Disclaimer: I've been reading fanfic online for decades and we're still doing these. Surprise, surprise, I don't own BNHA.
A/N: I've thought this kind of scenario would be cute for a while. Hopefully I was able to spin a fun little fluffy story out of it!
Izuku Midoriya was suffocating.
It was the day after the disaster at the USJ, where his life had been on the line more than once. By some miracle, he and the rest of his classmates had survived until All Might arrived to beat back the invincible Nomu and the rest of the faculty showed up to clean up the rest of the murderous villains, too.
That was yesterday but those events are what led him to this moment. UA had given the students the day off, closing campus as much to investigate and shore up the school's defenses as they did to give the students time to recover from their traumatic ordeal.
And now Midoriya found himself smothered in his mother's arms, squeezed tight in her worried embrace. His mother had been latched on to him all morning, since almost immediately after he woke up.
Inko was an anxious woman by nature and the threat of losing her precious son had been just as hard for her as actually facing such a perilous attack had been for him. She knew she was smothering him by holding him so tight but she couldn't help it; he'd only been in UA for a few days and already the world of heroes and villains had tried to steal him away from her.
But Izuku didn't really mind. He loved his mother and would never deny her this. If he was honest with himself he needed this, too. Yesterday had been terrifying, and for all of All Might's assurances that it things were okay now, nothing was more comforting than the safety of his mother's hugs, the warmth of her unending love.
Inko eased up a little as Izuku's favorite hero news magazine show came on the television. She let him loose enough so he could see the screen, but stayed planted by his side on the couch. She smiled softly at how eyes sparkled to learn the slightest new nugget of information about Japan's heroes and she didn't fail to notice the way he tensed when the topic of the UA attack came up.
Inko lowered the hand that rested across his shoulders to rub soothing circles into his back, reminding him that she was there. He turned and offered him a bright smile and a loving, if watery, gaze to show his appreciation.
"Thanks, Mom," he said and Inko nearly started crying all over again as she kissed his forehead.
The news show was about to move onto the next topic but before the Midoriyas could settle back into watching, Izuku's whole body began to vibrate as the muffled sound of All Might's booming laugh chimed from his pocket. Inko shook her head fondly at his silly ringtone; her son never did grow out of his fanatical hero worship for the Symbol of Peace.
Izuku fished his phone out of his pocket and his eyes went wide when he looked at the screen.
"Who is it, honey?" Inko asked.
"Oh, it's my f-friend from school!"
Inko's eyes came alive! She was so happy that her son was making friends at his new school. Despite Izuku's best efforts to hide his troubles growing up, Inko could always tell that he was lonely, that the other kids had treated him poorly. She worried about Izuku, especially after what he just went through, but despite the dangers he had faced she had never seen her son so excited to face the day as he did while going to UA.
And now he was making friends!
"Don't keep your friend waiting, Izu. Pick it up! I'll go get started on dinner while you talk with," her voice hitched, unable to contain her happiness as she finished speaking. "…your friend."
Izuku smiled at her as she stood up and walked to the kitchen. He nearly dropped his phone when his ringtone looped and the blaring sound of All Might's laugh caught him off-guard, but his hands scrambled to keep hold and finally he answered the call.
"H-hello?"
"…Deku-kun?"
"U-U-Uraraka-san!" Izuku's cheeks went red as he heard his newest and best friend's voice whispering so close in his ear. He couldn't believe it; he was talking to a girl!
"Oh, good, I got the right number! Deku-kun! Are you okay? I've been so worried since you got taken to Recovery Girl yesterday. Why didn't you call to let me know you were okay?!"
…
Inko was in the kitchen, breading pork cutlets and slicing scallions as the pot of oil heated up. Ever since he was a little boy running around the living room in his silly All Might onesie, Izuku had always wanted Katsudon, breakfast lunch and dinner. She still had to put her foot down to get him to eat anything else. But after the day he had yesterday she had no issue with indulging him and making his favorite dish.
