ORIGIN STORY, PART I: REDESIGN
Ladies and Gentlemen,
DVD181 Presents…
Redesign, Rebuild, Reclaim
A My Hero Academia Story
At the age of four, Izuku Midoriya lost his dream…
"Sorry kid, but it's just not going to happen."
The rotund mustachioed doctor's words cut into the green-haired boy like a knife. Izuku Midoriya rocked back and forth on the chair in the doctor's office, a blank look on his face as his mother stared at the man in horror.
"A-Are you sure?" Inko Midoriya asked her son's doctor.
The man nodded solemnly and pulled up an x-ray of her son's foot. "When Quirks first started popping up around a century ago, one of the first ways that medical professionals found to distinguish Quirked and Quirkless individuals was the presence or absence of a second pinky toe joint; Quirked individuals lack the joint, having evolved past it, while Quirkless ones still possess it."
"As you can see here, your son has two pinky toe joints, meaning the chances of him developing a Quirk are below 10 percent. We can run a blood test to see if he possesses a Quirk factor, but quite frankly, I'm not too sure the results will be any different" the man stated. "Perchance, what are you and your husband's Quirks and what generation are you?"
Inko held her right hand out and slowly attracted one of her son's toys - a figure of All Might in his Silver Age costume - into her hand. "I'm a fourth-generation with a Quirk that lets me attract any object weighing less than half a kilogram into my hands, and my husband is a third-generation with a Fire Breath Quirk."
"Hmmmmmmm...that combination sounds like it should have had a solid 88 percent chance of creating some kind of pyrokinetic Quirk, but it wasn't guaranteed. Recessive genes can do that though…" the doctor trailed off. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry. Maybe the kid can't be a hero, but from what I've seen, he's a pretty smart cookie. Maybe he can do hero analysis or support in the future."
*R-R-R*
Later that night…
A computer screen glowed in a dark room, playing a video. The large, laughing form of All Might could be seen saving people from what looked like the wreck of a burning airplane, booming laughter reassuring the civilians he was rescuing.
"T-this is insane! It's only been five minutes and he's already rescued a hundred people!" a reporter shouted, as All Might brought another half dozen people out of the wreck with him.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA! HAVE NO FEAR, CITIZENS...BECAUSE I AM HERE!" the pro shouted, inspiring a wave of cheers from the crowd.
Midoriya watched the screen, but there was no joy on his face...only a blank, despairing stare. Inko entered the room, worried about her son. It was unusual for him to be watching All Might's Japanese debut without cheering loudly at it. "Izuku, sweetie...are you okay?"
The boy turned around, despair in his blank eyes. "Mom...can I still be an awesome hero...like All Might?"
At this point, Inko broke down in tears and started hugging her son. "I'm sorry, Izuku...I'm so sorry…" The boy continued to stare blankly, but something inside him broke.
"That day was the day my dream died…"
*R-R-R*
At the age of seven, Izuku Midoriya lost his legs…
"C'mon Deku!" growled a fuming Katsuki Bakugo, dragging the younger boy by one arm. "I can't believe the old hag made me have to babysit your Quirkless ass while she and Auntie Inko go shopping for you!"
"But Kacchan, it's my birthday! They don't want to spoil any surprises!" Midoriya whined in response. If it was possible, this made Bakugo even angrier.
"Dammit, I know that! Doesn't mean I have to like it though...so we're doing what I want! The arcade's right there!" the explosive blonde growled, the sound of coins jingling in his pockets in preparation for what was likely to be a brutal round of pinball.
The two children were in the atrium of a large mall in the middle of downtown Tatooin Ward, Musutafu. A large golden fountain sat in the middle of the atrium, sunken slightly into the floor with various stores on all sides. A large skylight let the
"You want to go to the arcade on my birthday! That's the best gift ever, Kacchan!" Midoriya responded with mock-innocence as he was drug along behind the blonde.
Bakugo stopped, let go of Midoriya, and turned around, his eye twitching slightly with the knowledge that Midoriya was okay with a plan that was meant to make his birthday suck. "...Gah!" the blonde groaned, before sighing in resignation and continuing to stomp towards the arcade, Midoriya following behind him under his own power.
