"Kacchan?"
Katsuki turned to the voice right behind him, but there was no one there. "Deku?" "Kacchan, where are you?"
He spun in a circle. "Where the hell are you, nerd?"
"Kacchan!" He sounds so scared. Where the hell is he?
He ran toward the voice, running through the park and into the woods until he came to a log bridge—old and weathered. From the way it creaked, he thought it must have rotted through. Deku stood in the center, but he was so small. "Deku, get away from there."
"Kacchan, I'm scared." He whispered. Katsuki gritted his teeth and slowly—so slowly—crept onto the bridge. As soon as his foot made contact, the world went fuzzy.
Now they were on a roof. Katsuki glanced around—Aldera? Why were they on the roof of Aldera? He looked back at Deku and froze. He was perched on the ledge, facing away from him. "DEKU. Get the fuck away from there." He snapped, panicking.
"Kacchan?" Deku asked, looking over his shoulder. "Why are you crying?" He turned around but didn't step down.
"Deku, please," he reached out. "Get down from there."
"But I'm tired, Kacchan. Isn't this what you wanted?" He asked, before leaning back.
"Deku!" he screamed, blasting forward and reaching out—clutching the nerd's shitty middle school uniform in tight fists. The world blurred again as they fell together.
They were on a battlefield, and Katsuki clutched Deku tightly. His body was riddled with holes and he spluttered as he choked on his blood. "Kacchan?"
"Don't talk, goddamnit." He snarled, pressing hands futilely against Deku's gaping wounds. "Gotta. No time. Tell mom I'm sorry."
"Tell her yourself, shithead."
"I need you to do something."
"Stop. Talking."
"Take One For All. I need you to take it."
"Fuck you."
"Kacchan, please," he gasped. "No time."
And the asshole was right. He could feel Deku's pulse slowing. His eyes were dimming. "How?"
Deku lifted a ravaged arm to slide his bloodied hand into Katsuki's hair, and pulled him down for a kiss filled with blood and gravel. "Glad I got to do that. Love you, y'know." He went limp in Katsuki's arms.
Katsuki woke up screaming.
The next five days were hard. He hadn't counted on how difficult it would be to see his classmates crying over Deku's broken body. The first group to visit, much to his surprise and relief, was not Deku's inner circle. He didn't think he was ready for that. Instead, he brought Aoyama, Tsu, Sato, Shoji, and Sero to see him first. He supposed that was just because they'd been in the common room when the signup sheet had been posted. So had Hagakure, Yaomomo, and Shinso who had put down Mirio's name. Their group went on the second day.
"No matter what happens, I'm proud to have you as a friend, mon ami," Aoyama had sobbed.
"You're so strong, ribbit. It seems ridiculous to say goodbye when it feels like you're around every corner," Tsuyu croaked. "So do us all a favor and hang on."
"You should come back now," Sato cried quietly. "But if you have to go, don't worry. Bakugou's been taking good care of your mom, and we'll take good care of him." His breath hitched. "But you should come back. If you do, I'll make you that matcha and lavender roll cake I was telling you about."
Shoji was quiet and morose. "I'm sorry this happened to you." There wasn't much more for him to say.
"Katsuki hasn't said goodbye yet, so neither will I," Sero admitted softly, brushing Izuku's hair back. "He's scared, but I can tell he hasn't really given up. So as long as he's got hope, I will too. You want to be the symbol of hope, right?" Katsuki didn't look at him the whole walk back to the dorm.
When they arrived, Sato planted himself back in the kitchen, and a small group congregated in the common room to wait for Katsuki so that they could go to the Midoriya's to help tidy. "Bring your homework, Kat," Mina instructed. "We'll clean while you work. You've been losing valuable study time at the hospital."
"I'm supposed to be helping you guys clean up," he argued.
"No." She put her foot down. "We'll tidy. You study. If we have questions about where something is supposed to go, we'll ask." Katsuki looked like he was going to argue, but Mina actually stomped her foot. "I'm not taking no for an answer. Let us help you." He sighed but conceded. When they arrived, he excused himself to Izuku's nerdy All Might shrine of a bedroom, sat at his crowded desk, and tried not to cry as he did the homework for Ectoplasm's class. He didn't succeed, and Mina found him curled in Izuku's bed, sobbing into his pillow.
