Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Izuku had recognized that his life was pretty repetitive and seemingly would stay that way for a while. Everyday he would wake up, get dressed, and eat either cereal or whatever his mom would cook for breakfast. He would go to school, do his work, and get teased by his classmates. Sometimes after school Kacchan and his lackeys would “teach him a lesson”. Then he would go home, do his homework, eat dinner, and go to bed. Weekends usually were spent looking for hero fights to take notes on or do other activities his mom would take him on. While he didn't particularly enjoy school days, they were at least mostly predictable without much variation. 

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“Wha-WHAT?!”

Inko put down her fork and sighed, “We’re going to be moving soon, so I need you to start going through your things and decide what you want to keep, and what you're ok with leaving.” She repeated.

“But why are we moving?” Izuku asked, genuinely confused.

“We need to move because I just got a job offer that pays really well but it's a bit too far from where we live now so we need to move somewhere closer.” Inko calmly explained to Izuku. “I found a new school in the area that will take you so if all goes well, then this week will be your last week at your current school.” She then picked her fork back up and finished her food while Izuku just sat staring at his own food.

Izuku wasn’t sure how to feel about changing schools. On the one hand he could get more friends and not be the subject of his peers tormenting, but on the other hand it could be worse because at least he knows Kacchan but at the new school he won’t know anyone and the bullying could be worse.

Inko was about to walk out of the dining room to start packing when she suddenly stopped and turned to Izuku, “Oh I almost forgot to tell you that we will be having dinner with the Bakugo’s on Thursday so you can say goodbye to Katsuki before we leave.” Then she left Izuku to his thoughts once again.

Dinner with the Bakugo’s was always an awkward affair for both Izuku and Katsuki. Katsuki having to resist the urge to explode on Izuku and Izuku having to constantly quel his fear. Izuku would try to enjoy Kacchan attempting to be civil while he could because the next day of school would always guarantee one of Kacchan’s “lessons”.

Izuku finished up his food and got ready for bed. After saying goodnight to his mom he closed the door to his room and looked at the assortment of All Might merch that was littered around. He grabbed a box and slowly started to take some of the action figures off his shelves and into the box. After taking all of his action figures down he decided to go to sleep.

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“Do we really have to have dinner?” Izuku asked for what seemed to be the 1 millionth time in the car ride to the Bakugo’s home, “I already told Kacchan that we were moving, and I still have to pack my posters.”

“We are going because the Bakugo’s want to see us one last time for who knows how long before we move since it will be harder to do these types of things when we move. Besides, you get to play with Katsuki since I have the moving truck for Saturday.” Inko finally explained after replying with nothing but “Yes” every other time she was asked this question. 

Izuku really didn't want to talk with Kacchan because everytime he tried to tell him that he was moving, Kacchan would either ignore him in favor of talking with one of his lackeys or just blow up on Izuku for “being fucking annoying” as he so eloquently put it and Izuku wasn’t looking foward to what his actual reaction would be to the news. Izuku was really wishing he could be anywhere but where he was at that moment as his mom pulled up to the Bakugo household.

As the mother and son got out of their car Inko turned to Izuku and said, “I’m not sure why you don’t want to have dinner with the Bakugo’s today for some reason and as much as I wish you would tell me why, you probably won't so I won’t pry. What I do ask is that you at least try to look like you want to be here.” She put her hand on Izuku’s shoulder and kneeled down to his eye level, “Please promise me that at least.” she requested to her son.

Izuku nodded so Inko stood up and together the pair walked up to the door. When Inko knocked on the door distant shouts could be heard from inside the house before the door opened revealing Katsuki. “Hi Aunty Inko” he said calmly before discreetly glaring at Izuku and saying with all the smoothness of a porcupine, “Hi Izuku.” Izuku shifted slightly under Katsuki’s glare as Inko greeted Katsuki with all the warmth of the sun, hugging him before entering the house to greet the rest of the family. The two boys stared at each other for a minute before Katsuki said with annoyance oozing from him “Well, you gonna come inside or sit there like some sort of lost dog.”

Izuku jumped slightly at the sudden invitation but nonetheless went into the home and was greeted by Katsuki’s parents before being steered to the dining room table so that they could start eating. As the parents chatted away about how they were doing and other such gossip the two boys quietly ate before Mitsuki dismissed them to go play in Katsuki’s bedroom. 

Once the door to the room was closed Izuku was on edge. Kacchan wasn't normally this quiet even when the two families had dinner together and he had to act civil. So the fact that he hadn’t said a word since telling him to come inside was setting off all kinds of warnings inside of Izuku’s head. Izuku was brought out of his internal panic when Kacchan said in what appeared to be a calm tone, “So you're actually leaving.”

