(Saturday: Downtown Musutafu)
After thinking over her discussions with Izuku's doctor and Hana, Inko decided to visit some of the places that the doctor had recommended. She and Izuku chose the gym Death Arms owned, Ingenium's track, and the Gunhead agency which doubled as a martial arts dojo. While Inko was still wary of asking these pro heroes for help, the doctor had assured her this was in Izuku's best interest.
Death Arms' gym was gray and colorless on the outside, with giant windows running alongside the front and sides of the building. A small, three-foot by three-foot makeshift sign with the words "Death Arms' Gym" hung above the front doors.
Once the mother and son duo entered the gym, they were met with the sight of heroes and civilians alike using different types of equipment, from treadmills to barbells. A boxing ring sat in the middle of the giant room, where two people with mutant type quirks were currently going at it. Standing to the side of the ring coaching the fighters was the man they were looking for.
"C'mon Wu! You have four other arms, use 'em! Gary you have literal eyes on the back of your head; how is he getting the better of you?! You guys are ffffff—uh—not good at this." Death Arms deterred from his original statement upon seeing Inko and Izuku. "Take five guys, I'll be back," he ordered before walking towards the pair. "What can I do for ya?"
"Hello. I'm Inko Midoriya. I spoke with your assistant this morning regarding my son, Izuku."
"Oh yeah, the metal kid. Doctor Aimoto emailed me last night about him and said I should train him. Tell me, why should I?" Death Arms asked while crossing his arms. Whenever someone wanted to join his gym or be trained by him, the hero would often make them explain why he should bother. If the explanation was good enough, he'd accept them; if not, he declined.
"Well you see—" Inko stated before feeling the child behind her start to vibrate where he stood. She sighed, knowing what was about to happen.
"You're Death Arms, the punching hero!" Izuku exclaimed, running out from behind his mother to stand before the pro. The lad was no longer able to contain his excitement. "In your first week of being a hero, you arrested 20 bad guys, stopped several bank robberies, and stopped a wall from crushing a mother and her children! I'm such a huge fan!"
The hero grunted, slightly amazed someone had remembered that. Crouching down to the child's height, Death Arms sized him up before poking him in the stomach to see what exactly he was dealing with. Izuku giggled before reaching up and poking the pro hero's nose. The pro narrowed his eyes, expression unreadable.
He was impressed to say the least. Many people feared Death Arms over his appearance, attitude, and foul mouth. Children were especially scared of him; and yet here stood young Midoriya, who not only was a big fan of his, but didn't even seem the least bit scared or intimidated by him! Hell, the kid booped his nose, for Christ sake!
"I love this kid," he said suddenly, surprising Inko. "I'll train him to kick as—butt and take names."
"Wha—B-But I have a five-page essay on why—"
"He goes to school, right? Bring him in around 12:00 on Tuesday and we'll get started. Bring him in around the same time every day until I say otherwise. I'll have my assistant email you my contact information, schedule, and the type of food he should be eating and the amount he should be eating. See you then, newbie," Death Arms said before walking back towards the ring. "Break's over numbskulls, get back to work!"
Inko watched with wide eyes as the pro hero retreated back to the ring, amazed at how easy it had been to convince him to train Izuku. She could only wish the next two would be as easy.
(Ingenium's Track: One hour later)
Ingenium's track, which was 400 meters long and built from synthetic rubber, was located on the other side of the city near the forest. The pro hero Ingenium had built it here so those he trained could avoid all the smoke from the city and get some fresh air. As an added bonus, a lake was nearby, which allowed him to teach people to swim if they didn't know how to.
As Inko and Izuku entered the area through the gates, they watched as Ingenium blew his whistle before several kids, all slightly older than Izuku, started their race. The pro must've seen them from the corner of his eye, as he turned to them with a smile.
"Mrs. Midoriya, correct? It's a pleasure to meet you!" Ingenium exclaimed, meeting them halfway instead of making them walk all the way to him. "Doctor Aimoto emailed me last night regarding your son, Izuku. And I'm guessing this is the little guy in question!" The hero smiled before crouching down to Izuku's height. "Hi there!"
