Chapter Text
The front door of the Bakugou house closes. The youngest of the family immediately rushes towards the commotion, wondering who among his parents had just arrived.
The candlelight illuminates the space enough for Katsuki to see the image of a tired Masaru greets him. Katsuki notices how his father slouches more than usual, movements slower and carry a lot more effort. He hangs his thick wool parka near the doorpost before moving towards Katsuki. His father gives him a effortful smile, as if it took a lot of him to do the simple gesture. "Hey there, Katsuki. Still awake?"
"You're late." The blonde pup frowns. He noticed how his parents were busier for long time now, for a week. He knows this because he has been counting (he can now count up to a hundred and back down to one!) and tallying their absence on a scratch paper he saw lying around the house. When he was alone.
Alone.
This was day eight of him being left alone in the house for long periods of time, not seeing either of his parents until the moon is in its highest peak in the sky. In the past, Auntie Inko would usually visit him with Izuku whenever his parents were busy, but not this time. The young Midoriya pup fell into a bad case of the fever and colds a few days ago.
When the Midoriya woman told the blonde pup regarding his friend's condition, Katsuki gave his Auntie a rough drawing of him and her son, together in some adventure only the two of them knew. "To help him get better," Katsuki muttered, pouting as he pushed the offending paper into the adult's surprised hands. Auntie Inko gives him a gentle smile, accompanied by a warm hand ruffling his hair.
It has been a few days since. Katsuki has not had the time to show off, to anyone, his new drawings or the fact he was now able to fold his shirts without any creases. He was also able to wash himself without making a too much of a mess inside their bathroom. He was proud of his latest achievements, desperately wants someone to acknowledge his efforts.
Katsuki Bakugou has been alone for eight days. He misses company.
"I'm sorry, Katsuki," consoles Masaru, walking up to his son. "There's a lot of things to do." The older man notices how his pup has grown over the past few seasons. It was his fifth autumn now, soon he will be five summers old.
Time sure flies by, huh?
"Where's the old hag?", asks Katsuki. He has not seen his mother since the first day of his eight-day solitude. He is not even sure if she goes home at all; maybe in the middle of the night when he already lies in bed asleep, but he can never be sure. The pup has not noticed any signs of his mother living in their house: no pink cup on the sink, no pink toothbrush lying down on the bathroom counter, no boisterous laughter that sometimes wakes him in the morning.
No Mom.
His father sighs, "your mom's gonna come home late again, Katsuki."
"Why?"
"Because she has some things to do."
"What things?"
Masaru closes his eyes and exhales evenly. He loves his son, he was one of two of the most important people in his life. But the brunette was also dead tired, wanting to do nothing but lie down in his too big of a bed to spend alone at night, and rest. He does not have the energy to explain things to his son. "How about I tell you tomorrow, yeah?"
"But that's what you always say!" Argued the pup, tired of not knowing anything. He absolutely loathes the feeling, as much as his little heart can. It makes him feel as if he was being left out.
"Have you eaten?" Masaru shifts the topic of their conversation, walking down the hallway leading towards the inner rooms. Katsuki follows.
"I ate the beans from yesterday and bread," the pup replied. He ate a hearty meal of beans and barley bread, with some sauces on the side. He would have enjoyed it better with some company.
"Did you eat it cold?" His father asks once more, opening the door of the master bedroom and entering. Katsuki pauses himself at the doorpost, watching his father light the candlestick on top of the small bedside cabinet.
"I used the hearth to heat them," Katsuki bit out. His father did not need to know how his hands got clipped by two pieces of dry wood when he was setting up the fire for the hearth. It was embarrassing to admit!
Masaru pauses his movements to look into his son's crimson-hued eyes, still brightly burning in spite of the poor illumination the small candle gives. Something uneasy rests on his tongue. "You know how to use the hearth? And to make a fire?" He asks tersely, with the blonde nodded to, with much enthusiasm.
"Auntie taught me when she went here, you know, the first day you weren't there," the pup answers nonchalantly, glad to have his father's attention. "She also taught me how to light a match for the candles too! I lit the one at the dinner table." Unbeknownst to the pup, his words deeply affected his father.
Masaru frowns, deep fissures on his face showing. His son should not have to be this independent at this young of an age, should not be used to being alone for long periods of time without his parents. And yet, he already was.