The next day wasn't any easier, but at least they wouldn't be going to Auntie Inko's that evening. Nonetheless, he listened diligently to his classmates as they spoke to Izuku's prone body.
"We're still looking, Midoriya." He heard Shinso whisper. "If there's something to find, I swear we'll find it. We're not gonna let you go without a fight. Not when you've fought so hard for us."
"We decided not to bring Eri, or that kid you saved at your training camp. We thought this might be too hard for them. Eri especially, since she'd feel bad for not being able to use her quirk to help. She's just not in control enough," Mirio smiled. "You and I both know you wouldn't want her to be upset about something she can't control. But this still sucks. I hope you wake up, buddy. We miss you already."
"You're our lynchpin, Izuku." Hagakure whispered to him. "We'll fall apart without you. We already are." He didn't have to see her to know that she was a wreck. "Please come back. Please."
To his surprise, Momo was angry. It was a quiet sort of anger, but it was anger nonetheless. "I thought you were gonna be number one, Izuku." She hissed, pressing her palms into her eyes. "How are any of us supposed to survive if you can't? You really want Katsuki to be the one we look to for inspiration? We'll all be screaming expletives at victims within a month."
"Hey!" he interrupted, affronted. She gave him a very dry and irritated glance.
"I'm not wrong. He needs to come back. He's the balancing act. The calm to your storm. Iida and I might be the class reps, but when shit hits the fan, it's you two that we look to. We need both of you or else we're all gonna go off the rails." She turned her gaze back to Izuku. "I know I'm supposed to be proper and polite, but this is ridiculous. Get the fuck up. Please get the fuck up."
It was quiet with the first two groups. They huddled around his bed and cried. They offered Auntie Inko their support and hugged Katsuki's parents. They brought flowers and carried the meals that Sato had prepared. Tsu and Momo attended to Katsuki, holding his hand under the guise of needing his support while knowing that it was the other way around. Katsuki remained strong- jawed and dry-eyed throughout. Only Tsu and Momo knew how his hands shook as he stood at Deku's bedside.
With the first two groups, he had time to check on Auntie Inko as they spoke to her son. "How are you holding up, Auntie?"
She gave him a tearful smile. "Not great. But you're taking such good care of me, so better than I could have hoped," she admitted. "Thank you for dinner, Katsuki."
He shook his head. "Sato made dinner." Her smile turned knowing.
"Because you said that you were going to, right? How else would he have known what to make?" She placed a trembling hand on his cheek. "You've been so strong over the past month. Are you taking care of yourself, too?"
He looked down at his feet. "Trying to. I have some help." She smiled a little wider.
"That's good, sweetheart. We all need help sometimes. I'm sorry I haven't been there for you like you've been here for me. And I'm sorry for asking you to keep it from them. I just—"
"I get it." He interrupted. "He's your son. You need me more. And don't feel bad about not telling them. Focus on him. Don't worry, Auntie—they're taking care of me," he promised. She pulled him in for a hug, and he reminded himself not to cry.
"You're a good boy, Katsuki. You're bad at expressing yourself, but you're so good. Don't forget it, sweetheart."
He pulled away, looking into her teary eyes. He wished he could blame hyperactive Midoriya tear ducts this time. "I actually—tomorrow Izuku's closest friends will be here. We're not super friendly with each other, and I don't want to intrude on their time with him. Do you mind if I wait outside while they're in here?"
"Of course not, Katsuki. You do what feels right. I can keep it together for their visit if you need to excuse yourself." She smiled sadly. "You don't need to do it alone."
He looked back down at the floor. "Thanks, Auntie."
As planned, they went to his parents' house that evening. He studied while his friends tidied up. Before they made their way back to the dorms, Katsuki pulled a shoebox out from under his bed.
"What's in there, Bakubro?" Eijirou asked as they walked.
"Memories." He replied. Eijirou eyed him.
"Wanna share them with us when we get back? Might make you feel better." "...Sure."
And he did. His friends brought dinner to his room and bundled in blankets for show-and-tell. He showed them the pictures that his parents had taken of them over the years, from their wild adventures as toddlers in All Might onesies to the uncomfortable photo evidence of middle school "family" dinners. Even when things were strained, Izuku had been in his orbit.
