Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

When “The Hero Switcher” first appeared, no one thought to take him seriously. He was just another “Hero Killer” wannabe, a self proclaimed savior of the masses wrongfully enamored by the quirks of pro-heroes.
With his ostentatious clothing and over the top performances, he seemed more reminiscent of a bad cartoon villain than an actual threat.

But this was a mistake.

Every attack was calculated, meticulously planned out in everything from target choice to location, always in full view of crowds of civilians. For those who missed the ‘Live Event’, the villain would then post a full unedited video of the attack from start to finish online. The videos were always taken down as soon as they were noticed but the man was quickly gaining a following.
He’d started with the hero in the #50 spot and was steadily working his way up.

Something had to be done.

And this is how Katsuki Bakugou, #5 Pro Hero, Lord Nitro, finds himself in a conference room at Iidaten, seated at a long table with exactly ten chairs.

At the very end of the table sits the #10, Pro Hero Vine, deep in conversation with #9, Real Steel, on her left. Beside him, Ingenium at #8, is whispering hurriedly into his phone and glancing around at the still empty places. On Vine’s right, excitedly joining in the conversation, is Katsuki’s longtime boyfriend, Red Riot, having recently bumped Ingenium for the #7 spot. At the opposite end of the table sit two of the three ‘old gen top 10'. #6, Best Jeanist and #3, Hawks, with the seat between them at the head left open for the #1 hero, Endeavor.

Red Riot's voice cuts through the silence. "Ok but remember when Creati and Battle Fist got switched right before that charity event and they decided to go anyway? Creati kept smacking people every time she gestured and things were flying..."
Real Steel grimaces. "Fine, but hands down worst goes to Mount Lady being switched with that random civilian. Remember all that property damage?"
All three shudder and Katsuki resists the urge to fidget, opting instead to tap his fingers on the table. He’d calculated the exact time to arrive, that perfect sweet spot between ‘too early’ and ‘rudely late’ but it seems even he wasn’t the last to arrive.

Vine sighs. "The worst for me was when Chargebolt got switched with that underground hero. The one with the brainwashing quirk? I couldn't talk to him for weeks without him accidently activating the quirk every time I opened my mouth..."
"I hear ya. The worst part is there's no time limit. Unless this guy starts seeking out his victims and actively switching them back, we're going to start running out of pros."
"Competent ones anyway..."

Ingenium hangs up his phone and gets to his feet. “I apologize for the wait everyone. There’s been a new development but rest assured they will be here shortly.” He adjusts his glasses and sweeps an arm towards a table along the far wall. “For now, please help yourselves to the refreshments provided.”
Katsuki scoffs and crosses his arms as Hawks, Real Steel, and Red Riot, jump up immediately like the fucking man-children they are. He can feel Best Jeanist’s eyes on him and pointedly ignores him. Bumping his former mentor down to #6 was something he’d been fantasizing over ever since ‘the hair gel incident’ and he now has nothing further to say to the man. (Besides maybe one last ‘Fuck You!’ but now is hardly the time or place for that.)
He pulls out his phone and scrolls through the news feed, eyes scanning for anything bad enough to keep the #1, #2, and #4 heroes too busy to attend a fucking meeting but there’s nothing. It’s been a quiet day, no mention of the heroes anywhere and Katsuki’s eyes narrow in suspicion. He doesn’t think the fucking glasses has it in him to lie to a room of children, let alone the best fucking pros in the country but-

The door swings open and everyone pauses.
#2 hero, Deku steps in, his face lit with that disgusting determination, #4 hero FrostFyre at his side. “Endeavor is down.”

The room devolves into chaos and Katsuki stares at Frosty. His face is twitching and he keeps covering his mouth with his hand, shoulders shaking, almost as if he’s... laughing?
Deku elbows his boyfriend in the side, but the corner of his own mouth is twitching and he forcibly clears his throat before stepping up to the table. His countenance turns serious and the room hushes. “Last night at approximately 3 am, Endeavor wrapped up a case and went out to meet up with an old friend.”
Hawks lets out a boisterous laugh. “Endeavor has friends? Did his hellfire freeze over?” He laughs again at his own joke and this time it’s FrostFyre who speaks up.
“I was as surprised as you are, but apparently my father and this, Gran Torino fellow, met the night he” There’s a brief pause as he clears his throat. “took down Stain and the two kept in touch. They apparently go out drinking sometimes…”

