Work Text:
Title: Salt on the Wounds
Category: My Hero Academia
Pairing: N/A
Rating: T
Summary: The highly requested part two of It’s Okay to be Selfish. Class 1-A finds out that Midoriya wasn’t asking for attention, he just wanted to celebrate his birthday with his class. Bakugou faces the consequences of his actions from the past and destroys his parents while Midoriya is enjoying his birthday while 1-A tries to make amends.
Author’s Note: I have had this written for a while and finally had a chance to type it up. To those who have also read my work Nails, yes, a part two for that one is slowly in the works. I hope people will be ready for tears because everytime I continue mentally planning it, I start to tear up. The Nails one is taking so long, because I’m doing some research over it. Once I get done with my current Mama Joke story that I’m writing out, I plan on doing the second part of Nails and more Dragon Daddy.
Disclaimer: I own zero rights to the My Hero Academia franchise.
~~Story Begins~~
Nedzu and Aizawa knew that Midoriya was an analytical genius, but Nedzu with Aizawa and All Might’s backing gave Midoriya free reign over what to do for his party from the U.A. staff, they learned that he had a vindictive side. Something in which only Nedzu caught on at first.
“Can I ask for a simple U.A. staff party with obviously all of the U.A. staff, and Eri because I’m not going to punish her for not telling her my birthday. I didn’t want to overwhelm her when she was going to a birthday party for the first time at Togata’s party. Shinsou and it’s not because he’s your son or Eri’s brother,” Midoriya said looking at his homeroom teacher. “He talked to me the next day after everything settled down. He said that once he went to his room, he fell asleep and I know how hard that is with his insomnia, but he did wish me a happy belated birthday. Hatsume was too focused on perfecting her birthday baby to me.”
Yagi choked on his tea and stared wide-eyed at Midoriya. Power Loader sighed as he took in the state of Yagi - whose hero persona is the recently retired All Might - of having an internal panic of possibly being a grandfather.
“Hatsume calls her inventions her babies. Midoriya is a godsend and a curse. He keeps her focused and has promised to be her hero partner for their second year. However, he also introduces her to his own ideas and gives her more creativity,” Power Loader said.
“Yet, I’m the sole reason as to why you still have a door to your classroom,” Midoriya said with a glimmer in his eyes that caused the Support course teacher to sweat.
“Did I say curse? You’re an angel, a guardian angel. Aizawa is super sleep-deprived when he complains about you being a ‘Problem Child’” Power Loader said nervously.
Midoriya smiled and tucked himself further into Yagi’s side as he took a sip of his energy drink.
“I feel so bad for your class, Aizawa,” Power Loader whispered.
“Anyway, can we also invite the Big Three and Ilda’s big brother?” Midoriya said.
“Why do you want to invite- oh kami,” Power Loader said. “You’re an angelical genius.”
“Hm? Oh! I never thought about Hatsume and the previous Ingenium meeting, but if anyone can make him back into being a hero with a wheelchair, it will be her. No, I just know that the former Ingenium is still known for making sure that everyone at his agency gets a birthday wish from him and with his younger brother being the Class 1-A President and admiring his hero -”
Nedzu’s eyes sparkled while Aizawa’s eyes widened.
“You’re attacking his pride of being class president, the guilt for disappointing Tensei, and for failing you as a friend all at once,” Aizawa said, amazed.
“Especially since he has access to Class 1-A’s students files and could’ve seen that Bakugou was lying,” Midoriya said.
“Of course,” Nedzu said. “Is there anything else?”
“Before school starts, would it be okay if some of us went to L-Island?” Midoriya asked. “Melissa Shields and her dad both wished me a happy birthday the day after, because you know, time zones exist.”
Nedzu’s tail started to wag. “I don’t see why not,” Nedzu said. “You deserve to have some vacation from all of your court cases, questions, assignments, and with how long you have actually been working. We are just waiting for verdicts now which will come back in your favor, so who would you like to join you and All Might?”
“Obviously, the Aizawa-Yamada family if possible, Hatsume so she could meet Melissa, Togata-senpai and Tamaki-senpai?” Midoriya said. “Neijire-senpai already has plans for her vacation and I think some time outside of Japan will help Togata-senpai heal.”
“I can ask them,” Snipe said.
“Hatsume will agree. She idolizes Ms. Shields and her dad. I will not be surprised if they are business partners within five minutes,” Power Loader said.
Aizawa looked over at his husband with a raised eyebrow. “I have more than enough vacation stored up. Do you?” Aizawa said.
