Midoriya Ariko was quirkless. Well, not quirkless exactly, but more like a late bloomer. In a world of superheroes and villains, to lack a quirk, even temporarily, was to be basically disabled. Ariko learned this early in life, when children begun to manifest their own unique powers, and she hadn't. She wasn't upset at first. In fact, she was quite excited when her childhood best friend Satsuki had developed her quirk, on a sweltering July day.

The two of them were only five years old, and were chasing each other through the neighborhood park. Satsuki was much faster than Ariko, and naturally, she struggled to keep up.

"Wait for me, Sacchan!" she cried.

"Nope! You're the monster, and I have to run away so you don't eat me!"

Ariko had decided that she didn't want to be the monster anymore; the game was never any fun because she could never catch the other little girl. In the end Satsuki always made fun of her for being so slow.

Today was different though.

Satsuki had stopped suddenly, and Ariko ran into her, knocking them both over.

"Ouch! Get off me!"

Before she had time to move Ariko had already been pushed to the ground.

"I'm sorry Sacchan," she mumbled, wiping away the tears that were beginning to form.

"Ew, my hands are so sweaty."

Satsuki wrinkled her nose, her red eyes narrowing. She wiped her hands on her shorts, and when that didn't work, she waved them around, as if that could solve her problem. Ariko didn't say anything, no matter how silly it looked. Surely Satsuki knew what she was doing, right?

Satsuki continued though, until Ariko thought her hands would fall off, when all of a sudden—

POP!

The sound attracted the attention of some nearby children, who came over to see what the commotion was. Smoke rose from Satsuki's palms, and she looked just as surprised as everyone else, until her eyes lit up with realization.

She concentrated a bit, staring at her palms. Then, once again, there was a popping— which reminded Ariko of firecrackers—and mini explosions erupted from Satsuki's hands.

"Wow Sacchan! That's so cool!" Ariko said.

An older boy that Ariko didn't know said, "Ground Zero is your dad right? It makes sense you'd have a quirk like his!"

More kids were surrounding Satsuki now, and Ariko found herself being pushed out of the inner circle, seeing less and less of her explosive friend.

She told her mom about it later, as they sat at their dining room table.

"Of course she would have Katsuki's quirk," she laughed. "They're basically the same person!"

Ariko scooped up some rice with her spoon.

"Mom," she asked. "Do you think my quirk we be as cool as dad's or yours?"

"I'm sure that whatever quirk you have, you'll make it your own!"

"Really mom?" she asked, mouth full of food.

"Of course!"

Ochako smiled. Ariko always liked her mom's smiles. They always seemed to reach her warm brown eyes, and brought comfort.

"Don't speak with your mouth full, Ariko."

Ariko didn't realize it then, but one day, those smiles would get her through the darkest times.

A few months later, Ariko turned six years old. She and those around her waited with baited breath to see what kind of quirk she would manifest. After all, she was the daughter of not only one, but two pro heroes. Surely, her quirk would be as strong as theirs, make her family proud. Yet, days passed, then months. There was nothing.

Still, Ariko was excited for her friend. What kind of friend would she be if she didn't give her her full support? So, Ariko was not only Satsuki's best friend, but also her number one fan. It took her mind off the fact that she wasn't normal, was less-then.

"I'm sure you'll get your quirk one day," Satsuki said as they sat together in the library. "Then we can be heroes like our parents!"

"Yeah!" Ariko replied, a little less excited. She flipped the pages of her book. It was about a girl who flew to the moon by holding on to a bunch of balloons. It was her favorite because it reminded her of her mom, and how she could manipulate gravity. In fact, if her mom wasn't on patrol, she would read the book to Ariko before she went to sleep. (Her dad would sometimes read it too, but it just wasn't the same.) This time, it only reminded her that she didn't have a quirk.

"Until then," Satsuki continued, "Don't play with me when we're around other kids, okay?"

"What? Why?"

"It's just embarrassing being around you since you don't have a quirk, you know."

Tears started falling from Ariko's brown eyes.

"W-why're you being so mean? I thought we were friends, Sacchan."

"I guess not, anymore," she said, and left Ariko there.

"Sorry I'm not cool enough for you Sacchan."

It was the end of an era, albeit a short one. People began to notice the change.

"Hey kiddo," her dad said when she came home alone again for the third time that week. "You haven't been playing with Satsuki for a while."

"Yeah," she said, hoping he wouldn't press her for more answers. But someone had told Izuku, long ago, that it was a hero's job to meddle in others' lives. Why should his own child expect anything different? To Ariko, however, he just looked exhausted, dark circles under his eyes from not sleeping in three days. She didn't want to worry him. And besides, her dad was an awesome pro hero! He had bigger problems.

"Is this about your quirk?"

He knelt down, ignoring the soreness in his muscles, and looked into the brown eyes that he loved so much.

"No…"

"Arichan," he said. "If Satsuki is bullying you, then you need to tell someone-"

"Dad, it's not that! We're just taking a break!"

Dad didn't look so convinced, and it was clear that he wasn't going to let it go. But instead of bringing it up again, they watched their favorite superhero movies, and ate katsudon, Ariko curled into Izuku's side.

It was in the middle of an old All Might movie that her dad suddenly spoke again.

"Don't let anyone tell you you're less human because you don't have a quirk, alright?"

She glanced up at him, and was startled to see the most intense look in his green eyes. It was said with such conviction that it seemed like he'd been through that very thing. Ariko could do nothing else but nod.

He brightened up again.

"Besides, the doctor said that you were just a late bloomer! I know it's hard, but the only thing we could do is to be patient."

"I know, but I want to have a quirk already so I could be as cool as you and mom!"

He ruffled her hair, which had once been in a perfect braid. (Ariko had been really proud of it.)

"You messed up my hair!" she whined.

"I think I like it better this way!"

Ariko pouted.

"I meant what I said, Ari-chan," he said, when he'd stopped laughing.

"Okay, dad," though what he said contradicted everything she knew about the world. But that was okay, because they had an All Might movie to watch, and she didn't think about it for the rest of the night.

A/N: Hi everyone! This is like my first fanfiction ever, so I'm still getting used to formatting and just general story writing things. Hope you guys enjoyed this first chapter!