Chapter Text
The air still hung hazy with dust, but luckily for them villains had stopped kicking it up ages ago. Izuku was no stranger to dealing with natural disasters but this one was on the larger end of what he's dealt with. Many powerful heroes had shown up to defeat the main villain who was taken out by the time Izuku rolled up for rescue operations.
There hadn't been a great deal of casualties on their side. That was mainly owed to the light tint of green adding a hue to the haze. Izuku leaned against his bike, his reserves of energy virtually drained at this point. He downed another can of what probably killed the dinosaurs. This was the good shit. The emergency supply even Izuku didn't fuck around with on the day to day. It would probably send anyone without his quirk functions into a state of cardiac arrest even he couldn't heal them from.
The energy swirled in his lungs. His body desperately ached for a drop of it as he siphoned it all into his 'reserve'. It didn't stay there for very long as Izuku tilted his head up. He took a deep breath and let it out in a smooth exhale. A large green cloud formed above him before the wind swiftly pulled it away carrying it to the far ends of the disaster zone. It was fucking exhausting but the little bits of healing cloud swirled it's way in between cracks and rubble making it's way to people buried keeping them alive that little bit longer, buying just a few minutes for someone to rescue them.
Izuku closed his eyes, breathing out the rest and zoning out from the chaos of the rescue. There were dozens upon dozens of rescue heroes with heaps more all round heroes assisting. They coordinated the rescue and guarded Izuku from any wannabe villains. Izuku sighed out the last bits of healing mist from his reservoir, reaching for another can.
He had a coworker once who pointed out how much it looked like was taking a drag from a cigarette when he did that. What had followed was a very long and impolite speech by Izuku who had to put up with way more than his fair share of lectures about the value of his lungs. After all, his quirk wouldn’t be nearly as effective with lung cancer.
Izuku huffed out a bitter breath, tinged slightly green by the remnants in his lungs. He was sure at this rate his breath was going to be permanently tinted, contaminated by his quirk and coating his lungs. Taking in massive amounts of energy and quickly dispelling it. His body jolted every time adrenaline spiking up from the large intake. Mitochondria which were already enhanced working double time to process it all. A build up that threatened to boil over blowing the lid off the pot growing and growing and growing in pressure only to be released with one breath.
It was a kick and left his body jittery from a high it wasn’t getting. Izuku reached for the next can, noticing how the shaking of his hand was lessening. Not a brilliant sign. Seemed like he was pushing so far past quirk overuse and he was reaching the next stage of fucking your body up. He lifted the can, pointedly ignoring how lax it felt in his grip. He closed his eyes and just tried to summon the will power and coordination to pop open the can.
"You better fucking not keel over on me," Izuku didn't need to crack open his eye to see who it was, but he did it anyway to prove a point.
"Kacchan in the event I do 'keel over' I expect you to leave me where the fuck I am to rest," The blonde's scowl turned into a smirk as he pushed Izuku to the side of his own bike. Earning an irate glare from the healer.
"Jesus fuck what the hells in this?" Katsuki snatched the can from him looking over the blank black aluminium. Its only marking was a very large 'WARNING: DO NOT DRINK'.
"Like 70% of my blood right now," Izuku shrugged, taking the can back. He looked over at his friend. He looked unscathed, inevitably healed thanks to Izuku but his outfit was shredded. "Tough fight?"
"Wasn't shit," Katsuki grunted, leaning back so heavily his poor bike groaned in protest.
Izuku shrugged the lie off, opening the can with a sinister hiss. Katsuki cringed at the smell and cringed even more when Izuku downed it in one go. He was uncharacteristically quiet as he let Izuku go over his routine of converting energy. His lungs were starting to burn like liquid fire. His chapped near bleeding lips had the tell tale signs of quirk overuse. His hands had almost completely stopped trembling, after that the tips of his fingers went numb.
"Pass me another will you?" Izuku breathed out the last bit of mist, holding his hand out to Katsuki. It was getting difficult to stay balanced leaning against the bike like this, he was going to have to sink to the ground at this rate
"No fucking way, you've already started doing that weird coma shutdown thing where you stop moving," Izuku's hand dropped, muscles physically not having enough energy to hold his arm any more, "You need to take a break I'm not dragging your floppy ass around."
"Oh that's why you came over," Izuku muttered pertinently like a child. His brain didn't have the energy for higher thought right now.
"Don't be all pouty, I have a job to do," Katsuki rolled his eyes.
