Work Text:
“Don’t let the dragon eat me!”
“I-It said I wadn’t supp’sed to be there! Said I didn’ see the s-sign. Maybe I couldn't read it? It sai’ I shouldn’t be there an’ tha’ it’d eat me! I din’t wan’ it to eat me! B-But it was in th’ w-way. I couldn’t get out! Mama I had to run!”
XXX
Izuku was in front of a sign again. Except this time he could read it.
“DANGER” Painted in Bright Red Letters.
He knew that word.
He knew where he was. Sort of. He knew he was dreaming. Maybe.
The sign was there in front of him.
He knew he should run, but his feet moved forward on their own.
“NO WAIT DRAGON!”
Was this the same dream? Or maybe it wasn’t?
Izuku knew he was curious. Mama always said he was. Dad always said he was. They said it wasn’t a bad thing, right? Kacchan was usually there, though, leading the way. Izuku always followed, he was never first, and he didn’t mind! It was always funner with Kacchan there! They’d go into the forest that they weren’t supposed to. They’d play tag, collect rocks, or, shh, sometimes watch Kacchan practice with his Quirk. Only small sparks. Nothing big like the park! They didn’t want to get hurt again.
But now he was walking on his own into a…cave, right. Just like the last dream. The DANGER sign didn’t really keep anyone out. There should’ve been…a, what, magic barrier? Or at least traps! Maybe they’d be farther in? Not like Izuku could stop walking. He had no choice. So exploring! Like with Kacchan but alone. He’d done that before, plenty of times! Not in a cave though, and not…now.
Dragons weren’t real.
They were stories.
…Right?
Mama said so.
Dad was a bit more serious about it. He hadn’t shown him yet, but Izuku saw the book he brought. FAIRY TALES. He knew what those were, kinda. They were sort of real, but also sort of made up.
Suddenly there was a loud BANG ahead of him. It wasn’t like Kacchan’s explosions—those were louder, but it still made him jump. Who knew how far away it was? His hearing was weird here. There weren’t other noises. Usually he could hear birds, or bugs, or talking. Lots of talking. Dreams were silent. Good to know.
He still couldn’t stop.
Maybe this was why he had to run in the first one? He couldn’t remember. It wasn’t that long ago, right? He just…woke up scared, remembering flashes of gold, red, black. Claws, teeth, wings. Screaming—
CLANG. CRASH. BOOM.
The ground shook, but Izuku didn’t fall. The dream didn’t want him to.
The dream also wanted him to look around. The walls had…words on them. Paintings. He couldn’t read them, but they used red paint, why red? Why not black? That was easiest to read! Especially on…wait. Why were the walls not-grey? Weren’t caves usually grey? Like rock? These walls were turning…gold.
CRASH BANG BOOM!
Another shake. Another time Izuku didn’t fall.
He couldn’t read the walls. He couldn’t stop looking at them. There were circles, triangles, eyes, drawn around in red paint. More words. Entire…entire part of a wall, lines and lines and lines of words. He could read the DANGER sign, but he couldn’t read these. Old. Lost. His mind screamed.
Izuku was definitely lost.
But he kept walking towards the—CRASH BANG BOOM!!
BOOM, BOOM, BOOM
Suddenly the sound was louder. This time Izuku did trip. It didn’t hurt when he went down. He caught himself with his hands, scraping them but not scraping them. Maybe he had control now? He tried to push himself up when more loud sounds came from ahead of him.
BOOM CRASH BANG
“STOP.”
Izuku froze.
He remembered the words from before, “You shouldn’t be here!” “I’ll EAT you!”
“EAT, EAT, EAT!”
Izuku hiccupped. So he could control that too. He cried a lot, even in his dreams.
“STOP!”
Izuku blinked, vision blurry. He wouldn’t move. No. He wouldn’t. He didn’t want to be eaten. This dream was different from the last one. The last one he had to run fast! Faster than fast! He didn’t get this far either, did he? He couldn’t remember the walls. Why?
BANG!
Then.
Silence.
Silence. Silence.
Silence.
“You stopped.”
Izuku couldn’t hear where the voice came from. Maybe it was far away, like the booming? Maybe he stopped in time? Maybe he could just not move and—maybe wake up soon? He had to wake up soon, right? He had dreams about heroes, about being a hero, and other exciting things! Those never seemed to last long, so…how long was this dream supposed to be?
