Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Izuku was sore all over. His classmates had been rougher than usual- probably because they were stressed about the tests coming up. Kasumi Sagiri, the only person in the whole school who was sympathetic towards him, had been out sick for a few days, so she wasn’t there to help him.

He finished wrapping up the last of the small cuts on his hand, which he’d gotten from falling on the concrete and trying to catch himself. They stung and ached, but his unprofessional treatment would have to do. As he walked the empty streets towards his foster home, he spotted a garden planter.

Curious, he came closer. The leaves were a bit wilted. Maybe they hadn’t had water in a while? Seeing as the house had a ‘For Sale’ sign in front of it, he figured that the owners had just forgotten about the garden.

Izuku took a half-empty water bottle out from his backpack and poured the contents on the plants.

“I’m sorry no one’s been taking care of you,” he murmured. “It’s surprising that you’ve lasted so long, huh? Good job.”

This was one of the few things that made him feel like he was contributing something. One of his previous foster families had a fancy backyard and he’d been forced to learn about gardening in order to maintain it. The practice itself was enjoyable, though, and Izuku still liked to take care of whatever flowers he could.

The florets seemed to perk up and lean towards him, like a hungry youngling reaching for its parent. A smile curled onto his face, soft and sympathetic.

“I wish you could have someone to always look after you.”

Maybe he was projecting, but it made him feel better. He finished watering the plants and caressed the leaves before muttering a farewell and leaving.

(Sad as it was, plants were some of the only living things that would listen without judging him.)

Nature watched him go, as it had time and time again, its curiosity growing. Perhaps this one was worthy?

~

The next day, when Izuku was suffocating under the bridge at the hands of the sludge villain, he made a silent plea to someone, anyone. Perhaps he was being selfish, after all, his death would probably be considered an improvement in society. But he still struggled and choked.

Help me! I don’t want to die!

And he was given a response in the form of the sludge villain roaring in pain.

A thorny vine had grown from the ivy lining the arch and lashed out at its eye. It struck him again, and suddenly the sewer drain burst, angrily splashing over the villain and his victim. The wind buffeted them as if it was going to start a hurricane. Izuku could’ve sworn he saw the flicker of fire.

In his state of confused agony, the sludge villain pulled away from him in favor of protecting his exposed weak spot.

‘Whose Quirk is that?’ Izuku wondered faintly as his attacker was sent flying by a magnificent punch.

~

Everything else went by in a blur.

He was vaguely aware of meeting All Might and getting one of his notebooks signed. (He’d freak out about it later.) All Might didn’t have an elemental Quirk. There weren’t any other people around as far as he could see. The only logical explanation was that the Quirk was his.

But that didn’t make sense. Izuku had the extra toe joint- the calling card of the Quirkless! How could he have a Quirk?

If he had a Quirk, could he be a hero?

Izuku twitched with a hesitant command, and he felt a clover from the sidewalk reach up and touch his wrist.

He had an elemental Quirk.

Before All Might had flown off, Izuku had choked out the question:

“Can I be a hero, even if no one believes me?”

His idol never stopped smiling. It was the expression Izuku had been watching through screens for years, and now he could see it up close, in person. Like a dream come true.

“Of course, my boy! Anyone can be a hero, as long as you believe in yourself!” All Might laughed jovially, “Now, please stay here. I’ve called some first aid for you, but I really must be going. Farewell, citizen!”

The words cut into Izuku’s heart, and by the time the medics arrived, he was a sobbing mess on the floor. They immediately assumed he was traumatized by the attack (which he was, he just wasn’t crying about it) and soothed him best they could with gentle words and honeyed reassurances. He got a shock blanket, a quick check-up, and at some point was given a granola bar.

Eventually he snapped out of it and assured them he was okay now. They recommended he get a follow up, wrote a note for him to show his guardians, and sent him on his way.

He slowly trudged down the path he knew led to his foster parents’ house. He wasn’t Quirkless anymore…so maybe they would start treating him better?

‘Will they even believe me?’

He shivered and stopped walking. The Quirkless kid, with a Quirk? Yeah, right.

They’d tell him, “Stop lying for attention!” and “Why can’t you be more like our son? He’s a real future hero. You’re just a Quirkless orphan.”

Izuku had a bad feeling about his foster parents. They’d only kept him for the money, to make him look like a charity case. They definitely wouldn’t react to his new Quirk very well. He would be safer keeping it a secret.

He stared at a small flower bed growing out of the sidewalk. Unconsciously, he willed.

The little yellow dandelions stretched upwards and kissed his fingertips, tickling his palm with their petals.

He had a Quirk.

“I have a Quirk.” He whispered incredulously, then broke down crying for the second time that day.

~

His memories of his parents were hazy.

The moment Hisashi Midoriya found out that Izuku was Quirkless, he was out. Permanently. He’d never been around due to working in America, but he wanted nothing to do with a “useless child”.

Inko wasn’t nearly that bad. In fact, she was a lifeline. He remembered being hugged, tucked into bed, eating katsudon, roleplaying as a hero, and watching videos on the computer. And on the night he was diagnosed, Izuku asked her:

“Can I still be a hero?”

Through her tears, she had embraced him tightly, but the answer didn’t come until hours later, when they’d practically melted into each other. Inko had cupped his face in her hands and said, very quietly, “Even if you can’t, you can at least try, and someone will believe in you.”

She might have been lying. Trying to placate him. But the worry and care in her eyes was not a lie, and he refused to believe anything other than what she said.

Then Inko died shortly after.

Hate crimes weren’t uncommon against the Quirkless. But for them to extend to their relatives, Izuku had thought as he watched the house burn to the ground, was completely unfair.

The funeral was short. Brief. She was buried in a public graveyard and her son had been thrown into the foster system.

(Her old friend Mitsuki had considered adopting Izuku, but he declined. He knew the fire had been started by a Quirkist neighbor, and Izuku would never, ever want to put the Bakugos in the same danger.)

He repressed most of the memories, the good times becoming painful when he thought about them. He’d only been five when she died. But he still scraped together his meager allowance and bought flowers when he visited her grave every other week. But now that he had a Quirk, he wondered what she would’ve said.

Izuku promised to be a hero who would have made her proud.

Chapterly Omake!

Recovery Girl: “Let’s say you just saved someone from a villain. Your time limit is almost out. What do you do?”

All Might: “Fly away where no one can see!”

Recovery Girl: “But what do you do before that?”

All Might: “…Make sure the villain can be handed over to the authorities?”

Recovery Girl: “You call medical assistance for the victim! They could be emotionally and physically hurt, you idiot!"

Chapter Text

After getting a scathing reprimand from his foster parents for coming home late, they told him to take his (admittedly pathetic) dinner to his room. Izuku apologized, grabbed his meal-to-go, and ran upstairs to his room. He missed the concerned look his foster brother gave him as he did. He was too preoccupied with trying to hide his excitement over his new Quirk.

Izuku shut the door to his room, which was a small corner of the house that obviously used to be an attic of some sort. There was exactly one window, where he kept a small dirt pot and whatever seeds he happened to get his hands on. Izuku saw the sprout peeking well out of the dirt, and he got to practicing.

He grabbed a new notebook and titled the first page Izuku Midoriya.

He wrote down everything, not losing a single detail. His notebook ended up being part analysis, part notes, and full nonsense. But at least it was helpful nonsense!

“I can control earth, air, fire and water.” He said to himself giddily, “This is such an amazing Quirk!”

(Admittedly, testing the fire could have resulted in the whole house being burned down if he hadn’t doused it immediately afterwards. The only evidence of this almost-crime was the slightly singed floor.)

“Earth extends to soil and rock, not just plants, but I have weaker control over that than I do with actual flowers and such, and it looks like I can’t manipulate any plant that is dead? But I can make things sprout! Does my Quirk put seeds in the ground and accelerate their growth? And when it comes to existing plants, do I tap into the roots and spread my control that way? Because dead things don’t work.”

He ran a finger along the lines of jagged writing. “And so far it seems that my affinity lies with earth and water, because I require more concentration to use wind and fire. All of them feel like four strings I can pull on like puppets, and I also need to move a little bit to make it work better, so maybe it can be likened to dancing? Would that help?

“I think fire can work as long as there’s oxygen to help ignite it, water can be controlled if there’s a body of it nearby, wind needs air, which is easy, and earth is pretty simple too and not hard to control. Is it possible to manifest a bunch of water as long as atoms of it are in the air? Would it eventually extend to other liquids like compounds or solubles, or is it just water? Could I control rain, or even ice?

“And then there’s the idea of wind- is it just air I manipulate? Wind is air with higher pressure moving to fill the vacuum left by low-pressure air. So is it that high-pressure air that I have control over? Does it extend to oxygen itself? Could I control my breathing and let out a blast of wind from my lungs because if so that would be absolutely incredible and oh my god I have a Quirk and it’s amazing and there’s so many possibili-“

Knock knock.

Izuku jumped, having been so caught up in his mumbling that the sound snapped him out of his trance. He scrambled to hide his things before rushing over to the door and opening it.

He knew exactly who it was, because there was only one person in this house who’d knock for the Quirkless kid.

“H-hey, Neito!” Izuku greeted his foster brother.

Neito arched an eyebrow at him, “Hey…are you okay?”

“Uh- yep! I’m perfect, actually! Just…doing something!”

“Um, okay, you’re acting weird.” The boy accused, “Are you hiding an injury again or something?”

“N-no! Not really, I swear! It’s- I- you know what, here!” He quickly grabbed Neito’s hands. He trusted Neito deeply, after all. “Use your Quirk on me!”

The blond was confused, but did as he was asked on instinct.

Immediately, he violently flinched backwards.

“What the f-”

“I know, right?!” Izuku pulled him into the room and swiftly shut the door behind them.

Neito looked like he had just witnessed a deity descend upon the earth and slay every last villain in a hundred-mile radius. “Izuku, you have a Quirk?!”

“Yes!” He whispered, clapping a hand over his mouth. “Crap, this is the third time I’m crying today…!”

He was enveloped in a tight hug. “That’s amazing! But how?! I thought you had the toe joint and everything!”

“I do! I don’t know how it happened either, but I was kinda involved in a villain attack-“

“You what?!”

About five minutes later, the full explanation was given (along with a show of the doctors’ note) and they’d calmed down for the most part. They both sat on the futon, hearts still pounding.

Neito ran a hand through his hair. “We need to train this Quirk of yours. It’s gonna be so awesome- we can be heroes together!” He paused, “Just…don’t tell my parents.”

“Yeah…heroes.” Izuku felt like fainting, “I’m trying to come up with a training schedule. Wanna help?”

“Absolutely. Let me have some fun, too.”

The boys devised a schedule starting from the end of the school year to the day of the UA Entrance Exam. They would train their respective Quirks until then.

Izuku realized he needed to update his Quirk Registry, but Neito was very much against telling his parents.

“Who knows what they’ll do?” He said with a frown, “For your own safety, we should register your Quirk in secret. For now, think about what you want to name it. Do you have any ideas?”

Izuku opened his mouth to say no, but then a thought drifted upon his mind. It was like a gentle light that whispered in his ear, encouraging him to name the Quirk.

His Quirk.

“Actually, I do.” A grin spread across his face, “Forces of Nature.”

~

Of course, all good things come to an end. Izuku still had to go back to hel- ahem, school.

“There you are, Deku!”

He let out a ‘Yeep!’ , snapping out of his thoughts and whipping his head around to look at who was talking to him. His eyes widened.

“S-Sagiri-san! You’re back!”

The girl with gravity-defying silver hair snorted, twirling a lock of it around her finger, “Of course I am. A little cold won’t bring me down for long.”

“W-well, it’s good t-to see you.” He stammered.

A few of their classmates snickered mockingly.

Sagiri ignored them and sighed dramatically, draping herself across her seat, “I can’t believe the school year is almost over. It went by so fast.”

“I know, right?” A girl named Kei piped up, “Aren’t you gonna apply for a big prestigious school, Sagiri-chan?”

“Yeah, UA. Probably just Gen Ed or Business, though. My Quirk’s not suited for being a hero.” To demonstrate, Sagiri sent out a tendril of hair to retrieve her pencil case from her backpack.

“You could actually be a rescue hero with your Quirk.” Izuku mumbled.

“What was that, Deku?” A third classmate, Yoko, snickered. He snapped his jaw shut with a click.

“Ugh, it’s almost time for Mr. Punctual Golden Explosion to make his grand entrance.” Sagiri grumbled, shifting their attention to her.

“You keep track?” Kei asked.

Yoko tilted her head, “Oh, yeah! You don’t like him very much, do you, Sagiri-chan?”

“He may be the golden boy of Aldera with an amazing Quirk, but I can’t stand his personality.” Sagiri huffed, “He treats all of us like we’re nothing but dirt under his heel. The teachers do nothing but inflate his ego ‘till it pops. And have you seen how his goons act like they’re so high and mighty? I don’t like him and that’s that.”

“Sagiri-chan is so cool.” Kei whispered in awe.

“Oh, look at the clock. It’s time. Keep your heads down, lest you catch his gaze and make him think you’re challenging his perfect ego.”

On cue, Katsuki Bakugo stomped in, looking just as irritable as ever. Sagiri and the other girls had their eyes casually averted. He slammed down into his seat and said nothing.

The rest of the class began to trickle in, and the bell rang soon after.

And the moment Shibuoka-sensei walked in, Izuku immediately knew that the teacher was in one of his ‘moods’ again. His hair was messier, with eyes that were bloodshot and red-rimmed; the way he walked was slightly unsteady, placing more weight on his right foot than the other, and even his uniform was coming undone. Probably got drunk the night before and was dealing with a major hangover, or maybe-

Something bounced off his head and landed on his worn desk. It was only because of his many years of enduring things like this that he did not cry out in surprise. Unabashed snickers circulated throughout the room, and Izuku saw that there was a note tied to a small rock that said: SHUT UP, FREAK.

“Midoriya,” snarled Shibuoka, his entire being comparable to a rabid dog. “Passing notes in class?”

He bit his tongue.

‘This is gonna be a bad day.’

~

And it was.

Shibuoka’s moods always meant a rougher time for him. The teacher’s favorite method of punishment was taking the sharp ruler kept at the front of the class and striking Izuku with it. Mostly on the hands or head.

They were dismissed for lunch, and Izuku was relieved that he wasn’t called to stay behind. That usually meant being locked in the classroom for the whole period, and no chance of going to the cafeteria. And if his guardians refused to give him access to the kitchen, he’d have no food at all.

When that did happen, though, Sagiri would try to slip him some snacks.

Due to coming home late the other day, the Monomas had given him dinner, but no breakfast or lunch. So he had to rely on school food today.

Staying close to Sagiri, he made it to the cafeteria and got his tray along with her. Today they were served lumpy, lukewarm tomato soup with a loaf of bread that looked like they’d stored it for several years. Once they got to a table with Sagiri’s acquaintances (he stayed at the very end of the bench), Izuku looked closer at his soup and tried not to sigh.

Someone had put something in it. Judging by the smell and color…probably a bar of soap. That rendered it more inedible than it already was.

He pushed it aside and settled for eating the bread. It tasted like nothing, which was actually an improvement. When he was done, he picked up the tray and started to leave.

Sagiri glanced up at him. “Leaving already?”

“Yeah, Deku.” Yoko sneered, “Shouldn’t you get permission first?”

“And you’re wasting food, you ungrateful Quirkless!” Kei pointed at his untouched soup.

Tilting her head slightly, Sagiri didn’t respond to Izuku’s mumbled apology and used her hair to take the tray from him.

“S-Sagiri-san?”

She peered into the bowl, and disgust flashed across her face.

“Sagiri-chan, now you need to wash your beautiful hair!” whined Yoko.

“Is that soap?” She grimaced in dismay. “It smells awful.”

“Wait, actually?” Kei leaned forward and gagged. “Ugh, gross!”

“Ha! Someone wanted to help Deku clean his mouth.” Yoko curled her lip with cruel amusement.

Sagiri stared at the tray a moment longer before giving it back to Izuku. “You can go. Throw it away.”

He saw the hidden concern in her expression and bowed. “Th-thank you.” Then he ran away and dumped the abomination of a soup in the trash and returned to the classroom.

And of course, when he got back, his desk was graffitied over yet again with a single spider lily resting atop it.

Despite the years of hurt he’d endured, and the many flowers he had no doubt amassed (it wasn’t uncommon to get multiple of them in one day), his heart never failed to sink when he saw crying crimson that seemed to be frozen in time, forever culminated in spindly petals.

Unlike the majority of the ones he had received, this particular lily was actually in a vase. Izuku reluctantly went over to it, ignoring the magenta paint on his table that spelled out ‘QUIRKLESS’ in all caps. It wasn’t very original.

He didn’t touch the flower directly. It would give him a rash if he did. Observing the vase, he saw that it was preserved in soil.

Izuku activated his Quirk. The stem lengthened and dipped towards him, almost as if it were bowing in acknowledgement.

‘…Why do I still have to go through this? I have a Quirk now.’

The thought echoed in his head, and he felt his cut hands throb awfully.

‘I have a Quirk now. I don’t want to keep dealing with this.’

Izuku swallowed the lump in his throat and coerced the lily into shrinking, so he could safely transfer the vase inside his backpack. He sat at his desk and put his head down.

‘I’m so tired. But I guess this is the last year I’ll have to endure, because I’m going to make it into UA and become a hero with this Quirk.’

His hands curled into fists.

I will.

Unbeknownst to him, petunias and gladioli bloomed in the front of the school, rigidly gripping the earth.

~

The day was finally, finally over.

“Servant!” Sagiri called, “Come take my bag and let’s go.”

Izuku hurried over, ignoring the snide remarks he got from the other kids, and picked up her backpack. This was the ruse they’d put up, the one that he’d sorely missed when she was sick:

Deku was Sagiri’s personal servant, always following her around and doing as she said. Because, of course, only the beautiful, benevolent Kasumi Sagiri would extend such an honor to a Quirkless nobody. And she didn’t want her dear classmates working for her, so Deku was the perfect choice.

She’d always been kind to him, but her popularity had prevented him from even breathing in her direction unless he wanted to get beat up. One day, she found him after a bad day, locked in the supply closet after school with a sprained ankle and some bruises. That was the last straw for her.

After a long talk and a lot of “Are you sure you’re okay with this? Are you absolutely sure?”, the two of them agreed to put up this facade. And it worked pretty well. School went from being daily torture to bearably difficult.

When people started going too far, Sagiri would step in and say something like, “Hey! I need my servant in good shape. How is he going to help me otherwise?” They’d apologize, sometimes reluctantly, and most of the time would stop.

Aldera was made up of misfits and delinquents- but not Sagiri. Her mother was a lawyer and her father was a doctor who worked for a hero agency. The reasons for her attending such a miserable school were mostly undisclosed, but according to Sagiri herself, she just lived really close to the campus and hadn’t complained to her parents about the school’s questionable status.

“I don’t wanna bother them when they’re so busy. Plus, I don’t get treated the way you do.” She had said once, “And if we go to different schools, we can’t keep in contact because you don’t have a phone.”

Izuku was grateful to have one friend. He used to be friends with Bakugo, but they both kept their distance.

“Walk to the gate, Deku.” Sagiri ordered, bringing him back to the present.

When they reached the school exit, most of the kids had already departed. Kei and Yoko had also left. Sagiri glanced around, giving Izuku an affirming thumbs up.

“Another successful day, eh?” She snickered, “No one bothered you too much, right?”

“It was fine. Thank you so much, as always.”

He didn’t tell her about the spider lily.

“No problem. Glad you’re okay besides the, uh…gross, revolting soap soup. Man, say that five times fast. Soap soup.”

“Soap soup?”

“Yeah, soap soup, soup soap, yada yada.”

“I guess it’s a little difficult.”

“See?” She rolled her eyes dramatically, “Disgusting, gross, sickening soap soup! Is there a synonym for poison that starts with s? Where’s my phone? Hey, grab my phone for me, will you, Deku?”

‘Should I tell her about my Quirk?’

Before they could say anything else, however, someone came up behind them and spoke. 

“Hello, Kasumi-chan. Do you remember me?”

Izuku flinched, wondering how long their classmate had been there and wondering if he’d heard anything incriminating. But judging by the boy’s expression, he hadn’t.

Sagiri paused, tilting her head at him. Her hair, like a reverse waterfall, flowed and pulsed as she seemed to genuinely think about the question.

“Uhh, Aoki-san, right?”

“Yes, but you can call me Ebina.”

“Okay…?”

Ebina sent Izuku a death glare, “Could I talk with you alone, Kasumi-chan? I only want people who matter to hear what I have to say.”

Disgust flashed on her face for just a moment, settling into a neutral expression, “Actually, I have to go. My parents will be home soon, and I’m always there before them. Maybe another time. Hey, servant, didn’t I tell you to get me my phone? Why are you so slow? I’m leaving now.”

The pleading undertone in her voice pushed Izuku to action. As they started to walk out of the middle school, he dug around in her backpack until he grasped the phone. It was printed with cute cats and hearts the color of sakura. But before he could offer it, Sagiri let out a short yelp.

Ebina had grabbed her shoulder tightly, “C’mon, it won’t be long. Don’t be so uptight. Send the Quirkless servant away and let’s talk alone.”

“Please let go of me.”

He didn’t. Izuku felt his heart rate quicken, backpack dropping from his hands as they twitched violently along with the anger he’d been suppressing.

“Oi, Quirkless servant.” Ebina scoffed, “Be a good little Deku and go away.”

He didn’t. Instead, he snapped.

“Let go of her!”

The earth answered his call. It rumbled viciously, causing everyone to stumble. A chunk of rock was pried from the ground, and shot towards a confused Ebina. A blink, and that was it. The student was out cold on the floor, and the rock was laying beside him.

Silence.

“Deku.” Sagiri’s voice was barely audible. “What just happened?”

Izuku stared at Ebina, whose head was already bruising. At least it hadn’t drawn blood. “U-um, so I wanted to tell you about this, Sagiri-chan, b-but um, I-I- uh….”

It suddenly occurred to him that the earth still had a suspicious hole in it from where he’d disrupted it. “Shoot! Hey, go back! Back back back!” He focused, and the slab of dirt and concrete rolled lazily back into its origin. With a little more pressure, bits of moss and weeds sprouted along the lines, effectively hiding the evidence.

Except Ebina was still going to wake up sooner or later. What could they do about that?!

“Deku!” shrieked Sagiri, “Is that a Quirk?!”

“Y-yes?!”

The girl used a tendril of hair to seize his arm, making him stumble forward. She grabbed him by the shoulders tightly.

“Oh my gosh, you have a Quirk! You have a Quirk?! Since when?! Have you been hiding- no, wait, did you-?!”

“I-I manifested it yesterday!” Izuku managed.

Sagiri released him, stepping back with a shocked look, “Yesterday? Yesterday? How?!”

“Um…I was involved in a villain attack?”

She stared at him.

“A-also, uh, there isn’t really any synonym for poison that starts with s. As far as I know. Sorry. Oh, but sorry starts with s.”

What was he saying? Izuku mentally slapped himself in the face.

Sagiri clearly didn’t know either, but her expression cracked, and she started laughing.

