Authors note:
Speaking: "….."
Thinking: '…..'
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Inko's POV
11:50 AM, Friday
Inko was currently on the train, heading home from her night shift at the hospital. She looked down at her phone's lock screen, which was a picture of her son, Izuku, who had been missing for the past two months. He, alongside his best friend, Katsuki Bakugo—the son of her best friend Mitsuki—had simply vanished without a trace. Even after involving a detective from the police force, they hadn't found a single clue as to where the boys could have gone.
"Dammit, Izuku, where are you?" the woman thought, holding her phone tightly to her chest. Over the last two months, she and the Bakugos had held multiple meetings to talk about everything, including the pain of possibly losing their children forever. Both families had been in distress ever since the boys disappeared, and they were at an all-time low, even lower than when he died.
Stepping off the train, she briefly looked up at the sky before making her way to the house her father had left behind. Going through the gate, she grabbed her keys and opened the front door, not bothering to announce herself since no one was home anyway. She intended to go to the kitchen to grab a bite to eat before going to bed and catching up on some sleep.
But when she walked around the corner, she saw something. It was a little green-haired boy crouched down, holding his head with both hands. Staring at the boy, she thought ' Am I hallucinating? Did I work too much last night? No, this can't be right' Letting go of her bag, she then asked, frightened to hear the answer, "I-Izuku?"
The boy looked up at her and, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head, replied, "Hey, Mom. How have you been doing lately?"
Then, as if something snapped right at that moment after hearing that one phrase, she was already down on her knees, hugging her son so tightly it was as if she wanted to say, "I'm never letting you go again." Starting to cry, she continued to hug the boy, who was seemingly infected by her tears and also began to cry.
"Izuku, I-I was so worried. I thought I had lost you, that I wasn't a good enough mother, and that you had left me..." Then, pausing for a moment, a thought came to mind. She stopped hugging Izuku and, looking him up and down, questioned, "Are you alright? Are you hurt? Where have you been, and what happened?"
After wiping away his tears, Izuku answered, "I'm alright, Mom. Nothing happened to me, I'm not hurt. As for where I've been... would you believe me if I said I was in another world fighting monsters?" He spoke the last part while fiddling with his hands.
Looking a bit perplexed at her son's answer, she barely managed to say, "Say what now?" But before she could question him any further, an alarm rang. If she remembered correctly, it was the microwave. Her son, turning his head back toward the ringing device, then said, "Oh, my food's ready. Wait a moment, Mom, I'll be back in a bit." He jumped onto the kitchen counter, opened the microwave, took out the food—which Inko identified as the leftover katsudon from yesterday—put it on a plate, and walked toward the table to eat.
Looking at her son in shock, she asked, "Ah, sweetie, when did you learn to operate the microwave?" But before the boy could answer, a thought crossed her mind 'Wait, why am I astonished about that? He just jumped onto the kitchen counter—that's about one meter high!'
"Let me think... about a month ago, I think. I tried using something similar for the first time when I was warming up food for me and Kacchan," the seemingly four-year-old said nonchalantly.
And speak of the devil, at that moment, her phone started ringing. When she looked to see who was calling, it was Mitsuki. Not hesitating, she answered the phone, hearing, "Inko, you know who I just found? I'll tell you—when I woke up today and went down to get breakfast, guess who I saw in the kitchen warming himself some katsudon from yesterday? Katsuki! He's here, Inko, he's really back! And you know what? He said Izuku should also be back home!"
Mitsuki sounded happier than Inko had ever heard her in the past two months.
Answering a bit out of breath, the green-haired woman said, "I know! He's here with me, also eating the katsudon from yesterday. But let me ask you this—don't you find it a bit strange that they can warm their own food?"
"Well, now that you mention it, it is a bit odd. And the brat did say some other pretty unbelievable things," Mitsuki replied, pondering the question, then asked, "Do you think we should tell the detective and get them looked at by a Quirk doctor? It could be related to Izuku's Quirk."
"You're right. I'll call Detective Tsukauchi and let him know. Let's meet later at the doctor's office," Inko said before hanging up and dialing the number the man had given her.
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No One's POV
Quirk Doctor's Office, 1 Hour Later
Izuku and his mother were just entering the office of the doctor that Detective Tsukauchi had told them to meet. The man assured them that this doctor was his most trusted friend and that they would discuss everything further at the meeting.
When Inko opened the door, she was greeted by two men talking to each other. They quickly noticed Izuku and his mother and walked up to them. One of the men was Detective Naomasa Tsukauchi, whom Inko had met two months ago. The other was a young-looking man of average height and lean build, with long, straight white hair that gradually transitioned to orange at the tips and piercing orange eyes.
