DISCLAIMER: Every bit of inacurracy to the lore that you may see in this fic is due to the factor of me not being caught up to the latest chapters of the MHA manga. Please, keep in mind that some of the lore dumps that you might see in this fic is nothing but my interpretation of the MHA world. Anyway, enjoy!
(On another note: This story will be short, so it probably won't reach the 100k words mark.)
...
My vengeance...ends now.
...
...
...
"Eyes on me, you useless deku!"
The dirt splashed against his cheeks, his face buried into the burning floor below. He basked in the excruciating sensation of the sun's rays; He tried to move, but to no avail.
"Hah! The useless Deku's getting his fill for the day, huh?!" The spiked blond-haired kid jeered, nudging Izuku's ribcage with the tip of his foot, "Had enough yet?"
Izuku didn't muster a word. He only stared at the dirt below him, his eyes glinting with the primal instinct to persevere. But, he suppressed it. Locked it away like an unhinged beast. But as it seemed, Bakugo had his fun, "Alright, let's just settle this down for the day, since I'm generous enough to not turn your quirkless ass into a pile of condensed meat. But one last thing, though..."
Izuku could feel another foot striking him by his elbow, pain jolting throughout his every nerve ending. Nothing that he couldn't handle. As Bakugo and his lackeys went on their merry way, laughing as they did. Izuku was left to tend to his own in the park.
The sky crackled, as the clouds darkened. The thunder roared like an untamed beast, jolting the sky at every turn as it rocked the wind forward vehemently. The droplets soaked his uniform, as the mud encircled his battered form. Not a single soul stopped by to help him up.
Then again..
He was always on his own, wasn't he?
...
As Izuku twisted the doorknob, he wasn't really expecting a grand welcome from his mom, given the mess he was in. The bruises, the soaked clothes, the mud dangling all over him..
Damn, I really shouldn't have come home this early.
And, just as expected, Inko gasped in horror seeing the state that her son was in. Just great.
She rushed to his side, "My baby! What happened to you?!"
"It's..." Izuku trailed off, staring at the ceiling. He didn't know what sort of excuses that he could come up with. But he tried regardless, "I tripped over myself."
"Izuku, don't lie to me. Not about this. Look at you." Inko scooped him up to her shoulders, "We'll put this aside for now. Let's get you to the bathroom, shall we?"
Izuku guffawed, "Mom, c'mon, I'm a grown up. I can go to the bathroom by myself."
"Not in that condition, you can't."
Izuku complied to his mother's request nonetheless. As he cleaned after himself, he took a new set of clothes for himself. When he was done, Inko called from downstairs, "Come on down, 'Zuku! Your dinner's getting cold!"
"Coming mom!"
Izuku went down the stairs, dreading the conversation that would follow concerning his...predicament. Especially the ones that he keeps getting himself into, courtesy of that former pomeranian friend of his. Though, he couldn't really blame his mother for worrying. He just wished that she wouldn't worry that much.
"Up you go, Izuku. Dig in!" Inko welcomed her son. Izuku sat on the other side, staring absent-mindedly at the food. He ate a decent amount from the plate.
"'Zuku?"
"Ah?"
"After, you know," Inko gestured to the food, before continuing, "We're gonna discuss some things, yeah?"
Of course she would say that. Regardless, he played dumb. He begrudgingly moved his gaze to his mother, "Mhm, and what sort of things are we going to be discussing?"
"The kind that puts those bruises on your face everytime you come home. The kind that compells you to lie to me, your mother, of all people, when you shouldn't have. You know that I love you, right?"
"Mom-"
"Don't 'mom' me. You've been lying to me for a while now."
Izuku began to protest, "Mom, you've got nothing to worry about. I'm fine! I'm perfectly fine! I've always been-"
Inko, getting fed up of the lies, pulled up a series of notes in her hands. Notes that were written in Izuku's handwriting. It's..
"How-"
"Hiding it in the attic. An ingenious move, I'll give you that." Inko scowled, placing the notes in the table, "You haven't finished your fill. Finish that first, then we'll talk."
Izuku nodded, finishing the meal, before putting his plates into the sink. Without being asked, he went back to the dining table. As he sat, an aura of uncertainty reigned in the air.
"You didn't tell me that you have..certain tendencies." Inko started, standing up to sit besides Izuku, shifting closer to him, "What troubles you, Izuku? Is it your peers? Did they do something that might have..."
"Mom, I told you, it's not that serious."
"It's definitely serious enough to the point of contemplating suicide!"
"It's just...!" Izuku sighed as he continued, "It's just one of those moments, okay? Like, a 'call of the void' type of situation. It will pass, and it did! I don't have those thoughts anymore."
