A Wallflower's Thorns

5. Shore Up Your Defenses

Waking up early is never fun. Izuku rubs his eyes and gently sweeps Han off of his head. Getting up, he squints at the mirror and sighs when he sees white cat hair mixed with his own. He looks to Han, who's sitting on the bathroom counter and cleaning himself.

"I really wish you wouldn't sleep on my head." He tells the cat. "It's stupid how much of your hair I have to brush out." He fumbled with the brush handle, "Stupid cast." He mutters, switching the brush to his free hand. "Well, at least Recovery Girl is going to heal it today." Now that he thinks about it, it might be smart to get that done before he meets up with All Might at the gym. There's no telling what the hero might have in store.

Han doesn't reply besides lifting up his other paw and getting to work on that one.

When Izuku enters the kitchen, the stove is cold and the pantry's unopened. He sets out to fix that. Han loops through his legs as he breaks out a cast iron pan and a carton of eggs. It's a bit awkward with his cast limiting his movement, but he manages. Occasionally, between making sure the food doesn't burn, he crouches down to give his cat a quick pat.

It's not long before his mom walks in. "Goodness," she yawns, "I slept through my alarm. Sorry, sweetie."

Izuku flips the eggs, "It's fine, mom. I needed to practice my cooking anyways." He takes the skillet off the stove and dumps the omelette onto a plate he'd set out before he began. "Do you want hot sauce with yours, mom?"

His mom takes a seat at the kitchen table. "Just put it on the side, please." Han abandons Izuku's legs to leap into her lap. "Hello, Han." She greets, scratching the cat between his eyes. She's still petting Han when she asks, "You usually sleep until the last minute, is something happening today?"

Izuku plucks another egg from the carton and breaks it over the pan. "Not much." He's thankful that he's facing away from her, it's easier to hide his grimace. He still hasn't told her just how he passed the entrance exam, or the real reason he's wearing a cast. The feeling of guilt is not a pleasant one, it's oil dredging its way from his stomach to his heart, leaving an icky feeling wherever it goes.

It's not that he doesn't want to tell her, but it's more as to "how" he's supposed to do it. Mom is the first and only one to ever learn about notice-me-not - besides All Might. She knows that he has a Quirk. Somehow explaining that his ability to go unseen developed into monstrous, god-like strength is a bit harder than he originally thought it to be.

"Oh! I'm...uh." He struggles for an answer, trying to think of a conceivable way he could explain this. "You know how notice-me-not lets me go unseen." Oh God where is he going with this, "Well, i-it turns out that every time I used it, it stored up a bit of energy, and it's built up so much now that I can make shockwaves." He dumps his own omelette on yet another plate. Rinsing the pan off, he places it in the sink and grabs his breakfast to dig in. "I can't really control it yet," he says through a mouthful of eggs. "So All Might offered to help me get used to it since he has a similar Quirk."

Mom nods along, and Izuku is familiar with that look of worry on her face. "Well," she says, putting her fork down, "I'm glad that you're getting help to control it." She looks to him and smiles, "Just don't push yourself too hard, Izuku. I worry."

"I know, mom." He finishes his eggs and stands up. Grabbing his spare uniform - he'd left his backpack at school - he gives his mom a solid kiss to the cheek. "I'm heading out, love you!" He gives Han a goodbye pat and opens the door to start his daily journey.