Chapter Text
“Hey guys!” Both heroes look up at his voice as the winged hero flops down to sit between them. “So, you were invited too?”
Miruko nods. “Yea, apparently there was a list of people who were supposed to be present and we were on it, others are supposed to come in later, from what I heard.”
Kamui Woods nods, turning to their kids, watching Izuku laugh at whatever the Todoroki boy had said. “You’re not going to sit with your kids?”
“Nah,” Hawks shakes his head and smiles at his baby bird’s laughter and the fledgling’s whispering to him. “They hasn’t told their friends about us yet, I don’t want to be the one to break it to them without their permission, so I’ll chill back here with you guys, and keep an eye on my kids from afar.”
“Alright, everyone,” Nedzu’s voice rings through the mostly empty auditorium, a large screen sliding down from the ceiling, and they all settle in to see what the mysterious DVD had contained. “Shall we begin?”
The screen crackles to life.
The scene opened on a clock before shifting over to a rather young looking Izuku, crying.
“Aw, Deku!” Uraraka cries out. “Why are you crying!”
“Okay, nope,” Hawks shakes his head, and pushes himself up from his place between Kamui Woods and Miruko, much to the latter’s amusement. “I’m sitting with my kid.”
The rabbit themed hero snorts. “That was quick, papa bird.”
“Hey, Rumi, do me a favor, and shut the fuck up.”
The other students watch the number two hero make his way around them, and flop down next to their green haired friend, tug him up into his lap, and curl around him. Izuku smiles, not seemingly all too phased that he was currently sitting in the lap of the number two Pro Hero, leaning back against him comfortably.
“Umm….Mido?” Kaminari breaks the silence that’s fallen around them and the currant holder of One for All turns to him at his call. “You do know you’re sitting in Hawk’s lap…..right?”
Midoriya nods slightly. “Umm, yea, it would be hard not to.”
“And,” the blonde boy continues slowly. “You’re not…..”
“Fanboying about it?”
He nods slightly. “Yea?”
The greenette grins. “I stopped fanboying over Hawks after the first day we were together.”
“Your,” Ashido starts. “First day together?”
Izuku nods lightly, feeling the hero rest his chin on his shoulder. “I live with him.”
“You live with Hawks?”
He nods again. “Yea, he’s my adoptive dad.”
Ashido stares at him. “What?”
“You know, he’s a male, he’s my new parent, and he adopted me.”
“No, I know what ‘adoptive dad’ means, I meant ‘what’, as in ‘what the fuck!’”
Midoriya giggles softly when the man chuckles into his shoulder. “It’s a long story.”
“T-That’s mean, Kacchan.” The shot jumped out to show another child kneeling behind Izuku, holding his arm. “C-Can’t you see he’s crying.” The obviously terrified look didn’t leave the boy as he shifted into a fighting stance, or at least the best one he could do.
“Even as a child, he was trying to save people.” All Might muses, it only recertifies his belief in choosing the right successor. “The heart of a true hero.”
“At least his stance has gotten better.” Kamui Woods whispers to no one in particular.
“Hey! I was four, Uncle Nishiya, give me a break!”
“I was complimenting you, sapling.”
“Yea, sure!”
“Don’t make me come over there.”
“I-If you keep going, I-I-I’ll never forgive you!” Just as Izuku made his bold statement, the shot pulled out again, revealing 3 other children staring down the two crying, one with a rather distinct puff of hair.
“Bakubro!” Kirishima cheers. “It’s you!”
“No shit, sherlock.”
“Three against one is bad enough.” Present Mic whispers and Midnight nods in agreement. “But adding in quirks is too much.”
The camera then cut to face the three other boys. Two unknown faces stood behind with what could only be a dumbfounded Bakugo in front. Bakugo then scoffed while the other two moved to show off their quirks, one red demon wings and the other elongating his fingers.
“Okay,” Hawks voice floats around them. “I’m slightly biased for the one with the wings, but the guy with the fingers is creepy.”
Izuku mumbles under his breath. “The fingers weren’t the worst part.”
He avoids their eyes when he feels them on him, and a scruffy chin rubs against his ear, a soft voice whispering in his ear. “Tell me later, baby bird.” He nods mutely
“Even though you’re quirkless…” the young Bakugo started before cutting to a closeup of his hands as he punched one into the other, releasing an explosion, “you’re pretending to be a hero, Deku?”
“Quirkless!” Most of the class gasps in surprise.
“Keep it down, jeez.” Aizawa grumbles lowly, curled up in his monstrosity of a sleeping back, he appears as though he’s trying to sleep, but if you look close enough, you can see that he’s watching too.
“Mido isn’t quirkless!” Uraraka exclaims firmly.
“We’ve all seen him use his quirk.” Todoroki adds softly.
“There’s a chance it just hasn’t manifested yet.” Yaoyorozu chimes in as the voice of reason. “There’s tons of records of late bloomers.”
“I don’t understand why you’re calling him quirkless,” Asui intones softly. “But, Mido is being very heroic in protecting someone who needed help.”
Kamui nods in agreement. “Agreed.”
Miruko glares over at the blonde teen. “How in the fuck did a kid like you make it into the hero course?”
Deku gasps as the other three kids lunge at him. The sun shines on Deku as he lays there on the ground, beaten up, while the other kid continued crying.
The blonde man leans around the greenette’s shoulder slightly. “Baby bird, did this happen often?”
Everyone else waits on baited breath for his response, Miruko and Kamui Woods lean forward, the teachers pay close attention, Nedzu sips from his cup of tea.
Midoriya looks away from them all, focusing instead on his dad’s left wing over his shoulder, and sighs softly. “Later.”
It’s not a confirmation or denial, but it’s answer enough, and everyone exchanges glances.
All men are not created equal,” their Izuku’s voice spoke over the shots of his beaten up younger self. “That was the reality about society I learned at the age of four.”
“That’s so young to be learning that.” Midnight whispers sorrowfully. “It’s just cruel.”
Recovery Girl nods in agreement. “Poor, dear, no child should have to face such a thing that young.”
Izuku smiles slightly when he feels the hero’s grip around him tighten. “It’s okay, papa bird.”
A shot of the sky was disturbed by a red shoe splashing though a now obvious puddle. “That was my first and last setback.” The screen then cut to watch as Izuku in a black Gakuen running off, clearly heading somewhere exciting.
“Whatcha so excited about, Mido?” Ashido questions.
Izuku grins. “Villain fight!”
Kamui and Hawks groan. “Baby bird, you’re supposed to run away from villain fights.”
“They didn’t!”
Izuku yelps when he’s smacked over the head.
“You’re not them!”
The scene changed to show a giant whose nose made up majority of his face as he let out a roar. The scene quickly cut back to Izuku watching in awe before a quick name card appeared around the boy. The camera then faced the villain, pulling out to reveal Tatooin Train Station and a large crowd of onlookers.
Aizawa groans. “This only makes our jobs harder, standing around watching a villain fight is like running into a burning building.” The other heroes nod in agreement.
