Chapter Text
At the age of four, Izuku Midoriya was told he would never be a hero. An x-ray of his foot was all it took to dissolve the dreams of a young boy. He would never get a quirk, like only 0.3% of his generation, even less in his homeland of Japan. His doctor ripped his dreams away, and sent the Midoriya family on their way, home to their apartment, where Inko and Hisashi Midoriya would have to try and help their son, knowing that life could not grow kinder to him.
There were talks, in those early days, of moving. Leaving Musutafu for somewhere in the countryside. There are places where being quirkless is less cared about, or at least there are simply less people to care. They almost took the final step a number of times over the years, but there was always a reason to stay. Hisashi's job, their friends, young Izuku's desire not to leave the place where he had the chance to see so many heroes.
They weren't blind to the worsening treatment of their son at school either. The boy would return home dirty, claiming playing just got a little rough. Communication from the school became smaller and smaller, less descriptive, no more discussion of nurturing Izuku's burgeoning talent for analysis, falling praise for his intellect as he became overshadowed by quirks.
Every time the family visited Hisashi's parents over in Wajima, Ishikawa, discussions would come up again about moving, but Hisashi would have a new project come up, or Izuku would want to try and catch a new hero debut, or there would be an event from UA, and they would return to Musutafu.
The other saving grace for young Izuku was his father's work. Pangolin Technologies made support gear for heroes, even having a small contract with UA! Whenever possible, Izuku would be bought in and shown around, given a glimpse of the latest projects, dreaming of the ways he could use them to become a hero, even without a quirk or not.
His father wouldn't admit it to anyone but his wife, but he hoped to foster a love for support equipment in his son. Izuku was incredibly smart, even then, and being able to break down and understand a quirk was incredibly important in support item design and creation. Not to mention, as much as they wanted to support him, this might be the closest he could get to the world of heroes.
If anyone were to dig through the records, Izuku Midoriya is in fact listed as a consultant on the patent for shield that was designed to be expanded by those with aerokinesis, hydrokinesis, or other quirks with similar functions, having been there during a brainstorming session. His mumbling eventually caught the attention of his father and his co-workers, and when they stopped to listen, it was to good ideas. Not even for a seven year old, just good ideas.
And so, life continued. Hisashi's work got busier, but the better income allowed the family to move to a house from their apartment. Inko grew more worried about her son, but his reassurance allowed her believe it wasn't that bad. Izuku's treatment at school grew worse, but his days spent filling his journals with hero analysis and his time with his family were his escape.
While Hisashi didn't manage to get his son to be a determined inventor, he was able to continue to foster Izuku's analytical talents, and his co-workers joined in. Ironically, they were probably the people Izuku felt closest to aside from his parents. At school he would keep his head down as much as possible, but at Pangolin technology's development room B, his eyes would light up, getting to talk quirks, sometimes for hours on end.
It was around six months after his fifteenth birthday, nearing the end of his first year of high school, that Izuku could be found once again inside the walls of development room B, currently engrossed in discussions of potential equipment that could best make use of a quirk that allowed the user to sprout wooden stakes from their elbows.
"Maybe some kind of slingshot style weapon? Relatively small form factor but provided they got the right training it could be just as accurate as a full launcher style weapon?" Izuku mused, Hisashi's co-worker Anko making a note of it on the big whiteboard on one side of the room.
"True, but I still think the extra size and weight is worth the added power and aiming to have a hand crossbow." She says, casually circling her own suggestion.
Hisashi snorts as another team member, Oji, follows the pen with the eraser as she does.
"Alright, we're getting to the point where we go round in circles, let's take a break." Oji says, stretching as he walks away from the board.
"I'll go grab some drinks, come on Anko. What do you want Izuku?" He asks.
"Um, a green tea or an orange soda please!"
"You got it, back in a minute Midoriya and Midoriya!" He says, leaving the room with Anko close behind.
His son still studying the board, Hisashi smiles. "You're really smart kiddo, you know that?"
Izuku ducks his head, his face flushing, "Thanks dad." He mutters in response.
"You're gonna have to take a compliment straight up one of these days son!" his father chuckles, ruffling Izuku's hair.
"Hm."
The two sit in silence for a moment longer, both returning to study the board.
"By the way, you remember Yushi over in marketing, sat in with us a couple times?"
"Uh, yeah I think so, why?"
"Well, she has a daughter your age, I could see if she'd want to come in some time as well, see if you two hit it off?" Hisashi asks, a mix of teasing and hope in his voice.
Izuku freezes up before nervously shaking his head.
"Uh, I don't think, I mean, it's fine, dad. Really, no need to trouble anyone."
Izuku doesn't catch the way his father's face drops, his smile sad, but still there. He can't help but think that even if he did, there's no way they'd want to spend time with him once they found out he's quirkless. He'd just be forcing some girl to hang around until she found an excuse, or just told her mother she wanted to leave, and he didn't need to go through that, he can imagine it just fine thanks. It's not exactly a leap in imagination from his day to day life after all.
