Ch.1 - Deku Age 6
Izuku Midoriya's first few years of life went as what most know, horrible. At the age of six, just a year after he was deemed quirkless and after a few months of his childhood best friend bullying him for this, something happened. He and Kacchan were in the park on a gloomy afternoon after school. Kacchan and his friends decided to toss him around a bit, using their quirks on him.
"Why?" Izuku yelled at his friend, "Why does it matter that I don't have a quirk? I am still the me I was before?"
"Why? Seriously Deku are you that dumb?" Kacchan replies, getting angrier as they talked, "It should be obvious." He gets close up to Izuku's face so only he could hear, "It doesn't matter, you're the one that broke your promise. You gave up."
"I didn't!" He was crying now, desperately clinging onto his only friend. "I didn't want this; I didn't even know I didn't have a quirk when I said that! Please believe me!" He continues to mutter and apologize incoherently through his tears.
"Well, you shouldn't have said anything then." Kacchan backs away from him and raises a hand sending a blast down onto Deku's shin. They both scream.
All his life Izuku couldn't wait for when he got his soulmate's name on his wrist. That is how soulmate bonds are supposed to pronounce themselves. he heard this from his teachers and mother- That after you get your quirk comes your soulmate mark. He had not heard that they were supposed to be painful, or that he can now feel the others' pain. Being Izuku he spent the next few weeks researching and finding out what was wrong with him. He went to his mother who did not know (only asking if there were other forms of soulmate marks, so as to not get Kacchan in trouble). Her wrist mocked him. His father's name was on the inside of hers while he got nothing to show on his own but pain.
His research did hold some fruit. He found out that the majority of the population had the soulmate mark on their wrists but said that those showed who they deeply loved- not who they were fated to be with. Meaning they could change. But then the next level of soulmate marks were physical marks on the body like handprints from when they touched with full love in their hearts for the other or designs and colors based on their soulmate's personalities. These were more concrete on who was made for each other, but could still be one-sided but could never be interchanged throughout life. Only about a thousand people have this.
Another was the red string of fate tied around one's pinky. Only the soulmates can see them. This could be deadly if cut or you could lose your mind. Only about five hundred people have this. But having these was a lot better, Izuku thought, than having what is known as Hanahaki disease. A disease for people of one-sided love. Flowers blooming in their lungs until it drowns you or you confess. That sadly happens a lot.
They are other's, the number of people with these marks or abilities associated with soulmates going down in number. But the final soulmate mark listed on the dark web was what Izuku was looking for all this time. This was never written about because it was only a hypothesis. No one has reached this level yet with their soulmates. At least it was thought so. The realization of soulmates came along with quirks. If there was such a thing as soulmates before, they were invisible and only a thought, a belief, like a story or religion.
According to the hypothesis, a soulmate can reach a level where they feel each other's pain when they are destined to be together. That no matter how many times they die, they will always be reincarnated together- they are fated to be one soul. Their souls are so interconnected that they cannot be separated, they are one being in two bodies. It also says that with time and if nothing gets in the way, they could possibly have much stronger connection than the physical one that they start out with. That it will be mental. Possibly their minds could connect to each other. They will truly be one person. This scares Izuku. He doesn't think Kacchan would be happy with fact. He doesn't even want to have anything to do with him.
But then again up until he got tested for a quirk they were as close as twins. Their parents, who as far as Izu is aware, has no clue about the change in the boys.
It also states that the reason why this is not told and the thousand people with a physical mark other than a name do not talk about it is because of how rare it is. With the vast majority with the first level of soulmate bonds, no one is willing to discredit the love someone has for another. Since this first level can change throughout one's life, they do not want anyone to think less of their bonds, so they opt to keep these other levels secret, the author, All41, even asks the readers of the article to keep quiet.
