Alrighty! Yet another fanfiction from me! I hope you guys like it. I'm really in the swing of it right now, and I really want to get out as much as possible!
Please, comment! Comments are my life blood. I looove feedback. Especially when it comes to our boys over here.
Happy reading!
Bakugou Katsuki
"FUCKING DIE!"
The snarled obscenities burst forth from Bakugou Katsuki's lungs as he hurled himself down the road toward the villain at its center. His instinctual thoughts were to take her down. Get her out of action before she could hurt anyone else and cause anymore destruction. He couldn't fucking do this. No problem with the day's considerably perfect conditions. It was a scorcher, and the sun beat down on him. It heated his body and helped to create that sheen of sweat across his skin that allowed his quirk to fully activate. He was on top of the world.
A series of explosions burst forth from his hands as he careened toward his opponent. She was a willowy looking woman with green-tinted skin and long hair that looked more like seaweed than actual hair. She didn't have any weapons, but she still stood with a broad stance and a wicked smile full of sharp teeth as he drew nearer. Baiting him. Egging him on. Practically begging him to blast her dumb ass across the asphalt. Adrenaline coursed through his veins as he found himself upon her. He could smell the briny scent of the sea rolling off of her over even his own acrid, smokey scent.
But his explosions never touched her. His roar curses never exploded in front of that smug fucking face because she opened her mouth and began to sing. His brain processed two things before the effect of her voice fully hit him. First, who the fuck sings in the middle of a battle? And second, why the fuck did her voice sound like nails on a chalk board? If she was gonna sing, it should at least be something fucking good. He didn't want to hear her scream like a fucking banshee. If she thought that this was some form of entertainment then she could get fucked.
All of those thoughts were seared away when he finally, finally registered the pain in his fucking skull that, based on the smug ass look on her face, she had to be causing. Whatever this broad's quirk was, it was murdering his head. He felt like he was getting hit with a jackhammer.
He halted in his tracks. He clamped his hands over his ears in some attempt to block out her voice, but his palms only did so much against her penetrating voice. Without his hands to blast his way through the air, Katsuki crash landed to the ground. And he did so with the fucking grace of a god damn cat, thank you very much. His gaze shot to her and her lips. There was nothing visible about her quirk. Just the sound and its destructive qualities to his already fucked eardrums.
He could see now why the fuck they'd been called down there. He'd been patrolling when the call came in. A disturbance downtown. A small jewelry store robbery. Shattered windows, people screaming in pain. The whole nine yards. He'd been particularly nonplussed to see it was some smallfry of a woman causing all of this damage, but he didn't underestimate her. That also didn't mean he wasn't going to go headfirst into this fight because he wouldn't be the explosion hero Dynamight if he didn't. It was the first real fight he'd gotten with a villain since he'd moved back into town and started hero work in the city three days earlier. The thrill of finally getting a call that was worth his time was too good to pass up. The plan was to incapacitate her quickly and finish this bullshit business before lunch.
He hadn't been expecting her voice to be the source of this damage. She looked like she had some water-type quirk based on her appearance. How was he supposed to know that her screeching bullshit was the real problem? He wasn't some fucking analyst. Not like fucking-
"Dynamight!" a familiar, overly optimistic, and particularly fucking irritating voice called.
He was surprised that he could hear his hero name being called over the sound of Banshee over there. But then again, he often underestimated the sheer power of the annoying determination that Midoriya Izuku had. His red eyes darted in the direction of the bastard's voice. And there he was in all of his fucking irritating ass glorly.
"Fucking Deku!" he roared with his hands still clamped firmly over his ears. The greenette landed on the ground beside him, causing a shockwave to ripple through the ground. "Tch. Took you long enough to fucking get here!"
"I got here as soon as I could!" he stated, his eyes glued to the villain. "I was all the way across town when the call came-"
Katsuki rolled his eyes and stopped listening to his lame ass excuses. He didn't need fucking Deku here. He didn't need anyone at all, but he knew that his own opinions wouldn't be taken into consideration from dispatch. They'd send him back up, especially since this was the first time he'd be doing hero work back in his home city in almost five years. It didn't matter that he was the number four hero. They wanted to make sure he got reacclimated to this bullshit Alcott or something. And sure enough, he'd gotten his fucking back up. In the form of fucking Deku no less. And despite Deku being his hero assigned hero partner, he'd been hoping for Shitty Hair or Pinky - not the green blob of smiles over there holding out a pair of fucking earplugs to him. He took one look at them and his eyes darted upward to look at the matching pair in Deku's ears.
He made the connection immediately.
Katsuki still had that bitch's raging screeches in his ears. He needed them to stop if he wanted to take her out, but he didn't need Deku's fucking pity earplugs to do so. Instead, he curled his fingers around his ears and tore the cochlear receivers from behind both of them. He was immediately met with absolute, blissful fucking silence. Fuck. He'd never thought he'd actually want to hear nothing. Being borderline deaf seriously had its perks at times, and this was definitely one of them. He lifted his head and leveled his gaze on the banshee. She couldn't affect him if he couldn't hear her. Shit was back fucking on.
He rose to his full, towering height, explosions starting back up in his palms. He couldn't hear them, but he could feel them and see them. Vibrations with each pop and crackle. And the warm orange light produced was so familiar to him that it was almost comforting. He and Deku blasted forward, Katsuki in a flash of oranges and reds and Deku in a streak of green. They met their target at the same time. He was so overly satisfied to see her shocked expression as they made contact. Katsuki used one big blast of his nitroglycerin fueled explosions while Deku used his lightning encased fist. The woman went careening backward, her body tossing and turning across the asphalt as she crashed against it.
He almost made the stupid fucking rookie wish that she would stay the fuck down. But he didn't because he just had this gut feeling she most certainly wouldn't stay the fuck down.
He cursed - he wasn't sure if it was loud or not, but from the slightly surprised look on Deku's face, he was gonna say it was more of a roar than anything.
