The Quirk of Solitude by ShadowAlchemy
Chapter 1
Today was a special day for the four year old Izuku Midoriya and nothing could bring down his spirit. Life had not been kind to him since the start but to Izuku it honestly could be alot worse. His caretaker Ms Jiruga was cold and strict and knew how to inflict impressive amounts of pain with a simple ruler. In order to avoid such painful encounters he simply needed to behave and not annoy her or his fellow orphans. Izuku really wanted to call the other kids his family or friends but they made it abundantly clear he was tolerated at best.
Being admitted to the orphanage as a baby irritated everyone else living there to no end when he cried. Apparently it was his fault for being a baby that needed to cry and didn't know any better. The other kids often pretended he wasn't even there which was to Izuku's benefit. He even wished that courtesy would've been extended to him at the public elementary school he has to attend. Being called unwanted and other colorful slang reserved only for orphans, a particularly brash ash blonde kid, named Katsuki Bakugou, made it a point to remind Izuku of his 'place'.
No matter. Today was Izuku's appointment with a public service quirk doctor to see what kind of quirk he had. Initially Izuku wanted something like Bakugou's quirk of Explosion; something flashy and powerful. Bakugou was a couple months older than Izuku and his quirk was hard to not to notice… and dodge sometimes. Something strong that would make Izuku stand out and garner at least a little bit of respect and some respite. However as the school days progressed the teasing slowly became bullying and Izuku would rather have a quirk to somehow go unnoticed or at least protect himself.
The doctor was a short old man with almost too large round spectacles for his face.
After being prompted, Izuku obeyed the doctor's instruction for all the routine tests and scans and was now waiting expectantly sitting on the hospital bed for the results. Izuku couldn't help but picture a plethora of possibilities of what kind of quirk he will be told that he has. Remembering the information that Ms Jiruga provided that his mom had a type of telekinesis quirk and his dad had a fire breathing quirk put Izuku in a happy fantasy being able to wield one or both.
He didn't know why they left him to be raised in an orphanage but he was sure that one day he would be given all the answers to any questions regarding the matter. In the middle of a day dream where Izuku was using his hypothetical quirk of pyrokinesis to juggle all of Bakugou's explosions like a carnival event the doctor returned to the room causing Izuku to accidentally drop said fictional pyro balls in his imagination. The doctor sat in his chair and brought out a report with a couple x ray images to hang up on the light board.
Before turning around to face Izuku, the doctor inhaled and exhaled deeply to steel himself to deliver the report:
"Izuku Midoriya…It is my solemn regret to inform you that you do not appear to have a quirk."
There was no response from Izuku. His still expectant smile was still there but started to recede after his brain finally replayed the doctor's words in his head for the twelfth time. When the smile fully collapsed, a wide look of disbelief took its place. Words started to form in Izuku's mouth but they all jumbled together before he could speak them out in a coherent sentence. The doctor grimaced slightly at the kid's clear and apparent shock.
"Forgive me for delivering such a terrible report to you" the doctor said with a brief apologetic bow of his head. "The x rays clearly show an extra joint here and the blood work shows that neither of your parents' quirk genes were able to manifest. In simple terms, they are like dead but harmless codes of DNA but you will be able to live a normal and healthy life. Again, I apologize and bid you good day."
The doctor didn't wait for Izuku's response. He gently tapped on the door that led to the patient entrance to signal the appointment was done and gave the caretaker a copy of Izuku's lab report. The caretaker bowed to the doctor and gently escorted a still shocked Izuku out and eventually back to the orphanage. Once they both had left and the vehicle drove away the doctor closed the blinds to his personal office and activated an inconspicuous jamming device attached to the back of his computer monitor. The jammer was incredibly effective at preventing any type of listening device or quirk from distinguishing anything if they were to try and eavesdrop.
A figure appeared on the doctor's monitor. His silhouette was barely visible in the dark but he wore an expensive looking suit and locks of white hair could be seen covering his head.
"Master." The doctor said with a deep head bow before continuing " I am ready to give you the complete report in detail."
All for One moved one of his hands to the side of his face and gestured with his other hand for the doctor to continue.
"There are 3 potential quirks for cataloging at farm alpha and 1 at farm beta. Of the remaining stock most are only suitable for biological mass harvests save only for a couple aggressive candidates to serve as foot soldiers. Lastly, one is suitable for the garbage heap." reported the doctor referring to the kids in the two orphanages that he is in charge of inspecting.
"Doctor. Send me the information for the quirk donors and I will begin to arrange suitable dates to have Kurogiri warp the correct pieces to their correct destinations: the lab or me. We will continue with the previously established timetables to keep suspicion to an absolute minimum…Out of bad habit curiosity, what makes the last one garbage?" replied All for One in a nonchalant but slightly terrifying manner.
The doctor slightly adjusted his glasses before plainly speaking "He is quirkless. And his genetic blueprints are weak, not even worth the effort to harvest into the Nomu project."
