Spiraling back to You

Chapter 3 - War is Over

The sun had already risen by the time someone came to inform Katsuki that he could see Izuku. They'd been able to heal up the cut with some strong healing quirk that Katsuki didn't bother remembering the details of. The most important part was that Izuku was alive. He might have a scar, but he'll be fine. The doctors had also informed Izuku about the quirk accident, about the fact he'd de-aged again. Katsuki didn't have to be a doctor to know that was a concerning development.

"He's awake right now," a nurse informed him before they entered the room. "Doctor Isha will come by shortly to discuss the new changes."

He nodded, hating the small pitiful smile she gave him before moving on. He must look awful... He'd been beat up by Deku before this whole ordeal and stayed awake all night in those uncomfortable waiting chairs. Katsuki cried more than he cared to count, his stress and worry taking over in bursts of emotion as his thoughts spiraled down to dark places. Izuku was okay, he was alive. That's all that mattered right now. Whatever the fuck that de-aging quirk was doing to him could wait until Isha got there.

And so, for the second time in a week, he took a deep breath before pushing open the door to Izuku's hospital room. He looked worse than he did the first time around, exhaustion clearly visible in his face. Some of his smaller injuries were healed up, and Katsuki could tell he showered, but he still looked worse for wear. He hated seeing him like this, being forcefully reminded of the time Izuku ran away from them, when he tried to do everything on his own and buckled under the pressure of it all. Katsuki hated the entire war and what it did to them, but he couldn't be happier to see Izuku right now. Safe and sound.

He looked up when he heard the door open, but quickly averted his eyes when he noticed Katsuki walked in. Which stung a little, to be honest, but Katsuki wouldn't let it get to him. Izuku was his priority right now and he was going through a lot more than Katsuki. He'd been flung into the future, or at least that's how it must feel to him. He was still in battle mode while the world around him had suddenly settled down, and that must be hard to come to terms with, too.

"I'm glad you're okay," Katsuki mumbled, pulling up a chair. "Please never try something like that again... You scared the shit out of me."

"I'm sorry," he said, his voice cracking up a bit. He'd been crying, too. "I... I didn't know-"

"You couldn't have known," Katsuki interrupted.

"I attacked you," Izuku breathed, clenching his fists as he glared down at the bandage around his wrist. "I... I tried to..."

"You did the best with the information you had," Katsuki said, reaching out to take his hand in his own, only to retreat a second later. They weren't together yet. He didn't even call Izuku 'Izuku' yet. No wonder he thought Katsuki was some kind of imposter...

"Why did I wake up next to you?" Izuku asked, still not fully believing this was actually his future. "When I woke up, I... We were in the same bed."

"We live together," Katsuki explained, fidgeting with his hands, feeling as if his engagement ring was burning a hole through his shirt. "We're... We're together, we're a couple."

"...Really? We- Us? We're..?" Izuku asked in disbelief.

"I apologized for all the shit I said and did when we were brats," Katsuki told him, wanting to make that abundantly clear. "I swore I'd never hurt you ever again, that I'd stand by your side and prove myself to you. To earn your forgiveness... You confessed to me during our third year and we've been together ever since."

"Oh," Izuku breathed, his face flushing a bright red. That reaction made Katsuki feel a little better. He knew they'd been crushing on one another for the longest time, but he had no idea how far Izuku's feelings actually reached. If Izuku already liked him during the war then... Then that was a good thing. It would make explaining things a lot easier, anyway. "Oh that's... That's uh..."