Work Text:
The sound of coughing rattled Katsuki’s skull enough to wake him up, despite his body’s best efforts to keep him in the void of unconsciousness. It wasn’t his own lungs hacking up dust, though he did feel a distinct desire to join whoever it was. His first thoughts were scrambled, disjointed, more to do with smacking whoever thought it was a good idea to wake him up than why he was in so much pain. A searing sensation was creeping up his left arm and Katsuki adamantly refused to look in that direction. Actually, he didn’t have to look at all, he couldn’t bring himself to open his damn eyes.
“Kacchan?” A quiet voice choked out. Katsuki knew that voice, that name. That was his name. That was Deku calling for him. Why was Deku calling for him? Why did he sound so frail? Katsuki tried to force himself to move, but his whole body revolted at the idea and the only thing that happened was an anguished whimper escaped his lips.
“Kacchan!” His Nerd gasped. Katsuki heard the shuffle of shoes or maybe knees on dirt and after a moment there were hands on him, checking him. His hero brain told him that Deku was probably checking him for injuries, and when those hands stopped at his left shoulder, Katsuki cried out in pain. “Hey, hey, Kacchan, come on, I need you to look at me. Please, open your eyes for me?”
He wanted to tell the damn Nerd to shut up and let him sleep, but he knew he probably had a concussion and Deku just wanted to verify that. He couldn’t place why he knew he should have a concussion, but he knew it was likely.
Finally, he cracked his eyelids open with a groan of pain, finding a dirt covered and bloody Izuku Midoriya in his face. The Nerd’s hands cupped his face and a smile broke across those beautifully soft lips. Wait - what? Katsuki blinked, clearing the dust and fog from his vision.
“There you are.” Deku mumbled. “Do you remember where we are?”
Katsuki was about to shake his head when he finally got smacked full force with the migraine that had been building at the back of his eyes since he woke up.
“No.” He croaked out, barely even a rasp of his voice.
“Okay. That’s okay. It looks like you hit your head pretty hard. We got called out this morning, remember?”
“Mhm.”
“To a landslide in the foothills.”
“Yeah.”
“We were pulling victims from one of the cliffside houses, and the mud shifted. We’re in the house, Kacchan. We’re in the house, in the landslide.”
A thick intake of air stung Katsuki’s lungs. What Deku was really saying was they were buried alive, under who knows how many tons of unstable rubble, in the ruins of a house that likely wouldn’t hold the weight of the mountain above them. They were trapped.
Everything came rushing back to Katsuki’s mind in an instant. Waking up to an emergency call, being sent out to the rural foothills along with most of the heroes in Japan for a devastating landslide emergency that was ravaging the countryside mountains and taking hundreds of lives. It had been a full rescue effort. Few heroes in the country had quirks that would suit a landslide, though more than a few tried to contain or stop the tragedy from getting worse. In the end, it was mainly a body recovery and rescue mission.
Katsuki and Deku had heard someone screaming on the cliffside, in a house barely holding on. They both ran, arguing the whole way about safety and that only one of them should go in. Neither of them listened, of course. By the time they got to the house, the woman who’d been screaming was pinned under a rock that had fallen through the roof - she was dead. But it was too late to react, the cliff gave way and before either of them could activate their quirks, the slide swallowed them. He remembered glimpses of horrified faces as the house rolled down the hill with them inside, flashes of colors of familiar heroes and friends who watched them get buried in tons of rubble - alive.
“Kacchan!” Katsuki snapped his eyes open. Shit, had he fallen asleep? “You gotta stay awake, please. I need to try and patch you up, where’s your medical kit?”
Katsuki groaned. “Left, front.” He knew Izuku would figure it out.
“Okay, you’re going to be really angry with me, but this is going to hurt.”
“Shuddup…’n do’it.” He didn’t have the energy to fight or argue, he just wanted the pain to stop. He felt light headed, and knew he was probably bleeding somewhere, but he couldn’t really feel his whole body at the moment, which should have been more of a concern than it was in his mind.
Of course, the damn Nerd took that as a challenge. The next thing Katsuki felt was probably the worst pain he’s ever felt in his entire life. His right hand quickly fisted into Deku’s hero suit as he screamed bloody murder in his partner’s face. His left arm was tight, and burning. He knew it was broken, but how badly? Katsuki barely turned his face in that direction when Izuku quickly shoved his face away.
“No.” Katsuki had never heard Izuku so serious, “You don’t want to see this. Please, for once, listen to me. Your arm is trapped under a boulder. I need to stop the bleeding so we can assess how to get you free.”
