Prompt: Inko is the UA traitor.I may be late, but better late than never!If it's a bit rushed, sorry about that too!Warnings: Angst, Anxiety, Bitches

- - -

Izuku does not hesitate to burst through Nezu's door because he is pissed, "How long has my mom been gone, Nezu?"

Nezu looks at Izuku with something he can not decipher, "She has been gone since yesterday morning. She left the previous night and did not return."

"And you guys had the fucking nerve to hide that from me?!"

"Izuku, we needed you to focus on the current mission while still taking care of yourself."

"You thought that you could hide the fact you gave me my mother's own missing case?!"

"Yes. I should have known better, and I apologize. Since you are aware now, I am required to tell you your limitation: if you go overboard, I will remove you from this. Do you understand?"

"This is Shouta's order, isn't it?"

"It is one I would have added anyway. Do you understand?"

"Whatever," Izuku barely acknowledges him as he leaves. He has work to do.

- - -

Three Days Later

"Izuku, take a break-"

"No," Izuku nearly growls at Shouta, but he catches himself at the last second.

Shouta starts to approach Izuku, "Come on," however, when he looks over Izuku's shoulder, he stops, "Izuku, what's going on? This is nothing like how you usually take care of your cases."

"This is a different case."

"You would treat it the same as every other case even if your mom is the victim. I'm asking you again: what is going on?"

"I'm not telling you until I have confirmation."

"Kid, you are panicking. You have enough evidence-"

Izuku explodes, "I HAVE PROOF THAT MY MOM IS THE UA TRAITOR, OKAY?!"

Shouta goes silent, watching Izuku for any trace of lie. When he sees his face pale and his eyes filled with pain, Shouta looks through the evidence himself silently to make sure.

With what Izuku has, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that he's right.

Shouta goes in front of Izuku and grabs his shoulders, "Close your eyes and breathe. Focus on me. Izuku."

Izuku struggles to follow the instructions with the truth banging in his head.

"Izuku, you're bringing yourself into a panic attack. Please-"

"It's my fault." Izuku says suddenly. He looks up at Shouta with so much shame that the man has never seen from Izuku.

"It is not-"

"IF I WAS PAYING ATTENTION, I WOULD HAVE NOTICED! I COULD HAVE SAVED MY CLASSMATES AND TEACHERS FROM SO MUCH TRAUMA AND PAIN AND ANGUISH! HOW ELSE WAS SHE GETTING THE INFORMATION?! SHE WAS GETTING IT FROM ME! I MIGHT AS WELL BE THE UA TRAITOR-"

Smack!

Izuku goes silent, paying attention to Shouta who had raised his hand.

Shouta didn't even know what he did until he did it. He takes a deep breathe to figure out what needs to be said.

It doesn't stop Shouta from pull Izuku into as tight of a hug as possible. He can feel Izuku's heart pounding and his form trembling from so many emotions. The kid was ridden with guilt. He should not have slapped him, but the kid would have just kept spiraling until he collapsed.

Shouta ran his hand through Izuku's hair in attempts to calm them both down, "Izuku, it is not your fault-"

A soft broken voice comes from the boy, "But it is-"

Shouta shut him up by gently cradling his head and bringing it to his chest, "Listen to me, please. It is not your fault. Nobody your age or even older would have noticed, let alone figure it out like you did. You did nothing wrong. You are doing better than most people, so give yourself some credit. We'll take her down and use her to get rid of the league possibly. For now, whenever we find her, we have to arrest her."

"...I don't want to arrest my mom. It's unfair! WHY DID SHE HAVE TO DO THIS TO ME?! DON'T I DEAL WITH ENOUGH SHIT?! DID I DO SOMETHING WRONG?! AM I JUST THAT FUCKED UP TO THE WORLD?!" Izuku screams. Then, he breaks down. He starts to sob, wrapping his arm around Shouta tightly.

Shouta gently guides Izuku to his bedroom, sitting down at the edge before bringing the kid close again, "There is nothing wrong with you, Izuku. People do things, and you just have to do your job and deal with it. Your mom messed up. Not you."

"...I'm so tired, Sho. This is unfair!"

"I know, Izu. I know..."

From there, Shouta had no idea how long Izuku screamed and cried, but he eventually managed to get the kid to sleep for a little bit. He was afraid the Izuku would hurt himself otherwise.

Izuku may be able to sleep, but Shouta can't. Inko is the confirmed UA traitor, and he is pissed about the news. Izuku may be a problem child, but he helped his mom out whenever possible. He even got her on UA campus to make sure she is safe only for her to throw it in his face like it meant nothing! Izuku has went through some shit, but this easily topped for the worst thing to happen to him ever.

He doesn't want to even think about the joyride the media will have when they hear this news. That just makes the whole situation worse.

At this point, Shouta is going to have to send him to Hound Dog for help. Any slither of a stable mental health was shattered in an instance.

Shouta is honestly scared of what Izuku is going to do after his mom is arrested.

Unlike before, where Shouta could ask Inko for what to do, he can't this time, not that the mother would be much help anyway. In the back of his mind, Shouta knows Inko cares for Izuku. She would not have put forth so much effort if that was the case. However, it must be less than he thinks if she kept going in the career choice she is in now.

Either way, with this news, that makes Shouta Izuku's permanent guardian. He loves the kid, but he's so afraid he won't be able to help Izuku out of this hell.

But Shouta has never been more determined to protect Izuku than now.

With Izuku in his arms, he somehow manages to fall asleep with the new goal of saving Izuku.

- - -

Few Hours Later

Hizashi bursts into Izuku's bedroom with high enthusiasm, completely unaware of the situation, "Hey, Izu! Your mom is back!"

That shakes both of them awake in the worst way possible.

Shouta tries to trap Izuku, but Izuku throws himself out of the bed and runs out past Hizashi out of the room. He can hear rattling before the door slamming open. Shouta quickly gets up and follows.

Hizashi's smile is wiped as he follows as well, "Hey, what's going on?!"

"No time!" Shouta calls back to as he runs.

Shouta quickly catches up to see Izuku frozen just out of sight of Inko, who is talking to the other staff. In his hand is the cuffs ready to arrest her.

"You don't have to do this. I can-" Shouta offers, but he is quickly cut off.

"I need to do this, " Izuku says with a firm voice, all emotion wiped.

Slowly, Izuku approaches his mom with his face blank.

Inko sees him with a smile, unaware of what is about to happen, "Izuku, there you are! Hi- sweetie, is there something wrong?"

The teachers step aside as Izuku makes his way through.

Snap!

The cuffs are on.

Izuku straightens up, allowing his voice to be heard among the staff, "Midoriya Inko, you are being arrested due to evidence of being the UA traitor."

Inko's face changes, from her joyful look to something sympathetic, "Sweetie, you don't have to do this-"

"You expect me to let you get away with it?"

"You could join the villain side with me so we can be a true family. That's the least you can do for me!" Everyone watches the woman, shocked at what she just said.

Izuku looks Inko in the eye "I already chose my side."

Izuku starts to take her to the front where the police can pick her up, but the other teacher's offered to take her for him. The teachers didn't give Izuku a choice as they grabbed her and dragged her out.

Only Nezu, Shouta, Hizashi, and Nemuri stay behind, watching the teachers go out the gate with Izuku's mom, the traitor.

As soon as Inko Midoriya leaves Izuku's sight, he collapses, barely being caught by Shouta.

The stress finally got to him.