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Izuku shuffles along behind his mother, keeping his head down as they walk a familiar path. He carries a small bag, a casserole dish settled in the bottom with a plate of cookies on top. His mama chatters away about the day's plans beside him but Izuku can hardly bring himself to acknowledge the words. It’s mid summer, only about a month after his tenth birthday. The sun is shining high above them, beating down on Izuku's tanned, freckled cheeks harshly.
Izuku wants to maybe go to the park. Or stay in the air conditioned apartment and watch AllMight movies all day. He wants to share the cookies with his mama and his mama alone. He wants to just enjoy the nice summer day without having to worry about hunching his shoulders and mumbling platitudes and evading bullies with harsh words and cruel names.
He does not want to be around Katsuki Bakugou of all people.
He can’t really fault his mama for this. She and Auntie Mitsuki have been friends far longer than Izuku can even imagine. They don’t know about the strained relationship between their sons. They don’t know about the way that a once forever friendship is crumbling to pieces more and more by the day all because of a simple diagnosis and an extra tiny little joint in Izuku's pinkie toe. The strain is something neither of them could ever bring themselves to be honest about, lest it ruin the close friendship between their parents.
So they suffer through the occasional dinner or playdate. Most times they just sit in silence on opposite sides of whichever room they’re in and try their best to pretend that the other doesn’t exist. It’s awkward and tense but Izuku would prefer the uncomfortable silence over raised voices and threats of violence, threats Katsuki has yet to follow through on but Izuku is beginning to fear may come to fruition sooner than he’d like.
A soft knock sounds beside him and he snaps back to his surroundings just in time for Auntie to open the door. He suffers through the cheek pinches with only a single whine this time before the bag is taken from him and he’s not so gently nudged toward the stairs to go hang out with the one person he’d rather be as far away from as possible. He knocks shyly on Katsuki's bedroom door, hearing a small grunt on the other side, and shuffles into the room with his head ducked.
He doesn’t say anything, lest he anger the explosive beast on the bed, and walks quietly to the closet. He likes Katsuki’s closet. It’s big and sweet smelling and he pretends not to notice the comfortable AllMight blanket hidden in a corner. He pretends, and yet he settles on the blanket anyway. He tucks himself into the corner quietly and pulls out his old beat up Ipod to listen to music quietly.
“Oi!”
Izuku jumps harshly, his head thunking against the wall behind him, and peers up at Katsuki in the doorway of the closet. And damn, there goes his only escape. Great going Izuku. Now he’s quite literally backed himself into a corner and left himself at the mercy of someone he often fears will one day lose his patience and begin throwing fiery fists.
“Um…y-yes Kachaan?”
Katsuki stares at him, his usual scowl in place but yet his features are oddly soft and calm in comparison to how it’s usually drawn up in a snarl as he yells insults at school or pushes Izuku away at the playground. Izuku, admittedly, doesn’t know how to react to a calm Kachaan. Somehow, it only makes his anxiety worse.
“M’bored. Wanna go to the river?”
Izuku blinks several times. He looks around the closet as if somehow someone else has materialized without his knowledge. When he finds only himself and Katsuki he points back at his own chest in question. Katsuki rolls his eyes with a deep, annoyed sigh.
“Who else, idiot? You wanna go or not?”
“U-um ok Kachaan. W-we can.” Izuku is quick to stammer out and even quicker to stand.
The boys head downstairs, Izuku following three steps behind as always. Katsuki barks out that they’ll be at the river for a bit as Izuku slips on his signature red sneakers. Mitsuki yells back to be home for dinner, drowning out Inko's softer call to be careful and stay together and then suddenly Izuku finds himself following Katsuki down a familiar trail in the woods. It stays quiet between them as they walk, Izuku staring intently at the back of his old friend's head.
He wonders where things went wrong between them. Katsuki had changed after Izuku's quirkless diagnosis but was it really quirkism? Mitsuki and Masaru had never treated Izuku any differently. He’s never known the pair to judge someone based on quirk status. So why does their only son seem to think quirklessness is some sort of life ending disease?
Did Izuku actually do something wrong without realizing? And somehow hating him based on his quirklessness is easier than admitting to a grudge. Or did Katsuki just get tired of him and doesn’t know how to shake his curly haired shadow. Maybe Izuku is better off just leaving him alone like the blond seems to want. He knows he can be annoying, following Katsuki around like a lost puppy despite all the evidence pointing to complete abandonment. But he can never bring himself to stop.
