Chapter Text
"I'm not working together with shitty Deku." The harsh words spoken by Katsuki Bakugou, better known as Dynamight, did absolutely not faze the number one hero they were regarding. He had expected Bakugou to respond like that, hadn't he? He even had some doubts about the whole ordeal himself. Izuku Midoriya wasn't exactly thrilled to get cursed out about everything he did, as you can imagine. But there was a clear reason why they had to do it, anyways.
"You need to show the public that you can get along well. Your hostile attitude towards each other is giving a bad example." It was All Might who spoke to them both. The former number one hero had taken on the job of CEO for Midoriya’s hero agency.
“Think about it. If the number one and number two top heroes can’t get along, and very much push this narrative like you do, it shows the public that it’s fine to dislike your peers, to avoid working with them. It’s not a healthy example.”
Midoriya rubbed his neck at the thought. Of course, All Might was right. Whenever the media asked if he would ever work together with Dynamight, he always explained that he most definitely would not. It wasn’t because he disliked Bakugou, per se. It was more of an unspoken rule between them, forged as they both graduated from U.A. They still saw each other, every now and then, thanks to the shared friendgroup they had. But working together was a whole other story.
When the media asked Bakugou if he would ever work together with Deku, he was not as nice to explain as Midoriya. He just said a whole string of cursewords in a very angry manner, and a very clear “Never”.
“It’s not that you’re actually going to fight together. You’ll just be doing a couple of photoshoots and interviews.” Midoriya dared to sneak a glance at Bakugou, realising that the other man was watching him intensly. He quickly averted his gaze again. Jesus, why was he still so fidgety around Bakugou? They were both twenty-one, for God’s sake. He shouldn’t still get so intimidated by his childhood friend and rival.
“So what you’re saying is,” Bakugou started, his hand rubbing the stubble on his chin. “We promote healthy work relationships by lying about ours?” He gestured from himself to Deku. All Might nodded, somewhat awkwardly. “Yeah.”
Bakugou uttered a low chuckle. “That’s stupid. Everyone knows we hate each other.” Midoriya rolled his eyes. Hate was such a strong word – and it also wasn’t even true. Whenever they hanged out, they actually got along fine, when Bakugou just shut up every once in a while.
“Yes, young Bakugou. That’s the whole point. By showing the public that even you can be nice to each other, you show them how the heroes they look up to so much expect them to behave. We think this will not only work for older people, but kids as well. You could bring down the bullying rate.”
Midoriya half-expected Bakugou to laugh at this. Midoriya himself could certainly find the irony in the statement. However, it surprisingly seemed to actually convince the other man. Midoriya huffed softly as he put his shoulder length hair in a low bun. Immediately strands of green fell back in his face, much to his annoyance. So now Bakugou was against bullying? How convenient.
“Fine.” The answer was grumbled, but Bakugou actually agreed, without removing his annoyed and somewhat calculating gaze from Midoriya’s face. “So, details. What do you want me and ass-wipe to do?”
All Might seemed to be just as suprised as Midoriya by how quickly Bakugou was convinced, but recovered quickly as he nodded. “So, like I said we want you two to at least do a photoshoot together. It would be best if this photoshoot was linked to an article, where you both explain about bettering your relationship.”
“Obviously, there are many magazines that would jump on an article like this. Newspapers, even. So I expect it to blow up. Which means there will be offers for interviews, more shoots, and I’m ninety percent sure the government will approach me about you two working together-“ Both Midoriya and Bakugou opened their mouth to speak, but All Might lifted his hand. “Of course, this won’t happen unless you both want to.”
Bakugou crossed his arms, shaking his head while looking Midoriya up and down. “Obviously not, shitface.”
Midoriya huffed in annoyance. “As if I’d work with you,” he replied somewhat angrily. He wasn’t going to let Bakugou walk all over him. Not anymore.
“In any way, we want you both to at least have one friendly and nice photoshoot and interview together. Do you think you can both manage that?” All Might’s words were laced with a challenge, which meant that both Midoriya and Bakugou nodded.
“Of course I can manage.” Bakugou grumbled.
“Yes, All Might. We’ll do it.” Midoriya said.
_______________________________________________________________________________
Easier said than done, though.
The first day pro heroes Deku and Dynamight were supposed to be shooting together, Bakugou was – no longer fashionably – late. It'd been an hour since they were supposed to meet. Midoriya was already done with both his makeup and outfit, but Bakugou was nowhere to be seen. On top of that, one photoshootshoot turned out to be two photoshoots; one in a studio, and one on a beach.
