Chapter 35

Silence.

Calm and serene inside the endless void that was his mind. It was dark all around, not a trace of light in sight. Everything was peaceful. It felt...relaxing. Why?

He had no track of time. What day was it? How long has he been in there?

For some reason, he didn't really care for those questions. He welcomed the numbness that embraced him, enjoying the feel. No jarring thoughts, no pain, no nothing. Just complete and utter peace.

Was this what death felt like? Has it finally caught up to him and claimed his broken soul to rest? Did his ongoing misery finally come to an end? Where was he?

His eyes looked onto the never-ending nothingness—as if staring deeply into an endless abyss. His body felt weightless; floating in the middle of it. There was no sense of direction. No telling north from south, or east from west. It made him wonder if he was hit with some sort of isolation quirk. That would make sense...right?

Then that would mean that he was not dead. If that was the case...he had to get out of there!

His eyes frantically looked around, searching for something, anything at that point. The darkness began feeling unsettling, spreading a bad feeling through his senses. Whatever peace he had felt within the abyss was replaced by worry. And what made it worse was that he couldn't seem to remember anything. No matter how hard he tried to recall anything, his mind came up blank.

Random flashes shot through the seemingly empty void he was in, catching his attention. They were sudden images, although they were blurry. He tried to make sense of them, but before he could even do so, they disappeared. It was beginning to frustrate him.

Until he felt pain.

His whole body felt on fire, starting from his side. It caused him to gasp, eyes shutting tightly shut at the feeling. It burned through his system like wildfire shooting through his veins. What was happening?

"You have to stay strong, Izuku," his mother's voice whispered, making him open his eyes wide. Her ghostly figure approached him, her eyes the kind jade shade he missed. Her gentle fingers graced his cheeks, thumbs caressing his skin. "You still have a fight to win."

A crack of light seeped through the darkness, a soft voice beckoning him to it. He looked at his mother, alarmed. She smiled at him, pulling his head down to land a loving kiss on his forehead. "You will be in pain, but it won't last. Hold on, baby."

The burning sensation continued to spread throughout his body, and suddenly, he became painfully aware of the abrupt noises that filled his ears. There was a rapid beeping next to his ears, then a jumbled, hectic voice.

Then came feeling. He felt the coldness and the fabric of the sheets and bed cover as his fingers grasped them. Something covered his mouth and nose. Some kind of mask, he figured. He could feel bandages wrapped around many parts of his body, the very same parts that ached and burned in pain.

His breathing became frantic as more cracks of light tore through the fading darkness. His mother's eyes never left his, a small smile gracing her features. Even when he felt himself being pulled away, she kept her gaze steady. "I couldn't tell you this before, but I love you so, so much, Izu. Always remember that."

Her words made his chest feel heavy with emotion. The honesty behind her jade irises and loving smile made him feel something he'd thought was long gone. He felt loved. The motherly love he thought he lost the moment he told her his secret.

A scarred hand reached out to her, longing to hug her and tell her he loved her back. But the more he reached the faster he was pulled. The darkness shattered completely, a bright light deeming him blind. The smell of chemicals and alcohol slapped him hard as his eyes shot wide open.

"Izuku!" Katsuki's voice boomed to his right. A gasp left Izuku's mouth as the pain he felt doubled in intesity, making him groan loudly. The memories came flooding back in, each one of them overlapping the other. Everything was happening so fast that it was overwhelming.

"Aargh!" He exclaimed as his side ached and pulsed. Fingers touched his arm, but it made the burning feeling intensify even more. The beeping of the monitor went haywire, and his breathing came out in short spasms.

"Fuck, where is the fucking doctor?!" Katsuki exclaimed, deeply concerned for his squirming boyfriend in the bed. His heart felt like it was going to jump out of his ribcage the moment he saw Izuku's finger twitch just seconds before. At first, he thought it was part of his imagination—a stupid little illusion caused by his lack of sleep. But when he saw him fist the blankets and whimper, that's when he knew it was real.

The door to the hospital room barged open, a few nurses rushing inside. One of them took Katsuki's arm in a firm grip and forced him out of the room, making him sneer at her. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?! Get off me!"

"We need to stabilize him! I need you to stay out of the room until we can get him to calm down," the nurse scolded, successfully pushing the blond out of the room and slamming the door in his face. Furious, he punched the door, watching restlessly through the small window as the nurse's did their job.

His breathing was erratic and uneven, noticing Izuku's eyes glance around the room frantically. Jade orbs soon landed on ruby red ones that were filled with relief and worry. The panic and desperation in Izuku's eyes made him want to lounge back inside the room. "Izuku!"

