A/N: Please visit my profile to get more information about this story as I don't want to pad the word count with an extremely long A/N. It's been a long time since I've written anything so this will hopefully get better as we go. Especially my Spacing, Pacing and Dialogue. While there are quite a few stories out there with One Piece aspects(check out these authors - azndrgn, Lucy Heart of Fairy Tail, I Ate Your Muffin) I have to give a shout out to Masseffec-TxS for his story Deku of the Haki! for having a very uncommon similar concept as me(more on my profile). Also I have disabled guest reviews. If you have something to say make an account.
Chapter I: A Twist of Fate
To live life is to suffer. That was what a controversial philosopher of the 19th century, named Friederich Nietzsche, had once postulated. And there might be some truth to that as Life tends to like to walk all over a person. She's a bitch that way.
Now if a kid were to think this you'd just shake your head and smile at how melodramatic they're being at some little scrape or bruise. Unfortunately for Midoriya Izuku, as he lay broken, burnt and bleeding behind the school at the age of six, this would not apply to him. Once again he had stood up to his former friend turned tormentor Kacchan as he tried to stop him from bullying another child in their class. And once again he paid for it dearly. As the young boy's screams of pain faded into whimpers his bleary eyes looked around as Kacchan and his goons sauntered off to see that at least the other child had gotten away before he knew no more.
Usually, at this point since everyone was so scared of Bakugou Katsuki, everyone, even the original victim, would keep their head down in hopes that he wouldn't come after them when he was done. But luckily for Izuku the child he had saved, frightened by how awful his screams were, had ran to a teacher to report the abuse in the hopes he could somehow help the timid green-haired hero wannabe.
"Sensei! Bakugou is beating up Midoriya real bad behind the school!", the child practically screamed at their homeroom teacher.
"Yes, yes I'm sure it's just a school yard scuffle. Young Bakugou has a very strong Quirk so I'm sure their Hero/Villain play just got a little out of hand," the teacher, a middle aged balding man who was quite looking forward to the idea that he could claim he taught a Hero who could easily be in the Top 10 given a few years, said dismissively without even bothering to look up from his paperwork.
"No, he's killing him!" the boy screamed trying to somehow convey the seriousness of the situation to a man even he could see didn't care.
Sighing, the man finally looked up and said, "Fine. I'll go have a look but I'm sure you're just overreacting." It was only fifteen minutes later, when he came out behind the school and saw the mangled body of a six year old he was supposed to be in charge of, that he begin to panic, immediately calling the principal and an ambulance.
[Musutafu General Hospital]
Midoriya Inko burst through the door of the hospital only to find her son heavily bandaged and with casts on both arms as he lay unconscious on the bed.
"IZUKU!" she screamed as she seemed to teleport to his side, already crying hysterically at the damage to the most important thing in her life.
The doctor, who was standing on the other side of the bed reading a chart, winced at the sheer volume as the scream seemed to pierce directly into his brain. After a few minutes of waiting for the women to collect herself enough to talk to her, and seeing that that didn't seem likely, he spent the next few minutes trying, and failing, to get her attention before the woman herself seemed to realize he was there. "What happened to my son!?" she demanded.
"Mrs. Midoriya you should sit down for this," the man said, not unkindly, as it was always painful to see a child hurt and this was one of the worst cases he'd seen in awhile of inflicted harm. "Your son has several cracked ribs, multiple fractures in both arms, mainly in the ulna and radius from what is obviously defensive wounds," he said pointing towards Izuku's forearms, "And quite a number of second and third degree burns. He was found behind his school in this condition and though it should have been easy to find who did this they are being tight-lipped about it. I would suggest you inform the police about this," he told her as gently as he could, her whimpering getting worse with each new wound before she latched on to something he had mentioned.
"Did you say burns?" she queried. "Izuku has been coming home more and more often with scrapes and bruises for awhile now. And burns. But despite it being quite obvious he would always say he fell, or it was an accident while they were playing. It's been getting worse for awhile now," she ended, her voice almost coming out in a growl at the last.
