Fuck! That idiot should have waited! God damn it!

Izuku's communication device has gone silent. The last thing everyone heard was what sounded like Izuku crashing to the ground and someone ripping his earpiece out and likely smashing it. Katsuki is pissed. Pissed that he has to run up some stupid fucking stairs and can't just blast a hole in the ceiling, and pissed that Izuku likely got himself captured.

Katsuki's kicking himself for not resisting the urge to get laid last night. He should have just gone home and jerked off like a normal person. But no, Shindo just had to book them some fancy-ass rooms at the hotel and send Katsuki photos of his ass plugged to rile him up. And Katsuki was weak damn it. It had been far too long since he had had sex and Shindo knows him too well. Knows just what to say or do to get him to mess around with him.

Never again. You don't even like him like that. You need to end it. Need to stop using him. Izuku might die because you couldn't keep it in your damn pants. Stupid. You're so stupid!

Another reason he was so late was because in his haste to get to the awards, he forgot his costume. Sure he could have fought without it, but he wouldn't have been as effective. So it took over an hour to get back to the city and stop at home so he could change. It was such a rookie mistake. He should know by now that he should be taking this costume with him everywhere. Especially to events. Villains are notorious for trying to plan an attack the same night, or morning, after an event heavily populated by heros.

If Izuku gets hurt and ends up in the hospital because of Katsuki's stupidity he's not sure he'll be able to forgive himself.

As soon as he gets up to the third floor and reaches the end of the hallway and turns left, he sees him. Izuku's bodies on the ground and a villain is blowing purple mist over him.

How the hell did he lose his mask? Fuck!

Katsuki runs as fast as he can towards Izuku with his hands out ready to blow that villain into the ground. Once he's close enough, Katsuki sparks his palms and lunges forward to let off a small explosion. Just as the blast is about to push the asshole out of the way, another villain appears and places his hands on Izuku's shoulders and disappears.

"WHAT THE FUCK!?"

Katsuki's heart rate picks up, adrenaline pumping into his bloodstream. Looking up and down the hall, Katsuki has no idea where the hell they went. The only good thing Katsuki can think of right now is that the explosion he set off earlier hit the asshole that was blowing mist over Izuku's face. Using his quirk, Katsuki moves towards the asshole to restrain him and hopefully get some answers.

When he looks down at him, the mother fucker has the balls to smile at him. Katsuki wants to fucking kill him. This asshole better talk, fast. Grabbing onto the man's shoulders, he hauls him up, and the fucker's not only still smiling, but he's laughing.

"You better wipe that smile off your ugly face before I do it for you, asshole." Katsuki growls.

"Wow, so this is what the famous Ground Zero is like. I'm surprised they let someone as violent as you be a hero. Also, the names Sleeper. I prefer that over 'Asshole' thank you."

Resisting the urge to set off another explosion, Katsuki grips him harder and screams in his face."LISTEN HERE YOU COCKY LITTLE PRICK! Where the fuck did that other piece of shit take Deku??"

Sleeper lets out a cackle of a laugh and Katsuki just about loses it. He doesn't have time for this shit!

"SHUT UP! God! You don't give a shit if you live or die do you?"

Sleeper's laughter shortly dies off and is replaced with a shit-eating grin.

"And with all the time you're wasting with me, you must not care if your friend lives or dies either"

Fuck. That's it.

Balling his hand into a fist Katsuki punches him in the face. By the sound of the crack, and the blood running down Sleeper's face, Katsuki's pretty sure he broke his nose, and probably knocked out a tooth or two. Miruko won't be happy when she hears about this, but Katsuki really doesn't care right now. Izuku's life might be on the line. Either Sleeper's going to talk, or he's going to start losing more teeth.

"Oh my god, you broke my nose!" Sleeper cries. "I don't know where they went, okay! Magician just told me to keep people asleep. Check in that room over there." he extends his arm out to the door on Katsuki's right. "That's where the others are. Just please don't punch me again, my face is too gorgeous to be all bruised up."

Katsuki rolls his eyes and Swiftly brings his hand down on the back of Sleeper's neck to knock him out. There isn't anything else he needs from him, so he quickly binds him with quirk canceling cuffs and ties him up. Moving towards the room Sleeper told him to go to, Katsuki uses his quirk to explode off the knob, and pulls the door open with so much force, that it falls off its hinges.

