Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Todoroki is confused. Puzzled. Befuddled.

It’s been 2 years since UA established the dorm system and already, Todoroki is certain that Class 3-A will bring about his early death. Or at least, his early pro hero retirement. That is, if he even graduates. He’s going insane, he thinks. 2 years of utter chaos, perhaps torture to anyone outside their tight-knit circle.

He didn’t think it was humanly possible for 3-A to grow any closer than they already had over the two years they’d all known each together, but of course the class always finds a way to prove others wrong. Maybe that’s their collective second quirk.

“Maybe what’s our collective second quirk?”

Todoroki whips his head behind him to where Uraraka is striding across the common room to him, oblivious to his brief panic. “I- uh… Sorry?” he stutters.

“You were muttering. Out loud.” The brunette chuckles as she sits on the couch beside him. “Almost thought you were Deku for a minute there.” she says, smiling at him, choosing to ignore the way Midoriya glares at her from the opposite side of the common room at her statement. He tries to look annoyed at her. It doesn’t work out.

“Gee, Izuku-chan,” Tsuyu pipes up from her seat on the floor beside him, “I know it’s our third year and we all look different now, but your face really isn’t all that intimidating to us, kero.” From her position she can see Uraraka muffle her laugh and Todoroki smile sheepishly. She doesn’t miss the slight frown Midoriya gives the three of them, before he sighs and smiles timidly.

“Yeah, I guess some of us needed to stay baby-faced,” he says, rubbing the back of the neck. “We can’t all be Kacchan now, can we?” The other three can’t help but agree. Over the years the class had gone through some major glow-ups together — Midoriya in particular filled out his hero costume with the muscle mass of two Iidas by the middle of their second year, yet his face still remained nearly identical. However with Bakugou, there was simply just. More.

While Bakugou hadn’t filled out nearly as much as Midoriya had, he sure had the body and facial proportions to show for it. On their first day as third years, the class was greeted with a version of Bakugou that only could’ve come out of a limited edition fitness modelling magazine.

His shirt clung tightly to his frame, showing off a set of pecs that Midoriya could only compare to bodybuilders in their prime. Ashido had continually joked about the two of them having similar cup sizes, but now it didn’t seem outside of the realm of possibility. While his uniform pants remained baggy — “I have a fucking reputation to uphold!” he had screamed at Kirishima when he asked — now they could no longer hide his butt, his hips accentuating them slightly as he walked. It was hot, but also kind of cute. The fiery blond would kill each and every one of them without hesitation if word ever got out about that, though.

“He puts Mt. Lady to shame,” Kaminari had said one day in the baths, and Midoriya would have to agree. “Legend has it that the sheer power of the clap of his ass cheeks could simultaneously end world hunger and bring world peace. That’s how powerful he is.” Midoriya would have to agree a little less, ducking as Bakugou jumped over him to lunge at Kaminari.

His face had also become more handsome, perhaps even charming over the summer. The blond's face continued to fill out after middle school; however, now each curve of his face was accentuated with a slight chisel to them only top models could achieve. His jaw could probably cut glass if he tried to, and the class could’ve sworn they saw the beginning traces of... facial hair growing? Bakugou now sported a 5 o'clock shadow that only emphasized the handsome ruggedness of his features, yet there was still a boyish quality to them. Midoriya could only theorize it had to do with his quirk. Nitroglycerin sweat gave its users clear and shiny skin that, for Bakugou, didn't even look out of place on him despite his other features. Midoriya had spotted Kirishima in the kitchen at one in the morning more than once, crying a tear or two at Bakugou's "unfair manliness". Combined with the matching undercuts Bakugou and Midoriya had gotten over the summer that gave his untameable spikes new life, the class could collectively agree that the gods of beauty were quite unfair.

Midoriya flushes slightly as he recalls the memory, meeting eyes with an equally flushed Todoroki whose hands did little to hide his increasingly reddening face. Along with the flustered cough he hears come from Tsuyu the three of them could agree that they were more than gone in the ‘whipped’ category. Besides, nothing could hide how gay Todoroki could get at times. He would easily put a Kirishima and Mineta fusion to shame. At least the class shared the sentiment, starting to stumble over themselves speaking to each other like Kaminari had started to do by second year. He would later admit embarrassingly in a game of two truths and a lie that year that he may have developed crushes on all of them at that point, and honestly, 2-A couldn't blame him. With their closeness came certain feelings that the class didn't always know how to deal with, and no one was really all that surprised as they began to get more touchy-feely with each other. That is, except for Todoroki, it seemed.

"Oh!" Midoriya suddenly exclaims, making the other three of them jump. "What's this I hear about our collective second quirk?" He stands up from the floor, walking over to where Todoroki and Uraraka sat on the couches, the curls on his head bouncing with energy. Tsuyu follows close behind him.

Todoroki grimaces as they get back on topic, silently hoping throughout this conversation that they would forget about his slip-up. "Oh, uh," he starts awkwardly, "We prove other people wrong a lot. In terms of uh, our… bond, for lack of a better word." He fiddles with his thumbs, looking down at the ground nervously before continuing, "Like, for example when Katsuki got kidnapped in our first year, people started calling him this heartless villain wannabe when all of the evidence pointed to him not being one."

Midoriya shivers at the memory, remembering how Bakugou had broken down that year just a few days after he was rescued. With his breakdown came a better understanding of the two's confusing relationship, though, and by third year they had rekindled their friendship into something that really only resembled a close friendship to those outside the class. Todoroki wasn't sure if they were practically dating at this point, but he wouldn't be surprised.

“But then he started changing for the better,” Todoroki continues, smiling to himself, “He became more integrated into the class and strengthened all of his relationships with us to the point where I don’t even know where you two stand right now!” He gestures to Midoriya, who promptly flushes even more at the accusation.

Uraraka stifles another laugh at the teasing yet tilts her head in confusion, “But what does that have to your reaction earlier?”

“Oh, I- uh,” Todoroki pauses for a minute, “I mean, aren’t we a bit… close for classmates? Like, moreso than Izuku and Katsuki are?”

Midoriya glares once more at Todoroki. It still doesn’t have the intended effect.

“Careful, Izuku-chan,” Tsuyu says cheekily, “We wouldn’t want your cute little face to grow wrinkles on it now.”

Midoriya attempts to glare at her as well, but his glare softens upon meeting her eyes, and instead he smiles warmly at her and kisses her cheek before hugging her. Tsuyu melts into the contact, oblivious to Todoroki’s look of bewilderment at their display.

“This!” Todoroki blurts out bafflingly, as Uraraka stares at the three of them in amusement. “Since when have we been this close to each other?”

“I’d say since second year when Hanta-chan dared Denki-chan to kiss all of us on the lips during that one game of truth or dare,” Tsuyu replies nonchalantly, with Midoriya nodding along, his head still resting on her shoulders in the midst of their hug. “I don’t think anyone really minded.” She added.

And indeed, the four of them could easily remember how red everyone’s faces had been afterwards. And if they saw Ojiro and Jirou accompany Kaminari to his room later that night, no one said anything.

At that moment was when a group of their classmates walked through the dorm entrance, smiles on their faces.

“We’re back!” Hagakure exclaims, a floating bag of groceries hovering in the air next to her. Beside her, Yaoyorozu smiles in amusement at the invisible girl’s floating bag, one hand holding an identically branded bag while the other holds Iida’s hand. The class president is also doing the same, smiling at Yaoyorozu with a look that could only be described as severe enamour. Or ‘whipped’, as Sero and many others in the class would put it.

Todoroki gapes at the two, gesturing wildly to them as if it would immediately prove his point to the other three. Iida notices the group of them by the couches and then promptly proceeds to drop the bag of groceries. He rushes over to Midoriya and Tsuyu, picking up the shorter male, spinning him around and giving him a kiss on the forehead. As Iida puts him down to cater to Tsuyu, Midoriya decides that he hasn’t been given enough love, and he tiptoes up to pepper Iida’s chin with kisses. It isn’t as hard as it seems; in the two years they had known each other Midoriya had sprouted up a few inches to Bakugou’s height as it had been in their first year.