His problem child grins. “But, firefighters run into burning buildings.” Hawks and Miruko snort in unison.
“Expelled.”
“That’s a huge villain.”
Keigo squeezes the greenette. “Baby bird, if I ever see you do this, you’re grounded for a week.”
Izuku nods faintly. “So, in other words, don’t get caught.”
“So, in other words, don’t try me.”
The scene shifted to show what looked to be a hospital with one window shining. The older Izuku explained the beginning of quirks while showing the father freaking out about the glowing baby.
“Mood.” Kirishima whispers. “That man is a big mood.”
“Can you imagine him trying to play night hide and seek?” Ashido giggles softly. “I would feel so bad.”
“His parents wouldn’t need a flashlight is they lost power.” Kaminari adds in softly.
It continued to explain the growing prevalence of quirks while showing several children using their newly discovered gifts.
“The world became a superhuman society…” a cape fluttered before revealing a broad chest covered in red, white and yellow. The figure walked forward as the narration continued. “…and now about 80% of the world’s population now has some kind of special trait.”
“Really?” Jiro leans around Ashido to look at the greenette. “How do you know all of this?”
“I like learning about the history of quirks.”
“Only eighty percent though?” Kaminari asks. “I’d have thought it’d be more than that.”
“Nope, well, somewhat,” Midoriya tilts his head. “Twenty percent are quirkless, mostly the elderly, but some children are born quirkless still, though it’s growing rarer and rarer, and that’s just the population in total, not differentiating between those deceased and those not.”
“Twenty percent of people are quirkless in Japan, that’s a lot more than I thought.”
“No,” the greenette shakes his head lightly. “Twenty percent of people worldwide. In the next decade or so, quirklessness will be a thing of the past, just a blemish,” he spits that word bitterly. “Eradicated from society only to be learned about in, in brief passing because quirklessness is attuned with weakness, history books.”
The giant turned and smacked a steel frame off the track, causing it to fall to the street. Death Arms quickly ran out under the frame and caught it, to the awe of the civilians held back by the police. One of the citizens who was not Izuku quickly gave an explanation on both him and Backdraft, who showed up to create a barrier between everyone and the action.
“I love Backdraft, he’s such a great rescue hero!” Uraraka says brightly. “But, I love Thirteen more!”
“Because she’s space themed?” Asui asks slyly.
The gravity quirked girl blushes and nods. “Yea.”
The camera jumped back to where Izuku was shown trying to see around the crowd. Two civilians were heard commenting on the chain of events that lead to the fight.
Deku groans softly and throws his head back against Hawks shoulder. “Being short sucks ass.”
“I don’t know,” the hero’s tone is light and playful. “I like you being short. Suits my needs.”
“Yea, you only say that because you like freaking me out by sneaking up behind me and scooping me up, you dirty heightist.”
“Heightist?”
“Discrimination against height.”
“You can do it, Kamui!” a bunch of fangirls cried out as the young hero arrived on scene. The masked youth jumped out of the villain’s grasp, pulling his attention away from the destruction of the train track.
“Yes!” Kaminari pumps a fist into the air. “Kick his ass!”
Izuku was finally shown making it to the front line, asking who was fighting before answering himself. The man next to him even commented on it.
“Baby bird…..” The number two hero sighs deeply.
Kamui was shown running at the villain, avoiding getting crushed by the hand reaching towards him. The youth then displayed an impressive level of agility, flying through the air and landing on top of the station.
“Kamui Woods is a great hero!” Uraraka exclaims brightly. “He works really hard!”
“I agree.” Iida nods.
“I mean,” Izuku shrugs lightly. “Uncle Nishiya’s okay, I guess.” He smiles when Miruko laughs.
“Illegal use of powers during rush hour and robbery resulting in bodily injury. You are the incarnation of evil.”
The wooden man buries his face in his hands when they start laughing, Miruko leans forward, she’s laughing so hard, Hawks throws his head forward against his kids shoulder, and Izuku curls forward slightly.
The teen gains his composure, first, somewhat, waiting until their laughter dies down. “Uncle Nishiya, if that’s your impression of the incarnation of evil, what do you think the League of Villains are?” He smiles, Miruko’s shaking with repressed laughter and he feels his dad shaking against him. “Just a bunch of regular old hooligans?”
Miruko and Hawks burst again.
Kamui groans into his hands. Aizawa nods in understanding.
Today is the day of my debut,” the giantess was shown tending to the villain. She then turned to the audience, “My name is Mt. Lady. A pleasure to meet your ass-quantience,” the heroine said, winking while showing the photographers what they were apparently after.
Mineta visibly drools. “Midoriya, you’ve got to meet two hot bi—”
Everyone jumps when a red sneaker cracks against the small grape boy’s head and turn to look at Izuku, who’s glaring at the perverted grape. “Say shit about my Auntie and I’ll shove my other shoe down your throat.”
Hawks, noticeably says nothing, simply rests his chin on the boy’s shoulder.
“Who knew the little listener could be so chaotic?” Present Mic muses at Mineta’s shocked expression. “Hawks is rubbing off on him.”
Kamui shakes his head. “He was already like this when he joined the family, if anything, Hawks struggles with it.”
Midnight turns to stare at him. “Really?”
He nods. “Yes.”
Izuku looked out over the crater created when the villain landed, notebook in hand, speculating on the quirks displayed, particularly Mt. Lady’s. The man from earlier took notice.
“Mr. Midoriya,” the teachers stare in horror at the gleam in Nedzu’s eyes. “Do you analyze quirks?”
Izuku flinches slightly at Bakugo’s scoff, and nods, feeling papa bird turn his head slightly, knowing he must have caught his flinch, which wasn’t surprising, he had the best eyesight out of everyone he knows. “Yea….Yea, I do, I’ve done it since I was four.”
“Very interesting, very interesting, indeed.” The stoat takes a sip of his tea. “Would you mind if I saw them after we’re through here?”
“Um,” he pauses for a moment, they were one of his most prized possessions, and after everything, he’s not easy in letting them go. “Sure.”
“Tch, they’re creepy stalker notebooks.” Bakugo grumbles softly, though not soft enough, as heads turn in his direction. “Don’t know why anyone’d want to see them.”
“They can’t be too bad, Bakubro,” Kirishima tries. “Right?”
“The shitty Deku writes everything in his stalker book, sleeping habits, hobbies, eating habits, it’s fucking creepy as shit.”
“On the contrary, Mr. Bakugo.” Nedzu’s tone is light, but there’s an edge in it, and it’s sharp. “Keeping track of ones sleeping habits would allow you to determine when they’re at their most vulnerable, as the brain does not awake all at once, even if they were to awaken as attacked, they would be at a disadvantage, there are so many possibilities that could arise from keeping track of things otherwise determined tedious.” He takes a sip from his tea. “We should all count ourselves lucky, from what I’ve observed from Young Midoriya thus far, he could have been a rather skilled and powerful villain.” He sets his tea cup down. “It’s as they say, the most dangerous people are the broken people, because they know they can survive.”
