It was so exciting! Inko kept the radio on and hummed along as she tidied up the house. Izuku had scarfed down his breakfast like a madman. He was so eager to get going! Of course, today was a very special day. The school year had barely begun and he was already growing, already going out and learning new things. He came home every day with news about All Might or Shouta's class- even if he did get a little red when his Mom called his homeroom teacher 'Shouta'- and a big smile on his face! Izuku was loving UA, and Inko was glad to hear it.

She emptied her dustpan into the trashcan and banged it on the side to shake out all the crumbs. Izuku would probably be tired after running around doing rescue training all day. He would probably want a big dinner. But what to make, what to make… Maybe one of his favorites? Maybe something that wasn't messy or crumbly as he'd be inclined to talk with his mouth full. Izuku just got so excited, and it was so good to see him able to be excited.

His dream wasn't dead. He could be a hero, a great hero, and he was happy again. Of course, with Shouta in charge of his homeroom class, there was even less of a chance Izuku would hurt himself with his quirk again. He was still a little on the fence about 'exponential power growth' and Inko wondered if he was doing his own analytical research. After all, he kept those hero notebooks. Maybe he wanted to know for sure, figure it out on his own. It was a little different- alright, a lot different- from when she'd gotten her quirk. She had both her parents there experimenting and encouraging her to try different things.

But they'd been certain he was quirkless. There was no experimental phase, no questions, no tests. Just tears. Perhaps he was just making up for lost time. Inko wouldn't get in his way.

Signing his permission slip was just another way she could help him get to find himself. Izuku could train and test the limits of his quirk at the finest facilities UA had to offer. He could see if it was a product of his breathing (exercise techniques required a lot of it, and maybe something of Hisashi's had come through in him) or if it was an attraction of power? A freak mutation? Stranger things had happened in a world of superhumans.

She went to the grocery store after she finished with the kitchen. It wasn't too crowded at this time, which suited her perfectly. Just a quick stop for vegetables, then paper towels and dish soap. There was a sale on that white and orange tea blend Shouta always ordered. Inko had practically bullied him into morning tea on weekends after their first fateful parent-teacher conference. He seemed to have few friends outside work. Besides that, it was nice seeing her old friend again.

Inko made good time getting home, and finished putting the groceries away just the house phone started to ring.

"Hello? This is the Midoriya residence."

The make, model, and color of the car had been her mantra for the past seven minutes as she stood anxiously by the curb, wiping away the tears so she could better search the road. She knew the moment it arrived, and even went so far as to run and meet the driver halfway. The passenger door was unlocked when she got there. Open, close, seatbelt before she even registered the driver's face. And… well… the rest of the driver.

Inko knew about the 18+ hero Midnight, but had never seen her in person- no, just not in full costume before. But she didn't have time for awkwardness.

"Izuku?"

Midnight was already pulling the car out of the lot and onto the road. "He's recovering wonderfully. I've been receiving reports, and I came straight from the USJ to get you. It's… he was the only one-…"

While Inko had been focused on the road, on picking out faster traffic decisions and plotting the rout in her head, she hadn't been paying any attention to the Pro Hero driving. Be it mother's intuition or whatever else, something changed in the car that instant. Inko turned to look at Midnight. She was very focused on the road as well, stoic, but with a tightness around the corners of her mouth that seemed to suggest she was distressed. Izuku was the only one hurt… Was she concerned? Did she feel guilty?

As a mother, Inko was terrified for her son. It didn't matter that she knew he was safe and sound in Recovery Girl's hands. The students had been attacked by villains, and she knew her sweet, stubborn, impetuous Izuku well enough to not be surprised. Shocked that it had happened at all, but not surprised by his actions.

She was beside herself with worry, and Midnight was visibly shaken. Though, it seemed the wall was building back up. The hero's calm front was pushing through and protecting whatever was vulnerable underneath.

"They're a very talented group of kids." Midnight commented, her tone of voice not matching the way she'd just hit the accelerator. "These tender blossoms are growing into the luscious fruits of their labor more and more every day."

What a strange conversation to start. It was almost generic teacher talk. 'My, the students are doing very well. So far in their studies, excellent grades!' A growing unease rose in the pit of Inko's gut. Something else had happened. Something that may not affect her boy, but something terrible all the same.

Inko was about to break the silence with another question when her cell phone buzzed in her purse. With the possibility of it being Izuku, or news regarding him, she quickly fumbled with the magnetic clasp and picked up.

"Hello?"

"Hello, this is Nurse Inoue from QHC General Hospital. Am I speaking to Mrs. Midoriya?"

QHC? Had… had something happened to Izuku? Had his condition worsened?

"Yes. Is this about Izuku? I thought he was at the school!"

