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“Mmm, you smell different...”
“Well, you've been scenting non-stop for a week and I'm covered in cum so...”
Katsuki smiled against the back of Eijiro’s neck, pulling him closer like his back wasn’t already flush against his chest, “no, dumbass, it’s not that. You smell..,” he inhaled, hovering over the sweat gland on his mate's neck, “sweeter...”
“Well I did just come off my heat, Kats, and you’re still inside me.”
The Alpha hummed, hands softly rubbing up and down Eijiro’s stomach while licking at the gland. Enjoying the soft sigh and Omega purr.
Before they could even think about getting out of bed, Katsuki started to shallowly rock his hips, telling his mate he wouldn’t be going anywhere. At last not for another few minutes.
Eijiro sighed happily, smiling while he rolled his eyes, knowing his insatiable mate couldn’t see. Even though they had spent a week fucking, it wasn’t too much of a strain for Eijiro to lift his leg and rock his hips to meet Katsuki's, softly moaning as the fat knot tugged at his swollen lips.
After roughly ten minutes of moaning each other's names, licking at scent glands, and meeting the other's rhythm, they were coming down from yet another shared orgasm, officially ending their rut/heat week.
The rest of their morning was set by their domestic routine. First they showered, tried to not get too distracted (and fail), then breakfast. Which consisted of eggs, bacon and a protein shake--they worked off a lot of calories being pro heros and since Eijiro had a shift today, he needed all the energy he could get.
It wasn’t abnormal for Katsuki to have his hands all over his mate, so when he groped the plump ass, crowded him when he was washing dishes, and even slid his hand down Eijiro’s front until his fingers were coated in what little remained of their slick and cum combination just so he could lick it off with a happy Alpha purr--Eijiro thought nothing of it.
What was odd was how much Katsuki wanted his mate to stay home. Katsuki isn't the type to be clingy. Stubborn? Sure. Selfish? Absolutely, but he always gave Eijiro his space and was usually too embarrassed to cling. They were pro hero’s after all, being clingy and overbearing wouldn't translate well and would just make their lives frustrating; kind of like how it's going right now.
“I have to go Kats, I can’t just call in because you’re horny.”
“M’not.” He argued with a pout as he rubbed his cheek against Eijiro's neck, “I’m not just horny I just--I don’t know, I really don’t want you to leave.”
Eijiro sighed, smiling at his dumb Alpha while butterflies swirled in his chest. He knew he would be the only one to ever see this soft side of Katsuki and he really wanted to bathe in the affection even after his mate was more than doting this past week--he really couldn’t get enough.
But he had a job to do and he liked being a hero.
“I’ll be back before you know it,” he smiled, cupping Katsuki’s cheeks so their eyes could meet, “don’t forget the laundry.” He laughed as Katsuki rolled his eyes, kissing him on both cheeks before planting a firm one on his lips, exiting promptly before his mate convinced him to call out of work.
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Red Riot’s patrol wasn’t anything crazy, a few hooligans here and there, mostly old ladies who needed help across the street and the occasional purse snatcher. It was the perfect amount of work to help him ease back into the swing of things after his heat.
He was almost done, on his way back to the agency when the Villain decided to knock right into him, sending him flying into a nearby building. His partner was only a block away, moving as quickly as possible to come to his aid, but the Villain was on some sort of mission that involved directly attacking the hero.
Eijiro was fine due to his hardening, even as the Villain landed hit after hit, he blocked it with his unbreakable forearms.
“I can smell youuuuu,” the Villain sang as they laughed in a way that made the hair on the back of the his neck stand up. Eijiro noted that the Villain could be using a quirk enhancer, seeing as their sense of reason and rationality was nowhere to be found as they smacked against him while he remained in unbreakable mode. What was their quirk? He couldn't tell, if they were using it as they just released punch after punch.
Every hit wedged him deeper into the rubble, making it harder and harder for him to move without releasing his quirk. What did they mean though, about how he smelled? He had scent blockers on and was taking suppressants--it was required when working as a pro hero, making it so Alpha Villains couldn’t use Alpha Will if they found an Omega on patrol.