“I never thought of that possibility,” Aizawa mutters to his two friends, Present Mic and Midnight nod in agreement. “Midoriya is a gifted and highly intelligent student, thinking of what he’d be capable of as a villain is a bit unnerving.”
“Oi, you’re taking notes? You wanna be a hero? That’s great! You can do it!” This apparently caught the boy’s attention as he put the notebook down and smiled at the man.
“Yes! I’ll do my best!”
“You sure do,” Asui whispers. “You’re a great hero, Midoriya.”
“Yea,” Uraraka agrees softly. “You are.”
Todoroki only nods in agreement and says nothing.
“Since you’re all third years,” a new voice spoke up, “it’s time you think seriously about your future.” There on screen, were a punch of students sitting at their desks, most looking at the adult in the front, though the two familiar sets were seemingly not paying attention. “I’ll pass out handouts for your future plans now, but,” the screen jumped to show the teacher from the front, snatching the handouts off his desk, while a couple of students started to display their quirks, “you’re all pretty much planning on going into the hero course, right?”
“Hero courses are supposed to be taken seriously, and here he is, telling them all to risk their lives for the heck of it.” Aizawa grumbles as he rubs at his eyes. “Not to mention illegal quirk usage. This man is a horrible teacher.”
“I have a bad feeling about him.” Miruko whispers to the hero at her side, and Kamui nods mutely. “He gives me bad vibes.”
“I agree.”
“Midoriya, you should be paying attention to your teacher!” Iida admonishes softly.
“Perhaps he was.” Todoroki defends and turns to their friend. “Were you?”
“Umm…No.”
“Sensei!” a familiar voice broke through the room, pulling everyone’s attention to the explosive blond who had his feet on the table. “Don’t lump us all in the same group. I’m not going to be stuck at the bottom with the rest of these rejects!”
“I’m not one to say this about children.” Kamui Woods leans closer to the rabbit themed hero. “But, I’m really beginning to not like him.”
Miruko nods in agreement. “I stopped tolerating him at the very beginning.”
“Why’re you being so mean?” Uraraka turns to glare at the blonde. “It’s so uncalled for. Nobody did anything to you.”
“He’s not being mean,” Kirishima chimes in. “He’s just being confident.”
She turns her glare on him, and he gulps softly, scooting over slightly, bumping into Hawks arm, looking over at the hero when he nudges him. “There’s a difference between confidence and cockiness, kiddo,” he looks over his head to glare sharply at the other blonde. “That’s not confidence, that’s cockiness.”
“You know all about cockiness, don’t you, papa bird?”
Miruko and Kamui Woods laugh softly.
“You wanna do this, baby bird, right here, right now, in front of everyone?”
“I take back my question.”
“Mhmm.”
“Oh, if I remember correctly, you want to go to UA high, don’t you, Bakugo?”
“U.A.? That national school?! It was in the top 0.2% the year, you know!” the students gaped while Midoriya looked worried, putting his head on his desk, making himself look smaller.
“And, I hope everyone knows why it’s the top 0.2 percent, not everyone has the potential for heroics.” Aizawa mutters.
Hawks frowns at his kids behavior, the reaction, Izuku had said he’d been bullied when he was younger, but bullying didn’t necessarily equate to shying away, nevertheless, he doesn’t voice his opinions or questions, he just hugs the boy closer, resisting the urge to curl him in his wings with great difficulty, the only true things stopping him being the kids sitting at his sides, and wanting to continue being able to watch.
There was nothing stopping him from doing it later though.
“Something’s wrong.” Midnight whispers, Aizawa and Present Mic nod lightly, they could feel it too. “Something’s going to happen.”
“That’s exactly why you guys are just extras!” Bakugo raised his voice over the others, jumping on top of his desk as he declared, “I aced the mock test. I’m the only one at this school who could possibly get into U.A. I’ll definitely surpass All Might and become the top hero! My name’ll be inscribed on the list of top earners!”
“That’s quite a goal, young Bakugo.” All Might intones lightly. “I wish you the best of luck.”
The explosive blonde scoffs softly. “Pfft, don’t need luck.”
“How bad would it be, Nishiya,” Miruko grumbles. “If I kicked the kid in the face.”
“Rumi, no.”
“Oh yeah, Midoriya wanted to go to U.A., too, right?” the teacher remembered.
Midoriya flinched as his teacher spoke, slightly raising his head to see all his classmates turn to him, then proceed to burst out laughing.
The teachers and Pros frown.
“Why’re they laughing?” Asu asks. “He did get in.”
“It is indeed strange.” Tokoyami agrees softly. “I wonder why they don’t know of his quirk.”
Izuku looks away, and Keigo curls his wing around carefully to shield him, pressing their head together. “It’s okay, baby bird.”
“Oi, Deku!” an explosion rang out, once more silencing everyone. “You are below the rejects! You’re Quirkless! How can you even stand in the same ring as me?”
“Kamui, please, just one kick, please?”
“No.”
Izuku feels him move slightly, he knows he’s turning to glare at his childhood friend, and instead focuses on his dad’s wing, reaching out to brush his fingers through the feathers, they ruffle under his touch, and he feels his familiar scruff rubbing against his ear again. “You ignore that asshole, baby bird, don’t even give him the time of day.”
“No, wait, Kacchan! It’s not like I’m trying to compete with you or anything! Believe me!” Midoriya cried, backing to the wall. Looking down, Midoriya softly spoke, “It’s just that it’s been my goal ever since I was little. And well, I won’t know unless I try.”
“He’s cowering away from him.” Present Mic intones softly. “That’s a conditioned response.”
“I think,” Nedzu adds himself. “We’ve done them both a great disservice. Changes need to be made.”
“I blame myself for the continued abuse.” Aizawa mutters lowly. “I misinterpreted their relationship severely and continued putting them together for assignments. I was under the impression they were rivals. This explains a lot of the behaviors in their interactions.”
“Whaddaya mean, unless you try?! Are you taking the test for fun?!” Bakugo shouted as the class around Midoriya became ominous shadows, Bakugo exclaiming, “What the hell can you do? You’re quirkless!”
“That man is not qualified to be teaching children.” Kamui Woods mutters softly. “At best, he’s turning a blind eye, at worst, he’s condoning it, both of which are horrid to think about.” Miruko nods in agreement, her eyes straying to their green bean, watching him nod at whatever Takami was whispering in his ear as he pulled his wing back. “I want this school investigated for neglect and abuse.”
“Why isn’t the teacher doing anything?” Kaminari gestures to the man on the screen. “He’s literally right there watching it.”
“He can’t be condoning, right,” Uraraka looks over to her friend next to her. “Right, Mido?”
The greenette inhales deeply, holds his breath, very aware of those listening in for his response, and exhales, before turning to look at her. “Yes, he is, they all did.” He turns back to the screen. “Kacchan had the perfect quirk for a hero, they said, it’s not his fault, they said, the quirkless boy instigated him, they said. It’s okay, though, I’m used to it, it doesn’t hurt anymore.”
