"Man, this place looks bigger in person," Mitsuki said as she drove up to the Midoriya Household.
Reaching the gates to the house, they quickly opened up allowing her inside, where Izuku was waiting for her outside, with Ochaco right next to him.
Mitsuki parked in the front, and greeted Izuku with a smile. "Izuku, honestly I was expecting one of your servants to meet me out here. Then again, I guess you're not the kind of person to let all that money get to your head."
"Yeah, letting a servant greet an acquaintance for me just feels…a bit impersonal. Little pretentious." Izuku said. "Like it's fine when it's with strangers, but with people I know it's a little…yeah."
"Heh, oh Izuku. You really haven't changed as much as I thought." Mitsuki said as she rustled Izuku's messy hair.
Or at least she went to, but Ochaco grabbed her hand before it could reach his head. Doing so on pure instinct.
"Hello Mrs Bakugo. I didn't get a chance to meet you at the Sports Festival. I didn't expect you to be so…" Ochaco looked over the woman, with an obvious glint of protective jealousy in her eyes. "Young looking."
Mitsuki couldn't stop herself from smirking at the adorable display before her. "Yeah, my skin produces glycerin, which keeps me looking nice and youthful. You must be Uraraka. Izuku's first girlfriend, I could hardly believe it."
"You didn't need to add first when I'm gonna be his ONLY girlfriend," Ochaco muttered, likely not meaning to say that out loud, or at all.
"I've heard a lot about you, although most of it was Katsuki swearing about you at every given opportunity," Mitsuki said, recalling her son's constant complaining about the girl. "Honestly he's the most he'd ever talked about a girl in his life. Had me thinking my son might be straight for a second."
"Bakugo's gay?" Ochaco asked, completely taken aback by that, only to be taken aback even further when Mitsuki shrugged.
"I have no fucking clue. The brat never talked about anyone but himself, All Might, and Izuku when he was growing up, and he never seemed interested in women at all. So you know I had my suspicions, but then you showed up, and it made me think twice, and now there's Kirishima guy who seems closer than anyone else has been with him, not that that's saying much. So at this point, I think he's either gay or asexual."
Ochaco didn't know how to react to that information, so she just decided to switch topics. "So about all those times, I beat up your son. I'm not sorry about any of them."
Izuku sighed. "Why are you like this?"
"Nah that's fair," Mitsuki said, surprising Ochaco a bit. "Given what Katsuki did to you, I'd be disappointed if she DID apologize."
"Alright, let's try not to keep talking about Kacchan. I have a feeling he wouldn't appreciate it." Izuku said. "Let's go inside shall we."
"Yeah, I can't wait to meet the rest of your little bundles of joy," Mitsuki said, looking a bit giddy. Which once again took Ochaco back, given her resemblance to her son.
"Well let's go inside and-" Izuku opened the door, and found a blockade of desks and other furniture in the foyer, with Kioku, Kuki, Yaba, Ji, Inu, and Himiko behind it, with model guns aimed at the door.
"How did you guys get this all up so quickly?" Ochaco asked, more confused than upset. "We were just here?"
"Don't underestimate our strength bro!" Yaba said. "Now keep moving, we've got our eyes on you."
Mitsuki, meanwhile, was actively trying to not laugh at this truly adorable sight before her.
"Hey, we're not afraid to use these!" Kioku said, pouting at seeing their target cracking up in response to their efforts.
"It's freaking cute, oh my gosh." Mitsuki couldn't hold it in any longer, as she started laughing.
"That's it!" Yaba lept into the air and dived towards Mitsuki. "I'll show you who's in charge around here!"
And then before she could reach Mitsuki, Izuku caught her and started rubbing behind her ears, pacifying her instantly, as she started making pleased dog sounds.
"Well, you certainly showed her who's boss," Ji said as she watched her sister get pet into submission.
"So these must be your half-siblings," Mitsuki said, with a bit of a scowl. "I swear if I ever see that bastard father of yours, I'm ripping his balls off!"
