Iophobia
Fear of poison or being poisoned.
Katsuki was worried about Izuku. Ever since the two were attacked by that Sludge Villain he noticed that the verdanette had not eaten much or refused to eat the school lunches, and he could see he was losing weight. He even noticed that he would avoid anything that resembled or had the same consistency as that sludge bastard.
Avoiding the sludge or mud is one thing, but refusing or not eating was another. He needed to find an answer, but he needed to make a couple of bentos. If it is something that he suspects, then he just hopes the Nerd trusts him enough for this.
Izuku was starving, but ever since the encounter with that Villain and almost possessing him triggered him. He had never felt so unclean when the slime forced down his throat and pooled into his stomach, then intestines cramping in him he had never felt so violated. For days he still had to expel whatever was inside him, and it was vile.
Another thought during the first few nights was, even if the main villain was in Tartarus, did he still have control of the sludge inside Izuku? That freaked him out so bad that he had now refused to eat anything, even after the slime was completely gone.
He knew this fear was irrational, but his mind wasn’t thinking straight when the fear came in and his stomach would roil in discomfort, increasing his fears even more as it felt like something was alive in there like an alien. Inko had taken him to the hospital twice within a month when he suffered severe cramping and panic attacks.
The doctors had diagnosed him with Iophobia, the fear of poison or being poisoned. In hindsight that is what it may have been, as the slime gave him the feeling that it was a fucking parasite, poisoning his veins to force him to do his bidding. They also added cibophobia as they also noticed he was refusing anything with a certain texture like pudding or gravy.
They are now trying some type of exposure therapy, but so far no luck. He just does not feel comfortable with the doctors, especially when one of them expressed disgust that he was Quirkless. Izuku couldn’t trust someone like that for his well-being.
He sighed again as Izuku got up to go somewhere quiet and away from everyone, he didn’t want to be in a crowd. Besides, he didn’t have anyone to be with besides Kacchan, Riko, and Tsubasa.
Speaking of Kacchan, he saw the blond get up and walk towards him with bento boxes wrapped in a traveling cloth. He looked at him in both fear and confusion before Katsuki leaned forward.
“C’mon, Nerd.” He said as he gently touched Izuku’s elbow to get him to stand and guide him outside the building and to one of the ancient wisteria trees around the school before sitting down and leaning against its trunk.
“Here,” Katsuki handed Izuku a bento filled with rice, katsudon, egg rolls, and cherry tomatoes. “I can tell you haven’t eaten in the last month, you need to regain your strength.”
Izuku’s stomach lurched and he looked away. “I-I can’t…”
Katsuki looked at him with a soft expression and set the box down. “Does it have to do with that Sludge Bastard?”
The verdanette’s eye twitched as he had some flashbacks before nodding in confirmation. “I-I know he is gone, but…he left…things inside me…”
The blonde immediately knew what he was going through, the villain did the same thing to him as well when he tried to possess him, and he could understand the violation Izuku had felt. It was not something anyone wanted to experience.
“It has been over a month, and he is locked well away from us.” Katsuki said as Izuku tucked into himself more. “I can’t deny I felt the same way, Deku, but think about it. He is powerless, and they would have had him restrained or Suppression Cuffs on him.”
Izuku blinked in realization and cursed at himself when he missed that detail. It was true, they had cuffs on him, making his Quirk useless. He was such an idiot. But still…
Katsuki lifted his bento box again and handed it to the verdanette. “At least eat the cherry tomatoes. I won’t yell at you for not eating my food, just get some vitamin c.”
Izuku’s stomach tightened and growled followed by nausea, a vicious cycle that his body was telling him to eat but the mind was saying that he would puke it out. However, when he looked at the cherry tomatoes they did look fresh and untampered. He took the bento box and took a cherry and slowly popped it into his mouth before biting down, allowing the juice from the small fruit to burst in his mouth. The flavor of it slowly worked into his senses, savoring the fresh flavor before swallowing. His stomach clenched for a second before rumbling louder, begging for more as another cherry was sent down.
Katsuki looked at him, watching him eat the cherry tomatoes slowly at first before he noticed the increased vigour of Izuku’s eating and the tears falling down in relief as the stress slowly faded away. By the time the final grain of rice was eaten, Izuku completely broke down and leaned against Katsuki keeping him grounded as he let loose. The blonde glared at the other students who happened to cross by, daring them to say something or get blasted. He gently patted Izuku’s back as he continued to cry through lunch before that smile he had before the incident appear back onto his cherub face. Normally, he would have yelled at him to not leave tears and snot all over his uniform if he hadn’t thought ahead of time of bringing a spare.
