Izuku Midoriya - road to the World Championships

2. A Mother's Support

"You are a nobody and you will continue to be a nobody, so do yourself a favour and jump off a building so I never have to see you again!!"

Those words rung deep in Izuku's mind as he made his way back home, his back aching in pain after being flung into a table by Bakugo, and his jaw marked by a patch of red. Once upon a time he would have cried over the constant bullying, standing on top of a building and contemplate his whole existence, however many long years later and he simply became numb to the abuse.

It wasn' t as if anyone was actually going to help him, after all he was not going to be able to address the root of the problem.

'...what am I actually doing applying to UA?'

He sighed upon asking that question to himself. Of course he knows why he applied to UA.

It's because of that video.

"Son how many more times are you going to see that 20 year old video?" His mother asked him, concern about how addicted he was to that match.

"As long as I haven't reached my goal in to become the best duelist I will never stop ma!"

He made that declaration himself, and as much as everyone tried talking him out of it (with...lets say quite extreme methods), he just couldn't bring himself to give up, especially when he himself knew he had the brains and the ability to make that dream a reality.

That dream of being a duelist. Of being able to compete with talent around the word on the biggest stage. Of being an inspiration to others as prior and current duelists are to him.

Of having fun with his life the way he wanted to have fun.

As much as he hated himself for it, he just couldn't help but cling on.

'But hey it's not like dreams aren't there to be broken or anything...man I really am a loser, here I am dreaming of becoming something outside of what mom can afford.'

He again let out a sigh, as he found himself in front of his apartment, twisting the door handle and making his way inside.

"MOM I'M HOME!"

_______________________________

"So Izu, what did you do at school today?"

Inko asked him across the table, while they waited for their food to be delivered as part of their weekly order out evening.

"Oh we just watched that video again of Yugi and Kaiba dueling, nothing new or interesting other than that."

"Oh...are you sure there was nothing to do with your application to UA?"

Izuku froze at the mention of that application - he never told his mother he was going to apply for a duelist academdy, let alone UA.

'Crapbaskets she must have gotten an email from Aldera, man even when I'm not in school they're having a laugh at me oh god whhhyyy!?!?!?'

His mother remained silent as she watched her son panic in Midoriya style, before continuing on in a more caring but serious tone.

"When were you going to tell me about you applying to UA?"

Izuku remained silent, finding the ground more interesting, before responding.

"I...wasn't going to, especially since my chances of getting in are zero. Maybe by some luck I could get into the general education course but..."

Inko sadly smiled. She knew more than Izuku let on, having seen the transformation in his behaviour after his so called best friend cut up his deck. She was always aware of the bullying that happened and always tried her best to stop it, until Izuku would EVENTUALLY convince her to let up on the complaints to school having seen little action. Initially she planned to move him to a different school but that would have required moving to a new place, something that wasn't an option to her given her then new role as a nurse at the nearby hospital. Plus when she did approach Izuku on the topic, he would simply shrug it off and say the treatment he had at Aldera would have happened somewhere else too.

But she wanted to do more for him. He deserved it.

"Izuku, as much as you may try to convince me otherwise, I know how your school days go. They dont call it mother's intuition for nothing" Inko chuckled lightly, before reaching out for Izuku's hands and gently holding them in her own, thumbs rubbing the top of his knuckles. "You should also know however that I want what's best for you, and I know how important becoming a future duelist is to you."

"But Mom...I don't even have a deck, and you've working so hard for so long I don't want the money you earn from it to go into some card game for my sak-"

"Izuku, all the work I do is meaningless if I can't be a good mother for you and support you."

"But you're the best mother I could have asked for" He softly replied.

"And yet I haven't been able to protect and help you as much as I have wanted to...so we are going to change that!" She exclaimed with a large smile, forcing Izuku to give his full vision to the traditional Midoriya smile. "Tomorrow we are going to go to the card shop and you are going to make yourself a deck."

Izuku's eyes bulged in shock before attempting to refute her statement without hesistation.

"No Mom i-its okay you don't have to-!"

"Izu I already told you, all the work I do as part of my occupation is meaningless if I can't do my job as a mother and support you in your dreams. Plus if you are really that worried about me spending money on something so "trivial", you still have that will of yours from your grandpa that we've held onto for safe use, nows as good as a time to use it."

"Mom..." Tears started leaking out of Izuku's eyes, overwhelmed by her mother's words and offer of support.

She rose from her chair and made her way towards her son, before wrapping her arms around him, holding his head by her shoulder.

"Thank you Mom...this means absolutely everything to me..."

"Of course it does Izuku"

"After all how can I let you fight the world without your mother's support?"

To be continued....

Aight! Second chapter done woohoo! Hope you all have enjoyed this chapter. Next up is Izuku entering a card shop getting ready to get hella shafted by SHORT PRINT STARLIGHT RARES LIKE BARRONE DE FLEUR......Calm down author...don't let konami's brain get to you...

ahem anyway

Reader question: What is your opinion on MHA as an anime? Is it one of your favourites? Have you become somewhat fatigued by it? or Something else entirely?

Me personally I think its a solid anime but I just couldn't find myself enjoying it as much as other anime for whatever reason (granted I havent watched that many anime). I feel like its a case where I defo like the good fanfiction narratives because they aren't cannon and so I can appreciate them on their own merit and own storyline, rather than me loving the series itself.

Looking forward to hear what some of you think
stay safe and I will see you all in the next chapter :)