“WHAT?!” The room shook and both men paled. Izuku’s hand slapped over Katsuki’s mouth so fast it stung.
“Shhh. It’s like an avalanche, just talk quietly, please Katsuki.”
The use of his given name sobered him but he still allowed himself to glance in the direction of his left arm when Izuku wasn’t holding him back. It was a gruesome sight, a large boulder resting on his arm, just past his elbow. He couldn’t feel anything below his shoulder on that side. It was obvious there was no salvaging that hand. He’d be robbed of half his quirk. Katsuki thudded his head back on the floor and winced at the pain it shocked through his neck.
“Fuck.” He mumbled. “We really hit the lottery this time, Deku.”
Izuku snorted. “Yeah, guess so. Here.” He shoved something hard into Katsuki’s mouth. “Bite down. This will hurt.” He wasn’t done?! Katsuki’s eyes blew wide but he accepted what he realized was a wooden stick. It tasted like bark and mud and somehow that grounded Katsuki in a good way. He nodded. Izuku nodded back. Again, screaming white hot pain crashed up his arm in what the blonde assumed was Izuku tying off a tourniquet around his upper arm to stop the bleeding. Izuku sighed when he finished.
“Okay, it’s stopping. But I have no idea how we’re going to get you out.”
Katsuki spit the stick out to the side and growled - quietly. “You can’t use your stupid superhuman strength to lift the damn boulder, Nerd?”
“Kacchan, look around. If I shift any of this rubble, we’ll really be…”
“Say it.” He urged, a hard look in his eyes.
“Be buried alive.”
“We already are, Deku. It’s doubtful anyone can hear us through who knows how many layers of rubble piled on us. Any move we make will cause this small bubble to crash in on us, and the more we talk, the more air we use up.”
“Mmm we’re lucky in that last regard, though. There’s a few pinholes in the rubble, we shouldn’t run out of oxygen.”
“Well, guess we can die of dehydration instead, lovely. Pretty sure I’d rather suffocate, it’s faster.”
“Quit being so damn pessimistic, Kacchan.”
“Are you the one with a boulder on your arm? No, so shut up and let me cope how I want.”
Izuku huffed a sigh and sat back on his heels, still at Katsuki’s side. Damn he wanted to smack this Nerd until he was dizzy, but the desire to hug him tightly was even stronger. Deku was safe, and unharmed - mostly. He clearly had broken ribs (judging by the way he was holding them) and a pretty obvious concussion. Bruises and cuts littered his muddy skin and blood caked his hair. He was a mess, a beautiful wreck - and Katsuki never wanted to kiss him more than right this moment. It could very well be their last moment.
He’d always assumed he’d have his whole life to build up the courage to tell Izuku how he felt. That he’d have years to sort out his emotions and finally break free from that stupid struggle of emotional constipation he always found himself floundering in. His whole life - but what if his whole life was only this last moment, trapped under a mountain, with no one there to save them but themselves?
It was always Izuku saving Katsuki, and Katsuki saving Izuku. They complimented each other in their work every day. Izuku saved every civilian with the biggest smile, and Katsuki defeated the villains, bringing the big win home. Katsuki had been content to have just that, for the rest of his life, because he didn’t feel he deserved Izuku any deeper than that.
At some point, his right hand had lifted from his chest and reached for Izuku’s face, cupping his cheek. Katsuki didn’t realize he’d done it until Izuku’s face was nuzzling into his hand, his eyes closed. Katsuki let out a shaky breath and gripped his Nerd’s face tighter.
“This is it, isn’t it?” He asked.
“Hmm?” Izuku mumbled, not opening his eyes.
“This is the end of Deku and Dynamight.”
“I’m not giving up yet, Kacchan. Our friends will find us, Jirou and Shoji are out there, they’ll hear us.”
“Okay.” Katsuki pulled Izuku’s face towards him, making him lean down until his head was resting on Katsuki’s chest. “Okay.” He said again, trying to reassure himself more than Izuku. For a while neither of them spoke. The moment was too fragile, too intimate, to break. They’d never been touchy feely with each other, despite Izuku’s attempts to bring them closer. It just wasn’t who Katsuki was, or not who he had been before. But laying here, feeling trapped with the only person on Earth Katsuki could bear dying beside, he wanted nothing more than to feel Izuku’s heartbeat. So that’s what he did. He held Izuku close and just felt him breathing, so alive and so scared.