Seaweed pulled herself to her slimy looking green feet, and Katsuki growled in frustration. Why wouldn't she just lay down and fucking die already? Like fuck! One of his explosions should have sent a useless bitch like her into lala land. Hell, one of Deku's One of All backed punches should have put her out of commission. But fucking nope. She was back on her goddamn feet as if she were ready for fucking more.
And she was reaching for a goddamn hostage! Some business looking guy was climbing out of the front window of whatever place he worked at when the bitch went flying backward. Why the fuck did he have to come out of hiding now? Couldn't he have waited for a few more minutes. Had they had known he was there, they wouldn't have sent Banshee flying in that direction. And worse yet, instead of running for the hills when he saw a villain coming near him, he stood there like a fucking deer in headlights. As soon as her slippery gaze noticed him, she was on top of him. Before either he or the bolt of green beside him could get to the hostage, she was sinking her razor-like teeth down into the skin of his neck. Fucking disgusting.
The man's eyes glazed over as soon as her teeth were gone from his neck, and a pit formed in Katsuki's stomach. The look on his face told him he'd just about lost all sense of self. Something wasn't all there at the moment. Then, from the way that her maw was open, he assumed Seaweed started her screaming again. That's when all hell broke loose.
Apparently, businessman had an airborne quirk that Banshee could activate with her damn bite-mind-control-bullshit. He released something that reeked like rotten eggs but was entirely invisible to him.
Propane.
Fucking great. He assumed this guy was similar to the old man and hag. He had this quirk that was potentially lethal but couldn't ignite it on his own. If he could, he wouldn't be a businessman. He'd be like Katsuki, doing something flashy instead of something incredibly lame like business. But that didn't mean that he or Deku couldn't ignite it with the smallest of sparks. This broad had gotten lucky. She managed to snag the one quirk user in the area that could actually stop them in their tracks.
"Deku!" he roared, making eye contact with the nerd. Despite not being able to hear his own voice, he still aimed to be the man with the plan. "She got some mind control bullshit going on! Dudes secreting propane."
Deku's doe eyes hardened at that, and he nodded. He didn't need to explain any further. Deku wasn't an idiot. They both were in the big three at UA for a damn reason.
The greenette shot forward without the crackling energy of OFA surrounding him, and Katsuki, not being one to be left in the other man's dust, raced after him. Banshee was already on the move. She was using Propane guy as her meal ticket out of the fray. With the bag of stolen jewelry over her shoulder, she ran as fast as her green twig legs would carry her.
"Use black whip and get Propane the fuck out of here!" he shouted at Deku as he pressed forward.
Luckily, the greenette listened to him for once. He shot toward Propane and used the black tendrils of dark energy to grapple Propane. Then they were off, shooting high into the sky and away from the fray.
His sights immediately locked on Banshee Despite getting a head start, she was no match for a pro hero. And with the smell of the propane quickly dissipating, Katsuki took the opportunity to activate this quirk. He shot an explosion at her, which ignited the entire vicinity. Sure, it was reckless. Sure, he could have probably just tackled her to avoid unnecessary damage. But there were already enough risks with this broad. He didn't need her attacking any other bystanders, and he most definitely didn't need her sinking her teeth into him. Range was really the best option despite the obvious damages he was about to create.
She was caught just at the edge of the massive explosion. Katsuki was used to the shockwaves, and managed to stand his ground with relative ease. Banshee, on the other hand, wasn't so lucky. She was sent flying through the air and landed with a sickening thud about thirty feet away from him. The bag of jewelry lay right beside her. This time she was completely unmoving. He cautiously approached, his eyes trained on her. He made swift work of simultaneously checking her pulse and cuffing her. He stood over her for a moment before deciding she was incapaciated enough to be safe around.
He reached into his pockets and pulled out his cochlear's. He situated them back in place, and was greeted with the glorious sounds of life. Well, if you could call the applauding bystanders glorious. Earlier in he career, he might have eaten that shit right the fuck up, but these days, not so much. Bystanders drew in the press. The press asked too many digging questions that he couldn't be bothered to answer.
"Great job, Kacchan!"
Katsuki gritted his teeth and wheeled on Deku. He stood behind him with a dazed Propane. It seemed that as soon as Banshee was incapaciated, her hold on him ceased.
"Don't fucking call me that, stupid Deku!" he roared.
His raised voice caused the businessman to flinch. Fucking chicken shit.
"Right. We're working," Deku said, scratching the back of his stupid green head. He had a bright yet sheepish smile on his freckled face that was just as irritating as it had been back at UA.
In all honesty, this was the first time Katsuki had seen Deku in person in five years despite being his hero partner. The greenette had been off of work Katsuki's first two days back, much to his happiness. He needed a few days to adjust before he got to working with the irritating fuck who, aside from his smile and freckled face, looked so much different. The TV footage didn't do him any justice. For one, he'd filled out. Deku had always been a scrawny kid back at UA. They all had been, and in the last five year, he'd added layers of muscle that would only aid in his use of OFA. He'd also gotten taller, which Katsuki found slightly irksome. Deku was almost as tall as him now. He'd enjoyed having nearly a head on the guy - because the added height from his obnoxious curls didn't fucking count. Now, they nearly met eye to eye. And speaking of his obnoxious curls - Deku had seemed to tame them a bit more with his shaved undercut. It actually made him look less like a kid and more like the twenty-five year-old that he was. The lack of childish roundness in his cheeks helped on that front, too. Did he dare say that Deku actually looked slightly attractive.
Katsuki scoffed lightly, erasing the thought from his mind before he could dwell on that trainwreck for too damn long. Big fucking whoop if he'd made himself look less shitty than he had before. Katsuki was still number four to Deku's shitty number five. He was still beating him on that front.
"We should probably head back and get the paperwork for all this sorted out," Deku said as he stared down at the villain, his thumb and forefinger pinching his chin in thought. "Her quirk was really cool. I think I read about it back when we picked her up a year or two ago for another petty theft. Apparently it's called 'siren'. She can incapacitate her opponents using her voice. It causes sharp pain in the head..."
