Chapter Text
Midoriya Izuku didn’t use his quirk. Not because it was illegal. Not because he thought that suggestion-type quirks were “villain” quirks. No, he simply didn’t want to be rude and make somebody do something he wanted when they didn’t want to.
It had taken a while after his fourth birthday before his mother and him noticed something was different. After buying him too many ice creams even when it wasn’t an appropriate time, Inko realized that his son didn’t just have the best puppy dog eyes in the world and took him to a doctor.
It turned out that his father’s fire breathing quirk had a voice activation requirement. This combined with his mother’s quirk of pulling small objects towards herself mutated to a quirk that could “pull” people’s minds towards Izuku. When he spoke they were compelled to do what he asked.
It had taken a while to get it under control and his control slipped easily when he was stressed. However, Izuku’s quirk counselor was a resilient woman and helped him get it under control even when his own doubts almost made her give up.
They figured out that the quirk’s effect depended on Izuku’s tone and expression. He couldn’t command someone to do something well unless he himself was commanding. Same way he couldn’t make somebody comfort him if he seemed to be totally fine. Of course it wasn’t exactly clear cut how it worked, but it was new knowledge none the less.
His control didn’t quill the fears of his peers however. Though he wouldn’t ever make someone do something against their will, that was a small guarantee to those who didn’t know him. The only people who weren’t scared of him were those who didn’t know about his quirk or those who knew him like his mom.
Kacchan wasn’t afraid of him because “weak little Deku could never tell me what to do”. And though it was mean, Izuku was comforted by the fact that others were less scared when Kacchan wasn’t. It allowed him to live a fairly normal life in school. There were whispers and he had a harder time interacting with some of the students, but it was better than to be shunned completely.
—
When Izuku was ten, he had gotten far away from home by following different hero fights across the city. He was in the midst of one when things turned a bit too violent for any bystanders and he had to duck away.
He threw himself through a warehouse door, luckily forgotten to be locked before a huge amount of poisonous balls hit him. That villain was really giving the new hero a run for her money. Izuku would have liked to peek through the door to watch again, but those balls had seriously been too close for comfort.
Izuku looked around himself. The warehouse was dark, only illuminated by a couple of windows near the ceiling. It made it hard to see anything. Izuku moved further in. He maybe shouldn’t have, he was trespassing no matter if the door was unlocked or not, but he simply couldn’t control his curiosity. His mother had said that his curiosity was going to get him into trouble one day. Izuku silently promised that it wouldn’t be today and moved further in.
There wasn’t anything odd at first but as he made his way deeper in he heard a noise. Suddenly, a six feet tall figure stood in front of him. His bulging muscles implied he was strong and his bird-like beak was lined with teeth. His eyes were blank, staring directly at him. Strangest of all, it looked like his brain was exposed.
Izuku thought about what kind of mutation type quirk caused that for a second before he turned around and bolted as fast he could away from the figure. He wasn’t sure if he should have apologized for trespassing and let the man take him outside, but the fact that he was chased by a wall of muscle made him think only about running.
Izuku wasn’t sure where he was going, but soon he found himself in an illuminated room full of empty tanks and a dead end. He could only turn around and watch as the big man was approaching him. He shut his eyes and screamed “STOP!”
It was a moment before Izuku could open his eyes and he almost screamed again as he did. There stood the man in front of him, staring. Izuku wasn’t sure of what to do. The man didn’t move or make a sound, just stood.
“Uhm”, he opened his mouth despite his better judgement “are you alright?”
The man only tilted his head. Izuku decided to continue.
“What’s your name?”
The man only tilted his head to the other side.
“Uh, do you have a name?” Izuku swallowed, thinking why he had gotten himself in this situation.
The man moved as if to nod, but then stopped, shaking his head only to try to nod again.
“Would you like a name?” Sure the man might have had a name, but Izuku understood not liking your own name. Izuku was a fine name of course, but Deku was mean and cruel. He hated that most of the school used it. Even some of the nicer students.
The man nodded much more clearly this time and Izuku smiled. Maybe the man wasn’t as scary as he thought. Though a nagging feeling behind his skull told him that this guy might have also been a trespasser. Well, Izuku couldn’t judge.
