Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

U.A. SETS HIGH STANDARDS FOR HEROICS, LOW STANDARDS FOR COMMON DECENCY  

by Margeurite VanSkitter, Special Correspondent  

In the heart of Musutafu, nearby to the bustling Shizuoka Prefecture, rests U.A. High School. The institution stands atop a heavily forested hill, overlooking the surrounding area as if it were royalty overlooking a kingdom. And justly so – for many decades now, U.A. High has been the #1 ranked heroics school in Japan, and is, in fact, the golden standard to which we hold all hero academies.   

And why shouldn’t it be? Renowned for having trained and produced some of the best heroes in Japan, such as Best Jeanist, Endeavor, and yes- even All Might himself, U.A. certainly seems to be above reproach. Despite some of the recent security concerns (see last year’s articles about the break-in at the USJ, and the kidnapping of the 1 st year Sports Festival winner, linked below ), U.A. has maintained a stellar track record, with current school principal Nezu rising to every challenge and the entire staff going above and beyond to protect the future heroes and heroines of Japan.  

But there’s more to protecting our children and our society than just keeping them safe from villains. There’s a secret failing at U.A., one that’s been growing throughout the years, and has come to a tipping point with last month’s debut of controversial 2 nd year heroine-in-training, Creati.  

But before we delve into the growing concerns about her, let us take a step back in time to when the problem first originated – let us look closely at the R-Rated Heroine, Midnight.  

15 some years ago, a young Nemuri Kayama joined the esteemed ranks of U.A.’s first year Hero Course students. At first glance, her Quirk – Somnambulist – appeared rather lackluster to onlookers. But before long, little Kayama would be proving the naysayers wrong left and right. With her pretty face, good looks, and bubbly personality, she soon began to make headlines.  

A combination of her natural beauty, personality, flirtations, and Quirk seemed to always leave everyone, on-lookers and villains alike, positively dazed. What she seemed to lack in terms of Quirk power, she soon made up for in physical strength, speed, and dexterity. She was strong, pretty, dedicated to the greater good, and determined to change the world. By all accounts, she was on the fast track to a spot in the Top 10 after her graduation - a feat that was all but unheard of for women in the field at the time.   

And then, in her third year, it all came crashing down.   

Due to something unknown to us – be it her own hubris, her vanity, or her admirers pushing her to go too far – sweet, flirty, silly Kayama thought it would be wise to make her 3 rd year debut in a costume that was not just utterly indecent, but shockingly and disgustingly lewd.  

[I feel the need to preface this, my dear readers, with the fact that I am by no means a prude! I, and my employer, of course, support all manners of confidence and self-assurance, both in day-to-day life and in regards to our heroes and heroines! After all, an underconfident and insecure hero could lead to hesitation at the wrong moment, leading to disaster! As well, we at Sakura Press understand fully that accidents can and will happen in the line of duty for our Pro Heroes! A bad fight here, a burn there, a cut, a tear – many things can lead to slip-ups (see the articles linked below for the incidents in which Mirko lost her top in a fight with the LoV, and in which Hawks’ entire outfit was incinerated in a blast). However, there is a stark difference between an accident in the field leading a Pro to accidentally reveal a bit too much of themselves to the general public, and a child displaying themselves purposefully in a vulgar and offensive manner.]  

Early in her 3 rd year, Kayama announced her hero name. The Flirty Heroine: Midnight! It came as a shock to no one, of course. Flirting to keep her opponents off-guard, bewildering villains with her cheery nature, always smiling – these things were nothing new.  

What was new, however, was her hero costume.   

It’s not unusual for heroes and heroines to change their costumes up a bit throughout their time at U.A. In fact, it’s not even all that unusual for a Pro to make slight adjustments or changes to their look as the years go by (click the link below for a detailed timeline of All Might’s changes to his look and the reasons behind them!). For the past two years, Midnight had appeared to the public in a rather simple leotard and leggings – tight, yes, but covered and easy for her to pull back the sleeves and utilize her Quirk.   

So why then, oh why, dear readers, did she mark her 3 rd year debut – a rescue at a burning orphanage, set on fire by a local gang – with the disgusting outfit pictured below?   

( Click, enter your date of birth, and hit ‘I accept’ to view image. )  

Trench coat aside, the then barely-18-year-old seemed determined to bare it all for the world to see. In an outfit almost seemingly intentionally designed to cause wardrobe malfunctions, Midnight ran into an orphanage and shocked all of Japan with her brazenness. I’ll spare you the disgusting details of the incident ( link here ), dear readers, should it disgust you to the point of illness.  