Katsuki gritted his head. Deku's voice was giving him a sharp pain in his head. The sheer force of his rambling made him want to rip his hair out. He could practically see the steam coming out of his ears as he overthought just about everything to do with Banshee down there. He was just about to start cussing him out for being fucking irritating when his phone buzzed inhis pocket. He wrinkled his brows and pulled the device from his pocket.
It was a message from his pops. It was simple. One sentence. She lost control. That one message was enough to form a pit of dread in his stomach. He shoved his phone back into his pocket before turning to Deku.
Who was still fucking rambling.
"Deku," he said.
Nothing.
"I wonder how long her bite keeps her in control. It's obvious she lost her hold on Mr. Yamamoto San when she lost consciousness, but she has to have more limitations than-
Katsuki gritted his teeth. "DEKU!" he roared.
The greenette's eyes shot toward him, wide with surprise. "Sorry, Kacchan!" he apologized, waving his hands in front of him apologetically. "I got caught up in her quirk. Didn't you think it was awesome?"
He shot the freckled man a glare for both using his stupid nickname and also getting caught right back on his stupid tangent. Deku saw the glare, and seemingly realized his mistakes immediately.
"Right. Sorry. Working."
"Look, Deku, I gotta get out of here. Something came up," he said without further explanation.
"Is it another villain? I can come help. We can always do the paperwork later!" he offered, but Katsuki just shook his head. He wasn't getting Deku involved in this. He had no business in his personal life.
"No," he said bluntly, and again with no additional explanation. "Take care of the paperwork on Banshee, and I'll meet you back at the agency when I'm done."
"Wait- What?" Deku asked, looking positively miffed. "You can't just- Kacchan!"
Katsuki landed outside of his simple two-story home with ease and immediately made a break for the front door. Aizawa was already on his way. He'd called his former teacher on his way home in hopes that the old man could help him tame the little beast that was inside of his house. He jammed his key in the lock and got the door open.
He smelled it before he actually registered the destruction in the genkan alone. There were little scorch marks all over. Some were no larger than 500 yen piece, while others were the size of a baseball. He groaned. They'd only been living in this place for a few days, and he'd yet to fireproof it. That would evidently need to get done sooner rather than later otherwise he'd be spending all of his free time on repairs.
His pops met him in the genkan, his glasses cracked and askew. His face was stricken with worry.
"Katsuki, son," he said, but Katsuki held up a hand to silence him. He didn't want to hear it from his father. He wanted to hear it from her.
"Where is she?" he asked.
"Living room."
He didn't bother shucking off his boots as he made his way into the house. He walked straight into the living room and was immediately met with the sounds of sniffling and then a small explosion. He searched for the source until his eyes landed on the small frame of his daughter, Etsuki, huddled in the corner between the couch and the wall. He pulled his hero mask up his face until it rested in his hair and shucked off his gauntlets before he slowly approached her, his face softening from its usual scowl.
Etsuki's long, blond hair was a mess around her. Her round, cherub face was splotchy and red. Her bright, blue eyes were also tinged pink from the tears that streaked her cheeks. Her little arms were curled around her legs protectively.
"Etsu, baby," he said softly. The little girl's jaw trembled as she fought back more tears.
Katsuki got to his knees and tentatively crawled over to her. She was already spooked enough. He didn't need to stalk over to her and risk frightening her even more. Not when she obviously had lost control of her quirk and was worried for the repercussions. He stopped in front of her, about a foot away from her.
"D-Daddy," she said tearily. She blinked those big, blue eyes of hers and more tears skidded down her cheeks.
"What happened, baby?" he asked softly as he sat down in front of her with his legs crossed beneath him.
Her tough façade quickly crumbled, and Etsuki was reduced to a sobbing mess as she crawled into Katsuki's lap. Her little arms weaved their way around his waist, and in return, he hugged her tight.
"It's okay," he whispered into the crown of her head. She smelt of burnt caramel and that vanilla shampoo he used to wash her hair. "You're okay. Everything is okay."
"B-But I messed up the h-house," she sobbed. "I-I bumpeded my head, and Grandpa tried to help, b-but my quirk-"
He cut her off with a gentle 'shhh' as he slowly rocked her in his arms.
"It's not your fault, Etsu," he said softly.
It wasn't as if she had had a tantrum like the last time. No. This time, she'd just gotten hurt, and the pain caused her to be scared. He wouldn't blame her for this. How could he? What three-and-a-half year-old could adequately control their quirk? He sat there for a long time with her, holding her close and calming her down. He could handle her explosions. They weren't even half as bad as his own. They felt like little pin pricks against him. But each time she released one, he could feel Etsuki flinch. She was so scared of herself and her abilities, and it broke Katsuki's heart.
There was a knock on the front door, which he promptly ignored. His old man could take care of it. The little girl in his arms was his main priority. And if she was finally calming down, he wasn't going to risk spooking her and starting this mess all over again.
He heard Aizawa's low, monotone voice before he saw him. He was talking to his pops, formal niceties before he got to asking where he and Etsuki were. He heard his heavy footsteps enter the living room, and Katsuki craned his head to look at him.
His teacher looked tired, as always. He was in casual clothes and not his usual black ensemble. For a second he was confused, but then he realized. Right. It was Saturday. He didn't have any classes. Hell, he'd probably just called the man from whatever he did on the weekend, not that Katsuki cared.
"Bakugou," Aizawa said in greeting.
Katsuki nodded to him in response.
"Is this Etsuki?" the old man asked. Katsuki nodded again and turned his entire body so that Etsuki's back faced his former teacher. The little girl lifted her head and turned to look at Aizawa. She blinked owlishly at him, tears still glistening in her eyes.
"Say hello, Etsuki," he said. "Don't be a little gremlin."
Her brows furrowed at his comment, and she looked like she was about to retort when another little explosion went off. She immediately cowered in on herself. Fuck. He shouldn't have said that... He frowned, and in return, Aizawa crouched down beside them.