Peering into the room, the only people he sees in it are the other hostages. Izuku and Magician are nowhere to be found. Katsuki slams his hand against the wall so hard it makes a hole. His manager and his therapist are going to be pissed when they hear about all the property damage he's done today. This must be how Izuku felt all those years ago when he was taken by the league of villains. He needs to find him. He hasn't felt this angry, or upset in a long time.

After crouching down to make sure the hostages were alive, he lets dispatch know he's opening a window to show the team below where he is, and then leaves the room.

Katsuki feels like he's just seconds away from breaking down every damn door in this hallway if it means finding Izuku faster. His behavior is so off it's almost embarrassing. He's a pro hero, he shouldn't be letting one person rile him up this much. Magician isn't going to kill him, that would be stupid. He has no reason to, he's alive and he's in here somewhere. Katsuki just needs to calm down and find him. He's letting his emotions get the best of him and cloud his judgment.

Calm down, Katsuki. You can do this.

After slowly counting to ten, and taking in a couple of deep breaths, he comes up with a plan.

"Earphone Jack, do you hear anything that can lead me to where Deku's located?"

"Yes, I can hear something, but it's weak." Stop turning off your communication device! I've been trying to tell you what I've been hearing for a while now."

He must have turned off his earpiece without thinking when he was trying to interrogate Sleeper. He's going to be in so much trouble when this is all over.

"Okay, it won't happen again. Now tell me what you heard"

"It better not. But okay, right. It's kinda hard for me to pinpoint exactly where it's coming from, but it sounds like Magician is freaking out. He's… he's muttering or something. I can only decipher bits and pieces of it, gimme a moment." Kyoko pauses to listen further and it feels like time is running out. Katsuki hates this so much right now.

"He's mumbling about how if he goes back to prison that he wants to be able to tell people there that he took out a top hero, and his voice is echoing. It sounds like he's in a stairwell…" As Katsuki starts making his way to the stairs, Kyoko's scared voice, and bone chilling words make him stop.

"He's… He's gonna hurt him, Bakugou. He keeps saying that he's going to kill him. You have to hurry."

No longer giving a shit about property damage, Katsuki activates his quirk and knocks the door to the stairwell right off its hinges and rockets himself up the stairs. Magician is probably dumb enough to head to the roof to try to hide, but he could be heading to the basement, and if that's the case, Katsuki might be too late. Doubling his speed, Katsuki wipes that thought out his head. He will not be the reason that Izuku dies. He won't and he can't.

As soon as Katsuki gets to the top of the stairs he kicks open the door and is met by nothing but the morning sky.

"GOD DAMN IT! Where the hell is he?!"

Almost as if on cue, Magician appears in front of Katsuki with a grin on his face.

"Looking for me?"

"You know it! It's time to die asshole!"

Katsuki aims an explosion at Magician's face that he manages to dodge right at the last second.

"That was close! You wanna know where Deku is?" He says before he disappears. "then you better play nice, hero-San." He says into Katsuki's ear. Before he can react, Magician disappears again and reappears right back in front of him. "Can you do that?"

Katsuki's patience is running thin, and for all he knows Izuku could be tied up in a dark alley, or trapped in a room unconscious. He needs to capture this asshole, and he needs to do it fast.

Choosing not to respond Katsuki instead uses one of his newer moves to try to take him out. Dropping to the ground onto his back, Katsuki moves his arms up and down almost like he's trying to make a snow angel. As he moves, explosions start going off. The whole floor starts to act like a minefield that just went off, there's no way Magician can dodge this time.

When the explosions stop, and Katsuki gets up, he watches the smoke clear. He's expecting to see Magician on the floor, broken and bleeding from his attack. But instead, he's completely unharmed and he's laughing.

"No wonder you're not number one yet!" Magician shouts. "Not a single one of your, dare I say, impressive explosions hit me at all." Magician brushes off his shoulders and saunters closer. "They hit him though," he says referring to Izuku. "and I know that was the last thing you wanted, wasn't it?"

Magician cocks his head to the side and Katsuki's eyes follow the motion over to the edge of the roof. Izuku's unconscious and beat up looking body is practically dangling off the edge. His first instinct is to rush over there and take him to safety, but he can't. He knows that as soon as he does he'll be caught off guard and fall into whatever trap that Magician has waiting for him.

Stealing himself, Katsuki pretends he could care less and shrugs his shoulders.

"So? Deku's fine. He's been through worse. Besides, the moment you move to push him off, someone will catch him. It's not just me out here y'know."

