Kacchan had been harsher than usual that day, he beat Izuku into the ground for almost 30 minutes after he was downed, leaving him barely conscious in an alleyway.
｡◕‿◕｡
"Shit!" A voice says as whoever it belongs to walks into the alleyway, "You're pretty beat up, let me give you a hand."
Not in a position to refuse, Izuku lets the girl with pink hair approach and help him sit up.
"You're lucky I'm the one who found you," she smiles, "not everyone carries a first aid kit around with them."
Then, she remained silent as she worked to patch Izuku up. Cleaning wounds before applying a burn cream to any that need it, then wrapping them neatly in bandages.
"Your left ankle is sprained pretty badly, but by some miracle, you don't seem to have broken any bones," the girl said as she finished, "I would suggest going to the hospital but for some reason, I doubt you will."
"I... I don't want to be a b-burden." Izuku stutters out.
The girl sighs as she sits beside Izuku, "Ami Urahara, what's your name?"
"Izuku Midoriya," He responds.
"Well Izuku, you have 2 options, you can talk about whatever happened here to leave you like this, or you can go to the hospital."
Needless to say, Izuku's lack of self-worth meant he'd rather spill everything than waste the staff at a hospital's time.
So he split, eventually starting crying as he recalled what led him to that alleyway and being attacked by Kacchan.
"Shit, sorry about that," Ami said, her hand having slipped into his during the story, "I know! Here, take my details."
She handed him her phone and he looked confused, "Oh, uh, put your number into my phone and text yourself so you have mine too."
Izuku does so with an 'ah,' sound before returning the phone.
And then, a loud explosion is heard in the distance and Izuku runs but not away, towards it.
The girl follows behind him as he walks forwards and eventually they find the origin, a boy around their age being attacked by a man with a mutant type quirk, multiple pro heroes stood around doing nothing.
"Shit, why aren't the pros doing anything?!" Ami spoke, her hand still firmly in Izuku's.
"Their quirks aren't suited for it, Backdraft might work but he's the only one available to keep the crowd at bay until the police arrive," Izuku says, going on a small muttering rampage before running up to Death Arms with the universal sound for 'I have an idea!'
"Mr. Death Arms sir, I think you should aim for the villain's eyes, they look like the only solid spot on his body." Izuku said as Death Arms listened intently, nodding as the boy finished.
"That might work kid," Death Arms said, "Now stand back and let me handle this."
Death Arms proceeds to run forward and attack the villain's eyes with a punch, causing what could only be described as a flinch as he dislodges slightly from the teen, who Izuku now recognised as Kacchan, hence the explosions.
"Shit," Izuku murmurs under his breath, "I'm never hearing the end of this."
"You okay Izuku?" Ami asked from beside him, receiving a quick nod before she realized: the victim is one of Izuku's bullies, maybe even the one called 'Kacchan' who left him in that alleyway.
"That Kacchan?" She asked, receiving a curt nod, "Karma's a bitch."
If Izuku had chocolate milk he would have spat it out laughing, although he clearly tried to stifle the noise.
Eventually, with a few more blows to the eyes, Kacchan was pulled free and the sludge villain collected and detained securely by Death Arms, who after about 5 minutes expertly dodged the reporters to talk to Izuku, who was still with Ami and ready to leave.
"Kid, thanks for your help, it saved lives today," Death Arms said as he approached Izuku, "What's your quirk, I'd love to have a mind like yours working with me in the future."
"I have a telekinesis quirk sir," Izuku responded Death Arms nodding.
"Alrighty, my agency will keep an eye out for you when it comes graduation, or for internships."
Izuku bowed about 50 times as thanks to the man before Ami managed to get him to stop.
"You really are a fanboy, hm?" She teased, Izuku going bright red.
"M-maybe a little." He pouts slightly.
"Yeah, because a regular hero fan would be able to list off the quirks of every hero present at that fight," Ami scoffs, Izuku's face going a brighter red, "Anyway, you have somewhere you gotta be? I've not got many friends, and by the sound of it you haven't either, wanna get ice cream?"