He showed them the little gifts Izuku had given him over the years—at least the ones that had fit in the box. That included a limited edition All Might keychain, a "World's Spiciest Recipes" cookbook, and a bookmark with a pressed and preserved leaf—a leaf from a tree on one of Katsuki's favorite hiking trails. Simple, warm-hearted, and thoughtful—entirely Deku's style.
Throughout the evening, Katsuki's heart ached with impending loss. Nobody knew him better than Izuku.
"What's that?" Mina asked, pointing at the folded notepaper in the corner of the box. He sniffed and wiped at his eyes. He didn't even remember when he started crying. Maybe around the time they'd looked at Christmas pictures.
He unfolded the notes carefully. They were worn and old, yellowing around the edges. "His very first analysis of my quirk. 'S where I got the idea for my hero costume. He's the one that came up with the gauntlets," he admitted, flattening the pages gently before handing them over. The handwriting and accompanying sketch were messy—they'd been done by a six-year-old—but they were detailed and precious.
"He would have been a kick-ass quirk analyst if he wasn't a hero," Hanta muttered, reading over his shoulder. "Those notebooks of his are insane. He came up with so many applications for my quirk in our first year, I'm still learning how to make most of his ideas work."
"He's the one that figured out how to increase my voltage without short-circuiting my brain," Denki smiled.
Mina cackled. "He's the one who figured out that I could make LSD if I ate certain grains!" They all laughed at that and oh it felt good to laugh.
"He's helping me design more versatile support gear with Hatsume," Jirou added, before pausing. "Oh. We should invite Hatsume to come with us to the hospital. We only have four people in our group." She said quietly. "He's one of her only real friends. I'm pretty sure he's the one who makes sure she's taking breaks and eating regularly when she gets all scary about her inventions."
They were quiet again. "Anyone have her number?" Katsuki grunted.
"I don't have her number, but I have some time to stop by her workshop tomorrow." Jirou offered. "Our group is going the day after, so that gives her some time to shift plans around."
"Okay."
He led the third group—Uraraka, Iida, Todoroki, Tokoyami, and Koda—to Deku's hospital room, but didn't enter with them. "You're not coming in, Bakugou?" Tokoyami asked, voice deep and brows serious.
"Those three need time with him. They're so pissed at me that if I'm in the room, I'll be the only thing they focus on," he muttered. "Auntie already knows I'm not coming in. I'm gonna be in the cafeteria doing some homework. Come find me when you're ready to leave."
Koda frowned, before bringing his hands up to sign at him. 'Are you sure?' the timid boy asked. 'You should spend as much time with him as you can.'
"I've got a month on you guys. And I'll see him tomorrow. Don't worry about it. Thanks, though," he replied before turning to leave. He missed the look that Tokoyami and Koda shared.
The reception staff smiled warmly at him as he passed. "Oh, Katsuki! You're not staying with your friends today, honey? Don't you want to see Izuku?" One of Izuku's nurses—Yui, if he remembered correctly (he wasn't exactly good with names)—asked as he passed her in the hall.
"Homework. Gonna work in the cafeteria so that his friends can have some privacy and I can play catch up," he mumbled in reply.
"Aw honey, that's so thoughtful," she simpered. She dug in her pockets before handing him a little white card. "It's my employee discount card for the cafe. Get yourself some coffee and a snack. Just leave the card on Midoriya's bedside before you leave."
He frowned. "I can't accept this."
"You can, and you will. Don't think I haven't noticed you running yourself ragged taking care of your family, young man. It's very admirable. Let me do something for you in turn."
"You already are. You're keeping him alive as long as possible."
"And if he wakes up, I bet he'll be pissed if you're all skinny and malnourished," she replied, stern. "Just take the card."
He sighed. "Fine. Thank you."
"No sweat," she smiled, before sweeping away from him.
He bought himself a coffee and a curry bun before settling into one of the hellishly uncomfortable
cafeteria chairs. All of his teachers had given him extensions, but he was loathe to use them. The longer he put off his work, the harder he'd have to slog in order to catch up.
He jolted when Tokoyami and Koda scraped chairs up next to him and took their seats. "You're done already?"
"We asked the other three if we could go first so that they could have alone time with Midoriya. They agreed. In fact, they seemed grateful," Tokoyami replied. "We thought we'd see if you need any help catching up. You're not far behind, but your mind hasn't been on academics lately."