"...Maybe you ain't so bad after all," Yaba said after hearing that.
"Don't be tricked so easily!" Kioku shouted. "She is the mother of our sworn enemy! Bakugo Katsuki!"
"So how did she convince you all to join in on this?" Izuku asked the other kids.
Himiko and Kuki just shrugged. "Seemed like fun."
Inu shied away, and Ji explained. "We came to make sure that Yaba didn't do anything stupid."
"We're going to keep an eye on you, and make sure no funny business happens!" Kioku said.
"You do realize Yonda can literally read minds, so even if she was up to something, she'd know about it right?" Ochaco reminded her.
"W-well yeah, but Yonda's stuck in her room so-" Kioku was cut off before she could finish.
No, I can still hear you guys from here. Yonda said from her room. It's fine. So far she hasn't thought anything out of the norm for an aggressive middle-aged woman.
You didn't need to add middle-aged to that. Mitsuki thought.
Anyway, Kioku, please calm down dear. Yonda said.
"Hmph." Kioku pouted.
"Right, so you guys can clean this up, while I show Aunt Mitsuki around," Izuku said.
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"And this is the backyard," Izuku said as he brought her out back. "Right here we have the garden, the kids tend to it, oh. Looks like some of them are taking care of it right now!"
"Oh, that cu-" Mitsuki stopped, and did a double take when she saw who was tending to the flowers.
Shiruku, Eri, Kei, and Hanabi. The kid looked exactly like a younger Katsuki.
"Oh! Hi Mr Midoriya!" Hanabi said as he noticed the onlookers, waving enthusiastically. Mitsuki was unable to say if his voice sounded one-to-one like Katsuki's. Because while she could tell it was similar, she'd never heard her son sound so peppy and enthusiastic before.
Nor had she ever seen him smile so brightly before, or seem so…not angry.
"Hello, ms!" Habai said, walking over to her, and staring at her with eyes full of stars. "My name is Hanabi! Do you wanna be my friend?"
Mitsuki stared down at him for a minute, before picking him up and staring at him some more, before finally turning to Izuku and asking. "Uh hey, Izuku. The hell is this?"
"I'm Hanabi!" Hanabi repeated cheerfully, raising his hands up and shooting fireworks into the sky.
Izuku just sighed. "Yeah recently I got three new kids, and for whatever reason, they all share a resemblance to Kaachan. They're not related to you, or even each other, but not only do they look like him, but they all have explosion quirks. The only thing I can say is…actually, I don't even know what to say to that, it's so absurd I've decided to just accept it and move on."
"Huh." Mitsuki looked back at Hanabi. "...So can I keep this one?"
"You can not replace Kaachan, no." Izuku deadpanned.
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"So I heard you and the kids were going into therapy?" Mitsuki asked as they walked through the halls.
"Yeah, it's been going great so far," Izuku said. "Really the results have been staggering."
As they walked down the hallway, Fuku turned the corner, and saw them, seeing an unfamiliar face, and immediately panicking. "Ah! Stranger!"
She then turned to run, and immediately ran into a wall, before collapsing on the ground. "Pah!"
"You ok Fuku?" Ochaco asked.
"I'm fine, I'm just dying of embarrassment," Fuku said, not bothering to get back up.
"...So what was that about results?" Mitsuki asked.
"She hasn't gotten the same kind of therapy," Izuku said. "And believe it or not, this is actually good progress for her."
Then Fuhai walked around the other corner. "Ah! Stranger!"
He then too, turned to run but immediately slammed into the wall, and fell over. Knocking himself unconscious.
"...He has also not gotten the same kind of therapy," Izuku said.
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After showing off the house, they went to Izuku's office, where Sue served them tea.
"So you seem to be doing well. At the very least it doesn't seem like you're working yourself to the bone and not sleeping." Mitsuki said as she sipped her tea.
