-Morning Visit-
Inko had arranged for a visit first thing in the morning; Izuku devoured his food at lunch and ate a second helping at dinner.
"Mom, can I call Dad and tell him about my quirk?" Inko thought about it; what was she going to say? She wanted to tell him the truth but didn't want to ruin his day.
"Maybe tomorrow, he is asleep right now in America," she said. Her heart broke when he looked crestfallen, and she heard him mutter ok. "No practicing with your quirk tonight; we have an appointment with the doctor first thing in the morning, so I want you to rest so you can show them how amazing your quirk is."
He immediately perked up, "Ok, Mommy. Can we watch All-Might meets Godzilla tonight?"
"That sounds great; maybe this time Godzilla will win!" she said.
"No way, All-Might always wins!" he said. As they sat down to watch the movie, the number in the corner of his vision was distracting; he didn't know what it meant. 108
-Doctor's Office-
Inko was sitting in the increasingly familiar doctor's office when the Doctor entered minus Izuku, causing her panic a little.
"Is Izuku okay?" she asked quickly.
"Yes, yes, Mrs. Midoriya," he responded calmly. "He is just warming up right now, but I will explain. You see, Mrs. Midoriya, your son can indeed Stop Time; when he does, he begins to get cold. It seems to be what will dictate the amount of time he can keep it stopped. It is tremendous; he can interact with objects and move around freely while time is stopped. He was able to keep it stopped for a whole five minutes. We discovered that anything on him is not affected by the time stoppage. He cannot stop time on an object, but that could develop as he practices with his quirk and gets stronger. The other interesting time is that he seems able to accelerate time on himself, giving him super speed. This is much more difficult for him, and this generates heat." Inko nodded, amazed at what the doctor was telling her. "Mrs. Midoriya, I believe that your son, with his quirk factor, has the potential to be one of the greatest heroes of the future. What he is going to need is training. I have spoken to the Principal of the Mirai Zaidan, and he is willing to grant your son a full scholarship to attend."
Inko sat back, "I would like to tour the campus first and speak with the principal."
"Of course, I expected as much; he will see you as soon as you are done here."
Izuku came into the room soon after, wrapped in a blanket; he smiled at his mom and snuggled in when she hugged him tight. She felt so warm.
-Mirai Zaidan-
The campus was beautiful, with perfectly manicured landscaping that gave it an air of sophistication. Security greeted them at the gate, and after she provided her ID, they were allowed entrance. When they came to the front of the main building, they were greeted by a beautiful blonde-haired woman with blue eyes; she bowed, introducing herself as Aisuru Arashi. She was the personal secretary for the Principal, and she was going to give them a tour as he was finishing up a meeting.
"Thank you for seeing us on such short notice," Inko said, bowing. Izuku followed his mother's lead and bowed.
"Think nothing of it," she said with a dazzling smile. "You must be Izuku?"
"Yes, Ma'am," he said.
"Now, if you would be so kind as to follow me." She then took them on a tour of the main building, which was toured briefly, as it wasn't until Izuku entered high school that he would find himself here. Inko was surprised as the woman pointed out that the campus had everything from Pre-school to High School and boasted a 99.8 graduation rate and university admittance. They also had an excellent track record for preparing students to take the entrance exams for the hero schools. She walked them across campus to the preschool where Izuku would be attending should he join them. The building was very nice, and as the kids were at recess, Inko sent Izuku to play while she talked with the teacher.
Izuku was looking around at all the kids when he spotted a head of familiar dark green hair. "SET," he called out; he was thrilled when she turned around. He waved at her, frantically running to her.
"What are you doing here, cool kid?" she said.
"My quirk came in!" he said, vibrating with excitement.
"Really? That is super awesome, what is it?" she asked.
"I can stop time!"
"What now freaking way, that is so cool. That means you could have a recess for like forever!" she said, a look of longing in her eyes.
"Or Art Class," he said, his voice full of wonder.
"Can you stop time for others?" she said hopefully.
"No," he said, feeling like he let her down. "But the doctor says that with practice, maybe one day."
"Then that's cool. Are you going to start coming to school here too?"
"I think so; I was scared at first, but then I saw you, and I wouldn't be alone." He smiled at her as he said it.
"That's right, I would be here for ya." She said, returning his smile. "Now let's go play; I will introduce you to my friends so when you come here, you will have friends."
"Okay," he bounded off after her.
