Chapter 16: presents

"Midoriya Izuku?" The teacher called. Izuku startled and jumped to his feet, almost knocking his chair over. How did two weeks pass so fast? A few students giggled. His cheeks flushed.

"Y-yes! M-my name is Midoriya Izuku! I, uh, I've grown up here in Musutafu, with my mom-" More giggles, now his whole face was on fire. "I-I'm getting sixteen in July, m-my hobbies are h-heroes a-and m-martial arts!" His high-pitched voice sounded strained. Great, what a wonderful first impression. For a moment, silence filled the classroom, as if they were expecting an addition. Izuku knew exactly what they were waiting for. Not giving in, he plopped down on his chair and stared at the freshly polished desk under his nose.

For uncomfortably long two seconds nothing happened, until realisation dawned on his teacher's face. The well-dressed woman quickly moved on, obviously remembering his quirk status. Opposing to his old teachers at Aldera, she apparently chose to let him decide when he was ready to reveal his quirklessness. Izuku appreciated it. Maybe, he had gotten lucky and had a somewhat understanding teacher for once.

Throughout the rest of homeroom, Izuku received intrigued but also wary glanced which he pointedly ignored, listening attentively. Same procedure during the entrance ceremony, where he managed to spot Megumi and Taiki. Too bad they were in another class. Still, the girl waved animatedly at him from the other side of the auditorium. He shyly waved back. For the rest of the ceremony, a small but content grin adorned his face.

When it was finally time for lunch, the boy made a beeline for the cafeteria, always on the lookout for his friends. He hadn't found the courage to speak to anyone this morning, and no one had made any attempts to befriend him either. He was fine with that. Being ignored was still a hundred times better than being shoved around, made fun of, and beaten down. Though, they didn't know yet. Things could still return to how they used to be in middle school.

Or you could just tell everyone the truth, part of his brain suggested. But no. It was too dangerous. He couldn't control it. What if he hurt someone?

"Miiiidori-kuuuun!" A voice rang through half the cafeteria. If he wasn't so relieved to finally have found his friends, Izuku would be sinking into a hole in embarrassment. An arm was slung around his shoulders and Megumi amicably ruffled his already messy hair.

"Man, that speech was boring! I couldn't care less about the founders and donors, blah blah. I just wanna go home and finish the manga we bought Saturday."

"What he means to say," Taiki translated for her boyfriend, "is hello, Midoriya-kun, we are happy to see you, it's great that we can finally spend breaks together, how was your morning?"

He couldn't help the laughter bubbling out of him. "The usual, thanks for asking! How was yours? Oh, you won't believe what cool quirks my new classmates have! There's one who can turn leaves into anything, even money, so the government got involved when they found out, and now he's got special…"

He babbled on, his friends listening attentively to his every word. And for the first time since… Since ever, Izuku thought that maybe, just maybe, high school wasn't going to be so bad. He had his friends, his mom, and Yagi-sensei. His training with Kuroko. He would be fine. Everything would turn out okay.

…

It took one week until the rumours spread. Another and every last student knew.

"Did you hear? There's a quirkless guy in class 1-C."

"No way! I thought they went extinct!"

Izuku ducked his head and moved past the two older students. They were talking as if he belonged to a protected species, as if he wasn't even human- He shook his head. Technically, he wasn't even quirkless anymore. Practically, he still very much considered himself to be. Better quirkless than like his father…

But there was that issue with his mentor. Izuku knew Yagi-san only wanted the best for him, but it still was exasperating how the man somehow managed to mention his quirk every session, blatantly unaware how much it hurt the teenager. Even if the number one hero made sure to never mention Izuku's father, the boy just couldn't think about one without being reminded of the other.

To the boy's relief, not much changed at school though. No one had made an attempt to trip him, take his stuff or threw insults his way. At least not directly. He still was the last one to get picked for a group project, unless it was PE, but he was fine with that. His classmates had noticed quickly how he was always giving his best, and that his best was in most cases also placing him at the top of class. Izuku still remembered their first lesson, when he left the other boys in the dust during the one hundred metre sprint. It was as much of a surprise to him as it was to everyone else. His hard training was finally paying off.

