Chapter Text
It was another Monday morning for Midoryia Izuku. The sunlight pierced in through his blue tinted curtains, casting a soft blue glow onto his hardwood floors.
It didn’t take long for the usual morning ruckus of the UA dormitory to fill his ears. The sounds of his fellow classmates greeting each other good morning, the smell of breakfast being prepared and coffee being brewed sparked inside of him a motivation to drag himself out of bed.
Izuku wouldn’t call himself a morning person but he also wouldn’t say that he wasn’t a morning person. The feelings he felt upon waking up always depended on the mood he had gone to bed with the night prior. And luckily for Izuku, he had gone to bed in an excellent mood last night. How could he not have? Mr. Aizawa had assigned him his very first mission that would be carried out that weekend. The idea of finally putting his provisional license knowledge to good use made him buzz with excitement.
He caught his reflection in the mirror. What he saw was messy green hair tangled upon his head and droopy green eyes, heavy with sleep. A loose white T-shirt and black sweatpants outfitted his body and the dark purple-ish red scar on his shoulder that he has grown used to the sight of looked as normal as ever to the boy.
“Morning, Midoriya!” Ochaco chirped. She spoke with a toothbrush hanging from her mouth. Izuku slowly exited his bedroom with a white towel and an All Might themed shower caddy slung on his forearm.
“Morning. Did you sleep well?” He asked, smiling and waving to his friend.
Ochaco nodded and wished him a small ‘good luck’ on his upcoming mission
.
Outside of the boys bathroom, a small line for the showers had already begun to form. Izuku knew he should’ve woken up a little earlier. Nothing annoyed him more than waiting in line. But was it really his fault? The boy couldn’t get over how poor of a design choice it was to put five showers in a dormitory intended to house twenty plus teenagers.
“Goddamn it.” An all too familiar voice mumbled behind him. Of course, Izuku wasn’t assigned to that mission alone. His childhood friend/rival/probably worst enemy had been signed on as well. That fact had slightly annoyed Izuku but he supposed there was nothing he could do about it.
“Morning, Kacchan.”
The blonde haired boy didn’t respond but, then again, Izuku didn’t expect him to. Bakugo Katsuki was never a morning person. His eyebags were always pronounced and the usual spike in his hair was always droopier when he awoke.He wore a faded black T-shirt with a skull pattern on the front and black basketball shorts. On his feet were navy blue slippers. He carried a black towel with a matching shower caddy.
After some time of awkward silence, Katsuki alleviated it with a response, “Hey, shit nerd.”
Izuku smiled softly at the insult, aware that that was just the way Katsuki spoke. Although, Izuku had never really enjoyed much of the interactions he shared with the loud-mouthed boy. There was always something Katsuki was angry about and usually it stemmed from something Izuku did or said. Katsuki seemed to always be yelling and that scowl looked to be permanently etched onto his face. Time and time again Izuku had tried to become closer with the blonde boy but time and time again his efforts were proven to be futile. And so, Izuku chose to settle into this odd dynamic of frenemies with Katsuki.
“Are you ready for the mission this weekend?” Izuku asked as the line slowly shuffled forward.
“Don’t ask stupid questions. Of course I am.” Katsuki rolled his eyes.Izuku just sighed. Talking with Katsuki was always an uphill battle; he didn't understand why he always expected something different.
“Yo, Bakugo! My man!” Kaminari Denki’s bright yellow hair appeared to be a more natural shade in its wet state and pieces of fuzz from his white bathrobe clung to his still slightly damp skin.
“Hey, Dunce Face.”
Denki clapped Katsuki on the shoulder to which Katsuki didn’t react much other than a small growl of disapproval.
Izuku silently wondered what that must be like. To talk to Katsuki like that and playfully clap the boy’s shoulder without fearing for his life. He supposed he’d never know. A fact that he’s slowly come to terms with.
“Oi, Deku.” Katsuki’s voice brought him back into reality.
“Hm?”
“Line’s movin’.” The blonde pointed forward.
“Sorry!” He squeaked, quickly closing the gap.
This was just the natural way of things in Midoriya Izuku’s life. He’d gone from best friends, to mortal enemies, to almost strangers with the boy standing behind him.
Some nights he lay awake, staring at the ceiling and asking himself what went wrong between him and Katsuki. Had it started in middle school? Or was it years before? Back when they were both toddlers and Katsuki’s quirk had originally manifested?
But deep down, Izuku knew that wondering was futile. Nothing between them has changed and nothing between them ever would.
“Jesus, can your big dumb head be any more in my way!?” Katsuki bit quietly under his breath.
Mr. Aizawa was in the middle of his lecture about controlling quirks and how to avoid them in combat. Iuzku had been so wrapped up in writing his notes that he almost missed Katsuki’s words.
“What?” Izuku turned around to face Katsuki, confusion etched on his face.
“Your fuckn’ head is all up in my view. I can’t see the board for shit.” Katsuki gestured vaguely as he spoke.
“Oh, uh–” Izuku moved his head slightly to the left. “Better?”
Katsuki made a ‘tch’ noise and pushed his pencil lead up slightly higher. “Yeah. Whatever.”
This would be the second time Katsuki has talked to him today without threatening to blow him up. The last time Izuku had gone this long without his life being threatened by the blonde boy was months ago. He marks this interaction as a small victory.
“---Which is why you need to be extremely wary of controlling quirks.” Mr. Aizawa flipped to his next slide, titled ‘how to identify a controlling quirk’.
“Midoriya.”
