Chapter Text
Izuku is 14, Quirkless, friendless and wants to be a hero so badly, he can taste it. He’s still covered in that villain’s slime and junk when he got him the first time, not to mention the sweat from running away and from trying to rescue stupid Kacchan from him. He can taste his shattered dreams on his tongue, bitter and gross and enough to make him vomit.
But even though the world has told him one reality, Izuku still understands one thing.
He did help today. He saved Kacchan’s life.
The same Kacchan that told him to kill himself earlier.
Just remembering it makes anger boil and bubble under Izuku’s skin, anger he’s not prone to, but he’s started to feel more and more often. Like when he remembers the pain his online friends go through for being Quirkless or having villainous Quirks. Like when he heard Kacchan tell him to go kill himself. Like when All Might left him alone on top of a very tall building after telling him he could never be a Hero.
All men are not created equal. Izuku has known it since he was 4 years old. But…
Izuku snarls and one word echoes in his head, taking over the place he used to dedicate to Kacchan.
Bully.
Bully. Bully. Bully. Bully. Bully. Bully-
Izuku starts to cry as his world caves in. He knew on some level that… Katsuki didn’t like him. He always rationalised it away as Kacchan being in a mood or Izuku just having a bad day and being more sensitive than normal. But…
Pray you’ll be born with a Quirk in your next life and take a swan dive off the roof of the building.
Izuku sobs and starts running, running, running, running-
They’d tell me to kill myself too, it was horrible.
I can’t get a job anywhere, nowhere is hiring people who are Quirkless.
My classmates would use their Quirks on me too, they’d say they were protecting themselves from the villain.
This isn’t just happening to Izuku. This is happening to all his friends online, to people all over the world, the people who are Quirkless, the people who have scary Quirks, the people who have mutated Quirks. It’s horrible, it’s horrible, it’s horrible, it’s horrible, he hates it, he hates it, he hates it, he hates it-
BEEEP!
Izuku gasps as he comes to a stop, staring at the busy road in front of him, having almost run headlong into traffic.
No.
Izuku looks around, looks for where he is and tries to work out how to get home.
He’s not dying today.
Izuku wipes at his eyes, hardens his resolve and turns back around, going back the way he came.
He’s going to become a Hero, no matter what. He’s going to become the first Quirkless Hero who can help other people like him! He’ll be someone that his friends can look up to, no matter what!
“I AM HERE!”
Izuku yells in shock as All Might shows up right in front of him, in the flesh! How?! HOW?!
“All Might?!” Izuku looks around in shock. “What are you doing here?! How’d you escape those reporters? How’d you find me?!”
Dear God, what has his life become?!
All Might laughs. “I stand for justice!” He gives a two finger salute. “Not sound bites!” He flexes. “Because I am All Mi-”
Then he deflates, spitting blood as he takes on his skinny form.
Izuku sighs slightly. Why is All Might like this if he doesn’t stand for sound bites?
“Young man…” All Might coughs and wheezes, then whips his mouth with the back of his wrist. “I came here to thank you.”
Izuku stops and stares. On the same day Katsuki told him to kill himself, All Might is going to thank him? For what?! Does he… no way, there’s no way.
“I also wanted to discuss your question from earlier.” All Might continues.
Izuku sucks in a breath.
Is it possible to become a hero even if I don’t have a Quirk?! Could I ever hope to be someone like you?!
Did that really happen only a few hours after school? It feels like a different lifetime.
“If you hadn’t told me about your life… if you hadn’t run into that fight, this timid, Quirkless boy, trying so hard to save a lafe, I would have been a worthless bystander watching from the crowd.” All Might explains. “So thanks.”
Izuku’s eyes widen. “You… you mean, I inspired you?”
It’s, it’s crazy. How? How did he inspire his hero? He, Quirkless, useless Deku?
“There are stories about every Hero. About how they became great. Most have one thing in common.” All Might tilts his chin, an acknowledgement. “Their bodies moved before they had a chance to think. Almost on their own.”
Izuku sucks in a breath. No way. That happened today.
The sakura blossoms float around them, a few catching in Izuku’s hair, some brushing against All Might.
“Does… does that mean…” Izuku doesn’t dare hope. If he’s wrong, he’ll be crushed again.
“Today, that’s what happened to you. You moved before you could think, all to save someone else.” All Might continues.
Izuku’s eyes fill with tears. Words and voices he’s heard all his life echo in his head like an endless crescendo.
Sorry kid, it’s never going to happen.
You’d die in the exams!
I’m sorry Izuku! I wish things were different.
Defenseless Izuku!
People like us don’t get to be Heroes, guys. We should just give up.
“Young man… you too, can become a hero!”
Izuku falls to his knees, his world crumbling around him and he sobs and screams, the whole day finally catching up to him. He’s waited his whole life to hear those words. For someone to say that Quirkless, useless Deku can become a hero.
