ϟleep tomorrow but tonight go crazy ❤

Still, he doesn't notice your approach, as measured as it is. The night is silent, the swing of his bat whooshing so clearly that you know the sound from the fence would've carried, and yet he remains trained on the imaginary pitcher with the imaginary ball. As he prepares to swing again, you recall the few times your father took you to baseball games, the chant used to disrupt or cheer on the batters (it's been so long, you forget, though you're hoping for the former). Maybe you remember because you just watched Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

Either way, the words come, the cadence a little clumsy from having gone unspoken in a decade, but it's enough to make him start, jolting in surprise before he turns.

"What the hell? Couldn't just say hi?" There's a ghost of a smile playing on his lips that turns material when he looks you up and down and, like always, you warm where his gaze lands.

"You didn't hear me coming?"

He clicks his tongue against his teeth. "I was just..."

"Losing to an invisible pitcher?"

"Shut up." He draws out the vowels with a roll of his eyes. "Was just lost in thought before you scared the shit outta me."

"Oh? Is that what the Great Iwaizumi looks like when he's scared? I'll have to remember this; I'm sure I won't get another opportunity to see such a sight." You beam at him, your chest feeling warm at his half-scowl, muddied by his reluctant grin.

In the months since you've known him, you've known two things about him: that he never turns you down when you ask to hang out, and that his smile always follows yours.

"Yeah, yeah. Better take a picture. It won't happen again."

Not a second is wasted as you pull out your phone and swipe open the camera. "You have any plans over the break?"

The flash of the camera burns your retinas, startling in the shroud of night. Your skin starts buzzing when he comes to stand at your side, leaning in to look at the picture. He's a little washed out from the flash, but he's grinning in that way he only ever seems to do for you.

Your heart hiccups.

"Nothing 'til New Years. My parents are going to fly out for the first couple days. Why? Wanna do something together?"

Time stills for half a second when he turns to look at you, his smile still shaping his lips, an excited gleam in his eyes. If you were an artist, this would be a moment that you would capture on a canvas in the days to come. Such a thought bumps against your ribs, settling in your gut, a lit match being tossed onto kindling, setting you alight.

"Something? Let's do everything together."

His eyes crinkle as his cheeks lift and, oh, that's beautiful, too. "Everything? That might take longer than the next two and a half weeks, but sure."

You want to turn his words into a promise, something for the two of you beyond the steady friendship that's kept you afloat during the tenuous fall quarter, but you'll take them for what they are now.

You stand still, poised and ready to take on whatever the villain throws at you. You focus on him, activating your quirk as you bend down to take out a small pocket knife tucked into your sock. You raise it high in the air and the villain almost laughs as if he thinks you’re a moron. The voices around you become louder and you’re able to pick out the voices of your friends. Eijirou’s voice is the loudest, screaming at you to stay away from the villain. 

You plunge the knife through your right hand and no blood seeps from the wound. You don’t yell in pain, you just continue staring at the villain as he clutches his right hand in pain and stares at you in disbelief. 

“How…How are you doing that?”  the villain cries out through a pained cry. 

You chuckle darkly, “There’s a reason I didn’t want to be a hero.  A quirk like mine is too “dark'' to be used in hero work. Anything you do to me, will affect you, ten times worse. So you come near Katsuki again, and I’ll slit my throat and watch the life drain from your eyes,” you snarl. 

The villain is tackled by two other heroes you don’t recognize and the second his arms are contained and the quirk canceling handcuffs are locked around his wrists, you release your quirk. 

“Dynamight!” A voice behind you calls. It’s close…way too close. 

You whip around and crouch down over Katsuki’s motionless body. There’s blood pooling from too many places on his chest and face and his eyes are fluttering open and closed rapidly. You bend down next to him, cupping his cheek tenderly and pulling him into your lap to assess his wounds.

When footsteps on crunching rubble sound loud in your ears, you turn in the direction, snarling again like a rabid dog. 

“Do not fucking touch him,” you seethe. 

