A lot of thoughts plagued Izuku's mind. Other than the fact that he didn't lose his memories after using the quirk without the blades like last time, the power that he had just awakened still confused him. Was there something else that All For One was hiding from him? A hidden quirk that he never knew about?
Perhaps there might be someone who was in the know about this. Someone other than the boss, of course. But he hadn't seen Kurogiri for what must have felt like eternity.
He was cut out of his internal monologue when something ached in his right arm. Oh right, his broken bones. He could feel it snapping back to it's place by now, but it was far from being completely healed.
As he walked to the front gates of the school, a voice called out from behind, "Hey, um, wait up!"
Izuku stopped in his track, his head slightly tilted towards the direction of the person who called out to him. It was the girl from before, and also the one that he saved. In concern, he said, "Shouldn't you be recuperating? That injury looked nasty."
The girl looked at her calves, smiling sheepishly as she did so, "Recovery Girl already did her part. Took a lot of energy out of me, but it's-a okay! I'm all juiced up now!" she flashed a thumbs up. "Thanks for saving me earlier, though! I owe you one."
"Oh, uhm, no problem?" Izuku said. His mind went blank, not knowing what to say. If he spoke, he'd be reduced to a mumbling mess, and he could imagine how embarrassing that would be.
The girl then extended her hand for a handshake, "We didn't properly introduce ourselves last time. I'm Uraraka Ochaco, pleased to make your acquaintance!"
"I'm Mi-" Izuku cut himself off, almost spilling the beans and blowing his cover. Goddamn it, not even a few seconds and you're already jinxing it.
Izuku cleared his throat, before saying, "Kratos."
"Kr- sorry, what?" Ochaco raised her brow.
"I'm...Greek," Izuku awkwardly said. "Don't have a lot of greeks around these parts, huh?"
"Not really?" Ochaco's face then beamed as she continued, "But that's so cool though! It's a nice change of pace. You have a strong accent too for a foreigner!"
Izuku scratched his hair, "Er, yeah, thanks?"
"And your name was Kratos, right? From what little knowledge I have regarding the Greek language, it has a meaning closer to something like 'strength', am I right?" Ochaco said with enthusiasm.
Izuku nodded awkwardly, his posture rigid as she came closer to him. "It suits you well! You were pretty strong. I bet you got the most points out of every examinees that were present."
"Eh, that's wishful thinking," Izuku denied.
"Aw c'mon, don't sell yourself short! You wrecked that zero pointer with a single punch! I'd say you're the strongest out of us all," Ochaco smiled brightly as she said that.
Izuku laughed a little at the thought. "Not even close."
"Anyway!" Ochaco raised her voice, startling Izuku a little bit. "Wanna walk home together? I don't live very far from here. Wait, where do you live?"
"I live..outside of town," Izuku answered, causing Ochaco to deflate a little bit.
"Oh," Ochaco sighed in slight disappointment. "That's okay. Are you going home by the train, then?"
"Yup," Izuku nodded.
"Why don't we walk to the station together?" Ochaco smiled. "I'm not pressuring you, of course. I just..thought it would be good if we got to know each other a little bit better."
Izuku contemplated for a second. On one hand, having a friend for once wouldn't be such a laborious experience, but on the other, he didn't have time for pleasantries. With a hastened pace, he spoke, "Sure, but don't you think you should be heading home instead? We've got a few miles to go through till we reach the nearest train station."
"It's totally-" Ochaco was cut short when she looked at her phone, "-not fine."
"I'm sorry?" Izuku inquired.
Ochaco groaned, seemingly in frustration. "Ugh. Sorry, change of plans. I gotta go home early. Some other time, then?" she then stretched her right arm forward, offering a fist bump with a smile.
Izuku hesitated momentarily. Then, without giving it any afterthought, he returned the gesture. With that, Ochaco bid her farewell, "See ya then! Hope we're in the same class when school starts! If we're accepted anyway! Haha!" she said while running on the opposite direction.
Izuku stared wordlessly at the shrinking frame of one Ochaco Uraraka.
Oh wow, I just talked to a girl.
Well, it's not like he's going to follow through with the friendship invitation anyway.
He was too dangerous to keep around.
