A/N: O.M.G this chapter has been the bane of my existence for weeks! Every time I sat down to work on it I swear it was mocking me. So here it finally is, the long awaited and painfully dragged out 11th chapter. It's not that I think anything is wrong with this chapter but there has been so much going on in my life these past few weeks that sitting down to type just wasn't relaxing anymore and started to feel like a chore.

In the end though, for me, this chapter just feels like the bare basics to get us from point A to point B. At the very least I am very excited to have this one over and done with and can finally move on to the next chapter which I am looking forward to working on as the #slowburn is finally going to start to pay off...

Deku's doctor had been right and after a few more days – Deku only rubbing at his arm with irritation once during training because of some lingering effects – it cleared up and he was back to his usual self, big smile and all. They returned to their usual patrols and all seemed well, Katsuki only occasionally getting a warning buzz of Deku's heart playing up. But that didn't mean there weren't ever any issues here and there.

Katsuki went along to visit Deku's doctor with the nerd after that, but they kept the medication the same and explained that moment's like this would just happen from time to time which Deku accepted with a nod and a thanks whilst Katsuki clicked his tongue at it. They were pro heroes and couldn't afford to get distracted mid battle. But it was what it was and it was the best Deku could ask for considering. All in all, it was manageable and Deku's "fall from fatigue" did nothing to slow the flow of agency and media offers coming their way – though they ignored the media ones because how could they expect the reporters NOT to ask about Deku's collapse and that just pissed Katsuki off because it was none of their damn business…. Even if the nerd had done it right in front of everyone's damn eyes.

Over the next month, Deku had to cut training short twice because he was feeling out of breath and once during a battle with a villain of all times. Katsuki's wrist had buzzed and he had to leap in when Deku faltered due to some chest pain – which was rare for the greenette to feel – and keep the villain from seeing the moment as an opening to strike at the nerd. They had won that battle of course, because why wouldn't they have? As far as Katsuki was concerned they were the best heroes out there, medical conditions be damned.

Work went on as usual for them with minimal disturbances. Deku had regular check ups that Katsuki tagged along for seeing as he couldn't work without the nerd and since the greenette's health now directly affected Katsuki, it seemed that staying inside that loop would be beneficial. It became a regular thing for a nurse familiar with sign language to join their appointments so that Deku could focus more on listening and less on signing for Katsuki's sake. That and having a nurse translate everything meant Deku couldn't bullshit his way around exercise restrictions. Katsuki would not have been surprised if in the past Deku had kept doctor recommended restrictions to himself so his hero work wouldn't have to slow because of it. Luckily, with the meds doing their job effectively, there wasn't much to be restricted and so most of their appointments just became regular routine check-ups.

Attending Deku's doctor visits didn't mean that Katsuki stopped paying attention to his own health though. As June rolled around and Katsuki reached his one year anniversary to waking up deaf one random morning, he had another visit with the same hearing specialist to have his ears checked out again. There was no change and Katsuki honestly wasn't surprised at that point. Katsuki's mother had even come along, still as persistent as ever to do all she could to heal her son, but what local options there were had been exhausted and Katsuki had shaken his head at any mention of traveling overseas to visit various doctors and healers who couldn't guarantee that they could repair Katsuki's hearing to what it once was. It wasn't that Katsuki wouldn't have liked his god damn ears working again but traveling meant time away from Deku and time away from Deku meant time away from working when he was doing his best to make a point that a mere disability couldn't stop him from becoming the number one hero. That goal had never changed.

So life went on with what was their new normal. Katsuki deaf and annoyingly dependent on his hero partner who was subsequently slowly dying from a weakening heart. Most days though Katsuki could almost forget that Deku was ill at all, the greenette was forever so bright and cheerful that it was like staring directly into the sun sometimes. There was still the occasional upset, but the damn nerd took it like a champ each and every time – if he felt it at all – which was dangerous in its own rights. Katsuki could begin to ignore most of the vibrations that came through his smart watch to indicate the little blips of Deku's heart, because over ninety percent of the time, they were nothing more than a minor abnormality, one irregular heartbeat here and there that Deku himself didn't even notice.

But Katsuki got too relaxed and too careless.

The blonde wiped his sweet smelling hands down the front of his face, annoyingly leaving a slick feeling there that even he forgot about from time to time. His throat rumbled with annoyance at his own forgetfulness as he rose to go wash his face in the kitchen sink – the closest sink to him – when his wrist gave an all too familiar series of vibrations alerting him to the fact that Deku's heart was having a moment. That was nothing new and not really anything to worry about either. The nerd was most likely home, already tucked into bed just like Katsuki should be himself had he not foolishly agreed to stay up until he finished finalizing a report for their administrator. It wasn't something he had to do often but every few weeks a report needed some further attention and the pair of them often took turns volunteering to complete it outside of their usual working hours.

