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Chapter Text

Origin: Part One; Death of a Hero

Midoriya Izuku is dead.
We used to be one and the same, him and I. But now, now we’re different people.
Midoriya Izuku is gone.
I’m Mizurio Izuku now.

Midoriya Izuku was a young child with green hair and shining green eyes, a boy filled with hope and wonder and a love of heroes. Midoriya Izuku had a loving mother and an absent father. Midoriya Izuku was best friends with a boy named Kacchan. Midoriya Izuku was the sunshine child, with a smile that lit up the room. Midoriya Izuku had the cutest stutter. MIdoriya Izuku was always kind, sweet, and helpful. Midoriya Izuku was a diehard All-Might fan. Above everything, Midoriya Izuku wanted to be a hero.

Mizurio Izuku was just a teenager, who had experienced things a kid should never have had to experience. Mizurio Izuku had lost the green hair, instead his hair was dyed blue to match the colored-contacts he wore over his eyes. Midoriya had a loving mother, father, and two older siblings who would support him through anything. Mizurio Izuku now knew that Bakugou Katsuki hadn’t been his friend for a long time. He knew that Katsuki wasn’t really a bad person, and that he would be a great hero. But the two of them couldn’t be friends. Especially since Bakugou thought he was dead.

Mizurio Izuku was no longer the sunshine child. He was sarcastic and rude, unlike the smiling child he used to be. Mizurio Izuku rarely ever smiles, and when he does, it really is more of a smirk. Mizurio Izuku lost the stutter years ago. Mizurio Izuku is bitter and broken, but Mizurio Izuku is strong. Mizurio Izuku has things to live for. Mizurio Izuku was still kind, but in different ways. Mizurio Izuku is still a good guy, but it’s harder to see. Mizurio Izuku is always helpful, yet barely anyone knows about it.

Mizurio Izuku … wasn’t a die hard All-Might fan anymore. The day ‘Midoriya Izuku’ died, he saw through all the magic of the so called heroes. While he knew All Might meant no true harm, he learned more about the society of the heroes than he had in all those years of analyzing. Mizurio Izuku knew that the society of heroes was rotten to the core. Mizurio Izuku, despite being just a teenager, had buried his youth in a casket and kept it locked up tight, despite the people who tried to coax it back out of him.
Mizurio Izuku … didn’t want to be a hero anymore. Mizurio Izuku, however, still wants to save people, an urge that’s been inside of him since he was born. Midoriya Izuku chased an unachievable dream. Mizurio Izuku found another way to satisfy the need to save others. Mizurio Izuku became a vigilante.

That fateful day when Midoriya Izuku’s dreams were crushed didn’t get any better after he was left alone on the rooftop. For a while, he contemplated jumping. But something deep in him stirred, and he swore to himself that he would prove All Might and all the others’ wrong, He would become a hero no matter what anyone said.

But maybe he wouldn’t be so much of an All Might fan anymore.

His hero instincts had activated later in the day when he saw Kacchan being attacked by the slime villain. Izuku rushed forward, pulling Kacchan out of the way of danger.

Once the slime villain had finally been eliminated, he had been yelled at by pro-heroes and civilians alike. He was yelled at for saving someone's life by the people who had stood around and done nothing. He had lost another bit of his love of heroes then.

After Kacchan followed him back home to yell at him for saving his life, that’s when Midoriya Izuku began to realize what a toxic friendship he’d been involved in - Kacchan became ‘Katsuki’ that day.

However, through all of this, Midoriya Izuku’s dream to be a hero stayed intact. His love of heroes stayed strong, even if it had wavered. Yet it all broke when he arrived home to a neighborhood set on fire.

Another villain attack had occurred during the Sludge Villain attack, yet instead of All Might appearing to save the day. It was Endeavor. Midoriya Inko survived the villain attack. She makes it to the hospital. She dies three hours, covered in severe burns, her lungs failing due to smoke inhalation.

Faced with the foster system, Midoriya Izuku ran. He disappeared, and he never looked back.

The police don’t bother to search for the quirkless kid.

Midoriya Izuku died that day.

—

A month later, a young boy with green hair and green eyes dyed his hair black using cheap hair dye he bought at a convenience store. He ducks into an alleyway, eating the food he bought using the money he stole. The now black-haired green-eyed boy is not Midoriya Izuku. Not anymore. But he’s not Mizurio Izuku yet.

That comes later.

—

Chapter Text

Origin: Part Two; The Good, the Bad, and the Dirty

In the slums of Musutafu no one blinked twice at another homeless kid. So the small boy went unnoticed, despite his odd appearance. With long, messy black hair with streaks of green, a ripped and dirty all might sweatshirt, three identical scars slashing through his cheek that look oddly like cat claws, and a rabid-looking old calico cat, covered with patches of black, white, and brown fur buried in his hair, he was certainly a sight to see.
A month or two later, and those of Musutafu were used to the boy. The boy who was much too young to be out here, the boy with the cat that would teleport through the air and attack anyone who got within a six-feet radius. From what the people of Musutafu had heard, the cat’s name was Kōyō. No one knew who the boy was, though.

Izuku didn’t know who he was.

Izuku was leaping through the rooftops, a habit he’d gotten quite used to over the months. He sat on a rooftop, admiring the view. There weren't a lot of good things in his life. Kōyō was one of them. The view from the highest building in Musutafu was another. So he sat there, watching the sunset. Just as the colors began to blur and the sky began to darken - that’s when he heard the scream.

With nothing better to do, Izuku jumps up and chases after the sound, tracing it back to its origin. He crouched down on a rooftop, shroud in darkness, watching the scene unfold.

Two men have cornered a young woman. One has a knife and is not using a visible quirk. The other has a flame quirk, fire sparking his hand.

Izuku’s brain ran a mile a minute. He analysed the situation -

There are no guns. That’s good. Both men are self-assured and cocky, from what he can see. The flame quirk seems similar to Katsuki’s quirk. From what he could see, the guy can’t use his quirk very well - he uses it as an intimidation factor. If attacked, he’d probably just let out streams of fire, which could be dodged easily - even if he is burned, it’s not like he isn’t used to it. Katsuki really did a number on him
.
As for the other man - well, the chances of him being quirkless were almost naught. It can’t be a mutation quirk - at least, it’s not one that’s visible, and there’s a low chance of that. These two seem to rely on intimidation. It’s likely that the first man didn’t have a flashy quirk, or something easily shown off. He did have a knife and the other didn’t, so he could have a speed or agility quirk, but overall, he wouldn’t have something very offensive. It was just a guess, but at least it was something to go on.

Izuku didn’t have time to think about it more.

He jumped down from the roof. He didn’t know how to fight, but he lashed out on instinct. He launched himself at the man with the knife first, tackling him to the ground. Using the element of surprise, he was able to knee him in the balls and yank his knife out of his hand. He rolled off the man as a blast of fire jetted past him. Grabbing the fallen man on to the ground by the arm, he yanked him back up, shoving him in front of him as a human shield. The next blast of fire from his partner hit him, and he fell to the ground screaming, falling unconscious from the pain. Izuku’s eyes twitched as the smell of burnt flesh filled the air, but he ignored the bile rising up in his throat, ignored what the smell of smoke reminded him of.

Using the knife stolen, Izuku launched himself at the fire-quirk man, knife brandished. The man caught him by the neck, infusing fire into his grip. Izuku screamed, his feet launching out, kicking the man in the face.

The man cursed, blood flowing from his nose. He released Izuku, who fell to the ground with a handprint burnt black around his neck.

Izuku lashed forward again. He went forward with the knife, but the man dodged easily, grabbing his wrist and snapping it with ease. Izuku screamed as the knife dropped to the ground. The man punched Izuku in the stomach, sending him falling to the ground cradling a broken wrist. The man activated his quirk and smoke clogged Izuku’s nose.

Izuku lost it. His hands wrapped around a metal scrap, a piece of pipe that lay around in the dark of the alleyway. With strength and speed a kid shouldn’t have, he launched himself forward. He was numb to the pain, he couldn’t feel his wrist screaming at him from overuse. Izuku ducked under the man’s legs appearing behind him. He swung the metal pipe, hitting the man’s head. The man stumbled forward. Izuku didn’t stop hitting, the pipe repeatedly crashing against the man’s skull, bashing it in until the man’s body fell still.

Izuku dropped the pipe and he stumbled backwards. Something in his mind registered that he’d killed the man, but he ignored it.

His eyes flickered to the blonde-haired woman who was watching him with wary eyes. He almost laughed. He couldn’t imagine what a sight he was, covered in blood and burns, nursing a wrist snapped at an ungodly angle, standing over a dead body the murder weapon only a couple inches away from his feet.

“I - I’m sorry,” He choked out. The woman’s brow furrowed.

“Why are you sorry? You saved my life,” Izuku didn’t understand.

“But I killed this man,”

“In self-defense,”

“That can hardly be judged as self-defense! I hit him with a pipe repeatedly until he died. I could’ve stopped,”
“He would’ve killed you,” She said. “You saved me,” Izuku couldn’t understand why this woman was being so kind.

Ah. She didn’t know he was quirkless. Was this how normal people were treated?

Pain filled Izuku. Why couldn’t he have been normal?
The pain filled him until it choked him, weighing on his chest until he couldn’t breath.

“I - I have t- to go,” He stuttered out. Stumbling on his feet as the pain began to register, he ran out of the alleyway.

“I didn’t even have a chance to say thank you!” The woman called out. Izuku didn’t stop. “Wait! You didn’t even tell me who you are!”At that, Izuku paused. He freezed, briefly, turning around to face the blonde.

“I don’t know who I am,” Izuku says. “I don’t know,”
—
It isn’t long before all of those in the slums of Musutafu know of him.

The emerald-eyed boy with the cat claw scar across his cheek, and the burnt scar of a handprint around his neck. The emerald-eyed boy who would jump in to save anyone, no matter the situation. The emerald-eyed boy who would fight despite the pain. The emerald-eyed boy who always helped those in need, from defending them from criminals, or even just giving them food and money on particularly bad days.

The emerald-eyed boy who was kind, but ruthless. The emerald-eyed boy with innocent intentions but dangerous motivations. The emerald-eyed boy with no past, no history, and no name.

No one knew him, but everyone knew of him.

The emerald-eyed boy was constantly on the move. He didn’t have a home, he’d move from place to place with his cat. It was just him and his cat. In all honesty, the emerald-eyed boy was alone.

He was tired of being alone.

Thankfully, the emerald-eyed boy wouldn’t be alone for much longer.
——

Chapter Text

Intermission: Bakugou Katsuki; Monster

Bakugou Katsuki was having an absolutely shitty day.

At first, he couldn’t seem to figure out why. There was this continuous, building pressure in his chest, and his fuse is much shorter than usual. He snapped at anyone who came close, and throughout the entire day, he scratched at his palms, nails tearing through his wrists, trying to stop the explosions from bubbling to the surface.

He can’t figure out why though, he can’t figure out why he’s feeling this way. Honestly, he isn’t sure what he’s feeling. That is, until a flash of green flickers past him, the memory of green eyes and green hair pierced in his mind. Distantly, he can hear softly spoken words -

“Kacchan?”

Bakugou slammed his hands down onto his desk, explosions crackling from his hands. He watched in numb apathy as his homework caught on fire, and he watched it burn until finally, finally, he grabbed the fire extinguisher always handy by his desk and put out the fire. He didn’t bother to clean up the mess, instead he got up, collapsing face first onto his bed.

For the first time ever, Bakugou Katsuki was feeling sad. The feeling was foreign to him, and he didn’t like the vulnerability. He’s supposed to be the best, he’s supposed to be number one yet there he was, moping, wasting time, and being so terribly weak.

Katsuki felt like he was suffocating, like someone else’s heart was stuck in chest and he wanted nothing more than to rip it out and blow it to pieces.

Yet he can’t.
So he sat, alone, in his room, feeling oh so fucking sad.
The nerd’s funeral was yesterday. He’s dead.
And Bakugou didn’t know why he cared.
He’s just a shitty deku, it didn’t matter that he’s dead.

And yet it does. It’s all that matters right now. Katsuki, his mom, and his dad were one of the only ones at the double funeral for Deku and Auntie Inko. There was a police officer, and a weird, skeletal blonde, but other than that, it was just Katsuki and his family. The entire time he stood there, stuck in that overbearing silence, surrounded by suffocating grief, Katsuki wanted to blow up, but he didn’t, as a feeling similar to guilt began to stir in his chest.

Bakugou didn’t know why he was feeling guilty. He has nothing to be guilty for.
… but he does, doesn’t he?
Deku wasn’t his friend , yet he can’t stop thinking of those wide green eyes, welled with tears.

“Kacchan?”

Bakugou almost explodes again, but he keeps his emotions under check.
They weren’t friends.
Yet some strange, foreign part of Bakugou began to wish they had been.

A larger part of Bakugou has been missing ever since Izuku died. He wanted it back yet he didn’t know how to regain that part of him. Over the past couple days, his temper had been short, yet, in a way, he’d been more mellowed out. Two opposites that don’t fit together and the conflicting personalities warring inside of him are making him feel all twisted up inside.

I want to be the best hero.
Yet I couldn’t save deku.
What does that make me?

A recording of an old interview of All Might is playing in the background. Normally, hearing the sound of his voice calmed him down. But now, all All Might reminds Bakugou of is Deku. And that just made him feel even shittier.
“What does it mean to be a hero?” Bakguou buried his face in my pillow, clenching my plans hard enough to draw blood, listening to the silence as All Might deliberated for a couple seconds.

“I think that the definition of ‘hero’ changes for each person. For some people, it’s being the best you can. For others, it’s making a difference. But I think, when I think of a ‘hero’ I think of the first rule of being a hero - to prioritize the rescue. I think being a hero is about helping others. In big ways, like defeating supervillains and ending drug rings - and in small ways, like saving a cat from a tree, helping an old lady walk down the street, standing up against discrimination, even helping others when they’re sad or down. To be a hero is to help others no matter what it takes, even if the odds are against you. To be a hero is to bring others up with you instead of pushing them down. To help those who can’t help themselves, and protect those who need it. Being a hero -“ The rest of the words trail off.

Katsuki couldn’t stop himself from thinking about all the times he watched others bully Deku. He thought about all the times that he bullied him too. The times he stood back and watched as others hurt him, walked past as he called for help, walked past as tears welled up in those green eyes of him.

“I just want to be your friend!”
“We’re not friends, shitty deku!”

“To help those in need of help”
Deku needed help.
But that wasn’t Katsuki’s job, was it? The shitty nerd should have stood up for himself!
… but it was a hero’s job, wasn’t it? And Katsuki was a hero …
… wasn’t he?

“You’re going to be the best hero ever Kacchan!”
“Of course I am! I’m going to be the best hero ever! I’m going to beat All Might!”

Should he have helped Deku?
All of the teachers had just stood by and watched as he and others bullied Deku. They hadn’t done anything.
That … wasn’t right.
That couldn’t be right.
All the teachers had stood by, watching, shrugging it off, blaming Deku for things he had no control over. While Deku was bullied, while Katsuki bullied Deku, the teachers stood back and complimented his quirk.

“You have such a great quirk, Kacchan!”
“Of course I do!”

If he had such a great quirk, then why couldn’t he have saved Deku? Why didn’t he save Deku?

To be a hero is to help others no matter what it takes, even if all the odds are against you.

Deku had run in to save Katsuki, despite being quirkless. He ran forward, while all the pro heroes stayed back. I didn’t need his help, I didn’t need a shitty, worthless, quirkless, useless, deku -

He honestly harmed more than he had helped -
Yet, he had tried, hadn’t he?
That was more than all the Pro-Heroes at the site could say.

“Are quirks weren’t suited to fight the villain -“

What complete and utter bullshit. Deku ran ahead, despite having no quirk at all.

All the heroes shunned him, for doing something, for trying, just because he was quirkless. Meanwhile, they praised Katsuki for getting his stupid, weak-ass kidnapped and held hostage, just because he had such a great quirk.

If he had such a great quirk, then why didn’t he save Deku?

Why didn’t he do something?
Why didn’t he help him?

Katsuki was the best.
Deku was worthless.
Katsuki was going to be the number one hero.
Deku was quirkless.
Deku had always wanted to be a hero.

“Kacchan!” Deku raced forward as Death Arms and Kamui Woods screamed for him to get back. Death Arms caught his arm, but that didn’t stop Deku - he raced forward with his arm twisted at an ungodly angle, his free, uninjured arm stretching towards Katsuki as his backpack flew forward -

Deku had always wanted to be a hero.
And Bakugou was starting to realize that he always had been.

Deku was still quirkless, still useless, still worthless -
Yet despite all of that, Bakugou should have helped him.
That’s what a hero did.
A hero didn’t … bully people.
Bakugou was starting to realize that he had been a bully.
A villain.

But it wasn’t his fault it could be - it wasn’t his fault -

And yet, it was.

Guilt swamps him and drowns him, and, as explosions pop from his hands and his hearing fades, he begins to realize that he’s not breathing.
This was wrong

This was all wrong.

So so wrong …

*Slight trigger warning*

Nails scratched through his wrist over and over and over and the feeling of warm blood dripping down down his skin helped to calm him, and he could feel his chest loosen as he began to breathe again.
The nails didn’t stop, scratching and mauling at his arms till they were a mess of swollen lines and red blood that dripped onto his bed and stained his sheets.

*Trigger warning over*

Memories whisked through Katsuki’s mind.

“If you really wanna be a hero so bad, take a swan dive off the roof and hope you get a quirk in your next life!”

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

Bakugou barely makes it to the bathroom in time, kneeling over the sink as he throws up again, and again, and again, emptying the contents of his stomach until there’s nothing left.

Katsuki told him to jump.

He told him to commit suicide.

He had been a bully, a villain, and it took Izuku’s death for him to realize.

He wasn’t a fucking hero.

He couldn’t be a fucking hero.

He was a monster.

What the fuck was wrong with him?

Bakugou had screwed up.
He fucked up.
He ruined everything.

He had to find a way to fix this.

—

Chapter Text

Origin: Part Three; Ignite

Mizurio Ayumi was having a shitty day.

She’d had a fight with her parents.

She’d lost her job.

Broken a precious gift from her best friend.

And now, she was being robbed, and she was so done with this shit.

Three men, all of average build, one with a lion mutation quirk, one with a pain-enhancing quirk, and one with a super strength quirk. They were wannabes and obviously had no idea what they were doing. She wasn’t in any danger, no, she could deal with them easily. Yet because of this little set back, she’d be late home, and her parents were already pissed at her.

She pulled out a knife from the backpacker of her jeans. She never goes anywhere without her trusty pocket knife. She tensed as she prepared to lunge.

She didn’t get a chance.

Someone lunged from the shadows. He tackled the pain-enhancer first - the pain-enhancer activated his quirk. Pain flashes through the mysterious someone’s eyes, but he doesn’t even flinch, his pace doesn’t slow.

He slammed the pain-enhancer’s head against the rock floor and the pain enhancer fell unconscious. The lion sneaks up behind and leapt at the green-eyed boy - he’s just a boy, Ayumi realized. Ten, maybe eleven years old.

He shouldn’t be able to fight so well.

But he can. He knew the lion’s sneak attack was happening 5 seconds before it actually happened - he grabbed the lion’s wrist without turning around, flipping him over with strength he definitely should not have. He grabbed the lion’s tail and tugs, and the lion screamed - it’s obviously a weak spot, and Ayumi chastised herself over not realizing that sooner. The super-strength quirked one lunged forward, powering his punch up. The boy rolled out of the way with practiced ease, and the punch landed on the ground, cracking the concrete. The boy grabbed his arm and flipped him over, grabbing his arms and restraining them with - self-made quirk cancelling ropes? She recognized them quickly, her mother has made something similar before. They’re extremely difficult to make, even for a well-trained adult.

Who was this kid?

It only took him five minutes to wipe the floor with all three of the robbers.

It’s after she realized that he was injured. Blood was trickling from the side of his head, his right leg was twisted at an unnatural angle, and blood stained the front of the white shirt he wore.

He hadn’t gotten any of the injuries from this fight, he must’ve gotten them from somewhere else.

Ayumi took a step forward. The boy jumped, and turned to run.

He didn’t get a chance.

He collapses to the ground, unconscious.

Ayumi sighs.

Well, shit
——

“Mom, Dad, I’m home!”

“Ayumi, where the hell have you been! You should’ve been back - Ayumi?”
“Yes?”
“Did you kill someone?!”

“No, oh my god! Why would you think that?!”

“You’re carrying a dead body,”
“Mom! He’s not dead! Just severely injured!”
“Did you beat up a teenager?”

“No, dad! I don’t know why you instantly assume the worst!”
“To be fair, Ayumi, you can be quite … violent sometimes,”

“I am not!”
“You punched a guy in the face last week,”
“He deserved it!”
“Mmhmm,”

“Whatever, Dad. We’ll have this conversation later. But first, can we get this boy some help? I think he really needs it,”
——

Izuku woke up alone in a strange place.

He panicked, his eyes darting around, fear building up in his chest. He was maybe a second away from a panic-attack when his eyes landed on Kōyō. The calico cat was asleep on his chest, and his furry body instilled a sense of familiarity into Izuku, calming him down just a bit. Izuku reached out and ran his hand through Kōyō’s fur. Kōyō opened one eye, glaring at Izuku, not happy at all about being woken up.

He glared at Izuku, before closing his eyes, lowering his head and falling back asleep.

“How are you feeling?”
It was then Izuku realized he was not alone.

—

Chapter Text

Origin: Part Four

He, at first, had tried to fight his way out.
It was instinct.
He was in an unfamiliar place with unfamiliar people and he wanted to get out. They told him in whispered tones that they didn’t want to hurt him, but he couldn’t believe that. Not yet. Izuku had only ever been hurt.

So he fought them, and they fought back. Their moves were practiced and gentle and they avoided outright hurting him. ‘I don’t want to hurt you’ they repeated over and over. ‘We’re just here to help’

Eventually, Izuku registered the exhaustion and pain in his body, and he fell back on to the couch. The strange people didn’t approach him, instead they watched him with various degrees of pity, sadness, and worry painted over their faces.

He took this time to study them.

There were three. One was a girl who seemed to be 3 or 4 years older than Izuku. She was the girl he had saved, a bob of blue hair cropped at cheek level. Her eyes were a sparkling blue as well, and, while her dark blue shirt was ripped she didn’t look too worse for wear.

Then there were two adults, a man and a woman, most likely husband and wife. One donned blue eyes and blue hair the same as the girl’s, though the woman’s hair was longer, tied in a messy bun - but the free strands dropped just below her shoulders. She wore a simple blue dress, with contrasting red heels and an emerald necklace around her neck.

The man’s hand was intertwined with the woman. Unlike the females, though, his hair was black, though it was decorated with sky-blue highlights. He wore dark green sweatpants and a white sweatshirt, and his posture was relaxed, a reassuring smile on his face.

“Kid,” The man said, keeping his tone gentle. “We just want to help. We’re not going to hurt you,” Izuku didn’t believe him - he backpedalled, hitting the wall. How did he get here? Where is he? He just wants to leave.

“You helped save my daughter’s life,” The man said. A slight over-exaggeration - his daughter would’ve been fine. That doesn’t mean he isn’t grateful that this emerald-eyed boy stepped in and helped. “You were badly hurt, and you fell unconscious. My daughter, Ayumi, brought you to our house, and my wife treated your wounds,” He wasn’t lying, Izuku noted. Maybe he just wanted to help?

No, that would be too good to be true.

If they wanted to help, then why were they keeping him here? Why didn’t they let him leave?

The woman stepped forward slightly, carefully, as if she’s approaching a wild animal. “You’re still very injured,” She explains. “If you leave, your injuries could get much worse. You’ll rip your stitches, and your concussion will prevent you from being able to protect yourself,”

… concussion? At least that explained the pounding, unrelenting pain in his head.

“We’re not going to hurt you,” The woman continued. “We just want to help you heal. We won’t keep you here - once your injuries are healed you’ll be free to go,” Izuku … trusted them. Which a foreign feeling, because he hasn’t trusted anyone in a very long time. Everyone lets him down. He knew this was a bad idea.

But Izuku was in so much pain. And he’s tired, so tired. He’s tired of being alone, and these people have been so kind, so generous, and the positive emotions are like a drug to him. Would it hurt to stay here, just for a while?

Izuku was too tired to doubt his decision. His body slumps forward, and the pain and the fatigue swamp him. His vision got fuzzy, his mind dissolving into static. He hoped he wasn't making a mistake, trusting these blue-haired strangers.
But he didn’t get to think about it for much longer, as exhaustion overtook him and his vision went black.
—
Izuku has been with the blue-haired strangers for around a week now, as he heals from his injuries.
They aren’t the blue-haired strangers anymore - they’re the Mizurios. He was wary around them, but slowly, slowly, he grew closer to them.

The girl, her name was Ayumi. Mizurio Ayumi. She’s brash, with a seemingly endless amount of energy. She yelled and argued with her parents often, but she was quite protective of them. She was naturally loud and rambunctious, but when Izuku was around, she puts in more effort to be quieter, to accommodate for him, and Izuku was … confused by this. He didn’t understand why she would do that for him , but he was grateful, nonetheless. Ayumi reminds him of Kacchan, and when with her, he spends time reminiscing over his childhood - he wonders where Katsuki was now. What he’s doing. If he’s changed. If Katsuki even remembers him.

Izuku didn’t see Katsuki as a friend anymore, but he did for a very, very long time. His life wasmissing something without his old ‘friend’ and every time his gut twisted, thinking that Katsuki may not even remember him - that Katsuki might not even care that he’s ‘dead’. Izuku hoped he’s better than that, but at this point, Izuku’s wasn’t too sure.

The woman, her name was Mizurio Akatsuki. She continues insisting she calls him Akatsuki, or just Suki, but that’s too formal for Izuku. It didn't seem right. But she insisted , so Izuku does - he didn't want to be rude. Akatsuki-san was very kind. She can be sarcastic and blunt with her family, but she was kind, always kind and empathetic, always looking out for others. Akatsuki-san is a doctor - it suits her quirk. Her quirk is complex, but one of the coolest quirks he’s ever seen. Akatsuki-san is kind, and gives him information on her quirk so he can analyze. Akatsuki-san’s mother’s quirk was called Forest - it allowed her to manipulate plants and nature. Akatsuki-san’s father’s quirk was called Reverse, and allowed him to turn back time on minor injuries, as well as take away the pain from the injuries too serious for him to heal.

Akatsuki-san’s quirk allowed her to take energy from sun and water, quite like a plant, and use that energy to heal others. She could also remove pain, and control and manipulate nature. An extra side of her quirk slows her aging, making her younger than she actually is. Her quirk was simply called ‘Plant’ - she wanted to change the name, but couldn’t think of anything better. Izuku wanted to think of one for her, but he can’t come up with anything good

Yasujiro Mizurio was Suki-San’s husband. Izuku wasn’t sure how a father’s supposed to act, given he’s never had one, but Izuku thinks Yasujiro-San is a brilliant father. He was always happy, smiling and upbeat - he also has a wicked tongue and a tendency to make terrible dad jokes. Every time he makes one, Izuku stays quiet, but inside, he smiles. Mizurio has a quirk called Cat - he has the abilities and agility of a cat, and can communicate with the felines.

The Mizurio family has four cats. A cat for each member of the family. Each is quirked, which was odd, but he didn't question it much longer.

Akatsuki-San’s cat wasa Maine Coon, with fur similar to Kōyō’s except without the white spots. Just a mix of black and light brown splotches. The cat’s name is Hercules - and he’s ridiculously huge - he’s as long as Izuku is tall, maybe slightly longer, with a large mass of fur. Hercules, despite his name and size, was a big softy. At first, he had scared Izuku slightly - though he’d never admit it - but by now, Izuku had grown rather fond of Hercules. Whenever he sleeps - in the guest bedroom of the Mizurio household - it feels nice to sleep in an actual bed rather than on cold hard concrete - Hercules will come crawling into his bed, snuggling up with him despite the fact that cats are normally non-social creatures. Hercules is also a scaredy cat - the slightest unexpected noise will scare him, and Izuku always takes great delight sleeping with him - not only is he soft, but Izuku knew, that if someone comes near, if Izuku was in danger, Hercules will wake up, and with him, Izuku will too. Kōyō got along with Hercules quite well, surprisingly, and the entirety of the Mizurio household fell in love with the sight of Hercules asleep on top of Izuku, and Kōyō asleep on top of Hercules, nestled in his fur. Hercules has an empath quirk - one Izuku could not be more thankful for. Every time Izuku began to panic - uncomfortable in this odd situation, Hercules would jump over to him, and instantly, Izuku would begin to calm, getting comfortable as Hercules would ward away all negative emotions.

