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Last year, Midoriya Izuku had looked forward to his birthday. But there was a whole world of difference between turning four and turning five , and Izuku couldn’t help but feel this birthday was also going to be a disappointment.
Four was when everyone got their quirks, and while Inko had chided him gently that quirks didn’t usually manifest directly on the day itself, Izuku hadn’t been able to help being so excited! Plus, Kacchan had gotten his quirk only a few days after his own birthday, and had told him he better get a cool one, too, in order to keep up with him. (Kacchan’s quirk was super cool , not just cool, because he could make explosions! They had been kind of small, mostly wisps of smoke, sparks, and a crackling sound. One day, however, they would be even bigger.) So, right before his fourth birthday, he closed his eyes and wished very hard for a quirk just as amazing as Kacchan’s.
For a while, Izuku had scribbled and drawn pictures of lots and lots of quirks that he could have, even if they got wildly improbable. Inko’s quirk was kinda like telekinesis, because she could move things around without touching them, even if it was only towards her. Telekinesis was definitely hero worthy. Or he could be super strong like All Might, and then he could be the next Number One Hero! Except All Might couldn’t not be Number One, and Kacchan wanted to be Number One, too, so maybe they’d all have to share. But it’d be alright, because sharing was what you did with friends.
Of course, last year’s excitement dimmed and dimmed and dimmed as even more days passed. Sure, he had had a party with lots of cake. Izuku even received a couple new All Might posters and new red shoes. What he hadn’t gotten was a quirk. Eventually, Izuku was the last one of all the kids he knew without a quirk at all. That even included the twins in the apartment downstairs, both of whom were a full year younger than he was. It was starting to look like he would never get one of his own.
His mother had finally booked an appointment with a doctor specializing in quirks, who hemmed and hawed and eventually concluded that Izuku was almost definitely quirkless. Sure, the correlation between the presence of a toe joint and that of a quirk was only 85% accurate (Izuku learned that meant it only was correct 85 out of 100 times, or, 8 and a half times out of 10, which was easier to understand), but the doctor had quickly shot down his hopes. Even if Izuku wasn’t completely guaranteed to be quirkless, the simple fact that nothing had shown up (and Izuku being about to turn five) meant he probably was.
But just because he didn’t have a quirk didn’t mean that Izuku was suddenly no longer interested in quirks or in heroes. It hurt, a little bit, that everyone else had a super special ability he didn’t. But quirks were just too fascinating not to think about, and heroes were too, and since heroes used quirks they were both doubly important. Izuku had been learning his hiragana and katakana (and a couple of kanji, like the ones in his name) in order to be able to take notes on them.
Lately, he had been obsessed with flight quirks.
Izuku didn’t know any current hero in Japan who had one. One of the kids who followed Kacchan around a lot, Tsubasa, had a mutation quirk that gave him dragon-like wings. That was kind of similar, because it allowed Tsubasa to glide and suspend himself for short amounts of time, but Izuku eventually decided it was actually a wing quirk, not a flight quirk. A mutation quirk, not an emitter!
Tsubasa’s quirk was generally considered pretty good, if not as good as Kacchan’s explosions, but a flight quirk would probably be even better. With a flight quirk, there wouldn’t have to be any flapping or the jerky motions Tsubasa had to use to get himself to even hover. Izuku figured that the other boy would probably have to figure out how to glide, too, before he could even think about attempting to fly. Someone with a flight quirk would be able to lift off from the ground much more easily, right? And flight quirks were just so cool for other reasons!
One, flight quirks usually let people move super quickly. Maybe not as fast as a real speed quirk or enhancer would (like All Might’s!), but being able to move through the air rather than having to walk or run tended to be faster. They also tended to have a higher than usual rate of extra mutations. Not the physical or “mutation quirk” type of mutations, but rather adaptations that came along with the quirk such as being able to withstand colder temperatures or higher altitudes. Which was cool, even if Izuku didn’t really understand all of the science stuff involved yet.
There was another reason he was interested, too: flight quirks were really rare.
