Archive of Our Own

It’s dark outside, around midnight, when the villain makes an appearance. The streets of Musutafu are quiet, but not empty, with civilians starting to retire for the night.

Izuku Midoriya is walking along these streets with his hero friends; Katsuki Bakugo and Eijirou Kirishima. It’s rare for them to be seen together nowadays, with their new responsibilities as Pro Heros and packed schedules. However, today was different. Katsuki and Eijirou had decided to join Izuku on his late night patrol, for reasons unbeknownst to Izuku himself.

The true, hidden reason roots from the fact that Izuku is finally back to doing hero work after taking a short hiatus– one he requested for after was rendered quirkless again. The embers had officially faded, and he had to adjust to this new change and how it would affect his life. After many trials and tests wearing the suit Katsuki designed for him, he decided he was ready to work in the hero field again.

Katsuki and Eijirou both know that Izuku is strong and capable of taking care of villains even without a quirk, but there’s still a small, unsettling pit of anxiety residing in them that makes them join him tonight on his patrol. It’ll just be for tonight, they remind themselves. Just to make sure his first day back goes smoothly. Everything will be fine.

To their secret relief, that’s exactly how everything went– smoothly. A few weak robbers and pests that were barely even worthy of being called villains to handle, but nothing extreme. The three are currently on their way back to Katsuki’s agency, where their belongings are being held, bickering about random topics.

“Kacchan, I’m telling you– the suit is perfectly fine. It doesn’t need to be taken in for improvements! You’re being dramatic.”

“I’m not being fucking dramatic, Izuku. I heard you muttering about how the sleeves were tight on your arms back when we were taking care of that robber. What if you screw up in a fight one day because your suit isn’t accommodated to your body properly? Then I’ll have to deal with your hospitalized ass.”

Eijirou barks out a laugh at Katsuki’s words and pats the explosive hero’s shoulder.

“Bakugo, don’t you think you’re overreacting? You’re acting like the Earth will explode just because Midoriya’s a little uncomfortable in his suit. When did you get so smitten for him, huh?”

Izuku’s face flushes slightly at the question, embarrassed, and he coughs awkwardly. Katsuki, on the other hand, has his face flushed out of pure anger.. Yeah, only out of anger..

“WHAT DID YOU SAY–” Katsuki rips Eijirou’s hand off of him and lets out a few popping explosions from his palms.

That is when the nearby corner store’s windows suddenly shatter, glass flying everywhere.

The conversation was quickly forgotten.

It only takes about a second for them to process what just happened and glance at each other before they jump into action, running towards the store.

Izuku is the first one to make it, scanning the area for people and assessing the situation. “Is anybody hurt–” he pauses when he sees a man by the cash registers, grabbing onto a woman with one hand and a shard of glass with the other.

Katsuki and Eijirou are right on his heels, cursing when they see what Izuku is staring at. “Shit– what the fuck is up with this guy?”

The man is huge, just a few inches shorter than All Might, and everything about him screams DO NOT INTERACT. His build is similar to Muscular’s, the villain Izuku fought at the Forest Training Camp back when he was in high school.

He’s grabbing her by the neck, clutching the glass shard close to her face as he sneers at the three heroes. The woman’s eyes are squeezed shut, her body visibly shaking in his hold and occasionally letting out little pained gasps.

“You heroes sure are quick, aren’t you? You just have to meddle in everybody’s business. What a damn nuisance.” the man spits, eyes bloodshot, smile cruel.

“Let her GO–” Izuku stops himself immediately when the villain tightens his hold on the woman, warning them not to step any closer. The woman starts squirming desperately, not able to breathe, trying to pry herself off the man.

“Hey, you’re going to kill her!” Eijirou yelled, unsure of how to get the woman out of his chokehold safely.

The man scans each of them with his eyes before putting her on the ground, still keeping a firm grip around her neck.

“This woman is a damn brat who doesn’t know how to do her job properly. She tried to fucking kick me out of the store for no reason. The world is better off without incompetent, idiotic people like her who just piss off everybody around them.”

“How could you just jump to a conclusion like that?!” Eijirou retorts, bewildered and frustrated with the situation.

Katsuki scoffs. “This guy is batshit crazy– throwing a fucking tantrum over something like that.”

The villain immediately locks eyes with Katsuki and practically throws the woman on the ground in his childish fury. She gasps and clutches on to her neck, coughing in an attempt to regain her breath.

“The fuck did you just say to me? You think you’re tough shit, huh? Yeah, ok. You heroes act so righteous and claim you serve to bring justice and protection to the people, but then you go and say shit like that.. Belittling the civilians you swear you help.. Some great hero you are.”

“Oh, I’ll show you just how great I am when I catch and drag your ass over to the station.” With the woman out of the way, Katsuki lunges towards the man and the two immediately engage in a fight.

“Kacc— Dynamight!!” Izuku takes this chance to run towards the distressed lady and pick her up, leaving the scene and carrying her outside. He turns back and yells at Eijirou, who’s still in the same spot wondering whether he should stop or join the fight.

“Red Riot! Make sure Dynamight doesn’t brutally hurt the guy too bad– if anything, try and stop their fight!! We need to find out the full story of what happened here!”

“Right!” Eijirou runs towards Katsuki and engages himself in their battle.

“T-thank you, hero.. I thought I was going to die.” the woman rasps, still shaking and grabbing on to her neck.

“Are you alright? Do you have any major injuries?” Izuku asks, settling her down on a bench a safe distance away from the fight. He can see a small crowd of people nearby, recording and showing no sign of leaving.

“Hey, step away from the scene and call the police!”

The crowd of people thankfully comply and create a greater distance between them and the store, still recording, but Izuku can see one of them dialing the cops on their phone.

Izuku can hear explosions coming from the corner store and silently hopes Kacchan isn’t taking things too far.

The woman is unresponsive for a while until she weakly replies, “I think I’m okay, I– he– he just scared me. I’m not hurt..”

“Ma’am, what happened? Why were you trying to get him to leave the store? That villain is taking this pretty far, if that’s what got him this angry.”

“I don’t think he’s.. okay… in the head. I mean– I got a few complaints from customers of him trying to lick them. I– I don’t understand why he would do that,” she takes a few seconds to catch her breath. “When I confronted him, he just looked at me and told me I’d look..good… in pain. And– and then he tried to lick me, too. I pushed him away and he got mad and– and started throwing things, breaking the windows– that’s when he grabbed me and tried cutting me with glass. You guys arrived before he could, though.”

Izuku takes a deep breath through his nose and processes that information, trying to figure out the villain's motives. “You said he was trying to lick you– maybe his quirk activates when his saliva comes in contact with human skin. What would his quirk be, then? It’s possible he’s not in the right mental state right now, harassing other people and making a scene like this. Also, he might be under some sort of quirk enhancing drug, or just any kind of drug in general.. His eyes looked very bloodshot, so I don’t doubt that possibility… ”

He’s muttering now, turning back towards the fight and struggling to find out what’s going on through all the dust and explosions. No use, he can’t see anything. He needs to go back and help them now before something bad happens.

Izuku looks at the woman again and gives her a small smile. “May I ask what your name is?”

“It’s Yuna..” “Yuna, everything will be okay. I’m sorry, but I have to ask you to stay here until the police arrive. It should only be a few minutes until they get here. I have to go back and help the other heroes detain the man, alright? You’re safe now.”

