Chapter Text
Izuku dropped the last box from the order and groaned as he straightened up, massaging his lower back with one hand and wiping his brow with the other.
A snicker drew his attention away from his misery to his mother manning the counter. “You've worked up quite a sweat there, Zuku. You might need a nap.” Wisened eyes crinkled with a playful glint.
He sent her an unimpressed look. “I’m just going to wash up quickly. You need more water anyway, right?”
“Aww Zuku, You’re too kind to me.”
Heat rose in his face and he ducked so he could hide his wobbly smile. “It’s just water.”
She giggled. “Best son a mother could ask for.”
“Mom!”
She laughed and shooed him off. He pouted and moved to the living side of the cottage. There he grabbed his washing bag and a bucket from the back entrance before exiting the house. The moment the door was closed he took off for the woods behind their humble abode. The trees flew by him and soon he could hear the rushing water of the river.
He slowed down to a walk and smiled, whistling happily to himself.
Mother loved teasing him and he always fell for it and as much as he hated the teasing, it had never failed to make him smile.
He faltered at the reminder, stopping just before he breached the last line of trees. “I just need to stop thinking about it.”
‘It’ meaning the oncoming festival. His mother kept catching him staring at nothing or forcing himself to work more to ignore the warning bells of the inevitable festivities.
No wonder she was trying to cheer him up.
He sighed and slowly peeled his sweat-soaked shirt off, throwing it over a branch to air. Then removing his bottoms and shoes. Relishing at the relief of being rid of the stickiness, he fished a towel out and hung it over a second branch for easy access and finally approached the river.
Over the river there was the small dock his father had built years ago for an easy and clean wash and as usual, he was immensely glad for it as he sat down and let the water lap lazily at his feet and splash his heated skin.
He soaped himself up quickly and dunked into the river. The cold water drowned out all of his negative thoughts and simply let him enjoy the sensation of it attempting to sweep over him and carry him away. He was slightly tempted to allow it, but mother didn’t deserve his cowardice.
He inwardly groaned in frustration as he got back onto the dock and shook his head, spraying water all over.
He took a deep breath and opened his eyes, wincing against the glaring sun beating down at him, the cold already receding.
He curled on the dock like on a bed, cold from the water and warm from the sun, and tried to ground himself in the conflicting sensations.
The festival was the event all those who had reached adulthood in the past five summers had to attend. It was meant to bond couples for the future of the towns in the area. To breed goodwill and good marriages.
Izuku didn’t want to go. He didn’t want to leave his mother alone and he honestly did not care for a spouse if it resulted in him abandoning her. He was happy where he was. He didn’t want to leave this peaceful life.
A sudden splash hit him in the face and he spluttered, nearly falling from the dock. He quickly stood up and rushed to grab his towel, shivering now that he was in the shade. He knew he could become sick from this habit, as he had several times, but he truly wanted a moment to just… forget.
He snorted grumpily, like it helped this time.
He sighed, wringing his hair absentmindedly as he thought back to his mother waiting for his return.
They were running an apothecary and a clinic at the outskirts of the Emek Duchy for the surrounding villages. His father and mother met at an herbalist's training and fell in love, converting the old family’s house to the cottage it was now.
Izuku grew up running between the garden and the clinic, carefree and happy to help wherever he could. He learned everything he knew here and he was going to take over the clinic when the time comes.
...But the festival could change all of that.
Izuku was a simple herbalist from a low class. In the festival he would be paired with someone who would want to take him away from his mother and his life's call.
He laughed hysterically to himself. He was supposed to bring the spouse to his home, not the opposite. He hated how the herbalist was both a needed job and yet looked down upon. He had a terrible feeling he would be sought for his knowledge instead of himself. After all, that was most likely why he got the invitation to the festival in the first place.
After all, the low class didn’t get invitations for the event, which made Izuku the first one in decades to come from the villages.
Mother had been both skeptical and ecstatic at the same time.
Izuku, on the other hand, was just dreading it.
He quickly dressed himself and grabbed the bucket, filling it quickly, before slinging the laundry bag over his shoulder and briskly set a pace to return home.
Only to stumble into a tree a few minutes later when a huge splash echoed throughout the woods followed by shouts. The noise then suddenly was overshadowed by the loud screeches of a flock of birds erupting into the sky.
Izuku looked behind him cautiously, trying to pinpoint the source of the noise before realizing the splash meant it was from the river.
He wanted to run and return home, knowing better than to get himself in trouble.
But someone might be in trouble...
Why else come through this way?
He exhaled sharply and deposited his belongings by a tree before running back towards the river.
He exited the trees to see the dock completely destroyed under a huge behemoth of a creature, red as blood. The river was fortunately wide enough not to be decimated, but the dock!
He took a step back, realizing he had made a mistake coming back here. He was going to be killed!
“Who are you?” A shout drew his retreat to a halt. He startled and took another look at the behemoth, noticing for the first time its companion.
It was a human.
A very broad blond.
With a sword.
And the behemoth.