As he walked down the streets, he couldn't help but feel like he should've had said more. Maybe Ochaco would lose interest down the line, and she wouldn't even give him any thought when they meet again.
Oh well.
He wistfully sighed, downcast eyes trained to the dry ground. Not like that was any different from his previous social interactions anyway.
Most of them consisted of people degrading him as the utterly incompetent quirkless boy, Bakugo being the most prominent perpretator of them all. Almost as if on instinct, Izuku reached for the scar that was perpetually carved on his right eye, courtesy of Bakugo's explosion quirk. The memories came rushing in, still as fresh and vivid as it was when he first experienced them.
No one was ever on his side. Even with the countless attempts he made on alerting the teachers about the bullying he'd been getting, they never got the chastisement that they deserved. He tried not to hold this against the teachers, though.
It was water under the bridge. All of it.
Izuku continued his way down the streets, waiting for a portal to unceremoniously appear in front of him to pull him straight back to All For One's little lair.
Or the bar. Both are as bad as each other.
A portal did open. However, what came out of it was beyond his expectations.
"Kurogiri-san?" Izuku's eyes widened.
...
The door snapped shut as the hotheaded teenager threw his clothes on the couch.
Katsuki never thought living in a cramped space like this shithole of an apartment would feel so liberating, yet lonely at the same time. After storming out of the house in the most unconventional of ways, Masaru had taken the initiative to give him a place to stay in for the time being. At least, until Mitsuki calmed down, if she would ever. The humid air intensified the suspense that he had just felt during the entire examination process.
That student with the veil. He knew something was up with him, but he couldn't piece together the missing shards. Those moves, that familiar rage when he roughed all those machines up.
He couldn't put together the pieces just yet. He needed to look deeper into this one particular examinee. Katsuki didn't quite catch his name, but he'd find out.
"Fuck," Katsuki threw himself into the couch, spreading his feet across the floor. "I oughta be insane if I think stalking a goddamn weirdo is a good way to be productive."
Picking up the remote on the table in front of him, he clicked on one of the numbers to look for a channel to take his mind off of things.
Tedious. Click. Uninteresting. Click. Obsolete. Click. Why. Click. Do they keep showing. Click. The same fucking thing. Click. Over and over- Click!
Something caught his attention. The news headline in front of him read, "The Emerald Ghost is still at large! An act of vigilantism or villainy?"
The news then would go on about how one of the people that were killed was a fugitive.
Oh.
He'd heard of the whole situation on Yokohama, but he didn't care enough to look further into the matter. Just another example of how utterly incompetent heroes were.
Then again, Katsuki wasn't going to make any difference in the world of heroes. He'd already botched the chances of a certain someone becoming a true hero.
Katsuki often wondered if applying to the hero course would be beneficial to the hero industry as a whole. Probably not. Not after what happened with Izuku.
He stood up, shutting off the television screen before going outside of the apartment block. After a long stroll, he found a dusty poster of a missing person placed on a wall.
He clapped the dust off of the poster, before getting a clear look of who it was at the center of the picture.
"Izuku," Katsuki muttered under his breath. As if his day wasn't already bad enough, the universe decided to throw this into the mix. It seemed like no matter how hard he tried to avoid it, the reminder of what he had done would just come back to haunt him for the remainder of his days. A sense of responsibility that he tried so desperately to neglect.
Quivering, Katsuki reached for the pencil on his pocket, before writing on the bottom of the poster.
'I'm sorry. Come back, please.
-Katsuki'
Letting out a melancholical sigh, Katsuki turned around to walk back to the apartment, putting the pencil back into his pockets.
He could only hope that Izuku would somehow see this and come back to his senses. If he was still alive, that is.
...
"Midoriya," the man that Izuku thought would never see again greeted.
Izuku's mouth moved, yet he couldn't get the words out. After a few moments of silence, Izuku took a deep breath, before finally speaking, "I- I never thought I'd see you again."
"Our interaction is strictly being monitored as we speak," Kurogiri stepped out of the subsiding warp gate. "I am only here to inform you of a development concerning your mother."