“Midoriya, why don’t you go ahead and find Shinsou and Eri?” Nedzu said. “I’m sure they would love to hear about going to L-Island and your previous experience there. We will start working out the details for your party and vacation.”
“Hm? Okay,” Midoriya said, getting up and leaving the room.
Once Midoriya was out of the room, Nedzu looked at his staff with gleaming beady eyes, his sharp fangs peeking out as his tail wagged. “I’m claiming Midoriya as my own personal student when the school year begins. You think he’s being sweet, but he’s planned everything that Class 1-A is going to experience as the fall out.”
“We know that Bakugou’s movement to General Education with a black mark permanently on his record will shake them up but -” Aizawa said, but Nedzu shook his head.
“That’s just the second step of their downfall,” Nedzu said. “The Big Three are protective of him. When we hold Midoriya’s party, do you honestly believe that they won’t take pictures? That they won’t send them to their underclassmen? That the older Ilda’s disappointed look to his brother won’t cause the younger one to investigate the reason, especially when he finds out that Midoriya was telling the truth? Tenya Ilda is the first step to their demise which be led to-”
~~
“Haah?” Bakugou said in confusion as he stared at Sekijiro - the homeroom teacher for Class 1-B. “What the hell do you mean I’m being transferred to General Studies?”
“On July 16th, a case was open on behalf of your fellow classmate, Izuku Midoriya, against the Musutafu district and the Aldera school district for quirk discrimination, illegal fighting, and other charges,” Kayama said. “The reason why U.A. opened this case is because U.A. took emergency guardianship of Midoriya after Aizawa found out that Midoriya was working two jobs for less than minimum pay and that his mother had recently passed away without U.A. being informed.”
“That doesn’t explain why U.A. is taking back on their word that the brat has the potential to be a hero,” Mitsuki Bakugou said. “Also, why are you two telling it to us and not the brat’s homeroom teacher? Shouldn’t he be here as well?”
“Aizawa is busy with the police doing follow-ups on the thugs that attacked him on the night of July 15th which led to Aizawa discovering Midoriya’s situation,” Kayama said. “As for the previous question, while investigating the Aldera school, we noticed that your son was often the ring leader of multiple students using Midoriya as - and I quote - ‘a target for quirk practice’. In fact, Midoriya confessed that Bakugou bullied him since he was four when he was falsely diagnosed as quirkless.”
“Izuku was always a fragile boy and Katsuki always played rough,” Mitsuki said.
“Oh? I didn’t realize that telling Midoriya to ‘take a swan dive off of the roof and pray for a quirk in his next life’ during the final year of their middle school was playing rough,” Sekijiro said. “However, we also failed at U.A. as teachers because we originally thought they were rivals and not a bully and victim. Even during their first battle training, Bakugou was warned not to use his gauntlets against Midoriya because it could kill him and Bakugou’s response was ‘not if he dodges’. U.A. does have a very strict no-bullying police and a zero discrimination policy.”
Masura had gone pale when they mentioned the middle school bullying and Mitsuki’s eyes widened about the battle training.
“As members of U.A. we also failed Midoriya and are retaking the classes about noticing school bullying because there have been two times your son has attacked Midoriya with an intent to do serious harm or to kill him,” Kayama said as she pulled out some papers and sat them on the table.
“I-I can’t,” Masura said standing up. “I-I’m sorry, Mitsuki, but I feel sick. Please excuse me.”
He left the room on shaking legs and sobs threatening to come out.
“These papers also show Bakugou lying about Midoriya’s birthday in their class group chat,” Kayama said. “I suggest that you read it.”
Mitsuki gathered the papers and read them. Her red eyes looked at her son with a glare but there was still pain and distrust in them. “What the hell Katsuki?” Mitsuki said. “You know for a fact that July 15th has always been Izuku’s birthday! Hell, we even gave you his birthday gi- you never gave him his birthday gifts that we asked you too. Oh, Kami, that explains so much about why Izuku never thanked us or why Inko broke off our friendship.”
“Tch. I don’t see what the big deal is. No one ever showed up to Deku’s lame ass birthday parties and he never did anything to deserve those gifts,” Bakugou said.
“We NEVER raised you to be like this!” Mitsuki said, crying. She looked back at the teachers. “Thank you for bringing this to our attention. I would happily pull him out of U.A. so Izuku can learn at school without having to constantly look over his shoulder, but with the League of Villains after him, I understand. Please, leave. I’ll make sure the brat will return to school on Monday, but I- I need to check on my husband.”
