and if it all ended tomorrow (would i be the one on your mind?)
ya! katsuki bk. x reader
katsuki is finally discharged from the hospital and returns home to you after nearly losing his life in battle. coming home to you, he realizes all he has to lose. angst/comfort, and huge dedication to my mha-writing mutuals because you deserve all the comfort and love in the world. @crushmeeren @suksatoru @peachsukii @osamucide (i don't think you write for this fandom but love regardless) @whenanafallsinlove
rewatched the bnha ending and thought to write this. this is timeskip! katsuki so its different incidents, but still, slight bnha ending spoilers. i love you, eternal sunshine
song: intro (end of the world)
“its my line of work, idiot.” he’s told you numerous times. “its part of being a hero.”
“that doesn’t mean i have to like it, kats.”
“yeah?” he scoffs, pulling you closer into him, scars littering his muscles, battle wounds he wore proud. he couldn’t care less about some marks on him if it meant he was doing his job right.
“i’m not gonna die. i’m too good for that.” he says, making sure you’re looking at him in the eye. you smile a little at his cockiness. what a dick.
“i love you, katsuki.”
“love you too, dumbass.”
✧.* ⋆.˚ ☾ .⭒˚ ✧.* ✧.* ⋆.˚ ☾ .⭒˚ ✧.* ✧.* ⋆.˚ ☾ .⭒˚ ✧.* ✧.*
even with his words, the confidence you fell in love with, he still almost got himself killed. his life would have drained. you nearly lost him. it still hurts, even if it is just almost.
all your clothes in the closet he built for you. 2am, raging at building manuals, but still managing it because he can’t say no to you.
but right now, you’re only wearing his clothes. the smell of his cologne is fading, but the warmth is still there. if he were here, he’d probably scold you for not doing your own laundry. but when getting out of bed is difficult? laundry is an afterthought. if he were here, he’d understand that.
when you got the news of katsuki’s injury, the world begin spinning faster. the wind picked up, running through branches and leaves, swirling around you and snatching the breath out of your lungs. knowing his recklessness in his line of work left a lingering worry in the back of your mind, a thought you hoped would never come to fruition. but injuries were inevitable, even life threatening injuries ones. the world keeps spinning even when a pro hero gets hurt on the job.
but seeing him in the hospital, with about 10 different wires attached to him, made the world stop.
the day he went into a coma, so did the world. the sun ceased its heat, so did the night and its chill. his heart kept beating thanks to some high tech machine. yours stopped at the sight of him, on the brink of death.
and the worst part? this wasn’t the first time. you were privy to the first incident- the hit he took to the heart, protecting somebody else, that stopped his heart completely. so in a way, this shouldn’t be new. but it still stings the same. because to you? its so much more than losing your boyfriend.
it's knowing that as a hero, he belongs to the world, and not just you. it's knowing that this is what he signed up for after years of training and dedication. its knowing that the best you can do is support him and wait for him at the end of every battle. its knowing that katsuki would live, and eventually, die a hero.
visits started everyday. then once a week. then only when you were missing him bad, and just wanted to hurt yourself by seeing him on that hospital bed, slow breathing and weak grasp.
and before you knew it, a month has passed with nothing. even with all the reassurance from the doctors that he would be okay, based on his health and resilience, you couldn’t believe it if he wasn’t the one telling you.
he’s still alive, but its hard not to mourn his presence in your apartment. because missing katsuki is such a physical thing- it's his absence, felt in every sense. like his hero mask left on your bedside, but never him wearing it. like a song he told you to listen to because its "good fucking music" but cutting it off right before the chorus. like feeling the ghost of his fingertips over your skin, lips kissing over your shoulder, but remembering that no ones there. an embrace that haunts you, long after its gone.
and soon enough, you're crying again.
anything serves to pass the time- tv, sleeping, reading- but the lingering ache in your chest wants to make itself known. and then there's the fact that even if katsuki made a full recovery, this wouldn't be the last time you're choked down with anxiety, fearing for him in his life, feeling it slip from your fingertips. he's a hero and he belongs to the world. but you do also wish he could just be yours. maybe a little selfishly so.
your laptop is blaring with some show you don't care about. you've changed hoodies again- because this one isn't soaked with tears and you want to wear his clothes- even if you took it from the laundry bin. food sits on the stove, maybe a little burnt, but you're probably not going to eat it anyway. you wonder if he's thinking of you, too, somewhere in murky dreams, your smile cutting through the clouds and shining on him. you wonder if he knows you'd be there, even if the world ended tomorrow. that he'd be the one on your mind. and you wonder if you'd be the one on his.
certainly, you are on his mind to some degree, otherwise he wouldn't be banging the front door with his fist, impatiently waiting to see you.
you yell that you're already coming, rudely pulling the door open to whoever decided to interrupt your pathetic crying session. when you see that it's katsuki? the ground beneath your feet dissolves.
