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Izuku was in rough shape, and Katsuki was seething.
Leave it to the nerd to put himself at risk to save others - again. Katsuki loved that about him, sure; his commitment to saving everyone he possibly can. His heroic heart, too big for this world.
But fuck, sometimes Izuku took such unnecessary risks that Katsuki wanted to throttle him – or hold him safe in his arms like a cocoon.
Whatever.
He wouldn’t do the former – not anymore, at least – and he couldn’t do the latter.
You’d just fuck things up. Be thankful he’s your fucking friend.
… leave it to a shitty mega-storm to get them stuck on this tiny tourist island on top of it, all flights cancelled.
They hadn’t even been able to give Izuku a hospital bed after the fight, because of all the people the stupid villain had injured.
They were supposed to catch the asshole off-guard – fuck, they had been planning this operation for over a month. They would fly in disguised as tourists, scout the location, and then catch the motherfucker when he least expected it.
Except they didn’t. Somehow the villain got wind that they were coming and started going on a fucking rampage. They managed to stop him quickly once they touched down – in great part thanks to Izuku’s bravery and selflessness – but he’d still managed to do serious damage, and this small island’s hospital system was just not equipped to deal with such a large-scale attack.
So, instead of giving Izuku the fucking medical attention he deserved, a triage medic had patched up their worst injuries, given Katsuki some supplies, and sent them off.
“You’re a hero, right? You know first aid. Here. Look after him.”
Katsuki glared daggers like he’d never glared daggers before. “The fuck do you mean look after him?! He needs to be in a hospi–”
“No, he needs rest.” She sighed. “Look, we don’t have enough beds as it is, and his injuries are not life-threatening. He’s gonna have a shitty night, might even have a fever, but he’ll be okay.”
She almost looked apologetic. Almost. She started gathering items into a Ziplock bag and writing chicken scratch instructions on a post it note.
A post it note, for fucks sake.
She continued.
“Here, take these. There’s a thermometer in there, just make sure his temperature doesn’t go above this” – she explained, scribbling some more. Her eyes weren’t even on the note as she wrote it. “Don’t try to break the fever otherwise, it’s good for him. It’s the body’s natural way to fight off infection. If it does get high, he can have one of the tablets in there every 4 hours.” She pointed at them in the bag as she spoke, then shoved the note in alongside them. “If those don’t cut it, bring him back.”
“Why the fuck don’t you – He saved your fucking lives and– !”
A nurse interrupted them, so the medic turned away from Katsuki mid-sentence. He tasted bile.
Eventually the nurse walked away and the medic returned her attention to him. “Look around. We don’t have enough beds. We don’t even have enough chairs. I’m sorry, really, but he’ll honestly be better off somewhere else.”
“Kacchan, it’s okay, really–” Izuku tried. Of course he did.
“Fine. Can he fly home?”
She frowned. “Medically, yes, he can, but…” she pointed to the worsening rain outside, looking sceptical. “Good luck.”
“Come on, Deku. I’m taking you home.”
Izuku stood up a bit too quickly, wobbling on his feet, unsteady.
Shit.
Katsuki hurried to his side, offering a shoulder to help him walk. They found a taxi, somehow. A mix of raindrops and hail started pelleting the windshield as they rode to the airport. It gave Katsuki a headache.
“What do you fucking mean we can’t fly?!”
“I’m sorry, sir, all the control towers have shut down. There’s a storm coming. We may be able to fly tomorrow or the day after. Nothing I can do, it’s the time of year.”
Two days?!
No hospital, no flights, hardly any supplies.
Two fucking days.
“Kacchan, it’s fine, we’ll just wait it out. We’ve handled worse.”
Katsuki looked back at Izuku, and his rage melted into heartache. Izuku looked like he could barely stand – in no shape to be waiting at a crowded airport.
Fine.
Katsuki channelled all his fury into finding them a place to stay instead. Unsurprisingly, with all flights cancelled and the hospital overrun, hotel availability was in the negative numbers. He pulled every string – pleaded where he needed to plead, yelled at people who needed yelling at, called Hawks, played the ‘we just saved your ass’ card… Everything.
