Super Science
Ch 38: The Truth
After a long and white dream filled with nothing, Izuku opened his heavy eyes to another white room. He knew it to be one of the hospital rooms set up in the NIP facility for medical use or emergencies. He could only guess he was that emergency, even with such a foggy mind. He looked around and saw a person half asleep in a chair next to him.
He immediately knew who this was and with a weak voice called, "P-Professor?"
"Izuku!", Egon shot up from his half-sleep while embracing him tightly. While on the edge of tears, he said, "Oh thank the gods you're awake! I almost thought you had slipped into a coma!"
"W-What happened?", Izuku asked him in a weary tone.
Pulling away and wiping his face, Egon asked back firmly, "What do you remember?"
Izuku took a few minutes to think it over, then told him, "I was in my office, doing a lot of updates, I felt sick, and then...nothing."
He looked over to Egon with an expression crossed between confusion and desperation. As if pleading with his eyes, trying to ask what happened.
"Izuku….you had a serious medical emergency.", Egon told him after taking a deep breath and continued to tell him, "I'm not sure how to describe it, but…you had a burnout! And a bad one at that!"
A loud honk was heard as if to agree with his statement, and Izuku looked down at the foot of his bed to see Peet nesting there. He then turned back to the professor and almost trying to make a joke of it he asked, "Was it that bad?"
With a deep and somber expression, Egon explains to him, "Izuku. Your heart rate, blood sugar levels, and pulse were off the chart! Your body was under so much stress we thought you had brain damage! Not to mention the lack of sleep and nutrition in your bloodstream. It was mostly caffeine!", He then looked off to the side, biting his fingers before telling him, "Izuku…you nearly died."
Then Izuku noticed something he hadn't done before. He initially chalked it up to just walking up after a dead sleep, but now he saw how blurry his vision was.
So he asked, "What's wrong with my eyes? You look so…fuzzy."
"You put so much stress on your brain and eyes that you ended up messing up your vision permanently.", Egon told him in a serious voice. He then went to his coat where a new pair of glasses had been made for him. Unfortunately, they weren't there, and just before he could start looking around he heard Peet start to choke. The dodo coughed loud and violently before finally regurgitating up the glasses. Egon sighs and swipes the spectacles before the bird could attempt to eat them again.
After shaking and wiping them off clean he put them on the teen's face while telling him, "We found your prescription while you were out and made a pair for when you woke up."
When Izuku's eyes adjusted to the new frames, everything looked like it did before. As he looked around the clear room, he instantly took notice of the state Egon was in. So ragged and worn out with bloodshot eyes, like he hadn't slept for days. A light beard dusted his face, Izuku didn't even know he could grow facial hair. He just looked…bad. Even Peet looked worse for wear in comparison to how he normally looks.
After taking everything in, he asked, "How long was I out for?"
Egon raised an eyebrow and asked, "Is that seriously what you are focusing on?", Izuku made no counter so Egon huffed and told him begrudgingly, "You were out for a few days."
"A few days!", Izuku yelled while suddenly getting a burst of energy and trying to spring out from the hospital bed while yelling, "I have to-!"
Peet honks in fright and jumps off the bed only to hide right under it!
But Egon caught him by pinning him under his body and exclaimed, "Oh no you don't!", Trying to restrain the wiggly teen he yelled, "You are not leaving this hospital bed until you are 100% again! No exceptions!"
"No! I have to!", Izuku argued.
"I said no exceptions!", Egon yelled back.
"No, I have to! Let me go! I have to go back to work!", Izuku attempted to struggle even harder, making the heart rate monitor go crazy.
Nearly freaking out by this, Egon pulled a syringe from his pocket and proclaimed, "That's it!", He then stuck the needle into the teen's neck and pushed the plunger. Making the teen cry out at first before suddenly falling into a slump and calming down. "Sorry kid, but you left me no choice.", Egon apologizes while getting off of him.
As Egon resituated Izuku in his bed, the teen immediately realized the man used a sensitivity on him. As he felt the effects of the drug set in fast he still attempted to fight back and tried to exclaim, "But….I…have to."
"No! You! Don't!", Egon yelled at him, as he lay there. Egon then fell into his chair beside him, clutching his hair and breathing out a stressed breath as he asked in a fearful tone, "Izuku. Why are you doing this? Why are you hurting yourself so much? Did you not hear the part where you nearly died?"