Looking at all this, Izuku doesn't know what he feels about it. He feels ecstatic that Kacchan is his other half. But also warry, Kacchan has made it clear that he does not like him at all. He decides to take a break and watch some television-The new All Might special should be on shortly. Heading to the living room, an overwhelming sensation of scalding heat covers the right side of his face. He screams and bends over. But physics isn't on his side. He was already rocketing his little feet down the stairs when the sensation occurred, he missed a step and fell the rest of the way. He hears a crack and blacks out.
When he opens his eyes, he sees a white ceiling that isn't his. He looks to his side and sees his mom's back, her hand absently rubbing his in small circles. Auntie Mitsuki is reassuring her with Uncle Masaru sitting in a chair not that far away looking out the window at the May leaves. He is the first to notice his awakening. "Hey little one, feeling better? Do you remember what happened?" At his question, the two ladies turned to the green-haired child, relief present on their faces. Izuku stares for a minute trying to remember while being fussed over by his mother.
"I remember going down to watch T.V. But then my face started to feel like it was on fire. That's all I remember." He looks at the adults for confirmation. Then realizes that if Auntie and Uncle are here then Kacchan should be too. "Where's Kacchan?"
Uncle inclines his head to the side while Auntie gives a strained laugh saying, "Asleep beside you little one." Looking to his other side he finally registered the weight that has been on him since he woke up. Kacchan's usually spiked hair has fallen in front of his face masking his eyes. His cheeks are red and swollen with tear streaks engraved into his slightly tanned skin like he has been crying for hours or days. This amazes and perplexes the boy. Why was he crying? For him?
Before he could ask any more questions, the doctor and nurse come in. He winces when He realizes who it is. Dr. Garaki smiles down at him while flicking his chart with his pen. "Well, well, long time no see. Almost two years since you came in for your quirk results and now I have you here for a concussion and a fractured femur. Anything else bothering you? Can you tell me who you are, your age, and what you remember last?"
"He was just explaining that he felt fine everywhere else." His mother said. This confused Izuku because he did not say this. He was saying he felt heat on his right side. "He also remembers what he was doing before and who he is."
"That is good to hear but I want to hear it out of his mouth. His memory might be intact but saying it out loud lets me see if there are any other problems like slowness of comprehension or lazy speech. All indicators of something more going on. Now, what is your name and age?"
Izuku looks at his mom and when she nods, he turns back to the doctor, squeezing the still sleeping boy next to him a bit tighter for reassurance. "I-I'm Izuku Midoriya, I am Five years old. But I'll be Six in two months."
"Good. Now, what do you remember?"
He looked down then back up at the doctor, not sure how much to say since it seemed that his mom did not want him saying too much. "I- uh, I was playing games online and the new All-Might special was about to be on, so I went down to watch it. I-I think I tripped and hurt myself going down the stairs."
The doctor walked to Kacchan's side of the bed and leaned over it since the adults were still on the other side. Taking a thin flashlight out of his pocket he shined it into the green-haired boy's eyes. "His speech is fine and there seems to be no cognitive disabilities currently, his eyes seem clear too. Does your head hurt?"
With a nod and a soft 'a bit' from the boy, the doctor motions for the adults to come outside with him to talk while a nurse puts something into the fluid bag beside him and leaves.
Feeling the bed shift he looks over and sees puffy red eyes staring back. Kacchan blinks a few times and upon realizing who he is holding jerks back a bit, but Izuku has his arms securely around his waist. He looks around but soon remembers he is in the hospital and that Deku is hurt. He also notices that they are alone. He settles a little but still stiffly asks if the boy beside him is doing better. This makes Izuku smile really big. "My head and leg hurt a bit but nothing I can't handle."
"I know those still hurt! Tch. Then what was that than stupid Deku? What did you do to your face?"
"Huh? I didn't. I thought that was you. See? nothing is wrong with my face." He reaches out and puts Kacchan's hand on his cheek. Kacchan's own cheeks heat up with this contact, but he doesn't remove his hand, Izuku notices, and that there is nothing wrong with the other's face either. He caresses his best friend's cheek as well to make sure. No flinching. The boy supposes that is good. Before he can think more about this his eyes start to get droopy, so he curls up against Kacchan and promptly falls to sleep.
