I know you better than that

I felt like writing a sickfic, and with Patreon I am free to indulge those urges. Enjoy!

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It was day three of Katsuki being in bed. Day three that he hadn't shown up to class, hadn't touched his belongings in the fridge or pantry, didn't even seem to have showered or changed his clothes, at least as far as anyone could tell from the bathroom and laundry.

“Fuck off,” he growled, when anyone dared to call through his door and check on him. “I can do shit myself.”

It was day three of Katsuki being in bed, and Izuku had given up humouring him.

“Hey, Kaminari, you said you can pick locks, right?”

“H-Huh?! What?! No! Who told you that?!”

Izuku raised an eyebrow at him, and Denki smiled sheepishly.

“I thought it would impress girls.”

“Did it work?”

“Not so far, but it'll happen one day!”

“Can I borrow your talents, then?”

“What did you have in mind?”

Five minutes later, Izuku was pushing open Katsuki's door with an armload of supplies, slipping into the dark little room with his best smile slapped on his face.

“Good morning, Kacchan!” he whispered when the young man rolled over, bleary-eyed as he investigated the disturbance. “I brought soup!”

“Haaah?” Katsuki demanded, punctuated with a long cough. “The fuck are you in my room for, nerd?”

“Aww, you're so cute when you're sick,” Izuku teased. “You wanna sit up for me?”

He ignored the weak protests and snarls, setting the last of his things down and reaching over. Katsuki didn't – or couldn't – put up a fight, when Izuku hauled him up under the arms, sitting him against a stack of pillows.

“Clothes first,” he instructed, digging through the bottom drawer of his dresser and finding a clean pair of fluffy pyjamas. “You gonna take them off?”

“Fuck off.”

“Okay, c'mere, I can do it.”

Katsuki pulled away when the scarred hands reached for him, pouting as he pulled his shirt off and tossed it aside. He changed his pants obediently, fumbling at the buttons on his shirt and eventually giving up with a sigh, looking away as Izuku fastened them for him.

“When did you last eat, Kacchan?”

Katsuki's stomach growled in response, and Izuku giggled when he saw the pink flush spread across his cheeks.

“That's what I thought, so I brought soup! Tofu miso soup, with spices added from your container of death, and low-sodium broth so you can't whine about it. Nice and hot and good for you, ready for eating up!”

“I'm not hungry.”

“We both know that's a lie, Kacchan.”

He sat down on the edge of the bed, peeling the lid off the bowl and dipping his spoon in, his grin spreading even wider when Katsuki huffed again and turned his pink cheeks away.

“Open wide, Kacchan.”

“I don't need your help.”

“Of course not, I know that! Now open up!”

He poked at the stubborn lips until they finally parted enough to let him through, pouring a spoonful of warm soup into him.

“Good boy! It's tasty, right? I tried some and it was really good so I added another dash of spice and figured it'd be perfect!”

“Shut up.”

“Say ahhhhh!”

“Fuck off.”

“Here comes the aeroplane!”

“No.”

“Nyooooooom!”

“Not gonna happen.”

“Open wide for landing!”

“Fuck you.”

“Nyooooooooooooooooom!”

“No.”

“I'm not gonna stop until you say ahhh!”

“Fucking fine.”

Spoonful after tortured spoonful, Izuku managed to coax Katsuki into eating, pouring soup into the stubborn mouth and watching him swallow despite his complaints. When the bowl was empty he set it aside, stroking Katsuki's hair lightly as he cooed.

“What a good boy!” he grinned. “Proud of you, Kacchan!”

“Shut the fuck up and get out of my room, fuckin' asswipe.”

“Nuh-uh, you need to go brush your teeth while I change your sheets. Can you walk?”

“Of course I can fuckin' walk, asshole,” Katsuki spluttered, coughing again as the burst of annoyance burned his throat. “But I'm not going to because you're gonna leave me alone.”

“Alright, come on then!”

He slid his arms under the blankets, smiling when Katsuki fought weakly against his grip, but despite his best efforts he still ended up cradled in Izuku's arms, listening to annoyingly happy hums as he was carted into the bathroom.

“You probably need to pee, too, huh?” Izuku mused, flipping up the toilet lid and setting Katsuki down. “You go toilet and clean up while I put nice fresh sheets on the bed!”

