"Bakugou Hero Agency, forward March!" Izuku opened his eyes to see a small group of children walk on a log-like bridge. He looked at his hands, then his surroundings. 'I'm back here, but why?' He gasped when he saw himself waddling behind the three boys, obviously disregarded. 'This is from when we were kids! I must be in a dream.' He flinched when he saw his the blonde fall off the bridge, arms flailing.
He couldn't suppress his giggles. The way he fell was just too funny.
"Are you okay, Kachaan?" He came back to his senses hearing the two boys call after him. 'Where did I go? Oh, right.' He sighed as he watched his past self run down the hill to reach out to his childhood friend. 'In all honesty, I should've just left him alone, but then again…' he shook his head at the yelling of the blonde. 'It wouldn't be very heroic to just leave him.'
He gasped as he felt a pain in his gut, the air out of his lungs in seconds. 'What's going on?' He noticed everything surrounding him fade out and in. He reached out towards the frozen scene of himself lending a hand to his childhood rival. 'Just...take the...hand...please…' All faded once more, and then he knew darkness.
The darkness lit after a few seconds, revealing a bright hospital light. He groaned as he sat up, wincing at the pain in his torso. "What's going on?"
"Izuku!" Two voices practically shattered his eardrum.
He flinched at the sudden contact of a hug, but smiled when he saw who it was. Tsuyu had attached herself to him, along with Jirou, who refused to let go of his hands. He felt water drip on to his shirt. 'They're crying.'
"I thought you'd never wake up! Don't ever do that again!" He stopped when he looked Jirou directly in the eyes.
"Ribbit." He smiled softly at the agreement of Tsuyu.
He grabbed each of them by the hand, pulling them towards him. He kisses the tops of their heads, and nodded. "I won't. Just, how long was I out?"
"A week."
"Damn." He shook his head. "Is everyone okay? I remember shooting Overhaul down, but everything is blank? What happened?"
Jirou looked down. "Um, well…"
Tsuyu squeezed Izuku's hand. "You shot him down, non lethally, but you tried to attack him, claiming something about "not taking her away from you again." While she was explaining, Izuku was dead quiet. "Eraserhead told us a little bit about the story, about your mom's...passing, ribbit. But if you don't feel comfortable talking about it, then I could stop now."
Izuku only nodded. "It's fine, I can talk about it. Well, are you two ready to hear it?" The two girls nodded.
"That's going to have to wait, unfortunately."
All turned their heads to the entrance, where Eraserhead was standing. "You're gonna have a talk with me and Hound Dog. It's about...what you're about to talk about." He looked at the girls. "My apologies, but you're gonna have to wait before eating his face off. I do believe you have homework." He smirked when the two blushes profusely. They gave Izuku a kiss before leaving, promising to come back with the others soon.
Izuku sighed. "Thanks for that. I don't think I'm ready to tell them." Eraserhead said nothing as Hound dog walked in.
"Izuku, great work at the Overhaul mission. I heard what you did for the students and your daughter, so I do have to commend you for it." He grinned as he patted the greenette on his aching shoulder. "Now, before we begin, I believe Aizawa has a few words for you." He signaled for the man to start.
Aizawa brushes his hair out of his eyes, taking a seat next to the hospital bed. "That night I found you and your mother, has not been easy for you, I can tell. That instance was the start for your drive, yet is the only thing holding me back." Izuku stared at him curiously.
"When I found the both of you, I did have the option to take you in." Now that surprised the other two in the room, yet Izuku made no move to intrude. "It was the police commissioner at the time that suggested the idea, and the other heroes were unsurprisingly supportive of it. Especially Hizashi and Nemuri."
Izuku couldn't hold back a chuckle.
"However, I was selfish. I believed myself too busy to even consider a relationship with anyone, no less a child. You see, I just didn't want anything to do with one."
"It was reasonable for you to think so, Aizawa. If you weren't ready, then that's that." Izuku smiled. "I completely understand."
The gruff man shook his head. "While you say that, I should have checked up on you. I don't know how you were treated growing into who you are now, but I should have, I could have, seen to it that you were adopted into a loving family, quirklessness be damned." Tears started dripping from his eyes. "What kind of hero could I call myself for just abandoning a child?"
Izuku could only stare at his coworker in wonder. Never had he seen the usually stoic man so emotional. Smiling warmly, he placed his hand on one of the others. "Eraser, look at me."
Aizawa did so.