Izuku shook his head before drooling at the prospect of ice cream, "S-sure, there's a place nearby I think."
There was, so the pair went and got ice cream. Izuku got strawberry while Ami got bubblegum.
After they got their cones they started walking down the street and chatting, and Izuku learned a lot about the girl.
1: Her quirk was 'Jade Bullet' and it allowed her to spit out little bullets of jade.
2: She was transgender, meaning she was assigned male at birth.
3: She wanted to get into the support course at UA
4: She was picked on at school for her gender identity
"That's so unfair," Izuku sighs as the pair sit at a park bench, "I'm lucky really, Kacchan is the only one who outright attacks me, the rest just pretend I don't exist."
"How come?" Ami asks, causing Izuku to frown.
"When my quirk manifested before his, he got mad, and he held a grudge long enough I suppose." Izuku says simply, "He's popular, I'm not, so everyone listens to him and they stay away from me."
"Shit I'm sorry," Ami said, but Izuku waved it off.
"It's not that bad, it only happens in and after school, I'm safe as long as I lose him after school, he doesn't put a lot of effort into finding me."
Ami sighs before nodding, "I guess getting shat on as much as we have you learn a few things."
Izuku snorts as he nods, "I want to be a hero, yknow." He smiles, "Kacchan is applying to UA's hero course, same as me, I'm scared it'll just be the same old same old."
"Hey, you'll have me at lunch at least, and I won't let him touch you!" Ami says, puffing up her chest as Izuku giggles.
"Thanks Ami," He smiles, "I should probably get going, mom will be worried if I'm not back soon."
And so Izuku returned home with a new friend in his contacts, and his first step into the hero world.
(・∀・)
That night Izuku heard a notification from his phone, looking down he sees a message from Ami.
Ami: Hey, Izuku! I had fun today, we should hang out again, how about Saturday?
Izuku blushes hard at being asked to hang out, that had never happened before.
Izuku: Sure! What time and where?
Ami: How about the same place we met, the alley? And midday works for me but I don't mind!
Izuku: Sounds good, I'll see you then!
(. ❛ ᴗ ❛.)
The days couldn't pass by fast enough as Izuku waited to finally see Ami again.
When the day finally came, he woke up early and showered quickly before changing into a black hoodie and black jeans.
At 11:30am he left the house with a quick goodbye to his mom, heading to the meeting spot.
He arrived at 11:50 and was pleasantly surprised to see Ami already there waiting for him.
"Izuku!" She called out, rushing over to the green haired boy, "Man, is it weird to say I missed you?"
Izuku shakes his head quickly, "N-no! I... I missed you too."
"So cute!" She squealed in response, making Izuku blush.
"S-so, what's the plan?" Izuku asked, trying, and failing, to hide his embarrassment.
"There's this new arcade in town, I thought we could go check it out!" She answered excitedly.
Izuku nods enthusiastically at the idea before Ami grabs his hand and leads the way.
After a short walk, the pair arrived at the new arcade and started playing all the games, laughing and joking as they continued on.
"Oh, look!" Ami said, pointing at an older-looking machine, "It's one of those old DDR machines, we have to try it!"
And they did, as they started playing Ami put on the hardest song there as a joke, 'Endymion,' expecting them both to fail spectacularly, but what happened shocked her.
"Fuck, Izuku!" She cheered, watching him absolutely destroy the song, "You're weirdly good at this."
After the song finished, Izuku just smiled as if nothing was wrong, he didn't even break a sweat.
They carried on through the arcade for a little longer, but eventually, they chose to leave after having had enough fun.
"Man, that place was great!" Ami smiled as she left the arcade beside Izuku, "We 100% need to go there again!"
Izuku just nodded as they walked down the street, then Ami saw something that clearly piqued her interest.
"Oh my god, can we go in?!" She asked excitedly as they pass a small thrift store.