“How about Kurotori?”
The man took a moment and then nodded. Izuku flinched as the man raised his hand, but relaxed as the man just pointed his finger.
“I’m Izuku.”
The man took a moment again before he nodded. Izuku relaxed further. He continued to ask a variety of basic questions about the man like whether he liked heroes and with several what his favorite color was, though the man didn’t seem to know exactly. He also told him his own answers when the man raised his finger.
It was only after a while that he realized to ask one important question.
“Do you guard this place?”
The man nodded. Crap. Here Izuku was, casually asking questions and talking to someone whose job it was to make sure he wasn’t here.
“Am I… in trouble?”
The man again just stood still for a while before finally shaking his head.
Izuku breathed a sigh of relief. Good. He wouldn’t get into trouble and make his mother worried. Wait. How late was it? Izuku whipped out his phone and winced when he saw the time. It wasn’t too late, but it would take him a while to get back home.
“I need to leave. My mom is going to kill me.”
The man made a gurgling noise and went to nod before shaking his head again.
“Am I in trouble after all?!” Izuku couldn’t help but raise his voice.
The man just shaked his head again. He made small movements with his head as if not being completely sure how to communicate his thoughts.
“Are you… lonely?” Izuku asked. He didn’t want to assume anything. That would be embarrassing, but he had to ask.
The man raised his arm with the back of his hand up before putting it down again. Izuku figured that the man had attempted to tilt his hand for a maybe.
“I can come back tomorrow!” It would be hard because tomorrow he would have school, but Izuku would do it. Heroes didn’t let people down and Izuku was going to be one!
The man nodded, seemingly satisfied by the promise, and started to walk away. Izuku hurried after him and soon they were at the door, the sounds of the fight long gone by now. Izuku waved goodbye to his new friend and started heading home.
—
It was only on the third day that Izuku realized he had been using his quirk on Kurotori. When he realized he immediately dropped it and bowed to apologize.
“I’m sorry Kurotori! I hope I didn’t make you do anything you didn’t want!”
Izuku looked up to catch Kurotori’s answer, but he just stood without moving.
“Kurotori?” Izuku asked and when the man didn’t do anything he asked again, “Kurotori?”
Izuku was starting to panic. Was Kurotori mad? Why wasn’t he moving or doing anything? Did Izuku cause this? Did- did he hurt Kurotori?
“Please Kurotori” Izuku cried, only realizing after that he had activated his quirk again. But before he could apologize, Kurotori raised his hand and brought it to Izuku’s head. Kurotori ruffled his hair.
Izuku stood still before pushing back against the touch, ensuring that yes, Kurotori was petting him. Izuku took a few steps forward and wrapped his hands on Kurotori. He knew this wasn’t something you did with almost a stranger, but he couldn’t help it.
He hadn’t asked for this. He hadn’t asked Kurotori to pet him or hug him back. Kurotori did this because he wanted to, not because Izuku forced him.
Izuku also realized that Kurotori wasn’t exactly normal.
His suspicions were confirmed when he saw others like Kurotori. Brain exposed with big muscled bodies. He wasn’t sure what they were or exactly what to do. When he asked if they wanted to leave the warehouse, they flew into a panic and only calmed down when Izuku promised that they could stay.
Still, Izuku stayed, talked and played with them. Giving those who wanted new names and calling the rest just friends. He had fun and he hoped they had fun too.
Izuku was happy.
—
When Izuku was thirteen, Kurotori and the rest of his friends vanished. The warehouse was just empty one day when he showed up. No sign of machinery, no sign of use, no sign of his friends. No sign of Kurotori.
Izuku cried that day. He cried the next day too. His mother tried to comfort him, but she didn’t know. Didn’t know about Kurotori or the warehouse. Didn’t know the fact that they didn’t want to leave and now they were gone.
Izuku promised himself that day that he would save them. Every single one.
—
When Izuku was fourteen, Kacchan tried to make fun of him by saying that “a spineless Deku like you can’t make it into UA with your weak ass quirk”.
Well jokes on Kacchan. Izuku met All Might and got his autograph the same day.