She startled when she heard her boy cry out in embarrassment and she instinctively turned her head. She found him shaking nervously, wildly flapping his free hand in the air as he stammered out a rapid-fire barrage of apologies to his friend, whoever they were, on the phone.
"Ah! I'm so, so, so sorry, Uraraka-san! I should've called you sooner. I-I'm fine! Recovery Girl fixed me up good as new! There's nothing to worry about, honest!"
Inko kept watching, trying her best to listen in. It would've been funny to watch him get so flustered and animated while speaking to his friend if she hadn't been so familiar with where those nerves really came from.
Then she noticed him calm down and his voice quiet as he spoke his next words with much thicker emotion.
"…But, th-thank you for calling, Uraraka-san! It…it means a lot that you checked in. It means a lot to know that…that you care."
Inko had been wiping her hands with a kitchen towel when she heard those words and now it was being twisted tight in her pudgy fists, an innocent victim of her nervous excitement. It was so sweet to hear him say that, to speak so genuinely to a friend, to know that someone cared about her darling son. She felt a heavy wave of tears building in her eyes; she was so happy for him!
…
"I'm sorry that I worried you, Uraraka-san."
He heard her release a breath she had been holding.
"It's okay, Deku-kun. I'm just glad you're okay." She paused for a moment and Izuku frowned. There was something strange about this pause; something cold and dark, something so wrong when Uraraka was the warmest, brightest person he had ever met.
"It…yesterday was really scary, Deku-kun."
"…Yeah, it was." Izuku didn't like this. Uraraka felt so hurt, sounded so scared.
"Are you okay?" It was scary being so forward, speaking to a girl, a nice girl like this, but once he sensed she was hurting Izuku's nerves dissolved and his need to help took over.
Again Uraraka took a moment to respond and to Izuku the silence was haunting.
"…I'm okay, Deku-kun. I…I think. My parents called a while ago and that helped some but they had to get back to work and…"
She trailed off for a moment but Izuku listened intently, waiting for her to finish.
"I…I don't know. It's just…it's hard, y'know?"
Izuku's heart dropped when he heard Uraraka's voice break. Then she sniffled, and a quiet whine made it through his phone's speaker and Izuku knew she was crying.
That first day, when she and Iida had walked to the train station with him, Uraraka explained that she was living on her own to go to UA. Her family lived far away, out in the country in Mie, and they had rented her an apartment nearby.
She's all alone, he realized.
He hated that. Izuku turned around on the couch, looking back to his Mom as she worked on dinner. He smiled warmly at the site of her.
He couldn't imagine how he would be feeling if his Mom wasn't here. Her hugs helped melt his worries away, helped to calm him down and feel safe in a way even All Might couldn't manage. He needed her here with him, today especially.
But Uraraka doesn't have that. She doesn't have anyone to help her through this. She doesn't have anyone to be there with her.
Izuku chewed on his lip, wrestling with his nerves to say what he wanted to say. He had an idea, but it was so brazen, so bold, and he wasn't sure if he was strong enough to suggest it.
Then he heard another sniffle, another cry coming from the other end of the line and before he could think about it anymore, words leapt out on their own.
"Uraraka-san. Would you like to come over and have dinner at my house?"
Uraraka gasped in surprise.
"…What?"
Izuku couldn't believe he was inviting a GIRL over for dinner but she was hurting so that daunting thought never really came into play. Steadfastly he continued on.
"I don't think you should be alone right now, Uraraka-san." He heard her sniffle and he knew she agreed.
"Plus," he added. "I think I could really use a friend today, too."
That seemed to do the trick to overcome any hesitance Uraraka might have felt. Izuku didn't realize how similar they were, how they were both so much braver when it came to stepping in to help someone else than they were in accepting help themselves.
"I…okay, Deku-kun. That sounds like fun!" He smiled sadly, hearing how forced her cheerfulness sounded. "Thank you," she whispered.