Time flies by so fast, huh?
Masaru observes his son, standing by the doorpost. He is small now, but he would not remain like this forever. All too soon, his son will be grown, perhaps even a head taller than him, and would not follow him around like a little pup. No, he will make proudly run towards the path he will set for himself, big steps into the future he will carve with his bare hands and claws.
To Masaru, Katsuki will always be his little pup. But time will pass too quickly, especially if he does not cherish each second. Thus, Masaru makes a rather selfish decision.
He solemnly accepts the fact that he will not be allowed to value the time he has with his young son. He is faithful to the many commitments that were placed on his shoulders, matters bigger than him. The wolf has his duty towards his pack, and towards the People of the Light. He will have to make a lifetime's worth of decisions as Masaru of the Bakugou Clan, Beta to Mitsuki Alpha of the Musutafu Pack.
But for this night, he is simply Masaru, a family man who has made his own commitments towards the family he is raising and protecting with his life. In their home, he is the devoted mate of Mitsuki, and proud father of Katsuki. For tonight, he chooses the man over the wolf; for tonight, he chooses to honor the latter commitment. He knows, after all, that he will not have many chances to do so.
This choice goes by without Katsuki's knowledge. Rather, what the young pup sees is his tired father, still in his wool sweater and working pants, coming towards him, face immobile because of the multitudes of emotions and thoughts converging inside. Katsuki instead feels elated when his father encircles his tiny body with his arms, and pulls him into an embrace.
Katsuki dives in, arms wrapping around his father as tight as he can. He missed him, after all. He settles his slightly pudgy cheeks on the older man's clavicles, forehead touching the warmth of his father's neck. He closes his eyes to savor the moment.
After a few heartbeats, Masaru shifts his hold on his pup, one of his arms going to the bend of the smaller one's knees. He lifts Katsuki up, the younger giggling as he feels the soles of the feet being disconnected from the ground. Katsuki leans backward, arms free to place his hands over his father's cheeks.
Masaru gives him a fond closed smile. "Katsuki," he begins gently, "are you tired?"
Katsuki, upon hearing the words come out of his father's lips, suddenly does feel tired. His stifles in a yawn. "No…"
His father chuckles, allowing the pup to feel the vibrations ripple on the skin underneath his hands. "How about I sing you to sleep? To make up for our absence for the past few days?"
In the mind of the pup of four summers, a lullaby does sound rather appealing after his solitude. He takes his hands away from his father's cheeks in favor of wrapping his arms around his neck. He peers into his father's brown orbs, a bit of a challenge against the dark. The pup nods, "okay," and hastily adds, "but you still have to tell me why you and mom haven't been here for eight days."
"Eight days?" Masaru quirks an eyebrow up.
"Yeah!", Katsuki frowns deeply. "Eight days! I've been counting, you know."
"Well then," Masaru begins to walk towards the pup's room, just across the master bedroom. "I should start preparing." He exaggerates in clearing his throat as he open the door and lays his precious son down on soft fur and linen. The chimes of Katsuki's laughter echoes in the dark and quiet house, as he his tucked in, head lying on plush feather pillows.
Masaru only notices the lit candle beside him after placing his pup on the bed. "Did you also light this one, Katsuki?"
"Yeah," the pup responds, "I did when it got too dark."
"Why didn't you try to sleep?"
"I waited for you," answered the pup truthfully, without any hesitation. "Or for Mom to come home." A yawn ends the pup's confession.
Masaru pauses in thought, before replying, "I see." He takes a moment to compose himself before turning towards his son, already yawning, his eyes fighting to stay open. The older wolf takes this as his opportunity to start his lullaby. Tenderly patting his hand on his pup's forearm in a slow rhythm, he clears his throat a final time, and starts humming and singing.
Nen nen kororiyo, okororiyo
(Go to sleep, go to sleep)
Boya wa yoiko da, nen ne shina
(You are a good boy, go to sleep)
Boya no omori wa, doko e itta
(Where did your nanny go)
Ano yama koete, sato e itta
(She crossed over a mountain and went to her village)
Sato no miyage ni nani morota
(What souvenir did you get from her village)
Den den daikon ni, sho no fue
(A small drum and a flute)
Katsuki falls quickly to sweet sleep, as the autumn cold is replaced by the warmth of his covers and of his father's loving touch, the deep rumbling timbre of the older wolf's voice ushering him to deep slumber.
