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A random Tuesday morning. That’s when it happened.
So he might as well tell it from the beginning.
—
“You’re going to fucking die if you keep forgetting!” Kacchan yelled from the kitchen as he angrily washed the dishes, scrubbing a pan so intensely, Izuku was sure the paint would chip.
Izuku had been on his way out the door to start his morning patrol, briefcase containing his hero suit in hand, when he was suddenly stopped by a very annoyed looking Katsuki.
They went over the whole spiel of whether or not Izuku had eaten breakfast, which, no, he had not.
He was too focused on trying not to be late for a change (spoiler alert: he was, in fact, late).
But Katsuki had sat him down in a chair (rather forcefully), and slammed a plate of pancakes onto the table in front of him.
“I was in a hurry, Kacchan” Izuku finally responded, quickly shoving a pancake into his mouth and chewing as fast as possible.
“Don’t fucking choke, dumbass.” Katsuki said as he entered the small dining room, shedding his black apron and hanging it on the side of the chair opposite of Izuku’s.
He walked over to where Izuku was sitting, reaching down to tuck a green curl behind Izuku’s ear, “Don’t get syrup in your damn hair either, idiot” he muttered angrily, but there was no real bite in his words.
His eyes, ruby red, seemed to soften for just a moment, staring into emerald green. He looked even prettier when they did that.
Sadly though, good things never last too long, and Katsuki’s familiar scowl reappeared as he quickly snatched his hand back from where it had been resting behind Izuku’s ear.
Katsuki glanced towards the clock above the fridge, Izuku’s eyes followed to see—that it was 8:02! Dang it! “I’m late again!” Izuku yelled, standing up and grabbing his briefcase from where it rested on the floor.
“Bye Kacchan! Thanks for breakfast!” He yelled as he darted toward the door.
“See ya, nerd” he heard just as the front door shut behind him.
—
Around thirty minutes later, Izuku was walking down the sunrise lit street, now wearing his hero suit after changing into it in the agency locker room.
He felt a little lighter than normal today, but he didn’t really pay it any mind, much too focused on scanning the neighborhood for any sign of criminal activity.
When an hour had passed and nothing had happened, Izuku relaxed a bit, letting his thoughts drift away and slip into the same hopeless place.
Kacchan had patrol in less than ten minutes, and they would walk together for Izuku’s remaining twenty.
Probably talk about what they would do for dinner tonight, maybe chat about their plans for their off days, stuff like that.
Izuku would get distracted by the way Katsuki’s shoulders swayed while he walked. How his hair became almost white in the morning sun.
How—Izuku’s was pulled from his thoughts by a loud bang.
He turned to his right, peering through the nearby jewelry store window.
There were two men pulling everything off the shelves, stuffing the items into small bags.
One woman was guarding the counter. Even from here, Izuku could see—
She had a gun.
There was a man—probably the store owner or an employee, behind the counter, hurriedly stuffing money from the cash register into a brown paper bag.
Izuku sprung into action, radioing for backup as he ran towards the store.
He burst through the door, using his hero suit’s black whip to grab the two men by the shelves almost instantly.
Just as he made his way towards the woman by the counter, she aimed her gun closer to the cashier, “Take one step closer, and the man gets it!” she threatened.
Izuku stopped dead in his tracks.
“Please,” Izuku started, hands raising in front of his chest, “let’s not make any rash decisions” he said gently.
The woman’s eyes darted toward the two men currently struggling against the mechanical black whip.
“Let them go,” she gestured with the gun. Backup will be here any moment now. Izuku thought, I just have to stall until then.
Carefully, he set the men down, taking a step closer. “Now,” he began, “please, let him go.”
Begrudgingly, the woman lowered her gun, nodding her head towards the door before aiming the gun towards Izuku.
He raised his hands a little higher as she walked past him, eyes and gun never leaving his frame.
Any second now…
“Put your hands in the air right fucking now!” Katsuki shouted as he burst through the door just as Izuku had done minutes ago.
The woman’s eyes frantically darted between the two of them before—
Before she turned and aimed the gun at Katsuki, and—and Izuku didn’t even think.
He saw how her finger raced towards the trigger and he jumped forward before it could get there.
Well, sort of.
He grabbed her wrist’s to turn the gun down to the ground, or up to the roof, or at least away from someone when—
The gun went off.
He heard it before he felt it. Two shots fired before he could wrestle the gun from her hands.
Just then, four other people Izuku really didn’t recognize rushed into the small building, tackling all three villains and putting them in cuffs.
He looked down to the gun, now forgotten on the floor and wow his chest really hurts.
That makes sense, he probably has some bruises now, but at least he was wearing his bulletproof—
Oh, no.
He’s not wearing his bulletproof vest. He forgot it at home.
So that’s why he felt so light today.
Izuku sank to the floor, back hitting the wall as he fell. Oh, he can’t really breathe, now that he thinks about it.
He attempted to take a deeper breath, but only choked and coughed, spitting up blood as he did so.
Oh no. That’s definitely not good.
