Chapter Text
Something lightly brushed against his neck, cold air hit his back, and the faint click of the bedroom door stirred him from slumber. Even with his eyelids still closed he could tell that the sun hadn’t even risen yet. He attempted to ignore his brief awakening in favor of returning to the sleep that he desperately needed. He shifted into the now warm spot left by his rude awakening and settled.
It was too early to be awake.
Keeping his eyes closed, Izuku Midoriya felt the stiffness in his back and the ache in his legs. They hadn’t gotten home until the dead hours of the night. Between clean up, sending the sidekicks home, and finally getting home themselves, the two had passed out right after their brief shared shower. There had been a build-up of calls recently and the Wonder Duo had been needed much more than usual. Now that Izuku was ranked the top hero, he had a legacy to live up to and that meant more work. He would never complain about the work, however, since it was his dream to be a hero. Now, he was living it. He didn’t have time to slack off. Well, usually anyway.
Izuku frowned, the cool morning air running along his back sent an unpleasant draft into the comforting warmth of the sheets. Fidgeting enough to further bury himself into the soft blankets, he had almost returned to slumber when he heard the door open again. Izuku kept still, feeling the bed shift under the movement of his partner. He focused all his energy into his face to not give away his alert state. Lips brushed against his forehead, jaw, and finally a languid kiss was placed on his lips.
“I know you’re awake. You fucking suck at hiding it.”
Ever eloquent, Kacchan.
However, there was no bite to his tone. A layer of teasing and fondness were heard with the words. If anything, Katsuki sounded glad that Izuku had woken up, probably so he would be able to at least talk to the other for a bit before leaving for the day.
“Come back to bed. It’s too early,” Izuku mumbled sleepily. He still didn’t think this was fair. Why was he allowed to have a day off, but Katsuki was forced to go in and work twice as hard since he wasn’t there? Izuku would never voice that out loud though for fear of getting his ear tugged this early in the morning.
“Shit, don’t tempt me,” Katsuki chuckled giving Izuku another ‘good morning’ kiss. “One of us has to work today, and it ain’t you. Don’t even try to argue with me,” Katsuki muttered. Izuku wished he hadn’t pushed himself. He had been called from emergency to emergency for the past three days and Katsuki was determined that he take a day off. He knew his body needed the rest, considering how it felt at the present time, but he still felt bad for ditching for the day.
“Sorry, Kacchan,” Izuku teased, letting out a large yawn. He earned himself a fake punch in the shoulder and a chuckle.
“Get some rest, Deku. I’ll call if I’ll be home late,” Katsuki’s hand found Izuku’s and gave it a tug, dragging it out from underneath the covers.
“Bossy husband,” Izuku teased feeling Katsuki kiss his ring.
“Damn right,” he kissed Izuku’s hand again. “I really gotta go now,” he paused, making sure Izuku was looking him in the eyes. Tired emerald orbs locked onto focused crimson. “I love you, Izuku,” Katsuki always said it like they were his last words. Those words were the most important thing he could ever possibly tell Izuku. Even after all this time, guilt still weighted heavily in Katsuki’s heart.
“I love you too, Katsuki,” Izuku replied. Katsuki leaned forward, kissing Izuku like he always did when he knew he wouldn’t see him for a while; like a starved man getting his first taste of food. Izuku felt his chest swell and tears prick his eyes when Katsuki pulled away to head off to work. Izuku listened to each door close, and the faint sound of the car starting, before closing his eyes and grasping at sleep once again.
“Stay safe,” Izuku muttered as all thought left him in slumber.
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Izuku found his eyes opening up again come early afternoon. His body seemed less stiff than it had early this morning and the lingering exhaustion had faded. He felt well rested and refreshed. He had clearly needed the extra hours. However, he could just picture his husband’s smug expression when he came home knowing that he had been right. Izuku chuckled at the image, pulling himself out of bed. Stretching, Izuku checked the time on his cellphone and made his way to the kitchen. While he moved down the hallway of their home, reading through a few of Katsuki’s reminder texts to not come in to work, a fond smile placed itself on Izuku’s face. It had changed to an embarrassed flush reading the more flirtatious texts that instructed Izuku that he would be needing all his strength for tonight. If Katsuki had time to make Izuku a bit hot and bothered, Izuku had nothing to worry about.
