Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The cherry blossoms were just starting to bloom in Shizuoka, their hot, pink petals a brilliant contrast to the deep green of the taller trees in the forest. There were only a few white cumulus clouds scattered sparsely in the perfect azure sky, and the wind blowing in a gentle breeze, grazing the earth and its life with feather touches. Among this tangle of flower and leaves, sparrows and warblers flew, cawing at each other, rushing to build their nests for the spring. There was a deer underneath one of these cheery trees, leaning its head down to graze at the grass on the forest floor. If there were anyone present in the forest to see all of this, there would have been no argument that this scene was the perfect picture of serenity…

Except for the sobbing that echoed above the chirping of the birds, and the distressed stomping of little feet on the forest floor. These two sounds came from a boy, around the age of four. His fluffy, curly hair was as green as the leaves above him, and he was wearing blue cargo shorts, a yellow t-shirt with red “M” in the middle, and red sneakers that were too big for his feet. His eyes were a dark, deep green, but the white parts of them were red and puffy, and there were tears still running down them. The boy’s chest heaved as he sobbed again, holding his stomach, trying to calm himself down but only managing to keep from crying long enough to trip on a root and fall on his face.

Izuku Midoriya cried out, startling the deer that was nearby into running away and held his head in his hands. In doing so, he exposed the hole torn in his shirt, revealing burned skin to the air, and he screamed, slamming his hands back into his stomach. Through the pain, Izuku cracked open one of his eyes and looked at his wound.

The burn was starting to blister, the layer of skin swelling with white puss. It was a small area around, just a little bigger than Izuku’s fist, but… it hurt! It hurt like nothing he ever felt before! He could feel the skin on his stomach burning like it was slowly burning in a fire.

Tears filled Izuku’s eyes again. “W…why?” he sobbed. “W-w-why did Kachan…. Do this to me?”

They had been playing in the forest. Katsuki Bakugou had been leading Izuku and two others in a game, and they walked across a log over a river. Katsuki had slipped and fallen into the river, and Izuku was the only one who wants down to the river and checks on him. He asked if Katsuki was alright and offered his hand. Katsuki looked at Izuku like he was confused, and for a moment, he looked like he was just going to take his hand…

Then, without warning, Katsuki’s face turned into an ugly, frightening glare, and before Izuku could react, Katsuki slammed his fist into his stomach. In the span of a second, the breath was knocked out of Izuku, there was a loud bang, and a sudden horrible pain seared through Izuku’s stomach. Katsuki must have ignited an explosion at the time of his punch… and Izuku wasn’t sure if it had been an accident… was it? It had to have been… Kachan would never hurt him for no reason. He must have done something wrong…. But what could Izuku have done wrong? All he did was try to help Kachan, his best friend…

“GET AWAY FROM ME, YOU QUIRKLESS PIECE OF SHIT!” Katsuki roared. “THERE’S NO WAY I’LL EVER GET HELP FROM A NOTHING LIKE YOU!”

 Izuku had been knocked off his feet, his body lying in the water, and he was too winded and in far too much pain to talk back to Katsuki. He had just barely started to struggle back up, but then a sandaled foot slammed into his stomach right into the same spot that Katsuki struck. Izuku shrieked in pain, prompting his tormenters to burst into hooting laughter at his agony.

“Yeah, you nothing!” Tsubasa giggled. “You think a thing with no Quirk could help someone like Bakogou?”

 A hand grabbed the back of Izuku’s head and shoved it into the water. As Izuku screamed and scrambled to get his head back out of the water, he faintly heard, "What? C'mon, Izuku! Use your Quirk… Oh, wait! You can’t! Hahahaha!”

The hand let go, and Izuku pushed his head above water and coughed, trying to force the water he had been choking on. He looked up to see the three boys leering down at him. Katsuki was in the middle, glaring at Izuku with his blood-red eyes, bared teeth, and his fists clenched to his sides. He stomped forward, splashing water on he went, and ceased Izuku by the front of his shirt, making the green-haired boy cry out.

“Listen, you worthless Deku…," Katsuki growled. “I am the best of the best, and I’m going to be Number #1! You’re the Quirkless Deku, and you what that means? You’re worthless. Nothing. You’re not good enough to lick the shit off my shoes. If you can’t be useful to anyone, what makes you think you can be useful to ME? I will never let a Quirkless piece of shit like help a big shot like me!”

Izuku was shaking, Katsuki’s words piercing him like a knife. “I… I just wanted to help you…”

“Wanna know how you can help me?!” Katsuki screamed. “GET LOST IN THE WOODS AND DIE!” Katsuki reared back his fist and slammed it into Izuku’s face, knocking Izuku back into the water. Izuku scrambled in the water, the pain in his stomach making it harder to push himself up to the surface. By the time he was able to bring his head above water, Katsuki and the other boys were running up the hill, laughing all the while. Katsuki glared at Izuku one last time before he turned and ran into the woods.

…

Izuku groaned, still cradling his stomach wound as he forced his way up and kept walking. His wet clothes were easing the pain of his burn somewhat, but it still hurt to walk. It was still the middle of the day, so Izuku still had plenty of time to get home, but it was a long way off. And if Izuku were honest, he didn't know if he wanted to get home…

“Wanna know how you can help me? GET LOST IN THE WOODS AND DIE?”

Izuku shook his head, trudging along the forest path. He had to get out of the woods. He had to leave. He shouldn’t be here anymore…

Wait… where was he?

Izuku looked around, trying to find a tree or rock or anything that looked familiar. He couldn’t find anything. The path was gone. He didn’t know where he was.

Izuku bawled, practically crying a river as he ran further into the forest without thought. What was he going to do? He couldn't get home! He was lost! “Help!” he screamed. “Help! Someone! Anybody! Help!”

Was he going to die?

The forest was growing thicker, the cheery blossoms no longer growing this far into the woods. As it became darker and darker, Izuku’s cries grew louder and louder. “Somebody! Anybody! Kachan! Tsubasa! Mommy! Daddy! Please! Help me!”

Suddenly, through his vision blurred by tears, Izuku saw a light some distance away. Izuku yelped in joy, and ran even faster. A way out! He was going to make it out! He was…

Izuku crashed through the branches, and the smile on his face faded. There was no city of Shizuoka there to meet him. It was just a sunken clearing in the forest, with a clear, blue lake in the center.

Izuku’s heart sank… and before he could stop himself, he tripped again, rolling down into the clearing. By the time he was able to stop himself, he had rolled into the water.

Izuku moaned, pressing his hand to the burn on his stomach. He had hit it several times when he had rolled down, and it was hurting. When Izuku drew his hand back and looked at it, he saw that it was covered in white puss. He had burst the swollen skin. Izuki moaned again as he let his arm go slack. Well, he guessed the burn had to be popped later anyway…

Izuku groaned, pushing himself up and dragging himself to the shore of the lake. He panted, turning his head back and forth to get a good look at his surroundings. The forest was thick on all sides, and he couldn’t see a trace of the city anywhere. There were no cherry blossoms, no flowers at all. Just the green of the trees, the blue lake that Izuku had just crawled his way out of, and a mountain right in front of him.

Izuku saw the opening of a cave right in the middle of the mountain, and Izuku forced his way up and start walking. Minutes passed, minutes of Izuku trudging around the lake, his burn throbbing every time he took a step before he slumped down on a rock in front of the cave. Izuku gasped, taking deep breathes as he tried to calm down.

“When I get my Quirk, I want to be a hero like All Might!”

“He has two joints, and he's already four years old.  He has no Quirk.”

 I’m so sorry, Izuku!”

"He said he doesn't have a Quirk. It's called ‘Quirkless.'"

“So lame!”

“Wow, you suck, Izuku!”

“Worthless…”

“GET AWAY FROM ME, YOU QUIRKLESS PIECE OF SHIT!”

“Yeah, you nothing!”

“C’mon, use your Quirk!”

 Izuku didn’t even try to stop the tears this time, as the last voice echoed in his head.

“Listen, you worthless Deku…. You’re the Quirkless Deku, and you what that means? You’re worthless. Nothing. You’re not good enough to lick the shit off my shoes…”

Sobs of pain and sorrow racked Izuku’s chest as he curled into a ball and pressed his hands to his face. They… they were right. They were all right! He was completely worthless. Nothing. He had no quirk, no smarts, no name to his family, no talents! Even his father wanted nothing to do with him, and he left his mom because of Izuku! He could never be a hero like All Might or a hero at all! As he was now, he could never be useful for anything!

At this point, Izuku couldn’t even feel the pain in his stomach anymore, as more sobs racked his body. He looked up with blurry vision into the lake below him. The wind was starting to blow more intensely, causing waves in the lake. The light of the afternoon sun reflected in the ripples of the water.

If… if Izuku just had power….

Suddenly, there was a low growl from behind Izuku. The boy froze, so scared that he couldn’t even move. The growling grew closer, so close that Izuku saw the loose rocks near the cave start to vibrate. Then, Izuku felt something breathing down his back, heard the expel of air from a massive body.

No… it’s… it’s a monster… it’s gonna eat me…

The thing behind Izuku’s back pressed against him, and Izuku could feel something warm and furry on his back. The monster nudged him against, but Izuku still could overcome the fear in his heart to move.

Without warning, something long and slimy pushed against the back of Izuku’s head, knocking the boy out of his trace and making shriek. Izuku rolled off the rock he was sitting on, hitting his forehead against a rock once before stopping with his back against the ground and his head facing the cave. Shaking with fear and disgust, Izuku shifted his head up to look at his doom…

The thing in the cave was like a badger, except much, much bigger than it should be. It’s head alone was much bigger than Izuku’s entire body, and Izuku could see much more of its body in the interior of the cave. The giant badger was covered in short, brown fur, with a white stripe of fur outlined by black hair that went from its back all the way to its little black nose. It's dull brown eyes were edged with white fur, almost like a mask, and it had thin little whiskers growing from its noise.

The badger cocked its head to the side, swiveling its black ears as it looked at Izuku quizzically. Izuku’s breath caught in his throat. He had no idea what to do. Even if it was just a giant badger, he had no idea if they ate meat or not, and even if it didn’t want to eat him, it could still step on him…

As if hearing his thoughts, the giant badger started sauntering toward Izuku on its huge flat feet. In the light of the sun, Izuku saw that the badger had five long claws on each of its feet, the ones on the front being longer than the ones on the back. They were almost like mole claws….

Izuku’s momentarily curiosity was disrupted when the giant, badgermole slammed its foot right next to him. Izuku trembled as the badgermole planted its other foot on his other side and lowered its head down to Izuku. Izuku sobbed. This was it. He was going to die. The monster was going to eat him…

Just as Izuku was about to scream, the badgermole flicked its tongue out and licked Izuku in the face.

Izuku stared at the giant thing, utterly bewildered. It… wasn't going to eat him? Izuku froze again, waiting for the moment that the badgermole would snap in anger and devour him in one bite, but the badgermole just stood there staring at him, looking at Izuku with its faded eyes like it was waiting for something.

Seeing that the beast had no intention of harming him at the moment, Izuku stood up, his body still trembling under the gaze of the massive animal before him. He blinked, observing the creature with utmost caution and fear. The badgermole didn't hurt him, but it did lean its head down again. Izuku froze in place, not taking his eyes off the creature a moment until it wiped its face with its tongue once again. 

At this, Izuku felt some of the pressure on his chest release a little, though it didn’t go away entirely. As one final test, Izuku slowly raised his hand to the badgermole’s head. To Izuku’s delight, the badgermole didn't move away, and in fact, moved its head to meet Izuku’s hand. Izuku’s fingers pressed against the soft, warm fur of the creature’s snout, and after a brief second, Izuku gathered the nerve to stroke the badgermole’s snout, like he was petting a dog. The badgermole closed its eyes, making a rumbling sound from deep in its throat, and Izuku knew it was purring.

 Izuku smiled, laughing in delight at the adorable display. The creature looked so big and terrifying before, but it was really like an overgrown dog! If he didn’t do anything to make it angry, he wouldn’t get hurt. Izuku kept petting the badgermole until the creature bumped his hand in sign to stop. Izuku stumbled back, worried that he made the badgermole angry, but it just stood there, staring at him with those… dull, glazed eyes.

 "What… what are you?” he couldn’t help but ask. Of course, the badgermole didn’t answer, only continuing to stare at Izuku with its strange eyes.

 “Do you know where we are?” he asked. Once again, no answer, only stares.

 Izuku sighed. “Of course, not…” With that, Izuku sat down, defeated. The monster may not want to eat him, but he was still lost… What was he going to do…?

 Izuku’s ears twitched as he heard the badgermole moved. He looked up to see the creature trudging back into the cave. Despite his previous fear, Izuku was curious. He had never seen or even heard of a beast like this, and he wanted to learn more. So, he followed the badgermole into the cave, chasing it by its long, tan tail.

The cave was dark, and it only took a few seconds for Izuku to put his hand on the stone wall so that he wouldn’t trip. The cave wasn’t very deep, but it was deep enough so that Izuku could even see his hand in front of his face. Izuku regretted doing this immediately and was just about to go the opposite direction so he could get out, but then he bumped into a massive wall of muscle and fur, prompting a growl to echo through the cave.

“I’m sorry!” Izuku cried, jumping back and holding his hands in front of his face, but nothing struck him. Izuku let down his hands in relief, looking around, only to be reminded that he couldn’t see in the dark cave around him.

“Why do you live in here?” Izuku asked, not keeping in mind that the creature didn’t answer him the other two times. “I can’t see!”

This time, the badgermole snorted in answer, in a manner that reminded Izuku of sarcasm. Better response than nothing, but still not helpful.  

Then, Izuku remembered the creature’s dull, glazed eyes, and how it had stared blankly at Izuku when they were in the sunlight… like it didn't see Izuku at all.

Izuku reached his hand out, feeling around for the badgermole’s body. Once again, his hand met the snout of the massive, furry creature, and it purred when they touched. “You… can’t see, can you?” Izuku asked.

Izuku felt the badgermole snort in his hand. “You’re… blind?” he asked. To Izuku’s surprise, the badgermole’s head lowered and raised again. A nod.

 Izuku’s four-year-old heart twisted in sympathy. This poor thing couldn’t see! It couldn’t get to experience the green of the forest, the orange of the setting sun, the beauty of a rainbow. It couldn’t see birds, flowers, all the beautiful things in the world around it. More than that, it couldn’t feed itself, couldn’t hunt, couldn’t survive without help. It… it was helpless…

 Just like Izuku.

 "I… think I understand," Izuku said, the hollow, sinking pressure of depression eating at his chest again. “I mean… I’m not blind. I can see but… humans…. Humans are supposed to have Quirks. They’re these special powers that let us do amazing things like fly, make things explode, punch things so hard that it makes wind! I was supposed to be born with a power like that, to do something that was useful… but I don’t have one… I’m Quirkless…”

Izuku couldn’t stop the tears that ran down his eyes and into the fur of the badgermole. “And if I don’t have a Quirk… I might as well be blind…. I might as well not have any arms… I’m…. helpless…. I can’t be useful to anyone…. I’m…. nothing… just… a worthless Deku…”

The badgermole didn’t move an inch, even as more and more tears landed on its fur. Izuku kept crying for a few minutes, not saying another word, or even remembering that he needed to get home, or that he still had a fresh wound from his former friend’s attack. He just sat there in front of the strange new creature and cried, his sobs echoing through the cave.

Suddenly, something soft bumped Izuku in the hip. Izuku looked up, only to have a wet tongue lick his face again. Izuku blinked, and then smiled despite himself, wrapping his tiny arms around the badgermole’s snout in a hug.

At that moment, Izuku’s feet were lifted off the ground, and he heard very heavy footsteps echo in the cave. The badgermole was moving, carrying Izuku by his snout, and Izuku held on for dear life as he realized that he was moving. Strangely though, despite his better judgment, Izuku didn’t find it in him to be frightened.

 They left the cave, and the badgermole lowered his head to the ground, and Izuku lets go. 

 “What is it?” Izuku asked.

The badgermole sauntered to its left, a little away from Izuku, before freezing in place for a moment. Izuku stared at the gigantic beast, confused as to what its intentions were. Then, without warning, the badgermole raised its right front paw into the air and slammed it into the ground.

The earth shook, knocking Izuku off his feet. Izuku screamed as he heard the sound of crumbling and falling rocks. When the shaking stopped, Izuku stood up and looked to where the cave was. His heart leaped to his throat.

The opening to the cave was gone, now covered by rocks that had fallen from the mountain. Izuku tilted his head up and saw that the rocks had fallen from the mountainside like they had been torn away by something.

 Izuku looked back to the badgermole in complete awe. “Did…. Did you do that?”

The badgermole nodded and then swiped its left paw. Izuku turned his head in time to see the rocks shoot themselves into the cave as if launched by an unseen force. It took less than a second for the rocks to hit the back of the cave with a deafening boom.

Izuku heart was pounding in his throat. “An… animal…” he whispered to himself. “An animal… with a Quirk…”

Izuku didn’t hear the badgermole trudging towards him until it was right in his face. The badgermole lifted a claw and pushed it in Izuku’s direction. For a scary second, Izuku thought it was going to stab him, but the creature only gently pressed the huge claw to Izuku’s chest.

“M…me?” Izuku wondered, surprised. 

The badgermole lowered its claw a bit, slamming its humungous tail to the ground, causing another rockslide to cover the cave, before pressing its claw to Izuku’s heart.

“Me?” Izuku asked, his voice a squeak. “You…. You want me to do that?!”

The badgermole nodded.

“But…. I can’t!” Izuku shouted. “I don’t have a Quirk! I can’t move rocks! I can’t do anything! I…”

Before Izuku could finish, the badgemole poked Izuku with its claw.

“Ow!” Izuku cried. “Why’d you do that?”

The badgermole snorted, but then pressed its claw against his hand.

“My… hand?”

The badgermole nodded, raising its left paw a little before gently pressing it into the ground. At the same time, the underground creature pressed its claw into Izuku’s hand in a downward direction.

“Put my hand on the ground?”

