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Izuku takes one step away from the desk and freezes in his path.
No Quirks for twenty-four hours. Doctor’s orders.
He doesn't have his phone or his cards on him, and he's pretty sure no one knows he's in the hospital. Even for quick visits and smaller injuries, it seems like there is always someone from his old U.A class poking their heads in to make sure that he’s okay, but this fight had been smaller and at night with no publicity. He wasn't even rostered on, he'd just been on a late-night walk to clear his head when Danger Sense had rung out, he’d gone to the scene, and he'd been hit by some kind of Quirk that messed up his own in the ensuing fight.
The doctors have assured him it's temporary, but it just makes his Quirk volatile for a short period. He's also spoken to the other One For All users after the fight had happened, but they'd also told him to lay off the Quirks for the rest of the night.
Izuku might have only half-listened and did, in fact, try and use Blackwhip to get to the hospital, but it had fizzled out mid-swing, and he'd ungracefully eaten dirt. Banjo had laughed at him, clasped his shoulder in a comforting assurance, and then told him to knock it off. It'd come back, he said. Just rest for the night.
Sure, Izuku isn’t the best at listening to doctors’ orders. He’s also not the best at listening to Banjo. But when both of them are telling him the same thing, he supposes he kind of has to listen.
But now it means he can’t use Blackwhip or Float or anything of One for All, and that means he has a few issues. Right now, the most pressing one is the means of transportation.
He'd walked to the hospital because it had been close enough to the fight scene, and he had an injury on his arm that needed some attention, but now his apartment is quite a while away. At least an hour or so of walking. It's too late and too early for public transport, getting a taxi will likely be painful and will also probably tip off the media that something is wrong, and Izuku does not want to deal with that storm when it's likely his One for All will be back within a day.
It's probably too far to walk, he can't use his Quirks unless he wants Banjo and En smacking him over the head, he doesn't have the payment methods for other transport, and there are no alternatives getting home unless he has someone come to pick him up.
He turns back around, giving the kind staff member a bright but sheepish smile. "Um, I'm sorry, is there possibly a phone I can use?"
She points him towards the end of the hallway, and if he narrows his eyes, he can see the faint shape of a phone connected to the wall. "Just that way."
"Thanks!" He says, quickly making his way over to it.
The problem is that Izuku doesn't actually tend to memorise many numbers. He just saves contacts into his phone, and they usually transfer over every time he's had to get a new phone. There are a couple he's memorised, however: his mum's, Toshinori's, and Kacchan's.
He'd memorised Kacchan's mostly for reasons related to their little feud. Friendly, for the most part, just little pranks and competitive snarking between them — but he's memorised Kacchan's in case he ever needs an ultimate trump-card move to release. He hasn't used it yet, but he's been preparing for it, waiting to unleash it the moment Kacchan thinks he's won.
He doesn't want to wake his mum, who he knows is sleeping between her shifts. He doesn't want to disturb Toshinori either. He doesn't even want to disturb Kacchan, but — but he knows Kacchan is on night shift, and he'll be able to do this when he has a spare moment between his tasks. And he knows Kacchan has synced up his personal phone to his work communications as well, so he'll be the most likely to actually receive the call.
He takes a deep breath to psyche himself up before he reaches out for the phone and takes it off the wall. He presses it to his ear, a faint ringing echoing through the speaker. He presses each number slowly, like he's waiting for some kind of excuse to magically manifest in front of him so that he doesn't disturb Kacchan, but he presses in the last number and the sound of ringing changes into a dialling tone.
Pressing his lips together, his cheeks puff out as he holds his breath and waits. He should probably hang up, he can definitely just walk, in fact, and maybe it'll be worth the smacks upside the head from Banjo and En, but he can probably swing a couple of times and get home faster that way. He doesn't have to worry or disturb anyone.
He's about to put the phone back on the hook when the call connects.
He can absolutely still hang up, he tells himself. Kacchan will just think it was one of those spam calls, or accidental, and he won't be able to track the number back to this phone anyway. Actually, he probably could, and then he'd realise it was from a hospital, and then he'd just get angry about the fact someone in a hospital hung up on him, so—
The other end of the phone is silent. Kacchan is waiting to see who it is before he speaks.