“You alright, Kacchan?” Izuku finally asked.
“Mhm. Just…”
“Hmm?”
He didn’t answer. The rubble trembled above them and dust sprinkled their heads. His arm was aching so deeply and a numbness had crept into his shoulder. He knew that was bad. He knew the longer he stayed trapped, the more of a risk it was to his health. But he didn’t have a plan to get out of this mess. He couldn’t find a way to win. If they shifted any of the rubble or mud and rocks, they were liable to just collapse it all in on themselves, or possibly block what little oxygen access they miraculously had in this mess.
“Does your comm work?” Izuku sat up quickly.
“What?”
“Your comm, your phone, anything?”
Katsuki blinked. They were such idiots, why didn’t they check that first? Well, he could later blame the concussions. Using his one good hand, he tugged his phone from his pocket, only to find the damn thing crushed and dead. He sighed, tossing it on the ground before looking around for his comm. It was still, luckily, in his ear. He tapped it, and it did beep to signify it was on.
“This is Dynamight, can anybody hear me?” Izuku was fiddling with his comm, which likely meant it wasn’t working. “I repeat, this is Dynamight, can anybody hear me?” He didn’t even get static back. He sighed, letting his arm fall back on the ground as he shook his head carefully. “Nothing.”
“Damnit.” Izuku whisper-shouted. Katsuki was still getting used to Izuku spitting out curse words every so often. Even at twenty-four he almost never let an expletive cross his lips. Katsuki couldn’t help but laugh.
“Damn, Nerd, tell me how you really feel.”
“I’m frustrated, and scared, and… and…”
“Whoa, hey, come here.” Katsuki grabbed Izuku’s wrist, tugging him close. “You’re the one who’s supposed to be the optimist, don’t lose that perpetual hope just yet. One of us needs to hold out.”
“Shut up.” Izuku mumbled. Katsuki snorted.
The pain in his left arm was slowly vanishing, which was bad. It meant he was losing his nerves. His shoulder and left side still screamed constantly from every little twitch of his muscles, but the arm itself was dead. He took a deep breath and tapped Izuku on the shoulder.
“I can’t feel it.”
“Huh?”
“My arm, I can’t feel it anymore.”
Izuku’s eyes flashed with panic, looking between Katsuki and his crushed arm, then back - over and over. The green haired hero put both of his hands to his mouth, a few plump tears already rolling down his cheeks. They both knew it meant there was little hope in saving the limb. Even without it having gone numb and dead - the boulder had likely ruined any chance for the bones to be salvaged. Katsuki lifted his good arm and brushed a few stray tears from Izuku’s cheek.
“Hey, none of that.”
“But Kacchan, your arm-”
“Doesn’t matter.”
“But-”
“Izuku. It doesn’t. Matter. You’re alive, you’re safe, that’s all I care about.”
Izuku blinked, scrunched his face up in confusion, then blinked again.
“What?” He finally gasped.
“Nothing, nevermind. It’s just the concussion making me loopy.”
“Yeah, right.” Izuku rolled his eyes and sat back on his heels again. Katsuki let his head gently fall back to the ground. The broken floor boards and rubble weren’t comfortable in the slightest, but he could make do for now. Maybe this would be the last bed he slept in. That thought made him incredibly disappointed. Katsuki rolled his head to the side to watch Izuku. The Nerd was, of course, silently mumbling as his analytical eyes assessed every angle of the cavern they were trapped in. Katsuki finally took a moment to look around with just as much interest.
The ‘cavern’ as he’d been calling it was more of a skeleton of the house they’d gone in, bracing the rocks and mud against the cliffside. That seemed to likely be at the bottom, which meant they had slid down in that house, which seemed right if his memories were orienting themselves correctly. But that meant they had to be buried under feet of mud and rocks if their teams hadn’t found them yet. If they were surface level at the base of the cliff, they’d have been found by now. Unless the slide was just as unstable from the outside as it was from inside, which meant the heroes had to work incredibly slow. Katsuki tipped his head backwards, trying to get a look at every angle of the void space. He could see a few two by fours bracing a rather large boulder off to the side, which did not bode well at all. Pure luck must have kept them from being crushed by it.
The boulder crushing his arm, however, was separate. That seemed pretty solid, and half dug into the mud. There was no way he would be moving it, even with an explosion. Deku was right, too, if he moved it - the whole cavern would come crashing down. He could see quite a lot of rubble piled up on top, connected to the ceiling. Damnit.
Something caught Katsuki’s eye, a flash of red as Izuku turned away from him.