Izuku's eyes widened, "Mom? I- Is she okay? Please tell me she's okay! Do I need to-"
"Midoriya," Kurogiri interrupted, trying to calm him down. "Remain calm. No harm has befallen your mother as of this moment. She's doing relatively fine, with only a few hurdles, of course."
"What are they?" Izuku inquired.
"Her legs may or may not be permanently paralysed, depending on how well the treatment would go," Kurogiri explained. "But beyond that, she's fine."
Izuku breathed out a sigh of relief. His worries had been alievated. Though there was one thing that still bothered him. "Why are you telling me this?"
"I only do this as a professional gesture of courtesy," Kurogiri said.
"You're not doing anything against his wishes again, are you?" Izuku asked, his tone laced with worry.
"No," Kurogiri shook his head.
"Please don't lie. I don't want you to risk yourself like this," Izuku insisted.
Kurogiri then reassured, "I am not. Even if I were, my general welfare is of no consequence to you."
Izuku was about to say something against that, but nothing came out of his mouth.
After that, Kurogiri inched closer to the boy, "Has he been treating you well?"
Izuku was caught off guard by the question, but he answered regardless, "Uh, if you mean it in a way that he treats his employees well, then, yeah, he has."
"You're not hurt?" Kurogiri asked.
"Kurogiri-"
"I apologise for not being there. I was caught up in quite the..constricting predicament," Kurogiri said in a tone that almost conveyed... guilt?
"It's not your fault, really,"
"I would beg to differ," Kurogiri's voice cracked a little.
"Kurogiri, please," Izuku shifted closer. "Don't."
Kurogiri stayed silent for a moment, his figure unmoving. After that, he immediately tossed an object from his chest away into the ground. It was sort of like a device. Then, he stretched his hand out to Izuku. "Would you like to see your mother?"
"Wait, what?" Izuku was surprised by the offer. "Is that even allowed?"
"It will only be for a moment. No one would notice," Kurogiri said. Then, after a second, he added, "If we're careful enough."
"You do know you're only dissuading me from following through with this, right?" Izuku raised his brow.
Kurogiri huffed. "This is your mother that we're talking about. Don't you want to see her?"
"I do, but what about you-"
"I already told you not to concern yourself over me," Kurogiri urged.
"That's not fair,"
"Since when have things ever been fair?" Kurogiri shot back.
That got Izuku to stop talking. Kurogiri sighed, before saying, "As I said, it'll only be for a moment. None of us would get caught in the crossfire if you just follow my lead."
"All For One wouldn't catch a whiff of this?" Izuku asked.
"I have that part covered," Kurogiri replied, "You needn't worry about it. You just need to worry about what you're going to say to your mother."
membujuk
"That's the tricky part: I don't know what to say to her. Should she see me, the first thing she's going to do is tell me to go home," Izuku then ended with the heart wrenching truth, "But I can't."
Kurogiri looked at him. Even from behind the metal brace, Izuku could feel the turmoil swirling inside him.
"You'll figure it out," Kurogiri simply stated, much to Izuku's dismay.
Izuku couldn't argue against that. The desire of seeing his mother awake and well had been plaguing his innermost thoughts during his time with the League.
Maybe Kurogiri was right, that he had this all covered, even with all the odds stacked against them.
He braced himself as he went through the warp gate, closing his eyes as he did so. Izuku's heartbeat rapidly increased as he could feel the familiar ambience of the infirmary room that he had visited all those months ago.
As he opened his eyes...
...
Yagi couldn't keep his eyes off of the letter. The contents that were written inside..
It further confirmed the suspicions that he had regarding Midoriya's connection with the Emerald Ghost.
"How'd it go?" Tsukauchi entered the office, his eyes trained to the notebook he held in his hands.
"It went well, for the most part. Right until I spilled the beans to Inko," Yagi sighed, rubbing his temple. "Not the wisest decision I've ever made, yeah."
"No kidding," Tsukauchi sat on the other side of the table. "How'd she take it?"
Yagi looked at the floor for a moment, looking distressed. Then, he said, "Bad. Very bad. Actually I don't even know if she'd ever forgive me."
Tsukauchi's expression softened, as he leaned forward, replying, "She'll come around. You were in a desperate position. Anyone would understand. Well, most of anyone, anyway."
