Work Text:
“Again, again!” Eri begged as Izuku caught her.
He pulled Eri close to his chest and teasingly murmured, “Again, Eri?” She grinned widely and nodded, and Izuku smiled back, right before he tossed her high into the air.
Eri thrust her arms out as she fell, and she giggled when she landed in Izuku’s arms once more. Eri reached up to poke one of Izuku’s freckles, and she giggled at the little Eep! he made.
“You’re so silly, Deku,” Eri said mock-seriously.
“I’m silly?” Izuku leaned back in exaggerated shock. He brought his own scarred hand up to boop Eri on the nose. She laughed, and Izuku shifted his hand so that it was gently resting on her head. “I think you’re the one who’s silly, Eri-Chan.”
”Nope!” Eri disagreed. Izuku opened his mouth to retort before something at the other end of the pier caught his eye. “What are you looking at?” Eri asked curiously.
Izuku’s eyes softened and he shifted Eri around so that she could see it too; there was a candy apple stand at the other end of the pier. Eri gasped and poked Izuku’s cheek in excitement.
“Can we get apples, Deku? Please?” Eri pleaded, pulling her bottom lip downwards in a puppy-like pout.
“Of course we can, Eri,” Izuku hastily assured her. “Do you want to me to carry you?” he asked hopefully.
“Yeah!” Eri cheered, and Izuku shifted her so that she was riding on his shoulders.
“Do you want to count down for me?” Izuku asked. Eri nodded eagerly and started counting.
“Three!” Izuku shifted his weight downwards and prepared to run.
“Two!” Eri tightly fisted her hands in Izuku’s hair so she wouldn’t fall off.
“One!” Izuku darted off like a bullet, his hands securely wrapped around Eri’s ankles so she wouldn’t fall off. Izuku dodged around the few people in the park easily, and each one would stare at the the odd pair for a moment before shrugging and continuing on their way.
After nearly thirty seconds of running, Izuku skidded to a stop in front of the caramel apple stand. There wasn’t a line, so Izuku simply walked right up to the counter. An old woman with a name tag that read ‘Yamamoto’ greeted them.
“Hello there, sonny,” Mrs. Yamamoto dipped her head to Izuku. She glanced up at Eri and smiled, “And you have your little sister too! What can I get for you two today?”
Izuku blushed. He thought of Eri as a sibling, yes, but for someone to see him and Eri and assume that they were siblings automatically... it made Izuku grin.
Izuku lightly tapped Eri’s ankle, and after a seconds hesitation she leaned down and whispered, “The caramel one with the nuts?”
Izuku nodded (slowly, so that Eri didn’t fall off), and ordered, “Two nutty caramel apples, please!”
“Of course, dearie,” Mrs. Yamamoto turned around to grab two of the largest apples and she passed them to Izuku and Eri. “Here you go, kids.”
Izuku brought one of his arms down to fumble for his wallet, but before he had finished pulling it out, Mrs. Yamamoto had interjected, “No need to pay!”
Izuku looked up and balked; he could tell from the set of her face that Yamamoto was serious.
“What? Why?” Izuku exclaimed in shock.
Mrs. Yamamoto wagged a finger at him and playfully scolded, “You shouldn’t question free food, laddie.” Izuku blushed. Mrs. Yamamoto continued, “You and your sister are just too sweet for me to make you pay for a few apples.”
”A-are you sure?” Izuku checked.
“Of course I am!” Mrs. Yamamoto exclaimed. She waved them off, “Now get out of here, you crazy kids.”
Izuku gave her a small bow (still careful of the small girl perched on his head), yelled, “Thank you,” then ran off to where a shiny red bench was overlooking the harbor.
Izuku plopped down onto the bench and easily lifted Eri off of his head. Izuku set Eri down on the seat next to him and passed her the candy apple.
“You ready to eat, Eri-chan?”
“Yeah!” Eri cheered, pumping her open fist into the air. Together, she and Izuku bit into their apples, and they simultaneously exhaled happily. Eri leaned onto Izuku’s shoulder and took another crunchy bite.
“That was really nice of Mrs. Yamamoto,” Izuku reflected. He fretted, “I hope she doesn’t get in too much trouble for giving us the apples for free.”
Eri frowned slightly, “Me too. She was really nice, Deku.”
”And did you hear her at the beginning?” Izuku excitedly asked. Eri’s face screwed up in thought for a few seconds before relaxing as she shook her head. Izuku grabbed Eri’s free hand and turned to face her. “She called you my sister, Eri-chan. She thinks we’re siblings!”
”Sib-lings?” Eri tried the word out.
Izuku immediately backtracked, “Of course, that doesn’t necessarily mean anything, Eri! Only if you want it to!” Izuku glanced away and ran a sheepish hand through his fluffy hair as he softly asked, “Do you want it to mean something, Eri?”
Eri nodded absently, then froze and shook her head. Izuku didn’t have time to feel disappointed before Eri asked him, “What’s a sibling?” Izuku blinked.
“Oh,” Izuku paused for a moment to get the words swirling through his mind in order. “Siblings are... they’re family.” Eri still looked confused, so Izuku racked his mind for an example. Triumphantly, he exclaimed, “Me and my classmates here at UA are like siblings.”
“But you fight all the time!” Eri protested. “I don’t want to be your sibling if we have to fight!”
Izuku ruffled her hair and reassured, “We don’t fight all the time, you know. Plus, sometimes siblings get annoyed at each other and argue. What makes them siblings is that they stick together anyways.”
Eri inhaled with stars in her eyes, then breathed out, “I want to be the best sibling ever, then!” She wriggled around to wrap Izuku in a hug as bone-crushing as she could manage, and he hugged her back (with much less force).
Even though her candy apple got stuck to the back of Izuku’s shirt and he had to throw it away, Izuku was the happiest he’d been in ages. He’d always wanted a younger sibling, and now he had one to cherish and protect at long last.
Izuku took a deep breath in and grinned; today was the first day of his and Eri’s new beginning.