Ahh?! Another chapter?! Yes!! In fact, my Discord Server held a vote and it was almost unanimous that Midoriya Inko was... A GOOD MOTHER?! Yep! You heard that right! Mamadoriya is a good mamadoriya here, and may or may not end up paired with Midnight as an apology to my Swan Dive readers. XD

We'll see where this story goes. But for now, know that she's a good mamma and NOT going to die in this story (because apparently I've given you readers trauma with that topic. Sorry. :)

Once again, this chapter is dedicated to Phoenix! You rock, keep being awesome!!

A reminder that fanart can be sent to either my Discord page or [email protected]

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Izuku smiled softly as he walked home from school. It'd been about a week since he'd brought Coffee into his life and he'd never felt happier. The cat was intelligent, diligent, and really pushy, but he was perhaps the only friend Izuku had had since he was four.

He was frighteningly observant—always waiting at the apartment with the first aid kit ready when Izuku got home, and he'd sit there and glare at him until he'd treated every injury he had. The one time Izuku had tried to half-ass it, the cat had nearly added scratches to his list of injuries to treat.

Izuku had also never heard of a cat that drank so much coffee, but he supposed the feline was truly living up to his nickname. It was nice to have someone to greet him when he came home, and amazing to have someone to talk to other than his mother. Coffee was an amazing listener.

He pushed open the door, smiling when he saw the familiar black cat sitting there with the first aid kit. "Tadaima, Coffee."

The cat meowed back. He was looking much better than before. He wasn't limping as badly, and was able to jump from high platforms without stumbling. Though Izuku swore he still saw the cat wince every now and again, and he still favored one leg, so the boy made sure to be extra gentle when he had to help him down from the table (which wasn't as often as before, thankfully. Coffee was very independent and proud and hated being picked up).

Izuku treated his daily injuries under Coffee's unerringly diligent gaze as he chattered about a hero fight he saw earlier that day. "And then Runner showed up! Which was really cool because he's an Underground hero! It's super rare to see them out and about during the day." Izuku beamed as he looked at the cat. "I really like Underground Heroes. I wanna be a hero one day, you know?"

The cat gave a nod and what sounded like an encouraging meow.

"But... nobody thinks I can do it." His smile fell and the cat hesitantly approached him. "I... Everyone says I should stop dreaming. That I should just give it up. Because you've gotta have a strong Quirk to be a Hero." He felt tears welling up in his eyes. "But... I..."

Something warm and soft crawled into his lap and nudged at his hand, and he blinked down in surprise. Coffee had never willingly sat on his lap, nor asked for pets. Izuku usually got glared at whenever he absently tried to stroke his silky fur.

Hesitantly, he let his hand run down the feline's back. The cat stiffened for a moment before relaxing into the touch and letting out a loud, rhythmic purr. Izuku felt himself relaxing at the soothing vibrations. His fur was very soft. It was like petting a cloud, only warm.

"There's this one hero." Izuku's voice was softer now, but steadier. He no longer felt like he was on the verge of a breakdown. "His name is Eraserhead." The cat startled at the name, but didn't leave his seat. "I guess you've heard of him?" A small smile flitted across his face. "He's Underground. Hates the limelight, usually works in the dead of night. I've only ever found a handful of grainy videos of him, but it's enough. I'm sure you could tell from my room that I'm a really big All Might fan." He felt his cheeks redden when Coffee shot him a flat look. "B-but that's only because All Might's so amazing! He can save everyone. I wanna be like that some day. He's... a goal to reach towards."

Izuku paused, letting himself focus on the vibrating cat and gather his thoughts. "But Eraserhead is a goal I can achieve." Coffee looked at him with curious eyes. There was something almost amused in his gaze. "Y-you see, Eraserhead fights Quirkless. His Quirk lets him erase the Quirks of other people with only a look. It's... really amazing. And he... he's everything a hero should be. He doesn't care about the glamor or fame... just helping people."

