Chapter Text
It’s been about a week now since Izuku and the others returned from Nabu Island. They’ve still got another week before classes kick back up again, so he thinks now would probably be a good time to spend some time at home with his mom while he has the chance. He heads out from campus with Ochako. His old apartment isn’t that far, and traversing the city with his quirk is always good practice.
Better practice too to have Ochako with him since he can now share some of the power with her. He’s still not quite sure what percentage of it Ochako was using, but she was keeping up, and not breaking any bones, so he’ll take it as a win. Maybe she’s just better at regulating it than I was when I started? Or maybe I’m subconsciously only giving her as much as she can handle…
Ochako catches him staring, “What is it Deku?”
It’s also probably easier to regulate when using it just for movement as oppose to using it for attacking. I don’t think I’ve seen her throw a Smash yet, even in that fight against Torrent. She stuck to just using the amplified version of her own quirk, and didn’t push herself too hard.
“Deku!”
“Huh?-” Ochako yanks him out of the way of an incoming building with Black Whip. She lands on a roof with him, the tendrils fading soon after. That’s so embarrassing!!!
“Geez…” Ochako shakes out her hand, always feeling a bit numb after using Black Whip, even in short bursts like that. “What’s got you so distracted?”
“Well, I mean, you. You’ve really gotten the hang of One For All, and so quickly… I’m kind of jealous.”
Ochako blushes and waves him off, “I’m not that good with it!” She bounces back and forth on the balls of her feet, a little bit of that pink lightning still sparking from her, “It just kind of feels natural. I think if I didn’t listen to you talk about it so much, or train as much as I did with you and Miruko, then I’d probably be way worse with it. I just remember the stuff you said about trying not to explode, like an egg in the microwave.” She realizes she’s rambling, “Or you know, something like that!”
Izuku sparkles, he loves it when she rambles like that. “You really are incredible Ochako.”
So bright! “Oh stop!- Come on we should go say hi to your mom.” Ochako absolutely adores Inko. She thinks of her as the sweetest, cutest mom she’s ever met- Next to, of course, her own mom! Izuku’s old apartment was just one leap away.
They drop in straight on the balcony, but find the sliding glass door is locked. Izuku can’t remember a time his mom ever locked that door. They lived on the 5th floor anyways, it didn’t seem like there’d ever be much point. Although I suppose we do live in a society where plenty of villains could potentially fly, maybe something happened that made her more paranoid-
Ochako puts her face against the glass to peer inside, “Uh, are we at the right apartment?”
“Huh?” Izuku looks around, this is definitely the view from his old balcony… It was weird that there wasn’t any laundry hanging out, and his mom’s lawn chair was gone too. “This is the place…”
Ochako’s heart sinks a bit, Oh no, what if Ms. Midoriya’s been kidnapped and they took all her stuff with her!?
Izuku knows his mom’s not been erased from existence or anything, he talked to her on the phone last night, and was just texting her this morning… Unless someone got to her in the past two hours!
Ochako gently shakes him, trying not to sound too panicked, worried she’ll freak him out, but she doesn’t realize he’s already freaking out a little bit. She says, “D-deku, you should, maybe just call her, and ask her where she’s at ya know?”
“Good idea O-chako!” His hand trembles as he gets his phone out and calls his mom. He tries putting it on speaker, but his hand won’t stop shaking.
Ochako taps the speaker button for him.
Ring…. Ring… ri- The ringing stops, and for a half second there is just eerie silence on both ends. . . “Izuku?” The unmistakable voice of Inko comes from the other end. Ochako and Izuku collapse with a sigh of relief. Inko says, “Everything alright? You don’t normally call me this early.”
“E-e-e-everything’s okay Mom!”
“H-hi Ms. Midoriya!”
“Oh hi Ochako! How are you sweetie?”
“I’m okay! Better now hearing your voice!”
“Oh, you’re such a charmer! Did you two call just to flatter me?”
Ochako sparkles, She’s so sweet!
Izuku says, “This might be a weird question mom, but uh…” He looks inside the apartment again, just to confirm him and Ochako weren’t hallucinating, “Where are you?”
There’s a long pause, and more eerie silence.
In this silence, Izuku worries up another theory, maybe they’d slipped into some alternate reality, where his mom is the one who went to America, and his dad stayed in Japan somewhere else!
Inko finally says, “About that, sweetie. We should probably have a talk about things…”
Izuku thinks up a much more realistic theory, that maybe she’s just being held hostage by villains! “Are you okay mom? Are you in danger or something?” He realizes that’s a stupid thing to say if villains are listening in.
They hear another woman’s laugh in the background, which at first is VERY concerning, but then Inko laughs with her. “Oh sweetheart! No, it’s not anything like that. If you want I can tell you now over the phone, but I thought maybe it’d be better to tell you in person. It’s not anything bad! It just, might be a little shocking.”
