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Izuku considered himself quite reliable.
Many times he had found himself as a confidant in which others put their trust and closely guarded secrets. Although he was usually blindsided by the sudden information, there had never been a problem keeping things under wraps before. In this case, considering his personal feelings on this particular subject paired with his unfortunate mumbling habit, there was just no stopping it.
Being completely honest, he doesn’t even remember how the conversation progressed there. It started with him telling his Mom about his forgotten parents’ evening and somehow snowballed into him, just shy of, trash talking the current no.1 hero. It was a close thing.
However, his Mom had taken immediate notice of his uncharacteristic distaste and had calmly asked questions until she got to the root of the problem. In her younger days she had been a well-known lawyer, so she knew her way around a conversation. There had been no other option. Even without naming names a few things became obvious very quickly. The two had sat in apprehensive silence for a moment before their easy flow of conversation had hesitantly returned.
Izuku had been relieved when his Mom had dropped it, hoping maybe she’d forget or, at least, that it wouldn’t come up again. She was a busy woman after all. Even so, the guilt far outweighed his momentary relief. He didn’t mean to tell his Mom and he was aware of the gravity of the secret he had shared, of his accidental betrayal. So, he vowed to confess his wrongdoing as soon as possible and to beg forgiveness. He’d take Todoroki aside and give a heartfelt apology when he returned to the dorms. Simple.
Unfortunately for Izuku though, he hadn’t been able to get a moment alone with Shouto since he got back.
He had ended up staying an extra day with his sister, probably to finalise her position as the “parent” overseeing his progress, and then every day after that their schedules had either clashed or they’d both been so tired that a coherent conversation would not be a likely end to his confession.
And call him a coward but Shouto was one of his best friends, he wasn’t eager to be on the receiving end of his anger nor happy to cause him distress.
Eventually parents’ evening came about and the option to speak to him beforehand was lost for good, as they were meant to meet and supervise their guardians.
Izuku had tried to put the issue out of his mind.
In theory it didn’t matter if he apologised before or after, his Mom knew how to deal with sensitive information and there was a slim chance that she’d come into contact with Endeavour. Aizawa didn’t know the exact details but he knew enough to rule that parents were not allowed on site without explicit permission and supervision, a certain flame hero in particular. That was part of the reason there would be a tour before any actual discussions of progress. Some parents had been upset with the conditions and letting them into the school like this would hopefully pacify and reassure them.
Izuku waved at his Mother, jogging over to her and then engulfing her in a tight hug. He grinned as she ruffled his hair. It was always a pleasure to see his Mom. The dorms were brilliant but he did miss her more than he thought he would. The home visits sated the homesickness well enough though.
The boy hurriedly beeped her in, complimenting her choice of clothes whilst they walked to the meet up point. Now he waited with her as the other parents began to fill out the small hall that their tour would begin in. Though, of course, the whole campus wasn’t up for inspection given how time-consuming that would be.
By now, most of 1a’s parents had gathered in the room. Jirou’s parents could be seen fondly ruffling her hair, despite her half-hearted protests and Kacchan’s booming voice could be heard ricocheting off the walls. His Mom sighed beside him.
“Some things never change, hm Izuku?” A small smile sat on her face.
“Truly.” He absentmindedly agreed, his mind and eyes elsewhere.
Shouto stood at the door still air surrounding him.
His sister still hadn’t arrived, most likely running late because of her job and as stoic as he was perceived he was beginning to fidget, anxious for arrival. He looked longingly at the hallway, almost restless, though invisible to those not close to him, checking his phone and the time on his watch several times.
Izuku saw the exact moment the blood drained from his face, his own following.
The air around him exploded into adverse temperatures, the clashing of hot and cold so apparent that Shouto had to take a step to steady himself. The breeze from the potential explosion successfully drew the eyes of most, but the presence in the doorway was what really drew everyone’s attention. Shouto backed up as though he didn’t want to be swallowed in the consequences.
“Shouto!!” The man exclaimed, far from quiet but clearly attempting some form of civil greeting. Even though he was less than a metre away from him. What a wonderful start to the tour.
Shouto was clearly not enjoying himself. He’d frozen up, stiffness locking his body in place and his face had settled into a frightening calm, despite the no doubt tumultuous storm behind his eyes.
Behind Izuku, something far more worrying was happening though and in hindsight, he definitely should have kept a better eye or any eye even on his mother. Especially in light of the information she’d received from him just the other day. Looking back Izuku can only feel crushing regret but amongst it all the teeny tiniest bit of pride.
Somehow his Mother was the first and only one to break out of the trance everyone seemed to be in. Even the teachers seemed frozen to their spots, granted that was probably more due to the fact that the “Hero” wasn’t meant to be there.
Regardless of everyone’s inaction, Midoriya Inko did not stay still and had ended up standing in front of Shouto, half blocking him from the view of the man before her. She did not look happy.
Yeah, this was about to get ugly.
Izuku had followed her, eventually, like a lost puppy ending up next to her and therefore in the centre of the ensuing mess. Nobody dared to move as Inko’s face morphed into the most distasteful glare which then disappeared like she had to take a moment to gather herself.
