Work Text:
It was supposed to be a normal evening.
Their routine was simple, really. They woke up, Katsuki cooked them breakfast, they teased each other. Then, they left for work together, went to their separate, rival agencies, did rounds and patrols around the neighborhood, kicked some villains’ asses. Finally, they went back home, tended to their minor injuries, grabbed some dinner together (this was usually Katsuki’s time to shine), watched something silly on the TV and went to sleep.
(Sometimes there was something else they did, something reserved solely to the privacy of their bedroom. Or bathroom. Or kitchen counter. Or living room. But to be honest, work these days was so exhausting that neither of them had the stamina to spare for these activities).
All in all, step 9 was the one where everything went wrong. The tending-to-minor-injuries bit.
“It’s just a scratch, Kacchan”, Izuku told his worried boyfriend, rolling his eyes with affection. Katsuki simply scoffed in disdain, continuing to gather the first aid items he would need to tend to the ugly cut on Izuku’s arm.
“I think I can see some bone”, Katsuki scrunched his nose up, giving the ugly injury another look before grabbing alcohol and gauze.
“You’re exaggerating!”, Izuku frowned, lifting his arm up to eye’s level in order to check. “There’s no bone”, he attested, lowering the limb.
“You should probably go to a hospital”, Katsuki added, crouching down in front of Izuku with the equipment he had gathered. “It needs stitches”.
“It doesn’t need stitches”, Izuku smiled down at him with patience. “You’re just being a mother-hen”.
“You call me that again, I’ll make sure there’s some visible bone on your next injury”.
“All right, Kacchan”, Izuku chuckled. “You’re worrying over – OUCH!”
Katsuki looked up from where he had thrown the alcohol on Izuku’s cut, face impassive.
“What?”
“You could have warned me!”, Izuku complained, cradling his arm to himself.
“You said it yourself you don’t need a hospital. I thought you’d be tough enough to handle some alcohol”, he said, bickering in his tone. Izuku gave him a hurt expression.
“You’re being mean to me”, he accused, pulling his arm from Katsuki’s strong hold when he tried to pull it back down. He looked up at Izuku.
Katsuki studied his boyfriend’s hurt expression for a moment before sighing and lowering his head in defeat.
“Fine. Let me look at it, Deku”.
“No”.
He narrowed his eyes.
“You’re being a baby, now”.
“I get to be one if you treat me like that”.
Katsuki rolled his eyes.
“All right, I won’t hurt you. Just let me bandage it up before you bleed all over the tiles”.
Izuku kept his arm cradled to his chest for a few more seconds before giving in. He outstretched the injured arm to Katsuki, jaw tight.
Katsuki studied the injury for another moment before grabbing the gauze and gently rolling it around Izuku’s arm.
“I still think you need stitches”, he said, not meeting his boyfriend’s eyes. Izuku sighed again.
“You worry too much about me”.
“Well, a few years back you were cracking all your bones apart as if they were glow sticks, and now you tell me I have no reason to be over worried? Tch”.
Izuku gave him another affectionate eyeroll.
“I know better now”.
“Yeah. You know better than getting stabbed by a D-lister with a kitchen knife”.
“Kacchan. I told you it was an accident!”
“Yeah, I can tell”.
“I’ll be fine”, he smiled tiredly. “You can just… relax, ok?”
Katsuki glared up at him.
“I’ll relax when I’m dead”.
“No joking about death”, Izuku scolded.
An eyeroll.
“Fine. But I won’t stop worrying about you”.
“You –“
“What kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn’t?”
Izuku relented.
“Ok, Kacchan. But truly, I’m fine”.
“I’ll be the one who decides that”.
“You’re not a doctor, though”, a teasing smile.
“No, but I have first-aid training. And the training is telling me this needs stitches”, he resumed bandaging Izuku’s arm up and got back to his feet. “So grab your coat and let me take you to a hospital”.
“Kacchaaaaan”, Izuku whined, sagging his shoulders. “I told you no hospital. There are people with actual injuries who need the doctors’ attention, and I’m not one of them”.
“You’ll end up bleeding all over the bed”.
“No, I won’t. because you bandaged me up good. See?”, he raised the gauzed-up arm with a broad, encouraging smile. “It doesn’t even hurt that bad”.
“You were whining at me two seconds ago”.
“That was because you threw alcohol at my open wound!”, he protested.
“So you admit that it’s a wound”.
“Kacchan”.