"I forgive you. It wasn't your job to make sure I was in a loving family. It was your job to make sure I was in shelter. Although the shelter was extremely prejudiced against me, I was still safe from the cold, the rain, and the blitzing heat. After all, I wouldn't have been in the family I have now. I wouldn't have met Tsukauchi, Kirishima, Eri and Kota. I wouldn't have met you, or Mic, or Nezu, or Midnight." Saying her hero name left a sour taste in his mouth, but he moved on. "I like to think that everything happens for a reason, and if anything changes, I'd hate the life that altered." He grinned. "It's okay to cry, and feel remorse. Just don't beat yourself up too much about it. I'm okay, Tsuyu and Eri are okay, everyone is safe. That's what matters the most to me."
Aizawa was speechless. 'Even though he has every right to resent me, he forgives me, just like that?' He smiled. "Thank you." Izuku's just nodded, no words needed.
Hound dog smiled. "So now that that matter has been settled, I'd like to ask you about what you meant at the scene. Although I have some ideas of what happened, I'd like to know your side of the story." Izuku just nodded as he talked, trusting that Hound Dog would be quiet about all this.
Thus began Izuku's tale, recapped in his own words. Some details he had no qualms sharing, such as his time training the UA students Kirishima and Todoroki, aside from the group of students (ahem, his girlfriends, ahem), and he was ecstatic bragging about his kids. Most of the more personal details, such as his "upbringing", was more hesitantly described. The vigilante really hoped this wouldn't take long.
It took three hours. Each hour more grueling than the next but he pulled through, and slumped back in his bed in relief as the heroes thanked him before taking off. The only thing that could make his day better was…
"Daddy!!!"
He grinned as the bluish white hair of his daughter ran up to his bed, and the pointed hat walked in a rushed pace.
"Eri! Recovery girl said no running!"
She ignored him anyways, and climbed onto the mans bed, tears pooling down his shirt. He smiled as he held her, whispers attempting to reassure her.
He looked to Kota. "Have you been a good brother and protected her?" The boy in question grinned. "Yeah! No monsters can touch my baby sister!" To prove his point, small jets of water sprayed from his palms, a proud smile stretched across his cheeks. Izuku laughed. "I see you've been training with Shouto?"
The boy nodded excitedly.
Izuku beamed. "Well then! You're going to be a hero when I become an old man!"
"I'll be an old man when you're an old man!"
"Nonsense, I'm already old!"
"Daaaad, you're fifteen!"
"And you're six. I'll be an old man before you. And you'll be a better hero!"
At this point Kota climbed the bed too, laughing as he was brought in by a bandaged arm. Eri stopped crying, a mischievous smile forming. Kota froze. "No, Eri, what are you-"
He never finished the sentence as the girl started a tickle fest on the unfortunate boy. "Dad! Dad! Make her stop!"
Izuku shook his head jovially, imitating a scolding look. "You brought this on yourself when you climbed the bed. Stop teasing your sister!"
"Hahahahha, But she started this!"
"I thought you were a good brother!"
"Ha- I am!!!" The response was indignant, and soon none of them could hold back any laughter.
Too caught up in their antics, none of them noticed the coos and awws of the students of 1-A and three of 1-B, Yui fishing her phone from her purse to take a video.
Momo grinned. "This is so getting shared." The other students nodded along.
"Thanks Fuyumi. I'll be back soon." The vernadette called out as he left his apartment. He entrusted the care of his kids to the second oldest Todoroki, knowing they'd be asleep by the time he came home. The smile when he left disappeared the second he closed the door, and he started his walk.
What he was doing was something he was ashamed to admit. He was putting this off, scared of what he might say, terrified of how he'll feel during it. His hands shook, and he forced back sobs that were too early.
He entered the corner store, wandering for a minute before laying eyes on a bouquet of flowers. Yellow daffodils -her favourite. It hurt him even remembering that mundane of a detail, but it was imprinted in him for life. He smiled weakly. If she were here...no, he couldn't think like that. It wasn't healthy.
He trudges out of the store, slowly making his way to his destination. Eventually, he makes it. Not that he was on a time crunch or anything.
"Musutafu Memorial and Cemetery", was its name.
In truth, he never coped with the loss of his mother. Everything in his life had gone too fast to even consider the act. He just pushed his grieving to the back burner, distracting himself from thinking about her.
But now that he had more freedoms…
He collapsed at the front of the stone, eyes welling up as he read her name.
"Midoriya, Inko: beloved mother, wife, friend."
