Welcome!

Of course we know Bakugou trying to call him Izuku. We love it.

So the translators tried here but the line in Japanese is very idiomatic so they translate it literally. But it’s actually more effective, in my opinion, if you know this is an idiom.

Deku says, 無理しないで (muri shinai de). It literally means “don’t do the impossible,” but it’s just an idiom for “it’s not a big deal,” or “don’t worry about it.” Because it’s an idiom, it’s not meant to be taken literally, only in its meaning — don’t stress out over changing how you address me.

But Bakugou, our sweet boy, takes the idiom literally. I don’t mean that he doesn’t know it’s an idiom, but as Bakugou does he pays attention to ever single word, even in an idiom. So instead of saying in a more typical phrasing, “but I do care, I am going to worry about it,” he takes the literal meaning as a challenge. If Deku says don’t do the impossible, then Bakugou has to declare there’s no such thing as impossible in his dictionary, which is also a more literal translation than the subs.

hand in hand

ahhh yes I was hoping someone would ask for them ehehe >:3

so just to set the stage here, I fully think both of these gals are crazy about the other, in the way of like, not fully believing that the other can like them back as much as they like them

and I think that would kind of shine trough a little extra on halloween

both of them generally enjoy this holiday, but they had very different ways of celebrating it growing up

In the Yaoyorozu household it was very glammed up, they either went to or hosted these big, fancy costume parties, always with themes, and everything was very polite and almost regal lol

while in the Kyouka house, there were more traditional celebrations, like fun, over the top costumes, giving out candy to the neighborhood kids, and her parents would often let Jirou have halloween parties with her friends when she was still in elementary and middle school

and so when they start dating, they both really want to try to do what they think the other wants

but since neither have much experience with the others ways of celebrating, they seek help elsewhere to surprise the other

Momo goes to Denki, who knows Jirou very well being her bestie, and with Denki comes Kirishima, so now she has a little team on her side

while Jirou seeks out Shouto, who not only knows Momo fairly well, but had a similar upbringing in the sense of the people surrounding their families

and with Shouto comes Izuku, who may not have much experience with fancy halloweens, but he loves love, and since his boyfriend, Kirishima, is suddenly busy helping Momo and Denki with some kind of secret project, he has a lot of extra time

Denki and Kirishima are going all out with Momo's plan, they're planning on decorating Momo's room in a typical halloween way that they hope remind Jioru of her childhood

Kirishima keeps being brought to tears by the whole thing

Shinsou tried to carefully tell his boyfriend that they might be going a little overboard, but it's far too late for that now that Denki is fully invested and hyped

while Jirou managed to get Shouto to help her learn some basic ballroom dances, which makes izuku super emotional, while Bakugo is sitting in a corner huffing and pouting at how Jirou is stealing his boyfriend's precious time that could be spent on him

but he would never admit that out loud

and he would definitely never admit that he kinda thinks the whole thing just a little sweet

so, when halloween finally comes around, they both have plans they're desperately trying to get to work

Jirou is planning on taking Momo out to their special spot in the park by the dorms to look at the stars and then ask her to dance with her and surprise her with knowing how to

and Momo is planning on decorating all of her room in the typical halloween decorations and watch Jirou's favorite scary movies in the new matching PJ's she's gotten for them

luckily, the scheming boyfriends ends up figuring each other out, and therefore manage to avert the crisis somehow

without the girls knowledge, they all band together to sort of morph the two ideas together in Momo's room

they manage to borrow Aoyama's telescope, so they can still stargaze from the room, and the make space so they get to do the dancing, and get all the movies queued up and ready

so naturally, matching PJ's, the Scream movies, stargazing, and slow dancing in their flannel PJ's after the movie marathon becomes their little halloween tradition

the boys are all so fucking proud of themselves lmao, as they should be honestly <3

denki's bad english pickup lines actually work and love them both so much.

they bond over english memes. they are adorable, enough said.