The doctor sighed at this point, shaking his head. "I had a look at his chart. His life would have been rough due to being Quirkless as it is but I never expected this much abuse so young." He looked up at Inko, making sure she was looking him in the eye before continuing. "His school is obviously playing favorites as there is an obvious bias against the Quirkless going on after three or four generations since they manifested. Hopefully you won't find that in the police force since most everyone there is someone who wanted to be a Hero but couldn't due to an inappropriate quirk. But whatever happens after this," he told her, seeing the absolute rage in the small woman's eyes, "Don't give up til you get justice. Go to the school and get whoever did this' name and then file a police report. And then I suggest you file a lawsuit for negligence against the school if nothing else. Just call me and I will testify if need be. Someone like this...well I very much doubt they'll end up being a Hero," he said with some finality.
Inko wiped her eyes with a tissue before nodding gratefully at the doctor and then looking down at her son. Bending over to, ever so gently, place a kiss on his forehead she murmured softly, "Don't worry baby, Mommy will be back soon."
And as she stood to leave the doctor spoke up once more. "We will be keeping him sedated for a few days as, due to the severity of his injuries, the pain will be much to great for someone his age. I will call you when we're going to bring him out. That should give you enough time to get started on things," he told her placing a hand on her shoulder before he himself left the room.
Inko spared one last heart-broken look at her precious baby before turning around and, with a resolute look in her eyes, stormed out to get some answers.
[Aldera Elementary School]
Shouts were heard from the principal's office as a female voice was raised in anger, able to be heard up and down the long hallway of the normally placid school before the door was slammed open. "If you honestly think you can get away with hiding who did this from me you have another thing coming. And when I find out you'll be brought up on charges along with them!" Inko yelled over her shoulder as she stormed out before slamming the door closed again, absolutely furious about the blatant favoritism. It wasn't until she turned a corner on her way out that she heard a frightened and timid voice, much reminiscent of her own Izuku, that called out to her.
"Mrs. Midoriya?" a tiny voice spoke out and as Inko turned to look down she saw a small brown haired child on the verge of tears. "It was my fault," he said as he started to cry.
Kneeling down Inko slowly patted the young boys head as she asked, "What was your fault sweetie?"
"It was my fault Izuku got hurt. He was just trying to protect me despite how scared he looked," the boy's open tears and slight hiccoughs making that slightly harder to understand than normal.
Inko closed her eyes and took a deep breath, knowing she couldn't show how angry she was as this was probably her best chance at finding the truth. Opening her eyes she smiled gently at him, "It wasn't your fault. Izuku always wanted to be a Hero and despite being Quirkless he never gave up. And Hero's always protect those who can't protect themselves. But sweetie I need to know who did this."
"It was Bakugou Katsuki," The boy said tremulously, obviously scared of even mentioning his name. "Izuku is pretty much the only one who will stand up to him despite him bullying everyone. And the teacher's never do anything since Bakugou has such a flashy Quirk."
Inko quickly looked away and took several deep breathes before turning back to look at the child. "That was a very brave thing you just did. What is your name?" she asked him, as gently as she could.
"Haruto. Katsurugi Haruto," he answered.
"Well Haruto, thank you so much. Now maybe my son can get justice. Just to be safe, don't tell anyone we talked just yet. And if someone comes by your house to ask questions just remember, you've done nothing wrong and you're not in trouble. They will just need to make sure they have all the facts before they decide what to do," she told him, smiling down at him. "Izuku might have been your Hero when he stood up to Katsuki for you, but now I need you to be his Hero and tell them what you saw. Can you do that? Can you be our brave little Hero so this doesn't happen to anyone else?" she asked, hating herself for the slight manipulation but desperate for any chance to right this wrong. Nodding his head quickly Inko could see a small light of determination in Haruto's eyes. "Good. Now run along and make sure you stay out of Katsuki's way. I don't want you getting hurt either," she said as she patted his shoulder one more time before striding off.