He knew what they were doing. "You know I'm capable of being alone, right? I'm not gonna spontaneously combust or some shit. You should be taking advantage of your time with him."
'We'll do that when he wakes up.' Koda signed, jaw set stubbornly. 'Besides, you're doing a lot. The least we can do is help you stay caught up to the class.'
"After all, Midoriya will need tutoring when he returns."
What if he doesn't return? Katsuki wanted to ask. But they seemed to be stubbornly refusing the very high likelihood that Izuku was going to die, and Katsuki supposed he could let them have that for now. "Fine. Can you look over my outline for Cementoss's class? I haven't read the whole book yet but the test is next week."
"Sure," Tokoyami agreed, taking the notebook from him. 'Anything I can help with?' Koda asked.
"I'm stuck on the math homework," he admitted. Koda gestured for him to show him, and they got to work. They set up a steady rhythm, where Koda coached Katsuki through the math homework while Tokoyami read through his Lit outlines and made notes. Time passed faster than he expected, and he was grateful for the distraction.
He was not grateful for what happened next.
"Katsuki—" It was Nurse Yui. He got the impression that she would have been running if it weren't against hospital policy. "Your classmates had to be escorted out by security. Mrs. Midoriya and your parents are really upset."
"What happened?" he demanded, pushing out of his seat urgently.
"I'm not sure. I wasn't in the room, I just got there after your mom pressed the nurse call and asked me to get security. Mrs. Midoriya was nonverbal." Behind them, Koda and Tokoyami were packing his bag for him. He glanced at his phone and frowned at the time. It had already been two hours?
"I need to go check on our parents and find out what happened," he said, turning to them. Tokoyami handed him his bag.
"I'll go back and find out what happened from those three. Then I'll let Aizawa know that there was an incident. Koda, you stay behind with Bakugou and find out what happened from his parents' perspective. We're relatively neutral parties, so we should be able to sort out what happened calmly and diplomatically."
'Will do. Get going,' Koda instructed before turning to follow Katsuki who was already moving, following swiftly after Nurse Yui.
Katsuki was pissed. It almost felt good. He'd been so depressed about the nerd, he'd almost forgotten what it felt like to feel this kind of blinding fury. Beside him, Koda was pissed as well, and that felt good too. At least he knew he was justified.
'Go to the gym and blow something up. It's fine that you're pissed but at this rate, you'll blow up the dorm and you don't need to deal with that right now. I'll tell Aizawa what happened and send Kirishima your way.'
"I'm gonna rip them a fucking new one. You're nuts if you think I'm gonna let them off easy for this shit."
'Good. Don't. I might even yell at them,' he glowered. 'But before you go off you need to let off some steam. You don't need to deal with property damage liability on top of everything else.'
He made a good point. "Send Ponytail, too. She can make dummies that look like their stupid fucking faces for me to blow up," he snarled. Koda flashed him a thumbs up before splitting off from him to find Aizawa.
Momo and Eijirou found him in record time, and Momo didn't even hesitate before making the dummies he requested. "Wanna tell us what went down? Koda just told us where to find you and dipped to find Aizawa," Eijirou said as he helped set up the dummies around the gym.
"Tokoyami looked angry when he got back," Momo added.
He didn't look at them. His eyes were trained on the dummy-doppelgangers; glare fierce and furious. "They wanted to stay past their welcome. They'd been there for two hours and Auntie told them that she'd like to have time alone with Deku, but they hounded her to let them stay. Eventually, my mom tried to step in to put her foot down and they went off at her." He gritted his teeth, jaw grinding in anger. "Said it was her son's fault that they hadn't gotten to see Deku during the time that he was dying and that it was unfair that they'd kept the people who cared about him from seeing him. Auntie started crying and the hag called the nurse and told them that they were upsetting Auntie, so if they didn't leave she'd call security to escort them out. Apparently, that set Icy Hot off, and he said they said that she was 'as malicious and selfish as her son' and yelled at auntie, saying that she couldn't see that we were keeping out people that we didn't approve of by making her dependent on us. So when the nurse got there, Ma had her call security to drag them out. The hospital might not let the rest of the class visit after that episode. Auntie might not want the rest of the class to visit."
It was quiet for a long, pregnant moment. Then there was a series of loud thunks. Both boys turned to Momo and found her producing more copies of the training dummies. "That should be enough. Stay here until they're all destroyed," she instructed before turning and stomping out of the gym, ponytail swishing violently behind her.
