Work Text:
Hitoshi watches quietly from the corner, sometimes he likes to take a break from his own shop to come over to the library and watch his husband. It warms his heart to see the way he interacts with the children, knowing that he can be such a rough soul; he likes to make it hard for people to get along with him but, for some reason, with kids, it’s different. Back in high school, he was unable to stand them - couldn’t be in a room with any for more than 5 minutes before wanting to murder one of them. Though, as he grew and matured - got married - his entire viewpoint seemed to change. He even started doing volunteer work to read to kids at a couple of local libraries.
He’s always been into reading; he always wanted to be the smartest person in the world, it’s just who he is. His ego is always ginormous and he wanted to make sure he was able to back it up at all costs.
So, when he told Hitoshi that he wanted to open his own library, he didn’t even think twice about supporting him. He even went so far as to open up a florist shop (a personal dream of his own) right next door - they were conjoined, the two always went to work together in the mornings and headed home together in the evenings. Even when Katsuki started to host a bi-weekly event in the library where he read to children, Hitoshi supported him the entire way through. He helped put up flyers and spread the word as much as he could.
Now, every now and again he’ll take a break from his own shop on one of the days Katsuki is reading to the children so that he can come in and watch his husband. The way he reads the story with such enthusiasm is something Hitoshi never would’ve thought he’d see from his husband, knowing how he acted in high school.
This is one of those days, he’s standing over in the corner, a couple of moms and dads are nearby chatting with each other while Katsuki reads. There are others browsing books on the other side of the library and Hitoshi is just content in his corner, watching his husband. His animated gestures make for a soft smile to appear on Hitoshi’s face and huge ones on the faces of the children.
They’re always so engaged in whatever story Katsuki is reading because of the way he reads, giving each character a voice and making the book more enjoyable. They love to ask questions - both about the story and about Katsuki. Hitoshi’s pretty sure that Katsuki’s grown quite the soft spot for this group of kids; the ones who come every week, twice a week.
Katsuki spots Hitoshi and flashes him a quick smile, despite the smile already on his face, Hitoshi knows that that one was meant for him. Soon after, he finished reading the book and the kids all went to find their parents while Katsuki walked over to Hitoshi.
“What’re you doing here?” Katsuki crosses his arm, feigning anger, “Don’t you have an order to prepare?”
Hitoshi shrugs, “They can wait, I couldn’t.”
“You couldn’t wait, huh?” Katsuki leans on the wall (which Hitoshi finds unbearably hot but he does not want to get into that right now), amusement and a bit of flirtation takes over the feigned anger, “Am I just that irresistible?”
“Hmm,” Hitoshi clicks his tongue, pretending like he has to think about it, “I suppose you are.”
Just then, one of the kids runs over. It’s a little girl who they actually know personally, someone they knew before the reading event even became a thing. Hitoshi’s and Katsuki’s friends Izuku and Denki adopted the little girl a couple years back as a shy little girl; now she’s 8 years old and livelier than ever.
“Uncle Shin! Uncle Baku!” Eri stands firmly in front of them, “when are you guys gonna come over again? I’ve got so many new things to show you guys!”
“Sorry, kid,” Katsuki reaches over and ruffles her hair, “We’ll make time one of these days soon, I promise.”
“This weekend,” Hitoshi adds, “we’ll head over on Sunday, okay?”
Katsuki gives Hitoshi a look, one that Hitoshi can immediately recognize but chooses to ignore. He’s been meaning to meet up with Izuku and Denki again soon and Eri wants him and Katsuki over so it’s perfect. Hitoshi and Katsuki never do anything on Sundays so now they can, it’ll be fine; even if Katsuki likely had plans already, private ones that take place in their bedroom.
Eri walks away, a big smile on her face, glad that she got what she wanted.
Katsuki sighs heavily, “You’re gonna be the one calling her parents.”
“With pleasure,” Hitoshi laughs softly, “You do realize that they’re my best friends, right? I have no problem calling them. It’s not my fault I’m your only friend.”
“Hey,” Katsuki hits him softly (by his own standards) on the shoulder, “I have friends. I have a party tonight, even.”
“Yeah yeah, don’t remind me,” Hitoshi leans back into his corner. He always has a bad feeling when Katsuki goes out to parties or whatever and, this time, the feeling is even worse. Katsuki gave Hitoshi the option of joining him but Hitoshi would much rather go home and relax.
“Speaking of the party, don’t wait up for me because I’ll probably just end up staying the night in the guest room so I don’t have to drive when it’s so dark,” Katsuki tells him. He’s always been more inclined to drive in the daylight, he got in a small car crash one night when he was much younger and, since then, he’s avoided driving at night.
Besides, Hitoshi knows the person who’s hosting the party so he doesn’t know why he’s got such a bad feeling but, damn, it will not go away.
He chooses to ignore it because nothing bad has happened when he’s gotten this feeling before; albeit those times it wasn’t nearly as prevalent.
Still, he ignores it and tells his husband to drive safely and that he’ll see him tomorrow but, “I’ve gotta get back to work,” Hitoshi gives him a quick kiss, “let me know if you need me.”
