Archive of Our Own

They’d been promised to each other years ago. First, when they were children scrambling through bushes and dirt paths, over riverbeds and into trees. Hiding huddled together when it rained, twisting pinkie fingers together and swearing solemn vows.

“You’re my best friend,” Katsuki’s brows were furrowed in serious consternation. “No one else’s, got it? It’s you and me.”

Never leave my side.

“Just me and Kacchan, for always.” Izuku’s eyes were bright and shining. His smile outshone the sun with its brightness, making Katsuki feel warm all the way down to his toes despite the soaking rain.

I am nothing without you.

Izuku pulled their linked pinkies to his face and pressed a gentle kiss to his fingers. He looked at Katsuki expectantly. When the blonde boy didn’t move, Izuku huffed. “You’re supposed to kiss a promise! So it can never be broken! Mama says so!”

Katsuki flushed pink when he hurried to complete the promise just like Izuku said. It was like he could feel the strength of their promise surging through their conjoined fingers and into his mouth, tasting like Izuku smelled – like warm honeysuckle and sweet milk. They both still had their pup smell, but Katsuki already knew that when their real scents came in when they grew up they would match perfectly.

Izuku made a happy little chirp and bonked their foreheads together.

“I’m so happy Kacchan,” he purred.

Katsuki swiped his wrist across Izuku’s neck like he’d seen his parents do to each other all the time. Something burned in his chest, a little rumble that started in his ribs, and it was like the little thing inside him wanted to bite . Izuku looked at him with his wide green eyes and Katsuki made another, secret promise then.

I won’t let anything happen to you.

♦

The sparrow does hold
on a branch too green and young to know
it should fear the break

♦

The second time they promised was several years later, around when they both presented. It surprised no one that Katsuki was an alpha; some were shocked to learn Izuku was an omega, despite his beta parents.

Katsuki sure wasn’t. He’d known for years that Izuku was going to be an omega, because he was Katsuki’s omega. They were tied together by fate’s red string, tangled in each other and making no move to separate anytime soon. As soon as they were of age, Katsuki was going to sink his teeth into Izuku’s creamy, freckled neck and insist he do the same in return.

Middle school was full of awkward growth and glances, words that buzzed unspoken between them for months. Katsuki couldn’t stay in the same room as Izuku for too long, especially after he’d bloomed for him one afternoon, in front of nearly the whole school. 

Izuku had come to school smelling strange to Katsuki, who’d already presented the year before. Katsuki had come up to him at the lockers, one arm braced against the metal and leaning over Izuku to breathe in his scent. Gone was the sweet milk of puphood; instead he was all sweet blossoms and petrichor.

“‘Zuku?” Katsuki chuffed, leaning in close. He could practically feel the warmth radiating off Izuku, watching the pretty pink color wash across his neck. Izuku spun fast–he would have knocked his head against his locker had Katsuki not cupped his skull with his large palm.

Izuku looked up at him, mouth dropping open in a little gasp. His pink tongue peeked out to run over his lips and Katsuki followed the movement intensely.

“K-Kacchan…” Izuku’s voice was a rasp of a whisper, more of an exhalation of a breath held too long than any actual attempt to communicate. Katsuki’s name just fell so naturally out of his mouth, sounding at home between his teeth. Katsuki had practiced saying Izuku’s name in the dark of the night, trying to find all the different ways it could sound.

Izuku’s lashes fluttered. They were so pretty, long and dark and thick, perfectly framing his shiny emerald eyes. Katsuki had decided long ago that green was his favorite color, but the specific shade always varied depending on what Izuku’s eyes looked like that day.

A new scent mingled between them. It was thick and sweet, like a burst of honeyed candy on his tongue. Katsuki’s alpha perked up, rumbling in his chest with a powerful croon. He didn’t quite know what was happening until he caught Izuku’s knees knocking together and his thighs clenching through his dark gakuran. There was a damp spot on Izuku’s uniform pants and suddenly his croon echoed in the hall like a peal of thunder, morphing into a growl.

Izuku’s cheeks were flushed and his eyes dewey and glassy. He swayed on his feet, nearly falling into Katsuki. Izuku was scorching hot where their bodies touched, where Katsuki’s hand instinctively went to catch, fingers slipping under his jacket.

“Izuku, are you–” Katsuki leaned closer on instinct, nosing Izuku’s throat. His lungs filled with the scent of a freshly bloomed omega and his slick. Katsuki nearly fell to his knees, ready to inhale the intoxicating smell from its source.

The murmurs of their schoolmates, crowding nearby, set Katsuki on edge. He snapped and growled at any extra that tried to move closer to them. His ears filled with a dull roar and he couldn’t even be sure that it wasn’t him making that noise. Katsuki felt like a livewire, ready to burst at the first chance he got.

They were too exposed; seen by too many eyes, smelled by too many undeserving – no one else should smell his omega like this. It burned him from the inside out. He wrapped himself around Izuku, trying to shield him from view with his entire body. Izuku clutched Katsuki’s uniform with trembling fingers. He was shaking like a leaf, gasping and panting and whimpering. Izuku screwed his eyes shut and buried his face in Katsuki’s chest.

“I got you,” Katsuki growled in his ear, eyes flicking towards the gawking students still gathered around them. Threats. They were all threats, as far as Katsuki’s alpha was concerned. He snarled, baring his teeth and raising his freshly grown claws to swipe in their direction. Small explosions – so as not to harm Izuku – popped in his palm. Katsuki kept Izuku tucked against him, petting through his green curls.

The promise was in his own scent, sharp burning caramel and firewood, smoke twisting around them like a veil.

I’ll protect you.

Izuku rocked his hips forward, spreading the dampness to Katsuki’s thigh. They groaned in unison. Katsuki tore his gaze away from the extras and tucked his face back where it belonged: in the crook of Izuku’s neck. He lapped up from Izuku’s scent gland, up the line of his throat and to the line of his jaw. Izuku whimpered, digging his little omega claws into Katsuki’s shirt, poking pinpricks into the fabric.

It took several teachers to pull them apart, and neither went without a fight. They kicked and clawed and snarled, too deep into their respective heat and rut. They were sequestered in separate rooms under strict supervision until their parents could come pick them up to take them home.

Katsuki only caught a glimpse of Izuku through the window as Auntie guided him off the school grounds, wrapped in a blanket. He paced relentlessly around the room, snarling and popping his quirk. The teachers trapped inside the room with him exchanged nervous glances. But Katsuki couldn’t do anything about them – he knew that if he did, Izuku would be disappointed in him.

So he just paced and snarled and trembled through the beginnings of his rut until his old man and hag could get there.

“I just never thought little Izu-kun would be an omega,” Mitsuki said when they drove back to the house. “I mean, what are the chances?”

“One hundred percent,” Katsuki said through gritted teeth. He was struggling to breathe in the backseat with the scent neutralizer pumping at full blast. It clogged his nostrils and tasted thick and acidic on his tongue. “He was always my omega.”

The car went silent. Neither of his parents spoke for a moment, their wary scents stinging his eyes more than the neutralizer.

“Katsuki, you didn’t–” his mother trailed off, twisting in her seat to look back at him. “You’re both so young–”

“Fuck off!” Katsuki snarled. “We ain’t done shit. Haven’t talked about it.”

“So what did you mean, son?” Masaru asked softly, looking at him through the rearview mirror.

“I don’t know! Just!” Katsuki growled, unable to focus on the words he needed to explain. It wasn’t even something he really could explain. He just knew , has known since they were kids. “We’ve always been– we’re… it’s just–”

“It’s always been the two of you, huh?” Masaru said with a small smile.

“Should have known,” Mitsuki sighed, leaning back in her seat. “It was all we could hear during your first rut.”

“Ma!” Katsuki screeched, temporarily forgetting the uncomfortable twisting in his gut and the aching in his gums. So what if he said Izuku’s name a lot during his first rut? The thought of the boy was the only thing that helped him feel any relief. He’s not fucking embarassed; the old hag was just embarrasing.

“Well, when you’re both cleared in a few days, it’ll be nice for you boys to talk,” Mitsuki said, uncaring of the way Katsuki burned in the backseat.

That just made Katsuki think of Izuku even more during his rut, though this time he was careful to keep any calls of the omega’s name muffled in his pillow as he humped his fist.

The next few days passed in a lonely agony; his alpha howled and gnawed at his restraint. Now that he knew what Izuku sounded like, smelled like, tasted like , he wasn’t satisfied with his plastic rut aids. The patch of slick Izuku had rubbed off on his school pants had long since dried and lost most of his scent, but it didn’t stop Katsuki from shoving his nose into it in hopes of catching one last fiber that may still cling to Izuku’s honey warmth and herbal sweetness.

By the time the weekend rolled around, both of their cycles had ended and Katsuki’s ever growing horror, the old hag invited the Midoriya’s over for dinner that Saturday night. Leave it to the hag to poke and tease at them both relentlessly when Izuku followed his mother inside the Bakugou house. The poor boy was a stuttering mess, red in the face and hiding under his hoodie.

Which, now that Katsuki took a second look at it, wasn’t even the nerd’s to begin with.

“Oi!” Katsuki snapped at his mother, going to stand between her and his omega. The older alpha batted him away, uncowed by his threatening display. “Leave him alone!”

“Kacchan!” Izuku squeaked when Katsuki yanked him by the scruff and hauled him towards the stairs.

“We’re going to talk,” Katsuki said through his teeth, not bothering to spare a glance at the adults in the room.

“Leave the door open!” Mitsuki barked.

Katsuki grumbled but didn’t respond as he shoved Izuku up the stairs.

“Kacchan, w-wait!” Izuku stumbled over the top-most stair. The only reason he didn’t faceplant at the landing was thanks to Katsuki’s arm wrapped around his waist.

“For what?” Katsuki huffed, righting Izuku and pushing him towards his bedroom. (Katsuki left the door open to avoid any annoying ass interruptions.)

The nerd stammered and muttered some more, wrapping his arms around his head. Katsuki rolled his eyes, forcing down the affectionate flutter of his heart, as he plopped down onto the bed. Izuku peered through his fingers to look up at the sound of the bed squeaking.

“Sh-Shouldn’t we be–” Izuku swallowed and Katsuki watched the bob of his Adam’s apple intently. “Don’t we have to–”

“We should talk,” Katsuki interrupted before Izuku could go into full meltdown mode. He patted the spot next to him, inviting Izuku to join him on the bed.

Izuku followed, sitting tensely at the edge of the mattress. Katsuki sniffed and frowned; he couldn’t smell Izuku’s scent at all. His neck was hidden by the hoodie but he suspected that the nerd must be wearing medical grade scent patches.

In an effort to get closer, Katsuki yanked the sleeve and nearly sent Izuku toppling over the bed.

“I was wondering where this disappeared to,” Katsuki said lowly, plucking the fabric and pulling it away from Izuku’s neck. Yep, a scent patch. The sight of it displeased his alpha; why was his omega hiding his scent? Did Izuku reject him in the end? Even after everything they’d promised each other up until now?

“I-I… Kacchan’s scent–” Izuku swallowed hard, trying to overcome the blockade of words in his throat. “Kacchan’s scent is so nice, it… I wanted it in my nest.”

It was Katsuki’s turn to freeze up. The idea of Izuku winding something of Katsuki’s into his nest, finding refuge in his scent during his heat, sent his alpha into overdrive. He wasn’t wearing patches, so his pleased, burnt sugar smell billowed around them, filling the room. Izuku’s nose turned up to catch as much of the scent as he could. Katsuki scooted closer, twisting his neck enough to reveal his scent gland.

He brought a hand up to Izuku’s neck, nail catching against the edge of the patch.

“Can I?” Katsuki asked softly.

Izuku turned his verdant eyes on him, watery and soft like freshly budded trees catching the spring sunshine. He nodded, once, and bit his lip while Katsuki gently peeled the patch off. He soothed the pinkened skin with gentle brushes of his thumb, making sure it didn’t sting.

Izuku’s warm, earthen scent joined Katsuki’s in a heartbeat. All sunshine and petrichor, velvety mint and soil. Their combined scents were like a sweet burning campfire, a foggy and rainy day in the forest they used to play in as pups. It was kind and it was devoted and it was home .

Katsuki hadn’t realized they’d spent the last several minutes just inhaling each other’s scents until he pulled back to see Izuku’s eyes wide and glassy, not unlike the day he’d bloomed for him, and a wobbly, satisfied smile on his bitten-raw lips.

The next time his lips were gonna look like that, it would be because Katsuki was biting them.

“‘Zuku,” Katsuki breathed, sitting up and forcing himself away from the sweet allure of Izuku’s neck. “We really do gotta talk. About what happened.”

Izuku blinked, the dazed-eye dreaminess melting away into his usual nervous affair. His sweet scent soured just a touch, his fingers knotting together and Katsuki schooled the frown off his face when he reached for Izuku’s hand. He covered those fidgeting digits with his palm, warming his palm just enough that the heat would soothe and bring warmth to Izuku’s cold fingers.

“I’m so sorry Kacchan…” Izuku sniffled, tears clinging to the edges of his lash line. “I don’t even know how that… I didn’t mean to. I’m so sorry, it must have been so embarrassing for you.”

“Hah?” Katsuki looked at Izuku incredulously. “The fuck do you mean embarrassing? ”

Izuku blinked in confusion. “But I… in front of all of our classmates…”

“The only thing I cared about was you , ‘Zuku. I didn’t want to let you go. I mean, fuck. You bloomed for me , showed everyone just how compatible we are, it was hot as fuck!”

Izuku tilted his head, looking every bit the confused puppy. It was too fucking cute. Katsuki wanted to bite .

“Really?” his voice was so soft, so unsure. “I… I thought Kacchan wouldn’t want–”

“Fuck off. How do you not already know that all I want is you?” Katsuki settled for gripping Izuku’s jaw and squishing his cheeks. “You’re my omega. It’s just you and me, for always. Remember?”

Tears flowed freely down Izuku’s cheeks and over Katsuki’s hand. He adjusted his grip to cup Izuku’s face. The omega nuzzled into his palm with a purr.

“Of course I remember, Kacchan. You’re mine too.” Izuku looked up through his wet lashes, a small smile curling his pretty pink lips. “ My alpha.”

Katsuki had to swallow the howl of victory his alpha urged into his chest. It came out sounding like a rumbling croon, a deep chested purr, instead.

“That’s fucking right,” Katsuki said, pulling Izuku closer. He crawled up the short distance between them to press their chests together. “All mine.”

“Kacchan,” Izuku said, his words coming out in a wheeze, like all the air had been forced out of his lungs. He didn’t dare blink, didn’t dare look away from Katsuki. Good. Just how Katsuki liked it. “Can I kiss you?”

“Fuck,” Katsuki cursed, smashing his lips with Izuku’s. It was messy, wet, uncoordinated. Their teeth clashed and noses smushed together. It was perfect .

Izuku was soft and pliant under his hands, leaning towards him like a flower to the sun. His lips were chapped, bitten raw in his nervousness. Katsuki soothed over it with his tongue, preening when Izuku opened up for him, inviting him in. Izuku sighed; the softest exhalation of air like he was pressing everything in him into Katsuki.

Katsuki took it all and repaid it back so much more, making sure Izuku was full of all the emotion raging through Katsuki’s veins. Everything he had, he shared with Izuku without hesitation. Katsuki tasted the sweet mint of his scent at the back of his throat. He swallowed it all, letting it flood him, fill him to bursting. Katsuki dragged one of his hands to Izuku’s neck, thumb pressing at his pulse point – it rabbited under his touch – before sliding his hand down his spine, knocking into every knob, before resting it on Izuku’s waist. He pulled him closer, nearly on top of him, and it still wasn’t close enough.

“As soon as I can,” Katsuki panted when they separated and attempted to calm down before heading downstairs to meet their parents for dinner, “I’m gonna sink my fucking fangs into your neck and claim you. And you’re going to do the same to me.”

Izuku whimpered, blush deepening on his cheeks. He nodded quickly, messy curls flying around his face as he smiled brighter than ever, his happy omega scent filling the entire upstairs. He entwined his fingers with Katsuki’s when he said, “Promise, Kacchan.”

Katsuki brought Izuku’s wrist to his mouth, teasing his fangs over the secondary gland there. Izuku shivered in his grasp, his eyes wide with adoration. Katsuki felt that emotion pierce deep into his chest, chaining them together, forming the foundation of his boundless love.

I will be by your side always.

♦

“Midoriya bloomed today…” it was dreamy, filling his head with the scent of his warm earth and honey slick. He licked his lips and felt the buzz of want start up under his skin.

It wasn’t the first time he’d breathed Midoriya’s name the second he walked in the door. His parents were used to it, usually sharing an amused glance with each other before returning to their business. He didn’t mind, not really. It gave him the space to keep talking about the treasure that was Midoriya Izuku.

He’d been enamored with the boy since they shared a class in their last year at elementary school. So much so, he begged his parents to let him go to Aldera Middle School, too. They acquiesced, happy to provide him whatever he wanted in life. Every toy, every whim, every last fleeting desire.

He always got what he wanted, after all.

“That mangy alpha Bakugou though…” he frowned, remembering the way his quirk popped in his palm, threatening anyone who dared get too close. He just wanted to get a better sniff, that’s all. Just wanted to see the glassy eyed look in Midoriya’s face, wanted to keep it permanently tattooed on the back of his eyelids so it would be all he’d ever see. “He wouldn’t let anyone close. Stupid alpha.”

He spied the look his parents exchanged over the table. It filled him with an antsy eagerness. It was the same look they always had whenever they were going to get him what he wanted. Were he not a beta, he would preen.

He couldn’t wait to get his hands on the toy they’d acquire, however long it takes.

♦

The third and final time they’d promised each other was the day Katsuki lost Izuku.

It was the summer after they graduated, shortly before they were to debut as Pro Heroes, as the Wonder Duo. Katsuki as Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight and Izuku as Hero Deku, the first quirkless hero to graduate from the UA Hero Course. Their mutual excitement thrummed through their fledgling bond—while they hadn’t completed their mating bond yet (though the thought of it still roused Katsuki from his dreams with stains on his boxers and a slowly inflating knot), they’d marked each other in other ways.

Both sported marks on their wrists, pressed into each other’s skin during long nights at the dorms, and Katsuki was eager to refresh the marks on Izuku’s thighs tonight after their celebration.

They were heading out to meet with their former classmates to celebrate not only their upcoming debuts, but Izuku’s birthday.

(They’d tried to do it tomorrow, on July 15th, but Katsuki and Izuku had already promised each other that entire day would be spent with just the two of them (and later, their parents, at dinner.))

It was a warm summer evening, their arms wrapped around each other to press the other’s body as close as they could possibly get. Some days, Katsuki didn’t feel complete without Izuku close beside him. If he could open up his chest and tuck Izuku there between his ribs, right where his heart should be, he would. Izuku was his heart, the only reason Katsuki could get through any day, any situation.

“You’re thinking something corny, aren’t you, Kacchan?” Izuku beamed up at him with a crooked grin and a mischievous gleam in his eyes.

“Fuck off,” Katsuki grumbled, pressing his nose into Izuku’s hair. He’d finally agreed to let Mina teach him her curl care routine back in second year and it was no longer the frizzy, wild mop it had been when they were growing up. He’d cut the back short and kept it fluffy on top and Katsuki loved running his fingers through the silky strands and scratching over the soft cut at the base of his skull.

“I can feel you being all sappy Kacchan,” Izuku giggled, swinging their hands together between them like a little kid. “It’s sweet.”

“I ain’t sweet,” Katsuki growled, nipping Izuku’s cheek playfully. His omega giggled again, the bright warmth and happiness bursting through their bond like a firecracker. “I’m spicy.”

“I’ve already disproven that,” Izuku pointed out, licking his lips. Katsuki remembered the night Izuku had cornered him in the locker room after training one day, eyes hooded and practically begging to lick him. For science, he’d said. For my notes, Kacchan, he’d said.

Gross, but damn did it feel good to have Izuku’s mouth on him.

