Work Text:
Katsuki couldn't stand this.
It was literally 10 pm at night, WAY past his bedtime and all he could hear was the sick coughs from the bathrooms every hour.
He tried his best to ignore it but damn it, when nobody else is awake and everything is quiet, even the most distant of sounds are the loudest things in the world.
Damn it Half an’ Half, why the hell were you chosen for this?!
It was supposed to be a regular evening hero patrol. Endeavor had assigned Shoto to a post at 7pm and all was going well until a few men decided to rob a store.
Shoto handled it fine and managed to catch them, but he got hit with a quirk from one of the robbers that made him throw up every hour. Weird as hell Katsuki thought, but for a criminal it was effective, because now Shoto had to return to the dorms all sick and woozy. And accompanied with the vomiting just pissed Katsuki off.
Endeavor and the police caught the culprits and managed to get some information about the quirk from them. Apparently, the effects will only last 12 hours so Shoto should be fine. Endeavor entrusted his son to Katsuki since he was the only other person on this patrol. So, until then…
All I’ll hear is the damn disgusting vomiting!!
So, Katsuki went straight to bed instead because why the hell does he need to take care of that sick sack of bones?? It’s not like anybody was watching him.
But what was he going to do instead? Nothing could drown out the horrible sounds of Shoto’s sickness. The kid was probably ridiculously weak now, throwing up everything out of his stomach.
Oh wait. That wasn’t good.
Does Icyhot know that’s a bad thing?? Damn it.
Katsuki gave a frustrated grunt and got out of bed. Shoto probably didn’t know the side effects of persistent vomiting. He was too dense.
That idiot.
Katsuki marched up to the bathroom door and knocked furiously.
“Icyhot! The hell is wrong in there??”
For a few seconds, he didn’t answer.
“ICYHOT!!”
“B-Bakugou. I’m fine in here.”
“Like hell you are. I’m hearing you vomit all your insides out and I can’t get some damn sleep. Open this door or I’ll open the damn door for you!!”
It took a while and Katsuki was really starting to contemplate kicking it down when Shoto finally opened the door.
His face looked way paler than his regular complexion. His face was dripping with water (probably from washing his face and mouth too much), and he looked exhausted. More exhausted than Katsuki had seen him before. He was admittedly a little shocked before frowning again.
“What the hell is going on, Half n Half??”
The other boy opened his mouth to answer and then stopped, wincing and grabbing at his stomach.
“ICYHOT!!”
“Bakugou… please… lower your voice…”
“HOW CAN I LOWER MY VOICE WHEN YOU’RE PUKING YOUR DAMN GUTS ALL OVER THE TOILET?!?”
“I’m not…”
A sudden flash and Shoto was already back at the toilet, throwing up again. Katsuki flinched because this attempt sounded dry and weakened.
Damn kid doesn’t have anything left in his body TO throw up. At this rate he’ll pass out from dehydration...
Shoto flushed whatever remains that came out of him down and washed his face again, struggling to breathe.
“This time it… it should be over for the hour…” Shoto mumbled hoarsely. His voice sounded like sandpaper. Katsuki just noticed he was trembling, hardly able to stand.
That’s it. I’m done.
Katsuki took Shoto by the arm and started dragging him out of the bathroom.
“Bakugou…?”
“You’re finished, aren’t you??” the blond snapped.
“Yeah but- “
“You need some damn food in you, Candy Cane. You'll drop dead at this rate.”
Shoto shook his head and stopped, resisting Katsuki’s hold on him. It was so insistent that Katsuki wondered if the robber got rid of his intelligence too.
“Bakugou, really, I don’t need- “
“DAMN IT ICYHOT ARE YOU THAT STUPID??” Katsuki scolded, finally forcing the other teen into the kitchen. “You don’t have anything to puke out and that’ll be the end of you!!”
He sat Shoto at the kitchen table and grumpily handed him a glass of water. “Drink this, idiot. It will freshen you up.”
Shoto stared at the glass, then pushed it away with a look of disgust. “No.”
“HUH?!?”
“No, Bakugou. I’m good.”
“What the hell?? Look here, you piece of crap. I am going out of my way to give you water and make the damn soba that you like cold for God’s sake, and YOU WILL TAKE IT. YOU HEAR ME??”
Shoto had some massive guts to shake his head again. Katsuki was going to lose it.
“Why you little- “
“I’m scared.”
Katsuki blinked.
Well, that was a turnaround.
“What?! The hell you mean you’re scared, idiot?”
Shoto shook his head and buried his face in his hands. Surprisingly, he sounded like he was about to cry.
“I’m scared to do it, Bakugou. Vomiting…”
Katsuki frowned, tensing his shoulders.
“Vomiting scares me.”
Out of all the things the blond expected Shoto to be afraid of, this was certainly not it.
“What?? Why would you be scared of vomiting??”
Shoto’s voice shook. “I-I don’t know! It just feels bad and… since I was a kid I didn’t like it…”
Katsuki did not know how to deal with this situation, especially with a sick, emotional and vulnerable Todoroki Shoto. He wasn’t one to deal with his feelings all too well, let alone somebody else’s. But what the hell is he supposed to do in this situation?