"Alright son, well if you change your mind."
"Mhm, thanks dad."
The door opens a moment later, Oji walking in with a couple of drinks in hand. He clearly senses the atmosphere in here, his quirk has an empathetic element after all, but he doesn't let his smile drop, just walking over to the two Midoriyas with their drinks.
"Here you go guys, any new thou-"
B-B-BOOM
He's cut off by an explosion, multiple as would be confirmed later. It rips through the building, the shockwave sending everyone flying, Anko back out of the room and the other three thrown around the room as things crash around them.
Izuku opens his eyes, what feels like just a moment later, to pain.
His head's foggy, the air around him choked with smoke and dust, and something hurts in his chest and legs. Trying to push himself up elicits a muffled scream as something shifts on his legs.
"Iz-Izuku!" A voice yells, interrupted by a violent cough.
"Dad?!" His voice comes out far weaker than he intended, whatever is causing the pain in chest blooming as he tries to call out for his father.
Something off to the side falls, crashing through something else, making everything shift suddenly in a cacophony of destruction.
Izuku's leg is jolted, ripping another scream out of him, but the movement blows some of the smoke and debris from in front of him.
His dad.
Trapped beneath a metal bar, flames crawling around him, is the battered form of Hisashi Midoriya. One eye is shut, blood running from his head, but still, he reaches for his son.
"It's gonna be okay Izuku! Just, just, you gotta stay calm okay!" He manages to wheeze out, Izuku doing his best to give a shaky nod in return.
Another explosion goes off somewhere, and Izuku sees his father try to stifle a scream of his own, keeping his one eye on his son.
"It's okay Izuku. I love you. We're gonna be okay." He rasps, the smoke swirling between them again.
Izuku can feel his heart beating, the pain lancing through his leg and chest, but most of all, the fear. He doesn't want to die. He doesn't want his father to die. If only he could do something. If only he could be a hero, just this once. If not him, then someone.
"Someone. Please, save my dad..."
As Izuku loses consciousness, his last sight is of something silver and blue, distorting and refracting the light of the flames around him.
Yutaka Shima was among the many pedestrians stopped on the street, staring up at the blown open building in central Musutafu. Already, sirens are blaring out as emergency services scramble to get to the scene, and he can see a couple of heroes approaching, trying to work out what they can do.
People are streaming out from the building, but the explosion was mid way up from what he can see, so there's bound to be people trapped, right?
A second explosion rocks the building, debris falling as people are urged to move back by the two heroes that are already here, doing their best to establish a perimeter and get information from those emerging from the building.
Shima, along with dozens of others, are still staring a moment later, when a strange crystal structure emerges from the side of the building, just above and to the side of the major smoking crater.
For a moment, the crackling of the fire, the slams of debris, and the calls of sirens are overpowered by the sounds of this crystal slicing through the building. After a moment, it settles, and the flames return to lick at the new addition to their path, attempting to devour it.
But as the firefighters arrive, and the heroes with suitable quirks can make their way in, and it starts to hungrily burn through what it can, the crystal does not move. It does not get consumed by the flames, it does not crack, it does not yield.
As the fire dies, the crystal remains.
Izuku wakes to the slow beeps of a machine, something soft but thin over his body, the smell of antiseptic, and a dull pain in his head.
He groans, forcing his eyes open to take in the room around him, illuminated by harsh white light.
"Izuku!"
"Hng?"
"Oh, let me, one second!"
The lights dim, allowing him to blink his eyes open, his mother's face rushing into view above him.
"Oh, you're awake, thank goodness! We were so worried sweetie!"
"What... what happened?" He groans out, just barely turning his head to take in the single occupancy hospital room around him, and the various machines he's hooked up to.
"Let me get the doctor honey, and then I promise I'll tell you everything I know." She reassures, and at his nod presses a button to the side and moves over to the door.
A moment later two individuals come in, a woman with short green hair in the lead.
"Hey there, I'm Doctor Tokage, it's really good to see you awake Izuku. This is my assistant nurse Yamanaka, you okay for he and I check you over?"
"Yeah, of.. of course."
Doctor Tokage gives him a quick smile as they the two move over, checking the readings on various machines as well as verifying a few things from his chart. The nurse also checks his eyes, as well as the bandages that he only now realises are wrapped around his left leg and chest.
It takes about fifteen minutes where Izuku and Inko are just waiting before Doctor Tokage places his chart back down and gives them both a smile.
"Well, Izuku you seem to be responding very well to the treatment, everything is progressing as we would hope. Would you like me to go over things in more details?"
After a moment Izuku nods, and the doctor clasps her hands in front of her.
"You suffered a broken left leg, as well as numerous burns and abrasions, a number of cracked and two broken ribs, burns to your back, as well as a concussion. All of that is well underway to being healed, thanks to the quirks of some of our staff. You have been unconscious for four days, which would usually be a cause for concern, however given your development is about expected."
