Chapter Text
When Izuku was about four and a half, and his quirk still didn’t come in, Inko wasn’t worried. But then once four and a half turned to five and then five turned to almost six and the only thing Izuku developed was freckles from being outside for too long, Inko was a little worried. And who wouldn’t be? Her husband had already made up his mind about their child and had started to distance himself, their neighbors and some random people Inko’s never in her life have even talked to before have started giving her pitying looks and ‘words of encouragement’, and Izuku hasn’t been his normal bubbly self when she drops him off at school anymore.
So Inko decides to do something about it.
“Izuku, honey, it’s time to go!”
“Coming Mama!”
Izuku dashes down the hallway wearing a red tee and some navy shorts. He’s recently been dressing himself, this is one of his better outfits.
“Make sure you put your shoes on okay? You can’t be barefoot at the doctor's office.” Inko reminds him, knowing he’ll end up walking out with no shoes anyway. She’s been trying to break this habit.
“Can I wear sandals?” Izuku asks, looking up at Inko with wide doe eyes that almost don’t fit his face.
“Yes, as long as you don’t take them off unless the doctor tells you to.”
Inko waits for Izuku to put on his shoes before grabbing his hand in hers and walking out of their apartment and locking the door.
They live on the ground floor, so it doesn’t take them too long to walk out of the complex and to the bus stop five minutes from there. They take the bus to the pediatric clinic, sign in, and wait in the lobby for their names to be called.
Inko watches as Izuku goes straight to the plants, sulking when he finds out they’re fake.
“Mama,” Izuku whines, dragging his feet to where Inko is sitting.
“They tricked me with fake plants.” Izuku whines, drawing out the last word.
Inko pulls Izuku into her lap and starts to run her fingers through his hair.
“Sometimes, people use fake plants because they can’t take care of real ones.” She softly explains, successfully calming him down.
“Why not?” Izuku asks, looking up at Inko.
“Maybe they just don’t have the time, or they can’t be around real plants.”
“Why?” Izuku asked again, looking at Inko with wide eyes filled with curiosity.
Inko went to answer, but the pediatrician interrupted by calling their last name. Inko picks Izuku up and walks with him in her arms.
“I’ll tell you later, ok?” She whispered, like it was a big secret.
“Ok.” Izuku whispered back, tucking his head into Inko’s shoulder, smiling into her neck.
Inko doesn’t find the time to tell him later. She’s too busy consoling her baby.
Things only get worse for the both of them after that.
Hisashi left. He said he couldn’t bear to look at Izuku. It made him feel weak, apparently. He would still send money every month without fail, more than needed for the two of them, but he was never coming back.
When Izuku went to school, he would come home with bruises all over him. Inko had tried to help, really she did, but Izuku didn’t want help and laws aren’t made in quirkless peoples favor.
So Inko did what she could.
She put all the money Hisashi sent in a savings account for Izuku, provided for them with her own job, patched Izuku up when he came home from school, and comforted him until it was time to start dinner. They always made it together, even when Izuku was little and could only pour the water into the pot.
They made vegan katsudon that night, and had a conversation about how tall Izuku has gotten since he had started middle school, and Izuku told her about a new plant he planted on the windowsill. Life was almost okay for the both of them.
It was a Tuesday. Tuesdays meant that Izuku had school, and Inko usually had work. But, She decided that she was going on annual leave early this year, so she was home. Inko had decided that since it was her first day of annual leave that Izuku would get to have a break too. She let him sleep until 9 and woke him up to tell him that they were going to spend the day together and Izuku looked so relieved that she almost cried, but she held in her tears for the sake of her baby.
First, her and Izuku went out to eat at their favorite vegan breakfast diner and brainstormed their day while they were eating. Inko wanted to get some shopping done at the mall (mostly for Izuku, because most of his clothes had rips or scorch marks in them), and Izuku had mentioned how he wanted to get some more products for his hair, so after breakfast they took the bus to the mall and went into the hair salon shop first, even with Izuku’s protesting about how she should get her stuff first since she took him out. But Inko didn’t want to hear anything because she was going to take advantage of the time she could spend with her baby and spoil him. Because he deserves it.
They ended up getting a therapeutic t-tree shampoo and moisturizing peppermint conditioner, both costing more than what she would spend on her own shampoo, but she’d pay any price for Izuku. After that Inko got herself some new dresses and Izuku some new clothes and they went to walk around the mall for a while until Izuku saw a hero merch store.
“Mama, can we please go in there? I won’t ask for anything, promise.” Izuku begged.
Inko sighed fondly, knowing that she would probably end up getting something from the ridiculously overpriced store, but today is Izuku’s day, so she nodded and walked in with him, having to quicken her pace to match Izuku’s excited shuffle.
Once Izuku was in the store he immediately ran from aisle to aisle, looking at all the new things that had just been restocked. Inko knew better than to try and follow him and exhaust herself, so she just stood by one of the aisles relatively close to him. As she was standing there, a hooded man bumped into her, reaching out to settle her with his hand on her shoulder when she almost fell.
“I’m sorry about that ma’am, I wasn’t looking where I was going.” Said a raspy voice.
“It’s alright…” Inko replied, her shoulder stinging from where the man had touched her. She got shivers down her spine from just looking at the man. She smiled anyway, trying to convince herself nothing was wrong.
“Mama,” Izuku said, running up to her with a poster in his hand. “That nice man over there just gave me this! Isn’t that cool?” Izuku exclaimed, looking like an overexcited puppy.
“Wow, that is cool baby. Did you say thank you?” Inko sighed, relieved to have a distraction from the strange man.
“Yes! I can’t believe he gave me the newest limited edition All Might poster and it's absolutely amazing! The colors are so vibrant and the artwork is incredibly detailed. I feel so lucky to have this in my collection – it's like a dream come true!”
Inko let her son ramble on, grateful for the distraction as they walked out of the mall and took the bus home. Once they got home Inko tried to start dinner, but she was feeling sore all over.
“Mama, are you ok?” Izuku asks worriedly, hovering over Inko.
“I’m okay Izu. Just a bit tired.” She reassured him.
“You should go to bed then, I can handle dinner.” Inko smiled at Izuku’s words. Giving him a quick hug and dragging herself to her room.
…
“Mama?” Izuku called, knocking on her door for the third time in an hour. He and his mom were pretty light sleepers, so it was weird that she hadn’t even answered to him. But, his mom did say she was tired so Izuku ended up eating dinner and cleaning up by himself. His mom worked so hard for the both of them, and it was the least Izuku could do.
“Night Mama.” Izuku called out once everything was clean and he was ready for bed. He got no answer.
“Hello, you’ve reached Musutafu emergency services. What kind of emergency are you calling about today?”
“Uh- um, it’s my- it’s my mom…”
“Is she injured or hurt in any way?”
“I don’t know, um, I just came into her room and- and she was gone, with a- a huge, um, pile of ashes on the bed.”
“Where are you located?”
“Uh, apartment 513, at Hoshizora apartment complex.”
“Alright young man, I’m dispatching police now, can you tell me your name?”
“Midoriya I- Izuku, ma’am.”
“Ok, Midoriya-kun, Please stay calm while the police are on the way. Would you like to remain on the phone until they get there?”
“Um, no, thank you…”
“Alright Midoriya-kun, goodbye.”