The badgermole nodded.

Izuku blinked, confused at the badgermole’s request, but deciding that he didn’t want to make a creature ten times his size with claws as long as meter sticks and an earth-moving Quirk mad at him, pressed his hand to the dirt. The badgermole placed its claw on top of Izuku’s hand, keeping it in place.

Izuku blinked again, trying to move his hand from the badgermole’s claw, but failing. “C’mon!” he cried. “Let me out!”

The badgermole didn’t move, only looking in Izuku’s direction with that flat, expectant look. It… honestly kind of reminded Izuku of his mom, when knocked something over and she just stood over him, waiting for him to clean up his own mess.

“What do you want me to doooooooo?” Izuku whined. The badger only raised its other paw again and pressed it into the earth once more. This time, it dragged the paw across the dirt and even dug them into the soil a little.

“Play in the dirt?” Izuku asked.

The badgermole snorted.

“Feel the dirt?”

Another snort, but the badgermole topped it with an encouraging nudge with its head.

“Feel… the earth?”

This time, the badgermole nodded.

Izuku’s mind fogged in confusion. “Feel… the earth…” he whispered, as he turned his gaze to his hand. The monster wanted him to feel the earth? But… he could already feel it in his hand… What was that going to do? Izuku looked back up at the badgermole, hoping to find an answer, but the creature’s face was blank.  Izuku sighed in frustration. What was he going to do? This thing was crazy… he couldn’t move the earth, and feeling it with his hands wasn’t going to change that…

The minutes flew by. The wind whirled again, making the water in the lake crash against the shore in waves. The leaves in the trees rustled with the wind, causing the birds to flow out in distress. Izuku sighed again. Feel the earth… he was feeling it, but nothing was happening, and the badgermole wasn’t letting him go. Either the badgermole was dumber than he thought… or he was missing something…

Izuku sat up straight, staring down at his hand with intensity. Feel the earth…. He had to feel the earth… feel what he was missing…

Izuku remembered something that his mother told him when they were trying to get his Quirk to show itself. When she wanted something to move, she focused that object and didn't stop focusing until the object moved. Maybe… it was like that. He had to focus on his sense of touch and the earth until he felt something. He had no idea what he had to feel… but he had to try… 

Izuku… don’t think… Feel…

Izuku stared at his hand in the earth for minutes on end, opening his sense of touch to everything. He waited. And waited. And then waited more. He kept waiting, past the point where he wanted to give up, until…

He felt it.

Izuku gasped, unsure if he had felt it, but then he felt it again. A rumble. A tremor. A deep vibration was coming from deep in the earth. Like a giant, heavy drum banging deep, deep in the ground. Or, once he felt it again…

“It’s… like a heartbeat…” Izuku said, looking up at the badgermole to see if he was right. The badgermole leaned forward and licked Izuku’s face, making Izuku laugh and hug its snout again.

“I wonder…” Izuku said, taking off his red shoes, and then his socks. He stood up, moving the dirt on his bare feet around with is toes. Izuku closed his eyes, focusing on the balls of his feet, seeking out that heartbeat once again. It took a few minutes, but eventually, he found it. It was faint, but Izuku felt it pound against his feet once again, even past the grit of the dirt against his skin.

“I feel it!” Izuku cried, grinning stupidly at the badgermole. “It’s… amazing! Do you feel this all the time?”

The badgermole nodded, before pressing its claw to Izuku’s chest again. Then, the badgermole slammed its paw to the ground. Dust flared up in a path, to a nearby boulder, and the stone was sent flying into the forest. 

Izuku’s heart sank a bit. "You… still, want me to try?"

The badgermole nodded, sauntering to another boulder and tapping it with its claw. It gave Izuku another expectant look, as if to say, “Well, what are you waiting for?”

Izuku blinked, unsure, and then took a deep breath. Well… the badgermole had been right about feeling the earth, so maybe it was right about this? Besides, what harm could there be in trying? If he didn’t move it, there was no one around to laugh at him, but if he succeeded?

Izuku walked right next to the boulder, before punching it.

It hurt. A lot. Izuku cried out, cradling his injured hand in pain, before something hit him in the back of the head.

“Ow!” he screamed, turning his head to see the badgermole’s tail snap back in place. The badgermole snorted, digging its claws into the earth.

Right…. He had to feel the earth.

Izuku focused again, going so far as to bend his knees, like those martial arts students he saw in the dojo near his house. He figured that doing it would help him feel the earth easier. Izuku took a deep breath and punched in the direction of the rock again, stopping his fist just before it collided.

The boulder didn’t move.

Izuku looked back at the badgermole with a frown. The giant furry monster simply flicked its claw, as if to say, "Go on. Keep going"

Izuku looked back at the rock, doubt taking root in his stomach.

Izuku… focus… and keep focusing until you move it…

Izuku glared at the rock. “I won’t let you down again, mom!” he cried, before punching at the rock with all his might, once again stopping just before his fist hit. It didn’t move. He did it again, and again, but the boulder didn’t move.

Izuku kept going, five times, ten times, twenty times, more times than he could count. He must have punched at the rock one hundred times before he stopped for a moment, huffing and puffing from the effort of his concentration. He… could feel something. Deep inside. Doing this was tiring him out, and yet at the same time, Izuku felt like he was on the verge of something. Like there were gears inside that were just moments away from clicking together.

Izuku roared and punched, again and again, digging his feet into the ground. Feel the earth. He had to feel the earth. He had to be like the earth! That was the only way he could get this rock to move! He couldn’t let it beat him!

Finally, Izuku dug his feet into the dirt as far as it would go, focusing as much he possibly could on his hands and feet, and threw his whole weight behind his punch, ready to break his hand if he didn’t move the rock. In the second before Izuku smashed his fist into the boulder, his senses opened, and he became aware of so many things at once. He could feel the heartbeat of the earth hammer against his feet, fueling Izuku with its power. He could feel the badgermole staring at him as he threw all his being into this task. He could feel the song of the swallow in the trees, the wind on his face, the waves crashing against the earth. He could have sworn he even felt the little feet of insects crawling across the earth, but he couldn't understand where he could have sensed that…. But most importantly, he could feel the rock, just laying there on the ground, even before the very instant that…

Izuku’s fist slammed into the boulder… and the stone was sent flying into the forest. 

Izuku’s eyes widened as he saw the rock sail into the trees, making the sparrows cry out and fly away, and a deer run away in terror as it hit a tree, knocking it down right on its side. He… he did it…. There was no way he did it…. He was dreaming…

Despite his better judgment, Izuku went up to another boulder, around the same size as the boulder. Once again, he dug his feet into the ground a struck, and once again, he felt the heartbeat of the earth and everything around him for a brief instant, before the boulder was sent flying away.

No… it wasn’t a dream….

“I… I did it…” Izuku whispered. “I… I can’t believe it…”

Izuku heard the giant steps out of the badgermole vibrate through his feet, and he turned to see the strange creature a few feet from him.

“I… have a Quirk…” he said to it, still not believing what had just happened. “I’m… I’m not Quirkless…”

The badgermole gave an amused snort, before leaning down and liking Izuku in the face snapping him out of his daze.

“I’m not Quirkless!” Izuku shouted, leaping up at the badgermole and wrapping his arms around its snout tightly. Izuku felt the badgermole purr again, even as he kept on babbling. “I’m not Quirkless! I’m not worthless! I’m not nothing!”

I can be a hero…

Izuku laughed harder than he ever laughed before, wiping away tears for the umpteenth time that day. But these were happy tears, and he a feeling the badgermole knew that. “Thank you!” he cried. “Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!”

Izuku laughed again and pressed his face to the badgermole’s fur. Even a thousand “thank yous” couldn’t express his gratitude towards the creature. He had power…. A quirk…. A talent he could call all his own… Sure, it was rough, and he needed to practice… but he had a chance. He could be a hero now…

Izuku wasn’t sure how long they stayed like that, but Izuku let go when the light of the sun hit his eyes. The sun was hanging low to the sky, and it was about to set.

“Oh no!” Izuku cried. “I have to get home! And I still don’t know where I am!”

The badgermole snorted again, before pressing his claw against Izuku’s chest again and pressing it against its own back.

“You… want me to climb on you?” Izuku asked.

The badgermole nodded, and Izuku didn’t hesitate for a second. This creature showed him the power that he had inside him all along. He trusted it with his life.

The badgermole lowered its head, and Izuku climbed onto the creature’s neck. Izuku felt the badgermole lift its head up, and they took off.

The badgermole traveled through the forest with surprising speed and grace. It was the biggest thing in the woods, but it didn't step on any animals or crush any trees.  Anytime there was a hill or boulder in the way; the badgermole would sweep its clawed paw and push the obstacle away with its earth power. Izuku laughed in delight, the rising and falling of the creature’s head as it walked only adding to the excitement.  This was amazing! He had ridden a horse for a few minutes, but this animal much faster than any horse, and he wasn't anywhere as scared as he had been at the time. It took only a few minutes for them to reach the part of the forest that Izuku recognized, and they kept on going. Izuku cried out in joy, telling the badgermole to go even faster, that they were almost there.

Eventually, when the sun was just over the horizon, Izuku and the badgermole reached the edge of the forest. Izuku could see the buildings of his city, and he jumped off the badgermole’s head the moment it stopped moving. 

“We’re here!” Izuku cried in relief. “And so fast too! Oh, wait till I show Katsuki that I found you!”

The badgermole snorted, and Izuku laughed. “I was just kidding! Kasuki wouldn’t believe me anyway!”

The badgermole nudged Izuku in the back, urging him to go. Izuku frowned. “Is this goodbye?” he asked, already knowing the answer.

The badgermole nodded, nudging Izuku again. Izuku didn’t go, instead stepping to the badgermole and wrapping his arms around it one last time.

“Thank you…” Izuku whispered. “Thank you for showing me that…. For believing in me, even when no one else did… Thank you….”

The badgermole purred again, letting Izuku hold it for a few minutes, before nudging Izuku off. Izuku wiped a tear from his eye, as he turned to leave the forest. “Well… goodbye… I’ll see you again… I promise…” With that, Izuku walked away, waving goodbye the whole way. The badgermole stared at him for a moment, before turning its back on the city and walking away. Izuku stopped and watched the colossus of an animal get smaller and smaller as it got further away, until it disappeared into the trees.

Izuku sighed, turning to the city before him. He was so late… his mom was worried. It then just occurred to Izuku that he still had a bad burn on his stomach, he was covered in dirt and fur, and he had left his shoes back in the lake. Izuku’s chest clenched in panic. Oh… his mom was going to absolutely freak…. What was he going to say to her?

As Izuku started walking again, the wind picked up again. The cherry blossoms at the each of town dropped their petals, and Izuku watch as they were blown into the forest.

At that Izuku smiled. He’d just tell his mom the truth. He found his Quirk in the Shizuoka forest…. And a new friend…

Chapter Text

By the time that Izuku reached the door of his apartment, the sun had set. Izuku only made one knock on the door, before the door slammed open and two slim but strong arms scooped him off the floor.

“IZUKU!” his mother cried as she crushed him against her chest. “Where have you BEEN? Do you have any idea what time it is? I was so worried!”

“M-mom!” Izuku gasped. “You’re… crushing me…”

“You are in so much trouble, young man, do you hear me?” his mother shouted, squeezing the boy even tighter. “Don’t ever worry me like that again!”

“MOM!” Izuku shouted. “You’re hurting me!”

Inko Midoriya gasped and let her son down. “I’m sorry…” she said. “Just…” Inko blinked, getting a close look Izuku. “Izuku, you’re so dirty! And where are your shoes, young man? Don’t you know you could hurt your feet going outside without shoes?”

“Mom…” Izuku tried to say.

Inko ignored him. “Your shirt is torn…” His mother’s eyes widened. “Izuku! You’re hurt!”

Izuku had forgotten entirely about the wound on his stomach. The skin was still red, and there was puss dripping where the swollen skin had burst. "Oh. Katsuki and I had a fight….”

“KATSUKI DID THIS TO YOU?!” Inko roared.

Izuku back in terror. "H-he fell into the river, and I tried to help him. But that made him mad, and he punched me. I think he accidentally exploded when he hit me…"

“THAT MISERABLE LITTLE-!” Inko screamed, too angry to even finish the sentence. She stomped away from Izuku and into the kitchen. "I was going easy on him because he's only four, but he crossed the line this time! I'm calling his mother!"

"But Mom!" Izuku cried, running after her.

“No, Izuku!” Inko retorted, grabbing the telephone. “I know you think he’s your friend, but he can NOT treat you like this! He burned you! And he knows that you have no way to defend yourself! You’re Quirkless!”

“Mom, I’m not Quirkless anymore!” Izuku cried.

Inko froze, dropping the phone in her hands. The telephone rang in a continuous beep as it hung from its box by the wire. Inko turned to look at Izuku. “What…?” she whispered.

"I have a Quirk now," Izuku said again.

Inko frowned at him. “But… that’s not possible…”

“But look!” Izuku insisted. He ran out the door and picked up the heavy rock he found on the way home. He placed in the middle of the room, planted his feet flat on the ground, and then punched the air, focusing on the rock the entire time.

Unfortunately, Izuku wasn't paying attention to where the direction he was facing. The rock went flying, crashing into the window and shattering it. The rock sailed over the railing of the balcony and smashed onto the concrete below. 

“Ah!” Izuku squeaked, realizing what he just did. He spun around to face his mother, frantically shaking his hands in horror. “I’m sorry, mom! I didn’t mean…”

Inko was standing utterly still, staring at the broken window in complete disbelief. “You… moved it…. But you didn’t even touch it…”

Izuku frowned, looking down at the ground with a blushing face. "I think I can move rocks and dirt with my brain… it's a little like your Quirk…"

Before Izuku could finish, there was a high-pitched shriek, and Inko rushed forward and threw his arms around Izuku again. Izuku had the wind knocked out of him again but managed to tilt his head up to see his mother's face. She was practically crying a river from her eyes, just as much on the night they found out he had no Quirk, but this time she was smiling, and Izuku could feel her laughing from the depths of her chest. “I don’t believe it…” she said through sobs and laughter. “Izuku, you have a Quirk! It’s a miracle!”

“You’re… squeezing me…” Izuku choked. Inko loosed her grip with a sigh, but she still didn’t let go.

Then, to Izuku’s surprise, his mother started crying again, but it wasn’t happy. “Izuku… I’m sorry…”

“For what?” Izuku asked, confused.

“When you asked me that night if you could be a hero…” his mother said, her voice hollow. “I told you that you couldn’t because you had no Quirk…. I was wrong, and not because you had no Quirk. You want to be a hero, and I didn’t support you when you needed me the most. I’m sorry… Quirk or no Quirk, I’ll support you… No matter what…”

Izuku’s heart melted at those words, and despite his happiness, tears started falling down his face too. “T-thank you, Mom…”

Inko and Izuku held each other for quite some time before she let him go, "Come on. You still have a burn that needs to be taken care of… And I now have a window that needs fixing..."

…

The next day, with his stomach, bandaged and iced and sandals on his feet, Izuku was humming merrily, practically skipping on his way to the school gate. His backpack was heavy with what he stuffed into his backpack that night, but he didn’t care. He was so excited for show-and-tell! He could only hope that he would be there to see…

“Oi!” a familiar, gravelly voice shouted. “Deku!”

Izuku turned to see Katsuki storming up to the gate. His tan blonde hair was sticking up as wild as ever, and his blood-red eyes were glaring at Izuku with the hatred from yesterday. Izuku flinched for a second, before calming himself down. It was okay… he wasn’t powerless anymore… Katsuki won’t hurt him again once he shows that…

Izuku’s confidence wavered as Katsuki shouted again. “You’ve got some nerve showing your Quirkless ass here!”

Despite what happened yesterday, despite his fear, Izuku couldn’t help but smile at his words. “You can’t call me Quirkless anymore, Kachan.”

Katsuki’s eyes twitched. “What do you mean, shitface?”

Izuku laughed. “You’ll see what I mean at show-and-tell…” With that, Izuku turned his back against Katsuki and started walking.

“Don’t you turn your back on me, Deku!” Katsuki growled, grabbing Izuku by his yellow, All Might backpack. Izuku was pulled back to Katsuki, only for something hard and heavy inside Izuku’s backpack hit Katsuki in the stomach and knock him down on his rear.

“Ow!” Katsuki cried, stomping to his feet. “What’s in there, you stupid Deku? Rocks?”

Izuku laughed, louder this time. “Actually, yes," he said as he walked away, leaving Katsuki with a baffled look on his face.

School started a few minutes later. The teacher, a short old woman with thick round glasses, stepped in. "All right, kids. I want to get show-and-tell out of the way fast. Who's up first?"

Immediately, several tiny hands flew up. The teacher turned her head around, looking to see who to pick, before pointing at her choice. “Izuku! What do you have to show us?”

Izuku sprung from his seat. “I got my Quirk!” He said almost too fast to understand.

“WHAT?” Katsuki screamed, jumping from his seat.

“I found my Quirk yesterday, Kachan!” Izuku answered.

“But that’s impossible!” Katsuki cried. “The doctor said you’re Quirkless!”

“Katsuki Bakogou, sit down!” The teacher shouted, and Katsuki complied with a grumbled. “Izuku, if this is true, would you please show the class?”

Izuku nodded excitedly, grabbing his backpack and running up to the front of the class. He zipped open the pack, and then, with a grunt of effort, flipped the bag around to dump two large and heavy rocks onto the floor. Izuku stood up and walked a short distance from the stones so that everyone could see.

Tsubasa snorted. “Thought you were going to show us your ‘Quirk’?”

Izuku ignored him and dug his feet into the ground in the way that was becoming easier and easier. He had practiced all night just to make sure he didn't mess this up. Now, he could even move the rock with his shoes on.

Izuku took a deep breath, focused on the rocks, and punched twice in a row. Both rocks, without Izuku touching them, were launched into the air, sailing over the heads of the children and hitting the wall of the classroom with a loud bang. The rocks crumbled, leaving big dents on the wall.