Izuku tilts his head at that, "My... Development?"
"Ah, apologies..." Doctor Tokage looks to Inko, who thinks for a moment before scooting closer.
"Izuku, you... your quirk came in." She says simply, Izuku's brain screeching to a halt.
"B-but, I'm quirkless?"
"You were honey, yes, or sort of. It's actually one of the reasons Doctor Tokage is part of the team looking after you, she's a specialist in treating certain types of quirks and developments."
Izuku's eyes turn back to the doctor, the sparkle in his eyes returning as the conversation moves to quirks, whoever's quirks they may be.
"That's right Izuku. Your mother told me you are quite the quirk enthusiast no?" She asks with a small smile, prompting Izuku to nod rapidly.
"Well then, have you heard of Quirk awakenings?"
"Um, I think so? It's pretty rare, but when someone goes through something or pushes way past then their quirk can kind of 'evolve'?"
Doctor Tokage nods kindly at him, "That's right, but there's a companion theory, known as Trigger Theory. In similar situations, people who apparently have no quirk, either medically confirmed or simply undeveloped, can 'trigger' the development of their own quirk."
"And... you're saying that's what happened to me?" Izuku asks, his brain somehow both firing faster than ever, while still completely stuck on the idea of a quirk of his own.
Inko takes over for a moment there, "That's right. Do you remember what happened at all?" She questions nervously.
"Maybe? I know I was in the office with da- DAD!" He shoots up in bed, Doctor Tokage moving to lay him back down.
"Your father's okay Izuku, it's, you saved him." Inko assured him quickly, as Izuku once again feels his brain skip like an old record.
His mother reaches over to take his hand and begins to explain everything she knows about what happened.
One of the labs below where Izuku and his father were was working on something that would allow an individual with a fire quirk to spray a chemical compound that they could then harden with heat.
Unfortunately, and the specifics haven't been shared with her yet if they ever will, something obviously went wrong, leading to an explosion. One the lab was not equipped to protect from or deal with.
The building suffered severe structural damage as well as a spreading fire, both of which quickly damaged the development room he was in.
Izuku and Hisashi were trapped inside by debris, until Izuku's quirk manifested for the first time.
Inko shows him a video taken by someone outside. He sees the fire, the sections of building falling as people are ushered back for their own safety.
The cries and movements are interrupted by a flash as a silvery blue crystalline cocoon of sorts forms, one end poking out of the building.
Inko swaps over to a picture taken once the fire was out, thankfully not too long later, of the crystal structure. A long, almost coffin shape, frantically moving on after she describes it as such. It's attached by poles of crystal to various parts of the building around it, both anchoring sections and ensure that it itself doesn't move.
"That was you, Izuku. You did that, saved yourself, your father, and Oji-san." Inko explains through the tears falling down, though not nearly as many as she's capable of.
Izuku looks down at his free hand, slowly clenching and unclenching it with disbelief. But true to form, there's something more important than himself.
"And, Dad's okay?" He asks with a sniffle.
"Yeah, he is, he got hurt, but he'll be okay. They, he had to have his right leg amputated Izuku, but he's recovering now. You saved his life."
The final confirmation is enough to send Izuku into his own sobs, Inko just wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug.
He barely hears Doctor Tokage say that she'll see them later, leaving the two as they hold each other, relief, joy, and anxiety bubbling up.
The next day Izuku is still in bed, though already feeling better having rested of his own volition this time. As a doctor whose quirk allows them to perform small but precise healing leaves, he's greeted by Doctor Tokage again.
"Good morning Izuku, how are you feeling?"
"I'm okay, thank you Doctor, still just, processing I guess?"
"Of course." She says kindly, "If you're feeling up to it I'd like to discuss your quirk, as well a Triggers in general, since they're a lot less well known?"
"Oh! Yeah, sure!" Izuku says, shooting up straighter with a gleam in his eyes.
Doctor Tokage smiles at him before taking a seat next to his bed.
"Allow to give you a brief explanation of Triggers first. As I said, it's similar to Quirk Awakenings, but for those that have not developed a quirk as yet, though that do have at least relevant quirk genes. As you may know, by now practically everyone does, to have no viable quirk genes at all you would need to have no quirked ancestors since the first generation of quirks." She begins, though stops as Izuku seems to be twitching slightly.
"Is everything okay Izuku?"
"Um, yeah, sorry Doctor Tokage. I just... well I like to take quirk notes, sorry, please continue."
She smiles at him gently, standing and holding up one finger. She leaves quickly, returning a minute later with a small notebook and stationary set.
"We have these on hand for new staff members that are training or those on placement from medical school. Please, feel free to make notes, though be careful, as I'll get to Triggers are not widely known for a reason."
"Thank you Doctor!" Izuku beams, making Tokage blink as his smile seems to reflect the fluorescent lights.
