Goldberg

Chapter 21

≡3rd Person POV≡

"Who do you think will win?" Kaminari eagerly asked as Bakugo walked onto the balcony.

"Izu, obviously," he said as he plopped down by the people he will never admit to being his friends.

"I know that Izuku can be pretty badass, but this is Todoroki we're talking about. He has fire and ice. That alone gives him an advantage. Plus, Izuku is afraid of fire?" Shinso commented as he raised his eyebrow at the end.

"Don't underestimate him. I have never once even gotten close to beating him when he's serious. Just watch," he smirked as they all looked over to see a confused Todoroki walk out onto the stage.

"Where is he?" Hatsume asked as she started using her quirk to look around.

"UH- SORRY FOLKS! IT SEEMS THAT IZUKU HAS HAD TO DROP OUT OF THE FESTIVAL DUE TO A FAMILY EMERGENCY! WE WILL BE MOVING ON TO THE NEXT MATCH AND TODOROKI IMMEDIATELY ADVANCES!"

"Oh no, I hope everything's ok," Denki said with a worried look.

"Wait, did he say a family emergency?" Katsuki looked at his friends wide eyed as they all nodded their heads. "Shit." He immediately stood up and started running out of the room.

"HEY! Katsuki, where are you going? It's your match next!" Mei yelled after him as he sprinted down the halls.

"I'M DROPPING OUT!!" He called back as he rounded a corner.

As he sprinted down the stairs, he nearly crashed into a confused heterochromia boy.

"Fuck," he breathed out as he stumbled to regain his balance.

"Bakugo, what's happening with Izuku? You two have known each other since childhood, right? You must know about his mom. Is everything alright?" Shoto asked as he grabbed Bakugo's shoulders to steady him.

"HOW THE HELL WOULD I KNOW?! They said it was an emergency! He's never told me much about her... how the hell would I know what he is going through right now?" Tears began forming in the ash blond's eyes as his yell began to fade.

"Hey, Bakugo, it's ok. I may not know Izuku too well, but he seems like a strong person. Whatever is happening, he'll be ok," he tried soothing him, but failed miserably.

"BUT HE WON'T! If she were to die... if- if she died... he'd be too broken to put back together."

A few tears started slipping down his face, shocking the other boy at how out of character he was being.

"You didn't see him before. Up until a few years ago, he was a completely different person. He used to shrink in on himself whenever anyone even looked at him. He was always alone. He used to cower under me. I-I used to bully him every day because I didn't want him to become a hero. I just didn't want to see him hurt. It took me 5 fucking years to finally get over myself and apologize. Everyone used to bully him. H-his bastard of a father used to do things that are unspeakable. Every Friday after I walked him home, I'd sit by my window with my phone waiting to see if he'd either text me saying he was ok or if an ambulance would be called. Although, I knew deep down that if he were to die there, no one would call an ambulance. I would sit there all night, just waiting to know if he was even alive still. His mom is the only thing he has left in his life. She's the only one who has ever actually always been there for him. If he loses her... he won't be ok."

Shoto could only stand there in shock at what he had heard as Katsuki escaped his grip and continued to race down the halls.

≡Izuku POV≡

I can't believe this is happening. It's starting to seem like every time I do something with the school, I end up racing home to get to my mom.

As I was walking down the halls to my waiting room, I suddenly got an alarm on my tablet. At first I was confused. When I looked, I saw on the security camera I set up that my mom had started to have an episode.

I know I won't make it home until it's over, but I need to make sure she's ok and help her.

I started running down the halls and passed by Eijiro. I quickly told him I was dropping out for a family emergency and to tell Present Mic and continued my run home.

Getting out of the area wasn't as hard as you'd expect, given that the finals at the sports festival were going on. I managed to get through the crowded stands without being stopped as I began my run across the city to get to my house.

With every step I took and breath I inhaled, my anxiety and fear kept getting higher.

With my boost of adrenaline, I managed to get home in only 15 minutes.

Immediately, I ran inside and to my mom's room. Even though I knew what one of her episodes looked like and had seen them before, I will never get used to the scene of my mother passed out with blood pouring out of her nose and mouth onto the bed and floor.

I quickly ran over and checked her pulse. Luckily, it was stable. Her breathing was a little ragged, but it was honestly better than I feared.

I removed her blanket and tried to clean the blood off of her with a damp cloth. I placed a new blanket on top of her.

I should probably go over to see Joe tonight and ask if he has anything better or if there's anything different I should be doing. Time to clean the blankets and floor. I hope they won't leave stains.

With the bloody blanket in my arms, I walked over to the washing machine and put it in with a shit load of stain remover. While that went, I tried to scrub the blood out of the carpet. It was still pretty fresh and the carpets dark, so the stain won't be too bad.

As I was finally getting some progress on the blood, I heard frantic knocking at my door.

I slowly stood up and walked over. I peered through the peephole and saw a huffing Kacchan. Seeing him look so worried, I opened the door.

"What are you doing here? Isn't the sports festival sti-"

"Izu! Is everything ok? Why are you covered in blood? Holy shit, what happened?"

"Calm down Kacchan. She's stable right now. She just... had an episode," I began to fidget as I thought about what I could've walked into.

"Are you ok?" He looked at me with worried eyes and a small smile on his face.

"Yeah, I was just cleaning up, hence the blood, and then I was going to see if there is anything else I can get her tonight."

"Why tonight?"

"Uhm- Joe, the pharmacist, can only give me the stuff after hours," he gave me a small frown as the realization that it was an illegal trade clicked in his mind.

"Do you need help cleaning?" He looked at my stained gym uniform and then back at my face.

"What about the sports festival? Shouldn't you be beating Tokoyami's ass and then Shoto's?"

"I dropped out to come here. Besides, it's probably over by now, I left like 45 minutes ago. My money's on Icy Hot," I felt a splash of guilt wash over me realizing he dropped out just to check on me.

"Uhm, you can help me try to get the stain out of the carpet. We just have to be quiet because she's sleeping," I stepped aside and let him in.

"I'll take care of that, you go take a shower and get out of your uniform," he walked over to my mom's room and picked up where I left off. I listened to him, glad to have a break, and went to take a shower.