Hello everyone, this is a new story for me to focus on in my free time from work. Thank you for taking the time to read, and please…

Enjoy.

Samsara
Chapter One

Stories.

Passed down from generation to generation, some remain grounded while other transcend into the realm of Legends. One such legend is that of the Rinnegan; eyes of power said to have been brought to humanity eons ago by a god who decided to wed a human and live among us. Those who wielded the Rinnegan were said to be gods of creation or destruction in their own right; summoning creatures of immense power and size and turning their bodies into living weapons. Untouchable figures of power! Some legends actually state the user could heal any wound and even return the dead to life.

Whatever truth lied in these legends faded to the void, however. Children today, in this age of Quirks, have no need to fantasize about power when for over eighty percent of them, it's already at their fingertips.

Bloodlines long forgotten and powers long faded…

A single ripple will change the world.

X-X-X

"I'm sorry to say ma'am, but your boy just…doesn't have a Quirk."

This news stunned both mother and son to silence. Izuku, having recently turned four, was so excited to come and get the news after his best friend discovered his Quirk weeks ago! To finally discover what his own Quirk might be! Only to have the doctor tell him he was nothing more than ordinary. Plain.

Quirkless.

His mother kept talking, trying to understand and see if there was anything she could do. Maybe the test was wrong? Maybe the toe joint didn't matter, and he was just a late bloomer? Something?

The doctor sighed, readjusting his glasses and looking at the folder. "I really am sorry, ma'am, but science has come a long way in determining and isolating Quirk Factors. While it's not entirely fool-proof, the reality is that young Izuku here displays no Quirk Factors from you or your husband. Once again, I truly am sorry."

Izuku was in a daze leaving the doctors office, his mom practically carrying him out in a catatonic state. Everything went by in a blurry haze. When they had gotten back home, he'd staggered into his moms' home office, sitting in front of the computer and asking his mom to play the video again. She knew which one, and right now she didn't have the heart to deny him. He watched, over and over again, All Might's Japanese debut, rescuing over a hundred people from disaster well into the night, tears constantly welled up in his emerald eyes. It wasn't until his mom came back that he spoke for the first time since he got the news.

"He's so c-cool…n-no mat…m-matter what! He always saves people…with a smile. That's the kind of h-hero I wanna be!"

He turned to her; his eyes bloodshot from crying but a wavering smile stuck on his face. "Right mom? I can…can't I?"

She rushed him, her own tears forming as she swept him up into a hug. He barely responded, eyes blank but the smile still there. "I'm sorry baby! I'm so sorry!"

He continued to cry as she muttered apology after apology, a pain growing in his eyes.

X-X-X

Inko had decided to keep Izuku out of school for a few days to let the shock settle. It was Wednesday at the time so she figured giving him the rest of the week would give him time to cope with the news, but it was bad. Izuku had woken up Thursday morning and now Friday with a splitting headache, crying from the pain. She had given him some children's medication, but it couldn't get rid of it all. His head pounded with a dull thud all morning, which his four-year-old brain interpreted as a sort of punishment for being Quirkless. He laid on the couch, the TV spouting the most recent Hero news, Quirk-related break-ins near their apartment complex and the like. The pain in his head was such that he could barely keep his eyes open, let alone pay attention to the details.

He heard the clinking of dishes in the kitchen, with every single one sending a dull pulse of pain through his head. He wanted to ask if she could please stop for a bit but didn't want to be a bother. He would endure. 'It's what...a Hero would do…right?'

He wasn't sure when it happened, but trying to fight through pain, he'd ended up falling asleep on the couch. The only reason he knew he had been asleep in the first place was being woken up and swept up off the couch right into his panicked mothers' arms. Despite the pain in his head and the grogginess, somehow, he was fully alert.

"Don't make this any harder than it needs to be, dammit! Whatever money you got and whatever jewelry! Give it now and I don't cut you and your kid to pieces!"

His mom held his head to her chest, but out of the corner of his eye he saw the man. He was tall, lanky and otherwise unassuming aside from the six-inch razor-sharp claws for fingernails he had. His pupils were pinpricks, and his face was set into a scowl, like he was panicking. The thought that never crossed Izuku's mind was how he was able to see all these details from barely a glance.

"Take whatever you want! Just take it and leave!"

The man growled low and lurched forward, grabbing his mom by her hair and yanking her, making her scream out and drop him. He banged against the hardwood floor with a yelp. "Mommy!?"