It’s safe to say that Midoriya was annoyed. Like, pissed off.
“I can’t believe him. We’re supposed to make amends, to actually start liking each other, aren’t we? How the hell is this helping?”
With a frustrated groan he let his forehead rest on his arm, already tired from todays event even though nothing had truly happened yet. His long, curly hair playfully landed on the dressing table he’s seated at. His stylist decided to keep his hair loose and natural, complimenting the ‘i’m very much half-naked’ outfit they put him in. Wide dress pants without a shirt were apparently all the rage, right now.
Midoriya looked up, in the dressing table’s mirror, at his reflection. Black eyeliner coated his waterline, with a darker brown eyeshadow on his eyelids. His freckles had been darkened slightly, probably so they stood out more on the pictures later. Several silver earrings dangled from his ears, making him look that much more feminine. He had two dainty silver necklaces around his neck, as well. He didn’t dislike it; the jewelry suited him nicely.
Movement behind his reflection made him look up; it was Bakugou. Midoriya’s eyes widened as he turned around in his chair. “Kacchan!”
“Deku.” Bakugou’s voice was low, annoyed and also somewhat uncomfortable. “I was.. Caught in traffic.”
Midoriya couldn’t tell if the other man was telling the truth, but what good would it do to dwell on it? He just simply nodded, because, whatever. Before he could say something, Bakugou was already being ushered away by his stylist.
Midoriya decided to follow them, though, as he was already done and had nothing better to do. Besides, this would be payback for Bakugou being late. A small grin appeared on his face as he trailed after them, already knowing that Bakugou would not like him tagging along. His theory was quickly proven correct; as Bakugou sat down in his chair and their gazes crossed, the red of his eyes flared up in annoyance.
“What the fuck are you doing, Deku.” Bakugou growled as he crossed his arms. “Get lost, shithead.”
Midoriya, however, decided that this opportunity was way too much fun to pass up. “Nah, thanks, I’ll stay,” he said with the sweetest smile, as he said down next to Bakugou. He could feel Bakugou’s scornful stare on him, but he turned towards the stylist.
“What kind of make-up is he going to get? Something similar like mine?” He asked, as he leaned over to the mirror that stood in front of Bakugou’s chair. He lifted his hand up to get a strand of hair out of his face, purposely flexing his muscles, to intimidate his childhood friend. With a smug look in his eyes, he could see Bakugou eyeing the movement. Yeah, I work out a lot.
The stylist replied that Bakugou would indeed look somewhat similar to him, except for a few fake tattoos on his neck as well as on his arms. “We’re going for a kind of sweaty look today, as if you both just fought a villain together, while also pushing the boundaries of masculinity in a futuristic-dystopian way with the make-up and outfits.” The stylist then explained in further detail. Midoriya furrowed his brows.
“I don’t look wet, though,” he said as he lifted his hair up in one hand, tying it back with the other one. He could hear his stylist softly protesting, but he just smiled. “I’m going to have to wait another hour, I’m sure I can wear it up for a while.”
“Fine. We will spray you both later with a spray bottle to get the desired ‘sweaty’ effect,” the stylist continued explaining. Only then Bakugou said something. He actually had been awfully quiet, Midoriya realised.
“I’m not getting sprayed like a fucking dog.” Midoriya laughed at this, swatting his arm a little, but quickly pulling back his hand as he felt the other man tense up as if he was going to attack him. Bakugou couldn’t, though, because the stylist was very sternly telling him to sit still.
“We’ll be wet dogs together, Kacchan.” Midoriya piped in very helpfully with a shit-eating grin on his face. He really tried his best to sound innocent, but it was clear as day that he was teasing Bakugou. Something he wouldn’t have dreamed of in his U.A. years. But now that he was a hero, and the number one hero at that, he had gained the confidence to do so. Bakugou couldn’t hurt him, and wouldn’t even if he could. He was certain of that.
“Shut the fuck up, Deku! Why are you still here, anyways,” Bakugou growled at him as his red eyes looked at the other. It annoyed him that Midoriya’s stylist had done a good job. He looked good, and Bakugou was afraid he was going to be outshined in the photoshoot. Not that he thought Midoriya was attractive or anything. Of course not. He just wasn’t.. Blind, he had eyes, duh. He could see the other man was relatively okay looking. Especially since he had grown out his hair a bit longer.
“Ah, actually, I’ve been training with doing make-up myself. So I thought I’d watch closely as you got your make-up done,” Midoriya explained, now feeling a bit more self-consious about the whole doing-make-up-as-a-man part. He had expected Bakugou to laugh, but he didn’t. He just huffed.
