Puppet Master

Presently Loud Radio

A little green-haired boy skipped down the street. His small hand was held by a brunette woman, listening contently as the boy rattled on about heroes and what they learned in preschool that day. He lifted his arm, making a flying sound as he held up his favorite All Might figurine. The little boy ran ahead of the woman. Birds were singing, the sun was shining. The boy stopped. He turned around.

'Mommy!' The greenette's eyebrows furrowed when the brunette woman was not there. 'Mommy?' He retraced his steps, holding the toy close to his chest. 'Mommy...?'

No one was on the streets.

The little boy looked up when something cold and wet hit his hand. Clouds covered the sun and rain began to drizzle. He walked a bit faster, calling out for the woman to no avail.

Seconds to minutes. Minutes to hours. The rain picked up, heavily beating down on the small child as he kept walking. He kept calling out for the woman, even though his yells were muffled by the storm. The little boy tripped, falling into a puddle. He dropped his toy.

The little boy sniffled. He reached out for the figurine but it was swept away with the waters.

Cold. Wet. Alone.

He was all alone.

'Mommy?'

_______________________________

Izuku blinked open his eyes. He rubbed at them with his hands. They came back wet. Wet? Was he crying? He found that he couldn't stop. He curled into a ball on his bed, furiously rubbing at his eyes as salty tears continued to fall from them. Dang it, stop! He couldn't. Izuku rested his head on his knees and silently waited it out. When the tears stopped falling and his body stopped shaking, Izuku uncurled himself from his ball. He snuck into the bathroom and took a few minutes to make it look like he had not been crying before leaving and entering the living room. He could smell the aroma of bacon floating in the air and hear the sizzle of the grease.

Izuku walked into the kitchen silently.

He froze, foot held in midair. Mary Lou was humming to herself and... Present Mic was leaning against the counter watching the bacon as it cooked.

Izuku swiveled on his foot and quickly made his way to the front door. It was unlocked. He locked it with a small *click* which alerted the adults of his presence.

"Good morning, Izu."

"Morning, little listener!"

Izuku nodded at them before joining the two in the kitchen. He glanced at Present Mic. It had been a week since Izuku got back 'home.' The man smiled down at him. "I've got the day off today. Hope ya don't mind that I stopped by?" Izuku shrugged. Mary Lou smiled. She stuck a piece of bacon with a fork and passed it to Izuku. "How is it?" He took the bacon and blew on it softly before taking a bite. Izuku took a second to decide how to respond to this. He could just nod or give a thumbs up but... he glanced at the yellow-haired man behind Mary Lou.

-----

'We won't tell you not to speak,' Eraser said. 'Or beat you, or use your quirk. Sometimes, you need to say what is on your mind.'

-----

Izuku swallowed and opened his mouth. "I- i- it's g- good."

Mary Lou smiled. She looked up at Present Mic who smiled back at her. "That's great! Can you two go set the table then? I've got cinnamon rolls in the oven."

Present Mic gave a thumbs up. "Sure thing!" Izuku opted for simply nodding his time. He waited for Present Mic to hand him the plates from the cabinet before following the man over to the table.