Authors Note: Final chapter of this arc, thank you for the support in the reviews. Also, please give me ideas for what Izuku's quirk should be called.
(Line Break)
A few months passed since Izuku started to attend Ono Elementary and a lot happened. First, he and Tokoyami became great friends after the now dubbed "Lunchroom Incident." Second, Kisho got adopted and sure he was saddened that he wouldn't get to see his friend all that much, but he is happy that he was able to get adopted and hopes it was a loving family. And finally, he had a birthday and is now seven years old.
It was his first, and soon to be many, birthday without his family. He was saddened that he wouldn't wake up to his mother singing him Happy Birthday, making him pancakes, and ending the day with presents, katsudon for dinner, and cake for dessert. He didn't even want to leave his bed in the morning, not even for the enticing smell of Miss Azumi's cooking. All he wanted to do that day was just sleep the day away until the clock strikes midnight.
But Miss Azumi wouldn't let that happen. You see this wasn't the first time that a child wanted to stay in bed on their birthday. She had a plan for these types of situations and it always starts with her making breakfast. See, she knows that not a lot of people could deny her cooking for too long. While she makes breakfast she would send two kids up to the child and just talk about the food. It wouldn't take more than five minutes for them to race downstairs for their meal out of hunger or just to get away from the two kids she sent up.
That was how she got Izuku downstairs. "Good morning sleepyhead," she said teasingly. She is currently cooking bacon along with some muffins, eggs, and french toast. "A little birdy told me it was someone's birthday."
Hearing that Izuku turned around and walked back to the stairs.
"Now hold on there," Miss Azumi called out, "you're not about to spend your birthday in bed."
"But why," Izuku whined already on the first step of the stairs.
"Because it's the day you were brought into this world and that's worth celebrating," she told him, dragging him back into the kitchen. "Now, what type of muffin do you want?"
Seeing that he won't be able to get away from her, Izuku decided to comply with what she says. So that's how he found himself looking at a plate of blueberry muffins, scrambled eggs, and five pieces of bacon. Now, he'd be lying if he didn't say it was one of the best breakfasts he ever had, how the muffins were rich yet sweet with a blueberry aftertaste. The crispiness of the bacon, and the crunch it made after every bite. He wasn't a big fan of eggs, but they were good nonetheless.
Miss Azumi walked into the dining hall and smiled when she saw Izuku enjoying his breakfast. "Is it good?" she asked, only to get a nodded response. "That's good, now after you finish I want you to brush your teeth and get ready for the day."
Swallowing his food Izuku looked up at her and asked, "Why? What's going on today?"
"Well, that's not for me to decide. It's up to you to decide on what you want to do," she told him. She then started listing off all the options for what they could do, "We could go see a movie, go to an amusement park, or go into the country it's all up to you. I can even call Tokoyami's family and see if he's able to join us today."
Hearing his options Izuku finished his breakfast, put his dishes in the sink, and went upstairs and got ready for the day. Since it was summer he chose to wear a red All Might t-shirt and blue shorts. While he was brushing his teeth he thought about what they could do for his birthday.
'A movie sounds good, but I don't know what movies are playing,' Izuku thought, 'then there's not knowing if Fumikage would actually want to see a movie.' So maybe seeing a movie might not be the best thing to do, but he's not going to dismiss that option. 'Going to an amusement park would be fun; however, we might not be tall enough to ride any of the good rides.' Maybe an amusement park wouldn't be a good idea. 'So that option goes out the window. Now all that leaves is a trip to the country.' Izuku began to think of the possibilities of the trip in the country, 'It sounds peaceful and nice, but it also might be boring.'
He finished cleaning his teeth and headed downstairs to tell Miss Azumi his decision. He already eliminated one of them but he needed to pick one. He saw her tending to the other children in the living room. He walked up to her and got her attention.
"Did you make a decision?" she asked looking down at him.
"Yeah," he answered her.
She smiled, "Alright, tell me what we're doing and I'll go call Tokoyami's family."
(Line Break)
The trip to the country was long but it was nice. Tokoyami was able to join them which made Izuku happy. It was the first time in years that he had a friend attend one of his birthday parties since being diagnosed as "quirkless". It felt great to finally celebrate his birthday with a friend again. Now don't get him wrong he did enjoy spending previous birthdays with his mom, but he did get lonely. He decided to stop thinking about his mother for a little bit because he didn't want to bring his mood down.
They arrived at a large open area that was surrounded by a forest with a big lake nearby. There were families on walks, swimming in the lake, or having a picnic. It was a beautiful place to be on a hot summer day.