“So you like make-up, big fucking deal. Don’t think you’re special enough to be embarrassed by that.”
Midoriya blinked a few times. That literally did not make any sense, but whatever. He was happy enough Bakugou wasn’t scolding him about it. Or, well, technically he was. But you know.
The stylist worked quickly and neatly, and announced after about twenty minutes that she was done. Midoriya looked Bakugou up and down. He had the same black eyeliner on his waterline, but his eyeshadow was more smokey. It looked nice. Also, his face was contoured for the Gods and his blonde stubble was darkened a bit.
“I think there’s something missing, it’s not the same as mine,” Midoriya then said with a small smirk. The stylist looked at him worriedly, and in all honestly, rightfully so. Midoriya grabbed a brown pencil and leaned over so he was very, very close to Bakugou’s face, as he started drawing on small brown dots on his cheeks and nose. He had no idea if it would actually look good, but he hoped that he had done this somewhat often enough on himself to get the hang of it. After all, there were days he drew on extra freckles on his face, just for the fun of it. The long necklaces he was wearing gently hit Bakugou’s chest with each movement of his hand.
As he got close to Bakugou’s face, the man immediately started protesting. “Fuckin’-, Deku, get the fuck off of me,” but Midoriya simply did not listen and also very much did not relent as Bakugou tried to shove him off. “No, no, it’s gonna look good Kacchan, I promise,” he said with a smile that was as much wicked as sweet. He really did think freckles would suit the other.
It didn’t take long for him to finish drawing the freckles. With a satisfied smirk he pulled back, admiring his work. His necklaces softly landed back on his bare chest. He laughed, throwing his head back as he saw how disgruntled Bakugou looked. He was quickly shut up by his stylist, though.
“With all due respect, pro hero Deku. Are you for real?” The stylist crossed her arms while shaking her head, and Midoriya quickly backed away from his victim.
“Ah, I’m, eh.. I’m sorry. I got carried away there. He does look very good, though,” Midoriya said with a faint blush creeping on his face, quite ashamed of maybe ruining the hard work of his stylist. As he looked back at Bakugou and saw him smirking, he frowned. What the hell was he smirking about?
“You think I look very good, Deku?” Bakugou said with a chuckle as he checked himself out in the mirror in front of him. “I mean, you’re not wrong. Freckles just suit me better than you, I guess.” Midoriya waved his words away, trying to look cool and composed, but inside he was kind of panicking that he had called Bakugou good-looking. Why had he done that. Please, why..
“God, girls, you’re both pretty. Now, Deku, please let me put him in his outfit in peace and leave the room.” Obviously, Midoriya had to make this little incident up to his stylist somehow. He raised his hands in defeat and left the room, no longer making any cheeky comments just in case they would once again be used against him.
Bakugou stood up from his chair as Midoriya finally left. He was very much aware of how heated he was, including his face. It was the anger, definitely. He was very angry at Deku right now. Yeah.
“So what the fuck is gonna be my outfit, huh? It better be something sexier than shitty Deku is wearing.” With his arms crossed, he angrily eyed his stylist. How dare she let Midoriya draw freckles on him. She had allowed it, he was pissed. He did look good though, but that was obviously not the problem.
_________________________________________________________________________________
It didn’t take long for Bakugou to change into his outfit, as there was not much outfit to it. He was wearing a long, black leather coat, which was tied at his middle. That was basically it. His chest was exposed, and so were his legs, though the coat thankfully hid his hips and underwear. His chest was littered with fake tattoos and so was his neck. His hands were adorned in many silver rings and a big cross necklace hung around his neck.
He felt.. Exposed. But he did feel like his stylist had definitely made him wear a sexier outfit than Midoriya was wearing. Besides, he was not going to show that he felt a little uncomfortable in this revealing outfit. He was going to be the best fucking model there had ever been.
The stylist led him to the room where the shoot would be. As they walked in, Bakugou noticed that Midoriya was already shooting. He looked around with a frown. “Why the fuck has he already started without me?” With crossed arms he walked up to Midoriya, not caring that he would ruin the pictures; every picture with more him and less Deku was better, obviously.
No one dared say a word about it to the pissed off number two hero. The cameraman just sighed as he adjusted his camera so he could capture the both of them.
Not that there was much to capture, as Bakugou was standing quite stiff with his arms crossed, and Midoriya was very much ogling him in awe.
“Kacchan! You look so cool, what the hell. Are you completely naked under that coat?” The words were surely meant teasingly, but Midoriya’s voice lacked any hint of humor. Was he.. Blushing?