The next day is a lot of testing. They were bringing him back to his room when they noticed a man in a suit standing outside the door. The man straightened and turned fully to their little group. He is tall with black hair as messy and full as his own. Izuku's mom let out a sob and the man opened his arms toward her. She ran to him and held him close, looking into his eyes she brought her hand up to caress the side of his face.
"Shh. don't cry my love, I am here. I am home." He looks at his son, "Although I did not expect to come home to find out from a neighbor that our son is in the hospital."
"Ah, yes, he fell down the stairs. I'll-I'll explain in detail later." Inko said as she turned toward her son, still in her husband's hold. "Life has been complicated these past couple months for Izuku, seeing as Dr. Garaki diagnosed him as quirkless last year and now…" She put a concerned hand on her cheek.
"He did now." The man said in a displeased voice. "I'll have to speak to him later."
"Hello, I'm going to be your doctor from here on out. Dr. Garaki decided to take an early retirement." his voice sounded annoyed that he got stuck with the doctor's overflow. He rubbed his ram horns as he looked abashed that his disdain slipped through.
"Anyway, my name is Doctor Aoi Nakahara. Please to meet you all." He precedes to look over the chart in his hands. "You seem pretty good with your progress to recovery. You should be good to leave tomorrow afternoon after we double-check how your concussion is faring." With that, he leaves.
Izuku looks over to Kacchan who is sitting in a chair playing games on his phone. He tried to talk to him, but Kacchan asks his dad to take him to the cafeteria without a word to him. He decides to try to sleep more. What seems like a few minutes later Auntie's voice catches his attention. He keeps his eyes shut while listening.
"Don't they usually send these types of injuries home in a day or two? And besides, shouldn't we be trying to get them ready for the third one."
"What are you saying Mitsuki?" Inko asks. "Third what?"
"Don't give me that. You know there is a third. Let's not pretend this is a touchy topic. Both boys said their faces hurt like they've just been burned."
With reluctance in Inko's tone she hesitantly says, "I know. I just hope that child is alright. If it wasn't an accident, then they need to be removed from that home. Hopefully, it was just an accident with their quirk or something, you know how kids their age is, they're still getting used to using them. Besides, who knows where in the world they are or when all three will find each other. It must have left a scar though. What a terrible thing to have happened." She looks at her child, "I just wish they found out about their soulmates later in life and with a wrist soul mark like normal. What a terrible way to find each other- through pain I mean."
"It is said to be the truest form of soulmate marks. Like Paranormal singularity is with quirks. But like quirks, it is not talked about together, though for different reasons. Singularity in quirks and pain in soulmates is their superior state although often looked down upon as fringe thinking. Nonetheless, they are true." His father spoke up from his spot by the window. He'd been letting the women talk yet it seems like he's getting slightly annoyed by this topic for some reason.
Before they could continue Izuku yelps, he presses his hands together to quell the pain. This catches the adult's attention who assumes that it is just him jostling his leg wrong in the sling connected to the ceiling while he sleeps.
About ten minutes later the door bursts open with Kacchan storming in followed by his father who looks rather worried and angry. Izuku holds out his hands in grabby gestures already knowing that the blond is hurt. He hesitates but then dashes to the bed his soulmate is in. Izuku pulls him in by his wrists and turns his hands over.
Upon seeing that the boys' left hand is wrapped in gauze, Mitsuki looks to her husband for an explanation with some expletives.
"After we ate, Kat wanted to check out the gift store. On the way, we saw a kid with a scar on his face. Kat decided the best way to see if he is the third is to blow up his hand and see if the kid reacts." He looks worriedly and exasperatingly to his son who is muttering how it was just a small explosion.
Mitsuki however did not have the same reaction as Masaru and instead hit her kid upside the head, causing the greenette to throw his arms around the boy's waist and pull him to the opposite end of the bed.
"What the hell were you thinking? You could've blown your hand off!" She looks to her husband. "Why didn't you stop him?"
