Chapter Text
[1]
Class A had a mandatory tutoring schedule that alternated between the top students in the class, which they had been doing since halfway through their first year. It had been in place to help those who do not know how to study not regret that they cannot study independently, while it simultaneously helped those who were doing the tutoring more aware and sure that they understood the work.
Denki loved to hate those sessions. To him, they were too peaceful. He worked better in chaos.
Generally, he did not see why he needed to be present. He already had Shinsou pestering him with the same things now that their sleepless nights are more often than not. He even understood it better when Shinsou explained it, but Shinsou insisted that he showed up; so there he was (not that he was paying attention).
It was in one of those sessions where Denki sat barely taking in what Yaoyorozu said (but knowing it was something important) that he couldn’t keep his mind from wandering to the empty spot next to him.
Shinsou had been sleeping less and less over the course of the week and it made Denki feel guilty. Every moment Shinsou spent at night explaining school work that Denki hadn’t understood, are moments he could have been sleeping. It ate at Denki at times like these. Times where Shinsou missed out on these little bits of information, choosing sleep over school when it counted. He really needed to talk to Shinsou about it again. Though he would probably have brushed it off with ‘Its time I would be awake anyway, so might as well be productive’ again.
“Katsuki.” Denki really was not paying attention until Todoroki called Bakugou by his given name as if it were nothing but the norm. “I stole my dad’s credit card. Do you want to go to that restaurant again?”
Firstly, what the fuck? And secondly, what the ever-loving fuck? But most importantly: when the fuck?
Denki felt like he was hit by a quirk that sent him to an alternate universe and realises he was not alone when multiple people across the room screeched, “What do you mean again?” He vaguely heard Yaoyorozu sigh, and said they should take a break before walking away.
Despite Todoroki’s stoic expression, Denki believed him to be at a loss for words, even if his signature blank stare didn’t give much away. Todoroki ignored the questioning stares around him, and pulled out his phone instead. A few seconds pass before Denki felt rather than heard the tell-tale vibration of Bakugou’s phone at the table their squad had claimed as their own. The table may have not looked like much, but it was the only table in the room that fit the six of them (sometimes seven, when Jirou decided she wanted to grace them with her presence) comfortably.
Huh, he wonder who that could have been; other than Todoroki.
He watched as Bakugou picked up his phone, and instead of texting back he signed to Todoroki, who signed back. Denki couldn’t help the gobsmacked look that took over his face because what the actual fuck is happening right now?
Back in their first year the only people in their class who knew sign language were Bakugou and Midoriya, because they took classes in middle school. Bakugou actually learnt from his grandfather who lost his hearing in the later years of his life, but decided Bakugou needed to know more, because what is Bakugou if not the best at what he does. And Midoriya had a suspicion that Bakugou’s quirk wouldn’t do good on his hearing (he was right) and, with his good heartedness, thought that his friend might get lonely if no one they knew understood him, which is sweet until you remembered that Bakugou made it a point not to sign to him, or much less anyone.
The rest of the class tried to learn, but Denki was sure that most of them gave up within the first month. Don’t get him wrong, they did try. And they probably would have succeeded – no he can’t lie, they didn’t have the brain capacity to practice as long as Yaoyorozu and Iida did. So let's face it, they would never have been able to do it by themselves; and, sad to say, that’s why they didn’t.
At least that’s what he thought.
Beside class prez and vice prez doing their duties of giving every student a voice, it was only Midoriya and, since the beginning of this school year, Shinsou who could hold a conversation with Bakugou when the world got too loud and he takes his aid out (well, if he wanted to).
So you can see why it was such a shock to Denki that they were signing.
Bakugou started packing his books, and the shuffling of papers vaguely to Denki’s left made him aware of Todoroki doing the same, and they were gone before anyone could have asked what was happening.
“Did anyone know Todoroki could sign?” Denki turned to Midoriya as if he held all the answers but the green haired boy was stunned into silence, barely registering the question, even though it was open to all, was aimed at him.
