounded at their teamwork. Because that kind of synchronization was only found in pro-
hero duo’s that have practiced together for years.

Bakugou and Midoriya could get into a fist fight over literally nothing. So it was a big surprise to
see them working together like this. All Might didn’t know what changed between now and the last
time that they worked together, but he was glad that they were finally getting along.

“Young Bakugou and young Midoriya have had the speediest battle yet. They were able to
complete their task in 8 minutes and 37 seconds. Please use them as an example to go PLUS
ULTRA!” All Might said with a great feeling of pride washing over him.
Bakugou was smirking and bragging about how well THEY did as a TEAM, and it was something
that the class had never seen from him before.

It was always ‘I won’ or ‘I’m the best’ and that was it no matter who he was paired with. So to see
him refer to himself in a pair positively? It was unheard of.

And yet here they were, listening to Bakugou brag about how well they did, and how no one
would be able to beat their time.

Midoriya was off with his friends, happily celebrating their win, proud of the way that he and
Bakugou handled the trial.

The class was celebrating with them, but they were still reeling from the show of their
compatibility. Just yesterday they were at each other’s throats, but now they’re working together
like they were born to! It just didn’t make sense.

Bakugou and Midoriya turned to each other and began celebrating with one another. They high-
fived once again, they cheered and praised one another, which wasn’t so surprising from Midoriya,
but was definitely strange from Bakugou.

They were confused, but also glad that the two were finally getting along.

...that was until they all realized what them teaming up would entail.

Two of the strongest fighters in the class teaming up sounded like a nightmare. They were already
hard to beat on their own, but now with their newfound kinship, they’d be unbeatable!

“Oh fuck.” Ojiro eloquently put, “we’re gonna die.”

Iida would comment on Ojiro’s language, but he couldn’t help but dread the fact that he
wholeheartedly agreed with Ojiro’s vulgar wording.

Because they were, in fact, going to die.

 To Go Back to the Start
Chapter Summary

We find out what happened the night of the fight to make Bakugou and Midoriya so
close.

Chapter Notes

!TW!: slight panic attack, mentions of bullying, minor handcuff usage (not sexual)

You guys in the comments were super creative with ideas for what happened between
the two, I'm sort of in shock. A couple of those ideas were so good and creative, it
lowkey makes me feel bad about this chapter because it's literally so boring compared
to what you guys thought up. I'm still going to post this though, because I like what I
wrote even though it may not be as clever as some of the things you guys speculated
would happen.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

The night of the fight:

Midoriya walked numbly as Iida escorted him to his room.

He could feel the worried looks that Iida kept shooting him. Midoriya knew that Iida was just
worried about him, but it was starting to get a bit frustrating. He really just wanted to be alone. He
didn’t need anyone’s pity except his own.

They made it to his room, and Iida opened the door for him like the gentleman he was. Midoriya
looked up at Iida to tell him to leave, since the frustration started to bubble up inside of him, and he
really really didn’t want to snap at Iida. Iida didn’t deserve that. But when he looked up to see pure
worry on Iida’s face, a look that was spectacularly uncommon on Iida, he couldn't just brush him
off.

“I'll be alright, Iida,” Midoriya said, still unfeeling, but he did want to reassure Iida. Iida had been
nothing but good to Midoriya, he couldn’t just be rude, no matter how much he wanted to. Being
with Iida was always so good because Iida was so good. As a person and as a friend.

“Are you sure Midoriya? I’ll always be here for you. If you find yourself in need of anything, my
door is always open to you. Please feel free to wake me up if you so desire. You have helped me so
much, it would only be fair of me to repay the favor. Though I don’t suppose I could ever make it
up to you for saving my life. That, and I will always be here for you. Even if you hadn’t saved my
life that day, I’d be by your side regardless. Please don’t forget Midoriya. I am your friend. I’m
here whenever you might find yourself in need.” Iida reminded Midoriya.

Iida really was too good.

“Thanks Iida.” Midoriya sighed fondly.

“Anytime Midoriya.” Iida smiled at him.

Iida put his hand on Midoriya’s shoulder, and then pulled him in for a solid hug. And Midoriya let
himself melt into it like he hadn’t been hugged in years.

As they pulled back, they met eyes. “I’ll be fine, but I promise I’ll come to you first if I ever need
anything.” Midoriya said, nodding as he let the love he felt radiating from Iida wash over him.

