Chapter 3
At the hospital, they got placed in the same room as their teammates, despite his insistence that he didn’t need a hospital. Uraraka had also damaged her hand in the fight, it had been stepped on. She would need slight assistance for a few days. Kirishima volunteered to help (of course he did). Bakugo shook his head at the interaction but kept it to himself. Hopefully, this would turn out to be his friend's time to finally get the girl.
Deku volunteered to take care of him to which he replied by yelling saying he didn’t need help. Uraraka eyed him but much to Bakugo’s relief she kept her mouth shut.
That night when Tokoyami and Tsu were asleep Uraraka told him she would keep his mark a secret. Of course, she tried to convince him to tell Deku but unless he did it himself she wouldn’t say anything. He grumbled out 'thanks' but he still felt on edge with her stupid knowing look. Luckily they were discharged from the hospital the next morning.
Everyone met at the agency to discuss what happened but they didn’t have any leads. Tsukauchi informed them that the cops with the badge numbers that corresponded to the ones Bakugo memorized were missing. After a search they found them tied up in the back of their police car. The three villains they apprehended that were masquerading as cops all had their memories wiped. The telekinetic quirk user with the light blue hair was missing, so that was yet another problem.
Both attacks had happened 2 hours into the patrol shift. Both attacks the villains happened to be perfectly matched for the heroes. And fake cops were put in place for whoever came to survey the scene. That meant the villains were either trying to cover up something incriminating at the scene or they were put there to attack whatever heroes came to check the scene. It was likely both but even knowing all that didn’t help them catch the bad guys.
Their team was out of leads but yet had extremely high morale. They were confident they would catch the villains and excited their friends were okay. So excited that they insisted on having another party despite the one a week prior. Bakugo thought it was a terrible idea but this time Kirishima convinced him to go. He claimed this was his opportunity with Uraraka and he needed his “wingman” to be there.
Yet again Bakugo was at a party he didn’t want to be at.
“It’s a shame I wasn't there. I doubt I would’ve let a knife take me out…” Todoroki said in an attempt to provoke him.
“A poison knife. How about I stab you with a poisoned knife and we find out yea?” He yelled at the other man.
“Kacchan…”
“Don’t try to save him, Deku.”
“Don’t worry Midoriya. I won’t hurt Bakugo. Unless of course… I develop a knife-related quirk. Then he’ll pass out.”
“DIE YOU HALF ‘N HALF BASTARD!” he yelled, launching himself at the other man.
\ \ \ \
A few hours and two fights later he was stuck on intoxicated individual duty. This time only he, Iida, and Kirishima remained lucid. The rest of them were drunk off their asses. Yet again, after helping with everyone else he was stuck watching Deku.
This time he was rambling about how happy he was that everyone was safe and his analysis of the villain's quirks. Bakugo managed to get him into bed, the fresh trash can, the water, and the medicine ready. He was leaving the room when Deku spoke, scaring him (he thought the man was asleep).
“Fuck, what is it?” he snapped irritated at the other man for sneaking up on him.
“Why do you always leave? You always sneak out in the morning before I wake up.”
Well shit. “What’re you even saying? Go to sleep.”
“Kacc-“
“Goodnight Deku”
He shut the door and went to go sit on the couch. Bakugo didn’t think that he knew this whole time. It didn’t matter though, he was going to stay and then leave like usual. He turned the television on, silent but with the subtitles. The only sound in the apartment was Deku’s light snores.
The movie was playing but his mind was elsewhere. If Deku knew that he stayed and never said anything but checked to see if he was there in the morning… he wanted him to stay? It wasn’t a big deal, they’d stayed over at each other's place before. They hung out sometimes as well… but this seemed different.
Truthfully he didn’t want to leave. He enjoyed the random times they stayed at each other's places and he got to see Deku first thing in the morning. It was the kind of sappy shit he usually hated. Something about Izuku Midoriya made him want to do sappy domestic shit though.
—
He had just finished making an Ichiju Sansai-style breakfast. It consisted of warm rice, salted salmon, miso soup, and seaweed. He wanted to include some Tamagoyaki but there were no eggs in this apartment. He frowned unhappy with breakfast but he made do with what was here. If they had been in his apartment he could’ve made
Umph.
His thoughts were interrupted by a green-haired man tackling him to the floor. He couldn’t catch himself since two strong arms wrapped around him, pinning his own to his sides.
“Damnit Deku get off me!” He yelled.
