I was going to hold off longer on posting this chapter, but I got excited, so I'm going to post it now.

The look of shock on Inko Midoriya's face when her son willingly left his room for breakfast with a look of pure determination on his face was laughable. Her eyes widened comically and she stared at Izuku, speechless, for a minute before she managed to snap out of her surprise and instead offer Izuku her first genuine smile since the whole ordeal had begun.

"Izuku!" Inko squeaked in surprise, she nearly dropped the bowl she was carrying upon seeing her son, "I didn't expect you to come out for breakfast. Are you feeling a bit better now, dear?"

Izuku took his usual seat at the kitchen table and offered his mother a smile, it was weak and a mere shadow of his once sparkling grin, but Inko's heart warmed at the sight nevertheless. "Yeah, I'm feeling a bit better now, mum. I spoke to Kacchan and my classmates, they've been really supportive." Izuku hummed. 

"That's amazing, sweety. Everything should be fine as long as you have the support of your friends, right?" Inko said optimistically, "How is Kastuki doing? I know you two have gotten closer in the past year. Are you friends again?"

A vibrant red blush spread from the tips of Izuku's ears down to his round, freckled cheeks. He laughed slightly and looked away from Inko, embarrassment burned through him at the mention of his relationship status with Katsuki. They hadn't actually told anybody they were dating as of yet, and they scarcely acted out of the ordinary in public seeing as neither boy was a fan of public displays of affection. A casual onlooker may have instantly labelled them as close friends. 

"Oh..." Izuku stuttered, laughing awkwardly as he did so, "Umm... I'm sure Kacchan wouldn't mind me saying since it's you... and you can't tell anyone because it's a secret... but Kacchan and I started dating roughly a month ago..."

Inko instantly jumped out of her chair and squealed excitedly, "My baby got his first partner! I thought for sure it was going to be Uraraka, she's such a sweet girl and I could have sworn you had a crush on her. But that doesn't matter! Are you happy? Does he treat you right! Oh my! You haven't done anything, right? Neither one of you can get pregnant but you still need to practice safe-"

Izuku abruptly cut his mother off with a loud squawk, waving his hands in the air in humiliation. His face resembled a tomato as he stuttered incoherently; when he finally managed to get his thoughts organised he stammered out a sentence.

"Mum! Please don't finish that sentence, you've already given me The Talk, I don't need to hear it again! I dated Ochako, remember. But It didn't work out, so Kacchan is my second partner. Plus, Kacchan and I haven't even kissed on the lips yet," Izuku admitted bashfully, "So I don't think you need to worry about that quite yet..."

Inko looked at her son with mild perplexion. She knew that her son was a rather awkward boy, but it seemed strange to her that even after a month of dating, he still hadn't kissed his boyfriend, he'd kissed Uraraka on their second date. Able to read his mother like an open book, Izuku supplied an answer to her unanswered question.

"We're taking things really slow, very slowly. But that's alright, I'm just glad that I have Kacchan like this," Izuku hummed blissfully, his attention was fully devoted to an empty corner in the room, his mind far away. 

"Well, that's nice, honey. As long as the two of you are happy, I'm happy. But, don't forget that you can come to me whenever you need to, ok, Izuku. I know that you and Katsuki have a rough past." Inko said sincerely.

"Of course, Mum. We should start eating before the food get's cold." Izuku suggested, he desperately wanted to divert the focus of the conversation away from his relationship status and towards the fragrant food that was making his stomach moan out in hunger.

Inko nodded with a private smile. Both Midoriyas tucked into the hearty breakfast that Inko had prepared. The sombre atmosphere that had lingered around the apartment for the past week had dispersed ever so slightly. There was still the undercurrent of despair and desperation that had been hanging in the air for the seven days, but now there was a hesitant joy and hopefulness spreading throughout the Midoriya residence. 

As he had promised, Izuku answered all of his classmates' phone calls. No matter what time it was, if his phone chimed with an incoming call, Izuku picked it up. This, of course, brought with it its own problems. If Izuku was woken up from his light slumber by an incoming call from Shinso or Tokoyami, he answered it. If his phone pinged before the sun's rays were yet to grace the land, then Izuku roused himself to the best of his ability to talk to Iida, Kirishima or whoever else might be calling so early. Izuku felt like he owed it to everybody after he had given them the cold shoulder for a week. It didn't take long for somebody to bring the problem up with him.