Mrs. Arashi led them to the principal's office; when she opened the door, a tall man was behind a large oak desk. The side of his brown hair was white, but he didn't appear to be very old when he stood up. He was over six feet tall and strode over to them with a smile. He looked to Mrs. Arashi. "10 Minutes, sir," she said, backing out of the room.
"Mrs. Midoriya, it is a pleasure to meet you. I am Rido Richaado, the principal and founder of this academy." He bowed. "I am so sorry I couldn't greet you when you arrived, but thank you for taking the time to visit us today. And you must be Izuku?"
"Yes sir, thank you for having us," he said, bowing. Inko was relieved he remembered his manners.
"Yes, Mr. Richaddo, thank you for meeting with us; you must be very busy."
"Think nothing of it; I am always busy. But once I heard of this young man, I had to take the time to meet you both. Let me be frank with you, Mrs. Midoriya." He said, gesturing towards a couch for them to sit; once they did, he sat in a leather armchair. "The world of quirks is fantastic, with many people across the globe possessing many wonderful and amazing quirks. Time Manipulation or anything to do with time is extraordinarily rare, with only Sir Nighteye having a quirk tangentially related to time—the ability to stop time, though, never heard of. Nowhere in the world, to my knowledge.
I want Izuku to attend this academy so we can help him become the great person his future holds for him. We can help offer guidance in understanding his quirk and learning what it does and how it works. We can also provide him with a proper education for whatever career he wishes to pursue. What do you want to do, young man?
"I want to be a hero like All Might," he said proudly.
"You can do just that with your quirk and proper guidance." The principal said, beaming. "We have 27 licensed quirk counselors to help in every way possible. He will also be surrounded by some of the best and brightest that Japan has to offer. As you know, I would like to offer him a full scholarship for however long he attends here; he need only maintain a "B" average; we would also like to offer a transportation allowance and a food stipend."
"That sounds amazing, Mr. Richaado, but why offer so much for a boy you have never met," Inko said.
"His quirk," the principal replied. "I hope that by him attending here as we watch his quirk grow and help him understand it, it will give us insight into time. Time is something that we know much about and also precious little. It will be a worthwhile investment if we can increase our understanding and knowledge of the subject by even 2%. This could lead us to Interstellar travel or even a better understanding of our relationship with time. That is why I am making such a generous offer."
"What if you learn nothing?"
"Then we learn nothing but will learn nothing if we don't take the opportunity." He said. "Please review my proposal, talk it over with your husband, and let us know if you have any questions?"
"What if he decides to enroll somewhere else after a few years?" she inquired.
"Then he does," the Principal shrugged. "I cannot fathom any other institute that can match what we offer, Mrs. Midoriya. But if all we have is a few years, then I hope we learn all we can in those few years."
"Thank you for taking the time to talk with us; we will be in touch," she said, rising to her feet. Mrs. Arashi greeted them when they exited; she handed Inko a packet with the offer and walked them to the exit, where she wished them well before returning to Mr. Richaado's office. "How did it go?"
"Fine, she asked the proper questions," he said, gazing out the window. "I am sure she will see reason and enroll him."
"And if she doesn't?"
"Then the Doctor will grab him; we cannot allow that to happen. All for One only sees the quirk and whatever narrow-minded uses he can think of for the asinine game he plays. He doesn't see what we can gain from studying him and what he will owe us if we help him fulfill his dreams. Let All for One have the country. I will take the galaxy. Now, who is the next meeting with?" he said.
"The Yaoyorozu," she responded, setting a file on his desk. "Apparently, their daughter has quite the amazing quirk."
-The Truth-
It wasn't hard saying goodbye to his classmates; Bakugo teased him about running away because he was so great. But there was no more teasing him, though he was tired and cold after school from having to demonstrate his new power. It is hard to convince four-year-olds that you can stop time.
It had been decided that Izuku would start school on Monday, giving him the whole weekend to prepare. Inko had sat down, read the proposal from the school, and even had her lawyer look it over, and she would be a fool to pass up the opportunity; the opportunities that Mirai Zaidan offered were what every parent could want for their child, regardless of the field they would pursue.
On the divorce paperwork, her lawyer had rejected what Hisahsi's legal counsel had sent over and was going to go after the man with the wrath of 1000 suns. Mr. Kobayashi was also going to help facilitate the sale of the apartment and find a place closer to Izuku's new school, which would also put Inko closer to work. The food stipend would nicely cover the two of them, freeing up some money for a possible rent increase. She was surprised when a lovely apartment near the school came up; after she toured the facility, she discovered it was in place, especially for children attending Mirai Zaidan Academy. The price was discounted as long as the student was enrolled in the academy.
