#bkdk Bruised

Izuku undergoes an experimental and classified quirk healing program for his damaged arms, but a side effect from it causes his skin to bruise easily. Extremely easily. Every little brush and bump causes black and blue to bloom on his skin.

It's.. not ideal.

Especially when he can't explain them.

He shifts all of his training focus to dodging, as a single hit landed on his arms will paint them like an ink spill.

But he isn't perfect.

“Damn, is that from me?” Kirishima asks, whistling. “I didn't think I hit you that hard!”

Izuku had tried to change discreetly, but the blotch of black on his left arm might as well have had a neon sign pointed at it.

“Oh, ha, guess so,” Izuku says, quickly pulling on his shirt. He'll just shower back at the dorms; he doesn't want to risk anyone seeing the rest.

“Sorry bro, my bad. You should get Recovery Girl to take a look at it though. Looked real gnarly!” And Kirishima slaps Izuku on the back.

Izuku jolts. It landed across his shoulder blade, and he knows it's already starting to bruise.

“O-of course, Kirishima-kun! Don't worry!”

Gathering his things as quickly as possible, Izuku hurries out of the locker room. He tries to ignore the slit, red eyes burning holes in his uniform as he passes them.

Izuku doesn't go to Recovery Girl.

He can't. It would compromise the other quirk.

The bruises have to heal the old fashioned way: Ice and time. He presses the cold packs into his skin with a hiss, sitting shirtless on his bed. Izuku sighs. He can wrap these big ones, but what if he gets hit again? Maybe he can lie and say he just has a vitamin deficiency.

The next day, Izuku wears a long-sleeved undershirt under his uniform, that he also wears under his costume and does not take off when he changes out of it. He definitely has a new bruise or two, but no one can see them as long as--

“Oi, shitty nerd!”

Izuku swallows. “Hi, Kacchan,” he says, keeping his eyes down. Everyone else is filtering out, it's just the two of them alone against the lockers. It's fine, it's fine, just finish getting dressed. I mean, it's just Kacchan!! Why are you freaking out??

“Deku, the fuck is this?”

Before Izuku can respond, Kacchan grabs his wrist in what would have already been a bruising grip, bruising quirk aside. Izuku can't help but gasp; it's not extremely painful, but it does still hurt, a sharp sting every time a new bruise blossoms on his skin.

“What are you hiding? Acting weird as hell. It's too hot for long sleeves, even for me. So what's the deal--” Kacchan slides his fist up Izuku's forearm, rolling up the sleeve, exposing his bare wrist and the ugly, dark bruise wrapped around it.

In the shape of a handprint.

“..The fuck is this, Deku?” Kacchan asks, his voice suddenly, incredibly quiet. His eyes flick up to stab at Izuku, and Izuku's throat feels dry.

“It's n-nothing,” Izuku stammers. He can't tell him the truth, but this also looks.. really bad!!

He tries to say something, anything; a lie or a half truth or a deflection, but his brain comes up empty.

Kacchan squeezes the muscle of Izuku's forearm, and Izuku tries not to whimper. It only hurts a little but he's panicking, frozen to the spot like a deer in headlights.

Predictability, Kacchan catches Izuku's flinch, and he rips the sleeve clean off at the elbow. Another handprint bruise greets the air, and Kacchan swears under his breath.

Izuku can't even be mad at Kacchan, he know how this looks: like Izuku's been training too hard.

Pushing himself too far, doing unsanctioned things after hours to get ahead. But he isn't!! But he can't just tell Kacchan it's the quirk doing it! Izuku signed a LOT of papers that made it very clear he would be dropped from the program if he told anyone.

“K-Kacchan, I can't explain, I want to, but the thing is.. well, I mean, I still can't tell you but it's not a big deal, I know what you're thinking--”

“Deku,” Kacchan says, and it's soft and low and at a volume Izuku isn't sure he's ever heard before.

“Who did this to you?”

Izuku looks between his mottled arm, bizarrely cradled in large palms, and Kacchan's equally bizarre expression. He blinks. Who did this to him? Has Kacchan caught onto the quirk treatment already??

“N-n-no one?” Izuku lies, very poorly.

Kacchan bares his teeth. “No one?”

“Did this to yourself, hah??”

“I mean, technically, this is the ultimate result of my choices and actions, so, yes,” Izuku says. He bites his lip. Will Kacchan buy that?

Kacchan's eyes go wide. “What!?” he snaps.

Nope.

Izuku licks his lips, and his eyes flick over to the entrance to the locker room. He can probably make it with just five percent full cowling.

Kacchan reaches for Izuku's other wrist, and Izuku snatches it away before he can make contact.

