My Hero Academia

BakuDeku

Bakugou Katsuki/Midoriya Izuku

Childhood friends turned rivals, both striving to be the number one hero.

45,000 works

What is BakuDeku?

BakuDeku is fandom's most sustained argument about whether people can outgrow who they were at fourteen. The ship runs on canon's actual redemption arc — Katsuki's apology is real, on-page material — so the fic splits between childhood-friends-to-enemies-to-something and post-canon pro hero partnerships where the rivalry finally has nowhere left to hide. Expect training-ground confessions, quirk-marriage bureaucracy, and an enormous amount of fic about learning to say things out loud. The angst-to-payoff ratio here is among the best in anime fandom.

BakuDeku is the fan-given name for the romantic pairing of Bakugou Katsuki and Midoriya Izuku from Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia. With over 45,000 works on Archive of Our Own, it's one of the most popular ships in the fandom.

Why fans love BakuDeku

The complex history, character development, and the journey from animosity to understanding.

Most Popular BakuDeku Fanfics

The highest-rated BakuDeku stories on AO3, ranked by kudos.

1

The Way You Used To Do

Complete

by edema_ruh

"We're really sorry," his father says, in a teary-eyed, wobbly way. "But your friend, Izuku, he's... He's gone, son."Katsuki can do nothing but blink up at them for moments that feel like an eternity, eyes darting between both his parents in obvious confusion, disbelief, and, more than anything, ind

72,210 kudos 670,180 words ~2681 min read Teen And Up Audiences
Soul Bond Enemies to Friends to Lovers Slow Burn
2

From The Sidelines

Complete

by suffocatingspring

When long-time enemies, Bakugo Katsuki--the all-star athlete and rascal of Ise--and Izuku Midoriya, the town sweetheart, are paired together for a long-term project, the quiet beachside town of Ise suddenly gets a bit louder.In which, Katsuki is an asshole pole vaulter, Izuku is going to fail psycho

58,455 kudos 404,533 words ~1619 min read Explicit
Coming of Age Eventual Smut 80s Beachtown Aesthetic
3

What The Fuck Did You Just Call Me?

Complete

by reading_raindrop

“A-ah B-Bakugou! You dropped some pencils!”Katsuki stiffened. Kirishima and Kaminari froze. Basically, everyone within earshot stopped what they were doing to look at Izuku like he sprouted a second head. What did he just call him? “What the fuck did you just say to me?”Katsuki whipped his head towa

53,979 kudos 8,303 words ~34 min read Teen And Up Audiences
Bakugou Katsuki Swears A Lot Bakugou Katsuki is Bad at Feelings My First AO3 Post
4

landscape after cruelty

Complete

by ohwickedsoul

“Bakugo, you need to update your costume.” Kirishima said, “There’s this one dude in the support class- he’s got a literal waiting list, that’s how good he is- but he did my new upgrade."“Yeah,” Bakugo sighs and leans back on his hands, staring at the bracer. “I know. I’ll go,” his mouth twists a li

44,599 kudos 19,105 words ~77 min read Teen And Up Audiences
Quirkless Midoriya Izuku Support Department Midoriya Izuku Bakugou Katsuki is Bad at Feelings
5

Bluebird

Complete

by EtherealBeing

Dialing a wrong number was no unusual occurrence. Everyone did it once in a while, and Katsuki was well aware of that fact. However, possessing this knowledge made it no less aggravating for him to discover — a full two minutes into his rant about his day — that he’d been venting his frustrations to

42,895 kudos 53,107 words ~213 min read Explicit
Wrong number Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting Humor
6

Quiet Rapture

by lalazee

That A/B/O fic where cocky Alpha Bakugou falls in mate-love at first scent, while Midoriya is just a poor bookstore-owning Omega who got his nose punched in is a kid and can't smell a damn thing. Also known as: That time an Alpha had to use his actual personality to woo his mate instead of relying o

36,220 kudos 305,977 words ~1224 min read Explicit
Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics Alpha Bakugou Katsuki Omega Midoriya Izuku
7

Katsuki Bakugou has No Goddamn Chill (But It's For The Best That He Doesn't)

Complete

by Sif (Rosae)

Alternatively titled: The Entire Goddamn School Gives Up On Trying To Understand These Two & Aizawa is Really Tired. Izuku and Bakugou had a long and complicated history, but most of the school was pretty sure that they understood where the two currently stood as rivals. Then Izuku's dad showed up o

35,381 kudos 8,607 words ~35 min read Teen And Up Audiences
Abusive Midoriya Hisashi Midoriya Hisashi's Bad Parenting Villain Midoriya Hisashi
8

"what's your type?"

Complete

by sapphicflower

“Congratulations on getting nine out of ten questions correct! Without further ado, let’s move on to the last question..” Hanazawa paused for dramatic effect as the lights dimmed and the spotlights overhead honed in on their podiums.“What is … your hero partner’s type?”A brief silence.“‘Type?’” Izuk

34,947 kudos 20,192 words ~81 min read Teen And Up Audiences
Oblivious Midoriya Izuku Oblivious Bakugou Katsuki Friends to Lovers
9

A Demolition Boy & his Cryptid BF

Complete

by kewltie

Bakugou of the Demolition Squad is famous for running one of the most popular Youtube channels on the web that regularly blow shit up and jumped off a perfectly good building for shit and giggles. He's also famous for his Cryptid BF™, never appearing on camera except for a few bodyshots and all inf

34,445 kudos 8,472 words ~34 min read Teen And Up Audiences
Alternate Universe - No Quirks (My Hero Academia) Social Media Mixed Media
10

Prodigal

Complete

by writerllofllworlds

After being convinced to give One for All to Mirio, Midoriya Izuku must rebuild his shattered dreams with bloody hands.