Izuku was shocked but happy to go inside with the girl, who immediately started combing through racks of clothes.
"Izuku, what do you think of this?" She asked, holding up a red and black pleated skirt.
"I-it'd look great on you, Ami," he said, being genuine.
"I dunno, it doesn't really go well with my hair," Ami said sadly, "I need to dye it again, pink's getting old."
"You dye your hair?" Izuku asked, receiving a distracted nod as a response, Ami had gone back to looking through clothes, "Huh, I couldn't tell."
After a moment longer of looking, Ami picked up what looked like a very large pink hoodie with a black silhouette of a cat on the front, holding it in front of Izuku as she seemed to think.
"You'd look cute in this," she said matter-of-factly, causing Izuku to blush as she put it over her shoulder.
Izuku didn't even realize she bought it for him until they had left the store.
"I got it for you," Ami smiled wide, "I thought you'd look cute in it!"
Izuku continued to blush as he spoke, "A-ah... Thank you."
"No problem!" She responds before her eyes light up as if she'd had a brilliant idea. "I know, come with me, we're going to my place!"
Before he knew it Ami was dragging him along by the hand, all the way to her house.
"I live with my brother, but he's not here very often, so it's just me and you." Ami says, causing Izuku to sigh in relief, "don't worry too much though, he's super chill so if he does come back he won't care you're here."
Izuku nodded as the girl led him to her room.
Ami's room was small, it had her bed, a desk and her closet and drawers, with a small area of floor space. It was very similar to Izuku's own.
The walls were all a purple color and her bed was covered in plushies, many of which Izuku recognized as official hero merchandise.
"And you call me a fanboy," Izuku muttered, causing Ami to giggle and blush slightly.
"I'm nowhere near as bad as you, I bet your room's filled with posters and figures. All I have is plushies!"
Izuku blushed this time, having been called out so accurately.
"Anyway, put on the hoodie! I wanna see if I was right about it!" Ami said excitedly, prompting Izuku to take the black one he was wearing off and put the large pink one on in its stead.
"I was right! You look adorable!" Ami said, practically jumping on Izuku as she laughed and smiled wide.
Izuku at this point was sat on Ami's bed with her hugging him, desperately trying to speak whilst the embarrassment took over.
Then once the pair calmed down somewhat, Ami still gushing over Izuku every few minutes, they settled into easy conversation. They mostly talked about school and heroes, bouncing ideas back and forth about support gear different heroes could use and such.
Then, as they eventually settled into a more silent, but still comfortable, atmosphere, Ami spoke.
"Thanks for today," She smiled, it was small but conveyed her gratitude perfectly, "A lot of people find me weird, so I don't really have any friends."
Izuku smiled back, "well now you have me," He said, "and don't mention it, I had a lot of fun."
(ㆁωㆁ)
The weeks went by quickly, and Izuku and Ami grew closer quickly, meeting up at least 3 times a week, usually more, to hang out.
This day they were at Ami's house again, and Ami was fixing her eyeliner after having laughed hard enough to cry, Izuku was watching intently.
"You seem interested," Ami said simply, causing Izuku to blush and look away, "How about I do your makeup?"
Izuku was reluctant, but Ami quickly convinced him it was okay, and she got to work.
She worked quickly, and by the end, Izuku felt different, but in a good way, he liked it a lot. The eyeliner, eyeshadow, foundation, blush, everything.
Ami just smiled at the boy as she finished, and pit everything away.
"You look cute," she said.
Izuku blushed, "Th-thanks, you... you too."
It was Ami's turn to blush as the boy complimented her.
Then they fell into their usual easy conversation until Izuku spoke up.
"Uh, Ami?" He said, sounding unsure.
"Hm, what's up?"
"Could you m-maybe, uhh... Could you teach me how to do this?" He gestured to his face, making him blush.
"You like it?" Izuku simply nodded, "of course, I can, I'd love to!"