Izuku was unsure how to best respond without Kacchan blowing up so after a moment replied “Y-yea.” Kacchan then turned around and stared at Izuku for a long moment. He continued to stare at Izuku even as the boy in question started to fidget.

Finally after what seemed like forever Kacchan finally said “Guess that's one less hindrance on my path to success.” He turned around again and went to his bookshelf that held an assortment of different manga before speaking with so much malice that Izuku couldn't help but flinch back, “Don’t you DARE try to get to UA, because if you do then that just mean I wasn't good enough at teaching you how useless you really are DEKU .” And just like that he picked out a Manga and started reading like he hadn’t just basically threatened his childhood friend. “Besides” he continued, “If you think anyone is going to be your fucking friend and whatever new school your going to, your wrong Deku. If you think anyone would wanna be friends with a useless Deku like you then you're wrong. Nobody would want to be friends with a fucking quirkless Deku who can’t do anything right.” Then he laid down on his bed and continued to read.

Izuku went and picked out a manga for himself, still shaking after Katsuki’s threat and began to read as well and the two boys remained like that for the remainder of the Midoriya’s time at the Bakugo’s. When the Midoriya’s left there were no goodbyes exchanged between the two boys and as soon as Izuku got home, he took a shower and immediately went to bed to try and forget the scathing words Katsuki had left him with.

Chapter Text

Izuku woke up to the view of a half unpacked room, half-lit by the sunlight that peered through his curtains. He sighed and sat up, taking another look at his new room. It had not hit him until now that they really had moved, that he would see Kacchan less, and that he would be going to a different school. He didn’t think it would feel so weird. He had planned for his room to look relatively the same as it had back home. 

That word, home. He supposed that was the center of it all. This place didn’t feel like home. While his old home, he could recognize probably wasn’t the best situation, considering he hid so much from his mom. It was at least comforting in the predictability of it all. He knew what each day would bring and while he wished it was better, at least it wasn’t anything new. Now he didn’t know what to expect. Almost anything could happen and it made him nervous. He had some optimism that it could be better than his home, that this place could become his home in time. But for now he just had to get up and face his future with a smile, just like All Might. 

He finally tore his eyes away from his All Might merch to look at the clock. 6:12 it read. Izuku internally winced at the time. School didn’t start until 8:30 which was over 2 hours away. He decided to get up and get ready for school anyways, he wouldn't be able to fall asleep at this time anyways.

The rest of the morning passed in a blur until his mom left him with a goodbye hug and kiss and he stared up at the front gate, frozen under its imposing shadow that would mean no going back. Going through that gate would seal whatever fate was in store for him. Steeling his resolve he took swift steps past the gate and into the school proper. He walked through the hallways of the new school, looking at the door of each classroom for his classroom number, 6-B. Eventually he found the classroom in question and after taking a moment to pause and gather his thoughts, he opened the door, looking around at the 5 columns of 6 desks, each with their own names and most of them with the person whose name was on the label. Eventually he found his desk in the 2nd row and 4th column from the door. He put down his All Might themed backpack and waited for the teacher to come in and take attendance.

He decided to take this time to look around at the people who were sitting next to him. Behind him was a kid who had yellow hair and greyish blue eyes. He wore a basic yellow shirt with grey shorts that matched the color of the shoes he wore. The name tag on his desk read Dorein Jiyū. He appeared bored and was just watching the door, probably waiting for the teacher to come. In front of him was a boy with black hair and what looked to be goat horns? Probably something to do with his quirk. Izuku couldn’t see his name tag nor his face so he decided to move on.

Izuku was about to look at the person to his left when the door opened and the classroom chatter came to a halt as the teacher as an older lady with eyes as bright as sunflowers, her greying green hair put into a braid with yellow roses woven into it, strolled to her desk at the front of the classroom. Before she started taking attendance she announced in a voice sweet as honey “Welcome back my children! As some of you may have noticed, we have a new student. Come up and introduce yourself, would you dear. Just your name and something interesting about yourself.”

Izuku knew this would happen but it did nothing to stop the fear and dread that enveloped him as he got up, all eyes trained on him, and walked to the front next to the teacher. He saw that the name tag on her desk read Hirīto-sensei. As he looked around at the students who were looking back he put on the best smile he could manage and stammered, “H-hi, I’m Midoriya I-Izuku. I’m excited to b-be here and-” He suddenly paused. He didn’t know what to say next. Did he really want to reveal his quirkless status so soon? Eventually he decided it would come out sooner rather than later so he should just rip off the bandaid now. “And, I’m quirkless.”