Izuku flinched at the sound of his name, having not expected to be called on.
“What were we just talking about?”
“Oh! Uh…” Izuku flipped through his notes, annoyed to see that the last two pages were left blank due to his small conversation with Katsuki.
“Bakugo.” Mr. Aizawa directed his attention to the boy behind Izuku. “Do you know?”
Katsuki didn’t respond. Instead, he grumbled something incoherent and rested his chin on a closed fist.
“Maybe if you paid more attention to my lecture and less on Midoriya, you’d know.”
Izuku didn’t like the connotation of that. Mr. Aizawa spoke as if Izuku and Katsuki were the bestest of friends. Just two peas in a pod, those two. Which couldn’t be farther from the truth.
Katsuki scoffed at that. “Relax, I can just access the damn notes online after class.”
Mr. Aizawa hummed. “Watch your tone.”
Izuku released a heavy exhale, assuming that his brazen teacher had dropped it. Mr. Aizawa’s temper was nothing to be messed with. Izuku had heard horror stories of his former students being expelled for so much as forgetting the homework.
But once the bell rang signaling the beginning of lunch, Mr. Aizawa asked both Izuku and Katsuki to stay put.
“I’m giving you both detention for an hour after school for talking during my class.” He slid a piece of loose leaf paper onto the boys’ desks with big bold letters at the top that read ‘proof of detention attendance. Signature by principal required’.
“Wha–”
Katsuki slammed a fist onto his desk, sending the loose leaf paper flying.
“Bullshit! I’m not going to detention just because this shitty nerd's head was in my way!”
Izuku hated that he agreed with the loud blonde. “With all due respect, I don’t think we deserve detention, Mr. Aizawa.”
“Oh? Well then, I’ll just give your mission to Kirishima and Sero instead.”
Izuku cleared his throat, panicked at the prospect of losing this opportunity. “Detention. Sounds great.”
“Can’t wait.” Katsuki sarcastically smiled through gritted teeth.
Mr. Aizawa flashed the boys a curt smile. “That’s what I thought.”
Izuku bent down to retrieve his lunch money from his backpack when he heard Katsuki mutter something incoherent before aggressively pushing out his chair.
“This is your fucking fault, y’know.” Katsuki bit as the two walked down the hallway, toward the cafeteria.
“How is this my fault?” Izuku asked, his fist gripping his lunch money harder than necessary.
“If your head wasn’t so damn big I wouldn’t have said shit during class.”
“Kacchan, I can’t control the size of my head!”
“Sure, but you can control where you sit in class. Yet you chose to sit right the fuck in front of me on the first day.” Izuku couldn’t deny that Katsuki had a point. He didn’t know why he chose to sit there when he did.
“Whatever, Kacchan.” Izuku sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as the both of them approached the large double doors of the cafeteria. When Katsuki broke off, Izuku felt a weight lifted off of his shoulders. He’d be a liar if he said Katsuki’s presence didn’t stress him out sometimes.
“Hey guys.” Izuku sighed, plopping down in his seat beside Ochaco. Everyday the green haired boy sat with Ochaco, Shoto, and Tenya. The three had begun to form their own small friend group. Izuku liked them. They were all pleasant people. Each very kind to him in their own ways. But as Izuku’s gaze wandered to the table adjacent to theirs where Katsuki sat, he couldn’t help but feel a little jealous. Everybody liked Katsuki it seemed. And Katsuki seemed to tolerate everybody in return. Everybody but Izuku.
“Tough day?” Ochaco asked, her usual sweet voice coaxed a small smile onto his face.
“Something like that.” Izuku was quick to banish the frown on his face and replace it with his usual chipper grin.
“I heard Mr. Aizawa asking you and Bakugo to stay behind,” Shoto’s voice was a sultry one. Very smooth and quiet. Sometimes Izuku found himself straining to hear the boy's words in loud environments such as the cafeteria. “What was that about?”
“We got detention.” Izuku couldn’t help but laugh at himself. Detention. Because he was talking to his enemy in the middle of class.
The color drained from Tenya’s face at the sound of Izuku’s words. “Detention? What for!?”
“I was talking to Kacchan.” Izuku mumbled as he picked up some rice with his chopsticks.
Ochaco bursted out laughing, her shoulders shook vigorously. “You!? Talking to Bakugo!?”
“He got mad at me because my,” Izuku lifts his fingers to put air quotes onto his next words. “‘Big dumb head’ was in the way of his note taking.”
Ochaco laughed even harder at that and Izuku couldn’t help but chuckle slightly. The absurdity of his situation was so unusual that a small laugh was absolutely needed.
“God, I hope you survive that.” Shoto was always a very monotone person. Everything he said was spoken in an extremely flat, expressionless voice. Joking or not you could never tell when he was serious about something.
“I’ll be fine, Todoroki.” Izuku grinned, elbowing his friend.
“No, I’m serious. He might actually blow you up.” Shoto made an explosion noise while mocking the way Katsuki’s hands always looked when he used his quirk.
“He’s not going to blow me up.”
“You never know,” Shoto shrugged. “He’s a little crazy.”
“You nerds talkn’ about me?” Katsuki sauntered up to their table. There was a lazy look on his face, like nothing truly bothered him.
“No, Kacchan. You can go away now.” Since attending UA, Izuku had gained a new found
confidence that his middle school self would’ve died to have. This confidence always unnerved Katsuki especially when the two of them argued in public.
Katsuki’s lip lifted in a smirk. This was a usual face he made. If he wasn’t scowling he was smirking.
