Chapter 1!
Here we go, the original idea and now alternate route to my fic Tiger's Bite in which Izumi will remain quirkless.
I put the thought out in my idea dumping ground recently and people seem to have taken to it so I thought I'd turn it into a proper fic as I'm also interested in writing it. I am truly a bit nervous about this one because well...Izumi will be getting quite violent and perhaps her personality will be a bit more of a hit or miss for some people. This will be a bit different to some of my other stuff but I hope it's still enjoyable so please bear with me.
You DON'T have to read Tiger's Bite to get into or read this fic and I'll list out the important things about this Izumi, as well as what differed, in the end notes!
This went up alongside a chapter update to Sheer Cold so check that out too!
To everyone who faved, followed, or reviewed thank you so much!
Enjoy, more notes at the end!
Chapter 1: 5 Minutes Difference
*Inko POV*
"Izumi!" Inko called out, hoping her daughter hadn't left quite yet, "I know it's sudden but can you stay and help me with some of these boxes for a few minutes?" the mother wondered as she heard the girl's loud footsteps.
Inko's daughter popped her head around the corner of the hall, "Eh? I was headin' off ta Tokyo but if it's only a few minutes," the younger greenette shortly thought, "Sure Ma, don't push yerself, ya got me around!" she exclaimed, proud and always willing to help out.
"You're too kind Izu..." Inko shook her head as she watched the girl readily grab all the heavy boxes that the mother wouldn't have been able to move easily.
"Whatcha talkin' bout?" her daughter laughed loudly, her display of strength common in her own mind.
Her daughter had been aiming to take a trip to Tokyo today to look at student apartments for, in her words, when she attended U.A. Inko didn't doubt that her daughter could make it into the school, she would be more surprised if Izumi wasn't accepted, but it did still worry the mother. Other than being far away from home and living by herself, Izumi also didn't have a quirk to help her out.
Inko didn't believe so little in her daughter that she would call her 'normal' since the younger greenette was anything but, but she knew that others who didn't know her girl would instantly look at that fact instead of who the younger greenette was as a person. The green haired mother watched as her daughter toted around the heavy boxes as if they weighed nothing, whistling a cheery tune while she did it, and simply reminded herself that Izumi would, and did, make up for a lack of quirk by sheer will and her out of norm physical power.
By average human standards, Izumi was absolutely monstrous despite not having a quirk and while she was remiss to call her own daughter some kind of beast it didn't change the fact that that was who Izumi was. In fact the other route that her daughter could have aimed at instead of hero, and the one that was just as worrying for the mother, was boxing. While Izumi probably would have been a one of a kind fighter, her sights were set on heroism. Her daughter always had a kind heart, that had never changed, and she loved helping people herself or teaching them how to help themselves. However, that kind heart didn't mean that Izumi was someone who shied from or disliked fights.
Somewhere along the lines of growing up, Izumi picked up a knack for brawling and a desire to fight was engraved into her permanently through learning boxing. Maybe it was her way of pushing back against people who had put her and others down simply for existing or maybe it was since her great great grandfather was a boxer who was a similar type of person and fighter to her. Either way, Izumi was carving herself her own path of what she believed in and as a mother Inko couldn't complain about that one bit but her mind swapped to a less than warming thought.
Something she did also know about her daughter was that she was angry.
Sure that anger translated into her fighting but the truth was that Izumi was angry as a person. Being a kind girl did not make others kind to her as a quirkless person. Her daughter had suffered more openly when she was much younger and she still silently suffered today. A single mother who didn't know what to do wasn't, and hadn't been, enough to support Izumi emotionally. All the cruelty and all the pity had brought out a sleeping rage inside of the younger greenette. Aggressiveness, stubbornness, selfishness, and violence, had become her daughter's responses to injustice and Inko wasn't sure if Izumi was always going to be this way no matter what or if it was simply how she ended up being molded.
Izumi snapped at others, she was loud and could be obnoxious, even hotheaded and thoughtless in her anger, and Inko just hoped that one day her girl would find people who wanted to walk beside her.
"I can take care of the rest Izu," Inko spoke up, not wanting to be in the way of her daughter's day, "go out and have fun, you don't want to miss out," she reminded the younger greenette of her original plans.
"What am I gonna miss out from a few minutes?" Izumi laughed, a smile on her face," I'm off!" her daughter yelled out while bounding through the door and this time Inko laughed instead.
There Izumi went, off in a world that wasn't ready for her.
-break-
*Izumi POV*
Nothing special had happened the day that Izumi initially made her way out to Tokyo.