“Woah!” The children went. Izuku grinned, turning to look at Katsuki’s face. The blonde was utterly stunned, staring at Izuku with wide eyes and narrow pupils.

“That was cool, Izuku!” one said. “Can you do that with other things?”

Izuku cleared his throat. "I think it only works on rocks and dirt." He said. "I can push bigger rocks, but I had to use those since I couldn't carry a bigger one to school."

“How big can you move them?” another asked.

“I can move one thissssss big!” Izuku said, spreading out his arms wide.

“So cool!” a girl in the class said.

Katsuki’s face hardened. “Big deal” he grunted. “So, he can just move rocks around? That’s lame.”

“Ahhh, are you jelly?” another girl teased.

“OF COURSE NOT!” Katsuki screamed, giving Izuku a glare that made him flinch. "My Quirk is so much better than his; it's not even funny!" To emphasize his point, he flexed his hand, making a tiny explosion in his palm in Izuku’s direction.

“Alright, that’s enough class!” the teacher called. “Izuku, please return to your seat. I’ll call the janitor to clean up the mess you made with the rocks later…”

Izuku nodded and walked back to his seat. As the next child went up for show and tell, Izuku turned around to look at Katsuki, hoping that he had impressed him with what he did. He was shocked to find that Katsuki was still glaring at him with those frightening, blood-red eyes…

….

Izuku couldn’t understand. What had he done wrong? He thought that Katsuki’s problem with him was that he was Quirkless and that Izuku somehow angered Katsuki when he offered his help because Izuku was weaker than him. If that was the issue, then shouldn't Izuku having a Quirk solve the problem? Sure, it wasn’t as strong as Katsuki’s Explosion Quirk, but if he trained, it could become something great!

And yet, despite this fact, Katsuki had only reacted to Izuku’s show-and-tell with disdain the rest of the day. Even when Izuku was focusing on his lesson, he could feel Katsuki’s eyes piercing into him. When he tried to play with him, Katsuki would only glare at him and go somewhere else.

When recess came, Izuku decided to talk to Katsuki and get answers.

“Kachan!” he called, making the blonde stop in place.

“Leave me alone, Deku!” Katsuki growled.

Izuku didn’t even flinch this time. At that point, he had expected Katsuki’s anger, even if he didn’t understand why. “Are you still angry from yesterday?” he asked.

Katsuki didn’t answer, so Izuku kept going. “You said that a Quirkless person should never help you, that they can't be useful to anyone. Well, I have a Quirk. I'm not useless. So why are you so mean to me?"

Katsuki was silent for a moment, and Izuku wondered if he had even heard him. Then, Katsuki growled. “You don’t get it, do you Deku?” he said, turning to face Izuku with that awful glare. Izuku flinched again, but he stood his ground as the blonde stomped towards him. “Quirk, or no Quirk, you’ll always be a useless Deku. It doesn’t matter if you can move rocks with your brain now. You will never be better than me!”

Izuku blinked in confusion. “Better than you? I’m not trying to be better than you?”

Katuski gave a grin, but Izuku saw no happiness in it. Only spite. “Sure, you aren’t. Well, even, it wouldn’t matter even if you were. Your little dirt moving Quirk? It’s nothing compared to this.” With that, Katsuki suddenly lurched forward and swiped his hand in front of Izuku’s face, letting off a tiny explosion that made Izuku jump backward and land on his butt.

Katsuki burst into malicious laughter. “That’s right! Be scared of me, Deku!” He laughed again, turning his back on Izuku before walking away.

Izuku stared at Katsuki as he got farther away, flabbergasted. Katsuki thought he was trying to be better than him? Why would he want that? They were friends… weren’t they?

Izuku’s mind flashed back yesterday. How he had tried to help Katsuki when he had fallen. How Katsuki had burned him for that and then left him alone in the woods to get lost and…

A scream snapped Izuku back to his senses. It was another boy, even smaller than Izuku himself, and some scary kids surrounded him. One of the was Tsubasa, his red dragon wings spread out behind him, who kicked the small boy from behind, knocking him down. Then, to his horror, Izuku saw Katsuki step out in front of the boy with that same horrifying smile from before. Izuku saw the blonde say something to the other boy, making him cry. Then, Katsuki drew his foot back and kicked the boy in the chest.

Izuku’s chest tightened What was Katsuki doing? Why was he hurting that boy?

“I’m sorry!” The boy cried. “Please… stop hitting me!”

Katsuki laughed again. “Aw, what’s the matter? The little baby can’t take a punch? Just use your Quirk if you hate it so much!”

The boy sniffled. “But… I don’t have my Quirk yet…”

“Then tough shit” Katsuki sneered, making orange crackles over the palm of his hand. 

Izuku couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Was Katsuki going to burn that boy? No… that was wrong… He didn’t do anything to deserve this. It wasn’t his fault that he couldn’t use his Quirk yet…

Realization hit Izuku as Katsuki lowered his hand towards the boy. Without a second thought, Izuku shouted, “Katsuki, stop!" He dug his feet into the ground and punched at Katsuki. A piece of the land ripped away and launched at Katsuki, and as Katsuki was turning to face the voice yelling at him, the rock hit him in the chest, making him cry out in surprise and pain as he got knocked down. The crying boy took this distraction and scrambled away from the crowd of bullies, getting directly behind Izuku as Katsuki recovered.

Katsuki growled as he got back up on his feet, his eyes blood-shot with fury as he glared at Izuku. “Deku….”

Izuku trembled at the positively murderous look in Katsuki’s eyes, but despite the fear in his stomach, he planted his feet into the ground and put his fists up. “Leave him alone, Katsuki!" he cried, making sure to get in front of the other boy so he could protect him. "I'm warning you…"

Katsuki’s eyes twitched as the other two bullies gathered by his side. “You stupid Deku…" he growled. "You think you have a shot against me?! You're just a pebble for me to step on, you hear? A pebble!" With that, Katsuki charged, screaming with the ferocity of a demon, and as his wild eyes locked on Izuku’s, Izuku knew that he had lost his friend forever.

…

If his mother had been angry at Katsuki before, she was absolutely furious when Izuku came home, covered in bruises and with a black eye. Even with his new Quirk, Izuku had been no match for Katsuki, and the only reason that he didn’t get burned again was because the teacher caught them and stopped the fight from getting any worse. At the moment, Inko was on the phone with Mrs. Bakugou, yelling so loud that Izuku was sure everyone in the other apartments could hear her. 

“I don’t care if he’s just four-years-old Mitsuki! He burned my son! Mitsuki, no! Don’t you dare start crinkling paper in the phone! You are not breaking u-!” The phone started beep hollowly, and Inko slammed the phone back into the box, growling in frustration. 

“First Hisashi leaves without saying goodbye, and now Mitsuki is in denial about her own son…” she groaned. She turned to face Izuku, who was holding a bag of ice to his swollen ice at his mother’s request.         “Izuku… I’m sorry…” she sighed, leaning down to hug her son.

“Mom… what did I do wrong?” Izuku sobbed, unable to cry through his swollen eye. 

“You didn’t do anything wrong, Izuku…” his mother replied. “Katsuki is just a bad child whose taking out his insecurities on you.”

Izuku blinked at that. “I didn’t want to make him insecure… He’s… my friend…. He’s not… bad…”

Inko gave a peculiar look. “You said he was hurting someone else, didn’t you?” she said. “You’re a smart child, so tell me. What good child would burn his best friend and leave him alone in the woods to get lost just because he didn’t want to be helped up? What good child would go hurting a boy smaller than him just because he didn’t develop his Quirk yet...?”

Izuku looked down at the ground in thought. “I guess… no good child would… but…”

“No ‘buts’, Izuku” Inko said. “I know he was your friend, and you want to see the best in him, but please, for your sake and mine, stay away from him. Nothing good will come from being around him anymore. He’ll just hurt you again.”

Izuku’s nodded, his heart hollow.  I’m sorry, mom” he said.

His mother smiled down at him. "You have nothing to apologize for, Izuku. Just… be careful next time, okay?”

Izuku smiled back at her. “Okay…”

….

Izuku spent the next two weeks avoiding Bakugou. His mother made sure to drop him off a little early so that he could make it to class before anyone else. When they crossed paths in the halls, Izuku would look straight ahead and pretend that he didn’t see him. During recess, Izuku would go off into a corner of the playground alone, making sure he was out of sight until the end of the period. Despite what had happened between them, how much Bakugou had hurt him, there was some small part of Izuku that hoped that he and Bakugou could make up, that they could become friends again.

But each time that Izuku would even look in Bakugou’s direction, Bakugou would shoot Izuku a glare that sent shivers down the green-haired boy’s spine, and Izuku would see that there was no chance of them reconciling. Trying to repair their friendship would only provoke Bakugou into hurting him again…

In the meantime, Izuku tried to get his mind off his situation by practicing with his new Quirk. At first, Izuku simply practiced by moving rocks of various sizes with punches. There were a few times that, for some reason, Izuku couldn't throw the rock, but for the most part, Izuku was able to practice effectively.

However, though at first Izuki was overjoyed at his new powers, after about a week, the novelty wore off, leaving anxiety and uncertainty in its wake. Sure, throwing rocks without touching them was cool and could probably hurt someone quite a bit, but as the fight with Bakugou showed, that could only get Izuku so far. If Izuku was going against a villain that was fast and was good at fighting with their hands, then he would lose as he was now.

Izuku frowned as he walked from the playground to his mom’s car thinking about this. If he could just do more things with his power than just throw rocks….

….

Two weeks after the confrontation in the playground, Izuku found himself walking through the forest again. It was early Sunday morning, as Izuku had his mother wake him up early so that he would have plenty of time in the woods today. This time, instead of whimpering and crying from fear and pain, he was humming merrily to himself, swinging around the picnic basket he was carrying with every step made, as he crossed the bridge over the river, and went deeper into the woods.

After a little while, Izuku found the lake by the mountain again, and as he walked towards the familiar cave, he put his hand near his mouth and called. “HHHEEEYYYY! IT’S ME AGAIN! COME ON OOOOUUUUUTTTTTTT!”

As Izuku reached the entrance of the cave, he heard a snort and the sounds of heavy footsteps echo from the cave. Izuku exhaled in happiness as the enormous bulk of the badgermole emerged from the darkness.

“Hey!” Izuku cried, running up to the badgermole and wrapping his arms around its snout. The massive creature purred in happiness, licking Izuku’s face as the four-year-old let go.

Izuku laughed as the creature retracted its tongue. “I brought something for you!” the boy cheered, reaching into his picnic basket and brought out five apples. He laid them down in front of the badgermole, and the badgermole ate them all in one bite.

“Wow!” Izuku said. “You must have been hungry! I guess it’s because you’re so big, huh?”

The badgermole responded with another lick, and Izuku laughed. "I'll bring more food next time, okay?" The badgermole nodded, and it and Izuku walked out of the cave. They went to the edge of the lake and sat down next to each other.

"Thanks again for showing me how to move those boulders," Izuku said. "Mom was so happy when I showed her. She even apologized for telling me I couldn't be a hero. The kids in my class don't treat me like I'm a freak, or look at me like I shouldn't be there anymore. But…" Izuku hesitated, looking at the badgermole’s impassive face for a response before continuing in a depressed manner. "Katsuki still hates me. He told me that I was stupid for thinking that my Quirk would make me like him, and he walked away. When he started hurting another boy, we fought. He won.”

Izuku looked into the badgermole’s dark eyes and placed his hand on the creature's snout. "I'm happy you showed me my power… but I need to get better. If I can't even beat Kachan, how can I become a hero? Please… can you help me?"

The badgermole blinked, staring at Izuku for a few seconds, before nodding with a snort. Then, the badgermole raised a claw to Izuku’s hand and guided it to the ground.

“Feel the earth again?” Izuku asked. “But didn’t we already do this?”

The badgermole nodded, not lifting Izuku’s hand.

Izuku sighed, but shifted his eyes to his hand, knowing that this wasn't going to end until the badgermole let it. He concentrated, reaching out his senses until a few minutes later, he felt the heartbeat of the earth.

"Okay, I feel the earth's heart," he said. "Now what?"

The badgermole pointed to Izuku’s shoes. “Take off my shoes?” he asked.

The badgermole nodded, and Izuku leaned down to follow the badgermole’s orders. “Do you want me to feel the earth again?” he asked. The badgermole nodded.

Izuku sighed again but focused on his feet until he felt the earth once more. "What now?" 

The badgermole didn't answer, choosing instead to saunter off around the lake.

“Hey, wait up!” Izuku cried, running to catch up with his strange friend. As he ran up to the badgermole’s side, a feeling like insect wings spread through Izuku’s feet, and suddenly Izuku couldn’t feel the earth anymore. “Huh?” Izuku went in confusion before he felt the badgermole’s tail hit him in the back of his head. “Ow!”

The badgermole snorted in annoyance, pointing at Izuku’s feet, and then to the earth, and then moved both its claws in a sort of walking movement.

“Feel the earth… while walking?” Izuku asked. The badgermole nodded, before starting to walk again. Izuku stared at the creature until it was about one-fourth around the lake. He sighed, looking down at the ground, muttering, “How is this gonna help me move the rocks better?” before digging until he felt the earth-beat.

Then, Izuku slowly took a step, trying to maintain that level of concentration. As his foot hit the ground, his feet buzzed again before the vibration faded once more. Izuku frowned, pulling back, feeling the earth, and then taking the step. He couldn't sense it.

You can do this, Izuku. Just keep trying like before.

Izuku kept taking that one step and then pulling back when he couldn't feel the earth. He kept focusing on his feet, concentrating on that tremendous heartbeat buried beneath the soil, trying to hold that vibration in his heels. Just as he wanted to throw his hands up and give up, he took one last step, and this time, after a brief bit of buzzing in his feet, the heartbeat stayed.

“Yes!” Izuku cried out, almost losing the sensation for a moment in his joy. He took another step, being just as cautious as he was before, and he still felt the heartbeat.  

Izuku grinned as he started his slow march around the lake, maintaining that buzzing in his feet throughout. The badgermole hadn’t moved during Izuku’s practice, and Izuku soon caught up. “I did it!” he cheered. The badgermole snorted lightly and started walking again.

Izuku kept up his pace, leveling himself to the badgermole’s head. “Hey, what’s the next lesson?” he said. The badgermole snorted, and then pointed to the lake, making a circle with his claw.

“Walk… around the lake?” Izuku asked, head dropping in disappointment. The furry giant nodded, and Izuku groaned. “That’s booorrrrriiiinnnnngggggg! When are we gonna move rocks again?”

The badgermole hit Izuku in the back of his head with its tail, making Izuku cry out. “Would you stop doing that?” he screamed, holding the back of his head in pain. The badgermole snorted, sauntering ahead of Izuku. “Slow down!” he cried, running to level himself to the badgermole’s head while struggling to maintain the earth’s vibrations on his feet. When Izuku caught up, he remained silent and kept marching by the badgermole’s side.

Izuku and the badgermole walked by the shore of the beach for quite some time, feeling the earth beneath them as they went. It was difficult maintaining his focus on the subtle vibrations in the ground while moving, and Izuku even slipped up and lost the feeling before finding it again after a few minutes. However, after the unusual pair made it around the lake once, Izuku felt that he had finally gotten the hang of it. “What now?” Izuku asked with hopeful eyes. The badgermole snorted, making another circle with its claws and kept walking. Izuku sighed and reluctantly followed it again. 

Though Izuku found the first time around even duller than the last, he found that it was much easier feeling the heartbeat of the earth as he was walking. It grew to the point that Izuku could loosen his focus on his feet a little, and he could still feel the vibrations. Izuku took this time to look around the clearing and take in his surroundings. The forest was quiet today, save for the occasional call of a bird and the bristle of wind against the leaves of a tree. The woods were growing greener and greener as the spring went on, and there were sprouts of pink, red, and yellow flowers growing on the ground beneath the trees and the bushes. There weren't any animals that Izuku could see, but he assumed that it something to do with the ten-foot-tall mass of muscle and fur that was stomping on the ground next to him.

They went around a second time, prompting Izuku to ask, “Can we stop now?” The badgermole shook its head and made a circle with its claw, prompting Izuku to moan. Despite his annoyance, he didn’t want to make his new friend angry, so he followed the creature again.

 When they went around the second time, Izuku was sweating and breathing hard. “Can we ssttooopppp?” he moaned. “I’m tired…” The badgermole turned its head, staring it Izuku blankly for a moment. Then, it snorted and went off to the edge of the clearing. There, it curled up under a tree, placing its head on its paws, still staring at Izuku. Izuku ran up to the badgermole, turned around, and laid down, resting its head on the badgermole’s stomach with a heavy sigh of relief.

For a moment, Izuku didn’t speak, laying there on the badgermole, feeling the massive creature’s chest lifting Izuku slightly as it rose and felt with every breath it took, the sun beaming down on the forest below, and the gentle breeze blow on Izuku’s hot face. It was peaceful, and it helped Izuku put his frustration at the lesson at ease. However, Izuku’s mind eventually wandered to what the badgermole was telling him to do, and confusion and frustration came back. Honestly, what would walking around the lake feeling the earth do for Izuku? He could already feel the vibrations well enough, so what doing while moving do? It was just tiring him out, especially since he had to keep up with the enormous footsteps of the badgermole…

  Wait… how was the badgermole walking around the lake…? It couldn’t see…

 "I don't understand," Izuku asked aloud, prompting the badgermole to turn its head to face Izuku. “You can’t see, so how are you going around the lake without going know where you’re going?”

The badger lifted its paw and smacked the ground in front of it. Izuku blinked in confusion, having seen that motion enough to recognize what it meant. “You feel the earth?”

The badgermole nodded.

“And… that helps you see?” Izuku asked.

 The badgermole nodded and then pointed at Izuku’s chest.

 “You… think it’ll help me see?”

The badgermole nodded, filling Izuku with confusion. Feeling the earth’s heartbeat would help Izuku see? How? Izuku could just fine already. What was he missing?

Just then, Izuku remembered when he first moved the boulder. The moment before he hit it, he felt something else…. Something that wasn't the earth's heartbeat.

