Work Text:
"Kacchan, you're going to make it mad," a small, five year old Izuku warned quietly from over Katsuki's shoulder.
Katsuki stayed crouched down with his palm pointed towards the cat that had its back to the wall in an alleyway. Small crackles and explosions kept erupting from his hand as he grinned evilly at the growling creature. He jerked his hand forward and let out another small explosion that caused the cat to hiss and swipe at him.
"The cat is evil and I have to vanquish it! Don't you know anything, stupid Deku?" Katsuki laughed as he let out more small crackles and pops.
"But it didn't do anything, Kacchan. You're being mean again," Izuku argued, moving out from behind Katsuki to crouch down beside him.
He held his hand out to the cat and smiled. The cat turned its attention toward him and jumped forward, clawing Izuku's hand out of the way so it could latch onto his leg with both paws and bite him. Katsuki fell back on his rear from surprise and Izuku yelled in pain and swatted at it, tears beginning to form in his eyes. The cat clung harder and bit him a few more times in response to being swatted, then raked its claws down against his leg and backed off. It swiped at Katsuki while hissing and then ran away, leaving a stunned Katsuki and crying Izuku in its wake.
Katsuki stared after the retreating cat with wide eyes and his mouth dropped open from shock. That wasn’t what was supposed to happen at all. When it was out of sight he turned his attention to Izuku and flinched at the wounds on the little boy's leg.
"S-stop crying, Deku," he tried, crawling forward and placing a hand on Izuku's shoulder. But Izuku just kept wailing in response.
Katsuki looked around at both entrances to the alleyway they were in. He needed to get Izuku help. He didn't know how to deal with this. But no one they knew was around at this time and suddenly he regretted going out alone with Izuku this early in the morning on a Saturday but he was the only one who would sneak out and play with him and it would have been better than no one. But this was why he hated Izuku. The little boy couldn't defend himself from anything and so Katsuki had to do everything for him. Yet again he would have to be Izuku's hero.
That's right. Just think of it as being a hero.
That was how he reasoned with himself. Because he didn't want to believe Izuku was his friend. He was just a citizen in need and Katsuki was a hero that needed to rescue him all the time. Definitely not friends. Even if Izuku was the only one who shared his toys still. Or the only one who let him in his house even after Katsuki was mean to him. Or the only one Katsuki likes spending time with alone.
Katsuki shook his head softly. He was getting off track. He had to save Izuku still.
"C'mon, dumb Deku," the six year old called out over Izuku's crying, getting down on one knee with his back to the boy. "Get on and stop crying already!"
Izuku quieted down just long enough to look over, trying to make out his friend through the blurriness of his tear filled eyes. Katsuki held his hands low behind his back and waved them, urging Izuku to get on so Katsuki could piggyback him home. Izuku finally complied while whimpering, standing up and limping over to loop his legs through Katsuki's arms. Katsuki lifted him up, almost falling backwards as he did. He didn't think someone as small as Izuku would be this heavy.
Izuku wrapped his arms around Katsuki's neck and buried his face in the back of Katsuki's shoulder, crying quietly into Katsuki's shirt as the other hunched forward and began marching to Izuku's home. Izuku’s mom would know what to do and Izuku would be okay. Definitely.
Katsuki felt a wetness on his hand and looked down, seeing blood beginning to trickle down Izuku's leg and onto Katsuki's hand. It didn't do well for Katsuki's already growing worry. He'd never seen real blood before, let alone had another person’s on his hand. His head snapped forward and he clamped his mouth shut tight, trying to pay attention to anything else.
"K-Ka-Kacchan, wh-why... Why are y-you sh-sh-shaking?" Izuku questioned through sobs and hiccups after a while. He could feel Katsuki's body shaking every so often and he pulled his head back to look down at the other.
"Sh-shut up! I'm not shaking. You're just crying so hard that it feels like I am because you're so weak," Katsuki barked out over his shoulder. He grit his teeth and stared at the ground again before his eyes squeezed shut. He would run if he could, but Izuku was too heavy. "Just keep quiet and I'll have you home in a couple of minutes, okay?"
Izuku placed his head back down on Katsuki's shoulder and nodded. His sobs were finally calming down, but his leg still hurt and he was beginning to hiccup a lot from crying too much. But finally Izuku's apartment came into sight and Katsuki hiked Izuku further up his back and quickened his pace. He'd almost saved Izuku. He just needed to get him inside and everything would be alright.
