"Speech was given to man to disguise his thoughts." - Charles Maurice de Talleyrand
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"Kacchan! Do you want some?"
"You're joking, right? I'm not eating that shit. That's not even food. The fuck is up with your taste lately?"
"Ka-acchan. Don't be like that! This isn't that bad, you know."
"Izuku...I'd puke. And I don't think I'm joking."
"You just never tried it." Izuku clicked his tongue and rolled his eyes in annoyance, something that he had recently been doing that ticked Katsuki off. He clicked his tongue back and turned back towards the TV, Izuku doing the same as he ate his...fucking ice cubes. He had no clue why he was doing it, and it definitely unnerved him how he was simply munching into them as if it was freeze pop and not simple, tasteless ice.
Bakugo was near gagging at this point. He turned away from the TV and looked the opposite way from Izuku as he tried to get the phantom taste of coldness and slight sourness out of his mouth.
"It can't be that bad, Kacchan. Come on." Izuku mumbled, poking him with his elbow. Katsuki grumbled something back to him, and Izuku frowned at him.
"That's mean, Kacchan."
"Sh. I'm watching the movie."
"No you're not! Kacchan, it can't just be the ice. So what's up with you?!" Katsuki turned towards him abruptly, a glare of his own on his face.
"You're kidding, aren't you? You've been acting weird, haven't you noticed? You do shit that's fucking disgusting, annoying, or just disturbing."
"Like what?" Katsuki quirked an eyebrow at him, and Izuku let out a sharp sigh, "Except for the ice. You can't be that offended by just some ice, can't you?"
"Alright. Let's start," Katsuki leaned back on the couch and tapped his chin in sarcastic contemplation, "You snap at me, you're always going around somewhere doing weird shit, you've been talking to Kirishima more than you've been talking to me, and honestly, the fact that we haven't fucked and you're the one who has the high sex drive is just confusing. Want me to keep going?" Izuku let out a somewhat sad sigh, and Katsuki turned towards him to see the kind of look a parent would give to their child when they're disappointed with them. Katsuki raised an eyebrow and blinked at him.
"Am I really that annoying to you?" Izuku grumbled, turning back towards the TV and popping another small piece of ice into his mouth as he glared at the TV.
"It's not that. You're just doing your best to get on my nerves, and if it's not on purpose, then it must be something subconscious. Either way, something's got you pissed at me. What is it?" Katsuki speculated.
"I'm not trying to get on your nerves, Katsuki. You're the one who's overreacting."
"I am not. Saying that I'm the one who's acting weird is like saying nothing's wrong with what you're doing." Izuku snorted and turned towards him, raising up an ice cube demonstratively.
"Is this really considered wrong?"
"Yes!" Izuku blinked at Katsuki before huffing and turning back towards the TV, trying his best to relax against the couch.
To be honest, he would much rather fall asleep on Katsuki than watch the movie, but now that the mood had been ruined, that wasn't an option. Instead, he finished off another ice cube and stood up and to do something else, washing it quickly before walking towards their bedroom quietly.
He lay down in their bed, curling in on himself and letting out a sigh. He hadn't meant to start a fight—not that he even knew why the fight started in the first place—and he had actually expected to spend Katsuki's weekend having fun and doing things normal couples do...which, apparently, isn't working out for them.
He had an idea as to why it was happening. He had two, actually, and both seemed reasonable.
First of all, it was him being pregnant.
He knew that the reason he had started randomly craving, for example, lemon salads or peanut butter with jam (he hated peanut butter), and then ice of all things wasn't just because his taste decided to do a one-eighty by itself. He knew what pregnancy cravings were. Second, he knew that his hormones were acting up because of the pregnancy, so that was probably the reason why he was so snappy and avoided Katsuki more than usual, Kirishima being the person he would go to instead.
Izuku sighed to himself, but stopped mid-sigh as he felt a slight uncomfortable feeling in his throat.
Shit. Not this again. Izuku shot up, knowing all too well that there was no avoiding it even if he stayed in bed, and hurried towards their bathroom, closing the door behind him and turning on the sink so that Katsuki wouldn't hear.
He'd been doing that for as long as he started feeling the nausea. He didn't know why he was hiding it from Katsuki. He knew that he would tell him eventually, but why was he thinking of telling him eventually instead of celebrating the supposedly good news? He didn't know. Maybe it was the fear of the rules he previously had to follow, or maybe it was Katsuki's behavior.
