He won't even look at me.

I was sitting on my couch watching a random cartoon. Izuku lost interest within 2.5 seconds. He's now chasing Ace. He is constantly trying to assert his dominance over him, but the cat won't ever back down.

They are constantly clashing heads.

I cringed when I heard both their nails on the wooded floor.

"Stop it, the both of you." It was half-heartedly said. My floorboards are already carved with patterns.

To my surprise, Izuku stopped running long enough to look at me. It was only a glance before he switched directions, now going counterclockwise. Ace did a 180, swatting him in the face.

A yelp came out of Izuku. He snapped his jaws as a warning. Ace, annoyed at Izuku for still trying to win,  jumped up on his tree out of the kids reach. To Izuku's credit, he started to grow until he was a size of a mini horse.

I clapped my hands loudly. Izuku, sulked back down in size.

"Kid. The weekend is coming up and-"

He shifted, "You're leaving me again. I get it."

"That's not what-"

"No," He ran up to me, abruptly stopping. He still won't look me in the eyes, but he did the next best thing and grabbed my leg. "You can't leave if I never let go."

This, this is new. Izuku is acting like a monkey, clinging, "I am leaving... but you are coming this time" I lifted my leg taking a step forward, dragging him with me. "It's not for work, just for fun, you and me." I was trying to make it to the coffee machine as I dragged him.

I heard a relieved breath. "Where?"

"A surprise. But we have to get in a car to get there."

His grip tightened. "I don't want to go."

"Okay, then I will just have to go without-"

"Is it just gonna be you and me?"

"Just us."

"Okay... you, me, and a car."

"I packed your bag. We are gonna leave tomorrow morning. Don't worry about the car."

Ace and his minions jumped down from their kingdom. Soon yelling came calling for another late-night dinner. Izuku's eyes turned sharp, until he saw what they wanted; food. Now his eye turned wanting at me.

I felt sad, leaving the cats, but Nemuri is watching them for me. There was no harm in giving them more food once in a while. "It's not too late to have a snack."

"It's NEVER too late!"

