I've seen a lot of theories on why Deku is afraid/in denial of love, but out of curiosity do you have any theories?

I’m gonna be completely honest, I more enjoy reading other people's theories than making my own up, so I’m just gonna talk about some (probably) already existing theories and add my two cents:

Izuku is simply mistaking his love for admiration. We all know that Izuku is extremely sharp and observant when it comes to quirks, battle strategies, and everything hero related. However, he’s not this sharp when it comes to romance. He’s emotionally intelligent, but only in emotions specific to hero work (anger, fear, guilt, etc). In Izuku and Katsuki’s fight at Ground Beta, Izuku brings up how even though All Might was his hero, Katsuki was the one who was actually there. He’s placing both All Might and Katsuki in the same category—the category of admiration. He’s placed Katsuki in this category his entire life, so he’s inclined to keep him there. He hasn’t yet realized that what he feels for Katsuki runs deeper than the fanboy admiration he has for All Might.

He’s afraid of the consequences of being in love with another man. We’ve seen some situations of LGBTQ+ representation in MHA, but we haven’t really seen how same-sex relationships/feelings are viewed by the public eye. There’s always the chance that Izuku is aware of his feelings, that he knows that he’s in love with Katsuki, but he’s scared. Scared of how people will react if they find out. Would they be open and supportive? Or would they be disgusted and closed-minded? Sure, friends aren’t forever and if they’re toxic he can cut them off, but what about his mother? What if she doesn’t accept him? Or even worse, what if Katsuki becomes grossed out by Izuku and ends their friendship right then and there? Izuku wouldn’t be able to handle it.

He thinks that he’ll only hurt Katsuki the closer that he gets to him. First, Katsuki gets kidnapped by the League of Villains at training camp. Izuku goes after him to rescue him, revealing to All For One that Izuku cares enough for Katsuki to come after him. Then, the war arc. At that point in the story, Katsuki and Izuku have definitely gotten closer. They’re not the best of friends per se, but they’re on much better terms than before. Katsuki then proceeds to get stabbed protecting Izuku. Izuku, seeing the person he loves getting hurt, goes fucking berserk. You all know how well that goes down. When Izuku wakes up from the coma, he avoids Katsuki and only leaves a letter. He knew that if he were to tell Katsuki his intentions of leaving in person, Katsuki would try to stop him, or worse, decide to come with him. Vigilante arc begins. Then you get to the oh-so-infamous apology from Katsuki. Under different circumstances, Izuku would have been more than thrilled at this change of heart and would have tried to actively get closer to Katsuki. However, in the circumstances of the war and All For One, Izuku seems to do the opposite. It’s like he’s trying to distance himself from Katsuki so Katsuki doesn’t get hurt because of him. So you can imagine the pure agony that Izuku’s in when he sees Katsuki’s (at this point still) dead body. He knows that if he lets his emotions and feelings for Katsuki take the wheel, he’ll lose the fight. He’s trying to distance himself from his feelings because he’s aware of how intense they are. 

And yeah, that’s it lol. I’m like 95% certain that these theories have been discussed in much better detail/with much better evidence than this, but this is just my personal take on them :)

@bakudekubigbang

Here’s my entry for this years Big Bang!

Swarm

Pairing: BakugoxIzuku

Rating: 18+

Status: Complete

Words: 63,037

Genres: Alpha/Omega/Beta, Fantasy, Enemies to Lovers, Anthropomorphic, Shape-Shifting, Rape/Non-Con Elements, Alternate Universe, Happy Ending

Summary: General Izuku Midoriya, a rare omega cherry bee and Second in Command to Chief All Might's army, is left to run and defend Brambleberry Hive. he never expects a swarm of vicious hornets, led by alpha general Katsuki Bakugo, to ambush them and take over the hive. Bakugo takes his place as Chief Alpha, making Izuku his prisoner and slave. But Izuku refuses to let Bakugo control him and fights the alpha every chance he gets. He will have his revenge on Bakugo and regain control of Bramberry Hive before All Might comes back. That is until they share a threat that forces them to work together.