Katsuki nods and Hitoshi heads off, back to his flower shop. He has some very large orders that need to be ready before noon so he better get to work.
He works pretty consistently throughout the day and when he finally gets home, it takes everything in him to not just immediately crash. He forces himself into the shower and cleans all the dirt off of himself; he really does try to keep the dirt in control by wearing an apron and gloves but not even that can keep it under control most of the time.
After his shower, he grabs some leftovers from the fridge and throws them in the microwave, not bothering to cook anything for dinner since it’s just him and Katsuki typically cooks anyway. Soon, he finally manages to relax in his bed with a show on his TV since it’s a struggle for him to fall asleep without Katsuki in bed with him.
He attempts to let himself sleep in the next morning, deciding not to open his shop until a little later than usual since Katsuki would be coming in later anyway. His sleep, however, was interrupted by a phone call. It was an unknown number but considering the bad feeling Hitoshi had had all night, he picks the phone up immediately and when he hears the words on the other line, his heart drops all the way to his stomach and he doesn’t even know how to act anymore.
”Hello, is this Shinou Hitoshi, husband of Bakugou Katsuki?”
“Yes,” Hitoshi manages, his voice breathy, “who are you?”
”I work at Musutafu General and your husband has been in an accident-”
“How bad?” Hitoshi feels the intense need to start asking as many questions as possible to get as much information as he can, he knew there was something behind that bad feeling of his, “When did this happen? Is he conscious? Can I speak with him?”
“As of right now, he is conscious, yes. He’s being given his belongings as we speak so I’m assuming he’ll call you. He’s had some significant head trauma, which is all I can really tell you over the phone. Would you be able to come in?”
“Yes,” Hitsohi says immediately, rolling out of bed and pulling out whatever socially acceptable clothes he can find in his drawers, “I’m on my way right now. I’ll be there in 15 minutes.”
He hangs up the phone and just a couple of minutes later, he gets a call from his husband and breathes a sigh of relief, if he’s calling then that’s a good sign, “Hi darling, how are ya?”
“So you heard?” Katsuki’s voice sounds rougher than normal, ”Did they tell you what happened?”
“No, what happened?” Hitoshi asks, just wanting answers - wanting to know how bad it really is.
“I-” Katsuki hesitates, “I don’t…” He pauses for a moment, “I don’t know, Hitoshi. It fuckin’ hurts.”
Hitoshi sighs out a small laugh at that, “Yeah, well, if you’re in the hospital then I bet it hurts.”
Katsuki laughs too, “Don’t make me laugh, asshole. It hurts.”
“Okay okay, I’ll be there in like 10 minutes okay? I love you.”
“I love you too,” Katsuki responds and says it a second time, a bit quieter, “I love you too.”
Hitoshi hangs up the phone and finishes getting dressed so that he can leave the house. He’s at the hospital within 9 minutes upon leaving his house. He checks in with the person at the front desk, asking them about Katsuki and if he could go see him. Except, they all start to act really weird when Hitoshi mentions Katski’s name, telling him to go wait in the waiting room and Katsuki’s doctor will be out shortly.
It is the absolutely longest 5 minutes of Hitoshi’s life. Sure, he just heard Katsuki’s voice on the phone 15 minutes ago but a lot can happen in 15 minutes. What if something bad happened? What if Katsuki’s not okay anymore?
When the doctor comes out, Hitoshi rushes over to her quicker than he knows how, “Is my husband okay? Can I see him? I just spoke to him, he didn’t even remember what happened.”
“Okay, sir, your husband was in a really bad car accident. From what I know, a driver swerved in front of him causing him to swerve into the railway on the freeway. The police can tell you more about that. As for his injuries, he’s going to have a lot of scarring-”
“‘Going to’” Hitoshi quotes before clarifying, “so he’s okay?”
Why could doctors never just start with saying whether or not someone is okay.
“Yes, he is okay for now, we expect that he’ll fully recover. However, I do have to warn you that he has fallen into what we believe to be a temporary coma. We expect that he’ll wake up within the week, likely less than that as his brain activity is still very strong. However, if he doesn’t wake up within the week, we can’t be sure he’ll wake up at all. He’s not intubated, but that could change if he stops breathing fine on his own. As I said, he will have some pretty heavy scarring on his face once he fully recovers, for now it’s been stitched and bandaged up- though, even with one of our plastic surgeons coming in to do the stitches, the scarring will still be very prevalent. The worst of his injuries was definitely to his face and head. However, there will be some minor scarring on his arms, legs, and the rest of his body. Only his head required surgery, there was a bleed, which we managed to repair and, from what we can tell, he’ll be on the road to recovery in no time as long as he wakes up soon.”
Hitoshi really did try to listen to every single word coming from the doctor’s mouth but it was just so difficult, he didn’t understand how this could happen. Katsuki’s always been such a safe driver, he couldn’t understand how this could happen. He didn’t understand why he didn’t listen to his gut feeling. He could’ve just told Katsuki to stay home, he knows Katsuki would’ve listened, but he didn’t and he can’t help but think it’s his fault that this happened. He didn’t listen to the feeling.