“Okay, sir.. Before you go– what is your hero name?” Izuku gets up from the bench, his small smile growing. His smile is so radiant and reassuring that it inevitably makes the woman smile, too.

“It’s Deku!” and with that, he turns and runs towards the explosions and commotion.

—-------------------

Katsuki has been fighting with the strange man for a while now, but the bastard still hasn’t activated his quirk at all. He can’t use his explosions on the guy, not with him refusing to use his quirk back, so he’s just been using his explosions to scare the villain and catch him off guard. That’ll allow him to detain the criminal and send him over to the police to make him their problem.

But shit, this guy can put up a fight– despite not using his quirk. The guy’s large muscles and shocking speed are being put to use as he impressively dodges all of Katsuki’s attacks. He even almost manages to land a punch on Katsuki’s stomach. Almost. No way in hell is Katsuki letting some lousy villain land a hit on him.

“Dude, hurry up and detain him! You shouldn’t be fighting somebody who isn’t using their quirk! Pretty sure that’s like, one of the rules of being a hero or some crap like that–”

“I’m trying, Shitty Hair! How about you try and detain somebody twice your size, huh? It isn’t as easy as it seems! And fuck the rules– that guy was probably about to kill that woman! I have every right to attack.” Katsuki barks back, not keeping his eyes off the villain.

The villain laughs at Katsuki’s cocky attitude. “Damn hero.. You’d be so much more likeable in pain, I just know it. That arrogant smile wiped off your face, replaced with a look of agony and submission.. Oh, I can’t wait to put you in your place.”

“What the fuck? Is this some weird fetish, or some shit?”

Katsuki lets out a large explosion to block himself from the creep’s sight, then gets behind him and traps his neck with his forearms, placing him in a chokehold. He strains his muscles to keep the guy in his grasp, almost losing his balance in an attempt to get him to fall to his knees and surrender.

This guy has to be pushing 7 feet, maybe around 6 '10, because he is noticeably taller than Katsuki and that makes it a whole lot more difficult for the hero to put him in a proper chokehold. Katsuki is a tall man himself, above average and standing at about 6 ‘1, so feeling towered over by the villain pisses Katsuki off to no extent.

“Red Riot, make yourself fucking useful and do something!” Katsuki grunts, losing his grip on the thrashing man and quickly letting go when the villain tries to grab his arm and twist it.

Before Eijirou could reply, Izuku comes storming in and grabs his shoulder. “Red Riot, you should go outside and tend to the woman and the crowd of people. The cops should arrive any moment now. I know a bit about this guy’s quirk– I think– so I’ll help Dynamight.”

Eijirou hesitates to leave the quirkless hero with such a strong enemy, but understands what he has to do. “Right, got it! Be careful!” he says before rushing to go control things outside.

Izuku looks over to the fight and realizes with horror that Katsuki is… losing? That’s impossible. Katsuki never loses a fight, especially not against a random villain like this. He must be holding himself back, probably because the other doesn’t seem to be using his quirk against the hero.

Good, at least Kacchan hasn’t been affected by his quirk.. Whatever his quirk is, exactly.

Katsuki locks eyes with Izuku from where he is wrestling with the villain and scowls.

“Deku, stay back! This bastard is too strong for his own good. He won’t even fucking use his quirk, and he’s still giving me a hard time.”

“Wait, Kacchan!” Izuku starts, too worried to realize that he didn’t call Katsuki by his hero name while they were actively in battle. “I can use the suit’s blackwhip to–” he pauses when he sees the villain shove Katsuki against a shelf and stick his tongue out.

“Eugh, get off me you fucker!” Katsuki scratches at the creep’s arms but still doesn’t use his explosions to defend himself. Not yet, he tells his raging mind. He’s strong enough to beat this guy even without a quirk. It’s only fair, since the other has only used his hands to attack this whole time as well.

“I’ve got you now, you cocky brat. You’ll learn what it’s like to suffer and admit defeat.” he leans forward and attempts to lick Katsuki’s arm.

It’s like time goes in slow motion, Izuku watching with dread as the man tries to lick Katsuki.

What if his quirk is horrible? What if he can kill somebody with his saliva? What if he does something torturous to Kacchan? He’s– he’s going to hurt Kacchan.”

Izuku’s mind is spiraling, and those thoughts fly through his brain in the span of a second before he lunges towards the villain and tries to cover the man’s mouth. He has no idea what this guy’s quirk is, he just knows that he’s about to activate it, and he’d rather find out with him as the test subject instead of Katsuki.

Time comes crashing down on him back at nauseating speed, and he grimaces as his hand clasps onto the villain’s mouth and feels spit against his palm. The saliva burns through Izuku’s gloves, courtesy of whatever quirk this guy has.

“DEKU–”

The saliva feels acidic to his skin, and he grimaces at the roughness of the man’s tongue scratching against him.

The villain rips Izuku off of him and jumps back, freeing Katsuki from his grasp. Katsuki quickly catches Izuku as he is thrown by the muscular man and grips onto his shoulders.

“Deku, you moron– I told you to stay out of this. That creep managed to lick you, dammit. What the fuck did he do that for?” Katsuki is huffing now, tired of dealing with this freakishly strong brute.

What’s happening? I don’t feel anything strange happening to me… His tongue burnt against my skin, but other than that– I’m not in any pain. Was I overthinking things?

“Deku, snap out of it! Quit being weird, it’s freaking me out.” Katsuki shakes him back to reality, disguising his worry with irritation. Izuku stares at him silently for a painfully long second before turning his head towards the sound of cruel, sudden laughter. Katsuki’s eyes follow his and lock on to the villain, who is positioned in a weird stance and making an ugly, horrifying face full of amusement and insanity.

Something is seriously wrong with this guy.

“You fool, I can’t believe you just lunged at me like that– you’re seriously hilarious! I wanted to see that brat hero in pain, but you’ll do fine too. I wonder how those soft features of yours would look scrunched up in misery.” And with that, he crouches down and picks up a concerningly large shard of glass.

Katsuki’s immediate thought is that he’ll try and chuck the glass at them, so he pushes Izuku aside and pounces on the villain. He lands a good punch on his face, relishing his successful hit on the brute, but his smirk is quickly washed off his face when he hears Izuku cry in pain behind him.

The explosive hero whips his head around to see Izuku touching his face in pain. “Deku? What’s wrong with you–”

His words are cut short by the villain grabbing his arm and trying to stab him with the glass. Katsuki impulsively yanks the glass from his hand, nipping his skin in the process, and slashes the bastard's face to get out of his grip.

Shit, I went too far. I shouldn’t have done that– a slash to the face might be too much, even if I excuse it as self-defense.

The yell of agony Izuku lets out is horrific, and Katsuki’s eyes widen in shock and dread at the sound of it. He takes a quick moment to glare at the villain, only to find his face.. Perfectly fine. No cut, no blood..

What the actual fuck.

Katsuki doesn’t have time to dwell on the villain’s untouched face, immediately switching his attention over to Izuku. The villain doesn’t make much of a fight to keep Katsuki in his grasp, letting him run to the other hero's side.

Izuku has fallen to the floor now, curled in a hunched position that blocks Katsuki’s view of his face. Katsuki runs over to him and slides onto his knees, uncaring for the scattered glass on the floor that penetrates his skin.

The first thing he sees is blood. Blood everywhere. A pool of the red liquid is forming on the ground beneath Izuku’s head as he clutches onto his face. He’s letting out strangled cries, gasping and shaking on the floor.

