Trust Falls

Bye, Bye, Bye

Footsteps followed Izuku down the hall but he didn't acknowledge the person until he'd already pushed open the door to his old bedroom and stepped inside.

Kacchan had been right when he'd said that his mother hadn't touched the room. To outsiders it would look like a grieving mother trying to keep the memory of her son alive. Not a thing in the room had been moved out of place from where he'd left it three years ago.

Everything was covered in a thick layer of dust that spiraled up into the air as he stepped further into the room. From every wall and surface All Might's face grinned at him mockingly and he had to take a deep breath to stop himself from tearing at the posters covering every inch of the walls just to be petty.

Behind him, Shouta let out a small hum of surprise as he followed the teen into the room. He paused right behind Izuku, gaze bouncing around the room and taking in the overwhelming amount of merch adorning the walls and shelves of the small bedroom.

There were a few non All Might pieces throughout the room, of course. Shouta's gaze was sure to be drawn to the Present Mic clock radio on his bedside table. Izuku had pondered over a very similar model for a long time when they'd gone shopping for his room in the apartment before apparently deciding against it.

There was a single Endeavor poster in one of the corners of the room. Even before finding out the awful truth about how the man treated his family Izuku had never really been that big of a fan of the man.

Call it an instinct he'd developed to avoid bullies.

Izuku pulled himself out of that depressing thought with a small shake of his head, heaving a small sigh as he made his way over to the long abandoned desk. He grimaced a little as he sank down into the chair, fanning the air around him in an attempt to push away the dust that was floating up into his face at the movement.

"Do you think it's a good idea to leave Kacchan and Dabi alone with her?" He asked idly, breaking the silence and the uncomfortable atmosphere between the two.

Shouta didn't even look away from where he was still assessing a shelf full of figurines, simply raising his shoulders in a small shrug.

"Probably not but I imagine they'll have some very colorful threats to make her think twice about opening her mouth about this visit once we leave." The hero said with a small hum, seeming totally unbothered in the moment.

Said teen just shook his head a little and reached out to open the small cabinet underneath the desk. He was careful as he pulled out the notebooks he'd poured his entire soul into as a child, fingers sliding over their covers reverently as he set them in his lap. He swallowed the lump in his throat, refusing to cry any more today. This was one of the few good things that this visit was going to give him.

Shouta moved silently as he padded across the room. He lowered himself down onto the bed as carefully as he could manage, trying not to kick up any more dust into the air. Izuku purposely didn't look at him for a long moment, knowing what the man was probably thinking right now.

It was a conversation he knew they needed to have. To help his dad understand him a little bit better. To help him understand why what the former number one hero had done that day had cut so deep even beside having his childhood friend tell him to take a swan dive.

He desperately didn't want to relive that conversation, though. It was bad enough typing it all up for the class that day, he didn't think he could fully do it again. Shouta seemed to sense this and stayed silent, waiting for Izuku to either broach the topic or come up with a diversion to delay it once more.

Let it be known that Izuku had never once faced an emotion head on if he could dodge around it. So instead of jumping head first into the explanation of what exactly had happened he turned his attention back down to his lap, adjusting his grip on his notebooks as he shuffled through them trying to find the one he was looking for.

He flipped open the pages of one of his earlier notebooks, glad that this one wasn't in crayon. It was still obviously a child's hand that wrote it but it was in pencil this time and not the bright green crayon of the first two or three of the notebooks.

Finding the page he was looking for, he twisted in his seat to fully face Shouta and held out the notebook to him.

The man reached out and took the object carefully, eyes falling on the sketch of himself with his capture weapon extended. Izuku watched the man's eyes skip around the drawing for a moment, taking in the detail of the pose and the way the scarf was drawn.

The teen managed to stay silent for a few moments before he began to drum his fingers against the other notebooks, eyes darting around the room to avoid looking at Shouta as he began to read the analysis his younger self had poured over for what felt like months.

It hadn't exactly been easy to find any information on the underground hero. He'd lost so much sleep during that particular analysis fixation that his grades had slipped and his mother had cracked down even harder on not letting him go anywhere. It'd been worth it, though!

Now? Now it was the perfect way to segue into the conversation that needed to happen. A way to brush right up against it with enough room to dance away if it was too much.

"I..uh...I saw you take down a villain, once, when I was younger. Maybe 8? I don't remember." Izuku started carefully, keeping his gaze down on his hands and picking at the cover of one of the notebooks to distract himself from the weight settling in his gut. "I'd been chased pretty far by some of the other kids and was hiding in an alley until I was sure they were gone..."

He'd been out there for hours and it was way past the time he'd supposed to have been home. The boy had stayed crouched behind that dumpster for so long that he was almost afraid of going home, honestly, to whatever panic his mother had probably worked herself up into.

"After I saw you, I went online trying to figure out who you were and found out that you fought quirkless..."

Izuku blinked back the wetness building in his eyes, refusing to give in to the emotions swirling in his gut. He could feel the weight of Shouta's gaze on him but he refused to meet his eye, instead turning his gaze back out onto his room and glaring at the All Might posters.

"Of course, being underground and all, I couldn't find any merch for you but you were one of my favorite heroes. You and All Might were kinda what kept me going, you know? Every time someone pushed me, or told me I was better off dead...."

