Chapter Text
Izuku’s mom doesn’t pick him up from school.
He sits on the edge of the front steps of Aldera elementary school, swinging his legs and holding onto his yellow backpack. Kacchan sits with him for a while, but his parents eventually come, so Izuku has to wait alone. Kacchan’s mom asks if Izuku wants a ride but Izku shakes his head.
“No thanks, mom’ll be here soon!”
Izuku doesn’t start to get scared until some teachers start getting in their cars and driving away. His preschool teacher walks out to the steps, a worried expression on her face as she sits down next to him.
“Midoriya, sweetie, was your mom supposed to pick you up today?” she asks kindly. Izuku nods, hugging his backpack and looking out at the street. His mom will be here soon. She always is.
“Is there someone else I can call for you?” his teacher asks calmly, “It’s getting close to dinner.”
Izuku shakes his head. It’s just his mom and him, he has no other family. He wonders if Kacchan’s mom would come back and get him, but instead he decides to walk home all by himself. It’s not a very long way. Maybe his mom got held up at work and that’s why she’s late.
“I’m just going to go inside and call your mom for you,” his teacher says, standing up and heading back into the school, “Please wait here.”
Izuku waits until she’s inside before putting his backpack on and standing up, walking determinedly to the front of the school. He knows his teacher said to wait, but his mom has never forgotten to pick him up before, so he’ll have to be a big boy and walk home on his own.
Izuku’s four years old and he’s lived in the same apartment his whole life. His mom is his only important person; he never knew his dad and they have no extended family. Izuku’s best friend is Kacchan, Katsuki Bakugou, and he doesn’t have any pets or siblings. His mom is very important to him.
“Aren’t you kind of small to be walking home alone?”
A voice interrupts his thoughts and Izuku looks up to see an older kid, a teenager, perched on the wall of a garden he’s walking past. He has a bandage on his nose and hair like a cloud, blue and wispy. He has goggles on his head and a big grin on his face as he looks down at Izuku without a care in the world.
“I’m almost five,” Izuku says sagely, “I can walk home by myself.”
The kid startles, staring at Izuku with eyes the size of dinner plates. He slides down off the wall standing in front of Izuku and staring at him in shock.
“You…you can see me?” he asks, running a trembling hand through his wispy hair, “You can hear me?”
Izuku nods, tilting his head in confusion, “Uh-huh. Why, does your quirk make you invisible?”
“Something like that,” the kid grins, before looking a bit more serious, “No one’s been able to see me for…a really long time. I’m Oboro Shirakumo. What’s your name?”
“Izuku Midoriya,” Izuku says politely, “Your hair is really cool, Shira…Shira..sorry, I forgot your name already.”
Oboro laughs, folding his hands behind his head. “Just call me Oboro, kid, it’s cool. So you’re four, huh? I’m seventeen. Or at least, I was, a long time ago.”
Izuku’s not sure what Oboro means by that, but he’s fascinated by the stranger, from his wispy hair to his big grin. His smile is infectious and soon Izuku is grinning too, enjoying the conversation as they walk down the street.
“What’s your quirk?” Izuku asks, forgetting his manners as he looks at Oboro’s undulating hair, “Is it why people can’t see you except me?”
Oboro shakes his head, “Nope! My quirk is called Cloud. I can make clouds appear, check it out!”
Izuku watches with fascination as Oboro brings his hands together and creates a small, fluffy cloud in front of them. Izuku forgets everything for a moment, eyes widening in fascination as he stares at the little cloud. Oboro holds it in front of him for a moment before it disappears with a poof!
Izuku giggles, eyes sparkling with wonder at Oboro. “Wow, that was so cool! Can you make really big clouds? How many can you make at once? Have you ever made a rainstorm? Do you think you could change the weather?”
“So many questions!” Oboro laughs, walking with Izuku down the street, “Yeah, I can make big clouds. Not sure how many I can make at once. I’ve never made it rain, or changed the weather, but I was working on this ultimate move at UA called Cloud Cover; I was using clouds to obscure my opponent and hide myself to get an advantage in a fight.”
Izuku’s eyes grow even wide, “You go to UA? That’s so awesome!”
Oboro gets a sad smile on his face and an odd look in his eyes as he stares down the street. “I…I used to. Anyway, kiddo, what are you doing out here all by yourself? Where’s your house?”
Izuku points to some apartment buildings in the distance. “My mom didn’t come and pick me up, so I’m walking myself home.”
Oboro doesn’t look happy about that. “Does she leave you alone a lot?”
“No, never!” Izuku says, defending his mom, “She always picks me up. My teacher went to go call her, but I had already tried and she didn’t pick up. I just wanted to meet her at home. She must be really tired from work.”
