Warning: Possible sadness for the reader, I know I was stressed while writing this. *cries*

Izuku's POV:

"Hey Mom!" Izuku shouts, closing the door behind him, "I'm home!"

The 10-year-old boy breathes in the sweet scent of homemade cookies and sets his backpack down.

Inko comes to the door, wearing an apron and a frown, "Izuku! Be quiet! Emiko is upstairs sleeping."

"Oh," he looks down at his red shoes as he slips them off, "Can I go see her?"

"I'm not sure if she wants visitors right now, baby," Inko replies, "But you can come help me in the kitchen. I'm making cookies."

"Alright," he replies, following her to the kitchen.

Izuku sets himself up at the counter, stirring cookie dough.

"Mom?" Izuku says.

"Yes?"

"How long will Emiko be here?" he asks.

"I don't know," she sighs, "The authorities were thinking of making me her legal guardian. She has no one left, except for her mother, of course. But they are going to have to ask her about it. If Emiko says she wants to stay here, then I assume she'll be here the rest of her life."

"Oh," Izuku replies, "Mom, can I please go see her? I promise I won't be a bother."

"Alright," she shakes her head, "But if she doesn't want to talk, don't you dare make her."

"Okay," he nods and quickly washes the cookie dough off of his hands.

He bounds up the stairs, skipping a step each time. When he reaches the guest room, he lightly knocks twice. When he receives no response, he slowly cracks open the door, peering inside. The lights are still on, but the window shades are closed.

Izuku looks over at the full sized bed in the far corner of the room. His best friend lays on top of the covers, curled up in a ball, and facing the wall. This is an odd sight for him, as Emi is known to always sleep under a ton of blankets.

"Emi?" he whispers, "Are you asleep?"

Silence is his only answer, so he assumes she is sleeping. Izuku flips off the light and walks out of the room. He goes to his bedroom and pulls his All Might blanket off his bed. He proceeds to make his way back to her room, dragging the comforter behind him.

Once he enters her room and closes the door once more, he climbs into bed with her and pulls the comforter over both of them.

"Now you won't be cold," he whispers to her back, "I know how much you hate the cold. But it's okay, because me and All Might are here to keep you warm."

He wraps his arms around her and continues to talk softly to her sleeping form, "Kacchan was asking about you today.  It's nice of him to be worried about you. But we all are. You don't ever need to talk about it with me, though. But if you want to, you can... but you don't have to."

Emiko smiles, "Thank you, Izu."

Izuku's eyes widen, "I didn't know you were awake."

"Yeah, I was this whole time," she replies, "I wasn't able to fall asleep all day."

"Oh," he murmurs, "Well, my mom is making cookies. Do you want to go down and see if they're done yet?"

"No, I'll just stay here and try to sleep," she sighs, "You can go if you want, though."

"Nah, I'll stay here," Izuku squeezes her tighter.

"Okay."

The two of them lay there in silence, until Midoriya hears her breathing slow to a steady, sleeping pace. He stares at the back of her head. And eventually, he is asleep too.

~

Inko's POV:

Inko takes the last batch of cookies out of the oven with her oven mitt and sets it on the counter. As she closes the oven door, she hears the phone ring. She rushes over to the cordless landline and picks up the phone with her hand without the mitt.

"Hello?" she answers, "Midoriya residence."

"Good afternoon, Midoriya-san," a male voice greets, "This is Wakuri Goro from child services and I am checking in with how Emiko Takara is doing."

"Afternoon Wakuri-san, and I don't know exactly, last time I saw her, she went up to her room. But that was before school started. She's been up there all day," Inko replies, "My son, who's her childhood best friend, went up to check on her about an hour ago. Neither of them have come down yet. I can go peek in if you want?"

"Sure, thank you," he responds.

Inko takes off her mitt and walks upstairs. With her free hand, she opens the door to the guest room and looks inside. 

She smiles at the sight of her son hugging the girl, under his All Might comforter.

"Yes, they are both asleep, so they seem to be fine," she states, and makes her way back to the kitchen.

"Alright, that's all, thank you," the man says.

"Yep, I'll keep you posted," Inko promises and hangs up the phone.

~

Emiko Takara's POV:

"Kids!" Inko yells from the kitchen, "Dinner is ready! C'mon down before it gets cold! I made rice and vegetables!"

Emiko opens her eyes and sits up, Izuku's arm sliding off her. She yawns and Izuku sits up next to her.

"I bet we better go downstairs," Izuku says, getting out of bed, "Come on, Emi."

She stands up and follows the boy down the stairs. They sit down at the table and a plate it placed in front of each of them.

"Do you want me to get the drinks, Mom?" Izuku asks.

"That's sweet of you, but I got it tonight. You two can just start eating, Okay?" she responds.

