Chapter Text
Izuku was tired. Tired of school, tired of Kacchan bullying him, tired of the other kids who laughed and jeered and taunted, tired of the teachers who did nothing. It was the end of another day at Aldera Junior High, and Izuku had just finished a 'session' with Kacchan. His uniform smelled like smoke again. Damn.
He lightly limped up the stairs in his apartment building and up to his door. Taking a breath to try and compose himself, he straightened up and walked in. "I'm home!" He called.
"Izuku, welcome back!" Called his mother's voice from the living room, though he could hear another voice talking. Looking at the shoes on the shoe rack, he saw there was an extra pair; large, office shoes. He felt like he should know them - he just couldn't place them. He shook his head to take his mind off them; he needed to change before his mother and their guest (whoever they may be) smell the smoke.
Coming out of his room in comfortable clothes he froze in the doorway to the living room, seeing who the shoes belonged to. "Dad?"
Midoriya Hisashi beamed and stood up. "I'm home Izuku!" That was all he needed before he shot himself at his father, being enveloped in a bear hug.
The "I'm happy you're home" Izuku mumbled into his father was muffled and wet. Oh no, he was crying. To Hisashi's credit, he just chuckled and hugged tighter.
It took a little while, but eventually Izuku pulled back - though he stayed wrapped in his father's arms. It was nice, especially since his father ran warmer than most because of his fire quirk. "How- How long are you staying this time?" Hisashi's smile seemed to grow impossibly wider.
"Currently, there are no more trips planned and I've been transferred to the head branch in Tokyo! I don't mind the commute from here to there, either." Izuku buried his head into his father again as the tears started once more.
That night, the three of them sat in the living room and caught up, hearing stories from Hisashi's time in America (plenty about the heroes over there, which excited Izuku to no end. He wasn't fluent enough in English to read most articles about them).
With his father's return home Izuku's days were much better, but it also became twice as hard to hide the marks Kacchan left and the smell of smoke - Hisashi was naturally intimate with the smell, after all. He had to keep his medical supplies better hidden. Though, burn cream was thankfully more readily available at home.
Despite the extra challenges Izuku continued his routine, successfully hiding everything for several months. But that changed when his father came home early near the end of the school year.
Izuku was in his room, shirtless, trying his best to treat his latest round of wounds, as well as to see how the older injuries were healing. He was rubbing some bruise cream into an already half formed bruise on his side when his father burst into the room.
"Izukuuuu~ Would you like-"
They both froze and stared at each other. Izuku started panicking when he registered what was happening, his breaths becoming shorter and shallower. After all his work to keep things hidden, and everything has just gone up in smoke. And oh no, there's no way that his parents wouldn't be able to connect the starburst burns on him to Kacchan's quirk, and the bruises weren't helping matters either. Kacchan will get in trouble, and Izuku doesn't want that because then it'll go on Kacchan's record and then Kacchan can't be a hero and he'd be a really good hero but he won't be able to and it'll all be Izuku's fault because he couldn't hide the damn burns and he really is a useless Deku if he can't even do one thing right-
"Izuku, breathe with me. In and out, come on." Was that Dad? That sounded like Dad. Oh, he should probably breathe, that's a good idea. When did Dad get this close? Izuku didn't know, but Dad's kneeling in front of him now and Izuku wants a hug because Dad's hugs are nice and warm and safe, and oh right he needs to breathe-
It took a bit, but eventually Izuku managed to calm down. "'m sorry." He sniffled.
"Oh Izuku, there's nothing to be sorry for. Here, I'll help patch you up. We can talk afterwards." They were both silent after that, rubbing ointments into Izuku's skin, as well as wrapping a couple bandages. It was over all too quickly for Izuku, who didn't really want to have this talk.
"Now we have," Hisashi checked his watch, "about an hour until your mother gets back. Do you want to talk in here or the living room?"
Izuku thought for a second, weighing his options. "The living room, please." Hisashi gave a small smile that was bursting with love and stood up.
"Get a shirt on and I'll meet you in there."
