Izuku ran along the path, angry, bitter tears flowing from his eyes as he glared bitterly at his surroundings. His small, nine year old legs carrying him further and further away from school. Eventually he stumbled beside a fairly thick tree, breathing harshly as tears, dirt and sweat ran down his face.
"Deku! What the fuck do you think you're doing getting in my way!?" Katsuki Bakugo yelled, throwing another explosive punch to Izuku's stomach. "Haven't you fucking learned already!? You're useless!"
Izuku grit his teeth as he hit the ground. He was a bit upset that the crying boy he saved from Kacchan's wrath just up and left him to his fate, but so long as he saved someone it was worth it. That's what he kept telling himself. Even as he thoughtlessly ran between Kacchan and his friends and shoved the boy with extending fingers away, even as he was hit from every direction and bleeding from his nose and had a pretty bad burn on his arm, he still figured it to be all worth it if he could be someone's hero.
"You're worthless!" A chubby boy with red bat said while flapping lazily in the air.
"Actually, he's quirkless! But that's the same thing! Might be worse even!" The same boy who Izuku shoved before shot as soon as he got back to his feet.
"So what if I don't have a quirk, I can't just let you pick on someone! If you use your quirks to harm someone, then you don't deserve them!" That was apparently the wrong thing to say at the wrong time. Kacchan's face morphed from his already very glare to a nasty scowl filled with anger and scorn. Izuku felt the pain of the explosion before he heard it go off and was flung back several feet on his back.
"You're overreaching, Deku!" Katsuki spat before walking over and kicking Izuku in the ribs while he was down. "You'll never be anything other than Deku, you quirkless freak! I'll put you in your place as many times as I need to to remind you of that!"
Izuku didn't know how long he sat there crying until he heard his phone ring. Somehow, it was completely undamaged and he winced while trying to reach for it. Maybe he was in worse shape than he thought. It was his mother. Izuku froze before slowly answering.
"Hello? Yeah mom, I'm fine. Just lost track of time... no, I didn't get kidnapped by villains...yes, it was Kacchan again... pretty bad... I'll be home soon... Thanks, love you too."
Izuku let the device down and sighed. 'No one is born equal,' indeed.
Inko tried to take Izuku's word for it, she really did. But when he came home looking like... that, her heart shattered. Damn, Mitsuki's boy for this. All because Izuku was quirkless and wanted to be a hero. He didn't deserve this type of abuse. Why Izuku continued to call him by that silly name, defend his name and sing his praises, she'll never know. But one thing she did know, is that she had grown sick and tired of her child being attacked.
After having a pretty good talk with Hisashi, she finally relented in his long time quest to let Izuku learn to fight. Not that she was against him training or anything, but the small, darker part of her mind kept reminding her that since he was born without a quirk, he'd be a constant disadvantage against others, and thus, would get hurt more. Shaking away those thoughts, she rushed to the door when she heard it open, first aid kit in hand.
Izuku's wounds were bad, depressingly bad, but while she was tending to him, this steeled her resolve.
"Mom..." Izuku said, breaking the tense silence. "...I saved someone today. Kacchan and his friends were picking on some kid with color changing hair, and I stopped them!" Hours of retrospect revealed that Izuku didn't regret a damn thing about his actions. He saved someone. He was someone's hero if only for a few minutes.
"I'm proud of you dear." And she genuinely meant that. "I'm happy you stood up for someone else. You've got your dad's heroic spirit!" She said with a smile, but it was forced. It was time for that talk.
"So, me and your father have been talking and, we feel it's best if you started taking martial arts classes."
Izuku's head snapped to her so fast, his facial features blurred. Then he smiled so brightly that Inko nearly started crying right there. "Really?!" He asked with stars in his eyes.
"Yes, Izuku. Really." Any trepidation the woman had was dashed when he son suddenly shot to his feet and cheered. "Izuku wait! Your bandages!"
'I can finally start training to be a hero!' Izuku doesn't say. He knows his mother wouldn't like that, but he's just so excited.
"What do you mean you don't take quirkless students?!" Inko shouted for what seemed like the tenth time today. The first dojo, she had to admit, might've been a bit above her pay-grade. But everyone else? Even these people who were in little more than a glorified garage with a mat and punching bag was apparently too good for her son.
"W-well, ma'am. We're pretty filled as is, and we have expectations to get even more b-by..." The poor receptionist boy tried to stutter out an explanation, but Inko's tranquil fury had reached a boiling point twenty minutes ago. She, rather roughly, grabbed Izuku's hand and dragged him out the door.
"The nerve of some people, I swear." She muttered darkly.
"Mom?" Izuku tried.
"Just because you don't have a toe joint and can't change your eye color..."
