Work Text:
Shouta Aizawa was having one of those rare moments when he was actually enjoying a peaceful moment to himself. Well, not completely to himself, his cats Sushi and Mochi lying on either side of him on the couch. He pet them both, feeling them purr against him. A sudden knock on the front door jolted them from their peace. Shouta signed heavily. He shouldn't have expected the peace to last anyway with his line of work.
Going to the door, he looked at the monitor showing who was there. Two individuals stood, one woman, one man, both dressed in business wear. He pressed the button to speak, "Who are you and what do you want?" he asked sternly. The two seem to flinch a bit at his tone, but the man replied nonetheless, "I'm sorry to disturb you, but my name is Kazuyo Takeda, I'm a lawyer." The one who introduced himself held up his card and license to prove his identity. "I'm here on business regarding an Inko Midorya," he continued, making Shouta's eyes grow wide.
He hadn't heard that name in over a year now, his mind raced with thoughts of the beautiful green-haired woman that he had locked away inside himself "come in."
Shouta did what any good host would and offered tea and showed his two visitors to the table, "Mr. Takeda, can you tell me what this was all about?" he asked, wondering what had happened to Inko.
Mr. Takeda nodded, "Yes... I regret to inform you that Ms. Midorya has passed away as of last night." Shouta's teacup fell to the floor, shattering. He must have heard wrong. There was no way that Inko. His mind went into overdrive thinking of alternatives to what the lawyer could have said, "there's no way... she can't... how\..."
"I'm terribly sorry, Mr. Aizawa. Ms. Midorya was involved in a villain attack 3 months ago. The villain in question had a very dangerous quirk. He could secrete poisons from his body, while on her way home, she unfortunately was struck by this villain. The poison was highly toxic and was only able to be slowed, in that time, she had her will and final wishes planned out."
Shouta could hardly believe what he was hearing. No, he couldn't believe it, the once-happy, energetic girl he knew was gone. 'Shouta,' he could still hear her voice calling his name. Still see the bright smile on her face as she cheered him on 'I know you can do it... You will be an amazing hero.' Shouta was pulled into his memories, he had first met Inko at UA. They were both in general studies. He never knew why she started talking to him, why she believed in him so much. But she was the one who made him smile, the one who encouraged him the most.
"Why are you in General Studies?" he had asked her.
She looked at him with a confused look. "What do you mean?"
Shouta grabbed her notepad from her and flipped through it. "Shouta wait... no" he then held it out "this is what I mean" on one of the pages was a beautiful drawing of a hero fighting. The detail on it was amazing, "You should go into the design track, why stay in General Studies?" He saw her face lit up crimson and then covered her face with her hand.
"You don't understand, it's embarrassing," she mumbled out.
The memory shifts to their graduation. Inko did go into design, and he went into the Hero course. He thought after that day he wouldn't see her every again, he had missed his chance. It wasn't until a little over a year ago that they met at his favorite cafe. They began to reminisce about high school and told what they had been up to. They went to a bar and got a few drinks together, he was so tempted to tell her how he felt.
But then one thing led to another and they found themself entangled with each other, he couldn't understand what a beautiful women like Inko saw in him. He remembered how her hair flared around her as he looked at her. How her hands felt caressing his cheek, he warm embrace. Why didn't he say anything? Why didn't he stop her from leaving? If he had she could be here with him.
He was torn from his thoughts as Mr. Takeda held out a letter. "She left this for you, this and everything she owns was left to you, Mr. Aizawa."
Shouta stared at the letter. 'She had what... why?' he took it and opened it, shakenly.
Dear Shouta,
I know this must be shocking. Hell, I never thought I would be writing this letter. It's strange how things work out. I remember the first time I saw you and how my world seemed to stand still. I always wondered if you caught on to how I felt about you. But I guess both of us were just too oblivious.
After graduation, I thought I would never see you again. The regret weighed so much on me, I never seemed to consider dating or marriage at all. Then, when we saw each other in the cat cafe, I couldn't let it slide again. I wondered if you noticed how desperate I was. How I didn't want to leave you. How I wish I had never left. How our lives would be different.
I don't regret it.
If anything, I would do it again. Because I love you, Shouta.
Tears began to fall on the letter, couldn't bring himself to read more, but knew he needed to.
One reason why I don't regret it is because I knew you loved me, too. I felt it when you said my name. Then the major reason was what came afterwards. I fell pregnant with our child.
Shouta's hand gripped the paper tightly and reread that 'our child... Inko... Inko was pregnant' he kept reading.
I know this must be shocking, I wanted to tell you. I should have told you. But I was a coward, so many negative thoughts went through my mind, and even though I knew you would never harm me or the baby. Those thoughts won in the end, and I went through with the pregnancy. We have a beautiful son. His name is Izuku.
'He had a son... they had a son...'
Shouta didn't read on, he looked up at the two after composing himself, "Where is he?"
It was the woman who hadn't spoken yet that answered, "Sorry for the late introduction, but my name is Natsuki Hanamori. I'm with social services." She handed him her card. "Izuku is currently in the hospital receiving a check-up, to verify he is healthy. We know this must be very shocking, and if you need time..." Shouta cut her off by placing a hand in front and having a determined expression on his face. "I'd like to see him... please."
After going to get changed into something more suitable, and met Mr. Takeda and Ms. Hanamori at the door. Ms. Hanamori tried to reassure Shouta that he didn't have to rush anything that they could bring Izuku to him when he was ready. But Shouta was not having it, he needed to see that it was real and this wasn't some illabberate dream or some kind of joke someone was playing on him.
The drive to the hospital was agonizingly long, and it made his mind wander back to the letter. He decided to finish reading the letter.
Shouta, please take good care of our son. Make sure he knows how much I love him. Please show him the good things in the world, I know you will. Izuku is just too adorable not to love. He looks so much like you. I know he'll be just as handsome when he grows up. I wonder how we would have turned out if I had said something? If I had never left that day, or if I had told you I was pregnant. Would we have been together and celebrating our son together? I'm sorry, Shouta. Sorry, I was such a coward and not brave enough to say those words. I love you. I'll be watching over you and Izuku.
Yours always, Inko
Shouta leaned his head against the headrest and sighed 'You're not the only coward, Inko' he thought. He could have stopped her from leaving, he could have said those words. The car finally pulled up to the hospital, this is when it finally started to hit him, and he was becoming nervous. After parking, going in, checking in and then getting directed to the child care unit, his heart had begun to race. Then it suddenly stopped. There was a viewing window, and he saw a small sleeping infant. He immediately knew it was Inko's and his. The fluffy, dark black hair that seemed turned into a dark forest green.
A nurse brought the child to him "All the check-up went very well, he's a very healthy baby," the nurse said softly so as not to wake the boy. She then carefully handed him the baby. Shouta wore an expressionless look but was freaking out on the inside. he asked himself if he was hold him right? was he supporting his head? Would he be able to take care of him like Inko wanted? When the baby yawned, he smiled and wanted to laugh. 'How can Inko think their child looks like him?' he thought. Then the baby's eyes opened and stared up at him.
Those big green eyes that shone with wonder and hope were just as beautiful and amazing as Inko's were. Shouta smiled at his son, "Hello Izuku, I'm your dad" a tear ran down his cheek as he hugged Izuku close.
"I promise to protect you."