Izuku sat nervously in the small circle of people, he wasn't really sure this was a good idea, but his dad assured him it would be. So it would probably be fine. Even if he was very anxious about this entire situation, he understood what his dad meant about how he would have to take this step eventually.
There were nine people there other than him, including the two people who seemed to be in charge. One of the two in charge stood up to get everyone's attention. She had short brown hair and purple eyes that seemed to scan the room as they flicked from person to person.
As she spoke, it seemed like it was just slightly too fast, like a video set on 1.25 speed. "Hi everyone, it looks like there's a few new faces today, and I'm so glad you could all make it. For anyone new here, I'm Sakurai. I'm the president of this small branch of QIDD, or Quirk Induced Disorders and Disabilities support group."
As she spoke her hands moved with the same urgency as her words, in what he assumed was sign language.
"As always, this is a judgement free space where we can talk about any difficulties in life, asking for advice, or even just how your day went if that's what you need. And what you hear and say here stays here. I'll get us started, my quirk is called 'speed read', it's a mental quirk that lets me think faster. So, it doesn't make me smarter, but I process information very quickly. The big drawback is it's nearly impossible to pay attention to anything that is going at a 'normal' speed."
She smiled and tapped a previously unnoticed earbud in her left ear. "Which is why you'll usually catch me listening to audiobooks and podcasts about obscure bits of history at double speed any time I'm talking to someone. While I could talk all night about my coworker who thinks listening to things at work is disrespectful and is the slowest talker I've ever met, I'll pass to my wonderful vice president so that we'll have time to hear from everyone."
The person to her right spoke up. He was an older man, probably in his sixties and sitting in a wheelchair. His reason for being there was a bit more obvious than Sakurai's. From the knee down he had what seemed like rockets instead of legs. Which from what Izuku could guess, would be great for flying and awful for everything else.
"Name's Kinoshita, like she said before, I'm the vice president here. I also do social work, mostly with kids and a focus on those struggling with difficult quirks. The only thing I really have for today is that I'm also glad to see new faces here. It's always good to see people reaching out."
"Alright, who'd like to go next?" After seeing a hand raise he nodded to a middle aged man who stood at about two to three feet tall and had purple tinted fairy wings. "Alright, the floor is yours."
"Thanks, my name is Sano and today was some bullshit. I know she meant well, but some lady asked me where my parents were and if I was lost. Do I really look like a damn child? I was in my work clothes too, so what, did she think that was a child in a business suit who ran away from home to eat his lunch in a park? It's just so frustrating. Can't these people just mind their damn business and let me go about my day without some well meaning comment or demeaning attitude?"
The next person to speak had a spray bottle for a head. Izuku was so curious if it actually worked or if the quirk was purely aesthetic (and if it did work, what would it spray?). "It looks like I'll be moving pretty soon. I'll definitely miss you all, but I got a job opportunity out in Deika and it seems like they'll be super understanding about quirk stuff."
Some people remained silent like Izuku was, but most shared something positive or negative that was going on in their lives. Noguchi was getting ready for the UA exams, which was particularly impressive since his quirk left him blind and deaf, rather relying on his quirk where he could 'feel' everything within a few meters of him, including things as intricate as sign language. Physically he had a head that looked like a lego and had faced plenty of discrimination, but that hadn't stopped him and he was on his way to UA for the support course.
After just about everyone spoke, the vice president looked over to him. "Is there anything you want to share? There's no pressure, you've just looked like you're thinking awfully hard for a while now, and this is the perfect place to get it off your chest."
His initial reaction was to say no. He wasn't here to talk about his feelings, he's here because his father sent him as a place to train taking quirks from the living and thought that Izuku would have luck getting this particular group to consent to that.
But on the other hand, his father didn't say he couldn't also talk about his feelings.
"Um, I never really used my quirk until the last couple of months. Before that, I'd never used it since the time it manifested when I was a little kid. I was always scared I would hurt someone and my mom agreed, so I never used it once. But now I'm living with…"
Izuku scrambled his brain for a term that wouldn't reveal his father's existence while still letting him tell the truth. "a father figure, and I use my quirk many times a day. And I'm kinda scared sometimes, because it feels really good to use, maybe too good. I'd gone about ten years without giving in once to that feeling of want, but now it just seems so much stronger after giving in."
There were at least a couple of people that seemed to understand completely and were nodding along.
They probably already guessed since his face was in so many places recently, but it was still a leap of faith in a sense to see how they'd react.
"Um, my name is Midoriya and I can take quirks from people."
A few people made sounds of surprise but Kinoshita just looked like he was thinking something through. "Out of curiosity, was coming here today your idea, or was it this father figure?"
"Um, it was his idea. He wanted me to start taking quirks from living people and we compromised on finding people who would want their quirks gone."
"Correct me if I'm wrong on any of these, but here are a few educated guesses. You'd never really interacted with this man before your initial arrest. He lives a life that is dubiously legal at best. He showers you in the affection and acceptance that you wished you received when you were young. He's currently your only source of food, housing, and communication. And finally, he has been slowly pushing you further and further beyond what you were comfortable using your quirk for."