"But…", Izuku tried to argue.
Egon whipped his head to him and exclaimed in a half yell with an expression of fear and pleading, "But what, Izuku? What!? What excuse could you possibly have for hurting yourself like this!?", Izuku said nothing in return and Egon turned away as he told him, "I tried to help you and did. All of us did! But we didn't want to push the issue in case you regressed more! We wanted you to come to us!", He then took a shaky breath, balancing on the edges of crying as he said, "Now I see that was a mistake."
Izuku saw all this and couldn't help the hard pinning in his heart. He had done all this himself. He didn't want to but he did. He hurt one of the few people who cared about him most.
Speaking of such.
"Izuku!", Inko yelled as she burst into the room
Looking up weakly from his bed, Izuku asked, "Mom?"
Inko immediately wrapped the teen in a hug and sobbed as she said, "Oh, baby! Yes, it's me! I'm here!"
As Inko cried into her son and Izuku lay there with tears welling up, Egon looked on and thought to himself. After a bit he interjected and asked, "Inko, can I talk to you?", Inko got off her son, looked at the man, nodded, and wiped her tears away. After assuring her son she'd be back, she stepped into the hallway with the tall man where he stated, "Inko I'm so sorry, this is all my fault. I should've been more strict with him, but I was trying to be too gentle and now he's here."
Inko shook her head as she watched him drop his head in shame and assured him, "Don't be ridiculous, Egon. It's not your fault. You never once hid your concerns about Izuku from me and kept me updated. If anything it's mine. Once again I proved to be an incompetent mother and allowed something terrible to happen to my son."
Egon chuckled dryly at seeing her put the blame solely on herself and said while taking her hands, "Then I guess we both share the blame."
Inko leaned her head on his chest and asked, "Why did he do this? To himself?!"
Egon sighs and tells her, "That's what I was interrogating him about."
"Then let me help.", She offered him, to which he agreed. The two of them then walked into the room where she started off saying, "Izuku.", But the boy looked away as if knowing where the conversation would lead, and Inko told him, "Please look at me.", But he refused and Inko tried a bit more firmly, "I need to know. You need to tell your mother why you did this, please."
"I'm fine.", Izuku finally babbles out something, still averting eye contact.
At this point, Egon's blood pressure shoots up and he puts on the bad cop motif as he yells, "No you're not! You're lucky to be alive after the stunt you pulled on your body!"
"Egon!", Inko scolded him.
"Inko, I'm not gonna sugarcoat this for him. The sooner we get to the source the sooner we can nip it in the bud.", Egon argues back.
"I told you I'm fine.", Izuku says a bit louder while looking at them
Inko shakes her head and asserts with tears, "Izuku you're not.", But Izuku looks away again and I ko says, "Then in that case.", She turns to Egon and tells him, "Egon, I don't want you to allow Izuku any access to his office or any work, even after he's healed up."
Egon doesn't miss a beat to agree to her demand and Izuku, still weak and pale as a baby horse, tries to rustle himself from his sheets as he exclaims as much as he could, "What!? You can't do that!"
Inko looks at him sternly through her watery eyes and tells him, "You may be working and have a salary, but you're still a child and my son."
The dam finally breaks and Izuku tells with as much gusto as he could, and with thick tears he shouts, "Fine! I need to do this to make up for it!"
"Makeup?", Inko repeats.
"For what?", Egon asks.
"For my failures.", Izuku finally admits as tears start to fall freely from his face. After sniffling back his emotions he explained, "I couldn't be a hero, I became repulsed with the idea of it, but I've never forgotten it.", Both Inko and Egon's eyes grew wide at this as he continued, "If I couldn't be a hero then I'd help them to make up for it."
"So that's what you were gonna say when we first opened this place.", Egon says to himself in remembrance.
After sobbing a bit he continues to tell them, "I thought it would be easy, but then the villains, and that quirkiest, and Bakugou! It made me realize I wasn't trying hard enough! So I worked harder and harder to make up for it! But I'm still so weak!"
At this, he finally breaks down and manages to roll over and into his pillow where he sobs his heart out! Shocked by the full disclosure from her son, Inko carefully seats herself beside her emotional son and asks him cautiously, "Izuku…why didn't you tell me."
