Suggestion

Chapter 11: Relationships

Bakugou sat next to Todoroki's bed. He'd just received an irritatingly long lecture from Endeavor himself. It would be an understatement to say he was mad his son was in such a poor state. Todoroki groaned and winced as he tried to move.

"Oi, you awake Half n' Half?"

"Bakugou? What are you doing here?"

"...No reason."

"What happened with Midoriya?!"

"He got away..." Todoroki gripped the sheets, anguish covering his face. Bakugou finally got the nerve to ask, "You got to ask me before about Midoriya. It's your turn. What's your relationship with him."

"What do you mean? You've seen we're friends."

"Right." Bakugou lowered his head as he scratched his head.

"You didn't tell me much about Midoriya from middle school... In the warehouse, he said that you-"

"Shut up! That was- ...a long time ago."

"So it was the truth... I wasn't sure after hearing what he said about everyone else."

"What?"

"You don't remember? He said everyone treated him like trash. We know that's not true, and it doesn't sound like Midoriya to talk like that either."

"So he is under the influence of someone's quirk."

"I think so... and I think it might be those kids. We know firsthand from our license exam that kids can have crazy powerful quirks, and when I snuck up on them, the look in their eyes wasn't fear. They looked confident and angry. When we saw you pin down Midoriya, they started screaming for Midoriya to help them, trying to make him think I was hurting them."

"So they're cunning little brats."

"Did you get any information from Midoriya?"

"He did seem confused. I told him about something he said to me a while back, and he didn't remember. And..." Bakugou looked to the floor. He didn't know if he should say what he saw. "I think I saw hickeys on his neck."

Todoroki tried to get up, but his ribs refused his movement. "Hickeys?! Ow-"

Bakugou stared at Todoroki. He knew what the look in his eyes meant, and it made his heart drop in his gut. He couldn't bring himself to ask Todoroki what his true feelings were towards Deku. If he asked, it'd only make Todoroki suspicious.

"Yeah. So I think someone in the villain group is..." ...touching him...

He couldn't say it out loud, but they both knew. With that, their conversation died out. There was no way they'd luck out to find Midoriya so quickly again. They wanted him back before anything worse happened to that cheery little hero.

                                                                             ><><><><><

Cheers echoed through the room as the league stood atop a tall stage, hundreds of followers below. Midoriya stood next to Dabi and Shigaraki as they took in the praise below. Shigaraki was seriously wounded, but happier than he'd ever been before. The rest of the group was worse for wear as well, though their enthusiasm hid it well.

During the past 6 months, Midoriya's main task was to babysit the twins, but during that time, the rest of the league overthrew the Meta Liberation. Midoriya knew he'd always feel conflicted about the league gaining power and the potential for innocents becoming victims, but he found that wasn't what he was most worried about.

During the battle with the liberation, he couldn't help anyone. Dabi had ordered him to stay with the twins. The liberation was the enemy and not heroes. Midoriya thought it was the perfect chance for him to feel useful to his new family. He was asked to join them on stage but wasn't deserving of the honor.