"Ah, Inko, it's good to see you again," Tsukauchi said, shaking her hand. Then, noticing Izuku, he crouched down and patted the boy's head. "So you're Izuku. I'm glad to finally meet you," Tsukauchi said, smiling, intending to lighten the atmosphere a bit. To his surprise, Izuku simply grabbed his hand and shook it, answering, "Likewise, the pleasure is all mine," while smiling lightly.
Standing up, Tsukauchi looked a bit surprised by the boy's response. Leaning closer to Inko, he whispered, "I see what you meant now."
Without replying to the man's quiet comment, Inko asked, "So, are you going to introduce us to your friend anytime soon?" Realizing he had neglected the introduction, Tsukauchi straightened up and, gesturing toward the mysterious man with an open palm, said, "Let me introduce you to my longtime friend and world-renowned quirk scientist, Asahi Daigo."
To everyone's surprise, Izuku interjected, "Asahi Daigo? Isn't he supposed to be, like, fifty years old or so?" He looked visibly confused.
"Izuku, we do not insult people like that!" Inko crouched down, scolding her son, but she was interrupted by the man now identified as Asahi.
"Excuse me, young lady, but the boy has a point. I am indeed fifty-six years old," he said.
"Young lady?" Inko thought, before realizing what the man had just said. "Oh, you are? I'm so sorry for assuming! It's just... you look no older than twenty-five!" she exclaimed, her hands covering her cheeks to hide her blush.
"It's quite alright. My body is indeed about twenty-five years old. You see, my quirk is called 'Phoenix.' Once my body reaches the age of thirty, it turns to ashes, and I rise again with a new twenty-five-year-old body," Daigo explained, holding up one finger, his eyes closed.
"So, are you like immortal, or can you still die from severe enough injuries?" the small green-haired boy questioned, intrigued, holding his hand to his chin.
Before Daigo could answer, the door to the room opened again, revealing the Bakugo family. Katsuki and his mother were in a heated argument about the ash-blonde boy not wanting to be carried around by Mitsuki. However, upon seeing Izuku, Katsuki quickly ran toward his friend, who stood with open arms, intending to hug him. To everyone's surprise, Katsuki instead threw the meanest right hook they had ever seen a four-year-old deliver, sending Izuku crashing into a wall.
"You moron! Why didn't you warn me that the guards had already respawned? I would have dodged their attack if I'd known!" Katsuki yelled angrily.
The adults in the room just stared at the cracks in the wall Izuku had left behind, astonished by the boy's strength.
"Gee, I missed you too, Kaachan. And let me remind you, it was you who said we should charge at the boss together. It's both of our fault for missing that the guards had respawned," Izuku stated calmly, getting back on his feet and dusting himself off as if nothing had happened. Then, walking toward Katsuki, he intended to hug his best friend but tripped on his own foot, falling face-first onto the ground. "I'm still not used to my feet being so short," he muttered.
Laughing hysterically, Katsuki walked toward Izuku, saying, "Hahaha, you seriously just tripped on your own feet. You're so dumb, Izu..." But before he reached Izuku, he also tripped over his own foot, landing directly on top of Izuku.
Izuku started chuckling a bit before Katsuki said, "I don't wanna hear anything from you," in an angry tone. This made the green-haired boy burst out laughing, and eventually, the ash-blonde boy joined in as well.
After a while, the boys finished their little argument, coming to the conclusion that both were at fault. "Well, in the end, we both kinda got overwhelmed, so dying is really our failure as a duo," Izuku stated sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.
"Yeah, well, we can try again in half a year, so it's not that bad. Oh, and I almost forgot—look," Katsuki said, arms crossed at first, but then, taking his right hand out, he let off miniature explosions from his palm.
"That's so cool! You manifested your quirk!" Izuku squealed excitedly, bouncing around his friend.
"Yeah, I did. It happened when I punched the wall a bit too hard after I got back home. It's not as good as yours, though," the crimson-eyed boy said, sounding a bit defeated and slumping forward slightly.
Before the boys could talk more, they were reminded that they weren't the only ones in the room by Asahi clearing his throat. The boys, looking at the other adults, realized they had made a mistake saying all those things out loud.
"My son is talking about dying... my sweet little Izuku," Inko said, looking like she had just seen a ghost.
"The brat just punched Izuku into a wall, and he brushed it off like it was nothing," Mitsuki said, staring at the crater Izuku had left in the wall in disbelief. Meanwhile, Masaru was lying on the ground, having lost consciousness when his son punched another kid into a wall, while Naomasa tended to him.
Getting everyone's attention, Asahi smiled with his eyes closed and said, "Now, I do believe that we all came here to discuss something, didn't we?"
All the adults, except Masaru, of course, were now looking at the boys expectantly.