Izuku yawned as she pulled open the door to her house, walking inside and being pleasantly surprised by the scent that met her nose. It left a watering in her mouth as she walked into the living room and saw her mother in the kitchen, stirring a pot.
"What's that?" She asked, wincing when suddenly her mother jumped about a mile out of her skin in surprise before whirling around to her now daughter. "Sorry."
"I-it's f-fine sweetie. Just caught me off-guard." The greenette waved away the issue, holding a hand to her heart. "It's stew. Something really simple, so hopefully you'll like it."
"Well if it smells as good as it tastes then we should be fine." The blonde grinned, tugging at her shorts a little to readjust them, while she took a seat at the couch, picking up the remote to the television.
"So how did it go sweetie? Learn anything?" Inko inquired as she went back to stirring the pot while Izuku switched through a bunch of channels, nothing particularly catching her interest.
"Actually yeah! I know it's not a fun topic but you know how I… well I died from the fall?"
"….Yes."
"Well, my powers adapted! Like instinct, as soon as I was in danger of falling again it's like my brain just learned how to fly!" She said as she bounced in her seat a little excitedly. "Like propulsion, using those energy beam things I told you about!"
"Really?!" Inko asked surprised, before letting out a small laugh and the purple eyed teen was glad over how genuine it sounded. "That sounds fun. Though wait, what do you mean in danger?"
"I uh…. Kinda accidentally blasted myself into the air-"
"IZUKU!"
Suddenly a green blur shot out the kitchen and the plump woman's arms wrapped around the regeneration teen's neck.
"I can only take one near death this month!"
"Sorry mom." The teen apologised, wrapping her own arms around her mother. "But I'm fine, see? And It helped me learn a bit faster. Other than that, I can control the beams of energy now easier. It's still difficult to get it just right on it's own but if I focus on flying then on using them as weapons it's basically tricking my power into working with me. All Might wants me to work on trying to condense the energy next but that's looking to be a lot harder."
"Just, be safe ok?" The greenette asked as her grip tightened. Izuku nodded, turning her attention back to the TV.
"I will. I can't think of any other-" She stopped talking as she flipped onto the news channel next, and saw All Might in a photo in the background, standing at Aldera. "What the…"
"-And not only did the number one pro lambaste Aldera like he did, which many are horrified over. Some question if he should have used his power like this, but many contest the revelation within makes his actions the minimal amount anyone should of done. it was recorded by multiple people. Complied together this is the full rant as we know it." The presenter introduced, before the screen was overtaken with the picture that shifted into a shaky video of All Might glaring down upon the school.
"I am very, very angry with this sorry excuse of a school! I once heard on my way here Aldera was one of the more respected public schools, I thought it sounded like a good enough education centre but it seems I was wrong!" He growled angrily, pacing back and forth. For potentially the first time ever in a scenario other than a fight being broadcasted, the man wasn't smiling to the camera's. "They shall remain nameless, but I had the pleasure to meet an incredible student here. A smart, kind and friendly boy. He had every reason to be admired, there was nothing wrong with him and yet HE IS DEAD! HE IS GONE FROM THIS WORLD AS WE KNOW HIM FOREVER!"
Worried muttering broke out among the students, others seemed to pale as if having an inkling to where this was heading.
"He had the fiery determination of a pro hidden in him, and kindness that only the most genuine people can show. Yet because of a tiny detail, because of something as small as a single joint in the pinkie toe, YOU ALL OSTRACISED HIM! You, students who should have been at worse acquaintances, I know what you have done to him. The abuse he had to suffer for no good reason." He took a calming sigh, as if preparing himself. "You are children. You will all make mistakes, but some of you have made one now that can never be taken back. And these mistakes are not something you ever should have had to even ponder if they were wrong, you should of known how bad your acts are. It's a slippery slope from bully to villain, and you dared to tread that line."
Many looked down ashamed, most definitely sure who it was who had lost their life now and knowing which of them was responsible. While the students bothered to at the very least act ashamed though, the teachers were pure white with the exception of the principal who was turning red.
"Now, see here All Might! This is my school, and you cannot just interrupt like this! If you had just told me, I would of done-"
"NOTHING!" All Might practically shouted in his face, causing him to instantly shut up. "That is what you would have done. You are so much worse than any of these children, who are still learning. YOU ARE A FULL GROWN ADULT AND YOU LET THIS HAPPEN! ALL THE TEACHERS AT THIS SCHOOL WHO TAUGHT HIM, YOU SHOULD ALL BE ASHAMED! IT IS YOUR JOB TO PROTECT AND NURTURE OUR FUTURE, OUR CHILDREN AND WHAT DID YOU ALL DO?! YOU STOOD TO THE SIDE, YOU PUNISHED THE VICTIM! AND WHAT FOR, BECAUSE HE COULDN'T BRING YOU A BETTER REPUTATION SOMEHOW?! BECAUSE OTHER CHILDREN MIGHT BECOME FAMOUS, THEY CAN'T BE PUNISHED FOR HURTING AN INNOCENT IN CASE IT HURTS THEIR CHANCES?!"
