Izuku hadn't left his mother's side since he'd woken up himself. She'd lied there unresponsive for hours now, bandaged up heavily around the torso, arms, face and other exposed areas that were hit with the force of the explosion. She was hooked up to every machine the hospital had. They used quirks where they could to heal or close wounds, but there was so much damage, if they overused quirks it would be far too much of a strain on her body. Izuku leans on the bed, tears in his bloodshot eyes.
"Please wake up Mom. I need you." he whispers.
There's a gentle knock on the door and it opens quietly as in walks Dr Tsubasa, he shuts it gently behind him and walks over to his heartbroken prodigy.
"Young Midoriya... I'm so sorry this has happened." he speaks. Izuku doesn't look at him, only at his beloved mom.
"She'll wake up. I know she will."
The doctor looks down at his understudy, he ruffles the boy's hair gently. To see him start to emerge from his cocoon but then be hit with such tragedy... it struck a chord in him.
"Sure she will kid." he says gently. Izuku stomach then rumbles as he leans over his mother, prompting the doctor to ask the obvious; "When did you last eat?". Izuku shrugs his shoulders, with this reaction, Tsubasa sighs as he fishes into his pockets, pulling out a few coins and handing them to Izuku softly. "There's a vending machine down the hall. Go get yourself something to tide you over." he instructs.
"I won't leave her." says the boy in green defiantly. He's tense, even more so when the doctor firmly holds his shaky shoulder.
"She'll not want to hear her boy starved himself when she wakes up, will she?" he points out, Izuku sighs as he slowly gets to his feet, which still possessed a dull ache from where he practically sprinted for his life's worth. "I'll call you if she wakes up before you get back, okay Young Midoriya?" Izuku smiles softly and nods to the doctor.
"Thank you Dr Tsubasa."
"Anytime, my boy."
Izuku slowly trudges towards the door, opening it gently and taking one last longing look before he left her side temporarily, before shutting the door behind him quietly. He couldn't help but take one step and feel the crushing weight of the agonising reality he found himself in and lean on the wall as tears ran down his face. Seeing the one person in the world who brightened every dark day he ever had in such a horrid state. It made his soul ache.
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Inko felt herself in a void of sorts. No up, no down. She just sort of floated, it was odd. She was worried, but she didn't feel scared. Confused, but somehow she knew where she was. She thought she could hear muffled voices talking, which is then confirmed when a small light appears and she floats towards it, seeing within the light a man in a lab coat and glasses. As well as another man who was wearing a... helmet? Why?
"Ms Midoriya? Brace yourself, this will be a rather disorientating experience" said coated man through the light. Inko bracing herself as best as she can and she feels herself pulled through the light and back into her body. Her real body, only she felt weightless and she couldn't really move. She could talk as she soon found out, but her voice is raspy and burnt. An unfortunate consequence of the unfortunate accident.
"Who... are you..." she gasps.
"Forgive me, I'm Dr Tsubasa, I'm Izuku's boss." states Tsubasa.
Inko's eyes couldn't help but water hearing that, the man who helped her world regain the sparkle in his eyes finally there in front of her.
"Thank... you... for Izuku..."
"Of course, he's a special boy. That's the reason why... well, you're not in that coma." he states, prompting Inko to look slightly confused.
"Ms Midoriya, there's no other way to put it... You're dying... and we can't do anything but make you comfortable."
Inko's eyes start to leak, this was it. She was never going to see her baby boy become the hero she always dreamed he could be.
"Oh..."
Tsubasa solemnly looks at Inko, before turning towards the helmeted man, nodding, inviting him to speak. Which he then steps forward.
"We're deeply sorry there's nothing we or I can do. I fear any quirk intervention at this point would only accelerate the process. But, we have a way for you to live on. To live on in the life of Izuku." states the helmeted man.
"How..." rasps Inko. She coughs out as she talks, she couldn't feel any pain, but she could tell her body wasn't working properly. That it was starting to fail.
"The nature of my quirk allows me to take and transfer quirks as I see fit... With your consent, we wondered if you'd want me to take your quirk and then transfer it to-" The helmeted man can't even finish as a bandaged arm frantically reaches out towards him, the woman attached to it in floods of tears now.
"Please... please... do it... He...deserves it more... than anyone..." splutters Inko as she desperately accepts the offer presented to her. She coughs up again, this time a bit of blood. The helmeted man kneels down at her bedside, gently taking a hold of her bandaged hand and squeezing it gently yet firmly.
"Ms Midoriya, your son will change the world and a piece of you will always be with him to light his path." he states.
Inko feels a weird pulling sensation inside herself, that part she could feel at full volume compared to the muted sensation of her body shutting down. The pulling persists for a moment but then it fades away as suddenly as it started. It felt as if a small piece of her just got taken out, but she still felt whole.
"Did... it work..?" she asks. The helmeted man nods towards her gently.
"I've safely acquired your quirk. Ready for transfer to Izuku."
Inko's eyes twitch, she'd always given her little boy the world, and now she'd given him everything else to go along with it.
