Disclaimer: I do not own My hero academia or Okami.

Warning(s): AU. Genderbent Izuki. Possible OOCness. Instances of blood/violence/gore, things of that nature since-hey, at the end of they day they're still fighting-and some quirks are more privy to things of that nature.

Now without further ado, enjoy!

Izumi Midoriya Origins pt.2

Inko was conflicted and just a wee bit antsy, truth be told. She kept sneaking glances towards the front door of the house where her daughter should have already come barreling in. What if she was lost? What if she had wandered outside the village? What if she-

"Calm down Inko dear, you're wearing out the floor panels you know." Mrs. Orange spoke up from the table where she had set a freshly brewed pot of tea down between her and her husband after inviting Inko inside. "I'm sure little Izumi is fine, the village isn't that big after all and the people here are all good folk."

"Yes, yes! You said yourself that she's wanted to see the festival for quite some time now, so let her explore!" Mr. Orange said, partially influenced by a few too many sips of sake, if the slightly exasperated look on the missus' face was any indication. Inko smiled, a part of her happy to see nothing much had changed in her absence.

"Dear, I think perhaps you'd best take it easy with the sake...after all, you wouldn't want to overdo it before all the cherry blossoms are in bloom would you?" Mrs. Orange chided, expression turning a tad more stern seeing her husband about to protest. "We wouldn't want a repeat of what happened last year after all."

Mr. Orange paled, his mouth snapping shut at the reminder. Inko however frowned in confusion, giving the old man a brief cursory glance. "Last year?...Did-did something happen?" Inko inquired, a bit fearful of the answer, especially with the sharp glare Mrs. Orange was giving her husband.

"Nothing you need to worry about dearie. Now then, why don't I make us all a fresh batch of cherry cakes to go along with the tea. Yum~!" Mrs. Orange chirped happily, rising from her seat and walking over the tiny kitchen area.

Just as Inko opened her mouth to insist it was unnecessary, she heard the front door swinging open.

Inko, still frantic, said,"Izumi! Goodness, where have you be-"

"Mom, I saw it! I saw it!" Izumi said, bouncing around in her glee and interrupting Inko, Izumi's eyes glittering with a strange mix of awe and joy.

Inko was confused. "Izumi, what're you-"

"I saw a wolf! With fur as white as snow, standing right at the top of the hill!" Izumi cut in, already in the process of tugging on her mother's cardigan sleeve, trying to haul the older woman into the doorway while pointing to the long stairway in the distance. "Right over there, see!? Right near those trees!" Izumi was bouncing in place excitedly.

The elderly couple merely laughed, each sporting varying levels of bemusement as Inko ushered her daughter back inside with a soft spoken 'yes, yes', steering the younger girl towards the table where Mr. Orange still sat. Her hands busily worked to straighten out the unruly locks of dark green hair on her beloved daughter's head which had been blown back and forth by the ongoing breeze.

"So," Mr. Orange began drawing Izumi's attention towards him with a knowing glint in his wizened gaze, "saw a wolf, eh? And it looked an awful lot like that Shiranui from the legend. Interesting!"

"Do you think...Do you think it might have been him?" Izumi wondered aloud, wriggling with excitement in her spot, expression beaming. "Oh, but…" her enthusiasm dampened, brows pulling together into a mild look of disappointment, feeling a tad foolish for getting so worked up over a simple bedtime story.

"I guess...that'd be impossible, wouldn't it? It's just a story after all…That's what Kacchan always says." Izumi muttered glumly, the reminder of her former friend still stung. The lingering burn marks from his quirk certainly hadn't helped any.

A somewhat awkward silence settled in the room after that, and Izumi felt bad knowing she was at fault for it. Her gaze dropping a little more feeling the all too familiar prick building behind her eyes not wanting to risk being called 'crybaby deku'-one of the many nicknames given to her back on the playground by Kacchan and the others-pulling away from her mother's gentle, loving hands with a barely audible mutter of 'excuse me' and then she was out the door again.

Inko watched her go, pain evident on her face as the door swung shut. All traces of joy and excitement Izumi had when entering were already gone and replaced with that all too familiar look of despair.

How Inko wished Izumi saw herself the way she did.