Silence falls over them until a soft voice whispers in his ear. “We’ll take about this later, baby bird.”
Izuku nods mutely, refusing to say anything.
Silence followed that declaration before the scene shifted to reveal the city, with the time revealing it was just after noon. A scream cried out as the camera moved to reveal a slime… thing running away with money stuck to his back and someone yelling about a thief.
“Catch me if you can!” the slime seemed to say as it continued on, unimpeded.
“What, there’s no hero around? Normally someone would come right away.” The screen focused on a man in very obviously baggy clothes walking out of a convenience store.
“People have become too reliant on us.” Aizawa intones. “And, that can cause even more danger.”
“Hey! I remember this! It was on the news! The sludge guy got Bakubro!” Kaminari gapes.
Jiro shoves him to shut him up.
“But, what’s it doing here, and why is it in Midoriya’s memories?” Ashido questions. “If anything, it should be in Bakugo’s.”
They all turn to the blonde, who scoffs and waves them away heatedly, and then to the greenette, who turns his head slightly, scooting down in the hero’s lap, until his head is resting against his chest, the blonde’s arms curled loosely around his shoulders, and they turn back to the screen.
“This guy’s taking advantage of the chaos from this morning.” The camera turned to reveal more of the man, who looked kind of like the skeletal one sitting on the couch. He stood up straighter as he looked out on the scene.
“There are tons of people who don’t know what to do with their quirks.” Once more, the screen focused on the slime villain, as he ran. It then jumped back to the previous shot to show as the skinny man seemed to inflate to a very familiar figure. “There’s no end to them.”
“There is an end,” an extremely familiar voice said causing majority of the people both on and off screen to jump in surprise. The camera then panned around as the figure stepped out into the light. “Why?”
Once more, the screen jumped to the fleeing villain, who turned to see who the new arrival was. His eyes widened in shock upon recognition of the famous smile.
“Because I am here.”
“OH MY GOD!” Mineta screams. “IT’S ALL MIGHT!”
“Did you really need to scream it?” Jiro rubs at her ears. “Inside voices please.”
Recovery Girl smacks the number one hero. “You idiot, someone could have seen you!”
They were back in the classroom, the clock showing it was now a few minutes after the last bell rang. Students were shown leaving while Izuku was still at his desk, scrolling through his phone.
“The incident from this morning is all over the headlines. I want to hurry up and go home so I can write it down in my notebook.”
“I’m very interested in these notebooks.” Nedzu hums. “Mr. Midoriya, tell me, do you write about heroes and villains?”
“Uh, yea?”
Right as Izuku was going to put his last notebook in his bag, it was snatched out of his hands. Bakugo waved it around while looking down his nose at his childhood… friend?
“That was so uncalled for!” Uraraka growls, leaning around Hawks to glare at Bakugo. “Why can’t you just leave him alone, you jerk!”
“Why don’t you mind your own fucking business, round face!”
“Oh, I’ll mind—”
Uraraka’s cut off by the wing that curls around her, turning to the winged hero at her side, and he shakes his head. “Not worth it, lil bird, thanks for defending my kid though.”
“Yea, he’s my friend!” She huffs slightly and turns back to the screen as the wing retreats and mumbles under her breath. “Punt his ass into the sun.”
Hawks chuckles softly. He heard her last comment.
“We’re not done talking yet, Deku.”
“I wouldn’t classify what you were doing as simply ‘talking’.” Yaoyorozu whispers.
“Neither would I.” Iida and Todoroki agree.
“Katsuki, what’s that?” Bakugo’s friend asked, walking up to the two boys along with another boy. Izuku was watching the notebook, his eyes wide as he looked on to the other boys laugh about his Hero Analysis for the Future.
“It’s fine, isn’t it? Give it back!”
“Bakugo, he’s not hurting anyone!” Ashido cries out. “Leave him alone!”
“We’ve really got to investigate students before we officially approve their acceptance.” Aizawa murmurs.
The stoat agrees. “I read both of their files, they seemed rather odd, but I hadn’t given it much thought at the time. Perhaps I should look more into the files that seem to be suspicious of being doctored.”
Bakugo punched the notebook between his hands as Izuku watched on in horror. His notebook now smoking, burnt, and tattered before being tossed out the window by the person who had done the damage.
“Bakubro, you didn’t need to do that.” Kaminari whispers. “That’s so not cool.”
“Fuck off, you don’t know anything!”
“Bakugo, you really don’t have any semblance of manners, do you?” Aoyama shakes his head. “You could do so much better.”
“Fuck off!”
“He doesn’t even regret it.” Midnight whispers. “How did he make it into the hero course?”
“Most top string heroes have stories about them from their school days,” Bakugo’s voice came clear and cold, his expression matching. “I want the shine of being able to be called the only student to make it into UA from this mediocre city middle school. I mean, I am a perfectionist.”
The heroes narrow their eyes as their gazes flicker over to the boy in question and back to the screen.
“He’s so petty.”
“That’s why you want to get in?” Sero shakes his head. “For your image?”
“That is not the proper attitude for a hero in training!” Iida remarks loudly.
“The best heroes are the ones who don’t do it for the limelight.” Izuku tilts his head back to look up at his parent. “Right, papa bird?”
Keigo smiles down at him and presses a quick fond kiss to his forehead. “Right, baby bird.”
Bakugo placed his hand on Izuku’s shoulder, smoke rising. Izuku visibly tensed, a faint whimper escaping. The camera switched over to show the two boys, Izuku looking terrified of the hand while Bakugo was giving a practically vicious smile.
“Now I know why he has a tendency of attempting to repress a flinch when someone touches him.” Present Mic whispers to his friends who nod in agreement to his line of thought. “He’s been trained to think it means pain is going to follow.”
“Poor dear,” Recovery Girl intones softly. “Given his minimal reaction speaks volumes.”
“That’s going to leave a mark.” Midnight whispers. “It’s going to scar.”
“I noticed, Midoriya never seems to wear short sleeved shirts, I’ve never seen him without long sleeves.” Present Mic replies. “You don’t think?”
“I have a suspicion.” Aizawa mumbles, messaging someone on his phone, before sliding it back in his pocket. “But, it’s not us who can do what needs done in order to know.”
Hawks leans over slightly when his phone vibrates in his pocket, and pulls it out to check the message, nodding firmly, turning slightly to nod at his kid’s homeroom teacher, he wanted to know if that suspicion was true too.
“So anyway, don’t apply to UA, nerd.” Izuku turned from the hand to the face in front of his, visibly shaking, but no words came from him.
“He’s so terrified he’s shaking.” Miruko whispers to her friend next to her, Kamui Woods nods, he sees it himself. “Kid’s been abused for ten years of his life.”
“It’s a wonder how he’s still as kind and happy as he is.” Kamui comments. “It goes to show his true character.”
“Not necessarily, Kamui.” Recovery Girl whispers on his other side, and both top pros turn to look at her, she offers a sad smile. “All it takes is a beautiful fake smile to hide an injured soul and no one will ever notice how broken they really are.”
