Summary: When reader tries to leave the apartment a little too early, Deku gets a feeling that things are amiss.
Warnings: Angst/Comfort | Family Drama | Emotional-Verbal Abuse | Isolation | Depressing themes
Author’s Note: Probably a bit much….oh, well.
Word Count: 2100
“Y/N…is something wrong?”
You almost made it out the door. The twisted handle had already clicked and it would’ve been so easy to step outside of the apartment and avoid the conversation. There was a hammering in your chest that you weren’t entirely certain your boyfriend couldn’t hear. You didn’t want to make him worry so you schooled your face into a neutral position before turning toward him.
“I’m fine, promise!” You curved the corners of your lips, praying to God he’d buy your smile.
Izuku looked up at you from where he reclined on the sweetheart sofa he’d bought shortly after receiving his #1 Pro hero bonus check last year. He closed the All Might comic he’d been reading and set it on the coffee table. “I’m glad you’re ok, but I’m a little sad. I finally have time off from patrol and you’re already heading out the door. I hope the katsudon I cooked wasn’t thatawful.”
“No, no that’s not it. You know I love your cooking! ..I’m sorry, I-.” Your fingers slipped from the handle as you bit your lip. “I didn’t mean to avoid you but some stuff happened at home that I need to…take care of.”
“I see.” Izuku’s brows furrowed but he didn’t protest. “One last kiss before you go?”
Your feet moved on autopilot to the center of the living room where he sat, socks scuffing the carpet before your knees brushed against his. He offered two scarred hands to rest yours within as he sat up. You didn’t have to bend too far, he met you half-way as he captured your plush lips with his own.
The kiss spoke of gentleness and understanding.
He tasted like love.
The way his thumbs brushed against the backs of your palms made you hesitant to part from him, but whether you wanted to or not, you couldn’t run away from your problems.
You had to go home.
You didn’t want to become a burden.
Sure he was a hero. but not everyone could be saved.
Sometimes you had to slay your own dragons.
You broke the kiss, ready to make your departure with one last reassuring squeeze of his hands. “I’ll text you when I make it ho-.”
A high-pitched squeal escaped your mouth as Izuku gripped your hands and pulled you onto his lap. He wrapped is arms around your waist as he reclined into the cushions once again. You were trapped in his embrace and -considering the angle at which he held you- gravity was not on your side.
“Izuku! I really have to go-”
“Your lips were trembling.” It was an astute observation. A matter-of-fact statement he breathed into your hair causing you to freeze. “Tell me what’s bothering you.”
“I…I-” You didn’t know where to start. You felt like you were on the peripheral of everything. Sidelined as you watched your life spiral beyond control.
You tried to hold back your emotions. It wouldn’t be fair to dump a bucket of angst all over his day off. If you paused a bit longer before you spoke, you might be able to keep your voice from cracking. He couldn’t read your expression if you buried your face into his chest, so you indulged yourself in his earthy scent while you tried to calm yourself.
“It’s ok.” He stroked your hair and rubbed your back as he patiently waited for you to open up. “You’re very dear to me Y/N. I want you to know… no matter what happens out there, you’ll always have a safe place with me.”
You hiccuped before you could catch yourself.
The seal was broken.
You went limp, your soft body meddling against his strong build as a subtle wetness slid down your cheek. Quiet sniffles led to sobs and Izuku holding you tighter against his chest.
“Shhh, it’s ok.” He whispered. He strummed his fingers against your arm and back. “You’re safe with me.”
You laid like that until you gathered enough strength to grip his tear-dampened shirt and look up at him. “My aunt spread rumors about me again.”
“Oh.” Izuku frowned. “Thataunt.”
“Yea.” You sniffed. “I’m trying fix the situation but no one will listen to me.”
Izuku sighed.
You hated to unload on him. If you had a choice you would’ve spared him the drama. He was the #1 hero surely he had more important things to worry about than your family drama. “I’m sorry, I didn’t want to worry you about something so frivolous like-”
“It’s not frivolous if it has you this upset.” Izuku paused for a moment. You could see the wheels turning in his head before he spoke carefully. “Is there anything else that has you worried?”
You made a hard swallow.
Bingo.
Recognition etched onto his face, as he had hit the nail on the head.
“…my brother went ballistic over it.” You closed your eyes but the tears didn’t stop. “At first I was scared. I didn’t know anything was wrong until I was woken up by bangs on my window and him screaming at me. He didn’t hurt me, but… ”
As your voice trailed off, Izuku held his breath.
“I didn’t open the door. It felt like I was trapped in one of those villain horror movies. It was scary and.. I just don’t feel like it should have been that way. He came at me at 100% over something my aunt said… while she couldn’t even be bothered to talk to me at all.”
You wiped your eyes and continued. “I’ve always had to go after her to make sure things are ok but…she hardly gives me the time of day. She’s never really wanted to talk to me but that doesn’t stop her from talking to everyone else about me.”
“She’s an idiot.
You gave him a wry smile. "Yes, an idiot who has managed to destroy my relationship with my brother and convince everyone else that I’m a liar…It just sucks because I was never really able to build close relationships with my family. Everyone lived in Musutafu but my dad’s job moved overseas so I grew up abroad. I only got to see the rest of our family once a year. All my cousins, aunts, and uncles are so close to each other…and then there’s me. I thought that moving here after school might give me a chance to get to know them better but it feels like there’s a wall between me and them… and I think there always will be.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“I can’t change what they think of me, but I won’t back down from what I know is true.. ”
Izuku allowed your words to settle before he spoke. “You’re really breaking my heart, princess. It sounds like…your aunt pieced together her own version of you in her mind.”
