This one took a while to get refined but it is here now. Thanks to my editor you are saved from 12k words with details that weren't needed, a great guy taking care of you from the shadows. Now that we are on the second chapter I would like to inform you what the name of this arc is. At first, I wanted it to be one whole 9 chapter training arc but I have divided it into two halves as it made the most sense. This arc's name is "Strength in One's Hands".
Hope you enjoy this chapter as much as you did the last one. To all who have followed this story, thank you. your support made me smile and that is the reason why I rewrote and reworked parts of this chapter to make it better. Hoping for comments down the line as we are just on chapter 2 rn. Thank you again it means a lot to me.
The wind hummed a melody, waves dancing to it and the sun peeked over the horizon watching over the young man who visited every day. The boy would carry one object after another and at times would chuck the smaller ones at the pile by the stairs. He'd spent his morning alone under the sun, sweat running down his back and step after step he would push a washing machine ever so closer to its destination. The sun had grown accustomed to watching over the boy's struggle.
It had been two weeks since the sludge incident and Izuku hadn't missed a day of workout and cleanup. Every morning he would wake up at 6, get ready, and jog to the beach. He had slowly started collecting up the trash near the steps. He had set small goals for himself to make the activity more interesting. He had seen a washing machine a couple hundred metres away from the stairs and decided to work on it every day, pushing it ever so closer to the steps. It felt worse whenever his legs were cramped from the previous day's workout. It was like chipping away at a wall with nails and a hammer. Each day he made sluggish progress and each night he felt the burden on his body rise. He had forgotten how it felt to wake up without any cramps in the morning.
Today was no different, he was sitting leaning over the machine, dust all over his clothes and face sweaty. Resting felt like burning the time he had to exercise so he didn't like just sitting there doing nothing. He came up with a game to entertain himself; chucking trash towards the pile from varying distances.
Once his rest time was over he picked up a television. He carried it to the pile before a loud explosion almost tripped him. It came from behind him and intrigued, his footsteps led him to it. As he got closer he saw a person digging through some trash, they were wearing jeans covered in sand so was their woollen tank top and the bright pink hair stood out.
Izuku examined the area around the person where he saw a small crater, a product of the explosion he heard. He turned back to where he was sure that person stood but they had vanished into thin air. He looked around searching for them worried if they might have gotten hurt by that explosion. He lept over a box and walked around a pile to see if that person was searching for something else when suddenly he got jumped by a girl with pink fat noodle hair and goggles with a target shape on it resting on her forehead. He screamed from the shock and jumped back, tripping himself in the process and landing on his ass.
"Do I look that ugly?" She asked with a confused look while leaning down and giving him her hand.
Izuku looked up from her dirty jeans to her woollen tank top and locked on to her cleavage that was almost in his face making him crawl back up like a programmed robot who'd never stare at something he isn't supposed to (he stared at it anyway). Boobs right in my face. His thoughts ran circles then jumped hurdles before deciding to do a dance-off with his heart. He gulped with a face not as red as an apple but as a baboon's ass.
"No, I…" He wanted to cover his face with his hands that hung on either side devoid of any life after seeing a girl, 's boobs. "I was just surprised you popped out of nowhere." He stammered and so did his eyes from her chest to her face to the trash on the side.
"Oh, right. Sorry about that. But what are you doing here? Are you here to steal from my treasure?" She asked, narrowing her yellow eyes with the same target shape on them. He couldn't believe the first girl he ever talked to thought he was some kind of a thief; an awkward antisocial weirdo sure but a thief?
"No, why would I steal someone's treasure…" He jumped to reply to clear the misunderstanding before it dawned on him that she was talking about her treasure but they were practically surrounded by trash. Was she searching for the treasure she buried here on the beach, maybe some kind of a time capsule? He thought before asking, "Sorry, did you say treasure? Where?"
She chimed up, the suspicious look on her face gone and replaced with a wide grin, eyes laying the mapwork for all her babies that she could create from this treasure grove. "Of course, you won't get it. I mean this delightful sight of mechanical parts, screws, metal, wires and broken machines. I can't explain how much joy I felt the first time I saw this two days ago. My dad had to practically drag me back home because I couldn't stop searching for amazing stuff for my babies."
