Running With The Wolves (Shoto Todoroki X Izuku Midoriya)

Chapter 31: How This World Works

As the sun slowly began to climb it's way high above Kilkenny, more and more of it's residents were exiting their homes and prowling out into it's streets. While still in his wooden prison however, Toshinori slept through it all. It may be no pleasant place for him to sleep, but what choice does the poor woodcutter have? But in spite of the uncomfortable position he was unfortunately in, the man was surprisingly able to sleep soundly, loudly snoring away with a line of drool dripping down the left corner of his mouth.

Then all of a sudden, his beauty sleep was rudely interrupted by this light knocking noise, and the feeling of his wooden prison was what shook him awake.

"Blast. Can't a man have some decent sleep in the stocks for once?!"

At first, his blurry vision could make out a dark silhouette. It took some time for his tired eyes to adjust from the tiredness, pulling a hand out of the arm hole just to rub one of them. A few blinks was what did the trick, and his vision was finally cleared.

That's when he realize that the silhouette he saw actually belonged to a person. Even in those boring black and white clothes, with his trusted bird of prey sitting above his shoulder, how could he not recognize the strange boy who keeps visiting him in some odd occasions?

"Good morning to you too, Mister Yagi!" Shoto greeted with the sweetest smile. "Apologies for the rude awakening though."

"Why, if it isn't young Shoto!" Toshinori greeted back as he placed his hand back into the arm hole. "What brings you back here? Especially during this early hour in the morning."

"Let's just say I'd like to introduce you to someone!"

The boy's words left the man raising a brow in confusion, that's until he notices the boy twisting his head a bit just to look over his shoulder.

"It's fine, he's a friend!"

From behind the boy, there timidly stepped out someone the woodcutter couldn't recognize. Possibly due to the dark hood they wore over their head, casting a shadow to hide their face. Whether it be them being cautious or just shy, it took a while later for the cloaked stranger to remove the hood off their head.

And just like that, the wrinkles on his face stretched from a tired expression into a look of complete utter shock, his sunken blue eyes slowly widening and his pointed jaw hung wide open as he sucked in a deep gasp. The woodcutter wasn't certain how long has it been since he last saw them. But even during that long period time, how could he forget those eyes, which shined even more beautifully than a pair of emeralds and hair as green as the forests that surround this town?

"Oh my stars, it's...it's you!" Toshinori gasped in awe. "You were so tiny back then, you could so easily fit into your mother's arms. But now, look at you. Oh, how much you've grown."

"And you're still as old and scrawny as the day me and mama healed your wounds!" The lack of any emotion in the wolfwalker boy's remark made him came of as rude, or maybe he was acting so deliberately.

"Izuku, be nice!" Shoto scolded the other boy while lightly nudging him on the arm with his elbow, which earned him a glare and a pout coming from the other boy.

It was short, but just watching the childish banter between both boys was enough to make the man in the stocks chuckle at the sight. But the amusement just all of a sudden fell into worry the moment he happen to notice the wolfwalker mention his mother.

"I've heard of what happened to your mother, young lad. I'm truly sorry I can't be of any more help to you."

The man's words actually surprised the wolfwalker boy, but the expression only lasted a moment when he calmly said "Mama went off to find us a new place to live, I'm sure she's fine somewhere out there."