The pair are too preoccupied with each other to comment on how Todoroki’s jaw gapes even more. Jirou, who had apparently been walking behind the groceries trio the whole time, and holding a bag of her own, smirks at him. “Careful, Icyhot. You might catch a fly or two, and Tsuyu wouldn’t like that a whole lot.” she remarks, before setting her bag of groceries down beside the kitchen counter and presumably walking off towards her room, with Hagakure trailing behind her.

Tsuyu smiles at them as they leave, before turning to Todoroki and showing a playful display of joking displeasure.

Todoroki glances at the frog-like girl’s face before turning away from the scene with his eyes pinched shut, ignoring his classmates’ laughter at his blatant suffering. He doesn’t even know how the class got to this point. It’s almost like a constant string of romantic (and possibly even some sexual) tension encompasses the class at all times and is constantly three seconds away from violently snapping in half.

Todoroki peers back at his group of friends — the Dekusquad, as Uraraka had proclaimed them back in the middle of their first year.

He takes in Uraraka’s bubbly personality, how she makes him feel calm despite the constant stress of being in the hero course. She’s good at reading him, so he has no problems coming to her for advice when she notices he’s been feeling down lately. He also admires her fierce determination when the situation calls for it; she inspires him to keep pushing even when things are rough.

He takes in Iida’s firm yet loving gaze, that despite his (possibly permanently ingrained) nobility — one that Todoroki understands far too well — he’s humble and caring, always keeping the class in check. His overbearing tendencies, while irritating at times, let him easily ensure that Todoroki is taking care of himself, and the two of them support each other well in their heroic goals.

He takes in Tsuyu’s calm yet curious gaze, how her bluntness makes her the perfect honest friend who has no qualms about telling Todoroki how he can improve. Just simply being in the same room as her makes him feel reassured, and it takes the weight off his shoulders when he lies in her lap as she braids his hair out of boredom. Maybe growing out his hair past his shoulders wasn’t a bad idea. “Take that, Father!” he sometimes thinks.

He takes in Yaoyorozu’s blossoming self-confidence, the way she’s become much more sure of herself over the years and now makes others feel confident, as well. Both of them share many similarities: they’re both students from famous families who got into UA on recommendation, and they both have some of the more powerful quirks according to the class. They bond easily because of this, with Todoroki finding her one of the easiest people in the class to hang out with as they never truly disagree with each other.

He takes in Midoriya’s soft features, the way he welcomes everyone into his world of kindness. While also being 3-A’s trouble magnet, his smile could bring world peace among many other good things. (Faster than Bakugou’s ass cheeks even; he makes a mental note to bring that up with Kaminari later.) Midoriya makes Todoroki feel at home despite being away from home, and is his primary role model when it comes to coming out of his shell, despite the boy’s recklessness when he acts to help others. One of the leaders of the class, Todoroki can’t imagine where he would be without Midoriya’s influence.

Todoroki smiles at the five of them, and they smile back. On second thought, he doesn’t really mind their confusing dynamic all that much; they all support and love each other. He opens his arms for a hug and his friends come running into his arms, sending Todoroki and the group flying onto the couch with smiles on their faces.

His chest may hurt with the weight of five people on top of him at this moment, but right now, that doesn’t matter. Their shared laughter drowns out any concerns he may have, and as Midoriya begins peppering his face with kisses akin to earlier with Iida, those concerns quickly float away, and his chest begins to hurt with what could possibly be love, instead.

He’s happy.

-

Later that day, Kirishima would nearly set the kitchen on fire trying to bake cookies for the class. Todoroki is very tempted to retract his statement.

Chapter Text

“Oi, Blasty!”

Bakugou flinches at the sudden yell, dropping the needles he was holding onto the floor. The needles proceed to roll perfectly under his bed, right out of arm’s reach. He scowls, both at the lost needles and at the interruption, before whipping his head towards the door at the sound of a familiar redhead’s voice.

“What?!” he barks. But there’s more people at his door than he expected.

Kirishima, Kaminari, Ashido and Sero are all peeking their heads through his dorm room door that he doesn’t remember opening. They each have identical grins on their faces that can only convey that mischief is about to occur.

Bakugou’s face softens a bit upon seeing all of them despite their expressions. He was really turning soft these days. “The fuck do you idiots want?” he says, with less bite to his tone.

Kirishima frowns as he stares at where the needles had fallen. “Were those crochet needles?” he asks, as the four of them walk into his room.

Bakugou’s face reddens slightly as he sits up from his bed, “So what of it?” he mumbles.

Ashido walks up to him to sit in his lap, and she smiles as he wraps his arms around her and buries his face in her shoulder to hide his obvious embarrassment. “Not a fucking word.” he grumbles to the pink-haired girl, who only grins more.

“Dude, since when did you crochet?” Kaminari asks as he flops across the two of them, making Ashido shriek in surprise and Bakugou glare at him, but he ignores them. Kirishima sits on Bakugou’s desk chair across from the three.

“Someone has a death wish,” they hear Sero mutter as he walks past them to check under the bed for the needles. The remaining three glance hopefully at Bakugou, awaiting his response.

Bakugou sighs at their pleading faces, lifting his head from Ashido’s shoulder and instead running his hands through her hair. Ashido practically purrs at the affection.

“Auntie Inko used to teach me and Deku how to crochet when we were kids,” he starts. “The nerd never picked it up, though.”

Kirishima raises an eyebrow at him, as if questioning why he would still be indulging in crocheting to this day.

Bakugou rolls his eyes at him. “My mom encouraged it as well, I guess. The old hag never stopped us because she always said “Oh, it’s like designing clothes!” or some other bullshit reason. I don’t fucking know. She’s in the fashion industry so it’s whatever. Crocheting is fucking stupid.”

Ashido is reminded of that one day in second year.

-

Ashido glanced up as Hagakure and Ojiro came back from the convenience store holding a fashion magazine. Everyone else in the class, minus Bakugou, was engaging in a rowdy Mario Kart competition, and they all stopped to gather in the middle of the common room to see what Hagakure was squealing about. The girl could probably communicate with whales at that frequency.

Jirou walked up to her and snatched the magazine from her hands, frowning at it. “Tooru, if this is another gossip magazine, I swear to g-” At one glance of the cover she stopped dead in her tracks, and the rest of the class were immediately silent as well.

“Holy shit,” she whispered, in awe.

On the front cover of Heroes Weekly was… Bakugou? He was sitting on the ground in a room with gray walls, with his tongue stuck out in classic Bakugou fashion. His outfit seemed to be inspired by the colours of his hero costume.

He was wearing black skinny jeans with rips from his knees up to his thighs. His orange belt also had dark green accents on the buckle. His tank top was black and clung to his frame, with the words “BOOM BOOM BOOM” displayed vertically in bold orange text. By contrast, his oversized puffy dark green jacket (which also had an orange interior) hung loosely off his shoulders, exposing the sides of his tank and his shoulders. The words “BAKUGOU” and “KATSUKI” were written in bold white text on each sleeve, respectively.

The blonde sported a couple black hair clips intersecting on one side of his hair, he had a dark green band-aid on his nose, and his fingers had an assortment of silver and black rings on them. His fingernails were also painted green, with each ring finger painted orange. Black earrings hung from each ear. Lastly, he had on eyeliner and his face had a slight contour done to it, bringing out the sharpness of both his gaze and his facial features. The text on the magazine cover read, “A BAKUGOU STUDIOS EXCLUSIVE: UA STUDENT KATSUKI BAKUGOU”.

He looked. Amazing.

Class 2-A didn’t speak for a solid 15 seconds. Many of them had their mouths wide open, except for Midoriya who just smiled upon seeing the cover.

