Hi all,
Welcome to my first BNHA fanfiction!
I'm gonna be so honest, I have not watched the show since 2019, so a lot of the content will be based on earlier character interactions. I am thinking about re-watching it and catching up on where the show is at now because my depression is making senile and forget exactly what happened and when. But that don't really matter for this story.
I try to write characters as IC as I can, but especially Bakugou may feel a little OOC because I'll be damned if his flaming, hot-garbage personality stops me from writing about high school drama. Pacing may feel off because of ongoing editing, but I will do my best to keep everything legible.
All reviews and favorites are truly appreciated. Please enjoy!
"I like you."
Izuku Midoriya was stunned into silence by the unusual phrase that audibly escaped Katsuki Bakugou's mouth. For a moment, nothing but the whispers of the warm, spring breeze and the faint echoes of overflowing traffic from down below the school rooftop could be heard. And after what felt like an eternity, the green-haired teen finally responded with a warm smile.
"Oh, I like you too, Kacchan!"
The blond palmed his face and narrowed his eyes curtly at his rival, who obliviously returned it with that same dumb, genuine expression that naturally sat on his face. He hated that he could feel his cheeks spontaneously burn red and his palms slicken with what felt like buckets of sweat. It did not help that today was deemed the hottest day of the year so far.
"N-Not like that, you damn nerd!" He barked sharply.
The green-haired teenager flinched instinctively at the outburst, pursed his lips into a thoughtful pout before widening his eyes with sudden clarity, as if a new switch had flipped. "Ah, I get it! You like my new quirk technique! I've been working really hard on it, and I think that if I try blend it with another one of my other powers, like Black Whip, I can potentially strengthen the magnitude of my impact without losing efficiency. Although I would lose my range advantage, but I figured it does add to my accuracy percentage, so that would be okay as long as I-"
"Shut up! Ugh, just- forget it! Forget I said anything, alright? You ruined it and now you're just pissing me off!" Bakugou spat out before stomping away fuming with annoyance.
Ruined… what? Izuku stared at the blond and tilted his head in puzzlement while gently resting the back of his knuckles against his chin thoughtfully. There had to be a reason his short-tempered classmate asked him to meet up here after class. He nervously figured it was an invitation to another unregulated fight, like the one they had in Ground Beta, and that this was another chance for him to show off his new skills in hopefully a less extreme and destructive way. But when he got here, all Bakugou had him do was sit down on the bench and hear him out.
I like you.
Midoriya had never heard him say something so softly and with such sincerity before. If he didn't know any better, he would've thought he brought him up here for…
"Wait Kacchan," Izuku stood up abruptly and called out loud enough to make Bakugou break his stride. "You don't mean you… like-like me, do you?"
The hot-headed freshman whipped his head around and grumbled in exasperation. "What are we, in fucking primary school? Just say love, dammit!"
"You… you love me?"
Shit.
Bakugou gritted his teeth and lost color when he realized the hole he dug himself into. He knew this was a bad idea. He knew he should've just kept his mouth shut, feelings smothered, and taken all that garbage with him deep down into his grave. But it was too late now. He sighed and treaded his way back towards the shorter of the two threateningly, "And what if I do, huh?! You gonna have a good laugh now and make me feel like a complete moron, Deku?"
"N-No, Kacchan, I would never!" Midoriya cried out, waving his hands out defensively as he intuitively backed up until he felt his back press up against a wall. "I just… never knew you thought of me like that."
Katsuki didn't stop until he was towering over the latter shrunken figure in the shade. He slammed one palm forcefully against the brick tiles adjacent to Izuku's paled face and scowled. Beads of sweat that he had been harboring in his hand splattered everywhere hotly. "Yeah, well, I do. So there!"
Midoriya cast his emerald eyes downward and nervously massaged his left arm.
"That's… I mean… Kacchan, I'm really glad you felt comfortable enough to share this with me," He started. "But to be honest, I'm not sure how to take this. We've known each other for so long, and all this time, I honestly thought you hated my guts."
Bakugou sighed. Fucking Deku was really going to make him come clean about everything, wasn't he? He was already knee-deep into this trainwreck of a confession; he supposed this was as good a time as any to set the record as straight as he could.
"I… know I haven't been the nicest person to you, or to anyone. Especially when we were in middle school. And I have a lot of regrets about ever being that person, but I want you to know that I never hated you." Katsuki mumbled, silently hating how his voice cracked during his admission of guilt. "I was just so angry at myself for having to look down on someone like you to feel better about myself."
He suddenly retracted his hand from the wall and stepped back to bow his head down. "I'm really sorry for everything. And if you let me, I… want to make it up to you."
When Bakugou rose back up, his gaze met Midoriya's round, sparkling eyes that glistened like they were on the verge of spilling tears. He turned away and blushed. "Look, if you're seeing someone already, just say it! If that's the case, I won't bother you again with this sappy crap, and you can forget every single word I said!"
Another round of silence settled before the inheritor of One for All broke it again.
"Actually, Bakugou," The blond winced at the sound of his last name coming out of the mouth of his childhood friend. It made him unexpectantly uneasy. "You're the first person that's ever confessed something like this to me, so… I'm not really sure how to go about it."
Bakugou rolled his eyes, "It's not fucking rocket science, Deku. Just say yes or no!"
Izuku inhaled then paused before releasing his breath, as though he suddenly felt the need to rein in an answer that lingered on the tip of his tongue. "I'll… I'll think about it."
"You'll think about it?" Katsuki repeated sourly.
"I-If it's not too much to ask, could you give me some time to get back to you about my answer?"
Why the hell was he making this so complicated?! Bakugou bit back a disparaging jab at the green-head and instead rubbed the back of his neck with a heavy hint of irritation. It was just like Izuku to overthink this and treat it like some kind of job interview. But then again, the former bully supposed he at least owed him that much after everything he managed to put him through.
"How much?"
"What?"
"I said, how much time do you want?" Bakugou reiterated impatiently.
Midoriya paused, "Um… f-five days?"
"You get two."
"Huh?!"
"That's plenty of time to figure out whether you want to get involved with me or not. Like I said, it's not a hard question. If you can't answer something as straightforward as this by that time, then obviously, your answer is no."
"R-Right…" It was Izuku's turn to rub the back of his neck, but he did so apprehensively.
"Meet me in my dorm when you figure it out. And don't even think about texting me your response! The last thing I need is a fucking essay in my messages." Bakugou warned before withdrawing from his childhood rival and making headway back towards the staircase exit.
Before he disappeared through the metal door, the explosive hero-in-training stopped, casually adding on to his instructions bluntly, "And if you breathe a word of what happened here to anyone else, I'll rip your fucking tongue out and feed it to that damn bird, you hear?!"
Damn bird?
Izuku didn't let the question linger too long in the open out of fear for the integrity of his tongue and nodded furiously, finally able to let go of his breath once the heavy exit slammed shut behind the blond. He slid down the wall into a crumpled seat, clasped his hands over his mouth in a prayerful gesture and hummed in muffled distress.
He needed a moment to think and process one main question at the core of everything, which was: What the fuck just happened, and what the hell did he do to deserve this?