“You’re so sweet, Kacchan,” Izuku said, turning his adoring gaze up at Katsuki. It hadn’t changed a single bit, not since they were pups, not since school. It held a different charge to it now, on the night before Izuku’s eighteenth birthday, when they could finally fulfill the promises they’d made all their lives. When they could complete their claiming bites and be officially mated when they started their hero careers together.

He’d grown soft; always fond for the boy in his embrace and unable to hold back the affection bursting in his chest. Katsuki leaned down to swallow Izuku’s next argument, to kiss him so good the nerd would forget anything except all the things Katsuki was about to give him.

He pulled Izuku to a corner, hiding from the passerby, pressing him against a brick wall with a hand cupping his skull so he wouldn’t smack against it. His other arm went up to bracket Izuku, leaning over him with a sharp smirk. Izuku looked up at him through his lashes with a soft look in his eyes. They were both wearing patches today, if only because they were out in public, but Katsuki still felt the eager arousal popping through their bond, like little detonations of Katsuki’s quirk.

Izuku parted his lips, probably to say Katsuki’s name, but he ducked down to swallow the sound and distract Izuku with a kiss. He licked Izuku’s strawberry chapstick off his lips, biting down gently on his bottom lip, tugging it between his teeth. Izuku chirped happily, wrapping his arms around Katsuki’s shoulders. Katsuki gripped him by the hair, tugging just enough to elicit the sweetest gasp, and turned his head so he could kiss him deeper.

Izuku hummed. “Kacchan.”

Frustrated Izuku broke their kiss before Katsuki had gotten his fill, he growled and nipped Izuku’s jaw. “What.”

“Nothing,” Izuku ran his fingers through Katsuki’s hair, dragging his little omega claws against his scalp. Katsuki couldn’t help but purr. “I just wanted to say your name.”

“Sap,” Katsuki said without any bite. He did however nuzzle against Izuku’s cheek, debating just saying fuck it and sealing his fangs around Izuku’s neck. But no, he was going to claim him exactly like Izuku deserved; intimately, in their nest, just the two of them together where he could spoil him all night long.

“Your sap,” Izuku murmured against Katsuki’s lips. Their bond hummed with eager joy, shared butterflies in their stomachs rioting together, hearts thundering in tandem.

They were nearly to the izakaya when they were stopped on the street.

“Excuse me… you’re Deku, aren’t you?” the voice was strangely warped, but soft and eager.

They turned to see a kid – well, probably a guy close to their age, maybe a year younger – standing with his hands pressed together like he were in prayer. Katsuki sniffed and couldn’t get a strong read on the guy. A beta, most likely. He looked at Izuku with wide eyes, full of awe and admiration. He had the same look in his eye that Izuku got when he talked to other heroes.

He had a small metal contraption wrapped around his neck, a voice box not unlike Eyebags’ when he used his quirk. Did this extra have some kind of voice quirk? He didn’t look familiar, so he probably hadn’t gone to UA or even been in the hero course. Probably some other bullshit. Katsuki only cared that they’d been stopped by some extra.

“What do you want.” Katsuki intoned, bored and sharp. He glared at the guy–totally unremarkable. Katsuki would most likely forget him the second they turned around.

“Um,” the guy didn’t move his eyes from Izuku when he spoke. Katsuki fumed, a curl of possession humming in his body. He instinctually tugged Izuku closer to him, hand tightening on his hip. Izuku flashed him an amused glare. He felt the possessive feeling through their bond. He usually found it endearing (and hot), but despite the flush in his cheeks, he loosened Katsuki’s grip just a bit.

“Well,” the extra kept saying, “I was really impressed with you, Deku. I’ve watched all the Sports Festivals you've been in and it’s really amazing to see how far you got.”

“Oh!” Izuku blushed, scratching his neck. “That’s very kind of you to say, thank you.”

“It’s so rare to see not just an omega but a quirkless guy make it all the way to the end, y’know? I never got to be a hero, my quirk isn’t very suited for it–”

Katsuki suppressed a heavy sigh. Even without the bond flooding his chest with curiosity and excitement, he knew Izuku wanted to ask about the guy’s quirk. They’d be standing here for ages.

“Bros! There you are!”

Kirishima waved wildly, poking his head out of the door to the izakaya up the block. Izuku looked conflicted, glancing between the extra that had stopped them and Kirishima. Katsuki huffed, ruffling Izuku’s hair.

“I’ll go, you can stick here to talk to…” he looked up at the guy but didn’t bother pausing to get his name. “I’ll make sure Shitty Hair doesn’t break another wall over there.”

Izuku smiled, squeezing Katsuki’s hand in thanks. “I’ll be with you soon!”

“Yeah, don’t stay out here too fucking long, it’s your birthday party.” Katsuki pressed a kiss to his forehead and rubbed his wrist against Izuku’s neck.

Izuku purred and kissed Katsuki’s wrist, right over the bite on his gland.

“Thanks, Kacchan.”

Katsuki rolled his eyes and went to calm Kirishima down. His waving had sped up when he saw Katsuki approaching, nearly shoving his fist through the window. He couldn’t hold back the grin even if he wanted to; Izuku’s excitement overtook anything he could possibly feel at that moment. The nerd was in his element, chatting about quirks and how any of them could be used for heroics if they really wanted to.

Kirishima beamed at him and threw his arms around Katsuki in a bruising bear hug.

“Bro! So happy to see you guys made it!” Kirishima glanced over his shoulder at Izuku and the extra. “Who’s Midoriya talking to?”

Katsuki shrugged. “I’m sure he’ll tell us all about it later.”

“Well come on! We got a private room in the back for everyone! You guys are the last to arrive.”

Kirishima guided him through the busy restaurant to a pair of closed shoji doors. He could already hear their rowdy classmates behind them. It was going to be a long night. Before Kirishima could even finish opening the door, a cold dread pooled in Katsuki’s stomach. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end and he was immediately on high alert.

He twisted, looking around, but everything seemed normal. Nothing out of place, nothing even remotely resembling a threat.

So why did he feel panicked all of a sudden?

He didn’t hear Kirishima calling his name, nor the concerned murmur of their friends. Katsuki furrowed his brow, sniffing the air. All he could smell was a busy establishment, barbeque smoke and beer.

So what…?

Izuku.

He barely remembered to control the outburst of his quirk as he propelled himself away from the back room and towards the front door, leaping over patrons and tables, much to their chagrin. He didn’t care, he would pay for any damages later, who the fuck cared about spilled drinks and toppled chairs?

Izuku was in danger .

He burst from the izakaya and skidded across the sidewalk, barreling over some office workers on their walk home. He didn’t see a single flash of green; no sign of Izuku. The corner where he’d been talking with the extra was empty.

Izuku hadn’t brought any of his gear with them. Despite Katsuki asking him to take something , Izuku had refused. It’s just a night out with friends, Kacchan! I won’t need it!

Stupid, stupid, stupid! Katsuki should have insisted, should have shoved some gadget or trinket in the nerd’s pocket. Izuku had been taught martial arts by Hobo Sensei himself; he could hold his ground just fine. But against someone with an unknown quirk?

Fuck! He had a voice box on him. What if his quirk was like Shinsou’s? What if Izuku had been caught off guard and without knowing how to break out of a mind control quirk, all of his training would be pointless.

“Izuku!” Katsuki shouted, blasting up into the air to try to get a better vantage point. But no matter how high he flew or how loud he shouted, Izuku was gone . Stolen right out from under his nose, when they should have been celebrating, when he should have been right there to protect him just like he’d promised time and time again.

He stumbled to the ground, palms burning from using his quirk, breathing so heavily he felt like he wasn’t getting any air in him at all. Someone caught him before he could fall face first onto the concrete. Someone pressed something cold to the nape of his neck in an effort to calm him down.

But how could he calm down right now? His omega was gone, he’d let his omega out of his sight and he disappeared . There was no sign of that extra either and even when he tried to think back to any distinguishing features, all he could picture was a blank face. He had already known he would forget him the second he’d turned around, unwilling to spare any mental space for anything that wasn’t Izuku.

Someone was trying to speak to him, but he couldn’t understand a single word. He grabbed the closest person, his vision swimming as he tried to force an explanation through his teeth. He’d hardly gotten a handful of words out when the panic he was feeling through the bond went silent.

Katsuki froze, sight unseeing, as his heart stopped in his chest. He didn’t feel anything through the bond, only a quiet darkness as if Izuku had fallen asleep. Or been knocked unconscious. Katsuki was for sure hyperventilating now. His hands were cold, trembling uncontrollably. It didn’t matter that he’d just been using his quirk, his fingers were frozen. Like when Izuku was on the verge of a panic attack—Katsuki would always hold them tight in his palms, warming his quirk just enough to keep them warm.

Katsuki's breath caught in his throat. Would he ever get to touch Izuku again? Hold him in his arms? What was the last time he’d touched him? When he’d scented him, when he’d kissed his forehead?

What if that was their last kiss?

A goodbye kiss, too soft to be enjoyed thoroughly. If he had known that was the last, he would have cherished it. No, he would have never left Izuku’s side. He shouldn’t have left Izuku behind. That’s not how they did things. They were always together. He’d promised him time and time again to never leave him and then he fucking did. He was an idiot.

What if he never got to hold Izuku again, never got to kiss him. He ached at the thought of Izuku’s scent fading from his life. He brought his still trembling, still freezing hand to his face and buried his nose in his palm where Izuku had nuzzled him. There was just a faint trace of petrichor there but it was buried under the sweet nitro of his quirk.

He made one final promise.

I’m going to find you.

He looked up, blinking out the fuzziness in his eyes (tears? He supposed he was crying) to look at their classmates looking at him in varying degrees of concern. Katsuki couldn’t be fucked to care about looking strong in front of them. They’d all gone through Hell and back at each other’s side. They’d never seen him like this, however. He grabbed someone’s arm – Momo’s, he thought – and wheezed in a rattling breath.

Lip trembling, all he could say was, “Izuku’s been kidnapped.” before he felt his knees give out from under him.

♦

The sparrow does hold
though the wind snaps and the bough whorls
its heart still remains

♦

“You can play with your toy as much as you’d like, son, but you have to get it to comply. You’ll be expected to take care of it, alright? You’ll be able to use all of our resources.”

He’d never been more excited. Finally, a toy he could break as much as he wanted and he would have his parents' connections to put it back together again and do it over and over and over. He looked at the omega toy sprawled over his bed.

Want thrummed through him. All of his patience had paid off after all this time. And the best part was seeing it done right under that mangy alpha’s nose.

♦

Izuku woke sluggishly. His eyes felt glued down and his limbs heavy as concrete. He groaned and shifted, trying to remember what had happened. His memories swirled like fog in his head, silky thoughts slipping through his fingers. He couldn’t remember anything. He was going somewhere… with… who?

He raised his arm to rub at his eyes but was stopped short by a vicious tug. There was a manacle and chain around his wrist. Izuku sat up so fast his vision swam; he felt lightheaded and there was a heavy throb through his skull. A head injury? He brought up his other hand to feel at his skull. At least it was just the one arm chained down. His fingers didn’t come away sticky with blood, which was good. He did feel a bump at the back of his head.

Someone had knocked him unconscious. This wasn’t the first time he’d been knocked out. But by who? They’d just been going… to… the party! His birthday dinner at the izakaya! With…

Izuku groaned and shut his eyes, trying to think. He was trying to remember anything.

He curled into his knees and sniffed. Something sweet and smokey lingered on his collar and he buried his face into the fabric. He remembered red eyes… a lingering kiss… excitement…

Kacchan!

Izuku gasped and sat up straight. He’d been talking to that guy on the street with the voice quirk. Kacchan had gone to greet Kirishima at the restaurant. Then something had overcome him and he was led away. He’d tried to fight it off and they scuffled in the alley when he was hit from behind and knocked out.

He tugged on their bond, trying to reach out to Kacchan. All he felt was cold panic and trembling fear.

“Oh Kacchan…” he said quietly. He tried to reach him on the other side, tried to let him know he was okay, that they’d find each other. But their bond was incomplete. Without the mating bite, the most he could send was fleeting emotions and sensations. He did his best to feel hope, knowing Kacchan would find him eventually. That Izuku could get out of this.

Izuku took a steadying breath, already feeling spikes of interest and relief through their bond. Somehow, he’d gotten through to Katsuki. Okay. Good. Now to assess the situation. Stay calm and figure out where he is, if he’s alone, and any points of exit. Just like Aizawa taught them.

He was in a bedroom, atop a bed with silken sheets. A lamp in the corner. An armchair across the room. The curtains on one wall were drawn, but Izuku could see a faint glow coming in beneath them: windows, then. The light was cold and silver; moonlight or distant street lamps. Maybe the glow of the city. It wasn’t unlike the view they had at the dorms at UA. He couldn’t be too far from the city.

The room was mostly barren, save for the bed and armchair. Through the dim light of the room he could make out a door on the far wall, closed. Light spilled from underneath it, bright. There was more to this place than just this room. The walls were painted plain but not concrete. A residence, probably. There were frames and things hanging on the walls but Izuku couldn’t make out any details. Decorations, most likely.

He quieted his breathing, sitting still so as not to rock the bed, and listened for anything. A distant siren, too far away and muffled to indicate anything. Even through the closed window, Izuku could hear cicadas. They were outside of the city proper then, somewhere suburban or near a forest or park. Not ideal, but he could work with that. Their first year training camp had been in the forest on a mountain. So long as he could get out in one piece, he could make it back to Kacchan.

The only problem was how he was going to get out.

He was chained to the bed frame, which was bolted to the floor. There wasn’t enough slack on the chain to let him take more than a step off the bed and it was his dominant hand they’d manacled. He’d be at a disadvantage, but he’d trained with his off hand enough to be competent.

He might be able to stretch and yank the curtains off with his feet. Before he could make the attempt, the door creaked open. Izuku hadn’t even heard any approaching steps. Was there carpet in the hall outside?

“You’re awake,” said the newcomer. Izuku blinked, unable to get a good look at his face with the way he was backlit by the hall light. Izuku caught a brief glimpse of a long, luxurious hall behind the person in the doorway. Carpeted and well decorated. It immediately made him think of the Yaoyorozu residence when Momo had invited the class over for Christmas last year.

Whoever this person was, he was well connected and well off.

“Wh-who are you?” Izuku cursed the way his voice broke. He needed to be strong, to show he’s not cowed by whatever situation he’d found himself in this time. He was stronger than anything that could be thrown at him. He wasn’t supposed to break.

The man shut the door behind him and prowled towards the armchair. He didn’t give off a strong scent when he passed the bed. He must have been a beta, or wore high grade scent patches.

“I’m hurt you don’t recognize me, Midoriya-kun,” he said. “After all this time. I’ve never forgotten you. You’re unforgettable . Right, Deku?”

Izuku didn’t like the way he said his name. The voice was vaguely familiar to him, but he couldn’t place it. The man clicked on the lamp in the corner and turned to face him. Izuku blinked in the sudden bright light. When Izuku could refocus his eyes, he froze. A cold dread dragged its claws down his spine and he couldn’t suppress the shiver.

The walls were covered from floor to ceiling in photos of him . A lot of public photos from UA, the Sports Festival, times he’d been involved in villain attacks outside of school. Some were from as recently as graduation, then first year, and even as far back as middle school.

Then there were the photos of him that couldn’t possibly be public. A picture of him walking out of his mother’s apartment. Riding the train. In Kacchan’s backyard during a summer barbeque his parents had hosted before they moved into the dorms. (That one was torn in half, with only his face visible.) Him in his training uniform at UA, sweaty and bruised from sparring.

A grainy photo of Izuku the day he’d bloomed for Kacchan. Kacchan’s face was scribbled out so roughly it nearly ripped the photo.

Izuku getting ready for bed, taken through the half closed curtains of his dorm room. Izuku walking to class. Izuku at the konbini at night. An old photo of Izuku in his elementary school uniform and bright yellow bucket hat–an exact replica of the one his mother used to have in their apartment. It had just disappeared one day.

He’d been watched for years . This person had stalked him, been inside his childhood home. Taken photos of him at his most vulnerable. He was someone who knew him far too intimately for Izuku’s liking.

When he looked up at the person sitting, waiting patiently, in the armchair, he found him smiling. Adoration and pride in his eyes as he watched Izuku. Izuku did his best to remember if he’d ever seen him before, but his memories were still a little jumbled.

“Of course you wouldn’t remember,” the guy sighed, crossing his arms over his chest. “You only ever had eyes for your precious Kacchan. ”

He spat Katsuki’s name like it was poison, acid on his tongue and features twisted in disgust.

“Keep his name out of your mouth,” Izuku snapped without thinking.

The guy looked at him wryly, lips twisted almost like he wanted to laugh.

“Oh Izuku,” he said and Izuku shuddered at the sound of his name in his mouth. He had no right to call him that; they didn’t know each other. “You know he doesn’t matter anymore, right?”

Izuku bared his teeth but didn’t respond.

“All that matters now is me and you,” he stood from the chair and stood over Izuku, running his fingers through Izuku’s hair. Izuku jerked his head back, but he held fast to his curls and yanked him toward his face. Izuku’s eyes welled up with tears from the harsh pull. “The only name you need to remember is mine . I won’t tolerate hearing his name coming out of my toy’s mouth. The only name I want you to utter is mine. Understand?”

Izuku glared up at him and snarled.

The man just chuckled and released him. He slumped over in bed.

“Doesn’t matter if you understand or not. You’re all mine now. Mine to use and break and put back together again. In the end, all you’ll care about is me. So forget everything else and remember only me, Izuku.”

He stormed out of the room and slammed the door shut. It rattled the wall with the force of it. Izuku heard the telltale click of a lock sliding shut on the other side, far heavier than a regular lock.

He took a deep breath and fought back his trembling. He had to get out of here, and fast.

♦

It had been several days since Izuku had woken up chained in Yuu’s bed. His only indication of the passage of time was the faint light coming through the curtained window and the distant sounds of day-to-day life. He’d spent most of the morning yanking and pulling at his chain, trying to break either it or the bed frame. But no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t get so much as a creak out of it.

His captor, Saito Yuu, had come in a few times since their first meeting; each time getting more and more frustrated with Izuku for doing something wrong.

Izuku didn’t greet him on entry, Izuku looked him directly in the eyes, Izuku brought up Kacchan.

Each infraction made Yuu boil, until he spilled over in his anger. The second time Izuku had said Kacchan’s name, Yuu backhanded him in the face; Izuku bit his tongue and the iron tang of blood filled his mouth and his ears hadn’t stopped ringing until Yuu slammed the door shut. Izuku sat on the bed, shocked, rubbing the stinging on his cheek as he stared listlessly into the corner. Yuu had gotten angry before, but he hadn’t laid a hand on him before that.

His chest tightened, heart sinking to the floor, as he realized that this was going to be much harder if Yuu was willing to hit him. Who knew what else he’d do to Izuku as time went on.

Izuku’s lip wobbled and for the first time since waking up, tears welled in his eyes.

Kacchan…

He needed Kacchan to come find him. Izuku rubbed his fingers across the bite at his wrist, hoping Kacchan could feel him through the bond. All he felt was despair and desperation and at this point, he didn’t know if what he was feeling was all him or Kacchan too. The churning emotions in his gut sank like stones in his stomach. If all this despair was Katsuki’s and Izuku was just making him feel worse? Their bond was all they had…

What if the time he spent away from Katsuki meant their bond would fade? Only the mating claim was permanent, everything else had to be refreshed. What if Izuku lost the only thing still connecting him to Kacchan?

The next time Yuu entered the room, Izuku sat up quickly. He kept his eyes lowered and murmured softly, “Hello, Yuu.”

Yuu attempted to croon in response, sounding more like a garbled groan than anything even resembling a soothing noise. He was a beta, born without the same vocal capabilities as an alpha or an omega. Izuku’s mother had always tried to emulate a croon when Izuku had been young, though she made it sound more like a low hum, like she was singing him a lullaby.

But Yuu seemed to be pleased as he approached Izuku. He crouched before him, gingerly caressing where he’d struck Izuku earlier. He tsked.

“Oh, sweetie, this looks like it hurts, huh?”

Izuku kept his gaze averted and didn’t respond. He didn’t know what could set Yuu off.