So, the freckled teen survived his first two and a half months without any noteworthy incidents. He ate lunch with his friends and walked them to the bus stop before jogging the rest of the way back home. A little bit of exercise was never wrong. They also spent many weekends together when he wasn't training with Yagi-san or Kuroko.

…

The first setback came in June that year. Izuku entered the apartment with a small smile, his chest filled with warmth. It had been an exhausting day, but Yagi-san had bought him some delicious ice cream after they were done for the day.

As soon as he stepped in, Izuku knew something was off. For a good thirty minutes his mother pretended nothing was wrong. But after a far too quiet dinner, she broke the news to him.

…

Eight days later, on a Saturday, they exited the bus at an all too familiar station. The dojo was only a few streets away. Izuku tried to hide a yawn behind the back of his hand but failed miserably. He had dozed off during the short ride and barely registered anything. Usually, he was coming here by foot.

The streets they took were cracked in multiple places, obviously less taken care of than the ones around where the Midoriyas lived now. There was a stale stench in the air, one he knew was common in this ward. His mom looked rather concerned about the amount of trash littering the street, but she tried to play it off. It was all they could do; try to make the best out of the situation.

Speaking of his mother: The woman came to a halt in front of a plain looking apartment block, similarly sized to the one Izuku had spent the last decade growing up in.

"Third floor," she announced, frowning at a piece of paper and holding up an old looking, tarnished key, "last apartment to the left."

Inside, they began their ascend. The staircase was surprisingly clean, but the grey tiled steps were battered, and there was no escalator. It was also rather cold which wasn't a problem for Izuku, but his mom shivered.

"There." They had reached their destination. A simple, wooden door that looked a bit newer than the ones they had already passed. With a triple twist and a strong push by himself the door unlocked, revealing a gaping black hole in front of them. He pushed the light switch on the wall to his left and stepped inside. His movements blew up dust and both Midoriyas coughed. His mother waved her hand in front of her face.

"Well, at least the lights work," she commented more bitterly than intended. Izuku tried to send her an encouraging smile, but a grimace was all he managed.

The teen still didn't know what to think. His mother had cried when she admitted that their budget was growing too tight, especially with the dent his new schoolbooks and uniform left in their bank account, and she didn't know how long they could still afford the apartment. It was a small one, yes, but at the border of one of the safest parts of the city, therefore quite pricey for a single parent. By her calculations, they could still afford to stay three more months, but that was it. By then, they needed another, more affordable solution.

Izuku hadn't known what to do with that information. He had talked to his mentor and his friends about it. In the end, it had been Kuroko who suggested looking for a cheap apartment here. It surely wasn't the best part of Musutafu, but this street was known to be one of the safest in this ward. Also, his friend apparently knew someone who lived in this building and was ready to help with whatever they needed. So, Izuku had passed that information to his mom and two days later, they had been invited to take a look at one of the apartments.

The two Midoriyas split, each checking whatever was important to them. The apartment had a similar layout to their old one - a bedroom next to a bathroom, then came the living room with a small kitchen area, and another, slightly bigger bedroom. The walls were covered with a muddy green wallpaper which had seen better days, some of the windows were poorly sealed, but everything seemed to be intact. They spent about an hour pressing every switch or button, opening and closing all the creaking doors and windows, before they met back by the door.

"So, what do you think?" His mother nervously wrung her hands.

"It will do." He shrugged. Not like they had much of a choice. Could be worse.

His mom agreed, "Yeah, it will do. It's almost half as much as our current one."

That was good, the boy guessed, but didn't really know what to say, so he simply nodded. Silence returned and the two continued to inspect the corners of their soon-to-be-home. Maybe Izuku could find a part time job to help out. His high school allowed it, given he could keep up being one of the top students of hiss class…

A knock on the door interrupted Izuku's mumbling. Both Midoriyas startled, high on alert. They exchanged a wary glance.

