Chapter Text
Katsuki's POV:
Cool air breezed through the room, the constant hum of the air conditioning fading into the background when Kirishima plugged his phone into the speaker in the corner. Katsuki leaned against the far wall, towel draped around his shoulders as he scrolled through his phone. He’d agreed to spar with Kirishima here this morning, but he’d shown up earlier to get his morning cardio in. He slowed his mindless scrolling, lips pursing as he caught a glimpse of a familiar face in a news article. He scrolled back up, spotting the undeniable flash of red and white hair on the cover of one of Japan’s biggest model magazines.
What the hell was Shouto Todoroki doing on the cover of Vogue?
He couldn’t think about it for too long, however, as he was wrenched out of his thoughts by an unbearable sound.
“Kirishima, is that the song from the fucking Titanic?”
The red-head turned, a wide and enthusiastic grin on his face. “Yep! Celene Dion, man, she’s an icon.”
“She’s dead. That song is at least a hundred years old, and it sucks.”
“Hey, that’s not very nice!”
“Shut up and turn it off, I am not working out to that shit.”
“No class.” Kirishima shot back, turning around and going back through his phone. He scrolled through his music, then paused, turning back to Katsuki who was glowering at him from the other side of the room. He gulped, looking for a song that wasn’t a love song. He came up empty.
“Uhh.. Maybe you should pick the songs?”
“You’re in a band, and you’re telling me you don’t have a single good song on there?”
Kirishima shrugged sheepishly, and Katsuki groaned, stomping over to him and hooking up his own phone instead. He shuffled his playlist, nodding his head as a song titled ‘Punching Bag’ blasted through the speakers, causing Kirishima to wince in surprise. “Set it Off? I guess I should have expected that.”
“The hell does that mean?” Katsuki squinted at Kirishima, but his threats didn’t hold much weight in the studio. He was at his calmest whenever he was in his training room: it was like stepping into a blanket of peace. Even Kirishima noticed the change in his demeanour here.
“Nothing.” He replied, shaking his head dismissively. He unravelled a pair of bright red hand wraps, wrapping them around his hands with trained ease. Once his knuckles and wrists were padded, he finished off the end of the wraps, securing them with velcro. He slipped his gloves on, casting a glance at Katsuki, who already had his gloves on and was waiting for Kirishima in the ring.
“You wrap your hands so damn slow.” Katsuki complained, and Kirishima shrugged. “Sorry, man, I don’t train as often as you.”
“Obviously.” Katsuki scoffed, getting into his boxing stance, right foot to the back and left to the front. Kirishima mirrored him, but his stance was slightly wider than Katsuki’s, giving him extra stability that he’d probably need against the force of the blonde's blows.
“Ready?” Katsuki asked. Kirishima’s eyes slid to his right arm. He’d swing with that first, and Kirishima would weave under to avoid it.
“Ready.” The red haired man confirmed, eyes watching in laser focus. A buzzer sounded over the speakers, and Katsuki leapt into action faster than Kirishima could process. He threw a heavy right hook right at Kirishima’s head, and the redhead could see it almost in slow motion. He was faster than he thought.
He weaved under his arm, narrowly avoiding the blow and he danced to the other side of the blonde, where he was unguarded. He threw a hook for his ribs, but Katsuki was still too fast. He jumped back, then leapt back in as Kirishima was just coming back up. He threw a jab and a cross, both landing on Kirishima’s face. He winced, jumping back out of his range, but Katsuki was aggressive. He jumped in just as fast, and Kirishima swore under his breath as he jumped out of Katsuki’s space, throwing a left hook at the same time. The hook didn’t pack much power, but it didn’t need to. As Katsuki came forward again, coming in with a cross, Kirishima slipped right, loading onto his back leg and then throwing his cross forward in an explosion of power.
The hit connected with Katsuki’s chin, and he stumbled back one step, his eyes wide with shock. Kirishima took that opportunity to charge forward again, hoping to catch him by surprise with another punch, but Katsuki deflected both his punches and dipped down, hitting him in the ribs with a hook on each side, causing Kirishima to wince in pain, letting his guard down just enough that Katsuki could deliver a freakishly strong uppercut to his face, sending Kirishima stumbling back and catching himself on the edge of the ring.
