Izuku still refused to use his quirk. The trauma was too strong. What if he couldn't control it and accidentally hurt someone? In the quirk assessment session, he had used it against metal and stone, and he had managed to melt them. They had said something about his quirk being lethal due to its acid properties.

So, he kept it hidden still. Miss Nakamura seemed to give him time, since she clearly wasn't pushing the issue any further. He knew that the rest of the kids stared at him weirdly sometimes, since he was the only one who refused to cooperate in the quirk exercises, which were many.

Sometimes he talked to her when he asked her for help with math. She always treated him with such kindness that made Izuku want to tear up sometimes. No one spoke to him so gently, as if he was deserving of consideration.

"Sensei Nakamura, why are you so nice to me?" He asked her after class one day.

"Because you're a good kid, Izuku." She answered easily as she smiled. "I am telling you, Izuku, you're no monster. I can see the way you are kindhearted. You're just as human as the rest, and you will be a wonderful hero." She said, so sure.

Izuku treasured her words. They gave him hope he was not a monster.

As the days passed, he started to think more positively about himself.

There were other people like him out there, people who had used their quirks in self-defense, she had said.

Director Kobayashi, aged seventy, waited on his chair with a grim expression on his face. He had observed many of Miss Nakamura classes, and it was enough to reach a conclusion. It was time to tell her.

There was a knock on the door, and as he gave the heads up for her to enter the room, he could see that the lady was tense, a serious look on her usually happy face.

"Miss Nakamura, please, take a seat." He said and waited for her to do so before speaking. She seemed to be fidgeting with her nails, and director Kobayashi frowned a bit. It was a sign of weakness, he thought. "It has come to my attention after observing your class, that our special student, Izuku Midoriya, doesn't use his quirk in classes. Could you explain this occurrence?"

Miss Nakamura seemed to hesitate for some reason. Women, Kobayashi thought.

"Izuku Midoriya has a lot of trauma with him. He is just five, so I gave him some time to adjust to his new reality. I thought it must be hard for him, to deal with all the training regimes like he was just like everybody else, when his story is far different from the rest of the kid's." She justified herself with such ease, as if she wasn't stunting the student's growth.

The director's expression turned even more sour.

"Miss Nakamura, I believe you are aware it is your responsibility to potentiate our kid's quirks and ensure that they participate effectively in every single exercise. We cannot afford to give our students time to adjust" he quoted her "when they are heroes in the making. We must create perfect heroes." He explained to her.

He was regretting already letting these woke articles get to his head. Hiring a woman was a terrible decision, he thought.

Realizing that she was being criticized, Miss Nakamura attempted to defend her poor teachings.

"I comprehend this, director, however, I believe firmly that Izuku needs therapy and a lot of support to properly get past his insecurities about his quirk. This institution needs to get a hold of the fact that he is just a five-year-old who just went through a very traumatic experience that would leave most children very affected. I consider it a miracle that Izuku doesn't present more trouble adapting himself to the rapid pace of our school, director."

So, she thought he could justify herself like that, while insulting the sacred Celestial Hero Institute at the same time. How dare she? Mr. Kobayashi was furious, but he decided to not let it show. Therapy? This person was out of her mind!

"The Celestial hero institute is an organization that has created model heroes for decades, miss Nakamura. You must understand that our methods cannot change, as they allow us to mold these children into perfect heroes. Therapy is not the right excuse for neglecting Midoriya's development. The hero institute firmly rejects these woke, ineffective ideas, as we never needed them in the past." He said with a stern voice. "Miss Nakamura, this neglectful attitude and the lack of seriousness you possess in the way you treat our students leave me with no choice but to end your stay at this scholar establishment."

The kids were quiet as an unknown man entered with a suit and tie on. As the new teacher slowly walked across the room, the kids straightened their backs in their seats as the man scanned his eyes all along the classroom.

The teacher used a pen and wrote "Mr SATO" on the board.

"I am Mr Sato, your new quirk instructor. I hear the last teacher coddled this class a lot, to the point of allowing one of the students not to use his quirk." The man stared at Izuku. His gaze felt heavy on his shoulders as he pierced him with a disapproving look. "From now on, everyone will use their quirks to the maximum. I expect nothing but obedience. We will start off strong: I expect everyone to do a one vs one. Follow me to the gym."

Everyone stood up.

Izuku swore.

This was going to be a difference experience...

"Sakura, I hear there is a boy that refuses to use his quirk." Mr Sato spoke to the little girl as the rest of the kids ran on the treadmills.

He had picked the girl with the best grades in his class. She seemed composed and very dedicated to the latest exercises, and he knew she had a very powerful quirk.

"Yeah, sensei. You said it before. It's the Midoriya kid. I heard he killed his parents" Oh god. She was very blunt for a five year old. Mr Sato decided to ignore this comment and go straight to the point.

"If you get him to use his fire, I will promise you will be on top of the leaderboard." The board was the list of kids ranked by the points they were given in classes. Being on the leaderboard and staying there for a week meant that the kid's parents got a small paycheck, in order to enhance the chances of the kids doing better.

As expected, Sakura's eyes sparkled with interest. Every kid got a pat on the back and also a medal if they managed to stay at the top for a month. It seemed to be everyone's dream.

"Will do." That was all she said.

What a strange kid, he thought.

Everyone gathered around the ring, which was quite huge, which to Izuku, was strange. Why does everything in this school seem so big-sized?

