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Personally, Izuku would rate this day a 5/10.
Sure, Kacchan told him to jump off a roof, and got attacked by a villain,—All Might saved him!—All Might told him he couldn’t be a hero…, and then he got scolded by a bunch of Pro Heroes on live TV after running in to save Kacchan like an idiot, BUT—! All Might changed his mind about Izuku not being able to become a hero! Better yet, All Might said Izuku was worthy of obtaining his power and potentially being the next to join a legacy of heroes under the same quirk! Ah, just thinking about it gave Izuku jitters of excitement.
So, yeah, the first three quarters of Izuku’s day kind of sucked but he got to meet his idol and it all worked out better than he could have ever imagined!
Izuku hummed to himself, getting off his train and walking towards he and his mom’s apartment complex with an extra pep in his step and he scaled the stairs two at a time. He shoved the key into the door’s keyhole, announcing his arrival as he pushed it closed behind him after he stepped into the genkan.
“I’m home, Mom!”
…
Izuku’s humming ceased when he didn’t hear Inko’s usual response as he toed off his shoes and exchanged them for his house slippers. He walked further into the apartment. Was she out somewhere?
“Mom…? I’m back from school!”
He waits for another while before he picks up his pace into a slight scamper and he swings by the living room to see his mother stewing over a pile of books at the coffee table, her face screwed in such a disgruntled expression that Izuku couldn’t quite decipher the expressed emotion of origin.
“Mom?”
Inko jumped up in her seat, a hand flying to her chest as her expression morphed into surprise before it melted into a smile when she saw Izuku.
“Oh! Izuku! When did you get home sweetie?”
“Just now,” His gaze wandered from her face to the pile of books on the table. He froze. Inko’s gaze followed his and her smile strained a bit.
“Right, these.” She sounded displeased…
“Wait, mom, it’s not what it looks like—“ Izuku hurriedly tried to explain himself before a look from his mother made him clamp his mouth shut with a clack of his teeth. She blinked before she turned back to the pile of books.
“I’m sorry, Izuku. Mommy gave you a mean look just then, huh? I’m just a little disappointed is all. I don’t understand why you’d still want to follow this…concerningly suicidal behaviour after all that I’ve tried to give you…”
“What? Suicidal?” Izuku’s brows furrowed together and he took a step closer to Inko. “Mom, are you okay-?”
“Of course I’m not!” Inko stood abruptly, cutting Izuku off and knocking a couch cushion to the floor in the process. “Are you aware of how hard I’ve worked to support you all these years?” She looked towards Izuku with tears glossing her eyes. “Do you know how hard it is for me to see you beaten down day after day because you can’t give up one childish pipe dream?”
Izuku flinched back at the venom in her voice as he raised his hands defensively.
“But, becoming a hero is something that really matters to me! Surely, you can understand that… right?”
“That’s just it! You care so much about becoming a hero that you don’t even have time to look and see how much you’ve hurt me!”
Izuku quickly felt the familiar feeling of guilt forming in his stomach. His shoulders dropped and he looked to the floor, interlacing his fingers and rubbing them together in a familiar nervous tick.
“I- I’m sorry, mom…” He inhaled shakily. “I promised I wouldn’t continue, but, uh, uhm…”
He faltered as he heard Inko breathe through her nose sharply.
“You’re a liar.”
Izuku tensed. His head flew up and he made eye contact with her, a look of desperation colouring his face.
“Mom-!”
“You’re not sorry, you never have been.” She began walking towards Izuku, “You’re not even the tiniest bit remorseful. If you were, you wouldn’t have gone behind my back and written those stupid notebooks of yours!”
Inko’s voice kept growing louder before she suddenly stopped talking and watched Izuku’s face for a while. His eyes were watering slightly and Inko could hear the slightest tremor in his breathing. He looked so small... Her voice softened as she cupped her son’s face in both of her hands.
