Chapter Text
There was a screaming match going on in the common area downstairs. Of course there was. It was just like any other Friday evening at six o’ clock. You were starting to get used to the seemingly never ending bickering around here. It was like a scratchy, broken record desperately trying to squeeze out a tune. You could take a wild guess at what the fight was about and probably be right—and from the familiarity of the tones, it sounded like Midoriya and his counterpart, Bakugou.
You were buried under a heap of blankets in your still under-decorated dorm room. You hadn’t figured out how to control your air conditioner just yet, so this was your best option. You were scrolling through the variety of apps on your phone when you first heard it. It was a shrill shriek of what sounded like pure terror. Normally such a scream would shake you to your core, but you were starting to get used to hearing the noises.
You peeked your head out from under the pile, curiously. Your door was shut tight and you were on the third floor; how could the students in the common area be this loud? Weren’t they out of breath from the horrendous practice they had endured just hours ago?
You would never understand how they could have such energy, but your interest has peaked and you decided to crawl out from your bundle anyway. The chilling air took no time at all to tickle you underneath your old shirt and shorts and nip at the hairs on the back of your neck. You shivered in annoyance, nevertheless making your way towards your door.
The moment you pulled open your dorm room door is when you heard the first coherent declaration, “I know you took them! You probably have it on you right now!” A thief? You became more interested. Not only was this supposed thief one of your classmates, they had chosen to steal from Bakugou of all people.
“I don’t have anything!” Another voice cried in defense. You recognized that shrill voice from anywhere: Midoriya. He was so audible whenever you were training or fighting him in a 1v1, it was hard for that voice not to be recognizable. And Bakugou’s—well, he was always perceptible with what he was doing.
But why would they be fighting now of all times? Your unanswered questions led you further down, and you were at the base of the steps of the second floor. Usually the two would avoid eachother and tend to their respective groups of friends, but you’ve noticed that ever so often the two groups would clash. It’s not that everyone in each didn’t get along. In fact they seemed to be quite good friends with one another. Things were always different between Midoriya and Bakugou, you noted though. It was always tension in the air between them so thick you could cut it with a knife and serve it on a silver platter.
You’ve been informed that it was because they used to be childhood friends, but you never understood what was so bad that could’ve occurred to the point where they didn’t want to be friends with eachother anymore. You were aware that Bakugou had turned into a bully, and that Midoriya was constantly on defense whenever interacting with him but you’ve never known Midoriya to create any trouble.
Even still, as you made your way down the last flight of stairs to the first floor, you could hear Midoriya actively trying to get Bakugou off of his back in the kitchen area. As you stood there, you examined the people lounging around near what would be the ‘living room’. Kaminari, Mineta and Ojiro were all huddled around the tv trying to plug up what looked like a gaming system. Jirou and Yaoyorozu were casually conversing on a nearby couch while also keeping an eye on the duo in the kitchen. Tokoyami was leisurely sitting on a seperate couch.
You decide to speak to the pair of girls first, “Hi Momo, Jirou—what’s with all the fighting?” The two stop the conversation to take another quick glance into the kitchen area.
“I think Bakugou has lost his earphones or something? And he assumed that Midoriya took them.” Jirou spoke first.
“Yeah,” Momo added, “He just came tromping down the stairs in a fit of rage a couple of hours after we got back here.”
That was weird. You didn’t think Bakugou was the type to suspect thievery. Though, you yourself still have a lot to learn. Still, you shake your head lightly and carry on, “Well, has anyone tried to help him look for them?” The duo shrug.
“Bakugou’s earphones are probably up in his room somewhere and he just overlooked them. He tends to do that a lot,” Jirou said matter-of-factly, “It’s best to just let it blow over on its own.” Momo nodded in agreement.
Well this is frustrating. And it must’ve been for the two in the kitchen as well. It was usually hard to convince Bakugou of anything after he’d made up his mind about a certain situation. He wasn’t the type to easily persuade. Midoriya was probably blowing a fuse trying to clear his name right now. You were positive that the argument could be heard on the fourth and fifth floors as well, considering how clearly you were aware of it. And it didn’t seem like it would subside any time soon. If anything, it would probably escalate.
“So no one’s tried to go in there and help Midoriya?” you pushed further. They all seemed so unbothered by the fact that Midoriya could possibly be assaulted any second now.
“Well, if it gets physical we’re capable of breaking it up, but usually they go their separate ways after a while. This is a normal occurrence, (Y/n).” Momo tried to assure you. You bite your bottom lip.
Jirou soon adds on, “Yeah, like I said, they’re probably just in his room or the laundry room or something and he just overlooked them. He likes to take all if his frustrations out on Midoriya and we’ve just kind of accepted that there’s no changing that.” To you, that sounded really fucked up, even for Bakugou. There were several other ways he could have freed his troubles without beating on another human for it.
But this was Bakugou you were talking about, “Can’t he like, get a new pair or something without making such a racket?” You stuffed your hands in your pocket and mumbled more to yourself than out loud. Albeit, you spoke loud enough for Kaminari to overhear you.
