Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

His favorite clip of All Might played on loop in the background, a familiar melody to accent his melancholy. He hadn’t done much in the last day or two. He ate without tasting his food and scrolled through forums of others without quirks, like it might give him an answer. They were so bleak though, the occasional sparks of positivity mired in harsh reminders that they were all just saying these things to comfort themselves, not because any of it was true.

Then, a new post caught his eye. It was only a minute or so old, a picture of the pedestrian bridge not far from his home. It had a beautiful view of the sunset but what came after it froze Izuku’s blood.

It’s a good view to go out on. As soon as the sun sets, I’m done with this world.

There was no name, but the signature block had a picture of a delicate, blue lily. With only that to go on, Izuku typed a frantic reply asking Lily not to do it, to think of the family and friends being left behind and everything there was still to live for. All he got in response was,

It’s better this way.

He snatched up his phone and dialed the emergency line as fast as his fingers could move. The wait to connect was agonizing and the operator was far too calm. He gave them the information as fast as he could, frantic. They told him there was an emergency downtown and they could send someone in about twenty minutes, asking if he could keep Lily talking. Lily had gone offline after that last message though and was not responding, despite the flood of messages now filling the post.

His head jerked to the clock at his bedside. It was ten minutes, at most, to dark. He hung up, his thoughts running over the numbers. It was maybe six minutes to the bridge for him.

He jumped up immediately. There was no time to care that he was wearing his lounge clothes and hadn’t properly cared for himself yet that day as he leapt into his shoes. He was out the door before his mother had gotten out more than the first syllable of his name.

He had never run so fast in his life, his heart racing and every muscle tense, praying he got there in time. He rounded the corner and spotted the bridge, sparkling in the backdrop of the red, dying embers of sunset. He didn’t stop running but his heart dropped as he squinted over its length and saw no one.

Then he spotted them, a lone figure partially hidden behind a support beam, their feet dangling over the side. He charged onto the bridge, yelling to get their attention. They were focused though, their eyes empty and staring into the water below. He was yards away still when they stood and ever so slowly leaned forward. He reached his hand out, but he was too far behind.

“NO!”

They plummeted off the bridge and disappeared into the river just as Izuku reached the railing. He searched frantically over the water. A humanoid mass bobbed to the surface. They were being swept downstream in a cloud of dark red.

He didn’t even think. He ran back down the bridge, his feet pounding the pavement so hard it sent shocks up his legs. He ripped his shirt over his head as he went and kicked his shoes off at the bank before he dove in.

Though his arms churned the water furiously, he was certain, for a moment, he would not reach Lily. It only drove him on harder. Finally, he got hold and tugged the thin body to his chest, only just keeping their lolling head above water. They were unconscious and bleeding badly from a cut on their forehead but they were alive at least.

“Swim with the current,” he muttered through gritted teeth, trying to recall everything he’d ever read about water rescues. He kicked hard with his legs and pulled with his free arm, dragging the two of them toward the shore inch by agonizing inch.

He couldn't see exactly where he was in the dark, blinded by passing streetlamps, and more than once wondered if he was swimming in circles, still caught in the middle of the river. Every muscle ached and screamed at him desperately to stop and rest but he couldn’t. He pushed all his thoughts aside and swam on with everything he had until finally, after what might have been hours, his arm scraped bottom. He clawed his way up, doing his best to be gentle with the wisp of a person in his arms.

He hadn’t noticed the crowd until suddenly there were hands dragging at the two of them, pulling them to safety, asking if they were alright. Their hands were burning hot against his clammy skin.

He recognized police uniforms and medical personnel. One of the latter was asking him questions and shoving a light in his face. He craned his neck to see around them, asking, “I’m fine. Is Lily okay?”

“That man? He’s being taken care of, don’t worry.”

Izuku was not hurt but he was shivering badly and he could barely feel his extremities. They threw a heavy blanket around him as they bundled him into the ambulance with the man, who was still out cold, though breathing. He couldn’t have been more than a decade or two older than Izuku. His dark hair clung to his emaciated scalp but his nails were well cared for and his clothes were made of finer material than anything Izuku had ever owned. He held onto Lily’s shrunken hand for all he was worth so the man wouldn’t feel alone anymore.

“How do you know him,” one of the EMTs asked.

“I don’t really. I just saw this picture he put up on a Quirkless forum saying he was going to jump at dark. I called it in but they weren’t going to make it in time.”

“You don’t have a Quirk either then.” The sharp words weren’t a question but Izuku shook his head anyway.

“That was very brave,” the other EMT said. Those words were much softer and they warmed something in Izuku that had been cold for days.

“Don’t compliment him! The river is flooded right now and running fast, it was crazy to jump in after him, you’re lucky to be alive,” the first EMT snapped at the two of them.

“Give the kid a break. He just saved this man’s life.”

“So, you want to encourage that kind of reckless behavior? There’s a hundred ways this night could have gone very differently and then we’d have lost two lives instead of one.”

The scolding was eerily similar to things he’d heard before and a small, bitter part of him wondered if any of this would be said if someone like Bakugou had jumped in.

The second EMT turned to him looking rather somber and said, “It goes without saying, leave it to the professionals next time.”

Izuku nodded numbly and squeezed Lily’s hand. There was a pulse against his own and he couldn’t help a small smile. No words could erase that.

When they got to the hospital, the staff was irritable and overworked from the casualties of the bank robbery gone wrong downtown. He gave a statement while they checked him over one more time. Then he was pushed into a waiting room. A kindly, exhausted nurse came around with a second blanket and a cup of boiling, vaguely chocolate flavored water. Almost twenty minutes later, his mom showed up with a change of clothes and a massive down coat clutched in her shaking hands.

“Izuku,” she cried, throwing her arms around him. “My baby boy, my brave Izuku. You had me worried sick.”

Chapter Text

The shop was quaint and had a number of small, local crafts set up in their own little displays around the space. It was really a catch all, made of a couple different business all under one management and housed in the same building. His mom’s friend loved this place to death and swore it would have exactly what he was looking for, she’d never been wrong before.

“I’m picking up an order for Midoriya,” he told the attendant behind the counter, who excused herself to the back to grab it.

Suddenly, Izuku felt eyes boring into the side of his head. He turned to find a door open behind the counter on the left-hand wall that lead into the auto repair garage next door. Standing on the other side was a woman not more than a decade older than he was with wild hair and a pair of ratty overalls.

She was staring at him with narrowed eyes. He waved nervously but she didn't react. Her stare was so penetrating he was beginning to wonder if she had some sort of x-ray vision Quirk. His face was heating up, a blush racing over every inch.

“Did you say ‘Midoriya’,” she finally asked, stepping through the doorway to loom over him. The counter was still between them and there was a door not more than ten steps back, but he felt cornered, ambushed.

His body shrunk in on itself under her intense stare and he said, strangely uncertain about his own name, “Yes?”

Her eyes rounded and her smile broke so fast and wide he thought for a second it would split her face in two. “I knew it! You’re the guy,” she yelled.

He jumped at the sudden volume of her voice and glanced around. There were a few people in the shop who looked over at them, but most seemed to be regulars and acted like such behavior was perfectly ordinary.

“Gigga,” she screamed over her shoulder, her voice, echoing nauseatingly off the high ceiling of the garage, “He’s here, bring the page!”

She rushed around the counter, grabbed Izuku’s hands in both of her own, and bounced into the garage with him stumbling after. She was looking at him with such intense joy and excitement that he wasn’t sure what to do with himself, suddenly desperately wanting to be anywhere else.

He froze when he spotted the man walking toward them. He was almost two and a half meters tall and built like a bull. He would have been horribly intimidating were it not for the soft, timid purple eyes looking out from under that heavy brow. They pulled at a part of Izuku that made him want to hug crying children and put umbrellas over kittens in the rain. Gigga couldn’t seem to hold eye contact for more than a second as he held out a page of newsprint, shy and nervous.

“Thanks, Gig,” she said, snatching the paper out of his hand and shoving it in Izuku’s face.

He barely got a glimpse of the circled headline “Boy Saves Suicide Victim from Drowning” before she asked, “You’re this guy, right? Midoriya?”

“Uh, yeah,” he said, though it came out like a question again as he took the page from her and scanned the little article. It was only a short column without much detail and looked crammed in, like it was there specifically to fill space. “I didn’t know that made the news at all with the robbery.”

“It’s always hard to find news about someone Quirkless doing something awesome, but you got a really bad night for it. I found this shoved in the Home and Decoration section among ads and old ladies giving cooking tips, if you can believe that. This kind of stuff is usually at least near the obituaries!”

“Wait, how did you know I don’t have a Quirk,” Izuku asked, frowning down at the page again in confusion. As he thought, the article mentioned nothing about it.

“As Rollacost always says, ‘it’s about two things, placement and syntax’,” she said, mimicking someone with a snooty, bored tone as she tapped at the underlined words in the article, “You see if it was someone with a Quirk, they would mention the raging river and call them heroic and give praise to their abilities, but here they just say you pulled him out, like you jumped in a swimming pool or something. Then, they just stick the article wherever there’s room instead of putting it in the local news section with everything else like it. It’s crazy!”

Izuku’s head was spinning. As he was reading the article again, a pen slowly appeared in front of him, trembling a little. He followed the line of it up a gigantic arm to Gigga, who was staring determinedly at his shoes.

“Great idea, Gigs,” the woman half shouted, grabbing the pen and shoving it into Izuku’s hand demanding, “Sign it! That would be amazing!”

“Um, okay?” He put the page against the wall to the shop and, feeling simultaneously ridiculous and proud, scribbled his signature over tips for fluffier bread.

He held it out to Gigga with a smile and the large man took it gingerly, the corners of his eyes crinkling like he was looking at something infinitely precious. Izuku’s chest filled with warmth and he found his back a little straighter.

He hardly had time to appreciate it though as the woman threw her arm over his shoulders and started talking about a mile a minute, “Thanks a ton! This’ll be a great addition to the wall. Let me tell you, it’s an honor to meet you. That was really something you did there, we looked the report up after we read about it; it’s freezing in that water and the river’s flooded and you were in there for almost ten minutes and he was bleeding and knocked out and you just jumped right in and saved his life! I mean, look at you, you’re a hundred pounds soaking wet! We went hunting through the forums for that post too. You said some really good stuff there, I have it screenshotted.”

“Wow, thanks, I guess,” he said, not sure what else to say.

“My friends call me Clover, by the way,” she said, bouncing back to give him a humble bow.

“You already know my name, but I’m Midoriya Izuku,” he said awkwardly returning the gesture.

“Don't you have a nickname? What am I talking about? Kid like you saving people totally has to have a hero name picked out! What is it?”

“Ah,” he said, drawing up a bit short, his face falling. He hadn’t looked at his list of hero names since All Might. He forced a smile back on his face as he said, “You can just use my name.”

She blinked at him, her eyes intense and earnest, and he was sure she knew everything his heart hid in that moment. It ended just as quickly as it came though, her boundless excitement rushing back as she said, “You have to meet the others! They’ll love you!”

“Others?”

“The other Quirkless, of course!”

Chapter Text

The hospital was far less crowded than the last time Izuku had been there. He clutched the package of sweets nervously as he walked up to the receptionist. He was a kindly young man with a mop of dark hair over strangely iridescent eyes. He pointed Izuku in the right direction and advised him to steer clear of the woman with purple hair.

Not sure what that meant, but with the warning in mind, he set off for the correct ward. His package and pockets were all thoroughly examined and the nurse took his shoelaces before allowing him into the room. He’d been expecting that but it was no less unnerving.

Heedless of his feelings on the matter, the nurse announced Izuku’s arrival and then shoved him in, leaving Izuku to hovered awkwardly in the middle of the room a moment. The man he'd saved was propped up in his hospital bed, staring emptily out the window, a few machines buzzing and beeping around him. He looked so small and miserable among them and Izuku’s awkward entrance only seemed to add more weight atop his already slumped shoulders.

“If you’re looking for a reward,” the man said, sounding exhausted, “you’re not getting one.”

The insinuation stung but Izuku rallied. “I actually just came to make sure you’re doing alright. I brought these.”

He held out the package but the man just looked at it a moment, dubious. Just as Izuku was starting to feel like he shouldn’t have come, the package was pulled softly from his hands. The man turned it this way and that, as though expecting some kind of trick.

He glanced back up at Izuku, hesitant, and said, slowly, “Sit down.”

He nodded and all but fell into the chair as his feet caught one another. The man barely reacted, but Izuku's face was bright scarlet.

“Did my sister tell you to bring this?”

“No, I didn’t know you had a sister. I actually was going to visit sooner but I was trying to figure out what to bring and I saw you posted about missing these a while back and it took longer than I thought to find someone who sold them and I was kind of worried I'd have to get them shipped in, which could take a while, but...” He clamped his mouth shut with a shrug, feeling himself rambling.

