Chapter 5
Midoriya cringed ever so slightly as the IV needle was taken out of his arm. He didn't usually hate needles, but now that he had to have one in his arm for an hour for ten days he was beginning to hate them today was his last treatment for eighteen days, then the next cycle of treatment would start and last for ten days.
He leaves the hospital using the side entrance reserved for heroes, so the press wouldn't spot him. Fuyumi had brought him to the appointment, but had to return to her kindergartens, so he didn't know who would be taking him home.He sees a head of long wild red hair by the exits and a small smile appears in his face. "Eijirou!"
"Yo Deku! I'm your wheels home today," Kirishima says, a bright, sharky grin on his face.
"How have you and Kacchan been? Have you finished unpacking uet?" Midoriya asks as they get into Kirishima's jeep.
"Yeah, we got the last if our things out of storage and unpacked them i can't believe 'Suki found that place so quickly there's plenty of room, but its not big enough to feel empty with just the two of us," Kirishjma says with a large smile
"Sounds nice. I'm happy for you two. You're so good for Kaccgan, you make him so…. happy and calm," Midoriya says, leaning back in his seat.
"I know what you mean. Others might not see it, but he is a lot calmer than he used to be," Kirishima agrees.
The boys chat about meaningless things on the drive, enjoying the rare chance to just talk about something that didn't involve hero work.
When Kirshima pulls up the driveway, he leaves the car running and Midoriya's heart sinks. "Do you want to come in?" he asks, though he already knows the answer.
"I can't stay, I have patrol in twenty minutes. Sorry, bro."
Midoriya fixed a bright smile on his face. "No, that's fine. Thanks for the ride. It was nice talking to you," he says, getting out of the car. He walks up to the front door, turning to wave as Kirishima drives away. Only once the car disappears does the greenette let his shoulders slump and his smile fade. He was tired of having to be alone in this house, but he couldn't go anywhere without the press finding out he wasn't working.
He didn't resent his friends for having to work, but he wished someone could stay with him, even if it was just for a few hours. Midoriya went inside, his socked feet gliding over the tiles kitchen floor as he got himself some water before going to the living room with the tv on some random reality show and turned down to become background noise, Midoriya picked up a book.
His mom had been going to the library for him, checking out things she thought he might like. Midoriga would have done it himself, but even something as simple as checking a bunch of books out under his name could expose his illness.
After a few hours,Midoruga begins to nod off. Todoroki comes home to find his lover asleep on the couch, a book on his chest, snoring softly. Any worry he may have felt when Midoriga didn't answer his greeting melts away when he sees the sleeping figure.
Todoroki puts a bookmark in Midoriya's page, setting the book on the coffee table, before grabbing the blanket off the back of the couch and tucking it over the greenette. He smiles softly as the sleeping boy, thinking he looked so much younger and stress free. It makes him unwilling to wake Midoriya.
The bicoloured boy went to the kitchen, determined to reheat last night udon soup without messing it up. He could do that, right?
He puts the soup in the pot, lighting the gas element in setting it to medium high. He starts setting the table while the soup heats, stirring it every few minutes. And if the noodle started to scorch to the bottom of the pot, while Todoroki was looking for the trivets, well, no one was going to tell because he caught it just in time.
After the soup has been simmering for a few minutes, todoroki would sure it had heated through, so he shut off the stove and took the pot to the table, setting it on the trip. He then went to the living room, gently shaking Midoriya awake.
"zuku… wake up, dinner's ready."
"Hmm?" the greenette asks sleepily.
"I made dinner."
Midoriya sits up, rubbing his eyes. "Have I really been asleep long enough for you to make dinner?" he yawns, looking up at Todoroki.
The taller boy nods, leaning down to kiss Midoriya's forehead. Come eat, then you can go back to sleep."
"Noo, I've already wasted enough of our evening together," Midoriya whines as he follows Todoroki to the kitchen. "Why don't we watch a movie or something? Unless you have to get up early tomorrow."
"I'm going to work at the usual time, so we could watch a movie," Todoroki replies, serving himself some soup. He has to fight the urge to wince when Midoriya serves himself and nearly drops the ladle. His fine motor skills had already been affected so much. He could tell sometimes Midoriya found it difficult to use chopsticks but he kept quiet. For now anyways.
"I had a nice talk with Ejirou when he drove me home. He and Kacchan have finally finished unpacking at the new place," Midoriya says, hoping to start a conversation.
"That's good for them. Glad they're settling in well," Todoroki replies.
"I'm glad Kacchan found someone who makes him happy. Its good to see him happy," Midoriya continues.
"He does seem calmer, occasionally," Todoroki comments.
"So you noticed it too?"
The heterochromatic boy nods. "Yes, it's clear that Ejirou has a calming effect if Katsuki. He's less likely to try to start a fight if Ejirou's around, and if he does try, chances are he'll be calmed down by Ejirou."
"Huh. I didn't think it was that obvious."
"It's not, unless you know to look. You just happened to be muttering about it one evening, so I started paying attention."
Midoriya blushes, embarrassed that after all this time he still wasn't able to break his muttering habit.
"I think the muttering is cute," Todoroki says with a small smile, making Midoriya blush more.
They boys fall silent, eating their dinner. After, Todoroki offers to wash the dishes, convincing Midoriya to go to bed. The greenette is reluctant to agree, wanting to help Todoroki, but eventually he has to agree he's in no shape to help.
After eating, he was half asleep on his feet, so he allowed Todoroki to guide him to the bedroom. The taller boy tucks Midoriya into bed, a sad smile on his face as he goes back to the kitchen to wash dishes. He could tell Midoriya was struggling more than he let on. Walking was starting to become a challenge, as were stairs.
Todoroki doubted Midoriya would agree to some sort of walking aid uet, but perhaps he could be convinced to have ramps installed? It would have to be done eventually, and it would mean the only stairs Midoriya would have to deal with were the ones to the second floor, and most of the time Todoroki was there to help him. The only things on the second floor was the master bedroom and their offices.
Midoriya's office was no longer in use, so unless he was sleeping he had no reason to be on the second floor, which was why he went downstairs with Todoroki each morning.
Even if Midoriya agreed, there was still the issue of how to hire someone to build the ramps without the media catching wind of it. He's, the press would find out eventually, but both Midoriya and Todoroki wanted it to be on their own terms, when they were ready.
"Of course, 'ready' might have to be sooner than we thought," Todoroki mutters. People had started to take notice of Midoriya's absence and it had only been a month. They would have to go public before rumors started to spread.
Another worry Todoroki had was who would care for Midoriya. So far, he'd managed to get by with the help of his friends and family, making sure there was someone to take him to and afro his appointments. But Midoriya would end up needing more care as time went on, full time care.
While they had the money for Todoroki to retire so he could care for Midoriya, the greenette refused to entertain the idea, saying he wouldn't be the reason Todorokj gave up on his dream of being a Pro. Inko had offered to care for her son when the time came, but Todoroku felt guilty thinking about her bring the main one doing that.
But it was that or putting Midoriya in a hospital full time.
There was so much that had to be done, and while most of it could wait, Todoroki couldn't help but to stress over it. He wanted to make sure Midoriya was as comfortable as possible. He wished there was a way he could protect Midoriya.
But how did you protect someone when it was their own body betraying them.