Ochako is starting to click the pieces together. Hold on a second…
He says so seriously, “I think I would prefer to hear it now.”
“You remember Katsuki’s mom. Mitsuki?”
“Yeah?”
Ochako finishes the puzzle a moment faster, No way!
“So her and I decided to move in together…” Izuku realizes what she’s about to say, just as she says it, “As a couple…”
That word, and all of the implications it had on his life and his future crashes into him, echoing in his mind. He sees holidays with two moms! Dinners, ceremonies, and celebrations. Not just that but he sees a life with Kacchan as his step-brother! Not just the present, but the past, and the future, rewritten in his mind with the inception of this new reality. “A couple…”
Ochako can see pretty clearly, his brain broke. It was a little crazy to her too, but clearly not that crazy. She hears his mom getting a little worried on the line, and says, “That’s really awesome Ms. Midoriya! I’m happy for you!”
“Well thank you Ochako! You kids should come over for dinner tonight! If you have any questions and stuff we can answer them there!”
“That sounds wonderful! Where at?”
“Izuku knows the place, the old Bakugo household! Not too far from the old apartment!”
Wait… “Bakugo…” Ochako did not process it the first time Inko said Katsuki. She didn’t realize she meant, Katsuki Bakugo. A whole new reality, a new future crashes into her mind. Echoing visions, like memories flooded through. Katsuki Bakugo could wind-up as her future brother-in-law. The future uncle of her children! She sees birthday parties, holidays, vacations where their families come together, her children and his, they’d grow up together, become friends, they might even fall in love with each other, they could end up having the same grandchildren! A new reality…
Inko says, “Ookay! I’ll see you guys tonight! I love you two!”
That snaps them both back to this present reality, “We love you too!” They shout together as Inko hangs up.
Izuku says, “Ochako… Is this some sort of weird dream?”
“Ha ha… I was just about to ask you that...”
“I’ll pinch you if you pinch me.”
“Sure.”
They pinch each other’s cheeks, “Ow!!!”
Izuku finds reason as he rubs his sore cheek, “Do you think Kacchan already knows?”
“It seems weird that he wouldn’t say anything if he found out earlier.” She pictures Bakugo getting really angry and weird about it. Saying something like ‘ Don’t you dare call my mom, mom Deku!!!
“Should I tell him…?” He scrolls his phone looking for Katsuki’s number, he hasn’t really called or texted him much.
“No! He needs to hear this from his mom.”
“You’re probably right…” He remembers Katsuki did have a dad. Wait did Mr. Bakugo die or something!?
Katsuki knows Burnin wanted him to stop training while he was on summer vacation, and he did do that! For the whole week him and Ibara were staying at her beach house, but the lack of exercise was driving him crazy! He spends his morning in one of the spare gyms, pushing his quirk to the limit, blasting himself back and forth across the room until he could barely feel his hands. He takes his earplugs out, and goes to check his phone. He has a couple missed calls from Ibara- Shit!
He calls her back, though her last call was twenty minutes ago- She answers, so fast. He says, “Hey- Sorry about that.” He wonders when that started, apologizing so freely. Was it just because it was her, or would he say it to anyone? He says, “I couldn’t hear my phone over my explosions…”
“It’s okay! Did you already have breakfast?” Her voice was like chimes in the breeze to him.
He smiles, that was new too. Definitely thanks to her, but he found it so weird that he was actually enjoying someone worrying about him. “Yeah… I could always eat more if you wanted to meet up.”
She giggles, loving that he understood why she asked. “I just got done eating with Kinoko actually. Are you about to go on a run?”
“Yes- And yes you can join.”
He can feel her smirking over the phone, “What makes you think I’d want to join a sinner like you?”
He talks in his lowest register, “Because who else could keep me on the right path?”
He hears the Mushroom Girl gag in the background. Ibara prays he didn’t hear that, as she tries to talk over her, “-Ookay! Love you, I’ll meet you outside the dorm!”
“Love you too.-” She hung up. I don’t know what I did to make that Mushroom Girl hate me so much… Is it just because I don’t know her name? It’s not like we’re in the same class!
This was true, last year, but Kinoko Komori (The Mushroom Girl) has been in 2-A with him for a whole semester already.
A short jog later, Ibara runs up to him, her vines tied up in a big bun on top of her head. Dressed up in a full athleisure wear tracksuit. “About time you got over here!”
Katsuki sneaks a little kiss to her cheek, “I thought you’d take a while to get dressed, so I ran slow.”
“Well you thought wrong!” She runs ahead of him, though he sees her smiling about that little cheek kiss.
He runs alongside her, no happier place in the world for him, “Aren’t you hot in all of that?”
“Is this your villainous ploy to convince me to undress?” She teases.
“No! I’m just saying it’s hot out, don’t want you to have a heatstroke, idiot!”
