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welcome-to-the-cafe · 3 years

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SHANG-CHI (2021) Review Pt. 1

Woooo I admit I was more hyped for this film than I had any right to be. Hyped and nervous. This was the media piece that had the potential to be the first "good" piece of Asian-American representation in a long time. It seemed things were falling in place: they got a Chinese-American dude to play the lead. They got a Chinese acting legend to play the villain. Asian-American women for strong supporting roles. They had an Asian-American director. Loads of Asian stunt actors and coordinators. Asian-American musicians for the soundtrack. But still...

I was nervous because of the narrative arc I glossed from the trailers. I expected it to be another american-child-beats-traditionalist-parent story, where the new American experience conflicts with and overcomes the evil (and weird) native heritage. It seemed that's what Shang-Chi, the American boy, would do to his ancient Chinese father. I was very glad that was not the case.

The relationship between Shang-Chi and Wenwu, and the two of them to Shang-Chi's mother, is the central component of the movie, and I was glad it was well written and acted to be very compelling. I greatly enjoyed the two parallel internal conflicts, though I have issue with how they were resolved. Wenwu was a ruthless immortal warlord, but gave it up for the wife, cuz that's the power of love baybeeee. Unfortunately, is past beefs catch up to him and his family, and return him to his old ways...but not completely I think, because now, he loves his son. And Shang-Chi, despite being trained into living weapon, loves him back, though hates him for making him kill. Their fight at the climax is a culmination of their sadness and rage, using the more violent style (Shaolin I think?). Wenwu is a master of this style, and so overcomes his son with it and nearly kills him. This is completely counter to Wenwu's goal of reuniting the family, really showing how far he's gone. Shang-Chi ultimately uses his mother's Tai Chi-based style to defeat his father, and spares him, telling Wenwu to let go and accept his wife's death. *Chef's kiss* delicious, and nearly perfect.

And then comes the dumb CGI monster ...

I actually like that the Ten Rings are directly tied to the evil supernatural monster, and that the monster manipulates Wenwu with his grief. However, I don't like that the monster's physical form is Western-style giant ugly bat thing. Actually I don't like that the monster has a physical form at all. I think it should've been some evil spirit that takes the form of the mom, and then possesses Wenwu via the Ten Rings. Possessed Wenwu and Shang-Chi would then duke it out...ok that would be a detailed rewrite, I will stick with a review. The big CGI monster was dumb. The smaller CGI monsters were also dumb. And the dragon...ok I think the dragon was dumb too. There were a lot better ways to "revive" Shang-Chi after getting beat up initially. It had no character, and no big plot connection. The climax should've been purely emotional kungfu, not a messy CGI hurricane.

Now onto the secondary characters.

I think Xialing and Shang-Chi's relationship was powerful and weighty, but wasn't given enough time, and wasn't resolved that great. Being on a flying dragon and "letting go", is not nearly the same as abandoning her for 10 years. They needed a real heart-to-heart, where they practice kung fu together. In addition, Xialing should've been there to confront Wenwu; after all, he is her dad also. And Wenwu should've acknowledged her too, after shunning her for so long. Damn!

Katy was...funny but she felt more and more extraneous as the movie went on, mostly serving to provide funny reactions. The old lady telling her to "aim for one thing" as a resolution to her main internal issue (fear of failure), felt cheap, like a checked box. Can't we leave that for the next movie? She did give us some of the funniest and relatable bits as a Chinese-American, such as when Ronnie Chieng said "Oh I don't worry I speak ABC", or when Wenwu assumed the warm-but-stern-friends-dad role to her, or the pronunciation struggle on the plane. She didn't have much role in Shang-Chi's character arc, except for serving as the audience for Shang-Chi to reveal his big secret to.

Ok I'm getting really bothered by "Shang-Chi" with the dash and double capital letters. The other characters all use pinyin format, and it's just weird for Shang-Chi to remain in the archaic romanization. Which is...a bit emblematic. Hm...