Hound Dog nods and rumbles in agreement. “It’s the prettiest smiles that hide the deepest secrets. The prettiest eyes that have cried the most tears. And the kindest hearts that have felt the most pain.”
“I fear, we may really know Midoriya as well as we think we do.” The healing hero nods. “And that’s the most concerning fact about him.”
Bakugo started to walk away, his friends following him. Izuku stood in his spot, listening to them as they went.
“Come on, you could at least say something back.”
“Don’t say that. He’s pathetic. He still can’t face reality.”
Bakugo stopped right as he reached the door. He turned his head to look over his shoulder at the green haired boy.
“If you really wanna be a hero that badly, there’s a quick way to do it: believe you’ll be born with a quirk in your next life and take a swan dive off the roof!”
Heads whip around and Bakugo at least has the decency to look away, chaos unfolds, the class losing their cool, Miruko jumps up, Kamui Woods behind her, both latching onto each other, as though to stop the other from doing something stupid.
“Miruko no!”
“Kumai no!”
The teachers stare in surprise, none of this behavior had been on the boy’s transcripts, they knew he was brash and had hotheaded tendencies, but to know he’d go that far was shocking.
“Bakugo!” Uraraka yells. “That’s so uncalled for!”
“That is not becoming for a hero!” Iida intones loudly.
“Bekubro!” Kirishima gasps in shock that his friend would say something like that. “That’s something a villain would say!”
Ice crawls up Todoroki’s arm, fire playing at his fingertips, and he turns to glare at the blonde. “How dare you.”
Izuku just watches the chaos unfold from his place in his dad’s lap, resting back against his chest, and reaches up to curl his fingers around his forearms, and he squeezes him. “I’m so sorry, baby bird.”
“It’s okay.”
“No, no it’s not, it’s not okay.”
Nedzu hums distastefully. “This needs to be addressed immediately.”
On screen, Izuku was shown to be boiling over from Bakugo’s statement and about to finally take on the blond, only for all of that anger to vanish when Bakugo set off a series of explosions.
The scene cut to outside the school building, where Izuku was shown looking for his notebook, all the while scolding Bakugo in his head.
“Idiot! If I really jumped, that would mean you instigated a suicide! Think before you speak!” Our hero, who cares more about the consequences of someone telling him to go kill himself than even contemplating the idea.
“Deku….” Uraraka sounds hesitant, almost as though she’s scared to ask, and even more scared of the answer, but feels as though someone needs to ask, so she pushes on. “Did you ever…..you know…..consider it?”
Everyone turns to look at him, his teachers, his friends, his Auntie and Uncle, Keigo, and the arms wrapped around his shoulders tighten, even Kacchan looks over.
He swallows and ducks his head, but says nothing, and that’s the only answer they need to such an innocent question. Some turn to glare at his childhood friend, he stares at his feet, fingers still curled around Keigo’s forearms, the teachers turn to each other to discuss this revelation and what needed to be done, the two Pros on their own couch whisper between each other.
Izuku looks up when a wall of red surrounds them and meets his papa bird’s sad eyes. “Baby bird, why didn’t you ever tell me?”
“I….” He’s not sure how to word his answer. “I didn’t want you to think I was broken and get rid of me.”
“Oh, baby bird,” hands squeeze his upper arms. “I’d never get rid of you, especially because of that, I want you to tell me these things.”
Izuku sighs softly. “I’m sorry, papa bird.”
“It’s okay, baby bird, I understand.” One of the arms around his shoulders unwinds and he brushes his bangs back. “We’ll talk more later, okay?”
“Okay.”
The greenette reaches for the free hand, pulling it into his grasp, as the wings are pulled back, and their rejoin the outside world, smiling when Keigo threads his fingers through his to hold his hand.
He notices the notebook floating in a pond, being nibbled on by some koi. He reaches out to grab it, quietly reprimanding them for thinking it was food. As he stood there, looking at the now scorched book, the scene blurred out and a young voice could be heard.
“Mom!”
“Oh my god! I didn’t think the cinnamon roll could get even more adorable!” Ashido gushes and the rest of the girls agree with her. “Look at himmmm!”
Kamui turns to her when Miruko pulls out her phone. “What are you doing?”
“Taking pictures of my bunny when he was a baby bunny.” She snaps a few shots. “I’ll send you the baby pics of your sapling.”
“Appreciate it.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Rumi,” Hawks calls over his shoulder. “Send them to me too!”
“Got it, birdbrain!”
Bakugo scoffs and says the first noninsulting thing all day. “My mom has tons of pictures. She can make you copies.”
“Cool! I’d appreciate it!”
“Jeez, you’ve probably added ten thousand views just by yourself, Izuku. It’s too scary for me. I can’t watch.”
“Mido, you look just like your mom!” Yaoyorozu gasps at the uncanny resemblance. “Almost exactly like her!”
“Midobro,” Kirishima leans around Hawks arm and the greenette turns to him at his call. “How come you live with Hawks and not your mom?”
Izuku shrugs lightly. “She kicked me out shortly after the sports festival. She said me being a hero was too much for her to handle, and gave me an ultimatum, I could stay and give up being a hero, or go. I chose to go. I worked hard to get here and I’m not giving that up, and she shouldn’t have made me choose between her and my dream. I know it sounds crude, but you’ve seen my life, I finally have something that’s mine, and I wasn’t going to give that up.” He raises his and Keigo’s conjoined hands to rub at his cheek. “I met Hawks a few days after that and we hit it off.”
“We sure did, baby bird.”
“That was an old video,” the narration took over with the camera moving to show the video little Izuku was going to be watching. “A disaster that happened a long time ago. The video of a hero that debuted right after that.”
“You should probably give it up.”
“That is unacceptable and unprofessional.” Recovery Girl fumes softly. “Where did he get his license, a crackerjack box?”
“That was harsh.” Uraraka whispers.
“He’s not even talking to me, and he makes me feel bad.” Ashido whispers back.
“Who is this guy, and can I meet him?” Miruko growls softly at seeing their kid’s utterly broken shock. “I just wanna talk.”
Kamui nods in agreement. “I’m going to end his career once I find out.”
“That’s… Is something wrong with him after all? Most of the other kindergarteners’ quirks have already manifested…”
“Something wrong with him?” The class turns to look at the number two hero, not used to hearing such a low and dangerous tone from the lighthearted hero, and he shakes his head once, glaring at the woman on the screen. “There’s nothing wrong with him. He’s not diseased. He’s perfectly fine.”
Kamui Woods nods in agreement, his distaste for the woman is evident.
Miruko raises a hand. “Amen!”
“Meeting Hawks was probably one of the best things for him.” Midnight whispers to her friends and they nod in agreement. “He’s clearly giving him the love and support he needs.”
“I agree,” Present Mic nods. “I never pictured Hawks of all people as the parental sort, but he clearly knows what he’s doing.”
“Oh, believe me, he’s got the parenting thing down.” Aizawa mutters back. “You should have seen him after the Stain incident.”
