Super Science
Ch 5: Permission
Izuku sat at his dinner table, silent in his thoughts as his mother made them a hot meal. He played with his fingers, lost in his thoughts and emotions about what he should do. It has been decided that they should confront their problem head-on. But saying it on paper was far more accessible than putting it into practice. The plan was to ease her into what's been happening before getting into the heavier stuff. This is where he was now, waiting for an opportunity or instead just to work up the nerve to say it. He sighed and decided now would be the best time, especially since Egon would be here soon.
"So, um, Mom.", Izuku starts as his mother just hums in reply. He gulps and finally admits, "You know how I've been telling you that I'm doing after-school activities, which is why I'm always coming home so late.", Another him, and he takes a breath before relenting, "Well, I was….lying."
"I figured.", She said back.
Izuku's eyes shot wide open as he stared at her. His mouth gaped in shock, and he blabbered, "Wait, you knew!?"
She giggles and tells him, looking over her shoulder with a smile, "I'm your mother, sweetie. You can't hide anything from me. So what have you been up to?"
"Well, it has to do with the friend who I told you would be coming over today.", Izuku told her while looking at the third plate setup. Before he could continue, there was a knock at the door, and Izuku told her, "That must be him."
Inko turned off the stove and slipped off her oven mitts as she followed her son to the front door. Izuku unlocked and opened it while introducing, "Mom, I'd like you to meet-."
Before he could finish, Egon stumbled through the doorway, clearly leaning on the door in the best business suit he owned. A thick stack of papers was in his hands, and he tried to stay on his feet and prevented himself from letting the osiers go everywhere!
Once he fixed himself, he adjusted his glasses, looked at the short, puggy woman, and stammered out in a half-exhausted mess, "Hello, Mrs Izuku, I'm Processor-no wait! I mean, I'm Professor Izuku, and you're Mrs. Egon-No! I mean, hello, Mrs. Green-Midoriya! I meant to say Midoriya!"
While Inko was more than confused and a bit on edge, Egon started to rifle through his papers and told her, "Hold on. I have it here somewhere." He then pulled out a sheet of paper and read quickly, "Hello, how are you? That's great to hear. I'm Professor."
But before he could continue on his half-pronounced gargle, all the papers he was holding slipped from his hand, and they flew all over the front entry. Egon panicked so hard that his glasses fell off, and he exclaimed, "SHOOT! Not again! I had this all set up for maximum success!" He then started to look through all the papers rapidly and pulled up some quickly while reading them off: "Potassium, zinc, hydrogen, nitrogen, sugar, oxygen!"
He paused after saying that. Looking up from the paper with tears in his eyes, he said, "That was the chemical compound for chocolate milk."
"Professor Egon.", Izuku draws out as the professor scrambles.
"Izuku, sweetie, what is going on, and who is this mess of a man? I'm honestly a bit freaked out.", Inko asked while getting closer to her son in defense.
"Professor! I told you not to overthink this!", Izuku scolded the man.
With tears streaming down his face, he blubbered out, "I tried! But I couldn't help it!"
"How are we going to explain this to my mom if you can't act normal in a non-business or professional manner?", Izuku half yelled at him.
"I have no social skills!", He yelled in self-shame and pity.
"Izuku?", Inko spoke once more, feeling freaked out.
Seeing no way out of it now, he bit the bullet and admitted, "Mom, this is the real reason I've been out of the house so often."
"Izuku!", Inko gasped while grabbing her son's face and telling him on the verge of tears, "If you needed money, you should've just asked! Don't do something like this!"
Izuku was initially confused but quickly realized what she was implying and exclaimed, "What? No, no, no, Mom, it's not like that!"
Finally forgoing his papers, Egon stood up and defended himself, saying, "Ma'am, I know I didn't give you the best first impression, but believe me, I have no intentions of that nature!"
"Then what have a 30-year-old man and my son been doing all alone for several weeks!?", she assumes back while putting herself in front of her son.
"He's been working with me.", Egon told her quickly without explanation.
"Huh?", Inko choked back, confused once more.
Izuku knew this was his chance. He had to use his ace in the hole. If he didn't, his mom would go for the phone, and everything the two of them had been building would be destroyed! So he took a deep breath and readied himself.
"Mom….I don't want to be a hero anymore.", He said out of the blue.
"Wha-What?", Inko asked, stupefied by the proclamation. She turned to her son and held his hand. She asked him, "Izuku, baby, what happened? You wanted to be a hero for as long as you could walk and talk. Why would you suddenly change that?"
"I…gave up on that dream a long time ago. It's ...not worth it anymore.", Izuku admitted while looking away.
"Izuku.", Inko said in a slight, shaky tone.
"Mrs Midoryia, uh, ma'am?", Egon butted in as respectfully as he could with a few papers in his hands. "Several weeks ago, I found these papers from one of your son's analysis notebooks. I was floored by the amount of details and information on each page. Finding things that others wouldn't! His intelligence and observation skills are unmatched! So, I tracked him down and asked him to help me with a project I was working on when he was in a slump. And thanks to him, in the last few weeks, he's made huge discoveries and some money to boot!", He explained with ever-growing excitement while handing the torn note pages.
Then a keyword hit her mind in the mists of all her confusion and emotions, and she said, baffled, "Money?"
"Around 50 million dollars.", Egon casually told her.
Dropping the papers and holding the wall, she exclaimed, "50 million!?"
Egon nods his head excitedly and tells her, "Yes! And it is all thanks to your son! Ma'am, your son is a true genius, like none I've seen before! He has a gift that so many neglect or fail to gain, your son is amazing!", He then started to get on his knees and told her while bowing and half yelling, "So I ask you, no, I beg you. Please allow your son to continue working with me! He could change the world!"
Inko remained silent for a long while, allowing everything to sink in before turning to her son and asking, "Izuku, is this really what you want?"
He nods and tells her with full sincerity, "It is. I don't think I've been so sure in a long time."
She sighed, held her son, and relented, "Then I guess I'll have no choice but to support you."
"Oh, thank you, ma'am! Thank you, thank you, thank you!", Egon practically yelled from the floor.
"But you know my son is still in school?", Inko asks as he brings up his head.
"We've taken care of that.", Egon tells her.
"He doesn't have the right certifications.", Inko argues back.
"He can work on his degree while working with me. I know of some websites that allow you to get a legal degree.", Egon assures her.
"He's about to start High School.", She continued.
"I never really made it through high school myself.", he admits.
Inko thinks it over, then barters, "I want him home at a more reasonable time."
"Trust me, I've been trying that myself.", Egon rolls his eyes while glaring at Izuku, who looks away.
"I want you to pay him.", Inko tells him.
Egon nods to this and tells her, "I was already planning on that. Once things got up and running and he had his degree, I was going to make him vice president."
"My son….a vice president.", Inko gasps while holding her chest.
Her lips then began to quiver, and before either of the two men could act, Inko started to shed tears like a faucet! Taken aback by this reaction, Egon jumped up and stepped back a bit.
"A-Are you okay?!", He asked her.
"M-Mom, please stop crying!", Izuku begs her as he starts to cry the same way she does, Making Egon think this will be a long dinner—which it was.