"I didn't know he was doing it until after."
"Well?"
"Well, what?"
"Was it the third?"
"I don't know Suki, I was kinda busy helping my son who exploded his own hand!"
The blond woman looked down at her son with a raised eyebrow. Her kid remained uncharacteristically silent. This she took as a no; it was not. Which isn't a surprise to the adults. The possibility that he is in a hospital after that day is high but the likelihood that he is in this exact one is low. Besides, even if he is in this one the possibility that he can move out of the intensive care unit in just three days after receiving that bad of an injury is the lowest probability.
"Listen here little man, don't ever use your quirk on yourself or someone else like that again. It's too dangerous and you could hurt yourself and others." She pats both boys, "You two will find the other one when you're fated to. Leave it to the fates, okay?"
"Okay," Izuku says. Katsuki huffs but nods his head before burying it in Izu's neck, hands tight and gripping the boy, shoulders shacking.
Late that night both boys curled up in the medical bed together. The women went home to change and properly get some rest leaving only the men to watch the boys.
Izuku turned to face the sleeping boy. He should be too, but his mind is running rampant again. He does this constantly. He can't seem to quiet his brain enough to go to sleep fast. He is usually thinking about quirks when this happens, but this night is different.
He looks at his hand. It is just his hand, but he remembers the sharp pain that radiated from it when Kacchan used his quirk on it. It was a good idea. If he did a little bit of pain their other one maybe wouldn't have reacted enough to see if it is him. It needed to be a big type of pain. He looks at the blond again and runs his hand through his soft spikes. For only a split second He wishes that he had the same soulmate marks as his parents. But his father is right, it is better this way. Now he will always know how his soulmates are feeling and if they are alright since at least Kacchan will become a hero, maybe even the third. Not him though.
He realizes he can't see Kacchan anymore. He brings his hands up to his face for them to come away wet. Crying. Always crying. He can't help his soulmates the way he is now. Maybe they are better without him.
He jumps when a hand runs through his hair. Looking up to see his father who looks back curiously. "Why are you crying green bean?"
"I-I can't be a hero with Kacchan. I don't have a quirk. I can't protect them. I can't do anything but hold them back. I promised Kacchan we'd be heroes together. Now I can only give them pain." Izuku starts crying even harder as he covers his face with his arms, blocking the world out as much as he can.
"Son, Look at me." He grabs his sons' arms and lowers them making the boy face him. "You have the greatest bond you can ever have with your soulmates. It is society that will see it differently. Since you do not have a seeable way to prove your connection, they won't be kind to you. Especially since there's three of you. There isn't many that is more than two soulmates. I've only met one, they were five of them. They didn't last long. Society made sure they wouldn't. Society likes the box they built for themselves and won't step out of it. Now, you say you can't protect them the way you are. Let me ask you what quirk where you trying to use?"
"Yours and mommies. Then others like speed and flight."
Hisashi chuckles, "I bet you gave your mother a heart attack with those. Was it fire you were trying for?" With a nod he continues, showing him his fire breath really quick, "I do have fire breath, but I have others too."
Izuku's eyes went wide with this information. "Really? How?"
"It is called All For One. I can give and take peoples quirks for my own. I think you inherited it."
"But-but I don't have a third joint in my pinky toe. I'm quirkless! Dr. Garaki said so. He showed me the X-rays."
"Ah- he lied. He is a villain who claims children as quirkless so he can later kidnap them. Actually, All For One is the first quirk. But until the Light Baby was born and others developed quickly after, the first user didn't know he had a quirk like you. It is true that down the line quirked people evolved but there is nothing to prove a toe joint or any other body part shows you have a quirk. It was a theory proven wrong over a hundred years ago. You may have my quirk. Do you want to try it?"
"Yes! Yes please! Show me how to use it daddy! Please, please, please!"
Before they could do anything, the bed moved, Katsuki sits up, rubbing his eyes. "Tch shut up nerd your so loud. What are you yelling about?"
