A/N: I just wanted to let everyone no it will be a little while before my next update. I'm trying to stay three to four chapters ahead and it's been a struggle to maintain that these past few weeks. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter and I look forward to your input!

XXX

Katsuki's Point of View- Wednesday night

Our ride to the hospital was quiet. The Hag didn't say a word, though occasionally I caught her shooting worried glances to us from the rearview mirror. Deku snored lightly against my shoulder the whole way there and continued to sleep while I carried him inside the building. Somehow, he even slept through my screaming match with the fuck who tried to take him from me to put him into a wheelchair- over my dead fucking body. Eventually the stupid extra scurried off with his tail between his legs, leaving the wheelchair nearby "just in case."

The Emergency room's waiting area was total chaos. Every seat was filled, hospital workers were rushing around with a fire burning hot under their asses, others meandering about, looking lost as fuck. There was too much fucking noise between the mindless chatter, random alarms going off, and the constant opening and slamming of doors. To make things worse, the overhead announcer regularly broadcasted shit like incoming emergencies, colored codes, and for Dr. Ass face to please page the imaging department ASAP. I'm guessing Dr. Ass face wasn't paying attention because that one sounded off regularly during the entire time we waited for them to prepare Deku's room upstairs.

Fucking finally, a nurse walked over to let us know his room was ready for him. Around the same time, Auntie stormed into the waiting area looking like a complete wreck. Streaks of mascara ran down both cheeks, her hair was pulled back into a messy bun, and her shoes didn't even match.

"I'm here! I'm here!" She called out while running over to us, huffing and puffing like she'd just run a fucking marathon or something.

"Mrs. Midoriya, you're just in time." The nurse cheerfully stated before turning her attention to me. "If you wouldn't mind placing him in the wheelchair, we can be on our way" she said while edging the thing closer.

My foot shot out in front of me to stop it from getting any closer to me. "Like I said before, I'm not putting him in the damn chair." Glowering, I tightened my hold around him. I didn't miss the snide little smirk that found its way onto the Hag's face or the confused expression from Auntie. Something must have clicked then, because that confusion quickly morphed into something akin to disapproval, her eyes narrowing, and lips pressed into a hard line. Whatever it was she was thinking, she must have decided to keep it to herself because she didn't voice it the whole way to Deku's room.

The nurse instructed me to lay him on the hospital bed so they can hook him up to the monitors. Looking at the bed, I wrinkle my nose in distaste at the paper-thin white sheets and sorry ass excuse for a blanket. No wonder Deku always had his own bedding with him during his weekend stays. While I lean over the mattress to set him down, he nuzzles his nose into the crook of my neck, squeezing his arms tightly around me. It's so fucking cute, I seriously consider laying there with him, but I know the nurses will need their space to work so I don't.

"Mmm, Kacchan?" Deku mumbles sleepily while I unwrap his freckled arms from my neck.

"Go back to sleep, Deku" I whisper back to him. He hums lightly in response, never opening his eyes as he drifts back to sleep.

When I turn around, I see a doctor I recognize is already in the room, talking with Auntie and the Hag. "Katsuki, you remember Dr. Kaneko. He's the lead doctor of Izuku's medical team." Auntie says while gesturing to Dr. Kaneko. The Doc nods his head in greeting and I return the gesture while trying to suppress a yawn. Since I'm not hauling a sleeping Deku around anymore, I'm fucking beat.

"Yeah, I remember him" as say as I lean back, one foot resting against the wall, the other firmly planted on the floor.

"Katsuki, could you tell me what happened tonight?" Dr. Kaneko asks, mirroring my stance on the adjacent wall.

"We hang out on weekday evenings to study. I always bring food with me too to make sure he's eating..." A collective hum of approval comes from the adults in the room, the Hag still wearing her shit eating grin meanwhile Auntie's expression has softened some. "Anyway, when I got to his floor, I found him passed out just outside the elevator. He didn't say much. Just that he was dizzy and fell asleep there." I try to sound neutral as I offer what little information I know to Dr. Kaneko, but my worry still manages to seep through into my tone.

