painless.

CHAPTER 004.

"'great to see you looking healthy, izuku. i need you to tell me more about your condition." dr. bakugou-or, mitsuki-says. it's izuku's first appointment with her, and dr. archambault has just left the country.

"i thought-i thought dr. archambault told you about it." izuku says.

"well, he did, but i want your side of the story."

"uhm, okay. so, i can't feel pain-well, you already know that. um, so i don't... i don't know when i get hurt, and that's why i come in every day-you know, to get checked. to see if i'm hurt."

"no, i know all that, izuku. i mean, what does it feel like, emotionally, to have this? what are some internal struggles?"

"i believe this is a medical exam, not a therapy session. thanks." izuku replies, bluntly.

"oh." mitsuki says, defeated. "i guess i'll get to work, then."

dr. bakugou just feels around for anything wrong, checks his stats, and asks him several questions about what he had done so far today.

turns out, all he has is a paper cut on his thumb. ( from the book looking for alaska, if you were wondering ) ( the paper cut is not the worst pain izuku felt from the book, however. ) oh, and the bruise on his hip has faded down to a pale yellow color, showing healing. dr. bakugou-seriously, izuku doesn't know if he should be calling her 'mitsuki' or 'dr. bakugou'-says it should be gone in two days' time.

when izuku exits the room he got his exam in and enters the lobby, katsuki is at his side. it'd been like this for the past few days. katsuki just didn't know how to leave izuku alone.

"so, how'd it go?" katsuki asks.

"you sound like my mother." izuku snorts.

"i quite like your mother."

"you would." izuku kids, nudging katsuki's arm.

they walk out the door of the clinic, and start their way down the street, heading back to katsuki's house. after a minute of them just walking together, enjoying the nice weather or whatever, katsuki speaks up.

"so, when're you going to tell me why you have to go to the doctor every day?" he wonders, not looking at izuku.

"i'm not. why don't you ask your mother?"

"my mom isn't allowed to tell me about her patients, you know." katsuki replies pointedly.

they walk in silence for a little bit longer, as izuku thinks of what to say in response.

"why do you care so much, anyway?" izuku finally asks as they approach katsuki's house.

"i want to make it so you don't feel insecure about it; so you don't feel like you can't tell someone what it is."

izuku doesn't reply.

when they finally enter katsuki's house, izuku go straight to the kitchen. since mitsuki and katsuki had moved in the past week, mitsuki had bought tons of food. and, the best part is, she doesn't care if izuku eats any of it. izuku's mom typically doesn't get good food, mostly just things like granola bars and fruit snacks.

so, izuku grabs a bag of doritos and heads to the living room, where he finds katsuki sitting on the couch with his head leaned all the way back as if he were trying to look at izuku upside down-he was.

"hey, izu." he greets. izuku smiles at him. ( well, maybe at how silly he looks sitting like that. )

"hi." izuku sits down next to katsuki.

"i have something we could do."

"and that is?"

"paint my room." katsuki says with a gleam of something mischievous in his eyes. "i have the paint. oh, and since i know you won't want to ruin your clothes, you can borrow mine."

izuku doesn't argue, he knows katsuki is too nice to let him decline the offer.

they proceed to then go upstairs, where, as promised, there are paint cans and brushes sitting on the floor. katsuki leaves izuku alone for a moment before he comes back with clothes izuku can wear. izuku changes while katsuki covers his eyes and totally doesn't peak.

"this is too big for me." izuku pouts as the long sleeved shirt goes past his hands.

he attempts to roll them up, but they slide right back down. katsuki just smiles; he quite likes that izuku is wearing his clothes. ( and, perhaps sweater paws are his biggest weakness. )

"okay, so i was thinking you could start on that wall, and i'll start on this one." katsuki says, his back turned to izuku.

as he turns around to give izuku his paint roller, izuku smudges paint from his finger onto katsuki's nose. then, he starts laughing. katsuki really likes izuku's laugh, it sounds like how he thinks bubbles would sound if they could laugh. he supposes that's what the word 'bubbly' is used for.

in response, katsuki rushes over to the paint can and presses his flat palm into the paint. "isn't that cold?" katsuki asks as he presses his palm to izuku's cheek.

"oh, uh, yeah." izuku says, as if he's unsure whether it should be cold or not. katsuki tilts his head slightly to the left and raises an eyebrow. when izuku doesn't say anything else, katsuki shakes it off and turns to the white wall he will be turning red. crimson red, to be exact.

they paint for a few minutes before izuku begins to get bored, so he sneaks up on an unsuspecting katsuki and tickles his sides. katsuki drops his paint roll on the ground and gasps.

"izuku!" he laughs as he picks up the paint roll. "you made me get paint on the floor!"

"that's nothing this can't fix." izuku says before wiping the paint off the floor with his hand and smudging it on katsuki's forehead.

"this is going to take a long time." katsuki smiles as he dips his hand in the paint and flings little red droplets at izuku.