Chapter Text
Chapter 1
This isn’t the story of how I became the greatest hero of all time. Sure, it’s still my goal, and I’ll achieve it someday, but aside from success, ambition, and intense training, there was something else that occupied and drove me during my school years. A relationship with someone I never could have imagined. I was always prepared for anything. But this one utopian twist... I hadn’t seen it coming.
Allow me to introduce myself: Izuku Midoriya, 16 years old, a hero student at UA in Class 1A. And I’ve just been put under house arrest. How did that happen? Well, let’s just say:
It had something to do with an explosive personality!
"Midoriya! Bakugo! I’ve had enough of you two! Every time something happens, at least one of you is involved!" Mr. Aizawa ran a hand down his face in exasperation. All Might had tried to explain that he was to blame for the dispute between Kacchan and me, but our homeroom teacher couldn’t just let it slide.
How could he? Kacchan and I had an unauthorized fight in the middle of the night on Ground Beta, where we beat each other senseless. And damn, it had felt good. We had spoken more openly during that fight than ever before. It was freeing, and I even made progress during the fight. I lost, sure, but I improved. And I no longer had to hide my secret from Kacchan, which lifted an indescribable weight off my shoulders.
Admittedly, not many people knew that All Might had passed his power to me, and I didn’t feel the urge to tell anyone in the class. But Kacchan... he was my childhood friend, even though things between us hadn’t been great over the years. Okay, understatement of the century: Kacchan had hated and bullied me for a while, and he still gave me a hard time. Honestly, I wasn’t even sure if today’s “conversation” had changed that completely. But it gave me hope - hope of getting closer to a long-lost friend.
"You’re both under house arrest!" Mr. Aizawa’s words pulled me out of my thoughts. "And you’ll clean all the common rooms in the mornings and evenings. On top of that, you’ll prepare breakfast and dinner for all of Class 1A!"
Kacchan next to me snorted, and I could only lower my head in embarrassment, my mouth twisting slightly.
But our teacher wasn’t done with us yet. "Which one of you started it?"
Still bound, Kacchan sighed before answering clearly, "That would be me." Shocked that he outright admitted it - though it was true - I quickly added, "I didn’t hold back either!"
Kacchan glanced at me, his expression unreadable. Was he annoyed that I defended him? Irritated that I showed sympathy he didn’t want? Or just surprised? Hard to say. With him, I was never sure.
I shot All Might a quick look. He was still trying to reason with Mr. Aizawa, who seemed ready to deliver his final verdict as the bindings around us slowly loosened. "Midoriya gets three days of house arrest, and Bakugo gets four. If either of you breaks the rules or clashes again, I’ll extend it to a whole week for both of you! Understood?"
We nodded obediently and were finally dismissed.
Just as we were about to shuffle out of the room like two scolded dogs, Mr. Aizawa called after us, "If your injuries worsen or don’t heal, go to the infirmary. But you won’t have Recovery Girl patch you up. The wounds you inflicted on each other will heal on their own."
I sighed and let my shoulders droop. Of course, my entire body ached, and I had a few small burns as well. Nothing new for me, considering I was always catching something from Kacchan. But not as seriously as during this fight. I couldn’t help but wonder how Kacchan was holding up. After all, I had used One for All at 8% against him for the first time.
We walked down the hallway in silence, heading for our rooms at last. I had no idea what time it was, but the fatigue hadn’t set in yet. The fight was still too fresh in my mind, and I knew I’d spend later replaying every word exchanged.
Before heading to my room, I wanted to say something to Kacchan. Something final, because I didn’t want to leave it like this. After all, the weight of everything had pushed him to the point where I’d seen him cry for the first time.
"Kacchan... I’m sor—" I started but was stopped by his sharp gaze. He snorted and said, "What are you apologizing for now, Deku?"
Huh, no “damn” or “shitty” before my name? He must’ve been really tired or completely out of energy to yell at me properly.
Still, I reverted to an old habit: glancing at him nervously, raising my hands in a placating gesture, shoulders hunched. Stammering, I tried again, "Well, everything. The punishment, not telling you before. And… that all this has weighed on you. With All Might and all."
My voice got quieter toward the end. Damn it, I’d wanted to look him in the eye to show I was serious. But I could only manage a timid sideways glance. He had turned away from me, staring straight ahead, looking resigned.
"Forget it, nerd. I don’t need your pity or anything else. Just drop it and move on," he said, unusually calm.
I held my breath, my eyes widening. Forget it? Forget the words exchanged? Forget that I’ve always admired him? Forget that he actually saw me as a rival? Forget his guilt? Forget that he always felt like I was looking down on him?