"The exact mechanisms are still being researched, though there are very few verified cases for anyone to study. I am only aware of it since my mentor is the only thing you could even generously call an expert on the subject in Japan. When a quirkless individual Triggers, it seems to supercharge the development of whatever quirk genes they have. In a similar fashion to the 'normal' development we see in quirked individuals, but over a few moments."
Izuku seems to be writing even more than she's saying, but as his pencil stops and he looks up at her with wide eyes she continues.
"Again, this is little more than speculation and theory due to the relatively few examples we have, and I don't wish to get your hopes up too high, but triggered quirks are often rather strong. It's theorised that this is due to the sudden influx of energy having nowhere to go but into the quirk, whereas during standard development energy is used as the individual is growing as well. Given the one use of your quirk I would like to believe that holds true for you too."
Izuku's pencil hasn't stopped, but he does attempt to sniffle back some tears as he takes in the doctor's words. He truly does have a quirk, and a strong one!
"I... do you think I could be a hero?" He asks, not raising his eyes from his notebook, despite everything, curling in on himself in preparation for the answer he's gotten all his life.
"Of course Izuku."
Everything stops for him, the words, the answer he's longer to hear for so long. He knows why he hasn't heard them, even from his family. They want him to be safe, maybe to follow in his father's footsteps. There was always the hope of being a quirkless hero, especially given what he's seen support equipment can do, but if everyone believes he can't, well someone can only be driven by the power of their dreams for so long when everything else is pulling them back.
But not now. It's just one person, someone that barely even knows him, someo-
"You already are you know? A hero saves people. Three people, including yourself, are alive because of you, that sounds like a hero debut to me." Tokage continues, a sly grin on her face.
Izuku's cheeks heat up a little at the praise, something he goes to deny. But he doesn't want to.
"Th-thank you Doctor Tokage." He chokes out, tears dripping onto his paper that he quickly moves out of the way.
She gives him a minute to calm down, which only works about half way, but he still asks her to continue with her explanation, wiping his eyes so he can focus back on her words and his already growing notes.
"Now, do you understand why Trigger Theory isn't really widely talked about?" She asks, giving him a moment to think.
"Well.. Oh! oh. If quirkless people knew you might get quirks from like almost dying or something they might put themselves in danger?"
"That's right." She responds with a slightly sad smile.
"Again, we're not sure on the exact mechanics, but there have unfortunately been plenty of cases of quirkless individuals being in situations that would have caused them to trigger, but they didn't, so there's something else at play."
"Hm, maybe a secondary characteristic, presumably genetic as well, but maybe..." Izuku's words fall off into muttering as he theorises about what allows some to trigger but not others. After about a solid minute Doctor Tokage coughs, a small teasing grin on her face.
"I can see why you're helping out your dad even at your age." She says wryly.
"Ah! Sorry Doctor, I know it's kinda creepy and that..."
"Nonsense, maybe work on keeping some inside though. It wouldn't do for you to give away your strategy to a villain after all!" She responds with an exaggerated wink.
Izuku blushes lightly but nods, as Doctor Tokage continues.
"That's the basis of the Trigger Theory. Let's move on to your own quirk. You may or may not be aware, but your father's fire breathing comes with a supporting mutation, which allows for heat resistant micro-crystals to coat his throat and lungs. This allows him to better channel and use his quirk."
Izuku's eyes light up, "The crystal!"
"Mhm, we believe that your are able to create a modified version of this crystal. At the very least you can determine the shape upon creation without conscious control. Anything further you'll need to discover with practice. I should also say that from what we know it's common for the initial trigger event to present your quirk at a greater strength than you can bring out yourself, at least for a time. So don't be discouraged if you can't pull off the same feat for a couple years or anything." She explains, Izuku flipping to a new section he entitles 'My Quirk'.
"Thank you Doctor Tokage, really." Izuku sniffs, beaming at her as his eyes water.
"Of course Izuku. I'll leave you to your notes. I'll stop by again later, so if you have any questions make sure you've got them saved up!" She says, rising and heading out of the room with a smile.
"Oh! Can I ask about your quirk Doctor?" He asks excitedly.
Doctor Tokage chuckles but turns to him, "Sure Izuku, my quirk is called Coldblooded, it just gives me reptilian traits, I can stick to surfaces somewhat and have a small self-healing factor. I'll see you later Izuku."
"Bye Doctor, thank you!" Izuku calls, already back in his notebook.
Later that day there's a knock at Izuku's door, to which he awkwardly calls for them to come in.
Walking inside is a couple of men in nice quality suits who offer him a small smile, followed by his mother.
"Mr Midoriya? We won't take too much of your time, we just wanted to a get a statement from you, we're insurance investigators working with Pangolin about this whole thing. We know you might not have much to add, but it's process to speak to everyone involved, if that's okay?"
"Um yeah that's fine Sir, how can I help?"