[Musutafu General Hospital]
It had been three days since Izuku had been admitted to the hospital before Inko received a call from his doctor stating they would be bringing him out of sedation and in that time she was very busy. From filing charges against young Bakugou, as well as a restraining order, to contacting her attourney to file a lawsuit against him and the school. Luckily for her, the Law office she had used during her divorce, when Izuku's father Hisashi had abandoned them after he was diagnosed Quirkless, also had lawyers who specialized in criminal negligence and domestic Quirk violence. She had also contacted her parents to tell them what happened and, after calming her father down enough so that he wouldn't come down to Musutafu and slaughter everyone involved, he demanded they move back home to which she agreed.
Now as she hurried through the halls of the hospital towards her son's room her only thought was to be there when he woke up. Coming into the room she was surprised to find not only nurses and the doctor but also what were obviously a pair of policemen in plain clothes. "Couldn't you have waited a little bit before you took his statement Officers?" she asked worriedly as she got a better look at them. One was older, maybe even pushing fifty though it was hard to tell with what were obviously stress lines on his face, dressed in a slightly rumpled grey suit complete with a loosened brown tie. The other was younger, mid-twenties if that, with a kind face in an immaculate black suit with a red tie.
"I'm Officer Hitori," said the older one in a gruff, almost gravelly voice. "And while I understand your concerns, Mrs. Midoriya, and considering the ages of the perpetrator and victim at a government funded public school, we felt it best we get to the bottom of this as soon as possible. Especially before the Press gets a hold of this," he said with a sigh before the younger officer stepped forward offering his hand.
"I'm Officer Sasaki," the young man said kindly in a firm but gentle tone, "and I'm terribly sorry your family had to go through this. We of course will give you and your son a few minutes first so you can reassure him before-hand. I will be the one asking him questions since I seem to have an easier time setting children at ease when we must deal with cases like these."
Inko shook his hand and smiled at the younger officer before replying. "Thank you Officers. I know you're just doing your job and as long as it doesn't hurt my Izuku anymore I am willing to do whatever it takes to bring that viscious animal to justice," she said vehemently causing the two officers to exchange a look before the older one spoke.
"Forgive me for asking, Mrs. Midoriya, but you weren't thinking about taking matters into your own hands now would you?" he asked bluntly, hoping to dissuade her from any such notion.
With a sardonic chuckle Inko shook her head. "If that were the case I would have let my father come down but then you'd be spending the next week cleaning up the bodies for daring to harm his little Juki," she answered a little darkly using his pet name for Izuku, an ancient Japanese word meaning treasured person.
"Your father? And who might that be," he asked a little warily.
"Asakura Jin," she stated proudly, "A direct descendant of the Asakura Clan from before the Sengoku Period. He has faithfully continued the clan's traditions and this incident just gave him the excuse he needed to have us move back with him so he can pass them down to my son."
"The ancient Samurai clan that served the emperor!?" Sasaki exclaimed, his voice rising slightly despite him trying to stay quiet in respect for where they were. Being a bit of a history buff he had loved stories of the samurai and the tales of epic battles all for honor and family. "If he has continued practicing their swordsmanship passed down for almost a millennia then even without using his Quirk we'd have a hard time stopping him before the body count rose," he said, the slight trepidation warring for awe in his voice very obvious. "Thank you very much for talking some sense into him!"
Spitting out a tired sigh Inko just shook her head, "As much as I wanted to let him I knew Izuku would never forgive us for it. He sees the good in everyone and wants so badly to be a Hero even though everyone has told him it's impossible without a Quirk. If people got hurt because of him it would crush him and he's been hurt enough," she said trying to hold back the tears filling her eyes.
That caused the two officers to pause for a moment. While all children wanted to be Heroes the fact that this little Quirkless boy hadn't given up that dream and was still trying to help others to this extent was honestly amazing. They knew how hard it was for regular Quirkless people to live nowadays and the abuse they suffered. If this was what would happen to Quirkless children then something needed to change and quickly.