“So, Deku wants to get sassy?” He leaned in real close, his hands popping small firecracker explosions in Izuku’s face.
Izuku has long since seen the shallowness of Katsuki’s threats and has learned to stop being so bothered by them.
“Can you please just–” He stopped himself. He shouldn’t get angry. He wasn’t that type of guy. Sure, he’d get upset or annoyed at things but he never let those thoughts show. Everyone liked him better when he was his usual pleasant self and he knew it. “Look, we’re going to have to at least tolerate each other for this weekend's mission so can we at least be civil with each other?”
Katsuki scoffed right in his face before flicking a piece of his hair upward. “Hell no. I’ll respect you when you give me a reason to. Shit nerd.”
And with that, Katsuki turned to leave, shoving his hands into the pocket of his uniform pants. Izuku felt at a loss for words. What had Izuku
done that has given Katsuki any incentive not to respect him?
Izuku groaned loudly, plopping his face into his hands. “I don’t understand why he gives me so much grief!”
Ochaco patted his back sympathetically. “It is kind of weird. I mean, he isn’t nice to anyone else but he doesn’t treat them like that .”
“I’ve literally known him since childhood. You’d think I’d understand why he hates me by now.”
Shoto shrugged as he took a sip of his water. “Maybe you guys just aren’t meant to be in each other's lives.”
“Wow, thank you for your empathy, Todoroki.” Izuku deadpanned.
“I’m just saying it like it is.”
“Think of it this way,” Tenya began. “After UA, the two of you will go on to become Pro Heroes and your lives will grow far too busy.” He spoke with his hands, articulating each word. “At some point, the interactions you have together will start to become few and far between until you can’t even remember the sound of his voice.”
Izuku smiled vacantly. He couldn’t understand why the idea of that caused his stomach to sink with dread.
“Hopefully I’ll forget Kacchan ever existed” He lied.
The school day continued as normal until the final bell rang which signaled the beginning of Izuku and Katsuki’s one hour detention sentence.
They both trudged into the spare classroom used for detention with their heads hung low.
Principal Nezu sat in a chair at the corner of the classroom and welcomed them in.
“You may speak to one another but do keep in mind that this is still detention and if I see the two of you goofing off, I will separate you.”
Izuku scoffed at Principal Nezu’s words. There was no way in hell Katsuki would ever speak to Izuku out of his own volition. Izuku was sure of it.
Katsuki took a seat at one of the far desks and as Izuku began to make his way toward the desk in front of the blonde’s, Katsuki’s words rang loud in Izuku’s ears.
“Yeah, but you can control where you sit in class. Yet you chose to sit right the fuck in front of me on the first day.”
Izuku figured he should probably sit as far away as possible.
The minutes started to bleed together as the clock ticked by and Izuku felt himself growing restless. All he wanted to do was get the hell out of
this classroom and go train in order to release the pent up energy inside of him.
He felt so bored that at some point, staring at the ceiling and daydreaming became mundane and lackluster.
His eyes traveled to Katsuki. The blonde’s head rested on his fist, much like it always did when he sat at a desk. Katsuki stared intently at the pencil he was fidgeting with in front of him. Those red eyes shrouded by his blonde hair.
Izuku couldn’t help but stare at him sometimes and right now, there wasn’t anything better to do.
The blonde had muscles of a god. Sometimes Izuku would catch himself feeling insecure whenever Katsuki would enter the common room in his usual black tank top. Of course, Izuku’s muscles were nothing to be ashamed of. His forearms and legs were obviously toned due to months of training his body to be able to harbor One For All. But Katsuki had possessed his quirk all his life. Katsuki had been training his body from the moment it manifested so it was obvious why Izuku wasn’t nearly as strong but he couldn’t help wishing he was.
The blonde of Katsuki’s hair always complimented the red in his eyes so perfectly. He never looked bad. Even with those heavy dark circles under his eyes in the morning or the
disheveled state his body took after battles, Katsuki always looked good. If Izuku had to describe Katsuki with one word, it’d be flawless.
Katsuki seemed to have won the damn lottery in the gene pool. Everything about him was blessed. His looks, his quirk, his strength, even his height . Katsuki was 5 '10 and 6' 0 with his combat boots on, and although he wasn’t that much taller than Izuku, who stood at 5 '8, the difference in the two boys' deminors made Katsuki appear extremely taller.
Izuku always held himself with a slight slouch, his nose always buried in a notebook during class, while Katsuki held the confidence of a warrior and the gaze of a gladiator.
Izuku wished he could experience being Katsuki for a day. Even if it was just one day. Then he’d know what it felt like to have the world in the palm of his hand.
Pat, pat, pat. The sounds of rain against the window broke Izuku out of his daze.
It was mid-June and Japan’s rainy season was due to hit Masutafu any day now. And of course it had to be the one day that Izuku chose to leave his umbrella at the dormitory.
“Would you look at that!” Nezu chirped as he looked down at his watch. “Time’s up. Just in time to beat the rain!”
Katsuki shrugged a zip-up hoodie on before quickly slinging his bag over one shoulder. In his bag, a black umbrella poked out of a partially zipped pocket.
A rain jacket and an umbrella? Izuku thought. Kind of overkill…
The downpour began by the time Izuku stepped out from under the UA arch. The intensity of the rain quickly soaked his uniform and matted his green hair onto his forehead. “Dang it…”
“Oh, goodie.” Katsuki exhaled as he stepped up to Izuku’s side. “You again.”
Katsuki stood under his umbrella, looking out toward the brick pathway ahead of them.