The classroom's reaction was immediate. The bored kid with yellow hair immediately locked his gaze, which previously was on the clock above, onto Izuku with new found curiosity and interest. The kid with goat horns and apparently goat eyes as well whose name appeared to be Aoi Gōman, immediately narrowed his eyes at Izuku. The rest of the class started to whisper to each other while looking at Izuku with curiosity, pity, and disgust.

“Settle down children, settle down.” Hirīto-sensei called out and the class once again fell silent. Hirīto-sensei had Izuku sit back down before she said with a seriousness to her voice that had not been there before, “Now I better not see any bullying of Midoriya or anyone for that matter in this classroom or in the hallways of this school or I promise you there will be consequences.”

Izuku knew while this probably meant he wouldn’t get picked on during class, this warning would not protect him during lunch or afterschool. Still he appreciated that this teacher wouldn't turn a blind eye to him like a few of his past teachers. 

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Class had gone on without much fanfare past that point and then the time Izuku dreaded the most came, Lunch. The teacher had dismissed the class after the bell rang, telling them to enjoy their lunch with all the sweetness of the yellow roses that adorned her hair. Izuku packed his bag and started looking for the main courtyard so he could eat his lunch.

Before he ever got there however, he heard someone call his name in an overly nice tone, “Hey Midoriya!” 

Izuku flinched slightly at the sudden call but nonetheless turned around to be met with the goat horned student known as Aoi Gōman. “Oh, A-Aoi! Wh-What do you need” Midoriya stuttered, not forgetting the dirty look Aoi had given him during his introduction. As Aoi walked closer it was clear who held all the power as his horns loomed over Izuku. His goat-like eyes unnerved Izuku as they made eye contact.

“Nothing too much, just wanted to tell you a few things about this school. Help the new kid you know?” While the words themselves were innocent enough, what put Izuku even more on edge was the fake smile that Aoi wore whilst saying this. 

However, before Izuku could do anything about it, Aoi put his hand on Izuku’s shoulder with a tight grip and then slammed the poor boy into the wall of the deserted hallway. “Listen to me you little parasite, in this school you're nothing. If someone asks you to do their homework, you do it or else there will be...consequences.” The smile that had adorned Aoi’s face turned into a smirk as he saw Izuku shaking.

Then before Aoi could do anything else a shout down the hallway followed by the rapid pit pat of shoes on concrete caught both boys attention, “Leave him alone Aoi!” Both their gazes landed on a girl around their age with black hair and brown eyes running up to them. She wore pink shoes with knee high socks that stopped right under her red skirt. She had a lavender shirt with a cartoon axolotl and her hair was put into two pigtails, held that way by two pink hair ties. When she reached Aoi it was apparent that she was a couple centimeters shorter than Izuku

“Well if it isn't the other invalid, it seems you still haven't learned your place yet Amari” Aoi snarled, hand never leaving Izuku’s shoulder as he turned to look at the girl in question.

“Back off Aoi, he didn’t do anything wrong.” Amari stated again, just as firmly as before but her hands, which were balled into fists, shook as she spoke.

Aoi looked at Amari before laughing, “That's funny, it sounds like you are trying to boss me around. Well guess what? I don’t take orders from quirkless losers like you.” Amari’s whole body tensed as Aoi said that, “Besides, if you want me to stop then make me. Or are you gonna run back to your friend and have him fight your battles, like he always does.” Aoi’s grin grew wider and wider as he continued to berate the girl, who began to shrink into herself with her eyes closed. He even took his hand off Izuku’s shoulder so he could give his full attention to Amari.

Then as Aoi looked past Amari and his face turned from a prideful smirk to that of annoyance. Izuku looked up and saw the familiar face of Dorian walking down the hallway towards them, his eyes trained on Aoi with an intense glare that Izuku wouldn't have expected from the lax boy he saw in class.

Dorein stopped in front of Aoi, next to Amari, both boys at eye level, and said with a calm and controlled voice that didn’t match the daggers his eyes were throwing, “Leave them alone, before I make you.”

Aoi glared back at Dorein, challenging the threat for only a moment before he turned around and walked off with his head held high saying “The only reason you get away with this Dorein is cause of that quirk of yours.”

“You ok?” Izuku was startled out of his thoughts by the monotone voice that spoke to him. He turned back to Dorein, who’s posture was relaxed and fury replaced with mild concern.

“I-I’m ok, thanks. You're Dorein right? And you are…” Izuku’s gaze fell to Amari momentarily forgetting her name.

“Amari Julia! Glad to meet you. This is Dorein Jiyū, my best friend. What’s your name?” Amari cheerfully asked, bouncing from one foot to the other awaiting a response from the green haired boy.

