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Izuku was feeling better than he had in a long time. How could he not? After all, he started hero patrols again with the new hero suit, he gets to work alongside his classmates now, he still gets to lead class exercises at U.A., more schools have been inviting him to lecture, and his classmates had planned Tsu-chan a birthday party. So when he arrived at the private room his classmates booked at a new club for said birthday, Izuku was feeling ready to let loose and have some fun.
One drink turned into two, and two turned into five, five turned into a suspicious number of drinks which prompted Iida-kun to guide him to a seat in the corner of the room, hand him a tall glass of water, give a lecture on safe drinking habits, and slide over a slice of birthday cake to delay the further absorption of alcohol into his system. Izuku slouched against the velvet seat, trying to distract himself from the ever growing sense of nausea tickling at the back of his throat.
He blearily scanned the room, watching Ashido-san drag Kirishima-kun onto the dance floor as Jiro-san appeared to be going over the playlist with Sero-kun, noticing that a certain blonde was nowhere in sight. Disappointed, Izuku leaned his head back further into the soft cushioned seat. He felt like he hardly got to see Kacchan since their Class 1-A reunion. They were busy people, and Izuku knew Kacchan was actively traveling to different hero schools to recruit for his new agency. Izuku was also trying to balance his teaching schedule and training as a pro again. At the same time, Izuku couldn’t help but constantly seek out his presence. Truthfully, it had always been that way since they were little kids. Except now, Izuku was old enough to understand that when he sought out his childhood friend, it was not just because of the hero he was, but because of simply who he is. Izuku sank into the velvet seating further as the thought relaxed him. He could clearly envision Kacchan dressed in a simple black t-shirt, glaring at Kaminari-kun as he tried to encourage him to have a couple of drinks before Kacchan would shove him tumbling into Mineta-kun.
As he continued to ruminate upon his Kacchan filled daydreams, Izuku absentmindedly brought a spoonful of cake to his lips, enjoying the soft chocolate for a short moment before a sudden urge to throw up hit him like lightning. Not wanting to make a scene during the party, Izuku discretely shuffled out of the club onto the city streets. Upon stepping onto the sidewalk, the green haired man quickly covered his mouth to stop the sudden wave of fluids as he stumbled to the nearby trashcan. After emptying the contents of his poor stomach, Izuku moved the hand not gripping the rim of the garbage bin for life to wipe the corners of his mouth, before realizing his hand and sleeve were covered in blood and peppered with…purple flowers? It is hard to explain how Izuku felt at that moment. It was almost like the ground under him tilted ever so slightly, not enough to make him fall over, but enough that he felt like his legs were two hundred pounds, yet his upper body felt light enough that even a small puff of air could blow him over. Each breath he took felt more hurried as it felt like a tightrope was gripping tighter around his chest, sending a zinging pain up his sides. But, Izuku’s mind was clear.
Hanahaki?? It couldn’t be! Izuku thought to himself, that was just a popularized internet romance trope. You could not actually die from unrequited love. Well, actually, the more he thought about it, it would theoretically be possible to die from a broken heart as continuous emotional turmoil could always manifest as severe stress on the human body. It was not totally unheard of-- Izuku slapped himself in the face, before groaning in realization that he was getting blood all over himself. Technically, it was not entirely impossible that he got hit with a quick akin to hanahaki, and if Izuku thought about it more, it did make sense. He was also already feeling somewhat (a lot) conflicted about his feelings towards Kacchan. Was there even such a thing as a hanahaki quirk? It would be a very odd manifestation of abilities, perhaps he should look into the ability more for his students training--
Izuku shook his head rapidly like a dog after getting doused by water and quickly started to make his way. If he really had something like hanahaki, he needed to confess before the condition got worse
---
By the time Izuku reached Kacchan’s doorway, he was starting to feel woozy.
Maybe it was from the nerves? Izuku barely spared a second to process the potential ‘what if’s,’ and now all the anxiety-inducing possibilities were starting to catch up with him? Would confessing to his childhood friend negatively impact their relationship? How would Izuku feel about that when his entire existence has never not had Kacchan in it? Who was going to make him homemade katsudon once his mom passed!?
Okay, that one is not really an important thought.