So Katsuki ignored the alert and went about slowly dragging a refreshing damp cloth down his face to clear it of his own sweat. But then the alert went off again and with grumble, Katsuki put the cloth down and lifted his wrist to look at it. His smart watch having a function that allowed him to monitor Deku's heart beat live like the machines in the hospital with their lines jumping up and down with each beat and even recorded that information along with other details such as beats-per-minute and so on for him to look back upon if needed. Something that had become a very useful tool for Deku's regular doctor.

Just as the screen lit up to show Deku's heartbeat, it was replaced with a red alert. An SOS. The pair had set up a quick double-tap-and-hold-for-a-second function that allowed them to instantly call for the others help if ever there were an emergency. Not only would the function demand the other's attention until it was answered, it would also show the other's location.

Katsuki's heart jumped into his throat at seeing the little screen turn red. It was a feature they had used very few times. Even when Deku had faltered in the face of a villain due to chest pain, he still hadn't used the function. So this just screamed serious to Katsuki and he was turning on his heel and racing for his front door a second later. He paused to look at his watch again while he blindly shoved his feet into some shoes sitting at the entryway to silence the buzzing with a press of a button on the side – a button used just for this purpose so neither could accidently silence the alarm prematurely with an accidental touch of the screen. Pressing the button would also alert Deku that Katsuki had received his call for help and was acting on it – and the red background disappeared, revealing the GPS function which had zoomed out enough to show where Deku's location was in comparison to Katsuki's, and at a glance Katsuki knew the nerd was at his apartment.

The moment his last heel had slipped into his stubborn shoe, Katsuki was out the door, not caring if it had slammed closed behind him or bounced back open in favour of grabbing the hand rail that separated the walkway for his apartment's floor and the outside world and vaulted himself over it. Katsuki's apartment was several stories up and so there was nothing between him and the ground below but air, but he didn't give a damn because all he needed to know was the fastest route to Deku and that route was through the air.

A little too late, with both hands in use to propel himself, it crossed Katsuki's mind that he should have called an ambulance to Deku's place ahead of time and he gritted his teeth as he hoped Deku was capable of doing that himself whilst he waited for Katsuki to arrive – who would no doubt be faster than an ambulance anyway. Annoyance bit at Katsuki because if he weren't deaf he could have at least grabbed an earbud on the way out of the door and call the ambulance on the way, but that just wasn't an option for him and he would need hands to use his watch to call for help, both of which he was using to stay airborne. As much as Katsuki hated it, he landed atop a building, gritting his teeth with irritation as it chewed up seconds of his time to tap the button needed for him to summon an ambulance, quickly barking Deku's address into it before blasting himself into the air again. Typically barking a random address at someone manning an emergency help line wouldn't be of much help, but being a hero, they had their own direct lines to the local emergency services and Katsuki's wrist watch had been customized to make that easier for him. The blonde's smart watch had a little icon for each type of emergency service and as long as the air wasn't whistling past him – hence why he stopped – he could just yell a few keys words at the watch which would pass it on as both an audio file and converted into text to whoever was receiving the information on the other end.

Finally Deku's apartment was in sight and Katsuki narrowed his eyes with determination as he closed in on it. It had crossed his mind to blast his way in foot first from the air as Deku's apartment building was built with walkways open to the elements much like Katsuki's was. But then it crossed his mind that if Deku was close to the other side of the door, that it may lead to further injury. So instead Katsuki came in at an angle, cutting off his explosions and letting the momentum carry him forward. He tucked in his arms and legs as he came in over the railing, dropping his feet and bent his knees to skid across the concrete of the walkway, his arms assisting him to keep balance and not fall on his ass in his haste. He had come in from the side of the apartment building to avoid colliding with a wall and the moment his momentum vanished and the skidding stopped, he was running down the walkway till he came to Deku's door.

Katsuki reached for the door to find it locked and rather than fucking around with finding the key to Deku's apartment amongst his own – Deku giving Katsuki a key after disclosing his heart condition for such emergencies – he gave the handle a quick blast in his hand and then was free to push the door open.

The apartment was dark aside from the dim light coming in through the bedroom doorway at the rear of the place and without bothering to take off his shoes, Katsuki came forward to flick on the light switch, illuminating the living space and kitchen fully. And there, on the floor in a heap was Deku. Katsuki's eyes widened as he rushed to reach his partner, dropping to his knees to be beside him. He immediately grabbed at Deku's body to turn him onto his back and leaned in to check for vitals.

