Chapter Text
Shouto placed Bakugou's bento box inside his schoolbag (before he forgot) even though he wasn't sure how or when could he return it to him within the day.
Bakugou said he returned to normal early in the morning the next day on the first time he was under Atutsie-san's quirk. That meant he was back to being an insufferable prick today, making Shouto think that Bakugou would either just shoo him or throw the bento box away once he gave it back. The option of not bothering to return it was there, but Shouto didn't want to take it because ever since Midoriya didn't choose to not to bother himself from saving him in that fight at the Sports Festival, he realized that one essential thing a hero must possess was the intent to meddle into things he had nothing to do with. That was why in his own tiny way, he was trying to get Bakugou into small talks in hope that the bastard at least learn how to communicate properly with other people. That was where he failed at the provisional exam, after all.
He would return the box, say thanks and tell that the curry tasted good whether Bakugou take it back or not.
He was on his way down the dorm lounge when he met Midoriya in a corridor. Midoriya didn't notice him immediately as he was closing his room's door. Shouto quickly sensed something; his mind must be occupied. There was this look in his eyes that said he was immersed into thoughts. Right, he had his internship the other day, as far as he remembered.
"Hey, Midoriya," he called out.
"Todoroki-kun?" Midoriya looked back at him then smiled. "Good morning."
"Are you waiting for Iida?"
"No, not really. He must be on his way ahead of us, even. Let's go?"
Shouto nodded and they walked towards the dorm's entrance when they saw Bakugou. Both hands in his pockets, he had his back on them and walking languidly.
"G-Good morning, Kacchan," one thing he didn't understand before about Midoriya was his persistence when it came to Bakugou. Of why was he trying to be nice to him despite the unreciprocated treatment. It took him a failed provisional exam to realize why: it wasn't all the time that victims reached out when you lend a helping hand to them, but still it was your duty to rescue them as a hero. When it came to strength, he was a step ahead from Midoriya, but Midoriya was a lot more advanced compared to him when it came to this.
Bakugou turned to look at them, Shouto expected him to return the gesture with a glare like the usual, when their eyes met and there it was, the soft tone that momentarily reminded him of Midoriya's amicable gaze.
"Deku and Half N Half bastard. Good morning," Bakugou gave a short nod, turned then continued walking out of the dorm.
Oh, god. Was this serious? Atutsie-san's quirk... hadn't been lifted!?
He and Midoriya simultaneously looked at each other, Midoriya looking shocked and confused.
"... That was the first time Kacchan greeted me back," his face screamed disbelief.
"Well, you greeted him. He must have had a good night sleep." He promised to Bakugou that he would cover up for him while he was in his Good Boy Mode. Guess it was still effective even if he just agreed to it yesterday.
"He likely did," Midoriya easily agreed. Then he was back to his occupied state; eyes looking straight but unfocused. Shouto wanted to ask what was up, but Midoriya seemed not to be in the mood to talk this morning. Moreover, why was Bakugou still under Atutsie-san's quirk? What brought on this extension of his coerced kindness? He thought he should confirm it first from Bakugou later. Shouto mulled over in silence, so did Midoriya as they left the dorm for their class.
It wasn't only Midoriya—all of the interns seemed to be a bit off. But they were all clammed up about it. It must be something urgent. Damn it, he should really hurry and catch up with his classmates.
It was before the start of their History Class when he saw Bakugou giving Kirishima a light knock on the head while perusing his homework essay.
"Hey. Haven't I taught you about that timeline? That's 1952, not 1945," Bakugou pointed out.
"Oh, you're right!" Kirishima was frowning but instantly turned cheerful as he looked up at Bakugou. "Thanks, man!"
"Tsk," Bakugou just shrugged and sat back on his chair. Shouto looked around; some of their classmates momentarily noticed the commotion, but none seemed to find it weird that Bakugou just helped out Kirishima without the excessive swear words. Not even Kirishima. Two hours before 12 noon and the quirk was still in effect. Atutsie-san patted him the other day around 4 PM. If the quirk still wouldn't wear off for six more hours, Bakugou would complete the 24 hour Good Boy Mode. And that, in Shouto's opinion, would be a miracle.
