Chapter 57

A few moments of shocked silence later, Inko burst out in tears. Izuku watched her motionlessly and with an apathetic expression. After a couple of minutes, his mother calmed down a bit. "Izuku… Where have you been? And just what did you do?"

The officer behind her cleared his throat. "Your son has been charged with physical injury, ma'am." Inko turned to the man, disbelief in her eyes. "Are you… sure about that?" "Yes, ma'am. The trial will be around the next week, there you'll be able to see the full extent."

Inko nodded slowly and wiped her eyes. "Can I… can I take Izuku home for the time being?" "Is your son still a minor?" "Yes. His 18th birthday is the 15th of July." "Then it is alright, I believe. But he'll have to be put under house arrest." The officer and Inko left the room for the paperwork, then Izuku was let out of the cell.

Another officer drove him and his mother home, then there was nothing left to do or say. Inko and Izuku stood next to each other at the entrance of the small apartment, neither of them knowing exactly what to do. Eventually, Inko snapped out of her trance. "I'll… make dinner, alright?"

Izuku watched her flee into the kitchen without further reaction. Then he cocked his nose at the familiar surroundings. He didn't want to be reminded of the time when he still lived here, letting people walk all over him happily, just because the loser had still been alive and in charge.

He stuffed his hands into his pockets and decided to take a look around the apartment. Nothing seemed to have changed. Even the photos in the frames were still the same, all of them having him smiling on them. It disgusted Izuku more than just a little bit. He had wanted to erase this past for a long time, and now it was all coming back because of one nosy idiot.

Eventually, Izuku found himself standing in front of his old room. The big, All Might themed nametag was still hanging at the door. Behind him, he heard his mother's voice. "Everything should still be the same. I only cleaned it a few times." Izukus eyes narrowed. Did he really want to face a room full of useless plastic toys he used to adore?

Not really. But he did anyways. He almost turned back when he entered his old room. All of the All Might action figures, posters and even the bedding were still there. It made Izuku nauseous. Then his eyes fell on a small object on the nightstand. His phone. Even the phone case was All Might themed.

Izuku tried to turn it on, but it wouldn't. He guessed the battery had long died and put it on the charger. He was really curious about it, since he didn't remember a thing about his phone. In fact, he had already forgotten he had ever owned one. But he guessed it could be useful in case he needed Bakugou for something and couldn't talk to him in person.

Later after dinner, Inko sat down with Izuku on the couch. "Izuku, please tell me the story behind all of this. I don't know what happened, I don't get what you're charged with and I certainly don't know how to defend you. The only thing I know is that they will put you into prison if we don't have something good to tell the lawyer."

Izuku stayed quiet for a while. His voice was soundless and flat when he finally spoke up. "What would you say in court?" Inko was confused. "What do you mean? I don't have anything to say…" "Let me rephrase that- which side are you on?" Inko felt like her sons' eyes were impaling her.

She turned away a bit. "Yours, of course. What kind of mother would I be if I stood against you?" "Even if I did it? Would you lie for me if I was guilty?" Now, Izukus voice was even sharper than his glare. And Inko suddenly understood. Izuku had done whatever they thought he did, maybe even more.

"I… I don't necessarily think it would be the right thing to do… But-" "I don't care what you think. The only thing important to me is what you do." Izukus eyes were hooded and his voice softer, opposing his harsh words. Inko saw it. "Izuku, I will always stand by you. That's my 'but'. I love you and I care for you, so of course I will lie for you. Just, please… tell me your story."

So Izuku did. He told her what Bakugou had done in his childhood, how he ran away, what people did to him, how he became what he was- including the vanishing of Izuku-, how he hurt Bakugou, killed and played people, all in the same monotone voice. And with a cold, mask-like expression. He only left out how Bakugou fell in love with him.

Inko silently cried the whole time. She couldn't understand how fate chained things together this messed up way, she didn't get how she never noticed her sons' suffering and she felt guilty for all the pain brought to this world just because a few sentences were never said. Like the selfless person she was, she blamed all of it on herself.

In the end, Inko had her arms clutched around her son, crying rivers of bitter tears over the tragedy his life unraveled to be. And Izuku held her with a strangely tense expression, although not one of his actions or words had shown he still felt for her the way a child should feel for its mother.

-/-

I never intended to see you again.

I wanted to leave you behind, like everything here. You never should've known about all of this.

Now you're crying. And you probably blame yourself, like you always did.

But if there's one person not at fault, it's you.

You always tried to help and protect him… now me.

Your only mistake was to be naive and stupid. But I can't blame you for that.

And I may not love you- but I do care. You're still my mother after all.