At least this time it worked. He got one (1) hotel room, a standard-whatever suite at the WhoTheFuckCares Inn by the fuck ass airport, and off they went.
The room was… It was fine, honestly. Entirely unremarkable, but it was warm, dry, and it had both electricity and running water.
“Kacchan, you’re bleeding.”
Uh?
Izuku, sat on a chair by the door, was pointing at Katsuki’s arm. He’d torn some stitches open, likely while waving his arms around like a maniac trying to find them a place to stay.
Whatever.
“Let me help.”
“I’m okay–”
“Kacchan, please.”
Katsuki wanted to tell him not to worry; to let himself be priority; to let himself be taken care of. He tried to tell Izuku that he needed rest and recovery more than anyone, and that Katsuki would be fine.
He tried, truly, but he also knew that convincing Izuku not to try and save someone was a lost cause - even if “saving”, in this case, meant cleaning and patching up a minor wound that someone had re-opened by being an angry idiot. In the end, it was better to let him do it quickly than to keep arguing.
Izuku found the energy to re-do Katsuki’s stitches, somehow. His touch was precise and delicate, even though he looked exhausted.
“Nerd, you need to wash up and rest, I’m fine.” Katsuki insisted as soon as his arm was passably taken care of. Izuku didn’t even argue this time, which wasn’t the best of signs. “Need help?” Katsuki offered, awkwardly.
“Uh, no, thank you… I think I’m fine.”
He wasn’t fine, not by a long shot, but he managed to peel off his suit and draw a bath. At least he was sensible about that – no way in hell was Katsuki going to let him risk splitting his head open by falling in the shower.
“I’ll try to get us some food, be back in five.”
Five minutes turned into twenty-five, but he managed to get something. Now that his rage had simmered, Katsuki spared a thought for the fact that the people in this island weren’t having any better a day than he was.
He tried to be civil. He really, really tried.
By the time he made it back to their room, Izuku was out of the bathtub and had managed to get dressed. Something had torn open in the process, though, so he was bleeding through the back of his t-shirt.
“Shit. You’re bleeding all over that.”
“Oh, am I? Sorry.”
“Don’t apologise. Let me see?”
Izuku struggled to take the shirt off and Katsuki grimaced. His bigger wounds were okay, but the bath had revealed (and irritated) a bunch of smaller cuts and bruises.
“Here, sit down.”
Katsuki guided a remarkably compliant – that’s a concern – Izuku to sit on the middle of the double bed. He placed a tray of food in front of him and commanded, “eat.”
Once Izuku had taken a few bites, he grabbed the medical supplies and started patching up his back.
“Kacchan, you should eat too.”
“I will. This first.”
“Okay.”
They sat in silence for a while, interrupted only by small hisses on Izuku’s part, and the clinking of plates on the tray.
“Sorry. Almost done.”
“It’s okay.”
Katsuki finished the job quietly, being as gentle as his sore hands could manage. Once done, he collected the used bandages lying around him and discarded them in the bathroom bin.
When he came back into the bedroom, he asked, “is it, though?”
“Hmm?”
“Is it okay? Are you okay? Actually okay, not Izuku okay. I need you to tell me honestly.”
Izuku smiled sideways. It was small – weak – but it was something.
“Yeah.”
Katsuki raised his eyebrows, incredulous.
Izuku chuckled. “I mean, no, I’m not okay okay”, he continued, vaguely gesturing at himself, “but I will be. Thank you, Kacchan.”
Katsuki let out a long breath. “Alright. What do you need?”
“I’d like for you to eat.”
Katsuki rolled his eyes, smiling in spite of himself. “I will, nerd. It’s really warm in here, food ain’t going cold any time soon.”
Izuku frowned slightly. “Is it? Warm, I mean.”
Ah.
Katsuki rummaged through his luggage and pulled out his warmest shirt. “Here. Other one’s a disaster.”
Izuku looked at him with big, wide, appreciative eyes.
“Thank you.” He reached out, carefully taking the shirt. “It’s soft.”
Katsuki cleared his throat. “Yeah.”