Oh, Kacchan didn't like that.

“Ah? Got a matching set?”

“No!” Izuku yells, tucking his arm behind his back. It's not a lie, but if Kacchan grabs him, it will be! “Listen, Kacchan, please, I really can't fight you right now, so if you could just--”

Kacchan lunges, and Izuku makes a break for it.

Izuku is very fast, and very good at dodging, but he's very rattled, and it's /Kacchan./ Of course Kacchan snags his previously unbruised wrist before he can make it three feet, yanking Izuku back and pulling a strangled cry out with it.

Just like before, Kacchan peels back the sleeve.

“Holy fucking shit, Deku.”

Looking down, Izuku can see it's twice as bad as the one on his left arm. It hurts, but he really doesn't care. How is he going to get out of this without a brawl that leaves him with two purple arms?

“Lose the shirt, Deku,” Kacchan says. His voice is a low growl. A warning.

Izuku shakes his head. He can't extricate his wrist without risking more bruises, ones that will happen in realtime. But he also can't take off his shirt. He's stuck.

“Tch. Fine.”

For a moment, Izuku's heart lifts, thinking Kacchan has relented - but just for a moment, because after that Kacchan grabs Izuku's shirt and starts wrestling it off.

“Kacchan! Wait, wait!”

When Izuku realizes struggling will just make the situation worse, it's already too late.

“Deku,” Kacchan spits through his teeth.

Izuku looks down at himself, and, oh boy. He thought the affected area was just contained to his arms and shoulders but it's all over his torso now, too. Splotches and dark marks and a lot handprints.

“There more under these??” Kacchan reaches for the bandage on Izuku's upper arm and Izuku panics.

“Don't touch me!!” he shrieks, in a voice completely foreign to him, hugging his bare chest as if he could hide the bruises. If Kacchan watches one form, it's all over.

Kacchan takes a step back, his hands up as if in surrender. “Fine!! Fucking.. fine. I won't touch ya. But you hafta tell me who did this.”

Izuku stands there, panting, as the tense air between them evaporates. He relaxes a little, feeling exhausted and drained just over stress.

He can't tell Kacchan the truth, so he just needs to get out of there before Kacchan decides to renege on his promise.

Grabbing his school uniform out of his locker, Izuku quickly shrugs the shirt on and buttons it. It's a miracle he doesn't have any bruises on his hands.

Huh. Why doesn't he have any on his hands? They were directly involved in the target area.

“Oi, shitty Deku, you fucking /ignoring/ me? Who did this??”

“No one, Kacchan, I told you,” Izuku says, wincing as he puts on his uniform jacket. He is going to need a lot of ice.

“No one-- whose handprints are they, then, hah??”

Izuku finishes packing his bag. It's only day two of this and he's managed to get himself absolutely covered in bruises, and hasn't managed to come up with any kind of a cover /story./ How is he supposed to answer?

It's not like he can just tell Kacchan they're Kacchan's handprints.

“..They're WHAT?”

Izuku slaps his hand over his mouth. One For All wraps around him instantly and he's booking it out of the locker room and across campus before his brain registers exactly what just happened.

~

Sleeping has become a challenge.

Izuku iced what he could with the cold packs he had (and in desperation, a bag of ice), but there's no position he can put himself in that doesn't put painful pressure on one of his many bruises.

The ones on his wrists are the worst.

Izuku has had bruises before! He's been in fights that have left him black and blue with broken bones, and when he first couldn't control his quirk, he turned his arms purple from shoulder to fingertip.

But these are different.

He's never had them for extended periods of time before. Recovery Girl can't heal these.

And they ache. They throb with his pulse and the slightest touch sends sharp, shooting pains down into his bones.

Izuku sits upright on the edge of his bed, drifting in and out of sleep.

But it's pointless. He can't sleep sitting up, and he can't sleep lying down.

He should have asked Todoroki to make him an ice bath. Or an ice bed. Of course, then he'd have to explain why and that already went so well with Kacchan.

Although..

Maybe he could just say it's muscle aches. Todoroki is unlikely to pry, and Izuku is getting desperate.

It isn't terribly late yet, so Izuku texts to ask if his friend is still awake. While he waits for a response, he checks to make sure he didn't miss any other messages.

He really expected one from Kacchan.

But Kacchan has never messaged Izuku before, so maybe Izuku should message him first.

Izuku groans, and he feels it in his bruises. What can he even say? Sorry I didn't mean that, I lied? THAT will go over great! Kacchan loves being lied to!

