"Izuku, wake up. We're here." The gentle words of his mother, as well as the light shaking of his shoulder, roused the young boy from his sleep. A sleep which grew less and less pleasant as the days went by, each bone chilling event playing on loop in his mind every time he closed his eyes. It always started out the same, seeing the doctor slouching in the chair before him as he told the four year old boy that he would never get a quirk. Then it would move to him sitting there at preschool, with all of the other students around him keeping their distance as if just being near him would take away their quirks. But, he could still hear their words. Things like 'quirkless' and 'freak' were whispered by not only the other children, but the adults as well. He would sit there for what seemed like hours as their words would just echo on and on, their bodies becoming nothing more than silhouettes with their eyes glowing white. Then, at the end, he was back in that playground trying to stand up for another student only to get beaten up and left on the ground.

And then, after that, if he hadn't woken up the dream would simply repeat. It was as if his mind wanted to rub his face in his own shame. The shame of being born quirkless, of being a nothing. Of course, if he did wake up, it would be reality that would be rubbing his face in his own uselessness.

But this time, when he opened his eyes, he found that he was no longer in his room. No, he was in the back of a van strapped into a child safety seat. Slowly he looked around, spotting his mother struggling to talk to a man in a language he didn't know while the man, who sat up front, had the same annoyed smile on his face that the people who ran the preschool often wore when they had to deal with him.

After a few minutes, Izuku was freed from the chair and was helped out of the van. Once outside, the four year old winced. It had surprised him since, back home, it hadn't been this hot outside and the van had been fairly cool. But now that he was outside, the sun's light somehow seemed brighter than normal while making his skin feel like it was burning slightly! He almost wanted to head back into the van, but the slamming of the door behind him quickly dashed that idea.

As his eyes began to adjust, Izuku found himself on the sidewalk staring up at a large yard. The grass almost seemed to glisten and the boy could smell the scent of water in the air, telling him that sprinklers had been on not too long ago. The yard was large too, Izuku thinking how easily he could run around it and play all sorts of games with his friends. Well, if he still had any that was. As for the house, it was something that Izuku wasn't used to seeing. It was a long house whose walls looked like they were made of a yellow stone and several brick archways on the porch. And, on top of the archway where the front door was located, the green haired boy could see that someone had mounted a pair of horns there.

A moment later, Izuku felt his mother taking hold of his hand. He looked up to her, finding that she looked just as nervous as he was. Perhaps more. But then he watched as she took a deep breath before looking down at him, a smile appearing on her face. Without a word, Inko led her son towards the front doors of the house where, upon reaching it, she knocked all the while never letting go of Izuku's tiny hand.

When the door opened, all of Izuku's worries and nightmares seemed to leave him as his eyes began to sparkle at the sight before him. Standing at his eye level was a small girl he assumed was his own age, hiding behind the backwardly bent legs of the woman standing between them. Rather than looking up at said woman, Izuku took in the sight of the young girl's twin horns which sprouted out of her blond hair which was tied in short pig-tails. The boy also thought she looked very kind when he compared to those from his class, especially with those large blue eyes which matched the short dress she was wearing. Izuku also noticed that her legs also seemed to bend backwards as well and, instead of feet, she had hooves.

"Oh, you must be Hisashi's wife," came a voice from above, causing Izuku to jump a little. He had been so caught up with the girl that he had failed to look up at all. Slowly he looked up, his eyes staring at the hooves that the older woman had before trailing up her blue jeans and white top. When he got to her face, he saw that the older woman also had blond hair though it was much longer, done in heavy braids and resting on her shoulder. Her eyes were blue, but a darker shade while not being as big. But As Izuku took in the girl's appearance, he couldn't help but notice that this woman had a single horn sticking out of her forehead. Izuku's eyes widened as he realized he had seen this large, spiral shaped horn before thanks to a video link his father had sent him of a hero he claimed to know. Izuku's excitement almost exploded within his body as he realized he was meeting the American Pro-Hero: Unicorn!

He couldn't believe it! Not even his friend Kacchan had met a real live pro-hero face to face like this before! And she was a pretty cool one as well from what he had seen. Her quirk, Horn Drill, basically meant her horn could spin like a drill powerful enough to go right through the door of a bank vault. Not only that, it could be launched like a missile! Izuku's eyes widened as he wanted to ask her so many questions about her quirk. How tough was her horn? Could it drill through anything? After launching it, did she have to retrieve her horn or did she have to wait and grow a new one? Could she control her horn as it flew through the air?

"I'm Carol Tsunotori," said Unicorn, her words bringing Izuku back into the moment as he realized something else. She was speaking Japanese. It was slower than normal and a few of the words sounded off, but he could understand what she was saying. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you, your husband just loves bragging about the two of you."

