I Don't Run An Orphanage!

Chapter 66

Understanding Suffering

"So...tell me exactly what happened," Izuku said to his son.

The two of them had moved back into Izuku's office, and after Izuku kicked out everyone else, it was just the two of them. Izuku and Yami sitting on opposite sides of his desk.

Yami had been...confused ever since what happened with Eri's mother. Like he didn't fully understand what he'd heard. Or couldn't process it. And he bore a bewildered expression even now.

"I...big spike. Big big spike!" Yami tried using his hands to show how big the spike was, lowering one as close to the ground as possible, and raising the other one as high as he could, struggling a bit. "Lots of sadness. Went to see...you were talking about Eri...I was confused...she...died...but she's still alive? Eri's mother...gave her away...but still was sad? A bad man hurt her, very bad. But why?"

Ah. Yami's still getting used to the world. It's no wonder things like this would confuse him. Izuku sighed. Looks like the hardest part of today was not behind him. "Yami...alright. So let's break this down one bit at a time. Starting, with Eri's mother."

Yami nodded. "Why...did she give Eri away? Why did she come back?"

"Well...as you know. Eri's quirk is very dangerous, especially if the people around her don't know what it does. And back when Eri' first developed it, obviously no one knew what it did." Izuku explained. "And so when Eri's father touched her, back when her quirk first appeared...he died."

Yami nodded. He recalled hearing about this. Of course, it was stressed to him that this was an accident and that Eri was in fact very upset about that.

"And as you can imagine, Eri's mother was not pleased about the love of her life...dying. And in her rage and grief, she took it out on Eri. She blamed Eri for his death, told her that she was cursed, left her with her grandfather, and then abandoned her." Izuku said, pausing to give Yami time to take that in.

The Grimm boy paused to think about it. Trying to put himself in the woman's shoes.

How would he react if Eri or anyone of his siblings accidentally killed Izuku?

The moment that thought entered Yami's head, he scowled. Feeling an intense pain in his chest at the thought of losing Izuku.

Izuku had given him everything. He was the parent he never knew he needed in his life and opened up a whole new world to him. He was kind and patient and cared so much about him, and his siblings...and honestly Yami doesn't know what he would do if that happened.

But would he treat the sibling that did it, the same way Eri's mother did to her? Even if it was an accident?

He recalled back to when Izuku collapsed. All the negativity every single person in the house felt. The intense fear and despair instilled into the hearts of every single child in the house.

Honestly, Yami doesn't think he could feel anything but sorrow for whoever was unfortunate enough to do that.

So why did Eri's mother do what she did?

"Why?" Yami asked, still confused. "It was an accident. She was sad. So why did Eri's mom do that?"

"Yami, you have the ability to see what other people are feeling, not everyone can do that," Izuku told him. "Some people can't see past their own pain and suffering. Pain anger, if not processed correctly, can blind a person, and make them do horrible, terrible things. And that's what Eri's mother did. And the minute her anger started to fade, and she realized what she did, and how bad it was. But it was too late to take it back, because her father, and then later Overhaul, wouldn't let her. So for years, all she could do was suffer, not knowing what happened to her daughter, and regretting her decision. Until one day, she heard about the downfall of the Yakuza, and then eventually learned about this place. She put two and two together and figured that Eri probably ended up here, and realized that she could actually see what happened to her."