The time was about 5:00pm.
Bakugou stared out into the crowd, peeking out behind the curtain. His knees shook, a little. He was never any good at public speaking.
He took a deep breath to steel his nerves. It wasn't too big of a deal, he thought. He faced villains on the regular. This wasn't that big of a deal.
But still. He felt like he was not compensated to speak at a quirkless convention. He was a hero known for his quirk, after all.
He heard the announcer walk out on stage, and begin.
"Now, here today to talk about the effect of the quirkless on hero society, it's Ground Zero!"
He could hear the crowd tittering in surprise. That was intentional. He wanted to keep his appearance here a secret for as long as possible.
Slowly, he walked onstage, feeling sweat start to pool up under his fancy dress shirt and tie. Seeing the thousands of eyes trained on him, he froze.
You can do this.
You. Can. Do. This.
He took a deep breath, and began.
Midoriya and the League's day had been going pretty normally, as far as he was concerned. Midoriya had been following the broadcasts of the quirkless convention, an event that, as far as he was concerned, was the best thing that could ever happen to society. But what really caught his attention was when Bakugou strolled up onstage.
Midoriya's heart leapt into his throat. He frantically scrolled through the program he had on his phone. Bakugou wasn't listed as one of the speakers.
Typical Kacchan, always wanting to steal the spotlight. He laughed to himself.
"Hey Midoriya-it's your boyfriend." Yui mumbled playfully to him. He shoved her in the ribs, eyes firmly planted on the TV.
"I'm here today to talk about the quirkless." Bakugou began. The crowd tittered. The mixed response was expected. Bakugou ignored the churning feeling in his gut and continued.
"Quirkless people are underestimated." He said, trying his best to portray confidence. "They are often given the shaft by society. There are even quirkless foster homes, for parents who don't want a quirkless child. It's come to be known even as a disability." He stared out into the crowd, seeing them stare back at him.
"I think that that's bullshit." He stated flatly. "Quirks aren't the most important thing in the world."
"They're not?" Yui snorted. "Sure, try telling yourself that." Midoriya ignored her bitter statements and focused on the TV, confused. Bakugou thought quirks were everything! When did this change?
"Who cares if people can't turn into an animal or punch through a building?!" Bakugou said, letting some of his frustration seep through into his voice. "May I remind everyone here that, for the majority of the time we humans existed, we achieved so much, without quirks?"
Silence. All eyes on him.
"And look at us now. We've had quirks for over two hundred years, and we've hardly made any major scientific discoveries! We've hardly changed at all! Sure, some would argue that quirks made law enforcement better, but did they really?"
"Amen to that." Midoriya said, surprised by Bakugou's passion on the issue. The whole bar was watching now, even Bando, drawn to the speech by his powerful words.
"No. They didn't." The crowd looked surprised. Bakugou could almost hear the confusion. "All they did was make it more prominent. People die, every day, because of quirks. People commit felonies, because of quirks. And yet, we shun those who don't have them?!"
"Kind of flawed logic." Yui mumbled. He bar muttered in agreement. But Midoriya knew there was more.
"May I remind you, that twenty percent of the population is quirkless?! Twenty percent! And we still treat it like a disease!" Bakugou exclaimed, mic ringing with the intensity of his words. "Just because the quirkless can't be superhuman, doesn't mean they can't be heroes."
"Good analogy!" Midoriya said to no one in particular. The bar cheered at that, many people taking a swig of their respective drinks.
"I think, that we've become closed-minded." Bakugou said. He took a deep breath.
Time to go off script.
"I knew a guy." The crowd looked at him funny, but he pressed on. "He was quirkless. He couldn't fight, or fly, and for a long time, I treated him like he was worthless."
"He's talking about you!" Yui exclaimed, sounding excited. "That's so sweet."
Midoriya wasn't paying attention to her anymore, focus one hundred percent on the TV. His heart bobbed nervously in his chest, watching his friend-sorta-boyfriend give him credit on stage.
