Kirishima sets the Wonder Duo in Motion

Bakugou calms the storm

Bakugou refused to let Midoriya go. They were sitting in Bakugou's room, the only room in UA that class 1-A would think thrice before barging into. He hated Monoma with a burning passion and he was glad that Aizawa and Nezu were going to expel him. At least, he assumed they would. He and Midoriya hadn't left his room since the incident.

Midoriya was strangely quiet, much like Bakugou had been after his own verbal beating from Monoma. And Bakugou didn't know where to start to make him feel better. The worthless part? The part where he pointed out the obvious favoring of Midoriya by All Might, which was All Might's problem, not Midoriya's? The part where he basically said Midoriya manipulated everyone with just his smile? It was too much. Bakugou didn't know where to start, and he had no doubt Midoriya didn't know where to begin with processing it all.

"Hey Izuku."

Midoriya slid his eyes over to him, Bakugou now able to see the crushing hurt in them.

"You wanna hear a story?"

Midoriya nodded, leaning back into Bakugou as he ran his fingers through his hair.

"A long time ago there was a boy in a quiet village. This village was known for its school of magic, the most prestigious in the land. However, no matter how hard this boy wished to have magic and go to this school, he never found any magic he could use. Not elemental magic, nor physical spells, nor illusion magic, nor potions. None of it would work for him. But this boy never gave up. He kept preparing to go to the village's prestigious magic school.

Everyone made fun of him for it. No one believed he could do it. Everyone tried to convince him otherwise, telling him he'd die trying the exam to get in. Even his best friend turned against him in hopes of finally getting through to him.

But this boy wouldn't stop. He kept taking notes on the different types of magic. It got to the point where he probably knew more about every type of magic than anyone else, even those with the ability to use magic. But no one paid him any mind.

This kid held his head high throughout all of it. He ignored those calling him worthless and stupid, knowing that he was worth more than they knew. He kept his optimism and smile, earning people's respect through his attitude and willingness to help people.

Then one day, this kid ran into the most powerful magician in the world. He was known to be able to use all the different types of magic. Most people could master multiple, but not all of them. But this magician was different, he could do it all and was looked up to by everyone. The boy asked his hero, this magician, if he could too become a great magician and help people. The magician said no. He couldn't. And the boy was crushed. He almost quit. Until his former best friend was in mortal danger. No one could figure out how to undo the spell binding him, or what potion to make to cure the poison that a wicked witch gave him.

But this boy knew. He grabbed the ingredients from the nearby potions master, pulling out just the right amount of each ingredient to mix together and create a cure. However, because of his lack of magic, the potions master had to be the one to brew the potion and save the boy from the poison coursing through his veins. He earned the credit for saving the friend's life, the boy getting berated instead. And to get the friend out of his binds, the boy led the spell master through an ancient and widely unknown spell to unwork his binds. The spell master was given complete credit for saving the friend, the boy, again, getting berated for being in the way.

The boy left dejected. But little did he know the master magician was watching. Watching and listening. He saw the boy's knowledge, and his dejection. So he took the boy aside.

It turns out the master magician couldn't help the friend because his magic was dying. His body could no longer handle it after an elemental fight with a demon that left him badly injured.

So he told the boy his secret; his magic was not his own. His magic was derived from the flower that gave the entire forest surrounding the village, and the village itself, life. His magic was the life magic that mirrored and fought the demon magic of the underworld.

But he couldn't keep his magic forever, so he gave his magic, derived from the flower of life, to the boy. And the boy trained. And trained. And trained. Until he could use his new magic, even if it was at a very basic level. He finally figured it out the morning of the exam for the prestigious magic school.

The boy took that exam, like he'd always imagined. And he passed, barely. His magic was powerful but unstable. It seemed to go haywire almost every time he used it. But his teacher, another well known magician, saw a spark. Maybe it was his attitude, his persistence, maybe it was something no one else saw, not even the master magician, and he let him stay. The boy worked and worked, gaining more and more control over his magic with each passing day.

His classmates loved having him around. Not because of his powerful magic, but because of his attitude. They saw how much he wanted to help people, how much he smiled, and it inspired them. They respected him for it. He made friends.

The master magician did favor him. The boy had his magic, of course there was some favoritism. Some blamed the boy for this favoritism. But his classmates, including his former best friend, never blamed him. The boy was never responsible for the master magician's actions. Only those truly jealous blamed the boy.

And you know what happened to that boy? He got everything he strived for. His best friend apologized and they ended up dating. He had an entire class full of friends, plus some from other classes, because this boy was just so friendly and nice people couldn't help but want to be his friend. And he became the best master magician the world had ever seen. Even better than his mentor. Because the boy knew the worth of someone who couldn't use magic. Because he could easily look past someone's shell and see who they were inside, and that was who he valued."

Bakugou looked down at Midoriya, whose eyes were watering. Bakugou put his hand under Midoriya's chin, gently bringing his face up so his eyes met Bakugou's.

"Do you get it, Izuku?"

Midoriya nodded and smiled. Bakugou smiled back, planting a small kiss on Midoriya's head before throwing a spare pillow at his light, turning it off, and pulling them both under the covers to sleep.

Oops.