Ashido was the first one to snap out of their collective shock. “Oh. My god.”

“I- How?” Uraraka yelled.

“I think this might be a good time to mention that uh, I think. I’m gay?” Kirishima chimed in, “I mean, probably? Because holy... holy fuck.”

A chorus of “Same.” swept across the room from the boys in the class at the same time that Jirou remarked, “Gee, Kirishima, you just noticed?”

Kirishima glared at her as she laughed. Iida reprimanded her. “It’s so brave of him to openly express his sexuality!” he said, in his typical noble manner. Todoroki would chuckle at them if half of his body wasn’t literally on fire. Shouji grabbed the fire extinguisher just in case they needed it. The class wouldn’t have the heart to explain to Aizawa why the common room burned down. Instead their hearts were elsewhere, at the moment.

“Honestly, Eijirou. I don’t blame you at all,” said Yaoyorozu. “I would go straight for him if he asked me to. I’d never kiss a girl again.”

“He looks stunning!” Aoyama exclaimed, “Absolutely magnifique!” The class collectively hummed in agreement. Tokoyami pulled Aoyama into his hug with Satou, as he was blushing aggressively while hiding his face in Satou’s chest.

“Wait, wait, wait,” Satou said suddenly, making everyone snap out of their stupor. He turned to Midoriya, who had just been watching them instead of joining in on their awe. “How are you not at all surprised by this?”

“Oh,” Midoriya rubbed his neck sheepishly as everyone turned to him, “I’ve known Kacchan since we were basically toddlers. Uncle Masaru used to dress us up in miniature versions of his designs, and in middle school Kacchan would often disappear after school. It took awhile for me to realize he was just modelling for his parents’ fashion company, but he didn’t want anyone to know in case it ruined his reputation.”

The class stared at Midoriya, their faces contorted with confusion.

Midoriya continued, “He still models to this day. This shoot was last month, I believe? It was that one day he didn’t go to the mall with us and Aizawa, and instead went someplace else without telling us where.”

The class just continued to stare at Midoriya, almost like they didn’t want to believe the truth.

“You know,” Shinsou piped up, making the class turn again to look at him, waiting for a fathomable answer. “I never thought about it before. But we’re really dumb, aren’t we?”

“What do you mean, Hitoshi-chan?” Tsuyu frowned at him.

Shinsou smirked. “Bakugou Studios.” He held out one hand. “Bakugou Katsuki.” He held out his other hand, then brought both of his hands together. “Bakugou Katsuki modelling for Bakugou Studios. C’mon, they’re like one of the most well-known fashion companies in Japan, for crying out loud!”

Kouda looked like he was about to cry. On second glance, half of the class looked like they were about to cry as the situation slowly dawned on them. Kirishima was crying, spouting something about being manly.

Just then, Bakugou walked into the common room from upstairs, pausing suddenly and his eyes widening at the display of the class looking three seconds away from a mental breakdown. “Wh- What the fuck is wrong with you people?” he stuttered.

He looked at Midoriya, who was the only person there who looked relatively sane (Bakugou would never admit that otherwise). The greenette just shrugged at him, smiling. Bakugou scowled back.

Kirishima snatched the magazine from Jirou and ran up to the blonde, shoving the magazine into his hands. Bakugou only had to look at the cover for a split second before he realized why they looked so out of it, but he didn’t have any time to react before Kirishima bearhugged him.

“You’re so manly, Bakugou! So manly!” Kirishima was openly crying, and Kaminari, Sero and Ashido ran up to join in on the now-group hug; they all looked seconds away from crying as well.

“You’re so beautiful, Blasty! We love you so much!” Ashido buried her head into his upper back. Her hair tickled the bottom of his neck.

Kaminari ruffled his hair. “An absolute god among all men!” He wiped away a stray tear. “We truly don’t deserve our little gremlin!”

“Your little w-”

“Oh, Bakugou!” Sero exclaimed, interrupting him. “How can we live without you?” He sounded more playful than the other three, and was trying his best to hold back his laughter at the situation.

Bakugou glanced once more at the magazine, then promptly blew it up.

The class froze, and instead they stared in shock as the paper fell to the ground in burnt pieces like snow.

They only had a moment to stare at the blonde before everyone’s eyes widened and they immediately took off to safety, running for their lives. Except for Midoriya, who just sat down on the couch smugly with his cup of coffee.

“COME BACK HERE, YOU FUCKING EXTRAS! I’LL KILL YOU! YOU’RE ALL FUCKING DEAD!” Bakugou yelled, as he took off towards the nearest person.

Midoriya smiled to himself as he heard Shinsou screech.

-

“Found them!”

The sound of Sero’s voice snaps Ashido out of her daydream. They never did replace that coffee table.

The four of them look at Sero as he holds up his phone in one hand with the flashlight turned on, and his other elbow has tape projecting out of it. Attached firmly to the tape are the crocheting needles.

Sero hands them to Bakugou, who scowls at Sero before placing them on his nightstand.

Kaminari pokes at Bakugou’s side to tickle him, making Bakugou jerk suddenly. “Aw, but you still crochet to this day!” he teases. “If you hate it so much, then why keep doing it?”

Bakugou rubs at his eyes. He could feel the first throbs of a migraine coming. “I don’t fucking know, it’s relaxing,” he grunts. “Stop making fun of me, Dunce Face.”

“We’re not making fun of you, Katsuki,” Kirishima says, “We just think it’s cool.” The other three nod with him.

Bakugou stares into Kirishima’s eyes, looking for any traces of lying. He doesn’t find any.

Bakugou clicks his tongue in annoyance, but his expression quickly washes away to show a nervous look. He looks at all four of them, taking in the way they stare at him lovingly. It reminds him of the way Deku always looks at him. He’s been getting a lot more of that recently.

He smiles nervously at them, making the other four’s expressions drop into faces of concern.

“Kat, what’s wrong?” Ashido asks him, worry evident in her tone. They rarely see Bakugou so openly nervous around them. It’s a stark contrast to his usual brash personality. While he had opened up to them more as the class became closer, it still came as a shock to them.

“I’m-” the blonde hesitates, “I’m still not used to people like… complimenting me, I guess? Or some shit like that. I don’t know, it’s dumb.” He hangs his head down behind Ashido’s shoulders as he speaks, his face simultaneously reddening yet showing a slight pained expression.

“Oh, Katsuki…” Kirishima stands up from the desk chair and walks over to his bed where Sero now sat beside the three, as well. The redhead climbs behind Bakugou and embraces him softly from the back.

“And I know,” Bakugou continues, “I know I’m being stupid. This class constantly gives me support, and they care for me, and- and- I don’t-”

“Fuck, I don’t know!” He looks up, his eyes glistening with unshed tears. “I don’t deserve any of it! Up until UA everyone just complimented me on my quirk to distract from the fact that I’m a piece of shit. I was a piece of shit, and I still am. I don’t even know why you all like me.”

“Katsuki, we-”

“No!” He silences Ashido. “I don’t deserve any of this!” Tears full on stream down his cheeks now.

“You,” He turns around to point at Kirishima, who is about to cry, himself. “I don’t know what your deal is, Eijirou. I don’t know what you did to this class to make them like me, but-” He almost sounds nonsensical, burying his face in Kirishima’s chest to sob loudly. It broke their hearts.

“Make it stop.” Ashido and Sero tear up at the same time Kirishima and Kaminari start crying. “Please,” he hiccups. “just stop. Please.”

“Katsuki.”

Bakugou looks at Sero, who has a serious look on his face despite a tear tracing its way down his cheek.

“We wouldn’t be with you if you weren’t a good person,” he says, honestly. “You’re an amazing person. You’re both talented and skilled at so many things, it’s unbelievable. You always do that aggressive thing where you pretend not to care about us, but you really do,” Sero laughs, although it sounds a bit bitter. “It’s like you’re a tsundere or something.”

