A silken surface brushes against Izuku's fingertips. Starting with his thumb and pinky, all five digits fold and his hand grasps at an empty space. Still somnolent, the boy sluggishly stirs in his bed with a groggy groan before reaching for the spot beside him again. Izuku's hand passes through air a second time before slapping the sheets. Though soft, there isn't the usual fuzz that he's familiar with. His eyes blink open, and though bleary, he has a visual confirmation. Pochita is missing.

Izuku springs up straight, his mattress straining under the sudden movement. The fogginess clears from his head and his eyes. Now fully awake, the boy scours the room with his gaze for his dog, double checking his bed. When he doesn't catch even a glimpse of orange, he tosses the All Might themed blankets that cover him onto the floor and darts from his bed. He fumbles with the doorknob only momentarily before throwing it open and sprinting down the hall.

"Mom! Mom!", Izuku calls for his mother as he stumbles over his own stubby legs. He finds Inko in the kitchen cooking breakfast for him. She greets him with a smile but the expression quickly evaporates when she sees the face her son is making. "Pochita is missing!", Izuku explains his state of panic before she can even ask.

Inko glances over her son's shoulder, half expecting the dog to be there despite his exclamation. When her eyes shift back downwards and land on Izuku's watery ones, she bends down to console him. "Oh dear, let's not panic. I'm sure he didn't go very far", she tries soothing him by running a hand through his green curls but the young boy is already sniffling.

"Do you think he ran away? What if a villain got him?!", there's no holding back the waterworks and Inko has to hold him close so that he can dry his tears on her apron. She shushes him assuredly and rocks him side to side like she would when he was an infant to calm him down. When his whines revert back to snivels, she lets him have some space to breathe.

"Pochita loves you too much to run away and he's got that chainsaw of his to fend off villains", Inko's words must do the trick since Izuku nods along with that line of reasoning. She stands up to grab the phone off the wall and dials Mitsuki's number. "I'll ask the neighbors if they saw anything and we'll walk around to see if he wandered off", Inko already starts formulating a plan to find the family pet and prevent a relapse of her son's sobbing, "We can then print flyers if Pochita still doesn't turn up."

"O- Okay", Izuku wipes away the tears streaming down his freckled cheeks before puffing them up and getting a determined glint in his glossy gaze, "I'll get us started then!" Before Inko can even respond, he's flying into the backyard to begin his search.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP, BRAT!", Inko jumps when the line clicks and she hears Mitsuki screaming at the top of her lungs. Faintly, Katsuki shouts something back that doesn't quite reach the phone. "You're lucky I didn't get an abortion!", the yelling match continues for a bit before Mitsuki suddenly switches her tone to be as polite as possible, "Hi Inko! I saw your caller ID! How's Izuku?"

Inko sweatdrops before wiping the side of her forehead with the back of her hand. "He's doing well.. Sorta..", there's a pause in her speech pattern when the boy hurriedly flies past her to search the living room, "You haven't happened to see Pochita around, have you?"

"That stray you took in? Can't say I have", there's a rustle of movement before Mitsuki adds, "Let me ask Masaru and Katsuki." Inko patiently waits as she listens to the short interaction between wife and husband before wincing when it comes to the son's turn. "Oi, shit head! Have you seen Izuku's mutt?!", Mitsuki and Katsuki exchange some rude words before she shifts back to Inko and says, "Sorry but it doesn't look like anyone saw em."

"Th- That's fine. Izuku and I are going to have a look around the neighborhood but please let us know if Pochita turns up at your house somehow", Inko sighs and shakes her head when Izuku pops his head in to check for an update on the phone call. Izuku pouts a little but doesn't cry. He goes back to searching the house.

"Of course, Inko. We'll be on the lookout", Mitsuki's assurance puts a small smile on Inko's face before she hangs up the phone. Though just a glimmer, there's some hope that her friend can help. She repeats that rise and fall of faith with each phone call that she makes after that.

"Nobody saw him?!", Izuku squeaks with disappointment when his mother reports the progress she made. Tears threaten to spill again but he holds them back as best as he can.

"He's a small dog. That makes him easy to go unnoticed", Inko does her best to rationalize the situation for her son while making sure that she has all the right contents she needs in her purse in order to go out, "But now everyone knows to keep an eye out."

Izuku remembers the time that his mom dressed up as a pirate for Halloween and let him try on her eyepatch. Without both of his eyes, Pochita was very difficult to keep track of. The small dog would weave between his legs and trip him up. Comparing that memory with now, he can understand her reasoning. "And plus we're gonna look for him!", he adds.

"That's right", Inko nods with a smile. She slides her arms into the sleeves of her coat before helping Izuku with his, "I'm sure he'll come running if he hears us calling his name."

Except, that doesn't happen. The two search the entire neighborhood for the whole day, retracing their steps a few times just to be sure. They call Pochita's name but he doesn't come running like Inko thought he would. Izuku becomes discouraged and starts sobbing. Eventually, he cries himself out and Inko has to carry him home.

When she lays Izuku down in his bed, he absentmindedly grasps at the air during his slumber. Inko realizes that her son is reaching for his lost dog and has to fight back her own tears. "My poor boy..", she contemplates giving him a pillow to fill the void but knows that he'd probably notice the difference and wake up. All she can do for him is let him sleep and hope that Pochita turns up in the morning.

Suddenly, Inko hears a whimper. For a moment, she worries that it's her son. But then she feels something soft brushing against her ankles and looks down. There, crawling out from underneath the bed, is Pochita. The short dog's eyes wobble and she can tell that the animal has been crying too. This whole time, Pochita was at home hiding and waiting for them to get back.

"You goofballs!", Inko chokes back a laugh. She helps the dog up onto the bed so that it can curl up with her son. The boy and his pet worried one another sick over nothing. "What am I gonna do with you two?", she keeps her voice low to a whisper so that she doesn't wake them up. The two cuddle and Izuku's face forms a smile when he's able to wrap his arms around Pochita.

The rapid beating of Izuku's panicked heart settles into a mellow tune when he feels Pochita's warmth against his chest.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

And that concludes the flashback chapters. Honestly, I originally thought of this as a good poetic final chapter overall. It still serves its purpose though.

Sorry it took a while to get this update out but the stuff I have planned for the Sports Festival is juicy, so I'm excited to be just a few chapters away from that.