"It's not even just the things you've done for me, and helped me with, but how strong you are. I've never met anyone as dedicated as you are, and just in knowing that, I know that you're going to put 110% into our relationship, and so far, I'm right."

Halfie is trying to kill him with kindness.

It's not something he can say has ever happened to him before, but he can't say he hates it.

Far from it, really.

"All that guilt you feel tells me you're a wonderful person who cares. I hate how much you're hurt by it, but even through that pain, you continue being the best."

He ended up telling Bakugo more things that have made Todoroki a better person just by being friends with him.

"Which pushes me to do my best. Because how will I continue watching you grow when there's no one there to help you grow, too?"

It's just after classes and they're in Bakugo's room. They were about to go grocery shopping since it's Friday, but Halfie stopped him, sitting him down before immediately spewing all this lovey shit.

"I know you were worried about how my relationship with my friends was 'ruined', but it just helped me see what kind of people they were. I was blind, and now I'm ashamed that I even called them my friends after they did that."

Bakugo shrugs, "Iida isn't too bad."

He tries to make it light hearted, but Halfie is being really earnest right now.

"I noticed he hasn't done anything inappropriate to you. No yelling or assault coming from him. He is more mature and well rounded than the other two, but yes, I agree he isn't too bad."

"Iida knows about my mom," he admits, it's probably why he's so understanding right now and didn't come attack him like Uraraka did.

"That makes sense," Todoroki nods, putting things together.

"He found out a while back and I told him to keep it a secret. He's succeeded so far."

He's still reeling from all the compliments Todoroki threw at him, but Halfie moves on like if it's just fact. An every day thing that he lives with.

"Okay, we should go now so you have more time with your mom," he says, motioning for them to get going like if Bakugo was the one keeping them.

Not wanting to start an argument because Halfie just said all that nice shit, Bakugo listened and followed Halfie out the door, locking it behind them before heading off.

After getting the okay from Aizawa with that same damn look as always when he brings Todoroki, they're at the cemetery, Bakugo with flowers in hand and Todoroki with a blanket for Bakugo.

"Hi mom," he greets, pressing a kiss to his hand and putting it on the stone, "Todoroki is here today, too. He's not staying long."

On the way here, Todoroki asked if he could stay for a few minutes, too. Obviously, Bakugo agreed. He liked that Todoroki was so accepting of this and made him feel normal. On top of that, he's sure his mom would like it.

"Hello, Mrs. Bakugo," the taller teen greets with a bow.

They sit for a few minutes and he listens to Todoroki tell his mom a story from the week, talking about a sparring match he had with their teacher.

After around five minutes, Todoroki gets up, excusing himself from his mom and then turning to the blond.

"I'll be at that playground. I'll check in if you go over time."

Bakugo nods and hugs Todoroki, always so overcome with the feeling of gratitude and appreciation. Halfie is too kind for this world.

Once he presses a kiss to Bakugo's temple, they let go and Todoroki is on his way.

"I probably look much better than the other night," he starts off, feeling a little embarrassed by his actions, "I'm sorry for that. Deku-" he cuts himself off, not sure how to tell his mom that Deku pulled that shit.

His eyes tear up and he looks around the cemetery, cold wind blowing the rest of the leaves off the trees.

A sinking feeling fills his chest at this whole thing.

"Deku assaulted me in my own room. And then I had a nightmare and woke up trying to save you," his voice grows thick and shaky, "because I forgot you're already gone."

The fear and desperation is still fresh on his mind, remembering how much he longed to be able to save her.

"And I had to come see you," he clears his throat, trying to get himself together, "so I did. That was Mr. Aizawa who came to come get me, if you don't remember. He was the one who vouched for me when the League took me and then came to get your permission for the dorms."

He smiles at a memory and chokes out a laugh, "He pulled me aside the first day after class cause he saw you smack me, and he asked if I needed help getting away from you guys."

A laugh openly escapes now.

"God, his face when I started laughing at him," he's looking down at the blanket now with a smile on his face, "He had no clue you were the best mom anyone could ever ask for."

He leans forward against the stone, forehead resting on the cold slab.