“I gotcha,” Oboro says, looking at Izuku with a fond smile, “Come on, I’ll walk you up to your place.”
Izuku and Oboro walk for a while until Izuku reaches his building. They walk up the stairs and he fishes out a little key from his backpack, opening his front door. Oboro stands outside, looking a little wistfully at the apartment.
“Do you wanna come in?” Izuku asks him, “My mom will want to meet you. She can make you dinner, too!”
“That’s sweet, kid, but I should go,” Oboro says with a sad smile, “I’ll catch you later though, okay?”
Izuku smiles and waves, “Okay, bye Oboro!”
Izuku turns back to open the door to his apartment, walking inside and closing it behind him. The lights are off and there’s no sign at all that his mom’s been home. Izuku frowns, but he turns on the lights and takes off his shoes and backpack, putting them down on the floor.
He heads into the kitchen, opening the fridge and pulling out some fruit his mom had left for an after school snack. Izuku sits down at the kitchen table and eats the fruit, keeping his eyes on the front door. His mom doesn’t come home.
Izuku cleans off the plate and carefully sets it in the sink, walking into the bathroom. He turns on the water for the tub and runs a bath for himself, carefully washing his hair and body before rinsing and drying off. He puts the towel in the little hamper on the ground and uses the stepstool by the sink to stand on and brush his teeth.
After he’s cleaned up, Izuku walks out to the living room and sits on the couch, turning on the television to his favorite cartoons. He keeps all of the lights on, bundling in a large, thick blanket on the couch. He watches tv for hours until his eyes get heavy. It’s much later than his bedtime. His mom still doesn’t come home.
Izuku begins sniffling after a while, tears starting to pour out of his eyes as he hiccups and cries. He’s scared and lonely, and he wants his mom there.
“Izu, sweetie, why are you crying?”
Izuku shoots up his tearstained face, relief flooding every inch of him as he sees his mom’s worried face looking down at him.
“M-Momma,” he hiccups, “I didn’t hear you come home.”
She looks confused, walking closer to him and holding her arms out. Izuku stands, rushing to hug her, but when he reaches her, it’s like she was never there at all. He turns around in confusion, his mother no longer in the room, and his heart hammers with fear.
Was he dreaming? Imagining his mom? No, he had heard her, she was real. Izuku runs and checks every room in the apartment. He opens every drawer, every closet, checks under his mom’s bed and in the bathroom. When every light is on and everything’s been opened, Izuku knows that his mom isn’t there anymore.
He begins sobbing for real, curling into a ball on the floor as he buries his face in his knees. He cries and cries until he’s almost cried himself sick, when there’s a knock on the front door. Izuku freezes, bringing a hand over his mouth. His mom wouldn’t knock, she lives there.
Izuku hides behind the couch, peeking out so he can see the door, gasping in fear when he hears someone try and open the doorknob.
“This is the police,” a muffled voice says on the other side of the door, “Please open up.”
Izuku’s heart hammers. The police? Here? Why would the police be at the apartment? Is it because of his mom?
Izuku scoots out from behind the couch walking forward and standing on his tiptoes to unlock the door, opening it just a crack. He looks up to see someone in a police uniform next to a pro hero that Izuku doesn’t recognize.
“Hey there,” the police officer says gently, “I’m Officer Tsukauchi and this is the pro hero Eraserhead. Are you Izuku Midoriya?”
Izuku nods, a little stunned. The hero, Eraserhead, pushes down a pair of yellow goggles, revealing a pair of kind, dark eyes.
“Hey kid,” Eraserhead says calmly, “Can we come inside?”
Izuku nods again, opening the door. He sees Eraserhead scan the apartment as he and Tsukauchi step over the threshold. Izuku’s a little in awe of seeing not only a police officer but a pro hero up close.
“Um, do you know where my mom is?” Izuku asks anxiously, “She was here a bit ago but then she disappeared and I couldn’t find her.”
“She was here?” Eraserhead asks, sharing a look with the police officer, “Here, why don’t we sit down and you can tell us what happened after school today.”
Izuku nods, sitting down next to Eraserhead on the couch, looking up at him in awe. “Um, okay, Mr. Eraserhead. I was waiting for mom at school, because she didn’t come to get me. She always comes to get me, so it was weird. I was fine but then the teachers started going home and then I got scared.”
“Did any of your teachers check on you?” Tsukauchi asks, pulling out a notepad and writing something down.
Izuku nods, swinging his legs until he kicks the couch, “Yeah, my teacher said she’d call my mom but I just walked home on my own anyway. And I met this cool kid and he showed me his quirk! He said he was a UA student, but he looked kinda sad about it. And then he walked me to my front door and I went inside and mom wasn’t here.”