“Kacchan!!! You’re here!” Despite the telltale sign of tears the green eyes gazing down at him were full of unabashed happiness.
He definitely made the right decision by staying. Last night he thought about leaving, most of the morning too. Deep down he never wanted to leave; he only left because that’s what he thought the other man wanted him to do. He had been racked with nerves about what Deku would say when he found Bakugo still in his apartment. To ease his nerves he started to make breakfast. Turns out Deku would be so happy he’d attack him in a hug as soon as he saw him.
“You plan to hug me all morning or what?” He tried to say it angrily but it lacked the bite it usually had. He fought to keep the blush off of his face as well. He couldn’t recall the last time they had hugged. On top of that Deku’s face was awfully close to his own.
He could clearly see the freckles on each cheek, the wide smile, those damn eyes. Deku was so fucking happy right now. If he knew that would happen he would’ve been staying this whole time. He saw the moment the other man realized what Bakugo had said. His cheeks heated up and he took note of their position.
“O-oh! OH!! Sorry, Kacchan!” He apologized but he didn’t get up. Instead, he dropped his head down to Bakugo’s chest.
He was now looking down at fluffy green hair. Deku squeezed him harder, whispering thank you. Then he abruptly got up claiming he had to brush his teeth first. Instead of getting up when he left Bakugo lay there trying to keep the smile off his face.
Getting caught in the same position smiling like an idiot wouldn’t be good. He had just begun to eat when the other man reappeared. They made small talk over the meal, mostly about the party from the night before. Bakugo didn’t really want to talk about whether the hug meant anything or not, he wanted to believe it did. He was grateful Deku didn’t bring it up first either.
They started to discuss the case a bit more but they weren’t able to make any headway. There was the first attack, the second one, the fake cops, the villains, and the real cops that were knocked out in their car. The only person they could really trust outside of their team was the detective. Some of their friends still thought all of this was just a bunch of strange coincidences but Bakugo was convinced it was connected.
Once they finished eating he started to wash the dishes. Deku tried to stop him but they decided Bakugo would wash and Deku would dry them and put them away since it was his place. Since they were doing it together it went by pretty fast. They still had to go in today, they didn’t have another day off for a while.
“Hey, where are your cups?”
“Top left!” Deku called from the other room. He had left to go get changed into his hero uniform.
“Not those, the travel ones!” He yelled back.
Since he hadn’t gone to sleep he was exhausted. He made a pot of coffee but he needed something to put it in. He still had to add other ingredients to make it the way he liked to but for that, he needed the cup. Whatever Deku said in reply he didn’t hear.
He rounded the corner but didn’t see him. Walking into the bedroom he wasn’t there either. Okayyyyy, annoying where the fuck was he? He went into the attached bathroom but he wasn’t there either.
He walked out of the bathroom and slammed straight into Deku. He reached out and grabbed his hips to stop them from falling. His hands were on bare skin, his eyes widened as he took in the state of Deku. He was shirtless, dressed in just the pants to his costume. Skipping the naked scarred chest in front of him he looked at Deku’s eyes which were wide with shock yet again. He had a phone held up to his ear, the other hand rested on Bukugo’s shoulder for balance.
“Midoriya? What was that?” Todoroki’s voice came through the phone, filling the silence between them.
“H-huh? Oh it was uh,” he met his eyes “nothing, w-what were you saying?”
He stuttered over the word because as soon as Bakugo heard him tell Todoroki it was nothing, his hands tightened on his waist. Deku was looking at him in question but he didn’t let go.
“I was asking if you wanted me to grab you breakfast on my way to the agency.”
Was this a habit between them? Icy hot grabbing him breakfast? They just called each other and did this? He pulled Deku closer to him. He wasn’t sure what he wanted to do but the thought was making him angry.
“Breakfast? Oh no. T-thanks Shoto! I um… I already had breakfast this morning.”
He called that bastard by his first name? He never called Bakugo by his first name. Not once. Also, why hadn’t he told Todoroki he was there? They had hung out plenty of times. They stayed over at each other's apartments before as well. So why was it such a big secret all of the sudden?
Looking down he saw Deku’s mark. That damn mark. The splat was dark against his pale skin. It was so close to where his hand already rested. He shifted his hand a little so that his thumb could brush the mark. Their mark. It would be on their bodies forever tying them together. Deku was his soulmate.