“Unless you wanna go to his room and look for them yourself,” he snorted. This earned him a pluck in the head from Jirou’s ear jack. Even you knew that was basically a death wish. There was no one ever invited into Bakugou’s room; except maybe Kirishima—and you rarely even saw him apart from entertaining himself or others in the common area. You thought about asking him to check for you.
“Mm.. I think Jirou’s right. We just just let them handle it. Midoriya’s tough. I bet he can handle it.” Ojiro sided. As if on cue, there was a loud clatter in the kitchen.
“Stop throwing things!” Midoriya shouted. Everyone but you ignored the pleas. Then you noticed something—your tangled up earphones in your pocket.
You lifted them to show the group infront of you, “What if I offered Bakugou mine?” They all stared at you incredulously. Mineta even darkly chuckled at you, “What?”
“Good luck getting him to take your earphones over finding his own. It’s basically a lost cause, babes.” The extra inappropriate nickname at the end of his sentence earned him a knock upside of the head from Jirou. You took solace in the fact that she was the one to rescue you whenever Mineta or Kaminari gave you trouble. Kaminari you weren’t too worried about—it was that grape gremlin.
“Well I’m not just gonna let Midoriya get handled by him,” you declared, starting to make your way towards the kitchen, “I think it’ll go just fine.”
As you rounded the small corner to the kitchen, you noticed that Midoriya is just about phasing into the wall with Bakugou standing over him menacingly. The drawers have been pulled out completely and the utensils have been dumped out on the countertop. Some of the cabinets have been left opened. It was a real mess. Meanwhile Bakugou was still yelling at Midoriya, while Midoriya was trying his hardest on defense. You knew that there would be no way to pull Bakugou out of this position, so you snagged the logical route.
You took both of your hands and waved them in between Midoriya’s and Bakugou’s faces, and the pair stopped to look at you. Fortunately for Midoriya, this meant that he was no longer leaning back from the pressure of trying to shy away from Bakugo,”Boys!”
“What do you want, Picasso?” Bakugou demanded. Picasso. A funny little name he’s used to taunt you ever since that 1v1 against him. It was a direct reference to your quirk. It used to bother you, but after learning all of the nicknames he gave his other friends, you’re glad he didn’t attack your looks. You figured he’s only using it because he’s still irritated about the fact that you won. You were more intelligent in both using your moves and saving up your agility for when the fight escalated to hand-to-hand combat. In the end, Bakugou was forced to submit to defeat if he wanted to walk away without going to the nurse.
Anyway, you held up your newly untangled earphones for the two to see, “Why don’t you just use my earphones, Bakugou?” He gave you a snarl.
“Why would I want your shitty old earphones, huh? I want mine!” He retorted. He then grabbed a fistful of Midoriya’s shirt, despite his counterpart’s protests.
“If you let him go,” You spoke quickly, “I won’t stop helping you til we find them later!”
“Like Hell! I. Want. Mine!” You soon realized that it wasn’t very clever of you to walk into this argument without a reason for him to actually accept them. However, you thought quickly on your feet.
“And—“ you added on, “I’ll have a rematch with you. Tomorrow.” Tomorrow was Saturday. Your body still ached from today’s practice. But if it got him off of Midoriya and got the two to shut up, it was a sacrifice you were willing to make.
“Oh, fuck off!” He roared. That was unexpected. You sighed and carefully gathered your thoughts. Your next choice of words could result in serious injury.
“Are you saying you don’t want a rematch?” You counter.
“What part of ‘fuck off’ don’t you understand?” He growled in annoyance, “I don’t wanna talk to you!”
“Wouldn’t that make you a coward?” It felt like everything had frozen in place at that very moment. Bakugou’s head slowly craned, and his threatening ruby eyes pierced into your soul. You gulped cautiously.
“What did you say to me?” His voice was so low, it rumbled in the pit of your stomach.
“If you don't have a rematch with me,” You persisted, “Then that means I truly won our first fight.. and that I’m better than you.”
Bakugou hesitated for a moment and then freed Midoriya from his grip. The green haired boy plopped on the ground. Then Bakugou turned and snatched the earphones out of your hand, “Tomorrow” he sneered, “At 2 pm sharp. I won’t lose!” He briskly stormed past you and out of the kitchen, already headed back up the stairs.
Midoriya nearly collapsed in a breath of relief. You could practically smell the fear radiating off of his body, “Thank you so much, (Y/n). I don’t know what I would’ve done without you.”
“It’s no problem.” You assured him, but he followed you up the stairs anyway and thanked you again when he departed for his room on the second floor. It didn’t hit you until you had made it all the way up to your bed and had buried yourself under your covers again:
You have another fight with Bakugou tomorrow—and you’re out of a pair of earphones. There was no doubt that you probably weren’t going to get those back, but at least he wasn’t bothering Midoriya anymore.