Izuku kept smiling and rattled off the directions to his apartment then hung up. His face was a rotating door of different expressions, of different emotions. First he sighed, because the brief conversation had been heavy. Then he frowned, unhappy that his best friend was so upset. Then he smiled, because at least he got to hear her voice, and even down in the dumps Uraraka sounded cute…
By then he had enough time to come down from the high of helping someone in need and began to realize what had just happened, what he had just done.
I JUST INVITED A GIRL OVER TO MY HOUSE!
Izuku screamed inside his head and on the outside he was panicking. His hands started frantically running through his hair and he devolved into a mutterstorm as all of his worries and embarrassment hit him all at once.
After a moment of that he collapsed back, sinking into the couch cushion, and let his head roll back until he was staring at the ceiling, dazed from the dramatic turn of events.
"I can't believe I invited Uraraka-san over for dinner…"
"Neither can I!" His mother's face popped into view, looming over him and peering down at his face with the biggest smile he'd ever seen her wear. Izuku blushed, feeling like he'd been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
Izuku was a mess of nerves but Inko was having the time of her life. For the first time ever she got to embarrass his son like this!
"So, I couldn't help but overhear, Izu. I take it we're having a guest over for dinner?"
Inko leaned back just in time to avoid Izuku clashing into her face as he sat up. His wild, green curls still tickled her chin, as it was a near miss, but she paid it no mind as she watched him lean over the back of the couch, staring at her with panicked eyes and speaking a mile a minute.
"Ahh! Oh my gosh mom, I didn't ask you first! I'm so sorry! But, but…Uraraka-san lives alone and after the attack she doesn't have anyone with her like I have you and she started crying and I couldn't stand the fact that she was all alone and I hope it's okay that I invited her without asking you first but, but, I think she really needs someone to be with her while we're dealing with everything that happened and —"
Izuku kept rambling on and Inko nodded absently. She had no problems with Izuku inviting a friend over; on the contrary, it had been so, so long since Katsuki had visited and Inko was delighted to host one of his new friends!
She hed listened intently and certainly agreed with her son; no one should be left to deal with the aftermath of this situation alone. Inko wouldn't dream of denying her son's friend that kind of comfort that she knew they desperately needed.
But quickly Izuku's words became distant to her and fell on deaf ears because Inko was focusing on one word in particular that he had spoken.
"DID YOU SAY HER?!"
Izuku stopped speaking immediately and with wide eyes nodded. Izuku was nervous but Inko was thrown for a loop. She was so happy her baby had a new friend, someone who genuinely cared and worried about him; a friend that he clearly valued just as dearly.
But she was a girl?! This changed everything!
Inko spun on her heel and dashed back to the kitchen just as quickly as her chubby body would go. She started bustling to get ready, rushing to turn her quick, comfort-food dinner into a full-on feast, losing herself in her own mutterstorm as she listed off all the things that needed to be done in a hurry to get ready.
Then she froze and turned again to look back at Izuku, finding him staring blankly at her hyperactive antics.
"Izu! What are you just sitting around for! Go change into something nice; you can't host a lady wearing that!" She curled her lip at his 'ironic' t-shirt and stained basketball shorts. Izuku was too stunned by her behavior to defend his taste in fashion and just nodded as he started walking to his room.
"And do something about your hair, it's a mess!"
…
Some time later Inko sighed, finally taking a break. Dinner was almost done and she could finally stop from her whirlwind of activity long enough to check on Izu.
He was sitting on the couch with half a dozen hairbrushes lying on the coffee table in front of him. She shook her head as she watched him struggling in vain with his hair, playing tug of war with a hairbrush, pulling against his stubborn curls. She saw his muscles clench and heard a growl of effort until he chirped out a surprised cry when the hairbrush broke, unable to stand against the might of his untamable mop of hair.
