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There used to be a time when you couldn’t tear Izu and Kacchan from each others side with all the force in the world. However, that time had nearly completely passed by the time they got into Middle School, and had fully disappeared when both of them got into UA.
So now it was Midoriya and Bakugo, who walked through hallways as ghosts of another time with knowledge of the other and a person they could hardly place.
Still, the two got better. It might have taken a lot of trauma and a fake city that was destroyed in a fist-fight, but they were tentatively getting better.
The getting better got in the lift on a faithful Wednesday night (though it was already Thursday at that point), when both had woken from dreams that showed them memories they would rather forget.
Midoriya wasn’t an uncommon guest in the kitchen at ungodly hours, but seeing Bakugo there really surprised him.
“Kacchan?” he said softly, not wanting to startle the other.
“Deku? Why are you awake?” Bakugo didn’t even have the energy to sound harsh with big bags under his eyes and a slump in his shoulder.
“Probably the same reason you are,” Midoriya answered with a sad smile.
Bakugo nodded, also taking in Midoriya’s exhausted face, before silently offering him a cup of tea, which Midoriya accepted gratefully. He was surprised to find, Bakugo had remembered how he took it, though he had seen it many times on competition mornings.
They stood in silence for a moment, drinking their tea. Neither one really wanted to talk about what had awoken them in the middle of the night.
“We should probably go to bed again,” Midoriya said when they had finished their tea, his voice betraying how much he did not want to try to sleep. Bakugo had the same voice as he agreed: “Yeah, we probably should.”
It was quiet again.
Then with a soft voice, Midoriya asked: “Remember when we danced together? We never really talked about it again, but- Never mind...”
“Huh, what made you ask that? Of course, I remember, dipshit,” Bakugo frowned.
“Well, it’s kind of dumb, but you remembered how I take my tea and that surprised me, but then I thought you saw it so many times on all the competition mornings and it got me thinking of the dancing and it suddenly popped up again,” Midoriya muttered.
Bakugo had been on the receiving end of Midoriya’s mutterings enough times that he could follow them and said: “Hmm, hadn’t even realized.”
Midoriya was surprised with how gentle compared to normal, Bakugo was being. Well, maybe not gentle, but he wasn’t being defensive or aggressive, which was a nice change. It reminded Midoriya of when Bakugo had been his best friend.
“Yeah,” he replied softly, content to let the conversation end and fall back into silence.
They were truly just standing around in the kitchen, both in their pajamas, tired and still unwilling to rest for fear what it may bring. They must have looked like quite a pair, leaning against the counters at this hour.
Bakugo was typing away on his phone and Midoriya regretted having left his behind on his nightstand, because he didn’t know what to do with his hands.
Suddenly Bakugo’s phone started playing familiar music and Midoriya looked up in surprise, only to find the other holding out his hand with an expecting eyebrow raise.
“W- what?” he stumbled over his words in confusion.
“Come on, nerd, I wanna see if you kept up your training,” he said, “Though, I suppose I was always the better dancer.”
“Oi, you were not!” Midoriya protested and took the hand.
Bakugo grinned victoriously when he did. He knew his friends competitiveness like no other and he had played into it with success. So, he lead his dance partner and fellow sleep-avoider onto the floor, which was the bit of empty space they had near the door.
He’d put on a simple waltz, he didn’t want to think too hard at this time and it was more about the basic steps to keep his mind of other things.
They swiftly fell into old routines and Bakugo was surprised how well Midoriya was keeping up with him. He had assumed that since it had been his parents with the dance studio, only he would have kept up with the techniques.
Midoriya must have seen the surprise in his eyes, because he grinned in the little shit way no one in class 1-A believed he could and said: “You still hold instead of cup, Kacchan.”
Bakugo looked at his offending hand and saw it was indeed the case, so with an eyeroll he corrected it then send a glare to his partner.
He couldn't help but pout slightly: “And you still don’t keep your chin up.”
Midoriya had always been a bit shy and nervous, so their coaches and parents had always reminded him before competitions to ‘keep your chin up, just look at Katsuki, Izuku, you’re gonna do great out there.’
So, the other corrected his mistake as well as he was spun away, then back to Bakugo, who resumed their steps with Midoriya following easily. It had been their under 11s debut dance and it had been quite precious to them at the time.
The song on the phone stopped and changed into a latin song. Bakugo raised a brow questioning and Midoriya returned the challenge.
Not one to back down, Bakugo got into a familiar start position. He would show that shitty nerd he still knew his fucking latin, alright.