Inko didn't bother to speak, as she knew what was about to happen. She kept quiet and allowed her son to work his magic. In 3, 2…
"You're Ingenium, the turbo hero! Two weeks after you became a pro you saved 150 people from a burning hotel! You even managed to calm down the kid who accidentally started the fire after he got his quirk! I've been a fan ever since!"
"I—Wow, you certainly know your stuff," Ingenium said with pink-tinted cheeks. He remembered that day well and still kept in contact with the child in question (he was doing well and was getting ready to enter UA soon). "Tell me, why do you want to be a hero? Everyone has their reasons; what're yours?
"To save people, of course!" Izuku exclaimed with a smile. "It's my dream to make people feel safe and protected, and to do it with a smile on my face, just like All Might!" Izuku said while striking All Might's signature pose. Ingenium couldn't help but chuckle at the boy's enthusiasm. It was quite infectious!
"That's a wonderful reason for wanting to be a hero! My little brother wants to be a hero for the same reason, although he wants to be more like me when he grows up," Ingenium chuckled while scratching his blushing cheek. He looked up at Inko. "I'd love to train him! Bring him here every Saturday and Sunday around two, starting tomorrow if that works for you both. I'll email you the schedule and the type of shoes I'd like him to have."
Inko nodded, and after she and Ingenium had conversed some more, she and Izuku went on their way while Ingenium went back to his students. She had a good feeling about their next stop.
(30 minutes later: Gunhead Agency)
"I'd like to adopt your son."
Inko, not to brag, was used to hearing such a phrase coming from her friends and Izuku's teachers. But hearing it come from a pro hero was a whole different experience.
The mother and son had arrived a few minutes ago and met with Gunhead's assistant, who went to fetch the hero from his office. Not even two minutes after meeting them, Izuku was already hanging off the man's arm like it was a monkey bar. Her son wasn't even able to list off facts about Gunhead or talk about the heroic acts he had done before the man fell in love with a simple smile and energetic hello from Izuku.
"I'm afraid I must decline…buuut you could see him weekly, if you agree to train him?"
"Good enough, you've got yourself a deal. Bring the little guy in at three every Friday and I promise to train him to the best of my abilities!" Gunhead stated before returning the child to his mother. "Would you mind waiting so I can write a ten-page essay on why you should let me adopt him?"
The sad thing is that Inko genuinely couldn't tell if he was joking or not.
(Midoriya Apartment: 5 pm)
"So, did he get to ten pages?"
"Sadly, no; he was only able to get to seven before we had to leave," Inko said, causing Hana to laugh.
It was five in the evening, and Hana and Mei had come over to visit Izuku and Inko. While their children played in Izuku's room, the parents were discussing the places and heroes Inko and Izuku had visited.
"Izuku has training with Death Arms every day until stated otherwise, with Ingenium every weekend, and with Gunhead every Friday. Thankfully, with the times we can get back here for Izuku's and Mei's playdates," Inko said with a smile, unaware of Hana's frown.
"Yeah about that. Inko, we need to talk," Hana said, surprising Inko. She seemed sad and was being much more hesitant with her words, two things that completely unlike Hana. "These playdates might have to go on a hiatus. A long, hiatus."
"Oh no, is something wrong? Did Izuku or I say something that upset you?" Inko questioned, worried she had done something to make her friend upset.
"Oh no no! You guys didn't do anything! It's just—" Hana sighed. "Lee and I have been offered a job in America for some government agency. They want us to help invent items to keep the public and heroes safe from harm. They're offering us more money than we'll ever need, full control over what we build, and if we're good enough, they'll give us our own team of scientists. This could be big for us."
"When will you be leaving? How long will you guys be gone?" Inko asked, trying to process all of this. She was sad of course, but she was more worried for how Izuku would react.
"We're leaving Monday, and we don't know. Could be months, but it's looking more like years. I told Mitsuki all of this while you guys were out running around. We were hoping the kids could come over here tomorrow and have one last day together."
"Of course! I'll run to the store tonight to pick up snacks for tomorrow, we need to try and make tomorrow as amazing as ever for them. I just hope the kids will be okay."
The kids were, in fact, not going to be okay.
Boom, 4 chapters at once! Hope you're enjoying so far! New chapters to come soon!
See ya in chapter 5!