The Protagonist System

179 Mother Knows Best

After I shared a couple more anecdotes about my close calls with death, we reached the apartment building and went up the stairs to my home. I asked Toshinori to wait on the step for a moment as I entered the apartment to greet my mother. I had barely opened the door when my mother's scream blew past me and made my guest wince.

“MY BABY!” Inko Midoriya yelled and tackled me. Since she was barely just over 5 feet tall and quite pudgy, I barely felt her impact and easy caught her. “What happened? Why are your clothes all torn and dirty?”

I glanced down at the sorry state of my clothes and sighed, then told her about my run-in with the slime villain. Inko looked horrified and started fussing over me as she started stripping me out of my clothes. I had to stop her and then introduced the man on the doorstep as the man that helped me today.

Inko thanked him profusely and invited him inside, which Toshinori reluctantly accepted. He was served tea and snacks and I went to my room to change. I tossed the ruined clothes in the garbage and left my backpack beside the bed. I grabbed a change of clothes and went to the bathroom to have a shower and looked into the mirror.

The mop of green hair on my head made me wince at the mess. I was definitely changing that as soon as I was clean. A few spells helped me get the slime gunk out from under my fingernails and I scrubbed the rest off the normal way. Magic was great for that; but, nothing beat a good hot shower to relax your tense muscles.

I stepped out of the shower and dried myself off as I stared at myself in the mirror. Goddamn, I missed seeing myself looking normal after so long being stick thin or short. I had dealt with it as much as I could and I survived, so it was a relief to finally be back in the body I had started this whole adventure out with.

I stepped close to the mirror and stared at my rounded face and didn't like it. I faded the freckles slightly and changed my huge round eyes to be smaller and more expressive. I also fixed my nose to not be so pointed and made my mouth a little smaller. I couldn't change too much right away, not without Inko seeing the differences.

I enlarged my clothes and put them on, then shrunk them to fit better. I left them a little baggy to hide how muscular I was and left the bathroom to go to the living room. I called for a taxi and Toshinori thanked me, thanked my mother, and left like his ass was on fire.

“He was an odd but nice man.” Inko said and she narrowed her eyes at me. “What aren't you telling me about today, Izuku? You know you can't lie to me.”

I opened my mouth to say I probably could lie, only to go over Izuku's memories again. Mind Blank let me remove all internal and external influences and I had to agree with her. Inko always knew it when her son lied. Always. Which brought forth all the times Izuku came home hurt and she she knew it was Bakugo that was doing it.

“I'm sorry I never told you about the bullying, mom.” I said. “It's been happening since I was four and never got my quirk. I always thought my best friend would smarten up and accept me for who I was and he never did.”

Inko eyes teared up and she walked over to me to hug me. “My baby.” She whispered and cried into my chest. “I'm sorry, too. I tried to talk to Mizuki and she just brushed it off as boys being boys and carrying on.”

It was such a strong statement I was reminded of how Uncle Vernon had said the exact same thing when Dudley played a bit too rough with me. It was also what he said in the canon story as well to cover up Dudley's excessive bullying.

I sighed and hugged her close and pet her hair. “It's going to be all right now, mom.”

“Wh-why? Why would it be?” Inko asked, still crying.

“I saved the idiot's life today and my latent power manifested afterwards.” I said, completely truthfully. I wasn't going to share the details, however.

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Inko gasped and lifted her head from my tear-soaked shirt. “Wh-what did you say?”

“I saved Bakugo...” I started to answer.

“Not that!” Inko interrupted me. “About your power!”

“Ah, let me just...” I looked around and saw the couch that would be a great example. I reached down and grabbed the leg and lifted the entire couch up with no effort at all, thanks to my using the levitation spell to keep it steady.

Inko's mouth dropped open and she stared at the couch. After a few seconds of me holding the couch like it was nothing, because it was, she finally looked at me. “H-how?”

“It takes a long time for the Power Stockpiling power to build up enough energy to be used.” I said, also completely truthfully. I just wouldn't clarify that it wasn't me that gathered that power.

Inko's tears flowed as she hugged me again. “I'm s-so h-h-happy for y-you, Izuku!”

“Thanks, mom.” I said and put the couch down and hugged her with both arms.

Inko let out a sigh and seemed to snuggle into my chest and she closed her eyes.

“Do you want me to help with dinner?” I asked after a few minutes and she nodded. She didn't move or let me go, though. I didn't mind indulging her a little and held her for as long as she wanted me to. She had years of worry and fear to work through after I had shown off that I had a power.