They danced a few more songs until the late hour and physical exercise caught up to them and they had to stop to breathe. Both felt more at ease and more ready to face the night than before. Midoriya smiled: “This was nice. You know, dancing again.”
Bakugo was quiet for a moment, then – almost as if he didn’t want to – he confessed: “Yeah. Yeah, it was.”
“I feel like I can finally sleep,” Midoriya stretched with a grin.
“Same, I- I’ll see you around,” Bakugo said awkwardly.
“Yeah, don’t be a stranger around the Midnight Kitchen Dance Club,” Midoriya joked with a hint of truth.
They held each other’s gaze, then Bakugo walked away, but not before saying: “I won’t.”
And that was the start. The first time had been a coincidental meeting, but after knowing the other might be downstairs, the two ventured to the kitchen more often, hoping for the comfort of familiar company.
The second time had been a bit awkward, but then Midoriya had asked if Bakugo still knew that stupidly hard foxtrot that had taken them forever to learn and Bakugo jumped on the chance to show that he still did.
So it had evolved until Bakugo grabbed his wireless headphones by instinct so that they could share and not wake everyone up, while Midoriya always made two cups for tea.
When they had just started they dances old routines, but after a while they had started working on them, looking up competitors still dancing and trying to incorporate their moves into their own dances, making them unnecessarily complicated just by virtue of time.
While both still had enough sleep to keep them up as aspiring heroes doing a lot of exercise daily, they still found themselves in the kitchen at least twice a week. It would never compare to the six days a week and on Sunday competition regime that they’d had in the past, but still…
The dancing had helped both immensely with their sleeping as well as their bond.
Midoriya hadn’t noticed it at first, but suddenly realized that at some point Kacchan had returned to calling him Izu when they had their nightly dance session.
It delighted him to no end that he was seeing glimpses of the grumpy and competitive, yet observant and grounded presence Kacchan had been in their youth. Until Middle School had pushed him in the wrong direction and he didn’t want to dance anymore, because someone had said it was girly and that Deku was girly too and all the stupid connotations that had.
Sometimes Izu really wanted to slap Middle School Kacchan for who he had befriended and how he had let everyone shape how he viewed himself.
Sure, Izu might have been pushed into insecurity and skittishness, but Kacchan had allowed himself to be pulled into the “alpha’s” of the school, the ones who had to conform to a certain standard constantly or loose their place. Having to pretend to be someone else constantly until he thought he had to be that version all of the time and didn't know how to be someone else.
It had fucked with Kacchans mind and perception of the world, Izu had seen that first hand.
But the dancing made Kacchan smile carefree again. Izu saw how he would get excited about learning moves they couldn't just pull off but had to work for and routines that went well.
In turn Kacchan couldn't help but notice how Izu was carrying himself differently again. The subtle grace that seeped into his normal cower and the confidence that rolled off him when he was being spun around by Kacchan.
Kacchan loved witnessing those little moments.
He loved how Izu would cheekily comment on his form or babble about his hero notes while they stretched or sip his tea at the end, smile playing around his lips.
It reminded him of how good it had been before he turned completely into an asshole and guilt bubbled up in his throat. So, one night when they were sitting on the floor, he began: “Hey, Izu. I, uhm, I wanted to, well…”
“Kacchan?” Izu frowned when he heard Kacchan stumble.
“I wanted to say sorry,” he said, wanting to erase the frown he put there.
“Why?” Izu asked, genuinely confused.
“Because I was fucking dick to you, Izu,” he answered, rolling his eyes at Izu’s obliviousness.
“Oh, well, yeah, you were,” Izu agreed and a pit formed in Kacchans stomach. “And it was hurtful, of course it was. But I understand and I think I had forgiven you before it even occurred to me to blame you. I don’t know why, Kacchan, but I could never be mad at you, you mean too much to me.”
Kacchan looked at him in shock. Izu said it like it was natural, unavoidable that he forgave Kacchan, just like that. After everything. He didn’t know what to say.
Izu understood that too, because he got up and said: “Come on, you promised that we could do the latin routine.”
He let himself be pulled up by Izu and got into the opening stance like second nature. He wondered how he ever got this lucky with Izu as a friend.
Naturally since it was them, things like this didn’t stay private. Though it had been their own choice. Partly. Mostly.
Class 1-A was learning how to dance.
It had come as coincidence and was part of their social relations course, since galas could be part of their future careers.
So, Midnight was teaching them, with Snipe as her partner, because he was apparently the only who didn’t mind dancing and could keep his mouth shut the entire time. Midoriya could guess who those two categories referred to, but didn’t see the point in identifying their homeroom and their English teacher out loud.