The man blinked at Izuku as though entirely uncertain what to make of him. He looked back down at the box, pulling it open cautiously, like he wasn’t sure he was allowed to do it. His eyes went wide and he put a trembling hand to his open mouth.

“I haven’t had one of these since I moved back to Japan,” he said softly, touching the purple wrapped chocolate bars announcing themselves as Cadbury Dairy Milk. Izuku barely heard the thin, watery, “Thank you,” that escaped his lips but it drew a smile from him.

“I hope you like them.”

He looked back up at Izuku cautiously. “They said after you pulled me out, you called me Lily.”

Izuku’s smile became sheepishly and he ducked his head as he said, “It’s the picture in your signature and I didn’t know what else to call you. I’m sorry if that caused you any trouble.”

“No more trouble than jumping off a bridge, I guess,” he said, with a certain gallows humor that made Izuku slightly uncomfortable even as he forced a little laugh. He fidgeted, trying to come up with something else to say. The man was not done though. His voice was shaking a bit as he asked, “Would it be too much of a bother for you to keep calling me that?”

Izuku’s head shot up and he stared for a second, taking in the request. Then as the man’s face began to crumple into itself, Izuku gave him his brightest smile and said, “That’s fine by me. It’s nice to meet you, Lily.”

Lily began to cautiously relax after that and even offered Izuku part of a chocolate bar. They didn’t talk about anything difficult and whenever Lily’s face began to fall or they hit a topic that was too close to home, Izuku would ask another question to lead them away from it. Lily had lead a very interesting life up until a few years ago. The small spark of life in his eyes and the tiny smile on his face as he spoke of walks along the Thames and tours of Spanish Cathedrals made them both forget the clock.

Finally though, his mother called, worried how late he was running for dinner.

“I’m sorry I kept you,” Lily said, his face falling pitifully as he shrunk into himself.

“No, I had a lot of fun.” Lily didn’t seem to believe him despite the overflowing sincerity in his voice. Izuku really hated that look, like Lily didn’t believe he was worth anyone’s time, but he couldn’t think what to do about it. Instead, he asked, “Do you mind if I come again in a couple days?”

“Don’t feel like you have to-” But almost before Lily was done talking, Izuku was saying, stubborn, “I want to!”

The man blinked up at him. Izuku hadn’t realized he’d stood in his vehemence, like somehow that would make the words even more true. He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly and Lily chuckled, like he couldn’t help it. The sound was surprising but infectious and suddenly the two of them were laughing, not even sure what was funny anymore.

Wiping tears from his eyes, Izuku finally got enough breath to say, “I have to go, but I’ll see you later.”

Waving over his shoulder one last time, Izuku saw a small, delicate hope beginning to flicker in Lily’s eyes where before there had been nothing but despair.

As Izuku left the ward and entered the lobby again, the receptionist from before caught his eye, trying subtly to signal him, glancing nervously into the hall over his shoulder every few seconds. Izuku made the terrible mistake of turning to look.

Behind him was a woman with purple hair and a livid expression coming right at him. He jumped as her thin fingers dug into his shoulders like grappling hooks.

“What were you doing in my brother’s room, you worthless leech,” she asked, looking down her nose at him with disgust.

His tongue felt lost in his mouth as she loomed over him, but he managed to squeak out, “Visiting?”

“Please calm down, miss.” The receptionist spoke with the tired resignation of someone who had been dealing with a particular irritation far too long.

“Why does this good for nothing child get to visit him but not his own family,” she demanded, her fingers tightening painfully.

The receptionist crossed around the desk and rescued Izuku from her claws. He gave Izuku a gentle push toward the doors as he said, “You have been deemed an unnecessary stressor. This child, on the other hand, saved your brother’s life.”

"Saved his life but ruined his reputation,” she scoffed.

Izuku paused and shot a confused glance back over his shoulder. She caught the look and laughed outright. It was cruel, sharp sound.

“Oh, he didn’t tell you? With a just a few words thoughtless words, you revealed that my brother is an absolute failure; he can’t produce even one spark.” She held up her hand and a lovely shower of them fell from it, like she was a living sparkler.

“You can’t use your Quirk in here,” the receptionist was saying, clearly not for the first time.

She glared at him and released a slightly larger shower of sparks. Looking exceptionally pleased to do it, the receptionist walked back to his desk, saying, “I’m calling security to have you removed.”

Izuku couldn’t help thinking her Quirk wasn't very impressive next to Bakugou's. He held his tongue on that but turned stubbornly to face her head on as he said, “Not having a Quirk doesn't make him a failure; there's still a lot of good he can do in this world.”

“Right,” she sneered. “And who are you to talk? You’re one too. Quirkless, the greatest shame that can befall a family. I’m surprised yours hasn’t thrown you away yet.”

Izuku’s fists clenched tight at his sides. "I might be Quirkless, but at least I'm not like you. There's a lot more to people than what talents they're born with and your brother is an incredible person. Even if he can't do what you can, you should still be helping him, not putting him down."

She stepped closer and snarled the words in his face, “You want to talk about helping him? Do you know how hard I had to work every day covering up his dark secret? My whole life has been following that useless man-child around, cleaning up the messes he leaves, dragging him back where he belongs. Now it’s all for nothing!"

He met her glare with equal fury, but, before either of them could get another word in, two security guards had taken her arms and were marching her past him. She didn't break eye contact, like she could kill him with only her hatred if she stared hard enough.

As the guards opened the doors, she fought them to yell back at him, "You should have just saved us all the trouble and let him drown.”

The doors slammed shut, cutting off anymore shouts, but her words echoed painfully in Izuku's ears for hours to come.

Chapter Text

The meeting of the Quirkless Wonders - a name he was assured was still being workshopped - took place that Saturday. His mother had been as surprised to hear about it as he had. It was rare to meet anyone open about their lack of a Quirk, let alone 'a whole group of potential new friends', as she’d said. There was a familiar trepidation about her though, one he’d grown familiar with after the doctor had given them the news that he was, indeed, Quirkless.

Still, she stayed upbeat as she packed a little box of snacks and the two of them set off. The shop was technically still open but there was no one inside when they walked up. Izuku swallowed nervously and lead the way as he bypassed the main entrance. The side door into the auto garage had a blacklight hung above it to illuminate the otherwise unseen purple ink proudly proclaiming, “QUIRKLESS WELCOME!”

Fear and excitement rushed in equal measure through Izuku’s veins as he clutched the box tight. The message made his head light and his stomach turbulent, like he’d just hit the drop on a rollercoaster. He glanced at his mother who was wearing that concern plain as day as she stared at the door, like she was waiting for someone to come out of the dark and stab them.

He swallowed, gathering his courage, and pulled on the handle. It opened easily to reveal a circle of chairs in the garage and a table along one wall with plates and bowls of snacks. There were five people of varying ages milling about, eating and chatting. When the door creaked open, they turned curious looks over at the newcomers.

All of them seemed friendly enough but he was suddenly horribly self-conscious. Then he spotted Clover’s crazy hair rushing at him and couldn’t contain his yelp as she grabbed his arm and drug him into the room, eyes shining maniacally.

“You’re here and you brought snacks! I knew you were a good one.” She stole the box from him and plonked it down on the table as he reeled. Then she almost leapt into his mother’s arms, “You must be Mrs. Midoriya, it’s an honor to meet you!”

His mother was as taken aback as he was, blinking and trying desperately to recall her manners through her shock. Clover was about to leap at him again but a tall, thin man with a sudden tuft of hair on the top of his head stepped between them.

He might have been an intimidating figure, with tattoos spiraling down his neck and what seemed to be a permanent scowl on his face, were it not for the bright pink pen dangling between his teeth. Clover stuck her tongue out at him, which also helped.

He addressed the room at large, “That’s everyone we’re expecting tonight. Let’s get started before Clover overwhelms them.”

“I’m so sorry, we didn’t mean to hold up your meeting,” Izuku apologized with a deep bow, his mortification increasing.

“Nonsense, we never start at a regular time anyway,” Clover said cheerily, plucking up a snack and dancing to a seat beside Gigga. The large man was perched on a sturdy looking chair about twice as big as the others and still looked like he was worried he’d crush it.

“Isn’t Den coming,” an elderly woman with white hair and a rather flat nose asked as she sat down.

“Den’s visiting her sister,” the tall man with the pen said. He seemed to be the leader.

Everyone clearly had a seat they preferred and Izuku hovered awkwardly over a chair for a few seconds, wondering if he was stealing someone’s. Clover was having none of that. She grabbed his wrist and put all her weight on it until he collapsed. His mother giggled, like she couldn’t help herself and Clover shot her a winning smile before gesturing grandly to the seat beside him.

“Oh no, I actually can’t stay, but thank you,” she said, apologetically, her hands finding Izuku’s shoulders.

“Don’t feel like you can’t, we’re happy to have you,” the older woman said from across the circle of chairs, her smile so sweet and genuine.

“I appreciate it, really, but I have plans already. I just wanted to make sure Izuku got here alright.” He caught one of his mother’s hands in his and squeezed it. She returned the pressure before looking down at him.

He smiled encouragingly, covering the ball of nerves in his stomach, as he said, “I’ll see you later."

She nodded back with her own tremulous smile. “Call me right away if you need anything.”

“Don’t worry! We’ll make sure he gets home safe for you,” Clover promised, bouncing up with a salute.

His mother laughed warmly at her enthusiasm and turned to bow to the group. “Please take care of my son.”

There was a chorus of affirmatives as she walked out the door. The leader sat heavily beside Izuku as it shut, drawing his attention. His mouth dropped open and he couldn’t help but stare. The man had the strangest collection of little scars dotting his face and neck, nearly invisible until viewed this close.

“I used to smoke,” he explained, nibbling the end of the pen when he caught Izuku watching him, as though the florid pink writing utensil was the only noteworthy thing about him.

He then instructing the group to introduce themselves. They gave their real names but Clover announced that Izuku was to forget these immediately and made everyone go around one more time, giving their codenames instead. There were a few fondly rolled eyes, but everyone seemed perfectly content to have their alternate name used.

On their left were the two he knew: Clover, with a big smile on her face as she bounced in her chair, and Gigga, who was playing with a marble between his large fingers. Beside them was a wiry man called Tangent with exceptionally thick glasses over eyes that were far away. The kind older woman was Ligma and finally the leader, on Izuku’s right, was Rollacost.

Introductions done, all eyes turned curious, almost hungrily to Izuku, who was clearly the only new face among these old friends.

Ligma was the first to ask questions, her lined face soft, “What year are you in then, young Midoriya?”

“It's my last year of middle school, ma’am,” he said, knowing he sounded too formal and jumpy.

She gave him the sweetest smile and said, “I thought so. I was a teacher before my retirement and you look just about at that age. You’re such a sweet boy, do you have many friends then?”

“Uhm,” Izuku looked into his lap, it had been a very long time since he’d really used that word to describe people. “Not really?”

“That’s not surprising. Quirkless teens have some of the highest rates of bullying in the world. The figures are truly disheartening,” Tangent piped up, his words flowing almost too fast for Izuku to keep track. “But you’re in luck, the cumquat is up in sales this year and there’s a direct correlation between cumquat sales and lower bullying rates, it’s fascinating. It’s a good time to be starting a new school and making friends.”

“R-really,” Izuku asked, a bit taken aback.

Tangent’s eyes were sparkling and he opened his mouth to continue when Ligma gently cut across him to say, “Correlation isn’t the same as causation. We’ve had this discussion before.”

Clover elbowed Izuku in the arm and said, in the loudest whisper he’d ever heard in his life, “Tangent is the embodiment of late-night internet binges, you know what I’m saying?”

He gave her a hesitant smile, not sure if laughing was an appropriate response. She did not seem particularly to care, something of trend he was starting to notice with her.

She threw an arm around his shoulder and announced to the room, “It doesn’t matter either way because you’re our friend now! Right, everyone?!”

There was a general fond amusement in the room for Clover’s outburst but no one seemed in disagreement. Still, Rollacost cautioned her, “That’s up to him to decide, Clover.”

“Well then, Midoriya Izuku, will you be our friend,” Clover asked, getting right in his face with such a powerfully concentrated gaze.

Izuku had never been so close to a girl, even one so odd as this, his arm pressed to her breast and her nose nearly touching his. His face was heating up to an extraordinary temperature and he found himself agreeing without considering the implications.

She let go of him to throw her arms into the air and crow in celebration. He breathed properly for the first time in a minute and slumped in his chair. Then there was a big hand on his shoulder. He glanced over to see Gigga had leaning around her and was giving him a sympathetic look and a tiny smile. It was heartening.

Then Clover was back in his face, poking teasingly at his nose. “Don’t worry, short stop, I’m only after friendship. My heart’s already spoken for.”

Izuku stumbled through several syllables of an agreement or congratulations, he wasn’t sure which. Then Tangent came to his rescue as he said, confident, “More than sixty percent of romantic entanglements are sure to fail within the first few weeks.”