Deku was conscious at least, judging from how he had scrunched up his face and bared his teeth against what ever pain he was feeling, but he wouldn't respond to Katsuki's touch, nor when he yelled out the nerd's nickname. There was sweat forming on Deku's brow, his skin looking paler than it should under the lighting of his home and his was breath short and sharp. Only when Katsuki barked out Deku's actual name did the greenette seem to suck in a deep breath and dare to open his eyes a fraction – only managing one – to squint up at Katsuki kneeling over him. His lips moved in a way that Katsuki could only imagine said a wobbly 'Kacchan' before a new wave of pain hit him and his one green eye closed again tightly against it.

If an ambulance was close by, there was no way for Katsuki to hear it so the best he could do was to meet them on the way so he moved to scoop the greenette up and held him against his chest bridal style as he stood up and turned for the door. It almost pained the blonde to know that Deku was seriously weakened by whatever the fuck it was his heart was doing from the lack of a hand gripping at his shoulder or shirt. Deku could have even used Black Whip to hold on with better or his Float to make him light as a feather to Katsuki, but then again, if Deku had the energy for that, he wouldn't have needed to be carried.

Katsuki was almost to the end of the hallway, struggling in his panic on whether to wait for the elevator – which felt silly – or to tackle the stairs, which was a hazard in itself with his hands full. Luckily though, Katsuki didn't have to decide as the elevator doors opened as he approached and out came a pair of paramedics. Katsuki met them halfway and lowered Deku back down to the ground and stepped back for them to approach him. The nerd already looked more exhausted than he had moments before, his face less scrunched up with pain from weakness, his face glistening with sweat, eyes closed and breathing hard. The paramedics swooped in, giving the greenette a quick check over and spoke some instructions into a radio while Katsuki stood off to the side. One turned their head to ask him some questions and all he could do was shake his head and say that he was deaf.

It wasn't his first time being stuck hovering around someone needing medical attention, but it was his first time having to fight against the urge to shove the extras out of the way, scoop the nerd back up and rush him to the hospital himself because he was growing impatient of their hovering and touching when all the nerd needed was the fucking hospital already. Katsuki clenched his jaw to keep himself from snapping at them and it took a monumental effort on his part to do just that. Just as he was about to lose it the elevator doors opened opposite them again and another extra wheeling a stretcher came towards them at a jog.

Finally they were doing something, lifting the still weakening nerd onto the stretcher before turning to leave and there was no way Katsuki was about to be left behind.

When they arrived at the hospital Katsuki could do nothing more than bare his teeth with irritation whilst Deku was wheeled out of his sight. A nurse tried to explain to him that because Deku was an emergency case, that Katsuki wouldn't be allowed to see him until he was deemed stable, but of course the poor nurse didn't know Katsuki was deaf until he barked it at her after she had continued to flap her mouth his way and she left to get some damn paper. Not that she needed to. Katsuki got it, he understood how things worked in a hospital. After all, it wasn't like they were alien to him being a hero and all. He had been in hospitals himself, visited friends and even rushed injured civilians there himself. Pretty standard stuff really. But it still ate at him that he couldn't be at Deku's side during it all or at least in the damn room.

The greenette had lost consciousness on the ride over and at one point the paramedics had placed a mask over his mouth and nose to pump oxygen in there by hand. But at least Deku's heart didn't stop. Katsuki could thank the creator if the smart watches for that because he could keep an eye on Deku's heart himself through it. Even now, while they were rooms apart, Katsuki could simply lift his wrist to watch the little line move up and down across the small screen with each beat of Deku's heart. The nerd's heart wasn't doing great, that was obvious. When Katsuki first arrived at Deku's apartment his heart had been erratic. Now his heart beat was more regular but weaker and that was concerning.

At some point, the heart beats stopped.

Katsuki had been sitting in the waiting room with his hands folded together, forehead resting against them while his elbows sat upon bouncing knees. His mind had been racing wondering if he should contact Inko. Deku hadn't told her about his condition because he didn't want her to stress over him more than she probably already did, but she was his mother and if something worse was to happen to the nerd….if he were to die suddenly and Inko was never aware until after the fact…..

When the smart watch stopped recording Deku's heart all Katsuki could do was suck in a deep shaky breath, telling himself that they had just removed the watch and that's all there was too it. It was far too soon for him to let panic set in that he had lost his hero partner and longest friend. That forced calm lasted ten seconds at best before Katsuki was on his feet and storming towards the little window set into a wall that nurses sat behind to help direct anyone's needs.