She did manage to make it into U.A's General Education department when the exams came around but she knew that she was at least capable of that. Her next and actual current short term goal was moving her way up into the hero course. The greenette had looked it up so she knew that she had a chance to do so by performing well at the Sport's Festival but that was easier said than done. That being the case though, Izumi was looking forward to crossing whatever strong people would be there. Sure her aim was the hero course but she also wanted to fight.
Maybe it wasn't exactly heroic, maybe it didn't make sense to other people, but Izumi really loved being in a good fight. The sensations, the struggle, the triumph, all of those things would spark a fire in the green haired girl's chest and that was simply how she was, not as an aspiring hero but as Midoriya Izumi.
However, she did want to be a hero.
The green haired girl didn't have a quirk, it was just the fact of the matter, so she didn't delude herself in trying to think beyond what she could actually do. She had busted her ass to get where she was and all that effort was going somewhere, no matter what anyone said. Izumi had her fists and a lot of power behind them and she had to take those things and make them equal to having a quirk.
As much as she believed that she could blast through the ranks within the school, Izumi knew that she was going to peter out and flat line somewhere along the way. Taking the route through General Education was to let herself build up even more before the festival and maybe even pick up what a few of the students in the hero course had for quirks. Izumi laid on her bed in the small apartment she'd found in Chiba and thought long and hard about what obstacles she'd face at U.A
The greenette was behind, she had to be, so she needed to press forward even harder. Izumi wouldn't pretend that the thing behind her fists were justice, they were far from it and she'd used them plenty of times with anger, but they were what she could give. How she looked wasn't as important to her as who she was so Izumi resolved herself to follow through on her own decisions. The alarm on the greenette's phone went off and she sat up and pulled her hair back.
A run would help settle her thoughts.
-break-
*Itsuka POV*
"Haaa," the orange haired girl sighed while she continued with her workout, "Seriously, that girl is a monster."
Itsuka's eyes had been drawn to the window as the greenette had run past her aunt's gym for what must have been a dozen times now in the last couple hours and it seemed as if she wasn't slowing down one bit. It wasn't as if it was a huge deal but she had never seen this green haired girl before and if she had then the orange haired girl surely would have remembered someone like this.
"She works up a good sweat at least," Itsuka complimented the other girl's intense roadwork, though of course she was just talking out loud to herself, "must be strong as hell."
While Itsuka was a little impressed, she did have her own working out to keep her occupied so she placed the greenette out of her mind while she trained and thought about what her school life at U.A was going to be like. There was still about a month or so before the school year began but Itsuka felt a bit restless and didn't want to become complacent with her abilities. More time passed, with the greenette making her way by a few more times, and eventually Itsuka finished up and set herself up behind a small desk counter. Honestly, she didn't know what to do now and was getting a tad bored.
The green haired runner came into view again, her pace now a cool down jog, and it surprised Itsuka when she turned slightly and made straight for the gym's entrance. The greenette paused for a moment just outside and settled her breathing a little before entering and peering about until her eyes fell on Itsuka.
"Welcome in," the orange haired girl greeted, "what can I help you with?"
The green haired girl used her sleeve to wipe some sweat from her brow before making her way closer to the desk, "A lil quiet fer a gym," she commented, her accent clearly giving away where she was from.
This girl obviously didn't care for formalities so Itsuka didn't bother keeping them up, "It's my aunt's but I help out sometimes," she explained, "not that a ton of people come or anything," the orange haired girl laughed a little, more to herself and at her aunt. "Looking to sign up?" Itsuka offered, clear that the greenette wanted to do more than just running around.
"Was just kinda interested," the Osakan commented, "I do need a place ta workout though," she admitted, looking around the place and the equipment.
"Kendo Itsuka," the orange haired introduced herself, reaching her hand over in offering.
"Midoriya Izumi," the greenette spoke confidently, taking her hand firmly and the girl's presence could be felt when they made contact.
She was closed off, no, cautious was a better word, but Itsuka could tell this girl's personality from a glance and it felt more like a wild animal had wandered in than a person.
"Going to school around here?" Itsuka pried after dropping the handshake, Midoriya seemed to be around her age.
"U.A, when tha new term starts," the green haired girl revealed and Itsuka was a bit taken aback.
"Seriously? Same here," she pointed to herself, guess they would be seeing each other around.
Midoriya perked an eye, "Hero course?" she guessed, likely since it was U.A they were talking about.
"You too?" the orange haired girl inquired further, wondering if the two of them could potentially be classmates.
"Gen. Ed," the greenette revealed, a touch to Itsuka's embarrassment, but Midoriya didn't seem too bothered, "I'll move up during the Sport's Festival," she stated without hesitation as if it was a given.