You don’t know who the people approaching are, they all sound unfamiliar. You can’t make out faces or shapes in the crowd. They’re all just colorful blobs. The only thing that matters is Katsuki and keeping him safe. People in white slowly approach the two of you and you tighten your grip on him and pull him closer to your chest, protective and fierce. 

“Stand down. We need to patch his wounds and get him to a hospital,” you hear one man say. It doesn’t register though. All you know is that whoever they are, they’re trying to take him from you. 

“I said don’t touch him!” You screech and it echoes off the rubble and rocks scattered around. 

Another person approaches, their voice is a bit calmer, speaking slowly to you as if they think you’ve lost your mind. 

“I understand you want to protect him. But the villain is gone now. We’re here to help him.” 

The words mean nothing to you. They hang in the vast darkness of your mind, lingering there like an annoying fly as you desperately try to focus on Katsuki’s stuttering heartbeat. 

It’s getting harder and harder to feel and that thought only puts you more on edge. 

You look around you, tears now making your vision hazy. You could stop them all in seconds. Two stabs into your own chest while your eyes are fixed on them and they’re gone forever. 

Help him? What a joke. None of them helped him before this. None of them stepped in to stop that villain from hurting him, from almost killing him. No one did anything. They stood there. 

They watched him as he tiptoed on the line of death. They sat and watched and did nothing. They don’t deserve to touch him, or see him, or speak to him.  

“Stay away.” 

You say that through your teeth. You enunciate every syllable, you tighten your grip on the knife, ready to strike. No one will touch him, not while you’re here. 

No one. 

“Baby….” 

That voice… you know that voice. You blink and suddenly your vision is clear, and crouching next to you and holding in his tears, is Eijirou. 

“Ei…Eiji?” You whisper. 

He reaches out to touch your shoulder tenderly “Baby hey…you…you gotta let the paramedics help him, ok? If you don’t, he could die, baby. Wherever they move him, you’ll go with them ok? They won’t keep you out.” 

When he feels your shoulders drop their tension, he sighs and lets the tears roll down his face. He slowly moves his hand to Katsuki’s chest and you don’t move to stop him. He is yours and he is Katsuki’s and you’re all here now together. You hear him whisper Katsuki’s name, hear him mutter something like “don’t you dare die on us,” before you turn to look at the paramedics, standing with their hands raised in surrender. 

You gaze back down at Katsuki’s face, bloodied and bruised, push his hair off of his forehead and place a kiss on his sweat and dirt covered brow. Then you turn back to the paramedics and give a curt nod. 

“Help him.” 

“Eiji, you’ll be late if you don’t leave soon,” you yell down the hallway. In the bedroom you can hear the huge man banging and shuffling through clothes. You shake your head, smirking to yourself as you place the fried omelet into his lunch box. 

“I’m coming! Can’t find my–oh!” There's a large boom and then you hear another voice coming from the bedroom. 

“Dammit Red! You’d be able to find your keys if your side of the closet wasn’t such a fuckin’ mess.” 

The voice is grumpy, gravelly, and thick with sleep, yet it instantly soothes you. 

“Your keys are next to the door. On the fancy key ring I bought two months ago for this specific reason might I add,” you call down the hallway again. 

Both men enter the open living room, Eijirou dressed in his hero costume and a duffel bag slung over his shoulder and Katsuki, in black sweatpants with his arm in a sling and cast.  Eiji’s arm is wrapped around Katsuki’s back as they both traipse into the room. Across the way, you’re in the kitchen and as soon as you see them both, your eyebrows pull together, a disapproving look painting your features. 

“Katsu…” 

“Save it. I wanted to see ‘em off for work at least,” he huffs, rolling his eyes. You sigh as Eijirou flashes you a crooked smile that says ‘I tried to talk him out of it.’ Quickly you put the lid on the bento box you were prepping and tie it in a silk scarf before walking over to your husbands to hand it to Eiji. 

He takes it from you with a beaming smile, “Thanks baby. You always take care of us,” he replies, bending down to kiss your cheek.  

“If I don't, who will?” you reply without missing a beat. 

