Another typical morning in the current number 19th hero Deku's apartment. After wriggling out of his girlfriend's grasp, he puts on his tracksuit and goes out for his usual morning run. By the time he arrives back home the sun is finally out and Ochako (aka Uravity the number 14th ranked hero) is making breakfast in their cozy kitchen. The sound of sizzling coming from the only pan they own (she stressed not having any kitchenware they didn't need). The smell permeating the air makes Izuku's mouth water just a little bit as he recognizes her amazing pancakes. Before he darts off towards the food, he remembers to take off his shoes and tracksuit making sure his abs are not still glistening with sweat. "Morning, Ochako," Izuku mumbles, feeling heat rising to his cheeks. He's still not used to calling her by her first name, but, after a year of being together (and the constant reminders), he can at least say it without having to correct himself.
"Morning, Deku! Hope ya don't mind, I made some pancakes. I know you like to stick to your strict diet, but I wanted to celebrate a little after your victory yesterday!"
Izuku tries to resist doing his 'ugly face' (as Ochako likes to call it whenever his heart squeezes), but he can't help himself when he sees Ochako so cheerful and smiling this early in the morning. He does feel alright with treating himself to the nice breakfast since it was a significant villain he took down yesterday.
Well, he thinks, helped take down. He had some assistance from a certain explosive childhood friend of his. Bakugo Katsuki, also known as the hero 'Bakugo' (much to his annoyance), has never been able to work under the various graphic hero names he's submitted. For some reason, the hero agency he worked for thought it would be "inappropriate" to have murder in his name.
Regardless, the hero Bakugo has jumped up into the top 20 hero rankings, at number 20. He hasn't taken this well, if multiple 'interviews' with screaming and language inappropriate for broadcasting is anything to go by.
Rankings aside, a lot has changed between Izuku and Bakugo, much to the relief of the former. He may not call Bakugo a friend or even an acquaintance, but at least they can be in the same room as each other without it devolving into an argument.
While reflecting on his progress with Bakugo, Izuku goes about his daily routine, eating his share of the pancakes before flopping onto the couch. He turns the TV on, hoping to learn about any recent hero news.
"Deku! They're showing your battle on tv!" Ochako squeals, shaking her boyfriend's shoulders as she watches the TV over his head, from behind the couch
It takes all of Izuku's willpower to not look away from the TV in embarrassment. He'll never be used to being the center of attention, even if he is All Might's chosen successor as the new symbol of peace. (Not that the public knows about that yet.) The time to proclaim that he was here to the whole world has not come. Someday, but definitely not anytime soon.
Even so, he has to keep doing things like this, getting recognized on the news, being interviewed and fighting battles that catches the public's attention. He has to keep watching to see how he looked. Am I really that slow he thinks. He has trained for hours and hours to develop his body to control One For All and yet he can still see so many flaws in his technique. He can easily follow and predict his own movements on screen and if he can do that from watching on TV, any competent villain could as well in a real battle. Before he can formulate ways to improve his strategies, Ochako points a finger towards the screen.
"Hey! Look at the headline! I didn't recognize the name, 'cause I only hear it from you, but isn't that―"
Her voice fades into the background as soon as he sees the name on the screen, next to his. Oh no. Izuku's entire body freezes, his eyes go wide, and every hair on his curly head stood up. Oh God, oh no. This is it, I'm going to die.
He's finally going to kill me.
The night was still young but darkness still loomed over the area that Deku was patrolling. He was getting recognized more often on account of him steadily climbing up the rankings and his quirk 'resembling' the beloved hero 'All Might's'. Giving passers bys small waves and big smiles was the least he could do. Afterall, a hero on patrol wasn't just there to search for villains, but also to represent order and peace.
That peace was short lived though, as a scream pierced through the night's air. Without hesitation, Deku activated his Full Cowl and leaps towards the cry. Landing with a crack in front of an abandoned old road in front of an shuttered store, he found himself facing a large man who is wearing a gaudy luchador mask. A terrified child, no more than six, was in his grasp. The child's parents were nowhere to be seen, and Deku was cautious.
"Don't worry anymore, it's alright now!" he shouts, "I am here!"
"Oh great, you practically have the same quirk and now you even talk like him. You're nothing but a phony, just like Stain said" the masked man sneers. "I'm trying to weed out fakes just like you and it looks like I hit the jackpot on my first night. Now you're gonna feel the wrath of Gigante!"
"Hi-gwan-te?" Deku replied with a confused look on his face?
"I said, Gigante," Gigante shouted back. A smirk then spread across his face,
"It means―" he began, launching the child towards Deku, who instinctively caught him.