Izuku calms himself down enough to speak and tells her, "You don't make it easy for me to tell you."
Inko is shocked by the revelation and can't bring herself to reply. While Egon what he's all this while leaning on the wall. After thinking everything over that he's seen and heard, he says to the two Midoryia's, "Okay, I can see what's going on here.", They both look at the unusually calm man as he tells them, "It's apparent that this is going a little bit deeper than some unresolved self issues, but an issue of trust and truth. And from what I can see, you two seriously need to talk about the secrets you are hiding."
"You're hiding a secret from me?", They both ask one another before gasping.
Egon gives a small inward sigh and tells them, "I'll just leave the room and let you two talk."
Once the scientist left the room with the dodo tucked under his arm, leaving the mother and son, they both stayed there in uncomfortable silence for way longer than they needed to. Neither of them was sure which would speak up first and about what, and if it even would be the truth. This goes on for several minutes and the tension grows thicker with each moment.
Finally, Inko breaks and she asks, "Izuku. Why is it hard for you to talk to me about…things."
Izuku looks away and tells her, "Cause I'm always so scared of how you'd react. You never take bad news well. It'd make me feel like it's my fault."
Inko looks gasped at this and she asks in a small tone, "Have I been doing that?", Izuku gives the smallest nod in return as Inko looks down at herself in shame and apologetically tells him, "I'm so sorry about that. It was never my intention. I just…have always been explosively emotional."
They both go back into silence when Izuku refuses to speak back, so Inko continues and asks further, "Do you feel this way because of how I reacted when we found out about…you know.", Again, another small nod. Her eyes welled up and she said, "I'm sorry, Izuku. I was so young back then, your father left, and I had no idea what to do or say.", She wipes her face and gained control over her emotions as she admits, "But Egon is right. There is something I've been keeping from you…about your father."
Izuku sighed as his mother trailed off and answered for her, "He's not in America for work. Just to avoid me."
Shocked by his spot-on guess she stammered out, "How did-?"
Izuku looked away as he explained, "I kinda figured it out. And that you hid it from me because of what I was going through."
Inko teared up once again and she told him in an apologetic tone, "I'm sorry I lied. At the time I thought it was for your good."
"I understand. Thank you for telling me. I thought I'd have to bring it up.", He told her as she leaned down to hug him and he tried his best to hug her back. After they broke away, he sighs stressed, and says, "I guess it's my turn.", Izuku took another few minutes to collect himself and finally admit, "Do you remember how I would come home looking like a mess almost all the time?", Inko nods and Izuku feels the fear run up his spine as he says, "I was bullied…relentlessly."
"I figured.", Inko said back.
Now it was Izuku's turn to be shocked as he asked back in a mix of confusion and hurt, "You knew?"
Seeing what he was assuming of her, Inko told him, "I tried to help. But that school had it out for you. I couldn't enroll you in any others cause they all denied. And we couldn't move due to my job and income."
Izuku understood as he looked away and said, then added, "But that's not all. Most if not all of my injuries that I got came from...from…from….", He trailed off, a mix of emotions tightening his throat and chest until he could finally choke out, "Bakugou.", Inko was shocked as her mind raced with h questions, but kept silent as Izuku continues to unload on her, "And worst of all, on the final day of middle school, he….told me to kill myself.", He finally admitted, a mix of a hot iron going through his chest and a huge weight of his chest hitting him like a wave.
Inko was about to start bawling! She wanted to but didn't. She kept her emotions in check long enough for her to ask, "Why didn't you tell me?"
When Izuku thought about this he realized he had no idea why. Maybe he was scared? Maybe he was being stupid? Maybe he thought he wouldn't be believed? Maybe because it's always hard to talk?
So, for now, he just told her a half-truth, "Auntie Mitsuki is your only friend. I didn't want you to destroy the only connection you had. That's why I kept quiet."
"You didn't actually…", Inko trailed off, thinking back to what he said.