Maybe some part of him was scared of Katsuki's temper. Izuku didn't want to think about it, but...
Katsuki had a bad temper. He got pissed easily, even if he wasn't as much like that when it came to Izuku. Maybe he would even be gentle with their child, but Izuku couldn't imagine Katsuki being that kind of parent that'd carefully lull their child to sleep or feed them their first vegetables, knowing all too well the child will probably spit everything out and refuse to eat. He just...wasn't that type of person, and maybe that played a major role in the way he wanted to deliver the news.
But what was worse was if it came to him unexpectedly. What if he was so shocked he would start avoiding him, or start talking about how they could give the child up for adoption so that they could live together a normal, calm life?
Izuku felt like he couldn't read him, even after being with him for so long and going through so much with him. But this wasn't some terrorist attack or avoiding the rules of his strict pet organization. This was the difficulty of family life, and Izuku...just wasn't prepared for that.
"Izuku? Come on, get your ass out of there. I didn't mean it." Izuku wiped his forehead, feeling the cold sweat form on hit as he gulped heavily, trying to somehow ease the twisting feeling in his gut. It didn't help, and he felt a small shiver come through him, closing his eyes as he breathed heavily, trying to relax. He couldn't throw up now that Katsuki was there: he'd definitely hear.
Izuku stood up slowly, but that was enough to trigger him. He fell back on his knees and threw up, doing his best to be as quiet as possible as he gasped for air and gagged, before throwing it all up.
No wonder he was hungry all the time. Half the time his food was flushed down the toilet.
"Izuku?" Katsuki pounded on the door. Izuku breathed heavily, standing up slowly before flushing the toilet and going over to the sink, quickly flossing his mouth. He couldn't help but notice the way his hands shook and how cold they felt, and he tried his best to will his hands to stop shaking and return his posture to normal as he walked towards the door, opening it hesitantly and trying to step out.
Katsuki was right in front of him, and Izuku locked his hands behind his back as he tried to stop them from shaking by clutching them at each other tightly.
"Don't be like that, dammit. Let's just not talk about this bullshit then if it gets you that upset." Katsuki threw an arm around him and pulled him towards himself, hugging him roughly. Izuku knew that action: it was his way of apologizing without actually saying those words aloud. Izuku gulped heavily as he felt the shaking worsen as he tried to hold his balance while being partially pulled into his grasp.
Katsuki seemed to notice, though, and he retrieved his arm, frowning at Izuku and pulling back.
"You're not going to start crying, right? You know I can't handle that." Katsuki took him by his elbow and turned around, wanting to pull him somewhere, but Izuku shook harder and stumbled over his own two feet, tripping and falling onto Katsuki, breathing shakily.
Katsuki's eyes widened and he gripped Izuku by his shoulders, squatting down to try and look him in the eyes.
"Izuku? Are you alright? You're fucking pale...why didn't you say anything?!" Katsuki quickly put an arm beneath Izuku's underside of his knees, hooking his hand under and holding his back with his other hand, and Izuku let himself get picked up as he tried to calm his shaking, feeling too weak to do so.
Izuku vaguely felt himself being put down in bed and felt his eyes roll back tiredly, relaxing completely on the bed and sinking into the pillow and blanket under him, feeling heavy, really heavy.
He just barely registered the sound of footsteps as Katsuki ran out of the room, coming back with a phone pressed against his ear. Izuku tried to see what he was doing, but he himself wasn't aware. His eyes closed quickly, and he slowly reached for his face, wiping away the sweat. Since when did he start sweating this bad? His hand immediately turned wet as he smudged the sweat across his forehead, failing to get rid of it and letting his arm go limp against it, feeling the coldness of his hand against his forehead.
"Are you feeling cold? Izuku, do you need a blanket?" Izuku didn't reply. He did feel cold, but if getting something warm meant he had to speak, he didn't want to bother. He heard Katsuki mutter out a curse before feeling his hands, and noticing they were cold, decided to put a blanket on him just in case, sitting down at the side of his bed.
