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Published:
2020-03-15
Updated:
2020-11-17
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11/12
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Giving Your All

Chapter 8

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Shouto steeled himself for the task in front of him. He was about to enter the dragon’s den, completely unarmed, no plan of attack, trying to figure out how to get the job done without getting an explosion to the face. 

 

The dragon in question, being Bakugou.

 

Shouto didn’t have a clue how he would persuade Midoriya’s bully to become a part of his recovery. He had no strategy, no speech, no trickity-trick that would help this outcome go smoothly. He just had to go in there and hope to come out of it with his head intact.

 

Or without strangling Bakugou. That would be good, too.

 

With a hesitant pause, Shouto brought his hand up and knocked on Bakugou’s door. He waited and listened, and could barely make out a disgruntled moaning coming from the other side, and a shifting of blankets. But no footsteps. 

 

Shouto knocked again, louder. This time he got a reaction in the form of angry cursing and heavy footsteps heading for the door. “What do you want, Icy-Hot?!” he heard, but the door still did not open.

 

Shouto raised an eyebrow. “How did you know it was me?” he asked.

 

“Everyone else is in class, including our teachers. Who the fuck else could it be?” 

 

‘Fair point,’ Shouto thought. He hated that Bakugou was as smart as he was an ass, but chose not to voice it and carry on. “Let me in, Bakugou. I wanna talk to you.”

 

“Tough shit!” he got in response. “Now piss off and let me sleep.”

 

“It’s about Midoriya.”

 

“I don’t care if it’s about my ass being on fire. If I’m under house arrest because of you, then fuck it I’m gonna enjoy it and sleep in. Now, I repeat, PISS! OFF!”

 

Shouto felt his eye twitch. ‘BECAUSE OF ME?!’ He knew this wouldn’t be easy, Bakugou is a stubborn asshole on a good day. When he was pissed off, one may as well talk to an alligator if they wanted their head bitten off.

 

He didn’t want to have to play this card, but if Bakugou wasn’t going to come out and talk, he would drag him out body and bones. This was for Midoriya, there was no boundary he wouldn’t cross to make him happy.

 

“I know your trans, Bakugou.”

Shouto had never seen a door fly open so fast in his life. 

 

In the blink of an eye, Bakugou flew out of his room, grabbed Shouto by the shirt, and was seemingly trying to glare daggers into Shouto’s eyes. Shouto remained as stoic as ever as Bakugou was one smartass comment away from exploding his head off.

 

“Who. The FUCK. Told you that?!” Bakugou snarled.

 

Shouto used one arm to shake off Bakugou’s grip on his shirt, not once looking away from him as he did so. He raised his hands passively in front of his chest. “First off, your secret is safe with me. It’s not my information to spread. The only reason I brought it up was to get you aggravated enough to come out here. Now that we’re talking, I promise not to bring it up again.”

 

Bakugou did not seem at all pleased with Shouto’s response, but his muscles appeared to relax slightly. He still looked like he wanted to rip Shouto’s head off, but less so. Shouto took it as a sign to continue.

 

“I’m not going to pretend to understand what you went through growing up. I’m sure you have your own set of problems unique to you.” ‘Lord knows I did…’ “...but what you did to Midoriya is unacceptable.”

 

Bakugou huffed, crossing his arms across his chest. “Refresh my memory,” he said, his voice expressing sarcasm and seriousness in equal parts.

 

“I’m talking about you bullying Midoriya.” Shouto started to feel his anger returning, recollecting all the things that Midoriya ever told him about his past with Bakugou. “You subjected him to torment for being quirkless, but you spun around and turned him into your personal counsellor to help you deal with all your crap.”

 

There was a look of recognition in Bakugou’s eyes. Shouto could sense no remorse, no guilt, but at least he knew what Shouto was getting at.

