Chapter Text
“Izuku, you okay?” Hisashi Midoriya asks, looking at his kid, covered in dirt and scrapes.
Izuku looks up at his father, and tears crawl out of his eyes. He starts sobbing.
“C’mere, kiddo.” His dad kneels down, hugging Izuku as the five-year-old throws himself into his dad’s arms. Izuku, exhausted and emotionally drained from his day at preschool, falls asleep as soon as his tears subside, and Hisashi picks up his kid, carrying him home.
“Ink!” He shouts into the house when he gets back, and Inko Midoriya returns to the living room. “Kiddo got hurt…” Hisashi grimaces when he sees the bruises. Exactly the size for a child’s fists. “I think it might’ve been a bully.”
Inko sighs sadly. “We thought this might happen. But what do we do?”
Hisashi’s mind scans through possibilities, landing on a few. “My brother has a daughter, she’s getting personal tutoring.”
Inko draws a blank, Hisashi can see it on her face. “Okay?”
Hisashi takes a deep breath. “Izuku needs a friend his age, and a new way to get schooling. Gods know if we’ll ever find a school with a genuine no-bullying policy.”
Inko grimaces. Hisashi knows she doesn’t like the idea of homeschooling.
“We’ll give it until middle school, then it’s his decision.” Inko says.
Hisashi nods, and grabs his phone, he has a few calls to make.
—~—
Izuku wakes up very slowly the next day, eyes feeling crusty and swollen. Something was wiggling his leg to get him to wake up.
“Hey sweetie.” His mom says, smiling kindly. “Let’s get some breakfast in you, there’s a long day ahead.”
“Mama?” He asks, flashes of the previous day going through his head. “I… I don’t want to go to school today.”
Inko nods. “I know sweetie. That’s not happening today. We’ve just got some errands to run, okay?”
Izuku blinks and nods, getting up with a bit of strain. “Ow…” He winces, knee hurting from where Yubi had kicked it.
“Yeah, we bandaged you up, but it’ll take a bit for the bruises to fade.” Inko says, sadly. “Just say if it starts to hurt too much, okay? Dad won’t mind carrying you.”
Izuku nods, and follows his mother into the living room.
“What do you mea-? They wh-? Holy shit.” Papa says, talking into the phone.
“Hisashi, Cussing.” Mama says, giving a light glare.
“Kacchan says worse.” Izuku says, then winces as he remembers the other five-year-old’s participation in the bullying. “Sh- Should I stop calling him that? He-He said he didn’t want to be my friend…”
Mama winces and looks at Izuku. “Well… That depends on you, Izuku. Do you want to stop calling him that?”
Izuku chews on his lip. “I dunno…”
Papa briefly mutters “Sorry, hold on a second.” Then pulls his phone away from his ear, “Izuku, kiddo, think of it this way, does he still deserve the nickname you gave him?”
Izuku blinks at his father. “Um…” He thinks to the things Kacchan said. The… Mean things he said about everyone.
Izuku shakes his head, it pains him, but no, Kacchan doesn’t deserve it.
“Then there ya go, kiddo. Call him Bakugo.” Papa says, encouraging Izuku with a challenge.
“B… Bakugo doesn’t deserve th-the nick… Nickname.” Izuku nods, “B-But Bakugo is too hard to say…”
Hisashi chuckles a little, “Well, if all goes according to plan, you shouldn’t need to see him for until the name becomes easier to say. I’m gonna get back on the phone, kay?”
Izuku nods, and starts thinking through the day… The teachers had revealed that Izuku was quirkless, and after school he had to stop Kac- Bakugo from bullying another kid.
Then his dad showed up to walk him home, and he cried… A lot, then he woke up today.
“Izuku, since you missed dinner, you’ll be having a big breakfast, alright?” Mama calls, and Izuku feels a bit of spit form in his mouth at the thought, stomach grumbling.
“Yeah!” Izuku shouts a little.
—~—
Momo Yaoyorozu is… Quite lonely.
She loves her family and the people who work in her house, don’t get her wrong, but they’re all… Old. Nobody her age is around the house.
Her mother walks into her room. “Momo? There’s someone you might want to meet.”
Momo nods and stands up from her desk ‘Hmmm,’ She continues trying to figure out the problems that tutor gave her while following Mom.
It’s mostly lessons on how to be a good person, since according to Mama and Papa it takes a while for Mathematics to become something she can learn. She feels a little bit like pouting when she hears about that, the numbers games are so fun!
Momo blinks as Mom stops, gesturing to a boy, slightly shorter than herself, who’s busy looking at his own shoes. “Momo, meet Izuku, your cousin.” Momo’s Mom says. “You’re both around the same age, and we figured you two might become friends!”
Izuku briefly looks at her, and waves, before darting backwards. Hiding behind who Momo assumes is his father’s leg.
Momo smiles and waves at him, he seems to take a deep breath, and steps out again.
‘He’s… Cute?’ a bit like a bunny or a scared cat. “Nice to meet you… Izu- Izuku.” She stutters around the name.
“Yo-You as well, Momo.” Izuku says.
They both seem to take a deep breath, and realize they’re at least somewhat alike.
“Wanna play games?” Momo asks, bringing around her tablet and turning on her sudoku app.
Izuku flinches at the first mention of games, but when Momo brings out her tablet he tilts his head a little, and nods, suddenly absorbed in the idea.
—~—
Both pairs of parents seem to breathe out sighs they didn’t know they were holding. Hisashi relaxes and stretches his shoulders as he sits in one of the fancy chairs.
Haruto, Hisashi’s brother and Momo’s father, smiles at Hisashi. “They’re both quiet kids, but they’ll get along well, it seems.”