“What the hell, you old hag? You’re just rolling over-”
“You don’t get to talk Katsuki Bakugou!” Mitsuki yelled at her son. “You don’t get to goddamn talk when my mother - your grandmother who was the most spit fire person that I know - was murdered because she was quirkless! You don’t get to freaking talk when your father’s twin sister was suicide baited to jump off of of a roof in their first year of high school. Do you know why she was bullied, Katsuki? Your aunt was the most creative person when dealing with blueprints for machines and was being bullied because she was quirkless!”
Bakugou stared wide-eyed at his mom who was now openly sobbing, the sounds of what could possibly be retching was also heard.
“You are our son, Katsuki, and we love you. They never said that you couldn’t go back to being Heroics class so they still have faith in you, and we do as well, Katsuki, but this- this isn’t the son who we raised. This isn’t the son who loved listening to the tales of his grandmother and his aunt who helped inspire him. No, right now Katsuki, you are a monster to us and it hurts so much. It hurts so goddamn much because the only thing I see when I look at you are the criminals who killed my mother, the fellow classmates who drove my sister-in-law to suicide, and I need to know. Where did I go wrong? Where did Masura go wrong? Where did we go wrong as parents?”
Her red eyes stared into her son’s own red eyes and the two teachers could see the spirit break in Bakugou at her next words.
“I would much rather have Death Arms, Kamuri Woods, Mt. Lady, and Sluggen save me from a villain than you right now,” Mitsuki said. She stood up and walked towards the hall. “I wasn’t there for the Sludge Villain, Katsuki, but Izuku came up to us and apologized to us for not responding faster to save you. He even gave us the money to pay for your medical files after he sold three of those hero merchandises that he had and he refuses to buy anymore of them. All because they never tried to rescue you.”
Sekijiro and Kayama stood up and bowed. “We’re deeply sorry, Bakugou-san. Principal Nedzu will call you soon with suggestions, but we would like to recommend family therapy,” Sekijiro said.
Bakugou stood up and shouted at his mother. “That’s not fair! I didn’t know grandma or auntie was quirkless,” Bakugou said.
“Would it have made a difference? We wanted you to look at them with love as a wonderful human being, not for their quirk or lack thereof,” Masura said as he leaned against the hall’s wall. “A person is always worth more for their heart and personality, not their quirk.”
The two teachers left the house and stared at each other.
“Do you think Midoriya knew about -” Sekijiro started to ask but Kayama shook her head.
“No. If Midoirya did know than he possibly would’ve begged for us to not mention the suicide baiting,” Kayama said. “I think he just wanted his parents to know, not for his spirit to break.”
~~
“Tenya, I need your help,” Tensei said as he rolled his wheelchair into his younger brother’s room.
Tenya looked up from his homeroom and froze. His brother wasn’t giving him a cheerful look or the guilty and sad look he sometimes has when he asks for help for something that he used to be able to do by himself. It was the dreaded ‘I’m disappointed’ look.
“What do you need my help with?” Tenya said.
“I’ve been invited to a birthday party at U.A. this weekend. It’s a late birthday, But I’ve heard so many good things about the birthday boy and this will be my first time meeting him,” Tensei said.
“I see. Do you know his name?”
“Yes, I do. Which is why I need your help because I’ve been thinking about this for a few days and I can’t figure it out. Why would you believe the word over someone who never respected you, who always told you to shut up, for your own friend who gave you the Class President, who risked his life to save your life when you could only think of getting revenge. So, why Tenya, did you not believe Midoriya when he said that July 15th was his birthday? Why did you not double-check the students’ files?” Tensei said.
Tenya’s eyes widened as he stared at his older brother. “Bakugou and Midoriya knew each other since they were toddlers, that’s why I believed Bakugou. I never imagined that someone going into Heroics would lie like -”
“Tenya, those are excuses. Midoriya is or was your friend and that is how you treat your friendship?” Tensei said, shaking his head. “I’m disappointed in you, Tenya, but I do seriously need your help. What should I get Midoriya for a gift? Don’t say All Might merch. If he’s as close to All Might as you say, then wouldn’t All Might give him free merch as the merchandise companies always give the Pro-Hero a couple of the finished products.”
Tenya’s heart dropped in his stomach before jumping into his throat and getting stuck there.
What kind of Class - no, what kind of friend was he? How could he even be a Pro-Hero if he couldn’t even be a good friend?”
~~
Midoriya still had the class group chat blocked along with his friend group chat and he was having so much fun. He wasn’t worrying about being a good friend or classmate and having the pressure of them trying to gain his forgiveness. In fact, he knew about the pictures Neijire-senpai and Amajiki-senpai were taking and sharing with Asui, Uraraka, and Kirishima, but he didn’t know that they were ordered to share it with Class 1-A.
