Oh God.
Okay, so I feel I need to preface this with the fact that in no way does this post excuse the actions of Katsuki Bakugou. I’m going to talk about him a lot and I just need to get that out there before I start because:
I honestly believe that Izuku Midoriya thinks of Katsuki Bakugou as his best friend.
I refuse to believe otherwise. Like if you watch throughout the series, Izuku doesn’t think of Katsuki in a negative light - he never has.
Even at the beginning of the series.
When Izuku first explains Bakugou to the readers he doesn’t speak of him in the sense of “oh this guy makes my life a living hell.” or “this is jerk I avoid at school.” or even “I used to be friends with him but he’s such an asshole now I can’t stand him. He’s a horrible person.” No. We get this:
He explains that he was once friends with Bakugou - and never once has Izuku expressed an end to the relationship on his side of it. He doesn’t even say that once Katsuki’s quirk manifested that they stopped being friends - no he says “it took a turn for the worse.”, or if you wanna go further since this is the mangapanda translation, in the VIZ translation he says that Kacchan was neither “good” or bad” but once his quirk manifested he started on the path towards “bad”, and in the anime (I watched the dub I will be completely blunt right here), Izuku says “But when his quirk manifested, He began to change.”
Relationships are not always prefect, and it’s something Izuku has been aware of for a very long time. He doesn’t expect everything to be perfect and he simply noted that once his friend gained a powerful quirk that said power began to affect his personality.
So that’s why I guess I look at the opening “You’re making him cry Kacchan, If you don’t stop I’ll stop you myself” scene a little differently? I mean Katsuki and Izuku wanted to be heroes ever since they were little, and they idolized the same person so, to see his friend do something that hurt another person (far as we know for no reason) it probably hurt Izuku.
‘What are you doing, idiot? You want to be a hero, why are you acting like a bad guy? This isn’t like you. This isn’t the Kacchan I know. I’ll step in and wake you up. I’ll show you what you’re doing is wrong. Even if it’s scary.’
Agreeing with your friends 100% of the time, isn’t real friendship. It’s a friend’s responsibility to look out for one another, and Izuku was trying to do that for Katsuki all the way back when they were four.
I mean let’s look at the ever discussed, suggested suicide scene. Katsuki was literally just a complete asshole to Izuku. He told someone he’d known over at this point a decade to just go kill themselves in an all too casual fashion, and Izuku’s reaction to this is for Katsuki think before he speaks. I mean look at VIZ’s translation:
He’s more concerned about Katsuki getting charged with his death, and he is about the actual action of it even being suggested. Now I’m not saying this is right, or a good thing - I’m saying that even after such a thing - a whole decade later - Izuku is still putting Katsuki ahead of everything else.
And this continues to be the case, time and time again.
The USJ just got attacked. They almost died. All Might almost died, but when Katsuki and company show up to save the day, Izuku doesn’t just say “guys” or “everyone” in relief, it puts Katsuki ahead of the others, because Katsuki carries more weight in Izuku’s heart than the others do (mainly because of time, both in the fact that Izuku has just begun to know the others but also because he’s known Katsuki for so long)
But back the concept of their friendship and the length that they have known each other. It’s not like it’s a hidden thing. It’s not like people don’t know. It gets brought up time and time again that they used to be friends. Not just ‘someone I used to know.’ and even Katsuki’s lackys get on his ass a little for being “too rough” with Izuku after the whole suicide comment.
But back to the friends thing. Izuku says it, Todoroki asks it of Bakugou during their encounter with each other in the waiting room right before the final match,
so it’s not something I believe should be looked over. The whole of class 1-A and those surrounding them know that Katsuki Bakugou and Izuku Midoriya have been friends for an extremely long time. They don’t know the circumstances to which their relationship has become what it is, but they are aware that at one time they were on positive terms with each other.
And thing is too, that when confronted with the topic, neither of them ever denies it. For as much as Katsuki grumps and growls about Izuku he never denies being friends with him.
I mean, look at this:
The famous “Deku Scene”, I know, but instead of focusing on that, look at it from another perspective. Katsuki came up with a nickname for him with a horrible meaning, yes, and you can see little Izuku standing there telling him to stop but I see it more as the start of the downhill slope. They were friends and now that same friend is starting to be a jerk and Izuku doesn’t understand why. He still cares about Katsuki, he still holds him in honest concern, but he just doesn’t understand why his best (and only) friend (at the time) is being so mean.
I mean, ever since the beginning all Izuku has ever shown for Katsuki was true honest concern. From the falling incident:
to kicking him in the face despite Katsuki demanding that he fight him.
Even when Katsuki demands that Izuku not worry about him, we all know it’s impossible. Izuku cares too much about Katsuki to not worry about him. He’s been worrying over him since they were four why would he stop when they were sixteen?