The incident led to an overhaul in policy from the Hero Commission, in which regulations were made to limit the amount of skin that could be exposed by hero costumes. Several fines were proposed for those who would refuse to comply, though none had so closely tested them as much as Midnight. Instead of repentance for her ‘mistake’, the once kind and gentle-seeming young heroine seemed to revel in the scandal, going so far as to change her handle to “The R-Rated Hero: Midnight”!  

While it’s not clear what caused her to go down this path, it’s very clear that U.A. made no effort to contain or counsel her before the incident, instead letting her choose to run free and wild, in all manners of speaking. The incident, aside from causing new regulations in regards to costuming, also prompted severe backlash against U.A. and the environment which fostered her actions, with many going as far as to accuse Kayama of salacious acts with the higher-ups in order to get her way. (To this day, she’s never bothered to deny those claims.)  

While one could be forgiven for thinking the scandal ends there, dear readers, I regret to inform you that it does not. While Midnight did change her hero costume to be mildly less revealing and offensive, she never issued a formal apology. As well, U.A. employed her not many years after her graduation, and she continues to work there even now!  

So what effect is this having on future generations of heroes and heroines? Initially, it seemed as if that would be the end of things, and Kayama would continue her teaching and her overly-sexual heroine work in peace, and that no one would really be worse the wear for it. After all, it was all in the past, was it not? Surely, we’ve all learned from the mistakes made then, and would never repeat them!  

Enter 2 nd year Heroics student, Momo Yaoyorozu.  

Deceptively sweet and docile, Yaoyorozu ( heir of the contentious Yaoyorozu Tea and Patisserie empire, see link here ), at first appeared to be exactly what the Pro Hero field needed. Gentle, kind, intelligent, and determined, she seemed a breath of fresh air and an inspiration to young girls all over the country. After all, with their only examples to look up to being the likes of Mt. Lady or Mirko, things had been looking bleak for the future heroines of Japan; an upright, moral role model was exactly what they needed.  

Looking back on her early time at U.A., Momo Yaoyorozu is just that. Her grades have been nothing but perfect, her attendance flawless, and her intelligence legendary – tales of it being surpassed only by those of her caring nature. So, where did she go wrong?  

One could be forgiven for saying that things all went downhill last month, when Yaoyorozu debuted as The Everything Hero: Creati. After all, that’s when her name first truly appeared on the map, and began to spread outside of the smaller groups in which it had been circulating for over a year. But despite her disastrous showing at the armed robbery and hostage situation, leading to several ‘accidental’ costume malfunctions that she didn’t even seem bothered by, evidence suggests that things were wrong long before that.  

Let us begin with the fact that Yaoyorozu got into U.A. on recommendation, a fact that her family does not seem all that keen to brag about. That, in and of itself, rings a little odd to me, dear readers. The Yaoyorozu family is notorious for three things: being richer than you, being better than you, and knowing it. Surely, their esteemed daughter getting into U.A. on recommendation is brag-worthy, is it not?  

Of course, that’s only if that’s the truth.  

Her quirk, Creation, gives her the ability to create any non-living material. Surely, I don’t need to spell out the implications of that for you! Her quirk has, for many a year now, been a hot topic of debate in regards to her family’s surprising fortune and their empire; it should come as no shock then, that some have to wonder if she bought her way into U.A. instead of meeting the requirements for a recommendation. After all, while their heir is no doubt intelligent and an exceptional student, one must wonder just what it was about a ‘tea and pastry company’ family that would lead to them being considered “exceptional and outstanding references” ...  

Even if there’s nothing fishy going on in regards to her quirk, one only needs to look at the girl to understand how and why she manages to get a leg up, as it were, on the competition. Her looks bring forward a strong memory of a young Nemuri Kayama: dark haired, mature, soft, and utterly oozing femininity. It worked for Midnight, after all, so why shouldn’t it work for Creati?  

But we’ve seen this song and dance before, dear readers, and we now know better.  

Be it through bribery, salacious and inappropriate acts with staff and higher-ups, or even through a valid recommendation, Momo Yaoyorozu is at U.A. now, and history is beginning to repeat itself. She’s got the physical attractiveness, the initial reputation, and now the ‘accidental’ costume malfunctions. Although her hero costume meets the criteria set by the Hero Commission, it only barely does so, and is still utterly indecent and disgusting.    

And though, by most accounts, she’s docile and sweet, one has to wonder what Momo Yaoyorozu is hiding. Will it be the final nail in the proverbial coffin for U.A.? Is she truly what she seems? Or is she another PR disaster like Midnight, just waiting to happen? And most importantly, what steps will U.A. take in order to keep her under control? History points towards ‘none’, but only time will tell.  

(Enjoying our articles? Make sure to ‘like’ and ‘share’ to your friends and family, and comment below!)  

mr.d'arcygnan: I bet she’s sleeping with the other students, too.  