"Alright," Miss Azumi said, getting the boy's attention, "I'll set up the picnic, while you two can go run around and play."
"Ok, thank you, Miss Azumi," they said before running off.
They ran towards the lake first so they weren't too far away from the caretaker. They looked out at the clear blue water and saw other children swimming, some adults kayaking, and some were fishing. The fish were swimming about looking for bugs or some smaller fish to feast on. Izuku picked up a smooth pebble and turned to Tokoyami.
"I bet I can skip a pebble further across the lake then you could," Izuku challenged before skipping his pebble across the lake. They both looked on the water and saw the pebble skip four times across the lake. Not wanting to lose to his friend, Tokoyami picked up a pebble of his own.
"Bet I could," he told Izuku before skipping his pebble. His pebble also skipped across the water four times. They both looked at each other before immediately picking up more pebbles to skip across the lake, not wanting their little competition to end with a tie. They went at it for a few minutes before Miss Azumi called them over for lunch. The two boys whined. No matter how many times they skipped their pebbles across the lake it always ended with a tie, with neither of the boys getting more than five skips.
"Aw, just a few more minutes," Izuku whined. "I was about to win."
"No, you weren't," Tokoyami argued. "Clearly, I was about to win."
"Yeah, right," Izuku snapped back.
Seeing things were about to get out of hand Miss Azumi walked to the lake, picked up a pebble, and skipped it nine times across the river. The boy's jaws dropped when they saw the pebble skip across the river. The way it bounced off the water, how the water rippled after every skip, and the distance it traveled after every skip. They were brought out of their trance by the thrower's voice.
"Does that settle your competition?" she asked. The boys only nodded not being able to speak after seeing that spectacle. "Great, now how about lunch?"
Not wanting to argue with her the boys followed her to a blanket that she set up while the boys were having their competition. They sat down while Miss Azumi opened the picnic basket pulling out different assortments of sandwiches, fruits, and drinks. She handed the respective foods to each of the boys for them to feast upon.
A few minutes passed as they ate their lunch. After they finished Miss Azumi told the boys they had a few hours before they had to leave. So after hearing that the boys decided to go for a walk in the woods. There was a pathway they could use so they wouldn't get lost. It was peaceful without all the car horns, loud people, and possible villain attack. Even though he was worried that the day would be boring Izuku was glad that he chose to go out in the country for his birthday.
"It's nice out here, isn't it," Izuku broke the silence, and he was right. All the trees, flowers, and wildlife around made for a beautiful scenery.
"You're right, it is," Tokoyami replied. "But, I would like to apologize for something."
"For what?" a confused Izuku asked. He didn't know why his friend was apologizing for something. "Was it about earlier, because if it is I share some of the blame for that as well."
"No, it's not that," Tokoyami sighed, looking away from his friend.
"Then what are you apologizing for," Izuku worriedly said. He is scared that his friend is about to abandon him like the rest. He didn't want that to happen, let alone on his birthday. He was brought out of his thoughts when Totoyami suddenly turned to him and bowed.
"I'm sorry that I didn't know it was your birthday," Tokoyami said suddenly, "if I did I would have gotten you a present."
That confused Izuku, why would Tokoyami apologize for something like that. It was something so small and insignificant. It was also his fault because he didn't tell his friend when his birthday was.
"Look at me Fumikage," Izuku said. Fumikage raised his head to see his friend smiling. "I'm not mad, besides it's mostly my fault for not telling you and Miss Azumi just dropping it on you."
"So, you're not mad?" Tokoyami asked.
"No, I'm not," Izuku said, "besides you being here is a better present than you could ever get.
And that's how the day in the country ended. They went back to the orphanage and had some katsudon. Overall Izuku has to say it was one of his favorite birthdays, top seven at least. Even though he didn't get any presents Izuku wasn't upset about it. Sure, getting presents for your birthday is nice and everything, but he was happy that he got to spend the day with his friend. All in all, it was a pretty good day.
(Line Break)
A couple of days passed since Izuku's birthday and nothing really happened. Sure, him and Fumikage hung out, but since they weren't in school they were left with a lot of free time. So, he was currently laying in his bed tossing a ball up and down. He was thinking about what he was going to do that day.
'I could hang out with Fumikage, but he said that he was going to spend the day with his mother running some errands. Maybe I could go for a walk, then again that probably won't take that long. I should ask Miss Azumi and see if she has something for me to do, but I don't want to bother her.' He was brought out of his thoughts by the other kids who were making so much noise downstairs. Wanting to know what was going on Izuku rushed downstairs to where the noise was coming from.
