Even years later, looking back at it, he couldn't say exactly what had driven him to stand face to face against his long-time friend and rival and to make the final choice to be the first one to attack.
Nonetheless, he had an answer on hand whenever it came up in an interview with the media regarding the vigilante/anti-hero Mars. Most of the time, it was the same answer, one that would be looked upon critically by members of higher society and some other heroes, while his fans would easily believe; He is my brother in all but blood. I couldn't just let him go. But he knew there was a bit more to the story.
'I'm afraid there's no hope for him.'
"Bull. Shit." Hisashi barks the second they leave the hospital. "Telling my kid to his face that he has no hope… who does that old fart think he is!? He's lucky I didn't -"
"Hisashi!" Inko cuts off, covering the five-year-old Izuku's ears. "Not in front of Izuku."
Hisashi pouts and huffs, unintentionally letting out a small stream of fire. "Sorry, 'Ko. But how dare he say that to our boy!? That stupid doctor doesn't know anything!"
Izuku himself had been largely despondent. The child kept replaying the words in his mind over and over like a mantra, completely disconnecting him from the discussion his parents were having mere feet away. He can already feel himself starting to cry before a hand wipes away his tears. It's his father, who's crouched down before him with his hand out and a wide smile on his face that makes his freckles warp in a weird way.
"Don't waste your tears on that guy." Hisashi says. "He doesn't know what he's talking about."
"But - but, he's a doctor. Aren't doctors smart?"
Hisashi swears under his breath. Izuku got him there. He stutters over his words for a second before Inko, thankfully, saves the situation.
"What he means is that there's always hope for people."
"Yeah! Isn't that what All Might says?"
Izuku sniffles, but brightens. "Yeah. All Might says a smile can bring hope to everyone. Do - do you two still think I - I could be a hero?"
The words were out of Hisashi's mouth before he could think. "Yeah!" Then his eyes go wide. Inko takes on a similar expression.
Izuku doesn't notice any of it though. His attention is pulled to a TV across the street to a mundane toothpaste ad starring All Might.
'...so you too can smile as brightly as I do! AH-HA-HA!'
"What were you thinking, Hisashi?"
The black haired man sighs and runs a hand through his curly locs. "I wasn't." He said honestly. "But we couldn't just let him be like that, 'Ko. You saw his face. Kid was devastated."
Inko crosses her arms, but it seems to close in on herself. "Do you believe it? What you said; that he can still be a hero?" She looks up at her husband with hopeful eyes. Hisashi returns the look, a bit unsure of what she's hoping for.
"I do, 'Ko. He's young but he's got the spirit. Didn't y'see him? He was so excited about being a hero, he tired himself out just watching TV!"
"I did but he's -"
"Don't say it."
Inko holds her tongue. "It's true though."
"I know it is, but… don't say it. You're making it sound like you're giving up on him. Like you don't believe he can."
"I didn't say that!" Inko quickly replied. "I'm just scared. Being a hero is dangerous, and - and,"
"I know, I know." Hisashi lightly cuts off, rubbing circles into his wife's back. "It's pretty dangerous, but I believe in him. We just need to start him off early. Maybe some martial arts classes or something."
Inko frowns. "Are you sure that'll be enough? Martial arts sound a bit… lack-luster."
Hisashi shrugs. "I mean, it works for Gunhead. Sure, he has a quirk, but he's so good that he has his own style. If it works for him, I don't see why it wouldn't work for our boy."
Inko's expression is still unsure and reserved, so Hisashi flashes her a smile. "Just trust me on this, okay? I'm sure it'll be fine."
"Alright. I… I trust you."
Hisashi kisses the crown on her head. "I'm glad you do. Now here, help me look for some dojos that'll take kids his age."
The next day came quicker than either parent was prepared for.
"What do you mean you don't take quirkless students?!" Inko shouted for what seemed like the tenth time today. Hisashi had joined them for the first three dojos, but after threatening to burn down someone's establishment, Inko told him to just head home and enjoy his vacation rather than getting arrested. The first dojo, she had to admit, might've been a bit above her pay-grade. But everyone else? Even these people who were in little more than a glorified garage with a mat and punching bag were apparently too good for her son.
"W - well, ma'am. We're pretty filled as is, and we have expectations to get even more b - by..." The poor receptionist boy tried to stutter out an explanation, but Inko's tranquil fury had reached a boiling point twenty minutes ago. She, rather roughly, grabbed Izuku's hand and dragged him out the door.
"The nerve of some people, I swear." She muttered darkly.
"Mom?" Izuku tried.
