Katsuki And Izuku Are Not Best Friends, Part 3

Katsuki and Izuku are not best friends, part 3

The start of "To the Limit" was a perfect fit for their escape. Forever one of my favourite music moments in this series.

When Deku designated Kirishima to be the one holding his hand out to Bakugou, he wasn't only thinking about the pure likelihood of Bakugou being willing to hitch their ride. I'm convinced that Deku took what Uraraka said before the Bakugou-Rescue-squad went to Kamino, to heart: Deku thought about Bakugou’s potential feelings regarding who would hold out their hand to him.

Let’s fast-forward a bit:

This was the wrong way for Deku to offer Bakugou a helping hand. At this stage of his character development, Bakugou would have not been able to accept this type of help from most people, but least of all from Deku.

This had been the right way to help Bakugou. Deku's narration during the scene confirms his own recognition of it. And Bakugou didn't lash out against this help from Deku, only because he didn't recognize it as such.

Let’s fast-forward a bit more:

By the time Bakugou and the rest of 1-A launched Iida at Deku, he had accumulated enough character development, that his actions mirrored Deku's thinking during Kamino:

Speed is Class Rep’s thing, so having him chasing Deku had the highest chances of success - but it's also better for Deku’s comfort. Because with Iida, Deku doesn’t have to fear being called a stupid for having done what he did or having all of his shortcomings pointed out.

When it’s his turn to try and talk Deku into coming back with them, bad-boy-turned-good-boy Bakugou doesn’t do any of that crap. But the treatment that Deku had received from Bakugou for most of their long acquaintance, has conditioned him to expect such reactions from him. Deku couldn’t have guessed anything different from him.

With Iida, Deku feels secure. Iida is Deku’s friend unreservedly, so the emotional defences that the rest of 1-A have chipped away at, are better broken through by their Class Rep.

My point is, for all that meddling when you don't need to be is supposed to be the essence of a hero, I think that both Deku and Bakugou would feel like it's not their place, to do so in regards to the other, as long as there are better suited people who want, can, and will take care of that.

To put it differently, there are some things that Bakugo and Deku can do for each other. And there are other things, that they can’t - including things that most would view as essential to a (best) friend.

Type C: Spending time with each other voluntarily

Aside from Deku trying to hang out with Bakugou when they used to be little children, I can only remember one instance, where they spend time with each other one-on-one voluntarily:

After Bakugou learned about OFA, and was trying to help Deku with his training.

Again, they “hung out” because it was for a higher purpose. I also accidentally lied: The training sessions weren't one-on-one. They happened with their mutual idol All Might.

Real friends spent time with each other voluntarily for no reason, other than the joy of being with each other.

I can't see Deku and Bakugou getting ice cream together. I can’t see them going to the arcade together. Except for serious hero work-related stuff, I can’t see them doing anything together one-on-one.

At no point in the story, have I ever gotten the impression that either of them wanted to spend time with each other, because they enjoyed each other's personality and company.

And why would they? Referring to my previous post on this topic: Due to their history, neither Deku nor Bakugou feels truly comfortable around the other.

For all of their inferred closeness, both hold reservations towards the other, that friends - especially best friends – shouldn’t have between each other.

While the permanent absence of one of them would spark great sorrow and rage in the other... I'd dare to say, that their presences in each other's life doesn't exactly spark joy.

...

If I had to put a label on their complicated relationship: Like I mentioned before, rather than friends, I feel like Deku and Bakugou are more like siblings, who don't particularly get along.

Due to their chosen aspirations, Deku and Bakugou's paths became intertwined, and will probably remain so... with having to watch each other almost-dying for the nth time, they are trauma bonded for life anyways.

Even the way Bakugou yells at Deku during their training sessions, made me think of an older brother who's truly annoyed about having to spent time tutoring their younger sibling, but doesn't want them to fail their exams. Especially since in this case, "failing exams" = getting killed by villains.

...

In light of Bakugou's heavy injuries and Deku's fairly certain permanent loss of OFA (at the time of writing this post), it is uncertain, how each of their futures will look like.

Assuming that both will still become pro heroes: I think Deku and Bakugou will live and breathe each side of All Might’s legacy with each other (as well as with any of their peers proceeds on the hero path, after the war).

