Work Text:
Kirishima Eijirou was stoked for his night off. He had been anticipating it for days, dreaming about what he'd spend it doing during his shifts. He only had a night off every two days—something he accepted as necessary to his growing hero career. He was young and unpartnered so of course he'd be working more nights than the older heroes with families, it was only fair. Red Riot was still on call in case of emergency but that had only happened a handful of times.
He had the pleasure of coming home from hero work at 5pm, exhausted from a run in with a bank robber with a quirk that turned everything he touched to concrete. After a long soak in the tub, he ambled into his kitchen in a pair of worn sweatpants and a soft t-shirt, a hand loosely scratching at his tummy as he rummaged for his prepared meal components. He had found meal prepping itself way too constricting and repetitive and thanks to Katsuki, he’d found a better way to make eating well with his packed schedule easier.
He was balancing a stack of glass containers in his arms when he heard a singular knock on his door and a thump as if something had fallen against it. It was probably a neighbour auntie bringing him food since only Katsuki had his building code (Red Riot was surprisingly popular with the auntie population too). He put the containers on the counter quickly before dashing to the door and pulling it open, a thankful smile on his face for the aunty.
Instead of an auntie and warm dinner he ended up with his arms full of a damp Katsuki Bakugo.
“Katsuki? What the hell?” Eijirou exclaimed, pulling the other man into the apartment, kicking the door closed. Katsuki looked like a drowned cat, bits of hair sticking to his forehead, mouth curled into a pout with a layer of water drops over the waterproof surface of his hero costume. He was sniffling, wiping at his nose with a tissue crushed up in his glove.
“Got too sick,” Katsuki rasped, cuddling closer to Kirishima’s chest, “yours’ was closer.” Katsuki was still letting Kirishima hold him up, trying to rub on as much of his warmness that he could. He was burning up in Kirishima’s arms despite the damp, shivering as Kirishima put the back of his hand over his forehead like his dad used to do to him before recoiling at the heat. Katsuki was as sick as a dog.
Kirishima acted fast out of panic; he picked Katsuki up in a bridal carry that would have gotten him an explosion to the face in normal circumstances and whisked him into the bathroom. He had seen Katsuki sick several times during their friendship, hell, he even saw him pouty and out of it on pain meds when his arm was healing after the war but he had never asked for help like this. Because that is what this was, wasn’t it? A plea for help. Katsuki had said Kirishima’s apartment was closer but they lived in the same neighbourhood and it wouldn’t have taken much longer to go to his own house. Kirishima believed himself to be an expert in all things Katsuki by now and he knew that sickness often made the blond slightly softer in action even if not in words. Maybe this was his way of saying he didn’t want to be alone in his sickness, that he wanted to be taken care of for once and by Kirishima. Eijirou felt his heart soar at being considered for this honour.
“Did you go to patrol sick?” Eijirou asked as he put Katsuki on the sink counter before opening the cupboards for his first aid kit.
Katsuki was shivering, a stubborn look on his face as if he had been forced to be there, “It wasn’t this bad,” he grumbles, “can’t make number one if I take a day off for a damn cold.” He pulled another tissue out of the endless source in his pocket and blew his nose.
Kirishima rolled his eyes as he straightened back up, “And now you have a worse problem because you caught a fever,” he said running his thermometer under some water before unceremoniously sticking it in Katsuki’s mouth. Next, he grabbed his hair dryer to dry the blonde’s hair as they waited. Though he was clearly sick, Katsuki still looked annoyingly beautiful; he frowned around the thermometer, eyes downcast and cheeks pink, the glorious smattering of freckles he had gathered in the summer were starting to disappear and Eijirou ached to kiss each one before they did. He was standing close enough, bracketed by Katsuki’s strong thighs, that he could kiss them if he wanted and taste the smell of autumn rain clinging to him.
“Take your costume off, I’ll get you some clothes,” Eijirou said jerking away before he did anything. He practically tossed the hairdryer onto the counter before high tailing it into his room, groaning as he realised, he was going to be putting Katsuki in his clothes. As friends, they’d shared clothes here and there but it always drove Kirishima crazy to see Katsuki in his clothes, a couple of sizes too big, smothering his lithe frame. They had grown into their bodies since high school and Kirishima had ended up the bigger of the two, not much by height but definitely by bulk and seeing that accentuated when Katsuki stole one of his jackets or hoodies made Eijirou feral.