Izuku releases his breath in one big gush after having realised he's been holding it for too long. The sound of it, louder than he intended, is what gives him away.
"Deku?" Kacchan asks, almost tentatively, after a silent second between them.
"Hey, Kacchan," Izuku winces, because he's definitely just lost every chance he has at hanging up now.
"The fuck are you calling me at 3 AM for?" Kacchan asks, voice a lot more alert now. The wince doesn't leave Izuku's face, because he's definitely just made Kacchan worry — even with his more gruff exterior, Izuku has spent a very long time learning about all the things that Kacchan really means.
"I'm, ah, I'm really okay! I'm just at the hospital for... uh... something. Nothing bad! But I don't have my phone. Or my wallet. And I... um... don't have a way back home other than walking," Izuku explains in a rush, hoping the words blend together to the point he isn't questioned about why he's in the hospital right now without his phone or wallet. "So... can you please come get me?"
Kacchan lets out a breath that might be a sigh. Izuku expects, despite his best attempts, to be questioned about what's led him here — and why he's decided to call Kacchan of all people, and why he can't just use his Quirks to get back.
Instead, all Kacchan says is: "Yeah, alright. You're at Central?"
"I am," Izuku quietly confirms, taken aback by Kacchan's easy acceptance. He definitely expected a lot more questioning, or even Kacchan possibly saying wait, I'm in the middle of a fight, give me an hour — he knows Kacchan would've helped him home, or at worst ordered a ride for him if he really couldn't, but he's just surprised by the way that Kacchan has replied.
"Be out the front in fifteen," Kacchan says, and then hangs up.
"Okay," Izuku says into an unresponsive receiver, and hangs up the phone with that quiet kind of shock still ringing inside of him. He knows Kacchan has mellowed out, but usually his concern will make him loud and close to abrasive again. Izuku's just not quite sure what to think of his reaction.
He decides to just wait outside now, rather than sitting in the waiting room and staring at the clock. It's quiet at this hour anyway, so he doesn't think it's going to be too much of a risk to linger outside — he thankfully also wore a jacket, which hadn't been too damaged in the fight, and the sleeve is hanging on well enough to cover up the bandages. It's not a bad wound, just something that required a couple of stitches, but he decides it's better safe than sorry when it comes to his arms these days.
He tugs his jacket a little tighter around himself once he steps out into the night air. It's definitely not going to escape Kacchan's attention, but he almost hopes Kacchan will keep on his strange behaviour and not ask about it.
It's quiet and still outside, and Izuku walks up and down the front pathway a couple of times just for something to do, trying to expel some of the nervous energy that's starting to wind him up now. He ceases his walking when he feels the users inside of him stir, certain that one of them is going to manifest and tell him to relax, so he forces himself to stand still and watch the road, waiting for any sign of headlights or any other kind of sign that means Kacchan is approaching.
He's not sure how long it's been, but he has a feeling it's exactly fifteen minutes since he hung up that Kacchan's car pulls up to the front of the hospital. He feels incredibly aware of himself as he walks up to it, knowing he's backlit by the lights of the hospital and lit at the front by the headlights, and Kacchan is probably staring directly at him. He can't see into the car, so he keeps his gaze mostly down as he approaches the passenger side of the car and opens up the door.
"You fucked your arm," Kacchan says in greeting, reaching up to hit the inner light so that Izuku can't hide in the darkness of the early morning.
So much for hoping Kacchan wasn't going to say anything about it. So much for thinking he could even try and hide it.
Izuku grunts as he sits down on the seat and tugs his seatbelt on, hoping it'll urge Kacchan to turn the light off and start driving. "Only a little. Not like, nerve damage. Just like... a small wound. A papercut, pretty much."
Kacchan turns to look at him, unimpressed. He's in his hero costume, though the head pieces have all been put in the centre console for now. Izuku stares back, but he can only hold it for a moment before he breaks.
"Okay, a little bigger than a paper cut. I was just in the hospital to make sure it didn't do any further damage, and it didn't, so. That's good!" Izuku says, voice getting weaker as he goes on. He kind of feels like an idiot, actually. He definitely could have just walked home from the scene — sure, it might have been close to forty minutes, but at least he'd be home and licking his own wounds. He even probably could have stitched it himself if it came down to it.