All Might believes in him.
All Might believes in him.
“I deem you worthy of my power, my Quirk is yours to inherit.”
What?
Izuku stops crying, straightening up. “What?”
All Might starts laughing. “I’m sorry, your face-”
He continues to laugh and Izuku rubs at his eyes and cheeks, embarrassed as he gets to his feet. This is getting weird.
“Listen well young man.” All Might raises a finger to the sky and then points it at Izuku. “Do you want to accept my awesome power or what?!”
He starts spitting blood and Izuku yelps, scrambling to get some tissues out of his pocket and offering one to All Might. All Might coughs and accepts the tissue.
“Okay, slow down, what…” Izuku groans and rubs his ears. “What do you mean by inherit your power? You can’t just give your Quirk to someone, that’s impossible.”
“Why do you think I’ve never explained what my Quirk is whenever I’ve done interviews, young man?” All Might spreads his arms wide. “I wasn’t born with this power, it was a sacred torch passed down to me by my Master. She cultivated this power and now, you’re next.”
Izuku gapes at him.
All Might…
The Number 1 Hero….
The Symbol of Peace…
Wasn’t born with his Quirk????
“What the fuck?” Izuku says.
Then he cramps his hand over his mouth. Shit, his mother’s going to be so mad at him!
“I understand this is a shock, but you’ll have to adjust this new reality and accept it!” All Might throws his arms out wide and holds one hand out. “I can transfer my Quirk to someone else and that’s just one faucet of my secret abilities. The true name of my power is One For All.”
Izuku stares at All Might.
“One… For… All?” Izuku murmurs.
Then it finally clicks.
All Might wants to give Izuku his Quirk. Because he still doesn’t think a Quirkless person can become a Hero without one.
Izuku stands up. “I’m honoured, All Might.”
All Might smiles.
“But I have to say no.” Izuku bunches up his shoulders.
All Might blinks at him.
Then he gapes. “What?”
“If, if anything I did today proved anything, then it proved that there needs to be a Quirkless Hero.” Izuku forces himself not to shake, not in front of All Might. “If there was a Hero like me around, then people like me wouldn’t have been treated so horribly in school. I have a lot of friends online who need a Quirkless Hero, someone to look up to, who can make a change!” He bows. “I’m sorry. But I have to become a Hero the way I am! Not through dumb luck or a gifted power, but with me as I am!”
There’s silence.
Then All Might laughs.
Izuku straightens, feeling nerves pop in his stomach and chest.
“Young man, you’re certainly ambitious.” All Might chuckles. “You know that’s going to be damn near impossible, right? You’ll have to work ten times harder than everyone else, who’ll have an advantage over you.”
Izuku nods. “I know. But I’m not afraid. I have to do this. Because if I don’t, then who will?!”
All Might blinks at him.
“In that case, young man…” Then All Might smiles and offers his hand. “Will you grant me the honour of training the world’s first Quirkless Hero?”
Izuku stares at All Might in awe.
He still believes in Izuku. Even though he’s refusing All Might’s Quirk.
Izuku smiles. “I’d appreciate all the help I can get, All Might. Thank you.”
All Might nods. “Then let’s begin.”
Izuku nods and the cherry blossoms float before him.
Shouto “Reiko” Todoroki is 14, has a powerful Quirk and is going to be a Hero.
The mirror sends her an image of herself she doesn’t like.
Reiko brings her finger on the rough and red scar tissue covering a quarter of her face.
That ugly scar always reminds her how her father is no Hero when he’s at home. She trained all day long, she’s got bruises on her body but conveniently, every one of them is hidden by the school uniform on her futon. She'll wear it in a few months for the UA entrance exam, or something like tha-
Footsteps.
Reiko’s heart thumps in her throat and she freezes up.
Enji’s home.
Quickly but silently, she goes to make sure the door to her room is locked. The adrenaline thrums through her blood as she goes back to the mirror, holding her breath. It’s not like a wooden door would be useful to keep the Number 2 Hero out, but it and the lock that Touya helped her install has bought her time all these years.
Back in front of the mirror she tries to forget her left side, brings her left hand up to cover her scar. It’s not that effective, so she focuses on the parts of herself that remind her of her mother. Reiko focuses on her snow white hair, her flickering, fuzzy ears and the soft red and white tail rolled around her leg, where it can’t show her emotions as easily.
All men are not created equal. But Reiko will always be grateful for the gifts her mother gave her.
Reiko manages a small smile and wonders what she would look like if she had been born a woman.
Certainly more like her mom. Perhaps with long hair. She’d love to have long braided hair.
Her tail starts to wiggle, unwinding and swishing gently.
Her hair could look really nice in a few braids. She could make them swirl in the wind when she runs or jumps, free like Hawks when he flies.
Her ears twitch and flicker.