Katsuki's peace is abruptly shattered by a roar. The pup takes a few moments of regaining consciousness, before noticing how strangely familiar the harsh sound was.
The pup quickly sits up with a gasp. "Mom!" He squeals in delight. He kicks his covers and furs rapidly, and runs towards his door in desperation. His mom was home! He had so much to tell her!
"Mom!" He bursts out of his room, short legs taking large steps towards their living room space. With a smile, he squeals again, "Mom, I-"
"Katsuki Bakugou!" Mitsuki screams, her usual lovely countenance turning into a rather unpleasant snarl. She stands in the middle of their joint dining and living room space, where the morning light shows a clutter of crayons, papers, and toys spread across the floor. "how many fucking times do I have to tell you to fix your shit! How the hell do you always forget it?"
A few days prior, Katsuki was itching to tell his mother all the things he achieved when she did not come home. Once she came back, he was going to show her all the masterpieces of drawings he had made, and was supposed to ask her to play with him later in the day after breakfast. He simply missed her so much!
His mother finally comes back, and meets him with a lot of screaming. She has never screamed at him like this before. Sure, his mother screams a lot, but not like this. Not with eyes burning like fire reducing wood to ashes, not with fangs open and directed at him, not with lips uttering curses at him.
He does not understand!
"Then don't yell at me!" Screeches the young pup in distress. He does not know how to release the weight of the sudden tension he feels in his chest, alongside the now confused longing of waiting for his mother for the past eight days. The way he does it, however, is a direct copy from his mother: anger.
"Why the fuck are you talking back at me, you bastard!" Mitsuki snaps. Without allowing her son to react, she grabs his right hand in a constricting grip, and with her free hand, slaps it hard. The impact makes a sharp, ringing sound. The echoes register in Katsuki's brain first before the sting.
And, oh Light, it stung. It hurts so..so bad.
He retracts his hand with a gut-wretching scream as soon as the pain settles in. Katsuki cradles his injured hand close to his chest, the undamaged one holding it as gently as possible while still protecting it from his aggressor. The hit slowly makes his hand turn into an angry red, phantom sensations swirling just below the surface of his skin.
But what hurt the most was not the pain, it was the fact that his own mother hit him. Sure she would be mean sometimes, but mothers are supposed to take care of their pups, right? The mother Wolf took care of Lupa and the Wolf, the Elder had taught them before. So why did she hit him? The slap hurt, and it was bad to hurt others, right? So why did she hurt him?
Confusion and hurt swirls inside of him, but his flight instincts launches him to action. He grounds his body down, lowering his center of gravity. But he gives his mother the first of his glares, too much loathing and animosity for a pup nearing five summers. Red eyes lit up like a curse, like could almost incinerate.
With as much air he can expel from his lungs, he screams, "I hate you! Die!"
He bolts towards the door of their house, he did not feel safe inside with his mother. He cracks the door open and just runs, the rather cold autumn breeze meeting him. He needs safety, he needs quiet, he needs comfort, he needs someone who would not hit him. He runs to the safest place his rushing brain could think of at that moment: the Midoriya home.
He ignores how his mother yells for him as he opens the front door of their neighbor. Katsuki slightly remembers how his old man used to chide Auntie Inko for always leaving the door open. But right now, he was grateful for her forgetfulness; it was his salvation, after all.
He immediately shuts the door close and locks it, preventing anyone from entering his new found sanctuary. He takes a few moments to breathe, lungs greedy for air. He feels numb, legs wobbly from the sudden exertion, but his eyes and mind waver from the rush of adrenaline his small body cannot fully contain.
His anguish is broken by a question. "Kacchan?"
Katsuki turns towards confused and surprised green eyes and freckled cheeks. Izuku stands in the middle of their living room, toys, sheets of paper, and crayons littering the floor. The green-locked pup tilts his head, "why are you here, Kacchan?" After all, the Elder was not going to tell them any stories until the end of autumn, and his mother had already gone to her cottage for the day, to return at dusk.
The blonde was not able to answer, as heavy pounding followed Izuku's inquiries. Katsuki's heart races once more, jerking away from the door and deeper into the home he had invaded. Without knowing it, he had fled into the middle of the living room, far enough from the danger he perceives. Muffled by the door, he hears his mother calling him with a raised voice, "Katsuki fucking Bakugou, get your weak ass out of there! Who do you think you fucking are to scream at me!"