Maybe a little since he really likes katsudon. It was already rare that Kacchan would make him katsudon without telling him to die in the process. Also, wow, now that the adrenaline is wearing off he finally noticed each breath he took really hurts. Was it like this the whole way he ran here? Maybe it has something to do with the flowers growing in his lungs? He also felt oddly tired from the run over. Dear god, he is only 25 and too young to be struggling this much physically. Maybe he should increase his training regiment now that he was on active duty again--
Before Izuku had the chance to finish his fiftieth internal monologue, the door that Izuku was leaning on swung open, causing him to lose balance until a set of strong arms wrapped them around his waist. Wait, he was leaning on the door? Izuku could have sworn he was leaning on the doorway instead. But--
“Izuku? What the fuck?” Kacchan gaped as he took in the bizarre sight in front of him.
“Kacchan! I, uh, well,’ Izuku laughed to himself nervously as he tried to catch his breath “I, er, you see I was drinking a lot at a bar and…*cough* ow, well--”
“Why the fuck are you covered in blood!?” The blonde asked angrily, adjusting himself as Izuku continued to stagger on his feet and lean more of his body weight onto him “What did you--”
“Okay so *cough* ow, fuck, I threw up these flowers--”
“...you ate flowers.”
“I was not just eating flowers off the ground!” Izuku huffed indignantly, a sudden wave of anger knocking him out of his anxious mind fog, damn, he was sweating a lot “I threw them up along with this blood because I have hanahaki!”
The two stood there in silence for what felt like an eternity before Izuku felt Kacchan grab the front of his button down and ripped it open.
“K-Kacchan!? What are you doing!?!?” Izuku exclaimed, embarrassed and startled by the sudden change of events as he grabbed the opening of his dress shirt, attempting to cover himself and make himself decent again.
“Did you get injured today in a fight?” Kacchan asked, tone calm and methodical, the change from outrage throwing Izuku off as he processed what this friend said before noticing his line of sight and looking down at his chest which was…a giant purple bruise!?
“O-oh! I, um, well, er, actually, I did get thrown through several concrete pillars during a training exercise today…” Izuku mumbled, barely audible.
“The suit should have been able to absorb most of that impact.” Kacchan grumbled, as he continued to examine the injury, gently pressing his finger pads against the bruising, causing Izuku to flinch at the sudden touch. “Are you having any trouble breathing?”
“Oh I didn’t have my suit on at the time, and…” Izuku paused, “yeah I guess it hurts every time I--Wah!”
Before Izuku could get his bearings, he felt himself being swept up in Kacchan’s arms as the other walked back into his apartment briefly to grab a bag before running to the elevators.
“K-Kacchan!? What are you--”
“I’m bringing your stupid ass to the hospital! You..! You fucking dumbass, you’ve probably been hemorrhaging from--” Kacchan paused to press the lobby elevator button “I mean what kind of idiot doesn’t get checked out by a doctor after getting thrown through several concrete walls without armor you stupid--” Izuku found himself curling into Kacchan's chest as he continued to cough up more blood clots, finding his vision swimming with black dots as he waited for the sudden wave of dizziness to subside.
Kacchan turned away from him and decides to focus on running to the hospital not too far from his apartment as Izuku slowly blacked out.
---
Izuku woke up to the sight of the most beautiful angel. He was tall, his halo glowing with a almost…fluorescent glow?
He was a bit surprised that the angel had red eyes, aren’t angels supposed to have bright shiny blue eyes? Wait, who said only demons could have blood red eyes? Is that racist?
The beautiful angel he just discriminated (?) against rudely kicked his shin. “I’m not your angel you shitnerd.”
Ah, it’s his Kacchan, Izuku thought to himself blissfully as he closed his eyes again, sinking further into his comfortable hospital bed.
Wait.
Hospital bed?
Izuku would have shot up in a frenzy if not for the strong hands that grabbed his shoulders, holding him down. Instead, he just lurched pathetically against Kacchan’s hands as he grimaced from the ache in his chest.
“Stay the fuck down you stupid-- you have a pulmonary contusion and rib fracture from your injury from earlier today. That’s why you were coughing up blood, you stupid shit.”
“Ohhh…” Izuku “So the intense chest pain I felt wasn’t anxiety or hanahaki..?” he asked, turning redder by the second at his own words. Izuku watched as his childhood friend put his hands on his hips, tilting his head back and looking up at the ceiling. His shoulders moved up closer to his ears, indicating he was taking a deep breath. In an instant, Kacchan grabbed the towel on the nightstand before beginning to thwack Izuku in the face with it.
“H-hey! Kacchan stop..!”