“Don’t you see, Izuku? This dream of yours, and those notebooks are having a negative effect on you.” She brushed her thumb against his cheekbones, her touch as light as a feather. “It really hurts me, you know? You’re all I have left since your father left and yet, you’re still so eager to become a hero; to leave me behind.”
“Eh?” The confused sound left Izuku’s throat involuntarily. “I don't want to leave you behind, mom.”
“Then why do you keep trying?” Her hands fell away from Izuku’s face and she turned, wrapping her arms around herself, looking as small and pitiful as she possibly could. “Alas, maybe I’m asking for too much and this is just all just the karma for a bad woman. I’m sorry, Izuku,” She hiccuped on a sob, “I’m such a bad mother for trying to hold you back. You’re meant to experiment at this age and all I’ve done is stunt your freedom. Maybe you’d be better off with me being dead…”
Inko suppressed a grunt as she felt Izuku tackle a hug into her side, her little boy holding on tight.
“Don’t say that! You’re not a bad person, a-and I’ll always need you here!” The side of Izuku’s face was pressed into Inko’s shoulder.
“…I wish I could believe you, honey,” Inko began, her voice trembling. “But, after watching you run into danger like that earlier… I don’t know.”
“Huh?” Izuku drew back slightly to look at her in confusion. Earlier? He voiced his confusion, making Inko sigh again.
“That horrid sludge villain, Izuku. The one where you ran in, risking your life despite the fact that there were three very capable heroes on-site, not to mention All Might’s appearance, meaning he was already on his way.”
Izuku knew All Might wasn’t on his way to help but he kept his mouth shut about that but he couldn’t hold back his next comment.
“Mom, Kacchan was in danger! He- he could have died!”
Inko’s eyes sharpened.
“Like you did anything to help him? Izuku, please, try to understand! You’re quirkless. You need to leave the dangerous work to the people that can actually handle it.”
That. That one kind of burned, Izuku will admit. He felt the telltale sting of crybaby tears in his eyes. Gosh, he felt pathetic.
“You mean people with a quirk, right? I can handle myself, Mom. I’m not fragile.” He felt his shoulders hunch up as he brought his arms around himself in a kind-of hug around his torso.
“Oh, come on, Izuku, don’t be like that. You know I’m right.” She huffed as she turned and began walking towards the kitchen. “Maybe I should have just left with Hisashi when you got your diagnosis. I bet he’s much happier than I am right now.
Izuku’s eyes widened slightly as he watched Inko walk away. His fingers curled into his uniform, his lips pressing into a thin line as he watched his mother disappear behind the kitchen wall.
Did she… really regret having to raise him? Izuku didn’t want to stop trying to be a hero, especially after he had already accepted the offer All Might had given him earlier. Though, Izuku really, really didn’t want his mother to leave him behind because he himself was so selfish that he couldn’t take her feelings into account.
His gaze slid to the living room, towards his notebooks stacked on the coffee table. Was all his mom’s suffering really his fault? Izuku stood there for a while, just thinking. He must’ve lost time because in between one blink and the next, Izuku found himself lying on the couch, his head cushioned in Inko’s lap, one of her hands carding through his hair. He felt… heavy.
“Oh, Izuku. You really hurt me, you know?”
Izuku felt the corners of his mouth angle downwards into a frown. He tried to speak up but his words came out like a tapered croak rather than an articulated sentence. Inko’s hand came around to gently rub his face before returning to his hair, shushing him all the time.
“It’s okay, Izuku, I know you don’t mean to. You never do. Now get some rest, okay? You won’t have to worry about any of this at all once you wake up.”
Against his better judgement, Izuku felt himself drifting to sleep, hardly registering his mother’s lips on his forehead and her slightly twisted smile before his consciousness was gently claimed by the need to sleep.
Inko hummed as she watched Izuku drift off in her lap. Despite what he says and what he believes, her son was the most fragile of all, he was just too stubborn to realize it. Unfortunately, her poor baby was still such a dreamer…
That was okay. She’d make sure that Izuku would know his place in reality for good this time.