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It wasn’t surprising to him when Izuku found himself shut in his bedroom, slumped against his bed and the wall as silent tears slid down his cheeks. Blood was splattered on his lips, a single grey petal sticking to his lip.
It wasn’t surprising to him how easy it was to hide his issues in the beginning. He knew that his friends didn’t actually care that much. So when he found himself in the school bathroom, wiping his blood from one of the sinks he was surprised by the silent hug from a long lost friend, eyes darting to look at Katsuki in the mirror.
It wasn’t surprising that the one who planted the seeds in his chest wouldn’t notice. He didn’t want him to. He just found himself leaning on his newly rekindled friendship, ignoring pleaded whispers to go through the surgery.
Izuku wasn’t surprised when the dorms were put in place that Katsuki would hover more than normal, that hiding his issues was no harder than before.
And when Izuku found himself crying in the middle of the night, he would cling onto Katsuki, blood staining the two of them and flower petals on them. Comforting strong arms around his waist and comfort mixed with cursing.
Izuku found that nothing in his situation surprised him. He knew his time was ticking away. He knew he’d never live to become a hero, he knew that soon he would be hospitalized… barely a handful of months away from that one hospital visit where he would die with only two people by his side. Neither of them would be the one that was the cause of his pain.
So, when he found himself coughing up a storm off to the side during training, skillfully hiding the nearly full flowers and blood, excuses on his tongue that he had a tickle in his throat, he was surprised for the second time. Aizawa Shouta, the one who began it all, and his teacher, knelt beside him as he coughed and rubbed his back. Izuku knew that it would only make it worse. But he could never push the man away.
Izuku used soft words to explain he was okay, and just managed to hide the flowers and blood. Shouta just knelt with him till he caught his breath, before sending him back to the field once sure he was alright. Izuku knew the flowers would crush his chest just that bit faster with this show of affection.
So today. Today was not at all what anyone in U.A but Katsuki would suspect at all. Izuku walked into class, weakness weighing him down and just barely using a subtle constant stream of one for all to give the strength to keep himself upright and walking. Izuku could tell he was close. The days becoming close to too much for himself to go on.
During training he was facing Katsuki, the other boy conflicted. He knew Izuku was weakening… knew the greenette was moments from compromise. So did he show him the respect of a proper battle… or try to lessen the strength of the fight so Izuku could do better and last out longer.
Izuku knew he was causing that conflict, and when mid fight he collapsed, he knew he was grateful Katsuki gave him that last show of respect for his strength. Even as he coughed and hacked, too much blood to hide and full grey flowers spilling to the ground… Izuku allowed himself a tiny weak smile, shaking hands reaching to brush aside his best friend's tears.
The rest of the class came running, Shouta coming to kneel beside Izuku. Cries of concern rang out and Shouta picked Izuku up. “Midoriya, why did you hide this?” Worry was thick in his voice as the older male rushed Izuku out, yelling for someone to call for an ambulance.
The rush of movement had Izuku shutting his eyes. He needed rest. The sound of panicked voices met his ears but Izuku was tired, so he let himself fall asleep.
When he woke up he was surprised again to see Shouta in a chair by his side in the hospital. “Oh… Hello Sensei.” Izuku’s voice was hoarse, and his chest tight. He sat up some, quivering with the effort.
Shouta looked at him with devastation on his face, and his hand grasped onto Izuku’s. “I spoke with your mother... Midoriya why didn’t you say anything? Why won’t you get the surgery?” Shouta’s voice shook at the end as he handed Izuku a bowl to cough the blood and flowers in.
Izuku smiled at Shouta, a deep weariness stopping it from reaching his eyes. “I can’t let go of this feeling… I love them… I honestly love them. I knew that I’d die. I didn’t want to worry anyone… Figured if I went out silently it would lessen any burden.”
Shouta gave a deep keening noise, hunching over Izuku’s bedside as tears dripped to the bed. “Damn it problem child no… You would worry everyone either way. Midoriya we all care about you. Yes me included.”
Izuku felt the vines around his lungs constrict and he bent over, coughing up the full, blood coated flowers. Agapanthus, which were grey in color. Ironic because of their meaning to love forever or for a long time. “I’m sorry… I didn’t want… didn’t want to hurt anyone.”
Shouta squeezed his hand a bit tighter as he sat up to rub Izuku’s back through the coughing fit. “Who is it? Have you at least told them yet?” Izuku shook his head, his throat raw from the flowers and hacking. “Midoriya… Izuku at least tell them first… Write a letter or I can go get them or something. ”
Tears found their way down Izuku’s cheeks as he looked up into Shouta’s eyes. “You… really want the name?” Izuku carefully took one of the flowers into his hands, stroking the petals. “Did you know that Agapanthus means to love forever? They also are ironically used for medical uses like helping with colds or coughs.”
Shouta listened to him talk, worry in his grey eyes but also patience to listen through Izuku’s little speech. “I tried really hard to keep the name to myself… to keep it all to myself. So it would lessen the pain for everyone… and not make the person aware of it… I know they’d blame themself… Not even Kacchan knows their name.” Izuku hitched a breath in through constricted lungs then let it out, settling his nerves. “Their name… He’s… I… I love
you
Shouta… I love you so much it’s killing me. But that’s ok, and you aren’t to blame.”
A small nearly inaudible gasp came from Shouta before strong arms wrapped around Izuku’s waist, holding him close with a hand around his waist, the other in his hair. “Problem child… Izuku you should have told me- I… you wouldn’t have had to suffer… I love you too.”
A sob escaped his lips as Izuku clutched to Shouta as tight as he could, the dam finally broken as he cried and repeated a mantra of ‘I love you’s. Shouta was right there to hold him through it all, whispering soft ‘I love you too’s right back to him.
With the confession out of the way Izuku was on the path for recovery, an expected hospital stay for another two weeks for his lungs to get the rest of it all out in the safest way possible. When Izuku was more steady Shouta had brought in Nezu and Inko to speak about the road ahead of them. After all, laws were in place to protect couples that formed from Hanahaki cases that ended well. Even if there was an age gap or a student-teacher situation laws were there to protect them. All the four had to do was speak about what a relationship would entail and of course his mother gave Shouta the shovel talk. With added threats for putting her baby in the hospital, to begin with.
But, what mattered, was that in the end… Izuku and Shouta were together. And the flowers were right. Because many years later, with Shouta on his death bed, and Izuku growing closer every day to the same fate, they still were together in love and marriage. And when Shouta was eventually buried Izuku spent every waking hour thinking of him as the disease that brought them together came back with whispered promises to bring him home again to his love.