"I see what you meant earlier when you said it was bad…Oh dear me." Mrs. Orange clicked her tongue in disapproval. "To think that children could be so cruel to one another, and she seems like such a sweet girl too."

"Indeed. Why, Mushi never acts that way." Mrs. Orange added a moment later, "and come to think of it neither does that sweet little boy that comes by occasionally to play with him, what was his name now?...Ah yes, Kokari!"

"True, though I suppose in part that may be due to him not wanting to get thumped by his mother, ahaha!" Mr. Orange said, smiling fondly while taking another long sip of tea.

"Mushi? And Kokari?" Inko repeated curiously, an idea forming in her mind. Thinking that perhaps if Izumi had other, more well-mannered, friends her age to play with, her confidence would improve. Surely it was worth a try, wasn't it?

"Do either of you happen to know when this boy, Kokari, usually stops by to play with Mushi?" Inko asked curiously. An idea forming in her head.

"Well, let's see now…" hummed, thinking hard. "He never misses the festival, usually stopping by with his father and dog, Ume."

"I believe they should be here around noon or so today; Karude mentioned he likes to stop by while the sun's still out. It's easier that way to do some early morning hunting and such, since the two of them live in the Agata Forest area you see."

"Really? So...they live by the Tsuta Ruins then?" Inko asked, intrigued to find out someone had actually set up residence there, given the lack of shops around that area and the heavy population of wildlife. Inko could even recall getting frightened as a child when her cousin tried scaring her with tales of the Tsuta ruins being the nest of a monster feeling a shiver of fright whenever she remembered seeing the silhouette of long, nimble-moving limbs and sharp, gleaming teeth..

"Yes. They're kind enough to bring along some meats that are scarce here in Kamiki. After all, things like pigs, deer or even horses are a bit harder to come by in these parts." Mrs. Orange informed, glancing towards her husband who nodded along before offering his own two cents into the conversation.

"Not to mention some of the ingredients they bring help Kushi in preparing her sake. She made a real zinger of a flavor last year, ohohoho!" Mr. Orange exclaimed jovially

"Yes, too bad a certain someone decided to drink nearly two-thirds of it all by his lonesome self…." The missus cut in with a soured look on her face.

Mr. Orange flinched at the accusing look his wife threw his way yet again, shoulders slumping in defeat unable to offer any sort of comeback or defense on his part.

"You make me sound no better than Susanoo…" He muttered glumly.

"Susanoo!? Did you say Susanoo is...here?" Inko said, unable to help the trepidation that poured into the one word, or how her brows knitted together into a look of concern.

The old couple froze, realizing their slip of the tongue a bit too late.

Meanwhile, continuing her trek away from the house her mother was in, Izumi moped around unsure of even where she had so quickly run off to. She didn't really know the layout of the village too well, after all. Her mother always said how it wasn't anything too large like that of Qing Qing city; the village and its surrounding areas were mostly regarded as hot tourist spots and not much else, the legend of Nagi and Shiranui drawing heroes from afar.

After all, it's one thing to hear of a hero triumphing over a god-like beast with another god fighting alongside them, but to hear said individual was quirkless-yet another reason so few believed the tale to be true. And it was also a big part of the reason Izumi loved to hear it so much.

Still…"I am no Nagi." She said aloud, her tiny fists clenched at her sides.

She was quirkless like Nagi, but that's all. If faced with the same level of danger, could she really find it in her to stand her ground and fight? And to win of all things?

She thought back to her days on the playground, more specifically a time she went after recently being diagnosed as quirkless…

"Worthless!"

"Loser!"

"Weirdo!"

"Dummy!"

"Charity-case!"

"Quirkless!"

"Tch, are you still following us around!? Get lost worthless Deku!" Izumi barely had time to blink before letting out a pained gasp, taking a heavy explosion to the stomach that knocked her off her feet and down onto her back. The familiar face of Katsuki Bakugo, the boy she'd known since they were both still in diapers sneered down at her, his palms sparking with explosions.

His group of followers all joined him in his boisterous laughter. Even throwing a few more insults her way, all of which cut a little deeper into her soul each time.

"What a freakin' joke you are, Deku!" One cheered, laughing and pointing with their own quirk showing proudly, the crimson-colored bat wings sticking out form their bat glistening in the light of the sun.