Denki stared on. He wanted answers. The resident explodo boy only started using sign language as a means of communication halfway through their first year. That was less than a year ago. And he doesn’t even talk to his classmates, only Aizawa and Present Mic.
That left them with the question: how did they miss this? And when did Todoroki and Bakugou get close enough that Bakugou willingly hangs out with him alone? When had they started talking without a fight brewing within minutes?
Shinsou plopped down next to Denki. Only late to the mandatory session because self-care is more important than education. At least that was what he said to keep Denki’s mind at ease. “Why’s everyone so quiet? Isn’t this supposed to be a tutoring session?”
Denki was not much a fan of answering a question with a question, but did just that out of exasperation, “Did you know Todoroki could sign?”
“Yes,” Shinsou answered slowly, looking around the room and noticed all the eyes on him also interested in the answer, as if it were a trick question. “We practice together almost every day. Why?”
Denki shook his head, “Unbelievable, you’re horrible.”
“Not cool, Shinbro.” Kirishima frowned, starting a chorus of disapproval from the Bakusquad.
“Seriously, what did I do?”
“Vital information, dude, vital.” Sero offered, but it only made Shinsou more confused.
Shinsou still received cold looks from his friends when Momo clapped her hands together in a call for attention, and said she was only going over one more thing than she would release them for dinner., but he decided he didn’t want to know.
[2]
Eijirou respected everyone’s privacy.
It might not be much but he prided himself in the way his classmates are comfortable confiding in him. He liked that he could pick up on the subtle things they do when they are under the impression of being under the radar.
He, to this day, was the only one that knew Tokoyami and Tsuyu had a thing going on back in first year – and he planed on keeping it that way.
Also Bakugou was easier to read than a kindergardener.
With that being said, it still came as a shock to Eijirou when he left his room at quarter past nine the evening before a surprise class training activity in the form of a hike, to find Todoroki stood with his head peaking into Bakugou’s room, travel bag and a change of clothes in hand. What came as a bigger surprise was the delighted sound that came from Todoroki before he made his way into the room with a soft click the door shut with the two least likely to get along people together on the other side.
Even though Eijirou respected people’s privacy, he couldn’t help but squeal to the rest of the self proclaimed Bakusquad about what he saw.
Mina wanted to believe Kirishima – she really did – but given Bakugou’s history with other people in general she was going to have to see it to believe it.
Even if it was true neither Bakugou nor Todoroki liked sharing much of the personal life with anyone. They didn’t have the tendency to overshare like Kaminari and herself. They don’t even give vague one liners about things often prompted by Tsuyu and Tokoyami, or be as open to answer every question with patience and an easy going smile as Kirishima does.
It seemed that Mina was gonna have a hard time seeing this for herself and with that she was not going to be fooled by something Kirishima thought he saw.
Except that wasn’t the case. She did have an opportunity to see their very own Bakugou be soft, as soon as the very next day. And with Todoroki. Exactly how Kirishima squealed to them the night before.
Seeing as it was not uncommon for them to have school activities to attend on a Saturday, usually in the afternoon, but since Aizawa-sensei wanted to do some type of field-trip-slash-class-bonding-hike-thing they had to wake up bright and early – even after their squad sleepover, that they refused to cancel because they planned it before Aizawa sprung the hike on them. Most of them went to sleep nearing 2am but she was sure Denki never got that far, the point is they were up and mostly fully functional, and down went down for breakfast faster than they usually would and it would have made their resident explodo boy proud.
It was great to walk into the kitchen to see Bakugou moving around the kitchen with ease as usual.
Huh. She had never really seen Bakugou prepare coffee before and was convinced that he was the only one in their class that could function without it. That is until he pulled out a cup that wasn’t his but rather a black mug, which slowly turned blue with dotted snowflakes as he poured the hot brown liquid into it, and quickly filled his green and orange flask too, before making his way out of the kitchen with the cup in hand.
Mina had half the mind to follow him but chose not to with the thought that she probably has enough to confirm Kirishima’s suspicion.
