Chapter 2: Not Worthy...

The sun rose, and with it, there was the light and warmth of morning. It spread in through the window of the Midoriya household, illuminating an undecorated room, as well as the slumped over body of the youngest Midoriya.

At his desk, slouching in an undoubtedly uncomfortable position, Izuku was sleeping, having fallen asleep at his computer last night and having gone to sleep way later than he should've, only succumbing to the need to rest when his body made him, unable to handle staying awake researching any longer.

Knock, knock, knock. A soft rapping sounded from the door, and Inko's voice spoke up from the other side of it. "Izuku? Are you awake yet?"

Laying on his arms, barely awake, Izuku himself mumbled out. "Mmm… Five more minutes, Mom." His back was sore, his legs were still aching a little, and he hadn't gotten nearly enough sleep. Long story short, the last thing he wanted to do right now was go to school.

Unfortunately though, the universe hated Izuku Midoriya. "You're going to be late if you don't get going soon, Sweetie."

Groggily, he reached for his phone and moved it to his face. No, I've still got five minutes before I need to go…

A moment passed. Maybe a penny dropped, who knows?

And then- OH MY GOSH I ONLY HAVE FIVE MINUTES LEFT!

Despite his body's protests, Izuku jolted out of his seat, and after embarrassingly tripping up onto the floor, he struggled over to the door. If only he hadn't packed his All Might alarm clock awake…

After four minutes of finding his freshly-cleaned school uniform and forcing it onto his body, Izuku was ready to leave for the day, and-

I don't have any of my stuff… He'd thrown it at the villain yesterday…

After rushing back to his room, grabbing the few things he had in there and stuffing them into his pockets, then Izuku was ready to leave, and waved goodbye hurriedly to his mom before he ran out the door.

As if to make up for the aching back and his ever sorer legs, the universe had decided to be generous to him this once, and he ran into class a minute before his teacher arrived. He was massively underprepared for the day, but he could make it through it, regardless of last night.

Thinking of last night though, Izuku couldn't stop his mind from wandering back to his research.

He'd found little more on this Kyudia Garaki than that first news article had given him, hours wasted searching desperately for any more information on the man who claimed to be able to give quirks, but all for nothing.

One thing he had found out was that the former quirk doctor had been broken out of prison by someone who'd left no trace of their presence, but besides that, Izuku couldn't find anything else on the man or what happened to him after that. It was a dead end.

Just because he was in school though didn't mean he had to stop trying to find clues though…

Izuku was a good student, not the kind to ever go on his phone during class, but this time he'd make an exception. Just this once.

Hours later, come the end of the school day, Katsuki Bakugo was pissed.

Something was up with Deku. He didn't know what, but the damn nerd was acting off.

Firstly, he'd slipped away from him last night. He'd only ever either run away from him or let himself be confronted by him before, he'd never outmanoeuvred Katsuki before.

Secondly, all day, both in class and outside of it, the nerd had been practically glued to his phone, looking at it at every chance he got.

And thirdly, he wasn't paying attention in class. When he had to put his phone away, he sort of dozed off and stared into space, not fully paying attention like all of the extras around him.

When the final bell rang, and they were all dismissed for the day to go home, admittedly, Bakugo wasn't keen on finding out what was going on with him. He didn't care what Deku did with his time, but he did care when the quirkless fuck was clearly trying to piss him off.

So packing all his things up quickly and leaving, the explosive boy was intent on having a little 'chat' with him.

Unlike last night where he just wanted to scream at the nerd, now he fancied blowing off some steam, and planned on doing just that.

RI-I-I-I-I-ING!

The bell forced Midoriya out of his thoughts, bringing him back into the classroom that he'd spent no time in, lost in his mind. With the school day over though, he got into the routine of packing up what little he'd brought with him, and got ready to go.

Before even he'd been ready to leave however, the boy couldn't miss the sight of his 'best friend' hurriedly standing from his chair. Making his way past him, Bakugo stormed away and out of the classroom, letting Midoriya release a breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding.

