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The morning starts out as any other. Izuku wakes up, tends to the fire that has grown weaker during the night, and washes his face at the small water basin next to the stove. When he pulls his day tunic over his head, he starts wondering why Katsuki still isn’t up.
Usually they wake up roughly at the same time, roused by the sounds of the other moving about if nothing else. But now Katsuki is still under the covers, not in any apparent hurry to go anywhere.
“Kacchan? Are you awake?”
A groan is heard. Katsuki’s face peeks out from between the covers and he switches into a half-seated position, supported on his elbow. His face is red and his eyes seem…glassy.
Izuku asks no more questions, kneeling next to Katsuki and pressing a hand on his forehead.
“You have a fever.”
“No kiddin’.”
Katsuki’s voice is even rougher than usual, and Izuku suppresses a shiver at the sound. His throat must be very sore.
Izuku gets some hot water and hands it to Katsuki as a quick solution. While he is gulping down the water, Izuku makes a decision.
“You should stay in today. I’ll go to the village and get you some medicine, and then I’ll take care of today’s work.”
The way Katsuki just plops back on the bedding without arguing is an unmissable sign that he really is feeling unwell.
“Just sleep now, okay?” Izuku tells him as he puts on more layers, preparing to brave the biting wind outside. “I’ll be back soon.”
After checking the fire once more to make sure it won’t go out anytime soon, Izuku exits the little house. Katsuki’s wolf is waiting right outside the door. The animal can clearly sense something is going on, and Izuku scratches the good spot behind his ear reassuringly.
“Kacchan’s not feeling well today,” he explains. “I’m going to get some medicine for him, so you need to watch that he doesn’t try to work or something. You can nibble him if he doesn’t listen to you.”
The wolf lets out a playful bark and Izuku ruffles his fur with a laugh. Then, he turns back to the house and slides his fingers across a wooden plaque at the side of the door. It’s a simple carving that just announces the name of the residence: Bakugou family. Touching the plaque upon leaving the house and returning is believed to bring good luck and protect the inhabitants from catching malicious spirits.
Izuku summons his ram and attaches the steering ropes before leaping on his back. An average sheep in his flock wouldn’t be able to carry him, but Izuku’s ram is special, more than equipped to carry his weight and move nearly as fast as a horse of a similar size.
The village isn’t too far, but the biting wind makes Izuku’s eyes leak as he digs deeper into the high collar of his coat. When he finally dismounts near the gates, he has to take his leather mitten off to wipe at his wet, cold cheeks. The strands of hair that poke out from Izuku’s hat around his face are frozen white, having caught the moisture from his exhales.
No wonder Kacchan caught a cold when the weather has been like this recently.
Izuku buys the medicine without staying for idle chit chat, not wanting to keep Kacchan waiting. However, he does want to make a small detour before returning home. He steers his ram to a house slightly west of the village, where he is greeted by two wolves. Leaving his ride outside, Izuku takes off his glove and caresses the plaque, which is attached to the outer gate instead of the main house entrance. Whereas the sign on Izuku and Katsuki’s house is new with sharp angles, this one is smooth and worn, the characters rendered nearly illegible due to thousands of hands running over the surface over the years.
Izuku hopes to see his and Katsuki’s plaque like this one day.
When he opens the door, a woman holding a pile of quilts greets him from across the room.
“Good morning, Izuku. It’s unusual to see you visit…all on your own?” she peers curiously to see that Katsuki isn’t anywhere to be seen.
“Aunt Mitsuki, I… I’d like to ask you a favour,” Izuku says, doing his best to dispel the nervousness he still feels talking to his in-laws.
“Even more unusual,” she says after a brief pause. She puts the quilts down and motions for Izuku to have a seat on a cushion as she fetches hot tea to serve her guest.
“Well, I hope my son hasn’t made a fool of himself?”
“No, not at all. It’s just that he’s not feeling well today. I don’t think it’s too serious, but I told him to rest and got some medicine for him. Only…” Izuku fiddles with the cup in his hands.
“Would you teach me how to make that milk you always used to give him when he was sick as a child?”
Izuku can’t help but feel a bit lacking as a spouse that he waited until now to find out the recipe when he had years of engagement to do it. However, for much of that time Katsuki was less than enthused about the union agreed upon by their families, and any attempts to learn more about him led to accusations of Izuku trying to find weaknesses to use to his advantage.