He tries to shake away that thought, it’s not his fault. It was the fault of the driver who swerved in front of Katsuki.
“He will have to do some rehab after he wakes up from his coma,” Hitoshi tries to hold on to the doctor’s words there. The doctor said after he wakes up and not if he wakes up. That’s what’s holding Htisohi together at the moment, “Bakugou will have to pretty much relearn to walk. From what we could tell when he was awake, he had pretty good function in his hands but that could change after he wakes up. We’ll just have to see.”
“And his memory? How’s that? When I was on the phone with him, he mentioned not being able to remember what happened?”
“Yeah,” The doctor confirms, “I don’t think his memory loss will really span further than the accident and maybe the night prior to it. Even then, I think it’s likely he’ll get those memories back at some point in time. So, he’ll definitely remember you and any family or friends you guys have. That’s something you don’t need to worry about.”
Hitoshi breathes a sigh of relief. He didn’t know what he would’ve done if Katsuki had lost any important memories of the two of them. He just knows that he wouldn’t have been able to handle it so he’s at least grateful for that.
“Can I see him now?” Hitoshi asks carefully, as if the doctor might say no even though she led him here, to his room.
The doctor nods, a light smile on her face, “Of course you can.”
Hitoshi places a hand on the door handle, suddenly fear fills his entire body and he can’t seem to open the door. His anxiety gets the best of him and he starts to wonder all kinds of things like, ”What if he actually doesn’t remember me when he wakes up?” or, ”What if he’s a lot worse off than the doctor is making him sound?”
He pulls himself together, shaking himself out of the endless questions and overwhelming thoughts racing through his mind. He just shuts his eyes then twists the door handle and pushes it in, forcing himself to step into the room. He takes slow steps toward the side of the bed where Katsuki is laying.
Hitoshi looks back at the doorway, where the doctor is still standing, “Can I, uh, touch him? Like, hold his hand?”
The doctor nods, “Of course you can, just be careful not to mess with the IV or any of the wires. A nurse will be in here every now and then to do some routine things but you’re welcome to stay the night here with him.”
“Thank you,” Hitoshi mumbles as the doctor shuts the door and makes her leave. He feels so out of it. He’s barely even acting like himself and it’s stressing him out but he doesn’t care, he just needs Katsuki to wake up and then he’ll be okay. As long as Katsuki wakes up soon, he’ll be okay. The doctor said it should only be about a week; Hitoshi can handle a week. He can easily handle a week, right?
Hitoshi grabs Katsuki’s hand carefully, afraid he’s going to mess something up. This hand doesn’t seem like it got hurt at all but his other hand is bandaged up. A lot of Katsuki is bandaged up, Hitoshi notices. The doctor really wasn’t kidding when she said that. He’s got a bandage hiding damn near half of his face and the half that Hitoshi can see just looks so… calm, in a sense. He just looks so at ease. It’s different from the constant scowl that Katsuki sports when he has control of his face.
That’s when Hitoshi lets it hit him. Everything hits him all at once, the realization that his husband got into a car crash, the realization that his husband is lying in a hospital bed injured beyond belief, the realization that his husband is in a coma, and the realization that he’s not once let himself cry since he found out what happend. Hitoshi has been in so much shock that nothing really got to him - like really got to him - until he finally got this second to sit next to Katsuki and let everything fester down. Everything that happened just really knocks into him full force and he couldn’t breathe.
Everything disoriented him and he barely managed to reach into his pocket and grab his phone. With that, he scrolls through his recent contacts looking for one of two people, it didn’t matter which one. Finally, he finds one of them: Denki.
He clicks on the contact and listens to the rings. Oddly enough, it managed to calm him down a bit, forcing himself to listen to the consistent sound - making himself count the seconds between rings to make sure it was the same amount of time each time.
After 3, Denki picks up - or rather, Izuku does as his voice comes through the phone, “Hey Hitoshi!” His grin could be heard through the phone, “Denk is out dropping Eri off at school and picking something up from his coffee shop, he forgot his phone somehow,” He chuckles softly, “he should be home in like a minute though if you wanna call back later?”
“I-” Hitoshi can barely get the words out, he just knows that he needs his friends right now. Normally, when he’s having a panic attack (and that’s what Hitoshi recognizes this at, he’s gotten pretty good at at least recognizing even if he doesn’t quite know how to completely deal with them yet), he’ll just go to Katsuki or call Katsuki and he’ll have all the answers for him but, this time, he can’t. Katsuki’s in a coma and that’s the entire reason that this panic attack is happening in the first place. “I just-”
“Hitoshi? What happened?” The concern drips off Izuku’s tone, “Are you okay? Where’s Katsuki at, shouldn’t you guys be heading to work soon? Can you go find him, he usually helps with this right?” Of course Izuku could recognize what it is through 3 words being said; Izuku gets them too, it makes sense.
“He was in a crash,” Hitoshi finally forces himself to say it completely. He’s sure it comes out quieter than he intended and, maybe, the words aren’t quite as clear as he wanted them to be but they’re understandable and that’s all that matters.
