Chapter Text
In ancient times, it would have been called a ‘curse’. For what is flaming blood, and dreams of a crimson moon, if not a curse?
But in the modern era, they all call it a ‘quirk’, thinking it only an odd genetic mutation. It wouldn't be the first nor last time something like this has happened. So they call it a quirk, and at the child's insistence, they give it a most peculiar name
“Balemoon Bloodfire”.
But staring into her mirror, at the crimson X's in her black eyes, and her charcoal black fingertips, with the barest hints of tattoos crawling up her forearms, Izumi knew there was something deeply wrong with herself, and her “quirk”
She certainly knew it wasn't a quirk, in any case.
—
Growing up was rough, to say the least. Her mother was loving, but restrictive. A ball of anxiety on the best of days. And her childhood friend—though that was a bit of an exaggeration—had grown increasingly more violent and volatile as the years went by, building a mountain of ego a mile high on a pile of bullied victims.
His explosive quirk was flashy and powerful, combine that with 4 year olds being very lacking in the empathy department, and a world of people willing to praise him up to high heaven, and you've got the recipe for a very disturbed, egotistical child.
He'd tried to target Izumi a few times too. Perhaps it was because of her cold, distant disposition. They both held a love for heroes, but she was never nearly as open about it. Content to watch from the sidelines, gathering strength and building up knowledge through analysis. And to the proud, fiery Bakugo Katsuki, that just wouldn't do at all, would it?
Or maybe it had more to do with her quirk. She never really cared to tell either way, but when he wasn't blabbering on about how she didn't deserve to be a hero because she clearly didn't want to be one, then he would ramble about how her quirk wasn't suited for it. In spite of its strength, the fact that it was made of blood seemed unheroic in his eyes.
She needed only glance to the smirking visage of her teachers to know who planted that little idea in his head.
All in all, elementary and middle school wasn't worth much of note, save maybe the darkness crawling up her fingertips every time she failed to adequately defend herself against a punch or explosion. Her tattoos darkening all the while.
It wasn't until her third year of high school, a few short months before the UA entrance exams, that things shifted.
She had a dream the night before. Nothing unusual really. A repeat dream she'd had every night for almost 18 years.
She stood in a ruined field of ashy, scorched black grass, crumbling buildings circling around her like a barrier. She didn't know what architectural style they used, but it certainly wasn't anything Japanese. And hanging heavy in the sky was a blood red moon, watching her every action.
In the past, she'd tried everything to escape the dream. Climbing over the buildings, digging up the dirt, or even smashing through the stone walls surrounding her. Nothing ever worked, so now she was simply content to stare back up at the moon, observing it just as it observed her.
She didn't know what made it so special this time. Nothing had changed, nothing was new, it was the same dream she'd had over the past several thousands of nights.
Maybe it was only memorable because it was the last time it wasn't memorable.
School was fine, until the final period. The teacher talking at length about their future career surveys. She was far more invested in the bird perched on her windowsill eating a bug than his speech.
Until he mentioned her name.
“Oh yeah, you wanna go to UA too, right Midoriya?”
She only just managed to pull her notebook away in time before Bakugo's palm slammed down onto her table, all loud pops and bursting smoke, leaving a charred handprint upon the wood.
“Haah? The hell do you think you're doin’, huh Deku?”
“I'm applying for UA, same as you. Same as everyone else here, I imagine.”
That managed to distract him for a moment, twisting his head around to bark about how all their classmates were less than useless, and shouldn't bother applying.
She hated to agree, but she still found herself doing so nonetheless. UA was exclusive, to say the least. Stretchy eyes and long fingers wouldn't make the cut.
But unfortunately, Bakugo wasn't that easily distracted, quickly whirling back around to keep yelling in her face.
“And that goes for you too! I doubt they'd let someone like you into UA, but you still better not apply. I'm the only one from this shitty school going to UA, and none of you pebbles are getting in the way of my dream”
Once the teacher calmed everyone down, the day carried on as usual, right up until the final bell rang. Fortunately Izumi had already packed her things before Bakugo could come sauntering over, flanked by his lackeys
“We never got to finish our discussion earlier, Deku.”
He reached out for her shoulder, stopped mere inches away from burning her by her hand firmly gripping his wrist, sharp nails digging in just above his veins. “I wasn't aware we had a discussion, Bakugo”
He ripped his arm away, face turning redder by the second. “Don't play stupid! Fuck, you always do this. Acting all nice and shit like you don't know what a pain in the ass you are. Don't apply to UA or I'll kill you, got it?”
A simple threat wouldn't deter her, but she'd rather not get into a fight, so she just gave a quick nod. Enough to sate his ego.
When he and his lackeys turned and left, she thought it was over. But unfortunately, no child of the balemoon could have it that easy.