  - xXxLillithPrincessxXx: right, you mean you WISH   

    - mr.d'arcygnan: I’m not even a student their asshat  

      - xXxLillithPrincessxXx: there*. you’re clearly not a student ANYWHERE  

        - mr.d'arcygnan: stfu  

        - mr.d'arcygnan: bitch😠

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washday: god i wish i went to ua  

  - muffled_fart: right? if they told us the first year of middle school that the extra credit would be doing US i’d have studied waaaayyyyy harder 😈

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Plus.Ultra.I.Guess: Girlie, when they said ‘go beyond’, I don’t think they meant for you to fuck your way through the student body lol  

  - NekoWafer: thru the students bodies 😏😉

  - Plus.Ultra.I.Guess: fkdgjhfdkjh 😂

    - ProM&M: fucking the students in their bodies not through the student body 💯😂💧💦☔️😂💯😂😂💯😂💯💧💦☔️💯

      - NekoWafer: r/yourjokebutworse 😒

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ProM&M: Please, have you SEEN her? She dresses and looks like a MILF, ofc all the students and teachers wanna sleep with her  

  - GoatMilk?: I would hope no teachers would think like that. She’s a child ffs. 😒

    - Min’sRightsActivist: Please, they definitely think it, they just don’t act on it. 😂

      - GoatMilk?: No adult should be thinking like that!  

        - vickyt.time : She shouldn’t be dressing like that either but there we are. 😩

          - (see more comments)  

  - SkepticalMoose: @ProM&M, you sure you’re talking about them and not you?  

    - ProM&M: i’m a student there, I would know 😉😈

    - NekoWafer: X to doubt lol  

      - ProM&M: I can prove it! 

        - [comment removed]  

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Togeipie: Who do you think she blew to get in?  

  - uamorelikeugay: My bet’s on All Might.  

  - suddenlysalad: Nezu 😉 

    - #1HawksStan: Does Nezu even have something to blow?  

      - Min’sRightsActivist: mousedickmousedickmousedick LOLLLLLL 😉😂☔️😂💯😉😂💦☔️💯

  - washday: all of them, duh  

  - breastjeanist: Pfdgdklj I bet she slept with Midnight!  

    - muffled_fart: god I wanna see that...  

  - (see more comments)  

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margeurita: How long til she fucks the entire hero commission so we finally have a female in the Top 10?  

  - xXxLillithPrincessxXx: even then we wouldn’t get one 😩

  - ProM&M:  why tf do we need one? WE DONT. they can earn it like everyione else, stop with this inclusivity bullshit already please.  

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BigBardEnergy: “After all, with their only examples to look up to being the likes of Mt. Lady or Mirko” ummm, Ryukyu erasure much? She’s badass.  

  - #1HawksStan: not disagreeing but wtf is wrong with Mt. Lady and Mirko anyway?! 

    - vickyt.time: Mt. Lady is kinda an bimbo tho, no offense  

      - BigBardEnergy: says something offensive, ‘no offense’ 

  - muffled_fart: Mirko is a bitch to  

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Sugar&Spite: Everyone I know who knows her, says she’s super nice, and people writing this who don’t even know her are just awful. How would you like it if people talked about you like that? You have no idea what her class and her have been through! 

  - stainwasn’twrong: “You have no idea what her class and her have been through!” ppfft, a lot of condoms probably  

  - breastjeanist:  gtfoh, there’s no way she’s actually as nice as she acts  

    - MKplusUltra: right? No one is that nice.  

    - vickyt.time: I bet she’s secretly stuck up as fuck and a bitch  

    - ShibaFromChiba: her personality is 100% fake, gotta be  

      - knifeymcstab: fake as her boobs haha  

        - NekoWafer:  pretty sure they’re real 😉

          - knifeymcstab:  duh, that was my point  

    - uamorelikeugay: No one who looks like THAT can actually be all that smart or nice tbh  

      - firenationfuckup: this ^ every hot woman I’ve ever met has been stupid as shit  

        - suddenlysalad: or mean as shit  

  - vickyt.time: She’s def faking her whole ‘nice, smart girl next door’ thing for clout  

    - (see more comments)  

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kyaurum : Everyone saying she’s awful, did you even read a REAL article about the incident? She saved like 12 people and stopped the gunman. She got SHOT doing it, ffs! Shoved a little kid out of the way. But nooooo, all you care about is her costume and her looks. 😩

  - ProM&M:  ripped her whole shirt apart in the process 😈😓❤️🔥😅 

    - Sugar&Spite: @ProM&M grow up.  

    - Zarauto: @ProM&M SHE IS A CHILD, STOP.  

      - ProM&M: and? so am i. big deal.  