His eyelids feel heavy and, oh, Kacchan is in front of him now, but he’s not looking at him. His head is turned and he’s yelling something to one of the other people Izuku wishes he knew.
Katsuki finally turns his head to face Izuku and wow, his eyes are just so pretty, even when there’s—wait, there’s tears in those red eyes.
Izuku’s really wants to comfort him, but it’s kind of hard to talk when there’s so much blood in your throat.
Katsuki’s hands are braced on Izuku’s shoulders, shaking him lightly.
Izuku focuses his hardest to try and hear what he’s saying.
“—you’re eyes open!” Kacchan yells, he sounds scared. Well, that’s not good. Kacchan is never scared, or, at least, he never lets it show.
“Just hang in there Izuku, please, please just hang on,” he begs.
And Izuku, Izuku really tries. But his body feels just so heavy, and he’s getting so very tired.
His eyes flutter shut, and maybe it’s better this way, because now he can hear Kacchan more clearly.
“No, no no no no no— open your damn eyes, asshole!” Something comes up to Izuku’s cheek, a hand, probably.
Katsuki’s voice is closer, more quiet now than it was just a moment before, “Please. Please, Izuku. You can’t die now, not now. Please, don’t die now. I love you too much for you to die now. Please.” He whispers, a choked sob escaping his throat.
Oh.
Oh no.
Izuku wants to, needs to say it back.
Kacchan just said he loved him and Izuku needs to say it back right now.
But he just can’t.
The sounds around him grow distant and he feels so so sleepy. And even though he really doesn’t want to, in the end, Izuku lets go.
—
Izuku’s not sure how much time has passed when he sits straight up from where he’s lying on the ground, breathing heavily.
Or at least trying to. There’s a black tarp laid over his body, and when he eventually pulls it off, he finds a small yellow marker by his waist.
Hold on. What is happening right now.
He looks up to see two officers and—Kacchan!
They seem to be in the middle of a very serious conversation, when one officer suddenly stops in the middle of his sentence, wide eyes now on Izuku.
Gently, he taps the officer beside him and points to, well, Izuku.
He watches as both their faces go pale white, huh, they should probably sit down or something.
Izuku’s goes to stand, ready to help them to a nearby bench, when he pulls the rest of the tarp from his body.
Wow. That’s a lot of blood. Wait a second.
Izuku tries to think back to the moments prior to him falling asleep. Well, now that he’s thinking about it, he was more than likely not sleeping.
Oh god.
He was shot. He was bleeding out. Kacchan confessed to him. He died.
…
Kacchan confessed to him?!
Oh, and he died. Yikes.
Wait, Izuku definitely isn’t dead right now. And he’s not a ghost. Those two officers, still frozen in shock, definitely see him.
Finally, he stands. Woah, a little wobbly. Izuku rubs the side of his head, closing his eyes for just a moment, and when he opens them, Katsuki is turned around, looking straight at him.
There are tears streaming down his face, and he looks…hm. There are so many emotions running over his features, Izuku’s not really sure what exactly he’s feeling.
He’s definitely shocked, though, because he hasn’t said anything. Red eyes running up and down Izuku’s figure before finally landing on his face.
A beat.
Katsuki searches his green eyes, and seems to find something, because he’s suddenly surging forward, arms wrapping tightly around Izuku and pulling him close.
They stand in each other’s embrace for a long moment before Katsuki is pulling away, relief and disbelief plastered on his face.
“I don’t-“ Katsuki starts, then stops, trying again. “How? Izuku I—I watched you die.” He takes a strangled breath, “You fucking died. Thirty minutes ago.”
Ah, so that’s how long he’s been out.
“Kacchan, I don’t—I can’t—I’m so sorry” Izuku stutters, not sure what else to say. Tears are welling in his eyes now because Kacchan’s crying so now he’s crying and now they’re both crying.
“The hell are you sorry for? Dying?” Katsuki says with a harsh tone, he’s not really mad though, Izuku can tell.
“I don’t even know how I’m alive right now, honestly,” Izuku says instead, because, how is he alive right now?! He suffocated on his own blood and he died.
“Yeah, we should get that checked out,” Katsuki replies, his voice laced with the smallest amount of humor.
“Hold on, I’m still trying to figure out how your dumbass forgot your fucking vest at home?” Katsuki half yells, eyes flicking down to Izuku’s chest.
“…sorry” Izuku eventually replies in a hushed voice, shamefully looking down at the floor.
“Stop fucking apologizing” Katsuki says before pulling Izuku back into a hug.
“You scared me so fucking bad, nerd.” Katsuki admits into the crook of Izuku’s neck.
“I’m sor—“ Izuku starts, but gets cut off my an angry grunt.
—
Not even a day later, Izuku was sitting in a hospital bed, waiting for the doctor to return. He assured everyone he felt fine, there weren’t even bullet holes in his chest.
But Kacchan had practically forced him through the emergency room doors, saying that there’s no way you just die and come back completely fine, that ‘he would know’.
That last part is why Izuku is here now, mostly just out of guilt.
Kacchan had so many problems after the war, after he died and came back.
Besides, he didn’t want to worry Kacchan more than he already had, it was bad for his heart.