Eijirou heard the end beep of the thermometer as he was digging through his clothes.
“’S done,” Katsuki grumbled from the bathroom, speaking around the thermometer still in his mouth.
Kirishima made his way back to the bathroom and took the thermometer out of Katsuki’s mouth gently. Katsuki had slumped back against the mirror; arms crossed over his chest and Eijirou had to remind himself that this wasn’t the time to perv on his ample chest.
He sucked in a breath looking at the thermometer, “Damn, dude, it’s 38.6˚C, it’s definitely not just a cold anymore,” he put the thermometer in the sink to handle later, “Change into this, I’ll go get some meds, okay?”
Katsuki pouted again, looking at the clothes on his lap before putting them aside and clambering onto his feet, “Help me,” he said, turning his puppy eyes on Eijirou whose stomach swooped. Katsuki looked so soft, hair fluffy and eyes free of their usual fire. What was worse was that he was asking for help outright, that had only happened a handful of times back when Katsuki’s arm was on the mend and even then, it was after the blond had frustrated himself to exhaustion. But now he was soft and pliant and probably in too much pain for Kirishima to overthink this and bail.
“Yeah, I got you,” Eijirou breathed out a bit breathlessly. He moved closer, eyes focused on the boring wall behind Katsuki as he reached around and unzipped the zipper on the back of the blonde’s costume, hands shaking slightly. It should not be hot; his friend was sick for God’s sake and here he was acting like this was anything but platonically taking care of a bro! Getting a hold of himself he pulled off Katsuki’s tight compression shirt type top and threw it onto the floor and strictly Not Looking at Katsuki’s chest he crouched down, eyes on the shiny black of the blonde’s boots.
Katsuki leaned against the sink while Kirishima busied himself with the laces, eyes firmly on the boots, how shiny they were after being in the rain, how sturdy the leather was underneath his fingers. He hated how quiet Katsuki was being, it left him to his thoughts and he couldn’t trust them at such a close proximity to the other man. He could feel the heat from Katsuki’s bare stomach on his forehead, if he leaned forward a bit he would be resting against the hard muscle there, the soft hairs tickling his skin. He bit the inside of his cheek as he took the boots and socks off Katsuki’s feet to keep himself from even trying to think about what that trail of hair led to. Losing a battle with himself he glanced up at Katsuki, eyes roving over the planes of his abs, his chest, God his chest, before reaching his face where he made eye contact with a watching Katsuki.
Kirishima stood up abruptly, swallowing a gasp before looking at the wall next to the mirror (Gods help him, his back!). He fumbled with Katsuki’s belt as quick as he could, letting the baggy pants drop before jumping back and away as if electrocuted.
“There, you’re all good to get dressed, right?” he asked, not waiting for an answer as he rushed to the bathroom door. Katsuki in his underwear was not something he could handle right now. It had been years since they had shared locker rooms and hot springs and it had been bad enough seeing the boy naked then but Grown Ass Man Katsuki? Kirishima was sure his heart would give out at the sight.
“When did you get weird about nudity?” Katsuki asked in his scratchy voice, sniffling as he reached for the sweatpants slowly.
“Just didn’t wanna impose on your boundaries, dude,” Kirishima called as he shut the bathroom door behind him and hightailed it to the kitchen. Once he was safely in the kitchen he could breathe again, his heart was jackhammering in his chest and the image of Katsuki peering down at him with that soft, fond look he had probably imagined was blasted on every jumbotron in his mind. In the white glow of the bathroom light Katsuki had a halo, he was a biblically accurate brilliant and terrifying angel and Eijirou was the mortal at his feet that would vanquish empires in his name.
Kirishima groaned at the prospect of this image living in his head from now on and started digging in his medicine cabinet. A painkiller and some vitamin C would probably be enough for now but his papa always said the best way to cure the flu was with food so he decided he would cook something, weariness be damned. Thankfully for him, his prepared meal components could totally be thrown together to make chicken soup.
Hearing soft footsteps approaching, Kirishima looked up to see Katsuki pad into the kitchen in socked feet. His nose was a cute pink shade, rubbed raw by tissues and his eyes were red rimmed. Eijirou fought the urge to gather him up in his arms and coo, putting a reheated onigiri as well as the medication and water down in front of him instead.
