Chapter Text
Izuku rushes to his room and rummages through his drawers. He mumbles impatiently as he closes them and runs over to the closet. On the ground next to his bright yellow backpack, he finds his All Might-themed pocket mirror and hugs it in delight. He hurriedly closes the door and throws himself onto the bed.
He looks at his reflection and smiles.
“Hi again! We can talk more here since the bathroom mirror is super big. And Mom might get concerned if I’m in there all night.” The reflection stares blankly at him.
“I really wish Mom could have met you, but I get it if you’re shy! I get shy sometimes, too, especially when I’m around someone new. I’m sure it must be weird for you to be talking to someone on the other side of the mirror too!” Izuku giggles.
He continues to watch the mirror, growing restless in the uncomfortable silence.
“Ah, I’m sorry if I’m talking too much. Kacchan says I ramble and it’s annoying and creepy and to ‘Shut up, Deku!’,” he sighed. He shakes his head, “But let’s not worry about that! How about we start over?”
“Hi! My name is Midoriya Izuku. What’s your name?”
The reflection stares blankly at him. Izuku is about to sputter out another apology when a garbled voice emerges from the mirror.
"Hi! My name is Midoriya Izuku. What's your name?" the reflection clumsily parrots.
Izuku gasps. "You can talk! Are you learning? Can you only repeat what I say? Can you say anything more?"
"Name is -" the reflection cuts in. "Mi - ku - mo," stringing the word together. Its voice is a direct echo of Izuku's words. The skips between the various syllables are sharp and crinkly. Izuku's ears cringe at the sound. It reminds him of a scratchy record player or radio static. He watches in awe as his mirror self repeats the words. Its voice starts to smooth out. Izuku watches the reflection mutter to itself, expression focused until it stares directly into his eyes.
"My name is Mikumo."
For once, Izuku is excited to go to school. He grips the straps of his All Might-themed backpack while he thinks back to his conversation with Mikumo last night. His new friend is so cool! He can only use the words that Izuku speaks in front of him, but he's able to rearrange the individual sounds to make unique sentences.
He told Mikumo all about Kacchan and his friends at school, and how he was so excited for them to meet him. He might not have as awesome of a quirk as Kacchan's ("He can form explosions from the sweat in his hands, Mikumo! How cool is that!" Mikumo had nodded supportively.) but manipulating mirrors was a quirk he had never heard of.
Izuku arrives at his classroom. He takes a deep breath before heading in.
“Kacchan! Kacchan!”
The blond looks up from his desk to see Izuku burst through the classroom door. He comes to a stop in front of Katsuki, eyes shining with excitement. He bounces slightly from foot to foot as Katsuki’s friends walk over.
“I got my quirk!”
"Hah?! And All Might’s suddenly a villain." Katsuki exclaims in disbelief. "How do we know you're not just lying, Deku?"
"I promise I’m not, Kacchan! I wouldn't lie to you about that!"
"So what is it then, Deku?" one of Katsuki’s friends sneered, his wings flapping.
Izuku tugs at his hands, suddenly nervous. He gulps. "It's a reflection quirk! I can manipul-manipulate mirrors!" Izuku awaits his peers' reactions. He watches their surprised faces fade into doubt as Katsuki grumbles.
"Prove it."
Izuku's about to respond when the teacher walks in and calls the class to order. He promises to show Kacchan and his friends at lunch just how cool his quirk is. Maybe they'll even let him play villains and heroes with them again.
Katsuki shoves Izuku in front of a puddle in the sandbox. His foot stumbles slightly into the dirty water, forming ripples and distorting Izuku's reflection.
"You just need a reflection, right?" Katsuki grunts.
"Ah, I've only been able to use it with a mirror so far," Izuku mumbles, face growing hot. "But I can try! It should be the same process since it is just light rays bouncing off the water. I wonder if the different surface would slow down the response or-."
Katsuki lets off a series of small explosions in his palms. Izuku flinches, disturbing the puddle again.
"Hurry it up already, Deku. I'm getting bored. Or maybe you don't have a quirk at all?" he taunted.
Izuku adamantly shakes his head, trembling a little at Katsuki's hands. He takes a deep breath and faces the puddle. His reflection peers back at him from the murky water.
"Hi, Mikumo! I'm at school now. This is Kacchan and his friends. He's the future hero I told you about with the explosions quirk! You said it was cool, remember? You should say hello!"
