Ignited Spark

by 3PeopleInACoat

When Midoriya Izuku was four years old, his quirk finally manifested - not a combination of his parents' quirks, but an entirely different mutation of its own. With the ability to blast lightning out of his body, a horrible accident convinces Izuku to give up his dreams of becoming a hero. But with the help of two girls, Izuku finds the inspiration to fight and become a true hero!

2. Spark

There were two days from his childhood that Izuku Midoriya remembered with crystal clarity.

The first was when he met one of the two loves of his life.

And the second was when he made the worst mistake of his life, and suffered the consequences of it every day since.

Because he and Katsuki Bakugou lived in the same neighbourhood, they had known each other since they were children. Katsuki had been the type that could do anything he tried his hand at, like reading and writing, skipping rocks and going on adventures. Katsuki became well known as a rascal that led the group of childhood kids, their parents usually too busy to look after them, which allowed Katsuki to go on any adventure he wanted - and it was always his adventure. Usually his friends only moved right behind him, happy to follow him around wherever he went, which only inflated Katsuki's ego even more.

Izuku, for his part, had always been happy to be a part of the group, always scrambling after Katsuki and their friends to whatever adventure the blonde boy wanted to go on. Izuku and Katsuki had known each other the longest - their moms had been friends in college, so they'd technically grown up together. Katsuki may have been dismissive of Izuku, usually making fun of him whenever he couldn't do something, but allowed him to hang around.

Good or bad aside, Katsuki had been full of confidence, and there was a part of Izuku that had found that cool.

But ... after both of their quirks manifested ... it accelerated Katsuki down the wrong path.

It had been a warm summer day, in the middle of the forest Katsuki frequently liked to hang around so he could catch bugs and boss his friends around. Izuku's feet were now wet, standing in that little creek as he held his hand out to Katsuki. Izuku could feel his heart begin to calm down after it had been beating pretty fast - his friend had slipped on the log they had been crossing as a group, and had fallen straight into the water. He had been worried, so Izuku had quickly climbed down the hill, trying his best not to slip and fall in himself, so he could get to Katsuki and make sure he was okay while Tsubasa and Yubi asked if he was okay from the log.

Once he had gotten into the water, Izuku had made his way over to Katsuki, relieved that he saw him sitting up and giving a thumbs up to their friends above them, and had offered his hand to help him up.

But ... Katsuki didn't accept it. He was staring blankly at him, as though the blonde boy wasn't sure what exactly he was looking at.

Izuku felt his brow furrow in worry, seeing Katsuki staring at him with an expression of ... was that shock on his face? Wait, did he hurt himself when he fell into the creak? Feeling concerned for his best friend, Izuku leaned in slightly.

"Are you okay, Kacchan? Can you stand up? It would've been bad if you hit your head."

For a few more moments, Katsuki stared at him - and then he gritted his teeth, a look of rage shadowing his face, and then threw his hand up to slap Izuku's offering hand away. The green-haired boy let out a startled gasp as Katsuki climbed to his feet by himself, letting out a small growl of anger without even looking at him as he pushed past Izuku.

Izuku watched in concern as Katsuki stormed out of the creak towards their friends, the two boys above them glaring at Izuku due to him messing up somehow, and followed the blonde boy away as soon as he got to the top of the hill.

"G-guys, wait!" Izuku cried out to them, quickly moving out of the creak and wincing at the water in his shoes and soaking his socks, and climbed up the hill as quickly as he could so that he could run after them. Neither of the three boys looked back at him, not even Katsuki as he stormed down the path back to their neighborhood while continuing to grit his teeth, and the boys ignored his requests for them to wait or slow down.

Soon enough, they had arrived back at the park, where Katsuki finally stopped and let out a deep breath as Izuku caught up, panting a bit and feeling worried, unaware that Katsuki's hands started smoking.

"Kacchan, are you - ah!"

That last cry, however, was due to Katsuki suddenly whirling around, eyes filled with rage and contempt, and thrust his hands out at the green-haired boy. Izuku let out a squeak of terror and pain as a blast of fire hit him right in the face, making him scramble back blinded and tripping on his own feet. Tsubasa and Yubi let out sniggers when Izuku fell down hard flat on his back, staring up at Katsuki in shock and with tears beginning to build in his eyes as the blonde boy glared down at him.

"I didn't need your help!" He yelled, balling his fists in anger. "I was fine! You're nothing but a worthless Deku, so screw off!"

Once he was finished yelling that at him, Katsuki whirled around, gesturing to the two boys to follow him, and the three of them left Izuku in the dust, moving around the playground to continue to hang out. The green haired boy, meanwhile, stared briefly in shock at Katsuki, feeling tears in his eyes, and then quickly shook his head, sniffling, and rolled over onto his hands and knees to get back up.

Obviously he had done something wrong, Izuku realized as he let out a sad sigh and sat up on his knees, staring at the ground in sadness. This was the second time recently that Katsuki had lashed out at him, and he knew that he must have done something that had upset his friend. The first time had been when he had been talking too much about heroes, and Katsuki had used his quirk to blow an explosion in his face and shut him up, making the boy cry from the surprise and making the other kids in their kindergarten class laugh at him. But he had understood why Katsuki had done that - he knew he could be annoying when he muttered, everyone told him that.

It was just … he wished he could do something that made Katsuki like him. It had been a while since they'd hung out by themselves, talking about All Might and excitedly talking about becoming heroes - so maybe ...

… maybe it was because his quirk still hadn't come in yet, Izuku thought with a small frown. Katsuki probably kept pushing him around because he didn't have his quirk unlike everyone else, but maybe when it manifested, he would be a little nicer? It'd be cool to play with quirks with his friends, blowing fire out of his mouth like his dad or floating things around like his mom, that'd be really cool.

It was just … he didn't know when it was going to come in. He and his mommy had gone to the doctor's a week ago, and while he didn't say anything that could indicate that Izuku's quirk wasn't going to come at all, there was something in the doctor's voice that made Izuku afraid in that office, and went home to cry himself to sleep.

He just hoped that Katsuki could forgive him for being annoying, Izuku sniffed as he sat there in the dirt. He didn't mean to be annoying, or a jerk - he just needed to figure out what he did, and then apologize to him. Maybe he should just go home to ask his mom what he could've done, she was super smart when it came to stuff like that. Or maybe he just needed to find something to distract him, and -

- and that was when Izuku suddenly blinked, realizing something that made his eyes widen. His dad wouldn't be home yet - he was still at work, and he said to his mom last night that he was going to do something before coming home. And even then, he usually waited until after dinner to go into his office and work.

So that meant …

Maybe ... maybe I can go home and watch All Might! Izuku thought with a small gasp. Feeling himself reinvigorated once again, he was quick to crawl back to his feet and start running towards his apartment, a wide smile on his face as he wiped some of the dirt Katsuki's explosion had knocked onto his face. He knew that his dad was okay with him using his computer to watch videos, as long as after dinner Izuku wasn't on it so he could work a little bit more. With that in mind, and knowing that dinner was only about an hour away, Izuku hurried his pace to get back to the apartment.

He was unaware, of course, of the fact that there was someone looking right at him as he hurried away. A small girl in an oversized sweater and shorts, standing near an older woman with the same brown hair. The little girl's eyes followed the boy as he ran away back home, and then flickered back to the group of bullies around the jungle gym as they looked awed at something Katsuki was holding in his hands, and she was unable to stop herself from frowning slightly at them.

"Ochako?"

The small girl jumped, looking around at her mother holding up the box and looking down at her, even though her eyes were still closed as she gave her a small smile. "You okay?"

"M-mm! I'm okay, mommy."

"Okay. I'm just gonna run over to the truck to give this to your dad, so you just stay here for now, okay? I'll just be walking over and coming back. Or maybe you can go over and play with those boys?"

The little girl glanced at the mean boys who had shoved the smaller boy down, and wrung her hands slightly. But still ...

"Mommy," She asked, looking up at her mom as the older woman looked back around at her daughter, "what does D-Dek-" She struggled to try to pronounce the word for a moment, having only heard it when the blonde boy was shouting and feeling confused, before she finally got out, in a small, quiet mutter, "-Deku mean?"

"Hm? Did you say 'dekiru'?" Her mom looked curiously down at her, wondering where she had heard that word, but then smiled. "Well, Ochako, it's a Japanese saying - it means 'you can do it!'."

The little girl blinked at that, and then looked back around, seeing the back of the green haired boy as he turned into the apartment her family was moving into, and felt a strange curiosity overcome her as her mom turned back around to give the box to her dad, who had been coming out of the elevator with the moving cart

"... Deku."

---

"Mom!"

Inko Midoriya had been cleaning the dishes when she heard the sound of tiny barefooted feet running on the hardwood floor, and felt herself smile a bit. From the excited tone of the high pitched voice behind her, she could tell easily what her little son wanted.

Turning to look around as she cleaned the dishes, she saw her four year old son skid to a stop at the door, having gotten back from hanging out with his friends about ten minutes ago and going into his room to get changed. She tried hard not to laugh as she saw him almost trip over his own feet before regaining his balance, and quickly running over to her at the sink while holding his favorite All Might toy in his grasp.

"Mom!" He began hopping up and down in his excitement, looking pleadingly up at her with those big cute eyes she couldn't even hope to resist. "The computer! Please!"

"Again?" She giggled, knowing exactly what he wanted and turning to turn off the sink, leaving the plates under the warm water as she turned around to give her son a teasing smile. "I swear, this is the third day in a row you've wanted to watch that video, Izuku. I think your dad got you addicted."

"Please, Mom! Please?" He turned on the puppy eyes even more, making her giggle.

"Okay, okay," She nodded while smiling, "I give. Go jump in the chair and I'll be right in to load it up."

Letting out a cheer, Izuku turned around and quickly ran back to the spare room where Hisashi had set up his office at home - he usually used it if he forgot to do something at work (he was honestly so forgetful, she was surprised that he remembered their anniversary), but he had been more than happy to let Izuku stay in there to play with his toys. That, and using the computer at his chair to look up his favourite video in the world.

Inko let out a small sigh as she dried her hands on the dishcloth she hung on the oven door, and walked down the hall towards where she could already hear her son rocking back and forth in the chair.

Entering the den, she glanced at the walls that Hisashi let Izuku hang up two All Might posters on, and let out a small chuckle. Her husband might be indulging their son a little too much - the pain of having a hero fanboy for a husband was that he would encourage his son when he showed the same interest. Well, not that it mattered, she guessed as she moved to the desk, seeing her son already rocking back and forth in excitement - her husband and their son were cute when they went on their hero sprees.

"Hurry!"

"Jeez," She giggled endearingly as she opened up the explorer, clicked on the bookmarked tab, and scrolled down the list of work websites her husband used until she found the video at the bottom of the page, "you've probably added ten thousand views just by yourself, Izuku. It's too scary for your mom, I can't even watch it."

This didn't seem to be a problem for Izuku, who immediately leaned forward with a big, goofy smile on his face as the video started up. Shaking her head slightly at her little boy while giggling more, Inko walked over to the door to get back to the dishes and eventually get started on supper, trusting her son to know how to replay the video to watch it another ten thousand times today. As she moved towards the door, she smiled when she heard the now all too familiar voices coming from the video her son loved so much, having heard it so much she could easily mouth along.

"Can you see it? He's already saved a hundred people, and it hasn't even been ten minutes! It's insane !"

"HA HA HA HA HA HA!"

"He's laughing?!"

"HA HA HA HA HA!"

Now she could hear Izuku's excited noises, and was unable to stop her smile widening slightly as she glanced over at the large computer screen, seeing the now all too familiar image of the gigantic man with the weird hair antennas, carrying half a dozen people on his back while posing dramatically for the camera.

" It's fine now! Why, you ask? Because I am here!"

"He's so cool!" Izuku exclaimed, throwing up the fist he was holding his All Might toy with up into the air and staring at it with a look of inspiration. "Once I get my quirk, I wanna be just like him!"

At that last sentence from her son, however, Inko felt her smile fall, turning to look at the floor with a frown on her face as Izuku let out a loud, bombastic laugh, clearly trying to imitate his hero but not quite having the baritone for it. Letting out a small sigh, Inko slipped out the door, leaving Izuku to go back on his All Might binge while closing the door behind her.

As the door quietly shut, Inko walked back down the hall towards the kitchen, letting out a small sigh as she walked over to get the rest of the dishes washed so she could get started on supper. As she reached the kitchen, however, she heard the sound of the lock jingling a bit, bringing a small smile to her face as she walked back over to the sink, turning back on the water so she could start scrubbing. As she picked up the next plate to wash, she heard the sound of someone taking off their shoes at the front door, before walking down the hall, and turned her head to see her husband walking into the kitchen, looking tired and his suit a bit wrinkled, but still smiling at the sight of her.

