Saiii-chan... What do you think if Kacchan and Todoroki have a relationship(romance or friendship)? And how do you describe it??? :3 Love u, mom of 1-A class!
(okay so i must apologize b/c this is more a meta about Bakugou and Todoroki’s relationship overall instead of what you asked, even tho you said you were fine with that earlier. sorry about that!!!)
i can’t see it as a romantic relationship, personally
i think Bakugou is still angry at Todoroki for giving up during their fight at the sports festival. at the very least, he still holds a bit of a grudge over it. Bakugou doesn’t take anyone implying that he’s weak lightly, and Todoroki refusing to use his fire powers during their fight, after he used them against IZUKU, implies a lot for Bakugou:
1. that Bakugou is less impressive than Izuku. this is a very big sore spot for Bakugou, beccause he has a lot of personal issues that stem from his fear of Izuku actually having the potential to surpass him, and it’s the reason he began bullying Izuku in the first place.
“IF I CAN’T GO ABOVE DEKU, IT DON’T MEAN A GODDAMN THING!!!”
2. That Todoroki doesn’t see Bakugou as worthy to use his flames against. which, again, is a sore spot. this implies that Bakugou isn’t strong enough or is too weak to have the honor to fight against Todoroki’s fire.
“Am I not strong enough for ya?”
3. Todoroki wasn’t even trying in their fight because he didn’t see Bakugou as worth fighting.
of course, the reason why Todoroki didn’t use his fire was because he was going through a lot of emotional issues, and Bakugou was at least somewhat aware of this.
he did overhear Izuku and Todoroki’s discussion about Endeavor and what he did to Todoroki and his mom.
the bottom panels show up immediately after Todoroki’s.
how long Bakugou was listening in and how much he actually heard is up for debate, but we do know that he did overhear about Todorki’s home life and his declaration against Endeavor and his resolve not to use his flames.
however, Bakugou has a massive inferiority complex, particularly in reference to Izuku, and the fact that Todoroki was able to use his fire against Izuku is what really bothers Bakugou. Todoroki isn’t even trying to win during their fight.
look at how upset Bakugou is here. he looks like he’s about to break down in tears.
that’s how important this was to Bakugou. he’s literally about to cry because of this. and one of the reasons this fight was so important for Bakugou comes from early on in the series.
(the second image is a pic i took from my phone of the official translation)
“THAT ICY BASTARD! NO WAY I CAN MEASURE UP TO HIM, EITHER…!!”
immediately after Bakugou lost to Izuku during the Heroes vs. Villains exam, after Momo explained exactly how Bakugou fucked up for the entire class to hear, Todoroki comes and finishes the exam within minutes.
he barely had to do anything and he fucking won without breaking a sweat. in other words: he completely showed up Bakugou after Bakugou lost control, got angry and totally fucked up.
it was the first time Bakugou realized that there are people out there that are stronger than him. that there are people that he might not be able to beat. it was the first time Bakugou realized that he might not be the best, and he was faced with the fact that he might not be able to hold a candle to Todoroki.
so for Bakugou, their fight at the sports festival was very, very personal for him.
hell, even for a moment, Bakugou actually agreed with Izuku when he cheered Todoroki on to fight his all against Bakugou.
but Todoroki was distracted; with his home life, with Endeavor, and worse (in Bakugou’s point of view), with Izuku.
it’s just moments before their fight, and Todoroki doesn’t even acknowledge Bakugou when he accidentally barges into the wrong room.
no, instead of acknowledging Bakugou, Todoroki immediately starts talking about Izuku.
Izuku, Izuku, Izuku, Izuku.
of course this pisses Bakugou off. this is HIS FIGHT and Deku is already fucking with it and he’s NOT EVEN THERE.
i do think that Bakugou was trying to help Todoroki in his own way. he was trying to get Todoroki to understand that his fire is just a biological function of his body. it’s his own power, no one else’s.
there’s a reason why Horikoshi specifically had Bakugou say these lines, especially during Izuku and Todoroki’s fight.
however, i think the reason why Bakugou did this was mostly to get Todoroki to overcome his hesitance because he wanted to fight Todoroki at his full power. think of it as Bakugou saying “Get the fuck over yourself and fight me at your full potential so I can prove myself.”
(tho a bit of it may be because Bakugou does care, just a bit. the stricken expression he has after Todoroki explains his personal history is very telling, and it tells the audience that it did affect Bakugou somewhat.
“And since I don’t give a shit, feel free to use that fucking flame side on me…!”
he very specifically denies caring about Todoroki’s personal history, tho he may have just done so to rile Todoroki up to get him in the mood for a fight. but also because he really just wants to fight against Todoroki’s flames)
he knows why Todoroki doesn’t use his fire. but he still used his fire against Izuku. and Bakugou wants part of that, he wants to fight Todoroki on equal ground and prove that he’s the best.