Izuku narrowed his eyes while cleaning his ears as she went on talking about her… babies!? He wasn't sure if he even heard him right. "Ah, excuse me." He cut her off and continued, "Your babies?" He hoped she was talking about her puppies or kittens in which case he would love to meet them as he liked pets too.
"Yes, my babies. Like this one, I just made it." She pulled out a round ball out of her bag and showed it to him. Izuku was more puzzled than he was before. "I create robots and gadgets. They are all my babies from my first creation to my newest one. These balls can be controlled and once they reach the target they will go BOOM!" She jumped up almost making Izuku smile as this girl was filled with life.
"Haha, I understand now. I thought you were talking about… anyway." He rubbed the back of his head embarrassed of what he had thought about. He glanced back at her as the alphabet backflipped out of his head leaving him staring blankly at her. He did respond to her that could be termed as talking but now that she had stopped he had no idea how to continue a conversation with a girl. He had never talked to a girl which was why his eyes stared at the ground as the seconds dragged painfully to eternity.
She stared back at him waiting for him to continue that sentence before she held her hand out to him, "I'm Mei Hatsume. It's nice to meet you."
He smiled, shook her hand with a minor blush in his cheeks the colour of her hair and replied, "I'm Izuku Midoriya. It's nice to meet you too, Hatsume."
"So, what are you doing here?" She shot a question at him to which Izuku replied honestly. He could swear he saw a spark in her eyes as he finished. "I see, that's a nice thing you are doing but I would need to check the things you are disposing of, I might require some parts if I don't then you can take them with you. To be honest, I'll just help you clean up this beach if you can help me with collecting the parts I require for my babies." Her hands rested on her hips as she took a hero pose with her chest puffed up proudly before she offered her hand again. "Deal?"
Izuku had no idea what was wrong with this girl but he was sure that her heart was pure. She was as obsessed with her robots as he was with quirks this gave him grounds to trust her more. "Deal." They shook on it.
She went back to her rolling bomb and shoved it down in her bag before walking back to him asking him to guide her to the pile he had collected. He told her it was by the stairs and he watched her running towards the pile even though it was far away, seemed like she knew where it was exactly in the mountains of trash that almost made a maze. He kept after her and once they stood by the pile she searched for parts one by one, she disassembled a VCR, and a torch and then mentioned, "By the way, what's your quirk?"
Izuku froze up at the question before he inhaled getting ready to answer her question; he knew that he would be asked this question again and again. He had come up with a perfect answer even though over the years he avoided mentioning it and sure it had some bad memories but it was the truth. "I'm quirkless." Plain and simple, he wasn't interested in hiding it anymore because of what people say he was going to prove them wrong regardless. "I'm training for the U.A. High entrance exam so I can become a hero." He answered with his jaw tightened, fists clutched and unblinking eyes staring right at the pile prepared to hear the same thing over again.
"Oh, cool. I'm going to U.A. High too but I'll be in the support department creating inventions that help the heroes and make more and more and even more people in the whole world know the name, Mei Hatsume." She announced with her arms again touching the sky. She leaned her head to look at him, "I hope to see you there. You can't escape my eyes." She chuckled before realising she hadn't told him about her quirk so the joke landed flat on Izuku's ears. She explained her quirk to him in detail before she went right back to what she was doing. For the few minutes he had known her he could tell she was as carefree and careless as an eight-year-old.
She had left Izuku speechless for the second time; she was deviating from the script this world had created in his head that everyone followed so far. He couldn't help but doubt if she heard him say that he was quirkless. If he was old Izuku he would have just ignored this and moved on not wanting to highlight that he was quirkless. "Hey, did you not hear me? I said I'm quirkless." He boldly reiterated.
She looked up at him as she pulled out a hammer from her bag. "Yeah, I heard you the first time." Her eyes rolled down and she hammered at the metal resting between her legs, startling Izuku. He told her to be careful before he could go back to his line of thoughts. He still had a question for her, the same question he had asked All Might but he couldn't disturb her anymore. He walked back to the washing machine puzzled about why she acted so casually about something like that, maybe he was the one overthinking it and not everyone would tell him his idea of going to U.A. High when he has no quirk was stupidity dialled to a 100.