He takes the seat between Katsuki and Hawks as Deku resumes talking.
“It seems The Switcher happened upon them as they left the bar, and since there was no prior planning there isn’t any footage circulating.”
“Thank god.” Best Jeanist murmurs. “Could you imagine what that would have done?”
“Still” Vine leans forward. “Now that a sneak attack on the number one hero was successful, The Hero Switcher may begin targeting other pros after hours as well…”

Deku’s face hardens. “I would refrain from using the word ‘hero’ with this man. These people are all the same, using the word hero in their villain name to make themselves feel good. As the acting #1 Hero, I ask that you all refer to him as The Switcher, both amongst yourselves as well as to the press. Is that clear?”
Red Riot leans forward. “Sure man, makes sense to me but you’re taking this a bit too personal aren’t you?”
Deku sighs and finally sinks into the seat between Ingenium and Best Jeanist. “Sorry, it’s just…” He sits up straight. "Gran Torino is a retired old man who specialized in taking down monster type villains and leaving the spotlight to others. He hasn’t been active in years. I just feel like… I’m mad that he was targeted simply for being in Endeavor’s company. And I’m mad that the number one hero couldn’t keep him safe from a villain because he’d been drinking.”
Ingenium pats him on the back. “Understandable. There's also the pressure of being thrust into the leadership role for this meeting. And at the very last minute too...”
Deku glances at his boss in confusion. “Um, I was going to lead this meeting anyway? Isn’t that why it’s here at Iidaten and not at Endeavor’s?”

Katsuki’s fist hits the table. “The fuck!”
“Well yeah, I mean, I know Endeavor’s an asshole, but even he wouldn’t stay out late knowing he was running a meeting this important at noon sharp. And it was pretty obvious even to him that analyzing all the Switcher footage and making a gameplan for all of us to work together wasn’t something he could pull off.” He leans back and taps his chin. “Now that I think about it, was that why he went drinking last night at all?”

FrostFyre abruptly slams both hands over his mouth, shaking so hard his chair rattles.
Hawks pokes him in the side. “You feeling okay Junior? Your fans won’t be happy if you lose your Ice Prince look.”
Fucking Icyhot lowers his hands slowly, face stoic once more. “My apologies. The sight of my father accidentally activating his new quirk mid step and landing on his ass keeps returning to the front of my mind.”

Silence meets this statement and then the fucker snorts and lays his head on the table, shaking with suppressed laughter.
Deku tries his best to look stern. “Sho, it’s not funny, it’s a crisis.”
“H-he yelped Izuku! Y-yelped!”

Deku sighs and pulls out a notebook. “So I compiled as much data as available but the specifics of how his quirk works is still vague. As far as I can tell he can switch any quirks except those that classify as mutation type. He does this by utilizing some kind of energy his quirk generates, all of his victims claim to have felt a shock before finding themselves with a different quirk. The strength of said shock varies based on how far away the people being switched are, both to each other as well as their distance to the villain himself. I couldn’t tell if he needs to touch his victims or simply look at them, I’m leaning towards touch because it’s never his opening move, but if so then he can definitely delay the activation time, sometimes it almost looked like he was waiting for them to get further away so the shock would incapacitate them. That’s not to say his quirk is the only thing to look out for, he carries a blade, a homage to Stain as he calls it, and his martial arts skills are nothing to ignore either. I think we should-”

