Chapter 6 - Lin

An hour after Mitsuki left, while Inko was on her phone, she noticed movement from her side.

A small smile appeared as she greeted Izuku awake, "Good morning honey."

Izuku heard her greetings and flipped his body over. Lin had little say as she flipped over with him, meowing in complain as he woke her up.

*meow~!*

"Morning…mom," Izuku responded. The small pause was due to him being unaccustomed to being woken up by someone else. He also needed a few moments before waking up after a deep sleep to fully activate his brain.

He kept his stare on Inko, not minding the small scratches of tantrum Lin gave to his hospital robe. "Are you feeling okay mom?"

"Mn, It's nothing a few nights of sleep won't fix," She answered with a warm smile, not wanting her son to worry needlessly. Besides, everything was true, except that it might need more than a few nights to recover.

"What happened yesterday?" Izuku asked. Inko didn't bother to wait and briefly recount the events after his headache hit him. Same with Mitsuki, Izuku was surprised when he found out that he was the cause of it all.

'...' Izuku fell silent. Surprise and bewilderment filled his mind, thinking that there was no way this had nothing to do with god. The note did say god upgraded Lin 'too', meaning Izuku must've gotten something as well.

Though, at the forefront of those thoughts, the one that plagued his mind the most is guilt. The guilt of hurting Inko. He still hadn't fully forgiven himself for hurting Lin, much less now this.

Inko saw and realized why Izuku had fallen silent. Not letting his thoughts spiral down even more, Inko beckoned Izuku to come to her since she was a still bit weak right now.

Izuku brought Lin in his arms and sat on her bed. The hospital bed was surprisingly large, enough to house 2 people comfortably, allowing Izuku to then lay down with Inko without any difficulties.

He let himself be guided to rest on Inko's left shoulder as she caress and ruffle his messy green hair softly. Lin didn't bother the two as she decided to jump out and slept on Izuku's bed.

Ignoring the cat's actions, Inko whispered softly, trying to calm her son down, "It's not your fault Izuku. Don't bother about it too much. You have a quirk now!"

Inko thought that the mention of his newborn quirk would jump his spirits up, but instead, it somehow brought him even further down.

As if her previous words didn't happen, Izuku looked up and met his mother's gaze, "I'm sorry I hurt you…" He said. His voice was shaky, almost breaking even. Izuku didn't know whether these words were directed to his new family; Inko, Lin, or even, both, but they came from the deepest depths of his heart.

Inko was at a loss for what to do. She had never expected to see that expression again, one of great pain. Especially not now. It was as if he rediscovered that he was born quirkless.

Even if she didn't know what to do, she still followed her gut. It may be wrong, it may be right, but she sure as hell won't just cry and do nothing like all those years ago.

"Izuku…Mom doesn't know why Izuku isn't happy, but, how about we consider it like this," She said, wiping the little drop of tears near Izuku's eyes, "I might be hurt today because of Izuku, but because of that, Izuku now has the power to protect Mom in the future, right?"

Hearing her words, Izuku looks turned silent, digesting her words and their meaning. Yes, he might have hurt her once, but this time, he had a chance to repent, a chance to make things right, so to say.

He couldn't with Lin before, as she had bared the ultimate consequence, but Inko hasn't. Izuku still had the time.

Seeing that her words managed to connect with her son, Inko hugged him even closer to her embrace, ushering him to let go of his guilt as best he can. She didn't know whether this would work, but thankfully, Izuku seemed to have somewhat calmed down and snuggled in deeper.

And with that, Inko didn't forget to land the finishing blow that is a kiss to his forehead. Ultimately sealing his guilt from letting him spiral down even further.

Izuku now had a goal in mind. Where in his previous life he only lived for the betterment of himself; where he even jeopardized Lin's safety for it; in this life, he wanted to live for others. Finally, for the first time in his life, he realized that he had something to protect. Something to come back to.

~~~~~

After a few moments, Izuku finally calmed down. He was still on Inko's bed but is now sitting upright to her left. His eyes are a bit red and looked a bit tired but Inko chuckled as she thought it made him cuter somehow.

Although She was still taller than her son, she laid her head on Izuku's shoulders, wanting to get a turn at being pampered. Since it looked like his eyes were already determined to protect her in the future, she might as well start now.

Izuku let her be, thinking it was a bit heavy but he didn't mind one bit. It was nice. He looked to his left and noticed a grocery bag left on the table. "Where did this come from mom?"

Inko looked at where his eyes were staring at and paused before answering, "Your aunt Mitsuki brought it over. She helped with the paperwork this morning.".

"Oh…" Izuku muttered. The previous Izuku had some memories of Mitsuki, albeit very little. The only useful info being that she is his bully's mother and that he isn't fond of her as well.

The previous Izuku would often avoid her at all costs. A steady stream of bullying had made him somewhat afraid of the Bakugou family altogether. One was ridden with guilt while the other was with fear.

If Katsuki or Kacchan, as the previous Izuku called him, didn't actively search for the poor boy, they would probably never meet again as Izuku had always avoided him like the plague.

'I guess he gets off of being in control…Kid's here are scarier than there, starting to do this at the age of four…' Izuku thought, thinking power really does corrupt.

Back to Mitsuki, the current Izuku had no qualms with the Bakugou family at all. Although he inherited the memories, it was like watching a movie. The current Izuku had a different PoV than him. All the clips he saw of Mitsuki were of her being kind and nice, sometimes attractive even, rather than scary or intimidating.

Her son, however, no matter how he twists it, is a fully fledged bully/sadist. He definitely wouldn't mind teaching Katsuki a few lessons or two should he ever bother him again.

"By the way," Inko said, pointing at the sleeping tiny cat, "Since when did you adopt a cat?"

Hearing her question, Izuku blacked out for a bit. He didn't really want to lie to her, and he definitely would tell her the truth. It's just that the truth is a tad more ridiculous than normal.

Inko saw her son's face and knew he doesn't want to answer, so she decided it'd be useless to insist. "I don't mind, but next time, tell Mom first, ok?" She said, kissing his forehead, relieving his worry.

Izuku always felt weird being treated like a kid, but he was never really an adult in his past life anyway, he was more of a machine to do grim jobs. So, he let her do whatever she wants. It was his second chance, why waste it for something like the pride of an adult, which he had discarded easily before anyway?

Izuku nodded and promised to convene with her before making a big decision in the future. He got up and picked Lin up, doing his best not to disturb her slumber, and sat back down with Inko.

"She's Lin, a native bobtail cat," Izuku introduced Lin with an affectionate tone, surprising Inko greatly. It sounded as if he had known her for a long time, but that was nigh impossible.

(Lin)

Inko ignored and set those thoughts aside as she enjoyed the view of her son coddling the little minx. She was still asleep, yet, each of his touches caused her to purr in delight.

Inko suddenly kissed Izuku on his cheek. He was surprised, to say the least, but still kept his posture, afraid of waking Lin up. "What was that for Mom?"

"Fufu~ You looked so cute with her, I can't resist," Inko said, kissing him once more before finally letting her blushing son go. While Lin does bring up a lot of questions, she was more than willing to brush them off after she saw the joy Lin brought to Izuku.

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