In which Izuku is Tony Stark's son!

Izuku initially forgot about the scholarship he had applied to with Stark Industries. There had been an ad a few months back regarding a potential internship and guaranteed college scholarship for the winner for the most impressive design or idea for either hero gear or other profitable tech ideas. It was a campaign to inspire fledgling inventors to put their names out there and inspire new hires for the company.

Izuku had won the grand prize and to his shock, an offer to start his internship with Stark Industries early, age be damned. Considering the company had reached new heights thanks to the fact the owner was a child genii who had ideas that were only implemented after his father's death, it was little wonder that the man could care less that Izuku was barely 11.

His mom... had conflicting feelings, but she also understood this was a major opportunity for her son.

So once his passport cleared and he managed to brush up on English enough to be understood until he became more fluent, Izuku was shipped off to California.

California...was nothing like Japan. It wasn't anything like his neighborhood either.

As part of his summer internship, Izuku would be doing online coursework until the probationary period was over.

Almost immediately he was struck by the stark difference in treatment. In the labs, no one gave an iota of damn about what his quirk was, they were more interested in his ability to analyze and break down said quirks in less than five minutes. And when briefly taught how to code by a bored programmer, he picked it up ridiculously fast.

All too soon, the summer ended and he was unhappily looking forward to returning to Japan.

So you could imagine his shock when Tony Stark himself entered the lab, despite not really coming anywhere near it for his entire internship.

"So you're the wonder kid Izuku," he said by way of greeting.

Izuku was a bit star struck (not as much as he would have been around All Might, but still) but he managed not to make a total fool of himself at least. In all honesty, being able to talk to someone like Tony Stark was a bit overwhelming.

"Wait... you want me to become a semi-permanent member of the team?!" he said in shock.

"Kid, do you have any idea how rare it is to find someone with an actual brain who doesn't use it for stupid shit?" said Tony bluntly. "You not only have the sharpest set of eyes when it comes to analysis, but you soak up all the tech knowledge we teach you like a sponge. I'd be an idiot to let you go without at least trying to keep you around. Besides, you're the best person when it comes to quirk analysis that I've ever seen."

Izuku didn't even have to think twice. The only reason he'd even consider going back to Japan was for his mom, and he had learned to deal with being away with her by having long video calls where he chatted about his day with her. Inko had even noted he seemed much happier away from his old life.

Back in Japan, Izuku told his mother his decision. He really wanted to learn more and Stark had promised him he'd be placed in the department Tony lead personally for major projects.

Inko...had an odd expression on her face.

"Izuku. There's something you should probably know before you return to America," she said slowly.

Tony had to admit, the wonder kid (as his team had started calling Izuku) was an adorable bunny. The kid picked things up as fast as they could teach him, almost like a dried sponge that was meeting water for the first time.

The kid wasn't a conceited brat either. He was a total sweetheart and had even managed to get on the good side of Pepper who had a spine of steel from dealing with Tony's bullshit for so long.

It was hard to believe he was bullied in his old school because he was quirkless. Were his teachers blind? Then again, the kid lived in Hero Central (as Tony mentally dubbed it), where fancy quirks mattered more than actual ability.

It made sense the teachers were more interested in someone who could get into UA than a genius without a quirk. Especially with how prejudiced and corrupt the hero commission was in Japan.

Still there was something oddly familiar about the kid. If it wasn't for the green hair and eyes he'd honestly swear he was looking at a nicer, more polite version of himself at that age...just without the same backbone.

Izuku was an honest joy to teach, and Tony found himself spending a ridiculous amount of time around the kid, asking his honest opinion on one thing or another.

He just didn't know about the shit-storm that was about to occur thanks to that same kid.

Third POV

Pepper knew that something had to have happened to the wonder kid when he went home to visit his mom for two weeks. She just wasn't expecting this.

"You think Tony is your dad?" she repeated.

"Mom told me the reason her husband separated from her was because she had slept with someone when they briefly broke up after an argument before they were married. She ran into an American who she later learned was Tony Stark only because her friend told her who he was. He left because after I was diagnosed quirkless he did a DNA test without telling her," explained Izuku.

Pepper knew Izuku was too much of a sweetheart to come up with this, and honestly considering Tony's history it wouldn't surprise her in the least if he had an illegitimate child out there.

"Where and when did this party occur?" she asked. If the timelines even remotely matched she would have a test discreetly sent, but until then she would reserve her opinions.

Izuku told her the dates that his mother had told him and Pepper looked into it. Tony had been in the area around twelve years ago. The timeline matched enough that Pepper took a sample of Izuku's blood and sent it in to the usual company for when people came claiming to have Tony Stark's child...usually in a cash grab.

