The Forest Thing

Chapter 10: The sports festival conclusion

Panic.

Izuku had been watching Katsuki and Tokoyami fight when he sensed a strong wave of panic, anger, and sadness.

But he didn't recognize the source of the distress. Did that make sense? probably not.

Izuku can usually tell who's panicking by the way their panic feels if he's felt them panic before. This definitely wasn't Katsuki, but he knew it was one of the students.

The forest thing jumped into action, following his senses as he ran inside, leaving a few confused students behind, wondering why the 'dog' had taken off so fast.

Izuku ran through the maze of hallways, desperately searching for the person who seemed like they were having a panic attack.

He ran through the hallways, taking turn after turn, but unable to find the right place within this maze. It frustrated Izuku to no end. He just wanted to comfort the panicking student, was that too much to ask?

Unfortunately, Izuku got lost and couldn't find the person before the sense of panic withered away and Izuku lost the trail.

If Izuku had hands right now, he would probably punch the wall in frustration, and if Katsuki saw he would mockingly scold him for having poor anger management. The little shit.

He probably should have looked to see which students were missing before he left, that would have been a smart move. Good job, Izuku.

The forest thing sat in the middle of the hallway, the sudden appearance and disappearance of the panicking person playing over and over in his head. They had disappeared so quickly as if they got in a car a drove off. It was possible that they had gotten in a car and left, but Izuku didn't know how they could get out of the maze-like building so fast.

Along with confusion, Izuku felt guilt. He knew it was his job to help the students, especially the nervous ones. It was the whole reason he was given the job in the first place, he could sense the distress coming from the students. How had he gotten so distracted? How many people would be disappointed in him for letting a student have such a bad panic attack alone?

The sound of cheering and loud voices broke Izuku from his spiral. That's the sound of midnight announcing the winner of the sports festival and he was missing it.

That morning he had promised Katsuki he would stay and watch him fight, stay and cheer him on. He couldn't even keep that simple promise, how could he do any other job correctly?

Ignoring the feeling of growing anxiety inside his chest and pushing back the thoughts of being forced to return to the forest he had left over 7 years ago, Izuku makes his way back through the maze of hallways and out to the field in the middle of the stadium to see who had won the sports festival.

As he stepped out of the building and into the almost blinding light of the sun, Izuku could see a few figures standing on top of 3 separate podiums.

On the 3rd place podium stood Tokoyami and Dark shadow, looking dark and mysterious as ever.

On the 2nd place podium stood Izuku's angry pomeranian son, Katsuki. He looked disappointed and angry as always, but Izuku was incredibly proud of him for getting 2nd place.

And last but not least, standing on the 1st place podium, Shinso. Izuku had never interacted with the lilac boy but from what he's seen of him, Shinso always has a look of apathy spread across his features and bored, tired eyes. Izuku thought he and Aizawa were quite similar in that aspect.

But now, the look of apathy was replaced by a proud smile, however faint it may be, a smile lopsided and dorky, it was one of the most delightful smiles Izuku has ever seen on a person. Too bad the boy didn't smile much.

New quest: Make Shinso Hitoshi smile.

__________________________

To say that Katsuki was pissed would be an understatement.

He had lost. He had lost to Eyebags. The stupid Eraserhead wannabe.

Even after that extra Ojiro told him to not answer anything the purple-haired freak said, he couldn't stop himself. The extra got on his nerves. He pretty much made it his mission to make Katsuki angry. He got so angry he forgot the warning, which is how the mind control freak got into his head and did to Katsuki pretty much exactly what he did to Todoroki.

Katsuki was so angry he, once again, didn't notice the big 'dog' barreling towards him until it was too late and he was being crushed by the forest thing for the second time that day.

"Not again- Izuku, get off!" He yelled as he tried to shove the 'dog' off him, but he didn't budge. And what's worse, the crowd, along with the teachers and his classmates, were all laughing and awing as the being they thought was an excitable dog, tackled him down and pinned him to the ground.

"I swear, you're going to regret this-!" Katsuki's threat was cut short by a big paw landing directly on his face. What an asshole.

___________________________

Izuku sat on Katsuki's bed reading a book he couldn't be less interested in. The only thing that made the moment enjoyable was the glare he was receiving from the angry blond sitting at the desk across the room.

The corners of Izuku's mouth twitched up into a smug smile as he turned his attention to his kid. "What's wrong, Dynamight? Cat got your tongue?"

"I'm gonna kill you." Was the only answer. An almost disturbingly calm answer.

"Haven't we had this conversation before? I'm pretty sure I've made it clear that you can't kill me. Well... Not on purpose. I actually thought I was gonna have a heart attack while watching you fight today, and I don't even know if I have a heart. Check my pulse!" Izuku grabbed Katsuki's hand, holding to the spot on his neck where a pulse should be.

Growling, Katsuki snatched his hand back from the forest thing, glaring harder now. "I'm going to get you back for what you did at the sports festival!"

Izuku's grin widened, one could only describe it as shit-eating. "I don't know what you're talking about, I didn't do anything."

With another growl, Katsuki runs at Izuku in an attempt to tackle him like the shorter had done to him twice within 6 hours, only for the forest thing to hop out of the way as if it were nothing. Katsuki may be fast, but Izuku is faster.

Izuku looked down at the blond, who is now laying on the bed after he attempted tackling him, and throws the blankets over him, pinning the blond down, again. Katsuki needs to work on thinking things through before jumping in.

"Son of a bitch" Katsuki glares from the bed, knowing he's been defeated. Knowing from experience when Izuku has bested him. It's not wise to wrestle with the forest thing.

The greenette smooths out the blankets, the same smug expression still plastered on his face. "Incorrect. I don't have parents, I'm a son of no one."

"Smartass."

Izuku just laughed softly, smiling widely with all his sharp teeth on display. Gosh, he loves this kid.