Kacchan had been acting… off today. Not only had he been quieter than usual, but the glaring at his back had been unmissable. He must still be mad about the sludge villain incident.

Either way, Izuku hadn't gotten his burned notebook thrown out of the window today, nor had he been told to kill himself, so he'd count today as a success.

Now he could head home and think about what to do next, his plan to find out more about Garaki during his lessons having been pointless.

Keeping to himself as usual, Midoriya left the building. Nobody bothered him if Bakugo didn't, so he went unnoticed as he escaped and began the journey back home.

Wh-What do I do now? Doctor Garaki has just disappeared and he'd probably be dead by now anyway, so the odds of me getting a quirk are nonexistent. But then what do I do now? I-I guess I could try to be a quirkless hero, b-but All Might said-

His thoughts were cut off by a hand shooting out of an alley and grabbing his shoulder, and before Izuku could do anything about it, the hand tossed him into the alleyway, his assailant blocking the entrance.

Wha-? A-Am I being mugged? But why would someone try to mug a studen-

Boom!

A familiar explosion struck the boy's chest, and suddenly he wished he was being mugged.

Looking up from his place on the floor, Midoriya spotted an angry, spiky-haired teen glowering down at him, and marching towards him with clear intentions.

"W-W-Wait!"

Boom!

Another bomb was let off, this one in front of his face, and it pushed both boys deeper into the darkness of the alleyway.

Before the victim could try to retreat, or even defend himself from Katsuki's quirk, his bully reached down to him. Grabbing his collar, he threw the quirkless bastard into the wall and kept him there.

"WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT SHITTY STUNT YOU PULLED YESTERDAY, DEKU?! DID YOU THINK I NEEDED YOUR FUCKING HELP?!"

"K-Kaccha-"

Boom!

All Might wouldn't jump in and save him from the villain this time. As Izuku was pelted with explosions, all he could do was take them, his only purpose being to relieve the stress of his former friend. Already his head was pounding, and with how Bakugo kept blasting it into the wall, it would only get worse from here.

"DID YOU THINK THAT A QUIRKLESS PIECE OF SHIT LIKE YOU COULD EVER DO ANYTHING TO HELP ME?!"

No explosion hit the Deku this time, instead, a rage-filled foot found its way into his stomach, followed by a fist smashing into his nose.

And Izuku was seeing stars. His 'friend' had gone far in the past, roughing him up and leaving scars all over his body, but he'd never done this. His body ached and burned from the explosions, his blood was leaking down from his nose, and his head was pure agony. He couldn't even get a word out, and it was only downhill from here.

"WERE YOU FUCKING MOCKING ME WHEN YOU RAN IN AND PULLED ME OUT OF THAT SLIME VILLAIN?! WERE YOU?!"

Boom!

A violent explosion to the face.

Thud!

A punch to the eye.

Thud! Crack!

A kick to the chest. Maybe one or two of Izuku's ribs cracked. He didn't know.

"AND YOU FUCKING RAN AWAY FROM ME LAST NIGHT, DEKU! DO YOU THINK YOU'RE FUCKING BETTER THAN ME?! YOU'RE NOTHING, YOU QUIRKLESS FUCK!" As Bakugo screamed, his words reached deaf ears. Izuku wasn't listening, he couldn't even if he tried, he was far too delirious for any of that.

And then, Katsuki stopped. He was done, he'd done what he came here to do, so taking one last glance at the breathing corpse, he turned and left, not regretting his actions in the slightest.

"S-STAY OUT OF MY FUCKING LIFE, DEKU!"

The quirked narcissist doubted he would, the nerd always got back up in the end, and he would again this time.

He was sure of it.

Behind him, with every breath being its own effort, Izuku wanted nothing less than to get back up.

So this is where I die, not heroically, but all alone in an alleyway…

His chest heaved with each laborious pant, and before ever considering getting up and getting help, Izuku felt his eyes drifting shut, until he passed out, and darkness consumed him.

