Meeting the Mother

Ochaco Uraraka sighed as she looked around the room. The room was becoming a little too familiar for her liking. The white walls, the white tiled floors, the white ceiling, the unconscious boy lying in the bed she was sitting next to. She let out another sigh as she looked down at the beds occupant. Izuku Midoriya had, once again, managed to get himself a stay at the hospital. Ochaco was honestly surprised that Izuku didn't have a dedicated room to himself yet. He's in and out so much that the staff might as well just keep one room reserved for him, seeing as the he'll end up back there in a matter of days

She looked at him sleeping peacefully. A small smile crept across her lips. She found it so strange. It was only a few hours ago he had been fighting Overhaul, but now he was sleeping soundly looking more content than he ever had before.

Ochaco hadn't bothered taking her hero costume off. As soon as she was able she had rushed to the hospital where Izuku was being cared for. It had been about an hour since then, and the only really interesting thing that happened was Izuku shifting slightly in the bed. At some point, she started holding his hand. She didn't really remember when she grabbed it. Was it when she first arrived? Was it after the nurse came by to check his vitals for what felt like the 50th time? She didn't know, nor did she really care...she just hopped it provided some comfort to the sleeping boy.

"Deku..." she breathed absent-mindedly, "please wake up soon..." she gripped his hand tighter, "...please."

At that moment, the sound of the door opening jostled her out of her thoughts as she looked up to see who the new guest was. She expected to see a doctor or a nurse, what she saw Instead was a little jarring. At the door way stood a small chubby woman. She had shoulder length green hair, a rounded face, and deep emerald eyes that were currently producing an abundant amount of tears.

"Izuku!" The woman ran over to the bed, completely ignoring Ochaco and grabbed his other hand. "Izuku, baby, it's ok, mommy's here." From the way she spoke, it sounded more like the woman was trying to reassure herself than Izuku.

Ochaco replayed the woman's words in her head "mommy's here," this woman was Izuku's mother. Looking at her, Ochaco started to see the resemblance. The green hair, the rounded face, the eyes...the amount of crying. She looked down as she listened to Izuku's mother dote over her sleeping son. This wasn't exactly the best way to meet her best friend's mother...in fact, she was fairly certain that this was one of the worst ways.

Deciding that his mother would probably want some alone time with her son, Ochaco gave his hand one more squeeze before leaving. As she began to stand up though, the chubby woman raised her head and noticed Ochaco for the first time.

There was a moment of silence...awkward silence. Ochaco opened her mouth to apologize and excuse herself when his mother beat her to the punch.

"I-I'm sorry...I don't believe we've met...who are you?" She asked in between sobs.

Ochaco was caught off guard, she honestly hadn't expected to meet his mother, she had always hoped it would be under better circumstances

"Why would you be worried about how you meet his mom? Are you worried about making a good first impression?" A small voice in her head spoke, "I mean...it really shouldn't matter what his mom thinks of you...unless you lo-"

"OK STOP!" She screamed inside her head "we are not doing this today, this is not the time to-"

"A-are you ok sweetie?" Ochaco's internal argument with herself was interrupted by the chubby woman across from her.

"O-oh no no, I'm fine," Ochaco said, waving a hand dismissively in front of her face as she spoke. She then put her hand down and bowed "my name is Ochaco Uraraka, I'm a friend of Deku's at U.A.". She looked back up at the woman and saw that she was in a state of shock. "I-I'm sorry if I was getting in your way Mrs. Midoriya, I'll be on my way now." Ochaco was about to attempt to leave again when the woman spoke

"Inko!" Surprised, Ochaco looked at the woman. Out of all the ways his mother could have responded to her, that was not the way she expected. Inko continued "I'm sorry dear, I never introduced myself. My name is Inko Midoriya," she looked down at her sleeping son, "I'm Izuku's mother." She looked back to meet Ochaco's gaze, "It's nice to finally meet you," she said with a smile.

Ochaco blinked as she processed what Inko just said, "…finally?"

"Oh yes sweetie," the chubby woman started, "Izuku talks about you all the time! About how great of a friend you are, what an amazing hero you are, he always speaks very highly of you," Inko chuckled, "I just wish I was able to meet you under different circumstances."

The young girl's face became as red as a tomato, "H-He talks about me?" she gulped as she tried to collect herself.