"Go do it then, I don't need you to be my keeper," Izuku would cross his arms but his body was revolting, fine then he didn't need them anyway!
"I'm not dealing with this shit," Katsuki huffed, pushing off from the bike that shifted without his weight. Izuku resigned himself to being left alone by his childhood friend once again as he went gallivanting for glory. Fuck it, he knew he was an workaholic but Katsuki was just as bad. He knew friends should have shared interests but this was a pretty bad line up.
"See ya- Kacchan what the fuck!" Izuku shrieked as he was hoisted up by the waist and slung over the hero's shoulder.
"Weird as to hear that dumb nickname with swearing," Katsuki shifted him until he was settled solidly on the hero's shoulder. He couldn't even struggle pathetically, his body deciding to go quote-unquote; floppy.
"Don't act like you haven't been swearing enough to make a sailor blush since we were seven!" Katsuki started walking them away from Izuku's bike. The ruckus the healer was kicking up, drew the attention of heroes and survivors as Katsuki shuttled them through, "Kacchan!"
"Give it a break you can't fight me when you're like this," Katsuki jostled him and humiliatingly Izuku's arms and head flopped around like a dead fish, "You can't use your quirk at this scale without those energy drinks, so all you've got to do is rest enough to walk back over to your bike."
"You sadist!" Izuku screamed as he was purposefully carried to the tents set up the furthest away from his bike. His beautiful, utterly unattended bike, "If there's a single scratch on that bike I will snap your spine vertebrae by vertebrae. I'm a healer, that means I know how to kill you with the utmost violence!"
"Why would your bike be my problem?" Katsuki looked over his shoulder flashing Izuku a downright manic vindictive smirk. "I'm not your keeper.”
Izuku screeched.
He only quieted down when they reached the temporary tents where exhausted pro's were lined up in cot's trying to get some rest to face the horrors outside. Izuku wasn't quite enough of an asshole to wake them all up.
"I hate you," Izuku said passionately as Katsuki dumped him in an empty cot.
"Been waiting to hear those words since we were four," Katsuki tucked him in because he was an asshole. Then he turned to leave the tent and no fucking way Izuku was letting him get off that easy.
"If I have to lie here you're also taking a break you fucking hypocrite," Izuku whisper yelled as loudly as he dared making Katsuki pause.
"I've got shit to do."
“Whoop-de-fucking-do-for-you,” He nailed Katsuki with a hard stare, “Lie. Down.”
Katsuki glared him down, but Izuku met it pound for pound. If he didn’t come and lie down Izuku would drag himself after him inch by inch, which Kacchan knew full well.
“You’re such a whiny bitch,” He sighed, plopping onto the cot across from Izuku but not lying down just to be contrary, “I’m leaving if another low life starts stirring shit.”
“Fine then, don't come crawling back to me when you get beat half to death.”
“You know I wouldn’t anyway,” Katsuki scowled, which to be fair was true.
When his quirk had first appeared, before Izuku grew a backbone and the ability to say no he would be flocked by his classmates. Everybody but Kacchan came to him for every scrape and bruise. Back then he wasn’t efficient, most kids weren’t with their quirks. He didn’t have his energy drinks to fall back on. He kept on eating more and more yet never felt full. His lips started to chap and his lungs began to burn. Until he couldn’t run with the others on the playground. He had to sit on the side and watch, shakily healing anyone who came up to him after playing too hard and scraping their knee. They’d leave Izuku alone again once they were fixed.
It had all gotten too much. His stomach stabbed him from the inside and his limbs ached and ached until he couldn’t feel his extremities at all. One recess he had practically crawled into a little nook. His hands clasped over his ears as his classmates yelled out for him to come help. He tried to keep his breathing shallow, easy with the way his throat was rubbed raw and each breath felt like it was tearing apart.
When Kacchan had found him Izuku burst into tears. Begging for a break, just a short one, please, anything, I can’t, I’m not trying to be mean, I’m sorry-
“Don’t be stupid I don’t want your dumb quirk to help me anyway!”
Kacchan had scowled at him and when his yelling attracted the other kids he had chased them away. Threatening to beat them up so bad they would actually need healing.
Izuku scoffed, his eyes unable to stay open any longer as his consciousness slipped away.
His eyes could have been closed for seconds or hours but he got woken up by a very familiar scene.
