DATE: JANUARY 27th, 2020 (27/1/20)

Yo. I had thought of blitzing through this as a single 9k word chapter (and I am able to do so), but I'd rather everyone be able to read something rather than having to wait. I used impatience to destroy impatience.

largomolo [CHP2/3, JAN 25]

I apologise, as I am uncultured in the Digimon ways. Bakumom sounds like an appropriate title for one, though.

As Inko drove the car out of the school's carpark, she turned her head to the centre rear-view mirror. "So how was school today, dear?" She asked, hopeful it turned out well.

"It was one of the best days ever!" He cheered, much to Inko's relief He was still holding onto the egg even now. He wanted to try and put it behind a seatbelt but was worried it would slip out from too much force like braking. Besides, at this point, holding the egg felt natural to him, even though it had only been a couple of days.

Inko couldn't help but mirror her son's enthusiasm. "I'm so happy for you, Izuku!" She giggled, happy that her son didn't have another one of...those days Mitsuki had told her about. She turned back to the road to focus on an incoming intersection. "So what did everyone think about the egg?" She was curious about what happened to it as well; no doubt it would garner some kind of attention.

Izuku looked down to the round pink oval in his grasp. "When we called out that we were there, everyone came around to me and the egg. I think they really liked it!" He explained, not too sure about it himself.

The egg itself leapt an inch, something it had done a bit since yesterday (Inko's reaction was something for the history books).

Inko giggled again. She had been worried that he would be made fun of even more than before, so it was a relief that the other students had taken to it kindly. A small weight had been lifted from her shoulders with the knowledge that her son was no longer a walking target.

"Oh yeah, Katsuki and I talked today!"

Aaaaand the weight was back on.

"O-Oh?" Inko jittered, carefully treading this thin-lined territory. "W-What about, dear?"

Izuku held out the egg in his hands. "He wants to know what's inside, too!" He exclaimed. "Everyone does, actually." I mean, it made sense that the contents of the egg were in fact the hundred million yen question.

Letting out a heavy sigh, the mother Midoriya smiled, glad that the encounter hadn't gotten violent. "I'm curious myself," She admitted. "What does Katsuki think it could be?"

Izuku looked up in thought. "He didn't say," He recalled. "But he did smile when he was thinking, so I think he might think it might be something cool."

'Mighty.' Inko thought to herself with rolling eyes, especially with her son's blatant fanboyism of a certain No.1. "You know, I think it might be something cute!" She pointed out. The colour scheme and pattern seemed to be a pretty fair hint, so she'd place her chips there.

Izuku looked down to the egg with surprisingly warm eyes. "It doesn't matter what you look like," He whispered to himself. "I'm gonna protect you with all that I can!"

Though he tried to keep quiet, his mother managed to overhear his promise, which in itself caused a tear to fall down her face. Her boy was growing up so fast…

She then incidentally reminded herself of a small talk she and Mitsuki had before the two left the Bakugo household yesterday.

"Actually, speaking of Katsuki, we're headed to a new shopping mall with the Bakugo's during the weekend."

Izuku rose his eyebrows. "Really?" He wondered.

"Mhm," Inko nodded. "Mitsuki actually showed me what it looks like yesterday before we left and invited us to go with them." She chuckled to himself. "Knowing Katsuki, he might be a bit grumpy."

Izuku made a small noise, knowing all too well dragging Katsuki somewhere against his will was the fattest no-no man could devise. Although Mitsuki's word was a vise grip unchallenged by any, so there was also that. Besides, he might find something he really wants there. A win-win, really.

What could possibly go wrong?

"Well Inky, what do you think?" Mitsuki inquired, the group of four having left the car park.

Inko was practically sweating. "I-It's big, I m-must say…" She stuttered, intimidated by the sheer size of the place.

"Told ya," Mitsuki chuckled. "I'm willing to bet they have literally everything here." Inko raised an eyebrow at her comment. "I mean, not everything everything, but you get the idea."

Inko was lost on that one. "...not really."