The words sat between the two for a long time. He wasn't sure how long he held Coffee, but after a while his legs started to fall asleep. And, it seemed, so had the cat. Izuku hadn't known cats could fall asleep while purring—or continue to purr while sleeping—but the proof was in his arms.

He didn't have the heart to wake him—he was also pretty sure there was some universal law about not waking a sleeping cat—but he really needed to shift positions. So, being as slow and careful as possible, he scooped the cat into his arms and stood. Coffee curled into him a little more, claws kneading his shirt as what Izuku could only describe as a 'kitty smile' graced the feline's lips.

Well, he wasn't going to be able to set him down like this. Izuku sent a forlorn look towards the kitchen—dinner would be sacrificed, it seemed. Well, he supposed a cat was a worthy cause.

With as much care and languidity as he could manage, he slipped into bed with a purring very asleep cat curled up on his chest. For the first time in years, Izuku slept soundly.

linechanhere,wowit'sbeenalongwhile!how'severyonebeen?linekun'smissedeveryonetoo!bytheway,didyouknowwe'retwins??

Shouta awoke slowly. He was warm and comfy and he couldn't remember the last time he'd woken feeling so refreshed. In fact, it was the first time he could ever remember waking up without feeling the need to go back to sleep. He let out a yawn, slowly stretching and—

His bed was moving. His eyes snapped open in alarm, only to see an amused emerald gaze stare back. "Good morning, Coffee. Did you sleep well?"

Shouta was mortified. He had fallen asleep on a child. If he were a normal cat, that'd be fine, but he was a grown man! This was not okay! He leapt down at once, earning a small laugh from the boy.

"I can't remember the last time I slept so well." Midoriya commented as he stretched. "Although I'm glad it's the weekend because I didn't have the time to do any homework last night. I guess we were both pretty beat."

Well, considering the fact that the kid had trauma-dumped on him, it was no wonder Midoriya was tired. He'd looked three seconds away from a panic attack or breakdown, and Shouta knew quite intimately how great cats were for calming people down. He just hadn't expected Midoriya to be able to make him fall asleep. Apparently the feline anatomy was particularly receptive towards pets.

He watched as the kid headed out to the kitchen. He set Shouta's regular bowl of coffee down on the table and began making breakfast. An ugly pang settled in his chest when he realized that he couldn't stay.

The kid wasn't the only one attached, it seemed.

There were several things he'd learned over the week he'd been staying with the kid. Aside from the bullying, the most glaring thing was that the kid's mother was never home. She did, however, call each night. Despite this, it left an ugly anger swelling in his chest. The child, for all intents and purposes, was living alone. And that was not okay.

But again, Shouta couldn't do anything as a cat. At best he was an emotional support animal for Midoriya, which wasn't healthy when Shouta himself wasn't actually a cat. But at the same time, he couldn't just leave him. Not indefinitely, at least. Beyond that, he might not even have the full picture yet.

The next thing he'd noticed was that this kid was horrifically depressed. He had no friends, no hobbies outside his near-fanatic love and worship of heroes and their Quirks, and absolutely no faith in himself. Shouta wasn't sure what was going on at that school of his, but he had half a mind to follow the kid and find out.

But again. Cat. He was getting really tired of this damned Quirk.

The final thing he'd realized—with abject horror—was that he'd been missing for three weeks. God, Hizashi must be worried sick. And Shouta had never once missed a single day of work, so he knew they'd know something was wrong. Hell, he'd never been late a day in his life! Nezu must be scouring the city looking for him. Knowing the principal, he'd found his clothing by this point at least, but he doubted even he would figure out what was actually going on.

Which left him with only one option. He had to get to UA. Somehow. He... was still figuring that part out. But if he could get to the kid's computer while it was logged in, he might be able to find himself a route to the school.

"Breakfast is almost ready." Midoriya's voice jolted Shouta out of his thoughts as he leapt onto his chair. He fought back a wince as his leg threatened to give out on him yet again. Despite the time he'd spent resting, he was still quite nicely injured. Which meant if he didn't get treatment soon, his broken bones might heal wrong and then he'd be in for a whole different kind of pain.

