Fanfic / The Line Between Midoriya Izuku and Bakugo Katsuki

Midoriya Izuku was dead. That was easy to understand. What wasn't easy for Katsuki to understand was everything that followed. The pain, the shame, the suffocating guilt. So what if he told the idiot to kill himself the same day he actually did? It wasn't his fault he actually followed through. He wasn't the one that pushed Deku off the building and into the fire.
But it was. It was his fault. He killed Deku with his words.
Now what is he supposed to do? Can he really hope to be a hero when he's already killed someone?

The Line Between Midoriya Izuku and Bakugo Katsuki is a My Hero Academia fanfic written by pineapple_nerd where Izuku follows through with his decade-long tormentor's Suicide Dare, leaving Bakugou not only traumatized but forced to reevaluate everything he believed in regards to true strength and heroism.

This fanfic provides examples of:

• Adaptational Sexuality: Present Mic proudly admits to being gay.
• Adaptational Villainy: Though the reasons are unclear, Izuku is shown working for the dark side.
• Armor-Piercing Response: Bakugou thinks back to a time when he crudely asks why Izuku continued to pursue heroism despite his poor lot in life. The response is what forces the blond to realize his true role as the poor boy's villain:
  Izuku: Because no one's saved me yet.
• Ascended Extra: Shinsou is now a member of Class 1-A.
• Awesome by Analysis: Discussed. Katsuki is astonished to learn how perceptive Izuku truly was as he analyzed every Pro Hero while covering their strengths and weaknesses. It brings him to shame to realize how talented Izuku was yet was never recognized because the blonde kept labeling him as a worthless loser. After the first chapter, Katsuki decides to be just as observant as Izuku when it comes to Quirks and heroes.
• Back from the Dead: Izuku Midoriya is shown to have survived his suicide fall and is working with Stain.
• Broken Pedestal: Bakugou's admiration for All Might shatters because of his willingness to continue fighting in spite of his injuries and how he wouldn't consider what would happen if his true self was exposed. It gets worse when he learns that All Might indirectly contributed to Izuku's death by breaking his hero dream.
• Character Development:
  • Katsuki gets a huge wake-up call when he realizes that he was responsible for Izuku's death. For starters, he actually owns up to his actions and makes more of an effort to show caution towards those around him. Especially by helping his classmates improve their own abilities. He also is more accepting towards friendships as he accepts how miserable he was being alone.
  • His mom Mitsuki also gets her own character arc where she learns that her Tough Love parenting only helped foster an unhealthy mindset toward her son making it harder for him to process grief and helplessness. With this revelation, she becomes a lot more softer and tries to reach out to support him.
• Cool and Unusual Punishment: Inko reveals to her husband that she purposefully gave Katsuki her deceased son's belongings as a way to punish him for his abuse. She hoped that Katsuki wouldn't have a moment's peace for the rest of his life after the decade of horror he inflicted on Izuku.
• Death by Adaptation:
  • Izuku is dead after throwing himself off a building.
  • Tensei Iida is killed by Moonfish.
• Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?: Bakugou gets away with swearing at Aizawa for figuring out the secret meaning behind his rigged physical exams and for indirectly helping his classmates perform better.
• Didn't Think This Through: As Bakugou spells out to the Number One Hero, all of Japan would be thrown into hell if his weakened form was ever exposed whenever he went out to perform his hero duties.
• Due to the Dead: After finding Izuku's All Might collection along with his journals buried in the park, Mitsuki suggests that she and Katsuki make a proper shrine for him.
• Early-Bird Cameo: Mirio Togata and Rock Lock appear during the Sports Festival.
• "Eureka!" Moment: While explaining to his homeroom teacher how rigged the initial exams are and how they only benefit those with strong and flashy Quirks, Bakugou comes to realize that his teacher expects his students to figure that out and cheat the system in order to survive.
• Foreshadowing: After being "gifted" Izuku's belongings, Katsuki thinks to himself that Inko deliberately left him the box knowing how much it'll hurt him. Chapter 8 reveals that he was right to assume so.
• Got Me Doing It: Played for Drama. Realizing the true value of Izuku's analysis skills, Bakugou tries to be just as observant as him when analyzing a person's Quirks or abilities. This also has the added effect of copying his muttering.
• Great Escape: Shigaraki manages to escape Hosu Penitentiary with the help of his Sensei while also releasing some high-ranking prisoners to distract the heroes.
• Hearing Voices: Another side effect of his immense guilt is that Bakugou now hears Izuku's voice which encourages him to make better choices in life.
• Heroic BSoD: Bakugou falls into depression and self-persecution upon realizing that he went too far in bullying Izuku and that he doesn't deserve to be a hero like he believed himself to be.
• History Repeats:
  • To Bakugou's annoyance, his new high school teachers are just as unreliable as his middle school ones which will assure them a miserable fate.
  • In Chapter 11, Aizawa tries to come to terms with the death of his classmate Tensei while remembering how he processed Shirakumo's death in high school.