How is he supposed to explain that he bruises easier than an overripe peach without getting follow-up questions? He could say it's because of a quirk, which isn't a lie, but then Kacchan would ask who and where and when and why Izuku had tried to hide it.

Izuku really messed up.

He'll just start with an apology. And then try to explain without really explaining anything.

'Kacchan, I'm sorry' he types out, before Todoroki's reply comes through, startling Izuku into hitting send before he was ready.

Gah!! Why is he such a disaster!?

Todoroki: I can make you an ice bath. omw

Now? Right now?? Izuku jumps up, scrambling to get dressed and cover his mottled skin before Todoroki gets there. He's several floors up but the elevators are fast, and Izuku wouldn't be surprised if Todoroki was already halfway down.

The knock at his door comes soon after, and Izuku pauses as he reaches for the handle. What if.. what if it's Kacchan?

“Midoriya. It's me, your classmate, Todoroki Shouto.”

Nope. Not Kacchan.

Izuku opens the door to see Todoroki standing in the hallway with a large basin.

“I had Yaoyorozu make this. She hopes you feel better soon. Can I come in?”

“Ah, of course! Of course! Sorry, here-” Izuku moves aside for Todoroki to enter, carrying the tub. So smart! Izuku didn't even consider that he didn't actually have a bathtub for the ice.

“I could have made you an 'ice bed' as you suggested but then it would have melted all over your floor,” Todoroki explains as he sets the object down in the middle of Izuku's room. He holds his right hand out over it, and begins filling it with ice.

Izuku can't help but smile.

He has such good friends!

Todoroki alternates with his left hand until the basin is full of icy water.

“There,” he says, standing upright.

“Thank you, Todoroki-kun! Really, this is a big help. And I'll have to thank Yaoyorozu-san, too.”

“It's no trouble. I hope you feel better soon. Go to Recovery Girl in the morning if it's still bothering you.”

Izuku's smile falters. He probably won't be able to swing a second night of ice bath service. “Of course!”

Todoroki moves to leave, but pauses in the doorway.

“Don't actually sleep in it. You /will/ die.”

“Ah, o-of course I won't! I'll be careful, Todoroki-kun, I promise.”

“Good night, Midoriya.”

“Good night!”

And with that, Todoroki leaves.

Izuku looks down at the ice bath. He can't say he's looking forward to it, but it'll help.

He crosses the room to shut the door, only to have it stopped in its track right before it closes, a large hand curled around the edge like a claw.

A furious red eye glares back at Izuku through the crack, and Izuku's heart stops.

“Fucking /Half-n-Half!?”/

“Kacchan!” Izuku gasps, stumbling backward into his room as his door gets shoved open. Oh, no, no, this is very bad, he barely escaped unscathed last time and if Kacchan grapples with him, Izuku isn't sure what that is going to do. His bruises will get bruises.

“We can't fight! Kacchan, wait!!”

Kacchan steps into the room and closes the door.

“Ain't gonna be a fucking fight less you make it one,” Kacchan says through clenched teeth. “The fuck is going on? The hell was /he/ doing here, Deku?”

They both look down at the ice bath.

“Um,” Izuku says. “It's for the.. bruises. I didn't have enough cold packs so I thought..” he trails off, twisting his fingers together.

Kacchan narrows his eyes, looking between Izuku and the ice. “Lemme see them,” he eventually says.

Izuku crosses his arms over his chest.

He's fully clothed but he feels suddenly exposed. “Wh- why?”

“Either you start talking, let me see your fucked up skin or I'm calling Aizawa. You pick.”

Izuku's stomach sinks.

The healing program isn't exactly UA sanctioned.

It's another reason he can't go to Recovery Girl.

He peels off his shirt, wincing as it drags over all of the tender, damaged areas, and drops it onto his bed.

Kacchan whistles.

“Look like shit, Deku.”

Izuku frowns, wrapping his arms around his middle again when Kacchan steps closer to inspect him. His face feels warm.

Picking up Izuku's left arm with surprisingly gentle care, Kacchan runs a fingertip along the ugly mark wrapped around his wrist. “Really did a number on ya, didn't I.”

Izuku sucks air in through his teeth. “Kacchan, you didn't-”

“Shut up,” Kacchan says, still looking down.

“I ain't stupid.” He lightly wraps his hand around Izuku's wrist, lining up his fingers with the handprint. It's a perfect match.

Izuku bites his lip. He was so focused on the bruises, the intimacy of the situation catches him completely off guard. Kacchan is /so close./

Kacchan is /so/ close and he's touching Izuku /gently/ and he is also in Izuku's bedroom!?

This is a really bad time to think about that!!!

