Chapter Text
The truth is, sometimes Izuku would wish for Kacchan to care. The blonde always turned a blind eye to his friends, their aggressive behaviour towards Deku. Deku would beg quietly as he slept, tears streaming. Wishing to be saved, he couldn't tell Inko. The woman had proved how much she cared, it was strange. Izuku was just a normal teenager, as far as he could tell. Smaller than most, and a bit emotional at times. But he had insecurities, it was only normal.
Yet when he was younger, when he told his mother she had laughed it off and said he didn't know what he was talking about. It was one of the reasons he didn't trust her fully. Deku was skittish and wary, and his mother a seemingly happy emotional woman. Not many knew of her screaming, confusing side. Except maybe aunty Mitsuki, she always let Izuku come over when his mother was a bit too much.
But now here she was, after he asked to borrow Kacchan's shorts for a sports lesson. Since his classmates had Accidentally lost them, she was screaming at him. Deku's face was mostly void of emotion, when she got so pissed he felt his emotions melt away. Like a switch had been pressed,
“HOW CAN YOU DO THIS TO YOUR OWN MOTHER?! DON'T YOU KNOW HOW EMBARRASSING IT IS FOR ME! EVERYONE WILL THINK WERE POOR AND I DON'T LOOK AFTER YOU PROPERLY! I WILL BE BLAMED FOR NOT GIVING YOU CLOTHES!-”
Most people would believe she was a kind and firm mother, the truth was she would overreact and scream. Even at the smallest of things, It was just shorts. No one would honestly think that, no one thinks much of Izuku.
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Katsuki watched Izuku hug the hag, another tough night he guessed. Inko was a strange woman, at first when Hasashi had been around. She was quite the mother, firm yet so gentle. When Izuku had been announced as quirkless, the man had packed up and left. She reached out less to the hag, but at the few times they came over. Inko would snap and even Katsuki would cry, not that anyone noticed. The blonde would slink away to Izuku's room and hide in the cupboard as he heard screaming, Both the old hags frantic and Inko's angry voices. Masaru would usher Izuku over to Katsuki and they would come out once the green haired woman was back to joy and smiles.
It was a taboo topic of conversation, no one would ever mention it. But they would know, like a feeling Katsuki's mother would just know and she would prepare for Izuku to stay over. And he would come over, like now as the greente smiled at Katsuki. Even after everything, after his ignorance towards how the extras treat Izuku. But that was separate.
School and home always separate, at school he didn't know the nerd. Just silent nods of confirmation and no more interaction between the two, some of the extras knew of their history. But katsuki made sure they stayed silent, better then more attention going to the nerd. “What are you looking at, nerd?” he sneered, forcing the act back up. But it was soft, and at least the hag knew it.
“You look so strong! Kacchan, have you been training more?” Izuku's pretty eyes glittered and Katsuki's resolve to act mean melted. The blond wordlessly nodded in reply, letting Izuku walk beside him as the two retreated upstairs.
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“Midoriya, don't question my grading skills.” the teacher growled, smacking Deku harshly on the back of his head. The quirkless teen held back any noises and nodded wordlessly, letting the teacher retreat back to his desk after handing out the test papers. A F as usual, he worked harder this time. But it seemed to be of no use, they all came out the same. Even after the constant checking of answers, he had checked the answers over 3 times. But they all seem to be the same, no matter how much effort he puts in.
And he would have to hide the score, he never told his mother about the exams anyways. She would ask if she was in a good mood but he would keep it vague. He learnt to not trust her anyways.
***
As he packed up his bag, the students snickered around him. Sending cruel glances his way, sneed and mocked comments of. “Deku” and “Quirkless” being tossed around.
The usual. Deku thought bitterly as he left, but he was stopped as soon as he made his way out of the classroom. Glancing up at the faces, his plan to leave quickly was tossed out the window. As one of the girls, Junsui.
Quirk: fire fingers, allows the user to burn and singe anything in five-finger contact. His mind was helpfully informed. The girl grabbed his shoulder roughly, as the other giggled. Deku was dragged off, possibly the girls toilet. He felt the hot fingers burn through his uniform. Until he was suddenly shoved against a toilet cubicle door, Deku held back a groan as the girls took their phones out and recorded. Eagerly watching with malice smiles as Junsui kicked him, the rough and unpracticed kick hitting him somewhat not too hard in the side.