"You look even more exhausted than usual," Inko teased, and Hisashi let out a small laugh as he walked over to her, giving her a one-armed hug from behind and kissing the top of her head, which was pretty easy for him to do as he was a head taller than her. "I was starting to think that they were making you work overtime tonight, I was about to call and ask when you were coming home."

"Heh, I wish I had to work overtime, they at least pay me when I do that," Hisashi chuckled, shaking his head and letting go of his wife so he could move back to the table and put down his briefcase, his smile falling from his lips. "I was actually over at the Bakugous this whole time - we got catching up before I brought up Katsuki."

"Ah." Inko faltered a bit when she heard that, looking around at her husband and seeing the exhausted look on her husband's face as he sat down in his chair. "I ... I'm guessing that it didn't go very well, did it?"

"About as well as it could have gone," He shook his head and glanced away with a frown. "I told Mitsuki and Masaru what we caught him doing, and they said they'd talk to Katsuki about it."

"Oh, dear," Inko hummed, turning off the sink again so she could turn around to face her husband. "That ... doesn't sound positive."

"Probably because it's not positive," Hisashi shook his head, raising a hand to scratch his dark hair. "I just ... I don't get it, Inko. I know that Izuku and Katsuki weren't exactly - okay, they're friends, but it's not like I wasn't a stupid kid like him when I was his age. I wouldn't be using my quirk on my friends, I at least know that."

"Mm-hm …"

"When I was around his age, I was a bossy brat around my friends myself! I ordered my friends around a lot, I was a little shit. But if someone harassed my friends, the kids I knew since I was a baby - I'd square up to them in a second. Because my friends were mine! They came to my house all the time, they played with me, they were basically my brothers! I bossed them around, yeah, but I protected them. I may not have liked all the kids I hung around, but they were my friends. But Katsuki - he doesn't see any problem with using his quirk on Izuku, and that worries me! When is it going to lead him to beating Izuku up, or throwing him around? When does it become flatout bullying?!"

Inko slowly nodded, letting her husband rant and get it out of his system, and sighed as she dried her hands on the cloth, letting Hisashi let out a sigh as he put his forehead into his hand, obviously having a headache about this.

"I want to say kids will be kids," Inko shook her head as she walked over to the table, putting her hand on her husband's shoulder and letting Hisashi lean against her, "but I'd be lying if I said that if Katsuki was our kid, I'd be giving him a kick to the butt if someone's parents called me to say that they caught him beating up another kid."

"Heh," Hisashi chuckled despite his bad mood, "I guess that's my wife, huh? One of us has to be the professional butt kicker, and the only fight I've gotten in in my life, I was the one who ended up with a bloody nose."

"Yeah, and I'm the one who punched out Kuso Panchi in middle school," Inko giggled, leaning over to kiss his forehead, "so I guess we'll leave all the butt-kicking to me. Anyway, do you think Mitsuki will get through to him? Katsuki, I mean."

"I … honestly don't know," Hisashi sighed as he glanced away again, "I say this as her friend, but I think she can be a bit too soft on Katsuki sometimes. She knows to put her foot down, but they're so much alike sometimes I'm not sure if she understands."

Inko pursed her lips at that, glancing down at the table for a second as he rubbed her hip, before Hisashi shook his head and glanced up at her, seeing her own frown and raising his eyebrow.

"Okay," he said softly, "so that was what's been bothering me. What's up with you?"

"H-huh?" Inko jumped a bit, looking back down at him in surprise. "What - what do you mean?"

"You have your worried face on. And believe it or not, you usually have your worried face on when you're - and this may come as a shock to you - worried." Hisashi laughed at his own stupid joke while Inko rolled her eyes and lightly hit his shoulder, making Hisashi fake a mortal injury while she giggled despite herself.

"Seriously though," Hisashi got serious again, leaning forward, "what's up?"

Inko paused for a second, glancing down at the table as she thought, before she let out a small sigh and sat down in the seat opposite of him, pursing her lips as she folded her hands together.

"It's ... about Izuku," she muttered.

"Of course."

"It's just - I know we've talked about it a lot, but it's just - he hasn't manifested his quirk yet," She explained herself in a low voice as though afraid Izuku would overhear her, tapping her fingers together as she stared sadly down at the hardwood table, "and - and I'm just worried. All the other kindergartners have started developing their quirks except for him, and ... I just want to make sure that he's fine. The doctor didn't say anything when we visited him last week, but I know that he's starting to think that it won't come in."

Hisashi pursed his lips at that reminder, feeling his own stomach lurch, but shook his head and leaned forward, moving his hand to slide across the table and onto hers, getting her attention and causing her to look up at him, seeing an understanding smile on his face.

"Inko," He said softly, "I understand why you're worried. I mean, I'm also wondering what's going on too, but … come on, it isn't like it's going to change anything if - you know - Izuku ends up not developing a quirk, right?"

"Of course not," She said immediately, shaking her head.

"I just think that we need to be a little more patient," He smiled, deciding to try and lighten the mood a bit, "and pray that our boy doesn't end up setting our apartment on fire when he sneezes."

"Or float the table," Inko challenged, back, smirking a bit while Hisashi shook his head and chuckled, but then he suddenly blinked, realizing something that he had forgotten to tell her.

"Oh! I just remembered - do you remember how we thought we heard stuff being moved around next door last night?"

"Er … yes?"

"Well," Hisashi leaned back with a small smile, "that's because there was stuff being moved around. I decided to take the elevator when I came back from the Bakugous and saw them using the big elevator. We have next door neighbours now."

"Is that right?" Inko gasped, leaning forward with a smile on her face. "Do they seem nice?"

"Oh, yeah," He chuckled, nodding, "I think we'll get along with them. It's a husband, wife and a daughter, who's about Izuku's age. Their move in date was yesterday, so they were moving some stuff in the apartment last night after work before getting everything else today. I got to talking to them, and they told me that they were thinking of enrolling their daughter to the same kindergarten Izuku's attending. I figured you wouldn't mind, but I did invite them over to dinner tomorrow night. Just being good, welcoming neighbors, you know?"

"I do know! And yes, I don't mind," Inko giggled, standing up to get back to the counter with a new bounce in her step at the news, "I think it's good that we're trying to be good neighbours. Who knows, maybe Izuku and their daughter can become friends!"

"Oh, please Inko," Hisashi laughed a bit, reading her mind, "we don't need to have our new neighbour hate Izuku. You know how dads get around their daughter's first boyfriend."

"I'm not the one saying that," Inko teased with a grin.

"You're implying it, though. How about you wait until the kids actually meet before you start setting them up for a childhood friend romance?"

"Okay, mister smart guy, whatever you say. I'll keep my thoughts to myself, and you can go ask our son what he wants for supper."

"I'm going to take a wild guess and say katsudon. Always, always katsudon. What's wrong with just regular udon?"

---

"Huh?" Izuku asked, feeling himself shrink a little.

"They're just going to come over and say hello," Inko explained as she put on her bracelet, dressed up in her nice dress and doing up her hair in a bun, "and then eat a little dinner with us! It'll be nice to meet our new neighbours, won't it?"

At the moment, Izuku was standing in the doorway of his parents' room in a red t-shirt and shorts, watching her get ready for something he wasn't aware was happening until a few minutes ago. He could hear his dad humming in the kitchen as he put on his suit jacket from work, the sound of his dad muttering how dumb he looked audible even from here, but Izuku remembered his mom telling his dad that he didn't have another suit other than his work one.

But that wasn't on Izuku's mind as he felt himself begin to shake slightly.

"They're ... new people?"

"Mm-hm! A little family like ours, Izuku - a mommy and a daddy, and a daughter too! Apparently she's your age, so when she's here you two can have a little fun! You have so many toys, I'm sure she'd love to play with them with you."

Inko said that in an overly excited voice, as though trying to hype him up for meeting new people like it would make him excited as well - but then she glanced over at her son after slipping on her bracelet, and felt herself falter. Izuku himself didn't look excited to meet a new friend, or to meet new people at all - in fact, he was shrinking into himself, fidgeting slightly while small tears began to pool in his eyes, which of course made Inko suddenly start tearing up without warning - a curse on the Midoriya family, if one of them started crying, the other wouldn't be far behind.

"Izuku?" She asked in a soft voice, feeling concern edge into her voice. "What is it?"

"Nothing," He muttered, turning away as though unable to look at his mother all of a sudden.

"Honey ..." Inko was quick to move over to her tiny son, kneeling down so that they could be face-to-face, and raised her hand to his cheek. Genty turning his face back to look at her, feeling herself tear up slightly at the obviously scared and conflicted look on his face, she leaned in slightly. "... what's wrong?"

"..."

"Izuku ...?"

"... what if they don't like me?" He quietly muttered, glancing away. "Because I don't have a quirk?"

Inko let out a soft gasp at that, staring at her son in shock while feeling her tears begin to pool in her own eyes as he stared at the floor. She felt her heart thud in her chest, but quickly shook off her shock so she could comfort her son, wondering where on earth he had gotten that thought from.

"Izuku," She asked quietly, seeing Izuku staring at the floor again, "what do you mean? Of course they'd like you even without a quirk, why would you think that?"

"Kacchan," He muttered, making Inko's expression fall, "he … I messed up yesterday. He - he slipped off a log and fell into a creak, and I - I tried to make sure he was okay, but I think I just annoyed him. I don't know what I did, but I think it's because I don't have a quirk - I don't think he likes me anymore because I'm so weak."

"Oh, Izuku ..."

"So what if these people don't like me either?" He looked up at his mom, tears beginning to leak out of his eyes and onto his cheeks. "Because I'm weak?"

"Honey, no, you're not weak," Inko felt her own tears begin to leak down her cheeks - damn her weak eye ducts - and quickly brought her son in for a hug, letting him wrap his tiny arms around her neck while he sniffled, "and they won't hate you because you don't have your quirk yet. Please don't think that, that's not it at all. I'm sure any day now, your quirk will manifest, and it'll be awesome. And I swear to you, Izuku, whatever made Kacchan mad at you today, I assure you that it's not your fault - you're the sweetest, most pure little boy I've ever met. You're not annoying, you're not weak - you're amazing."

Izuku only sniffed at that, to which Inko moved away from him to smile at him as he continued to study the floor.

"Tell you what," She said softly, "our new neighbours are going to come over to eat with us for a little bit so we can meet them, but if you don't want to talk to them, that's okay."

"R-really?"

"Really. You just need to stay by me and be polite if they talk to you. But I don't think that's going to be an issue, because I'm sure that they'll love you. Like I said, they have a little daughter too - someone your age. I think that she'd love to be your friend, but if you just wanna hang out with me until they're gone, that'll be okay."

Izuku didn't seem sure about that, still staring down at the floor looking more than a little unsure, but before he could say anything, Hisashi poked his head in, giving the two a smile as he knocked on the door to get their attention.

"Inko," He said softly to his wife, seeing her looking up at him as Izuku looked around, wiping his eyes, "I checked on dinner and it looked almost ready. The neighbors said that they would be here at around six thirty, so I set the timer for another five minutes."

"Oh, thank you, Hisashi," Inko smiled, also grabbing a handkerchief from her pocket to wipe Izuku's face, and then standing up and kissing her son on the top of his head, "I'll just check on that now."

She hurried out the door of her bedroom to the kitchen, leaving Izuku continuing to look unsure about how the evening's events would unfold. At least, until he felt his dad's hand pat his head and made him look around, seeing his dad smiling kindly down at him.

"Scared to meet new people, huh?" He asked, kneeling down so that he and his son could be at the same level. "Heard some of that while I was coming around the corner."

"... mm-hm."

"Well," Hisashi smiled, keeping his hand in his son's hair, "how about we make a deal, young man? Tell you what - I think tonight's going to go really well, and our neighbors are going to be absolutely charmed by you, but if it doesn't, after they leave, you and I can kick back and watch some All Might videos before bed. You don't have school tomorrow, so we can pull up one of his interviews and watch it with some popcorn."

"... All Might videos?" Izuku asked in a small murmur, looking slightly hopeful while his dad grinned, knowing that he got his son hook, line and sinker.

"All Might videos, popcorn, and maybe we can sneak a little chocolate once your mom goes to bed. And you can even stay up a little later too, since it's the weekend. No moms will be allowed, it'll just be a boy's night."

"Um -" Izuku looked a bit more calm at that - hearing that his dad wanted to watch some All Mgiht videos with him did bring his mood up somewhat. That was, until ...

DING DONG

Izuku squeaked in shock at the sound of the doorbell, realizing who that would be, while Hisashi looked around at the sound as well, smiling a little bit as he realized he was there. However, before he could say anything to assure his son, Izuku quickly zipped out of the room, making the father blink in confusion at the spot his son was supposed to be suddenly vacant, and looked around as though Izuku had vanished into thin air.