Hitoshi got on the bus with only a few options of where to sit and only one spot that guaranteed him to sleep, but the death glare Bakugou shot him as he passed him to the last available spot would probably give him nightmares tonight.
He wouldn’t have had it any other way though, Denki and Midoriya were not a good combination in the morning and he would much rather Bakugou glare at him for taking the spot next to Todoroki than to be even more tired than he already is on the three-hour hike they were destined to go to. So he slept.
Sero shook him awake when they got there. They gathered around Aizawa for one last headcount and instructions to not wander off before setting off.
He, Kaminari and Sero kept a few paces behind Bakugou and Todoroki who were leading the group as they tried to keep their sights on Aizawa. Hitoshi was wasn’t paying much attention to the giggling duo beside him until Kaminari turned to him, “How long do you think its going to take for Bakugou to snap at him?” Immediate confusion takes over him, and it must show on his face cause Sero points to the pair in front of them.
Todoroki and Bakugou are walking at a steady pace in front of him, though Todoroki kept bumping into Bakugou. “I don’t think he’ll snap.”
“Oh, come on. It’s Bakugou, of course hes goin-“
Sero’s outburst was short lived as Denki’s gasp drew their attention. “What is–“ Denki was quick to quiet Sero, only pointing in their friends’ direction.
Hitoshi was unsuprised to see that Bakugou pulled Todoroki in by the waist and Todoroki did not hesitate to rest his head on his shoulder. It wasn’t like this happened all the time, or anything.
Though it came to a massive shock to the giggling duo beside him muttering something about Kirishima being right.
Hitoshi did not want to talk about Denki near fainting when Todoroki hopped on Bakugou’s back.
That was too much too deal with in what was supposed to be a simple hike.
[3]
Saturday nights are class bonding nights.
Nights where Bakugou is even more strict than usual on his ‘bedtime’. As he shares the kitchen with Sato, slaving over the foods he offers to make to make up for the fact that he turns in early, Todoroki comes in looking a little spooked. “What’s wrong, Shou?”
“Could you stay a little later tonight? I feel like I’m gonna need you to be there to get through the night.”
“Okay.”
“Okay?” Todoroki asks, coming to stand next to Bakugou.
“Yeah, you know all you need to do is ask.” He leans up to press a kiss on Todoroki’s temple.
“So you’ll stay for both movies?” Todoroki is hopeful, but he still sounds unsure, feeling like he is pushing his luck.
“Yeah. Though I’m not apologizing for the demon you’ll end up dealing with tomorrow.” he lifts a spoon of broth to Todoroki’s lips, who nods to say it tastes good.
“Why don’t you sleep in, you deserve it.”
“Internal clock won't allow it,” Bakugou grumbles, not the first time he has had to explain this. “I’m done in the kitchen now if you need the space, Sugar boy.” Taking Todoroki’s hand in his, they take route to the common room where some of their classmates have already gathered. Todoroki leads them to the general area the Bakusquad was, plopping down next to Kaminari, their joint hands pulling Bakugou down next to him. Bakugou only lets go of Todoroki’s hand to sign: "Taking out my aid now gonna try and nap before the chaos begins," to which Todoroki’s only reply is to open his arms. Bakugou complies, slotting his body between the space of Todoroki’s arms.
Todoroki can’t even be mad that Bakugou left him with the brunt of questions.
“So Roki,” Sero starts, what he thinks is smooth and not hinting start, “You and Bakugou?”
He tilts his head in confusion, “Bakugou and I what?”
“You like him, right?” Mina eggs on.
Todoroki frowns, “Of course I do, why else would I spend so much time with him?”
“Are you going to ask him on a date?” Denki blurts out the question on everyone’s mind.
Todoroki’s frown only deepens. “Why would I need to do that?”
“Cause you like him.” Kirishima offers.
“I like you guys should I also ask you on a date?” At this point Todoroki has only felt confusion in this conversation. The sighs of exasperation and splattered laughter he receives from his question only solidifies his confusion.
