Glass Heart

Glass Heart - Chapter Twenty-Five

"Hito..." Izuku was careful to approach the conversation topic with delicacy. "Is something going on in your home?"

Hitoshi choked on the water he was drinking in Izuku's room. "I, uhh, no! It's fine." He quickly rebutted, going back to his water to take another sip.

Izuku frowned. "Hito, please don't lie to me." Izuku tried to look threatening, but his pout only made him look cuter. Hitoshi laughed at Izuku's feeble attempt at intimidation. "Hitoshiiiiiiiiiiiiii." Izuku whined, his pout growing when Hitoshi began to laugh.

"Sorry, sorry." Hitoshi said, trying to calm down his laughter, as he wiped away his joy-filled tears. "Okay, I won't laugh anymore, I swear."

Izuku nods. "Good, because this conversation is serious."

Hitoshi felt a bubble of laughter rise up in his throat at Izuku's tone and struggled to keep his expression neutral as he squeaked out. "Y - Yeah? What do you want to know?"

"I want to know what your family has been doing to you, Hito!" Izuku said, and suddenly Hitoshi found it incredibly easy not to laugh.

He turned away. "Nothing. They're fine."

"Don't lie to me Hitoshi!" Izuku said, tears of frustration forming in his eyes. "I've seen you come to school on Monday with new bruises - and I know the bullies hadn't cornered you, because I was the one getting attacked. Clearly someone else has been hurting you. Please just tell me the truth."

Hitoshi looked at Izuku. They'd only been friends for a couple months, but they had already gotten so much closer lately.

He...

Could he trust Izuku?

Hitoshi took in a deep breath.

Yes - yes he could.

---TimeSkip---

Shouta sighed. Another kid. Another kid had shitty parents. Hitoshi - his newest Problem Child. He really hoped it wasn't too bad for Hitoshi, but he'd had doubts from the start. He's just glad after talking to Izuku that Hitoshi found the courage to tell him - with Izuku's persistence being a beneficial help.

Shouta crouched down and ruffled Hitoshi's hair. "Well, it shouldn't be too difficult to separate you from your foster parents, if you're in the system. I'll go visit them later tonight and tell them for now we're using our authority to forcibly remove you from their house. Even if we didn't take them to court - which we will - we'd still be able to get you out of their house."

Hitoshi nodded, tears forming in his eyes. Shouta sighed, and stood, a small smile on his face. He'd have to contact Hizashi for this one. As Luna jumped into Hitoshi's arms, and Hitoshi began to absentmindedly stroke her back for strength and comfort, a thought hit Shouta.

Oh wait.

"Speaking of courts, Izuku your father's case has a court date now. It's in a couple weeks." Shouta said, turning to Izuku. He knew telling the kid would upset him, but he had to. He didn't really have much choice in the matter here.

Izuku froze.

"Would you feel comfortable testifying against your father? If you do, it will make this entire trial a lot easier."

Izuku looked away from Shouta's pleading face, and stared at the floor, a multitude of thoughts flooding through his head. Shouta sighed once again.

"Of course you don't have to if you don't want to. I won't force you kid; no one would force you."

Izuku continued to stare at the floor. "Could I... Could I sleep on it?"

Shouta nodded. "Yeah. Take tonight to think about what you want to do and let me know what you've decided tomorrow morning. Don't stress about it."

Izuku nodded, and Shouta led him and Hitoshi to the couch to watch some Disney movies while he waited for Hizashi to arrive.

God, he needed more ice cream.

New update!!

Hey, it's the 8th of January, and WE'VE PASSED 5K VIEWS!! YAYYYYYYYYYYYY!

*Ahem* anyway.

I really hope you enjoyed the chapter. To be honest, they're slightly smaller than they were before (just short of two pages per chapter when it used to be slightly over two pages) but I hope that doesn't matter too much...

Umm anyways! Thank you guys for all the support! It seems like Hitoshi is currently under the protection of Shouta and Hizashi, and with the court case looming in the nearby horizon - probably will be next chapter - Izuku needs all the support he can get.

I'll see you all again soon!

But for now...

Peachy out! 😊