As the sun rose higher it watched him still struggling with each push, removing the sand from the way and getting on all fours before pushing the machine with his hands and sometimes shoulder; using his legs to give him the force to keep moving forward. His willpower sure didn't help him recover nor did it manage to push it further closer to the destination. He stopped when he felt his leg cramp up. It was already 8:15 am and he had been here for 2 hours already. He sat down with his leg now stretched out.
On the ground he stared at his arms thinking about what was this even doing for his muscles, not to mention his workout plan had a much slower progress and here he was thinking he'd gain muscles in just 2 months. He did feel like he was getting stronger but that wasn't the goal, the goal was to be strong enough to face someone with a quirk and come on top. How could he feel happy stepping up the stairs when the goal was getting to the highest mountain peak? He couldn't see himself even landing a single hit on someone with a basic strength quirk and watching YouTube videos of wrestling didn't help him nearly enough to even stand a good chance at a fight. He was spiralling and the negative thoughts were overwhelming. He felt like at the end of the day a quirkless can't win against someone with a quirk. His eyes focused back on his forearms, he couldn't give up at the starting line but this feeling did eat him from inside. They say if you want to get stronger first you need to believe in your strength and then you need to put in the extra work that is needed. He didn't believe in his strength. Did he have any other option? Maybe some miracle would give him instant strength, maybe he would find a lamp in the trash that he could rub and a genie would fly out, he thought. No, he could only believe in his strength to climb to the highest peak. He sighed as he looked up from his arms to the washing machine. He looked past it, he had never checked how far from the original point he had dragged this piece of junk and a smile formed on his face. He got back up wiping the sweat off his face. He might not be able to see himself improve but this piece of junk was proof enough to convince him to keep moving further. He pushed the machine and then picked up heavy objects and dropped them in the trash pile. It had been just two weeks and the only thing he could be proud of was this washing machine that he had dragged a hundred meters.
Just when he was starting to feel a bit good about himself the washing machine's hatch broke open with a loud thud and the trash he had shoved up inside flowed out like jello. He stood by the machine and stared at it, despair slowly sinking in.
The thud had attracted Hatsume's attention and she walked over to him to see if he was alright. When she arrived at the sight she saw that the washing machine she had seen him pushing had been filled to the brim with trash. She deduced that the loud thud was the hatch breaking and trash flying out. She walked up to him, her eyes looking through the parts that had flown out; broken parts of computers, some small objects like wrappers and metal chains, broken mechanical parts of cars, tools and small toys. She noted each of them in detail and she quoted 'any trash can be used in developing a beautiful baby'. The rest of the trash was held back by one thick metal plate that Izuku had somehow jammed in the machine to stop the trash from pouring out. She couldn't believe the audacity of this guy who had filled it up with all kinds of trash he could find, showing no mercy for the poor already dead washing machine, Pro hero Wash would be traumatised for life if he saw this, she thought.
She sighed, to think someone could get her worried when she was the one who would be blowing up machines in her room, garage (after her parents had enough of repairing the room) and surely the lab of U.A. High in the future. She turned her head back to the machine before helping him refill it. "Wouldn't it be easier to push an empty washer to the pile?"
He blankly stared at the machine and then turned his head to Hatsume. "It's part of the training." He answered honestly.
She nodded her head, if it was part of his training then she wouldn't help him out. "I was going to say I could make some makeshift wheels for the machine… but I don't think you would like that, would you?"
"I wouldn't like that." He confirmed her doubt to which she smiled and then slapped her hand on the washer.
"Well, get back to it then, Mister Midoriya." She laughed and slapped his back. He chuckled nervously telling her not to call him that. Izuku went back to pushing the washing machine through the sand while Hatsume brainstormed ideas for her new babies and how she could help Izuku because watching him jumping around to push this machine wasn't a pleasing sight and to add to it, this wouldn't help the major muscles to feel the strain and act to move the machine. The glow returned to her face as an idea popped up in her head making her jump once again. She wanted to run back home and map it quickly.