Tears welled up as the headache pounded harder. The man flung his mom into a nearby wall with a curse, ignoring her cry of pain. "You get it! I don't have time! And I ain't leaving you alone to call the cops or a Hero! Get me what I want!" He pulled at his hair, reminiscent of someone on harsh drugs, and turned to Izuku, who was still on the ground. He pointed a finger at him and the six-inch nail shot out, piercing his shoulder and making him scream. "Get me my shit or the kid turns into a pincushion, dammit!"

Inko was crying and grabbed her purse from the end table near her. She fumbled through, items falling all over the floor in her panic. The burglar groaned in agitation and ripped it out of her hands, tearing through and pulling out her wallet, which only had a few physical bills in it. In a flurry of drug-fueled rage, he threw it aside and grabbed her by her blouse collar, forgetting about Izuku already and trying to drag her into the hallway. "That's not enough! Do you wanna just fucking die?!"

He wasn't sure what it was, but something in his head, it just clicked. The headache snapped away like it was never there and the pain with his eyes subsided. Staring dead at the man nearly slack jawed trying to drag his mother around, everything became sharper. Details grown-ups would barely catch in the moment. From the peppered, tiny beads of sweat on the man's brow and the scars peeking from under his sleeves, to the head of a needle poking from a pocket inside his jacket.

Adrenaline was clearly rushing through him, because he couldn't feel the fingernail blade in his shoulder beyond a light, dull thud. Time seemed to slow with his sharpened senses. His mother screamed for him, the man raised his hand and backhanded her, his nails leaving a clean trail of cuts across her lips, nose and eyes.

"GET AWAY FROM MY MOMMYYYYYYYYYY!"

It happened in an instant. A sound like thunder and a massive blast of force directed solely at the burglar. One moment he was there, the next he was gone along with the wall behind him. There was a massive rush of air that flowed around the apartment, sending papers flying and making Inko stagger slightly.

The pain in her face meant nothing as she regained her bearings, immediately grabbing her phone and practically leaping towards her son, dialing emergency services. She took him closer to her, careful not to agitate the nail in his shoulder and trying desperately to control her breathing as the operator answered the phone. "Operator, what's your emergency?"

"Someone broke into our apartment! We need the police!"

"We have your location, ma'am and police are already on their way. How many people are in the apartment? Are you in a safe location?"

She gulped a breath down, looking to the destroyed wall and seeing the burglar in a heap on her sons' bed, out cold. "I…I think we are. It's just my son and me…the burglar is knocked out right now."

"Knocked out?"

"Yes…I think…I think my sons Quirk did it?"

"Understood, ma'am. An officer in your vicinity will be pulling up in seconds. Other units are also on their way, one minute out. Did the man use a Quirk of his own? Can you describe it for me?"

She shook her head, taking in the fact that her son was in a daze, but something was off about his eyes. "He had fingernails. They're long and sharp. He shot my son in the shoulder with one and cut my face with them."

"Claws that he can shoot out. Thank you, ma'am, I'll send an ambulance your way as well. Stay on the phone with me until the officers make it to your door, please."

Inko assented and her heartrate started to calm down. She held Izuku close until she heard knocking at the walls near the front door. "Police! Is anyone here!"

"Yes! We're in here!"

"The units have arrived, ma'am?"

Another affirmation and the operator thanked her and ended the call. Two men came down the hall, the both of them clearing the room. Inko pointed into her son's bedroom. "He's in there!"

One man, larger than the other, nodded and they both went to secure the burglar. She breathed a sigh of relief and let Izuku away from her, taking his face in her hands and staring at him. "Thank goodness you're ok, baby!"

He sniffled, tears streaming as he opened his eyes and looked up to his mom. "Are you…*sniff*…are you ok, m-mommy?"

She was shocked at first to see his eyes, both now fully colored a deep purple with concentric circles slowly forming. Around the circles there were six comma-like markings forming as well, forming a sort of symmetry with each other within his eyes. Her own tears came forth again and she smiled. "Yes, baby, I'm perfectly fine…I think…you saved me."

Izuku's breath caught in his throat when she said that. He saw the cuts on her face, and through them she still smiled so brightly at him. "I…saved you?"

She nodded so vigorously, happy that despite everything her son could continue being happy. "Yes, baby! You have your Quirk! You stopped the bad man and saved me! You're my hero, baby!"

At the revelation, he devolved into a crying mess right there on the floor, all while another man came into the apartment followed by two emergency medical workers. He was average height, with black hair, a clean shave and bright, but tired eyes. He didn't wear a police uniform. Instead, he wore a button-up and dress pants with a tan duster. He approached Inko and her son having a crying match and hugging each other. He approached, but they didn't notice him. He looked around, scratching at his jaw awkwardly before bringing a fist to his mouth, coughing to get their attention.

