Painful {Aizawa/Izuku Platonic story}

Chapter 17

———

The drive home was silent.

No laughter, no crying.. The only sound you'll hear is when you really try and focus and you'll catch the other person breathing shakily as if they were cold.

The sound of his own heartbeat thrummed in Shouta's own ears, like an  old, ticking clock reminding him that he shouldn't be wasting time. His hands felt uncomfortably cold against the steering wheel, a bit sweaty as he gripped it tightly. So tight that his knuckles were an angry color of white as he drove through different streets on the way home.

He hesitantly took quick glances to the child in the passenger's seat next to him, whose body was curled up in a fetal position. It was almost a defense mechanism.

Izuku's knees were pressed tightly against his guest, head buried between them while his bandages arms wrapped around himself in a somewhat desperate gesture of comfort.

He hadn't spoken since the incident, Shouta having to carry the kid to the car because he completely, utterly shut down.

Even if Midoriya's eyes were hidden under his long, green curls that covered practically half his face, Aizawa knows that his eyes were unfocused, a dull green from the once brightly colored dark moss.

His face had dried tear streaks on them as well, since he sobbed and spluttered in the hospital from hurt.

Shouta's heart gave an unfamiliar throb of pain, the one that seldomly happens when he couldn't rescue someone in time from calamity.

'It hurts', his heart said. 'It's really painful'. But he ignored it, blinking as he focused on the road before him, moonlight occasionally slipping in to highlight Izuku, whose form hasn't moved.

Road signs flickered past him before mixing into the city's blur of neon colors and dark alley ways.

His mouth was dry and clamped shut, pressed into a grim line. But his mind was a jumbled mess, but one goal stood out in particular from the lot.

He was going to keep Izuku from the council's reach at the end of the three months he will be training his quirk.

And that's a fucking promise.

———

"We're home," he hummed even though it was useless, throat protesting against it until he had a glass of water.

He knows that Izuku won't respond, anyway.

Shouta twisted the car keys out of the ignition, shoving it carelessly into his work bag as the engine died out.

The silence was more deafening than before.

He hesitantly opened his own door with a click, stepping outside in the cold air as he shut it before making his way to Izuku's side.

He opened the door, looking at Izuku's small, curled up figure.

The position looked generally uncomfortable, but it's how he sleeps. Shouta knows this from all the times he was resting beside the kid. Since it didn't even seem to give him any muscle pains anyway, Aizawa just ignored it instead of scolding him.

He leaned down, collecting Izuku's figure as he complied like a limp rag doll. Shouta carried the kid in his arms, his head pressed against his chest as his hands rested on his stomach.

"You up?"

Shouta hummed, trying to get rid of the silence because holy shit, it was driving him mad. He turned around, shutting the door with a nudge of his heel, hugging Izuku close so he won't fall.

The small figure stirred, before wordlessly wrapping his scarred arms around Shouta, grabbing desperately at the fabric of his light hero costume.

Aizawa was a bit surprised of the movement, but nonetheless received a blow to his now thawing cold heart.

———

"Eat."

Shouta ordered Izuku, nudging the now slightly cooled bowl of reheated Soba.
Izuku hesitantly took his fork, hand lingering slightly on the utensil as he poked at the food.

He had his head down, no doubt having a muttering marathon.

"Izuku," Shouta firmly said, a hand making it's way onto the boy's curls. "Please eat. You need your energy back. I promise we'll talk about this later." Midoriya was warm to the touch, which was a good sign, since it replaced the biting cold on his skin.

He was alive, and that's all that matters.

"Shouta-Kun.." Izuku murmured softly, his breath shaky as if he just got out of a snowstorm. "Could I sleep beside you?" It was a meek request, an innocent plea to have more contact with Aizawa. He found the older man comforting when they hugged, a gesture that a parent makes to calm a kid down.

Aizawa, of course, easily agreed. "Sure, kid. Just eat."

Shouta was worried, considering Izuku was evidently thinning out, his freckled face losing it's natural baby fat. Izuku complied, lifting a forkful of Soba to his lips and hesitantly nibbling on it.

.. It wasn't much, but it was a start.

———

"They won't take me away, right?"

"Of course not. I wouldn't allow them."
Izuku softly smiled at the remark, liking how absolutely sure Shouta sounded.

They both sat on the bed, Izuku perched in the middle of Shouta's cross-crossed legs. Aizawa was combing Izuku's hair out again, making repeated comments on how he should get it cut. It was peaceful.

"When we go to class tomorrow, don't say anything about the bandages, okay? Tell anyone who asks that it was a villain attack."

Shouta reminded him the tenth time, fingers fluidly carding through the kid's hair, tugging at the occasional tangles. He concentrated on how he would train Izuku himself discretely without alerting Principal Nedzu and the other Pro Heroes present.

Izuku probably didn't receive Quirk Counseling when he was younger, due to the uncontrolled amount of energy pouring out of him during the test. It won't be any surprise if that was the case.

He was like an overflowing bottle, and with no lid to suppress the power, it would be difficult to control the amount pouring out whenever he uses his quirk, rendering it dangerous to anyone nearby.

Izuku let out a pained yelp when Shouta accidentally pulled his locks a bit too hard, snapping Shouta out of his daze. "Sorry," Aizawa muttered, blinking stupidly before continuing to comb his hair. "You're not hungry anymore, right?"

"Nope!"

"The clothes; are they comfortable?"
"Yeah!-"
"You sure you could sleep with those injuries?" "Y-yes-?" "Tell me if it hurts, okay? Could you still move your arms? How about painkillers- ah shit, did you take them-?" Shouta fussed over him, prodding the bandages. "Do you need to replace them?-"

Izuku let out a whine. "I'm fine dad!"

Aizawa let out a sound that sounded either like a dying whale and a pained moose who just got shot. He dropped the brush, choking a bit on his own saliva.

Izuku seemed to freeze up too, before going completely crimson, pushing Shouta away as he propelled his legs to sit on the opposite side of the bed. Shouta blinked dumbly, before saying a "What. What did you..?"

Izuku peeked out of the crevice between his hands that covered his face, bright green eyes gazing shyly on Shouta. "I-I called y-you d-dad..?"

Aizawa was going to have a fucking aneurysm.