It was at this point that the nurses were finished and the Doctor spoke up, "We're bringing him out of sedation now. He'll still be in quite a bit of pain even with the painkillers since he needs to be fully cognizant for the Police's questions," he warned as Inko rushed over to stand next to his bed grabbing his hand gently, careful not to put any pressure on his injuries.
No more than two minutes had passed before a small whimper could be heard from the green haired tyke as his eyes fluttered open as he looked around blearily before his mother called out to him. "I'm here baby. You're safe now but you shouldn't try to move around yet, okay?" for once trying to hold back her tears so she could try and reassure him. "Would you like some water, sweetie?"
Nodding slightly as a nurse handed a cup to Inko he put his mouth around the straw his mother held out for him before taking a few sips and letting his head fall back slightly with a sigh. "Haruto-san," he croaked out causing everyone to pause. "Is Haruto-san ok?" he asked causing his mother to barely restrain herself from bursting into tears yet again. Even the two nurses had to turn away to collect themselves as the shock spread throughout the room. The fact that this little boy, who had to be in so much pain from the beating he took, had his first thought to be to ask about the boy who he had stood up for had even the Doctor and the Officers utterly flabbergasted.
Inko, who already knew just how beautiful a person her precious Izuku was was the first to recover as she smiled down while she stroked his head softly. "He's just fine, baby. Despite your school not wanting to tell me what happened Haruto-kun found me and told me how so very brave you were protecting him. From the look in his eyes it seemed you're already someone's Hero," she said as a few tears slipped her control and slowly fell down her cheeks at how proud she was. "He already told us what happened but the Officers here," she said as she nodded towards the two men who were barely recovering from what happened earlier nodded back, Officer Sasaki even managing a soft smile for the boy, "Want to ask you some questions. But Izuku sweetie, you have to tell them the truth. I know you don't want to get Katsuki in trouble but we can't let him hurt anyone else. If you truly care about him you need to help stop his more violent behavior or next time it could be worse for someone else," she said sternly, still stroking his head softly to comfort him but not willing to let him prevaricate to protect his "friend" any longer. Izuku's eyes wandered around the room, not making eye contact with anyone, before settling on his cast covered arms before nodding slowly.
Sasaki stepped forward slowly with a gentle smile on his face as he spoke in a softer voice. "Hello, I'm Officer Sasaki, may I call you Izuku?" After a small nod from the boy his smile got slightly bigger before continuing on. "All right Izuku it's very nice to meet you. I'm sorry to ask you have to think about what happened so soon but its very important that we understand exactly what happened to you. It was very brave what you did, protecting that other child, and I understand you don't want anyone to get in trouble but we need to make sure this doesn't happen to anyone else. Can you be brave again and tell us? Can you do that Izuku?" he asked with an almost pleading look in his eyes.
Looking down again he was silent for a minute before nodding slightly. "Kacchan was bullying someone again," he started out only for Officer to stop him to clarify what he said.
"Sorry to interrupt you so soon Izuku but can you tell me if he bullies other children a lot?" Sasaki asked and at Izuku's guilty nod he continued. "Can you tell me how often?" he asked again noting that guilty look and filing it away for later.
"Everyday," Izuku mutters, his voice barely above a whisper. "Ever since he got his Quirk everyone around him kept praising him for how amazing it was. But...he changed. It started off just showing off with it every chance he got. But then he...started being mean to others...for how weak their quirk was. And it just kept getting worse and worse...until he started using his Quirk to hurt others."
"If he was doing that to people who had what he considered weaker Quirks than him what did that mean for?" Sasaki asked as Izuku took a deep breath to try and stop his tears, his only reply was Izuku looking away again. Changing topics he tried a different direction, "What would happen when he started bullying others? And what about the teachers?"