“You forgot an umbrella or some shit?”
Izuku sighed, “Yeah. Go figure, right?” Izuku chuckled quietly to himself.
Katsuki didn’t laugh. He didn’t even acknowledge the fact that Izuku had even attempted to be funny.
“Here.”
He turned around to the sight of Katsuki holding out his zip-up.
“Are you…”
The scowl on Katsuki’s face deepend. “Just take it, dammit. Before I change my mind.”
Izuku carefully took the jacket as if Katsuki was a wild deer that he was nervous about
disturbing. One wrong move and it would scamper away, never to be seen again.
“Why are you giving this to me?”
Katsuki scoffed as if the answer was obvious. “I just don’t want you getting sick. Because if I have to take this damn mission alone I’m going to kill you.”
Izuku wasn’t quite sure what to make of the blonde’s words. It almost seemed like Katsuki was worried about Izuku’s well being but he knew that thought was silly. Izuku was the last person Katsuki would ever seriously worry about.
“Thank you…” Shyly, he slipped the jacket on. It smelt like Katsuki’s cologne.
“Whatever.”
As Katsuki trudged away, Izuku couldn’t help but smile.
Izuku strode ahead, falling into step beside Katsuki.
“Uhm, excuse you?” Katsuki snapped.
“What?”
“Why the hell are you walking next to me?” His lip upturned in a sneer, as if Izuku thinking he could so much as stand near the blonde was an insult.
“We’re going to the same place. It’s not going to hurt you to walk next to me.”
“You’re actually causing me to be in agonizing pain, Deku.”
Izuku opened his mouth to argue some more before a rustling caught the two boys’ attention.
Out from the woods ran a little girl no older than five years old. She was crying and looking around aimlessly.
“Help me!” She cried.
“Hey! Are you lost?” Izuku put on his sweetest sounding voice and bent down to the little girl's level. Katsuki scoffed at the action.
The girl clammed up. “Mommy said I’m not supposed to talk to strangers…”
“It’s okay,” Izuku reached his hand out for her to grab. “We’re hero students. You can trust us.”
The little girl pouted up at Katsuki, fresh tear stains on her cheeks. “Your friend looks mean.”
“He’s not my–!” Katsuki was swiftly cut off by Izuku’s elbow jabbing into his gut.
“He just has a mean face. A very mean face. But he wants to help you, I promise.” Izuku tried his best to smile as sweetly as he could even with Katsuki’s behavior making him increasingly angrier and angrier.
“Okay then…” The little girl chewed on her lip, nervous to talk. “I can’t find my mommy. Can you help me look?”
The poor girl was soaked to the bone in the downpour and probably terrified of being alone in the dark. Izuku looked upward toward the setting sun. They had maybe twenty minutes before the sky
would shift into nighttime and he was determined to find this girl's mother.
“Of course.” Izuku took the girl's hand and began to let her head him back to where she had come from. Begrudgingly, Katsuki followed.
“What’s your name, kid?” Katsuki asked.
“Sagawa Kaori…” The little girl mumbled. Her hair was a dark blue and her eyes a deep black. She would be hard to see at night.
“It’s very nice to meet you, Kaori. My name is Midoriya Izuku. And this is…” His voice trailed off. Izuku wasn’t sure how he was supposed to introduce Katsuki without using the name ‘Kacchan’.
Katsuki just rolled his eyes at Izuku’s hesitance. “Bakugo Katsuki. Do you have a quirk?”
Izuku almost wanted to slap Katsuki for his inability to talk to kids.
“No…” Kaori looked down at her feet. “But I’m not five years old yet so I still have time!”
Katsuki let out a scoffing breath that could be mistaken for a laugh. “In that case, you should learn not to wander off from your mom.”
“Kacchan! She’s just a kid!” Izuku scolded.
Kaori gasped, cutting Izuku and Katsuki off again. “I think I see her!” She shouted.
She was quick to let go of Izuku’s hand and ran forward. Nervous to lose sight of her, Izuku began to run after her, calling out her name.
“Oh, my baby!” A woman ran out from the bushes. She had a similar hair color to Kaori’s and the same striking black eyes. That was definitely her mother.
“Did you boys find her?” Kaori’s mother asked, looking between Izuku and Katsuki.
“Mhm.” Izuku nodded and smiled big, an action he was trying to implement into his signature hero thing.
“Oh, thank you! Thank you!” The woman exclaimed gratefully as she grabbed both the boys by the shoulders. Her grip was a little firm, and Izuku couldn’t help but wince a bit at the suddenness of it.
Quickly, the hands that held Izuku’s shoulder and vice versa swapped. Now the hand that held Katsuki’s shoulder held Izuku’s.
“Yeah, don’t mention it.” Katsuki huffed.
“Is there anything else you need from us?” Izuku asked, smiling down at Kaori.
“Nope!” Kaori’s mom spoke for her, shuffling Kaori away. “We’re all good here. Thank you again!” The mother and daughter broke away into an extremely fast walk.
Izuku was left a little bewildered from the interaction. It ended almost as quickly as it had begun, as if Kaori’s mother couldn’t get away from the two boys’ fast enough.
“Odd…” Izuku said aloud, looking to Katsuki for any kind of explanation as to what that just was.
“Yeah…” Izuku almost choked on his own breath. Were pigs flying or did the Bakugo Katsuki just agree with him?
“I want my coat back, by the way.” Katsuki commented as the gate to the dormitories got closer and closer.
