Koda had spent his week deep in the forested mountains and the closest thing to 'action' that he faced was helping heroes find a man who got lost while hiking. He definitely learned a lot about rescue work and how to do search and rescue, but it was a very calm internship. So it was quite a shock when he realized that his friends had been fighting serial killers and smugglers.
He was glad that all of his friends were safe though.
But that was another thing, he had also seen the news and found out that his friends hadn't been as safe as he wrongly assumed. Endeavor's abuse was being discussed by nearly every news station, whether or not they believed the accusations. To make matters worse documents had been released by Nezu showing that this abuse had been covered up by the Hero Commision.
More people would have doubted the claims except some top detective friend with a lie detecting quirk got involved and backed it up, which let them move forward in getting the students out of these situations. The downside was that the entire world now knew that two students had been badly abused and were brought into UA dorms. And it didn't take much for the press to see which students were suddenly moving onto campus.
He hated how everyone's eyes lingered on Bakugou as they waited for class to start, but there was no way he would want any sort of help from Koda of all people. Or any people for that matter.
He just felt useless compared to his rabbit friend who was already becoming famous for defeating an A rank villain as a mere intern and taking a stance against any and all corruption. He even told a reporter that he didn't really know how to lie. Between that and the events of the last week, some people started referring to him as the symbol of truth. Granted, that was a pretty small group that Koda only found because he spent hours looking into what people were saying about his friend.
Maybe that hadn't been a great decision though in hindsight, since a lot of people were saying mean things about his friend. Most simply used his status as an animal against him, but some were actually creative in trying to discredit his claims. He read that some people apparently thought that the phone he spoke with was hacked by villains trying to discredit the heroes.
His train of thought was derailed when he heard the pitter-patter of small feet coming towards the room along with the muttering that only he could understand. He couldn't help but smile as he heard the words "Time to see my friends!" chanted in his friend's native rabbit language.
Then, after a few tries, Izuku opened the door to the classroom and flung himself through the air into Koda's arms.
"Hello friend!"
He whispered back a greeting that made the little hero wiggle in delight.
He enjoyed talking to Izuku because even if both of them had issues talking, they didn't with each other.
Koda got nervous about speaking, but whispering was much easier, and Izuku could hear him no matter how quiet he got.
And Izuku didn't need to translate his thoughts into Japanese and could instead just ramble away with happy squeaks and snorts.
But after saying hello to Koda, Izuku bounded off to greet the rest of his classmates that he hadn't seen during internships. But it didn't go unnoticed that Bakugou was giving Izuku the cold shoulder and refusing to interact with him. It was a little heartbreaking to see since he knew how important Bakugou was to Izuku and it didn't take a genius to figure out what had made the explosive boy so upset. It was clear that the small rabbit only wanted to help but was now dealing with the backlash of having a friend that didn't want help.
Koda was relieved though as he watched as Izuku bounced around in Kirishima's lap, clearly distracted from Bakugou's silent rage. "Woah! You've got a totally manly scar now on your ear. It makes you look like one badass rabbit."
He bounced back and forth and typed in response "Yeah! I'm the toughest bunny ever!"
Koda felt a bit like a wallflower as he watched his classmates talk to each other, but he was ok with that. Talking to people was stressful, but just watching his extroverted friend talking with others was nice.
Iida seemed particularly upset about Kirishima's comment and stood up to bow deeply.
"I'm sorry that my mistakes have caused you to be hurt."
It wasn't very difficult to figure out what had happened based on the information that Izuku explained in his interview. Iida and the pro Native were there first, and it didn't seem like there was a reason for Iida to be there outside of trying to avenge his brother. So it made sense that Iida felt guilty that Izuku had to save him, but Izuku had not come to realize that.
Izuku's telling of the story was that he didn't think Iida did much and Todoroki mostly just distracted 'the scary man'. However, he also admitted he wasn't really paying much attention to anyone but stain, which caused him to miss any possible vigilante activity without lying to the press or the police.
Koda had to keep from laughing as Izuku responded to the class president. "You are very confusing, you're not Stain or the big bird person and have never attacked me."
He liked talking to Izuku for the same reason others had difficulty with it. Izuku was so straightforward and literal that it did wonders for his social anxiety.
Then his friend launched back across the room to his seat as Aizawa came into the room and glared at them into silence.
Izuku was excited to see his friends again!
But Kachan was still mad, well, more mad than usual.
When he asked his friend Yagi about what to do he said to give Kachan space to be mad. So he's trying not to talk to him, but it's really hard work not telling his Kachan about his day!
He's also trying to get better with people, since they are apparently very complex. He had thought that helping was always good and hurting was bad, but now he'd hurt Kachan by helping Kachan.
And that was just confusing.
Izuku loved getting help, to him it meant that the person cared about him. But Kachan thought he was being a meanie.
"Midoriya, pay attention."
Izuku squeaked and went back to taking notes as Aizawa was talking.