“That’s just for the painkillers because I know you haven’t eaten since lunch,” Kirishima said tapping the plate, “I’ll make dinner while you nap.”
“Dinner, huh? Not bad for a guy that practically lives on my food instead,” Katsuki said though he took a bite of the onigiri anyway, “Good thing I can’t taste anything.”
Eijirou rolled his eyes, “Hey, dude, you’re the one that makes me food, I just accept. My papa raised me to be a strong, independent man, ya know,” he replied, throwing a grin over his shoulder as he stirred the turmeric milk he’d started on the stove, “Plus, every time I’ve made you something you’ve loved it.” As much as he loved Katsuki’s food and letting him covertly take care of Eijirou and their other friends, he loved popping up all nonchalant with a dish he worked hard on and analyse Katsuki’s response to it. It always felt nice to take care of Katsuki in little ways like that.
Katsuki scoffed into his late bite of the onigiri, rolling his eyes petulantly as he chewed, cheeks cutely full of rice. Kirishima tried not to stare as he placed the mug of turmeric milk in front of him, leaning across the counter. He loved having the privilege of seeing Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight that terrorised the media and his PR team so soft like this. Katsuki was bitchy and sometimes mean but seeing him soften around his (unclaimed) friends made the redheads heart soar. He still grumbled about how annoying and inept they were but he was always the first one to any hangouts, with snacks or actual meals if it was at one of their houses and he was always the one that called everyone’s drunk asses cabs to get home. Except with Eijirou he’d take the time to not only call them a cab but walk the man up to his apartment and help him get in bed, leaving him a bottle of water and painkillers on the side table for his inevitable hangover.
“Quit starin’ creep,” Katsuki croaked out, face twisting at the resulting pain of speaking.
“Just take the meds and drink this, dude,” Kirishima replied, “You can go rest in my bed until I get dinner ready, just don’t fall asleep yet, okay?”
He could tell Katsuki had a smartass reply on his tongue and the fact that he couldn’t say it was irritating him so he huffed and took the pills before washing it down with half the mug of the turmeric milk before dramatically stomping his way to Eijirou’s bedroom. The red head watched him leave, chuckling, a sentient pile of soft cotton with a puff of blonde hair on it.
Katsuki wasn’t sleeping when Eijirou entered the room later with a steaming bowl of chicken noodle soup but it was clear that the fever had gotten worse. The blond was rolling around in bed, groaning quietly, his skin damp with sweat and his eyes squeezed shut. He kept rolling around trying to ease the muscle pain. Eijirou placed the bowl on the side table before sitting on the bed, pulling Katsuki into a seated position. He couldn’t help giving the blond a quick squeeze and a cuddle, only fleetingly so it wouldn’t hurt him.
“You gotta eat and try sweating it out, okay?” Kirishima said gently, taking the bowl back into his hands to feed the blond, “I made it really spicy too.” Katsuki whined gently, burrowing backwards against the pillows but he allowed Eijirou to feed him a spoonful of the soup.
“Why is there both rice and noodles in this?” Katsuki manages after swallowing; he didn’t look disgusted at least.
Kirishima chuckled abashedly, “I didn’t have enough of both for two people so I just added them both in, it’s the same stuff anyway, right?” he answered, feeding Bakugo another spoonful.
Katsuki accepted it, smiling softly as he swallowed, eyes glassy and looking a bit out of it, “I love that about you, ya know? You always find a way to accomplish your goals even if you have to troubleshoot,” the blonde said, dopey smile on his face, “it’s one of the reasons I fell in love with you.”
It was probably the hero reflexes that kept Eijirou from dropping the bowl and spilling soup all over himself, Katsuki, and the bedding. He gaped at Katsuki, eyes wide and eyebrows practically in his hairline. Katsuki on the other hand leaned his head in for another spoonful of soup, unaware of the chaos in Kirishima’s head and heart at that moment. He felt like the tiny Eijirous in his brain were running around panicking, his brain control centre on fire, files strewn everywhere.
