Ikumi Midoriya was about four when she really learned that the world is not kind or particularly fair.

She had grown up a normal girl. But Ikumi had a very distinctive appearance, with teal and cream fur and a sharklike muzzle. A pair of pointed ears stuck out of a mop of dark green hair, nearly matching her eyes. Despite being the same age as them, she stood about two heads taller than them.

It was just another day at the park with the other kids in the neighbourhood. Some of the kids had gone off to the woods to try and catch beetles while others went on the swings and play equipment. With his main group of friends following his lead, Kacchan grinned up at his best friend. "Alright we're playing tag!"

She smiled timidly as the other boys cheered, fiddling with the hem of her shirt. "O-okay, Kacchan!" The spiky haired boy strode forwards confidently, flanked by Tsubasa and Hitosashi. Ikumi hurried behind them, hunching up when she saw a couple of girls staring at her. Despite being the same age as Kacchan and his friends, she stood about three heads taller than them.

Still, she was just happy to be there with Kacchan. It was a nice sunny day, and as they played, she started to forget the other kids giving her weird looks. She reached for Tsubasa, only to pout when the winged boy flew out of reach. "Hey, that's cheating!"

In response, Tsubasa stuck his tongue out. "Is not!"

She jumped up at Tsubasa, trying to grab him. "Is too!"

Tsubasa blew a raspberry at her.

Kacchan stamped his foot as Ikumi stuck her tongue out in retaliation. "Come on Tubby! Play fair!"

As Tsubasa came lower, grumbling all the way, Ikumi's ear twitched as she heard scuffling. Turning around, she saw another boy being pushed around by a pair of older kids. She could hear the other boy starting to tear up.

Before she really knew what she was doing, she was running over to them. "HEY!"

As she got closer, they turned around, sneering. "What do you-" their eyes widened when she loomed over them. They might have been taller than the other boy, but she was still head and shoulders above them.

Ikumi put her hands on her hips, staring down at them. She wanted to grin at them like All Might, but she didn't have friendly teeth like him – only fangs. "Don't be mean to people! Say sorry to him!"

One of them sneered at her shakily. "Oh yeah? What are you gonna do about it?"

Looking back at the crying boy, Ikumi resumed her stare down. "I-I'll protect him from you jerks!"

The bullies looked between each other, then the larger boy went to shove her. He pushed her with both hands but Ikumi barely budged. Her own, one-handed shove knocked him off his feet and into the dirt. His buddy whimpered as Ikumi pulled him up to her eye level with one hand. "Are you going to be mean to him?"

They scampered off, glaring at her. Smiling, Ikumi looked down at the boy she'd helped. "Are you alright?"

He didn't say anything, instead staring up at her with wide, teary eyes. She leaned forwards, carefully stretching out a hand. "Do you-"

He slapped her hand away, scampering off. "Scary!"

Ikumi watched him go with wide eyes. "I-"

Jogging up to her, Kacchan frowned at the fleeing boy. "Hey, what gives? You helped that wimp!"

Ikumi looked at her hands. "I-I didn't want to scare him!"

She'd just wanted to help.

Kacchan's angry expression softened, before turning to his typical cocky grin. "Hey, don't worry Midori! When we become heroes together, I'll be the strongest around! And then all the Villains'll fear me!"

It didn't lift Ikumi's mood as much as it should have. Maybe people would be less afraid when they got older? Or maybe she wouldn't grow much taller.

She didn't want to be any scarier.

Ikumi Midoriya's huge height was even stranger because her parents were anything but tall. Her dad Hisashi always joked that his orange-furred ears were the only thing that let him get on rollercoasters. They'd still been concerned when their baby girl had shot up to be so much taller than her classmates and approaching her mother's height.

Doctor Tsubasa had taken a blood sample and scheduled a MRI to see if Ikumi was suffering from gigantism. The tests came back negative, indicating that Ikumi's height was just a natural part of her Quirk.

He had asked for more samples. Ikumi hadn't liked him, her sensitive nose picking up the stench of chemicals and blood. Her parents had agreed, deciding to see a different doctor. He was nicer, and he hadn't smelled as weird as Dr. Tsubasa.

It was just as they were going to see the new doctor when Ikumi found that there was more to her Quirk than she'd first assumed. She'd been feeling a comforting warmth all over her body, concentrated in her chest. As she'd hopped up to the table, some dust hit her nose.

She sneezed, a spurt of embers and smoke coming from her mouth.

Her mother had been surprised and slightly alarmed. "Oh, we thought that Ikumi wouldn't have that part of her father's Quirk!"

Doctor Hamamoto shrugged. "There's still a lot we don't know about Quirks. Even now, there's still a lot to learn about how they work. Since your husband has some minor mutations, it seems that Ikumi's inherited his Quirk with a more extreme variation of those. It's not uncommon."

Ikumi grinned widely. "I can breathe fire like daddy! An' – an' I can be a cool Hero like Kacchan when I get older!"

Meeting Kacchan later and sharing her new, super cool fire breath got Kacchan excited. "Bet it's not as cool as my explosions, though!" he'd boasted.