"...mom?" Izuku tried again. But it was too late, Inko had already descended into one of the famous or infamous Midoriya muttering sessions. Granted, her's was currently much darker than Izuku would ever care to admit at out loud, but she was where he got it from, no question. "MOM!" He suddenly shouted to get the woman's attention, as well as startle some people passing on the side-walk.
"...Oh, you say something honey?" She said as if she wasn't the terrifying person in the world seven seconds prior and had a death grip so tight on his hand, that his fingers were going numb.
He then sighed. "We've been at this all day, mom. I-I know it's frustrating, and I really appreciate you doing this. But maybe we can find some stuff online, a-and just by the equipment. Beats a gym membership right?" Izuku asked hopefully. Truthfully, he didn't want to stop, this was an important part of being a hero after all. But seeing how his mother's enthusiastic smile gradually faded into a scowl was slowly breaking the child's heart.
Inko sucked in a sharp breath before relaxing and smiling at her boy. "Yeah, sure. We can do that."
But just then, be it fate or chance, a strong gust of wind blew a newspaper directly into the woman's empty hand. Seeing no harm in reading it, she saw a small listing in the corner, so small that she almost missed it, but sure enough, it was real.
"New Martial Arts Gym. Made by Quirkless, for Quirkless." With a tiny image of two very muscular, handsome men in sleeveless Gi's. One with a dazzling smile, and the other with a content smirk.
She gasped. Surely this was too good to be true right?
"You sure this a good idea, Ken?" A man of slightly above average height asked, while tightening his red headband.
Ken ran his fingers through his long, blond hair before giving his friend a thumbs up and a million yen smile. "Sure thing, Ryu!" He said happily. "You and I both know that we aren't getting any younger, so what better to preserve the power of youth than to teach the next generation of Quirkless?!"
Ryu sighed at his friend's antics and energy but he didn't disagree. "But did you have to be so... particular about the listing? I get that you feel pretty strongly about quirkism, but to say it's only for quirkless?"
"Exactly!" Ken said happily, completely ignoring Ryu's dry look. "Who better than one of us to carry on the will of the Street Fighters? And besides, you know as well as I do that most quirks, if not all of them, get in the way of Ansatsuken. It's for the best."
Ryu once again didn't disagree. He was about to retort before he sensed two people near the entrance of the dojo. "Ah, we actually got people. I was beginning to think that wouldn't work."
"We got one already, didn't we?" Ken asked with a shit-eating grin while both walked towards the door.
"...that one is a bit of a special case and you know that." Ryu said gravely, turning towards the back door where he knew a student sat in a meditative pose after practicing kata.
Their conversation died down upon seen two green haired people, one a skinny young boy and the other a short, fairly in-shape pretty woman.
"E-excuse me, are you two," she looked at the printing on the paper again. "-Ryu and Ken?"
"That's right!" Ken said loudly, slightly startling the jumpy family. "I'm Ken Masters and this here is Ryu Nishiyama! What can we do for you today?" The blond man asked, already knowing the answer.
"U-um, we saw the paper and wanted to find out about enrolling in some of your classes. I'm Inko Midoriya and this is Izuku." Inko said slowly. Ken seemed to be a very extra kind of man and she was having trouble keeping up with those energy levels.
"Well, little lady, you came to the right place! We here at Gouken Academy strive for nothing but the best in our students and always seek to better ourselves and other aspects of our lives through martial arts!" If nothing else, Inko notes, Ken is great at motivation. "Between me and Ryu, are dozens upon dozens martial arts tournament wins from around the globe." He gestured for the mother and son to follow him further in the dojo and enthusiastically pointed towards the walls where, just like Ken said, were dozens of pictures of them holding trophies, medals, checks and any else displaying victory. Inko and Izuku both turned to look at Ryu, who still hadn't said anything up until this point.
Ryu awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck and cleared his throat. "Sorry, Ken's just much better at..." he gestured vaguely at his friend, still going on about his accomplishments, seemingly unaware that they'd stopped following him. "...that."
Inko giggled serenely. "It's fine, he just seems quite excited to show off to the newbie."
Ryu chuckled behind his hand, "That's one of putting it, yeah. But really, if you're interested, ask any question you'd like. I may not be a salesmen like Ken," He gestured to his still rambling friend, "but I do co-own the dojo."
"Oh, alright. What will you be teaching Izuku?" She started simply enough.
"How to defend himself, first and foremost. Then how to use ki." Ryu said casually.
Izuku, who'd be silently analyzing the area until now, eyes shot open. "What's ki?" Judging by Inko's curious expression, Ryu figured she didn't know either. Which is fine, very few knew about it. The less the better.