“Why the fuck didn’t you eat lunch, shitass?” Kaminari says, doing a poor impersonation of Bakugou’s voice. “Fuck you. I’m making you a five course meal right now. Shut the fuck up.”

Ashido grins at Kaminari’s antics, wiping away a stray tear before speaking. “I remember this one time in second year when Uraraka ran out of pads near the beginning of her cycle and she was, like, freaking out and everything because she didn’t have the money nor time to just get up and go to the store,” she recalls. “Katsuki over here at like 11pm at night sneaks out without anyone noticing, asks Aizawa to leave by himself for a quote unquote, “grocery store emergency” then goes and buys multiple boxes of pads, chocolate and a few boxes of her favourite mochi.”

Katsuki blushes, going back to hiding his face in Kirishima’s chest. At this point everyone has stopped crying and are listening amusedly to her story.

“He comes back at like midnight, and he comes up to Tsuyu’s room where we’re all sitting there after Uraraka calms down, and he drops off everything and immediately walks away after saying,” She lowers her voice into a similarly-terrible Bakugou impersonation. “Shut the fuck up, extras. You didn’t see shit.”

Kaminari grins at her impersonation and high-fives her. “Good job!” he whispers.

“She was so happy, Katsuki,” She smiles at the blonde, who continues to blush further. “You absolutely made her night, and also her next few days.”

“Well, yeah,” Bakugou tries to shrug it off, “Seemed like the right thing to do. Besides, she can’t be in tiptop shape if she keeps holding back because she might bleed through her hero costume or some shit.”

“Katsuki,” Ashido emphasizes, “The rest of us girls had extra pads. Most of the boys in this class would’ve just assumed that we would take care of it, and not bother doing anything. There’s like 5 other girls in this class that could’ve helped her.” Kirishima, Kaminari and Sero all nod in agreement.

“You, on the other hand, went out of your way to help her. You didn’t even question it. And you didn’t ask for anything in return. That’s so nice! You care about us.”

Bakugou grimaces slightly, not wanting to accept the truth. “But I didn’t-”

“That’s why we like you.” She continues further, “Not only do you obviously care about us a lot, even if you don’t like saying it, but you inspire all of us, Katsuki. This class wouldn’t be the same — it wouldn’t shine as bright as it could — without you.”

She ruffles his hair, and Bakugou finally allows himself to smile, just a bit.

“Eijirou could probably tell you all about how much you’ve inspired him.” She smiles at the redhead. Knowing who he was in middle school, and looking at him now, it’s almost like he was secretly swapped with another human — a Kirishima lookalike. “Because of you, he can use Unbreakable. Because of you, he can shine academically. Because of you, he pushes himself to be better, to become as strong and resilient as you are. You don’t call him your equal for nothing! Speaking of generous acts, we can’t forget that one time you repaid him 50,000 yen for night vision goggles, can we?” She smirks at him.

“I’d probably be here for weeks if we kept going with all the different ways you’ve helped the class.” For once, Bakugou doesn’t think she’s exaggerating.

“I’m,” Bakugou starts, but he can’t find the words. He hesitates for a few seconds, before saying, “Yeah, you’re right.” And he gives them a wide toothy smile they’ve never quite seen from Bakugou before. It lacks the animosity of his grins going into battle. It’s not a smug smirk after Midoriya gets the answer wrong during class. His eyes are crinkling a bit at the corners. He almost looks like Kirishima. It’s a genuine, happy grin.

They love it. The four of them grin back just as wide.

“I love you guys.”

Their grins falter a bit.

“What was that?” Sero asks him.

“I love you guys.” Bakugou says reassuringly, smiling at them. It almost makes them want to start crying again.

They smile at him and hug him from all angles, settling into a comfortable position on the bed with everyone’s arms tangled up.

They stay like that for a while, content.

-

“WAIT!”

Kaminari shoots up from their position 15 minutes later, startling the rest of them.

“What’s up, Sparky?” he hears from Bakugou.

“I just remembered why we came here!” he exclaims, grabbing onto the nearest person — Kirishima, unfortunately — and shaking his shoulders.

The other three gasp in realization, while Bakugou looks at them in confusion.

“Right,” he says, “You idiots never told me why you barged in here acting like you were asking me to assist with your bank robbery.”

“No, no, nothing like that,” Ashido says, almost sounding insulted by the accusation, “We just wanted you to come to the arcade with us.”

Bakugou blinks. Surprisingly not what he expected.

“Why?” he asks.

“It’s Saturday! We’re off today, and you don’t have anything important to do right this instant, do you?”

“No, not really.”

“Great! Let’s leave right now!”

Bakugou blinks again. “Right now?”

It was then that he noticed he was the only one not dressed in outerwear, still donning his trademark skull tee and black sweats.

Realization dawns on his face, and the other four pick up on it.

“You in, Blasty?” Kirishima asks, looking at him hopefully.

Bakugou thinks for a moment, before grinning at his idiots.

“Yeah,” he says, “Yeah, let’s go.” And after he gets dressed, they head out.

As they walk through the common room, Bakugou’s phone vibrates, and he pulls it out.

DEKU: you ok, kacchan?

DEKU: i feel like something was wrong

literally fuck the shut up: yeah nerd im fucking fine

DEKU: great! see ya, kacchan

Bakugou hesitates for a moment.

literally fuck the shut up: deku

DEKU: yeah kacchan?

literally fuck the shut up: thanks for sticking around all these years. you’re a good friend.

DEKU:

DEKU: i only stick with the best :D

literally fuck the shut up: piss off.

literally fuck the shut up:

literally fuck the shut up: love you nerd <3

DEKU: love you too kacchan

DEKU: <3

Chapter Text

Aizawa wakes up to a loud bang.

Jumping out of bed swiftly, but carefully as to not wake Yamada, who was still asleep next to him, he grabs his capture scarves next to his desk and blinks as much sleep as he can out of his eyes before he tiptoes out of their room into the corridor.

He hears the sound again. It’s the door. Someone’s knocking, he registers. Someone’s here.

“Shit, they finally found our place,” he thinks, cursing to himself, “Some idiot probably leaked our address. Or maybe I was too careless. We’re gonna have to move again. Fuck.”

He thinks of Class 3-A. No, his kids, he thinks of his kids. He thinks about how he found Yamada and himself a place just close enough to UA. Just close enough so that, in case there was another emergency, another villain attack, he would not let his kids get hurt. Not like at USJ. Not like at training camp. Not like the other thousands of times since then. Not again.

He vowed to protect them. He can’t do that when he’s forced to move further away all because of his stupid carelessness. He fucked up. It’s all his fault.

He failed them.

He’s reminded again of USJ. He truly failed them there. From that day, the light slowly began to dim in their eyes; there was no turning back from here. Hell, they were basically child soldiers at this point. They’d seen more in their first year than many pro heroes get to see in their whole careers. Now in their third year, they were practically inseparable as a unit. Whether that was due to the dorm system, their shared trauma, both, who knows?

Just then, there was another knock on his door. Taking a sharp breath in and sending a mental apology to his kids, he grabs the doorknob and braces for yet another monotonous fight in his career. Except not quite monotonous because he’s stupid, and he’s gonna end up hurting his kids even more one day. He knows it. He might as well quit teaching while he’s at it. He figures he could only go so far with his logical ruses and expelling whole classes on the first day. He’s a failure, an absolute f-

“Sensei?”

A familiar voice pulls him out of his spiral. “You there?" He hears another recognizable voice. Kirishima. Kaminari.

Oh, right. He's at UA. They’d taken residency in one of the school-provided apartments on campus, next to Heights Alliance. He's not at home, he hasn't been in over a month now.

Frowning, he glances into his kitchen from his position at the door. The microwave clock reads 11:17 am.

He lets out a breath he didn't know he was holding, lowering his arms from their defensive position, his scarves drooping past his knees. "They're safe," he thinks, "'We’re safe." But the feeling of dread quickly returns. What if they're here because something bad happened? Did Yaoyorozu faint from overexertion again? Did Todoroki set fire to his room amidst a panic attack?