"You know that you don't have to answer every single one of our calls, right?" Todoroki asked monotonously one Saturday morning.

 Izuku was stood in his bathroom, brushing his teeth whilst on facetime with Todoroki. He tilted his head in confusion, silently asking the youngest Todoroki child to elaborate.

"We've been talking to each other and everyone always says that you answer the phone no matter what time it is or if you're already doing something. Jiro said that once you answered her whilst you were on the toilet, she said she was thankful that you had covered your camera. Shinso mentioned that you usually look really tired when you answer his calls in the middle of the night... You don't have to answer all of the calls, you know." Todoroki said blandly. 

"I know that!" Izuku sighed heavily, "But I feel guilty, I ignored you all for a week."

Izuku wiped his mouth on the closest towel and picked up his phone from where he had laid it on the edge of the sink. Todoroki didn't seem to be alone, it appeared as though he was in the common area, though he was wearing headphones so the conversation could be as private as possible. 

"You shouldn't feel guilty. You were most likely in shock, which is understandable. Don't worry about us too much, we're here to help you and support you, don't stress yourself out for our sake." Todoroki had a way of saying extremely meaningful words with the blandest of tones. It was amusing.

"Ok, I'll only answer the phone when it's convenient to me, then." Izuku muttered, "But, let's stop talking about me, how is everyone?"

"We're good. Ashido and Hagakure were trying to convince everyone that Kirishima and Bakugo are dating yesterday, I think that they're still at it, but nobody believes them. Actually, I think some people do, Ochako seems pretty convinced, but I'm not so sure" Todoroki hummed. Izuku's stomach clenched painfully at his words, he knew that Kacchan wouldn't cheat on him, but he was still worried that Kacchan had only agreed to date him out of pity, as a form of retribution for his past actions. 

"Oh," Izuku stuttered, "Is that so? Well, you never know, they are pretty close..."

"Hmm, I guess you're right, but I'm not convinced," Todoroki mused, "Anyway, on Wednesday, Aizawa forbade us from having water fights in the dorm. You would think that was something that wouldn't need to be explicitly stated, but somehow a fight broke out on Tuesday evening and we ended up having to replace the coffee table due to water damage."

"Who started the fight?" Izuku queried as he arrived back in his room and flopped back down onto his bed. He watched as Todoroki opened his mouth to respond but a person off-screen called him. 

"Todoroki! There's a cat in the tree and we need your help to get it out, could you come out, please!"

Todoroki's dull eyes immediately lit up with excitement, he quickly muttered a rushed farewell to Izuku before the call ended leaving Izuku to the silence of his room. 

Izuku sighed and threw his head back to stare up at the ceiling. It was hard being separated from his friends like this. He wanted to be there. He wanted to be present for the retrieval of the cat from the tree. He wanted to be a part of the water fight that ended with a solid oak coffee table being destroyed. He wanted to be there to watch as Katsuki's face turned red from anger and Kirishima's from embarrassment as Ashido and Hagakure insisted that they were dating. He wanted to experience life with his friends, but he had been forced away from them by an origination that despised him for no clearly discernible reason. 

The anger that seized Izuku's chest was sudden. It came within a second and brought with it the taste of blood and blurring eyes. That was always something that Izuku was annoyed by, his anger was often accompanied by tears, it made him look like a cry-baby. Why couldn't the commission just leave him alone? Why was he being forced away from his dream because they didn't like him? Why did Mineta get to keep his place when he had harassed so many people? 

Izuku clenched his fists and breathed through tightly clenched teeth in an attempt to calm his rising rage. His mother didn't deserve to face his anger just because she was in his general vicinity. Izuku rolled off of his bed and made his way towards the genkan, he needed to leave. He needed to do something to calm himself down, and one sure-fire way of calming himself was exercise.

"Izuku! Where are you going, dear?" Inko asked from the sofa where she was knitting what Izuku could only assume was another scarf, just like the All Might themed one she had given him for Christmas. 