My main complaint for Ying Li (the mom) was she seemed too...angelic. Her scene with the young Shang-Chi seemed like something out of a mainland Chinese television commercial. But maybe it's appropriate, since she's dead, and that's how everyone remembers her? The way she died, face-up, no visible injuries, with a still-spotless white wushu uniform, was kinda...funny almost. The situation of a bunch of normally dressed gang members strolling into a mansion garden, fighting a wushu-garbed woman...also kinda funny. Her chemistry with Wenwu though, damn. That was some classic kungfu flirting.

Razorfist was funny. "That's my car!", him getting his life saved and accepting truce, him taking the blade off of a dragon-scale sword, all good moments. I'll allow him as the token diversity.

Oh I nearly forgot about Trevor Slattery. Yeah I'll allow him too, he and Morris were unobtrusively funny.

Death Dealer was done dirty. Such a cool design, and he's the first to die pathetically to the gross tentacle bats.

A dumb thing: I actually thought Michelle Yeoh would be the aged-up Fala Chen, because from the trailers I was under the impression Yeoh would be Shang-Chi's mom. Of her character, I liked her important role in helping Shang-Chi connect with his mom's memory, but I feel she should've been introduced earlier.

That's it for the story and character notes. Second Part will be about the meta stuff, like representation, orientalism, casting, etc.

#shang chi #simu liu #media review #marvel #kevin watches #asian american #tony leung #michelle yeoh #fala chen #awkwafina #zhang menger

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comicgeekscomicgeek · 4 years

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Their Hero Academia – Learning Curve

Presenting the next chapter of my on-going, next-gen, My Hero Academia fic, Their Hero Academia!

Earlier chapters can be found here

Old habits died hard. Since he was a teenager, Katsuki has almost always risen at 0500. Sure, there were a few times, like after his first Sports Festival or after some more grievous injuries and hospital stays, where he slept later than that, but it was a discipline he’d engrained in himself for ages. He’d rise, change, go for a run or engage in other intensive exercise, and still be back in plenty of time to shower, change again, and get breakfast started before Shitty Hair and the kids had even woken up.

He couldn’t go for the run anymore. He was only a few weeks out from his… injury. They’d been able to fit him for and fabricate a standard prosthetic in record time, the perks of being the Number Four Hero. He should have refused the expedited process, done it fair like everyone else. He felt guilty for it, but Eijiro had convinced him to accept.

“You’ve spent your life helping other people, Katsuki,” Eijiro had said. “Let somebody help you for once.”

So he still woke up at the asscrack of dawn and there was nothing he could do about it. Eijiro’s sleeping bulk next to him wouldn’t stir for at least another hour at best. How he could love someone who snored like a rusty chainsaw, he didn’t know.

With nothing to do for it, he swung himself up into a sitting position, needing more effort than usual to maintain his balance as he slid his foot to the floor. He can still barely bring himself to look at his… stump. Katsuki has heard about phantom limb before. There was little doubt in his mind now that it existed. There were times he was certain his leg was still there.

But it was not. The Nomu had broken him. A fucking robot broke him in ways that all the Villains he’d put away over the years never had. There were so many enemies he’d made over the years who would have killed to have hurt him this badly, and it had been a damn robot that had done it. Sure, the robot mad obviously been part of some bigger scheme, but he got the feeling he wasn’t the target. Just collateral damage.

Once upon a time, that would have been a big enough blow to his pride that he would have flown into a rage, angry that some crackpot Villain didn’t consider him the world’s biggest threat.

He’d had a lot of therapy since he was a shit-for-brains teenager. It still hurt, still made him angry, but not in the way it would have once upon a time.

His prosthetic leg stood next to the bed, a reminder of everything he’d lost. It took the work of several long minutes to put it on. First, he fit the liner around his stump. It was some kind of high tech interface material, printed circuits on the inside and out, but with a soft texture to prevent chafing and other issues. Then he fit the socket of the prosthetic on top of that. Because of the nature of his injury, it wasn’t a clean cut, taking nerves and other muscle fibers with it. The major of what would be his “knee” was worked into the prosthetic. Finally, he made sure the prosthetic itself was locked into place and pressed the small button on the side.