"Hello," Aizawa said to his little girl. "I'm Mr. Aizawa. I'm here to help you."
Etsuki turned completely around in his arms now, leaning toward Aizawa. "You're Mr. Eraser! I've seen you on the TV!" she said excitedly before her quirk once again shot off in several different directions. He felt the small girl shake in his arms once again. "I-I'm sorry!"
Katsuki rubbed his hands up and down her arms in an attempt to calm her rising emotions. This was the trouble with such explosive quirks at such young ages... They didn't know how to control them. He had no idea how his parents dealt with him when his quirk first manifested because he knew that he was hell on wheels once he actually learned to control it. Before that? Fuck.
"I want to help you. I can stop your quirk for a little while," Aizawa said softly to Etsuki. "Can I do that for you?"
Hesitantly, Etsuki nodded. Katsuki held his breath as Aizawa's quirk activated. The man's hair stood on end and his eyes glowed red. He half expected Etsuki to be scared of him, to cower back, but he shouldn't have been worried because as soon as he started using his quirk, Etsuki crowed in admiration.
"Oh my god! Daddy, he's so cool!" she exclaimed, bouncing in his lap.
This time, when her emotions sparked, her quirk did not activate. KAtsuki breathed a sigh of relief. Well, that was one crisis averted. He hugged his daughter close to him as she fawned over the super cool Aizawa in front of them.
"He's not cooler than me, is he?" Katsuki asked, a fond smile on his lips.
"Well, obviously not," she said. He could practically hear the eyeroll behind her words. "You're my daddy. No one is better than you."
He grinned widely. "Damn straig-"
Etsuki's small hand immediately clamped down over his mouth, and he blinked down at her.
"Daddy, no! Use your nice words."
He resisted rolling his eyes because Etsuki did that enough as it was. It was a habit she'd picked up from him, and he didn't need this sass master in his lap picking up anymore of his bad habits. Instead, he pulled her hand down from his mouth and nodded to her.
"Sorry, gremlin," he said.
She scowled at him - another one of his bad habits. "I'm not a gremlin."
"Sure you are," he said, ruffling her hair.
"No, I'm not!"
"You're one of the cute, fluffy ones."
Etsuki stilled and seemed to contemplate that for a few long moments before she gave a resolute nod. "Good. Cute and fluffy."
Katsuki lifted the small girl from his lap and set her on the ground so that she was standing in front of him. "Why don't you go find grandpa and have him put you down for a nap," he said, giving her back a little nudge. "Daddy needs to talk to Mr. Aizawa about big kid stuff before he goes back to work."
"You're going back to work?" she whined.
"Yeah, munchkin," he said. "I'll be back for dinner. I need to go fight the bad guys, remember?"
She wrinkled her nose, but nodded anyway. She then ran off in search of her grandpa. He stood and gestured for Aizawa to follow him to his backyard, away from the prying eyes of his neighbors. Once out there, he let out a heavy sigh.
"That was cute," Aizawa said with a small chuckle.
Katsuki scowled at him. He wasn't used to having anyone outside of his immediate family seeing him with his daughter. That side of him was usually reserved for his time with the little girl that was the light of his life. Outsiders didn't usually intrude, but considering he was going to need Aizawa's help in ensuring Etsuki's safety, he'd have to get used to the old man's presence.
"I never thought I'd actually see you mature enough for kids," he said. "I was wrong."
"Thanks, I guess," he said.
"How old is she?"
"Three-and-a-half."
Aizawa's brows shot up at that. "She's pretty well-spoken for so young."
"Well, she's my kid," he said with a shrug. "Shouldn't expect anything less."
"No, I shouldn't, "Aizawa mused. His face then got serious, and Katsuki knew the heavier conversations were coming, the questions that he didn't want to answer. "Tell me more about her quirk. It's obviously a mixture of yours and another's. Tell me about it."
He furrowed his brows. Usually, he didn't think about who had helped to create Etsuki's quirk. These days, he just thought of it as entirely her own. He wanted his daughter to have nothing to do with her mother. But it was relevant for Aizawa to know if they were going to get a solid game plan in order for the little girl with her explosive quirk.
"Her mother could, ah, strengthen, lengthen, harden, and sharpen her hair. She could even send it off as a projectile," he said.
His gaze was focused on anything but Aizawa. He couldn't bring himself to look at the man lest he risk revealing too much. He decided the fence across the yard was the ideal candidate for his death glare.
"Etsuki can essentially do the same thing, but she can also make her hair explode. Her pediatrician said that her hair has nitroglycerin in it, and she can make it explode at-will. The at-will part is what we're working on."
Aizawa nodded. "She'll be very powerful when she gets older. She just needs control," he said. "Her emotions seem to dictate a lot of what she does right now."
Katsuki nodded. "Yeah," he admitted. "And the emotions are the toughest part. What little girl isn't emotional? I don't know what the fuck to do."
"When did it manifest?"
"Back in April. So four or so months ago. It's been a fucking ride since then."
"And how many of these uncontrollable outbursts of power has she had?"
"This is the second one," he replied. He ran a gloved hand through his blond spikes, frustration creeping into his voice. "But they scare her so much when they happen. I want it to stop. I don't want her to be fucking afraid of herself."
"Give her time. She'll grow," Aizawa said in that teacherly voice of his.
Katsuki couldn't help but be frustrated by that. He couldn't just wait for her to grow. Not when his kid was fucking terrified of hurting someone when she had these random bursts of
Aizawa seemed to sense his frustration. "Look, Bakugou, if it'll make you feel better," he said. "I can stop by when I have an hour and work with her on controlling her quirk. I managed with Eri. I can manage with your kid, too."
Katsuki glanced over at Aizawa. "You'd do that?"
"I'm a teacher," he said. "It's my job to take care of my students. And in the case of my students having kids of their own... Well, I think that applies, too."
He would never admit to it, but the old man was one of the few people that had his utmost respect.
