Izuku's Tangles

Reprise

Late into the night, Izuku was woken up abruptly by his dad. Izuku shot up thinking it was the stranger trying to steal his hair. Clenching the long strands close to his chest, Izuku took a moment to look behind his dad to the closet door. He sighed in relaxation, the door was closed.

Dad followed his gaze to the door, then back to him. Izuku forced himself to laugh attempting to fill the awkwardness. Dad sat down beside Izuku's legs, smiling.

The darkness gave him a weary feeling, the shining hallway lamp cast a shadow onto his face. It made his eyes and nose the only visible features.

Izuku bunched his legs close to his chest, shielding his vulnerability from the man in front. If he made the tiniest wrong move, his dad could figure out there was a stranger in the room with them. Might it be a misuse of words or an odd sound from the closet, his dad will know.

"Izuku," dad said, weaving his soft hand (which originally had callouses) through Izuku's green locks. Izuku nodded, moving his hand to cover his dad's, hoping to distract him from the quietness in the room.

"I know you will hate me saying this, but I have to leave."

"W-what?" Izuku blurted out, taking in words he didn't believe.

"I'm really sorry son," dad pressed a hand on top of Izuku's knee which was still covered with blankets. "It's an emergency with work, I can't miss it."

"O-oh okay, I understand," Izuku mumbled, hugging his legs. As much as he wanted his dad to leave him alone so he could figure out what to do with the stranger, he didn't want him to go. "How long?"

Dad hummed in thought for a few moments. "I believe a day from now. Meaning, I'll be back next morning."

"Really?" Izuku grinned, "that's not long at all!"

Dad smiled with a small chuckle. "It really isn't."

"It's only," Izuku glanced at the digital clock on his bedside table, "2 am now."

"Indeed it is. Well, I should let you go back to bed, but before I do. I have a few rules I want to talk to you with."

Izuku bit his lip to conceal the murmurs of his apprehension.

"It's not a lot, but it's very important you follow them to the word. Understand me?"

"I do."

"Good, the rule is you cannot leave your room while I am away."

Izuku's eyes widened. Huh?

"Wait really? You're serious?"

Dad stared, eyes unblinking. Izuku scratched his hand because of his anxiety building up inside his gut. "This has never happened before. Izuku mumbled.

"Correct, it hasn't," Dad frowned, casting a glance behind him. Izuku followed his eyes to only find him looking at the closet door.

Fear quickly replaced his gut feeling of pure nerves with a sickening sense of dread. "Dad!" Izuku yelped, jumped up from his position on the bed and fell into the arms of his dad. His dad took a split second to fix his arms so that Izuku wouldn't just fall off the bed. "Woah!" Dad began, wrapping his limbs securely around Izuku's back. "Why did you do that?" Dad said gently.

"Um, I don't know. I uh I guess I'll miss you." Izuku managed to express, inwardly cringing at himself. "Awe Izu! I'll miss you so much," Dad exclaimed, squeezing Izuku's body tightly. Izuku forced himself to laugh, hoping he distracted his dad from analyzing the closet.

"I just want to give you one more hug before you go to your job," Izuku explained, closing his eyes for one second and shifting his head so that it was on his dad's chest. "I'm flattered," Dad smiled.