There was a small electric hum as the leg came to life and a warm feeling circulated through his stump. If he wasn’t too active, he could make this circuitry liner last the better part of three days. The time was significantly less if he was. Even though his Quirk was concentrated in his hands, all his sweat had a level of nitroglycerin to it that would eventually cause the circuitry to degrade. He had plenty of spares, of course, but it was one more reason why he was out of the game for now.

It was almost like having a leg again. Emphasis on almost.

Eijiro would tell him that he should rest while he could. Melissa Togata and Mei Hatsume were hard at work on developing a prosthetic that will hold up to his Quirk. But that would take time. It was time he didn’t know how to fill. He’d never been an idle person before. He wasn’t sure he could survive as one.

He looked over at his husband’s sleeping form and smiled. He still didn’t think he deserved anyone as understanding and patient as Eijiro.

The time on the clock said 0515. Katsuki had let his thoughts wander long enough. It was time to start the day.

***

“You sure you don’t want any help, Bakubabe?”

“I told you, I’ve got this!”

Eijiro’s question was meant to be helpful, a simple domestic request. But Katsuki couldn’t help but wonder if Eijiro didn’t think he could cut it. Those were negative thoughts and he had to constantly remind himself that every offer of help was not pity, was not shameful.

Besides, he enjoyed cooking. And there was no way in hell he was letting Eijiro cook. The last time his husband had tried making breakfast, he’d somehow set the cereal on fire.

Katsuki was making breakfast, his attention was occupied by the stove, but he spared a moment to cast his eyes to the kitchen table, where Eijiro, Katsumi, and Tai were sitting. Tai was eagerly telling Katsumi about everything she’d missed while at U.A. and Katsumi was listening attentively, her little brother bringing out a softer side in her she’d probably have murdered somebody if they had seen.

He knew that it would be brief, that Katsumi would be gone all too quickly, first on vacation, then to the U.A. training camp, and then back to U.A., but it made him happy to have all his family back under one roof for a while.

His happy musings were interrupted by the doorbell ringing. It was a little after 0800. He wondered who the hell it could be. They didn’t get a lot of company most of the time, though Pikachu and Lobes and Raccoon Eyes and Soy Sauce Face and all the rest had been coming around more lately. Eijiro claimed it was because “they’re your friends and they care about you.”

“Somebody going to get that?” he asked.

“I’ll get it!” Tai said cheerfully, jumping up from his chair. Before Katsuki could even blink, he was already running off.

“I’ll get it,” Eijiro said, getting up and pushing back from the table. “Before Tai,” he added, hastily. They lived in a gated community and had a very good security system, so the odds of it being anyone with ill intention towards them were minimal, but they still didn’t allow Tai to open the door without first checking who it was. A door-cam would let Eijiro know if it was someone who shouldn’t be allowed inside, like a Villain, Monoma, or his mother. Though for some reason Eijiro actually liked his mother and kept letting her inside.

Still, he listened in as he heard his husband and son answer the door. “Oh, hi, Mister All Might!”

What?

“Whatever it is, I didn’t do it,” Katsumi said quickly.

***

All Might was sitting at his breakfast table. He’d begged off any actual food, but had accepted the cup of coffee Katsuki had forced upon him. Because he was a damn good host. Katsuki took a minute to eat a few bites of his own food before he started talking.

“You do know Deku lives next door, right, old man?” he asked. “You didn’t get lost, did you?”

It was ruder than he should have been, he knew. Especially to someone he’d looked up to pretty much all his life. But he had a damn morning routine and didn’t take well to having it disrupted. Well, more disrupted than his current circumstances already had. But he should really have been setting a better example for Tai.

All Might laughed and shook his head. “No,” he said. “I’m in the right place. I have matters I wish to speak to you on. But perhaps it would be better in private?”

Katsuki exchanged a quick look with Eijiro and then another with Katsumi. Over the years, they’d mastered the art of silent communication. He trusted Katsumi to know if she needed to get Tai out of the room.

“Anything you’ve got to say to me, you can say in front of my family,” he said instead.

All Might nodded and sipped his coffee. “As you wish,” he said. “But first, may I ask, how is your recovery going?”

