Izuku's Tangles

Campfire

"Can we take a break?"

The hills and roots did wonders for his physical health; Izuku was exhausted, but he pushed forward.

Hitoshi mostly had to stop and let Izuku catch up.

They were at the edge of the forest, Hitoshi kept on saying.

Each step was tiresome on its own.

Izuku groaned and sat down on a stump with the sun beating down on his skin. Hitoshi put his hands on his hips and narrowed his eyes. "Fine."

Hitoshi went to sit next to Izuku but could not do so since Izuku had taken the space to put his hair down to prevent dirt from getting in it. He looked around and saw a log some distance away.

He trekked over in long strides. One misstep; he lodged his food under the poking root and stumbled forward. Hitoshi thrust his foot out, nearly taking the whole plant with him.

"Toshi!" Izuku yelled, rushing over to him.

The momentum threw Hitoshi off balance, scrambling back. In an act to save his soul. He hooked his foot around a second root coming from the side.

This was the wrong move. Instead of falling on his ass. He fell on his side, landing directly on the side of his ankle.

"Fuck," Hitoshi groaned, feeling every bruise.

"Toshi!" Izuku rushed to his side, hands hovering.

"Shit- I think I sprained my ankle." Hitoshi grips his leg, sitting up. "It really fucking hurts."

It wasn't mangled, thank God. If it was, it would've been broken.

Sparks of strained pain shot up his spine. Twitching at the pain, Hitoshi cursed.

"My ankle hurts. I'm so sorry. I can't show you things. SHIT!" Hitoshi smacked the ground.

"No, no, no, don't panic!" Izuku exclaimed, "I can heal you!" He pulled his hair to his hands and sat closer to Hitoshi's ankle.

"W-with," he grunted, "your hair?"

"Yes! Remember how I'm so protective of it? It's because my powers reside in my hair. All I have to do is wrap my hair around your ankle and sing a song, and you'll be healed."

"What-"

"Just let me do it." Izuku runs his hair under the ankle, gently lifting it by the shin. Hitoshi cursed, twitching away from the pain. "Just do it!"

Izuku nodded quickly, racing to wrap his hair around the injury. "Okay, here it goes."

It was a challenge to do so without an instrument because he needed the tempo to help channel the powers. He clenched his fists and banged them into the ground, trying to create a base.

Hitoshi was quiet as Izuku sang the lyrics, utterly in awe of his singing.

His green hair pulsed a neon green, starting from the top and weaving to the edges. A flash of light formed at his ankle; the pain ebbed away. A throb, a pulse, and then nothing.

The last line ended with the light flowing back to the crown of Izuku's head.

"What the?" Hitoshi choked out, staring at his painless ankle.

Izuku giggled, rolling his eyes. "My dad had the same reaction. Well, maybe not the same. But close. He had a huge smile."

Hitoshi didn't respond, still at a loss of words.

Izuku unravelled the hair and pressed a hand to the ankle, forcing pressure on it. Hitoshi began to flinch, not ready for the incoming pain. He stared in awe. It was healed.

"It feels normal."

"Perfect! I still got it!" Izuku cheered, pumping his fist in the air.

"Is this why you're so protective of it?"

"Mhm, if I lose my abilities, I won't be able to heal my dad."

"You have to heal him?"

Izuku manoeuvred himself so that he was shoulder to shoulder with Hitoshi. "Yeah, he comes home sometimes with injuries and it's my job to heal him."

"Woah, that's a lot of responsibility."

"Sure is! But I like it. Every time I do it, I feel needed." Izuku smiled, weaving a hand through his hair. Stopping at a particular knot, Izuku used his nails to pull out the hair. Hitoshi shook his head; taking the hair in his hands, he gently brushed out the knot.

Izuku watched as he did it. Resting his head against Hitoshi's shoulder, he smiled.

"You called me Toshi. Is that a nickname?"

Izuku flushed in embarrassment, "y-yes! Uh, if you'd like?"

"I like it."

Silence surrounded the two. The sounds of the forest brushed past their ears, encasing them in a mystical world. Birds chirped, leaves scuttled against each other, and wind blew through the trees.

"What's the real reason why you were near my house, Toshi?"

Hitoshi allowed his mouth to run wild. He explained it all. His parents, his quirk and the bullying at school, him trying to get into U.A., spending time in the forest and finding the house. He explained in extra detail whenever a term came up that was odd. Like, heroes and villains. It took him a while to make Izuku grasp the idea that there were heroes and villains, actual real-life people. Not like fictional characters, being a hero was a genuine job choice.

"At the diner, people were talking about a villain attack, in which heroes stopped them. Does that mean it wasn't fictional? That actually happened?"

Hitoshi nodded, "yeah."

"Why didn't you say anything about it?"

He sucked in a breath, "I didn't want to talk about it as my dreams were crushed because of the heroes."

"You want to be a hero?" Izuku asked.

"Wanted," Hitoshi emphasised, "my quirk won't allow me to."

"What? You saved me earlier. That's what heroes do! I think, from what my dad said, that's what they do." Izuku's dad never went into much detail

about heroes, only saying they are meant to save people in the stories. At one time, Izuku found a book that Dad brought home from the store. The story talked about a hero and a villain. Dad explained it was mythology.

"Yeah, I did. But to get into the hero course in U.A., you need to pass a test where you fight robots." Hitoshi sighed, rubbing his forehead. "I failed it."

"Oh."

"Although, I don't think it was a bad thing. I got to meet you in the end, right?"

Izuku smiled gently, "that's true."

"Stop smiling, you're going to give me a heart attack," Hitoshi grumbled, shoving Izuku away.

He laughed and said, "Sorry, I just like smiling."

"Y'know," Izuku waved a hand, "I wanted to go back as I was scared people were going to take my ability away. But after hearing there's such a thing called villains and heroes, I want to prove to everyone, that you're my hero, Toshi."

"Aw, Izuku." Hitoshi couldn't help but wrap his arms around Izuku and hug him tight.

"I can't wait."