They pull each other back in for another hug before going their separate ways, leaving Midoriya
alone once again.

Midoriya’s room feels a lot bigger once he’s the only one in it. It’s a lonely feeling. His room feels
too big for comfort, so he dazedly stumbled, and sat on the floor with his back against the side of
his bed.

He felt numb.

Midoriya was reliving the past, from years ago to mere minutes ago. It all entailed the same thing.
Bakugou. Bakugou yelling. Bakugou yelling about how he’s the best. Bakugou yelling about he’s
the best, and then beating up Midoriya, and so on.

Bakugou’s words lived as echoes in his head, and Midoriya couldn’t get them out. He felt hollow
as he tucked his head between his knees, willing it all to go away.

-----------------

Bakugou was being dragged away kicking and screaming to escape Kirishima’s arms.

He wouldn’t go back to the room if he was let go, but it was clear that Kirishima didn’t know that.
To be fair, Bakugou hadn’t told him that, but he wasn’t all there at the moment.

Bakugou couldn’t move his arms because of how he was being held. He knew that he would
dislocate or break something if he moved, but right now he was defenseless. And that scared him.

He knew that it was just Kirishima, and that it was very unlikely that any harm would come to him
any time soon, but he wanted to escape. He needed to escape.

Bakugou was thrashing like never before, but Kirishima just tightened his grip. Unknowingly
pushing Bakugou even further into his panic.

He let out a wordless roar as he tried to fire off his quirk, but he remembered that his hands were in
fists behind his back, and he wouldn’t do anything but hurt himself. He was defenseless.

He was always powerful. He was always able to rely on his quirk. The only times he couldn’t were
when Aizawa erased it, and when he was kidnapped.

He never panicked when Aizawa took his quirk away since it was only for a second. Sure, there
were slight moments of nervousness, but never panic.

But with the League, there was serious reason for worry. He couldn’t defend himself at all. He was
surrounded by villains and he couldn’t do a thing.

What if he was killed? And he couldn’t do anything to stop it! Or what if he was turned into one of
those THINGS that were mutated out of their minds
Just as his panic was about to spike, he was suddenly let go. Bakugou was probably warned,
because Kirishima, being the nice guy he is, wouldn’t never just drop him unexpectedly.

Bakugou fell to the floor with sore shoulders. He should have been able to catch himself in time,
but he was out of his head. He was panicking. But he shouldn’t be anymore, he was let go.

He was let go!

Bakugou quickly sat back on his heels and brought his hands into his field of vision and let off a
few sparks just to see that he could. He let the sparks fly in his vision and just breathed.

Bakugou closed his eyes, just feeling the warmth of his quirk dance on his hands until he felt a
hand sneak over his shoulder.

He quickly turned and let off a jolting explosion. The boom covered the scared noise he had
unknowingly squeaked out. Bakugou looked and saw a hardened Kirishima with scorched clothing
looking worried. The explosion wasn’t very big, but if Kirishima wasn’t hardened it could have
done serious damage.

Kirishima tried to reach out again to comfort Bakugou, who was clearly in an unstable and
vulnerable state. Bakugou just smacked his hand away because he didn’t want company or
sympathy or help or pity or comfort. He just wanted to be alone.

Bakugou wasn’t fully calm from the anger from the fight or his isolated panic, so he just wanted to
go into his room before he let everything out onto an undeserving Kirishima.

“Leave me the fuck alone Shitty Hair.” Bakugou grumbled as he pushed himself up from the
ground. He entered his room and shut and locked the door before Kirishima could say anything
back.

Bakugou watched the door as he took a couple stumbling steps back, relishing in the fact that he
was by himself. He clumsily fell into his desk chair and rested his elbows on his table, putting his
hands in his hair and pulling. Tears were rapidly streaming down his face. His throat hurt with the
need to scream, but rather than yelling, he just sobbed as he dragged his hands down his face.

Everything was just so overwhelming. It had all happened so fast.

First he had said things to Midoriya that denied any sign of progress that he had made since
entering UA. Then he verged on a panic attack in Kirishima’s arms, showed him a large amount of
instability and vulnerability, and then proceeded to shut him out when he tried to help.

He sobbed and sobbed for hours, letting out every emotion he’s felt (read: bottled up) since the last
time he cried. Bakugou thought about trashing his room, but he didn’t want to have to clean it up
afterwards. Plus having a messy room stressed him out, and he really didn’t need more stress on
him right now.