"I'm honestly just happy that he finally found a friend." Inko said as she stared down at her son.

Ochaco was taken aback, "did she just say 'finally found a friend?' what does she mean by that?"

The older woman seemingly read Ochaco's mind as she began to elaborate "Izuku didn't exactly have an easy time growing up," Inko frowned, "He was always teased and bullied by all the other kids, and because of that he didn't have any friends." She then looked back up to Ochaco, tears in her eyes, "but when he started tell me about you and how wonderful you are, I was so overjoyed."

"He was bullied?" Ochaco looked at the woman with a hurt expression. She grabbed his hand again and looked down at Izuku, "Why would anyone do that to him…" the young girl began to tear up thinking about all the torment he must have gone through, "he has a heart of gold…of a true hero. He cares about others…even those he's never met,: she squeezed his hand, "he's nice, and smart, and caring…he's amazing…I can't understand…" she finished as she gazed at Izuku.

Inko's eyes widened upon hearing Ochaco speak of her son that way. No one had ever said that about her son before…no one else had ever seen the same things in Izuku she saw, no one else had ever cared about him so deeply. As she looked at Ochaco gazing down at her son, she smiled.

"Dear," Inko said, drawing Ochaco's attention, "As you can imagine, I care a lot about my Izuku," she began to run her hand through his hair, "I can't stand seeing him get hurt like this." Tears began to form in Inko's eyes as a sob escaped her lips, Ochaco just sat and watched, wishing there was something she could do or say to comfort his mother. "I had been considering…" Inko continued, "once he gets out of the hospital…I was considering pulling him out of U.A."

Ochaco froze, she felt her heart shatter into millions of pieces "YOU CAN'T!" she unintendedly shouted. She couldn't imagine class without Izuku…who would she talk to? Who would drive her to be a better hero? Who would she talk to for hours on end, to then afterwards stay up all night texting? Who would look at her with those deep beautiful emerald ey-

She shook her head before her thoughts could go any further. "No," she thought, "not now…now's not the time for that, I have to convince his mom to let Deku stay."

Inko chuckled, "let me finish sweetie." She looked back down at her son, "I had every intention of pulling him out of U.A. once he got out of the hospital," she then looked Ochaco in the eyes, "but after meeting you, I have another idea."

The woman brought her free hand up to her chest, "I…I've always been overprotective of Izuku…" Inko explained, "He-He's my whole world, h-he's my entire reason for being," Ochaco saw fresh tears welling up in Inko's eyes, "I-I know I can't protect him forever…I can't always be there to make sure he doesn't get hurt." She let out a sob, "T-This may be a selfish, and it may be asking too much," she then looked at Ochaco with the same determined look that she had seen in Izuku time and time again, "Please watch over him…make sure he doesn't get into too much trouble…and when he does please be there to support him." She sniffled, "I-If you can promise me that…I'll feel good about letting him stay at U.A."

Ochaco was shocked…she just stared at the woman for a moment, digesting the proposition that was just made to her. Without even thinking she said "Of course!" grasping onto the chubby woman's hand she then turned back to look at Izuku, "but…why me?"

Inko smiled, "That's simple sweetie, you're the first person to see all the wonderful things in Izuku that I do…I trust you."

The young girl's heart swelled. She could feel tears welling up in her eyes, all she could do was nod and squeeze her hand. Inko smiled at her ash she took Ochaco's hand and placed it on Izuku's forehead. She then got up "Well…I'm going to get some food for all of us, you must be hungry. I'll leave you two lovebirds alone, I'll be back soon." And with that Inko turned and walked out of the room.

Ochaco simply nodded in response, too busy gazing at Izuku and running her hand through his hair to respond with words. It was only after the door closed that she comprehended what his mother said.

"Wait…LOVEBIRDS?!"

Notes:

Hey, look at that, I'm back, with something a lot more happy and cheerful than the last thing I wrote. I had another idea that hit me, so instead of just thinking about it, I decided to write it down, and I figured that I might as well post it. I've sen a few stories about Ochaco meeting Inko for the first time, but I don't remember seeing any that took place in the hospital after a battle. To my knowledge, they haven't met yet in the Manga. I may be wrong, I may not be remembering things correctly, but from what I remember, as of chapter 156, they have not met. If they have and I'm just forgetting some important plot point...oops, my bad.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy.