Eight years of love, effort, and care have led Inko and Hisashi Midoriya to this moment. Sat in Dr. Tsubasa's office is the couple and their five-year-old son Izuku Midoriya. Nearly all of Izuku's classmates have gotten their quirks, but he hasn't yet. While Inko remained worried, Hisashi shared no such feeling.

Dr. Tsubasa also had no real worry. He had been selected as the family's doctor after a rigorous interviewing process by Tsukauchi to ensure that he could be trusted with the secret of the Saiyans.

"Well, Mr. and Mrs. Midoriya, little Izuku, I have the test results with me."

Inko held her son's shoulders as Izuku's eyes grew in excitement. "What's the determination, doctor?"

"I'll be honest with you, Mrs. Midoriya," the quirk doctor began, removing his tinted glasses. "Due to your son's unique case, I wasn't expecting to see him develop a quirk, and I was correct. Izuku here is quirkless."

Hisashi noted that the room suddenly felt colder as the parents looked toward their now pale child. Inko had immediately wrapped the boy in a tight hug while the full-blooded Saiyan merely held his shoulder.

"A-are you sure, doctor?" Inko spoke with a shaky tone, tears streaming down her cheeks. "M-my little Izu just has to have a quirk!"

"As I've said in past appointments, Mrs. Midoriya, given Izuku's Saiyan biology, it was unlikely that he would develop a quirk. Not just that, but there isn't a mark for a quirk anywhere in his genome."

Hisashi raised a brow at the declaration. "You mean Izuku didn't even inherit the quirk gene from his mother? I would've thought at least the quirk capacitor gene would have been passed down."

Tsubasa shrugged his shoulders before clearing his throat. "Mr. Midoriya, you've mentioned that the Saiyan genome is fairly unstable, correct?"

"Yes, I did mention that. We are prone to mutation due to the radiation we need to transform into our Ōzaru form, though the mutations have remained benign and minuscule."

"Well, it's my theory that your Saiyan genetics possess traits that, when compared to your wife's human genetics, are dominant. Of course, this may not be the case since this is the first recorded instance of human-Saiyan interbreeding for obvious reasons. Still, it seems that the Saiyan traits that lead to the Ōzaru have taken the form of a dominant trait in your son versus the quirk traits of humans, showing to be recessive."

A slight cough interrupted the discussion between adults as Izuku looked up to the family doctor. "D-do… do you think I can still be a h-hero, Dr. Tsubasa?"

The broken tone had all three of them hesitate, but Tsubasa recovered quickly and knelt down to the greenette, placing his hand on his knee.

"Kiddo, anyone can be a hero, quirk or no quirk." The quirk doctor firmly stated. "You're a unique case, Izuku, you'll likely grow to be powerful like your father, but even if you were a normal quirkless human, I would still say you can be a hero. It's the heart and the mind that makes a hero, not the quirk or power."

Izuku smiled wide, practically starry-eyed as he hugged the doctor tight while muttering thank yous and sobbing joyfully into his chest. Caught off-guard by the expression of gratitude, Tsubasa could only pat the boy's shoulder.

The heartwarming scene was interrupted when Inko let out a soft gasp. Then, Izuku and the doctor looked at the former's backside and found a happily swishing tail.

"Well, I wasn't expecting that," Hisashi chuckled.

"I have a tail! I have a tail like daddy!" Little Izuku shouted as he ran around the room excitedly.

Inko seemed to be the only one who recognized the potential consequences and voiced her own thoughts. "But dear, what about the Ōzaru form? Don't we have to cut it off again?"

"Again?" Izuku questioned.

Before Inko or the doctor could tell him about what the boy's mother let slip, Hisashi held a hand up to them both. "I've been thinking about that, actually. This presents an opportunity for training that I read about."

Inko was left with a confused expression while Tsubasa motioned for him to continue. "I have at home a short journal detailing two Saiyans three hundred years ago who claimed to have trained in a specific way that allowed them to not only control their Ōzaru form but keep the power within their base state. That is, they had the full power of the Ōzaru without transforming into the beast. They could do it at will, with or without a full moon. There's no reason why we can't see if this 'Ikari' state holds merit since the training laid out wouldn't hurt Izuku. We would have to wait until he's older but it is worth trying out."