Not as rare as certain mental quirks, which were also fascinating, but still unusual. Some quirks got close, like wing quirks like Tsubasa’s, or levitation that allowed the user to walk above a floor. Occasionally extremely powerful telekinesis that allowed the user to move themselves around (though the strength that would require was way more than Izuku’s mother had in her quirk) could mimic flight, too.
Izuku had told his mother about this, a little bit, but she hadn’t really gotten the distinctions he had tried to explain. It might have been very clear to Izuku that how quirks seemed to work was just as interesting as what they did , but maybe that was another way in which he was weird? Inko had acted kind of funny when Izuku had said that, though, so he didn’t bring it up again.
All those quirks, every single one of them... All of them were amazing , each able to do the most incredible things unique to themselves. They really weren’t the same, and Izuku would gladly have had any of them.
But Izuku was going to be five in a few days, and five year olds who had extra toe joints didn’t suddenly get quirks. They also didn’t have a lot of other kids who wanted to play heroes with them (or come to their birthday parties) because kids without quirks were quirkless. And everyone knew: quirkless kids did not become heroes.
So Izuku wasn’t really looking forward to his birthday after all.
Izuku woke up the day before his fifth birthday to the sound of his mother in the kitchen. It wasn’t unusual that she was there, because Inko usually cooked breakfast around the time that he woke up. What was unusual was that it sounded like she was talking to someone, but their voices were kind of muffled.
If she was on the phone, Izuku should probably be quiet, right? Auntie Mitsuki always yelled at Kacchan for being too loud when he interrupted her with her phone out. She yelled at Kacchan for being too loud in general, and for saying bad words. (Except Auntie Mitsuki was also kind of loud and had said words Inko said Izuku shouldn’t say, either, even if they were ones that Kacchan repeated.) Izuku knew Inko wouldn’t yell at him, but if he was quiet, maybe he could hear what the conversation was about.
If he was really lucky, maybe he’d find out whether his mother had bought him the Special Edition All Might Silver Age Figure! If it actually was his present for tomorrow, that might make up for the rest of his birthday, because he really wanted it.
They were only being sold in Musutafu and the wider Tokyo area, which made them kind of rare, and that meant it was lucky to get one. And besides, they were cool. If Izuku had the Silver Age Figure, he could show it off to Kacchan. He might even get to play heroes with him, because everyone agreed All Might was the best hero ever , and being the only kid in the neighborhood to have the newest action figure was almost as good as a quirk.
Izuku crept around the corner from his bedroom, making sure to walk as silently as possible. Once he got closer, it was much easier to make out the conversation. It wasn’t over the phone after all! And —
Oh! Izuku’s face lit up, and he rushed out into the kitchen. “Dad! You’re home?”
Inko smiled and held her hand up to her mouth. She couldn’t help but laugh at her son’s reaction to catching sight of the much taller man standing next to her. The two of them were by the kitchen table, where Inko was finishing setting out breakfast. Izuku’s father had evidently just arrived in the last hour. Both his suitcase and a briefcase beside it were still propped beside the apartment door, and so were the pair of dress shoes he wore to work.
It appeared as if Midoriya Hisashi had arrived only an hour or two earlier. He had seemingly come directly from a meeting based on what he wore, even though it was his normal attire. Besides his shoes taken off and the suit jacket hung neatly in the hall, he was still dressed in an impeccably tailored suit, albeit one without a tie.
“Izuku,” Hisashi said. There was an underlying warmth to his voice, one that didn’t quite match whatever sentiment was in his eyes. It was just the slightest bit colder, or perhaps simply contemplative? Whichever it was, it was something distinctly less soft than his voice would suggest, although it was hardly noticeable with the way he was smiling. “It is very good to see you in person, as much as I enjoy our conversations over the phone.”
Izuku completely agreed. Phone calls were okay , he supposed, but sometimes the connection was bad and you couldn’t see anyone’s face anyways. You also couldn’t hug people over the phone or show off drawings, or scraped knees, or notebooks, even if you could talk.
