Chapter 26

[Play KH1.5 Remix OST Precious Stars in the Sky]

Nothing really special happened on the way back to the Midoriya household. The only difference was the little bit of extra attention from gaining some popularity, but other than that, nothing new. Once Sora got back into the house, he heard Inko in the kitchen, most likely cooking dinner. The boy peeked his head around the corner and waited until she noticed him.

She slightly jumped from just seeing a head poking out of the corner, but when she recognized it, she giggled and said. "I see you're back home Sora."

"Yep." The Keyblade wielder replied as he walked into the room and sat at the table, watching her cook dinner.

"So, how was your day?" The mother asked.

"I'd say it was pretty productive." Sora answered. "I made some new friends, helped one of my friends make his own friends, fulfilled my promise to a fellow First Year, and had fun the whole time doing so."

"That's good to hear." Inko commented. "Thanks for the breakfast by the way. That was a pleasant surprise to wake up to."

"I'll make one even better next time I'm up that early again." The boy stated, making the woman giggle once more at her guest's kindness. "So how about you?"

"Huh?" Inko was slightly surprised that Sora wanted to know about her day, but she didn't mind talking about it. "Well, I woke up, ate your breakfast with Izuku, went to work after he started checking his phone. After work I went to the store, got some groceries, came home and now I'm making dinner."

"Wow. You did a lot today." Sora pointed out. "So how about Izuku? Did he tell you about his day?"

Inko's smile slightly dimmed as she said. "No."

Sora noticed and asked her. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Inko answered. "I'm just a little concerned about my son. You know, motherly instinct and all."

Sora wondered what she meant and asked her, "Did Izuku do something today that was unusual or something?"

Inko paused for a moment wondering if she should speak, but decided to do so anyway. "When we had breakfast together, he ended up staring at the food with a weird look. He usually does that when he's nervous." The woman explained. "I asked him what was wrong, but he told me it was nothing. At first, I thought that he was just pondering about how he did in the Sports Festival, but it doesn't seem like that's the case."

"Hmm." Sora cupped his chin and thought about something before he spoke up. "Now that you mention it, he wasn't really acting like he usually does after the Festival ended."

"I want to ask him about it, but I think he might just tell me he's fine." Inko said.

"Then I'll ask him." Sora stated.

"Are you sure that he'll open up?" She asked.

"I'm pretty sure he will." He reassured her. "Maybe it's just something guy related. If so, then I'm the best person to talk about that guy stuff." He stood up and began walking towards Izuku's room, but before he left, he said. "I'll let you know if it's important." Inko nodded and went back to making dinner.

[Silence]

Sora knocked on the door and said it was him before he let himself inside Izuku's room. Looking around for a second, he spotted Midoriya writing down some notes in his journal, but on his phone was the news about someone named Stain. The boy took a seat on the bed across from his friend and asked him, "Whatcha doing?"

Izuku turned around and answered. "O-Oh, just...taking some notes is all."

"Who's the Hero that caught your attention this time?" Sora asked, though he already knew that wasn't actually the case.

"Well...it's not actually a Hero." Midoriya answered. "It's someone who's been hunting them recently."

"Normally, you don't like writing this stuff down in your Hero journal." Sora pointed out. "What makes this guy the exception?"

"Uhh...just curiosity." The green haired boy replied.

"Is that really it?" Sora pondered.

"Huh?" Izuku was confused. "What do you mean?"

"Inko and I noticed that you weren't acting yourself lately." Sora explained. "Is this guy the reason you're nervous?"

"Well, kinda. But not really him specifically." Midoriya answered.

"Ok. You lost me." The spiky haired boy told him.

"This guy's most recent victim is the reason." Izuku said.

[Play KH DDD OST Distant from You]

Sora was a bit confused and looked at his friend's phone to see Ingenium on the news. "Oh." He realized. "Tenya's brother." Midoriya nodded, then Sora guessed, "You're worried about our classmate, aren't you?"