"What Deku did was really scary," he admits suddenly, unsure of why he did, "he wouldn't listen."

His hands came and covered himself with the blanket, tightening it to comfort himself.

A hand comes up to grab the side of his neck he could feel the breath on. Recovery Girl healed him, but he's been slowly but surely rubbing it raw once again.

"It was so scary."

Silence overtakes him for a while, leaving him alone to think some more. Would his mom threaten Deku?

Probably.

She was already in his side about the shit that went down. She knew why he was pushed too far. He told her everything when he got in trouble after the incident.

All he knew is that she was pissed and he had to stop her from going to Inko and banging on her door for Deku to leave Bakugo alone like he's always wanted. It was relieving to know that he wouldn't have to defend himself against her.

That she was always on his side.

Maybe that was why he was okay with telling his mom about this.

Growing up, all he knew was support and encouragement from both his parents, but he could always go to his mom for everything.

Sure, he probably could go to his dad, too, but it was just something about Mitsuki that led him to confessing everything to her. Masaru was usually busy, anyway.

"He fucking bruised me up and shit. I couldn't get him off of me. He was using his damn quirk to keep me down and if I used mine, I'd hurt him real bad. I was so worried about hurting him and he left bruises on me. Todoroki and Kirishima had to pull him off of me and when Halfie found out about the bruises, I had to stop him from going to beat that nerd up."

It felt nice to know he didn't have to take care of himself all the time anymore. He felt helpless after his mom died and without the support from his dad, he felt like he had to do everything alone.

Relying on people became hard because he didn't want to get close and the lack of help from his dad solidified his fear of it all.

"He got suspended and Uraraka was pissed about it and came to tell me off. Like if she knew anything," he scoffs, "of course even now Deku gets what he wants and can do no wrong."

It's already getting dark and colder.

"Aizawa threatened to expel him but I got him to rethink that. Now Deku is doing some classes so he understands what he did was wrong. He also can't intern with Endeavor anymore, which probably sucks for him, but I don't feel bad about that."

Finally Deku got some consequences for his actions. Something that Bakugo never thought would be possible. Their whole lives, he never saw Deku get in trouble.

It was infuriating.

"Now you don't have to worry about me being alone. Cause I'm not alone anymore."

~~~~~

Todoroki has a panic attack the night before they leave for internships.

Bakugo had noticed he was on edge all day, never stopping for anything. He was just training and studying, getting things ready for his suit and learning new code words and techniques that villains might use.

The blond got tired just looking at him, but he joined him for most things, taking breaks when he decided that Todoroki needed to eat.

He hadn't felt hungry in a while, so it wasn't for himself, but Todoroki never missed a meal. He preached about the importance of eating on time, so Bakugo knew how important it was for Todoroki to stay on track.

All day, he was keeping an eye on Todoroki and trying to relieve the smaller stresses that Bakugo could fix, so he thought everything would be okay.

Until he got to Todoroki's room after they separated to shower and get ready for bed.

Todoroki was shaking, sitting silently on his bed, but his chest was rising and falling quickly, eyes wide and glossy. His head was down and his hands were in his hair, pulling desperately for relief.

Immediately, Bakugo called for him, "Halfie?"

It was quiet and calm.

He slowly approached the bed, kneeling down next to it to make eye contact with Todoroki.

When Todoroki's panicked eyes met his, Bakugo's immediately softened. Slowly, he reaches out for his boyfriend's hand, pulling it from his hair.

Bakugo doesn't let himself react when he sees a bit of red under his fingernails, instead, he carefully holds his hand and rubs his fingers back and forth and then writes something.

"Can you guess what I wrote?"

Halfie's quick breaths, hitch, and in one of the breaths he accidentally lets a small whimper escape. If Bakugo weren't paying such close attention, he would have missed it.

But he ignores it to spare Halfie the embarrassment. Then he writes it again and looks at Todoroki expectantly, a small smile on his face. Hopefully it's comforting and not anything else.

"Come on, I know you know," he encourages, trying to stay calm because if he starts freaking out with Todoroki, they'll both just be stuck in a loop of panic.

"I-" Todoroki gasps in a breath, shaking his head, "I don't know."

His eyes look around frantically, lost.

Bakugo does it again.

"Yes you do, I've been teaching you," he says, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Beautiful," he finally answers, breathing calming slightly.

Bakugo smiles at him and shakes the hand he's holding happily. "Perfect, Halfie. You're really getting French, huh?"

He shrugs, looking away. His eyes are less panicky and more exhausted. His breathing is also better. It's still choppy, but he's finding it.

"Wanna talk about it?" Bakugo asks.

Honestly, he already knows what caused this, but talking about it actually helps a lot. He's learned from therapy that it just hurts to keep everything inside. It's like humans are carbonated drinks and every piece of trauma is like a mint being placed in. The more mints you put in, the stronger the reaction.

After a deep, shaky breath, Todoroki lets his other hand fall from his head.

"It's my dad," he scoffs at himself, "He hasn't hit me in over a year. And I'm still scared."

Bakugo gets on the bed, hugging Halfie.

"But you know he can and he has before. It's understandable to feel that way. He has so much power, but if anything happens, I'll be right there. I will not let you be alone with him. And if somehow, he's able to hurt you, I'll be by your side when we report him to the authorities."

Todoroki doesn't need lies. He needs the truth and support. Halfie knows the facts and any beating around the bush isn't going to help him out of this.

What will is reassurance that what he's been through is horrible. That what he's feeling is valid because Endeavor is powerful.

The look in his boyfriend's eyes changes. He looks more at ease, and when he makes eye contact with the blond, his eyes soften. There's also a look that Bakugo can't place, but he thinks it's a good one.

"What?" He finds himself asking, too shy at the intensity of the look.

"I love you."

Bakugo's face becomes slack as the words hit him.

"You do?"

Halfie nods.