"Yes?" Following his mother's words, the door opened. Standing in the frame was a tall man with a clean shaved head. A worn leather jacket sat on his broad frame, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, revealing a wild array of tattoos. His jeans and otherwise mostly black attire looked old and worn, but upon second glance, Izuku noted that it was clean and had been carefully fixed in certain sports. The man sent them a surprisingly warm and welcoming smile, nothing but interest in his bright eyes.

"Good morning," he greeted them in an equally warm tone, "the name's Oichi, I'm living in the apartment across." He pointed over his shoulder with his thumb. "Excuse the intrusion. You must be Midoriyas?"

The small family startled. How did he know? They exchanged another wary glance, which the man noticed.

"Ah, sorry for my bluntness. I'm a friend of the Tannojiko's, their daughter told me you'd be showing up today. It's a pleasure to meet you!"

Izuku gaped at the man. He was the one Kuroko mentioned? He didn't… He didn't look like someone a teenage girl would call her friend. Then again, Kuroko wasn't exactly an ordinary teen. She had all sorts of weird contacts and a key to a bar, so…

Call it a leap of faith, but Izuku bowed slightly. "I'm Midoriya Izuku, I'm-"

"Kuroko's friend! Of course!" The man, Oichi, nodded to himself. "You're the one she's training, right? She doesn't talk much about her friends, but she mentions that you're super smart all the time."

Izuku blinked in confusion. Then the heat rushed into his face. "Uh-"

"Mi-Midoriya Inko," his mother quickly followed his example and bowed. The sceptical expression didn't leave her face.

The man's smile broadened. "Again, a pleasure to meet you, Midoriya-san, Midoriya-kun. If you need anything, don't hesitate to knock. I mostly work at night, so I'm usually around during the day. Anyway." Oichi straightened his back. "I'm sure you still have a lot to do, so I'm leaving you to it. Tell Kuroko I said hi."

With that, their weird soon-to-be-neighbour disappeared as quickly as he came. Izuku grabbed his phone before his mother could ask and was assured only a minute later by his friend that this Oichi-guy was not some creep but really her acquaintance, even though he looked a little rough around the edges. She would explain everything once they met up in about an hour for training.

The family of two took another round through the apartment, this time together, Izuku accompanied his mother back to the bus stop.

...

The door of the dojo was unlocked. Izuku called but no one answered. Shrugging, he made his way to the changing room. He was almost twenty minutes early, so he decided to kill the time by changing before knocking at his friend's door. He didn't even know if Kuroko was already home. Tanno-sensei was out on some important business so there weren't any classes today, and since it was supposed to start raining soon, Kuroko had invited him to train here. It was more comfortable than the abandoned warehouse. Izuku felt nostalgic as he closed the door behind his back. He hadn't been in here for what felt like years.

The teen made a beeline for his favourite spot on the bench, lowered his backpack and retrieved his workout clothes. It felt weird being here all by himself. It was too quiet. He couldn't exactly put music on or anything, so the teen busied himself with his thoughts as he slipped out of his pants and shirt.

He had to look at the bright side of things. He wouldn't need to take the train anymore to get to school. Maybe he could even attend Tanno-sensei's classes again, if he found that part time job. He still had a room to himself, and there was a supposedly nice neighbour who had offered to help them - and definitely scared away strangers. That was good. It made him feel a little safer-

There was a low thud as something heavy collided with the floor. Izuku jolted out of his thoughts and spun around, not having heard or seen anything, too engrossed in thought.

In the doorframe stood none other than his friend, Kuroko. The girl was looking at him with wide eyes, mouth slightly agape. Her hair was down and some cloth, most likely the top of her purple Gi, was hanging from her naked arm because - ohmygod - aside from loose fitting pants, she was only wearing a sports bra. Any other moment Izuku would have squeaked, apologised, and turned away, but the sound died in his throat.

Now he finally knew why his friend was always wearing long sleeves and turtlenecks. Because there didn't seem to be a single patch of skin that wasn't laced with at least some sort of scar. Many of the even lines looked similar, as if having been left by the exact same kind of blade or sharp edge-

"... What happened…?"