"Thank you," said Inko, her grip on Izuku's hand relaxing slightly. The younger Midoriya then looked up to his mother to see that she seemed calmer, more like her normal self. "Hisashi has talked about you as well. I'm Inko and this is my son Izuku. Thank you for inviting us." When she finished saying this, Inko bowed her head slightly with Izuku following suit.

Unicorn, however, just waved it off as she stepped aside. "Oh, it's no trouble at all," she said as she gestured for them to enter. "That cheap apartment of Hisashi's is just no good for you to stay in. We've been telling him for years he should at least try to find something better, but you know how stubborn that man can be."

Izuku blinked as he heard his mother giggle slightly as the door closed behind them, the first time he had heard her do that since the trip to the quirk doctor. "I think being stubborn is just hard wired into that man." She then looked down at Izuku. "But…it's always been his most endearing trait. It's how he was able to get Izuku into this experiment on such short notice."

Izuku felt lost as the two adults continued to talk for a moment as most of the words they used just went over his head. And, when he glanced at the girl still hiding behind her mother, he could tell that she was just as lost as he was. Still he did his best to smile at her and, much to his own joy, she smiled warmly back at him. She then said something, using words he didn't know but he didn't mind. Izuku had been told that he would be staying here with them for a week, maybe two, so maybe he could learn what they meant in the meantime. And she seemed very nice so perhaps he could make a new friend who wouldn't pick on him because he was quirkless!

[hr]

Hisashi fidgeted, his hands running over the other in what felt like an endless loop as he stared out a window overlooking a separate room. He had felt so sure about this, moving heaven and earth so that his son could be part of his company's biggest project to date. That assurance had only increased yesterday when he had gone to the household of the Tsunotori's a few hours after his family had arrived in the U.A., just barely making it in time for dinner. When he had first seen Izuku walking to the table with his friend's daughter, Pony, his son's eyes seemed to lack the spark they held in many of the pictures Inko had sent him over the years. But that sparkle of joy seemed to return tenfold when Hisashi told him that, if everything went according to plan, he would have a quirk of his very own. Both the light in his son's eyes and the BBQ covered smile adoring his son's face was enough for the man to know that he had made the right choice.

But now, seeing it in action, he was beginning to have second thoughts.

Then again, how could he not when the sight before him looked like something straight out of a horror movie! The room was filled with a ten by ten grid of child sized rectangular tanks, each one of them full of a green liquid…as well as a child in each one. All of these children had their eyes closed, breathing masks strapped to their mouths while several tubes were connected to their arms and legs as they pumped various colored liquids into the systems of each of the floating children. And one of those children was his son, Izuku. More than once, Hisashi had looked down at his son who floated there with the rest while various technicians and doctors moved between the spacious rows, all of them carrying tablets of some kind as they checked on either the equipment or the status of the volunteers. Honestly, you would have to be pretty messed up in Hisashi's opinion not to be freaked out by seeing all this. He was just glad Inko wasn't here to see this herself.

Still, this was all for Izuku's sake all thanks to the dream project of his company and the United States government. Since the beginning of the hero society, this country had lost a good number of heroes. To be honest, that was something that all nations shared. But, with the crime rate in the United States being one of the highest in the world, so too was the death rate of those heroes. And, by extension, their quirks also died along with them as so many were unable to pass on their quirks to their offspring before their untimely demise. To combat this issue, the U.S. government contracted with several companies in the hopes of either helping to produce more powerful quirks…or finding a way to resurrect the quirks. Thus, Project 'Quirk Rebirth' (a horrible name in his opinion) began.

Hisashi had a good understanding of Project 'Quirk Rebirth'. For decades, his company had been studying the genetics of quirks with the assistance of samples that the U.S government had provided them with. Once they understood what they were working with, the issue became trying to find a way to graft the quirks onto another.

Currently, Hiashi was looking at their most recent attempt. It had been decided that after the company's last failed attempts that younger bodies that were still developing might be better suited. As such, all of the children below were between the ages of four and six as it was believed that that would be the ideal age group as it was then that children started to develop their quirks. Everything that these children were now going through was designed so that they would not only gain access to these quirks, but also altering their bodies so that they would be able to handle them as well.

Hisashi's gaze narrowed slightly as he saw a few doctors beginning to merge to where Izuku was. By the time there were ten of them, all huddled around and exchanging data with each other, that narrowed gaze turned into panic for his son. Was…Was there something wrong? Unlike all the other children, who came from powerful hero families who hoped that this process would either give them two quirks or combine the quirks into something more powerful, Izuku was the only quirkless child down there. Was…Was his body just not strong enough to handle the process?

"Mr. Midoriya," came a voice off to the side. Hisashi looked over, seeing a doctor running towards him with a tablet held firmly in his hands. At first, the father's heart sank as he began to fear the worst. Yet, when he saw the doctor's smile, that worry was set into a limbo of confusion.