"You mean that guy with the wings? He was up here earlier. He's asleep now. Sleeper's able to bottle up his quirk for quick use." Magician digs into his pockets and pulls out a few glass vials. "I used to have five of these, but I used one on Hawks, and one on that other hero with that ghost thing." he lifts his chin motioning to the shed behind where Katsuki is standing. "They're in there."

What! Hawks AND Tokoyami have been captured! Who the fuck is left out there!?

"Fuck you asshole. Now you really need to die!"

Katsuki lunges towards him and misses him by a hair, but Katsuki knows where he's going, he's going to Izuku. Sprinting across the roof, Katsuki sees Magician hovering over Izuku's body and what looks to be a long sharp knife like object in his hand.

Where the hell was he hiding that?

"Leave now or this one dies!"

"Not a chance, asshole!"

Katsuki jumps towards him with a goal of pinning him down to the ground.

"You're too much of a pussy to kill him anyway! How bout' you surrender instead, and you spend the rest of your life in a jail cell?"

As Katsuki's hand makes contact with Magician's face, the knife he's holding is plunged into Izuku's side. Katsuki grabs Magician's wrist but the damage is done. When trying to pull the knife out Magician lands a kick into Katsuki's side causing the knife to move down towards Izuku's hips and his body to be pushed off the side of the roof.

In a matter of moments, Katsuki's on top of him and is smashing Magician's head into the ground. Magician knocks out almost instantly and as soon as he does Katsuki screams.

"GOD DAMN IT!!"

Trying not to waste any time, Katsuki jumps off the building with only a single thought in his mind.

Save him.

There's a part of him that knows that even if he gets to him before he hits the ground, that the wound in his side will be the thing that kills him. That catching him will only prolong the death that is surely coming. But he still wants to catch him, he will not allow his head to crack open on the pavement. Rocketing himself closer to the ground, Katsuki manages to get himself under Izuku's body to prevent that from happening.

Katsuki hugs Izuku to his chest and somehow manages to land safely. Izuku's body feels so heavy and lifeless. The explosions Katsuki shot off earlier have singed his hair, and peppered little burn marks across his face, and body. Katsuki feels like he's in a dream. Like he's in a very bad nightmare that he's trying to force himself to get up from, but each time he tries, the dream won't let him.

He can't believe his carelessness has put them in this situation. If he would have gotten there sooner, Izuku might not be lying unresponsive and bleeding out in Katsuki's arms. If he would have just ignored the knife like he was trained to do, it wouldn't have dug deeper and done more damage.

You're so stupid! You're never supposed to touch an object that impaled into someone's body. Stupid, stupid, STUPID!

Katsuki rips off his gauntlets and gloves so he can feel for a pulse in Izuku's wrists and neck. If his ears weren't ringing so loudly he'd try to see if he could hear him breathing but there's too much noise. It's so loud right now. Why is the area behind the mall so loud?

Carefully lifting Izuku's arms, Katsuki pulls off the glove on his right hand and hikes up his sleeves to take his pulse. The continuist beat of Katsuki's heart that he feels throughout his entire body is making it hard for him to focus. He needs to calm down, but his hands won't stop shaking, and the tears in his eyes are making it hard to see.

Breath, just breath and focus...

Closing his eyes, Katsuki tries to calm himself enough to find his pulse.

In, 1-2-3 out 1-2-3. C'mon… you can do this.

"Oh thank god"

Although it's weak, Katsuki finds it. Izuku's alive but he's in bad shape. Blinking his eyes a few times he looks down and sees that the fluid leaking out of Izuku's side is not only coating Katsuki's arm, but is making a puddle on the ground. He's losing a lot of blood, this is bad. This is so bad.

"I NEED A MEDIC!!!"

His voice cracks as he cries out for help. Katsuki buries his face in Izuku's hair as he cries, and tries to use his hands to cover up the wound on his side. From the corner of his eye he can see someone approaching, they try to reach out but like a mother protecting her young, Katsuki won't let them.

"Back off! Unless you're a medic or can heal you need to move back."

Katsuki wipes his eyes to get a better view of the person who's trying to approach.

"Bakugou? Bakugou it's me, Uraraka, are you okay?"

Although he knows she's just trying to do her job, Katsuki snarls at her stupid question. Even if he was hurt, which he's not, it wouldn't really matter. Izuku is dying for fucks sake.