"Yeah." Izuku said. "It happened during the Sports Festival and I haven't heard anything from Iida yet."

Sora took a moment to think about what to say next, then told Midoriya, "Tenya's our friend. He'll talk to us if anything is bothering him." Izuku looked unsure of that, but Sora backed up his claim. "He's always done that. He told us how he was upset with Aizawa's fake expulsion threat. He pointed out how fast you accepted Deku as a nickname. And let's not even get into how many things he was annoyed with involving our classmates."

"Ok. Ok. Fair point." Midoriya accepted Sora's reasoning. "But I'm still worried about him. How can I not be?"

"It's fine to worry, just don't keep it to yourself." Sora told him. "You'll make others worry about you if you keep thoughts like these inside."

"Sorry." The One For All user apologized. "It's just been all I've been thinking about lately, so I didn't want to bring it up."

Sora cupped his chin for a moment, thinking about that last comment, then he got an idea. "Hey Izuku, let's head over to the beach you used to train at tomorrow."

"What? Why?" Midoriya asked.

"You said that this is all you can think about right now, so tomorrow, we'll hang out together and help get your mind off of it." Sora explained. His friend was about to say something, but he cut the boy off as he continued. "When Tenya comes back to school, I don't think he'll want to see you worried about him. I know I wouldn't. He should see us both smiling and happy to see him again. Plus, a day at the beach makes everybody happy."

Izuku for the umpteenth time was surprised at how well Sora looks at these negative situations and manages to find a way to help them become more positive. Midoriya nodded and just replied, "Sure. If we head to bed after dinner, then we can wake up early enough to spend the whole day there."

"That's the spirit Izuku." Sora said.

As if on cue Inko's voice was heard saying, "Boys, wash your hands for dinner!" The two then stood up and left the room doing as she told before they went to join her to eat.

[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST An Abdominal Investigation]

Elsewhere in the Kanagawa Prefecture, Mirio Togata was walking up a flight of stairs, then down a hallway until he reached the room he was heading for. He knocked and waited for a response. After a few seconds, he heard "Who's there?" Perfect.

He cleared his throat and answered with "Phasing."

The voice on the other side of the door replied with. "Phasing who?"

"Phasing through the door." Togata replied with his head through the door. "Heyo, Sir."

The man named Sir looked in the boy's direction and replied in a nonchalant tone. "Humorous enough. Come in Mirio."

"Aww, just enough?" Togata faked disappointment as he entered the room. "I had that one planned out for a while now."

"Maybe if I didn't know your quirk, or that you'd be coming in today, then I might have found it funny." Sir pointed out. "I trust that your gear is fixed."

"Even better actually." Mirio answered. "A guy who's working with the support team back at U.A. reinforced it. Now it's even tougher than before."

"That's good to hear." Sir replied as he was doing his papers. "Anything else to report?"

"Hmm." Togata cupped his chin, then remembered something. "Oh yeah. It's not related to the work studies, but I met the first year who placed second at the Sports Festival today. He's actually a really cool guy."

That made Sir glance at him for a brief moment in slight intrigue. "That's rare for you to say about someone you've only known for a single day, let alone mention to me."

Mirio rubbed the back of his head and replied. "Yeah, well he just reminded me of myself a bit, back before I started working here. I mean, his power is amazing, but he told me it wasn't anywhere near as strong back in the day. Plus, he's pretty funny, since he made me laugh and all."

"That does sound familiar." Sir mentioned, he then decided to stop with his paperwork and look directly at Togata. "You've got my attention now."

Mirio, slightly surprised, quipped "Wow. Sir I knew you were a paper pusher, but I didn't think you were that literal."

Sir cracked a small smile at that joke and responded. "That was better." Togata smirked at the response and sat down in front of Sir, beginning to talk about the guy he met earlier today. With his Work Study mentor.