The main purpose of the love interest is to be the protagnist's main emotional connection (or should I say trigger lmao)

Their dynamic is crucial to the advancement of the story

The love interest is often the deuteroganist

The narrative often rewards their attempts to reconciliation

Bring out each others strengths and flaws

From the very first episode, Izuku has always reacted strongly when Katsuki is involved. He is a spectator to the Sludge Villain till he realised who was trapped. Then his body moved on its own

Katsuki didn't know that Izuku had a quirk till their first day at UA--he assumed that Izuku had gotten into the school without a quirk and went 'yeah that checks'

Izuku tells him the secret of OFA on the very first day--he doesn't even tell anything to his mother

Izuku escapes the villains in USJ by copying Katsuki and screaming DIE as he jumps off a boat

Seriously, most people would think 'What would Bakugou do?' and then proceed to do the complete opposite. Everyone except this mad lad apparently

Izuku wins the sports race by doing what he thought Kacchan would do

Omfg I completely forgot the nicknames. Nicknames

Especially Kacchan--Katsuki doesn't even protest to this cutesy nickname even once during the entire story. Sus.

Katsuki wins his match against Uraraka because he thought she had taken advice from Deku and he prepared the required counter attack

Seriously these guys can anticipate each others movements so well it's scary

Izuku masters some control over OFA by once again thinking 'What would Kacchan do?'

Seriously that's like his foolproof plan for every situation and it works???

Aizawa placing them against All Might for their exam solely because of their dynamic--he knew what a powerhouse they could be together if they just learnt how

Izuku: *hears that one of the objectives of the training camp attack is to kill him*

Izuku: *completely ignores that* omg kacchan!

*life or death situation where accurate information is necessary* Izuku: One of the targets is Kacchan!

Hero: Who???

1a: omg it's midoriya (love how that's how they recognise him, it's so distinct)

Stay back Deku

Izuku's complete break down screaming when Katsuki is kidnapped

"It was a complete failure"

He literally risks everything to save him

Deku vs Kacchan Part 2 *ctrl+c*

The highlights: 'you're my image of victory', 'closer to me than All Might'

Cannot believe I almost forget the several panels towards the end of DvK2

just leaving these over here

s4 didn't really have a lot them because it was focused on other things (and it actually gave them the space the needed after whatever DvK2 was) so moving onto the Joint Training

"Keep your eyes on me Deku"

Izuku just,,, ignorning everything else and focusing on Katsuki's match (when he was constantly talking and analysing for the last three)

Katsuki being Izuku's trigger for blackwhip *chef's kiss*

Okay, detour for a second. Ochako hugging Izuku when his quirk goes crazy can be likened to a very similar scene between Aang and Katara in Avatar. However, Katara succeeds in calming him down. Ochako is not.

More than that, the narrative seems to punish Ochako for her feelings towards Deku. Punish is a harsh word but that is exactly what is happening

When she realises them, she almost fails her exam

Toga is able to get away with Ochako's blood during the training camp because she gets distracted

It inhibits her performance in the joint training arc

She consciously realises that her feelings are pulling her back during the war and makes an effort to ignore them

And during chapter 342, it is a perfect opportunity for her to tell Izuku how she feels. A confession before the final battle is such a staple. But she doesn't. She's not even thinking about them at that point, instead, focusing on what she has to do as a hero.

On the flip side, we keep seeing how Izuku and Katsuki becoming closer is actually rewarded by the narrative?

You get Katsuki being his confidant about OFA (which he learns about 200 chapters before everyone else, not considering when Izuku flat out tells him in s1)

Izuku often becomes a better hero by taking ideas from Katsuki

The war arc--omfg the war arc

Katsuki coming along with Izuku when he's going after Shigaraki

The flashback to training with All Might, where he's like, I want to keep him at arm's distance

I feel that Katsuki is talking about how Izuku continuously keeps disregarding his own well being and that makes it so difficult to be close to him because witnessing that over and over again?

His sheer panic when he's not able to help

Taking charge of the situation (even when you have the number one pro right there) and making a plan on the spot that no one argues about

My body moved on its own

The parallels fuck me up every single time

I very much appreciate that this chapter is called Bakugou Katsuki Rising

Izuku's sheer rage when AFO insults Katsuki's sacrifice--he just snaps

Katsuki literally had a quirk evolution so that he could reach Izuku in time

I have never felt this way before, like I am on death's doorstep

Katsuki you were no were near the fight happening in the sky. You have almost died several times. But this is the closest you've been to feeling like you were dying???