At this, Izuku jumped off the badgermole’s chest, focused on his feet one last time, and walked towards the lake. He still only felt the now familiar vibrations of the earth, so Izuku reached out further, trying to find that unexplainable thing that he noticed before. When he was half-way to the lake, he remembered that he had been trying to move the earth when he first experienced the strange sensations. So, in a little experiment, Izuku dug his feet into the ground and struck out as if he was moving a rock…

The instant his bare feet struck the ground, Izuku felt… everything. Izuku flinched, losing the sensation because he was so overwhelmed, but then he shook his head and struck out again, trying to grab onto the feeling with his mind. He failed the first three times before he finally felt it once more.

The earth’s heartbeat was still there, but… there a bunch of other tiny vibrations too.  For a moment, Izuku couldn't fathom where the subtle waves were coming. He walked in the direction where he sensed the vibrations getting stronger, and then literally crushed the answer beneath his feet.

It was a colony of red ants…. And Izuku just stepped on them with his bare feet.

Izuku screeched in pain as the ants covered his foot and started chewing on his skin, and he jumped into the lake to get them off. When Izuku scrubbed all the ants off, he was soaked. He looked up to see the badgermole staring at him from the tree, and if Izuku didn’t know any better, he would have said that the creature was smiling at his misery…

Izuku shook his head as he stomped over to the badgermole. “Why didn’t you tell me they were there?” he cried. The badgermole snorted and then gestured to the ground again. Izuku pouted, but dug his feet in and struck the earth, concentrating as hard as he could. 

Once again, the tiny footsteps of the ants resonated against Izuku’s feet. This time, Izuku was able to hold on to the sensation on his feet, and the result left him breathless. He didn’t just feel the ant’s footsteps. It was like… he could actually see them, but without using his eyes. He could feel them there. He could feel what the basic shape of the ants, where they were, how they were moving, and even the little hole in the ground they were crawling out of.

Izuku was reminded of something that he heard in school a little while back. They had been talking about animals, and in the middle of the lesson, the teacher told them about bats. "While bats are not blind, they do not rely on their eyes to sense the environment around them. Rather, they make a sound from their mouths and listen for the echo. The echo tells the bat's sharp senses where everything around it is. This process is called ‘echolocation.'" 

“Is… this how you see?” Izuku asked the badgermole. “Echolocation? You feel the vibrations of things around you on the ground?”

The badgermole nodded, rising to its feet to lick Izuku’s face. Izuku smiled, petting the creature on its head. "So that's why you wanted me to feel the ground so bad… I'm not very good at it now though… So that means I gotta practice, don’t I?”

The badgermole nodded and walked down to the lake again. Izuku followed, placing himself next to the badgermole, closing his eyes, and stomping his foot onto the ground. Once again, Izuku could feel the ants nearby, and he spent a few minutes tracking them with just his feet. “Is there any way I can make this better? See more with it?” The badgermole just snorted in a manner that reminded Izuku of sarcasm, and Izuku couldn’t help but laugh a bit. “I know, I know. Focus…”

Izuku didn't know how long the two of them spend standing there, feeling the earth and trying to find things on it without their eyes. Slowly, but surely, Izuku’s new sense started to expand, until Izuku could feel everything on the ground beneath him a good fifteen feet away from him. The ants eventually crawled back under the land, but Izuku could still feel them there, burrowing into the earth, making winding little tunnels in the dirt, marching in rows and lines and carrying things to and from each room in their colony. There were thousands of ants, all stepping as one, and Izuku could feel every single one with his echolocation-like sense.

The badgermole started walking again, and this time, Izuku followed without a single complaint. In fact, to make sure he could learn to feel the vibrations with his hands too, Izuku got on all four limbs and started crawling, watching the badgermole’s movements and imitating them as closely as he possibly could. To Izuku’s amazement, his sensory range doubled, and he could almost see the edge of the clearing. They went around the lake once more, and this time, Izuku was noticing things he had been missing before. He could feel the roots of the trees burrowing themselves deep into the ground. He felt a beetle land on a flower nearby. He flinched when he felt a snake in the grass through the vibrations and hurried to the badgermole’s side with a squeal.

When they went around the lake again, the badgermole stopped outside the cave, where some boulders were jutting from the ground. The badgermole gestured towards a block and slapped its tail to the ground, making some rocks fall from the mountain. 

Izuku got up, understanding what the badgermole was asking immediately, and stepped up to the boulder. He took a deep breath, got into his ready stance, and punched the boulder, knocking it into the mountain and making it shatter with a boom.

The badgermole snorted, sauntering up to Izuku and tapping his foot with its claw.

“Use my feet to move the rock?” Izuku asked.

The badgermole nodded, stepping back to give Izuku room. Izuku took a deep breath, focusing again. So, he could use his feet to move rocks too? Well, that honestly was unexpected, but he was sure that it would be useful. It shouldn’t be that much different from using his fists…

Izuku gave the rock a hard-front kick…. And nearly broke his foot. "Ow!" he cried. "Why? I was feeling the earth!"

Izuku heard the badgermole give an amused snort, and he shot the giant a glare before turning his attention back to the boulder. Taking another breath, he went back to work, kicking out with his feet but stopping just before it made the impact.

Izuku kept making faux kicks for quite some time. Eventually, he felt the vibrations beneath the earth and kicked the boulder, this time managing to send the rock flying with this foot. 

“I did it!” Izuku cried, turning to face the badgermole with a grin.

The badgermole nodded, before gesturing to another boulder.

“Again? Okay!” With that, Izuku went to the next boulder and struck it away.

Izuku kept practicing until the sun rose high into the sky. By then, he was exhausted, and he and the badgermole went back to the tree to rest. Izuku sat down with a sigh, opening his picnic basket and fishing out a sandwich. As he took a bite, a thought occurred to him. "Hey… do you have a name?"

The badgermole snorted.

“Of course not…” Izuku said. “Can I name you?”

The badgermole turned its head to look at Izuku incredulously.

“What? I can’t just keep calling you ‘you’ the whole time. How about… ‘Fluffy’?”

The badgermole masked eyes shifted to glare at Izuku.

“You’re right, that’s terrible…” Izuku quickly said. “Cocoa?” The badgermole’s expression didn’t change. “Mochi?”

 At this, the badgermole shook its chest, knocking Izuku off.

 “Ow!” Izuku cried. “You didn’t have to hurt me! Okay then…. How about… Riku?”

 At this, the badgermole seemed to stop glaring at Izuku, raising one of its thick eyebrows.

 “’Riku?’” Izuku said again. “It means ‘land?’ Since you move the land?”

 The badgermole closed its eyes for a moment as if contemplating the name Izuku suggested. Then, it twitched its gigantic whiskers and rubbed its nose against Izuku affectionately.

 “You like that?” Izuku asked with a smile. The badgermole nodded in confirmation, and Izuku laughed. “Okay then! Riku it is!”

 The badgermole, now called Riku, licked Izuku’s face. Izuku laughed again, standing on his feet. “Okay, Riku. Let’s start practicing again. I don’t need to home for quite a long time…”

…

Izuku kept practicing moving rocks and feeling the earth’s vibrations with Riku the badgermole until the sun started becoming red in the sky. Once again, Riku let Izuku ride him on his way back home, setting him down near the edge of the forest.

“Thank you for today, Riku," Izuku said, hugging the badgermole’s head. “I’ll be back next Sunday, okay?”

 Riku nodded, licking Izuku one last time before sauntering back into the woods. Izuku waved as the badgermole disappeared into the woods, and then ran home.

“Oh!” his mother cried as he opened the door. “Izuku! Perfect timing! I was filling out the papers to register your Quirk!”

“Oh!” Izuku piped, rushing over to his mom's side of the table and looking at the official-looking papers. "I thought I'd never get to do this!"

Inko laughed at his enthusiasm. “Most four-year-olds shouldn’t get excited over paperwork.” She said mostly to herself. “So… you can move rocks and soil without touching them, right?”

Izuku nodded. "I have to move to make them move, though. I can use either my hands or my feet. I've also found something new."

Inko raised an eyebrow. “Yes?”

 "I can sense other things on the ground," Izuku said proudly. “It’s sort of like a bat and echolocation, but with vibrations on the ground.”

 “Amazing, Izuku!” Inko said, patting her son’s head as she wrote down what Izuku said. “Show me tomorrow after school, okay?”

 “Okay mom” Izuku replied.

 Inko turned her attention back to the paper. “We still need a name for your Quirk, Izuku. Should we just call it ‘Geokinesis’ and submit it?”

 Izuku frowned. "No… that doesn't feel right…" Most people with Quirks had rather creative or snappy names that went along with it. Endeavour, the number two hero, called his fire Quirk "Hellfire," and Best Jeanist had "Fiber Body." Sure, you had heroes with Quirk names like "Voice" or "Erasure" that were relatively obvious, but Izuku felt he could do better than that. Besides, for some reason, "Geokinesis” just didn’t feel right, in spite of how fitting it was…

How many times do we have to go over this, Twinkle Toes? You. Are. Earthbending! EARTH! BENDING! Taking the element of EARTH, the very PLANET you are standing on, and BENDING IT TO YOUR WILL! If you wanna master it, YA GOTTA BE THE ROCK!”

Suddenly, Izuku became aware of Inko staring at him. “Izuku… are you okay, sweetie?”

Izuku blinked, pressing his hand to his buzzing head. What just happened?

“I’m fine, mom” Izuku lied. “I… think I know what I want to name my Quirk.”

“Really? What?”

“Earthbending.”

Chapter Text

              From the day that Izuku and Inko signed the Quirk Registration Papers, their lives would never be the same. It took only a few days for word to go around that Izuku was no longer considered Quirkless. The students at Izuku’s preschool no longer looked at Izuku with pity or disgust, like he was worthless. The neighbors no longer talked about Izuku’s mother like she made some horrible mistake. It was liberating, not having the weight of people staring at you like your existence was a mortal sin that needed to be corrected.

            Though his newfound talent over the earth had given him joy, Izuku didn’t pause in his efforts to obtain power in the slightest. Now, instead of trying to lift random small objects and expelling fire from his lungs, he would send rocks flying with punches and kicks and crawl around, feeling the vibrations on the earth. Every day, whether he was at the playground at school, the apartment complex he called home, or in the park, he would be practicing his “Earthbending” Quirk, doing his best to move bigger and bigger rocks and make it easier and easier to move them. His teachers weren’t very thrilled about Izuku using his Quirk instead of playing, and his sessions would leave Izuku with sore limbs, but the smile that would light up his mother’s face was more than enough to give Izuku the motivation to keep on going.

            However, despite the happiness that his power and the badgermole had brought them, it wasn’t all well in Izuku’s world. Bakugou still refused to talk to Izuku, growling at him whenever he tried to talk to him. His friends were even worse, snarling at him whenever so much as looked in their direction, tripping him whenever he passed them, and booing at him whenever he raised his hand for a class project. Quite a few times, whenever Izuku was doing something by himself, such as practicing his Earthbending, he’d suddenly feel something hit him in the back of his head and when he’d turn around, he’d see one of Bakugou’s friends running away, cackling at the tears that feel from Izuku’s face.

            Izuku still couldn’t understand. He and Katsuki were supposed to be friends! What had he done that had mad Bakugou so angry? He wasn’t Quirkless anymore, so Katsuki shouldn’t think that he would drag him down!

            You’re a smart child, so tell me. What good child would burn his best friend and leave him alone in the woods to get lost just because he didn’t want to be helped up? What good child would go hurting a boy smaller than him just because he didn’t develop his Quirk yet...?

            Whenever his thoughts turned back to what his mother said, Izuku would shake his head. Whatever was going on between him and Bakugou would stop eventually. He just had to wait. Now that Izuku had a Quirk, things could get better. People would like him. All he had to do was get better.

...

            Taking lessons from Riku became a weekly ritual for Izuku. Every Sunday, the green-haired boy would pack a picnic basket with sandwiches and fruit and go into the forest, where Riku would be waiting for him in the cave by the lake. Izuku would wrap his arms around Riku’s snout, Riku would respond by knocking tiny Izuku down with his giant tongue, and they'd begin their session. First, they'd sense things through the vibrations in the earth, reaching out with their senses are far as possible. Izuku would feel the waves rock against the shore, the ants on the other side of the lake, and everything else on the ground in the clearing. Little by little, the range and detail of Izuku’s new sense grew, to the point that Izuku could see the entirety of the clearing without much hassle. Once Izuku grew to that point, Riku made him navigate the clearing with his eyes closed. At first, Izuku had been incredulous at those orders, especially when the first time he tried to go around the lake, he went into the water headfirst, but eventually, he started to experience the joy of being able to see things without his eyes.

             Izuku would never forget the first time he first used his earth sense when he was in the middle of the city during the weekend. It had been so overwhelming, almost like when his eyes had got burned from bright spot lights. There were so many vibrations coming from so many sources that they all blended together at first in a maelstrom that left Izuku blind. Izuku had to take a breath and stand still for a few minutes before he could make anything out with through the vibrations, and it took hours before he could see clearly at all, but by the end of the day, he made his first steps in using his earth sense in the city. First, he anchored himself by tracking objects that weren’t moving, feeling the trees and boulders sparsely strewn throughout the park. Then, by mentally following the nearest vibrations against his feet, Izuku sensed all the people in the park walking around, by themselves, with their family or friends, or with their pets. The tiny pin sized thumbs against his skin told him that there were elephant rats and squirrel toads scampering throughout the park, digging in the ground for nuts and berries. After he got the hang of tracking them through the chaos, he reached out to the border of the park, where the rapid vibrations of the wheels of cars blurred Izuku’s vision. Izuku spent an hour trying to keep see them with his feet, but in the end, all he could manage to make out were fast moving blurs. Still, the experience was eye-opening. Izuku never noticed everything that was going on around him in the city, and he wondered just what else he was missing.

            From then on, Izuku took off his shoes whenever he could to get extra practice with his earth sense. Whenever he walked out in the street, played in the park, and even went to school, he’d move about bare foot, the earth trembling underneath his feet. Of course, the first time he tried to do this didn’t go as well as he wanted it to…

            “Izuku!” his mother cried, pulling from the door and back inside. “You know you’re supposed to wear shoes when you go outside!”

            “But mom, I need to have my shoes off I want to practice my Quirk!” Izuku protested.

            “You can practice your Quirk when you get to school, Izuku” his mother replied as he slipped his shoes on. “When your outside, you have to protect your feet.”

            Izuku sighed in defeat as he walked out the door. However, as soon as Izuku was out in the sidewalk and he was out of sight from his mother, he took off his shoes and socks, and started the walk to his school. Throughout the walk, Izuku tried as hard as he could to translate the symphony of vibrations were trying to tell him. Before he even saw them with his eyes, he noticed people approaching him from the sidewalk, and without even turning his head, he saw the people walking on the other side of the street and the blur of moving cars. If he really concentrated, he could even make out the forms of people in the buildings next to him, but it was difficult tell because of his limited range.

            By the time he got to school, Izuku was still barefoot and holding his shoes in his hands. When he stepped into his classroom, the teacher had given him an earful. “Izuku Midoriya! You know you’re supposed to wear shoes when you go to school!”

            “But sensei!” Izuku protested, frantically shaking his hands in front of him. “I need to have my shoes off to practice my Quirk! I can’t sense things as well without it!”

            The teacher stared at him blankly. “How so?”

            “I feel the vibrations from things on the ground! They tell me where things are!”

            The teacher gave a weary sigh. “Very well, then. I’ll count it as a special need on account of your Quirk…”

            The rest of the class had given Izuku a few strange looks for his lack of schools, but they didn’t stare for long. After all, it wasn’t the strangest change made to the typical pre-school outfit thanks to the needs of a Quirk (such as Tsubasa and the holes made for his wings). While the teacher read to the class, Izuku had both feet planted on the floor, trying to see how many rooms he could see into thanks to his power. By the time the class was released for recess, Izuku was able to see into most of the rooms of the school, though he wasn’t sure if he could detect everything in them.

            Izuku decided to keep to himself that recess, staying in the barren corner of the playground to practice his Quirk. He was busy moving the rocks around with punches and kicks when he felt something approach in his earth sense. He turned his head just in time to see a boy throw a rock at him, shouting "Move this, Dirt Boy!" Izuku raised his hands in reflex, but to both his and the boy’s surprise, the rock floated in the air, coming to a stop in front an inch from Izuku’s face.

            “What?” Bakugou stared in disbelief, shocked that his cruel prank had failed.

            “Huh…” Izuku grunted. "I guess I can float rocks in the air like a mom floats objects." He smiled at the spiky-haired blonde. "Thanks for showing that, Kachan!”

            “Screw you!” Bakugou shrieked. “How’d you know I was coming?”

            Izuku laughed. “Let’s just say you should watch how you step around me, Kachan. I’ll know if you don’t!”

            Izuku walked home, barely managing to keep his excitement at his new ability inside. He couldn’t wait to tell his mom! Maybe she’d be able to help him out with lifting rocks in the air.

            “Mom!” he cried as he ran through the door. “You won’t believe what I found in school… Mom?”

            Izuku looked around, not seeing his mother in her usual spot on the couch, but then heard a voice from the kitchen. “Hisashi, slow down! I can’t understand you!”

            “Mom?” Izuku stepped into the kitchen to find his mother sitting at the table, yelling at her cellphone. “What’s wrong?”

            Inko turned around, and Izuku could see the anxiety in her dark green eyes. “Izuku, it's your father. He finally called, but somethings… Hisashi?" Izuku’s mother went silent, and Izuku could her a chatter coming from the phone. “Oh… okay… I’ll put you on speaker…” Inko pressed a button, and a familiar, deep voice started speaking on the phone.

            “Izuku… are you there?”

            “Dad!” Izuku cried with joy. "You called! Where are you?"

            “I…I’m overseas, Izuku.” His father said. “I’m sorry to say, but I’m not going to be home for a while…”

            Inko face contorted in rage and she slammed her hand on the table. “Where the hell have you been, Hisashi? Why did you leave without so much as a word? And why haven’t you called us at all these past few weeks?”

