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"I really appreciate all of you coming," Inko says, smiling brightly as she clasps her hands together. "Izuku really wanted all of you to be here for this."
Ochako grins back, pressing her fingertips together. "Of course!" she chirps, nudging Izuku's shoulder as he smiles sheepishly. "There's nothing we'd rather be doing."
Tsuyu ribbits in agreement, and so it begins.
"It's going to be a mess," Inko warns them thorougly, brows pinched tight. "I sincerely apologize, but we got into a fight before he left, and he's always been a slob. We haven't been in at all since he moved."
"Throw everything out," Izuku instructs, pointing to their list. "Besides things on this. We don't need it, and we most certainly don't care for it."
Inko stifles a smile behind her hand.
"Operation: No Dad is a go," Hitoshi drawls, and Izuku squawks at the name.
The room is so cluttered it's unbelievable. Years-old soda cans sit on the tabletop, discontinued chip bags lay dusted with mold over the yellowed duvet, and the wood of the bedframe is so rotted the air smells of mildew.
While everyone else dives in, Inko hesitates in the doorway. Tenya purses his lips at the sight and tries to see if anyone else has noticed, but they're all busy starting off their new project. He takes a breath and gently puts his hand on her shoulder.
Inko looks up with him with teary eyes, and he politely opens his arms, letting the woman bury her face in his chest as she bawls. "He was never good to my Izuku, so I knew it had to happen," she sniffles quietly. "But it still hurts."
It almost reminds him of Tensei; the way her ache at opening the door mirrored his agony of standing in front of a hospital bed makes him hold her tighter.
"Ms. Midoriya," he says after a moment, hesitant but pushing through anyways. "He wasn't good for you. I know you loved him, but it'll do you much good to let him go."
After a long moment, she takes a deep breath and pulls back. Her eyes are watery, but she wipes them with a determined look, nodding up at him. "You're a good boy," Inko smiles.
Tenya's mouth goes dry, and he smiles back. "I'm only doing what's right."
Meanwhile, Izuku is looking around the room with a muted sense of irony. He doesn't remember his dad at all, but this makes him grateful. He can't imagine living like this.
"Why's there ash on the floor, ribbit?" Tsuyu whispers to him, and he raises an eyebrow.
"My dad had a fire-breathing quirk," he shrugs, then turns with a pointed look to Shouto, who has his mouth open like he's going to say something. "And no, our dads are not related, and no, that isn't more evidence as to All Might being my 'true father'."
Shouto pouts and turns away, the others all snickering at the exchange before falling back into silence. Izuku makes his rounds with the trash bag, Tsuyu dropping things in for him. They fill bag after bag, piling them at the doorway.
"Eugh," Hitoshi cringes as he stomps on a roach. "Poor things have to live like this?"
Izuku snorts, holding the bag open further as Hitoshi dumps the dead bug with the dustpan. "You'd think they'd have left by now," he jokes, and Ochako makes a sound of agreement.
"Hey, where do you want me to put this?" the brunette asks, and when Izuku turns, he's not even surprised to see her holding the bedframe over her head.
"Um, take it outside and drop it on the corner of the block," he instructs, gesturing around. "Get someone to go with you though, it's not a great area."
"I'll go," his mother speaks up, holding the room's door open as Ochako floats it through. "Don't get in trouble while we're gone!"
Tsuyu rolls her eyes fondly but doesn't speak up, simply continuing to throw things away. By the time Inko and Ochako are back, they've already gotten a quarter of the way through. Hitoshi sweeps and mops the floorboards until they're sparkling, snarking under his breath about how he's incredibly glad Izuku didn't take after his birth father, or else the dorms would've been doomed from the start.
"I've acquired your heirloom box!" Tenya calls after a long while, emerging from under the bed with an old mahogany box, and everyone cheers.
Inko takes it gingerly, a small smile on her lips. "First item down, six more to go."
-
Cleaning the room takes much less time than expected with everyone there, taking breaks periodically.
"Whew," Ochako blows her bangs out of her face, grinning like a madman. "Not much left to do!"
And she's right; compared to the state of the room when they'd first started, it's much better. There isn't any trash remaining on the floor, and every article of fabric has been taken outside and thrown into a pile to burn - Shouto's suggestion, much to everyone's surprise.
"Hey, Auntie," a loud voice calls through the halls, and it makes Izuku perk up, though everyone else shares a confused glance.
"You invited Auntie over for dinner?" he asks his mom, and she nods with a bright smile.
"Of course! Mitsuki wanted to see our progress."
Ochako tilts her head like a puppy, and Tsuyu mimics her. "Who is that?" the frog girl ribbits. "Someone we know?"
"Oh," Inko smiles, gesturing for them to follow her. "Yes, it's one of your classmates, Katsuki?"
The group freeze and stare at her, then Hitoshi snorts, leading the way out. "I've gotta see this."
Katsuki and Izuku are standing in the doorway, talking casually with a taller blonde woman. "Honestly, Zu," the woman laughs, and it sounds startlingly similar to Katsuki's. "We've been waiting for the moment you get that room cleared out. You think we'd miss it?"
"Bakugou," Shouto speaks up first, alerting the three in the doorway. "I didn't know you'd be here."
The explosive boy turns slowly, then sighs into his hands as he gives Izuku an exasperated look. "Could've warned me, nerd."
Izuku gives him an innocent smile, rocking back and forth on his heels. "I don't know whatever you mean," he insists, then perks up. "Ooh, you're right on time! We were about to go start a fire!"
The mother and son duo share a confused look, then shrug in unison. "Fuck it, sure."
Katsuki ends up being the one to light it, grinning manically as he lets explosions pop over the mildewed fabric. It's so dry and dirty that it catches without much prompting, much to everyone's delight, and they toast marshmallows until late in the night.
"You know," the greenette says, voice muffled by how his face is buried in his mother's shoulder, the two staring into the flames. "I'm glad we did it."
A calm quiet falls over the group, and Tenya is the next to speak up. "I wish you two the best of recovery," he says clinically, and Shouto hums in agreement.
"Setting things on fire always helps," the half and half boy states, matter-of-fact, and there's laughter once again.
"Love you, Izuku," his mother whispers to him as she gently nudges him away from her. "You should go celebrate, I'll be fine."
He glances to the blonde woman sitting next to her and she nods, shooing him. "Go have fun," Mitsuki chastises, and Izuku takes it for what it is, leaving the two alone to talk.
"The man of the night finally appears," Hitoshi jokes, passing Izuku a bar of chocolate as he drops onto the blanket they're crowded onto. "What words of wisdom do you have for us, oh mighty Izuku?"
He scrunches his nose, then states dramatically: "We should set fires more often."