Bakugou had moved over to his bed over the hours and was now staring at the ceiling, tears falling
out of the outer corners of his eyes, tickling his scalp and brushing his ears.

He was trying to remember when it all went sideways. Why was he always so threatened by
Midoriya when it was so clear to him now that all Midoriya ever wanted to do was help?

Midoriya never did anything to hurt him, and yet all Bakugou ever did to him was trash and
pummel him. It wasn’t fair to Midoriya. Bakugou was an awful person, because Midoriya never
deserved any of what Bakugou or anyone did to him. It just wasn’t right.
Where did Bakugou get off beating Midoriya to a pulp for no reason?

And not to mention the property damage

Bakugou used to steal almost all of Midoriya’s school supplies. His crayons, his pencils, his
sharpeners, his paper, his folders, his textbooks. They were all destroyed or stolen. And he roped
others into doing it as well. Sometimes they were returned in awful condition.

They were never stopped. And they never stopped on their own

Bakugou knew that Midoriya would never bother his mom about it. Even if Midoriya’s mom was
a saint and could never be bothered by her son.

Bakugou also knew the money troubles that the Midoriya family has, and were having back then.
And that they couldn't afford to keep replacing Midoriya's supplies. Yet Bakugou and his lackeys
kept going.

He was a villain.

And that thought slammed into him like a train. He was overrun with the need to apologize.

It repeated in his head like a mantra 'I have to apologize I have to apologize I have to apologize'.

So he shot up in his bed and began making his way to Midoriya's room, knocking on the door
before he even realized what he was doing.

He wasn't thinking when he rushed over to Midoriya's room, but he was certainly thinking now.

Maybe if he left now, Midoriya wouldn't know he came by.

No, he couldn't do that. He had to apologize.

What if he wasn't awake? What if the knock woke him up? What if he didn't accept the apology
and then got him expelled? Sure he would deserve it, and there is more than enough evidence and
material against him, but still! What if he really hasn't changed at all? What if the fact that
Midoriya now has friends to protect him and that's the only reason that he hasn't bullied Midoriya
and in truth Bakugou hasn't improved and he's just as bad as he's always been and-

The door opened to reveal a tired looking Midoriya.

Yeah, this was a bad idea. He shouldn’t have come here.

“I don’t want to fight you Kacchan. You can fight me, but I won’t fight back. I know you’d want a
fair fight, so just leave, and we can reschedule or something. I’m too tired and I really don’t want to
see you.” Midoriya said, rubbing at his (surprisingly dry) eyes.

“No-” Bakugou started, “No? Kacchan I’m not going to fight you, you can’t just say no.” Midoriya
snapped back.

“That's not what I meant!” Bakugou said, frazzled, “I just want to talk to you.”

“Right… Talk. Sure, because that always goes sooooo well.” Midoriya said, sarcasm dripping from
his words, “It sure did earlier.” Midoriya said, a flash of pain crossing his face as he remembered
what happened earlier, sending a pang of hurt and guilt through Bakugou.

“You can ‘talk’ to me in the morning. Goodnight Kacchan.” Midoriya stated coldly as he began to
shut the door.

“Wait!” Bakugou says as he puts his foot in the door before it closes fully, “Please, hear me out.”

That shocks Midoriya. Bakugou never says please. And it’s extremely shocking to hear the word
come out of Bakugou’s mouth.

Midoriya gives in and he opens the door again.

“What, Kacchan?” He said it like a statement.

“I’m sorry for yelling at you earlier. I just wanted you to know that I didn’t mean any of it. I was
just so angry for no reason. I'm so so sorry. You didn’t deserve any of it.” Bakugou pleaded.

Bakugou feels like he’s being torn apart on the inside. The need to apologize had never been so
overwhelming. He had already said sorry once, but that had done nothing to appease the tearing
sensation he was feeling. Bakugou was just so so sorry, and just saying it did nothing to show
Midoriya how truly sorry he was. He was struggling.

Bakugou was confused and distressed and sad and guilty. He was angry at himself and he didn’t
know what to do.

Bakugou missed Midoriya. As much as he didn’t want to admit it, he did. They used to be so close,
and he went and ruined it. He regrets it so much, and he needs to tell Midoriya. He needs to. He has
to. Even if Midoriya doesn’t accept the apology, he needs to say it again and again to show
Midoriya how he feels because he doesn’t think he can go on living without saying sorry.