“Oh, I’m Midoriya Izuku.” Izuku responded so fast the other two barely caught the words that came out of his mouth before he turned back to Dorein and asked “So what is your quirk? Aoi said something about it so it must be something cool, Imeanallquirksarecoolbutheseemslike thetypeofpersonwhowouldentstopwhathewasdoingunlesshewasoutofhisleague-”

“It’s called Drain” Dorein suddenly responded, cutting off Izuku’s rapidfire mumbling. “I can transfer energy from people or electronics to myself and back by touching them with my skin.”

“That's so cool! Is there an energy limit you can take or can you take an infinite amount of energy? Can you take energy from just animals or plants and bugs too? What would happen if-”

“Wow there, calm down and take a breath before you pass out, geeze.” Amari interjected, giggling as she did so, “Also you're gonna overwhelm Jiyū if you keep that up.” She said under her breath. Izuku looked back at Dorein noticing how he shifted uncomfortably and averted his eyes.

“Oh I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable, it’s just that when I hear about a new quirk-”

“It’s. Fine.” Dorein said stiffly, eyes still averted from Izuku before he closed them, sighed, and walked past Izuku with Amari at his heels. Izuku stared at them for a moment, still rooted to his spot. Dorein stopped suddenly, turning his head towards Izuku and asked with boredom evident in his voice, “You coming to lunch with us or just gonna stand there?”

“You're inviting me to sit with you?” Izuku asked hopefully. He wanted, desperately wanted to have people on his side. People who would stick with him and not put him down. But all the same he was still scared that these people would be just like Aoi, hiding their true intentions under innocent words.

Amari said, a small smile gracing her features with nothing but sincerity in her eyes, “Well of course we’re inviting you to lunch. Unless you want to eat alone. So, you coming or not?”  It took only one moment. One choice that would change his life. One step to find a new home, a better home. 

“Sure” Izuku beamed and quickly jogged to catch up to the two students who would teach him what friendship truly was. They bantered as they continued down that hallway, forgetting about Aoi and his harsh words, just the trio getting to know their newest member.

Chapter Text

“So how did you and Amari meet anyways?” Izuku asked. It was the next day and Hirīto-sensei had told the class to split into pairs for the science worksheet that was just handed out. Izuku immediately turned to Dorein and asked him to be his partner, unaware of the dirty looks he got from half the girls in the classroom.

Dorein leaned back in his chair, crossed his arms, and closed his eyes in thought for a moment before answering “We met a little after I got my quirk. We went to the same daycare.” He opened his eyes and put his hands behind his head before continuing, “Not really sure why she went up to me. I think she said something about me looking lonely at the time? I’m really not to sure to be honest with you” 

“I had a friend like that. We used to be really close, then he got his quirk and I didn’t. He’ll probably become a hero with his awesome quirk but even if he says I can’t become a hero, I’ll prove him wrong.” Izuku stated with increasing conviction in each sentence.

“You wanna be a hero?” Dorein questioned, looking at Izuku with inquisitive eyes before looking back at the worksheet. “I guess it sounds cool. Honestly I’ve never thought too hard about what I want to do when I grow up. I don’t really enjoy too many things right now aside from tournaments.”

“Tournaments? What do you mean” Izuku inquired, looking up from his paper to look at the boy in question again.

“I do taekwondo and I’m in my studio’s competition team.” Dorein stated nonchalantly, eyes never leaving his paper.

“That's so cool, how long have you been doing it and why did you start?” Izuku asked, with so much enthusiasm a few other students looked over.

“Keep it down, would you?” Dorein whisper yelled, “And to answer your questions, I started when I was 9 and as for why...I’m honestly not to sure. Guess because it seemed like a fun and competitive way to stay active.”

“How good do you think you are?” Izuku inquired while going back to his own worksheet, slightly embarrassed from the attention he had accidentally drawn to himself.

“Me? The best in my belt rank definitely but unfortunately, at the last nationals I got knocked out in the top 64 so I guess that would be my best guess. Once I officially get my black belt in a couple months, I’ll be able to go to the black belt class and hopefully learn some new sparring techniques.” Dorein responded with no hesitation and with a passion that Izuku had only seen in Kacchan when he talked about becoming the number 1 hero.

“You must be super dedicated to that then.” Izuku stated slowly, several thoughts and questions ran through his head that he was too scared to voice.

“Most people think I’m laid back and don’t care about anything. But taekwondo is my driving force right now. Most of what I do outside of school is dedicated to my training so that I can become as good at taekwondo as I physically can.” Dorein expressed with so much uncharacteristic emotion it helped Izuku steel his own resolve.

“But as much as I put into it, I’d rather most people not know about it.” Dorein concluded, drawing his attention back to his paper.

As Izuku and Dorein were checking answers, Izuku finally gathered the courage to ask the question that burned in his mind. “Um, Dorein. I h-have a request.”

“...go on.”