"Thank you... Thank you... so much..."
The helmeted man gently lets go of her hand and heads towards the back of the room, towards the bathroom where an ominous purple glow emitted through the cracks in the door. Not that Inko was particularly interested in it.
"Inko... I'm afraid you're not going to last much longer. Please, forgive us." concludes the helmeted man as he steps through the door and the purple glow slowly fading after that. Leaving Inko and Tsubasa. Inko turns towards the entrance of her room, seeing the door shut.
"Where... Izuku..?" she splutters.
At that moment, the door gently opens as Izuku returns, holding a big bag of some snack, she couldn't really make out what it was, not that it mattered anyway as he drops it immediately as soon as he locked eyes with her.
"Mom! Mom I knew you'd wake up!" he cries, he runs over and gently squeezes her hand, Inko's eyes more than damp at this point as her pride and joy holds her bandaged hand gently.
"Izu... my brave little hero... I'm afraid... this is where we say goodbye..." she gasps, the grip on her hand tightening as she sees her little hero cringe at the utterance.
"Please no... come on don't say that mom! We can fix you! Dr Tsubasa can do something, right? Doc?" Izuku pleads as Tsubasa gently moves over and puts a hand on the boys shoulder.
"My... superstar... you're gonna do... so many great things..."
Izuku's eyes are waterfalls as he holds onto his mom. His one shining star in an otherwise empty night sky.
"I love you... and... I'll always... be with... you..." she says.
Izuku makes a small whining noise as he desperately holds onto his composure as desperately holds onto his Mom, trying to anchor her to this mortal plain.
"I love you too mom. I love you so much... Thank you for being my mom." he splutters, Inko could feel it now, the feeling in her body wasn't just muted, it was turning off. She could see a small light, not from the hospital room or the boy who would change the world, but from something beyond this world. She squeezes her son's hand one final time and smiles.
"Change the world my baby... change... the... world." Inko states, taking in one final breath as she relaxes her head and closes her eyes. Falling upward into that small light. Her eyes gently close, and her grip loosens on Izuku's hand.
"Mom? ... Mom?"
The machine flatlines, and with it. Izuku's composure. He lets out an agonising scream as he clutches onto the railing of the hospital bed. His scream as painful as it was to watch the one person he loved in this world suffer. He didn't see it, but even Dr Tsubasa had shed a tear at this sight of one last goodbye between a Mother and her Son.
"My... deepest condolences Izuku."
Izuku couldn't help but sink to the floor on his knees, and then he gently falls over onto his side in a little heap, as he starts to grieve. Tsubasa adjusts his glasses, making sure the glimmer of the hospital light covered his eyes. Probably for the best. Given the fact he'd never let anyone see any kind of emotion like this from him before, he didn't intend to start now.
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"Izuku..? ... Izuku?" asks Tsubasa.
A while had passed, Izuku wasn't sure how long he'd been sat in this hallway, in this chair, looking at the same beige wall. His body may have been sat there, but his mind was miles away. He couldn't hear the voice of a man right next to him, it took a light nudge on the shoulder to drag his mind back into his body, to face the agonising reality of which he now lived. He turns slowly to the doctor, with his bloodshot eyes.
"Izuku. Do you have anywhere to stay tonight?"
Izuku slowly motions his head in a shaking motion.
"That's what I feared. Well, there's a spare room in my home. Given the circumstances I'd be a really shitty boss if I didn't let you stay."
Izuku slowly motions his head into a nodding motion.
"... thanks." he murmured.
Tsubasa adjusts his glasses and leans back into the seat next to his grieving understudy.
"Now we can stay here as long as you need-"
Izuku's body is pulled up to it's feet, like he's hoisted upwards with invisible ropes.
"... can we go. Now. Please." whispers the grieving boy in green.
Tsubasa gently presses against his ear.
"Kurogiri. Warp."
A purple glow begins to emanate in the hallway before turning into a big purple void that encompasses the whole hallway. Thankfully it was late so there wasn't really anyone to accidentally stumble upon it. Tsubasa adjusts his glasses as the void opens up.
"It's okay son, it's a-"
"Warpgate Quirk." Izuku says as he walks through the void without hesitation, leaving the hospital and a part of himself behind. Tsubasa sighs as he removes his steamy glasses up and wipes them with his lab coat.
"How cruel this world is." mutters the doctor as he puts them back on and enters through the warpgate as well, it shutting behind him and fading away as he is swallowed by the void.
The hallway quietens for a moment, but only a moment. There's a grief stricken yell, a loud yell. As one blonde practically drags another behind her. She's in tears as he pleads with one of the doctors for information.
"Please... I just need to know where Inko Midoriya is." cries Mitsuki Bakugo.
Behind her, is a terrified and horrified Katsuki. In body, but not in spirit. The spirit of Bakugo had been ripped out along with the side of that apartment wall. Katsuki was all that remained, as he comes to terms with the fact that all that happened was real. And all that happened was his fault.
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