The genuine concern in All Might’s eyes and in his voice spoke volumes. Katsuki was privy to the old man’s secrets and the secrets Deku carried. He knew about how badly the old man had been injured ages ago and how he’d fought on regardless. He knew about how All Might had held himself together with spit and bailing wire and kept on. His own injuries weren’t anywhere near as bad as All Might’s had been, but unlike most offers of it, he actually appreciated the sympathy here.

The unspoken message was clear. You don’t have to put on a brave face for me. I’ve been where you are. There’s no shame here.

And for once, Katsuki believed that.

“It’s going,” he admitted. “Still doing plenty of physical therapy. Haven’t fallen in a while. I can do stairs now.”

“Daddy had to sleep in the guest room when he came home!” Tai volunteered. “But I stayed with him so he wouldn’t be lonely!”

“Quiet the heroic act, Young Tai,” All Might said, giving Tai a smile. That practically had his son glowing, though thankfully not the kind he did before he exploded.

All Might hesitated for a moment before he asked a second question. “And your Agency?”

Katsuki winced at that and an apologetic look flitted across All Might’s face. “It’s all right,” Katsuki said finally. “Sidekicks are running things. Got plenty of them after all. They still send me some case files and I weigh in and give orders.”

“He won’t take a real leave of absence,” Eijiro said, the traitor. “No matter how much I ask him to.”

“Brain still works, even if the rest of me doesn’t,” he snapped. “I’ve still got work to do. And speaking of, don’t you have to go in today?”

Eijiro looked at the clock and his eyes went wide. “Oh, man! You’re right! I totally forgot!” He got up from his seat and kissed Katsuki on the cheek, ruffled Katsumi’s hair (to her indignant cries and swats), and gave Tai a hug. “Nice to see you, All Might!” he said, running out the door.

Katsuki just shook his head. “What would he do without me?” he muttered.

“Anyway,” All Might said, “as I’m sure your daughter told you, I’m leaving my teaching position to become U.A.’s new principal.”

Katsuki fixed Katsumi with the same kind of look he used to get confessions out of Villains. “I’m sure she did,” he said.

Katsumi shrugged. “You didn’t ask.”

“You’re gonna be the principal?” Tai asked, eyes wide. “But who’s going to do your old job?”

“You said you were looking into a candidate,” Katsumi said. She tapped a finger against her cheek and her mouth opened slightly and closed just as quickly. If he hadn’t been watching, he would have missed it entirely. But something in her posture changed and she sat up just a little straighter.

“I did,’ All Might said. “Good memory, Young Lady. In truth, there was only one candidate we were considering…”

He turned and faced Katsuki. He didn’t even have to say it. Katsuki could put two and two together.

“What,” he said, “the fuck?”

“Daddy said a bad word!”

***

“Are you out of your da—are you out of your mind, old man?” Katsuki demanded, having forced All Might from the kitchen to his private study, putting him on small couch there that Eijiro or the kids crashed on when keeping him company. The walls were filled with awards and newspaper articles, many of which had been clipped and saved by his overly-sappy husband. He hadn’t been in here in a while. Too much of a reminder of what he’d lost and what he might not have ever again.

Katsuki remained on his feet. It almost put him and All Might at eye level. All the better to glower and try to control this conversation. Katsumi had taken Tai upstairs, but he was still aware that, with how loud he could get, his young and impressionable son might still overhear and repeat things he said. And he’d had enough conversations with Tai’s teacher about that already.

“What,” he goes on, “in our history together, makes you think I’m possibly capable of being a teacher?”

“You’ve mentored any number of Sidekicks,” All Might said, calmly. “And yes, there were those who complained you were a harsh taskmaster, but every single Sidekick who served under you and who went on to a solo career is a top one hundred Hero. Even those Sidekicks that left your service to work for someone else are noted to have picked up many skills from you.”

“Well, duh,” he snapped. “Gotta bring up the quality of the dumba—of the people I’ve got working for me. Can’t have them making me look bad!”

All Might chuckled at that. “And, of course, Young Shinso speaks very highly of your mentorship of him.”

Fuck.

