AN: Seventh chapter: Izuku is abandoned... please don't kill me.


Izuku stared back at his house one last time. All of his belongings were already packed into the car provided by U.A., and it would be a couple of months until the next long break where he would be expected to return. That meant he had practically a quarter of the year before he had to worry about the prospect of facing the truth, right? For now he would be fine. He could cope.

"Midoriya?" The police officer and driver got his attention. "Are you almost ready to go, or did you forget to grab something? I would be happy to come with you if you need any assistance."

The greenette shook his head, politely rejecting the offer.

"Thank you, but it's nothing. I'm ready to go now."

"If you're sure." She smiled, gesturing for him to climb into the passenger seat when he began to head towards the back.

As he buckled up he couldn't tear his eyes away from his apartment complex. It was like the building was looming down over him, the balcony of his apartment reaching towards him as if to strangle him alive. Was this dread he was feeling all of a sudden? Why did his own home become something he feared, somewhere he was desperately trying to figure out some way to avoid? He was being pathetic. He didn't want to go back though. He couldn't go back, not after what took place there just a few days ago.

"Sweetie?"

The young police officer chanced a touch to his shoulder, causing him to flinch out of instinct.

Her hand is small like mom's, he thought against his better judgment.

"Sorry," he answered a few seconds later, "I was... lost in my own head. I'm really fine."

"You don't look fine. You're, um, crying."

Was he now? He brought a hand up to his cheek, wincing when it came away wet. It seemed he'd started crying and he wasn't even aware.

"Sorry," he repeated sullenly. "I'm just… I miss my mom already. I'm not sure when I'm going to be able to see her again."

The officer ruffled his hair in attempts to comfort him before she turned back to the steering wheel to start the car.

"Don't worry, sweetie." She tried to remedy. "You'll be home again before you know it."

Izuku turned away to face out the window. It was all he could do to hide the increased flow of tears after all. He also appreciated the rest of the drive bring spent in silence, because if he were forced to speak any more he felt like the mask he'd spent the past few days carefully constructing would very well shatter.


"Something is wrong with Deku-kun," Uraraka whispered to Iida.

The two had just finished unpacking their things and wished to take a quick break before adding the final touches to their rooms. They had convened in the lounge like many other students, thinking after a few minutes that they should check on their friend. When they went to knock on his door, however, the duo stilled at the soft sound of sniffling.

The class representative frowned. "He seemed fine not too long ago. While I would like to give him his privacy, I believe it is our duty as friends to check on him. How do you feel, Uraraka?" He asked just as quietly.

She nodded, determination clouding the worry in her eyes.

"He needs our help."

With that Iida knocked on his friend's door, saying his name in greeting as he did so. After several seconds Izuku popped his head out. It was obvious by the redness underneath his eyes and false cheery smile on his face that he was faking.

"Hey guys! You already finished setting up your rooms?"

"Sure did," Uraraka confirmed before her smile morphed into a frown. "Um, Deku-kun, were you crying a moment ago?"

Izuku rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"N-no, of course not! Why would I be doing that?"

Iida fixed him with a disapproving stare. After a couple seconds of it Izuku sighed, the false smile fading into a neutral look.

"Maybe I was a little bit," he admitted softly. "It's not a big deal though. I was just feeling emotional because of the move, honestly. I'll be fine once I get settled in. You two don't need to worry about me, I promise."

"We'll worry if we wanna," Uraraka countered.

"That's right! We're your friends, and we want to make sure you're okay. There's also nothing to be ashamed of. Moving can be stressful for everyone involved."

The brunette nodded in agreement with Iida's statements. "My parents were crying when I left, which made me bawl too."

"My mother and brother were a bit emotional as well."

Izuku's lips curved into a smile at his friends' words. How did he wind up with such amazing, supportive friends?


"Make sure either one of your parents or guardians signs the permission slip." Aizawa instructed as he passed out the field trip forms. Ever since the training camp disaster the school was required to at least send out a notice of what type of training their students would be participating in off campus even if the location had to be kept secret. It was mostly formality to set the parents' minds at ease. "Have them back to me by next Friday at the latest, otherwise I'll be calling someone for verbal confirmation."