Midoriya watched as Bakugou fell apart in front of him.

Never in Midoriya’s life has he ever seen Bakugou so distressed, not even at Ground Beta, and it
was heartbreaking.

He immediately took Bakugou’s hand and led him over to his bed to give him a place to sit down
because God knows he needs it right now. The worst part was the fact that Bakugou just let
himself get led like a lost puppy. There was no fight in him whatsoever.

As soon as they were settled on the bed, Midoriya wrapped his arms around Bakugou.

He missed Bakugou, and apparently Bakugou missed him as well, because he returned the hug
with double the force, but it was far from painful.

Bakugou was openly sobbing now, crying freely. His tears fell quickly in succession down his face
and onto the back of Midoriya’s back. He didn’t mind though. Midoriya liked that Bakugou was
being open with his feelings, though he doesn’t like how they got there. It wasn’t often that
Bakugou was vulnerable, and it was less often that Midoriya was trusted to be there to support
Bakugou when he was (read: this has literally never happened before).

“I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry. I don't know how you can stand to be in a fucking room with me after
all the shitty things that I've done. I don't know how you're alright with even breathing the same air
as me! I've hurt you so damn much, and yet you're fucking COMFORTING me right now! Why
are you being so damn nice to me when I've never been anything but absolutely fucking awful to
you? I don’t deserve this!” Bakugou said, starting to push Midoriya away so he could leave, but
Midoriya wouldn’t let him run away. Not this time.

Midoriya used his quirk to keep Bakugou there. “Hey, hey Bakugou. You know that’s a lie,”
Midoriya said in a calming voice, and Bakugou stopped fighting, and began clutching Midoriya
again, “when we were younger, you used to carry me home whenever I hurt myself. No matter
how big the injury was, or how much pain I was in. You would carry me home even for a paper
cut!”

Midoriya chuckled lightly as he ran his hands through Bakugou’s hair (something he learned as a
child that Bakugou LOVED and it always calmed him down) as he reminisced. “Every time my
mom opened the door you’d always say the same thing. Remember? ‘Izuchan got hurt Auntie, and
ya’ gotta make it better ‘cuz how’ll he ever be my hero partner if he’s hurt?’” Midoriya did his best
impression of a young Bakugou as he played with the short hairs at the nape of Bakugou’s neck.

Bakugou remembered all of the times that he carried Midoriya on his back and said those exact
words to Auntie Inko. Midoriya panicked because his words seemed to have the opposite effect of
what he thought would happen.

He was supposed to be cheering Bakugou up, not making him cry harder!

Bakugou was wailing into the crook of Midoriya’s neck, grabbing at Midoriya’s back like he
would leave if he let go.

So Midoriya rocked Bakugou back and forth while wrapping him in the most loving embrace that
he could manage as Bakugou cried and cried out a slew of ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry’, to
which he whispered ‘it’s ok, I forgive you.’

Midoriya allowed himself to shed a few tears as well. He hadn’t had the greatest day, he always
hated fighting with Bakugou. But was it bad that he was grateful that they had fought so terribly
today, because if not, then they would have never had this moment?

It probably was. But he didn’t care. He’s always wanted to be close to Bakugou. It was something
he’d always wanted his entire life, sometimes even more than being a hero. Even when Bakugou
terrorized him daily, there were few things that he wouldn’t give up to be Bakugou’s friend again.
And now here they were, bundled in each other’s arms.

Maybe Midoriya should be guilty for enjoying this, but he really wouldn’t have this any other way,
except maybe a way that allowed them to skip the fight and get straight to the hugging.

Bakugou finally slowed down, and only occasional sniffles came from him, but they stayed woven
together.

“I’m so sorry Izuchan. I don’t want to fight anymore.” Bakugou said, sounding like a child, not
realizing his slip-up.

“I don’t want to either Kacchan. Can we promise not to fight anymore?” Midoriya asked hopefully.

He never got an answer, but he took the way that Bakugou nuzzled his face impossibly further into
his shoulder and neck as a yes.

“Hey Kacchan? Can you keep calling me Izuchan? I kinda miss it.” Midoriya smiled nostalgically.

