Inko knew when she made the decision to move that there would be changes coming she couldn't anticipate.

New apartment, new school, new job? Those she could handle. She had prepared for those challenges the moment she realized Izuku's school wouldn't do anything about the bullying. Any other changes would have to be small in comparison. What restaurant would become their new favorite, what grocery store they would shop at, whether or not they would get along with their new neighbors. Important for their everyday life, but not life altering.

She should have know that with Izuku things would never be that simple. Her son was nothing if not thorough in his determination to make her life interesting, and this was no exception.

Shinsou Hitoshi was no exception.

Izuku had told her the vague details about his situation the day before. Bullied. Called a villain because he had a mind control quirk. Even without meeting the boy, she could see why Izuku would have latched onto him. How many other children were ridiculed for their quirks-or lack thereof? How many schools let their students get away with that kind of harassment?

Anger burned slow and steady in the back of Inko's mind. Izuku's old school had refused to do anything about it, too caught up in their own prejudices to do their jobs. She wouldn't be letting this new school get away with the same thing. Inko could read between the lines of what Izuku had said. In standing up for Shinsou Hitoshi Izuku had made himself a target once again.

She was proud of him for doing the right thing, of course. He wouldn't be Izuku if he let something as minor to him as bullying keep him from standing up for someone who needed help, and while she loved that he continued to be the kindhearted kid he was despite everything he had gone through she wished that for once he would get a break. A chance to just be a kid. Not constantly at war with one of the most negative side effects of living in a society where superpowers were the norm.

Enough time had passed that being quirkless wasn't as common, but that only made the situation worse. How quickly people seemed to forget that once upon a time, everyone had been quirkless. That only a few decades ago it was the people with quirks who were ridiculed for the powers they had no control over. Inko had spent so much time trying to look at quirks from Izuku's perspective that she hadn't considered that there were still quirks that left people as outsiders.

School had been hard for Izuku because he had been the lone child without special powers. What had things been like for Shinsou Hitoshi? He was only in elementary school, and yet it seemed that people had already written him off, slapped him with the villain label when he was just a kid who wanted to go to class and make friends.

Inko would do something about that, but for the moment she needed to address the issue of the small, purple haired kid that stood half hidden behind Izuku as they came through the door. Shinsou wouldn't meet her eyes as he entered, hesitating in the entryway until Izuku nudged him to take off his shoes.

"Mom," Izuku said, pulling his friend over to stand beside him. Shinsou stumbled, his socked feet slipping on the hardwood floor, and he glared at Izuku for a moment before realizing Inko's eyes were still on him. Face red, he pulled his arm out of Izuku's grip and looked at the ground. "This is Shinsou Hitoshi. Shinsou-kun, this is my mom!"

Shinsou's eyes darted up to meet hers, his shoulders hunching under the weight of her stare. If Izuku would have let him get away with it, Inko felt sure that Shinsou would have been out the door the moment he saw her. What had this poor child gone through to make him react that way?

"It's nice to meet you, Shinsou-kun. Izuku's told me a lot about you," Inko said, watching as Shinsou flinched at her words. The fury usually reserved for Izuku sparked to life at the broken expression on his face. The way he took a step back as she spoke, eyes clouded with an emotion Inko couldn't place a name to if she wanted to keep her composure. "I'm very glad Izuku has made a friend like you."

Shinsou jerked, his attention flying to Inko's face.

"Can you keep a secret, Shinsou-kun?" Inko asked, dropping her voice to a whisper, angling her hand to shield her words from Izuku. Her son huffed, but Inko could see the smile growing on his face from the corner of her eye.

Shinsou paused before answering, eyes cutting to Izuku before he leaned in slowly, nodding.

"Izuku gets in a lot of trouble. I know you haven't known each other long, but I'm sure you've noticed that." Inko waited for Shinsou to nod again then continued. "I know this is a lot to ask, Shinsou-kun, but could you keep an eye on him for me? Try to keep him out of trouble?"

"I-" Shinsou's voice broke. He looked away again, tugging his sleeves over his hands. "I don't know if that's possible, Midoriya-san," he finally said, words barely loud enough for her to hear. "I can try though."

"I appreciate it, dear," Inko said, and she reach a slow hand out towards him, testing his reaction. When Shinsou didn't pull away from her touch she ran a hand through his hair, pushing it back from his face like she did with Izuku.

Shinsou ducked his head again, eyes shining. A hand tightened around Inko's heart.

"Did you really ask Shinsou-kun to look out for me? Mom!"

Laughing, Inko turned her back to them, heading into the kitchen. "I don't know what you're talking about, Izuku. Whatever I said is between Shinsou-kun and me."

Izuku flashed her a grin as she glanced over her shoulder, hopping into the kitchen after her. Shinsou hurried after them.

"Can we make All Might cookies, Mom? Shinsou-kun's never had them," Izuku said excitedly. "You haven't right?"

"All Might cookies?" Came the hesitant response.

"Well, we can't have that can we?" Inko said, opening the door to the refrigerator. "I think we have everything we need. How about it Shinsou-kun?"

"They're the best! I promise!" Izuku gushed. "They're just sugar cookies, but my mom made this really awesome cookie cutter that looks just like All Might! And we can even make the icing from scratch! It only took a few batches, but I figured out how to copy his costume and…" He trailed off. "Who's your favorite hero? We can try to make cookies for them next time! Right, Mom?"

Inko hummed as she started to place ingredients on the counter, watching Shinsou from the corner of her eye. "I can make another cookie cutter for the next time you come over."

And there would be another time. Inko didn't know everything about Shinsou Hitoshi's situation, but she knew enough. Izuku had stepped in when he needed someone there to help him. The least Inko could do was follow her son's example.

"All Might," Shinsou said. "All Might is my favorite too."

"One double batch of All Might cookies coming up!"

Moving always came with unexpected changes. Consequences that couldn't be anticipated. Inko hadn't known she would gain a new son with their move, but she couldn't say she felt sorry about the outcome either.

She could only hope that Shinsou felt the same way.

AN: Next up: Shinsou's POV and some cooking baking fluff

Thanks to everyone who commented on the last chapter! I love hearing what you think!