34,355 kudos 56,802 words ~228 min read Teen And Up Audiences
Angst Fluff Fluff and Angst
11

We Wear Chains on the Weekend

Complete

by surveycorpsjean

Well, in a day of revelations, it turns out that Izuku isn't as vanilla as Katsuki previously thought. Unfortunately, that fascinating discovery is overshadowed by Izuku's dumbassery, because he has zero concept of aftercare. "Don't go to anyone else," Katsuki says, because screw it. He can do a bet

33,703 kudos 35,088 words ~141 min read Explicit
Getting Together Friends with Benefits Friends to Lovers
12

Yes, They're All Safe

Complete

by teaandtumblr

Villains have entered UA grounds and are disposed of just as quickly, but that doesn't mean a headcount of the students doesn't need to be done. Toshinori would admit, he wasn't quite prepared for what he found in Bakugou Katsuki's room.

32,584 kudos 4,653 words ~19 min read Teen And Up Audiences
Rated T for swearing Bakugou Katsuki Swears A Lot pure fluff
13

Fire Lily

Complete

by EtherealBeing

There he was: sitting splay-legged on the altar, one muddy combat boot propped up on the edge, with a self-satisfied grin on his face and a relaxed aura, in spite of the war raging outside. Izuku wasn’t sure what he’d expected to see his first day evacuating humans from the Rapture zone, but it sure

30,854 kudos 278,245 words ~1113 min read Explicit
Humor Eventual Smut Angst and Hurt/Comfort
14

Deku Enchanted

Complete

by s_the_queen

Just like every other day, Izuku mumbled up a storm and about fifteen minutes later (a drastic increase from the measly three minutes he would have gotten in their first year), Katsuki turned to him and snapped. "Shut the fuck up nerd! I can barely hear myself think!"And Izuku's jaw practically seal

30,359 kudos 94,679 words ~379 min read Explicit
Quirk Shenanigans (My Hero Academia) Midoriya Izuku Has a Quirk Bottom Midoriya Izuku
15

drop dead, gorgeous

Complete

by thewunderkind

It's been eight years since Izuku last logged in. When he gets the chance to do so, he discovers that he's married to a user named Ground Zero. Apparently, the husband he's had eight years ago 「 King Explosion Murder 」 patiently waited and has somehow not divorced him. Also, for some reason said hus

28,857 kudos 111,598 words ~447 min read Mature
Alternate Universe - Online Dating Online Romance Gaming
16

hiding in plain sight

Complete

by saturnsorbit

denki: IM THE FIRST ONE OF THE BAKUSQUAD TO BE IN A RELATIONSHIP?????????katsuki: try a-fucking-gaini’ve been in a relationship for two fuckin years dumbassi’m always number 1 motherfuckershanta: IM SORRY WHAT DID U JUST SAY (a.k.a. katsuki and izuku are dating, they thought everyone knew. apparentl

25,924 kudos 12,026 words ~49 min read Teen And Up Audiences
Aged-Up Character(s) hitoshi is in 3-b and mineta still doesnt exist in my book everyone is a little ooc bc i do what i want.
17

In A Sky Of A Million Stars (Who Cares If One More Light Goes Out?)

by Stringlish

He could never forgive himself. It was his fault. He’d planted the idea like a seed he’d never known would grow.  (Or: What if Izuku jumped?)(OR: The one where Izuku jumps and lives and Katsuki visits him every day and Class 1-A not-so-secretly finds it adorable that their designated angry pomerania

25,325 kudos 208,857 words ~836 min read Mature
Suicide Attempt Suicidal Thoughts Depression
18

That Heather

by Anonymous

I see a lot of people out there falling head over heels for folks they’ve never even laid eyes on, let alone spoken a single word to. Me, at least, I’m lucky enough to like someone I not only see and talk to every day but also know really, really well. But there’s a problem. He’s my best friend. And

23,143 kudos 233,786 words ~936 min read Not Rated
House Party Midoriya Izuku Needs A Hug Bakugou Katsuki Swears A Lot
19

The Different Ways In Which I Can Call You Mine

Complete

by EquinoxSolstice

Apparently, Bakugou Katsuki is the kind of person that uses pet names when he's in a serious relationship. Who knew?Certainly not Izuku. But he would have sincerely appreciated the head's up.Because he's seriously dying right now.

23,119 kudos 11,018 words ~45 min read Teen And Up Audiences
Canon Compliant Second Year Class 1-A (My Hero Academia) Established Relationship
20

Hidden Messages

Complete

by hashbrownpotatoes

For years Katsuki Bakugou has been Izuku Midoriya's bully, and just about everyone knew it. Except that wasn't actually the case at all. Through a secret language they were able to fool the world into thinking that they weren't actually best friends. So when midway through their first year at UA whe

23,035 kudos 101,243 words ~405 min read Teen And Up Audiences
Bakugou Katsuki Swears A Lot Shinsou Hitoshi Replaces Mineta Minoru Secret Messages

BakuDeku Fanfics by Length

Pick a reading commitment — from one-sitting one-shots to 100k+ epics:

Characters

Bakugou Katsuki
Midoriya Izuku

Frequently Asked Questions

What does BakuDeku mean?

BakuDeku is the ship name (portmanteau or nickname) for the pairing of Bakugou Katsuki and Midoriya Izuku. It's used by fans to tag and search for fanfiction featuring this relationship.

How many BakuDeku fics are on AO3?

There are over 45,000 BakuDeku fanfiction works on Archive of Our Own.

How can I read BakuDeku fanfiction on my phone?

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