Izuku shook his head at that, "The teachers always looked the other way whenever Kacchan used his Quirk, even when he was hurting others." He paused before starting again, "A Hero should protect those who can't protect others. He should never use his Quirk to hurt the innocent!" He said strongly looking up. The sheer determination and fire in eyes causing the adults in the room to almost step back before he dropped his eyes again seeming to wilt. "I always tried to stop him. I tried to tell him that every time but...it just made him even more mad," he said, getting quieter as he kept speaking. "The fact that a Quirkless Deku would stand up to him set him off and he would...beat me up," he whispered as his mother let out a slight gasp, the tears falling freely at this point.
Writing down a few things in his little notepad, Officer Sasaki took a minute to gather his thoughts and let Izuku try and calm down before asking another question. "Was he the only one who was bullying others?"
Izuku shook his head before replying in a small voice, "No. Shibo-san and Nagai-san always helped him."
Sasaki flipped a few pages in his notebook before coming to a stop. "That would be Shibo Tsubasa and Nagai Yubi?" he asked for clarification, flipping back and making a few more notes at Izuku's nod. Looking at Officer Hitori, and getting a nod from the older man, he turned back to Izuku and smiled, "Thank you for answering my questions Izuku. I know it must have been tough for you."
A buzz from his pocket and Hitori pulled out his phone to read a text only to pale and look to Sasaki. "The press have already found it, we need to go," he said as he was already heading for the door, Izuku's medical reports in his hand.
Sasaki stood up and sighed before smiling at the Midoriyas. "Thank you very much for your time. We'll be in touch if we have any more questions," he said as he stood up and went to follow the older man. Pausing at the door he looked over his shoulder at Izuku, his eyes holding an emotion the young man couldn't understand. "You don't have to be a Hero to be someone's hero," he said before turning back around with one last word before stepping through the door. "Just keep following that heart of yours, Izuku, and you'll help others more than you might ever know."
[Somewhere on Mt. Ibuki, Asakura Clan Manor]
It had been almost eight months since Izuku had woken up in the hospital and it wasn't a very pleasant time for anyone involved. It took three weeks before he was well enough to be released with the warning that he would still be recovering for a couple more months. Inko had already pulled him out of his current school and, due to the media having gotten a hold of the story and forcing the government to get off it's collective ass for once, it was only another week before the trial would be held. Even though the laws for juvenile trials made the actual trial be closed the media still hounded everyone each time they went into or out of the courts. Due to the nature of the case and the fact it also involved the school as a whole it quickly was sent up to the High Courts, which of course gave the Press even more fuel to the already massive fire.
It had only taken two weeks for the courts to rule in favor of the Midoriyas against Aldera Elementary School, due to the massive amount of evidence, giving them enough money to live for the rest of their lives in comfort and then some. All teachers involved, as well as the principle, were immediately fired and heavily fined. It had even splashed over onto the preschool teachers that Izuku and Katsuki had been under, though not nearly as heavily, for encouraging such behavior to start.
The case against Katsuki himself, as well as minorly against Shibo and Nagai, however took far longer. Due to this case being against children they had to rush in several specialists and psychologists to run a battery of tests, all of which took another four months. And even then, after Katsuki had failed almost all of his psychological evaluations, the trial took another month for them to make a decision. And then another two weeks to fully decide his sentence due to something Inko was adamant about.
"I don't want money from the Bakugous," she had told the judges after her attorney had gotten permission for her to speak. "If money could fix something like this there would be no conflict left in the world. On top of that I don't hold Mitsuki or Masaru to blame for this. I've seen her try to discipline Katsuki for his more violent behavior. No, what I want is for this to never happen again. If he were ten years older we wouldn't be having this conversation because he'd already be in prison. I want him put some place where he can learn how to act like a decent human being. I want him to remember every day why he's there and hopefully they can teach him right from wrong."