Nemuri, Pro Hero Midnight and Momo’s mother, leans back with a light smirk. “Think they’ll have similar quirks?”
Both Midoriya parents freeze. “Um… Izuku’s quirkless…”
Nemuri tilts her head a little, grimacing as she remembers her own experience as being presumed quirkless. “How’d they determine that?”
“The… the Toe joint?” Inko answers, Hisashi having not been able to attend that doctor’s visit.
Nemuri sighs and leans back in her seat. “So fucking dumb…” She jolts as they wince, realizing how that sounded. “Not either of you! Or anything about this situation! Just, the missing toe joint only means you were born from or had a recent ancestor that had a mutation to their feet. I have the toe joint, and we all know my quirk exists.”
Haruto huffs a laugh. “Yeah, me and Hisashi actually talked about it on the phone. Here’s the quirk specialist that we took Momo to’s info, by the way.” Haruto grabs a paper and hands it to Hisashi, who accepts it with a nod.
Inko sighs and leans back into the couch. “So… Izuku might not be quirkless?”
Hisashi gives her a flat look. “You really need to stop self-flagellating. It’s not your damn fault if Izuku doesn’t or does have one. It’s a combination of stupid shit that’s leading to our kid having a hard life.”
Inko nods, taking another breath and sitting up.
“Why would him being quirkless be an issue anyway?” Nemuri asks, eyes narrowing.
“He… Wants to be a hero. It’s the only thing that keeps him passionate. It would be so dangerous! But… I can’t take it away from him.”
Nemuri huffs. “Okay.” She puts her elbows on her knees and looks sharply at Inko. “I’m a hero. The R-18 hero, Midnight.” She flicks her wrist and suddenly she’s holding a hero license. “You three all know my quirk. Know what someone needs to beat me? A gas mask.”
“I’ve been operating as a hero for 10 years. Several of my takedowns have a situation where someone is prepared for me. All a quirk does is give someone an extra wrench. It’s not the whole toolbox.” She huffs.
“Inko, I get being protective. Gods know I don’t want Momo to get into heroism, but if that’s what she wants to do, then that’s what she’ll do. Period.” Nemuri shrugs. “Especially if she was as determined as your kid sounds.”
“B… No, you’re right.” Inko’s face hardens a little.
Nemuri nods. “Good that you recognized it now.” She hides her hero license again.
Inko then looks at Hisashi. “Um. I might need your help when we get back.”
Hisashi nods, Inko had been agonizing about what she’d said when Izuku and her got back from the appointment.
—~—
“So… You put the numbers in the blank spaces, and make sure there are not dupl-duplicates in the rows, colu-columns, or the same 3-by-3 square as the number?” Izuku asks, clarifying the rules of the number puzzle.
Momo nods, and Izuku focuses on the tablet, slowly working through the little squares. “D-Done?” He asks, hitting confirm.
The numbers all light up green, and Momo cheers. “Good job!” She says, smiling wide.
Izuku smiles back timidly.
They play various games, mostly revolving around numbers, for until Izuku’s parents tell him it’s time to go.
The pair hug briefly before going their separate ways.
—
Izuku nervously sits in the doctor’s office a day or two after playing with Momo… They just ran some tests, and now they’re waiting for a doctor to arrive.
Mama and Papa had apologized the same day as his playtime with Momo, saying even If he didn’t have a quirk, he could be a hero. He couldn’t have been happier.
But then they also mentioned that they needed to get a second opinion on whether or not he has a quirk. According to Mama and Papa the other doctor did tests that left too much room for error, whatever that means.
Izuku jolts and bites his lip as the doctor comes in. “Hello~ sorry I’m late. Other appointment ran long. This the kid?” He asks.
Both parents and Izuku nod.
“Hello there,” He smiles at Izuku. “I heard the previous doctor falsely used the toe joint method to determine if you had a quirk. Can you look me in the eye? It’ll help me see what’s going on.”
Izuku steels himself, and looks up, straight into the doctor’s eyes.
bthmp, bthmp. Something strange, a container of sorts, pulses in the center of his chest. It feels like a second heart, or something.
Izuku blinks, and the doctor does as well. “Congrats kid, you have a quirk. From what I can see, it’s got a special activation condition. Or a sort of rule where it won’t activate until a certain thing happens.”
“Wh… What is it?” Izuku asks, still stunned by the fact that he has a quirk at all.
The doctor shrugs. “Special Activation Quirks are hard for me to work with. I can’t identify the activation or the quirk until the condition is fulfilled. But from what I’ve seen before, you need to search for things that make the quirk thump, like you felt when you looked in my eyes.”
“The faster or stronger the quirk pulses, the more likely it is to crack its shell. You may slowly unlock features of the quirk that way, or one crack could break open the shell all the way, it’s impossible to know until it happens.”
Izuku blinks, dumbfounded. He has a quirk. He has a quirk! He has to tell Kac- no, Izuku doesn’t like him anymore. He has to tell Momo!
“Izuku? The doctor asked you something.” Mom says, and Izuku jolts, blinking and returning from deep inside his mind.
“What do you want to call it, for now?” The doctor asks, repeating himself. “The name might have to change when you discover what the quirk actually does, but for now it needs a name.”
“… Energetic Heart.” Izuku mutters after a long moment of thought. “It feels like it’s st-storing some form of energy, and it thumps like a heart.”
The doctor nods and writes that down.
After a lot of stuff that flies over Izuku’s head, they leave the doctor’s office. Izuku would later excitedly tell Momo about it and the pair would continue to play and slowly become inseparable.
It would be a while before Izuku starts letting his quirk pulses guide him, but a time will come.