Then Ami dived into teaching Izuku all about makeup and how to apply it, both of them smiling the whole time.
By the time he was ready to go, Ami spoke up, "Here, take this!" She handed him a box, "For you!"
Opening the box, he saw inside there was makeup, and Izuku couldn't help but smile wide, thanking his friend.
"Don't sweat it, anyway, let's meet up again tomorrow!" Ami smiled back, "meet me here at 2 pm, yeah?"
Izuku nodded before saying his goodbyes, leaving to go home.
( ꈍᴗꈍ)
Izuku was not happy, his mother had snapped at him. Whilst she was usually supportive and kind, it seemed the stress got to her, and she shouted as soon as Izuku made it through the door, calling him 'a useless faggot.'
Needless to say he was now in his room, having still not eaten, at 2am, sobbing into his knees, his eyeliner streaking down his face.
That's when he decided to call Ami, he didn't want to deal with the thoughts he was having. He didn't feel safe in his own head anymore.
She picked up nearly immediately, even though she sounded tired. He probably woke her up.
"Izuku?" She yawned, and as soon as he heard her voice he calmed slightly, although he was still obviously crying.
"I'm sorry," He started, "my mom, she got angry and shouted at me when I got home."
"Is it about the makeup?" Ami asked, receiving an 'mhm,' in response, "that's stupid, you can come over if you would feel safer."
Izuku agreed and got changed quickly after fixing his makeup, his oversized pink cat hoodie, and a pair of black sweatpants on his body. He wrote a note telling his mom where he went before leaving the house.
It took Izuku maybe half the usual time to get to Ami's house, having ran all the way there.
The door opened before he even knocked, and Ami lead him to her room, holding the boys hand.
"You can stay as long as you need," she said, "I'm here for you."
Izuku smiled weakly at the girl as she gently pulled him down to sit on the bed beside her.
"Do you need something to wear to sleep? You sure as hell aren't just wearing underwear in my room," Ami joked, getting a soft giggle from Izuku, followed by a nod.
"Okay then, you can have a look in my drawers if you want," Ami said, "Most of my pajamas are very uh..." She trailed off, looking at the pink pajama set she was wearing, a t-shirt and shorts both felt and looked like silk.
"It's okay," Izuku smiled, "you can choose if you want, I know you like that stuff."
This made Ami smile wide as she dug through her drawers, pulling out a set of pajamas identical to hers, "We can match!" She called out, causing Izuku to giggle as he took them from her and went to her bathroom to change.
As he returned Ami smiled a wide grin as she spoke, "you look adorable!"
Izuku blushed, "Th-thanks."
"Anyway, let's get some sleep, come here!" Ami said, taking his hand and pulling the boy down onto the bed, forcing him under the covers with her.
"I know you won't be weird, so it's fine!" She proclaimed at Izuku's embarrassed squeaks, wrapping her arms around the boy, "plus you're warm!"
Eventually Izuku got comfortable, laying on his side facing the wall as Ami held him from behind, snuggling up to his back.
Yes, Izuku was the little spoon.
And then darkness overtook him as he fell asleep.
(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ
When Izuku had awoken, it was to the face of Ami directly in front of his. He seemed to have rolled over in his sleep and started facing Ami, holding her as she still was to him, their faces inches apart.
"Morning sleepyhead." Ami said, surprising Izuku by being awake, "You want breakfast?"
At this, Izuku recalled he hadn't eaten since lunch the previous day and nodded enthusiastically, making Ami giggle.
The pair went downstairs and were greeted by Ami's brother.
"Oh, Izuku, I didn't realize you were here," he smiled, looking him up and down, "something tells me you didn't plan on it?"
Izuku simply nodded, his face flushing bright red as he realized he was still wearing the small pink pajamas that really weren't the best at hiding anything but the bare necessities.
"Breakfast will be ready in a minute, you two take a seat," he gestured to the table as both teens sat down beside each other.
Sitting at the table reminded Izuku of his mother, and her outburst, bringing tears to his eyes.