The yowling of the cats followed in agreement.

~~~

"Do you need another break?" It had been about two hours in the car. We have been stopping around every 20 minutes. Izuku has thrown up twice. I always started to pull over when he starts to shiver.

I'm not telling him, but HoundDog says he needs to start spending more time in cars. On that note we've tried to get Izuku to talk to HoundDog. It's been a year, but he shuts down. Every time, even with different people, he will shut down, even me.

"It's okay." His teeth grated. "I'm okay. We don't have to st-." He gagged.

I picked up my water bottle drinking the rest of it. "Well, I need to get more water anyways."

"If you need to..."

We took an exit. Izuku ran out when we stopped. "Kid!" There was no point he didn't hear me. He ran to a patch of Gas Station grass and threw up.

There was no way I'm telling him we are only 2/3 of the way.

I waited until he finished.

He must have been in a car accident. That much is obvious. If only I'd been there. I could have helped. I could have saved him sooner. 

He walked back, smile on his face. The kid was pure sunshine.

"I JUST killed a bug! It was disgusting. It tried to attack me! But it was too slow, so I took it down easily." His eyes shone. "It went splat."

The pure sunshine shone as his kill was smudged on his hands. He whipped it on his leg. His mind went a 360 when his stomach growled. He looked embarrassed until another fly zipped around him. His eye's followed every moment. He licked his lips.

"Oh no. You are not going to eat that fly."

"I would never!" His eyes still fixated.

"There is a Subway in the gas station."

Izuku followed me hesitantly. As soon as other people were around us, Izuku turned into glue. It amazed me. He acts like a little brat with people he knows. Then he turns into a shy, cute, innocent kid; and can't seem to love me more.

It didn't matter that he changed. Every time it happened, I enjoyed it. It was nice when the brat showed his love for me.

I ordered our sandwiches. Izuku's face was against the glass as he watched. His face leaving oil pints on it as we moved down the line. We sat down, eating. There was a ring, and we both looked up to see a family walk in.

Parents with a kid. She looked a little older than Izuku.

Izuku's mood went from shy to SHY. His eyes didn't leave his food. He slowly ate and his hair was on edge.

The family ordered and sat down to eat. The girl's legs swung back and forth. She munched down a pickle flying out of here sandwich. It landed on her pants. She saw it picked it up, eating it.

I looked back at Izuku, who was now eating vigorously. A cucumber  jumped from his sandwich, landing on his arm. He brought his arm to his mouth and ate it, leaving spit on his skin. He took another huge bite then grabbed his water, chugging it down.

The little girl who had just done the same was trying to drink faster than gravity as she tipped her glass. Unfortunately, it just ended up in her spilling water into her face and onto her clothes.

Izuku, who had finished his water, was now trying to eat the ice at the bottom. He hit the plastic cup sending the ice crashing into his face. Little pieces fell onto the floor. He didn't care. After he devoured the ice, he looked at me and my sandwich.

"You already had one."

"Yours smells good."

"It's tuna."

"Doesn't smell like real tuna."

"Probably isn't. How about you look for a snack over there. Get three things."

The prospect of leaving my side made him shy again, but the idea of food was tempting. He gave in and snuck into the land of carbs and sugar. I noticed the girl had finished her food and was looking longingly at the sugar aswell.

"Just this once. This is a special occasion." Her mom said leaning over and kissing her husband. The girl smiled running off.

I stood up getting more water. As soon as I got it I walked over to where Izuku was. I saw what happened and it took all my effort not to laugh. The girl had tried to talk to him and he ran away. He was crouching by the Pringles.

He had three bags of Jerky in his hands. "Save me."

The restraint I mustered was a miracle as I stifled down a laugh. "What did she do?"

"She tried to talk to me. I ran away."

I saw the girl pop out of nowhere. Izuku scrambled behind me the Jerky clucked in his hands.

"I didn't mean to scare you!" She yelled as she ran back to her parents.

Unfortunately, we both had to buy things. Her parents waited in line behind us as I bought the Jerky and some sunflower seeds. Sunflower seeds are a must on road trips.

The girl was behind us with a pack of watermelon candy gummies, and a big bag of Cheetos. 

"You gotta pick one, honey."

"Okay, mom." The girl looked at both, trying to put one down, only to hesitate and do the same with the other.

Izuku was looking at her as he hid behind me. I moved and he ducked behind me again. The chaser was new and it was taking a second to buy everything.

The girl ended up putting back the chips. I watched with a smug smile as Izuku grabbed one of his jerky bags and disappeared coming back with the same bag the girl had. "I want this instead."

I bought the items and headed back to the car. Izuku was very slow as he looked back not wanting to get back into the car. He held the Cheetos in his hands.

"I forgot to fill my water bottle. We better go back in." I smirked. 

"Okay..."

The moment of panic hit him when we crossed paths with the family. He threw it. The extra spicy Cheetos went flying at the girl hitting her in the face. It slid into her hands.

I couldn't retain myself any longer as a laugh left my throat. "Sorry. He wanted to give that to your daughter."

"That so nice of him. You should say th-"

"Thanks!" She squealed. "I'm Uraraka!"

Izuku hid behind me. He spoke into my shirt muffling his words, not even a mind reader could understand what he was saying.

"This is Aizawa," I spoke with from him. I felt smug as I used my last name. The smugness didn't last long as he shifted away.

"You can call me Izuku."

"Then I'm Ochaco! Thank you."

Izuku tried to run, but I gripped his shirt. "No, no problem." He stuttered.

All the adults laughed. We walked out of the gas station together.

"Thank you for buying that for our daughter. That was very generous of you." Mr. Uraraka spoke as he held the door open for us.

"That was all Izuku. He gave up one of his snacks."

"Wow, you are raising him right. You must be so proud to be dis dad." That was Mrs. Uraraka.

"Thanks, he's a sweet kid."

Their word made my heart swoon.