Midnight had explained the most basic waltz which Midoriya could do in his sleep, so he took his time looking around. It was easy to see that some had difficulty taking it seriously and that others were already completely lost.
“Okay, everyone, partner up,” Midnight clapped her hands, getting into the position with Snipe.
Since their class had more boys than girls there would be a few all boys couples. Being used to dancing the “girl part” anyway, Midoriya didn’t mind being the first to face that reality as he grinned to Iida and said: “Here, Iida, I’ll be your dancing lady.”
Some others snorted, but afterwards everyone paired up faster.
Midoriya couldn't help but look what Bakugo would do. He saw the fiery blond had paired up with Sero and had forcefully taken the “boy part” despite Sero’s protests that he was taller.
They went through the basic steps and spins and Midoriya found that Iida was semi-okay to dance with. Though, since he came from a rich family that shouldn’t be a surprise, those families forced most of their kids to dance classes at some point.
From what he could hear Bakugo had no such luck, because he was cursing at Sero loudly, while Sero apologized for stepping on his toes or accidentally tripping them up. Midoriya wondered how long Bakugo was willing to put up with it.
As it turned out it wasn’t long.
The first attempt to dance had just stopped and Midnight announced that they would go back to explaining before trying again.
Bakugo let Sero go as if it hurt him to hold on and scowled at the sheepish boy, before he turned to Midoriya and raised a brow, asking if Midoriya was okay with it.
It made Midoriya smile that Bakugo considered his side before yelling and he nodded back, smiling slightly. With Midoriya’s permission, Bakugo yelled: “I don’t want to dance with this shit head, he sucks. Izu, come dance with me.”
“Okay, Kacchan,” Izu agreed easily, apologizing to Iida as he switched places with Sero under the confused gazes of the class.
After gathering herself again Midnight said: “Well, if everyone is okay with that, then we’ll continue.”
There were a few whispers around them, most of them were about why Bakugo would choose Midoriya of all people and if they had heard ‘Izu’ correctly.
Midnight went on with her lesson, repeating all the steps they’d just learned and helping those who needed it.
With Izu and Kacchan dancing together, they just did the steps easily and Izu giggled at Kacchans bored face. Sure, the basics were very important and a big chunk of what you did at a competitions, but they could do much funner stuff.
So they did a few spins extra here and there, turned as they waltzed together and tried their best with their posture just to have something to do.
When Midnight came to check on them, she raised a brow and commented: “You two are doing well. I like it.”
Izu blushed brightly, while Kacchan just huffed: “Of course, I’m no longer dancing with that toe-stepper over there.”
Deciding not to engage with that comment Midnight turned back to the class and announced they would hold a mock ball and to get in position. She warned: “Another difficulty is keeping track of the other couples on the floor. Try not to bump into anyone. And have fun!”
Then she turned on the music and awkwardly the class began to dance.
Relieved that they would finally have something fun to do, Izu and Kacchan set into a simple waltz that was only slightly more difficult than what they’d just learned and glided through their classmates with more grace than one should seek in two teens.
It didn’t take long for the others to catch on that one pair – and the most surprising one at that – was doing much better than the rest. They slowly stopped their own dancing to watch them.
Kacchan was slowly upping the difficulty, dragging Izu along with him. He was faintly aware that others were giving them space, but he was more focused on Izu and the dance. Izu’s hand was heavy on his shoulder and his grin bright.
They were getting lost in their dancing.
Midnight had never seen such grace in her classes and it became clear to her that the two had been trained on a much higher level than she ever had. Curious to see what they could do and if they even would, she put on a latin song.
Unbeknownst to her the song she had picked was the one Izu and Kacchan had first started with and choreographed an elaborate routine to.
When the music started a gleam came into Kacchans eyes and Izu knew he would be pulled in too, which he gleefully did.
Both got in their starting position.
The class watched with absolute bafflement as Kacchan practically prowled around the dance floor, hips moving enticingly, while Izu twirled and teased in a manner they would have never expected of the green haired boy.
Their faces contorted as they fell into a rhythm, holding on to another and spinning away, only to be pulled close to the other again. Hand in hand, other on shoulder or back as their feet moved at a dizzying speed, everyone awed that they hadn’t stepped on the other’s foot yet.
When they were done, Kacchen unconsciously twirled Izu into the ending bow, while he bowed as well.
He hadn’t counted on actually getting the applause that they were used to, but sure enough class 1-A burst into enthusiastic cheers once they had gathered their bearings again.
Kirishima came bounding forwards, saying: “I didn’t know you could dance like that, Bakubro. So manly!”