Katsuki is Izuku’s best friend. He’s going to fret and worry and lose his mind when something goes wrong or he gets hurt or worse. That’s just what Izuku does. He’s probably the only person who’s ever shown Katsuki any gentle form of genuine honest concern in his entire life to be completely frank.
I mean I get that Bakugou’s parents care about their son but his explosive temper didn’t appear out of thin air. Izuku’s concern for Bakugou’s well being has always come with uplifting words, honest eyes and an outstretched hand and Katsuki’s just not used to that.
I think it’s important to remember that when looking at Izuku at his core, he’s a good kid. He follows the rules, stays out of trouble and keeps his head down for the most part - at least that is the impression we’re given at the beginning of the series.
But then Katsuki gets in trouble for the very first time and it’s life or death. It’s the same monster that almost suffocated him to death only an hour or so prior and he just had his entire world shattered by both Katsuki’s far too casual remark about suicide and All Might’s ‘confirmation’ that he can’t ever achieve his dream.
But when he sees the look on Katsuki’s face, all bets are off. All logic and reason, any sense of survival- it’s thrown out the window and he runs. He runs straight into the face of danger that pro-heroes have even deemed is too much for them to handle and he does whatever he can to try to save Katsuki’s life. Cause sure, he’s a jerk and maybe he’s not the nicest guy to be around anymore and he might have just been out of line in the past few hours at school but the bottom line is Katsuki Bakugou is his friend, and he can’t just stand there and watch him die.
And it’s not like he expected to be rewarded for his efforts or even survive the encounter. His friend was in danger so he reacted and did what he could to help.
Because friendship is not agreeing with your friends 100% of the time but being there for them when you can and when they need you the most.
Even when they get pitted up against each other for the first time, the respect for Katsuki is still here. He still doesn’t paint a negative picture for the reader of Katsuki and honestly I don’t think he ever will.
See? Uraraka is the one who is painting the negative picture. Izuku doesn’t refer to Katsuki as “his bully”, in fact he doesn’t even refer to him as Bakugou. He has too much respect for him for that. The difference though between Izuku and Katsuki’s other acquaintances is that Izuku acknowledges Katsuki’s downfalls. “He may be a jerk but... let me tell you all of this other awesome stuff about him.”
He acknowledges that yes, my friend has the capacity to be an asshole and sometimes he is but let me tell you everything about him that’s hidden until that thick layer of jerk.
Without Izuku’s perspective of Katsuki the reader would be left with a much darker picture of the blond. He paints in the light and shows us the hero that he’s capable of being instead of the villainous role the world wants to pigeonhole him into.
Even after all the shit that Katsuki puts him through, Izuku still tries to show the reader Katsuki from the best possible light. That’s what best friends do.
And I mean, even if Katsuki doesn’t share the same sentiment (because that’s another post about Katsuki and this is about Izuku), Izuku cares so so so much about Katsuki and his opinion and what he thinks of him. We go from the first fight, in chapter 9 -
To Izuku completely ridden with guilt because his friend thinks he’s been lying to him; because Katsuki thinks Izuku has been the one making fun of him. I mean look at Izuku’s face. Once Katsuki started yelling about how “You’ve been tricking me for all these years.” Izuku felt crushed, because ‘No I haven’t, things happened. I haven’t lied to you. I wouldn’t lie to you. Please believe me, I think this is crazy too.’
I mean he went off and told Katsuki the almost truth about One for All out of guilt.
Katsuki didn’t bully him into telling him the truth. Katsuki didn’t even go after him about it, he just left the school and went to mind his own business because he didn’t want to think about it and here comes Izuku ready to tell Katsuki pour his heart out in the hopes of making sure that he knew Izuku wasn’t making fun of him, and that he never had or would. Izuku couldn’t bring himself to tell his Mother but he felt such a twist in his stomach that he needed to tell Katsuki.
And then 110 chapters later -
After Katsuki finally opens his mouth and expresses his frustrations and confusions of feeling like he was the one chasing Izuku and how much it makes him sick to his stomach to think that the one who had nothing was now the one who had everything and even when they were kids that Katsuki had always thought Izuku was looking down on him, this is what we get. Look at his face. That’s shock. That’s concern, and that’s a little bit of hurt too because Izuku has never thought so negatively of Katsuki and in fact it’s quite the opposite so it’s like - how did I fail to show him how much I care about and look up to him?
And he does too.
Izuku idolizes the hell out of Katsuki, even more so than All Might. He always has.
First time during U.A. he’s in real danger at the USJ - who does he channel for courage? Katsuki.
He finally figures out how to use One for All as an extension of his body and decides to train and practice moving in the Full Cowl state - who is he drawing inspiration from? Katsuki.
“Not even moving like that would be outside my reach.”
Not moving like All Might, moving like Katsuki.
How many times has Izuku used Katsuki for reference - every time he needs reference for personal growth. Every time Izuku makes a step forward, it’s because he’s looking at Katsuki and deciding how to make it his own, unlike how he merely tried to mimic All Might up till recently.
