Archive of Our Own ^beta

At age forty-two, Inko Midoriya finally goes back to school to finish her nursing degree.

For the first time in her life, she decides, that Izuku, well, he isn’t fine in school considering how many calls she got from Toshinori, but he’s in school and is so so happy, that her role as a mother while not done can be a little less primary in her life. Maybe it’s a little bit of empty nest syndrome with Izuku moved into the dorms while her friends are still fretting over teenagers and sneaking off, Inko knows that Izuku is happily at UA and if not studying, he is giving her an update of his plans. 

She doesn’t have to spend time preparing his dinner and lunches and snacks all apart of his special plan—only to find out that Toshinori is the one who supplied him with that diet plan.

(He had offered to compensate for the extra costs of the training, but Inko had just laughed, she wasn’t rich by any means but she had put away a decent amount of money in savings from her ex-husband and before when she used to work more and her office job now paid just enough. The Midoriya’s were thankfully comfortable.)

It doesn’t take her long to get certified as a nursing assistant and she counts her blessings that the hospital where she currently worked in the HR department allowed for her to pick up a position as a nursing assistant as well as she works towards her degree. She had given so much of her life—before getting married and pregnant too young—to the medical profession when she was younger, she wasn’t able to step away even as she got older which is why she took an office job in a hospital. It was enough for her heart. 

At least until this point, now that she sees she has an opportunity, she needs to chase it. 

Izuku is absolutely delighted at the development and even comes home the next weekend to celebrate with her. He is everything she could ever need in support even offering to come home when he could to help with chores if she has to start working the haunting hours the medical profession is notorious for.

Even Toshinori stops by after she tells him with a basket full of food offering his full support. 

(There’s a joke in there somewhere of her going off to be the career mother and Toshinori becoming the stay at home father for Izuku, but she doesn’t say it, it will only fluster both of them.) 

It’s at her second day of her CNA position on her break that she meets Rei. 

It’s been years but a pretty face still melts her in an instant. 

She isn’t any of the patients that Inko is in charge of—as much as she knows, Rei is a long term patient who has a very stable staff surrounding her for the majority of her stay. She is carefully looking through a basket that one of the other CNA’s brought in that contains a variety of different things.

It seems she is mostly interested in the couple bits of yarn in the basket, deciding between which color to use. Inko sees an opening. 

“Are you going to knit something?”

The other woman looks to Inko, her hands carefully wrapped around a ball of blue, fingers caught on strands, and Inko thinks, god. Her eyes are such a deep gray and only small lines of age grace her face, all framed by delicate white hair. Her lips are just slightly parted as she thinks of a response, or maybe just as she takes Inko in. 

Finally, her lips close into a soft smile, “Yes, I’ve been learning recently and I’d like to make a scarf for my son.” 

The warmth that exudes from her melts Inko—and it’s not even radiant heat meant for her, it’s meant for another and still she feels it deep in her chest.

She turns back to the basket, “I don’t know what color he would like though… Would you help me?” she asks finally letting her drop from the yarn to rest at her side. 

“How old is your son?” she asks, letting her own hands to go sort through the basket. There’s plenty of different colors to choose from. 

“He’s turning sixteen soon.”

“Ah! The same age as my son, I bet he would love this one.” 

Inko pulls out a soft gray one with hints of blue in it. A boy with as lovely as a mother would enjoy receiving a gift that fits her and reminds him of her. However, with that one pulled out… 

“Or this one,” and she grins a bit deviously at the soft pink yarn. It’s a beautiful color and while she knows Izuku would love it she knows some boys simply despise the color, and what a shame, it truly is a nice color. 

Rei laughs softly and covers up the noise with her hand, “Ah, truthfully, I could make anything out of anything and my son would love it. He has a very sweet heart,” she hums, milling over the two colors. “I know it’s silly and he would never worry about it, but I do worry about clashing…” 

“Or…” Inko hums considering what she was saying.

“Or?” Rei repeats, raising a brow.

“Who says you only have to make one thing?” Inko whispers likes it’s a secret and she’s in high school again. 