“I don’t care if your arm is bloody well ripped off- If you wake him up I’ll do it myself and stuff it so far up your ass-” There was a murmur Izuku couldn’t hope to hear over Kacchan’s eardrum bursting shriek. “You’re a hero! Piss off or I’ll stuff that cape up there too!”
That got whoever it was to shuffle off quickly. Izuku wished he had the energy to get a look and memorize them. Whoever was insistent enough that a glare from Kacchan wasn’t enough to chase them off wasn’t someone Izuku wanted to deal with on the field. He’d put them on his shit list and make sure they weren’t teamed up for any future missions. He’d have to ask Kacchan later, if the blonde even bothered to remember all the people he’s shouted at.
Izuku chuckled, getting his friends attention.
“Did that bastard wake you up?” Kacchan asked, already halfway up to go chasing after them.
“Oh no, that was all you,” He teased, and pushed himself onto his elbows. Even if his arms ached and sent piercing pains lacing up his shoulders. He could move them now at least.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Kacchan asked, a hand landed on Izuku’s chest and pushed him back down onto the cot.
“I can move now, I’m going back to my bike,” He could sense in the air his mist had dissipated, carried away by the wind. The sound of activity around them told him the rescue efforts were still in effect. More people needed his help.
“Right, and can you feel your fingers? Or your toes?” Kacchan asked doubtfully, making Izuku scowl.
“They tingle, it’s good enough,” Izuku tried to push the hero’s arm to the side, but like hell he had a chance against Kacchan’s strength on a good day(which were rare) let alone in his current state. “I know how to deal with quirk overuse, I’m not a brat anymore.”
“You’re acting like one,” Kacchan pressed him firmly back into the bed. “Leave it, this is a stupid fucking technique and most of your energy is wasted.”
“It’s fine, its the only way to reach some of them,” Izuku argued, he really really didn't have the energy to spare to physically fight back. People were stuck under rubble. If air was reaching them through the cracks they might still be alive, and if air could reach them his mist could reach them. “I can stall their deaths, that’s enough for the responders.”
“You can’t save everyone, it’s a disaster, people die,” Kacchan said bluntly.
He let go of Izuku and the healer almost gots his wits about him in time to roll off the bed before Kacchan’s legs hit his stomach. Making him groan at the pressure as the blond leant back in a flimsy fold out chair and used him as a footrest.
“Are you serious?!” Izuku screeched, definitely disturbing the people trying to get some rest but too incensed to actually care.
“As the god damn grave. Your shift is over. Sleep more.”
“You are so-” Izuku let out a guttural cry before sinking back into the cot.
He would find a way to get his revenge. He was sure there was some blackmail he could give aunt Mitsuki and let her handle the rest. For now he sighed and let his muscles unwind. Keeping quiet as other people in the tent settled back down. No one bothered them, and the people that wander too close got sent off with a sharp glare from Katsuki.
“You know I would if I could,” Izuku sighed, staring up at the tent canopy.
“Could what?” Kacchan repeated with a disinterested air.
“Heal everyone, every bruise and scrape if my quirk was strong enough, if I had enough energy, I'd help everyone, even the heroes,” Izuku’s face twisted in displeasure at the last part, but that’s personal distaste. Something he wouldn’t have a reason for if he didn’t have those limits.
“Great then I’ll just strap you to a power line and use your body like a fucking smoke machine.”
“That could work,” Izuku hummed, considering.
“No it couldn’t, you idiot, what's the first lesson of being a hero?” Kacchan’s heels pressed into the soft flesh of his stomach without putting in enough pressure to wind him.
“Well for you it was how to throw a soft ball.” That earned him a sharp smack to the head.
“Not that,” Kacchan growled, leveling him with a look , “You can’t save everyone.”
“Really you're giving me that cheesy advice?” Kacchan’s lips curled and his heel dug in harder into Izuku’s liver. The healer scoffs but backs down, “Besides I know that full well, I’m just saying if it was a possibility…”
“Yeah it would be great, but it’s not. So let it go,” Kacchan sneered with all his usual bedside manner, which Izuku wasn’t really in a position to criticize. “Now sleep .”
“Worry wart~” Izuku teased and immediately closed his eyes to escape retribution.
It certainly helped that he’d learnt how-(his body was so desperate for sleep it takes any opportunity given)- to fall asleep in seconds. Meaning he’s out like a light before Kacchan could start yelling or try to hit him for his cheek.
Izuku is secure in the knowledge that his friend will grumble at worst and watch over him with a scowl.