Not far from where that had all taken place, in the living room of her apartment that she shared with her son, Inko Midoriya was crying, again.

Just like yesterday, Izuku hadn't gotten home when he usually did, but unlike yesterday, there was no news broadcast of a villain attack that he was in the middle of. He wasn't answering his phone either, so of course Inko was panicking.

What if he got caught in another villain attack? O-Or what if something else happened to him? Is my baby okay? Why won't he answer his phone?

Like mother like son, the emotional Midoriya couldn't stop her thoughts from spiralling when something like this happened, but there was little she could do besides wait now.

Maybe if she rang the police again, maybe he'd been found by now. Maybe.

Hours had passed since it happened, and only after spending all that time alone and unconscious did the wounded body of Izuku Midoriya finally rise from his delirious slumber.

The first thing he felt was the pain, and then the second thing was… also the pain. At this point, dying in an alley, pain was all he could feel.

His body begged to rest and keep staying motionless, all he could hear was his head throbbing, and the brick wall in front of him was an unfocused blurred haze, but even despite the aching of every atom in his body, and despite his uniform having gaping holes burnt into it, the quirkless teen knew he needed to get out of here sooner or later.

I'm gonna die if I stay here… I… I need to go… Mom…

He should've gotten more sleep last night, and not slept at his desk, and not have overslept to have to run to school…

In a way, a lot of this was his fault, but he could hate himself later, right now, he needed to get home.

Using every ounce of willpower he had, Izuku tried standing. He had to lean his back against the wall, and scraped his uniform against it as he shoved his body upwards, but there was little of it left now anyway, and he didn't care.

Everything was screaming at him to stop, but no, he was stronger than that, when life kicked him down, he always forced himself back up to inevitably get knocked down again. Whether it was Kacchan, All Might or whoever else to knock him down, Izuku just didn't know when to stop. It was his greatest strength, while also being what got him exploded constantly.

When he managed to force himself to stand, clutching the tight sensation in his chest, bile tried rising up his throat, but he kept it down. He could throw up when he was back at home.

Eventually, one foot was put in front of the other, and with great difficulty, his other one was put in front of that. He would try his best to get home, and if that meant dying on the way then fine.

At least he still had his unending determination.

But it was like that that Izuku shambled his way home. He dragged his feet along the ground as he went, and had to lean on things for support, but wearily, he still made the journey.

A few spotted him and ran off to call the police and report the charred zombie deliriously marching through the streets, but he'd finished his journey by the time they'd arrived, having forced his body up to his family's apartment and placing his shaky hand on the doorknob.

Climatically, he opened the door, and it was conveniently then that Izuku's body gave up on him, and like a hero would, he collapsed in the doorway.

The last thing he heard was a cry of terror before blackness overcame him again.

"IZUKUUUUUUUUUUU!"

As Toshinori looked down at the figure before him, a nervous frown made its way onto his lips.

Where was he? Well he wasn't in the apartment belonging to the Midoriyas, not at all, before him was the majestic building known as the UA campus, a colossal school renowned across the whole world for creating heroes like himself.

This was the day after young Izuku collapsed into his family home, and two days after the sludge villain attacks, that boy being part of the reason he was here.

But he wasn't who All Might was looking down at right now, it was actually someone much more renowned and not as quirkless as young Midoriya was. He wasn't human either.

"Am I a rat, a dog or a bear? Most importantly I'm Nezu, the principal of UA! A pleasure to see you again, Mr Yagi."

The man looked down at the… creature for a few more seconds before he realised he needed to reply, bowing as he did. "O-Oh yes. Hello again, Principal Nezu, it's good to see you again."

"I'm glad to hear it, I'd hope for nothing less from my star pupil." Nezu had built this school with his own two… paws, and over decades he had worked to maintain it as the beacon of heroism that it was. He'd succeeded thus far. "I take it you're enjoying the sights? All the teachers are the same way when they return here."