Getting up from where he had been kneeling, Hisashi looked out into the hall leading to the kitchen, and saw Izuku immediately hiding behind his mother's dress as Inko looked down in confusion, and then back up at Hisashi.

"Huh." Hisashi sagged a bit, "Knew it couldn't be that easy."

Shaking his head somewhat, Hisashi stretched slightly and straightened up, sharing a small smile with his wife as he turned on his heel to walk to the front door. Taking a deep breath and trying to make sure that his smile was at least a bit confident (okay, he'll admit, he was just as nervous as his son), Hisashi opened the door wide, and gave the visitors grins as he caught sight of them.

"Hello! Please, come in."

"Ha, glad you invited us over!" Hiding behind Inko, Izuku winced slightly - the man's voice was much louder than he had been expecting, sounding very enthusiastic. Peeking out from behind Inko's leg, Izuku found himself gulping at the sight that befell him - height wise, the man coming in through the door wasn't that much taller than his dad, maybe an inch or so, but weight wise? His dad looked kind of like a twig, even though he was pretty big himself. He looked really strong, not All Might strong but strong enough that he could pick up his dad easily and throw him around. Seeing that, of course, did make Izuku feel a lot more nervous, but then his eyes trailed up to his face, and felt himself blink. He looked very large and imposing, but his face was a lot more relaxed, and looked … really nice. He had an assuring grin on his face that showed all of his teeth, dirty blonde short hair, and some stubble on his face like his dad's. He was wearing a blue dress shirt and jeans, and looked really relaxed, shaking his dad's hand before turning to his mom and smiling.

Behind him, meanwhile, came a much shorter woman, standing around his mom's height and shorter than his dad. She was a lot shorter than the man coming in, only coming up to his chin, but she had a warm smile on her face that did make Izuku feel a little better, peeking out from behind his mom as she strolled in. Her eyes were weirdly closed, making Izuku wonder how exactly she could see when she bowed to Inko and straightened back up. She had two blush stickers on her cheeks, and her face was slightly round, with long brown hair falling down to her shoulders. She wore a nice dress with a white frilly shirt over it, and carried a small container in her hands.

"It's nice to see you both again," Hisashi said politely, sinking into a polite bow, but the man let out a loud laugh and shook his head, reaching down to slap Izuku's dad's shoulder good-naturedly.

"No need to get all polite on us," He said in an enthusiastic, not noticing Hisashi's wince at the unexpected hit - looked like someone didn't know their own strength - and Izuku blinked at the odd accent in his voice, "but yeah, it's nice tah see ya again, Mr. Midoriya."

"That's right," The woman said sweetly, no accent at all as she bowed to him, "no need to treat us any differently than you would your other neighbors. Still, thank you for inviting us into your home. I hope that we get along."

"I hope so too," Hisashi chuckled, raising himself back up and moving back so that Inko could step forward, Izuku still nervously hiding behind her leg despite the new people looking at least a little nicer than what he had been scared off. "This is my wife, Inko, and the little guy hiding behind her leg is our son, Izuku. Forgive him, he's a little nervous around new people."

"It's nice to meetcha, Mrs. Midoriya," The large man grinned, and both adults bowed briefly to Inko while she smiled a bit nervously. "My name's Taiyo Uraraka, and this is mah wife Miwa."

"Thank you for welcoming us into your home," Miwa repeated with a smile, and then turned to look at Izuku, who had peaked out and squeaked when she looked at him, despite her eyes being closed, "and this must be Izuku."

Izuku glanced away awkwardly, letting out a quiet hum of shyness, although the brown-haired woman didn't seem to mind at all.

"Well," She giggled a little bit, and then moved her own dress away from her leg, and Izuku suddenly heard an even higher pitched squeak than his own, "since we're still doing introductions, this is our daughter, Ochako. Forgive her, but it seems that your son isn't the only one that's a nervous to meet new people."

Feeling himself shake a bit more, Izuku peaked out again from behind his mother's leg - and then blinked.

Standing behind her mom, and looking just as nervous as he was, was a little girl even shorter than he was. She wore a pair of overalls over a white t-shirt with the number '13', with a pair of pink shoes on her feet. She had brown hair like her mom, although hers was a bit shorter, and also had the same blush stickers and pair of round, brown eyes that glanced at the three strangers before her before she quickly looked back to the floor. She was also holding something plushie, white and black in her hands, and let out a small noise when Inko looked at her with a smile and quickly hid back behind her mom's leg.

"Well, it's nice to see that we have two shy kids here," Hisashi joked, relieved when Taiyo chuckled, and moved back to gesture in the direction of the kitchen, "but please, come in! Dinner's almost ready."

"Why, thank ya!" Taiyo nodded happily, more than pleased to hear anything about food, and accepted Hisashi's invitation to come into the apartment. Inko glanced down at Izuku again, who was glancing between her and the little girl hiding behind Miwa, and gave him a small smile as she leaned down slightly.

"Let's go eat, Izuku. Do you wanna sit in between me and your dad?" She asked softly, and the boy hesitated, glancing at the little girl again as Miwa bent down to talk to her as well, before he let out a small noise of affirmation and reached up to take her hand.

Soon enough, after Miwa talked to Ochako and got confirmation for the little girl to sit between her and her own dad, the six neighbours moved into the kitchen, the Urarakas looking a little more impressed about the dinner being laid out then perhaps appropriate, while Ochako looked around the living room and blinked at the size of the TV, and then everyone sat down at the kitchen table to get started on dinner. As his mom had suggested, Izuku chose to sit in between his parents while Ochako did the same on the other side of the table, the two children glancing at each other only once, making eye contact, and then quickly looking away while their parents smiled ruefully.

Soon enough, everyone was seated at the table and began to dig into Inko's dinner, the adults immediately beginning to make some smalltalk to get to know each other better.

"So Mr. Midoriya," Miwa asked politely, splitting her chopsticks apart, "what do you do for a living?"

"'Hisashi' is fine," Izuku's dad said airily, smiling at her and Taiyo as he picked up a bowl of rice, "and I work for a tech company selling computer parts. It's not the most glamorous job in the world, but it pays the bills. There are periods when I have to move overseas to do some work, but thankfully you managed to catch me at a time when I could commute from home. And yourselves?"

"We run a consh-truction compnee," Taiyo explained through a mouthful of food, swallowing and grimacing slightly when his wife gave him an unamused look, "Sorry - a construction company. We got a job here in Mustafu a few months ago, and we decided that it migh' be better to move here in the big city rather than stay in Mie. More opportunities, you know, and saves us money not having to travel all over Japan lookin' for work."

"Oh?" Inko looked curious and a bit concerned, using her chopsticks to bring some sushi to Izuku's plate, "is there not a lot of construction jobs near Mie?"

"Not as much as we'd like," Taiyo admitted with a small frown while Miwa shook her head, "ever since heroes became popular a few decades ago, competition in construction's become pretty fierce. The Urarakas have been a construction company for years and we love doin' it, which is why it's such a shame that there've been times we haven't been able ta get jobs for months at a time."

"Oh, no!"

"Well, hopefully that changes here," Miwa tried to remain positive, smiling a bit as she brought some teriyaki to herself, while Ochako looked at it with a little shock (she wasn't used to eating a lot of meat besides baloney), "since Musutafu is pretty much filled to the brim with heroes, there's lots of needs for construction after fights with villains. We're hoping we can find more potential ventures since we're so close to UA Academy."

"Well," Hisashi grimaced slightly, obviously sympathetic to them, "if you guys ever need help, please don't hesitate to come to us, alright? We try to look out for our neighbours, even if we're not all that well off."

"Thank you for your offer," Miwa bowed slightly in her seat, before balling her fist and giving them a smile, "but we're tough! We always get by, right, Ochako?"

The little girl jumped a bit when she was addressed by her mom, obviously still a little shy and unable to hide behind her mom's leg anymore, but nodded all the same and returned to her tempura. Izuku himself still felt a little shy when he wasn't able to hide behind his own mom, and gulped when he noticed the Uraraka patriarch turning to him with a grin on his face.

"So Izuku," Taiyo softened his voice a little bit - he knew how loud and enthusiastic he could be, and since he still looked nervous he didn't want to startle Izuku with how loud he could usually be and wanting to make sure the kid felt relaxed, "I've been thinkin' - and I think I know where I've seen you before."

"H-huh?" Izuku felt a bit startled at that, looking at the older man in shock while Hisashi and Inko blinked in confusion.

"Yeah! I'm thinkin' that I saw you yesterday while we were movin' our stuff upstairs - with those boys in the park," He nodded approvingly, bringing a piece of teriyaki to his mouth and giving a wink to the young boy, "goin' off on adventures and gettin' into trouble, huh? I saw you guys headin' into the forest."

"N-no!" Izuku quickly defended himself with a squeak, going a bit red while Inko shook her head and Hisashi chuckled despite himself, "I - I just - um - we - uh -"

The Urarakas watched as Izuku tried to fumble through an explanation, while Ochako stole another glance at him and then returned to her food with a small frown, remembering what had happened when they had gotten back from the forest and thinking to herself that it hadn't looked like an adventure. Finally, the boy managed to stumble to a stop, and then looked back down at his plate.

"We were playing heroes." He quietly said while studying his rice.

"Heroes, huh?" Taiyo grinned, nodding in approval as he sat back in his seat and warmly studied the boy, "so, you wanna be a hero when you're all grown up?"

"Mm-hm." Izuku quickly nodded, unaware of Ochako blinking and glancing at him again as he went a bit red at the attention. "I, uh - I wanna be a hero like A-All Might."

"All Might, huh? Sometimes he causes some property damage. In that case, why don't we just wait til you're all grown up, and you can use our construction company to - ow!"

"Dear ..." Miwa shook her head while poking her husband in the side, having to reach above Ochako's head to do so.

"I was just jokin'!"

Hisashi and Inko at least laughed at the large man cowering over his tiny wife, and then Inko turned to her son, who gulped when he realized she was giving him a slightly unamused look.

"The forest, huh?" She raised her eyebrow while Izuku went stiff, "The one that doesn't allow trespassers? You went in there?"

"Um -" Izuku gulped, going a bit red from Inko giving him an unamused look - and then he pointed at Hisashi. "Dad wants to eat chocolate later tonight when you go to bed."

Hisashi choked on his drink while Taiyo laughed loudly, and Miwa had to suppress a giggle.

After Hisashi got over the shock and betrayal of his son throwing him under the bus while Inko gave him a death glare, dinner after that went quite pleasantly. Inko and Miwa got along very well, talking about the sights Musutafu had to offer, while Taiyo and Hisashi talked more about their careers and any good drinking spots that Hisashi knew thanks to after work parties. While the adults happily talked amongst each other, Izuku and Ochako stayed quiet, eating their food and subtly stealing glances at each other, shaking a little bit while they did so and immediately looking away when they thought they were going to get caught. Not a word was passed between them - but the adults could tell that there was a part of both children that wanted to talk to the other, but shyness was preventing them from doing so. Which wasn't too big a deal - they just needed to stretch out their visit so they could overcome that barrier.

As soon as dinner was finished, Hisashi and Taiyo volunteered to do dishes as Inko and Miwa talked some more at the table, and soon enough the Midoriyas and Urarakas began to talk the evening away as they got to know each other. Izuku was still a little nervous around the new people, but Taiyo seemed to be very warm and joking around him, patting him on the head and giving him a big smile when the boy didn't shy away, and Miwa was sweet to him, complimenting him on his shirt as she opened the container she brought and gave him a brownie - which was surprisingly good. So they definitely weren't that bad. Not at all.

After he returned from the bathroom about an hour after dinner, Izuku glanced out the front door hanging open, seeing his dad and Taiyo leaning against the railing with beers in their hands, chatting and laughing about something or the other. Turning slightly, he saw his mom and Miwa talking on the couch about the neighborhood and where it would be safe for Ochako to play. Taking a small breath, Izuku stood a bit by himself near the wall, glancing between Miwa and Taiyo.

They were … definitely different that what he had been used to with his own mom and dad, but he knew that they were really nice. He liked them. He was staring to feel a bit more comfortable around them, thinking about maybe walking over to Miwa and asking for another brownie, it had been really good -

- and then he felt someone tugging at his shirt.

Surprised, Izuku looked around, and found himself surprised to see Ochako standing behind him, looking shy and a little scared as she turned her gaze to the floor, holding the white and black thing with both hands.

"Um ..." She said in a low voice, quiet enough that Izuku almost couldn't hear her, "... do you know where my daddy is? I can't find him."

