Chapter Text
The underground lab hummed beneath their feet, a low mechanical thrum that made Katsuki’s skin crawl. Shouto walks next to him, calm and composed as usual. Him and his stupid pretty face— Gahh! Why is he thinking about that! Katsuki really needs to control his inner thoughts.
Now he’s even more pissed off than before, starting to stomp down the hallway slightly ahead of the group. Stupid thoughts, stupid icyhot!
With each step he takes, the sterile smell grows stronger invading Katsuki’s nose.
“Stay sharp” Aizawa’s voice crackles through the comms “Dispatch says this place was abandoned, but that doesn’t mean it’s safe” He warns
Katsuki scoffs under his breath, his palms starting to spark to life, behind him Izuku takes a deep breath now muttering to himself. Uraraka on the other hand has her hand on his shoulder, trying to get him to speak normally for the rest of them to understand.
“Ah sorry! I'm just thinking of a way out in case we can’t go back this way! It’s quite deep down, it kind of reminds me of Overhaul's labrinth..” He apologises
Katsuki and Shouto exchange a look, they don't really know what went down that day with Eri and Overhaul they just know it was bad enough to have Deku shut his trap for days on end looking all depressed and moppy.
“It’s okay Deku! This place gives me the creeps too! It's too edgy!” Ochako's hand stays firm on his shoulder trying to comfort him.
“Now that you mention it, don't you think this place has a little too much power for it to be abandoned..?” Shouto questions making Katsuki slow at the thought.
“Hang on—” He looks at the floor but it's too late.
The floor drops.
Metals plates slam shut above and behind them as they land hard on the floor.
“FUCK!” Katsuki screams, opening his eyes to adjust to the newfound darkness.
“Ow..” It's then he realises he didn't exactly land that hard but he did land on something.. Something half hot and half cold…
He rolls off immediately at the realisation.
He doesn't have time to gather his thoughts before he can hear Ochako yell something incoherent from the other side of the room.
Did he hit his head?
The lights come to life shooting a sharp pain through his skull.
He opens his eyes ignoring the pain.
Fuck
“Argh! We're fucking boxed in half and half!” He turns to the other watching him as he regains his composure.
“Noticed..” The bastard says in that annoying voice of his.
Izuku moves closer.
“There's vents above us!” He yells frantically pointing up to the ceiling.
Katsuki’s eyes snap from the green headed man to above and sure enough thin metal grates, barely wide enough for one person at a time if they tried, line the upper corners of the room.
Katsuki doesn't waste time, “Uravity get us up there!” He shouts.
She’s already moving, fingers lighting up pink, her hand reaching out to Izuku. “One at a time, go Deku!”
A horrible sound makes Katsuki's ears ring as he watches the walls start to shift.
Metal screeches against metal as the panels close in on each other.
Alarms start blaring.
“Shit” he says watching as multiple armed men come charging through one of the doors.
“Well this isn’t exactly abandoned..” Shouto remarks, Katsuki wonders if he's an actual idiot considering their situation.
Izuku gets through offering a hand to Ochako “Come on we need to go now!” He yells down at the other two whilst hauling Ochako halfway up.
Katsuki looks at the vents, then to the men marching through, then at Shouto.
He feels a sudden wave of drowsiness wash over him.
Quirk suppressors, weak but annoying.
Shit
“DEKU, URAVITY GO NOW THAT'S AN ORDER!” Katsuki yells.
Izuku freezes, “What- no! We can fight!”
Shouto steps forward a sloppy wave of ice slams around the men, buying them precious seconds as he turns toward the duo in the vents “There are too many! Go get help, we can handle this!” He reassures them.
Izuku’s eyes widen “Shouto—”
“GO” Katsuki yells moving to cover Shouto from a bullet.
“We can’t leave you guys!” Ochako shouts, panic cracking her voice.
Katsuki bares his teeth “Moron! Are you calling us weak?!” It's a bad attempt at trying to get them not to worry, but he knows they see right through it as Ochako tries to grab at Katsuki's arm with her quirk.
Izuku pulls her back almost immediently sensing the danger
“It's okay.” Shouto's stupid calming voice tells her.
Izuku grabs Ochako by the arm pulling her fully through right as Katsuki blasts the vents close forcing both them both deeper into the vents.