“So,” Kacchan says, his eyes rising. “Gonna tell me why you're so fuckin' squishy all of a sudden?”

Izuku's heart beats faster.

He shakes his head.

Kacchan scowls. “It ain't One For All?”

“..I mean, technically, this is the ultimate result of consequences of having it, so, yes?” Izuku tries, though he knows he doesn't sound convincing.

Dropping Izuku's hand, Kacchan steps back.

Izuku tries not to feel disappointed, but it's also a relief. If Kacchan isn't going to press him further, or try to fight him, then that's the best he can hope for.

“Alright, get on with it, then.”

Blinking, Izuku looks at Kacchan, confused. “Get on with.. what?”

Kacchan juts his chin toward the ice bath next to them. “Your beauty treatment the ice princess so generously made for ya. Go on.”

“O-okay, I will!” Izuku says, thinking Kacchan means to leave.

Except he doesn't.

“Um,” Izuku says, wilting under Kacchan's undivided attention.

“Get in the bath, nerd.”

“Wh-what!?” Izuku squeaks. “With.. with you still here?!”

Kacchan crouches down beside the basin, patting it like an invitation. “What, you wanna drown, or get hypothermia? Nah, an idiot like you needs a babysitter.”

Izuku's cheeks burn.

“I do not!” he says, struggling to keep his voice down. “I'm p-perfectly capable of taking an ice bath, Kacchan!”

“And I'm p-perfectly capable of ratting you out, Deku,” Kacchan sneers back. “Get in.”

Izuku balls his fists and presses his lips together. “Fine,” he mutters.

His fingers hook into the waistband of his shorts, and he hesitates. “Could you at least.. look away?"

Kacchan rolls his eyes but turns his head anyway. Izuku slips off the rest of his clothing, and gingerly lowers himself into the bath.

It's.

Cold.

It's really cold!!!

He hisses through his teeth as he sinks in, the ice doing its job to numb the pain but bringing its own unpleasant sensation of being really freaking cold!!!

Feet sticking out, he eases his upper half back until he's lying down, his head and neck above the slurry.

A long, shuddering sigh slips out of his lungs.

“Why ain't yer legs fucked up?”

Izuku should just tell him. Right? Kacchan has already figured out the half of it, and isn't going to let up.

“I can't tell you,” Izuku says instead.

Kacchan snorts.

“The fuck kinda trouble you in, shitnerd?”

The ice sloshes as Izuku turns his head to glare at Kacchan hovering above him. “I'm not in trouble.”

“No? Yer a shit liar, dumbass. Hurting yourself, acting shady as fuck and won't gimme a straight answer. Think I'll ask Aizawa.”

“Kacchan, /please.”/

Smirking, Kacchan flicks a piece of ice at Izuku's knee sticking out of the bath. It doesn't hurt, but Izuku watches in horror as a dark black spot blooms where it had hit him.

“Shit,” Kacchan swears. “Thought it didn't affect your legs?”

“It didn't,” Izuku says weakly. What?? Is it getting worse?

He starts to shiver.

“Okay, get out,” Kacchan growls, standing. He stomps over to Izuku's closet and comes back with a towel.

Izuku feels like resisting just because, but ultimately relents, pushing himself up.

The ice and water roll down his body, and his bruises don't look any better.

Kacchan throws the towel into Izuku's face. Izuku towels off in silence.

“..Does All Might at least know?” Kacchan asks.

Izuku sighs. “No.”

“Fucking hell, Deku!” Kacchan snaps.

He jabs his thumb toward the door. “Get dressed. We're goin' to the old woman.”

“No!” Izuku shouts. “No, please,” he says, quieter. “Look, it's late, and I'm really tired. This is really late for you, too. Don't worry about me, I'll get it taken care of in the morning.”

“Who's worried!?” Kacchan retorts, eyes blazing. He bares his teeth in a snarl, palms outstretched like he means to let off some explosions.

But then, he backs off. “Tch. Fucking fine. But if you don't, I'm coming for your ass, and ain't nothing gonna save ya.”

And he leaves.

Izuku dresses himself warmly, not feeling much better than before the bath. Before he attempts to sleep again, he checks his phone, and he feels even worse.

Izuku: Kacchan, I'm sorry

Kacchan: the fuck you sorry for
the hell is going on
deku
did I really do that shit to you

Kacchan: you giving me the silent treatment now or some shit?
the fuck is your problem?
why did you apologize
did something happen
FUCKING HELL SHITNERD

Kacchan: I'm coming down don't fucking do anything stupid

Izuku lays himself down on his bed as delicately as possible.

Sleeping is still a challenge.