Before them was a rather recent development, finished a week ago if recollection wasn't rusty. It was an incredibly large shopping complex called Westfield, having originated in the distant country of Australia and spread out into other close western nations ala New Zealand and the United States. Despite having been a thing in Australia since 1960, over 200 years ago, Japan had only recently received its first Westfield a couple years ago in Tokyo, with a second one being built in Yokohama a year later, a third in Kyoto not even a month after.

To be blunt, nobody expected Musutafu to be the fourth. But already people were relishing in it.

Mitsuki looked down to the two kids, noticing something with Izuku. "Oi, Izu," She called out.

Izuku turned up to the Bakugo matriarch. "Yeah?"

She pointed down to a certain egg in Izuku's hands. "What'd you bring pinky there for?"

Inko giggled. "Actually, he's barely let it go since Wednesday." She pointed out.

An eyebrow rose to the task. "Seriously?" She deadpanned, to which Inko nodded with a smile.

Izuku looked around him, seeing the endless tide of people moving in and out of the front entrance. It was a miracle both mothers found individual parks for their cars. The fact they were right across from one another seemed like a confusing joke.

"So many people…" He muttered.

He felt a light slap to the shoulder, followed by a light pop and a small burst of heat. "Deku, it's a giant shopping centre in a giant city." Katsuki pointed out. "Are you really that surprised?"

Izuku's head dropped to the ground, his lips quivering slightly. "No…" He whispered. "It just...intimidates me…"

Katsuki chuckled. "Not a crowd person, eh?" He asked.

Izuku shook his head. "Not really…" He replied, holding his egg tight to him.

Katsuki suddenly slung an arm over Izuku. The latter didn't expect this, especially after the former's attitude shift in the past few months. Probably from his mother. "Well, you might want to get rid of that fear soon, Deku," He ordered with a smirk, jabbing his finger into Izuku's chest. "Can't be a good Hero if you're afraid of a bunch of people around you!"

Izuku's eyes widened at that. Katsuki was right! How could he be a Hero and protect people if he couldn't even take being around them? He couldn't worry about peer pressure!

"You're right!" Izuku cheered, looking to Katsuki with a massive smile. "Thanks, Katsuki!"

Katsuki smirked. "Of course I'm right, Deku," He remarked. "What do you take me for?"

He paused for a moment and thought to himself something that'd slipped his mind. 'I just remembered Izuku's Quirkless. Why'd I say he could be a Hero?'

Meanwhile, Izuku was absolutely giddy with himself. 'Kacchan really said I could be Hero!' His mind screamed, fueled by nothing less than sheer adrenaline. 'I can really become a Hero! I just need to be braver with other people.' The moment he looked back forward, however, he immediately went back to square 1. 'Maybe not today…' He concurred.

As the group finally began walking towards the massive entrance, Inko kneeled down to the two boys. "What are you two talking about?" She asked.

Katsuki grinned. "Deku here's a scaredy-cat in crowds." He revealed, fiercely rubbing the shrub on Izuku's hair.

Though she didn't quite like the name Katsuki had given her baby, she chuckled to herself. "Yeah, Izuku has never been a crowd person." She confirmed.

"MOM!" Izuku whined, betrayal in his eyes.

Inko shrugged. "It's true, though." She pointed out.

Mitsuki was howling in laughter beside them. 'This was a great idea!'

As the small group entered the building, they were immediately overwhelmed with not only the thousands of people inside but the sheer quantity of commerce available. One moment you could find a jeweller, the next an artsy shop, before suddenly finding ten clothes shops lined up with one another. There even seemed to be shops exclusive for certain Quirks, such as tailors for those with Mutant Quirks. No doubt the food court most likely on the other end of the complex would be flooded with people swarming to get food. It was like, 12:15 pm after all; standard lunchtime, yes?

Mitsuki turned to Inko. "Alright Inky, where to?" She inquired.

Inko was confused by this. "I...don't know." She replied. "Do you know where we can find something? Like a map?"

Mitsuki chuckled. "No fuckin' clue; never bothered to check."

"MIKI!" Inko was less concerned about the casual F-bomb and more so about Mitsuki's sheer incompetence with planning.