“DYNAMIGHT, SHOUTO!” He can hear her call out before the men finally break through the ice surrounding them guns traced on each of them.
“Guess it’s just us now huh Icyhot?” He smiles smugly small bursts trying to escape his palms.
“Bakugou, they've got a lot of guns and we have no quirks. I wouldn't try anything stupid..” Shouto replies back his hands coming up in a surrendering manner.
“Goddamn fucking guns can’t even fight us like real men” Katsuki scoffs as he reluctantly lifts his hands up to match Shouto’s.
The men move forward slapping quirk suppressing cuffs on both their wrists before everything goes black.
—
THWACK!
“MOTHERFUCKER!” Katsuki doubles over in pain the best he can with his hands tied.
“Now I'll ask again, Why were you in this facility?” The man in the shadows questions.
“God, how many times do I have to tell you? What are you slow?” That earns him a punch to the ribs from one of the man's lackeys.
His chair rattles violently at the impact, he grits his teeth so hard he’s surprised they don't break.
“Tch-!”
The cuffs tighten around his wrists when he threatens to use his quirk.
Another hit came, sharp, this time higher— his shoulder. His neck snaps to the side from the force.
“Answer” The voice stated calmly.
Katsuki laughs, a breathless raggedy laugh “Is that.. All you got?”
Fuck, he should really learn how to shut his mouth.
The man behind him grabs a fistful of his hair yanking his head back forcing him to stare directly into the light above.
It’s quiet for a second.
Then another strike, this one hard enough to make his vision blur.
Tears threaten to leave his ducts but he clamps his eyes shut making them retreat.
His head lolls forward, chest heaving as he sucks whatever breathes he can get in.
“Whats the name of the other boy we have here?” That makes him freeze, how do they not know who Shouto is.. Could they be foreigners? It would explain the accents.
Katsuki coughed, ignoring the copper taste on his tongue “None of your business..”
The grip on his hair is back again.
The next hit was directly to his face making his neck snap back blood starting to run down his face he can feel it in between his teeth.
His body shakes against the restraints, quirk begging to be released.
Still he grins “You're gonna have to do better than that im not telling you shit!”
He’s surprised when the man holds up a hand to his chin and leans closer “Very well then” He makes a motion to the men and suddenly Katsuki’s being manhandled.
“Get off me assholes!” He struggles against their ironclad grip to no avail letting himself be dragged off.
—
They dump him into some sort of surgical room directly on the floor.
He hits the cold metal floor with a thump “Real classy” He mutters rolling over to his side, his palms scraping uselessly on the floor encased in the cuffs.
“Restrain him” The man says staring down at him.
He barely has any time to lift his head before more hands grab at him hauling him up into a chair cuffs snapping around the spine of the chair.
He growls at them death staring the one who interrogated him, Katsuki has dubbed “Cock-sucking asshole”.
“You know I was surprised to find out the other boy put up such a fight.” Cock-sucking asshole continues circling Katsuki's chair. “And here I was thinking you were a pain..”
Katsuki’s blood runs cold.
His eyes snap up “What did you just say…”
He stops right in front of Katsuki and smiles, not a wide smile, something crueler, knowing.
“He’s quiet” He goes on “Very resilent. His gaze moves down to Katsuki’s once more “Not like you.”
Katsuki jerks forward on instinct letting his head fly forward smashing into cock-suckers nose.
He’s satisfied when he hears a crunch echo through the silent room before his cuffs pull him back into the chair.
The man stays still for a while before standing up, a hand to his nose.
“Don't fucking talk about him” Katsuki sneers “If you touch him i swear to god—”
“You’ll what? Explode?” The man's smile returned blood licking at his lips. Motherfucker.
The suppressors hum behind his back.
“Ah, right.”
Silence stretches on for a while before he speaks up again.
Casually “He didn’t scream nearly as much as i expected..”
Katsuki goes still.
He's going to kill this bastard the second he gets his hands on him.
“...You lying piece of shit” He growls out his voice low and shaking “If you laid a hand on him—”
“Oh we did.” He replies unbothered. “He’s very resilient. Fascinating really, two quirks in one body, haven't seen that before.”
Katsuki thrashes in his chair, tear bared the chair rattling violently. “LET ME GO.”
A sharp blow lands to the side of his temple making his ears ring.
“Sit still” the man says flatly.