“Deku. Don’t move.” Izuku froze. Katsuki reached out a hand to pull the torn side of his hero suit back so he could look at Izuku’s side. He hissed when he caught sight of the wound. “Deku… why didn’t you-”
“I’m fine, Kacchan.”
“Fine my ass, your rib is sticking out of your side. You’re lucky it didn’t go into your lungs, damnit. Sit the fuck down and help me bandage you up, get your med pack out.”
Izuku gave a dry laugh and settled back down next to Katsuki, handing him the first aid pack from both their belts. Katsuki sat up as best he could, half leaned over to the left where his lower arm was trapped. The pain was incredible, running up along his shoulder and neck. He saw white spots in his vision for a moment and Izuku had to stabilize him as he took a few breaths.
“I’m good.” Katsuki mumbled after a few minutes before grabbing a large roll of gauze wrapping. “Come on, suit down.”
Izuku blushed, like actually blushed. Katsuki rolled his eyes and motioned for the Nerd to turn to the side and do it already. He obeyed, tugging his suit carefully down over both arms so it clung to his waist loosely. The twist and flex of Izuku’s corded back muscles drew Katsuki’s eyes for a solid minute before he was able to clear his throat and start stuffing gauze around the rib bone that was jutting out of Deku’s side. He yelped, jumping slightly as he covered his mouth.
“Sorry.” Katsuki mumbled. “Got distracted.”
“By what?!” Izuku was careful to keep his ‘shout’ to a rasping whisper.
“You.” Katsuki blinked, surprised at his own boldness.
“Oh.” Is all Izuku said.
They both went silent and worked together with three hands to bandage up Izuku’s bleeding and broken ribs. Once they had stabilized the wound, Katsuki gently laid himself back on the ground with a groan, trying to situate himself closer to the boulder so he wasn’t stretching his wounded arm as much. He silently wondered how Deku got this far in life with such high pain tolerance. The idiot could walk off broken bones like it was nothing. How had he not gotten himself killed yet?
The sound of crumbling rocks and shifting rubble had become a background noise, but Katsuki could tell it was getting louder. Somewhere deep inside he hoped maybe it was the heroes and their teammates, their former classmates, coming to rescue them. He’d never admit this aloud, obviously. The darker side of his mind was warning him that this bubble of safety was going to collapse on them.
Glancing over to his crushed arm, Katsuki tried not to twitch at the sight. The ache and numbness was spiraling around his shoulder and confusing his nerves. There was a puddle of blood forming around the base of the boulder, but he could see it wasn’t moving, it wasn’t getting any bigger. The tourniquet was working, even if it was insufferable at first. Now, he could hardly even feel his upper arm. The pain had spread across his shoulder blades, though, which was not helping him remain calm.
“Izuku.” The green haired hero looked up, a serious expression on his face, and his damn suit still hanging off his waist. “It’s getting worse.”
“The pain?”
“Yeah. Spreading. I can’t stay like this.”
“But-”
“I know. I know we can’t move the boulder. But you can move me.”
“Kacchan…”
“Don’t, Izuku. Don’t. I’m gonna need your help.”
“Wait - with what?”
“I’m going to use my quirk, and I need you to use full cowling to keep it contained.”
“What?!” Izuku rasped, quickly grabbing Katsuki’s free hand in some vain attempt to stop his line of thinking. It did fry his brain for a solid second, but not for the reasons Izuku likely meant. “Don't you dare. The doctors can still salvage your arm, or… or maybe they can repair the damage and… and uhm… I mean…”
Katsuki leaned up, using his good hand to yank Izuku down. He did something he should have done years ago. The only thing that would shut Izuku up and make him see the light of day, reality. Katsuki pressed his lips to Izuku’s and kissed him, hungrily. It was a sad sort of kiss, the kind that usually meant goodbye, but he hoped Izuku didn’t take it that way. Izuku was shocked at first, but he melted into it quickly and cupped both sides of Katsuki’s face. They both broke free, gasping, and stared into each other's eyes.
“If we’re going to get out of here, we need mobility, we need to work together.”
“Katsuki…” His voice was almost a whimper. Katsuki both hated and loved it. He wanted to hear it again, but far away and nowhere near this pile of rubble.
“Damnit, you’re so distracting, Nerd.”
Izuku giggled, brushing some sweaty blonde and green hair from their foreheads.
“You did that to shut me up, didn’t you?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Deku. Come on, Full Cowling time.”
