Chapter Text
Izuku was practically vibrating in his seat next to his mother on the train, but who could blame the little four-year old? It wasn’t everyday a child got their Quirk after all. When his mother took him to a Quirk specialist on his fourth birthday, the doctor said he definitely had a Quirk, something about his toes meaning he had one, but Izuku was too lost in his mind thinking of what exactly his Quirk might be to listen. The one thing he did clearly remember was that it might come in a bit latter than normal if he took after his mother due to mental and telekinetic Quirks needing a more developed brain.
When he told his best friend Kacchan about his visit to the doctor, he just said the reason Izuku didn’t have his Quirk yet was because he was too stupid and started being really mean, even calling him Deku for not having a Quirk. For six months Izuku waited for his Quirk to finally come in, all the while trying to curb his friend’s sense of superiority, until one day he found Kacchan picking on a boy by the park, and before Izuku could even realize it, his legs moved on their own to shield the boy from the blond. When Kacchan moved to blast Izuku for getting in his way, instead of the familiar singe and heat from the explosion, something unexpected happened. As Izuku put up his hands to shield his face, the explosion just… stopped, and stayed in the air. While Kacchan and his cronies looked on in awe at the phenomenon, Izuku shifted his hands, moving them left to right, forwards, backwards, clenching and releasing his fists, and found that the fire making up the explosion followed, expanded, and shrunk at his will.
Kacchan was surprisingly happy at the development, any hostility from their fight forgotten as he congratulated his friend for getting his Quirk (while making sure Izuku knew his ‘Explosion’ was still cooler) and that they would be the best Hero duo ever.
Izuku’s mother Inko took him to a Quirk specialist to test and register his new power, all while listening to her son’s stories of how he would be a Hero just like All Might and save as many people as he could. After the doctor’s tests, his Quirk was registered as ‘Pyromancy’ (because Izuku thought it sounded cooler than ‘flame manipulation’), and his current limits tested. Izuku could control flames around him with an impressive degree of finesse, and even expand the flame from a small candle into a large globe of fire. Unlike his father however, he couldn’t produce his own flames and had to rely on external sources to use his Quirk. Izuku didn’t care that much, that could just be countered with some support items or teaming up with Kaachan.
Today was the best day of Izuku’s life!
As Inko and Izuku walked back home from the station, they noticed a large crowd forming at an intersection. Endeavor, the #2 Hero was battling a villain duo that were trying to rob a storefront, but what should have been a quick takedown was being prolonged by the villains holding hostages. The police were too busy trying to keep the public away that they didn’t notice as the lankier villain broke off to try and flee, abandoning his comrade. As he broke through the police line, sending panicked civilians fleeing away from his path, the villain barreled right towards Izuku and Inko, the boy too stunned to react as his mother tried to drag him away.
Endeavor, not one to let a small-time thug ruin his reputation by fleeing, shot a blast of fire to incapacitate him. While his attack was successful in hitting his target, the villain was close to the mother and son. Too close.
Izuku, fueled by panic and fear, used his quirk to split the flames like the Red Sea. Endeavor’s fire was fast, and even with his quick reaction, Izuku still felt the heat burn at his arms, and smell the sulfur from the Hero’s flames. While the burns on his arms would scar over, and his hair need a trim to cut away the parts that were scorched, Izuku would survive to see another day.
His mother, still within the path of the flames, would not be so lucky.
We now go to the scene of Endeavor’s latest take down, where two villains took hostages after a failed robbery. One of the villains, identified as Hanashi Shinten, attempted to flee the scene before being incapacitated by the #2 Hero. No hostages were harmed, but in the fight one civilian was killed with her son suffering minor injuries. Endeavor provided a statement to the press shortly after the two villains were arrested.
“While the loss of the woman’s life is regrettable, it wouldn’t have happened if her child did not interfere. He used his Quirk to redirect my attack and not only received injuries for his trouble but caused his own mother’s death as well. Let this be a lesson both on why we have public Quirk use laws, and to not interfere with a Pro’s work.”
Sansa looked towards the boy sitting in the police station, tear stains clear on his cheeks, before turning the television off. He was the officer that most often assigned to dealing with children, as his Quirk giving him the head of a tabby cat made him endearing to kids, but the boy wasn’t interested in interacting with him. Or anyone really, but that was understandable. After not only losing your mother but having the #2 Hero say it was your fault, Sansa wouldn’t expect anyone to be in a conversational mood.
The officer turned his head back to his paperwork as a weary sigh escaped his lips. The boy’s father wasn’t in the picture, and without any immediate family to take him in, an orphanage was his only choice. A family of three, A quiet father with a very loud wife and son came in earlier to see Izuku, as well as offer to take custody of the boy, but due to the Flame Hero’s claim that would prove difficult. To adopt a child in the foster care system that had cases of severe Quirk misuse, such as accidentally killing a parent, required a special certification to prove they could assist in rehabilitation. These permits took money and time to achieve, a lot of time, and it would be likely that the green haired boy would be in an orphanage for at least a few years. Sansa thought it was complete bullshit that the after ruining a kid’s life, Endeavor decided to kick him while he was down just to cover his ass, but what could some beat cop do?