Kacchan looks down at Izuku's arm, like he's making sure of Izuku's words, before he nods. "Good."
Izuku blinks at him, but Kacchan just reaches up and finally switches the light off and takes his foot off the brake, focusing back on the road now as he pulls out from the hospital.
"Is One for All okay?" Kacchan asks, quickly glancing over at Izuku. He doesn't sound too worried though, as he's probably pieced together it's nothing that drastic by Izuku's own current behaviour.
"It's alright," Izuku confirms. "Banjo smacked me upside the head no less than an hour ago."
"Deserved," Kacchan snorts, shoulders clearly still dropping in relief with the verbal confirmation.
"It wasn't," Izuku defends, even though he knows it's probably true. He's sure Banjo agrees. Kacchan doesn't ask any further about it, but Izuku feels the need to explain his current predicament anyway, as he speaks again. "I kind of just got hit by a wayward Quirk. Makes One for All fluctuate and disappear randomly, probably for the next twenty-four hours."
"Banjo smacked you upside the head because you still tried to use Blackwhip, right?" Kacchan figures, not even really a question as it seems like he's already sure of the answer.
"Shut up," Izuku replies, folding his arms and looking out the window. He does not need the reminder of eating dirt, and he does not appreciate the fact that Kacchan is probably mentally picturing it as well — which is only confirmed by the fact that Kacchan snorts in amusement at something, so it's likely that mental image.
The only sound between them for a while is the sound of the lowly-playing radio until Kacchan breaks it a few minutes in.
"Did you lie to me or somethin'?" Kacchan asks.
Izuku, who's been staring out the window watching all the buildings go by, whips his head around in surprise. "What?"
"You're anxious as fuck. Did you lie?" Kacchan presses.
"Huh? About One for All and Banjo? I wish," Izuku whistles out.
"No, idiot," Kacchan says.
Izuku cuts in before Kacchan can speak again. "My arm? It's fine, really! They didn't even prescribe me anything than standard painkillers."
"Right. So you're not lying. Then why are you so anxious?" Kacchan asks.
Izuku mumbles, "I don't know. I'm not," which is hardly convincing.
Kacchan is silent. Izuku knows what he's doing — knows that Kacchan is just hoping to get Izuku to spill more to fill the silence. And despite knowing it, it still makes him sweat. Still makes him open his mouth to fill in the quiet.
"I just... I feel bad calling for you to pick me up. I could have walked," Izuku mutters.
"It would have taken you an hour at best to walk home," Kacchan points out. “And people would’ve seen your sorry ass in this state.”
"Yeah, I know," Izuku replies. "But there's nothing really wrong with me, and you're on shift, but your number was kind of one of the only ones I actually memorised, and..."
"You were going to hang up just before I answered. You were actually just going to fucking walk, weren't you?"
"Maybe," Izuku mumbles, not ever quite able to lie to Kacchan, especially not when it seems like Kacchan already knows every answer.
"Christ, Izuku," Kacchan breathes out, shaking his head. "Every time I think you're almost out of that shitty mindset, you do something to prove me otherwise."
"At least I didn't hang up?" Izuku tentatively points out.
Kacchan glances over at him again. "You literally were going to. Alright, first of all, tonight has been boring as fuck. Nights always are. You know this. Even if they're not, then I don't want to hear it as an excuse for you to not call when shit like this happens. Don't think you're somehow below the help that you willingly give out to everyone else."
Izuku breathes out a long, long breath. "Working on it."
Kacchan sighs. "Yeah, I know."
They both know that a few years ago, he wouldn't have considered calling anyone at all. He would have just made the walk thinking it was truly his only option to make sure he wasn't burdening anyone else.
Kacchan looks over at him. "You got painkillers?"
Izuku looks down at his hands, his discharge papers currently folded and held between his fingers, mouth turning down as he thinks it over. "I think so."
Kacchan's stare is blank as he looks at Izuku. "Jesus, that’s not reassuring. Alright. We'll swing by mine then."
It's on the way, halfway between the hospital and Izuku's own apartment, so at least he knows it's nothing out of the way. Still, he frowns. "You're on duty right now."
"You're a civilian right now, dumbass. You are my duty," Kacchan retorts.
The words knock the air from Izuku's lungs. Right — right. He can't use his Quirks right now. He's not helpless, but he does need some help.