Katsuki is scared, heart beating like a drum against his ears, making them ring. His breath is labored and racing, eyes hyperfocused on the wooden barrier between him and…and a monster.
Something touches his shoulder, making him scream. He moves away from the unknown, body poised to run. But he stills.
He does not see any threat. All he sees is a young boy as old as him, with one of his hands reached out to him. Izuku is a few steps away from him. His eyes are like gems under the spring light of the day, bright and clear. He does not see the aggression he saw in his mother's orbs.
In Izuku's eyes, Katsuki only finds warmth.
Warmth. Katsuki longs for a bit of warmth. And Izuku is ready to give a lot more than just a bit of warmth.
The pounding and the shouting lessen in intensity, as he solely focuses on Izuku. "Kacchan," he lifts his hand slowly, closer than before but not too close, as if already wary of Katsuki's reaction to him reaching into the blonde's personal space. Emerald fills with more worry and confusion, but the genuine call of warmth, security, and desire to help shines through. "Are you okay?"
Katsuki springs into action. He grabs Izuku's middle and pulls it crushingly to him. They fall back, Katsuki's behind bearing the brunt of their weight, but he does not care. He leans into Izuku, chin resting on the top of the other's head. Izuku is in the middle of his legs that pull inwards to draw the younger of the two closer to his body. He closes his eyes to focus. Breaths were still ragged and fast, too much air going in and out of his mouth, limbs trembling.
Despite being pulled down to the ground and having his breath knocked out of him, Izuku only pulls Katsuki tighter, resting his head on the crook of his friend's neck. He remembers the words his mother tells him whenever he is frightened or upset. "It's okay Kacchan," he coos, rubbing the other's back soothingly, "I'm here."
At their age, Katsuki is still accepting of vulnerability; he has not yet learned of the toxic pride and stoicism that will come later in his life. So when Izuku says those words, the usually bold pup starts to cry. But Katsuki never does things with half effort, so he wails. He releases the ugly feeling inside his heart and the tightness of his muscles into tears and sobs, clinging into the other boy as much as he could.
And Izuku does not care, does not point out that his Kacchan was crying, which he usually says is something only babies do. He does not make fun of the fact that the other's tear-filled screeches hurt his ears because of the sheer intensity and loudness. Kacchan is still as young as Izuku; to the younger pup, his usually strong-willed friend can cry when he needs to. Something must have scared Kacchan, as he recalls that he himself only cries whenever something frightens him. During these frightening moments, his mom would always be there to hold him until his breathing evens and his tears stop, until he is no longer afraid.
And so Midoriya pup lets him be, holding his beloved bestfriend in his arms. Whenever they leave to go to a certain place, Kacchan never fails to hold his hand so he does not get lost.
He will hold his friend now for the same reason.
The pounding and screams fall away from their ears. The two pups find each other in the middle of the living room of a small house, under the gaze of the autumn morning sun. The cold air does nothing against their warming hug. They stay like this for a while, until Katsuki stops sobbing, and asks Izuku if they could sleep on his bed for short nap.
Izuku complies, delicately encapsulating his friend's hand into his as he leads him to his room. He offers Kacchan his bed and waits till the other pup settles in before he gets up and lays down with him. Izuku tucks the two of them under soft covers while watching his friend curl up into a ball, eyes fluttering down in exhaustion. The green-eyed pup reaches out to hold on to the arms of Katsuki, whose eyes spring open to peer into the depths of Izuku's eyes.
When he sees only earnestness and concern in green orbs, Katsuki pulls Izuku closer to his body. The smaller of the two asks a quiet "Kacchan?"
"Just sleep, nerd." He encloses Izuku into hug, just like what he does with his toys and pillows.
A whisper answers him as the other pup breathes into the soft wool of his sweater, warming a small spot of cloth that shields his clavicles from the autumn cold. "Okay, Kacchan."
They sleep entwined together, arms circling each other, breaths calming the other down.
Katsuki, when he grows up, will bury this moment deep inside the recess of his mind as a moment of weakness he would rather burn and forget. Izuku, on the other hand, will always force himself to remember how it felt to have his friend unafraid of being close to him; it is one of the many pieces he will desperately try to hold on to, when all he had left of Katsuki were memories.