Katsuki running through the hospital (including ripping out the IV???) to find Izuku when he heard he was in a coma

Omg I almost forgot Izuku's 'Kacchan and everyone else' agenda

Time and time again during even the vigilante arc we see Izuku thinking about war and Katsuki is almost always at the forefront of that

The sheer poetic brilliance of when Izuku is just about to give up, his symbol of victory shows up to save him

Katsuki saying he's the one who knows Deku best and absolutely no one disagrees

Every single fucking thing that Katsuki tells Izuku when they're trying to get him to come back, it's all so hard hitting and exactly what he needed to hear

The apology! Hallelujuah

Izuku--

Like seriously, which fanfic is this

Katsuki was actually so much further away than the others but guess who caught Izuku when he fell--

His continuous effort to be better is just--I have many emotions

Katsuki is always by Izuku's side after the vigilante arc--even during the UA traitor reveal, he was there right next to him

I really like the symbolism behind it

Their whole dynamic is flawless

I love them

do you have any headcanons about shinkami working well together during training?? i feel like a lot of fics focus on their relationship outside of school, but i feel like they would KILL training exercises where they have to work together

thanks :D

note: ahh this is such a good point?? thank you for sending it, I loved writing it!

ϟ Shinkami as a team headcanons ϟ

I mean, we already saw them together in the joint training arc, right? they were fire!!

I think a lot of people tend to focus on how they balance each others weaknesses and strengths, but I also think people tend to forget how well they simply build each other up!

the way I see it, I think they bring out the best in each other, not just because they're like, opposites, but because they aren't as different as they might think

they both have great quirks, but there are drawbacks to both of them, yanno? and it both have a lot to do with confidence, with Denki being embarrassed about short-circuiting, and Shinso being worried about being seen as a villain

so, as they learn to get to know each other outside of the battlefield, they subconsciously take these small things, store them, and use them when it's needed

I imagine they become pretty good friends right as Shinso transfers to the hero course, and every time they get paired or put in the same group in a training exercise, everyone starts thinking they secretly training together all the time, because of how smooth they work together

but they're not, and at first the others don't believe them, esp Bakugo who's pissed because his team lost to theirs, but they soon realize why, because it's becoming obvious that those two are hanging out a lot

like, a lot, a lot

Mina, Sero, Izuku and Jiro, who are like, the biggest Shinkami shippers ever, all starts bringing it up in their own ways

Izuku stopping mid battle to analyze and mumble about how Shinso's binding cloth is perfect in combination with Denki's electricity because they can stay above ground which makes it very easy for them to focus on targets AND stay off the radar, and -

and he'll add something super embarrassing without thinking about it, like "and they have such prestige chemistry -" and Shinso and Denki are both like mate

mate

dear lord please shut up

Izuku always becomes flustered and apologizes, but Sero, Mina and Jiro are laughing their asses off

but like, imagine, if they're this powerful when they're just hanging out a lot, imagine when they start actually training to work together?

absolutely a force of nature!

Denki is also amazing at keeping spirits up, which is something Shinso needs a bit of, both in training and in the field, he often second guesses himself when he really doesn't need to

and in turn I think Shinso's logic and the care he has for Denki is great in terms of keeping him from running into things head first to save his friends and team mates, which is something I can see him doing quite a lot

I also think they both excel in agility and mobility, which makes them super effective in both fights and rescues!

I genuinely think they'd be a super attractive team for agencies when it comes to internships and work studies

I can truly picture them as a double dream team yanno, both as work partners and more like.. life partners eheh

Spoilers until chapter 327

We all know that during the Deku Vs Class 1A fight, there's a lot of parallels, "Giving help that's not asked for is what makes a true hero, right?" from Iida closing the Stain Arc loop, Kirishima catching Izuku and Iida and not falling over to show his development, how he wants to be the strongest hero that's always standing, Shouto who tells Izuku to share his burden just like Izuku freed him from his, but my favorites stay the ones between Katsuki and Izuku.

Honestly there's more than just one parallel concerning them and the whole plot is so well done (Horikoshi is a genius) that I've got a lot to say.

The Kamino loop

This whole "Let's save Izuku" mission is too similar to the Kamino arc it's almost repeating itself. Bakugou was captured by villains at the training camp and Izuku decided to go save him. Even though it was Kirishima's idea at first, Izuku ending up leading the "team" by coming up with a plan to grab Katsuki out of it, and it worked.