[Play KH BBS OST Destiny Islands]

It was morning, and Sora was stirring from his sleep. He went to bed right after dinner, just like Midoriya requested, and when he finally got off the couch he was resting on, he heard footsteps behind him. He looked back and saw Izuku, wide awake and already dressed to go. The way the greenette could just be ready at any time was just crazy. Not even Sora could be that ready to go all the time, though he is pretty close.

After changing clothes, making the couch, heating up the second set of breakfast Sora made yesterday and chowing down, the two of them quietly left the house. They already told Inko that they would be hanging out at Dagobah Beach, so they didn't need to leave a note. The two of them made their way to the coastline, noting that nobody was even around, only to remember that they were up at pretty much sunrise.

The two boys walked down the set of stairs and onto the sandy shore, taking in the view of the sun rising over the ocean. Sora's seen it so many times, but it never gets old for him. In fact, he missed seeing this every day. Out of instinct, he took out his gummiphone and snapped a picture. He then put it in a text and typed for about a minute before pressing send.

Midoriya looked at his friend out of curiosity and asked him, "Who are you sending that to?"

"Riku, Kairi, Roxas and everyone else." Sora answered.

"Wait, are you finally able to contact them?" Izuku guessed.

"No." Sora replied, sounding a little sad, but he didn't stop smiling. "But just because I can't, doesn't mean I won't stop trying. I do this every day. I'll send a message, sometimes try my luck with a call, you know."

"Oh." Midoriya said, sounding a bit apologetic. "Sorry if it's a touchy subject."

"It's fine." Sora waved his arm in a casual manner. "Besides, it's not the only reason I came here."

[Play KH3 OST Free as the Wind - Port Royal]

"What do you mean by that?" The One For All user wondered.

"Sure, the view is great and all, but I also wanted to remind us both about where we started." Sora pointed out.

"I guess you have a point." Izuku agreed. "You're an islander, so the shoreline is kinda like your home."

"I didn't mean that." Sora stated.

"Huh?" Midoriya was once again confused. "Then what did you mean?"

"This is the beach where both of us got started on this crazy adventure." Sora pointed out. "Sure, we met in a random park after you overworked yourself, but after that, it was rest at your house, go to the beach and watch you clean it for a work out, then right back home, for three months."

The green haired boy reminisced those days. Sure, they were hell to him, but it was well worth it. He was also glad that Sora was there, cheering him on during those last few months he had. It kept his spirit up and it also helped that he didn't need to worry about passing out on the beach if All Might wasn't there at the time, which happened a few times. "Yeah, it really has been crazy so far." He added.

"We've come a long way Izuku." Sora praised his friend. "And we're only just getting started. We've been kicking butt and doing it with smiles on our faces the whole time. No point in fixing something that isn't broken, am I right?"

Midoriya nodded at that, fully agreeing with his friend. "Yeah. We'll keep on smiling and kicking butt all the way till we're Pros."

"And then we'll keep on doing it." Sora added. At that point, the pair noticed something catch their eyes on the shoreline. A few bottles of alcohol were floating near the edge of the shore, as well as some wrappers. Sora looked at his friend and said. "Now this really brings back memories."

"Not the best kind, but yeah." Izuku said in a slightly defeated tone.

"Wanna play Hero and patrol around the coast?" Sora nudged his friend. "Good way to kill time, as well as keep this place from becoming a junkyard again."

Midoriya sighed and said, "Why not? I did it before, I can do it again."

"That's the spirit!" The Keyblade wielder cheered his friend on. "Hey, at least you don't have to do it by yourself this time."

"I guess so." Izuku noted. "Small blessing."

The two of them then got to work, picking up and properly disposing of the garbage that was left on the shoreline. The two of them stuck together the whole time so they wouldn't miss anything. If one person didn't see the garbage, the other one would. This took them until around sunset and once the two were finished, they sat on the staircase and watched the sun set, Sora taking his gummiphone and taking a photo of it, sending out another message to everyone. Even if they don't know they got it, he still sent it anyway.