“SLOW THE FUCK DOWN DEKU!”
The #2 meeps and backpedals, scratching his head sheepishly as FrostFyre glares at Katsuki.
“Sorry, does anyone need me to repeat anything?”
Best Jeanist holds up a finger. “Processing.”
Hawks throws his head back and laughs. “Man, what an info dump! I’m cracking up just picturing Endeavor’s face!”
Real Steel holds up a hand. “You said something about a plan for all of us to work together?”
Deku flushes and flips a couple pages. “Yeah. I figure, right now only we know Endeavor’s out. In order to keep it that way, we need to take The Switcher down before he goes online and claims he did it.”
Vine nods her head. “True. If the public called for us to prove he was lying in his claims and we were unable to, that could very well be what destroys their trust in us for good...”
Deku breathes out a sigh of relief. “So I thought I’d start by pairing us up, one close range fighter and one long range. That way if it is touch he needs to activate his quirk, he won’t be able to switch you. Also, I thought we could frequent really popular spots, maybe arrange for some TV cameras to conveniently be around for some impromptu interviews where we could call him out.”
Ingenium rubs his chin. “So we would deploy one team at a time with the rest available for support?”
Deku shakes his head. “Like I said before, time is of the essence. If we can call him out before he has time to scope out the place or the targets, the advantage should be enough to take him down. I don’t want him to think it could be a trap. If we deploy simultaneously in different locations, he’s more likely to simply head to the nearest one confident that the other pros are too far away to arrive in time.” He pauses. “And if you do get switched, don’t panic. Just fall back on your hand to hand training and don’t try to use your quirk. Of course, my hope honestly rests in pairing up Real Steel and Red Riot since-”
“Oh c'mon!”
“Not you too!”
Deku waves his hand apologetically. “Sorry guys. It’s just really similar is all! I think you guys would be the best bet to keep at him even if you do get switched…" he waits till the two nod their understanding before moving on. "Also, I want to make a group chat. That way if someone gets targeted or switched they can notify the rest of us immediately. Oh and, if you get switched without him touching you let us know asap so we can think of something else…”

He pulls out his phone and it’s quiet as everyone follows suit, exchanging numbers until the nine of them are in.

“Question” Hawks tilts his head as he eyes Deku. “Without our #1 there’s only nine of us so who’s flying solo?”
Deku beams at him. “I thought I’d pair you with Tsukuyomi. He’s #11 and a mutant type and the two of you work really well together…”
Hawks pumps his fist in the air. “Yes!”
Katsuki frowns as Deku starts calling out the rest of the pairings. Ingenium and Vine. FrostFyre and Best Jeanist. Lord Nitro and-
“Fuck no!”
“Kacchan!”
“Don’t you Kachan me! The fuck are you thinking!”
“Well Gee, I was thinking that I couldn’t pair you with Best Jeanist! Or FrostFyre! Or fucking anyone besides Red Riot!”
Katsuki grinds his teeth to keep from saying anything he’ll regret. It makes sense to put Red Riot and Real Steel together, even he can see that. “I’d rather Frosty than you, Deku.”

Fucking half and half looks at him and deadpans, “I’m flattered Katsuki, but I already have a boyfriend.”
The others laugh and Deku leans forward earnestly. “Look Kacchan, this is really serious. We’re lucky no one’s died yet. If he was the kind of villain that wasn’t looking to make society question whether we have too much emphasis on quirks, he could’ve killed them all! But he chooses to switch, laugh and run and we need to stop him before that stops being enough for him!”

Red Riot stands up. “Why don’t we take a quick break. I need some fresh air… Katsuki?”

Deku slumps back into his seat defeated and rubs his eyes tiredly. “Yeah fine. Ten minutes, Red.”

They stand outside the agency, in the alley on the side and Katsuki leans against the wall and blows out a breath. “How the fuck am I supposed to surpass him, when he keeps asking for fucking team ups.”
Eiji blows out a breath of his own and leans beside him. “I thought that’s what this was about. You’re still upset about what happened with the Blitz Gang?”
Katsuki grinds his teeth again. “That’s just the latest in a long string. He always swoops in at the last second to ‘help out’ and the media hands him all the credit. It’s fucking bullshit! I was working the case for months and no one fucking asked him to help out in the final raid!” Explosions crackle in his palm. “The worst part is, he’s not even doing it on purpose! He probably hasn’t even noticed! Just scratches the back of his neck and says ‘aw it was nothing, Nitro did most of the work.’ and everyone thinks he’s being modest! Fucking modest! We were 9 and 10 Ei. 9 and 10. And now he’s 2 and I’m stuck at 5 and I know, it’s about more than the fucking numbers but…” He growls wordlessly and Eijirou sighs.