Bakugou wants so badly to test himself against Todoroki because of what happened during and after the Heroes vs. Villains exam. he wants to prove himself against Todoroki, to prove that he can beat this kid that he once thought he couldn’t. he wants to have a fair fight against Todoroki and fucking WIN without any of Deku’s bullshit getting in the way, and yet it’s already interfering before the fight even starts.
that’s why Bakugou was so angry that Todoroki wasn’t taking this fight seriously. that’s why he was about to fucking cry at the end of it, when he won. because he didn’t win due to his own strength, he didn’t prove himself in any way, he only won because his opponent refused to go all out against him, and that’s a huge slap in the face for Bakugou.
there isn’t any point in winning a fight where your opponent doesn’t even try to fight against you. and Bakugou hates being underestimated and taken lightly.
and again, this was a huge personal insult against Bakugou in particular. he wanted to prove something to himself but Todoroki just wasn’t in the right headspace to fight back at full power.
of course, none of this is Todoroki’s fault. he had a lot on his mind.
but for Bakugou, this is all extremely difficult for him. he continues to hold this grudge against Todoroki prior to the second exam, where he threatens/challenges both Izuku and Todoroki.
hell, he even says Todoroki’s name here, which shows how serious he is. Bakugou never says anyone’s name, unless he respects them or they got his attention. i’m fairly certain that, during this moment, it’s not out of respect; Todoroki just royally pissed Bakugou off and part of that manifested as Bakugou using Todoroki’s name to show just how angry and determined he was at this moment
tho Bakugou does seem to calm down a bit after the second exam, after he was forced to work with Izuku.
even afterwards tho, where they’re paired up during the trial of courage, Bakugou is trying to get a different partner, any other partner besides Todoroki, because he’s still pissed about what happened.
(lmao i’m fairly certain Ojirou doesn’t wanna pair with Todoroki because he got his ass royally kicked by him in the first exam)
i think that Todoroki is trying to make up for what he did to Bakugou in his own way, but doesn’t really know how. he realized that he did Bakugou a disservice during their fight, and feels bad about it.
i believe this is why he tried so hard to rescue Bakugou when he was kidnapped by the League of Villains/AFO.
out of all the kids, he was one of the few who was 100% set on rescuing Bakugou from the start. absolutely nothing would stop him from going and rescuing Bakugou.
now, the reason why he was so dead set on this is up for speculation.
personally, i think part of it was Todoroki trying to make up for what he did to Bakugou during the Sports Festival by helping to rescue him.
part of it may be because Bakugou was kidnapped from right in front of him and he couldn’t do a thing to stop it, and he feels responsible for it.
another part may be because it’s part of his ideal of what a hero should be, which is rescuing people when you know you have the ability to, regardless of the consequences (which may be a call back to the Stain incident with Iida. if he and Izuku hadn’t shown up, Iida very well could’ve died)
anyway, the point i’m trying to make here is that Todoroki holds no ill will towards Bakugou. rather, he feels bad for letting Bakugou down, and tried his damnedest to rescue him, even after Bakugou made it clear that he doesn’t like Todoroki.
in fact, they seem to have a fairly….. amiable relationship, at least for Bakugou’s standards.
it’s mostly just…. Bakugou getting angry and shouting, and Todoroki just not really reacting to him. i’m sure Bakugou is still fairly angry about everything in regards to Todoroki, but it doesn’t seem quiet as….volitile or personal as before.
and again, Todoroki holds no ill will towards Bakugou. there are only two moments where Todoroki seems truly angry or frustrated at Bakugou, and one of them is when Bakugou brings up his home life (which. yeah), and the second is just because he’s frustrated that Bakugou wants to use his explosions in the forest in order to fight the villain, which would only cause them more problems.
i think Bakugou is slowly letting go of his grudge. very, very slowly. it was a very personal issue for him and it’s hard for him to just let that go. but after seeing All Might retire and feeling like the cause of it, and feeling all that guilt… not to mention, he now knows the story behind Izuku, All Might, and One for All, and is actually supporting Izuku (someone he hated for so long).
his feelings are becoming somewhat healthier now that most of those issues have been discussed. not quite resolved, because stuff like that doesn’t happen over night, but it’s getting there.
now tho, he might be more willing to try and let some of those angry feelings towards Todoroki go. i doubt it’ll be anytime soon, however. Bakugou is someone who holds long grudges about this kind of stuff. but i think he is slowly letting them go.
it helps that Todoroki doesn’t really react to Bakugou’s anger at all, haha.
How Endeavor’s development is mirroring Bakugou’s
A meta about Bakugou’s emotional state after his first fight with Izuku
A meta about how Bakugou shows kindness, how he tried to help Todoroki during their fight, and how he felt guilty about how his actions lead to All Might’s retirement
Bakugou is actually Really Really Really Smart
A meta about how Bakugou has feared Izuku and his potential for most of his life