I woke up the next morning, and quickly went over certain sections of the manual again, as I tried to figure out what I would tell my mom. Considering her probable counter arguments, I went over to the bookshelf, took out a specific book, and then stored it in my Inventory. Then it was out to the kitchen.

"Good morning, mom," I said as naturally as I could. Except a squeak in my voice ruined it. Then I looked around.

"Where's dad?" I asked.

"Oh, ahh," she hesitated, "He left last night, caught a red-eye back to America. He has work you know..."

"Mom," I prompted gently, "Is something going on with dad? With you and dad? You two barely talked yesterday, and he left without saying goodbye."

"Well, Izuku honey," she said cautiously, "I guess I should tell you. Your father and I are legally separated."

"Legally separated?" I parroted in confusion.

"I'm not surprised you don't know about that," she said, "It has only been an option in Japan for about twenty years, and it is still uncommon. It means that while we are still married, we are apart, and we own our possessions individually. And certain other aspects are spelled out in the agreement."

"Like me?" I asked softly.

She looked down, and didn't say anything.

"It's because of me, isn't it?" I realized.

"No, Izuku," she hurried over and hugged me, "It was not your fault. You are not to blame. You should never believe that. Your father and I always burned bright. When we were happy..."

She blushed, and I tried not to think about it.

"But even from the beginning, when we fought, it was like dynamite," she continued, "Mitsuki always said she was surprised we lasted long enough to get married."

"But what drove you apart," I countered, "What made you fight, was me."

"There is a school," she said, "A school for Quirkless children. One where they don't spend time trying to teach you about controlling Quirks, or about Quirk laws. A school where children without powers don't have to be afraid, bullied."

For a moment I considered that. But I wasn't that naive. Bullying pre-dated Quirks. There is no reason to think that just because the school only had Quirkless students, didn't mean they wouldn't find other reasons to torment each other.

"But that school is near the north shore of Hokkaido," she continued, "A boarding school. I didn't want to send you away, not at five years old. And there were... rumors."

I could imagine. Teachers' cruelty was the first thing that came to mind. But even worse... An isolated school, a population with a specific genetic trait. That would be a perfect testing ground. Or control group.


A few years later, a certain Hero agency investigated the school. Not long after, most of the administration and some of the teachers went to prison for a very long time. And the school was shut down.


"Your father didn't believe the stories, he thought it would be best for you to go there," Mom told me, "And I was adamant you stay. So yes, we fought about it. If it hadn't been that, it would have been something else."

She looked at my face, and must have seen the doubts. She smiled sadly and said.

"But the final straw was how I've let myself go," she told me, "The second time he came back from America, he looked at me, and asked for the separation."

That got me out of my funk, making me angry.

"That's not true, mom," I told her, "There's nothing wrong with you. You are still really pretty."

"That's kind of you," she said wistfully, "Too bad the doctor doesn't agree."

She looked at me firmly, "Your father is a good man. He takes good care of us. And part of me will always care for him. But no, we are not together anymore."

I hugged her again, and she returned it. Then she gave me another look.

"Now, it seemed like you had something you wanted to talk to me about," she said pointedly as she released me.

"Yes," I scratched the back of my head nervously, "It's about what I told Mitsuki-oba-san."

"That was very kind of you," Mom said carefully, "But of course..."

"Mom, I have a power," I interrupted her, "It happened the die Katsuki day'd. Err, day he died... Just woke up that morning, and I just had it."

"Are you sure?" she asked slowly. I held up my right hand.

"You might have forgot, what with everything that happened," I countered, "But remember my hand? The split knuckles from punching the barrier? That wouldn't heal in just four days, right?"

She took my hand gently. Looked it over. Then she smiled, tearing up.

"Oh, Izuku," she grabbed me a third time, "You have a Quirk. What is it?"

"It's not a Quirk," I mused out loud, "Or at least it says it isn't."

