Izuku opened his eyes slowly, his emerald gaze landing on one of his favorite All Might posters. The poster was gifted to him by his mom for his birthday when he was seven, and he loved it more than anything else in his collection. Izuku's eyes traveled from the smiling face of his favorite hero to the alarm clock on his desk and let out a groan. The sunlight filtered into the room through Izuku's deep forest green curtains, and Izuku covered his face. Maybe if he stayed in bed, his mom wouldn't force him to go to school today. He could say he was sick or something, and then he could spend the day curled up on his warm, comfortable bed instead of running from the vicious bullies at school.
But, no, Izuku couldn't do that. His mom would worry too much, and the last thing Izuku wanted to do was make her worry.
And so, with a weary sigh, Izuku forced his aching limbs out of his bed and onto the floor. He shivered when his bare feet hit the linoleum, but he persevered. As Izuku went through the daily ritual of making his bed, tidying up his room, and getting ready for school, his body ached and groaned with protest. The injuries from yesterday were starting to flare up, and Izuku hissed when his shirt pulled at the bandages on his stomach.
Kacchan really went too far yesterday, Izuku thought with a scowl. The burn on his stomach itched, and even after Izuku got home and put burn cream on it, it still felt painfully raw. With grit teeth, Izuku walked into the bathroom and quickly finished his business before he put a smile on his face and walked downstairs.
The forced smile on his face soon became a real one when he smelled the wonderful breakfast his mom had prepared. "Oh! Good morning Izu!" his mom said, a bright, blinding smile spreading across his mother's chubby cheeks.
"Morning, mom," Izuku said, walking up to her to give her a good morning kiss. "Smells great!"
"I'm glad," she said, tucking a strand of her light green hair behind her ear. "Oh, Izuku, would you mind grabbing Toshi? He's in his office. He's been so busy lately, I don't want him to forget to eat."
Izuku smiled as he thought of his step-father. Toshinori Yagi came into the Midoriyas' life when Izuku was nine. He had started dating his mom a little while before that, and they had been introduced on Izuku's ninth birthday where Toshinori had given him a super rare All Might figurine. So of course, when Toshinori and Inko got married a few months later, Izuku had no protests.
Izuku had quickly grown to love Toshinori, who filled in the hole that had been left when Izuku's father abandoned them when he was five. Despite his mother's protests, Izuku knew the reason why his father left was Izuku's quirklessness. Toshinori loved Izuku, though, and Izuku felt like he could relate to his step-father because he, too, was quirkless.
It was a little hard, however, hiding the bruises from school from both of his parents, but Izuku didn't want them to worry. Izuku knew that his mom worried incessantly about Izuku, and Toshi was just as overprotective. If they found Izuku was being bullied at school, they'd probably never let him leave the house again. Besides, it wasn't that big of a deal.
"Knock, knock," Izuku said, knocking on the door of his step-father's office. "Mom says you have to eat, Papa."
Toshinori looked up from the paperwork on his desk with a smile. "Ah, Izuku, my boy, good morning," he said. Izuku smiled at him, his eyes trailing over his step-father's sunken figure. Toshinori's face and body were practically skeletal, his sky blue eyes sunken into his face and his sickness caused him to cough blood every now and then. At first, his step-father's appearance had been startling, but after Izuku had gotten used to it, it didn't really phase him. "Your mother's cooking smells as delightful as always."