She would definitively wear a dress sometimes, perhaps a soft blue dress since she likes the colour. Though, a punk outfit with a skirt could look really good on her too, leather jacket and studs with a black pleated skirt reaching her knees.
Reiko twils on herself, as if the training pants she has on will lift like a dress.
She would definitively hide that scar behind a tone of make-up, just to be sure no one could ever feel bad or pity her, that’s the last thing she wanted. She knows it’s ugly, but if she could cover it up, she could look pretty like her mother.
Enji screams and rages downstairs and she hears Fuyumi scrambling to get to her room, to avoid his temper.
Reiko scowls.
It’s his fault she can’t be pretty.
Her ears move instinctively, following her mood, laying flat against her head, sad and angry.
There’s one thing she won’t ever change. She’s not a woman. She’s not going to wear make-up, she’s not going to wear dresses and let her hair swirl in the wind. She’s not going to be pretty, like Fuyumi and her Mom are.
She has to live with her goal and scars. She’ll be the man who’s suffered because of one power hungry Hero who dared call himself a father.
She wants Enji to pay for what he did to her mother. She wants to see him suffer the repercussions of the years of mistreatment and the loss of Touya, the same way they all suffered when they lost her big brother. Her mother endured so much because of that monster! She’ll have her revenge.
The first step isn’t going to be easy but with the strong quirk her mother gave her, Reiko knows she will do it. The second step-
Enji stomps through the house, heading towards the hallway near her room. It’s probably bad news.
Reiko decides to ignore him and return to her reflection, where her scar is hidden and she looks like her mother, her tail twitching and swishing.
Becoming a hero with only half her quirk is only the beginning of her retributions. Once she becomes a pro hero, she’ll become a better Hero than Endeavour and have the recognition needed to take him down forever. She’ll reveal the dark secrets Enji Todoroki is hiding in his house and finally free herself from him.
“SHOUTO!”
The shout freezes her in place, Reiko’s tail and ears returning to their homes, tail twisting around her leg and ears standing “proud”, straight on her head. She closes her eyes and repeats “it’s Reiko” in her mind.
It’s Reiko.
It’s Reiko.
It’s Reiko.
Before he died, Touya told her the name she would have had if she’d been a girl. It’s the name she chose, her silent rebellion against her father. It brings her peace and makes her feel better, knowing Touya is with her everyday, as she uses the name he told her of.
“SHOUTO, GET OUT HERE! A HERO MUST ALWAYS BE READY FOR ACTION!”
That’s her cue.
Reiko takes a big, deep breath, wishing someone could get her out of here. Anyone. She’d honestly do anything to avoid the discussion she’s about to have with the monster on the other side of the door.
“Open your door Shouto! I don’t want to take it down!”
Enji’s really angry today, it seems. He’s never able to be calm when it comes to her being a Hero. He must have seen her costume sketches. She’s going to wear it during the recommendation exam.
She opens the door to the Hero and walks into the hallway.
“Father, what is it?” She would have been shivering but after fifteen years, Reiko learned to hide well being her poker face.
Even the Number 2 Hero can’t tell she’s afraid of him.
“What’s with that design for your costume? I thought I raised you better than to deny your full potential.” Enji seems calm but Reiko can feel the anger in his tone.
She feels disgust claw at her throat.
“I already told you that I won’t use my fire side ever again. I’ll become the best hero without your power.” Reiko contracts her muscles, waiting for the repercussion for the rebellion, preparing for a fight.
But it never comes. No fire, screaming or fists. Just Enji’s cruel, cold eyes on her.
Then he smiles.
Reiko raises her guard.
Endeavor smirks, condescendingly. “Well, it’s only going to pass. You must be going through that teenager thing, during which you do everything against your parents. You’ll end up growing out of that and realize how immature that was soon enough. I created you to be my heir, Shouto.”
Reiko can’t believe her ears. Did he just dismiss every of her reactions due to her age? How could he be so blind to what he puts his family through?!
Reiko tries to calm down and appear impassive. She only manages one of those things.
“We’ll see.” She replies, an air of challenge slightly visible in her heterochromatic eyes.
She focuses on her tail, keeping it stiff to avoid showing any emotions.
“You better be the best on that recommendation exam, I don’t want to live with the shame of having a son not strong enough to enter UA. You are my creation and can only be the best.” Enji didn’t budge at the challenge but directly started with the next topic.
During the whole sentence Reiko focused on the smell in the house, trying to keep calm and remembering what else is happening. Fuyumi’s cooking katsudon, meaning her classes went well. Usually on a bad day, Reiko’s big sister would just cook an easy thing. The front door opens and she can smell Natsuo’s here for a quick visit.
Once Enji seems content with his little fit, she glares at him.
“I’m going to enter U.A just fine and become a Hero using only my ice side. You won’t be able to do a single thing to make me change my mind.”