“-No one else knows me well enough to tell the difference.” You sighed.
Izuku cupped your cheek so that you could stare into his eyes. “You’re not a villain. Let her keep that mythological character to herself. Don’t let it crawl its way in here.”
Izuku’s finger grazed over your heart as he continued. “And… your brother was wrong. My Dad left my mom and I here in Musutafu when I was younger, so I was always the man of the house. It was up to me to take care of my mother. If I had a sister… I would have taken care of her too. I couldn’t imagine doing anything that would make her feel like she couldn’t come to me for protection. Even if someone had said something crazy about her, I would have spoken to her so that I could get a full understanding the situation.”
You let your cheek rest over his heart as he spoke.
“The problem with rumors is, they tend to snowball.” There was a thoughtful pause before he continued. “Have you ever played the game ‘Telephone’?”
“Yes.” You knew the game. When you were in grade school, your homeroom teacher would set your classmates in a line and whisper something to whoever was at the front, who then passed the same information to the next person until the last person in line had been given the message. By the time the teacher asked what everyone had heard, there were multiple answers that were nothing a like.
“Good.” Izuku sounded pleased. “Then you know, rumors aren’t a reliable source information. We get tips at our Hero agency all the time but I can’t just run off, breaking into people’s homes and businesses without scrutinizing our sources. We also consider possible motives behind a message. Can you imagine how many innocent people could be hurt if we didn’t? Not to mention the lawsuits! ”
“Kaachan almost got wrapped into swatting prank. He pitched a fit when he wound up at a nursing home. Thank goodness he never skips on analyzing mission briefs. There were conflicting details in the report and he flagged the investigative team to vet their informant. Turned out, it was all a part of some elderly lovers’ spat that could’ve cost him his Hero license. Apparently an old lady wanted to scare the other, out of spite.”
“Yikes.” Of course, that made sense. Swatting attempts were far too common these days.
“Yeah, Kaachan was pissed. I had to hold him back from cussing her out.” Izuku sighed.“But that’s not my point. If there were anything that upset me, I’d talk to you about it and… I hope you’d do the same for me. We couldn’t cultivate our relationship if we didn’t speak. I wouldn’t go to Kaachan or Uraraka to complain. There’d be no point to it aside from hurting and alienating you. That’s not love. ”
You sighed against his chest.
“Y/n, are you still with me?”
You stayed quiet as you mulled over what he said.
“Y/N.” Izuku smoothed his thumb over your baby hairs. “Darling.”
He kissed your forehead.
“No, it isn’t love.” You responded weakly as your tears soaked his shirt. You were a mess. “Izuku… I don’t know what to hold onto any more. I keep wanting people who don’t want me. I always feel like I’m on the outside of everything in my life.”
You blinked when a few wet droplets landed on your forehead.
“I…don’t want you to feel that way. Seeing you like this breaks my heart. I’m sorry that you feel alone right now, but I need you to know that you aren’t.”
Izuku placed your hand over his chest, entwining his fingers with yours. “Even if you feel like its difficult to connect to others, it won’t always be that way. Even if it’s not your relatives, family goes beyond blood. If nothing else, you have a home with me. I want you to know that you are in my heart and, it may be selfish…but I don’t plan on letting you out anytime soon.”
Izuku hugged you tightly. “And if you feel too weak to hold on, even to me…I won’t let you go. I’ve gone through too much training, lived through too many things..loneliness, lies about myself, what I’m worth, or what I can obtain…”
You felt Izuku’s fist clench next to you.
He took a deep breath. “After all this time of exceeding my limits… I won’t let you slip away from me. If there’s a wall I need to break, that’s keeping you locked away, I’ll turn it to dust. Full Cowling or, even with my old quirkless hands..I don’t care what I have to do, or how many bones I’d need to break to make sure that you’re never alone again. If I let the person I loved feel unreachable…how could I call myself a Hero?”
“Izuku..”
“Now… I can’t change the way your aunt treats you. If she chooses not to speak to you, that’s her loss. Maybe she doesn’t deserve to know you if she’s not willing to make the effort. And the others… give it a little time to blow over then maybe you can try to reach out again. If you need support, I’m nothing but a text away, ok?”
“mhmm.”
“Don’t let other people’s version of you distort the way that you see yourself. Y/N, You’re not a bad person.”
You were really failing at hold back the tears. “Izuku..”
“Let me rephrase that.” He chuckled. “You are a loved person.”
The world was more than blurry with the tears brimming over your eyes. “I don’t really want to go.”
❌~ People don’t come the same way in the world .. This was the cruel truth I had arrived at when I was only 4 years old .. But that was my first and last day of despair …~✖️
LOOK AT HIM! PROTECTING HIS CHILDREN SINCE DAY ONE. THINKING OF HIS STUDENTS ALWAYS. (also shinsou in there made me cry even harder) AND THEN DEKU AND BAKUGOU THINKING OF HOW HE PROTECTED THEM AND SUPPORTED THEM I-