In such an outcome, I headcanon that Deku and Bakugou will continue to work and train together as adults. However, I don’t see them calling each other much on their days-off.

I just don't see them confiding in each other beyond anything that isn't hero stuff and/or All Might-related. I don't see them talking to each other about worries such as romantic relationship difficulties, child-rearing issues, aging parents problems, their mortgage... (well, perhaps their mortgage. I can see Bakugou bitching to Deku about this topic. Be it scolding the latter, or even complaining about it himself.)

Meaning that as grown-up heroes, I headcanon Deku and Bakugou doing stuff for each other like taking more of the other's workload, so that they can take care of things in their private life, when it's needed.

But when Deku needs friends, he has learned to go to Iida and Todoroki. And when Bakugou needs friends... Kirishima and Kaminari would break into his home and force their company on him.

…

As it is with a lot of families, you might care, you might even love them…

It doesn’t mean, that you want to or should be around each other more often than necessary.

Yeah, no thanks. I'd say, hardworking Pro-Hero Deku deserves relaxing days off, without somebody going off on him permanently.

Katsuki and Izuku are not best friends, part 2

Evidently Bakugou and Deku got closer over the course of the story.

Spilling your thoughts and feelings to someone, getting inducted into an exclusive circle of secret keepers, and gaining the ability to LISTEN, can foster closeness.

But this closeness is not defined by feelings of like. Bakugou doesn’t like Deku. For the most part of their acquaintance, he actively disliked him.

And in contrast to Deku’s explicitly self-admitted hate for parts of Bakugou’s character, it is also not certain whether Deku actually likes Bakugou or not. There’s no doubt that he admires the hell out of the latter. In terms of who Deku looks up to, Bakugou is just right behind All Might. But I wouldn’t be able to confidently state that Deku likes Bakugou overall.

Let’s look at three types of examples that, while significant for the development of themselves and their relationship to each other, are not necessarily proof of a close, or even existing, friendship:

Type A: Risking their lives for each other

Deku had been established as someone who wanted to save other people from the very beginning. Deku would even take huge personal risks to attempt to save people, whom he's discouraged from saving. Thus, I'll mainly discuss Bakugou’s POV here:

For the most part, to Bakugou saving people had been mainly a side-effect of living out his blood knight urges of competing, fighting, and winning.

Bakugou jumping in without any thoughts (of victory) and letting himself get skewered like a kebab to save Deku, was a major divergence from that.

However, it’s more of a signifier of Bakugou’s personal character development, than a signifier for a budding friendship.

It signals Bakugou’s ability to be self-less and serves as proof for his potential to become a “true” hero. It signals Bakugou gaining empathy for Deku’s behaviour. It reiterates Deku’s importance to him. Reiterate, because Bakugou and Deku have always been important to each other.

None of those aspects mean that you are automatically friends.

Type B: Being candid about themselves with each other

Deku has let Bakugou know repeatedly that he admires him. He told him that he got his quirk from someone else, even under explicit orders from All Might not to share anything about OFA with anyone. Bakugou broke down in front of Deku twice. He publicly apologized to Deku for all the years of abuse.

None of those instances occurred out of a desire to confide to the other because they trust each other.

Both of the times Bakugou broke down in front of Deku, didn't happen voluntarily, but because he couldn't keep it in anymore. They certainly didn't happen because, he was fine with Deku seeing him like that.

Both of the times Deku told Bakugou about OFA, he didn't do it for himself. If Deku had wanted a confidante to share the emotional burden of keeping that huge secret... I'm pretty sure, he would've picked someone else. It happened, because he felt the urge to do so for Bakugou's benefit.

When Bakugou apologized to Deku, it was him basically returning that favour. He thought that Deku really needed to hear those words (which he did), so he expressed them. In part, Bakugou may have also felt that he needed to openly verbally acknowledge his mistakes, in order to move forward himself.

One of the most beautifully written scenes of the entire series.

However, neither of them would voluntarily be candid about themselves, if there aren’t higher stakes involved.

It’s not surprising.

I'm not sure even our all-loving hero Deku would ever feel entirely comfortable with sharing his worries with a guy who used to torment him for years. And even if said guy has changed much for the better, he’s still much more abrasive than the average person - not exactly your primary choice for a confidante.