Katsuki's voice must have come louder than he had expected it to when he demanded to know what had become of Izuku Midoriya and the nurses looked stunned but very quickly got about making a call to wherever the hell it was they had taken the greenette, this time none of them bothering to give him any lip service having no doubt very loudly heard Katsuki's earlier declaration of his deafness.

Less than thirty seconds later the nurse at the desk was done on the phone and scribbled on notepad the outcome and slid it under the window to Katsuki who snatched it up in an instant and held it to his face whilst his eyes scrawled across it.

Midoriya is alright. They expect he will be stable shortly and you can visit him them.

So it was alright. Izuku was alright and they had indeed just removed the smart watch from him while they were doing whatever it was they were doing and that certainty washed over Katsuki like a wave of exhaustion and he felt his legs quiver with the weight of the relief it brought. He mumbled a thanks to the nurses before returning and slumping down into his seat. He tipped his head back and let his eyes close with a sigh.

It was going to be alright.

His heart could finally stop drumming against his ribs.

Katsuki woke with a start at the light touch of something gliding across the back of his fingers. He sat up straight so fast he was half off his seat before he blinked down at what had woken him.

Deku, who had withdrawn his hand from the back of Katsuki's the moment the blonde had jumped awake. Katsuki slowly sat himself back down in the seat he had pulled to be beside Deku's hospital bed, his heart still racing more than it should – another part of being a pro hero that never seemed to leave or get better. Being a hero meant you should be on edge and prepared at all times. He wasn't much of a good hero though if he was dozing off at the bedside of someone he was supposed to be watching over. But it was late, or early more like, with the dim sunlight of dawn only just starting to peep in from behind the bland curtains.

Sorry Kacchan, Deku lifted his hands to sign, his movements slow and weak and his hand shaky. The nerd offered Katsuki a small tired smile, his eyes still heavy from resting and all Katsuki could do was snort in return.

Honestly Katsuki was surprised with himself. Usually he would have been pissed from worrying or some shit, but instead he felt drained and tired enough to have fallen asleep with his hand resting on the bed it seemed. The blonde could almost sag in his seat from the wave of mental exhaustion the night had brought upon him. But he couldn't be mad, not really or at least not at Deku. The nerd had been at home when shit had happened and Katsuki already knew that Deku wasn't the sort to exercise at home and risk accidently pushing his limits there, no, Deku was the sort to get absorbed in a book or mutter away whilst watching a documentary or update his hero analysis journals. To Deku – aside from the odd report – home was a place to relax for him and unwind after the work day. He wasn't like Katsuki who went home to meticulously fuss over his meals and do weights before bed.

It's fine, Katsuki signed in return lazily as he leaned back in his seat, sleep idiot. Deku gave him a tired smile in return, his heavy eyelids already beginning to drop again. The greenette's lips moved with unheard words, that smile still playing upon his lips and then he was asleep or at least resting enough to soon fall asleep again. Katsuki didn't have it in him to demand that the nerd sign him what he had said and instead left him to rest.

He had enough things whirling through his mind now that he was awake again and this time he wouldn't let himself drift off to sleep again until he had sorted his thoughts into neat little boxes to pack away and deal with at a later date.

Katsuki was still awake when a nurse came to check on the sleeping greenette and he was still awake when Deku finally blinked open his eyes slowly several hours later. The earlier nurse, who had known sign language, had asked for Katsuki to press the "call nurse" button once Deku had woken and Katsuki quietly did just that whilst Deku woke enough to sign him a tired good morning and yet another damn apology. A different nurse came by with a meal for Deku who – now more awake – picked at it lightly until Katsuki nabbed some for himself and barked at the nerd to hurry up and finish the rest which he did. Not long after that they were visited by Deku's usual doctor and the same nurse who came by before and knew sign language, signing away whilst the doctor relayed the news that Deku's heart had noticeably weakened and that they would have to revisit some tests, compare their results and adjust medications before they would give Deku the all clear to return to hero work, which meant Katsuki was out of work too for a bit. Their administrator will be thrilled at the sudden holiday time they were about to get.

With the doctor, Deku agreed to do what tests he could that day and organized times for the rest over the next few days and once that was all done in the early afternoon, Deku was finally allowed to leave and after getting out of the nasty scrubs and back into the shorts and shirt he had been wearing the night before – his sleeping clothes but were plain enough to pass as casual wear to most passer-by's – Katsuki headed out with him.