“You dirty pervert, of course I’m not.” Bakugou said quickly as he slapped away Midoriya’s hand that was getting close to the belt of his coat. What if he had actually been naked and Midoriya had undone his belt? That would’ve been fucked up, what the hell. Midoriya seemed to realise this as well, because he very quickly turned towards the director of the shoot. “So, how do we pose?”
Before they actually started posing, though, two stylists came in with spray bottles. Bakugou growled angrily, but that did not stop them from spraying him down. Midoriya could swear that they sprayed Bakugou two times more than him, and he laughed heartily at the sight of Bakugou truly pouting.
“Shut the fuck up! I’ll kill you!” The words did absolutely nothing. If anything, Midoriya only started laughing harder.
“Don’t be such a buzzkill, you look good,” Midoriya then said, hoping very much that the compliment would calm Bakugou down. Which, to his surprise, it actually did. Bakugou eyed him suspiciously though, and at that moment a droplet fell from his hair onto his nose. Before Midoriya could think his action through, he wiped it away gently, with a soft chuckle. He was so used to being friendly with everyone, after all, that a touch like this was completely normal for him. But he was never touchy with Bakugou, afraid of the reaction he would get. A flash lit up the room, signaling the first photo made.
His hand was then smacked away roughly, but that was the only thing that happened. There was no snide remark, no fire thrown his way – he was relatively safe. He scratched his neck awkwardly as he felt another blush creeping onto his face. “I’m sorry, eh..” He had no excuse, really. Bakugou huffed, his cheeks also coloring pink. “Just.. Don’t do it again, shitty Deku.”
They both turned their heads away from each other, and the director clapped his hands. “PERFECT! That’s what we want to see. Show us how vulnerable you can be with each other.” A growl from Bakugou signaled that that was not going to happen, though. “Or just be friendly with each other, remember. All right, Deku, I want you to crouch down a bit. Dynamight, stand behind him and rest your hand on his shoulder. Yes, like that, very good. A bit closer, thank you, yes. Stay like that.”
A series of photographs were made as both heroes stood still, trying their best to hide how awkward this was. Bakugou suddenly pushed a bit harder on Midoriyas shoulder, and as he looked back, he saw the other man grinning at him. “It looks like you’re my dog.” Bakugou said, very satisfied with himself as he moved his hand a bit more towards Midoriya’s neck, squeezing the skin. Midoriya yelped a bit in shock, but a series of flashes went off, telling them this did look good..?
“I’m not your dog, Kacchan!” Midoriya said, a bit offended by the humiliating thought. “I’m the number one hero, don’t forget that,” he then continued, a bit stronger now that he had also reminded himself of this fact.
“Oh yeah? If you’re not my dog, then why are you sitting so nicely for me, huh?” At this point, Bakugou didn’t even sound angry. It was more like he was teasing, marvelling in the fact that he was superior to Midoriya in this pose.
“You think I’m nice?” Midoriya shot back, after which he actually bit Bakugou’s hand, softly, but he did bite. With a curse Bakugou let go. “What the fuck, Deku?!”
The director decided to step in, as he lifted his hands up to stop both men. “All right, that’s enough. Let’s try something else. I want you to stand back to back. And hold these as if you know what to do with them.” Both Bakugou and Midoriya got a fake prop gun. Midoriya held his close to his chest, as if he was on the look-out for something – a good starting pose. Bakugou, however, immediately put it in his mouth as if he was going to shoot himself, the sick fucker. However, the director did seem to like it, as multiple flashes went off and thus pictures were made.
Posing with guns proved to be quite difficult, if you’re not allowed to handle them on a daily bases. Even with multiple directions from the shoot director, the pictures did not come out natural, so the props were discarded quite fast.
“Good. Now, Dynamight, turn around. I want you to put your arm around Deku, yes, like that. Don’t give me that look, you want to look friendly with each other, yes? Good, then do it. A bit closer, come on, it looks like you’re gonna die if you step any closer. Yes, like that. Closer. Thank you. Now, Deku, I want you to lean back into his chest with your shoulders. No, that’s your back. Just your shoulders- yes, like that, good. Hold that pose.”
Midoriya was absolutely certain the camera would pick up his blushing. He could feel Bakugou’s heartbeat on his shoulder, and it was safe to say that his heart was beating fast. It was probably because Bakugou was angry about this whole situation, which Midoriya half-heartedly agreed with. Yeah, this sucked, right? This posing, it was too much. They looked like a couple, he was sure of it. This wasn’t friendly – this was fanservice, he was certain of it. Just as he was about to complain, the director clapped his hands again.