“We thought it would be a nice surprise,” Inko said. “Your father’s been working very hard abroad, and his business has been benefitting because of it, so he was able to get a little time off work for the next week. We decided he should be here for your birthday. Why don’t you go wash up, Izuku, and then we can eat?”
“Okay!” Izuku nodded, before briefly hugging his dad’s suited leg, which was all he could reach, before darting off to do as his mother had asked. Meanwhile, his parents took their seats at the table, the conversation continuing after a few moments.
“I’m afraid I may have to be in Tokyo for a few days,” Hisashi informed Inko in a low voice. “I have no intentions to miss Izuku’s birthday, but coming home was conditional on visiting the local offices. I expect several new… ah, acquisitions, will be arriving soon that would be better to handle in person.”
“I know you’ve been working hard, but you’ve only just come back to Japan! Surely it can wait a week?” Inko trailed off.
“We can discuss it later,” Hisashi cut in. “I thought it would be best to inform you now, but Izuku will want to hear about much more interesting things than my work.”
Inko frowned, not about to let it rest, but Izuku returned to the room. She shook her head instead of continuing the disagreement. “I suppose you’re right... Izuku has a lot of questions about America and plenty more to tell you about how he’s been.”
Inko used her quirk to gently tug Izuku’s chair away from the table, and he took his seat next to her, more or less opposite from his father. It was a little strange, as he was hardly ever home from his work overseas. His presence in the room was attention drawing to begin with due to his tall stature and his white hair, which had just as many curls as Izuku’s did.
Usually it was only Izuku and Inko at meals, except for when Kacchan came over to play and stayed for dinner. Inko had also cooked slightly more than she usually did for breakfast, and the touch of extra attention she had paid to the food was noticeable. There was neatly rolled and sliced tamagoyaki, white rice seasoned with furikake, a serving of vegetables, and a small bowl of miso soup with tofu in it set carefully in front of each person. Inko had added a little dish of orange slices as well.
They said thanks over the meal, and took a few moments to start eating before the conversation resumed. Izuku snuck several glances at his dad while taking bites of tamagoyaki.
Hisashi caught him looking, a smile reappearing on his lips as if suddenly conjured. “Oh? What is it, Izuku?”
Izuku tried to form the words he wanted, but there was a lot to say. It felt like it had been ages since Hisashi was last in Japan. He had been in New York, which meant that even if he tried to regularly call, it often had to be in the morning in Musutafu because of the large time difference. Everything ended up coming out at the same time, a huge tangle of words and questions.
“Is New York bigger than Musutafu? Are there a lot of tall buildings? Are there a lot of heroes there, did you see any of them? Did you really take an airplane all the way from New York? Was it long, Kacchan says when they took a trip they had to go on a lot of train rides, did you go on a train? Is flying in an airplane like flying-flying, like with a quirk? Did you know flight quirks are really rare , even if Tsubasa has wings but that’s not actually a flight quirk —”
Izuku paused to take a very large breath, before continuing, all in one go. “Did you see lots of cool quirks? Do people in America like All Might, too, did you know there’s a Special Edition All Might Silver Age Feature? Kacchan doesn’t have it yet, and Kacchan’s the best , everyone says he has the coolest quirk ever, even if — did you bring anything back from your trip?”
Was there All Might merchandise in America?
“Yes, I flew into Japan, and I arrived in Musutafu this morning by taking the train to Tatooin Station from the airport,” Hisashi answered, casually setting down his chopsticks and folding his hands in front of him.
“There are not as many trains in America, but New York has a subway system, if not nearly as efficient as it might be. One should very well think it hadn’t been updated since the Dawn of Quirks… New York is indeed a larger city than Musutafu, which is the reason for the subway, and there are many tall buildings, but it is overall smaller than Tokyo. What else?