Aizawa stared at the permission slip form in his hands with a troubled look on his face. Present Mic noticed this along with his scrutinizing gaze, so he decided to see what the issue was.

"What's got your scarf in a twist, Shota?"

The homeroom teacher of class 1-A stared into his friend's glasses tiredly.

"Izuku Midoriya, one of my problem children, decided to forge his mother's signature." He turned the form around so the blond could see. "What I don't understand is why. He's a troublesome kid when it comes to many things, but he's never been dishonest before. He had to have known I would recognize the chicken scratch he calls handwriting."

Present Mic shrugged, "Maybe his mom is out of town and couldn't sign it? According to the records his dad is most likely not in the picture since all of his contact forms only have her on them. If that's the case he probably thought it wouldn't be a big deal to sign in her stead."

"I suppose, but I would expect someone like him to be honest with me. I would have offered to call her and take a verbal confirmation. I've already had to do that for a few students who don't have the time or money to have visited their families this past weekend. I'm going to have to call her now regardless," he added as he picked up his desk phone and dialed the boy's home telephone number first just to be sure. He'd called this phone number so many times it was committed to memory.

"Whatever floats your boat, man. If she's on a trip though she might be too busy to answer."

True to his assumption Inko Midoriya didn't answer either number provided on the emergency contact form. What set off flags for the teacher though was the response he got back from dialing the elder Midoriya's cell phone number.

"I'm sorry, but it appears this number has been disconnected. Goodbye."

"She probably had to change numbers or got another phone," Present Mic waved off the other's concerns. "You worry too much, Shota! Just let the boy go on the field trip. I mean, you could talk to the little listener about forging the signature, but I don't think this warrants anything else."

Later Aizawa would kick himself for listening to Present Mic. He should have approached the boy about the incident right away, yet it took something more upsetting to bring the truth to light.


"Deku!"

Izuku jumped at Bakugo's shout. The blond was crossing the common room with a scowl on his face, cell phone in hand.

"Y-yes, Kacchan? What's up?"

"The old hag can't get a hold of your mom to talk to her. She's called your house a couple times the past few days and all she gets in an answering machine. Her cell phone number comes back saying it's disconnected. What gives?"

The other students on the lounge couldn't help but listen in. None of them figured out anything was wrong though, even as Izuku let out the most nervous chuckle they'd ever heard.

"Mom's been away from home because she's visiting family. Her cell phone died a couple weeks ago though, and she keeps putting off getting a new one."

Bakugo almost bought it.

"Her birthday is in two days though, nerd. Are you telling me she's not going to be home by then? That would mean you would have no way of getting a hold of her either."

Izuku's eyes filled with sadness. His throat constricted as he bit out a "Yeah, it's really unfortunate, but at least she's happy." before getting up and leaving the room. To everyone's surprise Bakugo looked worried all of a sudden. More worried than any of his classmates could ever imagine him appearing. Kirishima voiced as much.

"Auntie Inko would never not have a way of contacting Deku. She's too much of a worrier," he stated seriously. "And that means Deku is lying."

"Why would he lie, dude?" Kaminari voiced from where he and Sero were playing a video game at the television.

Mina hummed in agreement. "It does seem out of character for Midori to be dishonest."

"I have no clue what's going on," Bakugo said, "but if my old hag can't get a hold of her soon then I'll have to beat the truth out of him."


True to his word, one week later Bakugo had the perfect opportunity to do just that.

"One on one combat training, huh?" Izuku muttered as he looked at the chart All Might had posted. "I have to fight... Kacchan?"

Dread swept over him at the absolutely vicious smirk on his childhood friend's features.

"Hey, Deku!" The blond shouted across the ring. They were both in their P.E. uniforms, yet Bakugo still looked as intimidating as he did when he was in his hero costume. "If I win this you need to answer a question for me, you got it?"

"Kacchan, what're you—"

An explosion cut off his words and forced him to act. He would worry about what Bakugo could be talking about if he lost.

Sadly, it seemed fate wasn't on his side today. The fight had become intense much faster than either of them had expected at first. Bakugo never went easy, but Izuku was fighting with more passion than he had in the past couple of weeks. It was like he was unsure what would happen if he lost the fight.