The difference was that Izuku wasn't asking for money, nor was his mother. Izuku could care less about the money, the fame or what Tony could offer. He was just a lonely kid who had finally found a place to fit in and was just as happy making hero gear and being wanted.

When Pepper got the results, it was not what she expected.

Izuku really was Tony's son. Which made a lot of sense in hindsight, as the kid was just as smart as Tony (but far easier to deal with) and had a lot of little habits that she had initially assumed he had picked up from being in close proximity to the older man.

Pepper looked at the kid seriously.

"What do you want to do?" she asked.

"I really don't want to break this to him immediately. Just knowing the truth is enough for me," said Izuku.

Pepper's estimation of the kid went up hearing that.

"We will have to tell him eventually."

"I know, but we have a big project to finish and I really don't want to distract him," said Izuku.

The project wasn't nearly as big as Izuku claimed and Pepper had the distinct feeling he'd put it off until something either blew up in their faces or Tony found out himself. Give the kid a hero to analyze and he'd do it with confidence. Ask him to deal with something that impacted him on a personal level and Izuku had a bad habit of putting it off under the flimsiest of excuses.

Considering what little they got of his previous situation, she suspected long-term abuse. Not from his mother, because he never once mentioned Inko hurting him, but from a third-party he was semi-close to and spent entirely too much time around. With how often he flinched and refused to work around nitrogen, Pepper suspected one of his classmates had been hurting Izuku long-term with his quirk.

(It took her all of five seconds to find out who, and it still left her pissed off the teachers had ignored this problem.)

Tony might be a social disaster, but he was not an idiot. He had his DNA flagged years ago the second it became possible, so when it came up with a positive result he knew within hours. He waited to confront Pepper about it when was going over some details about something or another.

"So...who's the kid?" he asked.

"Excuse me?"

"I know my DNA had a hit, so who's the kid?" he asked.

Pepper looked openly surprised he knew.

"I had Jarvis flag the account for whenever some idiot comes claiming to have my kid," explained Tony.

Pepper weighed her options, then sighed.

"Izuku. Apparently his mother realized she might have been carrying someone else's child and her friend helped her put two and two together."

"So what do they want?" he asked. After all, why hide this particular secret so long.

"Nothing," said Pepper.

"Nothing?"

"Izuku was rather adamant about keeping it quiet...he just wanted the truth. He made me swear not to bring it up unless I absolutely had to, because he didn't want special treatment."

Tony stared at her incredulous. Pepper couldn't blame him... the idea of someone having Tony Stark's kid and not immediately attempting a cash grab once they had proof was almost unheard of. Izuku was more hero-obsessed than anything and barely knew anything of his birth father. He could spout off more facts about the Pro Hero All Might than he could Tony Stark (she would know...she had heard his ramblings more than once).

"How do you want to handle this?" asked Pepper.

Either way, the fact Tony had an heir was going to be major news.

A few days later, Izuku found himself in a private room with Tony and Pepper.

Izuku could tell from the expression on Tony's face he knew. He wilted in place.

Tony found himself going to eye level with his newly found son.

"Kid, kid...relax. I'm not going to take you from your mom," said Tony, inwardly panicking.

Izuku was still a little shaky. He knew Tony could very easily pay some expensive lawyers over custody and he did love his mother.

Tony looked to Pepper, who was of little help.

"Look... what exactly do you want to do," asked Tony gently, as if talking to a scared rabbit. To be fair, Izuku did give off bunny vibes.

"I...I want to stay here and keep helping make new stuff," admitted Izuku. "But I don't want to abandon my mom to do it."

Well, he at least valued family. That was something Tony could work with.

Over the next two hours, Izuku, Tony and Pepper worked out an arrangement. Tony would go over with the company lawyers and quietly change a few things so that if something happened, Izuku would inherit his share of the company. He would also discreetly bring Inko to America and put her with a subsidiary so that no one would claim he was still sleeping with her while subtly setting her up with a well paying job so Izuku could stay with his mother.

Tony would be the first to admit he didn't know a thing about raising a kid, but Inko had clearly done a damn good job of it. Now that he knew about his son, he could take his time and slowly ease Izuku into the limelight that came with being a Stark.

Since Izuku showed all the signs of being abused by his soon-to-be former classmates, Pepper made sure that he was put into mandatory therapy the first chance she had.

Inko was surprisingly calm about the whole matter and had no issues with relocating. Izuku was just happy to be with his mother while still pursuing his new hobbies.