"Where are you going?" Eijirou called after her.
"I didn't punch Iida hard enough last time!" she called back before disappearing through the doors.
After some harried negotiation on Aizawa's part, Class A was permitted to continue visiting in their pre-planned groups. It had come with the condition that the trio that had caused the disruption was barred from further visitation. Katsuki was pissed, but he'd tried to get that decision overturned. They might be assholes, but they were Deku's best friends. Unfortunately, both Aizawa and the hospital held firm on their decision.
"Not only did you nearly get the entire class barred from visiting Midoriya, but you also caused Mrs. Midoriya and the Bakugous extreme emotional distress," Aizawa had snapped at them in the common room. "That poor woman is on the verge of losing her only son, and you three—in a fit of selfish, thoughtless anger—not only made her cry but also insulted the people she considers closer to her than the majority of her family. It took me hours to assure her that any future visitors wouldn't distress her further. I have never been more ashamed of my own students before in my entire teaching career, and I teach Mineta who is on the verge of expulsion for sexual misconduct."
"I'm not that bad!" Mineta protested.
"Yes, you are," Momo and Tsu snapped in unison.
Katsuki was glad that Aizawa had taken responsibility for dressing them down. He'd never been good with words, so having Aizawa articulately explain why they were being dickheads was almost a relief.
He'd worked out most of his blind rage on Momo's damn near indestructible training dummies anyway. Now he was just quietly angry and burning with frustration. He didn't want to have to expend energy on this shit show. He wanted to focus on Deku and Auntie and his parents.
Unfortunately, their concern for Deku had sort of blinded them to how shitty and bullheaded they were being. As soon as Aizawa left, Todoroki turned to him. "You had us barred from the hospital?"
"You threw us under the bus as soon as you got back!" Uraraka yelled.
"No, I did," Koda barked out loud. Most of the class took a step back in sheer alarm. "Bakugou went to let off steam. I told Mrs. Midoriya and Mrs. Bakugou's side of the story to Aizawa when we got back. Bakugou wanted to give you time alone with Midoriya because you're his best friends, and instead of taking care of his mother and supporting her, you made her snap. Weren't you saying at the beginning of this that you'd be better candidates to support and take care of the Midoriyas? Since when does support include violently berating a grieving mother at her son's deathbed?"
"We were trying to support her but his control-freak mother was trying to force us out!" Uraraka shrieked, jabbing an accusing finger at Katsuki.
"I've seen a relationship like the one your mother shares with Mrs. Midoriya. It reminds me of my own parents," Todoroki added, quietly furious.
Katsuki stilled, shoulders going tight with barely restrained anger. Damn, and he thought he'd worked out most of the poison in the gym. "Are you calling my mother abusive?" he whispered, vision tunneling. "Are you calling my mother abusive because she tried to enforce what Deku's mom specifically fucking asked you to do? Auntie asked you to leave, and you didn't. My mom is Auntie's best friend, and she told you to leave because you weren't listening. I fucking told you that she didn't want visitors for more than two hours. You tried to stay anyways and didn't leave when Auntie asked, so my mother had to step the fuck up. No one else has had a problem. Everyone else in the class has respected Auntie's wishes. You are the problem here; not me, and definitely not my mother. You made a grieving mother cry. You tried to fucking guilt trip her into letting you stay." He had crescendoed through his little speech and was now yelling. He had been trying so hard to avoid yelling when people were already upset. "Thanks to you three fucks I had to talk her down from a whole-ass panic attack!"
Iida was silent, but he was also eyeing Yaomomo and sporting the beginnings of a black eye.
Eijirou put a hand on his shoulder. "C'mon dude. Momo and Mina'll take care of them. You need to finish your homework and get to sleep," he murmured.
As soon as Eijirou tugged him away, the space they vacated was filled with not only Momo and Mina, but Koda, Tsu, and Aoyama. Denki and Kyoka flanked them as they retreated. "From now on, it's not your responsibility to talk to them," Kyoka told him. "They clearly won't listen to you, so forget about them. They can go through us if they need something."
Katsuki didn't have it in him to protest.
The next day, he and his friends waited for Hatsume at the school gates before departing. She was almost unnaturally quiet. Then she saw Izuku (who looked bloodlessly pale and haggard as fuck), and she broke down sobbing. Mina led her back outside so that she could collect herself. Katsuki, like before, went to stand with Auntie Inko, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.