Maybe they could smell Katsuki on him. His mate sure loved to over-scent him sometimes.
Another hit to his forearm had him snapping out of his internal questioning. He shook his head, trying to devise a plan to get out from underneath the villain. As the Villain pulled back to connect another hit, he released his quirk for a fraction of a second, just to get out of the mold he had created in the rubble and within that split moment the Villain’s quirk activated, revealing a large metal rod shooting out of their palm, piercing him right in the abdomen and through his back.
Shockingly, the pain wasn’t the first thing Eijiro felt. No, the burning and tear of his skin, his organs and the blood that spilled past his lips would come as an afterthought.
It was the wailing of his Omega that had him crying out as if a bond had been ripped away from him.
And then it was cold and black around the edges of his vision. There was fire under his skin and strain in his muscles in his stomach, his back, and in his chest. The last thing Eijiro saw was the smiling face of the Villain above before his vision tunneled and he was swallowed in black.
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╚═══ -ˋˏ *.·:·.♫.·:·.* ˎˊ- ═══╝
When you are dreaming, even if you are running at full speed, sometimes it may feel like there are shackles at your feet while the gravity surrounding you only serves to slow you down. And when it seems like you have somewhere to be or someone to get to, it becomes even harder to push through.
Katsuki wishes he were dreaming. His legs feel like they weigh a thousand pounds while the air around him became heavier with each step.
The sound of his breath and the panic of his Alpha were so loud, but somehow muffled by the terror of what he was going to find at the end of the hall. The nurse was talking to him and he should probably be listening, but his ears stopped working when he received the phone call that Eijiro had been severly hurt on patrol and was hospitalized.
From that point, all he heard was white noise as he stubbornly hoped that this was all a dream.
But the fluorescent lights pouring down him paired with the mild screech of his shoes hitting the hospital floor and the smell of sterilization and pain made it all too real. He should be listening to what the nurse was saying, but he couldn’t as she pressed on the door, revealing a tube attached to the same mouth he had kissed that very morning and shoulders draped with a white gown, covering the very mark that proved that the body belonged to his mate.
The beeping of the monitor rang like a metronome as Katsuki reached for Eijiro's hand, being careful not to jostle the wires and the IV attached to it. He squeezed the limp fingers lightly before reaching up to cup his chin, thumb grazing at a bruised jaw line and a scratched cheek as hot tears trekked down his cheek.
He’s alive and that’s what matters. Even though his Alpha complained, upset that he had failed to protect the very thing he loved the most.
He's alive and that's what matters.
They’re pro hero's, this happens sometimes. They aren't immune. Katsuki tells himself, his Alpha, this over and over. Even as the anger settles in his stomach and chest, wanting to burst through his hands and latch onto the Villain who dared--
He was alive and that’s what matters.
The metronome ticked in his head, proof that his mate was still here, was still going to go home with him and that's what matters.
The nurse said something before she left, but Katsuki couldn’t hear past what he saw. Only able to note the monitor, the rise and fall of Eijiro’s chest and the feel of his skin under the tips of his fingers. He sat on the edge of the bed, staring at Eijiro’s blanket covered torso. Knowing, feeling the presence of the nearly fatal injury.
If he had stopped crying it wouldn’t have mattered because a new set of tears were falling like trickling rain as he wished it were him instead.
A soft squeeze of his hand had his eyes connecting with familiar reds under black eyelashes and Katsuki wanted nothing more than to kiss away the hurt that he found there. He saw fear and felt it too, Eijiro was reaching for him while shying away like he was afraid of Katsuki but wanting his touch more than anything. It was confusing, Katsuki was more than willing to shower his mate with whatever he needed, so why did it feel like his mate wanted to run from him?
Katsuki shushed him as he tried to speak, shaking his head no and reiterating that he needed to rest, but Eijiro watched him with tears swelling in his eyes and the Alpha knew that there was something he was missing.
It was no longer fear, but sadness, deep despair and sorrow with an undercurrent of heartbreak that took over Eijiro's scent. Katsuki moved closer, holding Eijiro’s hand while the other tried to send waves of comfort through his fingers combing red locks. He knew he smelled of worry, knew that it probably wasn’t helping, but there was no way to set it aside when Eijiro reached for the mask over his mouth.