“Pffft! Okay, funny guy. Are you okay, though?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” He rubbed the back of his head, “Um, here’s your phone.”

“Thanks. I’m gonna call my parents. You have a brother, right?” Sagiri cocked her head to the side.

“Y-yes. He knows.”

“Okay, give me his number.”

“Eh?!”

“You should head home, but when you do, have your brother text me everything. Plus, we can keep in contact that way!” She sighed, dialing her mother, “I can’t believe I never thought of that before.”

~

Somehow, they got away with the Ebina incident. The boy didn’t seem to remember much, and Sagiri testified that she hit him and accidentally knocked him out in self-defense because he’d grabbed her. No one argued against her (she was the daughter of a lawyer) and the issue was dropped.

The weekend came quickly after that, and Neito invited Sagiri over to eat and watch them train.

“I think you’re the oldest person to ever manifest a Quirk,” she commented as she took another bite out of her tuna sandwich, “And I didn’t think it was possible for someone with the extra toe joint to have one!”

“Yeah…I guess.” Izuku hummed, “Man, that’s crazy to think about.”

“Whatcha put it in as in the registry?”

“Forces of Nature. It gives me quote-unquote control over air, earth, fire, and water to some extent.”

Sagiri pouted, “Why is it so cool? You deserve it, though. I wish I had a Quirk like that.”

“Your Quirk is still amazing, Sagiri-chan!” Izuku insisted, “If you train your hair to handle more weight, you could be an amazing rescue hero! There’s so many applications! Like, if there was a building collapse, or anything where civilians are trapped under rubble and debris, you could use your Quirk to easily get them all out! So much time would be saved, and-”

She snickered. Izuku snapped his mouth shut in horror. To the side, Neito’s shoulders were shaking as he tried to contain his laughter.

“I am so sorry.” He whispered frantically.

“Nah, you’re good.” Sagiri waved her hand, “I don’t mind the mumbling, it’s very funny and cute and endearing.”

He squeaked.

Neito put a hand on his shoulder, “C’mon, let’s get back to training. It’s not like UA’s gonna invite us into the hero course.”

“You future heroes have fun.” Sagiri called, “I’ll chill here and watch. As a future UA Gen Ed student in the most optimistic case, my time is best spent enjoying dinner and a show.”

She paused, and then she grinned wider, a light bulb practically going off above her head.

“Hey,” she said, “Have you guys ever heard of Dagobah Beach?”

Chapterly Omake!

(Ebina after he woke up)

Everyone: “Omg Ebina are you okay what happened?!!!?!!”

Ebina, internally: Oh my god, Deku has a Quirk. He’s super powerful but he hides it like a protagonist in a novel, and that’s why Kasumi only ever wants him to be her servant! He’s a bodyguard! Oh no he’ll kill me if I rat him out.

Everyone: “Ebina?”

Ebina: “Uhhh I don’t remember.”

Chapter Text

A few weeks later, Izuku was seeing the effects of their training. Despite being sore, he felt refreshed, and he eventually saw his stamina increase.

Right now, he was on a grocery run assigned to him by the Monomas. He got all the items on the list, paid for them, walked out the store, and got about twenty steps away when he came across a fight in an alleyway.

There were five people in all, and punches were being thrown. They all seemed to be around his own age.

‘Well. That’s not right.’

He saw a boy with purple hair trying to defend himself from being beaten bloody. There was a muzzle on his face. A muzzle, really? That was inhumane and disgusting. His gaze was panicked, angry and…

Scared.

He was right there. If he didn’t at least try to stop it, what kind of hero could he be?

So when the boy’s eyes met his own, Izuku dropped his bags and ran.

There was a trail of ivy on the wall. Hooking onto it, he sent four separate tendrils to seize the waists of the bullies and yank them backwards, towards himself. Everyone was shocked, but one bully recovered her composure quicker than the others.

“Who the heck are you?! Buzz off!” Her fingernails shifted and grew a dumbfounding twelve inches long, turning into glittering glass. She lunged, slashing at his chest.

Izuku yelped and sent up a rock wall to block her. A shriek of pain and the sound of clattering indicated that her nails had broken.

‘I researched how to knock people out. Come on, you can do this!’

Remembering the other three people he still had bound, he made sure the glass girl wouldn’t run away and used a harmless vine to pinch a certain spot on their necks. They were struggling, but he had them held firmly in place, and it didn’t take long for them to pass out.

Izuku crumbled the rock barrier he’d constructed and murmured his thanks to the ivy, allowing it to return to its idle spot on the wall. He was greeted with the sight of four unconscious bullies, and one disbelieving victim.

“Um.” He said, stepping forward hesitantly. “Hi?”

Then immediately slapped himself because the boy had a muzzle on, of course he wouldn’t be able to talk.

“Sorry. Here, let me get that off of you. Can I?”

Reluctantly, the purple-haired boy allowed him to take the muzzle off, scrambling a few feet backwards when he did to rub his face and breathe properly. Izuku respectfully gave him a little more space.

Holding the awful contraption, he noticed that it was rusty in some places. Anger bloomed in his chest, causing more petunias to sprout at his feet. What if it had broken? The boy could have gotten tetanus!

Speaking of him, Izuku looked back at him. The boy was now eyeing him warily.

“So…” Izuku shuffled in place. “I, um, have medical supplies. If you wanna treat your injuries.”

“Aren’t you scared?”

“Huh?”

The boy scowled, “I was attacked in an alleyway by four people for a reason. You didn’t think to ask why?”

“I mean…I didn’t think the ‘why’ mattered. These things-“ Izuku gestured to the muzzle, “-are inhumane. That was enough for me to want to step in.”

“You do know what you did was vigilantism, right?”

“Vigilanti-” Izuku snapped his mouth shut, the realization that since he had a Quirk now and he had used it illegally that was vigilantism-

“Oh,” was what he managed to say.

The purple-haired boy rolled his eyes at him.

Izuku shook himself. “W-well, someone had to help, or else they would’ve hurt you.”

“It’s happened before. Not like it matters for people with villainous Quirks.”

“Villainous? Is that what the thing was for?” He glanced at the muzzle in his hands again. “Is your Quirk voice-activated?”

There was a pause as the boy stared at him, eyes narrowed with distrust. “…I brainwash people. Anyone who answers me falls under my control.”

Izuku’s mouth dropped open as the boy averted his eyes. There was a beat of silence, and then…

“That is so cool!”

Unaware of the confused stare he was being given, Izuku began to ramble, “I mean, it’s such a cool and interesting Quirk! If there was a hostage situation, you could resolve it just by talking! Does it work if the person just makes a noise, instead of giving a coherent reply? Or what if they talk, but not at you? Or what if it’s in a different language?! Ooh, what about sign language? It’s-”

“W-woah, slow down. Geez, you talk fast.”

He put a hand over his mouth. “Sorry! Sorry. Anyways, I’m being serious about first aid.” He offered his backpack. “You can go through my bag. What do you want me to do with the…muzzle, by the way?”

“…Do whatever you want with it. It doesn’t matter.”

“Oh. Okay.” Izuku glanced at it again. “My name’s Izuku Midoriya, by the way.”

The boy blinked. “Hitoshi Shinsou.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Shinsou-san!”

It was actually a good day. Even if he was yelled at by his foster parents for being an hour late, Izuku couldn’t help but feel proud that he had helped someone.

And maybe made a friend?

Does inviting a fellow future UA student to clean a trash beach as training count as making a friend?

~

“Hmph. Your Quirk is perfect for hero work.”

“Really? I’m happy you think so, but if you think about it, any Quirk can be used for good things! I believe there’s no such thing as a useless power. And I know that there are people out there who are definitely stronger than me, and more experienced, and could probably use my Quirk better than me especially considering that I only got it a few weeks ago so I’m super bad at controlling it and-“

“Woah woah woah wait, back up.”

“Huh?”

“You’re telling me that you only got your Quirk last month.”

“Uhhhh-“

“Dude. Are you serious?”

“…yes? I have no idea how it happened either. I was Quirkless up until then…”

“And here I was thinking that you were some pampered prodigy…”

“You don’t care that I was Quirkless?”

“I’ve had a villain’s Quirk my whole life, Midoriya. I don’t care.”

“O-oh! Thank you!”

“…Knowing you were Quirkless explains a lot about your personality.”

“W-what was that? I’m sorry, I couldn’t hear you…”

“Nothing. I just think you’re going to be a good hero if you keep it up.”

“Shinsou…!”

“Don’t cry over it! Oh, great- have some tissues or something.”

“Thank you…”

“Sure.”

~

Once the school year was finally over, Izuku’s friends- he had friends!- spent the next ten months training and helping him get a better handle on his Quirk. He had a decent understanding of the four elements now, and was starting to learn how to control ice!

Sagiri bought him a phone, too. It was a typical green color, but Izuku had cried so much when she gave it to him that he almost passed out.

Dagobah Beach had also been restored to (some) of its former glory!

He, Neito, Hitoshi (first-name basis!), and Sagiri gazed at the view, proud and excited.

“We should head to UA now.” She broke the silence, “Unless you heroes want to be late and fail before you even try.”

Hitoshi scoffed, “We have plenty of time. Let’s grab some coffee first.”

“Ew, I want a vanilla Frappuccino with caramel.”

“That has coffee in it, idiot.”

“I wasn’t eww-ing coffee, I was eww-ing your coffee.”

“Come again?”

Sagiri, having fallen for this trick approximately twelve times in the past year, shut her mouth and glared at Hitoshi with murderous lilac eyes.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought- ow!” A tendril of hair promptly shoved him into the sand.

Izuku couldn’t help the snort that escaped from him at the sight of Hitoshi scrambling out of the sand.

“You bleached Rapunzel.” He fumed, “I’m gonna get you back for that.”

She stuck her tongue out at him.

Neito was cackling, “C’mon! Let’s go to a cafe and grab that Frappuccino you wanted!”

“I want espresso.” Hitoshi grumbled, “What about you, Izuku?”

“O-oh, I think I’ll just get an iced mocha.” He chuckled.

“Well, then what are you dorks waiting for?” Sagiri darted away, “At this rate, All Might will retire before we get our coffee!”

“All Might?!”

Neito laughed, dashing after Sagiri with Hitoshi close in pursuit, “Come on, Izu!”

~

The group made it to a nearby cafe. They had a decent amount of time to grab their orders before actually going to UA.

Sagiri hummed in delight, “It always smells so good in here~! I think I’m gonna get their Devil Puffs.”

“Devil Puffs?”

“It’s a new item. They’re basically chocolate cream puffs. Y’know, Devil’s Food? Devil Puffs!”

“You are what you eat.” Hitoshi snarked behind her.

The two bickered, exchanging glares and threats of violence before Neito elbowed their ribs.

“It’s almost our turn, be quiet.”

Izuku ordered an iced peppermint mocha. Neito decided to get a cinnamon roll too.

As they exited the building and prepared to finally depart for UA, Izuku saw a little girl bumbling around nearby. She seemed distracted, drawing absentmindedly in a pink notebook. There weren’t any adults near her.

Izuku had a bad feeling, and it only proved to be true when the girl began to step out onto the street.

Right in the path of a speeding car.

Immediately, on instinct, Izuku ran forward, grabbing the girl’s shoulder and pulling them both back.

She let out a yelp, the notebook falling from her hands, and the car sped right past them.

Izuku felt his heart rate skyrocket.

‘Oh my god, thank goodness she’s okay. She didn’t die, she didn’t get run over. I can’t believe the driver would do that. He didn’t even stop. I think he was texting. That’s illegal.’

His friends were gaping at him. Neito recovered quickly and knelt down in front of the girl, asking her if she was alright, where was her family, etc. Hitoshi started calling out, looking for her parents, and eventually a man stumbled out from the gathering crowd and hugged the girl tightly.

“Thank you.” He said to Izuku, “I’m sorry, I lost sight of her and- and you saved her. Thank you.”

A proud feeling swelled up inside of Izuku. The girl blinked owlishly, not fully understanding the danger she had been in, but she smiled brightly at him when her father gave her a nudge.

“Thank you, Mr. Green Hero.” She said, shyly fingering the ruby-studded string around her neck.

Izuku nodded, “O-of course! Just be careful next time!”

It was only when he and his friends left to catch the train that Izuku realized she had called him a hero. She called him a hero because he’d saved her!

I saved her. I saved her.

I’m gonna be a hero.

His cheeks began to hurt from smiling.

Chapterly Omake!

Girl: “Daddy, I like Mr. Green Hero.”

Dad: “Me too.”

Girl: “I want a green necklace instead of red.”

Dad: “Why don’t we ask your auntie about that one?”

Chapter Text

Neito handed Izuku the cinnamon roll, “Here, eat that.”

“Wh-what? No, you bought that!” He protested, “I can’t eat your food!”

“I got it for you, Izu. I’m not gonna eat it.” His foster brother sipped on a cappuccino, “I had a filling breakfast, unlike some people.”

Izuku hesitated. His stomach growled traitorously.

Neito grinned, “C’mon, just eat it. It’s not gonna eat you back.”

He accepted the cinnamon roll with an embarrassed “thank you”. Next to him, Sagiri and Hitoshi had been forced to sit next to each other due to the amount of people on the train. They took the opportunity to bicker.

“You know, you pushing me with your Quirk was illegal.” Hitoshi jeered.

Sagiri scowled, “You brainwashing me twelve times was illegal, idiot.”

“Not my fault you’re so gullible.”

“Not me with oodles of sand in my hair.”

“Wait, there’s still- dangit!” He carded his hands through his purple locks like a madman.

Izuku honestly had no idea why they were like this. Sagiri was usually such an easygoing person. Hitoshi, while he had a smart mouth, generally didn’t argue with any of them.

So it was baffling when the pair’s first meeting ended with Hitoshi brainwashing Sagiri into tripping over her own feet and cackling until she pushed him into the ocean.

Neito gave Izuku a little nudge, “I bet an onigiri that Hitoshi’s gonna leave sand in his seat at the written exam.”

“Haha. Maybe he will.”

“Imagine one of the other examinees thinking his Quirk is creating sand from his hair.”

“Oh my gosh, that would be funny. And interesting. How would a Quirk create sand from your hair?”

The bus came to a stop.

“SHINSOU YOU INDIGO APE!” Sagiri yelled angrily, drowning out the speaker announcing their arrival as she chased after her supposed friend, “YOU TAKE THAT BACK!”

“Never! Screw you!” He retorted.

Neito and Izuku hurried off the train, with the latter frantically apologizing to everyone giving them confused looks.

“Izuku!” His foster brother laughed, dragging him by the wrist so he could keep up, “You don’t need to say sorry for every little thing! This isn’t even your fault!”

The green-haired boy gulped, watching as Sagiri grew increasingly frustrated by Hitoshi outrunning her.

UA was going to have four new problem children on their hands.

~

They parted ways at the entrance, wishing each other luck. Well, just Neito and Izuku anyway. Sagiri and Hitoshi were too busy praying for each other’s failure.

Izuku stayed behind for a moment to take in the fact that he, the Quirkless kid, was here at UA to take the entrance exams. With a Quirk!

‘That’s kinda contradictory, but that’s okay! Let’s do this!’

And he immediately tripped over his feet.

‘Or I can just die.’

Izuku silently apologized to everyone who had ever believed in him for failing them this quickly.

But before he could hit the ground, his body suddenly stopped. He gazed at the concrete that was decidedly not coming closer to meet his nose and- for the briefest of moments- wondered if he’d gotten another Quirk that held him midair.

Then a light voice giggled. “Are you okay?”

He snapped back to reality and flailed in place frantically, trying to get back upright. “Aaaaa!”

His savior- a girl with brown hair and pink cheeks- helped him get on his feet and pressed her hands together with a smile. “I stopped you with my Quirk. Sorry I didn’t ask first, but I figured you wouldn’t mind me catching you!”

He stared at her uncomprehendingly, still trying to process what was happening. She continued to talk, blissfully unaware of his social ineptitude. “Isn’t this all, like, way nerve-racking? Well, guess I’ll see you inside. Bye!”

Just like that, she walked away, leaving him to stare after her in disbelief.

‘Oh my gosh, I talked to a girl! Or- wait, she talked to me. Shoot! I should’ve talked too! She probably thought I was rude and weird…ugh, I guess I can’t do anything about that other than apologize if I see her again. But I guess I should focus on actually getting inside.’

~

The written test went unremarkably. Besides the fact that Ectoplasm, a Pro Hero, was overseeing it. Of course, it was expected for him to be there. UA’s staff was made up of Pro Heroes.

At the end of the test, Izuku got out of his seat and wondered if Hitoshi had left sand in his, wherever he was testing. The very thought forced him to stifle a laugh as he left the room.

During Present Mic’s (Present Mic! The Vocal Hero! He was so cool and Izuku wanted to get his autograph but he couldn’t right now-) lecture, Izuku realized a certain blond was sitting a few rows ahead of him.

‘Oh, of course Kacchan’s here.’

Kacchan was going to be an amazing hero with his Quirk, but he did have a temper. If Izuku wasn’t careful, he would mutter up a storm and alert his ex-childhood-friend to his presence. It would be better to not do that. Izuku quite liked being unexploded.

He fished a pencil out of his backpack.

(“A pencil?”

“Yeah!” Sagiri smiled, “Anything to distract your mouth. Candy is the better option, but if you don’t have some on hand, a pencil would work.”

She demonstrated by grabbing a pencil with her Quirk, putting it in her mouth, “Ee? ‘M ‘iting down on it.”

“Y-you shouldn’t do that just to show me!” Izuku floundered.

Sagiri let the utensil fall onto the desk. They were the only ones in the classroom, so she could be as friendly as she wanted.

“Here. Take some of this candy. If you think you’re gonna start muttering or just need a pick-me-up, eat one. Not in class, obviously, or you’ll get detention. But anywhere else will do.”)

Izuku let his gaze momentarily linger on an apple-flavored candy she had given him last year. It was the last one that he never ended up eating out of a desire to save it for something important.

He hesitated.

‘Well, it’s getting old. Kinda gross to keep expired candy in my backpack, but I’m sure it tastes fine.’

Izuku dropped the pencil back in his backpack and put the candy in his mouth.

‘Thanks, Sagiri-chan.’

She was the only person he could’ve ever called a friend in Aldera. Kacchan never tried to help Izuku like Sagiri did, but maybe that was for the better. After all, he never laid a hand on him unlike some of their classmates, but he also never talked to Izuku.

Ignoring him was probably the last mercy he could’ve extended to a Quirkless nobody who just happened to be his friend once, Izuku figured.

It was at that moment he realized a blue-haired student with glasses had interrupted Present Mic’s speech. Izuku had just come back to reality, so he only caught the end of their exchange. The student sat back down as Present Mic finished his explanation of the robots they’d be fighting for this part of the exam.

Neito and Hitoshi were in different sections than Izuku, but all of them had worked together to build their own support weapons. UA only allowed equipment that had been built by the user themselves to be brought to the entrance exam.

As they made their way to the model city, Izuku fidgeted with his makeshift daggers. Sure, he had a Quirk, but there was no harm in bringing weapons in case he didn’t have enough confidence to use his Quirk because he was a Quirkless nobody who had only been training for a year. Everyone else here were probably experts with controlling their Quirks. What if he hurt someone on accident or did something he shouldn’t have? What if he hurt someone with his daggers? He could never live with himself if he did. Maybe bringing the daggers was a mistake. Maybe coming here was a mistake-

The candy was completely dissolved in his mouth now.

‘It wasn’t a mistake! What am I thinking?! Stop muttering, stupid!’

He gave himself a quick smack, earning some incredulous looks, ‘Okay, calm down, Izuku. You can do this!’

He noticed a girl from the corner of his eye. She had brown hair and pink cheeks- the same one who helped him earlier! Izuku was about to go over to her and say thank you (and apologize), but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.

“What do you think you’re doing?” A stern voice asked him.

It was the glasses student. He gulped nervously, trying to think of what he should say, why he had been approached, what he did that warranted punishment-

The boy was talking, but Izuku unconsciously tuned him out. This was bad. The exam hadn’t even started yet, and here he was already making a fool of himself. He felt like he was going to throw up the cinnamon roll Neito bought for him that morning.

“—are you even listening to me?”

Izuku shuddered, opening his mouth to beg for forgiveness apologize, but Present Mic’s voice blared from the speakers.

“GO!”

His body moved on instinct.

Dashing away from the boy with glasses, Izuku leapt onto a one-pointer and smashed both of his daggers into its head. The robot quickly sputtered and died.

“YEEEAAAAAH, THAT’S THE SPIRIT! WHY AREN’T THE REST OF YOU MOVING?! THERE’S NO COUNTDOWN IN REAL LIFE, LISTENERS!”

His face reddened upon realizing he was the only one who moved, but Izuku plowed on.

Any robot that wasn’t a one-pointer was hard to kill with his knives, so he simply commanded the ground beneath him to spear through his opponents’ wiring.

‘It’s okay. Calm down, and don’t let your Quirk spiral out of control.’

A spike erupting from the earth, breaking the tiles. Frying circuits with a blast of water or fire. Occasionally he would spot someone having trouble and surreptitiously use a gust of wind to make sure they were safe.

And then the zero-pointer made its debut.

It activated and rose from the ground, terrifyingly giant. Izuku stiffened and stared at it in horror because what the heck is that and why would you use your budget on it. It was making its way through the fake city, slow but steady, felling buildings in its wake.

Now, survival instinct dictates that you run away from the thing that is flattening buildings every other second. Most of the participants had great survival instincts in this regard! Others seemed to have been stuck between the fight or flight instinct and instead settled for freeze.

Izuku was one of the frozen participants.

Because he didn’t have a survival instinct, really.

But then his eyes landed on the girl from earlier, trapped and struggling underneath the rubble.

No, no way. They have to have safety measures for this thing, right? They wouldn’t let anyone die…

But…

She looks like she needs help.

And Izuku broke into a run. Not away from the robot, but towards it.

I need to help her!

He skidded to a stop in front of her and used vines to start propping the rock up. “Is your Quirk okay?”

“I-I overused it…it’s Zero Gravity.”

“Okay, okay, um…” Izuku tried not to pay attention to the robot that was lumbering closer by the second, “Quirk out of commission, got it. That’s okay. I’ll get you out of here, don’t worry.”

The girl nodded, breathing in a way that implied she was trying not to throw up. Probably a side effect of overusing her Quirk.

The vines lifted the rubble completely off of her. Izuku grabbed her hands and helped her stand up, slinging one around his shoulder so she could use him as a human crutch. She was avoiding touching him with all five fingers. An activation requirement, he figured.

They limped away from the robot, but Izuku could hear it gaining on them.

‘There’s not much time left in the exam. We just have to get away from it!’

But as a giant shadow started to envelop them, he realized the seconds that were left were still plenty of time for them to be crushed.

Izuku gulped nervously, “H-hey, I’m gonna let go of you. Can you run?”

“What?” She gave him a slightly terrified look, but answered a second later, “I-I can move, I don’t know about running.”

“Just get as far away from this thing as you can.”

“But what about you?!”

“I’ll be fine.”

He let go of the girl and turned to face the zero-pointer.

‘Alright. Let’s give this our all! Quirk, don’t fail me now!’

If he couldn’t outrun it, he’d just have to outgun it.