All for One briefly nodded at the doctor's assessment before commanding "Very well. Instruct that thing's caretaker to initiate protocol: stray dog. Either by his own hand or by assistance that stray child will meet a convincing demise."
Ruthless as a leader should be, Thought the doctor before giving the monitor another deep bow in acknowledgement while the monitor turned back into its normal medical desktop background. Getting up the doctor turned off the jammer and reopened the blinds to his office. He saw an advertisement billboard featuring All Might in one of his signature poses.
How revolting. The doctor sneered.
So many years ago the doctor warned the governments of the world at the possible devastation a quirk society could evolve into and they didn't listen. They saw unimagined war potential and a giant golden goose of profit. The discovery of the first quirks was supposed to be a scientific gold rush of information to better humanity as a whole… but instead of approaching this with caution and research the world leaders chose this dystopia where kids being born with abilities to change the weather or bring down buildings are slapped with a piece of paper permit on their foreheads for the license to do their government's bidding.
Soon…I will show you the true terror of what ignorance can bring. You wretched hypocrites will be brought to heel by someone who actually understands the potential of quirks and the devastation they can bring. He will be my vengeance upon you all…
Mulling over his own pleasant thoughts of revenge the doctor eventually turned around and went to pick up the desk phone and dialed the private cell number of Ms Jiruga. When she saw the caller ID she answered immediately and stiffened up for whatever was about to be told.
"This is a casual reminder to keep stray dogs away from healthy children. They are a nuisance so take appropriate measures." said the doctor in a matter of fact tone before hanging up.
Ms. Jiruga heard the call disconnect suddenly but wouldn't have said anything even if she was given the chance. She owed the doctor and his benefactor everything for her livelihood and for solving some previous hardships she had. Without them, she was certain that she would've ended up in the maximum security prison Tartarus. This society doesn't look kindly at people using their quirks to take the lives of others even if it was in legitimate self defense against a rotten hero. The law officials didn't care that she was right. They cared because it involved a normal civilian killing a hero.
That is why she was okay doing her part in her role as a caretaker of children that were going to end up in a villain's scheme. She hated this hero obsessed society and was content knowing that she was preventing the problem from festering. It may have been unfortunate, but at least these kids wouldn't end up as rotten heroes or back alley thugs. If anything, Ms Jiruga put the blame of the kids grim future into the hands of a foolish and selfish driven rotting society. These kids didn't ask to be born. They just happen to be born to irresponsible adults with logic defying powers.
Before she could lose herself in her own thoughts, Ms Jiruga sent a text message to gather all the other caretakers and gave them the same code phrase as she was given. Izuku was already home and put himself to bed without tonight's supper. According to the caretaker who brought him back, he didn't say a word the whole car ride home nor after they arrived. A thought crossed Ms Jiruga's mind. This probably won't be too hard and won't need anything rash to execute the orders given. She sternly addressed the staff:
"Keep him isolated. Treat him politely but distantly. Tell the other kids to do the same and discretely reward them for their cooperation. He will eat and sleep alone. Permit only solitary tasks and activities. Being so young and impressionable he will give in to his emotionally starved heart and find the only solace to be the inevitable release of death. Actually find some books for reading that dwell on the topic of peace and death but do not make it obvious. We will not force him to do anything nor subject him to any external pain so all of us will have our hands clean for any potential future investigations."
"Should we use any memorabilia or conversation topics about his parents leaving him here?" Asked one of the caretakers.
"It probably won't be effective unless used in specific key moments. He was too young to develop any real memories of his parents." replied Ms Jiruga pleased at her staff considering this variable."
"Will it jeopardize the plan to involve the school he attends? The staff there has been pretty cooperative in the past." Inquired a different and slightly older caretaker.
"Excellent suggestion. I have received reports from the school of multiple disruptions involving Izuku and other students. I will talk with the principal and tell him that this is part of a collaborative process to rectify disciplinary behavior." Answered Ms Jiruga with a nod.
When the staff did not have any additional questions or suggestions they were dismissed back to their regular duties. Ms Jiruga entered her private residence located behind her office. In her windowless bedroom she went to her personal desk and took out a notebook. After jotting down notes regarding the doctor's orders she flipped to the section with the names, birthdays, and quirks of all the current children. Under Izuku's information she filled in the missing category with the answer: quirkless. Next her eyes skimmed the oldest who was nearly 14 and briefly questioned whether or not the doctor found this one to be useful or not.
She sighed and stopped her train of thought. It was better not to know for the sake of maintaining tangible deniability. That didn't stop her from turning back a couple pages of previous kids. A couple dozen names with a simple line crossed through them indicating their…graduation from the orphanage. Before she started remembering the faces of each of the previous names Ms Jiruga closed the notebook and put it back in the locked drawer of her desk and made her way back to her office to resume her management duties. A lingering thought plagued her: Was it a better or worse fate for Izuku being diagnosed quirkless?