On Bakugou's part, his emotional constipation was so severe that he probably couldn’t even share his feelings with his own bathroom mirror. Character development notwithstanding: Casually showing “weakness” to the kid your humongous inferiority-superiority complex has been fixated on since your pre-school days?

Yeah, I don’t think so.

My point is: There's too much mutual and individual baggage, for either of them to be fine with casually showing vulnerability around each other, if it doesn't serve a higher purpose.

Both aren’t - and might not ever be - able to provide each other with unrestricted emotional safe spaces.

And is seems like both of them have sensed and recognized this.

Iidachako friendship

Iidachako is a friendship that I like a lot. I understand why the New B3 overtook precedence over the original trio story-wise, but I would have loved to see more the original trio - and also more Iidachako.

Partly because more media portrayals of positive, platonic, and close friendships between guys and girls are always welcome, and mainly because I really liked their dynamic specifically.

In my opinion, Horikoshi could have easily included Uraraka in the Hosu incident.

... WHY DIDN'T YOU, HORIKOSHI?!!

Uraraka could've been there for Iida, just like how Deku had been. I don't think that her being there would have taken anything away from Todoroki bonding with the other two boys. In fact, he could have bonded with her too.

It would have been also interesting to see Uraraka dealing with the inner turmoil of facing a zealot who is so against heroes receiving renumeration for their work.

Why Tapeman is an awesome guy and a great hero

Class 1A-kids: "Sero is an obviously great influence on Todoroki and has a free pass to sass him for the rest of their lives."

I agree.

Tumblr

class1Akids

ok so i saw the caption ''underrated friendship'' and was like ''oh seroroki'' but at the same time i knew it wasnt gonna be that. and then,

Seroroki is one of the more popular background friendships in 1-A, as it's heartwarming to see socially stunted Todoroki making friends.

However, it should also be popular, because their friendship is proof of what a cool guy Sero is:

Your standoffish, rudish classmate encased you in hundreds of meters of ice, just to unload anger, that had nothing to do with you.

In a world where impressing the crowd is almost essential if you want to make it as a hero, this turns you into a tagline, that will follow you.

You hold absolutely no grudge, you even befriend the guy = You heart is huge and open.

You also make it your duty to tape up the class pervert, in order to keep him from sexually harassing others = Your head is screwed on right.

...

Sero's skills don't fall into the same category of huge offensive fire power houses, like the New B3 have. But he's just as versatile as Asui, who is often held up as a great example.

My favourite examples of Sero's versatility are his team-ups with Uraraka: The two of them working together with Deku during the license exam, and then with Mineta during Movie 2, was really entertaining to watch.

One of my favourite music moments: "All Might with U. A. students" playing in 3x17. The notes were timed perfectly with Sero zooming across and Uraraka following up.

During the joint training with 1-B, praise was heaped upon Bakugou for doing the absolute minimum for team work to be possible.

Sero demonstrated quick and shrewd thinking. He should have deserved some of that praise for his observational and tactical skills.

Sero’s a great asset to have almost in any kind of team, or in any kind of environment. And definitely in any friend group.

Tapeman: Always ready to catch you!

Kyouka: Friendzoned and friendzoning

So. Jirou seems to be the female classmate who the majority of 1-A's guys are most comfortable with.

However, contrary to my headcanon about the most popular 1-A guys, I feel like most of them aren't romantically interested in her.

It might sound a bit sad, but I headcanon that her miffedness about Mineta not naming her among those female classmateds that he wanted to perv on, is not entirely unwarranted... although, having Mineta salivating over you, is probably not something that anyone with self-respect should desire.

I can see her having gained some male admirers outside of the hero students, after the cultural festival.

At first sight, it might seem that Hagakure and Ashido are the most romance-focused girls in 1-A. However, supplemental and canon materials have depicted the tomboyish Jirou as being conscious about the male gender, the most:

During 1-A's practice match against Togata, she was the only girl who completely freaked out over his nudity.

In one of the drama CD stories, she made a big deal inside her head about holding onto the hem of Tokoyami's uniform, when they visited a haunted house together.

In one of the gag comics, she thought that Bakugou was self-conscious about holding her a girl's hands, when he wasn't actually. She basically just self-projected onto him.