Two days had passed since their meeting, and Izuku had gotten a bit comfortable talking with a girl, specifically Hatsume. Hatsume had shown him the garage she worked at and Izuku was impressed by the fact that she had a place of her own… that's when a blast halted his thoughts; one of her babies seemed to have not worked in the designed way and she quoted it to be a minor mistake. Izuku noted that the minor mistake had broken her workbench. He understood why she had her workspace; it seemed like even her parents were done with the regular occurrences of her experiments going wrong; he could only wonder what her neighbour thought about her. He walked around taking a good look at the gadgets she had created, even though most of her gadgets would blast he could still tell that she would be a great inventor one day after all she was putting all her heart and soul. He watched her work with a smile on her face and added that she enjoyed every second of it. Hatsume called him at that moment to go on a rant about how expensive some parts were here and some parts that she needed weren't even present in this city. Finally, it dawned on Izuku; his eyes rolled from corner to corner from gadget to gadget while she continued talking having adjusted to getting no response from Izuku. Each of her gadgets was created from parts that she found, reused or bought. His blush went unnoticed by her as he looked back at her.
She is a fucking genius. She made all these gadgets even without the materials she needed, I don't doubt that she probably created half of these from scrap and made the parts she needed even if she had to use unconventional methods. No doubt some of her gadgets backfire and go up in flames. As he thought about that the one she was making went up in flames making her roll back and run to grab the fire extinguisher to put out the flames. Her lips kept moving but he couldn't make out what she was saying. He walked to her side and looked at the gadget that went up in flames. "That's just the part of making an amazing gadget right? I don't doubt this will come out great." He smiled before offering her, "Hey, can I help you with these? I could bring the parts you need, maybe even… learn small things from you and help you out." He couldn't imagine what she would be capable of with the right parts and budget. He of all people knew how a family has to cut costs and she told him that she was using her pocket money for all this. He respected even more now.
Hatsume blushed a bit at what he said feeling a weird tingle in the back of her neck, no one had ever told her that even though it was a simple thing and she knew that yet, no one ever said it. Everyone in her life had just cursed her whenever one of her babies would explode or just do something they were not supposed to and somewhere it was her mistake and she understood that. She glanced into his green eyes before smiling at him, "Sure. It will be hard though. Learning all this and the names of the parts I need. Are you sure you can handle it?"
"I'm all here for it, senpai." He replied with a soft grin.
She giggled, covering her face with the hand that was holding the fire extinguisher promptly dropping the extinguisher that Izuku just caught in time. She shook her head and then gestured for him to clean the place up, the colours faded away from his face. He knew she was going to use him to her best disposal. He couldn't have been more right as when he was leaving she handed him a list of parts that he needed to buy from the shop and bring in tomorrow before petting his head and saying goodbye.
At Night, Izuku sat by the computer, doing reps of dumbbells as he watched a boxing video and slowed it down to understand the movement, the stance, the rhythm of the footwork and lastly the landing of the punches. He still had been procrastinating, he wasn't ready to face his mother and ask her if he could join his uncle's gym. He stood up after he was done with the reps and started to follow the rhythm of boxing, working on mastering the footwork but there is only so much one can learn from watching videos and he knew that. He needed a teacher.
He finished the jumping jacks as his eyes landed on the slip Hatsume had given him and a smile formed on his face. He stretched and walked up to the slip, he examined the names written on it and he recalled what she had told him. His memory was flawless, he was the topper after all but it went further than he knew it. He walked out of his room as he thought back to the creations of Hatsume, some of them had impressed him and he knew if he wanted to be a hero he would need tools and gadgets that help him fill the gap between a quirk and a quirkless hero.
'The world of quirks isn't for someone with no quirk.'
The words of All Might still roll in his head but he just used and reused them to keep himself on track. He wasn't mad at the hero, he knew where he was coming from. However, this was the end of the line for Izuku and he had made his decision.
Inko had finished making the dinner and walked to Izuku to tell him that food was ready but she stopped as she saw Izuku emptily staring at blooming flowers while holding a slip in his hand with a soft smile on his face. Inko's eyes narrowed down on him and this expression was one that she hadn't seen before. Her calculating eyes slowly concluded and she called from his shoulder, "Whose Hatsume?" She read the signature at the bottom and added, "Did my boy make a new friend maybe more of a…"
Izuku jumped from his mother's sudden appearance, looking over his shoulder at the slip to read what was written on it and Izuku reflexively slipped it back into his pocket. "What? Me? I… haha. No!" He choked on his spit while juggling words to form a sentence.