They apparently had finals coming up and he needed to pay extra attention to be ready for it.
He was very worried!
Izuku was a very smart rabbit, but he felt less smart when compared to humans. He was very close to the bottom of the class rankings and that was not good!
There were plans to study as a group but it seemed like Kachan was going to be there with his friends.
Izuku didn't want Kachan to get more angry at him so he'd just have to do something else. He didn't want Kachan to keep being angry at him!
Class was over and Koda tapped his back.
"Um, I heard you mumbling… and we can study together if you want."
That is a great plan!
He binkied a bit and rubbed his head against Koda. He was a very good friend.
So instead of going back to the dorm he went to Koda's home that night.
Yagi had offered to take care of his mom so she wouldn't get lonely or hungry.
Koda smiled down at him as they rode the train and kept people from stepping on him.
A very good friend indeed!
They practiced english a lot because they both had a hard time with languages.
Wait!
What's that smell?
It smelled like a bunny!
Koda looked over at him, "Oh, um, well that's probably Yuwai-chan."
Izuku's ears were perked up and very interested. He definitely wanted to meet this bunny.
Koda smiled shyly and nodded.
They went over to his bedroom and there was a very pretty white rabbit.
Why hadn't Koda mentioned he had such an amazing friend?
"I was worried you'd be mad I had a rabbit as a pet."
He licked Koda's hand to show he wasn't mad, then he ran around the room with his new friend until it was time to go back to work.
Maybe he was lonely because Kachan was mad at him, but he had more friends now than when he only had Kachan.
Bakugou swore to god that if one more person asked if he was ok he would be convicted of murder.
He hated everyone anyways, but it was definitely more now. How dare they treat him like he was weak? Like he was something fragile? Like he was already broken?
Shitty Hair came over to him after classes were over.
"Hey bro, you seemed pretty tense today, are you alri-"
He didn't get to finish the sentence because an exploding fist was already coming at his hardened face.
"I'M FUCKIN' FINE AND DANDY SO LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE!"
Kirishima shook off the explosion like it was nothing and gave him a bright fuckin' smile. "Alright, sorry to push you on it."
"What."
"If you don't want to talk about it we won't. It's not manly to cross people's boundaries."
He simply glared at his red haired friend shitty classmate. "Then what the fuck do you want?"
"Oh, well me and the rest of the Bakusquad wanted help studying for finals."
"That's such a stupid name. Ugh, fine, I know you'll all fail without my help."
That was the closest he would come to saying thanks for including him, because he didn't actually want to be alone right now no matter what he said.
His entire life had been turned upside down because of stupid Deku and a detective with a truth detecting quirk. He had told that shitty rabbit to keep his mouth shut, but it turns out he really is useless because he couldn't even do that. All he needed to do was nothing, but he couldn't and now he can't see his parents anymore.
Sure, he and the hag screamed at each other instead of talking, but she was still his mom. Was he supposed to just abandon her now that people knew? It felt like he couldn't say anything fucking right. Before when he called her a hag people got mad at him, but now they get mad whenever he says something vaguely positive.
All of this nonsense made him want to punch and explode everything. But it turns out that punching things until his knuckles bled didn't actually make him feel better. People still whispered about him in the halls, giving him sympathy and pity that he sure as hell didn't want. Acting like he couldn't hear them talk about how it made sense he was so aggressive now that they knew.
Over the course of the weekend every single mistake he made suddenly got put on his parents. His mom for beating him and his father for being neglectful. People stopped saying the sports festival made him look like a villain and instead started psychoanalyzing him and how abuse leads to anger. But he isn't allowed to murder extras on the train who don't even fucking know him.
So maybe it's nice to be with people and just talk about school. No one asking about his family or his goddamn feelings.
As he yelled about math problems to Kaminari he realized something. The fact it was Deku was what really hurt. If it were anyone else who brought up his personal shit with the police he'd just cut them off, probably explode them, and call it done.
But Deku had always been there. He hadn't left no matter how much Katsuki screamed and yelled at him. He had been there in his few moments of weakness when he couldn't keep the pain inside. He had been the one to bring ice packs to cover Katsuki's welts and bruises.
But he didn't need help.
He didn't.
He was going to be the best hero, and he wouldn't let anything stop him. So how dare they treat him like he needed saving.
They'd been studying for a while now and the others started leaving until it was just him and Kirishima, who hadn't left because it was his own house. But Katsuki didn't know how to say that he didn't want to be alone right now. That the dorms were too quiet. That the quiet would always be much more terrifying than any shouting. That he didn't want to be one room away from the symbol of his weakness.
"You know, it's ok to need help sometimes."
"The fuck are you goin' on about, Shitty Hair?"
"Heroes aren't weak for needing support. Think of it like calling for backup."
"How the hell can I be the strongest if I need to rely on others?!"
"Hmmm, well I guess you better stop going to class then since you're getting help from them to be a better hero."