Inko shook her head, smiling in spite of herself as Izuku sat down the broken brush and reached for another one. He inherited so much from her; her tears, her nerves, her kind heart, even the color of her hair. But those messy curls were something he got from Hisashi and as much as she appreciated the reminder of her husband, she always lamented how impossible his locks were to manage.
She watched, fondly and amused, as he attacked his hair again. Her boy never was one to give up!
Her break was interrupted when their doorbell rang. Inko looked up with a start, turning to the door. On the other hand, Izuku's surprise was more violent and he accidentally threw his current hairbrush across the room when he was jolted by the sound.
"She's here!"
Inko watched as Izuku tried to leap up from the couch to answer the door, but in his anxiousness he tripped over himself and collapsed to the floor. Inko huffed out a sigh and shook her head again before walking to the door herself.
She swung the door open and was met by the sight of their guest, Izuku's friend who was also a girl.
An incredibly CUTE girl! Inko thought the instant she saw her.
Inko couldn't help but stare for a moment as he took in Izuku's friend; her chocolate brown eyes that matched her charming bob of hair, the adorable blush marks that adorned her round cheeks, her figure that was made up as much from soft curves as it was strong muscle.
Inko nearly squealed with glee as flashes of sending her Izuku off with this sweet girl for dates filled her mind, followed by a scene of them at a wedding altar and finally snapshots of the cute grandbabies the two of them would be able to give her someday!
While on the inside Inko was imagining Izuku and the girl's future together, Ochaco was a little unsettled by the silence that hung between them since the woman opened the door. She smiled awkwardly and scratched her arm more out of nerves than to tame any itch. When she couldn't handle the awkward silence and the plump woman's wide-eyed gaze any more, Ochaco finally spoke up in quiet voice.
"Um, h-hello…I'm Uraraka Ochaco. It's nice to meet you."
That broke Inko out of her daydream and with a blush the woman bowed rapidly, sending her half-ponytail bouncing behind her head.
"Oh, forgive my rudeness. I'm Midoriya Inko, Izuku's mother, and it's so nice to meet you!"
Ochaco relaxed just a bit, offering the woman a shaky smile when she finished her frantic bowing. It was then that Inko took another look at her.
She had been so focused on how charming and lovely this girl seemed that she had missed the signs of her distress. Uraraka-chan had been through the same ordeal her son had gone through and she could tell it was weighing heavily on her.
Those chocolate brown eyes that Inko had fallen in love with were a little too dull; dark, haunting shadows hung underneath them and red ringed the edges, too, signs of tears that were all too familiar to a Midoriya. Inko noticed how forced the girl's smile seemed; she had become quite adept at recognizing false cheer after seeing it for so many years on her son's face. The girl's auburn bob was endearing, for sure, but now that Inko was really paying attention she saw how messy and unkempt it was.
Inko frowned and her eyes softened. Her heart hurt for this girl and the pain she was going through. It was exciting to imagine that this girl might be her son's future soulmate, but those lofty dreams could wait. This girl needed love right now; she needed warmth, comfort and safety more than anything.
So Inko pulled the girl into a hug. Inko was being awfully familiar with someone she just met, and the gasp of surprise and the tense jump she felt as she wrapped Uraraka in her arms was proof that the girl thought so, too. But after a moment Inko felt her relax and lean into the hug, desperately nuzzling in to seek solace in the teddy bear arms of a stranger.
"Uraraka-san!"
Izuku's voice rang as he popped his head around Inko's body and Ochaco pulled out of the hug to greet him and offer her best smile to him. It was a stronger effort than the smile she showed Inko, but Izuku could still see the pain behind it.
"Hiya, Deku-kun!"
Izuku scrutinized her with a furrowed brow for a moment before smiling at her, softly and gently, then invited her in. Inko stepped out of the way and let Ochaco slip off her shoes in exchange for a pair of guest slippers from the small rack by the door.
When she looked up after changing her footwear she was met by Izuku's intense gaze. Intense, but kind. She smiled at how openly he was staring at her, given how easily he got flustered talking to girls. But she knew why; Izuku's nerves always got tossed aside when he was worried and she could tell he was worried about her.