"Out," Izuku replied in a clipped tone. He instantly winced and turned back to Inko, "I'm sorry mum, I'm just a bit angry. I'm going to go on a run and clear my head, ok?"

"Ok, dear. Make sure you have your phone. I love you." Inko smiled.

"I love you too, Mum," Izuku whispered. Guilt gnawed at Izuku's anger, yet it did not abate fully. It was too potent and all-consuming for a tiny bit of guilt at the way he treated his mother to force it away completely.

After pulling on his shoes and exiting with a bit more force than strictly necessary, Izuku started on his jog. The sound of his feet hitting the floor and the sounds of the street soothed Izuku's anger. The burning in his chest made the red tint over Izuku's eyes fade. The ache in his limbs grounded him. The familiarity of running brought clarity to Izuku's mind, just as he had wanted it to. 

Izuku finally came to a stop by the beach that he had cleared in his training. It still looked just as clean as it had on the day that he had finished nearly a year ago. Along the beach, he could see couples walking hand in hand, not a care in the world. Izuku's heart ached ever so slightly at the sight, even if he had a partner now, he had never done anything this romantic with Katsuki. They'd been on 'dates' before. Though, those dates usually consisted of having a picnic on the dorm's roof or Katsuki cooking for them and then eating in one of their rooms whilst watching a film. There really wasn't much to do when you were confined to the school grounds. Izuku didn't want to complain to Kacchan though, he was just glad that he could date him.

Izuku's musings were interrupted by his phone ringing, without looking, Izuku pulled his phone from his pocket and answered it. "Hello,"

"Sup, nerd?" Katsuki's voice hummed over the phone. Immediately, Izuku perked up.

"Kacchan! I wasn't expecting you to call!" Izuku beamed, "I heard about Mina and Hagakure trying to convince everyone you and Kiri are dating. I hope you aren't so easily convinced to stray away from me after two weeks." 

Izuku's joke was met with silence, a silence that persisted for much longer than he was comfortable with. When Katsuki finally spoke, it was in a much softer voice than he would usually speak with, though he still sounded gruff, just as he always did.

"You... don't believe that, right?" Katsuki asked gruffly.

"Of course not, Kacchan! I was just joking! I know you wouldn't do that, you're not that type of person." Izuku quickly reassured. 

"Good. I wouldn't ever cheat on you, it's cowardly." Katsuki grumbled, "Where are you? It sounds windy."

"Oh, I'm at Dagobah beach. I went on a run, I needed to clear my head. I just want to be with all of you again and I miss training. I know that you said that you'd do what you can to get me back in, and I know that Aizawa and All Might are going to try, but I feel useless. I can't do anything!" Izuku lamented. 

"Mhm. Don't stress yourself out, Deku," Katsuki paused for a moment but powered on, "I'm trying to get permission from Aizawa to leave on one of the weekends, we could go on a proper date, maybe that will take your mind off of everything."

Katsuki sounded extremely nervous. Izuku would have laughed at how out of the ordinary that was for Katsuki if he wasn't extremely touched by his words. 

"Really? Won't everybody else question you, should we just tell everyone we're dating? Oh, I told my mum, by the way, I hope you don't mind," Izuku rambled nervously. 

"That's fine, you were bound to spill it to her eventually. And... I don't want to tell them yet, they'll only bug me about it. Soon though, maybe." Katsuki sighed, "Plus, there's no guarantee that Aizawa will let me go, but... I'll ask."

"Ok, I don't mind if you-" Izuku started speaking but he was cut off by a monumental explosion from behind him. He whipped around mouth agape and stared at the plume of smoke billowing into the air.

"Izuku!" Katsuki's voice called from the phone, "Izuku! What was that?"

Slowly, Izuku brought the phone back up to his ear, struggling to form words, "There was an explosion... I have to go! It looked like it was near my house. I need to go!" Izuku gasped out. His feet were hitting the floor before he made the conscious decision to rush back to his flat.

"Don't do anything stupid, Deku! I'm gonna speak to Aizawa, I'll be there soon. Don't do anything stupid!" Katsuki ordered, but Izuku wasn't listening. As Katsuki had pointed out many times before, Izuku had a hero complex, once he saw or heard even a hint of danger, he descended into a one-track mentality. All that mattered was saving the people who needed his help, no matter what the cost. 