"Die already!" Bakugo shouted during his final push. The blond was tired of playing around; he wanted answers, and he wanted them today.

Twisting expertly around while in midair, the boy used his explosions to blow Izuku up into the air before he grabbed his leg and threw him towards the ground. The greenette tried to right himself as he fell but to his horror he felt strong calloused hands gripping the back of his head while digging a knee into his back. Izuku was barely able to break his fall using his quick on his legs, and he still needed to cover his face with his arms to avoid breaking his nose.

A moment later he found his arms being twisted behind his back while Bakugo sat on him triumphantly.

"Looks like I win, nerd."

Izuku's heart plummeted.


"What did you want to know, Kacchan?" The greenette asked his childhood friend later that afternoon. Classes had just gotten out, but Bakugo wasn't about to let Izuku slink off to hide in his room. That meant they had made it look as if they were leaving individually only to come back into their classroom when all others had left.

The intensity of the blond's red-eyed gaze burned.

"Deku," he started with the most level tone he'd used in a long while, "where has Auntie Inko been?"

"I told you, she's been visiting family."

"Cut the crap. You told me that a week ago, and the excuse was barely passable as it was. Tell me what's really going on."

Izuku remained silent. Within seconds Bakugo's temper sparked, and he was pushing the other against the wall forcefully.

"Tell me, damn it! I know something's going on. My old hag went over to your house after work two days ago and no one answered. She visited again later that night and there was still no answer, so what gives? Is she in the hospital or something?"

"No."

"Deku."

A hint of concern slipped into the word, and the trace of it made Izuku's breath hitch. His heart ached as he caught sight of Bakugo's red eyes. While they were filled with his usual anger and frustration there was an emotion on his face Izuku didn't often see.

Fear.

Izuku's mask cracked and shattered. He couldn't lie to him anymore.

"Kacchan," he started as his chin dropped to his chest, his entire form beginning to shake as tears welled up in his eyes. "M-mom left."

The fire left Bakugo's eyes in an instant like Izuku's tears had extinguished them. He released his hold on the other, lowering his arms and taking a step back.

"What do you mean she left? She's not…"

The younger shook his head. "She's alive and h-happy somewhere else."

"That doesn't make any sense."

"She couldn't take it anymore!" Izuku suddenly lashed out, his voice rough with emotion. "The day after everyone was visited by the teachers to see if we could live in the dorms she packed up her things and left. She said she couldn't live worrying about me any longer, and that leaving was the only option she could come up with to handle the pain. I tried to s-stop her," he hiccuped, "but even giving up my dream didn't change her mind. Now I don't even know where she is."

"Her phone, she disconnected it on purpose?"

He nodded while bringing an arm up to his eyes. Wetness soaked his skin immediately, his tears being a long way from running out.

"It's all my fault," Izuku continued brokenly. "Because I kept getting hurt, because I didn't pay enough attention to how she felt, because I didn't give up on my dream soon enough—"

"Deku, shut the hell up and look at me."

A hand gripped his shoulder tightly, but not painfully so. When Izuku was finally able to lower his arm so he could look at Bakugo he wasn't shocked to see his telltale glare.

"Who knows?"

Izuku gulped.

"Just you."

"You've got to be shitting me right now," the blond's grip hardened. "You haven't told Four-eyes and Round Face yet? What about All Might or the Ugly Ugly Caterpillar?"

Kacchan, you really need to rethink those nicknames.

"I didn't want to bother them. I'm fine, really."

"Bullshit! Don't lie to me, Deku; of course you're not fine! Talk to someone, you hear me? I don't care who but sooner or later U.A. is going to find out. Our classmates don't deserve a damn thing when it comes to an explanation, but you need to get this sorted out. This situation is messed up. I can't believe she'd just up and go like that," anger seethed into his voice. For a moment Izuku was in awe that such fury was directed at someone other than him. Then, he realized it was still his mother they were talking about.

"Are you going to tell your mom?"

Bakugo's eyes darkened. "Yeah. She's going to call you when I do though. I can wait a couple days until you're ready if you want, but she deserves to know. And once she knows she's going to track your mom down to give her a piece of her mind." With that the blond removed his hand, turning around and walking out of the classroom to leave the greenette standing there alone.