He opens the door with his heart beating rapidly, but he is greeted by the Bakusquad's smiling faces. Well, and Bakugou's sneer.

His eyes are slightly bloodshot, he notes, glancing at the normally volatile blond who now wouldn't meet his eyes. Was he crying earlier?

"Sensei?" Ashido's voice cuts through his worry. He looks at the group, who are looking at him with worry evident on their faces; except for Bakugou who continues to stare at the ground, his expression now slightly vacant but curious — like his own version of worry. "Is everything okay?"

Aizawa sighs, "Yeah, don't worry about it." he says as his heart cools, offering them a slight smile that comes out more like a grimace. They get what he means, though.

The group seems satisfied with his answer as their faces immediately perk back up. "I'll take your word for it," Kirishima says, grinning at him.

Right, they needed him for something.

He stares at them as their faces drop slightly. They must already be expecting he’ll say no. "What do you problem children want this time?" he asks, trying to keep his tone stern.

They see right past it, the tension immediately easing out of their faces.

Sero pipes up, "Permission to go to the arcade about 10 minutes away by car? We'd be back by four, most likely, give or take an hour."

Ah, right. Multiple groups of his students had approached him this week about the newly opened arcade. In fact, he was sure that most, if not, all of his class bar the Bakusquad was already on their way there, being driven and picked up by All Might in one of the buses reserved for field trips.

"Please, sensei?" Ashido adds.

He nods at the group. "Sure, take Bakugou’s car," he says. "Just stay close together while you're there. Dismissed."

He hangs his scarves on the doorknob and is about to turn around and walk into the kitchen when he realizes the group is still standing there. Everyone, even Bakugou, is gawking at him.

He raises one eyebrow at them, in question. “Hm?” he asked, “I said you’re dismissed.”

“That’s,” Kirishima starts, “That’s it? It’s that easy?”

“Well,” Aizawa shrugged, “I think the rest of your class already left about an hour ago. With All Might driving, of course.”

Their faces collectively dawn in realization, and they accept his answer. They smile at him, except for Bakugou, whose face settles into a neutral look.

“Thanks, sensei!” They chorus, turning and walking towards the parking lot, skipping in tandem. Except for Bakugou, who doesn’t say anything and instead walks a few steps behind them.

“C’mon, Blasty, keep up!” Aizawa hears from Kirishima.

The boy in question shouts, “I’m keeping up just fine, Shitty Hair!” before increasing his pace to walk in tandem with the group. As the middle of their formation opens up to allow Bakugou into the middle, the redhead sneaks his arm around the blond’s waist while Kaminari holds one of his hands.

Bakugou looks back at Aizawa, nodding and giving him a slight smile, before turning towards Sero and kicking him into a tree. Ashido grabs Kirishima’s other hand and shouts, “Run!” as the remaining four take off sprinting as Sero gets up from the ground.

Sero yells at them while the group laughs at him, and Aizawa can see Bakugou smirk at the boy as he rushes to catch up.

Aizawa smiles softly at their backs. They’ll be just fine, he realizes. Bakugou will be just fine.

He closes the door, and heads into the kitchen for his first daily coffee of many, grabbing the XXXL coffee pot Yamada had gotten him as a gag gift a few years back. It actually worked wonders for him. Not his fault the pot actually fit in their coffee maker.

He hears a boom, for real this time, and he whips his head towards the kitchen window, expecting the worst. Only, he sees Kirishima and Ashido in a tree as Bakugou blasts explosions at them, grinning. “Come get your fucking smoochy smooch, shitheads!” He hears the blond yelling, grinning at them like he’s going into battle. Beside him, Kaminari and Sero are on the floor in hysterics, and Sero rubs his neck.

Right where a hickey would be, Aizawa realizes. He turns away quickly, not wanting to witness the rest of their collective chaos.

Never mind. Those kids will be the death of him.

He buries his face into Yamada’s chest as the blond walks into the kitchen, yawning.

“Morning, babe, how are y- Huh?” He frowns at Aizawa, who looks even more dead inside than usual. “What’s wrong, Shouta?”

Aizawa sighs dramatically. “I hate my kids, sometimes.” he groans.

Yamada smiles at him, scratching Aizawa’s scalp. The raven-haired man hums in approval. “Your class? Or Shinsou and Eri?” he teases.

He just barely dodges Aizawa’s shove.

-

They just barely fit into Bakugou’s car. Even with Kirishima in the passenger seat, as the widest of the Bakusquad, the remaining three had to squeeze together at the back. Normally they wouldn’t complain.

“It’s like cuddling, guys!” Kirishima tries to assure them, as Bakugou adjusts his rearview mirror for what seems like the 20th time that minute. “You all love cuddling, don’t ya?”

“He’s so bony!” Ashido complains, pushing Sero away with her feet and squeezing herself into Kaminari’s side. The electric user yelps, even with his arms already around her. “Why do you have to be so tall?” She points her finger at Sero, in accusation.

He just smiles at her. “Aww, but you love wearing my hoodies!” He pouts, but he’s also grinning so it doesn’t give off the intended effect. “You wouldn’t drown in them if I was shorter, Ms. Ashido “What’s the point of a hoodie if it isn’t baggy, doesn’t reach your knees and doesn’t constantly smell like your boyfriend?” Mina.” he quotes her.

The pinkette pouts at him, flicking his forehead. He grins even more in return.

“Forehead, huh?” he says, before leaning over to cup her face in his hands and kiss her forehead.

Ashido full-face blushes, her skin going magenta, and preoccupies herself by trading nose kisses with a laughing Kaminari. Sero chuckles at his girlfriend trying so hard to pretend she isn’t flustered, but failing miserably in doing so. He teases her, “See? You do love me.”

Ashido suddenly sits up from where she was leaning on the blond, determination on her face. “Yes I do, Hanta, and I’ll prove it right now!” She practically leaps at Sero, locking lips with him as they begin to make out.

Kaminari blinks at the two, looking forlorn at the sudden loss of affection. He turns to Kirishima, his eyes watering slightly.

“Bro,” he says, “Will you be the tomato sauce to my pineapple pizza?”

Kirishima’s eyes water similarly. “Bro,” he says, sounding choked up, “I always will, bro.”

Kaminari tries to leap into the passenger seat, but instead he hits his head on Bakugou’s outstretched arm. Blinking stars from his vision as he sulks back down into his seat, he sees Bakugou glowering at him.

“Oi, losers,” he grunts, “Calm the fuck down. We’re going.”

Kirishima smiles at him as Ashido and Sero stop making out. Sero flattens out his hair as Ashido fixes up her wrinkled shirt, the two of them looking slightly disheveled.

“You sure, Blasty?” Kaminari asks, “I think the mirror is just a bit angled.” He reaches into the front and pushes the rearview mirror back slightly, before sitting back down with a mischievous grin written on his face.

Bakugou blanks for a moment, before turning mechanically to the culprit. Sero swears he can audibly hear metal creaking as he turns his neck.

Kaminari’s grin remains, although he gulps loudly, trying to hide his fear.

Bakugou breathes for a second. That’s all Kaminari gets before he has to scramble behind Ashido and Sero, the three of them shrieking in sync. Kirishima just watches.

“GET OVER HERE, YOU FUCKING-”

-

They don’t make it to the arcade until almost one. Any passersby would immediately assume there was one angry sober male dragging his four drunk friends into the arcade with the way they blitzed into the place, the smiles on their faces woozy and their clothes in a matching state of dishevel. In contrast, Bakugou looked stern, although his clothes were also in a similar state.

Kaminari pulls up his shirt collar at the same time that Ashido and Hagakure meet eyes from across the room. Well, at least where Ashido thought her eyes were. No one in 3-A ever knew how Ashido always saw the invisible girl, as she constantly blended into her surroundings.

