Work Text:
“Kacchan…”
Katsuki was in his dorm, getting ready for the school day. Immediately, his head shot backward, towards his boyfriend resting on the bed behind him.
“What?” He snapped, concerned at Izuku’s tone. His voice was all shaky.
His boyfriend only let out a groan.
“Izuku, I told you to get up ten minutes ago…c’mon you idiot, you’ve slept in too long already!” Katsuki scolded, like he always did, even though this was completely his fault. He had seen Izuku sleeping peacefully and didn’t have it in him to wake him up earlier. He had tried, but the attempt was admittedly half-assed. Izuku didn’t need as much time to get ready in the morning anyway.
“…Izuku?” His boyfriend would normally have responded after he reprimanded him like that. His worry flared, and he could no longer focus on getting ready.
Kastuki rushed over to the side of his bed and sat down next to Izuku.
“Get up, stupid.” He mumbled, though waking him up wasn’t his main concern anymore. Izuku turned his head further into the pillows. “Look at me, nerd.”
But he didn't, and Katsuki had to turn his head for him. He cupped the side of his face and turned it gently. Besides the fact his eyes were screwed shut, he only took his hand away when Izuku’s face was positioned perfectly so that if his nerd eventually opened his eyes, he would be looking directly into Katsuki’s.
He then placed that hand on his forehead. He felt hot.
But Katsuki couldn’t be sure. His quirk generated heat in his hands, and there was no way to derive an exact temperature.
“Izuku, you awake? I’m gonna be right back, okay? Just wait here.” Izuku only groaned back in response. That made Katsuki speed up faster.
Izuku barely heard Kacchan's words. He could tell he was saying something and then felt the empty spot on his face that was left as he rushed away, but he could barely comprehend what had happened by the time he burst back into the room.
“Open up…” Katsuki mumbled, trying to shove something cold into his mouth. He complied and felt the object slide under his tongue like ice. He recognized the feeling. A thermometer.
He wasn’t sick, was he? He couldn’t tell. His body felt sore and tired, but he usually felt like that in the mornings, especially after training.
Katsuki took the thermometer out of his mouth and sucked in a loud breath at the sight. Okay. Maybe he was sick.
The fact that he hadn’t comprehended that sooner was telling enough. He wasn’t just sore, his muscles were aching. And he was cold. Shivering, actually, even under the thick comforter Katsuki had recently added to the bed. But most prominently, his head was empty. He really couldn’t think straight.
He hadn’t even noticed Katsuki calling his name for the last minute.
“Izuku, listen to me!” Katsuki shouted, but he couldn’t. His head was turning back and forth as his eyes struggled to focus on any one object. “Stop being stupid! Stop spinning your head, just keep still. You’re making it worse.”
Izuku’s eyes darted around, and even though he couldn't keep himself focused on Katsuki’s face, his head was so close that it took up half of his vision no matter where he looked. His presence was enough to make him feel safe.
Until it was gone.
“I’ll be back Izuku, hold on, I’ll just be a moment” Katsuki had yelled back from his spot at the door. He was so worried about his boyfriend, who was sporting a fever of 101, and growing more and more delirious with each passing second. He didn’t even think Izuku had noticed he was there since he hadn’t focused his gaze on him once. He thought that to Izuku, the minutes would feel like seconds while he ran to get help. He still didn’t like the thought of leaving him alone, but knew it was best to get help.
That was not how Izuku felt.
The minute that Katsuki was out of sight Izuku began to spiral.
His Kacchan had left him. He didn’t care that he was sick, didn’t care that he felt like he was about to pass out. He had just left him.
Izuku knew that school was important to the blond, but he didn’t think that Katsuki would have preferred to go to class and ignore him instead of checking if he was alright. Did he really not care about him at all?
At that moment he just felt so alone. Kacchan didn’t care about him. The one person he had counted on to always be there for him, wasn’t. It had taken some time for Izuku to accept the idea of someone taking care of him and not the other way around since he always felt like it was his duty to be there for others. Katsuki had convinced him. And he had really believed it.
All that kept repeating in his mind was that Kacchan didn’t care about him, over and over and over.
He didn’t care that he was being delusional, in that moment he couldn’t care about anything except the pain he felt physically and mentally. If he wasn’t so delirious he would have realized his thought process didn’t make any sense. But that realization never came. His brain didn’t have the capacity to think that deeply about anything at the moment. He could only think about whatever fleeting thing popped into his head for a second, and currently, it just kept repeating how alone he was.
Because if he didn’t have Kacchan, who did he have?
Yeah, he had his friends, but this was different. His friends cared for him, but not like Kacchan did. No one else could understand him like he did, or had been in his life for as long as him.
“Kacchan!” Izuku called out, his brain too foggy to understand that Katsuki wasn’t ignoring him, just that he wasn’t there. He felt betrayed with every passing second that he didn’t get a response.
He was an idiot. He was just an idiot for believing that he deserved to be cared about in the same way he cared for others. That’s how he felt.
Hot tears ran down his face as the room grew even more blurry. He could hardly tell where he was anymore. Was his boyfriend there? He couldn’t remember him leaving…
“Kacchan…”
He continued sobbing for his boyfriend. All his delirious thoughts ganged up on him, and he couldn’t take it anymore. Did Kacchan want to break up with him? Is that why he wasn’t responding anymore?
The door opened.
He was immediately thrown out of his tumultuous thoughts at the sudden movement, and he heard footsteps thudding closer.
It was Kacchan. And he wasn’t empty-handed.
He threw a mountainous pile of blankets onto the bed. He left them there for a minute, unattended to, as he kneeled down next to Izuku and his shaking frame that was currently being wracked with sobs.
“I’m back, Izuku,” he spoke softly, running his hands through Izuku’s hair. “What’s wrong?”
“You’re back?” Izuku said skeptically.
“Of course I’m back, I told you I would be quick.”
It was like the fog in his brain cleared for a moment along with the wave of relief he felt.
Izuku instinctively grabbed onto the sleeves of Katsuki’s uniform in an attempt to keep him close. “Not quick enough…why did you leave me?” Izuku’s voice shook, and Katsuki felt horrible. He really thought Izuku was too delirious to notice he was gone, let alone be so worked up about it.
“It was only a couple minutes Izuku. I’m sorry. I had to get you help.”
Izuku looked around. No one else was there.
“Mr. Aizawa is downstairs. I’m trying to convince him to let me take off today to take care of you, but of course, he just wants to fucking send you to Recovery Girl,” he complained.
“No, you can’t, I need you here! I don’t want you to leave me again!”
And Katsuki’s heart broke. “I know Izuku. I’ll convince him, don’t you fucking worry.”
And Izuku believed him.
Kastuki spent the next minute rearranging his blankets. He piled them all up nice, just for him. To make sure he was comfortable.
He spent even more time soothing Izuku’s crying, making sure he didn’t believe a word of what his mind had been telling him when he was gone.
And he was right. After Mr. Aizawa checked up on Izuku, Katsuki managed to convince him to let him take the day off of school, though Izuku never learned how. It didn’t matter. Katsuki hadn’t lied to him. His thoughts had been wrong. His Kacchan would be there for him, always.