“Fine, Deku. Suit yourself. But I’m not washing up our bedsheets”.
“You won’t have to”, Izuku grabbed him by the waist and pulled him into a hug. “But if it makes you happy, I can take a pill. Anti-inflammatory or something, how does that sound? And then we can keep watching that show you like”.
Katsuki hesitated before embracing Izuku gently.
“Fine”.
Izuku beamed up, breaking their hug.
“Great! I’ll grab the med, you go turn the TV on”.
“You don’t get to boss me around just because you’re injured, shitty nerd”.
“I’m not bossing you around”, Izuku placed a kiss on Katsuki’s cheek. “I’m just suggesting”.
“Fine”, Katsuki grumbled, throwing his hands into his pockets and walking off the bathroom. Izuku looked for the pill he needed to take – their bathroom cabinet was packed with all sorts of medication for the case of an emergency. Once he found it, he swallowed it dry.
He inspected his injured arm for a few more seconds before putting the gauze and the alcohol away, ready to have a nice binge-watching session with Kacchan and blow some steam off from his stressful day.
He found his boyfriend waiting for him on he couch with crossed legs and an inviting stretched arm, so Izuku was happy to nestle himself between Kacchan and his favorite All Might cushion and pressed play without a doubt. He was careful not to put any weight on his injured arm and allowed his head to rest on the crook of Kacchan’s neck.
They were ten minutes into the episode when Kacchan pressed pause without a warning.
“What’s wrong?”, Izuku asked, frowning. It wasn’t usual for Kacchan to interrupt their binge-watching sessions.
“What are you doing?”, Katsuki asked, staring at him with a serious expression.
Izuku’s frown deepened.
“What do you mean?”
“You’re breathing weird”.
Izuku blinked in surprise, noticing that in fact, his breaths were coming out with a little wheezing sound.
“Sorry”, he said, rubbing his neck and clearing his throat. “Guess my throat is sore”.
“Hm”.
Katsuki settled back on the couch and pressed play again, and Izuku nestled closer to him.
Barely a minute passed before Katsuki pressed pause again.
“Stop breathing like that, Deku”, he said, a bit annoyed.
“I – I don’t know why it’s coming off like this”, Izuku admitted, rubbing at his throat again. “I’m not doing it on purpose”.
“Grab some water and take a cough syrup or something, then”, Katsuki instructed. “Do we still have that?”
“We do”, Izuku said, getting up from the couch. He was starting to feel a bit breathless, which made the wheezing sound worse. “I’ll – I’ll go grab it”.
“I’ll fetch you the water”, Katsuki said, getting up as well.
Izuku went back to the bathroom, but before he could open the cabinet, he noticed something weird on the mirror.
His eyes were puffy. In fact, one of them was so puffy it was almost closed all the way.
“Oh”.
Syrup forgotten, he went back to the living room.
“Uh, Kacchan?”, he called.
“Yeah?”, Katsuki replied from the kitchen.
“I need you to stay calm”.
Katsuki’s head immediately popped off from the kitchen’s door, eyes sharp with attention.
“What?”
Izuku licked his lips and placed his hands on his hips before replying.
“I think I’m having an allergic reaction”.
Katsuki frowned, shutting the water off and making his way to his boyfriend.
“What?”, he asked again, more urgent. Izuku hesitated, heart fluttering inside his chest.
“My face’s getting puffy, see?”, he got closer to Katsuki, gesturing at his eyes. “And it’s getting harder to breathe”.
Katsuki stared at him, mouth hanging open. He was uncharacteristically at a loss for what to do.
“But you’ve taken this medication before”, he tried to argue, as if that would make the allergic reaction go away.
“I know”, Izuku wheezed.
“And nothing happened”.
“I know”.
“So what the fuck?”, he asked. “Did someone poison our bathroom cabinet?!”
“I don’t know, but it’s – it’s getting really hard to breathe now”, he gasped, looking around for his sneakers.
“Ok. Ok”, Katsuki nodded, clearly trying – and failing – to keep his cool. “Hospital. The two of us. Now. I’ll grab your wallet and the med you took. No arguing”, he instructed, putting on an old pair of flip flops and taking the house keys on his way to the bathroom.
“Kacchan –“
“No fucking arguing!”, he shouted and pointed at Izuku before he could even continue. Before Izuku could reply, he disappeared into the bathroom, searching for the medicine, and once he retrieved it he went to the bathroom to pick up Izuku’s wallet.