Katsuki wakes from a rhythmic tap on the small of his back and soft humming. He recognizes the melody as the lullaby his father had just sung the night before. The thought of his father ultimately leads to thoughts of his mother. Shouting, fangs, and slaps rush towards his consciousness, and he snarls, arms tightening around the other pup's body in response.
A second passes. "Kacchan?"
"Not that song," he mutters gently, burying the side of his face to the pillows and covers, and his chin on top of green locks. "I don't like that one."
Izuku hums in thought. "Okay, I'll sing you something else." Katsuki relaxes as the green-locked pup starts his little song, slightly muffled by his sweater and the covers. But the tune rings in the older one's ears, the soft lilts and dips in Izuku's voice chasing away the fear he felt when he remembered his early encounter with his mother. He would never admit it, but his friend had a nice voice, singing him a lullaby he had never heard before.
Mori no fukuro ga iimashita
(The forest owl said)
Watashi wa mori no mihari yaku
(I am the guardian of the forest)
Kowai okami, kitsune nado
(Fearsome wolves and kitsune and the like)
Kosasenai kara ne ne shina
(Won't be allowed to come near, so sleep, sleep)
Gorosuke ho ho
(Gorosuke, hoo, hoo)
Gorosuke ho
(Gorosuke hoo)
"What's that song?" Katsuki asks after the song ended. He slightly adjusts his body to peer down green locks. "Haven't heard that one before."
Izuku looks up to his eyes, and gives him a smile softened by fondness and by waking from a good sleep. "Mama sings that to me sometimes, especially when there's a storm and I get scared of thunder."
Katsuki grunts in acknowledgement of the new information about his friend. "It's about an owl?"
"Yeah!" Green eyes shine brighter against sunlight, brightened by joy. "Mama told me it's about an old owl named Gorosuke that used to live in the forests that the humans lived in. It's an old song from when humans were still one of the People of the Light."
Katsuki makes a clicking sound with his tongue. "You're such a nerd, always talk about old stories." He says, recalling how many times he has to endure with Izuku's ramblings about the old myths and stories of their people. As if he had not heard enough from the elder by the large tree that they had to go meet with everyday!
Izuku's cheeks puff in defense, "they're interesting! Mama gave me a book about the old my-", he cuts off his chatter by a difficult word. He has trouble saying it.
"Myths." Katsuki supplies. The elder has always told them that he reads words the best among the children, especially the harder ones. He was smart, after all.
"Yeah! Myths!" Izuku giggles. "I like the ones about Mother Lupa and the wolf." He then gasps as a sudden thought rushes in his mind. "Do you wanna read them, Kacchan?"
"Sure, just don't nerd about it." The blonde pup coolly replies. His companion squeals happily and almost trips in his haste to go to his small bookshelf across his bed. Katsuki scowls in distaste. "Idiot, you're such a clumsy baby!"
A shy laugh fills the room, "sorry, Kacchan!" Izuku carries a large and seemingly heavy book in his arms, walking a bit slower back to the bed. He then places the dark brown book on top of the bed with a huff, before reclaiming his spot beside Katsuki.
The blonde pup, suddenly interested in the object his friend has brought again, pulls the rather heavy book towards them. It is thick, and seemingly covered in cured leather. He opens the book and traces the paper. Flipping the slightly yellowed pages over, he sees neat handwritten paragraphs and inked drawings. "Where d'you get it?"
"Mama made it for me last winter." Izuku settles in, resting his head on the crook Katsuki's shoulder. "She wrote the stories and drew everything! She reads it to me whenever I go to sleep."
"Every night?" The blonde inquires as he traces the words on a particular page.
"Every night."
Katsuki hums.
"This was the one she read to me yesterday!" Izuku points on the larger texts on top of the page they were in.
Katsuki reads. "'Lupa names the wolf pup."
"I really liked it." Izuku softly confesses.
Taking the comment into consideration, Katsuki scans the text, checking how long this story is. After counting roughly three pages, he quickly discerns that this will be an easy read. "Reading this would be easy," he tells his companion.
"Really?" Izuku gasps, "Kacchan can read everything on his own? No way!"
"Of course I can," the blonde pup boasts, "this is too easy."
"Kacchan is amazing," Izuku whispers in glee. "Can you read it to me?"
