Chapter Text
Izuku quietly stares out the window at the passing buildings, his mother's muffled voice on the other side of the partition being the only thing cutting through the silence. Said partition acts as a physical reminder of the wall that has always been between him and his mother, despite his many attempts at having a close and loving relationship with her.
Since the day Inko MIdoriya gave birth, she made it clear that her work came first, she came second, and her child came last, given she had the time to deal with what she deemed as his childish antics (toddlers and their annoying need to be loved, am I right?). On paper her hard work and constant strive to move up in her industry was commendable, and maybe in another life Izuku would be able to look up to her as a role model but unfortunately he's just the side of Inko’s world that her bosses and the press don't see, the neglected, needy and forgotten child that she maybe one day will parade around a work event if he does well enough in school. But even that would just be another one of her ploys for power, probably hoping to find an influential family she can marry her son into for her own benefit. After sixteen years of this treatment, Izuku learned just to stop trying to get his mother's attention. There are only so many birthdays, holidays, recitals, or award ceremonies that you can willfully ignore before your child simply lowers their expectations. Despite this, the fear of disappointing his mother is always present.
Izuku finds himself sitting in the back of a car with dramatically tinted windows because Inko’s recent promotion meant she could now take advantage of the company chauffeurs, which she does often, but for Izuku this also meant a new house, new school, and if he was lucky, new friends. He's being sent off to some fancy-pants boarding school for kids whose parents are too rich and busy to see their kids every day, which just so happens to be his mother's specialty. He looks down at the school pamphlet in his hands, UA Boarding Academy for Exceptional Young Men.
‘ It’s like they wanted to sound as pretentious as possible,’ he thinks to himself.
Anyone else would probably feel nervous to be leaving their home and family but Izuku doesn't think it'll be much different from his life already, aside from being surrounded by other boys 24/7 but to a closeted teenager that doesn't sound half bad. However, going to sleep at night without seeing his mom all day? He mastered that years ago. Eating meals every day that aren't homemade? Izuku can't remember the last time he had a home-cooked meal so he has nothing to miss. Honestly, now that he thinks about it his life can only get better by attending boarding school.
As the car approaches the school he has to admit that maybe he is a little nervous, his uniform is starting to feel extra stuffy and it feels as if the tie is constricting his breathing for a moment before the sudden sound of the glass partition rolling down pulls him from his thoughts.
“Izuku, I expect you to be on your best behavior during your time here at UA. Japan's most important families send their sons to this school so don't you dare embarrass me. Am I clear?” His mother's voice is cold and indifferent as she speaks to him, not a hint of motherly warmth to be found.
He hates the way his palms clam up and his mouth goes dry at the thought of doing something his mother would find embarrassing. After clearing his throat he responds a nod and a quiet “understood”.
“Good. Let's get this over with, I had to push two meetings back already to be here today and I don't care to make it three,” Izuku follows his mother, her heels clacking loudly against the stone walkway leading to the grand entrance of the school.
During their meeting with the dean, he explained that since Izuku is joining the school three months late he will have to share a dorm with one of his fellow students and that next year he will have the option to apply for a private dorm. He doesn't have an issue with sharing a dorm with someone but he kinda feels bad for the guy who was enjoying three months of privacy just to have it interrupted, maybe his roommate would be an understanding person.
After another warning to not misbehave, his mother left him there in the empty hallway, the sound of her heels as she walked away being more of a ‘goodbye’ than she had to offer her own son.
It's Saturday so there's no class today, which will hopefully give Izuku enough time to familiarize himself with the layout of the school and his schedule. He's squinting at the paper in his hands as he walks the halls, looking for the staircase labeled “Dormitories” when he bumps into a boy with bright red hair.
“Whoa dude, you okay? I'm sorry bout’ that, I was totally spaced out,” the boy is loud but seems friendly enough.
“I'm fine, it's my fault,” he motions to the paper in his hand, “I was too busy looking for the secret stairs to the dorms.”
The other boy laughs..like really laughs, by the time he's done Izuku is actually concerned for the redhead's mental capacity.
“You’re funny man, is this your first day or somethin’?” He asks.
“Uh yeah it is, I'm trying to figure out where everything is before class on Monday.”
“I’m headin’ to my dorm anyway so I'll show you where the ‘secret stairs’ are,” naturally this causes the rather loud boy to fall into another fit of laughter while Izuku stands there In awkward silence.
As they walked together Izuku eventually learned the boy's name was Kirishima, along with some more personal facts that felt a little too intimate for him to know on account of them just meeting a few minutes ago. Maybe making friends here won't be as hard as Izuku originally thought.
“So what dorm did they assign you? Maybe I can fill you in on your roommate.”
Izuku unfolds the paper in his hands, “Uhh, it says room 19.”
Kirishima's eyes widen in realization, “Oh shit, that's Bakubro’s room.”
“Bakubro…?” Izuku arched his brow at the strange name.
“Yeah, he's probably not too happy about gettin’ a roommate, dude loves his privacy,” Kirishima says with an uncomfortable chuckle.
‘So much for getting an understanding roommate,’ Izuku thought to himself.
The school feels massive and by the time they finally arrive outside Izuku’s new dorm, he’s ready to get settled in and rest his legs.
Kirishima pats him on the shoulder and offers him a sympathetic smile, “Alright man good luck in there, I'm in room 25 if you need anything.”
Izuku waves goodbye before hesitantly raising his fist to knock on the door. His knocking is immediately met with shuffling and cursing from the other side of the door, and when it opens he's taken aback by the pair of fiery red eyes that are staring back at him. The boy standing in front of him is visibly unhappy to have a visitor, let alone a new roommate.
Izuku falls short of the other boy by several inches so he has to look up to take in his striking features, his strong and defined jawline, perfectly straight nose, skin that looks like it doesn't even know what the word pimple means, a headful of spiky blonde hair and those intimidating eyes that are currently shooting daggers through izuku as he stands there in silence.
The blonde looks Izuku up and down before scoffing, “You supposed to be my new roommate ?”
Izuku doesn't miss the anger lacing the word ‘roommate’ as the other boy questions him, nor does he miss how his cheeks heat under the boy's gaze.
“Yep that's me, you're Bakubro right?” He asks, remembering the name Kirishima used earlier.
An exasperated sigh leaves the other boy, “I'm gonna kill hair-for-brains, it's Bakugou. Get it right or don't bother talking to me.”
Noted.
Izuku nods, “Well it's nice to meet you Bakugou, my name's Izuku,” he reaches out to shake the other boy's hand. The gesture is not reciprocated.
“Whatever,” the blonde leaves him standing in the threshold.
“Before you get comfortable there's some ground rules you need to follow.”
“Uhm, okay?” He slowly steps into the room and shuts the door behind him.
“One: don't be a pig, clean up after yourself. Two: NEVER wake me up, if there's a fire just let me burn. Three: if you wanna hang out with your little friends go to their dorm, no one is allowed in here. I may be forced to share this shitty room with you but make no mistake,” the blonde closes the distance between them and stops a few inches from Izuku,” This is still my fucking room. Understood?”
Izuku tries his best to suppress the chill running down his spine at the boy's raspy voice.
“Look, you’re obviously not very happy about me being here but I promise I had no choice in the matter and I'll try my best to just stay out of your way.”
“Good,” said Bakugo before swinging the door open and disappearing into the hallway.
Oh yeah, he’s totally an understanding guy, if understanding meant a raging prick. This year should be fun.