🍋Lemon Boy🍋 {HitoZuku}

Family Bonding [Chapter 15]

Eri has a sad look in her eyes as she looks at her arms and legs.

She had finished her bath and had changed into a pair of pyjama shorts with a frilly tank top. She loved the outfit, it was unicorn-themed with pink and blue coloured sparkles. Usually, she would run around the apartment showing off her beautiful shirt, but, all she could focus on were the pale pink lines that littered her skin.

The scars were from when Overhaul did his 'tests' or picked her apart and then put her back together.

She didn't like the tests, not one bit. They always hurt bad and they made her feel dirty. Like she didn't deserve to be happy, like Overhaul said over and over again.

But, Izuku never said any of those things. He said he lived her, and no matter what he'll always be there with her. He was never mean to her or was grossed out by her. He was all she ever wanted as a mother figure. Izuku cooked many delicious types of foods that made her mouth water. He cleaned up after her, bathed her, and bought her all the things she wanted. Izuku was her Mama.

Hitoshi was super nice too! He never asked about her scars or made her feel small and unseen. He read her bedtime stories about a princess, who was stuck in a tower, but instead of begging saved, the princess slayed the dragon herself! It was her favourite story, and she made sure Hitoshi told it every night before bed. Even if she wasn't tired after the story, he would pick her up off the bed and hold her in the air, playing rocket ship till she laughed so hard she had to sleep. Hitoshi was her Papa.

(Hitoshi and Izuku made each other happy, and their happiness was her happiness.)

But... even if they made her feel safe and loved... will she ever be fully clean?
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Izuku walks by Eri's room with a bin of laundry in his arms, he was going to put the load in the washing machine but stopped suddenly.

'*Sniffle*'

'Oh shit.' Izuku immediately sensed that something was wrong. He put the bin down and peeked his head into Eri's room. "Sweetheart? Are you okay?" His voice had an edge of worry.

Eri was sitting on her new pink and purple bed sheets, her arms stretched out slightly in front of her. It took a moment before Izuku saw the straight, persistent lines decorating Eri's pale, delicate skin. She looked almost like she was dissociating, but her eyes moved back and forth between her arms.

"Oh, baby." Izuku kneeled in front of Eri, holding her hand in his own larger one. The sniffles intensified and Eri's ruby eyes shined with tears.

"Mama?" Izuku still isn't used to the name so he blushes.

"Yes, Eri?" Eri flashed her eyes up at her Mama. "Am I unclean?"

He was confused for a moment, 'Unclean? She just had a bath?' Before it hit him. Like a semi-truck. When Eri first came home with Izuku after the adoption, she told him everything. About the experiments, Overhaul, and the feeling of being so unclean she felt like she was caked in mud.

Izuku knew about the scars, during the first bath Eri had when she arrived at the Midoriya household. He was so outraged at this Overhaul dickhead who belonged in the deepest depths of hell, how could he hurt such a beautiful, kind-hearted, young girl who only wants a normal life.

(Izuku made a vow that if he were ever to come face to face with that purple fur coat piece of horse shit, we would rip his arms off his body so he wouldn't be able to harm anyone EVER again.)

After a moment of tense silence, Izuku frantically shook his head.

"No, never, nada. You not unclean Eri." The green-haired boy looked a Eri with his wide emerald eyes. His voice was sincere and filled with love. "You are the kindest, most beautiful, loveliest girl in the entire world. Remember that, always."

At this point, Hitoshi had heard the commotion and came to the room. He leaned on the door frame for a while before crouching down beside Izuku to look at Eri. His larger hand rested on Eri's shoulder and rubbed his thumb back and forth.

"B-But... Overhaul s-said my scars make me u-unclean." Eri's tears spilled onto her cheeks. "H-H-He said I had these scars because I'm a co-coward and I'll never be l-loved." She began to sob. "That I'm a monster!"

Izuku and Hitoshi were stunned. Both looked at each other and back at Eri's crying figure. Izuku pulled Eri into his lap and whispered reassuring words to her while Hitoshi patted her hair and hummed her favourite song.

When she finally calmed herself, she gazed up at her guardians with puffy eyes. They both smiled kindly at her.

"He's wrong." Hitoshi started with, his voice gruff from being lowered to a whisper. "You are clean. You are loved." Izuku continued.

The smaller teen pulled up his sleeve to show off the Sunstar burst scars on his tanned, freckled skin. "Scars aren't always a bad thing." He used his pointer finger to trace over each jagged line of the pale scars. "I got these 'cause I stood up for myself, 'cause I was brave."

The purple-haired boy pulled the collar of his shirt down to show the pale skin on his collarbone. It was a long, straight line that went well beyond his collar, like a well-placed cut. "I got this because I escaped, I survived."

Both teens spent the next 15 minutes pointing to different scars they had and what they got out of it. They were brave, they were courageous, They were generous, and most importantly, they survived.

When they finally ran out of scars to describe, Eri had stopped crying.

"What we're trying to say is, your scars... mean you went through something tough and survived." She was awe-struck, like being gifted a new toy for Christmas.

She hugged both her parents tight while she cried. This time, they weren't sad tears, not like the tears she shed when she felt dirty and unloved. These tears were filled with joy and love.

At the end of the night, the three had become even closer than before. (Like they weren't close before, am I right? ;3)

And a photo of them scars out in the open. Reminders that they were there and alive, with the ones they held closest to them. All three mouths with wide smiles and joy-filled tears.

1125 Words

Thanks for reading chapter 15 ( Family Bonding ) Of 🍋; Lemon Boy;🍋!

Love Your Author Izzy!