Mother Knows Best

SevenRenny

Idea by: Butters, Jigoku Seiko

Izuku had a lot on his plate; from the weight of expectation, the looming danger of Villains, his inability to sleep most nights from nightmares that woke him up in shivers and buckets of sweat that made him shift away from that disgusting spot on the bed, his schoolwork, his goal to do better, his time to work out, his time with his friends, his time for himself.

Of all things to worry about, he never stopped to think of his time to just deal with the enemy that plagued every teenager.

He was familiar with this kind of distress and longing; the one that said 'I wish I had that, too'. His childhood years hadn't been kind to him. He still flinched sometimes. It was instinctive – his body remembering and expecting an unpleasant moment experienced before, telling him to be ready. From simple explosions and flashes, to anything that reminded him of the USJ incident, to the simple random thought of losing a life he could've saved. He still flinched and acted without thought.

However; in those moments, his brain only acted according to fear. Fear of pain, fear of loss, fear of being too late.

"Excuse me, Uraraka from class 1-A, right?"

Right now, at the cafeteria, surrounded by friends, with Tenya to his left, and Ochaco to his right, and Shoto and Tsuyu on the other end of the table, his favorite comfort dish – katsudon, still steaming – on his tray, with no physical enemy in sight, no familiar false danger for his instincts to overreact over, he wondered why–

"Y – Yes?"

"Hi! Yeah. You probably don't know me. I'm from the General Education department. Saw your fight at the Sports Festival. Thought, you know, we can talk about it? Maybe grab dinner later. Are you free after school?"

Why did he flinch? It was just another student; a student who just happened to ask his best friend out.

It made no sense. The question hadn't been directed at him, and yet, he flinched. He felt silent eyes gust over him. From who, he hadn't paid enough attention to notice. His food forgotten, his attention landed on his best friend beside him. It took his friend a few seconds to process the question, and even longer to understand the hint behind it.

"Wait… like… like a…?" Her voice trailed off stupidly.

"A date, yeah. Know a good ramen spot not too far. You in?"

Izuku was still flinching. For an unknown reason, it worried him. Dates were supposed to be romantic, right? They weren't like outings with friends. They were different, right? He wouldn't know. His knowledge of romance was limited to films and manga and that one exam with fake hostages at a fake bank robbery wrapped up in a fake love story.

Was this another teenage hormone thing? The one that made him feel things he shouldn't be feeling for a friend? It never made him feel scared before. Why now?

"I… uuuh." Ochaco scratched the back of her head, a behavior she did when nervous. "It's really sweet, but I have plans with my friends." She kept smiling to lessen the blow.

Had they made plans? He couldn't recall.

"Uh. It's fine, then. Sorry to bother you," the boy said.

Izuku wasn't aware how on-alert he'd been until then. The relieved sigh that came out of him sounded too loud for his own ears.

"Think he'll try again, Kero?" Tsuyu asked.

Ochaco went back to her meal. "No, I don't think so. He didn't try asking for another day. I think he got I wasn't interested," she explained.

"You sound like it's a normal thing, Kero."

She laughed nervously. "Not really. It started after the Sports Festival. I feel bad lying to them but I don't wanna make them feel bad."

Oh. So they didn't have plans.

Everyone looked blankly at him. A few seconds –"What? What is it, guys?"

"In case you did not realize," Tenya said as politely as he could. "You uttered your disappointment publicly."

The blank stares around him turned into impressed and slightly proud looks. It clicked: he'd said it out loud.

"Huh!" Dread pooling out of him all at once, his head snapped to the side and saw the innocent wide eyes of Ochaco blinking at him. "I…"

"Did you wanna hang out, Deku?" she asked with a curious head tilt. "I really don't have anything. Maybe homework."

Hang out? Just hang out, like usual. Nothing wrong with that. Nothing strange. Just him and her. It wasn't a date, even if it did sound like one. He was taking too long for an answer. He looked like a fool. Answer, damn it – hurry! "Are you free tomorrow? We can eat with my mom," he blurted it, like the idiot he was.

