That summer Izuku dedicated all his time into learning how to defend himself. He never wanted to be in another situation where he was too weak to do anything for himself.
His mom and dad allowed him to stay home for the last two days of school so he took that time to research what he could do to become stronger. Become something other than the limp noodle he currently was. There were a few things he was able to start on while he waited for his dad to finish tinkering in the shed with the new support item he was testing.
He started out with simple things like sit ups, squats, push ups and stretching his limbs out as best he could according to the person's video he was watching.
After watching and doing everything in the video twice he sprawled out on the living room floor and just laid there. Everything felt like jelly considering the most he ever did was run and climb things. It would all be worth it in the end though. He had to have something to build on when he finally tried to convince his mom and dad to put him into self defense classes.
Turned out though, he wouldn't have to try to hard to convince them pair. They came out later that night when his mom got home from work, his dad came inside to take a shower and they'd picked up all the dishes from dinner, that they had already been talking about putting him in something like the classes he requested. They wanted to do so for a while but hesitated on bringing it up with him, in fear that he'd think they thought he was weak or that it tied into something to do with his lack of a quirk.
After he was attacked though it had solidified for them that he would have to be put into some kind of classes. They explained to him that it had nothing to do with him being quirkless and everything to do with them wanting him safe. That they would be able to breathe just that much easier knowing that he knew how to protect himself against the horrible people that roamed the Earth. That they would be putting him in classes even if he did have a quirk.
They were glad that he was the one to bring it up first, that he came to the resolve to learn to protect himself on his own, but they both admitted that they would have brought it up sooner rather than later regardless.
Together they found a martial arts dojo not far from the house and signed him up for the summer classes. Thankfully the classes started a few days after when he would be going in to the doctors to be cleared of his throat injury. Till then he kept up with his little workout he had going on, adding on something new every few days when he found something else that caught his eye in his constant research for better ways to build up his strength.
Starting classes after getting the all clear from his doctor was. . . an experience to say the least.
Just like at school, he was quickly outed as quirkless and instantly hated for things he couldn't control.
He refused to tell either of his parents that he was being constantly "made an example of" in his classes though. They would pull him out in a heartbeat and bring the dojo to it's knees before they found another dojo to take him in that would no doubt be farther from home and result in the same exact situation.
He'd never learn anything like that. So he sucked it up and took the humiliation with a grain of salt. His parents were proud of him and the Eraserhead told him he could become a hero without a quirk. The kind detective told him he was brave for the little bit he did when he was attacked. You'll be hard pressed to find him slacking and letting down any of the adults he's come to admire greatly.
His mom, Midoriya Inko, was the best lawyer in Japan that specialized in quirk discrimination, abuse of all kind, workplace harassment and occasionally she defended villains that were unjustly handled by pro heroes and the police force. She was a strong woman that "took no shit from anyone" he's heard her be described as. Her nickname in the court room was the "Emerald Demon" but Izuku never truly understood the title. All he saw was his mom's soft smiles and warm hugs that always made him feel better.
Dad, Midoriya Hisashi, was tied for second best support gear in the world with the Hatsume Support Company. Both of them though were beat by Stark Industries but there was a "healthy competition" between them all as his dad explained to him. The three hero support creators "pushed each other to be better and create bigger to make the world safer" in his dad's words. It was inspiring to see his dad smile at gear that would be released by either company and say, "Guess I've got to kick it up a notch, huh Izzy?"
Eraserhead was kicked up to his number one spot on his personal hero rank list. Meeting and being saved by the man opened his eyes to a whole new side of Heroics he didn't even realize existed. It was pretty obvious that it was always there though. You'd never see All Might doing hero work during the night unless he'd been on a day mission that ran long and into the setting sun.
After doing some research into what exactly it meant to be an underground hero he found he preferred the way they worked in comparison to "daylight heroes" he saw them being labeled. Don't get him wrong he still liked heroes like All Might but he saw the statistics. Saw the difference in property damage and civilian injury and casualties. He saw how some of the daylight heroes treated "villains" and how the punishment didn't exactly fit the crime a lot of the time.
Most of the time when a "villain" or criminal was caught by an underground hero and their crimes not all that harmful, they do time in jail, do community service, and are put on the somewhat straight and narrow majority of the time. With little to no long term injuries done to their person and almost never any property damage.
On the other hand, "villains" and criminals captured by daylight heroes are normally brutally beaten and need to be seen by medical personnel before they're brought to jail, stay in jail for much longer than they should, almost never given the choice to work towards getting their records cleaned, no matter the crime committed, and inevitably fall into more hardcore villainy than they originally were because their name and faces were smeared across every and any tabloid that could catch a picture or video of the fight they had with the hero that brought them in.