Yagi sighed. Then, he pulled the letter out of his pockets, handing it over to Tsukauchi, "That aside, I need you to take a look at this letter for me."
"Hm," Tsukauchi hummed as he took the letter, before unfolding it. He read it letter by letter, his eyes widening as he came closer to the end.
"Catch anything interesting?"
Tsukauchi placed the letter on the table slowly, "Midoriya is being held against his will by a villain?"
Yagi nodded, "And that also confirms our suspicions regarding his connection with the Emerald Ghost."
"But he's not really a villain if that's the case, is he?" Tsukauchi said with a shaky voice.
"One should have guessed that already from the start," Yagi said, his tone bitter. "Young Midoriya is anything but villainous. Something must've prompted him to go down this path."
"We have a lot to unpack, huh," Tsukauchi lamented, his head hung low. He then placed the letter inside of a small plastic as evidence, placing it on his locker. "Thanks, Toshinori. This might be useful in the future."
Yagi snorted, before saying, "How's Daizuke doing?"
Tsukauchi was a bit taken aback by the abrupt question, before saying, "He's fine, mostly. I'm not really cut out to be a parent, or his legal guardian for the matter."
"Me neither," Yagi chuckled, tapping his fingers on the table. "And about his sister, I don't even know where to start."
Tsukauchi shook his head, "You gotta have your eyes on the ball, Toshi. Midoriya takes precedence over everything."
"It's not really fair to put these two young men on a scale, is it? They need us just the same," Yagi replied.
"Not if the other child is harbouring a secret quirk that could potentially pose a national threat if it fell on the wrong hands," Tsukauchi pressed into the matter.
Yagi sighed, conceding. "Still not fair."
After that, Yagi stood up. "I have things to do back at UA. I owe Nezu an explanation for my absence in the entrance exam."
"Best of luck to the both of us, huh?" Tsukauchi said in a weary voice.
Yagi simply nodded. God knows they needed luck on their side for them to pull through.
...
Inko's eyes widened as she saw the stranger passing through what looked like a misty cloud. "Who are you?"
The stranger didn't speak for a while. He only stood there, catching a cold feet. The only words that he could utter was a simple, "I..."
Inko asked again, this time, with a more stern voice, "Who are you?"
Slowly but surely, the stranger opened his veil. What was revealed within shocked Inko to her core. It was her son. Her baby was standing in front of her, alive and well! Surely it wasn't a dream?
"Izuku..?" Inko muttered, her eyes watering. "Izuku, it's you?"
"It's me, mom. It's me." Izuku said in a shaky voice.
Without a second thought, Izuku lunged towards Inko, wrapping his arms around her, engulfing her in a tight, loving embrace. He sobbed into her shoulder, clinging to her like a lifeline.
She didn't even think further either. She returned her gesture, embracing her son without a word. They stayed like that for a good couple of minutes. Izuku pulled back from her embrace, wiping his tears as he did so.
Inko then said in a raspy, tearful voice, "Oh, my baby! Where have you been?! Why didn't you call? I- I'm sorry for leaving you like that! You must've felt so alone.."
"Mom, please, don't beat yourself up over it. It's not your fault," Izuku shook his head. "I've been doing fine on my own."
"Have you?" Inko asked, unsure.
"I have," Izuku put up the most genuine smile that he's ever done since months ago. "Wouldn't be your son if I couldn't handle myself, would I?"
Inko's lips curled delightfully as she pinched the side of Izuku's cheek, "Oh, you've grown a bit more cheekier than last time, haven't you, 'Zuku?"
Izuku laughed. "I guess I learned a thing or two from being alone for months."
"You won't be anymore, now that I'm here," Inko smiled, putting her hands on both of Izuku's cheeks, gently caressing them. "Tell me what you've been up to while I was gone."
"Nothing much," Izuku shook his head. "It was just boredom."
"You went missing," Inko said. "That's not much of a boredom, is it?"
"I.." Izuku couldn't get the words out. Oh yeah. That letter that he sent. Somehow, he'd all forgotten about it already.
"You sent me a letter. I- I got so worried, a- and I-" She was on the verge of panicking. Izuku stopped that by pulling her into his embrace.
"Mom, mom, calm down, it's okay. I'm here, aren't I? I'm not going anywhere," Izuku said.