Izuku ordered the earth to stab the robot, but the spike he created broke on impact.

‘Argh! Not strong enough…’

He gritted his teeth. He could do better.

Izuku brought to mind all the difficulties he’d faced to get to this moment. Every mean word, every look of condescension, every spider lily…

Please just work!

A lance-like shape broke through the floor and stabbed the zero-pointer straight through the head. That would be enough to put it out of commission, he hoped.

Izuku could feel Quirk exhaustion beginning to kick in, but willed himself to run away from the falling robot.

‘It…it worked! But…am I gonna be crushed now?’

A pair of arms wrapped around his waist and sped away from the site.

It took Izuku a few seconds to realize that he had not been crushed, and the glasses-wearing boy from earlier had saved him.

He was put down a safe distance away from the robot as the shockwave from its downfall echoed through the model city. Izuku coughed when dust invaded his nose.

“TIME’S UP!”

The exam was over.

He wanted to turn around, say something, maybe holler in relief or thank the blue-haired student, but Izuku’s vision swam and he passed out instead.

~

Nature swelled with pride. The right choice had been made.

~

Izuku jolted awake, eyes shooting open to stare at the tiled ceiling. Everything came back in muddled waves, before crashing over him completely.

‘Oh my god, did I fall asleep?! Is the gravity girl okay? I didn’t get to thank the other boy either- crap, what about Neito and the others?! How long have I been asleep?! I can’t believe I-’

“You’re awake,” grunted a voice nearby.

Izuku yelped and saw an older lady watching him with a neutral expression. “Good to see you up and talking, even if it’s too quiet and fast to hear.”

“I was m-mumbling? S-sorry…”

“Never mind that, dearie. I healed you up fine, so don’t worry. You experienced some minor injuries, but the primary problem was Quirk exhaustion. You’ve been in here for a few hours, but it looks like you’re feeling better.”

‘Quirk exhaustion? I guess I did use it a lot.’

Finally, his mind caught up with the situation and he recognized the woman in front of him.

“Y-you’re Recovery Girl, aren’t you?”

“Hm, so you recognize me. Yes, I am.” The heroine passed him some gummies, instructing him to eat them, before continuing, “You’re free to go. Your phone’s on the table.”

“O-okay, thank you so much. Um, what about…”

“The girl you helped is just fine. She was quite worried about you. She and the boy who saved you both give you their thanks.”

He felt a warm feeling stir up inside him. Izuku went to grab his phone, noticing he had a ton of missed messages from his friends.

Sagiri: Gen Ed test went well, I think! Lmk when you’re headed to the meet up spot

Sagiri: Izuku u ok

Sagiri: We’ve been waiting a while…everyone’s worried about you

Izuku silently promised to apologize to them later. He checked his messages to Hitoshi.

Hitoshi: Those robots sucked…idk if I passed

Hitoshi: I got some points thx to my bat tho

Hitoshi: ughhhh but I don’t think I passed what do I do

Hitoshi: Where are you?

Hitoshi: It’s been two hours. Did you die or something?

Hitoshi: If you died, that would kinda suck bc you and Neito are my only friends

Hitoshi: Sagiri is a menace to society so she doesn’t count lol

Hitoshi: Izuku?

He snorted at the last few. Izuku felt bad for making them worry. He decided to look at Neito’s messages before replying to anyone.

Neito: There was a certain explosion murder snob in my section so I copied his Quirk and I’m positive I passed lol

Neito: It’s been a while…you done yet? Did something happen?

Neito: I rlly hope you just got yourself stuck and uninjured somewhere

Neito: Izuku

Recovery Girl’s voice broke him out of his thoughts, “I’ve already contacted your guardians, so they know you’ll be coming home late. Go on, now. Go back home.”

He stumbled out the door before her words registered in his head.

Guardians.

Neito’s parents.

They weren’t supposed to know he was applying to the hero course.

Izuku choked on a whimper as he scrambled out of the building, running and gasping in a panic. He needed to get away from here, he needed to be somewhere quiet, alone, where no one could hurt him.

Eventually he slammed down into a dark alley, throat raw and heart pounding. Shakily, he checked the last unread messages.

Neito: They know.

Neito: They don’t know I was in on it

Neito: I’m deleting our messages and your number from my phone so they won’t find you. Don’t reply to me.

Neito: Find somewhere safe to hide, Izuku

Neito: Don't come home.

Chapterly Omake!

Neito, after the exam: “What did Hitoshi even say to you that got you so mad?”

Sagiri: “Oh, I don’t remember. I just took it as an excuse to chase him.”

Chapter Text

Neito frowned down at his phone. Izuku still hadn’t replied after two hours. He was restless, but didn’t want to run all the way back to UA and ask about him.

He and the others were waiting at Dagobah Beach, their official meetup spot. Hitoshi and Kasumi weren’t fighting for once, waiting anxiously for their friend.

Ding.

Hitoshi and Kasumi perked up, “Is it Izuku?” They asked in unison.

Neito eagerly checked it, but his anticipation quickly sank into horror.

Dad: Neito, come home as soon as you’re done with the exams. You haven’t seen Izuku, have you?

“Neito? Everything okay?”

He shakily began to type in a response, “No. It’s my dad. I don’t…I don’t have a good feeling about this. Hold on, just give me a minute.”

Neito: I just finished. Haven’t seen Izuku, why?

Dad: He took the hero course exams. Your mother and I got a call from UA about Quirk exhaustion or something.

Dad: We checked and he has a registered Quirk now. I have no idea when or how the useless thing was able to do that. He’s probably lying, but we’re going to have a talk with him when he gets home.

Dad: We’ll fix this, so don’t worry and just focus on yourself.

“—-to. Neito! Neito Monoma!” A pair of hands were on his shoulders, gently holding them, “Breathe!”

The blond took a minute to try to calm down, taking deep breaths, mind still racing. This was bad, very, very bad.

“My parents.” He managed to say, “They know about Izuku. The exams. They- I don’t know what they’ll do.”

“What?” Hitoshi looked horrified.

Kasumi released his shoulders, “They know about his Quirk?”

“They think he’s lying. I-I…they don’t know I helped him. I said I never saw him.”

“Neito.” Hitoshi bit his lip, “If you had that kind of reaction to them finding out, what do you think they’re going to do?”

He quickly sent a few messages to Izuku, who still didn’t respond (Quirk exhaustion, they had said. He could only hope that was all), “I don’t know. They hate Izuku, they only kept him because they got money for fostering him. It got worse recently because they’re stressed about my application to UA. They’d rather- they’d rather him die than let him amount to anything that could possibly be better than me. They would never let him be a hero.”

‘Oh my god,’ he realized. ‘They might actually kill him.’

Neito knew his parents would never lay a hand on him, their talented son. He always kept his grades up and was a model student. He hardly had a spot on his record. (There were some marks for fights he hadn’t instigated, fights that were started by classmates who thought his Quirk was a villain’s, but his parents were insistent that he wasn’t a villain- he was going to be a hero, and a wealthy one at that. They raised him to support the family.)

But his mother and father were not supportive whatsoever to their “Quirkless” foster son.

Because a Quirkless boy was less than nothing compared to a Quirked one.

A Quirkless foster was only there to rake in a little extra money, to be a charity case.

A Quirkless child was never meant to rival a Quirked one, not even a little bit.

And Neito knew his parents had taken Izuku’s applications as a challenge.

Neito: Izuku

Neito: They know.

Telling Kasumi and Hitoshi that he was going to go home, delete all of their numbers to erase his connections to them, and play dumb with his parents, Neito could only bring himself to feel guilt and loathing.

Guilt for Izuku, who would be stranded on the streets.

Loathing for his parents, for being so cruel.

And loathing for himself, unable to do anything.

Kasumi wanted to do something to help. Maybe sue the Monomas or move Izuku to a different foster home. But how would they even get there without someone being hurt? Even with an excellent lawyer like her mother, would the court really pay attention to yet another case of Quirkless abuse?

Hitoshi suggested using his own Quirk. Neito refused, reminding him that doing so was illegal and would probably destroy his chances of getting into UA at all.

So they couldn’t do anything.

It was true that Izuku had a Quirk now. But he was still learning to control it, and Neito’s father could easily overpower him. There was no safe place near them.

His friends promised to help Izuku when they could. All the blond could do was leave it up to them.

Neito: Don’t come home.

He wiped the messages from his phone, pulling up their contacts and pressing delete.

~

Hitoshi: Izuku, are you okay? Neito told us what happened. He went home

Sagiri: We really hope you’re okay.

Sagiri: When you get our messages, come over to my house. It’s only my siblings at home. Parents are out working for the next few days

Sagiri: [Link to Address]

Hitoshi: Hopefully you’re either asleep or your phone died after getting Neito’s messages.

Hitoshi: I would compete with Sagiri in offering you a place to stay, but my guardians probably wouldn’t let me

Hitoshi: Sorry

Sagiri: Good luck, Izuku

Hitoshi: Good luck, Izuku

Sagiri: Copycat, that’s Neito’s job :p

Hitoshi: Take it to the private chain, Rapunzel

~

If Izuku had a nickel for every time he passed out this week, he’d be ten cents richer than he was right now. Which isn’t a lot, so not only was he both metaphorically and literally broke, but he really shouldn’t be losing consciousness on a regular basis.

His stress continued to twist in his belly, and he stared at the sky. It wasn’t very bright yet. Still sunrise- how long had he been out? He pulled out his phone to check the time.

Lo and behold, it was dead. Another ordeal to add to his running tally of misfortune.

Groaning, Izuku buried his face in his hands. What could he possibly do at this point? He didn’t have any money- how was he going to eat? Soup kitchens, maybe?

‘Don’t get all drastic. Stay calm. My phone is dead, but that’s okay. I can find a place to charge it…as long as I get a phone charger…somehow…’

He trudged out of the alleyway, brushing off his clothes so he looked less like a homeless person. His mind drifted as he walked in the general direction of a cafe he knew had a free charging station.

‘The Monomas are probably murderous right now. They’re definitely gonna rip up the letter from UA when it arrives. I guess I’ll never know if I got in or not…’ He moaned to himself.

Izuku was feeling unsure about his whole situation. On the one hand, he had been Quirkless his entire life sans ten months ago. No one in the system truly cares about what happens to people like him.

On the other hand, he had a registered Quirk now. If they thought he was lying, then it rendered him practically Quirkless in their eyes once more. But if they believed it, would they look for him?

Indecipherable mutters spilled out of his mouth, earning him odd looks and glares as he wandered down the street.

He was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn’t notice the thing hurtling his way until it sprawled him painfully on the concrete.

Izuku groaned. Whatever it was, it was heavy, on top of him, and smelled like smoke and meat (?). He winced and opened his eyes to see what had knocked him onto his back.

…It was a dog.

A very big dog.

A Great Dane, to be precise. It was staring back at him, panting, with its head slightly inclined. Upon witnessing that its victim was indeed alive, it began to slobber all over him with a series of wet kisses.

Izuku attempted to shield his face, shrieking indignantly. He wasn’t sure whether he should be terrified of what was happening, disgusted by the drool soaking his already-dirty clothes, or relieved that the dog wasn’t going to rip his face off.

Actually, dying to a Great Dane would probably be better than getting murdered by his foster parents. Izuku surrendered himself to his fate of death by slobber.

“OH MY GOD!”

Just as quickly as he’d been knocked down, the Great Dane was hauled off of him, “Hotaru! Off! Bad dog, bad dog! I am so sorry, oh my god! Bad dog, down!”

A young man with black hair and turquoise eyes frantically shooed the Dane back and pulled Izuku up by the arms, “Ugh, he got you good. I am so sorry, man. He yanked the leash right out of my hands.”

“I-I’m okay. Thanks.” Izuku cringed when he realized how disgusting he must look now. There went his chances of not being pegged as a homeless person.

The man sighed, “Yikes. You in a rush?”

Oh, I’m just on the run from my foster family, nothing special. “N-no, I was just looking for a place to charge my phone.”

“Your phone’s dead?”

“Yeah…”

“Alright, then let me help you. Come with me. Those clothes are gonna need a good wash, and you can charge your phone, too.”

So that was how Izuku ended up following a stranger to their apartment.

Probably not the brightest choice he’s made this week, but hey, cut him some slack. It worked out.

The man introduced himself as Dabi and his Great Dane as Hotaru. Apparently, Hotaru had caught sight of a squirrel and overpowered his owner, dashing down the street before accidentally crashing into Izuku.

Hotaru was now sitting next to the couch, tongue lolling.

Dabi tsked at the dog, “Yeah, I bet you’re real proud of yourself, huh? Caught a boy instead of a squirrel. Laugh it up, idiot.”

The Great Dane put his head on his paws in reply.

Izuku had changed into an old hoodie that was still a little too big for him (Dabi had insisted he could have it, since everything was Hotaru’s fault).

“Thank you very much.” He said quietly, checking to see if his phone was alive yet (it was not).

“Don’t mention it. It’s my fault for letting go of my dog.” Dabi replied, “Laundry should be done in an hour. That okay with you?”

“Y-yeah. It is. You didn’t need to do any of this, so really, thank you.”

“You don’t mind plain rice and miso soup, do you?”

“You’re gonna give me breakfast, too?! You don’t-”

“Midoriya-kun, I work at a soup kitchen.” Dabi snorted, “I give people breakfast all the time. Plus, if you don’t eat it, I guarantee Hotaru will chomp it up.”

“O…okay…”

As they ate, Hotaru strutted over to Izuku and sat down expectantly.

“Hotaru, no. No begging.” Dabi scoffed, “And don’t you dare put your head down on the table. That’s disgusting.”

A couple minutes passed, the most peaceful ones Izuku had experienced since yesterday, until it was broken by a question.

“So, where’re you headed after this, Midoriya-kun? Got a job?”

“N-no job.” He stammered in reply, “I-I, um, finished an entrance exam…yesterday.”

“Oh, what school?”

“…UA.”

“UA?” Dabi blinked in surprise, “Hero course?”

“Yeah…I don’t think I’ll be able to go, though.”

“Aw, don’t beat yourself up. Y’know, my littlest brother’s your age and he applied to UA, too.”

“Oh…he did?”

“If you end up in the same class, take care of him for me, will ya?” The man grinned, “He’s a little on the sheltered side.”

“Haha…I would like to, Dabi-san, but…” Izuku gulped, wondering if he would regret this later, “I…actually ran away from home.”

There was a beat of silence.

“Huh.”

“Huh?”

“Don’t worry, I’m not gonna kick you out or anything.” He shrugged, “Tons of kids run away from home. I did once.”

“Really?!”

“Yeah, but to be fair, I was thirteen and it was for a petty reason. My little sister tracked me down and dragged me back home the next day.”

Izuku, relieved by the fact that there didn’t seem to be any animosity or suspicion in his statement, laughed softly, “Your little sister?”

“By about eleven months.” He made a so-so motion, “We’re Irish twins.”

“That’s…really cool. It’s nice that you have a family like that.”

“It is.” Dabi continued, “Anyway, if you ran, it must’ve been for a good reason, right? I won’t pry, but you’re welcome to stay here for the time being. Wouldn’t want you going anywhere unsafe.”

“Yeah, um, I really don’t know how I can repay you.”

“Don’t.” He replied, “But if you insist, you can dogsit the hellhound over- Hotaru, no! No chewing the pillows! Bad!”

Hotaru chuffed indignantly, dropping the wet item from his mouth.

“He’s a pretty good dog.” Izuku said tentatively.

Dabi snorted, “Yeah, the universe just had to bless me with the biggest, strongest, dumbest dog in existence. Get this- that hellhound has a freaking indestructibility Quirk.”

“What?”

“Exactly.”

“How?! Animals rarely, if ever, have Quirks!”

“No idea. I saw him get hit by a truck and he popped right back up, tongue lolling. Took him to the vet and boom, dog’s got a Quirk.”

Izuku gaped. “That’s insane. I…Quirks are so amazing and versatile and to think there’s a possibility that Hotaru has one naturally-!” He shut his mouth.

Dabi cackled, “If you’re so interested, I’ll tell you more later! Focus on your food for now.”

Izuku finished eating and placed his dishes in the sink and washed them. When he was done, he walked back over to his phone and opened it up.

There were unread messages from Hitoshi and Sagiri.

‘Sagiri-chan would let me stay at her house? I’m lucky to have such good friends.’

He quickly typed a response.

Izuku: Hey I’m okay

Izuku: My phone died but I got Neito’s msgs

Izuku: I met a nice person and he let me into his apartment and gave me food

Their replies were almost instantaneous.

Sagiri: ahshsjshg he’s alive omg

Hitoshi: Dude we thought you were dead

Sagiri: Thank goodness

Hitoshi: Good to have you back but

Hitoshi: You followed a stranger into their apartment??

Sagiri: Ohh yeah that sounds a lot worse now that I’m rereading it lol

Izuku: Haha sorry

Izuku: His dog ran me over and drooled on my clothes so he wanted to make it up to me

Hitoshi: Still shady but figures you would trust him

Sagiri: This is actually Izuku, right?

Izuku: Yeah

Sagiri: Not a fake?

Izuku: Cross my heart

Sagiri: hmmmm

Hitoshi: oh boy

Sagiri: Proof! I need proof!

Sagiri: How about our full names 😁

Izuku: Kasumi Sagiri and Hitoshi Shinsou

Sagiri: Still not buying it

Hitoshi: You’re annoying

Sagiri: 🔫🙂

Sagiri: Tell me something only me and the real Izuku would know!

Hitoshi: What do you expect him to say? His shoe size?

Sagiri: bro how would I know his shoe size??

Hitoshi: You seem like the type to know random crap about people

Sagiri: …fair enough

Izuku: umm

Izuku: You pretended I was your servant in middle school, and you found out I had my Quirk when I hit Aoki over the head with a piece of cement, also I don’t think there’s a synonym for poison that starts with s

Sagiri: He’s real! Welcome back, Izuku!

Hitoshi: wtf did I just read

Sagiri: Something only Izuku and I would know, obviously

Hitoshi: Ok we can talk about that later then

“Texting your friends?” Dabi’s voice came from behind him, making him jump slightly.

“Uh-huh. They also applied to UA. But Sagiri wants to get into General Education instead of the hero course. They know about my situation and- actually, I should probably tell you about it for it to make sense…”

When Izuku was done explaining how his foster parents disapproved of him going to UA and would possibly hurt him if he went home, Dabi looked both angry and incredulous.

“Well, that’s a lot worse than I thought it’d be, kid.” He said at last, scratching Hotaru behind the ears, “You do realize that they committed a crime, right?”

“They can just deny it.” He mumbled.

“Even so, we can at least get you outta there.”

“How? There’s a whole process to move foster homes, and they’d just accuse me of lying and stir up a bunch of problems…not to mention what could happen to my foster brother. It’d be better if I just kept hiding and gave up on going to UA. I could apply to a different hero school instead.”

“No, no, no. Don’t think that far. I’ll take care of this crappy foster situation.”

“R-really, you’ve done enough for me. I couldn’t possibly let you get involved in my mess of a life…”

Dabi shook his head, jabbing a finger in his direction firmly, “If you’re worried about what they could do to me, don’t even. If you’re worried about what they could do to you or your foster brother, just trust me. I got some cards up my sleeve.”

“C-cards?” He gulped, suddenly nervous.

Dabi grinned, a maniacal, smug expression that made Izuku shiver even though the malice wasn’t directed towards him.

“Do you know who Endeavor is?”

Chapterly Omake!

(Later)

Sagiri: “…So that’s how we got away with the Ebina incident!”

Hitoshi: “I could probably get away with something like that.”

Sagiri: “You have. It’s called brainwashing me twelve times in the past year.”

Hitoshi: “Wanna make it thirteen?”

Sagiri: “I will sue you.”

Hitoshi: “Good luck with that when I’m controlling your mind.”

Chapter Text

Izuku gawked at the question.

“Of course I know who Endeavor is! He’s the #2 Hero!”

“Alright, so you’d agree he has a considerable amount of power that could, hypothetically, be taken advantage of by him and his family.”

“Um…I guess…?”

Dabi grinned, “Since you were truthful about your situation, I’ll be truthful about mine. My name isn’t actually Dabi.”

“O-oh, it’s not?” Anxious, he fidgeted.

“Nope, just a nickname-slash-alias I use to avoid recognition. My real name is Touya Todoroki, and Endeavor is my father.”

Izuku felt his brain crash. “What.”

“Yeah, sorry if I tricked ya. But-”

“YOU’RE TOUYA TODOROKI?! THE TODOROKIS ARE RICH, WHY ARE YOU IN A SMALL APARTMENT?!”

“Yeah, I’m Touya Todoroki. I go by Dabi when I’m incognito, though, cuz I’m sure you know how reporters are.”

Izuku slapped a hand over his mouth. “I am SO sorry. I’ve been leeching off of you and I just yelled at you I am SO S-”

“Woah, woah, it’s okay, it’s fine.” Dabi- Touya?- raised his hands placatingly. “I did all of this willingly. And I chose to help you. Remember, my hellhound assaulted you. So don’t worry about it, alright?”

“Okay…okay…”

Something made a little tapping noise against the window. Hotaru barked viciously.

“Ugh, seriously?” Touya got up and peered outside, “It’s just a bunch of kids, you doofus. Hey!” He stuck his head out the window briefly, “Don’t throw stuff which-way-when, or I’ll sic my dog on ya!”

Hotaru snarled helpfully.

Izuku glanced back at his phone.

Sagiri: So is the dude who’s house you’re staying at chill? I heard Great Danes are super scary

Izuku: Hotaru is scary, but he’s actually kinda sweet too

Sagiri: <3 always wanted a dog, but my mom is allergic

Hitoshi: Always wanted a dog, I got one

Sagiri: You do?

Hitoshi: Yeah, you

Sagiri: I will march over to your house and-

Izuku sputtered at the vulgar threat she had typed in.

Izuku: SAGIRI!!!

Hitoshi: Okay 🙄

Sagiri: 🧍‍♂️🔫

Hitoshi: I’m a cat person anyway so screw you

Sagiri: Oh, REALLY

Sagiri: [A picture of a kitten. It’s a Siberian with scruffy white fur and blue eyes.]

Sagiri: Say hi to Leek! I’m never gonna let you see her ever again <3

Hitoshi: SINCE WHEN DO YOU HAVE A CAT

Sagiri: Since yesterday. My little brother brought her home and my parents said we could keep her :3

Hitoshi: I hate you

Sagiri: oh the misery, if only there was a snarky insomniac with a bad attitude and addiction to coffee out there who could love me </3

He looked up, “Todoroki-san, can I tell my friends who you are, or is that too personal?”

“Yeah, I don’t care as long as they don’t go blabbing to the press where I live.” Dabi replied, petting Hotaru’s head, “And just call me Dabi or Touya, it’s less ear-perking than Todoroki.”

“Okay. Thank you.”

Izuku: hey guys, it turns out that the owner is not exactly who I thought he was but in a good way

Hitoshi: Do tell.

Izuku: First promise you won’t tell ANYONE

Sagiri: Cross my heart and hope to die!

Hitoshi: Wouldn’t that be nice. I promise too as long as it doesn’t put you in danger

Sagiri: You are literally the worst

Izuku: He’s the son of Endeavor. Touya Todoroki.