Yuu rubbed his wrist against the redness of Izuku’s cheek. Izuku flushed and fought off the desire to back away from the scenting attempt. Even if Yuu was a beta, scenting was incredibly intimate and reserved for pack and mates. To have a veritable stranger scent him made Izuku’s omega pace nervously.

“I never want to hurt you, Izuku.” Yuu said, dragging his palm down to Izuku’s neck. Izuku swallowed hard when he felt Yuu’s fingers wrapping around his throat, squeezing in warning. “But I can’t help it if you deserve it. Bad boys get punished. Are you a bad boy?”

Izuku couldn’t help the choked off gasp as Yuu’s grip got tighter and tighter. He was starting to feel all the air in his lungs funnel out, replaced by a cold dread. Just how long was Yuu going to squeeze him? Izuku shut his eyes and tried to inhale as much as he could.

“ Look at me ,” Yuu snarled. His grip turned into a vice. Izuku’s vision was already spotting, darkening at the edges. He snapped his eyes open with a wheeze. Yuu looked at him with an intense frown and dark eyes. “Are you going to be good?”

Izuku nodded the best he could while in his cold grip, chest rising and falling but not getting any oxygen.

“Good.” Yuu dropped his throat.

Izuku coughed, heaving for air.

“Don’t worry, Izuku. I’ll teach you right, so you’ll always be good. And if you’re not?” Yuu trailed a finger along the throbbing bruise that had already begun to bloom on Izuku’s throat. “Well, I have plenty of tools in my arsenal.”

Izuku barely suppressed his shiver.

“And since you’ve been good for me, I think you deserve a reward, hm?” Yuu fished a familiar looking scarf from his pocket, its scent immediately filling his nose. Izuku froze, looking at it unblinkingly. That was Kacchan’s scarf, gone missing a month or so ago. The scent wasn’t fresh, but it still lingered on the fabric. It made him tear up. He reached a shaking hand towards it, fingers trembling as Yuu kept it just out of reach.

“If you keep being good, there will be more of this. Understood?”

Izuku nodded.

“Use your words.” Yuu dangled the scarf before him like he was holding a treat out for a dog, waiting for it to complete its trick.

“Y-Yes, Yuu.” Izuku’s croaked.

“Good boy.” He tossed the scarf at him. Izuku brought it to his nose without a second thought, inhaling the stale scent of burnt sugar and woodsmoke. It was like a refreshing wave of relief overwhelmed him all at once.

Yuu cleared his throat and looked pointedly at him.

“Th-Thank you.” Izuku said, lowering his hands.

Yuu smiled at him. It made Izuku’s skin crawl, and doubly so when his ruffled Izuku’s hair. It sent a pang of hurt through his heart; it was nothing like how Kacchan would do it. He wanted Katsuki’s hands in his hair, the heat of his palm, his neatly trimmed nails scratching just so against his scalp, playing with his hair absentmindedly. This wasn’t right. It was too rough, the pressure was wrong; it burned instead of soothed. Izuku bit back his sob.

“Good boy, I’ll see you again soon.”

As soon as Yuu left, Izuku collapsed into the bed and curled around the scarf to breathe in the fading traces of Kacchan’s scent. He whined, sad and pitiful, as his tears soaked the fabric.

♦

Katsuki collapsed. It was in the middle of the third search and rescue meeting. He hadn’t slept more than a few hours over the last several days. He was running on desperation – his need to not only find Izuku, to take out the creep who took him, and then comfort the fuck out of his nerd. All day, every day, since Izuku was taken, all Katsuki could feel was despair and pain.

Pain was nothing new between their bonds; Izuku was accident prone enough for the both of them. He’d broken bones and suffered wounds just like all of them had.

But this? This was heart-wrenching. It was despair on a whole other level that Katsuki had never felt before. It was like a hole had been ripped open in his chest and he was hurtling into an endless void. The bond hummed with Izuku’s want; of Katsuki, of help, of anything other than where he was right now. It trembled with the strength of the hurt surging through his bones.

Katsuki gasped sharply, clutching his chest. The gathered heroes around the table all went quiet and stared at him.

“He–” Katsuki hissed, the words curdling in his throat. “‘Zuku.”

His knees buckled and he hit the ground like a sack of potatoes, curling into himself like he could protect Izuku from the pain like that. A hand landed on his back and Katsuki jolted with a fear not his own. Was this what Izuku was feeling right now? What was that bastard doing to him?

Katsuki snapped and snarled, shaking violently as he tried to stand. He couldn’t be weak. He had to stay strong. For Izuku.

♦

Izuku woke to voices outside the door some time later. Gripping the scarf tightly, twisting it between his fingers as he sat up to listen closer. Something about the voice was familiar, but it was hard to place with the way it was muffled through the door.

“...kind of pathetic, isn’t he? One whiff of that beast and he turned in a sniffling pup.”

The response was incomprehensible but the resulting laugh was all too familiar.

Monoma?

“You’d think a hero in training would be made of stronger stuff.” That was a growly voice. Not Monoma then?

Who was out there? Did they know why Izuku was there? That he’d been kidnapped? Had they played a part in it?

No . Monoma may have a terrible personality, but he was still a hero. He’d seen him step up just as much as anyone in the hero course when things had gotten rough. If he knew Izuku had been in danger, he would have done something to help. And he had to know, right? Katsuki knew, so of course Kirishima and the others knew. And Kirishima would have told Tetsutetsu, who would have told Kendo, who would have passed the message to the rest of 3B.

The voices petered away after a moment, leaving silence behind. He hadn’t heard any footsteps, but those might have been muffled by the door. Yuu didn’t visit and Izuku was stuck thinking in anxious circles for the rest of the day.

♦

The sparrow does hold
as the branch whips
hoping that one day the wind ends

♦

As the days went on, Izuku found it harder to maintain hope. Everytime he caught himself doubting he’d ever be found, that anyone would come for him, he reminded himself that Katsuki would never give up on him. He trusted Kacchan to find him, to protect him, to bring him home. It wouldn’t be long now.

Except it had been weeks; two, maybe three. Izuku knew what that meant; he knew that the first 48 hours were crucial and the longer it took, the less likely of a chance he’d get out in one piece, if he got out at all.

The clothes he’d worn when he had been taken were taken away; soiled and tossed, or maybe Yuu kept them in some personal shrine dedicated to him. The man was obsessed with him in a way that set Izuku’s teeth on edge. His leering gaze and clammy hands all over his body made Izuku want to recoil. He couldn’t because if he did, Yuu would pin him down and “teach him a lesson”.

Izuku forced himself to think of only Kacchan, of Kacchan being the one touching him, bathing him, feeding him. There was a small bathroom attached to the room he was kept in; no more than a toilet and a tub. Yuu brought him there in regular intervals, dragging him along on his chain like a dog. Izuku would be shoved in the tub and Yuu would hand wash him from head to toe, fingers dipping into all of Izuku’s crevices, then dress him up however he saw fit.

Usually, it was some lacy get up, strings of pearls, things that barely covered him. Yuu wanted him as bare as possible. Izuku wasn’t to hide anything from him.

When it came time for his meals, Yuu insisted on hand feeding him. Forcing his fingers into Izuku’s mouth to run them over his teeth and press against his tongue, smearing food all over his mouth and down to his throat. Izuku was kept on the edge of hunger the entire time, never full and never starved, but always wanting something more.

Yuu had gotten handsy in the meantime, touching Izuku in all sorts of ways. Caressing gently at his most vulnerable spots, gripping hard enough to bruise, striking him across his face. Izuku had to have a near-permanent ring of bruises around his throat now. Yuu took particular pleasure in watching Izuku struggle to breathe and face purpling the longer he held on. Yuu’s face grew twistedly delighted each time, a manic glee in his eye.

Izuku was used to getting banged up, back at school and during training. But those moments always ended with either a trip to Recovery Girl or a night spent with Kacchan where he rubbed ointment gently onto his skin. They always faded faster, healed up with each lingering kiss Kacchan laid on him. But these bruises lasted longer, aching deeper; Yuu didn’t seem to care about tending to his wounds, only marking him up more.

“Izuku~” Yuu sing-songed from the doorway. Izuku sat up on his knees, eyes down and hands on his thighs.

“Hello, Yuu.”

Yuu ran his fingers through Izuku’s hair, tilting his head up to face him.

“Don’t you look like the perfect omega.” Yuu smiled, eyes flicking around Izuku’s body, taking in all of the bruises. “Think I need to mark you up some more, don’t you think?”

Yuu yanked Izuku’s hair back so he was forced to bear his throat. Izuku grunted at the sharp sting at his scalp, trying not to show his trepidation. Was Yuu going to try to claim him? He didn’t have the teeth to truly leave a claiming bite on his scent gland, but Izuku knew Yuu would stop at nothing just to make him bleed.

Yuu licked his teeth. “Wanna feel you under my teeth, Izuku.”

He brought their faces together and licked from Izuku’s jaw up to his temple. Izuku shuddered.

“Did that feel good, baby?”

Izuku could barely breathe. He wanted to kick Yuu off of him.

“I asked you a question.” Yuu snapped, licking the shell of Izuku’s ear. He could only hear the wet slurp of his tongue. “Answer me.”

Izuku squirmed. “P-Please stop…”

“You don’t like it?” Yuu sounded hurt, but he kept burying his nose in the crook of Izuku’s neck, lapping at his scent gland just to shiver and moan.

“Yuu, please,” Izuku struggled, trying to pull away. Yuu’s grip only tightened.

“You want me to stop?” Yuu was chewing on his neck, just shy of his scent gland. Izuku was trembling, shaking so hard the bed squeaked.

“Please…”

Yuu pulled away, appearing to contemplate it. Then his face darkened with fury, pulling Izuku’s head back hard enough to unbalance him.

“No.” Yuu snarled, “You don’t get to do that to me. Not when you’ve denied me all this time. Not when I’ve seen you presenting your whorish hole to that mangy beast of an alpha. Not when I know what you sound like, squealing on a fat cock.”

He’d been watching them, been so close and undetectable that he could listen to him and Kacchan.

“You’re mine now, slut.” Yuu yanked him closer. “Mine to use. So you better get fucking used to it and forget all about everyone else.”

Yuu smashed their lips together, their teeth clacking painfully. It didn’t deter him from trying to swallow Izuku’s mouth all the same. Izuku tried to push him off, shoving and wriggling and kicking. It only incensed Yuu to take more; to shove Izuku into the mattress and climb on top of him.

“Stop!” Izuku managed to shout when he felt Yuu’s fingers dip below the waistband of his pants.

Yuu slapped him and Izuku saw stars. He was stunned long enough for Yuu to rip his shirt off him and yank down his pants. Exposed in only his panties, Izuku wheezed and kept struggling, trying to pull himself out from under him.

It just earned him slap after slap across the face before that hand squeezed around his throat with threatening tightness.

“Shut up, whore. Learn your fucking place.” Yuu gripped Izuku’s unchained arm and twisted it until Izuku cried out in pain. One sharp tug and it’d be dislocated, or worse. “One more move to deny me and you’ll break another bone in this arm.”

Izuku stilled, wheezing through the grip around his windpipe. When it seemed like he wasn’t going to continue to struggle, Yuu resumed undressing him. He dragged his nails across Izuku’s naked skin, leaving behind little red lines in his wake. He teased around Izuku’s ribs, thumbing at the curve of them. Izuku shivered when Yuu’s hand traveled further south, cupping his heat.

“Oh baby,” he groaned. “You’re loving this, aren’t you?”

Izuku didn’t reply, but it wouldn’t have mattered if he did. Yuu kept going.

“You just love getting used, huh? Is that why you stuck so close to that beast? He treated you just like this and you’d cream your pants in seconds?” Yuu cooed, dragging a finger through Izuku’s folds. “You loose whore. I bet if he set it up, you’d let anyone fuck you.”

Izuku thrashed his head back and forth. He didn’t want this, didn’t want to be touched like this by a guy like Yuu. Only Kacchan could touch him like this, all he ever wanted was Kacchan. No one else mattered. But Yuu just didn’t care what Izuku wanted. He was going to take whatever it was that caught his attention and he was fixated on Izuku.

How long was he supposed to endure this?

“What would your precious alpha think when he finds out about this? Would he even take you back if you’re tainted by another? He’d drop you like a common whore.”

Izuku whined, forcing himself to not kick and buck lest he incited Yuu’s retaliation. Katsuki would love him still, wouldn’t he? He wouldn’t think poorly of him because of this. He wouldn’t abandon him. There was no way he would.

Wouldn’t he? A poisonous voice hissed in the back of his mind, sounding too much like Yuu. He’d been touched in so many disgusting ways, surely he was disgusting now too? Would Katsuki still want him – a broken thing, taken by another man, violated by him, tainted by him. No one would want him anymore, not after this. If Yuu took what he wanted, what would be left of Izuku?

Nothing. Nothing, nothing, nothing–

Izuku yelped when Yuu thrust his fingers inside him. It was too much, too dry, too painful. It didn’t matter how hard Izuku cried and screamed, Yuu didn’t stop, just kept pushing and pushing and pushing–

The longer it went on, the more Izuku shut down. He felt like he was looking down on the scene from above, seeing but not feeling, not processing the pain thrust upon him. The pressure that built until it popped. His tears were an endless waterfall the entire time as he gasped wetly. His eyes unfocused and Izuku just wasn’t there anymore. His heart ached and his stomach tightened.

Kacchan… help me…

Yuu rocked his hips and gripped Izuku by the jaw. Izuku’s head flopped to the side, unable to tear his gaze away from the ceiling.

“I told you,” Yuu snarled, nails cutting into Izuku’s skin, “to never say that bastard’s name, especially in front of me. Now I’ll have to punish you.”

Izuku whimpered involuntarily, eyes swimming with tears. He didn’t even realize he’d said anything. But that was all Izuku, wasn’t it? Always muttering, always getting in trouble for it.

He could only hope he’d survive the night.

♦

The sparrow trembled
despite his hold
he could not fly with broken wings

♦

After that, there was never a moment when Izuku didn’t ache. Day after day, week after week until Izuku lost count of how long it had been. Yuu took as often as he could, not even stopping when Izuku bled. In fact, it made him more incensed to keep going, to fuck harder, to do what he wanted. During that time, Izuku just floated, his mind distanced from his body. He’d come to sometime later, finding new ways his body could hurt. The bedspread would have bloody smears; sometimes the first thing Izuku felt when he woke was the iron tang in his mouth.

Yuu had given him a new garment to wear since he’d ripped Izuku’s clothes up. It could hardly even be considered clothes ; it was a binding tie of silken lace and strings of pearls, tied somewhat artfully around him, emphasizing his pecs and framing his stomach. It was pretty, in a sickening way – like Yuu was dressing up a toy doll – and it did nothing to cover him up. He was constantly exposed, his bruises displayed like a work of art. Izuku could only lay in bed and stare, sight unseeing, at the wall.

He only stirred when he heard the door open. He sat up as was expected of him.

“Hello, Yuu.” Izuku’s voice was rough from his crying, dried up and broken. Yuu didn’t seem to notice.

“Izuku baby, look at me.”

Izuku turned his head so he could look at Yuu. He was standing tall, a serious look on his face. What did he want now?

“I have news about him.” Yuu said.

It took a moment for Izuku to register what he meant. Kacchan? His chest warmed; was he here? He waited for Yuu to continue.

“We offered to have him buy you back, but he didn’t want you. But I’ll take care of you, Izuku, as long as you take care of me, too. Do what I ask and you’ll always be taken care of.”

Izuku blinked in confusion. His heart stuttered.

“Kacchan… doesn’t want me?” Izuku murmured. “No, no, he would never say that. He promised .”

Yuu cupped Izuku’s cheek and he didn’t have the will to flinch away anymore. “Oh, but he did. I have proof.”

Izuku felt the cold fingers of panic wrap around his neck, finding their home in the bruises Yuu left behind. It couldn’t be true, it wasn’t. Whatever his proof, it was fake. He knew Kacchan. Knew he would never say he didn’t want Izuku. Their bond, weakened as it was, was still active. The determination he’d feel on occasion was the only reason Izuku hadn’t wrapped the chain around his neck and squeezed until he stopped breathing.

Yuu brought out a small rectangle, a recorder of sorts. He’d seen Jirou use something similar before. Yuu clicked the button on its side and the speaker crackled to life. A hauntingly familiar voice came out of the device.

“ The fuck you mean by that?”

Yuu’s voice sounded next. “I mean, I can sell him back to you. Surely you’d still want him back. You came all this way, after all.”

“That was before I knew what he’d done. Why the fuck would I want something like him now? I don’t fucking want him anymore. Keep him. ”

The last thing on the recording was Yuu’s soft chuckle.

“See?” Yuu said, rubbing his knuckles beneath Izuku’s eyes, catching the falling tears. “He just doesn’t want you anymore. You drove him away. But that’s alright. Like I said, I’ll take care of you now.”

Izuku whimpered, his breath catching in his throat and chest heaving with hiccuping sobs. Kacchan didn’t want him? Kacchan wasn’t coming to rescue him?

“Th-That can’t be h-him…” Izuku sniffled, feeling the snot drip over his lip. “Ka-Kacchan would never…”

Izuku pushed out of Yuu’s grip to curl up under the sheets, consequences be damned.

That was the wrong thing to do.

He was hardly under the covers for a heartbeat before he was violently yanked off the bed. He hit the floor hard, banging up his knees and scraping his skin against the corners of the bedframe. He was dragged far enough that the manacle around his wrist dug into the meat of his hand, crushing his joints and nearly pulling his shoulder out of its socket. He yelped at the grip around his legs as Yuu flipped him over onto his back, twisting his arm behind him.

Yuu gripped his hair and pulled him upright, spitting in his face, “I told you to never say that beast’s name in my presence! To never deny me my right to you! How dare you pull away from me?!”

Izuku gasped in pain as he was dragged further still. His arm was aching, feeling like it might snap at any second and the manacle could flay the skin off his hand. It stung and he felt hot rivulets of blood dripping down his forearm.

Yuu gripped him by the throat, squeezing mercilessly. Izuku struggled to free himself, muscles twitching of their own volition. Black swallowed the edges of his vision and cold dread filled his chest. There was something far darker about Yuu in this moment; in all the times he’d hurt Izuku, it had never been quite this malicious. He would have let go of his throat by now.

“I will make you fucking learn to obey me, even if I have to break you into little pieces.” Yuu snarled, leaning over him to place his boot on Izuku’s trapped and twisted arm. “You are mine to break, understand?”

Yuu released his throat and Izuku was able to wheeze in half a breath before Yuu’s knee pressed into his sternum. He was a heavy weight over him, slowly squeezing the life out of him.

“You’ve disobeyed me countless times, Izuku. Now I have to punish you,” Yuu said, eyes wild and face flushed red. He was panting heavily, breathing all the air Izuku was desperate for. Yuu’s hand constricted around Izuku’s bloody forearm. “Look what you made me do.”

Yuu stood up, boot still pressed to his shoulder, finally freeing Izuku’s throat just so he could scream as Yuu took his arm and yanked. There was a sickening crack and unbearable pain burned through his entire body. Izuku jerked and screamed and howled. Yuu let his arm drop, flopping limply against the floor. It jostled the broken bone and the dislocated shoulder at the same time.

“Shut up, you pathetic bitch!” Yuu slapped Izuku across the face. It was nothing compared to the blazing pain in his arm. Izuku tasted blood in his mouth. He watched Yuu stand, vision swimming and making him see double. He fiddled with the voice box support gear around his neck. The voice that came out was not Yuu’s. “You will break for me.”

Izuku shuddered, eyes rolling back as Yuu kicked him in the side. Something cracked inside his chest but Izuku wasn’t even in his body anymore at that point. All he felt was a chilling numbness spreading into his limbs. Yuu beat him, over and over again, spitting venom and breaking Izuku over and over and over and over and–

♦

The sparrow hangs
limp and broken
and the wind never stops

♦

Katsuki howled, pain lancing through his body in dull aftershocks. First in his legs, then it was like his hand was being crushed. Auntie Inko ran to him, dropping the tea she’d been making in her rush to get to his side, right when Katsuki had felt something constricting his throat. Tears welled up in his eyes, his chest caved in, his arm burning like it had been broken.

