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4:15am
That’s the time on the stove clock that Izuku saw after the paramedics finally left.
That’s 25 minutes after Izuku had gone to check why his Mom’s light was still on so early in the morning. He had thought she had gone to bed a while ago.
That’s 24 minutes after he stood stock still after his Mom didn’t react to him talking to her. Twenty-four minutes after he touched her shoulder and flinched back with how cold she was.
It was 20 minutes after he finally decided to call the emergency line and tell them that he found his mother dead in her bed and they said the paramedics were on their way.
It was almost odd how empty he felt after the phone call, how with unusually steady hands he put his mother’s hands to rest on her lap and made sure her eyes were closed and that her hair wasn’t too messy she never liked having messy hair.
He had smiled sadly before giving a soft kiss to her forehead and then waiting for someone to knock on his door. He watched them enter silently, giving him sad looks and asking where she was. He led them to her room and asked them to be gentle, and they were. They were oddly quiet and their actions seemed graceful as they took her away.
He was grateful for that.
Just before they left, they asked if he had someone and would be alright. He politely smiled at them and assured them he’d be fine.
And he would. He should because Midoriya Inko taught her son well, he could take care of himself.
Then they left. The door closed behind them at 4:15am.
A whole 25 minutes for Izuku to find his mom dead and have her be taken away. A whole 25 minutes where he was last with her until he was irrevocably alone.
He was alone.
___
6:30am
That was the time on his phone when his alarm went off and he finally got up from his seat on the couch. That was when he started to get ready for school.
On autopilot, he got dressed, brushed his teeth, and put on his shoes. He paused though, in front of the mirror, the tie still hanging around his neck untied.
His mom had taken to tying it for him after he asked her to since Uraraka kept teasing him about it. He remembered the approving look Iida had sent him the first day he had come to class with it properly tied thanks to his Mom.
...
He left the house with a poorly tied cloth around his neck. It felt heavy.
___
He’s too early at the train station but still gets on. He’ll have to apologize to Sero, who he usually sees on the train in the morning. He liked talking to him in the morning.
___
There aren’t a lot of people on campus at 7:05am.
He’s grateful for that. He thinks
It’s easy to let the sound of his footfalls be the only thing to hear in the empty hallway, even more so when he opened the empty classroom.
The sound of him opening the zipper of his bookbag was so loud and so is the ruffling of pages as he opened the notebook to a new page. He put headphones in his ears but didn’t play the podcast he wanted to listen to.
No, he just let it muffle the silence.
__________
Shinsou was always the first one in class, much to Iida’s displeasure. It did help to be living on campus with his family and that his two fathers made sure he woke up with enough time to prepare for the day.
So it was surprising to see someone else sitting at their desk when he walked in. Especially since he wasn’t greeted by a smile and wave first thing like usual.
Instead, Midoriya didn’t spare him a glance, his head still faced down leaning on an arm that blocked him from view. It looked like he had headphones in and when Shinsou passed by him he saw that Midoriya had his notebook open.
Although, it was odd that there wasn’t anything written on it and that he didn’t hear Midoriya write anything else as the hour went by and people started slowly arriving for homeroom.
___________
8:25am
That was the exact time that Aizawa-sensei entered the room and silence overtook the classroom like every morning. If you looked carefully enough, you could see the pleased uptick of the man’s mouth.
He spoke to them about the exercise they would do that day and any upcoming events.
It seemed that this upcoming week would be relatively normal.
____
Aizawa noticed how Izuku didn’t show any reaction to the exercise they would be doing.
The kid usually had some sort of excitement and quiet mumbling about how to use or not use your quirk in that situation. But as he looked, the young teen was simply silent.
__________
10:40am
That’s when 3rd period started and they headed to one of the training gyms, they would be there for 4th period as well.
Usually the boys were used to hearing mumblings come from Izuku as they changed into their uniforms. But this time it was just an odd silence. Although he did look particularly focused on his costume. Maybe he was thinking about improvements?