He was ready to go in about fifteen seconds. And since Izuku’s vision was starting to become blurry, he decided it was his best interest to follow Kacchan without a second thought.
Katsuki grabbed Izuku’s good arm and led him out of their home and down the stairs of their apartment building, heart pounding with worry. The wheezing sounds Izuku was making were becoming worse with each shallow breath he took. His throat felt clogged up, as if someone was holding it down.
“Ok, there’s a hospital two blocks away, I think it’s faster if we walk there. Can you walk there?”, he asked nervously once they arrived at the first floor.
Izuku swallowed dry – or tried to –, nodding. Then, he chose that exact moment to trip on his own feet.
“Deku, I mean it. I can hail us a cab –“
“I… I can… walk there”, he wheezed out, starting to get really breathless. He tried to see Katsuki’s reaction, but his eyes were too blurry for him to make out any possible expression.
“God, you’re fucking helpless. Give me your arm”, Katsuki said, clearly stressed out. Before Izuku could protest, Katsuki passed the boy’s good arm around his shoulder, taking half of his weight.
Izuku kept trying to breathe in and out through his nose, as deeply as he could, but even that seemed impossible, now. His throat was becoming just as swollen as his eyes and his lips; it was reaching a point where he could no longer see the streets from the way his lids were puffy.
“Ka…cchan…”, he tried, but his voice was so small that he doubted Kacchan could hear him. Izuku hadn’t meant to worry him, but that seemed to be the only thing he ever did. He hated himself, for a moment.
“No talking”, Katsuki told him, barking out the words as if they were soldiers on a battlefield. As if he was trying to rescue a fallen comrade. “Save your energies”.
Izuku tried to swallow again, choking and gasping. He could no longer breathe; the allergic reaction was developing very fast.
“Can’t… br’the…”, he choked out. Black and white dots were painting his vision, and his arms and hands were starting to go numb.
“Just hang on, Deku? Ok? Hang on, baby, we’re almost there. All right? Deku?”
His boyfriend sounded so soft under the ringing in Izuku’s ears… Izuku hated to put him in this situation. It was supposed to be one simple medicine, meant exactly to prevent him from going to a hospital. Now, he was being dragged across the street by a clearly frantic Kacchan, and he was sure he would get the scolding of his life if he survived this.
His legs were no longer obeying him, since there was no oxygen making it into his lungs. He tried to move one foot after the other, but it was useless – they became deadweight. He felt, more than heard, Kacchan grunt from the sudden effort of carrying Izuku’s completely limp body, and then the world turned upside down and his bad arm was flopping weightlessly on his side as Katsuki carried him bridal-style while he jogged through the street.
“K’cch’n”, Izuku tried again, head swimming and ears ringing. “S’rry”.
“Stop”, Katsuki barked, sounding desperate and breathless as he ran as fast as he could. “You fucking asshole, stop that”.
“S’rry”, Izuku mumbled. “’m s’rry”.
Kacchan, gomen nasai.
Before Katsuki could call him more names, Izuku lost consciousness.
He woke up to a light so bright that it was almost blinding.
Squinting his eyes, he tried to make sense of his surroundings. There was white lamp, a blue curtain, and a familiar mop of spiky, soft blond hair.
“K’cchan”, he called – wheezed – from where he was lying down. He raised a hand – his good hand – but it was stopped by something he couldn’t see. He tried to pull at it, but Katsuki fisted his wrist before he could.
“Leave that alone, Deku”, he instructed sharply. “It’s an IV drip. It’s supposed to help you”.
Katsuki let go of his hand and Izuku blinked his eyes, trying to focus on his boyfriend’s face. It was still a bit blurry, but his sight was better than it had been before.
Speaking of before…
“How long?”, he asked, feeling weak and sore all over. He shifted on the mattress, searching for a more comfortable position. Katsuki clicked his tongue.
“Half an hour. You’ll have to stay here overnight, so keep your hopes down. I’m not letting you out of this bed any time soon”.
Izuku frowned.
“Overnight? What about work?”, he asked, concerned. He had stuff to attend to, he couldn’t just skip work!
“Work can wait for the two days off you’re going to take. Doctor’s orders”, Katsuki said, arms crossed above his chest and tone leaving no place for an argument.
“Kacchan –“
“You’re not arguing with me”.
