{~Deku one-shots with angst~}

What makes it worthy

A/N: Inko and Middle-school Izuku converse. Kind of similar to 'What you're worth'?

"You should've left me."

The tense-silence that had filled the dining table just seconds before had been shattered, and Inko looked up to her son. 

Her son: when had he lost that glimmer of hope and excitement in his eyes? Was he always this miserable and drooping? 

"Izuku, what are you talking about?" Inko put her chopsticks down, and Izuku did the same. 

"T-there's... Mum, you know there's no hope for me in this life, this time and age. I- I am never going to amount to anything, I'm never going to be of use. I'm probably just going to end up dead in an alleyway somewhere! So why... why are you still wasting your effort on me?" Izuku looked up, unshed tears glistening. 

"I-izuku, you know it's not like that. You're my world, love. I don't want a life without you. I know you want to be a hero and... I'm sorry Izuku, I'm so-"

"STOP! PLEASE MUM, JUST STOP. STOP APOLOGISING!" Izuku yelled abruptly, tears rapidly streaming down his face, "Am I someone to be ashamed of? Is being quirkless something to be sorry for? MUM, AM I A MISTAKE?! This is... this is just like 10 years ago! That isn't what I want to hear Mum, can't you see how that hurts me? That no one, not even my own mother, believes in my dream? I know I'm never going to be a hero like All Might! I know that, I'm not stupid!" 

Tears trickled down Inko's face, as she stepped towards Izuku, but unable to speak. 

"T-that doesn't mean I can't be a hero... being quirkless doesn't make me weaker than most people... w-what's the difference between me and someone who can breath out blue breath? I-I have the ability to be someone, and no one, not a single damn person recognises that!" Izuku takes a deep breath before melting into his seat further, 

"You've done NOTHING wrong! So please... please just stop apologising, I don't want pity, don't you understand? I just want to be normal."

Inko burst out in tears once more and collapsed onto the floor. 

What kind of mother was she? What kind of mother is she being right now? 

Her son is having a breakdown, he's sharing emotions he must've kept for ages, maybe even years. 

And she can't even move her useless self to reassure her son, to express her love.

Everything just feels so heavy and pressing that she can't bring herself to move, despite the voices in her head chanting at her to 'get up, get up, GET UP'. 

'I'm so sorry Izuku, I'm not like you. Your useless mother doesn't have such strength, doesn't have the will or motivation. I know it seems like I've given up on you, but really, I've given up on myself. I don't know what to do anymore' Inko thought. 

"Why can't someone ruin me when they have the chance? Why am I being dragged along like this?" Izuku walked towards his mother, who was on her knees and embraced her in a hug. 

"I've always loved you, and I always will... but sometimes I wish you could remind me if you love me or not, " to which Inko burst out into tears once more. 

Her son, oh her dear son...heart of light, but his smile seems to get tighter and tighter by day. 

Inko loves Izuku more than anything and anyone in the world. 

She'd die for him. 

She knows he'd die for her, because that's just the type of person he is. 

He'd die if someone else could live.

And Inko had always thought that the best way to let Izuku love himself, to realise he mattered, to protect her precious boy was to care for him, nurture him. 

Her attempts at showing her acknowledgement of her love became desperate acts to escape reality. 

She'd subconsciously started to believe that Izuku was a vulnerable, precious, fragile thing that needed protecting. 

The reality was that bullies would continue to torment, they'd continue to hurt her son, to beat him, to scar his skin with burning hatred, to stomp his spirit down with fear. 

They wouldn't stop, because the reality was that society just did not care for the quirkless, and the quirkless had no one to care for in society. 

Her son knew first hand, and nothing could've shielded him away from that. 

She couldn't shield him away from that. 

"If danger comes with life, then maybe, my love, your happiness is the most important." 

And she wanted to support him. 

And she'd tell herself she would. 

No matter how much she worries, 

No matter how much she gets scared, 

Her son is not china. Her son is not glass. Her son is not her. 

As they hug, Inko thinks to herself. 

But how can I change? 

Who am I really? 

A woman who cares too much, or a woman who can't bring herself to care in the right way?

A/N: Thanks for reading, sorry for short chapter!