Before he could ask why that was funny, he feels a poke on his shoulder. Midoriya and Uraraka were at his side, Uraraka waves as Midoriya says sheepishly, “Sorry to interrupt, guys. We just wanted to know if we could steal Todoroki from you for a bit – or until the movie starts – if you don’t mind.” A chorus of not minding circles the group. “So, you’ll come, Shouchan? The squad misses you.”
“I’d love to Midoriya, but I’d rather not move right now.” Bakugou only just fell asleep, and he has already got to deal with a cranky Bakugou tomorrow, Todoroki does not want that to come sooner than it has to by waking him up after five whole minutes of sleep.
“Can you at least sit with us for the movie, we feel like we don’t see you anymore,” Uraraka pouts.
Todoroki looks down at Bakugou, he knows his going to regret it but he still agrees.
***
His regret comes sooner than he would like to admit.
Todoroki knows Kaminari and Jirou picked horror movies. That’s the reason why he wanted Bakugou to stay for the duration of both of them. Though with him sitting squished between Midoriya and Shinsou, and Bakugou on his usual spot closest to the common room’s exit on the opposite side of the room, he doesn’t see how Bakugou being here will help him.
The panic attack comes with no surprise.
Even as his breath becomes more and more shallow – as he becomes frozen with fear – he can’t seem to focus (or is he focusing too much?) on his breathing.
He doesn’t know when his head fell to his knees, or when Bakugou took Uraraka’s place by his feet. All knows is Bakugou is there. Brushing his hair out of his face, switching from counting his breaths and counting five things he can see, back to counting his breaths, to counting four things Todoroki can feel, a breath of relief escapes from Bakugou’s lips as Todoroki chimes in when Bakugou cant name the remaining two things he feels. They continue this pattern until he can comfortably breathe on his own.
It’s only then that he notices the lights were turned on, and the movie no longer echoed around the room. His classmates that surrounded him what felt like seconds ago now all spaced out the room all casting him looks of worry. “I’m sorry –“
“Don’t fucking apologise, Shou,” Bakugou says, looking as if he were holding back tears of relief. “You knew something like this could have happened, that’s why you asked me to stay, right?”
Bakugou doesn’t yell, which scares Todoroki more than his outbursts.
Tongue feeling heavy in his mouth, so he nods in reply. Bakugou sighs, carding his fingers through red and white strands. “You should have told me.” Todoroki hears the unspoken ‘I’d have fought to have to be closer to you’ but says nothing. “You’re going to be the death of me, I swear. Come on.”
“Where are we going?” Todoroki manages to croak, as Bakugou helps him to his feet.
“We’re going to get some snacks and watch Disney movies in my room.”
It’s only after they left the room that spell the class was under broke. “What just happened?”
“I don’t know what just happened, but I do know what we gotta do.” Kaminari offers.
“And what’s that Denki?” Mina asks.
“Start a betting pool on when they’ll start dating.”
[4]
“As you should know by now in the novel Life of Pi there are two possible stories, Mina name the story the detectives that question Pi believe.”
As this mandatory Tuesday sessions goes, Bakugou being the host asks questions to make sure the class understands what he had been explaining to make sure he is not wasting his time on extras that he could use prepping for the test Present Mic had been hinting at.
Mina fumble before answering, “That there weren’t any animals on the lifeboat?”
“Right, and why doesn’t this add up Shinsou?”
“Because there were claw marks in and around said lifeboat.” He answers confidently.
Bakugou nods, eyes landing on Todoroki who signs: "I’m hungry." Bakugou doesn’t physically react to what was said and calls on Denki to answer his next question, who surprisingly answers correctly first try.
He turns away from the group before passing around booklets, “The handout that’s being passed around is filled with quotes that could be useful, themes touched on in the book thoroughly explained and possible essay questions and how to tackle them. We’ll meet again in next week where we’ll touch on the mysterious carnivorous island again, and for those who have questions we’ll go over them then. That’s all you’re getting from me today.”