Then, as they were halfway across the atrium, the skylight shattered, and the screaming started.
A flock of a half-dozen or so black-skinned, seemingly eyeless, bat-winged villains with disturbingly large grins burst in through the shattered glass, splitting up and soaring through the air into several stores around the mall. One of them remained hanging on the ceiling next to the broken skylight, and Midoriya could swear it grinned at him and Bakugo.
A faint glow began to emanate from the stomach of each of the creatures, rapidly becoming brighter and brighter before each of them burst apart in a loud and destructive explosion. Alarms blared and people screamed as fire spread through the mall and cracks began to form in the building's structure.
Bakugo and Midoriya began to race towards the exit, hoping to find their mothers there, but the blonde was too distracted to notice the large piece of concrete falling from above him, having calved off from the ruined ceiling after the one on the roof exploded. Midoriya noticed this and ran towards his friend-slash-bully.
"Kacchan, look out!" he shouted, tackling Bakugo out of the way just in time. A loud crash could be heard as a cloud of dust was kicked up, obscuring the inside of the ruined building. The mall stopped shaking a few moments later as the last of the structural damage was inflicted, and Bakugo sat up, rubbing his head.
"Dammit Deku, what was that for?! I'll kick your ass for-!" the blonde began to curse out the other boy, only for his eyes to widen in horror as the dust cleared. Midoriya lay face-down on the floor, bleeding from multiple wounds. Most horrifying, however, was the massive chunk of concrete that his legs were pinned under. Nothing was visible of them from the knees down, other than a large red smear of blood, flesh and bone partially protruding from under the rock.
"Oi...Deku...why did you save me…?" Bakugo questioned aloud in shock, as his mind finally caught up to his body. "DEKU! HOLD ON!" he shouted, trying in vain to push the rubble off of Midoriya's body.
"Somebody call an ambulance, dammit!" Bakugo continued to shout, his voice growing louder and louder until he was shouting himself hoarse while attacking the rock. Resorting to using his Quirk, Bakugo began pounding the debris with explosions, but he was only strong enough to create a few scorch marks on the rock, failing to meaningfully damage it.
Outside, sirens grew louder and louder as the first medical personnel, police and heroes responded to the scene. Bakugo finally exhausted himself, unable to produce any more explosive sweat and dropping to his knees in front of Midoriya's prone form. In the background, he dimly registered the arrival of some heroes, but was too shellshocked to react until Thirteen arrived with emergency medical responders, disintegrating the debris off of Midoriya and strapping him to a gurney to carry him away before tending to Bakugo himself.
As he was wrapped in a blanket and carried towards a medical recovery station, Bakugo's mind finally recovered enough to tally the heroes responding. Thirteen and several rescue heroes he couldn't name off the top of his head were searching out and rescuing trapped civilians, while a few other heroes such as Air Jet and recently-debuted newbie Present Mic were patrolling the edge of the disaster area.
Oddly, it seemed like the police were talking to a few other heroes - notable rookie Fat Gum, Number 13 hero Best Jeanist, and...Captain Celebrity, who had retired the previous year? Before Bakugo could think too much on the topic, the boy was set down and found himself almost crushed in a hug by his distraught parents.
*R-R-R*
Two days later…
Midoriya slowly drifted awake to find himself looking up at an unfamiliar ceiling. "Where am I? The hospital? Why…?" he began to wonder, before his memories started to come back. "That's right...I pushed Kacchan to safety. I hope he's okay."
"I don't feel too bad right now. A little dizzy, but I think I got hit on the head by some debris. I can't feel my toes though...maybe it's because I got hit on the head?" The boy sat up stretching his arms and yawning.
His mother, sleeping in a chair by his bedside, was stirred awake. "Izuku! You're awake! I was so worried!" she cried, crushing her son in a tight hug.
"Can't...breathe...mom..." the boy gasped, "tapping out" on his mom's back, causing her to release him and begin fretting over him again. Before he could say anything, however, a knock sounded at the door, and Inko's eyes widened. "Come in!"
The door opened, and Izuku's jaw dropped. "Dad!"