Izuku ignored the grumbles and complaints, closing the bathroom door behind him, and sure enough within minutes he heard the shuffle of Katsuki removing his pants to pee. He set to work stripping off sweaty – and frankly, smelly – blankets, replacing them with clean ones he'd brought from his own linen closet – freshly laundered, and not even All Might themed! The dirty ones went in a basket in the hall, ready to be taken downstairs to wash, and Izuku took his time making sure everything was perfect – no creases, no untucked edges, every inch of the bed just the way Katsuki liked it.

When a muttered stream of curses began in the bathroom, Izuku crossed the room again knowingly. He knocked twice, not waiting for an answer before he opened it, watching Katsuki lean on the sink with shaky legs.

“All clean, Kacchan?”

He nodded reluctantly, glancing at the damp facecloth in his laundry hamper and the still-damp toothbrush back in its little holder, and without another word Izuku picked him up all over again. It was like he weighed nothing, he thought. The nerd had grown too damn strong for his own good.

“Why are you doing this shit?” Katsuki croaked, cheeks burning again when Izuku tucked him into bed. “It's stupid.”

“Because you're my friend, Kacchan! And, well, all your other friends are too scared to come and help you – they would, but it scares them away when you tell them to fuck off, you know? But I know you better than that! I know when Kacchan needs help, even if he won't admit it.”

He tucked a hot water bottle in near Katsuki's feet to keep him warm, smiling as he gently brushed hair back from the tired scarlet eyes.

“Is there anything else I can help with, Kacchan?”

“Fuck off,” he grumbled, snuggling in with his collection of pillows. “I'm fine, I can take care of myself.”

“Of course you can, sweetie,” Izuku teased, sitting down on the carpet beside the bed to survey his oddly pale face. “But really, what can I do to help?”

Katsuki muttered something under his breath, rolling away with his ears tipped in pink. The grumbles were quiet, but Izuku smiled all the same.

“Drink?” he repeated, reaching for his pile again. “Sure! I have water, or orange juice, or I can make you tea? You have a jug in here, right? I brought these nice ginger tea bags with lemon, so you can just dunk them in a mug instead of waiting for ages to brew it properly!”

“Juice.”

“Okay!”

He peeled off the foil seal and handed the bottle over, watching as Katsuki popped the cap open and sucked at it. It was the same way he'd drank ever since kindergarten, using sheer force to get the liquid out rather than tip the bottle like a normal person, and somehow Izuku found it endearing still.

“I'll leave the rest of this stuff here for you,” he smiled softly. “There's tea, water, more soup, cough medicine, losenges, tissues-”

“Deku.”

“Huh? Sorry, am I fussing too much now?”

Katsuki shook his head, still refusing to look back, and Izuku waited patiently for him to find the words.

“Um, lonely,” he confessed finally. “So th-thanks.”

“Aw, Kacchan, you should have told me! I'll stay!”

“Don't want you to get sick, too.”

“I'll be fine! I never get sick!”

“Famous last words.”

Izuku giggled, and he caught a glimpse of Katsuki's lips curling too, before the head turned further to hide it again.

“Move over, I'm coming in.”

“Haaah?”

“You heard me!”

Izuku slipped under the blankets at his side, fingers shaking a little as he reached out, running them lightly down Katsuki's spine. Katsuki shivered under the touch, and Izuku waited for a protest, but for once in his life it didn't come.

“Can I rub your back?” he asked, his voice barely a whisper. “You used to like it.”

He remembered many a time where Katsuki would fall and hurt himself, or eat some weird leaf from the park, or just catch a cold, and Masaru would hug him and rub his back gently, reassuring him and feeding him medicine or bandaging his wounds. Izuku had picked it up quickly, had learned how to stroke his spine just right when he got hurt at school, as he cleaned the cuts and layered sticking plasters on top. It had been a while since Katsuki had let him, but he was sure his hands still knew how.

“Okay,” Katsuki said finally.

Tenderly, Izuku laid his hand flat, humming quietly as he stroked up and down and felt Katsuki soften into his touch. When Katsuki rolled over to face him, he didn't dare to say a word – just pulled him in close and continued to pet him while the sleepy eyes hid away in the crook of his neck.

“Get some sleep, Kacchan,” he smiled. “I'll stay here.”

“Mm, better not ditch me, nerdass.”

“I wouldn't dream of it.”

With Katsuki snuggled into him, his hand still gently rubbing up and down a spine that had grown much longer since the last time he'd done it, and a bed filled with a comfortable warmth, Izuku closed his eyes. It wasn't really his bedtime, not yet, but he could hardly resist the temptation his surroundings brought.

Any time was naptime with a sick Kacchan in his arms.