In Your Shadow [Chapter 26]

[Chapter 25]



“Katsuki!”

“Ah shit.”

Katsuki squared his shoulders as Deku approached him, madder than Katsuki had ever seen him. Katsuki had only just finished eating breakfast, and already he was facing a firing line? He was hardly even awake yet. But sure enough, Deku was right there, grabbing him by the arm – gently, admittedly – and lifting it up, looking at his watch pointedly.

“Good, so you haven’t lost it,” Deku said dryly. “So why, then, have you stopped sending pings?”

“What?” Katsuki asked, before he could think better of it. “I didn’t. I mean– I’m sorry, but– maybe something went wrong? I sent all my pings, I swear.”

Deku released him in favour of pulling out his phone, still fuming as he opened the little group chat that held nothing but location pings from Katsuki’s watch.

“They’re all there,” Katsuki said, trying to sound meek, but well-aware that it came out petulant. “The last one was here at the agency, and here I am.”

“The last one was Wednesday.”

Katsuki froze, his mouth hanging open a little, his words failing him – in all his excitement to help out, he’d apparently forgotten a very important piece of the puzzle.

“I’m so sorry,” he said – sincerely. “I should have asked, I can’t believe I didn’t think to ask, I just assumed… I’m so sorry, it won’t happen again.”

“Asked what?”

“Deku, I’ve been here all week,” Katsuki said softly. “Well, not all week, but… Did you look at the time on that ping?”

Deku turned his phone around again, looking at it for himself, frowning when he narrowed in on the tiny timestamp.

“Everyone was so busy and short-staffed,” he explained. “And you weren’t here, so I didn’t even think to talk to you, I’m so sorry for that. I should have sent you a text, or something. But I wanted to help – you know I wanted to help – and you said to stay out of their way, but I didn’t want to be in their way, and–”

“Stop,” Deku said softly, reaching out to put his hand on Katsuki’s head lightly. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have gotten mad without looking closer, I just panicked when I didn’t see you getting back to school on Wednesday night. So please, take a second, breathe, it’s okay. We’re okay.”

Katsuki hadn’t realised how much he’d been trembling, until Deku said those words. His hands were shaking like he’d been sitting in an ice bath or something, and now that he wasn’t talking, his jaw clenched so tight he could hear it creaking.

“I’m sorry,” Deku said again, crouching down a little to match his height. “It’s been a shitty week, I’m sure you know that, but that’s no excuse for me to treat you that way.”

“I’m fine,” Katsuki insisted, though his tone clearly gave him away. “And I meant it, I should have talked to you. I just… I talked to Aizawa. He knew I was here, he said it was fine. And everyone on-site knew I was here, in case anything went wrong. But I should have asked you.”

“I’m glad you were responsible about making sure people knew,” Deku said quietly. “Aizawa especially. But why have you been here?”

“Your patrols were short-staffed,” Katsuki explained weakly. “I wanted to help. I have a lot of experience – obviously not as much as your sidekicks and stuff, I know that, but I’m a U.A. student, so it’s not like I’m a toddler out there. People kept telling me to stay out of the heroes’ way, and I just… I have a provisional licence. So I thought I could help.”

“He’s been filling in on patrols,” a familiar voice said, heavy footsteps drawing closer. “He’s actually been really helpful, Deku.”

Katsuki looked up, trying his best to convey his gratitude when he met Orus’s eyes.

“He jumped in Sai's spot, he's been off sick, it would’ve just been me and Mu otherwise. He did the Night that day too, and a bunch of stuff yesterday. You should look at the reports, he’s been doing a ton of them, to let us get more sleep between shifts, and they look great. If you’re not okay with that, I take full responsibility, because I told him it was okay that first time.”

“You’ve been doing all of that?” Deku asked, turning his gaze back to Katsuki.

“It’s no big deal.”

“Thank you, Katsuki.”

“What?”

“You heard me,” Deku said, cracking a smile. “Stop trying to make me say it again.”