[Play KH3 OST Destiny's Union Piano Ver. -cutscene-]

The two of them made it home before it got too dark and once again were greeted with Inko's dinner. The two boys washed up and once they were finished, they sat with her and began eating together. She was pleased to see them both in a very good mood and said, "I can only guess that today was a good day for you two?"

Izuku nodded as he was eating his food while Sora replied, "Great. We hung out at the beach, cleaned it up a bit, watched the sun rise and set. It was nice."

"That's good to hear." She remarked. "It looks like you're doing much better today Izuku."

"Hmm?" The green haired boy swallowed his food and then told her, "Y-Yeah. Sorry for making you worry."

"So, what exactly was going on yesterday anyway? You just ate dinner and went straight to bed last night, not telling me anything." She pointed out.

"He was just worried about a friend at school." Sora told her. "But he didn't want to bring it up to cause any drama."

"That ended up making a bit more by accident huh?" Izuku noted. "But yeah. My classmate Iida went to go see his brother after a villain got to him, and I was just worried about my friend."

"It's fine to worry, just don't try to hide it, otherwise, well, you saw what happened." Inko told her son.

"You sound just like Sora." Izuku mentioned, before thinking that he might have offended his mother by accident. "N-Not that it's a bad thing. I-It's actually a really good thing. Hehehe..."

"That's the Izuku I know." Sora commented.

"That's my son for you." Inko teased, before the three ended up having a laugh together.

Izuku finished his dinner first and once he did his dish, he went to his room to go to sleep, leaving Sora and Inko alone.

"He's really lucky to have a mom like you." Sora commented.

The mother smiled and added, "And he's just as lucky to have a friend like you."

"I guess so." Sora agreed.

"But he's not the only one who's blessed." She pointed out. "I am too. I'm blessed to have someone like you in me and my son's life." Sora stayed silent and just kept his smile. "I really am glad you did."

"I'm glad I did too." Sora remarked. "I never would have made it in this world without you two giving me a place to live."

"After all you've done for me and my son, as well as countless other people, you deserve this." Inko told him, giving the boy a hug. "Though I only want one thing from you."

"Name it." Sora stated as he hugged her back.

"I know you promised me that you'd help my son excel in U.A." She started. "But I've also noticed that you put yourself in harm's way so that nobody else gets hurt. Not just with Izuku, but with your other classmates too." She hugged him a bit tighter and then continued. "Just...don't go overboard with that habit, okay? I know it sounds strange for me to ask that, but because of how long you've been with us, I'm seeing you more and more like another son, so I just don't want you to get too hurt. Is that okay for me to ask?"

Sora had hugged Inko a little tighter than he did before and answered. "Yeah...I can do that."

"Thank you." She said.

After that was done, the two of them finished their dinner and Sora decided to go to bed a bit early as well. Inko left the room so he could sleep, but right before Sora fell asleep, he felt a tear streaking on his cheek.

Finally! It's out! I finally got it out! Very sorry for how long this took. It was so annoying to write. Not because of what I was writing, because I like writing the story, but because I had to rewrite it four times, because the files corrupted the three other times I wrote it out. This was supposed to come out on the same day as the second chapter of Without Sora, as a method of reinforcing both chapters, but fate decided otherwise. Better late then never I guess. So yeah, Sora has been for the entire time, sending messages through his Gummiphone be they voicemails, texts, pictures etc. and he not only tells Izuku, but show him that it's fine to worry about his friends, but not let that be the forefront of his thoughts. And with the plot point I made in Without Sora, Inko's last comment does affect Sora deeply. He just won't show it, because he doesn't want to see Inko sad. It's not gonna stop certain events I have planned in future chapters though. Hope you guys enjoy. Sorry I was late and until I decide to upload again. ;)