“Could...Do you mind...Is it ok if you showmeyourtaekwondostudio?” Izuku finally rushed out, his confidence quickly dwindling under Dorein’s blank gaze.

Dorein stared at Izuku for a moment before taking a small piece of paper, writing down an address, and responding “Ask your mom first and if she says yes go here on Saturday at 9:30 and I’ll introduce you to our sensei. Don’t be late.” And with that, Dorein took both his and Izuku’s papers and went to turn them in as Izuku just stared at the address in his hand.

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“So, Midoriya. Got any hobbies?” Amari asks in between bites of her food.

“Um, well” Izuku shifted nervously, looking down at his food to try and avoid the two pairs of eyes on him. “I don’t know, It’s kind of embarrassing and Kacchan said it was creepy.”

“We’ll be the judge of that! Besides, if it isn’t hurting anyone it can’t be that bad, right?” Amari reassures him. “Now come on! Tell us!” Amari continued, excitement exuding from her in waves.

“Well, I like to take notes on people's quirks and study them for when I become a hero.” Izuku said, his voice getting quieter till it was barely over a whisper. He kept his head down, waiting for a negative response that never came.

“That's it? I thought with a build up like that it would be, like, setting ants on fire or something.” Amari said jokingly. “Lighten up, that's not even that weird.”

Izuku looked up, astonished at Amari’s good reaction. He looked to Dorein, whose expression hadn’t changed, then back at Amari before cautiously asking, “You don’t think it’s creepy?”

“Why would we? What I really wanna see are these notes you take. I wanna see just how nerdy you are!” Amari exclaimed. She moved forward towards Izuku’s face as she made her request, starry eyed with interest.

“O-Oh! W-well I’ll show them to you.” Izuku paused and thought for a moment. So far their reactions had been positive which was nice but that could change if they saw his notes. Then he realized this could be a great note taking opportunity for Dorein’s quirk. He had so many questions that his curiosity drowned out his nervousness. 

“I’ll show you guys how I take notes on two conditions.” Izuku said with a smile and Amari moved up even more, “First, Amari please back up.” Amari gasped and apologized as she moved back towards Dorein. “My second request is that you let me take notes on Dorein’s quirk.” 

Amari made a concerned face as she looked to Dorein who had tensed up and suddenly found the floor far more interesting than his food. Izuku was confused as to why they were reacting like this. Did they really find it creepy and their facade had broken?

Before Izuku could continue his mental spiral Amari responded “Is there something else we could-”

“I’ll do it.” Dorein said firmly, leaving no room for discussion about his decision. His eyes, full of determination, locked with Izuku’s.

“No no, it’s ok! Really! You don’t need to if it-” Midoriya tried to argue before Dorein cut him off.

“Since you're gonna hang out with us for the time being, I might as well tell you. You would have probably found out soon enough since it’s not a secret what my quirk can do.” 

Dorein sighed before looking Izuku in the eye, “Before I start talking about my quirk I wanna preface this with the fact that while a lot of people here look to me as the ‘future hero prodigy’ with my quirk. Most people don’t know I had to take quirk training lessons till I was 8 because I lacked proper control over my quirk.”

Izuku got out his notebook and turned to his relatively new page on Dorein’s quirk and prepared to write down any new information he got. Amari moved to sit next to Izuku so she could watch his process better. Dorein continued, “As you know my quirk is called Drain. I can absorb electrical and cellular energy from anything that touches my skin when my quirk is activated. I can also put energy back into what I touch when my quirk is active.”

Dorein’s eyes then proceeded to change from the dull greyish blue they were originally to a bright yellow with so much intensity that it hurt to look at them for too long. But the glow vanished just as quickly as it came, leaving no trace that they ever changed to begin with. “My eyes also change color when my quirk is activated like I did just now. Any questions?” Dorein said without much enthusiasm.

“So how much energy can your body store?” Izuku asked in response. His attention focused on Dorein.

“If I had to guess, I’d say I can probably hold about 4 to 5 times the energy a normal person my age can safely have without health problems. If I go over this limit however then any extra energy in my body will start to flare out of me. I can't really control this too much, I can only make it stop but if I do that too much then it starts to hurt me.” Dorain responded before adding, “I also can send out a wave of energy if I have too much energy and nowhere else to put it.”

Izuku was furiously writing down every characteristic Dorein mentioned about his quirk. He looked at his notes, carefully considering them before he asked, “Since you can move energy to and from your body, could you also move the extra energy inside your body to do various things like maybe giving a boost to yourself so you could move faster or have a cut heal quicker?”

Dorein stared at Izuku for a moment before smiling slightly and saying “Guess we’ll have to find out some time in the future huh?”