“For travel, a teleportation quirk would be more suitable than a flight quirk, although rarer. Being transported in any vehicle is a very different experience from being transported by way of quirks. An airplane or a car relies on mechanics and fuel, not only the pilot. It’s arguable that a quirk does rely on similar equivalents, the quirk factor and other biological components. However, a quirk is ultimately at the control of the user, and only as useful as the person using it. To travel by quirk is also much quicker. Commercial airplane flights are very tedious, but unfortunately the only predictable and reliable method of traveling at such a distance.
“Speaking of quirks, I had not been informed that Tsubasa had a wing mutation, but what an interesting quirk. If it truly is capable of creating sustained flight, I can imagine it would have many potential applications in the future. As for your friend with the explosion quirk, I am sure he receives plenty of praise from others already. A strong quirk, certainly, although whether or not it is versatile is yet to be seen.”
Izuku wasn’t sure what all the words his father had said meant, but they sounded like the sort of things adults tended to say. His dad tended to speak in very long sentences, a little like Izuku did, and with large words. He was also one of the few people who tended to indulge Izuku when he asked questions and didn’t act like he needed everything to be simplified just because he was a kid. (On the other hand, sometimes that got confusing.)
He hadn’t known about teleportation quirks, and now he did. He wasn’t really sure what they did, anyway, except now he knew you could travel with them and they were also rare. Rarer than flight quirks, so they were probably special, too. But Izuku still didn’t know whether people liked All Might in America, or whether there was Special Edition All Might Figures sold there. People there probably had to like him, because everyone liked All Might. It was practically a law, right up there with not using your quirk in public.
“Did that answer all of your questions?” Hisashi asked idly.
He took a pause to eat some of the rice and took a sip of water to clear his throat, before charmingly smiling at his wife. “Breakfast is very good, thank you Inko.”
Inko smiled, pleased.
“There was something else, however...”
“I think he wanted to know if you brought anything back,” Inko suggested.
“Souvenirs?” Hisashi turned his attention back towards Izuku. “No, but perhaps I have a present for you. Your birthday is tomorrow, isn’t it.” It was a certainty, not a question, but what else would it be? It would be terribly difficult, or at least extremely uncaring, to forget your own child’s birthday. Even for a man who had many things on his mind that weren’t his family.
“Yeah,” Izuku said half-heartedly. His breakfast suddenly became much more interesting as his mood sank. Presents sounded great, but... “I’m going to be five.”
“How time passes when one is away. I hope you don’t mind spending it with an old man like me. Unless you’ve already made plans with all your friends?” Hisashi joked.
“Mom’s making katsudon for dinner, and I’m going to stay up to nine.” Izuku glanced towards Inko, hoping she’d agree. She gave him a look in response. Originally, it had been a half hour earlier; Izuku’s normal bedtime was at eight.
Izuku hurried to justify it. It wasn’t that much later, really. “The interesting news is on then,” he said, decisive in the way only a just-about-five-year-old could be. That was a good reason, right? The evening news, unlike the morning news, tended to show actual coverage of hero fights. “And then I can take notes!” There’d be lots and lots of quirks and heroes to add to his notebook, even if most of it was filled with enthusiastic drawings in marker rather than with his shaky writing.
“I suppose it is going to be your birthday,” Inko sighed. Staying up late might at least take Izuku’s mind off of the fact that all the other parents she’d invited over with their children had been “too busy” to come over. She wasn’t very happy that Izuku was stretching what she had already agreed to, and seeing Izuku watch the famous video of All Might’s debut was plenty scary already. At least it was just the news, rather than the horror movie Katsuki had apparently convinced his parents to let him watch a few weeks earlier.
Turning to her husband, she explained, “Izuku’s been taking a lot of notes, recently, on things he sees around the city. I think he has quite a bit on some of the local heroes, as well as for some of the neighborhood kids and their quirks. I think it’s a wonderful way to practice his writing. Although, I just wish he wouldn’t try running off to get a closer look at hero fights. It’s all so dangerous! Especially since, well, I worry...”