"Thank you, that's very helpful. I'd venture a guess that his symptoms are a manifestation of anemia which is a common complication for dialysis patients. It is worrisome to me that his symptoms are this severe already, but we can cross that bridge when we get to it. First, we'll want to run a full bloodwork panel to rule out anything else and confirm my diagnosis."

"Anemia… that's an iron deficiency, right?" Auntie questions. "You mentioned that could be a possibility back when my Izuku started his dialysis."

"That's correct." The Doc nods his head in affirmation. "So, I'll go ahead and put the order in for his bloodwork, and hopefully someone will be in shortly to get it started." He moves off the wall, patting my shoulder on his way out of the room.

Well that doesn't sound so bad. A healthy, iron rich diet and supplements should be more then enough to help correct that problem. Then again, Deku isn't exactly eating a healthy diet and I doubt force feeding that shitty nerd once a day will be enough to get him the nutrients he needs. Guess he's shit out of luck because I'm more than happy to add breakfast and lunch onto the schedule if that's what it takes.

"Anemia, huh?" Deku's tired voice carries through the room, surprising all of us since we all thought he was still asleep. "It could be worse, I guess." He attempts a brave smile, probably to help put Auntie at ease, but I can tell he's exhausted and half-assing it.

Like a magnet, Auntie is instantly at his side, fussing over him with concern. "Izuku! Are you feeling okay? You look exhausted, sweetie. Maybe you should try to get some more sleep before they come to draw your blood." She grabs the blanket that's folded by his feet and covers him securely, making sure to tuck the ends underneath him until he's wrapped in a tight cocoon. "How's that? Comfy? Are you cold at all? These blankets don't seem very warm…"

"M' okay mom. Thanks." He looks at me then, his expression unreadable. "Mom, Auntie? Could you guys give us a minute?"

Auntie is unsure, looking between the two of us with that tight-lipped frown again. The Hag tugs on her elbow while heading toward the door. "Come on, Inko. Let's get some coffee in you. I'm thinking we're in for a long night." Of course, she has that fucking smirk back on her face as she ushers Auntie out but whatever.

As soon as they are out of earshot, I sit next to Deku on the bed and cross my ankles, leaning my head against the wall behind me. There's an array of wires connecting to him now, monitoring his heartrate, blood pressure, oxygen levels, and respiration.

"You need to take better care of yourself, shitty Deku." I say to break the silence.

"I'm trying, Kacchan" he responds over a yawn.

"Tch. Try harder, yeah?" God, I sound like such a fucking pushover right now. What is this nerd doing to me?

"Kacchan… there's something I need to talk to you about." He shifts in his bed as much as he can while wrapped in that blanket until he's facing me. He looks serious about whatever it is, so I hold my tongue and wait quietly for him to continue which is obviously torture for me because he is taking so fucking long to spit it out. "You asked me the other night if I thought our changing relationship was a good thing and I said yes."

"AND?" I probe, probably a little too harshly. He flinches but doesn't shy away from me. To be fair, this isn't where I was expecting this conversation to go, his words having the uncanny affect of causing a squeezing pain to grow in my chest.

"And I'm not sure it's a good thing."

That squeezing pain has amplified. I suck in a sharp breath while trying to make sense of what he's saying. He's not sure it's a good thing… Well, what the hell does that even mean? My mouth feels like its full of cotton and this impending sense of dread is pushing down on my shoulders, introducing a weakness I never knew existed inside me. Despite all that shit, I take a steady breath, determined to get to the bottom of whatever is going on here. "Explain" I demand as calmly as I possibly can.

He's chewing on that bottom lip now, most of his confidence slipping away with each passing second. Those emerald eyes are shining with a fresh batch of tears, a few bubbling over and trailing down to his chin. "I feel guilty, Kacchan. I f-feel like you have your w-whole life ahead of you and I would be s-s-selfish to drag you down with me." Tears are flowing freely; he's stuttering and sobbing while he tries to explain himself.