“What?” Izuku responds very quickly, “What happened? Is he okay?”
Hitoshi can still barely breathe, he feels like he’s breathing through a straw except the straw has a piece of ice stuck in it and he knows that, eventually, the ice will melt and he can breathe better again but knowing that doesn’t help the situation at hand because the ice is still there and it’s blocking his airway and his head feels like it’s pounding and he thinks he might pass out and god he really can’t fucking breathe. He tries forcing some air in but it refuses, it’s like the ice is getting more solid instead of melting like it’s supposed to and his chest feels tight and he can’t breathe.
He has to set the phone onto speaker and place it down on the side table because he can’t hold it anymore, he barely even has the sense to turn it onto speaker at that.
Izuku speaks to him, calming him down slowly but surely. Eventually, Denki arrives too and helps with the calming. With both of them soothing him, reassuring him that everything will be okay and that they’re here for him no matter what, the ice starts to melt and air finally enters Hitoshi’s lungs. He’s still breathing through a straw but it’s clear now, better.
After a little while longer, Hitoshi is able to actually get words out and explain everything to his friends. He told them about how Katsuki called him from the hospital earlier and that by the time he arrived, they said that he’d fallen into a coma.
“We’re on our way,” Denki says and Hitoshi can hear movement on the other side of the phone, rustling.
“But what about work?” Hitoshi sniffs, trying to make sure that his voice comes out clear.
“It’s fine, I can reschedule my clients,” Izuku insists, he works as a tattoo artist and Hitoshi knows that if he tries to argue with him about coming, he’ll just continue to insist that a few people getting tattoos is way less important that Hitoshi’s husband and their friend being in the hospital, “and Denki just won’t open the cafe today.”
Denki hums in agreement before adding, “We’ll be there in 15 minutes, we’re getting in the car now.”
“Okay,” Hitoshi doesn’t really have the energy to argue with them at this point so he just agrees; He’s thankful that he has such good friends.
Hitoshi spends those next 15 minutes just talking to Katsuki, even though he knows that he probably can’t hear him. He just needs to be doing something to get his mind off of everything that’s happened, he’s so worried that Katsuki won’t wake up and everything will just go to crap. He knows that the doctor said that he’s confident Katsuki will wake up and he knows that the doctor is a professional so Hitoshi should just trust his word but he can’t help the overthinking. It also doesn’t help when he starts to think about the library and how there’s supposed to be a reading today. He thinks about the flower shop and the number of orders he has to get done for his clients.
Izuku and Denki rush into the room, a nurse behind them, “They said they’re friends of yours?”
Hitoshi nods and the nurse takes her leave.
Izuku is sort of frozen, just staring at Katsuki, “He’s, uh, he’s gonna wake up, right?”
“Mhm,” Hitoshi hums quietly, a sort of broken hum, “I hope so.”
Izuku blinks quickly a few times and takes a deep breath, taking his eyes off of Katsuki and over to Hitoshi, “How are you feeling?”
“Do you need anything from us?” Denki adds on.
Hitoshi sniffs, “Um, I just- I don’t know what to do,” He breathes out a long breath after finally admitting that, then repeats it once again, “I just, I don’t know what to do. When I have issues, I normally go to Katsuki and he gets this look on his face and he pretends to act all pissed off but then he gives me the most genuine advice and the most authentic support and he just- I don’t know what to do anymore. He’s laying in this bed, in a coma that the doctors aren’t 100% sure he’s going to wake up from and I just, I don’t know what to do. I have so much work to do, Katsuki was supposed to have a reading session today with the kids and, god, I just have no idea what to do.”
“Well,” Izuku walks over to Hitoshi and pulls a chair up to sit right next to him, “listen, I am definitely not Katsuki, that’s for sure, but I grew up with the guy so maybe I can give you a little insight minus the stares and anger. That’s a Katsuki special.”
Hitoshi chuckles softly and nods, he just needs someone to talk to him, “Yeah, okay.”
“Don’t force yourself to stay here and watch him,” Izuku reaches over and grabs Izuku’s hand, “go home or go to work, distract yourself. He’s still going to be here no matter what and the hospital will call you with any updates.”
“But that’s the thing, what if something does happen and I’m just gone and he wakes up and I’m not here and-”
“I’ll stay,” Denki interrupts him, “I’ll stay right here with him, you can go to work and get your mind off of everything. He won’t be alone. Izuku and I will stay.”
Izuku looks back to Denki and then to Hitoshi again, “We’ll stay. Staying here and watching him is just going to cause you more harm than good.”
“Yeah, okay,” Hitoshi reluctantly agrees, he’s got a lot he needs to do at work and he could really use the distraction.
“Well, you better get going,” Denki urges, “isn’t your shop already supposed to be open.”
“Yeah,” Hitoshi nods, getting up but not letting go of Katsuki’s hand, “I’ll go but I’ll be back,,” He lifts Katsuki’s hand to his mouth and gives it a kiss before letting go and walking toward the door.
He says bye and then heads out, making his way to work. Thankfully, the distraction actually worked out well. He didn’t completely stop thinking about Katsuki and his situation but it definitely dulled the thoughts, had to in order to make room for the other thoughts about work.