He looked up at Auntie, his vision blurring.

“Iz–” he wheezed. He couldn’t breathe, Izuku couldn’t breathe–

And then, so suddenly that it left Katsuki feeling adrift, the pain just… stopped. Like someone had shut off the lights; everything stopped. He could breathe, the pain fizzled out, and it was like nothing ever happened. Katsuki frowned, wondering what exactly had just happened. Was Izuku unconscious again?

He reached through their fraying bond and found nothing. No pain, no connection, not even a blip. His heart stopped, the air froze in his lungs and Katsuki scrambled to pull up his sleeves.

His wrist was bare. Pale and unblemished.

Where once there had been a neat ring of teeth marks, made by fierce little omega fangs, was nothing. The bonding bites Izuku had placed so meticulously, had refreshed every chance he got, had vanished. Like they were never there.

For the first time in months, their bond was quiet. Their bond was gone.

“Katsuki?” Inko squeezed his shoulder.

He couldn’t meet her gaze. He trembled, choking on the sobs fighting their way out of his throat. His entire body had gone cold; was he even breathing anymore? Did he even want to be?

How was he supposed to tell Auntie that her son was dead?

♦

When Izuku opened his eyes next, he knew he was dead.

Nothing hurt, after all. His entire body, for the first time since he was a child, didn’t ache. He felt floaty, like he was laying on a cloud; his vision was blurry and he couldn’t focus on any one thing. His mind was hazy, buried under a dense fog.

Eventually, his senses returned to him one by one and Izuku remembered where he was.

He was still Yuu’s captive, still chained to the bed, still broken and used. But it was like all of his pain had vanished overnight. (If it had even been a night; for all he knew, it could have been longer.)

The room was dark and he couldn’t make out much, even by the faint moonlight filtering in through the gap in the curtains. When he sat up, he took full stock of himself. He remembered what had happened in bits and pieces; the heartbreak and the pain, Yuu hurting him over and over, breaking his arm.

Izuku ran his hands over any part of him he could reach. But nothing ached. He couldn’t feel any bumps or bruises. He furrowed his brow in confusion; where were his most recent scars? Where was–

Izuku’s mind was quiet. Too quiet. His breathing came in rapid lurches; he couldn’t take in enough air even if his life depended on it. Everything was cold, dread like ice dripping into his veins. Why couldn’t he…?

He ran his fingers over his wrist, the insides of his thighs. They were smooth, unblemished.

His bond was gone .

He’d broken his bond with Kacchan. He had nothing left tying him to the blonde, no way of knowing he was okay. Izuku’s mind was empty because Kacchan was gone. How could Izuku have let this happen?

He was never going to get back to Kacchan now.

The only thing that had kept even a flicker of hope alive in his chest didn’t exist anymore. Kacchan was his one hope. Without him, Izuku had nothing, was nothing. He couldn’t even feel his omega.

Izuku laid back in the bed, everything numb and buzzing from head to toe. What did it matter anymore? He had no chance of escape. No chance of rescue. There was no one coming for him. Something inside of him broke just then. A clean snap and Izuku fell lax. He wasn’t in his body anymore; he wasn’t even looking down at himself. He felt nothing, no cold or heartbreak, no limbs or flesh. He was just adrift in the aether, unable and unwilling to go back to his body.

He stopped moving. The only reason he even breathed was because he wasn’t even strong enough to tell himself to stop doing it. He didn’t even recognize the sound of the door opening and Yuu coming to his side.

“Oh Izuku baby, look at you. So pathetic.” Yuu clicked his tongue. Izuku just stared unblinkingly at the ceiling. “So easily broken, hm? And you thought you could be a hero? No, all you’re good for is being a pretty little toy.”

Yuu looked at him, face darkening. He gripped Izuku’s chin in a harsh grip and twisted his face so he was forced to look at Yuu.

“It’s no fun if you don’t speak, baby.” Yuu snarled. “Say something.”

Izuku’s eyes just rolled downwards, now only able to stare at the corner of the room. Yuu released him with a growl. He slapped Izuku across the face. Izuku’s head flipped, boneless, to the other side. He was staring at the curtains now.

Yuu muttered under his breath, something like, “This will get you talking.” before some sort of dial clicked. Izuku wasn’t able to make sense of it. Not that it mattered. Nothing mattered anymore; he might as well just give up entirely.

“Izuku,” the voice was low, an alpha’s growl, almost a command. “ Look at me .”

It was familiar, in a heart shattering way. It cut straight through the haze in his head. He still had no control over his body; a puppet without its strings.

He was yanked to the side, his head lolled over. He must have imagined it. The voice, that sweet smokey gravel, wasn’t real. It was just Yuu in the room. The strange device around his neck had a blinking green light now. He opened his mouth and Izuku heard it again.

“Don’t you want to see me, Izuku baby?”

Tears sprang unbidden in his eyes. Kacchan. Kacchan! He took Kacchan’s voice.

“There’s my baby,” Yuu Kacchan said, using Yuu’s mouth. It was twisted into a thin sneer-like smile. “I can’t believe I ever thought of you as desirable . You’re so pathetic, you quirkless little whore. He did me a favor taking you away. Now I’m finally free of you.”

Izuku’s throat constricted. He couldn’t breathe and all he could hear was the harsh pounding of his heart slamming against his ribcage, his pulse crashing like waves. He doesn’t have a heart left to break anymore. It’s been ground to dust.

He lay there, limp and sobbing quietly, as Yuu climbed onto the bed and peeled the string of lace and pearls away from his battered heat. Izuku felt his chest cave in as Yuu fucked him relentlessly while using Kacchan’s voice to whisper horrible things in his ear. Once, Izuku would imagine it was Kacchan holding him, touching him, just to get through the agony. Now it was the worst pain imaginable to think of Kacchan now.

As if it were Kacchan hurting him, taking from him in the most cruel way when once upon a time Izuku would have given him everything and anything willingly. And even though Yuu looked nothing like Kacchan, it was all too easy for Izuku’s broken mind to change his features to the familiar ones of his alpha.

Not his alpha anymore … Izuku remembered with a painful clench of his heart. Their bond was gone, their marks erased, no longer tied together heart and soul. Izuku had never felt this alone in his entire life.

He endured, because he had no other choice. Yuu would just take him and bleed him and break him before he healed him so he could do it all over again. Izuku never saw the person with the healing quirk; they always came through only after Izuku had passed out from the pain.

It was some time later – days, maybe more – when Yuu did something strange.

He came in holding a ring of keys and removed the chains tied to the bedpost. Izuku could only blink slowly while Yuu fitted a collar around his neck. It was made of the same metal as the manacles and Yuu had the other end of the chain lead wrapped around his hand.

“Come on, baby. You’re looking a little pale lately.” Yuu tugged the chain and Izuku fell to the floor. Yuu didn’t bother to stop, just made Izuku crawl after him until he could struggle to his feet. “And you’ve been such a good boy, I think you deserve a treat.”

Izuku barely heard him. He was taking in the opulent halls and rooms Yuu was leading him through. The decadence dripped off the walls like sap–clearly, the Saitos were well off. Yuu pulled him into a small garden out back and Izuku saw the sky for the first time in ⁠— he doesn’t even know how long. Weeks, probably. Months, maybe.

It was so blue that it was almost unfair. He could see a cityscape just over the tall stone fence, a few miles away. He was so close to the city; close enough that if he screamed, somebody might hear. Might alert a local pro hero patrolling nearby. The hot summer wind rustled the trees and the cicadas’ song was endless. Sweat broke out on Izuku’s face, dripping into his eyes. He made no move to wipe it away. Made no sound.

He couldn’t anymore. He stood there, a husk of his former self, staring out at the sky and its thick white clouds without actually seeing any of it. The breeze pushed him around like he were a reed and Izuku was already used to being tossed around ⁠— what did it matter if the wind did it to him too?

Izuku nearly fell to his knees when Yuu yanked the chain hard. He was looking over his shoulder, fury written plain on his face. Oh. Izuku must have done something wrong. He was going to be punished for it, wasn’t he? He resigned himself to another sleepless night full of throbbing pain.

Izuku followed dutifully, as expected, back into the house. Yuu barely clicked the manacles around Izuku’s wrists before he stormed from the room. There was a muted crash somewhere in the building, but Izuku was just relieved that whatever punishment Yuu had thought up was reserved for later. So Izuku could lie there, unblinkingly, and stop feeling his body long before Yuu came back.

♦

Katsuki had been so out of it the last few days that Jeanist had taken him off the patrol roster. They’d cut back on the search and rescue mission pretty considerably in recent days that Katsuki had gone near nuclear when he was told about it.

So instead, he’d taken to patrolling on his own time. When everyone else had given up, Katsuki kept at it. He refused to think of it as a lost cause. He would run himself into the ground to find Izuku. He would never give him up.

Not a chance.

He was patrolling south of the city, in his civvies, walking about a more affluent part of town. When the search had begun, they’d worked outwards in a spiral from the last place Izuku had been seen. That kept them within the city limits for days and once that had come up with nothing, they’d searched areas of the city most likely for kidnappings to have occurred. Slums, dark alleys, high crime rate areas.

But there had been nothing. It was like the fucker had just disappeared into thin air with Izuku in his clutches. After that, they’d slowed down on the search and turned back to other missions. Katsuki had been so pissed and pent up that he’d blown a crater into one of Jeanist’s training centers.

So he’d been put on leave until he could keep himself together. But he couldn’t. How could he when his omega, his mate, his Izuku, was still gone? May never come back to him?

He was a wreck and the only thing keeping him even remotely together was the constant patrolling, running the streets over and over again until he dropped from exhaustion. The former 3A still dropped in to help him as often as they could, making sure he ate and slept and showered, to make sure he still kept to some semblance of normal, but the days blurred into one another.

Katsuki would probably never feel normal again.

He stopped in the middle of the sidewalk on this hot, summer afternoon. The sky was the type of blue that would make Izuku stop and stare at it with awe, would make him say, Kacchan, let’s fly! and Katsuki would take Izuku’s hand and they’d blast into the sky to soar among the clouds.

The color felt mocking now.

Look what you’ll never enjoy again .

It was pointless to keep going, wasn’t it? With their bond gone, Katsuki had no reason to think that Izuku was even alive anymore. He’d held onto his brittle hope for as long as he could. He wanted to keep believing that Izuku could survive anything, could hang on until he was able to find his way home.

But Katsuki had heard Auntie asking about headstones, about the cost of the flowers to place at Izuku’s empty grave. Was he just prolonging her grief and misery with his stubborn hope?

Katsuki sighed and fished out his phone to call Shitty Hair for a ride. His hand shook and beads of wet splattered across his screen. The blue sky remained, unchanged. He felt exhaustion sink into his bones; he didn’t think he could handle the walk back to his and Izuku’s apartment and the last thing he wanted was to be on public transportation like this.

On the third ring, Katsuki picked up a very specific scent. Blossoms, petrichor, sweet earth. It was muted, sour and moldy and full of rot. Distress of the highest order that had his alpha howling and thrashing in his chest. The tears in his eyes evaporated with his hope, his fury.

“ Izuku… ” he crooned. He was off like a shot; gone so fast that he didn’t even hear Kirishima’s confused Katsuki?! when his phone hit the pavement. 

He was moving entirely on instinct now, his chest budding with dangerous hope and furious disbelief. There was no one else that scent could belong to. He’d grown up with that scent, known it from his youngest days, knew how it tasted, knew every emotion that scent could go through. He knew it better than his own. It was Izuku, it had to be him.

(He didn’t think about what he’d do if it wasn’t, if he was wrong , if what he found on the other side was a cold corpse–)

Katsuki pushed himself forward with pops of his quirk from his palms, barely teetering on the side of controlled . He felt ready to tear himself apart, to burn all of the sweat dripping down his clammy skin in a mushroom cloud of desperation. He came to a tall stone fence, fancier than Ponytail’s place, and topped with gray slats. It was concentrated here, the sour petrichor and rotted earth. Sharp, burning in Katsuki’s nostrils like a chemical.

He felt as wild as the beast inside his chest. There was no doubt that Izuku was here.

For the first time in a long time, Katsuki let his alpha take the reins without hesitation. Whatever came next was all in the name of Izuku’s rescue, of making sure his omega was safe and back in his arms and away from whoever or whatever had made him smell like that .

Katsuki careened over the fence in an arc of smoke and landed heavily in a garden. Manicured bushes, a meticulously brushed zen garden, a plonking sōzu in a bubbling stream – all buried under the heavy tang of distressed omega. There was something strange about the scent now that he was closer to it, rather than a few streets away. Distressed, yes, but something about it felt wrong . Stale, like it’s faded away, even though he’s positive Izuku was just here.

He follows it anyway, blasting through the doors and inside the building. It clearly belongs to some rich fucker and before Katsuki makes it two steps inside, men in tactical gear come pouring out a door. They’re standing in his way. He can smell Izuku here; his scent seeps from every inch of wood and carpet.

Katsuki sees red. Something in his mind breaks, while the fangs in his mouth lengthen, venom drips and froths on his lips, his eyes narrow to the thin slits of a feral animal. There is an immeasurable amount of pain that has permeated the air here that it’s practically noxious. He and his alpha howl in tandem.

He blasts through the men, taking them down with ruthless efficiency. None of them stand a chance. There’s blood on his claws. Burning flesh stinging his nose. But all he can smell, all he can think of, is Izuku. His Izuku who had to have endured countless horrors for his scent to smell this rancid, this distressed. He must have suffered drop after drop for it to be this thick. Was everyone in this goddamn building scent-blind? A beta? How could no one smell someone hurting so much?

Katsuki tore through the halls, following his nose upstairs and to a steel door, barred closed. The scent was most concentrated here. He placed a palm on the metal and heated up his quirk past blistering, to volcanic temperatures. The whole thing glowed orange, melting under his palm. His flesh sizzled with the prolonged exposure. It didn’t matter, it didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered was Izuku Izuku Izuku —

The door fell away from the wall, smoking and molten, burning through the carpet. He stepped over it and into a dark room, barely furnished but not empty. The pure wall of distressed scent, tainted dark and rotten with pain like he’d never smelled before, nearly brought him to his knees. It was nothing but rotted earth and sour sick and oh so wrong ; it burned into Katsuki’s nostrils and he knew he was going to smell this time and again on the darkest nights when he relieved this in his nightmares.

But Izuku was there , mere feet away from him. He could reach out to him, they can finally be together again.

“ Izuku! ” Katsuki’s voice cracked at the sight of him. His tears dropped heavily down his cheeks. For the first time in weeks, Katsuki felt relief. Izuku was here, right there, his chest moving with life and Katsuki could cry out.

Except Izuku wasn’t alone. Izuku was being help up with a fist in his hair and a knife to his throat. He was wearing next to nothing, except for some lace and pearls that barely hid a thing. His entire body was covered in bruises so dark he almost mistook them for shadows. He looked skinny, malnourished and pale, with dark bags under his eyes. He was bound and chained by his limbs to the bed.

But the worst thing was that Izuku’s eyes were dull. Empty. Like he wasn’t taking in a single thing that was happening around him. The bastard behind him has half of his face covered in some metal contraption – almost exactly like Mindfuck’s. He looked furious and Katsuki was going to kill him.

“Get off him.” Katsuki growled, palms popping. In his periphery, Katsuki saw Izuku flinch.

“Stay away from him!” the bastard snapped back. In Katsuki’s voice . The fuck?

The growl that cut from his throat was wild and deep, enough to make Izuku instinctively try to twist in submission. Even the bastard – who was definitely a beta – tensed at the pure alpha energy seeping from every ounce of Katsuki’s body.

“Let go of him and you might just live another fucking day.” Katsuki spat.

“You’re not shit, extra. Think you can just barge in here, pretending to be me?”

Katsuki’s snarl was nothing short of animalistic. The temperature in the room froze.

“What a fucking beast, huh baby?” the bastard cooed into Izuku’s ear. Izuku trembled, eyes turning glassy and wet. If Katsuki didn’t do something, Izuku would drop and his chances of survival would turn practically nonexistent. He wasn’t in a state to be able to make it through a drop.

The bastard adjusted his grip on the knife and the tip of it dug into Izuku’s neck enough to make a red bead glisten on its edge before it slid down the hollow of his throat. Izuku made the tiniest mewl, a sound Katsuki hadn’t heard him make since they were brats, and Katsuki’s body moved on its own.

Too many things happened at once and Katsuki was not in the state of mind to be able to keep track of anything. He’d exploded forward, bright Clusters lighting up the room. The north wall crumbled and a sheet of ice pierced through the roof. A half dozen voices shouted but their words were buried under Katsuki’s feral snarl. Katsuki’s vision had narrowed to two points: Izuku and the bastard holding him.

Katsuki tackled him, hands smoking as his claws extended to deadly points. The beta hissed while Katsuki drove his shoulder into his stomach, arm flashing up to grip his wrist and twist, forcing him to drop the knife. His palms were constantly popping, growing in heat and power, and Katsuki had no plans to curb it. This bastard deserved to burn for making his mate bleed.

Fangs fully dropped and dripping with spittle and attack venom, Katsuki lunged for his throat, teeth scraping against the metal contraption. The scream that tore from the beta’s throat modulated between sounding like Katsuki’s, some random high-pitched woman’s voice, and a soft man’s. When it turned into a scream that sounded too much like Izuku’s, Katsuki gripped the voice modulator and heated his palms until it started to melt like the door.

After a few hisses and metallic crunches, the beta’s true scream slipped through. Katsuki yanked the crushed metal and tossed it across the room where it landed with a dull clatter.

“Stop, stop!” the beta yowled, kicking and trying to scramble away from Katsuki. His skin was burned where the molten pieces of his face mask had touched flesh, smoking under Katsuki’s grip. “Please!”

Katsuki had left mercy behind. It had stopped being an option the second he’d smelled Izuku’s distress.

He just dug his claws in and snarled in the beta’s face. Katsuki raised a hand, gripping the heart of an explosion in his palm. He was going to shove his fist down the fucker’s throat and revel in the resulting explosion. It would be the least of what this asshole deserved for how he hurt his mate.

Before he knew it, he was grappled from behind and his arms encased in heavy blocks of ice. He screamed – all animal – as his quirk was doused; the explosion went off with a muted boom but the ice held firm. The arms around him were hard as stone and if he hadn’t recognized the faint smell of pack and Eijirou’s peppercorn scent, he would have ripped those limbs apart. He was too far gone to be rational.

He still struggled like a wild animal in Shitty Hair’s arms, desperate to sink his fangs into that beta’s throat and rip it out. His palms crackled constantly, trying to break free from the ice encasing them.

“Bro!” Eijirou snapped in his ear, twisting his hold on Katsuki to keep him as still as possible. “You’re scaring Midoriya!”

Katsuki froze instantly, letting out a high whine. (He’d deal with the teasing later, his priority is and always would be Izuku.) He blinked and finally beat down his alpha for even a modicum of control. When he returned to the forefront of his own mind, he took in the scene, searching desperately for that splash of green that was the very color of his soul.

The room was in shambles. Only two walls were still standing. The other two had been taken down by the giant glacier spearing through the room and out the roof. A water pipe had burst and it sprayed in an arc out into the yard. Hundreds of photos of Izuku lay torn and crumpled amidst the rubble.

He spotted Monoma, eyes blazing red and hair floating around his face, as Mindfuck slapped a pair of quirk nullifying cuffs around the beta. The bastard was scorched and in possession of far too many limbs for Katsuki’s liking.

Icyhot stood at his side, watching Katsuki warily, his right arm glazed with ice still extended in his direction. Katsuki looked around frantically to see Izuku half hidden under the bed, face pale and trembling like he would fall apart with the briefest nudge. He was watching Katsuki with teary eyes, still glassy but so full of fear that it brought a knife straight into his chest.

It sobered him up the rest of the way out of his feral state. Katsuki took a deep, slow breath.

“Let me go.” Katsuki said, voice calm and collected in a way that made everyone else in the room shudder. Eijirou dropped him obediently. Katsuki staggered forward, approaching Izuku with as much care as he would a wounded animal.