“Shinso,” Katsuki said quietly. With everything that had been going on, he hadn’t had much time to spare a thought for the kid. He immediately felt guilty about that. The kid had been right there when it had all gone down. He knew Shinso had been feeling guilty about it, but he thought he’d patched things up with their little talk at the hospital. That was how that worked, right? Big speech, change the world. Just like All Might.

The better part of a decade and a half of parenting told him that was not how anything worked.

“How is he? I haven’t seen him since…”

“He’s getting better every day,” All Might told him kindly. “Not quite back to his usual self, even now, but a far cry from where he was back then. Terrible business…”

All Might’s face had gone quite grim, and Bakugo could understand. The Nomu were the legacy of his greatest enemy. Even if it was only someone using those tools, the former Number One could only have been thinking about how if he’d been more certain All for One was in the grave, none of it would have happened.

“But Deku and the others are working on discovering the Villains behind it. I’m sure we’ll see justice done.”

An awkward silence hung in the air for a moment, until Katsuki broke it. Because he could connect the dots on this easily enough. “I’m not taking some kind of pity job,” he said. “Just because I can’t go in the field right now doesn’t mean I’m not gonna leap right back in as soon as the eggheads get it figured out.”

Katsuki grunted. His stump was beginning to ache. He’d been on his feet too long, but he’d be damned if he’d give All Might the satisfaction of seeing him need to sit down. It would just prove his point.

“I won’t lie to you, Katsuki,” All Might said, his hands folded. The Symbol of Peace, in his study, wearing one of those stupid mustard yellow pinstripe suits of his. How Aunt Inko had never managed to get him to buy better clothes, he didn’t know. “It was a factor.”

“I ought to throw you out of my house,” he growled, taking a menacing step forward. He winced again. “Dammit,” he hissed under his breath. He really didn’t need to be looking weak now. With as much dignity as he could muster, and trying to project that it was his choice, he sat down in his desk chair. It was larger than was really needed to be to be functional, plush and comfortable, not fitting the business-like design of the rest of the study, and just big enough that Tai could sit with him in it.

“Can I ask you to hear me out first?” All Might asked, pleading with him.

“You’ve got five minutes.”

All Might drew in a breath. “You forget, lad, I’ve seen you grow from an angry young man who threatened to kill his classmates on a regular basis to a responsible young adult who reigned in his behavior enough to get his license to one of the greatest Heroes in the country. You’ve already had a career that would put many current and even veteran Heroes to shame. And you really do have a lot of offer. You’ve got plenty of natural talent, but you paired that with more hard work than anyone I’ve ever seen, other than Izuku.”

Katsuki tried very hard not to react to being compared to Deku like that. They might have buried the hatchet years ago, but again, old habits died hard.

“More than that though,” All Might went on, “I know what it’s like to be struck down, to have people tell you that you should just give up. I know what it’s like to have a bright future and...”

The silence that followed for the next several seconds was choking. But Katsuki understood well what it meant. All Might was more than lucky to still be among the living. The different factors that had contributed to his still being alive were nothing short of a minor miracle.

Katsuki was down, but not out. Injured, but still moving forward. Still strong in the parts of him that were whole, not some skeleton running on fumes.

And yet the comparison was apt. He’d been the Number Four Hero with eyes on the Number One slot, and even at forty-one, still had plenty of years left in him.

Had being the operative word. As much as hated to think about it, the question of “what do I do now?” still weighed upon him. Because if the eggheads couldn’t fix him…

All Might continued, “Though it was originally meant to simply be a cover for my search for a successor, I found I did love teaching.” He smiled, ruefully. “Even if I wasn’t very good at it at first.”

Katsuki had to laugh at that. “That’s putting it mildly.”

“But the fact of the matter is, teaching helped me re-center myself, after I had spent the last vestiges of my power. I got better at it. Or at least I think I did.”

He chuckled again. “Yeah, you were all right.”

All Might shared in the chuckle. “Such a ringing endorsement. But the fact remains, Katsuki, U.A. was there for me when I needed it. Let it be here for you.”

Katsuki looked at the clock. “Your five minutes are up.”