Hisashi Midoriya stepped into the room, a small smile on his face. He was a reasonably tall man - around 180 to 185 centimeters or so - with dark, curly hair and freckles just like Izuku's on his face. He wore a pair of blue jeans, which clashed with the white shirt, suit jacket and tie he also had on. Giving a quick kiss to Inko, he ruffled Izuku's hair. "Been a while, Zuzu, hasn't it?"
"You haven't come back since my fifth birthday!" Izuku responded.
Hisashi chuckled, before his face turned solemn. "Well, I was coming back for your birthday anyway, but when I got the news about what happened, I knew I had to see you as soon as I could."
"'What happened'? You mean those weird villains at the mall?" Izuku asked.
Hisashi sighed and shot a glance at Inko, who returned the favor. "So nobody has told you yet…" he said. "Those villains that attacked caused significant explosive damage to the Tatooin Department Mall. Thirteen people died and sixty-five were injured, including you. You saved Katsuki from possible death like the little hero you are, but you paid a grave price."
"A price? How bad was it?" the boy asked. Both Inko and Hisashi looked away sorrowfully, before the older man pulled the covers down off Izuku's body.
As the boy looked down, he traced his form down without issue until reaching his legs...which were gone at the knees. His feet and lower legs were no longer there, just two stumps where his knees once were. Izuku's eyes widened further and further in shock, until he just said "Oh" in a small voice, then immediately passed out.
Hisashi and Inko looked at each other as the father pulled the bedsheets back up over his son, and said in unison "We need to talk."
*R-R-R*
Sitting in the hospital cafeteria, the two worried parents talked about their future and what they would need to do.
"Inko, I don't know if we can continue living the way we are after this accident," Hisashi said. "I don't want you to work yourself to the bone to balance work and taking care of things while I'm out of town."
"Yes, I can," Inko responded.
"No, I don't think you can. And even if you can, I don't want you to go through that kind of stress just because I can't be here" Hisashi said, placing one hand on top of Inko's. "Izuku is going to need you to be there more than you can be with your current commute into Yokohama for your legal work."
"Then what do you suggest we do?" Inko asked.
"We move closer to Yokohama. Aldera is the cheapest ward in Aldera when it comes to housing, but it also has the worst schools and it's hard to get to Tatooin Station, which takes people out of the city towards the Tokyo Metro" Hisashi said.
"Korusca Ward isn't much pricier than Aldera, but it has better access to transportation and higher education quality. Luckily, I got a pay raise for one of my recent inventions, so we can afford it. Plus, I have some good friends from the support industry there who would be willing to help you take care of Izuku while I'm out of town."
Inko sighed, then looked her husband in the eye. "Alright. If that's what it takes, then I'm with you. We'll move to Korusca."
*R-R-R*
Three weeks later…
"Are you sure you have to do this?" Mitsuki Bakugo asked Inko as Masaru helped Hisashi move boxes into a moving truck. The blonde woman was helping her best friend since middle school pack up all the Midoriya family's belongings for the big move.
Inko sighed as she turned to Mitsuki. "We've been over this, Mitsuki-chan. With Izuku's injury, I need to be able to spend more time with him, which means I need to be closer to work."
"I know…" Mitsuki trailed off. "But that doesn't mean I have to like it."
Elsewhere in the apartment, Izuku tucked the last of his All Might merchandise away in a box and passed it to Katsuki. The blonde had been rather subdued around the greenette for the past few weeks, no doubt still shaken by how close both of them had come to death and the fact that Izuku had sacrificed his legs to save Katsuki's life. "That should be the last of it..." Izuku muttered.
"Hey...Deku…" Katsuki began to mutter.
"Yeah, Kacchan?" Izuku asked, checking to gather his other belongings.
"I...I want to say I'm sorry, dammit! I've been a little shit to you since I first got my Quirk three years ago, and you didn't deserve that!" Katsuki exclaimed, the anger in his voice directed at himself.
"You…" Izuku trailed off, wheeling his chair around. "It wasn't entirely your fault."
"Huh?" asked Katsuki, confusion evident on his face.
"You may have decided how to act in response, but you were influenced by our teachers and peers. The teachers told you and the other kids - Tsubasa, Yubi and the rest - that me being Quirkless meant I was worthless, solely because I couldn't be a hero" Izuku stated. "It's certainly not your fault that we have terrible teachers who believe terrible things about people."