“But –“
“You’re not arguing with me, Deku”, he barked, perhaps a bit too loudly for someone who was at a hospital’s ER. “I said what I said and you’re going to obey the fucking doctor, or else I swear to god I’m giving you a well-deserved ass beating”.
Izuku clenched his jaw, frustrated, but he didn’t feel like he had the strength to keep arguing. Not with someone as stubborn as Kacchan, at least.
“Can you do something about the lights?”, he asked, not meeting his boyfriend’s eyes and trying to change the subject.
“Are they too bright?”, Katsuki asked, concerned.
“Yes, a little”.
“Doc said you might be sensitive to it for a while. I’ll be right back. Don’t touch your IV”, he instructed, before pulling the curtain to the side and disappearing.
Izuku raised his hand to look at the IV drip, only to realize he was shaking. He lifted his other hand, which was also shaking, and found out that there were neat stitches on the injury on his arm.
Damn. He hated it when Kacchan won an argument. It always made him insufferable.
The light above his head was turned down to a more tolerable brightness, and Izuku sighed in relief. Kacchan reappeared in front of him, pulling the curtain closed again before stepping next to him.
“Thanks, Kacchan”.
“Hm”.
There was a pause.
“I’m pretty sure we’ll be all over the news tomorrow morning”, Katsuki added with a grumpy expression. “A lot of people saw me carrying you, I’m pretty sure some of them took pictures”.
Izuku hummed.
“Was it ugly?”
“Yeah”, Katsuki sighed. “Your face was all swollen. You looked like a broccoli, and not in a nice way. PR will go crazy over this”.
An amused snort. Izuku couldn’t care less about PR in a situation like this.
“Is it still swollen?”, he asked curiously, raising one hand to touch his face. He couldn’t tell if he still looked like an ugly broccoli just by touching it, though, so he looked at Katsuki.
“It’s better now”, Katsuki admitted, arms still crossed above his chest. He wasn’t standing too close to the bed, making it look like he wanted to give Izuku some space to breathe.
“Maybe they won’t recognize me on the news, then”, he tried to jest, just to diffuse the tension.
Katsuki didn’t smile.
“Oh, I’m pretty sure they’ll know it’s you. Freckles, green hair, me carrying you bridal-style. They’ll mostly get it’s you from me, probably”.
“Hm”, Izuku hummed. “I wonder what the headline’s gonna be”.
He outstretched his free hand to Katsuki, inviting him to get closer.
Katsuki stayed where he was.
Izuku didn’t like it, but he didn’t want to force his boyfriend to do anything, either.
Another pause, this time uncomfortable. Izuku didn’t really know what to say.
“So, about work –“, he attempted to change the subject again.
“Already talked to Kirishima. He’ll let your boss know you won’t be coming in and why”.
Izuku stared at him incredulously.
“Kacchan –“
“What?”, Katsuki cut him off abruptly. He sounded angry.
“You should have waited”, Izuku told him.
“For what?”
“For me to wake up, to see how I would feel about it!”
“It doesn’t matter how you feel about it, because you’re not going to work no matter what you say”.
Izuku felt angry.
“That’s not your choice –“
“Carrying you half-dead to a hospital and watching they reanimate you after you stopped breathing wasn’t my choice, either! And yet, here I fucking am!”
Izuku studied his boyfriend’s face, taken aback. He really studied it. And yes, his mistake had been stupid, a rookie mistake. He should have known better after all these years.
Kacchan wasn’t angry. He was hurt. Those emotions weren’t hard to get mixed up when it came to him.
“I’m sorry”, Izuku said, with all the honesty in the world. “I didn’t mean to scare you”.
Katsuki didn’t respond with his trademark “I wasn’t scared!”, which was enough of an indicator of how bad the situation had been.
“I know”, Katsuki scoffed, not meeting his eyes. “You should have listened to me about the damn fucking hospital”.
Izuku sighed.
“Can we just… put this all behind us?”
Katsuki glared at him.
“Easy for you to say. If it was me lying on this bed, I’d like to see you put it behind you so easily”.
Izuku’s lips formed a thin line. He gestured at Kacchan again, indicating for him to get closer. This time, he obeyed, sitting down at the edge of Izuku’s bed.
Izuku grabbed his hand and placed it atop his chest, holding it in place.
“See that?”, he asked, gentle, allowing Katsuki to feel the rise and fall of his chest and the hummingbird beating of his heart. “It means I’m still alive”.
Katsuki snorted.
