When Kirishima finds Bakugou knocking on his door in the early hours of the morning, bloody hand and a bag held tightly to his chest, Kirishima expects the worst. Villains. Bakugou finally letting his anger get the better of him. So many things.
But what he does not expect is a dress in Bakugou's bag. And the reveal that Bakugou is a trans girl.
When you're a hero and Transitioning.
is a My Hero Academia series based on the premise of Bakugou coming out as a trans woman and her journey throughout that. It is written by HailingTorrent (though has since been orphaned) and begins with the fic called "Long Night".
It provides examples of the following tropes:
- Adaptational Heroism: While still one of the good guys, Bakugou has yet to show the amount of guilt and regret for her past deeds within the main series that she does in this series.
- Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: While in the canon, Deku seemingly has no outward hate towards Bakugou, in this fic...Well:Deku: You think that it's that easy? I hurt you, and then all that pain and guilt inside you just goes. Well, it's not that damn easy! You don't get a punishment and then everything's all sunny! You have to live with what you did to me, and that's IT!
- Adaptational Villainy: While originally simply a cocky Smug Snake, Monoma is an out-and-out transphobic bigot within this fic, though with the Freudian Excuse of Internalized Categorism as he's actually a closeted trans girl.
- Alternate Universe Fic: As is typical of an LGBTQAI+ fic, most of the identities of characters are changed (from what is believed) to being an identity within the community. An additional small note is that none of the students met Tiger, but this isn't expanded upon. A major part is the fact that Kendou knew Bakugou in the past, having gone to the same school as her and Midoriya. Along with this, she was one of Bakugou's bullies and was driven from the school by her when Kendou came to school wearing a skirt.
- Armoured Closet Gay:
- Bakugou was this in the past and still shows some of the traits early on in her transition.
- Monoma is a current version of this, often acting transphobic to cover up her repressed trans identity.
- Cast Full of Gay: "When You're A Hero And Transitioning: Character Descriptions" lists all the identities (Sexuality, Gender, Religion, and some Neurodivergent traits) of the characters within the fic. The LGBTQAI+ variety is apparent. There are nine trans girl characters within the series.
- Coming-Out Story: The fic is majorly based around the idea of Bakugou coming to terms with her identity as a trans woman. Along the way, far more characters within the story are revealed to also be on the LGBTQAI+ spectrum.
- Internalized Categorism: Bakugou suffers from this throughout the fic, with a voice in her head repeatedly telling her things such as "He's just a boy playing girl". This also extends towards frustration at cis women, believing that no one would ever see her as a girl the way they do them.
- Mentor Archetype: Shinsou briefly on-and-off takes a mentoring role in the story because they have to come to terms with their non-binary identity and being a peer educator of the Transformers group. They do their best to help Bakugou when discussing medical transition, despite both of them hating the other. They're also implied to be doing this for the rest of the trans students in the class.
- Trans Tribulations:
- Bakugou was a huge bully in her past, at one point driving a trans student out of their school. This has partially caused her to believe her own trans identity is karma coming back to bite her. She also fears that no one in the world would believe her if she came out due to her wild and aggressive personality.
- Denki has a great deal of worry that her parents would never accept her as a daughter. ("Mom always said she wanted a girl. I don't think one like me though.") This is expanded upon in the spin-off chat fic, where she reveals her parents are trying to put her off from transitioning.
- Jirou experienced an act of transphobia at a young age. Fortunately, her parents have been nothing short of completely supportive and accepting.
- It's heavily implied that due to their size and stature, Shouji experiences discrimination while identifying as female.
- Kendou was driven from her previous school for being a trans woman. The drama part comes in with the fact that it was Bakugou who was the one responsible.
- While not focused on, Deku experiences a great deal of anxiety towards the idea of appearing feminine in fear of transphobes.
- Truscum behaviour is brought up, with an original character being one who the rest of them hate for her treatment of people she doesn't believe fit the mold.
- You Are What You Hate: In the "When You're A Hero And Transitioning: Character Descriptions" it is revealed that Monoma is in fact a deeply repressed and closeted trans woman, implying where her feelings of resentment come from. This is ironically similar to Bakugou pre-fic.