Clover, for the first time since Izuku had met her, froze. Her face went completely, eerily blank. Then, she turned, ever so slowly, to look at Tangent. “It’s true love and it will never fail,” she said in a hissing whisper.

“You do miss one hundred percent of the shots you don’t take, darling,” Ligma said, giggling as Clover turned betrayed eyes on her.

“Not you too, Ligma! I trusted you!” Clover fell back into her chair, her limbs going limp and her head hung over the back. Gigga patted her hair and Izuku found himself laughing along with the others. The enthusiasm and comradery were infectious even in such a ridiculous spectacle.

“Can we not make this meeting about Clover’s love life again,” Rollacost asked, exasperated despite his own amused huff.

This brought expectant eyes onto Izuku again. He fumbled for something to say that wasn’t just repeating how nice it was to meet them all. “How… uh, how do you all know each other,” he asked and barely suppressed a wince. His voice was rather high and the question felt ridiculous, they were all here after all.

They didn’t seem to agree though. Rollacost had a contented little twist to the edge of his lip, which seemed all the he was able to do as a smile.

He pulled his pen from his mouth again and said, “I drifted into town about ten years ago. A couple of low-level villains were hanging around here at the time driving away business and the guy who owned the shop was practically begging someone to take it. I’d dealt with worse and knew it wouldn’t be long before some hero got them sorted, so I took on the gig and then bought the body shop with Gigga a few years later.

"Clover was just out of high school and about begged me for a job. It was her idea to start these Quirkless meetups every other Saturday a few years back. I thought it was pretty dumb at first, but, honestly, these guys are some of the best friends I’ve ever had.”

“You big sap,” Ligma teased, punching him lightly in the arm.

“You’re our man, Rolly-poly,” Tangent said from her other side, flashing a huge grin at the ceiling rather than at any of the people in the room.

“So,” Izuku started cautiously, not wanting to interrupt the moment but deeply curious, “If you guys have been going so long, how come I’ve never heard of this before?”

Rollacost’s expression soured and he glared off into the middle distance. He bit his pen again and sounded terribly bitter as he said, “We had some punks who got wind of it and started making trouble in those first couple months. Now we’re not supposed to advertise it. They say it’s for our safety, but I don’t buy it.”

“The man’s holding us down,” Clover yelled, throwing a fist into the air, heartbreak and betrayal forgotten.

“We drove them off pretty easily in the end,” Ligma said calmly, though there was a bit of a smug smirk on her lips.

“People with Quirks like to think they’re so much better and stronger, but they’re still human and everyone falls under a wrench to the face,” Clover told Izuku, her grin truly wicked.

“No one actually had to swing a weapon,” Rollacost corrected, glaring pointedly at her.

“But you should have seen their faces.” Clover’s laugh was hearty and full bodied.

The group dissolved into laughter. Ligma whispered something to Tangent who almost fell over backward in his chair, eyes wide and grin scandalized. Izuku caught Rollacost's eye as he shook his head fondly, that contented little twist back on his lips. He shrugged and waved his hand in a kind of claiming gesture as though to say 'they're crazy, but they're my crazy'.

Rollacost let it go on a minute longer before he called, "Alright, let's get back on topic. Anyone have anything to discuss?" His voice was like magic; despite the calm, almost quiet tone, every member of the group snapped to attention when he spoke, attached to his every word. Izuku was amazed.

Ligma, Clover, and Tangent all had a dangerous glint in their eyes as they chorused "New name!"

Seeming rather resigned to this part, Rollacost called for voting. The group moved like a well oiled machine, all getting out of their seats and picking a job. The three who'd call for a name change had their suggestion on a printout highlighting the selling points of their name choice. The snacks were moved from one end of the table to make room for the name proposals and a little stack of pens was stolen from under the cash register in the shop next door.

One only person was allowed over there at a time and Izuku could not figure out what they were doing as Tangent and then Gigga spent what seemed far too long on each page. He didn't have to wait long.

"It's your turn," Tangent said, elbowing Izuku lightly.

Izuku blinked at him, bemused. Tangent was not looking at him, his eyes seeming fixed serenly on nothing far to his left.

"But it's my first meeting are you sure I should-" Izuku started to ask, feeling rather intrusive, but Clover interrupted, gesturing toward the table with an unwarranted degree of reverence, "You're one of us now, destined to join in our most sacred practice!"

It turned out voting was less formal than Izuku had assumed. Rather than simple tallies, each of the pages was covered in notes on the presented names. Izuku's favorite were "Unacceptable!" and "Makes us sound like juvenile villain wannabes". Chuckling to himself, he added his own quick notes, choosing to favor only the one that was a bad play off a hero duo from the early days.

Clover switched places him, giving up her spot by the snacks next to Gigga. He was playing with his marble again, detached from the rest of the conversations happening around him. Izuku had kind of forgotten how large he was, but any nerves were easily belayed by the warmth in his eyes as he rolled the marble around his fingers.

"Do you collect them," Izuku asked.

Gigga, reticent as ever, nodded down at his shoes and held it out. It was heavy, beautiful swirls of colors under the polished surface. Izuku turned it this way and that, admiring the craftsmanship.

"A real mibster calls that an 'aggie'." Tangent had appeared from nowhere and was poking at the marble from Izuku's other side.

Izuku fumbled the marble, nearly tossing it to the floor by mistake. He clutched it to his chest with a heavy sigh of relief and heard Gigga do the same. Tangent and Clover combined were going to give him a heart attack.

"Mibster? I've not heard that term in a while. Do you play, Tangent," Ligma asked, drawing his attention and the two began to speak in a language seemingly their own, only half the words familiar to Izuku.

He tuned them out and handed the marble safely back to Gigga with a quiet apology. The large man shook his head as though to ward off the sentiment. He dug in his pocket and pulled out a smaller marble, green with light and dark swirls. He held it up next to Izuku's eyes. He narrowed his small eyes and then nodded, decisive. He took Izuku's hand and folded his fingers over the marble, his massive fingers dwarfing Izuku's fist easily.

Shocked, Izuku stroked the smooth surface, at a loss for words. Then a bright smile spread across his face. "It's beautiful. Thank you so much."

Clover sidled up at that moment and, wiser now, Izuku tucked the marble away, safe. She paid it no mind, chewing a massive mouthful of food as she asked, "Hey, what was in that box you got the other day anyway?"

"Clover," Ligma's voice was stern and sharp enough to make Izuku snap to attention, though he was not the one in trouble here.

Clover was far less concerned, turning an innocent look on the older woman. Ligma crossed her arms, looking very much like a drill sergeant about to lay into a new recruit. "It is rude to speak with your mouth full, but it is doubly so to ask people things like that when it's none of your business."

Clover pouted, but Izuku held his hands up, like he could wave away the tension and said, "It's fine, really. I was just bringing a gift to the hospital."

Ligma looked down at him, eyes crinkling as though he were the most precious thing she'd ever seen. "For the man you helped?" He nodded. "That's so sweet of you. I'm sure he and his family appreciate the thought during such a very trying time."

At the mention of Lily's family, Izuku's face must have given something away. Clover's eyes had taken on a knowing, dubious quality. "Did you meet them?"

"Just his sister. She's a little," he trialed off, not sure how exactly to phrase it kindly. He settled on, "She doesn't really like people without Quirks."

He'd been rubbing at his shoulder without thought and Clover was suddenly there, her breath on the faint bruising as she tugged aside his shirt. He jumped, but her hold was unyielding.

"Clover," Ligma said again, shocked and horrified, yanking the young woman back.

She let Ligma pull her back, but there was something distinctly different about Clover now. Her usual cheer and pep were gone, muscles tense.

Her voice was unnervingly devoid of emotions as she said, "Show me what she did."

There was something wrong here, some malevolent specter Izuku didn't have a name for hanging around her. The others had stopped their conversation entirely and there was suddenly more space around the two of them. Izuku wasn't sure what to do.

Nerves skittering under his skin, he said, uncertain, "It wasn't that bad. The receptionist was right there and he called-"

"Show me, Midoriya Izuku," she interrupted fiercely, turning her shoulder to him.

Clover's eyes were intent, unblinking as she waited. Unease ran a cold shiver down Izuku's spine.

"Um, okay, well she just-" he reached out and put his hand lightly on her shoulder, but the rest of his words left him in a harsh breath of air as his back hit the cement.

He stared dazedly up the ceiling high above, no idea how he'd gotten there, his wrist captive and immobilized. She let go of it to clasp his hand instead, her own shaking. The air around them became nearly crushing.

She pulled him to his feet, angry tears sparkling in her eyes. Her voice was unsteady, too many heavy things behind the words, "If someone tries to touch you when you don't want them to, especially if they try to hurt you, you lay them flat. I don't care who it is or what they can do, no one lays a hand on you. You hear me?"

The garage echoed her words until it had leeched all the strength from them, nothing but the broken frailty underneath. He wanted desperately to do something, to bring back that crazed but genuine smile. His tongue was lost down his throat though, so he just squeezed her hand and nodded.

She swallowed thickly and yanked Izuku forward, crushing him in a hug. He didn't feel strange about it this time, he hugged her back and rubbed a circle into her shoulder blade, like his mother did when he was upset.

After a moment, he finally found his voice and asked, "Can you show me how to do that move? I didn't even see what happened; it was incredible."

"Careful, kid," Rollacost said with a chuckle, "She's taken every self-defense course under the sun."

She shoved him back to arms length and her eyes were shining, that manic grin back on her face as though he'd just made her whole week. "You bet, I'll teach you everything I know!"

Then, she was suddenly behind Izuku, grabbing his shoulder and directing him where to put his hands and feet, how to shift his weight. The abrupt return to form was jarring but welcome. The tension in the room dissipated as the others took their votes and chatted, watching Clover's lesson with idle interest.

It took several tries before he figured out what she meant and successfully got her on the ground. He threw his arm into the air and the whole room cheered with him, the sound making the metal in the machines around the walls ring merrily. He rubbed at the back of his neck, self conscious as heat rose up his face.

"Don't lose focus," Clover chided and suddenly he was on the ground again. She loomed over him, his shoulder twisted to a near painful angle.

"Give the kid a break, you can pick it up another time," Rollacost called from where he was gathering up the proposals.

He snapped with them with a certain finality and Clover jumped off Izuku to grab hold of Tangent instead, interrupting his ramblings to Gigga by nearly shaking his glasses off in her enthusiasm. It ended abruptly as chaos and yelling broke out with the announcement that the vote favored Tangent's idea.

"Recount," Clover called, her voice clear above the celebratory din bouncing sickeningly off the ceiling.

Rollacost ended the meeting rather diplomatically as his calm voice cut through the others, "That's the name for now. If you want to suggest a new one, you can bring the usual form in after Game Night. Now, who needs a ride home?"

Waving after the truck from the sidewalk in front of his apartment complex, Izuku found himself feeling light, as though filled with warm bubbles. He turned inside with a wide smile on his face and five new numbers in his phone. Tentatively, very tentatively, he labeled their new group chat "Friends".

Chapter Text

A bag of apples swung at Izuku’s side as he made his way to the hospital. One of their neighbors had picked more than they could eat and gave the Mirodiyas a couple bags. Izuku had plans to share the rest with the Brigade Musketeers Not Needing Quirks, BMNNQ for short.

Bakugou, slouching moodily along beside him, held his hand out for one, as though perfectly entitled to it. Izuku handed it over without complaint. Asking Bakugou for a favor, even with the promise of anything he wanted from his favorite restaurant after they left the hospital, was a risky proposition on the best of days; he was not about to fall from his good graces this close.

In the last week and a half, Lily 's sister had been persistent. She wasn't allowed inside the hospital anymore, but that didn't stop her from hanging around outside and harassing Izuku. He'd starting entering from the side but she caught onto that as well. Nothing he or anyone else said made any difference.

They reached the walkway up to the doors without incident. Izuku got a few steps ahead of Bakugou, needing it to seem as though they weren’t here together. It had been four days since he'd been back and, for a moment, he thought nothing was going to happen. The knot of tension in his stomach eased a bit.

Then he caught a flash of purple hair, Lily’s sister, livid and closing in fast. He braced and, just as he'd suspected, things escalated. She grabbed his arm and pulled him roughly to a stop, her nails digging in. He couldn’t help the gasp of pain, certain she was about to draw blood.

He'd been practicing what Clover had taught him and a few other moves he'd found online, but he wasn't confident he could use them or what she might do if he tried. Instead, he met her glare, determined, and held his ground.

This only seemed to incense her further. A threat hung heavy in the air and her words dripped with malice, “I told you to stay away or else.”

He forced calm and authority into his voice as he said, “Let go.”

She was practically shaking as she shrieked, “You're not going anywhere near him!”

Then a familiar hand was on Izuku’s shoulder, dragging him back and smacking her hand away. “Hey, lady, you stupid or something? He said, let go,” Bakugou said, as though the whole affair was far beneath his notice, a nuisance at best.

Izuku couldn’t tell if Bakugou had used a little of his Quirk to make the hit smart or if he’d just gotten her in the right spot, but, either way, she clutched her wrist to her chest and turned her glare on him instead.

