Little Angel

The Truth

"Izuku." Hitoshi breathed in shock. "You're not quirkless, are you?"

Izuku sighed heavily, as if accepting his fate. "No. I'm not."

"Y-you have...wings!" Hitoshi said, still in shock. Then Hitoshi watched in horror as his friend began to cry.

"I-I do. I'm a f-freak." Izuku wailed, his wings shaking as he sobbed.

"No no!" Hitoshi carefully wrapped his arms around his friend. "Don't say that! I think that your wings are beautiful, but they're hurt. Badly." Hitoshi muttered, inspecting the mangled wings. "You need help Izuku. We need to call someone. I don't know how to help you!"

The moment Hitoshi said this Izuku began to panic. He yanked himself away from Hitoshi, his eyes wide with fear.

"No!" He screamed. "You can't tell anyone! My dad will kill me!" 

Hitoshi's eyes widened at his Izuku's words. 

"What do you mean? Izuku, does...does your dad h-hurt you?" Hitoshi asked nervously. He had no idea what to do. Izuku was scaring him. He might be eight, but he wasn't stupid. He noticed how skinny Izuku was at school. How little he ate, how he flinched at peoples sudden movements. And sure, all that could be easily pinned on the way people treated him at school but now Hitoshi was thinking that there might be more to it. 

"N-no..." Izuku whined. "No. No! He...he loves me! My p-parents l-love me! They do!" Izuku yelled, tears running down his cheeks. "They would n-never...n-never hurt me."

Hitoshi stared at his friend sadly. He had seen this behavior before. He spent four years in an orphanage after his parents died when he was two. He had seen kids like this. Kids who had just gotten out of a bad situation and right into another. He remembered seeing some of them act like this. They would cry and refuse to say anything out of fear of what would happen to them. Some would be angry. Some wouldn't speak, and just sat there in a daze. He hated that this was happening to his best friend. He felt so helpless. What was he suppose to do? He was just a kid. 

"Izuku." Hitoshi said softly, carefully walking a little closer to his trembling friend. "I just want to help you, and to do that you need to tell me the truth. Do either of your parents hurt you?"

Izuku shook his head frantically as he mumbled to himself. "Nononono." 

Hitoshi scooted a little closer to Izuku. 

"It's okay, Zuchan." Hitoshi said soflty, the nickname slipping from his lips too easily. "It's going to be okay. You just need to let me help you. At least let me bandage your wing."

Izuku sniffed, and looked up at him, his constant mumbling ceasing. "You c-can't t-tell anyone."

Hitoshi was conflicted. He knew that someone should know about this, but also he couldn't risk losing Izuku's trust right now. And his wing really needed to be taken care of sooner rather than later. 

"Okay." Hitoshi nodded. "I...I won't tell anyone."

Izuku's eyes brightened, and he let Hitoshi come closer. 

It took Hitoshi thirty minutes to figure out how to bandage Izuku's wing. He had to do a lot of research on his phone so that he made sure he didn't really mess of his friend's wing. He was pretty sure he did something wrong, and Izuku most definitely needed professional help, but for now it would have to do. 

"How does it feel?" Hitoshi asked.

"B-better." Izuku sniffed, and looked up at Hitoshi with watery eyes. "Th-thank you Hitochan."

"You're welcome." Hitoshi said softly, and paused for a moment before speaking again. "You need help Izuku. Help that I can't give you. We need to tell an adult, the police, someone!"

Izuku flinched and began to tremble. "No! I already told you, no one can know. My dad w-will k-kill me if I t-tell someone!"

"Which is exactly why we should!" Hitoshi yelled back. He hated seeing his friend like this. 

"Please Hitochan. Just l-let it go." Izuku whispered softly. "Please? Just for now?"

Hitoshi hesitated for a moment and then nodded miserably. "Okay...okay, but you come to me when you're hurt, you hear?" Hitoshi said, his voice shaking when he realized what exactly he had agreed to. 

Izuku beamed at him. "Thank you so much Hitochan! You're the best friend ever!"

Hitoshi felt awful as he hugged Izuku tight. He had just promised Izuku he wouldn't tell anyone. Why did he do that? Now he was sure to lose Izuku's trust if he told anyone. Oh why did he have to do that? He felt tears run down his cheeks as he wrapped his arms around his small friend. He would just have to do his best to protect Izuku by himself until he could get him the help he needed. He just hoped Izuku would last that long.

>*<

Keigo sat down at his usual spot at the cafe, his fingers drumming against the table. 

"He didn't show?" Dabi, who had just arrived noted with concern.

Keigo shook his head. "No."

"I'm really worried about him." Dabi almost whispered. "I saw him last night and he told me he would be here. Also, that whole fiasco at the school was totally unnecessary." He grumbled.

"Hmm?" Keigo hummed. 

"He let me walk him home." Dabi explained. "But I couldn't shake the feeling that I shouldn't have left him there. I think somethings going on with his home life. Bad things."

"Yeah." Keigo murmured mindlessly. He honestly wasn't paying much attention to what Dabi was saying. He had gotten a call from the Hero Commission earlier that day with orders. They had a new project that they needed his help on. He would have to leave tomorrow. He was upset. He needed to be here to help his little brother. Like Dabi, he was also greatly concerned about Izuku. Something was going on, and it wasn't good. But now he would be leaving and he wouldn't be able to help.

"What is up with you today?" Dabi frowned, looking at Keigo with piercing eyes. "You're acting off. Usually you're all ears when it comes to anything related to Izuku."

"The commission called today." Keigo said softly, staring at the table. "They need me to go back tomorrow. Something about a new project."

"Oh." Dabi said. "Sorry about that. I didn't know. Do you know what the project is?"

"No." Keigo shook his head. "They won't tell me anything, as usual."

"I guess I'll work on finding out what's going on with the baby bird, huh?" Dabi said.

"Yeah." Keigo murmured sadly. He wished he could stay and help his little brother, but unfortunately the commission calls, and he cannot ignore it. He just hoped that Izuku would be okay. 

But deep down he knew that was wishful thinking.