A floating baggy hoodie — probably Ojiro’s — and Ojiro, himself, jog across the arcade to them. Hagakure jumps into Ashido’s arms while Ojiro stops next to Kaminari and Kirishima. Kaminari immediately gravitates to and hugs his tail, while Kirishima wraps an arm around his shoulders.

“I didn’t know you guys would be here.” Ojiro says.

Kirishima chuckles, “Well, we didn’t know everyone else would be here! But, the more people, the better, yeah?” He waves back enthusiastically at Midoriya and Kouda, who promptly go back to their boxing arcade game. As Midoriya hits the punching bag, Sero can almost see smoke.

Ojiro smiles at the redhead. “Yeah, of course.”

“Ooh, ooh, ooh!” Hagakure lets go of Ashido and grabs Ojiro’s arm, causing him, Kaminari and Kirishima to all jerk sideways, the two losing their grip on him. He turns to his girlfriend, who’s pointing at one of the unoccupied machines. Before he can ask, she’s already taken off sprinting.

Ojiro shrugs, “See you guys later,” he says, “It’s Pac-Man time.” He runs to follow her.

The group waves bye to him as Bakugou stalks off towards Jirou, who is engrossed in a game of Guitar Hero.

“Is it normal for her to sweat that much?” Kaminari asks the other three, who shrug at him.

“I mean,” Ashido starts, “She’s playing Through the Fire and Flames with her eyes closed and her back turned to the screen. I think that warrants a bit of sweat.”

Kaminari nods as Bakugou sneaks past her and stations himself behind the drumset. Despite the game only registering Jirou’s guitar at the moment he begins drumming to the rhythm of the song. Jirou flinches at the sound of the drumsticks loudly hitting the plastic pads, momentarily losing her focus. She stares at Bakugou, her eyes wide in shock. Bakugou smirks at her briefly, before going back to focus on the game.

Kirishima and Ashido share a look as Kaminari and Sero walk off towards one of the claw machines, holding hands. Ashido looks to the other side of the room.

Shouji is occupying two claw machines at once, his hands working in sync. “Huh,” she thinks, “Well that’s one use for all of those arms.”

A load of plushies spill out of both of the bottom compartments, as Tokoyami stands next to the taller male clutching an emo Beanie Baby to his chest like a newborn child. There are tears in his eyes as he stares at Shouji, smiling.

“You’re doing so good, Mezou.” Ashido reads his lips. “You’re always so good to me.”

Shouji smiles back at Tokoyami, who has moved to take residency between Shouji’s arms, so Ashido can no longer see him.

“A flesh cave,” she remembers Tsuyu telling her once, as Tokoyami buried his reddened face into her back. Apparently it was his first kiss, she told her as an explanation for why Tokoyami had suddenly rushed over to her room, screeching like an orgasmic crow. “It’s like a warm, comforting flesh cave. Almost like a fluffy blanket, but it’s flesh.” Her content expression did not match the description coming out of her mouth.

Ashido shivers at the memory, but snaps out of it as she feels Kirishima shake her by her shoulders. She snaps her head to the male, who looks like he’s three seconds away from sobbing. He’s pointing to one of the vacant claw machines next to Shouji. Inside sits a life-size shark plushie. Ashido doesn’t even know how it fit in there.

“Shark…” He picks her up and shakes her, “Shark plushie! I want… shark!”

He places her back down and the pinkette tries to regain her balance. “Mina!” She’s grabbed again before she can fully recover, finding herself face to face with Kirishima.

“Ashido Mina!” he shrieks at her as he sobs, their noses almost touching, “You’re the most amazing girl I’ve ever met in my entire life! I feel so glad to know you! I love you so, so much! You bring me so much joy that I never thought you could make me any happier of a man! Will you please do me the honours of getting that shark plushie? Mina? Mina! It’s a shark! I’m a shark! Mina, it’s me! That’s me in plush form! You’re going to be catching me, for me! Mina, I love you, p-”

Kirishima is interrupted from his rant by a light tap on his shoulder. He freezes, turning around with tears in his eyes. He lets go of Ashido, who immediately slumps to the floor to catch her breath. She looks back at Bakugou and Jirou, the former of which is smirking at Jirou as she contemplates bashing his head in with the guitar. The screen behind them reads 99%.

Kouda stands behind the two, twiddling his index fingers together nervously. He looks at Kirishima.

“Did you say... shark?”

It was so quiet that they almost didn’t hear him.

Kirishima’s face slowly morphs into the widest grin either of them have seen from him, and he immediately jumps up to crush Kouda in a bear hug.

“Kouda, my man!” he yells, “Bro, I knew I could count on you!” He pulls back to kiss Kouda on the cheek, making him blush aggressively. He lets go of the taller male, grinning at him.

“Let’s go, Kouda!” He sprints off towards the machine, jumping and twirling in the air. “WOO HOO! YEAAAH! Shark! Shark! Shark! Shark! Shark! Shark!” He chants loudly, attracting attention from a few strangers there. They stare at Kouda, who bows at them in apology, his face still slightly red.

Only then does he remember Ashido, and he glances down to see her sprawled across the floor, now smiling softly at him.

He yelps softly at his forgetfulness, signing, “Sorry!”, before extending a hand out to her. She takes it happily, and Kouda pulls her up.

She bounces on her feet as she gets up. “Thanks, Kouda!” she says, “Man, Bakudeku could never.”

Kouda is busy contemplating which question to ask her first: What is a Bakudeku? And if it is who he thinks it is, how does she know this? He’s interrupted from his thoughts by the sight of Kaminari and Sero walking back to them, their faces downcast.

Ashido frowns at them, “Babes, what’s wrong?” she asks, completely forgetting about the confusion she caused Kouda only moments ago.

“We, uh,” Sero starts.

Kaminari finishes, looking dejected, “We don’t have tickets.”

Kouda glances to where Kirishima is chatting it up with Shouji, still wiping tears from his eyes. He meets eyes with Kouda, then beckons excitedly for him to come over, while pointing to the literal two-foot-high stack of reward tickets flowing out of each machine. Ashido follows his gaze, recognizing what he’s looking at. She smiles.

“I think we can fix that.”

Just then, from Kirishima comes a cry so loud that it reverberates off the walls. Everyone in the arcade snaps their attention to him. In his hands is the shark plushie, courtesy of Shouji. The redhead, himself, looks like he’s on the verge of a mental breakdown, as his lip trembles while he stares at the plushie like it’s the Guinness World Record for World’s Biggest Pot of Gold.

Ashido gapes at Kaminari, who’s just smirking at the scene.

“But can we fix that?” he says, as Kirishima jumps into Shouji’s arms, startling him.

She hears Tokoyami go, “Hey!” at the same time her phone vibrates. She pulls it out as they walk towards the machine.

THIS IS WHY DAD(ZAWA) DOESN’T FUCKING LOVE YOU

SanicFuckr3000: Is everything alright? I heard Eijirou scream.

SanicFuckr3000: Who changed my name again? Please change it back.

TapeFuckr3000: now we match class prez

PikaFuckr3000: lmao nice

SanicFuckr3000: Hanta, please change it back! I don’t know how, and this is irresponsible behaviour!

jack me off: lol sux 2 succ

brain boy: f

(っ◔◡◔)っ ✨ TWINKLE ✨: f

give me fucking mochi or: f

say goodbye to ur kneecaps: f

ʰⁱ: f

t̴̢̻̻̭̮̜͈̘̾̽ǎ̶͇̌̈̇̏̆͌́͠i̴̢͖̩̺̪̫͈̲̓͋͝l̷̢̨̪͔̜̪̺̺̂͐̑͛̉̃ͅ: f

Lil Jon: f

give milk pLEASE i need 🅱️one: f

Teenage Dream: Traumatic: f

Yaomom: f

SanicFuckr3000: Momo! You too?

Yaomom: Not everyone gets the same chances in life, Tenya. I learned that the hard way.