They caught a taxi back to Deku's apartment, Katsuki getting them to make a stop on the way to grab some groceries, and the blonde went with the greenette all the way back to his door and followed him inside, something that seemed to surprise the Deku, but he said nothing against it. Usually the nerd would have jumped into hospitality mode, bustling about to put the kettle on or asking if his guest was hungry, but instead what energy Deku had left in him seemed to drain away the moment the door was closed and he just stood in the centre of the joined living room and kitchen with slouched shoulders and a heavy head. It didn't escape Katsuki's notice that the greenette stood right where he had been laying on the floor the night before and with Deku's head hanging low, it looked like the nerd was almost staring at the spot numbly.

Katsuki kicked off his shoes and then pushed his and Deku's shoes about in the entryway with his socked feet to line them up neatly. He stepped forward to come up behind Deku and raised a hand to his shoulder, pushing against it lightly to usher the suddenly numb man forward and pointed him towards the sofa where he turned and sat whilst Katsuki moved to the kitchen and got about making them both something to eat.

The vegetables had been diced and were already frying up in a pan with rice when Deku had finally risen from his seat and come into the kitchen. Katsuki hadn't known the nerd was there until he felt something come to rest between his shoulder blades and upon turning around slowly – Deku stepping back to allow Katsuki to turn his wide shoulders around – it only then became apparent that at that height and pressure, it had been Deku's head slumped forward to touch Katsuki there.

Katsuki lifted an eyebrow in question.

You don't have to do that, the greenette signed to him with a flat expression, still seemingly numb at the new life he was facing heart condition wise but clearly having been attempting to snap himself out of his stupor to return to being a decent host. Katsuki just rolled his eyes with a sneer at the nerds pathetic complaint. He didn't care. Breakfast hadn't been enough for either of them, Katsuki was a better and healthier cook than Deku and he couldn't yet bring himself to leave the nerd's place.

Too bad, Katsuki threw back the nerds way before moving to turn his attention back to their late lunch. Deku touched his upper arm to bring his attention back.

You can go home Kacchan, I'll be fine. You haven't showered or changed since last night. You don't have to stay.

Katsuki bit the inside of his cheek with annoyance at the nerd's attempts to dismiss him before raising his hands to sign in return because he didn't want to stop biting.

Fuck you, I paid for this, I plan to eat it and it's not like you've showered either, so hurry up and go do that, Katsuki jerked his chin past Deku and towards the rear of the apartment while the greenette only frowned at him. Katsuki raised his eyebrows in a motion that could only translate to "well?" and with that Deku finally seemed to surrender, slowly turning on his heel and trudging away to do just that. Once the nerd was out of sight behind a door, Katsuki turned his focus on their meal and clicked his tongue at the few browned pieces.

The food was done when Deku finally remerged with his hair laying flat against his head and a towel around his shoulders being useless. With a grumble Katsuki walked over to intercept the nerd's apparent path back to the sofa and pulled the towel from the man's freckled shoulders – his shirt being loose enough to be pulled with the towel – and not so gently threw it over the mop of green hair to rub at it aggressively. Deku's hands rose up in complaint, but then stopped and allowed Katsuki to roughly dry his hair. Once that was done to Katsuki's standard – Deku's hair sticking up all over the place like he had just gone around with Dunce Face – Katsuki steered him to his small four seater dining table and made the nerd sit before sliding a bowl of food his way. The nerd signed a quick thanks before digging in. He was slow at first before picking up his pace once he got a taste of the good stuff and Katsuki was plenty satisfied when the bowl was emptied not five minutes later. After all, there was no greater compliment on one's cooking than a clean bowl, though he was not one to accept any licking a bowl or plate clean. That was just plain gross.

Deku had eaten faster than Katsuki did and was quick to scoop up the blonde's bowl the moment he was done to do the dishes and Katsuki let him, the nerd seemed in slightly better spirits and it seemed like a fair exchange.

Almost two weeks after Deku collapsing again the pair of them were summoned for an annual event that had slipped Katsuki's mind since leaving the hospital.

The joint Midoriya's birthday dinner that Katsuki's mother insisted on doing every damn year. It was an odd thing Katsuki realised, this being the first year since high school that he had actually been around the nerd when the event was announced and finding out that his own mother reached out to Deku personally made him sneer the nerds way with an almost disgusted face to which the greenette simply shrugged back at with a somewhat sheepish grin.

