Title: Hiraeth
Summary: AU – Midoriya Izuku is kidnapped for his high IQ. The others are taken for their Quirks.
Author's Note: This feels a little short, actually. And a little unedited. Haha...
Disclaimer: I don't own BnHA. I'd like to, though :)
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One – to be clever
You see, they take an IQ test in school, when they're six. Why? They just do. Every child in the country does.
Izuku has always been an intelligent boy. He spoke his first words at a late thirteen months old, but what came out of his mouth was a full, impressively clear sentence, one which included the words 'please', 'biscuits', and 'thank you'. It was very polite for a one-year-old. Ever since then, Inko, like all proud parents, has known that Izuku is special. More than special.
The IQ test is given when they are six years old, around two years after most Quirks first show. It is long but made of simple questions, ones which should be understandable, if barely, for young children. They're supposed to take it again in middle school, and take another test in their first year of high school.
At six years old, Izuku gets a high score. A very high score. Inko receives the report in the mail and spends a few minutes just blinking down at the letter. Then she calls Izuku down for celebratory cake.
Izuku is happy that his mom is happy. The only thing that will make the day better is if he finally, finally manifests his Quirk.
They went to the doctor when he was five, after all the other kids in his kindergarten class got their Quirks except for Sawada and Kiraba. He had an inkling, at first, that maybe he's like them and simply doesn't have one, but Dr. Tsubasa showed them an X-ray image of his foot. He's missing some kind of bone, so it's very likely that he's just a late bloomer, Dr. Tsubasa said.
Still, most people at school have taken to treating him like he's Quirkless. Which, he supposes he is, at the moment. It – it's not bad. Really, he swears.
Kacchan – Kacchan is mean all the time, but he's particularly mean about Izuku's late Quirk. "Deku," he sneers at Izuku now, sparks crackling in his palms intimidatingly. 'Deku' means 'useless'. Kacchan wouldn't actually use his Quirk on him, Izuku knows, because Kacchan isn't stupid enough to get in trouble like that, but Izuku does his best to look properly intimidated.
Although Kacchan might not be willing to use his Quirk on others (yet, something in his mind whispers), he's more than willing to utilise his fists and sharp tongue. Izuku is a kind child, and he can take Kacchan's growing, careless cruelty any time, but he cannot stand Kacchan speaking to other children like that. Izuku cries so much that it doesn't matter if Kacchan drives him to tears – but the kids at the park, or at school? It matters a lot to him, if Kacchan makes them cry.
He stands up to Kacchan when he is six. They're at the park near his house.
It doesn't work.
"Deku doesn't even have a Quirk!" one of Kacchan's friends laughs as they walk away. "And he thinks he's so great 'cause of some dumb test!"
It's not dumb, Izuku mouths to himself.
From where he lies on the grass, Izuku can't see Kacchan's face. He imagines his once-friend is grinning.
The Quirkless boy he tried to defend, one from another school – because Kacchan won't risk somebody at their school telling a teacher, and Izuku won't tell because he isn't a tattletale – scrambles away, not bothering to thank Izuku or help him up. He sits up by himself, squinting away from the setting sun.
It's almost time to walk home, only a few streets away. His mom thinks that Kacchan will walk with him, but of course Kacchan doesn't. She doesn't know that they haven't walked home together since when they were four.
Except Izuku doesn't get a chance to go home. He won't for a good long while.
A shadow falls over him, and he looks up.
"You're supposed to be clever, aren't you, Midoriya-kun," the man says softly. His eyes are black.
"Walk with me," the man says.
Izuku sits there, frozen, for a moment. There is something strange about this man, in his plain hoodie and running pants. He looks like any other common pedestrian of Musutafu, but every inch of Izuku is begging for him to scream and run.
The man bends down to pick up a pebble. He tosses it up, up, up. And then he breathes out grey vapour, and the pebble falls back to the earth in little drops of molten rock.
The man does not seem to even notice the steam rising from the remains of the pebble, or the cloud of grey misting around his throat, burning his clothes but not his skin. His eyes are black and mean and blank and dull like death, and Izuku understands. He understands the threat very well.
He thinks about calling after Kacchan and the others, but bad, bad things will happen if he does, he knows. He should yell. He should scream for help, hope for the heroes to come save him. But this man, Izuku realises, is more than willing to use force to get what he wants. And what he wants right now is Izuku.
The other people in the park don't notice what's happening. Nobody glances their way.
He wonders what will happen if he jumps up now, sprints away to the group of conversing mothers there, or the teenagers by the bench who look scary but surely will help him. No, he already knows - the man will exhale his deadly breath, and. kill. everyone.
And then he'll probably find a way to take Izuku away, anyway.
Izuku's too clever for his own good, so he stands. When the mean-eyed man in the hoodie turns and walks away, he follows.
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A/N: Thanks for reading! Please review?