She huffs, she was hoping he’d fluster easily like at the beach house, “I can assure you, this material is very breathable.” She thinks to say, “It feels like I’m wearing nothing at all!” She’s certain that will get him!-
He’s fully stopped running to look at his buzzing phone.
He looks so serious. “What’s the matter?”
“It’s my dad...” He shows her the screen. The phone still buzzing, displaying a contact photo of an older man who looked just like Katsuki, but much nerdier, and with brown hair.
In the few short months they’ve been dating, Ibara doesn’t believe she’s ever heard either of his parents call him, he barely even talks about them. It really must be something serious. “Are you going to answer?”
“Yeah…” He still hesitates... but he answers. “Hey dad…”
“Hey buddy. Sorry if I caught you at a bad time.”
“It’s alright. I’m just…” He realizes he hasn't really told either of his parents about Ibara. It wasn't that he didn't have the time or was embarrassed he just didn't really talk to them like that. “Jogging with my girlfriend.”
“Girlfriend?”
“Yeah…”
“When’d that start?”
Katsuki can see that Ibara’s listening, eagerly awaiting his answer to this particular question. He sweats a little, but says, “Two months ago.” Worrying that’s wrong, he adds, “But I already can’t imagine my life without her.” He meant that too.
Ibara smiles.
His dad just says, “Oh…”
Not at all the response Katsuki was expecting, but he really isn’t sure how to handle that.
“Listen, I called because I wanted to be the one to tell you…”
“Tell me what?”
“I got a new job in America with one of my old buddies while you were away.” He laughs nervously, “A lot of stuff happened while you were away… Your mom uh.” He hesitates, but realizes pausing for too long right there will worry Katsuki, he might think Mitsuki died, so he stumbles out, “She and I decided to take a break… Indefinitely.”
His phone slips from his hand, but Ibara catches it. She squeezes his hand to pull him back to the moment. If only to let his dad finish saying what he needs to say.
“I’m sure she’ll explain everything to you in more detail, but I wanted you to know that we both love you, and it’s not anything that you did wrong okay?” He can hear his dad starting to cry. That wasn’t so weird for Katsuki, he considered his dad sort of a crybaby, but it was weird hearing it like this…
Katsuki just says, “When are you leaving for America?”
Masaru’s heart breaks. “I uh… I already left, while you were gone.” He really didn’t think Katsuki would’ve cared to see him off.
“Oh…”
“But I can come back when you’re on winter vacation! It’ll be like I never even left!”
Katsuki imagines it, the holidays with his parents, but they’re not together, not for him. Even if they’re not apart because of him. If the situation was so irreparable that he had to move across the world to get away from it. Katsuki can’t imagine a world where they all stay under one roof again. Ever again. He just says, “I guess I’ll see you then…” He hangs up. Unable to stand for another word.
Ibara holds him up, she holds his head against her shoulder. “I’m so sorry Katsuki.”
He yanks away from her, turning so suddenly to rub at his eyes. “I’m fine! It’s fine!”
She knows him well enough by now to know it’s not, and she wasn’t the type to give up on someone that easily. She wraps her arms around his waist, and rests her head on his back. “It’s okay to not be okay.”
He falls to his knees with her, now openly sobbing, though he couldn’t even begin to understand why this was hitting him so hard. He turns and pulls Ibara close, and cries into her shoulder.
She holds him tight, and pets him, she understands exactly how he feels right now, but now wasn’t the time to tell him about that. Though seeing, hearing, -feeling him go through it was starting to affect her too. Though she stifles her cry, refusing to take the advice she had just given him. Now is not the time… I have to be strong for him.
She remembers how, when it happened to her… Every emotion she had, every wall she put up, all the messy feelings she had about her parents and their messy relationship that she sealed away- She thought she had built a dam. That she could withstand any fate that befell them, but when that dreaded news came rushing in, it knocked down her walls, crumbled her dam, and broke open all those messy, painful, feelings that she would’ve insisted she did not have. The family she thought she had was over, and it hit her all at once, just like this…
When the floods finally recede, and Katsuki can breathe without the dams breaking more, he breathes a haggard breath, and pulls back… Though he doesn’t let go of her. When he looks at her face again, he sees that she was crying too. Without her needing to say it, he knows that she’s gone through this too. He has to hug her again, though this time some of her thorns prick his face, but he bears it as always. “Thank you for being here, Ibara…”
“I know you’d be here for me…” She wishes she had known him a few years ago when this was happening to her, or even just a year sooner, that he could’ve been there for her. Even if she knows there’s a strong possibility that if they had met any sooner than they did, they’d probably have hated each other, but they wandered into each other’s lives at just the right time for both of them.
His phone buzzes on the ground, just once… A text from his mom that reads, “Dinner tonight?”
Ibara covers it as quickly as she reads it, but she sees Katsuki’s already read it. She says, “You don’t have to go if you don’t want to.”
“I want to know what happened.” I need to know…
“Okay.” She hands him his phone.
He just texts back, “Yeah...”