Izuku gulped.
The man growled at his silence, hands clenching around a roll of…
Is that bloodied cloth?!
All his common sense flew out the window when Izuku finally registered the metallic smell and the clumpy goo oozing out of the behemoth’s side. He gasped and rushed forward, but the blond’s growling stopping him once more.
“Another step forward and you die.” Blond man’s hand inched towards his sword. “Now back the hell away from him and answer me. Who are you?”
Izuku was an idiot! Of course the man would be suspicious. He didn’t know he was a herbalist.
“I-I’m sorry! I, uh, I didn’t mean to frighten you. I just saw he was injured and well... I-I’m a herbalist and my house is just on the other side of the woods and well, uh, I need to treat him or else he’ll die from blood loss.”
And he rambled to the first foreigner he saw in years. Of course. It was time to die from humiliation. It was nice knowing mother, he’ll miss her.
The man’s red eyes narrowed. “I don’t need your help. Shitty hair is mine to take care of.”
Izuku blinked at the strange name. “Uh… I’m pretty sure he needs proper care.”
Blond growled but the behemoth suddenly moved. Izuku startled so badly he nearly bashed his head on the tree behind him. The blond huffed condescendingly before turning to the behemoth and growling at it.
Izuku, feeling weak, could only hope this whole mess won’t make his mother’s life harder.
He really had no one to blame but himself…
The blond sighed heavily, jolting him out of his inner stupidity. “Fine! But you do anything I don’t like and you will see your guts for the first time in your puny little life.”
Izuku’s eye twitched.
Wow, what a jerk.
The blond’s head snapped to him. Oh shit, he said that out loud, didn’t he? He worried his lip nervously and slowly inched closer to the behemoth, hands up in a non-threatening gesture. The creature stared at him, blood red eyes studying him. Izuku held back a shudder and turned instead to study the wound.
“Well, first thing, he needs to be out of the water. It keeps the blood flowing,” he muttered. The behemoth huffed but slowly extended a huge front limb and dragged itself to the shore. The behemoth keened in agony, more blood gushing out. The blond snarled and yelled at the behemoth for being reckless and not waiting for help to move and if Izuku wasn’t terrified out of his mind, he would have found it quite sweet.
But since he was, he tried to ignore the yelling and focused on identifying the wound.
It was a slash over the underbelly that wasn’t as protected as the rest of its body. It was clear the scales weren’t as tough there and so nothing could stop the wound until it reached the tougher scales. Oh, it looked like it hurt a lot, the poor guy.
Okay, he doesn’t have his sewing kit or even a thread big enough for this creature, but he does have a salve to close the wound. Too bad he didn’t bring it over. The one day he decided he didn’t need to be paranoid.
For now, he’ll have to momentarily close the wound and rush the creature to his house for permanent treatment if he wanted to keep the wound from worsening to life threatening.
But the only way to do so with a creature so big…
He didn’t want to resort to it but… but he had to.
He took a deep breath and laid his hands over the wound, praying it won’t fail him at such a crucial time, and then closed his eyes.
His body gave a widespread shudder, convulsing at the attempt but he grit his teeth and forced it to cooperate. Slowly the shudder faded and coldness spread over him as he forced his energy to form into a net and stick itself over the wound, tightening over it and forcing it to close.
When he made sure it won’t dissipate in a few seconds and make the bleeding worse, he stopped.
Immediately his knees gave up and he would have crashed to the shore if not for arms catching him, bringing him close to a broad chest. He barely felt mortified at how pathetic he looked, more focused on keeping his mind coherent and body conscious. He didn't have time to pass out, the net won’t hold more than a day and he needed to get the behemoth to the clinic to administer the salve.
He barely registered the voices as he slowly pulled himself together, ignoring the burning in his muscles as if he had run from the devil himself.
Soon, the voices began to register in his brain and he managed to find his footing. The arms still helped him stay upright, but no longer supported his weight. He gasped for air, clutching his head as it swam.
He was fine. He was fine. He hadn’t used it in years, he shouldn’t have had that much of a reaction. He was just being a baby.
He had something more important to deal with now. Namely, the behemoth and its rude rider… who was holding him, so not as rude?
Slowly he was returning back to normal, able to pull himself from the exhaustion and the need to empty his stomach, and looked up.
Two sets of red eyes were fixated on him.
Never mind, he would like to die on the spot right now.
“H-how… you a-alright?” Izuku asked nervously.
The behemoth’s eyes were covered by an inner lid for a moment before the creature weakly huffed in what felt like a snort.
Wow, rude. He was only worried.
“You fucking kidding me, right?!”
Izuku startled at the loud voice shouting next to his ear. He snapped his head up to meet the blond’s eyes, shrinking away from the annoyed gaze.
“You barely have any magick and decided the best course of action was to nearly kill yourself to close such a pathetic scratch? Have you no fucking sense?”
Izuku scoffed. Scoffed. He must be more tired than he thought. “A scratch?! H-he nearly bled out! Be-besides, I’m n-ot that weak!”