"Yes, it… It hasn't changed in all this time…" It really hadn't. Just like he remembered, the monumental building looked like it towered over the whole world up there.

Being back here was an unmatchable experience. This school wasn't just any other hero school, it was the hero school. It had created those like himself, Endeavour, Miruko, and many more of the best pro heroes there were. Standing, staring up at the glistening windows adorning the entire main building, it reminded him of his own years here as a student, and that put a nostalgic smile on his face.

That smile soon dimmed though as he was brought back to the present, his gaze returning to his old principal. "We both know I didn't come here for sightseeing though, Nezu. Is there somewhere more private we could…?"

"Ah, yes, that. If you'd rather not beat around the bush we could head straight to my office, you know." Usually his former students and future teachers liked having a tour of their old campus, reminiscing as he showed them where they'd be working; not Aizawa, he was a special case. If Toshinori wanted to cut to the chase however, he wouldn't complain.

"I'd appreciate that. Thanks." And so, off the two went.

Entering the prestigious school, they wandered through various halls and had to take multiple different elevators to reach their destination. They even passed the 1A classroom at some point, and Nezu turned to spectate All Might's reaction, but all he received was the same look of longing he received from all his teachers-to-be, so he continued on until they'd gotten to his office.

"Take a seat, Mr Yagi." As the man sat down on one of the available sofas, the principal moved up to his oversized desk overlooking him, sitting down in his seat and folding his paws together. "Tea?"

"Hm? Oh, no thanks."

With pleasantries over, it was time for business, and after petting out a small sigh, Nezu got to addressing the elephant in the room. "So, All Might is finally retiring."

"Yeah." It still hurt the number one hero a little to hear that out loud, even though it was inevitable, but in a way, he hoped he'd never have to stop helping people as All Might. At least he still could as a teacher here, if in a different way. "I think I made everything I wanted to clear in my email I sent you."

"Mhm." In it he had specified how he wanted to become a teacher like the other pros here. Nezu knew all about his weaker form, along with Recovery Girl, but more importantly they knew about his shrinking time as a hero, it being inevitable that Toshinori would have to give up his spot as the number one hero. It was inevitable that All Might would end up in this position, however… "But if you had, then why would you have arranged this meeting with me?"

The mouse-thing leaned forward with a grin, and Toshinori's shoulders slumped. There was no point trying to keep anything from him for long. "Well, I imagine you know why I'm here, Nezu."

"You want to find a successor." He landed right on the money and let himself wear a satisfied grin as he leant back.

"Yes. I'm getting closer to the end of my time as a pro and it is time to pass on the torch to a new generation. I was hoping UA could help with that." Just like his master passed down his quirk onto him, he wanted to pass his down to his own student and guide them into becoming the next symbol of peace. He just hoped it wasn't too late…

"Well I'm sure that UA can provide you with the perfect opportunity for you to finally pass down One For All, and I'm sure that any number of our students will be a perfect fit for the quirk." Nezu noticed the man's eyes saddening a little as he spoke, but didn't mention it… yet. "In fact, I have a potential candidate in mind if you're prepared to meet him."

Toshinori was a little lost in his thoughts, but that offer snapped him back to the present, bringing his downcast eyes back to the principal. He had no good reason to deny him, so he didn't see why not. "Sure! I'd be happy to! Who do you have in mind?"

All Nezu had to do was place a finger on his intercom to answer the question, that and speak a few select words into it as he kept his satisfied smirk. "Mirio Togata to the principal's office, please."

A while later, that meeting had gone down well, and Toshinori Yagi was strolling with Nezu back the way he came to leave the premises. Even though his introduction to the potential One For All candidate had gone well though, he still had an odd feeling in his gut.

The boy was perfect for the role, perfect! With his blonde hair, his blue eyes, and his radiant smile, he could be mistaken for All Might's son, and for good reason. Not only was his attitude to being a hero perfect, but realistic too, him wanting to be 'a hero that saves one million people, because even though you can't always save everybody, you should still try to save as many people as you can!'

