Love Is But A Rose

1

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Izuku Midoriya, a pale-skinned freckled covered boy. Today was his 8th eighth birthday, but no one showed up. Not that he wanted anyone to show up, but it would've been nice for the one person he made an invite for to appear.

His heart shattered once the clock struck 8 PM (his bedtime) and still the ticking time bomb was nowhere to be found. Inko, Izuku's mother, called Mitsuki. The blonde-haired woman apologized, saying it slipped her mind, that she couldn't seem to find the invitation.

It was white construction paper, filled in with glitter glue and stickers of the famous actor Toshinori Yagi, or All Might (his stage name). The invitation was written in blue marker, Izuku's attempt at calligraphy was a heart stopper for his mother and Mitsuki, but not so much for Katsuki.

The words read, "HELLO! Come to my birthday party :) July 15th, 12 PM! The address is 400 NW Derek Lane 13440!! Don't be late! :)" The day before his birthday Izuku left the paper in Katsuki's shoe cubby just before his mother picked him up early for a doctor's appointment.

Katsuki looked at the paper with confusion. He took it home and showed it to his mother. Her explanation angered him. 'That useless Deku, why would he think I would want to go to his stupid party?' He thought to himself, once Mitsuki was out of Katsukis sight, he got rid of the glittered filled paper, throwing it away in the trash and carrying on with his day.

Now the sun is down. Izuku stared at the decorations his mother had worked so hard on making and hanging up. He looked down at the beautiful homemade cake she made to correlate with the decorations. Silent tears rolled down his face. His chest felt tight.

He brought his knees up to his chest, shoving his face into his knees. Inko ended the call with Mitsuki with a sigh, she walked back into the dining room. She brought her hand to her sobbing son's back, Izuku swatted her hand off of his back, jumping up from his seat.

"I-it's all your fault, Mommy!" He tried to yell angrily, but it ended up sounding like something similar to a squeaky toy. Inko looked at Izuku then lowered her gaze as he ran off to lock himself in his room.

The slap didn't hurt her hand. It hurt her heart, to see her little sunshine so hurt, she didn't know why he insisted on staying by the side of someone so... hurtful.

She sighed once more. This isn't the first time, so she'd wait for her little boy to give her an apology. In the meantime she decided to clean up, starting with the cake. Picking up the flawless ice cream cake, carefully bringing it over to the refrigerator, and placing it into the freezer.

She grabbed the green step stool as she headed back into the dining room. She placed it under the banner, 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY IZUKU MIDORIYA' written in green ink. Her calligraphy was much better seeing the age gap but she wouldn't spoil her little ones fun. Once she was finished taking down the thumbtacks, she stepped down from the step stool. Walking over to the left side, placing the step stool under the banner as she'd done before.

Once the thumbtacks were safely in her pocket, she rolled up the handmade banner and rubber banded it. Inko placed the rolled-up banner on the table, glancing over at the five customized plates she'd ordered a month prior. She stacked them, placing them into the cardboard box with the others. Inko grabbed the banner, put it in the box, closed it then taped it.

When she picked up the box, she was surprised by Izuku standing right in front of her. It seemed like he had teleported. "M-moma, I-I'm sorry for yelling at you earlier... D-do you forgive me?" Izuku asked, his red, swollen eyes stomping all over her heart. Obviously, there would be no way she could be mad at her green cupcake for too long. She pushed the box over to her hip, cupping his cheek, "It's okay son, don't let it happen again, okay?" Inko said, patting Izuku on his head. She stood up straight, making her way to the attic.

Izuku rubbed his tear-stained face. He ran over to the bathroom, not without falling once, but he still made it to his destination. After Inko finished putting the box up in the attic, she followed her stumbling son into the bathroom. Closing the bathroom door after herself, Izuku prompted himself onto the toilet. Inko filled the bathtub with lavender-smelling bubble soap, filling it roughly halfway.

By this point, Izuku had already removed all his articles of clothing. Inko picked him up and gently placed him inside the tube. Izuku had calmed down, his red nose returning to its pale color as he sniffled, playing with his bright yellow rubber ducky. Inko left soon after placing him inside the tube, only leaving the door open just in case.

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Inko tucked in Izuku after finishing reading a "bedtime story", All Might's magazine interview. Izuku was sound asleep. Inko sat back in her rocking chair, she sighed. 'Another day, I pray my son finds happiness able to relieve him of the pain in his heart.' Inko crossed her heart and clasped her hands together.

She stood up and turned off the lamp next to Izuku's bed. She walked out of the room and downstairs to turn off the kitchen light, leaving the stove light on. She made her way back upstairs, changing out of her cardigan and beige dress. She instead wore a blue nightgown with matching eye covers.

She pulled back her lavender comforter and slipped into her bed. Grabbing her white body pillow and hugged it with all her might. She wouldn't admit this out loud, but ever since her husband left eight years ago, she'd just been so lonely. But she has a beautiful son, so everything will be alright in the end.

Right?
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