All the Bakugo did was shrug. "What, you think I plan for something like this?" She asked. "I don't even know what's here!"

"Then why not check?"

"I don't like spoilers!"

"THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH ANYTHING!"

"IT HAS EVERYTHING TO DO WITH EVERYTHING!"

"Alright, fine." Katsuki groaned, giving in. He knew an argument with Mitsuki Bakugo would result in a loss by default, let alone one involving shopping. "So what are we getting then?"

"No clue!" Mitsuki grinned as she grabbed a towel for her shower.

Katsuki knew his eyebrow was twitching, and for all means and purposes, he agreed. "Then what in the hell are we going for?!"

Already undressed and in the bathroom, Mitsuki gave a smile and a wave out the door. "Innovation!" She exclaimed, slamming the door behind her.

The explosive little shit proceeded to stomp down the stairs back to the living room, though to his credit he deserved to be angry this time. "THEN WHY THE HELL ARE YOU DRAGGIN' ME INTO THIS?!"

Katsuki pinched the bridge of his nose. "I knew this was gonna happen…" He groaned. His mother was strong and wise, yes (not that he'd admit the latter to her face ever), but dear god was she the worst planner he'd ever known. If she was bad with directions as well, he was certain she'd drown in an empty cardboard box.

"Are you okay?" He turned to see one Izuku Midoriya looking at him with concern. No doubt he anticipated this as well; their mothers had known each other long enough.

Katsuki sighed. "Yeah, I'm fine." He lied. He wasn't hurt, but he was not okay. He started walking off muttering "Stupid hag…" under his breath.

Izuku ran after him. "Where are you going?" He asked, worried his…'friend' would get lost in the crowd.

Katsuki looked Izuku in the eye, jabbing a thumb behind him at the two mothers. "Away from that." He drawled. "You coming or not?"

That...was the last thing Izuku was expecting. He saw that Katsuki was walking away and likely wanted to avoid the noise from the two mothers (he wasn't a fan either), and Katsuki had always been the adventurous one since forever, but bringing him with him? Let alone after the fallout since he was diagnosed Quirkless?

Maybe he just needed someone to help him vent.

But...should he go with him? Well, he knows fully well that Katsuki will just trot through the store no matter what anybody does, but should he really follow suit, or should he stay behind with Inko and Mitsuki? Despite them yelling at each other about their travelling faults...and not really moving since they entered the store…

Plus, this could be an opportunity for him to get over his worry of large crowds. He had Katsuki with him, so he could get some help from him if he ended up scared- no, wait, he'd just bonk his head with an explosion and tell him to suck it up. Either way, Kacchan or not, he'd be able to go through the centre and try to adapt to the countless people here. It was worth a shot, right?

Izuku broke into a small run as he smiled. "Okay!" cried, charging towards his 'friend'. He really wished those quotation marks didn't exist…

Katsuki smirked. "Atta boy, Deku." He acknowledged. He turned to the rest of the shopping centre beyond him, which honestly looked like a metropolis from their young heights. "ALRIGHT, LET'S DO THIS!"

"YEAH!" The egg bounced following Izuku's cheer.

Their screams of excitement earned a couple of giggles from some passerby.

And with that, the two ran into the swarm of humans moving through the complex, ready to find all this place has to offer.

Downstairs at the south entrance was where you could mostly find things for general grocery shopping, beauty cosmetics, ¥ 200 shops with cheap trinkets and collectibles, a couple coffee shops...you get the idea. Actually, due to this being the most 'Shopping Centre' part of Westfield, you'd find most people here for being to have the general stuff down here like anywhere else in addition to all the fancy bonuses from the three levels above them.

Unfortunately, while few villains came to shopping centres like this unless planned (one particular incident in Tokyo 6 years back was remembered even now), there were commonly thugs here or at least those who'd gladly bruise up with another of their type. They tried to avoid those they deemed 'innocent', but beat the bloody hell out of anybody in their way. To the dismay of many, Westfield Musutafu was no exception.

"You wanna fuckin' go?!"

"You walk up to me with that look again and my Quirk'll gladly turn your face inside out you talking yam!"

"Who you calling a talking yam!?"