"I couldn't afford losing you," Inko said. "You're the only thing that I have left in this world."
Izuku's heart swelled at that declaration. The regret of his decision was even more apparent now. He could've stayed here with his mother, hospital bills all be damned. But he had to be impulsive. He knew they weren't always the best when it comes to their financial situation.
Then, she spoke again, "Son, about that letter-"
"I know. Please don't," Izuku shook his head. "It's not safe for you to know."
"You can tell me anything. I'm your mother," Inko pressed even more, adamant about knowing.
Izuku nodded. "I know."
"Then why aren't you telling me anything?" Inko inquired. "Things like that don't just come once in a blue moon. Telling me is imperative at this point. It's not a request."
Izuku's hands loosened around Inko's wrist, his figure shaking. "You can't know."
"Fine! Suit yourself!" Inko bursted out in anger, slumping back to her pillow. This took Izuku by surprise.
Izuku leaned forward, his expression full of remorse. "Mom, I- I'm sorry, I.."
Inko was silent for a moment, her eyes landing on the walls. Then, after a while, she sighed, returning her gaze on Izuku. "Izuku, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you like that."
"It's okay, I understand," Izuku replied with a sincere smile.
"It's just," Inko's palms slid from her temple all the way down to her jaw. "I had a little unpleasant trip down the memory lane."
"Mom?" Izuku raised his brow, baffled by the cryptic statement.
"A man that I used to know visited me," Inko's breath hitched as she continued, "I had an affair with him."
Izuku didn't know how to respond to that. Truth to be told, it was to be expected. His father had always been absent in their lives. "Did he do something to you?"
"No, heavens no!" Inko laughed bitterly. Then, she continued, "That man wouldn't hurt a fly even if he tried. He's too nice for that."
"Then what did he do that made you this upset?" Izuku asked.
Inko didn't say anything for a moment, looking at her son in a somber way.
"Mom?"
Inko snapped out of her trance. "Oh, right. He, uhm..He told me a lot of stuff. Found out that he was lying from the start and..I mean, it's not like I'm any better. I have my fair share of lies. Especially to you."
Izuku brushed that last part aside, choosing only to focus on his mother. "What did he tell you?"
"He.." Inko trailed off, trying to think of something to say. Then, she said, "He knew you had a quirk."
Izuku's eyes widened at that statement. "Wait, he- what?"
"I know. You might not remember him, but he does," Inko added. However, there was a hint of reluctance in her voice. "He used to visit us every once in a while. You were so little when it happened."
Izuku's head throbbed when he heard that, as if something came back to him and filled the empty slot in the missing piece's place. "Ugh.."
"Izuku?"
"Nothing, it's.." Izuku's headache began to dissipate as he regained his focus. "It's nothing."
Inko ran her fingers through his head. "Is there something that I should be concerned-"
"No, mom, just..continue. Don't worry too much," Izuku said. It was suspicious. Someone already knew that he had a quirk? And told his mother too?
Inko then continued, "I'm assuming you also knew you had a quirk from the start."
"No?" Izuku said, confused. "Why would I put myself through all of that torment back at school just for a play pretend?"
Inko sighed. "Sorry. My trust issues is at it's highest right now. I didn't mean to-"
Izuku shook his head. "It's okay. Truth to be told, I didn't know why I suddenly manifested a quirk. It's abrupt. I'm almost convinced someone did this to me."
"How do you mean?"
"Just a hunch," Izuku said, before looking at the clock on the wall. "I gotta run now, mom. Sorry."
"Already?" Inko said in disappointment.
"I have...things to do out there,"
"Wait," Inko grabbed Izuku by his wrist. "He also told me that you may be linked to a villain."
Izuku's composure dropped for a second. "Wait, wha-?"
"The Emerald Ghost, he said. Is it true?" Inko asked again, her eyes baring into Izuku's, searching for any hint of deceit.
Izuku stared at Inko for a second. Then, he said, "I love you, mom," before pulling his hand away from her hold, running to the other side of the room.
"Izuku, wait-!" Inko was cut off when Izuku was engulfed by that same misty cloud from before. After a long while of silence, Inko uttered a tearful, "I love you too."