Chapter 1: Set Fire to the Rain
Chapter Text
In one universe, Izuku Midoriya was born quirkless. Three days after the diagnosis, his father went away on a business trip and never came back. Izuku's best friend coined the nickname 'Deku' and lorded his superior quirk over the boy for years. Here, Izuku's path to being a hero was blocked until a fateful encounter with the Symbol of Peace, All Might.
In another universe, Izuku Midoriya was not born quirkless. At the age of four, his father spits a few fireballs into the air like fireworks to amuse his son, and Izuku claps his hands in delight. The fireballs smoosh together and char the picture frame behind them.
In this universe, Izuku Midoriya has telekinetic control over fire, and his father never vanishes without a word. His best friend called him 'Izuchan' and they trained their quirks together. Here, Izuku's path to being a hero was as clear as a summer sky.
At least, it was supposed to be. Hisashi Midoriya was not given this memo.
Xx
It wasn't the first time his father had hit him. Izuku was used to passing off black eyes and split lips as training accidents. His father has a temper, and Izuku was a curious kid who didn't always know when to keep his mouth shut.
He should have known last night. But a lot of weird puzzle pieces were fitting together to form a gruesome picture, and Izuku's mind was moving faster than he could process. It stalled on "This is illegal" and "I have to stop it."
His mind did not factor in the fact that he was ten, that this was his father's 'business,' and that his father had explicitly warned him to behave or there'd be consequences.
Really, he was lucky it was only a black eye. The hair on his arms was singed off again, but that would probably have happened in training pretty soon, anyway.
"Izuchaan!" Katsuki barged into his bedroom, a new All Might figure clutched in his hands. "Look what Mom got-Oi, what's wrong with you?"
Izuku rolled his head to look at Katsuki. He was sprawled on his back, head at the foot of his bed, arms thrown to the side, mentally trying to put his world back together.
"Is that the new one, with the adjustable limbs?" Izuku asked. He couldn't reach his normal levels of enthusiasm, and Katsuki had already seen his black eye.
He stomped over and poked Izuku's cheek. "What happened?"
Izuku swatted his hand away. "I made Dad mad again, that's all." Mad was an understatement to the fury he'd seen in his father's eyes. He knew his father was powerful, but that look in his eyes had pinned him to the spot.
Katsuki frowned and poked him again. "Then why are you all…sad?"
Izuku looked back up at his ceiling. "I think… my dad is a bad person."
It was disturbingly easy to stick the label 'villain' over his father. He was paranoid of police, he worked more nights than days, which was weird for a business man, and he was more likely to have cash than pay with a credit card, like he didn't want to leave a trail.
And the business deal he'd wanted Izuku to come along on…there was nothing legal about it. Izuku had seen enough movies to know that trading a crate full of guns for a briefcase full of cash in the shadowy parking lot of a condemned building was villainous activity.
He'd made the mistake of calling his father out on it.
Now he had a black eye and the threat that if his mother ever found out what Hisashi really traded, she would be the one to pay the price.
"Do we need to beat him up?" Katsuki asked.
Izuku could imagine their attempts to beat up his father. The man had taught the two of them practically everything they knew, and he never showed mercy when they sparred. They had never come close to beating him, even when they worked together.
And to attack him now? His father would think Izuku had told Katsuki about the night before, and everything he'd threatened to do to his mother he would do to Katsuki instead. Izuku couldn't live with himself if he let that happen.
"No, that's okay," Izuku said. "Let's play heroes instead!" He sat up and smiled, reaching for the new figure Katsuki had rushed over to show him and properly ogling the toy.
Izuku continued to smile for the next two years, even though it felt like the last thing he wanted to be doing. Katsuki didn't always fall for it, or for Izuku's attempts to change the subject, but Izuku never revealed any info that could harm his father. He couldn't. He wouldn't risk Katsuki and his mother like that.