She looked at him with a piercing stare, her eyes shined with victory she caught him blushing and a soft shitty grin formed on her face which made Izuku wave and shake his head to disagree with the conclusion she had landed on. No word was spoken as she softly turned around and walked to the dinner table leaving Izuku to call her back, "It's nothing like that. She is a friend… I mean I just met her. Mom!"
Inko was enjoying this shy side of Izuku surfacing after a long time, she was happy that he had found a new friend to hang out with and yet she couldn't help but be curious about the girl. She finished her food, picked the dishes and placed them in the sink before returning to the table and asking Izuku if he needed any changes to his diet.
He was trying his best and she still felt it wasn't enough seeing him dedicate himself to a goal that he would fail in, she couldn't prepare herself for his heartbreak when he failed and this was the underlying fear rising with each passing day as she watched Izuku get serious and go an extra mile.
She was happy that at least Izuku had found a friend and seeing that smile felt refreshing. She had been missing talking with Izuku, he had been more distant lately, each time he would open his mouth to talk about something he would just stop himself mid-sentence and change the topic, her hand scrubbed the plates and she wished for him to just be open with her again instead of hiding things. She knew he was hiding something from her but she didn't push him to talk. She was still waiting for him to approach her with anything he needed, money wasn't the issue and she wanted to support her child. She placed the plates in the racks before heading to her room, setting up the alarm so she could wake up before Izuku and give her some food before he went on his long runs to clean the beach. Come to think of it she should join him for a day, she thought as she slowly drifted to sleep.
The next day, Izuku stood in the corner by his desk in Hatsume's garage as he tried to put together a small motor that Hatsume needed for one of her babies and she had decided to test his quick learning skills having put all the pressure on him to build a functional motor with all the parts he would need to build one. He had gained enough confidence to tell his mother about where he was going and with whom. Inko had insisted on meeting Hatsume but Izuku had banned her from asking about her after she made a joke about him having a 'rumoured' crush on this girl whom he had met by the sunrise, with waves humming a tune that his heart sang la deda deda!… That's why he banned her and ran out of the house before she could finish her award-winning song.
He enjoyed her company, her long monologues about gadgets, engineering and robotics reminded him of his overly info-dumping side when it came to quirks. He couldn't help but be interested in the things she talked about and he had improved in talking with her to her surprise. He inhaled softly as he turned with the motor in his hand, he wanted to check it again but he had already gone over it for a third time and even he could tell it was time to let go.
Hatsume grabbed it from his hand, fitted it into her baby and watched as it started working instead of exploding she congratulated Izuku for becoming her assistant from this day forward. He froze in place, he didn't know this was some kind of an interview that he had nailed unknowingly. He helped her with the clean-up before the age-old question popped up again in his head. He glanced at her, now that he knew her better he didn't feel scared of showing her his vulnerable side.
"Hatsume, do you think I can be a hero?" He asked nonchalantly.
"Yes, you can be a hero, Izuku. There is no reason not to try at least." She replied, her eyes locked with his and a smile on her face. Izuku half expected this answer as he knew she was a sweet and open-minded girl. Still, hearing those words for the first time got a reaction from his body, he didn't even notice when tears started overflowing from his eyes. He whipped them up softly chuckling to himself as he had no control over his inner emotions at the moment. He couldn't describe how he felt and why he couldn't stop his tears, so he decided to leave sooner than later. Thank you was all he said before he walked out of the garage without saying goodbye.
He sat down at the beach looking over at the setting sun with no one around but the humming wind that kissed his cheeks and played with his green hair. He stood up with a soft sigh and turned back to the amount of beach he had cleaned up, it was the evidence of his struggles and improvement over this month as it was coming to an end. He started jogging back to his home feeling much lighter than ever, it was a refreshing feeling. He wasn't the only one who thought he could be a hero and this strengthened his resolve that he thought he was carrying alone. No, he wasn't alone. He had made up his mind to talk with Inko about his next step too.
He was out of breath when he opened the door and Inko welcomed him home, he took his shoes off by the door placing them in the rack as Inko placed food on the table. Izuku thought of talking now but Inko pushed him into the bathroom to bathe before eating. He could have survived smelling like shit but it was in his understanding to follow her commands to get good points from her. He took a quick warm bath, changed into his nightwear and joined her for dinner.