Defensively, Izuku clutched the hem of the jacket. “Kacchan, it’s gonna rain all week. Can’t I keep for a little while longer?”
Katsuki let out a gruff exhale. “Whatever.”
The remainder of the walk was spent in silence. When they approached the doors, no goodbyes were exchanged. The two just broke off, going to their respective locations.
Izuku opened his bedroom door, sighing gratefully at the sight of his bed.
He slung the raincoat onto a small gold hook that was bolted into the top of his door and flopped onto the mattress.
When Izuku was finally settled in bed for the night, he could feel this odd tingling sensation in the spot where that woman had gripped his shoulder. He lifted his shirt sleeve to touch it and was perturbed to feel heat radiating off of the skin.
Weird… He thought. Maybe I’m getting an infection? I’ll have to visit Recovery Girl tomorrow.
Izuku figured there was nothing he could do about the weird sensation right then. He’d just have to try his best to ignore it until he could get it looked at tomorrow. What else could he do?
Izuku was awoken in the wee hours of the morning to the feeling of searing pain in his shoulder. Reflexively, the boy clutched his shoulder, audibly wincing as the pain forced his body to be shot upright.
Izuku pulled his shirt sleeve up, letting his fingertips graze the bare skin of his shoulder. It was incredibly hot. No. It was burning. Izuku couldn’
If Izuku had to compare this pain to anything, he’d compare it to feeling like he had just received the mother of all sunburns overtop of a broken shoulder
Groggily, he dragged himself out of bed. He needed to see just what the hell was going on.
Izuku was thankful for the early hour that he had woken up at because he wouldn’t have been able to handle any kind of human interaction from his classmates while he was in this kind of pain.
“Deku?” The familiar sound of Katsuki’s voice in the boys bathroom immediately annoyed Izuku. Normally, he wouldn’t mind seeing Katsuki. Hell, he’d probably be as complacent as ever toward the blonde’s insults but with the sheer tiredness he felt mixed with the pain in his shoulder
made Izuku feel a sort of disdain at the idea of facing Katsuki.
“Deku, look in the fucking mirror.” Katsuki’s voice held an uncanny amount of fear in it. Izuku had never heard such a confident boy sound so disturbed before.
“Kacchan, wha–” Izuku felt his heart drop to his stomach.
The boy in the mirror staring back at him was not the reflection Izuku knew. No, this couldn’t be happening. His curly green hair had been replaced by blonde tufts and in the absence of those large, expressive green eyes, layed a pair of thin red ones. His freckles and natural tan had disappeared for a paler more muscular body. But this body wasn’t his. This body was Katsuki’s .
Izuku’s hands found his hair and he tugged hard, unable to process the sight in front of him. “Th-this doesn’t make sense.”
Izuku looked at Katsuki. He was normal! The boy in front of him was the same normal Katsuki he’s always known but…in Katsuki’s reflection, Izuku saw himself .
“We fuckin’ swapped bodies.” Katsuki was quick to put the pieces together but that didn’t mean the shock on his face and in his voice was any less apparent.
“No, but that doesn’t make sense.” Izuku looked back at Katsuki to see Katsuki back as
himself. “When I look at you, you’re normal. But in your reflection your…”
“Yeah, genius, it’s the same for me. You’re still your dumbass self when I look at you.”
“So how does–”
“It must be a quirk of some kind.” Katsuki had always been very analytical. Izuku knew this. Izuku had always been just as analytical as Katsuki if not more but Izuku tended to be more analytical in the information that was given to him whereas Katsuki was more so the type to read in between the lines. So it was a no-brainer that Kastuki required so little time to put two and two together.
“The quirk must have swapped our bodies but not our perceptions of each other.”
Izuku stared at himself in the mirror, studying every minute detail of Katsuki’s face that now took the place of his own face.
“This is insane…” Izuku muttered.
Katsuki didn’t answer. Instead, he grabbed Izuku by the wrists and began to drag the boy out of the bathroom.
“Where are we going?” Izuku whispered, nervous to wake anyone up.
“Back to your room, dipshit. We can’t let anyone catch us in the bathroom like this.”
“Wha–” Izuku sputtered. “ My room? Why not yours ?”
“Because.” If nothing else, Katsuki knew how to shut down a conversation.
Izuku’s bedroom was located on the second floor, sandwiched in between Mineta’s and Aoyama’s. Izuku would be a liar if he said that the idea of Aoyama seeing Katsuki in his bedroom didn’t worry him. Aoyama was a nosy one and sometimes Izuku would find the blue-eye’d boy perched on his balcony, just… watching him. But then, Izuku had to remind himself it was himself that he needed to be worried about. After all, he was Katsuki.
Katsuki had opted for the staircase instead of the elevators since there was a higher chance of running into any number of their classmates in the elevators.
“Who’s on this floor again?” Katsuki asked. The two stood just outside of a large set of double doors that read ‘ UA Academy Dormitories floor 2’.
“Mineta, Aoyama, and Tokoyami.” Izuku listed the names off the top of his head, earning a small grumble from Katsuki.
“Fuck, I hate that grape-headed freak.”
“Don’t we all?” Izuku sighed.
When they finally arrived at Izuku’s bedroom, Katsuki locked the door and shoved a desk chair up against it for good measure.
Katsuki smirked, amused at the sight of Izuku’s bedroom.
His bed spread was All Might themed, with matching blue and yellow pillows. On the nightstand sat a glass of half drunk water with an All Might decal that Izuku must’ve stuck onto it himself. At the desk (that was now missing its desk chair) was a school issued laptop, decked out in various Pro Hero themed stickers.