        - kyaurum: Where’s the mod for these comments? This is awful ☹
   
    - [comment removed] 

      - [comment removed]  

  - vigilante_caliente: that kid got more than he or her bargained for lol  

    - Min’sRightsActivist: wish that was me 😉 

      - BigBardEnergy: you wanna be shot at?  

        - Min’sRightsActivist: with what? 😉  

            - #1HawksStan:  that could be arranged...  

  - Sugar&Spite: @kyaurum THANK you, finally someone has some sense and decency in this damn comment section!  

    - Zarauto: Right? What's WITH people in here? 😩 Are we seriously the only normal ones?  

       - kyaurum: I think we are...  

  - [comment removed]  

    - margeurita: okay point, but she could wear something more decent... there were KIDS there, kids had to see that. 

    - breastjeanist:  Did she even apologize to the family of the kid or the other people there? I don’t think so.  

      - free.mason: Apologize?? For what, saving them?  

        - breastjeanist:  for being a tramp  

    - endeavwhore: Right? How do I explain stuff like that to my kids? It’s disgusting. She’s seems like a child groomer tbh  

      - lovethelov: U.A. probs full of em ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

      - washday: pedo  

        - Zarauto: what is WRONG with all you people? She's a kid, jfc, leave her alone!  

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Min’sRightsActivist: Like a girl could ever make the top 10 anyway lmaoooooo

- [comment removed]  

  - [comment removed]  

- [comment removed]  

  - [comment removed]  

[This comment section is now locked for incivility. You will be unable to comment, or vote on comments.]  

In the quiet stillness of the Heights Alliance common room, hidden by a blanket of darkness and loneliness – the kind that only came from being awake and sad at 3am – Momo Yaoyorozu shut her laptop, set it to the side, and began to softly cry. 

Notes:

If you're here, hi! Thank you so much for reading! 💖

If you came on down from the top for that summary to prep you for the next/final chapter, here we are! A newspaper article (with a sensationalist journalist) talked about how Midnight was a bad hero because of her costume and looks, and that UA has no standards for decency. It went on to slam Momo for an accidental reveal due to a hero costume malfunction (glossing over the lives she saved) at her debut. Many insinuations were made that she doesn't belong at U.A. and did worse than just 'buy' her way in. The comments sections... Oof. Think Youtube comments, or reddit sorted by controversial. They're not nice. People are saying she can't look how she does and be smart, or kind, or a good hero. Plus other gross things about her looks. Only a handful of people are defending her. That's Ch. 1 summed up without too many gory details! Hope to see you in Ch. 2 :)

Also, big shout out to my friends for use of their usernames in 2 of the people who were actually defending Momo in the article's comments section! Thanks Zarauto and kyaurum, you guys are wonderful! As well, thank you to mostlybritts for help with getting the wording juusssst right at the end!

(Go take a peek at all of their works, they're ridiculously lovely words 💖)

Chapter Text

She wasn’t sure how long her little crying fit had been going on, but it surely couldn’t have been that long. Yaoyorozu produced another tissue from her arm and wiped at her swollen, irritated eyes impatiently. A quick glance out of the dining area window showed that it was still pitch-black outside; not a single hint of slowly creeping red and golden sunlight was to be found. Seeing as dawn wasn’t yet breaking over the horizon, it had to at least still be before 4:30. 

Being that it was a Saturday – well, a Sunday, now – she should be the only one awake at such an obscene hour. Not even Iida, for all his precociousness, was known to rise so early on a weekend. Not even Kaminari would be up; much of a night owl as he was, he still passed out by 2am or so. No, Yaoyorozu was truly, completely alone. 

At least, she should have been. 
 
But - as if the universe itself had chosen to mock her for having the audacity to break down so publicly - in waltzed one of the absolute last people Yaoyorozu wanted to catch her sobbing her eyes out over something so silly as a mean article. 

Bakugou Katsuki. The poster child of “I don’t care what anyone else thinks about me”.  

The last thing she needed right now was him seeing her puffy, red eyes and saying something hurtful about how badly she was coping with things and how he would have done a much better job than her. Hastily, she grabbed her laptop, averted her face, stood up, and made to leave the room. Hopefully, he wouldn’t see that she’d been awake all night and crying. Being that it was so early for him, maybe he wouldn’t even notice her at all. 

She wasn’t that lucky, of course. In her hurry to get away unnoticed, she forgot one vital detail: it was completely dark in the room, and she had been staring at a brightly lit computer screen for hours on end, as well as crying. Her night vision was shot. Almost immediately, she tripped over a chair leg and went sprawling to the floor, a soft cry leaving her lips against her will. 

A blunt smack and muttered “what the fuck-” had her scrambling to stand up and produce a small light as quickly as possible. As she pulled it loose from her stomach and let her oversized nightshirt fall back down, Yaoyorozu realized she was ravenous. That, she supposed, was what she got for not eating a thing since breakfast the day before. 

