Did Bakugo always worry for Deku?
This is a little far fetched but hear me out. Re-reading the flashback scene of bakugo’s talk with all might, one panel stuck out to me. Bakugo points out how deku doesn’t take himself into account and he says that deku’s always been like that. This makes me think that even before, even when they were kids, bakugo could see this in deku and he was afraid of it.
Bakugo’s emotions in relation to deku have always been mostly negative, but most prominently it was worry and fear. He feared deku’s heroic spirit and that’s why he pushed him away, he feared the qualities in deku that he himself lacked and that’s why he bullied him. But i think he also feared losing deku, even then.
When bakugo first got his quirk, he was told immediately that with a strong quirk like his he could be a hero. This served to further reinforce the idea that those with a strong quirk are more powerful and they’re the strongest.
For a long time, bakugo relied purely on his quirk, it was what he centered the entirety of his self worth on. He thought that as long as he was stronger than the bad guys and won, he could also save and he could be the best. It took him until he found out why All Might acknowledged deku as his successor to realize that just a strong quirk wasn’t enough to be the best.
Deku on the other hand never lacked that heroic spirit, but that’s exactly what bakugo most resented him for and what he feared the most. Because when deku found out he was quirkless, bakugo had this oh moment, that deku was useless and helpless and worthless — because again, Bakugo’s worth centered around his quirk, so obviously he thought someone without a quirk would be worthless.
But more than that it was the helpless and useless part. Because despite being quirkless, Deku still wanted to be a hero and i think that for someone like bakugo, who thought that only the strong could prevail and quirks were what made you strong, it was a terrifying thought to have someone like deku around, who is helpless but self-sacrificial.
He pushed Deku away so that he wouldn’t have to watch him get hurt. Even though here it might look like bakugo pushed Deku away in order to protect him, to stop him from chasing this dream that would end up getting him killed, i think that ultimately bakugo’s reasons were selfish. I don’t think his goal was to protect Deku, I think he wanted to protect himself from the possibility of losing Deku.
When Deku got a quirk, this fear intensified for Bakugo. Because Deku was still the same self-sacrificing fool who never took himself into account when trying to help others and save them. The difference now was that he actually had the means to jump into danger and do something, and because he now had that power, he only got more reckless. I think that this was probably terrifying for Bakugo to witness, and it became even more so as Deku started not only mastering OfA, but getting even more quirks and gaining even more power.
It’s why he continued to push Deku away and why he wanted to keep him at a distance, because that fear from the beginning persisted and grew. Because now the possibility of losing Deku was more real than ever before. Deku was going to be a hero, and he was going to keep sacrificing himself for others and not taking himself into account, and bakugo didn’t want to allow deku to get close to him because he didn’t want to have to deal with the fallout when something inevitably happened to Deku.
I think he later ended up realizing that keeping Deku at arm’s length wouldn’t actually work, because he still cared and deku was still reckless. So in the end, bakugo decided that what he needed to do was help deku get strong enough so he wouldn’t get hurt, but he also decided to protect Deku.
This especially came true during the war arc when bakugo followed Deku to his fight with Shigaraki, knowing that Deku would take things too far and get himself hurt, and knowing that he would need to be the one to protect him.
Bakugo was also the one who noticed Deku’s recklessness right before his encounter with Shigaraki and he warned Deku to stay back and not go fight him on his own. This is why Bakugo followed him into that fight, he knew Deku would overdo it and he would need to be the one to protect him in the end.
When Deku just manifested blackwhip for the first time as well, seeing how much pain deku was in made bakugo worry. This again ties back to how Baugo’s worry for Deku grew as Deku’s power grew and he started mastering AfO more and more. Because Bakugo knew with more power, Deku would just keep getting more reckless and hurting himself more.
Another instance of Bakugo’s obvious worry for Deku was when he was being kidnapped. He told Deku to stay back here as well, mostly because he knew how reckless Deku was and he could see how broken and beaten up he was already, he knew that if Deku managed to go after the villains somehow, he’d end up getting himself killed in the end. He told Deku not to come because he didn’t want him to hurt himself even more, even though we know from later chapters Deku thought Bakugo did it out of pride, and not out of worry for him.
There are so many instances where Bakugo openly worries for deku that i honestly can’t even compile them all in one thread, but it’s so clear and so obvious how much Bakugo has always cared and worried for Deku.
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