“I wasn’t,” Katsuki said, swallowing hard and managing the tiniest of smiles. “But you can if you want.”

“I’m sorry,” Deku said. “Really.”

“I know. But it’s fine. You’re the boss, you’re allowed to get mad at us. At me.”

“A good boss wouldn’t do that to their employees.”

“I’m fine, I’ve had worse sh– things happen to me.”

Deku winced, and Katsuki knew he was thinking back, again, to that night when Deku and All Might had fought side-by-side for the last time.

“I’ll spar with you,” Deku offered. “I mean– not today. But when this is all sorted, when things are back to normal, I’ll spar with you again.”

“Maybe I should make you feel guilty more often.”

“Don’t you dare.”

Orus stepped a little closer again, and Katsuki nodded at him – it wasn’t the time to say it out loud, but he felt a world of gratitude toward Orus, for speaking up in his defense.

“We weren’t expecting you back yet,” Orus said, turning Deku’s attention his way and letting Katsuki breathe a little easier. “Is everything okay?”

“Mirio is sick,” Deku explained. “Tamaki let me know, apparently Mirio didn’t want to worry me.”

“He’s what?” Katsuki asked, blinking at them stupidly. “We were meant to meet in the gym, soon.”

“He won’t be there today, sorry. I just came to check in and grab him some groceries and stuff, then I’m heading straight back out. We’ll be a couple more days, at least.”

“I’ll do it,” Katsuki offered. “I’ll get the groceries, you have better things to do.”

Deku seemed strangely surprised by the offer, even though Katsuki felt like he’d said a thousand times that he wanted to do stuff, wanted to help them all.

“Really?”

“Yeah, of course. I can’t go fight a war or whatever, but I can buy groceries.”

Deku hesitated for a second, then smiled softly, reaching into his pocket for a key.

“Let yourself in, if he’s asleep. Try not to disturb him, okay?”

“Of course, I promise.”

“I’ll text you the list, and you can use your agency card. Thank you for helping, with this and with my sidekicks.”

“There’s that word again,” Katsuki said, unable to resist a little smirk. “The sparring word.”

“Another day,” Izuku promised with a laugh, ruffling Katsuki’s hair fondly. “I’m gonna head back over, then. Wish us luck.”

“You don’t need it,” Orus said, chuckling. “Just go kick villain ass.”

“You know it.”

They waited until Deku was out of sight before they finally turned to look at each other, and Orus shook his head before Katsuki could find the words.

“I meant it,” Orus said. “You’ve been awesome. I wish we could just keep you until they all get back, do you think your teachers would catch on if you just called in sick or something?”

“Sadly, yes,” Katsuki said, smiling all the same. “But I’m glad I could help. I think I’m jumping on with you again later? Plasmatic’s usual one, you were down a person.”

“Yep, that’s mine. Looking forward to it, you’d better go get some groceries done before then.”

“Yeah, I’m off. See you in a bit.”

He headed for the main doors, his phone buzzing in his pocket as he headed for the grocery store down the road. He was becoming a regular there, always stopping in on his way from the station, to grab stuff for his dinners on agency days. The old lady at the counter smiled warmly at him, and he nodded back, grabbing his phone and a basket.

He stopped in at his own room, when he got back, to drop off a few supplies he’d picked up for himself at the same time, but then he was off again to Mirio’s, arms slung with bags. It took a little fumbling to open the door, to tiptoe in as quietly as he could, but when the door clicked closed, Mirio’s voice called out immediately.

“Tamaki, you need to work!” he called out, his voice all stuffed up and nasally. “I told you, I’m fine!”

“Just me,” Katsuki said awkwardly, peeking into the bedroom where Mirio sat up against a bunch of pillows. “I told Deku I’d bring you groceries.”

“Katsuki? Oh, crap, the gym.” He sighed, shaking his head. “Sorry, I kind of lost track of the days.”

“No, you’re good,” Katsuki assured him. “Deku told me with tons of time.”

Okay, tons was a slight exaggeration, but he was hardly gonna let Mirio worry about that.