She disregarded the thought with a shake of her head, as if to physically dislodge it, before turning on the small tap light. The room lit with a gentle, warm glow that would have been pleasant to see at any other time. Would have been pleasant to see now, in fact, if she weren’t staring at Bakugou, who was standing there with a badly bleeding nose, her laptop cradled carefully in his hands, and a look of utter bewilderment on his face.  

“Oh,” between her lack of sleep and her upset state, she couldn’t quite form a coherent response to the situation. 

“What the fuck, Ponytail?” Bakugou looked at her, wide-eyed, but surprisingly not furious. Perhaps, she mused wildly, it was too early to be filled with rage - even for him. “Did I fuckin’ scare the shit out of you, or something? The hell is this ?” 

Then, proving that he was NOT the poster child of “respecting other’s privacy after they’ve potentially broken my nose”, Bakugou opened the laptop and glanced down at it. She made a half-hearted attempt to move her hand and stop him before almost instantly giving it up as a bad idea. Once Bakugou wanted to do a thing, there was no stopping him. Attempting to do so now would just give him all the more reason to try to look. 

As he began to read, the scowl on his face finally made its first appearance of the morning; it grew harsher and harsher the more he scrolled through the article and comment section. Finally, after only a few tense minutes that had felt like hours, he roughly thrust the laptop back into her hands and glared at it, as if he was personally blaming it for the state of his nose. 

“Bakugou, I-” 

“Jesus fucking- Sit the fuck back down, Ponytail,” he growled. “Don’t fuckin’ go anywhere.” 

He stormed past her and into the kitchen almost noiselessly and, feeling out of sorts, Yaoyorozu felt that she had no choice but to comply. She sat back down on the plush armchair with far more grace than she felt, and her laptop was set aside and ignored for the first time in almost 24 hours.  

It could have been hours that passed after that, for all she was aware. In what was only minutes however, Bakugou reappeared beside her as silently as he had left, his nose roughly patched up and a tea tray in his hands. He sat it down on the end table with far more care than she had ever seen him treat anything, before roughly plopping down on the couch across from her. He shot another glare at her laptop, then back at her, before something in his eyes seemed to ease slightly. 

“Well?” He demanded. 

“Wh-what-” 

“You gonna drink some of that shit, or not? It’s not poisoned or anything, damn.” As if to prove his point, he reached out for a cup and the pitcher and began to fix himself a cup of tea. Slowly, the smell of it wafted towards Yaoyorozu, and she felt her eyes widen in surprise. 

“I-is this-” 

“Earl Gray, honey, lavender, vanilla cream – yeah,” he butted in, stirring his cup in yet another gentle move that she’d never expected to see come from him. He took a careful sip – of course, the heat of it didn’t bother him – and eyed it critically for a moment before caving in and tossing in a few cubes of sugar. 

“Forgive me for saying so, Bakugou, but I didn’t take you for the tea type,” she finally managed to complete a full sentence, stupid as it was. “Much less the type to use so much sugar... “ 

A slight flush of embarrassment for her rudeness appeared on her cheeks as she trailed off, and she realized suddenly that she was very, very tired. 

“What, you expected me to go around drinking hot sauce or pickle juice or something?” He asked sardonically, even going so far as to snort out a laugh. She felt her eyebrows raise nearly off of her head, and he must have caught the look on her face, because he let out a small laugh again. “The fuck is with you tonight?” 

“I- I’m not quite sure what you mean,” she decided on quickly. “I suppose the question should be, ‘what’s with YOU tonight?’ You’re... Not how I’d expect you to be, after nearly having your nose broken.” 

He rolled his eyes as he took another sip of the tea, seeming far more pleased with it than he had before. “It’s three something in the fucking morning, I’m too goddamn tired right now to be pissed off about anything. The hell are you doing up, anyway?” 

“I... I found that I couldn’t sleep,” she looked away from his unnervingly red eyes, unused to having them locked on her for so long, and hastily began to make her own cup of tea. Through some miraculous coincidence, he’d managed to somehow pick out both her favorite cup, and favorite flavor. Perhaps her luck was finally changing? 

“So, what, you decided to make it worse by reading that shit over and over and crying so hard you could barely see?” Perhaps her luck wasn’t changing, after all. 

Here it was, then. She tensed, preparing for the onslaught of vitriol from him. Too tired to be angry and loud or not, she was sure he’d have some choice words to give, and that they would be none too kind. 

“It- There’s nothing wrong with getting a feel for your public image, Bakugou,” she said primly. “I wanted to know what the current outlook was in regards to my debut. I... I found that there seems to be a rather agreed upon interpretation of things. The great minds of Heroics Today seem to think alike. As does most of the internet.” 