"What does that mean, Izuku?" she looked confused and a little worried.

"I guess it might be fastest just to show you," I decided. Then I proclaimed firmly, "Party Invite, Midoriya Inko."

[Izuku Midoriya has invited you to join his party.
(Accept) (Decline)]

I noticed that all the messages displayed our names in western order.

My mom looked at the box nervously.

"It's okay, mom," I reassured her, "Just hit 'accept'."

She did.

"Now say 'status'," I encouraged her.

"Status?" she said questioningly.

The window appeared before her, and I made it a point not to look at it.

I explained to her everything I had read in the manual, and had seen for myself. I showed her my own Status box, pointing out my "Quirk metagene negative" qualifier. I got into a real roll, but she didn't interrupt me.

"... and health is equal to the sum of your physical attributes at level 1, plus half of your Endurance, rounded up, for each level you gain," I told her, finally petering out.

"Izuku," my mom said carefully, "Have you thought about this? It might just be a hologram Quirk, responding to your own thoughts and desires. The same thing with your fingers."

"I had considered that," I agreed, "Tested it. But what about this?"

I flipped over to my inventory, and took out the book. Handed it to her.

"Your father gave you this, two years ago," she flipped it over, revealing the title, 'JavaScript 11 for Noobs'.

"It's real, right?" I prompted. She nodded, but was holding back a protested that my possible illusion Quirk might have concealed it.

"Hold on to it, tight," I gently placed one finger on the book.

[This book contains the skills JavaScript ES11 and Software Methodology. Learning them will consume the book. Proceed with learning these skills?
(Accept) (Decline)]

I hit 'accept' without hesitating.

[Skill book used. Skill JavaScript ES11 (lvl 1) unlocked. Skill Software Methodology (lvl 1) unlocked.]

Mom blinked as the book vanished, leaving a light coating of paper dust on her hands. I blinked because I unlocked what I guessed were both Wit based skills, but my attribute did not improve.

Then I looked at her again, and there was still doubt on my Mom's face.

"Okay, I have one last thing to prove this is real."

"Izuku, honey," she said softly, but I plowed on ahead. I flipped over to the Talents tab, and scrolled to one of the two Talents I had been thinking about buying first. I didn't think 'Ki Initiate' would convince Mom that it wasn't just an illusion, so I went instead with 'Telekinesis, Basic'. Then I flipped back over to the Skills list. Three new unlocked skills has jumped to the top; 'Telekinesis', 'TK Attack', and 'TK Defense'. I put my three unspent skill points into 'Telekinesis'. Then I looked up at my Mom determinedly.

I pointed past her, into the kitchen. Without touching it, from a good three meters away, I turned on the sink. I picked up the dish towel, and ran it under the water. I nearly dropped the towel as I turned the water off. Then I clumsily wrang out the towel. My Energy was draining faster than I would have expected. But I had just unlocked the lowest level Talent, and my Skill level was really low. All the more reason I needed practice.

I unsteadily pulled the damp cloth over to my Mom, and held it out for her, saying, "Sorry, I didn't know using a skill book would be that messy."

After she wiped her hands off, I dusted the floor with the cloth, still not touching it. Then I set it next to the sink, to add to the laundry later.

"So, umm, what do you think?" I asked nervously, silently praying she believed me.

"Izuku," she addressed me directly, "Why are you going this far? Telling me all this, showing me all this? Even spending those points just to make a point, after telling me how rare they are?"

"They might not be that rare, if I can just figure out how to gain XP and level up," I mumbled, but caught myself before I could plunge down my normal speculative rabbit hole, "And I was going to buy Telekinesis anyway, maybe just not until next level. But why?"

I grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of my head again.

"To be honest," I came clean, "Part of it is because I got a quest telling me to tell you. And another part of it is I'm going to ask for an advance on my allowance. I need to train for the UA Entrance Exam. So I am going to need work out clothing, some training weights, and hopefully I can find some useful skill books at the bookstore."