"You and that stupid face of yours! The hell even are you?!"

"I'm part-blobfish, you little shit! Just try and hit me!"

"YOU CALLIN' ME SHORT!?"

"YOU'LL BE CALLING FOR MOMMY WHEN I QUASH YOU LIKE A DEFECTIVE ACCORDION!"

"YOU TALK SHIT ABOUT MY MOTHER AND THAT'S ALL THAT'LL COME OUT OF YOU, YOU VISCOSE MUPPET!"

"Move."

The two thugs immediately cleared out of the way at the commanding tone. They had no idea who the guy was, but there was something within them screaming 'Keep the fuck back'. And if their success in their brutish lives had taught them anything, always follow instinct unless it's food.

The two thugs turned to the hooded man once he'd passed them. "The hell you doin' anyway?" The shorter one asked.

The man turned around. "Nothing special," He replied. "Just biding my time."

The blobfish thug scratched his...head? "For what?" He wondered, curious.

From the little space left from the hood's opening, they could see a subtle grin. "A good chance to debut," He replied, chuckling. "A guy's gotta make a good first impression, you know?" And with that, he walked off further into floor B1.

When he was out of earshot, the two thugs looked towards one another, each with a confused look. "Weirdo." The shorter of the two remarked.

"Do not fear, for I am here!"

Katsuki snorted. Even at his age, he understood how advertisements worked (having worked with countless outlets for commercials, he had his father to thank for that). Even though he admired the Hero as much as Izuku did, even he had to admit using him for a cereal commercial was quite possibly the corniest thing ever. Ah well, at least the guy was looking like he was enjoying it.

"Hey Deku, check this out, would ya?" He turned behind him from the electronics store where he was viewing one of the TVs from inside, seeing if Izuku was anywhere to be found. He knew the Quirkless would go mad to see his favourite Hero, regardless of circumstance.

However, he noticed that Izuku was instead across the other end of the highway of people, walking into an art shop. The hell would he be interested in there? He didn't recall him ever being interested in painting or crafting.

After shuffling through the large crowd of people moving backward and forward, some not even paying attention due to mobile phones, he managed to get partway through and reach a small midway bridge between the two opposite walkways, a bright orange wood sheet rather than the white tiling everywhere else in the store. There were a few people walking through every now and then, but nowhere near as many as the crowds on the main route.

Katsuki turned right and left and noticed how large this place actually was. He expected it to be smaller inside than it looked, or joking about it being bigger from some mass Quirk that the owner had. The last thing he expected was for it to be exactly as big as it projected itself. Go figure.

When he looked back left, he noticed a large man and a small boy, the former being broad with spiky red hair and the latter having smooth hair, right half being white while the left was red. The hell was up with that? Did the kid dye his hair?

When he looked closer at the larger man, however, he thought he recognised him from somewhere. Was he somebody he saw in public before? Maybe on the television? Wait a minute...it couldn't be…

He walked up to the two, where the man let out a small gruff. "Something wrong, kid?" He rumbled, voice about as deep as Katsuki expected with that kind of build.

Katsuki scratched his own spiky head. "Yeah, I think I've seen you somewhere before…" He blurted. When he had a thought involving someone else, he'd say it.

The man raised an eyebrow. "Oh yeah?"

Katsuki nodded. He quickly turned to the art shop, noticing Izuku was still looking around. That was good; he'd be able to grab him when he was done talking with this guy.

"So, um…" Katsuki trailed off.

"Hm?"

Katsuki cleared his throat a bit, turning back to the guy. He moved a bit closer so as to be quiet. "Are you Endeavor?" He half-whispered.

He didn't notice it, but the red and white boy had turned away and moved his attention elsewhere.

The man let out a gruff noise, eyes still on Katsuki. "Not bad, kid," He acknowledged, though his face was still stoic. "How'd you guess?"

Katsuki shrugged. "Instinct." He wasn't wrong; he used it for just about everything.

Endeavor smirked a bit. "That's good," He replied. "A good instinct will get you places."

Katsuki smirked himself. "Don't need to tell me that." He shot back.