After that they had sentenced Katuski to be put in a Juvenile Training School until he would take his High School Entrance Exams, at which point his record would be sealed to try and give him a chance at a normal life. However, there was a stipulation that if he was caught using his Quirk against another for any reason, or commiting any other crime, it would be immediately unsealed and he would be punished to the full extent of the law. Thankfully, Inko hadn't been nearly as particular about the other two boys so they had already been sentenced to fines, community service and a permanent mark on their record.
From there it was putting all their affairs in order and getting out of the contract for their apartment, which considering Inko had just won two separate lawsuits and another just over a year ago scared the landlord enough to agree to just break it. From there it was selling all of the furniture as well as donating other things they wouldn't be needing or be taking with them to her parents home. This, and several doctor visits to make sure Izuku was fully healed and cleared to go, took about another month.
Which brings them to today as they got out of the taxi in front of large stone gate leading to the ancestral clan home, in front of which stood an old couple wearing high quality traditional garb. The man was wearing a black hakama, white obi and a dark green kimono with a white Asakura mon on his left breast. He stood around six feet tall and his black hair was mostly grey by this point, his hand resting on the handle of a katana pushed through his obi. Standing next to him was a woman who looked like an older, if well preserved, version of Inko, whose dark green hair was pulled into a bun behind her head and soft smile that could charm birds from the sky. She was wearing a black kimono sporting white flowers here and there with a dark green obi.
Having already sent everything ahead of them, Inko paid the driver and quickly walked towards her parents, Izuku already having run towards the two. "Obaa-chan! Ojii-chan!" he yelled as he jumped into his grandmother's arms.
"Izu-kun!" Aohime exclaimed happily as she hugged her precious grandson and kissed the top of his head. "It's been much too long!" she said before releasing him to let him give her husband a hug as well.
"There's my little Juki!" Hiyahiko cried out, breaking his normally stern demeanor to grab the young boy and twirl him around with a grin.
Inko almost stumbled at seeing the first real smile on Izuku's face since this whole fiasco started before catching herself and hugging her mother after Izuku had jumped into her father's arms for a hug. "Kaa-san, it's so good to see you," she said happily, only a few tears coming to her eyes instead of her normal hysterics.
Taking her by the hand Aohime started to lead her inside. "Come lets not stand outside. We've much to discuss and much to catch up on," she said with a soft smile but a glint in her eye as Hiyahiko followed after with Izuku on his shoulders.
A few hours later, after they had gotten settled in and had finished recounting what had happened it was with a very serious air that Hiyahiko had turned to look at his very depressed grandson. It was quite obvious bringing up the reason they had moved in had brought up all those painful memories for the boy. "Izuku," he called out firmly causing the young boy to jump and look up at him wide-eyed, his voice demanding attention. "Even after all this do you still want to be a Hero?" he asked sternly.
Izuku started to shrink in on himself and look down before stopping, looking back up at the older man with a fire in his eyes Hiyahiko thought he'd never see. "Yes! More than anything! A Hero like All Might who saves everyone with a smile!" he cried out refusing to back down or look away.
Hiyahiko continued to stare at Izuku for several seconds before relaxing as a genuine smile shone on his face. "Good," he said quite a bit softer than before, "That's what I wanted to hear. I have been asking your mother to let you come live here with us so I could pass down our family swordsmanship since you were born, along with our hidden techniques."
At this point the boy looked shell-shocked and barely believing his own ears. "Can...c-can I be a Hero with them?" he asked timidly, his eyes begging his grandfather to tell him yes as hope started to slowly rekindle in his heart.
The man looked him dead in the eyes and with no hesitation said, "Yes. With what I will teach you, you can be a Hero!" At which point the Izuku clutched his chest and started sobbing uncontrollably on his knees. Inko gasped as she also started crying, realizing that her father told her precious baby the one thing he truly needed to hear, the one thing she had never had the courage to tell him. She had almost broken her own son, had almost crushed his dreams, all because she was afraid.
Aohime pulled her daughter into her arms as Inko started to lose it as well and whispered, "You aren't a bad mother. We all make mistakes but this one is still fixable," she said firmly having realized exactly why Inko was crying. "Don't let your fear control your life any longer. And more importantly, don't pass it on to Izu-kun."