“IZUKU– Izuku, what’s wrong?! Look at me! IZUKU, look at me dammit!”

Katsuki is yelling, pleading at Izuku to respond and tell him what is wrong, why he’s bleeding. His hands are now trembling as he grabs Izuku’s hand glued to his face and tries as gently as possible to remove it.

As soon as he makes contact with Izuku’s skin, he feels an unsettlingly warm liquid coat his fingers and run down his hand. He looks down at the hand he is grabbing, only to find it drenched in blood and staining Katsuki’s with it as well.

The metallic stench of blood hits him suddenly, being this close to Izuku, and he looks up at the other with a face of pure devastation as he finds the source of where the liquid is coming from.

There is a large, sickeningly large, deep gash starting on Izuku’s left eye, narrowly missing his nose as it continues downwards, stopping at the right end of his lips. Blood is oozing out of it at a relentless speed, dripping onto Katsuki and covering him in even more of the thick liquid. The wound is so large and gruesome that Katsuki immediately gags and feels bile crawling up his throat. He forcefully swallows it down and takes a shaky breath to prevent himself from hyperventilating.

“I-Izuku– Fuck– What.. What happened– Did I do this? Is this– is this his quirk? Please,” Katsuki begs, not caring about the unusual desperation dripping out of his voice. “--please, talk to me.”

Both of Izuku’s eyes are closed, and Katsuki’s not even sure he could open them even if he wanted to. He sees that Izuku’s other eye is swelling up, turning a very subtle shade of purple.

He makes a horrible realization that yes, he did in fact cause this. No wonder that fucker’s face was fine, even though he should be the one sporting these injuries. The oh so mysterious quirk that he was hiding from them is to blame for this nightmare, transferring all of his injuries over to Izuku.

To Katsuki’s surprise and relief, Izuku opens one of his eyes. The one that had been punched. It’s hazy and unfocused, but it’s open.

All of his relief dissipates when Izuku croaks, “K–k’chn.. I cn’t– see, I can’t see, it h–” Izuku chokes on the blood pooling in his mouth, trying to focus his open eye to look at Katsuki but failing miserably.

Katsuki thinks he hears police sirens in the distance, but he’s not sure. He’s not sure of anything. He doesn’t know what to do. Hospital. He needs to get Izuku to a hospital. If they’re too late, Izuku might lose his sight and maybe even his life– Who knows how deep the cut is.

The thought of those things happening makes Katsuki wheeze and grip Izuku’s hand firmly.

I hurt him, I hurt Izuku. I promised myself I would never hurt him again– fuck– he’s suffering because of me. I did this I did this I did this I did this–

Katsuki almost forgot about the villain, but is brought back to reality when he hears another inhumane laugh from behind him.

“It’s crazy, isn’t it– the wound just opened up on his face out of thin air! I can’t even feel a damn thing! You can stab and scratch me all you want, it’ll just go to your little hero friend.”

The erratic, pounding heartbeat within Katsuki’s chest is nowhere near healthy, but Katsuki doesn’t even notice. He just stands frozen in place, eyes locked on the man like a predator would to its prey. He realizes at that moment that he could seriously lose his hero license tonight– because he is very, very close to murdering this villain. He’ll find a way to deactivate this quirk, and once he does, he’ll tear this man apart so savagely that not even the doctors can identify what he looked like before.

“HA! You know, I wanted to see a look of anguish on your face, not his. But even though you weren’t hit with the quirk, the face you’re making right now is seriously priceless. Hey, let’s play a little game.. Let’s see how long your friend there can stay awake until he gives in to the pain.” As the villain speaks, he lifts his arms to hover near his face.

Katsuki realizes too late what he’s about to do.

“STOP–”

The man starts clawing at his eye violently, smile never fading as he feeds off Katsuki’s reaction. With his other hand, he uses a shard of glass to puncture and slash at his own skin. No cut appears.

Katsuki roars and pounces, using all of his body weight and strength to knock the other man to the ground. He grabs the man’s hands and pries them off his face, forcing them together and down onto his lap. The other just snickers and allows himself to be manhandled, thinking he already won. Every single part of Katsuki screams to break this man’s arms, tear them off and burn them– but he can’t. All he can do is pin the villain’s arms together and restrict him from using them again.

Izuku didn't even make a sound. Katsuki can’t turn around and see what happened, and that just makes him want to throw up again out of anxiety. His stomach is a churning ocean of fear and rage. As painful as it would’ve been to hear Izuku’s agonizing screams, it would at least let him know he was conscious and responding.

Why didn’t he make a sound–

The sound of the doors slamming open and loud footsteps running in tells Katsuki that the police have finally fucking arrived. The villain makes no sign of fighting to escape, just staring at them with a disgusting look of satisfaction in his eyes. They aim their guns towards the villain, but falter slightly when Katsuki turns as much as he can to look at them without losing grip on the villain and snarls.

“Do NOT fire those guns. As much as it fucking hurts to say, don’t hurt this man in any way possible. Just restrain him, and find some goddamn way to deactivate his quirk.”

The group of police men hesitantly lower their guns and catch sight of the crumpled body of Pro Hero Deku on the ground. Simultaneously, their faces turn grim and deeply disturbed by the gruesome scene. Katsuki can’t crane his head far enough to see what they’re looking at, but their reactions send a stabbing sensation to Katsuki’s already aching heart.

“..D–Dynamight–”

“HURRY THE FUCK UP AND DETAIN THIS BASTARD!”

Paramedics come storming in at the same time the police reach Katsuki and the villain. As soon as the men handcuff the strangely quiet villain, Katsuki wastes no time to turn and run over to Izuku. He almost trips when he finds the other surrounded by paramedics, bloody and unconscious. The medical agents are trying to carefully transport him onto the stretcher, hastily communicating with each other commands on how to move him safely.

“D-dont– don’t touch him–” Katsuki whispers, though he doesn’t know why. “Izuku–” he gasps, shaking violently and struggling to overcome the stench of blood and reach the seemingly lifeless hero. With faulty steps, he gets to Izuku’s side and holds back a muffled groan at the mangled state his face was in. His big green eyes were slashed shut and covered by his messy green hair and neverending blood. He was slack-jawed, blood and spit dripping out of his mouth, and when Katsuki tried to listen for breathing, it was very irregular and quiet.

He doesn’t even realize they’ve made it outside until they’re wheeling him onto the ambulance. Eijirou appears next to him suddenly, grabbing onto Katsuki’s shoulder.

“Bakugo! What the hell happened?! Hey, look at me, man! Is Midoriya okay? What– what happened?”

“..D–dammit Kirishima, get your..your fucking hands off of me–” Katsuki can’t speak properly, his tongue is too heavy in his mouth and the bile rising up his throat once again is unbearable. He gags and shoves Kirishima off of him, turning to puke into a bush.

Once his stomach is empty, he turns on wobbly legs back towards the ambulance. Kirishima gets in his line of sight again, face of pure worry and fear.

“Hey, are you ok? Please, talk to me man!”

“Kirishima, I’ll meet you.. At the hospital. I can’t– I can’t talk to you right now. Go with the police and deal with that bastard. Tell them what happened.”

Katsuki steps on to the back of the ambulance where Izuku lies, ignoring the tentative glances he receives from the paramedics. He crashes onto the nearby bench seat, avoiding Izuku’s face for a few seconds. He’s not sure if he can handle looking at his face again, knowing he caused the grave injuries on it.