Two hours had passed by the time Katsuki got back to the agency. Being the number four hero beneath Hawks, Mirko, and fuckin' Icy Hot had its perks. The agency was owned by Specs. While he still did hero work as Ingenium, he also took care of the business side of things when it came to the agency. And when Katsuki had made it very clear that he wouldn't put this job over the safety of his kid, Specs hadn't fought him on it. He was willing to put up with the fact that he had a priority that rose beyond this place. Specs let him dip out if he had an emergency with Etsuki. If it were anyone else below the top ten, he knew that they wouldn't put up with it. He'd seen it happen pretty damn often when he was still rising through the ranks. Being a hero meant you couldn't have a schedule let alone a family. Katsuki was damn lucky.
He waltzed back to his and Deku's shared office and leaned against the doorframe of the open door. The greenette was studiously working on what Katsuki assumed to be the paperwork from their capture that afternoon.
Katsuki took a moment to study him. His brows were knitted over his eyes, and he was muttering, like usual. He couldn't help but find it endearing, the way Deku put so much effort into hero work. It was one of those things he'd found irritating back then, but he supposed he never stopped to look either. He'd just assumed that everything Deku did was annoying and wrote it off as such. But now that he was actually, truly looking, he noticed the slight pout that he had on his lips as he worked on something that was probably frustrating. The way he clenched his jaw and the way that his index finger and thumb pinched at his lower lip in thought. His eyes were hard and focused. It was one of those expressions that Deku got when he was incredibly passionate, one of those looks that he avoided looking at when they were in High School because of its implications. Hell, he'd avoided looking at all of Deku back then. So why was he looking now?
"Are you just going to stare at me or are you actually going to help with our report?" Deku suddenly snapped, his tone full of annoyance.
Katsuki was taken aback. He blinked once, twice, three times at Deku, whose angry, viridian gaze was focused on him. Katsuki's face immediately hardened into his signature scowl.
"Fuck off, Deku," he sneered. "I had shit to handle."
"Please tell me. What 'shit' did you have to handle," Deku asked, slapping his pen down onto the desk and using air quotes around the word 'shit'. "What's more important than your job when you're on the clock?"
"It's none of your business," he snarled. "All you need to know is that it takes priority over fucking work."
"Glad to know our number four hero doesn't prioritize hero work," Deku snapped back.
Katsuki's sneer only managed to deepen because fuck Deku and his irritating ass. He didn't know jack fucking shit about Katsuki and his priorities. It was none of his damn business, either. It wasn't as if he just up and left in the middle of a battle. No. He was ditching on some damn paperwork to make sure Etsuki was okay. And granted, Deku didn't know about that, but again. It was none of his goddamn business.
"It was fucking paperwork," Katsuki howled, throwing his hands into the air.
Deku stood now, the chair of his desk scraping against the wooden floor of their office. "And it's your job!"
"I'm doing my damn job! I'm here, aren't I?"
"Two hours after the fact!" Deku raked his scarred hands through his curls before fixing Katsuki with a glare. "Look. This partnership isn't going to work if you're going to do this all the time."
"It isn't all the time," he snapped. "Besides. I didn't ask to be your partner."
"No, I wanted to be yours," Deku said, his voice low and almost... Disappointed? "But evidently you haven't grown up enough."
Katsuki's fists clenched and unclenched. Deku was telling him that he hadn't grown up? Deku was the one sitting here nitpicking him. He had an attitude as soon as Katsuki had walked through the goddamn door. He was the one who hadn't grown the fuck up? He seriously wanted to fucking hit something, or better yet, make something fucking explode. But he couldn't do that. He wouldn't. He wouldn't turn into her because he was pissed the fuck off.
"Look, fucking Deku. You're not my goddamn boss. You don't own the agency."
"Actually, Bakugou," Deku interjected. "I co-own with Iida."
"Then you're the one who can decide whether or not to keep me on as your hero partner," Katsuki snarled. He stalked over to Deku and jabbed a finger into his chest. The vein in his temple was pulsing. His jaw was locked tight. He was desperately hanging onto his last ounces of control here. "But you will not tell me when I can and cannot handle my fucking personal affairs."
He didn't bother to look at Deku's facial expression after his statement. He couldn't bring himself to do it because if he saw anything other than acceptance from the fucking bitch, he knew he'd fucking clock him. So, instead, he turned on his heel and stalked out of their shared office, slamming the door roughly behind him. He was going back out on patrol, with or without Deku.
The next two weeks followed a similar route to that first day with Deku. After their initial argument, the atmosphere between them became tense. Arguments seemed to spur out of nothing. Deku fucking up his aim earlier that afternoon had nearly sent him into a rabbit hole of obscenities and explosions. All because the fucking shithead had to pry where his freckled nose didn't belong.
He honestly couldn't be more relieved that it was all over.
He stood under the showerhead in the locker room, allowing the scalding water to wash over his bruised body. He'd gotten into a close combat fight with a bitch with a power-type quirk. That had gone fucking well. He and Deku couldn't get their heads out of their asses to work together. Deku had nearly Detroit Smashed him through a window.
Katsuki groaned into the locker room, which at this time of day, was pretty damn empty.
"You sound like you're having a fanfuckingtabulous time," a familiar, feminine voice said.
"This is the men's locker room, Camie," Katsuki droned in a monotone. "You know you're not supposed to be in here."
Utsushimi Camie blew a raspberry into the air - so fucking mature. "No one's here. Who's gonna tell. You?"
She had him at that. It wasn't his problem what Camie did to get herself in trouble. He wasn't gonna be the one to narc on her, either. Not when she had become his own personal therapist for his issues.
He and Camie were close. During his second year at UA, Shiketsu and UA had done a partnership program through their respective hero courses. Back then, Camie had latched onto him like the goddamn leech that she was, and she had yet to let go. And after so long, he wasn't really sure that he wanted her to anyway. He, dare he say it, enjoyed her company when she wasn't being an annoying hag. Which was a solid ninety percent of the time.
"What are you doing here, Camie?"
"Came to ask if you're going to the UA class reunion next Friday night."