Hisashi continued to train Izuku, steadily growing more and more violent in their sparring sessions. Izuku's ability to redirect the flames was the only thing that saved him some days, when he was cornered with nowhere left to run and Hisashi was spitting fire at him. Izuku was learning, though. He took that flame meant to harm him and turned it back around on his father. He knocked his father off his feet, shaped fireballs into spears to hurl back at him like he'd seen Endeavor do.
He learned, and he bided his time. Hisashi eventually brought him along on another business deal, and this time Izuku made sure to keep his mouth shut. But he watched carefully, mentally cataloging everything about the night, from the location to the people involved to every word they said. He filed the experiences away until he could write it all down later, noting patterns over the months of how often Hisashi met with certain people and what he seemed to sell the most of.
Weapons were the big thing. Hisashi himself didn't steal anything, that was his underlings' job. He arranged the sales and drop offs, and the more Izuku behaved and showed interest, the more Hisashi taught him about the black market. Izuku had pages in his notebooks dedicated to names of the people buying weapons vs the people buying drugs, and then another page of names reserved for special cases, the people who asked for gas masks and military grade cloth.
Hisashi was more hesitant to share how and where his underlings stole their goods, but Izuku was slowly building up a library's worth of information about everything.
There were a few times he almost went to the police, but Hisashi's paranoia around them had rubbed off on Izuku. He'd grown up thinking the police were incompetent and couldn't be trusted, and he was still trying to wrap his head around the idea that his vision of them probably wasn't true.
He still hung out with Katsuki, when he could. His father pulled him away more and more, and for Katsuki's own safety Izuku didn't seek him out that much. But they still saw each other in school, and Katsuki wasn't an idiot. It didn't take much to realize Izuku started pulling away after telling him he thought his father was a bad person.
It took considerable more effort not to blow up his problems. And Izuku always had that damn smile on his face, and Katsuki kept second guessing that there even was a problem in the first place. They still trained to be heroes, both of them determined to make it into UA and pushing each other to be better, be stronger, be faster.
Izuku thought if he could just bide his time long enough, everything would work out. He'd be strong enough to stop his father eventually. He'd be a real hero one day, like All Might, and he'd have the power to beat anyone.
Inko never caught on to what was going on. She knew Hisashi was teaching Izuku about his business, but she had no idea what kind of business it really was. Both of them were content to keep it that way.
Months passed, one year became two, and Izuku finally faced a problem he couldn't avoid.
His father's next business deal was dangerous. Like, could potentially end up hurting a lot of people, dangerous.
Izuku hadn't meant to overhear, but his father hadn't been quiet on the phone.
"I'm telling you, this new formula for Reverse is the real deal. It'll stop any quirk for a few hours, even a hero's!"
Izuku stood frozen in the hallway, one hand on his bedroom door.
His father paced in the master suite, listening to whoever he was on the phone with. He must not have heard Izuku come home from school. Inko was still at work.
"I've got enough for six doses right now, and I'm willing to offer it to you at a special price since you're my favorite customer."
He probably had more than six doses. He was probably going to tell several of his clients he had a limited supply, but they were his favorite so he was offering it to them first.
He'd taught Izuku that tactic a few months ago, as a way to get top dollar on whatever they were selling.
Izuku covered his mouth to control his breathing. This was so much worse than anything his father had sold before. If villains had a way to make heroes lose their quirks, there was no telling what kind of damage they could do.
"Ah, such a low offer?" Hisashi asked. "I don't think you understand how valuable this really is!"
Izuku had to stop this.
He took a step towards the bedroom, then paused. If he interfered now, all he'd do is delay the inevitable. His father would beat him, would potentially hurt his mother, and then go off and find another client anyway. And this time Izuku wouldn't know about it.
"It's a deal. I'll see you Saturday, usual time and place."
Izuku stepped back, and then as quietly as he could he ran back to the front door. He made it look like he'd only just come home as his father stepped out of the bedroom, looking far too satisfied for Izuku's liking.
"Ah, Izuku, perfect timing!" Hisashi said. "I just struck the deal of a lifetime!"
"Oh, really?" His voice shook, but Hisashi was too wrapped up in his own head to notice.
"Yeah, this is going to mean big things for us, kiddo, you'll see. Where's your mom?"