Izuku opened his mouth to tell him he didn't want that to happen even though Bakugo was well out the door, the conversation having made his mind sluggish. He was already so emotionally exhausted from the encounter it was all he could do to trudge back to the dorm.

He would bring this up to All Might tomorrow.


The impending conversation was throwing his entire day off. He'd been jittery since his first class, and his nerves were only worsening as the day went on. He should have known by the last class of the day that taking part in special move training was not something he should do without focus. Still, he found himself practicing a newly developed move while his mind raced about how to approach All Might. The man was standing off to the side discussing something with Aizawa at the moment.

Glancing over at the retired hero and his teacher, Izuku wasn't paying attention to Sato who was fighting Kirishima atop a rocky outcrop. He also didn't hear the warning that part of the rock formation was giving away.

"Midoriya, move!" Kirishima yelled just as a large amount of the outcrop detached from the rest of it.

The greenette finally seemed to shake out of it when the rock was already halfway down; however, the sound of engines filled his ears faster than he could react. A few seconds later Iida was standing next to a shaken Izuku with worry plain on his face.

"Midoriya," Iida started in concern, "you've been distracted all day, and you almost got hurt! You're putting yourself in unnecessary danger. What's going on?"

"Sorry, Iida-kun, I just…"

"You know you can talk to me, right?"

"I know. I promise I know that, but—"

Aizawa's stern voice cut him off.

"Midoriya, come here. All Might and I would like to discuss something with you."

Izuku gulped, half relieved he could get away from his friend and half terrified the adults noticed his screw up.

Sometime later Izuku found himself standing in an office space attached to the training building. All Might and Aizawa assured him the room was soundproof and that no one would be let in, which only raised the greenette's anxiousness.

"I'm really sorry for not paying attention back there," Izuku began apologetically. "Something was on my mind, but I promise it won't happen again."

All Might smiled slightly. "We understand it happens sometimes, my boy, but that's not entirely the reason we wanted to talk to you." The blond turned to his companion pointedly.

Aizawa stared at Izuku for a long moment. There was a mix of some very complicated emotions in the hero's eyes that Izuku couldn't decipher.

"Midoriya, I overheard what you told Bakugo yesterday."

Izuku froze.

"I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but I was sleeping underneath the desk when you two walked in. I only woke up when Bakugo started yelling at you, but by that point it was too late for me to make myself known. I apologize for the invasion of your privacy. On the other hand, I have not informed All Might here of the situation. I was hoping you could do that. Perhaps then we could figure out where to go from here."

While he talked Izuku's breathing accelerated. For a moment it felt like he was going to have a panic attack, so he dropped to his knees with his teachers following him to the floor.

"My boy," All Might was practically begging. He'd been worried about Izuku ever since the semester had begun. Something was off about him, and the hero wanted nothing more than to fix the problem hurting the boy. "What happened?"

There was a long moment of silence. During this time Aizawa and All Might met each other's eyes a couple of times, remaining patient that the greenette kneeling between them would offer some sort of explanation. After nearly five minutes of concentrated breathing he did just that.

"She left."

Both teachers felt sick, Aizawa already having heard it once not making it any more pleasant to hear. He'd been expecting something was going on for weeks. Those two words more or less confirmed their worst fears.

"Young Midoriya," All Might questioned, his tone far gentler than he'd ever used. He didn't want to ask for specifics but he needed to know. "What do you mean by that?"

That was all it took to break the dam.

Tears fell from the boy's eyes like a profusely leaking faucet. His entire body began to shake as he attempted to gasp out what he knew he should have told them over a month ago. Not even the feeling of All Might's hand rubbing his back comfortingly was helping alleviate his anguish.

"Mom, she left," he repeated brokenly. "The day after she said I could live on campus I noticed her packing a suitcase. When I asked her about it she said she was going to be taking a trip to visit a friend, so it wasn't until that evening that I realized her behavior was odd. It was only because the photo of us together on her dresser was gone."

The empty picture frame sat on her bedside dresser oh so innocently. It had no idea that it hadn't been empty since the day after he was born.

"Mom!" He ran out of her room yelling, his voice raw with panic. Something was wrong. "Mom, where are you?"

Crying answered his ears.