Seeing him like that is distressing. The urge to wipe his tears away overpowers me so I cup that perfectly freckled face between my hands and swipe the wetness away with my thumbs. So, he thinks he's a burden to me? "That's fucking stupid, Deku."

"Hey! I'm t-trying to… to be honest w-with y-you. D-don't be so m-mean."

"Deku, I don't do shit I don't want to do. You know that. I know what I'm getting into here, it's not like I'm going into this blind. I'm here for you and I'm not going anywhere. Fuck the rest of it."

"Kacchan… H-how can you say that? Th-things aren't e-even that bad yet."

Pinching the bridge of my nose with my thumb and index finger, I release a heavy sigh as I try to maintain my composure. "Nothing is set in stone, nerd. You don't know if things will go down that road and neither do I, but what I do know is that if it does happen, I'll be there for you. If you need someone to talk to or a shoulder to cry on, I want it to be me you go to. If it's the middle of the night and you can't sleep because your nausea is keeping you up, I'll stay awake with you and read those boring ass hero biographies you like until you fall back asleep. If you're having a hard day and you just want to cry, I'll make you laugh until you cry because I'm fucking hilarious and my jokes are golden. And if this disease strands you inside your body, leaving you weak and helpless, I'll carry you on my back and I'll make damn sure you see everything you want to see, do everything you want to do. Ever since I met you, you've been there for me, being everything I didn't know I needed and now I'm going to do that for you. You do deserve it and I don't ever want to hear you say you're fucking selfish again." Damn it, my own fucking face is wet now. I swear this crying thing is contagious and I fucking hate it.

"Kacchan, I- I don't even know w-what to say. That's… y-you really want to do all that?" A hopeful smile has graced his face and it's fucking beautiful.

"I mean every single word, Deku."

"I want Kacchan too" he replies, a light pink dusting over his cheeks and accentuating his freckles. There's more of them then I realized, I could probably count each one like this.

Expressing myself is not one of my strong suits- I prefer yelling and pushing people away, but I think I've at least made my point. He's looking at me now with more emotion then I've ever personally experienced in my entire life. I lean into him then, kissing his lips, which I swear are covered in tears every time we do this, and waste no time before deepening it so I can taste him again. It's only been a day but as far as I'm concerned that's one day too fucking long.

A choked sound comes from behind us. Startled, I break away from Deku and whip my head around to see what it was, finding Auntie and the Hag standing in the doorway. There're tears in their eyes, and I watch with alarm as Auntie takes a step towards us.

"M-mom? I thought y-you went to get coffee…" I can hear the distress in Deku's voice, so I slip my hand into his cocoon and give his hand a reassuring squeeze.

"I wanted to know what you two needed to talk about, so I convinced Mitsuki to hide around the corner with me." I wish I could say I was surprised to hear this. Hell, the Hag probably bated her into it and she's just taking the fall. Without another word Auntie runs over to us and wraps her arms around the both of us, forcing the air out of my lungs before pulling away to dry her eyes on her sleeve. "Katsuki, I didn't approve of your friendship with Izuku but through your persistence you proved to me that you could be a good friend to him. But then you two became so close… too close, and I thought there was no way either of you could be ready for something like that. I'm still not too sure about it, but if you really meant everything you said and my Izuku is okay with it, then I'm tentatively okay with it too."

Warmth envelopes my face and I can only imagine how obvious my stupid blush must be right now. This whole situation is fucking embarrassing and uncomfortable but at least something good came out of it. I guess I should say something to her… God, I'm fucking bad at this. "That uh, that means a lot. Thank you, Auntie." There, short and to the point. I got this shit!

Two knocks sound off from the glass of the sliding door, there's a young woman with navy blue hair and matching eyes waving to us from the other side.

"Boy, there's a lot of people in here! Nice to meet you all, I'm Chi and I'm here to do your bloodwork. Can I get your full name and date of birth for verification?"