When his father left the room, Izuku packed his medical supplies away and threw his 'Put Your Hands Up Radio' shirt on. Walking slowly to try and delay the inevitable, Izuku saw that his father had made hot chocolate, and judging from the whipped cream, dusted chocolate, absurd number of mini marshmallows and the giant mug, it was the special family recipe. Izuku sat in the armchair, bringing his legs up, and cradled his mug (it was more of a bowl, really).
He was thankful his father was giving him time to think how to start. With a sigh, Izuku figured he may as well start at the beginning.
"Almost straight after the doctors declared me quirkless, Kacchan started pushing me around saying I was useless." Izuku resolutely focused on his drink, ignoring the sharp intake of breath from the couch.
"Over time, he started saying more than just that, and he started getting progressively more violent. By the time we were in elementary, it had evolved into him, Tsubasa and Yubi beating me up, as well as stealing and ruining my things. Sometimes they would pick on the other kids too, the ones with mutation quirks and quirks they deemed 'weak'. I'd try and stand between them, only to get beaten further. He eventually turned most of the school and teachers on me, he hardly had to do anything anymore. It wasn't hard for him to get everyone at Aldera to get in on it. There's still almost daily 'sessions', on top of what everyone else does." He took a large gulp, not really willing to say much else.
The room was silent for a solid five minutes while Hisashi processed everything. By the time he seemed ready, Izuku was halfway through his drink. "Izuku..." He looked up to see his father's heartache written clear as day on his face. "The way you've been treated by everyone is absolutely horrible. To think you've been suffering for years and neither of us noticed." He looked to be starting to spiral into self deprecating thoughts.
"Dad, it's not your fault. I hid it from the both of you, I didn't want Kacchan to get in trouble. If he gets a mark on his record for bullying no hero school would take him, least of all UA."
His father merely sighed. "Izuku, it's our job as your parents to notice when something is wrong. And- look. I know you don't want to get Katsuki in trouble, but I don't want you to get hurt by him anymore. Or the rest of your peers. We'll have to talk to Inko about this, but I think it's best we move." Izuku wasn't expecting that. He blinked.
"Move?"
He was met with a solemn nod. "As you know, I was transferred to the Tokyo branch. And while I'm happy to do the commute every day, I have to wake up really early and I get home super late. If we moved, I'd be able to spend more time with you and you won't be around everyone who's learned to hurt you. I'll still be talking to Katsuki's parents," Good luck Kacchan, "but I think the change would be good for all of us."
On one hand, Izuku really didn't want to continue getting hurt like he has been for almost a decade, but he also didn't really want to leave Kacchan. He saw his father's point though, being away from all of... that and being closer to his father's work would be good for all of them. He voiced as such, and Hisashi's relieved smile made Izuku happy with the decision.
When Inko got back, everything was relayed to her and it was discussed when and where they would move. Plans were made, and they had all packed and moved to a new, larger apartment in the suburbs of Tokyo. The move from Shizuoka to Saitama was mostly a blur to Izuku, but it felt like a large weight had finally been lifted from him without him knowing it was ever there. He was still a little sad to say goodbye to the neighborhood he'd lived in his whole life, yet relieved he didn't have to go back to all that was there. He would cherish the precious few good memories he had there and look forward to making new ones in his new neighbourhood.
Along with the move, Izuku would be starting his second year of junior high at the local school. He hoped the people there were more open to his lack of a quirk than those back in Musutafu. Maybe he could even make some friends! ...Though he seriously doubted it. Who would want to be friends with the useless, quirkless kid?
Izuku was trapped in his thoughts as he walked to the conbini. His Mum forgot to buy eggs, and since Izuku had nothing to do he volunteered to go. He was going to need to learn the streets and everything anyway. He was too far in his own head, however, to notice the boy walking toward him. They collided with an 'oof' and both ended up on their asses.
Snapping out of his daze, Izuku hastily stood up. "Oh my god I'm so sorry, I was thinking too hard and didn't see you and I'm so incredibly sorry- '' He was cut off from his rambling apologies by a good-natured chuckle.
"It's fine dude, I wasn't watching where I was going either."
