Chapter Text
Izuku was so excited! His quirk came in, and it was so pretty! There were so many colors! And sparks! There was red, and blue, and purple, and green, and yellow, and white, and orange! They were going like woosh! And zip! And buzz! They were everywhere and nowhere, all at the same time! The coolest part was that no one else could see it! This was something that was just Izuku’s.
But, well, since no one else could see it, no one could understand what he meant, but that’s okay, because he knows what he’s saying! It’s super cool! It’s the best quirk ever! Well, almost the best quirk ever, Kacchan’s quirk is still the best, he’ll be the best hero ever! But Izuku’s quirk is super awesome too!
He did wish someone could understand what he saw though, these tests were super scary. He could see the yellow and orange zips that kept streaking around as the machine he was in kept making really loud clunking sounds and he was supposed to stay really still. The doctor called it a kitty scan? Or something like that? It was supposed to make a picture of his brain, but Izuku was too busy trying to keep his tears from falling to really thing about what the kitty scan was doing.
When the machine finally stopped making noise, Izuku quickly rubbed the tears away, pretending he wasn’t about to cry. Soon after Izuku got out of the machine and was sitting across from the doctor with him mom next to him, the doctor started talking. Izuku didn’t really know what he was talking about for the most part, but it seemed that his brain was what his quirk was? Oh!
“Does that mean my quirk is that I’m smart?!” Izuku couldn’t help but exclaim out. “But wait, the zaps and buzzes and whooshes don’t fit that.”
“No, Izuku, that’s not what your quirk is,” the doctor laughed. “While I don’t doubt you are an extremely smart kid, your quirk is just that your brain has a mutation. Because of this, you may very well have enhanced intelligence, though.”
“Oh,” Izuku said, still excited that he was going to be super smart, but disappointed he hadn’t figured out his quirk. “So what is my quirk?”
“Well, I’m not too sure what it is exactly, but the area of your brain that is mutated has to do with your signal receivers, such as the neurons in your brain. It seems the synaptic connections are extra sensitive. While it is a possibility that you will be able to control and manipulate electromagnetic signals, it is much more likely a weak electricity quirk? The area of your brain that is most altered is the same as is often seen in those with electrical quirks. It seems, however, that all you are able to do is simply see the signals for now.” This doctor was using big words and Izuku didn’t know what most of it meant.
“So my quirk is being able to see the whooshes, zips, and buzzes?” he tried to confirm.
The doctor just looked at Izuku for a moment, finding his childish way of speaking endearing. “For now, yes, it would seem so.”
Inko got her purse and took Izuku’s hand. “Thank you doctor,” she said as she stood up. “If I have any more questions I’ll reach out to your office.” She lightly tugged Izuku’s tiny hand. “Let’s go, Izuku.” They left, heading back to the car.
Izuku kept quiet for the drive home, keeping himself content in watching all of the colors of the whooshes as they drove past.
--
Inko was furious. More than that, she was positively livid! She had thought she would never have to be reminded of that bastard who called himself her father, but now here she was, with a child with a filthy brain mutation just like him! And of course he was seeing things, her father could see emotions, so why shouldn’t her son be able to see things as well?
She turned the key in the lock of the apartment door angrily, but not rough enough for her son to notice her fury. He was still acting like a happy idiot, looking at the “wooshes” as he called it. “Hisashi, we’re home,” she announced to her husband, when she could hear him in the kitchen.
“Welcome home, Inko, how was the appointment?” Hisashi asked.
“Izuku, please go to your room,” Inko said. She wants to tell her husband about the appointment, but she’s sure she won’t be able to keep the anger out of her voice for long if she does.
“Okay mommy!” Izuku was quick to comply, he could probably tell that there was about to be an argument. The kid could always tell.
Once she heard the door to her son’s room close she turned to her husband and said, “He has a fucking mutation quirk.”
Hisashi was silent as he took in this information. “How?” was the only thing he asked, a hint of disgust in his voice.
“My worthless father had a brain mutation quirk, and it seems so does Izuku. I thought I would never have to think of that bastard again, but here he is.” Inko’s fists were clenched so tightly she could feel her nails digging into her palms.
“What can Izuku do?”