“I get it. It must be frustrating to see him so ahead of you when you want to be the best but Kats, listen… Maybe we just need to accept that he’s better than all of us.” He waves for Katsuki to let him finish. “I mean, look, there’s talk that they’ve been keeping him behind Endeavor the past two years because they think he’s too young for top spot, right? But Hawks and Jean, they listened to him in there, took his orders without question. And it must be hard for them, watching all their peers get replaced by fresh-faced rookies who’ve barely been at this 5 years. But at the end of the day, we’re heroes and we save people and yeah the world is judging our performances and ranking us but, honestly, I’m just really honored to be in the top ten, you know? Endeavor was #2 to All Might for years without accepting that All Might was just the better hero and, well, we all know how toxic that rivalry turned out to be… I just don’t want to end up resenting Izuku for my own shortcomings. Fact is, he is a better hero than me. And as long as that’s not because I’m slacking off, that’s ok.” He turns to stare into Katsuki eyes, smiling softly. “Sorry if that was painful to hear. It’s been on my mind for a while… You good?”

Katsuki thinks over everything Eiji said. He remembers that night, the raid, how he almost lost a sidekick but Deku got her to the hospital in time. If he would’ve denied Deku’s backup because of his pride… she would have died that night.
He thinks of how he couldn’t focus on his own interview, too busy seething over what Deku said in his.

“Kats?”
“Yeah.” he manages. “I’m good.”

And that’s when the Switcher gets them.

Chapter Text

The stupid part is that they don’t even notice it at first.

A man in a sharply tailored suit, dark shades covering his eyes, approaches them with a wide smile and requests autographs. He thanks them profusely, both for the autographs as well as for their service and even shakes both of their hands.
It’s only when Katsuki is already reaching for the agency’s door to return to the meeting that the man calls out and there’s something in his tone that freezes Katsuki’s blood.

“By the way heroes” With his right hand, he pulls something black from his sleeve and shakes it so it pops outward into a very familiar top hat. His left hand throws his shades at their feet, revealing a black and white masquerade mask over his eyes. “Do tell young Deku he’s next.” He sweeps into a low bow and lets out that resonating laugh from all the videos.

Katsuki and Eiji leap for him as one, quirks firing up and-
There’s a sharp tingle, almost like a sting and then Katsuki’s hardened leg crashes through the pavement and he’s falling. Eijirou leaps back before he can trip on him, palms crackling uncontrollably.

The Switcher laughs again as a crowd starts to gather around them.
Katsuki tugs on his trapped leg to no avail. His boyfriend moves to help him when another burst of uncontrolled explosions sprouts from his palms, making him keep his distance.
The Switcher swishes his cape, melts into the crowd and is gone.

***

“Don’t fucking say anything.”
Fucking Icyhot has the audacity to look innocent. “I wasn’t going to.” His lips twitch and he coughs into his elbow.

Red Riot had tried to call backup and promptly exploded his phone but Katsuki isn’t #5 for nothing, he’d focused everything he had to harden his hands and pummeled the ground till his leg was free. Still the damage was done. Switcher was gone and he and Ei were left basically useless and utterly humiliated and Katsuki is only partly relieved that Deku sent everyone else out to patrol to spare them the embarrassment.

Kastuki seethes with rage and slams his hand onto the table. His newly hardened fist smashes straight through, crumbling it to splinters. “Fuck!”
“You’ve gotta be more chill man or it activates automatically in defense.”
Katsuki glares at his boyfriend, specifically his hands currently encased in Frosty's ice to keep them from sweating.
He blows out a long breath, curses spilling from his lips as he vents.

“Kacchan.”
He looks up at Deku’s face, more serious than he’s ever seen it but there’s something almost expectant in his eyes and Katsuki slumps down.
“He made sure to touch us, both of us, but he held off switching us till we’d activated our quirks.”
Deku’s eyes narrow and he jots it down. “Anything else?”
Katsuki’s eyes narrow right back at him. “Yeah. Said to tell you, you’re next.”
Deku’s gaze returns to his open notebook and he scribbles something else. “You should take Eijirou home Kacchan. Turn up the ac, it’s pretty hot outside and you’ll need to keep the sweat-explosions contained. You should try to stay relaxed too so you don’t do too much damage to your apartment. If possible, maybe try to train each other to handle your new quirks. Just in case.”
“Tch”
Red Riot frowns. “Well, what are you going to do Izuku?”
Deku shares a dark smile with FrostFyre. “Something stupid.”