"Hey, bro," Eijirou greeted him as though he were listening. "Denki blew up the toaster this morning. It was hilarious."
"I did not!" Denki cried, affronted. "I tripped over Mineta and landed on the toaster. I just happened to be charging phones at the time, so I had to redirect my current to the toaster, or else I would have fried the phones!"
"Sure," Jirou snorted. "We'll go with that."
"For once, s'true," Katsuki spoke up. "Knocked the grape fucker out for like ten whole minutes."
"Katsuki!" Inko swatted his arm. "Watch your language, young man."
Eijirou barked a laugh. "All due respect, Mrs. Midoriya, but I think that might be a lost cause."
"Stuff it, hard head," Katsuki grumbled, ears going red. They snickered at him, but he took it in stride. This was already the most chill and positive visit he'd had thus far.
Mina and Hatsume reentered the room. Hatsume's eyes and nose were red. "Hey, Broccolini," Hatsume greeted him quietly. Mina squeezed her hand. "I miss you. I have so many new ideas and I wanna run them by you. Oh, and I finished your bracers!" She sniffed, smiling. She turned to Jirou. "And your new recording gear. You'd love it, Izuku. There's an impulse recorder that fastens to her earphone jack that feeds to a recording device. Great for stealthy info-gathering."
"You finished already? When can I come to test it out?" Kyoka asked.
"Tomorrow, if you want." Hatsume shrugged, looking back at Izuku. She was silent, studying him carefully. Then: "You gotta come back," she whispered. "I'm gonna help find who did this to you, but you gotta stay put until then. You're my first friend. I can't lose you, okay?"
Auntie Inko clutched him tighter.
"You okay?" he asked her quietly. Her eyes didn't leave her son.
"I'm so sad," she admitted. "He was finally getting everything he wanted. He was becoming a hero. He has so many friends who love him so much. It's unfair that he's come this far just for his life to be cut so short," she sobbed. "He was meant for more than this." His friends had turned to listen to her, and their hearts broke.
Mina stood and took up Auntie Inko's other side. "Even if he doesn't wake up, he's going to be a legend," she said. Inko looked up at her. "It's not really a comfort, I know. We'd all rather have him here. But if he's stolen from us, we'll make sure everyone knows how much of an impact he's had. We'll rise to the top and shout his name from the rooftops. We'll make a textbook out of his hero analysis so that everyone knows that their heroes learned how to be heroes from him. He's had an impact on all of us—none of us would let his legacy end here in a hospital room. We love him too much for that."
Auntie threw her arms around Mina and sobbed into her neck, latching around the bubblegum girl as though she were adhered there by Hanta's tape.
"Your son is brilliant," Hatsume said quietly, eyes fixed back on Izuku as his mother cried. "He's the first person who's ever been able to keep up with me. Part of me wishes he'd been in the support course. He's an amazing hero, but I can only imagine what we could do with that mind of his in the workshop. He's had a hand in almost all of the costume improvements for Class A, just because he keeps a running file on his observations that he provided to the support department," she smiled. "Did you know the entire school adopted that system? Now teachers can enter notes and observations on students' quirks and fighting styles for the support students to reference while we work. Just because he came waltzing in with a stack of notebooks one day and scolded me for getting ahead of myself with inventing before considering the strengths and weaknesses of each student and their quirks."
None of them knew that. They never really thought about what went on in Support, as long as they got what they needed. "He always pushes to make things better," Kirishima offered. "He got Momo to recreate my civilian wardrobe using Kevlar so that I'd stop tearing all of my clothes."
"He got me diagnosed for my dyslexia when I was failing Lit and Math," Denki mumbled.
"Asked me to teach him how to dance so that I'd take the time to relax and move around when I'm stressed," Ashido added.
"Little shit literally knocked me out and dragged me to an Audiologist to get my tinnitus diagnosed," Katsuki grumbled. "Even though he gave me a goddamn concussion in the process." They laughed at that, even Auntie Inko. It felt like an accomplishment. "He's a hero, Auntie. He's been a hero for years. And if he can't do the rest himself, we'll just follow his lead."