"Um! Thank you again for inviting me for dinner, Deku-kun!" Then she turned to Inko. "And you, too, Midoriya-san."
"Oh, you're very welcome, dear. We're happy to have you!" Izuku nodded along in agreement and Inko smiled. "Please make yourself at home. Dinner's almost ready so why don't you and Izu go sit on the couch while I finish it up?"
Ochaco thanked the woman again as she walked to the other room when Izuku led her to sit with him on the couch.
They sat quietly and another awkward silence fell between them. Izuku wasn't all that great talking with girls in the first place, but even worried as he was about his best friend he wasn't sure how to broach the topic. He knew he was hurting and he wanted to do something but he was at a loss of what to say.
For her part, Ochaco tried to fill the silence by looking around, examining Deku-kun's home. It was much nicer than her cheap apartment, but it was still modest. It was comfortable. The difference was the warmth here, like in her family home back in Mie. There were pictures on the wall of Izuku and Inko at different ages, and a couple knick knacks here and there that she could tell held some significant meaning to the little family, even if she wasn't immediately able to understand what.
Izuku could tell she was upset and it hurt him that he didn't know what to do. He watched her as her eyes roamed around the room until they stopped to rest on the coffee table in front of them. Her eyebrows knitted together for a moment and then he thought he spied a ghost of a smirk on her lips.
"What's going on here, Deku-kun?"
"Hmm?" He looked down to see what had grabbed her attention and blushed when he saw it was the row of hairbrushes on the table.
One was broken, with a few strands of his green hair tangled amidst its defeated teeth. Another rested to its right, with a gap between them left empty because he had accidentally thrown that brush across the room. Still, Two more hairbrushes lay past that one, both still with their price tags attached.
"O-oh. Well, I go through a lot of hairbrushes," he said with a chuckle, embarrassed as he scratched his head. Ochaco watched him and couldn't keep an amused snort from escaping.
"I'm always fighting a losing battle with this curly mess, you know?" He tried to rake his fingers through his hair and flinched when they got caught in a tangle.
Ochaco lost it and laughed, falling into a fit of giggles. She always thought his hair was cute; he was so plain and shy but his hair was full of such chaotic energy!
Izuku smiled, happy to see some genuine mirth in Ochaco's eyes, if only for a moment. It was so much better when she smiled, when she was happy!
But her moment of cheer evaporated far too quickly and that tired, haunted look in her eyes returned. Ochaco slumped back to the couch and exhaled a tired sigh, her eyes looking far away as a pensive frown weighed down her lips.
She started raking her fingers through her own hair then, feeling Izuku's worried eyes on her, she looked at him and showed him another smirk.
"Don't worry, Deku-kun. I'm…my hair's a mess, too, right now." Her lips quivered and her defenses slipped.
"I've…it's been an awful day, hasn't it?"
"Yeah," Izuku agreed as he slumped back into the couch along with her. "It has."
They sat there silently again. It was awkward, but in a different way now. No words were spoken but so much was said between them, two people who went through the same harrowing ordeal.
Izuku stole sideways glances at her, searching for something else he could do to help her.
She was looking at some distant nothing that only she could see, lost in her thoughts. But Izuku noticed that she was still absently raking her fingers through her hair, frowning here and there when they met an unwelcome tug, a tangle in her messy locks.
Izuku blinked, then glanced down at the table, then back at Uraraka.
Could I…Would that help…?
Izuku chewed his lip and thought about it for a moment then took a deep breath to gather his nerves. He nodded to himself as he made his decision.
"U-Uraraka-san?"
Ochaco jumped as she remembered where she was, who she was with. She turned to face him.
"Hmm?"
"I…that is, can I, er, would…" Izuku took another deep breath as he tripped over his words.
"Would you like me to brush your hair?"
Ochaco's eyes widened as she watched Izuku reach for one of the brand new hairbrushes on the table.