Izuku lifted his head to look at the stranger. The boy looked about Izuku's height, with golden hair and eyes. Though in his hair there was also a black lightning streak. Is that natural or did he dye it? It looks cool, does it have anything to do with his quirk? An electrical type it'd likely be-
"Yeah man, it's natural. No idea how it works, it just does. It's real cool you could work out my quirk just from that though, pretty amazing if you ask me." Oh no he said that out loud. Curse him and his muttering habit! "Hey, I haven't seen you around here before. You new?"
"Y-yeah. We moved in nearby recently; I'll be starting my second year of junior high this year."
"Oh man really? Same here my dude! Osasu Junior High?" Izuku nodded. "Duuuuude that's where I go!" He slung an arm around Izuku's neck. "Well consider your friend count to have just gone up, cos I'll be sure to be the best friend you'll ever have, need or want. I'm Kaminari Denki by the way. That's probably a thing you'll need to know." Kaminari smiled at Izuku. The smile Izuku threw back he knew was shaky at best. Oh no, he'll have to tell him before things get too far along, Izuku didn't need any more reason for people to pick on him.
"M-Midoriya Izuku. But a-are you sure? I'm, um, quirkless..." He trailed off looking down. He wanted so badly to have a friend, a proper friend, that wouldn't care about that. But he knew it was near impossible. He held out hope though. Kaminari-kun didn't seem like the type to care, but looks could be deceiving.
To Kaminari's credit, his face didn't change nor did he bat an eyelid. "Man, I don't care about that. You could have a quirk that made you vomit swords and I'd still wanna be your friend. You seem like a cool dude, and having a quirk doesn't automatically make you a good person." And didn't Izuku know all about that. "Now, Midobro," Izuku flushed a little at that; a nickname already? They just met! "Where were you headed dude? I've lived around here my whole life, I can tell you the best places for anything. Want great coffee for cheap? There's a hole in the wall cafe about two blocks from here. Best damn coffee I've ever had. Want the best ramen in town? Ten minute walk down that street there, then take a left. Anywhere you wanna go, I'll take you there."
"Um, both those places sound great. B-but I just needed to pick up some eggs."
"Eggs! I can do that. Store's just around the corner here. I'll take ya."
Izuku felt a little awkward with Kaminari's arm over his shoulders, but he liked its presence. It was comforting, grounding.
"So Midobro, tell me about yourself. I like ice cream sundaes, action games, kart games and both jrock and jpop. I'm a dog person but I do like cats too, my favourite flavour is mango, favourite hero is Present Mic and I'm blood type O. One time in elementary school someone snuck up on me when I was focused on something and I accidentally caused a blackout in the school."
And Izuku thought he rambled. He guessed he’d just reply with the same list of facts about himself. "Um, I like boba, heroes, analysis, and I don’t really have a preference for music. I prefer cats, but dogs are good too, my favourite flavour is peach, my favourite hero is All Might and I’m also type O." He had to pause there to think of a short story to tell. "In first grade I tripped over someone's bag they left on the ground, crashing into my uh, 'friend'. He has an explosion quirk, and he accidentally blew up the teacher's desk, causing pieces of it to go flying and get stuck in the blackboard. We were finding pieces of the desk throughout the whole year." Kaminari seemed to find it amusing. It had been, in retrospect, but directly after it happened it wasn't funny at all. Izuku would probably use words like 'terrifying' or 'agonizing'. He still had a small scar on his back from that, now that he thought about it.
They walked into the store, Kaminari's arm still around his shoulders, Izuku mostly relaxed about it by then. "The eggs are this way dude. Man, I have a feeling we'll be good friends. You know which class you're gonna be in yet?"
Izuku shook his head. "No, I think I'll find out on the first day."
"Damn, well no matter. Even if we aren't in the same class we can eat lunch together and stuff."
"That's true." They were at the eggs now. Izuku picked up the cheapest pack and they started to walk to the checkout. The eggs paid for, they left the store laughing at a joke Kaminari made. Izuku was feeling happy for once. It had been a rather foreign emotion for him in recent years, but maybe, just maybe, he'd be feeling it more often. They split up down the street; Izuku had eggs to bring back and Kaminari had his own errands to run.
At the end of the day, Izuku had a new number in his phone, and a hope in his chest that maybe things would be okay.