The greenette's eyes widened, suddenly noticing all the nurse's around him. Realization dawned on him as he lifted his gaze back to stare at the boy on the other side of the door. Flashes of his fight against All for One resurfaced. The pain he was in got pushed to the back of his mind as his attention focused on the explosive blond. He tried calling out to him, but his throat felt so sore that it caused him to cough violently.

Katsuki watched helplessly as the freckled boy trashed around, desperate gaze never leaving his. He almost rushed back inside the room, but the nurse from earlier sent him a nasty glare. He responded with an intense glare of his own, lips tugging down in a snarl. But even so, he stayed put. He had put Izuku in danger once by rushing in, and he would damned if he let that happen again.

The nurses had successfully calmed Izuku down after injecting a sedative into his IV. His body slowly slumped back down on the bed as the medication started taking effect. The beeping from the heart rate monitor finally slowed down to a steady rhythm, his breathing stabilizing. Numbness slowly crept upon his limbs as exhaustion clouded his mind. But even so, he fought through it. He had to know that Katsuki was alright.

"K-Ka...chan," Izuku managed to say through his scratchy throat. The nurse next to him furrowed her brows in confusion, until she noticed his gaze shifting tiredly to the door. The lady smiled warmly at him, giving him a small nod as she retreated to the door.

Katsuki watched with antsy eyes as she opened the door, looking up at him with a stern look. "The sedative we gave him will eventually get him to fall asleep. Do not do anything to stress him out, and please give him some water to cool down his throat. Make sure he doesn't move, either. He almost ripped open his stitches."

The blond scowled down at her as she listed the do's and don'ts, almost scoffing at her audacity. It's not like he didn't know those things already, plus, she was basically telling him to do her job for her. She was lucky that Izuku was much more important to him than her telling him what to do.

The rest of the nurses slowly walked out of the room, and before the one that was speaking to him finished talking, he pushed her aside and quickly went inside the room. The nurse sighed, rolling her eyes at the rude boy, before walking away to another room. Kids these days.

Katsuki slowly approached the greenette that fought to stay awake. When those jade eyes slowly met his and he gave him a weak smile, it felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off Katsuki's shoulders. His shoulders slumped and his knees grew weak, a breath he didn't know he was holding being released from his lungs. Izuku's eyes widened slightly in worry, and immediately shifted to try and sit up. "W-What is...it? Are y-you h-hurt?!"

The itchiness in his throat made him cough once again, the sound alarming Katsuki as he quickly prepared a glass of water. Placing a straw inside the glass, he lined it with Izuku's chapped lips, and the greenette wasted no time in taking it in his mouth. A small sigh of content left Izuku's nose as the cool liquid quenched his horrible thirst and soothed his throat. Katsuki watched as he drank the entire glass, releasing the straw and licking his lips after.

"You're a fucking idiot, you know that?" The blond muttered, sitting down and setting the glass aside. Izuku relaxed again, wincing slightly as he flopped back down on the bed, offering Katsuki a drowsy grin.

"I'm so happy you're okay," Izuku whispered, tears welling up in his eyes. Katsuki frowned, a knot forming at the back of his throat as his own eyes teared up. The freckled boy was unbelievable. Even though he was the one that was in a fucking coma, he still worried for him.

"Worry about your own damn self for once," Katsuki whispered brokenly, letting his head fall down onto the mattress next to Izuku's scarred hand. The wave of suppressed emotions drowned him like a tidal wave, his shoulders shaking as he let the tears fall. The relief he felt after seeing Izuku finally awake was immense. "I-I was so fucking scared, Izuku. Fuck."

"Kacchan?" Izuku asked, moving his hand to rest it on the blond spikes. He hated seeing him like this. He wanted Katsuki to be his usual cocky and prideful self. It was rare to see him cry, and he didn't like it one bit. "You didn't have to be scared."

"How could I not?!" The blond hissed lowly, wiping at his tears furiously. "You were in a coma, for crying out loud! And to make things worse, I'm the reason for it. That bullet was meant for me, not you, idiot!"

Izuku's scarred hand gently caressed the blond's head, making his way down his temple and onto his cheek. This made Katsuki lift his gaze, locking onto Izuku's teary eyes and gentle smile. "It is not your fault, Kacchan. You're right, I'm an idiot. But I will always choose to be the idiot that risks his life to save yours, because to me, you're my hero. And I want to be yours...I have always wanted to be."

Upon hearing those words, Katsuki's hand gripped Izuku's fingers that were wiping away his tears. The emotion behind Izuku's voice pulled at his heartstrings, an unfamiliar feeling spreading through his chest. It burned within him as he felt the grip on his hand loosening, green eyes fluttering shut as the sedative finalized its job. He watched the steady rise and fall of his boyfriend's chest, his own exhaustion catching up to him once and for all. So, no matter how uncomfortable he felt, he let himself fall asleep while holding his hero's scarred hand.