Midoriya believed in the half-truth that Aizawa said about taking pictures of them having fun on L-Island because Eri was having fun and enjoying the new sights. He was also sharing them with his homeroom class. Midoriya didn’t know that with the court cases ending in his victory, Nedzu had started to rebuild the Musufata district to be a better home for those with villainous, weak, mutant-type, quirks and for those that are quirkless. The Aldera school district was torn down and new schools in the process of being built by Urakara’s family construction company (per Midoriya’s plan for the community) and the staff being screened by Nedzu. He didn’t know that Urakara’s parents had called their daughter crying about how amazing of a friend she had made with Midoriya for all the work that he had given them for a while.
When Midoriya walked into the Class 2-A dorms next to his temporarily foster brother, everyone was rushing him to give him a present, an apology, and questions. The Bakusquad were still healing from Bakugou’s sudden transfer and attitude and most of the Dekusquad were emotional. Midoriya just looked at them.
“I’ve had time to heal and I have forgiven everyone, but I will not forget,” Midoriya said. He looked at the presents before looking at everyone. “If you got me something All Might, then return it, and Yaoyorozu if you made it then I’m sorry to ask you to take it back because I don’t want it. All Might is in the process of adopting me. Just know that from now until I feel comfortable again, I won’t go out of my way for your birthdays to find you the perfect present when all I wanted was to spend fifteen to thirty minutes with everyone for my birthday because I look at all of you as family.”
Midoriya walked by everyone to go to his room. He reached the stairs and stopped. He didn’t turn around to face them as he spoke again. “You know, there is an old pre-quirk movie that had the saying ‘Ohana means family. Family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten.’” Midoriya placed one foot on the step. “I guess, I’m not your family since I was left behind.”
“Wow, Class 1-A really is full of jerks,” Shinsou said. “I mean, who would honestly take the word of someone so arrogant that the opening speech at the Sports Festival was ‘I’m going to win’? Endeavour is a bad hero, no questions about that, but he at least motivated everyone to give it their all or to ‘die’ trying when he did the opening speech during his second year.”
“Like you have room to talk, did you wish him a happy birthday?” Ojiro said.
“I was a day late, but when Dad brought Midoriya to our house and was discussing things with Pops and Nedzu, I did apologize and wished him one. My insomnia had finally let up and once I got home, I was asleep on the couch, dead to the world. A week of hardly any sleep so I missed that third year’s birthday party, the argument Dad and Pops had, and woke up to Dad bringing Midoriya home with the order of ‘Hitoshi, if Problem Child is working too much, put him to sleep with your quirk’. That was an awkward conversation to wake up too.”
“Midoriya had forgiven me on L-Island,” Todoroki said with a shrug. “Especially when Fumi and Natsou explained what exactly a birthday party was and that yet again, my father’s teachings were wrong. Birthdays were not a useless waste of time of social gatherings where people tried to get in your good graces, but a celebration of birth and life. I am very thankful of Midoriya being born because ever since he came into my life, flicking his fingers at me, my life has been brighter.”
Todoroki closed his eyes before he opened them and stared at Ilda.
“I don’t know about the rest of you, but I hate imagining a world where I never met Midoriya or a world where Midoriya never existed,” Todoroki said.
Ilda choked back a sob, but he stood up straight. “Thank you, Todoroki, for helping me think of what to give Midoriya to show my humblest apologies. However, we must overcome this challenge and become stronger together. We are Class 1-A, we have already faced many challenges together and became stronger together. Let us go beyond plus ultra to become a stronger family with Midoriya. I know that as a class - no, as a family - our bonds that we nurtured together have grown since the USJ, from the training camp, and from Kamino Ward.”
“I agree,” Shoji said. “If anyone has helped us the most it was Midoriya. Our bonds may be cracked and in some cases broken, but we can start to fix it. It won’t be the same, but we can still be an ohana.”
“And ohana means family,” Koda said.
“But what about Bakubro?” Kirishima said. “He’s getting left behind!”
“I’m just an outsider,” Shinso said, “but if he really was family, would he use insulting nicknames to call you all the time? Or did he see all of you as pebbles who he needed to crush?”
Shinsou sighed.
“Bakugou will be back, but from what I’ve heard is that he’s actually trying to fix the relationship he shattered with his parents, along with fixing himself,” Shinsou said. “Consider that to be the motivation to continue being a better hero. Otherwise, Dad might still expel you for no longer having the potential or the heart of being a good hero anymore.”