hero's shadow // mha

12) parallels

He walked in the door, dirty clothes in a basket in one hand and detergent in the other, and sat down right beside him. Izuku didn't even notice it until his shoulder brushed against Yamada's arm when he stood up to put his own clothes in the dryer. The voice hero is tall, just like All Might and Eraserhead, so the new contact made him pause for a moment, because that's never happened before.

A quick, hopefully not suspicious look back confirmed that Yamada had indeed sat in the seat right next to him instead of his usual one two spots over. And since he identified the change, Izuku then noticed the larger shadow that loomed over his seat due to the lamp right to the side of Yamada, hanging from the ceiling.

God. Why is Izuku so short. Or maybe everyone around him is giant. Yes. That's more plausible. His five-foot-two self cries every time.

But back to the point. Neither of them acknowledged it then. It's almost like Yamada didn't notice he did it either, though that's obviously not true.

The next person to do something similar was Eraserhead. It's a couple months into their newfound hero-and-vigilante relationship when it starts. He usually sits on the roof's edge at their meeting spot with a good distance of a least five feet between them. It's more of an unspoken rule: don't get too close lest the other gets uncomfortable.

They both understood that, so everything was cool.

But then the five feet eventually became four. And then three.

Izuku tells himself that he's the one that closed another foot that time only because it's getting chillier with each passing night and Eraserhead is like a heater with that capture weapon around his neck.

If the man noticed it, which he most certainly did, Izuku thinks, he had the decency not to mention it.

Now, the last person to be involved in the pattern is All Might.

While the man has always been the more touchy-feely of the group of three heroes in Izuku's life right now, he's never made any move to outright be physical with him.

Sparring doesn't count, Izuku thinks, whatsoever. A jab to the throat is not a sign of endearment.

But then things changed. Along with getting closer to Izuku metaphorically (the picnics seem to happen more often now; Izuku has a feeling it's not just to give him a break from training), All Might has started to dole out hair ruffles or pats on the back whenever he can. He even stands a little closer to him—the change isn't much, just a few inches, but it's enough for Izuku to note.

These changes made Izuku uncomfortable at first, only for a couple weeks. But now, having quite a lot of time to get used to it, he doesn't even think about it anymore.

It kind of scares Izuku how much he likes it.

He learns something else about All Might a few months into his training.

Izuku is busy writing down different moves he could use with Boost that could help him counter long range attacks when his arm starts to irritate him again. He was sparring with All Might just a half hour prior and stupidly got himself injured, resulting in a bruised arm from one of the hero's stronger punches. In All Might's defense, Izuku should have dodged it.

He saw the blow coming and still didn't move fast enough, so Izuku doesn't know why the man started belting out apologies and questions. Izuku is fine, and no, I don't need a hospital, All Might, it's my fault, don't apologize!

But while he convinced the man not to take him to the hospital—Izuku does not want his blood drawn by anyone for obvious reasons—All Might ended up forcing him to take an hour break.