The villainous race from the Wastelands has grown in number and seek control of the Valley and Canopies. Led by the gamma Centipede King Tomura, alpha huntsman spider Dabi, and a mysterious hidden creature, both Bakugo and Izuku will have to put their differences aside to defend their land. They will need the help of the Butterfly King, Shouto Todoroki and the rest of the Valley inhabitants to combat the villains. Bakugo and Izuku have different ways of conducting business and don't always get along. But opposites are said to attract, and sometimes hate can turn to love. They might find that love is the greatest challenge of all.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/16606688/chapters/38922773

(One sided)Fem!BakugoxIzuku, Fem!TodorokixIzuku: Izuku no longer calling Katsuki by her nickname and starts calling Todoriki Shouchan (or something); Katsuki being jealous. Pls and thank you! P.s. Youre awesome!

Nahhhh you’re awesome!!

—

Bakugou was furious. She sat at her desk watching Deku fucking flirt with that icy bastard and it pissed her off. She shouldn’t be over there because in Bakugou’s mind, Midoriya only belonged to her. 

She watched as they laughed about something and that was the final straw. Standing up quickly and causing the chair to scrape against the floor, she made her way over to the pair.

“What the fuck are you guys doing,” her loud voice got the attention of the other two, Todoroki looking as indifferent as always but Midoriya looked fearful.

“O-oh hello Bakugou,” her body went ridged at the use of her last name instead of her nickname, eyes widened with shock. Sure, she always said that she hated it but it was the only thing that Midoriya ever called her and she actually really loved it. “I was just talking to Shouchan about a great movie I saw recently.” 

Shouchan?! So first Midoriya doesn’t use her nickname but when did she come up with one for Todoroki. Bakugou’s shock morphed into anger. She grabbed Midoriya’s arm. “Let’s talk. Alone,” she demanded, staring into the other’s green eyes. Midoriya nodded and said goodbye to Todoroki, who was confused by the whole situation but gave a polite wave and smile as Bakugou dragged her out.

“Bakugou what’s the matter with you?” she questioned as soon as they made it out to the hallway. Bakugou released her arm and started to pace around in front of her.

“What’s going on between you two?” that was the first question that popped into her hair as she stopped and glared at the other.

“Who, Shouchan?”

“Yes! Fucking Shouchan!” she mocked the nickname and Midoriya flinched.

“W-we’re friends so I-I gave her a nickname?” Her statement came off more as a question rather than a definitive answer. “Why do you care?”

Friend. Apparently Midoriya didn’t even see her as a friend. It was like a knife to her heart. Her chest and throat tightened and she scowled, trying to bottle up the pain she felt.

“Just fucking forget it Deku.” Bakugou shoved her hands in her pockets and walked back into the classroom, anger and sadness fighting inside of her as she replayed that sentence over and over in her mind.

*explosions* bakugo: ICY HOT, KILL ME RIGHT NOW. todoroki [in the middle of eating soba]: alright, but why? bakugo: i betrayed deku. i swore i'd never hurt him again... todoroki [concerned]: what did you do? bakugo [distressed, tears in his eyes]: HE WAS SLEEPING ON MY CHEST AND I FUCKING DROPPED MY PHONE ON HIM. todoroki: todoroki [continues eating his soba]: i'm not killing you over an accident. go away. bakugo [sobbing]: HE SQUEAKED AT ME LIKE A TINY BABY BIRD. todoroki: i don't care.

kaminari: hey midoriya, can i ask you a question? midoriya: yeah sure, go for it. kaminari: what do you see in bakugo that makes you wanna be with him? midoriya: kacchan's sweet and cute and precious. bakugo: I AM NOT SWEET. I AM DARK AND MYSTERIOUS AND DANGEROUS AND VERY PISSED OFF. kaminari: midoriya: bakugo: midoriya: see? adorable.

i am going to stab someone i promised my bestie that i'd write a bkdk fluff fan fic and now i have too many ideas

this song reminds me of bkdk so much that it HURTS

Bro I forgot to upload my Bakugo cosplay oops

Ok I know this might not be much but holy fuck I got #1 rankings 😭

MY NEW STORY IS UP! CHECK IT OUT!

Broken Promises

My story has over 1k reads now, I’m crying tears of joy. Thank you to everyone that read my story and continues to support it 😭 I couldn’t have done it without all of you😭

So brief update, there might be a chapter update tomorrow but I’m not sure considering I’m still really sick...also, my piss poor excuse of a father decided he didn’t want to provide for me, my mom, and my brother anymore because I’m a “disrespectful freeloader” so we went without food for 2 days until I got sick of it and bought groceries. So I’m super stressed but I also feel motivated to write because it makes me happy...