"Oh, I guess she's working late," Izuku said. His mind raced, looking for the one solution that would solve this mess.
"Again?" Hisashi shook his head. "Well, once we get this payout this weekend she won't have to put in overtime anymore."
"That'd be nice," Izuku said. First things first, he needed his mom out of the apartment this weekend. Whatever he was going to do, he didn't want her to be caught in the middle of it all. "You know, she does so much for us, we should really treat her to something nice."
Hisashi put a hand to his chin and nodded. "What were you thinking?"
"Maybe a weekend getaway? To a spa or something, so she can be pampered?"
Hisashi smiled and ruffled Izuku's hair. "That sounds like a great idea. She'd love that. Maybe Mitsuki could go with her. Spas aren't really my thing."
"Yeah, I'll ask her. We could send her this weekend, since we'll be busy with this deal anyway."
The grin Hisashi gave him was more like what he'd wear as the Dragon. "You're starting to think more like me every day, kiddo. I'll set up the trip, you get Mitsuki on board."
Izuku tried to ignore how his stomach plummeted at the comparison. Odds were he'd be caught up in the backlash of this weekend, so it didn't matter if he was more villain than hero. He'd known for a while that his dreams of going to UA to be a hero were more like a pipe dream than a possible reality. He'd been part of too many shady things, and his father hated heroes. He'd never let Izuku even apply.
None of that mattered right now. He needed to focus on surviving this weekend.
Convincing Mitsuki was easier than expected, and as promised Hisashi set up the trip. Inko cried with gratitude when she came home and found dinner on the table next to the confirmation email.
She hugged both Hisashi and Izuku close, bawling over their shoulders. "My sweet boys…you're so good to me!"
Izuku's stomach coiled, and he was barely able to eat dinner. They weren't being good to her. They were manipulating her to be out of the way while they did horrible things behind her back.
He just hoped he had the chance to apologize for it.
Over the next few days, he barely slept. He wrote up an anonymous tip to give to the police, explaining everything he knew about Reverse and who was going to be at the drop off and what powers they had. Mostly, he only knew his father's abilities. He figured name dropping Dragon was enough to tell the police how serious this was.
The last thing he did to prepare was get a to-go bag ready, in case he had to make a run for it when he came home. He stuffed his backpack with his notebooks, food, clothes, a first aid kit and some of the emergency cash Hisashi kept around the house. Then he hid the backpack in the park, burying it in the woodchips under the play equipment. He couldn't risk leaving it at home, not when fire was so unpredictable.
All that was left to do after that was wait.
Wait, and act normal, like he wasn't about to blow everything to kingdom come. He wore his usual suit, the one his mom had gotten him proudly when Izuku became a regular member of his father's business deals. She'd sobbed about her little boy growing up when he'd tried it on for the first time.
It was tight in the shoulders now, the pants a little too short. He still couldn't tie his tie, and after managing to tangle his fingers in it so badly he couldn't pull them free, he gave up and went to his father for help.
Hisashi chuckled and shook his head. "Alright, come here." He untangled Izuku's fingers and coached him through tying it properly again. Really, at twelve years old and after so many lessons, Izuku should have this down by now.
If he ever did become a pro hero, Izuku vowed never to wear a tie. He didn't care what public appearance he was going to, he wasn't wearing a stinking tie for it.
Fantasies about his life as a pro hero kept him distracted as they stepped into the car and drove to the meeting point. Once they were there, though, all the nerves from before came rushing back.
The parking lot didn't look any different. If they were being watched, the police had done a good job at hiding themselves.
What if they weren't watching, though? What if they hadn't taken Izuku's note seriously and weren't going to come? He should have planned for this, his dad was right the police really were incompetent, he needed a backup plan, but the only person left to do anything was him and he knew he couldn't take his dad in a fight.
Dragon took hold of the small box containing the Reverse serums himself. Izuku had seen books bigger than that little metal box, but not even the heaviest textbook could be as dangerous as the drug inside.