"Thanks son, if you could just tell us whatever you remember about that day, that's all we really need."
"Sure, though I don't really remember all that much I'm afraid."
"It's no problem, as I said it's just protocol."
The one that hasn't spoken yet pulls out a notebook and jots some things down as Izuku tells them about his time at the office that day, from arriving after school, sitting in the development room for just an over an hour, and then the explosion. He has a few spotty memories of the time between the explosion and passing out, but not anything he thinks will help.
Once he's done, the two men thank him for his time, and wish him well, leaving with a short nod to Inko as well.
"How are you feeling honey?" She asks, taking a seat next to him.
"Better again, I think. It's still just a lot. How's Dad?"
"He's okay, he can't wait to see you for one!" Inko replies with a small chuckle.
Izuku smiles at that, and Inko goes on to update him on Hisashi's condition at his insistence, as well as when they'll all be able to go home.
Doctor Tokage also returns later that evening as promised, giving Izuku some more information about her own quirk, as well as answering some questions, mainly around what has been learnt from previous triggers. Of course, she can't give him many specifics, but it's still enough for him to fill up multiple pages with information and theories of his own.
Three days later, and another few rounds of quirked healing down, Izuku is finally cleared to leave his bed.
His first port of call of course is his Dad, his mother leading the way out of the children's ward as he's nigh running through the halls.
Bursting in to the room, both Midoriya boy's faces light up, relief and happiness overtaking them.
Izuku rushes over, wrapping his father in a hug. Some words come out of the boy, but no one there could tell you what they were.
Eventually, he pulls back and takes in his father. He's in much of the same state as Izuku himself, bandages dotting his form, some unmarred skin that's a clear indicated of quirk accelerated healing, and a tired smile on his face.
There's one big difference that, despite everything, Izuku can't help but blame himself for.
"I-I'm sorry Dad. If I'd been faster or or if-" He hiccups, breaking his sentence as his father pulls him back in.
"Don't you dare son. You saved me okay? Besides, I work at a support company, you think we haven't made some cool prosthetics in the past?" Hisashi says, his hands rubbing circles on Izuku's back.
"But-"
"Son. I promise, it's okay. You saved my life, and Oji's life. You're a hero."
Izuku's next breakdown lasts for a solid fifteen minutes, and as his wife joins in, Hisashi has to hope there are drains in this room.
Later that day, when Hisashi had to speak with his own doctor, Izuku and Inko are taken to a different wing of the hospital, one he thought he'd never have reason to visit.
"Hey there Izuku, ready to start learning about your quirk?" Doctor Tokage asks, quirking her eyebrow as the boy basically vibrates on the spot.
"Yeah!"
She chuckles in response, before introducing the two individuals with her. "This is Doctor Hirabayashi, he's one of the hospitals quirk counsellors, and Doctor Minami, who works at a sister hospital, her quirk allows her to analyse materials and compounds, we're hoping she can tell us a bit more about your crystals."
"Um, hi, nice to meet you!" Izuku says, his voice squeaking a little, making him flush in embarrassment.
Doctor Hirabayashi steps forwards with a gentle smile, "Hello there Midoriya-san, I've looked over what we know of your quirk so far, and have a few ideas for us to try, I presume you haven't really used your quirk yet?"
"Um, no sorry, Doctor Tokage advised me not to while I was still recovering, and all the healing has been pretty tiring."
Hirabayashi nods calmly, "Of course. Then the first thing I want you to do is to just try and get a feel for the source of your quirk. Everyone feels it differently, and you may want to decide on a visualisation method. For example, my own quirk is an emitter type that allows me to shoot out a stream of sterile liquid, like the kind you find in barber shops! When I was learning to use it, I would picture a tap, and control the speed it emerged by imagining turning the tap to varying degrees!" He explains, holding out his hand as a trickle emerges, before it changes to a more powerful stream, and back to a trickle, then shutting off.
Izuku basically bounces on the spot as Hirabayashi finishes his explanation, "That's so cool! Are you able to control any properties of the liquid? Do you know what compound it is the actually makes it sterile? Can you only emit from your hands?"
Hirabayashi blinks at the questions, chuckling as Izuku cuts himself off. "I see what you meant Tokage-san!"
"Sorry Doctor Hirabayashi! I-"
"It's quite alright Midoriya-san, I am a quirk counsellor after all, asking questions about quirks is my whole thing. But let's focus on your quirk for now." He says with a smile.
"Right! Uh okay, so, I need to feel my quirk?"
"Mhm, as I said, everyone gets there differently, so for now, I just want you to close your eyes and feel for anything. It may be a well of power to draw on, a switch to flick, a dial to turn, or something else. What's important is that it feels right to you."
Izuku gives him a slightly shaky nod, closing his eyes and searching.
It takes some time to quiet his brain, stopping the train of quirk questions running through his head, eventually.
In the relative silence of his mind, he searches, looking for something, looking for his quirk.