“Thanks for coming, Katsuki. I swear, it’s just a cold, Deku and Tamaki are just stressing out.”

“It’s no big deal, I was here anyway,” Katsuki said, shrugging as he carried over a bag, setting tissues, medications, and sports drinks at Mirio’s bedside. “Are you hungry? I can heat you up something, if you want.”

“I swear, I’m fine.”

“I know,” Katsuki agreed. “But I’m here anyway, I may as well heat you up something. Do you really live on instant noodles at your age?”

“No!” Mirio insisted, laughing. “Only when I can’t cook properly, if I’m sick or exhausted or whatever. What has Deku been telling you?!”

“Nothing, he just sent me the list.” Katsuki headed back to the kitchen, unloading his bags into the fridge and pantry, but calling back over his shoulder all the while. “I’ll bring you dinner tonight, then – a proper dinner. But I’ve got a patrol at five, so it’ll have to be at like, nine. Don’t go and eat a bunch of crappy noodles and ruin your appetite by then, alright?”

“You don’t have to fuss over me.”

“Want me to call Deku and tell him you’re not letting me help?”

“No!” Mirio laughed. “Fine. Thank you, Katsuki. Who are you patrolling with? I’m glad someone was willing to let you shadow, still.”

“Everyone has been good,” Katsuki said – half-truths weren’t really lies, right? “Orus is awesome, and I had a lot of fun working with Mu. I met Crystal for the first time, too – they can’t actually see my dick, right?”

“No, they just like to tell people that to freak them out,” Mirio assured him. “They probably could with a lot more training, but they’ve only ever worked with bigger objects. Walls, mainly.”

“Phew.”

Katsuki shoved a package of soup in the microwave, feeling a little guilty for not making it himself from scratch – not that Mirio would ever have expected him to, but Katsuki just wasn’t a fan of packet-foods. After a couple of minutes it was piping hot and ready to go, so Katsuki poured it into a mug and carried it carefully to Mirio’s bedside.

“I got the one with the most vegetables and stuff in it,” he said, as he handed it over. “So you get actual nutrition instead of just chicken flavouring.”

“I appreciate it,” Mirio chuckled, though it sounded almost painful to Katsuki’s ears. “Thank you for coming, it was good of you to sacrifice your time here for me.”

“I spend plenty of time here,” Katsuki said with a shrug. “I’m not going anywhere, not any time soon. Whatever I can do to help, that’s why I’m here.”

He glanced at his watch, then managed an awkward smile.

“But I do have a patrol soon, if you’re good? Do you need anything before I go?”

“No, I’m great,” Mirio assured him. “Have fun on patrol, be safe!”

Katsuki turned around to leave, freezing when his eyes fell on a frame beside the door. He hadn’t noticed it the first time, too busy looking through the bags he'd carried, but when he turned around this time, it was right in the middle of his vision, daring him to look away. He felt his face burn red, even his ears getting warm, and Mirio chuckled awkwardly when he realised.

“Sorry, is that weird?” he asked.

Katsuki took a couple of wobbly steps to get closer, staring at the carefully-typed and formatted words, four pages framed into an almost-square.

“It was the first time since I lost my quirk that I’ve felt like a hero,” Mirio said softly.

“I’ve always thought you were a great hero,” Katsuki said, without hesitation. “Regardless of your quirk status, you’re still… everything.”

Mirio had tears in his eyes, when Katsuki glanced back, but Katsuki pretended not to notice.

“You’re gonna be a pro-hero again one day,” Katsuki said. “I know you are. Until then, you get to be the unprofessional kind for a bit.”

“There’s… one hope for me,” Mirio admitted. “I don’t know if it’ll work out, but there’s… a kid. A kid I helped rescue.”

Katsuki didn’t say anything, but red eyes flashed through his mind – Eri wasn’t exactly public knowledge, so Katsuki understood the tentativeness, but he wondered if he should just say ‘I know’ and be done with it.

