Chapter 5
(y/n) = your name
(l/n) = last name
(y/n) got home from work one fateful afternoon and was completely exhausted. Some pretentious wannabe poet had burst into her office during her lunch break to tell her just where she could stick her rejection letter and flipped her desk over before being escorted out of the building. She'd spent the rest of her work day picking up loose manuscript papers and rice off the floor. By the time she got back to her apartment she was drained, and her feet ached in her office mandated heels. Of all the times for her car battery to die, it had to be today. She felt she deserved to flop down on the couch and nap the rest of the day.
*Bzzz* *Bzzz* unfortunately, whoever was calling her didn't appear to agree. "Hello?" (y/n) greeted in an unamused monotone. The sniffling she heard on the other end caught her attention. "(y-y/n) …" (y/n) felt a pit open up in her stomach that her heart dropped into. "Inko? What's going on, what's wrong?" the phone relayed several heart wrenching moans before Inko's voice said, "I'm at the ER." (y/n) was already putting her coat back on. "What? Are you alright?" Inko only managed two more words before she let a fit of sobs lose into the phone "…It's Izuku." (y/n) assured her sister that she'd be right there, before she burst out of her apartment, only barley remembering to lock the door before she was barreling down the stairs, and out of the building. Soon, she was running down the block, aching feet forgotten as her heels clacked across the concrete at a frantic tempo.
When she finally appeared at the ER, she found Inko pacing the lobby. When she looked up to see (y/n), she broke down, running into her sister's arms. Despite Inko being a little over a decade older, (y/n) towered over her which was evident as the two embraced. (y/n) hushed her sister as she sobbed. "What happened, is he alright?" Inko, between shaky sobs, explained that Izuku's class had been attacked while on a field trip to the USJ. "Everyone's fine, he just broke a lot of his body trying to defend his friends. You should see their teacher, he's a lot worse off." At the mention of Aizawa, (y/n) stiffened. "Why? What happened to him?" Inko sniffed "H-He took on several villains at once, so his students could escape. He was really beat up, but he should be fine, too." (y/n) had never encountered a hero who was willing to enter a fight that stacked against them just to save others, as ironic as that may be, considering the profession. Perhaps she'd misjudged her quirky neighbor. After calming Inko down enough, (y/n) made her way to the front desk. "Hello, my name is (l/n) (y/n), may I visit my nephew? His name is Midoryia...?" the receptionist clacked on her keyboard for a second before she nodded "If he's awake, I don't see why not." She talked into a phone on her desk for a few seconds before a nurse emerged from a side door and motioned for (y/n) to follow.
"How are you feeling, Bud?" (y/n) cooed as she smoothed hair out of Deku's face. "Better." Was all he said. The room smelled of rubbing alcohol, and the lighting was a bit dim due to the privacy curtain that was tightly shut over the side of the room that allowed for sunlight to enter. All in all, not the most exciting place to spend a Tuesday afternoon. "How is it that you are the only student in your class to get injured this bad? What did the villains do, hit you with a bus?" Izuku chuckled at that, before he clutched his chest and moaned. "Stop. Laughing hurts." (y/n) chuckled a bit herself. "Alright, tough guy, what other actions hurt you?" He sighed and let his head sink into the pristine hospital pillows. "All of them." (y/n) poked his cheek. "Serves you right for fighting someone twice your size." He swatted at her finger with a casted arm. "Could you tell me a story or something, to distract me from all the pain I'm in?"
"What kind of story do you want? Fair warning, I'm really more of a story critique than a writer." Izuku let her question hang in the air for a beat. The room was quiet, save for the heavy, muffled breathing of the curtained off occupant on the other side of the room.
"…What happened between you and mom before I was born?"
The (l/n) family had always been a prideful one. When their youngest daughter was born quirkless, they did everything they could to 'keep her from harm'. She was homeschooled from the time she was five, until she turned fifteen, and finally snapped. "I'm not as fragile as you think I am! What's the point of martial arts lessons if you don't let me go outside and use them if I need to?" Her father shouted back, matching (y/n)'s anger. "They're to teach you discipline. Something you obviously haven't been learning. Sneaking out? really (y/n)?"
"You don't give me much of a choice, only letting me go out if I'm being chaperoned! You are so controlling! Now I know why Inko left!" (y/n) had been protected (hidden) in her home for the last ten years. Her parents were too afraid her quirklessness would land her in trouble (embarrass the family) to let her out of their sight. Despite the harsh restrictions, the (l/n) family was still well-to-do, and so (y/n) had a lot of things others kids her age didn't. Her own bank account, for one thing. In fact, she had everything she would need to make it on her own if she needed to. That night, 3 October, 21XX; (y/n) packed a bag, and stormed out her front door. "Where do you think you're going?" her father called out to her from the staircase. "I'm getting the hell out of here." "no, you're not. Get back here this instant young lady."
