**Underneath the Hero**

Prompt: Please write a fanfic set in the My Hero Academia universe where Izuku lives in the dorms. The class sees him as a sweet, innocent cinnamon roll and believes he would never do anything bad. However, they don’t know that Izuku is secretly a stoner who drinks alcohol, vapes, and swears. He also has tattoos and piercings that he hides from everyone. Izuku is also in a secret relationship with Bakugo, and they have a passionate and private dynamic that includes intimate moments (including making out and hickeys). The story should be about how their relationship and Izuku’s true side are accidentally revealed. It should focus on how the other students slowly piece together the truth through small clues, like finding chat messages, seeing Izuku vape (which they assume is just medication), or noticing other things that hint at his hidden lifestyle. The big reveal should happen gradually, with the class discovering bits of the truth over time. For example, one scene could involve Izuku and Bakugo in the kitchen—Izuku drunk, Bakugo high—and they start making out. They forget they’re not alone and get caught by a few classmates. These classmates start to put the pieces together and tell the others, but at first, no one is sure what’s really going on. The reveal should build up to a moment where everyone walks into Izuku’s room, expecting a normal dorm setting, but instead, they find alcohol bottles, drug paraphernalia, and most importantly, they discover Izuku and Bakugo together in a much more intimate way (but with explicit detail). The class reacts naturally to the shock of realizing that Izuku is much different than they thought. Please keep the tone realistic with their reactions—not exaggerated or overly dramatic. I want the focus to be on the slow realization, the mystery, and the personal growth of the characters. Make it a long story, aiming for at least 10,000 to 20,000 words, and give the characters time to reflect on what they’ve learned about Izuku and Bakugo

--- Izuku Midoriya was, by all accounts, an exemplary student at U.A. High School. A sweet, innocent cinnamon roll in the eyes of his classmates, he was known for his unwavering determination to be a hero, always helping others and encouraging his peers. No one could possibly believe that he harbored any secrets, let alone a life that deviated from the pristine image they had of him. Living in the dorms only seemed to amplify that perception. His room was a zone of unyielding organization—neat stacks of hero notes, a victory wall filled with certificates, and the faintest hint of smell from ramen cups he occasionally indulged in. There was no room for anything out of the ordinary—at least that was what everyone thought. But beneath the surface of Izuku’s careful persona lay a different reality. Hidden tattoos, unexplainable piercings, and habits he concealed under layers of sweatshirts painted an entirely different picture. The face he wore around his classmates was a mask, one he felt he had to keep in place, especially given the chaos that was typical life at U.A. That was, of course, until he started dating Katsuki Bakugo, who didn’t quite fit the mold of what Izuku's classmates expected of him either. Their relationship was passionate and chaotic, filled with shared moments behind closed doors that no one else could know about. Moments that sometimes led to increased risk of discovery, like the time they found themselves in the kitchen one night, emboldened by alcohol and the absence of anyone else. Izuku leaned against the countertop, laughter escaping his lips as he poured a drink. His cheeks flushed with a warmth that danced through him, courtesy of the alcohol, and his head was swimming a little from the buzz. “You know, you’re really fun when you aren’t fighting me,” he smirked, tossing a playful glance Bakugo's way. Bakugo’s response was a low growl, his eyes glimmering with something mischievous. “Shut up, nerd,” he said, even as he leaned closer, the space between them closing dangerously. It was a delightful kind of reckless, the way they both leaned into the thrill of the moment regardless of the potential consequences. A kiss, deep and passionate, followed. They melted into each other, not caring that the door to the kitchen was unlatched, that their classmates could walk in at any moment. Lost in this bubble of intimacy, they failed to hear the approaching footsteps. “Hey, we need some more snacks for the training—oh!” Izuku jumped, pulling away from Bakugo as if scalded. Wide-eyed, he looked at the group of classmates gathered in the doorway—Ochaco, Todoroki, Kaminari, and Iida—who stared back, mouths dropped open in shock. For a moment, silence reigned in the kitchen, tension crackling in the air. Then came the laughter, soft at first, but quickly building into something louder as they realized what they had just witnessed. “I—I can explain!” Izuku stuttered, his heart racing despite his best efforts to keep his composure. “Explain what, Midoriya?” Ochaco teased, a playful grin on her face. “That you’re not just a hero nerd, but you’ve also got quite the wild side?” “Yeah, like, what was that?” Kaminari chimed in, eyes sparkling with mischief. “When did our sweet Deku become a lover?” Bakugo’s irritated glare quelled Kaminari’s teasing but did little to hide the blush creeping along Izuku's cheeks. They were right; he couldn’t pretend any longer. The way they had been caught—making out with his boyfriend in the middle of the kitchen—was a stark contrast to everything his classmates assumed him to be. “Damn it,” Bakugo muttered, folding his arms over his chest in