Puppet Master

True Friends

Izuku had not spoken since leaving the middle school and Shouta was worried. He had met the Bakugou's in person a couple of times when the Izuku Midoriya Runaway case was still fresh but not enough to remember them much. Then he heard about them from Ms. Takakawa as they were potential candidates for adopting Izuku. Then he heard from Ms. Takakawa that the Bakugou boy had actually been bullying Izuku for four years before he ran away.

Now he hears that Izuku has run into him again and the effects were obvious.

Shouta parked the car in the faculty parking lot.

"Izuku, come here," he waved the boy over as he closed the door. Izuku did but he didn't meet Shouta in the eyes. Shouta saw Hitoshi behind Izuku hovering worriedly. For the first time in a long while, Shouta asked before touching the boy. It was strange because Izuku had gotten used to them enough that he could ruffle his hair or hug him without asking normally but today was not one of those days.

"Do you want a hug?" he asked carefully.

Izuku shook his head. Shouta raised an eyebrow.

"Do you NEED a hug?"

Izuku flinched slightly.

The greenette is a very touchy person when you get to know him. After he comes out of his shell and Izuku actually begins to trust you, there is a stark contrast in his fear-of-humans distancing and his need-for-connection longing. However, things are different now. Izuku has gotten used to being able to accept hugs and pats and even his quirk being used by not only Hitoshi but Shouta himself! Izuku has finally begun to accept himself. All of himself. Even his quirk as he trains more and more with Recovery Girl.

And that is what is going to cause the issue here. Izuku isn't 100% with it yet so for something from his past that is a direct reminder of why he hated his quirk so much in the first place to arise, it was really a teetering edge they were on.

"Do you?" he asked.

Izuku nodded shakily. Shouta held out his arms. He wouldn't force himself on Izuku. He let the boy step forward and practically fall into him. Shouta held him for a long while as Izuku tried, and failed, to stifle his cries. When he had finally calmed down, Shouta, not letting go, asked about it. "I heard you met someone from long ago recently," he said casually. Izuku pressed his face further into Shouta's shoulder.

"When?"

...

"Y- yestaday."

"Hmm...? Yesterday, huh?"

The greenette nodded. Shouta could almost feel what the boy was remembering.

"S- school," he whispered. "Couldn' breathe. Everyone- they- I couldn'-" He cut off when Shouta softly pat the top of his head. "Shh... don't worry about it. I know. I know..." He met eyes with Hitoshi and gave the best smile he could.

They've come so far and yet they have oh so much further to go.

After Izuku had calmed down, training resumed as usual. The boy welcomed the distraction with open arms. They had brought in a few extra training dummies today and Hitoshi's and Izuku's combined control over Puppet was greatly improving. For the last thirty minutes, they split to each train on their own things.

That is when a sickening thought crossed Shouta's mind.

He had been keeping an extra eye on Izuku as the boy trained with Puppet on his own. He had been starting to be able to almost, how does one say it, pull himself? Yes. Izuku would form the strings on his own, albeit it took a bit of time, and was training with them much like a whip which Shouta recognized as his Golden Whip persona but he had begun to use them to be able to amplify his own movements. Pulling at the one on his back to go flying backward to which they found out was how he threw himself out of the window when they first tried him forming the strings on his own. But also, pulling himself from side to side.