Puppet Master

A Night's Conversation

"Dinner's ready!"

Eijiro looked up from the comic he was reading to Izuku as he lay across the couch and Izuku sat at the corner. He'll admit, he was a bit shaken up after Izuku's sudden outburst. And very worried. It was as if the boy was having a conversation with himself. Eijiro could sort of understand though because he talks to himself too sometimes.

"Wanna finish after dinner?" Eijiro asked the greenette. Izuku nodded. It was blatant that the boy was both shaken up by today and incredibly exhausted.

Duh! He hasn't slept in, like, four days now! Kind of manly though to be able to stay awake that long though...

Eijiro folded the corner of the page they were on before placing the book to the side of the couch and standing. Izuku followed him into the dining room.

"Izuku?" He turned back to the boy at his father's worried tone. Izuku had stopped. He was swaying slightly. "Hey, man, you good?" Izuku blinked slowly.

Eijiro will never, NOT EVER, forget the way Izuku's green eyes rolled back into his head and the way his body fell forward like a ragdoll. Nor will he forget the way his mother screamed "IZUKU!!!" He will not forget the sound that was made when Izuku's head hit the corner of the table and the sound made as his body hit the floor.

Both of Eijiro's parents were by the boy's side in an instant. Eijiro was frozen.

What could he do? No... What could he have done to prevent this?

Dad rolled Izuku onto his back.

He could have tried harder to connect with the boy.

Izuku had a gash on his right forehead that was bleeding.

He could have tried to make him feel more comfortable.

Izuku was panting heavily, cheeks flushed against deathly pale skin.

He could have done... SOMETHING!

Dark rings encased Izuku's eyes.

Why didn't I...?

"We can't bring him to a hospital," Mom's voice cut through the shock. "He'll freak out and it'll only make things worse." Dad looked contemplative as he held a bundle of now blood-soaked napkins to Izuku's head.

They transferred Izuku to the couch. "Eijiro, can you get us a bowl of cold water and two towels?"

"A- ah! Yes, sir!" He stumbled into the kitchen, finding the biggest bowl he could and placing it under the running water of the sink before pulling out two towels from the drawers next to said sink. He rushed those in first before going back for the now full bowl of water, carefully bringing it in and setting it to Dad who was by the couch using one of the towels to dry up the blood that was still seeping from Izuku's head. Mom came running in from the hallway with a first aid kit.

They patched up Izuku as best as possible. Mom dipped the other towel in the cold water, wringing it out before placing it on Izuku's forehead but careful to avoid wetting the bandages.

The adrenaline began to die down. Eijiro's legs felt weak as he helped his mother clean up the blood in the dining room.

The three of them gathered around the dining room table.

...

...

...

"Dang..." Eijiro winced as his father cursed. "Sorry, Ei," he apologized. "I just... I've never seen it so bad."

Eijiro lifted an eyebrow.

"The trauma, I mean," Dad elaborated. "I've worked with so many patients that I thought I'd seen it all but clearly not. I've never seen someone so terrified to the point of not sleeping or eating until the collapse. Then again, Izuku's case is surely... unusual..." Eijiro gulped and looked back down at the table.