Izuku changed into it slowly.
Katsuki helped him get the sleeves. “You should rest.”
Izuku complied, thankfully. He bundled up under the covers on the far right of the bed, basically a human burrito, and was asleep in seconds.
Katsuki’s heart felt a little less tight once he saw him resting peacefully.
He soaked and scrubbed the bloody t-shirt in the bathroom sink, then ate his (now cold) food. He made a cup of tea to compensate for the cold meal, then took a shower. One of his legs was a bit purple, but all in all he’d come out of it all relatively unscathed. Boy was he sore all over though, to the point that even shimmying into sweatpants was a challenge.
Izuku’s eyes were open and fixed on him when he came back into the room.
“Kacchan, do you mind if I turn the heat on?” Izuku asked quietly from under the covers.
It would have been extremely adorable, if Katsuki wasn’t also extremely concerned that Izuku sounded like all his strength had left him.
“If you turn it on? Yeah, I mind that. Stay where you are, I got it.”
The heat was on already. Katsuki turned the temperature dial to its highest setting instead, then walked over and sat on the bed by Izuku’s side.
“Kacchan.”
“Mhm?”
“Did I take your only clean shirt?”
“Eh?”
Izuku pulled his hand out of the blankets and poked him on his (bare) chest.
“Oh, nah. Got distracted.”
By you.
“Okay…” The hand quickly went back under the covers. Katsuki noticed Izuku started to shiver slightly.
Not good.
“Distracting…” Izuku mumbled.
“Eh?”
“Nothing.”
Katsuki shook his head. Now was not the time.
It’s never the time.
Focus on what really matters here.
He put a hand to Izuku’s forehead. In spite of the shivering, he was quite warm to the touch, and sweating slightly. Katsuki fished for the thermometer they’d been given.
In a fucking Ziplock bag.
Izuku had a slight fever. Nothing majorly concerning, but Katsuki had the feeling this was only the beginning.
“You’re a bit warm. Doc said that’s okay but to watch it.”
“Yeah.”
“How do you feel?”
“Sleepy.”
Katsuki chuckled.
Damn you being this cute. “Then sleep.”
Izuku smiled and closed his eyes.
Katsuki grabbed a shirt, and the shitty airport book he had packed. He made some more tea, then settled into a simple routine: Read a few pages, sip some tea, check Izuku’s temperature, repeat.
Izuku slept for most of the day. He woke up at random times and asked Katsuki how he was, what time it was, or was there another blanket at hand. Around dinnertime, he managed to get out of bed for a bite of food and some water. His temperature was higher now, but still in the safe-enough range. Katsuki made sure he had plenty of liquids, and insisted on re-checking all his wounds. Thankfully, they looked okay.
Izuku laid back down soon after dinner. “Kacchan”
“Mhm?”
“You should rest too.”
Yeah.
Katsuki pondered his options for a moment. With the heating on high, it was warm enough to lay on the floor.
“Plenty of room on the bed.” Izuku stated it so simply, so casually, before closing his eyes and burying his face in the pillow.
Of course. Why would he think anything of it?
You’re the only one who…
Katsuki laid down on the far-left side, over the covers. It was really warm in their room. He reached out a hand to Izuku’s forehead – he’d taken his temperature so many times in the last few hours that he was getting pretty good at gaging it by touch alone. Then he got up and brought the thermometer over to his bedside table anyway.
Izuku slept on, looking angelic.
Katsuki turned towards him and whispered, “you need to take better care of yourself.”
Izuku’s eyes cracked slightly open. “I’m sorry,” he whispered back.
Katsuki blushed to the tips of his ears. “It’s okay. Save to win, right? Sleep.”
Izuku smiled sweetly.
Beautiful.
Katsuki wanted to hold him. He checked his temperature instead.
“Kacchan.”
“Yes?”
“You just did that.”
“And?”
Izuku giggled. “Nothing… Thank you.”
“For checking your temperature?”
“For being here. With me.”
“It’s our mission, can’t let you take all the glory.”
“Ok, thank you for saving me.”
“You saved yourself.”