It wasn't fair and Izuku had to take a few days off from his quirk analysis and watching the news. He found it hard to stomach watching hero fights when he knew that there was going to be virtually no way for the "villain" or criminal to be rehabilitated once they got out of jail, if they ever did in the first place. Izuku being the butt of every joke, taunt, suicide baiting, genetic draw, and just about everything else, he understands what unfair truly means. To see it televised and cheered for, the downfall of a normally relatively harmless, petty criminal, didn't really sit well with him.
Which is why it's upset him so deeply to see people who were supposed to treat all beings equally and without discrimination, to help as much as they can, be so blinded by popularity to where they can just completely throw their oaths away like it's nothing. All so they could get more money and their faces brought up by news and magazine articles more often.
The detective on the other hand has quickly become one of his favorite public servants, besides his mom of course. He's done some research on the man and found that his moral standing and convictions stood firm through his years of police work. He found that the detective had a long record of arrests of real, actual criminals and found he worked with them after their time in jail to get them truly integrated back into society.
The other long record the man held, revolved around releasing innocent and unjustly arrested persons brought in on "suspicion" and policemen looking to make a quota and grabbing anyone they could to wrap up a case. Detective's quirk was a truly fascinating one to say the least.
Having the ability to instantly know if a statement is false or not must really help when sifting through suspicious persons, cases, and when taking statements. He really admired the fact that the man didn't abuse his quirk and actually went out to find the real answers and criminals that needed to be taken in. Helping those accused or prosecuted after everything was said and done just made Izuku admire the man more. It wasn't easy to stick with your convictions when the entirety of your workplace was telling you to drop certain matters. Or when they harassed you for sticking with your gut and potentially discrediting a fellow cop.
The Detective had a semi short list of previous coworkers that were fired because he picked up the "cold" or "closed" case they'd been working on. Detective Tsukauchi was an outcast among his peers and was found to work more closely with vigilantes and underground heroes more often than not.
Izuku had several people he was drawing strength and inspiration from and one day he hoped to be able to stand next to each and hold his own.
For now though he had some research to do into a boxing class he found a flier on while at the store with his dad. Researching the boxing gym led to him finding a martial arts dojo that offered free running classes that just so happened to be located right next door to the boxing gym. It was perfect for when he finished his "Intro to Self Defense" classes.
Showing his dad first was one of the best ideas he'd had in a solid month. It was so much easier to convince his mom that he should be allowed to sign up for boxing and martial arts classes when his dad was giving her the same "puppy dog eyes" saying that he'd take the classes with him.
His dad's reasoning was to build muscle mass to help him with some heavy lifting in his workshop and more importantly "spend some quality time with his number one kid."
Izuku made sure to point out that he was in fact his dad's only kid but was quickly waved off and told that the detail didn't matter when you took into account all the kids he's met in his lifetime. His dad just waved off any and all arguments he even tried to think up, so he just huffed and accepted it.
The best part about taking martial arts classes was that the classes were organized by ability and knowledge of the subject and not age so he was able to take the classes standing next to his dad. They were both white belts currently. It was a bit weird and funny to see the grown man standing among a bunch of preteen and teenagers but he felt his dad's personality made up for the age difference.
Hisashi Midoriya was a child at heart and had no shame in that fact.
The boxing classes on the other hand, were split into weight categories. His dad may be a lean man but he was muscular and well above Izuku's very own 95 pounds. He was placed with several other boys and two girls while his dad was "drowning in so much toxic masculinity, Izzy. It's like they don't understand skin care or what deodorants are. Just cause you're strong and could lay me out flat in two seconds, Yamanaka doesn't mean you don't need deodorant. It's for all ages and every one that has sweat glands" as his dad ranted to him after their fourth class.
His dad being his dad, thought it would be funny to buy and bring a bar of tropical smelling deodorant for every single person in the gym.
The younger classes laughed and took the bars gratefully for after classes ended, some stating they forgot theirs at home or that they were running out and their parents hadn't had the time to replace the item yet. All in all the younger classes were grateful.
The older classes, his dad's class specifically, took offense to the pretty smelling bar of antiperspirants.
His dad walked out of class that day with a few more bruises than he usually did, but the next class they attended had a strong smell of the exact bar of deodorant his dad had brought in. His dad's smug smile didn't drop for two weeks and his mom laughed so loud when she asked what the other guys had said.