“Yeah, well,” he hesitated for a moment, glancing back at the laptop. “’Fools rarely differ’, or some shit like that. Shouldn’t you know better by now to ignore them? Or is this your first time being torn apart online?” 

Had- had he just quoted an old Greek proverb to her? Was this more , or less shocking than him sitting across from her calmly, sipping at overly-sugared lavender tea? She wasn’t sure. 

“It’s... not quite a new experience for me, no,” she hinted, before taking a sip of her tea. “But I’ve found that, no matter how much I try to be perfect for them, I never quite measure up. It... They were particularly cruel this time, and there were far more of them than I’m used to. It was... jarring, to say the least. I’ve let them down-” 

“Pigshit.” 

“I-” She startled at the venom in his voice, and jolted in her seat to look warily at him, nearly spilling her cup. “Pardon?” 

“Pigshit,” he repeated, no less angry. “I’d say bullshit, but pigshit is stupider and smells worse.” 

“Does it really?” She asked without meaning to. 

He just shrugged. “Tapeface claims it does. Family has a farm in the country or something. My point stands, it’s shit – all of it. You didn’t fucking let anyone down. Fuck’s sake, you saved the little brat from being killed the other day and got shot in the damn arm because of it. How is that letting anyone down?!” 

“I had an egregious costume malfunction, and my carelessness lead to several people seeing my-” 

“Who the fuck cares?” He butted in yet again, though he contrasted the harsh tone to his voice by refilling both of their cups with steaming tea before adding a few more cubes of sugar to his. “Kirishima walks around shirtless all the damn time. Dunceface lost his pants in front of an entire parade float of people once. I’ve blasted my own clothes mostly off more than once during a fight when I didn’t have time to grab my explosion-proof shit. Happens a lot more than you’d think.” 

He took an aggressive and pointed sip of his tea, a thing she hadn’t realized was even possible to do. She took her own, much more dignified, sip before continuing. 

“You’re not girls, though,” she pointed out softly, staring into her cup when looking at him became too much. “You can all do it, and it’s fine. But not me.” 

“Fucking sucks, huh?” he nodded to her. “So if it’s so rigged against you from the start, if these people are so ready to treat you like shit just because you’re not a guy, why give a shit what they think?” 

There was a long silence then, as she thought things over. Finally, she couldn’t take it anymore; the stress of the article, the comments, the lack of both sleep and food, had her spiraling. 

“I’m so tired, Bakugou,” she blurted before she could stop herself. “It’s... It’s exhausting, trying to be perfect all of the time and always falling short! But I can’t not try! I have to- I-”  

She found herself crying again before she could stop it, and she looked over at him with wet eyes. His own eyes widened minutely at her outburst, and she was surprised to see that he was looking at her somewhat uneasily, as if unsure what to do when confronted with a crying person whom he hadn’t purposefully made cry. 

“I have to watch every move I make out in public, all of the time. I have to have perfect hair, perfect clothes, perfect makeup. I have to do all of that because somehow, it’s almost treated as more important than perfect grades or being perfect at saving people! Any little slip up, especially now, and it will be that article all over again, but worse! Pe-people I’ve never even said a word to hate me. How am I supposed to just ignore that?” 

Throughout her outburst, Bakugou had continued to look mildly uncomfortable, despite throwing on his customary scowl. Now that she had finished, producing another set of tissues to wipe at her face and compose herself, he just wordlessly refilled her tea. Without asking, he slid a cube of sugar into it and stirred. She took the cup without hesitation when he offered it and sipped on it slowly as she gathered herself. 

“I- thank you,” she eventually managed, after clearing her throat. “I’m sorry to have dumped all of that on you. And for almost having broken your nose.” 

He scoffed, having trouble meeting her eyes. “My nose is fuckin’ fine, Ponytail. Sugar okay?” 

“Y... Yes, that’s fine,” she took a sip, and found that she didn’t actually mind it all that much with a bit of extra sweetness to it. “I suppose I should write a public apology for the incident, and go see the Support Course students.” 

“What the fuck for?!” Bakugou demanded, taken aback. 

“There’s a third year whose costume is woven out of his own hair for his quirk,” she explained, voice very matter-of-fact. “And I’ve heard the other girls talk about Support working on a similar thing for Hagakure to wear, so she won’t be so cold all of the time. Theoretically, they should be able to make a full body suit for me out of my hair – one that functions in a way that will let me phase whatever I make directly through the clothing, so that I won’t have much skin revealed.” 

Bakugou froze briefly, unnerved at the implication that Hagakure, almost always invisible, wasn’t already wearing some kind of suit like that. He shook his head roughly before going on. “Your hero costume meets the requirements and shit the commission designed, so what’s the big fucking deal?” 

