Whipped Cream {Sequel to Marshmallow}

Chapter Twenty-Three

A few days had passed since the end of the Sports Festival, and Shouta had finally shed the countries worth of bandages from his body. Izuku has happy for it; he could finally look at his Unkie without a headache of thoughts.

There were still a few, lingering, pinches at the back of his head. Reminders. Still, his red shoes were hidden under his bed. He carefully avoided looking at Kirishima's or Todoroki's hair directly, although his chest tightened when he saw the shade from the corner of his eyes. 

He supposed it wasn't too bad. He could still meet Katsuki's eyes, but the scarlet was just so different. 

It was easy to hide these feelings and taunts away during the day - distracting himself was easy. If he was sat at home and he felt the tickling at the base of his skull, he'd open his analysis books. If he was at school, he'd push himself to the harder task or start up a conversation with Denki. In a car (on the way to or back from school or anywhere else) he'd open up the latest Hero news or ask for the radio to be turned up. At night though, it was more difficult.

He struggled pushing them away as he lay in bed, and numerous times he'd have to get up to check the windows and door was locked; body waking up around the time his Unkie would get back from patrol just to be sure.

The past few nights, however, Shouta hadn't been out for patrol, due to his mummification. If Izuku woke up, he'd hear him in the kitchen, ruffling through marking and papers. He never went out though, he couldn't interrupt the busy man like that. But, he couldn't lie in bed any longer.

He'd awoken from a nightmare of red, "Kill Eraserhead" pounding in his ears and the pile of clothes on his chair looking suspiciously like Fake Mama. So, he'd crawled out of bed and towards the living room, hearing the end of the conversation Shouta had before his phone slammed down. 

"Bastards. Hopefully Lettuce-" 

"I already kn-know." Shouta's eyes flicked to Izuku, as he rolled his shoulder, moving into the room. "Lettuce, it's late, go back to bed." Sighing, Izuku ran a hand down his face and rubbed his eyes. 

"I'm up now, I'm n-not falling back asleep." 

Groaning, Shouta flicked the kettle on and Izuku raised his eyebrow, eyes focused on Shouta's phone. The Principles name flashed. "There's a petition and thr-threats to get me out the Hero course. I know. It went through the sc-school, I was there when Kisan got it." Frowning, Shouta sighed and told the stoat he'd call in the morning, pointing to the seat on the table. 

"Sit." Izuku did, pulling Paws from somewhere, and settling her on his lap. "It's fine, you know, I can ap-apply for internships after school-" Shouta cut him off, Quirk activating in warning. "No more of that talk." 

Shrugging, Izuku slumped slightly and scratched the back of Paws ears. Shouta realised he was wearing that hoodie - and how much different it looked on him now. It was still baggy, but he was no longer under the threat of tripping over the hem as he moved. Shouta set the mug in front the boy, holding out his hand. 

"Marshmallow." With a big smile om his face, Izuku let it drop onto his palm. 

"Marshmallow." 

He laughed, nibbling on the fluffy thing. There was a comforting silence for a while. "I know who started it, I think at least. It's something he'd do." Shouta raised an eyebrow. "Airi. He's still p-pissed from the other year. He wa-was bunked down to 1C, so he's not happy." 

Shouta sighed into his mug, suppressing a groan. "Language." Izuku shrugged, absently counting the Marshmallows. Fifteen. 

"I really do not mind Unkie. If this doesn't wo-work out, Mrs Nozomi say's I could be a professional gymnast." Shouta stood then, glaring at Izuku slightly. "I said no more, Izuku. Heroes face backlash all the time, this is simply people being jealous. After all the work you did, why would you give in to a bunch of bigots." 

Izuku understood his frustration, and he felt it, but the boy knew to be realistic. The video had gone around, and now on national television he had been shown to be defenceless against Todoroki. His skill and how well he'd done in the obstacle course before hand, or fight with Shinsou, hadn't been shown. Japan had chosen to see him as useless. A Quirkless charity case.

"I have a different i-idea." Shouta raised an eyebrow, and Izuku tilted his head away slightly as Paws settled on his shoulder. "If the country get's it's way and I'm no longer represented as a Hero." Red eyes flashed, but Izuku didn't stop.

"I wouldn't have a d-debut, and no one would suspect me. Then kno-know would know when I become an Underground H-Hero."

He grinned. "I'm not giving up. I'm being log-logical."