When nothing happens, he can't help as his thoughts drift to the worst case. Was it just a fluke? Was there someone else there, a real hero? Is this an elaborate joke, one final way to make sure he stays a worthless Deku, to remind him that his-
Whatever spiral he's in is cut off as he's overtaken by a cool, deep feeling. In his mind's eye, a malleable ball of silver white light takes form.
Cracking his eyes open, the feeling remains, the energy just waiting for him to pull on it, shape it, to use his quirk.
He can't stop the choked laugh that emerges, Inko's eyes shining behind him at the sound of true wonder and joy coming from her son.
"I take it you've got it Midoriya-san?" Hirabayashi asks with a grin.
"Yeah! At least I think so!"
"Excellent, what can you tell me about it?"
"Uhm, it's like a ball of energy, but it feels kinda like, uh, modelling clay maybe? Like it can be shaped or something?"
"Wonderful, okay, I want you to try pulling off just a small amount, and shape it into, let's say just a smooth ball for now."
Izuku nods, his brow furrowing in concentration as he 'reaches' for the energy inside him. He's read and theorised about who knows how many quirks that allow the user to create things in one way or another, and he pulls on that knowledge.
It's like he reaches a precipice after a moment, where everything just falls into place.
In a tiny flash, a fist sized ball of silver-blue crystal appears in front of him, and hovers in place.
"Excellent work Midoriya-san!" Tokage calls excitedly, giving him two thumbs up.
"Thanks, but um, why is it floating?" Izuku asks, his hands still out in front of him as the ball slowly rotates.
"Well, that's just another thing we have to figure out. Are you able to still 'feel' the ball you've created, or is it disconnected now that you've created it."
"Hm, I can still feel it but it feels different. Like the energy inside is all uh malleable I think? But the ball is solid. Like clay versus ceramic maybe?"
"Okay, I'd like you try moving it, use your hands if you want as a focus." Hirabayashi says with a nod, taking a few notes of his own.
Izuku does so, slowly shifting his hands to the side. And the ball follows. His grin once again stretches wide as the movements speed up. He sends the ball to the side, up, across, and back down. Speeding up slightly, he circles his hands and the ball follows.
"Congratulations Midoriya-san, it seems you're able to create crystals and telekinetically control them. If you could pop that down Doctor Minami will analyse it, while we get some practice in for you."
"Right! Thank you Doctor Hirabayashi, Doctor Minami!" Izuku exclaims, wiping his eyes with his sleeve.
They end up spending a bit over three hours in the room, learning about Izuku's quirk. Hisashi is even able to make an appearance for the latter half, rolled in in a wheelchair. Both he and Inko can't take their eyes off their son, and most importantly the smile on his face. He looks happier, and more free, than they've seen in years.
"Alright, I think that's good for today, excellent work Midoriya-san, your analysis of your own quirk is phenomenal. If you ever feel like you need a break from being a hero, you should look into quirk counselling." Hirabayashi says as Izuku releases his latest crystal construct, making it fall to dust.
"Thank you so much everyone, I really appreciate your help!" Izuku says, bowing deeply to the three doctors.
"You're most welcome Midoriya-san, I shall be keeping an eye on the hero billboard in five years or so." Minami says with a small smile, making Izuku beam at her.
Tokage walks over to Inko and Hisashi as Izuku finalises his quirk registration documents with the other two. "Your son is very smart you know, you should be proud."
"We are, trust me." Inko says, her eyes watering.
"I'll be in touch, for trigger cases we like to keep in check for a year or so after, just to be safe and to gather any more useful data. I hope you have room in your house or garden, if today was any indication young Izuku will be practising his quirk whenever he gets the chance." She continues with a sly chuckle.
Izuku bounds over to them as Hirabayashi and Minami say farewell. His face falls slightly at the sight of his father in his wheelchair, but Hisashi is quick to pull him.
"You're amazing son, I'm so proud of you!"
Izuku sniffles, but lets his smile return, if a little shakily.
Doctor Tokage ensures they have all the contact information they need, before departing herself.
Izuku is cleared to go home now, but Hisashi will stay for a couple more days to finish off his healing and start the process of fitting him for a prosthetic, at least until he can sort one out through Pangolin Technologies.
With a long hug goodbye between the three, and a promise to return tomorrow, Inko and Izuku head home.
As soon as they get in Izuku rushes to his room, saying he has to start his newest notebook, to be entitled 'My Quirk'. Inko is just glad they no longer live in an apartment and she doesn't have to worry about flooding the downstairs neighbour, finally allowing herself to decompress.
Izuku looks over his Quirk Registration with joy, still in disbelief. But thankfully he can put that aside to write up his notes!
They ended up going with 'Crystallise' for the name of the quirk. A few were thrown around, but Izuku has always had a soft spot for single word quirk names, ones that are a bit snappier.
The headline for his quirk registration is 'The user can create and telekinetically control a unique form of crystal.'