Getting a grunt forced from his lips, before the girl huffed and used her quirk and shoved him down. Burning his skin through the hole in his uniform top, he bit his tongue to stop himself from crying out in pain. If you don't react, they'll get bored and leave. Murmured his brain.
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Katsuki had patiently waited at the underpass for the nerd, his eyes went to the change out of the uniform to a hoodie and pants. Must have been those kids.. You should do something, a hero stops bullies.
Shut up. Izuku smiled softly at Katsuki and he huffed, rolling his eyes as he walked with the nerd.
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“How was school honey?” Another thing about Midoriya Inko, was she was confusing. One moment screams and blaming words. Next hugs and kisses, those familiar motherly arms wrap around him. And his mother presses a soft kiss to his forehead, a hand coming up to run through his hair.
“Good.” Deku murmured, giving her a light hug in return before she pulled away and went back to the kitchen. The green haired teen slipped off his shoes to place on the comfy All Might ones.
“No bullies? Or issues at all? What did you do today?” she asked, a soft smile as she cooked. Has she forgotten yesterday? She properly thought he forgot and forgave her, she never noticed the fading lustre of his eyes. The way he kept expressions to a minimum.
“No issues, we didn't do much besides the usual.” he murmured, keeping stuff vague and a few lies. It was so easy to lie to her, despite her words of knowing her own kid. Inko was blind, and Izuku would prefer to keep it that way.
The woman smiled and went back to cooking, Izuku was glad she didn't press for more answers. Taking the silence to leave, he headed into his room to grab a towel and went to the bathroom. Locking the door behind him, he hung up his towel and stripped from the spare clothes. He had some burns to treat.
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Retsuko growled, albeit a bit of a feral noise. “You mother fucker!” the thug, gasped a hand cradling his broken wrist. The winged vigilante smiled before launching forward with her wings and kicking him down. “You'd be correct I did fuck your mother.” she sneered, using zip ties to tie up the man's wrists and ankles before kicking his side for good measure.
Getting a cry of pain from the bastard's lips, she grinned. What a feeling. White wings shifted back, folding neatly as Retsuko turned to the young woman who was pushed up against the wall, gasping and panting. Her eyes wide in fear, “Madam,” the white bird mutant murmured, crouching in front of her.
“y-yes?” gasped the lady, looking up. Her body trembled with fear, as she shakily took Retsuko's hand and stood up. “Could you call the police for me? I'll be close by, just don't tell them that.” she asked softly, The stranger nodded hesitantly. Before muttering a soft thank you.
Retsuko took the cue of her dialling a number to set into flight, on top of the roof. And out of sight before slinking and shifting back to her smaller, feathers form.
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Aya answered the questions quickly, before keeping the phone on speaker and waiting. Anxiety bubbled in her chest, as she eyed the tied up thug. He had tried to rob her, and of course that's when her quirk malfunctions.. But at least the day wasn't all that bad, a girl- by the sound of her voice -had swooped down and really beat up the man. Which she was glad for, now as she sat waiting. The small chirp grabbed her attention.
Aya gasped, staring at the small Shima enaga , “So precious.. What are you doing here?” she murmured, the small white bird looked up at her curiously before taking a small flap over to her. Small and fluffy like a cotton ball, but what was it doing here? Aya had seen them when she visited Hokkaido, but how would one travel all the way over to Honshu.
Just as the small creature jumped onto her hand, a police car arrived. Strangely not spooking the cute thing. And before she knew it she was gently ushered to an Ambulance for a check up.
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Naomasa stared at the small bird. Not again.. Recently, only very recently, like two weeks ago. Reports of a white winged vigilante, descriptions of a female teen, in full black with wing mutations had started helping people out. First it was during a bar fight and the teen had concerningly already been present and quickly cut off the escalation violence, most witnesses were too drunk to remember a proper description. Some saying it was Mirko and hawks secret love child, others saying more ludicrous things.
