When Izuku woke up his vision was swimming. He couldn’t make out much other than the pale whites and blues that seem to decorate the room he was in. He could make out some voices, but it didn’t take long before he went back under. 

When he resurfaced again, he was able to make out his location quickly, seeing as it’s one he frequented quite often. A hospital room. However, as he looked around the room to orient himself, he saw something out of place. A bright splash of red in the otherwise dull, blue and white room. His eyes focused and he saw that the red was Eijirou’s hair. What was Kirishima doing here? 

That’s when he remembered. The crash was only the start of it. After he regained consciousness in the car, he was immediately in hero mode. Checking his surroundings, looking for those in distress, and registering every important detail. However, because he was running on pure adrenaline, the battle was a blur. They may have discovered a new limit to Kaine’s power. There seems to be a requirement for him to be able to activate their quirk. Some conditions that need to be met, otherwise they would have activated their quirk the second they realized they were being tailed. The undercover mission turned into close combat. And though it isn’t kaines strong suit, they managed to scrape by. 

“Midoriya? You awake?” Eijirou’s voice pulled izuku out of his head. 

“Yeah,” the smaller boy grunted out, as he pressed his hands to the mattress in order to sit up, before he felt a warmth against his chest. 

Eijirou, who was now hovering over him, pushed him back towards the bed, “Stay laying down, you hit your head really hard when the car crashed and still fought afterwards, You need rest.”

Midoriya’s eyebrows furrowed, but he obeyed anyway. “How long?”

“Just a few hours, it’s morning now. But you should stay in bed a little longer, rest up. You ran purely on adrenaline in battle yesterday, and powered through a concussion. I know breaking your body is kinda your schtick but it’s pretty damn unhealthy, you know that?”

Eijirou almost sounded upset.  What did Kirishima have to be upset about? This isn’t even close to the worst injuries I've sustained. Isn’t it a hero's job to protect society, even at their own expense, Izuku thought to himself? But then he saw Eijirou’s eyes. Oh…

“Sorry Kirishima, i didn’t mean to worry you or anything, i’m just doing my job and-” He cut himself off, so as not to ramble. 

Eijirou chuckled, a sad smile on his face, “Don’t worry about worrying me, Midoriya, worry about yourself. Did you ever think about the effect of all these injuries long term?”

Izuku looked away. He had, he just didn’t think it mattered, so long as he saved people. What meaning does his life have, in the face of many? The civilians were what mattered. 

“Izuku.” He looks up at the sound of his first name, “you matter, you know that right?”

And oh the look on Eijirou’s face. He looked so hurt, and concerned. And he couldn’t be more wrong. Why did Eijirou care about him? I’m just a useless Deku, right?

Eijirou’s expression became more severe when Izuku didn’t answer, “You do know that right?” He spoke more firmly this time. 

“The civilians-” izuku whispered only to be cut off by eijirou’s voice. 

Stern and deep, he said, “No, you’re wrong. No one life outweighs another. Your life matters just as much as anyone else's, and if i have to tell you that every day i will.” 

Eijirou’s confidence was unwavering, and Izuku felt it in his bones. He meant every word he said and he would follow through on it. No one has ever been so kind to Izuku. He didn’t even notice he was crying until Eijriou reached a hand over to wipe away his tears. 

“Midoriya, you are such an amazing person. You do so many good things for others. You’ve been like this all your life. For so many years I've admired your bravery, though it often leads to your recklessness. I’ve looked up to you not only as a hero and as a person, and if you get yourself killed-” he took a shaky breath, but continued nonetheless, “I don’t know what i would do.”

“Kirishima I…” Izuku trailed off, he didn’t know what to say. No one has ever said anything like that to him before. 

“Eijirou,” he spoke firmly, “Call me Eijirou from now on. I’m going to show you how worth it you are. How special, and deserving of protection you are. How much you deserve to live. After spending yesterday pretending to be together, and seeing you get hurt, though the world knows i’ve seen you hurt countless times. It made me think about alot. I'd always admired you, and I said as much a minute ago, but there is more to it than that. I’ve liked you for years. I had never put much thought into it, since we were leagues apart, and how could someone like you ever want someone like me? But now i see that you don’t think you’re deserving of love. And i want to be the one to change that, i want to be with you and grow to love you, if you’ll have me. If you happen to want the same things?”