"Y-Yes?" was all the father could say, speaking in English, as the doctor skidded to a halt.

"We have wonderful news, the procedure with your son was a complete success!" exclaimed the doctor, eyes brimming with pride and accomplishment. "We're already starting to see quirk levels within him rising and that his body is handling the changes without a hitch!"

"You mean…my son isn't quirkless anymore?" breathed Hisashi, his lips beginning to form a smile as tears threatened to appear. Could it be true? Would his son be able to have a normal life like every other child out there? Not being teased or made to feel like a lesser human being due to his lack of a quirk?

"That's right," beamed the doctor. "Now, we're going to need to watch over him for the next week while he's in the country to see if this holds up. And he's going to need to get a yearly evaluation for the next several years to see if there are any long term side effects. But, if all goes well, he will be able to live a long and healthy life like any other-" The doctor's words were cut off by a sound that chilled both men's hearts on the spot. Red lights flashed as a buzzer sounded over and over causing the doctor to run off without another word. At the same time, Hisashi looked back towards the window to see what was happening, hoping beyond hope that his boy was alright.

And he thanked every deity that had ever existed when he saw that his son's condition looked unchanged. If only the same thing could be said about all the others. Nearly all of them were thrashing in their tanks as the doctors rushed over to see them. Many of their quirks were going off, endangering those around them in numerous ways that the nightmarish stillness that was the constant of the room prior became more violent in nature. Fire erupted from one of the tanks while another child became disfigured, his body twisting around itself as skin and bone broke. Another child's body looked like it had become diamond before sinking to the bottom of the tank while another just exploded, sending body parts all over the place. Chaos reigned supreme with the man unable to take off the events happening before him until it was all over and his son was the last child left alive.

[hr]

The rest of the week had been a blur for the young Izuku Midoriya. He couldn't remember much about the time when the doctors had put him to sleep or anything for that matter until he woke up the next day in the Tsunotori household. But since that morning, he was taken to a hospital every morning and would not be allowed to leave until well into the night. Each day, they ran test after test as they did things like taking his blood or putting him into very large machines that made noises that sounded scary to the child. Throughout all of this, his mother had been by his side looking like she was about ready to cry at any given moment. What had happened to make her so upset, all she would ever say was that he was too young to understand. Not even his father, who was also there and did most of the talking to the doctors, would tell him.

What Izuku did know was that he now, finally, had a quirk of his own! Said quirk had shown itself in the doctor's office the day after they had put him to sleep. He could still recall how frightened he had been when it had appeared, before excitement overtook him. Sure, his quirk wasn't lifting things with his mind like what his mother could do or breathing fire like his dad. Actually, what he had wasn't all that flashy right now like many of the other quirks he knew about. But it didn't matter because now he had a quirk. One that he hoped would make him a hero like All Might. Someone who could save the day with a smile on his face.

This was practically confirmed by the doctors who explained to him about his quirk. They had, with help from his mother, explained to the boy about who the quirk had originally belonged to. How it worked and how the fallen hero had used it to save people while fighting villains! And what they told the boy blew his mind apart! The sheer number of ways the original hero who had this quirk used it, the power behind it, tickled the boy's imagination. Yet, at the same time, he was a bit scared. His quirk was powerful and, well, could hurt someone very easily if he wasn't careful. Something the doctors stressed more than once.

But while getting his quirk should have been the happiest moment of his life, something else happened that he treasured just as much. That something just so happened to be his growing friendship with the girl named Pony Tsunotori.

Simply put, it was nice to have a real friend again. One who didn't fire small explosions in your face or scream at the top of his lungs when angered. From the time he got back to the house till when he finally fell asleep, he and the blond girl would play. And despite them not knowing the other's language, that never proved to be a real issue. Instead they used simple gestures to say things they wanted to do. It was just a simple joy in life that Izuku had missed.

One that he now had to leave behind now that the week was over.

So here he was, standing in the doorway hugging Pony who hugged him right back. As they did this, the dads present were helping to load up the van that would take them to the airport while the moms just spoke their own goodbyes while commenting on how adorable the pair looked. While it was still hot outside, Izuku just stood there with his arms wrapped around the girl and savored the feeling of her doing the same. A part of him wished he knew the words in her own language to tell her just how much he would miss her. How he hoped that they would remain friends even when they were far apart. But, something inside of him told the boy that she understood. And that same something told him that she probably felt the same.

As he was gently pulled away from the girl, Izuku made himself a promise. He had been told by his father, who was coming back with them to Japan, that they would be returning every year for a special check up. With that knowledge, Izuku vowed to himself that he would learn enough English so that next time he could say goodbye to her properly.

As well as telling her he'd see her again.