Izuku blinked at that, and then gulped, feeling shyness overcoming him as well as he also looked at the ground, unable to look at the small girl.

"Yeah," He quickly nodded, and pointed behind him, "he's outside with my dad."

Ochako glanced around at the open door, seeing her father leaning against the railing and laughing, and then nodded, a little relieved to see where he went after she had lost track of him - she had gone exploring and ended up in their parents' room, quickly coming back when she realized where she was - but then falling silent again as she realized that she had no idea what to say to the boy directly in front of her.

Izuku felt the same way, gulping nervously at the girl in front of him, and glanced down at his feet to avoid eye contact -

- and then his eyes trailed to what Ochako was holding, and felt them widen a little bit as he actually got a good look at it, and felt himself recognize it.

"Um ..." Izuku gulped nervously, glancing down at the small plushie in her hand, and asked, in a quiet, timid voice as his heart beat wildly in his chest from anxiety, "... is ... is that Thirteen?"

Ochako blinked at that, turning her gaze from the floor to the green-haired boy for a second in brief shock, and then looked down at the plushie she was holding in her hand. She felt herself shake a little bit in nervousness, but she still nodded timidly, unable to look up at him as Izuku got a better look at the toy in her hand.

"She's, um ... she's really cool," Izuku told her, feeling a small smile come to his face but still exercising caution when talking about heroes with her. He was ready to back off in case he annoyed her, remembering what happened when Katsuki had enough of him talking about heroes, so he had learned not to go into it all that much. "My, uh … my dad showed me a video of her stopping a building from falling on people. It was really cool, she did it in about ten seconds."

"... really?" The little girl's voice came out small, as though afraid that he was messing with her, but there was something in there like curiosity that made Izuku feel a little braver.

"R-really!" Izuku nodded quickly, feeling some of his fear at talking to new people subside at long last as he looked at the smaller girl studying her feet. "It was - it was really awesome! She used her quirk to suck up a building that was falling onto the street, she absorbed it in seconds! Afterwards she took a big picture with everyone and she gave a big thumbs up with - with the thumb she used to break down the building. It was really cool!"

Ochako hummed at that, looking unsure but definitely interested as she held the Thirteen plushie closer to her chest. Izuku knew that he was shaking again, but this time it wasn't out of nervousness or anxiety. Well, yes, there was still some nervousness, but this was something different. The way Ochako had looked up at him ... it made him feel weird, but a good weird.

She wasn't looking at him like the other people in his class did, like he was the quirkless weirdo. She definitely was still wary of him, but ...

... she looked interested in what he had to say. And that made Izuku's heart race.

"She's - she's really awesome!" He told her a bit, trying not to come across as the quirkless nerd this time, but as someone who knew what he was talking about. "I've - I've watched her video a hundred times!"

"Mm ..." Ochako glanced down at her Thirteen plushie again, as though trying to imagine what he had told her, like the little toy was responsible for sucking up a building - and then suddenly Izuku had an idea.

"I - I can show you the video if you want!"

That, at least, suddenly caught Ochako's attention, making the brown haired girl look up again, staring at him fully in the face at long last. There was a bit of surprise, and hope, on her face, that made Izuku suddenly want to drag her to his dad's office to show the video - but then he remembered he had no idea how to find it on the computer, he couldn't type or read yet! How could he find it if he didn't even know how to type 'Thirteen'?!

That meant ...

"Mom!" He turned to hurry over to the two mothers on the couch, seeing Inko blink at the sudden energy in her son's voice as she looked down at him. "I wanna show - um -" He faltered at that, unsure about how exactly to pronounce her name, but then shook his head, "- I wanna show her the video of Thirteen I watched a few days ago! Can I?"

Inko faltered at that, sitting up a bit - usually they had a rule about Izuku not being allowed on the computer after dinnertime, it got him too energetic - but then she glanced at the small girl behind him.

While she was studying her feet and tapping her fingers together, there was a small look of hope on Ochako's face, as though she really did want to see the video, and that prompted a smile to grace Inko's face as she sat up, turning her gaze to her son and nodding.

"Of course, sweetie - if it's only the one," She allowed for once, making Izuku brighten up and Ochako glance up at the older woman as Miwa also gave her daughter and the green-haired boy an approving nod. "So the Thirteen video? Was that the one where she saved that building, or are you thinking of another one?"

"Y-yeah, that one. I wanna show O-Ocha-Och-" Izuku stopped what he was saying for a moment, and tried to pronounce Ochako's name. The little girl stared at him for a moment with an unknowing look on her face as he struggled, and Miwa was unable to suppress a small laugh at his cuteness - god, she hoped her daughter became friends with him, she could watch his cuteness all day - and moved off the couch to kneel beside the boy while Inko gave the brown-haired little girl a comforting smile.

"How about ... 'Occhan'?" She suggested, giving Izuku a kind smile as he looked up at her in surprise, "I know that her name can be pretty hard to pronounce - but since I have a feeling that you two are going to be good friends, why not 'Occhan' until you learn how to pronounce her name?"

"Um ... okay," Izuku nodded, blushing a bit as he looked down again.

"And of course, you guys can watch a video," Miwa also smiled at her daughter - she was still acting shy, but Miwa could tell that Ochako was curious to watch whatever video Izuku wanted to show her. "As long as it's the one - we'll have to go soon, just so we can get Occhan to bed."

After Inko got up to get two wine glasses out of the cabinet for later (one glass of wine for the road, since the men got to drink why not them?), the women led the two children by their hands into Hisashi's office, Inko turning on the computer and giving her son an expectant look as she lifted him up into the leather chair.

"One video," She smiled knowingly, already on to her son, "and then that's it. Agreed?"

"Mm-hm!" Izuku nodded.

"Alright," Inko turned back to the computer, pulling up Yap!Tube and putting her hands on the keyboard, "so it was a Thirteen video, right?"

"Yeah," Izuku sat up in the chair, and Inko smiled when she saw Ochako peeking up at the computer screen from behind it in curiosity. "It was the one where - oh! That one, Mom!"

"Alrighty, that one," She giggled, and clicked on the video and put it on pause before it could autoplay, "but before you guys watch it, why doesn't Ochako get in the chair, too? So you both can see."

Izuku paused at that, and looked around to glance at the little girl. Ochako herself seemed a bit nervous about sitting beside him, but her eyes then moved to the screen showing Thirteen posing with a few civilians, and evidently, her curiosity overcame her nervousness.

Gulping a bit, Ochako approached the big chair, and Izuku gulped as well as he scooted over a little bit, looking a bit shy again, and the little girl let out a small grunt as she crawled into the seat beside him, eventually sitting down and looking over at the screen. Both Inko and Miwa had a hard time trying not to coo at them - it looked adorable, seeing their two children sitting side by side in the large chair, but there was no need to embarrass them, especially since this was the closet they had been to each other all night.

"Okay," Inko turned back to the screen to play the video, "you guys can watch this, and we'll be out in the living room. Just call us if you need anything, okay?"

"Okay, Mom!" Izuku quickly nodded, while Ochako hummed beside him watching the screen.

Inko smiled, and clicked the play button on the screen, standing up properly to leave the office with Miwa so they could get their glasses of wine.

Soon enough, though, both children forgot the brief awkwardness of sitting right beside each other, watching the video of a building threatening to collapse after some hero had been blasted into it, the hero in question sliding down and hitting the ground with a grunt before hopping up to charge against the villain who had thrown him. The hero, of course, didn't notice the groan of the building behind him, and several civilians looked up in horror as it began to collapse, creaking as it began falling down onto the street.

Ochako found her eyes glued to the screen, holding her cheap Thirteen plushie close to her chest, as she stared at the scene of people screaming and running to get out of the way, suddenly finding herself nervous watching this and tempted to hold up the Thirteen plushie to her face to hide while Izuku bounced a little bit in the seat - until a puffy, white space suit suddenly ran into frame, running straight in front of the collapsing building in her yellow boots. Izuku had seen this a lot of times, knowing that she would be flipping open one of her suction cups on her finger to point at the collapsing building and suck it into her black hole, with the building being abandoned so she could go all out. He instead glanced to his left to see if Ochako was watching the screen -

- and then felt himself blink when he saw the look on her face.

The awkward, sort of frightened look on the girl's face she had been wearing all night, being shy in front of strangers ... it had completely vanished. Instead, her face filled with wonder as she watched the hero on the screen absorb the building into her thumb, feeling her jaw drop at the sight of her hero in action. Izuku, instead of looking back at the screen to watch the awesomeness instead stared in wonder for a moment as he saw Ochako leaned slightly forward, watching how amazing Thirteen looked in action.

And then the video ended as Thirteen posed with the civilians she had saved while the big villain was arrested in the background, giving a big thumbs up, and the video ended, giving them the option to look at other videos.

For a moment, neither child spoke - and then Ochako let out a squeal, making Izuku jump a little.

"That was awesome!" She pumped her fists in the air, her shyness completely forgotten as she smiled widely and shocked Izuku. "I've never actually seen Thirteen in action before! She saved those people so quickly!"

Izuku stared at her in shock as she turned to look at him, practically bouncing in the seat as she gave him a wide smile. "Can we watch that again?!"

For one moment, Izuku was taken aback, staring at the little girl as her shyness evaporated and overwhelmed him with her sudden energy - and then he felt his own shyness fade away quickly, and he beamed back at her just as brightly.

"Yeah!"

Back in the living room, Hisashi and Taiyo came back into the apartment just as Inko and Miwa finished their glasses of wine, chuckling a bit as they finished their beers, and the four adults knew that it was about time for the Urarakas to get back home, seeing as Ochako needed to go to bed soon, and Hisashi knew that he had promised to watch All Might videos with Izuku once they left, and his son really couldn't stay up that late. So they were standing up now, taking a chance to let the Urarakas put back on their jackets before they went to fetch their children.

"How about I go get the kids," Hisashi offered, taking a moment to put his and Taiyo's beer bottles on the counter to recycle later as he turned towards the hall leading to his office, "and Inko can wrap up some leftovers for later?"

"Ah, mighty kind of you, but it's okay if you can't -"

"I got a lot of toys in my room!"

Hisashi blinked at the sudden enthusiastic voice coming from his office, and glanced around in curiosity- and then yelped and quickly moved back so Izuku and Ochako could run past him and not collide into his legs. The sound of their little feet padding through the apartment drew the attention of every adult in the room, looking around to see the wide and excited smiles on the two children's faces, looking happier than they had all night. Quickly, they ran into Izuku's room and pulled the door closed, only letting the adults hear the sound of them talking excitedly in his room.

For one moment the apartment was silent, all four adults staring in shock at what they just saw, until Hisashi cleared his throat.

"Er -" He stuttered briefly, before shaking his head and turning to the other man, "- I'm actually feeling up for another beer if you want, Taiyo. Maybe two or three, just so they have a little time for - for Izuku to show Ochako all his toys, he's got an awful lot."

"Uh - yeah!" Taiyo nodded quickly, catching on and taking off his coat again. "Maybe four, just to be safe. To show you what you're in for if we ever go drinking together."

"That sounds fine to me!"

"A-and I have some baby pictures to show you, Miwa!" Inko also added in, almost tearing up at the sight of her son finally breaking through his awkwardness, and hopping up to grab the wine bottle again. "Izuku was so adorable as a child, I'd love to show you!"

"And - and I can grab Ochako's baby pictures from next door!" Miwa hopped to her feet as well to run next door quickly, beaming. "I have to show you the picture of her getting scared by a spider crawling on her arm, it's absolutely precious!"

While the parents came up with multiple reasons to delay the Urarakas leaving for a few more hours, Izuku and Ochako sat down in the middle of his room, Izuku quickly dragging some of his All Might toys from underneath his bed to show the little girl. Their initial shyness and awkwardness was long forgotten, Izuku almost going overboard to show his new friend all of his things now that he knew she was interested, and Ochako taking a look at all of them with wide eyes and obvious amazement as she gently took whatever toy was offered to her, inspecting it while sitting cross-legged on the floor.

"This is my favourite All Might toy!" Izuku showed her the action figure of the buff man in the red, blue, white and yellow costume with the blue cape. "It's based on his Silver Age costume by - um - David - Shield! David Shield! That's what my dad told me."

"Ooooh," Ochako put down her Thirteen plushie to take the action figure from Izuku's hands, holding it up and looking at it in awe. "It's really cool!"

"My dad bought it for me for my birthday," Izuku smiled, putting his hands in his lap while Ochako moved one of the arms of the toy, "he said that his favorite hero is Big Red Dot, but he's okay with me liking All Might the most. He put up all the All Might posters in his office, my mom called him a nerd."

