The Enthralling Hero: Syren

A My Hero Academia story

Summary: Izumi Midoriya was one of the lucky ones, born with a very powerful quirk. But when she was young, one wrong move with it caused a lot of damage to her friend, and since that day, Izumi had refused to even speak, let alone use her quirk. But even that event couldn't stop her forever. Izumi Midoriya would become the World's Greatest Hero, no matter what stood in her way.

During its comparatively short history, humanity had accomplished much. Engineering, philosophy, medicine, humans had made amazing leaps in each discipline they could, and the leaps were getting bigger and bigger. Humanity was well on its way towards the singularity.

That all changed when one glowing baby was born.

Quirks had changed the world, and not always for the better. Finding a common enemy among the quirked a few years later, the rest of humanity banded together in an effort to stamp them out, ignoring things like race or religion. A dark age followed, centuries of war and aggression, before the birth of quirked people started to outstrip the birth of unquirked ones. Then everything changed again.

Now quirks were the norm. Only 20% of the world's multi-billion population was quirkless, and most of those were from the older generation. Soon, there would be no more quirkless births, and everyone will have their own powers.

Izumi Midoriya counted herself lucky she wasn't born quirkless.

Soon after the dark times, heroes rose. People with powerful quirks, with training and equipment, and, most importantly, with the desire to do good. They fought the good fight, saving people by the hundreds every year. And none were more prolific or more respected than All Might. During the man's decades long career, he had saved countless people from numerous difficult situations and nefarious villains, earning himself first place in the Hero Billboard Chart ever since his debut. He inspired generations. Everybody wanted to be a hero.

And Izumi herself was one of them. Ever since she was a young child, inspired by All Might's debut video, all she ever wanted was to be a hero. Fortunately, she was born with a powerful, versatile quirk which would have made her decision easier.

A quirk she refused to use, ever since that day.

"Come one, Izumi, show us."

"Yeah, show us, show us, show us!"

A group of six-year-olds stood around a blushing Izumi in a preschool playground, chanting at her. It was a daily occurrence; they had been bugging her since her quirk had appeared two years earlier. And, unlike her best friend from early childhood, she was hesitant.

"Yo, nerd, what're you scared off. Show off a little." The aforementioned childhood best friend was the most annoying one.

"Kacchan, no."

"Kacchan, yes! Now come on! I'll show you mine if you show me yours." The tiny blond lifted his palm, small explosions crackling over it."

"Kacchan, I really don't think this is a good idea."

"C'mon, what's the worst that could happen?" Izumi stared at him for a few more moments before sighing, and letting out an unnatural scream.

Izumi's quirk amplified her voice, allowing her to send out a horrific wordless screech, a sonic blast that could cause a lot of damage. Untrained as she was, she had caused tremendous damage to her surroundings. Fortunately, the assembled six-year-olds managed to avoid all injuries.

Everybody except her best friend.

Due to the wind and the pressure, Katsuki Bakugō's eardrums had ruptured, and he was left with permanent hearing damage. He was lucky to still have functioning ears, but would need the use of hearing aids for the rest of his life.

It was the last time Izumi Midoriya had uttered a sound. She was supposed to be a hero, and heroes didn't hurt people. They didn't leave people crippled.

Mitsuki and Masaru, Katsuki's mother and father, didn't blame the young girl for the accident. Izumi's mother Inko just hugged her as she let out quiet sobs in the waiting room of the hospital, wracked with guilt. Her mother tried her best to calm the girl down, but nothing helped. Not even the news that Katsuki would be mostly ok had managed to stem the tide of tears. Because she had still caused him permanent damage, and that was something she could never live down.

"OI, NERD!" She heard his voice behind her before he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "S'up?" She turned to him, giving him a small smile in greeting.

Katsuki was the worst of them, because he utterly refused to hate her for wounding him like she did. He even went so far as to claim that at least half of the blame should go to him. He was egging her on, which was dumb, because she was supposed to be better than that.

"You ready for the entrance exam?" He gave her a toothy grin. They were fifteen-years-old now, and the entrance exam to the most prestigious hero school in Japan was scheduled for next week. It was a dream the two friends shared since they were in diapers.

Izumi shook her head, making the blond's grin falter.