But the other things to think about is how Mr. ‘Strategic think things through before I actually do them’ Izuku Midoriya completely loses his shit when Katsuki is in danger.
Because I really think we need to talk about the kidnapping scene. When Izuku realizes that Katsuki was the target, he gave his everything to get past that villain to protect Kouta and to get to Katsuki faster because he was in danger, and when the villains managed to capture Katsuki, Izuku degrades down to nothing but raw emotion:
Isn’t it though? Isn’t it a strange choice of words to just say ‘Give him Back’, and look at Izuku’s face. Look at how torn up he is about it. They took Katsuki. They can’t do that. Katsuki is his friend so ‘give him back to me’. As stated, Bakugou doesn’t belong to anyone but in the context Izuku is screaming in, he does because in Izuku’s mind, get your filthy hands off of my best friend. I mean, The two of them have never been apart at this point and when Katsuki isn’t, Izuku just breaks.
It’s like all the pain he was suppressing in the name of retrieving Katsuki and saving him comes flooding in at once and his entire world shuts down. What just happened? Yeah Kacchan’s a jerk, but he’s here… he’s always here…and then he’s just suddenly….not.
Izuku can’t cope with this. He’s doesn’t know how, and as I stated before the whole of Class 1-A knows just how close Izuku holds Bakugou to his heart (despite Katsuki himself being too blind to see it) because for as much as Kirishima is close to Bakugou and is worried about him too, he still says this:
It’s like the entire class can look at them as see it. They all know how much Izuku cares, and it’s even more so after watching his miniature panic attack when Katsuki got taken away. He corroded. Izuku is normally the one that will find a way, pull through in the end, say the up lifting words and do it with a smile - some way some how but with Katsuki gone, it’s like his world is a fragile as a glass that just got knocked to the floor.
So with Kirishima’s influence, and the ‘your hands can still reach him’ line, Izuku becomes hell bent on getting Katsuki back with the help of the others. He knows the risks - even if he didn’t Iida made damn sure he did - his academic career along with his dreams of being a hero are on the line but that doesn’t stop him from once again, putting Katsuki first.
He’s seen pro-heroes up close and taken notes on them his entire life, he knows what they’re capable of but that still isn’t enough to put his nerves at ease. No. He needs to make sure his friend is safe and save him with his own two hands, because this isn’t just some random person now. This is different. This is Katsuki Bakugou we’re talking about - and when it involves Katsuki all bets are off.
So they manage to save him, and the two don’t have nearly any interaction for quite some time until recent chapters, in which Katsuki has finally started speaking his mind for the first time in for what Izuku calls “as long as he can remember.”
It’s been over a decade and the two of them still haven’t talked things out. They have both almost lost their lives multiple times, and some times in Izuku’s case in the name of coming to the other’s aid. (because and I know I keep saying this - that’s what best friends do.)
I guess I just feel that looking at their relationship as Bully / Victim is looking at it on a surface level without actually acknowledging how the characters actually feel about one another. It’s been 119 chapters and Izuku is still singing Katsuk’s praises, in fact more so than he ever was before.
I think it’s important to note the way Izuku phrases this; (I think it’s important to always pay attention to the way Izuku phrases everything when talking about Katsuki) because he uses the phrase “it was blinding.” Katsuki was a jerk, and he has plenty of things that make him an unpleasant person to be around but in spite of this, his sheer talent and skill at what he could do; his natural ability to just be good at everything was enough to out shine all of his negative traits and habits. Basically, Izuku is saying that if it were anyone else he would have stopped following after that person a long time ago, but it wasn’t, it was Katsuki and for that reason alone, he could overlook it.
This entire time Izuku has been patiently waiting for his best friend to get his head out of his ass and stop being a jerk. This entire time, Izuku has been patiently waiting for Katsuki to look at what he was doing and think about it because Izuku wasn’t giving up on him.
“I always chased after you.”
Can I also point out that Katsuki is the one person we see Izuku get emotional around? I mean more than crying, but venting his feelings emotional. I’m not talking about Todoroki because that was completely different - that was calling him out on his bullshit where as this is a “why have you not listened after all these years?!”
Izuku is so frustrated because he failed to get it through Katsuki’s thickly layered ego that he still cares after all this time. He’s so frustrated because as Katsuki stated ‘no matter how many times I beat you, you kept following after me.’ - because he cares. Because he looks up to him. Because he idolizes him. Because Katsuki Bakugou is his best friend. Katsuki’s quirk changed him. The praise Katsuki received through his entire life changed him. Katsuki’s strength changed him. Katsuki just got lost on his path and Izuku wasn’t about to fault him for it, instead he just decided to wait for his best friend to stop being an asshole and it’s taken some life changes events on both their parts for Katsuki to think and Izuku to find his voice.
So I say again.
I honestly believe that Izuku Midoriya thinks of Katsuki Bakugou as his Best Friend and I can’t bring myself to think other wise.