~~~~~

All Bakugo could feel the next day was joy.

After who knows how long, someone finally said they loved him and they meant it.

Todoroki felt much better after his talk with Bakugo and the first day of internships went by smoothly. Bakugo was riding the high of being lovable.

After months of feeling like he was the opposite, Halfie came and brought him up.

He threatened Endeavor all day, did paperwork like no tomorrow, and kicked ass during patrol. As great as Bakugo did on the first day, Todoroki did so much better.

Bakugo could barely keep up.

As proud as he was for himself, he was a million times more proud of his boyfriend.

His boyfriend who loves him by the way, so who's the real winner?

Even the couple of following days after that were great, never having any big time villains, which Bakugo saw as a win because who the fuck wants villains causing chaos in the street?

But then it was Friday, and Bakugo couldn't find a way to go visit his mom, and according to Endeavor, he wouldn't have any time that month to go visit her at all, and now Bakugo is panicking.

It was literally the main thing Bakugo had looked forward to in the last few months, and even though he's doing better, going to talk to his mom does wonders.

If he's unable to go visit her, he doesn't know what he'll do, so after swallowing his pride, he visits Endeavors office after patrolling.

He knew it was too late to go now, so he told himself it was okay if he went tomorrow.

"What do you want?" The man asks, obviously annoyed.

It's safe to say that Endeavor isn't a fan of Bakugo, but Bakugo isn't a fan of his either, so the blond can't really complain. He actually likes that Endeavor doesn't like him. They don't have to get along for Bakugo to learn from him.

"Could I get some free time tomorrow?"

Endeavor shakes his head without a second thought. "No. We're busy tomorrow."

He really needs to see his mom. It's been a good week, but the thought of going longer without talking to her makes him anxious.

It makes him feel guilty.

Why does she have to be stuck underground with nothing to do? The least Bakugo can do is try to go visit her so that she's not alone. He can't leave her alone again.

"You're required to give us time off. I just need a few damn hours tomorrow," he says, voice firm. Technically, they are supposed to give them time off.

They're not full fledged pros yet, and Aizawa told them that they'd be able to get time off in the month that they intern. It's almost been a week and they've been working non stop.

Whenever Endeavor decides to take a break, they get to sleep and catch up on studying and showering. The man doesn't exactly give them enough time to get enough rest, but Bakugo isn't complaining. He just needs time to visit his mom tomorrow.