He was met with all the other kids, Miss Azumi, and the other caretakers of the orphanage. Izuku didn't really know their names because he mainly spent most of his time with either Miss Azumi or Fumikage. Now, they did help him from time to time, but it never felt like they wanted but more like they had to. Which was fine because he wasn't really looking to form a bond with the other caretakers, and they still helped him which was more than what he can say about previous teachers.
"What's going on?" Izuku asked.
"Oh, Izuku you came just in time," Miss Azumi said when she noticed him, "we're just about to do sign-ups."
"What are sign-ups?" Izuku asked.
"Sign-ups are where you kids sign-up for an activity to do. Stuff like athletics, cooking, or music," answered one of the other caretakers.
The caretaker that just spoke was the strict one and the way she dressed helped back that up. No matter the day, month, weather, or holiday she always wore a black blazer, black dress pants, black high heel boots, and rectangular frame glasses. She has black shoulder-length hair that she always has tied in a ponytail and hazel eyes. It was also quite rare to see her without a clipboard.
"It's something that we came up with a few years ago to get you kids active and for you to have something to do," answered the other caretaker.
Now, this one Izuku didn't really know much about and not a lot of the other kids did either. He was the only male caretaker that works at the orphanage and he has a layback approach to taking care of children. He has orange hair and a patchy beard. He would usually wear sweatpants and some random sports team t-shirt.
"And we're about to start signing the children up to the activity of their choosing," Miss Azumi said. She went over to the glasses-wearing caretaker and got a sheet of paper. She passed the paper back towards him and he looked it over. "It's a list of your options. We'll give you some time to look it over and you can come to us when you made your decision."
Izuku went to the dining hall and looked over all his options. He first looked in the athletics section and saw stuff like fútbol, cricket, basketball, gymnastics, baseball, martial arts, and tennis. He didn't feel like he was athletic enough for sports like fútbol, basketball, or martial arts, but doing gymnastics did sound interesting to him. But wanting to keep his options open Izuku looked at the next section.
This was the cooking section and nothing seemed to interest him. He didn't really want to bake or grill, and he certainly didn't want to learn about the history of where each food or cooking style originated from. Seeing that he didn't want to do anything cooking-related anytime soon, Izuku looked at the music section.
Now the music section interested Izuku a little. Learning how to play a woodwind, brass, string, or percussion instrument was intriguing to him. He always did want to learn how to play an instrument and this was his opportunity to start, but gymnastics also interested him as well. He was torn on what he wanted to do. Izuku decided to let fate pick what he was going to do, so he took a yen coin out of his pocket, and whatever side it landed on deciding whether or not he was going to do gymnastics or play an instrument.
Taking a deep breath, Izuku tossed the coin in the air.
(Line Break)
Three days have passed since sign-ups and Izuku is getting ready for his first lesson. He decided to wear black shorts and a plain white t-shirt for the occasion. Since he's classified as "quirkless," the caretakers had to find a place that wouldn't discriminate against him. They were lucky that the place they found was starting a new batch of participants that day, which seemed to calm Izuku's nerves that he wouldn't have to learn anything right away, but was nervous about meeting new people.
Miss Azumi volunteered to take him to his first lesson. The building wasn't too far from the orphanage so they decided to walk. The nice warm summer day made the walk enjoyable as they talked about what he signed up for. They reached their destination in a couple of minutes. It was a two-story-tall plain white building with no sign. The front door was opened with an attendant standing next to it.
They walked up and showed the person the sign-up sheet and asked if they were at the right place. The person looked over the sheet and nodded.
"It's in the back," the attendant said, pointing inside the building.
Miss Azumi thanked the attendant and walked towards the back. They made it about halfway before Miss Azumi stopped them and crouched down to Izuku's level.
"Before we go in I want to tell you something," she said while looking into Izuku's eyes, "If you don't want to do this that's fine, but I want you to go to at least five lessons first, ok?"
"Ok," Izuku agreed.
After their little talk, they entered a room with a padded floor, beams, a trampoline, and bars. There were kids on one side of the room and the parents on the opposite side. There was a young-looking woman wearing grey workout shorts and a pink tank top. She had long flowing brown hair and green eyes, she was also taller than Miss Azumi.
"Hello, are you here for gymnastics?" she asked.
"Yes, we signed up this little guy," Miss Azumi said, signaling towards Izuku.
"Really," the woman said. She crouched down to Izuku's height, "Hello, I'm Mariya Kaida, and I'll be your instructor."
"Hi, I-i'm Izuku M-M-Midoriya," he introduced himself. He was feeling a little intimidated by the giant that is in front of him.