"I did.", Izuku confirmed, making Inko gasp hard for air until he followed up by saying, "There was more to it, like how I met All Might and he told me I couldn't be a hero." If it went for the flurry of emotions she felt, then she'd be elated for him to meet the man he looks up to. But when she heard that, her heart sank. Izuku sniffles back and explains, "But that was the day that Egon found me, saved me, and gave me a new path. He….He is my All Might. My hero. My light in all the darkness of my life. That's why I did what I did. So I could….so I could….live…up to him.", Izuku began to cry again thinking back to the day he was saved by no hero, but a normal man who was better than any hero out there. After calming down and his feeling of nostalgic gratitude faded away, he said, "Maybe I still want to be a hero. Maybe I want to be known and not invisible. Maybe I want some credit. Maybe….maybe…..I don't know!"
Inko cupped her son's weeping and emotionally broken face, telling him with sweet words, "Izuku. You've already done so much and are credited for so much more! You helped make this place, helped UA during the attack, aided Egon in his initial research of the Single Soul."
"Singularity Soul.", He corrected her.
Inko sweat dropped and continued saying, "Right, that. What I'm trying to say is, you've already become a hero in your own right. You don't have to live up to anyone apart from yourself. You are known for so many good reasons. And even if you weren't you'd be known to me, Egon, and everyone else in the place you made."
Suddenly Izuku felt the last burst of energy he'd felt for the whole day. He sat up and wrapped his mother in a tight hug, to which she hugged him back. The two Midoryia's shed silent tears on one another's shoulders as they held one another for longer than they knew.
When they finally pulled away, cleaned themselves up, and calmed down, Izuku inquired, "Say, you're not hiding anything else from me, are you?"
Inko flushed red as she looked away while twiddling her fingers as she admitted, "Well Egon and I are dating, sooooo-."
"Wait what?", Izuku immediately questions.
After the two of them disconnected, Inko left the room with a lot off her chest and much more to think about. She was glad to get out everything she withheld but worried and thoughtful about what her son told her. Then she suddenly got a call on her phone and without even looking at the caller ID she answered it saying, "Hello?"
The voice of her best friend Mitsuki practically shouted through the phone as she exclaimed in excitement, "Inko! Long time no speaking! How have you been? Anyway, you'll never believe it. I got two tickets to-."
"Mitsuki .", Inko cut her off.
The somber tone she carries made the woman stop and ask, "What is it?"
After breathing deeply with the memory of what Izuku told her, fresh in her mind, she told her, "I think we shouldn't talk or see one another for a while."
"Wha-? Inko, what are you-?", She tried to ask only for the phone line to go dead. "Inko? Inko!", Mitsuki shouted in a panic.
"Everything alright?", Her husband, Masaru, asked as he poked his head into the kitchen.
Mitsuki looked at the wall phone with a sad expression and said, "Inko just said she didn't want to talk to me and hung up."
Masaru came up behind, hugged her, kissed her head, and assured her, "I'm sure Inko is just going through some stuff. Her son was in those two incidents. Maybe she just needs time to sort out her feelings and all that."
Mitsuki hums and replies, "I hope you're right."
As Inko hung up the phone, her mind clouded with too many emotions to handle talking to her friend right away, Egon walked up to her with Peet under his arm.
"Hey, Inko. I wasn't pretending to come back here as soon as you were done speaking with Izuku and I wasn't eavesdropping the whole time and-.", He began to tell her until Inko suddenly grabbed him by the collar, pulling him down to her level and passionately kissing him on the lips.
Egon froze in place! His mind: blank yet racing! His body: still yet trembling! His breath: caught yet heavy! His face: hot and burning!
Inko pulled away and told him in a grateful tone, "Thank you for saving my son."
Egon said nothing in return. He could say anything! Not even sounds. So he just sputtered, grew red, produced steam, and fell to the floor face first. Their Inko looked surprised by his reaction and Peet began to peck his head.
After this, Izuku spent another two weeks recuperating in the hospital while being banned from working on anything else. It was nice for him. Like a long due vacation but without anything to do other than sleep, eat, and heal. The teen was put on a round of different medications for his stress and anxiety alongside weekly talks with a therapist and a family therapist for him and Inko. When he finally got out of the hospital area, his office had been moved closer to Egon's, and he would go to check up on him every so often to make sure he wasn't overworking. When he wasn't in or busy, a robot assistant would do that job.
After about another two weeks, coming back into his work and new routine, Izuku showed signs of getting better and he felt better too. For him, it was nice to finally admit everything he was holding back to the people he loved. It felt right to be open and vulnerable to them. Knowing he would never be judged again. Now he felt…happy. Truly happy.
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