"Oh, so that's always been a bit of his," Ochaco said, glaring at her boyfriend, who looked away sheepishly.
"Izuku's always been a hard worker," Mitsuki said. "Did I tell you about that time Izuku accidentally broke a vase in my house? A few months later, he spent all his allowance money to replace it! Even though I told him not to worry about it!"
"Yeah, that definitely sounds like Izuku," Ochaco said her expression immediately softened, although Izuku was still quite embarrassed.
"Well, I couldn't just break someone else's stuff and then forget about it," Izuku mumbled sheepishly.
Suddenly, Izuku's phone started buzzing, he took it out and looked at the message before frowning. "Ah, sorry. I have to take this."
"That's fine, I wanted a chance to talk to Uraraka here," Mitsuki said. "You know, girl talk."
"Great. I'll be back soon." Izuku excused himself, leaving the two girls alone.
When Izuku left, Mitsuki turned to Ochaco, with a much more serious expression. "So, Uraraka. What exactly do you like about Izuku?"
Ochaco suddenly felt like she was on trial. Mitsuki's gaze bored into her. Despite that, she stayed firm. "Well, first I love his kind heart. The way he goes out of his way for others without a second thought…well honestly how could you NOT admire that. Although I do hate how he puts others so far ahead of himself that forgets to think about himself altogether. There's also the fact that he's so darn cute! The way he constantly jitters about. Did you know he moves his toes around like a dog wagging his tail when he's happy? It's adorable! And the way he bounces up and down when he gets really excited! And that smile. Darn that smile. I swear he could get away with murder with a smile like that. It's like the sun-blasted directly in my face! And then there's just how much he cares about his family and the kids. You don't see many people our age who are this good with kids. And it's so sweet!"
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"And his hair is so amazingly soft, even though it's always a mess." Ocahco continued, after what felt like an hour of her going on about her boyfriend. "And-"
"Okay, I get it." Mitsuki interrupted. It was cute at first, but after paragraph 8 she had started getting a bit tired. "Geeze, well you certainly can go on like Izuku. And it looks like I don't need to doubt you at all. Whew."
Mitsuki sank back into her chair, a look of relief settling on her face. "...You know. I was kinda worried when I heard Izuku got a girlfriend. I mean, he's rich as hell now, and while the kid's always been unshakeable when it comes to his will to help others, that's not so much the case when it comes to helping himself. I mean, just look at Katsuki. God, it'd be so easy for him to end up in an abusive relationship it's not even funny. It was always kinda my worst fear for him. Well, that and him getting himself killed."
"Yeah…yeah." Ochaco grimaced, as she imagined some hussy latching onto him, only dating him because she could use him. And given how much Izuku defended Katsuki, Ochaco could imagine in a world without the kids, Izuku would stay with her and defend her no matter what.
Oh god, he'd end up just like his mom.
The thought of it made her want to vomit, for many reasons.
"But seeing that he has someone else in his life, who actually cares about him. And loves him. And wants to protect him it's…it's so relieving." Mitsuki said.
"...You care a lot about Izuku huh?" Ochaco asked, finally fully letting her guard down around the woman.
Mitsuki took a deep breath. "Inko's been my best friend for over half my life now. Makes me feel old saying that but it's true. She's been there for me…when I needed someone the most. And then she got married to that fucking scumbag. It was miserable watching her end up with a piece of shit like him. He never made her happy. But she stayed with him. For reasons I can't possibly understand. Izuku was the only thing he ever gave her. The only good thing that ever came from that relationship if you wanna call it that. I was so happy when he turned out to be more like his mom. Seeing him playing with Katsuki. I was so happy…I wished they'd stay friends forever…that my son…that my son would protect him. And stand by him. Through thick and thin. Heh. Obviously, that didn't happen."
