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Katsuki is late.
Usually, by the time that Eijirou emerges from his room in the morning, Katsuki is out there waiting. Some days his partner is impatient and even barges into his room to help him get ready for class.
But today, Eijirou steps out and finds an empty hallway.
If Katsuki was ever running late, or had to step out without waiting for Eijirou, he would let him know. This is unusual. Worrisome.
He knocks on the door once, twice, and gets no answer. His finger hovers over Aizawa-sensei’s speed dial for a minute before he decides he’ll check it out himself first. If something’s actually wrong, that’s when he’ll call his teacher.
Eijirou pulls out his copy of Katsuki’s key. He fumbles for a second before being able to fit it in the lock. It’s easy to twist it open and push his way into the dark room, letting the door shut noiselessly behind him.
Katsuki is on his bed, fast asleep.
If it were anyone else, that would make Eijirou relax. But Katsuki is always up by now. Ready to drag Eijirou to school because he’s always the one running late.
So Eijirou walks to the bed. He makes his steps loud, as to not startle Katsuki when he gets over there, but his partner doesn’t even flinch.
“Hey Katsuki.” Nothing. Not even a twitch.
“Kats you need to wake up. We’re already late for school.” Still nothing. Eijirou decides to change tactics. If talking to him doesn’t work, maybe he’ll wake up with physical contact. He carefully reaches out and pokes him with a hardened hand, but there’s no reaction.
Katsuki isn’t a heavy sleeper.
Worried, Eijirou turns off his quirk and grabs Katsuki’s shoulder. He gives it a shake, but still nothing. His partners skin doesn’t even warm from the contact, remaining cool and clammy. Eijirou gives him one more shake before stepping back and pulling out his phone again.
Aizawa-sensei will know what to do.
Eijirou doesn’t think he could type out a legible text with his shaking hands, nor does he think Aizawa-sensei would see it, so he takes a deep breath and hits the call button.
The line rings more times than he would like. Long enough that Eijirou is starting to regret dialling his teacher at all and thinking that maybe he should have called someone else.
“You’re late.”
“Sensei, I-I-I know. I-” He pauses for another breath and has to look away from Katsuki as it’s only making the anxiety worse.
“Kirishima? What’s going on?” Gone is the bored tone. Now his teacher sounds worried, and Eijirou can hear multiple voices in the background.
“There’s something wrong with K-Katsuki.”
“I’ll be there soon.” The line goes dead.
Mere minutes later Aizawa-sensei is swinging onto the balcony and sliding open the door. Going by the time of day and the voices he’d heard, Aizawa-sensei had already been teaching their first class. To get here this quickly is impressive.
Aizawa-sensei really is a cool hero.
His teacher hardly glances at him as he kneels by Katsuki’s bed. He checks things that Eijirou hadn’t thought to with a frown on his face. All he can do is watch in silence as his teacher checks his partner over. The man pulls out his phone and sends a message before finally turning to Eijirou, frown still in place.
“He seems fine, other than a fever. There’s no reason he shouldn’t be awake. This has to be the work of a quirk.” It’s not something Eijirou would have thought of.
He didn’t think it could even be a possibility. Katsuki hasn’t left campus all week. Endeavor is away on a mission so he hasn’t had his internship, and they’ve been busy with training so they haven’t even gone for coffee like they usually would.
The only option left is that he was effected by someone at school.
“Kirishima? Are you even listening?” Aizawa-sensei looks annoyed when Eijirou refocuses on him.
“Um, yes sensei!” His teacher sighs and Eijirou slumps a little.
“I asked if you guys have snuck off campus, because I know you haven’t gotten permission.” The look he levels Eijirou with is downright scary. He steps back and does his best to swallow down his fear.
“N-no sensei! Why w-would we need to-Katsuki would never, I-I wouldn’t dare do s-s-som-” Regret flashes across his teachers face and he puts a hand on Eijirou’s shoulder, effectively stopping his panicked rambling.
“Calm down. I believe you.”
Eijirou takes a deep breath and nods. Aizawa-sensei gives his shoulder a good squeeze and steps back, giving Eijirou a bit of space. He shuffles around his teacher and makes it to Katsuki’s side just as there’s a knock on the doorframe.
He turns back and sees Recovery Girl there. That must be who Aizawa-sensei texted earlier.
She goes through the same examinations that Aizawa-sensei did, all with a similar frown on her face.