"No, no ma'am, this is regarding another patient. We have you listed as the civilian contact for Shouta Aizawa who was admitted a few hours ago. In the event that his primary contact is detained on hero business, we're letting you know about his condition and release timeline."

Shouta? Shouta too? Inko felt herself trembling all over. If it was as bad as all that, what had happened to Izuku? And worse- if the villains managed to injure a student, how badly had the teachers been hurt first? Her panicked eyes caught Midnight's, and suddenly everything became clear.

Inko swallowed hard and tried to regain some composure. "My s-s-… my son was injured today as well s-so it might take me s-some time to get there…"

"That's alright. We're just letting you know in case Mr. Aizawa's primary contact suddenly becomes unavailable. His condition is stable, though there are a few recovery procedures we will need to discuss in the event that you are the next available person."

The rest of the conversation went as smooth as ice. Inko's insides felt absolutely glacial as she hung up the phone and deposited it back into her purse. Her hands were trembling. She grabbed the crossbody strap with white knuckles, hoping the seatbelt would provide some comfort. It didn't. Midnight was still quiet.

"Th-that was QHC." Inko began. "I'm-" she sniffed, blinking away tears, "-Shouta's CC, apparently."

"Don't worry." Midnight said softly. "I'm his primary. Unless something goes horribly wrong, he's in good hands."

Inko stared out the passenger side window, eyes full to bursting. She replied softly, "Hasn't it already?"

As the sunset bathed the school in an orange glow, Midnight pulled her car up to the UA parking lot. They got out and then it was a race to the nurse's office. Midnight led the way, and paused for a moment at the door. What she blocked the entrance for, Inko didn't know. Was it Izuku? Was it worse than she had led Inko to believe?

The moment Midnight moved, Inko burst into the room. There was Recovery Girl, a patient bundled under a sheet in one of the beds, and…

"Izuku!"

"Mom!"

She ran forward, her tears springing forth afresh. There was her baby, the light of her life. He looked perfectly healthy, save for the bandages. Izuku was fine! He was just fine! But that didn't stop the tears from pouring down her face. She ran to his bedside and pulled him close to her chest, like he would be safer in her arms.

It was a long time before Inko let him go. She ran her fingers through his hair, thinking about how very lucky she was that he was even alive. A bunch of students attacked by villains? Truly the UA staff was something else. They had kept her baby safe. All Might, Shouta- she had to thank them!

Inko held her son's face in both hands. She could see it in his eyes, the same something wrong that Midnight had seen. He knew. Oh, what he had seen… Inko wished she could take it from him, the pain, the memories. He must've been so scared. Barely starting Hero classes, a brand new quirk, and suddenly all this!

"Izuku, sweetie, what's wrong?" She brushed his hair back out of his face, wishing desperately it could be like when he was younger, when she could protect him from everything. When she didn't have to worry about him having a dangerous quirk or being a target…

"Mom I know you t-told me to be careful…" He held his bandaged arm close to his stomach. To think he might be ashamed of his recklessness was too much. "And I was! It was an emergency. They were going to hurt Tsu! And All Might! M-mom, they wanted to kill All Might!"

What was even a mother to do in the face of something like that? The villains attacked the school because they wanted to kill All Might? Either they were very stupid, or they thought they had a chance. And how powerful did they have to be- how strong did the villains that tried to hurt her son have to be- to think they could pull it off? Inko pulled him back into a hug.

"But it was OK! Because he was there." She'd whispered the mantra back to him hundreds of times over the years. When Izuku watched something too scary for someone his age on the news, when he'd seen or heard of a tragedy surrounding a villain attack. It was what kept much of his anxieties about the world at bay. All Might was the Symbol of Peace, and everything was going to be OK.

She felt Izuku nod into her shoulder. "And-and- and I was there. I helped. That's how I broke my arm." He pulled back to look her in the eye. Inko's heart sank when she recognized that expression. It was searching for a mother's help when there was no other help to be found.

"I couldn't let them do it! Not after Mister Aizawa saved us and th- and then he… and h-…" There was such raw terror in Izuku's voice that Inko's hands tightened around him of their own accord. What scared Izuku so bad he couldn't even mumble? That horrible feeling in her gut only got stronger.

Inko brushed a tear off his cheek, oblivious to any other presence in the room. It was just her and her son. He needed help. "He saved you? I'm so glad, Izuku. You know, he always wanted to save people, so it's no small wonder that…" The words froze in her throat as he looked up again with glistening eyes. She knew where her son's homeroom teacher was right now. The dams broke in the corners of her eyes as well.

"No Mom, he- he saved Tsu. The v-villain boss was going to… disintegrate her." He forced the words out, as they seemed so painful to say. "And Mister Aizawa stopped him. But that was only after he'd taken down dozens of villains on his own, and his fighting style isn't really adapted to that. So he was overtired and stretched beyond extremes and-"

The discomfort only grew as Izuku continued babbling, swiping tears from his eyes with both hands. "We couldn't move! The Noumu hit him again and again until- until- until…He stopped moving." Izuku's voice was hollow as, she knew, he was seeing the events as real as day in his mind's eye. She'd been a doctor long enough to know the eyes of someone who'd seen too much.