"As if someone like you could ever be a hero! You're just a Quirkless loser!" Another snickered, their limbs shaped like large springs.

"Maybe her plan was to cry them to death, crybaby Deku to the rescue! Hahahaha" A third joined in.

"What do you expect? I bet that's why her dad's not around anymore, he probably couldn't stand having such a loser for a daughter, so he left for the states!" The fourth little lackey snickered at his own joke, not even bothering to hide his cruel grin.

And all the while Kacchan did nothing, nothing to tell them otherwise...nothing to protect the girl that was his longtime friend from the cruelty and unfairness being given to her. Instead he only fired off more explosions in her face every time she tried to get back up. She would stand only to topple back down immediately afterwards, Kacchan's cackles growing louder all the while.

'All men are not created equal.' Izumi understood such words now, having lived them everyday since that fateful visit to the doctor.

She had no friends. No quirk. What she did have was her mom, and despite what those jerks said, she still had her dad right? That thought alone brought a smile back onto her face, albeit a weak, watery one, but a smile nonetheless.

'Yes, I have to smile!' She told herself mentally, pouring as much strength into her smile as she possibly could so that it was as big as All Might's. 'A hero always saves people with a smile, and that's what I'll do...somehow.'

"It's fine now! Why? Because I am here! Hahahaha!" She bellowed out feeling a weight lift off her small shoulders. Repeating All Might's catchphrase always made her feel a little better.

….Or at least it would have. Were it not for the two pairs of bewildered eyes staring back at her.

"What are you doing?"

"How come you're talking to yourself?"

The two boys, each around her age from what she could tell, asked at the same time; both of whom were accompanied by a dog.

"Come to think of it, I've never seen you before. Are you here to check out the festival?" The boy holding the end of a long string-the other end attached to a dragonfly, strangely enough- inquired tilting his curiously while looking her over a bit.

"Your clothes look a bit unusual...are you from the city maybe?" The other boy was wearing what appeared to be some kind of hat shaped like a rabbit, if Izumi had to take a wild guess. A part of her hoped it wasn't real fur, her stomach turning at the thought.

"Um, I…" Neither boy took notice of how poor Izumi's face turned redder and redder the more they spoke, embarrassment overriding her ability to talk from having been caught in such an awkward moment. "I-I...aaaahhh!"

Her sudden scream startled them as she took off like a lightning bolt, wanting nothing more than to stop and bury her head in a fresh pile of dirt. The last thing she needed was to start being bullied here in Kamiki as well, and now she'd gone and made the locals think she was nuts probably. She continued running, not even stopping when they called out to her from behind.

What a disaster things were turning out to be for her!

~/~

Sakuya hovered near the top branches of her beloved tree, Konohana.

"It's so strange ...that girl, I was almost certain that I sensed Shiranui within her. How could that be, I wonder?" The wood sprite contemplated, gazing below at the peaceful village of Kamiki.

Her thoughts kept going back to that small moment in time. Thinking back to those oval-shaped green eyes that looked like they could pierce one's soul. Her gaze shifted at the sound of hurried footsteps drawing closer seeing the very person she had been thinking about reaching the top of the winding stairway.

'It is that girl again. Interesting.' She mused.

"Peculiar...aura?" She remembered the smaller girl asking.

~/~

"Hmmm, yes, it is most intriguing. It reminds me of...Shiranui…"

Sakuya pulled back a bit now, looking at the girl with a mix of curiosity and intrigue. "Have you heard the legend? The one of Shiranui and Nagi?" Sakuya asked, tilting her head just the smallest amount.

A part of her felt it strange if anyone dwelling in Kamiki hadn't heard the tale, truth be told; even travelers from afar seemed to know of it from what she could tell.

It was that very praise that kept her so strong over the years, especially with the rise of what many called "Quirks". Only ones like Sakuya herself knew better though, knowing that these gifts were in fact a form of a 'blessing'-one of insurance, so humans could protect themselves better. So that a tragedy like Orochi would hopefully never again occur.

Her essence had not been strong enough to assume a physical form as it was now, so she is limited in her knowledge of the wolf that was able to drive back Orochi. She remembers barely being able to feel the wolf's presence, a warmth and power unlike any other flowing through the very earth and steadily allowing her to grow and flourish.