"Hah?" Katuski turns slightly to look at his friend. "I thought Auntie just read this to you yesterday."
"She did," Izuku starts, "but I wanna hear you read it."
The older of the two huffs, "I can read it better than her, obviously." He clears his throat in preparation. "Watch me."
The winters were still harsh and long, the darkness still pervading in the world. Many creatures were scared to wander too long in the forests and mountains, fearing the ghouls that may be hiding in the shadows. The Mother Wolf hid both her wolf pup and human pup deep inside a cave filled with glowing crystals, where the ghouls can never find them. Both young ones would have been nearly five summers already if the world was still filled with light.
"My pups," the Mother Wolf called out to them, "I will find us food. Stay here until I come back. I will howl when I return." And so the Mother Wolf turned away and went into the dark woods. And so the two young pups stayed inside the cave, alone.
After the Mother Wolf left, Lupa started gathering some small twigs and branches that littered the cave floor. With pieces of used cloth from her clothes, she began tying them together.
The wolf pup came to her and asked, "what is it that you're doing, Lupa?"
"I am making a doll." She answers.
"A doll? What is a doll?" Asked the wolf pup.
"It will be something we can play with while Mother Wolf is away." Lupa says, as she begins the tighten the knots of her creation together.
Once she was done, she showed the wolf two small dolls made of wood and cloth, one larger than the other. The smaller one looked more like a human, while the other looked more like a wolf. "Now we can play with each other while we wait for Mother Wolf to come back."
"What will you call it?" Asked the wolf pup.
Lupa thought for a while and said, "I will call it 'Deku', for it is made of wood! One deku is like me, and the other deku is like you."
The two pups started playing with their dekus, having fun. Once they got tired of playing, they settled down with each other. Once they did, Lupa asked her wolf companion. "Wolf pup, if I can call our puppets 'deku', what shall I call you?"
"I do not know," confessed the young wolf pup, "My mother had given me no name." The young human then asks if she can name her fellow pup. "What will you call me then?" Asked the wolf, excited to be given a name.
"I shall call you 'Fenrir'," declared the young human girl, "promise me you will always stay by my side for all my days, and I will surely do the same for you."
The wolf pup, now named Fenrir, swore an oath to his human companion. "I give you my thanks for giving me a name. For all your days I will be at your side, until the breath leaves your lungs or mine."
The wind was suddenly filled with a resounding howl. The Mother Wolf had come back! The two pups howled in rejoice of their mother going home and welcomed her into their cave.
And so this was the life of Lupa and the wolf pup, now named Fenrir, for years, living in the dark world.
After Katsuki read the entire thing, he pauses as he reads a particular word repeatedly. "Hey, d'you know that your name can be said as 'deku'?"
Izuku gasps beside him, "no way, Kacchan! You can read the harder characters?"
Katsuki gives a gruff and boastful exhale. "You can't?"
"It's a bit confusing sometimes." Izuku frowns momentarily, only to change in to a look of determination."B-but! If Kacchan can do it, then so can I."
"As if you can beat me, nerd." Katsuki gently hits the top of Izuku's head with his palm and pushes him away at a short distance.
"Kacchan!" Izuku whined, pushing against his friend's extended palm to lie his head at the comfortable place of Kacchan's shoulder once more. A few laughs from his blonde companion fill the room, drenched in the cold, crisp air, with some semblance of warmth. Izuku cannot help but chuckle as well, Kacchan's laugh is just so contagious! "You know, Mama told me that she named me 'Izuku' because it's another way of saying 'deku', like the puppet from the story."
"So what? Auntie named you after a useless puppet?" Katsuki asks, unamused. "That's lame."
"No!" Izuku yelps in disagreement. "She said she named me 'Izuku' because she wanted me to make other people happy, like how the dolls made both Lupa and the wolf really happy when they were alone!"
Katsuki pauses, suddenly in thought. He contemplates on how he has been alone for the past few days himself. He remembers the loneliness it felt to be in an empty home with no one but his toys and crayons to keep him company. He can still recall how much he wanted to talk to someone, but had no one. Alone felt cold and sad.
"Alone, huh?" Katsuki muses. He pouts afterwards. "I hate being alone."
His green-haired companion turns to him, suddenly quiet. He takes a few moments to ask, "were you alone for a while, Kacchan?"