“Okay, you’re doing great, boys. Now, Dynamight, I want you to sit on this stool my assistant is bringing in. Yeah, just casual, thank you. Open your legs a bit more, manspread, or something. Watch out for your coat, though- yeah, like that. Good. Now Deku, you stand in between his legs, face to me. Put an arm around his shoulder, yeah, good, very good. This looks great. Dynamight, if you could lean our face somewhat against his arm? Yeah, good.”
In normal situations, Bakugou would very much not do these kind of things. Not with anyone. But this wasn’t a normal situation, now was it? This was to prove how much he was BFF’s with Midoriya, wasn’t it? So he did it. His face was clearly showing that he was displeased, but that only added tot he whole vibe of the photoshoot. Bakugou knew that this pose would look good – that they would all look good. So he decided to actually, for one of the first times in his life, not make a fuss about it. Besides, it was kind of comfortable. He wouldn’t ever admit it to anybody, but Bakugou actually loved physical touch. It was kind of his guilty pleasure, and he allowed himself to indulge in it for now under the excuse of having to do a shoot. And the little water droplets on Midoriya’s skin helped cool down his heated up face a bit, so, win-win?
Midoriya was not quite as comfortable. The way he was standing in between Bakugou’s legs was quite tiring and uncomfortable. His legs were starting to tremble a bit, which the director probably saw, as he told Midoriya to sit down on Bakugou’s leg.
“Huh?” They both said in union, but the director waved his hand. “Just do it, it’ll look good.”
Midoriya quickly glanced at Bakugou, who was watching him with a scowl, and suddenly he very much felt like doing exactly what the director asked of him. Payback for all the times Bakugou had made Midoriya uncomfortable, or something. So, Midoriya did sit down, which resulted in Bakugou suddenly going very still. He didn’t even breathe.
“Relax, Kacchan!” Midoriya piped, gosh, he was so helpful, wasn’t he? He smiled at the other hero, completely aware of how uncomfortable he managed to make him feel. His words had no effect, though, and Midoriya decided to crank up the heat a bit.
“Come on, Kacchan, you’re going to ruin the shoot if you don’t relax,” he said, how voice lower, smoother, not very Midoriya-like. His right arm was still loosely slung around Bakugou’s neck, and his left hand now came up to touch his cheek with quite a bit of pressure, to force the other man to look at him. Bakugou let him, and Midoriya’s eyes lit up with delight. Bakugou was so out of it that he actually let him touch his cheek and turn his head – this was the funniest thing to ever happen. Their eyes found each other and suddenly it all wasn’t that funny anymore. There was something dark in Bakugou’s eyes, Midoriya noted, that had him unconsciously drop his hand, until it came to a rest on Bakugou’s chest.
“I am relaxed.” Bakugou then said through gritted teeth, as he placed his hand on Midoriya’s thigh, hoisting him up a bit higher so his weight was distributed more comfortable on his leg.
“Y-you don’t seem relaxed,” Midoriya softly tried to take the wheel again, which failed miserably. No, Midoriya also was no longer relaxed. It was as if he now realised that this pose was not only.. Intimate for Bakugou, but also for him.
“Very good, heroes! Now, let me know if this is too much to ask, but lean your foreheads together.”
Even though the request was absolutely ridiculous and at this point most definitely fanservice, both men kept their eyes locked onto each other, refusing to be the first one to look away. Then, Bakugou leaned in a bit closer. Midoriya sucked in his breath, absolutely no longer having the upper hand in the situation.
“This is not too much, right, Deku?” Bakugou said with a small smirk, very clearly trying to challange Midoriya into backing down. But he was not going to, he couldn’t, not after he had gotten so flustered just now. So he replied; “Not at all, Kacchan,” and he leaned in closer, so their foreheads were touching. He could feel Bakugou’s snake his way up from his tigh to his arm, after which it softly grabbed a hold of his neck. A heavy breath left Midoriya’s mouth and his eyes fluttered close – the intensity of Bakugou’s gaze finally becoming too much for him. Since when.. Since when were photoshoots this intense?
“Thank you, thank you, I think we have a good shot for the cover.” The director then said, and with a jerk both Midoriya and Bakugou pulled away from eachother. “Good work, heroes. We’re done! See you tomorrow.”
And just with that, the moment was over. Both men got on their feet quickly. Midoriya decided now was a great time to go take a piss and Bakugou just shoved his hands in the pockets of his coat as he demanded to change back into his own clothes.
They both kind of dreaded and anticipated tomorrow's shoot.