"They said their girlfriends, boyfriends, wives and this one guy's husband said that I was right and then said if I hadn't proudly said I was married they'd have left 'em for me! Their faces, Inky! They looked so embarrassed! It was hilarious and I was told to tell you that your choices in antiperspirants was beautiful and I was asked if I could give you a few of the guy's significant other's numbers because they want to meet the gorgeous goddess who "stands behind" such a "secure man" like you're not the backbone of my beautiful family that stands right next to me and honestly how is it me "being secure" with myself when I simply know and practice proper hygiene and understand that the I'm bound to smell wack after a long work out surrounded by two dozen other sweaty, gross people for two hours straight an-" Needless to say his mom was in stitches and even made a few friends outside of work, which was nice.
He knew both his mom and dad took a big hit in their social standings and lost more than a few friends when they found out that he was quirkless. He was always reassured that "as long as we have you, baby, we don't need quirkest assholes. You are who we need in our life. We don't need people who don't understand that quirks aren't what gives a person value," but there was always a guilt that tickled his throat. His parents would still have the majority of their friends if it weren't for him.
It's one of the big reasons he never told his parents about Kacchan. Aunt Mitsuki was his mom's closest friend that she's known since grade school. He couldn't tell mom that her best friend's son was his main bully. She'd go confront Aunty and then they'd stop being friends and it would all be his fault.
Speaking of friends, he managed to make a few as well.
There was Kaminari and there was Itsuka from his martial arts class. They started just before he did but embraced him into their little fold without a second thought almost two minutes after he walked into the class. His dad had been talking to the sensei to clarify that "yeah, no. I'm actually here to learn. Yes I know I'm as old as the Big Bang but you're never too old to learn something new." He'd been confused at first but hesitantly gave them his name and told them why he was joining the class. He was even more confused when they only told him, "that's actually really cool!" when he admitted that the oversized child in the class was indeed his male parental unit.
He was downright flabbergasted when they continued to talk to him and interact with him the same way they did when he first walked through the door, as after it's announced that he's quirkless. There were more than a few. . . unsavory looks thrown his way but Kaminari and Itsuka's expressions were ones of pure excitement and wonder.
They didn't make snide comments or try to undermine him or look down on him just because he didn't have something they did.
No.
Instead they asked him if he had any favorite heroes. Eraserhead. They asked what his favorite color was. Light blue. If he had a favorite animal. He loved cats, but didn't have one as a pet. Favorite food. Katsudon, obviously. What school he went too. A new one after summer break called Aldera. If they could all hang out after class was over. He'd have to ask his mom and dad. If he thought his dad would be willing to bring them all to the park if they asked their parents first. Again he'd have to ask his dad and they would have to ask their parents.
He was so confused but happy while answering all the questions that came flying at him. The two were nothing but nice and helped both him and his dad while they all did their warm ups.
His dad had agreed to take them to the park after class ended so long as he could talk to both of their parents to make sure they knew who he was and that they knew where their kids were at and who they were with.
It was the first time since he was four that he actually played with others. He played tag and pushed Kaminari on the swings till he was high and then Itsuka caught him in her hands after he flung himself off the seat when he reached the highest point he could. He showed both of them how to climb the trees that lined the play area at the park and they even tried to jump from tree to tree while his dad walked with them from the ground. Which turned out to be a really good idea when Itsuka slipped and fell from the tree and into his dad's arms.
"That was a close one kid. How about you two drop down too and keep it to the ground for now?" His dad looked up to him and Kaminari after he set Itsuka on her feet. He and Kaminari nodded in confirmation without hesitation and one at a time dropped into his dad's arms to return to the ground safely.
After that the trio decided to go sit down in a little shaded area and just talked.
It came out that both of his new friends were bullied for their quirks. Everyone told Kendo that she had a weird and weak quirk and didn't want her "weird" to rub off on them. While Denki was ostracized because of his quirk misfiring and his mental disabilities. He had looked around to make sure his dad was out of hearing distance before admitting to them all that went on in his life as someone quirkless.
He figured that it was only fair to share his troubles with the two since they felt he was a safe person to confide in.
Both twelve, almost thirteen, year old's watched him in horror as he told them about Kacchan and his teachers and the kids in his classes and what they all say about his dreams to be a hero and all the stores around where he lived that refused to serve him and his family. He was halfway through telling them about what Kacchan tells him about his analysis books when Denki hugged him tightly and told him that he could write about him any day.
He gaped at Denki and then Kendo as the girl nodded along with what the blonde said. "It's something all pro heroes should know how to do, especially underground heroes if what you say about them in true. I don't understand why those mean kids that "want to be heroes" aren't taking a page out of your book, pun intended, and learning how to analyze quirks and fights and everything else they can." The blonde rolled his eyes when he finished, which he laughed at. He'd been asking himself the same thing but never got a real answer, only fists and curses.