They both sobered, jaws setting. They knew this would be dangerous. But, there was a silent sort of conversation between them. If they did this, there was no going back. Katsuki would be forever mutilated by his own hand, by their hands. The caveat being that maybe someone heard the explosion and could find them. There was also the possibility that Katsuki could use small explosions from his remaining hand to help dig them out safely. If he was free from the rock, Izuku wouldn’t be trapped here waiting on rescue if he could get them both out. There were so many more possibilities for getting out of this mess alive if Katsuki wasn’t fucking trapped. So they agreed, they both nodded.
Katsuki rolled onto his side, growling at the pain that spread across his whole left side as he stretched the wound. Izuku had fired up Full Cowling and slowly crawled his way around Katsuki’s body until he was right over the crushed arm. With Full Cowl on, Izuku would be relatively safe from the explosion himself. He had mastered his quirks, and he could redirect the energy with Fa Jin as well, if necessary.
Katsuki pressed his right palm against his bloody arm, at the elbow joint. If anything would give first, it would be the joint. He could tell it was already dislocated now that he had a hand on it, so he just had to cut the tendons and muscles. Great, love that thought. Katsuki gagged and wrapped his fingers around the joint tightly.
“How are we playing this, Kacchan?”
“Right.” Fuck, he needed to get control of his emotions. Swallowing back his nausea, he nodded to the nearby stick he’d spat out earlier. Izuku was quick to grab it and hold it out for him. “Once I have the bit back in, wrap yourself around my arm and shield the blast. I’ll count to three and blast. My elbow is dislocated, I just need to… ugh… cut the tendons and muscles. I’ll use an AP shot, just one. The heat and pressure should be enough to… uhm… yeah, rip my… I'm nauseous - fuck. Just put the damn stick in my mouth.”
Izuku did, shoving it sideways so Katsuki could bite down on the crosswise length of it. He took a deep breath and gave Izuku a single nod. The Nerd did as directed and wrapped his whole upper body around Katsuki’s arms like a soldier covering a grenade, and man did that image just disturb him even worse.
Three loud grunts echoed around the cavern before he released a powerful blast directed at his own elbow. The stick wasn’t enough to stop the stream of expletives and cries of pain he let out. If he thought his arm was numb before, he’d been mostly wrong. White hot agony spiraled up his arm and across his shoulder. He felt like someone was melting off his arm, and honestly, that wasn’t far from the truth.
Izuku was coughing from the smoke but he pulled back to look, only to turn around and grab a rock so he could dry heave. Katsuki couldn’t look, he refused to look. He was sure he was gruesome, or at least unpleasant. Sweating profusely, Katsuki shook his head and tried to clear the droplets from his face. He finally spat out the stick and gasped in oxygen.
“How bad?” He finally choked out.
“Mmmnnnmm no.” Izuku gagged again. “Not… not done.”
“Fuck.” So he hadn’t cut clean through. Shit. Katsuki dared glance to his left side.
That’s when the smell of burnt flesh struck him and he nearly tossed his own breakfast on the ground right along with Izuku. His elbow was blackened and bloody, a mess of stringy tendons and muscles still half attached to the lower arm under the boulder. Katsuki rolled his head away and tried to breathe through his nose and wiggle his toes like the dentist always said, to stop the nausea and gagging.
“I can… I can do it, Kacchan. I can finish it.”
“The fuck… you mean?” Katsuki gasped.
“Your belt. Your survival knife. It wouldn’t have cut through bone but… it will do the rest.”
“Fuck. Fine. Do it.” Katsuki growled, twisting himself so he could pull the knife out and toss it at Izuku.
Dark crimson eyes met bright forest green and they remained locked on each other for a few shuddering breaths. There was no going back now, Katsuki had ruined any chance of salvaging his arm with that blast. The crumbling sound above their heads was getting louder. They were running out of time.
“Do it, Deku.” He urged, looking up at the dust and debris that was starting to litter their heads in sprinkles every few seconds.
“Fuck.” Izuku cursed. “Okay, just…” He put the stick back in Katsuki’s mouth and immediately set to work. He wasn’t giving Katuski any breathing room to get comfortable, and he appreciated the Nerd for doing so. Waiting would only make things worse, and make it harder for them to-
Katsuki screamed into the stick as the knife pierced what remained of his flesh. But it only lasted a few seconds and the knife clattered to the floor. Izuku was hugging him, already sobbing. Katsuki grabbed the Nerd around the shoulder with his right arm, clutching him through the waves of pain that rolled down his ribcage and shoulder blades.
