Reignite [Bakudeku]

Reignite

The villains had been quickly neutralized, and calmness was setting again in the neighbourhood which had been the battleground a few hours ago. Everything had reverted back to normal, well, everything but the young hero Izuku.

He was kneeling on the ground alone, his back bent forward in a forced angle to keep his head hidden between his knees. It hadn't been an especially cumbersome battle, although several buildings had been damaged and a great number of civilians were injured. It hadn't been anybody's fault in particular, but his classmates knew he was incapable of not blaming himself for certain things when they went wrong.

It was common seeing him sitting on the paving after a battle, thinking, reviewing actions that could have been changed in the future to improve, to reduce damage to a minimum... But when his classmates heard the first sob, they realized something was clearly wrong, that it wasn't his behaviour at all.

Todoroki and Uraraka were the first to approach him quickly, both wearing alarmed looks on their faces. As soon as they got to his side, they began showering him with questions. When the freckled boy kept sobbing and started hiccuping, they tried making him snap out of it by patting his back and calling his name over and over. In the end, it was all in vain, for the shaking of his shoulders only intensified and his breathing became erratic.

Before any of them could come up with a new idea, they were interrupted by a very angry-looking blond.

"Stop fucking touching him, you dipshits." He snarled, not even giving them time to process and move before the boy was pushing them away from their friend.

His classmates didn't seem so sure, and tried going back to where they had been next to Izuku, because even if Katsuki and he were on good terms now, how could someone so insensitive help in a situation like that?

The blond seemed exasperated to his very limit, the little patience he had seemed to be running out, and that only seemed to be accentuated by the aftermath of the battle. He rolled his eyes to the back of his head and hissed, placing himself in front of Izuku, with his fists clenched and a defiant stare.

"Now is not the moment to act childish and possessive, Bakugo" Todoroki warned, determined to protect his friend no matter what, even if that meant confronting Katsuki.

The crimson-eyed boy visibly swelled with anger, smoke started escaping from his palms, preceding what was sure to be a disastrous outcome. He must have used every ounce of his self-control since he limited himself to flaring his nostrils and didn't move an inch from where he was standing.

"Shut your damn mouth, Halfie, if you two weren't so fucking clueless you'd know he's havin' an anxiety attack," He said, jaw clenched.

He may have hit the mark, or it might have been the fact that he literally never helped anyone -unless cooperation was explicitly required- and it was utterly surprising, but his classmates finally stepped aside.

It had already passed more than a year since the both Katsuki and Izuku had come back to what they once had been, friends. Or something like that. It had been a slow progress, but the ever-angry teen had put his pride aside, and after a whiled they had managed to keep the rivalry down to an almost normal level. Almost, because since then, Katsuki had gotten to the point of taking some of the blows that were aimed at the freckled boy. Everyone had assumed it had been for his own benefit in order to win at practice if he paired up with Deku, to do better than the rest when villains attacked... It was taken for granted that if that wasn't the reason, it must have been to redeem himself.

As much as they had progressed, not everyone in class 1A was certain about what was actually going on between the two boys. There were always some details in their relationship, that no one could pinpoint exactly, giving the feeling that they were keeping something from everybody else.

Consequently, Uraraka and Todoroki had decided to keep an eye on them, just in case, and that day wasn't going to be an exception. They exchanged slightly worried glances when the blond knelt down in front of the green-haired boy.

"Deku, I'm here," He said in a hushed voice, as if he didn't want to be heard by anyone but Izuku. "Just breath with me, okay?"

The freckled boy didn't give any sign of having heard his friend at all, engulfed in his own bubble. Katsuki's frown deepened.

"Imma start counting now, you better be doin' it when I get to zero. 10.., 9.., 8..." He said, words lacking the threats he always gifted his peers with.

Uraraka opened her mouth, ready to suggest something else because whatever they were doing didn't seem to have any effect on the mess the Izuku had become.

But then, Deku nodded to his friend and started copying his movements. His chest stopped going up and down at an alarming pace. A few minutes later, his sobs couldn't be heard anymore and his hiccups were long gone. He finally let his hands fall from where he had been clutching his arms tightly and left them hanging at his sides.

Then, Katsuki spoke again, with the least aggressive voice his classmates had ever heard coming from him.

"Can I touch you now?"

Izuku nodded slowly, and then the blond placed his own hands on the other's shoulders. The green-haired boy leaned towards him, looking exhausted.

Their classmates could do nothing but gape at the sight in front of them, feeling alternating waves of awkwardness and shock flowing through them as they observed every movement.

The colour was slowly returning to Izuku's face, although he still looked like he was about to collapse at any moment. He didn't try moving from the place he was in, between Katsuki's arms. He rested his head on the blond's shoulders and started mumbling.

"K'cchan...infirmary"

***

It was already dark outside when Izuku woke up after having been healed by Recovery Girl. He opened his eyes slowly, adjusting to the dim light of the infirmary before he recognized his friends' faces. His face automatically lit up, appreciating the gesture.

"Thank you for worrying about me, guys." He said, his gaze alternating between their faces.

His classmates quickly waved it off, pointing out that it hadn't been them, they had just supervised what Katsuki had been doing. They soon started commenting on the outcome of the battle, as an indirect route for the real question, about his and Katsuki's relationship.

Despite their attempts to approach the subject as smoothly as they could, Izuku didn't seem so happy with the direction the chat was taking, his eyes scanning the infirmary's windows. He must have found whatever he had been looking for, because he stood up from his bed with an apologetic smile, and announced he had to leave. He turned around one last time before opening the door, mumbled something that sounded very much like sorryguysI'llexplainnexttime and ran outside.

His friends followed him, perplexed and determined to know where could he be going right after having woken up in the infirmary. Peeking through the door's gap they'd left open, they saw Katsuki waiting outside, and Izuku looking at him with one of the brightest smiles he'd ever given anyone. Neither of them seemed to notice their friends observing them, too caught up in themselves.

Izuku leaned closer to the other boy and whispered something into his ear, too low for them to hear. His hands found the hem of his shirt and began fidgeting with it.

Then, Katsuki sighed and turned around, bending slightly and letting the other boy climb on his back. Once he was settled, he secured his hands around the other's thighs to keep a better hold of him. He started walking towards the dorms and away from the infirmary, but his classmates heard him nevertheless.

"Let's get you outta here, nerd" He said, the corners of his mouth turning up and forming what for Katsuki could be considered an undeniably fond smile.