The amenities offered were excellent, everything from swimming, tennis, workout center, school tutoring, 24-hour concierge, various social events, and even monthly excursions for the children to museums, theaters, and movies for a discounted rate. It was too good for her to pass up; with Hisashi gone and Izuku going to a new school, she had been scared of how all these changes would work out, but it was turning more into a dream. It was a lonely dream as she looked over at the side of the bed he would sleep on when he was home. He hadn't been home much since Izuku was born, but she soothed herself with the knowledge that he was working for THEIR future.
He had only been home for a few days before leaving the letter, he had made love to her every night, she just sat there feeling used, angry, lonely, it was just this overload of emotion, and then she had to keep lying to Izuku who wanted to share the news with his dad. That would have to end; she decided it would be done on Saturday. She would take him out for the day before sitting him down to talk.
Izuku was so excited when his mom asked if he wanted to go to the Hero Museum; a new exhibit about All Might's early years had opened, and he had been dying to go. It was a great day; they went to the museum, he even got a new souvenir, a limited-edition All-Might poster, and they went out to dinner at Heroes World. He had always wanted to eat there; all the staff would dress up as Heroes, and the walls were flooded with all kinds of hero merch.
On the way home, his mom took him on a walk around the park before they found "their" bench and took a seat. Inko looked down at her son, her eyes wet, and smiled before pulling him in tight. Izuku always loved his mom's hugs. They were the best, but this one felt different. He didn't know why.
"Izuku, baby, You know I love you more than anything, right?"
"Yes, Mommy," he said.
"I want you to know that I will never leave you and that no matter what happens, I will be right here to support you," he just nodded, feeling a little scared as he could tell she was building up to something. "Your dad has decided to leave us and is not returning."
"What do you mean? You said he was in America?" his bottom lip quivering.
"This is going to be hard for you to understand right now, but your dad and I are getting a divorce; that means we won't be married anymore, but I will still be your mommy; nothing will change that. Your dad has decided that he doesn't want to be with us anymore, do you understand?" she asked, keeping her tears at bay.
"He gave up?" Izuku asked, a few tears running down his cheeks.
"Yes, baby, he gave up on us." She was losing her battle to keep her emotions under control.
"Why did he give up? Was it because of me? Did I not get my quirk fast enough? It's solid; maybe he will return if we call him and tell him. I can be better; tell me what I need to do. I can do it, I promise." His voice was breaking, tears just running down his face.
Inko pulled him tight, "Oh baby, it is not your fault; you didn't do anything. This is all your father's fault; he chose to give up on us."
"Are you going to give up?" he managed between sobs.
"No, baby, I will never give up on you. I will be with you forever, I promise." She said, as her tears could no longer be held back. "It will be you and me forever, forever and ever."
Izuku just cried, clinging to his mom; he wanted to talk to his dad and find out why he would give up on them. A fire began to burn; he would make him regret giving up on them. Izuku would become the top hero in Japan, even better than All-Might, and make his father regret giving up on them. Make him watch from wherever he was as his son…no, as INKO's son became a legend right before his eyes.
When the two finally were able to separate, he looked to his mom, "I promise that I will never give up on you., I will be the greatest hero ever and make you proud; I promise I will take care of you, Mom. I am going to take care of you."
"We will take care of each other, baby," she said, kissing his forehead. "NO matter what, it will be you and me against anyone who tries to stop us." It took a little bit before they were ready to head home; she noticed he paused, looking at the door. "You don't like living here anymore, do you?"
"No," he said. "But it's okay, as long as I have you." He did his best to smile for her, which she warmly returned.
"We won't be living here much longer," she said. "I started looking and found a great place close to your school and the hospital, so we are going to sell this place and get a whole new one just for you and me."
He brightened at the thought, "Do I need to start packing now?"
"No, not yet, but we will soon, I promise. Now get inside and bathe while I hang up your new poster."
"Don't hang it up," he said. "I want to wait till we are in the new house."
"Whatever you want, my Izuku," she told him fondly.
-Monday-
He was very nervous as he drove up to the academy, his uniform, his All-Might backpack, but it took a moment for him to get out of the car. He took Inko's hand as they walked up to the kindergarten entrance; after they were checked in, the duo was directed to the office, where Izuku was given a little ID of his own, placing it in a lanyard secured around his neck. The lovely lady then said.