"Your dad likes heroes ..." Ochako smiled a bit, glancing down at her Thirteen plushie beside her and picking it up again, holding both toys in her hands, "my mommy got me my Thirteen plushie because I always liked how cool she looked, she got it for my birthday. My -" She suddenly faltered, and then glanced down a bit at the Thirteen toy, feeling her smile fall a bit when comparing the two toys in her hands.

Glancing at it now ... the Thirteen toy was a bit flayed, some stuffing coming out from a hole on the side, and it didn't look that impressive next to the cool All Might toy in her hand. Before she could say anything about it, though, Izuku suddenly reached out and grabbed the leg for the plushie, dragging it a bit closer. Ochako blinked, and let it go so that Izuku could hold Thirteen in both of his hands, smiling softly at it before looking up at her.

"It's really cool," He told her, seeing her look surprised when comparing it to the sleek All Might toy in her hand, "she's an amazing rescue hero! I think between All Might and her, I wanna be a hero like both of them! Someone who saves everyone with a smile."

"So you do wanna be a hero?" Ochako asked, putting the All Might toy down as Izuku looked up at her again. "That's what you said during supper."

"Yeah! It's my dream!" He nodded enthusiastically, excited to share it with her - but then his own smile faded as he glanced down. "It's just ..."

"Huh?" Ochako blinked, scooting a bit closer, "It's just what?"

"I'm … I'm actually quirkless right now," Izuku admitted, feeling his smile slide off his face as he glanced away. He didn't want to be made fun of by her like everyone else, but honestly he felt like he should tell her before he embarrassed himself like he did in front of Katsuki when he had told him about wanting to be a hero.

"My quirk hasn't come in yet, even though everyone else in my class has theirs. They all make fun of me for wanting to be a hero, even though I don't have any powers yet."

"Really?"

"Yeah. It's … it's why they call me 'Deku'."

Ochako blinked at that, scooting closer again as Izuku stared glumly at the floor, moving Thirteen's arm thoughtlessly. "'Deku'? Is that - that's what that weird loud boy called you back in the park, isn't it?"

"I - huh?" Izuku blinked, looking up at the girl in front of him in shock. "How do you -"

"I ... I was standing near my daddy's truck," She admitted, going a bit red as she glanced away to look at another one of his All Might toys, "and I saw you guys coming back from the forest. I saw him shove you down and call you a ... a ..."

"... a useless Deku." Izuku finished for her, nodding with small tears in his eyes. Ochako, feeling concerned, held out his All Might toy, thinking that he might need it to comfort him, and he took it back while giving her back her Thirteen plushie. Soon both children held their toys tightly to them, with Ochako staring at Izuku while he looked down at his toy in sadness.

"It's ... it's how Kacchan pronounces my name," He explained, feeling himself tear up, "he's really good at reading, the teacher said so. Kacchan says that he can read the letters in my name as 'Deku'. He says that it's someone who can't do anything. And he's right. I can't do anything"

Izuku continued to stare down at his All Might toy, knowing that he probably just pushed Ochako away with this, and ready for her to make fun of him like everyone else did - but then she shook her head and leaned forward.

"But that's not true!" She balled her fists tightly together, sounding absolutely certain as she stared at him. "Deku means 'you can do it'! My mom says so!"

That, of course, caused Izuku to blink, staring down at the All Might toy for a second before quickly looking back up at the little girl sitting beside him on the floor. "H-huh?"

"I asked my mommy what 'Deku' meant yesterday," Ochako explained, sounding like she was more sure than anything about this, "and she said it means 'you can do it'. If that's what Kacchan says it is, that's mean! And not true at all!"

She paused at that, and then, in a small voice, asked, "Is Kacchan the boy who pushed you down at the park? I saw that from my daddy's truck, he looked like a big jerk."

"Uh - uh, y-yeah, that was Kacchan, but - but it wasn't his fault," Izuku shook his friend, going a bit pale as he tried to defend his friend, "I was annoying him and did something wrong, and -"

"Friends shouldn't push friends," Ochako insisted, looking sadly at him as she looked away. "That's what my mommy always tells me when one of the girls from my old school pushed me. Friends don't hurt friends."

Izuku stared at that, taken briefly aback, and then let out a weak little laugh and glanced back down to the All Might toy in his hand, shaking his head slightly.

"Kacchan - I just annoy him," He explained, "he's not mean, I'm just being a pest. Even if I get my quirk, he'll probably still be cooler than me."

"You're not a pest, though!" Ochako protested, looking a little bit emotional herself as she reached out and grabbed his hand with one pinky up. "And you're already really cool!"

"No, I'm not ..."

"Yes you are! You have so many cool toys!" She looked around, eyes brightening somewhat. "All your posters are cool! You know so much about Thirteen and All Might! You're way cooler than Kacchan!"

"I - no, I'm - I'm just - I'm just Deku."

"Fine!" Ochako balled her fists again, feeling stubborn while Izuku continued to look sadly at the floor. "But Deku means 'you can do it'! I'll call you that just to remind you!"

"H-huh?"

"Deku means 'you can do it', so that means you can do it!"

"I -"

"That's that! That's what Deku means! You can do it, not that stupid thing Kacchan says it means!"

Izuku was taken aback by that, staring at the girl in front of him in slight wonder as she put down her fists, and felt tears in his eyes again, although this time he quickly wiped them away, glancing away. Ochako felt herself unclench her fist, and glanced away as well.

For a few seconds they were silent, until Ochako let out a small sigh.

"Can ... can I tell you something?"

"Huh?" Izuku blinked, looking back up when she looked a bit sad, "Uh - yeah?"

"I wanna be a hero too," She admitted, going a bit red again as Izuku perked up at that information, his eyes widening. "I wanna be like Thirteen, who can make everyone feel safe and happy. I wanted to help my daddy at his construction company, when I'm big and strong, and I can help him and Mommy with our money problems ... but he said that I should follow my dream. He said that if I wanna be a hero, I - I should be a hero. And … and that's what I'm gonna do."

"Huh ..." Izuku gasped quietly.

"My quirk would be really good to help him, though," She pouted, moving all five of her fingers onto her plushie, and letting it go. Izuku watched with wonder as the toy, instead of falling to the floor, glew pink briefly before it began to float up, looking up with wide eyes as she sent it floating to the ceiling, "it'd be really good if I trained it to float all of his stuff, but he says that I should use it to help people."

"Wow ..." Izuku stared after the toy, and then blinked when Ochako put her fingers together, and the toy came falling back to earth, hitting Ochako on the head on the way down, which only made her frown a little more as she adjusted herself where she sat on the floor, putting her hands down on her feet as she frowned.

"My mommy and daddy work so hard," Now it was her turn to tear up a little bit, "but they're always so tired. It always makes me sad whenever I see how sleepy they are whenever they get back from work, and always try to smile for me. But ... but when I saw how happy they were when we saw a hero beat up a villain one time, how ... how happy everyone looked ..." She hunched over, staring at her feet, "... it made me really happy. So I - I wanna be like that - a hero that can make people happy. But more than that, I wanna make my mommy and daddy happy."

Izuku stared at her for a moment, seeing how down and sad she looked, and let out a small grunt as he sat up on his knees, looking at her with a small soft look on his face.

"That ..." He hesitated for a moment, glancing down at the All Might toy and the Thirteen toy laying side by side with each other, and then sighed a little bit. "That ... that sounds really cool, Occhan. Being a hero to - to make everyone happy - that's the kind of hero I wanna be too. Someone who can make other people smile, and - and make sure they're okay after something scary."

"Then ..." Ochako hesitated, but then shyly stole a glance at him, "... then we can be heroes together."

"H-huh? But I'm -"

"It doesn't matter if you're quirkless!" She shook her head, turning around and looking at him stubbornly with a look of determination on her round face. "As long as you want to be a hero, we'll figure it out! So let's be heroes together!"

Izuku felt himself lose his breath at that - staring at the small girl looking so determined at him, as though she knew that they would be heroes. It was ... honestly, he never heard something like that before. Not from Katsuki, not from his classmates, not even from his mom and dad, who always avoided answering him when he asked if he could be a hero.

Hearing that from the small girl in front of him ... he couldn't help but tear up, sniffling and raising a hand to his eyes. Before Ochako could panic and ask if he was okay, however, there was a small knock at the door, getting both children's attention.

"Izuku? Ochako?" Inko's voice said, sounding regretful, "It's time for Ochako to go home, now - it's almost her bedtime."

Ochako frowned at that, glancing over at the boy as he wiped his eyes again, but still let out a small, sad sigh as she crawled to her feet, picking up her Thirteen plushie from the floor. She had been scared to come here, but now she was disappointed that she had to leave. As soon as Izuku also got up from his spot, Ochako walked over and opened the door with both of her hands, walking out into the hall and seeing Hisashi and her dad still talking, but with her dad putting his coat over his shoulders and smiling at her, and her mom holding her baby album underneath her arm, walking over to pat her head.

"Did you have fun?" Her mom asked with a smile, and was satisfied when Ochako nodded.

Soon enough, the two families faced each other at the door, Ochako holding her mom's hand while Izuku stood between his parents holding his All Might toy, and looking unsurely at her as her parents said their farewells.

"Well, that was a great dinner!" Taiyo smiled at them both, bowing slightly. "We'll have to do this again at some point, we can do the cooking next time."

"Of course!" Inko beamed. "It was our pleasure to have you come over."

"And as for you two," Miwa bent down to put her hand on Ochako's head, "I'm glad that you got along! Maybe tomorrow you two can go to that park and meet up to play, wouldn't that sound great?"

"That would!" Inko agreed. "I can swing around to watch Ochako if you'd like."

"Oh, why don't we go together! We can go for a walk while they play. Now, Ochako, what would you like to say?"

Ochako squirmed a little bit, feeling some of her shyness returning, but still looked up at the two Midoriyas and muttered, "T-thank you for having us."

"You're welcome, sweetheart," Hisashi smiled down at her, "now you have a nice night, okay?"

Ochako nodded, glancing down at her shoes, and then turned with her parents to leave the apartment and return to their own -

"W-wait!"

The Urarakas paused at the small outcry, and looked back around. Izuku had stepped forward, blushing a little bit at the sudden attention on him from not just their nextdoor neighbours, but his mom and dad as well, but still took a deep breath as he began walking forward.

Ochako blinked as Izuku walked up to her, holding his All Might toy closely to his chest - and then held it out.

"Here," Izuku extended his arms to hold out the toy to her. "I want you to have this."

"Huh?" Ochako stared down at the toy being offered to her as the adults around Izuku blinked in surprise, and then she looked back up at him in shock. "But - but this is your favourite toy!"

"I know," Izuku nodded, and tried his best to smile at her even though he was very red from embarrassment, "but I want you to have it, because - because you're my friend."

Ochako faltered at that, glancing down at the cool All Might toy in her hand - one that her parents wouldn't be able to afford - and then, timidly, wrapped her hand around the plastic figure. Taking it out of his hand and bringing it to her, she looked down at it, studying the toy in her hand carefully, and then brought it to hold beside her Thirteen plushie, glancing up at Izuku and giving him a small smile that he returned.

Above them, Inko was tearing up while Taiyo gave the smaller boy a grin, and Miwa snapped a quick picture with her flip phone.

Alas, the good times couldn't last forever, and Ochako had to go home to brush her teeth and get to bed, while Izuku had a few videos to watch with his dad before his own bedtime. As both children happily waved bye to each other and ran to their rooms to get into their pajamas, the Urarakas watching Ochako as she ran next door to open the door and go inside, the four adults sighed as they turned with grins to each other.

"Well," Hisashi chuckled, softly closing the door behind him and Inko and stepping into the night air, "I guess that was a rousing success after all."

"You got that right," Taiyo grinned, raising his hand to shake Hisashi's. "I was thinkin' that it was touch and go there for a sec, but looks like they're gonna get along just fine."

"Indeed!" Miwa clapped her hands happily, "It looks like they'll become friends after all."

"That's good," Hisashi nodded, his smile falling a bit, "we - well, we admit, Inko and I were a bit nervous about Izuku being a bit too shy, but it looks like she managed to crack through his armor and get to the little guy. It's not every day he gives up his favorite toy."

"Yeah," Taiyo frowned somewhat, crossing his arms, "if I'm bein' honest, you guys weren't the only ones feelin' a bit nervous there. Ochako's ... she's had a hard time makin' friends at her old school. We think it's mostly due to us - no little kid really wants to spend time with a little girl who plays with a flayed Thirteen plushie - kids are cruel like that, they picked on her. So seein' her getting along with Izuku ... I guess what we're sayin' ..."

"We're grateful," Miwa finished for him, smiling at the couple.

"Well ..." Hisashi's own smile fell, and he sighed as he leaned against the door frame, "... I apologize for bringing down the mood even more, but Taiyo, you mentioned earlier about Izuku hanging out with boys earlier today. Was one of them some blonde kid? His quirk lets him explode stuff?"