The metal wouldn't catch fire very well, so if Izuku wanted to destroy it somehow he'd have it to get hold of it and open it. But getting it away from his father…he wasn't sure he physically could.
He looked around again, praying for some sign that the police or a hero was here. Because if they weren't here, and Izuku had to take matters into his own hands, his father would definitely kill him.
His father might kill him anyway. His only shot at not dying tonight would be if Dragon was captured with all the rest.
He didn't see any obvious signs of police or heroes, but their client wasn't here yet, either. They could be biding their time.
He hoped they were just biding their time.
Dragon checked his watch. He didn't like to be kept waiting. If the client wasn't here within five minutes of the agreed time, he'd leave and charge them extra for rescheduling.
If that happened tonight, all of Izuku's careful planning to protect his mother would go up in smoke.
"You seem anxious, Little Dragon," Hiroki said. He was the one that usually accompanied them for these deals, and he'd coined Izuku's nickname when he learned he was Dragon's son. Izuku liked him, for the most part. The man was typically polite and laidback, even if he could turn paper into razor sharp blades. He had no less than four dozen paper origami stars on him at all times, stuffed into every pocket.
He'd tolerated Izuku's constant questions about his quirk with laughter and honest answers, so he was okay in Izuku's mind, even if he did lose points for working with his father.
"It's a big deal tonight, right?" Izuku asked, trying to play off his nerves. "I want everything to go like it's supposed to."
Hiroki hummed. "You and me both, kid. I'm gonna use this paycheck to get that ring for my girl."
"You're finally going to propose?" Izuku asked.
"It's about time," Hisashi muttered in front of them. "Thought I'd have to make you propose if you didn't man up soon."
Hiroki spluttered a few excuses until another car finally pulled into the lot.
All of Izuku's nerves came back with a vengeance.
The car parked, and three people stepped out. The leader was a young man with short spiky black hair and a fur lined vest. His two associates were both women. The driver had a shaved head and wore thick combat boots, and two knife hilts poked out from either side of her back. The second woman had long brown hair pulled back in a high pony tail, and she blew a bubble with her gum as she stepped out of the car.
Izuku had met these three a handful of times before. The man went by Greed, and he had a quirk that could make fake copies of almost anything. The copies faded after a few hours, but he'd pulled off some impressive heists until he had amassed enough power to run his own gang. The woman with the shaved head could curve anything she threw, and she was deadly accurate with her knives. The woman with the ponytail could control her hair, making fists with it or grabbing onto things.
"Dragon, doll, how you been?" Greed greeted, sauntering up to them like they were two old friends meeting up at the mall.
"Greed, you're looking well," Dragon mimicked the open arms. The two of them shook hands and shared a few more pleasantries.
Izuku couldn't focus on the small talk. He kept his eyes open for any sign of help coming. Surely, if the police planned on jumping out at them, they'd do it now? Both men were here, what were they waiting for?
Was he really going to have to stop this himself? Against one of these people, Izuku might have stood a chance. But all five of them? He'd be dead before he could even open the box.
His mind screamed. What was he supposed to do?
"So." Greed rubbed his hands together. "Let me see this special Reverse."
"Only if you prove you're serious about paying for it," Dragon replied.
"Don't you trust me?" Greed asked, placing his hands over his heart. "After all these years?"
Dragon raised a brow. "About as much as you trust me."
Greed grinned and snapped his fingers.
Ponytail girl stepped back to the car and pulled two briefcases out of the trunk, passing one off to the knife girl when she came back. They opened the cases, revealing the rows of cash.
Izuku inhaled sharply. That was a lot of money. Even after the pay was divvied up between his father's men, they'd still be taking home a large cut.
Maybe… if the police didn't show…maybe it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world to just…let things happen? He probably couldn't stop anything at this point anyway, right?
And if his mom didn't have to work overtime anymore…
The briefcases snapped shut. Greed gestured to Dragon in a "Your turn" movement.
Dragon clicked open the little case. Six vials sat nestled in a bed of velvet. Six vials that could temporarily take away a person's quirk. Not even heroes would be immune to it.