"This is part of your uniform; every day, you have to wear this; this is what they scan for your lunch and everything, okay?" Izuku nodded. Inko knew it was more than that. The lanyard contained a chip that read while the children were on campus so they could be located at all times; it scanned them in the morning and out at the end of the day. If the sensors picked up someone without a badge, it would immediately set off the warning system.
It might have been a bit extreme, but as the Academy attracted children from the upper crusts of society and diplomats' children, the extra security was necessary. Not to mention the children with fantastic quirk potential like her son.
Parents could even download an app to check where their kids were on campus. Inko noticed that the Academy was very technical heavy. Still, it seemed to all be supplemented by a human presence providing any parent this invisible wall of security and peace of mind. They hugged as he went to join his class, and she walked back to her car; she sat there for a few minutes composing herself before heading to the hospital for her shift.
Izuku fidgeted as he waited to be called to be introduced; he was surprised and happy that he wasn't the only new student waiting as a little girl with black, slightly spikey hair pulled up in a ponytail and black eyes that looked just as nervous as him.
"Is this your first day, too?" he asked.
She let loose a small eep before turning to look at him. "Y-Yes, my name is Momo Yaoyorazou; please to meet you," she said, bowing quickly.
"I'm Izuku Midoriya, and it is nice to meet you too," he replied, bowing. "It's my first day, too. Do you want to be friends?"
"You want to be my friend?" she asked, seemingly shocked.
"Uh-huh," he said, nodding his head. "That way, we won't be lonely at recess or lunchtime; we can sit with each other and play. Do you not want to be my friend?"
"I have never had a friend before," she replied. "And I would like to have someone to play with and eat lunch with. Yes, I would very much like to be your friend."
The teacher assistant watching this exchange just smiled and did her best not to laugh or giggle; children had this way of connecting that adults didn't have anymore. It was all so simple for them: You knew, I'm new. Do you want to play? And that was it. When they were called in and introduced to the class with their practiced lines, Izuku's smile widened when he saw Set in the back of the course, waving her arms frantically in case he couldn't see her. When Izuku and Momo were directed to their seats, he ended up sitting in front of Set, and Momo took an empty chair to his left, next to the windows.
As soon as recess was declared, Set, who was about to explode, jumped out of her seat and started asking Izuku questions; when he introduced Set to Momo, the green-haired girl looked at her and raised an eyebrow.
"Is she cool?" Set asked.
"I am sure she is." He said.
"Ok, MOMO, if you want to be cool, you must answer one question?" Momo gulped and nodded nervously. She didn't know what being cool was, but it seemed necessary. "What is the best dinosaur EVER."
Izuku frantically squibbed the word TREX on a piece of paper and held it up over Set's head.
Momo had already started to answer, "I like the Brontosaurus," she paused, seeing the paper Izuku was frantically waiving, "But… the TREX…T-Rex is the best?"
"Ok, you cool; we can be friends," Set said, smiling before she grabbed Momo and Izuku's hands and pulled them out to the play yard. Momo got the introduction to the "cool" kids as they started up a game of tag, Izuku being it as he was the new kid. While running off to chase the other kids, he noticed a boy with two-toned hair sitting under a tree, looking lonely. Izuku walked over, "Hey, do you want to play with us?"
The boy looked up at Izuku. "I can't," he said. "I'm not cool; I don't like dinosaurs."
The boy seemed so sad, "Well, I think that's ok, do you want to play with us?"
"I do, but Setsuna said I couldn't," he replied.
Set and Co came looking for Izuku as no one was being chased. "Izuku, why did you stop…oh why are you talking to him? He isn't cool," Set said.
"But he wants to play and looked sad," Izuku replied.
"But the dinosaurs?" Set whined. Momo walked over and looked at the boy sitting, looking so sad.
"I'll play with you," Momo said, touching his shoulder, "And so will Izuku. He is nice, I promise."
"Yup, I will play with you," Izuku said. "Come on, Set."
"Fine, he can play, but he isn't one of the cool kids," she said, crossing her arms and looking to the side. "Now, what is your name? Not cool, kid."
"Shoto Todoroki," he said, smiling and getting to his feet. "But I can make ice? Doesn't that make me cool?"
"Wait, what show us!" Set demeanor changed. All the other kids gathered around.