"Stop asking' stupid questions and call an ambulance! I'm fine! Shit! You're wasting time!"

Katsuki carefully moves Izuku's body closer to him and brushes his hair out of his face. He wishes he knew how long the sleep effect from that damn quirk would last, he needs to wake up. Staying asleep is just going to make things worse. Ochako looks distressed but otherwise fine. Katsuki watches her pull out her phone.

"I'm gonna call an ambulance. S-stay here, Bakugou, okay? I'll be right back."

Off in the distance Katsuki can hear Ochako connecting with dispatch. As he's shifting himself to try to apply more pressure to Izuku's wound, his face starts to scrunch up.

"D-Deku? Deku are you awake?"

Izuku doesn't respond but his eyes open up and close a few times causing Katsuki's heart to race. After a few moments of fluttering, Izuku's eyes suddenly shoot open. Izuku looks panicked, the whites of his eyes are almost entirely black when they finally land on Katsuki's face.

"Kac-chan?"

Before Katsuki can respond Izuku's eyes suddenly roll back and he starts to shake. Katsuki scream at the top of his lungs.

"DON'T YOU DARE DIE ON ME DEKU!! WHERE THE FUCK IS THE AMBULANCE!?"

The sounds coming from Katsuki's mouth are so foreign, and broken. Izuku looks to be going into shock, this isn't happening! Ochako's voice sounds off that an ambulance is about a minute away and Katsuki wishes that made him feel better. He feels like he's dying too, that his blood is mixing with Izuku's on the ground below, and that he only has seconds to live.

This is all my fault.

When the ambulance arrives the paramedics have to pull Izuku from Katsuki's arms. If it wasn't for Miruko arriving with the ambulance and forcing him to get checked out, Katsuki isn't sure he would have. Katsuki wanted to ride in the ambulance with Izuku but Miruko talked him out of it. She also wound her arms tightly around him as the ambulance drove away. Open until this moment, Katsuki never knew how strong she was. Not many people could have restrained him like that.

As he begrudgingly allows the medics to give him a once over to make sure he's free of injury, all he can think about is how much he fucked up. He feels so numb and guilty. He also scared out of his mind that Izuku's going to die, but he's sure as hell not going to tell the medics that.

When he's given the okay to go, instead of rushing to the hospital like he wants to, Mirkuro gets him to go home to shower and change. Izuku's mom was called and she doesn't need to see her sons blood all over Katsuki's body.

"I'll be waiting downstairs in the lobby and will come up there in an hour if you're not down here, okay? Don't even think about going to that hospital without me, you understand?"

Katsuki grunts and agrees that he'll meet Mirkuro in the lobby in thirty minutes. It's not gonna take him that long to shower and change. This isn't the first time he's had to wash blood off of him. He's come home bruised and bloody a bunch of times. But normally he's washing away his blood, not someone else's.

Shit. Stop thinking about whose blood this is.

After putting his soiled clothes and shoes in the biohazard bag a paramedic gave him, he takes a look at himself in his bathroom mirror. Hero work forces you to develop a strong stomach and he's seen some awful things, but none of those things prepared him for this moment. He can't look at himself. If he was covered in anything other than Izuku's blood he'd be fine. But the longer he looks the more his stomach starts to bubble.

In a matter of seconds his face is in the toilet. He feels pathetic. He shouldn't be allowing himself to get this worked up over Izuku. They're not even really friends. They don't hang out or see each other outside of work. They don't talk unless they're on a mission, and Katsuki's fucking someone else. He has no right to be this upset. He's done this to himself, he's the one who closed the door on their friendship and didn't take the olive branch Izuku extended out to him. He's the one who declines the offers his mother makes for them to all go out to dinner together, and tells himself that Izuku's too good for him. He needs to stop this, damn it!

Pull yourself together!

Forty-five minutes later Katsuki's getting into a car with Mirkuro to go to the hospital. Neither of them say anything until they're getting checked in. Shortly after they're taken to the waiting room. The only person in there is Ochako. Mirkuro answers the question as to why before Katsuki can ask.

"Hawks is still passed out, without him we can't quickly access Deku's personnel files to get his emergency contacts, other than you, Uraraka is the only one who we thought would have Deku's mothers phone number. She also wants to be here for support."

Katsuki looks over to Ochako who's shaking her head. "I um, don't have it…"

"I don't have her number either," Katsuki sighs, "but my mom does. But if I fuckin' tell her why I need it, her ass is gonna show up here too."