Hitoshi: WHAT

Sagiri: 😧😧😧

Sagiri: No way!!

Izuku: Yeah

Sagiri: The son of Endeavor has a Great Dane and lives in an apartment?

Izuku: He goes by an alias and doesn’t wanna be swarmed by the press so plz don’t leak this info

Sagiri: My lips are sealed

Hitoshi: Same here

A sort of weight lifted off of his chest. It was comforting, knowing that his friends were aware of his situation and were going to support him.

‘I hope Neito will be okay.’

He decided to wrap up the conversation.

Izuku: He says he’s going to help me and Neito

Sagiri: Well YES then!! Finally some justice! Sic ‘em, Izuku!

Hitoshi: Let us know how it goes

Izuku: I will. Thank you guys so much 💚

Sagiri: :D

“You ready?”

Izuku looked back at Dabi, who seemed to have just finished texting someone as well. “Yeah.”

“Alright. Here’s the plan.”

~

“I can’t believe the nerve of that Quirkless, useless-”

Neito flinched at his father’s outburst. They had waited all night for Izuku to come home, which he thankfully didn’t. His mother rubbed circles on her husband’s back.

“It’s alright, dear.” She said, “We’ll make things right. Besides, I doubt he passed the exams in the first place. Neito said there were robots! And Izuku is such a skinny thing…”

“I suppose you have a point. Still, I’ll have to teach him a lesson.”

Mother nodded, walking over to him and placing her hands on his shoulders, “Don’t worry, Neito. This doesn’t change anything. You’re still going to become a hero.”

“Izuku’s been more of a hindrance than a help these days.” Father growled, “I’m going to get rid of him.”

Neito felt his face drain of color, “D-Dad, get rid of him? You can’t! H-” He took a moment to fall back into his facade, “…How would that look on my record?”

“It’s no problem. It won’t be on your record at all. No one cares if some Quirkless kid dies in an accident.”

Mother sighed, “What a bother…What kind of accident are you thinking?”

“Maybe a fall from the stairs, or I could have him touch a bare wire.”

“Th-that’s morbid.” Neito gasped.

Father shrugged, “I don’t like it either, but he needs to go.”

“Why don’t we just shove him off to a different foster home? That would get rid of him, wouldn’t it?” He suggested weakly.

“You’re going to be such a great hero, Neito.” Mother crooned, “He might try to leech off of you later. And if he really does have a Quirk…well. We can’t let that happen.”

Neito shivered, trying to keep his expression level, “He has the extra toe joint. It’s impossible for him to have a Quirk.”

“Even so, he’s a threat to you, so Mommy and Daddy will take care of him. In return, you’ll take care of us when you become a hero.”

That was what they always said. We raised you, so you owe us. When we get older, take care of us.

He wouldn’t have minded at all if they weren’t like this.

“Ah! I almost forgot.” Mother began to usher Father out the door, “We’re going to look for Izuku and bring him back. In the meantime, Neito, can you disable the house cameras and…destroy them?”

“D-destroy them?”

“Yes, completely. They were installed in every part of the house to keep watch for burglars and such, but it’d be better to get rid of them. They probably recorded this conversation, after all. You wouldn’t want that to be on your record, would you?” She posed the question with a bright, manipulative smile.

“A-absolutely not. I’ll handle it, Mom.” He said as a possible, awful idea began to take form in his mind, “W-when will you be back?”

“Probably in…three hours? What do you think, dear?”

Father hummed, “Around 4:30. You’ll have the house to yourself for the next few hours. We’ll be looking for Izuku and running a few errands in the meantime.”

“Okay. See you later.”

They closed the door, and he exhaled shakily. Five hours. He had five hours.

Neito began to take down the house cameras and sort through the footage. He found the conversation he’d just had with his parents. Going back further, he found the time Father had hit Izuku over the head for “talking back”, the time Mother had sent him outside for the whole night with no food or water, the time they’d both yelled at him for ten minutes because he’d come home late, bruised and tired.

It was evidence. Incriminating evidence.

He could take it to the police.

Neito held his head in his hands. Would they listen? Would they believe him? If this failed, he’d incur his parents’ wrath. He’d have to run away from home, too. But at least then he could be with Izuku.

Neito spent the next two hours downloading all the necessary clips onto a USB. Then he stuffed the cameras into his backpack and set off towards the police station.

~

“Mom! Dad! Natsuo! Shouto!” Fuyumi sprinted as fast as she could into the living room, skidding to a stop and catching her breath.

“Yumi?” Natsuo propped himself up on the couch so he could see her better, “What happened? Did Hawks contact you for a date or something?”

“What? No!” She snapped, “It’s about Touya!”

“What happened to Touya?” Enji Todoroki asked immediately, standing up.

Rei put a hand on his arm, “Is it bad news?”

“No, not for him. He just texted me something crazy! Look!”

She pulled her family into a tight circle and scrolled through her messages.

Touya: So this kid gets bowled over by Hotaru, right?

Fuyumi: I’m sorry WHAT

Touya: Hear me out, so Hotaru sees a squirrel, decides it’s a great day to yank the leash out of my hands, and crashes into a kid and starts kissing him

Fuyumi: YOU LET HOTARU GO?!?!??!

Touya: No I didn’t. Anyway I get Hotaru off and turns out the kid is in a tough spot. Phone’s dead and clothes ruined, so I bring him to my apartment to wash up and stuff

Fuyumi: This is all very concerning information but go on.

Touya: I learn he ran away from an abusive foster home. I guess he’s a real late bloomer- impossibly late- and he thinks his fosters are gonna kill him for applying to UA without their consent. Specially because their son is already planning to go there

Fuyumi: Oh my god

Touya: Yep.

Touya: The kid’s name is Izuku Midoriya. His foster parents are ones he’s afraid of, but their son is on his side, I think.

Touya: Tell the old man for me. I know he has an emergency foster license

Fuyumi: Wait, why didn’t you just text him yourself?

Touya: Cuz you can make a good scene out of it so everyone hears :)

With each new piece of information, her family’s brows furrowed, and Fuyumi could’ve sworn she saw her father start to literally go up in flames. Rei casually kept a hand on her husband’s back so she could soothe the fire that kept threatening to blow up.

Shouto blinked slowly, “Does this mean I finally get a little brother?”

Natsuo coughed from the emotional whiplash, “We don’t know yet.”

“Know what?”

“If he’s younger than you.”

“I was born in January, so I think he is.”

“Unless he was born in January too.”

Shouto shrugged in reply.

Rei’s lips were tugged downwards, “You should go to the station, Enji. Get Tsukauchi on the case.”

“Good idea. Hopefully it’ll go smoothly and quickly if he’s with us.”

~

“Why are you doing so much to help me?” Izuku cried.

Touya ruffled his hair, “I may not be a hero on paper, kid, but I want to do all I can to help.”

“But why do you believe me? You just met me!”

No one but his mother and his friends had ever believed Izuku before. Not his classmates, not his teachers, not strangers, and certainly not Touya Todoroki of all people.

“I’d rather believe you and be wrong than risk a kid getting hurt.” He said, as if it was obvious, “No one deserves to go through that, and no so-called foster parents who neglect their children should ever have a license.”

Hotaru trotted up to Izuku and started licking his tears. He squeaked and shielded his face, but he really did appreciate the effort.

“You’ll…you’ll help Neito, too?”

“Of course.”

“Thank you. Thank you so much.”

Touya glanced back at his phone when it rang with another notification. “Don’t worry, Midoriya-kun. This’ll be a breeze.”

“How can I pay you back? I have to return the favor somehow!”

“Alright, I know exactly how you can pay me back.”

“How? I’ll do anything!”

His savior grinned, “When you meet my little brother, the one that’s your age, make friends with him.”

Izuku waited. Nothing else was said.

“Is…is that it?”

“‘Course.” Touya shrugged, “It takes some effort to be friends with Shouto. He’s the densest kid you’ll ever meet!”

Chapterly Omake!

Shouto: *sneezes*

Natsuo: “Someone must be talking about you!”

Shouto: “How do you know that?”

Natsuo: “Um, it’s a superstition-”

Shouto: “Do you have a second Quirk after all?”

Natsuo: “No, it’s just a-”

Shouto: “Mom, Natsuo made me sneeze.”

Natsuo: *facepalms*

Chapter Text

“Hello, my name is Naomasa Tsukauchi. I’ll just be asking you some questions. All you have to do is answer them, alright?”

“Okay…I’m not in trouble, am I?”

“Don’t worry. If you haven’t done anything wrong, then you’re not in trouble. What is your name?”

“…Neito Monoma.”

“Monoma-kun, why are you here?”

“Because…I was worried for my brother’s safety. My parents were going to hurt him again.”

“Again?”

“They…they hate him. I have footage as proof. They hit him if he says something they don’t like, and they don’t feed him sometimes. He applied to UA, and they…said they were going to kill him.”

“I see. Where’s this footage?”

“You’re not going to destroy it, are you?”

“Of course not. We’re going to use it to help you and your brother.”

“…It’s in my backpack. Please help us.”

“We will.”

~

Whether or not the police would’ve ignored Neito, it didn’t matter once Endeavor called the station and got himself and Tsukauchi involved in the case. It went surprisingly quickly.

The next thing the boys knew, they were being put under the #2 Hero’s custody and packing their meager things so they could live in his house.

Izuku was still in shock as Touya drove him to the Todoroki mansion. His foster parents had already been arrested, and Izuku was told that he didn’t need to see them ever again, not even in court. Which was probably for the better, considering how they’d literally wanted to murder him.

He was vaguely aware of Hotaru in the backseat, occasionally poking his nose into Izuku’s head or out the window, Touya cursing because the Great Dane was drooling all over the car. Eventually they reached the mansion, and Touya helped Izuku inside.

“It’s him!”

Natsuo Todoroki ran up to greet them, “Touya! And Hotaru. And Izuku Midoriya!”

“H-hello.” He said breathlessly.

Fuyumi appeared with a bright, excited expression, “Welcome. We’re happy to have you. My name is Fuyumi Todoroki, but you can just call me Fuyumi.”

“It’s n-nice to meet you. Thank you for all of this.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Rei smiled at him, “You and your brother are very welcome in this house. Speaking of, would you prefer your own room or would you like to share one with Neito-kun?”

“O-oh, I…” He had a choice? “I don't mind either way…”

“In that case, your room will be right next to Neito-kun’s. Shouto, show him where. I’ll start on lunch. Your father will be back in the evening.”

The youngest Todoroki nodded sagely, “Okay. Follow me, Midoriya.”

“Y-you can just call me Izuku.”

“Then you can call me Shouto.”

“Thank you.” He said for the umpteenth time, wincing slightly.

As they walked up the stairs, Izuku marveled at the layout of the mansion. Everything was so clean and expensive and he was going to live here but what if he broke something, oh god, what if his Quirk broke something because he had a Quirk now and he didn’t have any money-

“Hey.” Shouto’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts, “When’s your birthday?”

“Uh.” He said intelligibly, “July 15th.”

“And your brother’s?”

“May 13th.”

“I knew it.” He muttered.

“Come again?”

“Nothing. You guys are technically younger than me, ‘cuz I was born in January.”

“Oh…cool.”

Shouto nodded again, seeming very pleased with himself for some reason, “Your room’s right here, but you should go to Neito’s first. He’s unpacking.”

‘Oh god, Neito’s parents are gonna go to jail because of me. I hope he’s okay.’

“He’s been really anxious.” The technically-older boy said, “Touya said you should go see him first so he calms down. You guys have been through a lot in just a couple of days, so…”

Izuku gulped, feeling a pit of guilt form in his stomach, “...Yeah.”

Shouto gave him a small smile before leaving him alone. Izuku took a deep breath.

‘I know he’s not mad at me or anything, I just…feel nervous, I guess. Everything happened so fast and I barely know what’s going on anymore…but the #2 Hero himself is fostering us and there’s so much happening-!’

“Stop muttering, Deku!” He hissed to himself.

Now that he thought about it, didn’t Touya say Shouto applied to UA like they did? Maybe they would all get to go together!

‘If I passed…’

“Okay, stop stalling!” Izuku smacked his cheeks, “Let’s go!”

Cautiously, he cracked his brother’s (new) door open.

~

Neito was still reeling from seven different flavors of whiplash. His parents had been arrested- thankfully, they hadn’t been told just who ratted them out- his footage was taken in as official evidence, and the #2 Hero (?!) had offered to take him and Izuku in!

Rei Todoroki had brought him to a prepared guest room and said, “Get comfortable. I’ll have the kids get you when lunch is ready. Your brother should also be here soon.”

Neito had always been a fan of All Might, but right now, Endeavor and his family were looking a lot higher up on his personal podium of idols.

As he sorted through his clothes and other belongings, he heard his door creak.

“Todoroki-san?” He asked, closing a drawer.

“Um…Neito?”

That was not a Todoroki.

Neito almost snapped his own neck when he turned around on a dime, seeing his brother standing there so blessedly awkward and unhurt.

“Izuku!”

Immediately, he wrapped his arms around him and hugged him so tightly Neito was sure he’d accidentally break a bone, “You’re here! You’re okay! Oh, thank god!”

“I-I’m happy to see you.” Izuku stammered, “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” He gave him a once-over, confirming there were no hidden injuries.

“Are you sure? Your parents…”

“Izuku, let’s get one thing straight.” Neito put his hands firmly on the green-haired boy’s shoulders, “I love my parents, but I also hate them. Everything they did to you was wrong, and to be completely honest, I wish I had gone to someone sooner.”

“I-it’s okay, they wouldn’t have cared anyway since I didn’t have a Quirk…”

“That doesn’t matter. I will never choose my parents over you. So let’s just forget about them and focus on whatever’s happening right now. Okay?”

He sniffled, “Y-yeah, that sounds good.”

Izuku’s phone rang.

Neito chuckled, “Kasumi and Hitoshi?”

“P-probably.” He hurried to check the notification and paled, “Oh…shoot.”

“What?”

“I haven’t been answering my phone for a few hours…there’s a bunch of messages.”

His brother stifled a laugh, “Well, you better work on clearing them.”

“Whoops…”

~

Sagiri: WHAAAAT

Sagiri: MY MOM JUST CALLED ME

Hitoshi: Mother Gothel?

Sagiri: Shut up, you’re not funny

Hitoshi: I think I’m pretty hilarious

Sagiri: Do you wanna hear about Izuku or not?

Hitoshi: What happened

Sagiri: My mom called me and apparently she’s gonna be a lawyer for this one case involving a certain MONOMA FAMILY

Sagiri: She recognized the last name and asked me about it??

Hitoshi: Is she the lawyer for Neito’s parents?

Sagiri: Nah

Sagiri: She’s gonna rip into them :3 she said there’s a bunch of evidence against them

Sagiri: The only thing that could possibly work in the Monoma’s favor is Izuku’s toe joint

Sagiri: Bc that’s not supposed to be possible

Hitoshi: But he has a Quirk, so screw them

Sagiri: Exactly!!

Sagiri: BUT WHAT I WANNA KNOW IS

Sagiri: WHEN WAS IZU GONNA TELL US THAT ENDEAVOR’S FOSTERING HIM???!!?!

Hitoshi: h

Hitoshi: what??

Hitoshi: Izuku answer your phone!!

Hitoshi: Ik you met Endeavor’s son but still- how?!

Sagiri: His phone’s probably dead again -_-

Sagiri: [Picture of a Siberian kitten. It’s sprawled on her back, sleeping with a pink tongue sticking out of its mouth.]

Sagiri: Izuku Midoriya, I summon thee by means of Leek! Answer my call and tell us how the heck you and Neito became honorary Todorokis!

Hitoshi: For once, I agree

Sagiri: Does this mean we can call them Todoroki?

Izuku: We’re being fostered, not adopted :)

Sagiri: HE’S ALIVE

Hitoshi: Finally!

Izuku: Sorry, just saw my messages

Izuku: Neito and I are okay. Thx for worrying <3

Sagiri: Always!

Hitoshi: [Added Neito to chat]

Hitoshi: Hey man, good to have you back

Neito: Thank you!

Sagiri: He could’ve texted us himself. Omg did you forget our numbers so you waited for someone to add you???

Neito: We’re being called down to lunch so I’ll ttyl ✌️

Sagiri: HE TOTALLY DID

Hitoshi: I’m not surprised

Hitoshi: I would also forget your number

Izuku: Guys plz don’t fight

Sagiri: If we end up in Gen-Ed together you’re dead meat, Hitoshi

Sagiri: Expect sand in your clothes every. Day.

Hitoshi: 🙄

Hitoshi: Have a nice lunch with the #2 Hero’s family

Sagiri: Picture!! Picture!!!

Izuku: [Picture of Izuku, Neito, Shouto, Touya, and a Great Dane. The selfie is being taken by Touya, but his face is just out of frame. Shouto is staring blankly at the camera while Neito is petting the dog. Izuku looks nervous but is smiling.]

Izuku: This is Touya Todoroki. Don’t worry, we’ll take good care of your friends.

Izuku: [Replying to “We’re being fostered, not adopted.] Yet. ;)

Sagiri: 😦

Hitoshi: Oh my god

Hitoshi: Deserved

Chapterly Omake!

Izuku: “WHY WOULD YOU SAY THAT?!”

Touya: “‘Cuz it’s true!”

Rei: “Now, now, don’t pressure them. They need to be comfortable with us first.” ^^

Touya: “How about a forced adoption?”

Rei: “No.”

Chapter Text

“Here’s the training room. Come whenever you’d like. Shouto’s using it right now, so you can go to him if you have any questions.”

Izuku gaped at its sheer size. The first thing to catch his eyes were the protective areas where one could use their Quirk to their hearts’ content. Neito thanked Endeavor- or, Enji Todoroki- for his permission and poked Izuku’s arm, “Hey, let’s work on your Quirk.”

He was still staring. Neito snickered, deciding to prank him a little. He quickly copied his brother’s Quirk with the intention of blowing air into his ear.

Unfortunately, despite their months of training, Neito still wasn’t used to handling Izuku’s Quirk, and accidentally sent him flying with a gust of hurricane-like wind.

Izuku shrieked. Before he could react or send a prayer up to the heavens, however, a slide of ice appeared to catch him, and he coasted harmlessly back onto the ground.

“Holy crap! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to do that!” Neito ran up to him in a panic, “It was just supposed to be a little air!”

“Famous last words.” Shouto said dryly as he began to melt the mini-glacier.

Izuku took a breath in and out, as if to make sure he was still alive. “Ahhh-er, I’m okay. Thank you for helping me, Shouto.”

“No problem. Need help training your Quirk?”

Neito averted his gaze, embarrassed, “He definitely does. I think it somehow got more powerful. It better not be trauma-fueled or something.”

“I didn’t think of that.” Izuku groaned, regaining his balance and grabbing his newest notebook from the duffle bag they’d brought. Turning to the page about his own Quirk, he wrote Possible strength factor like trauma (but hopefully not) .

“Okay, let’s start with your strengths. What element are you most comfortable with?”

“Um…I guess I’d say earth-slash-nature. I’ve been using it the most. My Quirk kinda feels like a bunch of strings, and the earth string is…the most responsive, I guess? The strongest?”

“Okay.” Shouto tapped his chin, “What’s your weakest element?”

“Fire.”

“Why?”

Izuku gulped. He refused to say it was because his mom had died in a house fire when he was five, “It just…scares me a little. It burns.”

“Understandable.” The youngest Todoroki led him into one of the protective sections, “Are you okay with trying it right now?”

“S-sure.”

Izuku reached for the thinnest, weakest, hottest string and pulled hesitantly.

A flicker of fire came to life in his palm. He swallowed harshly, commanding it to grow in size. The flame brushed against his skin, but it didn’t hurt. Izuku could see Shouto and Neito through the licking orange tendrils.

When the fire grew to such a size that it blocked them from view , he shrieked and dropped it.

“Izuku! Are you okay?” Neito sprinted to him, grabbing his hands as Shouto put the glob of flames out with his ice.

“Y-yeah, I just- just got startled. I’m okay.”

“That’s fine.” Shouto assured him, “You’re doing really well. Let’s focus on air this time and come back to fire another day.”

The four strings were all there, ready to be pulled and tapped into. But the hottest one was always the weakest, because in its holder’s memory it was the most dangerous.

~

“You doing okay, Neito?” Hitoshi asked.

They were in a one-on-one call. About three days had passed since they moved into the Todoroki mansion, so Hitoshi had wanted to make sure Neito was adjusting fine.

“I’m great, actually.” The blond replied, “Just waiting on the results of the entrance exam.”

He groaned, “You and me both. I’m still so mad that it was robots. I don’t think I got more than 10 points, even with my bat.”

“Well, at least you’ll have Kasumi in Gen-Ed.”

“God, no. I hope she fails.”

Neito laughed, “Enough about me. How are your guardians?”

“They’re fine. They stopped getting all up in my face recently, which is worrying. I really hope they don’t move us again or anything, otherwise I might have to run away and live with you guys.”

“You’re secretly hoping that’ll happen.”

“Not the moving part, but I do admit that I’m jealous of you guys.” Hitoshi scratched his head, “But I’m also glad that you’re both safe. I’ve only lived in this area for a couple of years, and Izuku was the first friend I ever made. It would suck if one of you died or something.”

Neito grinned, “The feeling is mutual. We should all schedule a meetup sometime. It’s been a while.”

“Yeah. I’ll message Kasumi, you talk to Izuku and the Todorokis.”

“Since when were you on a first-name basis with Kasumi?” He joked.

Hitoshi was quiet for a second, glaring at him through the screen with shallow annoyance.

“We were worried about you and I went over to her house. We talked for a while and she told me how she found out about Izuku’s Quirk and whatever.” He finally said, “I had no idea how this whole thing was gonna end and it scared the crap out of me.”

Neito knew the feeling. He had been scared, too. If it hadn’t been for Touya (and Hotaru, for knocking Izuku over on the sidewalk), nothing would’ve been resolved the way it had been resolved.

“Don’t expect me to say this often, but I really do appreciate you guys and I’m glad you’re my friends. I know I can be tough to get along with, so thanks for sticking it out the past year.”

“Not at all.” He insisted, “You’re a great friend.”

“Thanks. You too.” Hitoshi rubbed his neck, embarrassed.

“Now why don’t you say the same thing to Izuku and Kasumi?”

“Heck to the no. You do it for me.”

Neito laughed so hard that Fuyumi poked her head in and asked if he was okay.

~

Taking on two traumatized teenagers as their new family members was no easy feat.

Nevertheless, Rei Todoroki was determined to make sure that Neito and Izuku made as many good memories as possible.

“Touya!” She yelled.

“Yeah?!”

“Come here for a second!”

A few seconds later, her eldest son staggered into the kitchen, “What’s up? Did Hotaru break a vase or something?”

“No, I was wondering if you knew Izuku or Neito’s favorite foods.”

He arched his brow, “Uhh, sorry, not really. From what I can tell, Izuku is pretty flexible…for obvious reasons. He doesn’t really care about what he eats as long as he eats. As for Neito, I have no idea.”

“Mom! Don’t talk to him, talk to me!” Fuyumi suddenly appeared, practically shoving her older brother off to the side.

“Ow! When did you get here?!”