“Does All Might know your room looks like this?”
“Wha–” Izuku flushed in embarrassment, crossing his arms defiantly. “Of course he does.”
“And this shit doesn’t…” Katsuki gestured vaguely, taking a slow 360 of the bedroom. “Weird him out?”
“No…he’s used to it.”
Katsuki still wasn’t convinced
“He’s got millions of fans, Kacchan.” Izuku pointed out, as if that fact wasn’t common knowledge.
“It’s just fuckin’ odd…” Katsuki paced a little more, taking in more of the All Might decor before stopping and shrugging. “But I guess I’ll have to prepare for superfans once I become #1.”
Izuku scoffed playfully and rolled his eyes. “You mean when I become #1.”
Katsuki thinned his eyes into slits, his lip upturning in a small smirk. “Deku, baby, we both know that is never going to happen.”
“Never say never.” Izuku teased in a sing-song voice.
Izuku plopped down onto his bed, the mattress squeaking a little under his weight. Katsuki opted for standing in the corner of his room, right beside a corkboard with various photos and other memorabilia.
“So–” Izuku began, swinging his legs back and forth. However, the green haired boy was promptly cut off by the sound of Katsuki’s voice.
“Who’s that?” Katsuki asked, pointing to one of the photos.
“Oh, him.” Pink dusted the boy's cheeks as Izuku blushed slightly at the picture. “That’s Rody Soul. You met him back in Otheon. Remember?”
Katsuki hummed. “Y’guys were close?”
Izuku couldn’t fight back the small smile that the memories of Rody put on his face. “Something like that.”
Rody and Izuku had had a small fling during the short time they had been together. And although their little relationship had been indefinitely called off when Izuku had to return home to Japan, he still felt those little stomach butterflies at the mention of Rody’s name.
An unreadable shadow crossed over Katsuki’s face before it was quickly replaced with his usual scowl.
“So, how are we going to explain this to the class?” Izuku caught a glimpse of himself in his reflection. He still couldn’t shake the bizarre feeling of seeing someone who wasn’t himself in the mirror.
“We’re not.”
Izuku chuckled slightly, confused. “What do you mean?”
“Think about it, Deku. Wasn’t yesterday’s lesson about controlling quirks?”
Izuku nodded, not quite following Katsuki’s train of thought.
“If we fuckin’ walk up to Aizawa tomorrow like, ‘hey, Teach! I know you taught us how to avoid this shit literally 24 hours ago, but we still fucked up.’ We're going to be in a world of trouble.”
“So, we act like each other?”
“Bingo.” Katsuki grinned, crossing his arms and leaning against Izuku’s door frame.
“And what if we’re like this for the rest of our lives?”
“Then you better get used to living my life, Deku.”
Izuku groaned, holding his head in his hands.
“Kacchan, this is ridiculous!”
“It’s fuckin’ genius is what it is.”
Izuku couldn’t tell if Katsuki was joking or not but all he knew was that the loud blonde was
dead serious about this plan. They were going to live each other's lives until the quirk wore off or until they died. Whichever came first. And the idea of living as Katsuki made Izuku’s head spin.
“Alright, let's lay some ground rules.” Katsuki walked closer to Izuku’s bed and took a seat on the floor just beside Izuku’s feet. “You need to start cussing. We can only assume that our voices have been swapped as well and no one’ll believe this shit if you don’t act less like…well, yourself .”
“I don’t swear, though.”
“ Deku doesn’t but Bakugo Katsuki does.”
Izuku sighed, “Fine. Fine.”
Katsuki grinned, mischievously. “Try it.”
“Kacchan, I’m not five. I’ve said a bad word before.”
“Calling it a ‘bad word’ makes you sound five.” Katsuki deadpanned.
“Fine…” Izuku sighed, exasperatedly giving in.
The swear sat on the tip of Izuku’s tongue but God, did it feel awkward. It felt like he had just been asked to sing in front of a crowd of millions.
“Jesus, this is weird…”
Katsuki rolled his eyes, “Oh my fucking god, just do it. It’s not that serious!”
“I am! I am!” Izuku waved him off. “Don’t rush me.”
Katsuki rubbed his temples, he looked to be on the verge of combusting.
“Fuck…” Izuku mumbled.
Katsuki bursted out laughing, holding his side for support. “Deku, that was hilarious! Say it again!”
Suddenly Izuku felt very embarrassed. “No! I’m not saying it again!”
“Please, I’ll do anything!” Katsuki begged through his laughter, leaning back as he bellowed.
“No! You’re pushing it!”
“Okay, okay, fine.” Katsuki finally calmed, wiping a non-existent tear from his eye. “Congratulations. Babys’ first cuss word.”
“I’m gonna kill you…” Izuku murmured under his breath.
“Hey, that’s the spirit! You’re starting to sound like me already.”
Izuku rolled his eyes, gently kicking Katsuki’s knee with his foot. Katsuki swatted his foot away, glaring at him humorously.
This felt nice. Izuku felt like he was a kid again, hanging out at Katsuki’s house over the weekend. It was wild to Izuku how quickly they were able to fade back into their old dynamic, despite everything.
“Okay,” Katsuki drummed his fingers against his knee, eagerly leaning forward. “Teach me how to be a loser, O Wise Deku.”
Izuku snorted. “Since when are you so willing to learn from me?”
Katsuki’s features morphed into something more serious as he talked, the smile that played on his lips just mere moments ago was now completely dropped. “Since I fuckin’ became you. Don’t get used to this shit, Deku.”