Damn it.

"You don't have to call, Bakugou. I'm sure Hawks has a backup person who will be able to call her..." Mirkuro says.

"Fuck, no… gah! It's fine, I'll call her."

Katsuki doesn't remember the last time he's called his mom, but Inko should be here. She's Izuku's only next of kin if things were to go south. Taking his phone out of his pocket Katsuki brings up his mother's contact info. He'd rather call his dad, but he's not sure he has Inko's number either.

"Hey there, brat!" His mom answers.

"I need Aunties phone number."

"Really? My one and only son calls me for the first time in weeks to get another person's phone number!?" There's a pause and the ton of Mitsuki's voice changes, "wait. Is Izuku okay? What's going on, Katsuki."

Katsuki lets out a heavy sigh. He should have just texted her.

"Deku's in hospital. You gonna give me aunties number or what?!"

"Is he okay? What's going on?"

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Katsuki tries to calm himself. He doesn't really want to talk about this.

"I don't know, shit! Jus' fuckin' text me the number! I'm hanging up."

Dropping down into a chair, Katsuki really wishes he didn't have to be the one to do this. He's not his boyfriend. Eijiro—who is probably working— isn't here. Which is fine. Katsuki should be working too, but instead he's here. If his dumbass wasn't too busy getting his dick wet last night, he would have been home this morning and this whole situation could have been avoided. So maybe he should be the one making these calls… it is his fault after all.

The call to Inko will be painful. Katsuki makes the decision to walk out to the lobby away from everyone to make it. Not that he thinks he'll cry or anything when he tells her, it's just that Katsuki's never had to make a call like this before. He wants privacy. Part of him hopes she doesn't answer, he doesn't want to hear her cry. Fuck. Maybe he should have had his mom tell her.

The phone connects after a few rings.

"Hello?"

"Ah, hey, Auntie. It's Katsuki."

"Hey sweetheart! It's been awhile, what's up?"

Closing his eyes, Katsuki braces himself for the reaction he knows he's going to get when he tells her the bad news.

"De— I mean, Izuku's in the hospital, it's not good… there was a villain attack. I didn't get there in time, and they got him. I-I'm sorry."

Fuck fuck fuck. Stop crying you pathetic loser!

"Hey now, stop that. You're gonna m-make me c-cry… oh darn it!" Katsuki hears Inko sniffle on the other end of the phone and curses himself.

"Sorry, Auntie. I'll send you the address to the hospital, I told my mom, I'm sure she can take you."

"Thank you, dear. I'll s-see you soon."

When they got to the hospital it was ten am, it's been four hours. Four long and stressful fucking hours. Way too many hours of just sitting and waiting, and thinking about things that he hasn't thought about in months. Things that should have stayed locked deep in the chambers of Katsuki's brian where he keeps things that cause pain and confusion. Things that are truly pointless to think about. But when you're stuck in a room with your mother, her best friend, and your boss, conversation becomes limited.

After Inko arrived the doctor told her they needed to do surgery. The knife that pierced Izuku's side was wide and deep. It was honestly a bit of a miracle that he didn't bleed out with how many of his internal organs were damaged. Seeing Izuku's mom cry after the doctor left was awful. Katsuki's actually happy that his mom is here. Inko needs a shoulder to cry on and a hand to hold, and Katsuki can't be that for her. Although the thought crossed his mind more times that he wanted to admit. Especially after calling Eijiro for the umteenth time and listening to his phone go straight to voicemail.

Katsuki knows he's not here because of work. Knows that Fatgum recently implemented a strict "no phones" policy and that's why he's not answering his phone. He also knows that just because they called his agency doesn't mean he can just abandon his job and run to the hospital. He's also two hours away, so it's not like he can just rush over here. But neither of those things change the fact that Katsuki's pissed off that he's not here.

It makes his stomach knot up hearing Izuku's mom tell him that she's glad he was there when Izuku got hurt, and that she's happy that he's here now. He hasn't had the heart to tell her yet that Izuku's in the hospital because of him. That he's hurt and almost died because Katsuki didn't get there in time. Mirkuro left Katsuki's tardiness out of the explanation of what happened. She also didn't tell Inko that it should have been a two person job, and that Izuku didn't want to wait for backup.