The child reminded her of that feeling...that wonderful, blissful warmth that only the great Mother Amaterasu's true incarnation could provide.

The question she was left pondering was why? The child was only human after all, wasn't she?

"Yeah! My mom used to read that story to me all the time, it was the one where Shiranui and Nagi fought against Orochi right?" The girl who introduced herself as Izumi had said. The young child's eyes had gleamed in excitement only to dim a moment later, her gaze falling in a dejected manner. "Only...she stopped reading it to me one night, after I got scared." Izumi said the last part a bit more quietly, as though ashamed.

"Oh? Why's that? Afraid Orochi might come after you?" Sakuya said with a light-hearted laugh, meant to earn a giggle and lift the young girl's spirits again. Only for it to have the opposite effect instead.

"I ...thought I heard a roar one night when she was reading." Izumi whispered.

The smile on Sakuya's face froze in an instant. The wood sprite felt a sudden eerie chill swept through her being, not like the cold of a winter breeze that made humans shiver and sneeze, but something far more sinister. She didn't ask for the child to elaborate.

The child excused herself shortly after, mentioning how her mother was no doubt worried about where she'd run off to. Sakuya let her go, watching as her small body disappeared in the crowd.

She hummed watching the very same girl from before now hesitantly stepping closer to the statue of Shiranui, looking at it with a mix of awe and fear, almost like she believed it would come to life in order to leap down and attack her. The notion only solidified Sakuya's growing opinion that this particular girl was an oddity among humans.

'What does she intend to do, I wonder? Offer her prayers perhaps?'

~/~

Every inch of her was trembling. And not from the chilly breeze blowing around her.

Face to face with the visage of one of her all time favorite stories Izumi could not help but feel there was something almost...familiar about it. The stone carving of Shiranui beckoned her forward somehow, it's lifeless eyes urging her those few precious steps closer.

Somewhere in the back of her mind a long forgotten memory fought its way to the surface of her mind, like a dream she could almost reach for but not quite hold. So she stared, and stared, deep into the lifeless stone eyes. Hoping for something to help soothe the ache from Kacchan's words and her own crushed dreams.

Wanting someone to say the words she so desperately wanted to hear. The ones not even her mother dared to utter.

"Um, uhh-hello?" She said, mentally kicking herself for being so scared of a statue. "Uh, m-my name is Izumi…" She muttered, remembering how her mother had once told her people that do this sort of thing usually give an offering of some kind.

She scrambled around for a moment looking for something a wolf might like and coming up with nothing.

"Maybe I should've bought some meat?" She wondered aloud, suddenly feeling a bit disheartened.

"Heeeey~!"

Izumi stilled, a small 'eep' spilling out while she turned with widened eyes seeing the two boys she'd run into before, now racing up the steps towards her with their dogs in tow. A part of her wanted to die right then and there, thinking they were about to start making fun of her. And if not now then surely they would once they knew she was quirkless, just like all her peers had.

The group of four skittered to a halt, the boys out of breath and each of their dogs tails wagging excitedly while barking.

"Whoa...you run fast…" The boy dressed in blue gasped, hands on his knees and sweat glistening on his brow. He straightened first, puffing his chest out a bit while continuing to talk. "But it's nothing Hayabusa and I can't handle, what with how fast he digs up my mom's turnips, he's the fastest dog in the village!"

"T-turnips…?" Izumi repeated, confused.

"Hey…" The other boy who wore a rabbit skin hat interrupted, looking a tad offended. "Are you calling me and Ume slow?"

"Well, yeah kind of." The blue clothed boy said, casually folding his arms behind his head, mindful of the small string keeping what Izumi could guess was a pet dragonfly from flying off into the great beyond. "After all, you still haven't managed to beat Hyabusa's record, so…"

"W-well, it was a tie though!" The other boy said in a half-hearted attempt to defend both himself and his dog. "A-and besides, i-it's only cuz my dad was calling for me and I had to leave."

"Um…"Izumi attempted to interject.

"Still, a tie's nothing to be proud of!" The dragonfly boy hurried to say, his dog letting out a bark of agreement. "If you're a man, you can't be satisfied with only a tie. Everyone knows that!"