If the hero they're interning with doesn't follow specific rules, they're allowed to call Aizawa and basically tattle on the hero.

So the man just stares at him with an angry glint in his eye.

He is not leaving Todoroki alone with him tomorrow.

"And Halfie needs to come, too. Aizawa doesn't like for me to go out alone. It's fucking annoying, so Halfie has to come with," he half lies.

Aizawa really doesn't let him go anywhere alone because of his 'mental health status'. He doesn't think it's annoying, though, not anymore. Halfie was the best person he could have chosen to have tag along.

The man just glares harder, fists clenching and fire around him flaring just a bit to express just how angry he is.

"Fine. You and Shoto have tomorrow off. Don't expect Sunday to be easy, though. You'll have to make up for lost time."

With a smug smirk and shoulder shrug, Bakugo's turns on his heel and makes his way out of the pro hero's office. It feels good to make this asshole mad.

"Oh, and Dynamight?" Endeavor calls.

Bakugo rolls his eyes and then turns around, wondering what this loser wants.

"Next time you pull something like this, the report I write your school about you won't be so great," he threatens.

Aizawa favors him, so as much as he hates it on a day-to-day basis, all Bakugo has to do is tell him he wants to talk, and his teacher will 100% believe him.

"See how that works out for you," the blond says, and walks out, leaving the door open just to add more salt to the wound.

He's ecstatic now, though. He can actually take Halfie out, too, now that they have the whole day off. All he asked for was a few hours, but he'll take it. He was worried for a second that Endeavor would try to keep Halfie, but he guesses his reputation is more important to him than anything.

Ready to share the good news, Bakugo walks over to the living quarters of the building, excited to be able to take Halfie somewhere and see his mom.

When he gets to the other teen who has just gotten out of the shower and dressed in his pajamas already, he walks up to him and grabs his hand, rubbing his thumb over his knuckles as Halfie looks at him with a confused, but joyful expression.

It's probably because of the giant smile plastered on the blond's face.

"Would you wanna go out tomorrow?"

Todoroki's expression changes to something full confused, "What? We can't. We have patrol basically all day."

Bakugo shakes his head, "I got him to give us a day. I really only wanted a couple of hours to see my mom, but he ended up giving us the whole day. We're gonna pay for that shit on Sunday, but tomorrow will be worth it. So wanna go out or not?"

With a playful look on his eyes, Todoroki shakes his head and pulls his hand away dramatically, "I couldn't possibly do such a thing. My boyfriend would get upset."

He finds it amusing and cute that Halfie would do something like this, but he plays along. As Halfie starts pulling away, Bakugo grabs him by the hips and pulls him closer.

"I'm sure he won't mind just a day," he says, lowering his voice and leaning forward to get real close to Halfie's face.

It's beautiful. He can see in real time how Todoroki's face goes red and the smile that threatens to cover his face. He's holding back his smile, dammit. Bakugo wants to see it.

"Come on, he won't notice. Go out with me, Halfie," he says, squeezing his sides.

That gets a reaction.

Immediately, Halfie squirms and he full on laughs, dimples showing on his face. Somehow, Todoroki got more beautiful, and Bakugo is left to watch how his boyfriend pulls back, face red, and a smile lingering on his face.

"Fine, but he can't find out," he says, whispering before finally moving forward, grabbing Bakugo's face, and pressing a kiss to his lips.

Can this week get any better? Bakugo doesn't think so.

He presses back, hands resting on Todoroki's.

When they pull away, both are red-faced and can't stop smiling.

"You're gonna be the death of me, gorgeous," he sighs, absolutely breathtaken by him. How does someone even look that beautiful without even trying? And why is he with Bakugo?

Whatever the reason, he's glad for it and like hell is he letting go of him.

"Shouldn't you go shower? You're starting to smell," Todoroki says, a fake grimace on his face as he clearly lies. Bakugo can actually never smell bad.

"I'd hate to get my boyfriend all smelly," he agrees, "I'll be out soon."