He fed Katsuki another mouthful mechanically, trying to grab a hold of the reigns again. Surely, Katsuki was delirious from his fever and just talking shit. Surely, he wasn’t demolishing everything Eijirou thought about their friendship with fever loosened lips. Eijirou had a crush on Katsuki at first sight when he first saw him at UA. He was stunning, a sharp nose, pouty lips, and the coolest dandelion hair. He was definitely an asshole too but his ambition to become the number one hero was infectious and manly as hell; Kirishima had no choice but to pursue a friendship with the guy. Getting to know him made the feelings worse though, peeling back Bakugo’s layers to reveal the brave, sensitive and fiercely loyal boy underneath led Kirishima to realise that he was in love with the other boy while visiting him in hospital after the war. He had felt sick seeing him laying in the hospital bed the first time, Katsuki had always been larger than life and here he was in a bright hospital room, covered in bandages looking impossibly young and small. They were all young and small, but Katsuki had been at the heart of the war, he had sacrificed his life for his best friend to absolve himself of guilt for something that Izuku had already forgiven him for and it broke Kirishima’s heart but also made it glow with so, so much love.
“This is really tasty, Eiji, thanks for taking care if me,” Katsuki said, aiming a sweet smile at the redhead that made his heart stutter and crash against his ribcage. It was blow after blow with this guy; heaven help him. Hearing his name coming out of Katsuki’s mouth like that sent his soul out of his body. Every time he heard the blond say ‘Eijirou’ made his heart stutter but ‘Eiji’? Did Katsuki call him that in his head?
“I uh—it’s cool, dude.” Kirishima cleared his throat, loosening his grip on the bowl and spoon, “That’s what friends are for, right?” he fed Katsuki more hoping to shut him up until he got a hold of himself.
Katsuki scoffed after a mouthful, “Love you more than just friends, dumbass,” he replied, “We should get married and have kids and two dogs and a cat.” He blew his nose as if he didn’t drop another bomb, pun not intended, on Kirishima.
“Holy shit,” Eijirou breathed, feeding Katsuki automatically now. He would have never guessed that Katsuki would confess to him first and he would have never imagined it to be while Katsuki was delirious from fever, snot running down his red nose every few seconds and with soup cooling in the corners of his mouth. Kirishima was pretty sure Katsuki wasn’t really there, and would probably not remember this when the fever broke but that didn’t stop his heart from soaring and hope to blossom in it.
“Yeah, eat up and we’ll work on those dogs after you get better, okay?” Kirishima said softly, feeding Katsuki another mouthful with a grin. Katsuki would most likely be embarrassed as all hell when he came to, he’d probably shout and snarl and try to fight his way through being confronted about his feelings but it didn’t matter. Eijirou knew now and he wasn’t going to let him take back his words for anything, plus teasing the blond about it first sounded fun.
Eijirou was almost giddy with excitement as he fed the rest of the soup to Katsuki, letting himself indulge in wiping the other man’s mouth with a tissue, running a hand through his hair soothingly as he struggled to get the last of the soup eaten. He was sweating more as the soup began to do it’s job and afterwards, Kirishima made it worse by swaddling Katsuki in the duvet. He needed him to sweat out the sickness by the next morning so they could talk. For now, though, he turned the light down and cuddled his sick best friend in the bed, his own health be damned. Katsuki cuddled into his side with his head on Eijirou’s chest, Eijirou was thankful he was out of it and wouldn’t remember how hard his heart was hammering. The blond finagled an arm out of his blanket swaddle and linked his hand with Eijirou’s, resting them on Kirishima’s broad chest.
Kirishima smiled, his stomach swooping at the cute display and he risked it to bring their hands to his mouth, placing a kiss to the scarred back of Katsuki’s hand before returning them to his chest. The blond had fallen asleep.
“I’m in love with you too, Katsuki,” Eijirou whispered into the blonde’s hair, taking a deep sniff of the cinnamon-y musk scent he had come to associate with Katsuki, he placed a kiss on the blonde’s head too, unable to help himself anymore. He needed to get up, clean up and probably sleep on the couch the rest of the night but he couldn’t fight his urge to stay like that for a few minutes, indulging in the feeling of being allowed to hold Katsuki like this, to feel his hand in his, to watch his sleeping face. It was the first time he had had this privilege and his heart glowed at the thought that he would get to do this again for the rest of their lives.