Izuku’s heart dropped and he couldn’t explain why. Of course this was only temporary. He knew that. They weren’t going to become best pals just because they needed to work together in order to sort this mess out. There was no use in assuming that anything permanent was to come from this little arrangement.
Izuki cleared his throat. “R-right. Sorry about that.”
“S’fine.” Katsuki shrugged. “Now teach me.”
“Well, first of all, you need to relax your face.” Izuku pointed at Katsuki’s ever present scowl. “No one is gonna believe you’re me when you're scowling all the time.”
“This is my resting face, idiot.”
“Not anymore.”
Katsuki gritted his teeth. After a couple seconds of annoyed grumbling Katsuki turned to Izuku.
Izuku was absolutely taken aback by what he saw.
Every line and every shadow on Katsuki’s face was completely relaxed. Katsuki’s crimson eyes were actually much rounder than Izuku had thought and his lips had an interesting, almost endearing, natural pout to them. Izuku’s throat got dry and it felt almost impossible to look away.
“Somethin’ wrong with my face?” Katsuki asked.
Izuku guessed that the blonde had noticed him staring.
“N-no. It’s…well it’s perfect, actually.”
“Shut up. I’m always perfect.” Katsuki grumbled. “What’s next?”
Izuku had almost forgotten all about the body swap at the sight of that softer version of Katsuki.
“You’d need to call me Kacchan and vice versa…”
Izuku squinted his eyes shut, already prepared for the scream that would invoke from Katsuki.
“Hell no! I’m not fuckin’ calling you Kacchan!”
“Then this will never work! We might as well just go tell Mr. Aizawa right now!”
“Deku–”
“Need I remind you, this was your idea.”
Katsuki quickly shut his mouth and flopped onto the floor with a defeated groan.
“ Fine .”
“Good.” Izuku smiled and pushed himself up off the bed. “Goodnight, Deku .”
“Wha–!? Where are you going!?”
“I need to sleep in your room if we’re gonna sell this.”
Izuku thought that Katsuki was about to explode right then and there just from the sheer look of shock and anger on his face.
“Fine!” He grumbled. “But don’t touch shit .”
Izuku opened the door and waved to the boy that was still sprawled out on the floor.
As Izuku approached Katsuki’s bedroom door on the fourth floor, he couldn’t deny the feeling of giddiness in his gut. This whole situation was beyond bizarre but the amount of possible outcomes that could result from all of this was tantalizing to the boy. He had always loved studying quirks and now he’d been given the opportunity to witness first hand just how controlling quirks worked. Sure, this was a pretty undesirable way of learning but it was exciting nevertheless.
“Oh. Hey, Bakugo.” A voice stopped Izuku dead in his tracks and he felt the color drain from his face.
This was the moment of truth. His first chance to prove that he had the balls to pull this off
“What are you doing up?” Kirishima Ejiro asked, with his head peaked out from his bedroom door. The red head’s hair was flat and tangled from sleep. It was a lot softer than Izuku had expected it to be without any hair gel in it and his eyes were a much less aggressive shade of red in the darkness of the hallway.
Izuku couldn’t seem to form an answer. Fuck, what would Kacchan say?
“Bakugo?” Ejiro began to open the door wider, worry laced in his tone.
“Just, uhh…” Izuku’s voice trailed off. Hoping, no, praying that his voice was Katsuki’s and not his own. “Just getting some water.”
Ejiro seemed to visibly relax, clearly buying Izuku’s excuse.
“Get some rest, man. We’ve got an English test tomorrow.”
“Don’t worry about me,” Izuku paused again. What’s Kirishima’s nickname…? Oh, right! Shitty hair! “Don’t worry about me, Shitty hair, I’ll ace that shit.”
Izuku hoped the words didn’t sound as weird as they felt.
Ejiro lifted an eyebrow. “You alright?”
“Yup. Goodnight.” Izuku rushed into Katsuki’s bedroom, afraid that he’d screw up and blow his cover if he kept talking for much longer.
Izuku leaned against the door frame, nervously wringing his wrists. “Jeez, that was a disaster…” He mumbled quietly to himself.
Izuku flipped the light switch on and was honestly a little underwhelmed at the sight before him.
Katsuki’s dorm room was simple.
The regular white curtains on the sliding glass door that led to the balcony had been switched out for black ones. His bed was pushed up against the wall with a navy blue comforter and matching gray pillows. It seemed as if he had never even been asleep before Izuku had run into Katsuki in the bathroom because the bed looked completely made. Actually, now that he looked at it, the entire room was extremely well organized, the only mess stood to be a few textbooks scattered here and there at his desk. Katsuki’s laptop was plain with no decorative stickers to speak of and a gray desk lamp sat adjacent to the device. Above Katsuki’s desk were two floating shelves, lined with various amounts of Katsuki’s favorite books and mangas. Izuku recognized some of the titles from when they were friends and smiled softly at the sight of them. Izuku couldn’t quite figure out what it was about Katsuki’s room that Katsuki felt so hell bent on hiding from Izuku. Nothing seemed inherently out of the ordinary or even embarrassing.
Izuku sat on the edge of the bed and immediately felt uncomfortable. Of course, he was in Katsuki’s body but this inherent feeling of being out of place didn’t simply go away no matter how many times he reminded himself that he wasn’t himself.
Izuku silently wondered if Katsuki felt this same uncomfortable squeeze in his gut when he sat on Izuku’s bed.
After about two hours of tossing and turning in bed, Izuku gave up on sleep, accepting the fact that it wasn’t coming and dragged himself back into the hallway.