“Hopefully the kid’s life starts looking up soon.”
“Hey, did you hear about the new kid?”
“One with the green hair?”
“Yeah! Heard he killed his mom.”
“Man, but he looks so young. Why did he do it?”
“Dunno, but Endeavor said he got in his way busting some villains.”
“Pretty messed up, killing your mom trying to mess with a Pro.”
“You’re telling me. Just stay away from that kid, never know when he decides to go villain again.”
Izuku thought his life couldn’t get worse after his mom died, but somehow it did. Not only did he find out his dad wasn’t “working overseas” but ran off and remarried in America, but nearly every kid in the orphanage was spreading rumors that he was some sick villain in the making who killed his own mother on purpose. Within the day of his arrival, the only reactions he seemed to get was fear or open contempt. Within the week, the few possessions he had would slowly go missing or mysteriously break. Within the month, he had so many fake claims of attacking the other kids that he was sent to an orphanage specializing in the rehabilitation of “problematic” children. Izuku held out some vein hope that even if the kids there where mean, at least they would at least think of Izuku as welcome company.
Instead, they were able to see right through him, immediately telling that the verdant haired boy who cried at the slightest provocation was the furthest thing from a villain in the making. The only thing that really changed for Izuku was the reason for the bullying, now it was for being too soft, too much of a coward.
The only person he could call a friend was another child who was falsely labeled a villain in the making, Hitoshi. It took a while to even learn the basics of the boy as he had a phobia of speaking after being called a villain for his Quirk, which let him control someone’s body after they responded to a question he asked. Izuku was persistent in his attempts to hang out with the only kid who didn’t bully him however, and after a small rant on how great Hitoshi’s Quirk was after he finally found out about it, the two formed an odd sort of friendship. Hitoshi still didn’t speak, more than willing to let Izuku ramble on about whatever and just exist around him, while Izuku would use every possible resource he could in an attempt to learn JSL to have an actual conversation.
Unfortunately, not all good things last, and one day Hitoshi got adopted by a couple, a man who could really use a shave and a nap and a woman who drew ire from most of the kids for a non-stop barrage of bad puns. While Izuku was happy for his friend, he couldn’t help but feel sad that the only person willing to spend time with him was leaving, as it meant going back to the solitary, isolated life he dreaded. After a quick goodbye, and a promise to meet each other at U.A. University to become Heroes, Hitoshi left his life, and Izuku would be alone once more.
It would be a few months after his 10th birthday that Izuku would be introduced to a girl who would become not just his next friend, but one of the most important people in his life.
The lady who ran the orphanage, dubbed “The Witch” for her green skin and nasty attitude, called all the children to the common. Usually this meant that either someone was getting adopted, someone was being publicly humiliated punished or there was a new addition to the orphanage. As Izuku stepped into the common room, he saw a girl, around the same age as Izuku with blond hair reaching down to her back. The Witch said her name was Himiko and told the group that she was here because she snapped and stabbed her father to death before drinking his blood.
Most of the group just took that at face value, and didn’t pay her any further mind, not wanting to associate with the “little psycho,” but Izuku felt drawn to interact with the girl. Maybe it was the way she never reacted to a single jeer sent her way, or the way she just staired at the ground, completely silent and motionless throughout the entire introduction, but something was different about her compared to the rest of the hot-headed thugs and bullies he lived with.
“Umm… m-my name’s Izuku.” No reaction came from Himiko, she didn’t even acknowledge that he spoke. ‘Is she deaf? It didn’t seem like she heard anyone else. Good thing I learned JSL with Hitoshi.” Izuku began to fumble through a basic introduction, rusty from the years of disuse of JSL, when Himiko spoke for the first time. “What are you doing with your hands?”
Izuku let out a shrill manly yelp, surprised by her sudden question, before looking from his clumsy attempt at sign language to her eyes. They were bright yellow, and resembled a cats, but the distant look she had felt familiar. It reminded him of the months that followed his mother’s death, no emotion able to register over the veil of grief the smothered him. “I… uh… thought… well, you didn’t respond to anyone, so I thought you might have been deaf…”
“I’m not.” The curt response was all that she gave Izuku before walking off to and curling up in a corner, returning to her own little bubble, uninterested in the world around her. It would have been easy to just walk away from the girl. Clearly she didn’t want to talk to anyone, but Izuku saw in her eyes she was hurting, and a Hero’s job was to help people, even if they don’t want it.
Izuku sat down next to her, while considering what to say to help her. People thought he killed his mom on purpose, did people say the same about Himiko? “Umm… so the caretaker said you killed your dad… Is that true?” ‘Ah yes, did you kill your dad, great way to start a conversation you idiot!’
While Izuku was busy admonishing himself for his lack of tact, Himiko was dreading what the conversation was leading to. ‘He just wants to make sure you’re the freak everyone calls you, the freak you are. Might as well get it over with.’ “Yes.”
“Oh… did you mean to?”
“W-what?” Himiko lifted her head from her knees to look at the boy grilling her. The police, her ‘friends’, everyone just heard that she stabbed her father and wrote her off as a monster. So why wasn’t he?