Inko sniffled and tried to compose herself quickly while Izuku continued to cry. She held him to her as she stood, still wary but acknowledged that he needed to be treated. She sat him on the nearby couch and the two EMT's went to work treating his wound. She turned to the man and gave a light bow. "Thank you all for coming so quickly!"

The man nodded with a small smile and looked around a little. "The police are always here to help, Mrs…"

"Ah…oh…Ms…Midoriya."

He coughed into his hand. "Ah…my apologies… Thank you, Ms. Midoriya. I'm Detective Tsukauchi. I'm going to be honest, though, it looks like you had it handled pretty well. Pretty clear case of self-defense, of course, so there's no foul play here with unauthorized Quirk usage. Must be pretty strong if you did this much damage."

His tone felt somewhat muted as he spoke, but she chalked it up to it being late. He did look very tired. She shook her head and looked to her son. "It wasn't mine. My son, Izuku, his quirk awakened, and it blew that man away from me. I'm just…so surprised. Just yesterday the doctor told us that he was Quirkless!"

Tsukauchi looked to him as well. Nothing seemed out of place other than his eyes. While they were a tad off-putting, he'd seen plenty of Quirks that made people look a lot stranger. Her saying he was diagnosed Quirkless, however… "Well, determining Quirklessness isn't really an exact science. While isolating the Quirk Factor itself is relatively fool proof, there've been multiple occasions of people who were thought to be Quirkless that were just really late bloomers, and the gene was somehow hidden in their tests."

Inko eyed him. "You seem pretty well read on the subject."

He shrugged with a little smile, pulling out a pair of gloves and sifting through the things that had been blasted around when Izuku had activated his Quirk. "I took some night classes a few years ago on Quirk Theory and Research. It's cropped up a couple of times. Since the diagnosis, have either you or your son been in contact with anyone other than the burglar? Anyone at all?"

She shook her head with a sad frown. "I tried to get him to go play with his friend Katsuki today, but ever since we left the doctors yesterday, he's just been so…"

She paused, unsure of what to say.

"Depressed?" Tsukauchi offered.

"I…I don't know if I'd call it that? Wouldn't it be too soon for that sort of diagnosis?"

The detective half shrugged. "I'm honestly not entirely sure. I don't really know a whole lot about the psychology of it, but considering the dwindling population of Quirkless individuals and how their lives can end up…I wouldn't rule it out. Especially with him being so young? Kids can be cruel."

Inko shuddered at the thought of her son being bullied. "I…I can't think about that right now…it'd be pointless anyway since he does have a quirk…"

Tsukauchi nodded in understanding. "I understand. So, no contact with anyone…he was officially diagnosed where?"

"It was Dr. Tsubasa's office near here. I'm sorry, but…" She motioned to the papers all over the place, "unfortunately I can't get you everything he gave me right this moment."

He held up his hand, everything she said ringing true to his Quirk. "No need, this has been stressful enough for you as it is." He turned, walking over to Izuku, marveling at one of the EMT's using a minor healing Quirk to close up the wound on his shoulder, leaving behind a small scar. He knelt down while the same EMT moved to Inko, her face still lightly bleeding. He adopted a small smile, getting his attention. "Hey, kiddo. You feelin' ok?"

Izuku nodded, still whirling from the fact that he had a Quirk, and that it did all this! "Yessir!"

Tsukauchi chuckled at the energy he had. 'Better the kid be jazzed about his Quirk than terrified of another break-in.'

"Glad to hear it. Now, you're not in trouble, but could you tell me what happened and how you threw the man through the wall?"

The young boy looked over to see the police dragging the unconscious man out. "He hurt mommy…he hit her. He cut her…" He sniffled, the very fresh memories of seeing his mom hurt coming back. "I wanted him to get away from her. Then I heard something. It was in my head. It said… 'Almighty Push'. And then BOOM! He got blasted!"

Izuku flung his arms up to emphasize his story and Tsukauchi chuckled. "Well, you blasted him good! Knocked him out so quick we didn't have a thing to do when we got here!" He shyly accepted the praise and looked to his feet. Inko in the background smiled towards him while being treated.

Tsukauchi stood up and smiled back to Izuku before going back to Inko, who now sported light scarring over what he would consider a beautiful face. "I am sorry that we couldn't do anything to resolve this without you or your son having to intervene, but I am happy to know you're both safe and sound. As for the damages, I know a construction company that could handle it nice and quick for you. They have a government contract for handling juvenile Quirk-related accidents, and it'll come at no cost to you."