"Hm ... yeah," The Uraraka patriarch nodded, "I saw 'em heading out to the forest when I pulled up with our truck."

"And I suggested Ochako go play with them while we unpacked the truck," Miwa remembered, "but she seemed a bit fidgety, and didn't want to go over. I had thought it was just because she was shy, but ..."

"Well," Hisashi frowned, "I guess we should consider ourselves lucky Ochako didn't head over. The blonde boy - that's Katsuki. Inko and I ... we think that he's started bullying Izuku."

Both Taiyo and Miwa looked shocked at that - the thought of the small boy that had endeared himself to them through his befriending their daughter and giving her his favorite toy being bullied, it hurt them.

However, before they could make their thoughts about that known (Taiyo probably with a bit of swearing mixed in), they heard the door behind them twist open, and Izuku poked his head out of the door, looking excited.

"Dad! You said we could watch All Might videos!"

"Hm? Oh, I know, I know," Hisashi smiled good naturedly, waving his hand, "and I'll be in -"

"Mommy, I'm ready to be tucked in bed!"

The adults turned to see Ochako poking her head out their door, dressed in her pajamas and holding both the Thirteen plushie and the All Might action figure in her hand. Once she noticed the Midoriyas' door open, though, she looked around and saw Izuku also poking his head out, the boy looking surprised to see her as well. The Midoriyas and the Urarakas couldn't help but laugh a little bit.

"Looks like we gotta take care of our kids," Taiyo chuckled. "Ochako, why don't you wish your friend goodnight again?"

Ochako blushed a little bit, but glanced at Izuku again and gave him a small smile, giving him a wave, "G-goodnight."

"Y-yeah," Izuku smiled back and waved back, "g-goodnight."

The adults grinned at the utter adorableness, and the Urarakas went to their door and wished the other family goodnight, the children blushing a bit but still waving to each other. With a small chuckle, Hisashi closed the door to his own apartment and locked the door, heading into the living room where Izuku was hurrying to the TV.

"So mister," Hisashi grunted as he sat down on the couch, hearing Inko heading into their room to take off her earrings, "I'm assuming meeting our new neighbours wasn't as bad as you were afraid it would be, right?"

"Mm-mm," Izuku shook his head, moving to bend down and grab his dad's laptop, wanting to bring it to him so he could pull up the All Might videos they were going to watch together, "they were nice."

"Weren't they? And Ochako was a sweetheart too, right?" Hisashi leaned forward, a teasing grin on his face when he saw his son's cheeks go a little red at the mention of the little girl, "You know, you two were acting mighty comfortable around each other once you got over your shyness. And so soon after meeting each other as well!"

"Um - er -"

"But I guess that can wait," His teasing grin turned suddenly serious, giving his son a pout, "why don't we talk about how easy it was for you to throw me under the bus at dinner, young man, over our little chocolate deal? I'm thinking that -"

ZAP

"Ow!" Izuku cried out, whipping his hand back from the laptop and it tightly. Hisashi blinked as well in shock - that sound of electricity zapping had been surprisingly loud, making him jump up from his spot on the couch to hurry over to Izuku, thinking that he must've just gotten electrocuted.

"Izuku?" He quickly knelt down, looking at his son in concern, "Are you okay?"

"I'm - I'm okay, dad," Izuku shook his head, staring at his finger with a small pout and a bit of confusion, "just - I think I shocked myself."

---

It had rained that day.

The moment she had woken up, Ochako hopped out of bed, holding the All Might toy closely to her with a wide smile, and hurried on to the bathroom. She remembered what Inko had said last night, about going to the park with Izuku to play, and she had a hard time going to sleep last night from her excitement, but now that she was awake she knew she had to get ready to go and play with her new friend.

Truth be told ... she had been really nervous to go to a new person's house, especially one who's better off than her family (she had been really impressed by the big TV and the computer, especially in comparison to the box TV her daddy had and the laptop her parents shared), but once she had gotten over her shyness in front of Izuku, she had found herself having a lot of fun. Not a lot of her classmates from her last kindergarten liked her very much - calling her 'poor girl' and trying to steal her Thirteen doll just so they could play keep away - so the fact that he had liked her at once made her excited for what they could do today.

After brushing her teeth, hurrying past her dad as he yawned widely to go pee, Ochako hurried back into the kitchen, where her mom was pouring a bowl of cereal.

"What's your hurry?" She giggled when Ochako hugged her leg in greeting, and then hurried over to the table to eat. "You woke up two minutes ago and you're suddenly switching your gravity quirk for a super speed quirk."

"I wanna get to the park!" She smiled up at her mom excitedly as she put the bowl in front of her daughter. "Deku might be waiting for me!"

"Deku?" Her mother blinked. "Are you talking about Izuku?"

"Yeah!" She nodded quickly, smiling up at her. "I'm gonna call him that from now on! You said that it means 'you can do it', so I'm gonna remind him about that every day!"

Miwa faltered at that - she thought her daughter said 'dekiru' - but only sighed and glanced away, smiling a bit softly as she gave her daughter a spoon. Whatever floated her daughter's boat, and as long as it doesn't hurt Izuku's feelings.

"Okay," She glanced out the window and furrowed her brow at the dark clouds gathering, "it looks like it's going to rain, but we'll see if we can meet up with the Midoriyas down there. All else fails, we can all go to their apartment to play, and that'll be just as fine, right?"

"Yeah!"

After Ochako finished her breakfast and hurried to get dressed, Miwa put on her coat and went with her outside outside the apartment, telling her to be a bit quieter since Taiyo was still getting up and could be grouchy in the mornings, the two women having seen the large man lumbering into the kitchen while scratching his stomach to get some coffee. After getting out onto the breezeway, Miwa pointed out to the park near the apartment building, and then gave her a soft look.

"Are you sure you wanna go now?" She asked in a worried tone, "We can always go and knock on their door, they might not be down there yet. And I'm not sure if I should let you go off by yourself just yet ..."

"Mm-mm!" Ochako shook her head, balling her fists. "I'm a big girl! Besides, Deku might already be waiting for me!"

Miwa looked a bit unsure, but then sighed and gave her a small smile.

"All right," She nodded, "but only because it's right there, and I'm going to be watching you from up here to make sure you don't get in trouble. Your dad and I will be down there soon with Inko."

"Okay!"

With that, Ochako turned to hurry down the stairs, being careful to take it one at a time and holding the All Might toy safely to her to prevent herself from dropping it, and hurried to the park near the apartment buildings. Remembering what her mom said to her several times back when they were living in Mie, she made sure to look both ways before crossing the street to the park. Once she stood near the playground, she looked around to see her mom waving to her with Inko, while Ochako waved back happily. Knowing that she made it safely and that her mom and dad would be there soon, she turned around and walked into the playground, ignoring the dark clouds swirling above her.

Letting out a small hum, Ochako walked to the swing, looking around for her friend but not finding him anywhere - which meant that he must still be at the apartment, she realized, but she shook her head a bit while smiling. She could wait for a little bit, she knew that they were coming. Reaching the swing, she hopped up into it and looked down at the All Might toy in her hand, smiling down at it.

The toy was really cool, unlike anything she had played with before, but even so she was careful with it, holding onto it carefully and making sure that she didn't accidentally break it. It was a gift from her friend, so she had to protect it and make sure that it was taken care of. Her mommy and daddy emphasized that she had to take care of things that she thought was important, and this was -

"Eh? What's that?"

Ochako jumped a bit at the unfamiliar voice, looking up - and then she felt herself go stiff at who had just looked around at her.

Staring at her was a blonde boy in a blue shirt, with ash-blonde hair that spiked up all around, and a weird look on his face that she didn't like at all as she looked at the toy. Beside the boy was a slightly more overweight kid, with a buzzcut and squinted eyes, but his red bat-like wings made him look even bigger, and on the right was another boy with a blue baseball cap moved backwards on his head, with a wide smile and squinted eyes. She could see a pair of adults talking a little aways from the park, but her attention went to the three boys as they approached her, circling around her and surrounding the little girl on the swing.

But they weren't looking at her. They were looking at the toy in her hand.

"Ain't that Deku's?" The winged kid pointed, making Ochako gulp a bit when Katsuki strolled over to look at it while Ochako held it to her chest.

"Yeah, it is, I can see his stupid name written on All Might's boot," Katsuki pointed it out, making Ochako gulp when his red eyes raised to hers. "Where'd you get that? It belongs to Deku - did you take it from him?"

"Uh -"

"She must've!" Yubi laughed. "How else would she have gotten it?"

The boys laughed at that, and Ochako got off the swing, glancing around for a way to escape. She never really liked mean kids, and she knew that these boys had pushed down Izuku yesterday. She wanted to run back to the apartment and wait for her parents, but before she could move, Katsuki moved forward and snatched the All Might toy from her gasp.

"H-hey!" She gasped, looking around at him as he turned the toy around to look at the boot.

"Yeah, this is Deku's," Katsuki huffed, lifting his arm to lift the toy out of Ochako's grasp as she hopped up for it. "I'll just be taking this off your hands now."

"G-give it back!"

"Or what?" Katsuki smirked while Tsubasa and Yubi laughed. "What're you going to do?"

"I'll -" Ochako struggled to think of a response, and then shook her head and stomped her foot in frustration while the three boys laughed. "You're being mean! You need to be careful or you're going to break it!"

"Who cares!" The boy in the baseball cap laughed. "It's just Deku's, no one cares if worthless Deku's things get broke."

"I care! And that's not what it means!"

"Huh?" Katsuki blinked, looking down at her while still holding the toy above their heads, Ochako hopping to try and grab it. "That is what it means. Deku means 'someone who can't do anything'."

"No it doesn't!" She yelled, "It means 'you can do it'!"

Katsuki stared at her for a moment, taken aback - and then he frowned, giving her a small glare as he tightened his grip on the toy. Before she could hop up to grab it again, the blonde boy suddenly turned away from her, smirking a bit, and threw the toy.

Ochako let out a gasp of terror as the toy soared through the air, going up but then quickly going down to the dirt ground, but before she could think to run after it, Katsuki threw his hand into her face, his hands popping with mini-explosions as he grinned widely.

BOOM!

Ochako let out a cry as Katsuki blew one of his explosions in her face - nothing too bad, but something that made her back up in panic, tripping on her feet and falling hard onto her butt. Tsubasa and Yubi laughed harder when she collapsed with tears in her eyes, but Katsuki found himself blinking again when, instead of crying and running off, or looking up at him in terror like the other kids he shoved down did, she instead turned her attention to Izuku's toy laying on the ground, eyes widening in fear, and quickly scrambled to her feet to run over for it.

Which only made Katsuki angrier - she wasn't reacting like the other kids, and that made him feel disrespected. And he didn't like being disrespected.

"Hey!" He snapped, reaching out and shoving her from behind, making her stumble and collapse onto the dirt again.

But Ochako couldn't care, not when she finally properly saw the toy - or what had happened to it. Letting out a small gasp, Ochako crawled over to the All Might toy her friend had given her, his favorite toy, and felt herself tear up again as she saw the arm had broken off. Lifting the two pieces of plastic up, she felt herself begin to cry in earnest as she hugged the toy to her chest, which only made Katsuki more annoyed as he began storming up to her, flanked by Yubi and Tsubasa.

"Stop paying attention to Deku's stupid toy," He growled, "and look at -"

"Kacchan!"

The boys and Ochako jumped a bit at the voice that suddenly spoke up, and they all turned. Ochako looked up from where she had been shoved, tears in her eyes, to see Izuku staring at the scene in shock, looking from his childhood friend to the friend he just met yesterday, and felt tears begin to build in his own eyes.

"I - what are you doing?" He gasped, staring at where Ochako was lying while the skies continued to darken above them.

"Oh, it's just you, Deku," Katsuki said dismissively, looking back around at Ochako as sat up on her knees, staring at the items in her hand and tearing up at Izuku's favorite toy being broken, "just go away, I'm doing something here."

"But - why did you push her down?"

"She was being annoying. So I'm going to teach her a lesson."

Izuku glanced up, seeing Mitsuki and Masaru walking back to their car when they had realized it was giong to rain; and then looked around, seeing his mom and Taiyo and Miwa coming around the block, not seeing what was happening yet.

That meant ... there would be no one to help Ochako if Katsuki beat her up. No one to prevent her from getting -

- no.

No, there was someone.

She said that 'Deku' meant 'you could do it'.

And that was what he did, running forward and skidding to a stop in front of the fallen girl. Katsuki, Yubi and Tsubasa faltered to a stop from their marching up to Ochako, staring at Izuku as he raised his arms to block the brown haired girl from their line of sight.