You giggle as he leans awkwardly to kiss you on the lips. Katsuki is still being toted up right on his other arm and when you hear him huff impatiently you almost laugh again. 

“Oi, I’m the injured one. How come she gets all the love,” he mutters with a pout. 

You and Eijirou laugh and it’s as if your laughs are harmonizing with each other. It music to your ears, it almost feels like nothing’s changed. 

Almost. 

“I was just savin’ the best for last,” Eiji purrs as he wraps both arms around Katsuki’s waist. 

He gives him a tender peck on the lips, his thumb brushing lightly over his cheek and Katsuki sighs into the kiss just like he always does when he’s blessed with affection from the two of you. This moment could be like any other morning you’ve had with your partners. But you all can feel the tension, the worry and fear. 

It’s in the way Eijirou’s fingers linger on Katsuki’s skin when he pulls away, in the way your eyes stay fixed on Katsuki’s wobbling frame like a hawk, in the way Katsuki grips Eiji’s shirt when he balances himself on his wobbly legs and the way he his eyebrows pull together in frustration when he thinks about how he can’t even walk on his own. 

“Alright alright, now go on. You’re already late!” you say, moving to replace Eijirou’s arm around Katsuki’s waist. You place your other hand on Katsuki’s chest to steady him and just as he did with Eijirou, he grips the fabric of your shirt tight in his fist and melts into your side for support. 

You can briefly feel his breath on the top of your head as you shoo Eijirou out the door. 

“Love you, be safe…come home to us,” you recite.

Your shared mantra, the three of you always repeat it when they leave for work every morning. The last part was added quite recently.  

“Love you too, always…I promise,” Eiji answers back. And just like that, he’s out the door. The door shuts with a quiet click, and you're left sitting in the silence as you hold Katsuki up. 

Katsuki’s nose is pushed into your hair, he inhales deeply and exhales warm breath down your neck. 

“Pain?” you ask, still staring at the closed door. 

“Ain’t much. I’m fine,” he mutters back. 

You sigh and maneuver so you’re facing him, both of your hands on his waist. Katsuki lets you move but he reaches around to put his hand around the back of your neck. You stare into his eyes. He looks tired… rightfully so he barely slept last night and when he did, he was stirred awake by the nightmares. 

“You know, you always mutter when you’re lying,” you reply, raising an eyebrow. 

He’s about to argue with you, but the steady hissing breath of relief that pours from his lips interrupts him. He tilts his head, wordlessly asking you what you’re doing but the tiny smile on your lips gives him the answer. 

“You took pain pills for me. How many times do I gotta tell you not ta use your quirk on me? I ain’t–”

“You ain’t weak. I know, Katsu,” you interrupt. 

Rather than fight you, like you know he wants to, the energy needed to go back and forth with you isn’t present so he sighs and drops his head. His shoulders hang and he clenches the fist holding your shirt. 

Gently you reach up to put your hand on his cheek. 

“Uh uhn, don’t you do it,” you say sharply. He looks at you through his lashes, his head still hanging, but there’s a hint of playful energy behind his stare. 

“You don’t know what I’m doin’,” he grunts. 

“Don’t I? Right now you’re thinking…” you pull his face up more so that his head is no longer hanging and you get a little smirk out of him when you pull your brows together and say in your best deep Katsu voice, “ ‘I can’t even stand on my own without my wife’s help. What kinda fuckin’ hero is that? A weak one. Fuckin’ stupid!’” you finish. 

He clicks his tongue and narrows his eyes and you can see the edges of his lips twitching. You gently poke one side of his mouth, once, twice, three times until he can’t help it and he chuckles softly. 

“How could you possibly know–” 

“Because I am an excellent Katsu whisperer. I took a bunch of classes and almost graduated at the top of my class but I ended up tieing with this big handsome red head, so yannow, what can ya do?” you say nonchalantly as Katsuki chuckles again. He bends down to gently knock his forehead against yours and shuts his eyes. 

“Let’s sit, hmm?” you hum, moving toward the couch. 

With the effects of your quirk going and the pain meds, you let him go so he can walk–or more so limp–over to the couch himself. He appreciates it, appreciates the fact that you let him do little things by himself without him having to ask you. 