“‘Zuku,” Katsuki breathed, extending a hand towards him, slow as he could. “It’s okay, it’s just me.”

Izuku keened a high-pitched, distressed whine, like nails on a chalkboard. Katsuki stopped moving, hesitating. A fresh wave of distressed omega scent puffed out of him in waves.

“No, no, no,” Izuku muttered, panicked. “S’not real, not real, not Kacchan , not real.”

The way Izuku had said his name, whispered like it was something illicit, like it was wrong for him to say it in the first place, was a slap in the face. Katsuki took measured breaths, trying to keep his own scent comfortingly neutral. He couldn’t let any negative scents bleed out now.

“Izuku, look, it’s really me.” Katsuki scooted forward again, getting to his knees so he wasn’t hovering over Izuku. He lets off little firecrackers in his palm, something that had mesmerized Izuku since they were brats, that Katsuki would do for him on quiet nights whenever Izuku asked for it. “It’s me, baby.”

He’s said something wrong. Izuku seized violently away from him with a heart-wrenching, throat-shredding scream. He slammed against the bed frame, his forehead meeting the edge of it. Blood streaked down his face in thick rivulets and Katsuki lurched forward in an instinctual attempt to protect. Izuku thrashed against his restraints, screaming and desperately trying to put distance between them.

“No, no! No! Stop no! Please! No more!” Izuku’s tears ran pink. “Yuu, please! ”

Katsuki crooned, deep and alpha and as comforting as he could make it. It rattled in his chest as he desperately reached out to Izuku, wanting nothing more than to comfort him then and there. Izuku scrambled away, crying and begging for it to stop.

“Stay away from me! Don’t touch me!” Izuku cried out, kicking desperately and continuing to slam his head against the bedrame.

Katsuki couldn’t take his eyes off Izuku but if he tried to touch him again, Izuku might just brain himself and bleed out before they could get him to a hospital. He called out into the room instead, “Shinsou, please!”

A click of a dial on Mindfuck’s voice box – Izuku tensed so tightly that Katsuki could smell the fresh blood welling from the cuts his nails made when he’d clenched his fists. He pressed his knees together tightly, scrunching up into as small of a ball as he could.

“Izuku, please calm down.” Shinsou said in Inko Midoriya’s soft voice.

“Mom?” Izuku’s voice cracked and his violent trembling stopped suddenly. A familiar glassiness took over his eyes.

Katsuki sagged in relief. He ached to touch Izuku, to hold him, to bandage his wounds, to take care of him. But with how Izuku had reacted to him almost touching him, then any actual contact was probably a very bad idea. A heavy hand landed on his shoulder. He looked up at Eijirou and Katsuki knew he looked like a mess with how much pity Eijirou exuded in his scent.

It’s not pity, Kacchan, it’s concern! Izuku’s voice echoed in his head, clear as day. Katsuki ignored how hard his legs shook as he stood. Izuku sat still as a bird on a branch while Pink Cheeks worked on unlocking Izuku’s restraints. Monoma and Icyhot dragged the beta bastard out with a hard grip on either arm. He didn’t look nearly as upset about getting caught as he probably should have; in fact, he looked smug while he sneered at Katsuki over his shoulder.

“You won’t be able to lock me away. I know people. This will all get taken care of.” He twisted so he could look at Izuku. “Don’t worry baby, I’ll be back to protect you from that beast soon.”

Izuku, still under Shinsou’s quirk, didn’t respond. He just kept staring forward blankly.

“Like hell I’ll ever let you anywhere near him again.” Katsuki snarled, jerking forward towards the beta. He at least had the decency to look scared of Katsuki.

“I always get what I want.” The beta scoffed.

“Over my dead body.” The only reason he hadn’t already broken every bone in the bastard’s body was thanks to Eijirou’s Hardened grip on his shoulder.

“That can be arranged.”

“Shut up.” Todoroki said icily, jerking him forward through the melted remains of the steel door. Now that Katsuki could hear anything that wasn’t Izuku’s pain, he could hear sirens approaching the building.

“We should get something to cover him up.” Eijirou said. Katsuki grabbed the closest thing – the somewhat scorched bedsheet – and wrapped it gingerly around Izuku’s shoulders. Izuku didn’t react, only shifted slightly with Katsuki’s ministrations.

“How long can you hold him?” He asked.

“Long enough to get him to the hospital, probably.” Shinsou said, eyes narrowed in concentration.

Katsuki nodded and cleared his throat. “Good. Get him to an ambulance. I’m going to do a final sweep.”

Shinsou raised a questioning brow but didn’t question it. He turned to Izuku instead. “Wrap the blanket around you, take my arm, and walk downstairs with me.”

Before the pair could move, Katsuki’s hand shot out to grip Shinsou’s arm. He swallowed hard. “Make sure he’s…”

“I’ll take care of him, don’t worry.” Shinsou said with a sharp nod. Katsuki let him go, even though his alpha howled to follow his omega, to make sure he didn’t lose him again.

When it was just Katsuki and Eijirou left in the room, Katsuki let himself break. Eijirou helped him upright and Katsuki sobbed into his shoulder. He thumped his fist against Eijirou’s chest, needing to release a little of the frustration and anger and relief swirling like a storm within him or else he’d explode.

“Hey, we got him man, he’s safe. He’s going to be okay.” Eijirou soothed.

“Ei, he was scared of me.” Katsuki said, shaking his head.

“He went through a lot. We don’t know the extent of it, but we knew it was going to be bad going in. But he’s going to be alright, because you’ve got him, bro. Whatever that asshole did to him, everyone knows you would move heaven and earth to make sure Mido can heal from it.” Eijirou looked him square in the eye. “Do you need another minute or are you okay to join everyone else?”

Katsuki took a deep, steadying breath. With half the walls missing, the stench of distress that permeated everything in the room had slowly been dispersed by the wind. The rotten earth scent still burned in Katsuki’s nostrils, but he needed one last lungful, if only to remember what it was that he had to fight for so that Izuku would never have to smell like that again.

He’d failed once before and never again.

♦

Katsuki refused to leave the hospital, even for the debrief. Someone would come around later to tell him whatever he needed to know. Nothing mattered more than Izuku right now. He paced anxiously across the waiting room, his alpha doing the same in his chest. Auntie sat trembling, sniffling into the old hag’s shoulder while his dam had gone off to get them some tea.

Izuku had been with the doctor for nearly an hour now. At some point, Aizawa and a cop had gone in to join them. Katsuki was going to pop if he had to wait any longer. The need to be at his omega’s side bubbled under his skin – he needed to be sure Izuku was alive and breathing and safe . It had been nearly a month since he’d last truly known Izuku was safe; it had been weeks of desperation and anxiety while they’d been separated and Katsuki was starting to feel the consequences of running on near empty for that long. As soon as he was able, he was going to bundle up Izuku up in their den, in Izuku’s nest, and keep him in his arms for as long as he could. Preferably for forever.

Finally, he saw Aizawa coming down the hall flanked by the cop and the doctor. Katsuki shot forward to meet them halfway. Aizawa sighed, looking even more exhausted than normal, and nodded, as if he knew Katsuki’s first question.

Auntie and his parents huddled up beside him; she took Katsuki’s arm and held on tightly.

“How is my son?” Auntie said, tears already welling up in her eyes.

The doctor looked grim, taking her glasses off to clean the lenses with her scrubs. When she replaced them on the bridge of her nose, she looked at the four of them with grave seriousness.

“Mr. Midoriya has gone through extensive trauma, shows signs of physical and sexual abuse, as well as psychological manipulation. His test results also showed he’d been under the effect of a healing quirk several times in the last week or so. Scans show evidence of new breaks in his bones that were afflicted recently and healed quickly, most likely within hours of the break. Save for a few lacerations and surface level bruising, Mr. Midoriya is doing fine physically. I can’t speak on his mental state, but we have a psychologist on staff that will see him whenever Mr. Midoriya is ready for that. I urge caution and calm when visiting him. Don’t overwhelm him with too much at once. I recommend his dam and mate see him first. While you’re with him, provide as much of a comforting scent as you can. I worry he may still be on the verge of a drop.”

Katsuki could hardly breathe. It was all so much, to have every worst fear of his be confirmed. He’d known it was bad just from the things he’d felt through their bond before it was cut off a few days ago. Each detail felt like a punch to the gut. Abuse, manipulation. He may still drop.

Inko’s grip on his arm tightened enough that it brought him out of his mounting panic.

“May we go see him now?” Auntie said wetly. Katsuki covered her hand with his so he could squeeze her right back.

The doctor nodded, gesturing behind them towards Izuku’s room. “He’s cleared for visitors.”

Inko pulled Katsuki along as she shuffled quickly down the hallway. The door loomed over him – should he even go in there? They weren’t technically mates; any physical signs of their bond was erased by the healing quirk. But Auntie barrelled on, pushing the door open gently. Her nails dug into Katsuki’s forearm. It hardly registered as he took Izuku in – really took him in – for the first time in weeks.

He was laid out in the hospital bed, thin sheets drawn up to his chest. An IV hooked into his arm, and his vitals were measured out on the monitors in steady beeps. There was a bandage wrapped around his head where he’d hit himself against the bed frame repeatedly before Mindfuck’s quirk took over. He was pale, the bruises stark against his skin. He looked underfed, malnourished, like he hadn’t had a proper meal since he’d been taken, cheeks hollow and most of the muscle he’d worked to pack on during training at UA had wasted away.

Katsuki was already mentally preparing a checklist for the ingredients to make Izuku katsudon when he was released.

He didn’t react when they’d entered; just stared listlessly across the room, his eyes glassy. Katsuki untangled his arm from Inko’s and whispered, “You should go first.”

She looked at him, a mixture of concern and relief in her tear soaked eyes. She hobbled over to the bedside while Katsuki perched in the uncomfortable chair off to the side, keeping a tight hold on his scent. He didn’t want to accidentally trigger Izuku again like he’d had back then. He had no clue what it had even been that had set him off, but Katsuki was determined to make sure it never happened again.

Auntie’s muted beta scent, something floral and vaguely like freshly baked bread, puffed up. It was clear she was doing her best to force her scent out, despite lacking an omega’s or alpha’s fully matured scent glands.

“Izuku?” she called gently, placing a hand on the hospital bed a few inches from his hand.

Izuku flinched hard and twisted through the sheets to sit up and look at his mother. His eyes widened, looking disbelievingly at her. His nostrils flared, like he was trying to make sure the scent was real.

“Mom?” his voice cracked, sounding all sorts of rough. “Is that really you?”

“It’s me, sweetie. I’m right here.” A fresh wave of tears spouted from Inko when she took Izuku’s hand in hers. He tensed, his scent dampening just enough for Katsuki to catch it. His heart monitor sped up briefly when he gasped, but settled a moment later.

He smiled weakly and sniffled. “I’m so glad to see you, Mom.”

Katsuki felt like a gargoyle, watching dutifully and frozen in place. Every minute twitch or shift in Izuku’s scent had Katsuki snapping to attention, constantly vigilant. He felt drawn taut like a bowstring. This may just become the new normal for him.

“Oh sweetie,” Inko croaked between tears, “we’re so glad to have you back.”

Izuku’s smile was wobbly, but he reached out with his fingers to hold on to his mother’s hand. Katsuki clenched his fist. Something must have shifted in his scent because Izuku tensed again, his heart monitor betraying his emotions as he stiffly turned to face Katsuki.

“K-K–” He couldn’t get the syllable out. His eyes were huge and wet, but full of fear . The knife in Katsuki’s heart twisted. The monitor was beeping alarmingly fast. Izuku sniffed the air but his crying had made his nose stuffy; he had to open his mouth to taste the air. He trembled and the sweet apple of Izuku’s hope filled the room.

Katsuki was already standing by the time Izuku struggled to raise his hand in Katsuki’s direction, fingers clenching like he did whenever he wanted Katsuki to hold him. He’d never moved so fast without the aid of his quirk. He was at Izuku’s bedside faster than a heartbeat, taking his hand and kissing his knuckles.

“Yeah, ‘Zuku. I’m here.” He murmured into Izuku’s cold palm. Izuku pawed at him, clutching his shirt as tight as he could, yanking Katsuki down until he was half-sprawled across the bed.

Katsuki wrapped his arms around Izuku, cradling his head and tucking him into his neck. They were both shaking so hard the bed shifted beneath them. Izuku cried out a pained caterwaul before breaking down into heaving sobs. The way Izuku clung to him, grip weak but so desperate, broke Katsuki. He tucked his face into Izuku’s hair, breathing in his scent deeply as he cried too.

When Izuku was all cried out, falling limp into the bed, Katsuki pulled back. He kept their fingers intertwined tightly – if it were up to him, he’d never let Izuku go again. Auntie was rubbing the tears from her eyes at the same time. Izuku’s eyes were at half mast and he breathed steadily, like he did when he was on the verge of sleep.

Katsuki cupped his cheek, rubbing his thumb along his cheekbone. His skin felt paper-thin.

“I’m afraid to go to sleep,” Izuku murmured quietly. “I’m afraid this is all a dream.”

“S’not a dream.” Katsuki reassured him. “I’ll be right here when you wake up, okay? Get some sleep, baby.”

Izuku tensed, entire body stiffening. Katsuki mirrored him, staying absolutely still.

“What is it?” Inko asked.

“D-D-Don’t,” Izuku gasped. He swallowed thickly and the tears were back. “Don’t say– He called me that… when he–”

Katsuki’s brow furrowed, meticulously going over every word he’d said. He called me that . Katsuki’s blood boiled. That bastard had called Izuku baby every time he’d touched him. He growled tightly, chest rumbling. He was going to rip that bastard limb from limb if he ever got close enough, consequences be damned.

Izuku flinched at the sound and Katsuki cut his growl off immediately.

“Oh, angel,” Katsuki crooned, purring softly, giving off as much of a comforting scent as he could. “My angel.”

His omega slowly relaxed, tucking his face into his own shoulder to hide away. Katsuki gently pulled his face up to look him directly in the eye.

“Whatever he did, whatever he said, it’ll never happen again, okay?” Katsuki said. “I promise. And I never go back on my promises.”

Izuku nodded. “Kacchan always does what he says.”

“Damn right.” Katsuki pressed a lingering kiss to Izuku’s forehead. “Get some sleep, angel. I’ll be here when you wake up.”

Izuku sank into the bed, eyes drooping. He squeezed Katsuki’s hand and Auntie’s at the same time. “I love you both.”

“I love you too,” they chorused, but Izuku was already asleep.

♦

A few days later, Katsuki was sitting in the hospital bed, Izuku between his knees and leaning back so Katsuki could wrap himself around him as much as possible without disturbing his wires and IVs. Izuku was looking a little better; he had more color about him and had spent the last few days asleep so the bags under his eyes were starting to fade. He could go longer each day between panic attacks and Katsuki saw that as a good thing.

Every time Izuku jolted awake, crying out and shaking, Katsuki was there. He’d hold him close, tuck his face into his scent gland, and croon at him until he relaxed again.

That first night, the nurses had tried to kick Katsuki out when visitation hours ended. Izuku had fallen so deep into a panic that it took Katsuki nearly an hour to help him ride it out. When it was clear that Katsuki leaving would cause either a relapse or a drop, the staff gave Katsuki permission to stay past visiting hours.

They were only apart very rarely – bathroom breaks or when Katsuki had to go get himself food when the homemade stuff his folks or Auntie dropped off had been eaten (he always left behind a recently worn shirt so Izuku could huff it in the fifteen minutes it took him to go down to the cafeteria and back). There was a tightness in Katsuki’s chest every time Izuku was out of his line of sight. He could only imagine how bad it was for Izuku.

Izuku looked cozy today, wrapped up in Katsuki’s prototype Dynamight hoodie (the sleeves were so long on him that even rolled up nearly halfway, he still had sweater paws) and clinging onto a All Might bear one of his nerds dropped off when they came to visit the other day. His scent was calm and warm and Katsuki nosed at his gland to tease out more.

Izuku huffed a little giggle – not a proper one, but the most he seemed able to do lately – and ruffled Katsuki’s hair. “That tickles, Kacchan.”

He still sometimes said Katsuki’s name like it was a secret. Izuku opened up bit by bit about what he’d gone through over the last month over the last couple days. So Katsuki knew that bastard had beat him every time Izuku had mentioned Katsuki.

Katsuki just pressed a quick kiss against Izuku’s neck and reluctantly pulled away. He didn’t get far since Izuku pushed him back down with a hand in his hair.

“Make up your mind, angel.” Katsuki growled, nuzzling back into Izuku’s neck immediately.

“I didn’t say you had to stop , Kacchan.” Izuku smiled. He curled into Katsuki’s touch.

A knock interrupted whatever Katsuki was about to say.

“Come in,” Izuku called, clinging onto Katsuki’s arms like a little octopus.

The door pushed open and Aizawa entered their room. He didn’t seem surprised to see Katsuki in Izuku’s bed, he just sighed and came to the bedside, holding a thick folder – a case file.

“I’m mostly here to debrief you, problem child,” Aizawa said, looking pointedly at Katsuki, “since you hadn’t come into the office once since you found him.”

Katsuki shrugged. “Like fuck I’m going to leave his side again. You can’t blame me.”

Aizawa had that exhausted look on his face like he hated the fact that he agreed with Katsuki. His gaze flicked between Izuku and Katsuki.

“We should talk privately.”

Izuku’s grip tightened immediately to the point that his little omega claws dug into his skin. Katsuki’s lip twitched at the tiny pricks of pain but he didn’t move otherwise.

“Not leaving him again, Hobo.” Katsuki said.

Aizawa sighed. He seemed to have anticipated that response. He looked at Izuku. “Fine. Problem child, are you going to be okay to hear this?”

Izuku’s scent soured just a touch and Katsuki tightened his embrace in response until Izuku relaxed against him.

“I’ll be fine, cause Kacchan’s here.”

Katsuki pressed a kiss onto the crown of his head. “Not going anywhere.”

Aizawa flicked open the case file. “Saito Yuu, his quirk is Mimicry. He can copy a voice he’s heard within the last 24 hours. His unregistered support equipment allowed him to mimic multiple voices after it had been recorded by the mask. He’s being held on several counts of aggravated assault, physical and sexual violence, unlicensed quirk use, kidnapping, stalking, blackmail, and attempted murder. He’s awaiting trial, but we have managed to secure video evidence of many of those charges being committed so it looks like life in prison for him.”

Each word wound Izuku a little tighter, until he was coiled so tight Katsuki feared he might snap in two. Katsuki warmed his hand and rubbed slow circles into Izuku’s stomach. He was breathing heavy and when Katsuki peeked at his face, his eyes were a little glassy.

“Saito? Like Saito Corps, the support gear manufacturer?” Katsuki asked. Saito Corps was a big company with ties to many pro heroes. They made nearly half the gear on the market, both nationally and globally. They were huge and the only other company that rivaled their size was Yao Inc., the Yaoyorozu family’s corporation. If Hatsume hadn’t gotten her claws on half their graduation class, then most of their support gear would have been made by Saito Corps. He was pretty sure he remembered Izuku gushing about how Mindfuck’s support gear was a Saito Corps creation. No wonder that beta bastard’s mask thing looked familiar.

Aizawa nodded tightly. “The very same. We haven’t received any communication from them since bringing in Saito, but there are select reports from the Hero Commission that the company has a habit of brushing things under the rug and paying off anyone involved. However, those incidents were not nearly as big as this. Midoriya’s kidnapping was publically known, especially with the number of pros involved.”

“Huh?” Izuku squeaked. “What do you mean?”

“I wasn’t the only one looking for you, angel.” Katsuki scoffed. “Not even just 3A, but Class B too. All Might, Hawks, Jeanist, half of the top ten were involved at one point or another.”

Izuku’s eyes watered, tears soaking the collar of his hospital gown. “Really?”

“Yeah, they all love you or whatever. You were already Japan’s Sweetheart before graduation.” Katsuki squeezed Izuku’s middle.

“Oh,” Izuku said, his voice tiny like he had no idea that was even true.

“Unfortunately,” Aizawa’s monotone broke their little bubble, “that also means there’s been a lot of chatter, both online and off, about the validity of a quirkless hero.”

