Dreams and Nightmares

"What did you mean by 'Kiri says hi'? There's no way you could talk to him!" "Calm down Katsuki, let him explain."

Katsuki paced back and forth in the living room as Inko cooked breakfast. He was getting more and more confused and agitated the more he paced waiting for Izuku to explain himself

"I had a dream last night and Kirishima was in it. He was talking to me, we were in a place he likes to call the 'Photographer's Field' Katsuki." "The fuck is that!?" "It's an in between as he calls it, but basically a dream." "And what exactly is the 'In between'?" "It's kind of like a meeting place for the living and the dead to talk." "What were you talking about!? Your accomodations in heaven!?" "I swear I wasn't dead." "Yea not yet! You're lucky I woke you up before you completely turned purple! You stopped breathing in your sleep and by some miracle survived like that for 3 hours!"

Izuku stared at Katsuki dumbfounded. 3 hours!? How did he not die!? Inko spoke up from the Kitchen.

"I've heard of that happening, sometimes you'll see someone whether it's friend, family, or lover. It doesn't matter as long as you have a good relationship with them. You'll stop breathing sure but you'll still manage to stay alive somehow. Someone once stayed alive not breathing in their sleep for a half day, that person broke the record for the longest time asleep without breathing. The time depends on how close you are to that person. It's a thing Katsuki."

Katsuki was clearly not going to buy it until he saw for himself but he did believe in supernatural forces.

\\\\\

Izuku had arrived at the office 10 minutes before his shift. He got himself resituated at his desk, which he hadn't sat at for a week. He was just waiting for Monoma to waltz in and slam down the large workload on his table. Sure enough he came by, but he didn't have a large pile of paperwork with him, instead he had a small folder.

"Finally back from your little vacation Midoriya?" "Please not today Director Monoma…" "Tell me, where did you waste your sick week this time?~" "I spent it at home, like I said I would…" "Really? Cause I saw you at the market last week just three days after and you looked fine! You seemed to be very good friends with that man in black~ Should that be our new story everyone?~"

Everyone in the office looked at Monoma like he was insane and started to ignore him completely, but Izuku was livid.

"You saw that!?" "I'm your boss, why wouldn't I notice you idly shopping while flirting with that guy on your sick week?" "I was being harassed!" "Really? cause I saw you get in his car afterwards." "Because I thought I could trust him…" "So we're going to act dense and naive now!?" "Leave him alone, Monoma!"

Kaminari walked between Izuku and Monoma.

"I was there twice during Izuku's sick week. The first time I was with a friend and the second time I was with ochaco and other friends." "I bet you brought that guy shinso from the other department! You probably weren't paying attention cause you were so focused on that sleep deprived idiot!" "Hey! Do not talk about Shinso like that! Insomnia is a real problem!" "He's right! And I was there with Izuku during his sick week with Kaminari!"

Ochaco had stomped over to the scene. Everyone was staring at them, intrigued in their dispute.

"He hadn't eaten the whole week and even after his best friend got there he fell asleep and woke up in the middle of the night still not eating! He really was sick!"

Monoma scoffed and walked away while shouting behind him:

"Just get the damn work done!"

Izuku sat down and opened the folder that was placed on the desk, but he closed it just as fast as he had opened it and was already speed walking towards Monoma cracking his knuckles and ready to punch him. Ochaco held him back just before he was able to hit him.

"What the fuck Monoma!"

Monoma just flipped off Izuku in response to his outburst. Izuku was fuming with anger trying to get ochaco to let go of him. It may not have seemed like it, but ochaco was much stronger than she appeared to be on the outside. Kaminari walked to Izuku's desk and almost opened the folder but Shinso tapped his shoulder and completely distracted him. Izuku was grateful to Shinso, he planned to thank him later for what he saved Kaminari from. Because if Kaminari found out what that folder contained he would have lost his job for assaulting the boss. The folder had the story for the break-in rapist and a little side note written in blue said:

'You have a lot of experience in this story, so I'll leave it for you to fill out all by yourself! No research needed!'

\\\

Izuku continued to work on the folder his bitchy boss gave him when Shinso walked up to Izuku.

"Hey Shinso." "Hey Midoriya."

Shinso leaned on the cubicle wall and watched Izuku work quietly. They sat in silence for about 10 minutes before a small ringing was heard throughout the room letting everyone know it was time for a lunch break

"By the way, Shinso, I need to thank you." "What for?" "Stopping Kaminari earlier. He probably would have gotten upset and punched Monoma before I did." "I had a feeling something in that folder wasn't good." "Nothing Monoma gives is good." "Anyways, what was in that folder?"

Izuku looked around the relatively empty office, nobody wasted any time getting out for lunch.

"I'll tell you, but not here. If you wanna go get lunch together I'll tell you then or after work." "Why so much secrecy?" "It's not something I should say in the office, some people are too nosy that's all." "Ok then, let's get lunch." "Cool, does Kaminari want to come with you?" "No, he's having lunch with Ochaco today." "Ok then let's go."

//

Shinso stared at Izuku, eyes wide with shock. Izuku took a bite out of the Katsudon and sat back in his seat looking out the window.