SanicFuckr3000:

SanicFuckr3000: Fair point.

🅱️akutiddies: yeah ei’s fucking fine. just losing his shit over a shark plushie that’s all

🅱️akutiddies: who the fuck changed my name

🅱️akutiddies: four eyes do your fucking job

SanicFuckr3000: Not everyone gets the same chances in life, Katsuki. I learned that the hard way.

🅱️akutiddies: I Will Destroy Your Bloodline.

give milk pLEASE i need 🅱️one: !!!

give milk pLEASE i need 🅱️one: kacchan we match!!!

🅱️akutiddies: shut your fuck.

give milk pLEASE i need 🅱️one: oh i already shut the fuck earlier today! one step ahead of you!

give milk pLEASE i need 🅱️one: unlike our childhood

give milk pLEASE i need 🅱️one: :(

Teenage Dream: Traumatic: izuku, are you okay?

give milk pLEASE i need 🅱️one: aha, a true hero never reveals his secrets

give milk pLEASE i need 🅱️one:

give milk pLEASE i need 🅱️one: no

🅱️akutiddies: deku im literally b e g g i n g you to stop doing that shit

jack me off: do you beg often?

🅱️akutiddies: yknow what. you’re next.

jack me off: hot

give milk pLEASE i need 🅱️one: yeah kacchan begs for my

give milk pLEASE i need 🅱️one: d

give milk pLEASE i need 🅱️one: i

give milk pLEASE i need 🅱️one: c

SanicFuckr3000: DICE

SanicFuckr3000: IN MONOPOLY

SanicFuckr3000: Remember that game from last week? Brutal.

AcidFuckr3000: nice!

give milk pLEASE i need 🅱️one: k

SanicFuckr3000: :(

give milk pLEASE i need 🅱️one: e

SanicFuckr3000: :D

🅱️akutiddies: what the fuck

🅱️akutiddies: i was gonna say stop doing that shit because we’re fucking equals now but i regret even thinking about it

PikaFuckr3000: eye emoji

give me fucking mochi or: eye emoji

Teenage Dream: Traumatic: eye emoji

🅱️akutiddies: STOP TYPING OUT THE WORDS EYE EMOJI OH MY FUCKING GOD

give milk pLEASE i need 🅱️one: aww kacchan!!

give milk pLEASE i need 🅱️one: this doesn’t change the fact that you beg for my dick! 💚

SanicFuckr3000: IZUKU! Please control your-

SanicFuckr3000: Urges! (???) You were not like this in first year! What happened?

🅱️akutiddies: shut the fuck up nerd

🅱️akutiddies: just because i came when you said pspsps doesn’t mean i like you

🅱️akutiddies: fucking idiot

🅱️akutiddies: 🧡

SanicFuckr3000:

SanicFuckr3000: Never mind! I’ll see you all later. Goodbye!

SanicFuckr3000 has left the chat.

t̴̢̻̻̭̮̜͈̘̾̽ǎ̶͇̌̈̇̏̆͌́͠i̴̢͖̩̺̪̫͈̲̓͋͝l̷̢̨̪͔̜̪̺̺̂͐̑͛̉̃ͅ: this is NOT what oikawa tooru meant when he said hit it until it breaks

SHIRTLESS SLEEVES has changed their name to SHARK SHARK SH.

SHARK SHARK SH: hey yall! sorry about that, guess I got a bit too excited haha! what’d I miss?

SHARK SHARK SH:

SHARK SHARK SH: what the fuck!

-

“GOT IT!”

Shinsou flinched at the sudden yell, glaring at Kaminari. The blond was holding a Pikachu plushie in his hands, showing it proudly to Shinsou. “I finally got one!” He grinned at Shinsou.

Shinsou looked past him at the claw machine. There were multiples of the exact same plushie. In fact, it was the only type of plushie in the machine. It was a Pikachu plushie claw machine.

“Congrats. It only took you, uh,” Shinsou glances at his watch, “35 minutes and about 63 attempts.”

There were remnants of dried tear tracks on Kaminari’s face. “I know, dude. I’m so proud of myself.”

He walks closer to Shinsou until they can feel each other’s breaths. That happened often with this class, Shinsou had noticed.

“This is for you,” Kaminari thrusts the plushie into his chest.

“Hm?” Shinsou was confused, “I thought that was for you? You did spend half an hour trying.”

“No dude, this is yours,” Kaminari continues, “Because. You shock my heart.”

Shinsou attempts to hide his snort at the blond’s incredibly lame joke but fails, and instead opts for hiding half of his face with one of his hands.

Kaminari grins at him. “Cute,” Shinsou hears him mutter under his breath.

Kaminari brings the plushie back towards him, kissing the top of its head before pressing its mouth to Shinsou’s cheek, saying “Chu~!”

Shinsou blinks at him in surprise.

“Get it?” Kaminari winks at him, “Because I chu~ you.”

Shinsou turns away, his face reddening rapidly. He lets Kaminari hug him from the back and bury his face into his shoulder. That also happened often with this class.

“Aww, you liked that! Hitoshi~!” Kaminari singsongs, “Toshi~! I love you~!”

Shinsou breathes in sharply, turning back around to face Kaminari. “If you’re gonna chu~ me,” he says, seriously, “then do it right, coward.” He smirks at the blond, whose eyes widen in surprise before he gives an equal smirk.

“Is that a challenge?” he asks.

“What, never encountered a challenge before? This is UA, I’d be surprised.”

“You know I don’t back down from a challenge! Not with a hero-hopeful turned hero like you, Toshi.”

Shinsou’s heart warms a bit at that. “Yeah? Well, I don’t see any action going on right n-”

Kaminari drops the plushie and mashes his face against Shinsou as they begin to make out against the machine, oblivious to everyone around them. It was mostly 3-A now, anyways. Their earlier antics had already driven many of the strangers out of the arcade, and it was about three in the afternoon at that point.

Kaminari hears a couple cheers, presumably from Sero and Hagakure, and he gives a thumbs up in their general direction without pulling away. Shinsou does the same, except with a middle finger.

They pull away eventually, staring into each other’s eyes, their noses touching, breathing heavily. Kaminari smiles at the other boy.

“Why didn’t we do this earlier?” he asks.

“I don’t know. Maybe I’m not the only dumbass in this class, then.”

“Hey!”

“Get back here.”

“Toshi- mmph!”

Uraraka swoops in to snatch the plushie off the floor before sneaking away.

The two of them don’t notice her.

-

“Mina,” Midoriya is panting, trying to catch his breath. “Why would you make me do this- this torture?” He breathes heavily, “This is worse than hero training.”

“Aw, c’mon, Izuku, this is fun!” Ashido objects, “You’re not doing too bad, yourself!”

He glances at his Dance Dance Revolution score. Then he glances at Ashido’s. Quadruple his, and they weren’t even halfway through the song.

“Can’t. I can’t,” he huffs. “Yuuga, take my place!” He steps off the board as Aoyama steps onto it. He collapses into Todoroki’s arms, still panting aggressively. He looks up at his boyfriend, who is looking at him with both fondness and amusement.

Midoriya pouts at him. “I wasn’t that bad.” he says, “...Was I?”

Todoroki smiles at him, “You know,” he starts, “What matters is that you tried your best.”

He chuckles as Midoriya lightly punches his stomach. “Shoutooooo,” he whines, “You’re so mean to me.”

“In the words of Katsuki: love hurts.”

Midoriya glares at him. “You did not just-”

“Maybe I did.”

“Annnnnnd, done!”

The two of them look back at the arcade screens at the sound of Aoyama’s voice. While Ashido’s score still came up on top, the bridge between their scores was nowhere near as drastic as it had been. Aoyama flicks his hair as he turns towards Ashido, and Ashido laughs at his extra-ness.

“Wow, you’re so good, Yuuga!” Midoriya exclaims, his face filled with awe.