“Who are you?”
Were they speaking to him?
Izuku let out a shaky sob. He couldn’t stop it. It was loud. Too loud.
There were footsteps. Not-human footsteps. The floor shook. One step. Two steps. Three. Four. Then there it was—THE DRAGON. Gold scales, black wings, red eyes, black claws, black fangs.
The dragon that tried to eat him before. Except this time…it wasn’t. It was just looking at him. Red eyes blinked and turned blue.
Blink. Red. Blink. Blue. Blink. Red. Blink. Blue.
Izuku sobbed again.
Now he couldn’t see.
He’d closed his eyes.
“Oh. It’s you.”
The voice was in his head. Wasn’t it? It was a dream. Of course it was in his head! Izuku really wanted to wake up now. Could he? Please? For once? This was his head, his dream, couldn’t he control that?!
“You can.” The dragon said. Did it read his mind? “No. Yes. Your thoughts are very loud here.” Izuku sniffled, the dragon…sighed? It was warm, not hot, but it almost knocked Izuku over, “If you’d like to leave just think of the exit. After all, you didn’t seem to heed the warning.”
“I-I-I couldn’t.” Izuku let out a whimper before he could stop himself, “M-My legs moved…on their o-own.”
The dragons’ eyes switched to blue again, and it opened its mouth just a little so Izuku could see their black fangs. “I see. Well, you aren’t ready yet for what’s here.” They nodded to one of the walls but Izuku didn’t look. He knew he couldn’t read them. “So leave. Think of the sign. Think of the exit and you will wake up. Don’t worry, I won’t chase you now. I don’t need to scare you.”
Oh. Well. Great. That meant the dragon could have, but now didn’t, for some reason. Izuku let out a sob again, but tried to think of the sign. The big red letters DANGER. That should be easy, right? Please let it be easy!
The cave flickered.
The dragon’s scales started shining.
BRIGHT!
Izuku could see the light even with his eyes closed.
But then the light was gone and he was…not falling, but floating? He couldn’t feel the ground and his claws didn’t snag on anything.
Then he saw the sign DANGER! He was on the road in front of it.
The letters faded. Then more letters appeared. TURN AROUND.
What? Was it really that easy?
It was that easy.
He turned around and his eyes snapped open.
XXXX
“Izuku? Izuku!” Hisashi was panicking. He'd heard Izuku start sobbing through their bedroom wall and had gotten up to check on him, only to find him fast asleep. Shaking him didn't do much, granted Hisashi hadn't tried too hard. He knew he didn't like being woken up that way, so why would he do that to someone else? Hisashi had only succeeded in turning Izuku's face towards him, confirming that he was still crying.
What did Inko do for these types of nightmares? He didn't know. He'd never asked. There was the shallow bowl of water next to Izuku's bed, a safety precaution for the newest aspect of his Quirk, but maybe he could…dip a towel in it and wipe Izuku's face? Surely that would wake him up, right?
Before he could even grab the towel Izuku's eyes snapped open.
He was still crying, “Daddy?”
“I'm here, Izuku, are you alright?” Of course he wasn't! What would Inko do? Pet his hair? Hug him? What would--
Izuku made the decision for him, reaching out to grab his hand. The claws were sharp, but Hisashi ignored them, Izuku wasn’t grabbing that hard anyway. For a few minutes they sat in almost-silence, with Izuku’s sobs and whimpers slowly turning to sniffles and wheezing gasps as he tried to get himself under control. Hisashi waited. If Izuku wanted a hug he would’ve initiated it himself, right? Izuku was affectionate--clearly the last few days showed him that--but right now he was clearly scared and disoriented. It was only when Izuku inhaled sharply, eyes snapping open, that Hisashi relaxed. “...Daddy?” Again he inhaled, but before Hisashi could reply Izuku was burying his face into his chest. “Dad--dad it was the dragon.”
…The dragon?
He remembered the nightmare Inko had told him about. The one that had happened several months back, after Izuku’s enhanced vision and hearing manifested. It shouldn’t have been anything other than a simple nightmare, but it reminded Hisashi of a few of his own dreams, back when he was a child--up until high school, actually. Though he didn’t remember the first ones himself, being too young to remember something like that, his mother did…which made them easier to recall. He’d dreamed about a dragon by a volcano, spitting fire and always angry unless Hisashi slept late. Something about the sun being up calmed the dragon down enough that it only blew smoke at him instead of fire.