No! Never! What we said earlier was so freeing for me; there was no way I could just erase it from my mind. And he couldn’t possibly mean it. Dammit! Before I could even think of the best way to respond without making him explode, my mouth had already blurted out a firm, "No!"
Kacchan stopped in his tracks beside me. At first, he looked surprised, but then his shoulders started trembling slightly, and his clenched fists shook too.
"Listen here, you shitty nerd!" he began loudly. And there it was again—Kacchan as I knew him: impulsive, aggressive, and intimidating! I instinctively stepped back, feeling the wall behind me. Hm, maybe I should have chosen the common room for this instead of the hallway, where escape routes were limited.
I didn’t have time to dwell on it as he continued, "Just because we exchanged a few more words than usual and maybe – maybe - I was a little more emotional than normal, doesn’t mean everything between us is all sunshine and rainbows!"
"Why not? At what point did you decide there could be no sunshine and rainbows between us? Was it when you got your Quirk? When you realized I was just quirkless? Or when you were shocked to see I wasn’t quirkless anymore?"
Holy crap, where did that come from? I startled myself with my boldness, throwing something like that at Kacchan. Damn, damn, damn. I couldn’t back down now, though, even as I heard the crackling of sparks between his fingers.
I looked at him and was startled to see how hard he was trying to hold himself back. His teeth were clenched, and he was glaring at me so darkly that I pressed myself further against the wall, trying to gain even the slightest bit more distance.
"Don’t push it too far!" Kacchan growled dangerously at me. But he still hadn’t addressed anything I’d said.
"Do you really have to threaten me just because you can’t answer?" I snapped back. "Me, your pebble on the side of the road?"
And damn it, now I was mad too. I felt like we were back on Ground Beta, ready to fight again. And this time, I wasn’t planning to lose.
Kacchan’s face twisted in rage, so much so that I thought he might blow up the entire dorm. I activated One for All as he raised his fist to strike. Let him see that I wasn’t backing down this time. No, this was something I wanted to "talk" out.
Just as his hand started to spark, and I braced myself to counter, my energy abruptly dissipated.
Confused and suddenly fearful, I looked at Kacchan’s hand, which froze mid-motion as my quirk deactivated. He looked just as bewildered as I did. And as my brain offered up the only explanation that made sense, a familiar voice rang out beside us: "Bakugo and Midoriya! That’s enough!"
Startled, we both turned toward the entrance. Eraserhead stood there, his Quirk activated, nullifying mine. I heard a quiet "fuck" from Kacchan, and honestly, I couldn’t agree more. Fuck. It hadn’t even been ten minutes since Mr. Aizawa had warned us about harsher consequences if we couldn’t behave.
My pathetic attempt to explain with a, "Mr. Aizawa, this isn’t what it looks like—" was cut short as his capture weapon wrapped around us. Again. For the second time tonight. Could this get any worse?
Of course, it could get worse! The next words out of Mr. Aizawa’s mouth hit me like a truck.
"Seven days of house arrest for both of you! The only exception: Bakugo can attend his extra course for the provisional hero license on Saturday. Midoriya, you’ll handle all the cleaning alone on Saturday, and Bakugo will do it on Sunday. In addition, I want a fifteen-page handwritten apology essay from each of you! If you go at it again, or if I hear about any trouble from your classmates, I’ll either chain you two together until you work it out or expel you both from the school!"
I glanced at Kacchan, who looked just as shocked as I felt. His eyes flicked back to me, and for the first time, we silently agreed on something.
"It won’t happen again!" we said in perfect unison.
Mr. Aizawa gave us a hard, scrutinizing look, clearly annoyed. Probably because we’d already cost him too much sleep tonight. He finally deactivated his Quirk, letting me feel the familiar buzz of my power again, and unwound his capture weapon.
He turned away with a tired sigh and walked off. We stood there in the hallway, saying nothing. And just like that, the exhaustion hit me. It crashed over me so suddenly that I leaned forward, trying to shake off the tension.
Unfortunately, a body was in the way, and my head brushed against Kacchan’s chest.
Startled, I straightened up too quickly, and if Kacchan hadn’t instinctively reacted, I might’ve smacked him in the chin with the back of my head. Why was he standing so close to me, anyway? Oh, right - he’d been about to blow my head off earlier.
I sighed, aware that Kacchan was watching me. Whether he was angry, confused, or annoyed, I couldn’t tell. Without looking up, I mumbled, "Good night, Kacchan," and headed for my room alone.
The frustrating feeling that we hadn’t fully worked things out was buried so far in the back of my mind that, in this moment, I didn’t care. Maybe tomorrow. But tonight, I’d had enough.