"I'm in the kitchen, Izuku." She called back half-heartedly just as he burst through the doorway.

Their emerald eyes met each other, both tearful.

"Mom, you're not going to visit a friend, are you?" The tiniest hint of a somber smile on her face was all the answer he needed. "Please, mom, why are you crying? Where are you going? What happened?"

"I can't take it anymore, sweetie. I'm sorry."

"W-what?"

She closed her eyes like not looking at him was the only way for her to keep it together.

"After yesterday I realized there's no way to stop you from hurting yourself. Even if you hadn't stayed at U.A. you're bound to hurt yourself no matter where you go, because you're going to be a hero someday. You're actually already a hero, from what I heard, and while that makes me happy and proud I can't help the pain in my chest. It's gotten so bad these past months. I expected it to lessen up after hearing All Might's declaration to raise you to be the next symbol of peace." She paused when a couple tears passed through her closed eyes. "But it didn't, Izuku. It got worse."

"Mom," Izuku stepped forward with an outstretched hand only to freeze when she looked up at him.

Her eyes were full of regret.

"I'm sorry, Izuku, but I can't take it anymore. I can't stay here anymore knowing you're going to destroy yourself. No matter the righteous cause I just can't take it, so I'm leaving."

"L-leaving?" He parroted back dumbly. Was his hearing damaged?

"Yes. I've arranged the bills so that they will all be paid automatically from your father's funds. There are notes on how to manage the account, keep track of the payments on the apartment among other bills, and so on should anything come up. I'm leaving the place to you so you can take care of yourself. The recipe for your favorite meal, katsudon, is among the notes I mentioned earlier. I taught you to cook, so—"

"You can't be serious." The younger Midoriya cut her off. "Mom, I love you! You can't just… leave."

She smiled sadly as more tears escaped. "Yes, I can. I've already been granted approval to switch to another office in a different city."

"What city?"

"I'd rather you didn't know. You'll try to find me one day, and you might very well succeed, which is why I'm going to ask that you don't seek me out. Can you promise me that?"

"Of course not!"

"Sweetie, please? For your mother?"

Izuku dropped to his knees in despair. This was all because he wanted to be a hero and had hurt himself so badly his mother couldn't cope; this was all his fault.

"Mom, please!" He bowed his head, his hands curling into his knees so hard his nails broke skin. "I'll- I'll give up on being a hero altogether."

"No you won't."

"I will, I promise. I'll do anything if it means not losing you!"

Inko shook her head.

"Even if you're telling the truth, I couldn't live with myself if I was the reason you gave up on your dream."

"But you could live with yourself if you left?"

"I'm honestly not even sure about that yet," she admitted sadly. After a moment she looked at the clock on the microwave and stood up in alarm. Izuku waited for her to say more, but instead she merely got up and rushed to the door. It was only after she'd slipped her shoes on that he noticed two bags by the door waiting for her.

This was happening. She was going to leave.

"Mom," he begged one more time. "I love you. I love you! Please don't do this."

"I'm sorry, Izuku, but this is the only way. I love you too. And if you truly love me you won't stop or follow me. You're going to be a fine hero one day. Maybe sometime in the future we'll both be strong enough and I'll see you again. Until then," she stated quietly while placing a kiss on her son's head, "allow All Might to raise you in my stead. I trust him to raise you better than I ever could."

"M-mom," he sobbed grossly. "Please."

She turned around and opened the door.

"Goodbye, sweetie."

The door shut a second later, and Izuku wondered if his neighbors could hear his wails. They would surely hear his cries the next day when he tried to call his mother only to find out her number was no longer in service. She'd disconnected her phone, the last means Izuku had to contact her.

Once he'd recounted the story he stopped talking. The only sounds in the room were the sounds of his hiccups; All Might and Aizawa were speechless.

Then, all at once, rage sparked in the underground hero's eyes.

"Midoriya," he started while placing his hand on the boy's shoulder. All Might leaned back slightly so Izuku could turn to face the shaggy-haired man. "Midoriya, you must know that what happened isn't your fault."

The boy's eyes shut tightly.

"I d-don't believe that."