“Well… you looked really sad, a-and… regretful, I guess. So, I thought ‘maybe it was an accident.’” Himiko looked at him curiously for a second, before turning her eyes back to the ground. After sitting in silence for what felt like hours, she finally found her voice. “I don’t know…”
Izuku tilted his head in confusion, “You don’t know? What does that mean?” With his last question the stoic mask Himiko wore finally broke. Tears flowed down her cheeks before she buried her head in her knees once more. Izuku felt bad about making the girl cry, and in hindsight he should have given he some time before asking such personal questions. Not knowing how to fix his mistake, Izuku decided to just shut up and stay with the girl, close enough to let her know she wasn’t alone, but not to close to make her uncomfortable.
After her sobs died down to quite sniffles, Himiko started to speak again. “Ever since my Quirk came in my parents called me a monster. I don’t know why but I can’t stop thinking about blood… drinking blood. But my parents wanted me to act normal. And I tried, I really did, but the urges just wouldn’t go away, no matter what. One day I found this injured bird, covered in blood and I… I…”
Himiko’s voice trailed off, the memory of what happened clearly distressing her. “You don’t have to finish if you don’t want to Himiko,” Izuku spoke softly, while moving closer to rub his hand in small circles on her back, just like his mother did when he would have a nightmare.
“No… I need to, you should know how much of a freak I am.” She spoke, “I killed the bird to drink it’s blood, but when my father found me, he got really angry and started shouting. He… he hit me and… the next thing I knew I was on top of him… with a knife in his chest. And when I saw his blood on my hands I just… couldn’t stop. It felt like this haze I lived with my whole life finally lifted. I was still licking it off the floor when the police came and took me away.” A new round of sobs racked through Himiko’s body, but she didn’t stop her tale. “I killed him and drank his blood and felt good! The first time since getting my Quirk I felt normal, and it was after killing my dad! He was right about me, everyone was right! I’m nothing more than a monster! So just…”
“HIMIKO!”
She was surprised not only by the shout, but by how much ferocity the previously meek, timid boy could put into his voice. “You’re not a monster, whatever your Quirk is or what it makes you want doesn’t change that. Your parents tied to force you to pretend a part of yourself didn’t exist, and they’re at fault for whatever happened, not you. Okay?”
“B-but…”
“It’s not your fault.” Izuku spoke with absolute certainty. “You said felt like you were normal after drinking blood, right?” A quiet nod from Himiko prompted him to continue, “Because of your Quirk, whatever it is, you probably have some mental or even physical need to drink blood. Your parents were starving you of something you needed for years. So, I will say it as often as I need to. It’s not your fault.”
While Himiko did appreciate the kind words, they didn’t do anything to make her feel better. “I’m still a freak… I just need to drink blood, rather than wanting to.” She spoke in a voice quite enough that it was almost inaudible, “I’ll never be normal.”
“Himiko, look at me.” Izuku asked. It took a few minutes and a mix of pleading, prodding, and demanding, but he finally managed to make her turn to look towards him. “The woman who runs this orphanage looks like a witch, I control fire with my mind, and the best Hero school in the country is run by a sentient mouse… bear… thing. The fact you have to drink blood doesn’t make you not normal.”
“Why…?”
Izuku tilted his head at the unexpected question. “Why what?”
“Why are you being so nice to me? I heard everyone else, they all think I’ll snap and hurt them. So why don’t you care? Why are you trying so hard to help me?”
Izuku figured it was only fair to answer her completely honestly. She just laid out her entire tragic backstory to him, so he decided to respond in kind. “The day I got my Quirk, my mom died. Endeavor was fighting a villain and shot a blast too close to us. I was able to save myself with my Quirk, but not my mom. After the fight, Endeavor said it was my fault for interfering, like I asked for him to shoot fire at us, and from that day everyone treated me like a villain that got my mom killed on purpose.” Izuku never liked thinking about that day, and he could already feel the tears trailing down his face, but he was determined to tell Himiko the full story.
“I miss her every day, but for months after she died, I just… shut down. People called me names, stole my stuff, but I didn’t care. I just wanted to feel something other than sadness. I almost gave up on my dream of becoming a Hero for a while, but there was another kid I met a while ago who also got called a villain for no reason. He talked, or well, signed me into not giving up. He wanted to prove to everyone that there wasn’t such a thing as a villainous Quirk.”
Izuku noticed that by this point it was Himiko rubbing small circles on his back. “And why do you want to be a Hero?” She asked.
“At first, I just wanted to be like All Might, saving people with a smile on my face no matter how bad things got. But now, after going through all that grief and sadness, I want to stop as many people from going through that as possible and prove to anyone who is going through those feelings that the future will be brighter than they think.”
Himiko stopped the circular motions on Izuku’s back, and before he could protest, brought the boy into a hug. A gesture he reciprocated.
“That sound’s nice,” she whispered, “and I know you’ll be a great Hero.”
Himiko broke the hug before looking at Izuku and smiling, sending his heart rate through the roof, and doing funny things to his stomach.
“Because you’re already my Hero Izu-kun!”