"GIANT!"
In the blink of an eye, the large man(Deku thought him to be about 6'4) suddenly grew to the size of a 50-story building. His growth caused his body to crash into the decrepit store behind him, leveling it immediately. The bulk of Gigante slowed him little and now he reached towards Deku and the child nestling in his arms. Deku activated Full Cowl and covered the child's face to protect them from the rushing air. He remembered all too well clinging onto All Might's leg many years ago. He hopped up onto the nearest building and hid behind the rooftop exit, hoping the villain didn't spot him.
His priority was getting the child to safety, but he couldn't leave the scene if there were no other heroes nearby. Are there any other civilians? If so I need to circle back around him and try to get them out of harm's way. Lost in thought, Deku realised, too late, that Gigante had circled around to flank him A large grin was plastered onto his face,
"Found you, you fake!" He lunged to grab both Deku and the boy, attempting to crush both.
Crouching out of his enemy's grasp, Deku heard a familiar bark and an explosion rip through the air. There was another explosion and, just as quickly as he appeared, Gigante shrunk back down and disappeared from view. Bakugo landed quickly onto the roof and immediately let out a tirade, "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING DEKU? THIS GUY'S SLOW AS SHIT, ARE YOU EVEN TRYING ANYMORE!?"
"Kacchan, if you haven't noticed, I have a child that needs protection," Deku sheepishly mumbled, still unused to getting berated by his childhood friend, even after all these years.
"THEN JUST KICK HIM―ISN'T THAT WHAT YOUR SHITTY SHOOT STYLE IS FOR!?"
"Kacchan, I can't fight while holding a kid in my arms, that'd be irresponsible."
'WHAT'S IRRESPONSIBLE IS THAT YOU HAVEN'T BEATEN THE SHIT OUT OF THAT FUCKING MASKED IDIOT! AND STOP CALLING ME THAT FUCKING NAME, WE'RE NOT FOUR ANYMORE!"
"Kacchan, please watch your lang―" but before Deku could finish his admonishment Gigante reappeared, his head and arms bursting through the roof underfoot.
"NOW I GET TWO FAKES IN ONE NIGHT! THIS REALLY IS MY LUCKY DAY," he laughed out before, again, trying to scoop both heroes up in his hands. Unfortunately, Gigante did not consider the buckling mass of the building, causing his arms to have bend at an angle too awkward to attack from. Deku and Bakugo would have plenty of time to simultaneously blast and kick his face in. Immediately Gigante's quirk dissipated and now there was just a hole in the center of the building, the villain's body crumpled onto the ground floor.
"Idiot," Bakugo said in a rare moment of calm, immediately reverting back when he laid his eyes on Deku, "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU STILL STANDING AROUND FOR!? FIND HIS FUCKING PARENTS ALREADY!"
While he would normally have tried to admonish his rival's use of language, Deku had to concede that Bakugo made a good point, swiftly jumping down from the roof to search for the boy's parents. (He would have asked the child, but in the ruckus the boy had passed out from fear.) Thankfully, after only a few minutes, the police arrived, along with the regular array of media. The boy's parents ran towards Deku with tears in their eyes, constantly thanking him for helping their child. He nervously brushed aside their remarks, spouting the usual phrases of It's what heroes do no need to thank me and I was only doing my job, until they finally calmed down.
After they had left and the police had written down his report, verifying the capture of Gigante, it was the media's turn to get an audience with the young hero. A female reporter Deku recognized from his time at UA asked him,
"So, how did you manage to take down the villain by yourself whilst simultaneously protecting the child?"
"Actually, I didn't defeat him by myself. I had some help from Kacchan," Deku replied with his trademark nervous smile.
"Kacchan? Who's Kacchan?" the reporter questioned with a confused look on her face. There wasn't any hero in the area called Kacchan.
"Oh, I meant B-B-Bakugo! Deku stuttered his reply out, his face growing red with embarrassment, "The hero, Bakugo! I definitely didn't call him the name I used when we were little!"
After realizing that he was not helping the situation, he clamped his hands over his mouth and leapt away as fast as he could. Finally reaching his apartment, he saw that Ochako hadn't come back from her patrol yet, but he was too tired to stay up like he normally would. One refreshing shower later, he flopped into bed, satisfied with the job he had done.
The words 'Deku and Kacchan work together to save child' were shown on the headline of the broadcast, with footage of Izuku's interview being played currently.
"That's so cute! They're using the name you call him all the time as his hero name now! It's kinda like how you're using Deku as yours," Ochako bounced as she was pulling out her phone to relay the news to all their friends. Izuku, on the other hand, is shaking uncontrollably and mumbling to himself all his scenarios of escape, should he ever meet with Bakugo again. It is a prospect he will try to avoid as long as possible.