Katsuki pants but his eyes dont leave his face.
“..You want answers?” He growls “Go to hell!”
The man sighs “Such a shame..”
He leans in once more “Because if you don’t cooperate.” He murmurs “We’ll stop asking you”
Katsuki’s heart speeds up, he knows the man is only threatening him, but the fact they do have Shouto sends a shiver down his spine.
“He’ll talk eventually even if you don’t” The man straightens up turning to the door.
“Think about it” He throws over his shoulder walking out the door, his two men trailing behind.
The door shuts and he’s left alone panting once more but not from pain, fury.
“I’ll fucking kill you all” He whispers to the empty room “Every last one of you..”
—
It's been minutes, maybe even hours, he doesn’t know at this point there's no way to tell how fast or slow time crawls in a place like this.
The lights don't change other than the slight flickering every twenty seconds.
His body aches from staying in the same position.
He’s long been stripped of his gauntlets and grenades so there's nothing he can do but stay.
Left alone with his thoughts.
He feels pathetic.
He begs for his quirk to summon but nothing happens.
"Stupid fucking thing." He grunts as if trying to scare it into letting him go.
It doesn't work, it ignores his pleads, It’s like it's mocking him.
He’s suddenly pulled out of his thoughts when he hears the door sliding open probably that asshole coming back for round three.
He surprised when it isn't the normal door.
No it’s the other door, the one he can’t see.
What he can only assume is two men barge through the door, heavy footsteps harsh against the tiled floor, and what sounds like something being dragged behind them makes Katsuki worry.
They move a chair to Katsuki's back before a weight is chucked into it.
The impact drives him forward in his chair.
Cold metal presses against his spine as what he can guess is another set of suppressants is tied behind him.
That's when he feels it.
A weight. Heavy, but familiar.
Limp.
His stomach drops.
He bends his head back so it rests on the nape of what he thinks is Shouto’s neck before speaking “Shouto..?”
The body is slumped against the opposite chair, tied down, silent and motionless.
Katsuki’s hands flex at the cuffs “You bastards what the hell did you do?!” His voice cracks with fury.
“Nothing too bad” One of the men snickers before realising Katsuki's trying to blow his cuffs up. “Keep trying to escape and i’ll make it a lot worse for the both of you” He warns.
All his muscles lock up, breath stuttering in his chest. He forces himself to calm down before he does something he regrets.
“Shouto..” He says again quieter this time almost as if he were pleading.
He tilts his head as much as he can trying to get a better feel of Shouto’s condition. But he can’t feel anything.
“Fucking answer me halfie!” He growls out.
One of the men clicks his tongue “Aw that’s cute you heroes really do get attached.”
“If he’s hurt I’ll fucking kill you and make it hurt so bad you—”
“You aren’t exactly in a position to threaten right now,” He cuts in “but just know he’s alive. Not for long if you keep with the threats but for now.”
The man stalks closer grabbing a bunch of Shouto’s hair in his hand making his head tilt up.
“Don’t touch him!” Katsuki yells turning his head as much as he can.
The man just smirks before letting Shouto’s head fall back down.
Katsuki winces at the recoil.
“I think your friend needs a doctor..” He smiles walking over to Katsuki.
Katsuki clenches his fists making them go white inside the cuffs.
“Maybe if you behave we can get him one” He laughs.
Katsuki doesn’t respond immediately, he stares boring holes into the man hoping if he stares hard enough he’ll catch on fire.
“Touch him again and ill rip your throat out with my fucking teeth!”
The man just chuckles as if he found the whole situation amusing before commanding the other man in another language? Katsuki’s too out of it to be able to tell what language he’s speaking in. He keeps talking before staring back at Katsuki “Be good otherwise you’ll pay” And with that they both walk out of the room.
The door slides shut with a mechanical hiss.
—
“Fucking let us out assholes!” Katsuki yells to no one in particular “YOU FUCKING ASSHOLES ILL KILL YOU!”
“....shuutp”
“Huh Shouto..?” Katsuki whips his head around as far as it can go.
“Are you awake?”
“....stop yelling…….. you're too… fucking…. loud..” Shouto murmurs.
“Thank fuck jesus i thought they fucked you up real bad” Katsuki sighs “..you good icyhot?”
“I thinkk…?”