Instead Mirkuro told Inko about the hostages Izuku saved, his positive attitude, and how much of an asset he was to the mission. And he was. He did good things. He's a great hero. A part of Katsuki knows that even if he got there on time, that there was a chance Izuku still would have gotten hurt. Izuku's been reckless ever since he got his quirk. There's a reason he's ahead of Katsuki in the rankings. He hates that part about him. Hates that he doesn't seem to think about his actions when it comes to saving lives. Doesn't think about how stupid he's being, or how selfish. Or how hot it is that he's such a badass.

Fuck not again.

Ever since the conversation dropped off two hours ago, those types of thoughts have been circling around in Katsuki's head. How hot Izuku is, if Izuku's eating enough, if he's going to sleep at a normal time, if his apartment is clean. All kinds of stupid things Katsuki shouldn't care about. It feels like he's back at UA. All these thoughts used to swirl around in his head all the time starting second year. For the first time in his young life he found himself really caring and thinking about someone other than himself. At first he told himself he had those thoughts because he wanted Izuku to be at the top of his game.

He refused to believe back then that he might love Izuku. And even if he might still love him, it's too late now. He can't have him. He's with someone else, and he's happy. But damn it! Watching Izuku almost die in his arms today did something to him. It made all his stupid pininig, and regretful thoughts resurface. He thought he was done lusting over him. Done thinking "what if" and "if only", and was starting to get over his stupid jealousy. Because yeah, he's been jealous. Jealous that Eijiro did what he was he was too scared to do. That Eijiro won. Not that Izuku's a prize, but he feels like one. And Katsuki wishes he was the one to win him.

Fuck. Deku probably doesn't even like you like that anymore… Pathetic. So fucking pathetic. Why am I even here? I should just go… Yeah, I should just--

"Ms. Midoriya?"

Everyone in the room turns to look over at the door. The doctor is joined by Recovery Girl, seeing her makes Katsuki's chest tighten. It's never a good thing when she needs to show up. Recovery Girl is supposed to be mentoring the person who is to be her healing successor, not showing up to use her quirk on a former student.

"Yes?! Hi that's me." the small woman says with a worried look on her face. "Is my b-baby, okay?"

Recovery girl smiles, "He's alive. As I'm sure you already know, your son likes to put himself in situations that can potentially be fatal, but we were able to save him...this time."

The doctor goes on to say that it was a delicate process and that it was very touch and go for awhile there but that he's now stable. He also mentions that Izuku will need to stay in the hospital for a few days and that it will be highly recommended that he takes a break from hero work for a while to fully recover. As the doctor is answering various questions Inko and Mitsuki have, Tsuragamae, the police chief, comes in to speak with Mirkuro.

"Bakugou, you too," Mirkuro motions to him. "I'm sure Ms. Midoriya can fill you in, this is important."

Katsuki nods his head, the doctor isn't saying anything he needs to know right now anyway.

"Thank you, Mirkuro. We need to talk, Ground Zero. Although I know that you acted the way that you did because Deku was in danger, you nearly crushed Magician's skull, woof."

Katsuki swallows down his snide remark about how the asshole deserved it. But he also didn't mean to almost kill him.

"Don't worry, that will be kept out of the public eye. Once Magician and Sleeper are recovered they're heading straight to jail. But that doesn't excuse your actions, woof."

"I will make sure proper consequences are given, Chief." Mirkuro responds, "You have my word."

"Good. woof. Now as for Hawks and the others, they are also in recovery. Neither of them suffered any injuries quite like Deku's. They appear to have just been knocked out."

Both Katsuki and Mirkuro sigh in relief.

"Is Hawks recovered enough for me to go see him?" Mirkuro asks.

"Yes, although Endeavor is in there right now, but I will take you to him, and show you where the others are, if you'd like."

Mirkuro nods her head before turning towards Katsuki. "You are free for now to visit with Deku. We will talk later."

Katsuki hums in response before walking back over to his mother and Inko. Inko looks to have been crying again, hopefully Katsuki didn't miss something important while he was talking to the chief.

"Auntie? What's wrong?"

Inko wipes her eyes and gives Katsuki a big smile. "Nothing dear, it's just a lot to take in. Izuku's going to need care when he gets home… and I'm not sure I can take off work to be there for him. And if not, I'm sure there will be options we can explore. But what's important now is that we can go see him."

"Is he awake?"

"No. not yet. Also, your phone keeps vibrating on the table. I think it might be Eijiro. The name flashing was uh, s-shitty hair?" Inko clears her throat and her cheeks slightly flush. "I think I remember that that is the ah, nickname you gave him."

