Archive of Our Own ^beta

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Midoriya Izuku doesn’t have much. Being quirkless has put him at the bottom of most people's lists of ‘who to give a damn about.’ 

So in school he’s ridiculed, after school he’s bullied, throughout the rest of his life he’s ignored. 

But while Midoriya doesn’t have a quirk he does have cute innocent eyes, freckles that always make him seem younger than he is, and a nervous attitude that screams “this one must be protected.”

He’s got a golden heart that leads him to helping old ladies cross the street, pulling cats out of trees, and guiding lost kids back to their parents. 

He’s got a smile that rivals the sun, a smile that makes people’s hearts feel warm and fuzzy, a smile that people would kill for. 

To him it’s just offering a helping hand. A few kind words, a bright smile, some enthusiastic help. To the people he’s helping, it’s the world. He knows people in high and low places, people far and wide. He doesn’t discriminate, each person receiving equal compassion and empathy. He knows nobodies and somebodies and have been’s and going to be’s. 

He doesn’t quite realize it yet. Because to him it’s easy. Simple as breathing, couldn’t live any other way. 

But Midoriya Izuku has something better than a quirk. 

He has friends.

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Midoriya Inko was a little overwhelmed by the flood of support following the sludge villain attack. Sure, she might have expected a couple of well-wishes from the neighbors and Mitsuki to call her to rant about “those knucklehead reckless boys.” Maybe even a card or two and a home-made casserole. It had been on the news after all, so those who knew the family would certainly recognize Izuku even if his name hadn’t been released (he was a minor after all!). 

She did not expect the literal pile of well-wishing cards. Some came with flowers, others came with money, some came with soft reprimands, others gushing with support. She barely recognized a quarter of the names. After opening the first ten she had given up and left them for Izuku to sort through, piling them up nicely on the kitchen table. (And was that the mayor's name on one!?!) 

Her son was ecstatic and slightly chastised by the show of support and promptly spent the next week diligently writing thank you notes and reassurances to the many writers. Inko had noticed the recent change in her son. He seemed to be out of the house even more than usual, always coming back tired and dirty but with a bright grin on his face. She had worried at first, but he assured her it was nothing bad and he’d just started helping with a new community clean up project. So she smiled and let it go.

Whatever the reason, she was happy that her son was happy. Plus, it was always nice to know others saw just how special he was too. 

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All Might knew there was something special about young Midoriya the second he laid eyes on him. Well ok maybe not the second he laid eyes on him, but the first time he saved him- or no wait- the second time he saved him… Anyway- the point was that All Might knew there was something special about young Midoriya. 

It wasn’t just the infectious energy and upbeat smiles. How the kid showed up day after day at the crack of dawn to start hauling trash. No, it was the slightly less noticeable but no less important things. Like how young Midoriya would always bring pastries for two from the same café and make sure he ate one as well. How he would set aside certain less wrecked items from the junk pile and mutter about how to fix them. 

It was how the longer they worked at the breach the more people started to drop by. At first All Might was worried they were looking for him, but it soon became clear they were there for young Midoriya. 

Everyone from old ladies to layabouts to joggers. He was fairly sure one or two of them might have been actual villains from their sharp and suspicious posture. But Midoriya greeted them all by name just as he had with everyone else and the sharp (were they protective?) edges instantly dulled as the child chatted to them about this and that. 

Young Midoriya always seemed to send them away with different things. Letters for some, food for others, there was one girl in particular that always seemed particularly ecstatic to come and collect whatever junk had been set aside for her that week. 

When they asked what he was doing young Midoriya would answer truthfully, which almost made All Might hack up a lung the first time. Once he’d calmed down enough to actually listen to the version of the truth young Midoriya was giving out he had to admit that it was rather ingenious and felt a little silly for not thinking of a cover story himself. (Of course, there would be others who would know he was quirkless). 

The conversations always went a little like this: 

‘What are you doing here anyway?’

‘Oh, I’m trying to build up muscle for my new quirk.’

‘Hu, really? You have a quirk now?’

‘Yeah, when I was trying to save Kacchan from the sludge villain I felt something but wasn’t able to use it before All Might showed up. Then I tested it at home and almost broke my arm. So, I did some research and it turns out that some quirks will only activate after certain conditions are met. I never noticed my quirk before because my body isn’t strong enough to handle the backlash, but facing a villain in a life or death situation triggered it anyway. Now I’m training to meet the muscle mass condition by cleaning this beach. Plus, it’s good community service too!’

‘Wow, I didn’t know that was possible.-- Yeah that sounds just like you.-- Good luck kid if anyone deserves it it’s you.-- Are you going to apply to UA with this quirk then?-- I still think you could fake an intelligence one.-- Well it’s nice that you have one now but don’t let it go to your head. You were my hero long before some flashy quirk, young man.

Be safe.-- Take care.-- Good luck.’

The never ending flow of support humbled him. All Might thought back to that rooftop and his callus crushing of a dream and yet here were all these people coming day after day just to give their support. Not to some strong quirk, but to the boy underneath who had brightened all their lives. 

Yes, there was something special about young Midoriya and All Might felt blessed to be a part of it.