(How To)Forgive and Forget

Izuku's Terrible, Horrible, No Good(Very Bad), Day

"Eri, could you stay with Hitoshi and Shouto for a few hours? I need to go do something." He asks, kneeling down to reach her height.

She gives him a nervous look, fingers clutching his hand a little tighter as she glances over her shoulder at the two boys on the couch. They'd agreed to watch her while he went to talk with All Might, but she seemed more than a little reluctant to let him leave.

He can't say he blames her. Leaving her alone in a school with Nezu anywhere near her makes his skin crawl, but Yagi is going to be with him and Aizawa can't erase Hitoshi and Todoroki's Quirks. They'd promised him to not, any under circumstances, allow any teacher near her, and they'd seemed to notice how serious he was when he said it.

"I...I don't want you to go..." She murmurs, eyes darting to the pair, who both are on their phones to give them some semblance of privacy. "What if..."

His heart clenches as her grip on him tightens. From what he'd been able to gather these past months, her father had disappeared on her fourth birthday—likely due to her Quirk, which he still was unsure of, though he kept an eye on her horn, which seemed to grow a little each month—and her mother had left her with the former Yakuza boss, her grandfather. Something happened, and Overhaul got his hands on her. Then he took her away from the only place she'd ever called home(even if it was shitty and horrible) and left her here, which only served to amplify any abandonment issues that were already there. She clings to him like a tree most days, and hates it when he goes to the Support Labs because he can't take her with him.

How can I help her?

The little girl peers up at him with a quivering lip, clearly on the verge of tears. They hadn't been separated for this long of a time before, and he's more than a little worried himself.

Suddenly, an idea pops into his head.

"Okay," He mumbles to himself, carefully tugging of the red gloves Yanagi made for him.

"How about this? I need these gloves for my hands, and I can't go for a long time without them. So you can hold on to them while I go out, and I'll have to come back!" He says, holding them out to her.

Eri stares at the gloves, understanding slowly dawning across her face. Delicately, she takes them from him, examining them carefully as the unshed tears in her eyes glimmer.

"...Do you have to go?" She whispers, tiny hands holding the red material tightly.

He sighs.

"Yeah. But I'll be back soon." He reaches out and gently ruffles her hair.

Izuku stands and gives her one last smile, then glances over at the boys, who look up at his attention.

"We know the drill by now." Hitoshi shoots him a lazy smile, but there's a question hidden behind it.

He gives them a tight smile.

"Thanks. I owe you both."

"Just keep on putting me to sleep with whatever sorcery you use and we'll be good." Hitoshi shrugs, a hint of worry in his eyes.

The green haired boy's smile softens into something more genuine, and he looks over at Todoroki, who's quietly kneeling beside Eri and murmuring something to her. He decides to leave those two to it.

With that, he pulls on his shoes and a jacket, then leaves the dorms, notebook in his pocket and a determined expression on his face.

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Light grey clouds cover the sky, casting everything in a dull light. The air chills his nose as he steps off the train, hands already aching despite being stuffed deep into his pockets.