_____________

“Hey mom, there’s something I need to ask you.” Izuku said nervously as the mother and son were eating dinner that night. Izuku was still unsure how exactly to convince his mom to let him try taekwondo out but was determined to at least try. 

“What is it sweetie?” Inko responded, giving her son her full attention now.

“I, um. I was wondering if...maybe I could try...to do taekwondo?” Izuku responded weakly but decided to continue anyway, “One of my friends goes to one nearby and I’ve been thinking, I want to learn how to defend myself.” It was a half truth. Izuku did want to learn how to defend himself, but there was more to his new interest than that. 

When he listened to Dorein talk about it, it made him realize that while Dorein didn’t have a goal for when he grew up, his goal right now was to become the best at the art. He wanted to do that so badly it rivaled Izuku’s want to become a hero. But the thing he realized that separated him and his new friend was that Dorein did all he could in the pursuit of that goal while Izuku only ever fanboyed and dreamed. He realized that if he wanted to even have a chance to become a hero then he would need to be proactive about it.

And this was his first step.

Inko looked at her son as if he had gone insane. She opened her mouth to say something before she slowly shut it again and appeared to think to herself for a moment. Izuku unconsciously held his breath as he waited for his mom to give her verdict. Finally Inko seemed to find her words when she slowly said “We can try, but I’m going to watch. And if your grades drop then I'm pulling you out!” 

Izuku’s eyes watered and he held back his tears. He wiped his eyes with his sleeve and went to hug his mom as he said, “Thank you.” He then grabbed the slip of paper that Dorein had given him from his pocket and gave it to his mom. “Dorein said to go here on Saturday at 9:30 if you said yes.” He said softly then went back to his seat to finish his dinner.

The small family ate in relative silence for the remainder of dinner until Inko got up to go wash the dishes and asked with poorly hidden worry and concern, “You would tell me if you're being bullied right?”

“Of course!” Izuku lied so easily that it hurt. While he wished he could, he knew if he told her about all that had happened at the old school or his encounter with Aoi, she would worry even more than she already had. He didn’t want to do that to her. So he lied, to help his mom worry less.

Inko looked at her son for a moment, a swirl of emotions that Izuku couldn’t recognize rushing through her eyes so fast he thought she’d figured out he was lying. The emotions were gone from her eyes as quickly as they came. Inko turned back to the kitchen and walked in without another word.

Izuku wasn’t sure what just happened, and then it hit him that his mom had just said she would let him go. Instantly his face broke into a wide grin. As he went to sleep that night, his smile never left him.

Chapter Text

Saturday morning came and Izuku was rushing around the house, getting ready to try taekwondo for the first time. Inko was rushing as well, making sure he had water and that he wore comfortable clothes. She had searched up the studio they were told to go to beforehand to make sure that it was in a safe area and wouldn’t cost too much. The studio offered a one-week free trial, and they would get his uniform once he officially signed up. None of it really mattered to Izuku though. He hopped into the car, full of excitement, ready to take his first step towards becoming a quirkless hero.

They finally pulled up to the studio after what could be at most a 15-minute drive. Izuku was vibrating with excitement. When his mom opened his door, he practically dragged her across the parking lot towards the entrance. The outside of the studio was pretty plain-looking— white, quaint, and boxy. Once they went inside the building, they were greeted by a small sitting area for parents. The opposite side of the room was a wall that acted as a mirror, a door resting in the center of the reflective surface. The rest of the space was matted, with some kids who looked to be around 5-13, wearing a variety of colored belts around their waists. Some of the kids were stretching in preparation for the class to begin, while others seemed to be practicing various kicks. Most of them were all conversing with each other quietly, occasionally giggling at jokes here and there.

As they walked further inside, Izuku noticed there was a storage room off to the left of the entrance and on the left wall was a window that faced the parking lot. The things that caught his attention were the 10 plaques above a window on the side, each with a different color belt hanging from them. White, yellow purple, all the way to black, each with their own small description that was too small to read from the distance he was at. 

Izuku took his gaze off the row of belts and saw a bathroom and an office built into the back wall, the doors disrupting the mirrors. When Izuku turned to the left, he saw kicking bags and bobs in front of a large window that stretched across most of the wall that gave a view of the busy intersection the studio was located next to.

“Ah, hello! You look new, are you here for the free 1 week trial?” a tall man who looked to be in his early to mid 30’s with electric blue eyes and messy, short, black hair greeted them. When he walked up to the pair Izuku noticed that his face lacked any trace of facial hair.

“Yes, we are. I assume you're the owner of this establishment?” Inko responded kindly.

“I’m sorry, I forgot to introduce myself! I am Yukimura Genki but most of the students just call me Genki-sensei, but you’d be correct in assuming that I own this place. Now what are your names?”