Those two weeks had passed them by slowly and painfully. With no work to do Katsuki spent more time exercising than he would usually to make up for the lack of movement. He would have typically gone to the gym for such routines but without Deku it just wasn't the same and the once familiar gym they went to started to feel more like a hostile environment. Because without Deku with him – who was under strict orders to not exert his body for the time being – Katsuki had no way of knowing when someone was approaching him for whatever reason they would be approaching him for (such as noticing that he's a pro hero or wanting to know when he would be done with the equipment or some shit like that) And Katsuki hated it. He hated the feeling that he had to keep glancing over his shoulder to see if anyone was coming his way because if he was doing that, then how could he ever truly focus on his work.

Deku came with him a couple of times, probably noticing that Katsuki was getting antsy and agitated with the sudden lack of physical excursion in his life, which was actually nice of him. The nerd would be somewhere near by acting as Katsuki's spotter – not that the nerd should be catching a dropped weight anyway – and was his first defense against any extras coming their way which finally allowed Katsuki to achieve what he wanted to in gym and leaving feeling satisfied. Into the second week without work Deku was given the go ahead for some light exercise and then it was Katsuki's turn to play spotter at the gym. Not because the nerd was lifting anything heavy, but more so to ensure the nerd didn't push the limits on what restraints his doctor had verbally placed upon him. More than once he had to bark at the nerd for picking up a dumbbell that weighed more than what he was permitted to lift. The green haired man looked like a wounded puppy after each of those times, clearly unhappy with his current limitations.

If Katsuki was getting antsy from lack of work, then Deku was getting lazy. Lazy probably wasn't the right word but outside of their trips to the gym, he did little else. When they had been working, Katsuki had to see the damn nerd's freckled face almost every day and despite himself he kept up that routine even without their patrols. Katsuki had seen the nerd each day during the better half of the first week to visit the hospital with him for his tests and then after that he just found he couldn't stay away, some kind of parasite gnawing away at his insides that refused to stop its squirming until Katsuki was knocking on the nerds door and seeing those damn green eyes blinking at him with silent questioning. To begin with outside of going to the gym, Katsuki used meals as his excuse to be there and it wasn't entirely an excuse when he was actually cooking for the nerd. After almost a week of that, Deku had just rolled his eyes with a smile and told Katsuki to not even bother knocking anymore. And that's just what Katsuki did from then on whenever he came over each day for lunch or dinner or to read over Deku's latest test results or the new medication he was being prescribed, he would just let himself in. And that was the problem. Each time Katsuki whipped out that spare key and let himself in Deku was always just lying there whether it be on the sofa or sometimes even on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. He was slow to turn his head and wave a greeting Katsuki's way and the more Katsuki was there, the less the nerd would even bother to get up. The nerd was becoming listless and probably stuck deep inside his own head without anything to do. Hell, it wasn't like they were in school and the idiot could distract himself with study or homework or some shit.

Katsuki grumbled about the nerd's laziness which earnt him an unamused look. The blonde mentioned speaking to Deku's doctor to see if he would be allowed to do more at the gym, but the nerd had less and less interest in that as the days scrapped by. He would drag the nerd out of the apartment by the wrist to go grocery shopping when Katsuki had decided on what he wanted to make for a meal or had deemed Deku's pantry stock levels were poor, not that the nerd was eating much once the second week had rolled around. After those first few days out of the hospital, Deku's appetite seemed to have shrunk. He ate the food Katsuki cooked slower and slower and only ate small portions of whatever Katsuki had left in the fridge for him. Even the nerds damn sweets were going untouched which made the blonde scowl into the pantry's depths.

On the morning of the chosen day between Inko and Deku's birthday, Katsuki did what he usually did and let himself into Deku's place, only this time in the morning rather than in the afternoon. Of course the greenette was still in bed and Katsuki let out a growl as he made a big show of tearing off the covers – the nerd thankfully sleeping in shorts – to wake the nerd with a start. Thankfully Deku had packed his overnight bag the night before so as soon as he was showered and changed, Katsuki shoved a breakfast wrap he had made into the nerds face and they left to catch the train back to their hometown.

They went their separate ways part way through their walk from the train station to head to their parents homes for the afternoon before the annual dinner would be held at the Bakugo's house as per usual. Katsuki couldn't speak for Deku personally, but he imagined their home coming experiences were very different.

What's this, you only coming home the day of? Are we not worth you're precious time anymore?Katsuki's mother waved her hands about right in front of his face the moment he had closed the door behind him.

Usually you would have shown up yesterday and spent the day helping me prepare for tonight, his mother rattled on. Katsuki leaned his head to one side with a sneer and rolled his eyes, earning himself a smack across the back of his head. Despite years of training, his mother seemed quick as lighting most of the time. Not even Deku could strike at Katsuki with such speed.