“F- fuck..” Kirishima croaked, catching his breath as Katsuki stood in the middle of the ring, his breaths level and calm as if he’d just taken a light walk in the park, and not as if he’d just kicked Kirishima’s ass.
“Dumbass. You think too slow.”
“What does that mean?” Kirishima wheezed, hauling himself up and feeling his ribs to make sure none were cracked.
“You hesitate between punches, it’s only a split second, but that split second reaction time is the difference between delivering punches and eating them. Boxing is about thinking and acting on the spot, hesitating will only leave you open and vulnerable. Get up, let’s try again.”
“ What? Again?”
“Did I stutter?”
Kirishima grinned wide, pulling himself up off the mat and getting into his stance again, noting Katsuki’s faint smile. “Alright!”
A few hours of Kirishima getting his ass handed to him passed by before he asked for a break, to which Katsuki had begrudgingly agreed. He was tired too, however, as much as he tried to act like he wasn’t. His skin was covered in fine beads of sweat, shirt long discarded and hung over the edge of the ring. Kirishima’s had been in the same spot, but had been sent over the edge and landed haphazardly on the floor when Katsuki had sent him stumbling into the pocket of the ring for the eighth time.
Katsuki patted his face dry with a towel, then took a swig of his water, resigning to sit on the floor while Kirishima walked laps to cool down. His music was still playing faintly over the speakers.
After one more lap, Kirishima approached Katsuki, sitting down next to him, backs to the wall.
Katsuki ignored him, scrolling through his phone disinterestedly. Kirishima leaned over, sneaking a glimpse of what he was looking at. “Is that your fight with Midoriya?”
Katsuki glared at him, but didn’t bother to put his phone away or pause the video, turning back to it after a moment. “Yeah. I watch my recent fights to see where I can improve.”
Kirishima hummed in thought. “Huh. That makes sense.”
Katsuki watched the screen with laser sharp focus. “Deku pisses me off. But he brings out my flaws more than anyone.” He admitted, pointing out a punch that Kirishima thought was absolutely flawless , but it had missed the green haired man by a hair. “I should have adjusted to hit more to the left, I knew he was going to do that but I couldn’t act fast enough.”
Kirishima’s brows furrowed. “Man, that’s surprisingly mature of you, admitting your weaknesses like that. That’s so manly.”
Katsuki scoffed. “It’s not weakness. It’s just what I can do better.”
Kirishima watched him, shrugging after a moment. “Either way, that’s really cool of you man. I can see why you’ve held the number one spot for so long.”
Katsuki felt a strange nagging in the back of his head, the tug of self-doubt that came with watching his fight with Midoriya. He remembered that fight like it was yesterday. It was the first time he’d felt fear in the ring. But Katsuki was still number one, right? It’s not like Midoriya could ever take that away from him.
On the video, Katsuki’s expression shifted, and in one moment, the tables turned. He took control and overpowered Midoriya, forcing him to the brink of exhaustion. No, Midoriya would never take that from him. Katsuki had just gotten distracted, that was why Midoriya had seemed so much faster than him for the first half of the fight. He had been sloppy, that was it.
But part of him still worried, because regardless of how much he trained, or how much he tried to deny it, Midoriya was still catching up.
Katsuki would never allow that nerd to surpass him.
An upbeat song began to play over the speakers, the sound of an electric guitar screaming heavy in his ears. He winced as Kirishima’s head whipped around, staring at him with wide, elated eyes.
“So you did like our songs!”
“Shut up, shitty hair!”
Kirishima laughed.
After half an hour, the two had jumped back into sparring sessions, taking them straight to 1:00pm. Kirishima was ecstatic that his challenge had turned out so well, and had apparently won Katsuki over and indirectly got him to agree to training him, since the blonde kept picking at Kirishima’s form between matches. Katsuki had changed into some regular clothes now, a pair of thin grey joggers and a fitted black compression shirt. He pulled his sunglasses down over his eyes, scowling when Kirishima bounded up behind him as he was leaving the studio.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
“Following you, duh! I was thinking we could go to the pool? It’s hot out, and we just spent the whole day sweating. Come on, man, it’ll be fun!”
“I don’t do fun.” Katsuki grumbled.
