Izuku woke up the next morning with a groan. He was impossibly comfortable, except for the sharp pain in his head and shoulder. He didn't want to wake up and deal with it, just snuggled deeper into his heat source and willed the pain to go away.

"Good morning puppy." A gruff voice said, startling Izuku and making his head hurt worse. He recognized the voice and was surprised that Hitoshi was still there after last night.

"Sh, my head hurts." Izuku whined in return. He was in to much pain to care that he was snuggled into Hitoshi's chest.

"Shit, I probably shouldn't have let you sleep then. You might have a concussion." Hitoshi said, thinking it'd be a good idea to get his head checked out. He tried to get up, but earned a whimper from the boy laying on him.

"Please stop, everything hurts." Izuku said, just wanting the pain to go away. He wasn't exactly new to pain, but that didn't mean he was a fan.

"I know, but you need to get checked out." Hitoshi said, carefully running a hand through Izuku's hair. It couldn't have hurt to bad because he was leaning into the touch. "By someone with more expertise than me." He continued.

"But you're good at all that medical stuff, right?" Izuku asked, his voice soft so he wouldn't hurt his head more than necessary.

"A little? I don't know much, just enough to fix up your shoulder, but your head is another story. I can't really compare it to a stab wound or gun shot." Hitoshi said, a bit awkwardly.

Izuku slowly looked up, knowing that if he moved to fast, he'd feel a spike of pain in his temple. "Do you treat those a lot?" Izuku asked, curious about his life being in the mafia.

"Whenever I get them and can't get to a medic, or I'm just to lazy." Hitoshi said with a shrug. He was usually really exhausted when he got injured, so he didn't feel like going all the way to Tsuyu to get treated.

Izuku softly gasped at the answer. "How many times have you been shot or stabbed?" He asked skeptically, thinking it wasn't possible for the number to be to high.

Chuckling at Izuku's response, Hitoshi said, "More times than I can count."

Izuku's eyes widened at his answer. "No way, how would you even be alive right now?" He asked in child like wonder. He was a bit loopy from sleep and his injuries, so he wasn't exactly thinking clearly.

Hitoshi raised his eyebrows at the slight challenge. "C'mon, sit up and I'll prove it." He said.

Izuku slowly and steadily sat up, using Hitoshi's outreached arm for support. Then nearly died when he slipped his shirt off over his head.

"What're you-" The question died in his throat when he took an actual look at what Hitoshi was trying to show him.

His entire upper body was littered with scars, big and small.

"Whoa." He said, his eyes transfixed on the raised skin. He cautiously reached out and traced over a particularly large scar on Hitoshi's abdomen. He hadn't even realized he was doing it.

"I got that a year or two ago. A rival gang though it'd be a good idea to jump in an alley. They got a few solid hits in, but they definitely didn't win. I don't usually travel alone." Hitoshi explained, seeing the questioning look burning in Izuku's eyes as he looked over the many battle wounds he had.

Izuku moved his fingers to a circular scar on Hitoshi's shoulder.

"You can actually thank Todoroki for that one." He explained with a small chuckle.

Izuku's eyes widened further as he continued tracing the mark. "He shot you?"

"In all fairness, I was being kind of an idiot." Hitoshi said, sounding almost sheepish. "One of my guys was suspected to be a mole and the reason another on of us was killed and I was kind of- well livid. I was about to kill him myself without any actual evidence. I wouldn't actually listen to reason until Todoroki pulled the trigger." He explained.

"Where any other ones made by your own men?" Izuku asked, briefly looking up and making eye contact, before going back to the marks.

He pointed to a large scar on his side, "Bakugou was having to much fun with a blow torch."

Izuku's eyes widened. "Kacchan burned you with a blow torch?!" He asked, completely appalled. That was definitely intense.

"Not on purpose, don't think that low of him." Hitoshi clarified, slightly amused. "He welds a lot, and I apparently snuck up on him, scaring the living shit out of him. It was funny until he melted my skin off." He said, wincing at the memory of the pain.

Izuku felt absolutely terrible that that had happened to him and had started to subconsciously lightly rub the burn scare while looking up at him. "You've really been through the ringer, huh?" He asked softly.

"You have no clue." Hitoshi breathed out, getting caught up in Izuku's emerald eyes.

Izuku hadn't noticed his intense gaze yet, still to intent on tracing over every scar in sight, wishing he could have prevented them somehow. Hitoshi didn't rush him, just let him figure it out himself.

"What'd you me-" The question was never fully asked.

When Izuku looked up, he was cut off with a pair of lips.

Hitoshi was going to wait, to let Izuku be the one to make the first move, so he wouldn't scare him. He was going to. But then he just couldn't. Izuku looked like he wanted nothing more than to take away all the pain Hitoshi had felt during his life. He couldn't help when he leaned forwards and connected their lips.

To Hitoshi's surprise...

Izuku was actually kissing back.