Shoto concentrated hard and created a ball of ice in his hand, to the oohs and aahs of the kids. It suddenly became a game of showing your quirk and not tag; Momo was following when she lifted her shirt, revealing her tummy. It began to glow, and a Russian nesting doll suddenly popped out. It was when she told them that later, once she learned more, she could make almost anything, like shirts or shoes, even a cannon.
Set, of course, picked up her head off her shoulders like a Dullahan, cackling loudly; Momo's initial scream quickly put an end to it till Set was able to explain her quirk; Izuku was bouncing up and down, almost vibrating with excitement till Momo made the fatal mistake "Izuku do you have a question?"
What followed was a torrent of words that strung together at such a rapid pace that almost this wall of speech formed from his mouth and bombarded the three with questions about their quirks. Well, they thought he was asking questions, but none of them were sure; in fact, he talked so much that he fell back and passed out for a moment, making all the kids scream. Once he caught his breath, he sat up like a vampire rising from their crypt.
"Is that your quirk talking fast?" Shoto asked.
"No, I can Stop Time," he replied, trying to figure out how he ended up on the floor.
"Wait, you can stop Time?" Momo said, "That is amazing."
"No kidding, Izuku, that is awesome," Set added.
"How does it work?" Shoto asked.
"I don't know, I just know when I do it, I start to get cold, and I have to stop," he followed up with his rock demonstration to the wonder of the kids. Shoto bit his lip before touching Izuku's shoulder, lightly activating his fire quirk.
"Wait, you have two quirks?" Izuku yelled. All the other kids turned and looked at Shoto in wonder.
With a mumbled response in the affirmative and a nod of his head, "I don't like to use the fire part; I only like the ice."
"Why?" Izuku asked, "You don't have to say if you don't want to?"
"My dad pushes me hard. We train every day, and I don't like using my fire, and it makes him upset; my older brother is also mad at me, and I don't know why," he responded, wiping a few tears. "I just want to be the hero that saves people and makes them feel safe."
"Then you should do that," Izuku said. "I'm sorry, I know I want to be a hero too; I want to be a hero that never gives up, that will always fight to save people. I think it would be cool if we could be heroes together. I would like that."
"I want to be a hero, too," Momo said, smiling at the two boys. "I want to be a great hero and keep everyone safe."
"Yo, don't forget about me," Set said. "I am going to be the bestest hero that everyone cheers for when I show up, 'cause I am going to beat the bad guy and save everyone."
Soon, the other kids were chiming in with their hero dreams; Shoto looked at Izuku, "Can I be a hero without using his fire?"
"I am sure you can, but it would be silly," Izuku responded. "Why only use ½ your power? It's your power in the end; I can't tell you how to use it."
Momo touched Shoto's shoulder, "It is your quirk; even if you had the same quirk as your dad, it is still yours."
Before they could go any further, the bell rang, signaling the end of recess. As the group all walked back into class, Shoto said, "Does this mean we are friends?"
"Yes," everyone responded.
"Even if you don't like dinosaurs, you want to be a hero, which is pretty COOL!" Set said, wiggling her eyebrows. "Get it because of your quirk; you make ice…" the other kids groaned as they crossed the threshold into class. "What, it was funny!" Set then proceeded to try and explain her joke, which, as anyone knows, is never good.
-End of the First Day-
Momo climbed into her seat in the back of the limo; her driver, Aoi, closed the door. The little girl sighed; she hoped to talk to her parents later that night to tell them about all the new friends she made.
Set waved goodbye to her friends as she headed to the main campus where her mom was a teacher; she skipped there—today had been such a great day. Now, only if her friends could find their sense of humor; she had laid down some great puns and one-liners today, and none of them got it.
Izuku ran when he saw his Mom standing by her car, waiting. He barreled into her and immediately started rambling about how great his first day was. Inko, well versed in this, would interrupt key moments, forcing him to take a breath. She was pleased he had made so many friends on his first day; he seemed much happier at the academy, reinforcing that she had made the right decision.
Shoto climbed into the back of the limousine; his mother sat opposite as the driver pulled away to the other pick-up locations for his siblings.
"How was your day, Shoto?" she asked. "You are in a much better mood today."
"I made some friends today," he responded. "It was nice to play with them, and we even sat together at lunch. Izuku even shared some cookies with me."
"Is that so," she said, smiling. "Maybe we can invite them over."
"Wouldn't father be upset?"
"Then we will make sure that he isn't home," Rei said, smiling.