"Uh, yeah. How did you know that? That feels really specific."
More than one person sighed and gave him weak smiles in what seemed like sympathy. "Midoriya, I don't know this man, so this isn't a guarantee, but it unfortunately sounds like you're being groomed for villainy or at least manipulated for this man's benefit."
What? That's ridiculous. HIs father had been nothing but kind, and there was no way he would do something like that to him. Right?
He tried not to think about Tomura and how he was basically the definition of being groomed for villainy. Surely he was different from Tomoura? He was actually his son. Would he really manipulate his own child for power? Then he thought of how he raised Tomura and gave him his last name of Shigaraki. How was that anything other than adopting Tomura as his son and then raising him to be little more than a weapon?
The man wheeled his way over to the green haired boy. "Midoriya, I can see that you're panicking and probably spiraling in that head of yours. I'm not saying you need to do anything right now, just think about it and maybe look at things from a new perspective. Just make sure you don't consider him to be your only available option. I know myself and probably a few others in this room would be happy to take you in while you figure yourself out."
"But… I don't want to get anyone in trouble. I know there's a warrant for me…"
"Bah! Warrant shwarrent. Who cares about that? You're not the first here to have some issues with the law on accident and you won't be the last. Kids with volatile, discriminated against, and especially addictive quirks tend to get forced into bad spots, that's just how it goes, and unfortunately it sounds like you got stuck with all three."
He put a hand gently on the boy's shoulder and looked into his eyes seriously, "Now, you be honest with me kid. Would this mysterious man taking care of you be mad if you went back without any new quirks?"
That wasn't something he had even thought about before. But after thinking for a moment he realized that even when Tomura messed up badly he was never met with anger or violence. So Izuku shook his head. "No, nothing like that. He'd probably be disappointed, but not angry."
"Ok, sorry for all the questions, I just don't want you in a bad situation and I'd rather ask too many questions when they aren't needed than ask too few when someone needs help."
One person who had been pretty much silent the entire meeting spoke up. She had a wyvern based mutation, meaning she had scales, a tail, and horns on the back of her head rather than hair. But most noticeably, she had wings where arms normally would be. "Just so it's out there, I'd really appreciate it if you went home with a quirk, specifically mine. I never use these damn wings and having hands sounds amazing."
Izuku wiped away the tears that inevitably show up whenever he is emotional and nodded. "Are you sure? My quirk only goes one way, so I can't really undo it if you change your mind."
At very enthusiastic confirmation he swiped his hand through the air, pulling the ball of light into himself. The woman quickly lost her scales and tail, short black hair bursting from her once bald scalp, and most importantly to her, her wings shrunk and reshaped until they were a regular pair of arms with completely usable hands.
"Woohoo! I'm gonna hold so many things and give so many high fives!"
By the end of the meeting he had that Wyvern quirk, one that turned his spit and sweat to nitric acid, a mutation that granted increased strength and tough blue skin but had the drawback of not having eyes, and finally, a snail quirk that gave eyestalks and the ability to generate protective shells but lost the ability to hear.
He'd try to find a way to use them, but if they couldn't match up to what he'd gotten from corpses he'd just ask his dad to transfer them into a body so that no one had to hold onto them anymore.
Kinoshita wheeled over to him as he was getting ready to leave. "Hey kid, if you're able to, I'd like to see you come back next week too. I'm guessing you have a quirk that lets you go unnoticed if the heroes catch on to why people are showing up without quirks."
Izuku nodded and briefly activated the surprisingly useful quirk 'chair', which allowed him to turn into a folding chair nearly identical to the one he had just been sitting on.
"Damn, that's nifty. Well, I'll send you off with some homework of sorts. I want you to ask yourself what direction you want your life to go in. Don't worry about what me, your mysterious father figure, or anyone else wants, just figure out what you want first and then we can make a plan from there."
Izuku nodded and thanked the man for all his help before leaving.
That night as he laid in bed he realized that what he wanted to be handed changed at all, and those words had been a good reminder. He wanted to be a hero.
He wanted to go out into the world and inspire hope and make people feel safe. He'd still visit with his dad when he could, but would need to make it very clear that he could no longer be complicit in any crimes he was committing. No more working with Giran or other criminals just because it was easier or how his dad did things.
He would make his own path and he wouldn't let anything stand in his way of becoming a true hero, whether he had a license or not.
So, it should be noted that the plot of this chapter was initially going to cover way less and only be a couple of paragraphs at most. And then instead of that my hands just kept typing and those couple of paragraphs became a short chapter all on their own. Oops. It just felt right for someone to notice all the red flags that the midoriya and all for one situation would have. even if all for one isn't being awful, it's very suspicious and the man genuinely is manipulative as hell. Remember, someone can genuinely care about you while still being manipulative.
As always, I hope you enjoyed the chapter.