Class A was on their way to the laboratory room for their Science period and Shouto wanted to go to the restroom first when he saw Aizawa-sensei calling out for Asui and Bakugou who left their classroom last. He led them to the staff room which was just two rooms away from the restroom. It turned out that Aizawa-sensei asked for their help to bring reference books to the laboratory. Asui was standing near to the two high pile of books which looked heavy and she seemed to intend to take them when Bakugou stood on her way, mumbled something then took the books. Asui nodded and presumably said thanks before reaching for the remaining few books. Shouto went ahead to the restroom, thinking that if only, just only, if Bakugou was that kind for real, then everything would be less problematic for everyone in Class A.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Uraraka apologized with a slight dip of her head as she bumped into Bakugou on the door. Kaminari and Sero who were standing close to them gave Bakugou a look of anticipation as if expecting him to go full Bakugou on her.
"You ok?" Bakugou asked with a small frown.
"Uh, yeah. Thanks," Uraraka wore the same baffled face as Midoriya earlier. She moved aside and gave way to Bakugou as he stepped outside the room.
Ashido tilted her head to a side. "Is this just me, or Bakugou is acting weirdly tamed today?"
"Yeah. I noticed, too. His scowl isn't as pronounced compared to the usual. He hadn't raised his voice or called anybody 'fuckwipe' even if we are noisy," Jirou added.
Asui poked her finger to her face as she watched Uraraka went back to her seat, still looking confused with how Bakugou reacted. "Ribbit. He was nice to me earlier, too, when Aizawa-sensei asked us to bring the books to the lab from the staff room."
This was bad. If anyone of them saw the light tone in Bakugou's eyes, either they would think that he was possessed or a disguising villain. What more was in case they asked Bakugou what was happening to him, he might answer them truthfully due to the effects of Atutsie-san's quirk that would lead to a discussion of his encounter with his mother in the hospital. Then Bakugou would get very angry at him later on.
"Our provisional training must be helping him to improve his communication with others. It's one of the courses there," Shouto lied. None of the courses in the provisional training had made any changes in Bakugou yet. Not even on him. They had gone into several sessions already, but the teachers and judges still deemed them unqualified.
"Oh, right. That must be it!" Hagakure chipped in. "What kind of training do you guys do over there, anyway?"
"It varies, but mostly it consists of lectures," he vaguely replied.
"I can hardly believe that it takes only some lectures to inflict that kind of change in Bakugou's attitude if you ask me. There must be something else, don't you think?" Jirou raised a brow.
"Who knows," Shouto feigned a shrug to claim cluelessness, hoping that it would make Jirou and the others think that he wasn't interested and they shouldn't give it much of a thought, too.
"Oh, well. The important thing is he's being less annoyed at everyone even just for a while," Ashido dismissed the idea, though her eyes told him that she was still curious.
Bakugou got back minutes later, still looking chill and free from the usual grumpy look in his face. Midnight shortly arrived after him for their next period.
It was already 11 AM. Five more hours before Atutsie-san's quirk expired. He still had that time to return the bento box to Bakugou without him being a difficult brat. Shouto's mind grumbled with what Jirou said: it certainly wouldn't take some measly lecture to change Bakugou, but he somehow did, perhaps, because Atutsie-san's quirk wouldn't last that long compared before if there wasn't anything about him that was different from the Bakugou he knew prior to his kidnapping incident. Or more precisely, prior to that Bakugou who had a squabble with Midoriya. Even his treatment to him had slightly changed: there were those remarks that suggested that Bakugou had accepted that Midoriya was steps ahead from him in self improvement. It was as if he had finally acknowledged Midoriya as an equal rival.
He surmised it was one of the root causes of this discreet improvement in Bakugou. Shouto wasn't a prying type— he didn't even pry about Midoriya's unspeakable connection with All Might— but he had to admit that he was curious about what they fought about that night at the Ground Beta.
Shouto suddenly had an idea. If he asked Bakugou about it as he returned the bento box within the time limit, would Bakugou answer to fill him with the knowledge, or not to protect whatever he and Midoriya was hiding, if there was any?