"Class reunion? We only graduated, what, seven years ago? Don't they do those every ten or some shit."
"I'm surprised you even knew that much," she said.
"Shitty rom-coms my mom made me watch with her growing up," he said as his only explanation. "Regardless, I ain't going, and neither are you 'cause you didn't go there."
"I am, too. Mina invited me as her plus one."
"But she's married to fuckin' shitty hair!" he pointed out rather incredulously.
"Doesn't mean she can't have a plus one."
He gave a dramatic huff. This broad was really great at getting him into her rabbit holes of bullshit. "That's not what you're here for, and you know it, Camie. What do you actually want?"
"Always straight to the point."
"Always."
"I'm checkin' on you, Bakubabe," she said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "You've been back for, what, two weeks, and you haven't once called me. Forgive me if I'm feeling a little miffed."
He sighed heavily, feeling an ounce of guilt toward one of his closest friends. That was a feat in itself as his capacity to feel guilt was often next to zero unless it pertained to his kid. "Look, Camie. It was nothing against you."
"I know it isn't. I figured it wasn't anything to do with me at all. Which is why I'm here to check up on ya," she said.
"Why?" he asked, tipping his head back under the showerhead. God, this woman was going to give him fucking a headache.
"You always come to me when you have issues, and if you're not, then you've got some pretty big issues, babes."
"What makes you think something's wrong?"
"Uhm, in that time you moved both you and Etsuki into the new house and started a new full time job while also being a full time dad."
Well, if she was trying to get to the nitty gritty of his current day-to-day life, then she could have the fucking nitty gritty.
"Add 'house repairs' and 'trying not to throttle Deku' to that list."
There was a silence and then, "House repairs? Isn't that place, like, brand new or something?"
"Etsuki lost control," he said matter-of-factly.
"Oh. Is she okay?"
"Yeah. She's fine," he said.
Memories of the little girl popped into his head. Aizawa had come over twice since his initial meeting with Etsuki to work on controlling her quirk. Those two sessions had done wonders for her confidence already. He wasn't worried about her at all. She'd grow and get where she needed to be.
"So, is there any particular reason you want to strangle Green Bean over there?" she asked tentatively.
Katsuki snorted. Did he need a reason to want to strangle Deku? Not really. But did he have a laundry list of them? Absolutely.
"I had to dip out on paperwork to stop Etsuki's quirk explosion," he said as he grabbed his shampoo and finally went through the process of washing his hair.
"And there's a problem with that, why?"
"Saint Fucking Deku blew up on me for dipping one damn time. Like, sorry I have adult priorities outside of being a hero. It's not like I left to go catch some dick or anything," he groused as he furiously scrubbed at his scalp. "Dude probably got himself so worked up in his head while I was gone. Wouldn't be surprised if he had a whole ass speech prepared by the way he lectured me. And apparently, he's still fucking pissed about it because he's been the biggest pain in my ass since."
"Have you skipped out again since?"
"No! That's the most annoying fucking part," he shouted. "It's not like I made a habit out of it. I'm not a fucking slacker. Sure, paperwork fucking blows, but I've done my work. I'm not cutting corners as a fucking hero, but I'm also not going to cut fucking corners as a fucking father, either."
"Yeeesh," Camie said after his rant. "Simmer down, Bakubabe. Don't burn your impromptu therapist."
He released a heavy sigh and allowed his forehead to rest against the tiled wall of the shower stall. "Sorry," he grumbled.
Camie whistled. "Woah. An apology. Must be my lucky day."
"Don't fucking push it," he snarled.
"Have you thought about telling Deku the truth?" Camie asked, tactfully changing the subject to something else he didn't want to talk about.
"I might have eventually if he didn't act like such an entitled dick about two hours of personal time," he said.
The blond snorted in response. "Passionate about it, huh?"
"I mean, yeah. I'm not dealing with his bullshit."
"I know something else of his you'd like to deal with," she said slyly.
Katsuki scowled, knowing the gesture would be lost on her. "Don't go there, Camie. I was drunk."
"And don't you just love how being drunk bares your soul?"
"No."
Fuck, he was really beginning to regret drinking with Camie just before he'd moved back to his hometown. Get a couple of strong drinks in him and apparently he'll start spilling the deeply buried physical attraction he had to Deku that he was going to deny all the way to his grave. Sure the media coverage from his fights showed Katsuki that Deku had a nice ass and great legs. And sure, sometimes his hero uniform let on a little about what he was packing below his waist. But Katsuki wouldn't ever admit it to another soul beyond who already knew. There was no goddamn way.
"C'mon, Bakubabe! Just think of the potential romance."
"There is no potential romance," he snapped.
"Sure there is! You said you liked his-"
"O-Oh! Crap! Did I go into the wrong locker room by mistake?" Deku suddenly asked. "I could have sworn I was paying better attention! I am so sorry Utsushimi!"
"No worries, Midoriya," she said, her voice getting further and further away. "This is the men's locker room. I was just chatting with Bakugou."
"O-Oh!" Deku stammered.
"I'll catch you later, Bakubabe!"
"Whatever, Camie," he grumbled back.
He heard the click of her heels against the tile as she walked out of the locker room. The door opened and shut behind her, leaving the locker room in an uncomfortable silence. He was sure Deku was just staring at the door that Camie had left behind, mortified that a woman had invaded their space. And after several long moments, Deku finally shuffled around the locker room, getting himself together. Katsuki definitely wasn't listening in on the nerd as he rinsed out his hair and lathered it up with conditioner. He heard his locker door open and close. Then the water in the showerstall beside him turned on.
And then, Deku's voice.
"Uh, Kacchan?" he asked.
Katsuki wrinkled his brows. It was the first time Deku had called him by his shitty nickname since his initial blow up two weeks earlier. So what? Was the fucking nerd talking to him again? Katsuki tched lightly, soft enough to be drowned out by the streaming water
"Kacchan, can you hear me?"
This time, a long, low groan escaped him. "Yeah, mother fucker. I can fucking hear you," he growled. "What do you want? You want to talk to me again like nothing happened?"