            Izuku heard his father take a nervous breath. “I’m so sorry, Inko… It’s complicated…”

            “Bullshit!” Inko growled.

            “Inko, please watch your language," Hisashi said, drily. "Our child is right there."

            Izuku looked at the phone and his mother uncomfortable.  He wasn't sure what was going on, but he didn't like his mother and father fighting. "Uh…I got my Quirk, dad…"

            “Really?” his father’s voice said, with a great deal more energy and happiness than before. “Can you control fire like me? Or move objects like your mom?”

            Izuku rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. “I move the earth without touching it. I do have to move though…”

            Staticky laughter rang through the phone. “Well how about that? My little Izuku’s an Earthbender! Congratulations!”

            Izuku blinked at that. “How did you know what I named my Quirk…?”

            “Yeah, Izuku got his Quirk about a month ago!” Inko cried, cutting off Izuku. "His best friend also started bullying him at the time and hasn't stopped since! And you were gone for all of it! And when you finally call, all you can say is ‘It’s complicated!’”

            “Inko…” Hisashi replied, and Izuku could hear the remorse through the phone. “I’m sorry. Truly I am. I…”

            Before his father could finish, the phone fizzled with static. “Hisashi?” Inko cried.

 After a moment, the static cleared away. "I'm sorry, I don't have much time," Hisashi whispered. "Please… Izuku… Inko… listen well. I’m not sure when I’ll be able I’ll be able to talk to you again. When it will be safe…”

            “Safe?” Inko gasped. “Hisashi, what are you saying?”

            “Inko… there are people after me… Dangerous people… If they find me there with you and Izuku, there’s no telling what they’ll do. Until I can stop them, it’s not safe for me to be around you two…”

            At that, an iron hand squeezed Izuku’s heart. “S-safe? Dad, what are you…?”

            “Whose after you?” Inko shouted, making Izuku jump in fear. “Hisashi, what’s going on?”

 "I'm so sorry, you two," his father said again. "This isn't your fault, and you've done nothing to deserve this… I never wanted this for you, but… please… Believe me when I tell you that you two mean the entire world to me, and nothing I could ever do could ever deserve what the joy the two of you give me. Izuku, my little man… stay strong and take care of your mother while I’m gone. Can you do that for me?”

            “Dad…” Izuku choked on his own words in shock. “I…”

            “Inko, please, hang in there. I-” Suddenly, there was a loud crash and a cry of pain on the other end of the line. 

            “DAD!”

            “HISASHI!!!”

            For a moment, all that could be heard was ragged breathing. Then, his father spoke again, his pained voice going so fast that Izuku almost couldn’t understand him. “S…shit! I have to go! Inko, Izuku, I love you! I promise we'll meet again!" There was another crash, and then all that could be heard was a hollow dial tone.

            “Dad!” Izuku screamed.

            “Hisashi!” Inko shrieked, grabbing the phone and pulling it to her ear. “Hisashi! HISASHI!” But no one answered.

            “Mom…” Izuku sniffed, tears falling down his face. “What happened? Where’s Dad?”

            Inko turned to him, and Izuku had never seen her look more terrified. The black part of her eyes had shrunk into pinpricks, and her skin was pale. She blinked, almost like she hadn't heard him.

            “Mom…?” Izuku asked again, this time more out of concern.

            Inko blinked again, her eyes focusing on Izuku. Then, without warning, she wrapped her arms around Izuku and pulled him to her chest. “Oh Izuku…” she whispered, rocking him back and forth. “Don’t worry… it’s going to be okay… it’s going to be okay…”

            Izuku couldn’t tell if she was trying to convince him or herself, and despite what his father asked him to stay strong for her, he started sobbing into her chest, unable to stop no matter how much his mother whispered in his ear.

…

            The rest of the day turned into a blur for Izuku. At some point, his mother let go of him and called the police. Two officers were over in minutes, and they were kind enough, asking Izuku and his mother politely what had occurred and anything about his father, but how were they going to find his dad when all they had to go on was a phone call?

            “We can investigate his place of business and try to see if they might know where he went.” The tall officer said. “Can you tell us where he works?”

            “He’s… he’s an investigative reporter at the paper Heroes and Villians Weekly…” Inko replied, not looking the officer in the eye.

            “Oh, I know that magazine!” the other officer exclaimed. “Was he the one that wrote that article on Quirk Marriages in the modern day?”

            Inko nodded.

            “That was a really illuminating report…” the officer noted. “If he does stories like that frequently, perhaps he was on a case when he called you… It could be that he picked off more than he could chew…”

            Izuku and Inko cringed as if the officer had slapped them, and the shorter officer elbowed his partner in annoyance. "Ash…" he growled.

            “Sorry Itsuki…" Ash muttered apologetically "I'm just stating the facts. According to them, there was crashing like gunshots on the other end of the line, and Hisashi sounded like he got hurt. From the information we have, it could be reasonable to assume that he got involved in a dangerous case…"

            Itsuki grunted. "You and I need to have a conservation about the meaning of ‘tact.' But you do have a point…" Itsuki looked at Inko and Izuku. “Ms. Midoriya… Izuku… we'll conduct the investigation right away. I promise we'll do our very best to locate your husband. If you need anything else or have anything else to report, let us know. We'll tell you if we find anything…"

            Izuku vaguely heard the officers and his mother exchange a few words, and then the officers left. The boy looked up at his mother, who was staring at the corner of the room with puffy, red eyes.

            “Mom?” Izuku said, grabbing his mother’s hand. “What’s gonna happen now?”

            Inko looked down at her son, wiped her eyes, and to Izuku’s surprise, she smiled. "Sweetie, it's going to be alright. They'll find Hisashi… I'm sure of it… Have a little faith, okay?"

            Izuku didn’t know what to say to that. He couldn’t possibly see how the police would find his father from just a phone call but… he desperately wanted to believe they’d find him. And from the look on his mother’s face, she wanted to believe it too. How could he say no to that?

            “Yeh… Izuku said. “They’ll find him…”

…

            Izuku’s mother walked him to and from school for the rest of the week. It didn’t take much effort for Izuku to figure out his father had something to do with it, so Izuku didn't protest. Not that he had a reason to. When he took off his shoes, his mother didn't protest, and in fact, she encouraged him to get better with his strange earth sense. 

            “How far away can you feel things?” Inko asked, giggling as Izuku pulled her forward when he skipped over a crack on the cement.

            “When we’re at home, I can feel all the apartments!” Izuku replied.

            “Impressive…” Inko said. “And do you think you can make the range bigger?”

            “Yeah!” Izuku exclaimed. “I’ma keep practicing until I can see the whole city!”

            Inko laughed at her son’s enthusiasm. “I’m sure you will, Izuku. You can do anything if you put your mind to it.”

            “Mom” he suddenly said. “Do you think they’ll find Dad soon?”

            Inko flinched like somebody suddenly slapped her. A pit of guilt sunk into Izuku’s stomach, before Inko shook her head and gave him a strained smile. “Of course they will, Izuku. They’ll find clues at the papers he works in.”

            Izuku nodded. “Okay…” he said doubtfully, agreeing in the hopes that it wouldn’t make his mother sad.

            They arrived at school, and Inko waved him goodbye. “I’ll pick you up at school today, okay?”

            Izuku nodded and then went to his class. “You’re late, Izuku.” The teacher said.

            Izuku sighed. “I’m sorry, sensei. Mom wanted to walk me to school today, but she had some things to take care of before we left…”

            The teacher nodded. “Your mother called about the situation. You and she have my condolences.”

            One of the kids piped from the back of the class. “What happened Izuku?”

            Izuku shook his head. “I don’t wanna talk about it…”

 "It's none of your or any of the rest of the class's business what happened." The teacher sternly replied. "It's a family manner, and that's that."

            Izuku took his seat right next to Bakugou, who for once wasn’t glaring at him. True, his face looked dour, but it didn’t have the heat behind it. 

            “You know he’s not coming back, right?” Bakugou said to Izuku’s confusion.

            “What are you talking about?” Izuku asked.

 "Your mom called my mom last night after she put you to bed," Bakugou said with a grunt. “Asked about the last time she saw your old man.”

            Izuku’s eyes widened. “W-w-what?”

            “Your mom told us what happened. She was crying the whole time, saying how the police were searching for him but she didn’t know what to do. Mom spent most of the nice telling her how everything was gonna be alright and how they'd find him. That was the quietest I'd ever heard her talk…" 

            “Kachan…” Izuku whispered, a sense of unease growing in his stomach. Bakugou knew what happened to his father? What was he trying to do?

            “I’m gonna give it to you straight since no one else is gonna” Bakugou grunted. “Your dad’s as dead as a doornail.”

            The pit in Izuku’s stomach tightened. “No!” Izuku hissed in protest. “No, he's not!"

            The dour look on Bakugou’s face reverts to a glare. "Don't be stupid, Deku. I know you heard to gunshots. If he’s not dead, then he’d never come back if he had any sense. You’d be less danger that way.”

            “Dad is alive, Kachan!” Izuku insisted. “And I’m gonna find him! I know it!”

            Bakugou snorted. “Whatever helps you sleep at night, Deku. Don’t go crying to me you realize the truth. If you know what’s good for you, forget about him.”

            Izuku opened his mouth to speak, but the teacher slammed her heavy book on the desk. “Izuku and Katsuki! Be quiet and let me teach the class!”

            Izuku and Bakugou didn’t speak to each other for the rest of the day. When the bell rang for the end of class, Izuku’s mother was waiting for him at the entrance. She blinked as she noticed the look on her son’s face. “Izuku, are you all right?”

 "I'm okay, mom," Izuku said silently. “Katsuki just said some mean things, that’s all.”

            Inko gave her son a sad look. “It was about your father, wasn’t it?”

            Izuku nodded. "He said that dad was dead and that if I knew what was good for myself, I'd forget about him." 

            “What a terrible child” Inko muttered, completely unsurprised. “I knew I shouldn’t have told Mitsuki…” She looked at Izuku and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Don't listen to him, sweetie. We'll find him."

            Izuku nodded unsurely. “I know…”

            Inko smiled at him. “Let’s get home.” She said, gripping his hand and pulling him along.

            They walked in silence for a while. Izuku was too upset to practice his earth sense, so he settled on watching the people as they went by, taking note of their clothes, their appearances, and what they were doing. He kept doing this until they were under a bridge connecting to buildings together, with a staircase leading up to it. 

            Then, there was an explosion that rattled Izuku and Inko. Izuku looked behind to see some arising from a tall building a few blocks away.

            The people around them went nuts. “It’s a villain!” one of them cried, as they dashed up the stairs to get a closer look.

            Izuku’s heart leaped in excitement. Even if the rest of the day was terrible, seeing heroes defeat villains and protect the citizens always brings a smile to his face. "Mom, let's go see!" he cried. 

            Inko laughed at his enthusiasm as he pulled his mother up the stairs. “Okay, okay Izuku! Slow down!”

            They made it to the top of the bridge, where they saw a hooded figure in black jump off from near the build they were from. The villain was holding a container of some kind, and whatever was inside was apparently significant enough to warrant two heroes to chase him. Izuku couldn’t recognize them, but whoever they were, they were getting left behind.

             Just before the villain could get out of sight, a deep voice boomed through the street. "I am here!" A yellow blur swept over the bridge, and before the hooded villain could react, the yellow blur smacked him into the street so hard that a cloud of dust burst into the air. 

             The yellow blur stopped right in the building, and Izuku squealing in delight at the sight of his favorite hero. It was All Might, dressed in a yellow suit with red stripes like he had been on his way to a formal event. His golden hair was styled as such that it looked like he had two horns sticking from the top of his head. It should have seemed ridiculous, but Izuku thought he made them look cool. But the most striking feature in Izuku’s opinion was All Might's piercing blue eyes. They always shined so brightly, and they could look comforting and warm one moment, and then cold and angry the next. Now that the villain was defeated, they looked warm as he beamed down at the citizens below.

            “Fear not citizens!” he called. “The villain has been apprehended, and we will take him the police shortly!”

            The crowd and Izuku cheered, and Inko clapped happily. “Down in on shot!” Izuku cried.

            “And is a surprise how?” someone nearby said to him.

 "He is number #1, sweetie," Inko said, ruffling her son’s hair. “Of course, he’d be able to handle someone so weak.”

            “I guess so” Izuku nodded.

            “Still…” Inko said with a smile. “To be so strong that you can stand up to any villain, and yet be so kind that you protect everyone… you have to admire someone like that.”

            Izuku looked into his mom’s dark green eyes, and for the first time in a while, they were bright with happiness. He noticed her eyes always lit up when she saw heroes do their job and protect the innocent, especially All Might. Like with Izuku, heroes never failed to bring a smile to her face. Izuku certainly couldn’t make her smile like that…

            Izuku looked back at the street just in time to see All Might jump into the air, and he watched the number one hero soar until he was out of sight.

           All Might… No matter what happened, no matter what he had to fight, he always had a smile on his face. No matter how terrible things got, All Might still did his best to keep everyone safe and defeat whatever came his way. He always came through in the end, and mad everyone feels safe and happy in the end.

            If only he could be like that….

            Izuku clenched his hand and looked up at his mother. “Mom, I’m gonna be a hero.” He said.

            “What?” Inko asked.

            “I’m gonna be a hero, just like All Might," Izuku said, and Inko could see a passion behind his eyes. “I’m gonna be someone who can protect everyone with a smile on my face. Someone who can make you smile, just like he can.”

            “Izuku…” Inko whispered. Then, she gave a little chuckle, before leaning down and wrapping her arms around him. “Izuku, my little ball of sunshine… you already make me smile as he can…"

Chapter Text

Weeks passed by, which turned to months, and Izuku and Inko still heard no word about Hisashi from the police. They found nothing at Heroes and Villains Weekly, and they couldn't see any paper trials from his bank account. They assured him that they'd keep working, but as the weeks went on, Izuku's hopes grew smaller and smaller. Despite how much he'd try not to, he cried whenever the police gave him no news of his father, which led to his mother comforting him, saying that his father would be found eventually. Later those evenings, Izuku would often see his mother crying on the couch alone, and he'd walk up and hold her.

Since Hisashi was no longer present, Inko had to find work to support herself and Izuku. After a week of searching, she was offered a job at Heroes and Villains Weekly as an editor. From then on, she was often working, either at the office or at home on her laptop. As a result, Izuku was often alone. His mother gradually taught him how to do certain things whenever she had free time, like how to cook rice to feed himself or how to clean, so Izuku knew how to take care of himself. Still, even though Izuku understood the reasons why, he missed her often, and he wanted his mother by him again. But if there was one thing he learned since he discovered his Quirk, it’s that things can’t always be how he wanted to be…

It wasn’t all bad though. On the occasions where Inko had free time, Inko would help Izuku develop his Quirk however she could. True, she couldn’t do very much, but Izuku loved the time she spent with him regardless. Every weekend, Izuku would visit Riku, and with the badgermole’s help, he’d practice rigorously with his geokinetic power and earthly senses. He’d send rocks flying with his punches and kicks. He’d lift rocks into the air for as long as he could and gradually increase the size he could carry. He’d dig into the earth to feel as many vibrations as he possibly could. And like that, as the months went by, slowly but surely, Izuku’s Earthbending became stronger.

Over the months that Izuku and Riku had spent together, they had developed an almost psychic connection. He couldn't really explain it. It was sort of like that he and the creature could just understand each other, sometimes without even the need for words. Whenever Izuku had had a particularly bad day, Izuku would use Riku's fluffy body as a pillow as he told him everything that had happened, and the badgermole would nod in understanding, and communicate back to Izuku as well as it could with grunts and motions that Izuku was better able to translate over time. It was strange, but the badgermole understood Izuku in ways that no child his age could, and Izuku was happy to call Riku his best friend.

Over time, instead of staying by the lake to train, they wandered the forest, navigating through the trees with just their seismic sense alone. They’d climb the mountain all the way to the top, using Earthbending to help keep their pace. But Izuku's favorite place to go by far was the cave. At first, Izuku didn't want to go anywhere near that pitch-black place, even with his seismic sense. But one day, after Izuku and Riku had finished their regular practice with seismic sense, instead of sitting down to watch Izuku practice, the badgermole sauntered towards the cave.

“Riku?” Izuku wondered, walking towards the badgermole, but stopping as he neared the mouth of the cave. Riku halted as well, looking back at Izuku and beckoning his head towards the mouth of the year, as if to say, “Follow me.” With that, Riku vanished into the darkness of the cave.

Izuku stared at the mouth of the cave, a lump forming at his throat at the prospect of going into the cave without a light. But as he stood there, he felt the enormous footsteps of the badgermole on the balls of his feet. Through that, he could sense the winding path inside the mountain, and that, despite the badgermole’s blindness, Riku was navigating the cavern correctly. If Riku could do it with no eyes, why couldn't Izuku?

 Taking a deep breath to steel his nerves, Izuku walked into the darkness of the cave. On the first few steps, there was still enough light for Izuku to vaguely make out his surroundings. Then, the trial took a sharp turn, and Izuku found himself in pitch black. Izuku put his hand in front of his face, and he couldn't see anything, and the only thing that he could hear was his jittery breath. Panic welled up in Izuku's chest, and he couldn't breathe. It was almost like the darkness was trying to suffocate him…

Calm down…

 Izuku's breathing steadied, and he focused on the balls of feet until he felt the heartbeat of the earth. Then, he opened his eyes, and when he started walking again, he could sense everything in the cave. It was almost like he was seeing the walls and floors in greyscale with every step he took. It wasn't as detailed as his vision, but he could certainly find his way through the cave. Izuku grinned, reaching out with his seismic sense until he felt the bulky mass of a certain badgermole a significant distance below him. With his goal in sight, Izuku ran.

“Riku!” Izuku shouted, his voice echoing through the cave as he stopped right in front of the badgermole’s face. “Why did you…?”