Ayumi’s cat was a grumpy old persian cat with light grey fur. Her name was Gangsta - an interesting name for a cat, most certainly, but Izuku had grown used to the oddities of the Mizurio family.
Despite being the laziest cat you could ever meet, Gangsta could be vicious. She seemed to tolerate Izuku, but Kōyō was an entirely different story. Every time Kōyō and Gangsta were in the same room together, a war began. Teeth, claws, bloodlust - it was, frankly, terrifying. Izuku knew how vicious Kōyō could be, having experienced her wrath firsthand - he even had a scar to remember it, the three claw marks that slashed across his right cheek. Izuku had a lot of scars. Too many. But he didn’t like to think about them.

Fights between Gangsta and Kōyō were truly a sight to behold. Kōyō had a teleportation quirk, giving her an advantage against a normal cat - but Gangsta was by no means a normal cat. Gangsta had an electricity quirk - her power ranged. Sometimes, she would release electricity only enough to raise the hairs along Izuku’s arms, other times, it would be a painful but quick mini-shock. However, against Kōyō, Gangsta did not hold back. Electricity crackled around the two cats as Kōyō teleported from place to place, searching for an opening. The fights had gotten so vicious the electricity in the house went out briefly - from then on, Kōyō and Gangsta had to be separated at all costs.

Yasujiro-San’s cat was a sphinx cat, named ‘Cleopatra’ and fondly nicknamed ‘Queeny’ - despite the fact that Queeny was a boy, not a girl. Cleopatra had an intelligence quirk - he was very, very smart, on human levels - and yet, he could not speak. He would communicate with Yasujiro-san, though - according to Yasujiro-san, he took his name in stride and began only talking in mind-boggling riddles. It, apparently, pissed Yasujiro-san off to no end. It was hilarious to watch them argue, even if the conversation was rather one-sided to Izuku.

Then there was the fourth cat. A white HImilayan Cat that could be described no other way but a large, fluffy cloud - given the name, Cloud Nine - although, he was more typically called ‘Fluffy’ or just ‘Cloud’. At first, Izuku was confused - the Mizurio family told him that each cat belonged to a specific family member - so who did Fluffy belong to? And that’s when Izuku learned about the fourth member of the Mizurio family - the one member Izuku has not met.

This last family member was Ayumi’s older brother, who was currently away - doing what, Izuku’s wasn’t sure. But he has a pretty good idea.

The Mizurio family is a wonderful family. They’re kind, generous, and they all have a close-knit family bond. But, they are by no means a normal family.

Izuku didn’t realize it at first, but now he knew for sure. The first thing that he found odd was the fact that they didn’t take him to a hospital. Sure, Akatsuki San had a healing quirk, but she wasn't a qualified doctor - and even if she was, normally you’d take someone to a hospital nonetheless. The Mizurio family hadn’t even asked about his parents - Izuku is relatively sure they knew he was orphaned and homeless, yet they didn’t tell anyone or try to convince him to go into the foster system. Not only that, but technically, he was a vigilante. Izuku didn’t really see himself as one - he didn’t have the costume, or the name; he couldn’t be a vigilante, he was just a useless deku - but most other people would definitely consider him a vigilante. The police would too. He couldn’t technically be arrested for vigilantism- no quirk after all. But no one here knew that - so why hadn’t they called the police? They didn’t seem the slightest bit perturbed about his nightly activities.

After a week, maybe slightly longer in the Mizurio family household, a week of observing and analyzing, Izuku had come to a startling conclusion. The Mizurio family was no ordinary family - no, they were a family of vigilantes.

Izuku came to this conclusion through many different methods, yet one of the main ones was Akatsuki-san’s quirk. It reminded him of an old Vigilante - Blue Ivy - a vigilante with the ability to manipulate nature and plants - in a much similar way to Akatsuki san. Blue Ivy was much like an underground hero, not very well known by the public - yet Izuku knew about her - of course he did, due to his practical stalking of hero forums. The thing that most stood out about Blue Ivy, though, putting aside her quirk, was her striking blue hair.

When he made the connection from Akatsuki-san to Blue Ivy, he quickly made the connection from Yasujiro-san to a similar vigilante known as ‘Catastrophe’. At first he didn’t make the connection - after all, Catastrophe was listed to have a speed and agility quirk, not a cat affinity quirk - of course, the agility and speed were just effects from that Cat Affinity. It made a lot of sense, in hindsight - who else would have such a horribly bad pun in their name? Cat-astrophe? The only one daring enough to do something as stupid as that was Yasujiro-san.

Both Blue Ivy and Catastrophe were retired now. But that didn’t change much - they were still vigilantes in spirit - fully willing to skirt around the law if they deemed it necessary - and easier. And Izuku was almost 100% sure that Blue Ivy and Catastrophe - Akatsuki and Yajiro San, were training their kids to follow in their footsteps, and become vigilantes themselves.

Izuku, despite having a severe case of lack of self-esteem, knew he was smart. He was confident in his theory. Yet, he never got it confirmed, given in his week with the Mizurio family, he never once spoke a word. He’d growl and his to warn them away, much like a cat, much like Kōyō in all honesty, but he never spoke a word.

The Mizurios came to the conclusion that he was selectively mute - or that his vocal chords were damaged (the burnt scar of a handprint around his neck supported that theory). Izuku’s vocal chords worked just fine, and as for being selectively mute - Izuku didn’t think he was - he wanted to speak, he really did. He wanted to thank the Mizurio’s for their help, he wanted to ask them about their quirks, he wanted to question their kindness and their vigilante pasts, but Izuku couldn’t find it in him to speak, to vocalize the words, because, Izuku realized, it had been so long since he’d really spoken. The last words he spoke - putting aside the occasional, snapped out words to victims he’d saved - was a cold broken “oh” as his dreams were crushed on a rooftop. Izuku didn’t want to speak, afraid he’d be disappointed all again. Izuku wanted to be brave, but he didn’t know if he could, just yet.

But Izuku wasn’t worried. He had time. The Mizurio family were patient. Someday, somehow, he’d reach back inside himself for those elements of youth that made young Midoriya Izuku so heroic - his bravery, his instincts, his heart. Izuku swore to himself that he would, one day, find the courage to be brave.

—

Days passed like seconds, weeks passed like days. Time flied as Izuku’s time with the Mizurio’s was slowly drawn to an end. Izuku’s wounds were almost completely healed. True to their word, the Mizurio’s didn’t force him to stay. Izuku stands at the doorway, mid-afternoon, staring out at the cloudy gray sky and the streets coated with rain. Izuku - he isn’t sure what he wants. As he stepped outside, and a gust of wind spiraled around him, Izuku wanted to run back inside, into the warmth - he didn't want to venture into the cold, into the loneliness, again. But Izuku didn’t want to be a burden. He refused to burden the Mizurio family anymore.

As he stepped outside, the Mizurio family was quiet - Izuku thought he saw hints of sadness on their faces. But he was obviously wrong. While he prided himself on being able to read emotions somewhat well, why would the Mizurio family be sad to see him go? No, it was probably just a mask, a courtesy. Inside, they were likely smiling, happy to finally get rid of quirkless, worthless Deku.

More determination sparked through Izuku, and he took another step out into the cold. A shiver wracked through his body - he had grown too used to the warmth, too used to the luxury of a house, an actual place to live. Rain drops began to pound against Izuku, wet drops sliding down his cheeks, looking suspiciously like tears. When Izuku tasted a hint of salt on his lips, he realized that he was, in fact, crying, and the tears mixed with the rain and wet his cheeks and lips. He blinked aggressively, wiping at them furiously - Midoriyas have always been criers, but Izuku didn’t want to be a crybaby, a worthless, no-good -

Izuku sucked in a deep breath, determined to calm himself. As he took a few more steps forward, Izuku realized that he never thanked the Mizurios for all they’ve done for him. Izuku wasn’t even sure if his vocal chords still work - they’re raw and unused. But to Izuku, the concept of leaving without a single word of thanks is unfathomable - he couldn’t do that. So Izuku mustered up whatever minimal strength he had left, steeling himself, then turned around to glance at the Mizurio family.

Izuku paused, sucking in a deep breath. “Thank you,” Izuku whispered, voice cracked and broken, sounding just as unused as it is. Nonetheless, Izuku continued; “Thank you, so much,”

Shock flicked quickly over all the Mizurio’s faces - Ayumi stared at him like he’s a completely different person. Izuku swallowed down the lump in his throat and repeated his words.

“Thank you,”

It’s the last thing he said before turning his back and running into the distance. He’ll miss the warmth, for sure, but he won’t come back. The cold, the loneliness, the dark - it’s what Izuku deserved..

After all, he’s just a quirkless, worthless Deku.

Chapter Text

Intermission: Shinsou Hitoshi: I’m Not a Cynic

Today was really not Shinsou Hitoshi’s day.
He was lying on the cold stone floor of an abandoned alleyway. His jaw was burning with pain as the metal muzzle his bullies strapped around his face tightened and bit into his skin. His body was covered in ugly purple bruises, the color almost identical to hair. Said hair, while known for its gravity defying powers, was currently framing his face and dropping down to his shoulders, weighed down by water, soaked by the rain. His hair wasn’t the only thing soaked - Shinsou was drenched from head to toe, and his clothes clung to his body. Not to mention, he was fucking freezing, and violent shivers wracked his body. Hitoshi could barely breathe, with how hard his teeth were chattering.

Hitoshi buried his head in his knees. His cheeks were wet, and he told himself it was from the rain, but deep down, he knew otherwise. Hitoshi wanted to be a hero. Yet that dream kept getting farther and farther away as time passed. He always told himself that what other people said didn’t matter, and that he was going to be a hero, but as more time passed, his voice was starting to get quieter, drowned out by the hurtful, vicious comments that ripped into his psyche and self esteem, that ripped into his very soul
Maybe that seemed a little dramatic, but it wasn’t, not for Hitoshi. No one believed in him. No one. He thought he’d always have his parent’s support, at the very least, but as time passed, Hitoshi watched as even their faith in him began to fade.

“Are … are you sure that being a hero is what you want to do?”
“Of course it is! That’s all I’ve ever wanted to do!”
“I just … I’m not sure this is the right path Shinsou,”

Neither of them believed in him anymore. They didn’t say it outright, but he saw it, he saw it in their eyes, their words, the wariness when they spoke, when they answered his questions, even though they were his parents, their trust in him was supposed to be unconditional, they were supposed to love him no matter what - yet they didn’t, and as he grew, no matter what he did, despite the fact that he never used his quirk they were beginning to see him just the same as everyone else did.

“Villain,”

Everyday, his dream of being a hero became more like a dot in the distance, more unachievable, more impossible. And, as he sat in that dark, dank alleyway, pain pulsing through him, he began to realize that maybe he couldn’t be a hero. Maybe he was destined to be nothing more than a villain.

He doesn’t see how that’s fair. He hated how no matter what he did he had to be the villain. He hated how fucking rigged the world was, how someone with a powerful, likable quirk had everything in their life handed to them on a silver platter, yet someone like him had to fight for everything, but no matter what, he’d always lose.

He hated it, so, so much.

Why couldn’t he be good enough?

Why did he have this stupid quirk?

Why did his quirk even matter?

More tears streamed down his face, so much so that he can’t even pass it off for rain anymore. He didn’t know what he was going to do - if he couldn’t be a hero, what could he be? What was the point anymore?

Hitoshi curled into himself even further as he began to outright sob - at least, as much as he could with the stupid fucking muzzle chained around his mouth. His eyes blurred all he could taste was salt, so much fucking salt, and it’s getting harder and harder to breath, through the pain in his chest and through the fucking muzzle. A second passed, maybe two, until Hitoshi realized that he could not breath at all and he clawed at his face but it didn’t do any good, all he managed was to scratch his face with sharp nails. Hitoshi couldn’t breath, his vision was blackening and he was so lightheaded he could barely think - his clawing got more aggressive but it isn’t working, it isn’t working and he can’t fucking breathe -

“Kid? Kid, are you okay?” Hitoshi could barely hear the voice, it sounded so far away, and he couldn’t pay attention to it, not with the pain in his chest and the violent shivers and chattering teeth that prevented his breathing even further.

Warm hands touched his skin, and Hitoshi jolted backwards in panic. “Kid, calm down, I’m trying to help you. You need to calm down and breathe,” Hitoshi wanted to listen but he can’t, his shaking got more aggressive and his vision blackened even further - he was going to pass out and he was going to die here -

A metal click sounded through the alleyway, and the muzzle dropped forward. Hitoshi sucked in a deep breath, and his vision started to slowly return as his eyes flick up to his savior.

“There,” The man said. “Better?” Hitoshi jerked his head up and down as he breathed in ragged breaths, his chest shaking. Warmth enveloped him from the man’s palms, and his eyes flickered up to get a better look at the guy.

Hitoshi is 11, the guy above him seems to be around 16 or 17. His hair is black and frames his face. The most noticeable thing about him though, is the purple skin that scars his face, the skin that’s literally stapled to his face.

What the fuck?

Hitoshi didn’t think that was normal in any way. Not that it was a problem - he wasn’t one to discriminate, whether it be for looks or for quirks.

“Thank you,” Hitoshi rasped. His voice sounds odd, and his vocal cords stung with almost unbearable pain. The man in front of him, whose skin looks all too similar to burnt bacon, and who looks quite similar to what Hitoshi’s would suspect Satan to look like, smiles slightly, an … understanding look in his eyes.

“You’re welcome,” Satan said. “Are you ok?” Hitoshi nodded.

“Yeah,” He said. “I’m fine,” Satan arches an eyebrow.

“You’re crying,” Hitoshi’s eyes widened in surprise, and a hand darted up to touch his face. Hitoshi knew he had been crying, but he hadn’t realized that he still was. But, sure enough, tears are still streaming from his eyes and down his cheeks, and the salty water drips onto his fingers as Hitoshi dragged a hand down his cheek.

“Oh,” He said. “Sorry,” Satan sighed.

“You have nothing to be sorry for, Kid,” His eyes darkened ever-so-slightly, but just enough for Hitoshi to notice - he could practically feel the menace radiating from the man. “Whoever did this to you, though, does,”

This was just more confirmation that the man was, in fact, Satan. Hitoshi wasn’t quite sure why ‘Satan’ was being so nice to him though.

“Who did this to you?” Satan asked. Hitoshi shrugged, crushing down all the bitterness and all the pain.

“It doesn’t matter,” He responded. Satan’s lips turn down in a displeased frown.

“Yes it does,” Not particularly in the mood to anger the human embodiment of Satan, Hitoshi shrugged again and answered;

“Just some bullies,” Satan’s eyes narrowed even further.

“Does this happen often?” Hitoshi chose to just shrug again. Satan clicked his tongue, before subverting the topic of the conversation - actually, more like the interrogation. “Why do they bully you?” Hitoshi felt something squirm around in his gut - he didn’t really want to tell this man, to have him look at him in horror, fear, and thinly veiled hate like everyone else does. But, he supposed, the man is Satan, so it’s unlikely he’ll be afraid of someone like him. And even if he is, well, it won’t be a new experience. If he runs like everyone else, retracts his kindness, Hitoshi won’t be surprised.

He doesn’t let himself hope for anything more.

“I can brainwash people,” When Satan stared back at him with a blank look, Hitoshi explained further. “My quirk allows me to control people,” Satan still doesn’t seem to comprehend, his face contorting in confusion.

“Why would they bully you for that?” Hitoshi blinked, surprised.

“Because it’s a villain’s quirk,” Hitoshi said. ‘I’m a villain,” Satan raised an eyebrow.

“Kid, you’re hardly what I’d call a villain,” Satan drawled. “Villains tend to be a lot taller. Typically a bit older. They also tend to look more menacing and well, evil, rather than just downright sleep deprived,”

“Hey!” Hitoshi exclaimed. “I’m tall for my age,”

“Sure, half-pint,”

“I am not short!”

“Yes, you are. Compared to me, anyways,” Hitoshi stared up at Satan, thoroughly and utterly confused. He didn’t seem to care about his quirk. Did he not understand?

“You’re not scared of me?” Hitoshi asked. This did not seem right. No one’s ever acted so … nonchalant to Hitoshi’s quirk. The last time someone’s been this nice to him was the day before his quirk manifested.

Satan snorted. “Why would I be afraid of a half-pint like you?”

“I’m not short!” Hitoshi repeated, exasperated. Satan just raised an eyebrow. Hitoshi pouted - not that he’d ever admit it - and Satan laughed. A few seconds passed before Hitoshi spoke again.

“You don’t think my quirk is evil?” Satan stared at him for a second, before muttering a string of colorful curses under his breath. Satan then seemed to realize quite how colorful his language was, and gave Hitoshi an apologetic look.

“Sorry,”

“I’m 11. I can swear,” Satan didn’t answer, tilting his head for a few seconds.

“Kid,” He started. “No matter what anyone tells you, your quirk isn’t villainous,” Tears started to well up in Hitoshi’s eyes once again as Satan continued. “No matter what anyone tells you, you’re not a villain.”

Hitoshi’s breath hitched.

“You really think so?” Satan grinned.

“Of course, Purple. Personally, I don’t think you have what it takes to be a villain,” Hitoshi blinked up at him.

“How do you manage to make a compliment sound like an insult?” Satan lifted a shoulder.

“It’s a talent,” Hitoshi managed another small smile. He paused for a second.

“What’s your name?” Hitoshi asked. Satan narrowed his eyes.

“Why do you want to know?”

“I need something else to call you in my head other than ‘Satan’,” He answered truthfully. Satan was quiet for a long time, and for a while, Hitoshi was worried he offended him. But then, Satan bursted into laughter.

“Satan?” He said, raising an eyebrow. “Really?” Hitoshi gained just a bit more confidence at the positive reaction, so he mimics Satan, raising an eyebrow back.

“Would you prefer Burnt Bacon?” Satan snickered.

“Fair,” There’s another moment of silence.

“So,” Hitoshi said. “Are you going to give me a name?” Satan’s lips quirked up into a small smile.

“… Dabi,” He said. “You can call me Dabi,”

Chapter Text

Origin: Part Five; Heavy Dirty Soul

Mizurio Akatsuki was having a crappy day.

They had said goodbye to Emerald today. Well, his name wasn’t really Emerald, but he hadn’t given them a name, so they had to make due. Due to his eyes, and his striking hair, Akatsuki had begun to call him Emerald. Her husband simply called him ‘Kitten’ and in typical Ayumi fashion, Akatsuki’s daughter had taken to calling him ‘Broccoli Boy’ or simply ‘Cabbage’. Akatsuki couldn’t argue, though - the names were terribly accurate.

Akatsuki had been against letting him leave. He was obviously homeless, and it was freezing - they couldn’t leave a boy to fend for himself. But, as Yasujiro pointed out, Emerald was like a wild, scared animal. So used to being hurt he didn’t know what to make of kindness. And completely cautious and over-the-top paranoid. If they tried to get him to stay, he’d freak. They needed to give him space.

But Akatsuki began to regret her decision not an hour after Emerald left. She was worried - no, she was fucking terrified. What if they had miscalculated? What if he was lying dead in a ditch somewhere? Yasujiro suspected he would come back - the plan was for him to come back, but what if he didn’t what if he couldn’t what if Akatsuki’s decision will end up with Emerald dead -

A warm hand was brought down on her shoulder, momentarily snapping her out of her thoughts. She looked up at her husband.

“He’ll be okay,” Yasujiro said.

The words were spoken firmly, with utmost confidence.

Yet Akatsuki heard the slight waver in his tone.

He’ll be okay

But what if he wasn’t?
—
Izuku missed the Mizurios.

He missed them so much it hurt.

He hated being alone. He hated the cold, he hated it so much. He hated the loneliness that wormed its way into his heart and made every breath painful. Every time he saw the color blue, he could do nothing but drown in the loneliness, sulk at the thought of the family he could have had.

He admitted it to himself.

The Mizurios weren’t his family.

But he wanted them to be me.

More than anything.

Izuku missed the way Ayumi would run into the room, jumping around with limitless energy as she’d talk about her day - she’d talk about how she would ace everyone of her classes, how her English teacher was a complete and utter idiot, and how terrible the public bathrooms at her high school were. She’d complain about the weather, about her homework, about that one girl named Yuna in almost all of her classes, who - to quote Ayumi - was a teacher’s pet, and such a complete and utter suck-up it made her wish the universe would knock her down where she stood, smite her and rid the world of a terrible thing

Izuku missed the way Akatsuki-san would check-in with him, make sure he was feeling okay. He missed the way she would speak gently, minding his boundaries but helping him nonetheless. She missed the way her quirk felt, the way it eased the pain. She missed the way she’d smile at him fondly and ruffle his hair. She missed the way she’d bicker with Ayumi, the playful banter always sweet and scathing and a joy to watch.

Izuku missed the way Kōyō and Gangsta would fight, teeth bared and claws out, quirks activated as they tussled. He missed the way Hercules would curl up on top of him as he slept, doubling as a second blanket as he helped to calm Izuku’s mind and help him sleep. He missed running his hands through that mass of fur after a nightmare, hugging Hercules till he fell asleep once again.

Izuku missed Yasujiro-san, with his terrible puns and dad jokes. He missed Yasujiro-san’s smile - he was always smiling, his smile was wide, bright, and friendly, always so friendly and welcoming. He made Izuku feel welcome. He missed the way Yasujiro would sit with him in silence, as they enjoyed each other’s company - and enjoyed the presence of almost all the family cats. He missed how Yasujiro-san would tell stories about his family, his kids, and all the wonderful, crazy things that happened in the Mizurio family household. He missed the way Yasujiro-san would bicker with Cleopatra, even if the arguments were rather one-sided to Izuku.

Izuku missed the warmth.

He missed their company.

He missed the way they all seemed to like him, the way they seemed to care about him. He missed the Mizurio’s welcoming smiles and their kind eyes that never, ever had a trace of hate in them. He missed the feeling of having a family. Because the Mizurio’s were a family, a family he desperately wanted to be a part of.

No matter how hard he tried to forget, no matter how long passed, no matter what he did, it didn’t change anything.

Izuku missed the Mizurios.
—-
One Week Later:

Mizurio Takai’s family consisted of three complete and utter idiots.

He arrived home to find his entire family moping and sulking. Sulking. Even his parents had been brooding. It had taken him forever to get the story out of them, and eventually, he learned all about Emerald, the boy they took care of, the boy they learned to care for and love over the short span of a couple of weeks. They pretended they were happy for him, they pretended that he was out there, living his best life, and Mizurio Takai couldn’t help but snort at the utter ridiculousness of the entire situation.

His family cared for the boy. Even Ayumi seemed to have grown to like him, which was really saying something. His sister wasn’t exactly the most … sociable person.

His family denied the fact that they were brooding because of Emerald. They denied the fact that they were even brooding.

He couldn’t even comprehend this level of stupidity.

Takai’s family were a bunch of idiots.

Emerald was included in that list, in case you were wondering. To Takai, the situation was quite simple.

His family loved Emerald.

Emerald loved his family.

His family cared about Emerald.

Emerald cared about his family.

Emerald was just a scared, broken little boy, but a strong one nonetheless, who had such a bright future ahead of him. Emerald was a hero - albeit an illegal one.

To Takai, the situation was quite simple.

Emerald was already a part of his family.

He just hoped the other idiots realized this quicker. The brooding, the moping, and the sulking was really getting on his nerves.
——

Chapter Text

Origin: Part Six; Say My Name

Exactly one month and one week after Emerald’s departure, the majority of the Mizurio family - even the pets - were clumped up in the living sulking and brooding and staining the area with their blatant misery. Takai Mizurio watched from the doorway, watching in a mixture of exasperation and annoyance - and he was just about ready to revamp his vigilante career, grab his costume, head out on patrol and not come back till he’s found Emerald and dragged him back home - because this was his home - when the door flew open hitting the wall with an ungodly loud slam as rain and cold wind blew into the room - nearly drenching Takai who is really so done with his life.

A boy absolutely soaked by the rain stood in their doorway. His clothes clung to his body, his teeth were clicking against each other, and he’s shivering so hard he’s making Takai cold just looking at him.

Takai Mizurio had never seen this boy in his life. But from the curly, wet green hair and sparkling yet somehow dim green eyes, he could make an educated guess as to who was standing at their doorway.

Emerald.

Finally, thank fuck.
--
Izuku nearly collapsed in relief when he reached the Mizurios. He’s tired, he was in so much pain and he’s so, so cold.

He practically kicked open the door, too tired to care. He stumbled into the tiny house - and saw four eyes staring back at him.

He saw Ayumi, blue eyes sparkling as she stared at him, a warm cup of hot chocolate in her hand.

He saw Akatsuki-san, staring up at him with her jaw dropped, her eyes wide with … was that hope?

He saw Masujiro-san, Cleopatra the Great curled up in his arms, as his lips quirked up in a small smile.

He saw one Mizurio he didn’t recognize - but was obviously a Mizurio from the blue hair dotted with black strands - although this Mizurio didn’t have the key blue eyes - his eyes were black, and widened with surprise, satisfaction, and was that relief? The strangest thing about this new Mizurio was his quirk - his mutation quirk. Pale pink cat ears with blue stripes were perched atop his head - twitching, and swivelling - and now drenched from the rain. A tail of similar colours snaked around his legs, his smile bared a hint of fangs, and the tips of his fingers curled into what seemed like retractable claws.

That was an insanely cool quirk.

Izuku wanted to ask him all about it - but he could barely breathe through his chattering teeth. Izuku took a step forward, tripping over his own feet as his body gave out on him and he fell forward. The cat-Mizurio’s hands shot out, catching Izuku right before he hit the ground. Izuku moaned an unintelligible thank-you then curled closer - this Mizurio was warmth - he radiated warmth and Izuku needed that warmth.

Izuku didn’t notice the cat-Mizurio pulling him in and holding him closer, wrapping him up in a blanket he conjured from nowhere - maybe he just picked it up from the sofa - Izuku wasn’t sure.

Izuku didn’t notice as his vision slowly began to blacken. But he did remember the way Cat-Mizurio leaned in, a smile on his face.

“Sleep, Emerald,” He whispered.

And Izuku did.
--

When Izuku woke up, the first thing he noticed was how warm he was. He was wrapped in layer upon layer of blankets, and Hercules was curled up next to him. Sitting on a rocking chair next to the bed he was laying on was Akatsuki-San, who was rocking gently back and forth. Ayumi was sitting on the floor next to her mother. Masujiro and the fourth Mizurio stood by the doorway, speaking in hushed tones.

When Akatsuki-San noticed he was awake, she jumped up.

“Hello, Emerald,” She said. “Are you feeling alright?” Ayumi, Masujiro, and the fourth Mizurio instantly looked towards him as he sat up and nodded his head. Instantly, a cup of hot chocolate was shoved rather aggressively into his waiting hands. His eyes widened as he looked down at the hot chocolate. He raised it to his lips, letting some of the warm liquid scorch his tongue and heat his throat. He smiled.

“... thank you,” He croaked, wincing at the sound of his own voice. Akatsuki-san beamed.

“You’re welcome, Emerald,” The Mizurio’s were always so happy when he spoke. Izuku liked seeing the Mizurio’s happy, so right then and there he resolved to talk as much as he could.

“I’m so happy you’re back!” Ayumi squealed. She jumped up to her feet, running towards Cat-Mizurio. She grabbed him by his arm and tugged him over. “This is my brother, Takai! But you can just call him Kai!” Takai blinked, removing his hand from Ayumi’s grip, before smiling gently at Izuku.

“It’s nice to meet you, Emerald,” Izuku nodded, his face molding into what he hoped looked like a smile. He took another long sip of his hot chocolate, feeling his insides warm up as he did.

“Kid,” Masujiro-san said. “You came back,” Izuku nodded, wrapping the blanket tightly across his shoulders. “You’re homeless, aren’t you?” Another nod. “Are you a runaway?” Izuku shook his head. He wasn’t -at least, not technically. It’s not like there was anyone out there who wanted him. Who cared. “Do you have any living family members? Izuku shook his head again. Sure, his dad might be alive, but it’s not like he cared. He hadn’t even come for mom’s funeral. He didn’t care. “Do you have anywhere to go?” Another shake of his head. He didn’t, he was all alone. “Do you … do you want to stay with us?” Izuku hesitated for a second - before nodding, slowly and cautiously.

Izuku didn’t know why he came back. The Mizurios wouldn’t want to keep him, wouldn’t want to deal with him. They were being nice to him now, maybe they were even considering it - because they didn’t know he was quirkless. When they found that out - well, everything would change.