The Omega still held the mask close to his chest as he trembled, now struggling to keep his eyes on his mate.
“Breathe,” Katsuki ushered softly as his hand moved from red hair to lay flat on Eijiro’s heaving chest, “breathe, Ei, it’s okay.” Eijiro shook his head as he broke like a castle of sand facing the rising tide.
Katsuki almost didn’t know what to do as Eijiro cried louder than he had ever heard him cry. It did something to his chest, to his stomach, to the wires in his brain and he tried to somehow pull him close but feared hurting him even more. So he waited, with his hand on Eijiro's chest and tried to be strong for him, even while the lump in his throat ached and his eyes burned.
“You’re safe now,” he whispered, too afraid to speak any louder. His voice trembled while he attempted to release a calming scent, knowing it only smelled of sadness and worry.
Eijiro clutched the hand on his chest as the other gripped the mask and he breathed like he was preparing himself for words that he would never be able to take back.
Katsuki remained patient as Eijiro tried to catch his breath while staring at his torso with an expression that the Alpha couldn’t quite pin. The metronome ticked, serving as a measurement of time as the Omega’s breathing calmed and suddenly his face was vacant of emotion. Katsuki’s exterior remained strong while his Alpha’s worry spiked.
“Kats…,” Eijiro’s voice was quiet, strained, painfully broken.
“I’m here, I’m here.”
As Eijiro lifted his gaze from his stomach, Katsuki searched the pain in his mate’s eyes, desperately wanting to do anything to wash it away. But he couldn’t. He knew he could never get rid of the agony that was held within those eyes, within his mate, his Omega, his best friend. When the words found his ears he watched that sorrow spillover Eijiro’s lash line and how his pointed teeth sank into his quivering bottom lip as if he were trying to stop the truth from being true.
And when his Alpha howled, deep with despair while his Omega broke all over again, he felt that his ear drums would be tattooed with the shape of the sounds that spilled past those trembling lips.
“I was pregnant.”
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When a mated pair fights together, their love grows. When a mated pair falls together, their love is tested.
Katsuki remained at Eijiro's side and bared his fangs at anyone who tried to make him leave. There was no way he was moving from his spot at Eijiro's side, even when his back hurt from sleeping in uncomfortable hospital chairs, he was not going to leave his mate.
And Eijiro wanted nothing more than for him to stay, but he battled with the overwhelming insecurity that he had lost the ability to do what Omega’s were gifted to do; to carry pups.
Even while the doctors told him there was a chance he could heal and eventually carry a pup, there was also the possibility that the damage could be too great.
Katsuki still never moved from his side of the bed.
“What if I can never have pups?” Eijiro asked on the seventh day in the hospital, “you deserve an Omega who can--”
“Don’t you dare finish that sentence,” Katsuki snapped, coming to his feet as his fists clenched at his sides, “having pups isn’t everything Ei and you know that.” He glared as Eijiro twiddled with the edge of his blanket, “Look at me--you see this?" He growled as he pulled his shirt down to show off his mating mark, "We aren’t mated to have pups, we are mated because we love each other, right? You didn’t pick me as your Alpha because you just thought I had strong genes, right?”
“No! No! Kats, I--”
“Then knock it off!” Katsuki huffed as anger boiled in his chest, “I’m not going anywhere, no matter what happens, you got that? You're fucking stuck with me Ei.”
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Eijiro never brought up his insecurities about his ability to carry after that. They didn’t go away, he still felt inadequate and undeserving, but it did help knowing that Katsuki wasn’t going to abandon him.
After Eijiro was released from the hospital, he was put on a leave of absence by his agency as was Katsuki and the pair wasn’t allowed to return until they were physically and mentally sound.
A handful of days were spent coiled around each other, scenting, kissing, hugging, reassuring. Katsuki wouldn’t leave Eijiro’s side, which was fine unless he had to take a shit. Some things were just better left private.