"Sorry Kacchan. But listen! I might have a quirk!"
"Really? How?" The boy's hair is a mess bed head on one side and spikes that look wilted on the other, but his eyes are instantly alert and curious.
"It is in your palms. Have you ever held someone's hand and felt a pull like your either going to be sucked into that person or they will be to you?" Seeing his sons' eyes go wide he continues, "You need to have skin to skin contact with the person you are giving or taking a quirk from. You also need to know about the quirk- which after reading the copy paper you wrote on; I think you'll find that part easy. Now, focus on this one I am about to show you and once you know what it is trying to take it."
Hisashi steps back and opens his hands. Between his fingers three long knife-like spears rise up. He walks closer to the children to give them a better look. "Have a look but be careful they are still sharp."
Izuku's face lights up when he sees it. "It seems to be three spikes as long as your fingers. I wonder if it can go longer or if they can be on your feet. Or if it is just between your knuckles and could go anywhere on you." He looks up to his father for an answer, but he shrugs waiting to see what the boy can guess. "They seem to be metal and knifey. I do think you can use them on your feet but only the three in between your fingers and not something like your shoulders or back or something."
"Good! What's the quirks name?"
"Um. Spike?"
"Yes!" He grinned down at his son and pat his head- after retracting the spikes of course, sure the boy has his quirk now. "Alright, now try to take it."
The greenette holds his hand out placing it on his father's bare arm. He closed his eyes trying to feel the quirk. He thought about the qualities the quirk has and called it forward and into him. He feels his skin ripple as the quirk made itself at home inside him. It's a weird sensation, like when you're cold at night and can't get warm then a nice warm blanket is draped around you and loving arms hold you close. It feels amazing. Addicting.
He looks at his hands and they grow spears out of his knuckles. They are smaller than his father's which means he was right, and it is the size of the user's fingers. His saucer-like emerald eyes turn first to Kacchan who looks just as amazed as his father who looks proud.
Giving an All-Might size grin he retracts his new quirk and throws his arms around his father thanking him profusely and of course crying his eyes out. He has a lot to learn from his father.
Hisashi Midoriya decided to take the kids around the hospital so that his son will get practice with taking quirks. When he proposed to do it to passersby in a mall when Izu recovers, the boy refused, saying that it wasn't very hero-like to take innocent peoples' quirks. So, they settled on the dying.
As they make their way through the halls, already collecting a few, Izuku notices that Katsuki is being very quiet following behind them. Which is very uncharacteristic of the boy. Izu saddles up next to him grabbing the boy's hand to ask what the matter is. At first, the blond refuses to speak but one look at his uncle and he bursts into tears, which shocks both Midoriya's.
"Here," A bottle gets taped on the back of Katsuki's head. Tilting his head back he sees a taller red-headed boy who has bandages on his neck, arms, and face. The first thought that went through the boy's head is that it is the third, but the bandages on his face are in the wrong spot settling instead from his chin to just under his eyes. "Are you going to take it, or stare?"
Katsuki quickly takes the black cherry Fanta and hands it to Izuku knowing it is his favorite. The redhead notices but doesn't reply, only switches the three other drinks in his arms to hold in his hands instead. Throwing a glare at the only adult present he walks away.
"Why were you crying Kacchan?" Izu clings to the blond's arm.
"Never mind." He crosses his arms and looks down but when he catches their worried faces, he breaks down again, "I was just hoping that we'd run into the third. I know it was stupid but! But I want to know that he's alright. And that he can rely on us. It was obvious that his quirk or someone burned his face. And like you said we don't know how it happened or if he's even here. But ...But." Tears dripped down his face and he tried in vain to brush them away. Izu looks to his father with pain and worry etched on his face, needing to know what to do and how to fix it.
"I am sorry boys, the thing with fate is that you don't know what it will bring or if it is good or bad. You also don't know when it will come. But when you're supposed to meet, You will." He bends down and scoops the two boys into his arms. "Come, let's get you two back to bed. Enough practice now, we can continue later."