He silently chewed on his food while running over the conversation in his head for the second time not knowing he was looking worried and lost..
"Did something happen today, Izuku?" Inko asked as she placed the spoon on her plate and her calculating eyes tried their best to read his face.
Izuku shook his head and focused back on his plate before convincing himself to speak up. "I have wanted to ask you something, Mom." She nodded her head and Izuku took a deep breath and then exhaled, words following behind, "I want to join a wrestling gym so I can train how to fight and defend myself as both are critical to being a hero." Alright, he would agree that this was a poor start even after he had gone through the conversation in his mind a few times but he was going to bring it back home. "I know you'll be worried for me but if I get the training I need then I would be more confident in myself and you will be less worried." She nodded her head letting him speak knowing there had to be a catch if he had been holding it in. "I want to learn from the best place, the best trainer and you and I both know who is the best." Her eyes twitched as she knew what he meant, they rolled to the side, her hand softly covering her lips with her chin pressed on the wrist and she contemplated how to turn him down politely.
Izuku was no stranger to the expression she carried but he hadn't given up yet, he had a whole paragraph ready to present his case, so, he continued, "You know he is the best at it. I know he has made some bad decisions in the past but as of late he has been an honest guy. Life is all about second chances! Why can't we give Uncle Shinji another chance too."
Inko glared up from the tablet, "You shouldn't say that name in this house. Shinji is nothing but a liar. Izuku, I thought you wanted to go to U.A. High and now you are trying to convince me to let you train under a criminal who..." She took a deep breath trying to calm down, she couldn't tell Izuku what led to Shinji's name being banned from the house. Izuku had gone silent knowing he made a mistake by saying his name. She ran her hands through her hair moving them back before leaning forward, "Look Izuku, if you want to train, I'm ready to pay for any other gym you want to go to but I don't want you to have anything to do with that man. That man ruins everything he touches. What if U.A. High checks your background and finds that you are related to a criminal."
"He is a reformed man now and I need every help I can get. " Izuku rebuked her at the best of his effort, the pressure was rising at the dinner table and food had been left to get cold under their argument.
"You are not going to his gym and that's final." She went back to eating her food as Izuku was given the time to reflect on what he was trying to ask and stop thinking about such a silly thing. However, he was too far in to just back down now, he wanted to earn the title of a hero and he couldn't slow down his progress.
"I don't want to go to another gym knowing I could train under my Uncle and improve faster. I just want you to at least think about it." He offered her a middle ground.
"I gave it the time it needed. You aren't training under him." Inko had never fought him so rigidly. She wouldn't budge from her answer and this was getting on Izuku's nerves.
"But WHY? He hasn't done anything to deserve such hate." His voice rose without him noticing. He couldn't wrap his mind around why she was being so stubborn and the anger that had piled over inside him started to shake up. "You are the one who taught me to give a second chance, didn't you?" He recalled the first time he told her about how Katsuki had changed. "What happened to that lesson? Why can't we as a family give him another chance? He has done nothing but improve over the years."
She slammed her hands on the table and stood up, her face red from anger; her round soft face wasn't good at hiding her emotions at all. "He has done everything to deserve this. I have already told you my answer and nothing will change my mind about it." She picked up her half-full plate and stormed to the kitchen running away from the conversation.
Izuku would have stayed silent a month ago or a year ago but he couldn't just sit down and accept her answer. He was filled up with rage too from all the emotions that had bottled up over the years of being nothing but Izuku. He remembered the time he cried in her arms asking her if he could still be a hero, he felt those stares from everyone including her and those stares killed him every time. Stares of pity reminded him he was a failure, he never spoke up and all this was boiling up at this very moment making him lose his calm. He stood up from the table and screamed, "Why don't you just say you don't want to support me? You have been doing nothing but pushing me down for years and years, do you think I don't notice it? The day we found out I was quirkless, what did you tell me?"
She turned back from the sink shocked at his reaction. She had never expected her sweet child to burst into anger.