God, the chaos that would cause…
Izuku had to stop it. He didn't know where the police were, and he wasn't sure why he'd ever tried to rely on them in the first place.
He reached for the lighter in his pocket. Once he had a flame, he could burn his father's hand, make him drop the case. He'd have to move fast to grab it, and then even faster to try and get away. He'd worry about destroying it later.
There was a thud on the car behind him.
Izuku turned to look, along with everyone else, and something small and gray raced past him. That wasn't quite right. Some of it wrapped around him and tossed him to the side.
His father swore, and flames lit up the night.
The metal box glinted, snapped shut once again, and wrapped up in the weird gray thing. No, Izuku's mind was finally processing what it was seeing. Not a weird gray thing, a gray capture weapon, used by the underground hero Eraserhead, who was currently flying through the air. He caught the metal box and landed in a roll, popping back up to his feet and jumping to the side to avoid the knives from Greed's driver and the paper stars from Hiroki.
"Give that back," Dragon demanded.
"You're all under arrest," Eraserhead said, almost sounding bored with this entire process. He wore slitted yellow goggles, and he never stopped moving. He had Hiroki and Greed's driver captured within a minute.
The police arrived soon after, flooding the street and letting them all know that they were surrounded.
Izuku stayed where he was on the ground, foolishly thinking that everything was going to work out and be fine. He'd ripped his suit when he fell on the pavement, and a small part of him felt bad about that. It was a nice suit, and his mother had always loved to see him in it.
He didn't factor in his father's temper. He also hadn't known until that night that he carried a gun of his own to these business deals, and he used it to shoot Eraserhead while the hero captured Ponytail girl.
It wasn't a fatal shot, but it did sink into the meat of his side pretty good. Eraserhead swore and stumbled, and Dragon took his chance to escape.
He grabbed Izuku's arm and hauled him to his feet, dragging him behind him. He bypassed the car, heading for the condemned building instead. Izuku vaguely remembered something about an escape route through the building, which was why his father liked to do his meetings out here.
Eraserhead couldn't chase after them, not with a side wound like that, and the police weren't close enough to stop them. Izuku wasn't sure why they didn't shoot at them, but he had a feeling that was to do with his presence. They probably thought he was some kind of hostage. That would explain why one of Eraser's first moves was to push Izuku out of the way. It would have been smarter to capture his father from behind when he had the chance.
They went through the basement of the building. Hisashi spit fire at something behind them, and half the room collapsed, blocking anyone from following them. They ran through a tunnel that eventually connected to the sewers.
His father never said anything, but he also never let go of his vice grip on Izuku's wrist. There would be a bruise there in the morning for sure.
"Damn cops," Hisashi finally muttered while they ran through the sewers. "How the hell did they find out about tonight? And they had a freaking hero with them, they knew exactly what was going on."
He paused next to a ladder up to a manhole. "Only way for them to be so well informed is if someone snitched on us. But I didn't share details with anyone who wasn't there. Greed wouldn't have let anything slip, unless his cockiness was finally his undoing."
"Um, are we going up?" Izuku asked.
Hisashi glanced at the ladder. "Not yet. I'm thinking. The leak could have been on Greed's end, which seems more likely since I only told you and Hiroki the specifics about tonight."
Hisashi's eyes rolled over to Izuku.
Izuku would have backed up if he could. He could see the puzzle pieces falling together in his father's mind.
"You wouldn't have told anyone, because you know I would take it out on your mother. Your mother, who just so happens to be away this weekend, which was your idea."
Smoke curled from his father's mouth, and sparks danced in his teeth.
Izuku tugged at his arm. His father did not release it.
"You did it, didn't you?" Hisashi demanded. His grip tightened. "You tipped off the police."
"No-I wouldn't-you're hurting me!" Izuku kept trying to pull free. He felt like Hisashi was about to snap his wrist, and that would only be the start of his father's revenge.
Hisashi yanked Izuku closer. "Answer me honestly, Izuku. Did you tell the police about tonight?"
Terrified green eyes looked up into furious brown ones. With the embers dancing in the smoke curling out of his mouth, his eyes almost looked like they were on fire with his rage.