There was a long pause, and then, "I'm sorry, Kacchan. For, uh, being an ass before."
Katsuki dipped his head back under the showerhead, rinsing the conditioner from his hair. He then pulled off one of his cochlear's and set it on the ledge so he could clean behind his ear. He left the one closer to Deku in.
"I shouldn't have been so quick to judge you," Deku continued when Katsuki didn't say anything. "You never slacked off in high school, and I shouldn't have assumed you would now."
He loosed a quiet snort because what Deku was saying was damn fucking straight. He had been at the top of their class academically and physically at UA, rivalled only by Icy Hot and Deku himself. The nerd should know that he took his job seriously. Fucking asshole.
"Are you sure you can hear me, Kacchan?" he asked.
"Yeah, Deku. I already said I could fucking hear you, didn't I?"
Deku hummed in response. "Sorry, Kacchan. You did."
"Is that all you came in here to do? Shower and apologize?"
There was a nervous laugh from Deku. "Uh, no. I actually wasn't expecting you to be here at all. I figured you would have left right away like you usually do."
Katsuki lifted a brow at that. Usually he did blast himself out of this joint as quickly as physically possible. After a shower, of course. But this time, he didn't really need to. Etsuki had a playdate with a girl down the road, and his mother was the one watching her. She'd told Katsuki to take his time, to get a few minutes to himself, whatever that meant. But he'd gladly take the help where it was offered. When Etsuki was first born, he hadn't had it, and with something as important as raising a kid... Well, Katsuki wouldn't let his pride get in the way of her well-being. It was why he'd asked Aizawa for help. It was why he'd take his mother's. Shit. Even ten minutes of alone time was more than he'd gotten when it was just him and Etsuki alone. He'd take what he could get. Even though Deku was fucking crashing said alone time.
"I actually wanted to ask you how you're able to hear me."
Katsuki furrowed his brows. "What's that supposed to fuckin' mean?"
"I, uh, I thought you were deaf, Kacchan. Or at least hard of hearing. Your, uh, hearing aids. I know you wear them everyday."
Oh. That. He rolled his eyes.
"You're rolling your eyes at me, aren't you?" Deku asked after a moment.
"Bingo," the blond said. "You always were the smartest out of our class of idiots."
"Kacchan!" Deku whined. "It's a serious question! I figured that your quirk would eventually cause some degree of hearing loss with how intense your explosions can be, but I never knew how fast it would progress or if your body had some built in protection against it. I'm just so curious is all. And if you can hear me right now, that must mean that your hearing isn't actually bad at all. But if that's the case, then how did you stand up against Siren-"
"Deku, shut the fuck up," Katsuki groaned. "You're muttering a fuckin' mile a minute over there. Can you just fucking breathe so I can answer your damn question?"
"Sorry Kacchan," the nerd replied.
Katsuki was sure there was a mile-long blush across his cute, freckled cheeks. And that thought alone managed to stall the blond's brain completely. He wasn't supposed to think of Deku as cute ever, let alone when the nerd was within proximity of him. And considering they were also both naked. Yeah. That wasn't something that could happen. Fuck his traitorous brain for this bullshit. He forced the thoughts from his mind and focused on something relatively safe. Like the fact that he was deaf. Yep. That was safe territory.
"For one, they're not regular hearing aids," he said as he replaced his cochlear and repeated the same process on the other side. Then, he lathered up his body with soap. He gave himself a good scrub with his loofa before he continued on with his explanation. "They're cochlear implants. They don't go in my ear. They go outside. They're magnetized to my head to a receiver just under my skin. It's a bunch of weird shit to do with my ears. Doctors know more about it than I do. I just let 'em do it so I could hear again."
"How deaf are you exactly?"
"That ain't exactly polite to ask, Deku," he said although there was no malice behind his words. Just a sort of resignation. Might as well give the nerd the information he wanted so he wouldn't have to have this conversation again later.
"Sorry Kacchan," Deku said for the umpteenth time.
"Stop apologizing, nerd. It's annoying," Katsuki snapped as he rinsed himself off. And when Deku didn't say anything else, he continued on. "I take the cochlear's off, and I can't hear worth shit. I can get some high pitch sounds, but shit like Banshee's voice the other day. Nothing."
Deku hummed in thought. "So, how are you able to shower with them?"
"They're waterproof, dumbass," he drawled. "What sort of hero would I be if one of my primary senses got taken out of commission by a little bit of water, huh?"
The greenette didn't say a word which absolutely meant that he was filing this away into his mental catalog of superhero knowledge. Dude had an encyclopedia in that brain of his.
"Earth to Deku," he groaned.
"I was thinking. Sorry."
"You're always thinking," he said as he shut off the shower. The sudden lack of scalding water left his red skin feeling cold. Goosebumps immediately began to form on his skin.
"Well, it's not often I can get a full conversation out of you. I have to keep it going without fucking it up," Deku said.
Katsuki snorted. He wasn't wrong. If the nerd said one thing to piss him off, he'd be out of this bitch faster than All Might could say 'I am here'.
He opted to ignore Deku in favor of towel drying his skin. And once all of the drips were gone, he wrapped the towel around his waist and stepped out of the stall. He padded lightly over to his locket and dug out his pedestrian clothes he'd brought with him that morning. As he grabbed out the pile, his phone chimed. It was the tone he'd picked out specifically for his parents, two of the only people who ever watched his kid. He snatched up the device and looked at the screen. Sure enough, it was a text from his mother.
Katsuki quickly swiped open his phone and typed in his passcode before scouring the text his mother sent him. His heart raced as he looked it over. Only to feel incredibly stupid afterward. It was just Etsuki playing dress-up with the other little girl that she was playing with. Etsuki was dressed up in her Dynamight finest while the other little girl was dressed up as Cheeks. He couldn't help but smile at the photograph. He immediately downloaded it to his camera roll.
"Woah. You're smiling, Kacchan! You must be really happy!" Deku suddenly said from less than ten feet from him.