Pathetically, his reflection stares back at Izuku. The image wavers as a breeze blows across the water. Izuku nervously tugs at his shirt. He tries again.
"Mikumo, remember how we practiced?”
Katsuki’s friends scoff as they watch the small boy staring imploringly at the ground.
“You don’t have to talk if you don’t want to. You just need to wave, an-and that would be enough," Izuku stutters. His shoulders tense up as he continues to stare at his reflection. The fear in his eyes is mirrored perfectly on the ground.
He yelps as Katsuki shoves him harshly. Stumbling, he lands unceremoniously in the puddle. The filthy water soaks his clothes.
"I knew you were a quirkless Deku, but I didn't expect you to stoop this low. Tch, this is just embarrassing," Katsuki scoffs, kicking sand into Izuku's face as he stomps off. Katsuki's friends laugh at Izuku as they follow after the blond.
Watching the three walk away, Izuku feels his eyes water. His hands grip the coarse sand, and he sniffles, staring miserably at his reflection. He feels the breeze ruffle his hair. His shoulders shake sadly.
The clatter of his All Might figurine resonates throughout the room.
“You should probably give it up,” Dr. Tsubasa says coldly. He slouches in his seat, a disinterested and almost annoyed look on his face.
What? Izuku thinks in disbelief.
"What?" Inko asks, shock and concern evident on her face.
The ringing in Izuku's ears increases as he thinks about the diagnosis.
Quirkless. He feels rude for not paying attention to Dr. Tsubasa. He hears him talk about an extra joint in his pinky toe and curls his feet, embarrassed. His hands grip the seat painfully as he tries to ground himself.
Quirkless. Izuku can feel his breath burn through his throat. He doesn’t want to cry in front of the doctor. It was no one's fault but Izuku's that he was quirkless. Only he was to blame for being the quirkless, useless Deku Kacchan always made him out to be.
Quirkless. It feels like his dream's death sentence. He takes another shuddering breath. His eyes meet Mikumo’s on the polished floor tiles. Ah.
Quirkless. He doesn't believe it.
Izuku stands numbly next to his mother as she thanks Dr. Tsubasa, filling out the remaining paperwork so they can leave. He feels himself being ushered gently out of the building and suddenly he's outside. The breeze continues to tussle his hair. He wonders if it's mocking him.
Inko watches her son plod softly along as they make their way back home. She hums nervously, unsure of how to make this better. He was quiet on their walk to Dr. Tsubasa's office, but his sustained silence feels suffocating. She squeezes his hand to comfort him, but his eyes continue to stare blankly forward.
“How about I make you some katsudon for dinner, Izuku?” she offers gently. “I have some pickled ginger leftover. Doesn’t that sound nice?”
Izuku hums weakly as he grips his mother's hand.
You should probably give it up. Izuku stares up at the sky, willing his tears away. He listens to his mom offering different things they could do to make him feel better. He doesn't want to feel better; he wants this to be better.
He blinks, and he's back home. Another blink and he feels his mother help him to the dinner table. Blink. He can't get himself to eat. Blink. He feels guilty as he watches his mother carefully wrap his bowl and place it in the fridge. He blinks again and finds himself at the computer, All Might's debut on loop.
His shoulders tense up as light spills into the room. His mother's concerned voice calls out his name. Izuku turns to meet her eyes as he finally lets the tears spill out uncontrollably. His face contorts into a forced smile as he points at All Might.
"Can I be a hero, too?"
His plea falls on deaf ears as he feels his mother envelop him in a tight hug. She mumbles apologies and shakes with emotion. “I’m sorry, Izuku! I’m sorry. I’m sorry!”
He feels the tears hit his arms. I didn't want you to say that... Please don't say that.
The two sit there for what feels like an eternity until Izuku pushes away, suddenly tired. All Might's voice grates against his ears. He moves to turn it off. He hears a muffled yelp from his mother as the computer screen goes black. He decides he doesn't want to hear that anymore either.
His mother helps him to his bed before kissing his forehead. She caresses his face and says a silent, "I love you," turning out the lights and closing his door. Izuku weakly grabs his All Might mirror from underneath his pillow and stares down his reflection.
He looks terrible. His eyes are puffy, and his hair is somehow messier than it's ever been.
"Mikumo, can I be a hero?"
Silence is the only answer he gets.