He fished out a card from his coat pocket and Inko took it with a smile, before he pulled out a small metal case from his back pocket, pulling out one more card. "And this is my card. It can be hard getting a Quirk Registry re-done after an official diagnosis is put into the system. My Quirk wasn't fully apparent when it first came in and I got diagnosed the same. When we figured out what it was, the process was such a slog for my mom and dad and it still is, so I just wanted to offer my help if you need it at some point."

Inko happily took his personal card. "Thank you so much, Detective. I'll definitely get in touch if anything comes up."

They both shared a polite smile before he turned back to Izuku. "As for you, I'd definitely get into a Quirk Gym here soon. A Quirk like yours? I could see you being the Number One Hero some day!"

Izuku's face brightened in a way that seemed literally radiant as more tears came that gave Tsukauchi a little chuckle. He waved bye and went to leave before getting another look at the blown-out wall, another pair of officers taping it off. "Actually, do you both have another place you can stay for the evening? Police are going to be in and out for a few hours gathering evidence."

Inko looked to the wall as well and sighed. "I could try calling my friend, but it's so late…I really don't want to be a bother to her. I'm sure we can deal with the noise for this evening."

Tsukauchi rubbed his neck. "Not to sound like a creep but I only live a few blocks away and I have a guest bedroom big enough for the both of you. It's not ideal, you don't know me, but at the very least it's a soft bed and a night away from here to decompress."

She felt like she should be put off by the offer, but she could hear it in his voice. It was an offer made in earnest goodwill. "O-oh…I'm not sure we could. I'd hate for us to be a bother to you."

He laughed with a warm smile. "Trust me, it's no bother at all! The room has its own key and I'd be more than happy to give it to you if it makes you feel safer for the evening."

She still wasn't sure. She knelt down to Izuku. "Honey, would you feel ok if we stayed with the Detective tonight?"

He looked up with his rippled eyes and looked at the wall, or lack thereof. Even through his adrenaline high, there was a small inkling of fear that crept through him. He nodded vigorously.

A small smile came to her face before she gently took him into a hug. "Ok, baby…"

She stood back up and ran both hands through her hair, taking a breath and smiling at Tsukauchi. "I'll get a few small things together for us really quick, if that's ok? Would you stay with him, Detective?"

The Detective smiled back, moving back to sit beside Izuku. "It's no problem at all."

Inko mouthed a thank you before going back to her room. Tsukauchi looked down at Izuku and smiled. "So…'Almighty Push'? Is that the name you're gonna pick for your Quirk?"

The young boy shook his head. "I don't think that's its name. I don't…know…I don't know how I know, but I don't think the push is my Quirk…I think my Quirk is my eyes. And I don't think it's all I can do… It's something I can feel…does that make sense?"

The Detective thought about it for a second. "It wouldn't be impossible so to speak, most Quirks are either from the parents or a combination of the two most of the time. You sure you don't have your daddies' eyes and your moms Quirk?"

He looked down, almost ashamed. "Mommy can pull small things to her. I don't know about my eyes…daddy left before I was born. That's what my friend said, anyways."

"Your friend?"

Izuku brightened up a bit. "Yeah, Kaachan! He's super cool and so's his Quirk! He can make explosions like firecrackers in his hands!"

Tsukauchi grinned, taking the low hanging fruit to get away from the minefield of talking about an absentee father. "That's so cool! You kids these days are getting some of the coolest Quirks I've ever seen."

He was practically vibrating in his seat. He wanted to test his Quirk even more! Something in his head kept telling him there was more to discover! 'I hurt that man pretty bad, though…I don' wanna hurt mommy or anyone else. I need to be careful.'

Tsukauchi noticed he had been silent for a bit and could see his face scrunched up in thought. He figured he was probably thinking about his Quirk, so he let him be. After a few moments, Inko came back out with a tote bag of clothes and a few essentials. "Thank you again, I really hope we aren't going to be a bother for you? Your family really won't mind?"

While they spoke, Izuku was still lost in thought even as his mom picked him up to carry him out. 'Kaachan's had his Quirk for a few weeks now, so he's got a lot of practice in for sure! I gotta catch up! First thing, if I can push things, I gotta see if I can pull them! I'll ask mommy tomorrow and see if we can find a Quirk Gym like the policeman said. But she might wanna get my Quirk re-jis-tree fixed like he said…but that means I need to name it…'

Caught up in conversation while they loaded their things into Tsukauchi's car, Inko barely heard her son speak and both adults paused and looked at Izuku. "What was that, honey?"

He looked up at his mom, the tomoe slowly spinning around his purple eyes. "I know my Quirks name, mommy!"

His eyes seemed to focus even more, a power neither she nor Tsukauchi could understand washing over them as the words left his mouth.

"The Rinnegan…"

End

I hope everyone likes the start; the next chapter will be here soon.

Until Next Time.