He drops the flowers on the patch of dirt under the inscription, sighing deeply as he let the tears flow. He thought of all the times he spent with her, having her play that damned All Might debut video, enjoying her food, relishing her comfort. All her room for granted.
After a while, he stopped crying, and just stared into the night sky.
He cleared his throat, hesitant.
"Hey, Mom. Sorry I'm late. I've just...never really wanted to cry about you." He chuckled. "I know it's blasphemy to our family; we cried a lot. But I hope I became a boy that would have made you proud."
He inhaled, stilling the nerves.
"I-I have a daughter now, mom. Her name is Eri, Inko Eri Midoriya. Named her after you." *sniff* "You'd love her. She loves Katsudon, just like me. I adopted her after rescuing her from a villain."
He leaned on the stone. "I have a son, too. You'd cry just thinking about this, I know. His name is Kota. He's a feisty kid, but I love him all the same. Thinking of setting up a play date with those two and a girl's siblings whom I know." He laughed weakly. "I forgot to tell you, I may have four girlfriends. You'd bawl if you knew them. They're all gorgeous, smart, and kind. All want to be heroes someday, but to be honest: they're my heroes."
He grinned. "Their names are Tsuyu Asui, Momo Yaoyorozu, Yui Kodai, and Kyoka Jirou. They told me to call them by their first names. I don't know what I'd do without them."
His smile vanished. "Mom, there's so much that happened in my years without you. I became a vigilante, which is against everything you stood for, but… I had enough. I had enough of the heroes not doing their jobs, them trying to gain riches rather than help the little people. Which is why I do what I have to. Not that I kill! I wouldn't, mom. That's a line I refuse to cross, because I know that's something you'd never forgive me for.
"I have friends now, it's something you'd never thought I have! Ever since we found out I'm quirkless, you always told me that I need friends. To be honest, I haven't had friends ever since you left, and I joined UA. Their names are Eijiro Kirishima, Hitoshi Shinso, Shouto Todoroki, and - Oh yeah, I'm a therapist and dean of students now, mom. Aren't you proud?" His eyes started flooding, again. "Aren't you? I've saved so many people, I have a family! Aren't you glad I have them? Mom?!" He broke down, unable to speak.
He cried for hours, all the pain he sheltered, it broke out.
A lone figure stood in the distance, not moving. He held his head straight, his line of sight directly at the vigilante.
He watched in amusement and slight horror as the man in front of him continued to cry. It was impressive to some degree, as he must have had some control over his tear ducts.
Eventually he grew tired of it.
He strides forward, the flowers he passed burning to ash. He smirked, watching as the cry baby in front of him changed into a more alert persona.
He chuckled. "What's a crybaby like you doing all the way from home? You don't have a bedtime to attend to?"
Izuku stood. "Who are you? What's your business here?"
"You don't know who I am?"
"Why would I?"
The mysterious man groaned, exasperated. "One epic fight and he doesn't recognize me. Well, time for re-education. The name's Dabi. Don't wear it out."
The vernadette scowled. "So you were the one that attacked me alongside Shigaraki. You're pretty tough."
"Flattered, truly. Glad you remember some fragment of our first meeting."
"So why are you here?"
The burnt man sighed. "I'm… actually not here to fight. I'm here to pay my respects." He looked away, all signs of cockiness gone.
"To pay your respects?" Green eyes met blue.
The latter nodded. "He's someone I once knew, good kid, really. He was just...misguided. Had the wrong dream." He slowly made his way to a memoria with the picture of a young boy with red hair, showing signs of white. His smile was blinding, a lot like Izuku's from when he was a kid.
"It's too bad he died for that dream."
Izuku's eyes widened to saucers. "What?"
Dabi's sunken eyes turned to green ones. "You ever hear of Endeavor?" He smirked. "Of course you have. You sent him to jail. Good work by the way." He chuckled. "Endeavor lit this fire under him, promising that he could be better than any hero out there. Especially All Might." Izuku nodded.
"But the kid constantly burned himself, resulting in scarring that would have been preventable, but became permanent. Endeavor warned him to stop, to play with his siblings, but he refused.
"He died in a fire, that kid. No body was found. A shame, really. So much potential."
"So how do you know him, Dabi?"
Dabi breathed deeply. "We were friends, in a sense." He turned, walking to the exit. "I admire your work, and your motivation. Heard it all from Stain. I'm not your enemy, but think of me as a friend." He rose a hand as he walked. "Be seeing you." He vanished in the night, leaving Izuku alone.
Izuku only sat there, stunned. Dabi, a friend? Potential Ally? Interesting.
Interesting indeed.