“I’m sorry, Kacchan!”
“Shhhh.” Katsuki soothed, taking the stick out - hopefully for the last time - and comforting the sobbing greenette. “I got you.” Finally, he could sit up properly and hug the man in his lap. Damn did that feel like a balm to his wounds in every way. “We need to move, Nerd. We can talk when we’re out, okay?”
“About what?” Izuku pulled back a little but Katsuki yanked him back in for a moment longer.
“Don’t be stupid, Nerd. We both know I didn’t just kiss you to shut you up - and we both know you're going to be more upset over cutting off my arm than I am.”
Izuku blushed again and glanced at the floor. Katsuki grabbed his chin and brought that beautiful face up to his again so he could press a kiss on his Nerd’s forehead.
“Don’t hide those eyes from me…. But if you ever tell any of the Extras I said that, you’re dead.”
Izuku chuckled, “Okay, Kacchan. We’ll talk.”
“Right.. Now, how are we getting out of here?”
“Well, the pinholes I saw earlier are over to the right, I think that’s our best bet to find the surface. It looks pretty deep. I got a look while you were knocked out.”
“Wait, I was unconscious?”
“Uhh, yeah, for like twenty minutes. I couldn’t get you to wake up at first and I was sort of struggling to breathe, so…”
“There’s a rib in your lung, isn’t there? You lied to me.”
“No… no, it’s not.. I don’t think it’s punctured just uhm.. I’m fine.”
“You’re clearly not fine, Nerd. But damnit, you’ve broken so many bones I’m sure your pain tolerance is higher than mine.”
“Uhm, probably. Anyway, If we direct a blast from both of us at that far wall where the pinholes are, I think we could blow ourselves out to the surface.”
“Except there’s a huge risk this whole place collapses on us while we’re crawling out.”
“We’re not gonna crawl out.”
“What?”
“Okay, here’s the plan.” Izuku leaned down to start drawing in the dirt. Katsuki watched, trying to clear the fog that was still laying over his brain from the concussion he knew he had. “So, you direct a large blast on the wall we think is surface level, pointed upwards. That should clear the rubble enough that we’ll have a hole out - and three seconds after that, I’ll use shoot style at one hundred percent to shoot us out of the hole before it collapses.”
“That’s insane.” Izuku looked up, half disappointed, until he saw the look on Katsuki’s face. “But it’s also our best chance at getting out.”
Izuku grinned.
“Alright, Nerd. We only get one shot.”
“Right.”
Izuku helped Katsuki crawl into position, with his good hand pressing on the upper half of the cavern wall. Izuku had both arms wrapped tightly around Katsuki’s waist with his legs out behind him. He would be worried about Izuku using one hundred percent, but he’d recently managed it with only bruising, so he had faith the hero could handle it. Katsuki on the other hand, was planning to release his largest blast, which might well break his hand in the process. But a simple hand fracture could be fixed easily. Neither of them looked at or acknowledged his blasted off left arm. Not yet, it was far too soon.
“Okay. Ready when you are, Kacchan.”
Katsuki nodded. This time, when he counted to three, it was loud and clear, confident.
Their ears rang from the blast that melted mud and rubble and blasted the cavern wall out. Daylight streamed into the cavern along with fresh air and dust. True to his word, three seconds after the blast, Izuku’s body jerked them both into the air. Katsuki got a look down, realizing they’d been about ten feet under rubble and that thought made him nauseous again. The sounds of people and life crashed into his ears. Screams and cries of excitement bombarded them. He helped Izuku land them safely with his good arm and silently said a prayer when Izuku kept his cut off arm hidden against his chest, even if it hurt like a bitch from the contact. He didn’t want anyone, especially not civilians, seeing this yet.
“Deku! Dynamight!” The voice of a horribly worried, and slightly angry, Eraserhead met them when they finally touched down safely. “We’ve been searching for hours, Jirou and Shoji found your life signs but you were too deep, we were trying to find a way down to you without crushing you. How did you get free?”
Katsuki looked down at his already purple hand. He could see through a few rips in Deku’s suit that his legs were purple as well, not broken, just bruised pitifully.
“Self-sacrifice.” Katsuki’s voice cracked as he coughed, trying to clear the dust from his lungs.
Medics and heroes were quickly surrounding them and suddenly he felt overwhelmed. Embarrassed at his loss. He pulled closer to Izuku, who in turn hugged him tighter to hide the stump between them. Neither of them complained about the blood or the pain. He knew he was pushing on Izuku’s injured ribs and Izuku knew he was pushing on Katuski’s crushed arm - but they just silently tolerated it while trying to get their bearings.