“Tsk, of course I can,” Bakugo huffed.
“Don’t be mean, Kacchan, you know almost no one keeps up with the ballroom world,” Midoriya admonished.
“What?” Kirishima was now confused.
“Ah,” Midoriya explained, “Kacchan’s parents own a big dancing studio and they were world champions four years in a row. They’re a pretty big deal within the ballroom world, so it would make sense that Kacchan can dance, but you have know about ballroom first. Don’t worry about not knowing.”
Midoriya’s answer made the class explode again.
When they had calmed down slightly, Iida asked: “And how about you Midoriya? Where did you learn how to dance?”
“Well, uhm, my mom was friends with aun- Kacchan’s mom,” he said, “They went to the same High School and uhm, you see, my- his-”
“My mom babysat because she didn’t have a boss to answer to so she could just have us with her in the studio,” Bakugo finished Midoriya’s babbling. “We learned to walk in a fucking dance studio.”
“Yeah, that,” Midoriya said awkwardly.
“Ahw, that’s so cute,” Hagakure gushed. “Are there pictures of little you?”
“No, keep out of-”
Bakugo was cut off, by Midoriya puling out his phone: “Yeah, my mom has them on her Facebook, wait a sec and I’ll look them up.”
A few of the girls leaned over his shoulder as he found the post. He grinned: “She posted this the first time we won the under 11s Junior championship. We’re eight in the second picture.”
The crowd prevented Bakugo from ripping the phone from Midoriya’s hands and he watched with a blush and slight horror as the girls cooed over the two of them.
The first picture was them smudging the mirrors with their dirty little hands. Bakugo was in an green sleeping-bag onesie, Midoriya in a orange one, both were standing for one of the first times in their life. The other was them in shiny shoes, black slacks, a neat white dress shirt and a black waistcoat with red embroidery. Their hair was slicked back and they were grinning widely, holding a trophy.
‘I’m so proud of my two little champions, how far you’ve come!’ read the caption.
“You competed?” Tsu asked.
Seeing an opportunity to brag, Bakugo said: “Yeah, we started when we were 6. And from our 7th we were undefeated in the Juvenile under 10s category and from out 8th we were undefeated in the Junior under 11s category. We competed in the under 14s as well from when we were 9, but we only won during our last competition in that category when we were 12.”
“That’s insane, dude,” Kaminari said with big eyes.
“We were good,” Bakugo shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal, though he added: “Despite this shitty nerds flat dancing just now.”
“Oi, I’m not the one who had his balance wrong,” Midoriya shot back to everyone’s surprise. They had expected him to shrink under the critique, but on the dance floor the two had always been equals and Midoriya wasn’t afraid to call his partner out.
“I was not out of balance,” Bakugo pouted.
“Yes, you were, after the moving of the head part, I had to carry that bit,” Midoriya said. “You’re lucky we trained with that ballerina one time and I have good balance.” Bakugo frowned, but didn’t reply, so Midoriya smugly grinned: “Thought so.”
“Your side was still a bit flat,” Bakugo grumbled.
“I can live with that.”
With that conversation apparently done, Kirishima asked: “Why did you stop competing?”
“Yeah, Kacchan, why did we stop?” Midoriya repeated.
Bakugo looked away guiltily and said: “I didn’t want to dance anymore, because it was girly and not cool.”
“And some classmates were mean about it,” Midoriya shrugged. “I mean, it sucked, but they weren’t wrong. I was girly.”
“Izu…” Kacchan said, unsure of what his friend meant.
“It’s true, Kacchan, remember that one competition when I showed up in a dress,” Izu giggled. “I thought that one judge was going to explode.”
“The asshole one, who didn’t like we were dancing together?” Kacchan grinned. “I remember, god, that was amazing.”
“Why didn’t he like you two dancing together?” Kaminari asked.
Midoriya raised a brow, but Bakugo explained: “There are more girls than boys in dancing, so there are all girls tournaments. However, I refused to dance with anyone but Izu, so we got to compete in the normal tournaments, but they didn’t like that two boys who could have a girl dance partner were dancing together. And we were good, they also didn’t like that.”
“Which is stupid,” Midoriya added, still angry about it, “So I wore a dress as a sort of a ‘now we look like your normal pair, is that what you wanted?’ and he liked that even less.”
More people giggled at the story of little Kacchan and Izu, they almost couldn't place the two in front of them in that story, except when they looked at the grin they gave each other.
In that look you could see the two had known each other since before they could talk, you could see that there had been a time when neither wanted to leave the other’s side and when they were completely in sync.
A time that might be returning.