#Inko-san is heaven and earth

[addercharmer]

Izumi is so excited to be going to the cat cafe, when Sansa-san had told her it was a place to get hot chocolate and spend time with kittens she had begged Tsukauchi-san to take her.

Now she was standing just outside of the building all but shivering in her excitement. Tsukauchi-san had told her to wear the pants that he had bought her, he said it was because cats were strange creatures and he didn't want one to doing something that could make her uncomfortable.

Izumi didn't really care to be honest, cats were soft and fluffy, she knew that they could be mean sometimes, but all living things were like that.

Tsukauchi-san sighed a little as he pulled open the door for her, she knew that particular sigh was only something he did when he felt he was 'soft'. Izumi didn't really understand, the only soft thing about Tsukauchi-san was his hair, and sometimes the sweaters he wore at home.

"Go find a seat Izumi-chan." He told her, and walked toward the counter to hopefully get the promised hot chocolate.

Izumi skipped her way over to a large pile of pillows, it looked like a nest that she could maybe shift around a little for maximum comfort.

Her shifting of the pillows to allow for support but still give the feeling of a nest didn't take long, but it did attract the attention of a big fluffy gray cat.

Once Izumi was settled comfortably the big cat climbed into her lap, he was almost the same size as she was.

"Hello kitty!" Izumi chirped quietly. "I'm Izumi."

With light fingers Izumi started to pet the top of the cat's head, it took her a little but she saw a baby blue collar hiding in all of the cats fur. With her free hand she gently turned it to look at the tag.

"Mor-phe-ous." She sounded out the name carefully, it wasn't a word she was familiar with, it made her fingers itch to know what it ment.

When Tsukauchi-san came over to where she was he had the men they had visited yesterday with him. Izumi wanted to be surprised but she knew from when he agreed that this was a set-up of some sort.

Not really bothered by it, Izumi asked the group of men. "What's a Mor-phe-ous?"

Tsukauchi-san looked a little confused when she met his eyes, she looked at the black haired man who the photos had said was her uncle. He looked just as confused, Izumi sighed at that and looked at the blond.

"Morpheous is the god of dreams." The blond answered her quietly, Izumi smiled at the man.

"Oh!" She exclaimed happy with the answer. Turning back to the cat in her lap she says. "You must bring good dreams then."

Tsukauchi-san is sighing again before he drops into the nest beside her, he's holding two plastic cups, one he passes to her.

Izumi sniffs the little opening where she thinks that what's inside will come out and gives a happy hum when she smells hot chocolate.

"Thank you Tsukauchi-san." She chirps before taking a careful sip.

"Can we sit Izumi-chan?" Her uncle asks her, she just nods at him.

He sighs and Izumi wonders why all the adults seem to do that so much.

"Hi, I'm Izumi." She says to them finally, remembering that she should be polite no matter how scared she is.

"Hi Izumi-chan, I'm Hizashi, and this is Shōta." The blond speaks, there is something about his voice that Izumi likes, it's soft and deep, there's something in it though that draws her attention.

"And I'm Tsukauchi." Izumi giggles lightly at the detective trying to make a joke.

With the adults finally sitting more cats come over to investigate their little group, Izumi is beyond happy when a pure white cat lays next to her in a loaf. Quick light fingers find their collar and look at the name.

It's another word she doesn't know, but she still carefully sounds it out. "Se-le-ne." She looks at Hizashi for an answer as to what it means.

"Selene is the goddess of the moon. Looks like the cats are trying to make you sleepy." He tells her, Izumi can't stop the giggle that wants to come out.

Shōta snorts and sighs into his own plastic cup, Izumi kind of wants them to just tell her why they are here, she needs to know what's going to happen to her. But she keeps quiet and pets the fluff that's taking up more of her lap than she has to give.

All of them are quiet, more cats joining them as they sit there. Izumi feels the awkwardness in the air but she's refusing to pay attention to it.

"So, Izumi-chan." Her uncle, Shōta-san starts talking. "I know I asked before if you knew who we were, but can you please tell us what you know?"

Izumi tilts her head to the side and looks at the man through her bangs.

"You are Inko's brother." She tells him simply, turning to face the blond. "You are my dad." Her words are blunt but Izumi believes that she needs to be.

The blond 'Hizashi' she reminds herself, jerks backwards a little and his lips start to wobble.

"Ah, yes." Shōta-san says slowly. "We didn't know about you."