"Y-you're being mean, Kacchan," Izuku said through his own tears as Ochako laid on the ground, looking up at him, "c-can't you see she's crying?"

The little girl stared up at him for a moment, taken aback as he shook, clearly terrified, but did not back down as small drops of rain began to splatter against the ground.

"If you keep doing this," Izuku brought up his fists while looking absolutely terrified. "I'll - I'll - I'll never forgive you!"

The three boys were clearly taken aback, staring at Izuku in befuddlement as he stood up to them for once. Katsuki's parents, meanwhile, finally glanced around to see the situation, Mitsuki's eyes widening a fraction and closing the car door sharply, intending to go over and reprimand her son. Inko and the Urarakas also saw what was happening, feeling their eyes widen, and Inko quickly began to hurry over, intending to scoop Izuku out of the way and hopefully block Katsuki from hurting Ochako.

But the three boys then felt grins cross their faces when they realized what they could do now that Izuku was actually standing up to them.

"Even though you're quirkless," Katsuki smirked, while Tsubasa spread his wings menacingly and Yubi extended his fingers while looking menacingly at both young children, and then brought his fists together to create a small explosion, "you're pretending to be a hero, Deku?"

Izuku flinched back, raising his hands to defend Ochako in case Katsuki moved around him -

- and then he suddenly hurt, as though they had been given a shock.

"Ow!" Izuku hissed, closing his eyes briefly in pain - it felt last night, when he had touched his dad's computer and it had given him a shock. As he felt his hands unintentionally tense up, he was suddenly aware that the sound of Katsuki's footsteps moving closer suddenly stopped again.

"What's -" Yubi gasped, "- what's Deku doing?!"

"His hands are weird!"

Izuku felt himself falter at that - his hands were weird? Reluctantly, Izuku opened his eyes, seeing Katsuki staring at the green-haired boy's hands in surprise and a bit of anger, and Tsubasa and Yubi backing away slowly, their own eyes widening.

Feeling confused, Izuku glanced down - and felt his own eyes widen.

In his hands ... moving his wrists so he could look at his palms, he could see flickers of electricity curling around his hand and fingers. Izuku raised his hands to stare at them in shock, seeing the small sparks escaping from the green electricity making his hands tingle and shake. From behind him, Ochako looked up again and felt her own jaw drop at the sight of the electricity beginning to shimmer down Izuku's arms and circle his entire arm and shoulder, making the small boy stare in wonder.

Is this ... Izuku realized, feeling himself shake slightly, … is this my quirk?

"How are you doing that?!" Katsuki demanded, making Izuku jump and look up at the sight of Katsuki's smirk completely vanishing, and the surprise being replaced by rage. "What the hell is that, Deku?!"

"I - I don't -"

Katsuki didn't seem to care, however, letting out a small growl and pulling his hands back. Flickers of flames appeared in his hands, making Izuku take a tentative step back as he realized that his friend was about to charge at him.

"Kacchan!" Yubi took another step back, while Tsubasa stayed flying in the air.

"Doesn't matter that you can make your hands spark," Katsuki narrowed his eyes in anger, unsure about why he was angry but not backing down, "I'm still better than you!"

With that, Katsuki lunged forward, making Ochako squeak in terror at the explosion beginning to blast out of his hand -

- and then Izuku, acting on instinct, threw up his hands.

What happened next, Izuku remembered with crystal clarity. No matter how much he wished he could forget, he remembered every tiny detail.

One moment Izuku had thrown his hands up and pointed them out, Katsuki throwing his own hand out to blast him in the face with an explosion, like he had done twice before. Inko running as quickly as she could to try and stop whatever was about to happen, while Ochako sat up behind him and held the toy to her chest.

The next, the entire playground was either on fire, or evaporated.

Izuku had raised his hands to defend himself and Ochako from his friend, and he felt something within him lurch. With a sudden zap, the electricity that had been tingling his arms and hands suddenly straightened out, and shot outwards through his palms. Izuku let out a small scream of pain as he felt his arms go instantly numb from the pain as two large bolts of lightning blasted out of his palms in a loud explosion of sound. Inko, who had been running to Izuku and held out her hand to stop it, let out a cry of pain as her own arm was struck by one of the outpores of electricity, leaving a harsh red mark on her arm as she fell back, barely being caught by Taiyo and Miwa in time.

One of the bolts of lightning, meanwhile, went straight over Katsuki's head, zigzagging above the bullies - and striking the plastic playset behind them. And without warning, the entire playground exploded into a bolt of fire, the explosion powerful enough to send Yubi and Tsubasa flying with small screams of their own, landing down hard on the dirt ground, feeling their arms snap when they landed on them at weird angles and making them scream in pain from their broken arms.

And Katsuki, who had momentarily frozen in the air when he realized exactly what was going to happen, felt his eyes widen when the other bolt of lightning from Izuku's palm slammed directly into his chest.

All of a sudden, the small blonde boy was aware of nothing but a jolting, excruciating pain. He felt his eyes widen even more as it seemed that his vision was filled with nothing but white light, surrounding him like a bubble as the lightning struck his chest and exited through his feet, burning holes into his shoes. He felt as though everything had turned to slow motion - Izuku staring at him in shock and horror, the brown-haired girl he had kicked around looking at Katsuki in fear.

But then the pain somehow intensified even more, and Katsuki felt himself lose consciousness as he was blasted back by the lightning, a loud explosion of sound temporarily deafening him as he skidded across the ground and eventually came to a stop on his back, his eyes rolled into the back of his head as he laid prone and unmoving.

And then the rain began to fall. And fall hard.

Izuku ... stared. Blinking slowly, as though he didn't really understand what had happened in the last two seconds. Very slowly, Izuku looked around at his mother, seeing her sit up and wince in pain at a harsh red mark on her arm, looking back up at Izuku and staring at him in horror, which made the little boy shake a little bit.

He turned his gaze back around to the two boys laying on their sides, screaming and wailing as they clutched their broken arms and heard the harsh ringing in their ears from the explosion. He then looked over at the playground, startled to see it melting into a lump, the smell of burning plastic filling his nostrils.

And then he turned and looked at Katsuki, and he felt his breath escape him.

Katsuki ... lying on his back, his dark blue shirt burned away and slightly on fire, exposing a harsh red burn on his chest. Seeing his parents skid to a stop and drop to their knees, hurriedly patting out the flames in a panic as Mitsuki tried to hold him up with obvious panic. Seeing Katsuki groan lowly, tears of pain coming escaping his eyes as he stared blankly up into the dark sky. One of his shoes burned, sporting dark roundish spots near the singed areas, and coin-sized burns that were deep enough to put his finger inside of.

And then Izuku fell to his knees, staring in horror at what he just did, before turning his gaze downward to his hands.

He couldn't hear anything over the ringing in his ears. He couldn't hear the screams of the other children, hearing the sound of Tsubasa and Yubi's parents yelling for them to get away from him or they'd be hit by lightning again.

He didn't notice Taiyo and Miwa sprinting as fast as they could towards their daughter, eyes widened in terror.

He didn't notice Inko getting up and quickly moving to kneel beside him, to shield him away from everyone while wincing in pain from the burn on her arm.

He didn't notice Ochako staring at him from behind, feeling her eyes widen as her parents moved to embrace her and make sure that she was okay.

All Izuku could do ...

... was stare at his hands, seeing the last flickers of lightning fade away and the sparking of his palms finally cease.

And as Izuku let out a small sob, and closed his eyes tightly as his mother embraced him, the reality of what he just did settled in.

---

"Dr. Tsubasa, thank you for coming on such short notice. I know that you normally don't do house calls, but Izuku, we couldn't -"

"Oh, it's no problem at all, ma'am! This is such a rare occurrence for me, I had to come as soon as I could. And your arm seems to be healing up fine as well, other than the fact that it'll have to be wrapped up for a few days, of course. Now, where is your son?"

"He's ... he's in his room. He hasn't left it since the - since the incident a few days ago - the - the other students in his class - they - he's - he's not been letting anyone in."

"Hmmm ... well, I'll let you know that Katsuki Bakugou is going to be just fine. His chest and arm where he was hit by the lightning bolt will scar, of course, but other than that he is physically fine. His parents don't blame you or Izuku for the incident as well - although I'm sure you already knew that, since Mrs. Bakugou mentioned to me that you are friends."

"I - yes, I - they said that they knew it was an accident. But - but the other boys' families - they're talking about suing -"

"Oh, no need to worry about that, ma'am ... one of the boys involved in the incident was actually my grandson. I can convince my son and the family of the other boy that it was merely an accident, no need to worry about that."

"Mm ..."

"Now, onto why I am here - Izuku's quirk."

"I - yes, I - I apologize, I'm not sure how this is possible. When - when we visited you last week, you said that - that by the time he was four -"

"- that he would normally manifest a version of either your or your husband's quirks, or a combination of the two. I am aware. However, this is an instance that took even me aback - but it does have a scientific explanation!"

"O-oh ...?"

"From what I have gathered, from your email and your phone call, Izuku has managed to manifest an ability that does not take after yours or Hisashi's side of the family. It's a rare occurrence, but one that I believe has happened here. There's several medical names for this, but we commonly refer to it as a 'mutation'."

"I - I see."

"Instead of gaining a version of your attraction quirk, a version of your husband's fire breathing quirk, or a combination of the two, Izuku has instead developed an entirely new ability different from both yours and Hisashi's. From what I have gathered, your son's quirk gives him the ability to generate lightning from his hands - or perhaps, his entire body, but I can't be sure without quirk tests."

"Lightning ..."

"Indeed! I don't have the specifics of how powerful it is or how it works, but it's clear that Izuku's quirk can be dangerous if not used correctly, if yesterday's demonstration is anything to say. I would like to examine the boy and figure things out, if you would -"

"A-actually - I - I'm sorry, doctor, but I can't get Izuku to come out of his room at all. I - I don't think he'd like to see anyone right now. May - may I put a rain check on that?"

"Hm ... very well. But please, if anything else happens, let me know, and I'll be happy to give Izuku an examination."

"Thank you, Dr. Tsubasa. Again, I'm sorry for having you come out all this way."

The front door opened and closed again, with him hearing the sound of the doctor's footsteps fading away as he left. There was another minute of silence before he heard his mom let out a tired sigh, and then, after a few more steps closer to his room, Izuku heard her knock softly on his door.

"Izuku?" She asked quietly, "Can you please open the door, sweetie?"

"..."

"Sweetie? Can you hear me?"

Izuku sniffled, and rolled over on his bed, keeping himself hidden in his bedsheets.

"Okay … it's okay, sweetie. I'm going to make some katsudon and leave it in front of your door. Just promise to eat it, okay, honey? I love you."

Soon, the sound of her footsteps walking back to the kitchen filled Izuku's ears, and he quietly put his face in his pillows, feeling tears begin to prickle in his eyes as he hid in the dark room.

It had been two days since he had destroyed the playground outside their apartment. Once they had gotten over the shock of what he did to Kacchan, Tsubasa and Yubi, the Urarakas had called ambulances to come help them, seeing as Izuku had injured Tsubasa and Yubi, and knocked Katsuki unconscious with the direct lightning bolt to the chest. Tsubasa and Yubi's parents, meanwhile, had screamed accusations at Inko and Izuku, threatening to sue them for breaking their children's arms, while Mitsuki only held Katsuki to her, not saying anything and staring blankly at nothing.

Thankfully, everyone had reached the hospital in time before anything else could happen, and the doctors confirmed that Katsuki would be fine after they had a look at his chest, other than having a bad scar on his upper chest and arm from where Izuku had hit him, and had also wrapped up Inko's arm in a cast and prescribed to her a healing cream to help with the electrical burn.

Izuku, however, was a different story. He had sat there in the small hospital chair, completely and utterly vacant as he stared at his hands blankly. He didn't even notice the Urarakas trying to comfort him, didn't notice Ochako looking worriedly at him while holding the broken All Might toy in her hands. All he could look at, once she had come out, was his mom's arm in a cast, and knowing that it was him that had hurt her.

And then he had school the next day. And there was Tsubasa and Yubi, arms wrapped in their own casts telling their classmates what had happened, pointing straight at Izuku in terror. And that was when Izuku was no longer called quirkless. Now he was called something worse.

"I heard he stopped Katsuki's heart!"

"He did! He wasn't breathing until the doctors brought him back to life!"

"Deku killed him?!"

"Just blasted him with lightning! I heard he laughed when he did it!"

"Freak!"

"Monster!"

"Get back, or he'll electrocute you too!"

"Villain!"

"All Might should come and bring him to jail!"

… a villain.

To them, Izuku was a villain.