"Just because you don't have a toe joint and can't change your eye color… Honestly, some quirks aren't even that good! What use is making your hair slightly longer!?"
"...mom?" Izuku tried again. But it was too late, Inko had already descended into one of the famous (or infamous) Midoriya muttering sessions. Granted, her's was currently much darker than Izuku would ever care to admit out loud, but she was where he got it from, no question. "MOM!" He suddenly shouted to get the woman's attention, as well as startle some people passing on the side-walk.
"...Oh, you say something honey?" She said as if she wasn't the terrifying person in the world seven seconds prior and had a death grip so tight on his hand, that his fingers were going numb.
He then sighed. "We've been at this all day, mom. I - I know it's frustrating, and I really appreciate you doing this. But maybe we can find some stuff online, a - and just buy the equipment. Beats a gym membership right?" Izuku asked hopefully. Truthfully, he didn't want to stop, this was an important part of being a hero after all. But seeing how his mother's enthusiastic smile gradually faded into a scowl was slowly breaking the child's heart.
Inko sucked in a sharp breath before relaxing and smiling at her boy. "Yeah, sure. We can do that."
But then… bzzt. Bzzt. Bzzt. "Hello?"
"Hey, 'Ko!"
Leave it to her husband to raise her mood. "Yes, Hisashi?"
"How's the search going? Actually, never mind. Doesn't matter. I think I found the perfect place! Have you been to the Gouken Academy?"
"Not yet. It was on my list, but the reviews aren't… good."
"Reviews, curfews, new shoes, doesn't matter. What matters is that this place is for everyone! Even says so on the listing. 'Accepting any and all challengers'," Hisashi says, deepening his voice for dramatic effect. 'Whatever that means. And before you say something, yes. I emailed them and they said quirkless kids are included. Encouraged even, since the guys who run the place are quirkless."
That sounded a bit too good to be true. But it's been a long day thus far, and Inko really just wanted to go home at this point. What was one more stop? She looked down and saw Izuku staring off into the abyss with a hopeful smile, and felt her heart clench. She could do this. For him.
"Okay. Send me the address."
"You sure this is a good idea, Ken?" A man of slightly above average height asked, while tightening his red headband.
Ken ran his fingers through his long, blond hair before giving his friend a thumbs up and a million yen smile. "Sure thing, Ryu!" He said happily. "You and I both know that we aren't getting any younger, so what better to preserve the power of youth than to teach the next generation of Quirkless?!"
Ryu sighed at his friend's antics and energy but he didn't disagree. "But did you have to be so... particular about the listing? I get that you feel pretty strongly about quirkism, but to say we encourage quirkless people because we're quirkless too?"
"Exactly!" Ken said happily, completely ignoring Ryu's dry look. "Who better than one of us to carry on the will of the Street Fighters? And besides, you know as well as I do that most quirks, if not all of them, get in the way of Ansatsuken. It's for the best."
Ryu once again didn't disagree. He was about to retort before he sensed two people near the entrance of the dojo. "Ah, we actually got people. I was beginning to think that wouldn't work."
"We got one already, didn't we?" Ken asked with a shit-eating grin while both walked towards the door.
"... she's a bit of a special case and you know that." Ryu said gravely, turning towards the back door where he knew a student sat in a meditative pose after practicing kata. The student is unmoving and the faint energy she gives off is promising; the sheer potential is something that he's never seen in anyone even before. His sensei before him, Gouken, made mention that this girl may one day surpass them all.
Their conversation died down upon seeing two green haired people, one a skinny young boy and the other a short, fairly in-shape pretty woman.
"E - excuse me, are you two," she looked at the picture on her screen again. "- Ryu and Ken?"
"That's right!" Ken said loudly, slightly startling the jumpy family. "I'm Ken Masters and this here is Ryu Nishiyama! What can we do for you today?" The blond man asked, already knowing the answer.
"U - um, we - well, my husband told me about this place and we wanted to find out about enrolling our son in some of your classes. I'm Inko Midoriya and this is Izuku." Inko said slowly. Ken seemed to be a very extra kind of man and she was having trouble keeping up with those energy levels.
"Ah, Midoriya! That's the name on the email. Well, little lady, you came to the right place! We here at Gouken Academy strive for nothing but the best in our students and always seek to better ourselves and other aspects of our lives through martial arts!" If nothing else, Inko notes, Ken is great at motivation. "Between me and Ryu, there are dozens upon dozens martial arts tournament wins from around the globe." He gestured for the mother and son to follow him further in the dojo and enthusiastically pointed towards the walls where, just like Ken said, were dozens of pictures of them holding trophies, medals, checks and anything else displaying victory. Inko and Izuku both turned to look at Ryu, who still hadn't said anything up until this point.
