M-Side (Part 6)

He was wrong.

Even if they were no longer classmates, Kacchan still had Deku on his radar.

"Get out of the way, shitty nerd!"

The hallway was at least three meters wide, and Izuku was absolutely sure he was barely occupying any space, yet Kacchan decided that Deku was blocking his way. And we all know what happens to people who made Kacchan experience the slightest inconvenience: they pay for it.

That day, Izuku had to search for his backpack all around the school (embarrassingly, with his white indoor shoes because his other pair was missing from his shoe locker). He found his notebook swimming along the fishes on the fish pond, though his backpack and shoes were nowhere to be seen.

He sighed and went home.

"Izuku, that's the 4th pair of shoes and the 6th bag you lost this school year," Inko said. "I know you've been clumsy since you were young, but don't you think this is too much?"

Izuku looked down, his long bangs covering his eye that was soon welling up with tears. "I'm sorry, Mom."

"You know we've been having financial problems ever since your dad stopped working and got confined in the hospital. You know my job doesn't pay well to keep on buying your new—"

"I'm sorry for being a burden." He sobbed.

"Honey, no." Inko stood up and trapped his son in a tight embrace. She has gotten a little chubbier. She had the tendency to stress eat, after all. And with the amount of stress she's in lately, it's no surprise this was her body's condition. "You're not a burden, don't cry."

But Izuku knew he was.

***

In the middle of his third and last year of middle school, Yagi Toshinori died.

The bullying simmered down, probably upon Kacchan's orders. His things would still disappear from time to time, the desk filled with vandals telling him to suck their cocks or something, those kinds of things, but never violence. He never experienced any form of physical abuse after his father's death.

At least something decent happened even when his life was in shambles.

Izuku didn't have any plans for high school since not a single high school in their prefecture would take his failing ass in. In fact, he barely graduated. Right after he miraculously did, the Midoriyas sold the house and went live back in their previous apartment. Izuku studied in a decent high school, finally far away from Kacchan.

They lost all contact after that.

***

"Congratulations, Izuku!" Inko trapped his son in a tight embrace, her whole body was shaking in joy.

"Thanks, Okaa-san." He awkwardly returned her hug, yet it was sincere, nonetheless.

Izuku just got into the most prestigious university in Japan. Though it was difficult, he managed to pull himself back together in high school and had high marks enough to let him pass in his dream university.

"I think All Might would've been proud," Izuku absentmindedly muttered to himself. Upon realizing what he just said, he stared up at his mother's face.

She was smiling.

"You know he would,"

Fat tears fell down his freckled face.

***

Inko accompanied his son in Tokyo as they shopped for his college essentials.

"I could do this by myself, Okaa-san," Izuku sighed, pushing the shopping cart around the department store. The wheels of the cart were making slight rumbling sounds, it might've been annoying to some but for him, it was somehow comforting.

Maybe because it reminded him of the small car figures he used to play with Ka—

"Oh, please," Inko rolled her eyes, walking side by side with his son as they browsed the bed sheet section. "Do you even know how many towels you should buy?"

"Uh... 1?"

"Wrong!" The Midoriya matriarch tutted. "You need four: one each for your head, body, face, and hand. You need two sets of each so that's a total of eight towels. "

"What the fuck?" Izuku blurted out. "Why would I need 8 towels?! That's absolutely absurd—"

"Language!" Inko sternly reminded.

"Sorry," He muttered. "Though I really appreciate it, Okaa-san." He said, sincerely. Not just to change the topic. Or maybe a bit of both.

"Appreciate what?" She hummed, scanning a particularly fancy-looking blanket.

"That you went all the way here just so you assist me in choosing my pieces of stuff."

"Stuff," Inko corrected. "Of course, honey. I don't trust you enough to buy your own things."

"What?" Izuku gasped, placing a hand on his chest. "You don't think I can choose the right—"

"Izuku," She pivoted, facing her son, her tone patronizing. "last time I allowed you to choose your own clothes, you came back with a t-shirt printed with the word 't-shirt'."

"It was a good T-shirt...!" He argued.

"No, honey. I'll be honest with you, it's horrible. And so are those red sneakers you're wearing,"

Izuku's cheeks matched the color of his footwear.

"Inko?" A familiar voice called out from the other end of the aisle. "Darling, I haven't seen you in forever!"

Both Midoriyas searched for the source of the voice, only to spot two blonds with explosive hair standing out like a sore thumb in the middle of the busy department store. His Forest green eyes dilate in horror, and his heart started beating like mad, for some reason, his whole body refused to cooperate and he found himself dumbly standing in place as he watched the mother and son duo walk closer towards them.

Kacchan looked equally disturbed as their eyes met.

He immediately looked away, clicking his tongue.

Izuku felt a dull ache in his chest, the chatter of the two ladies with them seemed like dull buzzes to his ears. Kacchan hesitantly glanced at him, only to turn away once more. Deku then realized that he was still staring at the other boy like the creep that he was.

He finally resumed his bed sheet browsing in silence.

"Deku,"

Izuku halted, feeling a shiver running down his spine. They're both 18 now, it should've been obvious that both of them would experience puberty, one of them being the change of voice pitch. But for some reason, hearing Kacchan speak with a lower voice surprisingly made his knees turn into jelly.

"Kacchan," He breathed out the name like it was something sacred, yet he didn't bother to face Kacchan. His grip tightened around the shopping cart's handle, for a split second Deku wondered if he should make a run for it, using the cart as a vehicle of escape.

Maybe Kacchan noticed his stiffness, or he's secretly a mind-reader and he heard Deku contemplating if it was a logical idea to jump out the window from the 4th floor of the mall. All he knew, Kacchan snatched his wrist. He pivoted towards the two ladies and spoke.

"I'll borrow Deku for a second. You can choose our sheets if you'd like." And made the run for it, dragging Izuku with him.