THE SINS OF THE FATHER (BnHA Dad for One AU) | Second Book

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED SEVENTY THREE: Distraction

Izuku stared blankly at the mirror in front of him, the color of his eyes dulling to an almost grayish green hue as he stared at the countless bruises on his exposed torso.

Some of them were still slightly new, still retaining a slight red color, while most of them were already beholding a bluish black and blackish hue, though none of them couldn't have been older than three or four days.

Izuku never really realized it since he felt so relieved to have finally gotten to talk to his brother every night since that day, but after that first time Sir Nighteye raised his hand against him, he had to suffer through physical beatings from him multiple times every day.

Izuku supposed his mind had just blocked the memories of the experience in favor of the more pleasant ones.

His gaze slowly inclined further down, until he just found his head facing down at the edge of the counter in front of him, and before he knew it, his eyes had began to water again.

Despite the tears, however, his face did not contort, and somehow, even the tears in his eyes couldn't manage to make his irises glimmer a brighter color. It was as though he just felt empty, nothing. The tears he was shedding was just something he thought to squeeze out of him.

What is this feeling?

"--Izuku?" A familiar voice suddenly called out to him accompanied by a couple of knocks to the door.

"Are you alright there? You're taking a while." The voice continued to check on him.

Izuku's eyes finally managed to sparkle again and saturation finally came back to them as he looked over to the bathroom door, and saw the visage of the person he trusted the most. His brows furrowed upwards, and the corner of his lips curled down as he began to haphazardly wipe away the tears in his eyes with the back of his hands, before grabbing the towel on a nearby rack and continuing to wipe his face with it.

"I-I'll be out in a second." Izuku answered his brother.

He then grabbed the red sleeved white shirt with a red neck hem that was placed on top of a small table, and finally wore it.

Then after patting his hair dry even more to make sure he'd gotten rid of most of the moisture he could remove from his hair, Izuku approached the door, and walked out the bathroom.

He was greeted by the slightly worried expression of his older brother, but Izuku just smiled meekly at him.

"So what's for dinner tonight?" Izuku asked his brother as he put on a bigger smile than he had before.

Tenko shook his head slightly, as if to momentarily shake off the worries he had a moment ago, then he smiled at his little brother and he implored him as he and Izuku began their leave for the dining room, "Take a guess."

Izuku decided to play along, grabbing his chin with his fingers and pretending to think hard about the answer.

Then he hummed and finally gave his answer with a bright smile, "Is it katsudon?"

Tenko just chuckled then he slightly messed up his little brother's hair, "Good job, you got it in one try."

Izuku then chuckled along with his brother.

~~~

Monday morning at 1-A's dorms, and Izuku had just finished preparing for morning classes when he finally received a call from his dad regarding his brother. He had been expecting some good news, but he was only disheartened by what he heard.

"I'm sorry, Izuku, but there's nothing I can do to help you right now." Hisashi profusely apologized to his youngest son.

Izuku couldn't help but bite the inside of his cheek as he heard that. He tightly grasped his bedsheet under his hand in frustration while he just remained silent for a few seconds as he felt useless.