Running With The Wolves (Shoto Todoroki X Izuku Midoriya)

Chapter 23: The Bonds We Share

"How dare you?! How dare you say that?!" Izuku furiously yelled from out of the blue, startling Shoto a bit. "Mama is fine. No one, no one can catch my mama. And anyway, if she really were caught by those stinkers, I'd get my wolves to eat them all!"

"No!"

With the wild boy still holding on to him, the hunter boy for some reason grabbed ahold of both of Izuku's shoulders.

"Even if they have your mother, that doesen't mean you should be hurting people just to get her back!" Shoto yelled in panic, lightly shaking Izuku as he continued to speak. "Violence is never the solution. Izuku, you're better than that. I know you are. So please, don't ever think of doing something so horrible ever again!"

It appears the hunter boy has finally realized what he had just done, and the same goes for the wild boy. Because the two boys froze and had these shocked looks on their faces, only to eventually changed into regretful ones once they let go of one another.

"I yelled at you again, I'm sorry!"

"I was being insensitive again, I'm sorry too!"

After a short while of them two just awkwardly standing there in an uneasy silence, the boys starring at anything else around them besides one another, it was Shoto who was the first to speak.

"You really do miss her, huh?"

Izuku solemnly hummed with a nod.

"Don't worry, I know exactly how you feel. Because I miss my mother too!"

The mere mention of Shoto's deceased mother made the sadness Izuku was already feeling to only worsen.

"No, you're wrong!" Izuku coldly spoke. "It's not the same at all!"

"Huh?"

The wild boy's head was lowered, allowing his bangs to cast a shadow over his eyes. Which meant it was difficult for the hunter boy to tell what kind of expression he was making, that is if it weren't for the deep frown his lips had formed into.

"Now that I think about it, you're actually way luckier than I am. The both of us may have one parent left. But unlike me, your father is still awake, you can still talk to him, and you can still walk alongside him. Me though..."

Just thinking of what he was about to say next, the wild boy couldn't hide the way how his body shook, both of his hands tightly holding on to the edge of his robes.

"My mama is still asleep. So how am I supposed to walk with her when she's still sleeping? I still talk to her though. But the thing is, she can't talk back to me!"

Finally racing his head back up, the hunter boy was left stunned the moment he and the other meet gazes once more. Paired with his trembling lips, just taking a glimpse of the way how the wild boy's emerald green eyes glisten, he could easily tell now that he was trying his hardest not to burst into tears.

"Shoto, I don't even get to hear the sound of her voice!" He was even trying to keep his already strained voice from choking out into a sob.

Until now, it still remains a mystery to the hunter boy how he was always affected by the sad and depressing aura that surrounded the wild boy. And he still wasn't even sure why he felt as though he was obligated to turn this sad little boy back into the mischievous happy go-lucky hairball of energy he always knew.

"Izuku, listen!" The hunter boy quietly spoke before reaching out to gently loosen both of the wild boy's hands that held on tightly to his robes before taking them into his own, feeling the shaking slowly beginning to go away. "Every time I hear you talk about your mother, I can tell the bond you two share is really beautiful. And somehow, it always reminded me of the bond I used to share with my own mother." He spoke those words with a soft loving smile etched across his lips, only to disappear into a worried look once he continued "Me and my father on the other hand. I can't say what we have can be considered a bond. Because I...I don't really love him as much as I love my mother, but I don't think I hate him that much either. Let's just say what we have is a little...complicated."