Akatsuki-san smiled. “If you want to stay with us, we’d love for you to live with us,” Izuku bit his lip, knowing it’s not fair to them, to not tell them the truth, to gain their hospitality without revealing his disease.

Izuku swallowed down another sip of hot chocolate, shifting awkwardly as he debated how to tell them. Luckily, Kai gave him the perfect opening.

“Are you ok?” He asked. “Is something wrong?” Izuku took a deep breath. He had to do this, he had to.

“I - “ Izuku coughed slightly, his voice raspy. “Quirkless,” He said eventually. “I’m … quirkless,” Takai’s eyes widened, Akatsuki-san’s jaw dropped. Masujiro stared in shock, and Ayumi froze.

Izuku was almost too scared to keep his eyes open, and he steeled himself, reaching down for whatever courage he had as he braced himself for the hate, the cruel words, as he prepared himself to be kicked out from the house.

The Mizurio’s recovered from their shock quickly.

“I see,” Akatsuki-san said. Screw courage - Izuku couldn’t do this. He squeezed his eyes shut. “I hope you realize this doesn’t change anything.”

Wait.

What?

Izuku opened one eye, and stared at Akatsuki-san - who was smiling at him? It was a small smile, tinged with sadness, but it was a genuine smile - Izuku could tell.

“We wouldn’t kick you out just because you’re quirkless,” Masujiro-san said, as if reading his thoughts. “We don’t care about your quirk - or lack thereof, in this case. Takai has gotten a lot of hate and discrimination because he has a mutation quirk. We know what it’s like, and we know it’s wrong.”

“Yeah!” Ayumi exclaimed. “Don’t worry, green-bean, you being quirkless doesn’t matter. We don’t discriminate in this family. Mom would probably kill us if we did,” Takai shuddered.

“Yeah, mom can be terrifying when she catches the scent of injustice,” He said. “It’s why she’s a lawyer,” Akatsuki-san nodded.

“I’m damn good at my job, and over the years I’ve seen such horrible displays of quirk discrimination. But it’s wrong. Your quirk doesn’t determine your value.” Izuku was crying again - he can’t believe them. They’re stupid for taking in someone like him, a quirkless nobody, but he loves them for it. No one’s ever said things like this to him - even his own mother struggled to come to terms with his quirklessness.

But the Mizurios accepted him in seconds - no hesitation. He couldn’t believe it. Why were they so kind?

Izuku cried harder, his body shaking so hard he had to put down the hot chocolate before he spilled it. He rested it on the side table next to the bed, before returning his attention back to the Mizurios

“Emerald,if you don’t mind me asking, what’ s your name?” Takai paused, before quickly adding, “You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to,”

Izuku thought the Mizurios deserved at least this much from him.

“I - zu - ku, “ He said slowly, sounding out the syllables. It’s been so long since he’s heard his own name. “My - my name is Izuku,” Ayumi grinned.

Nice to meet you, Izuku,”

----

Chapter Text

Intermission: Yagi Toshinori; Blame It On The Kids

Toshinori stood alone, leaning against a tree as he watched the young boy from afar. He watched the blonde sit in the dirt, staring at a gravestone with such a strong array of emotions flickering across his face it made Toshinori hurt just watching him.

The boy’s red eyes shimmered, and although he did not cry, tears welled up in his eyes and his shoulders pressed down, held down by an invisible weight, an invisible burden that the young boy is forced to carry alone.

The sight of the boy pained Toshinori - the boy reminded him of himself in a strange way he couldn’t comprehend.

Toshinori wanted to transform into All Might, his better self, and stride over to the boy with a smile, say a couple of encouraging words and send him on his way. Deep down, though, he knows that won’t help. Deep down, he can’t bare the thought of approaching the boy when all he could think about was bright green eyes staring up at him full of hope - all he could think about were his foolish, foolish actions, and his careless, cruel words - all he can think about was the courageous, heroic spirit, the brave, bright light who’s hope he extinguished - Toshinori couldn’t help but wonder if he had been kinder - if he had found the boy, before he left, if he had bothered to treat his wounds, if he had done something more - would young Midoriya Izuku be alive today?

Toshinori was a foolish, pathetic excuse of a man and an even worse hero.

What kind of hero couldn’t save one, single boy?

But when the tears held back by a damn of will and strength began to spill forward, trailing over the blonde-haired red-eyed boy’s cheeks, Toshinori knew he couldn’t stand by and watch. So, mustering what little courage he had left, he strode forward towards the boy - as Yagi Toshinori.

“Are you alright, my boy?” Toshinori asked. He watched as the boy jumped, springing to his feet and spinning around, wiping furiously at the tears that stained his cheeks as if they were an insult to his very existence. “I’m sorry,” Toshinori said. “I didn’t mean to startle you. I just saw you crying, and -”

“I wasn’t crying,” The boy snapped. “And I’m fine. Leave me alone,” Toshinori knew he should respect the boy’s wishes and depart, but for some reason, he can’t bring himself to.

“Would you mind if I sat here for a bit?” Toshinori asked. “I’m quite tired, and the graveyard was a long walk away from my house. My frail old body can’t handle the strain,” Toshinori didn’t know what the fuck he was doing, but he already started it, so he supposed he couldn’t stop now.

The boy’s red eyes narrowed.

“Fine,” He growled. “See if I care,” The boy plopped back onto the ground, and Toshinori followed his lead and lowered himself down so he sat next to the boy.

“Did you know young Midoriya?” Toshinori questioned. The boy snapped his head towards him.

“How do you know his name?” Toshinori raised an eyebrow.

“It’s on the gravestone,” He said, gesturing with his bony hands at the small headstone right where the words “Midoriya Izuku” were carved into the stone.

The boy growled, but otherwise did not respond.

“So …. “ Toshinori said after another long stretch of silence. “Was he a friend of yours?”

“No,” The boy snapped quickly. Then he seemed to mellow out a bit, red eyes dimming in a way that made Toshinori wanted to cry. “No. We weren’t friends. We used to be, though,” From the pain that twisted the young boy’s voice, Toshinori could concur that there was likely quite the story there. Quite the history between the two young boys. In a way, it reminded him of himself, and his old friend, Sasaki - Sir Nighteye. Know Toshinori wanted to cry even more, and he wasn’t sure if he would be able to stop himself.

“What’s your name?” Toshinori asked, in a futile attempt to stop the tears before they were summoned.

“Why do you want to know?”

“I’m being polite,” Toshinori responded. “I’m Yagi Toshinori. And you?” It takes a long time, but eventually, the boy responded.

“Bakugou. Bakugou Katsuki,” Toshinori was quite happy the boy answered, but at the same time, the hero in him wanted to lecture the boy for giving out his name to a random stranger. For all he knew, Toshinori was a child molester or something. Not that Toshinori was, but young Bakugou didn’t know that! He really should be more careful, and Toshinori wanted to tell him exactly that - but another part of him thought that now wasn’t really the right time. So Toshinori decided to do the polite thing and make conversation, and establish himself as a not-child-molester. Make that clear.

“Nice to meet you, young Bakugou,” Toshinori said. “As I was saying, I’m Yagi Toshinori. I’m All Might’s assistant,”

Ok, so now that he thought about it, that only made him sound even more like a child molester.

Surprisingly, Bakugou didn’t seem to think so.

“All Might?” Bakguou said, eyes widening with something as close to happiness Toshinori suspected the boy could get.

But the look was gone as soon as it came, and the Bakugou’s shoulders slumped. “I wanted to be a hero like All Might, once,”

Once.

For a second, Toshinori is worried young Bakugou knows all about what happened on the roof that day. He’s worried Bakguou knew all about how he crushed his not-friend’s hopes - knew about what a terrible, pathetic excuse of a hero he was -

Fuck it, his fears last much longer than a second.

But his stupid mouth opened anyways.

“You don’t like All Might?” He asked. Bakugou’s eyes widened.

“Of course I like All Might,” The boy scoffed. “Who doesn’t?”

“Then what -?”

“All Might’s a great hero,” Bakugou interrupted. “And that’s why I can never be like him,”

“What do you mean?”

“I can never be like him,” Bakugou continued, lost in his thoughts, ignoring the question. “I can never be a hero,”

Toshinori tilted his head, summoning whatever left of All Might he had.

“Of course you can, my boy,” He said. “Anyone can be a hero,” Bakugou’s expression creased with pain.

“What about a quirkless kid?” Bakugou asked. “Can someone quirkless be a hero?

Green eyes glimmered as they looked up at him. His shoulders hunched as he made himself smaller, and he offered a shy smile as he finally spoke, his voice wavering.

“All Might, can a quirkless boy be a hero like you?” All Might looked down at the boy who stared up at him with such hope, such longing, such desire for someone, anyone, to give him even the tiniest word of encouragement.

All Might was a hero. He should’ve done what he always did, answer with a large smile and encouraging words.

Instead, he responded with a single word and crushed all the hope in those large green eyes.

“No,“

Toshinori pulled himself out of his thoughts. He spoke slowly, carefully.

“Yes,” He said, ignoring the twist in his chest. “Yes. I’m sure it would take a lot of work - they’d be at a natural disadvantage, but if they worked hard, if they set their mind to it, a quirkless kid could be a hero just like anyone else,” Bakugou nearly choked on a sob. He curled into himself even further.

“I’m a terrible person,” He said, chest heaving with sobs. “Why did I do this?”

“My boy, what do you -“

“I ruined a life,” Bakugou hissed. “God, why was I so stupid?”

“I - “

“He was a hero, you know,” Bakugou said. His words weren’t making any sense - but he kept rambling on. “We were friends and he looked up to me and I kicked him aside and I bullied him and the teachers ,did nothing they just watched, and I ruined his life yet he always smiled and rambled and stuttered but now he’s dead and I’ll never see the damn nerd again - “

Oh.

Despite the public opinion, Toshinori - All Might - was not a dumb jock - a mindless mass of muscle. He may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but he wasn’t dumb by any means.

Toshinori connected the dots quite easily.

Midoriya Izuku was quirkless -

And Bakugou Katsuki was his bully.

Toshinori reached out and put a hand on the boy’s shoulder. It seemed to snap him out of his tirade, and he blinked tiredly, slumping down even further.

“My boy,” He said. “I know this must be a difficult time for you, but we all do things we regret, and -“

“You don’t understand,” Bakugou snapped. “I bullied him for years. I harassed him, I tormented him, I isolated him, I - I told him to - ,” Bakugou choked.

“Young Bakugou?”

“I told him to kill himself!” Bakugou hissed. “I told him that if he wanted a quirk so badly he should take a swan dive off a roof and hope he would get a quirk in his next life,”

Toshinori’s breath hitched as Bakugou practically collapsed.

Well.

This was a lot worse than he first expected.

Toshinori took a deep breath as he contemplated what he was going to say.

It took a long time, but eventually, he spoke. He couldn’t leave young Bakugou to stew in the terrible silence for much longer.

“Bakugou,” Toshinori started. “I can not say that what you did was right, because it wasn’t. I can not say that you weren’t a bully, because from what I am hearing, you were,” Toshinori took a deep breath. “But, we all make mistakes. I’m not saying that what you did was excusable - but no one is without fault. Everyone makes mistakes. You do, I do, even All Might does,” Bakugou blinked, looking up at him.

“Even All Might?” Toshinori smiled.

“Even All Might. All Might has made more mistakes I can count,” Toshinori let out a bitter chuckle. “But that’s not the important part here. Everyone makes mistakes, and everyone has done something they eventually regret. But the most important thing is acknowledging that you made a mistake, recognizing that what you did was wrong, and learning to grow and change from that mistake,” Toshinori looked Bakugou in the eye.

“What you did was bad. You know this, I know this. You’ve accepted responsibility for it, you’ve realized that what you did was wrong. That’s the first step. The second step is to acknowledge that, while it was your fault, yes, it wasn’t entirely your fault. Another thing I can see about this situation is that the teachers did nothing, in fact, they basically encouraged you. How were you supposed to know that what you did was wrong? Is it really your fault for thinking that quirkless meant useless if that’s the only thing other people would tell you? Young Bakugou, this situation is not entirely your fault. A part of it is, yes, but not all of it is,”

“But I was a bully. I - “ Toshinori held up a hand.

“You regret what you did, correct?”

“Of course!” Bakugou exclaimed. “Of course I do!”

“And you want to fix it?”

“Yes!”

“Unnecessary self-hatred isn’t going to get you anywhere. We’ve already gone over step one and two. So now we move on to step three. You fix your mistake. You fix where you went wrong,”

“But De - Izuku is dead!”

“That doesn’t mean you can’t change things. The first thing I’d suggest is therapy,”

“Therapy?” Toshinori easily detected the waver in his tone.

“None of this will be easy. A therapist could help. Therapy is a great first step, so you can get to a point where you truly understand what you did, why you did it, and how you can change.”

“I - okay,” Bakugou said. “Therapy could work, I guess,” He didn’t sound so sure - but he agreed, and that was a good thing - right?

“Another thing, young Bakugou,” He said. “You said you couldn't be a hero. I disagree with that. Right now, you certainly aren’t a hero. But you can change. Young Midoriya wanted to be a hero, right?”

“Yes,” He said. “It was the only thing he ever wanted. It was his dream,”

“Then become a hero for him. Put your heart and soul, and become a hero who changes things - a hero who a quirkless kid could look up to and dream of becoming one day. Become a hero he would be proud of,”

“But how?” Bakugou whispered. “How do I do it?”

“I can’t tell you that,” Toshinori said honestly. “Because I don’t know. But Young Bakugou, I’m sure you will figure it out,” He stood up, and began to walk away. It felt a little bit cruel, but Bakugou needed to figure this out for himself. Figure out his past, figure out himself.

Toshinori had to force himself to take a step, then another, then another. As he strode away from Young Bakugou, he took one last chance to look back at the boy.

The boy was staring up at the sky, the smallest glimmer of hope in his eyes.

Toshinori fucked up. He knew that. He crushed the hope of a young boy. And Toshinori swore that he was going to make up for it.

Young Bakugou had great potential. He had the potential to be a great hero.

And Toshinori was going to help him. He swore on his life, on All Might.

He was going to make sure that Bakugou became the greatest hero the world had ever seen.

A hero that would make Midoriya Izuku proud.

Chapter Text

Origin: Part Seven; Message Man

A month.

A month had passed since the Mizurios took Izuku in.

It had been the best month of his life. He grew impossibly closer with all the Mizurios. With each passing day, they’ve become more like a family to him. And somehow, someway, by some miracle, the Mizurios see him as family too. Izuku had never been more grateful. It didn’t matter to them he was quirkless. Izuku still couldn’t fathom why, but the Mizurios assured him he’d get it - eventually.

As Izuku grew closer and closer with each member of the family, he began to talk, even more. He was still quiet, most of the time, but the Mizurios didn't mind. They said that he was still finding his voice. They said they were happy to wait until he found it.

Izuku had just met Takai Mizurio a month ago. Yet, somehow, he felt closer to Takai than any of the other Mizurios.

Takai was the oldest sibling - he was older than Ayumi by four years - she was fifteen, he was nineteen, just a year out of college.

Takai was a prankster at heart and a practical joker, just like his father. He always knew how to make Izuku laugh - times were never boring when Takai - Kai - was around.

“Zuku! Zuku! Izukuuuu!” Ayumi yelled, bounding into the guest bedroom that Izuku had claimed as his.

“Will you be quiet?” Takai nearly growled, his ears twitching from where he sat, curled up on Ayumi’s pink bean bag that laid on the floor of Izuku’s room.

Ayumi retaliated by bouncing over to Takai, tugging his tail and then promptly shoving him off the beanbag.

Takai hissed, retractable claws pushing out as he glared daggers at his sister.

Cloud Nine, Takai’s cat, who had been curled up in Takai’s lap, got up from where he had fallen, jumping over to Ayumi and head-butting her gently in the leg with a discontented grumble.

Ayumi laughed, leaning down and picking up Cloud, who curled up in her arms, eyes fluttering shut.

Takai bared his teeth at the fluff of fur masquerading as a cat.

“Traitor,” He hissed. Ayumi just grinned, cuddling Cloud even closer.

She turned, bounding over to where Izuku was - he was curled up on his bed with Hercules by his side, flipping through the pages of one of the many books Akatsuki-san and Masujiro-san had bought him.

She jumped onto the bed, ruffling the white blankets, and laid down next to him.

“What ya’ reading?” Izuku shrugged, gesturing half-heartedly towards the cover of the book with one hand, using the other to run a hand through Hercules’ fur.

Ayumi didn’t bother checking the cover.

“So,” She said, a wide grin on her face. “You’ll never believe what our history teacher did today …”

Izuku didn’t blink twice as Ayumi began to ramble. This was the typical procedure, especially on Fridays. Ayumi would explain everything that had happened in that particular week of high school - full of complaints, whining, and colorful curses and insults towards the people she disliked - spoiler alert, that was almost everyone.

Izuku didn’t mind, though.

He enjoyed listening to Ayumi ramble, the sound familiar and comforting, reminding him that he was safe and warm and that he was okay. It played in the back of his head like white noise and calmed him.

“Poor Izuku,” Takai said. “I feel bad for him, having to listen to you ramble,” Ayumi stopped mid-ramble, turning to glare at her brother.

“Well,” She said. “At least I have interesting things to say,”

“You call interesting talking about your English Teacher’s pet cactus? No one cares about the goddamn cactus, Ayumi,”

“I care about the goddamn cactus! My Sensei cares about the goddamn cactus! And I’ll have you know, his name is Richard. Not Cactus.”

“Who names a cactus Richard?”

“I’ll have you know, Richard is a very professional name for a very professional cactus,”

“It’s just a fucking cactus,”

“He. Not It. And Richard isn’t just a cactus. He’s THE goddamn cactus. He’s our class pet,”

“You’re in highschool. You don’t have class pets.”

“Well we do now!”

“Cactuses don’t qualify as pets,

“First of all, Cacti not cactuses. Secondly, yes they do! Who are you to decide whether cacti can be pets?”

“A pet has to be alive,”

“Cacti are alive! Richard is a living being and it’s terrible for you to assume otherwise,”

“Richard won’t be alive for very long,”

“Richard will live a long and happy life,”

“I don’t give a damn what Richard will do,”

“Well you should,”

“I hope Richard dies,” Ayumi let out a scandalized gasp.

“How dare you!” Ayumi glanced at Izuku, before reaching over him to grab the glass of water on the side table next to his bad.

“You don’t mind if I use this, do you, Izuku?” He shrugged. He didn’t mind - although he was worried about how she would use it.

Ayumi grinned.

“Thanks!” Takai realised Ayumi’s plan just a second too late. He got up to move, but by then, Ayumi was already moving forward - jumping off the bed and dumping the glass of ice water over Takai’s head.

Takai hissed, springing up into the air in typical cat fashion. He scrambled backwards, ice falling from his hair, the top of his shirt drenched.

“I’m going to kill you you little - “ Takai sprung forward, tackling Ayumi onto the beanbag. Ayumi screeched, jabbing Takai in the stomach as he unsheathed his claws and took a swipe at her face.

“Not the face, you filthy feline!” Ayumi yelled. Takai responded with another swipe towards her, claws cutting through the edges of her hair. “Oh, it’s on - “

Izuku watched the chaos unfold with a fond smile. Despite the fact that Ayumi was a junior in high school, and Takai was a young adult, when it came to each other, they were both young kids again.

“Ayumi! Takai! What do you think you’re doing?” Ayumi and Takai jumped up from the floor almost instantly, springing away from each other as they turned to face their mother, who was standing in the doorway.

Akatsuki-san stared at the mess.

“How could the two of you mess up poor Izuku’s room with all your fighting?!” Izuku blinked, stifling a laugh with his palm as Akatsuki-san gestured quite wildly toward Izuku. “I thought you were better than this,”

“Well, Izuku doesn’t mind,” Ayumi said matter-of-factly. “Right, Izuku?” Three pairs of eyes swiveled to Izuku.

Izuku shrugged.

“I mean,” Masujiro-san started.. “I think Takai and Ayumi should finish their fight. I wanna know who would win,” Akatsuki-san sighed.

“They’ve been fighting for years now. They always end up in a draw,”

“Well,” Masujiro-san said. “I guess that’s true. But one of these days, one of them has to win,”

“You shouldn’t be encouraging such behavior,”

“Oh, don’t be such a stick in the mud, Suki,” Akatsuki-san wrinkled her nose, but a gentle smile crossed her face.

“Are you alright, Izuku?” At the words, Izuku’s chest grew warm at the fact that she wanted to know if he was alright - considered that he might not be and took efforts to make sure he was.

Akatsuki-san reminded him of his mom.

And that hurt, in some ways, but in others it just made him feel safe. It made Akatsuki-san feel like home.

The Mizurios felt like home.

Izuku remembered the question and nodded quickly, sending Akatsuki-san a quick smile.

“Izuku,” Akatsuki-san said. “We need to talk to you about something,”

For a second, Izuku panicked

Do they hate him now?

Do they want to send him away?
Are they tired of dealing with a useless, worthless, quirkless -

Akatsuki-san gentle voice snapped him out of his spiral into his own self-deprecating thoughts.

“We want to talk to you about your vigilantism,”

...oh

Do they want him to stop?

They haven’t seemed to care about it ...

Izuku doesn’t know if he would stop if they told him to.

The Mizurios made him feel safe, but vigilantism made him feel useful. He couldn’t be a hero, he couldn’t, this was his only option.

He couldn’t be a hero.

He had to be a vigilante.

“As we’ve mentioned previously, we don’t have any problem with you being a vigilante. Vigilantism is necessary, especially in this day and age where everyone relies on the heroes and the heroes are useless and selfish-“

Well, Izuku never thought about it that way - he just wanted to save people.

But he supposed ‘undermining a fake hero society’ was a good enough reason.

“The point, though, is that while we support your vigilante career, your safety is more important. You’re so young, and honestly , I feel you’re much too young to be a vigilante,”

Izuku was going to hate going against their wishes.

But he has to.

“However, I know - or I at least suspect - that no matter what we say, you’re still going to continue. And so, we want to find a middle ground,”

Middle ground?

Izuku wasn’t sure what she was getting at, but he was hopeful.

“You’ll be able to continue your vigilantism, but first, we want to be able to train you,”

Train him?

Oh.

OH.

Four pairs of eyes watch him, cataloging his reaction.

“We want you to be able to defend yourself, we want to teach you how to actually fight so that you’re not jumping in with no experience. We want to give you proper equipment, and we want to train you to hone your skills so you can be the best you can be. We want to at least lower the chances of you dying.”

“In case you were wondering,” Masujiro San said. “We do have the experience to help you. Suki and I used to be vigilantes, back in the days,”

For the first time during the entire conversation, Izuku spoke.

“I know,” He said quietly. “Blue Ivy and Catastrophe, right?” All four of the
Mizurios stare. Akatsuki-San blinked, shock blatant in her eyes, before it disappeared as she quickly gathered her bearings.

“Yes, you’re right. How did you know?” Izuku raised his shoulder.

“Quirks,” He said simply.

“How did you even know who we were?” Masujiro-San questioned. “Vigilantes aren’t really popular amongst the public, and we were not really that well known,”

Izuku shrugged again. He pointed to himself.

“Hero fan,” He said. Izuku bit his tongue, desperately wanting to draw blood and feel the sharp sting of pain that would shortly follow, but Izuku refrained. He dug his teeth in deep enough to feel a familiar tinge of pain. God, he sounded so stupid. He sounded like an illiterate, someone who’d just been introduced to a new language despite the fact that he’d spoken Japanese his entire life. He wished he could be better, he knew he had to be and hated himself for being so useless he couldn’t even make out one goddamn sentence, but speaking was still so hard. He hated himself for being so weak.

“Wow,” Ayumi said. “You really like heroes, doesn’t you?” Izuku blinked.

“Liked,” He said. “Not anymore,” Takai glanced over to me.

“Why not?”

“They didn’t save my mom,” He explained. He hesitated for a second. “They didn’t save me,”.

Something in him twisted when he finally said it out loud. Izuku hated himself for being useless, worthless, weak- he believed he didn’t deserve to be saved.

He wasn’t worth it.

Even after All Might crushed his dreams on top of a rooftop, he still loved his hero. He still loves all the heroes. It wasn’t their fault he was so stupid, so idiotic, so worthless .

But why didn’t they save his mother? Why didn’t they save his loving, beautiful, kind mother? Why did she die of horrible burns and severe smoke inhalation fighting against a villain who didn’t even have a fire quirk? Why didn’t Endeavor, a hero, save her?

Why did Endeavor, a hero, kill his mother?

How could he even be called a hero?

Before his mother’s death, before his death, before his vigilantism, Izuku never truly understood how many people out there were suffering daily. Izuku didn’t understand just how many people out there there were that the heroes didn’t save.

Izuku began to realise that hero was just a title for people who paraded around the public in fancy costumes, giving one-liners to the camera, showing off their quirks and saving people for clout. The heroes never saved the people who really needed to be saved - they saved those who would benefit them - they saved the people who would help boost their popularity.

Popularity

That seemed to now be the single current motivation of modern-day heroes.

Just the thought hurt Izuku so fucking much. What happened to the heroes who tried to save people?

How did hero society get so fucked up?

Izuku still loved All Might ... but Izuku didn’t want to be a hero any more.

Izuku just wanted to help people.

“I’m sorry,” Akatsuki-san said. Izuku tilted his head.

“Don’t be,” He said. “Not your fault,” Akatsuki-san smiles sadly.

“I suppose it’s not,”

“I’d like to,” He said. Akatsuki-san blinked.

“Sorry,”

“I’d like t o t-t-train with you,” He said, stuttering slightly. But he was speaking, he spoke, he got an entire sentence out.

It wasn’t enough.

But Izuku was happy.

And apparently, so were the Mizurios. A smile bloomed on both the faces’ of Masujiro-san and Akatsuki-san. Ayumi and Takai cheered.

“Ayumi will be training with you - we tried, desperately, to steer her on a better path for life, but Ayumi has decided to follow in our footsteps, so she will, hopefully, be becoming a vigilante with you.” Izuku nodded, then tilted his head in question as he pointed Takai.

“Takai has decided not to follow our footsteps -“

“And took the legal, better option,” Takai finished. “So that I don’t get arrested or some shit like that. I don’t like or trust heroes, so I wasn’t going to down that path - especially because there’s a lot of discrimination against people with mutant quirks in hero courses. I wasn’t going to be a vigilante, either, because honestly - too much work. You’re fighting both the heroes AND the villains - both sides would be happy to see you dead. Not to mention, I kind of don’t want to be a wanted criminal. And so, I took the next best option. I’m going to be, hopefully, at least, a police officer,”

“Cool,” He said. Takai grinned.

“Takai has recently just graduated from college and is currently working as a Trainee at a police station near us. “ Izuku nodded. “Although Takai is not going to become a vigilante like us, he’s still going to participate in training - one, to help him get prepared for life as a police officer, and two, so he can help you two learn as much as possible,” Izuku and Ayumi nodded.

“Training starts tomorrow,” Masujiro-san said. “Get ready, cause we won’t go easy on you two,”

Izuku couldn’t help the thrill of excitement that shot through him.

This was going to be fun.

Chapter Text

Origin: Part Eight; House of Memories

Izuku groaned, pain shooting through every single one of his limbs. He swore he could hear his bones pop and crack as Ayumi was thrown across the room, landing straight on top of him. Ayumi mimicked his groan, laying on top of Izuku making no move to get up. Izuku didn’t blame her - if she was in even half the pain he was, she wouldn’t be getting up anytime soon.

Unless Akatsuki-San decided to attack them again - in which case, they’d both be up faster than Akatsuki-San could scream out a battle cry.

Of course, neither of them would be fast enough to avoid her attacks.

Today was their third day of training. The main things Izuku had learned - Masujiro-San was surprisingly aggressive and cat scratches seriously hurt - Takai would take any possible chance to torture his sister - and Akatsuki-San could be fucking sadistic.

For the past three days, they’ve done nothing but train. Ayumi only had a few weeks of school left, so Masujiro-San and Akatsuki-San opted to take her out early. They only took breaks to eat meals - all of the rest of their time was spent training, training, and training some more.

And they still had several more months of this torture.

Masujiro and Akatsuki-San were especially hard on Izuku. They made him train for longer, they made him train harder, they made him push farther. They didn’t avoid the topic of his quirklessness; no, they brought it up constantly. They constantly drilled it into his head - he was at a natural disadvantage, so he had to be the best of the best to stand a chance.

Izuku had never been happier. They knew that he was quirkless, yet they weren’t treating him as if he was weak and fragile. Even his mom, who had loved more than anything, who accepted him for who he was, still treated him like glass. Treated him like a small child who would never survive the world.