He was the ideal fit for the role, and if this was Yagi's first time hearing of the young man, it would've been a no-brainer to pick him.

But alas, it wasn't.

Unfortunately for him, he'd known about this young man long before this meeting, for reasons out of his control.

This boy was the same young hero that his former sidekick Nighteye had been trying to push onto him, trying to convince him was the only viable solution for One For All, but because of that, it just felt… wrong.

Mirio was excellent, and with or without the quirk of All Might he'd make an excellent hero, but something about this felt… procedural.

The wielders of this quirk were supposed to choose their own successors, and to have this perfect option just handed to him on a silver platter, especially after what happened the other day…

"I can see something's troubling you, Mr Yagi. Are you getting cold feet about the idea of teaching?" The ever-observant Nezu obviously noticed his troubled mind, how could he not?

And All Might had no reason to lie, so he made his feelings known. "I… don't think I want to choose young Togata as my successor."

"Oh really?" He didn't make it known, but that had genuinely shocked the principal. Like Toshinori, he thought the boy was a perfect future symbol of peace, and the man had seemed to think the same. "How come? I thought you two were getting along back there."

"We were, it's just… I don't think he's the right fit for the role."

If not him, then who on Earth would be? Inside his small head, the cogs started turning. There couldn't be many reasons, so quickly, he went through them, and was left with the most likely one. "Have you perhaps already found a potential recipient to take the mantle? An upcoming student perhaps?"

"Well… Not really." He looked away as he scratched his neck nervously.

That's not a no… "Who is it then?"

Yagi caved, and before long, he was explaining the events of two days ago. From him meeting that quirkless kid on the roof to seeing him charge in to save that other boy, and from him shouting his ideals at those heroes to telling him to leave him alone. It was a long story, and before they knew it, the man and the animal-thing were outside, back to where this had all started with the sun shining down on them.

"When I saw him sprinting forward, charging head-first into danger while those other heroes did nothing… It was a truly selfless act, and even though he was quirkless, and even though I told him he couldn't be a hero, he just had to help where he could. D-Do you think I should've lied to him?"

For the first time in a while, Nezu had a lot to think about, and stroked his furry chin as he thought. It wasn't too long before he spoke up again though. "No… I don't think you should have. You were only trying to protect him from danger."

"He did seem to be dead-set on being a hero though. My words might not have even stopped him."

That gave Nezu an idea, one he'd been planning to offer up anyway. "Then how about you join us for the entrance exam viewing? If he was really as dead-set as you said then he'd probably be there, and even if he's not, you could take that chance to scout for other potential candidates."

"That's…" Midoriya, something about the boy made him want to give him his quirk, and Nezu was probably right here. He usually was. "That's a good idea. I think I'll take you up on the offer."

The principal thought he'd keep Mirio to one side, just in case, but besides that, they were done here. "I'm glad to hear it. Then I'll see you in ten months, All Might. If you have any more questions about your future job though, don't hesitate to either send an email or just pop in. I'll always have some tea ready for you."

Bowing back, Yagi smiled. Even if his hero time was shrinking every day, at least the future was looking bright.

Beep… Beep… Beep… Beep…

The walls were too bright, the ceiling was too bright, and those lights were way too bright in Izuku's opinion as he forced his eyelids open.

Beep… Beep… Beep… Beep…

Where was he? The last he could remember was…

Oh, it was the pain. So this was either Hell, Heaven, or a hospital. Considering how sluggish and tired his body felt, as well as the sound of a heart monitor beeping at his side, Izuku assumed it was the last of the bunch.

Beep… Beep… Beep… Beep…

At least he wasn't hurting anymore, though the tiredness wasn't fun, and the boy groaned lightly as he shifted in his hospital bed.

"Izuku?" A familiar voice spoke up from his side, almost disbelievingly.

"Mph… Mom?" Stirring awake, it took plenty of effort to even get himself to sit up. His body wanted nothing more than to stay motionless, just like in that alley, but again, Izuku fought through it.

