(How To)Forgive and Forget

Reunion(Isn't As Sweet As It Sounds)

"UA will be getting dorms to ensure student safety. We'd like your son, Izuku Midoriya, to come and stay at UA, with your permission."

Izuku sits with his back to the door, listening to his mom talk with Aizawa and All Might.

She'd been staying home with him since his release from the hospital and had regularly checked in with him at least twice an hour. It was suffocating, but he couldn't do much about it. All of his calls and texts from his new phone are being monitored by the police, in case his 'kidnapper' tried to get into contact with him. He hadn't been able to leave the house in a week, and his teachers are the first visitors they've had.

"I assure you, I will be on campus twenty-four-seven, and I will be personally ensuring every student's safety, including your son's." All Might says, his voice booming through the small apartment.

He hears shuffling and readjusting.

"Ma'am, I believe it would be beneficial for your son to be with his friends right now. It would probably help him gain some semblance of normalcy, and it might even help him start talking again." Aizawa speaks up, voice rough but even.

After ten minutes, Inko agrees to allow Izuku to live in UA's dorms.

The invisible collar around his throat tightens.

___________

He moves in on a Saturday. His mother isn't allowed past the front gate, so he hauls his boxes and bags across campus, a faint sense of familiarity lingering in his mind.

It feels like years since he's been here, even though it's only been a month. An invisible, familiar hand rests on his shoulder, and the voices of his friends whisper encouragement to him. He smiles faintly, then walks towards the big building labeled: 1-A Heights Alliance.

His classmates are supposed to be here too, but he came early to avoid them. Aizawa is in front of the building, and tells Izuku he's on the third floor, third door to the left of the elevator.

The green-haired boy nods and sets off, easily locating his room and using his key to open it. Inside, there's a bed, a closet, a desk, and a chair. It's bare, and the back wall is occupied by glass doors that lead to a balcony.

It feels...empty. Nothing like his room at the bar. Still, he gets to work, making his bed and setting up his stationery, and putting his clothes away. Once he's done with that, he looks around.

The room still looks bare, but he couldn't bring himself to take any of his hero posters with him. Everything he brought was specifically chosen because it didn't have All Might on it(which was most of his things). He just...couldn't deal with that right now. Though, he did bring his notebooks. He didn't have any good hiding spots for them at home, and he didn't want his mom to look through them.

He'd caught up on coursework over the past week, and although the stack of paper looked daunting, it was pretty easy.

Now, he grabs a book on Quirk Theory and wraps himself in his blanket, blocking out the sounds of his new roommates moving in.

___________

Later that evening, he gets hungry. Everyone seems to be in their rooms right now, so he decides to make himself some food. Aizawa said something about the kitchen being stocked with anything they might need.

He avoids the elevator, taking the stairs as silently as he can.

When he gets to the first floor, he peers around. No one is here, thankfully. He really doesn't want to deal with his classmates.