"That was you!?"

All Izuku could do was nod as he swallowed his food. He leaned towards Shinso and whispered:

"Not too loud, I don't want to draw attention where it's not needed." "Sorry Midoriya." "It's alright…"

Both were silent for a moment until Shinso started speaking again.

"So where are you going to go from here?" "I haven't thought too much about it, but recently I took some pictures. They were really nice and they kept me calm." "When are you going to start therapy?" "I haven't found a therapist yet, but I plan to get one in the future." "Ok, I'm going to ask a really serious question now." "If it's about whether I'm quitting or not, I'm going to wait until I have enough money saved up to move out elsewhere."

Izuku and Shinso talked for half an hour until they had to go back to the office. After Izuku got back he saw a note on the folder that said:

'Don't leave without finishing your work again!'

Izuku dreaded completing the story research because he didn't want to tell his boss anything about that. He didn't have a choice but he did want to keep it from him for as long as possible.

\\

Izuku got back home and flopped on the couch, sighing heavily. He wished he had Kenzo to snuggle up with and he felt ready to cry. This was a time when he needed her desperately but she was dead. Inko stopped him just as he got up to go to the backyard.

"You just got in Izuku…" "I know….I miss her a lot mom…" "Oh baby…"

Inko set down the rag she was using to dry her hands and hugged Izuku tightly. He hugged her back and said:

"Thank you mom, now let's help you find a new house, okay?" "Oh Izuku! I just got here and you're already trying to get me out of the house!"

She smacked him with the rag playfully and walked into the kitchen. Just then Katsuki burst into the house with a small, almost ear-piercing sound of barking that could be heard over Katsuki's screaming.

"Katsuki! What is all that noise! You're gonna make the neighbors report me for noise!" "It's not- *BARK BARK*- Shut it! I'm not making most of this noise!" "Katsuki, come into the living room! I can barely hear you over that barking!"

Katsuki walked into the Living room with a pet smart bag in one hand and a cage in the other. Izuku looked at him bewildered and shocked.

"Why do you have a dog with you?" "It's for you dumbass…" "Watch how you talk to my son Katsuki bakugo! I'll tell your mother!" "I'm sorry, please don't tell my mom." "Why did you bring a dog for me, Katsuki?" "Well, I knew how much you loved Kenzo and how you snuggled with her every night after you get home from work, kind of like a stress reliever if you ask me. So… I got you a dog."

Izuku gasped as he looked at Katsuki gratefully and immediately hugged him.

"You know me so well Katsuki! I'm so happy I have a friend like you!"

The dog barked even louder and started growling as well. Katsuki was going to yell again but Izuku opened the cage and let the small pomeranian jump onto him. It seemed to like him because as soon as it jumped on him it started licking his face gently.

"Aww, Katsuki I think he likes me!" "The damn dog has a favorite already!?"

It growled at Katsuki and jumped onto the couch behind Izuku. Inko walked into the living room and said:

"What are you going to name him Izuku?"

Izuku was still a little upset from what happened at work and couldn't think straight, so It wasn't a good Idea to try and name the dog right now.

"I haven't thought much about it yet. So I'm going to call him Inu for now until I can come up with a name…"

As If Inu was responding to Izuku's statement he Barked and jumped back into Izuku's arms again snuggling against him.

"Inu likes it for now I guess."

\\\

Izuku laid down in his bed thinking about his nightmare-ish day at work. Izuku couldn't wait to quit, he wanted to see the look on monoma's face when he finally slammed down the resignation letter on his desk and walked out the door flipping him off as he did so. Inko walked into the room and sat down at the edge of Izuku's bed suddenly without saying a word. Izuku sat up and asked:

"Hey, mom. What's got you up so late?" "Oh! I thought you were asleep Izuku." "No, I don't fall asleep as fast as I did when I was a kid." "Oh. Well to answer your question I was going to just walk in and search for a house. Katsuki and the dog are being a bit loud downstairs." "You wanted my opinion on a new house?" "Well I was expecting you to be half asleep so you wouldn't care If I picked a house back in our hometown…"

Izuku sat up and looked at his mom with deep concern. Sure he wouldn't have minded if the house burning down was just some accident from a stupid kid playing with fire. But it was that man. Inko's house was burned down because the rapist had an obsession over him. It was too dangerous for her to go back to their hometown, and Izuku knew this.

"M-mom don't you think maybe you can move somewhere else? Our hometown's not the safest bet for you right now…." "Izuku, I've already made up my mind. I'm moving back to our hometown." "But mom!-" "Izuku, don't you trust me to be by myself anymore?" "Of course I do but-" "There should be no buts then!" "It's too dangerous! What if he comes back!?" "What that arsonist? The police said they were going to catch him so It's fine Izuku." "But-" "No, I don't want to hear one more protest you understand?" "But mom please-" "Do you understand?" "...Yes mom…"

Izuku wasn't too sure about letting his mom go back to Nagano, but at least he could check in on her through mitsuki. He demanded to meet with the dealer before they moved her into the house.