When he sinks into the couch, he sighs deeply again, and he blinks sleepily as you curl up on the couch next to him. 

“It won’t always be like this Katsu, “ you say, taking his hand and tracing the lines in his palms. 

“I know.”

“You’re not weak,” you tack on. 

It takes him a while but he finally breathes out, “I know.”  It’s quiet again as the two of you bask in each other’s company. His fingers idly play with the hair on the nape of our neck and again he blinks sleepily. You still need to make breakfast for the two of you. Some food in his belly may help settle the dizziness. Yet when you move to try and get up, he grasps your wrist tightly. 

“Don’t…” he whispers and you turn to him with worry. 

“I won’t,” you reply.

You watch him lean his head back on the sofa, the scar over his eye and running down his cheek is hard to miss. You know he doesn’t like when you touch it, but you crane your neck up to kiss the scarred skin of his cheek anyway. 

His voice startles you when he suddenly starts to speak. 

“Heard you in my dreams last night,” he says, head still craning toward the ceiling. 

“Me?” 

His dreams last night were terrible. He woke screaming and drenched in sweat. Both you and Eiji had spent hours trying to coax him back to sleep with soft assurances and light kisses. 

“Threatening to kill that guy, and the paramedics,” he replies and you wince. 

It’s not your proudest moment. It was probably hard to tell who was the actual villain that day. Do you regret what you said? A little. Would you say it all again if the situation were repeated? 

Absolutely.

“I uhh…” you stammer. 

What do you say to him? You’d thought he was passed out. It took weeks of Eijirou assuring you that he still loved you, that he didn’t look at you differently after the things he’d heard you say for you to finally be ok. But you never thought about whether Katsuki disapproved. No wonder he heard your voice and had nightmares. 

“I’m sorry…if I…I don’t know…scared you or something  I–” 

You gasp as he shifts quickly, way too quick for someone with his injuries. He wraps a hand around the back of your neck, leans in close and plasters your lips against his. His eyes are squeezed shut and he kisses you so deeply that you lose focus on your quirk and he winces from the renewed source of pain. He ignores it as he continues to kiss you, desperately as his fingers move up the back of your neck and tangle into your hair. 

When he finally allows you to pull back from him, you both are panting.  

“The only thing I’m scared of…the only thing I’ve ever been afraid of… is never being able to see you and Ei again,” he states, his eyes piercing. 

“B…but the nightmares–” 

“Ya really wanna know why I wake up screamin’ like that? Why I don't ever tell you and Ei what I dreamt?” 

You lip quivers and you nod. 

“It’s cuz the dream always ends the same. It ends with me not wakin’ up in the hospital to you two idiot’s faces cryin’ over me. It ends with the last words I hear from Ei being ‘Don’t die on us.’ It ends with me watchin them try to take you away from my dead body and some form of ghost me is screamin’ at you and Ei to let ya know that I'm still here. But neither of you ever hear me,” he explains. 

“Katsu I–”

He puts a finger to your lips gently and again he never breaks your eye contact.

“There ain’t nothin you could say or do that could scare me away Sweets. I got a lot of shit goin’ on in my head with…all of this…but…fuck…as long as I’m still breathin’ and I get to be with you and Ei… I’ll fuckin’ get through it. But I need you… I need both of you,” he confesses.

Tears are rolling down your cheeks and Katsuki quickly swipes them away.

“No tears dummy,” he says softly, trying to wipe his own eyes quickly.  

He brings his forehead back toward yours and his hand cups your cheek. Again you two sit in the comfort of your home, of each other’s arms and presence, reveling in the fact that you can do this. That he’s not…gone. 

“Tell me I ain't weak again. Need to hear it from you,” he whispers. 

You smile, gaze warmly into his eyes searching for all the vulnerability he bestows upon you in this moment. Again you kiss his scarred cheek and put your hands on his cheeks. You’ll tell him a thousand times a million, a billion if you need to. Whatever he needs, you’ll be that for him. 

“Katsuki Bakugou. You are not weak.”