*

Katsuki Bakugo was frustrated. He was also being smothered by his clingy mother's saggy breasts as she strangled him in what she claimed was a hug, which he knew for a fact was her trying to stop him from escaping her grasp.

Mitsuki hadn't been happy to receive a call from the police to report what happened to her son and she wasn't going to let him go anytime soon. Even his father was hovering around them and blocked Katsuki's normal escape route to get to his room.

No matter how much he cursed and protested the treatment, his mother wouldn't let him go. Even when it came to sitting down to eat, which his father had made again, Mitsuki didn't let him go. In fact, when he tried to claim he couldn't eat with her holding him like that, she started feeding him herself between her own bites of food.

Katsuki grumbled about stupid mothers mothering him to death and all Mitsuki did was smile warmly and told him to shut the hell up because she wasn't going to stop until it was time to go to bed. He reluctantly stopped trying to get away after hearing that and managed to survive for the rest of the evening with her clinging onto him.

Sleep became a welcome release from his captivity and Katsuki forced himself to never think about how comforting his mother's pillowy softness had been. It was stifling, yes. It was also the best warmth he had felt in years, probably thanks to her quirk that was similar to his own.

Unbeknownst to him, his mother was just outside his room and stared through the open crack to see the smile on his face. She smiled as well, because her idea had worked to calm her son down after he had been attacked by a villain. She had already submitted the petition to have the dangerous slime thing put down or sent to Tartarus Prison for life. No one tried to take her son away from her and got away with it. No one.

*

I woke up on my expanded bed and felt short arms hugging me. I opened my eyes and saw Inko was sprawled across my legs and had a tight grip around my waist, probably because it was the only thing she could get her tiny arms around. I couldn't begrudge her being so clingy, since Izuku had technically died yesterday and now here I was living his life.

No, that's not right. I wasn't going to live his life, just like I hadn't lived anyone else's life when I took over, either. I was going to live my own life and the world was going to see exactly what someone that knew what they were doing could do.

First thing's first, though. I was going to shave a good portion of this green mop off of my head. Maybe I could do fades on both sides and leave the top as a mess? I'd have to ask Inko about it to see if she would like that, too. It was going to be different than Izuku's normal hairstyle and that was the point. I wasn't going to be the same old Izuku anymore.

Inko woke up after a few minutes and started to look embarrassed, so I chuckled and picked her up, making her squeak in surprise, and I hugged her to my chest and let her rest there. She let out a contented sigh and snuggled in like she had when hugging me yesterday. We stayed there like that without saying anything and just enjoying the hug and the silence.

We couldn't stay there all day, though. I had to get my hair cut and then go to school, while she had things to do as well to take care of the apartment. We climbed off of my bed and exchanged happy smiles, then Inko went to the kitchen to make breakfast and I went to the bathroom to shower. I had to do the enlarging trick on my school uniform to make it fit and entered the kitchen.

“It smells good.” I said and kissed her cheek as I tried to steal a piece of bacon.

Inko blushed and shooed me away from the stove. “It's not ready yet.” She said and went back to tending that and the scrambled eggs. “Only a few more minutes.”

I nodded and set about making the tea and Inko smiled warmly at me doing it without making any mistakes. We sat down at the small table and gave thanks for the food, then dug in. I made appreciative sounds and Inko let out little laughs as I shovelled the eggs into my mouth like they were going to escape if I didn't eat them as fast as I could.

We went to the bathroom after we ate and I talked to Inko about changing the mop to fit more in with everyone else and to look more respectable. Inko agreed and we spent a good half an hour figuring out how to pull it off. When she was done, I had a fade trimmed all the way around my head and the top was only a few inches long with only hints and wisps of curls instead of the mass it used to be.

Inko's face was red as she stared at my reflection. “You look so handsome.”

“You made me look this way.” I said with a grin and she softly laughed. “Thanks, mom.”

“You're welcome, son.” Inko said and kissed my cheek.

I washed up and gave her a kiss on the cheek, too. “I'll be home right after school.”

Inko looked pleased by that. “Have a good day, Izuku.”

“I already did.” I said and she looked embarrassed as I hugged her. “Bye, mom.”

Inko blushed and pushed me away. “You need to hurry or you'll be late.”

I smiled and went to my room to grab my repaired backpack and went to the front door to put on my shoes. They were real shoes, fully polished and everything, and not the old red sneakers. Those were the old Izuku's favorite and not mine. Comfortable or not, they violated the school's dress code and made him stand out from everyone else.