"hey." is all he says at first. he peers into the apartment, seeing the obvious signs that you've been alone. he'd be mouthing off about the unfolded clothes and the cheap fast food wrappers in the trash if he wasn't so focused on the sheer fact that he was finally with you again.
his lips almost curve into a smile, seeing how you can't find the words for a moment. you scramble, almost embarrassingly so, to piece together a sentence: "what... when did you get out?"
he shrugs: "maybe an hour ago."
you have maybe a million follow-up questions, but the tears reach your eyes before words reach your lips. and he's quick to see it, practically catching you into a hug, like your legs were about to give up. he lets himself into the house, shutting the door behind him while pulling you into his chest. just 5 minutes ago, you were scrolling through photos and videos, pretending that a screen could be as good as the real thing. now, you're crying in his arms, his bones and flesh wrapping around you like a poignant reminder that he's alive.
"its okay dumbass, i'm here." he says, head resting on top of yours. he's particularly gentle this time around, cradling your face and making sure you see him. his heart winces a little when he sees the physicality of how bad you missed him- slumped shoulders, eye bags and tear stained cheeks. its the determination in him that wants to end that for you. "i've got you. you're fine."
after a few minutes, you compose yourself, taking a deep breath. "they just let you leave? like that?"
"they didn't let me, i made them." he smirks.
you shoot him a look, because of course he left without better judgement, and he has the audacity to laugh. this is the asshole you wanted back so badly.
"it's fine. i feel fine." he reassures you. "why would i spend longer in some hospital when i've got you waiting for me?"
oh, the urge to fall back in love with him at his loyalty. but you know better: "that's not the point, kats. you could stilll be hurt."
"i'm not."
"okay, but... you still almost died."
he takes a deep breath, knowing that you're right but never saying it out loud. he almost died. you almost lost him, and he can see how heavily its weighed on you. the fact that he could mean so much to someone like this, that someone could mourn the very though of losing him? that someone would think of him, even if the world was ending, the way you have?
maybe he's the one falling in love with you, all over again.
he opens his mouth, about to say something. something probably about how its his duty, that its everything he's worked for. but none of that absolves the pain of knowing his heart almost stopped just a month ago.
"i know you recovered and i'm glad you did. but you almost died. again. and don't lecture me about how it's your job."
his expression is something between guilt and resolve. he's never been good with words, unless it was coming up with stinging insults or a series of cleverly strung-together swear words. but he's still determined to try, like he is with everything he loves.
"babe, i know you're worried." he says, stroking your cheek. "and i really fucking love you for that. but it's my job. it's who i am."
and he's also right. he's a hero, the very foundation of the man you fell for. and mas much as it hurts to see, you'd never want him to stop being who he is. because katsuki bakugou, at his core, is a protector. even if its with his life.
you let out a shaky breath, just looking down. apart of you doesn't want him to see you, see how much of a mess you are. though katsuki knows damn well he'd love you anywhere, at any time, all dolled up or crying in his arms. if you can love him at his weakest, when he's knocked out on a hospital bed for the millionth time? he can love you at yours, too.
"idiot, look at me." he says gently, lifting your face back up.
"what?" you whisper, scared tears will fall again if your voice dares to go higher.
"its my job to protect people, yeah. but i'm not going anywhere. not when i've got you to come home, too. you're my reason, idiot. you're the reason i fight."
theres a pang in your chest when he says that, deep sincerity woven into his words as he speaks. every hero has a something to protect, something to live for- and for katsuki, it's you. without hesitation or doubts.
"you're forgetting i'm still here." he says, taking your hand and pressing a kiss to your knuckle. he sits you down on the couch, kneeling in front of you so you can really see him- see his breathing, his moving eyes and warm, loving lips pressed to your skin.
"i'm alive. i'm okay. you don't have to worry, dumbass. and you definitely don't have to be a mess 'cause of me."
you crack a fraction of a smile at that. "you think i'm a mess?"
he huffs a bit of laughter, because you both know that mess is one of the only words that encapsulates what its like to miss katsuki- anger, grief, and confusion thrown onto neglected laundry and albums of photos. but more importantly, mess describes what its like loving him: messy morning kisses, hair sticking up and messy, lovelorn fingerprints all over his heart. "yeah, i think you're a mess right now. only a little though."
you roll your eyes, ignoring that fluttering, nervous feeling he somehow still gives you even after all these years. "yeah, well, forgive me for missing you."
"you know i missed you too." he adds, simple words that resonate deeply with both of you. yet, you still can't resist teasing him a little: "how could you? you were asleep."
he chuckles softly. "i felt it in my bones, my dreams, i don't know. all that spiritual bullshit." he gets up from his knees to embrace you again.
"you might not wanna hug me. i haven't showered in like..." you trail off, embarrassed of the answer. he rolls his eyes, offended by the idea that he cares about that.
"yeah, yeah. i've been in a coma for a month, dumbass. i doubt i smell like roses right now."
"is that your way of saying you don't care?" you smile.
"its my way of saying i love you." he smiles back. "idiot."
because katsuki would love you, even if you haven't showered. if the sun refused to shine, you'd still love him. if the moon went dark, you'd still be his. if it all ended tomorrow, you'd still be the one on his mind.
and that's something he'd risk it all for.
"we should probably still shower, though."
"together?"
"obviously, idiot."