“But you’re looking after me.”
Katsuki blushed further and turned to face the ceiling. “Go to sleep.”
He woke up in the middle of the night to the bed shaking, immediately on high alert.
Earthquake!?
No, the room isn’t moving.
The villain’s quirk?
It took him a moment to properly wake up and realise that the source of the tremors was much closer.
Izuku was shivering like he was in ice water.
“Shit. Izuku. Zu.” Katsuki called out a few times, but Izuku’s eyes were tightly shut, and he wasn’t responding.
“Fuck.”
He fumbled with the thermometer in his shaking hands for a moment, before stilling himself.
Katsuki wasn’t sure if he was relieved or upset when the number on the screen showed that Izuku – while certainly warm – was still very much in the safe range.
‘He’ll have a shitty night.’ The medic had said. ‘But he’ll be okay.’
Well fuck you too, doc.
“Zu–” he tried again.
Izuku’s eyes opened, groggy.
“Kacchan, wha – Did I wake you up?”
“How are you feeling?”
“Cold.” He answered honestly.
Katsuki showed him the temperature reading. “Want the meds anyway?”
“It’s okay, I’m cold but I’m sure the doctor’s right. It’s not that bad.”
Katsuki didn’t love it, but he knew it was a sensible answer, and in any case it wasn’t his decision to make. “Okay. How can I help?”
Izuku looked at him, and blushed. It may well have been the temperature. “Is the heating on?”
“It’s as high as it’ll go.”
Izuku gave him that look again, shivering wildly. Katsuki searched every nook and cranny of the room, but found no additional blankets. He went down to the hotel’s front desk, but there was no one there to help him.
Izuku was already wearing all the warm layers they’d brought.
Back in their room, Katsuki stood in the dark, mentally screaming at himself.
There’s an obvious solution.
Or is that what I’m trying to tell myself?
He could see Izuku trembling even from the other end of the room, in the dark.
That has to feel awful.
“Kacchan?” Izuku called out, almost imploring.
Fuck it.
Katsuki walked back towards the bed and put his brave face on. “Sorry, ‘Zu, this is the best I got.”
He climbed in, this time under the covers, and curled around Izuku’s back, hoping his body heat would help.
Izuku was a sweaty mess, and still shivering, but he seemed to relax a bit at the touch. He sighed, pressing his back to Katsuki’s chest. “You’re warm.”
That got a proper laugh out of Katsuki. “Yeah, well, that was the point. Sorry, were out of blankets and I can’t get anyone from the hotel.”
“Mn- don’t apologise. ‘s nice. Thank you,” Izuku mumbled, sounding relieved.
At least it worked.
Izuku fell asleep soon after.
Katsuki didn’t.
He might have to make an appointment with his cardiologist when they got back. Whatever. He was due for a check-up anyway.
Izuku was very warm, and he snored a bit. At some point he turned around and buried his face in the pillow again. Katsuki stayed by his side, close enough to hopefully still provide warmth. Evidently not close enough, though, because a few minutes later Izuku turned again, now facing him, and snuggled into his chest, a leg thrown over Katsuki’s.
Katsuki couldn’t have moved if he wanted to. He wondered if his heartbeat was as loud to Izuku as it was to him. He brought his free hand to card through Izuku’s damp hair, hoping the gesture was soothing.
In the morning, when sunlight started filtering in through the edges of the blackout curtains, Katsuki disentangled himself – with incredible effort – to check Izuku’s temperature again. It was much closer to normal, and the shivering had ceased. He still looked a wreck though.
Izuku opened his eyes slightly, staring at him. “Hi.”
“Mornin’.”
Katsuki wasn’t sure what to look at, so he kept his eyes trained on the thermometer’s display, reading it over and over as if it would unlock some hidden wisdom.
Izuku’s bright green eyes bore into him.
“Did you sleep well?” he asked.
“Yeah,” Katsuki lied.
“You should sleep some more.”
“Are you hungry?”
“Not really.”
“Okay. Your temperature’s better.”
“Still a bit cold.”
Katsuki bit his lip. He would happily help but…
Am I taking advantage of the situation?