His voice trails off, low and rough like it hurts to just utter a single word. His head lolls forward for a second before he straightens up with great effort jaw tightening. The restraints creak a little, but they don't budge.
Thats annoying.
“Don’t move too much they’ve got us locked down together pretty damn tight” Katsuki tells him.
Shouto hums quietly his half-lidded eyes slowly scanning the room.
“Classic interrogation movie bullshit we’ve gotten ourselves into,” Katsuki pauses “you know next time you get a bad feeling maybe voice it to the rest of us don’t ya think?” “I did” “Huh?”
“I said I did, you just didn’t listen” Shouto explains.
Katsuki opens his mouth to snap but but closes it “Tch whatever.”
“I can’t.. Feel my quirk..” Shouto says slowly.
“Yeah join the fucking club we’re restrained dumbass” Katsuki retorts.
“Hm…”
Their one-sided banter is interrupted by both doors sliding open.
“Oh looks like they're both awake!” Cock-suckers back that’s just great.
“You see I've brought a guest” He guesters to the man in surgical scrubs. “Dr Yukimura is going to help you tell the truth” He smiles.
“What is that supposed to mean?” Shouto murmurs out, still half conscious.
He walks over to face Shouto grabbing his chin. Shouto squirms about but the man doesn’t let go, gesturing for the Doctor to come closer.
The doctor stalks closer stopping at Shouto.
He has a gun…
No no no this can’t be happening! Katsuki tries to turn himself around to no avail.
“Don’t worry it won’t hurt for long, here you are Kael” The doctor says handing the gun to cock-sucker whose actual name is apparently “Kael” Katsuki thinks his name was better.
Kael then cocks the gun and holds it to Shouto’s temple.
From where Katsuki is sitting he can hear Shouto’s breathing pick up.
Fuck.
Katsuki feels his chest cave in on itself. This can’t be happening.
“DON’T YOU FUCKING DARE ASSHOLE!” He screams.
Shouto inhales sharply as the gun is pressed closer to his temple.
He stays silent as the gun is removed only to slowly be traced down his side, his jaw tightening as Kael stops under his ribs, he closes his eyes.
BANG
The sound is deafening in such an enclosed room.
“What the actual fuck” Katsuki stares so hard with that with murderous look in his eye it makes some of the guards shiver.
Shouto jerks back in the chair the realisation dawning on him “My fucking quirk!” He bites through the pain.
Huh his quirk?
“Don’t worry, it’s only a temporary quirk deletor” He starts to unlock Shouto’s handcuffs watching as Shouto slowly starts to go slack against the back of his chair head pressed into Katsuki’s nape.
“The fuck do you mean quirk deletor?!” Katsuki yells.
He watches as the doctor lifts Shouto’s arm and injects him with some sort of serum and Shouto doesn’t even resist its like hes given up.
“What are you doing to him you fucking cocksuckers?!?” He screams before realising Kael is walking over with the same gun in hand.
“Fuck off dont fucking touch me!” He says as the guns pressed up against his ribs just like he did to Shouto.
Bang!
Fuck that hurts, that really really hurts Katsuki thinks to himself, his arm stings too.
He looks at his arm, he's bleeding? Huh when did that happen…
Kael talks again but he doesn’t catch any of it. It's all fuzzy.
The door slams close again.
—
“I don’t really feel any different to be honest” Shouto speaks up for the first time in what feels like forever, is he slurring?
They're leaning heavily against each other, hands bound once more.
“Tch you sound stupid” Wait a minute is he slurring what the hell is going on..
At that Shouto starts laughing it’s uncontrolled and ragged.
“I sound stupid?” He takes a breath in between fits of laughing “Have you heard yourself? You’re.. stupid” He keeps giggling.
“Are you fucking giggling right now?” Katsuki can’t help but let his lip quirk up ever so slightly.
“No..” He is! What the hell.
At that Katsuki can’t help but let out a small laugh himself.
He shakes his head trying to suppress the giggles climbing up his throat but they manage to slip out “Oh my god, you’re losing it.”
“Maybe..” Shouto grins “I think we both are.." He pauses for a moment before the idiot opens his mouth again. "This is kinda fun, you don't usually laugh at my jokes..”
“You call getting shot fun?” He still can't suppress the giddy feeling crawling up his entire body.