“Yeah. Barely”.
“I’m sorry I put you through that again”, Izuku said gently, remembering all the other times Kacchan got worried sick about him. When it came to close calls with death, they were veterans, but it never meant the experience was something easy to shake off due to its frequency.
“I know you are”, Katsuki said simply, taking Izuku’s hand on his own. He placed a reluctant kiss on the back of it.
“Did the doctor say anything? About the medication?”, Izuku asked.
“He said it’s common for you to develop an allergy to medicine you’ve taken before. Apparently, anti-inflammatory meds are the most likely to kick in an allergic reaction. They put you on the IV to pump you with meds and you’ll have to keep taking an anti-allergic for like a week, but other than that you’ll be fine”.
“So –“
“Not fine enough to work. For at least two days”, Katsuki added before he could continue. Izuku’s shoulders sagged in disappointment, but he eventually nodded his head.
“Fine”.
“Be thankful you’re not the one who’s got nightmare material for years”, Katsuki added bitterly.
Izuku gave him an apologetic look.
“Kacchan…”
“I’m just messing around”, he sighed, tired, not sounding like he was messing around. There was no humor in his voice.
“Kacchan. I know you’re worried”.
“Nah, I’m fine”, he sniffed. “I was worried ten minutes ago, while you were taking your beauty nap. But now I’m fine”.
Izuku studied his face.
“It’s ok to be scared”, he said gently.
Katsuki looked away, blinking several times.
“I know”.
“It’s ok to be angry at me too”.
“I’m not angry”, Katsuki scoffed, the sound of it wet. “I just – I –“
Izuku could see it on Katsuki’s face, the way he was struggling against tears. His brow was tense and he was biting at his lip. He kept blinking and he was wearing a strained face. From experience, Izuku could tell what was going on.
“It’s ok to cry, too”, Izuku said, his own eyes feeling wet. He squeezed Katsuki’s hand. “I’m right here with you, and I’m not going anywhere”.
Katsuki scoffed a humorless laugh at him, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand.
“I ain’t gonna cry”, he protested, controlling himself. Izuku, on the other hand, felt one wet tear roll down his own temple.
“It’s ok if you want to”, he said simply, smiling up at Katsuki. The boy scowled and looked away again.
“I…”, he started, swallowing dry. Izuku watched him with attention. “I almost lost you again”.
“I know”, Izuku sniffed, more tears rolling down. He was still having a hard time acknowledging everything that had happened – the fact that he could have died, the fact that he had stopped breathing for good, the fact that he had fueled Kacchan’s trauma with more nightmarish scenes to scar his brain. But in all honesty, he was too tired to think about all that just now. His limbs felt like lead and his brains felt like mush. What he needed was to take some rest and recover.
What he needed was Kacchan by his side.
“Can’t I go home today? I promise I won’t bother you about going to work”, Izuku asked. Katsuki offered him a suspicious look.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea. You need to be under observation –“
“You can observe me just fine”, Izuku protested. “We both know you’ll want to stay the night here with me, so let’s just do what you’d do here but at home”, he suggested, squeezing Katsuki’s hand.
Katsuki continued to eye him with suspicion, but he relented.
“Fine, I’ll see what I can do”.
Izuku smiled at him.
“Give me a kiss?”, he asked, putting on his puppy eyes.
Katsuki rolled his eyes and bent over, giving him a peck on the lips. Izuku’s smile grew wider.
“Thanks, Kacchan”.
“You don’t have to thank me every time I kiss you; we’ve talked about this”.
“No”, Izuku chuckled. “I mean thank you for saving my life”.
Katsuki smirked.
“That’s what heroes are for, right?”
“Right”, Izuku smiled at him.
There was a comfortable pause in which they just enjoyed each other’s company in silence for a little while. Then:
“I can’t believe All Might’s heir was almost taken down by something as stupid as allergies”, Katsuki shook his head, sounding baffled.
Izuku sighed.
“The same could have happened to you if you’d eaten shrimp, so shush”.
“Yeah, but I know better than to eat shrimp”, a scoff.
“Because you know you’re allergic to it! I didn’t know I’d turned allergic to something I’ve been taking for years!”
“We need to make an appointment with an allergist. Just so you know”.
“I suppose that would be for the best”, Izuku shrugged.
“And until that, no more taking meds without a prescription”.
“Gotcha”.
“And no more arguing with me when I say you need a hospital”.