***

By the time they reach their apartment Katsuki is practically boiling with barely contained rage.

The constant popping and crackling of explosions in Eijirou’s palms had started grating on him by the time they’d reached the car. Katsuki had taken one look at his boyfriend’s face and opened the door for him so he wouldn’t blow up the door. Of course, he’d still been pretty pissed about losing to the Fucking Switcher and his grip hardened mid-pull causing the handle to come off in his hand.
Eijirou had opened his mouth to say something but Katsuki silenced him with his glare alone and opened the driver’s side with more care.

The drive itself was pretty short, made all the more unbearable by the mindless explosions and Katsuki had finally cranked the ac to full in an attempt to get Eiji to stop fucking sweating. The knob had came off in his hand and he'd punched the dashboard, hardening quirk forgotten in his rage, adding a nice dent to the car’s new collection.
“Kats-“
“Don’t!” He’d gripped the steering wheel hard. “Just fucking don’t!” He tightened his grip in an effort to push down the anger and-
His hands hardened, fingers leaving indents where he held on.
“FUCKING GODDAMIT!” He resisted the urge to smack the dash, cycling instead through every swear he knew.
Eijirou had shivered with cold but said nothing.

Katsuki parks the car and takes a minute to calm himself before slowly opening his door. No further damage is done and he blows out a breath before stepping from cold air into sweltering heat. He curses under his breath as Eiji steps out beside him and the two make their way inside as fast as they can before Eijirou can work up a proper sweat again.
It really is fucking hot out.

The doorman calls out, startling the two of them.
Eijirou’s palms blow up and Katsuki’s hardened foot goes straight through the floor.

The doorman slowly lowers the stack of mail he’d been holding out and an awkward silence descends.
Katsuki pulls his foot out with as much dignity as he can muster. “Send the bill to the fucking AVD”
He stomps off as Eijirou takes a minute to list the pertinent details for the ‘Aid for Villain Damages’ request form.
He has the doorman put the mail in his pocket for him before jogging to catch up.
Katsuki presses the elevator button with the barest edge of his fingernail.

He is so fucking done with this quirk.

Chapter Text

Katsuki heads straight for the shower to try and relax. He’s wound so tight he keeps hardening on reflex, practically shredding his clothes on the sharp edges.
“This quirk fucking sucks!”
“...I know…”

He turns around in surprise.
Eijirou’s been pretty quiet, much quieter than usual and Katsuki hadn’t noticed he was right behind him. There’s a strange look on his face but before Katsuki can decipher it, it’s replaced by his usual bright smile.
“My quirk’s not flashy and it took me ages to train it into something useful. It’s nowhere near the awesomeness that’s your quirk.” He looks down at still crackling palms. “It’s wasted on someone like me.”
Katsuki finally finds his tongue. “The fuck’s that supposed to mean? You’re plenty useful!”
Eijirou laughs but there’s a bitter sting to it. “Yeah. Now. After working my ass off for years. I’m not like you with your flashy hero quirk, and your natural talent for everything. Heck I was known throughout Junior High as ‘that gay kid whose quirk makes him hard’ and now I’ve ruined it for you. I should have just stayed in the meeting instead of dragging you outside to talk. I’m the worst.”

He turns to go and Katsuki snags his sleeve. His sharp fingers rip into it and he forcibly relaxes himself before pulling Eiji into a hug. “Shut the fuck up.” he rasps. “Don’t talk about my boyfriend like that or I’ll kick your ass.”
Eijirou shudders out a laugh and sinks further into Katsuki’s hold.

Katsuki blows out a harsh breath. “Listen up fucker cuz I’m only gonna say this once. A flashy quirk and some talent aint worth shit without character. I’m a grade A asshole but you… you’re…”

Nice. Sweet. Kind. Caring. The words lodge in his throat and he struggles to force them out.

“...Look! There’s only one reason anyone feels safe when I show up, and it’s because you’re always there by my side, smiling and saying the things I can’t. You make me better than I am, and I wouldn’t be #5 without you.”
Eijirou lifts his head and stares into Katsuki’s eyes searchingly. Whatever he’s looking for, he must find it because he blows out a breath of his own and grins brightly before leaning forward and pressing their lips together.