"Oi." But Kirishima didn't let himself be interrupted.
"And you better turn in your costume since you didn't make it yourself."
"Shut the fuck up."
"If you really think getting help is so bad why didn't you let Midoriya bleed out at the USJ? Do you think he's weak now for not getting to the ambulance himself?"
Of course not, that's ridiculous. And any idiot would see that Deku was anything but weak. But instead of that, what he said was "fuck you!"
But Kirishima seemed to get what he meant to say.
"Then why is it ok for other heroes to get help but not you?"
Something in him snapped and he grabbed Kirishima by the shirt as tears began to build up in his eyes.
"Because I didn't deserve to be saved!"
He suddenly found himself wrapped in a tight embrace.
"Everyone deserves to be saved."
Katsuki had opened his mouth to rebut that when Kirishima kept going.
"It's never the victim's fault, never."
He hated that word so much. He never wanted to be considered a victim.
"...not a fuckin' victim. I'm not weak."
"Well, I was a victim of bullying in middle school, does that mean I'm weak?"
The answer was of course not, but if he said that he'd be proving Kirishima right and he refused to do that. So he just stayed in his arms and let himself cry quietly. After a few minutes he spoke up.
"Tell anyone about this and I'll kill you."
He just laughed. "There's the Bakugou I know."
When he got back to the dorms Aizawa gave him shit for coming back after curfew, so he politely told him to fuck off. He didn't want to be a ward of UA, but his only other choice was some random foster family of extras.
Days past and he was glad that future studying included no more heart to heart talks. He knew he should probably talk to Deku, but he found that not dealing with a problem was substantially easier than addressing it.
Even after his talk with Kirishima he was still mad at the rabbit, and Kirishima strongly argued against having any important conversations with Deku while he was seething with rage over the little shit going behind his back like that.
He understood that Deku had legally done what he was supposed to. However, Katsuki also understood his own ability to remain angry regardless of that fact.
But now it was time for their practical finals. They were told it was robots by those class B extras, but it was probably some bullshit to make them lower their guards. He didn't trust those teachers to keep their word about jack shit, so he just trained like it was anything except robots.
And it turns out he was completely correct. They were fighting fully fledged heroes. He was thrilled to face them, it would be an actual challenge even if they were wearing those weights.
They were talking about what pairs were facing who when mother fucking All Might stepped forward.
"Ha Ha! I'll be facing Young Bakugou and Young Midoriya!"
What the actual fucking bullshit was this? He had to work with Deku against the strongest hero? Yeah, that was some top tier bullshit.
Deku seemed pretty displeased about this situation too and stayed behind him as they walked into the testing area.
He didn't have time to think about that though, he was trying to figure out why they specifically were set up against All Might. Everyone was set up against their weaknesses, like putting Pikachu and Racoon Eyes against a super genius or Icyhot against Aizawa. So why was he put against All Might? Was it so he was up against someone he didn't need to worry about exploding? No, that didn't make sense. Maybe they wanted him to learn teamwork or some stupid shit like that. But why was Deku here then? He fucking loved teamwork and would be thrilled to work with him, it would make more sense to pair him with Icyhot or something.
After a minute of silence he heard that damned text to speech voice.
"Do you have a plan?"
"Yeah, I'm going to explode him and win."
He heard an upset whine and a tapping sound. "But Yagi is sick and you're supposed to always protect the oldest in the warren."
Oh fuck, that's why Deku is here. He is self aware enough to know he sucks at teamwork and that it could be exploited. And Deku's big weakness was his instincts. His rabbit instincts would never let him hit All Might based on him being old and sick even if he could throw a building at them.
Fuck this, fuck absolutely everything.
"Ugh, we don't have time for this shit. I'll fight him, you just look for the exit or distract him or something."
His ears perked up, "You want me to help?"
Yes, that's exactly what he was saying, but using those words went against everything in Katsuki. So he tried to make it sound like he wasn't asking.
"Do whatever you want."
His ears dropped again. "Last time I helped without asking you stopped talking to me, and I don't like that, so this time I'm asking before helping so you don't get mad again."
Fuck, he knew if he asked it Izuku would just sit there and let him get his ass kicked as he went to fight All Might solo. All he had to do was ask and he'd be there, just like he always was. But he'd have to say the words.
They came out like a grumbled whisper, but those damn rabbit ears picked it up without issue. "Tsk, yeah, help me by distracting him." He paused "He's really tough with his quirk, so you don't need to worry about him getting hurt."
In the end they got absolutely wrecked and only passed with seconds to spare. And when he saw that with some pairs only one person passed, he knew the reason he passed after Deku dragged him over the finish line was his mumbled ask for help, no matter how much he hated it.
Hope you all liked this chapter, I tried using new perspectives so that important plot points and character development were more clear. I thought about writing out the final exam battle but decided against it to keep the focus on character development rather than a fight that was mostly the same as canon.