Puppet Master

House Arrest Life

Izuku's emerald eyes fluttered open. He felt so... rested. More rested than he had ever felt before. Izuku sat up. He pats the blue couch. It was soft. Blue is a nice color. He ran his hands along the All Might blanket. The yellows and reds popped. He surveyed the living room with soft tan walls. The bird clock on the wall read 2:24 pm. He slept a while. Or not, considering how late it was when he first arrived at Mary Lou's apartment. Izuku hummed.

His eyes widened. It took approximately 5.3 seconds for the events of the night before. The beautiful colors shut off like a light: blacks and greys overlapping the reds, blues, and yellows. The walls felt like they were closing in. The air felt too thin. Black spotted his vision. The ticking of the clock was tripled by his own rapid heartbeat pounding in his ears.

No. NO! NONONONONONONONONONONONON-

*Knock ... Knock Knock ... Knock*

Izuku jumped, efficiently falling off of the couch. That was the 'secret' knock. Izuku shakily got to his feet. He pushed onto his tippytoes to peek through the peephole. Letting out a breath of relief, Izuku placed his feet flat down again. He unlocked the door and opened it slowly. As soon as Mary Lou came into view, all the colors seemed to fade back in, flowing out from her. Izuku was quick to close the door and lock it once more.

Mary Lou giggled. "Ever the jumpy one. I came to check up on you," she said as she crossed to the kitchen. "And to make sure you eat." Izuku didn't respond, of course. He followed her in though and watched her as she made a grilled cheese sandwich and heated up a can of tomato soup.

"When did you wake up?" she asked. Probably knowing that Izuku wasn't going to verbally reply, she turned her head to him. "Did you just wake up?" she asked astonishedly. Izuku nodded, blushing a bit.

Izuku followed Mary Lou over to the table where she sat down the bowl of tomato soup and the grilled cheese sandwich that she had cut the crusts off of. Izuku sat down.

"You know, it's better if you dip the grilled cheese in the soup," she said with a wink. "I've got to go back down and work but you eat. Come down if you want to since you are also allowed down there." She opened the door and grinned. "If you come down, you will get your test score and the usual. Oh, and you might want to change clothes first. We can get you new clothes later but for now, your hoodie and sweats are by the TV."

She KNEW Izuku would come down for that. Mary Lou was smart. Izuku looked down. He was still in his vigilanting clothes. Izuku ate as quickly as he could but his stomach simply could not handle that much food. He ended up getting through half of the bowl of soup and half of the sandwich.

Side note: Mary Lou was correct. The grilled cheese was better dipped in the soup.

After depositing the dishes by the sink, Izuku got dressed in his worn-out street clothes. He ended up grabbing one of the math books Mary Lou had bought him. He made sure to double-check all of the windows and draw all of the curtains before leaving the apartment, locking it with the keys Mary Lou had left on the counter.

Izuku peeked around the corner. Mary Lou was busy filling the display case so she didn't notice him. Izuku walked past her silently and made his way from behind the counter and to his normal seat. No one ever really sat there. It had kind of been designated to him in a way. People just knew not to just in case Izuku popped in.

Izuku did get his test score of 92% and a sparkly sticker that said "GREAT JOB!"

Personally, he would have liked it higher but he was technically self-taught so he would take what he got.