 Riku snorted and thumped its tail, making the cave tremble slightly. Then, the badgermole thrust its claws into the wall, and the earth broke away, creating a branching trial in the mountain. 

“Woah!” Izuku jumped in surprise. “Did you just… make another tunnel?”

 Riku snorted in confirmation, and then flicked its tail at Izuku.

“You want me to add more to the tunnel?” Izuku asked.

Riku nodded and looked at Izuku expectantly.

"Okay," Izuku replied, bending his knees into a stable stance. He took a deep breath to gather his focus. Then, he stomped his right foot to make the wall crack apart, stomped his left foot to move the wall around the broken rock, and then shoved out with his arms to push the displaced earth away. To his delight, he had driven the wall of the cave a good five feet away.

"I did it!" Izuku cried, looking at Riku for acknowledgment. The badgermole nodded but was still staring at Izuku.

 “You want me to do it again, don’t you?” Izuku asked with dread. Riku nodded, and Izuku sighed. “Okay then…”

Izuku spent the rest of that day burrowing into the mountain with his Quirk. It was difficult at first since Izuku could only manage to push about three feet of earth away at once. Furthermore, the complete darkness meant Izuku had to rely entirely on his seismic sense tell him where he was digging and what was ahead of him. Despite this, Izuku pushed on, pushing his tremor sense as far as they could go and doing his best to move more and more rock.

After some indeterminate amount of time, Izuku was gasping for breath, and his arms and legs felt like they were going to fall off, but he was still going. He could feel it in his feet that he was almost at the end. He just needed one… more… PUSH!

With one final thrust of Izuku’s arms, daylight filled the tunnel, burning Izuku’s eyes. He slammed his hand to cover his eyes and collapsed, his limbs finally giving out in protest.

Izuku stayed curled up on the ground for about a minute before Riku nudged him with his bulk.

“I don’t wanna get up…" Izuku moaned. Riku growled and pushed Izuku off his back with his massive muzzle. "AH!" Izuku cried as sunbeams hit his eyes. "Okay, I'll get up! Geez!" With that, Izuku hobbled to his feet, put his hand just above his eyes so that the light would hit him all at once, and looked around.

As Izuku’s eyes adjusted, he saw that he had excavated a tunnel all the way through the mountain. It was the late afternoon, with the sun just about set in the sky. The forest stretched in front of him in an endless sea of green. In the distance, Izuku thought he heard the rapids of a river.

“We made it…” Izuku sighed, leaning on Riku’s head. “But… why did you want me to do this?”

Riku gestured towards Izuku with his claws, then at his eyes, then towards the ground.

"See… through the earth?" Izuku asked.

Riku nodded. Then, the badgermole moved a small rock a few inches, pressed its paws together, and then expanded them outwards in a ball.

“Expand…” Izuku stopped to think about what the badgermole was saying. “And expand my Quirk?”

The badgermole nodded, before urging Izuku onto his neck with a nudge. Izuku complied, climbing onto the badgermole’s back before letting his body turn to mush.

“Thank you, Riku…”

Earthbending wasn't the only thing Izuku threw himself into with all his being. Since the day he watched All Might, Izuku gathered as much information about heroes as he possibly could. He watched their fights on the news, he read every Hero book that he could get his hands on, and he looked up their deeds and biographies on the internet. At first, this was done in the hopes that Izuku could incorporate some of their battle strategies into his own abilities. Izuku looked up as much as he could about All Might. His beliefs, his powers, his methodology, anything about him that could be found. The more Izuku found out, the more and more Izuku idolized him, wanted to be like him. Even after all the heroes Izuku looked up and learned to respect, he had never seen someone like All Might. Someone who was that strong, kind, and just so good at his job! According to the books, he singlehandedly lowered the global crime rate to incredible levels! The more Izuku learned about the number one hero, the more inspired he became to better himself, to become as strong and as smart as he could possibly be. And as the months became years, Izuku became utterly dedicated himself to improving his powers and skills and doing as well as he could in his classes. So, he could be a hero that his parents would be proud of… one that even All Might could look up to.

 Izuku stopped trying to make friends with Bakugou. He figured that all his attempts to reconcile just made Bakugou angrier at him and that he just needed time to calm down on his own. But even as more and more time went on, Bakugou never stopped being mean to Izuku, never ended yelling at him or hitting him, never stopped calling him worthless or attacking him over the most minor of slights. Izuku tried to ignore it, tried to maintain hope that Bakugou would forgive him eventually but… he never did. In fact, it seemed that Izuku's dedication to improving himself made Bakugou angrier, as whenever he'd see Izuku practice, he'd try to stop him, or make fun of him.

 Come to think of it, he was made fun of by much of the class. Whenever he got excited about heroes and tried to tell his classmates what he knew, they'd laugh at him, call him an "otaku" or "creepy" or "freak." They'd laugh at him for not wearing shoes, for being so dedicated to his school work and his powers. Whenever any did try to get close to Izuku, Bakugou would walk up to them and pull them aside, and they'd be too scared to talk to Izuku anymore. Izuku spoke to his mother about this, and she kept telling him that it wasn't his fault, that they just couldn't understand him, but… it didn't make him feel any better. His mother had tried to talk to the teachers once, but they didn't really do anything about it. His mother said it was because Bakugou was the top student in the class and had such a great Quirk, but that didn't make sense to Izuku. Even if Bakugou was those things, that didn't mean he could just do whatever he wanted right? That didn't mean that the teachers would just ignore it…Right?

….

The months became years, and Hisashi Midoriya was still never found. The police stopped giving Inko reports consistently, sometimes taking months to make an update. Whenever the reports did come in, Izuku's heart would feel like it was made of lead for a moment, but curiously, he didn't start crying he would have before, and neither would his mother. Maybe they had just gotten used to being let down… or maybe in their minds, Hisashi was already dead… He didn't like either one of those alternatives, and he'd excuse himself to practice his Quirk with Riku.

Maybe it was just that they had other things to worry about in front of them. One day, Izuku arrived home from school to find his mother shouting through the phone. “What do mean, ‘he’s suing us?’ He’s threatened us before, what’s so different now?”

“Mom?” Izuku asked, wondering what his mother so upset about.

Inko didn’t answer as the person’s voice on the other end of the line garbled out to Izuku. “So his bullheadedness gets the wrong person in jail, and he’s taking it out on us for reporting it.” Inko groaned as she rubbed the bridge of her nose. “How many people has he pocketed so this story won’t get out…?”

Izuku didn’t say a word as his mother moaned warily. “What are we going to do, then…?” Inko was silent for a moment, nodding as the other person on the phone spoke. “Okay… okay, I’ll be there. Let’s just meet so we can prepare for the trial… Okay… good-bye.” With that, Inko hung out, pressing her hands to her forehead with a groan.

“Mom?” Izuku called, getting his mother’s attention.

“Izuku…” she sighed, heading over to her son. “You always have the worst timing….”

“What happened?” Izuku asked as his mother pulled him close to her.

Izuku felt her tense at his question. "Oh, nothing your mom can't handle." She said, her voice tight like a bowstring. "The #2-ranked hero's is just flaming because someone tried to report that he injured the wrong man in a case."

Izuku swallowed at that. Even at seven years old, he knew all about Endeavor, the Flame Hero. Besides All Might, he had solved the most cases out of any Hero in Japan. But none of the articles he read about the fire user had failed to mention his utter ruthlessness on the job, his tendencies to cause a disproportionate amount of property damage, and his horrible attitude towards the people he was supposed to be protecting. There were even rumors that he had a “Quirk Marriage” with his wife, though Izuku doubted that was true…

“Endeavor’s mad that you’re telling people that he hurt someone?”

Inko nodded. “He’s tried to get the magazine to stop publishing the story, but we refused. Now he’s trying to sue the magazine for everything we’ve got…”

Izuku’s heart skipped a beat. “But… you work there!” the boy cried, pulling away from his mother.

"That's exactly why I'm going to court with the rest of my team," Inko said. "We're going to give it all we've got but…" Inko sighed, looking out the window with a wistful expression. "Izuku… Mom's not sure if I'm going to be able to keep her job. Endeavor's a wealthy man, and we're such a small company. In a legal battle, we're very unlikely to win…"

“So what are we going to do…?” Izuku asked.

“Whatever we can” Inko said. “We can get through this. We just need to be smart.”

Izuku nodded. “Okay…”

"I… I think I'm going to have to teach you a few things," Inko said. "I might not be able to be around the house as much, so you'll have to be able to look after yourself."

“Okay…” Izuku said.

“Hey…” Inko said softly with a smile. “Learning to cook will be nice, right? You’ll be able to make the rice for that katsudon¹ you love so much.”

Izuku’s mouth watered at the mention of his favorite food. “I’d love that…”

At that, Inko looked at the clock in their living room. “Oh… look at the time. Come, let’s go into the kitchen. I’ll give you a lesson right now…”

….

Throughout the next week, Inko spent as much time as she could teaching Izuku all she could about how to prepare food. From steaming rice to making stew, to cutting up ingredients for a salad, Inko insisted that Izuku knew enough to feed himself so long as there was food in the house. Izuku made sure to listen to all of it, because despite his mother's attempts to seem confident, Izuku couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to happen. That Izuku was going to be seeing his mother even less than before…

Sure enough, Inko was missing for much of next week. When she came back, she'd lean on the wall and give an exhausted sigh, before straightening her tousled hair and walking towards Izuku with a smile. Izuku asked why his mother seemed so tired, and she replied that she was working on a defense for the magazine as her bosses were scrambling to find lawyers that had enough nerve to tangle with Flame Hero.

“Have you found one yet?” Izuku asked.

“No…” Inko replied, her smile not quite reaching her eyes. “But I’m sure we’ll find one soon!”

The next day, Izuku surprised his mother with a bowl of freshly cooked rice with some bits of leftover pork warmed up in the microwave.

“Oh… thank you Izuku!” she cried, hugging her son close. “This is just what I needed after today!”

“Did you find a lawyer?” Izuku asked as his mother practically inhaled the bowl that Izuku prepared.

“Yes!” Inko said through her stuffed mouth. She swallowed. “A nice man who agreed to help us at a great price! And right on time too! The court hearings start next week!”

"You can do it, mom," Izuku said, grabbing his own bowl of katsudon and digging in.

"We have to," Inko said. "We can't let this sort of behavior from a hero go unpunished."

“Is there anything I can do to help?” Izuku asked, looking up from his bowl of rice.

Inko ruffled her son’s fluffy hair with a smile. “Just keep being you.”

….

It turned out that things couldn't go as smoothly as Izuku thought they should. It turned out that civil cases took a long time, even for something like a lawsuit over "slander." Courts are busy places, getting the case after case every day, and there are only so many days available for the court to hear arguments. On top of that, there was the procedure itself. Once Endeavor filed the lawsuit, it took ten days for Heroes and Villains Weekly to make a formal response to the complaint and ten more days for it to be processed. After that, they spent three months collecting evidence for the courts, and then the depositions, which are out-of-court meetings where a witness or expert provides testimony under oath, took four months. When Izuku asked his mother about it, she said that civil cases take a long time even in the simplest of matters, and most civil cases are solved without a trial. Here, the little magazine outlet was willing to fight tooth and nail for their right to print their story, and Endeavor wasn’t going to let up in his efforts to incinerate (no pun intended) all the paper’s assets.  

At first, Inko and Izuku were somewhat optimistic about their chances of winning. Sure, Endeavor was rich, and he and his lawyers were notoriously vicious in court, but the workers in Heroes and Villains weekly had gotten their evidence together with high speed and efficiency. The lawyer they hired was well renowned and had experience in taking on angry Pro-Heroes before. They had a decent budget, and if they were smart, they could make it work.

But as the months of the case dragged on and on, Izuku noticed how… tired his mother looked. Between struggling to complete her work for the paper and doing her part to help the tiny business fight in the court, Inko had very little energy to spare and she was always tired. Izuku tied his best to lift some of the burdens off his mother's shoulders. He cooked whenever he could, he made sure to keep the house clean, and he stayed out of the way when she needed to work on the computer, but that could only do so much. If anything, judging from the way his mother sighed when she saw him trying to help her, she seemed to get more anxious…

Now, Izuku was waiting on two things: news of his father's whereabouts and the news of his mother's lawsuit. Both often took weeks to get any meaningful update. On the police's end, it was never good news, just an update on where they haven't found his father, what possible leads that they saw, and asking if the Midoriyas had found anything. Inko and Izuku would, of course, say that they haven't, and the police would be on their way, saying they would continue searching diligently. The news of the case with Endeavor was a little better, but a lot of what Izuku's mother said was full of terms and words that Izuku couldn't understand. With what little Izuku could wrap his mind around, it didn't look good for the magazine company. His mother confessed that the court was taking its time in its decisions even more so than usual. On the surface, the court seemed unbiased like it should and was swamped with many other cases, but Inko couldn't shake the feeling that the court was dragging things out to try and convince Heroes and Villains Weekly to cave into the #2 Hero’s demands. The judge was noticeably more aggressive in his questions with the writers of the magazine than any of Endeavor’s associates. It was almost like they made up their mind about the case and were angry that the team was taking up their time… The case was so slow moving that eventually, Izuku sort of stopped paying attention to it, which suited his mother fine. She encouraged him to focus on his studies and perfecting his Quirk.

Speaking of which, once Izuku got the hang of earth levitation and launching, Izuku tried to perform some more advanced moves. From what he had seen on his forest marches with Riku, Izuku realized that his Earthbending was capable of a great deal of many things that he had only scratched the surface of. He could shake the ground with a stomp. He could raise columns, walls, and blocks from the ground or the sides of mountains and cliffs. He even could shape the slabs that he pulled out of the land however he wanted. Now, Izuku's skill with shaping wasn't perfect, but if he could get the hang of it, he could build anything that he wanted if he had enough material. Izuku also realized that his powers influenced the most minute pieces of earth, such as sand or soil grains.

One day, he even realized that his seismic sense could detect anything made of earth, even if it wasn’t connected to the ground. One day, as Izuku was practicing launching rocks, he hit the side of the mountain with such force that there was a tremor. There was a rumbling, and Izuku felt a tingling in his feet and in his brain. Izuku cried out as he spun around, making a punching motion as he did so. Before Izuku could even fully see what was happening with his eyes, the boulder that had been rolling down the hill was knocked to the side and into the lake

"Oh my gosh!" Izuku gasped as the fact that he was almost flattened by boulder caught up to him. "That was close! How did I…?" Izuku stopped, feeling that the tingling hadn't gone away. Upon realizing this, Izuku decided to do a little experiment. He closed his eyes, found the nearest rock he could feel, and launched it into the air. To his surprise, Izuku could still feel the stone as it sailed through the air and crashed into the forest.

“Hey!” Izuku called to Riku who was watching him intently from his cave. “Riku! Can you send some rocks flying for me?”

The badgemole snorted, stepping out of his cave to comply with Izuku’s request. The boy closed his eyes, letting his seismic sense activate and preparing himself. For a moment, Izuku and Riku just stood there, facing each other. Then, Izuku felt the badgermole strike the ground, and for a moment, he sensed the rock that Riku had launched at him. Izuku ducked his head to the side, and he could feel the tailwind of the stone as it sailed past him. Just as the rock hit the ground, Izuku felt another flying at his head, and he dodged that one too. There was one more stone piece heading his way, and this time, Izuku dug in with his feet and swatted at it with his arm, knocking it away with his bending.

Izuku opened his eyes and grinned at Riku. “I can feel the earth even if it’s not on the ground!”

The badgermole’s lips curled into its version of a smile, as Izuku closed his eyes again.

“Let’s go another round!”

Izuku spent the rest of the day dodging and deflecting rocks from Riku. While he managed to avoid the majority of the rocks, he got beaned quite a few times. Fortunately, it seemed that his Quirk made him more resistant to blunt force than average, so he got off with little more than a few bruises. Still, as Izuku ran home that night, he couldn't help but worry that his mother would freak out when she saw the injuries from his training.

“Mom!” Izuku cried as he ran through the door. “You’ll never guess what I found out I can do… Mom?”

His mother was holding her head in her hands, looking at the TV with a faraway expression.

“Mom?” Izuku repeated, walking towards his mother with a concerned look. “What… happened?”

Inko’s shaky eyes shifted to face Izuku. “We…” she whispered. “We lost the case…”

“What?” Izuku cried.

"We lost the case," Inko repeated, her voice hollow. "We were declared guilty of libel of an important Hero… Endeavor's taking everything…."

Izuku blinked, unable to process what he was hearing. "N…no," Izuku said, shaking his head as if it would erase what he just heard. "He can't do that… where are you going to work?"

Inko looked at Izuku, and the boy could his mother’s eyes tremble in fear and uncertainty. “I… I don’t know, sweetie. I don’t know…”

….

For the next few weeks, Izuku's mother was on a frantic search for a job. If she wasn't on her computer on job search sites, she was out in the city when Izuku was in school. Izuku did his best to stay out of his mother's way and help her however he could, but there was nothing he could do to get her a job any faster. So, he settled for making his mother meals and keeping the house clean. Izuku took good care to remember what his mother told him about conserving food. Now that she didn't have a steady source of income, they had to make their food last longer…

Unfortunately, on the week that Heroes and Villains Weekly was disbanded, Inko had been running out of food as it was, so she had to use a right amount of her precious savings on the day before she lost her job. If they were smart, they could make the food last a month, but the pressure was on for Inko to find a job that paid enough for food and the rent. Regardless of how dire the situation looked, Inko insisted that Izuku not worry about her and keep doing his best in school. Izuku tried to respect his mother's wish and focus on class, but no matter how hard he worked, he couldn't shake off the gnawing worry in his chest that week.

It certainly didn’t help that Bakugou and his friends were getting on Izuku’s case more than ever. When Izuku showed a few playmates that he could sense earth without it being on the ground, Bakugou immediately decided to throw rocks at Izuku’s head without warning. Izuku was easily able to block his attacks, but when the other members of Bakugou’s gang joined in, Izuku was overwhelmed and ran from the playground crying and covered in bruises. Bakugou and his cohorts would spend the rest of the week being on the prowl for opportunities to surprise Izuku with a “Think fast” and a rock to the face.