With that, he presses one more kiss to Halfie's lips and heads for the restroom, grabbing his clothes that were lying ready on his bed.

~~~~~

"Ugh and when that bitch took the kid's phone, I almost started freaking out. He was literally confronted by three heroes and still decided to commit crime? Fucking idiot I hate everyone they should all eat dicks."

"Yes, people should eat dicks," Halfie echoes, nodding in agreement.

Bakugo smiles at him and turns back to his mom's headstone.

"Alright, Halfie, now you tell a story."

Todoroki decided to visit his mom before they go out to eat. Bakugo also planned to take him to drive go karts and then to an aquarium.

They'd been here for a couple of hours, maybe three, and the whole time, it was just them telling stories about their week. It's already noon, so Bakugo is planning to leave soon. He doesn't want their whole day to be spent here.

If it was just him, he'd be here all day, but he's got Halfie with him and he wants to take him out.

After internships, he's going to spend an entire day here, giving his mom his undivided attention. As much as he loves that Halfie comes with him, sometimes he just needs to be alone with her.

When the taller teen is done telling his story, Bakugo smiles at him and motions for him to get up.

"Come on, we're leaving," he says, getting up and turning his attention back to the stone.

"I'll be back when I can. I don't know when that is, but I promise I'll make it up to you soon. I love you, mom, bye."

Todoroki says his goodbyes, too, and then they're on their way, Bakugo discarding the old flowers at a trash can on the way to the go eat.

They got a taxi to drive them here, but the restaurant he thinks his boyfriend would like is actually really close by, so Bakugo thought it was perfect. They will have to get a taxi to the go karts and aquarium, though.

The good thing is that the aquarium and go karts are close to each other and then Endeavor's agency is close enough to a train station so that they can just take the train back.

He's been a bit iffy about a lot of people his whole life, but after that Deku thing, it's gotten worse. It sucks especially as an intern who has to patrol, but he can get through it. Although it's been hard, he's actually been feeling good this week.

His neck isn't as chafed anymore because that phantom feeling of Deku's breath is almost nonexistent.

So less weird feeling, less rubbing.

"Hey, what was that dessert you talked about? The one with the layers," Halfie asks once they're seated at the restaurant. He's leaning forward and has a hand on his chin, eyes squinted as he tries so hard to remember.

"It was like triangle or like something with a 't' and ended in miso," he adds, making Bakugo remember exactly what dessert he's talking about, "Triangle Miso or something."

"Oh, tiramisu?" The blond asks.

Halfie points at him and nods, "Yeah, that one. Do they have it here?" He asks and leans back to look at the menu, flipping it over to the dessert section.

Bakugo has to hold back a smile because his boyfriend is so cute.

Triangle miso.

Before Bakugo can start looking for it himself, Halfie gasps and looks up at Bakugo, an excited look on his face, "They do. Bakugo can we get it? Please."

He sticks his bottom lip out and drops the menu on the table to put his hands in front of him.

"Yeah, yeah, Halfie. You don't gotta beg. I'll get you whatever you want," he admits. He'd commit crimes for this idiot. Hell, he'd even go as far as robbing a kid in front of three pro heroes if it made Halfie happy.

This dumbass deserves the world.

"Really? Am I that important?" He asks, looking honestly curious.

God, this guy doesn't even know how amazing he is.

"Yes, really. I'll even go make that damn cake myself if I have to."

He smiles widely and picks the menu up, hiding his face and depriving Bakugo of that smile.

When did he get so cheesy? This is so not what he thought he'd ever think about this guy. Halfie is too powerful for his own good. He could start wars and not even know it.

"Aw, come on, don't hide now," he complains, using his menu to reach over and put Halfie's down.

The menu falls, revealing a blushing Todoroki who's looking down at the table.

"No," he whines and hides his hands in his face.

Before Bakugo can laugh at him or say anything, the waiter is back with their drinks and asking them if they're ready to order.

"Can we have two minutes?" Bakugo asks, saving his boyfriend the embarrassment of having to lift his head up and reveal the pretty blush on his cheeks. It's also part selfish because no one should get to see the giddy smile and redness on his face.

Once she's gone, Todoroki lifts his head up and glares at him.