"E-eh? Waddaya mean no! You have to!" She moved her hands in front of her rapidly, signing her answer. "No, I don't care about that. For fuck's sake, woman, it wasn't your fault!" Her hands moved quicker, clearly annoyed. "And I told you, I was the one egging you on like a dimwit! Get it through your thick skull!" Her left eye twitched for a moment, and she brought one of her hands down on top of his head sharply, before blinking in surprise and bowing down in apology. But Katsuki just grinned again. "Stop that, idiot." He grabbed her in a hug, which was a rarity for him. Izumi sighed and laid her head against his shoulder. "I told you a thousand times, and I'll keep telling you, I don't blame you. I never blamed you. You're gonna be a great hero, so don't you dare throw it all away now. Do you hear me?" She nodded against him. "Good. 'Cause if I don't see you at that entrance exam, I'll sell all your All Might merch, and I won't even do it on Amazon, but on one of those third-rate sites you get viruses on."

Izumi lifted her head to glare at him with her cheeks puffed out, which was equal parts hilarious and adorable but utterly unterrifying, making him bark out a laugh.

"Come on, nerd, let's go grab a bite. You're paying." He took one step before Izumi, glare still in place, grabbed him by the back of the neck and dragged him away in the opposite direction. "Damn, when the hell'd you get so fucking strong?"

Inko stood at the front door on the day of the exam, watching her daughter put on her shoes with a smile. She'd done her best over the years to support her daughter's dreams, no matter what they were, even if they were stupidly dangerous. A small, traitorous part of her felt relieved when Izumi had refused the entrance exam at first, even if she knew it wouldn't last. The green-haired mother was certain her daughter's indomitable spirit and heroic heart wouldn't let her faulter at the end.

Even during the years she refused to use her quirk, Izumi had worked on her mind and her body, working out regularly and writing in her notebooks whenever she could. Granted, most of that was because Katsuki had dragged her along with him. She was grateful for the support her old friend's boy gave her daughter over the years, and she was especially grateful he didn't end up hating her after what happened. She'd be even more grateful if they went and got married already.

"Izumi." She called out as her daughter finished dressing. The teen turned around to look at her mother with a questioning look. "I just want you to know that I'm so proud of you, sweetie. No matter what happens, I'll always be so proud of you." Izumi gave her mother a smile, her eyes watering, causing Inko's eyes to water, which caused both the Midoriyas to spend the next few minutes crying their eyes out.

"Heh, I knew you'd come." Katsuki smirked at her in front of the entrance to U.A. academy. "You just couldn't resist what's on the other side of these gates. And I bet the threat helped, too." She frowned at him, before huffing and turning away. The blond just laughed.

Izumi took her first step towards reaching the dream she'd had since she was a small child. The dream she had tried her hardest to suppress for years, without effect. That day would be marked as the root of her growth to be the greatest hero in the world.

Too bad the ground didn't agree. Izumi's foot snagged on a loose brick and she tripped, almost falling on her face. A moment before she hit the ground she could feel gravity leaving her, causing her to stop in midair.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't use my quirk on you without permission, but I figured it was better than to have you fall." A girl with brown hair appeared next to her. Izumi managed to turn around in midair, gasping when she laid eyes on her. "Good luck in the exams, I'll see you later." Izumi gave a dumb wave as she felt gravity return to her, lowering her gently on the floor.

Katsuki doubled over next to her, laughing at her misery. Izumi barely looked at him. "This is fucking hilarious. Great start to the day." Izumi signed something to him. "Yea, no, you didn't say shit. Doesn't count. Come on nerd, let's go!" Izumi huffed for a moment, crossing her arms, before she got off the ground to follow him.

The pairing isn't IzumixKatsuki, their parents just think that it should be, and it's starting to annoy the both of them.

I'll admit now that this idea was sparked by two songs, and we'll get to both of them eventually. The quirk is pretty self-explanatory by name alone. It'll have three parts; the first one we've already covered. It's the supersonic screeching, similar to Present Mic's quirk, except more like what Harry Potter sirens sound like out of the water. The second and third part will probably be along during the USJ attack, and the first of those two scenes is one I'm looking forward to the most.

Katsuki yells a lot because of the hearing damage, by the way.

This is my first foray into writing My Hero Academia fanfiction, though I've read a fair bit. I like the anime well enough, but the last time I watched it they got to the U.A. School Festival. I haven't heard a lot of good things about the plot after that point.

Edit: I am an idiot and forgot to write the entire actual first paragraph. So here it is.