The kids nod and start to shovel the rice into their mouths. Inko shakes her head at them and goes to pour some milk.

"Hey, Mom?" Izuku voices, "What time is it anyways?"

"It's almost 9," she says, "I let you two sleep longer than usual, but now you won't be able to sleep tonight. Oh dear."

"It'll be fine, we can just watch a movie or something," he smiles, "Right, Emi?"

Emiko nods, while looking at her plate.

Inko passes out the milk and sits down with the kids. Izuku and his mother continue to have a conversation while Emiko stays silent.

Emiko still can't believe it. Her father is dead. Never will there be another day when she laughed with him, or made pancakes together. Never another visit to the zoo, or a walk in the park. Never cuddling and laughing under the blankets while watching Avengers, her father listening to her constant ranting about Loki. Never again.

She shudders and brings her hands up to her face, wiping away the tears now streaming down her face. She whimpers into her wet hands, trying to hide her face from the other people in the room.

"And then he was like-," Izuku trails off, and looks over at Emiko.

"Emi? Are you okay?" he asks.

"NO!" she shouts and rips her hands from her face, revealing her bloodshot eyes.

"Emi..." Izuku starts.

"NO! I'm not okay! What would you expect? You two are just sitting here, talking like nothing happened! Well, news flash! Something did happen, so maybe you should stop pretending like something didn't!"

"Emiko, baby, we aren't pretending anything," Inko says in a hushed voice, "We just, don't know how to help you. So I thought that if we talked about something else, you wouldn't have to have your mind on..."

"What if I want to think about it? To talk about it?" she cries.

"...Then talk to us," Izuku says.

"Shut it Izuku! I don't know how! You don't understand! I hate you! I hate both of you!" she sobs and wipes away more tears, "I just... I don't..."

She suddenly stands up and throws the chair out behind her. Then, she runs upstairs, her feet pounding into the steps.

~

Izuku's POV:

Izuku and his mother sit in shock in the dining room. He glances at the chair on the ground, and her unfinished rice.

He looks over at his mom, his eyes filling up with tears.

"Mom?" he says shakily.

She goes over and hugs her son, "It's okay, Izuku."

"What did I do?" he whimpers, "I was only trying to help her."

"I know, Izuku, but Emiko is upset right now," she rubs his back, "It's not anything you did. We both just need to be strong for her, okay?"

"How?" he asks, wiping his eyes.

"Well, what would All Might do?" she says.

"He... he would go talk to her, even if she just hurt him," Izuku replies, "So that's what I'll do!"

Inko smiles and kisses the top of his head, "I'm proud of you, son. But, I think you should wait a few minutes for her to cool down. Finish your rice, and then you can go talk to her, okay?"

"Sure," he mumbles and shoves rice into his mouth.

-Time skip brought to you by me being a lazy-ass author-

Izuku takes a deep breath and opens the door to the guest room.

"Emi?" he asks.

"Come in," she mutters.

He walks into the room and sits down next to her on the edge of the bed. She is still crying silently and staring at the ground.

"I'm sorry, Emiko," he says, "For whatever you hate me for. Whatever it is, I'll try hard to make it better!"

She shakes her head and doesn't reply.

Izuku glances at her shaking hands and gulps, letting out a breath.

"Just tell me why you hate me!" he whines, "Please!"

"Dammit Izuku, I don't hate you!" she yells.

His eyes widen, "Then.. why did you say that?"

"I don't hate you," she sniffles, "I hate your relationship with your mother. At dinner, all I could think of as I watched you two was that I will never have that again. My dad is dead, Izuku! And my mom..."

She shakes her head and buries it in her hands.

Izuku, "I-I don't know what to say, Emi."

She sobs and hugs Izuku around the neck. He wraps his arms around her back. He feels her hands grasp his shirt tightly.

"I'm sorry," she cries into his shoulder, "I'm so sorry. I don't hate you, Izuku. I love you so much. You're like my brother. Your mom and you are the only family I have left."

"I know," he sighs, "It's okay, you're just stressed, Emi. But I am too. Your father was like my uncle. And..."

A few tears escape his eyes and the two of them cry in each others arms.

~

Inko's POV:

Inko's heart shatters at the sound of the crying children upstairs. She quickly rushes up the stairs and throws the door open. The two kids' heads whip over in her direction.

"Oh, kids," the mom sighs and sits down on the bed, "Come here."

The two of them crawl into the arms of the woman and cry into her shirt.

"You know, you two are so mature sometimes that I forget that you are only 10," Inko whispers, "When I was 10, the worst thing that happened to me was losing my cat in the barn. But these things happen, and I will make it my mission to make sure that you both enjoy the rest of your childhoods. I promise."

~

A/N: And done! Phew.