Once he had gotten home from school, Izuku had immediately bolted to his room in tears, ignoring Inko's look of shock and hurt at the sight of him, and slammed the door shut and locked it, crawling into his bed to sob his heart out. He ignored his mom and dad knocking on the door and asking to be let in - he knew that his dad had a key for all the rooms so he could come in if he wanted to, but it seemed like he hadn't pulled it out yet, not wanting to freak his son out.

Which was good. It prevented them from seeing him huddled in the corner of his bed, laying on his side and sniffling miserably.

He ... he had hurt Katsuki and his mom. He hurt Yubi and Tsubasa. He scared Ochako. He destroyed the playground.

He hurt people.

Shivering, Izuku glanced at his hands again, feeling tears pool in his eyes. Before that awful day, he had wanted a quirk more than anything in the world. He wanted a quirk so he could fit in and feel normal. And when it finally manifested, he had used it to put his friends and his mom in the hospital.

He thought he'd be able to breathe fire, or float things. Not ... not electrocute people. Not hit Katsuki directly in the chest and - and wound him. Not destroy the playground and reduce it to a pile of burnt, horribly smelling plastic. Not scare his new friend so badly that he couldn't even look at her without feeling shame.

It had been on the news, he had seen it when his dad came home that night and turned on the TV before changing the channel - a reporter telling the camera about a quirk accident that destroyed a playground and put people in the hospital. He hadn't heard his or his mom's names, but it didn't matter. Tsubasa and Yubi had told everyone the moment they got to their classroom. Now they knew exactly what he was.

They - they called him a villain.

And he knew what people said happened to villains. What All Might said about villains in the interviews he and his dad would watch together.

And, Izuku thought with a small sob as he curled into himself, he wouldn't even be able to deny it.

Villains used their quirks to hurt people.

So he was … he was a villain.

---

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

Ochako gulped a bit as her dad knocked on the door of the Midoriyas, the large man standing back a bit so that if someone did answer, they didn't swing the door open and hit him in the face. Rain gently poured outside the apartment, but luckily they were covered by the roof of the breezeway to prevent them from getting wet.

Ochako herself held the All Might toy gently in her hand, staring down sadly at the one-armed hero as he gave her a frozen grin, but then the door opened up in front of her and made her quickly look up at who had answered her dad's knock.

"Oh," Inko gasped, and Ochako felt herself falter at the sight of her - the green-haired woman normally looked kind and energetic, but there were purple marks under her eyes and her arm wrapped in a cast that made Ochako sad to look at, a reminder of what had happened a few days ago. "Hello! We weren't aware that you were coming over."

"Yeah, uh - we thought we'd see how Izuku was doin'." Taiyo gave her a kind look, Miwa nodding as well as she held out a small cake for Hisashi to accept when he had also come to inspect who was knocking at the door.

"How is he?" Miwa asked, looking a bit sad, "Is he doing okay?"

"We ... honestly, we don't know," Hisashi shook his head, looking equally as tired as he took the cake from Miwa with a small smile, "he's locked himself in his room since he came back from school the other day. We've - we let him be by himself for a little bit."

"Oh, dear," Miwa worried, raising a hand to her cheek while Taiyo looked solemnly on. "Is - is he -?"

"He's - well, we leave food outside his door, and he eats it when he's sure we're not looking. And he runs to the bathroom when he needs to, and then right back into his room. I've been tempted to use the spare key to unlock his door and talk to him, but ..." Hisashi hesitated for a moment, and then sighed, "... but I don't want to upset him anymore than he already is."

Inko nodded at that, looking obviously saddened, but then shook her head and gave their neighbours a smile.

"W-well, in any case," She stood back, "please, come in! I see you made - you made us a cake."

"Yes, we - we did! It's chocolate."

"Oh! How - how delicious! And - and how did Ochako's interview at the preschool go?"

"G-great! She got in! So that means she'll probably be in the same class as Izuku."

The Urarakas were accepted into the Midoriya household while making small talk, hurrying inside as rain continued to pour outside, and Ochako slowly followed them in. As soon as the front door closed behind her, she turned her gaze to the closed door with Izuku's name on the All Might nameplate hanging off it. That was what she continued to stare at as she took off her wet shoes with her parents, putting them near the door with the Midoriyas' shoes.

As her parents walked with Hisashi and Inko to the kitchen, talking with a serious voice that made her a little sad, instead of following them, Ochako took a few tiny steps forward towards Izuku's closed door, staring at it.

She felt ... honestly, Ochako couldn't help but feel guilty, tears welling in her eyes. She glanced back down at the toy in her hand, sniffing a little bit at the place where All Might's arm was supposed to be. In the confusion of Izuku awakening his quirk, she had lost it at the playground, and when she had gone back to look for it, she wasn't able to due to the yellow tape preventing her from looking for it, kind looking police officers guiding her back to her apartment while she cried.

Now Izuku's favorite toy would forever be broken, only a day after he gave it to her. Only one day after he trusted her with it, and she got it broken because she couldn't stand up to that mean jerk.

She let out another small sniff, raising her hand to wipe her eyes with her sweater, ignoring how it was too big and fell over her hands. Feeling herself shake a little bit, but knowing that Izuku deserved an apology from her for letting his favorite toy be broken, she raised a tiny fist to knock softly on the door.

"Deku?" She asked in a quiet voice, hoping that the sound of her voice would be enough to make him unlock the door, but there was no answer. Sniffing again, she took a tentative step back, not sure what to do now that she couldn't just go in to ask for his forgiveness - but then suddenly became aware of someone calling her name.

"Ochako?" She turned to see Hisashi standing at the end of the hall, looking at her in concern. Before she could say anything, though, he glanced down at the toy in her hand, and blinked.

"That's Izuku's toy, isn't it?" He walked forward, grunting as he got down on his knees so they could be at eye level. Once he glanced down at it, Ochako sniffled again, feeling guilty.

"I broke it," She admitted miserably, bringing it back to her best to hug it, "I broke his favorite toy."

"Sweetie …" Hisashi gave her a sympathetic look, patting her back in comfort - and then glanced at the door. Taking a few seconds to weigh his options, the older man let out a sigh, and grunted again as he stood back up. Ochako looked up at him as he reached into his pocket, glancing down at her with a small smile, and brought out a key to show her.

"This'll be our little secret," He told her in a hushed voice, giving her a small smile and wink.

With that, Hisashi inserted the key into the doorknob, gave it a twist, and unlocked the door. Giving her a small pat on the head, Hisashi then turned on his heel to walk back down the hall to get supper ready for everyone, leaving Ochako standing unsurely beside the large door.

But before she could doubt herself, she heard Izuku shuffling around in his room, and despite how scared she felt at the moment, she felt her body move for her, and quickly moved to grab the door handle, twisting and pushing it open with both hands.

The room was very dark, a lot darker than she had thought it would be, making her squirm a little bit - she still slept with her nightlight on, so seeing how scary this room looked with the only light coming from the hallway outside made her feel scared. But she could see enough of the room, looking around and finally spotting Izuku - or the Izuku sized lump on the bed.

He was curled up in his blankets, obviously wrapped up in the fetal position, and even from where she was standing at the front of the door, she could hear his muffled crying.

Feeling her heart break a little, Ochako tentatively walked into the room, holding her hands together and looking worried at the lump as she held the All Might toy carefully. Once she was at the foot of the bed, Ochako stared at where Izuku's head would be, and then leaned in a little bit, raising her hand to poke the lump.

"... Deku?" She asked quietly, shaking a little bit when she heard Izuku's crying a little better, as though she had just made him feel worse by touching him. "Are you -?"

"Go away!" He sobbed, and quickly rolled back over, making Ochako jump a little bit as she heard him a little better now that his head wasn't pressed against the pillow.

"Huh?" She blinked, feeling tears in her eyes again as she stared at him in shock. "G-go away? I - why?"

"I hurt people," He said miserably, "I - I hurt Kacchan. I hurt my mom! I'm a villain! Only villains hurt people with their quirks!"

"N-no, Deku ..."

"I'm a villain! I'm - I'm dangerous," He sniffled miserably, pulling his blanket back up over his head. "If you touch me, you're going to get electrocuted. Go away, Occhan."

For one moment, Ochako stared at him, feeling herself blink as she stared at the little bit of green hair poking out of the blanket. She thought she would feel worse, or feel more miserable, or sad that she couldn't apologize for breaking his favorite toy.

Instead, she felt angry.

"Please ... please leave me -"

"No!"

Izuku jumped a bit at the sudden shout behind him, but before he could react, or turn to see what was going on, Ochako suddenly leapt, the All Might toy falling to the end of the bed where it landed on its front. He let out a yelp as she jumped onto the bed, making it squeak a bit from her weight suddenly landing on it, and grabbed at the blanket to pull it down from around Izuku's head, letting Izuku get a good look at the big pout on her face as she grabbed the comforter and began pulling it away roughly.

"No! You're my friend!" She insisted, pulling the blanket away despite Izuku's weak attempts to stop her. "You said so! So I'm not leaving you alone!"

"What -!" Izuku tried to resist, suddenly growing frustrated, and sat up so that he could get a better grip on the blanket.

And thus began their struggle as they tried pulling the blanket to and away from Izuku, making both of them grunt and shout as Hisashi, Inko, Taiyo and Miwa quickly poked their heads in with wide eyes, not exactly sure what was going on or why their children were fighting.

"You're not scary! You're not a villain! You're my friend and you're not going to electrocute me!"

"Yes, I am!"

"No, you're not!"

"Am too!"

"Are not!"

"Am too!"

"Are not!"

"Should we, uh ..." Hisashi glanced at the Urarakas as they also studied the scene of their children fighting over a blanket, "... should we break them up?"

"I wouldn't if I were you," Taiyo shook his head, wincing in reminiscence as he raised his thick arm, showing grooves in his skin that looked like teeth, "our little girl's a biter when she's angry."

Conceding that, the four adults turned back to watch as Izuku and Ochako struggled with the blanket on the bed. Thankfully it didn't seem that they were interested in hurting each other, just playing tug-of-war with the blanket to get Izuku to come out from underneath, but still both kids put up a hell of a fight, struggling and straining against each other, until at last Ochako got the blanket off of the boy and threw it away.

And with that, Ochako moved forward to hug Izuku tightly, making him freeze where he sat, looking completely taken aback until his face morphed into terror, and he tried to shove her off him.

"O-Occhan, let me go! I'll electrocute you!"

"No, you won't!" She shook her head, holding on tighter. "Friends don't hurt friends, Mommy told me so! You won't hurt me, Deku."

"I - I hurt Kacchan! He's my friend, and I hurt him!"

"He was hurting me! He hurt me, and you turned up and stopped him! That's what a hero does!"

Thankfully, that was what made Izuku finally pause, allowing Ochako to tighten her hug around him, although she could feel him shaking in her embrace.

"That big jerk broke your All Might toy," She said miserably, "and I'm so sorry. You gave me that toy and I got it broken. I wasn't able to stop him, but then you came in and saved me! Your quirk might be scary, but I know you aren't scary! You're awesome! I know that you aren't going to hurt me."

"But ..."

"We're friends, aren't we?" Ochako asked in a small voice, her large brown eyes tearing up again. "You said we could be friends."

Izuku hesitated again, feeling his own tears beginning to leak from his eyes, and shuddered a bit as he put his head down on the little girl's shoulder. He didn't look up, but he knew that his mom and dad entered the room, being followed by Miwa and Taiyo, but for now all he could concentrate on was how tightly Ochako held him, as though she was afraid that he was going to disappear if she let him go.

"But ... but my quirk ... it's ..."

"Izuku," Inko said softly, making the little boy finally look up at his mom, seeing her tear up when his eyes automatically moved to her arm and making him whimper at the sight, "no one is angry at you for what happened. I'm not angry at you for what happened. And locking yourself in your room isn't going to make things any better."

"But - but Mom -"

"Izuku, no one's angry."

"And - and you said you'd be a hero!" Ochako reminded him. "A - a hero that makes people smile! You said that!"

"I ..."

"So let's be heroes together!" Ochako insisted, hugging him again while Inko and Hisashi sat on the bed, and Taiyo and Miwa stood over him as the boy cried into Ochako's shoulder, hesitantly bringing his arms around her as well in need of comfort as the adults around them smiled.

---

But he didn't say it back.

Izuku wasn't an idiot, even then. He knew ... he knew how dangerous he was. He hurt Katsuki enough to put him in the hospital. He destroyed the playground. He broke Tsubasa and Yubi's arms. He hurt his own mom. Everyone in his class thought he was a villain.

That meant that his power was dangerous. It was scary. It wasn't something he could control.

His quirk was dangerous. So he couldn't use it ever again.

And if he couldn't use his quirk, he couldn't become a hero.

And that was the day Izuku Midoriya, even as a young boy, decided that his dreams of being a hero could never be.