The blond nearly fucking jumped, but he managed to keep his composure. Barely. Fuck. He wasn't some punk ass bitch. He locked his phone and tossed it into his bag before shooting a glare in Deku's direction.
"Fuck off," he snapped.
He had to stop his glare from shifting into a straight stare as he took in Deku. He'd seen him shirtless before, but fuck. It had been a long time. Probably since they were both in UA together. These days, Deku's support team made his hero suit pretty damn sturdy considering the shit he always put himself through. It wasn't often that it was blasted to shreds anymore. So the facefull of dripping, freckled Deku chest that he got was fucking divine. Er. No. Not divine. Repulsive. Fuck. He needed to get a grip. But how could he when Deku was standing there like that? Rivulets of water dripped off of his curls down into his face. And fuck, if that didn't make Katsuki want to lick it off of him.
NOPE. He needed to stand the fuck down because he dick was trying to stand the fuck up. He turned back to his locker and hid his face behind the metal because he was sure as shit that a blush had spread onto his cheeks. Fuck him and his bisexual tendencies.
"Dry the fuck off, dipshit," he snapped. "You're getting water all of the fucking place."
"Ah. Crap," Deku muttered.
"Such a fuckin' slob."
Katsuki refused to look at him as the nerd went in search of a towel. That freckled ass was only clad in a towel, and as much as he would love to see it, he was going to exercise self control. The fucker had been a dick for the past two weeks. His attractive body was not going to be the reason he got over that slight so quickly.
Instead, he got dressed in record speed before towel-drying his hair. He packed his shit and dipped out of the locker room before he could risk seeing anymore of Deku than he was fucking ready for. Shit. The spirits that be could fucking sue him for being physically attracted to one of the heroes that was often ranked in the top ten in the Sexiest Heroes of the Year. And they could also sue him for being well the fuck aware of that information. He'd only fucking found out because he'd been checking his own standing. He was number fucking one, thank you very much.
Katsuki walked through the agency and right out the front door of the building. Once outside, he took in a deep breath of air. The warm late afternoon air filled his lungs, calming his racing heart. Fuck him and his fucking dick for thinking for him. Fucking bullshit. He and Deku were actually having a civilized conversation that he hadn't wanted to throttle him through. If his dick hadn't decided to take the reins, they might have been able to continue.
It was the reason he was leaning against the building beside the door. Because not two minutes after he parked himself there, Deku came rushing out the door, his viridian eyes searching frantically for something, or rather someone.
"I'm right here, dipshit," he said after he allowed the man to look for a few comical moments.
There was a look of blatant relief on his freckled face. "I thought you'd left."
"Nah. Figured your dumbass would come hunt me down," he said with a shrug. "Didn't feel like having you follow me home."
"I would not have followed you home, Kacchan!" Deku cried, his cheek striking up a crimson color once again.
"Uh huh, sure you wouldn't have," he said, pushing himself off of the wall. "C'mon nerd. I'm grabbing takeout for dinner. Don't feel like cookin' on a Friday night."
"Are you inviting me to go with you?" Deku asked. The sheer joy on his features was fucking annoyingly endearing.
"I'm not sitting down and eating with you, if that's what you're thinking. I'm getting this shit to-go."
"But you're still asking me to come with you!" he said without a question at the end.
"I mean, I can tell you to stay the fuck here if you really want that, fuck face," he snapped, his face twisting into a scowl.
"No!" Deku said quickly.
Katsuki started down the sidewalk, and Deku fell instep beside him. They walked in comfortable silence with Katsuki taking the lead.
"Where're we heading?" Deku asked.
"A noodle joint down the road," he said.
The thought of the restaurant's spicy noodles made his stomach grumble. He was starving. The shit lunch he'd packed himself had hardly held him over until this point. He was fucking ravenous. He knew the noodles would be a good treat for Etsuki, too. Being his kid, she'd adopted his love for spicy food. He was fucking floored about that. It meant making her dinners so much easier if he didn't have to cater to the junkfood guided whims of the typical three-and-a-half year-old.
He heard Deku whine in protest at his choice. "Are you talking about the fire noodles?"
"You got a problem with that?"
"You know I can't handle spicy stuff, Kacchan!"
"Tch. Fuckin' weak ass. Still got time to turn the fuck around and get something else. But I ain't changing my mind, so you can fuck off about that."
Deku didn't say another word and instead admitted defeat. This time. He was sure the next time they grabbed food, Deku would protest more. If they ever grabbed food again outside of work. Once they got to the restaurant, Katsuki placed his order. One spicy tonkotsu ramen and another child's spicy tonkotsu. After he paid, he caught Deku looking at him funny. His brows were knitted, and his mouth was curved downward in a way that Katsuki found particularly irksome.
"What?" he snapped at the greenette. His red gaze narrowed in on the bastard, ready to rip off his head at the slightest infraction. "You got a problem with what I ordered?"
Deku immediately shook his head. "Not at all. Just curious is all."
"Well, keep your damn curiosity to yourself. Don't need you sticking your nose into my business," he groused.
Soon enough their orders were up. He and Deku grabbed their shit and walked out of the joint. And at this point, it was time to part ways. He and Deku lived in opposite parts of town. While he lived in a house in the more suburban areas of the city, Deku had mentioned that he lived in an apartment quite a few times. Granted, those comments had been made to people that weren't Katsuki because the pair of them hadn't been talking at the time. Sue him for remembering. With that information, he could only assume that the number five hero lived in one of the sky rises downtown. It was easily accessible to any crimes that might be happening. Dude was a fucking work-a-holic. It only made sense.
"I'll see you tomorrow," Deku said with one of his brilliant smiles on his cheeks.
Katsuki shrugged his shoulders. "I'm working, so. Probably. Catch you later."
Without another word, he turned on his heels. He offered Deku a flippant wave as he went. And even though he didn't turn around to look, he knew those viridian eyes were focused solely on him until he turned the corner and went completely out of his line of sight.