Chapter Text
It was a beautiful, sunny day in Musutafu. Birds chirped and whistled, the sky was clear, and children played outside. One would assume, justifiably, that this particular Saturday morning would be no different for the Midoriya household. However, they would be assuming wrong.
In the Midoriya apartment resided Midoriya Inko, a pleasant mother, and her 9 year old son, Izuku. On his 4th birthday, the Midoriyas went to visit the doctor for a quirk evaluation. But the answer would change Izuku's life forever.
"Sorry kid, it's not gonna happen." The balding doctor spoke bluntly, leaning back in his chair. The little boy in front of him froze, and his mother beside him wore a similar expression of shock.
"Izuku should have already manifested one of these quirks, or a combination of both," the doctor explained, referring to Inko and her husband's quirks, "but after reviewing his x-rays, I don't think he's going to." He glanced to the screen on the wall, referencing the x-ray of Izuku's foot. "Doctors discovered a link between a person's bones in their foot and their likelihood of developing a quirk."
The doctor handed the pair a copy of the x-ray for them to see. "People with powers only have one joint in their pinky toes. It appears that Izuku has two joints in his pinky," the doctor traced a finger along the white skeletal outline, "like 20% of the population these days." The doctor sighed, leaning forward. "Based on the research available, it's safe to say your son isn't going to develop a quirk."
Inko stood up from her seat, eyes wide and mouth agape. But she remembered herself, remembered where they were and who she was with. She glanced at Izuku, and her heart nearly tore in two. Her son's fingers were limp around his All Might figurine, and it clattered to the floor.
She never wanted to see that expression on his face again .
Ever since that visit, she treated Izuku delicately. She didn't know what to do. She loved him so deeply and fiercely, and she wanted to support his dreams. But he was her baby boy... how could she send him into danger? Especially with his quirk status?
Meanwhile, Izuku was deep in thought. The doctor had said that 20% of the population had two joints in their pinkies. The doctor did not, however, say that this 100% equated to quirklessness. Izuku had held out hope for the last five years, but he was starting to come to terms with himself. Sitting up from his former position lying on his bed, he stared at the wall.
I'm probably quirkless, he thought glumly, and I might never be like All Might.
A ding of a notification broke him from his stupor, and he glanced at the computer beside his bed. He was still logged into a hero forum, he noted absentmindedly. He always enjoyed frequenting different hero blogs and forums, to read about news clippings and the latest fights. Shifting, he unwrapped himself from the cocoon of his blankets and shuffled over, slumping into the chair. Dragging a mouse, he clicked on the little red dot, noticing that his favorite hero news channel updated.
"The 'Robin Hood Twins' Strike Again!" The article's header read, and Izuku found himself curious. He read on, and found that the Robin Hood Twins was a moniker that the media gave the two people that went around robbing stores and shops. So far, no hero had caught them yet, and they were on a robbing spree, with a streak of 4 successful robberies.
The article ended with an open, thought-provoking statement; "Who could these mysterious partners-in-crime be?" Izuku's eyebrows furrowed, before he decided to settle on an action. Opening another window, he began to search, looking up the news coverage of all the Robin Hood Twins' robberies.
"Shitty Deku, who do you think you are? Your useless ass can't hope to find any evidence!" Kacchan's voice echoed in the back of his mind, and Izuku was inclined to agree. Ever since he was diagnosed quirkless, Kacchan hadn't been the best friend. Izuku sighed, accepting this fact. "I probably won't find anything useful, but it's not like I have anything better to do..." The green-haired boy muttered under his breath, remembering how Kacchan had forbade him from following him around. His mother was starting to get suspicious of the scrapes and mild burns that he came home with, anyway.
"Holy–" A cat-like police officer gasped, eyes widening. "Tsukauchi! You've got to see this!" He yelled, and in a few minutes, the man appeared. He was clutching onto his coffee like it was his lifeblood, and his dark eyebags were the same color as his ruffled hair.
"What is it, Sansa?" Naomasa grumbled, and on any other day, Sansa would rebuke the detective for his very obvious all-nighter in the police station.
"It's about the Robin Hood Twins case." Sansa said seriously.
Naomasa groaned. "Did those two rob another store, or did they finally move onto a bigger target?"
Sansa shook his head, eyes still wide. "Look at this." The cat officer handed Naomasa a tablet with a news article up, scrolled down to the comments section. Naomasa stood there, taking time to read it and process it.
"Holy shit." The man gaped. "How did we not see this before!?"
Sansa shook his head, equally shocked. "I don't know."