"You're eating too, right kid?" He shot the boy a look as he dished out breakfast onto another plate.

"Don't give me that look." The child pouted. "I'm eating, I'm eating."

"Good." Shouta nodded sharply as he started to consume his own breakfast. For a moment, everything was peaceful. Shouta shoved his anxiety and budding doubts about everything to the back of his mind as he took this time to simply breathe and enjoy the fact that he wasn't in any life-threatening danger at the moment.

The sound of the front door had both Shouta and Midoriya looking up. The kid's expression broke into a wide grin. "Mom! You're home!" He quickly abandoned his breakfast to greet his mother, who looked utterly exhausted.

"Izuku." Her embrace looked warm. Shouta tilted his head as he observed the woman.

She was in good shape—had to be if she was a firefighter—and her short hair was neatly tied back. There were light bags under her eyes, but her aura was warm and full of love for her son. It wasn't until she set her bag down by the door that Shouta realized why she'd been gone for a week.

She was part of the 49th Firehouse, commonly called the Forbidden Forty-Nines. It was the only firehouse that used such an unlucky number because they were the firehouse that'd been contracted to work exclusively for Endeavor's agency, and thusly had the highest mortality rate of any fire department in Japan. They also had the most hellish shifts of two weeks on, one week off, during which all firefighters were expected to live on-site.

They also paid the best, from what Shouta knew. Nearly triple what the other fire departments did, but once someone signed onto Firehouse 49, they were locked into a five-year contract at the minimum. Midoriya's mother must've been either very unlucky and gotten assigned to the department early in her career, or very desperate for money.

Shouta felt something in him relax. So she wasn't necessarily a bad or neglectful mother, but the boy still shouldn't be living in the apartment alone. He watched as the woman pulled out of the hug and her gaze landed upon him.

"Izuku? Why is there a cat in the house?"

"Oh! That's Coffee! He saved me from some kids that were being mean at school." Midoriya answered quickly. "But he got hurt because of it, so I brought him home to recover."

She eyed Shouta and his nearly-gone bowl of coffee, as well as the still-empty plate for his breakfast.

"And... you decided to keep him?" She questioned, watching as Shouta's ears flicked back in irritation.

"He's not a pet." Midoriya denied quickly. "I'm pretty sure he's got a Quirk, actually. He's really smart." The kid grinned.

Midoriya's mother sighed softly at her son's hopeful grin. "Well, then I suppose he can stay so long as you watch after him." She relented. "Coffee... was it?" She turned her gaze towards Shouta, who nodded. The woman's eyes widened slightly with surprise.

"I told you, he's really smart." Midoriya smirked.

"So it seems. But why is a cat drinking coffee?" She shot her son an expectant look.

"Don't look at me!" The kid's hands were raised in surrender. "Coffee earned his nickname! If I don't give him his own, he'll find a way to steal mine."

Shouta made an affirmative sound, tail languidly flicking in amusement. "Damn straight." He turned to lap up more of the coffee before it cooled too much. He was no stranger to cold coffee, but if it could be consumed hot, then it should.

The three of them sat down to breakfast, the kid's mother frowning as she looked at Shouta's human food. Shouta gave her a look that all but dared her to say something regarding the matter and she wisely kept her mouth shut.

"So how was Mitsuki?" The mother—Shouta really should figure out her name—asked as she started on the food she'd served herself. "Oh, my Izuku! You've gotten better at cooking! I guess Masaru's lessons are going well?"

Who were Mitsuki and Masaru? Shouta felt his eyes narrow. Was it possible that Midoriya was supposed to be staying with someone?

"They're doing well!" Midoriya answered with a natural smile. "Though sometimes Kacchan's a bit loud, so I like to come back here to work on my homework and take time to myself."

If Shouta hadn't been staying with the kid for a solid week, he would've bought the lie without a second thought. His tail flicked in irritation as Midoriya sent him a silent look that promised an explanation later. With a twitch of his ear, Shouta went back to his food.