Katsuki grabs his phone off the table and sees that he has a missed call from Eijiro. Fuck. "Yeah, it's him. Lemme call him back real quick."

"Okay, dear. We'll wait for you."

Katsuki decides to walk out into the hallway to make the call, he's not sure he'll be able to keep his cool. He's still a little pissed that he's been unreachable this whole time. Once he's sure he's far enough away from the waiting room he takes out his phone to call Eijiro.

After two rings he answers.

"Hey, Bakubro! You called? Is everything okay? I have like five missed calls from you man, that's uh, not normal."

"Where the fuck have you been? I thought you worked a night shift?"

"Normally I do, Fat has been having me work a day shift though so we can take down the Hoko gang, remember? I told the group chat last week."

Katsuki grumbles to himself, stupid group chat. He muted that thing a long time ago. He does remember him talking about the gang though. Just didn't realize he'd always be working a day shift. He thought it was temporary.

"Did you um, need something? Is something wrong? You're kinda quieter than normal."

Not too sure how to really say it without sounding like he's been worried as fuck, and regretting all his life's choices… he just says it.

"Deku's in the hospital. There was a villain attack this morning that we were involved in and his dumbass got badly injured."

"What!? Oh my gosh is he… okay? Should I get over there? Wait, yeah I should, gah that was stupid. Where is he? Is he asking for me?"

Katsuki pinches the bridge of his nose. He should have known he'd freak out. Though it kinda rubs him the wrong way that the first words out of his mouth weren't 'what's the address'. It's also kinda fucked up that he asked if he should come. Katsuki knows he's probably jus freaking out, but still, what the fuck?

"He's out of surgery. We're gonna go see him. He's not awake. I'll text you the address. Come by if you want to. I gotta go."

The end call button is pressed before Katsuki can hear his response. He's too emotional. If he talked to him any longer he might have snapped. Before he goes back to the waiting room to go with Inko and his mom to visit Izuku, he sends Eijiro the info.

Fuck he's pissed. At least Ochako's here to talk him down. It's nice that she's been able to stay the whole time. Over the last two years they've kinda almost bonded, although Katsuki would never admit it. She's been a good friend, and has really mastered her quirk. She also has been able to maintain a friendship with Izuku, she never picked sides when they had that stupid fight at the Hero Club. Although she did give Katsuki a piece of her mind when she found out about it.

"Everything okay? Is Eijiro coming?" Inko asks as Katsuki walks back into the room.

He looks over at her and shrugs. "S'fine. I texted him the address. He'll probably come."

Inko narrows her eyes as if she's trying to read more into what Katsuki said but thankfully doesn't comment. Mitsuki on the other hand…

"Really brat? Ya don't know?"

"Fuck. Yeah I don't know. He asked if he should come and I told him to do whatever the fuck he wants. Just drop it. Are we goin' to see Deku or what?"

Mitsuki leans over to Ochako and not so silently whispers to her about how someone is in a mood. Katsuki rolls his eyes and Ochako giggles. Really? Is now really the best time to pick on him?

"Yes, dear. The doctor gave us his room number." Inko walks over to link her arm with Katsuki's, "I know you're just nervous to see my Izuku. We all are. Just make sure to text Eijiro the room number when you get the chance, I'm going to put all of you guys on an approved visitors list."

"Yes, Auntie."

The walk to Izuku's room is done in silence. Although this isn't the first time Izuku's been in the hospital, this is the first time he almost died. Even back at UA he never got himself into a situation as bad as this one. He's actually been pretty careful about not to hurt himself since becoming a pro.

Katsuki's got so many mixed emotions right now. He's mad at himself because he wasn't there on time, mad at Izuku for taking on too much, and then there's this other feeling that Katsuki doesn't quite know how to put words to. He's got this desire to just hold him, to take Izuku in his arms and protect him. There's also guilt. Guilt because he shouldn't be feeling this way. Shouldn't want to kiss Izuku's forehead and tell him to never do that again because he doesn't know what he'd do if he lost him.

Maybe this is a bad idea.

As soon as they open the door to Izuku's room Inko and his mom start crying. Both he and Ochako are able to somehow keep it together, but Katsuki feels his heart drop seeing Izuku hooked up to so many monitors. It's not like he hasn't seen Izuku lying unconscious in a hospital bed before, but this time feels different.