He climbed each step slowly, not wanting to fall backwards with Izuku weighing him down, until he was at the top and then paused in front of the door to Izuku's apartment. He glanced at both of his hands with the realization he couldn't use them to open the door or knock. So he pulled his leg back and began kicking the door relentlessly.
"HEYYY!!" Katsuki yelled suddenly, causing Izuku to jump. "Open the door! Deku is hurt! HEYYY!! Ms. Midoriyaaa!!”
He continued to kick the door incessantly until Inko opened it. She gasped when she saw the two and ushered them in quickly before disappearing into the kitchen. Katsuki could hear the sound of cabinets and drawers opening and shutting in the other room as he walked Izuku around the couch and let him down in front of it. Immediately he spun around and climbed onto the couch when Izuku was standing on one leg. Once on top he reached down and tried to help Izuku by pulling him up. It wasn't needed but Katsuki felt a need to do it regardless. Once they were both settled in Inko came rushing over with a first-aid kit in hand and got down on her knees in front of the couch.
"Is Deku going to be okay?" Katsuki asked, watching her movements carefully.
Inko frowned at Katsuki momentarily for still using that nickname, but continued rummaging through the small box until she found the disinfectant spray and held Izuku's leg out.
"This is going to sting, okay?" Izuku nodded while bracing himself, and jerked his leg back with a loud whine when Inko sprayed the cuts. Katsuki flinched when Izuku jerked his leg back. She put the bottle back in the box and reached for a small roll of gauze while turning her attention to Katsuki. "He'll be just fine. It's only a few cuts."
"But he's bleeding. He's not going to die is he?" Izuku couldn't die yet. They never got to finish their adventure from today or the one from last week. Plus they still needed to go hunting for villains in the park again.
"He'll be just fine," Inko repeated, wrapping the gauze around Izuku's leg while the boy whimpered and wiped the snot away from below his nose with the sleeve of his shirt. "How did this happen exactly? You two shouldn't be out of the house this early in the morning. It's only seven in the morning."
Katsuki looked away bashfully, rubbing the side of his arm with a frown. He didn't want her to know it was his fault, but lying was wrong. Heroes don't lie and he was a hero. So he had to tell the truth.
"We snuck out to go play and there was this evil cat that was going to hurt a bird. We chased it down and I scared it with my quirk so it attacked Deku and ran away. I brought him home right away to save him," he explained. He then brought his head up to meet her gaze as he continued, "but I didn't mean to make the dumb cat attack him! I was just trying to scare it. My quirk is the best so I thought it would be too scared to do anything when it saw how great my quirk was!"
Inko hummed quietly while she patted Izuku's bandaged leg. "Animals don't understand the use of quirks, Bakugou. The cat felt threatened and so it attacked. You shouldn't be mean to animals like that, okay?"
Katsuki glared at the ground. Who was she to tell him what he should and shouldn't do? But he nodded regardless.
"Now come on. Why don't you and Izuku go back to bed and we'll have your parents come pick you up later? Do they know you left the house?" Inko questioned while grabbing both their hands and ushering them to Izuku's room. Katsuki shook his head quietly while still glaring at the ground. "Alright. I'll call and have them come get you later on. You can both take a nap in Izuku's bed for now. How does that sound?"
Katsuki just nodded and climbed into Izuku's bed with the other boy. Inko pulled the cover over them both and shut the light off before closing the door quietly. Katsuki crossed his arms and glared up at the ceiling. He didn't want to go to sleep right now. Even if he did wake up super early and was a little tired after carrying Izuku all the way here while worrying about him. Then he saw Izuku yawn and close his eyes, which in turn caused him to yawn.
I guess I can sleep for a little bit. Just until Deku is better.
"Kacchan," Izuku called out sleepily with his eyes closed. Katsuki turned on his side to look at the other, seeing Izuku still had his eyes closed but was facing him. He responded with a small 'hm' while closing his own eyes. "Thank you for helping me. You're my bestest friend."
Katsuki's eyes cracked open a little to see the smile on Izuku's sleepy face. He turned onto his other side and pulled the blanket further up to cover his mouth. With a muffled voice he replied, "whatever."
After remembering the ways Izuku was a better friend than the rest of their friends he felt the need to, for whatever reason, confess after a few moments as well.
"You're my best friend too, stupid Deku. Even if you are a weak loser.”
He said it quietly, but Izuku heard it nonetheless and his smile widened before they both fell asleep together.