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The child outliving the parents is the only happy story us humans get.
That should be easy enough, right? But parents worry every day. When they have a newborn and can’t tell what their child wants. When they have a toddler who doesn’t know how to look both ways to cross the street. When they have a teenager who just got their license. When their child who can drive is legally allowed to drink. There are worries every day. Sure those worries change as they get older, but there will always be worries. And some parents have even more reasons to worry than others.
Parents of athletes. Pilots. Firefighters. Police. Heroes…
And the parents of class 1A have more to worry about than most. After all, their children were regularly targeted, kidnapped, and hurt on a regular basis.
Most dealt with it in the usual ways. Finding distractions, calling more often, insisting on visiting often.
But for all intents and purposes Mitsuki Bakugou seemed to handle it better than most. After all, she was unflappable no. A pillar of strength no. Reassurance in the darkest of times no. After all, her best friend is Inko and one of them has to be the strong one no.
When Katsuki was kidnapped the first time, she barely even blinked. After all, she knew he’d come back. He was too strong to let something like a few villains stop him so why. Besides, Masaru did enough of the worrying for the both of them. fear can be all consuming.
That makes it all the more worrying for those around her when she finally starts to show the cracks.
At first, it seemed normal. Katsuki was kidnapped again, but that had happened before after all. Nothing unusual there.
But there was something different about this one. No one could find him. that shouldn’t be possible. Hours turned into days turned into weeks. They tried detection quirks, tracking quirks, even questioning some of his repeat offenders but nothing came up.
All too soon his friends were going out at all hours of the day to try and help too. At first the heroes tried to stop them, but as he remained missing longer and longer they started to encourage it, or at least look the other way. they’ll find him.
Masaru insisted on putting up flyers. he always was the hopeful one. They also started going to the police office and the school everyday. they will find him. Their jobs were kind enough to give them a leave of absence once it became clear that this wasn’t something that would be resolved quickly. They WILL find him.
Then came the video.
It wasn’t much.
And it wasn’t for the heroes. It was for them. The parents.
How did they know that?
It was in their mailbox.
They didn’t want to open it at first. After all, they were supposed to be protected by the heroes. Shouldn’t any suspicious packages be confiscated? Anyone seen lurking around be held for questioning? Why aren’t there answers?
But it was addressed to them after all. And its return address had Katsuki Bakugou next to it. Where is he?
The video wasn’t much. A fact that only Mitsuki, Masaru, and Aizawa (the only other one they would let watch it) could attest to. It was clearly recorded by Bakugou. They never saw or heard anyone else. He was in a room by himself. Not chained up or anything. Why did that make her feel worse? Sometimes he was sitting, sometimes walking, sometimes angry, sometimes unusually quiet. It was clearly his video diary. He told them everything. Names, descriptions, quirks, so smart, noises he heard, where he thought he might be. How he wanted to go home. How he missed them. How he was scared.
And the worst part. His goodbye. NO
Mitsuki always knew she was strong, but there is a limit to how strong people can be. And at a certain point, that strength runs out and you have to break.
Someday she will be strong again. After all, she has a nephew and nineteen other newly adopted nieces and nephews to watch over.
Someday she will be able to watch movies again without panicking.
Someday she won’t look at every blonde boy on the street thinking that it could be her son.
Someday will come eventually, but that day is not today.
Today she will hold her husband in her arms.
Today she will wait to hear news that she already knows is coming.
Later Inko will come over with Midoryia and help them make dinner and they will all eat, ignoring the chair that should be filled.
And tomorrow she will start planning a funeral.
But for now, she will just say goodbye.
Goodbyes are never easy, especially when you are saying them years before you should have to.