Izuku loved his mother, and his mother had loved him.

But his mother had never believed in him.

The Mizurios, on the other hand, did. They believed he could be great.

And that meant more than they could ever know.

Izuku didn’t have much more time to think about the Mizurios’ kindness, as one of the Mizurios decided this would be the best time to showcase their not-so-kind side.

“Get your lazy selfs off the ground right now,” Akatsuki-san yelled. “You think the villains will give you time to rest in the middle of a fight? Or the heroes, for that matter?”

“Oh come on,” Ayumi whined “Have mercy on us. We’re tired,”

“Do you think the villains will have mercy on you?” Ayumi didn’t have time to answer - right as she opened her mouth to, Akatsuki-san silenced her quickly, sprinting forward towards them with the beginnings of a battle cry.

Izuku’s eyes widened.

“Shit, shit, Ayumi move,”

—

Unlike in TV shows, the Mizurios didn’t have a top secret hidden training facility. No, they made use of their backyard, their house, and the run-down streets of the slums of Musutafu.

“So,” Masujiro-san said. “Today we’re starting a new part of your training,” Izuku barely bit back a groan. From the way Akatsuki-san was grinning by Masujiro-san’s side, this likely wasn’t going to end well.

“We’re going to learn parkour,” Akatsuki-san said. Ayumi and Takai, who stood by his side in the cold alleyway, both stared.

“Parkour?” Ayumi exclaimed. “How is that going to help us?”

“Traveling by rooftops gives you plenty of advantages,” Masujiro-san said. On the rooftops, you can get a birds’ eye view. You can navigate through the network of alleyways better, you can spot crime that you otherwise would have missed. It also makes for a convenient method of escape - most heroes won’t know parkour, and you’ll be able to travel faster from the rooftops,” Izuku blinked.

“Isn’t it more dangerous?” Akatsuki-san nodded.

“It is,” She said. “But parkour is convenient and quick. It’s not going to be easy, but we’ll be training you to minimize the danger,”

“Why do I need to learn this?” Takai asked. “I can’t see parkour ever being helpful for a police officer,”

“It probably won’t,” Masujiro-san admitted. Takai blinked.

“Then why am I here?” He asked. “Can’t I just go back home? It’s cold and dark,”

“Nope,” Masujiro-San exclaimed with a smile. “Suki decided that if Ayumi and Izuku are going to have to suffer, then you can suffer with them,” Takai groaned.

“No fair,”

Akatsuki-san stepped forward.

“The first thing we’re addressing is how to get onto the rooftops in the first place. Any ideas?”

“Staircases,” Ayumi and Takai said in unison. Izuku was thinking something more along the lines of climbing the building but he chose to remain silent.

“There won’t always be staircases,” Masujiro-san said. “And breaking and entering is highly discouraged unless necessary. And anyways, most of the time you’ll be low on time so finding a staircase will be a hassle,”

“The first step of parkour,” Akatsuki-san said with that famous, sadistic, clown-like smile of hers. “Is to scale the building,” Takai banged his head against the stone wall of the alleyway.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,”

—

“When we teach you how to fight, we’re training you to defend yourself so you don’t get hurt. Of course, if you’re a good vigilante, at some point, you’re bound to get hurt. That’s why we’re going to teach you some basic first aid,” Masujiro-san said.

“Any basic injuries - like cuts, broken bones, bad bruises, even bullet wounds in non fatal areas, are things that can be treated when you get back home - things Suki can easily heal with her quirk.”

“Then why are we learning first aid?”

“Because there will be times when the injuries you sustain are fatal - instances when you don’t have enough time to get back home. In those cases, you need to be able to treat your own wounds,”

“And treat the victims, right?” Takai suggested. Masujiro-san nodded.

“Exactly. For mild injuries, the victims can wait until the heroes, the police, and the ambulance arrive - but you can always ease pain and help with the medical knowledge you’re about to get. If a victim is injured fatally, you’ll have to know how to help them. You don’t want to save someone only for them to die from their injuries right after,”

“Why isn’t mom teaching us this?” Ayumi asked. “Wouldn’t she be better at medical stuff,” Masujiro-san laughed.

“Not really. Because of her quirk, your mom never had to actually treat anyone’s wounds - she could just use her quirk. None of you have the luxury of a healing quirk - I certainly didn’t - so I had to learn how to treat wounds for the times I wasn’t patrolling with Suki.”

“This is nice,” Ayumi said. “Training that doesn’t involve us getting beaten up,”

“Well,” Masujiro-san said with a wry smile. “You never know when Suki’s gonna show up with her staff for a surprise session to help whip the lot of you into shape,”

Ayumi paled.

“Don’t even joke about that, dad,”

—

“The second step of parkour,” Masujiro-san started. It was the second week of late-night parkour classes and Izuku was fucking done. He was fucking cold and ridiculously tired - the wind somehow seemed even more aggressive from their perch on a rooftop. “Is even more fun than the first,”

“Oh great,” Takai muttered.

“You three have already learned how to get onto the rooftops,” Akatsuki-san said. “And I think you’re all relatively decent at it. Now, you have to learn how to travel across the rooftops. But there’s something you have to do before that. Parkour is dangerous. If you fall, you’re fucked.”

“So we’re learning how to not fall?” Ayumi asked.

“No. You can’t avoid it forever. Eventually, at some point, no matter how good at parkour you are, you’re going to fall,” Masujiro-san said. “What is important is to be prepared for that.”

“The second step of parkour is to learn how to fall,”

—

“Ayumi, Izuku, the two of you will be easily able to rely on each other in the field. However, there will be times when you fight alone, and there will be times when you face an opponent so much better than you that even your joined forces will not be enough to take them down.” Ayumi and Izuku nodded, Izuku leaning forward, listening with rapt attention as Akatsuki-San spoke.

“As a vigilante, you will have to take some risks, and you will have to fight difficult fights. You will have to be brave,” Akatsuki-San trailed off. “But there is a fine line between bravery and stupidity,”

Masujiro-San nodded in agreement.

“We don’t condone self sacrificing here. One important part of being a vigilante - knowing when to retreat. Recognizing your capabilities and engaging in battles that you are sure you will win,”

“If it is obvious you will not be able to win a fight, you have options. You can call the police, the heroes, and, if possible, your dad and I,”

“But it will not do you any good putting your life in danger - your life will technically always be in danger, but running into situations where your death is guaranteed is another thing entirely,”

“Know your limits. Be brave, not stupid. Your life is important,” Izuku shrunk into himself, hiding from the pointed glance that was sent his way.

—

Izuku was so. fucking. done.

With parkour, at least.

Izuku wasn’t typically one to swear, even in his thoughts, but Takai and Ayumi had been rubbing off on him, each of them with a tongue worthy of a sailor.

Izuku stumbled back into the house at 6:00 AM, covered in bruises and cuts, and aching everywhere. Ayumi and Takai were in the same boat.

“Congratulations,” Akatsuki-san said. “You’ve officially learned how to fall. Next time, we’ll be learning how to make sure you don’t fall,”

“Couldn’t we have started with that?” Takai hissed.

—

“When someone is shot, the first and most important thing to do is to stop the blood flow,”

“Wouldn’t the most important thing be to get the bullet out?” Ayumi asked.

“No. The victim is most at risk from dying from blood loss. The bullet could have done tons of other damage, but that’s not something you can treat. Your most important priority should just be keeping the victim alive long enough for properly trained medic officials to get to them. In some cases, removing the bullet may even end up being fatal, increasing the amount of blood loss and killing the victim before they can get help,”

Ayumi blinked.

“Oh,”

—

“Izuku,” Akatsuki-San said, flipping through the analysis Izuku wrote. He scrawled it out on paper with a pen she had given him - it was a full analysis of her quirk.

It was pretty long, too - Izuku found Akatsuki-San’s quirk so cool.

Akatsuki-San opened her mouth to continue, and Izuku winced internally, prepared for her to berate him for his weirdness.

“This is amazing,” Akatsuki-San breathed. “This is on the level of professional analysts. You really know what you’re doing kid,”

Izuku blinked.

Huh?

“Masujiro!” Akatsuki-san yelled. “Izuku’s apparently a genius! We need to add Analysis to his list of Vigilante Training Classes,” Masujiro-San bounded into the room.

“What?” Akatsuki-san threw him the pages.

Izuku froze as silence coated the room, Masujiro-San staring down at the notebook with an unreadable expression.

Akatsuki-San reacted oddly. But Masujiro-San was sure to see how weird his analysis was, how creepy it was.

Masujiro-San was sure to realize how weird Izuku was.

Masujiro-San’s jaw dropped and Izuku prepared himself for the worst -

“This is awesome, Izuku,”

Izuku started at Masujiro-San in utter confusion.

They didn’t think his analysis was creepy?

What the hell was wrong with this family?

—

Izuku danced across the rooftops with ease, Ayumi and Takai cheering him on as he went. He chased after Akatsuki-San - he was determined to beat her - he could do it, he was sure!

He pushed himself harder, going faster but not too fast, making sure to take in his surroundings.

“Always be aware of everything going on around you at all times,”

That’s what Akatsuki-San said, at least.

Izuku pushed, jumping with longer strides. Slowly, slowly he began to catch up to Akatsuki-San.

He was just a bit too late.

Akatsuki-San laughed as he skidded to a halt.

“Don’t be sad, kid, you did great. Much better than Ayumi and Takai at any rate,”

The two people in question both let out offended yells and gasps.

“You’ll be beating me in no time,”

__

Izuku wanted to know what Ayumi’s quirk was.

He couldn’t help but wonder.

She never showed it off, not like Akatsuki-San or Masujiro-San. Izuku briefly considered that she might be quirkless - and then quickly dismissed the thought. If she was quirkless, she would have told him.

Izuku wanted to know.

He didn’t have the guts to ask her, though, that didn’t seem polite. Instead, he watched her, trying, and failing, to discover her quirk.

Eventually, he’d had enough.

“Ayumi,” He whispered. Ayumi and Takai both stopped talking, diverting their attention to Izuku. Izuku was starting to talk more, but he still didn’t talk often - so when he did, people listened.

“Yes, Izuku?”

“I don’t mean to pry,” He said, the volume of his voice never increasing, staying as a whisper. “B - but I - I’ve never seen you use yo - your quirk?’

Ayumi stared.

“Oh,” She said. “That’s right,”

She looked sad.

“Y-you don’t h-have to tell me,” Izuku said instantly.

“No, it’s alright,” Ayumi said. “My quirk is called Nightmare - it has two main uses. When I touch someone, I can force them to relive the worst or scariest moment of their life. I can also get a sense of their greatest fear and create an illusion of that fear,” Ayumi continued. “It’s nothing like my parents’ quirk, but it’s a bit like my grandmother’s quirk, who could induce fear. My dad’s great-grandfather also had the ability to create illusions, so that’s probably where the quirk came from.” She paused. “I manifested it when I was three - I accidentally used it on one of our neighbors, a relatively old lady with a weak heart. She had a heart attack and a brain hemorrhage and died.”

Shit.

“That’s why I don’t like talking about it much,” She explained. “Most people think it’s a villains quirk,”

“Wasn’t your fault,” He said. “Your quirk is cool,”

Ayumi stared. She still looked sad.

“Thank you, Izuku,” She said finally. “Thank you,”

—

“Die!”

Ayumi and Izuku both screamed as cold water dunked the both of them. Ice fell down to his shoulders, hitting his head then clinking against the ground.

Takai appeared, looking much too smug.

“Ha!” He yelled. “Got you!”

“What the fuck Takai,” Ayumi growled.

“Mom said I should try ambushing you guys. She said that if you guys want to be vigilantes, you can’t let anyone surprise you. She wanted me to help you train your awareness,”

“So you chose to dunk us with water,” Ayumi hissed. Takai shrugged.

Ayumi and Izuku exchanged knowing glances. Izuku wasn’t one for revenge, but Ayumi certainly was - and it’s not like Izuku was against getting revenge on the person who just dunked him with ice cold water.

Izuku didn’t like getting wet.

Ayumi and Izuku pounced together.

Takai screamed, a girlish shriek that bounced off the walls of the house.

“Mom! Ayumi and Izuku are teaming up on me - ouch what the fuck - mom! Help me!”

—

The TV ran in the background, reporters rambling away as Ayumi, Takai, and Izuku stumbled in, collapsing on the living room floor, all three exhausted from another round of aggressive sparring with Akatsuki-San.

“Oh look,” Ayumi said, lifting her face up from the fluffy white carpet she had collapsed on. “It’s All Might,” Izuku froze.

No one seemed to notice his sudden stiffness, not with the sudden arrival of Masujiro-San and Cleopatra.

“Huh,” Masujiro-San said. “I wonder who he saved this time,” Izuku felt himself curl into himself a little more as All Might himself appeared on the screen, red, yellow, and blue glittering.

Red, yellow and blue shimmered, a blinding grin crawling over a handsome face.

“Are you alright my boy?” The memories taunted him.

“No, you can’t be a hero,”

“Maybe consider a safer job. You could be a police officer, or a doctor?” His tone was mocking, his smile a strained, almost invisible thing. All Might mocked him with pretty smiles and glittering flashes of red, yellow, and blue.

“Of course not,”

“Too dangerous,”

“Who’d ever want a quirkless Deku like you?”

“If you really want a quirk so bad - “

“Maybe you’ll get a quirk in your next life-“

“I feel bad for your mother, having to deal with a quirkless weakling like you - “

“Take a swan dive off the roof!”

“It’s not like anyone would care, if you died. Who’d care about a worthless, quirkless Deku like you?”

“I bet you wouldn’t even have a funeral-“

“Quirkless-“

“Hero? You can’t be a hero,”

“Worthless-

“Well? What’ya going to do about it, Deku?”

“Weak-“

“Ha! That’s what I thought. Fucking useless Deku. You’re not even fun to mess with,”

“Useless-“

“You really think you can be a hero? What hero school in their right mind would accept someone like you? You’re quirkless,”

“Deku-“

“I don’t need help from a worthless Deku like you,”

Explosions licked the palm of his hands and scorched his arms, traveling up his elbow-

A warm hand settled gently on his shoulder.

“Izuku,”

The red disappeared, along with the yellow and glittering, shining blue as the TV flickered too black. Blue - no, not just blue, sky blue, caught his eye and he could feel himself calming - if only by slightly.

“Izuku,” Akatsuki-San repeated. Izuku blinked, having not realized she was there. Sure enough, she was standing right in front of him, Masujiro-San by her side. Ayumi and Takai watched from afar. “Are you okay?”

Izuku stared at her for a couple seconds.

“It’s okay if you’re not,” Masujiro-San chimed in. Izuku glanced towards him, then slowly, slowly, shakes his head.

He wasn’t okay.

He was not.

Izuku wanted to cry.

Tears trailed down his face.

“Izuku,” And it felt so weird, Izuku thought, for someone to call him Izuku - not Deku, not Midoriya, not Kid, just Izuku.

Izuku missed his mom.

“Izuku, what’s wrong?” Akatsuki-San asked.

Izuku didn’t answer.

“Izuku,” Masujiro-san said. “We can’t help you if you don’t talk to us,”

And then suddenly Izuku was talking.

He was talking, talking more than he has in what seemed like years. His story was spilling from his lips, and Izuku couldn’t stop.

He told them his story.

He told them about his picture-perfect life, how great it had been until that cursed doctors’ appointment - he never saw his dad again, why would his dad want to see a weak, quirkless deku like him?

He told them about Kaccha - no, Bakugou, it was Bakugou, he’s not Kacchan any longer - he tells them everything about Bakugou - and god, does the word Bakugou sound so wrong coming from him. He wanted to tear out his tort and maul his vocal chords, he wanted his Kacchan - but Kacchan wasn’t there any more, it was just fucking Bakugou.

He told them about the bullying, the discrimination, the neglect. He told them about how his teachers would just watch. He told them about how his Mother would try her hardest but would always fail - how even his Mother would look at him like he was diseased, like something was wrong with him - and there was something wrong with him wasn’t there? He was all fucked up.

He told them about that one, terrible day. He told them about the suicide taunts from Bakugou, and how the words hurt less than the knowledge that it was coming from his former friend - that his former friend wouldn’t care if he was dead.

He told them about the sludge villain, how he suffocated, how the world seemed to close around him and suck the air out of his lungs -

He told them about All Might, how All Might saved his life with one well-timed punch.

He told them about stupidly, foolishly, latching on to All Might’s leg and taking an unplanned trip to the skies.

He told them about the rooftop, where he stood while All Might crushed his dreams and any hope he had left.

He told them how All Might left him there, all alone. He told them how he peered over the edge of the much too tall building and contemplated jumping. He told them how much he wanted to, to jump off and fall. Izuku had always wondered what falling felt like.

He told them about the familiar spark of explosions that colored the sky. He told them the way he ran into a fight he wasn’t prepared for, throwing his book bag at the Sludge Villain’s eyes.

He told them about how the heroes berated him, yelled at him, scolded him.

He told them how Kacchan cornered him.

He told them about walking alone down the streets, desperate to collapse in the familiarity of his own home and eat his Mother’s katsudon.

He told them about the smell of smoke that clogged his throat.

He told them about the red-orange flames that burned around his house.

He told them of his plan to run away, knowing he wasn’t wanted anywhere.

He told them about finding Kōyō, how he found comfort in the mangy little cat.

He told them about his ‘vigilantism’, and how it started - he told them of the first women he saved and the man he killed to do so.

He told them about his months homeless, the biting cold, the chilling winter.

He told them about the day he met Ayumi.

He told them how he felt when he first met them.

He told them that they felt like family.

He told them how much he hated leaving them.

He told them how much he wanted to go back.

He told them about the day he decided to come back.

He told them how much he loved them. How much they meant to him. How every word they said and everything they did made Izuku feel important.

He finished his story, choking out the last words with a sob.

Izuku curled into himself, chest heaving, Kōyō curling up in his arms.

The Mizurios didn’t speak, but warm hands cradled him, cuddling him in a tight hug. Ayumi sat by his side, an arm wrapped around his shoulder. A cat tail curled around his back as Takai crouched down right next to Ayumi.

Basked in warmth, Izuku felt himself slowly, slowly drifting away from consciousness. He had tired himself out.

As he drifted off, Ayumi spoke.

“You feel like family too, Zuku,”

Chapter Text

Intermission: Tsukauchi Naomasa; Look The Other Way

“My family is illegally adopting an eleven year-old,”

Truth.

Tsukauchi Naomasa’s head shot up, alarmed.

He stared at his blue-haired apprentice.

“…what?”

“I said, my family is illegally adopting an eleven year-old child,”

The statement still rang true to his quirk. And his quirk was never wrong.

Tsukauchi had no idea what to do.

“… you just walked into the office of a police officer and admitted to kidnapping a child,”

“Yeah, I thought that was obvious,”

Tsukauchi still had no idea what his apprentice expected him to do.

“… do you want me to arrest you?”

“No, of course not,” Tsukauchi stared. Mizurio Takai stared back, cat tail twitching.

Tsukauchi sighed.

“I need more coffee,” Takai grinned, handing him the white cup of steaming coffee Tsukauchi hadn’t even realized he was holding.

Tsukauchi took a long sip of the coffee, barely noticing the scalding heat.

“Is there a reason you decided to share this piece of information with me?”

“Of course,”

Tsukauchi was so fucking close to dumping the scalding hot coffee in his hand over his apprentices’ head. Tsukauchi did not deserve this, not on a Monday.

You know what he did deserve? A fucking pay raise. He wasn’t paid nearly enough to deal with all the shit he had to deal with.

“Care to share, Kai?”

“Well, I was using my access to the police record database and your access key card to falsify records to successfully adopt the kid-“ Takai held up his missing key card and threw it at his head. Tsukauchi snatched it. He’d been looking for this for the entire goddamn day. He should’ve suspected Takai took it, especially after finding cat hair on his chair. Of course, he’d assumed that was Sansa. “And I figured you’d find out eventually so it’d be better just to tell you straight up,”

Tsukauchi glared at his apprentice. Takai’s grin never dropped.

Tsukauchi was, quite frankly, unsure of what to do. He and Takai were relatively close - he knew his apprentice and he knew very well that Takai and his family had a very strong set of morals. He was also quite aware that Takai had never cared much about rules, or laws, for that matter, and had a habit of dabbling just a bit in illegal methods to get what he wanted. He tended to overlook that fact, if only for the reason that Takai was a good kid and only used said methods to do good things.

“Does the kid want to be kidnapped?”

“Yeah - well, at least I think so? He’s been living with us for a good couple of months. We haven’t brought up adoption yet, but we’re all pretty sure he’ll agree,”

“Does the kid have any relatives or family that are looking for him?”

“Nope. He was living on the streets before we took him in,” Tsukauchi mulled over that information.

“You do realize, that if he doesn’t have any living family, and he was homeless, you have perfectly legal grounds to adopt him?”

“What’s the fun in that?” Tsukauchi glared at his apprentice. He was a police officer, dammit! He had to at least occasionally follow the fucking laws he was supposed to be upholding.

Takai sighed.

“He’s considered officially dead, so that would be a little difficult. I’m sure we could still feasibly adopt him legally, but he has a past he would prefer to leave behind.”

Tsukauchi sighed yet again. Why did he have to have such a troublesome apprentice?

“…did you cover your tracks well?”

“Of course! What do you take me for, an amateur?” Tsakauchi massaged his forehead. His apprentice should be an amateur - at breaking the law, at least.

Tsukauchi stared at his apprentice, and he stared back - the both of them knowing fully well Tsakauchi wouldn’t turn him in.

Tsukauchi sighed. He supposed he would look the other way just this once.

Next time, though. Next time, Takai was going to -

“Takai!” A shrill scream echoed through the police department. “Where the hell are you, you mangy cat?”

Sasaki Mae.

Takai had a terrible habit - he was always pranking people and playing ‘practical jokes’.

Sasaki Mae. was one of the five trainee’s Tsukauchi’s department had taken in. Takai was another. Takai was always relaxed, casual, and seemingly carefree. He was a fun guy, always playing his pranks - the entire department was split into two groups - those who hated him, and those who loved him. Tsukauchi was somewhere in the middle of both worlds.

Sasaki Mae, however, was firmly on the side of hate. Sasaki was a strict rule follower, someone who did things by the book - and, as Takai liked to call her, uptight. Of course, Takai and Sasaki’s personalities clashed quite violently - Sasaki was always out to get Takai, and in turn, Takai was always pranking the pink-haired girl.

“What did you do this time?” He asked his apprentice sullenly.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Takai replied smoothly.

Lie.

“Takai!” Sasaki screamed again. Takai laughed nervously - Sasaki really was a sight to behold when she was angry.

“I’ll just be going then,” Rather than running to the door, Takai ran to the window - they were on the ground floor, so there wasn’t much of a drop. Takai forced the window open, climbing through. He looked back at Tsukauchi.

“If anyone asks, I was never here,” And then he was gone, disappearing into the night.

Seconds later, Sasaki came running into the room, screaming and yelling out curses. Tsukauchi stared at her. Sasaki stared at him, instantly shutting up.

Tsukauchi pointed to the still open window.

The screaming continued.

“-you can’t run forever! I’ll run you over with my car and break all the bones in your body! I’ll make you wish you were never born you little fleabag -“

Tsukauchi took another sip of his coffee.

He needed that goddamn pay raise.

And he really, really needed a goddamn life.

Chapter Text

Origin: Part Nine; Who We Are

“The three of you have come so far with your training,” Masujiro-San said, dramatically wiping nonexistent tears from his eyes. “They grow up so fast, don’t they, Suki?”

Akatsuki-San glared at Masujiro with a “I’m so done with my fucking husband” look. Akatsuki-San had many looks, looks that displayed entire sentences. She never swore out loud - her looks displayed all the curse words she could ever need.

She had her “don’t fuck with me right now,” look.

She had her sadistic grin with wide eyes that said “you’re about to die, fucker.”

She had her “I’m about to kill my children,” look.

She had her “Takai, if you don’t shut up right now-,” look.

She had her “Ayumi, go and clean up your room right now or else,” look.

She had her “Izuku, stop skipping meals and eat your fucking food before I force it down your throat,” look.

And of course, she had her “I’m so fucking done with my husband,” look which she used quite often.

Masujiro-San, however, was mostly immune to her looks.

He didn’t stop his dramatics, he continued them with an over exaggerated sniffle.

Ayumi rolled her eyes, already accustomed to her father’s oddities.

“Just get to the point already, Dad” Masujiro opened his mouth to speak, but Akatsuki-San cut him off.

“I’ll be talking for the rest of today. If I leave it to Masujiro, we’ll never get anywhere,” Masujiro-San let out an affronted gasp. Akatsuki-San continued to pointedly ignore him. “You’ve all been training hard across the summer. The summer, however, is coming to a close,”

Akatsuki-San was right. It was July 13, Monday. School started around the end of August.

Ayumi groaned.

“Does this mean I have to go back to school?

Akatsuki-San raised an eyebrow.

“Yes, of course. You’re going into 11th grade, your education is important. You have to work hard, Ayumi,”

Ayumi made a face.

Akatsuki-San ignored her too.

“Our hope for the two of you - yes, only the two of you, - Takai’s not included for obvious reasons - is to become real vigilantes - and start your patrols - by August, so you get into a hood rhythm for the school year,”

“Wait,” Ayumi said. “Does that mean I have to go to school AND patrol as a vigilante? I’m not going to have time for anything,”

“Hah, sucker,” Takai chimed in. Ayumi glared.

Akatsuki-San sighed.

“Ayumi, being a vigilante is hard work,” Akatsuki-San said. “It was never going to be easy,”

“And even being a vigilante, it’s important that you keep up with your school work,” Masujiro-San added.

“As well as taking care of yourself and not overworking yourself,” Akatsuki San continued.

“It was never going to be easy,” Masujiro-San repeated, parroting Akatsuki-San. “But, on the plus side, you won’t be alone,”

Izuku blinked as four sets of eyes landed on him.

“Huh?”

“Izuku, Ayumi’s school is a middle and high school. We were thinking about it, and even though you are really smart-“

Izuku preened at the praise. Izuku never usually took compliments well, but compliments from the Mizurios were like gold for him. More valuable than anything he could ever buy.

“-education is important, and we think it’s necessary for you to go back to school,”

Izuku’s smile dropped.

Izuku loved learning. He hated school.

He hated the cruel teachers and the even crueler students. He hated the bullying, the verbal abuse - he hated everything about school.

His feelings were obviously painted quite clearly on his face, as Akatsuki-San quickly noticed his distress.

“Izuku,” She said. “What’s wrong?”

Izuku took a deep breath.

“Don’t like school,” He admitted. “The kids in my old school weren’t ... nice,” Izuku paused. “Neither were the teachers;”

Akatsuki-San’s gentle smile morphed into an angry snarl. She turned to her husband.

“Is it bad how much I want to find his old school, arrest all the teachers, punish the kids, fire everyone, and fucking murder this ‘Kachaan’,”

Bakugou wasn’t Kachaan anymore, Izuku reminded himself. He was Bakugou.

“It wasn’t his fault,” Izuku ended up saying, despite it all. “It wasn’t any of their faults,”

Akatsuki-San scowled. So did Ayumi.

They’d had this argument many, many times before.

“Yes, Izuku, it is their fault,” Akatsuki-San said. “A teacher is meant to teach, nurture and help everyone of their students, despite their quirk,”

“And ‘Kachaan’ was a bully,” Ayumi said firmly. “He treated you like shit. I know you say the system made him that way, but if he had any decency, he would have realized that what he was doing is wrong. His moral compass has been quite literally blown to bits. And to think he wants to be a hero,” Ayumi scoffed.

“She’s right,” Takai agreed. “What kind of person suicide baits a tween?”

“And what kind of adult sits back and lets it happen?” Akatsuki-San snapped.

Izuku frowned.

Masujiro-San sighed.

“Look at it this way,” He said. “You’re not the only one in this kind of situation. People with ‘weak’ quirks or so called ‘villainous’ quirks are bullied and abused as well. Both Takai and Ayumi were bullied extensively in elementary - Takai for his mutation quirk and Ayumi for her so called villain’s quirk,”

Izuku didn’t miss the way both Takai and Ayumi flinched.

“None of the teachers ever helped or protected Ayumi and Takai, and eventually it got so bad that Suki and I had to step in. After hundreds of meetings with the principal and no end results, it became evident just how terrible the school was. Needless to say, we pulled Ayumi and Takai out quickly. But they both had to go through a lot of shit - excuse my language. For years, Ayumi and Takai were bullied. Do you think that was right?”