"Well it was nice to meet you, but we better be off. Have a nice day."

"You too."

When Izuku heard that he ran to the car jumping in. Ochaco waved goodbye, or at least trying to, because now Izuku was trying to hide again.

Once we hit the road, we didn't have to stop as much. Izukus's mind was distracted by the meat and the girl (mostly the meat).

The streets were soon replaced with trees. And eventually we pulled onto a dirt road and drove a little bit longer. The road ended with a dirt parking lot. "We're here!"

"YUS! Where is here!"

"The woods!"

"Wait, like the Ua woods?" The shock in his voice was full of excitement.

"But better." I said with evil in my voice. 

He shoots out of the car. Before his two feet hit the ground, there were four. I opened the trunk taking out a backpack. "Izuku you still have to carry your weight!"

He ran back. I placed a dog pack on his back and clipped it on. He tried with all his might to shake it off, but it stuck. In reality, it had a tracker, food, and a first aid kit. I was carrying everything else.

I grunted as I hefted the bag onto my back, clipping the wasting clip close. The weight of the bag now on my hips, not my shoulders.

I shouted after Izuku as he was already running away. "EYESIGHT!"

He barked in return.

I figured the best birthday gift I could give was nature. I still have a gifts, but nature was always better. The gift, it was food; meat. He was gonna love it.

A three-day backpacking trip. Friday to Sunday.

I walked after him following the trail.

It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining. It was hot, but there was a breeze shifting through the air. 

I looked down at my screen, given that Izuku had left my eyesight a while ago. He would pop up here and there to remind me he didn't run away. He is a little way to the left. Ten more minutes and he popped back up.

His fur was covered in dirt. Mud covering his feet.

About two hours of this passed he would pop up bark, then runoff. We stopped at a spring, taking a break. We started up again and hiked for three more hours. We ran into another spring and stopped. "Izuku. We are going to set up camp here."

He popped out of a bush, shifting. "Okay!"

"Where is the best spot?"

With no hesitation, "About twenty feet upstream."

"Show the way."

He was already off. He stopped at the spot. The ground was flat, and it was a little ways from the spring. He bent down and started drinking the water straight from the stream.

"Hold up kid we need to filter that water."

"It smells fine."

"Okay wolfboy."

He growled.

I pitched the tent, set up the campfire, and got dinner ready. Everything I needed was in this AllMight-worthy backpack. My back was aching.

Izuku on the other hand was full of energy. Right now he was looking for fish, though I doubt there would be any.

He was standing on all fours in the water. He stood stock still. He gave up, eventually and started jumping around. His fur was now soaked through. Though the mud he gathered was now washing off, so that a plus.

"Izuku the food is ready."

Two feet ran back. "Smells great."

It was just some rehydrated veggies, meat, and beans. Nothing special. The way Izuku was looking at it would say the exact opposite. The setting sun shimmered in his eyes. His hair looked more gold than green.

My exhaustion took over. I had driven three hours, which ended up being five, with how often we stopped, then we hiked for five hours. I don't understand how Izuku was still going. I was beat.

We ate in silence as Izuku's senses were overwhelmed with the life of the woods. He ate fast and had seconds then thirds. He ran off when he finished. This time he went off to see if he could catch the random birds.

He came back, proud, with a small bird in his mouth. "Let it go."

He coughed it out. He went back on his adventures.

I had made the right decision coming here. I was confident that Izuku wouldn't leave me. I also knew not many animals could overtake him, so I wasn't worried.

I took out my old journal from the bag brushing the dust off. The last entry was five years ago when I tricked Mic and Midnight into going backpacking instead of going to the bar for the weekend.

I laughed as I read:

First day: Hizashi already ran into poison ivy. He has gotten at least 20 mosquito bites. He got so frustrated that his scream scared anything within a 20-mile radius. Midnight is loving it. Though when Mic screamed, she was so mad that she tripped him. He fell into a pile of mud and had to wash off in the cold water.

I flipped to an empty page, saving the memories for another time.

First day: Izuku was running wild all day. When we drove up Izuku, spoke to a girl his age  first time he's done that since I met him...

I continued to write. When the sun had gone down, and there was only the lingering light, I yelled for Izuku.

He came back grinning ear to ear. This time in his mouth was a rabbit. It hung limp. He set it down, shifting. The grin gained volume. "It almost got away, but I got it."

"Good job." I tried to hide my surprise. I didn't think he had it in him to kill another animal. I thought back to the times he got more ruff with Ace. "We can eat that tomorrow, Just-"

"I saw a deer. I wanted to go for it, but I didn't know if I could drag it back."

I sighed taking the dead animal. "Let's go to bed. We have to wake up early so we can keep going."

"Go to bed. Right now? When everyone comes out for the night?"

"Unlike you, I need sleep."

"You don't even sleep. Come on! Night is when everything happens!"

Now, this is the Izuku I know and love. "We can do that tomorrow night, but I'm too tired."

"I could go by myself-"

"No, I can't sleep if I don't know where you are. This is me and you time, so lets-"

"Stay together. I get it. But..." The but was lost in his yawn. He tried to continue but the yawn took over again. "I'm not even tired." He eventually got out. 

"SuRe, then you can sit in the tent while I sleep."

Even though it couldn't have been later than 9:30, the sun was down, and I was tired. We got ready, then entered the tent. I grimaced as Izuku tracked every spec of dirt the world had to offer into the tent. I don't know how he managed to get dirty again after the water. 

I lay down, feeling my tired body start to shut down. I was a light sleeper, even if he tried to sneak out. I would know.

My mind went back to my journal:

Hizashi couldn't sleep because of all the itching. Nemuri and I decided to knock him out with her quirk. When he woke up in the morning, he was none the wiser. We told him that we hear and bear and he...