***

“So what did All Might want?” Eijiro asked that night at dinner. Katsuki had cooked again. It was something he could still do, so he insisted on doing it whenever possible. Because he pulled his own damn weight. He was nobody’s burden.

“Had to be something big,” Katsumi said. “Dad sent me and the Squirt upstairs. Heard him yelling at one point.”

“Don’t talk with your mouth full,” Katsuki said automatically. Dad-instincts had gone to war with his objections to her spilling the beans and had ultimately won.

“That’s your objection here?” Katsumi asked. But after he gave her a look, she followed up with, “Yes, sir.”

Eijiro was still awaiting an answer to his question. He should have just said All Might was checking in on him, but he wasn’t and would never be a liar. He would fully admit to having a fairly selective understanding of reality in the past, but he wasn’t a liar. Besides, Katsumi and Tai would know that wasn’t true, even if they hadn’t heard what was going on. And Katsumi was more than smart enough to have to put it together. The clues hadn’t been hard to follow.

“He had a job offer for me,” he said, finally.

“Oh?” Eijiro asked, water bottle halfway to his mouth. “Ah, doing what?”

“Teaching,” Katsuki replied. He frowned. Might as well go for it. “He’s succeeding Nezu as principal and wants me to be the new first year Heroics teacher.”

“I thought that’s what it was,” Katsumi said, “but I didn’t believe it…”

“Believe it,” he said.

“Daddy’s gonna be a teacher?” Tai asked, eyes wide.

“Maybe,” Katsuki said. “I told him I’d think about it.”

“Oh,” Eijiro said. He took a drink.

Katsuki sighed. Eijiro had on his “thinking” face. The one he got when he wasn’t really sure what to say. Most of the time, it was pretty adorable. “Tell me what you’re thinking,” he said.

“Well,” Eijiro said, “it’s just, I know you’re itching to get back into action… just as soon as… you’re able…” He trailed off, as though not quite sure how to finish that sentence. “How’s that going to work?”

Yeah. That was the goal. “As soon as he was able.” Whatever that meant. And the timeline didn’t really seem good. They all knew it. No one said it, but they all knew it. Well, Tai probably didn’t know it. But they’d all been content to hold onto the fiction that it was just a matter of time until their lives were all back to normal.

He wasn’t a liar, but he was certainly good at burying things he didn’t want to think about.

“Might not be forever,” he said instead. “But it’d get me out of the house.”

“He’s right about one thing,” Eijiro said, now that they were on slightly steadier ground. “You’d be a great teacher.”

“I’m trying not to be insulting here, but…” Katsumi said. She shrugged helplessly when they looked at her.

“No, really!” Eijiro insisted. “Your dad’s the reason I passed all my regular classes! Mina and Denki too!”

“Couldn’t have a bunch of dummies drag me down,” Katsuki said, his mind flashing back to long and yelling-filled study sessions. He was pretty sure he wouldn’t be allowed to come up with insulting nicknames for his students or launch into profanity-laced tirades about how they wouldn’t know the quadratic equation from their own asses.

Katsumi, meanwhile, had pushed her plate away and was holding her head in her hands. “I don’t believe this…”

That did give him a moment’s pause. He hadn’t thought through this angle when he’d been talking to All Might. “Look, if you don’t want me too…”

She pulled her head up. “I’ll live, Dad. You would be good at it. Who else did I get all my moves from?

“And besides,” she went on, “you’d be less embarrassing than Papa.”

“Katsumi!” Eijiro shrieked. “I’m not embarrassing! I’m the cool dad!”

“No, you’re not,” Katsumi and Katsuki said at the same time. They stared for a moment, then laughed.

“Um,” Tai said, “if you’re gonna be a teacher, are we gonna have to move?”

“That’s something Papa and I would have to talk about,” Bakugo said. Thoughts of no longer living within shouting distance of Deku, Pickahu, that Copycat Bastard, and Eijiro’s dumber half-brother danced through his mind, before remembering that Itsuka Tetsutetsu was already a U.A. teacher, splitting her time between living on campus and their home across the street from him, though they had the advantage of only having the one child.