 

“Because of you, Midoriya has it in his mind that if he doesn’t bend over backwards to please everyone around him, he’ll be all alone.” Shouto’s anger started to bubble within him. “Because of you, he’s terrified of being alone, so he pushes himself to the point of exhaustion.” 

 

He could barely register his own legs carrying him forward, and even so he was powerless to stop them until he was glaring right back into Bakugou’s eyes. They were only an inch apart, noses almost touching. “You broke him, Bakugou. You used him, you bullied him, you hurt him, and you convinced him his only purpose in life is to please others. And it’s only because Midoriya is as strong-willed as he is that he hasn’t completely snapped yet.”

 

Bakugou said nothing. He continued to look menacingly into Shouto’s eyes until he finally responded with a huff. He glanced away, breaking their gaze as he spoke. “Okay, so I was a little harsh to him…”

 

Shouto felt something inside of him snap. The rage welling up inside of him finally boiled over and couldn’t stop his actions. 

 

Bakugou never saw the fist that collided with his nose. Shouto took satisfaction in watching Bakugou get thrown to the ground backwards, and proceeded to jump on top of him before he could recover. 

 

Shouto grabbed hold of Bakugou’s t-shirt and held him up in a vice grip. He leered menacingly into Bakugou’s eyes as he watched blood dribble down from his nose. “A LITTLE!?” he screamed. “Midoriya was your best friend! You learned that he was quirkless and suddenly he meant nothing to you! You made him feel useless, but when shit hit the fan, he was always there for you! ALWAYS!”

 

“OKAY, SO I FUCKED UP!” Bakugou barked back at him. “I fucked up, you don’t need to remind me of that, Half-and-Half! I fucking know!”

 

Shouto’s grip loosened. He was taken aback by Bakugou’s confession, even more so by watching Bakugou seemingly fall apart right before him.

 

His eyes watered, his resolve had melted away, and whatever guilt he had been holding back before seemed to come pouring out now. “I was a stupid, selfish brat! But you know what? I had enough baggage to deal with on my own! I didn’t want Deku’s fucking quirkless shit to have to deal with, too!”

 

“Midoriya didn’t have baggage! Not until you started creating baggage for him! You took the target off your own back and gave it to him!”

 

“Know what? You’re fucking right! And by the time I realized how badly I fucked up, it was too late to take it back! AND I HATE MYSELF EVERY GOD-DAMN DAY FOR IT!”

 

Shouto sat silently as he watched Bakugou fall apart before him. Before he knew it, Bakugou had thrown him off of him and was using his forearm to wipe away his tears. 

 

“I’m fucking lazy. Okay? I didn’t wanna carry my own baggage, so I made Deku do it. And… shit, he did it with a smile. Fuck him for being such a fucking selfless idiot. And fuck me for being such a shithead.” Bakugou shook his head, apparently trying to shake away any residual sadness, and then looked expectantly at Shouto. “So, what happens now? Gonna go run off and go tattle on me to Deku? Tell him how you broke me down and how I cried over him? Make me feel even more like an asshole?”

 

Shouto shook his head. “No, I’m not.”

 

Bakugou gawked at him. “The fuck…?”

 

“I need your help, Bakugou. Our class has become too dependent on Midoriya’s fear of saying no to those in need. You did that, you made this mess, and if you want to start rebuilding whatever kind of friendship you had with Midoriya before, then you’re gonna help me figure out a plan to fix it.”

 

As much as it pained Shouto to admit, he really did need Bakugou’s help. He grew up with Midoriya, he knew him better than even the likes of Uraraka or Iida. He would know the best way of handling him.

 

Midoriya allowed himself to go through hell and back for Bakugou, all because he wanted a friend. As much as Shouto wanted to beat the face off him for putting Midoriya in that kind of position, he couldn’t handle this situation alone.

 

“...What do I have to do?”



Notes:

Bet you didn't see that one coming did ya? ;)

Bakugou and Todoroki gonna team up to help Deku. Stay tuned for the next chapter!