Inko felt the heat building in her throat as the tears poured down her face as well. The students had made it. They made it because Shouta had… Because he'd…

She felt a hand on her shoulder. Recovery Girl was standing there, offering the both of them a box of tissues. She pulled back the curtain with her walking stick as to afford them- or her other patient- some level of privacy. Inko hadn't even noticed the man standing in the corner, a familiar face she couldn't quite bring a name to. He was a police officer, but it seemed Recovery Girl deemed this important enough to hide.

Izuku blew his nose loudly and Inko tried to quickly dry her eyes. Recovery Girl patted both their shoulders and glanced at Izuku's arm.

"He's free to go home. I think he'd prefer to sleep in his own bed after today." She said. "I have… another one here who rather needs a bit more space than we have available."

"An-nother student?" Inko asked. "I thought Izuku was the only one!"

"Oh no," Recovery Girl said quickly. "This isn't one of his classmates. But, if you don't mind terribly Inko sweetie, now would be a good time to check your son out and get him some rest."

The 'youthful heroine' turned her eyes on Izuku. "Straight to bed with you. Your body needs time to recover. And… it's been a stressful day."

"M-Mrs. Shuzenji?" Inko hadn't called her old teacher that in years. She balled her fists around a crumpled tissue and tried to keep her voice steady. "Can I speak w-with you in the hall a moment?"

Recovery Girl seemed to understand the gravity of the request. She looked somber as she nodded, turning and closing the other patient's curtain on her way to the door. Inko was glad for it. Even if it wasn't one of Izuku's classmates, she would hate to either embarrass her son or burden the student with her troubles. Even Midnight looked sympathetic as they passed. Once the door was shut, Inko choked back a sob.

"Is he- is Izuku-…" She scrubbed her face with her sleeve. The trembling anguish within threatened to break through at any moment. "Is he g-going to be alright?"

Admittedly she was terrified. What kind of world did they live in where villains would go after children at school? Where- where her son was going to follow his dream. It was terrifying to think that there were people out there in the world who were sick enough to even think of attacking children. She knew such people existed- she'd treated enough victims to understand that the world was a deeply broken place. But this was different. As much as she might abhor it as a doctor, even as a citizen, she couldn't stand to come face to face with evil as a mother.

Recovery Girl gave her another tissue. "Izuku will be alright, Inko dear. He's not so badly hurt that he can't recover. I think they're all quite shocked about the whole thing, but he's a resilient boy. You should've seen him earlier, talking to All Might. You know that's how he broke his arm, saving his hero? It was still a fool thing to do but… I don't think this will break him."

Inko blew her nose and wiped her eyes furiously. While it was only a minor consolation that Izuku had been hurt doing something heroic, it was a balm for her second worry: that he would be emotionally scarred for life. But that wasn't her only concern.

"But I'm-I'm Shouta's CC." She bit her lip. "How am I supposed to be there for both of them if something happens? He-… Izuku m-made it sound like…"

Recovery Girl's face fell, and Inko nearly dissolved again. "I won't lie to you, dearie." She began. "He put his life on the line for his students. The damage is extensive, but he will recover. Shouta's no quitter, even if he is a grouch."

Inko let out a resigned sigh. There was only so much she could do, only so many places she could be. How did Recovery Girl do it, handling so many young and eager students who were putting themselves in harm's way to be Heroes? To rescue people and do all sorts of good and noble things with a huge risk of injury added on?

"What do I do?" Inko whispered down to the tiles. "I don't know if my heart can take it."

Recovery Girl was silent for a moment. She stretched out her arm and placed a hand on Inko's shoulder. "You have an exceptional heart, Inko. I don't have your answers, but I know you will find them."

She needed a minute more to compose herself, but soon Inko was walking back into the nurse's office to help Izuku with his things. He didn't have much, just a light duffel bag, but she was going to carry it for him. No chance risking his poor arm.

They thanked Recovery Girl again and began walking with Midnight back to her car. Once they got back on the road, it was only a few minutes before Izuku fell asleep in the back seat.

"I'll pick up Shouta tonight, if they'll let me." Midnight said quietly. "His broken bones will heal though there's… some chance he won't be able to use his quirk as well. The thing that did this to him, it-" She bit her lip to keep from saying more. It certainly wasn't something to worry a civilian over.

Inko turned back to look at her son. The day had exhausted him, and now he was sleeping soundly. He would probably sleep through the whole night and on into the morning. Recovery Girl's quirk would require a lot of energy from him yet.