“Hmm maybe i'm just trying to annoy you Katsuki.” At that they both lose it laughing wildly, wincing every few seconds due to their injuries.
What the fuck is wrong with you?
“Nothngg” Shouto slurs. Did I say that outloud?
“Yes.” Fuck.
Katsuki groans letting his head fall against his chest trying to stop laughing but it only makes Shouto snicker more.
“You’re… impossible” Katsuki gets out through a grin.
Shouto tilts his head onto Katsuki's shoulder “I think there's something wrong with us…”
No really? I hadn't noticed. Katsuki thinks even though he knows Shouto will be able to tell what he's thinking. Is he reading my mind?..
“Am I?”
"I don't know! What the hell is going on?"
“I- I think we’re…. Drugged” Shouto manages to get out.
They lose whatever slight composure they had left.
—
They are later interrupted by Kael and the Doctor walking back into the room “It would seem the drug has taken effect” Kael says.
“I don't know what your talking about” Shouto responds his head still on Katsuki’s shoulder.
“Heh, your fucking funny you know that Icyhot?” They both start up again before Kael grips the arms of Katsuki’s chair making them both stop wide eyed as if they had been scolded by Aizawa.
Fuck man i miss Aizawa.
“Me too..” Shouto sighs relaxing back into Katsuki’s neck.
“Be quiet!” Kael shouts.
Katsuki makes eye contact with him before tilting his head upwards “Oh my fucking god Shouto look at his fucking hair!” Katsuki loses it once more watching as Shouto turns as much as he can trying to examine what Katsuki is talking about before he starts up again making the two sound like hyenas.
“You won't be laughing in a moment” Kael steps back, running a hand through his hair “Stupid heroes” He mutters under his breath apparently not quiet enough because it seems to encourage them even more.
“Doctor you can start now” He commands.
“Would now be a good time to say I don't like doctors..” Shouto says, Katsuki laughs at that “Isn’t your brother a doctor stupid” Shouto gasps.
“Idiot! Stop telling them the truth!” Shouto yells “Oops wait no that’s Nastuo right what about Touya psychoooo im telling ya!” What the fuck Katsuki shut up! “Katsuki shut up!” “I'M TRYING!” “TRY HARDER!”
The doctor walks up to Katsuki holding some type of surgical equipment “Fuck is that?”
“Something to make you talk” The doctor responds
“That sounds kinda—”
“Shut up Shouto!”
“I’ll ask you again, what’s your weakness?” Kael questions.
“I—”
“Weakness?” Shouto interrupts "I'm pretty sure this guy doesn't have one of those, if so i'd like to figure it out first." The moron answers way to honestly.
“Is that so?” Kael looks him up and down “What about you? You must have a weakness.”
“I—”
“Nope! His icy ass demeanour makes him immune to everything!” They know what they’re doing interrupting each other so he doesn’t get a straight answer. Kael’s patience is starting to wear thin even when drugged up they still work together well.. Too well.
“Fine then..” Kael continues talking to the doctor in another language. Katsuki watches as the doctor places his tools down and walks over to Shouto placing a gloved hand over his mouth. Katsuki can make out a muffled “The fuck?” “Alright lets start this again.”
“Where did your other friends go?” Kael asks.
“Fuck if i know those assholes got into the vent and managed to get away so they’re probably long gone that too bad for you! They’ve probably already gotten to Aizawa and Aizawa’s probably called all the heroes in the area to come get us your so fucking screwed man! Imagine the field day you're gonna have when they come storming in here!” He can hear a muffled giggle from behind him.
“Is that so?” Kael asks his face twisting up.
“Y-” He’s cut off
“Dynamite.” Kael and Katsuki both turn toward the non-muffled voice.
The doctor is frozen solid, his hand stopped in place a centimetre in front of Shouto’s face. “What- Ho-” He’s blown back by a sudden burst of fire and ice.
Ten minutes ago
“Can I tell you a secret..?” Shouto asks once they had calmed down.
“Sure tell me whatever it’s not like we’re gonna get out of here very soon” Katsuki bites.
“I can feel my quirk..” Shouto giggles.
“No way, me too!” Katsuki grins.
“I have an idea.. Trust me it’s really smart ""Im sure it is ""No really it is ""Okay lets hear it!”