Realizing her mother was exactly right a new determination started burning in her own heart as she nodded, promising herself and her son she would become stronger as well.
Once the crying had stopped and everyone had taken a breather Izuku and Inko saw that Hiyahiko looked pensive. After looking once more at the young boy in front of him he nodded and stood. "Wait here," was all he said as he left, returning about ten minutes later carrying three things which he set down in front of Izuku as he knelt again. The first was a iaito, a blunt edged katana, with a black sheath that was only slightly smaller than a standard katana. The second was a small, exquisitely carved wooden chest, about a foot long on all sides, with the Asakura mon above the lock. And the third was an old book, obviously well cared for but just as obviously old as the yellowed paper illustrated.
"If you're going to start training there's going to be a few things we need to get out of the way. First, will be that you will be home schooled. I've already checked the laws and regulations and as long as you can pass the exit exams for Elementary and Middle School, since those tests are standardized anyway, you can use those scores to apply for the High School of your choice, which Inko-chan tells me will be Yuuei. Second, you will still be given tests on each subject you take and any time your grades start to slip your training will stop completely until I'm satisfied with them. Each time that happens I will tack on extra time of no training as punishment. Third, will be that your training will be hell. Your body will hurt and ache and you will want to quit, but if you start this I will not let you stop until you have absorbed all of my training or you go to High School. This is your last chance to back out. Are you absolutely sure you want to do this?" Hiyahiko asked as Izuku nodded his head up and down at a speed so fast it was almost a blur.
Taking a deep breath Hiyahiko looked into Izuku's eyes once more before looking down and pointing at the iaito, "This is an iaito, a blunt edged katana which you will carry with you from now on. We will have you fitted out with the traditional garb which will be the only thing you will wear except for very specific situations, mostly specific training."
He then pointed to the book, "This book is a journal from the end of the 18th century, long after our family had retreated to this mountain. I will have you read it eventually but as the writing style is very archaic it would be next to impossible now, despite how smart you are. It details the story of a strange swordsman our ancestor, Asakura Yamato, found on the verge of death and nursed back to health. The man healed at an astonishing rate according to Yamato and when he was well enough he told him that he had to track down and kill his enemy and that if he survived he would come and return this debt no matter what it took. Knowing all about the needs of honor Yamato gave him some travel food and wished him luck. Two weeks later the man returned carrying a different bag and spent the next year teaching Yamato what would become the Asakura Clan's Secret Techniques."
Shaking his head he finally pointed to the box. "Once he had taught Yamato well enough for him to grasp the basics of each he told Yamato that the debt was repaid and that he would try to find his way home. Just before he left he told him the tale of the place where he came from, across the vast sea. Fantastic stories that even Yamato, having lived and trained with him for many months, had trouble believing. And at the end he opened the bag he had brought back after his battle and pulled out a large, odd looking fruit. 'Whether you believe me or not this will more than make up for my life. Take this and hide it, and if ever you're desperate enough to do anything to protect those you love eat it. It will give you power like you wouldn't believe, just like those stories I told,' the man had told him. Not really believing him but seeing no harm in keeping it he took it and hid it, along with this journal, in a box in the storehouse."
"It was only about two hundred years later when another of our ancestors was cleaning out and cataloging the storehouse that the box was found. And inside, a book and an odd looking fruit that looked freshly picked," Hiyahiko said, having unlocked the small chest and opened it. Inside was what looked like a slightly misshapen peach with an odd red mark towards the upper middle, although it was about twice the size of a normal peach. "After reading the journal and realizing this fruit was over two hundred years old he had this chest crafted and locked both the book and the fruit in it, which in turn was locked in a secret vault. The chest itself was only ever told to the next heir upon inheriting the manor."