“Oh, but if you really do wanna be a hero, go ahead and fling yourself off the roof! Maybe you'll be born with a more heroic quirk in the next life”
And something inside her cracked. The breaking of a lifelong bond, the crumbling of a bridge slowly being engulfed by flames.
Her hand exploded into deep crimson flames, scorching the wall and causing the source of her newfound rage to turn, an eyebrow raised. “What, you wanna fight?”
And oh how she did. All she could think of was letting her burning fury out, and let him feel a hint of the pain she herself felt.
But she reigned it in, put out her flames and leveled her expression. “No, I merely lost control of my quirk for a second. You're free to leave”
“Pfft, so useless you can't control your own quirk. Really, consider following my advice. It's solid!”
He finally left, allowing her to breathe as she leaned against the wall, sliding down until she was sitting on the floor. The crumbling bits of charred paint falling beside her.
Bringing her hands up to card her nails through her hair, she was shocked to see they'd turned fully black, the coal-like darkness creeping all the way up to her wrists.
So she mused I guess suffering really does make it spread
She eventually stood up and dusted herself off, leaving to go down her usual route home.
But when had fate ever afforded her a break?
Some sludge monster…thing crawled out from the sewers, presumably human but she couldn't be sure.
“Hey, kid, sorry to bother, but I'm gonna need to steal your body for a second!”
It was on her before she could dodge, thick sludge curling around her limbs and forcing its way into her mouth, a sickening deluge of God knows what forced down her throat, leaving her unable to breathe.
Panic rose in her chest as her lungs screamed, vision slowly darkening. She was dying, and she knew it.
In a last ditch effort, she unleashed her quirk, letting it run rampant as she guided it towards pure violence. Crimson flames bursting from her hands in a fiery explosion, blasting away most of the sludge creatures body and breaking her free, feet sliding across the pavements she explosion launched her forward.
She was quick to spin around, sending another blast of fire through the tunnel before it has a chance to recover. But nonetheless, it did, reforming its body as Izumi's stomach twisted and her throat burned with swallowed down bile.
Fight now, throw up later.
“Damnit, you're stronger than you looked! I don't have time for this. If I don't run, he's going to catch up to me!”
“He?” Whoever it was, she had her win condition. Stall. She readied another shot of fire, before stalling as a manhole cover behind the sludge villain burst off, a familiar laugh echoing out
“Hahaha! I am here! Texas…”
Oh shit. She braced, not even noticing the pavement crack under her heel as she firmly planted her feet
“...Smash!”
The sludge monster was blasted apart, even more so than when she'd exploded it, slimy gunk splattering across all the walls as All Might punched him apart, the wind nearly knocking Izumi off her feet despite bracing.
Once the overwhelming gust of wind stopped, she let out a sigh, standing up straight and fixing up her dirtier clothes as best she could.
The explosion had left them scorched, blackened holes left across them, and the sleeves reduced completely to ash. Frustrating, but given the circumstances, a ruined uniform was hardly the worst she could have gotten.
Looking over, she realized maybe a moment too late that it was All Might who had saved her. Meeting his wide eyes with a shocked stare of her own.
—
All Might could only stare at the young woman in front of him with amazement. Had he realized there was a civilian here, he'd have pulled his punch a little, and yet she was still standing. Seemingly more rattled by his appearance than the hurricane like winds that had no doubt torn across her.
Holy crap this kid is strong! That or lucky.
Looking at the burns across her school uniform, and further the scorch marks in the tunnel, he could only surmise that it had been the work of her quirk. Not like the sludge villain had spewed fire at him.
“I'm assuming you did this, kid?”
And wow had that turned her into a nervous wreck. Shock turning to visible anxiety as she seemingly went through a million emotions at once. But she nodded, still managing to meet his gaze with those perplexingly uncomfortable eyes. He can't say he'd ever seen anything like them before.
“Well, a bit of self defense is hardly against the law, young lady. Though I would exercise restraint next time. You've got a pretty powerful fire quirk, after all”
“Ah, well…it's not exactly a fire quirk, sir…but I'll try”
Huh?
“What do you mean it isn't a fire quirk?”
She looked down at her hand, clearly thinking, though her expression was covered by the height difference, and her coiling green hair, interspersed with black and white strands throughout.
After some obvious consideration, she straightened back up, lifting her obsidian hand to conjure a few embers, giving him a chance to observe their deep crimson color
“My quirk is called Balemoon Bloodfire. It's a hybrid blood and fire quirk, which causes my blood to be…essentially made of fire, as well as a few other things.”
And that…took a moment to process. He almost didn't pick up on how awkwardly she said “quirk”. But quite frankly, he was more concerned about having fire for blood.
“I see. Does that…hurt?”
