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Izuku missed his life.
He missed running, jumping, saving, winning.
He missed being a hero, he missed his friends, and most of all, he missed being able to breathe.
It was manageable most days, his crackly lungs barely filling with enough air with each breath. But some days, he’d have to be put into a machine that did the breathing for him. Especially the days after he had convinced nurses to let him go outside, at least for a little walk.
The illness had come suddenly, without warning. At first he thought it might be a quirk affecting him, but after some tests, they found out it was just regular pneumonia.
Putting a name to the illness didn’t help much, though. Medicine and healing quirks, for whatever reason, never quite kept the problem at bay enough for Izuku to return to normal life, nevermind life as a hero.
His throat was always raw from coughing, and he was always a little lightheaded from the lack of oxygen getting to his brain. It wasn’t an uncommon occurrence for him to wake up on the floor and discover he had passed out, the nurses rushing around him to get him back in bed.
The only solace he had in this hospital room was the bouquets of flowers and fruit platters his friends had left, and a promise from Katsuki he would make sure to visit every day at exactly six in the afternoon to have dinner together.
And no matter what, even if he was covered in dirt and blood from fighting villains, or he had to decline interviews and commercial deals, he would be there.
Izuku often wondered if he purposefully waited outside the door for exactly six o’ clock. When he would arrive, it would be the precise moment the clock on the wall turned from 5:59 to 6:00.
If Izuku had any breath to hold, he’d hold his breath counting the seconds as the clock struck 5:58. Just one hundred and twenty seconds to go…
He made himself busy by at least running his fingers through his hair to tame the wild- only made wilder by hospital pillowcases- curls across his forehead. He choked down a round of coughs as he sat up.
Sixty seconds to go.
Thirty…
Twenty…
The clock struck six. But the door didn’t burst open like usual. There was no Katsuki walking in and holding a pizza box or a homemade bento. There was… nothing.
Izuku’s heart lurched. Something was wrong. Something had to be wrong! He fumbled for his cellphone and frantically looked through the news, trying to see if maybe Dynamight had been spotted fighting a villain, or maybe there was a big emergency somewhere but…
There was nothing.
Did he forget?
No… he wouldn’t forget.
Something was wrong.
Until it wasn’t. At 6:15 pm, Katsuki burst into the door.
He looked fine, a little winded, maybe from running, but fine. He wasn’t even wearing his hero costume, just a normal outfit.
“Kacchan!” Izuku yelped. Relief and worry mixed in his chest. If he wasn’t fighting a villain… What made him late?
“Damn it,” Katsuki grumbled as he sat down in a chair next to Izuku’s bed. “I wouldn’t have been so late if I didn’t have to fill out a buncha damn paperwork.”
“Paperwork?” Izuku tilted his head. “What do you mean? Like, agency stuff?” He looked Katsuki up and down. He seemed fine but… there was something a little off in his eyes.
“Don’t worry about it.” Katsuki finally caught his breath (something Izuku wished he could do) and grasped the back of Izuku’s hand. “Feeling better?”
“A bit.” Izuku cleared his throat a little, hoping he wouldn’t cough too much in front of Katsuki.
“Good. We need to talk.”
Oh no.
Something was wrong.
The look in his eye… had Izuku done something wrong?! Had he said something he shouldn’t have? Izuku frantically tried to think, but Katsuki hadn’t mentioned anything, and he couldn’t remember doing anything that would piss him off so…
Maybe… he was just sick of Izuku. Maybe he wanted to… Izuku’s eyes burned with panicked tears. Maybe he didn’t want to be in a relationship anymore.
It would make sense, after all this time of waiting for him to get better. They had started dating with high hopes their last year in high school. After graduation, Izuku only had two years to be a hero before the pneumonia got to him. Izuku had been in the hospital for almost three hundred days now.
It would make sense that Katsuki would want someone else. Someone stronger, someone who had a chance at becoming a hero, someone who could compete with him…
“I want to take you home.” Katsuki gazed into Izuku’s eyes with a nervous shift.
“Home? How?” Izuku furrowed his brow. “My mom-”
“Not your mom’s.” Katsuki lowered his gaze to look at their hands, their fingers entwined together. “I’m not just working my ass off to become the number one hero, you know. I got myself an apartment. First floor n’ everythin’. And the ventilator they put you on when things get bad… I can afford it now.”
Izuku’s heart pounded in his chest. Go home… as in…
“Izuku…” Katsuki met his gaze once again. “Come home with me, alright? You don’t need to stay trapped here forever.”
Home. With Kacchan…
“A-are you sure?” Izuku’s lips trembled. “No! I couldn’t be a burden. That machine is expensive, and what about the cost of electricity for it?! And… I’d need to get a job to help pay bills and-”
“I don’t give a damn, Izuku.” Katsuki’s gaze turned into a glare. A hard, insistent glare. “We’ll figure all of that out. I’ll work hard enough for us both if I have to, you know that. So stop thinking so much,” He prodded Izuku’s chest with his fingertip, “and tell me if you want to live with me or not.”
Izuku couldn’t hold back his tears. They were a mix of grateful, and guilty, and scared tears. Guilt because he knew he’d be a burden, and fear because he didn’t know what life would be like on his own. No mother or nurses to help him, and Katsuki off working all the time, he’d have to be a lot more independent. But…
If that meant going home, to a place where he’d share his life with Katsuki, then…
“Of course I want to, Kacchan.” His voice was watery and he tried to stifle his crying. It would only make his breathing worse. “I want to more than anything in the world.”
Katsuki squeezed his hand. “Then I promise you, Izuku. I’ll get you out of here as soon as the machine’s installed. Think you can hold on a little longer?”
Izuku nodded. If he spoke any more, he was sure he’d drown in tears.
Of course I can hold on, Kacchan. I’d wait forever if I have to.
Katsuki pulled him close to his chest. “Just a few days. I’ve got your back, Izuku.”