Izuku really was an excitable kid! Maybe too much so sometimes. Of course, Inko reasoned to herself, the heroes kept everyone safe and where their apartment was in Musutafu was a perfectly good neighborhood. She certainly wasn’t doubting that. Still, her son was only four (even if Izuku was turning five tomorrow) and presumably quirkless. Inko at least had a quirk herself, even if she wasn’t sure how much good it would actually do for her if she got caught by a villain.
Oh, no, that was much too worrying for a conversation over breakfast! Inko decided to bring the conversation back into calmer waters. “Why don’t you finish eating, Izuku, and show your father your notebook? I’m sure he’d love to see it,” she encouraged.
Izuku did just that and quickly finished most of his breakfast. Though, there were still a few bites left of this and that. Inko cleared the dishes after he went to go wash up and get his notebook from his room, as she and Hisashi had already finished their own food. It was rather easy to move empty dishes around the kitchen with Inko’s quirk. As long as she didn’t have to worry too much about things being spilled, Inko was able to move them steadily from the table to her hands and then into the sink.
As she washed the first few dishes under the running water, Hisashi casually moved next to her and started drying them. It was rather nice to have him home, even if it was only for a week. Maybe not even that, if what he said earlier was true. Inko just wished he’d tell the office to let him take more time off, but her husband was too much of a businessman to ever do that. It was funny how Hisashi always seemed to be able to get his way with other people, so long as it didn’t involve his work.
Well, at least he was here now, for both her and Izuku. And he called and sent money regularly, as well as always being so attentive when he came home. That was more than some people could say for their husbands! Ah, what was it about washing dishes that made Inko so contemplative?
Inko finished washing the last of the dishes and dried off her hands, passing the towel back to Hisashi. Once he set down the last bowl, she stood up on her toes and waited for him to lean down so she could kiss his cheek. Yes, it really was nice to have him home. She was lucky to have such a wonderful family.
The man most recently known as Midoriya Hisashi (but most commonly known as other, more infamous names) watched as his young son excitedly ran back into the room with his arms wrapped around his notebook. It was a standard student-type notebook with Izuku’s name written across the front in large print and a couple of stickers stuck to it. One of them was the silhouette of All Might’s unfortunately iconic figure, complete with his ridiculous hairstyle.
Why did his son have to be so attached to the hero? he lamented. Still, Izuku was only a child. There would be plenty of time to change his mind later.
He and his wife had finished putting away the dishes, so they moved to the couch. Izuku climbed up between the two of them and settled his notebook open on his lap. “This is Kacchan’s page, see?” Izuku pointed at what more or less amounted to a blobby figure with very spiky hair and orange lines coming off of its hands.
“Is the other drawing him as well?” Hisashi questioned.
“Yeah! That’s him as a hero.” The orange lines on this drawing were larger and the figure had a cape.
Hisashi considered the page, thinking about the boy with the explosion quirk. His quirk was an emitter, plausibly chemical-type although unconfirmed. Sweat based, focused on the hands (parents had glycerine and an acidic sweat quirk? Firecracker quirk? Something like that), considered strong. It was unlikely his dreams of being a hero would come to anything — most children didn’t honestly pursue their childhood careers — but perhaps it would be better to stop those aspirations now? It wasn’t the most interesting of quirks, and likely limited in its applications. Still, access to a nearly unlimited production of explosive chemicals could be valuable. Even if difficult to store stably.
No, better not, he decided. There shouldn’t be anything connecting his identity as Midoriya Hisashi to All or One. Quirk disappearances of promising young children in major cities were sadly difficult to cover up, after all. And Izuku was too attached for the boy to completely disappear… Although there was surely time for such things, later. When childhood friendships had faded slightly. It wasn’t as if Izuku would remember a single playmate when he grew up.
Inko looked like she was trying not to laugh as she looked down at their son’s sketches. “They’re very good, Izuku. Have you shown Katsuki your drawing?”
“No,” Izuku frowned. “I wanted to! I tried to talk to him about his quirk, but he told me to shut up ‘cause I don’t have one.”