“Come on, you don’t have anywhere else to be! Besides, the water is good for relaxing your muscles.” Kirishima pressed, quickening his pace to be side by side with Katsuki, who’s shoulders were slouched as he walked.
“Fuck, fine.” He sighed, giving up early. He wanted to spend some time with Kirishima, he couldn’t deny that. He also wasn’t going to admit it out loud, it would be something he kept to himself. The truth was that he did enjoy the redhead's company, which is why he’d spent countless days training with him in high school. Besides, he hadn’t really hung out with anyone for fun since, so one day wouldn’t hurt, right?
Kirishima’s smile widened in pleasant surprise. He swore, if that man smiled any wider he’d probably tear the corners of his mouth. “Awesome! You agreed a lot easier than I expected.”
Katsuki’s eye twitched. “Don’t make me regret this.”
“Of course not! It’ll be fun, I promise.”
“Whatever.” Katsuki replied, shoving his hands into the pockets of his sweats. They were about halfway to the pool when Kirishima’s stomach rumbled. He faltered, and Katsuki stopped walking, looking back at him. “Idiot. Didn't you eat lunch?”
Kirishima’s face tinged a slight shade of pink, probably embarrassed by the grumbling noise his stomach had made. “No..” He admitted sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. “I forgot.”
Katsuki let out a long, exasperated sigh, before starting forward again, leaving Kirishima startled behind him. “Hey! Wait up!”
The red headed male quickly caught up, matching Katsuki’s pace. “Where are you going?”
“Shut up.” Katsuki snipped, cutting Kirishima off on the sidewalk as he veered to the left, his broad figure disappearing into the dim light of a sushi place. Kirishima blinked at the sudden movement, before hurrying in after him.
“Get what you want and make it quick.” Katsuki pressed. Kirishima smiled, “Thanks, man!”
“Whatever, don’t thank me. I didn’t do anything.”
Regardless, Kirishima’s smile never faded. Katsuki quickly placed an order as well, figuring now would be a good time to get caught up on his daily calorie requirement. Kirishima took a bit longer to decide.
Before long, Katsuki’s sushi was brought out and Kirishima had finished placing his order, his meal coming out shortly after. Kirishima peeked over at Katsuki’s box curiously. “I think we got the same thing.”
Katsuki spared a disinterested glance to Kirishima’s food, then looked back to his own. “So?” He asked, finding a place to sit outside. Kirishima paused, looking conflicted, before he sat across from him.
“We can’t just eat while we walk?”
Katsuki looked at Kirishima with disgust pulling at his upper lip. “No, you can’t eat while you walk, shitty hair. It’s asinine.”
“Oh, I didn’t take you for a well-mannered type.” Kirishima confessed honestly, a little surprised at how serious Katsuki was about his food. He was so brash and uncaring with everything else, so seeing him so worked up about eating manners was so.. foreign.
Katsuki’s brow furrowed, his mouth pulling into a frown as he finished swallowing his first bite of sushi before he spoke. “The fuck did you say?!”
There it was. “And you’re back.” He grinned, wholly unbothered as Katsuki began to throw another tangent at him.
After the duo's quick sushi break, they finally got to the pool, exchanging banter the whole way there. Katsuki was quick in getting changed, and found a locker to shove his things into along with Kirishima’s, insisting that his stuff should go on the top shelf since his red haired companion didn’t have a lock on them, forcing them to share. Kirishima had agreed pretty easily, and now stood just in front of the locker room door wearing a bright red pair of swim trunks.
Katsuki, in contrast, wore a plain black pair, obviously not too concerned with bright, flashy colours. He stalked over to the door where Kirishima was waiting for him, hand extended with a grin. Katsuki smacked his hand down, so Kirishima opted to just drape his arm around the blonde’s shoulders, much to Katsuki’s dismay.
“What do you think you’re doing, shitty hair? Get your hands off me!!”
Kirishima just smiled. “Relax, man. Let’s go over to the wave pool first.”
“I don’t want to play in some shitty wave pool. I’m not a kid.” Katsuki grumbled, following him anyways (he didn’t have much of a choice, with Kirishima’s arm firmly around his shoulders).