“He’s the only one…”
“Excuse me, but you’re fourth generation, right, ma’am? May I ask your quirk?”
“Yes, of course. I can pull small objects to me,” Izuku’s mom explained, demonstrating on her son’s action figure that he dropped earlier in his shock. “My husband can breathe fire.”
Normally, by the age of four, he would have manifested one of those quirks or some combination of the two.
“So, shouldn’t his quirk realistically be more like his parents quirks?” Kaminari asks.
Todoroki nods. “They should.” He turns to look at his friend. “Unless….”
Midoriya facepalms. “Sho, I swear to god, don’t start that again!”
The others laugh at them, knowing full well what they’re talking about, the adults smile amusedly and look between them curiously.
“It only adds to my theory.”
“It adds nothing!”
“I’ll prove it.”
“You’ll prove nothing, there’s nothing there, absolutely nothing!”
“Of course, someone would deny there being anything present if it’s supposed to be a secret.”
“THERE’S NOTHING TO DENY!”
“In the past, when the superpowers first started showing up, the results of an early research study were published. It became common practice to see if the pinky toe was missing a joint or not. When parts of the body aren’t being used, they’re deemed unnecessary. People who didn’t have the joint were thought to be a newly evolved form.”
“You can see by looking at this x-ray that Izuku-kun has two joints. It’s unusual to see that these days, but that means that he has no quirk.”
“That logic is ancient and has since been dismissed!” Recovery Girl snaps lightly. “How is he still practicing! I have two toe joints!”
Izuku sits up to look over his dad’s shoulder at her. “You do?”
“Yes, dearie, I do, and I’ve obviously got a quirk. That logic has been proven to be false.”
He contemplates. “So, does that mean I could actually have a quirk, one of my own, I mean?”
That particular statement confuses so many people and Keigo nods to himself, that’s also something they’re going to talk about.
Recovery Girl nods in understanding, she knows about One for All. “Possibly, dearie, we can have you tested. I wouldn’t rely on this mans account. I wouldn’t rely on him treating a stubbed toe.”
Izuku smiles and nods, reclaiming his position against the winged hero, feeling his arm curl around his shoulders again.
A quiet piano played in the background as it rained outside the apartment building. The scene cut to show young Izuku’s two All Might posters, barely visible thanks to the light of the computer. The video from earlier could be heard.
“The music just makes it so much worse.” Jiro says somberly. “It makes it so much sadder.”
Kirishima nods in agreement.
“Mom,” Izuku spoke up from his chair in front of the computer. His voice was shaking, hard. The video was paused on the hero’s famous smile, a small amount of blood trickling down this temple and cheek. “He saves everyone with a smile, no matter what trouble they’re in. He’s such a cool hero.” The chair turned just as the boy’s mother took a step closer. She stopped, tears visibly welling up in her eyes.
“Can I… be a hero, too?” Izuku asked, pointing at his hero, tears on the brink of falling.
Izuku giggles softly when papa bird whines like a wounded puppy and curls around him. “It’s okay, papa bird.”
“It’s not okaaaay!” The winged hero wails dramatically. “Seeing my baby bird so heartbroken breaks my heart!”
Miruko snorts. “Leave it to chicken wing to lighten the mood.”
“You are a hero, Deku!” Uraraka cries. “You’re a great hero!”
“I feel so bad.” Ashido mumbles softly.
Jiro and Yaoyorozu nod in agreement. “Me too.”
“No, that’s not it. That’s not it, Mom. What I wanted you to say back then was…”
The scene cut to show the middle school Izuku just about to step under the bridge.
Hahahaha!” Izuku gave his best All Might laugh, not noticing… something congealing behind him.
“Haha-“ The boy finally picked up on something, as he cut off his laugh and turned around. His eyes widened as he took in the large amount of slime growing right in front of him.
“A villain?!”
“A medium-sized invisibility cloak…” The villain’s voice came out bubbly, like he was speaking through some kind of liquid. Which is actually a very accurate description.
“No! Deku run!”
“Midobro get outta there!”
Keigo pinches him and he yelps softly, tilting his head back to meet his golden gaze. “You never told me you met this piece of eye goo.”
“I’m a mystery, I have so many secrets.” Izuku gulps softly when the hero levels a look down at him. “That I will share with you later.”
“Mhmm, good thinking.”
“Okay,” Present Mic nods to his dark haired friend. “I see what you mean now. He’s got it down to an art.”
“Told you.”
The middle schooler’s legs finally started to work as he turned and started to run. Sadly, the villain was faster, and leaped at the boy, encircling him and stuffing its slime down all his air holes.
“NO!” Almost everyone screams, jumping forward, startling Aizawa in his chair.
“I can’t watch!” Uraraka covers her eyes. “Tell me when it’s over!”
“That has to be so gross.” Aoyama cringes as he imagines what it must taste like.
“I think I might be sick.” Ashido whispers.
“Don’t worry, I’m just going to take over your body. Calm down, it’ll only hurt for about 45 seconds. You’ll feel better soon.”
“What ever happened to this guy?”
Izuku shrugs. “I’m not sure, papa bird.”
“I’m gonna fine him, and I’m gonna kill him.”
“Papa bird, no.”
“I- I can’t breathe!” Izuku internally screamed, clawing weakly at the slime covering his face.
Keigo stares at the screen. “I’m watching my kid almost die.”
“I’m okay, though, papa bird.”
“I know you are, baby bird, but it doesn’t make it any less terrifying.”
“You can’t grab me! I’m fluid!
“Thanks for your help. You’re my hero. I didn’t think that he’d come to this city,” the villain explained while on camera, Izuku’s struggles were visibly getting weaker and weaker.
“That’s cruel irony.” Aizawa mutters.
Midnight smacks him and he yelps. “You think!”
“My body… there’s no strength! Am I- Am I dying?
“Somebody! Somebody!”
Everyone tenses, murmuring under their breath, watching the boy before them start to grow more and more sluggish with every passing moment. He hears Keigo whispering a mantra of ‘nononono’ above him.
Deku looks between them all for a moment. “You guys do know I’m right here, right?”
As one whole group, there’s a combined sigh of relief, and they all sit back again, as though they had become so enraptured by the video that they hadn’t remembered that he was well and truly somewhat okay in the room with them.
Bam!
The manhole cover soar into the air, catching the villain’s attention. He turned, before expressing shock at whatever-or whoever- had just come up. The camera panned around from behind the villain to reveal a very familiar looking muscular man.
“It’s all right now, young man,” All Might spoke, stomping his foot down and standing tall. “I am here!” rang out, much to the audience’s cheers. Yes! Finally!
The cover hit the ground and the villain snapped out of his shock. He swung out a whip of slime, which the hero just ducked under before charging forward.
“Texas Smash!” the man cried out, throwing his fist at the villain, the air pressure generated scattering the villain and causing him to release a barely conscious Izuku. The boy had just enough to recognize his hero before passing out.
“Is it done?” Uraraka still has her eyes covered. “It sounds like it’s done.”