Izuku sighed.
“You’re going to rub that on my face forever, aren’t you”.
He smirked.
“You bet your ass I am”.
He made a face at Katsuki. Katsuki made a face back.
“Will you go ask the doctor if we can go home now?”
Katsuki sighed, lowering his body so that his head would rest on Izuku’s chest while he was still sitting down.
“What’s the rush?”
“I don’t like hospitals”.
“I don’t like them either”.
“So let’s bail on them and go home”, Izuku asked.
“The doctor needs to speak to you first. Give you your meds and make that appointment with the local allergist”.
“Ugh”, he grunted. “Fine”.
“And I want to listen to your heartbeat a little longer”, Katsuki admitted, a bit too softly, “but if you tell anyone about this I’ll blast your ass up”.
Izuku smiled with affection at his boyfriend.
“All right”, he indulged. “Guess we can stay for a little longer”.
He cuddled Kacchan’s head close to his chest and closed his eyes with a pleased sigh.
“I’m cold”.
“The doctor said that could happen too”.
“Cuddle me?”
An eyeroll.
“You sound like a baby”.
“You said it yourself I always sound like a baby when I’m sick”.
“You’re not sick”.
“Fine. Recovering, then”.
“That’s better”.
“Will you cuddle me or not?”
“You’re getting bossy, nerd”.
“Only when you don’t cuddle me”.
“Fine. C’mere”.
Izuku snuggled closer to Katsuki on their bed, smiling and feeling comfy. Katsuki enveloped him in his arms and started caressing Izuku’s curls the way he knew that he liked.
“Will you tell me if you have trouble sleeping?”, Izuku asked after a few moments of silence.
“Hm?”
“Because of everything that happened”, Izuku explained. “I’ll understand if it troubles you. I know I’d be messed up if our roles were reversed”.
“I’m not messed up”, Katsuki scoffed defensively.
A pause.
“But I’ll tell you”, he resumed.
“Thanks, Kacchan”.
“Don’t thank a man for a job that ain’t done”.
“I think I’ll sleep easy today”, Izuku admitted, his head resting against Katsuki’s chest. “I’m still feeling pretty tired after everything that happened. But…”, he hesitated.
“What?”, Katsuki encouraged him.
“I don’t know”, Izuku said, feeling exposed. “Tell me why what happened had me more scared than all the villains we’ve faced so far?”
Katsuki shifted on the bed, trying to take a look at his boyfriend’s face even in the darkness of their room.
“What do you mean? I thought you were cool about it”.
“I was before, but now that I’ve thought about it… I mean, I could have died”, Izuku admitted, words heavy on his tongue. “And there would be no one to blame. No villain, no monster, no nomu. Just a pill that I’ve taken a thousand times before. What if I had been alone here? I wouldn’t have made it to the hospital on my own. I would have just… died, you know. And taken All Might’s legacy with me. Because of a pill”.
Katsuki continued to caress his curls, supportive.
“You weren’t alone”, he eventually said. “At the end of the day, that’s what matters. I was here with you. And I’ll still be with you. Whenever you need me”.
Izuku snuggled closer to him, quiet and pensive.
“As for All Might’s legacy…”, Katsuki continued. “That’s a huge weight to carry. I know it’s not easy on you sometimes”.
“Yeah…”
“But I’m literally sharing the weight with you. And I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but… you’ve got me as your One For All backup. So you don’t have to worry about it”.
Izuku chuckled dryly.
“That just makes me worry about you”, he admitted, bittersweet.
Katsuki snorted.
“We’re just a couple of morons who worry too much about each other, aren’t we?”
“Yes, sir”, Izuku sighed,
“Then let’s keep doing that”, he suggested. “Let’s keep worrying. It will keep us alive for longer”.
Izuku smiled against Katsuki’s chest.
“You’re worth living for”.
“You’re worth living for, too. You’re my constant, Deku”.
Izuku raised his head in order to kiss Katsuki on the lips, gentle.
“You’re my constant too, Kacchan. Promise you’ll keep being so?”
“Only if you promise you’ll keep being mine too”.
Izuku smiled, snuggling closer to Katsuki again. That was a promise that he could keep; and also a promise that made him feel safer about the future. As long as they kept their word, they would never have to worry about losing each other, even if they still worried for each other.
“I promise”, Izuku smiled. Katsuki placed a soft kiss on the top of his head. “I promise”.
The promise felt like a devastating liberation.