"I know. Inko liked to tell people I was her cousin. She didn't want people asking questions." Izumi tells them. "It's okay if you want to forget about me, I know something is wrong with me."

Hizashi-san jerks backwards again, then he learchs forwards and grabs her hands.

"Nothing is wrong with you." Hizashi-san tells her, his eyes are wet as Izumi meets them. "If I had known I had a daughter I would have been there to take care of you, even though I was still in school when you were born." Tears are falling down Hizashi-san's cheeks.

"Oh." Is all Izumi can get out, Hizashi-san is still holding her hands, but she's lost on what to do.

Shōta-san clears his throat, catching Izumi's attention.

"It's not that we don't want you Izumi-chan, it's that we don't think we can be good guardians." He tells her, and Izumi is a little confused about how that matters.

"What?" She asks as she looks at Tsukauchi-san.

The detective seems to understand what she's asking, his lips are set in a hard line that Izumi has learnt means he's unhappy.

"How Inko and Hisashi treated you wasn't right. Yamada and Aizawa are scared because they are very young to take care of a little girl." Tsukauchi-san tells her, Izumi nods.

"But…" She begins to argue, then stops when she remembers what Sansa-san had told her about how parents are supposed to be. "Oh." She finishes lamely.

Shōta-san sighs, and it sounds a lot like the one Tsukauchi-san when he wants to do something but is scared of the outcome.

"I'm okay with your choice. I mean I don't know how a family is supposed to be, so it's not like I'll miss anything." She tries to soothe the adults, but it doesn't seem to be working as Hizashi-san starts to cry harder.

Izumi doesn't know what to do, but following some instinct she carefully slides out from under the cats and wraps her arms around Hizashi-san's arm that isn't pressed against Shōta-san.

"Please don't cry!" She begs the blond. It seems to make him cry harder so Izumi takes a deep breath, closes her eyes and sings an English song that one of the nice grandma's taught her.

"Listen, children, to a story

That was written long ago

'Bout a kingdom on a mountain

And the valley-folk below."

On the mountain was a treasure,

Buried deep beneath the stone,

And the valley-people swore,

They'd have it for their very own."

Izumi loved singing, this song the grandma had said was a prequirk protest song. Izumi didn't really understand, all she knew was that the words and melody tasted good on her tongue.

"Go ahead and hate your neighbor,

Go ahead and cheat a friend,

Do it in the name of heaven,

You can justify it in the end,

There won't be any trumpets blowing,

Come the judgment day,

On the bloody morning after,

One tin soldier rides away."

The verses of the song tasted sad and angry, it gave the same feeling of a slow burn spice, the kind that sneeks up on you after a few bites of food, but it stays with you even after the meal.

"So the people of the valley,

Sent a message up the hill,

Asking for the buried treasure,

Tons of gold for which they'd kill,

It came an answer from the mountain,

With our brothers we will share,

All the secrets of our mountain,

All the riches buried there."

The choras of the song always tasted like 'giving up' and 'its your own fault' did. It was a flavor Izumi liked but she hardly found anything with the same mixture as this song.

"Go ahead and hate your neighbor,

Go ahead and cheat a friend,

Do it in the name of heaven,

You can justify it in the end,

There won't be any trumpets blowing,

Come the judgment day,

On the bloody morning after,

One tin soldier rides away."

Coming to the last verse of the song Izumi finally notices the arm she's hugging has stopped shaking, but she doesn't care, she wants to finish her song.

"Now the valley cried with anger,

"Mount your horses! Draw your sword!",

And they killed the mountain-people,

So they won their just reward,

Now they stood beside the treasure,

On the mountain, dark and red,

Turned the stone and looked beneath it,

"Peace on Earth" was all it said.

Go ahead and hate your neighbor,

Go ahead and cheat a friend,

Do it in the name of heaven,

You can justify it in the end,

There won't be any trumpets blowing,

Come the judgment day,

On the bloody morning after,

One tin soldier rides away.

Go ahead and hate your neighbor,

Go ahead and cheat a friend,

Do it in the name of heaven,

You can justify it in the end,

There won't be any trumpets blowing,

Come the judgment day,

On the bloody morning after,

One tin soldier rides away."

She lets the last nite of her song fade, and cracks her eyes just enough to have the men's expressions.

#dadmic #dadzawa #blue tongue #female midoriya izuku #tsukauchi naomasa #bnha #boku no hero academia #chapter4