"Ehh?!" She blushed when she realized what he had said.
"I…I don't mean to be weird or anything!" A surge of panic lit up across Izuku's face but he still continued on, waving the brush in the air. "I just…it always made me feel better when my mom would brush my hair when I was having a rough time." He smirked as Ochaco kept staring at him. "Well, it felt better when she tried, anyway."
Ochaco snorted and giggled again, amused by how hopelessly curly his hair was.
The laugh was good; she felt some of the tension on her heart loosen, she felt herself relax for just a moment. Long enough to remember how nice it used to feel for her mother to brush her hair before she left for work, how she pampered her with a cheap plastic comb from the 100-yen store. There wasn't anything special about how her mother had cared for her hair; she worked on construction sites, not beauty salons. But the love and the warmth they shared in those moments were a welcome oasis of contentment amidst the stress and struggles their family constantly fought through to get by.
It had been a long time since someone had done that for her and she missed it, just like she missed her parents overall. She wished they were here, with her; just hearing them on the phone hadn't been enough. Not really.
It sounded so nice to have someone brush her hair. Deku-kun wasn't her mother but he was so special, too. So kind, so caring and she already trusted him completely and felt just as safe with him as she felt with her own family.
"Umm…i-if you really don't mind, I think that would be nice, Deku-kun."
He came alive when she accepted his offer, smiling one of those blindingly bright smiles of his. Despite how heavy her heart felt today she couldn't resist smiling in return at her friend's happiness. A moment later she spun around in her seat, leaving the back of her head free for Deku-kun to reach.
She closed her eyes and waited and before long she felt the first stroke gently sweep through her hair, followed by another and another. Ochaco smiled at the soothing rhythm of Deku-kun smoothing out her hair.
She sighed contentedly as he continued on, as his other hand softly held the ends of her hair to give him a little more control as the brush kissed her chocolate tresses. He never tugged too hard; his touch was so careful and tender. Soon Ochaco got lost in the warmth of the moment, in the nostalgic, peaceful feeling Izuku was gifting to her.
She felt comfortable. She felt safe.
She felt happy.
It was wonderful; magical even. After their class had fought for their lives, after she had seen her hero Thirteen ripped to shreds, then Aizawa pulverized by that Nomu monster, then seeing Izuku destroy himself again trying to help All Might…After all of that she didn't think she'd ever feel happy again. Those villains had invaded UA but they'd done more than that; they'd violated their safety, violated HER safety, and infected her with an inconsolable fear that had left her reeling.
But it wasn't really inconsolable after all. Her parents' voices had helped a little, but it was this moment, it was being here with Deku-kun, feeling his presence and his kindness as he did something so simple as brushing her hair that she finally started to calm down.
He's doing it again, she realized. He's saving me!
Ochaco smiled. She was happy her back was turned to Deku-kun so he couldn't see the blush burning on her cheeks.
She was happy! And it was all thanks to Deku-kun.
She leaned back and collapsed against him, using him as a pillow as she let her body sink against him.
He squeaked in surprise and dropped the brush, and when he looked down at her he saw that sparkle in her eyes that had been missing, a playful cheer and a hypnotic warmth staring back up at him.
Ochaco smiled when she saw Izuku blush. It was lucky that he had already succeeded in making her feel better because she could tell his bravery had run out and he was flustered by her close touch.
But that was okay. She liked Deku-kun like this. He was brave when he needed to be and he was sweet and caring and she loved everything about him. She stayed there, leaning against him, watching him fret and fidget and cover his face in embarrassment.
And she was still watching him when he peeked under his hands, smiling a hopeful smile as she beamed back up at him.
"H-how are you feeling now, Uraraka-san? Was I able to help cheer you up?"
She closed her eyes and leaned closer, nuzzling her hair against him as her head rested in his lap.
"I've never felt better."
A/N: Thank you for reading!
I'd love to hear what you think if you want to leave a comment.