The bartender had been of no help either, explaining vaguely how he didn't see much. Despite threats of him being tied down as an associate in crime. And apparently at every scene was that exact Shima, what made it distinct was the small very hard to notice red ribbon around its leg. Such a hard detail unless you were Naomasa who had a moment to pick up the tiny thing.
“You again?” he muttered in annoyance as the bird turned to him, pure white with beady black eyes and a round fluffy body, long black tipped tails. Those eyes held a certain intelligence, maybe it was in cahoots with that Vigilante. Who had been longed since nicknamed Snow bird after the nickname most Europeans use for the Shima- Japanese snow -for the birds similarities to it.
The bird chittered in reply jumping over and a small flap over to Naomasa's hand, the victim- Aya -drooped at the loss but was quickly distracted by the paramedics questions. The Shima turned to watch the thug be roughly hauled into the police car, a certain gleam in its eyes. Either that or Naomasa was going crazy.
Or..
This could be a rare case of an animal with a quirk, and that vigilante was really in cahoots with it. “Are you in cahoots with Snow bird?” he questioned. The bird tweeted in reply, bobbing its head- and whole body -in a yes motion.
Truth
Naomasa's quirk notified, and his eyes blew wide. Just as the bird flew off, “What the-” he stared in horror as fear started to set in, if this was another Nedzu. Oh lord the world was in for a horrid awaking, and the detective had the wonderful duty of informing the principal.
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Shouta shivered as the familiar cackle of the rat echoed down the hallway. Whoever is out there can a car please put me out of my misery..
Just as the pro hero went back to grading papers, his husband. Walked through the door, face twisted in utter trepidation. The staff that were all present in the lounge room turned to stare at him, each one having a look of concern, fear and intrigue. As the blonde wordlessly sat down next to his tired husband and murmured, so quietly Shouta had to strain his ears despite their proximity. “Naomasa called Nedzu, to inform him about an animal with a possible intelligence quirk..”
And then, the room descended into chaos.
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Retsuko downed the shot of gin, before setting the cup and bottle back in her bag. The alcohol cool at her lips, before becoming prickly and hot as it slinked down her throat. The sensation was euphoria as she stood once more, stretching and pulling back down the black mask. It was in similar design to a kitsune mask, but the ears had been cut off and replaced with a posy of feathers.
Then a gruff voice grabbed her attention. “Underage drinking? Really kid?” the mutant twisted around, being met with those familiar blazing blue eyes.
“Dabi..” she hissed, wings tensing up. The feathers puffing as she glared at the pyromaniac, the scarred man moved out of the shadows, a scowl resting on his face. Retsuko gripped her belt, thumb rubbing over the glitter bomb. Hello kitty to be exact.
***
Retsuko had long since imprinted on Dabi, having claimed the fire user as part of her flock ages ago. Dabi had helpfully preened some pin feathers back when both of them were stuck at that shitty orphanage, and in return Retsuko had stolen some burn cream. It was stupid, but not much she could do about her bird instincts. It's never been logical to try to suppress them, like now. Cooing happily as dabi helpfully preened her hair. “You know, your feathers seem thicker than hawks.”
“It's 'cause, my feathers take after a Shima.” Retsuko's hair was black, unlike her snowy white feathers. And it was hard to notice the feather-like shape of each strand, because black hair just blended in with each other. But her hair was thick and had more volume, due to her Shima mutations. Those birds look more like a cotton ball than a bird.
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Dabi hummed in response, the kid had always been weird. Mostly aggressive and quiet, but when she wasn't. She seemed kind of empty, like the shell of a person. Like the little girl who tried her best at that orphanage, it was after that fire. He awoke in an infirmary in an orphanage, apparently someone found his body and dropped him off here. Touya had died in the fire, but dabi awoke in that bed.
To a little seven year old girl, with black braids. Bland green eyes, scarred brown skin with a gold shimmer to it. And white wings, rubbing in burn cream to his scarred wrist. She had froze, the 15 year old dabi was stone still in movement as well. They stared quietly at each other, before dabi slumped back into the soft pillow and groaned. Letting the girl do her job, after a few awkward moments of stretching silence. Dabi spoke up, “..Who are you?”
