These Haunted Halls

Chapter 2

"Izuku." His voice shudders a little. "Who was that?"

Izuku sniffles a little, wiping at his eyes. He doesn't say anything. Shota doesn't sleep again for the rest of the night.

It doesn't matter where he checks or what he does. There's no signs anyone came in. The security system didn't register anyone coming in through any of the windows. His balcony and front doors remained locked. Nothing is disturbed, or missing, or broken. Yet he knows, he knows he's not crazy. He didn't imagine it.

The lights flicker and it seems more ominous than ever. He spends the night propped up against his headboard, Izuku asleep in his lap, Shota's arms wrapped loosely around him as though to protect him from any possible harm. His ears strain, searching for the hauntingly familiar voice he'd heard but can't quite place no matter how hard he tries. Izuku sleeps soundly, curled into his usual ball.

The next day is tense. Shota's tired, dozing on occasion only to snap awake, always expecting to hear someone speaking or to see an unwelcome figure. He never does. It's always just Izuku, who Shota spends the day unnaturally close to. The kid doesn't seem to mind, to his credit. He sits as near as Shota wants him to, leaning against his side and staring into the corner.

They leave the house that day, going out to the park. Shota pushes Izuku on the swings and sits with him in the sandbox, ignoring the mothers who titter and flutter their lashes his way. Without a child, he looks homeless and suspicious. Sitting and playing with one, apparently he's just a tired single father trying his best. He wishes he knew how it worked.

"Izuku." Aizawa says on their way back to the apartment, the kid propped on his hip. He picks his words carefully. "Can you please tell me who was in the apartment? He was your... friend, right? He helped you after your nightmare?"

Izuku doesn't answer, but his lips do curl into one of those small smiles he gets sometimes. Somehow, it isn't reassuring. Shota pulls the kid close that night before he even gets the chance to roll over, locking him in his arms defensively.

There's no voices, no hands in Izuku's hair or vague forms in the flickering light. Shota wakes up and Izuku is still in his arms, and something in his heart settles. He takes a deep breath and sinks into the warmth of his bed, loosening his grip on the kid slightly as sun peeks through the windows.

He pauses only when he realizes he's been humming, a nameless tune-- one he swears he hears only as he drifts to sleep. He swallows thickly and tries his best to dispel the wordless song from his head. Shota tells himself it's nothing. That he's stressed, with Izuku still being targeted, and that it's been getting to him. Taking care of such a small child is scary when they're always wandering off without supervision.

(He knows deep down that he's wrong. He pretends he isn't.)

~~~~

"Oh my god." Hizashi all but whimpers, hands shaking as he peers down at Izuku's small form on the couch. "I thought Tsukauchi was lying."

"Why would he lie?" Shota asks grumpily, still nursing his morning coffee. He shoots daggers at the back of the blonde man's head from his place in the kitchen. "Izuku's been under my care for three weeks now. It's not a big deal."

And it's really not, excusing all the terrifying shit. Izuku's a great kid. Shota knows he shouldn't get attached, but it's kind of hard not to, you know? He's not as ashamed to admit it as he thought it'd be. Izuku's cute, and he's good, and he just seems as great as a kid can get. If Shota was going to have any child in his home, this is the exact one he'd want. He struck gold in that department.

Now, the humming at night, the flickering lights, the mysteriously made food and the baths? Those are... disconcerting, sure, but that has nothing to do with Izuku's personality and character. All those things-- barring the voice and hand-- can be explained at least somewhat rationally. He knows he must be missing something big, he just isn't sure what that something is yet. He doesn't think it's... dangerous. If it was going to hurt either of them by now, it probably would've.