SatoBaku

SatoBaku is the slash ship between Rikidou Satou and Katsuki Bakugou from the My Hero Academia fandom.

Canon
Katsuki and Rikidou are in the same class (Class A), but do not have much ‘screen-time’ together due to the difference in the roles they place in the series; Katsuki is a character of utmost importance, while Rikidou is mainly backseated, albeit for a select number of arcs. However, as time goes by, a friendship, or closeness between them seems to strengthen.

During a training exercise, Katsuki and Eijiro decide they want to use Katsuki’s Howitzer (“Kirishima, let me Howitzer you.”) to test Eijiro’s new level of Hardening. Rikidou quickly attempts to stop them due to the danger this could potentially hold.

Before Joint Battles begin, Rikidou and Katsuki (alongside Kyoka, Hanta) are teamed to fight against their 1-B opposers, the team of Yosetsu, Togaru, Kojiro, and trickiest of all, Tokage. Their fight is the fourth set. At the battle start, Kojiro mentions that Hanta and Kyoka would make difficult opponents on the arena’s terrain, to which Yosetsu adds that Katsuki and Rikidou would make an equally tough customer, as the two of them pack an undeniable punch, especially since both are attack types when it comes to fighting. The 1-A team is later seen as Katsuki orders his classmates to follow him. Rikidou mutters that “It’s always ‘follow the leader’ when it comes to him”. The team is quickly put in a tight spot after, but Katsuki reveals a newfound sense of teamwork that allows the group to move flawlessly. As Katsuki yells that he’ll achieve an ‘absolute victory’, and finish the match 4/0, Rikidou grins. During the endgame sector of the fight, Yosetsu manages to pin Katsuki to the wall with strips of metal, thanks to his Weld. Rikidou breaks him free before yelling at him to get going after his enemies. It is then shown that Katsuki gave Rikidou one of the hand grenades from his belt. The combined strength of the students brings another win for 1-A, come battle’s end.

The students of Class 1-A throw a party to celebrate Christmas. In a full page spread, Rikidou can be seen smiling as he feeds what is likely a pastry into Katsuki’s mouth. Interestingly, Katsuki does not seem to have any intention of disagreeing, or fighting against this (admittedly odd) contact.

BNHA Smash (Manga Spin-Off)

 * A delirious Katsuki thinks to himself that Rikidou, as he wakes up a nearby Eijiro (Katsuki and Eijiro seem to have fallen asleep in the common room) looked like a ‘mommy sent from heaven’.

Light Novels (Novel Spin-Off)
(BNHA Season 4 Bonus): "Cultural Festival Wrap-Up Party"
 * The 1-A students hold an after-party to celebrate their success at the Festival. Katsuki takes the lead in taking a part of the class shopping for party snacks, while Rikidou has the others prepare dishes alongside him.


 * Katsuki quickly loses interest in the party, but Eijiro brings him a bunch of fried chicken (prepared by Rikidou), but Katsuki refuses it. Eijiro then comes to the conclusion that Katsuki would prefer lasagna, and heads to the kitchen to get him a plate. Before he can carry it back to Katsuki, Rikidou says he should put a LOT of Tabasco (hot-sauce) on it, before pouring the sauce over it. He then brings it to Katsuki before literally feeding a bite to him. Katsuki yells a bit at this, but pipes down as he begins to eat. Eijiro notes that he seemed to enjoy the spicy lasagna, and heads to bring him more, saying that he knew he’d enjoy it. (It is notable that Rikidou perhaps knew of Katsuki’s love for spicy food(s), and knew that he would enjoy lots of it).

Fanon
Due to Rikidou’s background role in the series, compared to Katsuki’s prominence, SatoBaku is not very popular in the MHA/BNHA fandom, and is this dubbed one of the many ‘rare-pairs’. However, the Joint-Battle arc that came late in the series, with the addition of Class 1-A’s Christmas party made their somewhat apparent closeness a noticeable thing, especially compared to how hostile Katsuki is to most.

The two are most often seen as “kitchen buddies”, as both are known to be good in the field of cooking/baking. Fans of the ship, as well as those who see SatouBaku in a platonic light see that this common interest would make for easy bonding potential.

On AO3, the ship currently has over 10 written works.

Fandom
FAN FICTION 

Trivia

 * Rikidou is approximately 6 inches taller than Katsuki at a height of 6”1, compared to Katsuki’s 5”7.
 * Rikidou has somehow fed Katsuki twice and survived.