"Well, ki, in it's simplest term, is just energy that's found in everything. Living beings like us can use and harness via the martial arts we teach here, Shotokan, to help build the mind, body and soul." Ryu explained. He then randomly took out his wallet to show the parent and child his ID, and sure enough for Quirk, it listed N/A. "Ki can also be used in a lot of different ways once manifested, and understood." Then he turned his back on them and quick as lightning, took on an unusual stance. "Hadoken!" A bright blue ball of energy flew from his hands before vanishing several meters away from hitting the wall.
"...Oh." Inko said intelligently. "And you're going to teach my son how to do that?"
"Well, that's if you choose to enroll him here, but yeah. Ki has a lot of different manifestations, and it varies from person to person, so he might not be able to do that exact thing, but-" Ryu was promptly cut off when Ken barged back into the conversation with a scowl.
"Are you just skipping all of the good parts and getting straight to the action?! I had a whole speech prepared, Ryu! How could you!?"
While Ryu and Ken came to blows over the apparent disagreement, Izuku pulled Inko aside. "M-mom... can I learn Shotokan? I think I can be a hero if I do." Izuku said innocently. If Inko had any reservations, they died the moment Izuku looked upon her with his big, green eyes. "Please, mom."
"Um, excuse me?" Inko said quietly, and almost immediately, both Ryu and Ken stopped their impromptu brawl and approached. "I'm sorry but I just have to ask, why do you only teach quirkless people? This power seems incredible if anyone can just learn it." She asked, not suspiciously, but genuinely curious.
"Well, long story short, we both know how Quirkless people are treated these days." Ryu said ruefully. "It's bad, so we decided to help the people who society thinks can't help themselves. Both Ryu and I are quirkless and look at us, we've fought and defeated some of the best fighters in the eastern hemisphere. Besides, it's always fun to remind people that quirkless does not mean useless."
"U-um, sir?" Izuku's small voice was almost missed. The three adults turned to him. He had tears in his eyes and a hopeful, watery smile on his face.
"Really, Ryu? Not fifteen minutes in and you already made a child cry. For shame." Ken's teases was prompt cut off by a not-so-subtle elbow.
"Do you think I can b-be a h-hero like All Might if I trained with you?"
"Kid, you can be more than a hero. If you've got the will to succeed and the strength to push past all of the bull that will be thrown at you, you can be damn near anything you want."
With that, Izuku finally heard the words he's been waiting to hear his whole life. He dropped to his knees and cried in true Midoriya fashion. Seconds later, his mother cried too.
Ten minutes and a flash flood later, Ken snapped his fingers and got the paperwork ready. When he came back, he placed a hand on Izuku's shoulder. "I can tell you've had it rough kid, but don't worry! Things about about to change for you, you've got the Ken Masters seal of approval on that!"
Then something seemed to dawn on Inko. "Wait a second, is Izuku the only student here? I know you specified only Quirkless children, but is my son really the only one?" She really didn't want to think that. She knew quirkless rates were pretty low as is, but she desperately hoped there would be at least some people here who shared her son's plight. And made him feel less alone.
"Oh! Sorry about that, Midoriya-san. No, we do have one other student. Ryoya-kun! Come out here!"
A full minute later, the back door opened and a young boy, around Izuku's age walked in. He wore a red Gi, much like Ken's but with sleeves and an orange belt wrapped around his waist. He was slender and a bit taller than Izuku himself with messy, shoulder-length black hair tied into a ponytail with bangs that framed and partially hung in front of his face and half lidded, vibrant, bright golden eyes.
"Midoriya-san, this is currently our only other student. Ryoya Harushi." Ken said with a dazzling smile. "He's a bit like Ryu here. Quiet! Humble! Respectful! Self-deprecating! Anti-social!" Ken completely ignored Ryu's indignant 'oi!' and continued on as if he hadn't said anything. "Iron sharpens iron, and Ryoya here will be your rival, best friend, hell, I'm pretty sure he'll be your chef if you asked him." This time, it was Ryoya who shouted 'oi', but just like his sensei before him, he was completely ignored. "I can't wait to get started!"
"W-when can he start?" Inko asked nervously. Seriously, Ken was a nice man but he was also intense seemingly always.
"We can start today! We just need to get Izuku-kun here in a Gi and a white belt and we can start!" Ken, without waiting for a response, darted in the back room so quickly, Inko would've sworn she saw actual fire appear at his feet for a split second.
Izuku slowly approached Ryoya like he was made of glass. He'd never seen another Quirkless person before! Much less three in one day! And this one looked his age, if not a year older.
"Hi, I'm Izuku Midoriya! I hope we can be friends!" He said with an extended hand and a bright smile.
Ryoya's eyes trailed down. Green met golden and Izuku flinched. 'Such an intense stare.' But not a second later, the intense stare broke and Ryoya gave a small, light smile. He shook his hand. "Yo."