And when he'd pushed himself up off of the bed- "IZUKUUUUUUUUUU!"

Before he knew it, two arms were wrapped around him again as Inko practically threw herself at her son. It was another bone-crushing bear hug, but this one Izuku didn't mind. With a timid smile, it wasn't long before he wrapped his arms back around her, and the pair let all their stresses fade away as he hugged her back.

The hug went on for a while, but neither minded. At one point, a nurse came in and spotted him awake before stealthily leaving.

Eventually though, after minutes of hugging and Izuku rubbing his mother's back as she sobbed into him, the hug did end, and Inko Midoriya pulled away to drop back into her seat. There, her son finally got a good look at her, and felt his heart wilt at the state of her.

She looked like a wreck, or, more of a wreck than usual after one of her crying episodes. Her eyes were incredibly bloodshot, her hair was a little greasy, and her clothes looked like they'd been worn all night.

Wait… Has she been here all night? Guilt flooded him. Had she been worrying about him all that time? What was he thinking? Of course she had! "Mom, I-"

He didn't get to finish, not before she dove forward into him again, and trapped him in yet another desperate hug. "IZUKU! DON'T SCARE ME LIKE THAT AGAIN! I-I THOUGHT YOU WERE…" Her shouts turned into more sobbing, and Izuku let her get it all out. "I-I thought you were dead, Izuku! Y-Y-You just c-collapsed at the door and… and I… You're a-all I have left. I can't lose you too."

As her tears covered his hospital gown, Izuku couldn't stop tears of his own streaming out of his eyes, and he returned her hug as best he could.

That's what police detective Tamakawa walked into, a mother and son curled up around each other, with tears pouring out of them like they had crying quirks. They didn't notice him, and though he considered waiting outside, he chose to patiently wait for the moment to end, letting the two recover from this no-doubt stressful event.

By the time it did end, he was impressed how much the two could cry, and even felt himself getting a little emotional at the display in front of him, but after the two pulled themselves away from each other, he felt it was about time he made himself known. "Ahem."

The two's head jolted over to him, and both immediately straightened themselves up on noticing the officer joining them. "O-Oh, hello Officer, I'm sorry we didn't notice you earlier."

"It's quite alright." The two were a little surprised to see his cat head, but most were, so he didn't take it personally. "But anyway, I have some questions about how this came to happen. After that I'll let you two get back to what it was you were doing."

Inko looked over to her son, and he nodded. "O-Okay then."

"Alright, so, how did this come to happen?"

Throughout the questioning, Izuku did something he never thought he'd do in his entire life: he lied to a police officer. Some moral part of him told him that it was wrong, but another part of him won in the end, and so began his hazy recollection of a villain with a fire quirk randomly attacking him as he was coming home from school. He claimed he didn't get a good look at this mystery man, never mentioning that it was his childhood friend, and before he knew it, it was over.

"Alright then, I think that'll do it. If you remember anything else about the man, be sure to contact the police with any information you have."

"O-Okay. Thank you."

"Anytime. Have a good day, you two, and stay safe, kid."

The officer left, and when he did, Izuku turned to his mother who'd been eerily silent the whole time. He was about to ask her what was wrong, but she didn't let him, the venomous words being spat out of her mouth before he could.

"It was Katsuki, wasn't it?"

He froze. She'd figured him out, and when Inko looked at him, his face was enough of an answer to the question she already knew the answer to.

Before Izuku could respond, the dam in Inko broke, and even more tears started running down her face. "Why, Izuku?! Why protect him when he did that to you?!" Her green hair was going to go grey with all the stress he'd been putting her through these last couple days. "Don't think I haven't noticed how he's treated you over the years, or every time you've come home limping, or those times you bought burn cream and tried to hide it from me!"