“How sweet," she sneered, lip curling. “One Quirkless saving another, like rats helping each other float.”

Bakugou’s impassive glare turned to downright fury. There was danger in every line of his body as he took a step closer, his palm crackling. “The hell did you just call me?”

Her expression faltered for a second, but she rallied, leering down her nose at him. She held up her own hand and allowed a shower of sparks to fall. “You don’t scare me, kid. My Quirk is much more dangerous.”

Bakugou barked a laugh. “Yeah right, you couldn’t light a damn candle with that.”

Her teeth ground and she shot her hand out, sparks flying at his chest. Bakugou sidestepped the attack with ease and a feral grin beginning to curl his lip. He held his hand out to Izuku, who jumped but dutifully placed another apple into his palm.

"You shot first, it's self defense now."

Izuku took a huge step back but was not nearly fast enough to miss being splattered with apple debris as Bakugou blew it to bits, the juice running sticky down his cheek as his ears rang. He was not the only one though. She was spluttering, spitting seeds out of her mouth. Her bold confidence was gone now, her eyes wide as she stared at Bakugou’s still smoking hand.

Bakugou shook his still dripping hand off at her, somehow having missed getting apple on any other part of himself. She flinched bodily.

“Listen up,” he said, irritated and entirely done with this as he jabbed a thumb back at Izuku, “You do this shit with him again, it’s your ass I’m gonna blow up. Got it?”

She looked over his shoulder at Izuku, mortification and anger shining wetly in her eyes. Izuku knew he should feel bad, but it wouldn’t come. He'd tried everything else.

Impatient as ever, Bakugou yelled, “Get the hell outta here,” and let off another explosion, little more than smoke and sound. She took off at a distinctly hurried march for the parking lot, shouting some kind of profane laden affirmative over her shoulder.

“Grown ass woman attacking kids, what a fucking joke.” Bakugou snatched another apple out of Izuku’s bag and took a bite.

Izuku had never wanted to hug someone so much. He held down on the urge but only just, letting his gratitude out in a broad smile instead. “Thanks, Kacchan.”

Bakugou shot him a glance out of the corner of his eye then scoffed. “Whatever, she was pissing me off anyway. I’m ordering an extra-large for having to deal with that shit, by the way.”

Izuku couldn’t help but laugh. It was hard to tell sometimes, but Bakugou really did have a heart under that prickly personality and overblown ego.

“I’m sorry she’s been causing you trouble,” Lily apologized, looking rather horrified but not terribly surprised when Izuku finally got around to telling him what happened. "She's always been protective but, when she took over the firm after our parents passed away, she started seeing the whole world as our enemy. I know it’s hard to see, but she's trying to help, in her own way.”

Izuku could see the twisted logic that might lead to that conclusion. She was out there every day trying to get in to see Lily and keeping out anyone she felt was a bad influence, but, “That doesn’t mean it’s okay for her to treat anyone the way she does, especially not you.”

Lily hummed noncommittally and fiddled with the half eaten apple in his hand. “I’ve been talking to my therapist about her a lot lately and,” he swallowed, gathering his courage and taking a deep breath, “I’m going to call her.”

“During your session, right?” Lily nodded. Relief washed over Izuku, at least he wouldn’t be alone with that negativity. “Good luck! I know you can do it.”

“Hey, Deku, it’s been an hour, hurry the hell up,” Bakugou called from the hall.

Izuku jumped to his feet. “Coming, Kacchan! I'll see you later, Lily.”

Chapter Text

At the next meeting of the Anti-Quirkinators, a name Ligma assured Izuku was about to be discussed and summarily thrown out next time, there was a new face.

“Look! Wiz crawled out of his hole,” Clover cheered, wrapping an arm around the shoulders of a young man around her age.

“I only came back for Tangent’s cooking and it’s trivia night,” he said, his voice a dull monotone that was close to impossible to parse emotion out of.

“You know you missed us,” she wheedled him, digging a finger into his ribs.

“Definitely not you.” Izuku might have assumed Wiz was entirely serious, cruel even, from his tone, but the side of his mouth rose and fell as he wiggled away from her and her only response was to laugh heartily, like this was an inside joke of theirs.

She caught Izuku watching them, perplexed and eagerly announced, “Wiz, meet Midoriya Izuku, our newest member, resident celebrity, and life saver extraordinaire.”

Izuku could feel a flush turning his face all shades of red. “That seems a bit much, I’m not that impressive.” He rubbed at the back of his neck nervously.

"The forums only wishes it could be as impressive as you." Izuku pulled up short at the praise, said in such a matter-of-fact way.

“Wiz is a moderator,” Clover explained proudly.

Wiz nodded, slow. “I’m TenPinKid32.”

Izuku knew that name. His lifestyle and advice topics were, without fail, the most positive and encouraging posts on any Quirkless forum, often sitting at the most popular slot for weeks with thousands of replies, a ray of sunshine among the deluge of melancholy.

Izuku’s eyes lit up. “It’s incredible to meet you!”

“Same,” Wiz drew the word out into a long, sleepy thing and then pulled out his phone. “Can I get your number?"

“Sure!” Izuku put in his contact information and didn’t notice the gleam in Clover’s eyes until it was too late.

“You two need a picture together,” she announced and snatched the device from his hands.

Before either of them could react, she shoved their shoulders together. Wiz was distinctly bonier, all elbows and awkward angles. Clover captured the entire ordeal as they figured out a pose that didn’t feel too unnatural. She was a surprisingly good camera operator for how bouncy she tended to be, making even Wiz grin just a bit.

At some point, she dragged everyone else into frame, ordering them around the garage so they were surely only elbows and knees in part of the screen. Still, they were all in stitches by the end when she switched to selfie mode and started pulling faces.

“This is the best one,” she announced, sending a seemingly random one.

Izuku pulled his phone out as the notification pinged but was suddenly staring at an empty hand. He blinked and looked up to find the phone in Clover’s hand. She tapped the screen a few times and then tossed it back to him with a wink. Still nonplussed, he stared down at his new wallpaper. A soft smile reflected back at him off the screen, ghostly over the seven of them laughing and, indeed, only just inside the frame.

He knew he should probably be more concerned that she was so adept at thievery, but he wasn’t even surprised by this point. Clover might be a bit over the top, but she was still a good person. At least he hoped so, she would be horribly troublesome if she ever decided to become a villain.

Wiz stared down at one of the pictures on his own phone. It was impossible to tell if he was happy with it, a grey cloud hanging around his head.

“No one will believe this,” Wiz said, his demoralized monotone finally seeming to match his words. “Your face is too cute but your little body’s so pitiful.”

Izuku barely had time to be caught off guard by the frank words before Clover, her boundless excitement unconstrained as she vibrated on the spot, shrieked, “You should photoshop him onto All Might!”

Izuku’s enthusiasm for the meeting was suddenly knocked out of him. All Might’s words began running through his head, overlaid with an echo of the disapproving EMT, police, and rookie heroes.

“Don’t mind them,” Ligma said kindly from where she’s just stepped up to Izuku’s side while the other two debated which hero Izuku’s face would fit better on. “They can be a bit upfront with their thoughts, but they don’t mean anything by it. They’re just very honest souls.”

“It’s not that,” Izuku said with an earnest shake of his head, trying to muster up a smile.

Ligma watched him with such gentleness in her eyes, giving him a minute to compose his thoughts. The confession built in his throat and then dissipated in his mouth like a bitter mist. He couldn’t. He couldn’t tell her the things the hero he’d always looked up to above all others had said to him, how his words ached every day, how they made him doubt his every move.

She nodded sagely and took his arm between her hands, patting his elbow. “If you ever want to talk about it, we’re here for you, dear. My door is always open to you.”

He swallowed back the bitterness as his heart swelled and tears of gratitude pricked at his eyes. His smile was more genuine this time as he wiped at his cheeks.

She leaned in closer to whisper conspiratorially, “I understand why you’d be jealous though. Clover’s a pretty girl, even if she’s a bit odd.”

Izuku blanched. “That’s not it, I don’t– not that she isn’t nice looking, but it’s not– I mean, I–” Ligma cut off his stumbling, high pitched attempts to dissuade her from the thought as she hummed in understanding. “I see. Well, I can’t say for sure what team he’s playing for or if he’s even interested in anyone at all, but I’d still say there’s a chance and Wiz is a real sweetheart once you get to know him.”

If Izuku had been blushing before, it was nothing to this. He buried his head in his hands. Ligma laughed so sweetly, despite the merciless delight rolling off her in waves.

“I’m just teasing you, young man. You’re out of their league anyway,” she assured him, like she was doting on her favorite grandchild. Izuku was not sure if that was comforting or not.

He was spared from anymore of this conversation by Clover popping up beside them to announce they needed to take their seats.

Trivia night was, as Rollacost proudly announced it, the greatest trivial event this side of the equator. They had at least eight editions of their chosen game, spanning almost thirty years, crammed into one box with several additional specialty booster packs tapped to the edges. Everything was mixed haphazardly together.

They were split ‘randomly’ into two teams by Clover, who had such a devious grin on her face as she set Izuku and Wiz on opposite sides.

There were three separate scoring systems, two of which didn’t seem to make sense in a team game given their scoring criteria being entirely individual based with a winner in each system. It became clear though as Rollacost leaned in to explain the gameplay to Izuku and Clover took her place as MC and scorekeeper. Their fearless leader, as Clover was fond of calling him, admitted they couldn’t really play a game like this with her as a player. Izuku did not need to ask why.

For the next two hours, she pulled cards, read their questions, and ran to each of the scoreboards without even seeming to pause between actions while the rest of them played the long game of cajoling seemingly pointless information out of their heads. Between her one woman show and the odd contrast of extreme competitiveness and genuinely loving encouragement between the teams, the game was endlessly entertaining.

It became all too clear only a few rounds in why Clover had split the teams as she had. Wiz and Izuku were in a league of their own when it came to hero trivia. Wiz’s sad eyes were suddenly full of life as he matched Izuku point for point. Izuku’s own blood was stirring with the challenge and neither of them noticed when their teammates sat back and let them go six whole rounds without actually taking a turn or rolling for a category so they could battle it out.

In the end, Izuku was on the winning team by the official rules but just barely lost in the individual scores, having gotten an answer wrong wrong the release date of the fifth edition limited ultra-rare platinum All Might figurine by only a year. Clover seemed to have her own criteria for winning, even outside the insane scoring systems, announcing Wiz was Five Time Running Ultimate Nerd of the Universe. No one seemed at all bothered by her oddity, taking their win wherever they could find it.

Chapter Text

There was a skip in Izuku’s step as he made his way from the bus stop to the next QuirkZeroes meeting. He was early but no one on the group chat seemed to mind. Gigga, who only texted in emojis, was alone at the garage tuning up Rollacost’s truck and sent a line of eager smiley faces and confetti.

As he passed the park, Izuku paused. It was getting late and there usually wouldn’t be kids out at this time, but it wasn’t unheard of. Something was wrong though. The muffled laughter from the other end of the park sent a familiar shiver down his spine.

He crossed into the grassy area and bypassed the equipment. He could hear more clearly now, cruel jeering and, underneath soft begging and barely held sobs.

“Look, he’s crying again!”

“Bubble Baby!”

“You want your stupid toy back? You have to try harder than that.”

The dying light of sunset sparkled off a stream of bubbles floating off into the sky. Izuku rounded the jungle gym to see the kid they originated from curled up on the ground with arms over his head shaking. The three across from him began pelting him with a barrage of rocks, cheering each other on.

“HEY! STOP THAT!”

Izuku rushed into the no man’s land between them. The kids paused, but not before he’d already taken a rock to the ribs and one flew by his cheek, taking a large swath of skin with it. He flinched but held his arms out protectively, glaring. One of them had some kind of Quirk to enhance their throw. Blood ran hot down his cheek and dripped off his chin.

One of them, a girl taller than the other two, was holding some kind of modified quadcopter. Izuku held out his hand and stepped forward, putting all the authority he could into the words, “You shouldn’t take things that aren’t yours. Give it back.”

She looked him up and down, her expression wavering between uncertainty and defiance. He was older by at least a couple of years, but it could not be said that he struck a terribly intimidating figure.

While she was still debating her reaction, the others looking to her for a sign of what to do, someone half stumbled half ran into Izuku, pushing him forward. Bubbles rushed around him, gliding over his skin and distorting his vision. The two of them slammed into the girl.

They were a mess of limbs in the dirt. Izuku got an elbow to the ear and a knee to the shin trying to disengage himself as the other two wrestled fiercely for the toy. It was clearly one sided. Though the boy’s bubbles were making it difficult for the girl to hold on, she was still clearly the stronger of the two.

The kids that had been on either side of her overcame their shock enough to move closer, reaching for their ringleader.

“Grab the other one,” she yelled just as Izuku got his feet under him.