When they break apart it’s because Katsuki’s hardened hands shredded the back of Eijirou’s shirt but somehow it's not as upsetting as before.
The redhead smiles and gently leans his forehead against Katsuki’s “We really do need you to relax more Kats.” He eyes the shower and grins with teeth. “Why don’t I help you with that...”

***

It’s a while later that Katsuki checks his phone and notices a text from Deku telling him to turn on Channel 7.
Eiji, now in an undershirt and boxers so the ac will stop him from sweating too much, looks over his shoulder. “Text is from 5 minutes ago. I hope we didn’t miss it.”
They plop onto their couch and settle in.

Bright flashes pop as microphones are shoved into Deku’s face, a bored looking FrostFyre beside him. Both pros are dressed in their hero costumes and Deku is in the middle of a conviction filled speech.
“The Switcher prays on the misconseption that the quirk makes the hero. But honestly I’ve always believed that if you’re nothing without it, then you aren’t much better with it. Our homeroom teacher in UA was Eraserhead so we’ve had plenty of practice with finding ourselves in situations where we can’t use our quirks. In fact, at my very first sports festival I made it past the first two rounds without using my quirk at all. The Switcher’s whole act is nothing more than that, an act. He convinces you that without your quirk you’re powerless and that’s why he keeps managing to escape. Well hear me Switcher! Your reign of terror is over. You know why?” He grins bright and jabs a thumb into his chest. “Because I am here!”
The crowd screams and cheers.

“Tch. He’s fucking laying it on thick, aint he Ei?”
Eijirou gives a shiver and snuggles closer into Katsuki’s side. “Think someone wrote the speech for him? It’s totally ooc for him to be so arrogant.”

“Deku! What about the rumours circling about Endeavor?”
“Endeavor? He’s out of town on a mission if I remember correctly.”
“Aren’t you worried about holding down the fort with The Hero Switcher still active?”
His eyebrow twitches at the word hero before he lets out a loud laugh. “Worried? Of course not! This is the biggest vote of confidence the number one hero could have possibly given me! It’s like he’s saying,” Deku’s face and voice change as he launches into an Endeavor impression and FrostFyre turns to cough into his elbow. “Deku! If i could take down the Hero Killer as the number two then what kind of number two are you if you can’t even take down The Switcher?”

The crowd laughs and Izuku smiles and-
A reporter in a suit and sunglasses rushes forward and taps both pros on the cheek.
In the stunned silence that follows he leaps back and dons his hat, laughing maniacally.
The reporters scramble away screaming as the villain and the two pros face off.

“Well well well, De-ku” The man spits. “You said some very not nice things about me.”

FrostFyre’s right hand fills with frost and he blinks at it bemused. “Deku he-”
Deku steps forward, a scary intense look on his face. “You. You represent the type of villain I hate most. You claim to have a purpose and a message but when it comes down to it, you’ll turn on anyone that gets in your way. I’ll show you what it means to be a true hero!”
His body crackles with Full Cowl and The Switcher smirks.

The two pros jerk, all signs of quirk usage vanishing as the villain’s ringing laughter sounds.
“I tried to warn you De-ku. Heroes are all talk and no-”

Deku slides his right foot forward and ice races along the ground towards The Switcher.
The villain dodges as Deku spins on one foot, sweeping out with his left, launching a ball of flame forward as well.
FrostFyre shifts into a sparr stance and pulls an extendable bo staff from his belt.
The Switcher swears and draws his blades, targeting FrostFyre with a vengeance before being forced back by a pillar of flame.
FrostFyre presses the advantage, staff and sword clanging with blow after blow and The Switcher grits his teeth and screams in hysteric fury. “I’ll kill you! I’LL FUCKING KILL YOU!!!”

An apology scrolls across the bottom of the TV screen for the live footage without censoring and Katsuki scoffs, eyes following the fight.
He frowns. “Frosty’s getting faster.”
Eiji hums. “Isn’t that a good thing?”
“Not if he’s tapping into Deku’s quirk. You remember how volatile that shit is.”
Eijirou sits up. “You don’t think-”

FrostFyre lunges forward, arms racing with red light-
Deku’s right arm sweeps up and out, trapping his boyfriend in ice up to the chest.
“Izu-”
Deku’s ever present smile, beams, but there’s a tension to his eyes.
“Sit tight FrostFyre. Wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself.”
He glares at the villain, suit now rumpled and sweaty, and tophat missing as he heaves for breath.
“If he gets hypothermia I’ll be pretty pissed so why don’t you just surrender.”
The Switcher glares with a manic hatred. “You think I can be bested so easily? You haven’t even seen my trump card!”