He jumped a little as Shouta reached out to pull him into a hug, notebooks falling onto the floor as he let himself be maneuvered into his arms. His gripped the back of his jumpsuit for dear life and buried his face in the man's chest, shoulders shaking a little under the man's grip as he tried to pull himself together.

"I know I shouldn't have done it. I know it was stupid but I just had to ask him." Izuku mumbled, words almost muffled in his dad's chest. He knew Shouta could hear him, though, by the soothing rumble the man made as he shifted them into a comfortable position sitting on the bed.

Once the words started, he couldn't stop them. They flowed from his mouth just as freely as the tears were beginning to flow from his eyes once more.

"I adored him, dad. I mean, who doesn't, but I latched onto him when I was little as what a hero should look like, you know? I watched his debut rescue over and over again. Mom used to joke that all of the views on the video were mine." He pushed the thought of his mother and that video from his mind, though, and continued on.

Too many memories he didn't ever want to relive, there.

"So when he rescued me from the sludge villain it was my only shot at asking the one question I couldn't ask anyone else. I..." He forced himself to breath, pulling away a little to wipe at his face quickly and a little aggressively.

"He didn't live up to expectations?" Shouta intoned blandly. Izuku was relieved to see a small bit of mischief in his eyes when he peeked up at him.

Izuku snorted and flashed Shouta a small smile, shifting so he was sitting on the bed next to him instead of damn near in his lap.

"I...I just wanted so badly to be a hero. All I've ever wanted is to help, you know? I started these notebooks because I figured if I could break down heroes' fighting styles and strategies it would help, somehow..." Izuku trailed off a little as he leaned down to scoop the notebooks up once more and settle them safely into his lap.

Silence settled between the two of them, not uncomfortable but definitely heavy. Shouta could put the rest together, finally having all of the puzzle pieces to the teenager next to him. Izuku was sure that so much of him and his situation were clear to the man now but strangely he wasn't worried that this was going to be the final straw anymore.

Maybe it was the constant back to back disasters that had befallen him since he'd come to U.A but there was a certainty in his gut now that said Shouta and Hizashi weren't going to abandon him.

It'd been a major worry for him, in the beginning, when he'd seen just how kind and welcoming they were but now? No, they wouldn't do that to him.

He'd finally found somewhere he belonged.

Izuku opened his mouth to suggest that it was time to go. That he was ready to put all of this behind him once and for all. He didn't get the words out, though, because Shouta had shifted to face him, face serious as he made sure Izuku was looking at him properly.

"For what it's worth, kid, you'd make an amazing underground hero if you ever wanted to try." The man rumbled, voice and expression one hundred percent serious as he pinned the teen in place with his gaze.

For a moment Izuku floundered, mouth opening and closing as he tried to process the words coming out of the man's mouth.

"I..." It honestly felt like his brain had shut down for a moment, completely unable to comprehend the words.

Shouta seemed to understand, though, and gently took the notebooks out of Izuku's hand and stood up. Once he was stable on his feet, he held out his free hand to haul the teen up off of the bed with a small smile.

"Just saying. If you ever want to give it a shot, I'm sure Nezu would be up for taking a few swings at the commission for you."

Numbly, the teen nodded and let the man steer him out of the room. He was pulled out of his circling, numb, thoughts by the click of the door behind him and the realization that the chapter of his life he'd lived in that room was now, officially, over.

If he could burn it to the ground without consequence he absolutely would just to make absolutely sure it would never hold power over him again.

But it was against the law and generally frowned upon. Especially by the man that was carefully steering him down the hall with a steady hand on his back.

Maybe later he could convince Dabi to come back? Judging by the look on the man's face as they reentered into the living room, the flame quirked man would probably be up for it.

 Dabi's smile was angry and closer to a sneer than anything else from his perch across from Inko on the sofa. Kacchan didn't look all that happy, either, so Izuku was betting his mother had picked another petty little fight while they'd been in the room. 

Inko's eyes snapped to Izuku the moment he stepped in the door and he felt an unfamiliar annoyance settling in his gut as she glared at him, hands balling up in her lap like she was resisting the urge to strike out at him physically again. 

"Izuku Midoriya I raised you better than this! Associating with this...disgusting trash villain." She hissed, eyes bouncing between Izuku and Dabi in a way that the teenager didn't care for. 

"Well, you didn't 'raise' me to do anything so I guess you are right there." He snapped back, suddenly ready to be out of this situation and apartment.

 He wanted to go curl up and sleep for a week straight and not think about anything that had just happened today. 

"And that 'disgusting trash' is the one who saved my damn life so maybe shut the fuck up about things you don't understand?" 

He almost laughed at the scandalized noise the woman let out. Kacchan and Dabi both didn't even bother hiding their amusement, Kaachan snorting loudly and Dabi out and out laughing in the woman's face. Izuku could hear Shouta behind him heave a sigh before pushing at Izuku's back and directing him towards the front door.

 Time to go, then. 

Dabi and Kacchan took the hint as well, standing up and not even looking at the woman as they moved towards the door. From behind the group, Izuku could hear the woman jump up and start to follow. He turned to glance back at her, brow raised as posture tense. He wanted this to be over, for good.

 "If you walk out of that door, don't you ever come back." Inko said after a moment, gaze dark and voice angry. 

Izuku didn't even look at the others or say anything as he turned back and opened the front door, stepping out and waiting for the sweet sound of the door closing behind them.