Chapter Text
Izuku is four years old today. Isn’t that cool? Izuku hopes that he’ll get to spend some more time with Momma, like his last birthday before his dad went away. He also hopes that he gets a strong quirk today so he can become a hero! Kacchan’s new explosion quirk was super cool, perfect for being a hero. Izuku hopes that his own quirk can measure up to his friend’s expectations.
Those hopes remain unanswered as his birthday passes.
It’s been a few weeks since his birthday, and Izuku’s quirk still hasn’t developed yet. Kacchan has been getting a lot meaner about how long it’s taking for him to get his quirk. He’s “stupid Deku” now because of it. But it’s not his fault that it’s taking so long! What more is he supposed to do about it than what he’s already trying? He tries to lift objects from far away like Momma does. He tries to breathe fire like Dad used to before he went away. But nothing happens when he tries. Maybe his quirk is taking so long because it’ll be super cool and strong, one that’s perfect for being a hero like Kacchan’s quirk is! Maybe it’ll be just as awesome as All Might’s!
Little did he know.
Quirkless.
One word that meant he would never get a quirk.
It was one word that meant a lot of things, actually. It meant his classmates wouldn’t play with him anymore. It meant his teachers wouldn’t help him. It meant Kacchan wouldn’t say anything to him without an insult and a hit. It meant momma wouldn’t even look at him anymore, let alone acknowledge he was there. Boy, did that one word have so many meanings.
But there was one thing that Quirkless definitely didn’t mean: It didn’t mean dreamless. Sure, nothing has been normal ever since that day at the doctor’s office. Izuku missed the way things used to be before hearing that one word. But, it couldn’t take away his dreams. A silly pinky toe joint can’t take those away from him, even if everyone seems to think so. Izuku still has his dreams… and All Might videos, but mostly his dreams.
So, Izuku holds onto those dreams for another two years. In those two years, his mom hasn’t looked his way once, let alone spoken to him. His best friend only looks at him with anger and only speaks to him to call him names and remind Izuku that he’s only a stupid Deku. Izuku isn’t sure which one he prefers. Both still hurt, he thinks. But, regardless of how they hurt, he still holds onto his dreams for those two years.
Then he stumbles onto something huge. Izuku was looking for some more All Might videos on the computer while munching on a sandwich he made himself for dinner. Momma was out with her friends again, so he had free-reign over the apartment and computer. Izuku wanted to see something new and exciting from his favorite hero, but was coming up with nothing. After digging around some more, he stumbled across this movie called “Captain America” dubbed in Japanese. Watching that movie was like watching All Might save all of those people from the trainwreck and fires for the first time again. And the best part? There was more. There was so much more.
Captain America was only the first piece of the puzzle. He was only the beginning. He was the introduction to his favorite character of all time: Iron Man. After finding Captain America: The First Avenger, Izuku was determined to learn more about this pre-quirk era movie. What he came across was a multi-billion dollar franchise under the name “Marvel” that spawned from the success of one movie: Iron Man. Iron Man happened to be Izuku’s favorite movie. Why? Well because it was the spawn of his favorite character. Why was one genius, playboy, billionaire, philanthropist his favorite character? Because he doesn’t have any powers. In a universe where powers made heroes for the most part, the man behind the Iron mask, Tony Stark, didn’t have any powers. Yeah, he had immense intelligence and ingenuity, things that not every person has. But Izuku likes to think that those are within his reach. Regardless, Tony Stark was one person, a regular human being like Izuku is. And he was able to rise above the rest to become one of the best heroes of the Marvel universe.
Iron Man was man-made. Not born, made. That fact alone gives new life to Izuku’s dreams of being a hero.
Izuku said he would always have his dreams, but even those were starting to fade during those two years. He held onto them, yes, but it was hard when everyone either ignored him or beat him up every chance that they got. But Marvel was like a blessing, a second-coming of All Might for Izuku in a way. Where All Might showed him how to want to save people with a smile, Marvel showed him how to give himself the ability to do what All Might does. With the right determination and hard-work, quirks don’t matter. So, that’s what Izuku will do. Izuku will work hard to create his own power like Tony Stark did. No one believes in him, some rarely even look at him. But that’s okay, Izuku knows he can do it. He wants to save people. And, on some level, he wants to prove everyone around him wrong. He wants to inspire other people like All Might and Tony Stark did. One said anyone can be a hero, the other shows that power doesn’t have to be given, it can be made. Everyone knows that heroes need to be powerful on some level to be effective, but not everyone knows that power can be natural and man-made.
Izuku will show them that. He has to. He doesn’t want anyone else to be where he is right now. He knows why Momma is gone so often, he knows why Kacchan hates him. He never wants anyone to live like he does now. It’s hard to hold onto his dreams sometimes. But Iron Man gave him hope. He’ll hold onto that hope, even if it takes making revolutionary technology to do so.