Then, the time to read to the children comes around and he forgot to put a notice out saying it’s been canceled and children were already streaming in, so he just decides to do it himself. It can’t be that hard, Katsuki of all people does it.
An hour later, he realizes that it is just that hard and he cannot do any of this without Katsuki. He closes down both shops for the time being into the near future.
“I can’t do it,” Hitoshi stumbles into the hospital room where his husband resides, both his best friends sitting at his bedside playing a card game to entertain themselves.
“Hitoshi?” Izuku sets his cards face down on the table.
Hitoshi falls into the nearest seat, a couch lining the room, burying his face into his hands, his elbows resting on his knees, “I thought I could do it. I thought you were right, I just needed a distraction and I thought work was the perfect distraction but it wasn’t.”
Izuku sits next to Hitoshi and wraps his arms around his back, pulling him in close, “I’m sorry it didn’t work out.”
“I thought it would,” Hitoshi feels the warmth of tears on his skin, falling through his fingers.
Denki comes over and sits on the other side of him, wrapping his arms around him, “I’m sorry, Hitoshi. It’ll be okay.”
Hitoshi starts laughing through his tears, unburying his face and letting his hands fall down between his legs, “I’m sitting here, crying over a guy I hated in high school. Can you guys believe that? Bakugou Katsuki. I’m actually in love with Bakugou Katsuki.”
“Hard to believe,” Izuku scoffs lightly, joking.
Hitoshi laughs even more, “I just,” His laughter turns into sobbing, his voice breaking and he finds his breaths quickening, “I love him so much and I know in my head, logically, that he’s going to be fine, he’s going to wake up,” He hics, “but every other part of me is telling me that he’s never going to wake up,” His hand reaches up to his mouth, wiping and gripping his lips.
“He’s strong, he’s not gonna let a car take him out,” Denki says half joking, half serious, “he’d be far too embarrassed to let that happen.”
“Yeah, he’d want to go out in a badass way, not a lame car crash,” Izuku agrees.
Hitoshi nods, scoffing lightly, “You guys are so dumb.”
“But it cheered you up, no?” Denki grins.
Hitoshi rolls his eyes, pushing himself up, “What are you guys playing over here?”
Then, they play cards all together until Eri has to be picked up from school. Only one of them leaves, telling Hitoshi that they promise they won’t leave him alone. They’ll take turns to look after Eri so that at least one of them is with him at all times.
Hitoshi can’t form the words to tell them how much he truly appreciates his friends in moments as difficult as these. He really isn’t sure what he did to deserve such a good group of people to be around him at all times, including Katsuki (as much of an ass as the guy is).
This switching and waiting around goes on for three days, which is when Katsuki finally wakes up. Even being only three days, it is the absolute longest three days of Hitoshi’s life and Katsuki waking up is probably the happiest, right behind his wedding.
“Hitoshi,” Izuku’s voice is laced with urgency and for a split second Hitoshi is worried that something is wrong. He wakes up so fast, looking around only to see that nothing is wrong at all.
Confused, he looks over to Izuku who is just pointing at Katsuki. Hitoshi looks down at him and sees his eyes opening. Well, the one eye that isn’t covered by bandages.
“Who are you?” Katsuki asks, staring directly at Hitoshi. His voice is rough, which makes sense seeing as it hasn’t been used in three days.
Hitoshi’s heart immediately dropped to his stomach, there’s no way Katsuki doesn’t remember him. They’ve been together for years, the doctor said that if there were to be any memory issues, it’d just span to the time of the accident. The doctor said that he’d be able to remember him and everybody. He’s supposed to remember Hitoshi.
He takes a deep breath, his eyes filling up with tears, “Izuku, go get the doctor.”
Izuku rushes out of the room. Hitoshi looks at Katsuki and tries not to cry, “I’m Hitoshi,” He mutters because, honestly? What do you say to your husband who doesn’t remember you?
“Why are you here?”
Does he say that he’s his husband? Would that be too much for Katsuki to handle? What do you even do in a situation like this? Hitoshi has read a lot of books with amnesia being a main plot point but, god, nothing prepares you for real life. He doesn’t answer any further questions but instead just asks his own, ignoring the tear slipping from his eye to his cheek, “Do you really not remember me?”
“Nah, I’m just kidding,” Katsuki clears it up, chuckling a bit and immediately winces, “oo, okay. No laughing,” He coughs a bit, trying to clear his throat but he does seem to feel a little bad, “Yeah, I’m just fuckin’ with you, babe. I didn’t mean to make you cry.”
Anger quickly replaces the sadness, “Fuck you, Katsuki,” He says angrily but finds it difficult to keep that tone of voice. He sighs in relief and walks over to Katsuki, cupping his face and making sure to stay clear of the injuries, “You suck but I’m glad you’re alive.”
Katsuki smirks, “I love you too, Hitoshi.”
Izuku comes back into a room, a couple of nurses trailing behind him, “You said he can’t remember-”
“He was being an asshole,” Hitoshi interrupts them to clear the air, “he remembers me, he’s just a terrible person.”
