𝗥𝗜𝗦𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗧𝗜𝗗𝗘𝗦 ⌈𝐈⌔𝐌 ✗ 𝔽!𝑹𝑬𝑨𝑫𝑬𝑹⌋

Chapter 088

CHAPTER 88: Fires of the Past

Izuku didn’t even get his shoes off before he was ambushed.

“My baby!!” Inko wailed, slamming into him like a freight train of love, wrapping her arms around his middle and clinging like her life depended on it. “You’re so skinny! Are they feeding you nothing but stress and trauma at that school?!”

“M-Mom, it’s fine! I’ve just been busy—”

“You look like you’ve been in a fistfight with God!”

“...I—please don’t make me answer that.”

“No! I don’t want to know!”

By the time he was dragged into the kitchen and force-fed two servings of katsudon, he was swaying under the weight of her affection and rice. Only then did she finally allow him to speak—though not without hovering by the table, eyes flicking between his bowl and his biceps with visible concern.

He started from the top—Joint Training, Blackwhip, Hitoshi's growth, Aizawa’s proud smile, the heart-wrenching moments with Eri. His words spilled like pages turning, animated hands flying and voice catching in all the right places. She listened, eyes wide, hand on her heart the whole time.

Eventually, they moved to the living room, settling under the warm orange glow of the kotatsu. Inko brought tea, placed it beside them, and sighed contentedly, only to glance over and catch the weird glint in her son’s eye.

“What is it?” she asked.

Izuku hesitated. “Okay. So. There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you...”

Her hand froze mid-sip. “You got expelled.”

“What?! No—why is that always your go-to?!”

“You picked another fight with a villain?”

“I—no! I mean—not since last week—!”

“IS IT A TATTOO?!”

He went red from ears to neck. “Mom!!”

Inko set the cup down slowly, narrowing her eyes like a detective solving a puzzle. “You’re... hiding something.”

“I’m dating someone.”

The cup didn’t just fall—it exploded against the floor.

“You’re what?!”

“Dating. Y/N. You remember her?”

Her eyes nearly bugged out. “The girl from the mall?! The one who was with you right before Shigaraki grabbed your neck like a chew toy?! That girl?!”

“Yes,” Izuku said carefully.

Inko screamed into a couch cushion. “The only time I’ve seen you two together, I thought I was watching my son’s last moments! And you’re telling me this is the girl you want to date?! Are you both cursed?! Is this some Romeo and Juliet arc I’m not prepared for?!”

“I mean—technically it’s more like enemies to lovers if you count her sister—or maybe it's friends to lovers—”

Inko went still. “Her. Sister?”

Izuku rubbed the back of his neck. “Hydrax.”

The silence was deafening.

Inko slowly lowered herself to the floor like her soul had just left her body. “Hydrax is her sister?!”

“She didn’t know! She thought Yumi was dead. They got separated years ago during a villain attack—”

“AND SHE STILL SHOWED UP TO SCHOOL?! SANE?!” Inko gasped. “She didn’t disappear into a forest to become a ghost with family trauma?!”