• Immediate Self-Contradiction: Before explaining his critique of the fitness tests to Aizawa, Bakugou believes that he'll come up with something eloquent.
  Bakugou: Are you aware of how fucking stupid this is?
• In Spite of a Nail: The USJ Attack still occurs with All Might defeating the Nomu.
• Innocently Insensitive: Kirishima trying to bear hug Bakugou during his panic attack at USJ proves to be unwarranted as it only makes the blonde's anxiety even worse.
• Internal Reveal:
  • Bakugou learns about All Might's true self along with the origins of One For All.
  • Inko figured out that Bakugou was actually her son's bully for ten years.
  • Katsuki's parents find out about the bullying in Chapter 9.
  • Hizashi discusses with Aizawa about Kurogiri being their fallen friend Oboro along with the science behind Nomus.
• It's All My Fault: Bakugou blames himself and him alone for pushing Izuku to the brink of no return.
• Loophole Abuse: During the Physical Exams, Aizawa informs Bakugou that he can only help his classmates indirectly. So Bakugou does so by muttering to himself about each student's capabilities and how to improve their performances. Really loudly.
• Martial Pacifist: Invoked. Because of Bakugou's trauma of hurting Izuku for ten years, he realizes that he can no longer partake in combat or use his Quirk without having a panic attack. Despite this, he still has his analysis skills and uses it for the benefit of himself and his classmates.
• Moving Angst: Now that her son is gone, Inko decides to move to America to live with her husband Hisashi.
• Nervous Wreck: On account of paying closer attention to the world around him mixed with his ongoing guilt of killing Izuku, Bakugou has started to develop panic attacks whenever fighting is involved or if he has to use his Explosion Quirk. He's also a lot quicker to lash out at the adult Pros given their reckless teachings.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: While normally presented as a chipper, over-the-top character, Nedzu was shown to be quiet and frightened after Izuku and Stain managed to infiltrate the Sports Festival, viciously attack Midnight and Mirio, and taunted him for it.
• Point of Divergence: The storyline follows the idea of what would happen if Izuku did kill himself which makes for a few drastic changes.
  • For starters, Shinsou Hitoshi gets his place in the 1-A roster.
  • During the USJ Attack, Bakugou charges at Kurogiri to protect All Might's secret which not only captures him and Shigaraki but also exposes the former's true identity as Oboro Shirakumo.
  • Bakugou drops out of the Sports Festival after he unintentionally created a massive explosion during the Obstacle Course Race that almost endangered the audience.
• Please, Don't Leave Me: Played for Drama. Hizashi confesses to Aizawa that the news of Oboro returning as Kurogiri forced him to recall not only Oboro's death but also the near-death experiences Aizawa and Nemuri endured. He feared that his friends would be taken away from him leaving him all alone.
• Positive Friend Influence: Masaru is highly impressed with Class 1-A and how much they care for his son. Especially compared to his middle school friends who were never as thoughtful or positive. It's because of this that he and Mitsuki decide to keep Katsuki at Yuuei so he can be around his friends.
• Status Quo Is God: Despite being arrested after USJ, Shigaraki was able to escape with some outside help.
• Team Mom: To Momo's frustration, having to be the Class Representative often means having to serve as the Mom of Class 1-A.
• There Are No Therapists: Subverted. Realizing that he's still suffering from depression over Izuku's death, Masaru decides to have Katsuki enrolled in therapy to help him with his issues.
• Unexpected Inheritance: Bakugou ends up in possession of Izuku's All Might memorabilia along with his analysis journals.
• Villain Team-Up: Izuku and Stain are shown to have teamed up together and are working with All For One.
• We Used to Be Friends: Inko ultimately cuts ties with the Bakugous after learning that their son tormented hers for ten years and they did nothing to stop him. The Bakugous return the favor after they receive her letter which describes how much she hates Katsuki and wishes for him to suffer. Mitsuki even calls her in America to curse her out.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Bakugou has developed a habit of chewing out Pro Heroes for their shady methods.
  • In the Physical Exams, he argues over how counterproductive Aizawa's tests are as they're only made to support those with strong/flashy Quirks while those without them are left to struggle.
  • Then for the Battle Trials, he lashes out at All Might for pushing the kids to fight each other knowing fully well of how much danger they'll put themselves in with unrestrained Quirk usage. He even chews him out for his passive stance on Momo's costume design.
    • He does it again after the USJ Attack where he brings up that he's constantly jeopardizing the peace of Japan by going into battle as his weakened form can be exposed if he isn't careful. And then he chews him out for helping crush Izuku's dream about being a Quirkless Hero.
  • Aizawa ends up doing this to Nedzu after he purposefully assigned Midnight to stop the festival intruders without properly explaining the situation to her which led to her Near-Death Experience.

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