Stolen Moments

11. Break

" Sometimes what we hide from others is to protect them as well as ourselves." ~ Laughing Wolf

Katsuki sits in his bed with eyes blown wide, his breathing still fast and unsteady. His heart is beating so hard it echos through his ears while he stares at the silhouette kneeling by his bedside.

The room is mostly dark, all but the dim light of the TV on the other side of the room but knows someone is there. At least he thinks he does, he's unsure at this point if it's just another part of a shitty nightmare, one he's had before, one where he can hear a voice he'd know anywhere and see green eyes that both comfort and set him on fire all at once only to have that figure disappear from his grasp as soon as he reaches for it.

The figure is perfectly still, unmoving as the blonde hero tries desperately to calm his breathing. He almost starts to think maybe he's still dreaming until there's a soft voice breaking both thoughts and wonder.

" K-Kacchan are.. are you ok?"

The voice and the question hit Katsuki like a train making his insides instantly twist. He feels sick, like everything he's ever eaten in his life is about to come up.

That voice, or rather the owner of that voice is someone he never wanted to witness this. He never wanted those deep seas of green to see him in such a weakened state. Never wanted to see pity or pain in those eyes because of this.

Walls of defense suddenly come slamming down around him as he pulls himself to sit on the end of his bed, a broad back to those green eyes.

He clears his raw aching throat speaking low in the dark with elbows resting on his thighs running large hands through damp from sweat blonde spikes.

" What.. what are you doing here Deku?"

Something in Izuku's heart aches deeply with the tone, one that sounds broken, embarrassed and ashamed. He fights the lump in his throat as he answers.

" I.. I was at mom's for dinner. I decided to walk home and when I passed the house...."

He pauses knowing this is probably not going to go over well, he can already hear it, sense it but he continues.

" Well.. your window was open and .. I.."

The blonde finishes for him with a bitter scoff.

"And you heard my shit show huh."

Izuku swallows the lump still burning as he remembers the painful cries from minutes ago.

He's getting ready to answer when the blonde speaks again.

" How much did you hear?"

The question is futile though because it doesn't matter how much he heard, even one broken scream was one too many he thinks.

Izuku fights to find the right words, words that won't push this prideful blonde away.

"I'm.. I'm not sure. Enough to know it was pretty intense for you.", he says gently.

Katsuki chuckles bitterly.

" Yeah, you could say that. But that doesn't explain why you're here, especially when the way back to your place in the opposite direction of this house."

Izuku feels like he's been caught red-handed, because that's true, there was no need for him to be near Katsuki's house if he was only walking home, in fact it would be out of his way.

" I.. I guess I just wanted to take a walk around our old neighborhood for a while. Lots of memories here. When I heard you I just... wanted to be sure you were ok.