The doctor came in just then, stirring Izuku from his thoughts.
“Well,” she started “as you know, we ran some tests, and everything looks just fine, you won’t be needing a blood transfusion, thankfully.” She started as she flipped through her clip board.
“Oh, that’s great-“ Izuku began, but was cut off when the doctor began speaking again.
“I do have a question, though. Why did you register as quirkless? You clearly have a quirk.” She said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Like it hadn’t affected the entire course of Izuku’s life.
“I’m sorry, I’m not really sure what you mean? I am quirkless,” Izuku corrected, clearly she was confused. She had to be.
“No? When I ran the tests, I thought might check your quirk to see if it had anything to do with this, and it definitely did by the way.” She said matter of fact-ly.
“Did you not know?” She continued after a few moments passed, “Yeah, your quirk is actually quite impressive. When you died, your body healed itself, and brought you back. Now, your not immortal, seeing as you will age and there’s really nothing the body can do about that, but—“
Izuku promptly fainted.
—
“You WHAT?!” Katsuki yelled. He hadn’t been allowed in the room with Izuku, and he really didn’t want to tell in him in the waiting room, for this exact reason, so he waited until they were in the safety of their own home to break the news.
“I have a quirk. It’s the reason why I’m still alive,” Izuku repeated, he was trying to be calm, but how could he? His entire life had been a lie.
“But!” Katsuki continued, “But that doctor! You went to a doctor when you were little and he said you didn’t have a quirk! What, was that fucker just lying to you or something?!” He yelled angrily, which was nice, not that he was angry, but that he cared enough about Izuku to be angry for him.
“Apparently the method he used to determine if I had a quirk or not was super outdated and unreliable” Izuku shrugged, “I don’t blame him.” He said simply.
“Wait— so what is your quirk? How did it help bring you back? How the hell did we not know about it until now?” Katsuki asked all at once, obviously trying (but failing) to calm down.
“My quirk is the only reason I’m still alive. We only know about it now because I have to die in order for it to work.” Izuku started, walking over to the couch and sitting down, prompting the blond to do the same.
“When I die in any way other than simply old age, my body heals itself and brings me back, apparently.” Izuku says as he grabs his journal from under the cushion.
Wow, he was finally going to have an entry about himself. Well, the one about ofa was more about the quirk itself, and it was mostly about All Might.
“You are not seriously journaling about this right now?” Katsuki asked, stunned.
“Uhhhhh…no, of course not” Izuku said, placing the journal back under the cushion where he would retrieve it later.
Katsuki stared at him knowingly for a while before eventually rolling his eyes and grabbing his phone.
“I’m ordering dinner, it has been too fucking long of a day to cook,” He said as he opened his phone.
“Any requests?” Katsuki asked, glancing up to Izuku from over the screen.
“Nah, I’ll leave it up to you, Kacchan” he replied happily as he sank further into the couch, before a foot jabbed at his side.
“Nope, go take a shower and change, get out of those damn clothes.” Katsuki huffed as a he dialed the restaurant number.
Izuku sighed and stood up, he really just wanted to relax after the day he’s had.
—
Not too long later, both men were lounging on the couch, take-out boxes in hand, some old All Might movie playing on the living room TV.
Izuku was chewing on a mouthful of rice when Katsuki spoke up.
“Uh hey, do you…remember much from before you… passed out earlier?” He asked hesitantly, and Izuku definitely knows what he’s talking about.
“Why do you ask, Kacchan?” Izuku said, mock innocence in his voice.
“I just—do you remember anything I said or…?” He trailed off, they staring into Izuku’s eyes, as if he could find out just by looking at him.
“Well, I remember you telling me to keep my eyes open, asking me not to die, telling me you loved me, and—“ Izuku recalls before cutting himself off when Katsuki sits up, a worried, but somewhat hopeful look etched into his expression.
After a few seconds of just staring at each other, Katsuki stands up, grabbing his and Izuku’s empty takeout boxes and walking into the kitchen, dumping them in the trash can by island counter.
He silently walks back into the living room, reaching down to grab an empty glass from the coffee table when Izuku suddenly speaks again.
“Well, I really wanted to tell you at the time, that I love you back and all, but I couldn’t exactly speak.” He laughs nervously, standing up to grab his own empty glass.
But a hand gently grasps Izuku’s shoulder, stopping the motion entirely.
When he turns to look at Katsuki, there’s a soft determination in those ruby eyes.
The hand on Izuku’s shoulder travels up to his neck, then to his face, resting on his freckled cheek.
“You’re not fucking with me?” Katsuki whispers, sparking a small giggle from Izuku before he fully grabs the blond’s face and pulls him into a small, quick kiss.
“You really think I would do that, Kacchan?” Izuku asks before Katsuki is pulling him back in, kissing him harder than before.
And it’s everything Izuku ever dreamed, which is so silly, but so true.
Katsuki’s other hand is gently planted on Izuku’s lower back while Izuku’s arms come up to rest around Katsuki’s neck, bringing him ever so slightly closer.
This was a kiss Izuku would gladly die for.