"Hey, doc, I need your help here." Katsuki said urgently to someone on the other end of the line as he gripped tightly at his phone, glancing at Izuku as Izuku kept laying there limplessly. "I have someone here, he's not feeling well. Omega, 24 years old, male, and he's sweating all over and not responding. He looks pretty pale too. I'm pretty sure he's conscious, but he looks too tired to talk, and his eyes are closed."
There was a response that Izuku didn't hear, or didn't bother. He slowly reached for Katsuki and took him by his wrist, his eyes just barely opened as he slowly wrapped his fingers around him. Katsuki snapped his head towards him, and his mouth opened before closing, before he spoke to the doctor on the other line again.
"Okay, you're coming, right? Gimme a sec." Katsuki put the call on dynamic and turned towards Izuku, taking his hand into his hands.
"Kat..." Izuku murmured, eyes only slightly open and peeking from behind his eyelids.
"You cold?"
"Come 'ere." Izuku said quietly, his hand flexing as if wanting to pull Katsuki closer. Katsuki complied, laying down beside him and doing his best to cuddle him, letting out soothing pheromones that Izuku gladly breathed in. Even though it didn't really make the vague nausea any better, Izuku was glad anyway.
"Izuku. Does it hurt anywhere?" Izuku didn't respond, resting his head against the alpha's chest instead and doing his best to not focus on the headache he felt coming in. Katsuki didn't like it, and he averted his eyes as he gripped at his hand a little tighter.
"Bakugo?" A voice came from Katsuki's phone. Katsuki shifted and threw his hand behind him, grabbing his phone and putting it in between him and Izuku.
"I'm here. Where are you?"
"I'm almost there. You might want to call an ambulance, though, if he's really feeling bad." Katsuki glanced up at Izuku, and Izuku pursed his lips.
"No." He said quietly, leaning his head forward so that he could hide his face while leaning against the alpha's chest.
"Will you be here soon?" Katsuki asked.
"Two minutes."
"Okay. If there's even the slightest possibility he may need the hospital after you see him, just tell me and I'll call, got it?"
"I understand, Bakugo. I'm pulling up."
A minute later, Katsuki had jumped off the bed and hurried out of the room, and Izuku felt a slight pain in his chest that lingered as he let out a small sigh, weakly pulling up the blanket to maintain the warmth. His body quickly turned cold anyway, and he gripped at the edge of the blanket as he shook. The doctor came into the room, Katsuki following him quickly, and the two squatted beside him.
"Can you say anything about his diet lately? Maybe he hadn't been eating or getting enough nutrition?" The doctor took out a stethoscope and quickly plugged the eartips into his ears, before glancing at Katsuki, awaiting his response, but quickly turning away and pulling down the blanket and pulling up Izuku's shirt on his chest.
Izuku shivered, the cold piece of metal making him feel even worse, and he felt a slight dizziness to his desperate movement of trying to make the hand go away. He didn't know if he had put his hand down or not, but that didn't stop the metal from touching him over his chest, sending involuntary flinches throughout his body.
"What he ate was weird. He was never one to have much of an appetite, but he's been munching on ice lately, plain foods mostly, I don't know much else. Izuku, you here with us?" Katsuki moved the hair out of Izuku's eyes and Izuku slowly opened them, only slightly glancing at him before closing them again, furrowing his brows in what looked like pain. Katsuki didn't like it. He didn't like it at all, and what he didn't like even more was how he couldn't do anything but watch.
"It's just an assumption for now, but I'm guessing he may be anemic. I suggest you go to the hospital to check him out, you can drive him without an ambulance, and I can help you order the test you may need to see if this is correct. Is that alright with you?"
"Yeah." Katsuki turned towards Izuku, licking his lips as he tried his best to will himself to stop stressing.
"I'm gonna pick you up, okay?" Without waiting for a response, he slowly picked Izuku up, and Izuku grunted somewhat in disapproval, but did nothing else to fight it. Without waiting any longer, Katsuki glanced at the doctor and the doctor quickly took the hint, hurrying out of the bedroom and opening the door for them, letting the two through.
Katsuki quickly grabbed his keys and they hurried out of the house, Katsuki feeling as distressed as he could be.
He could've noticed, but he didn't. He could've done something, but he didn't. Now, Izuku has to go to the hospital, and who knows what will happen after this.
Katsuki felt guilty. But even more so, he felt like he rejected Izuku more than he realized.
Katsuki was silent the whole ride. Izuku simply lay silently beside him in his seat.