He still can't believe he has a quirk registration, and he has to lean back quickly to avoid getting his few scattered tears on his notebook.
They also found that it seems to draw on his internal energy and stamina to create and telekinetically control, the former much more intensive than the latter.
Likewise, the range for creation seems to be much lower than the range he can control within, with the former being around ten metres, and the latter closer to sixty before fine control starts to fall off, losing control completely around one hundred metres away.
Thanks to Doctor Minami's analysis, they also found that it's incredibly heat resistant, which makes sense given it seems to be an evolution of the crystalline mutations his father has, and that it is quite durable, as shown by having parts of a building collapse on the construct of his first creation.
He can also create it in any shape, but they confirmed his first feelings that, at least for now, he can't modify the shape after creation.
The last and perhaps one of the most useful, is that creations can be 'dissolved', and provided it hasn't been too long and Izuku is nearby, he reabsorbs some of the energy, restoring his energy somewhat. Though this is only possible if it's still the original form, a damaged crystal can still be dissolved, but doesn't return any energy.
Doctor Minami also believes it's likely to become more brittle under extreme cold, but they weren't able to test that at the time.
As he completed the first page in his new Quirk Journal more tears slip out. The looks on his parent's faces, all three of the doctors that believe he can be a hero, the cost that other people paid to get him here in pain and loss, promising his younger self to fulfil their dreams.
All of it, it's his first step. He will become a great hero. Looking up at his walls, adorned with the smile of the greatest hero in the world, the Symbol of Peace, he swears, one day he'll save people, they'll be okay, because he is there.
He might have to rethink some of the hero names though, since the last time he came up with them it pretty much revolved around being All Might but green haired.
Oh well, he has the chance to choose a hero name now, the specifics can come later.
"Izuku! Dinner! I made Katsudon!"
Well, there's his first priority, the universe works in mysterious ways.
Over the next week, Izuku spent every free moment practising with his quirk, creating and manipulating all manner of constructs, as well as filling an entire 48 pages with theories about his quirk, super moves, costume ideas, potential hero names, and ideas for support items.
Flicking back and forth, he groans. He's going to have to either copy all of this into a new thing, or carefully rip them out and put them in a folder, he was foolish to leave only ten pages for quirk theories, so now it's split into multiple sections, which made him split other parts, and now it's just a mess.
Hisashi has also come home, with a temporary prosthetic for now. He's unsteady, and awkward, but he's alive, and with his family, so the Midoriya's can deal with whatever else comes.
Unfortunately for Izuku, the 'whatever else' in question is returning to Aldera High School today, and despite all the changes, he can't help the way his heart beats at the thought of returning to that place.
He's bought out of his thoughts by his mother's hug.
"Are you sure you're ready to go back sweetie? We can call the school if you need it?"
As much as he wishes he could say yes, he'll have to go back eventually. There's no time to move to another school in the middle of the year and with everything else going on after all, and he needs the grades. He's already going to be up against it with only a couple of years of training versus everyone else to get into UA, he can't let himself fail the written test.
"Y-yeah, I'm sure. Thank you." He says, forcing a smile on to his face.
Inko takes a moment, studying his face before a soft smile forms on her face, "Okay, have a good day then, I love you."
"I love you too Mum, love you Dad!" He replies, calling out as he steps to the door of their home.
"Go get 'em kid!"
His father's honest and easy support brings a more confident smile to the boy's face as he starts his walk to school.
Clearly, his teachers have said some things, as the looks he gets from the other students as he gets to school are, different, from usual. Of course, none of them are all that much better per se, but there's a few of consideration, some slightly wary, and some of disbelief.
A couple of the nicer kids, and by that he means the ones that would mostly ignore him unless they could find him alone and maybe offer a few kind words, even ask him if he's okay on the way in. To which he stumbles over a response, assuring them he's okay, and quietly thanking them before rushing off.
Even a couple of the teachers give him considering looks, and after a moment he realises why. They would have had to have been informed about his changed quirk status. It's true for everyone, it just so happens that for most of the students it happens when they're four, or five at most. He doubts that all the looks from the students are of care, so the news has probably already spread, though he suspects plenty don't believe it.
He speeds up his steps, keeping his head down on the way to class, ignoring the whispers around him.
As he reaches class he forces himself to take a deep breath, planning to keep the same quick pace on the same path to his seat that he's used every day this past school year.
He manages three steps inside before the teacher's voice stops him.
"Midoriya. Welcome back." Handa Sensei says, a tone in his voice that Izuku can't quite pick out.
"Uh, G-good morning Handa-sensei." He mutters, hoping to quickly continue on to his seat.
"We're all glad to see you're okay. But I hear you received some good news among everything."
"Yes. Sir. T-that's right."
"Well? Care to demonstrate? It's something you missed out on when you were younger, I'm sure you're eager to show your quirk now you have one?"