“When she learns some more control, her quirk might be able to help me,” Mirio said softly. “I don’t want to pressure her, or anything, because I know she’d hate herself if she tried and it didn’t work or something, but I guess I’m still hopeful.”

Katsuki looked him dead in the eye. He wasn’t a fan of such intense eye contact, but he knew how to make a point out of it when he needed to.

“When you get your quirk back,” he said, refusing to look away, or even to blink. “Spar with me.”

Mirio paused for a second, his eyes getting watery again, but Katsuki just cracked a little smile.

“Before would be great,” he said, a little teasingly. “But if you won’t, at least promise me you’ll do it later.”

“I promise,” Mirio said, reaching for a tissue to wipe his eyes. “I’ll be looking forward to it.”

“Me too.”


———

Mirio was still sitting up, when Katsuki returned late in the night, but this time he looked a lot more exhausted, and seemed a lot less insistent that he was doing fine.

“You should lie down,” Katsuki said, as soon as he looked in the door. “Why are you still awake?”

“I’ve been trying to get some work done,” Mirio said, sighing. “I was trying to have it for Monday, and obviously Deku says he doesn’t mind if it’s delayed, but it’ll put us out for the next stage if it’s late, so I thought maybe I could do some from bed.”

“What is it?” Katsuki asked, taking his laptop away and replacing it with a glass container, wrapped carefully in a tea towel. “Container is hot, be careful.”

“You cooked for me?”

“I told you I would,” Katsuki said, shrugging. “There’s a couple more here, too, I’ll stick them in the fridge so you can microwave them if you get hungry while Tamaki and I aren’t here. Did Deku come see you?”

“He called,” Mirio said, smiling softly. “He went back to his work for the day, but he’s staying on-site tonight, apparently. He claims he wants a nice bed to sleep in, but I think he just wants to be closer in case I ask for anything.”

“I’ll report back and make sure he knows you’re taken care of,” Katsuki assured him. “It’s just fried rice, hopefully it won’t make you feel worse or something.”

“It smells amazing. Thank you, Katsuki.”

“No big deal,” Katsuki said. “What work were you doing?”

“Oh, we just got a bunch of feedback forms recently,” Mirio explained, pausing to take a bite of his food. “Mm, this is really good!”

“What kind of feedback?”

“All sorts of stuff, not like one over-arching issue. We send out reminders at the start of every month to fill out any feedback they might have, so it’s just been an influx to sort through. We always try to implement changes by the start of the next month, but if I don’t sort through them soon, that’s not gonna happen this time around.”

“Can I look?”

Mirio stared at him, and Katsuki found his face warming again.

“Don’t look at me like that,” he huffed. “You know I want to learn everything, that includes shit like this.”

“You can look,” Mirio agreed, gesturing toward the laptop. “Sorry, I’m just surprised you’re interested in this side of things. You’re a hero, you don’t need to worry about the little things.”

“So are you,” Katsuki objected, taking the laptop anyway. “You know me better than this.”

“Sorry.”

Katsuki just shrugged, sitting down awkwardly on the end of Mirio’s bed to scroll through some of the forms.

“Well first of all,” Katsuki said, narrowing his eyes at Mirio. “You should make this an actual digital form instead of this ‘contact us’ bullshit, then you can auto-export it to a spreadsheet and make it easier to reference the responses you want.”

Mirio raised an eyebrow, and Katsuki just rolled his eyes.

“You didn’t graduate that long ago, stop acting like an old man.”

“Fine, I’ll look into it,” Mirio said, smiling slightly. “Second of all?”

“Second of all, you look fucking exhausted, and no one here is gonna give a shit if you take an extra week implementing new shit to help them out.”

“I know.”

Katsuki paused. Of course Mirio knew that, he’d been there a thousand times longer than Katsuki had, he knew all the employees far better than Katsuki ever would. But this was Mirio’s job, right? His way of making a difference, of helping people out. Katsuki had been an idiot, to not understand it from the start.

“Right,” he said. “Well then, send me this shit, and I’m gonna go through and sort these forms out for you tomorrow. When you’re feeling better on Monday, it’ll be ten times quicker to go through and arrange things, so the extra time won’t matter.”