“That wasn’t very nice of him,” Hisashi commented mildly. Perhaps Izuku wouldn’t be too attached, after all.
“Did you tell him it hurt your feelings?” Inko asked. “I could go over with you and ask for an apology, if it makes you feel better.”
Izuku shook his head. “No, but it’s okay. I’ll show Kacchan the drawing next week,” he said. Either he didn’t understand Inko meant how rude it had been for him to say that to Izuku, or he didn’t realize it had been rude at all. “And I got to write about his quirk anyway, see?”
The next page did indeed have all manner of scribbles over it. Mostly unintelligible, of course, being that Izuku was only just learning how to write. However, Hisashi was pleased to see that Izuku was interested in quirks and their applications.
“What did you learn about his quirk?” If Izuku did well in answering, proved he truly had a passion for quirks, perhaps he would be generous enough to reward him later. Something small, and of course inoffensive, but ordinary enough. It wouldn’t be too much of a loss to pass on a light generating quirk or another like it, surely. Easily able to be passed off as a mutation of Midoriya Hisashi’s so-called fire breath emitter quirk. If focused on the hands or arms, it would also call back to Inko’s attraction...
Hisashi had already contemplated whether giving Izuku a quirk would be worth the risks. Considering how his brother had reacted so long ago, he had initially turned away from the idea. But it was hardly as if his son would ever realize it was anything but a result of nature. In this day and age, being quirkless would stand out ever so much more than a few adjusted records in early childhood.
“His quirk’s from his hands,” Izuku started, “like Mom’s! I’m not sure why it’s just there, ‘cause he has to use his sweat, but when it’s really hot, there’s sweat on your arms and face and stuff. But the only place he can make explosions are from his hands, so it’s not just his sweat because he could explode stuff in other places.
“They’re getting bigger, too, they used to be really really small — like sparklers? And loud! More like his dad’s quirk, except brighter, but now he can burn stuff and when he holds things and explodes it all blows up, so I think he’s going to be able to make even stronger explosions, when he’s older! So he’ll be really strong by the time we’re going to be heroes!
“He’s not sweating more than he did a year ago, though, so maybe the, the thing that makes his sweat explode is getting stronger. The che… chem...”
“The chemical?” Inko suggested.
“Yeah! And it’s less strong when it’s cold, even when he has the same amount of sweat. And, I guess it’s not actually in all his sweat, just on his hands… But it can’t be just that, ‘cause when he makes explosions with both hands at the same time they’re smaller.”
Perhaps the quirk was the production of an additional chemical, rather than the presence of the quirk simply changing the makeup of his sweat. Unlike the aforementioned acid sweat quirk of his father. He had already considered whether it was nitroglycerine, although the effect on the boy’s body would likely have been noted. It wasn’t unusual for a quirk to increase in strength over time. What Izuku had picked up on was potentially variation in the concentration of the chemical. Whether it was actually less in concentration during cold weather or simply was less reactive was another question, however.
It was possible that there was a creation of secondary sweat glands on his palms? In that case it could be that only the secondary glands produced the needed chemical, or a second chemical that caused the sweat to become less stable? If it did indeed rely upon such a mutation, it would be more difficult to transfer if he decided to do so.
On the other hand, it was just as likely that there was a quirk specific method of ignition, and that was truly an emitter quirk type mechanism. Otherwise, it simply wouldn’t make sense for the force of a single explosion to be greater than each of two on separate hands. Unless it was a matter of focus? It was an active quirk, rather than a reactive or passive one...
“That’s very interesting, Izuku,” Hisashi said. He leaned over to ruffle Izuku’s hair, his son squirming away and giggling. “Quirks truly are some of the most fascinating things this world has to offer. If you keep taking your notes, I’m sure you’ll know everything about them someday.”
“Maybe...” Izuku said. “But there’s like a million different quirks! To know everything I’d have to talk to a lot of people.”