I left the apartment and walked down the stairs to the street and thought about using my powers to get to school, then shrugged. The laws had to be followed and I wasn't allowed to use them without a license, which I would have to get as soon as possible. I went over Izuku's memories and sighed at one of the requirements was to be enrolled in a hero academy and have a teacher's recommendation.

Well, I knew I was getting neither for at least the next 10 months, so I had a lot of waiting around to go through to legally use my powers. I wasn't going to wait that long if anything happened near me, though. I just had to be careful and maybe make a costume to become a vigilante. There were lots of criminals around to deal with on the down-low and laundered money to steal.

School had to be handled first, so I made my way along my normal route and managed to avoid all the pratfalls and little accidents that would have my uniform damaged, dirtied, or roughed up. I was mentally calling bullshit on my Blessing of Fortune when I barely managed to avoid a local gang of street kids that were hunting for fresh recruits.

Come on! The odds are supposed to be in my favor, not throwing everything at me! I shouted in my mind and a feeling of calm fell over me. I didn't believe it for a second and listened to my gut instinct. My danger sense went off again and I stepped back from the edge of the curb and pulled an old lady with me.

The old woman turned to glare at me and opened her mouth to shout, then a truck's horn blared and the front bumper clipped her cane as it just missed taking out our legs from underneath us. She looked at her broken cane in shock and then looked at my calm face.

“Let me get that for you.” I said and took the cane, used some transfiguration, and handed back an ergonomic masterpiece that had a strong base that could easily hold her weight and she didn't have to lift it as much. It was lighter, too. I had emptied the inside and filled it with crosshatched supports instead.

The old lady stared at her very different cane and I helped her cross the street when it was safe. I left her there at the street corner and she only had eyes for the new cane that she could probably sell for a good amount of cash to the right buyer.

I chuckled at the thought of doing that myself, only I didn't really have the time to attend an auction or anything of the sort. I had school during the day and chores in the evenings with schoolwork and other things at night. In other words, my days were too full to gallivant off to wherever and hope the things I made would sell for a good price.

I reached the school and almost no one looked at me, except for a few of the older girls. One of them was clearly a Gyaru, a girl that was a part of the Japanese subculture and fashion style characterized by an over-the-top westernized feminine look and frivolous behavior, like partying at clubs and hanging out at the mall for no reason.

She wore some showy clothing and her red bra straps were visible, as was her heavily-tanned belly under her billowy cropped top that swayed in the breeze. Her hair was either bleached or dyed to platinum blonde as well and she wore too much makeup that made her face stand out and washed out her natural beauty. She made the look work for her, though.

“Are you getting a good enough look?” She commented when she noticed me staring at her.

The old Izuku would have been a stuttering mess from being asked that. I was a much different beast, however. “Sorry about that, Yuzuko. I was just admiring your attention to detail.”

The girls around her looked surprised and the girl herself looked intrigued.

“How do you know my name? Have we met before?” Yuzuko asked and tapped her lips as if she was thinking.

I had to chuckle at my Danger Sense buzzing slightly and chose to avoid answering her directly. “We've been going to school together since we were five.” I said and walked by her and her group.

“Hey, wait! I'd remember a hunk like you if I ever saw you!” She called out. “What's your name?”

I ignored her shouts and entered the school building. I knew Bakugo's normal hangouts and avoided them, relying on my Danger Sense to keep me out of trouble. I made it to the classroom and sat in my seat, only it was a bit too small. No one else was around and a quick check with a detection spell showed there were no cameras or people around, so I expanded the desk by 20%.

I sat down comfortably and reclined slightly as I set my backpack on the floor by my feet. Today was going to be a trying one when everyone figured out who I was. It was funny how no one recognized me with my hair cut differently and my freckles faded slightly. I would get rid of them completely over the next few weeks and I would finish adjusting my facial features over the next few months.

As I sat there and thought over what I could do to get some quick cash, the classroom started filling up with the other students. Again, no one really connected the taller buffer guy and the new haircut with the old Deku that they all knew and despised.

When the bell rang, only a few of the students looked over at me and their eyes widened when they realized who I was. Bakugo was not one of them as he kept his eyes firmly pointed towards the front of the room and kept whispering about how he never needed to be saved by a stupid Deku.

It wasn't until lunchtime and the bell rang when everyone started talking, well shouted really, and asking me all sorts of stupid questions. I ignored them all and grabbed my backpack and left the room before Bakugo could turn and see what the fuss was about. I made it to the cafeteria and brought out my lunch from my inventory, using my backpack as a medium, and sat down and started eating.