Honestly, when Sunday came along, Izuku was looking forward to his rigorous training with Riku. It would be a nice change of pace from the stressful atmosphere at home and being on edge at school.

“Hey, Riku!” Izuku called as he ran around the lake to the badgermole’s cave with his picnic basket in hand. “I’m so glad to see you! This week’s been rough!”

Riku gave a pleasant purr as Izuku wrapped his arms around his snout. Then, the badgermole carried Izuku over near the edge of the water and set the boy down, looking at the boy intently.

“Mom lost her job the other day.” Izuku murmured, knowing Riku could hear with his sensitive ears. “She’s looking for a new one now but… there’s not much out there. If she doesn’t find one, we might not be able to pay the rent. We might even run out of food…”

Izuku sniffled, wiping his eyes before continuing in a feeble voice. “Mom… she’s… she’s trying so hard, you know? She’s working all day every day so that she can take care of me. She keeps telling me not to worry about it, but I see how it’s hurting her every day, especially since Dad isn’t here. I sometimes hear her crying at night when she thinks I’m asleep. She’s trying to make it seem like everything’s okay, so I don’t worry, but I know it’s not okay.”

Izuku felt tears rolled down his cheeks as he finished. “I… want to help her, but I don’t know how…” Suddenly, Izuku felt a warm and wet tongue lick his face. The green haired opened his eyes as Riku nuzzled his face, trying to comfort the boy. In response, Izuku wrapped his arms around the badgermole’s neck and buried his face into his fur.

They stayed like that for quite some time, listening to the wind stir in the leaves and ripple in the water. Then, the badgermole nudged Izuku off him and headed towards the forest, gesturing with its head to tell Izuku to follow him. Izuku sprung from his feet and ran to catch up as Riku disappeared into the trees.

The forest was quiet as the boy, and the badgermole walked, save for the occasional croak of squirrel toads and the high-pitched trumpeting of the elephant rats that scampered across the leafy floor. At one point, Izuku almost had a heart attack when he caught the sight of an armadillo bear lurking in the trees, growling at Izuku, only for it to scurry away with a frightened groan when Riku chucked a rock at its head.

“Where are we going?” Izuku demanded after he caught his breath from the shock. “There are scary animals here!”

Riku simply gave a low rumble and kept walking. Izuku sighed, preparing himself to walk for another hour when his foot crunched on something soft and round. Izuku moved his foot to see that he had crushed some sort of red fruit.

“Is… this a cherry?” Izuku asked, glancing up to direct the question at the badgermole. Then, he saw where the badgermole was heading. It was a Satonishiki cherry tree, the tiny, deep red fruit standing in brilliant contrast to the green leaves. The cherries swayed tantalizingly as the wind blew through the forest, knocking a few of them down to the ground. As Izuku’s eyes followed a cherry that fell, he saw that Riku had brought him to a small orchard of about twelve cherry trees growing close by each other.

"I…" Izuku muttered. "I didn't know there was fruit growing here… and so much too…" As Izuku said this, he walked towards Riku, who had curled his large furry body underneath the base of one of the cherry trees. Izuku giggled a little as the badgermole started picking cherries off the ground with its tongue. For something so huge, Riku looked surprisingly cute like this.

As Izuku stepped in front of Riku, a thought occurred to him. "I wonder if mom likes cherries…" With that, Izuku stumped his foot to raise a block of earth and used the block as a stool to climb onto the tree.

Izuku spent that morning filling his basket with cherries. Since his basket was rather large, it took about an hour for Izuku to completely load the straw basket. When he was done, Izuku went straight home. His mother was delighted when she saw the basket of the little red fruit and promised she'd try and make something good with them before they spoiled.

The next time Izuku visited, the badgermole took him into the forest again. This time, the boy and the badgermole found mushrooms and budo berries that Riku assured weren't poisonous by eating them himself. When Izuku brought them home in his basket, his mother looked the mushrooms up and confirmed that they were, in fact, editable and preserved them in the fridge. 

It was around this time that Inko finally managed to gain a job as an assistant librarian. According to his mother, the pay was less, but it was still better than nothing. It just meant that she had to work for more hours to make ends meet. When Izuku expressed concern about that, his mother waved him off, saying that it wasn’t a bother for her, so long as she could make ends meet.

Regardless of this news, it didn't stop Riku from showing Izuku where to get food in the forest. Once Izuku had a pretty good idea where all the fruits, mushrooms, and herbs were, Riku tried to teach the boy how to fish. Try being the operative word because Riku's huge claws and paws were just an unfair advantage, and whatever fish were still left were too scared to go the bottom of the lake. Fortunately, Izuku was able to make a solution. With a carving knife that he dug up from the dumpster, Izuku fashioned a makeshift spear from a sturdy branch. With a little bit of trial and error, he had speared a small, but delicious looking fish for himself.

“Yes!” Izuku cheered, pulling the fish off his stick and putting it into his ice basket. “Let’s see if I can get more!”

His mother was somewhat surprised that Izuku had actually been able to spear fish by himself. She was glad for the free food, though Izuku swore he heard her grumbling about needing to gut and scale it.

Since Inko had found a job, Izuku didn't very many weekends foraging for food, but it was nice to have food on the fly during training, and it was an excellent fallback for periods when Inko didn't have very much money to spend. Plus, the smile that a basket of berries or a large fish brought to Inko's face always made Izuku happy. It really seemed that, despite what hardships they faced, things were going to turn out alright. They could hold out until his father was found.

….

 When Izuku was ten years old, Hisashi Midoriya was declared dead. If Izuku were honest, he had been expecting this years ago. It didn't crush him, make him want to scream, or even cry. Instead, he just felt…numb. He vaguely heard his mother hang up from the phone and his mother sat down next to him. 

“Izuku…” his mother began, her voice hollow.

“I need to get some air.” Izuku quickly said and walked out the door before she could say anything more.

Izuku stepped out into the baloney, the pale moonlight reflecting off the metal. He sighed, feeling the cold air on his skin as his thoughts swirled in his head. 

 It just… it just didn't feel real. Sure, he couldn't remember very much of his father, but he always had hope that he could be found. As time went on, and fewer reports came in, it had diminished, but it never died completely. Now… to actually consider his father dead, to give up any thought of seeing him again…

Tears blurred Izuku’s vision, and before he could stop himself, he started to sob. He wiped away tears, trying desperately to keep himself from crying, but the tears kept falling.

Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, Izuku saw something on the ground below. He blinked through his tears, squinting to make out what he was seeing. After Izuku wiped his eyes one last time, he saw it.

It was a person in a dark cloak, and it was staring right at him.

Izuku's heart leaped to his throat as he stumbled back, tripping over the door in his fear.

“Izuku!” his mother cried, running over to him. “Are you…?”

“There’s someone out there!” Izuku shouted, pointing at the door.

“What?” Inko gasped.

“There! A man in a hood! On the ground!”

Inko rushed out to the balcony. “There’s nothing there!” Inko said.

“What?” Izuku said, running out next to his mother. Sure enough, there was no one there.

“But…” Izuku gasped in disbelief. “I…”

“Izuku…” Inko said sadly, shaking her head. “You were just seeing things… I know you’re upset about your father but please…”

Izuku looked at his mother, noticing how she was shaking. “Mom…” Izuku whispered gently putting his hand on her shoulder.

Inko sniffled, tears starting to fall. She didn't need to say anymore. Izuku wrapped his arms around his mother and pulled her tight to his chest as she began to sob uncontrollably.

It took a while for his mother to calm down enough to go inside, but Izuku was sure, or at least he hoped, that his mother hadn't noticed his own tears. She had too much to deal with as it was.

….

The numbness in Izuku’s mind didn’t go away for the rest of the night, and it persisted when he awoke that morning. His mind was on autopilot as he got ready for the day. As he ate breakfast, he heard his mother talking about preparing funeral rites for his father, but he did really process what she was saying.

“Are you going to be okay, Izuku?” his mother asked. “You… don’t have to go to school today…. I know how hard all this must be for you…”

"I'll be fine mom," Izuku said with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "I can take a break tomorrow when it's Sunday…"

Inko looked at her son with doubtful eyes and then gave a weary sigh. "Okay… Just please… take care of yourself…"

"Of course, mom."

Izuku walked to show with a mechanical familiarity. He had walked this path so many times that he didn't even need his seismic sense to navigate it. Not that he had been paying attention to his walk anyway. He was staring entirely at what was in front of him because it was merely the most comfortable direction to look while stewing in his thoughts. It wasn't until he almost got ran over by a truck that Izuku could have been bothered to start paying attention. He really didn't want his mother mourning for another family member so soon.

Around halfway through his walk, Izuku started to feel something other than the hollow pit in his chest. Almost like he was being watched…

When Izuku’s foot hit the ground, he felt an unfamiliar person standing in an alleyway to his right. And from the way his head was positioned, he was looking right at Izuku.

Izuku’s head turned toward the alley as quick as lightning, but he didn’t see anyone there. Izuku blinked, staring at the dark alley as the uneasiness grew in his chest. But no matter how long he looked, there was nothing there. Izuku took an uncertain step backward, before taking off into a sprint towards his school. He'd be safe there, right?

…

It said something when Izuku thought that the school day passed far too fast for once. No matter how hard Izuku tried to concentrate on his lessons, he just could find it in his heart to pay attention. Everything that the teacher said went through one ear and out the other. Strangely though, none of the teachers decided to call on him like they usually did. Maybe they already knew…

It suited Izuku fine though. It just meant he could go through the motions of the day with no problem. He didn’t have to really think about anything. He just had to stare at the board and write down what was on there. No need to think about his father being presumed dead or that he might have someone stalking him….

“Oi!”

Izuku’s eyes turned to look at Bakugou, who was glaring at him from his desk.

“Just because you finally have to face facts now doesn’t mean you have to have that look on your face.”

Izuku flinched at the hostility, entirely taken off guard by the implications. Then, he gritted his teeth and glared his former friend. "What's that supposed to mean…?"

“Who else does Aunty Inko call when her life goes to shit?” Bakugou grumbled. “I heard the news, Deku. And I was right about your dad, wasn’t I?”

Izuku’s blood boiled at his bully’s callousness. “You…!”

“Will the two of you be quiet back there?” the teacher shouted. “I am trying to teach a class here!”

The two didn’t say another word to each other after that. When the bell rang, Izuku couldn’t get out fast enough. He went straight to his locker to get his things and get out. Then he could put the rest of this day behind him…

“Deku!”

 Izuku could practically feel the hairs on his arms stick up in irritation. He shook his head, not even bothering to acknowledge the other boy's presence. 

“Hey! Don’t ignore me! I’m not done with you, Deku!”

Izuku sighed. He didn’t have the energy to deal with Bakugou right now. But if he just ignored him, he wouldn’t leave him alone…

“What do you want, Katsuki?” he curtly replied as he rounded on Bakugou.

Bakugou stopped as well, glowering at Izuku with his blood-red eyes. “There’s something I wanna settle.”

Izuku didn’t even get time to respond as Bakugou turned around and walked away. Izuku heart clenched. Bakugou was baiting him, and he was so sure Izuku would listen that he wasn't even going to wait. If Izuku really wanted, he could have left right then and gone home. But…

Izuku thought back to when Bakugou first hurt him back at the river. Back when he first bullied that boy in the playground and hurt Izuku when he tried to stop him. Back when Bakugou told him to his face that his dad was dead even though there was no hard evidence at the time to support it…

Every single time, Bakugou had hurt Izuku. And Izuku just let him…

Izuku clenched his fist as Bakugou walked out the door. No more. He wasn't going just to sit there and take it from Bakugou anymore. Izuku wanted this to stop, and if he had to face Bakugou head on, so be it.

With that final thought. Izuku slammed his locker shut and made his way outside.

….

If Izuku had enough energy to make a comment, he would have said it was funny that the sun was still shining on such a terrible day, especially since he had a feeling it was about to get so much worse. But regardless of what he was personally feeling, the sun was positively radiant that afternoon, and there wasn’t a single cloud in the azure sky.

It was no wonder that kids were still hanging around the playground that day. Even though the school had been out for several minutes, other children were hanging on the monkey bars or swinging on the swings or chasing each other around the playground. Maybe if this were any other day, Izuku would be joining them.

But he wasn’t there to have fun. He was there for Bakugou.

Izuku looked around, scanning the playground until he spotted a familiar head of spiky blonde hair. Bakugou was standing in the dead center of the playground, tapping his foot impatiently as he scowled in Izuku’s direction. If Izuku hazarded to guess, he would have assumed that Bakugou wanted an audience for whatever he dragged him out here to do.

Izuku sighed, not wanting to waste any more time, and stepped towards Bakugou.

“Took you long enough” Bakugou grumbled, straining what little patience Izuku had been feeling.

“What do you want, Katsuki?” Izuku demanded, struggling to keep the irritation out of his voice.

"I want you to admit it," Bakugou said, shrugging and looking at Izuku with an impassive expression on his face. For a person that was always either glaring or smiling like a manic, Bakugou being that calm seemed… wrong.

“Admit what?” Izuku asked, the question coming out hotter than he intended.

“Admit that I was right the whole time…” Bakugou replied. “That I told you so.”

Izuku glared at the blonde. “No… Even you’re not this petty… You are not talking about…”

The blond gave Izuku a malicious, far-too-pleased grin. “It’s like I said, Deku. Your dad’s as dead as a doornail. You didn’t have to hear from a cop to know that.”

Izuku growled the fact that there were people around watching him being the only thing stopping him from going for Bakugou’s throat. “And why does that make you so happy?”

Bakugou snorted. “Stupid Deku. Isn’t it obvious? It means I was right, and you were wrong. It’s as simple as that.” And with that, Bakugou laughed.

Bakugou Katsuki, the person who had been his friend, who wanted to be a hero, was laughing. Laughing at the fact his father was dead.

“WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!”

Bakugou stopped laughing, giving Izuku the most bewildered look. In the back of his mind, Izuku noticed that the other children had stopped to look at the two boys, but Izuku didn’t care. He was far too angry.

"I'VE DONE NOTHING TO YOU!" Izuku screamed. "All I'VE EVER DONE WAS TRY TO HELP YOU AND BE YOUR FRIEND! AND YOU'VE SPAT ON ME AT EVERY TURN! I EVEN TRIED TO GIVE YOU SPACE, AND YOU STILL KEEP HURTING ME! WHAT KIND OF PERSON WOULD BE HAPPY THAT HIS BEST FRIEND'S FATHER DIED?!"

Bakugou’s eye twitched, and his smile faded into a penetrating glare. “Help me? Why would I ever need the help of a wimp like you? You’re a stepping stone, just like the rest of the extras at this trash school.”

Izuku’s blood boiled again. “Extras?” he shouted. “That’s what you think of everyone? Just extras you can bully to make yourself feel better?”

"Who cares how I treat them?" Bakugou growled. "They're so far below me, they're like ants. It doesn't matter how they feel. I'm gonna be Number One.”

“Number one?” Izuku spat. “You can’t mean the Number One Hero.”

“I can and do.” Bakugou retorted.

 "Bakugou," Izuku said. "You literally just told me that you don't care how you treat others just because you're stronger than them. Someone who thinks they can treat others however they want just because of their strength isn't a hero. They're a villain."

Bakugou growled at Izuku’s words. “Take… it… back….”

“I won’t!” Izuku insisted. “You’re not a Hero, Bakugou. If anything, you’re the most villainous person I’ve ever met!”

“At least I’m not so weak my father decided he’d rather be dead than be with me!”

Something broke inside Izuku at those words. Before his mind had even caught up with his body, Izuku’s fist met Bakugou's face with a crack. Izuku felt the blood from Bakugou's nose meet his fist, but he couldn't bring himself to feel any remorse. Instead, he felt satisfied. Good. Proud of the fact that he had hurt the one who'd hurt him so much.

“Holy shit!” a boy cried as Bakugou regained his bearings. “Midoriya just decked Bakugou!”

Before Izuku could make a snarky comeback, Bakugou’s fist hit his jaw. Izuku doubled back, rubbing his jaw as Bakugou returned his glare with a look of sheer loathing. Izuku heard other kids start to gather around him, watching the scuffle with fascination and excitement. 

“Deku…!” Bakugou growled. “You’re not gonna live to regret that!”

“Kick his ass, Bakugou!” someone cheered as Bakugou pounced. Izuku ignored this cheer and reacted fast, kicking Bakugou away before he hit him and swinging at Bakugou while he was reeling. Unfortunately, Bakugou was tougher than Izuku expected and countered with a punch to the jaw. As Izuku was dazed from the blow, Bakugou dashed around Izuku, grabbed his arms, and then pinned them behind his back.

“Beg Deku!” Bakugou yelled as the kids around them cheered. “Beg, and I might just let it go this time!”

Izuku screamed, slamming the back of his head on Bakugou’s face and elbowing him in the stomach, making the blonde double over in pain. Izuku exploited this moment of weakness by tackling Bakugou into the ground and punching him in the face.

“How do you like it?” Izuku screamed as he slammed his fist into Bakugou’s face again and again. “This is how you make me feel every! Single! DAY! How are you going to be the Number One Hero if you can’t even beat me?”

"Fuck you!" Bakugou roared. He slammed his palm into Izuku's stomach and suddenly, Izuku's side burned as he was blown away by a miniature explosion. Izuku screamed as he hit the ground, holding his charred stomach with tears in his eyes. He heard something clatter against the field and saw that his phone had fallen out of his pocket.

Bakugou’s red eyes burned with hatred as he glared at Izuku menacingly. The children that had been so excited to see Bakugou crush another weakling started backing off, uncomfortable and intimated by the fact that Bakugou had actually pulled out his Quirk. Using your Quirk at all without a Hero license, much less on a person, was unthinkable, not to mention illegal. Things were starting to get out of hand…

 “Listen here, you worthless Deku…” Bakugou said, voice dripping with malice. “I am going to be the Number One Hero. I am going to be the one that will surpass All Might! And trash like you will just be another stepping stone for me to become strong enough to see that day! Understand?!”