“Already? Its only been an hour,” Midoriya points out.
“Not everyone sleep til the sun comes up their ass, Deku.” Bakugou exits the common room to make some food for a hungry fool. Its not long before he places a serving of cold soba in front of Todoroki, who brightens up at the sight of his favourite dish.
“Exactly what I needed right now. Thank you, Katsuki.”
Bakugou huffs. Shinsou smirks up at him to which Bakugou signs: "Shut up", before retreating to his room.
[5]
“What was that?” Bakugou shouts in pure Bakugou fashion. Todoroki doesn’t bother to reply and continues to walk toward the rest of the class. “You were supposed to cover me.”
“I was covering you.”
“From the other side of the building?” so frustrated that he signs a sarcastic: Clearly.
*Oh, I’m sorry. Did you want me to hold your hand? I got busy Bakugou, you cant expect everything to go according to plan. Mock missions are supposed to be as unpredictable as real life situations.*
_You think I don’t know that, IcyHot? It’s called communication, I thought you were getting better at it. I guess I was wrong._
*As if youre any better. If you weren’t such a bad friend-*
_Oh now I’M a bad friend._
*You are-*
_Well, then if you just got over your daddy issues-_
*Right cause you weren’t the one encouraging me to be an asshole to him-*
_Yeah, but you know what the funny thing is? I don’t recall us being friends to begin with._
*Was this all a joke to you?*
_News flash, Todoroki, I don’t think you realise, I am Bakugou fucking Katsuki. All I know how to do is hurt people and you were just another person to add to that list._
Midoriya gasps, “No, he didn’t.”
Bakugou knows its far too late to take back those words when he sees the first tear roll down Todoroki’s cheek, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t regret saying them. “Wait, Shouto- I didn’t mean-“
“Now I know where we stand.”
Todoroki flees, leaving Bakugou to the sound of heart-shattering.
[ 1 ]
Over the next few weeks the class tries to get them to talk but neither would budge. They have resorted to drastic measures hoping to get them to at least be in the same room without the air being tense. Nothing has worked so far but they haven’t lost spirits yet.
On the other hand, Bakugou feels terrible. It doesn’t help that the extras keep bringing up what happened between him and Todoroki and he certainly cant deal with the looks Yaoyozuro and Shinsou give him when they think hes not looking.
What he desperately needs is a break to get rid of the sinking feeling in his stomach – to get away from this unnecessary drama – which is why he fills out a permission slip to go home for the weekend.
Bakugou is no coward but he cant shove aside the want to be alone. He is not running away, no. It will be good for his frame of mind that’s all.
Even with everyone steering clear – knowing anything said to him would lead to an explosion to the head, after he blew up at Iida for no apparent reason – he still hadn’t had a chance to let go the way he wants to, and the only place he knows he’ll be able to breathe again is back home.
True to his thoughts its only when he threw himself head down on his bed that he allows himself to be drowned with the tears his been keeping in whole week.
Its his dad that comes up to his room with a tub of ice-cream, soothing him without knowing the reason for his tears, which is something he has only experienced with his dad.
“You know, Katsuki,” Masuru starts, “When your mom and I met, I was your age. Everyone said we weren’t good for each other.”
“Yeah,” Bakugou sniffles, “’Cause mom is so explosive and you take everything she dishes out with a smile. Pretty toxic if you ask me.”
Masuru nods, smiling at the air as he recalls memories of his younger days. “That’s what people thought.” He wipes the last of his son’s tears. “We ended up having this huge fight, I was stuck doing something I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life doing because of my parents, and your mom tried telling me I wouldn’t be stuck if I just spoke to them – lets just say that conversation did not end well, and I was heartbroken – your mother more than me, which is why she tried ended up courting me as an apology of some sorts and to let me know she was still interested in me without pressuring me into something.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“I’m trying to say, don’t give up on Todoroki cause you will regret it one day and it will be too late by then.” He said thoughtfully. “Better to try and make it work now than live a life of regret, yeah?”
“Yeah.”
