Puppet Master

The USJ

*-eep beep beep beep beep* *SLAM*

Eijiro groaned and curled himself further under the covers. There was a brief clicking sound before:

*beep beep beep beep beep*

Eijiro shot up out of bed and slammed his fist down on his alarm clock again. He looked over at Izuku who was making his bed. "Did you resent my alarm?" The boy looked over his shoulder and nodded. Eijiro dropped his head against his chest. Izuku looked down at his uniform. Eijiro sighed and got out of bed to get his own. "What's wrong?"

"M- m- my tie..." Izuku whispered.

Eijiro paused. Oh yeah. That man ripped it. Eijiro swallowed. "Take the one off of your spare uniform." Izuku nodded and did so. "I- I'm gonna g- g- go take a- a shower." Eijiro watched Izuku leave. His stutter was more prominent now which was expected all things considered. Eijiro got dressed and left their room. He stopped in the hallway and looked down to the bathroom.

"What are you doing?" he asked Dad who was standing outside the door. His father looked up and over at him. "Izuku has asked me to stay by the bathroom when he is in it when possible." Eijiro didn't want to know the answer but he asked anyway. "Why?"

"Because he doesn't trust himself to not try anything dangerous in there," Dad stated grimly. "And honestly, I don't either." Eijiro nodded slowly. That hurt. A lot. Eijiro nodded and went into the dining room.

"Good morning, Ei," Mom greeted. Eijiro yawned. "Morning, Mom." He sat in his seat. Dad and Izuku soon came out from the hallway. As they ate, the mood wasn't as lax as it was yesterday. It wasn't necessarily bad or anything, just that they all knew that even after yesterday, that was a rare moment of comfort and things would probably be a lot harder further out. Nights would be longer, too. Whether Izuku was aware or not, the three other people at the table had already mentally prepared themselves for an increase in nightmares and a decrease in overall talkativeness and joy from him. Sadly, there was no way for Izuku to prepare himself for his night terrors or fears. They happened against his will. Even now, Izuku wasn't really eating much, more or less staring at his bowl of cereal.

Eijiro suppressed a sigh. Things don't go to normal after just one day of brief calmness. Especially not after the past few days.

*~Ding -*BANG*- ding-Ding-DING~*

No one commented on the fact that Izuku hit his leg on the table. They were sure that over the next few years, that spot on the table would be worn out from the surprising, and yet not at all surprising number of times the boy would do that when startled at the table.

Mom went over and pressed the intercom. "Ashido, dear?"

"Yes, ma'am!" Ashido's voice came through. "The subway leaves in ten minutes!"

Eijiro and Izuku were already at the door. He opened the door. "See you two later!" Mom and Dad waved. Eijiro nodded. "See you!" Dad came over and knelt down beside Izuku. "Don't forget to breathe, okay? Everything will be fine." Izuku didn't meet Dad in the eyes. Eijiro pat Izuku's shoulder. "Come on! We have hero classes today, it'll be fun!" Eijiro waved. "Bye!"

They just needed to get Izuku moving and the mood would lighten. Keep his mind off of things.

"PHEW!" Mina panted as they collapsed onto the train. "Made it!" Eijiro slouched. "Maybe we should get up earlier so we don't have to rush." Mina and Izuku looked at him with narrowed eyes. Eijiro cleared his throat and sat up. "Okay, first of all, Izuku you don't sleep enough as it is so you of all people have no right to make that face." Izuku looked away. "And Mina, well, yeah. That makes sense."