Even when the influence of the quirk fades away, will it still scar? Will Izuku lose his sight forever, just because Katsuki was too weak to protect him and defeat that bastard sooner? How deep was the cut? What if it gets infected? What the fuck is going to happen?

The two paramedics that are with him make quick work of staunching the bleeding and checking his pulse. Katsuki stares at the floor, being consumed by his own guilt, until one of the medical agents carefully addresses him.

“Dynamight, sir, are you injured?”

Katsuki almost lets out a humorless laugh at the question. Is he injured? That should be the least of anybody’s concerns right now. He’s not the one fucking unconscious and bleeding in the back of an ambulance.

Despite a few bruises blossoming throughout his body and the small cuts from glass in his skin, he’s fine. Barely even worth mentioning.

“I’m not injured. Keep all your attention on Izu– Deku right now.”

“Alright. You should still get yourself checked out when we arrive at the hospital, just in case, sir.”

Katsuki growls in response. “I’m not leaving Deku’s side. Lay off my back, dammit.”

They decide not to argue with the explosive hero.

When they get to the hospital, it’s only a matter of seconds until Izuku is off the vehicle and swiftly being transferred to emergency care. Now that Katsuki has a better grip of reality and his body, he is able to match everybody’s pace with long strides. The pit of stress and worry in his body is eating him alive, but he needs to be strong. He needs to be emotionally stable enough to stay by Izuku’s side and face him if he wakes up. When he wakes up.

With a lot of convincing from the staff that he can’t be with Izuku right now, that he needs proper treatment, Katsuki hesitantly stays behind in the waiting room. Before sitting down, he realizes with unease that Izuku’s blood is still coating his fingers. He storms to the nearest bathroom and locks himself in there, making his way towards the sink. He turns the water on as hot as it can go, which isn’t very hot, and starts cleaning the blood off him. He scrubs his arms raw, desperately trying to make all evidence of what just happened disappear. Even when the red liquid washes off his skin, it’s not enough. His hands will always be stained with Izuku’s blood, a constant reminder of how weak he was for not being able to protect him.

His body still trembles slightly with lingering adrenaline and worry as he looks up towards the mirror. He’s faced with dirty, messy spiky hair that has patches of red in it. He must’ve been running his fingers through his hair on the way to the hospital. His eyes suddenly burn, and that’s when he catches sight of tears forming. Tears of anger, exhaustion, fear, and shame.

He splashes his face with water aggressively and forces himself to get a grip. He grabs paper towels and dries himself before yanking the door open and stomping back towards the waiting room.

When he sits and pulls out his phone, his lockscreen shows a few missed calls and messages from Eijirou. The time reads 1:23 in the morning. He sighs and opens up the missed messages.

                                                                                                                                     12:52 A.M.                                                                                                                                                                   

Shitty Hair

How are you holding up? How’s Midoriya?

I’m at the police station. This villain is being weirdly compliant. He’s answered only a few questions, but we can’t confirm if they are true. He’s avoiding questions about his quirk. We need you here, man. You know what his quirk is, what actually went down.

                                                                                                                                    1:04 A.M.                                                                                                                                                                     

Shitty Hair

Please answer.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      1:17 A.M.                                                                                                                                                                 

Shitty Hair

Bakugo, I’m seriously getting worried. Call me back. Please, man.

Katsuki seriously doesn’t feel like talking right now, but he knows he can’t just leave Kirishima in the dark like this. He needs to tell him what that fucker’s quirk is. Begrudgingly, he calls the other hero back. It picks up on the second ring.

“BAKUGO! What the hell, man!? Why haven’t you been answering? Are you guys okay?”

“Stop yelling, you idiot. I’m at the hospital. I’m fine. I’m waiting for–” Katsuki pauses, taking a painful deep breath. “--I’m waiting for Izuku to wake up. They’re taking care of him now.”

Kirishima lets out a heavy sigh. “Okay. Okay, that’s relieving to hear. Bakugo, listen–”

“No. Fuck off.”

“I haven’t even finished talking!”

“I know what you’re going to say. Kirishima, I’m not leaving this hospital until Izuku is awake. You cannot force me to take even one step out of here until then.”

“...Dude– we need you here. I can go to the hospital and keep an eye on Midoriya, but the police need you to provide them with the information this villain refuses to give.”

Something about Kirishima being by Izuku’s side when he wakes up instead of Katsuki makes a ball of possessiveness and anger swell up inside him. Katsuki NEEDS to be with Izuku when he wakes up, needs to apologize and care for the other, atone for what he’s done.

“Don’t tell me what to fucking do. I don’t need to go there for shit. I can just tell you everything that happened over the phone.”

“I mean, I guess you could do that– It’s not exactly preferable, but I know there’s no point in arguing with you.”

“Glad you’re smart enough to know that. Listen close, because I’m not repeating myself. That fucker has the ability to transfer any pain or wounds inflicted on him to the person under the influence of his quirk. It’s activated if you make contact with his saliva. He meant to lick me, but Izuku butted in like the selfless bastard he is and ended up being licked instead.”

Kirishima remains quiet, so he continues.

“I didn’t know what his quirk was, so I punched the damn villain. I also– I didn’t mean to, dammit– but I also cut his face. I don’t know how deep, but the amount of blood coming out of Izuku told me that it wasn’t just a graze. I cut his eye, Kirishima. I don’t know what’s going to happen. That villain’s quirk is creepy as shit– his face should’ve been the one fucked up, but all the wounds just opened up on Izuku’s face instead. I’m guessing he’s quiet and compliant now because he’s a damn sadist who just wanted to see other people in agony. He got what he wanted.” Katsuki’s voice breaks a bit when he explains what happened to Izuku, but he clears his throat quickly to hide it.

It’s silent aside from Katsuki’s heavy breathing, and he starts to grow impatient. Kirishima finally responds after a long minute, processing the information.

“Shit– That’s a gruesome quirk. He also might’ve been under a quirk enhancing drug, if Midoriya got that injured, so I’ll make sure he gets tested for that. At least I can tell the police what they need to know.. Thank you, Bakugo. Please keep me updated on what happens, okay?”

Katsuki huffs, too exhausted to bitch over being told what to do. The adrenaline rush has left his body, and now he’s nothing but a scared, uneasy mess.

His voice is raspy as he responds. “Yeah, okay.”

After hanging up, Katsuki tries hard to get some rest, but his efforts are useless. He’s too anxious, guilt and worry consuming him and messing with his brain. The lights are too bright, the smell of antiseptic is overwhelming, and the AC is blasting at an uncomfortably cold temperature. He eventually gives up and stares at his lap. At least the waiting room is not too crowded, he tells himself. He sits quietly and waits with all the patience he can muster, lost in his thoughts.

Why does he care so much? If it was anybody else in Izuku’s stead, would he react so strongly? If it was Kirishima or Kaminari, or literally anybody else, would Katsuki still be this anxious? Of course he’d still feel guilty and worried, but not to this extent.

Maybe he just feels even more stressed because he has a deeper past with Izuku than anybody else. Maybe he just doesn’t want to owe Izuku for hurting him again.

Bullshit. That’s the biggest fucking lie he’s ever tried telling himself in a while.

Katsuki makes a realization that he’d go insane if something ever happened to Izuku. He was seriously thinking of murdering that guy for what he put Izuku through, for what he made Katsuki do to him. He’d lose his hero license, his career, everything he’s worked so hard for. These conflicting feelings he has when it comes to Izuku are nowhere near the same feelings he has for everybody else.