"Izuku Midoriya will go against Sakura Yamamoto. You are both to use your quirks to full extent, and you aren't allowed to hold back in any way. The match will only stop once you are able to incapacitate your opponent." Mr Sato explained.

As months had passed since his parent's death, Izuku was about to be six, but it didn't help him feeling ready to face his opponent at all. He knew Sakura excelled in every single aspect and he knew her powerful quirk always put her in advantage at almost any situation.

If he used his quirk as Mr Sato asked, however, he could risk killing her in the same way he had done to his- it wasn't a good moment to remember that.

"Sakura-san, I don't think I can use my quirk on you." He decided to be honest. She would probably understand.

"Why? Are you afraid you're gonna hurt me? You're last in the leaderboard! I know what you did to your parents, but my mom said that was an extreme situation. I bet your quirk won't work against me!" She grinned, her hair levitating and turning hard as steel.

Sakura's weakness was only one: she needed to move her arms in order to control her hair, so as she moved them to the right in an attempt to send Izuku to the floor, he dodged. She kept doing the same strategy as Izuku avoided the attacks by changing directions, and they kept on like that for what it felt like an eternity. Even some of the kids started to make comments.

"Is he just gonna dodge everything? This is lame!" A girl complained.

However, in that same moment, one of Sakura's fast and vicious attack collided with Izuku's forehead, sending him back to the floor. She ran to get closer as she kept attacking him using his hair, striking him all over his body.

"C'mon! Use your quirk! I won't disappoint mom!" She yelled, as she started to kick him as she kept her relentless and vicious attacks on his body.

They hurt so much. It was worse than being hit by dad, the metal hurting his bones in a way that punches simply couldn't.

He started to see stars, as she suddenly started to choke him with the sole of her shoe.

Izuku sent a pleading gaze to Mr Sato, but the man simply shook his head as he screamed:

"Just use your damn quirk!"

And Izuku did, as fire enlightened from his palms and burnt Sakura's hair.

"What? My hair is made of metal!" She immediately started to scream as her hair was on fire, and she ran in panic, yelling as her hair turned fully on fire.

Izuku started to cry, as he watched powerless how his fire caused pain, while the kids seemed puzzled and some started to scream.

"Sensei, do something!"

This was wonderful. The boy had been able to melt metal in seconds, just as the papers had said. Such quirk would be incredibly powerful against villains... if Izuku turned as popular as he was certain he was going to be, and word spread around that he had been the one to mold him onto the perfect hero...

Sakura's extremely long hair kept burning.

"Sensei!"

With conventional methods ineffective against Izuku's unique fire, the teacher swiftly reached for a specialized chemical suppressant designed to combat such extraordinary flames.

Grabbing the chemical suppressant canister, the teacher aimed it towards Sakura's now bald head, where remnants of the corrosive fire still flickered dangerously. With a quick and precise spray, the suppressant material enveloped the remaining flames, releasing a cloud of mist that rapidly neutralized the corrosive fire's effects.

However, the damage was already done.

Sakura was bald, and therefore, quirkless.

Months have passed, and mom is gone.

Instead, father seemed to be always home.

"Where is mom?" Shouto had asked the number two hero, and he had swiftly replied, not leaving room for argument:

"She has gone to a mental hospital, Shouto. You see, your mother thought she could get to hurt me and get away with it. She was mentally ill. The police agreed with my point, and now I am the person who is going to take care of you."

"Mentally ill?" He murmured, puzzled.

"Yeah, mentally ill, Shouto. Your mother was an unstable woman who thought that she could attempt to go against their husband's wishes." Endeavor smiled.

"That 's stupid! She is better than you!" Shouto said and ran away to his room, as he fully understood that dad had taken mom away, and he felt nothing but fury and sadness. How was she supposed to get her back?

However, Endeavor caught up to him, and grabbed him by one of his limbs and threw Shouto's body against the wall.

"You think you can insult me and ran away, you coward? Own up to your words!" Endeavor yelled.

What number had she dialed from the kitchen's phone? Shouto asked himself, trembling as his father loomed over him, fist raised in the air.

911, he remembered her say, as they waited for the cops to come in the basement.

"Nine one one" he kept whispering, as Endeavor started to kick him relentlessly, over and over again, until he no longer felt anything at all.

Shouto woke up. He was still lying on the harsh wooden floor of the hallway. His head throbbed as he slowly started to stand up, all of his limbs hurting so badly he wished he had been still unconscious.

Every step hurt.

He used a chair to reach the counter and then, the phone.

His salvation was right there, and he slowly dragged himself to his room.

Endeavor noticed Shouto was no longer inert and sprawled on the floor. He probably was on his bed, thinking about his life decisions and regretting having spoken in such a rude way.

He decided to make some tea and bring it to his room. They could have a nice chat, man to man, he thought.

He went on and attempted to open Shouto's room door, but he was met with resistance.

"SHOUTO! I know you're in there. Open the door to your father, right now." He ordered.

He was met with silence.

"So that's how things are going to be?" Endeavor kicked the door open in a strong movement, revealing Shouto's holding a phone. He could hear the faint sound coming from the electronics.

"Don't worry, boy help is in the way..." Still holding the tea, Endeavor asked with an uncharacteristically calm voice:

"Who did you call, boy?"

"You're going to jail this time!" His son answered, tears falling from his eyes. He seemed horrified, yet angry.

Without a word, Endeavor grabbed the kettle and lunged.