A few things happen very rapidly and Katsuki struggles to catch them all.

The villain pulls what looks like a ball from his pocket and lobs it over the crowd.
Deku throws his his left arm forward, shooting out a fireball to incinerate the possible weapon.
Switcher throws himself at FrostFyre, bare finger lightly touching the hero’s forehead.
FrostFyre screams.
Something explodes and smoke fills the screen.
And then the Switcher’s curse filled shouts fill the air before the image cuts to black and reverts to a newsroom with a stunned silent anchorman.

Katsuki stares.
“The fuck?”

Chapter Text

“Pick up the phone ya damn fuck.”

Deku’s perky “My voicemail is here! Because I am not!” starts up again and Katsuki hangs up with a vengeance. If he ever hears that nerd’s cheesy message again he might just throw his phone at the wall.
Beside him Eiji hangs up and shakes his head. “Todo isn’t picking up either.”
“Tch”
Katsuki gets his laptop and pulls up the interview video from channel 7’s website.
He skips towards the end, when the Switcher touches Icyhot’s forehead and pauses.

“Is that-?”
Katsuki sighs. “Yeah… Looks like the moron took Deku’s quirk.”
He hits play, finger hovering over the pause button and quickly presses it again.

Deku is in middle of tackling a still frozen FrostFyre out of the way as the Switcher’s arms are lit by red energy lines.

“Well Shit” Eiji leans forward for a closer look.

There’s a soft knock on the front door.

Katsuki and Eijirou look at each other and glance over at the door.
“You expecting anybody?”
“No.”

Another knock sounds, louder this time and Katsuki sighs and gets to his feet.
He yanks the door open. “The fuck do you…” He trails off at the sight of Izuku holding a very sweaty Todoroki in the crook of his icy right arm.
“Kacchan! Can we come in? We went to the hospital to get checked out but since we’re both fine they let us go right away. Sho’s not used to dealing with weather though…Can we come in?”
Katsuki is so fucking stunned he simply steps aside. Izuku seats his boyfriend on a chair, where the half-n-half bastard sags in relief and starts pulling his shirt off.
Izuku starts heading for the kitchen as if he owns the place and Katsuki snaps forward. “The fuck’s going on here???”
Eijirou shushes him. “Cmon Kats, it is hot outside. Todo’s probably never had to deal with that before.”
Mismatched eyes meet his and blink slowly. “It...is...hell…”
Shit-nerd laughs sheepishly. “Well after The Switcher shattered his arms in that last attack, I wanted to work on switching everyone back as soon as possible but after we left the hospital Sho almost passed out from the heat and I remembered that to combat Kiri’s new quirk, you probably had the ac way up and it was a lot closer than our apartment and-”
“Deku?”
“Yes Kacchan?”
“Shut the fuck up.”
The little shit laughs, fucking laughs and continues into the kitchen.

Katsuki follows him and shuts the door behind them. “So?”
Izuku hums questioningly as he fills a glass with water.
“Your quirk. Aren’t you worried that some villain has it now?”
“Why?” he asks cheekily. “Are you?”
Katsuki shoves him. “Fuck no, just curious.”
Izuku hums again and looks through the freezer for ice. “I still have my quirk.”