Then I took her hand, and squeezed it gently.

"But mainly, I wanted to tell you. I wanted you to know that this isn't just a lark or a crazy dream. I didn't want you to worry about me getting hurt. And I didn't want to hide anything from you."

She just looked at me for a moment. Then she smiled.

"Tell you what?" she said happily, "Why don't you go get cleaned up and dressed, and we will go out for breakfast, to celebrate your Quirk... or whatever this is. Then we can go shopping for supplies. But on one condition. Or make that two."

"What's that?" I said carefully.

"First, this is just an advance on your normal allowance," she told me, "We are not made of money. Unless you have a talent for that hidden somewhere."

"Not that I know of," I conceded to her joke, "yet."

"That's too bad," she sighed in mock despair. Then she sobered, and said, "Secondly, you leave me in your party, at least until you have a specific reason to remove me. That way, I can make sure you aren't getting hurt or going overboard."

"I can do that," I smiled.

"Then I will help you," she said, "You can consider your first quest complete."

I whooped, and then kissed her on the cheek.

"Thanks, Mom," I told her as I darted back to my room.


Midoriya Inko watched wistfully as her son hurried off to get ready. His determination filled her with guilt. Especially considering his supposedly low value in the named attribute. Plus a small amount of guilt that she had openly looked at his stats, while he avoided looking at hers.

When had she started giving up? She had not said a word when her husband asked to put a legal hold on their relationship. She had not been able to comfort her son when reality tried to crush his dream, and she had let her fear and guilt drive her into the kitchen.

No, it was even earlier than that. With Izuku out of the room, she flipped back to her Talents. She only had three, with five talent points unused. Two were 'Cooking' and 'First Aid'. The third was her Quirk; 'Quirk: Gravity Pull I'. That was right, 'I'. Immediately under it was a 'Quirk: Gravity Pull II', with a brief description. Under that was 'Quirk: Gravity Pull III', greyed out except for the name. And below that, it branched off into three more Talents, their details completely obscured.

The Quirk she just accepted was weak; useless for anything more than mundane tasks, had multiple layers of hidden depths. But she had never known. She had never tried. Inko had just given up, accepted the hand she thought she was holding.

"No more," she said softly, "I'm not giving up any more. For myself, and for my son."

[You have made a firm and heartfelt declaration. Determination +1.]

Inko immediately purchased 'Quirk: Gravity Pull II'. That added more information to the third level, showing her that neither her skill with her Quirk, nor her related attributes were high enough yet. She went back to the main screen, and pumped her Intuition and Determination both up to 21.

"I don't have the Skill points," she mumbled, not unlike her son, "So I guess I'll just have to do it the hard way."

She pulled the dirty towel over to herself, and took it to the hamper.


I stepped to the next shelf. I was in the reference section, running my fingers over the spines of the books. Seeing which ones triggered my power. If they looked like they would be immediately useful, I put them into the basket. If not, or if I didn't qualify to use them yet, I just recorded the name to a list on my phone.

"Excuse me," I bowed to a man perusing cookbooks. He had messy hair, a five o'clock shadow, and a scar under his right eye. He seemed dangerous, though not like a bad person. So I made sure to be polite.

"No, excuse me," he stepped back and watched my ritual. Then I looked at the two books he was holding.

"I think that one is better," I suggested the one in his right hand, it's counterpart on the shelf having triggered The Gamer.

"Is that your Quirk?" he asked, his voice as rough as his appearance.

"Something like that?" I said evasively, and hurried on the to next display.

At the end of the shelf, I saw the bluette from Kacchan's service. She was looking at college entrance books. Not feeling comfortable, and not wanting her to think I was a stalker, I ducked around to the back side of the shelf. Which incidentally put me right in line with the main sort of books I was looking for.


I only ended up getting eight new books, out of a list of dozens. I didn't want to be in debt until I graduated from UA.


