Beast In The Woods

Rest

Izuku returned to his den after he changed out of his school uniform. He cleaned his trophy and placed it neatly next to the wolf's skull. He grinned at his display, and his stomach grumbled for food. He had used his quirk a lot that day and healed more than usual. So, he went on a hunt for his meal.

Izuku was in his furs asleep when he heard a phone ringing. He shot to full alert and remembered that he had a phone and it was ringing. He extended a tendril and picked it up to see Mina was calling him. He looked outside, and it was still dark. With some confusion and worry, he poked the green button. Her face showed up on his screen, and it looked like she had been crying.

"Mina? Are you hurt? Hold on, I can track your scent!" Izuku's second set of eyes opened, and bone cracked and flesh tore as he prepared to sprint.

"No! No, I'm fine. I just had a nightmare. I wanted to talk to someone." Mina almost jumped out of her sheets in a panic.

Izuku paused, and his body shifted again. "Oh, okay. Was it because of the USJ?" He sat down on his furs.

"Yea, it was about when you jumped on that thing, you were too late, and I died with Shinso and Todoroki." More tears cropped up from her black and golden eyes as she tried to rub them away.

Izuku was quiet for a moment. "Is there something I can do to help?" He wasn't sure what to do, so he asked for clarification like Nem taught him.

She wiped her face again and said. "Do you have nightmares?"

"I did when I was younger. I remember them faintly about me being alone, reliving Inko leaving me. Or starving away while wolves found me. I don't anymore, I don't dream about anything." He looked into the distance, distracted.

"Do you want to talk about Inko?"

Izuku tilted his head in confusion. "We are talking about her?"

Mina giggled at seeing Izuku act like a puppy. "No, I mean, do you want to talk about your feelings about her?"

Izuku was quiet for a moment in thought. "When I first thought about her seriously again, it was with Kacchan. He said Inko was like a second mother to him. And I felt so angry at hearing that, not at him. It wasn't his fault. It was Inko's." Izuku growled the name.

"She left me to die and took care of my friend instead. I wanted what Kacchan had, but I didn't, I was alone and fought to live because of her. When I first saw her at court, the same anger came, but it was mixed with sadness. I'm not sure why I felt sad."

Izuku felt wet on his face and felt his face with his hand, tears. He stared at his hand and began to wipe them away like Mina did a minute ago. He remembered he was talking to her about all this and looked at the screen to see her crying again.

"It's okay, Izuku. You are not alone anymore. You have Shinso, Nemuri, and me. Okay?" She gave him a wobbly smile.

Izuku gave her a grateful smile. "Thanks, Mina." He paused and thought of what to say next. "Um, what do you like to do when you have free time?" He asked.

Mina giggled and wiped the remaining tears. She went on to tell Izuku about dancing and how she likes a game in an arcade that is about dancing. He asked about the arcade, and she explained it to him while laying down to continue taking. Izuku got comfortable in his furs and listened to her talk. But by bit, Mina began to take longer pauses and then stopped talking. Soft snoring was the only thing he heard through her end.

Izuku stared awkwardly at his phone with a video call of a sleeping classmate. He wasn't sure what to do at this point and considered waking her up, but Mina looked content to sleep. Izuku fumbled around, and the screen flashed. He froze and tried to figure out what he had just done. Then he continued to try to end the call and finally did. The screen said 'Call Ended', and he nodded in satisfaction.