Silence rung out, many now genuinely cowering. Because one thing almost no one had seen was All Might truly angry, enough to blow up at another person.
"YOU ARE NOT A TEACHER, NOR WOULD I EVEN CALL YOU A MAN. TO CALL SOMEONE WHO LET'S A CHILD BE SO THOROUGHLY ABUSED AS YOU HAVE, I CANNOT EVEN CALL YOU A VILLAIN FOR MOST OF THEM ARE STILL BETTER THAN A MAN LIKE YOU!" All Might bellowed, before panting as if he was finally starting to run out of breath, before dangerously stalking towards the principal and looking in his eyes. "You want to know what you are? You are nothing short of a monster."
All Might bolted off, and the video ended there. The presenter cleared their throat, clearly having only seen the video properly for the first time themselves judging by their facial expression.
"W-well, that was quite the intense rant. Following the leak of this video, there has already been a national outcry, having quickly gone viral. Even influential people like the Yaoyorouzu's are calling for some kind of investigation to be performed now to see if this is true, and the school's public opinion has rapidly shot down. In the past hour, over a hundred negative reviews have already been shot it's way by reactionaries. It is not a good time to be Aldera and if All Might's claims are proven true, it could be the end of the school in it's entirety."
Inko and Izuku stared quietly at the screen in shock, before trading glances, before a small grin started to come onto the blonde's face. Had she been still her old self she may have been super embarrassed or even horrified at what the blonde had revealed, but now she was just glad they finally got what they had coming. She had no shame in herself, only in them.
"So…" Inko struggled to find something to talk about now, following the video. It had completely taken her by surprise. Settling on the first thing that came to mind, she spoke up again. "Can't Mistsuki's son kind of fly as well with his quirk, using propulsion as well?"
"Oh yeah, totally." Izuku grinned wildly. "And he will be angry as hell over it, which just makes it better to me."
Inko sighed.
"I'm glad you're confident now, but now I have to worry that will be what kills you next."
"Probably."
The blonde just ignored her mother's pointed stare.
The next day, it was finally time for Izuku to return to school. A nervous looking teacher had met her at the entrance, and after a brief moment of simply being shocked at her new look had cautiously walked with her to her class, not saying a word.
Clearly, All Might had made a lasting impression. Soon enough they were outside her usual class, and a part of her brimmed with mild excitement. Not at being back but she had no idea how much her classmates knew.
"A-alright. I'll be back in just a m-moment." The teacher said, walking inside the class. "Everyone, sorry to interrupt but I need your attention. As I'm sure you have all figured out from yesterday, Izuku Midoriya will not be coming back to class."
Everyone began to mutter. Some even sounded sad, which honestly just pissed the girl off.
"At least, not as you knew him. I believe three of you have already found out, but it seems that a mistake has been made all these years. Midoriya may have had the two joints in their pinky but as it turns out, they did in fact have a quirk."
"Wait what?!"
"Really?"
"Why did he never use it then!?"
"Ah, well you see, they didn't know. It only activated as soon as she was on the verge of dying-"
"Did you just say she?"
Wasting no more time, she stepped in with her arms cross and a harsh flare. None of them were going to wear her down this time, she'd be sure of it. "Yeah, he did."
Many eyes shot wide, some people dropping whatever they were holding as jaws dropped. Bakugou near the back even didn't have his usual glare, seemingly to curious over what the hell was going on. "Midoriya?!"
"Yes. Let's get this out the way now, because I just want to get on with the day. Yes, I jumped off a building. Yes, it was your fault." She said, daring any of them meet her eye in protest. Almost none of them did. "And then I went splat, and if I had of been quirkless like we all thought, I'd probably still be getting scooped up there. By luck though, I do have a quirk. It's called regeneration. I regenerate my body into a new one once I hit a point where death is inevitable."
"So… now you're a…" One of the boy's, one with grey hair and a quirk to turn his body into stones rubbed his eyes. "Wait why ARE you a girl?"
"I have no idea. Not like I needed to look any better to be prettier than most of you anyway." She snarked, no one able to say anything in reply having been caught off guard by her sass. "It just happened. Now, I still have the ability to call out that energy now to throw beams of energy, basically like lasers and that's all you need to know because if any of you try to start more crap, this time I will not just sit there and take it."
"Hey, now you shouldn't-" Her usual teacher tried to berate her threat but a glare quickly shut him up.
"Same for you. I'm going to sit down now." She said simply, as she moved forward. The room was silent for a moment, still stunned by this before the teacher eventually recovered.
"W-well. With everyone here I guess, we might as well get started on our math's lesson..."