Hisashi had been glad he was fireproof even if it was a dream. It was a very realistic dream, and apparently he had caught a few of his blankets on fire when he’d first started having them. Thankfully they hadn’t burned much, being treated with a fireproofing Quirk spray. He’d told Inko the bare minimum, though he wasn’t sure how much she’d told Izuku--or even if she’d told him at all. She probably didn’t want to scare him, and now Hisashi could see why. He was clearly spooked, and still trying to calm down.
Maybe talking about it would help, though? At the very least Hisashi wanted to ask what kind of dragon Izuku’s had been. He had a book of fairytales he’d brought along from the USA, which he’d honestly bought with the intention of having Inko keep it. He’d already read through most of the stories. “The dragon?” He asked, trying to keep his voice soothing, “What did it want?” He dearly hoped it hadn’t wanted to just chase Izuku again.
“I-I--don’ know.” Izuku’s words were punctuated by sniffles, “It…it…didn’t chase.” Ah, well that was at least one plus side. “Sai’ didn’ need to. Sai’ I could l-leave on my own.” His breath hitched here and he rubbed at his eyes with his free hand.
Hisashi frowned at that. Surely that was a positive thing, right? But if he’d woken up before things got scary then that meant--“Were you able to?”
“Y-yes. B-But I had t-to see the dragon firs’. Didn’ know until they t-told me.” Which meant the dream had more than just the dragon in it. “...I was in a cave.” Hisashi felt Izuku’s claws gently digging into his skin, but said nothing, “The sign--I couldn’ read it w-when I had this dream b-before.”
Hisashi remembered Inko saying the dragon was going to ‘eat’ Izuku, but only vaguely mentioned a ‘sign’. Reading in dreams wasn’t impossible, but for a child Izuku’s age it would be very difficult. “Could you read it now?” He had to ask though, because from the sound of it that meant Izuku could.
Izuku whimpered and nodded his head, “Said Danger. But! I couldn’t turn a-around and go b-back! My legs wouldn’t let me!”
“So you…had to walk into the cave?” Oh dear. It sounded like this dream was going in the same direction as the other one. Hisashi squeezed Izuku’s hand tighter, again ignoring the claws.
“Y-Yeah. I-I kept walking. I kept hearing…banging. Booming.” He shivered, “N-Not like Kacchan’s Quirk. I-I don’t know wh-what it w-was.” His sniffled again, then rubbed his nose, “I walked n’walked until I stopped.” His voice got quieter, even if he also sounded like he was going to start crying again, “I was in a r-r-room. I couldn’ read the words on th’walls. The d-dragon w-was there.” Izuku took a deep breath, “They were--they were--there. Big…and…I could s-see them better. Dad, are there a-any gold Dragons?”
Hisashi hesitated, the dragon was gold? “Well dragons can come in all sorts of colors. People say that each color has a different meaning, but in the end it’s usually just a color.” Now he wanted to look up golden dragons, just to see if there was any information on the color specifically. More importantly, “You said they told you how to leave, and that they didn’t chase you. Did you get to leave immediately?”
“No.”
…Really?
“They talked t-to me. S-said was me.” Izuku back down at the blankets, “they told me I wasn’t r-ready yet. Then told me h-how to leave.” Izuku let a watery exhale before finally leaning into Hisashi’s side, “I jus’ had to th-think of the s-sign again…and turn around. I-It was that easy and I-I c-couldn’t d-do it.”
Hisashi squeezed him tightly, “But you did do it. You woke up, didn’t you?” Plus it sounded like the dream wouldn’t have let him turn around to begin with. The whole point of dreams was…to dream them. Not just leave them immediately. “I’m going to assume you won’t be able to sleep after that?”
“No.” Izuku’s voice was muffled against his chest.
“Did you want me to wake mom up?” He asked, “I’m sure she’ll let you sleep in bed with us?”
“Really?” Izuku glanced up at him, eyes glassy from tears he was clearly holding back. It was…interesting, still, to see the cat-like pupils and the fact that his son's eyes almost seemed to glow in the dark. Or maybe it was the odd lighting in the room--Izuku did have a nightlight (one that shone green instead of the typical yellow of a normal nightlight).