“Looks like some sort of Sleeping Beauty quirk. I have to run a few more tests to be sure. Where’d he pick this up?” She addresses Eijirou with her question.
“We’re not sure. They haven’t left campus.” Aizawa-sensei answers for him, drawing the heroines gaze away. She looks unhappy, but she accepts his answer.
“Why don’t you two head to class. I’ll run the rest of the tests over in the infirmary to be sure.”
“But-”
“Let’s go kid.” Aizawa-sensei gives Eijirou his ‘don’t you dare argue with me’ look, so he follows his teacher out, grabbing his abandoned backpack on the way.
He trails a few feet behind his teacher the whole walk, but follows into the classroom mere steps behind him, hoping to enter unnoticed. Unfortunately when he looks up, Eijirou finds that every single one of his classmates is openly staring at him.
He opens his mouth, unsure of what to say, but Aizawa-sensei clears his throat from the front of the room and resumes the lesson he’d started.
Everything goes in one ear and out the other. He doesn’t retain a single thing the man says, his mind too caught up on Katsuki in the infirmary to pay attention. He doesn’t even notice when the period ends and the teachers switch until the bell for lunch is going and Mic-sensei is dismissing them.
Eijirou gets up then, determined to go to the infirmary and see how Katsuki is doing, but a cold hand on his arm stops him.
“Hey are you okay? Sensei jumped out the window when he got your call.” Eijirou pauses for a minute, trying to imagine his teacher doing that before he answers Todoroki.
“I’m fine!”
“What about Bakugou? We’re supposed to train after school.”
“He’s um, in the infirmary. I was going to visit him now.” He says it quietly, in the hopes that their classmates don’t overhear.
“Oh? I’ll walk you there.” Todoroki leads the way out of the classroom, giving Eijirou little choice but to follow.
He finds himself oddly comforted by the company on his way there. Todoroki doesn’t talk much, which is something he’s grateful for right now. Someone like Kaminari would be talking his ear off, and it’s not something he’s in the mood for right now.
“So what happened?” Todoroki doesn’t look at him; doesn’t pressure him to talk. Eijirou finds it easier this way, and the words are spilling out before he can do anything to stop them.
“He got hit by a quirk. By someone at school? He won’t wake up. Recovery Girl says it’s some sort of Sleeping Beauty quirk.” Todoroki stops walking, and turns to Eijirou with a familiar glint in his eye.
“You know what that means, right?”
“No?”
“The only thing that can wake sleeping beauty up is true loves kiss.” Eijirou sighs, a little disappointed. Todoroki sure loves his theories.
“Todoroki, that’s a fairytale. There’s no way that wou-”
“It will! I’ve heard of cases like this before. I just didn’t think there’d be someone at our school with a quirk like this!”
“While I appreciate your enthusiasm, I just don’t think-”
“Just try it.” Todoroki interrupts him once again, not looking the least bit apologetic.
“Huh?”
“Try it. And then if it works, it’ll prove me right. But if it doesn’t, there’s no harm done.” Eijirou nods a little reluctantly. Todoroki’s right. What could possibly go wrong?
“But there’s no way I’m wrong. Let me know if it works out!” Todoroki walks off then, abandoning Eijirou in front of the infirmary.
He steps inside before he can think any better of it. Katsuki is the only one in here, sleeping as peacefully as ever. Eijirou hopes that this quirk is letting him get real rest, because he knows how desperately Katsuki needs it.
He walks slowly to his bed, taking his time to muster up the courage. Out in the hallway he’d been so sure that Todoroki was wrong, but in the room now, it just feels so right. Something about the atmosphere feels just like the movies, and Eijirou is sure that Katsuki will wake up with his kiss just like the princesses.
He hesitates when he stands over Katsuki. Hopes that this is okay. That it works and he’s not just being stupid.
Not even daring to breathe, Eijirou erases the last few inches between the two of them, and kisses him.
He pulls back and waits, staring at his loved one. What if it doesn’t work? Eijirou loves him. Is in love with Katsuki, but what if his partner doesn’t feel the same way? Or what if he just hasn’t realized it yet, or doesn’t understand because Katsuki really isn’t the best with feelings?
Or maybe, this was a stupid idea and was never going to work in the first place.
A few more seconds, and Eijirou realizes his has nothing to worry about.
Slowly, as if waking from a really good nap, Katsuki opens his eyes.