He could've worded it better if his fried nerves wouldn't have kicked him into such a sudden gear.

That didn't sound like just 'hanging out' but the words had already escaped him. No pulling those back in, now.

Her permanent blush marks turned a bright shade of red. "I – Deku – I mean, sure. Yeah! I'd love to – I mean, I'd like that."

"You turned down the other guys," Tsuyu pointed out bluntly.

Ochaco squeaked. "It's different, I know Deku! He's my friend." she tried to explain herself.

Tenya pushed up his glasses. "Familiarity does bring comfort. Now, then," he said, placing a firm hand on Izuku's shoulder. "I bid you good luck on your eventual date."

At this point, Izuku must've looked like he had a strawberry for a head, green stem on top and all. Ochaco had cupped her cheeks in a failed attempt to hide the massive blushes.

He hadn't planned to ask his friend over for dinner that morning.

He did it anyway.

Darn his nerves.

…

He called his mom when he got back to his dorm room. His panic must've leaked through his voice, because his effort in small talk about finally visiting her was easily stepped over, with her simply asking: "Are you okay, honey?"

Everything spilled out.

"Mom, I kinda asked my friend to come over – I should've asked you first but another person asked her on a date - she said no but I panicked and I invited her over," he blurted out without stopping for a breath.

"Baby, slow down." She sounded relieved. "It's wonderful, sweetie. I'm happy you're bringing your friend over. I can't remember the last time you had your friends here." – His history with friends hadn't been nice to him.

Tension subsided, he dropped to sit on the edge of his bed, his legs giving out.

"Thanks, mom. Tomorrow? For dinner? Is that okay?"

"It's fine, dearie," she said gladly.

He wasn't sure what his mom thought he did during his friendless years. He suspected she knew he didn't have friends. Had she known about Katsuki and all the mean kids? He assumed she had her suspicions after his excuses had ranged from 'I fell' to 'we were just playing' and, at some point, he still kept up the charade, knowing she didn't believe most of it. She was like him; easy to worry, sensitive, prone to self-blame. His efforts to not worry her backfire. She'd sounded so glad when he'd told her he'd made new friends at school; went to hug him and kiss him and let him know how happy she was for him.

Now, she sounded just as happy over the phone.

…

He only got to see his mom on the weekends. For once, he wasn't visiting alone. In his blue All Might hoodie, he waited anxiously for his date, standing between the elevator and the stairs on the girls' side of the building.

He had no real clue on what to do. He had zero experience in dating, and even less knowable on how to behave around girls, he was at a loss. An internet search gave contradicting pointers. How was he supposed to be himself and be 'confident' at the same time? Those two things clashed with each other like a bad traffic accident.

"Hey, Deku," she greeted as soon as the elevator doors parted. She was in her own hoodie – a soft pink one. Adjusting the straps of her backpack, she folded her hands shyly behind her back. "Sorry, I made you wait," she said meekly.

"No, It's okay. I just got here."

Moving everyone into the dormitories had been for safety reasons, and leaving without permission was prohibited. Izuku texted Aizawa every time he needed to visit his mom, then texted again on his way back to campus. They carried their school bags on their way to the station. If they were going to sit together for some time, they might as well do their homework together. It almost didn't seem like a date at all. He'd walked with her alone before. Tenya would usually be with then, but he sometimes had his own busy schedule.

The look on his mom's face when she opened the door was of pure motherly joy.

"Hi, Mrs. Midoriya." Ochaco bowed. "I'm Ochaco Uraraka. Thanks for having me over!"

"So glad to have you over. Come in, come in." Inko assured them in.

Ochaco bent down to remove her shoes. A pair of guest slippers was propped on the steps.

Izuku got to finally hug his him. She squeezed him firmly, gratefully to have her baby back in her arms again.

"I missed you so much, baby. My Izuku."

"Mom, you're crushing me," he laughed. "Missed you, too, mom."

She released him, yet, still held his scarred hands. Her baby's poor hands. "I hope you two are hungry. I was just setting the table. Make yourselves comfortable."