“It... They’re not exactly wrong, about my costume,” she hedged unwillingly. “Even without a wardrobe malfunction, I’m aware that it’s... a lot.” 

“Again, Kirishima, shirtless,” Bakugou pointed out with an eyeroll. 

“Yes, but again-” 

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” he huffed, lifting his cup to take another sip of the tea. “Point is, you shouldn’t have to change your shit just because of some assholes on the internet. If they don’t like it or think it makes you less of a hero or some other stupid crap, well, big fucking deal.” 

“It’s not the same for you, you don’t get what it’s like-” she began, but he cut her off by suddenly shoving his phone in her face. She glanced at the article he had open, eyes widening and a small frown breaking out upon her face. 

‘SPORTS FESTIVAL WINNER HAS A VILLAINOUS BREAKDOWN’ 

“Check the other tabs,” he told her, his voice coming out oddly flat and empty. 

Uneasy at the way he sounded, she hesitantly took his phone and began to tab through all of the articles he’d opened. 

‘U.A. STUDENT THROWS TANTRUM AT FESTIVAL – L.O.V. INFILTRATES HERO HIGH?’ 

‘STUDENT KIDNAPPED FROM TRAINING CAMP HAS VILLAINOUS PAST!’ 

‘U.A. FIRST YEAR STUDENT MAY HAVE GONE WITH THE LEAUGE WILLINGLY’ 

‘BAKUGOU KATSUKI RETURNS! IS THE RESCUED BOY REALLY ON OUR SIDE?’ 

‘BAKUGOU RESCUED, RESUMES SCHOOLING – ARE OUR CHILDREN SAFE AROUND HIM?’ 

‘CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF BAKUGOU KATSUKI’S SHADY PAST’ 

‘PROOF THAT KIDNAPPED STUDENT IS A VILLAIN IN THE MAKING?’ 

She nearly dropped his phone by the time she realized how bad her hands had started shaking, but he reached out and took it from her at the last second. She knew the glance she shot at him had to be absolutely aghast, but he didn’t seem phased by it at all. 

“That’s not even half of them,” he said, his voice still sounding weirdly small. “Hell, it’s not even the worst of ‘em, it’s just the ones I could find quickest. We won’t even get into the comments sections, shit. But yeah, I know a thing or two about bad press.” 

“Bakugou,” her voice came out shaky and breathless. “I’m sorry. I had no idea-” 

“I know it’s not the same thing as yours,” he interrupted again, his voice starting to return to normal, “but it’s a different flavor of the same shit. So, I get it, okay? Not fully, but I get it. The press sucks ass.” 

“It’s plenty bad,” she agreed. “I can’t believe they would say those things about you!” 

He just looked at her with a raised eyebrow. 

“I- Okay, I can believe it of them,” she acquiesced. “But that doesn’t make it okay. A-are you alright?” 

“You’re down here crying your eyes out at,” he glanced down at his phone, “nearly 4am, and you’re asking me that?” 

“You’re up and 4am, too,” she replied, and even through the darkness, she thought she saw him tense up.  

“Couldn’t sleep any longer,” he said gruffly. “It’s fine, I go to sleep at 8:10, so I’m not missing that much sleep. Unlike you.” 

“I’ll survive,” she told him, somehow feeling a good deal more confident than she had all night. Maybe it’s just because he was there, because she wasn’t alone in the darkness with her laptop and her thoughts, but she felt braver. “You didn’t answer my question. Are you okay?” 

He snorted, and she found herself starting to find the sound of it more endearing than grating. “I’m fuckin’ fine, Ponytail. Like I said, I’m used to it. I don’t give a shit what those fuckin’ extras think. That’s why I’m always saying shit to them and being a dick right back – they're asking for it.” 

“Does that really help, though?” She asked, skeptical. “Surely, being kind and professional is the better option.” 

“What the fuck makes you think that?” He asked, standing up and stretching. 

“’You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar’,” she replied primly. 

“Yeah, and then you're surrounded by flies, and it makes people think you're shitty,” he shot back. “The fuck would I wanna catch a bunch of flies for, anyway? Point is, you could stand to be a little meaner.” 

“You could stand to be a little nicer,” she blurted, flushing again at her own rudeness. “Wait, I’m sorry-” 

But Bakugou just laughed – genuinely, actually laughed instead of snorting or smirking. Yaoyorozu stilled when she realized that it was the first time that she’d ever actually heard him laugh like a normal person before. It wasn’t at all unpleasant, and she had the odd desire to make him do it again. 

“Shit,” he said, wiping his eyes roughly as he made for the elevator doors. “I’m too tired to be coherent right now, I’m going back to fucking sleep. You gonna be alright?” 