The adults looked to the boy, who had since stopped running around. He nodded in agreement to trying, the blazing determination in his eyes conveying all they needed to know.

"We can get started when the time is right, then," Hisashi stated, then looked to the doctor. "I believe we've covered everything we have to, am I correct?"

"Only one thing left, Hisashi," Tsubasa replied. "We must decide if we will register the boy with a quirk like we did with you and what to name it if so."

"I think it's best if we register Izuku with a quirk," Inko stated firmly, giving no room for argument. "I've seen the statistics for quirkless people, and if they're even half true, that paints a picture ten times as morbid for reality."

Hisashi held his hands up in mock surrender. "I won't argue with you. I wanted to register him with a quirk anyway, just because it would be easier to explain his powers."

"I have to concur; it would be easier both for explanations and for Izuku's well-being." Tsubasa smiled at the Midoriya parents. His heart swelled, knowing the boy would continue to be well taken care of. "I must say, though, that it should be little Izuku's choice about what to name his quirk. It can always be changed later, anyway."

Izuku looked down in thought for only a few moments. Then, when he raised his head, the green blaze hadn't dimmed as he proclaimed his choice. "Ikari."

/

The Bakugou family always enjoyed having dinner with the Midoriyas, but little Katsuki was confused and slightly annoyed that the "big news" they mentioned couldn't be told over the phone.

However, that annoyance turned into glee when he laid eyes on Izukkun. He had a furry tail like his dad. So that must mean his quirk finally came in! The blonde pyro was about to run over and question his best friend about his new quirk, but Uncle Hisashi called their attention to his study to talk.

That wasn't a good sign. Uncle Hisashi only brought people into his study for the important stuff. His legs twitched restlessly in his seat as he looked up at the serious man.

"As you are aware, we brought Izuku in for his quirk appointment yesterday," Hisashi began, holding up a file folder. "Here are the official results."

Katsuki couldn't help but latch onto how his uncle said "official" as he and his parents looked at the form. His lips quirked upward into a nearly-feral grin by the end of the quirk's description. Izukkun is gonna be so strong, just like him!

His train of thought was cut out when his hag spoke. "Something tells me there's more to this story than just this form. What's going on, Hisashi? You've been very secretive." His old man nodded in agreement, but both held back from talking when Auntie Inko gave them a warm look.

"I said these are official because these results are complete lies," Hisashi supplied. His statement drew out a gasp from his parents. When they didn't offer a reply, his uncle took it as a sign to continue.

"Neither myself nor Izuku has quirks. Genetically, we're both quirkless." Hisashi put a calming hand on his son's shoulder, keeping him grounded. "Do you remember when we first met, Inko and I said I was a recently retired militant?"

The Bakugous nodded, all three recalling the first time they met the man. As they grew to know him, they figured out that a retired military man wasn't everything to the story but never got answers to their many questions.

"While that is the truth, it's more complicated than that. Do you believe in aliens? Beings from other planets far away?"

"Hell yeah, aliens totally exist, and they're cool!" Katsuki couldn't help but reply, jumping up in his seat with a fist raised to the sky.

Uncle Hisashi chuckled at the kid's enthusiasm as he settled back into his seat. "What if I said that I'm an alien, and because of that, Izuku is half-alien?"

Katsuki's eyes widened. "But you don't look alien!" His old-ass parents couldn't disagree, nodding with his observation.

"Quite a few alien species are very similar to humans. I would know; I've met over a hundred. I promise I'm telling the truth when I say I'm an alien. I'm a member of a warrior race called the Saiyans."

Despite the ludicrous claim, none of the Bakugous could see or feel any lies coming from their friend. Feeling they weren't going to respond, Hisashi elaborated.

"Saiyans are identical to humans physically with two exceptions: Our hair never changes after birth – it never grows beyond this point, and it will quickly grow back to its shape if cut – and we are born with tails. You never saw Izuku with a tail before because we cut it off right after birth.

"We initially did this because of the dangers of our tails. When Saiyans have their tails, looking at a full moon can trigger our transformation into the Ōzaru, a giant monkey. Our power increases tenfold, and we lose all sense of control unless we're trained to keep our minds together.