Eraserhead knelt down, holding up a hand to stop everyone from rushing in.
“Hey, Problem Children. Talk to me. What happened in there?”
Izuku looked up at the underground hero and Katsuki could already see the tears forming in his eyes. He hated that. He didn’t want Izuku to cry for him. He was fine, just missing an arm. He could live with one, right? They had support gear prosthetics. Hell, he could get that crazy Mei girl to make him something wild and dangerous, too. But then a thought struck him - Izuku wasn’t crying because of Katsuki, or not entirely. He was crying because of what Katsuki made him do. What they had to do to get free. He was crying because he just mutilated Katsuki.
Quickly, he grabbed a fist full of Izuku’s hair and tugged his face back into his own chest, rocking them back and forth while everyone watched on.
“It’s okay, Nerd. I forgive you. I’m not mad. I’m sorry I made you do that. I’m so sorry.”
“We had to, Kacchan!” He gasped through his tears. “I’m so sorry! I had to!”
“I know, Izuku, I know. Come on, breathe.”
After a few more gasping sobs, he finally calmed down and his hug loosened a little.
“Bakugo?” Eraserhead prompted.
“I told you, didn’t I? Self-sacrifice.”
He let go of Izuku and let himself lay down on the ground. He was so damn tired. With Izuku no longer blocking him, everyone got a clear view of Izuku’s bare chest covered in blood and blackened soot from his arm. They also saw the stump of his arm, mangled and hacked in pieces from a knife not meant for this. Izuku’s jutted out rib was also a likely contender for the shock. Izuku continued to clutch Katsuki’s hand, keeping his knees up so Katsuki could lay on them just a little.
“Okay. Let’s get you two some medical attention. NOW!” The last word was barked from Eraserhead’s lips at the medics, who finally got back in gear.
A few of their friends came up to check on them, carefully avoiding the obvious elephant in the room, or on the battlefield, or whatever.
Mina cried, Kirishima fit bumped his good hand. Uraraka hugged Deku for a solid five minutes and fussed over him while the medics were treating Katsuki’s arm. Iida gave them both a lecture, which even shocked Aizawa who didn’t leave their side for even a moment. Jirou and Shoji came up to check on them, too, and they both thanked the hearing duo for finding them, even if the heroes hadn’t formed a plan to rescue them yet.
The rest was a blur to Katsuki. He barely remembered being loaded into an ambulance and taken to the hospital. He barely remembered all the questions they asked that Deku and Aizawa had to answer for him when he was too dizzy and foggy to respond.
He did remember that Izuku never let go of his right hand, not once.
When Katsuki opened his eyes next, there was much less pain and he had a far clearer head. He practically sighed in relief. Sighing is when he realized he had a weight on his chest. It wasn’t that heavy, but he wasn’t sure why it was there. Tilting his head down, he found a head of green hair resting on his shoulder.
Oh. oh.
Izuku was curled up around his right side. Katsuki’s breath stopped in his lungs. He wanted to brush his fingers through Deku’s hair, it looked so soft - and not bloody anymore. That was a good sign.
“He refused to leave your side.” Katsuki’s eyes snapped across the room to the window, where Aizawa was leaning on the windowsill. “They finally agreed to give you both a shared room, but he still wouldn’t leave your side.” The underground hero sighed as he brushed some hair from his face. “What happened in there, Bakugo? Midoriya said he wouldn’t talk about it until you were ready.”
Katsuki’s right eye twitched just a little. That was sweet, but it made him wonder if maybe Izuku just couldn’t bring himself to admit to what happened. It was hard for Katsuki, too. Finally, he gave in to his whims and reached his good hand up to comb through those forest green curls. Izuku mumbled in his sleep and curled tighter into Katsuki’s side, but didn’t wake up.
“We went in to rescue a woman we heard. Of course the idiot wouldn’t listen when I told him to get back, that I had it. The whole house slid down the hill. The woman was already dead by the time we got there.” He sighed. “I don’t know how long we were in there, but Izuku said at one point I was blacked out for like a half hour? I woke up and… my uhh, my arm was crushed under a boulder. The boulder was a load bearing monstrosity, if either of us had tried to move it… we would have buried ourselves alive.”
Aizawa glanced at Izuku, then at Katsuki’s arm, then back to his face.
“How’d you get free? And - don’t say self-sacrifice.”