In several of the gag comics, Jirou has been depicted as being self-conscious around Kirishima: One example has her perving on him in his costume. Another one, that retold 1-A's trip to the mall before Deku got accosted by Shigaraki, has Jirou imagining being on a date with Kirishima, when the kids paired up to look for Deku... and be pissed, when Kirishima dropped her at the first sight of Bakugou.

Ironically enough, she displays none of that awareness around guys who were hinted as having some interest in her: Kaminari (and I think, I've read something somewhere about Kouda liking her since their practical exams?)

Oh Jirou. You're definitely among those 1-A kids, who have the most growing up to do in the romantic department.

...

I just noticed that, except for Togata, all of the examples above include guys with whom Kaminari is explicitly friends with.

And now I headcanon poor Kaminari getting friendzoned by Jirou until at least until graduation.

The irony of 1-A’s resident flirt being canonically the first one out of all of 1-A’s boys who recognizes that he had fallen for someone: The girl, who just goes through successively crushing on all of his close friends... Now who's the flighty one, huh?

Yes, I imagine the unrequited love switcheroo trope, where Jirou won’t be able to recognize and acknowledge her own feelings for Kaminari for a while. She starts to consciously takes notice of him as a romantic prospect - juuust right when he's about to move on from his own feelings for her.

Drama ensues.

Katsuki and Izuku are not best friends, part 1

I have seen people refer to Bakugou and Deku as best friends, especially after Bakugou took the hit from Shigaraki for Deku.

I disagree. They are not best friends.

It’s all but explicitly stated, that within class 1-A, Kirishima is Bakugou’s closest bestie, while Iida is Deku’s.

For the majority of the time that they knew each other, Deku and Bakugou were not even on friendly terms. I'd say they would barely qualify as friends - not to mention “best friends” - even now (latest chapters at the time of writing this post).

It has been jarring (and heartbreaking at times) to listen to Deku call a person a friend, while he still had been actively fearful of them. My reading of that is, that Deku mainly refers to Bakugou as a childhood friend, because he has no idea how to describe his relationship to the latter otherwise. The fact that Deku didn't had a single real friend until entering UA might also factor into this.

Even during their childhood "friendship" stage, Bakugou used to treat Deku like a lackey, at best. But never like a true friend, because enjoying to make someone feel miserable, just to feel better about oneself, is not the same as enjoying their company as a friend.

A more charitable interpretation of their early “friendship” instead of leader and lackey, is that of siblings. Bakugou is the older, and Deku the younger brother: His whole life, Deku has looked up to Bakugou. On the other side, for most of his life, to Bakugou, Deku used to be that scary annoying thing that wouldn’t go away, no matter how much he tried to scare it off.

With not much age difference between them, the stage got set for the development of rivalry.

...

Oftentimes, siblings with this type of dynamic end up drifting apart and being rather distant - either for an extended period of time (in many cases until they reach adulthood), or even forever.

As Bakugou and Deku ended up in the same class at UA, the new environment shifted their dynamic instead:

Deku formed connections with other people. While Bakugou and All Might remain the biggest influences on his life, he gained the physical and psychological strength to stand up to Bakugou during key moments and high-stakes situations.

The "From now on, Deku will be the name of a hero!" - moment of awesome, where Deku announced himself unwilling to be Bakugou's shoe mat any longer, was basically the start of his emancipation from the latter

To Bakugou, this declaration from "loser Deku", their new classmates’ warm reception of Deku, and their cool reception of himself - the opposite of what Bakugou had been used to up until this point - made it apparent to him, how up until then, he had been swimming in a very small pond.

Bakugou reacted to his own feelings of inadequacy and the disillusionment that threatened his self-image, like the mature, self-reflecting person that he was:

With more misdirected resentment, and more violence. Alternating between distancing himself from Deku and seeking him out.

Like the mature, self-reflecting person that he was, Bakugou also didn't talk to anyone about those inner turmoils.

Instead, he let them boil over; culminating in him forcing Deku into a nighttime rumble to sort through his own emotional baggage.

The positives that came out of it, were that they reached some sort of a mutual understanding, and Deku gained his own secret keeper. If I had to pinpoint a starting point of their "friendly" terms era, it would be that scene.

But that alteration didn't make them best friends. Neither did other significant "BakuDeku"- moments that followed.