“You already know a lot,” Inko reassured. He really did, talking about all sorts of things that surprised her. She didn’t really understand his interest in quirks and sometimes it made her a little uncomfortable with how interested he was, with him not having one himself (was she not doing enough to make him feel comfortable being quirkless?), but it was good to support his interests.
“Remember the other day?” she said. “You brought up things I wouldn’t have even thought of, Izuku, when you were talking about quirks. Today as well. I don’t think it would take you that long at all. Why don’t you show us some more of your drawings?”
Izuku hummed and happily flipped a couple pages backwards. “Here’s All Might! And this one’s Endeavour. And this one is also All Might, except here he’s defeating a villain! And here’s the dragon lady hero from the news, but I don’t know her name. She can transform and it’s a dragon quirk! Dragons are super cool.”
“I think she might still be a hero student,” Inko said. “She looks pretty young, doesn’t she? Do you recall seeing her at the last UA Sports Festival, dear?” She looked towards her husband.
“I’m afraid the Sports Festival is less of a big deal in America,” he said. In truth, he had watched it, if only to see what quirks the next generation of heroes had. In order to better prepare, of course.
“Your friend Tsubasa has a similar quirk, doesn’t he?” Inko directed this question at Izuku.
“She can have wings like Tsubasa does, except she can actually fly, but it’s still a dragon quirk ,” Izuku repeated. “Tsubasa just has a wing quirk. The dragon lady hero also transforms! That’s a transformation quirk, not a mutation quirk. And both of them aren’t flight quirks. Flight quirks have to be emitters.”
“You’ve been very interested in flight quirks recently, haven’t you?” Inko was hesitant to direct him to this topic, knowing he could ramble on for ages. Well, he could in general and also whenever it had to do with quirks, but lately…! It certainly was lucky he wasn’t solely focused on the topic during breakfast. “Did you write about them as well?”
“I don’t know any heroes with flight quirks…” Izuku scrunched his nose up, flipping through his notebook. “I don’t think I know anyone with one.”
Hisashi internally grimaced, remembering a certain hero with Float and a One For All enhanced punch. Well, formerly with the two quirks. And yet, he had a certain fondness for flight quirks as well, considering that they were both useful and suitably impressive when used. “They’re certainly rare.”
It really was too bad that none of Shimura’s descendants developed actual flight quirks. He would have liked to take hers as well, but the fact that her quirk was protected even after One For All was passed on was quite the irritation. Then again, Air Walk was more intuitive to use and satisfactory for many purposes, and it wasn’t as if All For One didn’t have a collection of other flight quirks already.
...Would Izuku like one? He was feeling very magnanimous at the moment. It wouldn’t be any small gift, but he had been considering granting him a quirk already. He had already discarded the idea of using his son as a weapon against All Might, considering he had already found Shimura’s grandson for the purpose, but imagine the look on his face if he had to face a villain with a quirk like that of his beloved mentor! He might even lose that grating smile of his.
But no, Izuku would be kept safely away from any heroes or villains other than himself.
The idea lingered, however. His son would surely be appreciative. It could be like a present for him, one much more exciting then a few nicknacks brought back from his “business trip”. Surely for Izuku, “discovering” his own quirk — one he had already been interested in — on his birthday tomorrow would be more than enough of a gift?
Yes. All he had to do was find the perfect quirk.
Early in the morning of July fifteenth, Midoriya Izuku, newly turned five years old, woke up. It was really dark, and too early to get up, and his birthday (which he still wasn’t looking forward to, no matter whether his father came home just to see him).
But as he turned over to go back to sleep, he accidentally fell right off the bed. Except Izuku didn’t hit the ground.
He was floating! Was… was this his quirk?
It was like the wish, all the way ago last year, really had come true. This was the best birthday present ever. Even better than a Special Edition All Might Silver Age Figure! Although Izuku still really wanted it. But now he and Kacchan could go play heroes, and maybe he could float up higher than Tsubasa could even hover, and this quirk was just super cool because now Izuku could fly.
A few rooms away, a certain father quietly laughed to himself as he went back to bed. Yes, he found the perfect present indeed.