Hawks nudges her with his elbow. “Yea, it’s done, you can look.”
“He got to meet All Might before school, that’s so cool!” Kaminari exclaims.
“Indeed, it is….”
“Sho, I swear to god!”
“Give me evidence that my theory is incorrect.”
“I showed you a photo of my actual dad!”
“Photos can be edited.”
“Oh. My. God.”
The scene then cut to Izuku, on his back, with a tanned arm smacking his cheek quickly and repeatedly. “Hey! Hey!”
“Toshinori!” Recovery Girl smacks the hero next to her. “That is not how you wake someone who’s lost consciousness!”
All Might sweat drops. “Heh, my apologies.”
“I’m so glad you’re okay!” All Might said, apparently ignoring Midoriya’s obvious, obvious freak out.
“Sorry ‘bout getting you caught up in my villain fighting,” the man continued. “I don’t usually make mistakes like this, but I was in high spirits on my day off in a new place.” The hero laughed, with several students joining when they saw Izuku’s face.
“But, you were a big help. Thanks!” The hero then held up a bottle that contained the green slime and two floating eyes.
Hawks heaves a sigh. “Class, lesson for you, capturing villains in plastic bottles is not actually capturing them.”
“That’s,” Miruko starts. “A clusterfuck waiting to happen.”
Kamui Woods nods. “It was.”
The number one hero… All Might… He’s the real thing… He looks completely different in person.” Izuku’s internal fanboying concluded with a close up of the sun shining off All Might’s teeth.
“Oh, right, an autograph! Where should I-?” Izuku searched around him, trying to find the appropriate place to have the autograph, ignoring the backpack on his shoulders. Finally, he saw his answer.
“In that notebook!” he exclaimed, seeing his burnt and waterlogged Hero Analysis book that he dropped after being grabbed by the villain. He opened to the next available page only to see All Might’s autograph already covering both pages.
“He already did it!” Izuku then started bowing frantically to the hero, his head just a blur as he thanked the blond. All Might, meanwhile, watched one, not even glancing down as he pushed the bottle containing the villain into his pocket.
“It’ll be an heirloom! A family treasure!”
The class breaks out into bright laughter, the heroes smile fondly, and Midoriya blushes deeply, even more so when he hears his guardian laughing above him, and he squeezes his fingers. “Will our autographs be family treasures too?”
“Um, duh, yours, Auntie Rumi’s, and Uncle Nishiya’s are the best in my collection.”
“That’s our Mido!” Kaminari exclaims loudly.
“You’re fanboying never gets old!” Ashido and Uraraka giggle.
Well, I need to take this guy to the police. See you again on the other side of the screen!”
“Wait, already?”
“Pros are constantly fighting villains and the clock,” All Might explained, stretching out his legs.
“Amen!” The heroes, including, surprisingly, Aizawa, call out at the statement. “Too true.”
Izuku took a step forward, but no words came from his mouth. “Wait… There are still… things I want to ask.”
“Well then,” All Might started, before bounding into the air and raising his voice. “I’m counting on your continued support!”
“Wait!” Someone pauses the video when Hawks calls out suddenly and he turns to the older hero. “He was just attacked by a villain and lost consciousness, and you didn’t even bother to check if he was actually okay? He should have been taken to the hospital, he could have been injured, that thing came up from the sewer, he could have contracted something, protocol is to take the victim of a villain attack to the hospital or to the authorities at the scene!”
All Might sweat drops again but says nothing.
There was a slight beat before All Might finally picked up on what was off. He turned to look over his shoulder, and sure enough, there was Izuku, clinging to his leg, the wind pulling at his mouth and eyes.
Izuku grins when Aizawa and his family groan.
“Problem child.
“Baby bird.”
“Sapling.”
“Bunny.”
Midoriya giggles softly. “Yea?”
The four of them shake their heads, and he feels his dad shake his and chuckle softly. “This is like the time you got the bright idea to jump off the roof of my agency to see if you could fly.”
Miruko laughs and Kamui chuckles softly.
His friends and teachers turn to look at him.
Todoroki assigns himself the task of asking. “What made you think you could fly?”
“Well,” the greenette gestures at the winged hero with his free hand. “You know how I was adopted by Hawks?”
Ashido nods lightly. “Yea?”
“And,” he drops his hand. “Hawks can fly?”
Kirishima nods. “Right?”
“Well, I thought, since I was adopted by a birdman, that I’d be able to fly too.”
Hawks laughs. “He couldn’t.”
Todoroki stares at him. “That’s…..That’s not how it works.”
“Well, I know that now.”
“Let go of me! Your fanaticism is too much!”
“I-If I l-let go now, I-I’ll die!”
“That’s true.”
Aizawa groans and buries his face in his hands, this man is going to get his students killed, who allowed him to become a teacher, and can he meet them, he just wants to talk.
“How is he number one again?” Miruko whispers to the hero at her side, Kamui Woods shrugs, he’s not sure himself. “Not sure, honestly.”
“I love how he had to be reminded.” Hawks mumbles lowly.
I… have… a lot of things… I want to ask you directly!” Izuku somehow managed to get out while his face was being pulled off.
“Okay, okay! I get it, so close your eyes and mouth!” Izuku immediately followed those orders, tucking his head into his hero’s leg. All Might himself moved to get a better hold on the boy as he looked for a place to land. His other hand came up to his mouth as he coughed.
“Shit.”
“Does everyone understand why I call him ‘problem child’ now?”
“Yes.”
Izuku was shown to be extremely shaken up by his unexpected flight, his lips dried and eye lids pulled back. All Might, meanwhile, was not looking at the boy. “That was scary…”
Hawks hums softly. “You love it when I take you flying, you don’t think it’s scary, right?”
Izuku shakes his head. “Nah, papa bird, I love flying with you, you don’t tell me to let go.”
“Oh, true, touché.”
Kirishima turns to look at him. “Hawks takes you flying?”
“Yep. It’s super fun. Sometimes he drops me because he can be an asshole—” He shrieks softly when fingers dig sharply into his ribs and resists the urge to laugh with great difficulty. “But that’s fun too. I like free falling and he always catches me.”
“Dude…..You are so lucky…..”
Kirishima blinks and looks up when the subject of their conversation nudges him with his elbow and Hawks smiles down at him. “I’ll take you flying too, if you wanna go.”
“Seriously!” He grins when the winged hero nods. “Awesome! Totally!”
“Cool, we can go later today.”
“Good grief! If you talk to the people downstairs, I’m sure they’ll let you down. I am seriously out of time, so I really must go.” All Might started to walk towards the edge of the roof, never once turning to look at Izuku.
“Aaand, he’s going to leave him on the roof with no sure way he can get down.” Kamui Woods shakes his head. “He’s a good hero, but that’s extremely irresponsible.”
“That’s not the concerning part, Nishiya.” There’s concern in Miruko’s tone. “He’s leaving a kid who was just told to jump off a roof to kill himself on a roof.”
“You’re right, that is more concerning.”