Bakugou tensed, finally realizing what he said earlier, before relaxing because that wasn’t the most
embarrassing thing he’s done in the past hour. “Ok.”

They hugged for a little longer until Midoriya yawned, which spurred Bakugou to yawn. Midoriya
then pulled back from the hug to rub sleepily at his eyes.
It was a cute sight for Bakugou, who blushed at his thoughts.

"We aren't gonna get much sleep tonight, huh?" Bakugou said, smirking slightly.

"No, I don't think we are Kacchan. But I'd do it again." Midoriya said, smiling fondly at Bakugou,
causing his heart to race slightly.

"Yeah… me too." Bakugou said, matching Midoriya's smile. They stared at each other for a while
in a loving silence before they stood and walked towards the door.

They were standing by the door, but some unknown force pulled them together once again, and
they locked together in another hug.

“We’ll still be good in the morning right? This isn’t going to go away?” Bakugou asked, bringing
Midoriya even closer to him and appreciating his familiar scented shampoo.

It hurt Midoriya’s heart to hear him sound so broken, “Yeah, we’ll be okay.”

Then he let Bakugou go.

-----------------

And now here they were celebrating their quick victory against Ectoplasm

They’ve always had a natural camaraderie, but they’ve never been close enough to each other to
use it in combat. Now that Bakugou and Midoriya knew what they could do together, they don’t
think they’d be separating anytime soon. Even if only for the power of the other.

Midoriya was only able to imagine the shock on his classmates faces when the last time (they
thought) they were together was during their fight, and now all of a sudden Bakugou was boasting
about ‘their’ victory, and talking down to them on behalf of them both. It must have been so
confusing for them. But it really wasn’t anyone’s business but their own.

That was, until he actually got a good look at his classmates.

There were several jaws hanging open, many hands over mouths, and a couple people were doing
both. Even Todoroki has visible shock on his face, which was something that most of the class had
never seen before. But the fact that no one had pointed out Todoroki’s visible show of emotion was
telling. Their faces were priceless, but he knew that they were struggling.

Midoriya decided to call off Bakugou to ease their suffering, “Kacchan, please don’t be so rude to
our classmates. Plus, Kaminari and A- Tsu have to go up now.”

“Fucking fine, but only because you said ‘please’”, Bakugou grumbled before smirking and
quickly adding, “Izuchan.”

Bakugou and Midoriya were well aware of the uproar that would cause, but being the little bastard
children that they are, they loved watching it all unfold.

It was like sitting on the beach sipping lemonade out of a salted rim margarita glass while the
world burned.

They’ve been having a field day seeing how on edge the class was with the two, and all of their
interactions, but this was by far the best part.

Uraraka’s eyes twitched before she yelled, “WHAT?”

 Bakugou and Midoriya laughed at their misfortune, and not villain cackles, or giggles, they were
genuine belly-laughs. Neither of them laughed very much, so this was something new for
everyone.

That broke the dam for everyone else. There was a wave of similar cries over the nickname. Some
notable ones were:

• ‘What the fuck happened to ‘Deku’?’ which was quickly followed by ‘What the fuck happened to
Bakugou’
• ‘This is a fucking outrage.’
• ‘It’s Toga. We’re being attacked right now. We have to be.’
• ‘I think I have ear cancer’
• ‘Is All Might dying?’ (All Might spewed so much blood when he heard Bakugou call Midoriya
‘Izuchan’ that it was concerning)
• ‘Guys? I think I’m having a stroke, because I just heard Bakugou laugh a real laugh.’

It was so unusual to see the two interacting so positively. Midoriya and Bakugou were leaning on
each other for support as they laughed. This entire day was so wild the class shouldn’t be surprised
anymore, but they couldn’t stop themselves from staring at the two as they wiped tears from their
eyes and caught their breaths.

Everyone was freaking out, but the duo could barely be bothered. It was like they were the only
two in the world, and they were perfectly happy with it being that way, because they were alright
now, and nothing could come between them anymore.

Chapter End Notes

I hope the ending was satisfying enough!

Bakugou: Izuchan
Literally everyone else but Midoriya: ne3ijhbfeduh8n2-9ny *stroke noises*

Tumblr: https://gorgonzolatown.tumblr.com/

End Notes

I hope you enjoyed!

Shameless Tumblr Plug: https://gorgonzolatown.tumblr.com/

(I will update on Sunday at 2PM EST)

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