“I'm the only person in this hell hole with some medical experience. ” The seven year old spoke with some form of intelligence, and a pride in her that projected from her voice. She was prideful, yet knew when to stand her ground and when to bow down.
And from that they hit it off, dabi would glance at those white wings and remember the white hair of Touya's sister. The sad smiles, and then his mothers sobbing face. Guilt would bubble up and he would feel like he owed the kid some form of siblingship. They worked together to make sure all the other kids of the orphanage ate and were somewhat healthy, Dabi being the oldest meant the usual caregivers were more neglectful than usual.
They would make sure some kids got adopted and bought groceries, but cleaning, cooking, and normal house work was left to the older kids. Retsuko was the assigned nurse of the place, and everyone else had their jobs. As dabi ran his scarred hand through the black wavy hair, he reminiscence the years they had spent. Watching carefully with his blue eyes as the teen slumped tiredly against his knee, happy for the affection.
But once Dabi left at 18, he made sure some heroes- trusted ones of course -got word of a neglectful orphanage before he came back and left in the night with a 10 year old Shima perched sleepily on his shoulder. Touya may have left his siblings, but Dabi had one Imouto and he wasn't about to leave her.
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Izuku wasn't suicidal. He wasn't.. Was he? Knowing that he had jumped into a pool, trying to drown himself. But getting pulled out by Kacchan and asked why he did that, lying between his teeth and saying he wanted to see if he could touch the bottom. Getting a black mark on his record for disturbing classes, it wasn't because he was suicidal. Yes he jumped in to drown himself, he wasn't suicidal for being curious was he? But he liked to use the random fact of drowning feels like your lungs are burning, it turns heads and gets the funniest reactions.
Now as he was on his way home, he didn't fully expect Junsui's boyfriend to walk down the alleyway. And today wasn't a good day either, some stupid argument about not wearing headphones all the time with his mother had left him feeling numb. She was crazy, wearing headphones and listening to music most of the time does not give him cancer. The songs are comfort and all she ever does is remove his comforts, like that one argument.
Where she got called about him forgetting to turn in homework, when he did and the teacher just wanted to see him miserable. And screamed and shouted, and told him. How her father never let her leave her room, how she was holed up and forced into classes daily. How he once beat her senseless she passed out, and how he should be grateful she gives him freedom.
Freedom? He doesn't even have a proper phone, just a barely in proper condition mobile. Like those Nokias, he can't wear anything without her judging and making him change. He has to have good grades, yes it was better than her life. But this was modern times, if he was being beaten senseless aunty mitsuki would know and she would pressure officers to do something.
Then she told him to remove and throw away all the posters, merch of heroes. He had wordlessly nodded and locked himself in his room, she didn't bother him. Not as he placed a song on his speaker to muffle out his cries, as he sobbed. Body racking while he gently removed the posters, his favourite heroes. His idols. Muttering sorry over and over again, as he blanked his walls. His entire personality, rooms held a person's personality, now his was a void.
“Oi Deku are you even fucking paying attention?” snapped a voice, right. Akio slapped his face for not paying attention, and Deku fell backwards. Weak. the boy kicked his chest down, forcing a cry of pain to be ripped from his lungs. “Should of died you fucking disease, trying to hit on my girl? How desperate can you be for love? Does your mommy never give you any?” the male taunted as his fist continued its endless assault to his face.
“Hey what the fuck are you doing?!” the boys swivelled around and ran off from whoever that voice belonged to, Izuku's face felt warm as his head hit the floor. Vision spotting, and blurring. Before a blurred figure crouched in front of him, and another picked him up from behind. Scooping him into their strong arms.
“ Bloody cunts, picking on a kid. ” spoke a feminine voice in English, her voice having an accent to it.
“What the fuck are you speaking in English for? Much less an Aussie accent.” a gravelly voice grumbled, the female shoved the guy lightly. He didn't move an inch from the weak push, but instead carried Izuku. The greenet's vision was dizzying as he tried to focus on the face of the man. He saw purple and blue, brown and green. White wings and blue fire.
Before his vision finally blacked out.
He is so pathetic, He can't even help himself.
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