Izuku was definitely going to die tonight.
His own eyes welled up with tears. "I had to. It was going to get so many people hurt, I had to!"
Hisashi growled and spun Izuku back against the wall. "You damn brat, you still haven't given up on this hero nonsense, have you?"
Flames dripped out of his mouth now. Hisashi was dangerously close to losing control.
"Don't you get it yet? You're my son, a villain's son. You'll never be a hero!"
No one was coming to save Izuku. The path behind them was blocked, and no matter how loudly Izuku screamed, no one was going to hear him underground in the middle of the night. He was crying in terror, and his father looked seconds away from burning him to ash.
He didn't want to die. He had to fight, and he had to win.
The image that popped into his mind was Katsuki standing above him, grinning in his victory. Katsuki always did whatever it took to win, using whatever dirty trick was necessary to beat Izuku.
Hisashi opened his mouth. Flames gathered in the back of his throat.
He had to win, if he wanted to survive. Izuku had to be like Katsuki. Fire wasn't only his father's element.
He clenched a fist, and the building flame in his father's throat caught in his mouth. Hisashi stumbled back, releasing Izuku to grab at his throat in surprise.
For a few seconds, they both stood in shock.
And then all hell broke loose.
Izuku had sparred his father plenty of times before, and while Hisashi wasn't known for pulling punches, he'd never been outright trying to murder Izuku. Now he was, and he was ruthless. Fire poured almost constantly from Hisashi's mouth, followed quickly by solid punches and vicious kicks.
Izuku could stop the flames, but he had a harder time keeping up with the punches and kicks, and he almost never had a chance to go on the offensive.
He needed to run, somehow. In a sewer, though, his options were pretty limited. There was only one direction.
If he ran, he needed to keep his father from following him. To do that, he'd have to trap him somehow. There weren't any convenient cages or small rooms available, so that left incapacitating him.
Hisashi blew more fire at him. Instead of waving it away to nothing, Izuku stole it for himself, gathering it into his hands and then pulling it until it was a long rope. He lashed out like it was a whip, forcing his father back for the first time all night. When they sparred, he usually tried not to hit his father. Burns were painful and took a while to heal.
He didn't have the same reservation right now. Every injury he dealt out was an ally that would slow his father down for him.
With each fireball Hisashi spat at him, Izuku's whip grew longer. Neither of them were gaining ground like this though, so Izuku threw the whip at Hizashi's legs, wrapping around each calf.
His pants caught fire. "Damn brat!" Hisashi cursed, trying to stamp out the flames. It didn't do any good, and soon the flames licked at his bare legs. He swore good and loud then.
The stench was unbearable, and Izuku lost his grip on the flames. Hisashi did the only thing he could do to put them out and jumped into the sewer muck, panting heavily while doubled over the edge of the concrete ledge they'd been on.
"You're more ruthless than I gave you credit for," Hisashi said with a laugh. He looked up, his eyes a mixture of pain and fury. "It's a damn shame you chose to fight against me."
"I don't have to," Izuku said. "You could give this all up, get out of the black market."
Hisashi barked a laugh. "I have a goddamn empire in the black market, and you want me to walk away?"
"Please," Izuku begged, close to tears again.
"Never," Hisashi said. "I'll do whatever it takes to protect what I have, even if that means killing you. I can't trust you anymore, and you know too much."
He said it so coldly, so casually, like killing his own son would really be that easy.
But he pulled out his gun again and clicked the safety, and Izuku had the sudden clarity that this wouldn't be his father's first murder. He just hadn't told Izuku about the others.
"Please," Izuku begged again.
"I'm mostly sorry you were such a waste of my time," Hisashi said, and took aim.
Izuku turned and ran. The gun fired, clipping the wall next to him.
Hisashi swore. "Get back here!" He splashed through the muck and cursed again as he fell because his legs wouldn't take his weight. "Izuku!"
Izuku did not stop running.
"If I ever see you again, I'll kill you, do you hear me?!"
Izuku didn't doubt it.