“I- I think I will be, actually,” she said, stifling a small, sad smile. “Eventually, anyway. Thank you, Bakugou – for the tea and the company, both. And again, I’m very sorry about your nose.” 

He paused and brought his hand up to his nose suddenly, as if he had managed to forget all about how she had mangled him, and he winced when he made contact with it. 

“Fucccck,” he hissed, pulling his hand away. “Fuck, right. It’s fine. I’ll just see Recovery Girl later.” 

The elevator ding! ed it’s arrival and he made to enter, before pausing again and half turning back to her. “They’re all fucking wrong about you, y’know. You’re the smartest damn person in this fucking class.” 

She was floored at how bluntly, how openly, he’d said it. “I- no, Iida-” 

“Nah, fuck off, you are,” he stepped back from the elevator then and let it close before it could start buzzing angrily. “You and me, maybe fucking IcyHot, I guess – we’re the top of our year. The smartest. Not fucking Glasses or Deku. Sure, they’re smart, but it comes natural to the fuckers. They don’t have to try for it, it just is.”  

“ I wouldn’t want to discount their efforts, Bakugou,” she said, surprised to find herself sounding almost stern. “They work very hard.” 

“’But the Devil works harder’,” he muttered so low that she almost missed it, before continuing on louder. “I’m not saying they don’t work for their shit, Y- Ponytail. I know damn well they do. But it’s easier for them. You, me, IcyHot? We’re fucking brilliant of our own merit and hard work. Don’t tell me we aren’t miles more stubborn and dedicated than they are.” 

“I suppose you have a point,” she allowed. “But then, the papers also have a point – I did get into U.A. on recommendation.” 

There it was – the thing that had truly been bothering her at her core. Moreso than the allegations, the innuendo, the cruel words, the sensationalism – no, the cold, hard fact that she was a recommendation student from a wealthy family, and there was no arguing said fact. What if she truly wasn’t meant to be a hero course student otherwise? Would she have been able to pass the regular entrance exam on her own merit? She was ashamed to say that she wasn’t sure. In fact- 

“Fucking hell, Yaoyorozu,” Bakugou leaned up against the wall, pinching the bridge of his damaged nose lightly purely in order to display his aggravation. “Stop caring what the trash thinks of you already. They wanna be stupid, well fine! Fuck ‘em.” 

Stifling a smile at his overdramatic antics, she threw a bit of her caution to the wind. “Haven’t you heard? Apparently, I already did.” 

It was almost cinematically cliched, that she got to hear his laugh again right as the golden rays of sun peak over the horizon and into the lounge area of Heights Alliance, but it happened nonetheless. He laughed both harder and longer this time; it wasn’t necessarily a pretty laugh, but it was every bit as loud and loose and uncontrolled as he himself was, and she found herself thinking yet again that she rather liked it. 

“You’re tougher than you think,” he said, finally walking past the elevator doors. “Just man up- woman up? a bit, treat the press more firmly. You’ll be fine, if you can just get your head out of your ass more often.” 

Rather than taking any offense, she found herself smirking back at him as she rose, laptop in hand, and moved to join him in the elevator. There were a few moments of pleasant-enough silence as it slowly chugged into motion, and Yaoyorozu realized she was considering something rather... risky, right before they reached Bakugou’s floor. As he moved to leave, she decided to just go for it. 

“If you ever want to clean up your image,” she said, before she could overthink things too much, “you should call me.” 

He paused in the doorway briefly, looking surprised; she was pleased to note that his face had turned visibly pink before he managed to school his face into confidence and replied, “Fuck, if you ever wanna get a break away from being little miss proper and perfect all the damn time, you should call me.”  

He must have thought it was the smoothest, most perfect exit line to end on, because he removed his hand from the doorway and started to walk off right as the doors slid shut. But she wasn’t having any of that, so she stuck her hand out to stop the doors and slammed the button to open them back up. Then, leaning partially out of the elevator to look after him, she offered, 

“If that’s the case, why don’t we just meet for coffee and a movie then? Next Sunday.” 

He stopped dead in his tracks, visibly tensing for a moment, and she thought she had made a grave mistake. But then, he untensed and turned back around to face her, his face even pinker than before and a look on his face that was almost, but not quite, soft. 

“Sounds good to me,” he said, glancing just off to the side of her almost awkwardly. 

“I’ll teach you to be nice to the press if you teach me to punch someone in the face,” she joked, trying to put him more at ease. 

It worked. He laughed (disappointingly short, but no less wonderful to her ears), and gestured at his bandaged nose vaguely. “Do I really need to make you any better at that?” 

“I don’t know,” she laughed as she let the doors slowly close. “But I’d like to find out. Wouldn’t you?” 

The ding of the elevator stole his words from her, but his sort-of-not-quite-smile was answer enough.