Fuck.
“I’ll try the front desk again–” he suggested, hurriedly.
Izuku reached out a hand and grabbed his arm.
“It’s too early,” he whined.
Katsuki had no idea what time it was. Their phones were dead and out of reach. The digital clock in the room had been unplugged when they arrived and neither of them had bothered to set it. It must be morning, since the sun was starting to come up, but that’s as far as he knew.
Which meant Izuku had no idea what time it was either. But –
“Please?” he insisted.
Katsuki was a weak man. “Okay.”
He went to stand up again and Izuku protested. Katsuki chuckled.
“Give me two seconds, our phones are probably dead. Need to plug those in.”
Izuku huffed and sank back into his fortress of blankets. “M’kay. Hurry up, it’s cold.”
The next time Katsuki woke up, Izuku was fully curled into his side, arm thrown over his chest.
Katsuki should have got some kind of medal for finding the willpower to get up.
...or maybe he should get diagnosed for masochism.
Anyway –
“’Zu, wake up,” he called out, as softly as he could.
“Mmmn,” Izuku groaned, throwing an arm over his eyes.
Adorable brat.
“Come on, you need to eat something and have some water.”
“Come back. S’early.”
“It’s almost noon.”
Izuku blew a raspberry at him.
A fucking raspbe–
Whatever.
Izuku opened one eye and stared at him, then seemed to think it over and sat up, beginning to detangle the mess of sweaty bed sheets from his legs.
“I need to call the airport and see if I can get us out of this shitty island.”
“Is the weather any better?”
“No.”
Izuku laughed. “Okay.” He paused. “Kacchan?”
“Hm?”
“It’s okay if it takes another day, right? Not like they can do anything about the weather. Don’t get too worked up about it.”
Katsuki sighed. “Yeah.”
Izuku managed to finish his dinner from the day before while Katsuki argued with several airlines’ worth of staff. Everything was still grounded, but he managed to get plane tickets for the following day – conditional on weather improvement.
He even apologised to one of the airline workers. It didn’t help, but it didn’t hurt either, and Katsuki was not 15 anymore.
He found a store open nearby and picked up some more supplies. On the way back he got the hotel front desk to send someone to their room with clean bedsheets, towels, and a few extra blankets.
Izuku was still up and about when he came back - a good sign. He insisted on making Katsuki tea and checking his injuries in case they’d torn open again – nothing had, thankfully. The brat even stole Katsuki’s book to read after dinner. Katsuki couldn’t bring himself to mind.
At least you’re doing better.
Please be okay.
Izuku turned the heating down to a normal temperature. The room was almost a little chilly now, just enough to sleep comfortably under covers.
Bedtime came around again, and Katsuki found himself back in the same dilemma. Surely yesterday had been a measure of last resort…? Would Izuku prefer he sleep on the floor, now that he was on the mend?
He opted to delay the problem by curling up in a chair with his now reclaimed book and a cup of tea, pretending he wasn’t sore and tired.
Izuku managed to get ready for bed on his own – another good sign. When he came out of the bathroom he sat on the bed and gave Katsuki a look like he was seeing through to his very soul. Katsuki pretended not to notice, hoping the yellow-orange light of the reading lamp masked his blush.
Blast his mother’s fair skin.
Izuku walked over to the chair and knelt in front of Katsuki. Kind fingers delicately took the book away. Katsuki didn’t look up.
Coward.
Izuku replaced the book with his own hand, entangling their fingers.
“Kacchan.”
“Mhm?”
Katsuki’s face felt warmer than the freshly made tea in his cup. The book was gone, but he didn’t look up – afraid of what he might find.
Izuku ducked his head instead, slightly tilted to the side, trying and make eye contact.
Fine.
Katsuki took a breath and finally met his gaze. He wasn’t about to make the nerd tear open a wound bending like that.
There were entire constellations in those eyes.
“Kacchan…,” Izuku said, more firmly this time. He was smiling softly.
Katsuki looked at their entwined fingers, nervously rubbing his dry lips together.
“…will you come lay down?”