Izuku arrived at the sight of the explosion within minutes. His mouth went dry at the sight of his home levelled completely. Anxiety stained Izuku's heart upon seeing his home destroyed, his mother was nowhere in sight, he couldn't help but think the worst.

Dust filled the air as well as the scent of fire and blood. Already a crowd has gathered, all of the assembled people were muttering and calling out for a hero to come. Small fires had sprung up amongst the debris and they were only getting bigger. Izuku knew that people heavily relied on heroes, even in these uncertain times when the villains seemed to be gaining more support and sympathy from the general public, and as a result of that heavy reliance people didn't tend to act when they should. Even if they weren't heroes, surely it was common decency to do all that you could to pull people from the wreckage of the downed building. 

Thick, black smoke danced through the air, choking Izuku as he pushed his way to the front of the crowd. His heart was heavy, it didn't look like anyone could have survived the explosion, but he had to go in and try to save as many people as he could.

"Mum!" Izuku shouted, hysteria tinged his voice, he pushed past the assembled crowd and rushed into the debris, "Mum! Where are you!"

Panic coursed through Izuku's bloodstream alongside the adrenaline that kept him on his feet. Faintly, Izuku heard somebody wheeze out for help. The voice was almost silent but Izuku, so desperate for even a sign that his mother was alive, picked up on it and scurried over to the area it had come from.

"Hello! Is anyone there? Shout so that I can help you!" Izuku called.

"Izuku," a voice called weakly, a voice that was almost certainly Inko's.

"Mum! Wait one second, I'm going to get you out ok!" Izuku cried. He scrambled over to an especially large bit of debris and dropped to his knees so that he could see through the tiny crack.

"Mum? Are you pinned down? How injured are you?" Izuku rushed out. From within the inky darkness, Izuku saw a flash of dark green, the same deep colour as his mother's hair.

"I'm... There's a pole... Through my leg. Building on my chest." Inko sounded breathless and in pain. 

"Ok. I'm going to pull up this concrete and use Black Whip to grab you, ok? You have to tell me if you're in pain, got it?" Izuku asked, he was in hero mode. As much as he may have wanted to panic and cry, he couldn't. This wasn't just his mother trapped under the debris of the building, it was an injured civilian that needed his help. 

A weak sound of confirmation came from below the concrete. That was all that Izuku needed to initiate his plan. He knew he was most likely going to get into trouble, after all, his provisional hero license had been revoked, but there was a loophole in the Quirk Misuse Law that made it legal to use one's quirk in an emergency situation. 

Izuku activated One for All at 10% and tried to get a firm grip on the edge of the concrete. With a slight grunt, Izuku hauled the debris off of his mother, just enough for him to see under. The sight that greeted him made Izuku's heart stutter in his chest and tears bead in his eyes. 

A rusted pole that was no doubt used for the building's foundation had impaled his mother's thigh, soaking the pole crimson. The same crimson blood was pooling onto the concrete below Inko, far too much for Izuku to not be concerned for his mother's life. Blood matted Inko's hair and dribbled into her eyes, eyes that were hazy and unseeing. She was on the verge of passing out from blood loss. 

"Hey, stay awake, Mum. You've probably got a concussion, don't go to sleep yet," Izuku said in a slightly panicked tone. Black Whip shot out from Izuku's hand and gently wrapped around Inko so that it might gently inch her out. 

It was nerve-wracking, to say the least. Despite the rescue of his mother most likely taking no more than a minute or two, it felt like hours for Izuku. It felt like he was watching in slow motion as his mother died right in front of his eyes. He had to shake his head to rid himself of the image. Inko wasn't dead yet, but it was only a matter of time. 

Finally, Inko was pulled out completely and Izuku could drop the slab of concrete he was holding up with one shaking arm. "Mum, stay awake, ok? Let me see your eyes, there you go," Izuku whispered frantically. He scooped Inko up into his arms and rushed towards the street in hopes that an ambulance had already arrived, all the while, he kept an ear out for any sounds of others stuck. Luckily, it seemed as though Inko was the only one to get trapped, the alternative was that everyone else who was trapped had already died, and Izuku would rather not think about that.