This was hardly the first time she'd tried taking action against Izuku's childhood 'friend'. She'd often gone to Mitsuki when she noticed it had gotten particularly bad, or rang the school up to report it to them, but nothing ever seemed to change. And when she did confront Izuku about it, he was always insistent that she should never do anything about it. Why?! What was worth protecting about that bully?

"W-W-Well…" He thought he'd hidden those things well. Not well enough, apparently. Instead he must've just been making his mom worry, the opposite of what he wanted to do. But there were reasons why he was protecting Bakugo. "I-It's just, if I get Kacchan in trouble, h-he might not be able to get into UA and become a hero, and… w-we're friends."

"Izuku." Her voice had been so soothing earlier, full of rejoice that her son hadn't been taken from her, but there was none of that now. Now it was the most serious he had ever heard it, and it was almost scary. "Katsuki is not your friend. He is a bully and he does not deserve to be protected. All he does is pick on you and beat you up! Does that sound like something friends do?! Izuku, he nearly killed you yesterday! I…"

She had to take a second to compose herself. Screaming in a hospital would do her no good.

"Izuku, sweetie, think about it, does Katsuki act like a friend would? Does he even act like a hero should?"

He'd never even thought about that before. He'd always just seen Kacchan as heroism, just like All Might. But if All Might wasn't what he seemed to be, who says Kacchan isn't the same?

For the first time in his life, Izuku actually thought about his relationship with Katsuki Bakugo, and even though it hurt him, it took no time at all to realise the truth: they weren't friends, they hadn't been friends for years. Friends didn't do to each other what Bakugo did to him, and friends didn't tell each other to fucking throw themselves off a roof.

It was baffling to think about, but they weren't friends, and though so much changing in his life so suddenly scared him, it felt like a weight was being taken off his shoulders to let Kaccha- No, Bakugo go.

And now it was Izuku's turn to cry.

As his mother consoled him, he sobbed into his hands and felt the last 10 years of bullying and being told he was a worthless Deku come to an end. It was nothing short of a revelation, and it felt genuinely good to know that his days of being beaten down by who he looked up to were over. "Th-Thank you, Mom."

"Anytime, Sweetheart."

After Izuku had been discharged, the day had been quite uneventful.

They'd stopped on the way back home at a supermarket for some reason. Izuku had asked why, but Inko just smugly kept saying that it was a surprise.

He knew what that meant: katsudon tonight, his favourite meal. After the last couple of days he'd experienced, he wouldn't complain.

It did make him feel a little bad for his mother going out of her way to do this for him, but instead of feeling sorry he just tried to look on the bright side: he had a great mom. It had hurt him so much when he'd asked all those years ago if he could be a hero and she just kept apologising, but not only had he forgiven her for that, he understood. You couldn't be a hero without a quirk. She knew that, and he needed to learn it too.

Also, besides the sudden grocery shopping, there was one more thing that Izuku noticed was a little odd: Inko was on her phone a lot tonight. There was nothing wrong with that, but it did make the boy curious.

Later that same night, the two were eating katsudon. It was in a comfortable silence. There was a clear tension in the air with Izuku having gone through traumatising, life-threatening experiences twice now in two days, but besides that, it was cosy.

Even at the table, the motherly Midoriya was still on her phone, but eventually she put it down, and broke the silence. "So, I don't know if you've noticed Izuku but I've been on my phone a lot tonight."

He had but decided not to mention it. He was a little more curious as to why she sounded so proud of herself right now, but he let her continue before he jumped to any conclusions.

"Well, I've been a little busy and…" She paused for dramatic effect. "I've gotten you into another school!"

Choking ensued, with Inko's hand immediately diving to her phone.

Author's Notes:

If you couldn't guess, this is going to be a little bit of a slower fic. I don't intend for it to be too slow, I just want to make sure everything's set up and it isn't jumping from place to place too much (in a way).

Also, chapters might get longer over time, or they might not.

Also also, updates for this fic are going to be sporadic and inconsistent, so get ready for two chapter within two weeks and then waiting months for another!

Either way, I hope you're enjoying it!

Bye!