Stealing himself, Katsuki looks at Ochako and starts to walk towards the bed. Instead of walking with him, she places a hand on Inko's shoulder and offers her an arm. Katsuki can hear her assuring Inko that it's "ok" and that "Deku's a fighter". Thank fuck she's here, Katsuki's never been good a comforting people.

Once Inko's seated at the side of Izuku's bed she reaches out to brush his hair away from his eyes and gently takes one of his hands. Ocahko takes the liberty of floating a few chairs over for them all to sit at his bed. Mitsuki urges Inko to sit and takes a seat next to her and Ochako nudges Katsuki to sit on the other side. Sitting next to Izuku's bed and looking down at him like this makes Katsuki's stomach feel weird. He doesn't know what to say, or what to do besides sit here and look at him.

"Hey, Deku-kun. It's me, Ochako. I'm here with your mom, and Mrs. Bakugou… and um, Bakugou is here too. You r-really scared us." Ochako takes Izuku's other hand into her own and carefully lifts it up to press a kiss on the back of it.

"Hi, sweetie. Mama loves you so much. I'm so proud of you for saving all those people today." Inko sniffles out.

"Yes, we're all so proud of you, you're like my second son you know? I was worried about you."

Katsuki looks up at Izuku's sleeping face, he looks so peaceful despite all the cuts and bruises. Looking down his form Katsuki's eyes stop at the bandaged wound on his side from the knife. It's going to leave a nasty scar. Katsuki can't stop the small smile that comes over his face thinking about it.

"You're going to have another scar to add to your collection. Fucking dumbass… always getting yourself hurt. You made me ruin my costume. But don't worry, I'm makin' the agency take it out of your paycheck."

Ochako lightly jabs Katsuki's side, her head shaking.

"Do you really need to pay for your costumes when they get destroyed?"

"Only if you do something off duty to ruin it."

"Oh, that's good. Izuku's ruined his costume so many times." Inko chuckles, "You'd think the designer of his outfit would make the fabric stronger or something… but I guess him being half naked whenever he's on TV doing interviews could be why his favor is so high."

Inko's comment makes everyone smile and laugh making the tension of the room slowly start to fade away. Instead of talking about how long it might take Izuku to recover, or worrying about his condition, Ochako starts telling them about a time back at UA when All Might needed to stop a combat training they were doing because Izuku was about to expose himself. He didn't get out of the way fast enough when Shotou used his fire and the entire front of his costume was burnt off. The jockstrap Izuku was wearing underneath his clothes was hanging on by a thread. But in true Deku fashion, he just kept on going.

Katsuki remembers that day. Seeing Izuku's body covered in green lighting and the sweat dripping off his muscles was really hot. Katsuki ended up making up some excuse about needing to use the washroom so he could leave class and corner Izuku in the locker room to have a quickie before class ended. Katsuki bites his lip when he laughs thinking about it.

Ochako's stomach growls after telling the story. Looking at the time Mitsuki gaps.

"Damn, it's almost three o'clock! Let me buy everyone food, yeah?"

Food arrives, they all eat way more than they should and Izuku's still asleep. By five o'clock Both Mitsuki and Ochako head home asking Inko and Katsuki to keep them posted if anything changes.

Katsuki's not sure why he's still here. Part of him is telling him it's because he's waiting for Eijiro to show up so Izuku's mom won't be here alone, but another part of him knows it's because he feels responsible. Feels like he needs to be here, needs to apologize to Izuku for almost getting him killed and figure out how he can fix things. But another small part of him knows that he's here out of spite. Know's things between him and Izuku won't change, but if for whatever reason Eijiro doesn't show up by the time Izuku wakes up, Katsuki can maybe use him being there as some type of trump card to win Izuku back.

God you're pathetic.

Eijiro's going to show up. He has to. He likes Izuku, fuck Katsuki thinks he might even love Izuku at this point. So if he doesn't show up soon, it would look bad.

"Katsuki?"

Inko's soft voice rouses Katsuki out of his thoughts. He must have been so lost in his thoughts that he didn't hear her.

"Yes?"

Inko smiles slightly when she addresses him, almost like she's nervous.

"I'm glad you're keeping me company, but um, you think we could talk? I've had a lot on my mind these past few years and the right opportunity has never really presented itself."

Katsuki swallows before giving her a small nod. Wringing her hands together in the same nervous way Katsuki's watch Izuku do for years, Inko seems to gather up the nerves to start the conversation. This won't be that bad… right?

"Do you...do you still love my son?"

Fuck.