“Kacchan,” he whined even though the other wasn’t there to hear him.
Continuing through his messages, Tenya and Ochako had each sent texts making sure he was taking a break and to not overwork himself. Shouto ensured that he, and a few of the others, had everything covered. The newly titled Symbol of Peace was allowed to take a day for himself. Izuku once again had to fight off the wave of emotion at how caring his friends were.
Calming himself, Izuku entered the kitchen heading right for the fridge. He smiled, seeing that at some point this morning Katsuki had made his favorite dish for him. How long had Izuku been musing about getting back to sleep? Izuku pulled out the bowl, heating it quickly, hearing his stomach growl in anticipation. As he waited for his food, Izuku contemplated what he would be able to do with the rest of his day off. He knew that he needed to call his mother, and possibly Katsuki’s mother, to make sure the family picnic was still going on next weekend. Even though Katsuki had told him not to leave the apartment, he hadn’t been to Toshinori’s grave in some time. Although, Izuku knew that Katsuki would want to go along with him and would be annoyed if Izuku went on his own.
The microwave beeping brought Izuku back into focus. Pulling out the bowl, being careful not to get burned, he made his way to the table to eat. Internally praising Katsuki’s cooking, Izuku unlocked his phone and scrolled through his contacts until he reached his mother’s number. Swallowing the large bite of food, he pressed the send button putting the call on speaker so that he could continue his meal.
“Izuku!” his mother’s delighted voice greeted after the third ring. “It’s been a bit since I’ve heard from you!”
“Sorry, mom,” he apologized. “Kacchan made me take a day off, so I wanted to call and check in.”
“Good, you boys work yourselves too hard. I know you’re both heroes, but I worry about my boys,” his mother referring to Katsuki as one of her own still warmed Izuku’s heart. “I saw on the news that . . .” Izuku sat and ate his meal listening to his mother chat away for a good twenty minutes. Izuku was just about to finish his bowl, when a notification of another call came up.
“Hold on, mom. I’m getting another call.” Izuku’s mother was well accustomed to her son getting multiple calls at once, so she was an old pro at this. Izuku picked up his phone to answer the second call.
“Izuku Midoriya-Bakugou speaking,” this was his private cellphone after all. The only people that would be calling were friends.
“Afternoon, sir. My name is Dr. Touya. I am calling on behalf of Katsuki Midoriya-Bakugou, or Ground Zero, from Tokyo Urgent Care,” a calm voice spoke. Izuku tried not to panic. Neither one of them were strangers to getting injured while working. It could be nothing.
“What happened?” Izuku heard himself ask.
“There was an accident during a criminal incident earlier this morning. First responders reported that due to the criminal’s quirk, and the unstable building, your husband was trapped beneath large chunks of concrete suffering heavy damage and a severe head injury. We have been able to stabilize him, with the help of our on-staff healing quirk, but we require your presence for paperwork and other- “
“I’ll be right there!” He hung up.
Izuku was running. He barreled into the bedroom to change. He had begun moving the moment the doctor had mentioned an ‘accident’. For heroes, that always meant severely injured. Izuku had changed into jeans and one of Katsuki’s sleeveless hoodies that had been laying on the floor.
“Mom!” he was on the move again grabbing his wallet, keys, and shoving his feet into his shoes.
“Izuku, what happened?” Inko sounded panicked.
“It’s Kacchan, he’s hurt! Call Aunty Mitsuki, I need to go. He’s at Tokyo Urgent Care!” he hung up before she could say anything else. Izuku remembered to lock the door, but the minute his feet hit the road he kicked off towards the hospital.
