Father Figure (BNHA)

A choice

"Come on! Sit with us!" Izuku dragged Todoroki over to a table at the back of the room, where Iida and Uraraka sat.

Uraraka laughed, seeing the unsure look on Todoroki's face as he approached his two classmates. He say down next to Izuku and started eating immediately, praying the others wouldnt try and talk to him.

"Wow, Midoriya." Uraraka said. "I didn't realise how strong you were. You gave Monoma a big shock!"

He laughed and smiled back up at her. "Who would have guessed that a quirkless general studies student could get first in two rounds of the UA sports festival."

Iida nudged his glasses up his nose. "Yes, you were very impressive. You must have trained a lot to become that strong, yet you said you didn't want to be a hero."

Izuku met his eyes. He understood what he was asking. He shrugged. "My dad's always wanted to make sure I can protect myself. I've been going to combat classes for as long as I can remember."

Iida nodded. "Then why let Bakugou bully you? You could easily beat him, so why let it continue?"

Izuku looked down at his food guiltily. "Kacchan is my first ever friend. I don't want to hurt him."

Todoroki's eyes met Izuku's and he smiled weakly. Izuku gave him a slight wink, hoping the others wouldn't want to see it. They didn't.

But someone else did.

On the table next to them, Mina was staring right at them. Denki tied to talk to her but she hushed him and pointed at Todoroki and Izuku, whispering something that sounded a bit too much like "Look how cute they are!"

Todoroki's face turned red and he turned back to his food. Izuku looked up at Mina, who at least looked guilty, then back to his food.

"So, the next round will be 1v1 combat. I hope I'm not against Bakugou!" Uraraka said, not noticing Todoroki's bright red face and Izuku's slight disappointed frown.

Izuku shrugged. "I don't know. I don't want to hurt him, but I don't want to lose to him either."

Uraraka gave him a sympathetic smile. "Go for the win! Bakugou's ego is too big. He could do with a good defeat."

Iida started lecturing her on how that wasn't an appropriate why to talk about her classmate while Izuku laughed. Todoroki smiled slightly as he picked at his food.

***

The students made their way onto the field, and Midnight started to explain the next round. A tournament bracket was shown on the screen and Izuku smiled.

He was up against Kirishima.

He followed the rest of his class to where they were going to watch the matches. As expected, Todoroki beat Sero in less than a minute, and the next pair took the stage.

Izuku waited until right before his match and headed down to the preparation room. As he waited, his phone rang in his pocket.

Tomura.

"Hey, dad."

"Izuku, try not to kill Bakugou, okay? I have Kurogiri ready, but it would be a pain." Tomura said quickly.

Izuku laughed. "I won't kill him, I promise. Midnight will knock me out before I can. But, you know, if you're worried about me killing him at school, you could just kidnap him, kill him else where."

Tomura sighed. "Izuku, what have I said before. We're not kidnapping Bakugou just for you to have some fun with him."

"Yeah, but, if you take him from school,"

"Getting into UA is too risky."

"Okay, from a school trip or something, then it'll make people lose trust in the heroes. Come on, that's good right?" He begged.

Tomura sighed again. "If there is a school trip we can take him from, then fine. But, only if you let him win the sports festival."

Izuku turned pale and nearly threw his phone. "What?! Why!?"

"If we can manage to take their strongest student from them, then it'll break people's trust more. It's your choice Izuku. Lose to him or have to deal with him."

Izuku hung up and dropped the phone into his pocket, glaring at the far wall.

He had been losing to Bakugou for years, pretending to be weak and feeble around him. He was sick of it. Now, he had an opportunity to knock him down a peg. To beat him in front of everyone. To show the world that he was stronger. To humiliate Bakugou.

To have to lose that opportunity. To let Bakugou win. To let that asshole beat him again. The idea of it made his skin crawl.

But, this was his only chance to get real revenge on him. Revenge that noone will see. Revenge that will break Bakugou, mind, body and soul. To crush his spirit and leave him an empty husk, if he gets lucky enough to survive, that is.

Public humiliation, or private vengeance.

Which punishment should Bakugou get?

The door to the preparation room opened and Izuku wiped the anger from his face. He looked up and saw Todoroki stood there.

"Oh, hey." At least he didn't have to act like he was scared of fighting Kirishima.

"Hi. I just wanted to say good luck in the final." Todoroki said with a emotionless face.

Izuku tilted his head. "But I'm against you next round. Have you given up do quickly?"

Todoroki shrugged. "We both know that neither me or Kirishima stand a chance against you."

Izuku smiled. "Maybe, but it won't stop Kirishima from trying. He's annoyed that I'm higher ranking than him. He doesn't like taking orders."

Todoroki moved to sit down by Izuku. "You'll probably face Bakugou in the final. Don't kill him."

Izuku turned to Todoroki and laughed. "Dad called to tell me just that. But," he sighed, "I might have to lose that fight. I haven't decided yet." He sighed and looked at Todoroki with a small smile. "The humiliation should be worth it though."

Todoroki shrugged. "Maybe. But don't do anything you don't want to."

Izuku looked up at Todoroki and laughed. "As if anyone could make me do anything I don't want to do."