AN: Hello and welcome to: To Build a Hero. This is my first ever story that I've written, and I am super excited and nervous at the same time.
This story is a cross between My Hero Academia and Kamen Rider Build. If you've watched either of those, I hope you enjoy. I appreciate all constructive criticism and feedback down in the comments below. This story is also being posted to A03 as well. Thank you for reading my story, I hope you enjoy.

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"Sorry kid, it's not going to happen"

In seven short words, the world of Izuku Midoriya began to crumble. Seven words derived from an extra joint on his foot. Seven words that would try to deny Izuku of his dream. He couldn't help but want to cry, but he held out, until he made it back to the car. When he finally made it home, he sat down, and watched a clip of All Might, one he'd seen a thousand times before. Speaking to his mother who stood in the doorway:

"See that mom, there's always a smile on his face no matter how bad things get. Even when things seem impossible, he never gives up." Izuku slowly turns to look at his mother, his eyes threatening to spill a downpour of tears as he asks: "Do you think. . . I can be a hero too?"

Inko looks at her son, knowing that the words she says will impact the rest of his life. On one hand she knows the dangers of the hero world, and even more so without a strong quirk to support someone. But on the other hand, she fears the effect that her words will have on her own world, her son, her baby boy sitting in front of her ready to cry his heart out due to his dreams being crushed, his world collapsing. His words are more than a simple question, he is asking for reassurance to his own dreams, to stabilize himself. For what feels like an eternity, she ponders on what to say. To support his dreams and help him be a hero; or to finish crushing them now and risk never seeing him smile again. It was then that she made her decision. Quickly pulling Izuku into a hug, tears littering her own eyes as she smiled at her son.

"Of course you can be a hero"

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – Time Skip 2 Years – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Izuku felt the burn on his arm, it wasn't one a little water would fix, how would he get past his mom without her noticing, it already had blisters. He was used to the burns at this point, it wasn't like he could outrun Katsuki, much less those flashy explosions he made. It had been two years since he found out he was quirkless, and barely a day had gone by where he hadn't been reminded of a shortcoming, he had no control over. But today's reminder had been really bad, Katsuki Bakugo, Izuku's childhood friend, had hit his arm with a point blank explosion, and all because he stopped Katsuki and his cohort from harassing a kid on the playground. He climbed up the stairs, hoping his mom would still be out on her errands, and he could scurry to his room to put something else on. Luck, however, was not on his side. He walked in the door, his mother standing in the kitchen making dinner. She immediately noticed the burn on his arm, he braced himself for her onslaught of questions as she asked "Izuku! What happened to your arm? Are these blisters? Why didn't you get someone to help you get home?

No point in hiding the truth, what good would come from lying at this stage. "Kacchan burned it, he got mad because I tried to stop him from hurting a kid, so he hit me instead"

A terrifying thought crossed Inko's mind, so she asked: "Is this the first time Katsuki has used his quirk on you?" Izuku's eyes widened, as he slowly looked down, slowly shaking his head in a silent no. Inko was mortified, it was normal for kids their age to roughhouse a little, but this was a step, or 10 too far. But what could she do, she could call Mitsuki, and tell her what had happened, but that could mean that Katsuki might take out his anger he had on Izuku. No, she shouldn't worry about Katsuki at the moment, her son was in front of her, injured and being bullied. She needed to act now and handle these problems one at a time.

Inko quickly took Izuku over to the couch and started treating the burn, cold towels and bandages for where it had blistered. When she'd finished, she looked Izuku in the eyes, she could tell he'd been hiding this for a while, how hadn't she noticed? With a tremble in her voice she asked "How long has this been happening Izuku? A month, six months, a year?"

Izuku looked at his mom, she was ready to burst into tears, and he knew his answer would push her over the edge. "It's been happening ever since I learned I was quirkless, and it's because I'm quirkless" Tears began to flow from both him and his mother, as they embraced each other.

Inko hugged her son and refused to let go. She couldn't keep Izuku around here, he'd just continue to be a target for Katsuki. She had to make a decision, one that would help Izuku grow, no matter what it may cost. She then remembered the offer that had come in the mail just yesterday, it was for I-Island, a floating city devoted to quirk research. It was the perfect place for Izuku to grow up, a zero-quirk discrimination policy, not to mention it was a place where he'd be surrounded by everything hero related. She let her son go and looked at the flier again, "MOVE TO I-ISLAND, EXPERIENCE THE FUTURE BEFORE IT HAPPENS" She began the application process, hoping and praying that they'd be accepted.

