Work Text:
Deku hits the ice hard, head bouncing with a dull thud that makes Katsuki wince. For a heart stopping second he thinks Deku is going to stand back up. Then the ice shatters like glass and Deku is sucked under, a messy crust of blood still clinging to the jagged edges of the hole’s rim.
Katsuki throws off his gauntlets and neck brace before he can even think about it. The villain is going to get away. Has already reached the other end of the bridge in the time it takes Katsuki to climb onto the ledge. It doesn’t matter.
Out of the corner of his eye he sees Kirishima round the corner and skid to a stop.
“Get the shithead!” Katsuki yells over his shoulder, “I’m getting Deku.”
Then he jumps.
He distantly hears Kirishima yell something before his steel toed boots crack a larger hole in the icy river, then freezing water rushes over his head. The air is forced from his lungs, the strong current sending him ass over teakettle in a way that almost makes him panic before he forces his stinging eyes open—squints in the inky water and kicks up towards the circle of light. Katsuki breaks the surface of the opaque water and gulps three chest rattling breaths. There’s no sign of Deku. He can’t see shit. Fuck, fuck. He ducks his head under water again. Still nothing. His fingers curl painfully around the lip of the hole as his eyes scan the water, looking for something, anything when—there! About four meters away. Deku’s red shoes poke out of the shadowy reeds.
Katsuki flips upside down, legs coiled under him, and pushes off the ice with all his might. It’s worryingly weak, legs heavy and sluggish. Despite the shock of cold, his hind brain remembers what his body had forgotten, and Katsuki forces his arms into a streamline, uncurling his fingers into a straight line that slices through the water and kicks like crazy. He cuts through the water, past the tangle of weeds, past the floating laces of those god awful red shoes, until he sees the unnatural glint of Deku’s pale, pale, moon face, arms floating weightlessly. Katsuki seizes him around the chest, adjusts for the extra weight, and pushes off the muddy river floor. Fatigue pulls at his muscles, legs flimsy, he can’t feel his arms anymore, but there’s no way he’s letting go of Deku. He pulls him in closer until he feels an icy cheek knock against his own. Kicks harder.
None too quickly a ring of light appears. Further away than Katsuki remembered, the current had pushed them farther than he’d thought. His chest burns, pressure in his lungs bubbling up and fighting to escape his mouth, he needs to use his quirk. Katsuki forced frozen fingers through the back of Deku’s belt and across his waist to grab his hip. Then extends his other arm, and locks it, taking aim.
Water violently rushes past them, and then suddenly is gone. They shoot out of the hole and skid across coarse ice, Katsuki turning his shoulder to take the brunt of the jagged surface. His lungs scream as he pulls in air, puffing loudly into Deku’s neck.
“H-hey asshole, can you hear me?”
Deku doesn’t answer. His eyes are closed, eyelashes clumped together, and face deathly pale. Fear creeps up Katsuki’s throat like acid.
“Deku?”
Katsuki shakes his shoulder as well as he can in their current position. Still no answer.
There’s no time for a steadying breath, so Katsuki doesn’t take one, instead he judges the distance to the shore and aims his arm for another burst of his quirk.
“Ok. It’s alright, nerd. I’ve got you.
They hit the snowbank hard, Katsuki’s shoulder jolting painfully at the impact, and a sharp cry makes it’s way past his lips.
He forces his stiff limbs to pull Deku up the bank and into the glow of a streetlight, basic first aid training running double time through his head. Katsuki gently tilts his chin up, and listens for air. Then he pinches his nose shut and breathes two breaths into Deku’s mouth. His stomach rises and falls, then Katsuki administers two more and waits, checking for air escaping through his nose or mouth. But there isn’t anything, Deku’s body isn’t taking the prompting to breath. Katsuki curses and locks his fingers over the nerd’s chest.
He grits his teeth and counts compressions in his head, and doesn’t think about how different it feels to do this to a person instead of the training dummy. The difference between the smooth plastic surface of the dummy against Deku’s frigid chest. On the second round of compressions Katsuki’s hands fumble and he falls against Deku with a cry. Relacing his fingers is difficult, the digits stiff and uncooperative but he manages it, finishing the round of compressions and sealing his mouth over Deku’s again.
This time, Deku makes a wet, gurgling noise and spits up mossy water into Katsuki’s mouth. Katsuki immediately flips him on his side and lifts his shoulder to help him spit it out. Deku flinches violently and curls in on himself, throwing up brackish water in shuttering heaves. The snow where his head was laying a watery pink.
“That’s it, get it out.” Katsuki mutters under his breath, rubbing Deku’s back with a clumsy hand. Deku doesn’t answer, but a minute nod tells Katsuki he heard him.
He needs to get them up, he needs to get them to a hospital, but he knows if he stands up he’s going to fall back onto the nerd. Feels like he just went twenty rounds with Cementoss. Instead he pulls Deku up between his legs and leans him against his chest, locking stiff arms around his waist. The cold and adrenaline leave him shaking, and his nose finds its way into Deku’s neck.
Katsukis hunches down more and pulls the other boy further between his legs, trying to share their minimal body heat.“You s-stupid idiot. What was I g-gonna tell your mom, h-huh?”
Deku hums back noncommittally, green eyes open and glassy. He’ll send up a flare soon but for now his sluggish brain tells him to breathe, to match his breath to Deku’s and let that settle the thrumming panic under his skin. Snow falls lazily around them and he can distantly hear the sound of water lapping against the lip of the hole they made. Then further off the sound of hurried footsteps.
“Bakugou! Midoriya!”
Kirishima bursts into his vision in a flash of red, dropping to his knees. He quickly detaches his costume’s skirt and spreads it around Katsuki’s shoulders, the residual heat of it making him flinch before he settles back into it.
“I called an ambulance.” Kirishima says quickly, “they should be here soon.”
Katsuki nods and tries to say something but finds that his jaw won’t open, glued shut from too much chattering. Instead he opens his hands as much as he can and motions for Kirishima to come closer. It takes a moment and several angry grunts from Katsuki before understanding crosses his face and the redhead presses himself against Deku; wrapping one arm around Katsuki’s back and the other he sinks into soaking blond locks.
They must feel agonizingly frigid against Kirishima’s bare chest, but to his credit he doesn’t pull away or flinch back, just hugs them tighter and tucks Katsuki’s head under his chin.
“I didn’t see him go in,” Kirishima’s voice says wetly, “god, I didn’t even know.”
They stay huddled together like that until the blinding lights of the ambulances and EMTs force them apart.