“Nice to meet you, Yukimura-san. I am Midoriya Inko,” Inko replied before gesturing towards Izuku and saying, “and this is my son, Izuku.”

Yukimura’s face broke into a grin after she said that before looking towards Izuku “So you're the one that Dorein said might come by today! Wow, not everyday do we get him willingly inviting someone to train here.” He then turned his attention back towards Inko. “I do hope he likes training here. If you have any questions do not be afraid to ask me after class, I’ll be in my office, there is a door around the back so you don’t need to go through the main area.” He then turned back to see all the kids were lined up and waiting for his instructions.

Just as he was about to lead Midoriya, the door opened and a man with light brown hair walked in with Dorein at his heels looking upset. “I can’t miss competition practice today dad! Just let me walk home, it's not even that far.” Dorein pleaded with the man as they walked inside.

“You know that's not happening. I need to make sure you’re home before your brother and I leave.” The man refuted, clearly not moving an inch on his decision.

Dorein was about to say something before his eyes landed on Izuku and Yukimura. His face returned to its normal neutrality although still showing a bit of disappointment and annoyance as he walked up to Izuku. 

“This is perfect!” Yukimura exclaimed as his eyes found Dorein. “Jiyū, could you help Midoriya while I go take care of the rest of the class?” he asked and then darted off to face the class at the front with the mirrors behind him before Dorein could even reply.

“You came.” Dorein says as he turns towards Izuku. He had a small smirk as he warned “I hope you know what you signed up for, ‘cause I’m gonna make sure you don’t slack off.” Dorein then ushers Izuku to line up as their parent’s sit down and start talking.

“Alright class! How’s everyone doing this morning!” Yukimura asked loudly to the class, grinning all the while.

“Fine, sir!” The class of about 20, excluding Izuku, all replied as loudly as they could.

“That's great! Now, I want to introduce a new student. Come on up here and introduce yourself!” Yukimura beamed while gesturing for Izuku to come forward.

Izuku walked to the front and stopped in front of Yukimura before stuttering, “H-Hi, I’m Midoriya Izuku. I’m e-excited to train here.”

“You all better help him if it looks like he needs it, understood?” Yukimura said as he placed his hand on Izuku’s shoulder.

“Yes sir!” the class exclaimed loudly as Izuku went back to his spot. They then started doing their stretches with Dorein walking around and helping some kids stretch out. Izuku always thought he was at least a little flexible but after the class had finished with stretches, he realized just how inflexible he really was.

As the class continued, Dorien put more of his focus onto helping Izuku to make sure that he understood the instructions given. Izuku attempted to do a roundhouse kick, but the foot he was using to balance himself slipped the moment his other foot left the ground. 

“Wow.” Dorein said as he looked down at Izuku, “I’ve seen a number of failed roundhouses but never have I seen anyone floor themselves trying to do it.” He reached down and helped Izuku off the floor. “As much as I would love to see that display again, you're here to learn and I'm here to teach, so watch closely.” Dorein spoke in his usual monotone drawl. 

“When you use a roundhouse kick, you want to twist your hips and pick up your back knee at about a ninety degree angle.” He demonstrates this while explaining, “Then, you just add a snap with your kick and place your foot back down in front of you.”

As Izuku watches this, he realizes all the things he did wrong in his first attempt. He tries again but with Dorien’s instructions in mind. While he more so throws his kick at the forty-five degree angle, he did manage to place his foot back down correctly. Izuku then looked towards Dorein to get more feedback and then repeated and this process went along for most of the rest of the class as they moved on to doing the white belt form.

By the end of the class, Izuku was more tired than he thought he would be, and sweatier than he had ever been; but he felt very fulfilled. As he went back towards his mom, he managed to catch the last bit of her conversation with Dorein’s father.

“Thank you again so much for doing this. Please let me at least-”

“And as I said earlier it really is no problem.” Inko reiterated, cutting off Dorein’s father. “Honestly, I'm just glad my son has a friend here, so I expect that we’ll be seeing each other more often.” 

“Alright, I will let you know when I am on my way to pick up Jiyū.” and with that, the man went over to Dorein as Izuku walked up to his mom and tilted his head in curiosity.

“What was that about?” Izuku asked as he stopped in front of his mom.

Inko’s attention shifted from the figure of Dorien’s father, who was now leaving the building, onto her son as she answered, “We are going to stay here for a bit longer because we are going to have your friend with us for a few hours today.”

“Really?! Great!” Izuku exclaimed as he took the seat next to his mom to watch the next class that Dorien seemed to be lining up for with kids who had green belts or higher. 

As the class got going, Izuku kept his eye on Dorein and tried to follow what he was doing but realized just how much work and effort he would have to put in if he wanted a shot at being a hero. However, thinking about it only strengthened his resolve. 