After six months, Eijiro had to work through his fear of being a hero again, contemplating adjustments to his hero suit but coming up short, unsure of how he would be able to use his quirk effectively while being covered in clothing. It was natural to be uneasy about having his scarred torso exposed. Hatsume insisted that she would figure something out, taking blood and skin samples from him so she could possibly make a fabric that hardened with his skin. He was somewhat hopeful but more skeptical than anything.
What if he was done being a hero?
“Then you’re done,” Katsuki answered simply.
“But I like being a hero.”
“Do you mean liked?”
Eijiro frowned, picking at his piece of bacon, “I still do…I think…”
“It’s okay if you don’t Ei.”
“But if I don’t that means I’ve lost two things instead of just one…”
“You haven’t lost anything,” Katsuki argued, arching a brow as Eijiro’s gaze met his, “you’re still the badass, sturdy hero, Red Riot. You’re still a beautiful and strong as hell Omega. And you’re still my mate, my perfect mate.” Eijiro shook his head, trying to will away the blush that spread across his cheeks as his lips curved up at the corners.
Katsuki was right and he wasn’t going to argue, even though he knew he had lost the courage to put on a hero suit and the confidence in being a worthy enough mate.
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Katsuki’s first rut after the incident was a rather unique one. He wasn’t his normal overbearing self nor did he need to knot Eijiro every waking second--he was quite calm actually. Granted they did fuck all throughout the night, but now Katsuki was seemingly satiated and it had only been day two.
Eijiro and his Omega took this as a sign that maybe Katsuki was losing--
“No.” Katsuki murmured.
Eijiro swallowed, lifting his head from laying on Katsuki’s chest so their eyes could meet, “no? I didn’t say--”
“I can smell it on you. You’re stuck with me, remember? Now calm down and watch the damn movie.”
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Another month had passed and Eijiro was preparing for his heat while also mustering up the courage to officially return to work afterward. Hatsume, after endless nights of texting Eijiro in the wee fucking hours and asking him to come in multiple times, had finally created a fabric that moved with his quirk.
He could be a hero again and while he was excited to do something other than hide in his house, fear still stuck to him like velcro. It made him nauseous, sometimes to the point where he would throw up. Katsuki suggested they go to the doctor, but Eijiro reassured that he was fine, it was just his nerves and the approach of his heat.
A few more days had passed and his nausea hadn’t subsided. He was nervous, sure, but he didn't think he was throwing-up-everything-he-ate-nervous.
“That’s it. We’re going to the doctor Ei, something isn’t right. No, no more fighting me.”
Eijiro sighed, hating going to the doctor, but couldn't find a proper excuse to keep him from going and admittedly he was starting to get worried. What if it was something that was a result of the incident? He swallowed and stared out the window his passenger door, really not wanting to throw up in the car.
When they arrived at the doctor's office, Eijiro had to throw up twice before they could take him back. He hadn’t even eaten anything. How was there anything in his stomach to throw up?!
“Are you on any medication?”
“No.”
“Have you been eating healthy?”
“Somewhat.” Katsuki chimed in, sticking his tongue out as Eijiro glared at him.
The doctor smirked, eyebrow lifting at Eijiro, “is that true?”
“He ate a pickle with peanut butter yesterday.” Eijiro shot his mate with a look of betrayal, prompting the blond to laugh without remorse.
“Interesting…,” the doctor trailed, “and your heat? You were expected to start soon, is that correct?”
“Yes. It's starting off slower than my past heats though.” Eijiro shifted, picking his nails as the doctor scribbled something on his clipboard after he asked about Katsuki’s last rut.
The Doctor requested some lab work and a urine sample, hinting that he had a few things he thought it could be but that it would be better to hold off on details until they got the tests back. It was only a few days until they were back in the office, anxiously holding each other's hands after spending the last 72 hours trying to not stress.
Katsuki felt a little unsettled when the Doctor came in with a smile on his face. Taking his time asking how they were doing, repetitive answers about Eijiro’s nausea and weird eating habits.
“Well, there’s nothing wrong with you,” Katsuki and Eijiro let out a sigh of relief, smiling at each other, “and congratulations.” Their smiles fell, wide eyes watching the Doctor tuck his clipboard underneath his armpit, lacing his fingers in front of him, “you’re 6 weeks pregnant.”