Shouto texted Bakugou if they could talk for a bit alone before their P. E. class (around 1 PM) while their classmates were proceeding to the changing rooms. Bakugou briefly texted back 'Sure,' and they both remained in their classroom until everyone left. Shouto hastily pulled out the bento box from his bag and gave it to Bakugou who only eyed the box, then him, questioningly.
"Thank you for the curry, Bakugou. It tasted good."
"Huh?" Bakugou raised a brow. "You wanted to talk to me just to return the stupid box? You shouldn't have bothered."
"I just really want to say thanks," Shouto insistently held out the box. "And to check on you. The nurse's quirk is still on effect, isn't it?"
Bakugou cast him a studying look, grabbed the box out of Shouto's hand then crouched to get his bag. "Yeah. For some reason, the quirk lasted for much longer than it should have," he unzipped it then placed the box in. "What scares me the most is what if this quirk won't go away. The others are starting to see that there is something wrong with me. You didn't tattle to them, did you?"
"No. Yeah, they can feel it, too. I have to admit that they seem to like the change, though. But really, what could possibly have caused that extended time of effectiveness of Atutsie-san's quirk?"
"How should I know!? Didn't she say that she hadn't used her quirk the whole day yesterday? Maybe it worked longer this time because she used it to me first that day. I dunno, and I honestly don't care. What matters now is what I should do to get rid of this quirk. Do you have any idea? The bitch must have told you something."
"She didn't tell me anything about what to do to forcibly lift it, but she said that her quirk's time limit ranges depending on the density of the person's kindness in heart. It can last for a whole day. Meaning, you might have become a bit more kind than the first time she used it to you. Which was weird. But anyway, I actually noticed that you turned a bit more tolerant to other people since that time you fought with Midoriya, so I guess that must have contributed to your improvement in social skill. She didn't mention if it can last longer than that but if my assumption is correct, you'll be out of your Good Boy Mode roughly around 4 PM this afternoon."
"GOOD BOY MODE!?" A feminine voice squeaked. Shouto instantly recognized it as Hagakure's. "What does that mean?" Then, a soft gasp. "Uhh, oops?"
"Hagakure," Shouto was so naive. He should have known. "Have you been in here since we started talking?"
"U-Uh, no! I just returned from the changing room to get something..." Hagakure stuttered.
"So that's what happening, huh?" Came Jirou's voice next. She entered the classroom with her jacks wriggling in the air, apparently just used, before retracting back to her ear.
"I knew there was something off about you today, Bakugou. The two of you, care to explain?" Kaminari crossed his arms above his chest.
"Uhm, guys? What's going on in here? The P. E. class is about to start..." Midoriya stepped inside the room, too. Behind him were their other classmates who were all interested to pry on them.
He knew it. This was going to be a bit chaotic.
"Bakugou, Todoroki," it was Iida, looking worried. "Are you guys fighting?"
"No," Bakugou frowned. He appeared very annoyed at the commotion and normally, he should be screaming the shit out of him by now, but he just calmly denied. "We're just talking about something that none of you has anything to do with."
"Oh yeah, like being you in your Good Boy Mode?" Jirou prodded. "Why don't you guys just spit it out? Come on, Todoroki. What is that about?"
"It's like what Bakugou said; it has nothing to do with the class. It's nothing illegal or out of bounds, I assure you."
"Uhm, what about that bento box you just gave to Bakugou?" Hagakure questioned. "Did Bakugou make you a bento?"
"No, it's—" Oh, dear. Shouto didn't like where this conversation was going.
"What? Wait, are you guys dating?" Jirou unceremoniously asked. Midoriya widened his eyes on her in shock to hear that she had the audacity to ask that kind of question in front of the whole class.
"NO!" He and Bakugou shouted in unison. It was so loud that Midoriya visibly jumped.
"Oi, where did that idea come from!?" Bakugou growled.
"How did it become like this?" Shouto asked silently to himself.
"Then explain!" Jirou reasoned out. "If you don't want to cause miscommunication then go explain things to us! Y'know, because some of us assumed that Bakugou might be under a villain's quirk or worse, an impostor who's trying to get information inside UA!"
"Bakugou, I think we need to explain to them," Shouto sighed. There seemed to be no way of this but do that, anyway.
"Damn it," Bakugou ran a hand through his hair. "Just... just go explain it to them, damn it!"