Aizawa sighs a sigh that indicated internal suffering and turns to the hero next to him. “Who allowed you to teach kids again?”
This snapped the middle schooler out of his trance. “Wait, um-“
“No! I will not wait!”
“But-“
“You should probably give up,” the doctor’s voice echoed.
The boy’s outstretched arm started to retract as his mother’s voice was once more heard apologizing to him and Bakugo’s earlier taunts following shortly after.
“That might be true. But, even so, I…” Izuku clenched his fist, his shoulders tense. Finally, the boy found his voice again.
“Even if I don’t have a quirk, can I become a hero?” This got All Might’s attention, leading him to pause before the guardrail. “Can someone without a quirk be like you?”
All Might turned to look over his shoulder at the boy. The boy who was tense, as if preparing himself for the answer that could build him up or tear down every hope he had.
“My meeting with All Might… This miracle… At the time, I couldn’t even imagine how much it would change my fate.”
The scene then cut to a drawing clearly out of the now damaged Hero Analysis, though it wasn’t one of the currently active pro-heroes. Instead…
The picture fades to black.
“WHAT!” Most of the class and Miruko shouts. “IT CAN’T END ON A CLIFF HANGER!”
Ashido presses her hands to her cheeks. “I neeeed to know what he said!”
“I too would like to know the answer to that question.” Iida nods in agreement.
Miruko and Kamui turn to the older hero. “You better have said yes, All Might, or I’m gonna kick you in the face.”
Once again, All Might sweat drops, but says nothing.
Aizawa waits until the settle down. “How about we use this time to do what we’ve got to do.”
He meets Hawks eyes and the other man nods, turning back to his kid, and squeezes his hand for his attention. “Come on, baby bird, let’s go talk.” Izuku nods, sparing his friends a quick glance as a hand curls over his shoulder and guides him away, around the class on the floor, his Auntie and Uncle, his teachers, and out the auditorium doors.
Izuku recognizes the direction they’re going, Aizawa’s office, he’s probably invested in this conversation too. He opens the door for them, Keigo flips the light switch, and closes the door behind him as the enter completely.
He stops in front of his homeroom teacher’s desk. “Papa bird, do we have to do this?”
The man nods, hoisting him up to sit on the edge of the desk, and crosses his arms loosely. “Yea, baby bird, we do, I’m concerned about you.”
“You shouldn’t be, it’s fine, things have changed.”
“That’s not the point, baby bird, and you know it.” Keigo sighs softly and just jumps right in. “How long were you being abused by your peers quirks?”
“What?” Izuku’s head snaps up to meet his golden gaze. “I wasn’t abused by them!”
“Baby bird, anything that leaves scars is abuse.” He bows his head slightly. “That one kid, you said his elongating fingers weren’t the worst part, what’d you mean by that?”
“Well,” the teen fidgets slightly. “You know how you have your talons?” The winged hero nods lightly. “Well, he didn’t have talons, but he could form claws, and sometimes he’d claw me.”
“Define ‘claw me’, please.”
Izuku sighs. “Sometimes he’d carve his claws into my skin and tear it.”
Keigo nods and rubs at his chin. “And, your teachers did nothing to stop it?”
The boy shakes his head. “No, they either turned a blind eye, condoned it, or some joined in.”
“They joined in?”
“I mean, sometimes, but it wasn’t that bad, really, don’t make a big deal about it.”
The hero shakes his head in disbelief. “Baby bird, I should be making a bigger deal about it, that’s…….at best it’s an abuse of power, at worst…..I don’t even know what it would be at worst, that’s how bad it is.” Izuku stares at him. “Where’d you go to school?”
“I—what?”
Keigo nods faintly. “You heard me just fine, answer the question.”
“I—I—”
“Izuku.”
He flinches at the use of his actual name, he knows he’s not playing when he calls him by his name and not by ‘baby bird’, and nods lightly. “Aldera Junior High.”
“Thank you.” The blonde’s tone softens just a bit. “Baby bird, you said you’d considered suicide?”
“I mean, I did, but I haven’t in a long time, not since I started U.A. and met you and Auntie Rumi and Uncle Nishiya.”
“Have you thought about it since then?”
Izuku shakes his head. “Nope.”
“Okay,” he nods. “If you do, can you tell me, at least give me a sign, so I can help you?” The teen nods slightly. “Thank you, can I see your scars?” The teen stares up at him. “Please, baby bird, I have to see them.”
The greenette sighs softly and nods, hesitantly lifting his shirt, and Keigo just stares.
His kids chest and stomach are covered in scar tissue, mainly starburst scars, some claw marks, and he steps forward, running a finger over the raised skin, and leans around him to see his back. “Baby bird, my god, I’ve seen seasoned pros with less.” He nods, after snapping a few pics, much to the kids dismay, and Izuku pulls his shirt back down. “It was that Bakugo kid, wasn’t it?” His baby bird nods hesitantly. “I’m showing these to Nedzu, he’s not getting away with this, this is toxic.”
“NO, Keigo, no!” The teen latches onto his wrist. “No, you can’t, he’s going to be a great hero, he’s changed, he’s not like that anymore, not really, he’s getting better!”
“No, Izuku, no,” Keigo shakes his head firmly. “I let you get away with a lot, but this time, I’m putting my foot down. I’m discussing this with Nedzu and that’s final. What happens from there happens. I’m not arguing with you on this one, I’m going to regardless of what you want, because this is not the signs of a hero, the fact that you said ‘not really’ in that statement is a leading connotation that he’s changed minimally, and that’s a toxic attitude for a hero.” He shakes his head again and pulls his arm free to stuff his phone back in his pocket. “Seeing how he responds to criticism is enough evidence for me to see he hasn’t really changed, he’s too brash and cocky, he needs a reality check, it’s obvious he’s never experienced the consequences of his actions, and I’m going to make sure he does this time, that’s the end of it, I’m not arguing with you about it.”
Izuku huffs but nods in resignation, looking away from him in irritation, that’s fine, that’s cool, he can deal with an irritated teenager. “Fine.”
“Good, baby bird.” He hums softly. “Now, why don’t you tell me what you meant when you said, ‘a quirk of my own’.”
The kids eyes widen, clearly not realizing he’d said it, or that he’d heard it, and he turns back to stare up at him. “I—I can’t! I—I’m not supposed to t—tell anyone!”
His dad nods lightly and steps forward. “Okay, that’s cool, you don’t wanna tell me willingly, I’m not above torturing it out of you.” Izuku stiffens when arms curl around him, pulling him into his dad’s chest firmly, and lasts maybe a minute when fingers wiggle into his sides before he spills everything, he can withstand pain, he has an alarmingly high pain tolerance, but he cannot, for the life of him, withstand tickling, and his dad definitely knows this, he teases him about it all the time and comes after him just as much.
Izuku thinks he’s kind of sadistic for a hero, he’s only said it to his face once, learned very quickly to never say it to his face again, and that his feathers and talons can be used for more than just weaponry.
He now says it behind his back instead.