Izuku cringed. “Th-That makes sense–”

“Bullshit,” Katsuki cut him off. “They’re all fucking idiots. ‘Zuku’s already done more than enough to prove he’s a hero. And even if he hadn’t, there’s no one else that deserves to be a hero more than him. We’ll prove those fuckers wrong.”

“Language, Bakugou.” Aizawa reprimanded.

“Fuck off, you’re not my sensei anymore.”

Aizawa’s eyes flashed red for an instant, then immediately dimmed like it had been a half-hearted intimidation attempt anyway. Like it had just been a reflex.

“Regardless, stay off social media for a bit. Right now, your biggest priority is recovery. I’m sure your doctor has stressed that enough.”

Izuku nodded, eyes glazed just a little. It was his maybe I shouldn’t be a hero look that came over him on occasion. Well, Katsuki would just have to kiss that out of him later.

“I’ll take care of him,” Katsuki said. “Anything else?”

Aizawa gave Katsuki a knowing look. “Other than reminding you that you still need to come back to work at some point, no.”

“I’m taking leave.” Katsuki said, “Gotta be with my mate.”

Aizawa pursed his lips but didn’t say anything more about it.

“Take it easy, problem children. And Midoriya…” Aizawa paused, taking a long look at Izuku, who stirred at his name, “It’s good to have you back.”

Izuku smiled, all wobbly still. “Thanks, sensei.”

Aizawa gave a curt nod and spun on his heel to leave the room. Once the door shut, Izuku went boneless in Katsuki’s arms. His entire body shook. Katsuki tightened his embrace and kept him as close as possible.

“It all sounds so much worse listed out like that.” Izuku murmured into Katsuki’s chest. He rolled his forehead against him and sighed. “I almost convinced myself it wasn’t that bad in the moment. That I could endure it.”

“We don’t have to talk about it if you're not ready,” Katsuki said, carding his fingers through mussed up green curls. “That was a lot.”

Izuku shrugged. “Feels like I’ll never be ready. I always think I’m going to wake up any minute and still be there, chained to that bed.”

“Never,” Katsuki growled. “You’ll never be there ever again. You’re safe now, and I’ll make sure it stays that way.”

Izuku looked up at him through dewey lashes. “Thank you, Kacchan.”

His name was slowly starting to sound like it used to come from Izuku.

♦

The sparrow does rise
cautious of the sky
when the storm breaks

♦

Katsuki stayed up later than he usually did. A strict bedtime meant nothing when he needed to keep an eye on Izuku, make sure he was still there in his arms, still breathing, that he was safe and recovering. They’d been in the hospital for over a week now and the doctor was happy with Izuku’s progress; he’d be released within a day or two once their last set of lab test results came in.

Here, in the quiet night of this hospital room, Katsuki could drink in his fill of Izuku sleeping peacefully in the crook of his arm. Moonlight filtered through the window and made his freckled face glow – Katsuki would never tire of the sight. He’d look at Izuku all day if he could.

Izuku snuffled in his sleep and turned his head to nuzzle into Katsuki’s chest, lips curling into the ghost of a smile. Katsuki tucked a stray curl behind his ear. He’d have to cut it once they got out of here. But for now, he trailed his finger gently along the planes of Izuku’s face, along the curve of his cheek and the bridge of his nose, thumbing at his temple then his jaw, leaving a lingering path of warmth where their skin touched.

Izuku looked so soft. He’d started to slowly fill out again thanks to the hospital’s (and Auntie’s) meals. It would take him a few weeks of physical therapy to regain the muscle weight he’d had just a month ago, but Katsuki would make sure Izuku didn’t push himself too hard to get back there. Katsuki was going to take the best care of him, damn it.

Katsuki trailed a finger along the column of Izuku’s throat. The bruises had finally started to fade; they were just yellow spots now and after a few more days, they would be gone entirely. He rubbed across the prominent collarbone, gentle little circles that had Izuku humming in his sleep. Heh. Dork.

He leaned down to press a kiss to Izuku’s forehead while he let his hand explore down Izuku’s side, feeling each rib under the pads of his fingers. Katsuki breathed in Izuku’s sleepy scent thick with warm honey until it coated the inside of his nostrils and the back of his throat. He was never going to take this closeness for granted ever again. Katsuki knew he was going to cherish this – Izuku, their bond, their love – for the rest of his life in ways he had never thought about before. Izuku had always been it for him, and now he knew for certain what a life without Izuku at his side would be like and he would rather burn the world down than let it happen again.

Izuku tensed under his palm, his scent twisting downward. Katsuki pulled back to take a better look at him and Izuku’s entire body seized up, thrashing so hard he nearly clocked Katsuki in the face. He was crying out under his breath, soft and distressed, moaning like he was in pain. His heart monitor ran wild, screeching into the night.

“Izuku,” Katsuki murmured, trying to cup Izuku’s face. He flinched back violently, his knee coming up to dig into Katsuki’s gut. He grunted at the force of it but rolled into Izuku so he could press his body weight into him, releasing an overwhelming amount of calming pheromones and his warm, spiced soothing scent. Izuku twitched in response.

“Izuku, angel, wake up.” Katsuki urged, cupping Izuku’s nape and bringing his nose closer to his scent gland. “S’just a nightmare, wake up ‘Zuku.”

Izuku shouted as he jerked awake, voice wet with tears. He was tensed like a coil ready to snap, chest rising and falling rapidly as he gasped for each lungful of air he could manage. His scent was thick with panic and distress.

“Shh, shh, it’s okay,” Katsuki crooned quietly, scenting Izuku liberally. “Nightmare, it was just a nightmare. You’re okay, you’re safe.”

Izuku broke down. He clung to Katsuki’s shirt, dampening it with his sobs. Katsuki waited him out, scratching softly at his scalp and rumbling deep in his chest. Slowly, Izuku calmed down, his scent returning to normal.

“M’sorry Kacchan.” Izuku slurred. “M’so sorry.”

“Shut up,” Katsuki said without bite. “You’re okay.”

He’d say it as often as he needed to until Izuku remembered it.

“I-I thought…” Izuku tried, his voice catching in his throat. He swallowed hard and coughed. “I was back there. He was… he was doing it all over again, but this time he was making you watch and– and–”

Izuku’s breathing grew frantic and he was trembling so hard that the entire bed shook. Katsuki shushed him, rubbing small circles across his back with a quirk warmed hand.

“Breathe with me, angel, alright? In for three, out for four. C’mon, that’s it. Follow me, got it?” Katsuki murmured. He coached Izuu through a few rounds of the breathing exercise until the heart monitor calmed and Izuku was breathing normally again. “You don’t have to tell me any more, okay? It’s all over now and you’ll never be back there again. I promise.”

Izuku mewled and buried his nose in Katsuki’s collar.

“For now, just go back to sleep. You know I’ll be here the whole time and I’ll kill anyone who gets too close, got it?”

“Kacchan,” Izuku sniffled through a little huff of amusement, “you can’t kill the nurses. They already put up with so much from you.”

“Oi,” Katsuki growled, mussing up Izuku’s curls until he squeaked and batted Katsuki’s hands away. “Don’t be a brat.”

“Hmm,” Izuku hummed, breathing slowly and deeply at Katsuki’s scent gland. His little tongue darted out to lap up some of the oil and Katsuki suppressed a shiver. Little fucker. Katsuki pulled Izuku out from his hiding spot and glared, but the omega didn’t look even a little bit cowed. He just gave Katsuki a soft smile. So Katsuki chomped his cheek and pulled.

“Ow, ow, Kacchan!” Izuku laughed, trying to separate Katsuki’s teeth from his face. “Stop that!”

Katsuki released him and glowered. “Go back to sleep, ‘Zuku.”

Izuku hummed and curled into Katsuki, rubbing his face into his chest. “Mmkay, Kacchan.”

Katsuki huffed and pulled Izuku as close as he comfortably could, coiling around him like he could hide him from the world with just his embrace.

♦

“We’re very pleased with your results, Mr. Midoriya.” Dr. Miyamura said, pushing her glasses up her nose. “Your test results are good and we haven’t seen anything to indicate you are in immediate danger of dropping.”

Izuku nodded and squeezed Kacchan’s hand. He was getting restless, having been forced to stay in his hospital bed for over a week. He wanted to get up, he wanted to walk, he wanted to see something other than these four white walls and smell the stale scent-neutralized hospital air.

Most importantly, he wanted to go home .

He wanted to be back in his nest, with his alpha, and away from all the nurses and doctors (wonderful as they were) so he could just relax.

“That isn’t to say the danger has totally passed,” Dr. Miyamura continued, flipping to another page in Izuku’s charts, “but it’s at a point where I feel comfortable sending you home. Take it easy in the first few days back. There have been instances of a relapse leading to drop within the first 48 hours in some omegas.”

“I’ll take care of him.” Kacchan said, all steely determination and alpha gruff. Izuku couldn’t help the pleased purr that rumbled his chest.

Alpha good. Alpha take care of us. Best alpha.

And wasn’t that the truth.

Dr. Miyamura chuckled. “Of that I have no doubt, Mr. Bakugou.”

Katsuki huffed and sat back, preening only a little bit at the recognition.

“Now, you’re scheduled for physical therapy twice a week for the next six weeks. Your therapist will go over your recovery plan with you in detail, but it’s imperative that you do not push yourself in these early days. It will feel slow, but you are not in the same state you were over a month ago. From Recovery Girl’s notes, you have a habit of pushing yourself too far too fast. If that happens now, it will severely impact your ability to return to hero work, if at all.”

Izuku blanched, blushing furiously when Kacchan gave him a scathing glare. Having it all laid out like that made it sound so much worse than it actually was. Sure, he got lost in trying to push his boundaries once in a while, and he’d only really rushed his recovery time a few times at UA. He wasn’t really that bad, not like in first year when he had to prove himself worthy of his spot in the hero course three times over.

“Nerd, you have always been that bad.” Kacchan gruffed, shaking Izuku’s hand back and forth hard enough to sway him and the bed. “If you even so much as think about pushing yourself in physio, I’ll lock your Dynamy plush away.”

“What! Kacchan, no!” Izuku spun on him and wailed. “He was a birthday gift! You can’t take it away! If your first piece of merch!”

Katsuki scowled. “And if you push yourself even an inch over, he’s going straight to jail. Be good and he’ll be released on parole.”

“Kacchan!” Izuku pouted, “Mean!”

“Effective.” Kacchan corrected. He pressed a kiss to Izuku’s knuckles before returning to Dr. Miyamura. “Anything else, doc?”

She shook her head and flipped Izuku’s chart closed. “That’s all. You’ll be scheduled for a follow up in three months by the nurses on your way out. If any problems arise, do not hesitate to call me.”

She turned to Izuku with a brief smile. She bowed her head in his direction. “It’s been a pleasure to be in your service, Mr. Midoriya. I wish you a successful recovery.”

Katsuki stood before she had the opportunity to turn away and then did the strangest thing. He bowed, properly and fully. “Thank you for taking care of him, doc.”

The tears were already flowing down Izuku’s face by the time Kacchan stood upright. Kacchan so rarely adhered to societal niceties; he was more likely to growl out a fuck off before he said thanks. To see him bow so deeply that it was just barely a step above a proper dogeza was monumental. Just how scared had Kacchan been when he was gone?

Izuku watched, shocked still, for a long moment while Dr. Miyamura left and Katsuki started gathering the things he’d brought from home last night. He was pulled from his stupor when Kacchan chucked some clothing at him.

“Wah–cchan!” Izuku fought to untangle himself from a sweatshirt.

“Close your yap, angel, you’ll catch flies.” Katsuki smirked. “And I know for a fact that they’re not on your approved diet list.”

“So mean.” Izuku murmured, slowly sliding off the bed. Kacchan was there in a heartbeat when his knees buckled; arm around his waist and holding on tight.

“Easy now, angel.” Katsuki murmured, helping him stand.

Izuku looked up at Kacchan and beamed. He loved him so much. Izuku purred, nuzzling under Katsuki’s jaw. The alpha crooned for him, soft and gentle like he always does.

“Get changed so we can get the fuck out of here.” Katsuki ruffled his hair and yanked on the tie of Izuku’s hospital gown, making it slip down his arms.

“Kacchan!” Izuku cried, scrambling to hold it up. All he got as a response was a chuckle. Izuku rolled his eyes and resolved to not pout.

(He still did.)

By the time Izuku finished changing, burying his nose in the fabric once he realized the clothes were Kacchan’s and absolutely drenched in his scent, Kacchan had already packed all of the get well soon gifts from their friends and was holding whatever didn’t fit into his backpack. Izuku chirped unhappily. The sound had Kacchan standing at attention and hurrying over to his side.

“What is it, angel?” Kacchan asked, sniffing at Izuku’s temple.

“Kacchan doesn’t have a hand for me to hold.” Izuku said. He fiddled with the edges of his sleeves.

Kacchan barked out a laugh. “Here, hold this.”

He passed Izuku the All Might bear, shuffled a few other things to better hold in one arm, before scooping up Izuku’s hand with a sharp tug.

“Better?” Katsuki asked.

“Mm-hmm,” Izuku hummed, squeezing Kacchan’s hand as he intertwined their fingers. “Much better.”

Kacchan rolled his eyes, but his scent was a warm and happy cinnamon spice. He was just as glad to be holding Izuku’s hand as Izuku was to hold his.

“Ready to go home, angel?” Kacchan purred. Izuku pressed his head against Kacchan’s shoulder and purred in response.

“Always.”

Katsuki led him out of the hospital, all of Izuku’s next appointments settled, and towards a cab. At Izuku’s confused chirp, he said, “Figured the train might be too many scents at once.”

The cab driver popped the trunk for them, helping Katsuki tuck the overabundance of gifts away.

“But Kacchan, the fare is so expensive!”

“So? No price is too high for you, angel.” Kacchan barked, slamming the trunk closed. He opened the door for Izuku. “Now, c’mon. Auntie’s making lunch already.”

Izuku gave him a petulant look before sliding inside, scooting over to make (some) room for Kacchan. After giving the driver the address, Kacchan practically dragged him onto his lap for the ride. Izuku flushed bright pink but tucked his face into Kacchan’s shoulder and didn’t move until they pulled up to his mom’s apartment.

“Hrmp?” Izuku chirped sleepily, lifting his head. “Why are we here?”

“The fuck you mean?” Kacchan asked, not moving yet despite the driver having already popped the trunk for them.

“Wh– What about our apartment?”

They had signed the lease for an apartment all their own in the city proper, so they could be closer to their agency after graduation. Their move in date was at the end of July; it was September now.

Kacchan looked away, the tips of his ears going pink.

“I, uh, I didn’t move in. It’s still ours,” he said in a rush, “but I couldn’t bear the thought of moving in there without you. So it’s just sort of sitting empty right now.”

“Wha– But Kacchan, the rent!”

Katsuki shrugged. “It’s paid for. We can move in when you’re ready.”

“Well I’m ready, so why aren’t we going there?”

“S’empty, I told you. Besides, I figured you’d want to sleep in your nest here rather than in a scentless place. We can move our shit this weekend or something.”

Izuku wailed, shoving at Kacchan’s chest. He was so thoughtful!

“Erm, your fare comes to–” the driver coughed to interrupt.

“Yeah, yeah, here. Keep the change.” Katsuki dropped a wad of cash into the front seat and clambered out, pulling Izuku up and out of the car with him. Izuku bowed and apologized for Kacchan’s rudeness while Kacchan pulled their stuff from the trunk.

They were halfway up the stairs to his mom’s apartment when her front door burst open and she nearly tripped down the steps to meet them.

“Izuku!” she cried, throwing her arms around his neck to hug him tightly. “Katsuki-kun! You’re here just in time! C’mon, time to eat!”

She trundled up the stairs, holding Izuku’s hand while Kacchan followed behind. The apartment smelled warm and toasty with a mingling of different scents fluttering from deeper inside. Izuku tensed for just a moment at the sudden new scents before he started to recognize a few. Bubblegum, stone, steel, a sleepy chamomile.

“Mom?”

Inko beamed at him and hurried him inside. There, sitting cramped at his childhood dinner table were a handful of their friends. They stood and burst into welcoming cries of his name when he stumbled into the room. Ochako, Tenya, Hitoshi. Even Eijirou and Mina were here too.

“Guys!” Izuku cried. He hadn’t seen them since they’d visited him a couple days ago and he didn’t realize how much he missed his pack, having them all in the same room. Their mingling scents were a balm, easing his anxiety in a heartbeat.

“Welcome home!” they cried in unison.

“Can I hug you?” Ochako asked, her eyes big and imploring.

“Of course,” Izuku said, opening his arms. She crashed into him and held him tightly.

“Oof,” he grunted under the pressure. She was so muscled, he forgot how tight her hugs could get.

“Ease off, Pink Cheeks,” Kacchan snapped, placing a steadying hand at the small of Izuku’s back. “He’s still bruised.”

“Oh! Sorry!” Ochako loosened her grip and pulled back. “Shouto says he’s sorry he couldn’t be here. He got pulled into a mission in Fukuoka.”

“I’m just glad you guys are here,” Izuku sniffled. “I wasn’t expecting it!”

“It was a surprise, bro!” Eijirou grinned, punching his fist into his palm.

“Oh, oh, me too! I want a hug!” Mina said, hopping over Eijirou’s legs to sweep both him and Ochako into a hug. Everyone chattered excitedly, talking over each other until all their voices swarmed in Izuku’s head and he felt the telltale prickle of an oncoming headache.

“Enough!” Kacchan barked. “Let ‘Zu breathe. Sit the fuck down!”

They all quieted down and Izuku flashed Kacchan a grateful smile. He rolled his eyes and made a mean face at the others before going to help his mom in the kitchen, but not before dropping a kiss into his curls.

A little part of Izuku twinged, panicking at the sight of Kacchan’s retreating back. He inhaled sharply, mouthing at the collar of his borrowed sweatshirt. He knew his scent spiked, because Kacchan looked back at him sharply, nostrils flaring.

Izuku offered him a shaky smile and shrugged. Ochako and Mina led him to the table. From his seat, he could see right into the kitchen and watch Kacchan work with his mom to finish up lunch and help carry it out.

Kacchan was only gone from his side for a few moments, and it felt like he was being stabbed over and over again the entire time.

“So!” Ochako said, trying to get Izuku’s attention. “I perfected a new Gunhead Martial Arts takedown the other day! Want me to tell you about it?”

Without taking his eyes off Kacchan, he mumbled, “Uh, yeah. Sure.”

Ochako plowed on ahead with her story. Izuku was only half listening. He didn’t tune in until Kacchan came back into the room, carrying bowl after bowl of katsudon. Ochako didn’t seem to mind; she was used to him getting distracted by Kacchan from across the room back when they lived in the dorms. The only difference here was the debilitating anxiety that Izuku may never see Kacchan again, because he almost hadn’t.

When Kacchan placed Izuku’s bowl in front of him, steaming and fresh from the pan, he ran his fingers through Izuku’s hair and kissed his forehead. He sat beside him, scooting the chair so they could sit closer. Izuku appreciated that more than he could say.

Lunch was an overwhelming affair, but Izuku loved every moment of it. Kacchan kept a hand on him at all times; their fingers intertwined or a warm palm on his thigh, thumb rubbing firmly into the muscle when Izuku’s leg jittered. His sweetened scent fell like a blanket around his shoulders. Izuku was so blessed to have him there – to have his entire pack there – where things were starting to feel some kind of normal again.

He wasn’t sure if he’d ever get back to a true normal, from before he’d been taken. He might never feel like that ever again. Who he was and what his life had been like before felt like a distant memory now. He could see it in his mind’s eye, could conjure what it felt like then, but all he felt now was carved out into a hollow husk of what he’d been. The nightmares inflicted on him were stones in his pockets, dragging him down.

But each day, he felt just a little bit more whole. With each tender touch from Kacchan, every loving hug from his mom, the mingling scents of his pack twisting together to form the binds that would keep him together just a little bit longer. He knew if he fell, they would all be there to catch him, to help him stand.