“Of course, of course, mon ami!” Aoyama replies, “Someone needed to dance fabulously for the both of us!”

Midoriya’s face drops as Todoroki and Ashido laugh. He returns to pouting.

“It’s okay, Izuku!” Uraraka runs up to them, quick to damage control. She ruffles his hair, “You’re still an amazing friend, even if you’re, uh, lacking in other departments. Here, I want you to have this.”

Midoriya accepts the Pikachu plushie as Todoroki stares at her.

“Where did you get that?” he mouths, “You were only gone for like, 20 seconds.”

“Don’t worry about it!” she mouths back, smiling.

“You guys are so mean to me,” Midoriya mutters into the plushie.

“Well, in the words of Katsuki: love-”

“AAAAAAAH!”

They laugh even harder at his outburst.

“DIE! FUCKING DIE!”

They stop abruptly, glancing around at the sound of their resident gremlin’s voice. A few machines over, they can see Bakugou and Satou engrossed in one of those shooter games. Bakugou appears to be winning as Satou tries to keep up with the blond’s energy.

“PEW PEW PEW! YEAH, THAT’S WHAT YOU FUCKERS GET. HA! SUCK IT, BIG LIPS!” He cackles maniacally as his score continues to rise.

“Is it wrong that I think he’s kinda cute right now?” Uraraka asks, tilting her head. She spots Tsuyu walking towards them, holding a frog plushie the size of her upper body. She looks content as she walks, cuddling the plushie close.

“Bakugou-chan can be endearing. Sometimes.” Tsuyu sits on one of the stools next to the group, and places the plushie delicately on the stool next to her. She pats its head for good measure.

“Please refrain from winning more life-size plushies, everyone!” They hear Iida’s voice spread across the arcade, “We can fill a room with the ones we already have!”

“Boo, Tenya!” Hagakure yells, just as loud, “Everyone knows plushies are the superior cuddle item!”

A chorus of “Yeah!” follows. Iida doesn’t reply in return. Tsuyu sees him sigh dejectedly before joining Yaoyorozu in a game of pinball.

“Do you think Kat's good at DDR?” Ashido questions.

“Without question!” Aoyama chimes in, “He picks up skills like Izuku picks up friends!”

Midoriya gives him a look.

“He’s right,” Todoroki says, “He’s absolutely right.”

“We should call him over!” Uraraka says, glancing hopefully at Midoriya.

He looks scandalized. “Why me?” he yells. “Why not, I don’t know, literally anyone else!”

“Eijirou isn’t here, Izuku-chan,” Tsuyu tells him, “You’re our only hope.”

“No I’m not!” He tries to fight back, but they seem set on their decision. Sighing in defeat, he takes out his phone.

DEKU: kacchan!! hiya!

He glanced towards where the blond sat. Bakugou had his phone out, and he turned to glare in his direction. Midoriya smiled at him when they met eyes.

literally fuck the shut up: what do you want deku

literally fuck the shut up: i’m literally like ten feet away

literally fuck the shut up: did you break your fucking legs again.

literally fuck the shut up: in ddr.

DEKU: no no none of that

DEKU: im better with that now kacchan i swear aksagsdhs

literally fuck the shut up: i’ll believe it when i see it, nerd.

DEKU: I DIDNT BREAK MY LEGS KACCHAN SDJHSDH

literally fuck the shut up: uh huh

literally fuck the shut up: what do you want

DEKU: are you good at ddr?

literally fuck the shut up: i’m not facing off against those extras. waste of time.

DEKU: one of those extras is your girlfriend, kacchan

literally fuck the shut up: whatever

DEKU: so youre not gonna join us?

literally fuck the shut up: no fuck off

literally fuck the shut up: keep playing your stupid tap tap game, nerd. it might help with your shitty footwork.

DEKU: oh? kacchan are you scared?

literally fuck the shut up: no.

DEKU: you think mina’s gonna beat you? i thought you were good, probably better than her now, that one time we were five

DEKU: well. minus right after the game when you fell face first and broke your nose. that was the most fun part imo

literally fuck the shut up: SHUT THE FUCK UP

literally fuck the shut up: HOW DO YOU EVEN REMEMBER THAT SHIT

DEKU: i know all :)

DEKU: kacchannnnnnn join

literally fuck the shut up: no fuck off

DEKU: kacchannnn

DEKU: kacchannnnnnn

DEKU: :(

DEKU: :(((((

DEKU: :((((((((((((((((((

DEKU:

DEKU: im telling auntie mitsuki you were being a brat

literally fuck the shut up: ha. i’m not 12 anymore, nerd. what’s she gonna do, move my bedtime earlier?

DEKU: Katsuki Bakugou :/

Bakugou feels chills run down his spine, and he’s sure he looks the part, too. He glares at Satou. “Bye, I have to go, right now, immediately.” He hurries off in the group’s direction while Satou stares at him, confused.

literally fuck the shut up: coming

DEKU: yay! thanks kacchan :D

literally fuck the shut up: i will murder you

DEKU: no you wont, bakugou.

literally fuck the shut up: no i won’t.

Bakugou reaches the group as Ashido is selecting a new song. They all smile at him.

“Welcome, Kacchan!” Deku cheers at him. Bakugou glares back.

“For the record, I hate every single one of you.”

“No you don’t!” they chorus back.

The blond sneers as he steps onto the platform.

“Is he really that good?” Todoroki mutters to Midoriya as the greenette plays with his hair. Midoriya shrugs in response as Sero and Jirou sit down beside them, eager to watch.

“Ashido did tell us that it's the hardest song in the game.” Sero says, “And it’s relatively new, as well. Unless he’s been playing and we haven’t found out, I don’t think he’s played that song before.”

He gets a perfect score. The first perfect score all day. Ashido bows her head in defeat for a moment, before smiling in acceptance and reaching over to hug Bakugou. The rest of them just gape as he smirks at them. “Well?” he says, “Is that good enough for you extras?”

They remain in silence for a moment. Todoroki is the first to respond.

“Yeah. Yeah it is.”

Bakugou scowls at Todoroki before leaning over the railing and flicking Midoriya’s head, smirking at him before jumping down from the platform.

His foot catches on the railing. He falls face first onto the carpet, his lower half flopping back onto the platform, making a loud clang against the surface.

He glares back at the group, who are all struggling to hold back their laughter. Except for Todoroki, who laughs openly in his face.

“None of you little shits saw a thing.” He stomps off.

Everyone saw it. Kaminari got it on video.

-

Yamada frowns at Aizawa, who has been pacing back and forth in their kitchen for twenty minutes. “Babe, you okay?” he asks, his face evident with concern.

Aizawa stares at his husband in exasperation, pointing to the microwave. “It’s 5:30,” he says, “It’s 5:30 and none of them are back yet. And no one’s called. Not any of the students. Not All Might.”

“I’m sure they’re fine.” Yamada tries to reassure him, “I did hear Sero say they would give or take an hour, so maybe they’re giving one. They have enough experience and they can handle themselves well; I think we both trust them.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know, it’s just-”

“Besides, you could always call them yourself. You have their contacts, don’t you?”

Oh. Oh. He didn’t think of that.

He’s about to go into the living room to retrieve his phone when Yamada grabs his arm.

Aizawa glances at him. “Hm?” Yamada nods towards the window, and Aizawa turns around to look.

He sees his whole class trudging through the gates, some holding hands, some linking arms. All of them are smiling, some are laughing. There’s more than a few life size plushies in the mix of arms. Bakugou is dangling his car keys from one of his fingers, while All Might walks behind them, smiling at Midoriya as the greenette tells him about their day.

All Might glances at their window, catching Yamada’s and Aizawa’s eyes. He gives them a thumbs up and waves at them. The class follows his gaze to their house, and they, too, wave and smile at them.

Aizawa waves back and tries to suppress a smile, his anxiety quelling as they head into Heights Alliance.

His kids are safe. And happy.

For now, they’re home.