Izuku blinked a few times before he realised the girl had been addressing him. He didn't quite understand until he looked down at himself, finding ugly, distorted skin covering a big part of his torso and also his arms.

The only presents his father left behind.

He opened his mouth, but nothing came. No one but his mother and the doctors had ever seen his scars. Not his friends. Not Yagi-san. Not even Kacchan. The teen felt panic rising and barely registered how Kuroko stepped over her own bag - that's where the thud had come from - and halted about an arm's length in front of him. The girl raised a hand as if wanting to touch, but quickly retracted it to hold a clenched fist in front of her chest.

"Mi… Midoriya…?"

Izuku opened and closed his mouth. He found it hard to breathe. His scars were hideous. He hated them. And he hated his body for having them. The boy ducked his head, curled into himself, unable to think straight.

"Hey, it's okay, you need to breathe…" Something cold brushed his forearm. He instinctively flinched and drew back.

"Midoriya-kun."

His eyes snapped up, meeting golden ones.

"You're doing well, I just need you to keep breathing, okay?" Kuroko's voice was soft, her eyes full of concern. Was he having a panic attack?

"Good, now sit down. Take your time. Breathe slowly." Two cold hands appeared on his shoulders, gently pushing him onto the bench. As soon as his butt met wood he collapsed, all strength leaving his body. He focussed on his breathing as instructed and closed his eyes.

Izuku couldn't say how long it took to fully calm down, but he felt completely worn out when his head cleared. The teen clenched the fabric of his basketball shorts. They reached below his kneecaps, just long enough to cover the luckily not that many scars on his legs. Only slowly he dared to look to his right. Kuroko sat next to him, her now warm hand on his back. When Izuku realised she still wasn't wearing her shirt his cheeks flushed and he turned back to his knees.

Kuroko had seen it. She had seen his scars. For a decade he had managed to hide them, now they were in plain sight. It made him feel bare, naked, shirt or no shirt. He buried his face between his hands.

For the longest time, neither of them spoke. Eventually, the foretold rain started, filling the air with the patter of drops splashing against the frosted window glass.

"Before Sensei took me in… I wasn't having the best life," Kuroko broke the silence at last. "After my father passed, my mom… She wasn't really around anymore. Always busy, even more so than before. I rarely saw or spoke to her at all."

Izuku dared to peek through his fingers. Kuroko was staring at her own hands, as if she could see something on them. Why was she telling him all this?

"She… It left my brother to take care of me, whether he wanted to or not. We never truly got along, and he… He wasn't…"

It slowly dawned onto him. Izuku dropped his hands and stared at the lines covering his friend's arm. There were so many of them, and they looked neat, too neat for a knife or any sort of normal blade, almost as if they had been made with…

"He hurt you." It wasn't a question. Izuku simply knew. "He hurt you with his quirk." The horror the teen felt as soon as the words left his lips was impossible to describe. How? How could someone do this? To a child? His own family no less?! How–?

He knew how. His father did the same, didn't he?

Maybe Kuroko had come to the same conclusion. She knew he had a fire related quirk, and she was smart enough to guess that it came from his father's side of the family.

"It's the same for you, isn't it?"

Izuku looked up, finally meeting his friend's eyes. So many emotions were swirling in them; pain, sorrow, regret. But also sympathy, maybe even a spark of hope. The hope to finally have found someone who knew, who understood.

And Izuku did.

They didn't train that day.

After both were appropriately dressed, Izuku back in his street clothes and Kuroko in something comfortable looking she got from her room, they sat on the matts in the dojo and watched the rain fall. Izuku's friend had brought some snacks and drinks, which he accepted gratefully, since he hadn't had any lunch. He simply had to promise not to tell Tanno-sensei that they had eaten inside the dojo.

Izuku ended up telling Kuroko about the new apartment, after which the girl apologised for Oichi's sudden appearance. Izuku was simply relieved to know that this bear of a man was one of the good ones.

