Subsequent

Nothing and everything

The war had already ended, a war that left multiple people with mental and/or physical injuries. By now, most buildings were restored and most of the people that were hospitalized were free to go.

It was late at night. Izuku was currently in his room in UA, getting ready to go to sleep, when he heard a knock on his door. He could already tell who it was.

Katsuki Bakugo.

It had become a habit of them to go over the other's room, since after the war they needed to be close to each other because of the fear of losing the other again.

Izuku opened the door and nodded, signaling for him to get in, since they didn't need words to speak to each other. Bakugo silently entered and sat on the edge of the bed, to which Izuku went and sat next to him.

"Can't sleep?" Izuku casually asked, with a sleepy voice. Bakugo nodded. 

They stood in silence, which, if their before-war-selves saw would be in sheer shock, because, c-mon? Since when are Izuku Midoriya and Katsuki Bakugo not yelling at each other? Well, believe it or not, nowadays the silence was more prominent than any kind of speech or fight they've ever had, but, surprisingly, they were able to communicate much better than with any other words. With just one shared look, one glaze, some eye contact, a sigh, the smallest thing, they could read each other perfectly.

Izuku layed on the bed, silently shaking his head to the side as to indicate Bakugo to lay next to him.

"How's your heart?" Izuku silently said.

"Beating. How are the members?" Bakugo asked, slightly scared of the answer.

Izuku could feel the nervousness in Bakugo's voice, so he offered him a small reassuring smile. 

"Still here." He managed to say, keeping eye contact with him. Bakugo nodded, relief written all over his face while breaking eye contact.

Again, silence. To any other person, this interaction would seem like they're getting worse in therms of relationship and communication, but, to them? This felt like a big progress; being able to not start a fight for the slightest thing, none of them running away, just catching up.

"Did ya talk with round cheeks?" Bakugo asked, now calmer from Izuku's support and reassurance.

"You mean Ochako?" Izuku said, sassiness dripping from his voice. Bakugo rolled his eyes with his casual annoyance, but reluctantly nodded. Izuku sighed.

"Yeah, I talked to her. She still feels guilty for Toga's death, but she's making progress." Izuku spoke, his voice saddened because of the helplessness he felt for supposedly not being able to help his friend.

Bakugo sighed. "Oi." Izuku turned his head, expectant of whatever the blond boy was going to say.

"You're helping. It's clear how much progressing she's done thanks to you... and the rest. Don't go pouting around, it's obvious that you can't see how damn helpful you really are. Don't underestimate yourself, you hear me?" He silently murmured as a weak compliment.

Even if it wasn't a big compliment, Izuku took it as one, since he knew Katsuki Bakugo wasn't one to give compliments to anyone or talk so deeply, neverless to his 'rival'.

Izuku lowered his head and nodded. "Thanks, Kacchan.." 

"Nonsense. Quit thanking and apologizing, I'm just stating facts. Just get better soon so we can compete against each other again." Bakugo said, turning his body so his back now faced Izuku. Still, it was a way to wish him to get better.

And Izuku couldn't help but smile at this.

Bakugo wanted to give him a snarky response because of the feeling of Izuku smiling behind him, but he bit his words back, because he knew if he said anything else that would just prove how much he actually cares, even if it was already obvious.