All those times he stares at Izuku for too long, all those times he catches himself thinking about Izuku throughout his day, all those times he has to hide a smile whenever he’s on patrol with the hero– it’s not normal. Katsuki shouldn’t crave his touch, purposely ruffle Izuku’s hair to see his face turn that endearing shade of red, think of Izuku and his green eyes and his annoyingly cute freckles– It’s not fucking normal. Friends don't do that.

He sure as hell doesn’t think this sappy shit with Kirishima, or Ashido, or literally anybody else. Never in a million years has he ever wanted to drown in their eyes, trace the scars on their skin, or hold them close. So why the fuck does he long to do that with Izuku?

He used to hate the freckled hero, but now it’s as if he can’t get enough of him. Is this some sort of weird obsession? The things he feels for the other man are the kind of stuff you’d see in some crappy romance drama.

Romance? Romance, as in romance with Izuku? As in being in love with him and dating him?

Katsuki knows something is seriously up when he doesn’t gag at the thought. He’s hyperaware of how clammy his hands are getting, despite the room being freezing. Little popping sounds bring Katsuki back to reality, and he looks down to see small sparks coming from his hands, evidence of the chaos taking place in his mind right now. He forces the sparks to cease and shoves his hands in his pocket. His body is suddenly very on edge at the thought of being in love with Izuku. His brain is short-circuiting, trying to think about what love really is. He’s never cared much about romance. At least, he used to never care.

Fuck– fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck–

Katsuki Bakugo realizes that he is in love with Izuku Midoriya.

—-------------------

Katsuki’s foot anxiously bounces as he waits in the waiting room for a nurse to finally talk to him, to take him to Izuku. Usually he would never show any sign of vulnerability or nervousness to anybody, but he can’t find it in him to care right now.

Every time a staff member comes into his line of sight he’s standing in an instant, staring at them with desperation disguised as irritation, waiting for them to walk over to Katsuki and tell him that Izuku’s okay.

He’s met with disappointment every time they leave, clearly not the ones in charge of Izuku. He goes to the front desk a couple of times to ask for any updates, but each time he gets dismissed and told that a nurse will come out and speak with him as soon as they can.

Katsuki’s patience is starting to wear very thin. It’s been about an hour since he got to the hospital. Surely he should have gotten at least one update on how Izuku’s doing. Just as he contemplates barging through every goddamn door and finding Izuku himself, a nurse walks into the waiting room, obviously looking for somebody. Katsuki jolts up in an instant, locking eyes onto the woman.

“Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight, it’s a pleasure to meet you. Thank you for everything you’ve do–”

“Yeah yeah, sure. Where is he?” The nurse blinks at him, unsurprised that he so rudely cut her off. It seems she knows enough about the explosive hero to expect an attitude like this.

“Just to confirm, sir, you mean hero Deku?”

“Who the FUCK els–” Katsuki stops himself from being so vulgar, trying to calm down. “Yes, where is Deku?”

The woman's face remains professional as she ignores his outburst and speaks, “We just finished treatment on him. He’s under medication right now, so he might be sleeping or extremely drowsy. Would you like me to take you to him, sir?”

Katsuki all but screams yes at her, and before he knows it he’s standing outside Izuku’s room. He’s a door away from finally seeing the damn nerd.

As the nurse takes her sweet ass time to open the door, she turns to Katsuki and tells him, “Remember, he’s under a very strong medicine and won’t be in his right state of mind. He’s not out of the woods yet, so please refrain from riling him up or doing anything to aggravate his injuries. I’m sure you know this, but I have to tell you as a precaution. Any questions you have, consult with the doctor.”

“You think I’m some idiot?” he gruffs, resisting the urge to move her out of the way and yank the door open himself.

When she finally opens it, Katsuki takes a second to mentally prepare himself before storming in and scanning the room for the green haired hero. It doesn’t take long, as he immediately finds a hospital bed tucked in the corner of the small room– and an undeniably unconscious body laying on top of it.

Katsuki exhales a deep breath he didn’t know he was holding and walks towards Izuku. He’s attached to numerous machines, and his face is covered in bandages. Katsuki can barely see half of Izuku’s face with the amount of layers of white cloth on it. The EKG machine beside the bed reads a steady heart rate, a complete contrast of Katsuki’s own pounding heart.

Izuku’s face is still too pale for Katsuki’s liking, making his freckles stand out even more and making him seem corpse-like. But he’s alive. He drags a plastic chair nearby towards the bed and plops down. His hands twitch at his sides, aching to grab hold of Izuku’s and transfer some of his warmth onto the man. Izuku’s face is stuck in a frown, and Katsuki wants to smooth it out, but can’t because of his injuries.

He suddenly recoils at the thoughts taking place in his head.

Holy shit, he really is going crazy for Izuku.

“Izuku,” he breathes. “I’m here. Wake up, you damn nerd..” despite his plea, he whispers as quietly as his usually loud voice can to avoid disrupting the other’s sleep.

The room is enveloped in silence, the only noise coming from Izuku’s heart monitor and the buzzing of the AC. It’s only the two of them in the room, so Katsuki takes that chance to shamelessly stare at the sleeping figure and hesitantly grab onto his limp hands.

He doesn’t know how much time has passed, but it couldn’t have been more than five minutes until an abrupt knock came from the door. Katsuki rips his hands away from Izuku and locks them by his side, standing and whipping his head around to glare at whoever is opening the door.

The doctor, who is an older man around his forties walks in and offers Katsuki a tired smile.

“Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight, it’s a shame we have to meet in these circumstances.”

Katsuki ignores him and cuts to the chase. “What’s going to happen to Izu– Deku?”

The doctor fixes his glasses and takes a few safe steps closer while still respecting Katsuki’s personal space.

“Unfortunately, the cut was dangerously deep. Our main concern was his left eye, which had a few ruptured blood vessels. Whatever had cut his eye punctured through the cornea– It is very likely that his eye will get infected, thus leading to optic nerve damage. We are trying our best to prevent that from happening. However, we are afraid that Deku will experience vision loss in his left eye. The wound was too critical.” the older man explains with a cautious tone.

“As for the rest of his face, his nose seems to be okay and his right eye is merely just swollen. We had to stitch the cut around his other eye. He’s also suffering from a minor concussion, so he likely fell and hit his head on something. A significant amount of blood was lost, so as we were treating Deku he started seizing up.”

Katsuki doesn’t realize how bad he’s shaking until his knees buckle and he has to grip onto the chair to avoid faceplanting. Everything about the situation was bad, but there was one thing the doctor said that repeated itself in Katsuki’s brain until he felt nauseous.

However, we are afraid that Deku will experience vision loss in his left eye.

It’s suddenly hard to breathe, and the look on Katsuki’s face is definitely not good because the doctor goes stiff and alert.

“Dynamight, sir–”

A loud wheeze from Katsuki interrupts whatever the doctor was about to say, and he starts clutching his chest– immediately letting go when his hands start smoking. He’s like a ticking time bomb ready to explode.

“However, sir,” the doctor exclaims with authority, making Katsuki focus his eyes and glare at him.

When did they unfocus?