Katsuki dragged his hands across his face and sighed, thinking of what to say.
“Look here, Icyhot.” When Shoto didn’t look, Katsuki tapped his shoulder to catch his attention. Shoto looked up, eyes read and puffy.
“You keep going like this and the vomiting will only make you feel worse. You’ll be hospitalized for this crap. You need to eat something every hour so your stomach can keep up.”
Katsuki crossed his arms, starting straight into Shoto’s eyes. “So, here’s the deal. I’ll make you that darn cold soba you like, and I'll eat with you too. But you need to eat, Half n Half. It’ll just get worse.”
“H-how worse?”
“You’ll get damn dehydrated, and your freaking throat will have holes in it from all the acid.”
Shoto stopped to consider that possibility. He looked at his lap, contemplating an answer. Katsuki knew the other teen wasn’t a big fan of hospitals. Nobody was really, but especially him.
“Well??”
“…Okay.”
Katsuki grunted in affirmation and went to the stove to prepare the soba.
When it eventually finished, he gave the bowl and chopsticks to Shoto, and got his own bowl.
“I aint eating cold soba like you, Canada Flag. The only way to eat it is warm with spices and crap.”
Katsuki sat across from Shoto and started eating, only to realize Shoto hadn’t moved an inch.
Katsuki tapped Shoto’s bowl with his chopsticks. “Eat.” It was an order.
Shoto hesitantly picked up the chop sticks and slurped up some noodles. There was a weird lump in his throat. He found it difficult to swallow.
“Bakugou…”
“You WILL eat it. I'm not taking any more excuses from you.”
Shoto inhaled deeply and began eating again. It was slow and sluggish, due to his fear of vomiting and the overall sickness he was feeling. Katsuki gave him (aggressive yet quiet) encouragement throughout the process, mainly scolding him for not drinking enough water which he provided and educated him on the importance of staying nourished when sick like this. Shoto just tried to keep up.
Although Katsuki didn’t expect it at first, eating seemed easier for Shoto gradually. It still took him 30 minutes to finish the small bowl (which admittedly, got on Katsuki’s nerves). But he wouldn’t just leave the sick teen like this the whole night.
Shoto finished the last morsel of soba and exhaled as if he ran a marathon. He finished his glass of water and Katsuki took the dishes back.
Shoto leaned into the kitchen chair, feeling full and (dreadfully) sick again.
“Bakugou... the hour...”
Katsuki widened his eyes, then groaned in aggravation. Not again....
“Oi, get up!! You can’t have it all over the floor, peppermint freak!”
The blond rushed him to the bathroom just in time for Shoto to throw up some of the food he had just eaten . This time, Katsuki stayed with him, even as Shoto trembled with fear and tears ran down his face as he clutched the edge of the toilet bowl. Reluctantly, Katsuki rubbed Shoto’s back and winced with every wretch the other boy made.
Thankfully, it didn’t last as long as the other ones.
After Shoto washed his face and rinsed his mouth, he could hardly walk . Katsuki grumpily insisted he take Shoto to his room and deal with him there. They couldn’t stay in the bathrooms forever, especially with their classmates not knowing.
Katsuki guided Shoto to his room and Shoto tucked himself in, grunting in agony.
“You don’t have to stay here, Bakugou...”
“Oh, so you think I’ll just sleep peacefully while you go around puking everywhere??”
The sick teen’s eyes darkened. “Oh... I’m sorry.”
Katsuki raised an eyebrow at him in confusion.
“I should’ve handled the patrol properly...”
The blond scoffed. “Hah! You think anybody else besides you and me could take care of those buggers??” he crossed his arms and huffed. “That whole quirk thing was just a damn misfortune. Apologizing won’t do anything right now.”
Shoto didn’t know what to feel about being weirdly comforted by Katsuki like this, but he was too tired to ask him about it.
“I... won’t be able to sleep properly tonight,” Shoto mumbled. “It’ll just be interrupted...”
“Hm.” Katsuki hummed as if he was thinking of an idea. Finally, he got up and rummaged through Shoto’s nightstand. He picked up a book.
“Did you read the class novel we were assigned yet, Half n Half?”
Shoto shook his head meekly. “Only started the second chapter.”
Katsuki nodded. “Well, you gotta finish this or Aizawa-sensei will be frustrated as hell. You only got a damn week left.”
“...You already finished it?”
“Hell yeah! It’s because I’m better than you at literature, Candy Cane!”
Shoto didn’t argue. He had to agree with that.
Katsuki seated himself at the foot of the bed with his legs crisscrossed and the book open on his lap. Before he could say anything, Shoto interrupted.
“You’re... staying here?”
Katsuki shrugged, then realized that it was too casual and went back to his usual glare. “I already told you I can’t sleep through your damn vomiting fits. And you won’t sleep either anyway. At least one of us gets something done tonight.”
Shoto couldn’t help but smile. “Thank you.”
“Tch. You idiot.”
And so, for the rest of the night, Katsuki stayed up reading aloud the assigned novel, and Shoto could relax at the (shockingly) soft narration that made him worry a little bit less about vomiting the next few hours.
And when both were eventually found asleep and exhausted from staying up all night, Aizawa allowed them both a day off to rest themselves.