Ikumi giggled. Same old Kacchan.

Later, they found that Ikumi had extra parts of her body. Most of it went over Ikumi's head, but what she understood was that she had a sort of flame sack that ran down her throat to her stomach. It stored flammable material for a later date, breaking it down into a gas. When she breathed it out, heat generated in her mouth to ignite the gas as it mingled with oxygen.

She wasn't sure what the feeling around her body was, or why it had died when she breathed fire. Since it didn't seem bad, she never mentioned it until later. Ikumi eventually learned what it meant, though that is for another time.

Given her unusual animal look and fire breathing, they had to update the registry from 'Fox-Shark.' Eventually, they gave it the name 'Dragonbreath.' It wasn't a cute name, but Ikumi could't think of a better one.

Inko loved her daughter. How could she not? Ikumi was a kindhearted girl who just wanted to help everybody.

She smiled to her daughter, bouncing in place. "Okay, Ikumi. Where are you and Kacchan going to play today?"

Ikumi beamed up at her with a gap toothed grin. "We're going up by the creek!"

"Alright. You play safely now!"

Ikumi bounded away to meet up with Katsuki, the blonde boy grinning up at his friend. Inko watched them go with a smile on her face.

"I can't believe you let your daughter go off like that."

Inko mentally composed herself, before turning to the other woman. "Oh, Kodozute-san. This is a bit unexpected. Besides, she's going with friends, they'll be fine."

Kodozute sniffed. "I mean, really. She should be quieter."

Inko's smile slipped slightly. "She's a four year old girl going to play with her friends."

"Still, she should be more mature. Even if she is a mutant."

Inko was about to say something considerably nastier when Mitsuki barged in, a sharp grin on her face. "Hey, Inko! Sorry to interrupt you, Kodozute, but I'm taking Inko to get some coffee, do you mind?"

"I-"

"Great! See you around, Kodozute!"

Inko smiled at Mitsuki, allowing herself to be dragged away as Kodozute glared at Mitsuki. "Thank you for that."

Mitsuki shrugged. "Eh, it barely counts as a favour. She's a stuck-up bitch who's got a stick up her ass about everything."

She couldn't help but giggle, then sighed. "I don't mind her judging me, but she shouldn't judge Ikumi."

Her friend nodded pensively. "Yeah. Ikumi's been the best thing for Katsuki – keeps him from getting too big a head."

Mitsuki took a sip of her coffee, sighing. "Still. People are jerks."

Inko couldn't help but agree.

Ikumi huffed, letting out a tiny lick of fire. She looked up at her dad, who clapped.

"Good work, Ikumi!" he praised, grinning. His own fangs were less pronounced than hers, something she found reassuring. "Just remember, no practicing your fire breathing when there's flammable stuff around."

Ikumi nodded seriously. "I won't!"

Hisashi Midoriya ruffled her hair, sighing. "You really got my hair, huh?" his ears twitched in their black mop. Then he saw his daughter's ears droop slightly as she looked away. "What wrong, Ikumi?"

She shrugged, rubbing her arm. "It's nothing."

Hisashi frowned. "Doesn't look like nothing."

"I just…" She shuffled in place. "…Do you think I'm going to get bigger when I get older?"

"Of course you are. You're a growing girl- "

Ikumi stamped her foot. "I don't want to get bigger! I just want to be smaller so that I don't scare other kids when I help them! The other girls don't let me play with them because I'm too tall, and-and they say mean things about me!"

Hisashi paused, then nodded. "Ah." He knew this was going to be an issue. Ikumi was already so tall, looking more like a teenager than a normal four-year-old.

He mentally slapped himself. They'd checked several times, and Ikumi was growing normally. Not her fault she was just bigger. Ikumi continued talking, tears gathering in her eyes. "I… I just want to be normal."

He pulled his daughter into a hug, ignoring how she came up to his shoulder. "Listen, Ikumi. You know that no matter what, we love you, right?"

"Mm," she mumbled into his armpit.

Hisashi just smiled, patting her on the back. "And Katsuki likes you, doesn't he?"

"Yeah…"

He bent down slightly so he could meet her eyes. "So don't worry about them. They don't know you."

"Kodozute-san says I-I have to be quieter when we play with Kacchan. Even if I'm a-a mutant."

Hisashi frowned. "Kodozute-san says a lot of things. You don't have to listen to her about everything." He paused. "Don't tell your mother I said that."

Ikumi giggled a bit. Hisashi grinned with her. Internally, he worried. It wasn't fair for his beautiful daughter to be judged for something beyond her control. It was her Quirk, after all. There were books about not judging others based on their Quirks around. Clearly, most kids hadn't gotten the message.

Or maybe it was adults that hadn't.

People aren't born equal, and sometimes people will judge you for no reason. But that was my first and greatest obstacle. I was never entirely comfortable with my height. It just separated me from other people. Maybe I would have been shy without my Quirk.

Anyway. My name is Ikumi Midoriya. I'm just an ordinary girl now.

But this is my story about becoming a Hero like All Might. About saving people with a smile. It wasn't always easy, but I don't regret it.