Halfway to the Moon

Moonlight Beckons

 Izuku shoved his hand beneath the running faucet, digging his fingers into hard grains of rice and scrubbing them clean. His mother hummed softly from the stove beside him, various vegetables, meats, and sauces sizzling away and filling the air with a salty, delectable aroma. 

 Once the green haired boy deemed the rice sufficiently cleansed, he scooped the sodden grains out into a red bowl and handed them to his mother, who smiled gratefully back at him.

 "It's a little hard to believe I'm cooking dinner for your father again. It's been so long," She commented, back turned to Izuku so she could get the rice cooking. "It really is so exciting, isn't it?"

 Izuku hummed as he thought, trying to formulate a response. On one hand, he was happy and excited- hopeful that maybe, just maybe, they could be a real family again, that his father had changed in the time he'd been gone. It'd been so long since he'd last seen his father, and that memory was… painful. Perhaps, this time, he would stay. He could quit his job with his father's help and his mother would finally have time for herself again. She'd have someone to lean on, to talk to, to love in a way she hadn't in so many years. Izuku wanted nothing more than for that future to come to fruition.

 On the other hand, though, he knew. He knew things wouldn't turn out the way he so longed for them to. He wouldn't get the life he yearned for because, sadly, he didn't live in a fairy tail, and it seemed he was always destined to pull the short end of the stick. Realistically, he knew his father showing up out of nowhere after his dramatic exit ten years ago probably wasn't the most promising of occurrences. He knew he should hate him; that he should resent the cold, callous man who took the last of his childlike innocence and stomped on it with such a cold detachment Izuku often wondered if Hisashi ever loved him at all.

 But Izuku was an optimist, and he'd hold on to that, even if the reality was bleak. Especially if the reality was bleak. Izuku was aware that clinging to false hope wasn't the wisest decision, but it was all he had. If he wasn't constantly looking for that light at the end of the tunnel, following the north star he'd built from childhood band-aids and hung like the posters spread on his bedroom walls, then he wouldn't have anything to guide him. He'd wind up stranded- running after his dreams with two broken legs.

 So, however stupid it may have been, Izuku smiled and said, "Yeah, it is."

 Inko nodded, pleased, and swirled around, instantly occupied with rummaging through the cupboards for their nice looking dishes. Izuku leaned over and flicked off the stove for her, knowing she'd already forgotten. The green haired woman tended to become increasingly frazzled under pressure, turning forgetful and frantic. Izuku, having lived with her all his life, knew this and always volunteered to help out when she wanted to make a big meal. Though they hadn't had the time or reason to do that in a long while.

 Izuku wiped his still damp hands on his shorts and grabbed a pile of plates. His arms complained at the extra weight, still sore from yesterday's workout, but the greenette made his way over to the dining table with them anyway. He plopped the stack down with a small grunt, just beginning to distribute them around the empty table when a loud knock sounded from across the room.

  Must be Mitsuki and Masaru, he thought, jogging over to the waiting door, it's been so long since I last saw them.

  He reached the door and quickly unlocked it, face already consumed by a genuinely warm and welcoming smile. Even though he wasn't really on the best terms with Kacchan and had stopped visiting some time ago, the Bakugou parents had always continued to love Izuku, and Izuku them.

 It quickly became obvious upon opening the door, however, that Mitsuki and Masaru had not, in fact, arrived yet. Instead of a couple with heads of spiky hair and open, welcoming arms, he was met with the sight of a tall, intimidating man, a large brown suitcase hanging limply from his clenched fist and a dark suit enveloping his body. His sharp, angular face was framed by black curls, a light smattering of freckles draped across the bridge of his nose and disappearing into the dips of his cheekbones. Dark green eyes bored impassively into the smaller boy, igniting the latter's nerves with a rush of adrenaline and nearly jumpstarting his fight or flight instincts.

 "D-Dad?!"

-

  "D-Dad?!"

 The word floated around them, its echo filling the otherwise silent space. His father looked entirely unimpressed, impatient to get inside, but Izuku's brain had short circuited the second he saw the older man.

 His father- the first of many to break him and a man he hadn't seen for most of his life- was right there, standing in their apartment doorway like he was just getting home from a short visit to the market for milk.

 Hisashi seemed to catch on to the fact Izuku wasn't entirely there and cleared his throat loudly, pulling Izuku's awareness back to him in an instant. Said boy squeaked and flushed red, moving out of the way so fast he almost tripped on his own two feet.

 Hisashi didn't look at him as he entered, brushing past Izuku with an air of superiority and arrogance that rivaled even Kacchan's. The green haired boy pushed the door closed behind him gently, a rising sense of dread forming a pit in his stomach. Just from that short exchange, Izuku could tell. Hisashi did change- for the worse.

 An excited voice flitted from the kitchen entryway and Izuku turned to see his mother talking animatedly with her long lost ex-husband. The dark haired man was playing a completely different tune, now, all smiles and polished charisma. It was a mask, and a damn good one at that. But he wouldn't go over there and try to rip it off right in front of his mother. She seemed so happy and excited to see Hisashi again, Izuku couldn't take that away from her. He'd put up with anything and everything if it meant her happiness. It was the least he could do for her.

 Ignoring the lively conversation taking place next to him, Izuku got to work setting the table.