Later, when they'd left, Eijirou pulled him aside. "You made a promise in there, you know," he began. "Even if he doesn't make it, you need to keep being a hero. It'll be hard and it won't be the same, but you can't stop now. I know you said you didn't think you could do it, but now you kinda have to."
Katsuki looked down, swallowing against more stupid, useless tears. "Yeah, I know."
Mineta and Ojiro were the only students who hadn't visited Izuku so on the last day, his favorite teachers joined them. They listened as Mineta and Ojiro spoke (and removed Mineta as soon as he ventured toward the inappropriate), solemn and quiet.
They hated seeing a student injured. They hated seeing students at death's door. And most of all, they hated seeing Izuku Midoriya and Katsuki Bakugo quiet. Between the two of them, they normally produced the full spectrum of noise—from a quiet but constant background murmur to short but deafening bellows.
Katsuki's parents were back today, and they spoke quietly to Aizawa and Auntie Inko—largely
assuring them that despite everything, Katsuki was keeping up with his schoolwork. He was somber as he informed them that they hadn't found any leads on the villain, and the parents informed him that attempts at an antidote were entirely unsuccessful.
"We're still looking, kiddo," Midnight whispered. "You're too good to let go of. We won't stop looking, I promise."
"You're so strong, Midoriya," Present Mic told him. "If anyone could pull through, it would be you. Toshinori is all the way up the quirk registry's ass looking for this guy. So just hang on. We'll find him."
On their way out, Aizawa stopped at his bedside and took Izuku's cold, scarred hand. "You are the most stress-inducing problem child I have ever met in my goddamn life. You're reckless and impulsive. I have a heart attack every time you step outside. But you're also smart and strong and good. You're my favorite student, and you've single-handedly restored my faith in the future of the hero community. So if you die, I will never forgive the world for taking you so young."
On the sixth day, he came back to the hospital alone. It was Auntie Inko who had brought a guest.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Katsuki snapped as soon as he clocked onto the new figure in the room.
"Katsuki—" Mitsuki began, but the shitstain beside her interrupted her.
"I'm just here to visit my son, Katsuki," Hisashi Midoriya said stood from his chair. "Before it's too
late."
"It is too late," he snapped. "It's been too late for a long-ass time, asshole. Where the hell have you been for the last ten years? Oh right, fucking off and neglecting your family because your son was diagnosed as quirkless. Is he finally making you proud now that he's dying?"
"Katsuki, please." Inko whimpered. Katsuki fell silent immediately, shoulders straightening.
"Sorry, Auntie." He might hate Hisashi, but he wouldn't cause Inko any more stress if he could help it. "I brought you dinner. Sato decided to try making Italian food. But I didn't bring any extra servings. I didn't realize he'd be here," he said, handing each of the three parents he actually respected a tupperware container. Then he sat by Izuku's bedside and pulled out his reading, barely keeping tabs on the adults' conversation. At one point, he sent a text to Momo, requesting more training dummies for when he returned to campus. She sent him a thumbs up emoji in reply.
He sat there for hours, listening to his parents make stilted small talk with a man who had abandoned his son while trying to absorb Present Mic's study guide to no avail. This man had no claim to Deku—hadn't even looked his way in ten years. No birthday cards, no father's day, no phone calls, no nothing.
"I saw you took first place at both of your sports festivals, Katsuki," Hisashi said, impressed. "You must be proud."
"The first one wasn't a real win. My opponent pussied out halfway through," he replied, surly. "You met him a couple days ago, hag. The half-and-half asshole." He turned to his mother, who pursed her lips tightly. "They muzzled me on national television when I tried to decline the award."
"Yes, I saw. It was all very dramatic," he chuckled.
"Izuku came in second this year. That's the impressive part," Katsuki continued. "He had almost no control over his quirk at the beginning of our first year. I have twelve years of experience on him, and he nearly took me out."
"It was impressive," Hisashi agreed. "I barely recognized him."
Katsuki literally couldn't hold back the scoff, but he consciously chose to say what came next. "Probably would have been easier if you'd seen him more recently than a fuckin' decade ago."
Hisashi studied him carefully before speaking. "I know I've been gone for a long time, but I came as soon as I heard. I only left so that I could support him better."
"You could have called," he shot back. "Or video chatted. Phones do all kinds of crazy communication-based things."