Hisashi smiled, “Yes, really. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind.” Honestly she probably woke up when he left, and was waiting for them in their room. The fact she let him deal with it was nice, even if Hisashi felt like he didn’t know what he was doing. When was the last time he’d comforted Izuku from a nightmare? One he didn’t know about until after the fact?
It made Hisashi happy even if it also made him sad. This wasn’t the kind of ‘bonding time’ he wanted with his son, but he knew it was important that Izuku relied on him too, even if he would only be here for winter break.
“Let’s go.” He gently tugged at Izuku’s fingers, pulling them away from where they were clinging to his shirt (thankfully not hard enough to rip the fabric). “Did you want any…warm milk?” That usually helped children sleep, right?
Izuku shook his head, the motion slow and almost groggy, “Mmm no. Want mom.” Oh good, it almost sounded like he wanted to sleep again. Hopefully that was the case. It wouldn’t do anyone any good to stay up for the rest of the night, even though Hisashi was quite used to it at this point. Usually that was for work related things, and he was on vacation now. No late-night projects he had to finish.
“Alright, alright,” He stood up and slowly maneuvered Izuku so that he could carry him the rest of the way out of his room and down the short hallway to his and Inko’s room. Just like he thought Inko was up, and somehow just as wide awake as he’d been. She smiled, though she was clearly worried. “Here we go, see? Here’s mom.” Inko immediately held her arms out, and Izuku practically crawled out of Hisashi’s arms. “See? You’re okay now. You’ve got both of us.”
Izuku had already hidden his face against Inko’s chest, but he could see him bobbing his head as Inko ran a hand through his curly hair.
“Yes, you’re safe.” Inko repeated even though she clearly didn’t quite know what happened. She could guess it was a nightmare, just like she could guess they wouldn’t talk about it until morning, or at least until Izuku fell asleep between them. Which he did, after a bit more situating, where Hisashi awkwardly crawled over the both of them, so Inko didn’t have to move. Once he laid down, head propped up on a few pillows, Izuku immediately rolled between them. It was sweet, but again sad, he didn’t want Izuku to have a nightmare! Inko shared a look that clearly mimicked his own, and they both waited for what felt like an hour (but really was probably only fifteen minutes) until Izuku’s wheezing breaths evened out. Then, quietly, Inko asked, “...Did he hurt himself? In his sleep, I mean.” She was looking at his ungloved hands, then at his mouth. Oh. Hisashi hadn’t even thought to check, though thankfully he had an answer.
“No, he didn’t. He mostly held my hand, and his covers. He also didn’t have any issues talking so if he…if he bit his tongue or scraped it--” Which he hadn’t thought to be a thing, but clearly it might be if he was scared enough to bite down hard, “He didn’t act like he had.” Surely, he would’ve had a lisp, or worst-case scenario Hisashi would’ve seen blood. Maybe not a lot, but enough to get Izuku to stop.
Inko sighed softly in relief, “I…We should still check when he wakes up. He’ll definitely notice if he eats.” The fact that Izuku would hide that he was hurt made Hisashi frown. Granted the dream was probably more important at the moment than thinking about his tongue.
Still, Inko was right, “Okay, at breakfast then. Should we make something he likes?”
“Oh, yes. Eggs, toast, we still have some of that special jam I bought before--” You visited. It was in the fridge, still perfectly good. Hisashi had had a spoonful for breakfast one day already. Strawberry jam was easily a part of an american breakfast, but western breakfast food was popular in Japan and always had been. “We have rice and miso soup, too in case you’d like that instead.”
“We’ll see what Izuku wants.” Hisashi agreed, it was still cold out and the option of a warm soup sounded like an excellent idea. No one said they couldn’t have all of that, they probably wouldn’t want to go out for lunch anyway when it was this cold. Not unless Izuku wanted to. Hisashi still had time to explore the city with his family before he left.
“Alright, it will be something to look forward to.” Inko ran a hand through Izuku’s hair gently, making sure not to wake him up, “I think it’s okay to sleep now, but if he wakes up…”
“He’ll have both of us.” He won’t be alone. That was more important than anything else.
It was always nice not to be alone after a dream like that.