The No.2's face dropped a bit. "Cocky, eh?"

"Hey, Katsuki!" The Bakugo turned at the voice, seeing Izuku running right towards them. "What took you so long? I thought you didn't like technology that much."

Katsuki rose an eyebrow. "Don't like- what are you talking about? I'm fine with it," He explained, confused. "I finished there a few minutes ago."

Izuku nodded. Maybe he was wrong about that one. "Then what-" He then looked up to the older man sitting on a bench next to them. Somehow he hadn't noticed him.

When he did, though, he immediately recognised the Hero, smile growing three sizes that day. "Are you-!?"

His mouth was slapped and exploded by Katsuki. "Keep it down, Deku!" He hushed. "They guy's probably on break or something!"

When Katsuki's hand left his mouth, he turned to the Hellfire user. "Sorry, Endeavor." He whispered, bowing.

Endeavor waved it off. "Don't sweat it," He replied. "Nobody else can tell, so no harm done."

Katsuki turned his attention to the boy he had dubbed Half-and-Half. "Who's the kid?" He asked the Hero.

Endeavor turned to the boy, and strangely enough, his gaze on the child seemed to harden a bit. "My third son," He introduced. "Not much of a talker." The words caused the boy to glare at his father. Maybe Endeavor hit a soft spot?

Izuku walked straight to the boy, much to the surprise of Katsuki and Endeavor. "Hi," He spoke to the boy. "I'm Izuku Midoriya. Nice to meet you!" He held out a hand, hoping the boy would shake it.

Endeavor was caught off guard by this action. Barely anybody just wanted to talk to the kid, let alone approach them. Or did this kid just like meeting people? Midoriya, was it?

The boy's red and blue eyes looked away from Izuku, almost in embarrassment. Was he afraid of something? Maybe he was just antisocial.

Katsuki grabbed Izuku's shoulder. "Look, half-and-half isn't gonna shake the hand, alright?" He explained. His words caused Izuku's face to be not one of hurt, but...confusion? "Come on, let's just-"

"Shoto." The two turned at the whisper to where it came from: the boy with two halves. Even Endeavor seemed to be shocked. "Shoto Todoroki." The quiet boy reached his right arm out to Izuku's giving it a light squeeze. It was surprisingly cold. His Quirk, perhaps?

Seeing that Shoto was rather nervous, Izuku didn't grab the hand too tight, nor did he shake that hard. All he did was smile, glad he got to meet somebody new.

"Your hand's cold." Izuku pointed out as he let go of the boy's hand.

Shoto slightly flinched at those words, looking down slightly. "Yeah...it is." He whispered. "It's from my mother."

Katsuki stood next to Izuku. "I bet she's pretty strong, too." He bet.

Shoto's eyes widened at that, a small gasp escaping him. His shock soon formed into a small smile, looking at the two boys with a blue and a red eye, both far brighter than earlier. "Yeah. She is." He answered. He seemed far happier now.

Izuku laughed. "Most moms are!" He agreed. His mother may be soft to those she cared for, but he knew firsthand how fierce Inko Midoriya could be.

Feeling a small pop of heat on his shoulder, Izuku turned to Katsuki. "We checking that art place out or not?" He asked. The mood right now was pretty good, so he wanted to keep it that way.

Izuku nodded. "Yeah," He replied. He wanted to show an idea he found in the store across from them. As the two ran off to dive into the crowd of never-ending humans, the Quirkless turned back to the quiet Todoroki. "See you soon, Shoto!" He called out, hoping the boy heard his farewell.

Fortunately, he did. "Bye." He called back. Not nearly as loud as Izuku had been, but definitely his loudest today.

He heard Enji sigh. "Alright, we've been here long enough, back to clothes shopping." He announced.

Shoto nodded robotically. "Yes, father." He replied, the two standing up and walking out the opposite end of the bridge. Before he walked into the crowd, he turned back to see if he could find the two boys who had made him smile. When he found them moving through the store, Izuku explaining something to his friend with visible passion, he couldn't help but smile again. It had been too long since he'd felt like this.

With that, he followed his father back into the current of people, a soft grin still maintained.