With his belly full of katsudon and a heart warmed from his pack, Izuku started to feel more and more like himself over the course of the afternoon.

Later that evening, after wishing all of his friends a good night and thanking them with a fresh round of tears, Izuku was able to sink back into the couch with a heaving sigh. He was exhausted . All he’d done since they got back from the hospital was sit and eat and listen to his friends chat. But his eyelids felt heavy and it was getting harder to keep them open with each blink.

“Tired, angel?” Katsuki said softly, tucking an unruly curl behind Izuku’s ear.

Izuku hummed, leaning into the touch, nuzzling Kacchan’s wrist gland. Smokey and warm, the scent of his soul.

“C’mon then, let’s get you to your nest.”

Izuku took his hand and was pulled to his feet. They took a few steps down the hall before Izuku paused, halting them with a finger twisted into the hem of Kacchan’s shirt.

“You’ll stay with me?” Izuku whispered.

“Ain’t going anywhere else,” Katsuki gruffed. “M’not letting you out of my sight ever again, angel.”

Izuku felt the blush rising to his cheeks and he hid a smile in the collar of his sweatshirt. Katsuki rolled his eyes with a soft scoff, taking Izuku’s hand and holding it tightly.

“Heading to bed already boys?” Inko asked, having just finished toweling off the last of the cleaned dishes. Izuku gave her a sheepish smile. She waved him off before he could apologize. She came over to kiss them both on the cheek. Katsuki tucked his head into Izuku’s curls to hide his blush. “Let me know if either of you need anything, alright?”

“Thanks, mom.” Izuku bid her good night and followed Kacchan into his bedroom. It was how he’d left it last time he’d spent the night here, just before his birthday. A lot of his things were still packed away, both from the move from the dorms and in preparation for their new apartment. His nest was untouched since it was going to be the last thing he packed before they left. He’d stuffed as much of Kacchan’s things in there as he could get away with, lining it with his scent. The courting gifts Kacchan got him – blankets and pillows and nesting supplies, all thoroughly scented – had lost most of their scent since he’d been … gone.

Izuku adjusted his nest, fixing some of the sagging walls and scenting a few things, before pushing Kacchan into it. He pouted until Kacchan got the message and began liberally scenting the rest of it, drenching his nest in their combined scent. Their mated scent would smell similar; a little different than just layering it on top of each other like this, but it’d be close. Sweet blossoms and smokey rain.

Izuku thumbed the smooth stretch of skin at his wrist. Katsuki had finished his scenting and his eyes dragged up and down Izuku’s form. They snagged at his wrists. With a barely perceptible huff, Kacchan got out of the nest and rummaged through the not-yet-packed clothes in Izuku’s drawers.

“Kacchan, whu–”

“Shush,” Kacchan said. “Get undressed.”

“Huh? What? But–” Izuku stammered.

“Unless you want to sleep in those clothes.”

Izuku clutched the borrowed sweatshirt possessively. “Mine.”

“You can keep the fucking sweatshirt, just get out of your outside pants. And don’t forget to brush your teeth, stinky.”

“Stinky!” Izuku echoed, affronted. “Mean!”

Katsuki nuzzled just under Izuku’s ear, all soft and tender. “Yup. Now hop to it, angel.”

Izuku whined, but still shimmied out of his basketball shorts and into a clean pair of boxers. Katsuki yanked his clothes off without hesitation. Izuku drank him in unabashed, eyes trailing along the defined muscles of his abdomen, the tight trim of his waist, the sharp cut of his v. Izuku wasn’t subtle as he ogled his alpha. It was the first time they were truly alone together, without doctors or nurses buzzing about or their friends at their sides.

Izuku found himself blushing a little harder.

Katsuki perked a brow in his direction, a knowing smirk on his beautiful face, while he slipped into a pair of pajama pants. (His, that Izuku had stolen one weekend when he’d gone home to visit his mom a few semesters ago.)

“C’mon, nerd, don’t you want to cuddle?” Katsuki teased, nipping Izuku’s cheek teasingly. Izuku pouted, but followed Katsuki into the bathroom anyway. Kacchan stayed pressed to Izuku’s back the entire time they brushed their teeth and he didn’t move when he washed Izuku’s face for him, gently and tenderly wiping away the day’s grime. Even though Izuku could do it all himself, there was an almost desperate look in Kacchan’s eyes. He needed to do it for him more than Izuku wanted to protest, so he kept his mouth shut and hummed under Katsuki’s ministrations.

Finally, they climbed into the nest together. Kacchan laid flat on his back, arm thrown open to let Izuku curl into his side. Here, in his nest, in Kacchan’s eyes, home , Izuku felt his walls crumble. His chest ached something awful, the shattering of his heart like porcelain dashed against the stone–he coiled so tightly around Katsuki that he never wanted to unfurl again. Izuku sobbed, breath catching in his throat.

Kacchan rolled over to fully encompass him, a hand finding its way into Izuku’s curls and petting him soothingly. His arms were a steel band wrapped around him, keeping him pressed into Katsuki’s chest. Katsuki crooned softly and Izuku let the rumbling of his chest ease him. He was safe now. He was home, with Kacchan. With people who loved him. Yuu could never hurt him, or anyone else, ever again.

He cried himself dry, sniffling messily against Kacchan. Izuku tipped his nose to Kacchan’s scent gland, breathing in lungfuls of his alpha until it was all he could smell; not even his distressed scent could permeate it. He whimpered and Katsuki’s arms tightened around him on instinct.

“Oh angel,” Katsuki murmured into the crown of Izuku’s head. “You’re okay, you’re gonna be okay.”

Izuku whined, nuzzling into Kacchan’s hot skin instead of answering.

“Know how I know?”

Izuku chirped, but didn’t come out of his hiding spot.

“Because you’re fucking badass,” Katsuki said, rubbing circles into Izuku’s back with his fingers. “Because you’re the best of us, and you can make it through anything. And when you feel like you can’t, when you want to fall apart, I’ll be right here to catch you.”

“Kacchan!” Izuku wailed, digging his blunt omega claws into him and clinging like he wanted to fuse their bodies together.

Katsuki peppered kisses all over Izuku’s head, squeezing him tight. Izuku pulled away from the crook of Kacchan’s neck and looked up at his handsome face through his watery eyes. He pawed up to hold Kacchan’s face, hands shaking. He just loved him so much that it hurt sometimes. It was like his body didn’t have the space to hold all of that love and he could burst with the enormity of it.

Izuku surged forward, capturing Katsuki’s lips with his own, licking over his bottom lip. Katsuki met him with equal urgency, letting Izuku take whatever he needed. Izuku wrapped his arms around Kacchan’s neck, pressing their bodies impossibly closer. The natural heat of Kacchan suffused his every bone, traveling like a wildfire over his skin.

Katsuki pressed Izuku back into the soft nest, perching over him. It was like he was hiding Izuku from the world with his massive figure. It was exactly what he needed right now.

Their kisses grew wet and messy, brimming with desperation. Izuku wouldn’t let Kacchan part from him, not even to catch his breath. He just kept chasing him until Katsuki got with the program and kept kissing Izuku silly. Even through the snot and the tears, the spit and the teeth, it was the sweetest Izuku had felt in a very long time.

“Kacchan,” Izuku gasped between kisses, dizzy with their scent, just to say his name. “Kacchan.”

“Izuku,” Katsuki grumbled into his mouth.

“Miss you, Kacchan.” Izuku dug his fingers into golden spikes.

“‘M right here, angel.” Kacchan slid his hand down to Izuku’s waist, pressing his hot palm into the small of his back.

Izuku whined. “Miss you though. It’s so quiet without you.”

Katsuki stilled, pulling the furthest back he’d been in nearly an hour. His carmine eyes were wide, nearly eclipsed in black.

“Do you–” he stammered, so uncharacteristic of him as he searched Izuku’s face.

“Bite me, please.” Izuku begged. Katsuki’s eyes blew wide.

“Are you–”

Izuku flushed pink, wringing his fingers together behind Katsuki’s anxiously. He swallowed hard. “Not a mating bite, I don’t– I don’t think I’m ready for that yet. But…”

He offered his wrist to his alpha. Kacchan’s chest rumbled with his purr.

“Anything you want, angel.” Katsuki took his wrist and kissed Izuku’s knuckles. He kissed up Izuku’s forearm, avoiding his wrist gland deliberately. Izuku whined but Kacchan just gave him a sweet smirk and walked his mouth up and down until he lapped over Izuku’s gland, teasing out his scent.

Izuku trembled, partially with anticipation and partially from nerves. What if it didn’t take? What if the healing quirk had done more than just erased his old scar? What if the damage done to him was so deep that Kacchan’s alpha would reject him this time?

Kacchan didn’t give him long to spiral before he sealed his lips over Izuku’s wrist and sank his teeth into it. Izuku yelped with the brief pain before heat flooded his body. His omega, who had been somewhat dormant since he woke in the hospital, reared to life and howled. The warmth that budded in Izuku’s chest was familiar, like an old friend. Izuku’s entire body sagged with relief as Kacchan’s scent flooded his nose, strong and sharp like it should be. Katsuki lapped at the reddening skin of the bite mark, easing the sting.

“Kacchan,” Izuku murmured, feeling just a little bit like his old self.

Katsuki kissed the fresh mark tenderly before bringing his own wrist to Izuku’s mouth. Izuku didn’t hesitate for a second before he snapped up Kacchan’s wrist gland, digging his omega fangs as deep as they would go. Katsuki hissed before settling into a deep, rumbling purr. Izuku’s mouth filled with the copper tang of blood and the smokey sweetness that was entirely Kacchan. He lapped it up greedily, suckling Katsuki’s wrist until his eyes went half-lidded and hazy.

When he popped off his gland, lapping at it to seal the mark, the bond snapped into place. Izuku would have been knocked to his knees had he not been in the nest. A wave of utter adoration and love punched him in the gut, feeling Kacchan in that inner space where their secondary genders mingled. After so long going without, it felt overwhelming. He couldn’t help the tears; they flowed as freely as their connection.

“Crybaby,” Katsuki said fondly, wiping the wetness from Izuku’s face. He hadn’t stopped purring yet. Izuku chirped, nuzzling into Kacchan’s touch.

“Yeah.” He said with a sniffle.

There was no doubt about just how in love Katsuki was with him, not when their renewed bond was full of it. It would be ten times as strong when they finally did seal their mating bond. The thought alone made Izuku dizzy.

It felt like an integral piece of him had clicked into place. He wasn’t fixed by any stretch of the imagination, but he felt like the world had stopped rocking under his feet and he could find his balance to move forward again.

“I love you, Kacchan.” Izuku said, loving how it echoed through their bond, bouncing back and forth between them in an endless volley.

“I love you too, angel.” Katsuki pressed his lips to Izuku’s forehead and they fell asleep like that, tangled in each other’s limbs, their fresh bites pulsing in tandem.

It was the best Izuku had slept in a long time.

♦

A week later, the last of their things were packed away and ready to haul to their new apartment. Katsuki’s old man drove the moving truck while he and Izuku piled into a car with his old hag and Auntie Inko. He kept Izuku pressed to his side, arm slung over his shoulder. Izuku’s nerves tingled down their bond and Katsuki nuzzled his temple to soothe him. Izuku flashed him a wobbly smile and settled into his embrace.

When they got to the building, it was to the sight of half their former classmates lugging things out of the truck. Pink Cheeks was floating several boxes up the stairs while Shitty Hair hauled a box on each shoulder, trundling down the ramp from inside the moving truck. Glasses was directing them in an orderly fashion as they carried things down an efficient line.

“Guys!” Izuku cried when they pulled to a stop, throwing himself from the car. “What are you all doing here?”

“Helping out, bro!” Dunce Face shouted, holding the door open for the others.

“We all had a day off so we came to lend a hand!” Pinky said with a bright grin.

“All of you?” Katsuki grumped, brow perked in disbelief.

“We made it happen,” Icyhot said, looking like he’d come in straight from his mission across the country. “You two are important to us.”

Izuku burst into tears, the strength of which hit Katsuki through the bond and made him tear up a little too. He wiped his eyes angrily and huffed, stomping over and pushing Izuku inside without another word.

“Wait, Kacchan, I should grab a–”

“You’re not cleared for heavy lifting yet.” Katsuki growled. “You’re gonna go help organize shit upstairs.”

“But–”

“No buts. Besides, do you really trust any of them to handle your merch room properly?”

Izuku pouted and Katsuki fought every instinct to not devour that plush lip right then and there. His omega just looked too damn cute. Instead, Katsuki pressed a quick kiss to his forehead before ushering him up the stairs.

Their new apartment was roomy; it looked far emptier without any of their furniture and it smelled stale and stuffy. They’d have plenty of time to spread their shared scents all over the place later. Right now it was a madhouse of their friends and family all over the place, getting under foot and being noisy as hell. It set Katsuki on edge, gritting his teeth through the whole mess. 

But he felt Izuku’s excitement and happiness thrumming through their bond. He clearly missed all their friends while he had been in the hospital. He thrived in their presence, smile beaming brightly as he laughed at something one of the idiots said. Katsuki hadn’t even realized he’d been purring until Izuku turned to face him with a bashful grin and flushed pink cheeks. He gave Katsuki a little dorky wave and Katsuki swore his chest was going to explode with adoration and love for the little nerd.

The whole affair was exhausting, going up and down the stairs, lugging all their things up, tripping over wayward boxes spread across the room. But slowly, their apartment came together like a puzzle. Everything found its place and it turned the drafty space into a cozy den, one where Katsuki could imagine him and Izuku spending a long time in together. Sleepily making coffee in the morning, falling onto the couch after patrol, curling up together in their nest. Little, domestic things that made Katsuki’s ears burn pink.

Maybe, someday, turning the office into a nursery.

Where before, this apartment felt like a hollow space, devoid of life and love and laughter, missing Izuku’s piney scent, now it finally was home. Full of their pack and endless possibilities for their future, for them to grow old together, to just be again. Katsuki knew it wasn’t going to be an easy road to travel. Trauma like what Izuku had experienced doesn’t go away overnight, no matter how much Katsuki wants it to, so he never has to see his omega in that much pain again. It’ll be work, but Katsuki’s willing to go Plus fucking Ultra for anything that concerns Izuku.

They all collapse into any available seat; the dining room chairs, the bar stools at the counter, the sofa and even a scattering of pillows on the floor. There was a bone deep exhaustion that beat through everyone. They’d ordered dinner from a curry place around the block, eager to share a hearty meal together. While Iida and Kirishima ran down to pick it up, Katsuki yanked Izuku onto his lap, nosing against his scent gland.

“Kacchan, I’m sweaty and stinky!” Izuku giggled, but he still buried his fingers in Katsuki’s hair and didn’t let go.

“My stinky angel,” Katsuki murmured into his skin. Izuku chuckled and pressed his body against Katsuki, their skin sticking together. Izuku dozed, eyes fluttering shut as he curled in Katsuki’s lap, lightly snoring.

In no time at all, their door banged open and almost everyone sat up straighter at the smell of food.

“Oi! Don’t make a fucking hole in our wall on day one!” Katsuki snapped over his shoulder, clinging to Izuku a little tighter.

“Sorry bro!” Kirishima flashed him a toothy grin, but he didn’t look the least bit apologetic. He carried a large white box that was absolutely not filled with curry. Katsuki narrowed his eyes, especially when Todoroki went over to block Kirishima from view while Iida began passing out the take out containers.

Izuku stirred in his lap, slowly waking up from his nap. Katsuki let him wriggle over to take his own seat on the sofa.

“Oh, sorry for falling asleep!” Izuku said, dipping his head in apology.

“It’s alright, Deku-kun!” Ochako said with a cheery smile. “You need all the rest you can get!”

Izuku smiled, but Katsuki felt him tense under his arm.

“It’s the first time I get to be with everyone,” Izuku said, “I should be awake for it!”

“Never mind that!” Ochako waved her hand through the air.

“But since it is the first time we got to get together in a little while, well, we have a surprise!” Mina clapped her hands. The room lights dimmed and suddenly everyone gathered around them began to sing the birthday song, voices clashing and out of tune. Kirishima and Shouto rounded the couch and placed the suspicious box on the coffee table in front of Izuku, revealing a beautiful cake decorated with strawberries and several lit candles dancing atop it.

“Guys!” Izuku burst into tears, shaking his head. “You didn’t have to do this!”

“Of course we did, Mido, we missed your last birthday and oof– ” Thankfully someone elbowed Kaminari to shut him up.

The mood plummeted, Izuku shaking imperceptibly. He’d been taken just before his birthday and Katsuki worried about how that might affect him in the coming years. He’d had no idea their pack of idiots and nerds would do something like this before he’d even gotten a chance to discuss the topic with Izuku.

“Th-Thank you,” Izuku stammered, the glow in his eyes dimmed just a touch but he still smiled brightly. “I really appreciate it.”

Izuku blew out the candles, sniffling as he did. Their parents scooped up the cake and took it into the kitchen to cut, searching for utensils and plates in the meantime. It took a few minutes of eating in stilted silence before someone cracked a joke and the tension eased. Izuku didn’t seem too affected by the brief reminder, bouncing back into his usual bright self. But Katsuki could feel the unease trembling down their bond and Izuku had reigned in his scent, muting it to keep his nerves from eeking into the room.

When everyone was finally full and most of the mess was cleared away, they bid everyone good night at the door. While Izuku hugged his mom, the old hag came up to Katsuki and scruffed him, shaking his head in the way she best knew how to show affection. He batted at her and flashed his fangs, but she wasn’t cowed even a little bit.

“Behave, brat,” she said, bringing her hand to his spikes and petting through his hair. “Don’t go too far with him.”

“Hah? You think I don’t know that?” Katsuki hissed. The implication that he would ever do anything to upset Izuku raised his hackles.

Mitsuki chewed her lip, a foreign action for the usually steadfast alpha. She sighed, softening all her sharp edges in the process. “I just mean, take care of him, but also give him the space to breathe. Don’t smother him like I know you like to do.”

“I don’t smother ,” Katsuki shrugged off her hand. “I know how to take care of my omega.”

Mitsuki smirked and teased, “Your omega, huh? I don’t see a mating bite.”

“Fuck off,” Katsuki spat, but let her scent him anyway.

Goodbyes exchanged, their parents finally left them in blessed silence. As soon as the lock clicked, Izuku sagged against Katsuki. He wrapped an arm around Izuku’s waist and held him upright.

“You okay?”

“Mmhmm,” Izuku hummed, rubbing his face not-so-subtly between Katsuki’s pecs. “It’s just a lot. S’been a while since I was with so many people.”

Katsuki chuffed, nosing at Izuku’s curls. “Let’s get to bed, ‘kay?”

Izuku wrapped his arms around Katsuki’s neck and without a second thought, he swept his omega off his feet and carried him bridal style to their bedroom. Izuku giggled into Katsuki’s neck, the flush of his cheeks warm against Katsuki’s skin.

And even though the mingling scents of their packs lingered in their living room, the bedroom smelled only of the two of them. Neither of them wanted anyone else to step into the room, so it had been Katsuki’s job to get their nest and dressers and other furniture in here on his own. As a result, the whole room smelled heavily of burnt sugar and thick woodsmoke. It practically dripped off the walls.

The second they crossed the threshold and Katsuki kicked the door closed, Izuku went boneless in his hold and started purring up a storm. Katsuki gingerly laid Izuku in their nest, letting the soft omega roll around to adjust the blankets and stolen (happily given) pieces from Katsuki’s closet. He watched with a puffed chest, rumbling a low purr as he took in his omega. He looked so content and happy, stretching out in the nest like a little bunny.

“Kacchan,” he chirped, holding out his arms and scrunching his hands in little gimme gimme motions.

Without hesitation, Katsuki yanked his shirt over his head and tossed it to Izuku. The omega pouted.

“What, angel?” Katsuki slipped off his sweatpants next, tossing them into the nest before digging out a pair of sleep pants.

“S’nice, but not what I meant,” Izuku huffed, though he still tucked the scent-saturated clothes within the walls of the nest anyway. “I want Kacchan.”

