Chapter Text
It started with the carrots.
At first, Midoriya Inko was taken by surprise when her son asked for more of the orange root vegetable one innocuous night after dinner. Just like many children his age, four-year-old Izuku never really liked vegetables, always preferring sweet foods or confectionary. So to hear him plead with her for more carrots took the wind out of her sails for a moment.
But, she recovered quickly, and immediately agreed. Her son liking a vegetable? She most definitely won’t be complaining any time soon.
Every dinner they had from that night onwards had carrots in some form or another. And for a while, Izuku was sated. But one week later, just after Inko brought him home from daycare that late afternoon, Izuku, out of nowhere, asked for carrots.
“Izuku, surely not now? We’re already going to have carrots with dinner later.”
“But mama, I thought you said carrots are good for me?”
“They are, but you’ll spoil your appetite!”
Izuku’s eyes became watery, “Mama…please? I need carrots right now. Please?”
Inko very quickly found her resolve crumbling after being exposed to her son’s pleading expression for less than five seconds. In the end, she relented, and went to get the newly-bought packet of baby carrots that she had been saving for Izuku’s dinner. Only to feel her son zoom past her at speeds she never thought he was capable of, despite being the energetic child that he was.
Izuku dove straight towards the refrigerator like an animal desperate for food. Pulling the fresh produce box open, he fished out the packet of carrots, and dashed out of the kitchen, barely remembering to shut the refrigerator as he went.
Inko had barely taken a step when her son zoomed past her again with his loot in hand. Izuku screeched to a halt by the sofa, sat himself down and tore open the packet. Within a few minutes, the entire packet had been eaten clean. Izuku turned to his mother, eyes bright, “Mama, can I have more?”
Inko was completely speechless.
‘This is certainly not normal,’ Inko thought to herself.
Another week had passed, and Izuku’s appetite for carrots had increased.
Sure, he still ate regular food like katsudon, but every meal was now accompanied by a packet of baby carrots. Even between meals, Izuku was popping carrots into his mouth as if they were candy. Inko easily bought at least five packets every day at this point, and Izuku would polish off every single one by the end of the day. He had even begun asking if he could have those bigger carrots that he had seen her chop on multiple occasions.
Inko wondered if this was her son’s quirk.
Now, food-based quirks were uncommon, but not entirely impossible. Hearing from her son’s ramblings about pro-heroes in the past, Inko vaguely remembered the pro-hero Lunch Rush, who had a chemical-enhancing quirk that allowed him to make food that rivalled the greatest chefs around the world.
If her hypothesis was correct, perhaps she should find a time to get her son’s quirk registered, and also stock up on carrots.
Inko went to bed, deciding to take Izuku down to the quirk registrar office the next day.
She never expected her bedroom door to slam open at four in the morning, and footsteps rushing towards the bed.
“Mama! Mama! Wake up! Please!”
Inko was awake in a flash.
“Izuku? What’s wrong?”
She fumbled for her bedside table lamp. When she managed to find the switch and illuminate the room a little, her eyes widened.
Izuku was gripped the sheets, face pale with confusion and terror. A pair of jade-green rabbit ears stuck up from the sides of his head where his ears used to be, twitching minutely from the trembles that shook his young body.
To Be Continued.