Naomasa marched back to his desk, tablet in hand. "Well, I'm sure going to take advantage of this. Get Eraserhead on the phone, will you? We can ask questions later." Naomasa typed away at his computer, checking all of the information to make sure it was valid and real. "Tell him to go to 58 Shinkagi Avenue and bring in Kagemori and Yuuson Hatake for questioning."
Sansa reached for the phone, wondering what the world had come to.
Midoriya Izuku sat at the dinner table, visibly awkward and uncomfortable. The Bakugo family had come over to join them for dinner, which meant he had to pretend to be on civil terms with Kacchan. He peeked a glance at the blond, who was aggressively stabbing his fork into food and shoveling it into his mouth. Auntie Mitsuki and Uncle Masaru were busy chatting with Mom, directing the occasional question to him or Kacchan.
"That's right!" Auntie Mitsuki clasped her hands together, turning towards Izuku, "Izu-kun, you should come visit tomorrow! You haven't been over for a while. You're a good influence on the brat."
Izuku was about to open his mouth to offer some sort of excuse, when Kacchan exploded. "Haah!?" Kacchan whipped towards Auntie Mitsuki. "Like I'd want that nerd anywhere near-"
"Katsuki-kun." Mom interrupted before Auntie Mitsuki could, smiling sweetly. Her tone was firm, and a little malice leaked through. "I'm sure that's not what you meant to say, dear."
Kacchan stuttered, panic showing on his face. Izuku just watched, nodding solemnly. When Mom was serious, she was a force to be reckoned with. Kacchan grumbled, before slumping into his seat, defeated.
"Well, Izuku-kun?" Mom spoke to him gently, and Izuku was about to answer Auntie Mitsuki's earlier statement, when he paused. His gaze travelled past Auntie Mitsuki, to the television behind her that flickered. The audio was lowered considerably, but Izuku didn't need to hear what was going on to understand. Words flashed across the screen as the news anchor babbled on.
"BREAKING NEWS-ROBIN HOOD TWINS ARRESTED AND UNMASKED..."
Izuku suddenly felt a lurch in his stomach. He... did he do that? He had ended up posting a comment on the forum, detailing his thoughts on who the robbers were....
"Izu-kun?" Auntie Mitsuki's voice brought him back, and he remembered where he was.
"S-Sorry, Auntie. I-I'm not feeling well. I think I'm going to lie down..." He stood up, ignoring the bewildered look on Kacchan's face and the concerned expressions that the Bakugo parents wore. He was faintly aware of his mom's soft voice, saying "O-Okay, honey. Feel better." He needed to escape.
He barely made it to his room, closing the door and slumping onto his bed, thoughts swirling through his head. Was... was this a result of his actions? He didn't have much time to ponder it, because a familiar chiming seemed to answer his thoughts. Slowly, he moved towards his computer, opening up the inbox of his account on the hero forum.
king_bulbasaur: Dude, this is genius! I can't wait to see what you post next!
justanotherhuman: Wow, you posted some next level analysis! Are you going to post more? Do you have your own forum? I would...
Musutafu News OFFICIAL: Greetings. This is an email being sent in regards to the comment you uploaded on our hero forum last...
mirukosthighs: who r u? ik all the top pro analysts, but i haeven't hrd of u. r u new? lmk if u wana chat...
MPD: Hello. This is the Musutafu Police Department. First and foremost, we would like to thank you for your help. Second, we...
chickennuggies: spamspamspamspamspamspamspamspamspamspamspamspamspamspamspamspamspam...
Izuku's jaw dropped as he stared at the screen. His inbox was flooding, and so many people were messaging him.
Is this all because of the comment I left on that one article? I didn't think it was that remarkable...
He scanned over the messages, the truth starting to settle over him. "I did this..." he whispered. "I helped. I made a change."
The barest glimmer of hope flickered within his heart.
"Maybe I can be a hero. Maybe I can't." Izuku spoke to himself softly, sitting alone in a dark room. "But if I can help and make a difference..." He opened up the recent hero forums, and in another window, began to create his own forum, a determined light flashing in his emerald eyes.
"Then I'm not going to stop."
The Bakugos left shortly after Izuku's sudden exit, and after checking on Izuku and warning him to not stay up too late, Midoriya Inko went to bed. The neighborhood of Musutafu slowly fell asleep as time ticked into the night, but in the Midoriya residence, a 9 year old boy full of ambition and resolve was wide awake. Midoriya Izuku typed away, hero analysis notebooks open next to him as he searched through various tabs, reference sources, and articles.
His fingers were swift, and the swift clacking of fingers pressing down on a keyboard was persistent until far past midnight.
Little did anyone know, even Izuku himself, that this was the start of a legend.
It was the beginning of the story of one of the greatest analysts to ever walk the Earth.