"U-uhh…"Izumi took a small step back as the two descended further into their heated argument.

"W-well, can you build a bridge then, huh? Cuz my dad gave me the job of repairing the bridge to Taka pass!"

She watched the two slowly descend into petty insults being thrown at one another, each of them pushing up on their toes and pressing their faces together. The two dogs sat a safe distance away with the one that came running alongside the rabbit-wearing boy letting out a long yawn before laying down. The other dog, which Izumi guessed to be this Hayabusa, follows suit.

Izumi herself felt a sweatdrop form on the back of her head, seeing the two boys had taken to a game of 'fisticuffs' as they called it, scuffling with a cloud of dust forming around them. Although their reasoning and mannerisms were somewhat different, Izumi couldn't help but compare them to Kacchan with their desire to one-up the other.

She pondered if it was a trait all males shared or just the ones she was unfortunate enough to meet, then again she'd never heard her mother complain about her dad in such a way. She would have to ask the next time the opportunity presented itself.

Until then-

"You take that back, Ume's a hundred times better than Hayabusa ever will be!"

"You're dreaming if you think Hayabusa would lose to that klutzy dog of yours!"

-she needed to figure out what to do about them.

~/~

What a disaster things were turning out to be for him! And on today of all days.

Susanoo felt like his heart might burst out from his chest with how fast it was beating. His back pressed heavily against the door he'd just slammed shut, his palms clammy with sweat.

Why was Inko back? Why now!?

'Has-...has she figured out what I'm planning to do!?' He thought, panicked. 'No...no.' He immediately reasoned, wringing his hands nervously. 'There's no way she could have known. Besides it sounded like she didn't even know I was here to begin with…'

The thought caused a swell of sadness to re-emerge that he'd long thought to be buried deep in his gut after so many years apart. Him and his cousin haven't even spoken to one another since ...since….

'Not since that incident when mother died. Heh, and she certainly wasted no time in leaving shortly after,' he reasoned bitterly, forced to recall how lonely he'd been after his only family just up and left. It was true he and Inko hadn't had the best of relationships for quite some time.

Still, they were the only descendants of Nagi left. Once Inko abandoned him, that particular burden fell solely on Susanoo's shoulders to bear.

Susanoo, who was never quite as smart or capable as dear Inko. Lacking his cousin's grace and patience, Susanoo had long failed where Inko had excelled. Even in romance, Inko had always been successful whereas he hadn't even worked up the courage to have a half-decent conversation with Kushi yet, the girl he'd been pining over for years.

Not to mention Inko had a child. Susanoo had no one.

'She didn't sound too happy to know I was here.' He thought to himself, the encroaching despair in his gut growing larger, threatening to consume him. 'Then again, why would she be?'

"I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!" Her last words echoed in his mind, accompanied by her hate-filled gaze that was filled with tears firmly locked on him. No one else.

He stood in silence by the door a few moments longer, replaying the memories in his head of simpler times. Reaching a silent decision. "So what if she's back? I've gotten on fine without her thus far…" He muttered, finally stepping away, grabbing an unopened bottle of sake that Kushi had so kindly given to him a while back and heading downstairs into his private 'training room'.

He didn't notice the shadow lingering on the other side of the closed door, belonging to a sad looking Inko, one hand raised, prepared to knock when she heard his faint, muttered words and thought better of it. Stepping away with a crestfallen look on her face, turning and heading back to the Orange household to wait for her daughter to return.

High above the village of Kamiki, the sun was finally beginning to set for the day, signaling the festivities would soon get into full swing.

Just a little side-note for this story as I think I've mentioned this, but just in case I do not wish to pair Izumi with Shouto or Bakugo just because I feel those two alone make up over half the more used ships. That being said, I am in somewhat of a bind as to who exactly I might want Izumi to wind with.

So to help me, I just wanted to say I will be doing a poll. Basically pick whoever you want to see Izumi wind up with. Another reminder in case I haven't mentioned it already, but I'm not one for ships with a super huge age gap, so no one over thirty, the highest I MIGHT go in terms of age are ones like Dabi and Hawks; early to mid-twenties. Otherwise it's a no-no for me. Also, don't forget to review!

Beta read by: Skyrimosity & AoMythology