Midoriya pulled out her pencil and textbook, deliberately ignoring the constant stares she got. Most where just ones of disbelief and shock. Bakugou's quickly became his usual glare but it almost seemed to lack it's usual fire and one girl…. A somewhat overweight redhead glared back at the regeneration girl completely.
The next few periods passed at a relatively decent speed, no one particularly bothering the girl letting her get through her work. Still, it was hardly fated to last, because eventually someone would feel the need to try to get at the teen.
After all, old habits die hard. And of course, one poor fool stomped towards her desk as soon as lunch rolled around, the red head with an even harsher glare than before. She had spotty skin that was patchy, having pale spots and tan spots.
Her nose looked like it was ready to pop with it's size and her eyebrows were a bushy mess. Her teeth were uneven and she had about as much warmth to her gaze as the Arctic.
The red head, one of Izuku's longest running bullies, Asari Kumi.
"I don't know what the hell you're trying to pull but it's fucking disgusting." She hissed out immediately, pulling Izuku's attention with an eyeroll. "Maybe this quirk thing is real, but were the one who was too weak to handle getting what you deserved."
'Excuse me?!' A light snarl started to build up in the blonde's throat as her purple eyes flashed green for a moment. The overweight girl missed it.
"You are not, and will never be a real girl. You'll always be a pretender with powers you shouldn't even have." She started to rant, before smirking cruelly. "You'll always be some freaky mentally damaged boy running around in panties and nothing like a real girl like me."
And Izuku officially hit her, limit pushing up on her desk and standing. Her hands glowed green as energy started to pool and the desk cracked under her, her strength somehow boosted.
Filing that surprise away for later, she met Kumi's eyes, and the onslaught began.
"Of course I'll never be like you. If you are a real girl, then why would anyone ever want to be a real girl? The rest of them in here definitely aren't because you know, they don't look like dog vomit that has been cruelly granted sentience." She didn't have any anger in her voice, pulling her bag over her shoulder. She had a calm tone. One that made it very clear she only talked the truth. "You look like the by-product of a porno with no health regulations. Not a normal one either but one you'd have to pay for and never want anyone to see because you'd be shunned forever from society or potentially even arrested. Would make sense as well because you're the spitting image of exactly how I expect a male porn actor to look. What must your family think of you? Do you even have any, or have they all abandoned the abomination?"
All around them, jaws dropped as the red head sat in stunned silence, her own throat drying. Finally, she thought of a single reply she barely spluttered out dumbly. "I-I have a mother."
"Oh that poor woman, I'm surprised she even lived after pushing out a baby elephant like you." Izuku shrugged. "I don't envy her, to go through all that pain then end up having to raise dumbo's bratty sister for so many years."
"That's Midoriya?!" someone asked, both impressed and seemingly horrified at what they were seeing.
"I… I…"
"Now I'm going to go have my lunch, so if you could kindly leave me alone and not come at me with bullshit like that again, I won't have to actually get serious next time." She said simply, pushing past Kumi and walking out into the hall. She shook her head as she walked, muttering under breath. "Asshole."
"DEKU!" A shout got her attention, and she let out a frustrated sigh as she turned, coming face to face with her childhood friend and worst bully.
"Speak of the devil and he shall appear. What do you want, Katsuki?" She asked, raising a brow. He glared at her, but he didn't respond. Instead he did something Midoriya had never seen him do in his entire life.
He started to fidget nervously.
"I…. look you… AH FUCKIN' HELL. LOOK! You fucking saved my life, Ok?!" He said. Well, more shouted as he looked towards her. "I DIDN'T ASK AND I DIDN'T…. Ok, Fucking… I did fucking need it."
'Holy crap, he's actually admitting to needing help?'
"Look, this isn't fucking easy for me and I'm not going to say it again but… thanks, I guess." He said, more quiet than was usual for the explosive teen. "I'm never gonna ask for your fucking help, and I don't want it. I hate these stupid fucking eyes cause I can only see you in them but… AHG! why did you have to go and jump?! I don't care… I DON'T… I…."
"You're welcome, I guess?" Izuku said, grinning despite herself. 'Aww, he does care. Too little, too late but now I can hold this over him.' "Look. I didn't know about the eyes, I didn't even know if anything would work but… I just tried. Anyways, I would really like to eat my lunch now, getting used to new taste buds is already annoying enough."
"You're still a useless deku, who will never be better than me though."
"And there it is." She said, rolling her eyes. "I don't care about your ego, Katsuki. I don't care if you are a hundred times better or worse than me. I'm doing this for myself and to help others, and there's no helping someone like you. Anything more to say?"
"….You look nice?"
Silence overtook the two.
"Where did…"
"Just don't fucking jump again."
With that, the ash blonde stomped away from the girl, with his usual scowl and leaving her standing there with a somewhat bewildered expression.
"What…. What even was that conversation?"
Only silence answered her.