“That’s the thing,” Inko sighed, “we don’t know. The doctor said that he thinks Izuku can see electricity? It’s a very minor electrical quirk, but it also doesn’t seem as though he can actually manipulate it. He can just see it.”
“So he’s useless.” Hisashi confirmed. His expression darkened when Inko only nodded. “This isn’t what I signed up for. I wanted a kid who could control and manipulate fire!”
“I wanted a kid who could do that too! Why else do you think I married you?” Inko’s voice was starting to get loud and she took a deep breath to calm herself down. That lasted all of three seconds, because Hisashi turned away and started to their bedroom.
“If that’s all you wanted with me, then we’re through.” Hisashi had been thinking of leaving for a while, and now with his son having the same type of quirk as his wife’s father, there was no way he was going to bother trying to work things out. Disgusting mutant quirks.
Izuku was cowering under his bed, Mommy and Daddy were yelling again. They were usually calm around him, but when he wasn’t there they would sometimes yell, scream, and even once Daddy set the couch on fire when he was yelling. He heard the front door slam shut followed by what sounded like a vase hitting the door, the sounds of the shattered glass reaching Izuku in his room.
--
There were very few things Aizawa Shouta loved more than sleep. In fact, he could really only think of three things: Coffee, Cream, and Sugar. Well, okay, maybe four things, actual coffee was every bit as good as his three cats. Hmm, maybe five things, his fiancé Yamada Hizashi was starting to really work his way up that list.
Phone calls at 1pm, a full three hours before his alarm went off for the start of his day, was definitely not on the list of things he loved. In fact, it was near the very top of the list of things he hated.
“What?” Shouta barked as he picked up the phone.
“Excuse me? That is no way to answer the phone,” a woman’s vaguely familiar voice replied.
Shouta pulled the phone away from his ear to see the caller ID, only for it to come up as unknown. Not in his contacts, then. “Who is this?” he grumbled.
“I’m hurt, Shouta, you don’t even remember your dear sister?” The woman, apparently his sister Inko, sounded viciously mocking.
“It’s too early for your shit, Inko. We haven’t spoken in seven years, what do you want?”
Inko was silent for a moment before asking, “Are you just now waking up? Half the day is over, I always knew you’d be a useless waste of oxygen, but I thought you’d at least maintain the same sleep schedule as a productive member of society. What, is Mom still paying your bills, too? Honestly, that villainous mutation of yours-“
Shouta ended the call. There was now something he hated more than 1pm phone calls, it’s a 1pm phone call with his bitch of a sister.
He had just reached to place his phone back on the nightstand so he could go back to sleep when it rang again, showing the same number his sister had just called from. Shouta glared at it, contemplating on if he was going to answer or not.
With a weary sigh he hit accept. “If you are just calling to bitch about my sleep schedule, when I work night shifts, then I am going to hang up on you again,” he warned.
“I apologize, Shouta,” she started. “I just want to make sure you’re taking care of yourself. You’re already 19, and Mom shouldn’t need to be taking care of you anymore. You need to—“
Shouta thought about hanging up again, but instead just interrupted her. “Mom hasn’t been taking care of me. I have an apartment, a good paying job, and a fiancé. Now, what did you want?”
Inko hesitates for a moment before saying, “It’s my son. He’s got one of those. . . brain mutations you and dad have. The quirk specialist thinks it might have something to do with electricity.”
“. . . And?” Shouta was confused. Maybe it was because he was still half asleep, but he couldn’t see where she was going with this. Why was she calling him? He’s not a quirk counselor. “What exactly does this have to do with me?”
“What do you mean what does this have to do with you?! It has everything to do with you! He’s your nephew, you need to figure out what his quirk is, and train him!” Inko yelled at him. “Honestly, you’re so useless in everything else, the least you can do is take care of your own blood!”
“I’m not a quirk counselor, Inko, I can’t just-“ he was cut off by his sister again yelling at him.
“Don’t give me excuses Aizawa Shouta! You’re going to meet me tomorrow for lunch and you’re going to introduce yourself to Izuku and you’ll be taking him for a month and teach him how to use his quirk!”