Izuku vehemently shook his head. “Of course not,”

“Ayumi and Takai were judged based on their quirks. They were bullied and discriminated against because of them. Is that fair?”

“No!” Izuku repeated. “Your quirk doesn’t matter,”

“Then what makes your situation any different?” Masujiro-San asked. “If it isn’t fair for someone to bully someone else because of their quirk, what makes you any different? How does the fact that you’re quirkless justify your bullies’ actions against you if, as you said, quirks don’t matter?”

Izuku stated for a long while.

“Oh,” He said.

Masujiro-San smiled slightly.

“I know that it’s difficult to think about - but just because you are quirkless doesn’t give them any right to bully you - and by justifying their actions you’re invalidating anyone who’s been bullied before - and saying that what the bullies are doing is right, or good,”

“That’s not what I meant to do,” Izuku said quietly.

“I know. So this isn’t your fault. And it’s about time you start realizing that nothing that’s happened in your life so far has been your fault. Being quirkless isn’t something you chose, nor is it a bad thing, and you need to start to realize that before you can really become a good vigilante. What kind of hero can you be - how can you save people when you haven’t yet saved yourself? Of all the people you will save, Izuku, the most important will be yourself.”

Izuku breathed out, releasing the breast he hadn’t even realized he was holding as he stared as Masujiro-San in awe.

“And anyways, you don’t have anything to worry about. Ayumi’s current school, the one that Takai also attended during middle and high, has a strict no-bullying policy - one that they actually put effort into following. And if it isn’t followed, or anyone treats you badly, you can go to Ayumi who will come to us. Suki will deal with the problem - if Ayumi hasn’t already dealt with it with her extremely terrifying and violent ways,” At Akatsuki-San’s glare, Masujiro-San quickly added; “Not that violence is every the answer, of course,”

Akatsuki-san sighed.

“Now that that’s covered,” She said. “Back to the original point of this entire conversation - we’re planning for the two of you to be accustomed to the life of vigilantes by the end of August so you’re prepared for school. To get to that point, we’re going to be training a lot harder for the entirety of July - and, at some point, you two will need to create your vigilante identities - so be thinking on what kind of costume design that you want, what theme you’re going for, and what you want your name to be. Remember, you’re stealth-based, so no flashy costumes or bright colors. Your costumes should be plain and efficient. The most important part of a costume is making sure it’s actually helpful to you. Your name might not matter in the grand scheme of things, but choosing a Vigilante name is necessary. We’re not going to deal with that right now though, this is just a reminder to keep thinking about it,”

“There’s a more important thing we need to talk about though,” “Takai said quickly, interrupting his mother.

An instant sense of foreboding filled him - he didn’t like Takai’s tone.

“Izuku, this thing’s about you specifically,”

Of course it was.

Izuku held down the panic. It couldn’t be anything bad, right?

From the way Ayumi, Masujiro-San and Akatsuki-San were exchanging glances behind his back, thinking he couldn’t see, Izuku realized that it could, in fact, be that bad.

“We know you’ve been living with us for some time-“

Oh god, oh god, were they kicking him out?

That didn’t make any sense, they just talked about school, they couldn’t be kicking him out could they?

“We decided to make your stay here permanent!”

“Huh?” Izuku voiced his confusion, staring at Takai.

Takai grinned.

“We’re adopting you,”

Izuku choked.

Chapter Text

Origin: Part Ten: District 9

Izuku woke up on July 15th without checking the date. He attempted to throw the covers off of himself - and failed, miserably.

He could barely even move, not with the combined weight of Ayumi, Takai, and Hercules weighing down on top of him.

Ever since Monday, Takai and Ayumi had taken to sleeping in his room, on his bed, every night.

Izuku complained every night about them stealing his bed space, but in all honesty, Izuku didn’t really mind.

Izuku smiled at his sleeping siblings.

Because that’s who they were now, his brother and sister.

Izuku still couldn’t believe he had gotten this lucky.

With extreme effort and a burst of strength he learned to harness through hundreds of lessons with Akatsuki-San
, Izuku shot up, sending both Takai and Ayumi tumbling to the floor - though he caught Hercules before he could fall.

“Izuukuuuu,” Ayumi whined. Takai let out a hiss, tail swishing. Because of his quirk, Takai gained several cat attributes- the most prominent being his hate of water and his hate of mornings.

“Why would you do this to me, Izuku?” Takai complained, taking a pause to yawn. How could you betray me like this?”

Izuku rolled his eyes.

“It’s already 5:30, training starts in 1ten minutes. We have to get up,” Izuku said.

Takai pouted.

“Unless you would prefer to wait for Mlm to come and wake us up,”

Takai paled, both him and Ayumi instantly jumping to their feet.

Meanwhile, Izuku’s heart warmed at the word ‘Mom’. It hadn’t taken long to get used to - and Akatsuki-San and Masujiro-San - Mom and Dad - loved their new titles.

“Come on,” Izuku repeated, jumping out of bed.
—-
“I still think we should open a cafe ,” Ayumi insisted.

They’d been having this argument for the better part of the morning. The idea came from seemingly nowhere, and Ayumi wouldn’t stop talking about it.

Izuku ignored her, taking another bite of his Katsudon. After hours of intense training all Izuku wanted to do was eat his lunch in peace.

“On with this again, Ayumi?” Takai asked. Apparently this wasn’t a new thing at all - Ayumi’s want for a cafe started long before Izuku met the Mizurios.

“I’m serious,” Ayumi responded. “It would be perfect! We could get some money -“

“We don’t need money,” Takai pointed out. Ayumi ignored him.

“It could serve as a vigilante hideout -“

“We already have our house why do we need a whole other building-“

“And it would be really, really cool, and a lot of fun!l” Ayumi finished

“I’m not sure you understand what fun is, Ayumi,” Takai commented.

Mom - Izuku still can’t get over calling her mom - rolled her eyes.

“Ayumi, you were already complaining about how much work it would be to go to school and be a vigilante. How will you manage running a cafe on top of that? Because your dad and I won’t be helping. Unlike you, we actually have jobs to do,”

“The cafe can be open only after school - I can run it from 3:30 to 6:30 on school days and full-time on the weekend - and I can do my homework while I’m in the cafe. Izuku can help me, and so can Takai - it’s not like he has school anyways,”

“I’m being volunteered against my will,” Takai muttered.

“You and Dad won’t have to do anything,” Ayumi finished.

“Except pay for everything,” Dad said with a raised eyebrow. “And opening a cafe is a lot harder than you’d think, Ayumi. Do you even know how to bake? Or brew coffee? Even then, you’d have to get a permit and get licensed. There’s a lot of factors to consider,”

“I could do it,” Ayumi said. “Izuku’s smart, he could help me,” Mom rolled her eyes.

“We’ll think about it, Ayumi,” She sat back. “Meanwhile, I think lunchtime is over. Back to training, everyone,”

Takai, Ayumi, and Izuku groaned in unison.

—

It was about an hour later when Izuku realized what day it was.

Izuku opened his computer - he was borrowing Ayumi’s old one - to continue his lessons on coding and hacking, two things Izuku had quite the knack for.

His eyes strayed to the date.

“Oh,” he said numbly. Takai glanced over at him.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s July 15th,” Izuku replied. Ayumi’s brow furrowed.

“And that’s important because …?”

“It’s my birthday,” Ayumi freezed.

“It’s your birthday?!” She screamed.

Izuku winced.

“You’re turning twelve?” Takai asked. Izuku nodded. He stared at Izuku for a second before yelling out; “MOM!”

She walked into the room a couple seconds later.

“What do you want? Shouldn’t the lot of you be working?”

Yes, they should. Takai was trying to teach them how to hack into the police database.

“Training needs to end now, mom,” Izuku’s mom raised an eyebrow.

“And why is that,”

Takai pointed towards Izuku. Izuku shrunk down.

“It’s Izuku’s birthday!”

Her eyes widened.

She turned to Izuku.

“Izuku, why didn’t you tell us,” Izuku stared at the ground bashfully.

“I didn’t realize,” He admitted. “I hadn’t been keeping track of the days,”

Izuku couldn’t believe he was already 12.

That seemed so young, but at the same time, Izuku felt so grown-up.

It had been a little over a year since Izuku’s first mother died. A little over a year since the sludge-villain incident.

So many things had changed.

“Well,” Mom said. “I suppose we have to stop training for this. I can’t make you train on your birthday,”

Ayumi frowned.

“You made me train on my birthday,”
Mom sniffed.

“You don’t count, Ayumi,”

Ayumi spluttered.

“You don’t have to,” Izuku said. “I can -“
“Nonsense,” Mom said, waving the idea way with her hand. “We have to celebrate,”

“Celebrate what?” Izuku’s dad - oh my god Masujiro-San is his dad now - asked, walking into the room.

“It’s the broccoli’s birthday!” Ayumi exclaimed.

Izuku scowled out the ‘broccoli’ comment. He was not a broccoli.

His Dad’s eyebrows shot up.

“Seriously? How did I not know this?” Takai shrugged.

“Apparently, Izuku didn’t know either. He just realized,”

“Oh,” Dad said. “Well, Suki’s right! We have to celebrate,”

“You really don’t need to - “ All four of Izuku’s family members gave him a look.

Izuku sighed.

He guessed they were celebrating his birthday.

“Is there something you want for your birthday, Izuku?” Mom asked. “A birthday present? A place you want to go?”

Izuku opened his mouth to refuse - but then something came to him.

“I - actually, there is something,”

Everyone stared at him in surprise.

He didn’t think it was that surprising for him to ask for a birthday gift.

Everyone else appeared to think otherwise.

“Well?” Ayumi asked. “What is it?”

“Well,” Izuku said, raking a hand through his hair. “I’ve been thinking about it a lot. I don’t really like my green hair. It reminds me a lot of my mom, and that makes me really sad. I do want a reminder of my old life, but the eyes work for that. I was wondering if I could get my hair dyed - blue, to match you guys?”

The last sentence comes out as a question.

Mom smiled.

“Of course you can,” She said after the silence stretched out too long. “Of course. In fact, we can get it done right now,” Masujiro-San nodded.

“I know just the place,”
—
The barbers’ shop was small and cozy, and the hairdresser was kind with a constant smile. Her name was Chika - and she was constantly talking, chattering away, exuding such potent happiness that if Izuku was feeling sad, his mood would have probably flipped right around. She had a certain air to her that made it impossible not to smile.

But Izuku was already smiling. He didn’t need Chika’s contagious happiness. Izuku was sure this was shaping up to be his best birthday yet.

After Izuku was seated, she grinned again revealing a set of perfect teeth, her bright neon hair bouncing as she moved from place to place.

“So, Mizurio -“ Izuku was never going to get over that either - he was a Mizurio now. He wasn’t a Midoriya anymore, and Izuku - he was so happy to have a family now. A real one.

“I’m not sure if your parents have told you this yet, but my quirk is called Alter. I can permanently alter one of your physical features - I can make your eyes purple or your hair yellow. Alter quite literally alters your DNA - so if I were to change your hair color, to blue, as you want it, it would continue to grow blue - you’d never have green hair again unless you dye it,”
Izuku’s eyes widened, and he bit down on his lip to prevent another mutter storm. Her quirk was insanely cool.

“You have a choice here. Either I can dye your hair manually - if I do that, you’ll have to come back every few months to get it re-dyed, but that way, it won’t be permanent, and you can grow your hair out to be green again if you don’t like the blue. If I use Alter - that’ll be permanent, but you won’t ever have to come back to get your hair re-dyed. It’s up to you which option you choose,”

Izuku doesn’t really have to think too hard.

“Can you use Alter? I want my hair to be permanently blue,” He said.

Chika smiled.

“That’s what I thought you’d say,” She looked up at Mom and Dad, towards Ayumi and Takai. “You two okay with that?”

Mom nodded.

“If that’s what he wants,”

“Cool. Another question, Mizurio - do you want to cut your hair? Or keep it long? If you keep it long, all I’ll do is trim it a little bit - that will only take 10 - 20 minutes. But it’ll take longer if you want it shorter,”

Izuku hadn’t realized - but his hair was pretty long. It fell to his shoulders now.

It made Izuku feel … powerful, in a way. More adult-like.

“Can I keep it long?”

“Of course!” Chika exclaimed. “I think you look beautiful with long hair,”

Izuku blushed.

“Now, let’s get to work,”

—

“You look great,” Chika said.

20 minutes later, Izuku stared at his hair - his blue hair.

Elation filled him.

Takai and Ayumi wrapped their arms around his shoulders, while Mom and Dad watched from the doorway with fond smiles.

“Happy birthday, Izuku,” Takai said.

Izuku grinned.

He was really a Mizurio now.

Izuku Mizurio.

Izuku liked the sound of that.

Chapter Text

Intermission:Takami Keigo; Faded

Two of Hawks’ wings darted forward, catching the edge of a civilian’s eye-killing orange coat, pulling him out of the path of another flying car.

Hawks wanted to crawl into a ditch and die.

Actually, scratch that, he wanted this stupid fucking villain to take his stupid fucking telekenesis quirk and go die in a fucking ditch.

Every part of Hawks was hurting - his wings were sore, his body was aching, his ankle was screaming at him - he was relatively sure it was at least sprained, if not broken.

Hawks just wanted to eat some fucking chicken then go the fuck to sleep.

But, of course, this had to happen.

Not like he could do any of those things anyways - the Commision always had him on a strict diet and his daily torture training session with the Commision started in around thirty minutes and would last most of the night - and anyways, in Hawks’ opinion, sleep was for weaklings.

Another car hurtled toward him. Hawks didn’t even bother dodging, instead sending a couple of feathers to support the car and bring it safely down to the ground on the sidewalk, safely out of the range of the stupid-ass villain that was still throwing cars at him.

The villain in question had dubbed himself ‘Terror Kinetic’

Hawks thought that ‘Headcase’ would’ve been a better name.

Not only was ‘Terror Kinetic’ so completely and utterly stupid, it was also completely unoriginal. Like come on, you couldn’t be even just a tiny bit more creative?

HeadCase over there wasn’t that much of a danger - he was a completely unknown villain who wasn’t even a villain - he was just a broke man drunk off his ass throwing a temper tantrum in the middle of the street. The only thing even remotely dangerous about him was his quirk.

The situation wasn’t very dangerous either - the only real danger was to the poor cars being thrown around like balls. Hawks was trying to avoid as much property damage as he possibly could.

If Hawks was lucky, however, the entire situation would be resolved soon enough.

Of course, Hawks has never been lucky.

Hawks detached more feathers, stopping oncoming cars as he darted forward, ducking underneath more flying vehicles, leaping towards Terror Kinetic, ready to finish the fight.

Red and white flashed at the very corner of Hawks’ peripheral vision. Another car careened through the air, heading straight for a blue and gray eyed teenager standing in the middle of the road like a fucking idiot -

Hawks feathers shot out towards the car and then he was backtracking, diving towards the boy even though Hawks knew even he wasn’t fast enough to -

A scream pierced the air, and Hawks was quite aware how lucky he was - even just a decibel louder, and his ears would have been bleeding at this point.

The car seemed to freeze mid-air, before flying backwards, knocked back by an invisible force - the power of the scream.

The teenager stumbled slightly as the cars flew backwards, slow enough for Hawks’ feathers to catch the car before it crashed, laying it gently on the floor.

Even ‘Terror Kinetic’ didn’t move for a few seconds, staring in shock.

Hawks’ eyes briefly darted left, landing on the boy with the peppermint hair. Once Hawks was sure the boy was fine, he turned toward the newcomer and smiled.

“Im-peck-able timing, Tori,” He said.

Matsuyama Tori, better known as the Pro Hero Songbird, sighed in barely disguised exasperation.

“The day I get you to stop making your stupid-ass bird puns is the day I’ll die, hapilly and peacefully,”

Hawks flashed Tori his trademark smile, before jerking his head toward TerrorKinetic.

“Do me a favour and knock Headcase over here out, will ya?”

Tori rolled his eyes.

“Only for you, Hawks, only for you,”

Tori and Hawks had been working as hero partners for a couple of months now. Normally, the commission didn’t approve of him partnering up with other heroes - something about how any good pro hero shouldn’t need a partner - but Songbird was pretty popular, so they agreed. Not top ten, popular, but Tori was in the top 50 - and he was well known and well liked, with his appealing quirk and even more appealing personality.

A couple seconds and a scream later, Terror Kinetic was lying on the floor, unconscious but otherwise uninjured.

That was one of the many beauties of Tori’s quirk.

Tori’s quirk was simply dubbed ‘Voice Manipulation’ - but his quirk had a lot more applications than just sonic screams - although, the sonic screams were pretty cool too - Tori could reach a decibel amount high enough to deflect bullets.

Tori’s quirk could also be manipulated to act like a siren’s quirk - Tori’s voice could inflict pain, happiness, and a whole field of other emotions. He could also hypnotize people with his singing - which came in handy quite often during hero work. He could calm a villain down and talk someone down from a rooftop with just a couple lines of a song.

Tori could also use his voice to mimic any sound possible - he could mimic different voices, and any sounds she wanted. He often used sounds of aggressive animals to scare off villains.

Tori strived to find as many applications of his quirk as he could - in addition to all the other things he could do, Tori can sing in pitches that can overload the brain, effectively knocking out enemies - like what he did with TerrorKinetic.

Hawks loved watching Tori’s quirk in action.

“Are you okay, kid?”

Hawks’ eyes trailed back towards the teenager who was still standing in the middle of the road.

There are four things Hawks noticed immediately.

One, the peppermint hair - which is not surprising, really, his hair is wonderful - but surprisingly not the most noticeable thing about him.

The most noticeable thing about him is probably the scar - that’s the second thing Hawks noticed - the terrible burn scar over his right eye.

His eyes are the third thing Hawks’ noticed - the bright blue eye that reminded him of something he couldn’t quite place, and the misty gray that swirls around his pupils like a cloud of fog. The mismatch of colours isn’t what drew Hawks’ attention to the boys’ eyes though - it’s the pain, the bone-deep tiredness - that caught Hawks’ own eyes.

The fourth thing Hawks’ noticed is how obviously in pain the boy was. When he moved, he flinched, hands shooting up to cradle his ribs. His movements were stiff, all his weight was on one foot, a bad, second degree-burn was just about visible on his right shoulder, and his right wrist was swollen and red. And even through it all, he was trying to hide his obvious pain, adjusting himself to make it less obvious as he schooled his expression into a poker face. Peppermint over there was acting how Hawks’ did after a session of endurance training with the commission.

Tori seemed to notice this as well.

“Kid?” Tori repeated, his question going unanswered. “Are you alright?”

The boy’s head snapped up, his eyes surging with emotion so strong it made Hawks’ want to cry ,made him want to drop down onto the floor, wrap himself in his wings and just cry.

For a second, Hawks thought the kid was going to snap, scream, shout, maybe even cry. But the emotion in his eyes just disappeared.

“I’m fine,” He said emotionlessly.

Hawks wanted to fucking scream.

Hawks’ wasn’t entirely sure why this was affecting him so much, but he knows this kid isn’t okay, he’s not, he’s not,he’s just like Hawks, this boy is just like him, he’s hurting too-

Hawks opened his mouth to speak. He knows he has to check this boy for injuries, he knows he has to take him to the police station - both to give a statement about the villain and so the police can investigate a possible abuse situation - he knows that all of that is proper hero protocol and he has to do it, and quick, so he isn’t late to his commission training.

He opened his mouth to say that.

Instead, what comes out of his mouth was this;

“Hey, Kid, do you wanna get some KFC?”

Hawks wasn’t entirely sure what the fuck was wrong with him.

“What’s KFC?”

Hawks froze.
---

And that’s how Hawks ended up sitting in KFC, with Tori and a random, possibly abused teen Hawks’ had never seen in his life yet somehow seemed familiar to him. Hawks’ couldn’t have met him before. He would’ve remembered meeting someone with peppermint hair. That kind of thing is memorable.

As for the situation he was currently in, well, in his defense, what was he supposed to do? Walk away after learning the boy had never been to a fast food restaurant before?

Hell, he hadn’t even heard of fast-food restaurants before.

That was 100% not okay.

As Hawks stared in a complete non-stalker way, watching the boy stare at his chicken tenders in barely restrained wonder, Tori glared at him from across the table.

Hawks stared at him, giving him a rightfully affronted look.

“What?” He mouthed.

Tori facepalmed.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” His eyes seemed to say.

Hawks shrugged.

Honestly, Hawks had no clue.

“So P -” Hawks stopped himself short from saying ‘Peppermint’. That was probably rude. “-kid. What’s your name?”

The boy tensed and Hawks tensed in response. Did he say something wrong?

The boys’ eyes narrowed.

“Why do you want to know?”

Hawks shrugged, attempting a carefree smile and failing miserably.

“Just … curious,” His voice cracked.

God, he was such a terrible liar.

And he wasn’t even lying.

Tori made sure his displeasure was known, his eyes shooting lasers into Hawks’ forehead. Hawks chose to ignore that as the boy responded.

“My name is Shoto,”

Oh wow.

First name basis.

Hawks couldn’t help but wonder how the fuck that happened.

And then, all of a sudden, Hawks’ started panicking - he only gave the kid his hero name - not even his last name or anything - was he supposed to? Was he missing something?

God, he felt so stupid.

Why were children so confusing?

“I’m Takami Keigo,” He blurted.

Shoto’s face didn’t change. Tori’s, on the other hand, morphed into one of surprise. Tori sent him another look, questioning him with his gaze.

“Don’t look at me,” Hawks wanted to say. “I’m just as confused as you are,”

Hawks honestly had no idea what the fuck was going on. He was just about ready to cut off his own tongue.

What the fuck was wrong with him today?

He hadn’t used that name in years.

Tamaki Keigo wasn’t his name.

It was Hawks.

Hawks.

His name was Hawks.

But it used to be Takami Keigo -

Keigo doesn’t want to be Hawks -

Why couldn’t he just be Keigo -

Why wasn’t Keigo ever enough?

Keigo Hawks dug his nails into his skin. He wanted to rip out his skin with his nails, his talons - he couldn’t breathe.

What was wrong with him?

A cool hand slid over his, detaching his nails from his skin.

“Are you alright?” Shoto asked.

“Yeah,” Hawks responded, then instantly felt bad for lying. Fuck, he wanted to rip out his own vocal chords.

Shouto tilted his head, ever blank face staring into his.

“I’m not okay either,” Shoto said matter-of-factly. Then he sat back into his seat, taking another bite out of his chicken.

Both Tori and Hawks stared at him, but he didn’t seem to notice.

Who the hell was this kid?

Hawks shouldn’t care.

Keigo wanted to know

Chapter Text

Izuku was sleeping alone in his room - a rare occurrence. Usually, he had at least one unwanted guest - sprawled across his bed, sitting in a corner, sleeping on the floor, watching him while he slept like a stalker -

But that night, he had no guests. His room was empty - not even the cats remained. Kōyō was nowhere to be seen - but that wasn’t all too surprising. Kōyō was, as Dad put it, a creature of the night - she always found some way out of the house and spent the night doing who knows what. But not even Hercules resided with Izuku - normally Hercules was a permanent fixture in his room at night.

Izuku didn’t think much of it at the time - he was much too tired, his sleep-addled brain barely even noticing the solidarity he was basking in.

Izuku’s eyes fluttered close and he began to fall asleep again - but a loud crash, followed by a thump and the scratch of metal against stone pulled him aggressively out of dreamland.

“Huh?” Izuku murmured drowsily. At first, his eyes scanned the room, searching for Hercules, Ayumi, or Takai - all three of them completely possible sources of the strange sounds. When his search came up empty, Izuku reluctantly threw off his covers, jumping out of bed - his eyes drawn to the window, that led to the backyard - where the mysterious sounds had come from.

Izuku sighed.

Grabbing his light purple fluffy night-slippers, previously Takai’s old slippers, Izuku walked over to the door at the very side of his room, where a door stood tall and proud - a door that led outside to the backyard.

A couple seconds of sleepy fumbling later, Izuku managed to unlock the door, his hand grasping around the handle and forcing the door open.

A gust of cold wind swirled around Izuku as he stepped out into the cold.

Izuku’s eyes searched the backyard for the source of the sounds - and he stopped short.

Izuku fully expected to see Ayumi and Takai, caught up in some kind of accident. It wouldn’t have been a new experience - Izuku had already become accustomed to waking up in the middle of the night to find Ayumi and Takai messing around - some days, they’d be play fighting - although it could hardly be called ‘play’ fighting, especially since their goals were to murder each other. Other days, they’d be training together - or attempting to sneak into Izuku’s room without him noticing. Occasionally, Izuku would open the door to Takai attempting to defenestrate Ayumi from Takai’s room - which was right above Izuku’s. Most of the time, though, Takai’s attempts were completely justified - apparently, Ayumi had sleep problems, and got bored easily - so she’d resort to using Takai to entertain herself - waking him up by pouring water over his head in the middle of the night. Takai, of course, retaliated.

Which ended up with at least one of them ending up defenestrated. Izuku had gotten use to it at this point - Ayumi and Takai were best friends and mortal enemies. It was just how they worked.

Izuku didn’t see any of the things he expected.

Instead, he saw a pink-haired girl sticking out of the backyard dumpster.

Izuku blinked, rubbing his eyes. The pink-haired hallucination didn’t disappear.

“What the fuck?”

Eyes, glowing gold, with irises shaped like crosshairs, snapped toward Izuku. Her pupils seemed to dilate as she stared.

“Hello Sky-Kun!” Izuku blinked again. He was too fucking tired for this.

“Sky-kun?” He asked anyway.

“Your hair is blue,” She informed him. “ Like the sky!” The girl gestured widely with her hands - and lost her balance, disappearing as she fell down into the dumpster.

When she didn’t reappear after a few seconds, Izuku reluctantly called out;

“Hello?” Izuku asked. “Are you alright?” Izuku just wanted to sleep. He swore, if she was dead, he was going to leave her body in the dumpster to rot.

At least till the morning. Then he’d wake up feeling extremely guilty and give her a nice burial.

He’d even add some flowers.

Luckily, Izuku didn’t have to worry about disposing of any bodies. “I’m alright, Sky-Kun!” Came the muffled reply. “You just have such cool things in your dumpster!”

Izuku sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. He felt like his Mom.

“Is there a particular reason you decided to go dumpster-diving in my backyard?” He asked.

“Of course!” The girl yelled. God, why was she so loud? “I need materials to make my babies!”

… what?

“I’m sorry?”

“My mom didn’t want to buy anymore materials for me, so I’ve resorted to dumpster diving!”

Izuku wanted to scream. He wrestled down the urge and decided he was going to ignore everything she just said. Izuku didn’t want to know what she meant by babies, he just wanted to sleep.

“Why exactly did you choose my dumpster?”

“You have the best dumpster I’ve ever seen!” Izuku stared at the dirty, half-broken green dumpster with paint chipping off. How was she rating these dumpsters again?

“Your dumpster has all kinds of cool scrap metal! You even had quirk-cancelling materials! How cool is that,”

Izuku didn’t feel safe knowing this girl has gotten her hands on quirk-cancelling materials. He didn’t feel safe at all.

Izuku didn’t know what to do. He debated calling the police - but that was a big no. He debated calling Mom and Dad - but Izuku didn’t want to wake them. He debated calling Takai - but Takai was completely unhelpful and would probably try to attack him if he woke Izuku up. Ayumi would probably attempt to kill Pinky - or Ayumi would befriend her. Izuku didn’t know what situation would be worse.

“Oh, Sky-Kun!” Izuku dragged his gaze back to Pinky. “You’re a vigilante, aren’t you?”

It took every iota of willpower Izuku has not to tense up. He hadn’t even started his vigilante career yet and he had already been discovered. How pathetic was that?

“Why would you say that?” He asked. That was a normal response, right? That didn’t sound suspicious?

Izuku was panicking.

“Well,” She said. “It’s kind of obvious,”

Izuku disagreed.

“I mean, you have quirk-cancelling ropes in your dumpster,” Izuku blinked.

“Maybe I stole them from someone else,” Izuku challenged.

“Doubtful,”

“How do you know they’re not my Mom’s?”

“Are they?” She asked. “Is your mother the vigilante in this family? Does she have blue hair like you?”

Izuku hesitated. His mom technically used to be a vigilante.

“Yes?” He responded.

“Oh!” The girl said. “Well, cool. I just assumed the vigilante would’ve been you, given all the cool scars you have,”

“Cool scars?”

Pinky pointed towards his neck, to the burnt handprint imprinted on his skin. Izuku looked down and forced down the panic rising in his chest - forcing down the distinctive smell of burning flesh that lingered in the air every time Izuku looked down at that particular scar.