Katsuki startles, body hardening on reflex and he lets out a curse as he forcibly relaxes. “The fuck are you saying? I saw-”
“Yeah. He’s lucky he’s so buff, he could’ve blown his arms off.”
“Deku!” Katsuki hisses in irritation.
Izuku laughs again and gives up, nudging the freezer closed with his shoulder. “Sorry sorry. I keep forgetting not to deflect quirk questions with you. This is all strictly confidential but… Basically, as far as I can tell there’s two parts to OFA.” He holds up one finger. “First the quirk stockpiles energy in the user’s body.” A second finger goes up. “Using the energy for speed, strength and all that other stuff always seemed seperate to me.” He reaches for the glass with his right hand and ices it to chill the water. “Seemed to me that he swapped Sho’s quirk for whatever energy I had stored up at that moment. Quirk itself is still here.”
“Well that’s fucking convenient.”
“It’s kinda like after All Might gave me the quirk, but he still had full use of whatever energy he’d stockpiled. I’m curious if the quirk will start a new stock for me or if I’ll have to get it back from Switcher…” He nudges the kitchen door open and the two head back to where their respective boyfriends are chatting quietly in their underwear. “Of course that’ll have to wait till he wakes up I guess. In the meantime,” He hands his boyfriend the water and places his right hand on the back of his neck. “I’m just enjoying the use of this awesome quirk.”

Todoroki smiles as he sips at the water and leans further into the cold hand on his neck. “I must say, the sight of you using my quirk so well was very... cool... And hot.”
Eijirou laughs. “Seriously though, I was not expecting that! How’d you pull that off?”
Izuku rubs the back of his neck sheepishly. “I mean I was always analyzing quirks and stuff, you guys know that. And uh… in high school… I just… have a lot of pages on how Sho used his quirk, that’s all.”
Fucking Icyhot leans his head back and stares at Izuku. “Stalker.” he deadpans.
Izuku’s hands wave wildly and Todoroki whines at the loss of his ice pack. “It wasn’t like that, I swear! Like that opening move I used! Where you slide your foot to make ice shoot forward! That was just your signature back then! You used it against Sero and St-” His eyes widen and he cuts off abruptly.
Todoroki lifts a hand lazily and wacks Izuku’s nose. “I was just messing. Chill.”
The nerd’s hands lower from where they were blocking his flushed face. “Okay.” He puts his icy hand on his boyfriend’s forehead this time. “Chill enough for you?”
Todoroki sighs and relaxes.

Katsuki cracks his knuckles aggressively. “So Frosty’s quirkless right now?”
Izuku frowns at the word but Todoroki is the one that answers.
“He’s called The Switcher, Bakugou, not The Taker...”
He looks up and his mismatched eyes gleam devilishly.

“Who’s quirk do you think I have?”

Chapter Text

1. The flashback of Endeavor:

“And another thing Shoto! Use this opportunity to make a name for yourself! Break away from this pathetic excuse of a partnership you have with Deku and work to finally surpass-”
Endeavor lifts his foot to step forward and a blast of air blows his shoe clean off as he falls backwards and lands with a yelp.
Gran Torino laughs and strokes his new flame beard. “I told you, it’s all in the inhale. Even without your quirk you’re full of hot air.”

2. Switching back:

“Nothing happened dude.”
“Cmon Frosty! We’re fucking burning daylight!”

“What do you think Izu?”
“Hm. He only ever seemed to tap his targets, I didn’t notice any other triggers… Maybe… Visualize the quirks you want to switch?”
“Tried that.”
“Maybe the level of control we see is the result of years of training his quirk and you’re too much of a beginner to pull off something so advanced?"
“Rude.”
“Maybe focus on switching them while maintaining contact?”

“Get your sweaty ass hands the fuck of me!”
“Do you want to switch back or not?”
“Kats…”
“Tch, hurry the fuck up already!”
“Here we go…”

“...”
“...”
“...”

“So… how long before we decide this isn’t working and try something else?”
“I vote now.”
“Oh thank fuck”

“I got it! Your quirk has to be active for him to switch them!”
“Are you sure?”
“Nope! Just guessing!”
“Can’t hurt to try…”

“SHIT! FUCK! I’M ON FIRE! WHY THE FUCK AM I ON FIRE!!!”
“Whoops my bad Kacchan. Sho touched me too and I was regulating my temperature… Oh wow! This is what your quirk feels like? Your quirk’s amazing Kacchan!!!”
“Cut that shit out Deku! I’m having fucking flashbacks!”
“Well you dudes seem to have everything under control and I’ve got my quirk back so I’m just gonna-”
“Sit your ass down Ei! And you! Fucking Icyhot! Take your goddamn quirk before it fucking destroys my apartment!”
“Ok”
“Wait Sho! Switch us fir-”
“Too late. Have fun teaching Bakugou how to switch, Izuku. I need a nap.”