“Okay so what I'm gonna do when that guy comes in is, I'm gonna melt my hands.” Shouto deadpans.
“What”
“You heard me! I'll melt my hands so that I can use my quirk!" He’s still serious.
“You idiot if you melt your hands you can't use your quirk!” Katsuki can’t believe how stupid he is.
“Oh.”
“Yeah oh!” Katsuki yells.
“Okay wait, I'll melt my cuffs then!” He says looking proud of himself.
“You’d still fuck your hands up.” Katsuki informs.
“It’s fine, I want to get out of here Soba’s waiting for me at home” Why the hell is he bring his cat into this.
“Fine whatever, do it so we can go home to your dumb cat.” Katsuki says ignoring that fact he said we.
Shouto gasps “Soba’s not dumb!”
“Dumb name for a cat!” Katsuki yells.
They continued like this until Kael and the doctor came back into the room.
Present time
“You idiot! I didn’t think you’d actually do it!” Katsuki looks bewildered.
“I had to do something, hang on i’ll get you out of your cuffs” He says moving closer his hands steaming dropping one cuff then moving onto the next.
Katsuki can already feel his quirk coming back to him as the next cuff drops.
Shouto barely gets it off before his knees buckle.
Katsuki catches him on instinct, his side screaming in pain where Shouto crashes into him “Woah- hey shit you good?” He asks his own vision threatening darkness.
“I just need a second..” Shouto mumbles. His hands are a mess thick red blisters and burns he looks like he's in an insane amount of pain considering when they brought him in he was unconscious, even Katsuki himself isn't doing any better but they don’t have time right now they can assess injuries later “You don’t have a second we need to go now” He grits out.
They can hear footsteps running toward them. Shouto immediately ices the main door, it's sloppy but it's what works for now.
“Come on, let's go!” Katsuki yells before realising Shouto isn't following he swears walking back over to Shouto and hauling him upright “You walk or I drag you, pick!”
“I can walk..” He replies.
They both stagger forward, neither of them moving right.
Katsuki’s arm is bent in a weird angle on one side, blood soaking his sleeve, his shoulder feels numb that can’t be good.. Every explosion he lets off sends a wave of pain up his spine. His ribs feel as though they are grinding together with every breath he takes.
Shouto on the other hand is limping hard, his legs barely cooperating. His vision keeps doubling, the drug still thick in his system. He keeps misjudging distances sending off waves of ice and fire even when he isn’t meaning to.
They’re movements are sloppy and imprecise. Aizawa would kill them if he saw them like this.
A guard lunges at them from around the corner, in a state of surprise Katsuki lets off a huge explosion sending him and Shouto flying into the wall behind them.
They hit it hard and Katsuki swears he can see stars.
“Fuck-” They both slide down the wall teeth clenched.
“That wasn’t very smooth..” Shouto laughs at him.
“Shut up!” Katsuki wheezes “you good?”
Shouto doesn’t look his way, his eyes unfocused. “I don't know..”
Before Katsuki can answer a web of ice is thrown at another approaching guard.
“We can’t stay here any longer cmon” He stands up fighting the urge to pass out offering a hand to Shouto.
“I don’t think I can” Shouto says softly “we can't stop now!” Katsuki curses looking down at Shouto’s mismatched eyes he can tell he’s too exhausted to do much more “Fuck okay” He grabs Shouto in his arms half carrying half dragging him down the corridor, boots slamming against the ground as they make it to the stairwell.
The alarms get louder and so do the voices.
“Stop them before they escape!"
Katsuki can’t help but laugh “Yeah? Good fucking luck!”
Shouto fumbles with the door before Katsuki blasts it open with an explosion that leaves him gasping for breath.
The stairs feel endless.
They fall upward, tripping, catching themselves on railings, stopping every few seconds cause Shouto’s legs give out or Katsuki’s vision threatens to blacken.
At one point Shouto slumps completely and Katsuki fears the worst but his forehead moves up next to Katsuki’s shoulder indicating he’s still there “I can’t—”
“Yeah” Katsuki mutters “Same.”
They somehow reach a small open area and they just stop sagging down onto the ground still clinging to life.
Shouto’s lips are blue now and Katsuki can’t tell if it’s overuse or shock or both.
“Hey asshole you can’t sleep yet” He says soft softer than he meant.