"Midoriya Izuku, July 15th." As I move off the bed to get out of the way, Chi rolls her cart over to Deku's bedside while he works his way out of the blankets. There's a bunch of empty vials and sterile packaging neatly organized in different pockets and cubbies on the cart.

"I think that's our cue to leave. Come on, brat. We can come visit your sweet little boyfriend in the morning!"

"Why? Just… freaking why?"

"Auntie!"

That woman is a nuisance. Deku looks absolutely mortified, hiding his face behind his hands meanwhile the damn Hag is cackling like a fucking hyena. Even Auntie seems to be amused, only she's being much less obnoxious about it. I think it's time for us to just leave. I'm too tired for this shit.

What I want is to walk over to Deku and claim those lips one last time before leaving but like hell am I giving the Hag any more fuel to tease me with later. Instead, I offer a curt wave. "See you tomorrow, Deku."

"Okay Kacchan! See you tomorrow!" His smile lights up the whole room as he waves goodbye.

A few minutes later, the Hag and I are driving home. The whole time we were waiting in the hospital, I didn't check my phone even once but looking now, I'm reminded that I never waited for Aizawa's reply to my earlier text because there's an unread message waiting for me.

Aizawa: Tomorrow the three of us are going to have a conversation and you two are going to tell me what's going on. Don't think I don't know when my problem children are causing more problems.

Well that sounds fucking ominous. I don't even want to tell Deku about this, it'll probably send him right into another panic attack. Then again, with him out of school the next two days, it really is only a matter of time before the teachers and extras start asking questions. We're just going to have to take this one problem at a time.

By the time we pull up to the house, I'm fucking done with everything. I drag myself inside and climb right up the stairs. There's no energy left in me to worry about undressing or washing my face, I don't even feel like brushing my teeth, but I have to draw the line somewhere. As I leave my bathroom to go collapse in bed, the Hag is waiting for me in the hallway and I swear to fucking God if she wants to talk I might need to blow something up.

"Brat… Katsuki." I'm about to tell her off but her use of my first name freezes me on the spot. She only calls me that when it's serious.

"Are you sure this is what you want?" She wraps her arms around herself with a heavy sigh, her expression almost that of motherly concern.

"Sure of what?" I ask carefully.

"Are you sure about everything with Izuku. If it's really what you want, then I support you but are you sure you know what you're getting yourself into here? You've always been one to grab life by the balls, never backing down from anything but I'm worried you're getting in over your head."

Not missing a beat, I answer immediately. "Positive. It took me too fucking long to realize how important Deku is and I've wasted so much time with my head up my own ass… I'm positive this is what I want."

She grins in response, pulling me in for a rare sort of mother/son embrace that might happen all of once every year or so. "Then your father and I support you" she says gently as she pulls back. And just as quickly as she shifted into mother mode, she returns to the old Hag. "Try not to mess it up, Brat." She says with a wink before heading to her own room.

"I'll try not to" I whisper back, not realizing until that moment that maybe I'm a little bit terrified. Not for myself but for Deku, always for Deku.

XXX

The following morning, I woke up to a slew of messages from the extras. They've all noticed my absence from class this morning and have evidently assumed I must be on my deathbed. I ignore most of them, only responding to the nuisances I actually spend time with outside of class. I have no idea what I'm doing that would make any one of them think I appreciate their concern, but that shit needs to stop.

I rush through my morning routine, breakfast, and a quick jog before herding the Hag and Pops out the door. I'm jittery the whole way there and I almost forget to sign in and get my guest badge before sprinting to the elevators. Both parents are well behind me at this point, but it's not like we need to stick together. I'm not a brat in diapers who needs to hold mommy's hand everywhere we go. I'm a little winded by the time I make it to Deku's room, breathing heavily as I walk up to his door. Noticing the curtain by the door is closed too, I knock once on the glass before sliding it open and pushing past the curtain to get inside.

The sight I'm greeted with stops me in my tracks. I can literally feel the hair prickling at my neck and my heart feels like it's going to beat right out of my chest because standing next to Deku's bed is All Might, Aizawa and Principal Nezu.

Well fuck….