Why him?

Why this?

Why now?

He just wanted to be a hero.

He just wanted to be like All Might. Like Touya and Shoto would be. Like Daddy was.

He wanted daddy to be proud of him. To be excited for him and his quirk, like Shoto. Like he was with Touya.

But now...

"Daddy hates me, doesn't he?"

"Huh?" Touya looked down at him from where they were huddled together on his bed, watching Izuku's favorite All Might video over and over again on his TV.

Izuku sniffled, his eyes dry and red from crying. "D-daddy hates me now..."

...

"I'm sure he doesn't hate you, Izu." Touya slowly rubbed Izuku's back in circles, just like mom always did to him when he was upset. It always made him feel better. And he was struggling on what to do to help Izuku. He'd never done the comforting thing before.

"Yes he does," Izuku curled up, leaning on Touya's shoulder. "Why wouldn't he? I- I'm..."

Izuku couldn't finish, and Touya got why. It was going to take a while before Izuku could openly mention it.

"T-Touya?"

"Yes?"

"Do-" Izuku hesitated before leaning off of Touya and looking up at him, fresh tears in his eyes.

"Do you think I can still be a hero?"

It was barely a whisper, but the words punched Touya's heart all the harder.

He knew Izuku well. But it didn't take much to see that he had always had a dream, and more determination then most to achieve it.

All the boy had ever wanted was to be a hero. To help people and to make others feel safe and happy, just like his idol, All Might. But he also wanted just as much to make dad proud. To do something great, and have dad give him attention like he did Shoto.

He'd been willing to do anything just to have dad look at him the same way he did his twin brother, to give him attention. It was what pulled him and Touya so close, because that was what they understood of each other.

Which is why he'd been so ecstatic before leaving to the quirk doctors with mom that morning. He couldn't wait to find out what his quirk was. Whether he'd get ice like Natsuo and Fuyumi, or fire like him, or a mix like Shoto, he just knew that once he had his quirk and could figure out how to do something cool with it, dad would at least pay attention to him, instead of ignoring him like he always had.

So when he came home an hour or so later, his mood had practically froze the whole house.

Shock.

devastation.

misery.

Fear.

None of the kids had dared to ask, fearing the worst. They didn't want to know until Izuku wanted them to know. So they mainly tried to cheer him up, but there efforts were to no avail. He just sat, thinking, and breaking down into tears every once in a while. But no one knew how to help.

And no one found out until Endeavor got home.

"Izuku." Dad set down his briefcase and turned to the boy curled up on the couch.

Izuku looked up at the man, shame and dread all over his face as he met Endeavor's eyes.

Endeavor frowned. "You and Rei went to the doctors? What did he say?"

...

...

...

"Very well, I guess I'll ask your mother."

What did the doctor say that could've been so bad? Endeavor thought, entering the kitchen where Rei was getting ready to make dinner. Last night, Izuku was so excited.

"Ah, Enji," Rei said, forcing a smile when she saw her husband. "Your home."

"Hello Rei. Izuku wouldn't tell me how the quirks doctors went." He didn't miss Rei's flinch at the mention. "What happened?"

Rei hesitated before sighing, setting down the dish she was holding. "You won't like it."

"I survived Touya's visit to the quirk doctor. Surely I can handle whatever Izuku happened to get."

Rei looked at him doubtfully. "Just, please don't be upset at him. He can't control it-."

"Just spit it out."

Touya, who had just started down the staircase from his bedroom to bring Izuku his favorite All Might doll, just happened to walk in at the wrong time, and caught Rei's explanation to Endeavor loud and clear.

He froze on the steps, eyes wide, processing what he'd just heard.

He knew whatever the quirk doctor said had to be bad. But he assumed just a weak quirk, or one Izuku thought dad wouldn't like or wouldn't help him become a hero. Some obstacle that could be overcome, but something he could still use.

What he hadn't considered was that Izuku could be part of the 20% of the population who was born without a quirk.

Quirkless.

Now, Touya's sat in his bed, frozen, staring blankly at a video he'd heard so many times he had it memorized.

But he was hardly thinking about the TV.

Touya had been out late training in the forest again. But when he'd come back inside, he found Izuku, sitting in the dark on the couch, past midnight, staring at his All Might doll like it held all the secrets of the world.

"Izuku?" He'd asked quietly. "What are you doing up?"

Izuku didn't look up at first, and Touya thought he hadn't heard him. He stepped closer and was about to repeat when Izuku spoke, quietly, but just loud enough for Touya to hear.

"I had a nightmare."

Touya waited for a moment, wondering if he would continue, but he was silent. Touya started to say something, but then Izuku continued.

"It was a bunch of different scenes where you guys were all in trouble, but I couldn't do anything because I didn't have a quirk. I couldn't be a hero, and I just had to watch while you all got hurt."

...

"I couldn't go back to sleep, so I came in here to wait for you to come back from your training."

It barely registered with Touya that Izuku knew he'd been going out at night to train. He was too busy staring at Izuku.

He looked so broken. So crushed. The one thing he'd ever wanted in his life was stolen away from him, with no fair reason. He couldn't even blame anyone, because it was just a sad coincidence. There had never been a quirkless person in the Todoroki line.

In a way, Touya understood how Izuku felt. He felt similarly when dad stopped letting him use his quirk because it would burn him. Like he had his chance, it was right there, and then it was gone just because of bad genetics.

But it hurt all the more to see it on someone else's face. Especially someone he'd only ever wanted to see smile.

So when Izuku asked that question with his pleading eyes...

"Do you think I can still be a hero?"

Touya couldn't help it anymore, and all the emotions he'd built up that day came flooding out in tears down his cheeks.

"T-tou! W-why are you crying?" Izuku asked, worriedly.

"Sorry Izu, it's just..." Touya wiped his eyes and met Izuku's again.

Although Izuku clearly regretted asking, much more hesitant now that he realized Touya was upset too, but behind all that, Touya could still see the hope. The plea. The slight glint that was hoping to still get an answer. To get some reason to still believe.

It chipped Touya's heart one piece at a time the longer he stared, until he finally looked away, more tears burning his eyes.

A quirkless hero...

He had to admit, whether or not it was possible, he wasn't sure.

But whether or not he should was another story.

But no matter what, Izuku would get hurt. He'd be at a large disadvantage. It'd be dangerous for him. He never wanted to see Izuku hurt.

And he didn't want to get Izuku's hopes up, because it would still be near impossible.

He didn't want to give him false hope.

But even as he opened his mouth to give an answer, he found himself choking on his breath, unable to say the words. They just hurt too much.

So instead, he spun around and wrapped his arms around Izuku tight.

"I'm so, so sorry Izuku..." was all he managed to say.

But even as he lay there hugging the boy, even as he listened to Izuku's sobs, even as he bit back his own sobs, despite it all, there was still a voice deep down telling him something he knew was true, no matter how hard he fought it.

He knew Izuku. He was stubborn.

He might be feeling broken and hopeless right now, but he knew his little brother wasn't going to give up that easily.

No matter what he said, Izuku was not going to stop trying to be a hero.

And it honestly scared him more than Endeavor scared Izuku when he found out about the whole quirkless thing.

Because he was almost positive that if Izuku tried, he would succeed.