“Are you a complete idiot!?...don’t answer that because *smack* you are! I don’t know anyone who *smack* would think they were an afflicted a fictional disease *smack* before bothering to consider the obvious that *smack* being the injury *smack* prone moron that you *smack* are that you would have a chest injury when you *smack* already *smack* couldn’t *smack* breath!” Kacchan huffed.
Izuku ducked under the thin hospital blanket like it was going to save him from his fated ass beating “O-okay! Okay! I wasn’t thinking clearly--”
“You’re damn right you weren’t! You-- how many fucking drinks did you have!?”
“Like...two..ten..twel---”
*SMACK*
“I mean I coughed up flowers!” Izuku began “I thought maybe it was a hanahaki like quirk--”
“You coughed up flowers because Tsu’s birthday cake was covered in violets!” Kacchan spat as he shook an angry finger at Izuku “Her favorite flower! Her entire cake was nature themed because she’s a god damn frog!!”
“Violets are edible?” Izuku asked as he briefly peaked out from under his blankets.
*SMACK*
Okay, that one was on him, Izuku should have anticipated that one.
“Why would a baker put inedible flowers on the cake! Use your *smack* fucking *smack* common *smack* sense!” Izuku watched as Kacchan took a break from his assault and began to pace around the hospital room in clear distress as he continued to rant.
“What was the point of making an ultra fortified superhuman power suit if you’re just going to put yourself in dangerous situations without! You--” Kacchan took a deep breath in, like a dragon rearing to blast its prey into am oblivion “10 years! 10 years you fucking-- you’ve had 10 years to have some common sense and you-- Izuku I swear to god if you don’t get it the fuck together you’re going to send ME to the hospital for a god damn stroke you…” He had his hand through his blonde locks for the upteenth time in frustration. Izuku tentatively reached a hand out, hoping to take Kacchan’s hand in his and sooth the other’s rage. In that moment however, Kacchan looked back down at him with a look of pure rage.
“You were going to confess to me.” Kacchan stated simply as a matter of fact.
Izuku was pretty sure he was actually sweating bullets at this point. Between blacking out, drinking way beyond his means, and the apparent pulmonary contusion, well, he did not really have the chance to panic about his romantic feelings being reciprocated
“Er…well”
*SMACK*
“Ow!”
“Don’t deny the obvious dumbass! You showed up at my apartment in the middle of the night when you thought you had hanahaki.”
“Well—“
*SMACK*
“OW, OKAY, YES”
Kacchan huffed, seemingly satisfied with the clear admission despite Izuku’s ever growing embarrassment. He tossed the towel aside as he planted himself on Izuku’s hospital bed.
“Great, take me out on a date.”
Izuku opened his mouth, about to object that that’s now how dating works, but then he thought, well, I’m not dying and my crush likes me back, why make it more complicated? Instead. Izuku simply looked at his childhood friend, who grinned back at him, and asked:
“Do you like crepes?”
---
"Alright Deku, I'm happy to see that your vitals have improved. Someone will stop by soon with discharge papers so you can get some rest at home." The doctor smiled as he rewrapped the stethoscope around his neck and slipped his hands into the pockets of his white coat. "Do you have anything else you'd like to go over with me?"
"No that's alright, thank you very much Dr. Akira." Izuku smiled. Kacchan and him had spent the last hour catching up in the ER about his recent trips to hero schools outside of Japan, hoping to broaden the talent he could recruit to his agency. As much as he wanted to continue talking to his boyfriend (boyfriend!) he was ready to head home.
"Great, well it was a pleasure meeting you Hero Deku. I will be on my way out." Just as Dr. Akira turned, making his way to the door, he seemed to stumble a bit. Ever attentive, Kacchan reached out, grabbing the doctor by his elbow to steady the physician before he went face planting into the door frame.
"Don't collapse on me now doc, I already have him with one foot in the grave." Kacchan stated, gesturing at his hospitalized boyfriend (boyfriend!!!)
"Apologies Dynamight, it's been a few days of back to back long shifts. We've had some strange quirk induced conditions come through in our ER."
Izuku felt his ears perk up in interest. "Quirk induced conditions? Like quirk accidents or abnormal manifestations of a person's quirk?"
"Both to an extent," Dr. Akira turned to face him as he readjusted his glasses. "We recently bad a patient admitted for hanahaki like symptoms? I'm not sure if you both are familiar with what that is. I only recently had my girlfriend explain the trope to me."
Before Izuku could even get a word out, Kacchan slapped his hand over his mouth.
"Don't you dare Izuku"
Still, not even covering half his face could disguise his smug grin underneath.