"Just be careful, sweetie. I know they're only a block or so away, but even Musutafu can be dangerous." His mother warned him.

"I know." Midoriya grinned brightly as he gathered the plates. "You look really tired, mom. Do you want to take a nap?"

"I've only just gotten home!" She laughed. "How could I possibly sleep when I haven't seen my precious baby boy in two weeks?!" She scooped Midoriya up into a hug, causing the boy to let out a surprised and gleeful laugh. "Now, what am I to do with all this extra pay I've just gotten?" She hummed with a sly grin. "Well... couldn't possibly spend it all on that new hero display at the mall...?"

Midoriya's eyes lit up in a way Shouta had never seen before. It was like someone had breathed life back into the boy. "Really?! I heard there's even a small display for the Underground heroes!"

Shouta's ear twitched at that. He'd had a hell of a time with the people running that program. Though Undergrounders are supposed to remain anonymous, they were also advocates to those with weak Quirks or villainous Quirks. The fact that half the proceeds would go to funding programs set up for people like that was the only reason Shouta even agreed to it in the first place.

Not to mention the fact that a further twenty percent went to whichever hero whose merch was purchased. It was Shouta's first time having merch of his own. Hizashi had pulled some weight with the distributors and gotten exclusive pre-release items of Shouta himself.

Needless to say, Midoriya was going to be going no matter what. What Shouta hadn't expected was for the kid to ask if he wanted to come along. "You joining us, Coffee?"

The hero tilted his head as he thought. He was still badly hurt—the fact that he could hardly walk without limping was a testament to that. But it had been a week since he'd been outside. Even nocturnal people needed to see the sunlight every once in a while.

But keeping pace with people would be hard when he was hurt like this, and he had zero intentions of being carried around like a child. His cat form was on the smaller side, though...

After careful consideration, he leapt up onto the table and then quickly leapt onto Midoriya's shoulders. The child startled quite nicely under his sudden weight, but the grin he produced a moment later was blinding.

"All right!" Midoriya cheered.

Shouta had never given much thought to how a cat would stay on someone's shoulders, but it was a lot easier than he'd expected. Plus, it was nice to see the world at a more familiar height than the floor.

"I'm a shoulder cat." He bemoaned. If any of his coworkers ever realized this, he'd never live it down. With a sigh, Shouta curled his tail around Midoriya's neck for better balance as the kid started walking.

The boy giggled lightly. "Your tail is tickling me." He muttered with a happy grin.

Shouta, feeling a little mischievous himself, twitched his tail just under the child's chin. Midoriya laughed a little louder this time, drawing his mother's attention. The woman smiled fondly at the two as she pulled her bag over her shoulder a little more.

The group of three set off down the road. The day was actually rather nice. The sun was shining, bright rays gently warming the dark fur that covered his body until he felt like he was wrapped up in a heated blanket. There was also a gentle breeze that swept through the streets, tugging clouds lazily across the otherwise endless expanse of blue above them.

Shouta felt oddly content, riding along on Midoriya's shoulders like this. This high up, he didn't have to worry about the stray cats that prowled the alleyways, nor did he need to worry about cars or angry passersby. In fact, it was the most relaxed he'd been since he became a cat.

The contentment didn't last too long. Once they reached the mall, the hustle and bustle of the crowd had his ears twitching backwards in displeasure. Midoriya must've felt him tense because he put a hand gently on his head to calm him.

Shouta was miffed that it did, in fact, make him feel calmer.

"Mom! Look! Over there!!" Midoriya's excitement had him bouncing up and down like a hyper toddler, and Shouta had to gently dig his claws into the fabric of the boy's shirt to stay on his perch.

The kid must've felt the claws though, because the bouncing quickly stopped along with a muttered apology. Despite this, Midoriya was at the display of hero merch before his mother could say a word.

There was already a nice crowd around the daylight merch, and Midoriya was muttering a mile a minute about each of the heroes featured and their Quirks. Shouta found himself begrudgingly impressed. Sure, he'd seen the notebooks, but this was all from memory. The kid continued to surprise him, it seemed.