Four jumps later and he was running into the hospital lobby. He slowed to a jog when in the building, but he was worried. Izuku found the front desk to the urgent care unit and made a bee line for the poor girl sitting there.
“Katsuki Midoriya-Bakugou’s room, please,” Izuku was panting, but not from his physical movements. His heart was pounding, his mind coming up with hundreds of terrible scenarios of how this had happened, but the biggest thought was that Katsuki had been hurt while Izuku had been sleeping. He shook off the thought. Not now, not yet.
“Room two eighty-four, but you can’t- “ Izuku was running again. He knew the general layout of this hospital from how many times he had been here himself, so finding Katsuki’s room wasn’t too difficult. Izuku opened the door, rushing in to the private room.
There were two doctors standing by the bed and one of the Wonder Duo’s sidekicks off to their left. He must be explaining the details of the attack.
“Sir?!” the boy, Crackerjack, looked to his boss. Izuku ignored him, for now, moving so he was standing next to Katsuki’s bed.
Katsuki’s entire head was wrapped up in bandages. His chest had gauze and a few lines of bandages wrapped around it as well. His left arm was in a cast, and the hospital blanket was covering any damage that may have happened below the waist.
“You said your on-staff healing quirk had been here,” Izuku’s voice expressed his disbelief.
“She was. She was able to heal him enough to remove him from critical condition. She returned to the emergency station a few moments ago,” the voice was the one from the phone.
“Critical condition,” Izuku suddenly was going to faint.
“Deku, sir,” Crackerjack spoke up. He was bowing. “Please, forgive us. It was our fault Ground Zero was hurt.”
“In a minute,” Izuku snapped, returning his attention to the doctors. “You said he’s stable, but . . .” Izuku felt an overwhelming wave of nausea hit him. Katsuki had almost died.
“She healed the worst of the external and blunt force internal damage. He will physically recover,” the doctor explained. “However,” he continued, “he suffered massive amounts of head trauma and, if not for how quickly we were able to get him, would have required immediate brain surgery.”
“So, regarding his mental state and recovery will take time. It could be something as simple as a few months of chronic migraines, memory loss, some loss of function,” the second doctor paused, “or due to the severity of the damage, he may remain in a comatose like state.”
“We will do everything we can,” the first doctor finished. “We’ll give you some time.” Izuku could feel the look on his face. Horror, panic, guilt, anger, fear, there were too many emotions rushing through him for Izuku to keep track of. He turned his gaze away from Katsuki, instead focusing on Crackerjack.
“What happened?” Izuku’s voice was quiet.
“A trap. The call was just a set up for us. Ground Zero only took myself, Spitfire, and Blazer in with him. We seemed to have the upper hand, but the villains released their trap that would have killed the three of us. He saved our lives at the risk of his own,” Crackerjack paused. “I’m so sorry, sir. We’re all so-“ Izuku held up his hand, pinching the bridge of his nose.
“No, it is our job to look after you all. Please, return to the agency and make sure the others are alright and updated on the situation. Have my team begin looking into the ambush, see what they can dig up,” Izuku instructed. Crackerjack began to leave when Izuku spoke up again.
“Thank you, Crackerjack, for keeping him alive,” Izuku said.
“You two are my hero’s, you’re like my work dads,” Crackerjack chuckled. Izuku smiled. The boy had joined them last year after graduation from U.A. Katsuki had been impressed by the kid’s quirk, but Izuku had been impressed with his quick reaction time and fast problem-solving skills. He was the Wonder Duo’s youngest sidekick, and they did have a soft spot for him.
The door closed, leaving Izuku alone with Katsuki. He finally let the tears fall. Izuku collapsed next to his bed and sobbed, holding his husband’s hand.
“K-Kacchan!” his voice was broken and choppy from his sobs. “Idiot! Why didn’t you take Mito or Haru!? You can’t keep taking just the fire power quirks!” Izuku pulled Katsuki’s hand to his mouth to kiss, mirroring his husband’s actions from that very morning. It felt like ages ago now.