The woman took a long sip of her cup, emptying it, before setting it down. "Because for some fucking reason. Terrible shit has to happen to good people. It broke my heart when I heard Izuku was quirkless. Not that there's anything wrong with being quirkless! It's just…you know. It's a fucking stigma that sticks onto you forever. He'd never be able to just live a normal life. The rest of the world would make sure of that. And that's to say nothing about how it just killed his dream outright. And when Katsuki turned against him. He was alone. I mean he had me, my husband, and Inko. But he didn't have any friends. Everyone his age either hated him for being quirkless or was afraid of being mocked so they avoided him. It was so painful to watch."
"...And then it just kept getting worse and worse, and he stopped coming over, for reasons that are pretty obvious, but with that, there wasn't much I could do for him. Or at least that's what I thought." Mitsuki started clutching her cup, a look of pure frustration gracing her face. "But in the end, I could have done more. I should! Have done more. I knew Katsuki was picking on him. I tried to get him to stop, but I never went far enough. In my head, I kept making excuses for him. I didn't wanna believe my little boy had become so twisted. It was only after the truth was laid out before me, that I realized I failed them both. No. Not just them, but Inko too. I failed them all."
"That's…" Ochaco paused. Spouting simple platitudes wouldn't help here. She had to think about her response. And after a few moments of silence, she spoke up again. "There are always things we could have done better. Sometimes it's simple things. Sometimes it's big things. But no matter what, we'll always look back, and think we should have done better. It's easier to look into the past and point out what you did wrong then than it is to figure out what you need to do in the present. And like you said, it's hard to look at matters so close to you objectively. But at the end of the day, the past is the past. Beating yourself up about it is pointless. Especially when no one's really blaming you in the first place. If you really want to help Izuku, then the first step is forgiving yourself, moving on, and doing your best to learn from past mistakes."
"Yeah, yeah you're probably right." Mitsuki sighed. "Sorry for unloading all this on you. I know you guys have enough to worry about without some old lady adding her own issues to yours."
"It's fine. People should ask for help when they can't handle something on their own. And people should help others when they ask for help." Ochaco said. "I think if everyone just did that, then the world would be a much brighter place."
Mistuki chuckled. "You know what kid, I agree with you."
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Later, after Mitsuki left the Midoriya house, she ended up in a bar that she'd become a regular at as of late.
Mitsuki didn't go out to drink much. Normally she'd have a few bottles in her house, whenever she felt like indulging but she makes sure not to overdo it and end up a drunk.
But recently she found she'd been away from home more. She'd either spend her time at work or at this place.
She didn't know how to deal with her son. Or even how to feel about him half the time.
Mitsuki still loved her son. She would love Katsuki no matter what. But what could you do as a parent, when the whole world seemed hellbent on twisting your son into the worst version of himself.
He seemed to be improving. Slowly. Dragged kicking and screaming down the road to self-improvement, no thanks to her.
"Ugh." Mitsuki emptied her cup, before setting down her class and looking into it. "Forgiving myself huh. Boy, that would be much easier if I just stopped fucking up. Fucking shit, why can't I just figure shit out like a good parent? Why does everything have to be so fucking hard!"
"I know that feeling sister." Said the woman next to her.
Mitsuki looked over to the woman. Despite being sure that she'd never met this woman in her life, she also looked vaguely familiar. "And you are?"
"Ah sorry, it's just what you said…stuck a cord with me." The woman said, looking down at her drink. "My name's Tsuma Dorama. Nice to meet you. Sorry if this seems invasive but, troubles with your kid?"
"Like you wouldn't fucking believe." Mitsuki sighed. "I mean…it could be worse. Not like anyone died or anything. Things are actually improving a bit. But fuck! It just feels like I'm not doing anything to help! I should be doing something! Anything! Anything but just…watching!"
"It feels like you've lost your place in their story," Tsuma said, recalling her own struggles. "And you don't know how to get back in. Or even if you can."
"Yeah, that's exactly what it feels like!" Mitsuki said. "Shit looks like I have a drinking buddy. Hey, get us some more booze!"
Please review and have a nice day.