Ryu awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck and cleared his throat. "Sorry, Ken's just much better at..." he gestured vaguely at his friend, still going on about his accomplishments, seemingly unaware that they'd stopped following him. "... that ."
Inko giggled serenely. "It's fine, he just seems quite excited to show off to the newbie."
Ryu chuckled behind his hand, "That's one way of putting it, yeah. But really, if you're interested, ask any question you'd like. I may not be a salesman like Ken," He gestured to his still rambling friend, "but I do co-own the dojo."
"Oh, alright. What will you be teaching Izuku?" She started simply enough.
"Ansatsuken. How to defend himself, first and foremost. Then we can get into stuff like ki and -" Ryu says casually before Inko cuts him off with a shaky raise of her hand.
"I'm sorry, what was that first part?" Her eyes are wide and she had her son in a tight grip. Ryu raises a brow, confused about the woman's reaction.
"Ansatsuken." He says slower.
"You're going to teach my son to be an assassin!?" Inko nearly shouts in a panic, and then Ryu gets it.
"Uh - no ma'am. That's just the name." Ryu tries to explain quickly, but Inko looks terrified. Izuku looks scared... but intrigued.
Then Ken returns, pulling Ryu by the arm and muttering something about ' leaving the talking to him' . "I'm so sorry, miss." He says with a light bow, "My friend Ryu here is just not the best with words! Our actual style is called Shotokan, and it just so happens to have roots that trace back to Ansatsuken. I assure you, we won't be teaching your son how to kill."
Inko, of course, doesn't look entirely convinced, even when Ken inwardly panics and tries to smile as comforting as he could.
Izuku, who'd been silently analyzing the area until now, eyes shot open. "What's ki?" Judging by Inko's curious expression, Ryu figures she didn't know either. Which is fine, very few knew about it. The less the better.
"Well," Ryu says after clearing his throat and returning to the forefront. "Ki, in its simplest term, is just energy that's found in everything. Living beings like us can use and harness via the martial arts we teach here, Shotokan, to help build the mind, body and soul." Ryu explained. He then randomly took out his wallet to show the parent and child his ID, and sure enough for Quirk, it listed N/A. "Ki can also be used in a lot of different ways once manifested, and understood." Then he turned his back on them and quick as lightning, took on an unusual stance. "Hadoken!" A bright blue ball of energy flew from his hands before vanishing several meters away from hitting the wall.
"...Oh." Inko said intelligently. "And you're going to teach my son how to do that?"
"Well, that's if you choose to enroll him here, but yeah. Ki has a lot of different manifestations, and it varies from person to person, so he might not be able to do that exact thing, but -" Ryu was promptly cut off when Ken barged back into the conversation with a scowl.
"Are you just skipping all of the good parts and getting straight to the action?! I had a whole speech prepared, Ryu! How could you!?"
While Ryu and Ken came to blows over the apparent disagreement, Izuku pulled Inko aside. "M-mom... can I learn Shotokan? I think I can be a hero if I do." Izuku said innocently. If Inko had any reservations, they died the moment Izuku looked upon her with his big, green eyes. "Please, mom."
"Um, excuse me?" Inko said quietly, and almost immediately, both Ryu and Ken stopped their impromptu brawl and approached. "I'm sorry but I just have to ask, why is your dojo so… poorly reviewed by people? This power seems incredible if anyone can just learn it." She asked, not suspiciously, but genuinely curious.
"Well, I think I have the answer to that… Power like that does not come easy. At all." Ryu said ruefully. "It's going to take years of hard work and dedication to get to the level where he'd even begin to be able to use ki. It's not so much a case of us not wanting to teach people; it's a case of not everyone being able to put in the work to achieve it. Both Ken and I are quirkless and look at us, we've fought and defeated some of the best fighters in the eastern hemisphere, quirked or not. And also, there's a bit of... compatibility issue. I've seen people who learn it and their quirks conflict with it. Be it a good thing or not, ki usage is dying out. The email said your son is quirkless, but that's fine. A quirkless person is the perfect person to teach it to."
"U-um, sir?" Izuku's small voice was almost missed. The three adults turned to him. He had tears in his eyes and a hopeful, watery smile on his face.
"Really, Ryu? Not fifteen minutes in and you already made a child cry. For shame." Ken's teasing was promptly cut off by a not-so-subtle elbow.
"Do you think I can b - be a h - hero like All Might if I trained with you?"