“Alright,” Eraserhead says gently, “Izuku, you told us you had seen your mom tonight. When was that?”
Izuku blushes, looking down. “I was scared and I was crying, and I heard her talk to me. I looked up and saw her and when I went to hug her, she went away.”
“He’s telling the truth,” Tsukauchi says quietly, making Eraserhead’s eyes widen a little.
“Alright, Izuku,” Eraserhead says, “You say a UA student walked you home tonight. Do you remember their name? We’d like to check on them too, UA’s a bit of a ways away from here.”
Izuku thinks about his new friend, trying hard to remember his whole name. He thinks for a moment when he hears a new voice speak.
“No way…Shouta?”
Izuku looks up, mouth dropping as Oboro is standing in the middle of the living room, clear as day, staring at Eraserhead. Izuku looks eagerly at the police officer and Eraserhead, but neither of them seem to be acknowledging the student at all.
“He’s right there!” Izuku says excitedly, pointing to the center of the room. Oboro looks at him sadly, kneeling down in front of Izuku.
“Kid, they can’t see me,” Oboro reminds him, “They probably won’t believe you. I’m sorry, buddy.”
“The truth again,” Tsukuachi says quietly before addressing him, “Izuku, my quirk is called True Man. I can tell when people are lying or telling the truth. You can see someone in this living room besides the three of us, right?”
Izuku nods, relief flooding him as the officer believes him. “Uh-huh! It’s Oboro, the kid I saw earlier!”
Eraserhead visibly starts at that, looking at Izuku with a stunned expression. “What did you just say?”
Oboro winces, running a hand through his cloudy hair. “Man, Shouta, I’m sorry.”
Izuku looks at Oboro and then back to Eraserhead, tilting his head curiously. “Are you Shouta?”
Eraserhead pales a bit, “What?”
“Your name,” Izuku says calmly, “Oboro keeps callin’ you Shouta.”
Eraserhead just stares, looking between Izuku and Tsukuachi, his face tense and anguished. “Y-Yeah, that’s my name. Shouta Aizawa. Oboro…Shirakumo, he was a friend of mine. A very good friend.”
“Best friends,” Oboro echoes a little sadly, sitting next to Izuku on the couch, “Buddy, I know this is going to seem weird, but I’m like…very, very dead. That’s why Shouta’s acting so weird.”
Izuku’s eyes boggle out of his head. “You’re dead?”
Tsukuachi’s mouth is open in shock and Eraserhead is staring, but Izuku keeps his eyes locked on Oboro, who shrugs a little sheepishly.
“Yep, dead as a doornail, kiddo,” Oboro sighs with a grin, “Have been for a while. You’re the first person I’ve been able to talk with since it happened.”
Izuku just stares, looking back over at Eraserhead and Tsukuachi with a stunned expression. “Oboro says he’s dead and I’m the first person he can talk to. Does that mean Oboro’s a ghost?”
“Ghost, spirit, what have you,” Oboro says with a casual wave of his hand, “Listen, Izuku, they came to talk to you about something else. I think you should listen to them.”
Eraserhead looks a little stunned, but he shakes his head a little and turns his expression back to something more serious.
“Izuku, this is fascinating, as we will check in with you more about this, but we actually came here for another reason,” Eraserhead says calmly, “It’s about your mom.”
Izuku freezes, remembering why he had been crying earlier. “My m-mom?”
“There was an accident at your mom’s work,” Tsukauchi says gently, “A car accident. Your mom was involved. I’m so sorry, Izuku, but she didn’t make it. Your mom died.”
Izuku doesn’t move.
“But…but I saw her,” he stammers, looking up at Eraserhead with tears in his eyes, “She was here.”
“Like Oboro?” Aizawa prompts gently and Izuku freezes.
His mom was here. Like Oboro. Had disappeared, like Oboro. Because Oboro was a ghost, and so was his mom, and she hadn’t picked him up from school because his mom is dead.
“N-No…” Izuku chokes out, “M-Mommy…”
Izuku bursts into tears and he feels someone pull him onto their lap into a hug. Izuku sobs and sobs, his chest aching with anguish and fear. His mom couldn’t be dead, she was just here! His mom’ll be coming home any minute.
But then he remembers Oboro, remembers ghosts, and Izuku knows deep in his bones that his mom isn’t coming back. Not ever.
“It’s alright, kid,” Eraserhead murmurs, rubbing Izuku’s back, “You’re going to be okay, I promise.”
Izuku cries into Eraserhead’s shirt for a long time, with the police officer and ghost Oboro Shirakumo watching with sadness over the little boy who’s lost everything all in one night.