The crowd had not dispersed a single bit since Izuku had rushed towards the crumbled building, in fact, it had grown. People had gathered a safe distance away from the debris to gawk and wait for the heroes to turn up, thankfully some heroes had turned up, but it didn't look like they were doing much.

"You there, boy!" one of the local heroes called out, beckoning Izuku over, "These people said that you ran into the building, that was dangerous and-"

"Yeah, yeah, I get that but is there an ambulance around. My Mum, she's dying please," Izuku choked out through the tears that had finally managed to push their way out. 

The hero did a double-take, it was almost as if they hadn't noticed the nearly unconscious body in Izuku's arm. In the back of his mind, Izuku scoffed at the hero. How could he be capable in any capacity if he didn't notice that Izuku was carrying a limp body? 

"Oh! Right! This way, hurry!" the hero gestured for Izuku to follow him towards the hastily constructed medic's tent. Paramedics were already swarming a few people who appeared to have escaped the wreckage with only a few scrapes and bruises, none of them was in nearly as bad of a condition as Inko.

The rushed words of the paramedics went right over Izuku's head, he was too worried about his mother to process anything properly. Even when she was loaded into the ambulance and driven away, Izuku still couldn't understand what was going on around him. 

Everything was happening in slow motion and far too quickly, the simultaneous sensations juxtaposed so harshly that it left Izuku feeling queasy. He stumbled to the closest place devoid of others to empty the content of his stomach. He felt sick at the knowledge that his mother may not make it to the hospital alive. He felt sick at the knowledge that his childhood home just exploded with no cause in sight. He felt sick at the knowledge that his entire life was going to shit. 

"Izuku!" a familiar, gruff, voice called. Izuku's head snapped up to watch as Katsuki rushed towards him, shooting worried glances at the wreckage behind him, "What happened, where's Auntie Inko?"

Izuku sobbed brokenly as he collapsed to the floor, "Kacchan..." Izuku lamented, "She... She's gonna die. She was covered in blood and there was such a big slab on top of her!" 

Katsuki came to a stop beside his boyfriend and crouched down beside him, pulling him into a hug as he did so. He ran his fingers through Izuku's dust-covered hair somewhat awkwardly, not used to acts of intimacy such as hugging. He had never been the best at comforting people. 

"She's not gonna die. The paramedics are taking her to the hospital and the doctors there will do all that they can to make sure she survives." Katsuki reassured Izuku. 

"What's gonna happen to me, Kacchan. I... I don't have anywhere else to go! Why is this happening to me?" Izuku wailed. 

Katsuki didn't know how to reply. He had never been good at reassuring people, even as a child, It was a job better suited for bubbly people like Uraraka, Kirishima and Ashido. He was better at shit-talking the villains and pounding them into the ground. Rescue operations were his weak point. But... He would try for Izuku. He would try for any of his classmates (he would never admit that), but, especially for Izuku. 

"Shh, it's alright," Katsuki muttered in a stilted, awkward tone, "We'll go back to UA, Aizawa and All Might will sort something out. You're not alone, Izuku, we're here to help you,"

Slowly, Izuku's body wracking sobs abated, leaving him sniffling in Katsuki's arms. He looked up at his boyfriend and smiled weakly at him, "Thank you, Kacchan. Let's go..." Izuku trailed off, a familiar jolt in the back of his head altered him to the fact that something was wrong, his eyes went wide as his sight locked onto something behind Katsuki. 

Hidden amongst the crowd of curious and concerned civilians, two familiar faces stuck out to Izuku like a sore thumb. Turquoise eyes and purple skin. Sharp fangs and golden hair. They were looking directly at him, smiles on their faces. Somebody passed in front of them, and when the person had passed, Dabi and Toga were nowhere to be seen. 

Thank you for reading. I feel like I'm about to get pretty busy, so I don't know when the next update will be. I really don't like having an inconsistent update schedule. I prefer it when authors update on a schedule, so I want to do that, but with my life at the moment, I don't know how that will work. Anyway, thank you for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful day wherever you are.