"Yeah," the blonde exhales, "for eight days."
"Eight days?" Izuku exclaims in disbelief. "No way, Kacchan!"
"I was!" Katsuki frowns at his companion. "Because you didn’t visit me then!"
Izuku gasps, and his lips start wavering after a couple of seconds. "I…I was really sick. But I really wanted to visit you, you know." The younger pup starts bubbling hiccups and shedding tears. "I'm sorry, Kacchan!"
"Ugh!" Katsuki groans before harshly wiping Izuku's face with the covers they had on them. He still had to learn how to handle things with gentleness. "Don't cry, you baby! Auntie told me you were sick."
"But if I wasn't sick," Izuku still hiccups, "then you wouldn't have been alone."
"Then stop getting sick, you idiot." Katsuki grumbles. "Or else you really would a deku doll! Useless!"
"Knock it off, Kacchan." Izuku tries to stifle his hiccups while wiping his tear-stricken face with his arms. "I'm not useless."
"Oh yeah?" Katsuki taunts. "You always get sick and you always cry. Like a big, useless baby. Maybe I should start calling you, 'Deku' from now on, huh?"
"No!" Izuku, despite having his face wet with tears and snot, looks at his friend with nothing but determination. "Mama named me 'Izuku' from 'deku' because they made both Lupa and Fenrir happy!"
"Then prove it." Katsuki scowls back, brimming with the desire to prove himself and to outshine the determination in the other boy's eyes. "I'll call you 'Deku' until you stop being useless."
"Fine! I'll make people happy. A-And from now on, I promise to never leave you alone!"
"Hah? How did this turn to me?" The blonde pup exclaims.
"B-Because," Izuku shyly admits, "I don't want you to be alone again, Kacchan. Being alone sucked, didn't it?"
Katsuki's boldness dampens a little bit, upon remembering the past few days of his solitude. He softly admits to only the green-haired pup, "yeah…it did."
"S-So I'll be like Fenrir in the story!" Izuku exclaims. "He promised Lupa that he'll always be with her, right? So, I promise to always be here for you, so you will never be alone ever again! You'll always have me, okay, Kacchan?"
Katsuki stares into Izuku's eyes, regarding the other's words. Alone felt cold and lonely. But he was neither cold nor alone right now. Now, he is not alone, not if Izuku is here. Izuku feels warm, every time he was with Izuku, he felt warm.
At that moment, Katsuki decides on two things:
(1) He absolutely hates being alone, because being alone means being cold, and he hates the cold;
(2) He is not alone and never cold when Izuku is here because he is warm.
"You promise?" Katsuki, in his vulnerability, asks with a small voice. He peers into Izuku's green orbs with much pensiveness and nervousness. Something hinges in how Izuku answers this question, as if something inside him will break if handled in the wrong way.
Even though Izuku does not know just how vulnerable his companion is, he still answers correctly. As if he just knew what to answer. "Of course, Kacchan," he starts gently. He leans closer towards his friend, continuing, "I'm here."
Katsuki smiles in utter joy and warmth. "You promise you won't leave me?"
"Promise." With absolute finality that leaves no doubt in his words.
"Hey Deku," Katsuki smirks. "I just changed my mind. You can be useless all you want, because I'll be there with you anyway. I'm the awesome and strong one, I'll blow everyone away with my awesomeness and no one will notice how much of a baby you are!" He laughs afterwards.
"Kacchan's so mean!" Izuku, no- Deku, pouts. "I'll be as strong as you one day so we can be both awesome and strong together!"
"Hah, sure, Deku." A large growl cuts through the room, startling both pups. Katsuki feels his stomach complaining for food.
Deku laughs, "Kacchan's tummy's so loud!"
The blonde tackles the other in embarrassment. "Shut up, Deku! I haven't eaten anything since I woke up!"
The green-eyed pup chuckles from underneath his blonde companion, before saying, "I think Mama baked bread yesterday. She probably kept it in the hearth."
"Good, 'cause I'm starving." Katsuki throws the covers on him away and goes down the bed. He stares at the other pup still on the bed, watching his every move. "You coming or what, Deku?"
Deku grins, "okay, Kacchan!" The two pups go to the Midoriya's dining and living room quarters for some snacks, not knowing that they have spent the morning sleeping and laughing together.
Together, there is no room for the cold, but only warmth.