“Except that’s what it was, in the most brutal way possible. I blasted my arm with my quirk while Deku used his Full Cowling like a blast shield.”
“You-... you cut off your own arm with your quirk?” He seemed to be biting back a shout. “I-”
“Except that didn’t work.” Katsuki interrupted.
“What?”
“Not entirely. My elbow was dislocated already, so I blasted the joint, but it didn’t cut clean through. Izuku had to use my knife to cut the rest of my arm free. That’s how we got out. Once we both could move, we blasted out of the ground with a timed attack.”
Aizawa heaved a shaky breath and put his hand over his mouth, probably in shock or horror. Katsuki was sure it wasn’t pride, though he was also sure it wasn’t anger or disappointment either.
“I…” He tried. Katsuki looked back down to Izuku while Aizawa gathered his thoughts. “I am…very upset you had to go through that. But, I am also very proud of your critical thinking skills under pressure.”
“Huh?”
“Bakugo - you made the right choice. That’s not something you probably thought you’d hear, and a lot of people will question your choice - and they will question what Izuku did as well. But don’t ever doubt your choice. We both know Izuku would never have left your side if you were trapped. On top of that, the rubble was unstable, it would have caved in eventually. There was no other choice. You both chose to live, even if it meant losing parts of yourself.”
“Wait - what did Izuku lose?” Now he was concerned. He almost roused the green bean just to get answers but Aizawa spoke up first.
“That rib that snapped. It had cracked along the length, and exposed the marrow. They deemed it medically unsafe to put it back in so they opted for a synthetic rib that will do the job, but it’s easier to break, so he’ll have to go a bit easier on the gut punches in the future.”
“Oh. That’s.. Not so bad.”
“Izuku already called Mei, ya know? Told her he wanted her top of the line work for your new arm. She seemed…more than excited.”
Katsuki snorted, “I can imagine. She’s been trying to make gear for the rest of us old 1-A twerps for years. I’m sure she’ll make me something horrifyingly awesome that has a penchant for exploding.”
Aizawa actually cracked a smile. “Probably.”
Finally, Izuku cracked his eyes open. His whole face lit up when he realized Katsuki was awake. The blinding sunshine smile was infectious and the blonde couldn’t help but grin.
“Oh my God.” Both of them looked over at Aizawa. “Fucking finally.” the man threw his hands up and groaned. “I owe Mic so much money, God damnit.”
“Did you bet on something while we were in that hole?!” Katsuki barked. Izuku just sat there giggling, because of course he did.
“What? No. We made a bet ten years ago!”
“Ten… Really, Aizawa-sensei?” Izuku sat up, making one of the few annoyed faces any of them had ever seen him make.
“What? You two have had romantic tension since I met you. You can’t blame me for seeing it.”
“Wait, if you saw it, how do you owe Mic-sensei money?” Katsuki asked.
“Well… I bet on the two of you finally coming to your senses because your classmates hit you both over the head with something. Mic bet it would be a hero mission or disaster. Yeah… I swear, sometimes my husband is damn near clairvoyant.”
“Wow.” Izuku chewed on a fingernail. “Hmm… I guess I owe Ochako money, too.”
“Haaaah???!” Katsuki smacked his palm to his forehead. “Explain, Nerd.”
“Well… see - a few years ago, we got drunk and I confessed and like… ya know, everyone apparently already knew, and they all swore up and down it was mutual. I disagreed. So - Ochako made a bet with me that if I was wrong, and it was mutual, I’d owe her… uhh, actually I forget how much we bet.”
Katsuki sighed and pulled Izuku towards him so he could kiss his Nerd on the forehead. “You’re an idiot, I love you.”
“Wha-... you… Kacchan!”
“What?”
Aizawa tucked his smiling face into his capture scarf, giving Bakugo a knowing look over Izuku’s shoulder.
“It’s true, ya know.”
“Well, obviously! I love you too, ya know. But it would have been more romantic if we weren’t in the hospital.”
“Deku - when are we not in the hospital?” He held up a hand to stop any response, “Shut up and kiss me, stupid.”
After a huff, Izuku leaned in and pressed a gentle kiss on Katsuki’s lips. He heard the Nerd whisper another affirmation of love against his lips.
This was all he needed. He’d climb that muddied cliff five times over if it meant he’d get to find Izuku again and again. He’d suffer under rubble and mud, crushed and broken, if it meant he could save Izuku every time. Katsuki would climb mountains to save his Nerd, and he knew Izuku would do that and more to save him right back - every time.