Deku made a startled noise when he brushed the mark as Todoroki said “You never wake up and make breakfast and what was that sound? You have somebody over?”
“N-no” he squeaked
“ Yes,” he growled at the same time.
His thumb traced the mark again. Trying to commit the feel of it to memory. It was his first time openly touching the man’s mark. Despite it looking the same as his own, he ached to keep tracing it. He shouldn’t be doing this. He shouldn’t be so close. He wanted to just grab Deku’s face and kiss him but he couldn’t. Just like he couldn’t tell him about the mark or how he truly felt. Damnit, finally admitting his feelings out loud had started to get to him. He never would have done this before so he shouldn’t be doing it now.
“Is that Bakugo?”
“No, it’s not! I’ll see you at work” Deku said, hastily hanging up.
He felt his anger rise on the verge of boiling over. Why would he lie? What was so wrong with him being here? Other than being closer than usual at this moment, it’s not like they’d done anything wrong or suspicious. Especially anything that couldn’t be told to Todoroki.
“Why’d you lie to him?” He demanded.
“I-… I-… Because… Ah… Kacchan, that h-hurts…”
FUCK. He let go of him instantly. He hadn’t realized he was grabbing him so hard. There were light red handprints on Deku’s hips where he had been grabbing him. Even after all this time he still couldn’t control his anger and ended up hurting him again. He put his head in his hands trying to calm down.
“Damn it Deku I’m sorry. Why would you let me do that? You’re strong enough to stop me now. Why didn’t you stop me?” He snapped at him.
It wasn’t Deku’s fault, not really. He wasn’t trying to blame him. He really was sorry. He was all so frustrated though, Deku always let himself get hurt. He let Bakugo hurt him. He never defended himself. Not when they were kids, not when he got his quirk, and not now. He should be yelling and raging at Bakugo. He should be upset about what happened. Instead, he had a watery smile on his face, he was about to tell Bakugo it was okay.
But it wasn’t okay. That was the problem. Deku always explained away everything Bakugo did. Made excuses for him. Refused to go all out against him. He always held back against him. He let his defenses down on purpose. He did stupid shit like risk his life time and time again for Bakugo. He didn’t even think it through he’d break every fucking limb he had if it meant saving one of his friends.
It made Bakugo so fucking frustrated. He just wanted Deku to put himself first just once. He didn’t even want to be a hero for himself, for the glory, or for the money, he wanted to be a hero because he wanted to save people. He was always saving people and putting others first. When would it be Deku’s turn? When would he put himself, Izuku Midoriya, first?
“It’s okay Kacchan. You didn’t mean to. But… w-why we’re you-“
“It’s NOT okay! Fucking hell. If I’m hurting you, if anybody is hurting you stop them. You hear me? Put yourself first for once. It doesn’t matter what I meant to do, it matters what happened” He raged at him.
“It didn’t hurt that much! You’re exaggerating…Kacchan… calm down,” he stepped toward him again leaving barely any space between them
“Whatever.” He said before leaving the room.
He had to remove himself from the situation. His chest ached tremendously. It wasn’t as bad when he had resigned himself to the fact that they’d never be together and he would hide his mark forever. But now Uraraka knew about it and he had admitted for the first time how he felt. He knew it but he’d never told a soul. He was going to take it to his grave. It made things feel so much more real now that he’d said it and somebody in the world knew that Deku was his soulmate.
He hadn’t wanted to think about it too deeply but during breakfast, he had entertained the idea that maybe this would be possible. Maybe Deku could learn to like him, maybe even love him. He’d pushed it to the back of his mind afraid to hope for it. Now that he knew he couldn’t even hold Deku without hurting him he felt defeated. He realized that he had been hoping and now that hope was crushed.
It didn’t take long for the green-haired man to get dressed after that. He met Bakugo in the kitchen and they left. Since the cup situation never got resolved they stopped at the usual coffee shop so that he could get the caffeine he needed.
The mood hadn’t improved. Despite them talking as if nothing happened there was an obvious tension in their conversation. Bakugo wanted to snap at him about it, maybe if they talked it out they could fix it. Unfortunately, their version of talking things out was always an argument or physical alteration.
He didn’t want that. He wanted to just walk up and say what was on his mind.
I’m sorry I touched your mark even though I won’t show you mine.
I’m sorry I hurt you
Why wouldn’t you tell Todoroki I was there?
Why did you call him by his first name but never me?
I love you
All of the things he wanted to say remained painfully trapped inside.