“Kacchan, you can’t leave me, please,” Izuku pleaded. “You have to get better. Please, Kacchan!” Izuku cried himself to exhaustion. He texted his mother the situation along with Katsuki’s parents. They informed him that they would be there later tonight. The nurse with the healing quick had returned to see Izuku and to explain to him that she would be treating Katsuki every day, but all her energy would be focused on his mental health. Izuku had agreed whole heartedly. Katsuki could suck up a broken arm for a week or two.
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Crying, and a hand on his shoulder, woke Izuku from sleep. Blinking away the blur, Izuku saw his mother standing next to him and Katsuki’s parents on the other side of the bed.
“Izuku,” his mother said quietly, giving her son a hug.
“Mom.” Izuku held her tightly, but made sure not to crush her.
“Brat . . . the hell were you doing? You’re a top hero,” Mitsuki spoke through her tears.
They each gave hugs and Izuku updated them on everything the doctors had said. It was now a waiting game on when Katsuki would wake up. The family was quiet and emotions were running high.
It was late. Izuku reached into his pocket and pulled out his house key.
“You should all stay at the house, I’ll stay with him,” Izuku’s voice was tired. He could see the protest in their eyes, but they relented knowing there wasn’t much they would be able to do.
When Izuku was once again alone with Katsuki, he moved himself as close to his husband as possible. His phone suddenly began vibrating in his pocket in rapid succession. Pulling out the device, Izuku’s eyes widened at the number of notifications. Messages from everyone were coming in fast. The news of the attack and Katsuki’s injured state must have aired on the evening alerts.
There were a few missed calls from Shouto, Eijiro, and Ochako. Those weren’t surprising considering the two males were he and Katsuki’s closest friends and Ochako would always be there for him. He knew that Ochako would update Tenya should Izuku respond. There was no point in both of them blowing up his phone when they were both in the same house.
The rest of their old class and close friends were texting Izuku to ask after Katsuki and see if Izuku was doing alright. There was a lot of confusion and uncertainty meaning that the media hadn’t gotten much detail about the attack or Katsuki’s state. If anything, Izuku assumed that they had only stated that Ground Zero had been injured. He responded to Eijiro first. He didn’t want to call anyone, not trusting his voice at the moment, but he wanted them all to know what was going on so they wouldn’t be panicking. Eijiro was Katsuki’s best friend, as much as his husband constantly denied it, he had the right to know. Izuku informed him of everything the doctors had said and promised to tell him as soon as it was clear for outside visitation. Eijiro had thanked him and reminded Izuku that he was there if needed. He also promised to stop by their office to make sure their sidekicks were doing alright. Izuku thanked him for that.
Shouto and Ochako were next. Shouto expressed concern and had given Izuku a list of questions that he wasn’t able to come up with in his current panicked state. Izuku was thankful for his calm reactions and helpful information. Shouto had also informed Izuku that the villains that had attacked Katsuki were being handled by his team, they wouldn’t get far. That was a relief to Izuku. Ochako had given her support and had talked Izuku through a sudden panic attack. She knew him all too well. She assured that she and Tenya were there whenever Izuku needed and had asked if there was anything the two of them could do. Izuku had simply stated that them being there for him was enough considering there wasn’t much anyone could do at the moment. She had promised to keep everyone at bay and not let them overwhelm Izuku with questions at the moment. He had been startled by how quickly she had been able to do damage control with the sudden stop of incoming messages.
With all of the taken care of, Izuku could focus his full attention back on his unconscious husband. With nothing to distract him and the dead quiet of the now early hours of the morning, Izuku let the guilt seep in. He had been sleeping. Katsuki had fallen into a trap and had almost been killed, and Izuku had been sleeping! He should have been there! It didn’t matter how tired and sore his body had been. He should have fought Katsuki harder. Pushed himself to go into work anyway when Katsuki had been talking to him that morning. This morning . . . it seemed so long ago now that Izuku was sitting in the hospital. He had failed, not only as a hero but as a husband. He had failed miserably.