Chapter Text
If there’s one thing that’s an absolute fact, it’s that a mother can shift gears faster than a Formula-1 racer. Hence why Inko had gone from a relaxed welcome to instantly checking her son over after seeing the large welt on his face. “Sweetie, what happened!?”
“I...I fell…” He replied, looking tired, embarrassed, and a tad aggravated.
Inko looked skeptical. “Fell, from what??”
“I hit a tree branch…” He added, giving his mother a look that begged her to drop the subject. His whole body ached, feeling like All Might himself had sat on him, his head throbbed in time to a song he’d never heard before, and he just wanted to go to bed.
It was clear she wasn’t buying it, but thankfully she was willing to let it be...for now. A quick bandaging and he was laying in bed. “Stupid Katsuki...last time I ever help him…” He mumbled, burying down into his covers.
All he’d wanted to do was try and hang out. He’d followed ‘Kacchan’ - last time he was using that nickname... - in hopes that he’d finally be able to stick around. He was running to catch up when Katsuki had slipped on the log he was using to cross a little ravine.
The water wasn’t deep, so he was more setting in muddy water. Izuku was just trying to help when he offered to pull him out...instead, the blonde screamed that he didn’t need help from ‘a quirkless deku like him’.
In a way, he was telling the truth about landing on a branch; he fell on one after Katsuki used his explosion Quirk on him.
At near point-blank range. The force had knocked him clean off the log. And with it, any evidence that they were ever friends.
Given how quick he ditched you, was he even one to begin with? A part of him asked, but Izuku didn’t respond, he just wanted the day to hurry up and be over. As sleep eventually claimed him, he let out one last thing.
“Hoyo…”
“Izuku? Honey? Inko gently knocked on the door the next morning. She was well aware that there was more to what happened yesterday, despite how reluctant he was to say anything. It’d been over a week since they had visited the doctor to check his Quirk status. She still rankled at the way the so-called doctor just x-rayed Izuku’s foot, then shooed them out with a dismissive ‘Quirkless’.
The faint rustle of bedsheets inside told her he was moving, but the dull groan - at least, it seemed like a groan - just caused her worry to climb. She knew she wasn’t built like a Pro-Hero, but she swore, if that school had anything to do with this...heads would roll.
Whether it’d be literally or not depended on their response. “Izuku, I’m coming in.” She gently turned the knob and peered in. The early morning sun was creeping, letting her see the locked window, which brought a little relief. And there was a small form under the blankets. “Are you feeling alright?” Inko stepped in, making her way to the bed. She started to reach for the blankets when there was a yawn, then a series of odd sounds that she’d never heard her son make
“Izuku?” The sheets were suddenly knocked off with a loud ‘hoyo!’. “Heh, well you seem...ok?” She’d started to smile when the sheets flew, but it faltered at what was under them.
“Hoyo! H-hoyo??” Sitting there, with the exact same mop of hair and green eyes as Izuku, was a tiny, pink, spherical...something.
“I-Izu...ku…?” She said weakly, wobbling slightly.
“Hoyo?? Hoyohoyohoyo!” The green-haired puffball blabbered frantically, looking like he(?) was ready to freak out too. He ran around on the bed, tripping occasionally on the sheets.
A slightly lopsided smile formed on Inko’s face, followed by an eye twitch…then another...then the thump of her meeting the floor in a faint.
“HOOOYOO!!!”