"What does 'be a hero like All Might' mean?" Ryu asks with a raised brow. He seems genuinely curious and not at all condescending, which Inko appreciates.
"I always wanted to save people, sir. W - with a smile. I - I just think it's the coolest thing you could do." Izuku sniffles as he speaks and Ryu continues to regard him.
"You can be more than a hero. If you've got the will to succeed and the strength to push past all of the bull that will be thrown at you, you can be damn near anything you want. I'll tell you right now, it won't be easy. People don't last longer than a week here usually. Do you think you can handle it?"
Izuku nods excitedly with tears in his eyes.
"Then yes, kid. You can be a great hero."
With that, Izuku finally heard the words he's been waiting to hear his whole life. He dropped to his knees and cried in true Midoriya fashion. Seconds later, his mother cried too.
Ten minutes and a flash flood later, Ken snapped his fingers and got the paperwork ready. When he came back, he placed a hand on Izuku's shoulder. "I can tell you've had it rough, kid but don't worry! Things are about to change for you, you've got the Ken Masters seal of approval on that!"
Then something seemed to dawn on Inko. "Wait a second, is Izuku the only student here? I don't see anyone else." She really didn't want to think that. She knew the place had a bit of a bad reputation, but she desperately hoped there would be at least some people here who shared her son's plight. And made him feel less alone.
"Oh! Sorry about that, Midoriya-san. No, we do have one other student. Sakura! Come out here!"
A full minute later, the back door opened and a young girl around Izuku's age, walked in. She wore a white and pink Gi, much like Ryu''s but with sleeves and an white belt wrapped around her waist. She was slender and a bit taller than Izuku himself with messy, short brown hair with bangs that partially hung in front of her face and big, vibrant, bright brown eyes.
"Midoriya-san, this is currently our only other student. Sakura Kasugano!" Ken said with a dazzling smile. "She's nothing like Ryu here. Quiet? She'll talk your ears off if you let her! Humble? Yeah! Respectful? Very! Too much so sometimes! Self-deprecating? Nope! Anti-social? She has too many friends! And I wish those kids would stay away!" Ken completely ignored Ryu's indignant 'oi!' and continued on as if he hadn't said anything. "Iron sharpens iron, and Sakura here will be a pretty good friend and rival for you! You might not beat her but… you can certainly try! Don't try though. She's tough." This time, it was Sakura who shouted 'oi', but just like her sensei before him, he was completely ignored. "I can't wait to get started!"
"W - when can he start?" Inko asked nervously. Seriously, Ken was a nice man but he was also intense seemingly always.
"We can start today! We just need to get Izuku-kun here in a Gi and a white belt and we can start!" Ken, without waiting for a response, darted in the back room so quickly, Inko would've sworn she saw actual fire appear at his feet for a split second.
Izuku was slowly approached by Sakura like he was made of glass. He'd never been so close to a girl before! Much less one with a smile that was a bit hard to look at directly. And this one looked his age, if not a year older.
"Hi, I'm Izuku Midoriya! I hope we can be friends!" He said with an extended hand and a bright smile.
"Hi! I'm Sakura! Pleased to meet you!" The girl says, extending her hand too. They shake and Izuku attempts to pull back, but Sakura's grip is iron-clad. And then, as quick as a viper's strike, Sakura tugs Izuku's hand and flips him over her shoulder and onto the canvas with a loud thud. "Ha! I got you!"
Izuku grunts on impact as his mother stands there in shock. Ryu groans.
"Sorry, she's just… a bit excited."
"But -"
"I'm back!" Ken announces. "I got the smallest one we could find!" He sees Izuku laying flat on his back with Sakura standing victoriously over him with a somewhat apologetic and sheepish look on her face. "Aw, what? I missed the fight already!?"
"I wouldn't exactly call it a fight." Ryu says dryly. "You okay there, Midoriya?"
"Y - yeah! I wasn't expecting that, that's all." Izuku says as he gets back to his feet, careful to watch Sakura as he does.
"One of the first rules you'll learn here is to expect the unexpected." The older man turns to his mother. "Do you want to stay for the first lesson?"
"Hm? Oh! No, I wanted to stay to see. But I can't for today."
"Alright. Get the gi on and head to the back. Give me 100 push ups, 75 sit ups, 50 squats and 25 laps around the field."
"Wh - what?"
A/N: After much internal debate, I've decided to bring the crossover back here. There's been a lot of changes, and I thank everyone who stuck around. I have a backlog built up already, so this will be on a weekly schedule. Enjoy and feel free to leave a review and tell me your thoughts.