"Even if it 'passed', as you put it so delicately, there must be something that elicited those thoughts. What was it?" Inko urged for him to answer, to which, he didn't.
"Izuku."
Izuku gulped, "Mom, I- Don't worry about it."
"Why shouldn't I?! You're..I..Izuku, you admitted that you are, or, were, suicidal! And you're telling me not to worry?!"
Izuku was about to open his mouth. He wanted to let it all out. To cry on her shoulder. To hear her soothing words, telling him that it was all going to be all right.
But he didn't want to burden her. He was..
He was just a...
A weak link in the family. He would always be.
"Izuku..." Inko said, her words trailing off.
"I'm tired, mom." Izuku finally said, shutting off the conversation, "Can this discussuon wait for tomorrow..?"
Inko stared at her son incredulously, her eyes scanning him for any hint of deceit in his demeanour. She sighed, "You know, trying to help you is as easy as trying to find a needle in a haystack."
Izuku's lips were tightly shut. He didn't know what to add to that.
She stood up, "I don't intend to press you on the matter, but.. I'm here for you, Izuku. Always." She then kissed him on the forehead, caressing his hair, before heading straight to her room, "G'night, Izuku. Tomorrow will be a long day for me."
Izuku simply nodded as he watched his mother scurry her way back to her room.
And with that, he shed a drop of tear from his eye. He brushed it off, as he too would have a long day waiting for him tomorrow.
Here's hoping that I'll ace that test.
...
And he did. Precisely so. He got a perfect mark on his test, much to the dismay of his other classmates. But Bakugo..
It wasn't just a mild inconvenience for that guy. No. He had to be a sore loser over it. As Izuku was headed straight to the front gates of the school, Bakugo intercepted his path. He was waiting at the front, his arms crossed. With a scoff, he asked a question. A simple one, "Did you rig the test, Deku?"
Izuku was startled by the question, though he answered as level-headed as he could, "No? What made you think that-"
"Don't you fucking dare lie to me!" Bakugo grabbed the boy by his collar, lifting him up to meet his fiery gaze, "You've got perfect scores for five tests straight! I don't believe for a second that a useless Deku like you would be that slick. You cheated!"
Before Izuku could make a rebuttal to that statement, a fist made contact with his cheek, causing him to tumble onto the ground, hitting the dirt headfirst. He winced in slight pain.
"And guess what, Deku? I'm gonna rat you out. They'll see you for the cheating bastard you are." Bakugo said, smirking as he did.
"Like you got...any proof for that."
"The fuck you say?!" Bakugo said, demanding for him to reiterate.
Izuku propped himself up, his eyes blaring with flame, "You have no proof."
"Say that again, you little shit."
Complying, Izuku daringly leaned forward to speak even louder, "You. Have. No. PROO-"
He was hit straight in the jaw before he could even finish his sentence.
"HEY! HEY!" A familiar voice came from afar. Izuku's eyes widened at the sound of it. It couldn't...
No..
No. Please-
"IZUKU!" Inko was running straight towards the gates. She stepped in front of her son, her fists clenched as she glared at Bakugo, "I knew it was you all along."
"Auntie Inko?" Bakugo uttered.
Izuku then asked, "Mom, what are you doing in here?"
"Followed you to school, and, as it turns out, the main culprit behind all of your bruises and suicidal thoughts is him." Inko hissed, "I'm taking you to another school, Izuku. One where everyone is friendly and isn't opposed to the idea of befriending a quirkless person."
"What the fuck are you even-" Bakugo was interrupted.
"Don't act like I don't know. Mitsuki told me a lot about your exploits. You're a quirkist. You think you're above everyone. I just didn't think that your mindset would affect Izuku to this degree."
"Deku isn't a fucking pussy. He can take it. Stop overreacti-"
"That's not even remotely true, you self-absorbed asshole! Did you even see the notes that he wrote?! He..I..I don't even know what I'll do if he.." She began to sob, trying her best to regain her composure.
"Mom..."
"You'll never..get anywhere with that attitude of yours Bakugo." Inko wiped the tears from her eyes, "You want to be the number one hero? That won't work as long as you behave like this."
"Shut the fuck up."
"I'm telling you the truth! Being a hero is all about the PR-"
"I told you, shut the fuck up!"
"Seeing how you are, I don't see anyone liking you at all, much less raising your rank in the chart-"
Before Inko could finish her sentence, she was propelled against the wall, her spine ruptured as she made contact with it. With an audible crack, her body plummeted to the ground. Bakugo was standing there with smoke rising from his palm. He gasped as the grim realisation of what he had just done hit him.
Izuku watched as his mother laid helplessly on the sidewalk, "...mom?"