***
Bakugou spent the rest of the weekend with his dad brainstorming ideas to clean up the mess he made. Not once did his dad ask what happened, but the hag keeps pestering them (emphasising on he needs to fix things fast cause she likes the peppermint stick boy).
When he returns to the dorms Sunday afternoon, hands full of carrier bags, he is glad to see the common room area empty. He did not want to deal with the inevitable questions of those extras.
Bakugou just lets his guard down while making his way up the stairs, and doesn’t hear the steady click clack of heels getting closer until its too late. “Whoa, Bakugou,” gasps an excited Momo, stopping in front of the landing door leading to Bakugou’s floor. “Are you courting someone?”
“Is it that obvious?” he blurts.
“Yeah,” she answers. Bakugou sighs embarrassed. “Only because ive never known you to have a sweet tooth.” She gestures to the packages from a well-known bakery.
“I didn’t know I came across that way,” Bakugou pauses, thinking over his next few words before saying, “But, yes. I have decided to court someone.”
“I’m sure you’ll make him very happy.”
“At least one of us believes in me,” he mutters walking away.
***
When Bakugou stops in front of Todoroki’s desk as their lunch break starts Monday morning, he noticed that the class cleared out faster than usual. Strange. “Hey, can I talk to you for a minute?” He expects Todoroki to ignore him and walk away but hes glad he doesn’t.
“What do you want to say?”
“Here.” Although Bakugou didn’t bother to hide the box in his hand Todoroki still seems surprised when he passes it to him.
Shaking the box curiosity eating at him, he asks, “What is it?”
“Open it.” Todoroki has no physical reaction to finding the gold studded earrings he had been eyeing when they went on their last date before the incident. “I know you wanted it, though I didn’t know if you still wanted to do what you said that day.” Bakugou had been referring to when Todoroki said he wanted to pierce his ears like Bakugou so that they could share earrings. Bakugou has three sequenced holes doting along his right ear, Todoroki jokingly said he’d pierce his left in the same way so that they could match and the other earring of each pair would be worn too. Also that it would be cute and it would remind them of each other. “I thought it would be nice getting you your first pair, no matter who you share it with.”
“That’s very thoughtful of you, Bakugou, though if you don’t mind I’d like to go to lunch now.”
Bakugou’s nerves took the wheel at that moment and he just nodded in reply, watching Todoroki stride to the door.
The door didn’t open no matter how much he pulled on it. “It’s locked.”
What they didn’t realize is that the class took matters into their own hands. Though it didn’t go exactly the way they had planned, they had successfully locked them in class.
“Did you plan this?” Todoroki accused.
“No why- I only wanted to give you those,” Bakugou splattered.
“True.” Todoroki agreed. “Now I’ve got nothing to eat.”
Bakugou offers to share the katsudon his dad made and Todoroki accepts. They sit at Bakugou’s desk – eating and conversing lightly, which is the class found them at the end of lunch.
“Finally,” Mina squealed.
“So it was you that locked us in here?” Bakugou immediately accused Mina.
“It was Denki’s idea,” she squeaked.
“Don’t blame me! Midobro got the key.”
“Whatever,” Bakugou dismissed. “Don’t do shit like that again.”
An amused sound escapes Todoroki’s lips, “What, that’s all? No explosions, no death threats?”
“Zip it, Icyhot. If it weren’t for me you’d be starving.”
Todoroki smirks before saying, “If it weren’t for your dad-“ But doesn’t get to finish because in walked Aizawa, everyone were in their seats except the two of them.
Aizawa takes one look at the smile on Todoroki’s face, smirks into his scarf, and says, “Pay up.”
Groans sound around the room as practically the whole class excluding Tokoyami and Shouji starts handing Aizawa money.
Bakugou doesn’t ask.
***
It goes like that for the rest of the week.
Bakugou randomly hands Todoroki very thought-out gifts as their relationship starts growing past the point it was before.
They might not be comfortable dating, but their relationship has gone passed your ordinary friendships, and they both are happy with how things turned out.