“I was in the other room!”

“Well, maybe consider relearning your sisterly manners.” He snarked.

She rolled her eyes at him, “Sure, maybe when you become a hero.”

“Ugh, don’t even joke about that.”

“Do you know anything about the boys’ favorite food, honey?” Rei intervened.

“I do! A little bit. More than Touya, anyway.” Fuyumi bobbed her head and ignored her Irish twin’s murderous stare, “Neito mentioned that Izuku loves katsudon. And while I don’t know what his favorite food is, we had macarons and crème brûlée the other night and he really seemed to like them!”

“So, a sweet tooth?”

“No, a…French tooth.”

“Ah, oui oui.” Touya gave her a toothy grin. She shoved his head.

Rei mulled this information over, “Thank you, Fuyumi. I’ll make katsudon tonight, and we can go out to dinner at a restaurant that serves French cuisine sometime.”

As her children left the room, Touya asked, “When did Neito tell you that Izuku likes katsudon?”

“I was helping him decorate his room and told him stories about my students. One of them got food poisoning because they ate some katsudon that went bad, and Neito said Izuku would’ve eaten it just because he wouldn’t want to waste katsudon.”

“Oh, nice. And gross.”

~

Sagiri: LETTERS LETTERS LETTERS LETTERS

Hitoshi: Did you have a stroke?

Izuku: What?

Izuku: WAIT OMG

Neito: We just got our letters! Enji-san handed them to us. We’re gonna open them with the family.

Hitoshi: Found mine. One of my guardians left it on the dinner table.

Sagiri: Okay okay, once everyone’s done, text or call?

Neito: Text whenever

Sagiri: 👍

Hitoshi: Sounds good

Izuku trembled. His letter was in his hands, crinkling from the grip he had on it. He could’ve sworn that the flower pots on the window sill were shaking with him. The Todoroki family were all seated around the table, watching with anticipation. Neito had a pensive expression and kept his letter at arms length as if he was afraid of it.

Shouto was the first to open his, nonchalantly taking the disc out and booting it up.

“Hello, Shouto Todoroki!” The projection of a young man with blue hair and a bandaid across his nose greeted him, “You applied to the Hero course of UA through the recommendation exam. Let’s get straight to your results!”

Everyone sat up a little straighter.

“You passed first place in the practical, and second in the written exam. You also did very well in the interview, so what else is there to say besides…welcome to Class 1-A of the Hero course! Can’t wait to see you there, Shouto Todoroki!” The hologram pumped his fists merrily, “Plus Ultra!”

That was it.

“That was the rescue hero, Loud Cloud.” Izuku whispered in awe. His hands itched for his notebook.

Fuyumi cheered loudly, throwing her arms around her youngest brother. Natsuo whooped and gave Touya a high five. Hotaru didn’t understand what was going on but howled anyway.

Rei clapped her hands, “Congratulations, Shouto! We all knew you could do it.”

“That’s right.” Enji ruffled his hair, “You did good. Keep up the hard work for these next three years.”

“Congratulations!” Everyone chorused.

“Thank you. I will.” Shouto looked over at his foster brothers, “Are you gonna open yours?”

Neito nodded stiffly, taking the disc out of the envelope. It started up with a hologram of-

“The Blood Hero: Vlad King!” Izuku gasped, “Oh my gosh, this really is real! It’s UA!”

“You’re just now realizing that?” Neito chuckled as the recording played.

Vlad King gave the same salutations as Loud Cloud, continuing, “You did well on the practical exam, ranking 11th place overall. You also passed the written exam with a 70%.”

Neito frowned, clearly displeased with his score. Fuyumi noticed this and patted his back, whispering a quick “Good job!” that made him ease up a little.

“Congratulations, Neito Monoma. You made it into the Hero course. You’ll be in Class 1-B, with me as your homeroom teacher. I look forward to seeing you there.”

They all cheered again, and Izuku took his brother’s hand, “You did it, Neito! You’re gonna be a hero!”

He faltered for a moment, but nodded resolutely. “Yeah. I won’t let you down.”

“What are you talking about? I’ll never feel let down by you!”

Touya clapped, “Alright, what about #3? C’mon, kid, don’t be shy. Whatever your score is, we’ll be proud all the same.”

Izuku sat up straighter, “Okay!”

He ripped the paper open and immediately turned the recording on.

“…Is it on yet?” A scruffy man with a scarf wrapped around his neck muttered.

“Who’s that?” Natsuo inquired suddenly, “He looks like a hobo instead of a hero.”

Enji opened his mouth to reply, but Izuku’s excited squeak beat him to it, “That’s Eraserhead!”

“Oh, I think you’ve talked about him before.” Neito recalled, “He fights Quirkless, right?”

“Yes! There isn’t much information on him anywhere because he’s an underground hero, but I’ve always admired him! His Quirk erases other Quirks but he basically fights Quirkless! And he’s one of the three founders of the SAYgency along with Loud Cloud and Present Mic-”

“Izuku, your results.” Enji coughed.

“—91% on the written exam.” Eraserhead had just finished saying. Neito playfully punched his shoulder as the Todorokis voiced their pleasure at his high score.

“But you only got 5 points on the practical. That’s not enough to get into the Hero course.”

Izuku’s heart plummeted. He already knew this was going to happen, but it was still so frustrating and disappointing-

“Hey.” Neito whispered, “It’s okay.”

Natsuo gave him a thumbs up, “Yeah! UA or not, you’re still an awesome kid!”

“I don’t think he’s finished.” Enji muttered.

They turned back to the screen, and sure enough, the man’s face soured further.

“…Do I have to say it? Fine. If that was the only criteria.”

Izuku’s eyes widened as a clip began to roll. The gravity girl- Ochaco Uraraka- had asked to give him some of her points! Though it wasn’t allowed, Eraserhead talked about rescue points and Izuku remembered all the people he’d been able to help with his Quirk during the exam.

“You placed 7th in the practical thanks to your rescue points.” He said blankly, “You and the girl both pass. You’ll be in Class 1-A of the Hero course.”

The hologram cut out, but Izuku was already crying as his family celebrated once more, laughing and congratulating the three boys who were going to be heroes.

~

Sagiri: DONE! 1-C!!

Izuku: Congratulations, Sagiri-chan!!!

Neito: 1-B

Sagiri: Yay!!

Izuku: Neito’s gonna be taught by Vlad King!

Izuku: I’m in 1-A!

Sagiri: Congrats! Where’s Hitoshi?

Hitoshi: Oh my god…

Izuku: Are you ok??

Neito: What’s the news? Break it to us.

Hitoshi: 1-A

Hitoshi: I’m in 1-A

Hitoshi: I

Hitoshi: Rescue points

Hitoshi: Cuz of rescue points

Neito: U and Izuku are in the same boat there

Sagiri: No idea what rescue points are but good job guys!!! Let’s go get ice cream on Friday! My treat! :D

Hitoshi: I won’t deny free sweets

Izuku: We’re in the same class Hitoshi!! Also I can pay for my own ice cream :3

Sagiri: I politely decline your offer <3 and no Neito you can’t pay either.

Sagiri: Just because you’re in a big fancy rich family now doesn’t mean I can’t get you future heroes something as a present

Neito: Understood.

Hitoshi: Guess I’m the only one who isn’t rich now 😐

Chapterly Omake!

Neito: “I’m slightly upset because we aren’t in the same class.”

Izuku: “It’s okay! We’ll still see each other every day!”

Neito: “Izuku! Join Class 1-B!”

Izuku: “Um, I don’t think I can do that-”

Neito: “1-A probably won’t appreciate you. They don’t deserve you. And they might be full of snobs. Like Bakugo.”

Hitoshi: “I feel so included.”

Izuku: “Kacchan isn’t that bad!”

Chapter Text

The moment Izuku walked into Class 1-A, he realized he was in for a ride.

He was first greeted with the blue-haired-glasses-speed-boy from the exam scolding none other than Punctual Golden Explosion Bakugo for putting his feet up on the desk. Izuku gulped nervously. He had anticipated being in the same class as his ex-friend, but it still felt strange.

‘It’s okay, though! I have a Quirk! Oh, shoot, I have a Quirk and Kacchan doesn’t know that-’

“Excuse me!”

The blue-haired boy approached him menacingly (though the menacing part was probably accidental), “Perhaps you don’t recognize me, but we were in the same city for the practical exam!”

“Oh! Y-yes, I recognize you. I actually wanted to thank you for saving me-”

“It was nothing! Don’t mention it.” He practically chopped the air with his hand, “In fact, you were much more heroic than I! You discerned another part of the exam, didn’t you?”

“N-no, I-”

“Hey, I recognize you!” Another voice chirped, “You’re the boy who saved me during the exam!”

‘Gravity girl! Or, Uraraka was her name.’

“Um, yes! It’s nice to meet you. I’m glad you’re okay…”

“Me too!” She laughed, like a twinkling bell, “When you passed out, I thought something really bad had happened! But I’m happy we made it into the same class! Isn’t this all so cool?”

Izuku was suddenly distracted by not only the sound of someone saying, “If you’re here to make friends, get out,” but by the bright yellow caterpillar-like sleeping bag on the floor.

…This was going to be…an interesting year.

Izuku caught Hitoshi’s eye from the back of the class. The purple-haired boy looked shell-shocked, and Izuku realized he hadn’t told him that Eraserhead was the person in his letter.

Whoops.

~

Hitoshi: My homeroom teacher is my childhood hero I can’t believe this

Hitoshi: We’re not going to orientation btw taking a test

Kasumi: Oh that sucks but I LOVE my HM teacher too!

Kasumi: His name is Oboro Shirakumo but he’s also the rescue hero Loud Cloud!

Kasumi: I sit in front and he complimented my hair!! We started talking about care tips and everything! I’ve never had such an engaging teacher!!

Hitoshi: What, did he tell you “flower gleam and glow?”

Kasumi: UGHHHHHHH YOU’RE NOT FREAKING FUNNY ANYMORE I’M BLOCKING YOU

Hitoshi: Lol

[Message not delivered]

Hitoshi: Wait did you actually block me

[Message not delivered]

Hitoshi: Kasumi

[Message not delivered]

~

When Neito didn’t see Izuku at orientation, he was rather concerned. But then Vlad-sensei told him that Eraserhead never takes his students to orientation and instead makes them take some sort of exam (which usually ends in expulsion).

That was even more concerning, but surely his brother would be fine.

Meanwhile, Izuku was able to score rather high on the apprehension test thanks to the air attribute of his Quirk. Shouto was proud that their training paid off.

Bakugo, however, did not feel the same way.

~

“Deku! How do you have a Quirk?! Have you been holding out on me all these years?!”

“N-no, Kacchan, I would never! Just listen for a second! I was involved in a villain attack and…”

“…”

“…”

“You better not think that having some dumb Quirk now means you’re better than me! I’ll still beat you at everything every single second of the day!”

“I-I hope I can learn even more from you this year, Kacchan.”

“Tch. Stupid Deku. Get that Quirk of yours under control so I can beat you fair and square, or I’ll hurl you off the roof!”

~

At lunch, everyone chatted about the day and this and that. Izuku found himself sitting with Uraraka and glasses boy- Tenya Iida. Shouto also took his place among them.

“Huh? Uh, hey. What’s up?” Uraraka acknowledged him.

He finished slurping his soba, choosing to point at Izuku, “…He’s my little brother.”

“I’m sorry, what?”

“Shouto!” Izuku hissed, “I’m sorry about him- he’s my foster brother.”

Iida gasped, “I’d heard about the Todoroki family choosing to foster!”

“You did? I didn’t.” Uraraka blinked.

“Well, it isn’t very public information-”

Sagiri seemed to apparate from thin air, “Deku!”

“Oh! Hi, Sagiri-chan!”

She plopped down next to him, “Are these your friends?”

“Y-yeah. Guys, this is Kasumi Sagiri. She’s a friend from middle school.”

“Deku? I thought your name was Izuku Midoriya.”

Sagiri coughed, “Oops. Sorry, force of habit.”

Izuku understood that. In middle school, she would save him from either loneliness or bullying by appearing with a loud, “Deku!” or “Servant!”, so it wasn’t surprising for the name to come up with someone besides Bakugo.

“It’s a nickname.” He said quickly to save face, “It, uh, means useless- but Sagiri-chan doesn’t mean it like that! It’s also another way to read the kanji of my name!”

“Ohh!” Uraraka brightened, “That’s sooo cute! It kinda sounds like Dekiru to me. Y’know, You Can Do It!”

He went red, “W-well. You can call me that if you want.”

Sagiri blinked. She looked slowly between Izuku. Between Uraraka. At Shouto, who was blissfully unaware of everything but his soba.

She grinned, “Fun.”

“What?”

“Nothing~”

Neito also ended up sitting with Izuku’s table, to the rest of 1-B’s surprise. After all, he came off as someone who wanted to start a tense rivalry with 1-A rather than fraternize with its members.

But according to Itsuka Kendo, who happened to overhear their conversation, maybe that was just because the freckled boy with green hair was his brother.

~

“You remember your role, don’t you?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Good! I hope to see more people join us in the coming weeks. Ah, how wonderful it will be!”

“Yes, I look forward to it…”

“One more thing.”

“Yes, ma’am?”

“Vi and her father were telling me about a green-haired boy who saved her life. Emmaki thinks he might be a hero student, so keep an eye out for him, will you? I believe he was accompanied by a silver, a blond, and a purple one.”

“One…what?”

“What?”

“…I will certainly look for them, ma’am.”

~

The “Green Hero” had been found.

Chapterly Omake!

(Texting)

Neito: Hey, Kasumi! Unblock Hitoshi please :)

Kasumi: Nope! <3

Neito: Welp, I tried

Kasumi: Okay okay

Kasumi: Don’t tell him but

Kasumi: I’ll unblock him tomorrow 😁

Neito: Deal

Chapter Text

Izuku was practically buzzing with excitement. He and his classmates were at the Unforeseen Simulation Joint - the USJ! Besides the students, Loud Cloud, Eraserhead- Shouta Aizawa was his civilian name- and the Space Hero: Thirteen were there! Izuku caught wind of All Might also having been scheduled to join them, but he hadn’t appeared yet. Maybe a villain attack had happened and he’d gone to save the day. Izuku was disappointed but understanding.

(Even though All Might was teaching Heroics at UA now, Izuku hadn’t been able to properly speak with the man. Maybe one day soon. But he probably wouldn’t recognize him.)

The students were split up into groups. Izuku ended up with Uraraka and a frog-Quirked girl named Tsuyu Asui. They were ferried away to the rescue simulation that looked like a sinking ship. As Loud Cloud merrily directed them, Izuku could’ve sworn he saw something move out of the corner of his eye.

But no one else seemed to notice it, so he decided to focus on the training.

He was surprised when Thirteen suddenly appeared. She’d been two terrains away.

“Shirakumo!” The Space Hero yelled, “We got a bit of an accident. Some of the students need your clouds.”

“Oh, I’m totally on it! Hey, kids!” Loud Cloud pointed at Izuku’s group, “Don’t break anything while I’m gone! Shirakumo-sensei will be right back, ya hear?”

“Yes, sir!”

The moment their teacher was out of sight, Uraraka turned to Izuku with a large grin. “So cool!”

“Y-yeah. It is.”

Tsuyu glanced around the area, “So, Midoriya, you can’t really control your Quirk, huh?”

He flinched, “Uh, no, I’m still getting a handle on it. Is it that obvious?”

“Pretty much.” She replied bluntly. He drooped.

“Aww, don’t worry, Deku!” Uraraka gave him an encouraging thump between the shoulder blades, “You’re already super powerful. Now that I think about it, does your Quirk just get more powerful with time? Is that why it’s hard for you to control?”

Of course she would think something like that. Who would assume that he hadn’t manifested a Quirk until he was 14 years old?

Izuku opened his mouth to stammer out an excuse, but then he saw it.

A complete stranger, stumbling around the terrain. It was a man with hair the color of pale mint and eyes of two different colors, like Shouto. A large neon brooch was pinned to his vest. He was looking around wildly, and his golden-green eyes landed on them.

Izuku’s mind analyzed three things at once.

One, he had no idea who this man was. That meant he was probably not a student. It also wasn’t likely that he was a teacher, since only four were scheduled to be at the USJ.

Two, he was coming towards them. Not calmly, either, no- he was running. Surely he would only run if something was wrong…

Three, no one was supposed to be able to come into the USJ any other way but the entrance, which was closed. The alarms would have alerted them to his presence. This man had not come in through the entrance.

This man was not supposed to be here.

He was so close that he could touch them.

Izuku cried out in fear. On instinct, he ushered his classmates back and used his Quirk to bind the stranger in place with ivy. They all let out shocked gasps. Uraraka’s hands flew up to her mouth, and Tsuyu hurried away to get a teacher.

The man struggled, saying, “Hey! Let go!”, and to Izuku’s utter horror, trees sprouted from the ground and broke the vines’ hold.

“Crap, his Quirk!”

Uraraka shrieked and threw a piece of rubble at the stranger, who yelped indignantly. Another tree burst up from the ground, narrowly missing Uraraka. Izuku could see actual fruits hanging low from its branches.

‘What kind of Quirk is that? It’s cool- but NOT THE TIME!’

He needed a way to incapacitate the man without that Quirk interfering! Fire was immediately off-limits because he was still learning how to control it and didn’t want anyone ending up like his mother. Water was useless for anything but drenching people until he could utilize it better. He could try using a vine to pinch the man’s neck, but he was moving too much. Earth wasn’t really a choice, either, since Izuku could overshoot and seriously hurt someone. (He’d gotten lucky with the Ebina incident, because Ebina was an idiot. That was a one-time thing.)

Which only left one option. But how could he use it?

It’s air. Anything that’s in its gaseous form can be controlled, including oxygen.

An idea lit up his mind. Just something to stall. Something to distract until Tsuyu brought a teacher.

Izuku reached for the string and tugged, focusing only on the man, who was still growing trees and yelling angrily in response to Uraraka’s pebble attacks.

‘Please, please work.’

He pulled the air and forced it out of range.

The effects quickly became clear. The man tried to breathe, but found the air rejecting him, and he started to panic further. Uraraka had run out of ammo and fell back to Izuku’s side. She noticed his intense focus and watched worriedly, not wanting to interrupt him. Before Izuku could decide that he didn’t want to completely asphyxiate the poor man, he felt his hold on his Quirk vanish.

The air rushed back into place like water breaking a dam. The man gasped, coughing, as Aizawa swiftly knocked him out.

Izuku could control his Quirk again. He gulped.

Loud Cloud put a hand on his shoulder, smile just a little more strained, “It’s alright, Midoriya, Uraraka. Did he hurt any of you?”

“No.” Uraraka replied, “We just got a little scared.”

Tsuyu blinked, “You didn’t seem scared. We saw you throwing rocks at him.”

“Well, that was because I was scared!”

“Midoriya.” Aizawa cut in, “What exactly were you doing?”

Izuku tugged on one of his green curls, “U-um. I’m sorry, sir. I was…I wanted to distract him, but not really hurt him, if that makes sense? So I…”

“You forced the air out of his lungs.”

“I-I think so?”

“…Told you he was overpowered.” Uraraka whispered.

~

Hitoshi: Don’t you guys just love it when rescue training is called off because some random villain snuck into the facility?

Sagiri: Wait rlly?? Are you guys ok??

Neito: THEY WHAT

Izuku: We’re okay!!!

Izuku: No one got hurt. The police are trying to figure out how he got in

Izuku: I think I heard something about the cameras somehow getting disabled?

Neito: That’s worrying.

Sagiri: Well at least it wasn’t a full-scale villain attack! And no one got hurt!

Hitoshi: Except the one villain. Izuku asphyxiated him.

Sagiri: I’m sorry, how do you ASPHYXIATE SOMEONE??!

Izuku: um

Izuku: anyway

[Izuku added Shouto Todoroki to chat]

Izuku: Shouto wanted to join u guys

Neito: You just dodged the question

Shouto: Hi

Sagiri: Hi! Do you like cats?

Shouto: Yes, they like my fire side

Hitoshi: Lucky

Neito: So we’re just not gonna talk about how Izuku apparently stopped someone from breathing

Sagiri: Nah

Izuku: Sorry, I’ll explain later

Chapterly Omake!

Shouto: “How do I change a ringtone?”

Izuku: “Oh, here’s how you do it.”

Shouto: “Cool.”

(Later)

Enji: “How do I change a ringtone?”

Rei: “What happened?”

Enji: “Shouto changed it to All Might saying “I am here” and it’s driving me crazy.”

Chapter Text

The day after the USJ incident, Class 1-A was clamoring for details. Most of them had remained in the dark about the villain-had-no-air-in-lungs part, so all they knew was that someone somehow snuck into the USJ and interrupted the rescue training.

According to Aizawa, the police had taken the man in for questioning, but they hadn’t had much success in interrogating all the whys and hows out of him. Questions like “How did you sneak in without being detected?”, “How long were you planning this for?”, and “What were your intentions?” remained unanswered.

(Izuku later learned that Tsukauchi was in another city at the time, investigating a different case, which was why the USJ incident was taking longer than usual.)

Izuku ended up walking around the streets in the early morning so he could clear his mind.

What exactly had possessed him to asphyxiate the villain? He’d blamed it on nerves and instinct, but he felt rather guilty afterwards. What would’ve happened if the teachers hadn’t arrived then? Would he have continued to deprive the man of air?

Would he have…

Izuku shivered. No, there was no way. He just wanted to incapacitate the threat. That was all.

‘I need to work on my fire.’ He thought dejectedly, changing the subject of his inner conversation.

“Excuse me!”

He paused, turning around to look at the sudden, approaching voice.

A woman strode up to him, smiling brightly. The first thing Izuku noticed was how…gaudy…she was. Jewels of varying sizes and color adorned her clothes, a delicate veil pulled back to reveal her face.

“Um…hello?” He answered hesitantly.

“Are you the boy who saved Vi from a car the other day? She’s an adorable little girl with strawberry blonde hair and a love of everything pink.”

‘Vi…?’

The girl with the pink notebook from the day of the entrance exams came to mind. She had called him “Mr. Green Hero”. This woman knew it had been him who saved her? Wait, how did she find him?

As Izuku was having an internal panic attack, the gaudy woman laughed, “Calm down, darling. I came here to thank you.”

“H-how did you know it was me…?”

“Vi’s Quirk is quite useful for things like this. She can find the general location of anyone, as long as she remembers what they look like. I believe it’s a ten-mile radius. I’m her aunt. My name is Ahmya.”

“A ten mile radius? That’s amazing! That would be useful in rescue!” He exclaimed, “Oh! I’m Izuku Midoriya. It’s nice to meet you. Is Vi okay?”

“She’s just lovely, thanks to you. It was surprisingly difficult to track you down, even with Vi’s Quirk, but I’m glad we met.” Ahmya tittered, “See, when someone does something good, it’d be cruel to let it go unrewarded. You saved that little jewel from irreparable damage. I knew I should thank you somehow.”

“I only did what anyone would do, Ahmya-san. But you’re welcome.”

“Ah, a modest one. You’ll make a fine hero, Izuku-kun.”

He blushed slightly at the sudden use of his given name. The praise felt…really good.

