What a Tragedy

Chapter 20: Icky

Trees reached hanging hands out to him, brushing his arms as he walked on and making his cuts hurt more. Roots climbed onto the path and snagged at his feet, nearly making him trip a couple times.

The more he walked, the more dense the forest bacame and the less light he had to see with, but even so, he kept his gaze on the tracks and his ears honed on the sound of the small boy's gait.

Where was he going?

He could still faintly see the heat of the food in whatever moonlight there still was, but the food was going to go cold soon, and he didn't want to be the reason that food was wasted because children generally don't like cold food.

Maybe Kota was walking to a treehouse? He'd read about those in books, but he'd never seen one in real life. It had said that they're made of wood and are nailed to a tree to make a small room up in the branches. Izuku doesn't know how that would work, though. Sure there are trees that could hold a room if it was built onto them, but rooms don't usually have branches going through them. And trees also don't have flat spaces to lay wood boards down to make a floor.

Why would someone want to have a room in a tree anyway? Most trees aren't tall, and the ones in this forest are only moderatly high, so it wan't for the view. Privacy? But you can get privacy in a building if you find a small space that would fit you. Kota was defenitly tiny enough to fit in a crawl space. Izuku remembered when he was that small, he could fit in the small cabinets at the bar.

Maybe it was just for the sake of having a personal space in a tree? But why? Wouldn't the structure of the space hurt the tree?

Kota does seem like the child who would like to have privacy in trees, if the way he spent the entire day watching Izuku from the treeline was any indication. Who would build him a treehouse, though? Mandalay doesn't come off as the kind of guardian that would want her charge to wander this far from their lodge, let alone build him a treehouse out here, and if Mandalay didn't condone it, then Pixie Bob, Ragdoll, and Tiger wouldn't go against her word.

Maybe Kota built it himself then?

It seemed feesable enough.

If he asked nicely, would he be able to see inside? Hopefully Kota wasn't still upset that he had caught his punch earlier. He was really interested in knowing how they work.

Izuku barely noticed when the trees passed and he was walking up a slope of the mountain, but when he did he realized that Kota had stopped a distance away, sitting by the edge and looking out at the scenery beyond. He also noted the distinct lack of treehouses.

Damn.

He really got his hopes up.

Making his presence known, he stepped out and into the younger boy's sight range. Kota jumped up, shock written on his face before it twisted into anger. "How did you find this place?!" He shouted, pointing a finger at Izuku.

His signing was limited due to the warm bowl of curry in his hand, but he finger spelled with the other that he'd followed his footsteps from the camp.

"What? What the hell does that mean?"

So he doesn't know JSL. Shame. Izuku really didn't want to talk. Brow furrowed, he looked down at the bowl and pushed his arm out, offering it to the boy. Kota looked at it confused and then growled. "You followed me here just to give me curry?"

Izuku nodded.

"I don't want it, go away! I'm not hungry!" The sound of his stomach growling contradicted his words.

Frowning, he placed the bowl on the ground in case Kota changed his mind. The boy kind of reminded him of Bakugo, what with his brash attitude. At the same time though, he seemed so forlorn. A wistful air that followed him everywhere suffacated those who got too close. Izuku was hit by the sudden urge to just... help.