"I can't speak for Denki, but if you're willing to teach how to analyze, I'm more than happy to learn." Kendo looked hopeful and Denki looked excited.
He didn't think either would play a trick on him like Kacchan had a few years ago but he had to make sure. "You really want to?" His two new friends nod eagerly and he contemplates for a moment. 'The worst that can happen is they don't actually want to learn, he gets his feelings hurt, and then he moves on like he did with Kacchan. The best thing that can happen is he finds two new people to talk analysis with him besides his dad.' Mind set on his decision he nods and tells them, "I think it would be fun to show you guys how to analyze. Like you said Denki, Pro heroes are supposed to know how to do it. If we're going to get into U.A. then we're all going to have to be prepared for anything."
Denki was that first tackle him in another hug but was quickly followed by Kendo. Not long after that it had been time to go home. They all three traded phone numbers and discord names so they can keep in touch.
Over the rest of their summer breaks, the three of them texted, video chatted, hung out, went to their respective training classes and improved their analysis skills. He went an extra step and asked his dad if he could help Denki with his dyslexia. His friend's dyslexia and ADHD, which he was starting to think were side effects of the blonde's quirk, made it harder for him to study and write down his notes, it even held his friend's grade hostage at school. Even though Denki was almost just as smart as if not smarter than him, especially since Denki knew a whole two more languages than him, his friend's mental disability had the tendency to tank his test grades. Denki could answer almost any question you threw at him in Japanese, English, French, Japanese and American Sign Language in detailed eloquence, but if you sit him in front of a paper or electronic test, he's going to flunk almost every question.
It turned out that his teachers weren't the only mean teachers around since none of Denki's previous teachers, or his parents which made him really mad, acknowledged the disabilities and simply kept to the mass single style teaching. Marking his friend's papers harsher than they did others out of frustration of Denki "not applying himself".
He didn't understand why all these adults held so much animosity towards children but he's not a therapist and didn't plan to become one. It seemed like a headache if he was being honest.
Kendo wasn't allowed over as often because her mom and dad didn't like the idea of her spending so much time with two boys. They've tried to convince their friend that she didn't need them and to find new girl friends instead. Kendo, sweet and kind Kendo, politely told her parents that there was never going to be a way to make her give up her best friends. He cried that night because it really hit him that he had real friends that valued him and cared about him.
Having the support of his mom, dad and two best friends gave him the confidence and strength to work even harder in his dream to become a hero. He wanted to help as many people as he could. Wanted to help people like the people around him, help him. He just wanted to give back.
To do that he wanted to go to U.A.'s hero course. The school would give him the best opportunities after he graduated. Give him the most options for agencies and hopefully show that he had potential to be a good sidekick right out of school.
U.A. wasn't the only school he was going to apply for when he could but it was his top school. Both Shiketsu and Ketsubetsu were both great hero schools. Their hero programs and courses were ranked second and third in the country so he'd be applying their schools as well. He understood that his applications could be thrown out the moment his quirk status was read but he had to give it a shot. He was a realistic kid and knew his chances of getting into any of his go to schools, as he was right now with little muscle mass and not a ton of confidence, were slim to none. Along with his "disability" in being quirkless, of course. Couldn't ignore that little tidbit. He needed a lot more physical training if he was going to be able to save people like he wants to.
He had time to think about all of this though. He was only just entering into his secondary educational classes, even if they were easy as can be. He'll focus on finishing his school work for now and put thought into who he'll become in the future and how to become it later.
With school starting in just a few days he sits back on the couch next to his mom and waits for his dad to come back into the living room with the snacks he said he would retrieve. It was sort of a tradition for them to spend the last day or two together. No work or inventing or, recently, training. Just him, his mom and his dad spending family time together. Taking time to enjoy each other's existences show that they all appreciate one another.
It was honestly his most favorite time of the year. He loved the separate time he got to spend with either parent but having them both with him at the same time always felt like a special time. It was always more relaxed in the house around this time.
"Lets watch that one movie with the singing and fire monster that turns into a beautiful island!" His dad looked so excited about his suggestion, he could do nothing but giggle and nod in agreement.
"Moana, dad?" He just wants to clarify.
"Yeah! That one! I love the chicken. Hei Hei is the unsung, clucking hero of the whole movie." He tells him and his mom with a very serious face.
He and his mom are able to keep a straight face for less than half a minute before they're holding onto each other and laughing. His dad finally cracked a smile and clicked through the options on the tv in front of them to bring up the movie he wanted to watch.
Yeah. This was a nice way to lead into the next school year.