Shouta pulled his phone away from his ear just to take a calming breath. Or two. He had forgotten just why he was never upset with his sister for cutting all communications with him seven years ago. “Inko, first of all, I work night shifts so I am asleep during the day. I will not be meeting you for lunch tomorrow, or any day for that matter. The best I’m willing to do is an early morning breakfast. Second of all, while I do not live with Mom, I do live with my fiancé, and I’m not taking in anyone without talking to him about it first.”
Shouta barely had time to pull his phone away from his ear before his sister’s hate filled vitriol started spewing out. This was not something he was willing to listen to, so he just waited until he heard a lull in her rant and then said, “Not that this wasn’t absolutely riveting, but I’m not willing to put up with your verbal abuse. I hope the kid learns how to use his quirk, you should look into some quirk counselors. Have a nice life, please lose my number.”
With that, Shouta hung up the phone.
The door to the bedroom opened slowly, showing Hizashi in a bright yellow hoodie. “Shou? You okay?” he asked.
“My sister called.” Shouta looked up at his fiancé and gave him the most deadpan expression he could muster. “She’s still a bitch.”
Hizashi walked over to the bed and sat down next to Shouta. “I didn’t know you had a sister. You want to talk about it?”
“Not really,” he replied. “I want to go back to sleep.”
“Okay love, maybe we can continue this once you wake up?” Hizashi suggested.
“Ugh. Fine.” With that, Shouta let himself flop back down and fell asleep.
--
Three and a half hours later, Shouta grumbles his way into the kitchen, toweling his hair and reaches for the mug of coffee that Hizashi had already poured for him. Taking the first sip of caffeinated heaven, he was reminded once more of how high on the list of Things Shouta Loved this man was.
“So. The sister I’ve never heard about?” And just like that, Hizashi was at the bottom of the list.
Shouta glared at his coffee while getting his thoughts in order, knowing Hizashi would never just drop the subject, and then spoke. “My father hasn’t kept a faithful relationship ever. His quirk, from what I remember, is something along the lines of being able to see people’s emotions. He’s a sweet-talking, manipulative bastard, and it’s very likely I have more than just one sister.”
“My mother was friends with Inko’s mom, Akari, but since Inko was ten years older they never felt we should be forced into being friends or anything. But because of that, when my mother died, Akari decided to take me in. I was seven.”
Hizashi had come up behind Shouta and wrapped his arms around him, being a support pillar for his fiancé, but not stopping his story.
“Akari was devastated at the loss of her best friend, so she focused a lot of her attention on me, and since Inko was seventeen and constantly out with her friend Mitsuki, Mom didn’t really think too much about it. But Inko felt that I was stealing her mom away from her.” Here Shouta paused to down the rest of his coffee and then walked over to the machine to pour a second cup.
“She also hates mutant type quirks because of Dad.”
“Okay…?” Hizashi asked confused. “Quirkist of her, but not too sure what that has to do with-“
“Erasure is a mutation quirk, Zashi,” Shouta said with a deadpan look. “There’s a mutation in the occipital lobe of my brain, as well as my eyes.”
“Oh. I always thought it was an emitter type,” Hizashi mumbled.
“Inko was the very first person to call my quirk a villain’s quirk, and she made sure to make my life a living hell for about a year until she went off to college. She would occasionally come back for visits, but I haven’t seen her at all in seven years. I don’t think she knows I’m a hero, come to think of it.”
Hizashi held Shouta tightly again and just hummed quietly. After a few minutes he asked, “Why did she call?”
“Oh, she has a kid, brain mutation quirk, was demanding I drop everything and take the kid in for at least a month and teach him how to use a quirk that apparently looks to be a minor electrical quirk but she’s not sure?”
“Uh, you’re not a quirk counselor,” Zashi stated helpfully. “Maybe she should reach out to one of them?”
“I was going to say I can meet her for an early breakfast and hand over a list of quirk counselors, but she started shrieking at me about how I don’t care about my own blood and when I said my fiancé was a guy, well, I didn’t feel like listening to all that hate. Especially when I’m still half asleep.” Shouta was leaning fully into Zashi’s hold, breathing in his fresh sunshine scent, admitting to himself that he really was near the top of his list after all.
“I’ll give her one more chance, if she calls back and at least makes an attempt at being civil, I’ll give her a list of quirk counselors, but if not, I’ll block her number.”
“Fair.”