With a sigh Hiyahiko looked down at the odd fruit before looking back at Izuku. "Only once since then has anyone been desperate enough to think about eating it but his situation resolved itself before he could make up his mind. His name was Yuuto and he added his thoughts at the end of the journal. Long before there were Quirks there were stories and legends about the powers of this world. You could be a fine Hero with just what I will teach you. But you won't be a Hero like All Might. Our Arts are meant for battle and though that is part of being a Hero now I can tell that is not the part you want to focus on. I have no idea what will happen if you eat this if anything. It could even kill you," at which point Inko, whose mother had a death grip on so she wouldn't interrupt or interfere, let out a gasp and started to say something only for Hiyahiko to stare her into silence. Once he was sure she wouldn't say anything he looked back and continued, "But a man who would teach extremely powerful techniques to our ancestors in repayment for saving his life does not strike me as someone who would harm his descendants. And the words he said spoke of protecting your loved ones. Whatever you decide to do is up to you. This fruit is a gamble and if you want to bet your life on the kindness of a stranger long dead just make sure you're 100% positive that is what you want to do," he said in a grave voice as he sat back to wait on the lad's decision.
Izuku stared at the fruit for a few minutes before looking up at his grandfather. Meeting his eyes he then turned and met the eyes of his grandmother and then mother. He could tell Inko didn't want him to do it. That was so very, very obvious. Yet she was silent, allowing her six year old son to make a decision that would change his life forever. With a deep breath he reached out and picked up the fruit from the box, staring at it closely as he brought it up to his face. "No matter what happens, Ojii-chan, thank you so much for giving me a chance," this little boy said before he turned to look at his mother. "Kaa-san, I love you," was the last thing he said before he turned and ate the fruit, forcing it down as he almost gagged at the taste as Inko was openly bawling. "Oh gross! It tastes like a sumo's sweaty loincloth!" he said loudly.
Had Hiyahiko been drinking anything he would have definitely done a spit-take at Izuku's description of it's taste. He was about to say something to that effect when his precious Juki's whole body started to glow. In a display of speed he reached forward and snatched Inko to his chest as she tried to jump forward towards her son. "IZUKU!" she screamed, crying and struggling against what might as well have been steel bands wrapped around her as she fought to get to him.
Hiyahiko on the other hand was staring like a hawk at Izuku, noticing the glow was brighter on his arms than the few other places that weren't covered by the boy's clothing. Before he could notice anything else the glow started to fade leaving a slightly confused and greatly awestruck six year old. Looking at his hands before looking up at his still crying mother he let out the most brilliant smile as he said, "I feel great! I don't feel any of the aches or stiffness anymore!" at which point Hiyahiko had loosened up his grip on Inko due to shock and she shot off like a rocket, barreling into Izuku and babbling as she checked him over completely.
Hiyahiko and Aohime slowly came over as even Inko slowed down in utter surprise. For it was true. All of the scars and burn marks Izuku still had were now completely gone causing everyone to smile in joy and relief. It was only a few minutes later that Izuku felt a shiver down his spine as he looked up at his grandfather to see that smile slowly morph into something quite a bit more sadistic. "If you can heal yourself that means we can up your training by quite a lot," Hiyahiko said as the room suddenly felt a lot colder.
Izuku, on the other hand, started to shake and stutter in fear before getting a hold of himself and looking back up at the older man. "If it means I can become a better Hero then that's what we're going to do!" he exclaimed with passion causing the old man to grin with pride.
A/N: I hope you enjoyed that. If you take the time to review please remember that I've disabled guest reviews. Also, while constructive criticism is greatly appreciated, if all you're going to do is bash me because I didn't write the story how YOU wanted it there's the door. Piss off. I wrote this story for me. The only reason I posted it was for someone else to possibly get some enjoyment out of it. If you didn't then keep moving. This has not been beta'd and though I've read and re-read it several times I'm sure there's a few mistakes here and there. If anyone feels up to helping out let me know. I will try to post a chapter every 2-3 weeks but if I haven't I will at least post an update on my profile stating what's going on. And again, check my profile for more info in general. I look forward to hearing from you.