It was now 7 AM and his classmates that prioritized punctuality would begin waking up any minute now anyway since school started at 9 AM.
Izuku slumped against the wall and let his body weight drag him down onto the floor. The exhaustion he felt forced his head to fall into the cradle of his arms and for a while he just sat like that, contemplating the last couple hours of his life.
I’m in Kacchan's body…Izuku thought. The boy was trying desperately to make sense of his situation. And Kacchan is in my body. The two of us are…friends now? The idea of being Katsuki’s friend again brought about an indescribable feeling in his stomach. We're friends again, at least until we can figure all of this out. I mean, I always said I wanted to know what it felt like to be Kacchan,
haven’t I? As more and more of his classmates began to exit their bedrooms, Izuku felt a lump form in his throat. Remember Izuku, you respond to the name Bakugo now. You cannot screw this up.
He wasn’t sure how long he had been in that position on the floor, just thinking, before he felt a slightly aggressive tap on his ankle.
He looked up to see Ochaco with her leg outstretched, ready to tap him again. He froze, suddenly extremely nervous. He wasn’t aware of the nature of Katsuki’s relationship with Ochaco. Actually, he wasn’t even sure if they even had a relationship.
“What are you doing on the floor, Bakugo?” Ochaco chuckled softly.
Izuku gulped. This was his best friend. How was he supposed to fool his best friend?
“Got fuckin’ tired is all…” He tried his best to slap some confidence into his voice but he knew for a fact that his words fell flat.
Ocacho hummed, taking that as a good enough answer.
“Don’t forget, you’re watching a movie tomorrow night with Mina and I.” Ochaco said as she turned toward the elevator.
Izuku replayed the brunette girl's words over and over again in his mind.
“You’re watching a movie tomorrow night with Mina and I.”
He couldn’t believe his ears. Was Katsuki friends with Ochaco? Izuku felt a pang of anger in his chest. Ochaco was extremely similar to Izuku in personality, yet Katsuki clearly goes out of his way to spend time with her. What had Izuku been doing wrong? What had he done to deserve the cold shoulder from Katsuki that he had been receiving for years? What did Ochaco’s company have that Izuku’s didn't?
Now, as Izuku looked at himself in the mirror, dressed in Katsuki’s school uniform, that anger remained. Causing his cheeks to flush a dark red. Izuku was used to seeing the flush of red he sometimes got when he felt angry, but seeing it on a face that didn't belong to him disturbed the boy.
Snap out of it, Izuku. Kacchan wouldn’t let something like this get to him.
He quickly schooled his features and slapped on Katsuki’s ever present scowl.
“Um, Kacchan?”
Izuku flinched. It took everything inside of him not to burst out laughing at the sound of Katsuki's voice speaking that name.
“What do you want, nerd?” The grin Izuku struggled to fight back was slowly winning as he spoke.
“You’re uhm,” Katsuki paused and made a show of mumbling dramatically. “You’re in my seat.”
“My bad.” Izuku grumbled.
“Th-thank you so much!”
Izuku sat in Katsuki’s chair and suddenly felt very annoyed by that whole interaction. He replayed the way the blonde spoke and couldn’t fight the eye twitch.
I don’t talk like that.
Either Katsuki knew that and was fucking with him, or he didn’t and thought that that was just the way Izuku talked.
Izuku didn’t know which was more hurtful.
Later that night, Izuku sat at Katsuki’s desk, entranced in school work that wasn’t even his.
It was a miracle the two boys’ took relatively the same classes or Izuku would be having a much harder time on Katsuki’s homework.
Being inside of Katsuki’s bedroom made that insatiable curiosity inside of Izuku hungry for information. Here he was, at the center of Katsuki’s world, surrounded by all the things that made up the blonde, and he wasn’t even allowed to touch anything!
The very notion that basically everything but Katsuki’s bed, computer, and school work was off limits drove Izuku crazy. He’s always wanted to know more about Katsuki and now that he had the opportunity, he couldn’t even take it.
How would he know… Izuku thought as his gaze traveled up to Katsuki’s manga. One peek wouldn’t hurt.
One peek turned into two hours of reading every book and manga Katsuki had on his shelf. Izuku was shocked to learn that a good majority of them were either romance or contained romantic elements. Izuku never would’ve pinned Katsuki as the type to enjoy literature like that. In some of the longer, more philosophical books, Izuku found small annotations left behind by the blonde written in pencil. Each time Izuku stumbled upon a little note written by Katsuki in the margin, he’d smile to himself and read it in the blonde’s voice.
Now, dressed in a pair of Katsuki’s pajamas and staring at the ceiling, Izuku lets his thoughts run rampant. It was beginning to feel like everything he thought he knew about Katsuki was a lie. Or maybe not a lie, maybe just a half-truth. He should’ve expected that, though. The last time they had truly been friends was ten years ago. A person can
change a lot in ten years. A fact that Izuku knew all too well.
A knock at the door startled Izuku and he quickly dragged himself from bed.
As he opened the door, he was confused to see that nobody waited for him on the other side. Instead, a black raincoat sat dangling off of the door knob.
Kacchan must really want this back. Izuku thought as he retrieved the jacket and tossed it onto Katsuki’s desk chair.
A small, folded in half piece of paper, so small that Izuku almost missed it, fell from the coat’s pocket and onto the floor. When he picked it up to reveal a small message written in black ink, his heart almost stopped beating.
Meet me at the playground by the river at 11:30
-Bakugo