(y/n) ignored him and continued walking out into the front yard. Her mother appeared next to her father. "If you leave right now, know that we won't come after you, and we certainly won't come to help you if you get in trouble." (y/n) paused at that, before she turned around and grinned "That sounds good to me." That was the last time she ever saw her parents.
As (y/n) walked off into the night, she started to panic. Where was she going to stay? Her thoughts immediately turned to her sister. Inko had been kicked out two years prior. Their parents had not liked who she'd chosen to marry, and Inko refused to leave him, so she was promptly disowned. Parents of the year; theirs were not.
When (y/n) knocked on Inko's door, her husband answered. "(y/n). What do you want? Do you know what time it is, girlie?" She hated when he called her that. "Is Inko home?" (y/n) asked "She is." "… well can I talk with her?"
The man crossed his arms and stared her down. "Depends, what do you want?" (y/n) rolled her eyes. "Parents kicked me out. need a place to stay." A harsh, booming laugh was heared from her brother-in-law "well you can't stay here." (y/n) felt put out, and stupid. "And why not?" He poked her in the forehead and gave her the 'because I said so' line. "I aint about to let some brat into my home. Inko knows how I feel about kids, she ain't gonna let you stay either." As he said her name, the woman appeared in the hall behind him, wondering what was going on. (y/n) relayed her situation to her, repeating her request to stay. "I told you, no." Inko's husband growled. "well, I think Inko should have a say." Exasperated, the man went back into the house, disappearing from her view. "I'm sorry, (y/n). He said no." (y/n) stomped her foot, like a bratty child. "Yeah? And what about what you say?" Her sister looked timid as she averted her eyes "I say what he says. Maybe if you go back home, and apologize, they'll let you back in."
"I'm so not going back there! Come on, Inko, we're sisters! Just let me in for the night!" Inko looked back into the house with a frantic expression, and then down at (y/n). "He said no, I'm sorry." Something clicked in (y/n)'s brain.
"Ink… is he... abusive? Does he hurt you?" At the question, Inko stiffened, and her gaze became angry. "That isn't any of your business. You can't stay here, (y/n), and that's final. Goodnight!" the door was abruptly slammed in her face, and she could hear the sound of a deadbolt slamming home. (y/n) backed down the steps, speechless before she took off into the night. No clear destination in mind.
Izuku was speechless, and (y/n) sighed to end the silence. "I was such a brat. I threw a fourteen-year temper tantrum and ended up right back here where you see me now."
"W-what did you do once My mom shut the door?" (y/n) looked down at her nephew. Well, at least he wasn't concerned with his broken ribs anymore. "I took the bus out of town and went all the way to the other side of Japan. Got a job at a truck stop gas station. It wasn't the safest work environment, but they didn't pry when I lied about my age, and it paid well enough to survive off of when I worked full time. I did that until I'd finished both High School and College online, got my degree, and started applying to jobs at publishing firms. I learned to do everything for myself by watching YouTube videos and through trial and error. By the time I was nineteen, I was successfully self-sufficient. "
Deku stared at her in awe. "The only reason I even came back was because I ended up finding an old picture of me and Inko at the bottom of an old backpack. It reminded me that no matter how much I taught myself how to be an adult, I was still being incredibly immature. I called her up and decided to move back home. Nothing was really keeping me where I was."
"Was moving back worth it?" (y/n) smiled, pinching her Nephew's cheeks. "I got to meet you, Bud. Yeah, I think It was worth it." He whined until she released his face, at which time, he promptly asked her to get him his notebook and pencil out of his bag. She complied and watched as he opened the book to a page with a rough sketch of her on it, and several bullet points scrawled beside it. "What's this?" she asks, confused. "It's my hero journal." "okay, what am I doing in there?" Izuku begins to write on the page as he says "I write down all the heroes I learn about in here, because I think they're amazing, and I really admire them. I write down facts and abilities that are known about them. I started making a page for you once you started teaching me to do all the thinks you learned. I think you're really strong, and amazing, and I think you deserve a hero page, so I made you one." (y/n) had been called lots of things in her life. Quirkless, girlie, useless… never strong. Tears welled up in her eyes, and she began to cry. Quietly, at first, and then loudly and uncontrollably. Izuku panicked. "Aunt (y/n)! What did I say? What's wrong?" (y/n) lifted her head and shook it, wrapping the boy in a tight embrace. "Ow! Auntie, careful!" (y/n) softened her grip a little and sobbed into Izuku's shoulder. "S-sorry. I'm just. I'm really glad I met you, Izuku." The boy returned the hug. "I'm glad I met you, too." When She'd calmed down, (y/n) released to boy and rubbed her eyes. "Okay." She sniffed. "Now, could you help me with something?"