Wading into the water, he finally managed to force Kirishima’s arm off of him. He had been surprised at just how heavy Kirishima’s arm actually was– it was like lead, thick muscle rippled under his skin, making him look like it could break free at any moment. Kirishima had clearly been working out, even though his career didn’t actually require him to. Katsuki thought it was admirable that he still cared enough about his body to keep himself in good shape, even when he didn’t necessarily need to.
Katsuki had been lost in his thoughts long enough that he failed to notice the buzzer going off, and the start of a wave rushing towards them. Kirishima jumped away from the wave, letting it carry him towards the shallow end of the pool, but Katsuki didn’t have time to react. The wave was bigger than Katsuki had anticipated, looming over him like a titan. It came crashing down on him, but it wasn’t the only thing crashing into him. Something hard collided against his chest, knocking him off balance and pushing him down under the water.
He was pinned under someone, their strong arms wrapped around his waist, pulling him up out of the water even as he fought against them. He coughed, spitting water out of his mouth as he resurfaced, turning to unleash hell on whoever tried to drown him, only to falter when he was a familiar face.
“Oh my gosh! Are you okay? I am so sorry, I didn’t mean to– wait, KACCHAN?!” Izuku Midoriya, Katsuki’s longtime rival, was standing right in front of him . He was fuming. This idiot had tackled him under the waves, nearly drowned him, and then had the nerve to try and save him?
“I’m going to KILL YOU!! Shitty Deku, get back here! You almost drowned me!” He bellowed, noticing how Midoriya was trying to slowly slink away. The green haired man let out a scream as Katsuki lunged at him, taking them both back down under the water. He was on top of him now, aiming to deliver a solid blow to his shoulder when he was grabbed by the back of his neck and reefed back, re-emerging from the water once again. Midoriya came back up again, gasping for air as Kirishima ran to check on him.
Wait. If Kirishima was with Deku, then who was holding him? At the thought, the person behind him grabbed his wrists, holding them together behind his back with an infuriatingly strong grip, effectively neutralizing him.
“Let go of me!” He yelled, trying to wriggle himself free, to absolutely no avail. He turned, making eye contact with his assailant. His breath caught as two piercing, bicolour eyes stared back at him.
“No.” Shouto replied coolly, his eyes flickering from the blonde up to Midoriya and Kirishima.
Katsuki scrunched up his nose, noticing the glaringly obvious scar on the left side of his face that hadn’t been there the first two times he’d met the man.
“What’s with the giant scar on your face?” He blurted. Shouto stiffened, his grip loosening just the slightest bit. Katsuki took his chance, ripping his hands free and standing upright to face him now, finding a new person to shove all of his frustration at. “What the hell are you even doing here? Are you following me?”
Shouto’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “Following you? I was here first.”
“Deku!! What happened, are you okay?!” An annoyingly loud voice blurted from somewhere to Katsuki’s right, momentarily taking his focus off of the youngest Todoroki son.
Short brown hair and annoyingly round eyes waded through the water and into his view. He recognized her, of course. Ochako Uraraka, Midoriya’s girlfriend from high school. Clearly they were still together, he noted, as Uraraka walked right up to Midoriya and cupped his cheeks in her hands, turning him side to side to check him over.
“Oh get over it, he’s fine! He’s the one that attacked me!” Katsuki huffed as two more young women approached them. One, he recognized. Mina Ashido, if he recalled correctly. He hadn’t gone to school with her, but he could remember seeing her around Kirishima a few times. They’d probably gone to elementary school together. The other was taller, and he didn’t recognize her at all. Long, raven black hair cascaded over her shoulders. She was probably about the same height as him, pretty tall for a girl. He briefly wondered if she was a model or something, which probably checked out considering that she seemed to be close with Todoroki. The black haired one and Ashido were coming towards him and Shouto, and he grimaced, making his irritation visible on his face as Uraraka fussed over Midoriya a few feet away.
“Todoroki, is everything alright?” The taller woman asked.
“Yes, everything is fine. Midoriya just ran into Bakugou by accident.” He explained curtly, his posture noticeably relaxing when his friends were in front of him. Raven hair’s eyes flitted over to him. “You must be Bakugou. I don’t think we’ve met before, I’m Momo Yaoyorozu.” She held her hand out to shake his, and he scoffed, turning away from her. Ashido squealed.