“Yes, very much so. I've gotten used to it”
He damn near coughed up blood at that. As it was, he still had to bring a fist up to his face, to try and hide some of his concern by wiping his mouth. He doubted she'd appreciate overt concern, even from him.
“Right…well, I've gotta get this villain over to the station, so if you'll excuse me!” He scooped up the bottles of sludge, planning to make a quick leap for it, before freezing as she spoke again.
“Hold it.”
“Ah, yes, what is it?”
“Do you…think I can be a hero, with a quirk like mine?”
And despite his discomfort, and slight horror at her quirk, there really was only one thing he could say.
—
“Of course you can, my girl! As long as you put in the work that is.”
And though he launched into the sky mere moments later, she couldn't help but feel how genuine his words were.
She hadn't needed his approval—despite her love for him as a hero—but having it made her all the more confident in her steps, walking forward with a small smile upon her lips.
That night, her dream had shifted, for the first time in years. It wasn't major, and were it the second or third time she'd seen it, she doubts she'd have noticed at all. But as she was now, she did.
The walls around her had crumbled more, ever so slightly. Cracks that weren't there, breaks in the foundation. She didn't bother investigating, they were still much too high to climb, but they were shrinking.
Laying down, she got comfortable for her night long staring match with that cracked crimson moon. Wondering if it would ever blink back at her.
—
The next 10 months were a blur of training, quirk practice, and study. It felt like it took forever, and yet at the same time, like no time had passed at all.
Either way, she was standing before the gates of UA, feeling less prepared than she wanted. But no more time could be spared, and besides, she was an adult now. Dawdling was hardly mature of her.
Walking through the gates, she steeled her resolve into a fine honed edge, flaming blood roaring with excitement under her emotionally mute mask.
—
The written exam went well, her studying having paid off for once, and the breakdown on the practical was simple enough to understand, so there she was, stretching in her comfortably fitting gym uniform as she waited for the buzzer to go off.
Seeing the door wide open, she had a sneaking suspicion that-
“Aaand go!”
Thought so. The ground caved under her feet as she exploded forward, wind whipping through her hair as she rocketed towards a 2 pointer, smashing it to bits with a well placed kick
“What are you waiting for? She has the right idea! Go go go!”
And the practical was…shocking in its ease. A direct physical fight. Beat up robots until you have enough points or time is up. The one and two pointers folded under her blows like aluminum foil, no need for a quirk, just raw physical might.
The three pointers needed a bit more attention. Not by much, but she couldn't just slam through them—not without bruising her knuckles anyway—so she gave them just a little bit of flame. Enough to overheat the internals and make them shut down.
They didn't seem to have very effective cooling systems, so it worked well.
All in all, things were going great, up until the earth split apart.
So that's the zero pointer, eh?
Even with all her confidence, she wasn't about to pick a fight with a skyscraper of a robot worth absolutely nothing.
Turning to flee, she was suddenly yanked back by a cry for help. Barely audible over the sound of crumbling buildings, but she picked it up anyway.
Oh god damnit, fine. Fine!
Spinning on her heel, she sprinted towards the giant mechanical monster, sliding towards the trapped test goer like death was on her heels.
“Please, help me!” The girl pleaded, brunette hair bobbing as she held back sobs of pain. It wasn't any wonder, seeing the chunk of rubble on her leg. It was no doubt broken.
“Why do you think I came back?” Gripping the stone slab, she lifted it off the girls leg and tossed it to the side, scooping her up into as comfortable a carry as she could manage at the moment, turning and running back out of the destruction as fast as she'd entered it, setting the girl down off to the side the moment they were far enough away.
“T-thank you! Wait, where are you- don't walk towards it!”
Really, what was she doing? The girl was saved, the test was nearly over, so why on God's green earth was she walking back towards it?
Oh, whatever. I've already done stupid stuff today
Outstretching her arm, she summoned up her flames again, allowing them to shape themselves before she swung, releasing a torrent of flames which quickly consumed the machine, culminating in a massive explosion which shook the test grounds, as well as shattering just about every window in a one mile radius.
But Izumi couldn't bring herself to care about that. She could only breathe out a sigh of relief as the test came to a close, burning metal scrap falling around her like snow.
—
The observation room was silent in the wake of Izumi's attack, all the pro heroes only able to stare at the screens in awe, and maybe a little fear.
An 18 year old obliterated a skyscraper of a machine with a single swipe of her arm.
“So…she totally passes, right?”
“No doubt about it, assuming she passed her written exam.”
And even amidst the slowly growing chaos, Yagi Toshinori could only smile, seeing that mysterious young girl he'd met all those months ago standing defense of another, just as he knew she would.
Oh yes, he was going to have so much fun doing her acceptance letter.