Two days later they had their answer, they were moving to I-Island.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – After a long flight – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

I-Island was an interesting place for Izuku, after all it's not every day you move to a flying island! More than that, Izuku's mom told him that this place was constantly doing research on quirks and hero support, this place was perfect to help him become a hero! Excitedly, Izuku wandered between everything, wanting to see all I-Island had to offer, not realizing that he had wandered away from his mother in the process.

Meanwhile Inko was in a panic, not five minutes after she'd grabbed their luggage Izuku was missing. Quickly running to find anyone in a uniform to ask for help while calling his name, she was approached by a man wearing a simple blue button down.

"Do you need help?" Inko hurried to explain that she and her son had just moved here and while she was grabbing their luggage, he'd gone missing. The man's eyes widened, as he pulled out his phone to make a call, explaining the situation, and closed his phone. "Please come with me ma'am, I'll take you to the back office where we can get a view of the security cameras, this place is arguably the most secure spot on the planet, as long as your son is on the island, I promise you: We will find him."

Blissfully unaware of his mother's panic, Izuku was looking at everything, eyes wide and filled with awe. At least until he bumped into someone and crashed on the ground.

"Yowch, that stings," the unfortunate victim of Izuku's wandering stated. Looking at the source of the voice, Izuku saw a girl who didn't look much older than he was, with long blonde hair and a pair of thick glasses that adorned her face. She was focused on the small scrape on her hand before looking up to meet his gaze. Her blue eyes met his green, as he quickly scurried to his feet and held out his hand to her to help her up.

"Sorry about that, I didn't see you there" he said with a smile, as she took his hand and got to her feet.

"Shouldn't I be the one saying that? After all, with your mess of green hair you blend right in with the shrubs" She responded with a laugh, as Izuku began to blush a storm, embarrassed.

"I guess I was too focused on everything else, this place is incredible! Isn't that right Mom?" As Izuku looked back to see his lack of mother before panicking into a muttering storm. "Oh gosh I am so dead we have not been here for more than ten minutes, and I am already lost, oh gosh she must be so worried I have no idea where I am or where she is what am i going to do how am I going to find her how am I supposed to be the best hero if I die right here oh no, oh no, oh no."

The girl simply stared at him, eyes widening as he spoke so long without even pausing to breathe but ended up focusing on two key words "lost" and "hero". He wanted to be a hero, she wanted to be a hero, and what hero wouldn't help another hero when in trouble. Steeling her resolve, eyes filled with determination, and with a smile across her face she claims: "Don't worry I can help you find your mom".

Izuku looked at the girl with hope in his eyes, "You can!" The girl grabbed him by the hand, and they started running through the streets, heading towards the big tower at the center of the island. As they ran they passed by people of all different shapes and sizes, people with mutation quirks, people with flashy quirks, and people who were carrying cool machines. Izuku realized that he felt at home among it all, like this was where he was meant to be.

The base of the tower came into view, and Izuku could see his mom standing next to a man in a blue shirt.

The girl saw her father standing with a woman who had the same color hair as the boy. Before they could finally get to them the boy let go of her hand and ran to the woman, she assumed was his mother. "Papa, I found this boy, he was lost, but it looks like you found his mom"

The man looked down at his daughter, smiling as she approached. "Talk about coincidences, good work Melissa."

Looking up from the tight hug she had over her son, Inko smiled and said: "I don't know how I can ever thank you enough for helping me find my son Mr. - "

"Shield. David Shield" he smiled and looked down at his daughter "But the one you should really be thanking is my daughter Melissa here, after all she's the hero that brought your son here".

Melissa smiled brightly and nodded "No problem, it's what a hero would do!" She quickly went over to Izuku and held out her hand "My name is Melissa Shield. Nice to meet you!"

Izuku took Melissa's hand, and responded with a smile matching her own "Nice to meet you Melissa, my name's Izuku Midoriya"

After the introductions were over Melissa looked over to Izuku and asked: "Hey, Izuku, you said you were gonna be a hero, so I've been wondering. What's your quirk?"

Izuku froze. The same question that destroyed his relationship with Katsuki now reappeared from his new friend. He swallowed, slowly looked down and said quietly: "I don't have a quirk"

"You're quirkless?!" She said with a gasp, Izuku looked down ready for the insults to start flying. "That's so cool! Now we can both be quirkless heroes together!"

Izuku felt something he had been struggling to keep for over two years, hope. He'd found a friend, one who was just like him, and shared his same dream. With his newfound friend, and a will to make it happen, nothing would stop them from making those dreams a reality.

Together they would build their own future.

Next Chapter Preview
Melissa: "Making our own quirk? Is that even possible"
Izuku: "Yeah, why can't we! Let's make something stronger than any quirk out there!"

Next time on To Build a Hero:
To Build A Quirk