"Why don't you go over and talk with the other kids while I talk with Mariya," Miss Azumi suggested.
Liking that idea Izuku nodded and walked over to the other children. He looked at the other children and saw, much like his class, a majority of them had mutation quirks. He didn't think much of it as he looked over the crowd to see if he could recognize anyone he knew. He didn't, so he just waited for the lesson to start not wanting to bother anyone.
A few minutes passed before Mariya walked to the center of the room.
"All right I would like everyone's attention," she said with a voice that screamed confidence. "Parents and guardians I just need your attention for a few minutes before you can get out of here," she said before returning her attention to the children.
"My name Mariya Kaida and I'll be your instructor," she introduced herself. "Lessons will be 45 minutes and take place on Sundays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays giving you time to relax and for school work. Actual lessons will take place on Saturday until the end of October. If you wish to continue with the lessons I urge you to sign up again next year," she informed them.
She turned back to the parents and the guardians.
"You may now leave and make sure to take the flyer that is next to the door. It has all the information that I just told you and more," she informed them.
The adults walked towards the door but were met with a woman that has the appearance of a frog with a long face, a big mouth, and dark greenish hair. Along with her is a young girl that also has the appearance of a frog who also has a big mouth, but has short dark green hair.
"S-sorry w-w-we're late," the older woman said between breaths.
"It's alright," Mariya said. "Are you here to drop off your daughter?"
"Yes," the woman said when she gained her breath. "I'm Beru Asui and this is my daughter Tsuyu Asui, gero."
"Hello, ribbit," Tsuyu said softly.
"Hello, Tsuyu, I'm Mariya Kaida," she introduced herself. "Why don't you go and join the other children, and don't worry you didn't miss much everything you need to know is on the flyer next to you. I also dismissed the parents and guardians so you don't need to stay."
Beru nodded and said her goodbyes to her daughter. The rest of the adults did the same to their respective children before leaving. Now alone Mariya began to speak with the children.
"Alright, since I don't believe in learning anything on the first day why don't we introduce ourselves," she suggested. "I'll go first, you already know me, I'm Mariya Kaida, I'll be your instructor, and my quirk makes me rubber," she said, demonstrating her quirk. She bent backward effortlessly into a crab walk position with her head touching the back of her legs.
"So who's next?" she said as she looked at the sea of children in front of her.
And that's how the next few minutes went. A kid would say their name, something about themselves, and ended with them stating what their quirk was and a demonstration. Some time passed before it was his turn to introduce himself.
"H-h-hello, I'm I-I-Izuku M-Midoriya, I-I-I like k-katsudon, a-and I'm qu-quir-quirless," he stuttered out.
After he said the quirkless part, Izuku noticed a few looks of disgust and worry that his "condition," is contagious.
"Thank you for introducing yourself Izuku," Mariya said. She pointed to the frog girl that came in late, "Why don't you introduce yourself, dear."
"Hello, I'm Tsuyu Asui, please call me Tsu, my quirk is frog, and it gives me the abilities of a frog, ribbit," she said, as she stuck out her tongue as a demonstration.
A few more kids introduced themselves after her. With the introductions done Mariya let the children talk among themselves for the rest of the lesson to get more familiar with each other. Izuku tried to go and talk with the other kids, but they would always walk away from him whenever he got close. He also waited for someone to come and talk to him, but no one ever did because they didn't want to come close to the "quirkless," kid.
He walked over to a corner and sat down and waited for the lesson to end. He just sat there and watched as the other kids socialized and made friends while he was alone.
"Hello, ribbit," Izuku was startled by the sound of a frog. He looked up and saw the frog girl standing in front of him. "Can I sit next to you?"
Izuku nodded and let the girl sit next to him. They sat in silence for a few seconds before the girl spoke.
"Why are you sitting alone, ribbit?" she asked.
"No one wanted to talk to me," Izuku answered.
"Did you try to talk to them?"
"They always walked away from me before I could speak."
"Well, I want to talk to you, ribbit," she told him.
Izuku looked at her and smiled.
"Yeah, I guess you did."
"Tsuyu, but please call me Tsu," she said.
"Izuku," he responded.
They talked with each other for the rest of the lesson. Even when the parents came to pick up their kids they sat in the corner and talked with each other. Even when Beru and Miss Azumi told them it was time to go they didn't want to stop talking. So to compromise the situation both Beru and Miss Azumi exchanged numbers so they could set up a time for them to see each other.
Knowing that they will see each other outside of gymnastics, Izuku and Tsuyu said goodbye and went back to their respective homes.