“Sure,” Mirio conceded, smiling fondly. “Thanks, Katsuki.”

“No big deal.”

He handed the laptop back briefly, letting Mirio open up his emails to send him the link, but Mirio just kept clicking around, for much longer than Katsuki really thought was necessary.

“I’ve set you up an agency email,” he said, when he sat back to finish off his dinner. “It has access to our shared drive, and I’ve given you permission to get into the feedback folder so you can see the old stuff as well as the new responses. Just please don’t delete anything, I’m trusting you.”

“Thank you. I’ve got some time tomorrow after patrols, I’ll get stuck in.”

“You’ve got more patrols tomorrow? You must have been really convincing, I’m impressed.”

Katsuki shifted a little, grimacing, and Mirio just raised an eyebrow at him.

“You’re not the only one off sick,” he mumbled. “Sai has been out for a few days, and Framerate almost as long. Then Glimpse called in today. And I think a couple more, too. I went on a patrol with Orus and Mu – um, Plain Sight – and they were super happy to have me because they were missing a combat expert, with Sai gone. So I asked what other patrols Sai was meant to be doing, and then who else was off sick, and I’ve kind of been… filling in for them.”

Mirio didn’t answer right away, so with his cheeks burning again, Katsuki continued.

“I know I’m not a fully-licensed hero, I’m not trying to say I’m good enough to replace them or whatever, but I do have a provisional license, and a lot of experience for someone my age, from internships and work studies and the general shitstorm that went down in recent years, plus I’ve done enough patrols here to know at least the basics of how to do a patrol, and I still have people supervising me, so–”

“Katsuki,” Mirio cut him off, smiling this time. “I’m not judging you or arguing with you. I’m surprised, but I really shouldn’t be. I know how much you’ve enjoyed patrolling, so of course you were going to want to continue, and even if you weren’t as good as you actually are, you’d still be better than no one. I think you’re doing an amazing thing, I’m sure everyone really appreciates it.”

“They seem to,” Katsuki admitted. “I was afraid you and Deku would tell me no, so I kind of just… did it without telling you. Sorry, that was shitty of me.”

“I get it,” Mirio assured him. “Deku and I are a lot more cautious about that kind of thing, it probably would’ve been a kneejerk reaction to shut it down without actually hearing you out. I promise, from now on, I’ll always have an open mind if you come to me about this kind of stuff.”

“Thank you.”

When Mirio finished eating, Katsuki took away the dirty container, pointedly closing the laptop, too, and setting it aside. With a faint smile, Mirio conceded a nod, adjusting his pillows to lie down.

“Get some rest,” Katsuki instructed. “I’ve got it covered, here.”

“Thanks,” Mirio laughed. “Have a good night, Katsuki.”

“You too. Feel better soon, I’ll come check on you again tomorrow.”

He turned out the lights on his way through, making sure the door was locked behind him, then headed back downstairs. He needed to report back to Deku, to let him know everything was taken care of, but the office was dark when he got there, and Katsuki was pretty sure it hadn’t been used in days. He continued his path downward, heading for the reception desk, and grimacing as he asked the words.

“Do you know if Deku is still around?” he asked. “I need to check in with him, but he’s not in his office. Did he leave already?”

“He hasn’t left,” the receptionist told him, glancing across at a computer screen. “He doesn’t have any appointments scheduled, maybe the gym?”

“Oh. Yeah, okay. I’ll check there, thanks.”

The receptionist just nodded, and Katsuki felt weirdly victorious – they’d spent so long treating him like he was a stranger to the building; it was nice that they no longer seemed to care about being formal.

Sure enough, Deku was in the near-empty gym, wearing a sweat-soaked singlet that showed off his massive, scarred biceps, with headphones over his ears to drown out the world. Katsuki dithered for a moment, then headed for the huge bank of lockers, opening up the one with his name on it. He didn’t bother keeping much in it, since his apartment was right upstairs, but he appreciated that they’d decided to include him, so he always kept a spare sweat towel and a water bottle in there, just in case he forgot something or needed an extra. If Deku was working out, Katsuki figured he may as well get one in, too.

