Her Treasure

The Clock Ticks

BEEP... BEEP... BEEP... BEEP...

The high pitched sound repeated again and again, steady and precise like a clock. It filled the entirety of her mind, being the only thing she could focus. Everything else was fuzzy and confusing. Memories mixed with dreams of things that never happened. Or did they? What if her memories were the real dreams? The pieces came around and vanished, images and short movies that portrayed her life so far. How long has she been dreaming?

Since the end of high school, Inko dreamed of forming a beautiful family, with a lovely husband and an adorable child. Little by little, her dream turned into reality, or so she thought. Now it seemed just another distant dream, lost in the depths of her mind. But something wasn't right. She felt a sensation of emptiness. Something she held dear was missing. What was it? She could not remember, her mind was too blurry. The only thing that she could focus was on that repeating noise.

It remembered her that she had to wake up and get ready for school. Today was her first day at the primary and she was eager to start her new life as a student. No, she was in high school already, and she had an important test today. Wait, wasn't she supposed to be at a meeting today in work? She wasn't sure. The only things she knew were that something important to her was missing and that she had to wake up. Inko had to wake up. That was the main function of the alarm clock. Wake people up with that slightly annoying beeping. Said noise became louder and louder. Sometimes she just didn't feel like waking up yet, which resulted in many 'more five minutes' turning into hours. But she had to wake up now because she had to find the thing that went missing. What went missing? She would find out if she just wakes up already...

"What was it? something important... that can't be replaced... wake up, Inko... you have to wake up... you have to see him... him?"

The beeping increased the speed.

"He... he's going to be late to school... he's going to... he's going to be hurt... he's hurt right now! Wake up, Inko! WAKE! UP!"

"IZUKU!"

Inko woke up with a jolt, eyes opening as wide as they could and with a loud scream, calling for her son. Her heart race, pounding inside her chest like it would explode any minute now. Even being on a bed, she felt breathless and tried desperately to put air into her lungs. She could feel beads of sweat forming in her forehead. Her hands shook and her body felt like a furnace. At her side, the cursed beeping of a vital signs monitor helped her understand where she was. But why? What happened? Where she was before and more importantly, where was her Izuku right now?

Memories of the recent events flowed back into her mind, bringing with them all the fear and worry that she felt when she saw him in the hands of that blond villain. His face contorted in pain as she harmed him with some weird power. Where was this villain now? More important, where was Izuku? Why couldn't she find him? Why couldn't she protect him? Why she had to face another failure as a mother?

"Stop... ~pant~ Stop feeling guilty... ~gasp~ Just be a decent mother and... ~pant~ find him"

It wasn't time to feel like this. It wasn't time to worry about anything else but the well-being of her son.

"Find your son, Inko... and make sure he's safe"

Finally steading her heartbeat rate and breathing, the green haired lady mustered the energies within her body and lifted herself up to sid at the bed she was currently on. Taking a minute to look at her surrounding, she found herself in a dark room of some hospital. The lights coming from the slits of the window blinds told her that it must be night time already. For how long had she been sleeping? Looking further at her surroundings, she noticed that she remained in her normal clothes, so no invasive measures were taken. Her mind instantly wandered to her son again. What if he was on a surgery room right now?