“I’ve been told your Quirk has to do with nature. You probably have a hard time controlling it, and anyone can improve, especially at UA. So, why don’t you take this?”

She removed a bracelet from her arm and offered it to him. It was a thin emerald loop.

“I-I can’t possibly take something so-”

“Darling, have you seen me?” Ahmya laughed, twirling. Her jewel-adorned skirt barely lifted in the air from its weight, “A small bracelet is nothing compared to Vi’s life. A jewel for a jewel.”

Izuku looked at the emerald loop. It was still warm from being nestled against Ahmya’s skin. It must be worth a good amount, he thought.

‘Then again, I live with the Todorokis now. Technically, that already makes me rich...’

Stop getting distracted, self! He shook his head, wondering if he should try refusing again.

“Think of it as a good luck charm.” She said, cutting into his thoughts, “It’ll help you feel more confident.”

“…Thank you, Ahmya-san. I, um, hope I don’t lose it.”

Her iridescent eyes lingered on the bracelet, “You won’t.”

The emerald was like a thin ring of warmth around his wrist. It was…comforting, in a way.

“I’ll give your regards to Vi and her father.” Ahmya tucked a piece of paper into his pocket, “Call this number if you ever need help. My Children and I would love to know more about the heroic boy who saved Vi.”

“Oh! Y-yeah, I will. Thank you.” Embarrassed, he rubbed the back of his head.

‘She seems really nice. I’m glad her niece is safe. Maybe…we can be friends?’

As he finished the thought, Ahmya blinked, her face flashing with sudden surprise that melted into pleasure.

“Thank you, darling.” She opened her palm and revealed a small viridian gem, “Doesn’t it look lovely, my jewel?”

“Uh…yeah. It’s nice.”

‘I thought her hand was empty. Where did she get that from?’

Another part of him shrugged and said, ‘It’s nothing. You have no reason to distrust her.’

Perhaps deeper in his mind, he realized there was something seriously wrong.

But Izuku was too taken with the way the bracelet caught the sunlight to care.

~

At some point, his friends saw the emerald loop around his wrist.

“Woah, what’s that, Deku?” Uraraka pointed to it. She had invited a few of their other classmates to the table, so there was a larger crowd of people looking at him than usual. Somehow, Izuku didn’t feel as nervous.

“Oh, it’s a gift.”

Sagiri tilted her head, “From who?”

“Yeah, who?” Hitoshi echoed. Neito seemed equally perplexed.

“Remember that girl we helped on the morning of the entrance exams?”

“Yeah.”

“One of her family members recognized me and gave me this as a gift.”

“Wow!” Uraraka clapped her hands, “You were saving people that early on? You really are a hero, Deku!”

Fumikage Tokoyami, one of the people whom Uraraka had convinced to sit with them, stared at the bracelet. “Hm. It’s…bright.” He remarked.

“Haha, I guess so. You should’ve seen the woman who gave it to me. She was wearing so much jewelry that I was wondering how she could even think straight!”

Yuga Aoyama tsked, “Surely she was not as bright as moi.”

That conversation was the second thing that should’ve caught Izuku’s attention. He should’ve reflected on the events and thought that maybe something was off. 

But instead, in the privacy of his own room, he reviewed the piece of paper and saved the number to his phone.

Izuku: Hello, Ahmya-san! This is Izuku Midoriya.

To his surprise, he received an answer in mere minutes.

Ahmya: Hello there, jewel! How are you feeling?

Jewel…what an interesting nickname. Izuku brushed it off as just a unique mannerism.

Izuku: Great! :) About the bracelet, is it…like really real?

Ahmya: It is the realest gem I can give you.

Izuku: Are you sure you’re okay with me having it?

Ahmya: Of course! Good luck charm, remember~

Ahmya: By the way, have you heard of my charity group? Vi is a part of it.

Ahmya: It’s called the Children of the Black Rain.

Izuku: Huh, I don’t think I have. One second

Izuku: I looked it up and it says you run a volunteer shelter type of thing?

Ahmya: Yes! For the past ten years, we have welcomed all ages, any and all Quirks, even no Quirks! All kinds of people!

Izuku felt his heart tug at the mention of the Quirkless. Did that mean he would’ve been welcome in that community? Would he have been taken care of in that kind of place?

Izuku: So what about Vi?

Ahmya: Her mother passed away last year, unfortunately. Vi and her father were left in quite a state, so we assisted them. I am not her biological aunt.

Izuku: Oh! Well that’s really nice of you! I’m glad she’s doing well

Ahmya: Yes.

Ahmya: Would you like to come volunteer some time?

He blinked. Volunteer at a shelter? It sounded appealing- after all, volunteers were community heroes if not like the ones on the billboards.

His phone buzzed, and Izuku realized he had been texted by someone else. He quickly read the message, which had been sent by an unknown number.

Immediately, he was confused.

?: Don’t

That was the only word.

Don’t what? Was this a prank or a genuine mistake?

Izuku: I’m sorry? Who is this?

?: The Children are dangerous. Do not accept.

Izuku stared at his screen in disbelief.

Izuku: How did you know I was being offered? Who is this?

?: I can’t tell you

?: But Ahmya is dangerous

?: She is connected to the USJ incident

Izuku: What?? Are you a reporter or something? Is this a prank?

?: No. Take your bracelet off and throw it away.

?: Be careful or she’ll get you too.

He didn’t even know what to feel. No matter how much he texted back, demanding answers or more of an explanation, the unknown number did not reply.

Izuku decided not to show anyone else. He didn’t want to freak them out, especially since they were preoccupied with the USJ case and the upcoming Sports Festival. Izuku also had to prepare for it.

As for the bracelet, he decided to keep it in a drawer next to his bed. It was still close, but not worn, and not gone.

Just to be safe.

~

The next morning, he received another text. From the same unknown person.

?: Hello?

Izuku: What do you mean hello??

?: This is Fumikage Tokoyami. Uraraka gave me your number.

Izuku: What?

He double-checked. It was definitely the same ominous number. He saved it to his contacts as Tokoyami.

Izuku: This number already texted me. It was really weird. Was that you?

Tokoyami: Really weird? Did Dark Shadow prank you? I don’t see any history of messages to you on my phone.

Izuku gripped his phone tighter, wondering if he was going insane. The emerald loop in his drawer practically felt like a ticking time bomb now.

Izuku: …Nevermind. It’s okay. It’s not a big deal.

He swiped back to Ahmya’s chain and finally replied.

Izuku: I’ll think about it!

Ahmya: 🖤

Chapterly Omake!

(In class)

Tokoyami: “Where did your bracelet of ominous light go?”

Izuku: *having an internal and external crisis* “It went home.”

Chapter Text

The halls were filled with competition. Among the Hero and General courses alike, students were aiming to give it their all at the Sports Festival.

Some were looking to “humble” Class 1-A.

Kasumi Sagiri sighed, annoyed with the traffic jam that blocked her way to the cafeteria. She had zero interest in the Sports Festival and planned to drop out as soon as possible. Why did they even call it a festival? It was just a bunch of kids beating each other up!

She felt something brush her leg and immediately shot a tendril of hair out to smack it. Sure enough, the 1-C class pervert, Mineta, went flying. Kasumi recalled that he’d originally wanted to join the Hero course. He ended up hitting a 1-A student and they accidentally stuck to each other due to Mineta’s sticky hair.

‘Idiots shouldn’t be heroes.’ She decided, relishing in how Mineta floundered around in panic.

~

Neito was just as ready to get competitive with Class 1-A as the next person. But when he heard one of the students say something about how “beating a villain doesn’t mean they’re better than us”, he couldn’t help but feel annoyed.

“None of them were hurt, but it could’ve been a lot worse if that villain actually knew what he was doing.” He admonished, “Do you want a villain to attack you or something?”

“What? Of course not!” The student faltered.

“I don’t see why we should keep track of who meets who. Sure, you can wear an opponent down psychologically by tapping into their fears, but they don’t need to listen if they can knock you out before you even open your mouth.” Neito lifted his chin, meeting Izuku’s gaze, “Class 1-A, Class 1-B is going to beat you, fair and square.”

Bakugo scoffed obnoxiously, “Good luck with that, extras! I’ll kick all of your-”

“Good luck, everyone!” Izuku waved, “Let’s do our best!”

“Did you just interrupt me, Deku?!”

~

Shouto: Hey

Shouto: I didn’t get to say this earlier, but I won’t be going easy on you

Izuku: I won’t either!

Shouto: Good luck

Izuku: Good luck! Let’s get soba afterwards

Shouto: :)

~

Ahmya: I’ll be watching the Sports Festival and cheering for you!

Izuku: Thank you, Ahmya-san

~

?: I’m texting from a different number this time.

?: Good luck in the Sports Festival, Midoriya.

A few minutes later, more texts were sent.

?: Bonjour! Is this Midoriya?

?: C’est Aoyama! I accidentally left my phone in 1-A! It seems someone texted you using it.

?: Perhaps a classmate just wanted to give you their anonymous wishes! Though I do wish it hadn’t been with my phone.

?: I should put a password on it.

~

The preliminaries of the Sports Festival was an obstacle race 4 kilometers long.

Kasumi groaned obnoxiously for the tenth time. She happened to be stationed near none other than Hitoshi, and he silently rolled his eyes at her.

“Why are we just canon fodder?” She complained, “I’d rather be brainwashed for the thirteenth time than do this!”

“How about both?” Hitoshi replied.

She deadpanned, “No.”

He actually didn’t activate his Quirk despite her reply, which was an improvement. The race began, and Kasumi found herself suddenly frozen to the spot by a certain Todoroki’s ice. Hitoshi seemed to have anticipated this and was able to avoid the ice, immediately making a break for it.

Not even bothering to escape like the rest of the trapped participants, Kasumi scowled, trying to ignore the numbing of her feet, “Well, that’s annoyingly convenient.”

~

Neito was able to copy the Quirk of one of the 1-A students. It allowed him to discharge electricity, which was useful for frying the bots’ circuits. He was careful not to overuse it, though, since he was pretty sure Izuku had ranted about an electricity Quirk that made its user turn into an idiot.

Neito didn’t consider himself an idiot, and he had no plans to change that.

He kept a decent pace, but the top three contenders were already clear. Knowing two of them were his foster brothers made him feel both jealous and proud.

At his core, Neito knew that his current family only expected whatever his best was. It differed so greatly from his biological parents, who insisted on the best that they could think of. He knew a passing grade was good enough.

But it wasn’t perfect. That 70% on his written exam still floated in and out of his mind as it pleased, taunting him to do better.

So even though he made it into the top 42 students who passed the preliminaries, Neito still didn’t feel satisfied. He doubted that would’ve changed even if he’d been in second place. He just wasn’t perfect.

Seeing Izuku in first place made him feel proud. It really did. He deserved it after everything the Monomas put him through. Neito would never want to hurt his brother’s feelings by letting him know that he had also so badly wanted first place.

At this point, he wasn’t even sure if first place would feel perfect, either.

(When Izuku used the metal shield to blast himself over the minefield, Neito had a heart attack. It was the reminder he needed- the reminder of his promise.

He would never choose his parents over Izuku. And he would also never choose himself.)

~

“Y’know, Tokoyami, you and Dark Shadow are pretty strong!” Uraraka declared.

“Thank you. We still have much to work on, however.”

“You should get Deku to analyze you guys sometime!”

“Analyze?”

Izuku went red, “I…do Quirk analysis for fun. It’s really nothing special.”

“Don’t say that!” Uraraka protested, “Your analysis on Zero Gravity was super helpful to me! If I didn’t know your Quirk, I’d think you’d have an intelligence one or something.”

Tokoyami glanced between them, “I may appreciate an analysis some day, on your own time.”

“W-well, I’d love to do one for you. Your Quirk is really cool. It has so many applications and potential and strength- I’m getting off topic again. Thank you for agreeing to be on my team, even though everyone’s gonna be targeting me.”

The boy’s feathers ruffled up slightly, “It’s no problem at all. If anything, I should be thanking you.”

~

“Ah! Endeavor, it’s good to see you. How have you been? I haven’t seen you in- what, ten years? We should have tea sometime and catch up.”

“Yes, I’ll take you up on that offer. But I actually first want to apologize for how I’ve acted towards you in the past. I will admit that I became so obsessed with beating you that I was a hateful man.”

“Is that so? Do you no longer feel that way?”

“I do not. I understand now. The reason why I could never beat you.”

“And what would that be?”

“Your presence alone was a comfort to Japan. You prioritized the citizens over everything else. You instilled admiration, while I instilled fear.”

“…”

“But know that I am no longer the man I was ten years ago. I still have a ways to go, but I haven’t given up on my dream of surpassing you.”

“I will certainly look forward to that day. Who knows? Perhaps your son will also surpass me.”

“Shouto is not me. But whatever he chooses to do, I will support him as I did his siblings.”

~

Hitoshi knew there was no going easy.

He’d made it to the one-on-one matches, but it was just his luck that he’d face Izuku so early on. They both already knew each other's Quirks, and Izuku had the clear advantage. How could Hitoshi get him to mess up? How could he get him to respond?

The round began, and he took a deep breath.

Izuku only hesitated for a moment. Hitoshi dodged the vines that reached for him and yelled, “Must feel great, having such a clear advantage! Bet you love being able to pound me into the ground in front of everyone!”

His friend wavered, but he didn’t relent. The ivy made another grab for him. (Izuku so obviously favored nature.)

“Aren’t you embarrassed? Isn’t this below you? Such an easy win?”

Izuku did not reply. Hitoshi did not give up.

“Y’know, Kasumi told me you have a crush on a girl in your class! She says you’re so obvious!”

The green-haired boy turned a shade of deep red as the air decided to buffet Hitoshi backwards, but not enough to get him out of bounds.

He needed to dig deeper. Hitoshi knew he didn’t mean anything he said, and would probably feel guilty later, but underhanded tricks were sometimes needed to win.

“Did you pity me?!” He shouted, “Did you decide to make friends with the villain-Quirked kid for brownie points?! Thought it would look good on your record?!”

Izuku flinched, and the bad feelings came sooner rather than later, but Hitoshi pressed on, getting closer as he dodged so he could force close-combat.

“You and Neito and Kasumi were all laughing at me behind my back, huh?! You were just waiting for me to move away! Waiting for me to be gone so you could look back on all the times you talked to me and laugh! Because who in their right mind would be friends with someone like me, huh?!”

His friend was shaking. They were scuffling now, and Izuku had stopped using his Quirk. The boundary line was close.

Hitoshi aimed for the stomach, delivering a solid punch, “That’s what you were thinking all this time! You were thinking that I was pitiful and only ever fit to be a villain! You thought that I would flunk the exam and go rogue, and when I didn’t, you figured it would happen eventually! You’re just biding your time until I turn into a villain so you can tell everyone I told you so!”

Hands grabbed his arms, preparing to throw him out of the ring.

“Because you don’t really think we’re friends, do you?!” He screamed.

He saw it for a split second. Izuku’s face cracking. And with it, so did Hitoshi’s heart.

The next thing he knew, he was staring at the sky, knowing that he had lost.

Izuku gazed down at him, panting heavily as rivers rolled down his cheeks. Whatever was going on in the audience or the announcer’s box was meaningless. Hitoshi said nothing, only letting the guilt and disappointment rearrange his insides.

“It’s not like that.” Izuku croaked at last.

Hitoshi swallowed harshly, licking his dry lips. “It’s not.”

~

“FOR OUR NEXT MATCH! WE HAVE!! IZUKU MIDORIYA VERSUS SHOUTO TODOROKI!!!”

~

Kasumi: Hey

Hitoshi: Sup

Kasumi: You know I don’t mean all the stuff I say to you, right?

Hitoshi: Yeah

Hitoshi: Neither do I

Kasumi: I know

Kasumi: Good job out there

Hitoshi: Thanks

Chapterly Omake!

Kasumi: “While we’re on the topic of things we don’t mean.”

Kasumi: “I love you very, very, intimately and deeply.”

Hitoshi: “While we’re on the topic of things we don’t mean.”

Hitoshi: “Your hair is freaking ugly.”

Izuku: “...So you think her hair is nice?”

Kasumi: “No he doesn’t.”

Hitoshi: “No I don’t.”

Neito: “Can we all just admit that we are friends who care about each other?”

Kasumi and Hitoshi: *hiss*

Chapter Text

“Hisashi, you can’t just leave!”

“I can.” He shot back, “I told you that I wasn’t gonna keep a Quirkless kid.”

Inko clenched her fists, “So that’s it? You’re leaving your wife and your son just like that?”

Hisashi regarded her with both scorn and disbelief, “I offered you to go with me. I still can’t believe you’re keeping him.”

“He’s my son. That doesn’t change just because he’s Quirkless.”

“Well, good luck with that.” He rummaged around in his bag for a moment, pulling out a wallet, “Here. I’ll give you this as long as you never contact me again. Unless you give up the kid.”

Disgusted but knowing she needed the money, Inko accepted the wallet and hurried upstairs. Hisashi was almost finished packing and she didn’t want to be around him when he left. Instead, she went to check on her son.

…He was sitting in front of the computer, watching a video of All Might saving civilians. It was his favorite video. He’d watched it countless times in the past.

“Izuku?” She said softly.

Her son turned his head. He was crying, clutching an All Might figure that Hisashi had bought for him last year. It was a heartbreaking sight. She had no doubt that Izuku knew that Hisashi was leaving now. He was a smart child, and likely knew the reason why.

“Mom…” He sobbed, “Can I still be a hero? Can I still save people and make them smile, like- like All Might?”

Inko’s face had twisted so, so, sadly, and she hadn’t answered at first. She just ran over to her son and wrapped her arms around him, letting both of their tears fall as a door slammed below.

He can’t be a hero, she thought, but dared not to say it aloud.

Izuku sniffled into her chest. He had wanted to be a hero so badly. If she told him the truth, it would break his heart, and if she told him a lie, he would break from believing.

They remained silent for a long time. Finally, Inko cupped his face and said,

“Even if you can’t, you can at least try, and someone will believe in you.”

I believe in you, she had thought, and I hope you can believe in yourself.

~

“Izuku! Izuku, where are you?!”

Inko held a damp rag to her face, desperately searching the house. It was the middle of the night and she’d woken up to the sight of her bed being licked by flames. She had immediately gone to her son’s room so they could evacuate, but he wasn’t there.

“Ma’am, it’s alright. Calm down.” The dispatcher she was on call with said, “We are already sending firefighters to your home.”

“I can’t calm down! I need to find my son!”

“Ma’am, let’s calm down and think. What is your son’s Quirk-”

Against her better judgment, she hung up. They wouldn’t help her the moment they heard the word “Quirkless”.

“Izuku! Izuku!”

Inko stumbled down the stairs. The fire had completely engulfed her son’s room. She could pray that he hadn’t been hiding somewhere there. She had to believe it.

“Mom?”

She ran into the kitchen and saw a green head of hair curled up in the corner, trembling with fear.

“Izuku, baby!” Inko grabbed his hands, “We need to go, now!”

“M-mom, I’m scared!” He wailed, “How can I be a hero if I’m scared?!”

“It’s okay, baby. You need to get out safely, okay?”

“Mmm…”

She pressed the damp rag to her son’s face, “Keep that there. It’s…it’s a hero mask!”

“Mmkay.”

Inko shielded him as part of the top floor caved, blocking the kitchen in. That was bad. They were trapped now. The firefighters wouldn’t get here in time.

The window to the kitchen had been left open- it was small, but big enough for a child to get through.

“Izuku.” She knelt in front of him, “I have an important hero mission for you.”

He stared up at her tearfully, already seeing through the flimsy excuse but all too willing to believe in it, “Hero mission?”

“Yeah…you have to sneak into the villain’s base over there.” She pointed to the window, “You have to be fast, but also careful. If you get hurt, you can’t fight the villains.”

“Where are the villains, Mom?”

“They’re hiding, but you’ll know them when you need to. Can you do it?”

Izuku glanced between her, the window, and the encroaching flames, “…I can do it.”

“Good. Good job, baby. I’ll be right behind you.” Inko gave her son one last hug to accompany her lie, “You can do it, Izuku.”

~

Izuku didn’t have any physical scars from the incident. The house had collapsed in on itself seconds after he escaped through the window, and the firefighters arrived moments afterward. He’d barely had a scratch on him.

But now, ten years later, standing on the opposite end of the ring as Shouto, Izuku could feel his panic mounting and his nonexistent scars burning.

The first thing Shouto did when the countdown hit zero was create a glacier so large that Izuku could barely avoid it by ordering the earth to lift him up. He attempted to bind Shouto with vines, but they were immediately burned off.

‘Crap.’

Deciding that he didn’t like Izuku having the high ground, Shouto climbed his own glacier so they were more level. Izuku pushed him back with wind and ivy. His opponent responded by aiming a large wave of ice at him.

“Ack!”

Izuku dodged it by jumping down from his spire, counterattacking with a barrage of rocks. Shouto easily deflected it. He gritted his teeth, watching as the dual-haired boy’s left side began to bathe in flames.

It didn’t help that his heart was practically bursting out of his chest.

Izuku used earth to block the fire attack, trying to think of a strategy that wasn’t just “wait for an opening”. He had tested it out before- Forces of Nature made him resistant to the elements- which meant he could try engaging his opponent in close combat.

‘But I really don’t wanna touch that fire…and what if he uses ice to get me or something? If I go in close, I’d have to make it quick.’

“Stop hiding.”

Izuku yelped, narrowly avoiding the punch Shouto had directed at him. They were close to the boundary line now.

“Sorry, but I’m going to win this.” His brother said.

He bit his lip, “Maybe, but I’m still gonna try.”

When he succeeded in dodging another wave of fire- he winced- and ice, Izuku reached out to push Shouto out of bounds.

The flames coating that left side flared up, engulfing Shouto completely.

Izuku choked in horror, stumbling. He felt arms grab hold of him and throw him, landing on the ground with a solid thump.

“…”

The audience went into an uproar.

“…MIDORIYA IS OUT OF BOUNDS!! SHOUTO TODOROKI WINS!!!”

Izuku stared at the grass, seeing bits of ice and char and pebbles littering it, and he drew a shaky breath.

He sat up. He needed to see if Shouto was okay. It was irrational to think otherwise, after all, he was resistant to fire, but Izuku still needed to see.

“Are you alright?” Shouto asked, extending a hand to pull him up.

“…Yeah. Good job.” He offered a weak smile, “Guess I still have a lot to work on.”

His brother’s face wavered for a moment, as if he was feeling both guilt and curiosity, “…We all do.”

~

Meanwhile, in a dark and bloody alleyway, Stain the Hero Killer raised his blade to deal the final blow to his target.

“What kind of unsightly event is this?” An unfamiliar voice hummed.

Stain paused, eyes darting around, “Who’s there-”

His expression blanked, irises turning to slits.

“Drop all of your weapons, then take a rope and tie yourself up.”

The injured hero lifted his head, disoriented, “I can’t move…who…who are you?”

They knelt beside him as the sounds of sirens and sidekicks came closer. A brilliant amethyst medallion hung from their neck, “Just someone who happened to be nearby. Have you ever heard of the Children of the Black Rain?”

~

Ahmya: Hitoshi Shinsou has a brainwashing Quirk, correct?

Izuku: ?