Suddenly, there is a knock on the door of the apartment. "Who could be here this early? I didn't invite anyone over," Ochako ponders as she starts to move towards the door.
Before she manages to take a step the door bursts open with a loud bang and a man brimming with an almost visible aura of murderous intent surrounding him looms on the threshold.
"KACCHAN WAIT I CAN EXPLAIN I'M SORRY IT JUST SLIPPED OUT!" Izuku screeches while getting down on his knees pleading for forgiveness. He is ready for the explosion either from Bakugo's mouth or his hands but none come. For what seems like hours Bakugo just stands there glaring at Izuku. This only amplifies Izuku's terror to the point where he can no longer even speak, only waiting for what is to come.
Ochako is about ready to yell at Bakugo for kicking her door open when Bakugo mutters the number "10".
"10?" Izuku asks bewildered but still frightened by Bakugo's apparent restraint.
"You have 10 seconds to say what you need to say to round face over there before she becomes a widow."
"WAIT ONLY 10? ALSO, SHE'S MY GIRLFRIEND NOT MY WI―"
"10" Bakugo takes a step forward.
Izuku whirls around, "OCHAKO I LOVE YOU SO MUCH YOU MEAN THE WORLD TO ME AND I HOPE YOU NEVER FORGET ME!" He hugs her close as she blinks in confusion.
"9"
Another step.
YOU'RE THE BEST GIRLFRIEND EVER AND I LOVED EVERY MINTUE WE SPENT TOGETHER"
"8"
Another step closer.
"Deku, calm down, he's not gonna kill you!" Ochako finally gets her bearings and tries to calm her boyfriend down from his mania by placing her hands on his shoulders.
"7"
Bakugo is about to enter the kitchen. Izuku is a sobbing mess.
"6"
Giving up, Ochako lays her boyfriend down on the couch, walking up to Bakugo and ready to throw down. She knows she is much stronger than all those years ago at the sports festival. She can take him. (Or at least hold him off.)
"5"
Bakugo moves towards the couch, his palms erupting with tiny explosions, completely ignoring Ochako's attempt at distracting him.
Ochako moves to cut him off again, until she shoots a quick glance at the TV,
"Bakugo, wait a sec."
"4"
Bakugo takes another step.
The only sounds out of Izuku's mouth are the small whispers of I'm sorry over and over again. Tears flow endlessly down his face, as he sinks further and further into the couch.
"3"
Bakugo is now directly in front of Izuku.
"Bakugo, I said wait!" Ochako raises her voice, attempting to snap the incensed hero out of it.
"2"
He raises his hands.
"BAKUGO LOOK AT THE TV!" Ochako is now yelling and repeatedly jabbing her finger at the screen.
"1. Goodbye, you fucking nerd," Bakugo snarls. As he was about to strike Ochako shouted at the top of her lungs.
"YOU BEAT DEKU!"
Bakugo freezes. His face contorts back from murderous to his usual annoyed appearance and his whole body relaxes.
"What did you just say round face?" he asks, voice still dripping with venom.
"Just look behind you," Ochako sighs, thankful that she has gotten through to him as she moves to help her boyfriend stop his whole body from fusing with the couch cushions. Bakugo turns around and looks at the small television that is still playing the news about his and Izuku's accomplishment.
"After the development of finally finding a hero name and a quick morning survey from viewers, we can confirm that the hero Kacchan has switched places in the hero rankings with Deku.
Now Kacchan is 19th and Deku is 20th. A rather shocking development, as Deku has been heralded as a new up and comer with tons of potential by many. When asked about the change most viewers had commented that their decision was due to Kacchan being a 'cuter' name than Deku. Smoothing some of the rough edges that Kacchan appears to have shown in his interviews and appearances. Maybe we'll see a change in the explosive hero's demeanor? Only time will tell. Now we'll be right back after these commercials so stay tuned."
An advertisement plays immediately after but it goes ignored. Izuku and Ochako only looked at Bakugo to gauge his reaction, not wanting to say another word lest they set him off. After almost a minute of silence, Bakugo saunters back towards the door, stopping just as he is about to step outside. Without turning back towards the two, he clicks his tongue,
"You got lucky this time, you fucking nerd. Next time, I won't bother counting." He takes another step before stopping short once again, "and sorry about the door, round face, I'll get shitty hair to fix it later."
With that, he saunters off into the morning light as if nothing had happened, leaving the two heroes standing there in awe at the pettiness of Bakugo Katsuki.