Katsuki was his first friend. His best friend. He was literally there when Izuku was born. Izuku remembers Mitsuki telling him once that the first time Katsuki saw Izuku he started wailing. They thought maybe he needed a diaper change. He didn’t. But it didn’t stop Katsuki from showering his dad in the middle of Inko's hospital room. At the time, Izuku had teased his friend relentlessly and Katsuki yelled at his mom in embarrassment.
Now though, Izuku can’t help but think it was the perfect way to foreshadow how their friendship would turn out.
But still, despite all the hurt and harsh words and confusion, Izuku can’t bring himself to give up on Katsuki. He has hope that they can fix their friendship some day. He wants his best friend back. He wants a future with Katsuki at his side. It’s not something he thinks he’ll get. But Izuku has always been a bit of a dreamer. So for now, he allows himself to dream.
“Um, Kachaan?”
“What?”
“Are…are we- w-what…I mean-”
Katsuki sighs and turns just as they break through the trees by the bank. The familiar fallen tree sits, now somewhat rotting, and Izuku thinks back to that moment years ago when Katsuki had slipped and fallen into the shallow waters below. How Katsuki had been so upset by Izuku's offered hand. Was that the moment Katsuki decided he didn’t want Izuku anymore?”
“Spit it out, Deku!”
Izuku curls his shoulders slightly and fiddles with his hands nervously. “What are w-we doing?”
“Hanging out. Are you dumb?”
“N-no I just…well it’s just that we never really do this stuff anymore. I always just hi- er uh sit in your closet until dinner when we come over.”
Katsuki tsks and turns his head, arms folded and a small pout adorning his lips. Izuku wants to giggle and poke the jutted lip but he doesn’t. This whole interaction is already confusing but nice in a way. He doesn’t wanna ruin it by invading Katsuki's personal space. So instead he averts his own gaze and nudges at a small rock with the tip of his toe.
“Yeah well…whatever. I was bored. Don’t make it a thing.” Katsuki grumbles softly.
Izuku just nods slightly, unsure what else to say without upsetting his old friend. They stand there in a slightly awkward silence. For once, Izuku represses the urge to fill the silence with mutterings or questions. He just stands and waits, scanning the ground for any good skipping rocks and finding none.
“Hey look. It’s an old fox den.” Katsuki suddenly says.
Izuku turns and sure enough there's a small fox den in the brush by the treeline. Without hesitation Katsuki starts toward it and on autopilot Izuku follows. Katsuki gets close, squatting down to peek inside and Izuku watches nervously. He wants to point out that this is unsafe, that the fox could be in there or it could come back and get territorial. But when he opens his mouth to do so Katsuki unknowingly cuts him off.
“Looks abandoned. Come look. There's a bunch of old leaves and shit in there.”
Izuku wanders up beside him, mumbling softly about watching his language but Katsuki ignores it. The blond tries to crawl inside but the opening is just small enough that he struggles to get in past his waist. He tsks as he brushes dirt and dead leaves off of himself before glancing back at Izuku. They make eye contact and Izuku's stomach swoops at the sudden smirk on his old friend's lips.
“You might be small enough to fit. ‘Sides, I know you’re crazy flexible. Try to get in there.”
Izuku doesn’t have the heart to argue. And truthfully, he is kinda curious as well. He kneels down beside Katsuki and peeks inside. It really does look abandoned and a quick glance around shows no prints in the loose dirt that could suggest an animal that’s taken refuge inside the small burrow. So with a quick shrug he shifts around until he can fit both legs into the den from the waist down.
Already, it’s a bit of a tight fit. But Katsuki is right, Izuku has always been crazy flexible. And so he keeps going. He grabs the thick root of a nearby tree for stability and twists his back, tucking his other arm up behind himself as he shimmies further into the burrow. He turns to look down, making sure he’s folded up enough to provide enough space for his other arm and head and as he does he releases his grip on the tree root.
What happens next happens quickly. Some dirt in the bottom of the den gives way under him. The drop isn’t far by any means but it’s enough to startle him. He tries to yank his freehand toward him in an attempt to stabilize himself but his wrist catches on something near the tree root, likely another root judging by the rough, hard texture. As his body weight shifts and sinks into the den his arm stretches painfully before a pop echoes in his ear and the sudden discomfort in his shoulder is quickly overshadowed by a searing pain.
He screams.