Eyes closed, she finally spoke.
“Izuku Sweetie?”
“…Yes Mom?” Izuku wanted to go home.
“Hold my earrings.”
The woman neatly deposited her bejewelled earrings in her son’s scarred hands before stepping forward and grabbing the front of the hero’s suit with her quirk.
The sight was ridiculous. A big burly man like Endeavour forced forward seemingly by nothing. Izuku watched the whole thing feeling helpless to stop her.
Endeavour spluttered in disbelief but Inko held fast, simply staring him into his blue eyes with her own venomous green.
“Mr. Aizawa was it?” Aizawa verbally confirms.
“Are you the one allowing this to be here?” Her glare didn’t shift but the tone of the question was obvious.
“No, Mrs Midoriya. He’s not on the approved list.”
“Then could you call this a security breach?”
Several gasps sounded around the room at that, Endeavour’s being one. He opened his mouth to vocalise his disapproval but he soon found it shut again as though the man had nothing worth saying. Oh wait.
“Well?” She prompted.
“Mrs. Inko, I must ask that you-”
Inko held up a single hand.
“That’s quite enough, Toshinori.” She met eyes with Aizawa and nodded at the flaming man in her quirk’s grip. “Be a dear.”
Endeavour shook the shock from his limbs. Smoke looked like it would start escaping his nostrils any minute now.
“How dare you?!” He tried to stand up straight but snapped back into place in quite the comical fashion. Had the situation been any different Izuku might have laughed. Maybe even have taken notes about the apparent elasticity of his suit. It had certainly come in handy for him today.
“I am obligated to arrest you for unauthorised quirk use!” Izuku flinched forward as the man stupidly reached for his mother. Earrings be damned, this man would not lay a hand on his mother.
“Actually Mr. Todoroki,” she used her quirk to tug both Izuku and Shouto out of the way before using her quirk to pull on the wrist reaching for her. She smiled as the man stumbled. “I’m permitted to use my quirk for small, insignificant things.”
The man, having taken several hits to his pride so far, turned around anger set on his brow.
“You-” He pivoted to face her again but the woman stood strong, eyes narrowed at him. She stepped into his space dragging him down to her level with only her clenched fist this time.
“There are a lot of witnesses present. You don’t want to add to your sentence do you?” She lowered her voice so only he could hear her. “Even without the domestic offenses I’m sure there’s a lot the courts would love to learn about you, Todoroki.”
Endeavour audibly gulped, knocked back into shock again.
“Toshinori, if you will.” The man jumped when he was addressed and tucked away his blood-splattered handkerchief.
Izuku took the opportunity to drag his mother out of the line of fire, he almost cried in relief when she asked for her earrings back. That meant this haunting ordeal was about to meet its end.
All might stepped forward beginning his attempt at herding Enji out of the room and finding the original attendee when, clearly looking for his own destruction, the man spoke up again.
He turned to face Inko, seemingly loathing to be subdued so early on and snarled.
“I am Endeavour and you shall address me as such.”
Inko, unperturbed, fiddled with the clasp on her earring.
“I was under the impression Endeavour was the name of a hero.” She finally fastened her first earring and looked the lofty man in the eye. “Not whatever you are.”
To say Izuku was shocked would be an understatement.
Once he could finally tear his eyes away from the heavy man being dang near dragged from the hall he found Shouto just as dumbfounded beside him. Similarly, the rest of the room was trapped in the tense silence that followed.
And of course, the cause of this phenomenon broke the silence like nothing.
“Izuku dear, get my other earring will you? I can’t quite get it.”
With that, the floodgates burst open. Most of the room scraped their jaws off the floor and began shrieking in question. The room’s reaction was split. The parents alarmed by the interaction while their children were impressed. Even Tenya held his tongue, giving a short nod of approval.
Thankfully, Fuyumi arrived shortly after, out of breath and eyes wide with questions. Her eyes flicked between the adults in the room before they finally landed on Shouto. She rushed over to him, fussing over him and slipping him a quick hug. He wasn’t one for physical contact but perhaps that was simply because he’d been starved of it. He leaned into his sister’s embrace.
“I’m so sorry I’m late, Shouto. I had to wrap things up with the kids and then I was looking for the pass but I just couldn’t find it. I phoned in to find out if I could still come and Principal Nezu Okayed it. Dad must have took the pass.” She explained guiltily.
Izuku watched as Shouto tried his best to reassure her, letting her know it was fine since everything worked out and she was here now. Fuyumi still looked regretful but more willing to cut herself some slack. She tilted her head.
“By the way, where is he?”
Shouto met her eyes, his lips upturned slightly like he was resisting the urge to grin.
“Dealt with.”
At her confusion, he elaborated.
“I’ll tell you later.”
Aizawa cleared his throat. He’d cleaned up a little for the parents so there were no mistakes where the authority lied. His hair was scraped into a loose ponytail and his usual capture weapon rested over a fresh suit. Surprisingly, his sleeping bag was nowhere to be seen although Izuku concluded it was probably nearby out of sight. He does not go anywhere without it.
“Shall we begin the tour?”