Of course her skirt was much shorter than. 

She blinks twice, “I don’t want to take too much…”

Inko smiles, placing the gray yarn in her hand and then takes the pink into her own, and then presents it to the other woman. “I’ll take it, and consider it a gift,” she winks. 

A blush blooms over her cheeks and Rei takes the yarn out of her hand, “Thank you, ah?” 

“Inko.”

“Inko, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Rei.”

“I hope to see you again, Rei. Unfortunately my break is almost over and my boss will be mad if I’m not back yet,” which truthfully her break was over a minute ago but she wasn’t going to make Rei feel guilty about that. 

“Another time then Inko?” and she cocks her head just so, her hair falling off of her shoulder and clutching the yarn to her chest. 

Inko swears she feels her heart skip a beat, “Another time, I promise.” 

It’s been years since Inko has had a crush. 

If she really had to think about it, maybe her first year of college was the last time she had a genuine full blown crush? Hisashi had been in her biochemistry class and by luck and fate they ended up lab partners in the 101 chemistry lab. 

She remembers her heart aching every time she walked into the expansive lab as she spotted the taller, darker haired man scribbling something or other in his notebooks. He would quickly push them all aside once Inko unloaded her own bag and beam at her with a blinding smile. 

Her heart aches for the blinding admiration and love they had back then, but they grew up, and did soway too fast. 

Izuku wasn’t planned and Inko would never say she regretted him, but at twenty, she wishes she had waited before starting her family and feeling obligated to marry. 

A part of her was glad when Hisashi suggested they get some space, and he spend a year abroad with his company. Distance makes the heart grow found after all. 

Except... her heart didn’t. Her heart ached raising Izuku alone and cried for him and not a moment could her heart swell again to make room for Hisashi who extended his stay numerous times stopped communication with his son all together. 

The divorce papers were easy to send in the mail and she imagines they were just as easy being sent back. 

Eventually the ache stopped, her need for companionship diminished, and Inko raises her son in comfortable solitude. 

Yes, her heart did sprout a bud of jealousy whenever she saw one of her friends out with a new companion—it seemed so easy. 

Inko crushed those feelings for a long time, until she decided that yes, she may have a crush. 

And Rei with her dark eyes and incredibly beautiful physique leaves her breathless and weak in the knees from just catching a glance at her walking the gardens with another inpatient—

Rei doesn’t give her a choice in the matter whether she will have a crush or not, just the same as Hisashi. Inko sees Rei and warmth blooms deep in her until she nearly tears up.

They don’t interact often more than a wave or a casual greeting while passing but still each pass leaves Inko breathless and flushed. It’s almost embarrassing if she weren’t so giddy about the whole matter. 

Even if she never acts on it, which currently she has no plans to. Rei is in the inpatient program and has been for a while, all Inko wants is for her to recover and regain control of her life again. She wants to never come between that, and that is her speaking as both a nurse and a friend. 

So instead of acting on her crush, Inko let’s it swell and ruminate in her heart until sometimes when she sees Rei, her heart begs for rest. 

Inko doesn’t give it a rest, she’s too old to slow up now. 

Rei approaches her on one of her short breaks where generally she spends most of her time eating a small snack and catching her breath from running around the hospital preparing blood work. 

Rei’s hair is delicately pulled back into a low ponytail, but her thin hair has slipped some but even then, messy and unintentional, it looks wonderful. She offers a soft smile at Inko, her hands folded together. 

“Good morning, Inko-san. I hope they aren’t working you too hard?” 

She laughs and waves her hand, “No, just a busy morning with many patients. Thank you for the concern,” and she bites her lip because knows her face is flushing a bit under Rei’s gaze. Hopefully it can be passed on the hot room and not her dawning interest.

The other tilts her head, “I’m glad, but I did have a question if you have a moment?” 

She nods, “Of course, go ahead.” 

Rei beams, “I’ve been wanting some recommendations for books. Do you have any that you recommend?” 

Inko blinks, a bit surprised by the question, “Of course! I might need a day to write down some. Would you like me to peruse the library to see what they have or does that not factor?” 