Izuku was too busy thinking about how his hero costume’s design was originally created by him and his mother. She had even made the first physical version of it. He wished that it hadn’t been burned in that first battle simulation exercise.
___
Everyone noticed how Izuku took down the robots with brutal quick efficiency.
There was no smile on his face.
___
12:30pm
That's the time on the clock on the cafeteria wall when Izuku realized that he didn’t have lunch.
Usually, his mom prepared him one in the morning even when he insisted that she didn’t have to. But she always told him she liked to make him something nice to eat when he was at school.
Once, she told him that it made her feel like she would be with him just for a little bit while he ate at school with his friends. She had smiled a bit shyly when she told him that.
___
2:45pm
That’s when he smiled and said he was fine to Shoji who looked concerned. The boy ruffled his hair and told him that they were there for him if he needed them.
She always gently brushed her fingers through his hair when he had been sick in bed. She always looked at him with a gentle smile when she’d kiss his forehead before stroking his hair until he fell asleep.
___
3:20pm
That’s the time that he made sure to have out his notebook and good pen since he took so many notes in that class. Usually, he was careful about not writing too much too fast since sometimes there was still pain in his hand. But he had been managing the pain fine.
His mom used to massage his hands for him while they sat on the couch and watched a show after long days. Even when she stopped she still held his hand, her hands were always soft and warm.
Izuku winced in pain when his hand spasmed from being clenched too tightly and he dropped his pencil. The sight of broken lead on the floor made his gut twist.
___
4:10pm
That’s when class ended and everyone packed up and got ready to leave. A few of the others sent Izuku worrying looks but he waved them off. One of them walked up to him and asked if he was okay. He said he would be fine. He packed up his bag and got up from his desk, but once everyone was gone except for Aizawa-sensei, he stopped.
He stopped in the middle of the room and he simply froze.
He couldn’t bring himself to move.
Izuku knew he was supposed to go home now, school had ended and he needed to go home.
But…
There was no one waiting for him at home, no one to greet him as soon as he opened the door and ask how his day was. No one to give him a quick kiss on the cheek and tell him to get ready to help her cook dinner. No one that smiled at him so softly as he ranted about what cool thing one of his friends did in school.
There’s no one because that one person died.
They died.
“Midoriya what’s wrong?”
Izuku looked up to see that his Sensei is standing right in front of him with a concerned look on his face.
Izuku didn’t know when Aizawa-sensei got up from his desk. He didn't know how long he was standing there, frozen.
“I didn’t know where else to go Sensei,” Izuku found himself saying.
He saw Aizawa-sensei furrow his eyebrows.
Right, he didn’t know.
“My Mom died this morning and I didn’t know where else to go except here.”
The words rang out loudly in the empty room.
“I’m so sorry Midoriya.”
And it’s when Izuku hears those words spoken to him so softly in his teacher’s usually rough voice that he suddenly feels everything.
___________
4:23pm
That’s the time when Aizawa Shouta saw his student Midoriya Izuku break.
That’s the time when he saw tears silently stream down his freckled cheeks as his face twisted into one of pain and agony.
“My Mom’s dead, she’s dead,” he said and gasped for breath like he was drowning. Then once he got enough air, he wailed.
Aizawa was there to catch him as they fell when their legs seemed to lose all strength. He’s there to support a wailing child’s body as small hands come to grasp at his jumpsuit and held on tight, a grip that surely must have been painful.
In an empty classroom with only two people, a child cried for the loss of his mother.
“She’s dead, she’s dead, she’s dead, she’s dead,” Izuku repeated and he sounded like he could barely breathe as he whispered those words out and twisted the fabric within his grip. Then he seemed to choke on air and he mouthed the words while no sound came out.
Izuku’s eyes were screwed shut as his head shook ‘no’ as if he couldn’t accept it while his body hunched over itself like someone was twisting his heart in his chest someone was.
All Aizawa could do was hold him.