At that time, Katsuki and Izuku's relationship was still very bad and so Izuku chose Kirishima as the one who should grab Bakugou's hand since they're close friends and respect each other. The fact that Izuku was the brain of the rescue, the one who struggled in despair to find a solution to save Katsuki when the others seem to have given up seeing All For One's strength and remembering they're not allowed to fight shows that Izuku is the one who wanted to save Katsuki the most because like we've seen it since the beginning of the manga, it may be unrequited, but Izuku is extremely attached to his childhood friend.

Now, It's Bakugou's turn to do the same.

He was leading the entire class:

Another detail that struck me is how talkative and cooperative he was as they tried to figure out how to bring Izuku back. Despite all the times he yells to say insults and nonsense, he's not the kind of person to talk a lot in serious situations. He's more of a "do that, just obey and shut up" kind of guy, but here he gives arguments after arguments and it just proves that Katsuki knows he can't bring Izuku back alone, he totally ignores his pride and openly shows he needs help from the class because he doesn't care what it takes: he'll bring izuku back.

In the end, Katsuki was the brain of the rescue, shouto made an ice ramp like in Kamino, and the one to reach Izuku was Iida.

Now, there's a detail that I found weird at first read of the 320th chapter, and it was how Bakugou literally does nothing during the fight. He speaks to Izuku at first, provoking him, but once Izuku starts to fly away, Bakugou simply watches his classmates do the job. he only then intervenes to get rid of the smoke and bring Iida to Izuku. That's all. When he could have done so much more. Bakugou's one of the strongest of the class. Sure, Izuku is now stronger than him, but exhausted, starved, injured and on the verge of a break down like he is? Bakugou had a chance to win, even alone.

But be doesn't, and that's because Izuku has lost himself and Katsuki is the only one who can help him open his eyes: we win by saving.

Win to save, save to win

Now we're going back in the past again but after the Kamino arc: How Izuku saved Katsuki from his demons, his burden: his inferiority complex and his blame for All Might's end.

People who say Bakugou had a superiority complex understood nothing of his character. He had a huge inferiority complex because of heavy expectations put on his shoulders at a young age. "You'll be such a great hero with that quirk" but he deep down knew that being a hero had nothing to do with the quirk, but it was a mindset. A special heart to have. A dedication. But as a child, he wanted to be up to those expectations of becoming the greatest hero with his quirk and since he knew that it was all a lie, he couldn't even bear to look at Izuku, who had the mindset and heart of a hero.

He was scared that others would see that Izuku was the true hero and not Katsuki, who didn't have that drive to save. The thing is, when people feel inferior to someone they have two solutions. The hardest; they try to change and become better... and the easiest; bring others down. And by constantly humiliating, mocking, showing his superiority over Izuku, Katsuki hoped nobody else would see Izuku was the true hero out of the two of them so Katsuki could ignore his own weakness. He delt with his inferiority complex by constantly trying to convince others he was superior, that he would become the greatest hero. Because he thinks that he if doesn't do that, then nobody would see any potential in him since he knew he himself didn't have the heart of a hero.

Then, he learns Izuku miraculously has a quirk and he feels humiliated. Which explains his rage at the first battle training.

Imagine playing chess with someone for years, always winning and praising yourself publicly all the time then you one day learn that this someone is a very good player, they just always let you win voluntarily. Wouldn't you be mad? humiliated? Think they laugh behind your back? that's exactly how Bakugou felt. He bullied Izuku for years but Izuku never fought back and suddenly appears with a super powerful quirk.

That is one of the reason why he was on such bad terms with Izuku and wanted an explanation to ease his anger first:

Once aware that Izuku never really looked down on him (which izuku confirms again later by saying his good sides were so much brighter than his bad sides and that he kept chasing after Katsuki) we arrive at what's eating him alive the most at the moment: how he blames himself for being captured by villains and leading to All Might's end. Of course he knows nothing about the Time limit that All Might had and he totally stops blaming himself once he has a proper explanation about One for All later, but the person who saved him at that moment was no one else than Izuku, and he did that by answering to his provocations and fighting.

