Cold Case

The Final Cold Case, Part Three

BAKUGO'S POV

"This is what Kenzo would have looked like if he grew up?" Inko asked quietly as she traced her fingers over the picture.

"Yeah. Something like that." I knew this would be hard on her, and I wish I didn't have to involve her at all, but I didn't have much of a choice. Without her, this case wasn't going to go anywhere. "Does that look similar to the man you saw all of those years ago?"

She nodded. "It's definitely not the same person, but they look similar." She handed the photo back to me with shaky hands. "So you think the gentleman was his father?"

"I think it's a possibility, but I'm not sure. I'm going to look more into it. Was there anything else you could tell me about him or anybody else that was close to him?" The little bit that she's helped me has already been plenty. I just want to make sure there was absolutely nothing else she had to say.

She shook her head. "I wish I could help more, but that's all I've got."

"You've been plenty of help," I smiled. "Thank you."

"Are you in a hurry to leave?" she asked while motioning to the pot she had on the stove.

I shook my head with a smile. "I can stay for maybe ten minutes."

"Oh, good!" She grabbed my elbow and pulled me to the kitchen. "When you told me you were coming over again, I made spicy curry since you said it was your favorite."

"You didn't have to go through the trouble. I would have been fine with a sandwich or a wrap again." She rolled her eyes and pushed me toward the table before walking to the stove.

"This is just a small token of my appreciation. I'm so thankful to you." She brought me my bowl and a drink.

"What did I do?" I'm happy she likes me, but sometimes I think she thinks too highly of me.

"Because Izuku told me how much fun he had last weekend, and he told me how happy you make him." We did have a lot of fun over the weekend. We got to do everything we wanted and then some. "For that, thank you."

"You don't need to thank me for that. I love him. I will do anything I can to make him happy and make sure he loves his life." I already told him I love him. And I fucking meant it. I've never had someone like this in my life. Every time I try, I always kept them at arm's length.

I never wanted to do that with him. I always wanted to pull him closer. Because of him, I reached out to my mom again and decided to be involved with my family. Because of him, I don't want to work myself to death. Because of him, I know what I want in life. As long as he's by my side, everything else is negotiable.

"When are you guys going to announce that you're dating?" she asked while we ate our food.

"Honestly? I will propose to your son as soon as we're done with cold cases. So probably right after that."

She dropped her chopsticks, not that I could blame her. I just declared that I would propose to her son in the future. I'd be more concerned if she weren't shocked.

"You really love him that much?" She asked. Like the first time I met her, she sounded relieved when she asked it. "You love him enough to want to marry him?"

I nodded. "I want to spend the rest of my life with him. It may be a little soon, but I suppose we'll be engaged for a while. As long as I get him for the rest of my life, I'm fine with whatever."

"I know you two are mad that you had to move to cold cases, to begin with, but I truly think it's the best thing that could have happened. Fate knew what it was doing."