The blond huffed. “Could have fooled me. So what’s your brilliant plan now, leaf boy? That joke of a bandage won’t hold for a second.”
The nerve-! Izuku pushed the helpful arms off him, stumbling a bit before catching himself and glowering at the smug blond. “A simple thanks wou-would have been enough, you j-jerk! And the net will hold for a day, so follow me. I’ll lead you to my house and then I-I’ll use the salve to properly seal the wound.”
The behemoth lowered his head and then nudged the blond, huffing when the man growled. Izuku rolled his eyes and slowly maneuvered himself away from the ruined shore, bitterness at the destroyed relic from his youth taking over now that the danger passed. He stumbled towards the first tree and leaned on it heavily, panting as his body ached like crazy.
He hated using his magick.
But it was necessary no matter how much he despised that fact.
He took a moment, then forced himself to move away from the tree. Pausing, realization dawned on him and he swiveled to the blond.
“H-how are you going to get through the woods?”
The answer? Surprisingly enough, the behemoth was narrow and nimble enough, even with the injury, to twist around the trees. The trio slowly advanced through the woods, making a quick stop for Izuku to collect his belongings only for the blond to grumble and yank the bucket and bag from him. Izuku wanted to snap at him for acting like he was an invalid, but he knew it would take too long if he carried both so he had to bite his tongue and refrain from saying something.
The rest of the walk was spent in silence save for rustling and hisses when a tree brushed the behemoth’s injury. The blond stiffened each time it happened but only needed Izuku’s worried glance to snarl and march forward again, eyes clouded.
Izuku began to wonder if the two were connected by more than just camaraderie.
At long last, the journey that felt much longer than the trek to the river ended and they breached the woods to see the house standing there as usual. Izuku relaxed at the sight and quickly instructed the two to remain where they were and trudged the rest of the way to the back entrance.
His mother flung the door just as he arrived, face pale and hands shaking.
“Izuku!” She exclaimed at his disheveled look and hurried him inside, somehow completely missing the behemoth and its rider, fussing over him. “What happened? There was a loud noise and birds flew all over and disturbed the trees. I could feel the earth tremble, are you okay? You look like you used your magick and you know that it’s bad for y--”
“Mom!” Izuku stopped her rambling with a pang of guilt. “Someone got injured and I found them. I came back for the salve. I could only hold the injury together.”
Mother gasped. “Izuku, that was dangerous!”
“I know, but I couldn’t leave them alone. They’re outside, I brought them for treatment.”
Mother gasped again, this time in horror. “Oh no, I can’t believe I missed them! Come quickly, I’ll get the salve. You rest.”
He quickly shook his head and placed his hands on her shoulders, forcing a smile but ended up grimacing. “They won’t trust you. I built a repertoire with them and I promised I’d do the healing.”
Mother searched his eyes for a long moment before sighing, shoulders drooping. “Alright. But I will be observing and if they attempt anything, I’ll shoo them off.”
Izuku couldn’t help the snigger at the mental image of a tiny woman staring down the behemoth and the tall blond. His mother was truly a wonderful woman, he thought fondly as he collected the salve jar and the treatment box and waddled back out.
He tried not to laugh when his mother’s sharp inhale was heard at the sight of their patient.
“You sure took you time, leaf boy.” The blond scoffed when he returned to them. “I don’t have time for your dilly dallying.”
His eye twitched again. “Good thing you’re not the patient then.”
The blond growled as the behemoth snorted again. Izuku smiled smugly and slipped by the blond to kneel by the behemoth and settled down the heavy jar. He would have to restock the jar sooner than he had wanted but this would be worth it.
He first took the bucket from the blond and poured some of the water into a basin. Then took a towel and gently cleaned the wound, the net allowing it through as it registered his hand. As much as he hated using his magick, he had to train it for such delicate handlings as he grew up. He was glad now for his foresight.
Soon the blood was cleaned, revealing the grievous injury in all its glory. Izuku bit his lip at the sight and placed away the bloodied towel and basin.
He then took the jar and scooped a hefty amount of the salve before pressing his hand to the netted wound. The behemoth whimpered and he softly cooed as he spread the salve, gently massaging the cream into the edges. Slowly the behemoth’s body slackened and warm breaths hit his side. Izuku smiled fondly at the slumbering creature and wrapped up his work, spreading a clean uncut moss gauze over the salve. He withdrew his hands and braced for the gauze to fall only to relax when it hadn’t. His control of the net was perfect then.
He would have to find a way to keep the wound from reopening if the salve won’t be enough, but for now it’ll hold.
He exhaled and sat back, beyond exhausted. His body he had cleaned was once more soaked with sweat and his limbs trembled. His aches worsened and his head was killing him.
Then his hands gave way under his weight but familiar arms caught him.
Huh, he had forgotten that the blond was here. He slackened in the hold, for some reason trusting the man not to drop him as he blacked out. Red eyes narrowed in thought the last thing he saw.
Well, this has certainly been an interesting day.