When I watched the anime when I was younger, I didn't understand why they really needed a fight instead of proper communication, but now I do. Bakugou felt weak for being captured by villains. Mix that to his inferiority complex and it's literal torture. So Izuku put on a fight, gave his all, so 1st: Katsuki wouldn't think Izuku is looking down on him and seeing him as a too weak rival/unworthy opponent anymore, and 2nd: Katsuki would know how actually strong he himself is. Izuku was one of the strongest of the class at the moment, All Might's heir so of course if Katsuki manages to hold a rough fight against him, it can only mean he's strong. The fact that Katsuki won is a good thing, it was nice to motivate Izuku to become stronger so he can beat him in the future and it destroyed Bakugou's inferiority complex.

Another reason for a fight is just as simple as: sometimes people need to punch a wall to release their emotions. There's some of that here as well. Release. Free the burden.

That night, Izuku saved Katsuki and gained his respect.

Like Tokoyami said "Lost the battle but won the war", Izuku is the real winner here: he managed to save to win.

And now, Bakugou had to learn from Izuku. Slowly but surely, he realized his mistakes and tried to be a better person, tried to atone, helped Izuku training, be by his side against Shigaraki, protecting him, sacrificing for him, but that's another topic because I'm not talking about physical saving here.

Izuku may have been physically saved once against shigaraki (when Bakugou gets stabbed for him) and a second time when Iida finally catches his hand to bring him down and stop his suicidal tartarus escapees pursuit, but Izuku's burden that he has to sacrifice himself alone to save everyone is still heavy on his shoulders, too much to handle, killing him.

Izuku too has learned from Katsuki, has learned how to win to save, but took it to the extreme. He totally forgot his Save to win motto and is obsessed with winning, so much that even Bakugou, a symbol of victory himself, doesn't want this Izuku. This Izuku who won't stop until the enemy is down, doesn't matter if it transforms him in something barely human, a killing machine, scary even for his loved ones to look at.

Bakugou, the man who was praised to hide his emotions pretty well, could absolutely not hide his fear during Izuku's fight with Shigaraki, Bakugou was simply and purely terrified of what One for All did to his childhood friend, of the idea that Izuku, the too kind kid, too self sacrificial for his own good might just die at any moment, and Bakugou considers the fact that he may never have the occasion to apologize.

The flashback of his discussion with All might happening before the picture above shows how Katsuki regrets his bullying and tries to atone. He doesn't talk much about forgiveness but I personally think Katsuki was refusing to apologize yet because he knew by Izuku's selfless nature that he would immediately be forgiven when Katsuki doesn't feel like he has done enough to atone yet.

But like I said, during that fight, where anyone could die at any second, he realized he may never have any more occasions to apologize or he might, even worse, fail to save Izuku from this dark fate. He knows how every successor except All Might died, killed young by AFO and Katsuki already sees how much Izuku works harder than anyone else, physically suffers from the backlash of his quirk breaking his bones, is terrified of AFO the greatest evil that he, a 16yo will have to fight against, holds the burden of having to save hundreds, thousands, millions?? of lives. Katsuki knows how many sacrifices Izuku has made for One for all and he absolutely refuses Izuku's life to be one of them. He has done enough. He sacrificed enough.

Izuku doesn't have to live that short lonely bloody life of misery every ofa successor is fated with, he doesn't have to fight alone, he doesn't have to lose himself, his humanity for a villain who doesn't deserve it, he can count on his friends because we win by saving.

And so Katsuki doesn't fight at all because he wants to show Izuku that he's not here to battle, here to win against an enemy. He's here to bring him home. He wants Izuku to remember the kind of hero he is, the hero he wants to be, a hero who saves people with a smile and doesn't make anyone worry, which is nothing like him right now.

But for that, he needs Izuku to understand his life shouldn't be something to throw away so easily. He's important, which is the total opposite of what Bakugou has told him his entire life...

Bakugou has practically been brain washing him into thinking he's worthless and useless, and so the only way to convince him otherwise is to explain the real reason behind his bullying. His inferiority complex, his way to hide his weakness, the reason he acted like a tyrant...

He sees a chance to apologize and doesn't do the same mistake, doesn't wait, he immediately takes it.

He won't wait knowing tomorrow might be too late. He'll do his best to save Izuku from the colossal burden pushed into him, even if Katsuki has to put his pride aside, his life aside.

He's going to bring Izuku back to UA, atone for his faults, repair their relationship by first throwing away that Deku nickname for which he always gave an horrible meaning and he'll save Izuku from the dark future ahead, even if the entire world is against him.

Because saving is how we win.