"Young Midoriya, please. If it's anyone's fault it's my own." All Might stated regretfully. "I was the one that failed in my teaching. I should have trained you better, protected you longer. It is because of me that—"

"You're both wrong." Aizawa cut in tersely. "The fault lies in no one but his mother. She was the one that chose to leave. She abandoned you."

Izuku shook his head. "You don't understand! She's spent her entire life raising me on her own, watching me get hurt since I was four. Her nerves have gotten worse over the years. Her chest aches when I make her worry too much; there's nothing doctor's could do but tell her to get away from her stressors. One of those stressors just happens to be me. Please don't get her in trouble. She didn't… abandon me. She was taking care of herself."

His homeroom teacher seemed just as mad as before, but All Might remained calm.

"We'll figure something out. In the case of a missing, deceased, or negligent parent guardianship is transferred temporarily to the student's homeroom teacher as per the most recent U.A. contract. Unless, of course, you have other family members willing to take you in?"

"My father works abroad. He wouldn't be able to care for me without losing his job, and he's an orphan so there's no family on that side. My mom's family is either in America or has passed away. I don't want to leave Japan though, All Might. I can't."

"I don't want you to either, which leaves us with the options of locating your mother and hoping she chooses to come back rather than face charges for leaving you, emancipating you which would prove to be a struggle without getting your mother involved, or…" The retired hero looked Aizawa for a long moment. "Or your homeroom teacher can assume temporary guardianship until you turn eighteen. That would be up to the both of you though."

Izuku met Aizawa's eyes with his own widening ones. They appraised each other for so long All Might was going to tell the greenette he could have time to think it over after school, but to his surprise Aizawa spoke first.

"That's in roughly two year, right? I suppose I can watch over one of my problem children for that long."

"Really?" Izuku couldn't help but ask. "But I'm already a handful as a student. Are you sure you really want to assume responsibility of me?"

If my own mom couldn't handle me, why would you want me?

"I'd be honored to have you," he answered with complete seriousness. It made Izuku want to weep, but luckily he held it at bay. "I hope you don't mind cats though. I have a lot of them. Also, Present Mic and Midnight like to visit unexpectedly. All Might moved in next door to me last week too, so beware of him coming over for meals most nights. He can't cook to save his life apparently."

"Hey!"

Izuku felt laughter bubbling up. At the same time he felt the urge to cry again. Their kindness was overwhelming.

"I'd really like that," he finally said. "Thank you, Aizawa-sensei, All Might."

The shaggy-haired man shook his head. "Just call me Aizawa outside class, kid. It's going to be weird hearing it at home otherwise."

"And call me Toshinori," All Might added. "It'd be bad if anyone heard you calling me by my hero name outside the gates. Don't want to attract too much extra attention, right my boy?"

"Yeah, you're right."

The three of them stood up then, Izuku feeling embarrassed that he'd cried all over All Might. It was obvious by the large wet spot on his shirt. Nevertheless, the retired hero laughed it off.

"Nothing a change in shirt won't fix. Why don't we head back to the main school building together? We'll both change and we can get take a short trip off campus. There's this new ice cream shop I've been wanting to try called…"

Izuku listened to All Might describe the ice cream shop they'd be visiting fondly. He remembered something his mother had said.

I trust All Might to raise you better than I ever could.

She was wrong, so wrong. No one could ever replace her. As he thought about the conviction his homeroom teacher spoke with when offering to care for him though, All Might's smaller but fatherly gestures also entering his mind, he decided maybe he could make it through this. Maybe things would be okay.

"Young Midoriya, are you in there? You're staring into space and it's a little disconcerting."

Izuku snapped out of his thoughts, a sheepish smile rising to his face.

"Sorry! I'm listening, I promise!"

"Well hello there 'listening, I promise', I'm All Might."

The greenette's jaw dropped.

Did he just made a dad joke?


AN#2: Before anyone asks, the next chapter which continues the last one (Izuku and All Might's secret being exposed to the world) will be out in a few days. I wanted to post this one first because the next one showcases best mom Inko whereas in this one she's... not the best mom. Basically I had the idea of "what if Inko got fed up with her son hurting himself/what if she physically couldn't handle it anymore?" and this happened. I love Inko I really do; I cried writing this. Sorry if this chapter upset anyone, but I really wanted to do it since it's pretty rare in this fandom.