Don't give me that shitty attitude, his mother scolded with fire in her eyes, an apology would be nice at least. But they both knew apologizing wasn't Katsuki's strong point.

Fine. What would you like me to do then? Katsuki asked, using all of his will power now to not let his irritation show on his face. If he had used his words, he was certain they would have escaped him with a growl. And he immediately regretted asking when suddenly his mother started waving her hands about with chores to do.

Sweep.

Mop.

Wipe down the benches.

Layout the table.

Tidy the downstairs bathroom.

In the end Katsuki had to tell her that he bloody got it and marched past her to drop his shit in his bedroom. He spotted his father polishing the good cutlery on his way past and the much more gentle natured man signed him a hello as he went by.

Chores done, Katsuki showered and changed into nicer, yet still casual clothes whilst the house filled with the tantalizing aromas of his mother's home cooking. Katsuki had nothing against cooking personally. It was somewhat relaxing for him and he took pride in others liking the food he made even if he never told any of them that. But nothing beat his mother's cooking in his eyes. Sure he could do better than her with plenty, but it wasn't often that he got the chance to enjoy a good meal without having to be the one to make it himself. That and his mother knew the level of spice he liked. Though on a night like tonight where they were having guests, spicy food was not on the table. Instead his mother ensured that there was sauce available for Katsuki.

The Midoriya's arrived, this time Katsuki moving to the entryway with his parents to greet them, though he kept his hands stuffed in his denim pockets and a frown on his face. Deku and Inko greeted them in return with smiles and hugs. Inko and Katsuki's mother practically latching onto each other before she turned her attention on the other greenette and embraced the clearly uncomfortable man who smiled regardless. Katsuki's father just shook the man's hand with a sheepish smile of his own at recognizing Deku's discomfort from the sudden embrace.

Dinner was boring. The food was good but the conversation flying around the room was stiff. Everyone at the table had made an effort to learn sign language for Katsuki's sake and for the most part they kept to the habit of signing their words as they passed theirs lips. Katsuki's parents had made leaps and bounds since Katsuki has last visited them and at once point his father mentioned that they had been getting lessons for it. Inko was the least familiar with it, not that Katsuki blamed her. Unlike his own parents, she had no need to communicate with Katsuki personally outside of the occasional birthday event and when they did see one another, someone else who was more proficient with it was always there to help, this time being Deku who picked up signing his mother's words where she got a bit lost. Not that he or any of the others needed too. It's not like Katsuki was missing much when Inko told his mother about a current shoe sale going on.

Katsuki had very little input with the conversations surrounding him, lifting his head from his meal here and there to see where the conversation had led too, but with his lack of attention, Deku also stopped paying attention to the conversation, no longer signing for Katsuki and instead poked at his plate absent mindedly. Katsuki frowned at that, kicking out a leg under the table to collide with the nerd's shin who immediately lifted his head and sat straighter like he had just been zapped. He gave a quick glance to his side to see that their parents were still to deep in conversation before turning a questioning look Katsuki's way.

Eat, was all Katsuki threw his way with a stern look and Deku glanced back down at his plate, his food hardly having been eaten and instead just slowly spread around the plate. His green eyes lifted to Katsuki again who narrowed his own eyes to enforce what he had just signed and with what looked to be a sigh, Deku ate. He was slow about it but with the rest of the table engrossed in conversation, there was no rush.

Though the nerd politely turned down a serving of dessert, Katsuki's mother was thankfully in too good of a mood to push the greenette on that matter.

At the end of it the pair of them got up to clear the table and do the dishes whilst the parents moved to the living room and they worked mostly in silence, their hands too busy to stop and sign about anything mundane and with that they got the dishes away quickly like the well oiled machine they had become. It really was a stark contrast to how things were merely a year ago.

That done, they too joined the parents in the living room where gifts were given and smiles were had, but through it all, all Katsuki could do was stare at the nerd, breaking down his forced smiles, the way his body tensed here and there in minute ways that expressed his discomfort at the attention, or something akin to discomfort. Guilt was what came to Katsuki's mind. The greenette had never been one to lie – shit, he had blurted that his quirk was given to him at the beginning of their first year of high school – and having such a large secret under his belt, aside that of his quirk, must have made the nerd squirm inside. That and there was always the risk that his heart may play up again at any moment. Thankfully it behaved itself for the entirety of the night.