Aunt Mitsuki’s lips curl in a smile that is somehow simultaneously sweet and a bit frightening, like a remarkably friendly vixen.
“Of course, Izuku. I’ll tell you everything you need to know.”
When Izuku comes home, he’s pleased to find Katsuki still lying down, although he does sit up as Izuku starts shedding the outermost layers of his clothes, patting at them to get rid of the accumulated snow.
“Have you been taking it easy like I told you to?”
“”Fur-for-brains ambushed me as soon as I put my head out the door.”
“I’ll have to give him an extra treat today, then.”
Katsuki mutters something incomprehensible in response, but Izuku can hear from his tone that it’s not really meant to be something to continue the conversation. Instead, he leaves Katsuki to hopefully doze off again and focuses on the task ahead.
Izuku starts heating the milk as he prepares the other ingredients Aunt Mitsuki told him about. He grinds some black pepper and cardamom in a mortar, watching the milk closely as he works to avoid burning it. It takes some digging, but he finds the thing he knew he still had somewhere: a jar of ground turmeric, one of the many wedding gifts. As soon as he pops the lid open, the orange powder begins to tickle his nose and he can barely hold back a sneeze. He uses a wooden spoon to measure everything and drops the ingredients in the milk just as it begins to boil.
Then there’s just one more thing.
Aunt Mitsuki gave him a pinch of a secret spice mix that has apparently been handed down from generation to generation in the Bakugou family. Izuku isn’t quite sure what it contains, but as he looks at the mix of ground spices, the colour looks quite…angry, for the lack of a better word. He’s tempted to smell it to try and figure it out, but he’s worried that accidentally inhaling the concoction would put a wrench in his cooking project, so he decides to acquire the recipe later. For now, he adds the mixture in the milk and admires the way it adds a new shade to the beautiful colour of the turmeric.
As Izuku stirs the golden milk, he glances at Katsuki, who has been tossing and turning every few minutes but not really saying anything. Katsuki’s nose must be completely blocked, otherwise he would certainly pick up on the familiar scent of the potent spices.
After a few minutes, Izuku pours some of the golden liquid into a cup and finishes the beverage with a tiny pinch of salt and a dollop of honey.
“Kacchan,” he says as he approaches the bed, “I made you this.”
Katsuki turns to look at Izuku blearily, eyes wandering for a moment before focusing on the cup in Izuku’s hands. He pulls himself into a sitting position with some difficulty, shivering a bit when his back is exposed to air. As soon as Katsuki takes the cup from him, Izuku wastes no time to pull another quilt from the side and throw it around Katsuki’s shoulders.
Art by blazing
Katsuki sniffles and takes a tentative sip of the drink.
“You went to the hag.”
It’s not an accusation, merely a statement, but Izuku feels like shuffling on his seat regardless.
“Haha, yeah… I remembered you used to drink this when you were a kid, so…” he trails off. “Did I make it right?”
“I can’t taste much of anything,” Katsuki scoffs, “but the look of it is the same.”
Izuku takes the medicine from his pocket and opens a corner of the paper pouch, handing it to Katsuki. The offer is accepted wordlessly, Katsuki pouring the bitter powder down his throat and then washing it down with another sip of the milk. He makes a face and Izuku laughs softly.
“Thought you said you couldn’t taste anything.”
“This shit is so nasty I’d feel it even if you cut my tongue out.”
Izuku wishes he could stay like this the whole day, fussing over Katsuki and making sure he’s as comfortable as possible. But he has work to do, two persons’ worth of it now that one half of their team is down. Their flock can’t just take care of itself, and the brutal winter doesn’t pause to let some human have a sick day. He still remembers the time he got a stomach bug not long after the wedding, and Katsuki had to handle everything while Izuku couldn’t hold anything inside him for several days. It was far from how he wanted to start his married life, and he found himself apologising repeatedly.
Katsuki’s words back then stayed on Izuku’s mind.
“Quit talking like that. It’s give and take, right? Sometimes it’s you who needs help, and sometimes it’s me. I didn’t say those long-ass vows just for show.”
It was the first time Katsuki ever openly talked about accepting any kind of help from Izuku. Washing the empty cup, Izuku smiles at the memory. While he hopes that Katsuki will get better soon, a part of him revels in being depended on a bit every now and then.
To get the best of both worlds, he decides that he should make Katsuki a hat.