There's a barked laugh from the back of the room, one that makes Izuku flinch.
"Teach, stop playing around. There's no way Deku got a quirk!"
The voice of his one time best friend makes Izuku pause, his heart hammering in his chest. Katsuki Bakugo grew up alongside him, but when the boy's explosive quirk came in and Izuku's didn't, what was a friendship began to devolve. Izuku would still be included, but he'd always 'play' the villain, or have to rush to keep up. Then he got worse, starting to lord his powerful quirk over everyone, something many of their teachers over the years ignored or outright encouraged.
With every time Izuku tried to stand up for Bakugo's victim, he was treated worse and worse, before eventually he could no longer see his friend Kacchan. He'll forever be thankful for his father's support, having seen him hurt one day a couple of years ago, and gently getting the truth out of him. It was before anything went too far, and the school of course took the side of their 'star pupil', but it forced him to come to terms with things.
"I-it's true Katsuki. It's not c-common, but it can happen. I have a quirk now."
Izuku looks to the teacher again who just gives him a slightly expectant nod, and before Bakugo can do more than scoff, Izuku holds his hand out, a pointed crystal forming over his hand and slowly spinning in place.
"It uh, it's called Crystallise. I can make and move this stuff, is the b-basics." He says, letting everyone look for a moment before dissolving the crystal.
"Hm, interesting, well, congratulations. Take your seat please Midoriya-san." Handa says, his voice a little lighter than it was before, at least Izuku thinks so.
He carefully doesn't meet Bakugo's eyes as he moves to his seat, but he's unable to ignore the looks from everyone, a mix of amazed, annoyed, and concern given the state of the explosive boy at the back of the class.
Maybe he should have taken his mother's offer.
The entire first half of the day basically has a background tune of Bakugo grinding his teeth, and Izuku can feel the stare coming from the blond boy.
Without fail, every other teacher asks him the same question, like they've heard the gossip but have to see it to believe it.
As lunch arrives Izuku is ready to make his way out as quickly as possible like he's done every day for years, but before he can finish stuffing his things in his bag there's a handful of students rising and turning to him.
His brief panic means they start to crowd him before he can move, and overlapping questions about what happened to him and his quirk come from all around him.
"U-uh, I can try and answer, just um m-maybe one at a time?" He asks, his voice breaking slightly, something that would usually set off laughs and derision, but now people seem all too happy to move on from.
He can see Bakugo glaring at him, but with a growled scoff he leaves, his lackeys following behind, shooting looks between him and their leader.
His only saving grace is that the students that want to speak to him aren't any of the worst offenders, so he can keep the worst of his panic in check as he does his best to answer their questions.
He ends up eating in the classroom, surrounded by students that actually seem to want to be there for the first time since pre-school. A depressing as fuck thought that he tries to move on from before he ends up spiralling.
He starts to downplay his quirk, before some divine inspiration level of confidence sparks inside him, probably not for long, but he'll ride it as long as he can, doing his best to explain his quirk truthfully. Which it turns out means everyone realising he's got a pretty damn amazing quirk.
He can see the realisation growing on people's faces as he talks, growing more and more confident as it does. He's sure some of them stayed just to get ammunition about him still being weak or something, but he doesn't even have to try to stop that. And as for those that tried to be kind to him before, he can see some genuine happiness for him in their eyes, something that makes him more awkward than anything else.
Eventually, his confidence begins to flip to the other side, new panic arising. If for no other reason than he doesn't know how to behave now. It was awful, but at least he had a set routine and behaviour patterns before. Now, some people are happy for him and can actually be seen associating with him, others are seemingly wary, and yet more including a blond boy are angry, presumably at the target that was 'Deku' no longer being around. Who knows if it'll stop things though.
His first afternoon back continued in much the same way, and as the final bell rings Izuku is quick make his way out, ignoring the call of "DEKU!" behind him. He knows he'll have to deal with Katsuki sooner rather than later, but, just not today, he hopes.
For once, his luck holds, and ignoring yet more looks now that his new status has surely spread around the school, he rushes for home.
His mother messaged to say she and his father would likely still be at the hospital when he finished school for a check up on Hisashi, but that they'll pick up some food on the way back. So, as Izuku pushes open his door he finally allows himself to breathe.
He knew what it would be like, or at least he thought he did, but that didn't make the experience any easier. Don't mistake him, while he's glad that much of the scorn seems to have evaporated, it's... weird.
And as he sits down, processing everything, he can't help the flare of anger within him. All today really proved is that truly, nothing he did would have mattered, just that he now has a quirk.
Sure, some of them were quietly kind to him in the past, but can he really trust anyone at that damn school? No, he can't let himself think like that, to close off at the first sign, they deserve a chance, he deserves a chance.
He's still brooding when his family returns home with takeout later that evening, his mind still running as he assures them everything was fine at school today.
It takes Izuku a long few hours to fall asleep that night, as he lays in bed in a new world.