“Oh.” Pinky frowned.

“Sorry, that’s probably a sensitive topic,” Her smile popped back into place in a split second. “Anyways, you’re planning to become a vigilante like your mom, right?”

“Huh?”

“That’s pretty cool, Sky-Kun!”

“I didn’t - “

“Hey, when you become a vigilante, can I make your support gear? I can lend you some of my babies!”

“I’m not -”

“I could make you the coolest vigilante costume, Sky-Kun! I could incorporate all kinds of fun things into your costume! I can start the plans right now -”

“Hey, wait - “

“Hey Sky-Kun! What’s your quirk? I need to know so I can figure out what support gear to make you!”

Izuku took a deep breath. Mom, Dad, Ayumi, and Takai all said he shouldn’t be ashamed of his quirklessness.

“I’m quirkless,”

Pinky’s eyes widened.

“Oh my god this is perfect!” She squealed. “I have so many perfect babies for you! I’ve never worked with someone quirkless! This is going to be so much fun!”

Izuku couldn’t understand this girl.

“I don’t - “

“So can I, Sky-Kun? Can I? Can I please?” Izuku could not keep up with this girl.

“Can you what?”

“Make your support gear and design your costume! I’m the best you can find, I assure you of that,”

“Who ever said I was going to be a vigilante?”

Pinky waved that away.

“It’s obvious!”

“No it’s no -”

“Well, Sky-Kun? Can I please? Pleeaaaaase? None of my babies will blow you up ever, I promise!”

Izuku was too fucking tired for this. He sighed.

“If I say yes, will you get out of my dumpster and leave?” Pinky grinned like the demon she was.

“Of course!”

Izuku guessed the pink-haired demon would win this time around.

“...fine,”

“Cool!” Pinky bounced out of the dumpster with one surprisingly powerful leap, then bounded over to Izuku. Izuku took a wary step back, but it didn’t deter the she-demon.

She pulled something out of nowhere, shoving it into Izuku’s hands.

Izuku stared.

“That’s my business card!” The girl exclaimed. “It has my address and number, so you can call me when you’re ready with a base design of your costume!”

… It probably wasn’t safe for this girl to keep giving out her number and address to random maybe-vigilantes she met on the street.

Izuku reluctantly took the glowing white card, looking down on it.

“I’m Hatsume Mei, future CEO of Hatsume Industries!”

Izuku wanted to bash his head into a wall. How was she so energetic?

But Izuku was always polite, so he responded;

“Nice to meet you, Hatsume,”

“Nice to meet you too, Sky-Kun!” Should Izuku tell her his name? He wasn’t sure, but the ‘Sky-Kun’ was really getting annoying.

Izuku didn’t get a chance to mention his name - as just as soon as her card was in his hands, she was leaping away.

“Bye, Sky-Kun!” She called. “You won’t regret this,”

Izuku already had so many regrets.

Chapter Text

Origin: Part Twelve; All In

Mom lifted up the pink-haired she-demon’s business card, examining it.

“I’ve heard about the Hatsumes,” Dad said. “They’re quite eccentric. I’m surprised you got to meet one, Izuku,”

“Eccentric is one way to describe her,” Izuku muttered. He was still bitter at being woken up in the middle of the night. Sleep was precious. Only him and Takai truly understood that.

Ayumi laughed, fully understanding just how done with this entire situation Izuku was. The three siblings were quite adept at reading each other.

Takai gave him a sympathetic look. At least someone understood his struggles.

“I don’t think we’re in any danger,” Mom said. “I think this girl just genuinely wanted to give you some support gear. As your dad mentioned, the Hatsumes are extremely eccentric and not entirely lawful. I doubt they’d want to report a vigilante - if only because it would take time away from their inventing,”

Takai snorted. “Such an odd family,”

“I think this could be cool,” Ayumi said. “We have someone to help us design our costume and lend us fancy inventions!”

“We don’t even know if her inventions are any good,” Izuku protested.

“They probably are,” Dad pointed out. “The Hatsumes are renowned for their top-class inventions,”

“Well she’s just the kid,” Izuku said stubbornly. “Maybe she’s lacking,”

“I doubt it,” Mom responded with a raised eyebrow. “The Hatsumes would have trained her from a young age, especially if she showed such a strong interest in inventing. From what I know, she’s the only child - she’d have gotten all the training and attention - she likely will have developed even more skill than her parents have,”

Izuku pouted.

“On another note,” Mom continued. “What was her quirk?” Izuku paused, debating between continuing his temper tantrum and ranting about another quirk.

“Did you not figure it out?” Dad asked.

Oh, that was completely unfair. His dad knew he would never back down from a challenge. Izuku glared, but his mouth started talking without his permission.

“Her quirk is some kind of microscopic eyesight - I think her eyes work like binoculars?”

“And how did you figure that out?” Mom asked. Izuku’s family had quickly figured out about his love of quirks, and Izuku’s mom had been blown away by his analysis skills. Unlike the kids in his old school, who had bullied him for this skill, calling it ‘creepy’ and weird’, Izuku’s new mom thought his analysis was wonderful, and she worked hard to nurture that skill

“Well her eyes were weird - her irises were shaped like crosshairs, and when she looked at me from afar, her pupils dilated - but when she looked away, they returned to normal size - so I assume when she uses her quirk, her pupils dilate.”

“Good job, Izuku,” Izuku grinned.

“Ok, back to the topic of the young Hatsume’s proposal,” Dad started. “I think it could be helpful to get some equipment for her -” At Izuku’s glare, he added. “-even if it’s just to ensure we do the best job we can when we’re out on the streets,” Izuku’s glare never faltered.

He didn’t want to work with the she-demon.

“I think it’s about time you two choose your vigilante names,” Mom said, diverting the conversation yet again. “That’s what we’re going to be doing for today’s early morning training session,”

“Finally!” Ayumi exclaimed. Mom rolled her eyes.

“Your dad and I don’t want to influence your decisions too much, so we’re going to let you do this on your own - although, if you want our opinion on something, you can always come and ask. Takai, you’re going to help your siblings,”

“Why me?” Takai whined.

----

After an early morning breakfast, Takai, Ayumi, and Izuku moved over to Izuku’s room.

“So,” Takai started. “How are we going to do this,”

Ayumi paused, jumping from her seat and running over to the closet. She opened the closet, pulling out the old whiteboard that had been left there to rot.

“Ha!” She exclaimed, grabbing a couple of whiteboard markers.

Takai raised an eyebrow. “You want your vigilante name to be Whiteboard?”

Ayumi spluttered. “No, of course not! This can be our brainstorm board! We can write our ideas on here,”

“Brainstorm board,” Takai scoffed, shaking his head. “You’re such a child,” Ayumi chucked a whiteboard marker at Takai’s head. He hissed.

“If anyone’s a she-demon,” Takai started. “It’s not Hatsume Mei. It’s her,” Takai pointed a clawed finger towards her sister.

“I’d like to disagree,” Izuku said. “You haven’t met Hatsume Mei,”

Ayumi rolled her eyes.

“Ok, are we going to do this or not?”

“Alright,” Takai said, leaning back against the wall. “Let’s see. Do you want to have your vigilante name based on your quirk?”

Ayumi frowned.
“What about Izuku, then? What will he do?”

“I can find something else,” Izuku said. “That won’t be a problem. But I don’t think you should name your vigilante self after your quirk,”

“Why not?” Takai asked.

“Because that will give other people insight on your quirk,” Izuku pointed out. “If your name is related to your quirk, the villains may be able to guess it - meaning they’ll be prepared for your quirk - while the police will be able to use your quirk to identify you. It’s overall a lot better if your quirk remains a mystery - which it can’t if your name is related to your quirk,”

“That’s a good point,” Ayumi agreed.

“Another thing I wanted to tell you, Ayumi - for your vigilante self, you should create a new quirk,” Ayumi blinked.

“What do you mean?”

“I think you should only use a small portion of your quirk - or at least use some method to make it harder to guess so no one can figure out your quirk. It’ll be safer that way,” Ayumi nodded.

“Yeah, that’s probably for the best. We can talk about it with Mom and Dad later,” Ayumi turned to the board, quickly scrawling ‘No Quirks’ in her messy handwriting.

“Okay, Izuku, do you have any idea what you want to do?”

“No,” Izuku admitted with a shake of his head. “At first, I was thinking of Deku or Dekiru - “ Ayumi quickly wrote down the two names.

“Deku?” Takai asked. “Why? Doesn’t that mean useless?”

Izuku nodded, staring at his hands.

“It’s what the bullies at my old school used to call me,” Takai frowned.

“That’s fucked up,” Takai said. “You definitely shouldn’t use that one,” Ayumi nodded.

“Yeah, let’s not do that one,” She crossed it out with her marker. “Dekiru doesn’t sound too bad though. Why Dekiru?”

“Well, it’s kind of a variation of Deku? And I was thinking of using it as a sort of ‘fuck you’ to my old bullies,” Ayumi nodded yet again.

“That seems cool,” She said. “But you sound hesitant. Why?” Izuku shrugged.

“This may seem a little strange, but I don’t want to have my name related to my bullies at all? Cause that’s kind of acknowledging that they had a big impact in my life, and I don’t want to do that. It also would just remind me off my past life - and I don’t want to have that reminder. I want to choose a name that reminds me of good times rather than bad times,”

“That makes perfect sense,” She assured him as she crossed out Dekiru too.

“Ooh, guys! Important question,” Takai started. “You guys are a vigilante duo, right?”
Izuku nodded. “Yeah,”

“Well, do you guys want to have matching names? Or at least, similar names with similar costume designs that would mark you as a duo,”

Ayumi grinned. “That would be cool,”

“You’d have to choose some kind of theme, though,”

“Oh!” Izuku exclaimed. “I have an idea,”

“Yeah, Izuku?”

“Well, this may seem kind of lame, but I was thinking we could stick with a cat theme? I mean, Dad was already Catastrophe, and I think his cat-like costume looked really cool,”

Ayumi’s eyes sparkled, and she jumped up. “That’s a great idea! A cat theme would be very cool! We can have cat ears on costumes - this is perfect -” Ayumi turned to the board, writing out ‘Cats’ in all capital letters.

Takai shook his head fondly. “That’s a cool idea, Izuku. Are you guys planning to actually have the word Cat in your names?”

“I dunno.” Ayumi admitted. “I do know, however, that I want to have a slightly darker theme,” She said. “For my costume, regardless of if it’s cat themed or not, I want my main colors to be black and red,”

“Why?” Takai asked.

“To strike fear into the hearts of my opponents,”

Takai facepalmed.

“What about you, Izuku?” Takai asked. “What colors?”

“Well, I want to be matching at least slightly with Ayumi, so either black and green or black and blue. I don’t think I want to go for a scary vibe - I want to be able to comfort scared victims rather than frighten them even more,”

“That’s good, then,” Takai said. “The two of you will balance each other out,” Izuku nodded.

“Although we still haven’t come up with names yet,”

“You’re right,” Ayumi pursed her lips. “If I’m going for a dark theme, and you going for a nicer vibe, then our names have to match up with that,”

“Maybe you could do something like Black Cat or Cheshire Cat?” Izuku suggested.

“Her colors don’t match with the Cheshire Cat’s colors,” Takai pointed out.

“Black cat sounds cool,” Ayumi admitted. “But also a little basic. And anyways, if I did black cat, what would you do, Izuku? White cat?” She scoffed.

“I have the perfect idea,” Takai said suddenly, shooting up. Ayumi’s eyes swiveled over to him. Izuku’s did too.

“What is it?”

“Well, I was thinking about a name for Izuku - I was literally trying anything with the word ‘cat’ in it. I started thinking about how Izuku, before he came here, how he was always helping people in any way he could - he would protect people, patrol alleyways, and give money to those who need it - so I thought about the possibility of Alley Cat, because I couldn’t exactly do Nice Cat or something. Then I was thinking about how Izuku can be feral during training, and how he literally bites and scratches people more than I do and I’m a cat -“

“Hey!’ Izuku exclaimed.

“So, in a way, he’s sort of a feral cat - and the word for both alley cat and feral cat is Noraneko - which I think sounds really cool,”

That name could work, Izuku decided. It wasn’t bad, not at all.

“And, if Izuku decides to go with that, Ayumi can go with something like kuroneko - black cat.”

“That’s … actually a really good idea,”Izuku agreed. He really, really liked that idea.

Takai, meanwhile, smiled smugly.

“I know,” He tapped his head. “Galaxy brain right here,”

The bedroom door swung open.

“So,” Dad said. “Is that what you two wnat to go with? Noraneko and Kuroneko?”

Izuku narrowed his eyes.

“Were you standing outside eavesdropping the entire time?”

“Of course not!” Mom, who stood side by side with Dad, said.

Takai raised an eyebrow.

“Well,” Mom said. “If we were, that’s bad on the three of you. Didn’t I train the lot of you in situational awareness and stealth? You should’ve noticed us,”

Izuku sighed. His family was weird. He’d accepted this.

“I’m glad you’ve finally decided on something,” Dad said.

“Finally?” Takai asked. “That took us like, ten minutes. It didn’t take that long,”

“Ten minutes is a long time, Takai,”

“No it’s not, Dad,” Mom rolled her eyes.

“You two should continue fleshing out your costume designs and think about types of support items you want. Ayumi, you should also think about how you want to change your quirk - Izuku made a good point. Once you two are done with that, Izuku can call the young Hatsume and get things sorted out -”

Izuku paled.

“Why do I have to talk to the she-demon?” He whined.

“She’s not a she-demon, Izuku,” Mom said. “That’s very rude,”

“How would you know?” Izuku challenged. “You haven’t met her. I have. And I know she’s a she-demon.”

Mom glared.

Izuku glared back.

“Mizurio Izuku don’t make me -”

“Fine, fine,” Izuku hissed quickly. “She’s not a demon. Whatever,”

Under his breath, he muttered quickly - “She’s totally a fucking demon,” Izuku could already tell that Hatsume Mei was going to be a huge pain in his ass.

Izuku’s mom sighed.

“Ayumi, your language is rubbing off on him,” She tilted her head. “So is your attitude,”

Ayumi huffed.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Ayumi responded.

“I’m diverting this conversation before your mom gets mad,” Dad said. “Ayumi, Izuku, how are you feeling?”

Izuku tilted his head.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, you two are going to be real vigilantes soon. That must be kind of scary,”

Izuku grinned. On the contrary, he wasn’t scared to be a vigilante, not at all.

No, he was excited.

Izuku couldn’t wait.

Chapter Text

Intermission: Matsuyama Tori; Can’t You See Me?

“Tori. Tori. Tooooori! Tori. Are you ignoring me?” Matsuyama Tori looked up briefly to glare at the overgrown bird draped across his desk.

“Yes,” Hawks sniffed dramatically.

“That’s very mean,”

“It’s even more mean for you to be out here, in my office, talking to me when I’m trying to ignore you. That’s very rude of you, Hawks.”

Hawks’ face scrunched up.

“But Tori - “ Tori hissed.

“What do you want from me?”

“Look!” Hawks said, shoving his phone into Tori’s face. “Shoto texted me again!”

Tori shoved the phone back out of his face, wanting to cry at the mention of the enigma that was Shoto. The day Hawks and Tori met Shoto was quite … disastrous. Shoto showed all the signs of an abused child - Hawks and Tori, being trained pro-heroes, were able to recognize them easily. The much more disastrous part of the day was how oddly Hawks reacted to the entire situation - he acted loopy, completely out of it, ended up inviting Shoto to get fried chicken, gave his real name to a stranger - a name he didn’t even give to other heroes -and, worst of all, began to display similar signs of abuse. Now, Tori had to deal with two abused children - sure, Hawks wasn’t exactly a child, but he fucking acted like one.

The day had ended with Shoto revealing he had snuck away from home, and that he had to get back before his siblings - or god forbid his father - realised he was gone. This only strengthened Tori’s belief that Shoto’s parents were abusive, and he was ready to drag Shoto to the nearest police station, whether he liked it or not - but then Hawks, going from loopy to dead serious in a split second, laid a hand on his shoulder.

“He’s not ready yet,” And Tori still had no idea what the fuck that meant.

Hawks had managed to wrangle out Shoto’s phone number. Hawks was constantly texting him - the ever-stoic boy would only reply every now and then, always responding with short, concise, texts like “hello”, “I’m fine” and “no, I don’t need more fried chicken,”. The texts were rather ordinary, but Hawks reacted dramatically to every single one.

And, coincidentally, decided to bother him every time he got one.

Which brought Tori to where he was now.

Tori knew and still knows that the only way to get Hawks to stop bothering him was to indulge him, and so;

“What does it say?”

“He wants to meet me at KFC!” Tori froze. What the fuck?

“He wants to meet you?” He drawled skeptically.

“Yes he does! See, I told you I’m wonderful with kids,”

“No you’re - “ Tori took a breath. “When does he want to meet?”

“Right now!” Hawks exclaimed. “He said he has some free time,”

Tori didn’t need a foresight quirk to know that this was going to end bad.

He sighed.

“I’m coming with you,” Tori declared. Hawks blinked.

“You … are?” Hawks asked as Tori stood up, grabbing the jacket that was thrown over his chair.

“Yes. I am,” Tori said firmly, shoving the papers scattered around into his desk. “I’m not letting you go unsupervised,”

“I’m not a child,” Hawks complained.

“Yes you are,” Tori responded. “Now let’s go,”

--

Hawks, still annoyed with the ‘kid’ comment and bitter that Tori didn’t let him drive, pouted all the way there. Tori ignored him, practically shoving him out of the car the moment they arrived.

Shoto was already there by the time they reached KFC. Tori didn’t think too much about how he managed to get here alone, without his parents realising he was gone. Instead, he followed Hawks’ lead - who plopped dramatically into the seat across from Shoto. Tori took a seat next to him.

“Shoto, Tori is so mean to me,” Tori sighed.

“I’m sorry about him,” He said, gesturing towards Hawks and ignoring his affronted expression.

“I’m sorry you have to deal with him, Matsuyama-San,” Shoto responded with a straight face. Tori stifled a laugh as Hawks’ whining started up again.

“So, Shoto,” Hawks said. “Why did you invite us? Not that I don’t want to be here,” Shoto shrugged.

“I like fried chicken,” He said.

“You could’ve gotten fried chicken alone,” Hawks pointed out. Shoto shrugged again.

“The employees get suspicious,” Hawks raised an eyebrow. “And I enjoy Matsuyama-San’s company,”

“Not mine?” Hawks gasped.

“Why would I enjoy yours?” Shoto asked. Tori didn’t bother to hold back his laughter. Shoto talked completely seriously, his facial expression never changing - and yet, Tori could tell he was playing around, from the slight twinkle in his eyes.

He looked amused. That was better than scared, wary, or sad - which were the only emotions Tori had seen Shoto very obviously display.

“So, Shoto,” Tori said. “You could’ve asked one of your parents to come with you, but you didn’t? Do your parents’ know you’re here?” Tori’s fishing for information - and it’s pretty obvious, if Hawks’ glare is anything to go buy.

Shoto carefully sidestepped the question.

“Parent,” He said. “Not parents,”

“Oh,” Hawks commented. “I didn’t know your mom was dead,” Tori wanted to smack him over the head for how fucking blunt he was. Did Hawks know the meaning of subtlety?

Then Tori realised that Hawks was fishing for information in his own way.

“My mom’s not dead,” Both Hawks and Tori stared at Shoto in confusion. Is it a divorce? Tori thought it over in his head. His father could’ve gotten full custody, making it ‘parent’ instead of ‘parents’.

“Where is she?” Tori asked. Fuck, he sounded so awkward. And terribly insensitive.

“She’s at the hospital,” Shoto answered. Tori blinked, slowly. If she’s just at the hospital, why did he say ‘parent’ singular? This wasn’t making any sense.

“Is she hurt badly?” Hawks inquired. Shoto’s brow furrowed.

“She’s not hurt,” For the love of god this conversation was giving Tori a fucking headache. He shouldn’t have started this - he should’ve just stayed quiet and eaten his fucking chicken.

“Then why is she in a hospital?” Tori asked, despite his better judgement. Shoto shrugged.

“My father sent her there,” What the fuck -

“Why would your father send your mother to a hospital if she wasn’t hurt?” Just as the question left Hawks’ mouth, a realisation smacked Tori in the face.

“Shoto,” Tori started. “What kind of hospital is your mother in,”

“She’s in a mental hospital,” Tori wanted to scream while Hawks looked at Shoto with concern written across his face.

“Why is she in a mental hospital?” Hawks asked.

“Because she threw boiling water over my face,” Shoto said, his expression not once changing. Tori felt his insides freeze. What the hell had this kid gone through? Why the hell -

“Why would she do that?” Hawks asked. Tori wanted to throw his fried chicken at Hawks’ fucking face could he be anymore insensitive -

Shoto winced - the first display of emotion from him that Tori had seen.

“She said I reminded her too much of my father,” It took Tori way too much effort to squash down the building rise of horor - he made sure to wipe his face clean of all negative emotions.

Hawks didn’t bother. He looked at Shoto with - was that understanding?

“I see,” Hawks tilted his head. “My mother didn’t like me much either. She said I was a carbon copy of him. I got the wings for him, too,”

… what?

Hawks was always playful, but he was also a very private person. He valued his privacy and never revealed anything about his personal life. Until now, apparently.

Todoroki looked towards Hawks, nodding, pity in his eyes as they shared a look Tori could never understand. As if they were both in on a secret. A secret stemming from abuse, apparently.

“What did your father do?”

“He was a villain,” Hawks admitted. “A thief, a serial killer, and a murderer. He abused my mother and me for a little while when I was a child,”

Tori hated being right. He knew, as a hero, that Hawks’ displayed all the signs of abuse - he just hadn’t wanted it to be true.

“My dad hurt my mom too,” Shoto responded.

Tori made the decision right there and then - whoever Shoto’s father was, he was going to suffer from what he did to Shoto.

“What did your mother do?” Shoto asked. The ‘two you’ was left unsaid.

Tori watched with bated breath as Hawks reached up with fingers shaking ever so slightly. Hawks’ trembling fingers grabbed the edge of his turtleneck, pulling it down, revealing a jagged scar that trailed from the middle of his neck, down to his collarbone, and no doubt continued on to his chest.

Tori barely held back a hiss, while Shoto frowned.

“What happened to her?” Hawks’ shrugged.

“She gave me up,” From the look in Hawks’ eyes, there was a lot more to the story than that. Tori didn’t call him out. No, instead, he reached out, taking Hawks’ hand in his own and squeezing gently.

Hawks stared at him in surprise, just as Shoto followed his lead, reaching over and taking his free hand with a tilt of his head and a miniscule light in his eyes. Shoto reached out with his left, taking Tori’s free hand as well.

Silence fell over their tiny little table, and they stayed there for a while. Eventually, Shoto had to leave - Tori and Hawks didn’t move. Eventually, though, the KFC employees kicked them out. Even Tori could admit that was fair.

Eventually, Tori spoke.

“You okay, Hawks?” Hawks tilted his head, turning to gaze at Tori with eyes overflowing with such powerful emotion it made Tori want to cry.

“Call me Keigo, Tori,” Hawks said, with a smile. “It’s only fair.”

Tori didn’t cry.

He didn’t.

Chapter Text

Origin: Part Thirteen; Glow Cloud

Izuku regretted every single one of his decisions. Who let him make decisions?

Izuku, for some, inexplicable reason, had allowed Ayumi to coerce him into visiting Hatsmue Mei.

Takai had, once again, hacked into police files - seriously, he needed to stop doing that he was going to get himself fired - and found Hatsume’s address.

Izuku had tried to get out of it, but Ayumi wasn’t having it. Mom and Dad didn’t even bother trying to help him. They said interacting with people his age would be ‘good for him’. What did they think this was, a playdate? Izuku didn’t want to interact with Hatsume Mei.

No one seemed to care what Izuku wanted, though, which resulted in Izuku getting dragged along with Ayumi and Takai.

None of them could drive - well, technically, Takai could, but neither Mom nor Dad nor Izuku trusted Takai at the wheel of a car - not after the catnip accident from a couple months ago.

So Izuku, Ayumi and Takai were forced to walk the full way to Hatsume’s house, participating in quite the lot of illegal jaywalking as they did - but, to be fair, jaywalking was the least severe of all the illegal things the Mizurio family did on a daily basis. At least you couldn’t get arrested for jaywalking.

… or could you? Izuku should figure that out.

After Takai and Ayumi had inadvertently caused at least two car crashes - (No, Ayumi, just because you and Takai were arguing so much you ran out into the road and nearly got yourself run over, that does not give you to right to use your quirk on the driver) (and no, Takai, just because a car ran over a puddle and accidentally sprayed water on your fur does not mean you can jump onto the hood of a car and block the driver’s view) - they finally reached Hatsume’s house.

Izuku stood right outside of Hatsume’s house, watching Ayumi ring the doorbell, and regretting all of his life decisions. He should’ve never left the house when he first heard Hatsume. Or at least called the police the second he saw her.

He definitely shouldn’t have told his family about her.

Ayumi, who still could not understand the art of patience, rang the doorbell around seven times before someone finally opened the door.

The door was slowly unlocked, then pulled open. It wasn’t Mei who opened the door, or her parents. It was a boy who seemed to be around the same age as Takai. Said boy was sporting Hatsume’s pink hair, hair that for him, fell in a mullet. His eyes, however, weren’t golden like Hatsume’s - they were a bright, cherry colored red - too bright to be blood but too dull to just be called ‘red’.

The boy was decked out in pajamas - surprisingly, both the top and the pants were a light pink. A similar light pink sleeping mask was strapped around his head, covering one eye.

The boy blinked, rubbing sleep out of his eyes as he yawned.

It was three o’clock in the afternoon, what was this guy doing?

“Can I help you?” Ayumi shoved Izuku forward. Izuku shot her a particularly nasty glare before refocusing on the tired boy in front of him.

“Hi,” Izuku waved shyly, an action that didn’t mirror the tone of his voice at all. “We’re looking for one Hatsume Mei?”

Red eyes narrowed in suspicion. He looked from Izuku, to Ayumi, to Takai.

“You’re her friends?” Ayumi gestured to Izuku.

“He’s her friend,” Friends? How dare Ayumi imply that Izuku was friends with the she-demon!

“Mei-mei has … friends?”

“I know,” Izuku muttered sourly. “Shocker,”

“Who are you, exactly?” Takai asked. The boy blinked.

“Ah. Right,” Another yawn. “I’m Hatsume Yoshirou, Hatsume’s step brother,”

“Nice to meet you, Hatsume-San,” Takai said. “I’m Mizurio Takai, this is my sister, Mizurio Ayumi, and my younger brother, Mizurio Izuku,”

“I think the younger part is implied,” Izuku remarked. “And why was there a’ younger’ in front of my name but not Ayumi’s?”

“I see,” Yoshirou Hatsume said, ignoring Izuku’s bitter comments entirely. “If you don’t mind me asking, how did you guys meet Mei? Do you guys go to the same school?”

“No,” Izuku said. “I’m homeschooled,” A lie, technically, but did it really matter?

“Ah. So how did you meet Mei?”

“She was raiding my dumpster,” Takai swatted Izuku’s shoulder.

“Izuku,” He hissed.

“What?” Izuku asked. “It’s true,”

“That doesn’t mean you should say it!”

“I feel her family should be aware of the dumpster diving. Who am I to keep it a secret? What happens when one day, Hatsume is mortally injured and doesn’t come back from her dumpster diving? How could I live with myself then?”

“You’d probably throw a party,” Takai muttered, before realizing that Hatsume Yoshirou was still here.

“So,” Yoshirou said. “Hatsume was raiding your dumpster?”

All three Mizurios nodded. Hatsume Yoshirou snorted.

“That seems like Kuna alright. Probably looking for scrap metal for a new invention. Well, I’m glad she’s finally made friends with someone her age, even if it was through … unconventional methods,”
Izuku wanted to hiss that he and Hatsume were not, and would never be, friends, but the glare Takai sent his way shut him up quickly.

“Well, Kuna’s in her lab, if you’d like to go and see her,”

“Kuna?” Hatsume Yoshirou blinked.

“Oh, right. Mei. Kuna’s an old nickname. Short for ‘Jaakuna Tensai’”

“Evil genius,” Izuku repeated. “Fitting,”

“We like to think so,” Yoshirou smiled. “Come on, I’ll take you to her,”

—

Hatsume Mei, a.k.a ‘Jaakuna Tensai’, was in her lab, hard at work. When Izuku entered the room, along with Yoshirou, Ayumi, and Takai, she didn’t notice.