“--However, Dynamight,” he asserts again, “Our quirk doctors have discovered something. I’m not sure if you are aware, but it’s evident that Deku’s injuries seem to have occurred from a quirk accident. We ran a few short tests, and we have come to the conclusion that his vision loss and injury will only be temporary. The wound will not scar. Now, this all factors from the kind of quirk that caused this is. This doesn’t happen with every quirk, so Deku is considered lucky in this case. It’s safe to say that once the effects of the quirk wear off, although we don’t know when, the wound will close naturally and he’ll be as good as new.”

Katsuki just stares. He doesn’t even dare blink. All speech has been robbed from him, and he feels as if a massive weight has been lifted off his shoulders. He’s sure he must look like an idiot right now, mouth agape and eyes comically wide.

Nothing. He has nothing to say. He just slowly sits back down and stares, stares, stares.

The doctor continues when he’s met with silence. “I cannot say for sure that every injury he has sustained will be cured once the quirk’s influence is gone, but everything will be okay, sir. His vision will come back, the wound will close and disappear as if it was never there, and the stitches will be removed safely.”

Katsuki sets his eyes back on Izuku and finally says something entirely unprofessional: “Holy fucking shitballs.”

“...Yes. It is a huge relief that he will recover smoothly. Before I give you two some privacy, I must tell you– I meant to call Deku’s emergency contact, but you were the number that popped up. Therefore, I need you to fill out a few papers. I’ll leave them here on the table for whenever you’re ready to sign them.”

WHATTHEFUCKWHATTHEFUCKWHATTHEFUCKWHATTHEFUCKWHATTHEFUCKwhythefuckamIdeku’semergencycontactwhatthefuc

“Whatever.” Katsuki grumbles despite his internal panic and swats his hand childishly to dismiss the doctor.

“For now, I’ll give you some privacy with the patient. I will be back shortly to check up on Deku. If he wakes up or anything happens, please press the call button and a nurse will assist you guys swiftly.”

When the doctor finally leaves, Katsuki begrudgingly fishes out his phone to text Kirishima. He types out a quick message telling the man that Izuku will be okay, and to not call Katsuki back or he'll block him.

                                                                                                                                     2:38 A.M.                                                                                                                                                                  Almost immediately after he sends the message Katsuki shut off his phone and shoved it back into his pocket and snapped his head at Izuku.

The sight of the bedridden man gave Katsuki an unwelcoming feeling in his stomach. “You damn bastard. What the fuck is wrong with you. Of course you’d manage to get yourself in a situation like this.”

Katsuki was desperate for Izuku to wake up, to know for certain that he’d be okay, to see him look actually alive. Time was ticking painfully slow, and he knew Izuku wasn’t waking anytime soon.

After a few minutes of staring at the unconscious man, trying to count the freckles that weren’t hidden by bandages, he turned and reached the paperwork waiting to be filled out.

It was all a bunch of personal shit that Katsuki would normally not know, but after years of his rekindled friendship with the man he actually managed to fill out a large amount of questions.

Does the patient take any medication?

Just some prescribed meds for his anxiety. Katsuki knows this because Izuku usually forgets to take them, so he’s made sure to text the nerd daily and remind him.

Is the patient allergic to anything?

Stupid fucking strawberries. Back when they were third years in high school, fucking Izuku had passed out in the common room due to an anaphylactic shock, nearly giving Katsuki a heart attack. He had to shove through his concerned classmates who were standing around uselessly and drag Izuku to the hospital, where he then learned that man had accidentally eaten a sweet that had strawberries in it. To this day, every time he sees Izuku eating something he secretly checks to make sure the nerd isn’t eating anything that will make him fucking die.

What is the patient’s blood type?

Blood type O. Katsuki doesn’t even know how he knows this, he just knows. He must’ve found out one day and kept that information safe in the Izuku part of his mind, just in case he’d ever need to know it in the future. It came in handy after all.

Filling out the majority of the questions (and feeling somewhat grumpy he didn’t know enough to answer everything) he unceremoniously plopped the paperwork down on the table and switched his attention back to Izuku.

He’s like a fucking magnet. No matter what situation they are in, he just can’t keep his eyes off the nerd. It pisses Katsuki off, especially now that he knows why.

Katsuki doesn’t have any experience in romance, but he’s not a fucking idiot. It just took him a while to realize his damn feelings. He’d always hated the nerd ever since they were brats, but deep down he knew he used this hatred and bullying to hide the fact that Izuku would surpass him one day. That Katsuki would never catch up to him, regardless of whether he had a quirk or not.

He’s not some immature asshole anymore. Okay, he still needs improvement, but he’s a grown ass man now and is nowhere near the same as the angry fifteen year old he used to be. He knows better now than to deny the fact that he’s in love with Izuku. Crazy for him, actually. How the tables have fucking turned.

Despite the fact that there is a small couch on the other side of the room, Katsuki stays rooted to Izuku’s side on the uncomfortable plastic chair. Knowing that it would be a while until Izuku woke up, he tries to doze from where he’s sitting.

—-------------------

Katsuki is only half awake when he hears some annoying ass creaking sound fill up the silence of the room. A little bit disoriented, he scowls at the noise and reaches to cover his ears before he remembers– Izuku.

He whips his head towards the source of the creaking and that’s when all his drowsiness vanishes, his befuddled mind clearing up instantly.

Even with the majority of Izuku’s face covered in bandages, Katsuki can still see the pained grimace etched in his face as he attempts to move in bed.

Izuku’s visible eye is closed, only having just woken up and still confused and unaware of Katsuki’s presence.

There is no time for Katsuki to feel relieved. Little pained grunts leave Izuku’s mouth, and that snaps Katsuki from his gawking and he immediately leans forward.

As gently as his usually dangerous and rough hands can manage, Katsuki grabs Izuku’s shoulders.

This wasn’t a very good idea, however, because Izuku’s eyes shoot open and he starts thrashing, his brain still left on the battlefield.

“Let-–mmph–”

“Izuku,” Katsuki breathes.

The thrashing stopped so suddenly that it definitely wasn’t good for the concussed hero.

“Izuku,” he repeats, “it’s me. You shouldn’t be moving that much right now. ..Calm down.”

The bedridden hero’s eyes dart everywhere, but it’s fruitless. He can’t see right now, one eye severely wounded and the other swollen and unfocused from the punch.

“K–k’cch–” Izuku’s voice is barely audible, slurred and raspy.

“Don’t speak. Damn it, Izuku– stop trying to talk!” Katsuki barks out when he sees the other man trying to open and close his mouth, oblivious to the fact that half his mouth is cut up and a small portion of it has been stitched.

Even though Katsuki should speak more gently to the injured Izuku, something tells him not to. He’s angry at Izuku, angry at the villain, angry at himself. He feels guilty, ashamed, protective, and a whirlwind of strong emotions he’s not used to feeling.

“Listen. You can’t speak right now, got that? You got stitches on your face and opening your mouth like a fucking fish is gonna tear them. …As for your eyes, well– Shit. They– your eyes are fucked up. Your right eye is only suffering from a bruise, so you should be able to see out of it soon. Your left–”

Katsuki needs to get it together. It’s uncharacteristic of him to stutter over his words like this. And is his voice cracking?

“Your left eye got cut. By glass. Some shit got damaged in your eyeball, and now you can’t see out of it.”

A pause. Izuku’s face was unreadable, squinting at Katsuki with limited vision. Katsuki briefly wonders if Izuku will ever stare at him with his big, annoyingly doe eyes with admiration ever again.

Then he remembers. This is Izuku. This fucking bastard will forgive Katsuki for anything he does, because that’s just the way he is. Katsuki could probably rip off his limbs and call it an accident and Izuku will just smile that fucking smile and say it’s okay.