"I...dammit! I want to say you're wrong and that it's entirely my fault, but you're right, which makes it worse!" Katsuki growled. "You're right about our teachers being assholes, but I should have known better than to listen."
"Kacchan, we were four years old then. Even now, we're only seven years old; you couldn't have known any better" Izuku stated, sighing as he gave an important reality check to his guilty friend.
"...Fine. But don't think this means I've forgiven myself so easily!" Katsuki responded.
"You wouldn't be you if you had, Kacchan" Izuku responded softly.
Within an hour, the final boxes had been loaded into the van and the Midoriya family was ready to depart to their new home. As Izuku settled in his seat in the car - liften in by his father, since he couldn't climb in without legs - Katsuki called out to him.
"Oi, Izuku, you damn nerd! You'd better not get yourself caught in another villain attack, or I'll come kick your ass!"
A large smile slowly spread across the youngest Midoriya's face. "I won't, Kacchan!" he called back, as Inko pulled away from the curb to follow Hisashi towards their new home. Internally, Izuku was exploding with happiness "He called me Izuku again, not Deku!"
*R-R-R*
At the age of seven, Izuku Midoriya gained a new friend…
Inko pulled up in front of Korusca Technical Elementary School for Izuku's first day of school outside Aldera, helping her son out of the car and into his wheelchair. "Now remember, sweetie, be good, pay attention, and make friends, okay?" she asked.
Izuku nodded, although internally he was skeptical. Nobody at Aldera has liked him after he'd found out he was Quirkless; why would this place be any different? "I'll try, Mom" he responded, a soft smile on his face.
"I love you, sweetie. See you this evening" Inko said, quickly hugging her son and turning to get in the car, headed to Tatooin Station to catch the train into Yokohama. "Be safe!"
"Love you too, Mom. See you later" Izuku responded, turning towards the school as his mother drove off. Wheeling himself up a ramp and into the school, he turned down a hallway to the right. "Room 1-C, Room 1-C…" he thought, continuing until he found the room he was looking for.
Entering the room with just two minutes to spare, he gulped as all the other students and the teacher turned to look at him. "Izuku Midoriya, right?" his new teacher, Miss Shinomiya, asked him. When he nodded, she smiled softly. "Your spot is right there" she said, pointing at the only desk in the room that had a chair and an empty space instead of two chairs.
Wheeling up to the desk, Midoriya turned to regard his desk-mate and was surprised. "Oh no, a girl! Not just a girl, a kind of cute one at that!" He may have been too young to experience the kind of hormonal response he would have had if he was an adolescent, but he wasn't immune to the charms of the opposite sex.
The pink-haired girl turned to stare at him, odd yellow pupils in her eyes and a crazy grin on her face. "Hey, can I put rockets on your wheelchair?" she asked, eyes gleaming as they seemed to zoom in and out on Midoriya's face.
The greenette paused for a few moments as his mind caught up with her words, before an odd look crossed his face. "You know what? Sure" he responded. "My name is Izuku Midoriya. What's yours?"
The pinkette grinned as she crept further into Midoriya's personal space.
"My name is Mei Hatsume, future CEO of Hatsume Industries and soon to be number one support gear maker! Pleasure to meet you, Freckles!"
NEXT TIME ON REDESIGN, REBUILD, RECLAIM…
Inventions tested! New friends! Old friends! Villains bested! Stay tuned for the next chapter!
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
Welcome, one and all, to my newest project! No, Luck of the Draw is not abandoned, but I'm spinning my wheels a little bit on the Bakugo vs Uraraka fight, though I hope to have it finished by the end of the month.
However, I've decided to branch out and do several MHA fanfics in a loosely connected "DekuVerse". Luck of the Draw is just the start, and this story is the next universe. Future planned titles are "A Change of Places", "Born Into This World", "Divide and Conquer" and "Awesomeness by Analysis", all of which modify Midoriya's backstory ever-so-slightly to create wildly different stories.
The first opening theme for this series is "Redesign, Rebuild, Reclaim" by Downstait; the song for which this series is named.
What's this story about? Well, check the description or find out in the next two chapters! Thanks for reading!