Ahmya: Oh, sorry.

Ahmya: You did a wonderful job in the festival, jewel. Better luck next time.

Ahmya: I didn’t see your bracelet, though.

Izuku: I didn’t wanna break it, so…

Ahmya: Understandable! But it’s a special bracelet that only breaks under certain circumstances, so I assure you there’s no harm in wearing it- even in a villain fight.

Ahmya: So that purple-haired boy has a brainwashing Quirk, right? I think the announcers mentioned it.

Izuku: Yeah…why?

Ahmya: Lovely

Ahmya: I may know some close relatives of his

Ahmya: Come visit the shelter sometime! Vi would love to see you.

~

“Don’t worry, Izuku, you did a great job.” Fuyumi praised him. They were eating dinner at home together. Touya was visiting to celebrate as well.

Shouto fingered the first place medal around his neck, “Bakugo is a very aggressive person.”

“Y-yeah, he’s always been like that. Congratulations on winning, though.”

Neito gave Izuku a pat on the shoulder, “You did good, too. Don’t beat yourself up about it.”

“Thanks…”

Shouto finished another bite of his dinner, “I actually wanted to apologize.”

“Apologize?” Rei echoed, “For what?”

“To Izuku, for what I did at the end of our match.”

Izuku’s breath caught in his throat.

“I’ve noticed that you seem somewhat afraid of fire.” He stated, “And in order to make you mess up, I decided to cover myself in it. I wasn’t sure it would work, but it did.”

“O-oh…you did that on purpose?”

“Yes. And I’m sorry.”

Izuku shook his head, “No! You’re fine! You don’t need to worry about it! I-I’m okay!”

Natsuo frowned, “Are you sure?”

He hesitated. ‘Should I tell them?’

Izuku had never told anyone about his mother after his first couple foster homes. He’d learned that they either didn’t care or would use it against him in awful ways. They were the villains his mother had warned him about.

But the Todorokis weren’t villains at all. They were heroes who’d saved him and Neito! He could trust them. He wanted to trust them and believe in them just as they had believed him.

Not even Neito knew who Inko Midoriya was. But Izuku decided that it was time to tell them the full truth.

He started with his toe joint and ended at Aldera, with that fateful day under the bridge.

His family started patient and calm, and ended with horror and fury printed on their faces.

Izuku knew it wasn’t directed at him, though. And the fact that they didn’t even need to explain that was something endlessly comforting to him as Neito pulled him in for a hug.

“We’ll keep helping you.” They promised, “We won’t give up on you. We believe in you.”

“You can be a hero.”

It was all he wanted to hear.

~

Izuku: Hey guys

Izuku: I need to tell you something

~

?: Hello, I apologize if my text is sudden. Again, this is not my real number.

?: Have you heard about Iida’s brother, Ingenium? Uraraka told me you love all kinds of heroes.

?: He was attacked by the Hero Killer, Stain.

?: Fortunately, he is expected to be alright. He should be able to resume his career after he recovers. The media won’t say anything about it, but a woman with a brainwashing Quirk helped him.

?: Just thought you should know

Chapterly Omake!

Enji and Rei, passing by Aldera: “Oh, is this the school that hurt our foster son?”

Dabi, Fuyumi, Natsuo, Shouto, and Neito: “Oh, is this the school that hurt our foster brother?”

(Later)

Reporter: “This just in. Aldera Middle School was mysteriously vandalized in the middle of the night. It appears to have been set on fire, burned to the ground, and then encased in multiple glaciers. Authorities are still trying to figure out who the perpetrators are and why this has happened. Anyone with any information is asked to come forward and tell the police.”

Hitoshi and Kasumi: “We ain’t no snitches.”

Izuku: “WHAT DID YOU GUYS DO”

Shouto, nursing his hypothermia: “Nothing.”

Chapter Text

Izuku was feeling increasingly disturbed. The text messages from Ahmya and the unknown number were setting off major red flags in his head, but he had no idea how to deal with them.

On the one hand, Ahmya was eccentric but ultimately hadn’t done anything to make him suspicious besides being too nice. On the other, that unknown number knew way too much information about him and the accusations they were making against the Children of the Black Rain were too concerning to ignore.

And what did the bracelet have to do with any of this?!

Aizawa’s voice interrupted his spiral, “Here are all your internship offers.”

Izuku quickly found his own name. To his shock, it was near the top of the list.

Izuku Midoriya: 2,157

‘What?! How did I get- how are there so many?!’

Needless to say, it didn’t help the jumble that was his mind.

~

Izuku decided to intern under Endeavor with Shouto. While he had been hesitant at first considering their relations, Endeavor was the #2 Hero for a reason. There was so much Izuku could learn from him.

Neito, however, despite agreeing on that front, chose to intern at another agency. The blond had received 3 offers in total.

“Don’t worry, we’ll both learn a lot. So you focus on your internship with Enji-san and Shouto.” He assured him.

Speaking of their foster family, Izuku really wanted to tell them about the whole Children of the Black Rain thing, but a good time hadn’t popped up yet, first with the USJ and then the Sports Festival, and finally his whole trauma dump from the other day.

‘You know what?’ He steeled himself, ‘No more hesitating! I’m gonna tell them everything at dinner!’

“Deku!”

“Aahhh!!”

Uraraka blinked, “Oops, did I scare you? Sorry! I just wanted to tell you that Tokoyami and Aoyama are sitting with us again!”

Izuku glanced between her and the aforementioned boys, who were still holding their food trays, “O-of course they can sit here!”

“Yeah, we don’t own the place. Shouldn’t you all be more assertive?” Neito scoffed.

They wisely chose to ignore the provocation. Aoyama was the first to speak.

“You did very well in the Sports Festival, Midoriya! C’est magnifique!”

“Thank you…”

“I wanted to ask you about those text messages from the other day.”

‘Uh-oh.’

“What text messages?” Neito asked, looking bemusedly at his foster brother.

“J-just an unknown number that keeps texting me. They, um, use other people’s phones. It’s kind of weird. I swear I was gonna tell you and the others!” Izuku quickly added, “There just wasn’t a good time, cuz of everything happening…”

“I get it.” Shouto said, “We all have things we want to hide sometimes.”

“W-well don’t say it like that…”

Aoyama nodded, “It is most likely a classmate of ours. They wished Midoriya well in the Sports Festival using my phone. I had left it in the homeroom.”

“That’s…creepy.” Hitoshi commented, “How'd they even access it?”

“I didn’t have a password.”

“Ah.”

Sagiri frowned, “Sooo one of your classmates is being weird and suspicious?”

The thought of the unknown number being one of his classmates had indeed crossed Izuku’s mind before. But he didn’t want to think about who among them would have such a dislike of Ahmya’s shelter. At the same time, they seemed to be close to her, considering how they knew she was texting him.

Aloud he answered, “I guess so.”

Neito sighed, “I guess we’ll talk about that later.”

“So, mon ami , what exactly have they texted you about before?”

“Uh…” Izuku scratched his head, “Just…stuff about my friends. Not in a creepy way, I think. They seem to have good intentions but it kinda freaks me out.”

Tokoyami tilted his head, “Do you have any idea why they might be hiding themselves?”

“Well…I was thinking they might be in a tight spot or something. I want to believe in all my classmates.” He said earnestly, “I think they want to help me, but just don’t know how.”

Uraraka gave him a thumbs-up, “That’s Deku for you! Always seeing the best in people!”

When everyone dissolved into their own conversations, Izuku decided to focus on a certain blue-haired boy who had been quiet the whole time, even during the discussion about the anonymous texter.

“Hey, Iida…” He whispered, “I heard about your brother.”

“…Ah! Did you? My apologies, I’ve been a little distracted.” Iida pushed his glasses up, “Yes, he was attacked, but he’s doing well! The doctors say he’ll be out of the hospital in no time.”

“I’m glad. Um, I heard that a civilian got involved? Is that true?”

Iida blinked, “That information was not released to the public, so I have no idea how you know about that, but yes. I don’t know much myself, but she was pardoned for using her Quirk, according to my brother.”

“Do you know what kind of Quirk it is?”

“I’m afraid not. Why? Were you looking to analyze it?”

‘You could put it like that.’ “M-maybe. It’s okay, though. It’s not urgent. I hope your brother gets well soon.”

“Thank you! I’m sure he will.”

~

“—and then my TA was like, “Gimme that, you little gremlin!”, and snatched the crayon right out of the kid’s mouth!” Fuyumi waved her arms emphatically, “I was surprised because she’s never been hands-on before! Usually she just gives them a good scolding. I was glad, though, because that kid wasn’t listening to me, but they sure did listen to my TA talk on and on about crayons being bad for you.”

“Hey, at least they stopped.” Natsuo chuckled.

“You’re right!”

Izuku figured this would be a good time to jump in, but Enji beat him to it. “There’s something important I have to tell everyone before Shouto, Izuku, and Neito go on their internships. I’ve already alerted Touya about it, so he doesn’t need to be here.”

He decided it could wait a little while longer, “What happened, Enji-san?”

“Tsukauchi returned a couple of days ago. So, there’s been a development in the USJ case.”

The Todoroki family perked up like meerkats, attentive and hungry for details.

“The name of the man who broke into the USJ is Manchineel. The reason the police weren’t able to get any information out of him was because they weren’t believing his words. He was saying outlandish things, but Tsukauchi confirmed them to be true. To be honest, I hadn’t believed what he was saying either, so the blame doesn’t necessarily lie on any one person.”

Enji leaned forward, “What’s concerning is the truth.”

Izuku suddenly had a very, very bad feeling.

“Manchineel had been coerced by a third party’s Quirk for some months. He’s slowly feeding the police information but seems to be very distrusting, which is understandable, considering how we did not take him seriously before. Due to the Quirk, he doesn’t remember much, but he believes that his coercers were aiming to take the hero students and the teachers hostage.”

Natsuo couldn’t help but tsk in shock and disbelief, “How were they planning to do that? I mean, freaking All Might was supposed to be there, right? He’s All Might! No offense, Dad.”

“The fact that they knew the location of the USJ in the first place implies many things.” Enji said, “This is the part that is most worrying to the authorities. Manchineel told us that there are two ringleaders in the third party operation. One of them has a brainwashing Quirk, which is the reason why he cannot remember anything from the past few months.”

Jaws dropped, and so did Izuku’s insides after doing a twisty-inside-out-loop. A brainwashing Quirk?

“L-like the woman who saved Ingenium from the Hero Killer?” He stammered out.

Enji turned his gaze to him, “…How did you know about that?”

“Oh. Um. Iida mentioned it to me.”

(He felt bad about half-lying, but talking about the unknown number at that very moment seemed detrimental.)

“I see…” His foster father’s lips tugged downwards, “Yes, we believe it is the same woman. We wanted to get in contact with her through Ingenium, but she hadn’t left any trace besides a gold ring.”

“Wait, wait, wait, brainwashing? Like, Hitoshi-level brainwashing?” Neito cut in.

“Something like that. Manchineel was unable to give us the full explanation, but he confirmed that her Quirk is brainwashing of some sort. He said that the activation requirement may be telling her your full name.”

Neito turned to Izuku, “You don’t think she could be… related to him? He doesn’t live with his biological parents…”

“I don’t know. Maybe.”

Enji cleared his throat, “We’re looking into it. Our focus is uncovering more about this operation that wanted to invade the USJ and take you kids hostage. There is more information, but it can wait until your internships are over. All you need to know is who to avoid.”

“Avoid?” Shouto repeated.

“We’re going to Hosu for internships. It happens to be the same place as where that woman was last spotted, so we need to be a little more cautious. First- and your teachers have already discussed this- there may be a traitor among Class 1-A who is working with Manchineel’s coercers. There’s no other explanation for how they knew about the USJ. If you see any suspicious behavior, report it. Second, Manchineel has provided the names of his coercers and their organization. If any of you come into contact with them, minimize it and report it.

“The woman with the brainwashing Quirk goes by Chizuki Masaka. Her superior and the supposed mastermind is named Ahmya Miari. They run a charity organization called the Children of the Black Rain.”

Izuku choked on oxygen, coughing and spluttering. Neito hurriedly whacked him on the back in an attempt to help.

“What happened, is he choking?” Natsuo called worriedly.

“I’m okay.” Izuku rasped, “This is bad, this is awful, I can’t believe it, I-”

“Izuku, what happened? Do you know something?” Rei asked urgently.

Was he going to get in trouble for this? Izuku had no idea, but he spilled his guts anyway.

He probably should’ve told them earlier, but what are you gonna do?

~

“…Where is the bracelet she gave you?” Enji questioned sharply.

“I-it’s in my bedroom drawer. The random number said I shouldn’t wear it, so I…”

“So you‘ve been in contact with both the traitor and the mastermind?” Neito let out a disbelieving noise, “Why is that such an Izuku thing to do? But it’s awful, I hate it.”

“I’m sorry…”

“Don’t be.” Enji assured him, “I’ll take the bracelet for now. Those jewels are a calling card of the Children. According to Manchineel, they provide a feeling of confidence to whoever is nearby and incline them to trust Ahmya Miari. Too many of them are addictive.”

Izuku arched an eyebrow, “Ahmya-san had so many on her person, though.”

“So we’ve heard. I doubt anyone would be confident enough to do what she’s doing so blatantly. It’s so obvious and…clumsy, that I’m surprised we didn’t figure it out earlier.”

Handing over the emerald loop to Enji, Izuku realized that he could feel the power leaving him now that he was aware of it.

This was a problem. A big problem.

He’d provided Ahmya’s number to his foster father, who would share it with the police. In the meantime, Izuku texted Aoyama.

Izuku: Has our mysterious classmate shown themself yet?

He received an answer rather quickly.

Aoyama: Bonjour! Unfortunately, no. I will let you know if something happens!

Izuku: Thanks! I owe you one!

Now it was time to contend with another problem: the woman named Chizuki Masaka, who had some sort of brainwashing Quirk.

Izuku was pretty sure that she was related to Hitoshi somehow- after all, those types of Quirks were rare. Hitoshi didn’t live with his biological family, either. It was very possible for Chizuki Masaka to be one of the close relatives that Ahmya mentioned.

(Speaking of which, he still hadn’t replied, simply because it seemed too strange.)

His phone beeped, and Izuku realized that Uraraka was texting him. At least, it was her number.

Uraraka: It’s me again.

Izuku: What?

Izuku: Wait

Izuku: Unknown number??

Uraraka: Yes

Izuku: How did you get Uraraka’s phone? I’m pretty sure she has a password on it…

Uraraka: Internships are about to begin. I’ve noticed that the teachers are more on edge. You and them must already realize that I exist amongst you.

Izuku: You were right

Izuku: About Ahmya and the Children

Izuku: The heroes know you’re a traitor to both them and us

Uraraka: I know

Uraraka: Thanks to Manchineel’s capture, Chizuki has been on edge recently. Her distraction has given me little precious freedom from the threat of being brainwashed.

Izuku: Why are you betraying them?

Uraraka: I’m sure you’ve already considered this, but the Children of the Black Rain are a cult.

Uraraka: Children are easy to manipulate. Teenagers and adults, not so much. There are a few genuine adults who support Ahmya, such as my own parents. I did not, however, thus the threat of brainwashing looms over my head.

Uraraka: I’ve been pretending to be on their side but hadn’t been given an opportunity to go to the authorities yet. I needed more evidence if I wanted to actually betray them.

Uraraka: Manchineel’s arrest is a step in the right direction. I may come forward soon, if I feel it is safe.

Izuku: Thank you for reaching out to help me, even though it put you in danger

Izuku: I’m sorry for not believing you earlier

Uraraka: It’s not your fault. I should be apologizing to you.

Uraraka: I need to go now. I’ll wipe these messages from her phone so she doesn’t see them. Do you need anything else?

Izuku: Are Chizuki Masaka and Hitoshi Shinsou related?

Uraraka: I believe so

Uraraka: After internships, let’s meet up and discuss this

Uraraka: I will reveal myself to you then

Izuku bit his lip.

“Everyone, I have more texts from the classmate!”

~

The “traitor” inhaled and exhaled. School had been out for a while. They couldn’t risk getting caught on the cameras anymore- although, they may be found anyway if Principal Nezu checked the history.

Whether or not they were found didn’t matter greatly to the traitor, but they would prefer to do it on their own terms. When they were ready.

They had spent weeks gathering evidence of Ahmya and Chizuki’s crimes. There were still a few vital pieces that were missing.

The traitor cleared their throat, “Uraraka! You dropped your phone.”

Chapterly Omake!

The Heroes: “The USJ could’ve only been orchestrated by a deep, dark, league of sinister villains!”

CotBL: “Whoopsie Manchineel broke out of Chizuki’s Quirk. That’s bad, hopefully it doesn’t come back to bite us lmfao.”

The Traitor: “…it is only through sheer confidence that these idiots have managed to accomplish anything at all.”

The Heroes: “Dangerous, suspicious people they are! True masterminds! However shall we find them?!”

Manchineel, sitting in a cell: “MAYBE IF Y’ALL HAD LISTENED TO ME EARLIER-”

Chapter Text

“My hero name is Deku!”

“Deku? Doesn’t that mean useless?”

“Yeah, it did. But some special people redefined it for me, and thanks to them, I know I’m not useless anymore.”

~

After arriving at Hosu, Izuku decided to send a quick text to his friends.

Izuku: Hey guys! Good luck with your internships! Shouto and I are in Hosu.

Izuku: Oh and good luck in class Sagiri

Sagiri: Thx lol

Neito: Good luck everyone!

Hitoshi: Hosu?

Hitoshi: I’m in Hosu with Eraserhead rn

Sagiri: Woah

Izuku: Maybe we’ll see each other! :D

Hitoshi: Yeah

“Deku, over here.” Shouto tugged his arm, and Izuku put his phone away. They were using hero names since Endeavor was bringing them on patrol. They were also authorized to use their Quirks if necessary.

(Shouto had chosen…well…Shouto. It was a little baffling but made sense considering his personality. Bakugo, who never referred to anyone by their real names, had been calling Shouto “Icy Hot” or “Half and Half”. Izuku personally thought “Icy Hot” had a nice ring to it, but “Shouto” wasn’t awful either.)

The patrol only went south at the very end.

A group of masked men had tried to rob a bank. Unfortunately for them, Endeavor and his interns happened to be turning around the corner. The fight was swift, painless, and ended with all would-be robbers in cuffs. Izuku and Shouto reassured the gathering crowd that everything was fine, no one was hurt, they could move on, etc. But then he saw a hooded person reach out and pickpocket something from a woman’s purse.

Really? Right in front of the heroes? Maybe he thought they would be too distracted. Nevertheless, Izuku just sighed and chased after the man. Endeavor was busy with the robbers and Shouto with the crowd, after all. One petty thief could be taken care of quietly. There was no need to cause a fuss.

Izuku caught up with the hooded person in a lone alleyway. But before he could perform a sneak attack, someone else dropped down from above and landed on the thief, effectively knocking him out. Izuku recognized him straightaway.

“Hito-” He cut himself off, “Um, what was your hero name again?”

“Oh. Hey, Deku.” His purple-haired friend greeted, “It’s Mockingbird.”

“Wow, that’s so cool!”

“Thanks. You saw this guy too, then?” Hitoshi- Mockingbird- knelt down and put the unconscious thief in cuffs.

“Yeah. You did?”

“Happened to be nearby and I saw him running. Figured it was for a reason.”

“Wait, where’s Eraserhead?”

Mockingbird actually looked embarrassed, “Um, I sorta ran off from him. He was gonna do a quick patrol around the bank to make sure there weren’t any stragglers. I’m probably gonna get a scolding. Whoops.”

A snicker escaped the both of them.

Izuku slung the thief over his shoulders, “Oof! Let’s take this guy back to the heroes.”

“Good idea. I’ll help with that.”

Before they could leave the alleyway, however, a new voice resounded from behind them, “What exactly am I looking at here?”

Both boys flinched and slid into hostile stances. At the entrance of the alley, there was a young woman with indigo hair and green eyes. Her head was inclined, and she seemed intrigued rather than alarmed.

“...Are you a civilian?” Mockingbird replied after a moment.

“Yes. Are you hero students?”

“We are.” Izuku said, “We’re just taking in a thief.”

“So you are. I believe he stole something of mine. A blue wallet stitched with black thread?”

Mockingbird quickly recovered the item from the man’s person. “Oh, of course. Here.”

“Thank you…” She peered at him, “Please excuse me, but have I seen you before?”

“...I don’t think you have.”

“No, no, you seem endlessly familiar. Hitoshi Shinsou, right?”

Izuku and Mockingbird both froze in place.

“Who are you?” Izuku decided to cut in, “Are you really a civilian?”

The woman took a picture out of her stolen wallet, “I am. Please, look at this.”

The photo was of a man with gravity-defying purple hair and eyebags. He was grinning devilishly and holding up a peace sign. He looked almost exactly like Hitoshi, save for his dark irises. In the corner, a date from 20 years ago was scrawled in cursive.

“This is Harushi Shinsou,” said the woman, “Your father.”

Mockingbird’s jaw practically dropped to the floor, “What?”

“Tell me, you don’t live with your real family, do you?”

“N-no, I- I shouldn’t be talking about this right now-”

“I knew I recognized you. You’re the spitting image of your father, even with that mask. It’s a voice changer, isn’t it?” She continued, “I understand you don’t know me, but this is a twist of fate! He gave you up 13 years ago because of personal circumstances, and I thought I’d never find you again!”

Izuku bit his lip. “Ma’am.” He said, “Who are you?”

She blinked at him, “...I’m his mother.”

~

Endeavor frowned. Where had his intern run off to? Eraserhead had arrived and quickly reported to Endeavor about a getaway car he’d found, only to learn that both Mockingbird and Deku had disappeared.

“Problem Children.” Eraserhead had muttered.

Shouto hadn’t seen Deku run off, and neither were he or Mockingbird responding to texts.

So now Endeavor was looking in one direction while Eraserhead searched another. Shouto had been ordered to stay in place in case one of them returned.

Endeavor rounded a corner and heard two words.

“—Chizuki Shinsou.”

Several things happened at once.

First, Chizuki? That was the name of one of the prime suspects in the USJ case- Chizuki Masaka. Why was he hearing her first name right before Mockingbird’s last name?

Second, Endeavor rounded the corner and saw four people. One of them was laying on the floor, seeming to have been knocked out and put on the ground. The others were standing near as if they'd been speaking to each other.

Third, he recognized Deku and Mockingbird as two of the three. They were looking at him in surprise.

Fourth, he recognized Chizuki Masaka as the third standing person. The perpetrator of the USJ and Manchineel’s brainwasher was within three feet of his and Eraserhead’s interns.

“Who are you?” She asked, seeming both panicked and confused.

He glared at her and reached out to put her in cuffs. She was likely aiming to hear his real name, since it was her alleged activation requirement. Chizuki yelped indignantly, trying to struggle.

“Endeavor?!” Mockingbird cried out in horror, “Wait!”

“No. This woman is a-”

“Deku, fight him! Free me!” Chizuki shrieked.

And to Endeavor’s utter horror, Deku called up an earth spike to safely snap the handcuffs in two. Chizuki scrambled free as the green-haired boy turned and sent a wave of fire towards his foster father.