"It's okay, you're safe here," Ami whispered into his ear, a hand squeezing his thigh quickly.
"Thank you," Izuku whispers back, a small smile on his face as Ami's brother appears with a plate of bacon, eggs and toast for the three of them.
Izuku ate quickly, and as he waited he started pulling at the hem of the soft, silk shirt he was wearing. It felt nice on his chest and tummy.
After a little while Ami finished and pulled the boy to her bedroom by the hand as if he didn't know the way by now.
"So, Izuku! What's the plan?" Ami asked, causing Izuku to shrug, "Fair enough, I imagine you don't want to go home?"
Izuku nodded and looked down, remembering the previous night, "Y-yeah."
"That's alright!" she smiled at him, "It means I get you all to myself!"
Izuku blushed at the statement as he smiled at the girl, nodding shyly.
"Man, you're so cute Izu!" Ami said, pausing a moment before she burst out in a blush, "S-sorry, I didn't mea-"
"I... It's okay, I kinda liked it," Izuku was blushing just as hard, trying to hide his face in his knees.
"A-ah, that's good," Ami smiled, "Izu."
Hearing her call him Izu made him so happy, his chest filled with butterflies and he smiled wide.
Only for him to hear the telltale noise of a camera shutter, then the whirring of a Polaroid printing its image.
"Just came to check on you two," Asuka Ami's brother said, "I'm about to head out to work and saw Izuku smiling so bright in his clothes, I had to take a picture for you, Ami."
Ami squealed in delight as she took the photo of Izuku curled up, his face red with blush and smiling wide in the light pink pajama shorts and shirt, "You look adorable here Izu!" She showed him the picture which only caused him to blush even deeper.
"Th-thanks," he said, yet again trying to hide his embarrassment in his knees.
"Anyways, you two have a good day, I'll be back pretty late so you'll have to sort yourselves out for food," Asuka said, waving as he left the room.
"What you wanna do today?" Ami asked Izuku as she smiled at the blushing boy, he simply shrugged.
"Well, whatever it is we need to find you something to wear, your clothes from last night are all sweaty so I'll put them in the wash." Ami said.
"Um, you can choose what I wear if you'd like, I don't mind," Izuku responded, Ami squealing in joy again as she started digging through her dresser and closet.
In the end, she pulled out the pleated red and black skirt she bought from a thrift store and a black T-Shirt with a greyscale portrait of an anime character on it. She then grabbed a pair of black thigh-high socks and added it to the pile.
"ah, sorry if it's too much," she said sheepishly as she presented the green-haired boy with the outfit, "I can get something more, uh, boyish if you'd like."
Izuku simply shook his head as he spoke, "No, this is okay, I saw how happy you were picking it out."
He then took the outfit to the bathroom where he removed the pink pajamas he was wearing and changed quickly, tucking the hem of the shirt into his skirt.
He came out of the room sheepishly a moment later and presented his look to Ami, her grin bigger than ever. "You look amazing, Izu!"
He started to blush as he smiled back at his friend, moving to sit next to her. As he sat she pulled out her makeup and got to work on his face, neither of their smiles leaving their faces as they go on.
After a while longer, Izuku practically looked like a girl, and for whatever reason, he was happier than he ever was in his own clothes.
But then he looked at his hair and it made him upset.
Not because it looked masculine, if anything it didn't. But it reminded him of his mom.
"Ami?" He spoke softly, clearly questioning his new idea, "Do you think maybe you could help me uh... Dye my hair?"
Ami was about to ask what brought on the sudden urge but she realized quickly: his hair was the same color as his mother's, who he didn't hold in the highest regard at that moment.
"Sure, what color do you want? We'd need to go buy the dye." She said with a smile on her face.
"Uh, I'm not sure, do you want to choose?"
Ami nodded enthusiastically as the pair put on shoes and walked out of the house.
Chapter 1 End!
(◕ᴗ◕✿)