They then talked about the differences between middle and high school, both complaining about how much harder exams had become. They also reminisced about their times hanging out with their other two friends, laughing about that time Megumi had kicked a can out of the way only to trip over it again two steps later. Those weren't deep, meaningful conversations, and yet Izuku cherished them. Being able to talk about ordinary things after what transpired in the changing room was a big relief.

Izuku stayed until the rain subsided. He accepted the offered umbrella and promised to put double the effort into their training next week, since they had missed today's lesson. The teen left, not without a strange feeling overcoming him.

He never meant for anyone else to see. Sure, he had told Yagi-san about what his father did, but his mentor had never seen the scars. It was probably hard for him to grasp the severity of Izuku's physical trauma. Only his mom knew, and now Kuroko did, too. They hadn't talked about it, but Izuku had a feeling they would eventually. And, after having heard what happened to his friend… He might even feel comfortable doing so. Because she understood, in a way no one else could. Already now that sense of understanding had strengthened their bond, leaving Izuku feel closer to the girl than his other two friends, despite knowing them for longer. It was hard to explain.

Maybe it didn't need an explanation. Maybe he could just revel in the feeling of being accepted as who he was, all of him, for once. No secrets, just himself, the teenager he was underneath all the rambling and bright smiles, under the hunched shoulders and suspicious glances.

Just a boy with the wish to help people.

"I'm not going to lie, this feels weird," Hikari stated bluntly, eyeing the two students in front of her. It was just past nine in the morning, on a Saturday of all days, and judging by Megumi's repeated yawns and narrowed eyes, he was barely awake. Not that Hikari was much better off.

"Sorry if it's a bit early!" Taiki grinned both apologetically and sheepishly, if that was even possible. "But we're in a bit of a pinch and it was the only time we knew for certain that Midori-kun was training with his mentor and wouldn't catch us."

That was exactly what she meant when she said 'weird', so Hikari only raised an eyebrow, still confused. She had barely gotten three hours of sleep when the other girl called and begged her to come to an "emergency meeting". Hikari's skull still throbbed, and her left ankle hurt. Nakamura-sensei hadn't even commented on anything when she had showed up after another successful mission. All he did was pinch the bridge of his nose before he tightened a bracer around the limb.

"So? What emergency are we talking about?" Knowing the other girl, it would take Taiki a while to explain, so Hikari bit into the sandwich she ordered. Because pondering head or not, vigilante work always made her hungry.

"Right! Sooo…. Mekkun and I had an idea!"

"It was Taiki's idea."

"But you said it was a good idea! Anyway! You know Midori-kun's birthday is up in a week, right?"

As a matter of fact, Hikari didn't know that. But she kept her expression neutral and gestured the other girl to continue.

"And since we know he didn't get to celebrate it with his friends for a long time-" Hikari almost winced at that statement "-we thought we'd prepare something special! Like a surprise party, with all the people that are important to Midori-kun! We were thinking about us three, his mom, and his mentor as well!"

This time, Hikari couldn't control herself and choked on her orange juice. Right, they didn't know Yagi was All Might. They had no idea who they were trying to invite. The number one hero just randomly attending a boy's sixteenth birthday? As if someone so important would have time for that. Then again… He was training Midoriya. He must be having a soft spot for the boy. It might actually be possible, and that alone was one of the most bizarre facts Hikari had to accept. And she'd seen many bizarre things during her nights out on the streets.

Taking long enough to earn concerned glances from the other girl, Hikari finally wrapped her head around the idea and confirmed, "Uh, yeah, sure. Sounds good to me."

"Great!" Taiki clapped once, almost sending Megumi out of his seat. At least the boy was awake now. His girlfriend sent him an apologetic smile, then continued, "Well, we've both been to his home before, so we were thinking about speaking to his mother before he gets back. But you're the only one who knows what his mentor looks like, so we wanted to ask if you could maybe try to catch up with him after Midori-kun is done with his training today?"

Hikari blinked. And again. They wanted her. Her. To intercept All Might. All-freaking-Might. The number one hero. No biggie.

Sure, they didn't know who he was, but how on earth should she do that? The last time she had - by incident - seen him and Midoriya finish their training the hero had bulked up and jumped with so much strength he was out of sight in an instant and left back nothing but a crater in the sand.