Katsuki didn’t trust his own voice, so he nodded, and carefully stood up.
Izuku let him go about his pre-bed routine, watching with unmasked interest. He folded the bed covers open on both sides, an invitation.
Katsuki tried not to have a heart attack.
Don’t read into it. Don’t fuck things up.
Eventually he ran out of things to do to get ready for bed, so he laid down on the left side of the bed, heart beating faster than the pitter-patter of rain on their window.
Izuku laid down too, on the right side, then he scooted closer; close enough to touch if Katsuki moved at all.
Katsuki’s eyes were trained on the ceiling, every muscle taut.
He felt Izuku turn sideways, towards him. A few curls brushed against the side of Katsuki’s face, on the same pillow. Izuku’s eyes were fixed on him, he was sure.
A gentle hand touched his arm. Katsuki shivered and looked over. Whatever Izuku read in his eyes, it seemed to make him smile.
“Hi,” Izuku said quietly.
“Hey.” Katsuki’s voice was sandpaper.
“How are you?”
How am I?
It was such a silly question in context, and yet Katsuki was sure it was entirely sincere. Leave it to Izuku to drive him crazy with three little words.
Katsuki laughed, hopeless. “I’m good. You?”
“Yeah. Could be better though.”
“Yeah?” Katsuki wasn’t so dense as to not see the bait in that answer. Ask, you coward. “How so?”
Izuku looked at him with a mix of shyness and mischief.
Stop being adorable.
Katsuki knew for a fact his face was painted crimson, but he was pretty sure Izuku was blushing too.
Maybe?
Careful, now.
Hope is a dangerous thing.
…right?
Katsuki found his courage and turned sideways towards Izuku, still waiting for an answer. Izuku grinned and took a leap of faith. He gently pushed Katsuki on his back again and snuggled into his chest, resting his cheek over Katsuki’s heart.
“I see.”
“Is this okay?”
Absolutely. “Yeah.”
The tips of Izuku’s curls tickled Katsuki’s chin.
“I like this.” Izuku rested a palm on Katsuki’s chest. “I like you.”
Katsuki heart leaped, suddenly beating a mile a minute. He wanted to respond a million things, but all the words choked in his throat. He was frozen, for a moment, feeling Izuku trace patterns on his chest with his finger. Feeling Izuku waiting.
Do something.
He brough a hand to Izuku’s curls and kissed the crown of his head. It was barely contact, Katsuki’s neck bent awkwardly to reach, but it got the point across – he hoped.
Izuku hummed. He shuffled and shifted until their heads laid side by side on the pillow again. Then he took all of Katsuki’s breath away with a kiss to his cheek, barely above his jaw.
Ah.
He felt Izuku smile against his skin.
Katsuki wet his lips a dozen or so times, gathering courage. “I like you, too,” he croaked.
“Yeah?” Izuku grabbed Katsuki’s hand and brough it between their faces, kissing the back of his fingers.
“Yeah,” Katsuki breathed out, turning his head to meet Izuku’s gaze again.
Izuku looked happy. Happy, and beautiful, and safe. Staring at Katsuki with love. Katsuki’s heart bounced around in his ribcage.
He kissed the tip of Izuku’s nose. Izuku giggled.
Katsuki wouldn’t mind hearing that sound again a hundred times.
“Good.” Izuku smiled, and snuggled closer.
The weather improved the following morning. They slept in, and missed their flight.
Katsuki had to pull some more strings to get them on another, later that afternoon. He didn’t mind.
The flight back was uneventful, only a few hours. They landed at night.
Katsuki drove Izuku home and walked him to the door. He said goodbye with a kiss to Izuku’s cheek, then turned towards his car.
He made it half a step before Izuku grabbed his arm and pulled him back around.
Katsuki crashed into Izuku’s lips – insistent, hungry, sweet, relentless. Incredible. Katsuki’s dreams couldn’t have shone a light to this feeling. Warmth travelled up his spine, sinking into his bones and making him shiver as Izuku alternated between kissing him and smiling against his lips. Katsuki felt himself drowning in it all, happily.
It took them a long time to say goodnight.