“Oh my gosh, Bakugou? It’s been so long! Remember me from high school? You still had a baby face then!”
Katsuki’s eye twitched, and he fought away the pink that settled on his cheeks at the embarrassing comment. “Hey! The hell are you talking about?! I never had a baby face!”
“You totally did!” She insisted, much to Katsuki’s dismay. She turned to Yaoyorozu, entirely unbothered by the impending death looming directly behind her. “Momo, this is the one Kirishima never shuts up about. I should warn you, he has a bit of an attitude.”
Kirishima, hearing his name, tuned into the conversation, a light blush rising on his cheeks. “I don’t talk about him that much.”
“You totally do.” Mina teased. Uraraka and Midoriya joined their circle as well, with Uraraka nodding her head in affirmation. “Actually, Kirishima, you kind of do.”
“Man.. you guys aren’t helping at all.” Kirishima whined. Katsuki turned his head slowly to Midoriya who was standing across from him, meeting his eyes in a chilly glare. Midoriya squeaked a little, but otherwise didn’t react much. He was so annoying. Ever since their last fight, Midoriya had grown a backbone and wasn’t reacting as much to Katsuki’s threats. He didn’t like that. Midoriya was starting to look down on him.
“Midoriya, are you all right?” Shouto asked, still stood beside Katsuki. The blonde resisted the urge to push him over just for standing close to him. Midoriya nodded quickly, sliding his gaze over to Shouto and elevating the tension between the two rivals. “Yeah, thanks Todoroki.” He said with a smile, wrapping his arm around Uraraka when she leaned on him.
“How do you know shitty Deku?” Katsuki scoffed, staring Shouto straight in the eyes. He gazed back at him coolly, but it was unlike his usual stare. There was something colder there this time, like he was picking him apart with his eyes and laying out every single one of his flaws and insecurities for the world to see.
“It’s none of your business.” He replied dismissively, grating on Katsuki’s last nerves. If there was one thing he hated more than anything, it was someone who refused to take him seriously. He could take yelling, fighting, and directness; that wasn’t the problem. Shouto was direct, sure, but he was so monotone and uncaring. No matter what Katsuki said or did, Shouto always had the same expression on his face, and the same level tone in his voice. It was like he saw Katsuki as inferior, like a bug he could just swat away. It was infuriating.
“What do you mean it’s not my business? I asked you a question.” Katsuki scowled, turning to fully face him and getting in his face as if it would help. Shouto was about an inch or two taller than Bakugou, though, so his intimidation tactics didn’t work very well on him. He just peered down at him through blank eyes. That was another thing Katsuki hated about him. He could never tell what he was thinking, he was just a blank slate all the time. As if he thought Katsuki didn’t even deserve so much as a reaction.
“And as I said, it’s none of your business. I don’t need to answer you.”
“What’s your fucking problem? You think you’re better than me, scar face?”
Shouto’s shoulders tensed, and a flicker in his eyes made Katsuki think that maybe he’d gotten to him, but it was gone just as quick as it had appeared, his shoulders going slack again.
“I never said that.”
“You didn’t need to.” He scoffed. “Fucking fake bastard. You think you’re tough shit, but you're just another one of those washed up pretty boy models who thinks they’re better than everyone else. Meanwhile, you don’t even know who you are, do you? You hide yourself under makeup and designer clothes. I bet you’ve never even had to work a day in your life. The only reason you have everything you do is because mommy and daddy handed everything to you on a silver spoon, isn’t it?”
Shouto’s jaw clenched, but he couldn’t stop himself this time, the words falling out before he had the chance to think. “Shut up. You don’t know anything.” He snapped, finally losing his cool for once. His hands shook when he exhaled, eyeing Katsuki like he was imagining what expression he’d have on his face if he decided to strangle him.
Katsuki however, was thrilled. He’d finally gotten a reaction out of him. A wide grin spread across his face, which only seemed to piss Shouto off more. “What, are you upset because I’m right? You want to act all high and mighty, but you just can’t stand it when people call you out, can you?”
He was going to say more, but Midoriya was quick to intervene. “H- hey, Kacchan, that’s not very nice. You shouldn’t say those things. Todoroki, are you all right?”
