Glass Heart

Glass Heart - Chapter Six

During the next few days, Izuku slowly recovered. Tsukauchi had yet to interview him, but Shouta thinks it'd be best if Izuku was interviewed as soon as possible. They needed the truth. With each passing day, Izuku grew more and more agitated and upset, murmuring to himself about his home and his father. Shouta can only assume Izuku meant that his father must be extremely worried, but Izuku freaked out the last time they had brought it up.

And after what happened yesterday, Shouta strongly believed something else was at play here...

"Kid," Shouta said, sitting down next to Izuku, "You mention your home and your father a lot, whenever you mutter. Is he worried about you?"

Izuku awkwardly laughs, clearly trying to hide from Shouta's unwavering gaze.

"My - my father?"

"No, your pet clouds - of course I mean your father, Midoriya." He sighed, deciding to get to the point. "Look. Recovery Girl has looked at your files - and it says your father's name is 'Hisashi Midoriya'. With your reaction to Hi- Present Mic's name, which sounds the exact same as your father's, it seems to connect two dots. Now be honest with me, Midoriya."

Shouta crouched down in front of Izuku, maintaining eye contact, concern etched into his face.

"Is your father hurting you?"

For a minute, nothing could be heard. But then a singular sniff became vocal. Then another. Then a third.

All Shouta had time to think was 'crap', before Izuku burst into floods of tears. His hands with those sharp nails once again reached upwards, but Shouta held them back and, without him meaning for them to, they hit his face instead. Finding soft flesh, the sharpened claws immediately began to scratch.

It hurt. It hurt so bad.

It took Shouta's entire bodily energy not to scream and rip his hands away from Izuku, but he held on. Barely.

"Izuku, I need you to listen to me. Breathe in and breathe out. Follow me, you can do it." Shouta instructed him, blood dripping from his chin. He couldn't grab Chiyo as he'd be leaving Izuku alone - after last time who knows what the poor kid would do to himself. The call button was too far away, so that wasn't an option either. All Shouta could do was hold on until either Izuku stopped, or someone else walked in and helped him. It's a miracle none of the nails attacked his eyes.

Luckily, the kid seemed to want to stop and calm down, and slowly the nails that were dug six-inches into Shouta's face were slowly removed one by one. It felt like daggers being removed from his chest.

He was never going to take his face for granted ever again.

Izuku's hands became heavier to hold, and suddenly Shouta found himself holding Izuku against his chest - the kid fell asleep. Must've been exhausted after that whole attack.

Shouta sighed once again. "I don't get paid enough for this."

"That's a lie." Tsukauchi cheerfully greeted him, entering the room, slipping his phone in his pocket.

Shouta sighed. "Hi Tsukauchi."

Tsukauchi sat next to Shouta, being careful not to shake the bed too much. "So, I've been thinki- WOW, what's happened to your face?"

Shouta carefully stood and after shooting a quick protective glance toward Izuku to make sure he's okay, headed to the sink normally used for cleaning wounds, doused a cloth in water and dabbed at the cuts on his face. When Tsukauchi gave him a concerned look, Shouta waved it off and said "I'm fine. What was it you were saying?"

"I think it's time to interview Izuku and send him home. Most of his injuries have healed, and he seems a lot chirpier than he used to. I'm sure his parents have been really worried about him."

I very much doubt that... Shouta thought, taking another quick glance towards Izuku, and heading back to the bed, the cloth still clutched to his cheek. He sighed, water trickling down his cheek and dripping off his chin, as he thought about the best course of action.

"I think..." He trailed off, unsure. He took a deep breath and started again, determination in his eyes. "I think Izuku should leave the hospital - but that he should stay with me and Hizashi."

As he spoke, Izuku, while unconscious, moved his hand over, and gripped Shouta's tightly, desperately, as if his hand were a lifeline tossed to him out in the middle of the sea. Shouta smiled fondly, Izuku's movements making Shouta feel more certain about his actions.

"And I think we need to interview Izuku about his family and home life." Shouta gently brushed Izuku's hair away from his face. Izuku somehow seemed calmer than he was, his hand gently letting Shouta free from the death grip, but Shouta refused to let go, holding tightly onto Izuku's hand in comfort as the kid slept.

"You think something is wrong with his family?" Tsukauchi asked him, concerned.

Shouta sighed and seemed ages older than he actually was. "I don't just think. I know - I'm certain - that Izuku Midoriya is being abused."

Hi everyone! This is chapter six. Chapter four literally released a day or so ago, so I need to get my act together if I don't want to fall behind XD.

The next chapter should be about Hisashi and Izuku's home life - a flashback sort of chapter. I hope you're looking forward to it!

PEACHY FROM THE FUTURE: Well it's happened - this was my last reserve chapter. I have half of the next chapter already written but uuuuuuuurgh I hate feeling like I'm behind XD. You guys may have to wait for the next chapter. On the plus side, if I do run out of chapters then I'll update whenever I write a new chapter - regardless if it's been a week yet or not lol.

Thanks for all the support on this story, I really appreciate everything 😊

I hope to see you guys again soon!!

But for now...

Peachy out! 😊