Puppet Master

Once Upon A Normal Day

Eijiro hummed as he and Izuku walked down the street and Izuku... hummed with him.

It was nice. Almost eight months Izuku has been living with them and look how far they have gotten. Izuku probably didn't even notice that he was humming right alongside Eijiro.

Also! As of last month, Izuku began to start conversations on his own! Eijiro was so proud of his brother.

Panic attacks were still very much a thing but they only around three times a month now. Izuku only wakes up screaming once a month now. Physical touch was still something he was not that big on but he was still as clingy as ever mid-attack and hardly flinched when Ashido ran up and slung her arms around them or when Mori offered a fist bump.

It took Eijiro a while to figure it out but it was during one of the times when Izuku was unconscious from training, which they moved to Friday's for that very reason, did he realize, or they told him, that...

-----

'Izuku doesn't like being touched, does he?'

Eijiro looked up at Mori's question. The boy had recently jumped into their friend group.

He shrugged. 'Not particularly, I guess.'

The boy hummed. 'I noticed.'

Furuya stared at him. 'Then why do you keep giving him fist bumps?'

Ashido piped in for the ginger boy. 'Obviously to get him used to us!'

'Ey?'

Mori nodded. 'I don't think he exactly dislikes it. Just not from people he doesn't know.'

-----

Eijiro could greatly see the logic in that and the longer he knew Izuku the more he found that to be true.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Eijiro and Izuku jumped. "Wha-!" Izuku grabbed his arm and practically threw him against the wall of the store nearby. "Omph!" Eijiro peeled his eyes open to see Izuku pinning him against it. "Izuku?" He followed the boy's eyes to see a monster seemingly made out of slime or something running further down the street.

Izuku pushed off of the wall with a huff to free Eijiro. "Thanks, man!" Eijiro chuckled. "Really wasn't expecting that!" Izuku raised an eyebrow but didn't comment. Eijiro swallowed because no matter how much of an improvement Izuku has made, Izuku was 100% expecting that.

Eijiro couldn't help but look at the nick on Izuku's left ear. He shuddered just thinking about it. How quickly Izuku reacted. The gun... the gun his brother so casually put to another man's head.

Izuku always expected something bad to happen and thus was always ready for it to happen.

"Izuku! Kirishima!" They both looked up to see Mori and the others waiting for them at the street corner. He was going to call out to them but... Eijiro raised a hand and pointed to the store next to them. "One sec! Bathroom break!" He all but dragged Izuku through the convenience store and into the bathroom.

"Hey, man, you good?"

Izuku leaned against the door of the bathroom breathing deeply. Eijrio frowned. Yes, panic attacks happened less but that didn't mean that they didn't happen altogether. It just took the right trigger.

Eijiro gently took Izuku's hand and placed it on his own chest. "Breathe with me, Izuku. In. Out. In. Out." Izuku complied the best that he could but Eijiro could see the way his brother's shoulders shook. "Can you feel that?" he asked. "That's my heart. Can you feel it beating?" Izuku stared at him for a few seconds before nodding stiffly. The raven-haired boy smiled. "Good. Just focus on that. In. And out. In... And out..." Eijiro will admit that he has definitely gotten better at handling panic attacks.