Title: Don't Ask Don't Tell
Author: Ms_Chunks
Rating: T
Genre: Romance
Status: Complete
Fandom: My Hero Academia
Pairings: BakugoxUraraka
Summary: Uraraka and Bakugo have a secret. It’s not what their classmates think it is.
Words: 182 478
Link: AO3

So, it's a romance fic, is I think very clear already. And I find myself oddly charmed by this ship, to tell the truth. Gives me old school Sasuke-Hinata vibes only a bit more interesting as it doesn't take a twisting of the setting to do it?

Basic premise is, Bakugo and Uraraka discover there is a certain chemistry between their quirks/powers and decide to train together. During that time, they grow closer together, develop a bond and yes, a romantic connection that honestly works quite well if you are in the mood for such a thing. Their non quirk chemistry also works quite well.

Meanwhile, they don't tell anyone they are training because Bakugo doesn't want anyone to know about what they are trying to do before it is ready, so the class is thinking they are dating, which they weren't initially but of course, which comes to be true. It is a source of slightly unnecessary drama, admittedly but at the same time, it is not milked into absurdity as you might think it is. There is no huge misunderstanding break-up where one cries for forgiveness or shit like that. It indulges in the good tropes and leaves out the bad ones.

There is no real other ships in the story bar one (which I really disliked) but it's like two lines so I can live with that.

Spoiler

One thing that makes it kind of a bummer is that at one point you realize that the whole class believes that they are in an abusive relationship, which the story concludes to be just the other people unjustly assuming the worst, not believing in Uraraka enough and meddling where they shouldn't but which struck me as meh. Honestly, believing Bakugo to be like a shitty abusive boyfriend is not exactly an unreasonable thing to assume since he is still very much an obnoxious asshole, but one that clicks well with Uraraka in the story, who isn't taking his shit for example, but yeah.

So if you are in the mood for a solid romance and good MHA story that does have a fair bit of power exploration and action in it, give this a shot. It's not the dry SB-esque power wanking but rather actual, genuine practice that feels rewarding to read about because aerial acrobatics with explosions and zero gravity makes for super fun reading, especially with the romantically charged tension involved.

The writing is quite good, the author clearly has a way with words that I really liked and on a whole, I was smiling throughout the story.

4/5 from me, give it a shot if anything I said sounded appealing and a nearly 200k slow/middle burn romance with those two characters sounds like something you want to read about.

 

It's cute, I like it. Fun lemon after the story, too. It doesn't try to be anything it's not, and it's arguably formulaic, but it's a really solid romance 5/5.

 

It’s a good fic. The romance wasn’t cloying, slow burn stuff. A lot of cliche, but nothing really annoying and she got Katsuki’s character right. I just kind of wish she was less of a slash fangirl, it seemed a little constant: but then that’s just me I suppose. Again, nothing world-changing but it’s definitely a good fic.

4/5

 

Hmm... I agree with M.L. , pretty much. Very good fic, in-character too, but nothing groundbreaking. For a romance-focused fic, appealing to me is no mean feat.

4/5

 

I remember reading around 75% of this fic last year, but I never finished it because the pandemic hit and cut into my reading time a lot. I won't give this a number grade in my review since I never actually finished it, and it's been a while since I've read it, but from what I remember my thoughts are fairly similar to the other people who have posted.

My overall impressions of the story were fairly positive. It's a solid romance with a slightly unconventional pairing, but nothing too special. If you're into that kind of stuff then this is certainly worth at least checking out. But if you don't really read stories just for the romance, then this isn't the fic that is going to change your opinions.