The boy on the left reached him first and grabbed his shoulder. Clover’s lesson kicking in and he flipped the boy clumsily onto his back. His own stunned face mirrored the boy’s. He’d actually done it.

He was too flabbergasted to remember there was more that was supposed to come after. The other kid had some kind of limb lengthening Quirk, arms wrapping twice around him and clasping hands. The boy took out his ankles with a cruel kick and he fell hard to the ground, the breath leaving him in a rush.

The two children loomed over him, smiling cruel smiles he’d seen far too many times before. Izuku struggled but it was no use, his arms were locked and his legs kicked at empty air.

They were distracted from Izuku though as their ring leader said, winded but triumphant, “I told you what would happen if you fought back.” She was leering down at the boy who had clearly just fallen and scrapped his palms bloody.

Bubbles rose in a thick cloud around him and he reached out to her, devastated and terrified. “No, please! I’ll do anything you want. Anything!”

Izuku’s blood ran cold. “Wait, don’t!” The arms tightened around him and he choked on the last word.

It was too late. The tall girl snapped the landing gear and propellers off the quadcopter and threw them so hard they made little clouds of dust appear. The boy screamed like he was being eviscerated, reaching after the pieces as they fell like tiny meteors. The laughter of the other children clashed horribly against it.

Izuku gasped in a proper breath as the arms let go of him and the three children ran off with not even a backward glance. The boy was scooping what was left of his machine off the ground, sobbing.

Izuku didn’t know what to do. His steps were cautious as he approached, hand out to lend some kind of comfort. “I’m sorry that happened. I can help you fix it if you want.”

The boy turned angry, red rimmed eyes on him, sniffling, and yelled, “Why didn’t you use your Quirk?!”

“What?”

He scrubbed his face. “The way you jumped between us, I thought you must have a good Quirk, but you didn’t use it.”

“No, I don’t have a Quirk,” Izuku admitted, wrongfooted.

“Then why did you even bother? You should have just left me alone!” On the last word, he surged up and shoved Izuku hard in the chest.

Caught by surprise, Izuku went down hard on his backside, certain he’d bruise later. The kid was still coming, his eyes wild with fury. “This is all your fault. They were gonna give it back, they always give it back, but now it’s ruined! Why couldn’t you just stay away?”

He kicked dirt up into Izuku’s face. Blind, Izuku scrubbed furiously with the back of his sleeve, grit scraping against his eyelids. By the time he’d rubbed it away, the kid was rounding the corner out of the park at a run, arm over his own eyes.

“Wait,” he tried calling, reaching after him, but it was too late.

Izuku’s ribs ached and his cheek was still bleeding, but nothing felt broken. After a minute of staring after the kid, feeling helpless, he finally got his wits together and did what he should have done all along, he pulled out his phone and dialed the police.

The operator answered with a calm, pragmatic voice and passed him along to an officer. There was a bit of chaos in the background and the officer sounded harried and harassed.

Izuku gave him the story all the same, but the officer stopped him halfway through. “You mean that kid with the bubble Quirk, right? Yeah, I know those four. We’ve been over there to warn them a couple times, but it’s just kids being kids. You’re getting too worked up about it.”

A righteous anger sprang to life in Izuku’s chest. “They aren’t allowed to be using their Quirks like that! It’s–”

The officer drowned him out, impatient and angry, as though Izuku were wasting his time, “Look, that girl has a great Quirk, she could really be something one day, do you want us to put this on her record and ruin all that? Just go home and leave us to the real work.”

The call ended with a loud click and Izuku sat there a moment listening to the dial tone. Then he threw his phone down with a wordless, frustrated yell, tears turning the night into a blurry otherworld. He pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes and curled around his knees. His ears were burning with the officer’s voice, the boy’s anger, the children’s laughter.

He cried until he couldn’t make a sound anymore, ignoring his phone going off in the dirt several feet away.

Then a familiar voice above him asked, “You okay, kid?”

He couldn’t look up at Rollacost and words were a distant concept for a moment, unreachable as the moon. He nodded automatically instead. Physically, it was true, he’d had worse over the years and it wasn’t the scrapes and bruises that hurt.

A hand appeared before Izuku. “Come on, let’s get you patched up back at the garage.”

“I think I should just go home,” he mumbled, curling further into himself and not bothering to move.

Rollacost’s eyes were heavy on him but Izuku could not meet his gaze, his crushing failure holding his head down. Rollacost sighed. “Alright, if that’s what you want, I’ll drive you back, but you have to let me put something on that cut. Deal?”

Izuku swallowed heavily. He couldn’t imagine ever looking Clover of Gigga in the face again. His chest was being slowly crushed and shame rolled through his stomach.

“I can’t go back there. They think I’m a hero, but I can’t do anything.” Those last few words were so bitter on his tongue as he spat them out.

Rollacost set down a plastic bag beside them as he bent to Izuku’s level. “We got the short end of the stick not getting a fancy powerup, but that doesn’t mean we can’t do anything. You’ve got a good heart and a strong mind and that’s better by half than anything the rest have got. So, chin up, kid. They’re gonna knock you down, every one, but you remember who you’ve got behind you.” His scarred hand gripped Izuku’s shoulder and he finally looked up to meet that infectious certainty in his eyes. “We don’t care if you don’t feel like a hero today, your friends know you’re worth ten of those Quirk mongers and more and we’ll always be here for you.”

Tears were welling again in Izuku’s eyes, but they weren’t angry or miserable this time. The barest hint of a smile twitched at the corner of Rollacost’s mouth as Izuku nodded. That hand was back in front of him and this time Izuku took it readily and allowed himself to be pulled to his feet.

Chapter Text

Izuku had come by that afternoon to visit Lily only to find out from the receptionist that he was readying for a trip out of his room. Lily had left him a message that he was welcome to come if he showed up on time.

Excitement pumping through him, Izuku had followed the receptionist's directions and raced around to the van loading entrance. Lily's face had been grey with nerves, but about half an hour later as they neared the coast, a hint of life found its way back into his eyes.

“You tell these wonderful stories about such interesting places and people," the nurse was saying from the passenger seat as Lily finished recounting a childhood exploit in the park they'd passed. "Maybe you need some new people in your life to make more of those memories."

"I have a friend," Lily said, timid as he glanced uncertainly at Izuku. He gave him his most certain nod and smile.

"Don't get me wrong, our favorite visitor is wonderful," the nurse said with a playful wink at Izuku, "but you can't rely on one person for everything, you know that."

Before Lily could slump further in his seat, Izuku spoke up eagerly, "Actually, there’s this group of us who get together and none of them have Quirks either. They’re really great and I know they’d love to meet you. We have a meeting next week if you want to come.”

“Maybe,” Lily said, but Izuku could hear it in the downtrodden tone that it was unlikely at best.

It would be good for Lily and they would embrace him with open arms, but Izuku wasn’t going to push the issue.

They got out in a quaint part of town and wandered for a bit. The nurse ducked into a shop to grab them all a sweet treat, but Lily looked too anxious to be inside waiting for the order. Instead, he and Izuku took a turn around the corner.

They pulled up short, shocked. Down the hill, where the buildings should have given way to crystal sea there was only a wasteland of refuse.

Lily's face dropped. “Look at this beach, it used to be so beautiful. Now, you can’t even see the sand for the garbage.”

“Why doesn’t anyone clean it up?”

“Why should they? Trash washes up here all the time and it was such a chore to keep clean before people started dumping here too. Now, no one bothers." Lily tears sparkled on his cheeks, so at odds with the bright, sunny day. "It’s like all things in life, after a while, it just piles on and you can’t pick yourself up again. Nothing changes.”

“Lily-” Izuku put a comforting hand on his shoulder, but Lily was on a roll, “It’s pointless for someone without a Quirk to do anything in life. We’re doomed to watch the world crumble around us with no one to save us.”

Izuku would not stand to hear his friend sound so hopeless. “That’s not true!” He took both Lily's shoulders and drew him into a tight hug.

“There are no heroes for people like us,” Lily hiccupped weakly into his shoulder.

Izuku didn't know what to do. Too many voices were echoing in his own ears, A loser like you can't be a hero, Deku. Quirkless, the greatest shame on a family. Leave it to the professionals next time. Why can't you just stay away?!

But then he heard Rollacost through all of them, They’re gonna knock you down, every one, but you remember who you’ve got behind you. Clover and Gigga's faces burst behind his eyes, bright and eager as they met him for the first time and called him a hero.

Izuku’s fists tightened against his friend's back. “What if I prove you wrong?”

Lily pulled back and wiped at his tears, but he looked no better, weeks of improvement gone in a moment. He patted Izuku's hair with a gentle hand and the ghost of a smile. “I don’t want to discourage your dreaming, but do not waste yourself like that, find some other way to be happy.”

Chapter Text

As Izuku walked in for the next meeting, he was immediately caught by Ligma. “Come on,” she said, dragging him by the arm toward the group by the chairs. There was a touch more strength to her than her wizened hands would seem to suggest.

Tangent was sitting backwards on one chair, resting his chin on the back as he listened with his usual far-off stare. Rollacost, standing beside him, was talking to a middle-aged woman Izuku had never seen before. She was built like a brick house. Nothing on Gigga, perhaps, but her musculature was certainly nothing to sneeze at.

“That’s Den. I met her after my husband passed away. She really got me back into life and introduced me to everyone here. Den, have you met our newest member?” Ligma said when they’d reached the little group, cutting expertly into the conversation as though it had been hers all along.

Izuku was infinitely glad that Ligma did not have the same flare for dramatic introduction as Clover. He bowed politely. “Hello, I’m Midoriya Izuku.”

“Clover’s been talking my ear off about you,” Den said. She had a voice that reminded Izuku of a bombed out building, smoky and grating, like there had been something there once but it had long since been violently lost.

She leaned in with narrow eyed interest and looked him up and down, like she was assessing meat. This close up, Izuku could see the tiny, barely visible scars on her face and neck that bore an eerie similarity to Rollacost’s. He was so absorbed in this oddity he missed the warning signs. The solid finger she jabbed into his chest knocked him back two stumbling steps.

She chuckled, the sound more like a blowtorch to gravel. Rollacost reached up and grabbed her shoulder as he said, a stern turn to his brow, “Don’t be so rough with the kid.”

“He’s tough, he can handle it. Hell, I’ll bet you he’s applying to my alma mater right now.”

Someone tapped Izuku on the shoulder and he turned to see Wiz holding his phone, his usual melancholy even more pronounced. “Have you been on the forums lately?”

Confused, Izuku said, “No, I’ve been meaning to, but I have a lot of homework right now and–”

“Good, stay off.”

Izuku blinked at the unexpected hint of vehemence in Wiz's usual monotone. “Why?”

“It’s pretty toxic right now. The moderators are working on it, but there’s still a lot of people hounding your profile and old posts saying you shouldn’t have saved Lily.” The words slammed into Izuku’s chest and his ears began ringing, making the rest of his words far away as he continued, “We’re taking down the more aggressive ones, but that rescue sparked a lot of discussion on whether or not people can choose to die and it’s a lot harder for the moderators to justify taking that down than the angry threats and profanity.”

Ligma patted his back. “They’re just being silly dear.”

Izuku’s eyes dropped to the floor, his doubts rushing back in to drown him. “Maybe they’re right, maybe I shouldn’t be interfering. I mean, I didn’t help that kid the other night and Lily-”

A hand landed on his shoulder and spun him to face a pair of hard, gunmetal grey eyes. It was the new woman, Den. “Don’t you dare think like that. You did good helping both those people, you made a difference. It’s that kid’s fault he can’t appreciate someone giving a shit."

Ligma made an indignant noise at the profanity but Den paid her no mind. She took a steadying breath. Then she pulled the high collar of her shirt down to show a gruesome, jagged scar at her neck. Izuku’s eyes went wide. The only scar he’d ever seen that looked worse was All Might’s, but this one was clearly self-inflicted. He ripped his eyes away but they darted back, morbidly curious, almost guilty. It felt like something not meant for the eyes of others.

“I’m standing here because someone like you was there for me,” she growled, the words sounding legitimately painful coming out of her torn up throat. “I don’t know that those people are wrong to say the person you saved had the right to die if they really wanted, but I do think they’re wrong to say you had no right to try and save them. This life is fucked up, but it’s worth it if you’ve got just one person in it willing to look at your shit and say, ‘I care and I want to help’. So, you keep caring, kid, because that’s not nothin’ and you sure as hell aren’t.”

A few tears spilled down Izuku’s cheeks despite his best attempts to hold down on them. Still, he nodded back at Den, his throat too tight to speak.

She nodded approvingly. “Now, I’m not sayin’ go nuts with it, you gotta know when to draw the line, but there’s a reason we’ve got heroes; when things are as bad as they can get, we know someone’s trying to make it better. That’s why we all look up to All Might, right? We know if we need him, he’ll be there.”

There was a general nodding around the room, that belief in the Symbol of Peace shining in their eyes. Izuku’s gaze dropped to the floor again, All Might’s skeletal frame imprinted on his eyelids. He certainly might not be there for much longer. Would they still be saying this if they knew?