Despite the pain in his chest, Izuku slowly forced himself to his feet, not intimated by the blonde’s attempt at dominance. “You’ll never be a tenth of the Hero All Might is…”

“DIE!” Bakugou roared as he lunged for Izuku. But before he even finished his move, Izuku sensed how he was going to attack with his seismic radar and stomped his foot. An earthen column burst from the ground and hit Bakugou right in the chest.

“Gah!” Bakugou cried as he hit the ground hard on his side. As he struggled to get up, Izuku swung his hands upwards, and then pushed, causing a wave of earth to ripple towards Bakugou. Bakugou only had time to widen his eyes in shock before the earthen wave knocked him away, sending him crashing into monkey bars.

Izuku watched with ought most caution as Bakugou groaned. This… this is wrong. He shouldn’t be doing this. He wanted to be like All Might. He shouldn’t be enjoying this. He shouldn’t be using his Quirk like this. He shouldn’t…

Bakugou's grumbling snapped him back to reality. "Fucking Deku…" he said as he staggered to his feet. "You've been training with your stupid Quirk…"

“It’s not a crime to practice your Quirk in private, Bakugou.” Izuku retorted defensively. “It’s not my fault you can’t keep up.”

Bakugou growled in a fury. "YOU'RE NOT THE ONLY ONE WHOSE BEEN TRAINING, DEKU!" he screamed. Suddenly, he swung his hand down to his side, and there was a ringing boom as an explosion flashed through the playground. When Izuku’s vision cleared, Bakugou was soaring at him at fast, and there was only enough time for Izuku to gasp before the blonde slammed his fist into his stomach.

Izuku's chest roared in agony as the wind was knocked out of him and he was knocked into the ground. He didn't have any time to dwell on this because Bakugou landed on top of him and started hammering his face with his fist.

“Die, you piece of shit!” Bakugou roared, punctuating his words with a slam of his fist. “Die! Die!! DIE!!!”

Bakugou swung again, but this time, Izuku caught the blonde’s hand by the wrist and slammed Bakugou off him with a column of earth. Bakugou hit the ground hard as Izuku crawled to his feet with a groan.

Izuku heaved as he put a hand to his face. He felt several bruises across his face, and there was blood dripping from his mouth and forehead. However, as Izuku watched Bakugou stumble to his feet, he saw that the blonde was bleeding and had bruises as well.

He had improved. Years ago, he had been no match for Bakugou. Now, he was hurting his bully as much as he was hurting him. Still, Bakugou was so strong, and he hadn’t expected him to use his explosion like that. He had to be careful…

With renewed vigor, Izuku punched twice, sending two rocks flying at Bakugou. Bakugou responded by blowing the stones up. Then, Bakugou launched himself at Izuku with an explosion, but before he could strike Izuku, the green-haired boy made a wall in between himself and Bakugou, causing the bully to crash onto his side with a cry.

Izuku took a deep breath, looking at the wall he made wearily. Did he do it…?

No such luck. Before Izuku could react, there was a loud boom, and the wall burst apart with a blinding flash of orange light, sending rocks and dust everywhere. The onlooking kids screamed, and even Izuku took a step backward in shock.

When the dust cleared, Bakugou was standing, huffing and puffing as he glared at Izuku. “Is that all you got, Deku?” Bakugou taunted, his glare turning into a vicious grin.

Izuku's heart leaped to his throat, but he swallowed it quickly and got into a fighting stance. If Bakugou wanted to see what he could really do, fine.

Bakugou laughed, and crouched low, preparing to lunge at Izuku. “Yeah… that’s more like it!”

“Bakugou Katsuki!” someone roared from the school building. “Midoriya Izuku! Stop what you’re doing at once!”

Everyone in the playground turned to see the teacher, who was stomping down the steps of the school with a furious expression on his face.

“Midoriya Izuku!” he shouted, making Izuku jump out of his skin. “How dare you start a fight with the highest-ranking student in the school? And using your Quirk too!”

“But…” Izuku protested. “He used his Quirk first!”

“Only because you attacked him!” the teacher countered, glaring at Izuku with contempt. “You only have yourself to blame!”

“But…” Izuku stuttered. “He….”

“Go to the principal’s office, now!” the teacher screamed. “I’ll see you expelled from school for this!”

“But….”

“GO!”

Before Izuku could think better of it, he ran into the school. But he didn’t go to the principal’s office as instructed. He couldn’t do this. He couldn’t get expelled for something like this! He couldn’t let his mom down just a day after his father died! He couldn’t deal with Bakugou anymore. He couldn’t do any of this! He had to get away!

Izuku ran down the hall, his bare feet making him see every room in the building. He sensed an empty closet on his right and turned to it. He opened the door, ran inside, and closed it behind him, leaving him in darkness.

….

Something was wrong.

Granted, there was a lot of things wrong with Inko’s world at the moment. She just barely had enough money to stay afloat, her child was dealing with awful bullies at school, and just last night, her husband had been declared dead. To frank, everything sucked right now, and Inko felt like she was about to fall apart at the seams.

No… something was wrong with her boy. Sure, he had said nothing was wrong, and on the surface, aside from being downcast from the news of his father’s death, he didn’t seem to be acting unusual. But something… something about his voice, or the look in his eyes, made her think otherwise. But by the time she had worked up the nerve to ask, Izuku had been long gone, and she couldn’t do anything.

Once Izuku left, Inko didn't know what to do with herself. If she went into work the way she was now, she'd breakdown from the stress inevitably, so she had called earlier that morning the library to let them know she couldn't make it. She didn't have the energy to cry anymore, but she couldn't muster up the will to do anything that she liked to do either. She just felt… numb.

Hours passed, and by the time it was 1 o’clock, Inko felt like she was about to lose her mind sitting around the house, so she decided to go for a walk. To where she didn't care. She just needed to get out and do something. So, she put on her sandals, throw on her coat, and walked out the door with no location in mind, just the goal that she’d back by 4 o’clock so she could meet Izuku when he got home.

 As Inko walked away from her apartment building though, she felt a buzzing on the back of mind. Almost like she was being watched…

She wheeled around, looking back and forth to see if someone was looking at her. But other than some people passing by, she couldn’t find anything out of the ordinary. She sighed. The grief from losing Hisashi must have been getting to her. She’d been reduced to jumping at her own shadow from things far less traumatic than this.

 Come to think of it, Izuku had said something about seeing someone watching him last night. Like parent, like child….

Inko marched around the city, passing by shops and businesses that went by in a haze of grief and worry. She walked through a park with children playing with their parents. She passed over a bridge, where a villain attack happened right under her. Usually, she would have stopped and observed the fight that would have inevitably gone down, but today, she spared no more than a parting glance before continuing, leaving the clamor of battle behind her.

No matter how much she walked though, she just couldn’t get her mind off him. She couldn’t rid her mind of the smiling man that had won her heart. The kind man that had loved and respected her quirks and sensitivity, no matter how strange or irritating she was at times. The man who had supported her when she tried to continue her education as a lawyer, only to quit when she was pregnant with Izuku. The man who had promised would always be by her side…

It just didn’t seem real. She held out hope that Hisashi was alive for so long now, and to just throw all that away, to treat consider her husband dead after so long….

Inko didn’t even notice the tears until she saw one hit the ground. She stopped, rubbing her eyes in a vain attempt to prevent more tears from coming, but they just kept coming. When a sob escaped from her, she knew she had to go somewhere else. She wouldn't shame herself by breaking down in the middle of the street. Inko spotted a lone bench off to the side and went over to it. Once she sat down, she held put her face into her hands and released the tears and sobs she had been restraining.

Why? Why did her husband disappear without a word? What had happened to him that day when he called? Was he shot? Was he killed?  Surely if he were alive, he would have returned now, but nobody had ever been found, so there was always the smallest glimmer of hope that he had been alive. Now, the search was called off, she would never know for sure. And deep down, that was more painful than knowing for sure if he was dead.

It took a few minutes for Inko to pull herself together and stop crying. She checked her watch to see that it was 2:30. All that walking, and she still had hours to kill, so she got up and started her way back home.

 On her way, she passed the grocery store, and it occurred to her that she didn’t have very much food in the house. She should stop and get some supplies for dinner tonight. Maybe make something special for Izuku.

Between the time she spent in the grocery store and the time she needed to walk home, Inko was home at 4:30. She looked around, only to see that her son wasn't home yet. Strange. Usually, he'd be back by now. Then again, he would sometimes be a little late.

Inko made her way to the kitchen and started putting away the food. Things went well until she dropped the bag of apples. Groaning, she bent down and quickly picked up the apples. She managed to get all except one that had rolled under the cabinet. Not wanting to bother going down to find it, she reached out with her Quirk to pull it out. She felt around below the cabinet until she felt something hard and round and pulled with all her might.

To her bewilderment, she heard the sound of tearing metal and instead of an apple, something black and metallic entered her hand. She turned the object in her hand, and her heart stopped. 

It was a camera and a microphone.

Someone had bugged her house. Someone was in her home.

Inko’s hand flew to her phone as she started to hyperventilate.  No. She thought as she made the dial. This is too much.

“Police!” she cried as the phone was answered.

….

It took only fifteen minutes for the police to come, but it felt like an eternity to Inko. She paced back and forth, trying to call Izuku over and over as she waited. Her son was right. Someone had been following them. They had even been in her home without her knowledge. But she didn’t listen to Izuku, and he was still out there with a dangerous lunatic after him.

“Come on, Izuku….” Inko croaked as the phone dialed for the tenth time in a row. “Please…. Answer….”

No response.

“Izuku….” Inko moaned. “Why don’t you answer…?”

A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts. She quickly went to the door and peered through the door hole. A polite-looking man was standing outside.

"Midoriya-san," the man said, holding his badge to the door hole. "It's the police."

Inko sighed and opened the door to see three men standing outside. The one in the middle was dressed in a beige overcoat, dark trousers, formal black loafers, and a beige fedora. His face was rather plain, looking no different from a typical Japanese man, but the warmth there settled her nerves slightly.

The men on either side of the polite man were… odd. The policeman on the left could almost not be called a man because he had the head of a cat, complete with brown fur and big silted eyes. Granted, Quirks that made people animal like weren't that unusual, but it was still unexpected.

The one that really caught Inko’s attention was the man on the right. His body was long, gangly, and thin, to the point he was hardly anything but skin and bones. As a result, his white shirt and green cargo pants hung loosely on his body. The man’s bright blue eyes were also sunken, very severely, his cheekbones and were sharp and angular, and his thin neck looked too long for his body. Topping off this strange skeleton of a man was a spiky mane of daisy yellow hair, with two bangs framing his thin face. Honestly, if the man hadn’t come with a detective, Inko would have slammed the door on him immediately. What was he doing here…?

The detective saluted at her. “Detective Naomasa, at your service.” He nodded at the cat man. “This is my partner, Sansa.”

Inko blinked at the skeleton man unsurely. “And who’s this?”

The skeleton man shifted and rubbed his daisy hair nervously. “I’m Toshinori Yagi," he said. "I'm a Hero…"

Inko gave the man a flat stare. He didn’t seem like he’d win a fight with a stiff breeze, much less a villain. “Right….”

“So, what’s the issue, ma’am?” the detective asked.

Inko raised her hand and the device she found flew into her hand. "My house was bugged when I left this morning." She said as she handed the device to the detective. "I think my son and I are being stalked."

….

Inko made tea as the detectives searched the house, looking for more bugs. Meanwhile, Toshinori remained seated, tapping Naomasa’s notebook with the tip of his pencil. He kept looking at Inko with concern in his sunken blue eyes, and though deep down Inko knew it was genuine, she couldn’t help but feel unnerved by his gaze.

 "So, you think you were being followed since yesterday?" Toshinori asked.

Inko nodded as she grabbed the tea set and walked over. “Yes….” She replied, her voice a whisper. “My son said he saw someone on the roof next to our balcony, watching him. But… I didn’t believe him. I thought he was just seeing things because he was distressed…”

Toshinori raised an eyebrow. “Distressed?”

Inko nodded, sniffling as tears ran from her eyes. “My husband was presumed dead last night… It was so hard on us. All this time, we had been holding out hope he’d come back….”

 The skeleton man's sunken eyes softened at the woman's sorrow. "I see… I'm so sorry for your loss."

 Inko shook her head. “The last time we heard from Hisashi, he was being attacked by someone….”

 “You think whoever is stalking you is connected to the one who killed your husband?” Toshinori asked.

 Inko nodded. “I’m almost certain of it. Nothing else makes sense. If it was just some random creep, why go so far as to bug my home?”

“I don’t know, Midoriya-san” Naomasa said as he and Sansa walked up to the coffee table and dumped half a dozen more camera and microphones onto the table.  “But whoever did this, they really wanted to keep tabs on you….”

Inko stared at the bugs in horror, swallowing the lump in her throat. “They… they were in my home….” She said, her voice wavering. “We’re supposed to be safe here….”

 "I'm sorry, Ms. Midoriya," Toshinori said, the sudden usage of English honorifics surprising Inko. “If you feel so inclined, perhaps we can get you and your son into a protection program?”

 "I…," Inko said. "I don't have the money…"

 Naomasa put a hand on her shoulder. “Money doesn’t matter. When your son gets home, let’s talk it over.”

 Those words made Inko bulk in realization. “My son’s still out there!” she cried. “He’s not safe!”

 All three of the men’s eyes widened. “You said he was at school, right?” Toshinori asked. “When does it end for him?”

“3:30…” she said, biting her nails and looking at her phone. “It’s 5:00. He should be back by now….”

“Have you tried calling him?” Naomasa asked.

“I called him ten times as I was waiting for you. He didn’t answer any of them….”

“He is in mourning. Maybe he just wanted some alone time….”

“He’d never let me worry like that!” Inko shouted, making the detective flinch. “Even at his worst, Izuku is far too thoughtful to be so inconsiderate! Especially after his father went missing!”

“Why not call the school?” Sansa suggested.

 Inko nodded, taking a deep breath to calm herself down. “You’re right. Surely they’ll know…”

 Before she could finish, her phone rang. She pulled it out of her pocket to see that it was the school’s number. Perfect timing.

“It’s the school.” She said before answering the phone. “Hello?”

"Midoriya-san," a voice on the other end of the line said. "This is the principal of Shujin Elementary.”

“Have you seen my son?” Inko asked.

“I was about to ask you the same question” the principal replied.

 Inko’s heart stopped. “What?”

“Midoriya Izuku got into a fight with Bakugou Katsuki today.” The principal said. “According to some witnesses, they both used their Quirks.”

“WHAT?!” Inko shrieked into the phone.

 "Please calm down, Midoriya-san," the principal said. "According to witnesses and Katsuki-kun himself, Izuku punched first when Katsuki implied his father disappeared because of him. Considering that his father was just presumed dead, I’m not entirely surprised.”

“That hellion...” Inko growled. “And Izuku used his Quirk on Katsuki?”

“Yes, but only after Katsuki used his Quirk first. They scuffled for a bit using their Quirks until Takahashi-san stepped in and stopped them. He ordered Izuku to go to my office. He never showed.”

 Inko’s grip on her phone tightened. “He didn’t make sure he made it there?”

"Izuku ran into the building before he could," the principal said. 

"And he hasn’t been found since?”

“No. Takahashi-san, Katsuki, and I waited for an hour. During that time, I've questioned both of them and a few other students who watched. I think Takahashi-san screamed at Izuku only and told him that he was the only one who would be punished.”

“You need to find him!” Inko cried. “There’s someone after my son!”

Inko heard the principal’s breath gasp at that. “What?”

 "Someone bugged my house, and Izuku said he saw someone stalking him last night!" Inko shouted. "Because your idiot teacher didn't do his fucking job, my son might have been kidnapped! Or worse!”

"I…" the principal stammered. "The school is about to close… Surely he wouldn't still be here…"

“LOOK!!!!” Inko screamed. “If something happened to my son, it’ll be on your head! And you better hope that whoever got him kills you before I get there!” With that, Inko hung up.

The policemen stared at her in shock and fear. “Well….” Naomasa said. “I take it the school hasn’t seen him lately but is looking for him?”

“They had better be!” Inko growled. “Come on! We’re finding my son!”

Sansa held up a hand. “Hold your horse, Ms. Midoriya. If there is a dangerous man after you and your son, going out in the open is the last thing you want to do right now. And what if your son comes home to find it empty?”

Inko stopped at the man’s words. “But I can’t just leave him out there…”

Toshinori came over and put his large bony hand on Inko’s shoulder. “Naomasa and I will go to the school and search for him. You stay here with Sansa where it’s safe, okay?”

Inko hesitated. All of her heart wanted to tell this skeleton to fuck off and let her go find her son. But deep down, as much as it killed her, she knew that Sansa was right. She couldn’t leave the house empty in case Izuku came back, and if she went out there, she’d just get in the way.

“Please…” she pleaded, tears once again streaming down her face. “Find him. He’s all I have left…”

Toshinori smiled at her, and somehow, despite his sunken eyes and gaunt face, she felt… better. “I will, Mrs. Midoriya. I promise.”

"Let's get going then," Naomasa said, getting up from his seat. “Time is of the essence.”

Toshinori nodded at him and got up, looking at Sansa. “Take care of her, all right?”

Sansa saluted. “Of course.”

Toshinori followed Naomasa to the door and gave Inko one last smile. “We’ll be back soon.” And with that, he and the detective went out the door, leaving Inko alone with the cat-faced police officer.

….

“Shit…” the skeleton said as they walked down the stairs. “Why did make that promise when I might not be to keep it?”

"Because you have a compulsive need to make sure everyone doesn't worry," the detective said, climbing down the last step and towards the cars parked in the street. “You know, Toshinori-san. When I asked if you want to help with some cases, you didn’t have to say yes all the time.”

Toshinori gave a rueful laugh. “I know, Naomasa-kun. But what good would I be then? I only have three hours now…”

Naomasa nodded in understanding as he opened the car door. “Come on, Number One. We have a lost child to find.”