Mockingbird’s eyes widened in terror. Before he could say anything, though, Chizuki snapped, “Ignore it!”, and his expression blanked.

She had already brainwashed them.

How? Endeavor gritted his teeth, doing his best to block Deku’s attacks without hurting him. They wouldn’t give her their real names, and it would’ve been difficult to recognize Deku out of costume. Mockingbird, he could understand. The authorities had already suspected a relation between the two but had yet to find anything.

Unless…

Endeavor called to mind a conversation the police had with Manchineel just a few days earlier.

“What is Chizuki Masaka’s activation requirement?” Tsukauchi had asked.

The mint-haired man fidgeted in his seat, “...I think she needs to know your full name.”

“What makes you think that?”

“Well, she asked me for my name. I told her it was Manchineel. No last name, because I’m an orphan like my friends Emmaki and Ahmya. Oh, but- Ahmya had her full name written on a note when she was abandoned, so that’s why she’s Ahmya Miari-” He cut himself off, “Sorry, off topic. I told Chizuki-san my name, and then I was brainwashed. I’d seen her ask other people the same question and then brainwash them, so…”

“If you knew her activation requirement, why did you answer her?”

“...I told Ahmya that she shouldn’t be using other people for- for what she’s doing. But she didn’t listen. She’s too addicted, and too confident.”

Manchineel looked guiltily at his lap, “I…I figured I’d be better off brainwashed and not remembering anything, because I still care about her, y’know? It was only when I broke out that I considered going to the authorities.”

“And why didn’t you do so earlier?” Tsukauchi had questioned.

“They never listened to us in the past, so why would they now?” He met their gazes, “I was still right, because now I’m finally being listened to. Why? Because there’s a human lie detector in the room. Now, all of a sudden, people are listening, and it’s not because of anything I did. It’s because of you.”

They hadn’t answered.

“Anyway, you might not want to trust me on this one. Ahmya kept the activation requirements under tight wraps for a reason.”

Mockingbird only needed a verbal response.

Telling someone your name is a verbal response.

Chizuki Masaka only needed a verbal response.

Endeavor cursed and quickly knocked Deku out. It was necessary for now-

“Endeavor!” A deeper voice called. Logically, it could only be one person.

“Eraserhead-” Endeavor turned, preparing to call out for the use of Erasure, but something tugged at his mind.

Chizuki and Mockingbird stood side-by-side (when had they moved?). The woman had the intern’s voice changer on her face.

“Alright, finally.” She said, lowering the mask to reveal a frown, “Forget this happened. Live your life as you normally would, but you are no longer very worried about the USJ case.”

His consciousness slipped away, just as Deku and Mockingbird’s had.

~

Chizuki Masaka

Quirk: Hivemind

If the user receives a verbal response, they can brainwash the person who replied. The number of people who can be brainwashed at a time is unknown, but the more there are, the more strain the user feels.

There were missing details, but Chizuki Masaka hadn’t updated her registry. Why would she?

~

Aizawa found them shortly after that. His students were unharmed, having taken down a petty thief, and Endeavor was about to take them back. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

But then he caught Izuku looking at his phone, lips tugged downwards.

“What’s wrong, Problem Child?” He asked gruffly.

“Oh, it’s nothing, Sensei.”

Shouto butted in, “Is it the weird number again?”

Right. Aizawa remembered something about that. “Mind if I take a look, Deku?”

“Um…sure.”

There were many missed messages from Shouto and Endeavor. But what caught his eye were the many messages from a certain unexpected number.

Midoriya

I have enough evidence

One of Ahmya’s friends helped me. I’ve already told everything to my mentor

Can we call?

This is my actual number. I’m sorry for deceiving you.

Aizawa frowned deeply at the chain.

Izuku: This is Aizawa.

Izuku: It’s good news that you’ve decided to cooperate with the authorities. Thank you for coming forward.

Izuku: Tokoyami.

Chapterly Omake!

(The CotBR have two idiots for leaders)

Chizuki after brainwashing three important people: “f this s I’m out” *goes back to the shelter*

Ahmya: “What have you been doing?”

Chizuki: “Uh. Nothing.”

Ahmya: “Okay.”

Ahmya: “By the way, I haven’t seen Manchineel in a while. Where has he been?”

Chizuki: “...Running errands.”

Chapter Text

…

Izuku woke up.

It was just another normal day.

He quickly got dressed, went downstairs, and was greeted with the sight of his parents and brother eating a delicious breakfast.

“Izuku!” His mother said brightly, “Good morning! Eat up! You need to eat to do well at school, after all!”

His father laughed heartily, “And your food is the best, Inko! How could anyone not want to eat it? C’mon, son, sit down.”

Izuku chose a seat in between his family, “Thanks! Good morning!”

“Morning, Izuku.” His brother said, “Your hair’s messier than usual.”

Inko hurried over, “Looks like you have bedhead, baby. Let me fix that.”

Izuku let his mother comb his hair as he ate his delicious breakfast. His father finished first, getting up and grabbing his suitcase.

“Alright,” he said, “I’m leaving for work now. I’ll see you all later.”

“Bye, Dad!”

“Bye, Dad.”

“Have a good day at work, Hisashi! Love you!”

“Love you, too!”

When he closed the door, Neito put his own dishes into the sink, “Alright, I’m done. Let’s get going soon, Izuku, or we’ll be late!”

“R-right!”

Izuku slung his bag over his shoulder. He pulled his mother in for a hug, and she kissed him on the cheek.

“I’m so proud of you boys.” Inko gushed, “You’re already such great heroes.”

Izuku swelled with pride as Neito ushered him to the door with a genuine, “Thanks, Mom.”

“I love you!”

“Love you too!”

The next thing he knew, he was on the train.

Neito handed him a cinnamon roll, grinning. When Izuku gave him a surprised look, he said, “Dad snuck it to me right before he left. I won’t tell if you won’t.”

He laughed and accepted the treat. It was still warm, and very delicious.

“Hey, look! It’s Kasumi.” Neito dragged him over to a certain spot on the train.

The silver-haired girl saw them approaching and waved, “Hey, guys! Sit here, sit here!”

“How’s Gen-Ed been?” Izuku asked.

“It’s been pretty good! I LOVE Shirakumo-sensei! He’s so lively and sometimes he goes off-topic to talk about some stories about him and his friends, and everyone loves it!” She gushed, “Although, I did get assigned a project yesterday. I have to make a report about the biology of Quirks or something. Research, ugh.”

Neito laughed, “Well, researching the facts is important if you want to be a lawyer!

“I guess you have a point.”

Izuku drummed his fingers on his leg, “Hey, Sagiri-chan, has anyone been bothering you recently?”

“Huh?” She stared at him in surprise, “No.”

“Oh. I thought there was a pervert in your class. Maybe I’m remembering wrong.”

“A pervert? Haha! If there was someone like that, I bet UA would've expelled him by now!”

“Yeah…I guess you’re right.” He rubbed the back of his head, “Anyway, if you need help with that project, text me later.”

“Aww, thanks, Izuku!”

~

“Midoriya!”

The moment he parted from Neito and walked into class, there was a chorus of “hello’s” and “how are you’s”. He smiled and waved at all of them, replying with his own salutations, and sat behind Kacchan.

“Oi, Deku.” The explosive blond jeered, “You were crap yesterday. Get better at existing or I’ll hurl you off the roof!”

Izuku felt no fear from the threat. In fact, he laughed. Kacchan made a fist and extended it towards him. Understanding the gesture, Izuku returned the fist bump.

Something in him said wrong . Izuku had no idea why it would feel strange. After all, he and Kacchan had been friends since forever.

During lunch, he sat with his friends. They all talked excitedly around him.

“Kasumi-chan!” Uraraka whispered urgently, “I heard that…!” Her voice dropped to a volume that only Kasumi could make out.

“Oh, yeah!” She nodded, “It’s true!”

“Gosh, really! I didn’t expect that, but that’s so cool!”

“I know, right?!”

As the two girls fangirled over whatever rumor they’d heard, Izuku turned to the boy next to him, “Hey, Hitoshi, how have your parents been?”

“They’ve been doing great.” He answered, smirking, “They’d love to have your family over for dinner again sometime.”

“I’ll let them know!”

“Oi, Icy Hot!” Kacchan sneered, “What’s up with your face?”

Shouto had been slightly smiling the entire day. He finished his soba and answered, “Nothing’s wrong with my face.”

“No, you idiot, you’ve been smiling like Dunce Face when he overuses his Quirk!”

“Oh, I have?”

“Yeah, Sherlock. Get with the program.”

Shouto’s smile widened, maybe genuinely or to annoy Kacchan or both (probably both). “My brother, Natsuo, proposed to his girlfriend last night, so I’m pretty happy for him.”

“Really?!” Kasumi gasped, “Congratulations to your family! Give them my regards!”

“Woah, isn’t your brother 19? He’s pretty young!”

“Still, congratulations!”

“Yeah, congratulations!”

Izuku nodded, “Tell your brother and his fiancée that we all congratulate them.”

“I will. Thank you, everyone.”

Something felt wrong, but why would it be? Izuku pushed the feelings down and smiled so wide that his cheeks began to hurt.

~

“You did well, Midoriya.” Aizawa-sensei had praised him.

“You have such great control of your Quirk, Deku!” His classmates had cheered.

Izuku could pull all four strings with ease. Even the hottest one obeyed his command perfectly.

(He wasn’t afraid of it. Why would he be?)

At the end of the day, Uraraka ran up to him with a little pink pouch in her hands. “Deku! I have a gift for you!”

“A gift?” He found the pouch being shoved into his hands.

“Yep! Sato taught me how to bake sugar cookies, so I made some for you!” She poked him in the chest, and he blushed slightly, “Enjoy!”

“Thank you, Uraraka-chan.”

The sugar cookies were perfect. She’d even decorated them with green icing in the shape of broccoli, a darker icing spelling out Deku!

He really appreciated it. He would have to give her a return gift sometime.

At home, he ate dinner with his family. His mother always made such good food. He could never get enough. It was like he hadn’t had it in ages.

“Hey, Dad, how was work?” Izuku asked, “Busy?”

Hisashi chortled, “A little bit. But don’t worry, I won’t be going abroad again anytime soon. Family is what’s most important to me, and I made sure to tell everyone that.”

His room was All-Might decorated, as always. So much valuable merchandise and posters and supplies. Izuku grabbed one of his Quirk Analysis books off the shelf and opened it up. His classmates loved his analysis. He had promised to write them each one, and Tokoyami was next on the list. Izuku excitedly jotted down everything he knew and could theorize about Dark Shadow.

An hour later, he decided to take a break.

Flipping through the other pages of his analysis, Izuku could see entries titled Kasumi Sagiri , Hitoshi Shinsou , Neito Midoriya , etc.

Then he came to a page with a sketch of a Great Dane. Hotaru , it was titled.

Izuku tilted his head. He didn’t remember writing this one. Skimming through its contents, his own handwriting informed him about Hotaru’s Quirk that made him…indestructible?

A dog? With a Quirk? A Great Dane with an indestructibility Quirk? That must be hard to deal with!

It was also fascinating! How could Izuku not remember-

He blinked, and the entry was gone, replaced by an analysis of Shouto Todoroki .

Izuku leaned back in his chair. He flipped through the analysis three, four, five times, but he did not find Hotaru again.

Just ignore it , his mind said nonchalantly. It was probably nothing.

Nothing is wrong.

Izuku ate a delectable strawberry cheesecake for dessert. He brushed his teeth and went to bed.

world

you

and

know it

He woke up in the middle of the night. Izuku wracked his brain, trying to figure out what he had dreamed about. He could’ve sworn someone was trying to talk to him, but it was so muffled and far away that he couldn’t hear.

Oh, please. It’s just a dream. Everything is perfect.

…Izuku went back to sleep.

Chapterly Omake!

Manchineel: “…I feel a disturbance in the force.”

Tsukauchi: “What do you mean?”

Manchineel: “Are you SURE no one came into contact with Chizuki??”

Tsukauchi: “I mean, how would we know?”

Manchineel: “Nevermind. You guys will figure it out if something happened, I guess.”

Izuku, Hitoshi, and Enji, all brainwashed: “Everything is perfect and everything is fine.”

Chapter Text

Izuku woke up.

It was a normal day.

It was a Saturday, and Izuku had plans to hang out with Sagiri, Uraraka, and Hitoshi at the mall.

They shopped for a while before taking a break to eat in the food court. They bought mochi, katsudon, and more for cheap- a lot of the stores had great deals that day!- and sat down at one of the tables to chat.

“Your mom won another case?” Uraraka addressed Kasumi.

“She did!” The silver-haired girl replied, “Made it look so easy, too!”

“You want to be a lawyer like your mom, right, Sagiri-chan?” Izuku asked.

“Yeah! I have a long way to go, though.”

“Agreed,” said Hitoshi. She blew a raspberry at him.

“You’ll definitely get there!” Izuku declared, “All of us are working to be heroes, and you’re working to be a lawyer. Hey, maybe if we get into legal trouble for some reason, you can be our go-to.”

Hitoshi scoffed, “I’d be better off in the hands of my opponent.”

“Oh, I’ll make you wish-”

Izuku interrupted, “In any case, Sagiri-chan is going to be a great lawyer. They’re just as much heroes as we would be in a few years.”

The table went silent for a few moments. Then Sagiri inclined her head slightly and said, “Hey, Izuku, are you okay?”

“Huh? Yeah…why?”

“You’ve been calling me Sagiri.” She said, “You can keep calling me Kasumi like you’ve always done.”

“Same here! Call me Ochaco!” Uraraka agreed.

Izuku blinked. “O-oh, have I been doing that? Sorry, I’ve just been distracted.”

They moved on as if nothing happened.

When they were finished eating, the girls and Hitoshi hurried ahead of him to a store that was selling new hero merch. Izuku lagged behind, mind clouding up and beginning to doubt…

What was he doubting?

…

What are you doubting?

Before he could simply shake the odd feelings off and catch up with his friends, a person approached him. They seemed to be walking with purpose, as if they were specifically looking for him. Izuku knew somehow.

“Hello, can I help you?” He said to them.

They grabbed his arm, pulling him in close. Izuku had a perfect view of their face.

Green curls, emerald eyes, a spatter of freckles-

Him.

How was it him?

Why was he seeing his own face-

“This world isn’t real and you know it.” He said.

Izuku woke up.

…

He went downstairs.

“Izuku, baby!” His mother perked up, “Good morning! You slept a little late.”

He didn’t answer, but she carried on. “Your father had to work today, and he won’t be back until the evening. Come eat your breakfast with Neito.”

Something was seriously, very, wrong.

Izuku smiled and said, “Thank you, Mom. I love you.”

At the very least, he knew that sentence wasn’t wrong.

Once he was done with the perfect-tasting breakfast, Izuku shut himself in his room and opened the same notebook from last night, flipping to a certain page. The entry with the Great Dane was there.

Hotaru (Great Dane)

Quirk: Indestructible

Hotaru seems to be, well, indestructible. According to Touya, Hotaru has never bled or broken a bone. He has smashed through walls and ceilings and floors alike. Apparently he bent a mailbox once?

We have no idea how Hotaru got a Quirk. But it’s so cool! The downsides are dealing with the largest breed of dog in the world being immune to fear…

Izuku smiled softly. How interesting! Could it have been a case similar to Principal Nezu, where he was experimented-

Wait. Experimented? He ran a hand through his hair, confused. His heart was telling him that Nezu never went through any sort of experimentation, but his mind was insisting yes, something bad and imperfect had happened-

Izuku looked back down at his journal. The entry was gone. He groaned in frustration and grabbed a different one: it was on a variety of heroes. He opened it up to the middle and found All Might’s signature decorating two of the pages.

That was even stranger. Why was it placed so randomly? He knew he’d met All Might at some point before UA, but he just couldn’t place his finger on it!

The first entry was of his own Quirk. He remembered writing this one. But in the margins, scribbled notes that he didn’t recognize popped up all around.

I finally have a Quirk!!

Work on water = ice

Fire needs work, get over it!

You Can Do It Deku!

Dekiru!

Something was wrong, wrong, wrong but what was it?!

He slammed the book shut and made a beeline for his brother’s room.

“Neito.”

The blond glanced up from his phone, “Izuku? What’s up?”

“My…memory’s been a little scattered lately. Can you help me?”

“Uh-oh. You’re not going crazy, are you?”

‘I think I am.’ “Haha, no. I just can’t remember how I got my Quirk, that's all.”

Neito’s mouth formed an ‘o’ shape, “Wow, really? That’s a shame. I’ll tell you, though.”

“Thanks…”

“No problem. So, you and Katsuki were four years old, at preschool…” Neito tapped his chin, “And his Quirk came in. Made a bunch of explosions, yada yada, but then a chair caught fire. Everyone freaked out when all of a sudden- water from the sink burst forward and drenched the whole class!”

“That was…me?”

“Who else?” His brother laughed, “Ever since then, you and “Kacchan” have been attached at the hip. You’re going to be the great hero duo, remember? Ground Zero and Deku because Kacchan is too childish to be a hero name.”

Izuku felt a lump form in his throat, “Right. I think I kind of remember now. What about…what about extra toe joints?”

“Extra joints? You mean the one you have in your pinky toe?” He looked at him, puzzled, “It’s a rare occurrence but not unheard of, plus it doesn’t really affect anyone. You have one, I don’t, but we’re not too different.”

“So…it doesn’t mean anything?”

“…No?” Neito shrugged, “I mean, it’s not like you lose your Quirk if you have an extra joint.”

As if he hadn’t just said something that set off more wrong wrong alarm bells in Izuku’s head, his brother continued, “By the way, Kasumi texted about her biology project. Apparently there used to be urban legends about our ancestors not having Quirks. Whole societies that functioned without them. Crazy, huh?”

“Y-yeah.” He answered, lips dry, “Crazy.”

Izuku ran back to his room again.

Nothing was right. It was all off. It was all distracting and incorrect and- and disturbing. His mind was tugging, insisting on something he couldn’t remember.

“Please.” He whispered, “What do I do? Please just tell me what’s wrong.”

“…This world is fake and you know it.”

The voice came from behind him, on his bed.

Izuku pivoted and met the gaze of the Other Him.

They were blank-faced but not unkind. Curly green hair, dim emerald eyes. It was as if he was staring into a jaded mirror.

Somehow, Izuku knew. Just as he knew something had been wrong with this world all along.

“You…” Izuku swallowed, “You’re my Quirk.”

The manifestation’s freckles morphed into colorless tattoos of ivy, waves, flames, and tornados.

“You’re Forces of Nature.”

Chapterly Omake!

(Flashback)

Touya: “Oh, yeah, Hotaru’s indestructible.”

Izuku: “Haha you mean he’s really strong?”

Touya: “No, I mean he’s actually indestructible.”

Touya: “As in, you could try to stab him with a sword and the sword would shatter.”

Hotaru: *dents a car with his wagging tail*

Touya: “Case in point.”

Izuku: “Wh-”

Izuku: “Who’s car was that”

Izuku: “It looked familiar”

Touya: “No one important.”

Shibuoka in the distance: “MY CAR”

Izuku:

Touya:

Izuku: “Was that-”

Touya: “No one important.”

Chapter Text

“You’re Forces of Nature.”

“I am.” It nodded.

“How…how are you here? Have you been- have you been sentient this whole time?”

“Not exactly.” The manifestation parted the empty spot next to it, inviting its host to sit down, “Unlike the majority of all Quirks, I am not hereditary. I choose my user when I believe they are worthy.”

“Worthy?” Izuku bit his lip, “You think I’m worthy?”

“Of course.”

“So…I’m not really a late bloomer. I was Quirkless, but I was chosen.”

“Yes.”

He squeezed his eyes shut. “You could’ve chosen anyone else. Why me? Is it because I took care of plants?”

To his surprise, he felt something carding through his hair. Izuku opened his eyes and stared at Forces of Nature, whose face was still effortlessly blank but whose hand was gently combing through its host’s green curls.

“That is not it at all. It’s true that I could’ve chosen another. I have seen many a Quirkless in my existence. And I could leave you at any time to be with them instead.”

Oh. Was that what this was? Was his Quirk going to leave him now? The Quirkless Deku who was supposed to die under a bridge one year ago?

He didn’t want it to leave. He really was pathetic and selfish to the end.

“Halt your thoughts.” A firm voice sliced through the mire of his mind.

He flinched, lifting his gaze cautiously towards Forces of Nature.

“Life is not useless. Life is a gift that many choose to use unwisely.” It put two hands across his collarbone, “How many times since I chose you? How many times have you been told to believe in yourself? Believe in the idea that your life can be a great gift?”

Izuku’s eyes widened. “I-I…”

“If you do not believe in yourself, you will accomplish nothing. If you believe too much, you will break from believing.” The Quirk said, “I chose you because you are the way you are despite the world you were born in. Like a flower, you grew. You were beautiful. You were kind. You had so much love to give, but no one wanted to accept it, because they thought you were hideous.”

He winced, remembering.

“I didn’t want such a little sprout to be trampled on before it could grow. So I chose you.”

“But why?”

It hummed, “Even if it hadn’t been me, it would certainly have been someone else.”

Perhaps that was true, but they would never know.

“You know this world is not yours.”

A pang went through his heart. This world, this life, not his. This perfect happiness, not his. He could feel the tingle of lost memories phasing through him, like barely tangible ghosts.

Izuku was starting to remember.

Forces of Nature said, “You need to wake up now.”

“But I…I don’t want to.”

“You don’t mean that.”

His voice cracked, “I don’t. But I do.”

It watched him placidly.

“I-I…I love everyone here. I know they’re just an illusion, but it’s all just so perfect.”

“And yet, it disturbs you to tears.” Forces of Nature added, “I know you will not be able to live in  this world when you know that it is not real. Not when your family is waiting for you. These illusions-” It gestured vaguely, “Are not your family. They are only echoes of what once was.”

Izuku hesitated. “Does that mean…does that mean you know what’s happening out there? With everyone else?”

“To some extent. Your teacher has deduced that you came into contact with Chizuki Masaka. But efforts to find her have failed. You must find a way out so you can help them stop her.”

“Me? Help them?”

“Believe in yourself properly for once.” It tsked, “The authorities have the location of the Children of the Black Rain, but they do not have Ahmya or Chizuki. Even with her contact, she would never reply to them. But she would reply to you.”

“Even if I can help, how am I supposed to break out of this Quirk?”

Forces of Nature tilted its head, “You are a Quirk analyst, are you not? Analyze.”

Izuku woke up.

It was not a normal day, and he remembered everything.

And if he took a moment to cry in his room, indulge in the fantasy, giving his parents the biggest hugs he could, before going to school, who would know?

~

“You’re my mother? Wait, how?! I have- I have so many questions!” Hitoshi exclaimed.

“And they will all be answered.” The woman smiled, “Don’t worry. I’m just happy to see you again.”

“What about my father? Is he okay?”

“He’s alive.”

Izuku interrupted, “Wait, ma’am, you’re Mockingbird’s mother? Really?”

She nodded, “I understand if you don’t trust me. Do you mind if I introduce myself, both of you?”

“Of course!” Hitoshi cried.

Izuku frowned, contemplating, but replied, “...sure. Go ahead.”