“We’d probably move though,” he said. “Or else I wouldn’t get to see you as much. And nobody’d like that.”

Tai nodded. “I’d miss you! And if Papa had to do all the cooking, we’d starve!”

Eijiro crossed his arms and harrumphed. “Everybody’s a critic.”

“You know he’s right, Papa,” Katsumi said.

Still…

“It’s your choice, Bakubabe,” Eijiro said after a moment. “You know me. I’ll follow you anywhere. If you want this… if you need this, then we’ll do it.”

“Yeah,” Katsumi said. “As long as you promise not to embarrass me…”

“Daddy’s gonna be a teacher!” Tai said, helpfully.

“Yeah, okay,” he said. “Maybe I am…”

***

Later, Katsuki climbed into bed with Eijiro, the thoughts of the day still running through his head. He had been an easy sleeper, but ever since the Nomu, it took him longer and longer to fall asleep. There were too many intrusive thoughts these days trying to undermine his confidence and sense of self. He’d had nights like that before, like when his children had been born and he’d been worried as fuck about how he could be a good father. But this, this was more like when he’d blamed himself for All Might’s last stand.

The thought that he would never be good enough again kept pounding against his the inside of his skull. The question of whether accepting this teaching job was giving up or being realistic asked itself a thousand times, in a thousand different ways.

“What do you really think, Eijiro?” he asked. There wasn’t much need to be more specific than that.

Ejiro put a bookmark in his book, set it aside, and took off his reading glasses. “Do you actually want my opinion, or is this one of those times where you’ve already made up your mind and are just looking for permission?”

Dammit, Eijiro was more perceptive than he gave him credit for.

“I want your opinion, Shitty Hair,” he said. “I do this, it’s not just my life that’s affected. It’s you, it’s Katsumi, it’s Tai.”

“Tai’s five,” Eijiro said. “Plus, he can adapt to anything. Worst thing for him will be if he doesn’t get to see Mako and Takeru as much.”

“And Katsumi? Can’t imagine she wants her old man around every day.”

“Kana manages it with her mom,” Eijiro reminded him. “Besides… after we thought we might lose you, I think she’d appreciate seeing you a little more often.”

“And what about you?” Katsuki demanded. “Stop putting everybody else’s needs first and tell me what you think, Shitty Hair.”

Eijiro reached over and took his hand in his own. He gave it a squeeze. “Bakubabe. You’re my home. Wherever you go, I go. We’ll find a way to make it work. You need this. So if you want to do this, I’m behind you, one hundred percent. We said for better or for worse. It’s the Manly thing to do.”

It sure seemed like a lot of worse right now. But he didn’t back down from a fight.

Katsuki nodded and gave Eijiro’s hand a squeeze in return. “I’m not giving up, understand? Just a temporary leave of absence to focus on my recovery and pass on a little wisdom. That’s it. That’s what this is.”

Eijiro gave him a smile. One of his “I’m agreeing with you to allow you to save face, even though we both know you’re bluffing to cover up how afraid you are” smiles. Eijiro had had a lot of practice with that one over the years. He knew that if Eijiro truly thought he needed to, he’d call him on the bullshit.

“Of course, Bakubabe. As long as you think you can do it, I’m with you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?! Of course I can do it! Why wouldn’t I be able to do it?! If All Might or that hobo Aizawa can teach…”

He stopped and gave Eijiro a swat upside the head with his free hand. “I see what you did there, Shitty Hair.”

There are times, like now, where Katsuki wondered what he did to deserve someone like Eijiro in his life. Questioning that tended to lead down dark paths. So for now, he was just going to welcome the support.

Him. A teacher. It was almost unthinkable. And yet everyone kept saying he had it in him. All Might, Eijiro, they all believed in him.

He used to believe in himself. There were times in his life where he had believed in himself too much, believed in himself to the point of believing he was the center of the universe. At least that wasn’t the case anymore.

But maybe, just maybe, he could get a little of that belief back.

#my hero academia #their hero academia #katsuki bakugo #eijiro kirishima #all might #fan fiction #fan fic #my writing

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