"You told me that you were sorry. You were SORRY? Why did you have to take the blame on yourself? I felt so guilty for making you feel that way. All I needed was for you to say that I could be even if as a lie. That look in your eyes every single day that followed. Do you know how it feels to be quirkless? NO! Everyone looked at me like I was worthless and a failure. You too pitied me. You know how it feels?" His voice cracked but he continued, "Have you ever felt like asking me over all these years? No, instead you have been waiting for me to give up now or now or NOW!" He smashed his hand down on the table making Inko jump. His hand smashed on the plate flipping and breaking it; one shard of the plate flew at his hand, giving him a deep cut on his hand.
Inko jumped when he smashed his hand. The blood dripped down from his hand onto the floor. She quickly ran to his side, pulling a first aid kit from the rack and bandaging his hand, "Izuku, it isn't like that. I support you." She supported him in her way yet she felt guilt now. She never knew that the smile he carried on his face was to not let her worry and all this time he had been suffering quietly and alone. She felt sad that she hadn't been there for him often, asking him how he felt about his dreams or other people.
"You don't believe I can become a hero, you are just waiting for me to fail the exam and give up on my dreams so I can focus on other things." He replied cutting her off as she patched up his hand, tears rolled down his cheeks not from the pain from his hand that he didn't feel but from his heart squeezing with every bitter word that came out of his mouth. He had kept it all inside but he was also human. He broke down, his anger fading out of his voice and getting replaced by sorrow. "Why can't you forgive him for me? Why did his name get banned after Dad died? If Dad was here at least he could have…" He stopped.
"Izuku!" She let go of his hand now bandaged up, tears rolling out of her eyes and she whispered, "Go to your room and sleep." She hid her face by looking down and pointing at his room.
He felt guilty for losing control and bringing up his father's death. "I'm sorry… I just wanted to…"
"I know."
"Sorry," Izuku replied as he turned on his heels and walked to his room, closing the door slowly and turning the lights off.
Inko stood there sighing alone, she picked up the broken pieces of the plate and cleaned up the food that had spread on the floor. She walked back to the kitchen to throw the pieces into the bin as her hand softly moved to her chest just above her heart, clutching the soft blue woollen sweater and the memories of losing her husband washed over her. An old wound had been opened by Izuku in the wave of anger and she was left alone to handle it. Her steps took her to the family photo; Hisashi smiling brightly with freckles on his cheeks and long green hair tied back in a pony. His arm was around her and the other was holding the three-year-old Izuku. Izuku's smile resembled his so much that she never felt like she had lost Hisashi, he was always with them but at moments like these, she felt lost without him. "What would you have done, honey? Our little pumpkin has grown up so much. He is strong just like you. That's why I fear more for him." Tears rolled down her eyes as she pulled the frame in her arms to feel the warmth she had lost in the same year they had clicked this photo. "Should I forgive Shinji?" Her voice turned into whispers and those whispers turned to puffs of wind.
She stood up from the chair after an hour, placing the photo back and taking a deep breath. She had cried a good amount and it helped her clear her head and calm down. She walked to Izuku's room and softly pushed the door that Izuku had left open knowing she would visit him. She smiled as she looked over at him. She walked in and softly stroked his hair before kissing him good night she returned to her room having made a decision.
The sunlight showered into the room when Izuku opened the door of his house. He blushed as he saw his mother standing outside jogging on the spot to warm up in her old tracksuit. He slowly closed the door behind him and she greeted him with a soft smile both awkwardly stared at each other for a few seconds remembering what words they had parted last night, both debating if they should bring it up now or leave it behind.
"I'll be joining you today, Izuku. I hope you don't mind." She said as she stretched her legs a bit.
"Oh, I don't mind it." He answered.
He kept his pace slow so she could keep up with him. Inko knew a long jog on the beach would be exhausting for her yet she had already decided to see what quest Izuku had put himself on. Izuku was happy to see that she made it halfway through before asking for a break, she was drenched in sweat and decided to drink some water and an ice cream to keep her from fainting. She asked him repeatedly if she was slowing him down and that he should run at his normal pace but he assured her that it was fine. He didn't mind a slow jog as she was with him and one can have a cheat day once in a while. She watched him as he started to run ahead and her steps got slower and slower. She could still see Hisashi in him as he ran on ahead, though she had made him cut his hair down to a reasonable length, unlike his father who liked growing them out. Izuku called her from a cycle stand, renting a cycle for her. She happily agreed knowing this would mean he could run freely and he did at a speed she was astonished to witness. He had gotten faster than ever, she remembered him winning races as a child but after other children awakened their quirks he started falling behind. She paddled on to keep up with him as the words he said last night knocked back in her head.