“Well,” Yoshirou said. “Good luck with that.” He turned to Ayumi and Takai. “Would the two of you like something to eat or drink?” Seconds later, Takai and Ayumi were off on their way.

“Have fun with your friend, Izuku!” Takai called, tauntingly, barely stiffing a laugh.

Izuku swore, he was stealing the rest of Takai’s secret catnip stash. We’ll see who’s laughing then.

It took five minutes for Hatsume to realize he existed, and that was only after she walked into him thrice and realised he was not, in fact, a hallucination brought on from several days of all work and no sleep. Or food. Or water. How was she alive again?

“Sky-Kun!” Hatsume exclaimed.

“She-demon,” Izuku responded. “Or Kuna. Whatever you prefer,”

“Have you come to see my babies?” Hatsume squealed.

“You know what, no I have n-“

“I can’t wait to show you all my -“

“I said I didn’t -“ Izuku stopped when his eyes landed on Hatsume’s shirt.
It was a rather odd shirt. All gray with three white boxes in the middle, stacked on top of each other. There were lines of text in each box, accompanied with a small icon illustrating the words. Together, the three boxes wrote out the sentence ‘ If you see something, say nothing, and drink to forget,”

The shirt was, of course, strange - especially being worn by someone who was under the legal drinking age and had never had a sip of alcohol in her life - (or so her family believed. The saké bottles hidden in her lab said otherwise) - but Izuku understood instantly.

When Izuku dragged his attention back to Hatsume, he looked at her in a new light.

“All hail the glow cloud?” He asked.

A slow grin split Hatsume’s face.

“All hail the glow cloud,” She confirmed.

—

Izuku didn’t like the she-demon, and they certainly weren’t friends.

But she was a Welcome to Night Vale fan, and so, Izuku supposed she was tolerable.

—

Izuku and Hatsume worked together on vigilante costumes for over an hour.

“… could you make the cat ears functional?”

“Great idea Sky-Kun. You’re a genius!”

“I like to think so,”

“With these, you’ll hearing will be enhanced times three -“

“-if we connect the wires here-“

“-night vision goggles!”

“Let’s make it even better - night vision contact lenses-“

“Kuna you’re a genius,”

“I like to think so,”

“A regular Carlos,”

“Indeed,”

“-and with these babies, you’ll be able to go at twice the normal-“

“-if we add retractable claws to the gloves-“

“-we’ll give the contacts the ability to glow, make people think it’s your quirk-“

“-padded shoes to ensure stealth-“

“-I’m loving this cat theme-“

“-if we rewrite the code-“

“I’ll be able to communicate with you from online-“

“-I’ll help you from afar-“

“-earpieces hidden in the suit-“

“The two of you will be in constant contact-“

“-voice modifier, we’ve got to have a voice modifier-“

“-high or low-“

“-got a find a way to hide your face-“

“Maybe a mask?”

“-if we add some glow in the dark markings here-“

“-looking good so far-“

“-make Ayumi’s eyes red-“

“-ooh! Ooh! If we use smoke emitters, we can-“

“-make my quirk a complete mystery-“

“-no one will ever think you’re quirkles-“

“-I need your blood-“

“-get that needle away from me you monster-“

“-quirk cancelling-“

“-make a drug from-“

“-use my blood and create a serum-“

“-you’ll be able to erase a person’s quirk for 45 minutes to an hour-“

“-Ayumi’s quirk-“

“-mask it as illusion-“

“-we should create fake quirks for your vigilante personas-“

“I should have a vigilante name!

“Why do you need a name?”

“I need a name,”

“How about Kanojo Wa Akuma?”

“She-Demon? Really?”

“I think it’s accurate,”

“Too long. I’ll be Carlos,”

“Carlos?”

“Carlos,”

“Your hair is nothing compared to Carlos’ hair,”

“And why is your hair so fluffy, Sky-Kun? What are you hiding in there?”

“What am I - what the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“I can see right through you, Sky-Kun,”

“For the love of god, my name is not Sky-Kun!” Hatsume raised an eyebrow.

“Does it look like I care, Noraneko?” Izuku facepalmed.

—

When Ayumi and Takai were finally able to drag Izuku away from his work with Hatsume, they had finally finished their plans - full sketches and models of everything.

It was nearly 9:00.

Izuku was proud of their work.

His mom, however, was not impressed when he returned covered in soot. Izuku just shrugged at her screaming.

It was all in the name of science.

—

Hatsume worked fast.

Around two weeks after their ‘playdate’, two mysterious packages appeared outside the residence of the Mizurios.

Inside said packages were two completed vigilante suits.

Ayumi’s costume was beautiful and just as scary as she had wanted it to be. The suit was made of black-grey metal, but was paper-thin, weighing almost nothing. Red, glowing stripes weaved through the metal - lights that would go out on demand and burn bright enough to temporarily blind an opponent. A sweatshirt, meant to be worn underneath metal, was also added in the package - on top of the hood of said sweatshirt, two metal cat ears poked out - cat ears, that, of course, were fully functional - cat ears that had infinitely better hearing than either Ayumi, Izuku, or even Takai. The cat ears would record sound and transmit it into the earpiece that came along with both costumes - as well as sending the audio to Mei so she could look through it, possibly using voice identification softwares if necessary. There was a mask, of course - a traditional cat mask, that covered the entire face, with eye holes for the eyes, of course - the masks were quite similar to the warding masks of the students of Urokodaki from Demon Slayer - though rather than white and red, the was black, the red painted on top with glow-in-the-dark paint that would glow on and off with the flick of a switch. The mask was fit with a metal voice modifier, changing Ayumi’s voice into an electronic crackle and screech - sounds that were inhuman yet perfectly understandable - perfect for intimidation tactics. The costume came with red eye contacts, that glowed every once in a while - and were constantly recording everything seen, in case of the need of video evidence. Steel boots with glowing red stripes and extra stealth features were included as well.

Izuku’s costume was similar, but different. He had the contacts - though Izuku had decided to go for a mix of blue, green and black - so one eye glowed acidic green, a reminder of his past, while the other glowed a sky-blue, a reminder of his future. His suit, boots, and ears were exactly the same as Ayumi’s though with green and blue glowing stripes, rather than red stripes. He had the mask - with his colors rather than hers - and his voice was modified to sound like the voice of a small child, someone aged four or five. He sounded ridiculous, but Izuku didn’t mind.

In addition to everything, Izuku had black gloves that covered his hands, fit with claws that would retract and extend. Each claw was dipped in a special serum made from Izuku’s blood - a serum that, when used, could erase someone’s quirk for up to an hour - just as Hatsume said it would.

Hatsume Mei really was a genius.

Izuku picked up the note that had been attached to packages.

“All hail the glow cloud,” - Carlos.

Izuku couldn’t stop the excitement bubbling up inside.

Soon, he and Ayumi were going to be real vigilantes. Noraneko and Kuroneko were about to make their debut.

Izuku hated waiting He smiled nonetheless.

All hail the glow cloud indeed.

Chapter Text

Origin: Part Fourteen: What’s Up Danger?

Izuku’s first day as a vigilante was uneventful.

So was his second.

So was his third.

Izuku supposed his first day wasn’t entirely uneventful - Izuku’s dad spent the entire first half the day sobbing and crying about how his ‘little kids were all grown up’

Neither was his second, now that he thought about it. Mom had decided training was not over yet, so the patrol day became an elaborate game of hide and seek - Mom would quite literally stalk Ayumi and Izuku, attacking them every now and then to ‘sharpen their reflexes’ as she put it.

His third day, however was completely, and utterly uneventful. Izuku realized, subconsciously, that this was a good thing - uneventful meant peaceful, peaceful meant safe - all good things, really.

The thought didn’t make Izuku any less bored.

The boredom didn’t last long.

On Izuku’s fourth day as a vigilante, he stopped a mugging.

On the fifth day, Izuku prevented a robbery.

On the sixth day, Izuku thwarted a kidnapping attempt.

On the seventh day, Izuku was ready to go back to peace and boredom.

The mugging wasn’t all too dramatic - technically, Izuku already had experience with this kind of thing. The mugger didn’t notice his presence until it was much too late, and Izuku easily knocked him out with a well placed blow to the neck. The thief was tied up within seconds, and a quick call to the police wrapped the entire situation up in less than five minutes. The only thing noteworthy was the teenage boy he saved, and the thankful smile he gave to Izuku - the smile that reminded Izuku why he was a vigilante in the first place.

Muggings were a common thing Izuku and Ayumi had to deal with on a daily basis. There was almost no night where Izuku or Ayumi didn’t stop a mugging and bring in a thief. Stopping thieves was a small job, but an important one nonetheless - something that Izuku was reminded of every time he saw another grateful smile.

Izuku didn’t only help the victims, though. After the fifth mugging attempt, he got into the habit of judging the thief in questions’ character - something Izuku had gotten quite good at - and helping them if they seemed like a decent person - as well as encouraging them to find other ways of earning money that didn’t include illegal methods and knives. The habit developed after seeing a single father attempt a mugging to support him and his family - Izuku now brought money every time he went on patrol, giving it to the people who really needed it.

The robbery attempt on Izuku’s fifth day was quite taxing. He and Ayumi dealt with that one together. A small pawn shop on an empty street , owned by an old man and his nineteen year-old daughter was the target of the robbery. Three siblings - two brothers and a sister - all three of them with relatively powerful quirks - stormed the shop, taking the girl hostage. Although the shop was small, it was full of expensive objects - and the shop was the man's livelihood.

This was the first time Izuku had to deal with a hostage situation. It was, admittedly, incredibly terrifying and beyond stressful. Mom had trained Izuku well, teaching him exactly what to do in this situation - but knowing what to do and doing it without mistakes were two different things. And it was all too easy to make mistakes when those mistakes would cost a life.

Thankfully, everyone made it out of that encounter unscathed. But the day gave Izuku a whole new outlook on vigilantism. It wasn’t all fun and games. Izuku really had to be the best of the best - he had to be perfect, or someone was going to die.

Mom always told him that there will always be someone you can’t save. Izuku dreaded the day when he’d fail to save someone.

The kidnapping on Izuku’s sixth day of vigilantism almost turned out to be one of those times.

Izuku and Ayumi were just about ready to call it a day - well, night - when Izuku heard a scream. A young boy, no older than five, came running down the alleyway, bleeding, screaming his heart out.

Three thugs chased after him.

In that case, Izuku faced two different enemies - the kidnappers, and the boy himself. The boy was injured severely, but didn’t let anyone come close, too scared to trust anyone. Not to mention, he had an extremely powerful, extremely unstable quirk that he couldn’t control. From his hands, a phoenix made of fire came spiraling out, shooting black flames at anyone in the near vicinity - Izuku and Ayumi being two of these people.

Ayumi, ever aggressive, launched herself at the three thugs without much thought, leaving Izuku to deal with the boy. Izuku was burned, only barely, but it triggered horrible memories. He nearly fell into a panic attack right then, hands tracing his neck where the shape of a handprint was still burnt into a neck.

Izuku didn’t have the time for a panic attack, though, so he ran through the flames, whispering quietly to the boy as he tried to calm him down. It didn’t work. Izuku eventually had to make the choice to nick the boy lightly with his claws, injecting the serum Mei had made into his arm, disabling his quirk.

The phoenix disappeared, the boy didn’t calm down. Without the comfort of his quirk, his panic rose, and he screamed and fought till he eventually passed out from a mixture of exhaustion and blood loss.

Ayumi eventually managed to take down the kidnappers. Izuku used the best of his medical knowledge, a mix of his knowledge from his time on the streets, and a mix of the knowledge he’d learned from his Mom. It wasn’t enough, and in a fit of panic, Izuku, with the help of Ayumi, took the boy home - a dangerous decision - and got his mom to use her quirk. It ended up working out fine; the boy didn’t wake up, and it planted the seed of suspicion that he had a healing quirk. That day was his time interacting with a police officer - after all, he had to take the boy to the station himself. It all worked out fine, though - the police officer he met, a kind officer with a cat head - cared more about the boy’s health then detaining the vigilante.

When he got home, Izuku practically collapsed, dissolving into a panic attack almost instantly. His family was there to support him, of course, and he managed to recover - he slept most of the panic off.

The next night, Izuku was up and back out on the streets - and he wanted nothing more than to go back to the peace the first few days of vigilantism had entailed. He was perfectly fine with boredom. He’d take boredom over fear and panic attacks any day. At first, he had longed for danger - for any sort of excitement. Now he realised just how stupid he had been.

On Izuku’s eighth day as a vigilante, he had his first real fight with law enforcement.

On Izuku’s ninth day, he had his first encounter with a pro-hero.

Izuku still wasn’t entirely sure what happened on the eighth day - he was strolling through the alleyways when Ayumi darted past him, grabbing his arm as she did, a squad of police officers on her tail. The entire experience was nerve-wracking - he realised just how thankful he was for Mei as the bullets fired barely even dented his suit. Izuku hated the idea of fighting police officers - innocents - but he definitely did not want to go to jail. He nicked at least five of them with his claws, grimacing as they panicked, realising their quirks were gone. Izuku felt bad, watching them panic, believing their quirks were gone for good. He forced the guilt down, though - these were the people trying to shoot him just a second ago - and anyways, their quirks would be back soon enough.

His ninth day isn’t nearly as bad as his eighth day. The hero he met was surprisingly kind - at first glance, she’s rather generic - black eyes, black hair tied up into a tight ponytail, and a rather cliche costume - a basic, bright yellow hero mask covered the area around her eyes, her hair was tied up with a bright yellow ribbon , and her costume was a bodysuit with a mix of yellow and black. She looked a bit like a bee.

Her quirk and her hero name were also rather generic - her hero name was, quite literally, ‘SuperGirl’ - and her quirk was a simple enhancer - it made her faster and stronger than the average person, as well as enhancing all five of her senses.

Despite her appearance, SuperGirl was anything but ordinary. Her hand to hand combat skills were insane, possibly rivaling his Mom’s. She was incredibly talented and extremely dangerous - Izuku was shocked he hadn’t heard of her before.

Izuku could also admire the fact that she seemed to have a kind heart, and a good head on her shoulders. She was smart, and she was kind. Her first priority was to check if the victim was okay - and, unlike what Izuku had expected, she didn’t treat him like a villain. At first, she tried to convince him to turn himself in, presenting a strong argument - so strong Izuku almost felt bad that he kept fighting. Izuku very nearly lost that fight - he certainly didn’t win, and barely made it out without getting caught.

Izuku fanboyed over her for the next week.

On Izuku’s tenth day, he met yet another pro-hero - this one, however, wasn’t nearly as kind as SuperGirl. Izuku never caught their name, but Izuku knew enough to say whoever the hero was, he was a certified asshole. Izuku and Ayumi were treated like villains - no, they were treated even worse than villains. The hero barely took a glance at the real villain - instead, opting to attack Izuku and Ayumi straight from the get go. Izuku ended up with broken ribs and a concussion, Ayumi ending up with a sprained wrist. To top it all off, Izuku and Ayumi had to spend the rest of the night tracking down the villain who the hero had carelessly let escape.

On that day, Izuku is reminded of his reasons for his vigilantism once again. Izuku also finally began to realise that his enemies were not just the villains - but the heroes too.

On Izuku’s eleventh day, for most of the night, nothing happened. Izuku began to think he’d gone full circle, and enjoyed the peaceful night.

Near dawn, however, Izuku stopped yet another mugging.

Well. ‘Stopped’ wasn’t really the right word. He just watched as the victim dealt with it himself.

The victim was a teenage boy around his age, with gravity-defying purple hair. The mugger ran into the alleyway, fingers transforming into knives. She pinned the purple-haired boy against the wall of the alleyway, her knife-nails pushing lightly into the skin of the boy’s neck.

Izuku tensed from the shadows, inching forward as he prepared to pounce.

“Give me your money!” The woman demanded. The boy arched a purple eyebrow.

“Cash or credit?” The woman blinked, staring at the purple-haired boy.

“Excuse me?” As the words fell from her mouth, she froze, her eyes glazing over. Izuku watched in fascination as the purple-haired boy opened his mouth again;

“Sleep,” He ordered. “ The mugger slumped to the ground, unconscious.

Brainwashing. Izuku thought with glee. Definitely voice activated. I wonder …

Izuku snapped out of his musings. He stepped out of the shadows.

“Nice quirk,” Izuku commented. Izuku thought he saw the purple-haired boy flinch, a grimace on his face - but the grimace disappeared so quickly Izuku was convinced he’d imagined it.

“I know,” The boy replied, a cocky smile slipping onto his lips. His eyes narrowed briefly. “You’re that vigilante - Noraneko, right?”

Izuku nodded.

“That’s me. And you are?”

“Shinsou Hitoshi,” Izuku tilted his head.

“You probably shouldn’t give out your name to strangers,” He advised. Shinsou shrugged.

“My name won’t exactly help you find me, so it doesn’t really matter.” Izuku raised an eyebrow, but decided to ignore the strange sentence as his eyes drifted to the unconscious mugger.

“You should probably tell the police that was me,” He said, gesturing to the mugger. “Wouldn’t want you to get charged for illegal quirk usage or anything.”

“If it’s okay with you,” Shinsou started. “I’d rather the police not know I was here at all.”

Izuku narrowed his eyes.

Then he shrugged.

“Alright.”

He was sure the kid had his reasons. Maybe he just didn’t want to get involved with the police, due to quirk discrimination. Izuku used to be the same - he hated going to the police because they hated him for his quirklessness - it was a mutual, endless circle of hate that Shinsou Hitoshi was probably caught up in.

“Well,” Izuku said. “I have to be going now,”

“By the way,” Shinsou Hitoshi called as Izuku began to scale the building, ready to make a quick getaway. He’d call the police when he was far enough from the scene. “You’re pretty short,”

Izuku spluttered.

---

An hour later, Ayumi laughed.

“You’re short, Izuku. Deal with it.”

Chapter Text

Intermission: Todoroki Touya; Brother

When Hitoshi stumbled into his tiny apartment, a purple bruise on his cheek, Dabi felt a familiar rise of anger. He’s out of his seat in seconds, a hundred percent ready to murder whoever did this to his little brother.

Little brother. Every time he said or thought the words, Dabi felt a weird mixture of guilt and happiness. After their first meeting, Dabi and Hitoshi kept running into each other - maybe it was luck, maybe it was something else. Dabi was never a believer in fate - he’s a firm atheist - but the sheer amount of coincidences and chance meetings was almost enough to change his mind. Eventually, Hitoshi and Dabi decided to take the reins away from fate, setting up meetings by themselves. They hit it off - Dabi began training Hitoshi, teaching him how to defend himself, while Hitoshi helped to chip away at his cynical exterior. Not that Hitoshi was any better, the kid was almost as jaded as he was.

It’s funny, Dabi thought. It’s funny how many monsters society made.

As Hitoshi grew closer to him, Dabi can’t help but feel he’s betraying his biological family. Shouto would be eleven now - just like Hitoshi.

Before Hitoshi, Dabi could shun all thoughts of his family. Shouto was the perfect child, with the perfect quirk. He was a perfect target for Dabi’s bitterness. He’d become a hero, just like Endeavor. Shouto would become just like Endeavor, and Dabi would be able to hate him for it.

But now that Hitoshi was in the picture, that illusion became so much harder to hold. He latched on desperately to the thought that Shouto was fine, that his father wouldn’t hurt his masterpiece -

But Dabi knew that wasn’t true. There wasn’t a day Dabi didn’t consider burning the Endeavor household to the ground, taking Shouto and running far, far, away.

But Dabi wasn’t nearly strong enough to take on Endeavor. He’d never been before, and he still wasn’t. He was still the weak, pathetic failure his father had despised.

Dabi was a failed experiment. A mistake. A pathetic excuse for a human being. He couldn’t even save his own brother. He left Shouto there, and ran away alone like a fucking coward.

Maybe Hitoshi was a way to assuage the guilt.

Well.

Maybe Hitoshi had started off as a way to just do that, but he was much more than that now. Sure, he felt guilty, but when he called Hitoshi ‘brother’ it felt right. Hitoshi was his brother. One day, he’d get Shouto back, and the three of them could be a family.

One day.

That day was, unfortunately, not today. Today was his day to help Hitoshi.

So he dragged Hitoshi into his stiff embrace, careful not to scratch him with the staples. He treated the bruise, pressing an ice pack against Hitoshi’s cheek.

“What happened?” Dabi asked, trying to sound gentle. He failed, miserably, but Hitoshi didn’t seem to mind. “Bullies?”

“No - well, I did run into some bullies, but they couldn’t land a hit on me,”

“Did you land a hit?”

“Of course. Who do you think I am?” Dabi laughed.

“Where’s the bruise from?”

“A mugger,” Dabi frowned.

“Of course,” He shook his head. “You’re a magnet for trouble, Toshi,” Hitoshi snorted.

“Can’t argue with that. I did meet a vigilante, though. That was interesting,”

“A vigilante? Good or bad?”

“Seemed good enough,”

“Did they save you?”

“Na, I dealt with it myself. The woman didn’t stand a chance against my quirk,” Dabi ruffled Hitoshi’s hair.

“That’s my boy,” Hitoshi rolled his eyes. “What vigilante was it?”

“Noraneko,” Dabi’s eyes lit up with recognition.

“Ah, I’ve heard of him. He’s become quite popular in the underground.” Dabi was surprised he wasn’t already a villain at this point . He supposed Hitoshi was the reason he continued walking the straight and narrow - sort of. His record wasn’t exactly clean - he’d become an infamous information broker amongst the underground almost overnight. He didn’t just help just villains though - he provided information for the heroes as well. Only the underground ones, though, no way was Dabi going to help some fame-seeking limelight.

The underground was abuzz with the news of two new vigilantes - Kuroneko and Noraneko. They both seemed to be quite powerful, their costumes were cat-themed - something both Dabi and Hithoshi could appreciate - and there was one girl and one boy. That was basically all anyone knew about them. Their quirks were still a mystery - there were plenty of theories, of course, but nothing that could be proven. Most people speculated strength or speed quirks, while some suggested stealth quirks. There were some rumours that Noraneko simply had enhanced hearing, while others said he had a quirk similar to the underground hero Eraserhead. Some victims claimed their eyes could glow, some villains claim they both could summon smoke.

“Anything interesting you learned?” That information could be worth a fortune. Maybe that was a slight exaggeration, but in the underground, info was money.

“Nope,” Hitoshi drawled, popping the p. “Though he was pretty short,”

Dabi arched an eyebrow.

“Shorter than you, half-pint?” Hitoshi hissed, kicking Dabi in the leg.

“For the last time, I’m not short!"

“Mmhmm,”

“I’m not! I’m actually quite tall for my age,” Hitoshi protested.

“I’m tall for my age, and I’m five years older than you. Compared to me, you’re short,”

“That’s hardly a fair comparison,”

“Whatever, Toshi,”

“Whatever, Dabi,”

---

Hitoshi left early that night, but he was back by 3:30 the next day. The bruise on his cheek was healing well - but his shoulders and neck are covered in even more of them. Hitoshi’s skin was an ugly purple, dark enough to match his hair and almost as grotesque as Dabi’s scars. Amongst the bruises, burns and stretch marks marred his skin.

Dabi didn’t bother cursing, or swearing revenge,

He just pulled Hitoshi into another hug - Dabi and Hitoshi both used to flinch away from touch, now, though stiff, their hugs were long and - well, not terrible. The wonders of exposure therapy.

Dabi treated the burns and the bruises, hoping they wouldn’t scar. Hitoshi doesn’t deserve that.

Dabi cursed the people who did this to his little brother. He wanted to hunt them down and watch them burn.

Dabi held Hitoshi close, letting a movie play in the background to distract him from the pain.

Dabi and Hitoshi played video games to distract them both from the injustice of it all.

They ate dinner together, knowing, but ignoring the fact that if Hitoshi went home, he wouldn’t get dinner at all. Their dinner consisted of instant ramen, cereal bars, and orange juice. Dabi wanted fucking wine. He was, however, underage. Dabi didn’t really care about that - Hitoshi, however did, and so, Dabi drank fucking orange juice.

Dabi didn’t really mind. He’d do anything for Hitoshi.

Dabi helped Hitoshi with his homework, both of them valiantly pretending it wouldn’t be ripped up and discarded the second Hitoshi stepped back in school.

They laughed and joked about bullies and teachers, about neglectful parents and corrupt societies, to lessen the force of the blow, to lower the severity of the situation.

When the purple-haired teen finally cracked, tears spilling down his face, Dabi held him close, waiting patiently as Hitoshi dragged his fingers across Dabi’s scars, chest heaving in the beginnings of a panic attack.

When Hitoshi had finally calmed down, the two of them climbed up the ladder on the side of the building, reaching the roof of their shitty apartment complex. They stargazed, ignoring the fact that they could barely see the stars, through the clouds and pollution that littered the night sky.

When it was finally time for Hitoshi to leave … he didn’t. Instead, he chose to stay with Dabi. Dabi didn’t mind. It was one night, after all. His parents wouldn’t even notice. Hitoshi could go home tomorrow, on Tuesday.

Hitoshi didn’t go home on Tuesday.

He didn’t go home on Wednesday, either.

One night stretched into two, then three, then four.

His parents didn’t even notice. He saw the pain in Hitoshi’s eyes, and his hate for the now obviously neglectful parents of Hitoshi grew.

Nights turned into days, days turned into weeks, and Dabi stopped worrying. His parents didn’t bother reporting him missing, and Dabi knew Hitoshi was better off without his parents. Hitoshi was better off with him.
After another week of bullying and bruises, Dabi snapped.

He took Hitoshi out of school.

He’d homeschool the kid himself. Sure, he was only seventeen, but Dabi could figure it out.

---

The idea came from Hitoshi. They were already brothers, weren’t they? Why not make it official? Dabi agreed. It would make things simpler when Dabi found a way to save Shouto.

Dabi had to pull some strings, calling in a favour from a shady business dealer, ‘Giran’, who he had been trying to stay away from - but it ended up working out fine.

A day later, Shinsou Hitoshi was legally dead. Touya Todoroki resurfaced, just for a second, as Dabi began to disappear.

They weren’t Shinsou Hitoshi and Dabi anymore.

No, they were Akatani Hitoshi and Akatani Touya.

Dabi smiled towards the mirror, staples stretching painfully. Normally, looking at himself in the mirror, all Dabi could see was a monster. He’d stare at purple scars and shiny staples and he’d get caught up in the memories, stuck in the past.

Now though.

How could Dabi even think of the past, with Hitoshi by his side, and a beautiful future waiting just ahead of them?

Chapter Text

Origin: Part Fifteen; Crazy = Genius

Izuku stared at the looming gray buildings, a growing sense of despair building up inside. Nausea scratched at his stomach and his fingers clenched and unclenched. His eyes watered from the flash of memories that blinded him, and Bakugou’s voice taunted him.

Izuku didn’t want to go to school.

Maybe he was acting a little childish, but Izuku felt he had a right to act childish. He had no good memories associated with schools, not one. His family’s assurances did nothing to assuage his worry.

It took the combined efforts of Ayumi, and the five Mizurio household cats to drag Izuku out of bed, and it took the entire family to get him out of the house.

He complained the entire drive there and was promptly ignored. Ayumi shoved him out of the car the second they arrived, which is how they ended up here - standing outside the school building in the cold, early morning as Izuku loitered, trying to come up with any reason to skip school.

Eventually, Ayumi grew tired of his sulking and grabbed him by the wrist, ridiculously long nails digging into his skin as she dragged him into the school.

She tugged him through the halls until they arrived at the assembly room in which the junior-high orientation was held. She shoved him towards the door than disappeared, heading off to the section of the school that was predominantly for high schoolers.

Izuku stepped into the large, gaping assembly room and was quickly herded off to the right corner of the room, where the other seventh graders huddled. A schedule was pushed rather aggressively into his hands, and then he was shoved into a white folding chair.

Izuku was seated near the back of the room, at the very edge of a long line of chairs - just the way he liked it. His only seat neighbor was a tall boy that towered over him - he was wide-shouldered and muscular, though his shoulders hunched in on themselves. His head took the form of a peach-colored rock, unevenly shaped and scattered with dips and rises. The rock ended with a sharp point at the very top of his head.

Izuku was practically salivating - whatever quirk the guy had, it was probably really cool. Izuku found every quirk cool, but that wasn’t the point.

The orientation didn’t contain anything important - not that Izuku would know. He zoned out for most of it - at the very beginning of the assembly, he checked his seat neighbor’s schedule - he had the same schedule as him. Izuku decided that once the assembly was over, he’d just shadow his seat neighbor.

