A/N: Sorry for the mixup earlier! I got twisted-around with how I labeled the chapters and I had to go back to my AO3 version to check. Enjoy!

Izuku was still sullen the next morning as he hesitantly stepped around the corner into the kitchen, only to relax minutely when he saw his mother standing at the counter with a cup of tea sitting on the countertop.

At the sound of his footsteps, she turned and smiled. "Good morning."

"Morning," he replied quietly, voice still scratchy and hoarse.

She frowned, turning fully to face him. "Are you okay, honey? You sound terrible. Are you getting sick?"

She planted a hand on his forehead despite his hum of denial, her expression deepening as she felt his flushed skin. "You feel warm."

"I'm fine, really," he protested, gently taking her wrist in his hand and lowering it. "I'm just… trying to process."

Inko's eyes softened, and she cupped his cheek with her other hand. "Oh, Izuku…"

Clucking her tongue, she brought him in for a hug, stroking his hair as she spoke in hushed tones. "I told him not to spring it on you so soon," she replied with a hint of anger in her voice. "Don't worry, Izuku. Your friends are too determined to believe you're truly gone."

The desolate look in his eyes spoke volumes, though, and she gave a tiny sigh.

"Your first therapy appointment is in Monday," she explained. "Can you hold out for that long?"

"I don't need to talk to anyone," he retorted. "I'm fine."

"You are most definitely not fine, Midoriya Izuku," she snapped, pulling back enough to give him a stern stare. "I didn't raise you to be so foolishly self-sacrificing. You need to learn to accept that sometimes you need help."

"I have help," he half-heartedly protested.

"Talking to Yagi-san once every few days or so doesn't count as 'help'," Inko attempted to reason. "You need someone with a fresh outlook. Someone who won't judge you based on what they've already seen of you."

He didn't say another word.

His mother shook her head sadly. "You know… I used to talk to a therapist too. It was right after your…" she trailed off before coughing lightly, "... after my husband left us. I was so devastated, and it was right after your Quirk appointment… I couldn't take it anymore."

"Mom…" his eyes softened and he reached out to hold her cheeks in his hands.

She placed one atop his and attempted to smile, though the pain in her eyes made a pang of hurt shoot through his chest. "It really helped me see another perspective about everything. If I hadn't spoken to a therapist, I fear I would have snapped under the pressure. I never wanted you to need it as you got older. I had hoped that you wouldn't get to that point." She laughed mirthlessly. "I suppose I was wrong, again."

"I'm sorry," he began.

"Don't, please." She shook her head. "You shouldn't feel responsible for my pain. I hope you will never have to go through what I did. It's my job to make sure that my baby grows up to feel safe and happy."

He leaned in, bending his knees to be able to gently place his forehead against hers. Inko's face was soft, warm, just as it always was, and there was a sort of peace in the thought that despite everything they'd gone through together, his mother had hardly changed.

Her grasp still sparked a comfort that he desperately sought, so gentle, as if she were afraid he would break despite the immense power that had been placed upon his scrawny shoulders so long ago. No matter how much he grew, no matter how much his power grew - his mother made him feel like a child again, still happy, still craving her attention.

Inko seemed to sense this, and she smiled - a genuine smile that told him that she would have it no other way.

"We'll have to replace what you lost soon, before school starts," she commented quietly. "I'll have to take you shopping."

"I don't need anything fancy, just a flip phone."

"Nonsense," his mother scolded, patting his cheek as she pulled back. "I am not leaving my troublesome son without a way to be found if he ends up lost. Yagi-san told me about all the trouble you seem to find, and I'm not taking any chances in a city neither of us knows."

He nodded, feeling quite chastised even though he knew her anger wasn't directed squarely at him. "Okay."

"And we'll need to get you a laptop, just in case," she continued. "Whatever model you want, as long as it works, we'll get. You never know what can happen, and if you need to have online classes if you happen to be out of commission for too long, we'll need to prepare for that."

"Nothing too expensive," he said, grasping her hand. "I don't want to…"

"You aren't a burden on me, Izuku," her voice was so incredibly soft that it made a lump of emotion begin to grow in his throat. "You never were, and you never will be. I'm so proud of you."

She pulled him back in for another hug. "You're always going to be my baby."

Izuku hugged back, tight - and hid his face away in her shoulder, trying to keep his erratic emotions at bay even as tears stung at his eyes.

"I don't care what Hisashi's done to you, or to me," she firmly stated. "We'll make it through. He's not the same man I thought I married almost twenty years ago, but I moved on. We moved on. I won't let him hurt us, Izuku. I promise you, I will keep you safe."

"B- but Mom…"

"I don't need a powerful Quirk to protect my son." Her grip got tighter on his shoulders. "No matter what he does to me, if he values this marriage at all, if he values my generosity at all - he will not lay a hand on you. And neither will his student."

Izuku nodded slowly, blinking rapidly. "He could kill you, Mom," his voice cracked.

"But he won't." Her voice was resolute, even as his own grip tightened on her shorter form. "And as long as he knows that, I will continue to keep him distracted. It's my turn, Izuku - let your mother protect you the way she should have a long time ago."

A/N: If Shigaraki and/or AFO kill Inko in canon I swear I will find a way to manifest a very painful death for both of them, Tomura's possible redemption arc be damned. ^_^*

And to Shahryar... you've got some interesting thoughts ;) Veeeeery interesting... ;)

I will confirm, though, that the other users really aren't mad at him - Yoichi can be incredibly persuasive when he wants to be (and Nana honestly can't be upset at Izuku, moreso upset at AFO). And besides that... it's incredibly coincidental, and perhaps fortunate, that the Ninth user just so happens to be related to AFO and has a strong-enough will to... well, you'll see soon. Don't want to reveal every card in my hand yet and ruin it!

Please tell me what you thought!