The morning after Katsuki met Deku at the station, the greenette waving him a gentle hello, and they got on a train for home. Their ride home was more stifling than usual with Deku's lack of an interest to sign his heart away over some hero related nonsense – there had been a lack of hero related anything coming from the man lately – and Katsuki inside his own head, wrestling with thoughts. He had slept poorly the night before; his mind had been on none other than the annoyance of a partner sitting beside him who was lazily watching the scape pass the by. He had been thinking a lot about Deku over the last couple of weeks actually and last night he had hit his boiling point with annoyance with just how much time the greenette was spending inside his head. His mind had been sorting through all of their more recent interactions, packing and unpacking his boxes of thoughts on what the nerd had been doing, why it didn't sit well in Katsuki's gut and why he cared at all. Originally he had put his growing unease down to the shock of Deku going downhill as suddenly as he did and that it meant postponing their hero work again. Honestly Katsuki had expected to be irritated over the whole not working thing, but despite getting a bit restless, he never did feel annoyed over it. That's how he knew it was deeper than that. So then Katsuki had begun to break down how Deku had been over the last couple of weeks and why that bothered him so much. The nerd had begun to lose interest in going to the gym, though Katsuki did put most of that down originally to the fact that the nerd couldn't do much at the moment. Through Katsuki's daily presence at Deku's place he noticed that the nerd wasn't eating as much, wore the same lazy clothes often, the bookmark in the book the nerd had been reading hadn't moved and the apartment seemed that little bit messier than usual. And that's when it had clicked to Katsuki that this time around, Deku's declining health had taken a toll heavier than the blonde had thought possible on the usually so bright and painfully optimistic man. And he was going to do something about it.

Katsuki nudged Deku with his elbow to get the other man's attention and when he could see in his peripheral that his freckled face had turned Katsuki's way, he held a parcel to him wrapped in a paper bag. Deku lifted his hands to take the item silently.

For your birthday, Katsuki signed now that his hands were free. The greenette didn't ask why Katsuki hadn't given it to him the night before along with the gift from his parents and he was glad for that. Katsuki hadn't given the nerd a gift since high school and since then his lame parents just stuck his name onto any gift they were giving him as though it were from the three of them. He doubted Deku ever believed that. And Katsuki was a kick ass gift giver too. No way would he give such crappy gifts - no offense to his parents, after all they didn't know Deku like he did - Katsuki took far too much pride in anything he gifted because he put a lot of thought towards anyone in his life that was worth giving a gift to in the first place.

Deku gently opened the paper bag and withdrew the item inside, revealing a spiral bound A5 white book. It was thick like a mid-sized novel, with a simple cover protected in a clear layer and a slightly thicker back. Deku's eyes didn't widen until he opened it to the first page where it mentioned who the novel-in-progress was in honour of and at that Deku's green eyes snapped back up to Katsuki. He placed the manuscript on his lap to free his hands.

How did you get this? He asked with wide green eyes. In awe of Katsuki's amazingness as always.

Being a popular pro has it's perks, Katsuki replied, doing his best to not let a smug smile spread across his face, you should know that.

Katsuki was not one to abuse the fame that came with being a well-known pro hero – well known now not only for actually being a kick ass hero, but a deaf one at that too had made him almost a house hold name. Thankfully his equally well known bad attitude kept most people away – but this time, he made it work for him to get access to the manuscript that they both knew was in the making and had been for years. The still unnamed work was a piece that covered All Might's life, from his childhood and early beginning all the way up to his time as a teacher and the work he did with the Commission after his retirement. The book was bound to be a hit and having been interviewed themselves about All Might's short few years as a teacher they had known of it's existence for several years. It was a piece that any die hard All Might nerd boy would need in their collection. Despite Deku selling off his impressive collection, there was no way the nerd would miss this and without knowing how much time the nerd had left, Katsuki thought it would be extra special to be able to read it now rather than risking not being able to read it later.

Daring to glance the nerd's way, Katsuki was met with wet green eyes and a wobbly smile whilst the nerd clutched the manuscript to his chest with both arms like it was the most precious thing in the world. Katsuki let his eyes roll with what he hoped was a scoff and raised his hands once more to say one final piece.

Also when we get back, pack a bag.

Deku looked like he was about to ask a fuck ton of questions at that before deciding to ask nothing off it and gave a small nod. Katsuki gave a grunt of approval at Deku's trust in him before turning his attention straight ahead with arms crossed over his chest and leaned back in the car. Moments later he was met with the soft thus of Deku against his shoulder, the nerd, still overwhelmed with his precious gift no doubt, having leaned over to rest his head there. And Katsuki let him.

A/N: I've had the horrible realisation that throughout this fic I have been chopping and changing between using the word couch and sofa -.- Unfortunately I am far too lazy right now to correct that. Oops.

And what's that Katsuki...a touch of panic at the thought of losing Izuku? GASP