"I know you're not a people-person, but could you try at least? For us? For Midori-kun?" Taiki was batting her lashes, showing off her biggest puppy eyes. Hikari groaned internally. It took all her restraint not to roll her eyes.

"Fine. I'll try. No promises, though." She probably hadn't left the best impression on the hero when he came to see Sensei. Would he even listen to her?

"Thank you! You're the best! And by the way, we were thinking about a beach party-thing since it's summer and Midori-kun genuinely seems to like that beach!"

For a second, Hikari bluescreened. A beach party. For Midoriya. She immediately thought back to the incident in the changing rooms, to the burns littering his body, his panic attack…

They couldn't do this. His friends didn't know, so she couldn't blame them, but were they stupid enough not to notice how their friend was always wearing long sleeves? She needed to change their minds. Suggest something else, something better, but what? She had never even been invited to a birthday party before.

"Hikari-chan? Everything alright?"

She was screwed. She couldn't do this right now.

…

"Can you repeat that?"

Hikari groaned. Sakura-san had understood without a doubt. Which meant she was genuinely appalled by the request, even if Hikari offered to pay whatever price the older woman demanded.

"... Please?"

"Let me get this straight." Sakura smoothed her neatly plucked eyebrows. "You want me to use my quirk on something for a civilian?" She didn't call Hikari crazy, but the bewildered look in her eyes did.

"…Yes?"

"You-!" The pink haired woman huffed. Even in a state of bewilderment she didn't look any less beautiful, making the teen feel incredibly self-conscious. After pacing for a good thirty seconds, Sakura stopped in her tracks and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"You come to me for support items all the time, but you have yet to ask me for a veil for yourself. How come?"

Hikari shrugged. "I never really needed it before."

"Do you now?"

No, the girl wanted to reply but hesitated. She had no trouble standing at the side lines and watching her friends enjoy themselves. But she could already see the disappointed look in Midoriya's eyes because he knew the exact reason for it now. He had seen a big part - not the worst, luckily - of her own scars. The situation was growing more complicated by the second. And all of that simply because she couldn't convince two incredibly eager teenagers to hold a different type of birthday party.

Hikari groaned again and sunk deeper into the velvet upholstered armchair reserved for Sakura-san's customers. Neither of them moved for a good thirty seconds. At least, the underground support item technician rolled her eyes and began pooling dirt from under her fingernails.

"What were you thinking of?"

Hikari's head shot up. "For real?"

"I am considering it," the woman groaned, "so?"

"I don't know, something inconspicuous that can easily be taken off. What do you usually give your male clients?" Generally speaking, creating a veil for women was much easier. Simply because people tended not to question it if they wore an accessory. Necklaces and rings were pretty common, also hairpieces and earrings. But men?

"Ties, watches, earrings," came the answer, "there was this crazy dude wanting a gold tooth implanted once."

"Did that work?"

"Of course it did, who do you think I am? So?"

Hikari grimaced at the options. A gold tooth was out of question. Midoriya also wasn't wearing ties or watches, hadn't pierced his ears, and other jewellery seemed inconvenient for someone spending most of his free time working out.

"Know what? I have an idea. But you gotta do it yourself. Also, take off your clothes."

"... What?"

A/N: I'm alive

Review time!

*Ryuujin96: Thank you so much! I'm glad you liked it! It will still take a long time before romance comes into play. It's just a good friendship now.
Regarding the U.A. thing: *SLIGHT SPOILERS AHEAD* A lot of the things that happen during Izuku's time at U.A. in canon will happen before his U.A. time in this fic. A lot of characters, especially pro heroes and 1-A members, will also show up and encounter him during that time. So the U.A. time itself wouldn't be worth a separate story.

*PasiveNox: Thanks for the review (as always!) 3 I won't spoil too much but yes, not having his quirk registered will help him become a vigilante.

*equinoxhun: thanks so much for the review!

*Wondla Master: Thank you for the review! There is still a bit of wholesome content before shit hits the fan and the rating comes into play.