annoyance. “You guys really need to knock before coming into places, you know.” As the group continued to tease them, Izuku felt a mix of embarrassment and relief. This was just the first crack in the facade, but it was quickly followed by a series of smaller revelations. Days later, while everyone was gathered for a study session, Iida caught a glimpse of Izuku’s arm—a flash of ink peeking out from under his sweater sleeve. The resulting conversation turned cautious, a careful questioning of what the tattoos could possibly mean. They thought they were innocent, decorative designs—yet Iida was perceptive enough to sense there was more underneath. “Midoriya, you have tattoos?” he asked, brow furrowed with concern. “Isn’t that… unprofessional for a hero?” The class laughed it off, unsure whether to consider Iida’s question as genuine concern or naive misunderstanding, but Izuku felt the heat creeping into his cheeks. “Um, they’re just personal… I mean, it’s not like it affects my quirk or anything…” That wasn’t the only moment of near discovery, however. When Momo caught him vaping one evening after training, she assumed it was some sort of medical device, a necessity for managing his breathing when under physical stress. Indeed, it would have been a natural assumption, given his childhood asthma and the effort he’d put into overcoming it. But how could he admit to the real purpose behind it? “Midoriya,” she had said, concerned. “Are you feeling okay? That’s not something you should be using so often.” “Yeah, I’m good!” he lied, forcing a smile. “Just… personal stuff.” “What ‘personal stuff’?” Momo pressed, tilting her head slightly with confusion. “Oh, you know! Just methods to chill out,” he replied weakly, swallowing the truth back down. As the days passed into weeks, there were more hints, more tiny misshapen pieces that inspired an unmistakable curiosity among his classmates. They began to notice the hickeys Bakugo insisted he "accidentally" left on Izuku's neck, the dark shadows beneath his eyes that didn’t always come from sleepless nights studying. Conversations began to swirl among them, trying to piece together the contradictions in Izuku’s character, confident he was hiding something far more scandalous than anyone had assumed. The real revelation happened in a moment of unplanned curiosity. It was a Friday night, and they were gathered for a ‘chill night’ in the common room, games being played and casual laughter filling the air. They needed to grab some snacks from Izuku's room when Ochaco, on a whim, opened the door, and the first thing they noticed was the collection of bottles in the corner—evidently empty, yet unmistakably from labels that raised a hundred questions. “Uh, guys…” she started, her voice wavering with sudden anxiety. As everyone crowded into the small space, Bakugo instantly stood in front of Izuku, who was scrambling to come up with some kind of excuse. But the sight of pipes, various smoking paraphernalia, and a secret stash of alcohol left no room for misinterpretation. “Midoriya…?” Todoroki said, a mix of shock and disbelief in his hollow tone. “How long has this… been going on?” Izuku shook his head, panic washing over him. “I—I can explain this!” Bakugo’s grip on Izuku’s shoulder tightened lightly, but Izuku could feel Bakugo’s tension compounding as he tried to shield him from scrutiny. The reality of the moment settled over the class with the weight of a dense fog as eyes flickered from the chaos of the room back to Izuku's expression. There was a mixture of concern and confusion in the air as they began to piece together the truth, and without any words exchanged, it was as if they all understood—this was a side of Izuku they had never imagined, one that contrasted drastically with the twelve-year-old boy who aspired to be a hero. “I… I didn’t want you all to see me like this,” Izuku stammered, fumbling for the right words to ease the impending tension. “I thought if I kept it hidden—” “Deku, you don’t have to hide from us,” Bakugo interrupted softly, his voice surprisingly gentle. “At least not from me.” Izuku’s heart swelled painfully at the warmth of those words, even amidst the overwhelming shame threatening to consume him. He sensed the shift in the class, the acceptance of Bakugo's presence standing firmly by Izuku’s side. “Ochaco, I’m sorry. I—” Izuku started, but she cut him off. “No, no, I get it,” she said, fidgeting a little. “You didn’t want to bring this into our world. There’s a lot of expectation on us as heroes, you know?” “Yeah, and it gets tough,” Kaminari said, thorough disbelief simmering but his tone like an afterthought of understanding. “It’s not like we’re all perfect either.” Realizing it wasn't just about revealing secrets but the bonds of understanding forged between them, Izuku started to relax, the crushing weight beginning to lift. “There’s still a lot we don’t understand,” Todoroki admitted quietly. “But whatever this is, we’re still friends, right?” Amidst breaking down the walls around his secret life, Izuku just nodded, warmth filling his chest as gratitude surged through him. True acceptance—could it really be that easy? In that cramped dorm room, truths intertwined, and shadows turned into light, unveiling their bonds in ways none of them could have expected. Sometimes, even heroes hid parts of themselves, for good or bad, navigating the struggles of youth, utterly unheroic in their vulnerability and imperfections. And in that moment, they took a step forward, together, accepting that even the most innocent of cinnamon rolls could have a hidden spiciness to them beyond the layers of their surface.