"I'm not proud of our past if I'm honest." Hisashi took a deep breath and looked down, giving Katsuki and his parents a little time to digest that information.

"We were always a violent people. But, then, only a thousand years ago, after a massive civil war between more good and selfish Saiyans, we came together and achieved peace among our kind. The more selfish, dark-hearted side won, and we continued our old ways of warring against other races and conquering planets. But, for all intents and purposes, we were enslaved by a man known as King Cold. He retired a few years ago and gave the reins of his galactic empire to his son Freeza.

"Freeza is a cruel, greedy, calculating tyrant. He's known as The Emperor of the Universe and has subjugated almost the entire galaxy, using us Saiyans as his muscle. We were the strongest across the board of the entire Freeza Force. He doesn't know about Earth because I blacklisted it from his systems, so he has no reason to come here."

Hisashi finished his second expositional dump with another deep sigh, closing his eyes and rubbing his temples. Inko got up and embraced her husband from the side, though she looked no better than their guests. This second round was new to her, too. Finally, Masaru took notice of something and voiced his observation.

"You refer to the Saiyans in the past tense. What happened? Does that have to do with why you're here?"

Hisashi met Masaru's gaze with his own, filled with guilt, pain, and sorrow.

/

Katsuki was floored after Uncle Hisashi's story ended. He is an alien warrior, and Izukkun is a half-alien. He couldn't help but feel worried about his people's past, but Uncle Hisashi couldn't be bad! He feels honest about wanting to put his past behind him.

Plus, Izukkun isn't a bad guy. He wants to be a hero! If Uncle Hisashi was telling the truth about his people's power, then Izukkun might even be the best hero instead of himself. He didn't necessarily like the idea, but it's still cool. He would only ever want to be number two to Izukkun anyway!

"I'm sure you understand why this must be kept a secret, right?" Hisashi asked. "It could cause chaos if word got out, and none of us want that."

"Of course, Hisashi," Mitsuki replied with an accepting smile while Masaru nodded in agreement. "Thank you for trusting us. I understand it must have been hard to do that and come to terms with everything."

"Of course, you're our closest friends. I planned to tell you anyway. I just never found a good enough time."

Katsuki walked up to Izuku with a grin. "Don't think that just cuz you're a strong half-alien that I'll let you surpass me easily, Izukkun! If you wanna be number one, you gotta earn it!"

"I wouldn't want it any other way, Kacchan!" Izuku replied with glee.

Hisashi gently clapped his hands, bringing attention back to him. "I was thinking that now everything is out between us, I could train both of you."

Izuku and Katsuki immediately looked up at him, eyes practically shining.

"Would you really train us both, daddy?" Izuku eagerly asked.

Hisashi looked to Katsuki's parents, finding them both giving him a nod of approval. "Of course. You and Katsuki would benefit from training and sparring together. I may have mostly been a scout, but I've been in more fights than probably any hero here on Earth. It's about time I use that experience for good."

Both boys grinned and jumped around, excitement practically emanating from them both. Then, Hisashi knelt down to their level and gave them both a stern look.

"I have to say this, though: your training will be tough and intense." He looks to his son's friend. "Katsuki, you must understand that Izuku will eventually surpass you in strength. His Saiyan genes will mean he will eventually outpace you in raw strength, but don't think for a second that this fact means you're any less than him. You can do things Izuku cannot with your explosions."

The man then turned to his son. "And you, Izuku, don't think that just because you'll eventually be stronger, you're better than Katsuki or anyone else. You're not going to be a god because of your power. You will also have to learn to suppress your power once you grow strong enough. I have weighted armor and clothing that can help with that. No matter how strong you or Katsuki get, there will always be someone stronger somewhere. They may have more raw power, or their quirk may be able to do things you can't fight against. Do you both understand."

Both children nodded. Their eyes continued to shine, albeit more controlled and focused. Izuku kept his green blaze alight in his spirit, and Katsuki gained an explosiveness to his own determined eyes. No matter what happened, they were equals in the end, no better or worse than each other or any other people they met. Their journey to be great heroes in both power and spirit has begun.