“Oh you do, do you?” Katsuki smirked, stalking over to the bed, acutely aware of Izuku’s shining emerald eyes tracking every taut movement of his toned chest, lingering on the deep v of his hips.

“Kacchan…” Izuku whispered, sounding breathless. His entire face was flushed pink, taunting Katsuki to just go over and chomp on them.

“Hmm?” Katsuki rumbled, crawling over Izuku to pin him to the nest. Izuku curled his hands over his chest as Katsuki loomed over him. His omega was just so pretty that he couldn’t help but dip down to kiss up Izuku’s jaw. Izuku chirped and melted into the mattress.

His pine scent blossomed into a thick forest, sweet with arousal. Izuku ran his hands up Katsuki’s chest, tracing his scars tenderly. Katsuki lavished his omega’s neck with gentle nips and loving kisses, licking up his flushed skin. Katsuki hadn’t even realized his hips were rolling into Izuku’s until their heats brushed and the friction sent delicious tingles up his spine.

And then Izuku’s scent soured, turning from pine and warm rain to rotting tension and lightning panic. Katsuki pulled back only to find Izuku shaking and trembling, eyes shut like he was afraid.

“Zuku,” Katsuki murmured, cupping his cheek gently. It still made the omega flinch and jump hard enough to jam his knee into Katsuki’s crotch. He hissed, gritting his teeth through the sudden pain, but he refused to let go of Izuku until he told him to. “It’s okay, m’sorry, shh, omega, it’s okay.”

He tried to soothe him by crooning deep in his chest and pumping out as much comforting pheromones as he possibly could. Izuku shook, hands curled so tight that Katsuki could smell the moment his nails pierced his palms when the copper tang of blood filled his nose. Izuku whimpered, head thrashing.

Shit, was this a panic attack? A PTSD flashback? What the hell did the doctor tell him to do when this happened? He had been so confident about it back when they were discussing the very real possibility that Izuku would have an attack. But now, everything the doctor had told him went flying out of his brain at the sight of his omega trembling in fear and experiencing something where Katsuki couldn’t swoop in to save him.

Comfort omega. Soothe omega. His stupid alpha brain howled at him.

He let instincts guide him, slowly lowering himself to Izuku’s side. His glands worked overtime to pump out a calming butterscotch scent. It had Izuku instinctively turning towards him, following that sweet smell. Katsuki crooned low, hoping the rumble would help Izuku relax his tense muscles.

“Angel,” Katsuki murmured. “Angel, it’s Kacchan. You’re okay, you’re safe. Breathe with me please, omega?”

Izuku whimpered and heaved a deep breath, sharp and shallow.

“Shh, angel, slow, like me.” Katsuki said softly, taking one of Izuku’s hands to press it against his chest, where his heart was hammering against his ribs. He took in a slow breath, exaggerating the expansion of his chest. He breathed deeply several times before Izuku started following along.

Katsuki threaded his fingers through Izuku’s curls, scratching lightly at his scalp. It usually turned him into a pile of goo whenever Katsuki did that. It seemed like the correct choice; Izuku’s shaking eased and his fists slowly unclenched. After a few moments, Izuku’s breathing started to settle as he took in big lungfuls of air and released them to Katsuki’s count. Katsuki nuzzled at his temple, scenting him thoroughly. All the while, he kept rumbling softly against flushed and damp skin. Cooing Izuku’s name and telling him over and over that he’s safe, that Kacchan’s got him, Kacchan’s gonna protect him.

Eventually, Izuku’s entire body went lax, like he was a puppet whose strings were cut. He whimpered, pressing his face into Katsuki’s chest.

“M’sorry,” Izuku croaked.

“Nothing to apologize for, angel.” Katsuki pressed a lingering kiss to his sweaty hair. “You okay?”

Izuku shrugged, burying himself even deeper into Katsuki’s embrace. “Dunno wha’ happened…”

“Panic attack, I think.” Katsuki kept dragging his short nails along Izuku’s scalp, sliding down to grip him by the scruff. He rubbed his thumb against Izuku’s pulse point.

Izuku hummed miserably. He opened and closed his mouth several times, trying to explain. Katsuki shushed him.

“You don’t gotta talk about it, okay?” Katsuki said, pulling back to look Izuku in the eyes. His entire face was flushed, eyes filling with tears. His eyes were sunken and dark, hazy. Like he couldn’t really see much of what was in front of him. “We don’t have to do anything, got it? M’never gonna let anything happen to you again.”

“Kacchan…” Izuku chirped. His scent puffed in a pale attempt to bring the sweetness back to it.

“Angel, we’ll go at your pace. We don’t gotta do anything. Slow, fast, however you want. I won’t get mad or whatever at you if you never want to do anything like this again.” Katsuki said. Izuku looked like he was going to argue so Katsuki beat him to the punch. “But I will get pissed off if you try to force yourself for my sake. The only fuckin’ thing I want is for you to feel better. Got it?”

Izuku snapped his mouth closed, pouting. “But I want Kacchan… I want to make Kacchan feel good… But all I could feel what him . What he did to me. I… I’m broken, Kacchan.”

“No the fuck you’re not,” Katsuki growled, snapping his teeth at Izuku. Izuku’s mouth twisted into a shadow of a smile and Katsuki figured that was a good sign. “Y’ain’t fuckin’ broken. You’re healing.”

Izuku’s lip wobbled. Katsuki pulled him close and yanked up a blanket to cover them both. Katsuki could feel a wave of relief through their bond; his omega was comforted and warm, felt safe in his alpha’s arms. Katsuki squeezed him closer, breathing in his sleepy scent.

“However long it takes, angel.” Katsuki murmured. “I’ll be right there, at your side, every step of the way. With you, for the rest of our lives.”

Izuku purred, wrapping his arms around Katsuki and clinging on tightly. He murmured, “Thank you, Kacchan.” before he succumbed to sleep.

Katsuki kissed his forehead one last time and curled protectively around his omega.

♦

The sparrow does fly
crooked but strong
for he knows he’s not alone

♦

It took a very long time for Izuku to feel a semblance of normalcy again. He spent several weeks in physical therapy, and even longer getting his old strength back. Longer still to sleep through the night, to be comfortable with casual physical touch.

It wasn’t a linear recovery in the least. Some days were worse than the one before. Some days, Izuku could barely breathe because of the vice grip his memories had on his lungs. There were stretches of time they had to cover all the mirrors in the apartment because Izuku could see Yuu hovering behind him like a phantom. There were days he cried, wondering why he wasn’t better already, why he couldn’t just be like before. He broke himself day after day, nightmare after nightmare.

Katsuki did his best to help him pick up the pieces, but he fucked up too. Said the wrong thing, touched the wrong way. Raised his voice without meaning to, not knowing how to help in the darkest moments Izuku stumbled into. Izuku once spent half a week at his mother’s when Katsuki’s scent spiked too sharply and he couldn’t handle smelling it for any period of time.

But still, they came out on the other side hand in hand. Bruised and battered, but usually for the better.

Winter brought cold days spent cuddling under the kotatsu, drinking cocoa (with plenty of grumbling from Katsuki about how “it’s too damn sweet”), and braving the dark nights arm in arm. Izuku had gotten most of his strength back by then and his proper debut as Hero Deku came fresh after New Year’s to an overwhelming amount of celebration.

It was on a warm spring evening that Katsuki came home from patrol to Izuku throwing himself into his arms before he’d so much as crossed the genkan. Katsuki caught him with ease, dropping his duffel to the ground, and spun him around. Izuku was purring up a storm. Katsuki chuffed and pressed kiss after kiss to his forehead. He was flushed, a bundle of warmth in his arms.

“Hey, angel,” he murmured. “What’s got you so excited?”

“Kacchan,” Izuku breathed. He pulled back to look up at Kacchan with a shy smile.

That was when Izuku’s scent hit him. Katsuki’s fangs dropped instantly and he bit back a moan. He smelled so sweet, like honey and wildflowers, so bright and earthy. There was an extra thickness to Izuku’s scent, an added layer of something .

“Kacchan.” Izuku said again, dragging a finger across Katsuki’s pecs.

“Fuck, I thought the doc said you might not get your heat for a while?”

“It’s been a while…”

Katsuki gingerly cupped Izuku’s cheeks. He rubbed tiny circles into his skin. “Do you need me to get out of here? What–”

Izuku cut him off with a growl. “No, alpha. Stay .”

Katsuki breathed in deeply–a mistake, really, since it just overwhelmed him with Izuku’s heat rich scent. “Alright. Okay. I’ll stay. We don’t have to do anything you’re not ready for, okay?”

“Mm,” Izuku hummed, the flash of omega anger falling away and being replaced by a hazy look. “I’m ready, Kacchan.”

“You sure?”

“Have been for a while, I think. Just been… nervous. Scared.” Izuku swallowed hard and Katsuki followed the bob of his throat intently.

“Do you… want your mating bite?”

Izuku exploded into a flurry of purrs, cheeks pinkening and his scent blooming. “Yes.”

“Fuck,” Katsuki cursed under his breath. “Okay. We’ll take it nice and slow, okay?”

“Mmhmm,” Izuku tucked his nose under Katsuki’s jaw, rubbing his cheeks all around his scent gland. Little fucker licked at it too, lapping up the scent oils and making Katsuki shiver. His cock twitched in his pants, always eager for his omega.

“C’mon, nest, omega.” Katsuki lifted Izuku into his arms, the omega wrapping his legs around Katsuki’s waist. Katsuki navigated through the apartment half blind; Izuku’s head obscuring his vision as he kissed up Katsuki’s jaw and to his mouth. Both of their shirts seemed to have disappeared by the time they made it to their den.

Katsuki laid Izuku down in the nest, taking half a step back so he could gaze at his gorgeous omega reverently for a moment. Izuku squirmed under his attention, so beautifully flushed. Katsuki slowly stripped him of his pants, running a hot hand up Izuku’s calf and thigh as he crawled over him on the bed.

“K-Kacchan…” Izuku murmured, “Kacchan’s so pretty.”

Katsuki smirked and leaned down to kiss Izuku’s hipbone. “No one’s prettier than my omega.”

Izuku whimpered, going red from the tips of his ears and down to his collarbone. Katsuki kissed his way up Izuku’s toned stomach, tongue dragging through the dips of his abs, sucking at his navel. He rubbed his hands up and down Izuku’s sides, huge hands dwarfing his omega. Izuku was a tiny powerhouse and Katsuki could practically touch fingers around his waist.

He loved the way Izuku squirmed under him, little mewls and gasps escaping his bitten lip. One of Izuku’s hands found its way up to Katsuki’s head, blunt little omega nails digging into his scalp, fingers threading through his spikes. They tightened into a fist when Katsuki sucked Izuku’s nipple between his teeth, gently rolling it around with his tongue.

Katsuki continued his journey up Izuku’s torso, leaving a hot trail of kisses and flushed skin along the length of his collarbone, following the curve of his neck, lapping languidly at his scent gland. Izuku tensed, back bowing off the bed as a heady moan burst from his chest.

Katsuki kissed just below Izuku’s ear, dragging his fangs lightly over the delicate skin there. Izuku buried his face in Katsuki’s neck, latching onto him and sucking a deep bruise. Izuku always did get so possessive during his heats. He loved marking Katsuki up just as much as Katsuki loved doing it in return.

He kissed up Izuku’s jaw before finally getting his mouth on his, stealing away his breath, drinking in Izuku’s gasps. It was like candy on his tongue.

“Such a good omega,” Katsuki crooned. He pulled away just enough to look into Izuku’s eyes. They were glassy with need, burning with desire. Katsuki clenched his fingers, digging them just a little too tightly into Izuku’s hips. He wanted to devour his omega. Needed to have him on his tongue, pressed against his ribs. Close wasn’t close enough. He needed them to share one body, nestled inside each other like they were one creature.

Did that make him insane? Maybe. Katsuki never wanted to be apart from Izuku ever again. And there was one way to guarantee he’d carry him with him at all times.

Katsuki ghosted his mouth over Izuku’s scent gland, drowning in sugary sweet syrup and fresh rain, hot breath fanning across his neck.

“Kacchan, please– ” Izuku keened, clinging to Katsuki for dear life.

“Soon, angel.” Katsuki promised, trailing a hand down Izuku’s tensing abdomen and between his legs to reach for his heat. Izuku cocklet twitched, hard and leaking, when Katsuki palmed it. Katsuki swallowed Izuku’s groans, kissing him softly and tenderly, thumb swiping at his dribbling tip, smearing the pre-cum along his short length.

He inched his fingers lower, finding  Izuku’s hole and rubbing his rim. Slick gushed onto his hand, thick and syrupy. Katsuki brought his fingers to his mouth, licking them clean and groaning as the essence of Izuku coated his tongue. Izuku watched him with wide eyes, drooling out the corner of his mouth.

“You ready, angel?”

Izuku was nodding fervently before Katsuki could even finish asking.

With an amused huff, Katsuki slipped the tip of his finger into Izuku's warm, wet hole. His omega tensed, tightening up. Katsuki pulled back, waiting for him to relax again, kissing a blazing path up and down his chest in the meantime. When Izuku settled again and nodded his encouragement, Katsuki circled Izuku’s rim before slipping his finger back inside.

It went in easier this time, Izuku breathing deeply through the sensation. It had been a long time since they’d done anything like this, since Izuku was in the state of mind to be able to get this intimate without spiraling into a panic. Katsuki had to pause after he sank in to the second knuckle, taking in the resplendent sight of his omega, flushed and spread open in their nest, so eager and wet, hips rolling in little thrusts onto Katsuki’s finger.

Katsuki pet his hip, rubbing circles with his thumb, feeling a familiar rush of adoration bubbling in his chest. Izuku gasped from the sudden onslaught of love rushing through their fledgling bond. Tears leaked from his emerald eyes and he offered Katsuki a wobbly smile. His lips were red and kiss-bitten. He was so beautiful. Katsuki’s fangs ached.

He started to work his finger in slowly, petting along Izuku’s soft inner walls. Slick pooled in his palm, leaking endlessly where Katsuki was pressed into him. One finger became two, slowly stretching and scissoring Izuku open.

And Izuku opened up so beautifully. His chest rising and falling, mouth agape, limbs spread just for Katsuki. His moans and whimpers were a grand orchestral symphony in the heated air of their den. Katsuki was working a third finger in when Izuku gripped his neck in his claws and gasped wetly.

“Kacchan, inside, please, please, I need–”

“Anything for you, angel.” Katsuki murmured, getting up onto his knees so he could pull his sweats off, letting his dripping cock bounce up against his stomach. His knot was half-inflated already, the tip red and angry. He squeezed his cock, spreading the slick on his fingers along the length of it.

Izuku watched, enraptured. Katsuki couldn’t help but preen under the attention. He crawled on his knees until he was flush with Izuku again. Katsuki felt like he was ready to burst at the sight of his omega, the scent of his heat making him dizzy.

“Gonna go nice and easy, okay angel?” Katsuki said, rubbing the tip of his cock against Izuku’s fluttering entrance. Izuku nodded, biting his plush lip. “Tell me if you need me to stop.”

Katsuki pushed in, inch by inch, going as slowly as he could. His eyes flicked between Izuku’s face–melting into bliss as he was filled–and the place where they were connected, his rim stretched taut around Katsuki’s cock. Tears fell easily down Izuku’s cheeks, but his face was split into a wide grin, eyes rolled back in pleasure.

“Kacchan,” he slurred, looking at him all dopey, a hand pressed into his stomach. Katsuki could practically feel the heat from his palm where it pressed against his cockhead. “So big. Missed you.”

“M’right here, omega.” Katsuki hummed, swooping down to kiss him breathless.

When Katsuki was buried balls deep, he had to press his face into the crook of Izuku’s neck, breathing heavily and pressing his head into the mattress to keep from coming too fast. Izuku felt so goddamn good. Hot and tight and wet. It was overwhelming.

“Alpha, please, alpha–” Izuku gasped, wrapping his arms around Katsuki’s neck, keeping their sweaty chests pressed flushed to each other.

Katsuki rolled his hips, rocking back and forth gently. Izuku wheezed, omega claws digging into Katsuki’s back.

“Fuck,” Katsuki hissed. “You feel so good, so perfect. The best omega, my omega.”

He was starting to ramble, placing wet praises into Izuku’s skin as he kept moving, building their pleasure bit by bit. Katsuki nosed at Izuku’s scent gland, the scent of him so thick and sweet and Katsuki was going to lose it if he didn’t get his teeth into him.

He chewed on Izuku’s neck, not breaking skin just yet. Katsuki rocked his hips in little waves, the slick sound of his cock working in and out was loud in his ears. Heat coiled in his gut, ready to snap. With each press of his hips against Izuku’s ass, his knot inflated more and more until it was getting difficult to get it inside of him. He almost wanted to pull out so he wouldn’t risk knotting Izuku and hurting him in the process.

But Izuku was begging for it, whimpering and pleading, and Katsuki would do anything for his omega.

With a final snap of his hips, Katsuki buried his cock as deep as it would go, knot catching. Izuku wailed, clenching around Katsuki’s cock, cumming and coating their stomachs. Katsuki sank his fangs into Izuku’s neck and it was like a wave of ecstasy flooded his system. He shuddered, mouth filling with Izuku’s gland oils and the copper tang of blood, his claiming venom already working its way into Izuku’s system.

He ground his hips into Izuku, pressing against his walls, trying desperately to get deeper . When he pulled back to lap at Izuku’s fresh mating mark, the omega lunged forward to sink his fangs into Katsuki’s neck. The pinprick of pain as he broke skin was nothing compared to the absolute flashbang of every emotion Izuku had ever felt.

He could feel Izuku within him, their souls twisting together like they were one. He could feel every ounce of fear and love and desperation and hope and joy Izuku had in his big ol’ heart filling all the cracks within Katsuki. The deluge of emotion sent Katsuki over the edge, and he was coming and gasping raggedly as he painted Izuku’s walls white.

Kacchan Kacchan Kacchan, Izuku’s voice echoed in his head. Katsuki’s skin erupted into goosebumps. He could feel their alpha and omega at the same time, entwined and never letting the other go.

Izuku was purring madly in Katsuki’s arms. Katsuki had never felt so overwhelmed; it was like he’d been living his entire life deaf and blind and it was only now that his senses opened and the world was flooded with color and sound and sensation. He could feel Izuku’s heartbeat beside his own, racing in tandem. He could feel the aching love that beat through Izuku’s chest, the soreness of his limbs.

Izuku beamed at him, smile wide and face bright and shining. Warmth infused Katsuki’s entire body and he felt weightless in the face of Izuku’s love. He cupped Izuku’s face, thumbing away the errant tears on his cheek and pressing his lips reverently against his.

Katsuki rolled them to the side to wait out his knot, keeping their foreheads pressed together. Any further apart and Katsuki feared he might break. He kept Izuku tucked into his chest, the omega playing with the little hairs on the nape of his neck.

“You okay?” Katsuki rumbled, nosing at Izuku’s temple.

The bond hummed with satisfaction. Every emotion that came through their fresh bond felt so much stronger than it ever did before, all of them riding a current of love.

“Mmhmm,” Izuku hummed, smiling into Katsuki’s pecs. “Perfect.”

“Do you need anything?” Katsuki rubbed up and down Izuku’s spine. His purring doubled, melting bonelessly into Katsuki’s arms.

“Just Kacchan.”

“You’ve always been mine, angel.”

Izuku’s happiness felt like a sweet bubbling drink. Katsuki could drown in it and die a happy man.

“I thought I’d be more stressed,” Izuku admitted. “But Kacchan took such good care of me. Kacchan sugoi.”

“Dork,” Katsuki said without bite. In fact, it was perhaps the fondest he’d ever sounded. So he loved his omega, sue him. His omega was perfect and strong and sugoi himself. “I’ll always take care of you. For the rest of our lives.”

Izuku purred sleepily. He was warm and comfortable and safe, right where he belonged. Katsuki curled around him, keeping him that way as his omega dozed before his heat hit in earnest. And Katsuki would take care of him then and every day after. They had been promised to each other long ago, and it would still be true in their next life, and the one after that, and the one after that.

♦

The sparrow does hold
through wind and through storm
the sparrow does hold
the sparrow does hold