Tangent pulled Izuku from the well he was spiraling into. His wide eyes had fixed on Izuku for the first time as he tilted his head nearly all the way to one side. As though none of the previous conversation had happened at all, he asked, deeply curious, “What high schools are you applying to anyway?"

“Oh, well," Izuku hesitated, his promise to Lily ringing in his ears. He stood up a bit straighter, almost defiant. "I was thinking the UA hero course.”

A surprised breath ran around the room and they were all looking at him with new interest.

“That’s a lofty goal,” Den said, her scratchy voice deep with approval.

“I told you our boy here was a destined hero,” Clover shouted, bouncing over with excitement.

“Well, I’d say you certainly have the makings,” Ligma said with a sweet smile.

“A-actually, speaking of that, can I ask a favor?” He looked to Rollacost. “Is there a way I can borrow that truck?”

The next morning, when the sun was barely a suggestion on the horizon, four of them were gazing out at the mountains of trash on the beach. Wiz and Clover whistled under their breath and Den looked downright furious.

“Don’t feel like you have to help me move it,” Izuku explained hurriedly once more, “I just need someone to drive the truck to haul it away, that’s all.”

“You’re not seriously thinking of cleaning all this up by yourself, are you,” Wiz asked, dubiously.

“I have to try. You didn’t see Lily’s face when he talked about how it used to look. I want to give that back; I want to prove things can change. I’ve calculated it out and if I fill at least two truckloads every morning and evening, I should be done not long before the entrance exams.” Izuku turned bright, pleading eyes on all of them as he said, “I know I can do it, I just need a little help, please.”

Den looked somewhere between ready to punch someone and burst into tears. “Dumb kid, I’ll drive the damn truck for you every morning if you want,” she rasped, clapping Izuku on the shoulder.

“So will I,” Clover declared, swinging from the side of the truck with her fist out.

“You’re not allowed behind the steering wheel of a parked car,” Wiz pointed out in his usual monotone. She pouted at him, but he’d already turned his hangdog look back at Izuku, who braced for hard words. Instead he got, “I’ll draw up a schedule for everyone so you’re not left hanging.”

“Fine then,” Clover announced over them before Izuku had gotten his wits together enough to form a response. She jumped down and got in Izuku’s face with a feral grin. “If I can’t drive, I’ll just have to train you for that exam instead. The next few months are gonna be the hardest of your life. You ready for it?”

Izuku blinked at her, but her enthusiasm was, as always, infectious and a fire was beginning to burn bright in his belly. He nodded sharply then looked over at the other two. “Thank you guys so much. I won’t let you down.”

Chapter Text

Toshinori hadn’t expected much when he walked down to the beach that day. It was early, the sun barely a hint on the horizon. He hadn’t been back in a while, it was simply too depressing to see the old place reduced to a waste yard, but he was feeling nostalgic of late.

There was shuffling and a heavy thud. He scowled, it was probably someone dumping more trash, given the hour. He crept closer, plotting the best angle for the Symbol of Peace to pop up and scare them off. He paused though, catching a snatch of the conversation.

“…really made a dent in it.”

“Yeah,” an excited voice Toshinori recognized agreed. “I’ve been able to do three truckloads every morning for the last week. I didn’t think I’d get so strong just pushing trash around, but if we keep going at this rate, we’ll finish almost a month ahead of schedule.”

Toshinori leaned around a pile of junk and caught the outline of a man propped against a truck with something long and thin between his lips. The boy he was talking to was taking a hearty drink from a water bottle. That curly hair was more than familiar. It was him, the kid from the sludge villain attack, the one who knew Toshinori’s secret.

The man stepped forward and put a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “I’m proud of you. It’s a good thing you’re doing here, not just for that friend of yours, but for everyone.” The sincerity in his words seemed to resonate on the air.

The boy stared at him, wide eyed as though shocked before his eyes dropped to his shoes. “It’s really not that impressive. I’m sure someone like All Might could do it in ten minutes.”

“Yeah, but do you see him here? Course not. Big shots like him don’t have the time of day for stuff like this unless it gets them publicity. But, if you ask me, this is what real heroes do.”

The sun finally broke the horizon, washing the scene in bright gold as tears began falling from the boy’s eyes. Toshinori ducked away, returning the way he’d come as though he’d never been there. His chest was aching, something about that whole scene cutting him to the core. It wasn’t that he wasn’t a hero in that man’s eyes, he maybe even had a point. No, it was the sharp barbs under the kid’s words as he disowned his own accomplishments, barbs he, Toshinori, All Might, the Symbol of Peace, had a hand in putting there.

The thought sat heavy on him. He stopped a convenience store robbery, two snatch and grabs, and a deadly car crash, but he still didn’t feel any better by the end of the day.

He went back a week later, his curiosity finally outweighing anything else, certain the kid would have given up by now. It was a monumental task, after all. There he was though, loading trash into the same truck, though with a new driver, an older woman. It was nearly full and, as he threw a last armful on, she turned on the truck.

Someone else, slender and graceful, jumped from behind a pile of trash and tackled the boy to the ground. Toshinori might have been alarmed had the woman in the truck not laughed heartily and called out something about playing safe before she drove off toward the dump. As it was, he was transfixed, watching the two fight for a moment before the kid got pinned.

She pulled him to his feet with dizzying speed, talking and gesturing a mile a minute. He seemed to be keeping up fine though, nodding along with such intense focus. Then they were going again, not even seeming to hold back on their attacks. It was a fairly short fight before she had him in a headlock and he was forced to tap out. Toshinori was reminded forcefully of Gran Torino.

He found himself a partially hidden bench down the way where he could observe without being obvious as they trained. The kid never won, but that didn’t seem to be the point of the training. By the time she called for a break, he had more or less gotten down what she had been trying to teach him and he was just that much faster.

They sat there a moment on the wall, water bottles in hand, talking. Then, she leapt up and announced, loud enough for Toshinori to hear, “LET’S DANCE!” He couldn’t hear the kid’s response but she yelled back something to the effect of, “This is part of your training, all the greatest heroes can dance!”

The kid looked mortified and was clearly protesting, but she ignored him. The music from her phone was tinny and too far off for Toshinori to hear properly but, even from where he sat, he could tell the kid had little rhythm. His movements were almost painfully awkward. She didn’t seem to care in the least, encouraging him with such gusto.

By the time the truck had parked back in its spot again, the two of them were nearly in stitches, leaning against each other as they gasped through laughter, swaying messily to the tune.

Toshinori came by every morning after that, usually not for more than a minute or two, but sometimes he lingered to watch the boy train or lug armful after armful of garbage into the truck like a machine. He was getting stronger, his fighting better, and even his dancing had improved.

Toshinori never plucked up the courage to say anything to the kid and he had no idea why he even came around, but something about that fire in him reminded Toshinori of simpler days.

He took a renewed interest when he saw that year's applicant list for UA’s hero program.

Chapter Text

Lily’s hands were trembling as he held them to his mouth and stared out across the clear beach. When he blinked, tears began streaming down his cheeks and his breathing was somewhere between a laugh and a sob.

He grabbed Izuku by the shoulder and drug him in for a bone crushing hug. “You did all this?”

“It wasn’t just me,” Izuku corrected with a nervous laugh, modest as ever. “I had some friends from the Quirkless Cohort help me out. You should really come to a meeting; I think you’d like them.”

Lily couldn’t seem to form words so he just nodded in agreement. He turned back to the beach, blinking away tears. Izuku put a hand on his shoulder and asked, “Do you want to go down there?”

Lily wore the most honest, pure smile Izuku had ever seen as he wiped at his face and nodded again. The sand was clean and crisp as though it had been laid for them and the water sparkled clear in the evening sun.

Lily finally found his words again, nostalgic and full of hope as Izuku had never heard from him. “This is incredible. I never thought I’d see this again.”

“But here it is, just like you told me." Izuku spun with his arms out to encompass the whole beach. "See? Even when things go wrong, they can always change for the better.”

Tears were sparkling in Lily's eyes again as he looked Izuku full in the face, his gratitude a force of nature. “Especially if you have a hero willing to work hard for it.”

Izuku’s eyes fell to the soft sand at his feet and he muttered, “I’m not a hero.”

Lily drew his attention back as he took Izuku's shoulders and gave them a gentle squeeze. The sincerity in his eyes pulled at Izuku’s heart. “Since the moment I met you, you’ve been my hero.”

The Brigade Quirklessia spent the next week meeting Lily in low stakes introductions on easy, neutral ground, often with Izuku there to moderate. He had been worried Clover's enthusiasm would drive Lily away but their first interaction did not go at all like he expected.

Clover froze as she spotted Lily, her expression unreadable. Then she began moving so slowly, one step at a time, her upper body immobile, like she was sneaking up on him. The effect was entirely ruined by the fact she was coming directly at him from the front. He watched her approach with a mild touch of concern under his confusion.

He glanced at Izuku but he could only give an encouraging, if equally confused, smile. Even after all these months getting accustomed to her strangeness, he still so often found himself at a loss around her. She was finally in Lily’s space, only half a step from actually bowling him over. She stopped there, staring down at him.

There was such intensity in her expression as her arms rose slowly up from her sides. They paused at shoulder height, a foot to either side of him. He gave Izuku another nervous look. Izuku could only shrug and nod.

Lily didn't move away but he had shrunk in on himself a bit. Then, hesitant, he raised his own arms to mimic her. Seeming to take this for assent, Clover's elbows bent in around him just as slowly as she pulled him to her chest in a hug.

She looked over at Izuku and said, her deathly serious tone allowing for no argument on the matter, “We’re keeping this one.”

“Uh, Clover,” Izuku started, wishing desperately Rollacost was here to scold her, his own voice not quite confident enough as he suggested, “maybe you shouldn’t be so familiar–”

“Hush,” she said, her voice shaking with emotions as she petted Lily’s hair. “You will not interrupt this sacred moment with my child.”

Lily, who had yet to move, finally said, timid, “Can you let me go now?”

She released him and stared into his eyes, more serious than Izuku had ever seen anyone as she said, “Of course, anything for you, my sweet summer child.”

Lily's first meeting was a game night. Izuku met him outside the garage, but it took several minutes of gentle coaxing to get him to open the door and step through.

As soon as they did, Clover's head snapped around and she jumped up. "My dearest little brother has brought my golden child!"

Tangent's head fell over the back of his chair so he was looking at them upside down, staring at their shoes as Clover danced up. “Why is the older one your son and the younger your little brother?”

“Because Midoriya Izuku has the perfect mother; Inko is my Queen and I would die to be her daughter. But this one,” She cupped the air around Lily's face, her eyes so bright and proud as she looked at him. “You are so wonderful and worthy of love.”

She pulled them over to the snack table and then Rollacost called everyone forward to began the strangest game of drawing and guessing Izuku had ever seen.

For one thing, they completely ignored the heavily abused word prompts in the box in favor of Gigga's tablet sized phone and its random word generator. The lineup was nowhere near ordinary though, each of the words more ridiculously difficult than the last.

They pulled straws for teams. Lily did not want to play himself but he was happy enough to sit off to one side as scorekeeper. There was an unspoken rule that only one person could be engaging with him at one time and it seemed to put him greatly at ease. Lily's shy smile was a thing to behold as Clover kept up a string of bright conversation or Ligma shared saucy stories.

Izuku's team was next. He found himself a bit nervous, not wanting to let Gigga down, but they were surprisingly good together. The depth of meaning in Gigga's seemingly simplistic drawings was almost breathtaking in its elegance and his abashed pride whenever he got one of Izuku's clues correct was absolutely precious.

Next up, Wiz and Den tried their hardest, but their sense of the world and drawing skills were so vastly different they simply had little in common enough to guess at the other's word. They still finished amiably enough and shook on a job well done.

Then, Ligma and Rollacost destroyed everyone's best scores, getting almost eleven right in under a minute. Izuku wasn't sure he'd ever seen two adults look more smug about such a minor accomplishment.

Clover swore vengeance but she and Tangent were absolutely terrible as a team. Not but twenty seconds into their turn, the game didn't seem to matter very much to either of them as they kept stealing the pen back and forth to finish each other's art, heedless of the word or whose turn it was.

It didn't matter that Izuku didn't know half the words being tossed around. It didn't matter that only one team seemed to care about the score. It was all worth it to see all of his friends together and happy.

The entrance exam was closing in on Izuku like some monster crawling up from under his bed. He was too frazzled to really notice that his friends were acting strange, all barely held smirks and covert glances. It finally came to a head though, their giddy excitement nearly leaking through the walls, as he entered the garage at the behest of an urgent message. Every one of them was there and so too was his mother.

He gave them a quizzical look. “So, what did you guys want to show me?”

Lily stepped forward with a plain, grey box and held it out to Izuku. He took it curiously and opened the lid. Inside, nestled in soft, fitted foam was a sleek, black handgun.