As the orientation continued in the background, Izuku’s anxiety began to swell. He had to bite his lip, hard enough to draw blood, to prevent the stream of mindless mumbling his brain wanted to release. The Mizurios had more or less curbed Izuku’s mumbling habit - although they encouraged his analysis, they did point out that the fact that Izuku didn’t even realise he was mumbling half of the time was worrying and could prove to be a problem. However, during high moments of stress and anxiety, Izuku felt the itch to fall into his old habits once again.

Thankfully, the orientation passed quickly, and Izuku headed off to his first class - Quirk Science and Quirk Theory - which was unsurprisingly, yet ironically Izuku’s favourite subject.

The QSQT room was, surprisingly, underground. Shinrinyoku Academy had four stories - two above ground and two below. The classroom Izuku was heading to was in the lowest section possible.

Izuku entered the classroom side by side with his seat neighbor. There were around seven people already in the room, and the teacher, Yamamura-Sensei, was noticeably absent from the class - at least, at first glance.

Only through months of stealth and situational awareness classes with his mother was Izuku able to detect the man hiding in the large, circular trash can in the front corner of the class.

In a trash can.

It took a second for that fact to sink in.

There was a man crouched in a trashcan in the front of Izuku’s classroom. Now, there were two possibilities here - either some random man or woman had snuck into the school and was hiding in the trash can, or Izuku’s QSQT teacher was hiding in the trash can.

Either way, Izuku was concerned.

No one else seemed to notice the man, so Izuku was content to ignore him. Maybe that was a bad idea, but Izuku had not come prepared to deal with weird men in trash cans.

The beige-walled room was full of desks slanted in random directions - vertical desks, horizontal desks, diagonal desks. The desks were of all different shapes and sizes as well - most were rectangular or circular, but there were a couple hexagonal and triangular tables as well.

Izuku, on instinct, headed to the small rectangular table at the very back of the class, the one with only two seats. Izuku was hoping he’d get the chance to be alone.

He wasn’t that lucky. His seat neighbor followed him to the table, taking a seat right by him - though Izuku found he didn’t mind. The rock-headed boy seemed content to ignore Izuku, and Izuku was content to ignore him right back. The mutual agreement of silence and ignorance was actually rather pleasant.

Time passed, around five minutes of Izuku resolutely ignoring the boy that sat next to him and the man in the trash can. That was easy - at least, it was, until slowly, ever so slowly, the trash can began to move.

It inched across the floor, scooting towards the center of the room. The actions were small enough that they were barely noticeable. No one seemed to realise that the trash can was sliding across the floor.

Except for his desk mate, of course.

“… is that trash can moving?” Came a quiet, squeaky voice, a little raw around the edges.

Izuku rubbed his temples.

“Yes, I believe it is,” His classmate tilted his head.

“How?”

“There’s a person in the trash can,” His classmate blinked.

“… why?”

“I’m going to be honest with you here - I haven’t got a clue,” Izuku was met with a wide-eyed stare. Izuku stared at his seat neighbor for a second. He sighed. “I’m Mizurio Izuku,”

A quiet hum followed.

“Koda Koji,” Izuku smiled.

“Nice to meet you, Koda-Kun,”

“It’s nice to meet you too, Mizurio-San,”

Koda and Izuku’s eyes both drifted back to the trash can that was still scooting across the room. The quiet journey continued - until we were five minutes into class and one blue-haired student finally asked the appropriate question for the situation.

“Where’s the teacher?” A short, orange-haired student with blank, eerie white eyes spoke up next.

“Maybe he’s dead?” Which, come on, how was that a reasonable assumption?

“I’m alive!” Izuku and Koda were the only students who didn’t recoil or jump up in surprise, though Koda did startle slightly at the loud yell. Izuku just watched, partially apathetic, as a pink-haired, barefoot man jumped out of the trashcan.

He was a lot like Izuku’s father, Izuku decided. Only Mizurio Yasujiro had enough energy and utter stupidity to match Izuku’s new QSQT teacher.

The man in question stumbled unsteadily to his bare feet. He was wrapped up in blankets, decked out in dirt-stained, ripped, baggy clothes, and his pink hair was unruly and unkempt. He looked every bit a homeless man.

The blue-haired student from earlier was kind enough to voice Izuku’s thoughts.

“… is he homeless?”

“I am not!” Yamamura-Sensei declared. “I live in this trashcan and it is my home,”

Yep. Yamamura-Sensei was, without a doubt, a Mizurio Yasujiro 2.0.

“Hello!” The pinkette yelled, jumping forward. Izuku winced, along with Koda, because honestly, this guy was much too loud. “No, I am not homeless. No, I am not some random creep who snuck into your school. I am Yamamura Kenji, and I’m going to be your Quirk Science and Quirk Theory teacher for the next year! Be afraid. Be very afraid,”

Izuku was extremely afraid.

The rest of Izuku’s class seemed to share that sentiment.

“SO!” Yamamura-Sensei called. “We’re going to start with introductions!”

Izuku felt his heart sink. This is how it always started.

Introductions included names and quirks. Everything would be fine until it was Izuku’s turn. His turn to reveal his nonexistent quirk. Izuku’s family had promised that Shinrinyoku Academy had a strict no-bullying policy, but kids were cruel. And would the teachers care enough to stop the bullying when they found out Izuku was quirkless? During his time with the Mizurios, Izuku had begun to learn that being quirkless was not a bad thing. He doubted the rest of the world shared that same mindset.

“HOWEVER!” Izuku was seconds away from banging his head against the table until his skull cracked and the migraine that was building up behind his eyes disappeared. “This is not going to be your typical introduction. Since today is the first day of class, we’re not going to do anything actually educational, because that’s boring. Today, we’re going to be playing a game! Today’s game is rather simple - it’s called Guess My Quirk. Over the course of today’s class, we’ll be doing various activities to help you get to know your classmates. Your goal is to figure out what your classmate’s quirks are!”

Maybe this wouldn’t be too bad after all. Maybe Izuku would survive.

“This game should take around half of today’s one hour class. Whoever guessed the most quirks correctly will get a prize!” Hell yeah, Izuku was going to win this. “Of course, once we’re finished, all those who managed to completely hide their quirks will reveal their quirks to the class,”

Izuku’s gut twisted. So much for surviving.

“Due to the game, our introductions can’t just be our name and quirk. No, instead, you’ll give your name and you’ll tell the class how you would kill your mother,”

What.

“What?!” Exclaimed most of the class.

“Or father, of course. Whichever parent you choose to kill,”

“What?!”

“If you had to kill one of your parents, how would you do it - keep in mind that you’re trying to not get caught here. And don’t forget to keep into account your quirk, and your parent’s quirk - and don’t forget, you have to do all of this without revealing what your quirk actually is,”

If he had any doubt before, it was gone. Yamamura-Sensei was most definitely insane.

… though, this could be interesting.

“You!” Yamamura-Sensei yelled, pointing towards the orange-haired blank-eyed student who had spoken earlier. “Would you like to start?”

The girl didn’t blink, just tilted her head and stared at the space above Yamamura-Sensei’s shoulder.

“Alright,” She said, face blank, voice level. “I’m Onishi Yuri,” Her eyes were unfocused - it took a second for Izuku to realise they were unseeing. She looked towards people when they spoke, but not directly at them. “If I were to kill my mother, I would choose a time when she goes on a long business trip. She never answers any calls and she’s off the map for long periods of time. I’d kill her before she boards the plane, probably with a gun, then I’d cut off her hands and head so no one would be able to identify the body. I’d brutalize the body a bit to make it unlikely for a child to have committed the murder, then dump the body in a lake somewhere,”

The entirety of the class stared in barely disguised shock. Izuku, meanwhile, tilted his head in interest.

… it wasn’t exactly a bad plan. It was relatively smart.

The fact that she chose a gun was interesting. Guns weren’t too common anymore, not with quirks - even though they could do a lot of damage either way. It was likely Onishi had a relatively weak quirk - it definitely wasn’t a strong physical quirk, or a mutation - no, her quirk was more likely to be some type of mental quirk.

“Very cool,” Yamamura-sensei nodded his approval - Izuku really didn’t think that was an appropriate teacher response to a murder plan, but whatever. “Ok, Onishi, pick the next person,”

Onishi pointed directly at a brown-haired boy a couple seats behind her. Directly. So she wasn’t blind after all? … or maybe she was and her quirk helped her find people? There was a possibility of some sort of sensory quirk …

The brown-haired black-eyed boy blinked. “My name is Torada Norishi. If I were to murder my mother … I - well, I would probably make it look like an accident? There’s less of a chance of being suspected and caught if there isn’t an investigation at all. My mom’s a bit of a reckless driver, so I’d probably mess with the brakes or something and make it seem like a car accident,”

Also not a bad plan. There was, however, the risk of the car crash happening in a public area, and other drivers having suspicions. It wasn’t likely, but there was always a possibility - the police might investigate, maybe only to look for faulty pieces to pin on the car company - and then, when they found out the brakes were cut, an investigation would begin. There was a 50 - 50 chance Torada’s plan would work fine, but that wasn’t good enough. Izuku would want a 98% chance his plan would run smoothly - he’d also want at least three back-up plans for that 2%.

The next fifteen minutes passed like that. The cycled through the twenty-five people in the class, everyone sharing their name and their murder plans. Izuku, meanwhile, observed and analyzed, critiquing shoddy plans and hunting for any information that would give him an insight to the person speaking’s quirk.

Eventually, it was Izuku’s turn. One might think that, given he was the last person to introduce himself, he would have already thought out his plan to murder his mother. That assumption would be incorrect - Izuku spent too much time observing others to really think about what he was going to say - an oversight on his part.

When Koda pointed to him, he opened his mouth for a couple seconds, closed it to curb the urge to mumble, then opened it once again to begin to speak. “My name is Mizurio Izuku. If I were to kill my mom, I would also probably try to make it look like an accident, like many other people suggested. I could probably do something simple, like pushing her down the stairs or causing a car accident. My mom also has a small history of heart problems, so another thing I could possibly do would be to use Oleander or Aconite - both are poisons that can instigate heart attacks. Aconite is also surprisingly easy to get your hands on because it can be used for medical purposes and bought easily online. There likely wouldn’t be an autopsy - even if there was, aconite can only be detected through gas chromatography, and the pathologist conducting the autopsy wouldn’t use a gas chromatography unless they specifically suspected something like aconite, which wouldn’t be likely. If, for some reason, someone does suspect aconite and they test it and find it in her system, I’d likely have something set up for that possibility - I’d probably have bought the aconite months before with my Dad’s credit card, or even possibly have stolen it from the police department my older brother works at to frame one of them. I’m the youngest in the family so I probably wouldn’t be suspected either way, but just in case.”

Izuku coughed, shifting awkwardly in his seat as he finished. Oh my god he had been mumbling, hadn’t he?

“Ah, aconite!” Yamamura-Sensei sighed fondly. “Queen of Poisons. Good ol’ wolfsbane. Monk’s hood. Blue rocket. Devil’s helmet. Nice choice, Mizurio,”

Yep, Izuku’s teacher was not okay.

“Alright, I believe Mizurio was the last one - did I miss anyone?” Silence followed, so Yamamura-Sensei continued. “Alrighty then - we have a lot more games to play before we start guessing!
--
He wasn’t lying - there were a lot more games - however, they were relatively short. They still gave Izuku all the information he needed. Finally, they got to the part of this class he was excited for.

Izuku was going to absolutely crush the rest of his classmates. No one could beat him here - quirks were his speciality.

“Okay, so this is how this is going to work.” Yamamura-Sensei started. They were all gathered in a circle, seated on the floor near the front of the classroom. “We’re going to go around in a circle - we’re starting with Onishi again. After Onishi, it’ll be Kida, then Shimizu, then Torada, and so forth. When it’s Onishi’s turn, everyone has a chance to share what they think her quirk is. Whoever guesses it right first will win a point. The person who has the most points when we’ve gone through everybody wins. Does that make sense?”

Everyone nodded.

“Good. So, does anyone have any guesses for Onishi’s quirk?” Izuku tentatively raised his hand. “Mizurio, what’ve you got?”

“I think Onishi has a sensory quirk that allows her to either sense body heat or sense life,”

“Why?” Yamamura-Sensei prompted.

“Well, at first, I assumed she was blind - because of her eyes and the way she kept bumping into objects and walls every now and then. But she was always able to find people and point directly at them - she absolutely decimated us in hide and seek. I noticed how when she spoke to people, she never looked directly into their eyes, just at their face in general, which was rather odd. That made me wonder if she could only see the basic outline of people and things. Then I thought of things like night-vision goggles, where you can only see the basic figure of a person. Then I remembered the fact that she seemed to constantly run into objects, but never other people - so I figured she must be able to see living things - which led me to think she could sense life itself - but then I remembered heat signatures, and I realised it was also entirely possible that she could detect body heat - either way, it would explain how she found everyone so quickly during hide and seek,”

“That’s very impressive, Mizurio,” Yamamura-Sensei commented. Izuku blushed, mumbling a few quick thank yous. Yamamura-Sensei turned to Onishi. “Well? Is he right?”

“Yeah,” Onishi confirmed. “He’s right. My quirk is called Infrared. It’s literally what it sounds like - it gives me infrared vision and allows me to feel body heat,” Yamamura-Sensei clapped his hands.

“That’s a very cool quirk, Onishi,” Izuku shared that sentiment. “If you ever need any help navigating classrooms or the school, don’t be afraid to come to one of your teachers for help,” Onishi nodded. “Well, one point goes to Mizurio. Next up, Kida. Any guesses?”

No one volunteered.

Slowly, Izuku raised his hand again.

Yamamura-Sensei laughed.

“Mizurio, go ahead,”

“Okay, so this one’s a little confusing, I’m not sure if I got this right. At first, Kida’s quirk really confused me, because I saw a lot of things that didn’t make sense. During tag, I was sure I saw him walk straight through a wall. At one point, I saw him just … disappear from where he was standing, but he reappeared a second later. When we played rock-paper-scissors, I was watching him play against Yoshioka, who used scissors - and I could swear Kida played paper - but then I got a really bad headache, my vision unfocused, and then all of a sudden, I could see that it was obvious Kida had played rock - which didn’t make any sense at all whatsoever. At another point during tag, Onishi was about to tag him, but then she stopped, appearing disoriented, then she seemed to disappear as well, reappearing three steps behind where she had originally been,”

Kida looked impressed.

“And what does that lead you to believe?” Yamamura-Sensei asked.

“Well, I think Kida has a warp quirk that allows him to teleport part of his body to different places, as well as teleport other people. I think his quirk has a feature that allows him to keep moving in one place right as he’s teleporting to another, which would explain how he literally phased through the wall. I also think Kida’s quirk has a special addition - whenever he uses his quirk, he releases energy that briefly disorients and confuses anyone in the near-vicinity, or at least anyone looking at him. I also realised that his eyes glow blue like a tv screen every time he uses his quirk,” Kida chuckled.

“You’re really good at this, Mizurio,” He said.

“So he’s right?” Yamamura-Sensei questioned.

Kida nodded. “My quirk is called Electric Glitch. It allows me to glitch through objects and make other people lag or glitch as well. A quirk specialist once explained that my quirk was an emitter type that actually let me warp myself and my body parts from place to place - even I didn’t understand that part at first. You’re really cool, Mizurio,”

Izuku squeaked.

“Well,” Yamamura-Sensei said. “Two points to Mizurio. He’s absolutely decimating you lot. At this rate, he’s going to be the only one to get any points at all,”

Izuku was going to die of embarrassment.

“He’s right,” Onishi commented. “You’re very smart, Mizurio,” Yamamura-Sensei laughed - he laughed at Izuku’s red face.

“Moving on. Shimizu’s up next. Any guesses?”

Yoshioka, the dark blue haired student from earlier’s hand shot up. Izuku breathed a sigh of relief. He didn’t want to be the only person answering. He’d probably seem like he know-it-all.

“Yoshioka?”

“I think Shimizu can teleport,”

“Why?”

“I don't have any fancy observations like Mizurio. I literally just saw her teleport.” Izuku smiled. Fair.

Yamamura-Sensei took the answer. “Alright, Shimizu, is he right?”

Shimizu broke out into a large grin, yellow eyes glinting.

“Nope!” She brushed a few strands of dark red hair out of her eyes. “Teleportation is not my quirk,”

Yamamura-Sensei smiled slyly.

“Good guess, Yoshioka. Anyone else?”

Torada raised his hand.

“Torada, whad’ya think?”

“I think it’s not that she can teleport - I think she can make herself invisible. I saw her just disappear once, and then reappear in the same spot two seconds later. I also watched part of her hand disappear while the rest of her stayed visible,”

“Shimizu?”

“Nope, not invisibility either,” She was grinning wickedly.

“Dang,” Yamamura-Sensei whistled.

Another hand shot up.

“Furutani?”

“I think her quirk allows her to transform her body parts - I watched her eyes change colour once, along with the colour of her hair. I think there’s also a possibility that she can ‘transform’ her body parts to make them invisible, which would explain the invisibility and teleportation that Torada and Yoshioka saw,”

Shimizu broke out into laughter. “No, it’s not that either - but that’s a really good guess,” Furutani blushed, tucking a strand of silver hair behind her ear.

“Alright, does anyone else have a guess?” Izuku looked around. He didn’t think there was anyone else.

Izuku’s hand rose.

Both Shimizu’s and Yamamura’s smiles widened.

“Mizurio!” Yamamura called. “Would you like to share what you’ve come up with this time?” Izuku nodded.

“Shimizu has an untraditional copy quirk - she has a quirk that allows her to copy two different things - quirks, and body parts. When she teleported, she met Osada’s eyes first. I also saw Osada teleport - I think she copies quirks through eye contact. I also saw her eye colour change from yellow to blue after she made eye contact with Yoshiaka - she was copying his blue eyes. I think she can also copy someone’s entire body - at one point during hide and seek, I saw Torada leave a room, then watched him come into the room from the opposite direction merely seconds later - Torada’s eyes also briefly flashed yellow - at first, I chalked that up to his own quirk, then I realised that it might not be his quirk at all - instead, it was Shimizu’s,”

“You’ve got it,” Shimizu confirmed. “My quirk is called Replica. Damn, I really thought no one would be able to figure it out,” Yamamura-Sensei shook his head fondly.

“Mizurio strikes again. You’re really good at this, kid,” Murmured agreements were heard throughout the crowd. Izuku rubbed the back of his neck.

“I just really like quirks,” He looked towards Shimizu. “Your quirk is really awesome, by the way. It has so many cool applications,” Shimizu smiled, teeth glinting.

“I know, thanks,”

“Alright, three points to Mizurio - since Mizurio is still absolutely destroying everyone else here, I’ll give both Torada, Yoshioka, and Furutani half points for their guesses. Torada, you’re up next. Any guesses?”

“I have one,” Onishi said, hand raised.

“Go ahead, Onishi,”

“I kind of have a cheat sheet for this one, given my quirk. I think Torada can control his body temperature and possibly the temperature of the air around him - his body heat kept going up and down in a way that wasn’t normal, and so I started watching out from him - and I could swear that sometimes when I was around him, the temperature would drop,”

Torada nodded. “My quirk is called Temperature. It’s super simple - it allows me to alter the temperature of the air around me. It also allows me to raise and lower my own body heat, as well as the body heat of people around me,”

Oh, Izuku had so many questions.

… from the reactions he’d been getting, he realised that no one would care if he asked them. They didn’t know he was quirkless anyways.

He raised a hand.

“Yes, Mizurio?”

“I have a question for Torada,”

“Go on then,” Izuku turned towards Torada.

“You said you can raise the body heat of individual people - can you alter the temperature of individual objects?” Torada nodded. “Does that mean you can create ice if you have water? I mean, if you were to lower the temperature enough …”

Torada hummed, tilting his head thoughtfully.

“I’m sure I could do it. But to be honest, I’ve never tried. It’ll be cool to test that out though,”

“If you can do that, then you might be able to use water vapor from the air and create ice out of it - if there’s enough of it, that is.” Torada’s eyes lit up.

“Nice questions, Mizurio. If anyone does have any questions about how someone’s quirk works, feel free to ask. This is a Quirk Science class, after all,” Yamamura-Sensei advised. “Onishi, you’ve got one point. Now, onto Osada,”

Torada raised his hand again.

“Torada, take a guess,”

“Well, Mizurio said he saw Osada teleport - he said Shizimu copied his quirk when she teleported, so I think Osada’s quirk is teleportation,”

Osada shook his head.

“Nice try, but that’s not it,”

… it wasn’t? Huh, that was odd. Izuku could’ve sworn he saw Osada teleport.

“Is it invisibility?” Yoshiaka tried.

“Nu uh,” That was strange. What could Osada’s quirk be, if not teleportation?

“Maybe he transforms into air!” Kawai exclaimed.

Osada’s shoulders shook with silent laughter..

“Not that either,”

“Intangibility?” Furutani tried. “Maybe you can make your body intangible for a short period of time - and since intangible means not having a solid presence, maybe it also allows you to not have a visible presence?”

“Cool guess, but unfortunately, no,”

“Looks like we have another mystery,” Yamamura-Sensei said. “Mizurio, have you got a guess?”

“Actually, no,” Izuku admitted. “I’m stumped. I was sure he could teleport - my next guess would definitely have been intangibility - but it’s not either of those,” Osada looked just a tad triumphant.

“Do you have any guesses, or even clues, little things that you’ve noticed?”

“... well,” Izuku started, wracking his brain for something, anything.“I’m not sure about this …”

“Go on,” Yamamura-Sensei prompted.

“I think his quirk might have something to do with perception. I’ve noticed Osada teleporting, but at the time, no one else in the room seemed to notice he disappeared. So maybe he didn’t? Maybe his quirk tricks the mind into thinking he’s disappeared, making it appear like he’s teleported, but in reality, he’s still right there?”

Osada grinned.

“You’re close, Mizurio, so, so close,” His light brown eyes flicked to Yamamura-Sensei. “Can I tell them?”

“Does anyone else have any guesses?” No one raised a hand. “Go ahead, Osada,”

“Mizurio was right, my quirk is about perception. My quirk is called ‘Forget Me Not’. When I concentrate hard enough, I can make people forget about my existence for a good couple of minutes - when anyone looks at me, they’ll forget they’ve seen me right away - so when I release my quirk, it looks like I’ve disappeared or teleported from one place to another. Holding my quirk for a long time takes a lot of effort - it’s the same for using it on multiple people - so in that specific case, I was using my quirk on Mizurio, so it looked like I disappeared - but I didn’t have enough energy to use it on the rest of the room, so to everyone else, I was just walking,”

“That’s. So. Cool,” Izuku gushed. Osada smiled.

“I’m glad you think so,”

“So, I’m not giving any points out for that one- Mizurio doesn’t need any more points,” Yamamura-Sensei commented. Izuku buried his head in his hands.“Next up, it’s Mizurio’s turn!”

Izuku sucked in a deep breath as over half the class rose their hands. Oh, he was so dead. They were all going to hate him, weren’t they?

Yamamura-Sensei smiled.

“I see we have a lot of volunteers this time around. Osada, would you like to start us off?”

“An intelligence-boosting quirk,” Osada guessed.

Izuku shook his head.

“An analysis quirk?” This one came from Onishi.

“No,” Izuku spoke softly. Murmurs rose up in the crowd, and Izuku felt his heart sink further.

“A stealth quirk?” Yoshioka suggested.

Izuku blinked. “No, why?”

Yoshioka shrugged. “Sometimes I feel like you just disappear - no one could ever find you during hide and seek,”

Izuku shrugged. “I’m just good at hiding,” Courtesy of Izuku’s vigilantism, and his mother’s consistent, hardcore stealth lessons.

Almost ten minutes passed as the class continued to try and fail to guess his quirk. They wouldn’t guess it right - that much, Izuku was sure of.

Eventually, after most of the class had guessed twice, Yamamura-Sensei turned to Izuku.

“Well, Izuku, I think I can confidently say that no one here is going to guess your quirk. Would you like to share?”

Izuku steeled himself, gathering any slivers of bravery he still had left. Quirkless didn’t mean useless. Izuku was a vigilante. He dealt with dangerous villains on a daily basis. He could deal with a couple of almost-teens, right?

“Okay,” he said, taking a deep breath. “Okay. My quirk is - well, nothing,”

“Your quirk is called Nothing?” Yoshioka asked. Izuku winced.

“No, I - what I meant is that I don’t have a quirk,” Izuku met Yoshioka’s eyes. “I’m quirkless,”

A second past. Then another. Then another. Three seconds of blessed, torturous silence.

And then the class dissolved into chaos.

“What?!”

“No way!”

“Quirkless?”

“You’re lying,”

“But-“

“How did you-“ With a single clap, Yamamura-Sensei silenced the uproar.

“Can I have your attention for a moment, my children,” The class fell silent. “Mizurio over here is not, in fact, lying. He is indeed quirkless - but that should not change the way you treat him. A quick mandatory disclaimer that I, as a teacher here, am required to give - we have a strict no bullying policy and quirk discrimination is not acceptable. If I see anyone treating Mizurio unfairly, I promise I will bite them,”

... well. That was one way to show support.

Odd as it may be, Izuku was strangely heart warmed . A teacher had never stood up for him before. He was beginning to realize that that was their job. It still made him happy, though.

“The situation is very simple,” Yamamura-Sensei continued. “If anyone has any problems with this - the situation, mine and the school’s policy, or Izuku’s quirklessness, please come forward now so I can get this over with.”

Izuku held his breath as quiet murmurs echoed in the large room - his classmates exchanged weighted words and contemplative looks - though no one was brave enough to come forward - not in front of Yamamura-Sensei, the rabid, insane, pink-haired mother-murdering expert.

At least, that’s what Izuku thought - until a black-haired blue-eyed unnaturally tall student - what was his name again, Maka? Moka? - stepped forward.

“Got something to say Maoka?” Maoka. That was it.

Maoka nodded. Yamamura-Sensei waved his hand.
“Well, go on then,”

“I understood what you said about quirk discrimination,” - from the tone of his voice, it seemed very much like he didn’t “- but how does that even apply to Mizurio? It’s not like he has a weak quirk, he doesn’t have one at all,”

“What’s your point?”

“He’s quirkless,” Maoka stressed the syllables.

“So?” Maoka hissed, frustrated. “Mizurio doesn’t have a quirk. He shouldn’t be here! He’s the worst of the worst - he can hardly be considered human -“

A pink blur shot past Izuku’s eyes. Moaka’s harsh words were cut off midway with a yelp. His hand shot to his neck.

Yamamura-Sensei trotted back to his chair.

It took Izuku a second to realise what had just happened.

“Did you just bite him?” Izuku exclaimed, incredulous. Yamamura-Sensei shrugged.

“I did say I’d bite anyone who treated you unfairly. Quirkism is not accepted here at Shinrinyoku Academy,”

“I mean, I respect that and I appreciate your support but you didn’t have to bite him,”

“… what the hell are you, a vampire?” Izuku felt Onishi’s question was completely valid.

“I’m pretty sure that’s … illegal, on some level,” Torada said.

Yamamura-Sensei shrugged again.

“Maoka, I hope you realise what you said was completely uncalled for. A lack of quirk doesn’t make you any less human - Mizurio absolutely destroyed all of you in all the different games we played today - he’s not below you just because he lacks something the lot of you were born with - if anything, it puts him above you, for he gained all his skill through hard work, rather than through genetics,”

“He’s right,” Koda spoke up, voice trembling.

“Yeah,” Onishi said. “That was rude, Maoka,”

“He may be quirkless,” Osada started. “But he’s still really smart,”

“He’s already a better person than you are,” Shizimu snapped.

Izuku would have found the entire situation really sweet if he still wasn’t hyper fixated on the fact that his teacher had bitten someone.

What the fuck?

“Important question - and I promise I won’t bite you based on your answer -” the fact that he had to specify that was extremely concerning. “-but does anyone else agree with Moaka’s words,”

A little less, or maybe exactly half of the class raised their hands. Izuku’s stomach rolled.

Their opinions didn’t matter. He told himself. They didn’t matter.

It still hurt. It hurt a lot.

“Alright,” Yamamura-Sensei said. “I see. Everyone get up,”

What the hell was he doing now?

Slowly, warily, the majority of the class rose to their feet. Izuku took a bit longer, legs trembling - Koda held out a hand and pulled him up.

“We’re going to the gym!” The gym? Why would we - “And we’re going to settle this matter once and for all,” Yamamura-Sensei’s lips stretched into a grin.

The smile made Izuku feel very uncomfortable. He recalled Yamamura-Sensei’s earlier words.

“Be afraid. Be very, very afraid,”

Bloody hell, Izuku was terrified.