Shouto blinks slowly, ice crystalizing on his lashes “You’re bossy, you know that..?”
“Damn right i am” His voice not going above a whisper.
Sirens, he can hear actual sirens, real ones.
He finally lets himself slide down next to Shouto the weight of everything rushing at him all at once “I can’t feel my hands” Shouto murmurs.
“Shit…”
“Yeah.. shit..”
Neither of them moved after that.
At some point neither of them remember but they end up leaning more into each other, shoulders pressed together, the contact grounding them. The staircase is quiet with just the sounds of ragged breathing and the faint crackle of ice creeping along the doors.
They sit there for a while.
Too long.
Katsuki stares at the opposite wall, jaw clenched so tight it aches. His arm is completely numb now, which somehow scares him even more than the pain did. He swallows hard.
He shouldn't say this.
“You know…” He starts, then stops. His voice sounds wrong, too quiet.
Shouto hums in response, head tipped slightly toward Katsuki’s shoulder. He doesn’t think he could form actual words if he tried. Too drugged up and exhausted.
“I thought you were dead.” Katsuki says finally.
The words hang there.
“And that scared the shit out of me Icyhot.. When they shot you I thought it was over” He looks up at Shouto, his eyes glossed over “sorry..” Shouto murmurs “I thought.. I thought I was going to die too..”
“Don’t apologise Shouto.. I was just scared that I wouldn't be able to..”
His breath hitches as he cuts himself off.
“That i wouldn’t be able to tell you..”
“Tell me what..?” Shouto looks up at him with curious eyes
The stairwell feels incredibly small.
“When i thought you were gone” Katsuki continues, quieter now “All I could think was that I never said it. And that pissed me off, scared me even… Cause heroes aren't supposed to freeze like that..”
He lets out a shaky breath.
But I did. Because I-” He swallows hard tasting the blood coating his tongue “Because I like you okay?”
The words land heavy between them.
"Always have since stupid remedial courses."
“Oh” Shouto breathes out
Katsuki stays silent his eyes trained on Shouto waiting his response.
Shouto’s eyes are glassy, red rimmed and overwhelmed.
“I don’t always understand feelings.” Shouto admits “But when i thought i was going to die.. The last thing i thought about was you.”
He makes eye contact with Katsuki.
Shouto sighs. "I thought we would have more time to do this but, if i have to be honest, i like you as well.”
Katsuki sucks in a sharp breath he didn’t know he was holding. He can't believe how stupid they are.
“Idiot.. You're supposed to say that later..” He murmurs.
“I don’t know if we’re going to get a later..” Shouto laughs.
Katsuki shifts carefully ignoring the pain to press his forehead against Shouto sweat slicked hair “I hope we do..”
They stay there for a few seconds clinging onto each other like a lifeline.
Shouto relaxes into him… Too much.
Katsuki feels it immediately, the way his weight shifts, how his grip on Katsuki loosens.
“Fuck, hey no don’t do that come on wake up” He says softly watching as his eyelids droop and flutter shut “No— no come on you have to stay awake..”
Fuck he can feel himself succumbing to the feeling of exhaustment as well “Fuck i— i can’t..” He lets his eyes slip shut.
—
It’s Aizawa who finds them collapsed over each other in a pile of very broken limbs.
He freezes for a moment fearing that he’s too late before he sees Bakugou’s chest rises and fall.
Then he moves.
He’s at their side in an instant two fingers on Shouto’s neck he’s alive but critical, his pulse is slow and barely there, then he moves to Katsuki two fingers to his neck his pulse is erratic and fast.
Shouto is worse, he’s too pale and isn’t breathing right. “Shit, I need medics on the 9th story stairwell ASAP got one 19 year old male in critical condition and another not far behind."
The medics make their way to them, looks of horror flashing across their faces as they try to remain professional but it’s bad.
Katsuki left arm is fucked blood envelops it. He’s got broken ribs from where the gun hit him, a dislocated cheekbone cuts and bruises ranging all over his body and a bad concussion.
Shouto on the other hand is worse for wear, his right leg is in bad shape, most of his ribs are broken, the others dislocated, his arm is frozen solid from overuse of his quirk and his whole body is freezing not to mention all the other injuries he’s got.
They get to work moving them and transporting them to the hospital.
They’re both alive is what Aizawa thinks to himself, nothing else matters..