They reached the beach where Hatsume had been waiting for him wondering why he got late today. She jumped when she saw him from over a machine she was salvaging. "Izuku! What took you so long? Look..." She had barely started screaming when she saw a woman following behind him.
"My mom decided to join me today." He introduced her to his mother for the first time and he was shocked to see Hatsume so quiet and disciplined for the first time, thinking back he realised he would have acted the same way if he met a friend's mother for the first time. Inko asked her all about how she met Izuku and thanked her for being friends with Izuku, telling her he had changed and smiled more ever since meeting her once he was out of earshot.
Soon, Hatsume joined him to collect some parts she needed even though she trusted Izuku with picking the parts she still enjoyed doing it herself. It was after all one of her favorite habits. Inko took a quiet walk on the beach letting kids talk and train. She watched the sun rise higher and higher before her eyes rolled down the sea to a wharf where she remembered spending quality time with Hisashi. She felt sad that this beautiful beach had turned into a garbage sight and she felt happy that her child had decided to bring back that beautiful sight back. She had made the decision last night only and it hadn't changed yet, her eyes landed on the small portion that Izuku had already managed to clear up and the progress had just gotten faster with the addition of Hatsume. Her hand ran through her hair before it landed down on her heart, a smile spreading on her face as she walked back to where they were.
"Izuku, dear." She called him from a distance; he looked up and then jogged to her as Hatsume went back to pick the parts from the trash pile.
Inko softly looked at his soft face and took a deep breath before parting her lips, "You have grown so much, Izuku." Her eyes were already tearing up as her finger ran on his cheeks and then behind his ear. "You are a strong young man Izuku; honest, sweet, empathetic, caring and strong-willed. Never change, Izuku. Your strength is your willpower, you never give up on your dream. I'm sorry, I never believed in your dream as much as you did and that I couldn't be a supportive mother."
"No, Mom. You have supported me… last night I just…" Izuku tried stopping her from apologising as he was the one who had lost control of himself and the guilt had been eating him up.
She cut him off and softly rubbed his head, "No, Izuku. It's alright. I'm happy that you shared how you have been feeling all this time. You were right I never thought you could make it and thinking about it now I forgot to see this world from the eyes of a child with a dream. Izuku, you have grown stronger and not just in strength but in mind and…" She held his hand and placed it on his heart. "Here. Just like your father." She chuckled softly as tears rolled down her eyes almost moving Izuku to tears but he held in. "You are so like him that's why sometimes I get scared when you show so much determination. This world isn't kind enough, Izuku but now I think if it will have heroes like you it will surely get better." She was running out of air these emotions swirling around in her chest and watching Izuku trying his best to stand high and alone made her feel strange. She took another long deep inhale as her hands cupped his face, she needed him to know that he wasn't alone, that she was here with him and would do anything for his dream. She took a good deep look into his eyes and said, "Izuku, I will talk with your Uncle and make sure you get the best training from him. I believe that you can be a hero Izuku. I know you always wanted to be like All Might but trust me, you are so much more." She remembered her husband smiling at her as she said those words. "I do not doubt that you will be a hero. Prove this world wrong, Izuku. I'm standing with you." She smiled softly.
Izuku blushed as her words repeated in his head twice to confirm what she was saying. He wiped her as tears rolled down his eyes, "Mom, thank you. Thank you so much." He could no longer hold back his tears. He pulled her into a hug and she gladly shared the moment, holding him in tightly.
"Alright, I should head home now. I have so much work at home. Enjoy your day with Hatsume, she is a nice girl and return home on time." She said.
He nodded while trying his best to stop the flood of tears from his eyes. The hug had broken down his walls so unexpectedly that he couldn't help but let out his emotions. "Alright, stop crying now, get back to your exercises and by the time you are home I'll have already talked with him." She chuckled and then said her goodbyes.
She watched him from the stairs having the same soft smile that a parent has when they are proud of their child. She whispered what she couldn't say to him at the time she held him close, "You have always been a hero, Izuku. You have always been my hero."