It’s Izuku’s turn to sigh in relief now, “Thank god.”
“We’ll give him a look over and a doctor will be in here to give an official exam,” One of the nurses says before asking Hitoshi to step to the side.
“Hey, uh, ‘Tosh,” Katsuki speaks over to Hitoshi while the nurses check him out, “do you know what happened to the shirt I had on?”
“Um, it was covered in blood? They had to cut through it?” Hitoshi shrugged, “I don’t know.”
“Damnit,” Katsuki swears, “That was my favorite shirt.”
“Katsuki,” Hitoshi holds back a laugh and rolls his eyes instead, “You are an asshole. If you weren’t covered in injuries and being looked over by two nurses right now, I’d come smack you. You need to drink some water with that voice of yours.”
Before Katuski could respond, the doctor, a different one than the one who spoke to Hitoshi, walks in and takes a spot next to the bed, “Hi Bakugou, how’re you feeling?”
“Like shit,” Katsuki answers bluntly, “what’d you think? I’d feel all rainbows and unicorns?”
Hitoshi glares, “Katsuki.”
The doctor seems to ignore the snarky comments coming from Katsuki and just does his job, “Do you remember what happened?”
“He remembers what shirt he was wearing,” Hitoshi mumbles.
“Yeah,” Katsuki nods slightly, not being able to nod much at all, looking at the doctor as an answer to his question, “fuckin’ stupid of me. I should’ve gotten out of the way.”
“It wasn’t your fault, Katsuki,” Hitoshi cuts in, the police came in the other day and said they got statements from witnesses and the other car; they said that Katsuki wasn’t at fault, “the driver swerved in front of you, not the other way around. They saw your tox-screen, you weren’t even drunk.”
“I fuckin’ know, I’m not a dumbass, that’s why I stayed the night last night,” Katsuki shook his head, annoyed with himself, “I didn’t have to swerve into the damn rail though.”
“Katuski, I’m divorcing your ass if you keep blaming yourself.”
“Damn Hitoshi,” Denki walks in with excellent timing, as per usual, “that’s a bit extreme, don’t you think?”
“Yeah, damn Hitoshi,” Katsuki says in agreement but does actually look at the doctor and continues to answer his question, “Anyway, yeah. I remember going to a party the night before and staying over. I remember driving home the morning of. I remember the car crash. I remember waking up and calling my husband. I remember what happened.”
“That’s a really good sign,” The doctor continues asking a few more questions and Katsuki answers them without anymore intervention from his audience.
They go through countless talkings of recovery and procedures. They make Katsuki stand up and try to get him to walk around, saying it’s important to do these things right after someone wakes up after brain surgery because it helps rebuild the brain connections or whatever. Htioshi wasn’t really paying attention to be honest. Everything after Katsuki waking up is kind of a blur.
It takes a while until Bakugou is allowed to go home. He had to be able to walk without the assistance of another person, instead he uses a cane for the foreseeable future. He has a lot of rehab to go through still but he is eventually allowed to go home and when he does, Hitoshi does anything he can to make it all easier on the man.
Right before they left the hospital, the bandage on Katsuki’s face was removed. Most of the other bandages have been removed already, the rest of the cuts healing by now. His head and face got the worst of it so that’s pretty much all that needed healing, still.
When his face bandage came off, Hitoshi could instantly see how dejected Katsuki was. The man had been in somewhat high spirits since he woke up, ready to just recover and get it over with but then that bandage came on and Hitoshi hates the way Katsuki damn near deflated, melting into a puddle right there on the bed.
“What’s the matter? Does it hurt?” Hitoshi asks after the nurse that was in charge of removing the bandage leaves but he has a strong feeling that that’s not it. That strong feeling is telling him that it’s insecurity, which completely breaks his heart because there’s no reason for Katsuki to feel insecure. He’s the most beautiful man Hitoshi knows.
Katsuki just looks over at Hitoshi, trying to hide the scarred side of his face. It’s still healing but the doctor says it’ll heal better without the bandage on it now. It’s mostly above his mouth, to the side of his lips, and all over the side of his face, “I’m sorry.”
The words shoot straight to Hitoshi’s heart because when the hell does this man ever apologize?
“Sorry for what, baby?” Hitoshi’s words come out so softly and he moves closer to the bed, cupping the non-scarred side of his face and turning it so that Katsuki’s forced to look all the way at him. To not hide.
“I don’t-” Katsuki’s all vulnerable and as much as Hitoshi has wished to see a vulnerable Katsuki, he never wanted it to be like this, “I’ve got this stupid fucking scar and it’s ugly as shit and you probably don’t want to be with anymore-” Despite the vulgar words, he speaks quietly. If not for those vulgar words, Hitoshi wouldn’t believe this is his husband.
“Katsuki,” Hitoshi interrupts him, not allowing anymore of this kind of talk, “I think you look so pretty, my darling.”
That’s when Katsuki completely breaks down, tears flooding out and he pushes out of bed so that he can properly hug Hitoshi, hanging onto him. The sobs escaping shatter Hitoshi’s heart and he can’t help it when tears start to come out of his own eyes. He’s seen Katsuki cry before but nothing like this. Ever. Not full body sobs and he hates that all he can do is hold the man. He can’t make his feelings go away.
