𝙸'𝚖 𝚂𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚍.

~13~

There were times where Shoto wasn't scary. Times where Shoto was the way Izuku remembered. Kind, quiet, childlike, but not scary. Never.

That was only back in high school. Where Izuku would wake up to cuddles and smiles and kisses smothered all over like a dog licking you with his wagged tail and a floppy grin.

He would laugh, his face flushed while Shoto would smile, his hair a mess with the red and white mixing the same way the sunrise would mix with the ocean as his head would hit the pillow, his arms never letting go of Izuku's waist.

They would do anything people see only in cliche movies. Technically inseparable, Shoto always asking where Izuku was when he went to run errands, and Izuku always checking up on Shoto with daily messages, spam calls when necessary, and notes slipped under the door.

But their all time personal favorite was every time before bed, Izuku would sing Shoto to sleep. Shoto's ears would feel blessed, the pure bliss of it all. The feeling he would get was indescribable, all he felt was being free.

He felt like he could fly to the moon and back.

It was a ritual, fluffy blankets and cold air coming from the AC as Shoto and Izuku would laugh and whisper under the covers like little children trying to stay awake while trying not to get caught.

The only source of light however, was a little night light in the corner of the room in the form of a star because Shoto was scared of the dark. Even more scared when Izuku wasn't next to him.

There were other times where Izuku and Shoto would go to this one forest, the huge trees covered the rays of sunlight while they had to be hand in hand to not fall or get lost. They would go sit on the grass and read books, the birds chirping while the breeze flipped the pages when hands weren't holding them.

Sometimes, Shoto would lie down on his bed after a long day at school and let Izuku ramble about anything and everything, his voice lowered to soft mutters while Shoto closed his eyes and concentrated on the words coming out of his mouth and the incoherent words he tried to fill in.

The silence would be replaced with mutters and whispers about hopes and dreams, promises made to never be broken and love that would never drown.

All of those broke. All of those drowned. And then died.

The laughter was replaced with cries.
The kisses and hugs were replaced with bruises and punches.
The mutters and whispers were replaced with yells and screams.
The nightlight was replaced with darkness and fear.

And the promises were pretty lies replaced with ugly truths. So sometimes, both Izuku and Shoto would go to sleep wishing they could go back to the night they first met.

~~~

Izuku remembered the first time he drowned.

Some days, he tried to fool himself. Fool himself into thinking that that memory was just his own imagination. That Shoto would never do such thing. He tried to get the image away from him like the plague—-Shoto's face as Izuku's eyes slowly blurred with dirty bath water.

It scarred him more than the cuts and bruises he got. It scarred him more than the beating he got before he was drowned, the image of his own blood pouring over like red paint.

He didn't remember the reason why, all he remembered was the moment.

"Idiot! You bastard!" Shoto yelled as he slammed his fists right in Izuku's stomach.
Izuku threw up blood, splattered the walls like ball paint.

Shoto huffed, slamming his foot on Izuku's head as he fell to the floor. "Those wild things, trying to take you away. And you let them! Imbecile!"