Izuku just stared wide eyed for what felt like hours to Eijrou, but was probably only a moment. “Someone like you? Kiri- Eijirou, what do you mean by someone like you? I’ve never met anyone with as big a heart as yours. You’re so friendly and kind to everyone you meet, and it comes so easily to you. You spread happiness everywhere you go, how could anyone not adore you?”

Eijirou blinked, “Was that a yes?” He was still processing everything izuku said, and at the moment, all he wanted was to make sure this wasn’t a rejection. 

“Yes. I want to try. Because for all that time you spent looking up to me, I was looking up to you. It seems as though we’ve been looking for each other for so long, and we just didn’t know what we were looking for. And if you are willing to be with me, I don't think I could bring myself to not be selfish and say no.”

That’s when eijirou stood, and leaned over izuku, pressing a soft kiss to his lips, before pulling away. “Thank you, Izuku.” there was red on his cheeks, despite his confidence. 

Izuku smiled, all of his negative thoughts were gone and replaced with Eijirou. 

They stayed like this and talked for some time, before Izuku went back to sleep. A nurse came to check up on him not long after, and informed them that Izuku was eligible for discharge, though he’d need supervision over the next few days, and he couldn’t drive while on medication. Eijirou volunteered to supervise and drove Izuku back to his apartment to grab some clothes before heading to kirishima’s. (He insisted after seeing the lack of food in Izuku’s kitchen) He had a spare bed, and food so it should be comfortable for the both of them. 

Izuku’s concussion was mild, and the doctors said it was safe for him to sleep, and there was no danger of coma, so the medication they gave him made him quite drowsy. When they got to the apartment, he almost immediately fell asleep on eijirou’s couch, only to be woken up a few hours later by the smell of something cooking in the kitchen. 

“Eijirou?” He called out. He hadn’t exactly learned the layout of the flat yet. 

He turned around in surprise when eijirou’s voice came from a few feet behind him, ‘You’re awake! I’ve been in the kitchen, I figured you’d want something better than the hospital food you had earlier.” Eijirou smiled, “How do you like Tempura Vegetables? I didn’t really have meat on hand, but i’ll get some when I go out to the store tomorrow.”

“Sounds perfect” Izuku smiled and followed Eijirou to the kitchen. He was still processing earlier developments, but he was not regretting his decisions. This is the most delicious thing he’s ever eaten. And he’s eaten some high end food. Who knew Kirishima could cook. 

They spend the next week together, both taking time off hero work, and bonding. Izuku learned that cooking is something Eijirou used to do with his moms when he was a kid, and he still does it. He has a set day every month that he goes to see them to cook together. Eijirou learned that though izuku is very smart he lacks common sense. He may be able to strategize quickly in a fight, but it took him way too long to figure out how to turn on Eijirou’s shower. Izuku learned that Eijirou's favorite color was not in fact red, but was actually black, and Eijirou learned that Izuku had an emo phase in middle school. 

They grew closer and closer, and though they hadn’t talked about what was said at the hospital, they seemed to fall into a natural rhythm. 

That is, until Izuku was cleared to work again. He was packing his stuff that he had put into the drawers in the guest room when eijirou, who was leaning against the doorway blurted, “Move in with me.”

Izuku wasn’t able to get a word out before Eijirou began talking so quickly even Izuku could barely understand him. “I mean, I don’t want to pressure you into anything it’s just that I said I wanted to show you how you're worth loving and living and that would be easiest with you here right? I mean it’s been so great this past week and I really like you, but you don’t have to agree to be my boyfriend or anything. I just want to keep my promise, and i’ve never connected with someone this way so i guess i’d just miss you…”

When he finally stopped talking, Izuku asked quietly, “Are you sure you want me here?”

Eijirou nodded firmly. “Absolutely.”

“Then I'll stay.”