At the sporting goods store, I immediately selected a trio of tracksuits, based on All Might's bronze, silver, and gold age costumes, respectively.

Unfortunately, when it came to training weights, I was at a bit of a loss. I even used the book on muscle training I bought, to unlock the 'Strength Training' Skill, hoping it would give me pointers. But in the end I had to ask the sales person for advice. A quick witted young woman, with forearms like Popeye, she asked me about my plans, and then guided me to a modular set with a vest, wrist, and ankle bands. I bought two of the sets of weights to attach to them, knowing that I could buy more later.


We got home just in time for lunch, and I helped Mom out. Even though I was itching to use the new books and then ponder my new Skills and future options. She seemed to sense that, and after we ate, she dismissed me from washing the dishes.

[Skill book used. Skill Basic Karate (lvl 1) unlocked.]
[Skill book used. Skill Boxing (lvl 1) unlocked.]
[Skill book used. Skill Parkour (lvl 1) unlocked.]
[Skill book used. Skill Yoga (lvl 1) unlocked.]
[Skill book used. Chemistry, Basic skill improved (lvl 2).]
[Skill book used. Mathematics, Basic skill improved (lvl 2).]
[Skill book used. English Language skill improved (lvl 5).]

I looked at my new Skills. Along with Strength Training I had already gained, I had a set of physical skills I thought would help me train, even if they weren't directly useful in the UA exam. The other three were to make it easier to pass this year, so I would need less time to study and have more time to train.

Then I check the Attributes associated with my new Skills. And like I thought, even though I had gained multiple skills today for Wit, Strength, and Agility, none of them had improved.

"Maybe skill books don't trigger that," I mused, "Because I'm not actually working on the stat, like when I unlock the skill by learning it manually?"

[You figured out a minor, intentional gap in the manual. Intuition +1.]

"Intentional, right."

I noticed the system messages sometimes seemed to have a personality.

I leaned back in my chair and looked at the ceiling. It was April 29th. The exams where next March, the first and second, with results posted on the eighth. And tomorrow, April 30th, my training would begin in earnest.

I packed all three tracksuits and my weights into my Inventory. Only then did I notice the Quest tab blinking. I jabbed the button as quickly as I could.

The panel for 'Oldest Ally' was also flashing. I touched it.

[Quest 'Oldest Ally' complete. Claim the rewards?
(Accept) (Decline)]

I supposed there might be a reason to save the rewards for a quest for a specific time. Like maybe to level up at a key moment. But I had no reason to wait. I all but punched 'accept'.

[Bonus Talents received.
'Inventory II' unlocked.
'Reflective Dungeon' unlocked.]

My eyes widened as I jumped over to the Talents tab...


Current Status:

Name: Izuku Midoriya
Age: 14
Level: 2
Active Title: The Gamer
Health: 18/18
Energy: 53/53

Attributes:

(S)trength: 3
(A)gility: 4
(E)ndurance: 5
(Q)uickness: 3
(W)it: 19
(I)ntuition: 16
(C)harisma: 5
(D)etermination: 8
(L)uck: 2

Unused Points:

Attribute: 8
Skill: 0
Talent: 0

Skills:

Modern Tech (W): 13
Computer Gaming (W/A): 14
Japanese Language (W/C): 12
English Language (W/C): 5
Scientific Method (W/I): 6
Oral Hygiene (C): 3
Analyze (W): 1
Mathematics, Basic (W): 3
Dodge (A): 1
Chemistry, Basic (I): 2
Creative Writing (C): 1
Software Methodology (W): 1
JavaScript ES11 (W): 1
Telekinesis (I/D): 3
Strength Training (S): 1
Basic Karate (A): 1
Boxing (S): 1
Parkour (A/Q): 1
Yoga (A/E): 1

Talents:

Studious
Gamer's Body
Gamer's Mind
Telekinesis, Basic
Inventory II
Reflective Dungeon