"Oh," he says.
The air is quiet again between them, but it's not uncomfortable. Izuku watches the buildings pass by, and he feels exhaustion tugging at the back of his mind, his body sinking into the seat and considering becoming part of the car. He'd originally gone on the walk to clear his mind and help tire out his body so that he'd be able to sleep, and now it's like it's hitting him all at once.
"Alright. Come up with me," Kacchan says, startling Izuku from his daydreams. They're in Kacchan's apartment's carpark, and Izuku sits up in surprise, not having realised they've already made it so far. Kacchan could probably head up to the apartment on his own and come back down, but it seems like he wants Izuku to go with him, so he unclips his seatbelt and follows Kacchan out of the car and to the elevator.
They make it into Kacchan's apartment — always neat and tidy, but there are a couple of signs of the slight rush he'd been in making it to his shift, like the shirt thrown over the back of one of the chairs. Kacchan goes over to it immediately after taking off his shoes and switching on a light, grumbling at himself for his apparent half-asleep mistake.
"I need to find the painkillers. Sit down on the couch before your tired ass falls," Kacchan says, gesturing to the red couch that's in the middle of the room. Not willing to argue, Izuku goes over to it and sits down, immediately letting his head rest back as he melts into the couch. It's stupidly comfy. Better than Izuku's own by a ridiculous amount.
He hears Kacchan walking around his apartment, and he must be on the phone with someone as his low and quiet voice fills the apartment, but Izuku is currently trying to make sure each blink does not become him closing his eyes entirely, and he's too tired to properly discern the words that Kacchan is speaking.
Despite his best efforts, one of his blinks must become something more, as he's disturbed from his half-asleep state by Kacchan poking his cheek, currently crouched down in front of the couch, slightly lower than Izuku's eye line. Kacchan's finger stays close to his cheek, and there's a quick, barely-there second where Kacchan brushes back Izuku's hair and tucks it behind his ear.
"Dumbass, wake up a sec," Kacchan tells him, though his voice is still carrying that quiet cadence. "Let me look at your discharge papers?"
Kacchan won't take them if Izuku won't let him, but he holds out his hands with half-open eyes, passing them over to Kacchan. Kacchan reads over the words, and then hums. "Right. Did they give you any there?"
Izuku takes a moment to think back. "Don't think so."
Kacchan reaches over to the table, placing down the discharge papers and then turning back around with a glass of water and two painkillers in his hand. Izuku is a little bit slow to process what's happening, so Kacchan softly scoffs and picks up Izuku's hands for him, placing the two tablets into one of his hands, and the glass of water into the other.
Izuku knocks back the tablets, and Kacchan takes the glass from him to put it back on the table. He stands up from his crouch, and then holds out his hand for Izuku to take.
Izuku takes it without hesitation, though he's slightly confused about where Kacchan is leading him when he's pulled up from the couch.
"Just crash in my bed for the night," Kacchan explains, just a second before he opens up his bedroom door. "I need to head to the agency to wrap up my shift, and it's going to be easier for both of us for you to just sleep here. I'll drop you back later. You know where everything is."
"I do," Izuku mutters. Maybe he should be more surprised about Kacchan's offer, but he finds himself moving to the bed without hesitation, curling up on the side he knows Kacchan sleeps on. Kacchan knows he knows as well, as he just scoffs, but he doesn't tell Izuku to roll over to the other side.
"I'll be back in an hour. You better be asleep when I get back," Kacchan says, close to a threat. Izuku gives him a thumbs-up, already half asleep in the comfort of Kacchan's bed.
"Got it," he mumbles, already closing his eyes to the sight of Kacchan standing in the doorway with a small, barely-there smile. If Izuku really focuses on the sight, he swears he can pick out the fondness lining Kacchan's features. "Thanks for picking me up, Kacchan."
"Yeah," Kacchan says softly. "Thanks for calling for once."
They share that small smile, and then Izuku blinks, a little too long again, and Kacchan isn't in the doorway any more. He hears the front door shutting considerably and purposely quietly, Kacchan doing his best to not disturb Izuku as he sleeps.
Izuku presses his face down into Kacchan's pillow, breathing in the scent of his shampoo, and falls asleep feeling thankful and safe and warm.