It took a while longer for Deku to finish up, but Katsuki was too absorbed in his lifts to notice, by that point. It wasn’t until he sat up, reaching for his towel, that he noticed the emerald eyes locked on him. Deku was drinking from his water bottle, a little stream trailing down his chin where he’d missed his mouth, and when he ran a hand through his tangled hair, pushing it back out off his face, Katsuki felt his heart pound a little harder.

“You look stiff,” Deku said, when their eyes met. “Did you stretch?”

“Not as much as I should’ve,” Katsuki admitted. “I was just getting a quick one in while you were busy.”

Deku waved for him to follow, and Katsuki wiped his bench down hastily, scurrying after him. He was laying out a mat by the time Katsuki caught up, and Katsuki blinked at him when he stepped aside, nodding toward the mat faintly.

“Lie down,” he said, when Katsuki didn’t move. “I’ll help you.”

Face burning red, Katsuki lay down on the mat, ignoring the amused little smile Deku gave him – at least he didn’t call it out, Katsuki supposed, but he’d clearly noticed the embarrassment.

“I went and saw Mirio again,” he blurted out, trying to distract himself from the way Deku lifted an ankle onto his shoulder, leaning in far-too-close and stretching his leg back. “He ate some fried rice and then lay down to sleep, I think he tried to stay up all day.”

“Yeah, sounds like him,” Deku agreed, his thumb pressing against one of Katsuki’s tight muscles in a way that felt oddly intimate. “Relax, Katsuki.”

“I’m trying,” Katsuki admitted. “Mirio is all stressed out about the feedback forms, he thinks people will be disappointed if he takes too long to find solutions or something. Well, he says he knows they won’t mind, but he obviously feels like he’s letting people down, you know?”

“Yeah,” Deku agreed, switching to the other leg. “Thank you for helping him out and everything.”

“I don’t mind, he’s done a lot for me while I’ve been here.”

“For me, too. He’s one of my closest friends, but I never get the chance to really do stuff for him. It’s pretty typical of my life, for him to get sick at the one time when I can’t just take some time off and be there with him. Let alone when Tamaki can’t either.”

“He wouldn’t want you to,” Katsuki pointed out. “He’d feel awful about it, if you skipped work for him.”

“Yeah, that’s true.”

When Izuku deemed him suitably stretched, Katsuki climbed back to his feet, blushing again as he averted his gaze.

“Uh, thanks.”

“You’re welcome,” Deku said, lips twitching toward a smirk. “Get some rest, it sounds like you had a busy day.”

“It was fine,” Katsuki assured him. “I am getting tired, though. Um, are you staying here tonight?”

“Yeah, just in case. Lots of people out sick, nice to be near Mirio if he needs anything, and I’m not gonna lie, the beds here are far more comfortable than where we’ve been staying.”

Katsuki was tempted to push for more information, to ask where they’d been, how many people were with him, all that kind of stuff, but he knew he needed to keep his mouth shut, at least for now.

“I’ll head back early in the morning,” Deku finished. “I still won’t be around to do a debrief, but it was good to see you and catch up. I’m sorry again for this morning, I should have looked closer instead of just panicking immediately.”

“It’s okay, I get it,” Katsuki assured him. “I was thinking I should probably send another ping every so often, especially if I do weird hours. Maybe I’ll start sending a ping when I go to bed, if it won’t wake you guys up.”

“It’s silenced on mine, I’m sure Aizawa-sensei did the same.”

“Okay, I’ll do that, then. You’ll be able to see me get back safely from patrols or whatever.”

“That sounds good. Thank you.”

Katsuki cracked a smile, and Deku rolled his eyes, despite the way he was clearly holding back a laugh.

“You do not get another round every time I say thank you, stop counting them!”

“You can’t prove anything.”

[Chapter 27]