Normally, Katsuki would be pissed that Midoriya had tried to break up his fight, but he was too pissed at Shouto to care. In his entire life, he’d never met anyone that pissed him off more than Midoriya, until he met Shouto Todoroki. This guy grated on his nerves every time he saw him.
Shouto did not break his gaze away from Katsuki’s, a tense frown on his face. “Fine.” He replied shortly.
Midoriya laughed nervously, obviously noticing how thick the tension was as he tried to distract Shouto, to no avail. He looked ready to boil over or to fight him, but he must have had impeccable self control, because he remained rooted in place.
“What? Nothing to say?” Katsuki barked, surging forward again and pushing Midoriya away with one hand. “You think you’re too good to talk to me?”
“No,” Shouto started, watching the blonde’s body language to gauge if he was actually going to start a fight. “I’m just smart enough to know what you are. You put other people down because you’re insecure, picking on those who are weaker than you to prove to yourself that you’re worth something. That’s how you ended up in this situation, isn’t it? You’re so insecure that you resort to violence to prove yourself.” He paused, taking a breath and meeting Katsuki’s glare with icy eyes. “ Isn’t that right? ” He challenged, throwing Katsuki’s own words back at him.
Katsuki was going to make a scene. His blood was boiling, white hot rage coursing through his veins. He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. “Whatever, scar face. I have better things to do than listen to your baseless accusations. Get lost.”
“I was here first.” He retorted, making Katsuki’s eye twitch and his lip curl in anger. Kirishima intervened quickly, grabbing the blonde’s arm and pulling him away. “Hey man, chill out. Why’d you go picking a fight with Todoroki?”
“Don’t tell me what to do! Let go!” He growled, ripping his arm free of Kirishima’s grip. “He’s a rich asshole, he acts just like his father but he’s three times as smug.”
Kirishima frowned. “Man, he didn’t really say anything though. You kind of just picked a fight with him out of nowhere.”
“He was looking at me funny, like he thought he was better than me or something. He’s condescending.” Katsuki argued. “He thinks he’s too good to even talk to me. He pisses me off.”
Kirishima shrugged awkwardly, trying to word his next sentence in a way that wouldn’t offend the blonde. “I think you’re misreading it. He’s like that with everyone, he’s just quiet.”
Katsuki scoffed, glaring over at Shouto, who now looked as if the whole thing had never happened. His face was relaxed, and he was talking casually with Yaoyorozu as if Katsuki hadn’t just been baring his fangs at his throat like a rabid dog. Katsuki’s face twisted into a scowl. “And he has the nerve to act as if none of that just happened. Look at him, he thinks he’s better than me.”
The red-head sighed, putting the topic to rest when he realized Katsuki wasn’t going to budge. “Okay, well let’s just stay away from them, alright? Just try to ignore him if he upsets you so much.”
Katsuki scoffed. “I can’t just ignore him when I have to work with him.”
Kirishima’s eyes widened slightly, as if he just realized something. “Oh, I didn’t even piece that together. I guess I should have known that from what Jirou told me.”
Their conversation was interrupted by Ashido, who slid her hand around Kirishima’s arm, resting it on his forearm. She leaned onto him, grinning up at him. “Hey Kiri! Bakugou, what was that fight about?” She asked, her gaze sliding from Kirishima up to him.
Katsuki scoffed. “None of your business.”
“Geez, okay. You’re so boring.” She complained. Kirishima smiled, ruffling her hair affectionately. Katsuki rolled his eyes in disgust. “Get lost, idiots.”
They did not get lost. Instead, they dragged Katsuki along to play volleyball in the pool with them with some random inflatable they found. Katsuki didn’t see much of Todoroki or Midoriya after that, and he preferred it that way. Looking at the two of them made him sick with anger.
After a while of playing volleyball, the three took a break. Kirishima and Ashido had run off to talk to the other group for a moment, and that left Katsuki to his thoughts for a little while. He thought about the video Kirishima had mentioned at the concert, and how Kirishima was so hesitant to tell him what it was about. He wondered what could be so bad that it had landed Jirou in this situation, trying to manage the fallout of her bandmates’ actions.
One way or another, he had to figure out what was in that video. Not just for himself, but for Jirou, Kaminari, and Kirishima too. He was going to get them out of this, even if it meant he had to deal with Todoroki every day. He wouldn’t fail them.