“K’chn–”

“Fucking hell Izuku, stop talking…please.”

That shuts him up real quickly.

It’s quiet for a moment until Izuku suddenly widens his good eye at Katsuki. He can’t speak, so his hands shoot up to his hair and he maneuvers a few messy green strands to resemble spikes. Spikes in the same way that Kirishima styles his hair.

Katsuki sighs. “Shitty hair is fine. He’s not hurt. I made him go with the police and the captured villain to the station, so he’s busy handling shit over there. I had to stay back here and make sure you didn’t fucking die of blood loss. And before you ask, that woman we saved is fine too. She's over with Kirishima back at the station.

Izuku seems relieved at that response, but still tense. He lets go of his hair and brings a scarred hand to point at Katsuki.

“I’m fine too, you idiot. I’m not the one with half their face marred. Worry about yourself for a damn change.”

The face Izuku makes is too sincere, too caring and compassionate that Katsuki looks away for a brief moment.

He clears his throat. “You’re probably confused as shit right now. In case you don’t remember, that villain we faced used his quirk on you. It’s some sort of pain transfer quirk, activated through his saliva. The motherfucker licked you, so every injury he sustained went to you.”

Before Katsuki could continue, Izuku nodded knowingly.

That’s when the atmosphere of the room shifts. That’s when all of Katsuki’s worry and anxiety turns into anger and frustration.

“...you fucking knew.” Katsuki can’t help the humorless laugh that escapes him. “No, no– of fucking course. I shouldn’t be surprised. Typical Deku behavior.” The name slips out before he can think better of it, too aggravated to watch his wording.

He hasn’t called Izuku that degrading nickname in a long time. His heart doesn’t fucking twinge when he sees Izuku slightly wince. No the fuck it doesn’t.

“You knew what his quirk was, and you wanted to pull that self-sacrificing bullshit you love to do. Did you think I was going to thank you?”

Katsuki needs to stop. He knows that Izuku’s altruism isn’t an act. He knows that Izuku’s too kind and forgiving for his own good. He’s supposed to be apologizing and tending to Izuku’s needs right now, dammit.

Izuku’s expression is one full of pain now, both from his injuries and Katsuki’s words. His trembling hands slowly reach for Katsuki’s own, but he hesitates, setting them back down on the bed near Katsuki but not touching him.

Silence fills up the room. Katsuki sighs and takes Izuku’s hands. They’re too cold and pale for Katsuki’s liking, so he uses the slightest ounce of his quirk to warm them without hurting him. The small, thankful smile Izuku rewards him makes Katsuki feel like he can finally breathe again.

“I’m sorry,” Apologies from Katsuki’s mouth are still foreign, usually only reserved for Izuku. “I’m letting my anger get the best of me. We’ll save this conversation for later, okay? The nurses need to come check on you now that you’re awake. Don’t think you’re off the hook, you damn nerd.”

The enthusiastic nod from the bedridden hero brings out a huff from Katsuki, bringing his free hand out to gently ruffle Izuku’s hair, mindful of his wounds.

“Cut that out, ya idiot. You’re still concussed, quit doing harsh movements like that.”

He reluctantly pulls away and presses the call button.

—-------------------

Thankfully it didn’t take long for the quirk to fade out. Katsuki doesn’t know if Kirishima and the police back at the station finally managed to get that villain to cooperate, or if the time limit of his quirk finally reached its end.

An hour prior, the nurses had stopped by their room to check on Izuku, but everything they checked seemed fine. His blood pressure was a little low, but that’s to be expected due to the medication. Due to that side effect, Izuku was a little drowsy, his skin cold and clammy.

After the nurses left, the silence was no longer tense or uncomfortable. Katsuki glanced at Izuku, who seemed to be fighting sleep.

Their hands have barely left each other's grasp since they first interlinked, and Katsuki purposely continues to radiate his warmth to Izuku’s cold body. The sleepy smile Izuku gives him almost makes Katsuki lose control of his fucking quirk.

“Go to sleep, Izuku. We’ll talk about everything properly later. I can’t scold you when you look like you’re about to pass out.”

Izuku looked like he wanted to complain, but not even a minute later he was out like a light.

Katsuki used his free hand to check the time on his phone. Almost four in the morning, great. He ignores the missed messages from Kirishima and sets his phone back down.

Knowing that Izuku is safe with him and sleeping, Katsuki tries to get some shut eye himself.

He never should’ve taken his fucking eyes off Izuku. Katsuki is woken up yet again by the man, this time by his pained cries. He jolts up and immediately switches to alert mode. Izuku is awake, attempting to rip off his bandages desperately. He had already managed to remove some of them, his stitched wound finally visible for Katsuki to see.

Alarm bells ring in Katsuki’s head, and he shoots for the call button and slams it before whipping his head back towards Izuku. There are tears in the bedridden hero’s eyes as he continues to mess with his bandages and aggravate his injuries.

“”Izuku, what the FUCK– What are you doing?! Stop–”

“K’chn– it hurts, s’mthin is happenin–”

Katsuki grabs onto his wrists and swiftly pulls them down, away from his head. By then enough bandages have been ripped off where the majority of his face is visible– and gruesome to look at. The look of his face is definitely going to fuel Katsuki’s future nightmares.

As much as he wants to look away, he scans Izuku’s face to find the problem. That’s when he sees the edges of the cut dilating in size and changing shape. He watches as a few stitches fall out against their will at the harsh movement of the wound. Blood trickles down the aggravated wound, and the skin surrounding the cut is red. The tears from Izuku’s eyes get mixed with the blood, running down his face and getting in his mouth.

“Kacchan..” Izuku rasps, still barely able to talk. “--hurts.”

The EKG’s loud beeping displays Izuku’s frantic heartrate, making the situation much more overwhelming and horrifying.

“Shit, fuck– okay. Hang on, somebody is coming to help. No, don’t do that–” He grips onto Izuku more firmly when the other starts attempting to pull away from Katsuki.

Katsuki doesn’t know what the fuck is happening. He doesn’t know whether this is a good thing or a bad thing. Is the quirk’s effect trying to leave his body? Why the fuck is it changing shape like that? What other explanation could there be, unless– Unless somebody is inflicting more injuries on the villain.

No. Katsuki forces himself to calm down, struggling to prevent his hands from sparking with rage and worry. That’s not what's happening. Katsuki gave them strict orders to not lay a hand on that bastard until he turns off his damn quirk. Surely they aren’t incompetent enough to defy Katsuki’s orders.

“W-what’s happening, Ka–” Blood and tears pool in his mouth, making it even more difficult to talk than it was before.

The stupid fucking nurse finally arrives and their eyes widen at the unexpected scene. They immediately rush to Izuku’s side and swiftly dial for backup.

“Do something, dammit! Make whatever’s happening stop!” Katsuki barks, eyes still locked on Izuku’s.

The cut on his face starts to slowly close on its own, making more stitches fall out and Izuku groan in agonizing pain. The process is painfully slow, making it more excruciating for Izuku to withstand. The feeling of his skin molding back together and forcefully removing well stitched material at such a slow speed is its own form of torture.

More staff members rush in and hurry to Izuku’s side, but it’s useless. Nobody can do anything but watch the quirk work its cruel magic.

“The wound is closing up on its own,” an astounded nurse comments.

No fucking shit, Katsuki angrily thinks to himself.