“Wow! This is incredible. Where did you even get it?” Izuku’s fingers skated reverently over the body. Support gear like this was extremely difficult to come by, to say nothing of the arduous process to get it approved for carrying.

Lily’s lip smile was directed down at his shoes. “I used my sister’s connections and we all chipped in to get it for you.”

Izuku paused, staring at him, certain he’d heard wrong.

Den slapped him on the back with a smirk, nearly knocking him off balance. “The entrance exam is next week and, since you don’t have a Quirk, you need something to level the playing field a bit.”

Izuku turned his head to each of them and balked. “This must have cost a fortune; I can’t possibly accept.”

“You’ve done far more for us,” Ligma said softly.

“Your mother and I already did all the paperwork, it’s yours outright and legal so there’s no giving it back,” Wiz said with his weary almost smile.

"Just be careful with it, sweetie," his mom said, her eyes bright with proud tears despite her nervously fidgeting fingers.

“You can repay us by becoming the number one hero,” Clover shouted, hopping up and down at Gigga’s shoulder while he nodded meekly.

“Don’t put so much pressure on the kid,” Rollacost scolded them before turning to Izuku with a crooked little grin. “All I want is to see someone put those smug bastards in their place. If they’re going to say those without a quirk can get in, they better back it up and you’re just the person to show them why.”

“Fight hard,” Clover added enthusiastically.

Izuku scrubbed his cheeks furiously but the tears wouldn’t stop falling. Still, he smiled with the full force of his gratitude and said, “I will! Thank you all so much!”

Chapter Text

Izuku had little choice. He climbed to the roof to get a better handle on what was happening. From his new vantage point, he could see down into the battle raging on the false main street. Quirks of all types were on full display as their owners put them through their paces against the mechanical marvels.

“They come in waves. Four at a time from nine spots, alternating in point value. If I can get to one of those spots, I can take some out without all these people getting in the way,” Izuku murmured to himself, watching the closest cadre of three-point robots zoom out of the alley two buildings over.

One of them came up against a guy with red hair who had some kind of invulnerability or strengthening quirk. He hit it with a roar, his oddly shaped fist slamming through the metal. It did nothing and the robot’s arms began snaking toward him. He smashed them as they came and rammed his arm through the robot another time. He hit it twice more and got his legs tangled before he hit a spot just between two plates of armor that could only be seen when it bent to snatch at him.

Izuku remembered seeing a similar spot at the beginning, when that robot had knocked him over and almost had him before the guy with the laser blasted it.

“That’s their weak point,” he realized, watching a girl kick in the same spot as it tried to lift her into the air. The robotic beast crumpled and released her.

A scream from the foot of the building drew his attention. On the sidewalk, someone was being wrapped up and pulled into a metal compartment on the creature’s back. Izuku didn’t even think, he pulled his gun and took aim. The first shot hit the cement. The second its leg. The third its head. He swore under his breath and forced himself to stay calm. He lined up the shot and this time, the robot fell under his bullet just as the hatch was closing on its victim. They fell out of it, coughing, as the container tipped sideways, clearly programed to let people go when they were taken out.

His heading gotten, Izuku eyed the gap to the next building. It was just far enough to be intimidating, but it was a few feet lower than the one he was on, it shouldn’t be a problem. He took a few steps back, ignoring the four story drop to the alley below, pretending he was leaping over debris on the beach again. He ran with all he had and leapt from the lip of the roof. He landed hard and rolled several times, jarring his arm. He winced but didn’t stop, taking the momentum and springing to his feet.

The next gap was closer and the building almost the same height. It was an easier landing and he kept running until he reached the other end of the roof, peering down into the darkened alley. It would make a good choke point, he decided and raced for the door. The mock city’s buildings were largely empty, almost eerily so.

He had barely reached the landing on the next floor down when he heard something massive rustle in the room. It was difficult to see in the gloom of the unlit building, but the floor itself seemed to be shifting, rippling. Then, it all made far too much sense. A massive tarp was ripped aside and the beady red eyes of four robots were suddenly glaring at Izuku.

Panicked, he pulled his gun and fired left and right to keep them off of him, his ears ringing and the flashes of light blinding him. Something snaked around his leg and pulled him down. Red eyes loomed over his head and he cried out, fighting the metal limbs for all he was worth as they began winding around his wrist and chest. He barely managed to point his gun and pull the trigger. It hit the ceiling. He was drug closer and then into the air. He almost lost his gun, fumbling clumsily as he got closer and closer to the gaping blackness at its side. The compartment had a strange smell to it that made him a bit dizzy and desperation lit a fire in him that he’d never known before. Nearly snapping his own wrist, he turned the gun, aimed for all he was worth, and fired.

Dropped to the ground instantly, he had only a second to draw in air before the others were closing in on him. He pulled himself to his feet and jumped over the ruined husk of the one he’d shot, running for the other side of the room beside the windows. It was a good vantage point. He could see the room clearly now with the light at his back as the robots emerged from the shadows like nightmares, the number four glaring at him.

He forced in a breath to calm his heartrate and took aim. The rest of the fight was far less eventful. He missed a few shots but it was harder to miss in such close quarters. He took all of them down and only one metal arm had managed to get even close to him before he took out its owner. Once he knew where the weak spot was, he could shoot through the plate covering it in only two shots. He gave himself a moment to breathe, looking with a swelling sort of pride over his work.

Then, a huge disturbance shook the building. He tripped on the edge of the tarp as he looked out the window, his ankle tangling in the rope woven through the edges. He ignored it as his breath left his lungs.

There was a massive robot out there, at least five stories tall only a couple buildings down from him. Rubble was settling around it and there were people screaming as it pulled them up and into the black depths of its compartment. He counted at least ten while he stood there, watching in horror and awe as the zero-point robot made quick work of the candidates below it. It started moving then, coming toward him down the main drag. He ducked in and covered his mouth as he crouched under the window. It was agonizing as the massive robot passed in an ominous rumbling.

There was a lot of incoherent yelling, like some of the remaining candidates were trying to coordinate. When he was sure it was safe, Izuku pushed open the window and leaned curiously out to see what was happening. At that moment though, someone hit it with a quirk that, while ineffective, managed to shake the ground. The shockwaves hit Izuku like a punch to the gut and he fell. He barely had the chance to cry out as the cement rushed up at him, head first.

Then his leg was nearly yanked from his torso. He bounced only feet from grave injury, his gun fallen beneath him. He barely took in this development before the rest of the tarp drooped around him, blanketing him and the sidewalk in a white, plastic tent.

Two people rushed past the tarp covered Izuku and he caught a snatch of their conversation. “You sure? It’s got at least thirty people by now.”

“We’ll be fine over here; it’s only following those who attack it.”

“No one with a brain’s attacking that thing anymore, those losers in front of it haven’t got a chance though.” This last was said with a shaken laugh.

Izuku, biting his tongue against the pain, pulled himself up on part of the tarp to reach his leg, tangled in the rope that had likely saved his life. It took a minute but he finally dropped and snatched up his gun. Holstering it, he pushed aside the tarp that seemed to go on forever.

The world revealed on the other side almost made him want to retreat back in. The main street was being demolished by the giant robot and its victims as they attempted to fight it off. As he watched, another person was yanked into the air. He caught their wide, blue eyes, terrified and begging for help, before they disappeared into the bottomless pit of the container.

His gut twisted. He couldn’t just watch this. His eyes darted left and right, looking for a solution.

“It has to have the same weak point as the others, but a lot bigger,” he muttered, “If I can get it to reach for me, I can take the shot, but…” he looked dubiously up at the container. He could see which way it tipped but that was a long fall. If the people in there were knocked out or at all disoriented by the gas inside, they could get seriously hurt being dropped from that height.

Something brushed against his leg and he yelped, but it was only the tarp. He felt ridiculous for a second as his heart beat double time. Then it came to him. The tarp. It hung out the window, caught on something inside, and was tangled in the light pole. It was massive with ropes along every edge. He measured the distance with his eyes. It might be long enough.

He dug frantically at it as another scream emanated from the slow-moving robot, another victim caught. He found the edge and began limping across the street, careful of his leg. It kept stretching until he reached the edge of the next building, almost perfect.

He pulled an arm through the rope and began climbing the edge of the building. It was hard going without one of his limbs. His hands were slippery with sweat and he almost lost his grip twice, but he finally reached the second floor.

With trembling hands, he knocked out the window with the butt of his gun and climbed in, pointing the barrel to every corner. It was empty. He kicked out the adjacent window and made short work of tying an intricate knot on the corner of the building, through the two windows. He climbed back out and scaled his way along to the opposite corner to secured the other end there in the same fashion.

The ropes were all tense and the tarp was slanted at an angle that would bring them to this building, where they could drop more safely to the ground when they were ready. He leapt out the window onto it, hitting the tarp as hard as he could. It held him easily without even mild protest and he could only hope it was strong enough to hold all those people.

He rolled to the edge and landed in a crouch on the sidewalk. He checked the magazine and chamber. Only six bullets left. He had to make this count.

“HEY, LOOK THIS WAY,” he shouted at the robot, firing off a shot at the back of its head.

It paused in its plodding forward momentum but did nothing else for a moment, as though it didn’t really know where that had come from. He fired again, holding his breath. It finally turned to look at him.

“THAT’S RIGHT, COME GET ME!”

It obliged, moving much faster than before, coming at him like a semitruck on a downward slope. His heart in his throat, he ran left into the alley beside the building. It skidded to a stop, staring off ahead, having completely lost him.

“OVER HERE!” He pulled the trigger again, not bothering to aim. It went into the wall just at the edge of the building. He cursed under his breath. Steadying his grip, he looked down the barrel and took another shot. This one hit. The robot tilted its head, like it was confused, but did nothing.

“I’M RIGHT HERE!” He fired again, knowing full well he only had one more bullet.

It did turn this time, its whole gigantic body swiveling on its base to face him, the container perfectly centered over the tarp. It was not reaching for him yet though, its weak spot not revealing between its plates.

“Don’t get jumpy now,” he scolded himself, his hands shaking as he tried to keep it straight on his target.

Then it happened, an arm flashed out between one blink and the next, revealing the spot. It was on him before he even had a chance to react. There was a ringing in his ears as he was pulled out of the alley and up into the air, his finger squeezing the trigger again and again. The blue sky and grey buildings spun dizzyingly around him as he dropped back to the sidewalk, his shoulder slamming down hard. Then everything went black.

Chapter Text

He’d gotten a minor concussion, dislocated his arm, and supposedly done something really unpleasant to the joint at his hip on the left side. Still, after Recovery Girl sent him home, he felt good as new, if exhausted. He woke hours later to find his friends had flooded his phone with messages, their group chat a tangled web of questions and demands for answers.

Recovery Girl said that he’d passed out just as the announcement was made that the test was over. He had no idea how many points he had earned in the end. He had spent much of the last half of the test messing with that tarp and the zero-point robot though, neither of which had done him any favors.

His friends, of course, thought this was the coolest thing anyone had ever done. They were certain he would get in on “style points alone”, but Izuku was more realistic. He was trying to keep a cautious optimism, but there had been so many amazing Quirks out there and he’d heard some people with incredible scores halfway through the test.

Clover, as usual, made a fine distraction by sending through a picture with the caption "Girl's Night Manicures!!". The ladies were all posing around Ligma's kitchen table, hands up and proud to show off the art on each finger. Lily sat at the end, sparkly nails covering their red face with the hint of a smile peaking out under their wrist.

Tangent began spamming the chat with a breakdown of the esoteric meaning behind the colors. Izuku could not even begin to express how proud he was too see Lily making friend and finally feeling safe enough to be themself.

Then his mother knocked on the partially door and he dropped his phone. Her eyes were shining with just as much fear and excitement as his own when he saw what she was holding. He snatched the letter up, caught her eye, held up a finger, and shut the door.

He held it close to his chest, pleading with every ounce of hope he could muster. He took a deep breath and forced himself to rip it open. The disk that fell out lit with a holographic screen and an adorable white creature’s head popped up close to the camera.

“Hello there, Midoriya Izuku. I am Nezu, the principal here at UA High School and it is my distinct pleasure to say,” Nezu spun back cheerfully, clad in a nice suit that stood out against the ridiculous lightshow in the background, “Congratulations! You have been accepted into our hero program!” Izuku made a noise that was probably words at some point but came out instead as a strangled, incoherent, squeak.

“You are the first student ever to be accepted without a Quirk, that’s quite the accomplishment. Well done! Though, it’s no surprise.” Nezu gestured with his paws to the side and the camera zoomed out to show a screen with footage of him in the last moments of the test, facing down the robot in the alley. It was so strange to watch himself there, tiny and vulnerable beside the machines.

There was sweat beading on his brow and he was visibly shaking, but his eyes were sharp and determined, fixed on his target as he lined up the shot. The arm came at him and the bullet flew, both barely a blur. The robot jerked him into the air as it began to break down, the weak spot sputtering. Then it dropped him and its load of captives. More than thirty people tumbled out onto the tarp, rolling over each other, stretching the material alarmingly until the rope high in the far building gave out and the whole thing drooped toward the ground, still making a relatively gentle landing.