"The exam?" the orange haired girl tried, it was a bit skewed towards certain types of quirks.
"Wanted more time ta practice," Midoriya answered, clearing the thought that she hadn't passed the testing.
"Don't take too long," Itsuka half encouraged and half poked fun, taken in by just how sure of herself the green haired Osaka born was.
Midoriya snorted indignantly at her quip, making Itsuka mental click her tongue, before her attention turned, "Oh, ya got a bag," the greenette noted while motioning her head towards the heavy sandbag in one of the farther parts of the gym.
"Want me to hold?" Itsuka offered since it wasn't a bad idea to get a potential new patron, "I'm sure we have some gloves that'll fit you."
"I might raise tha bag on ya," Midoriya told her seriously, a hint of self amusement in her voice as well, though her green eyes gave Itsuka a once over in inspection.
She'd indulge the greenette's confidence, "I'll try to not get blown away then." Midoriya seemed to have the ability to irritate you when she felt like it.
The two took a moment to get themselves situated, the greenette removing her track jacket while Itsuka sized her up this time, and Midoriya gave the bag a few taps with the back of her left hand, "Ya ready?"
"Give me what you got," the orange haired girl confirmed while she braced the bag firmly, she'd brag after she wore the other girl out.
The first few hits weren't anything special, the greenette was easing into things before establishing a rhythm, and Itsuka held strong without any issue. The only sounds now were Midoriya's fists ringing against the bag and the orange haired girl felt her partner switching gears. The blows grew much heavier and she felt a few pretty strong impacts come through, nothing she couldn't handle, but as she was about to pipe up a blast was sent in and she nearly lost all the air in her lungs since she was caught off guard.
"Got a little worked up an sent a tough one in," Midoriya's voice called from the other side, "Didn' surprise ya too bad?" she wondered, her punching level going back down a gear or two while she waited for Itsuka to respond.
What the fuck? That huge impact was a punch? Just one? Itsuka had thought that something inside of her had exploded!
"I'm still right here," the orange haired girl willed herself to say evenly, "bring it on when you feel like it." she challenged, the competitive and prideful side of hers rearing its head just a touch.
"I'll pray fer ya then."
Fuck, this was going to hurt.
-break-
It hurt way more than she could have anticipated
Itsuka had managed to stay strong, more like she went numb eventually, even until a few minutes after Midoriya had left but her body suddenly felt all the pain once she'd sat down and lost her tension. Turning towards a mirror, the orange haired girl raised her shirt and both marveled and grimaced over the fact that the green haired girl had managed to bruise her body through the bag. She had been lucky that she hadn't eaten much or else she might have lost the meal from holding the bag for Midoriya. Itsuka hadn't been expecting to get worked through a sandbag but the session had legitimately did some damage.
The green haired girl had promised to show up again and Itsuka worried a little over potentially holding the bag for her again. She didn't know if the girl's quirk had anything to do with it but there wasn't anything normal about Midoriya's punches. The impact of the hits exploded through the bag and ripped straight into Itsuka's body and she wasn't even sure if that was the green haired girl's best or just her default. On the bright side, maybe it would make good for some kind of training, at least, if Itsuka didn't die from it. Another thought did briefly cross her mind though. What would happen to someone if they were directly hit by Midoriya?
Itsuka placed a hand on her sore stomach and cringed.
Notes and Stuff
Alright, here is a list of important details in regards to Izumi for a refresher or those who haven't read Tiger's Bite.
-I made her related to Sendo Takeshi from Hajime No Ippo, he's her great great grandfather here and while some punches from that series will be here it isn't a crossover, or at least I personally can't really consider it one. Izumi's style of boxing, power, and best punch, are the same as his if you want to see references.
-Izumi is from Osaka and her family owns a candy store.
-Izumi speaks with a Kansai accent/dialect which is why I write her speech in such a way.
-Izumi is way stronger than canon Izuku and is also stronger than Tiger's Bite Izumi in base form.
-Her apartment is in Chiba prefecture, where Itsuka is from, and they're about 15 minutes away from each other.
-Itsuka's aunt owns a gym.
-In Tiger's Bite her trip to Tokyo resulted in meeting All Might but the delay here changed that so she will be remaining quirkless.
-Instead of going straight into the hero course, she's taking a trip through Gen Ed.
That's about all you really need to know that wasn't covered, fully or at all, in this chapter. I'll do my best to slowly bring this up to speed while also working properly on my other fics and hopefully the changes from Tiger's Bite make for an interesting read going forward especially for those who like and have read that fic.
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed and look forward to more updates from me!