_____________

As soon as Yukimura-sensei dismissed the competition class, Dorien immediately grabbed his bag and started taking off his sparring gear. Today’s class had been good and he was glad that he was able to stay. As he took off his leg guards he quickly glanced over to where the Midoriyas were sitting. 

His dad had told him that they would bring them to their home after practice so he could hang out with Izuku. While he was grateful they were willing to stay for an extra 2 hours, he couldn’t help but feel slightly nervous, though his face portrayed calm neutrality. He had only ever been to Julia’s house and that was only after they started referring to each other by their given names.

As soon as he was finished, he grabbed his water bottle and went up to Midoriya. He greeted her with a small bow while saying in his usual monotone voice, “Thank you Midoriya-san.”

Midoriya seemed startled before she quickly pulled herself together and replied, “It was no big deal sweetie. Now let's go home. I’m sure the both of you are hungry.” 

As she said that, Dorein suddenly realized that yes, he was hungry.

The group left the building and started driving to the Midoriya household. The two Midoriya’s were talking about almost everything and anything while Dorein just sat in the car in an awkward silence, not knowing what to say or do. 

They finally arrived at the Midoriya residence after what felt like an eternity to Dorein. Inko turned to the two boys and told them, “You two go play while I go and make some food, ok?”

Dorein stood in the small hallway behind the front door for a moment, not knowing what to do here. He only had a moment to think about this before he felt a hand grab his wrist and he instantly tensed as Midoriya said “Come on, this way.” and began to drag Dorien to a room with Midoriya’s name on an All Might themed sign. Once they reached the door, Midoriya finally let go of Dorein’s wrist and opened the door.

When Dorein looked inside, he found a small room with a bed with All Might covers to the immediate right of the door. On the left just past the door was a dark brown, almost black dresser with a couple of different All Might action figures posed on top. A small closet was built into the back wall with a single All Might poster on the sliding wood door. A small desk was next to his bed and in between it and the closet was a bookshelf with a different assortment of books 

“So” Midoriya spoke after a moment, “what do you think?”

“It’s,” Dorein started before looking back at Midoriya, who looked like he was about to melt from nerves alone. He sighed before continuing, “There’s a lot of All Might here.”

“I-is it bad?” Midoriya asked in reply, his hands were constantly fidgeting and his gaze never left the floor. 

“No, not bad.” Dorein elaborated, “Just, I didn’t expect it, but I’m not surprised.”

“Oh.” 

Dorein noticed Izuku shift in his spot and that his mouth pressed in a thin line. Dorein walked deeper into the room, closing the door behind him, and walked over to the bookshelf to get a closer look at the books. He found an assortment of manga, mostly All Might, some notebooks titled “Quirk analysis for the future” going up to 8, some fiction titles, and some non-fiction books on quirk study and heroes.

Dorein looked back to Midoriya, who was sitting at his desk with a notebook, concentrating on writing something down. He then stopped suddenly and seemed to be thinking about something. As Dorein turned back towards the bookshelf he heard Modoriya mumble something at him.

“Can you say that again. I didn’t hear you.” Dorein said, not looking up from the bookshelf.

Midoriya paused for a moment, took a deep breath and asked louder, “Are we friends?” 

Dorein stopped looking at the books to look back at Midoriya, who had turned to face him, though his eyes were still avoiding him. 

Dorein didn’t answer right away and the longer he didn’t respond the more Midoriya seemed to shrink in his spot. He sighed once again before finally answering with the same monotone voice he was known for, “No, we aren't friends.” Midoriya instantly sunk into his chair and looked devastated as Dorein continued, “I barely know you.”

Dorein paused for a moment to think, trying to figure out how to best word what he wanted to say before saying, “I’m not saying we can’t or won’t be friends.” Dorein looked directly in Midoriya’s eyes before finishing, “I honestly do think we can become friends, but right now, we are acquaintances.”

Midoriya seemed too shocked to speak at all. He finally shook himself out of his stupor and his eyes glistened as he sniffled, “So we can be friends?” His voice shook as he asked the question with barely repressed emotions.

“Eventually, yeah.” Dorein remarked. Just as he was about to turn back to the bookshelf, Midoriya burst into tears and started saying things that Domain couldn’t understand over the tears.

Dorein was incredibly confused and unsure of what to do so when Inko walked into the room just a few minutes later, she found a confused and distressed Dorein trying to comfort a crying Midoriya. She looked at both of them while Dorein looked back, silently pleading for any kind of assistance. She quietly backed out of the room saying, “Lunch will be ready soon,” and quickly closed the door, leaving a confused Dorein to deal with her emotional son.