Okay, both are alive in this. You guys can tell I like Bakugou more, can't you?

…

"Are you sure you're okay, Kacchan? If you need to get back into bed, you can." Deku was in Kacchan's hospital room, fretting at him from the couch. Kacchan was sitting down in a hospital chair by the window.

"Izuku, I'm fine. It's just-."

"If you say, 'Just a scratch', I'm gonna finish Shigaraki's job. You know dang well it wasn't 'just a scratch'. Your heart was literally torn, Katsuki. If Best Jeanist hadn't been there to mend your heart and I hadn't been level-headed enough to take you to Eri, you would've been-."

Kacchan flicked his forehead, "I know what happened, Nerd. I'm not dumb. I'm also not dead, so I don't know why you would continue to bring old stuff into this."

Deku looked down at the ground, "It's not old stuff to me."

Kacchan softened, "Izuku-"

"You literally DIED, Katsuki! Do you have any idea what that was like for me?!" Tears flew from his eyes as he abruptly raised his head. "I had to hold your cold body for 20 miles, praying for Jeanists' quirk to hold out. I had to use my lightning to keep your heart beating. And I had to leave you immediately after dropping you in front of Eri to defeat All-For-One, not knowing if you would be in a hospital bed or the morgue by the time I got back. My best friend, my big brother, my hero could've died while I was gone."

Deku looked back down at the ground, "Do you have any idea how much that hurt?"

The last sentence came out as a whisper and Kacchan felt his heart crack. He slowly, shakily, stood up, holding onto the IV pole for balance. Hearing the squeak of the pole, Deku looked up. "Kacchan, don't mo-!"

Kacchan slipped into his arms, hugging him. "I know. I know. I was scared too. I thought I was dying, and I thought I was gonna leave you. We were supposed to defeat All-For-One together and I let you down."

Deku shook his head. "You DIDN'T let me down-."

"Shut up and listen, Nerd."

"Sorry." Deku knew it was inappropriate, but he let out a chuckle. This was almost the same conversation they had at Ground Beta.

That felt like years ago…

He wrapped his arms around Kacchan in kind.

A hand stroked through his hair, causing him to let out a shaky breath. Ever since Kacchan apologized, there seemed to be touch-starvation between the two. All Might had stated that because they haven't been friends for so long, since their childhood, their bodies were making up for lost time. It was an automatic process, so they rarely thought about it.

"I'm sorry, Deku. I'm so sorry."

Izuku whimpered, "I don't care. I'm just glad you're still here."