“Izuku, just– calm down. I know this is fucking torture, but it’ll–”

He’s cut off when an excruciating scream rips from Izuku’s throat.

Izuku’s messed up eye is now closed and drenched in blood, his corneal abrasion starting to make his eye swell and more purple than it already was. Whatever is going on in his eye right now is evidently the worst part of this sudden healing process.

“Hand,” Izuku gasps. Katsuki stares at him with distress and confusion.

“Hand–” he repeats again, desperately. Katsuki figures out what he’s asking for and grabs hold of Izuku’s twitching fingers. He interlinks them and rubs soothing motions with his thumb.

Everybody in the room is helpless as they watch the hero endure the pain and the cut slowly close in. They cannot do much but clean up the ripped bandages and stitches and staunch the bleeding.

A minute goes by, but to Katsuki it feels like hours. Eventually the screams die out and Izuku is left a shaking, bloody mess.

One of the nurses leaves to fetch the doctor, and the others are walking around the room and grabbing things to help Izuku.

Katsuki stays rooted to his spot beside his bed.

The EKG’s beeping has started to calm down, mimicking Izuku’s exhaustion and newfound calmness. The hand that was once gripping Katsuki’s so tightly has gone limp. Katsuki still doesn’t let go.

By now, all of the stitches have been forcefully removed from his skin, leaving it red and agitated. The cut is gone, no scar left behind. The swelling around Izuku’s punched eye has gone down, but the other one remains closed. The blood stops gushing out of his now nonexistent cut and one of the nurses gently cleans up whatever’s left of it.

“Izuku, look at me.” With only one half lidded eye, Izuku sluggishly turns to face Katsuki’s.

“It’s all over,” Katsuki uncharacteristically reassures. “The worst of it has passed. You’re going to be okay.”

Izuku tries to open his mouth and respond, but his throat is raw from screaming. He resorts to a tired smile.

It’s all a blur after that. Katsuki talks to Izuku with such tenderness that the staff in the room can’t help but stare at them as they walk around.

One of the nurses tries to speak to him, but it’s no use. His half open eye is just locked on Katsuki, as if everything else in the world doesn’t exist. Katsuki doesn’t realize it, but he seems to be doing the same thing.

A doctor comes in and snaps Katsuki out of it, but Izuku had passed out again by that point.

—-------------------

The early sun has started to rise when Izuku finally wakes up. It’s around six in the morning when he opens his eyes, both of them this time, and looks around.

“Morning, nerd.”

Izuku isn’t really surprised to see Katsuki still next to him. Whenever one of the two gets hospitalized, it has become normal for the other to stay by their side until they are discharged. It’s been a while since it has happened, though, with Izuku’s hiatus and lack of villains strong enough to put Katsuki in a hospital.

“Kacchan..” his voice is painfully raspy, but he’s able to speak properly.

“You sound like shit.” Katsuki murmurs as he passes the other a cup of water, to which Izuku gratefully takes.

As Izuku chugs the water, Katsuki fills him in on what happened.

“The huge cut on your face has disappeared. Creepy as shit, by the way. It fucking changed shape for a long ass time before vanishing. The doctor says that you’re still suffering from a concussion, since the villain didn’t do that, but otherwise you should be out of the woods. How’s your eye?”

Izuku’s vision is a bit hazy and his eyes ache a little, but overall he feels a whole lot better. “I can see again.. My vision is just a bit blurred and stuff, but that’s all. What does it look like from your perspective?"

“It’s all ugly and bloodshot, but that’s just the after effects of the quirk. Thank whatever fucking deity out there that you can see again– the fact that you could’ve been permanently blind was driving me crazy.”

“Yeah..”

“By the way,” Katsuki continues, “Kirishima stopped by to visit you around two hours ago, but you were still passed out and doing that ugly snore you always do. He left not too long ago. Also, that fucking villain has been taken care of. He’ll be locked up until he’s old and wrinkly, that’s for sure.”

When it’s obvious Izuku finished his water, holding it awkwardly in his lap, Katsuki wordlessly takes it from him and sets it down on the nearby desk.

“I’m glad both you and Kirishima are okay, but Kacchan– have you gotten any sleep? From what I can see out the window, it’s practically the next morning.”

“Not a wink.”

“Kacchan!”

“Izuku. Did you really think I would be able to sleep after the shit you pulled? You’re seriously going to be the death of me, you know that? The way you were bleeding out back at the store, the way you looked lifeless when you were unconscious in your hospital bed, the way your wounds tortured you when they were closing up– that shit was fucking nightmare fuel. I’ve basically been having a heart attack all fucking night with the scares you kept giving me.”

“...Kacch-”

“Oh, and of course there’s the fact that I am the reason you suffered through all of that in the first place. Hope you didn’t forget about that.”

“Nothing was your fault, Kacchan. I don’t blame you for any of it, because you didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Don’t try to feed me that bullshit. Yeah, the villain was the one who quirked you, but I was the one who injured you. I was an idiot who slashed at that fucker’s face, and now look what happened. I made a fucking promise that I would never hurt you again, and I broke it.”

“You didn’t know what his quirk was,” Izuku exasperates. “I had an idea of what I was getting into when I made him use his quirk on me instead of you. Maybe I shouldn’t have reacted impulsively like that, but just know: I would do it again in a heartbeat if it meant you’d be safe.”

Katsuki glares at him. “There’s no use arguing with you, dammit. You’re the most stubborn guy I know. I'm sorry, Izuku. I've hurt you yet again. I don’t care what you say, don’t do that shit again. I can take care of myself just fine. You lookin’ down on me, you damn nerd?”

“....Wouldn’t you do the same?”

There’s no hesitation in Katsuki’s answer. “Of fucking course I would, but that doesn’t make it okay for you to do it. You.. you don’t understand what I’d do if something bad happened to you again.”

“The same goes for me, Kacchan. I’m sorry I worried you.”

“Whatever.”

Both heroes stare at each other, a small smile on both of their faces knowing that things are going to be okay. They’re both still on the journey of recovering, Katsuki mentally and Izuku both physically and mentally, but they’ll recover together, and come back stronger.

“...Wow. You guys are seriously crazy for each other, I hope you know that.”

Katsuki and Izuku whip their heads around to face the new voice.

“KIRISHIMA??”

“Why the FUCK are you here again?”

“No seriously,” Kirishima ignores them and continues, “There’s absolutely nothing normal or platonic about confessing that you’d basically murder for each other. Also, hey Midoriya! Glad you’re awake. You really scared us, man.”

“Shitty Hair, I swear I will blast you into so many pieces you’ll be hospitalized in the room next door.”

Izuku remains silent and turns a concerning shade of red.

“Yo, you finally got some color back on your face! When I stopped by a while ago, you were as white as a sheet of paper.” Kirishima laughs.

However, Katsuki is still worried as fuck and finds no humor in this.

“Izuku, what now? Are you getting sick? Are you in pain again? Dammit Izuku– talk to me.”

“I’m fine–” Izuku squeaks from where he hides his face behind his scarred hands.

Kirishima’s tearing up from laughter by now, mindful to watch his volume so he doesn’t disrupt the whole damn hospital.

“Kirishima, shut the fuck up and call the doctor!” Katsuki barks out, oblivious to the real reason behind Izuku’s flustered state.

Hey, he may not be an idiot to his own feelings, but he’s still clueless about Izuku’s.

….Yeah, things will be okay. Eventually.