Above him Katsuki curses softly. He hears frantic shifting in the leaves and briefly panics. Katsuki wouldn’t just leave him here, would he? He’s a bully and he clearly doesn’t like Izuku anymore but would he just leave Izuku here, screaming in pain and stuck on a stupid freaking tree root? Hot tears streak his cheeks and he tugs on his arm again.
“Calm down, Zuku. You’ll make it worse.”
Izuku breathes a sigh of relief at the sound of Katsuki's voice. “K-Kachaan, it hurts.”
“I know, I know. Just breathe. You’re gonna be fine.”
A warm hand brushes against his trapped one and Izuku bites his lip to keep his pained whimpers silent. Katsuki's hands shake slightly as he tries to free Izuku's wrist and Izuku isn’t sure if he should feel relieved or even more panicked at the knowledge that Katsuki is scared. Suddenly his arm shifts, sending more pain into his shoulder and Izuku cries out softly. Katsuki holds his newly freed wrist in a gentle palm as his other hand reaches forward.
“Can you give me your good hand, I’ll pull you out.”
Izuku shifts around slowly, every movement pushing his burning shoulder into the earth around him. It takes a few minutes but eventually he manages to shift his tucked away arm out and grasp Katsuki's hand. With a firm tug, Katsuki pulls Izuku out of the den. He sits up with a sniffle and glances at his arm. It hangs limp at his side and his shoulder pops out in a way that makes Izuku gag. Katsuki doesn’t look much better, his face a little pale and eyes wide as he stares.
“We uh…we should get back. Auntie, she’s a nurse right? She can help.”
Izuku nods slightly. Yeah, his mom will be able to make it better. He hopes she can do it without a hospital trip. Izuku hates hospitals. Of course, it’s a mutual hatred. He can’t even get health insurance and in the rare occurrence that a hospital would treat him the bill would be far too high for his mama to afford.
Katsuki helps him up and he holds his limp arm at the elbow as they walk quickly back through the woods. For once, they walk side by side. Katsuki keeps a grounding hand on his good shoulder, mumbling small reassurances and insults that almost sound fond or affectionate. And for the first time since they were four Izuku realizes, Katsuki cares. In his own way he still cares. And through the pain Izuku dares to have a bit of hope.
“Auntie, Zuku got hurt!” Katsuki calls the second they walk through the door.
Three sets of footsteps race forward. Inko gasps as she sees the limp arm hanging at her son's side before softening at the sight of his crocodile tears and the sound of his sniffles. She mentions a hospital, something about a dislocated shoulder, but through his tears Izuku argues fiercely. His Mama reaches for him with a gentle hand but Izuku rips away from her, backing up until he hits Katsuki's chest. He tenses on instinct but the blond simply rests a protective hand on his side and growls at Inko like she's some sort of villain.
“No hospitals! They won’t help him, Auntie. You’re supposed to be a nurse. Just help him!”
Inko glances between them a few times, rightfully coming to the conclusion that Katsuki can and will run away with Izuku to avoid a hospital visit if necessary. And also coming to the conclusion that Izuku would run away with him willingly. Izuku has always followed Katsuki blindly and that’s not likely to change anytime soon. It’s clear that right now Katsuki is a safety net for him. And so, without much more hesitation, she starts barking orders at Katsuki's parents like the badass nurse she is.
Katsuki holds Izuku's hand the whole time, letting him squeeze painfully as his shoulder is shifted back into place. He appoints himself as the one to hold the ice on Izuku's shoulder, swatting away his hand every time Izuku tries to do it himself. He whispers a small, quick apology for putting Izuku in this situation in the first place. He lets Izuku cuddle against him while they watch the first AllMight movie. Deku becomes Zuku again and his normally aggressive hands and loud yells turn soft and quiet.
Izuku knows, realistically, that the peace won’t last forever. School will restart soon enough and Katsuki will go back to treating him like he’s nothing. He’ll show off for his friends at Izuku's expense. He may one day turn these gentle hands into painful weapons against him. Izuku dreads it. But for now, as the pain fades and the smell of nitroglycerin surrounds him, Izuku allows himself to relax in the safety of his friend.
If there’s one thing he’s learned from this incident it’s that Katsuki never stopped caring, not really. He may act out and treat Izuku badly. He may push Izuku away. And Izuku may never know why or how to fix it. But he sees the truth now. He understands, at least a little bit. And so he’ll continue to hold out hope that some day Katsuki will learn to love Izuku again just as much as Izuku has always loved him.