“You prioritized your fellow competitors’ safety far over your own interests. This is an incredibly important quality for a hero candidate and it made you the highest scoring student in our second testing criteria, rescue.” Izuku’s name beside two scores popped up on the screen. One a shining blue 60 and the other a sad, red 34.

“Yes, there were two parts to the scoring of this test. The first you were aware of, destroying the robots and, as you can see, while you did well, you would not have passed had we been grading on that criteria alone. However, you saved forty-six people in total and, most notably, you sought to mitigate damages from your own rescue attempt based on the knowledge you’d gathered in battle.”

The screen showed him shooting the robot from on top of the roof and watching as it dumped its victim back onto the street, then him being pulled in by the four-point robot in the building, and finally flashed through several video clips of him stringing up the tarp and firing at the giant robot again.

“We were all very impressed.” The camera moved away from the screen and focused on only Nezu again. The principal was looking truly pleased and wiggling a digit on his paw at the screen. “Don’t think this means you can relax though. Your work is far from over. Now that you have been accepted, you will have to study and train hard, day and night, to reach your dream and go beyond, plus ultra!” He threw a paw into the air and the transmission ended.

Chapter Text

His friends took him and his mother out to eat that night in a frenzy of celebration. To share in this victory and be surrounded by people who cared about him, who believed in and supported him without hesitation, was overwhelming. He cried several times but didn’t stop smiling even once.

It was probably the best night of Izuku’s life.

Den and Ligma left early with his mom and Lily headed home for bed not long after, but the others wanted to stay a bit longer and hang out at the garage. The conversation as they hit the street immediately turned to Izuku’s hero name. He had yet to take a nickname with them and he couldn’t even look at his old name choices anymore. His friends were all eager to pitch in their two cents for the brainstorming though.

“Cadmium,” Clover said decisively.

“The metal,” Rollacost asked.

“I was thinking of cadmium yellow, you know, the color?”

“Why?”

“It just sounded cool, okay?”

“Yeah, let’s name him after a toxic metal in a pencil that doesn’t even go with his color scheme because it sounds ‘cool’,” Wiz said, his sarcasm impossible to parse from his tone but easy to see in the roll of his eyes.

Clover gasped. “Wait, it’s toxic?!”

“Yeah,” Tangent chimed in excitedly, always eager to share trivia, “cadmium can easily be fatal in high doses and it’s in lots of unexpected places, like chocolate.”

“It’s in chocolate?! Are you telling me I can’t eat chocolate,” Clover shrieked.

She fell, devastated to her knees and raised her fists into the air, cursing cadmium with a rather colorful vocabulary. Gigga dutifully bent to pat her back, his massive, hulking shadow nearly swallowing her whole.

Tangent did his best to comfort her by telling her about other foods that had cadmium in them, which was having the opposite effect. Rollacost sighed and looked to Wiz and Izuku to exchange an exasperated shake of the head. Izuku chuckled at his friends’ familiar antics.

“Deku,” a familiar, unfriendly voice spat the word from the T-junction ahead.

He jumped and looked up. “Oh, Kacchan, hi.”

Every member of the group went silent and tense at the name. They’d heard stories and, despite Izuku’s attempts to make Bakugou sound like a halfway decent person to at least be respected, they did not like him one bit.

Bakugou’s eyes roved over the suddenly hostile scene curiously as he asked, “Who are these losers?”

“These are my friends.”

Gigga stepped up beside Izuku, using all of his intimidating mass to loom over Bakugou, his usually timid eyes hard.

“The hell’s your Quirk,” Bakugou asked, eyeing him like he might make a suitable warmup.

“None of us have a Quirk,” Tangent said, sounding so terribly proud it was almost heartbreaking.

Bakugou scoffed and looked back at Izuku, “Nice job, nerd, you found a whole squad of Dekus to keep you company.”

“Why don’t you just get out of here, punk? No one needs your attitude stinking up the place,” Rollacost said, on Izuku’s other side. He’d put away his pen and was surprisingly intimidating with his scowl, scars, and tattoos shining in the streetlamp. Bakugou was not one to be intimidated though. He eyed Rollacost up and down, unimpressed.

Bakugou couldn’t actually hurt any of them without bringing the law down on his head, but that didn’t stop explosions from going off in Izuku’s head. He pushed into the no man's land between them, a hand out calmingly to each group, and said, “That’s enough, guys. Let’s just go our separate ways, okay?”

“Yeah, you won’t be seeing much more of me anyway,” Bakugou scoffed at him, shooting a superior smirk down at Izuku. “I got into UA.”

“Wow, congratu-” Izuku started to say, eagerly, but his tongue stopped working with a meek squeak as he caught sight of Clover.

She had picked herself up from the ground and was slinking up to them, her entire demeanor changed. Gone was the bouncing, girlish excitement, instead her hypnotically swaying hips and feral smile reminded Izuku of a large, predatory cat. Her elbow dropped possessively onto Izuku’s shoulder and he felt a chill run down his spine, though none of the malicious emotions rolling off her were directed at him. There was mischief in every line of her body as her eyes fixed on Bakugou like a toy mouse.

“Our boy got in too, splodey-face. Looks like you’ll both be heroes,” she said in a deep growl of a voice Izuku had never heard from her.

Bakugou’s smile faltered and his eyes shot sharply to Izuku, who straightened his back and held his old friend’s gaze with a touch of defiance. Bakugou’s expression was a dark, dangerous thing as his eyes roved slowly over Izuku’s friends. The air was heavy, both sides tense.

Then Bakugou took a step back and promised, his voice dripping in malice, “We’ll talk later, Deku.”

Izuku sagged against Rollacost’s side with a heavy sigh as Bakugou’s footsteps retreated around the corner. Clover began hopping up and down with pent up energy, her eyes shining.

“I haven’t gotten to do that in ages,” she said, in a strangled voice, like she was trying desperately not to shout.

She jumped up and threw her arms around Gigga’s neck, squealing, “Gigs, you were great!” He caught her around the waist automatically and stared at the ground, proud but sheepish.

“You gonna be alright with that guy,” Rollacost asked, quietly, patting Izuku’s head.

Beside them, Clover swung off of Gigga to punch Tangent in the arm with an approving, “And you, way to be Quirkless and proud.”

“Yeah,” Izuku said, taking his own feet again. “I was going to have to face him at school on Monday anyway. Thanks for the backup though.”

Clover hopped in front of Izuku, her eyes shining with pride. “Like you needed it, I saw that backbone, you don’t let anyone stomp on you,” she said, ruffling his hair.

She pointed at Wiz next in her grand compliment scheme but only said, “You were there!” He gave her his usual flat, downtrodden expression.

Finally, she turned and gave Rollacost a look like he was a god incarnate and said, with a hand over her heart, “If I could only be half as badass as you...”

“Are you done yet,” he asked, replacing his pen in his mouth and taking a hard bite on the end as he set off again. She hummed cheerfully and swayed after him like a dutiful puppy dog while the rest followed at a sedate pace.

Wiz fell into step beside Izuku and asked, oddly soft, “What was that he was calling you? Deku?”

“Yeah, he’s been doing that since we were in elementary school.”

Clover had been listening and piped up, “You know what? I think Deku’s a great name for you!”

Wiz stopped and made a noise that was clearly taken aback. “Didn’t you hear any of that? This kid’s been insulting him for years with that name.”

Clover spun on them, walking backwards, her eyes alight as they fell on Izuku. “That’s why it’s perfect! You can turn the name around and own it. What do you say?”

“Thanks, Clover, but–” she was getting into it though, her mental gears spinning so fast he could almost see smoke coming out her ears as she interrupted, “You know what? I like it so much we’re changing our name! From now on, we’re no longer the Quirkless Squad, we’re the Deku Squad!”

“It does have a much better ring to it,” Tangent agreed thoughtfully, staring off into space.

“Imagine it! Deku! The greatest of all heroes! Having clawed his way up from the bottom, he shows the world that a Deku can do anything!” She was practically vibrating with excitement.

“We’ll workshop it later,” Rollacost said, tired, his tone appeasing but his expression longsuffering as he tabled the discussion for a time when Clover was less madcap.

Chapter Text

Toshinori wasn’t sure he’d ever been more nervous about a meeting. He knew he'd been the one to ask the kid to come early on his first day, but he still felt like he'd been strong armed into something. The awkward silence stretched as they sat across from each other in the break room.

“I guess I should start by saying, congratulations on getting in, young Midoriya. You did well in the exam.”

“Thank you,” he said, not able to fully look at his new teacher.

They sat in uncomfortable silence for what felt like an eternity, the space between the clicks of the second hand growing agonizingly longer with each. Toshinori cleared his throat, not able to look at Midoriya either. The words he’d said that day sat like a heavy, ugly weight in his stomach.

He let out a heavy breath. “Look, kid, I wanted to say I’m sorry, I was out of line back then. You didn’t deserve to have your dream crushed like that by your idle, no matter what I thought at the time.”

Midoriya swallowed hard and nodded his thanks, his tongue seemingly lost down his throat.

Toshinori continued, his voice proud, “But, despite what I said, you’ve been working so hard to prove yourself. That takes a lot of guts, I should have seen it from the start. You’re more like me than I realized.”

Midoriya took a breath, like he was steeling himself. There was a bit of a quaver to his voice as he said, hesitant at first but stronger with every word, “All Might? I don’t want you to take this the wrong way, you’ve been a huge inspiration to me my whole life and you’re the reason I wanted to become a hero in the first place. But, ever since that day, I’ve realized I don’t want to be like you.” His fists clenched and he looked up to meet Toshinori’s surprised gaze with a determined stare. “I want to surpass you. I’ll be a symbol for everyone, weak or strong, with or without a quirk!”

Toshinori’s eyes were wide and the past danced before him a moment. He knew that look. He chuckled under his breath but, before Midoriya could get truly offended, he explained, “I really did make a huge mistake that day. Is it strange that, in a way, I’m almost glad? Look at you, you’ve got the heart of a real hero in you! You work with what you have and help others without thinking just because it’s the right thing to do. And you don’t let anyone, not even old geezers like me, tell you ‘you can’t’. That’s something to be admired.” His expression fell and his eyes became far away as he said, more quietly, “I should know how it feels, I didn’t have a Quirk either.”

Midoriya frowned, confused and a little wary. “What do you mean?”

Toshinori clenched his fist and looked down on it, contemplating it as he spoke. “When I was a boy, I wanted to be a hero too. Despite not having a Quirk of my own, my mentor saw in me the same thing I’m seeing in you now. She told me the story of the power known as One for All that has been passed down from user to user from the first holder. It’s this incredible power that’s made me the Symbol of Peace. I’ve been searching for someone worthy to pass it on to.” He looked up at Midoriya as he said, “It’s yours, if you want it.”

The breath left Midoriya’s lungs and he simply stared for a moment. “Th-this is a joke, right?”

“Not in the least. With this power, you could be the number one hero, a Symbol for Everyone.”

Midoriya’s wide eyes were alight with possibility and a burgeoning, excited hope. Then his wrist brushed the gun strapped to his side and his expression fell. He stared down at it looking so torn for a moment, tears brimming in his eyes.

Toshinori saw the decision happening on the kid’s face but still he did not expect the words that came next, “I appreciate this more than I can say, really, but I’m sorry, I can’t do that.”

Toshinori didn’t even have words for a moment, then he spluttered, “What do you mean, kid? Do you know what you’re giving up?”

He nodded, regretful but determined all the same as he scrubbed tears from his cheeks. “I have to do this on my own. There’s a lot of people looking to me to show the world I don’t need a Quirk to become a great hero. If I accept yours, I couldn’t ever face them again, I’d be a liar and a fake and everything they hate about this world. They’d all lose hope.” The very idea brought a look to the kid’s face that made Toshinori want to rip things apart to make it stop.

Toshinori fell back against the couch, looking up at the drop ceiling. He found himself chuckling ruefully. “It’s ironic. You’re the most deserving of One for All and because of that you’re rejecting it.”

Midoriya shrugged weakly. “I’m sorry. I really do wish I could accept.”

“Well, I guess there’s nothing else for it then. If you’re serious about this,” he stood up and his body suddenly expanded into its tall, well-muscled form, his grin massive as his promise boomed through the room, “I will do everything in my power to help you achieve your goals! Claw your way through every challenge and show the world what it means to be a true hero!”

Midoriya looked so shocked for a moment, but then he leaped up as well, his own fist clenched tight as he swore, “I will! Thank you, All Might!”

As Midoriya walked out with a new, proud slant to his shoulders, Toshinori shrank back down. He fell against the couch, exhausted with the metallic taste of blood on his tongue. He put a hand over his eyes, suddenly exhausted. “You’ve got a hard road ahead of you, but I’m rooting for you, kid.”