He led his friend to the couch to dispose of their backpacks on the cushions. "You have a nice place," Ochaco said, looking around, examining the details of the home where her friend was raised in. "I like your mom. You look like her."

"Yeah, I get that a lot. She's great."

She really was, his mom. He wouldn't be the person he was now if it wasn't for the love of his mother.

The table usually occupied by just mother and son – and nowadays, just the mother – was decorated with bowls and fluffy green salads, fingers of fried shrimp, shiny rice, shinier plates, freshly juiced orange, plenty of side dishes – more than the usual in accommodation for one more person at the table.

Despite feeding on Lunch Rush's professionally prepared meals at UA, Ochaco marveled at the pretty table. "Wow!"

Inko calmly sat down to join them. "Dig in, kids. You must be tired."

"Thanks for the meal!" the two kids said.

While it wasn't gourmet dishes, there was a certain taste of uniqueness that touched Ochaco's childhood. Homemade, family dinners. After a long week of classes, physical training, mental strain and the weight of upcoming tests, it was nice to have comfort food that reminded her of her own family get-togethers, when she was little and mom and dad would set the table and exchange bowls and talk about mundane things.

"I met him right before we took that entrance exam," Ochaco explained.

Inko looked surprised, a shrimp pinched between her chopsticks. "Oh my. That early?"

He hadn't told her. It hadn't been a pleasant day, with him breaking three of his four limbs, getting his stamina kissed out of him by an old lady, and coming home thinking he'd failed after his ten months of hell.

"I, umm…" he stuttered. His fork clicked against the bottom of hos plate. "I tripped on my way to take the exam. She caught me before I fell. I never got to thank you for that day," he said, turning to address his friend. "Thank you! For not letting me fall." Twice.

Flattered, she waved him off exaggeratingly. "That was nothing. It's fine – it's fine! It would've been bad luck if you fell," she repeated the words he'd heard her say to him on the first day she laid eyes on him.

"Thanks," he whispered. Remembering how hard that day had been, he was very grateful for the extra bit of luck he truly needed. "You really saved me back there."

He didn't see how his mother observed the exchange with a look of pride and silent gratitude.

…

"Are you sure? You don't need me to walk you there," he offered.

Ochaco tapped her shoe against the floor, fitting her toes to the top snuggly. "It's okay. I'm meeting up with Tsuyu later. I want you to stay with your mom more. Thanks for dinner, Mrs. Midoriya. And thanks for today, Deku." She bowed, her cheeks going a brighter pink.

"Thanks for coming over," he said nervously, suddenly reminded she'd been his date today. "I'll… I'll call you."

"You're free to visit anytime, dear," Inko said. She waited until the girl left to go down the stairs. Inko's mouth wobbled and fat tears streamed down her cheeks.

"Mom, why are you crying?" Izuku panicked.

The mother clumsily grabbed him into a bear hug. "My babyyy! My Izuku brought a nice girlfriend home," she sobbed hysterically. "He's growing up so fast! My Izuku!"

Ochaco. His girlfriend. The thought sucked the life out of him. "Mom–" He was going to die from embarrassment faster than his mother could suffocate him.

"I'm – I'm so happy for you. She's so wonder – wonderful. Treat her right, okay? My baby's grown up so fast."

"Mom, can't breathe…"

"You be careful with her, honey. If you have any questions, call me. I know it can be confusing and scary, growing up, but know you can ask me anything. Do you remember what we talked about? When a boy likes a girl?"

He paled. "Mom, please…" dread washed over him as she dragged him to the living room. He didn't want to relive that lesson. "Mom, I already know – please, mom!" Not 'The Talk'. Please, don't let it go there.

"Do we need to go over everything?" she wondered out loud, not listening to him. "It's better to be safe than sorry. Where did I put that book…?"

"Mom!"

Notes:

-Another thing I dug up from the grave. Not proud of it but I don't want it to just sit there forever.

-It was sorta all over the place. It was one of two ideas sparked from a 'jealous Izuku' suggestion that split into two and went out of my control. Might post the other 'jealous Izuku' later.