"It backfired." Bakugou mumbled into the mic. "I hurt him. But he still cared. He still wanted to help me, in his own way. And he did." The crowd was silent.
"He was such an integral part of my life, and he did more for me then anyone with a quirk or any hero did. He showed me how to be a better person. And he didn't even need a quirk." Bakugou smiled into the mic.
Midoriya smiled at the TV.
"So, what I'm trying to get at, is that, you don't need a quirk to be a part of someone's life. You don't need to be a hero or have a quirk to change the world." Bakugou smiled to himself, like this was a little inside joke only he'd know about. "So, I hope you people here don't give up because of people putting you down because you don't have a quirk. You can be someone in this world. You can impact things. You might have already started a chain of events that shake the world to the core." He took a deep breath. "I want to live in a world where the quirkless can join in with no shame. And I hope that we took a step towards that world today." He backed away from the mic. "Thank you for your time."
The entire bar stood, clapping. Two people were crying in the back, one crying acidic tears that burned through the table. Yui held her drink up. "TO QUIRKKLESS!"
"HEAR HEAR!" The entire bar took a swig of their drinks. Yui turned, to see Midoriya break down in silent, happy tears.
"Hey, you good?" Midoriya nodded, a big dopey smile on his face.
"That's...the nicest thing that anyone's ever said to me." He sniffed. Yui rolled her eyes.
"It wasn't directed at you, idiot." But the knowing look in her eyes said otherwise.
When Bakugou got back to his apartment, late at night, he tried to unlock the door, only to realize that it was already unlocked. He slipped in quietly, thinking that a villain might have gotten into his apartment or something.
Strong arms grabbed him from behind around the waist, and pulled him onto the couch. Bakugou yelled in alarm, then stopped, realizing it was-
"You big oaf, you didn't tell me you were doing that!" Midoriya yelled, rolling over so that he was crouching on top of Bakugou on the couch.
"It was a surprise, dumbass." Bakugou snarked, smile spreading on his face. Midoriya laughed, and fell on Bakugou's stomach with a loud 'oof'.
"You did that for me?" Midoriya asked quietly.
"For everyone." Bakugou murmured, running a hand through Midoriya's curly mane. "But I was thinking of you during the speech."
Midoriya smirked. "Of course you were." He said, leaning forward to rest his head on Bakugou's shoulder. "Stupid." His lips brushed Bakugou's jawline, and he flinched.
"We're doing this again?" He mumbled, voice a little slurred. Midoriya laughed a little.
"Is that a challenge?" Bakugou turned his head away from him, eyes shut.
Yeah. definitely a challenge.
Midoriya ran his hand slowly up Bakugou's thigh, his side, coming to rest on his chin. He cupped his cheek, and turned it so that Bakugou's head was facing Misoriya's, and he leaned down, and gave him a long, slow kiss. He could feel Bakugou tense up, and shiver under his touch.
"Dumbass-" Bakugou mumbled. "You realize how tired I am-mmf-you seriously expect me to stay awake right-oh god-"
Midoriya had let his hand slide down to knead Bakugou's ass, mouth still firmly planted on his lips. He let his tongue slide through, just a little, but enough to make Bakugou shudder.
"I will fall asleep during it, I'm seriouffffffUCK."
Midoriya had taken to sucking bruises to life against Bakugou's jawline, clever tongue and teeth just light enough not to make too much of a mark. Bakugou suddenly grabbed Midoriya by the name of his neck, and kissed him, a frantic mash of tongue and teeth, and Bakugou couldn't take it anymore. He wrapped his arms firmly around Midoriya's waist, and pulled him closer, trying to supress the small moans that were coming out of his mouth.
Midoriya laughed, a low, rumbling sound. "You awake now?" He asked, careful lilt to his voice.
"Fuck you -" Bakugou hissed between breaths, his mouth still on Midoriya's.
"Not tonight handsome." Midoriya nuzzled up to him, and let his hands fall to his waist. "I'm gonna make you feel so good."
Bakugou snorted, trying to disguise the note of anticipation in his voice. "Yeah, I'm sure you will."