Shouto sighed, a bit unnerved with the whole debacle and that shocking question from Jirou. Since Bakugou gave the green light, he might as well enlighten all of them with the truth. "Bakugou and I... met the other day in the hospital and there was a nurse there that has a quirk that can force the kindness out of a person that lasts depending on how nice that person really is. She was irked of his rudeness so she touched him, and Bakugou was compelled to be a good boy for a day."
His quick explanation gained different kinds of reaction: Iida and Midoriya both looked blankly at them. Jirou and Asui were confused. Ashido and Uraraka seemed to understand, but disbelieving. Kaminari, Kirishima and Sero looked about to burst out laughing.
The latter three couldn't take it anymore, and all of them broke into hysterical laughter.
"You mean, this Bakugou we have right now is in his good side?" Jirou confirmed.
"Yes, more or less."
"A good Bakugou for a day, hahaha!" Kaminari clutched at his stomach. "Damn it, Todoroki! You should have told us! This is gonna be fun!"
"I didn't tell you guys because Bakugou doesn't want us to make fun out of him," Shouto answered.
"Aww, don't be that selfish! It's not like every day that Bakugou can be touched without getting bitten!" Sero countered.
"The three of you," Bakugou shot them a sharp look. "I'm gonna kill you all once this quirk wear off."
The said three barked in loud laughter again.
"But wait, Todoroki. What are you guys doing in the hospital yesterday?" Ashido interjected.
"That's..."
Shouto wasn't able to completely respond as a loud sound of crackling rendered everyone mute.
Yes. Fucking finally yes. The damn quirk was finally gone from Katsuki.
Kaminari, Sero and Kirishima warily turned to him, and as he shot them his classic murderous glare, they all began to back off. Hell yes.
"Oh c'mon, don't tell us the time is up," Kaminari gawked in dismay.
"Ah damn, Bad Boy Bakugou is back," Kirishima sighed with a heavy slump of his shoulders.
He raised one steamy palm up. "As promised, I'm gonna kill y'all."
The three boys laughed out some more, and as Katsuki ran after them, they scurried away until they reached the gym where Cementoss was waiting for their class. Katsuki stopped when the bastards entered the gym, donned with their proper P. E. uniforms. He remembered that he hadn't changed into his P. E. clothes, and running into the hallways while using his quirk like that was a violation, and he had enough breaking school rules for the month. He breathed in and let off some steam then marched towards to the changing rooms, met his other classmates on the way and screamed "What are you fuckwipes looking at, huh?" seeing that they were giving him an odd look (the other guys just sighed; Deku regarded him a worried gaze that pissed him off even more), then proceeded to the boys' changing room only to see Todoroki inside, topless and about to slip into his P. E. shirt.
"You..." Katsuki called out. "Why did you fucking tell them?"
"You said it's okay to tell them, didn't you?" Todoroki pulled at the hem of his shirt. "And the quirk lifted just in time. I don't see any reason for you to get angry at me. I did my best and do my parts well."
Katsuki walked to his locker and pulled out his P. E. uniform. Well, yeah, that was right. But that didn't mean Katsuki could just dismiss it and he was angry whatever the bastard said so what the hell? "You retard; I'm in a situation where I can't make a right decision: you still shouldn't have run your mouth like that!"
"I'm sorry, then. I just thought it was the right thing to do at the moment. And that was a good timing, too. At least Ashido wasn't able to ask more about my agenda in the hospital," Todoroki apologized and said thanks in such a low voice that had Katsuki mellow down a little. If that was Deku apologizing for so useless matter, that would make him angrier even more.
"Let's hurry up, we're gonna be late."
"Shut up, I know," Katsuki went ahead to the door and as Todoroki followed suit, he added. "And don't bother to return the other bento box to me."
"But—"
"Just don't! I don't need it anymore. If I want it back, I'll just take it from your mom myself," it was weird and this might give an impression on Todoroki like him wanting to pay his mom another visit, but he found himself saying that. Goddammit; that bitch's quirk must have left some side effect.
"I... understand. Thanks, Bakugou. I appreciate it."
"Whatever," without looking back, Katsuki hurriedly paced to the gym while feeling Todoroki's gaze pinning on his back.