Some patients didn’t have access to anything the hospital didn’t provide them—she didn’t want to be presumptuous. Thankfully, Rei’s smile is kind, “That’s very thoughtful of you. No, it doesn’t matter to me. My children would get any book I wanted.” 

Her heart warms a bit, she’s happy that Rei has her children to lean back on. So often she sees patients alone in here, and she can’t even begin to imagine her life without the people in it.  “They sound so kind,” she hums and holds her clipboard tighter to her chest. 

Rei gives her another dazzling smile and tilts her head, “They truly are.” 

Izuku visits her on one of her lunch breaks when he’s home for the weekend. 

It’s a rare occasion considering his internships and how tightly the school keeps him nowadays. She plans a special evening for them and even requests to be able to leave a couple of hours early so they can spend the night cooking like they used to. She misses her little helper at her side dutifully watching the rice cooker as she prepared everything else. 

Their small apartment’s walls seem to close in her at times—Inko is alone for the first time since—well,forever. She went from living with her family straight to living with Hisashi and then she had Izuku. There’s always been someone else that she could listen to at night instead of her own restless breaths. 

Inko needed a cat or something. 

Izuku ducks his head into the break room with plastic bag hanging from his hand. The smile that nearly splits his face when he spots Inko melts her heart—he’s grown even more! It’s so hard to tell just from the pictures that Toshinori sends her but he’s filled out even more and lost more baby fat in his cheeks. 

But not all of it, she doesn’t think he will ever get rid of it all. 

He’s met with a couple acknowledgments around the room from her coworkers and finally walks fast until he can throw his arms around her. He ducks his head into the crook of her neck and just rests there for a second. Inko runs her hand through his messy hair—he must not be using that brush she packed him—and sighs. 

“Hi baby, how are you doing?” she asks and pulls back to place a kiss on his forehead before they separate. 

Izuku is fine, good even, just extremely, extremely busy. Between his studies and his internship he barely has enough time to sleep at night and has taken to the time old tradition of sleeping at his desk. She reprimands him in between laughs. A hero never saved anyone when they were exhausted—to which Izuku told her that was not the fact that in 2XXX a hero went a week without sleep to continuously tail a villain. 

Inko tells him he’s not allowed to do that. 

It earns her a laugh and they break into their meals—a curry cutlet for him and a pickled bento for her. She picks at her turnips as he tells her at least he isn’t as bad as his friend who falls asleep while standing. 

She laughs, but it does concern her a bit—they should be sleeping more. 

Maybe she would call Toshinori once Izuku left. 

A soft smile catches her eye as Rei enters the room behind another nurse. Inko’s heart thumps in her chest painfully that she nearly has to press her hand to stop the exaggerated rhythm. Rei raises her hand in a small wave that Inko returns. 

Izuku follows her warm gaze across the room and raises a brow—the boy is painfully oblivious so she doubts that she has to worry about telling him anything of her crush. He directs his own blinding smile to Rei—pleased that someone made Inko happy. He turns back to her, “Who is she?” 

Inko doesn’t get the chance to respond as Rei murmurs something to the nurse and then crosses the room to her. She bows her head slightly—she cut her hair recently, Inko notes. Just a trim but it looks wonderful and Inko suddenly desperately wants to feel her hair run through her fingers. “Good afternoon, Inko-san. I hope your lunch is well?” 

She returns the soft smile with her own, “It is, thank you for asking. Rei, I’d like you to meet my son, Izuku.” 

“Nice to meet you!”

Rei’s mouth forms a smalloh and then she smiles brighter than Inko has ever seen and her breath is stolen for just a moment. “It’s nice to meet you too. My name is Rei and I am a friend of your mother.” 

They exchange small pleasantries and…Inko is awestruck for a second. Even if they called to her she doesn’t think she would hear them. All she could hear was her heartbeat in her ears as blood rushed up to her face. Thankfully she could blame the spicy pepper she just ate but…

This was right, Inko realized. 

Izuku smiling and animated talking to Rei and Rei patiently listening offering her own commentary when needed. 

This was right.