"You're the worst," he complains, kicking his foot lightly under the table, "Do you know what you're ordering?"

With a proud smile on his face for making him flustered, Bakugo nods.

"Yeah, do you?"

The other nods and sighs, grabbing his drink to take a sip.

Their day only gets better after each place, and by the time they're back at the agency, both are too happy to let Endeavor ruin it, even though he tried really hard to.

Bakugo beat Todoroki in every round of racing when they went go karting, and at the aquarium, he bought Todoroki a squid plush that was so soft, Bakugo might steal it for himself.

"Dynamight. Shoto. It's best if you get ready for bed now. We're heading out for patrol at four a.m. No breaks. Today was a day off, but you must be prepared for tomorrow."

Todoroki just nods, mood obviously still good, but just wanting to get away from his dad.

"Yeah, yeah, we're going. Where are we supposed to be at 4? In your office or here in the lobby?" Bakugo asks.

With a huff from the lack of fear Bakugo displayed, Endeavor crosses his arms and shakes his head.

"I want you outside of these doors at 4. No later or you're immediately relieved from my agency."

Oooh, scary.

"Sure," Bakugo says and drags Halfie along to go get ready for bed.

When they're in the large room with all the beds, Todoroki walks over to Bakugo and kisses him. It's nice, and he can feel his boyfriend smile against his lips. He doesn't know what caused this kiss, but he is not complaining.

"You're really handsome when you don't take shit from my dad."

Ohh.

Okay, so stand up to Endeavor and get more kisses from Todoroki. Wow, that's a win-win situation if Bakugo has ever heard of one. Damn, he's got this shit locked down.

"I see. What happens if I punch him?"

With a shy shrug, Todoroki looks away.

"Maybe a kiss with tongue," he practically whispers, being so adorably shy about it.

He needs to figure out a way to beat the shit out of Endeavor. Sure, he wanted to before, but now he's even got a happy Todoroki on his hands if he does. That's worth more than any kiss Halfie has to offer. As long as Todoroki is happy, Bakugo would do anything.

As he waits for Halfie to come back from the showers, Bakugo looks over the attack formations that Endeavor wanted them to memorize.

After a while, his boyfriend walks out with his hair all messy, white and red mixing.

"Can you help me?"

With a smile, Bakugo gets up and walks over to him, grabbing the towel that's around his neck. Todoroki sits down on one of the many empty beds in the room and faces Bakugo who stands between his legs. He dries the hair some more before handing the towel back to Halfie and separating the white from the red.

It takes a while, but the whole time he can see the other looking up at him.

Soon enough, Bakugo is done and patting his head. He steps back just a bit and looks down at Halfie who's looking back up at him.

The blond finds himself looking at the other's lips, red and parted ever so slightly. When his eyes trail back up to his eyes, he can see that Halfie is also staring at his lips before their eyes meet.

"Kiss?" Halfie asks and Bakugo obliges.

Their lips meet, and immediately, Todoroki's mouth opens, tongue shyly slipping across his lips, to which responds by letting him in.

It's chaste and heated, but they pull away, both red faced and fighting back smiles.

Then Todoroki lets a small, excited laugh and Bakugo can't help it when he starts laughing, too. Beyond happy about what just happened and glad that they're both so ecstatic that they can't help but laugh.

He realizes that he's still standing between his legs when Todoroki wraps his arms around his middle and he rests his head on his stomach.

"Wow, lucky me. I didn't even have to punch Endeavor."

He gets a smack on his back, playful but scolding.

They stay there, silent in the empty room for a while. There's this feeling deep in Bakugo's chest that isn't guilt. For the first time in a while, the feeling that consumes him is not guilt.

It takes him a while to place it, but when he does, it hits him hard and has him squeezing Todoroki tighter.

It's love.

"I love you, too, Halfie."

***
Word Count: 5127
I got writers block BAD WTF. I already started writing the next chapter though and that one is better imo. I guess I had to get the shitty writing out of my system so you're stuck with this. I tried to make up for it by adding cute tdbk. Also I probably won't write smut, but if I do, tdrk is still top lol. Anywayyy I hope y'all liked this chapter. Next one goes up next Sunday at 11:30 pm central time and will be around 3000-6000 words. I love you all and tysm for reading <3