So, instead he tries his best at comfort, “I love you,” He rubs Katsuki’s back softly, whispering assurances to him, “you’re so handsome, no matter what. Nothing could ever change that for me, you look as beautiful as the day I met you. You look as beautiful as the day I married you. You are alive and that’s all that fucking matters to me, okay? Any little difference could’ve changed that outcome but you’re alive so I don’t care. I love you as you are for who are.”
Katsuki clutches onto Hitoshi’s shirt, still sobbing uncontrollably. It takes a while but Katsuki’s sobs slow and he manages to pull away and mumble, “Thank you, baby. I love you.”
Hitoshi nods quickly, “I love you so much.”
“I know, I, uh,” Katsuki hesitates and it really is so weird to see him this way because even the first day he woke up after the accident, Katsuki seemed just like himself, like he wasn’t bothered by any of it but this shows Hitoshi that he really, really is, “I’m just scared.”
“Oh, I know baby, I am too,” Hitoshi’s heart breaks more and more with Katsuki’s vulnerability and he hates the feeling of those shattered pieces falling into his stomach, “I’m scared, too.”
I don’t know why I got so in my head about it,” Katsuki’s voice still hasn’t reached above a whisper.
Hitoshi can’t help it, he presses a kiss onto Katsuki’s lips, being careful to keep it soft as to not hurt him. He knows that the area around his mouth is probably still sensitive but, thankfully, there’s no injury on his lips themselves so Hitoshi finally kisses them. He’s missed kissing them.
Katsuki returns the kiss almost feverishly, like he’s been wanting it more than Hitoshi. He grabs Hitoshi’s neck with hands, connecting them around the back and Hitoshi pulls him in by his waist. Hitoshi pulls away for a moment, “I don’t want to hurt you.”
“It’s fine,” Katsuki says quickly before going back into the kiss with even more enthusiasm, exploring Hitoshi’s mouth in the way he always has; without hesitation and very thoroughly. It elicits a sound from Hitoshi and it makes Katsuki kiss him harder, pulling him impossibly closer.
Then, the door bursts open and Denki’s voice rings through the room, “Woo! You get to go ho- oh, ho,” It turns into a laugh, “You guys waste no time, huh?”
The two part, looking toward the doorway to see Izuku elbow Denki, “Stop it, hun.”
“Where’s Eri?” Hitoshi asks right before the little girl comes out from behind her fathers’ legs, bursting into the room with even more energy than Denki.
“Right here!” She runs in and wraps her arms around both Hitoshi and Katsuki as best she can. It’s been way too long since Hitoshi has seen the girl, he hasn’t seen her since that day in the library.
The huge grin on Katsuki’s face tells Hitoshi all he needs to know; That he needed this too, seeing their goddaughter.
The three of them spend time together until Katsuki is finally brought the discharge papers and gets those signed. Then, Katsuki is officially free to go.
So, they do. Izuku, Denki, and Eri accompany them to make sure they don’t need any help but they manage just fine. The few stairs up to their home take a bit of time but the power of railing is a mighty thing and Katsuki holds it to make his way all the way up by himself.
Izuku, Denki, and Eri take a leave and then Katsuki and Hitoshi are left alone in their home.It’s nice, if they’re being honest. They watch a movie and cuddle a bit until a knock on their door, company.
Hitoshi gets up to answer it, finding Kirishima at their doorstep. He’d been called shortly after Katsuki woke up but Katuski wasn’t really in the mood for many visitors then, so he asked Kirishima to wait until he got discharged. Now, here he is.
“Hey,” Kirishima grins, “how’s my dude?”
“I’m not your fucking dude,” Katsuki manages to appear behind Hitoshi, walking closer to the door; rather slowly, though.
Kirishima laughs, “Yeah, well I brought some food so,” He holds up a bag of goodies and Izuku accepts it from him, bridging it to the kitchen.
The dinner is nice. They all spend time together and seeing his best friend seems to bring up Katsuki’s mood from earlier in the hospital. Or maybe he’s just pretending. At this point, Hitoshi isn’t sure.
It comes out in bed that night, though, after Kirishima is gone and they’ve settled down all ready to sleep. Hitoshi thinks it goes smoothly but then that vulnerability shows up and Hitoshi knows that something is up but he waits for Katsuki to bring it up on his own, not wanting to push him if he isn’t ready.
It comes about an hour later, right as they’re falling asleep, “I wanna go back to work tomorrow.”
Hitoshi breathes a sigh of relief. That’s all it is? Really? He smiles, “I think that’s a good idea.”
“But,” Katsuki tries to keep going but stops short, something holding him back and Hitoshi gets the sense that there’s something more than just going back to work, “I’m worried the kids will be scared of my damn face. The scar.”
Hitoshi rolls over to really look at Katsuki, all of him, “I think they’ll just be glad to have you back. Eri didn’t even comment on it. She wasn’t scared.”