"Katsuki—"
"I'm sorry, Auntie, but this needs to be said." Katsuki cut her off. "I'm heading back to campus after this, so if you want him to be here, I won't interrupt. But you need to know what you did to him." He glared into Hisashi's eyes. There was interest there—perhaps curious about what Katsuki had to say—but no remorse. "Your son once asked me why anyone would care if he died if his own father didn't want him." Auntie Inko gasped, eyes filling with tears. "When we were eight years old, our teacher asked us to make these crappy handmade Father's Day cards, but Izuku didn't know if
you'd want it, so I told him we could share a dad. On his tenth birthday, he waited until midnight for you to call, but you never did. After he got his hero license, he called you twenty-two times to try to tell you the news before he gave up on trying to contact you. So now you're here because you think he's dying, but what if he wakes up? Are you still going to be here? Or are you going to fuck off again and reaffirm his lifelong belief that his life only has value if he puts it on the line?" he demanded. Still no remorse. "As far as I'm concerned, you're more of a sperm donor than a father. My dad had more of a hand in his growth than you did. So did Aizawa. Hell, so did All Might. All Might legitimately loves your son more than you do."
"Katsuki, I think that's enough." His mother's voice was soft but firm.
"Yeah, fine." He gave Hisashi one last appraising glance. "I'd say it was good to see you, but I'm an asshole, not a liar. See you never, probably." He turned back to Inko, who was staring at Hisashi like she was seeing him for the first time. "I'll see you tomorrow, Auntie. I'll drop by the house tomorrow after I'm done here, hag. Don't let her clean, old man. My dork squad is insisting."
"Goodnight Katsuki." His father pulled him into a hug. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"Hey, Auntie." Katsuki greeted her as he pushed open the door to the room. He was glad he was allowed back after he'd snapped yesterday. She smiled at him, sad but warm.
"Katsuki."
"Dinner." He held out a container filled with noodles. "Thai food."
"Thank you, sweetheart." She took the container but held it in her lap. "I'm sorry about yesterday. I should have warned you he would be there. I suppose I didn't really notice what sort of damage he'd done. Izuku kept all of that hidden from me."
"He didn't want you to be sad," he shrugged. "I'm sorry if I made it awkward for you, though."
"You didn't. I asked him to leave once you'd left," she admitted. He was surprised. "I'm going to stretch my legs. Maybe eat this in the cafeteria. I assume you're okay here alone?"
He nodded, and she swept from the room. He took up his spot at Izuku's bedside. "Hey, nerd." He could practically hear the answering, ' hey, Kacchan.'
He told Izuku about his day. About training, and about Class 1-A's antics. He read part of the book they were reading for their literature class aloud.
Then he stopped. The silence was loud, and he didn't know how to fill it. It felt like a black hole— no matter what he said or how loud he said it, his words were being pulled into nothingness and heard by no one. This was the first time he'd been alone with his thoughts in a long time, and suddenly he remembered why he'd been trying to avoid that. Izuku was fucking dying. The ever- present lump in his throat was back and his eyes stung. He's going to die, and there's nothing I can do. Izuku would never speak to him again. He'd never listen when Katsuki got overwhelmed or talk his ear off at a million words per minute. Izuku would be silent for the rest of Katsuki's life and there was nothing worse than that thought.
"Hey, Zuku?" he called, voice trembling. "I, uh...I'm not okay. And every day you're in here, I get less okay. I'm going out of my fucking mind. I'm trying to hold it together so that your mom doesn't have to worry about me too, but I'm really fucking scared," he sobbed, grabbing onto his hand and curling in on himself like he was in pain. "None of this is okay. You were finally getting everything you wanted. We were finally fixing our relationship. You can't leave me, because this honestly feels like dying. Everything good about me is dying with you and I can feel it." His voice was coming out in whimpers, tucked between shaky breaths and aborted sobs.
"Look, you are the reigning champ of fucking miraculous comebacks. You pull luck out of your ass like none other. And Izuku, I love you. I can't do this without you, motherfucker. I'll try, but I don't think I have it in me if you're not there pushing me or pulling me or what-the-fuck-ever. So listen to me, you beautiful broccoli-headed asshole; if you have any more miracles left in your structurally fucked body, use them," he sobbed. "Use the power of All Might and anime or fucking something and get the fuck back here. Please. Please just use one more miracle and come back to us. To me."
Izuku stayed silent, and Katsuki was still crying when Inko returned.