The Art of Listening

Chapter 1 - Word Vomit

Izuku

He was dying. He was most certainly dying. It was all so sudden, too soon. He never thought this day would come so young. He was only twenty years old, and all of the bones in his body were going to be reduced to powder. The air was being squeezed out of his lungs. He was dying. All because Midoriya Inko insisted on surrounding him in a deathgrip of a hug. The small woman's arms were circled around him as tightly as she could.

On top of the bruising force of her hug, she was sobbing. Again. It was probably the fourth or fifth time that day she'd broken down into tears. What was worse, each time she started, he followed suit. He could already feel a fresh wave of tears prickling at the corners of his very red, very sore eyes.

"Mom," Izuku wheezed as he patted her back reassuringly.

He really needed her to stop crying. He would never be able to leave if she didn't. He'd cave and stay home for the rest of his life to take care of her if she kept this up. It sounded great, but he knew she'd never forgive herself in the long run for holding him back.

"It's going to be okay. You don't need to worry."

"I-I k-know," she wailed. Once again, her face was buried into his chest. "I'm just n-not ready for my baby to move on. T-To go to college! You're growing up so fast!"

Izuku couldn't help but roll his eyes. It wasn't as if this was his first year of college. He'd spent two years in community college getting all of his general education credits out of the way. It was cheaper that way. He'd gotten the same education at the community college level as he would at a four year University. So, he'd gotten those first two years out of the way. She'd been okay with that. She just wasn't okay with where he'd decided to go for his junior and senior year.

"I'll be okay. I promise," he assured her.

But even he was worried. He'd never been that far away from her ever. Musutafu was a two hour drive from his and his mother's apartment back home. By train, it would easily take him four if they didn't encounter any unforeseen issues. He'd checked the train schedules just last week and done the calculations. He couldn't just go back home if he wanted to. And that in itself was terrifying. He could do this. He could make it work. He'd been preparing for this for ages. He didn't need to rely on his Mom anymore. But maybe she needed him? Maybe he should just drop out now. Find a University closer to her. Yes. He should do that.

But when he fixed his green eyes on his mother and opened his mouth to speak, she already had him fixed with a knowing smile.

He had been muttering again, hadn't he?

She chuckled.

He was still muttering, wasn't he? His mom chuckled, confirming his suspicions. He really needed to work on the muttering... Half the time, he didn't even realize he was doing it.

Midoriya Inko pushed herself away from Izuku and fixed him with a watery smile. "I'm not worried about me, baby," she said gently. She lifted her hand to reach his cheek. "I'm worried about the other students. What if you get a roommate that you don't like? What if the other kids are mean to you?"

Izuku scratched the back of his head sheepishly, her hands resting on his shoulders. His mom was filling her head with the same worries she'd had back when he was in middle school.

"I think it'll be fine. It's not like I'm in middle school anymore," he said with a little bit of a laugh. His eyes shifted over to his dorm building. "Besides, Yueii is really good about putting people with similar majors together. They told us that during orientation last week. Don't you remember?"

When she didn't seem satisfied, he tacked on, "Plus, Ocha, Shouto, and Tenya are all at Yueii, too, Mom. I've got the best support network I could ask for."