“Yeah but she had all these warnings, she was told that I’d have a scar, she was prepared and these kids won’t be. I’m terrifying now, Hitoshi. I’m hideous, nobody will want to look at me and I know-”
“Katsuki, baby,” Hitoshi breathes out, not able to hold back the tears. He hates the way Katsuki is talking about himself now, “please.” He begs.
“What?” Katsuki gets concerned now, hoisting himself up with an elbow to get a better look at Hitoshi, seeing tears all over his face the best he can in the dark.
Hitoshi sits up. He hates to make this about him but he hates the way Katsuki speaks about himself even more and it seems to dredge up all kinds of feelings, “I can’t listen to talk to yourself like that,” He chokes a bit on his words, his chest starts to tighten and suddenly that damn straw is back but this time it’s not filled with ice, it’s filled with fire and every breath he takes burns.
“Hitoshi,” Katsuki’s eyebrows furrow together and he sits up too and faces Hitoshi, grabbing his hands and bringing them into his lap, “baby. Hey, baby, it’s alright.”
Hitoshi’s head is throbbing and he falls into Hitoshi’s chest, “I was terrified, Katsuki, when I got that call that you were in the hospital I was fucking terrified,” His words are almost unintelligible with his face buried in Katsuki’s chest paired with the hyperventilation, “you could’ve died. What if you died? What if literally anything was different? You could’ve died or more people could’ve gotten hurt or you could’ve died but you’re alive and you’re just worried about your damn face and I think it’s beautiful and I think your scar is beautiful and I think you are beautiful because you’re alive, Katsuki, and you could’ve died but-”
Katsuki buries a hand into Hitoshi’s hair, combing through softly before pressing a kiss to the top of his head, “I didn’t die, I’m here. It’s okay, honey. It’s okay.” It’s almost startling to see the way Katsuki can change the moment that Hitoshi starts a panic attack - even before the accident, any sort of aggressiveness would fade away if Hitoshi were having a panic attack and he’d turn soft, ready to comfort Hitoshi in any and every way possible.
“You could’ve died,” Hitoshi repeats it over and over again until the breaths stop burning. Katsuki helps that, just being there, physically comforting him for as long as Hitoshi needs. He’s surprised he doesn’t pass out because of all the hyperventilating.
Though, once his hyperventilation has died down, he pulls away from Katsuki’s chest but stays right next to him, “I’m sorry,” He mutters, realizing he should be validating Katsuki’s feelings, “I know your scar is a big deal to you and I’m sorry I made it seem like you aren’t grateful to be alive because I know you are but-”
Katsuki just kisses him, effectively stopping him in his tracks. It’s just a quick one, something obviously meant to just distract him from his train of thought, “I get it. I’m sorry that I made you feel this way,” There he goes apologizing again, “I know logically I shouldn’t be so fucking worried but my head just keeps screaming at me. I am grateful to be alive, my love, to keep living with you.”
“I know and I shouldn’t have-”
“I get where you’re coming from,” Katsuki assures and this is exactly why Hitoshi married the guy; there’s a good man behind all the aggression, “I didn’t know how scared you’ve been, I should’ve thought about that.”
Hitoshi sniffs, nodding, “It was so scary, seeing you like that.”
“I know.”
“It was so scary getting that call.”
“I know.”
“It was so scary thinking you could die.”
“I know,” Katsuki pulls him back into his chest and runs his fingers through Hitoshi’s hair.
“I love you so much.”
“I love you too.”
Hitoshi takes a deep breath, pulling away from Katsuki again, making this about him again because he doesn’t want him to keep feeling how he feels, “You really are absolutely gorgeous, my love,” He brings one of his hands up to touch the scarred side of Katsuki’s face, softly as to not hurt him but the man winces anyway. Though, Hitoshi has a feeling that it’s not because he’s in pain physically but rather because he’s in pain emotionally; ashamed of himself. “I think the kids will think it’s cool. Then, I think they’ll forget about it and just be happy you’re back to read to them. They miss you.”
“Yeah?”
Hitoshi nods, “Whenever I fill in for you, the first question from them is when you’ll be back.”
Katsuki smiles, “Thank you.”
Hitoshi leans forward to kiss him as a you’re welcome, “We should get some sleep.”
So, they do. Then, the very next morning Katsuki walks into that library and by that afternoon, he’s reading to the children who think his scar is the absolutely coolest thing in the world. Hitoshi watches from the corner.
“Woah!” One of the kids says, a huge grin on their face, “How’d that happen?!”
“It’s so awesome!”
“Cool!”
“Where’d the scar come from.”
“You look so AWESOME!”
Hitoshi can tell from his corner that Katsuki is relieved, especially after last night. There are questions upon questions about what happened and Katsuki tells them a simple version, mentioning that he still has recovering to do so they’ve gotta take it easy on them. The kids agree eagerly as long as he continues to read them their stories.
Then, Katsuki does exactly that. He reads them a few books and Hitoshi can just tell how easily he falls back into it. Relief floods him and he makes his way back to his own work.
Katsuki still has a lot of recovering to do both physically and mentally but this is a step in the right direction and Hitoshi couldn’t be more proud of him for accomplishing it.