Cinder & Smoke - a TdBk 2020 Big Bang Fic

[feypendragon]

Cinder & Smoke

Written by FeyPenDragon, illustrated by Nikke

Word Count: 33K
Rating: Explicit (18+ only)

Tags: Alternate Universe - No Quirks (My Hero Academia); Alternate Universe - Post-War; Running away from home; You and Me against the world; Breaking the Law; Living a life of crime; Time Skips; Robin-Hooding; steal from the rich to give to the poor; rich boy poor boy; Theft; Robbery; Childhood Trauma; Bakugou Mitsuki's Bad Parenting; Todoroki Enji's Bad Parenting; bad Todoroki family dynamics; all the Bakugous are bad at feelings; brief but tragic appearance of Aizawa Shouta; Minor Character Death; Character Death; Arson; Fire; Guns; Knives; War Trauma and PTSD; childhood neglect; Unhappy Families; Mental Illness; prostitution; organized crime; sex as a coping mechanism; Rough Sex; ambiguous ending.

Trigger/Content Warnings: (AO3 warning: Underage sex, Graphic depictions of violence) war trauma, childhood neglect, unhappy families, mental illness, alcohol, arson, rough sex, sex as a coping mechanism, crime, war orphans, homelessness, significant character death but not for Katsuki or Shouto

Summary: They were never a slow burn – always a lit match flicked at gasoline, hot and fast and consuming. Two boys from opposite sides of a dusty town found each other – the only sparks of life in a place that lost everything. The war may have been over, but there was still fire somewhere. Somewhere other than here. Together, Shouto and Katsuki got the hell out of that town where dreams were buried under suffocating layers of ash. They made a life of raising hell together, chasing the high of causing chaos. Twelve years later the world around them is grim. With nothing to lose but each other, they’ll burn it all down until there's nothing left but cinders and smoke.

Music that inspired the story: “Cinder and Smoke” by Iron & Wine | “No Quarter” by Led Zeppelin


See the art thread on Twitter || Read the fic and see art on AO3