Suddenly, Midoriya stopped. His eyes were fixated on a darkened and rather deserted corner of the store. With quiet steps, like someone walking in a sacred place, he approached the setup of Underground hero merch.

There were several underground heroes. Hazard had a few notebooks with his signature toxic orange and black color scheme. Runner's figurine was pretty accurate, along with a water bottle that featured his annoying grin. Hell, they even had some stuff for Dweller in there.

Shouta's tail flicked in irritation when he caught sight of his own merchandise. There was a scarf that was modeled after his Capture Weapon, a pair of obnoxious yellow sunglasses that loosely resembled his goggles, and—the one thing Midoriya gravitated towards without hesitation—a pristine Eraserhead figurine.

Hell, there was even a black backpack with a zipper that looked like his goggles there. Shouta understood that he was the top Underground Hero in Japan—even ranked among the top five globally in the World Hero Association's Underground Rankings—but why did he have the most merch?

The kid looked back at his mother with pleading eyes.

"Five." She said after a moment with a fond sigh.

Midoriya's eyes lit up. He immediately grabbed the Eraserhead figurine, backpack, and scarf. After a moment of deliberation, he also snatched the Hazard Notebook and a little book titled Underground Heroics—the Unsung Heroes of the Night.

The child was absolutely vibrating by the time they reached the register. Shouta's eyes narrowed as the cashier sent Midoriya a look of utter disgust, but they said nothing. The prices weren't jacked up either, once they caught sight of the kid's mother.

Of course, Midoriya's mother was able to snag a small 5% discount for working for a Hero Agency—even if it was her department that was contracted.

They left the store without incident, the boy already wrapping the scarf carefully around his shoulders. "It's so cool! You know Eraserhead's scarf is actually some really high-tech support equipment?!" He rambled to his mother. "He can control it like another limb! I've seen videos of it online before they were taken down, and it's so cool! His Quirk lets him erase the Quirk of anyone he looks at, so he fights Quirkless!!"

There it was again. Every time he was brought up, he also brought up the fact that he fought without a physical Quirk to aid him. So either Midoriya had a very weak Quirk...

Or he had no Quirk at all.

Shouta's ears went flat at that thought. Quirkless children in this generation were exceedingly rare in Japan. The old 20% statistic was outdated—anyone who cared to look knew that most governments hadn't bothered to count the Quirkless in the census in decades.

If Midoriya really was part of that shrinking minority, then it was no wonder the boy was struggling so badly. It was no wonder he would look up to a hero like Shouta, who practically had no Quirk to aid him in his heroism.

He shook his head, a small disgruntled sound escaping his throat. He could be overthinking things. He had no proof one way or another, and it wasn't like it mattered. (It did matter, because Quirkless individuals were discriminated against worse than even those with supposed Villainous Quirks. It mattered because it meant that this child needed help far more urgently than he initially realized.)

Shouta spent the rest of the day in the mall observing the mother-son pair. Midoriya Inko—the name he'd learned was the mother's—never let the boy purchase something without her there. And though many cashiers sent her a disgruntled look at the action, the prices remained fair. Shouta had a feeling that if she hadn't been there, the prices of these daily items would be very different.

It was the little things he noticed. Glares and whispers, furtive gestures that weren't nearly subtle enough to escape the hero's watchful gaze. His enhanced hearing picked up conversations between shoppers and workers alike in reference to the Problem Child.

It confirmed his fears—Midoriya Izuku was Quirkless.

This realization was utterly crushing. He could only imagine how difficult life had been when even shopping at the mall garnered this kind of attention. But the kid seemed so used to it that he didn't even register the treatment.

Well, considering the fact that he came home from school each day with burns and cuts and bruises galore, Shouta figured whispers and glares were negligible. But they still made his fur bristle. This was a child. A child who wanted nothing more than to follow his dream.

A dream Shouta had every intention of supporting.